Chapter 91: Yellow No.1
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The crowd outside the Wu Tower could only see that the lights on the third level were on. They did not know how many obstacles Zhang Ruochen had passed.
Not only was Elder Situ in disbelief, but most of the young warriors outside were also highly skeptical.
After all, for a new student, to pass the second obstacle on the third floor was startling news for everyone.
Elder Situ walked to the main doors of the Wu Tower and pressed his hand into a dent in the metal wall where he injected his Genuine Qi.
The Wu Tower was a Genuine Martial Arms. With the energy of Elder Situ’s Genuine Qi, the inscriptions on parts of the Wu Tower came alive.
“Beep!”
The Spiritual Qi mirror on the third floor instantly began to glow white.
The image of Zhang Ruochen attempting the second obstacle on the third floor appeared on its surface.
The nine presbyters, 468 new students, and many senior students stood outside the Tower all staring at the Spiritual Qi mirror.
It showed Zhang Ruochen fighting against 18 refining warriors. He was fighting bravely. Each of his movements was as smooth as floating clouds and flowing water. He cut through the 18 refining warriors like a hot knife through butter and defeated them all.
Seeing the battle, the warriors all grew envious, and wished they were Zhang Ruochen fighting against the 18 refining warriors.
The female students stared with glittering eyes and had expressions of surprise on their faces. By the end of the battle, they all looked at Zhang Ruochen with admiration.
Zhang Ruochen’s performance in the Wu Tower was incredible.
In a world where martial prowess was highly respected, young men like Zhang Ruochen had a lot of girls going crazy over him.
“Despicable! He actually managed to get through the second obstacle on the third floor!”
Prince Huo Xing stood amongst the freshmen and gazed coldly at Zhang Ruochen. He decided that he had to get rid of the Yunwu Commandery’s Ninth Prince.
Prince Huo Xing, Zi Qian, and Yao Qingtong were all rare talents, but compared to Zhang Ruochen, they were in different leagues altogether.
They were almost entirely outshined by Zhang Ruochen.
He was the fourth person in the history of Western Campus to accomplish this feat. Who can compare to him?
None of the other freshmen or geniuses managed to pass the third obstacle of the second floor.
By nightfall, Breaking Through the Wu Tower finally ended and 120 of the most talented students became external students of Western Campus in the School of the Martial Market.
The rankings of the new 120 students were quickly assessed. Not surprisingly Zhang Ruochen was ranked number one out of the freshmen.
Zi Qian was second, Prince Huo Xing was third, and Yao Qingtong ranked fourth.
There were six females and four males in the top 10 of the new students.
Luckily, Zhang Ruochen was the top student or this year’s female students would have trumped the male students again.
A total of 15 warriors from Yunwu Commandery and 38 from Square Commandery became the external students of Western Campus.
Overall, in terms of freshmen, Square Commandery had a definite advantage in numbers. However, Yunwu Commandery won first and second place which gave them the better turn out.
Western Campus accepts 120 new students each year and more than half were from Square Commandery. However, they didn’t represent even one-third of the new students this year, which made Prince Huo Xing look bad.
“If it weren’t for Zhang Ruochen and Zi Qian hunting down 10 of the prodigies from Square Commandery in the first round this year, we would have far more than 38 warriors become external students of the school.” Prince Huo Xing’s expression was very serious, and he did nothing to hide his murderous gaze.
“Your Majesty, no matter how genius Zhang Ruochen is, he is only at the Mid Stage of the Black Realm. Given the power of Square Commandery on Western Campus, getting rid of him will be an easy task. As for Zi Qian, killing her seems like such a waste. Why not have her as a concubine?” Xie Zhaowu said.
Prince Huo Xing’s mind clicked, and his eyes narrowed. He smiled and said, “Zi Qian is very talented, she is even ranked above me. If I could have her as a concubine, it would make me even more powerful. But she is very close to Zhang Ruochen, would she agree to this?”
Xie Zhaowu smiled and said, “Zhang Ruochen is the prince of an inferior commandery. If Square Commandery attacked them, he wouldn’t even be a prince. Zi Qian is a smart woman, I believe she will make the right decision. If she continues to resist, we can always take more extreme measures and force her to submit. Faced with violence, I don’t think she will resist.”
Prince Huo Xing’s face revealed a pleased expression and he shifted his gaze to Zi Qian. He noticed she was indeed very beautiful. It would be wonderful if he could have her as a concubine.
When Prince Huo Xing’s gaze again fell on Zhang Ruochen, the smile on his face disappeared. “Zhang Ruochen must die! Xie Zhaowu, go tell Feng Zhilin to come see me tonight.”
Feng Zhilin was the older brother of Feng Zhiyi. He had become an external student of the Martial School two years ago, and his martial cultivation had already reached the Final State of the Black Realm.
Prince Huo Xing decided to use Feng Zhilin to deal with Zhang Ruochen.
Feng Zhilin’s own brother died at the hands of Zhang Ruochen. Being the elder brother, how could he not avenge his sibling?
