Chapter 187: Chen Xier
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
The external students could also use their tokens to get into the Internal Academy.
But that was only under the premise that they would not disturb the order of the Internal Academy. They were also not permitted to attend lectures given by the presbyters of the Heaven Realm, nor did they have the privilege of entering the Pavilion of Book Collection to read practice books.
These were the rules that must not be violated!
It was midday and the sun was bright.
A fist-sized black cat swaggered into the Internal Academy and came to a relatively quiet place.
It looked just like an ordinary cat, so no one paid attention to it.
Blackie’s gaze cautiously swept across its surroundings. Pausing its step, it said in a soft voice, “Zhang Ruochen, you can come out now!”
A white halo appeared on The Time and Space Spinel hung around its neck.
A ball of white light shot out of the spinel following a sharp noise. It landed on the ground and turned into a young man in white.
Of course, the young man was none other than Zhang Ruochen.
“Looks like I managed to sneak in without anyone noticing!”
Zhang Ruochen glanced around the place with a hint of smile played across his lips. Then, he took a deep breath.
The Spiritual Qi of Heaven and Earth in the region started to flow toward him and gathered at the Qi Lake in his glabella.
“The Internal Academy is true to its name. Compared to the Western Campus, the Spiritual Qi here is three times stronger.”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes were filled with excitement. He was hoping to break through the Earth Realm as soon as possible and become an internal student.
In fact, he could reach the Earth Realm right away if he wanted to. But his goal was the Ultimate Realm of the Black Realm. So, he had to suppress his desire for reaching higher realms.
“Even the weakest student in the Internal Academy has reached the Earth Realm. Anyone who goes out from here will be considered a top warrior in the Martial World. And of course, every force will try to draw them over.”
Those who could become Internal students of the School of the Martial Market were all first-class geniuses. Almost every one of them could fight with warriors from a higher realm.
There were also some students like Xun Guihai who could even fight against warriors who were two realms higher.
For those warriors from Yunwu Commandery, the Internal Academy was regarded as the Holy Land of martial arts. Everyone was looking forward to getting into this cradle of martial arts.
Zhang Ruochen obviously came to the Internal Academy with a purpose. He headed straight for Mount Saint Crossing.
Mount Saint Crossing was one of the most important practice spots in the Internal Academy. There was a Spiritual Crystal Mine in the mountain. It was where the rich Spiritual Qi came from.
In other words, the Spiritual Crystal Mine was the foundation of the School of the Martial Market.
In Mount Saint Crossing, there were dozens of Secret Rooms for practice.
Every single Secret Room was different; some were “Blazed Flame Secret Room” and some were “Ice Secret Room”. There were also “Thunder Secret Room” and “Secret Room in Hell”.
Zhang Ruochen came to Mount Saint Crossing because he wanted to use the “Hurricane Secret Room”. The special environment of the Secret Room would help speed up his practice of Shadow of the Royal Wind Dragon.
“This is Mount Saint Crossing! Off limits to all unauthorized personnel!”
Zhang Ruochen made his way to Mount Saint Crossing’s gate. He was about to enter the mountain when two imposing internal students stepped out, blocking his way from both sides.
One of them named Huo Sheng, who was about 30 years old and had a goatee. With an air of superiority, he took a quick glance at Zhang Ruochen and asked, “Who are you?”
There were not many internal students in the School of the Martial Market. Almost every student was known by everyone.
They naturally would not allow Zhang Ruochen to enter Mount Saint Crossing since they had never seen him before.
Zhang Ruochen took out his token and answered, “I am an external student of the School of the Martial Market.”
“An external student?”
They looked at Zhang Ruochen with a scrutinizing glance from head to toes before replying coldly, “This is not where you should be. Leave now, or we’ll make you leave.”
The two internal students, Huo Sheng and Zhao Minggong, were both in the Mid Stage of the Earth Realm. In other words, they were both masters of Martial Arts, and naturally, they would hold an external student of the Black Realm in contempt.
Zhang Ruochen put the token away and said patiently, “As far as I know, external students also have the right to enter Mount Saint Crossing for practice. So why won’t you let me in?”
The two internal students burst into laughter.
Zhao Minggong replied, “Yes, we do have this rule. But only the external students who rank top three in the four campuses have the right you mentioned. If you are one of them, we can let you in right away. If you are not, you will be treated as a troublemaker and will be shown no mercy. The School of the Martial Market won’t punish us even if we kill you.”
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen was just a young man under the age of 20, of course, they would not believe he would be one of the top three geniuses in the four campuses.
At that moment, a graceful lady walked out from the Mount Saint Crossing.
She said from afar, “You two are a little too ignorant. Don’t you know that he is the No.1 genius of the Western Campus?”
That lady’s voice caught the two internal students off-guard. They quickly turned around and saluted to her. “Greetings, senior sister apprentice Chen!” they said in unison.
Zhang Ruochen did not expect anyone here would know him. Looking at that lady, he could not help but feel a little stunned by her beauty.
She was extremely beautiful. Her long royal blue hair hung down to her waist like a waterfall. A small, delicate white bell was tied to her bun, making a crisp and melodious sound as she walked.
