Chapter 144 - To Defeat with One Single Sword
Minister Ning continued, “His talent for Spiritual Power is surprising. According to Yunwu Commandery Prince his Spiritual Power has reached level 29.”
“Only 16 years old and his Spiritual Power has reached level 29?”
Those present were all top masters, but even they were shocked to hear that.
Minister Ning was just as surprised as they were when he first heard it.
Qianshui Commandery Prince nodded and spoke highly of Zhang Ruochen. “He is a Genius who may become a Half-Saint in the future if he is cultivated well.”
“Then we can expect a good performance at this Sword Technique Conference!” Minister Ning laughed.
...
Jinfeng Court.
Two masters at the Completion of the Black Realm went onto the battle stage and began to fight.
Instead of Genuine Qi, they only used their swordsmanship in the battle.
The Sword Technique Conference only tests the swordsmanship of warriors rather than their cultivation.
The two masters demonstrated wonderful sword technique and powerful Division Profound strengths.
The Thirteenth Commandery Princess was watching, but she was bored.
In her mind the best warrior in the Sword Technique Conference must be one of the four warriors Xun Guihai, Liu Xin, Tuoba Linsu, or Qing Chibai.
One of those four would become her Prince Consort. The other geniuses were mediocre at best compared to them.
That’s why she felt bored watching other warriors fight.
She noticed Zhang Ruochen among the crowd and thought cruelly. “He dares to take part in the Sword Technique Conference? That’s perfect. It’s time to get rid of him.”
The duel between the two masters on the battle stage finally came to an end.
Zhu Yi defeated Luo Kong and won the battle.
Looking at Zhu Yi, the Thirteenth Commandery Princess stood up and smiled brightly. “Mr. Zhu, you are indeed the most gifted prince of Golden Dream Commandery. Your sword technique is excellent and I admire you greatly.”
Zhu Yi was both flattered and surprised. He quickly bowed to her.
The Thirteenth Commandery Princess looked towards Zhang Ruochen and continued, “Unfortunately, you are not stronger than Yunwu Commandery’s Ninth Prince. I heard that his sword technique is even more brilliant than that of the Earth Realm warriors, while his cultivation has only reached the Medium State of the Black Realm. “In fact, he said to me that among all of the genius’ here today, if he said he was second best that no one would dare say they were the best.”
“Boom!”
The whole Jinfeng Court broke into an uproar.
The young warriors who were allowed to enter Jinfeng Court were all top masters.
The Ninth Prince dares to declare himself the best?
How arrogant!
All the young geniuses became irritated and wanted to not only defeat the Ninth Prince but humiliate him as well.
“An inferior commandery prince should not be so arrogant!”
“Even a disciple of a Half-Saint wouldn’t dare say his sword technique is the best in the world. If I find out who he is, I’ll show him who is the true sword technique master.”
“His view has been narrowed by living in an inferior commandery. The best warrior in an inferior commandery will have difficulty ranking in the top 1000 of Qianshui Commandery.”
...
Standing next to Zhang Ruochen, Chen Tianshu laughed. “If the words she said are true, then the Ninth Prince must be a strange person. He angered everyone today. Brother Zhang, what do you think?”
Zhang Ruochen didn’t seem to hear Chen Tianshu at all. Finally, he realized why the Thirteenth Commandery Princess sent him a Competition Invitation.
She was extremely vicious!
There were two ways to kill people: kill them with wooden sticks or by overpraise. Obviously, the Thirteenth Commandery Princess planned to destroy him by overpraise.
Superficially she was praising him. However, she was making everybody dislike him.
He shouldn’t stay there any longer. Zhang Ruochen was ready to leave.
Of course, the Thirteenth Commandery Princess wouldn’t let him leave so easily. When she saw him attempt to leave she said loudly, “Ninth Prince, where are you going? You’re trying to stage a coup, aren’t you? Why are you so eager to leave?”
Everyone looked at Zhang Ruochen.
He stood at the back and was the only one who was about to leave. That made him very easy to spot when everybody turned face to him.
Somebody rushed toward Zhang Ruochen and stopped him.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t want to provoke the Thirteenth Commandery Princess and asked calmly, “Your Highness, are you sure you’re telling the truth?”
