In Lin’s Mansion, Lin Ningshan headed to Lin Chenyu’s house as soon as she got the message. She said anxiously, “Brother, Zhang Ruochen has left the palace for the School of the Martial Market. Why haven’t you made your move yet?”
Lin Chenyu smiled mildly. “Don’t need to hurry.”
“If you let him arrive at the School of the Martial Market, there’s no chance to kill him anymore.” Lin Ningshan said with coldness in her eyes. Her grudge against Zhang Ruochen was so deep.
Lin Chenyu was seated in a chair, his palms put together as he practiced an evil art. His entire body emitted a biting, chilling air. He said serenely, eyes closed, “Ningshan, even if you don’t trust me, you should have faith in the Hades Department. Don’t worry! He’ll be dead before he makes it to the School of the Martial Market.”
“The Hades Department? It’s the largest assassin guild in Yunwu Commandery. Word on the street says it once killed warriors of the Heaven Realm.” Lin Ningshan’s eyes lit up. If they did hire the assassins from the Hades Department, Zhang Ruochen was dead.
Lin Chenyu laughed, “The Hades Department is not only the largest assassin guild in Yunwu Commandery but also the best in the entire Western Nine Prefectures. In this case, the Hades Department sends two assassins who had at least killed one warrior in the Dawn State of the Black Realm. Under their conjoint attack, Zhang Ruochen has no way to survive even if his cultivation has reached the Black Realm.”
“I guess, we’ll get the good news that the Ninth Prince is assassinated before noon. When the time comes, the Queen will reward me greatly for sure. Haha!”
When Lin Chenyu opened his eyes, his pupils had turned bloody red, giving an extremely savage feeling.
Lin Ningshan showed a little smile, and said, “Since the assassins are from the Hades Department, it’s a sure thing.”
…
There were some other warriors in Yunwu City who would go to the School of the Martial Market for this year’s entrance examination besides Zhang Ruochen.
If they could pass the examination and study in the School of the Martial Market, it would be a sudden rising in life for them, just like finding the paradise. They would have access to endless practicing resources. Merely thinking about it was a huge excitement.
Those warriors were quite young. They were under their thirties, but all have the cultivation of the Black Realm. There was no weakling. Now, they all were gathering in the Coliseum of the Martial Market, waiting in silence.
There had been more than 30 young warriors in the Coliseum of the Martial Market when Zhang Ruochen arrived, including both male and female warriors.
“Everyone, look! His Highness Ninth Prince is also here!”
“It’s indeed the Ninth Prince. They said he just got the first place in the Division of Yellow not long ago. Could it be possible that he had broken through to the Black Realm?
“Since he’s come to the Coliseum of the Martial Market, he must have reached the Black Realm. It’s unbelievable! His practicing speed is so fast. No wonder he is the Genius of Martial Arts.” A twenty-something girl in purple with a jade flute in her hand stared at Zhang Ruochen, who just walked out of his carriage. There was a strange light in her eyes.
A skinny man standing opposite of the girl in purple exchanged glances with her. They made a little nod and turned their attention towards a nearby Zhang Ruochen. There was a faint trace of malice in them.
They were the assassins from the Hades Department. Achieving the Black Realm at such a young age, they could be considered as top talents.
The girl in purple was named Zi Qian. She was incredibly beautiful and had some fame in Yunwu City. Yet no one knew that she was an assassin of the Hades Department.
The skinny man was named Chen Libing. He seemed a little sick and looked only 25 years old.
Before achieving the Black Realm, he had 10 winning streaks in the Yellow Fighting Palace. His best rank was 18th on the Yellow Board.
Thanks to his outstanding performance in the Yellow Fighting Palace, he was recruited by the Martial Market Bank to be the captain of the guards. With so many resources at hand, his cultivation grew fast and reached the Advanced Stage of the Black Realm.
A Yellow Board warrior who could achieve the Black Realm was definitely the strongest one among those in the same Realm. He could even kill people of a higher realm.
Zi Qian and Chen Libing were both considered as genius assassins in the Hades Department. This time, their main task was to assimilate into the School of the Martial Market in preparation for future assassinations.
To them, assassinating the Ninth Prince was just an additional task.
If the assassination succeeded, they surely would receive great rewards.
Even so, it was no small challenge for them to assassinate the Ninth Prince without exposing their true identities.
Liu Chengfeng immediately went up to Zhang Ruochen, greeting them with a fist and palm salute. He smiled and said, “Your Highness, I beg your pardon for the things I’ve done in the past.”
Somewhat stunned by Liu Chengfeng’s humility, Zhang Ruochen replied, “Brother Liu, what are you doing?”
Liu Chengfeng laughed. “Ever since I suffered defeat twice at your hands in the Yellow Level Palace, I had been agonizing. Thus, I made up my mind to turn over a new leaf. I didn’t expect that, with this new insight, my cultivation broke through into the Black Realm before long.”
Zhang Ruochen tentatively looked into Liu Chengfeng’s eyes and smiled. “Congratulations, Brother Liu.”
“If it wasn’t for Your Highness inspiring me, I’m afraid I wouldn’t have broken through into the Black Realm so quickly.” Liu Chengfeng laughed.
