Zhang Ruochen, dressed in white, stood himself upright and gave Yun a mildly quizzical glance and a little nod. Then he said, “I have reached the Advanced Stage of the Yellow Realm! But why didn’t you take a rest, Yun?”
After hearing what Zhang Ruochen had said, Yun was so shocked that her heart wildly thumped with unparalleled excitement and she felt like crying.
“That’s great, that’s great!” Yun said while wiping her tears, “since I said that I would guard the gate for you, I would certainly never leave.”
Touched by what Yun had said, Zhang Ruochen gave her a Blood Pill.
“It’s snowing. I hope that you can go to bed early to avoid catching a cold. Eat this Blood Pill and you will feel warmer,” Zhang Ruochen said to Yun.
Taking the Blood Pill and tightly grasping it in her hands, Yun nodded deeply. She went to her room while thinking that tonight might be a sleepless night.
After sending Yun away, Zhang Ruochen went back to the center of the snow-covered courtyard.
Although the snow fell on his head and shoulders, Zhang Ruochen stood still.
“The second movement of the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm, Dragon in the Sky.”
Suddenly, Zhang Ruochen made a heavy step on the ground. Countless snowflakes immediately rose up. His arms and legs rotated as quickly as a rapidly rotating turbine, rolling up countless snowflakes.
He flew up to seven meters high with the help of the strength in his legs. With the sinking dragon’s roar coming from his mouth, his palm slapped a heavy boulder.
“Bang!”
The heavy boulder suddenly broke into pieces and the pieces flew in all directions, finally falling into the thick snow.
Zhang Ruochen stood in the snow and happily stared at the pieces. Then he thought. “Finally. I have succeeded in practicing the second movement of the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm, and now it’s as powerful as a martial technique of the Mid Class of the Human Stage.”
Now, not only the second movement of the Dragon in the Sky but also the first movement of the Elephant Galloping was as powerful as a martial technique of the Mid-Class Human Stage.
If Zhang Ruochen succeeded in the third movement, the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm would be as powerful as a martial technique of the Superior-Class Human Stage.
Once he succeeded in the Palm, his martial technique would advance up a level, becoming more sophisticated and mysterious.
“The first movement of the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm, Elephant Galloping.”
Zhang Ruochen moved his feet and rushed out as quickly as a brute elephant. Then he slapped in the air and a string of Qi explosion sounds echoed through the air.
Countless snowflakes rose up and flew into the air, melting into drops of ice water from the power of his palm.
Zhang Ruochen thought. “Although the first movement of the Elephant Galloping is less powerful than the second movement, it is indeed as powerful as a martial technique of the mid-class of the Human Stage. The Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm is really abstruse.”
His power was not as mighty as a brute elephant, but at least was as powerful as a brute bull.
It was called “Strength of A Bull” in the practice of Martial Arts techniques.
It was known that not every warrior in advanced stage of the Yellow Realm could unleash the “Strength of A Bull”. The warriors who could unleash it were above average in advanced stage of the Yellow Realm.
Zhang Ruochen had just reached advanced stage of the Yellow Realm, but he had been able to unleash the Strength of A Bull with the help of the advantage of the six internal Meridians and the power of the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm, which showed that he had unlimited potential.
With his cultivation increasing and his body becoming stronger, he certainly could unleash more powerful forces.
After he cleaned up the pieces, Zhang Ruochen went back to his room and, instead of practicing, just lay in bed to relax and fell asleep.
As for him, after breaking through to advanced stage of the Yellow Realm, he finally could have a smooth and steady sleep.
He thought that it would take him three months to reach this realm. However, he only spent half a month to reach it with the help of the power of the space-time Spiritual Crystal and a great amount of practicing resources.
Before the Year-end Assessment, he had confidence that he could break through to a higher realm.
After a night’s rest, the next day Zhang Ruochen had full energy and power.
He thought. “I need to buy some Energy Pills and Refining Powder in the Martial Market because I only have half of it left.”
After having breakfast with Concubine Lin and Yun, Zhang Ruochen left for the Martial Market alone.
He walked into a store named the “Qingxuan Pavilion” in the Pill Market.
Located at the crossroads, this store ranked in the top three of all the stores in the Pill Market. The warriors who were passing by there would walk into this store. Some bought the correct Pills and others sold precious medicinal materials that they had just picked.
A moment or so later, an old man with a black mole on his lips came close to Zhang Ruochen and asked, “Would you like to buy some Energy Pills, sir?”