She was tall and slender. Her long and slim legs were partially visible under her dress. In fact, Huang Yanchen and her looked very much alike but with completely different auras. She exuded a hint of tenderness, giving off a feminine aura.
Zhang Ruochen thought she looked familiar, but he did not remember exactly where he had seen her before.
While Zhang Ruochen was staring at her, Chen Xier was also staring back at Zhang Ruochen.
Chen Xier walked toward Zhang Ruochen and faintly smiled at him before asking, “Junior fellow apprentice Zhang, are you going into Mount Saint Crossing for practice?”
It was true that Chen Xier was very beautiful, but Zhang Ruochen had encountered countless beautiful women like her, so he remained just as calm as usual.
“I would like to use one of the Secret Rooms to practice a martial technique.”
After saying that, Zhang Ruochen added on, asking, “Have we ever met each other before?”
Chen Xier rolled her eyes and complained, “A prominent man like you tends to be forgetful. We have met each other at Tianyue Tower not long ago. Don’t you remember?”
Chen Xier’s voice was as pleasing as a lark’s, which others could not help but be intoxicated by it. It was a pleasure just to listen to her voice.
Zhang Ruochen suddenly remembered that they did met at Tianyue Tower. She was sitting right beside Huang Yanchen on that day.
Zhang Ruochen asked, “How should I address you, aenior sister apprentice?”
Chen Xier’s eyes squinted as she smilingly said, “My name is Chen Xier, and I’m Commandery Princess Yanchen’s cousin. In fact, I ought to call you my cousin-in-law.”
From a distance, a hint of jealousy surfaced in the eyes of the two internal students as they watched Zhang Ruochen and Chen Xier happily talking to each other.
In the Devil Martial City, there were Ten Prodigies of the Omen Ridge and Ten Beauties of the Omen Ridge.
Chen Xier was one of the Ten Beauties of the Omen Ridge. Many internal students regard her as the woman of their dreams, hoping they would get to marry her one day.
But most of the time, even the masters among the internal students could not have a free talk with her. How could an external student chat with her for so long?
It was only natural that Huo Sheng and Zhao Minggong would feel that it was unfair to them.
“He is just an external student! What’s the big deal about that?” said Huo Sheng in a low voice.
Chen Xier laughed and said, “Junior fellow apprentice Zhang, you must spend your merits in order to enter Mount Saint Crossing. That’ll be a hundred points per entry. How many merits do you have now?”
Zhang Ruochen was a little surprised to hear that. He said, “What? I need to spend my merits in order to practice in the Mount Saint Crossing?”
Zhang Ruochen had already spent all his merits before entering the Chikong Secret Mansion. Now he had nothing left.
Chen Xier could tell that he was in a dilemma. She grinned, revealing her pearly white teeth as she said, “If you don’t have enough merits, you can use mine. I can lend you some!”
“Thank you, but no. I’ll buy some with silver coins now.” Zhang Ruochen did not want to owe her a favor.
Buying merit points with silver coins was the most uneconomical way.
Generally speaking, one merit was equivalent to 1,000 silver coins.
But one had to spend 2,000 silver coins to buy one merit.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, nobody would use silver coins to buy merits. It was really a bad bargain!
Chen Xier nodded her head and said, “Actually, there is another way. You can use your belongings to exchange merits, and it will be relatively cheaper. For example, you can get 200 merits with one drop of Half-Saint’s Essence.”
Zhang Ruochen’s eyes instantly lit up upon hearing that. Exchanging belongings for merits seemed like a good idea.
“Since I have nothing else to do, I can show you to the Merit Tower.” Chen Xier suggested and said.
“Thank you so much.”
Zhang Ruochen thought to himself while sighing inwardly, “Although Chen Xier and Huang Yanchen are cousins, her personality is much better than Huang Yanchen’s. She is so helpful!”
It was really rare for a girl to have a nice appearance and personality at the same time.
Zhang Ruochen and Chen Xier walked side by side toward the Merit Tower. They happily chatted along the way, realizing that they had a lot in common.
…
“Is senior sister apprentice Chen taking an external student to the Merit Tower in person?” Huo Sheng was petrified, finding it hard to believe.
Chen Xier was the daughter of the School of the Martial Market’s chief master. She had always held her head high. Even the Ten Prodigies of the Omen Ridge were nothing to her.
But today, she was walking and laughing shoulder to shoulder with an external student. This sight was truly shocking for Huo Sheng and Zhao Minggong.
Zhao Minggong grew even more jealous. He sneered and said, “A fool who doesn’t know where he stands! In the School of the Martial Market, there are countless geniuses who are chasing senior sister apprentice Chen. He doesn’t even have a chance! Should we tell senior brother apprentice Zuo?”
“Yes! Let’s tell senior brother apprentice Zuo about this. He will teach him a lesson.” Huo Sheng said, sneering as well.
“All the internal students know that senior brother apprentice Zuo is pursuing senior sister apprentice Chen. If we tell him about this, with his temper, he will definitely tear that external student into pieces. Haha!” said Zhao Minggong.
Huo Sheng stayed and continued to guard the gate of Mount Saint Crossing.
Zhao Minggong left Mount Saint Crossing and rushed to Zuo Lengxuan’s practice room. He could not wait to tell Zuo Lengxuan about this matter.