Liu Chuanshen, the Manager of the Martial Market Bank, walked into the Colosseum of the Martial Market at the moment, along with other big shots. All eyes were drawn to them.
Liu Chuanshen walked towards Zhang Ruochen and smiled. “Your Highness, the Commandery Prince and I were comrades since we were young. “I hope you can forgive Chengfeng and your past enmities for my sake. If you both pass the examination and join the School of the Martial Market, you must support each other.”
Liu Chuanshen then turned towards Liu Chengfeng and gave him a sharp stare. “Chengfeng, you’re too reckless and not nearly calm enough. I hoped you could learn from the Ninth Prince from now on and take him as your role model.”
Liu Chuanshen was so sophisticated that he knew Zhang Ruochen’s talent was way higher than his own son. If his son could have more contacts with Zhang Ruochen, it would benefit him much in the future.
Liu Chengfeng retorted, “I’ll learn from the Ninth Prince even if you didn’t tell me so.”
If Liu Chengfeng had really turned over a new leaf, Zhang Ruochen naturally would not mind forgiving and letting him off.
Liu Chengfeng was indeed a genius. He had reached the Completion of the Yellow Realm when he was 17 years old. Then, he became a warrior of Yellow Board and broke through to the Black Realm when he was 20 years old.
There were only a handful of geniuses like him in the whole of Yunwu Commandery.
With Liu Chuanshen standing next to Zhang Ruochen, Zi Qian and Chen Libing had no chance to attack.
By noon, there were 68 young warriors who reached the Black Realm gathered at the Warfare Palace. All the warriors who wanted to attend the School of the Martial Market in the entire Yunwu Commandery were there.
“Waaa!”
There came an earsplitting howl of an eagle from the sky. More than half of Yunwu City could hear it.
A huge blood-feathered eagle flew out of the cloud. When it spread out its wings, the distance between them was more than 70 meters. It looked like a bloody red hill, flying down from the sky.
The blood-feathered eagle showed an imposing manner, exerting huge pressure on the warriors below. Some warriors with lower cultivation even felt that their legs weakening and cold sweat all over their bodies.
“Blood-feathered eagle was a savage beast in the third superior class. If we only consider the destructibility, its power is scarier than the power of a warrior in the Completion of the Earth Realm,” a young warrior of the Black Realm said in his shaking voice.
Another young female warrior said, “I once saw a blood-feathered eagle in the outer-ring of Omen Ridge. With just a mouthful of flame from the eagle, an entire village became scorched to the ground. Everyone there was burnt to death.”
Hearing these comments, the young aristocrats who had never left Yunwu City turned pale with fright.
Yet Zhang Ruochen was perfectly calm and collected. He looked up into the sky and saw a middle-aged man in a silver robe standing on the head of the blood-feathered eagle.
The silver-robed man stood still with an ancient sword on his back. He was even more imposing than the blood-feathered eagle.
Liu Chuanshen smiled with his hands clasped behind his back. “Elder Xie, long time no see.”
The silver-robed man standing on the head of blood-feathered eagle said, “Elder Liu, are there only dozens of people from Yunwu Commandery taking the entrance examination this year? I remember there were 103 warriors of the Black Realm from Yunwu Commandery last year, but only three of them passed and became the external disciples of the school.”
Liu Chuanshen was the Manager of the Martial Market Bank in Yunwu Commandery, but in the Martial Market Bank, he and the silver-robed man were both Elders.
Liu Chuanshen smiled. “Don’t worry, Elder Xie. There will be more people passing the examination than last year. Who knows if we may even have some surprises.”
“Oh!”
Hearing Liu Chuanshen’s words, Xie Nantian thought of something and said, “Could it be that some extraordinary genius had popped up from Yunwu Commandery? A genius who can get into top 10 in the examination?”
Liu Chuanshen smiled mysteriously and said, “You’ll know when the time comes.”
Xie Nantian knew that Liu Chuanshen was a prudent man. There must be an incredible genius from Yunwu Commandery. He must definitely find the genius and take him in as a disciple in advance.
Xie Nantian stared at the 68 warriors of the Black Realm below. When his eyes fell on Zi Qian, he gasped.
Zi Qian was only about 22 years old, but she had reached the Dawn State of the Black Realm. She could be considered a genius even in the external School of the Martial Market.
“She must be the one that Liu Chuanshen meant.”
Xie Nantian showed a little smile in his eyes. Nodding slightly, he said, “Since you’re all here, come and stand on the back of the blood-feathered eagle. We’ll head to the School of the Martial Market now.”
The 68 warriors all demonstrated their martial art to leap to the back of the blood-feathered eagle, finding a place to sit.
Zhang Ruochen sat beside Liu Chengfeng. All of a sudden, he smelled a faint fragrance.
Zhang Ruochen turned around towards his left and saw a girl in purple sitting next to him. She was gorgeous and had a particularly lovely shape. Her breasts were perky and round, looking as if they were going to burst out of her purple dress.
Zhang Ruochen just glanced at her, and he drew back his sight.
“Waaa!”
The blood-feathered eagle soared upwards to the sky when all warriors were seated on its back. In just a short moment, it was out of Yunwu City, heading to Omen Ridge.