She hummed coldly. “Do you mean that I have wronged you? The Tenth Brother was also present, and he clearly heard the conversation.”
The Tenth Prince’s wound had healed. He stood up and said, “It is true, he did display his sword technique and claimed to be the best swordsman in the world. All other geniuses were below him. Ninth Prince, do you deny it now?”
Realizing that arguing was useless, Zhang Ruochen didn’t say anything else.
The Young Geniuses in Jinfeng Court all looked at Zhang Ruochen coldly. The Princesses and the noblewomen sitting in the attic laughed at him.
Only Chen Tianshu figured out that he had offended the Thirteenth Commandery Princess and the Tenth Prince somehow, causing them to seek revenge and humiliate him in the eyes of the Young Genius’.
Standing on the battle stage, Zhu Yi sneered. “Ninth Prince, I heard that you are the best swordsman around. Will you fight me?”
The crowd burst into laughter again.
The Thirteenth Commandery Princess stood upright and looked at Zhang Ruochen arrogantly as if she was saying, “This is the last time you offend me and I will not only punish you but also ruin your reputation.”
Zhu Yi continued, “Ninth Prince, do you despise me and deem me unworthy to fight?”
“Fine! Since you want to do this, let’s begin,” Zhang Ruochen said coldly and walked towards the battle stage.
He didn’t want to start trouble by taking part in the Sword Technique Conference, but she had forced his hand.
Zhang Ruochen was anything but a coward.
He walked to the bottom of the battle stage, flew into the array and landed on the battle stage.
Zhu Yi didn’t actually expect Zhang Ruochen to fight him. When he saw Zhang Ruochen standing in front of him on the battle stage, he began to explain the rules of the battle. “In the Sword Technique Conference we only compare sword fighting skills rather than cultivation. Understand?”
Zhu Yi regarded Zhang Ruochen as a fool who didn’t know the rules.
Zhang Ruochen didn’t say anything. He only pulled out his Flash Shining Sword from his sleeve with a dazzling light coming from the sword scabbard.
Zhang Ruochen grasped the sword and asked, “Are we fighting or not?”
Zhu Yi gazed at him coldly and quickly pulled out his sword.
He dashed out hard and took six steps in a row. Every step followed an abstruse rule, confusing other warriors.
People could tell Zhu Yi had reached a high level by his pace. He was equal to the average Warrior of Division Profound.
Zhang Ruochen however, stood still and didn’t move an inch.
“Whew!”
Zhu Yi moved left and stabbed out with his sword. Even without Genuine Qi there were still three flowers displayed on the sword, signifying his brilliant sword technique.
In a second the sword was thrusting towards Zhang Ruochen.
Zhang Ruochen quickly stabbed towards him.
When Zhu Yi’s sword neared Zhang Ruochen’s chest, his sword was already on Zhu Yi’s neck.
Zhu Yi felt a chill on his throat as if it was blocked by an icing cold. He was petrified and dared not move at all.
His sword was three inches from Zhang Ruochen while Zhang Ruochen’s sword had pierced the skin of his throat, leaving a small blood stain.
If he moved even a little, the sword would pierce his throat.
Zhu Yi quivered in a cold sweat and said, “Kill... killing is forbidden in the S... Sword Tech... Technique Con... Conference.”
“Clash!”
Zhang Ruochen looked at him and said, “You lost!”
Seeing that Zhang Ruochen withdrew his sword, Zhu Yi gave a long sigh of relief. He felt as if he was going to faint.
Every Young Genius watching was shocked.
The genius who had previously been defeated by Zhu Yi shouted, “He defeated Zhu Yi with only a single attack. He is exceedingly talented!”
Only warriors who had fought Zhu Yi knew how powerful he was. Yet he was still easily defeated by Zhang Ruochen.
The Thirteenth Commandery Princess was also surprised and said, “This a*shole has some real skills!”
Tuoba Linsu stared at Zhang Ruochen and said, “Good sword technique! It is light and the Sword Comprehension is profound without being messy. I’d like to have a try.”
Tuoba Linsu, a first master of the young generation of Longchuan Commandery, had the martial cultivation of the Earth Realm.
That was why he was sitting next to the Thirteenth Commandery Princess.