With a little shock, Zhang Ruochen turned to the old man and deeply glanced at him.
The old man must have had excellent Martial Arts skills because he could silently get so close to Zhang Ruochen. But for his voice, it might have been hard for Zhang Ruochen to find him.
“The old man must be a master of Martial Arts!”
The old man smiled and said, “I’m Mo Hanlin, the shopkeeper of this store.”
“You are the shopkeeper? Hello, my first name is Zhang.” Zhang Ruochen nodded and continued, “I would like to buy 50 Energy Pills and 30 Refining Powder. Is there enough stock in your Qingxuan Pavilion?”
Mo Hanlin was shocked and thought. “What a big order. Only a great family would buy so much practicing resources at once. It is rare to see just one warrior buy so many Pills.”
Both Energy Pills and Refining Powder were expensive, thus ordinary warriors could not afford them.
The shopkeeper said, “If you were to go to other stores, you might not get so many Pills. But our Qingxuan Pavilion happens to have enough Energy Pills and Refining Powder to meet your needs.”
Mo Hanlin took out an abacus to calculate how much Zhang Ruochen should pay and then he said, “50 Energy Pills and 30 Refining Powder cost 80,000 silver coins.” “But because you are buying so much at once, I will sell it to you at a discount. You just need to pay 72,000 silver coins.”
Zhang Ruochen said, “You’re so straightforward that I’ll buy the Pills in your store from now on.”
Zhang Ruochen did not have enough money with him to pay such a large sum at the moment, so he went to the Martial Market Bank to withdraw 200,000 silver coins.
After spending 72,000 silver coins, now he had a total of 135,000 silver coins with the silver coins that he had left.
After completing this big deal, a huge grin came over Mo Hanlin’s face, and he asked, “Mr. Zhang, would you like to buy anything else?”
Zhang Ruochen replied. “I’m certain that there’s nothing that I want to buy.”
Mo Hanlin asked, “Do you want to buy a handy weapon?”
Zhang Ruochen thought that the shopkeeper was formidable and said, “You have a very keen judgment.”
Mo Hanlin smiled and said, “As a shopkeeper for several decades, I have seen thousands of warriors, but the warriors who don’t have weapons are few. We have a branch in the Weapon Market, let me ask a fellow to show you the way.”
After a while, Mo Hanlin found a fat boy, about 15 or 16, and said, “Han Zi, show Mr. Zhang the way to the Weapon Market and tell the hostess to give a discount to our distinguished guest.”
Hai Zi vigorously shook his head with his eyes opened wide and said, “No! No! I don’t want to visit that hostess who can seduce a man’s soul. I will be going to my death if I see her.”
Mo Hanlin got angry and scolded him. “You aren’t a man, you’re just a little boy, what are you scared of? If you don’t go, you won’t get any Energy Pill this month.”
Han Zi got nervous and repeatedly said, “Don’t do that, don’t do that, I will go, I will go.”
Han Zi walked over to Zhang Ruochen and respectfully said, “Please follow me, Mr. Zhang.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded his head and followed Han Zi toward the Weapon Market.
Zhang Ruochen thought that the shopkeeper of Qingxuan Pavilion was a little weird and looked like an extraordinary person. Of course, he did not worry that the old man would hurt him. After all, there were army guards and strict management in the Martial Market. No one dared to cause trouble.
Han Zi whispered, “Mr. Zhang, will you really buy weapons in the hostess’s store? The hostess can seduce a man’s soul. Mr. Zhang, are you a man?”
“Eh… I am also just a boy,” Zhang Ruochen said.
With immense relief, Han Zi said, “That’s great.”
Han Zi looked white and fat, with protruding ears and plaited hair. His eyes were as small as soybeans.
Zhang Ruochen felt curious and asked, “You said that the hostess can seduce man’s soul, so is she pretty?”
Han Zi nodded and said, “The Hostess is a great beauty, she’s very sexy and charming. Only one look from her can make a man’s hearts beat faster. What’s more, you will blush at your first sight of her. But she has married seven husbands.”
“Seven husbands?” Zhang Ruochen was shocked.
Hai Zi continued, “Yes, but each of the seven husbands died on their wedding nights.”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “Who inherited their property after they died?”
“The hostess, of course, inherited their property. Our shopkeeper is just an employee.”
Han Zi whispered, “The hostess is born to be alone. She must be the reincarnation of a soul bringer and fox. Once a man sees her, it’s hard for him to live for even three days. Luckily, we are just boys, so she can’t seduce our souls.”
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said, “I hope so.”