Becoming an external student meant they must collect the specific robes as well as a waist token and residence key.
The robes of the external students were all plain white robes.
The student’s waist token was more elaborate. It was a piece of carved white jade, inscribed and refined into a Genuine Martial Arms. It was about the size of a palm.
The waist token not only recorded the information of a student, it also recorded their merits.
For example, Zhang Ruochen was this year’s top new student and was awarded 3,000 points, so his waist token displayed his merit as 3,000 points.
Zi Qian was the second best student and was awarded 2,000 merit points, which were also recorded on her waist token.
As for Liu Chengfeng, he was ranked 14th, so his waist token showed five merit points.
Each month the external students are given five points of merit. Those who did not rank in the top 10 were also given five points.
In the School of the Martial Market, all Practice resources were exchanged for merit points.
Without merit points, progress would be slow and difficult.
They were a measurement of your contribution to the Martial School. Other than the five merit points given out each month, additional merit points had to be earned.
The waist tokens also recorded each student’s ability ranking.
Zhang Ruochen infused his Genuine Qi into the waist token. His ability ranking of 670 appeared on the token.
Zi Qian also infused Genuine Qi into her waist token, 597.
“What’s the ranking on the waist token mean?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Liu Chengfeng clearly knew more of matters relating to the Martial School than both Zhang Ruochen and Zi Qian and said, “The ranking displayed on the waist token is the ability ranking of all the external students of Western Campus. It mostly reflects the cultivation of the warrior, how many tasks assigned by the school that have been completed, the results of the seasonal exams, and the results of the annual Four Campus conference. That is how they measure the rankings.”
Liu Chengfeng added, “Western Campus rankings have little meaning. Those who can enter the Profound Board are the truly powerful ones.”
Being able to enter the Profound Board was the mark of a strong warrior.
“Your Majesty, which key do you have?” Liu Chengfeng asked.
Zhang Ruochen looked at the bronze key in his hand and found that his was not quite the same as Liu Chengfeng’s residence key.
“Dragon Martial Temple, Yellow No.1,” Zhang Ruochen replied.
“Dragon Martial Temple…”
Liu Chengfeng’s expression changed greatly. He shivered slightly and said, “I knew it, I knew it…”
Zhang Ruochen looked curiously at Liu Chengfeng and asked, “Is there something wrong with Dragon Martial Temple?”
Liu Chengfeng shook his head vigorously and said, “Dragon Martial Temple is the place with the most Spiritual Qi on Western Campus. Only the first student of each year lives there. Also, practicing in Dragon Martial Temple has benefits beyond the better Spiritual Qi.”
Zhang Ruochen felt a sense of false alarm and said, “If that is true, that would seem like a good thing.”
Liu Chengfeng continued to shake his head and said, “There is a rumor on the West Campus if a male enters Dragon Martial Temple, he becomes either disabled or useless. Rumor has it two years ago, the first of the freshmen was the son of the Square Commandery’s Prime Minister, Yuchi Tiancong. Upon entering Dragon Martial Temple the first night, he had both his legs broken and was thrown out the front door. From then on, Yuchi Tiancong never dared to step into Dragon Martial Temple.”
It seemed impossible. A prodigious new student having both his legs broken and thrown out of Dragon Martial Temple. That sounded horrible!
Zhang Ruochen suddenly remembered the words of Huang Yanchen and Duanmu Xingling.
Looking at the key in his hand, he felt a cold wind, chilling him from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
“They are so brutal and broke the legs of the new student prodigy. Didn’t the presbyters punish them?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Liu Chengfeng held his hands up and said, “What can they do? One of the devils accused Yuchi Tiancong of entering her room and trying and peek while she was bathing, so she got angry and broke his legs and threw him out of Dragon Martial Temple. The fault lies with Yuchi Tiancong; the school Elders can’t do anything!”
“If he knew the three devils all live in Dragon Martial Temple, why would he dare peek at them bathing?” Zi Qian asked.
Liu Chengfeng laughed and said, “Even if he had 10 times the courage, he still wouldn’t dare. But one of the she-devils had accused him of the crime, what could he do?”
“Then he just admitted to the crime?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
Liu Chengfeng replied, “How could he dare not to? If he didn’t admit to it, next time it wouldn’t just be broken legs. He would no longer be breathing. Yuchi Tiancong was afraid of them, so he admitted to it, but it was not enough to admit the crime. He had to compensate the she-devil. The 3,000 merit points Yuchi Tiancong received for being the first of the new students was given to her. Whatever you do, don’t fall into the hands of the devils!”
Zhang Ruochen drew a cold, sharp breath. He felt that Dragon Martial Temple should be the most forbidden place on Western Campus. Calling it the dangerous place did not seem like such an understatement.
“Your Majesty, you have to be careful! Try to survive like Yuchi Tiancong. Even if they break both your legs, so what? If you receive medical care quickly, you’ll still be able to walk again. Men can bend and flex, right?”
Liu Chengfeng patted Zhang Ruochen’s shoulder sympathetically. He let out a sigh and began walking towards his own residence.