Chapter 24

It wasn't long before the soldier who went to tally the hunting results returned to the royal martial arena.

A general with a broad back and a bear-like build, clad in silver-scaled armor, handed a scroll recording the results to the Duke of Yunwu.

The Duke of Yunwu took the scroll, glanced at it slightly, and suddenly his eyes were drawn to the name at the top. A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he said, "Ge Qian, you announce the results of this year's Wang Mountain hunt for the young warriors! The one who ranks first will be rewarded with the Heavy Mystic Bow."

The young warriors standing below were all excited when they heard the words "Heavy Mystic Bow."

It was said that the Heavy Mystic Bow was a fourth-grade true martial treasure, worth tens of thousands of silver coins.

Of course, the Heavy Mystic Bow had a deeper significance. When the Duke of Yunwu was young, he participated in the Wang Mountain hunt, won first place, and was rewarded with the Heavy Mystic Bow.

Who would be the first place winner of this year's Wang Mountain hunt?

The general in silver-scaled armor looked at the young warriors standing below and said, "This year's Wang Mountain hunt had a total of forty-three participants. Two died, nine failed to hunt, and thirty-two young warriors successfully hunted beasts."

"Rank thirty-second, Situ family, Situ Hai, hunted a first-tier lower-class beast, the Ghost Shadow Rabbit."

"Rank thirty-first..."

...

"Rank fourteenth, Sixth Prince, Zhang Mi, hunted four first-tier lower-class beasts, three wild bulls, and one Ghost Shadow Rabbit."

When the Sixth Prince heard his results, he frowned slightly. He had thought that with the results of hunting four first-tier lower-class beasts, he would be in the top ten.

"Who would have thought that the competition this year would be so intense!" The Sixth Prince glanced at Zhang Ruochen, and the disappointment on his face vanished, replaced by a smile.

In his view, Zhang Ruochen should be one of the nine who failed to hunt.

Thinking of this, he felt much better. At least there was someone at the bottom.

The general in silver-scaled armor continued, "Rank tenth, Lin family, Lin Tianwu, hunted five first-tier lower-class beasts, four wild bulls, and one Ghost Shadow Rabbit."

For the same first-tier lower-class beasts, the results of hunting wild bulls and Ghost Shadow Rabbits would definitely be different.

"Rank ninth, Gu family, Gu Li, hunted five wild bulls."

"Rank eighth, Bai family, Bai Wanli, hunted six wild bulls. Five of them were killed with the Thunderbolt Arrow, and the sixth was killed with the Bai family's mid-grade human-level martial technique, 'Killing Aura Fist.'"

"Rank seventh, Lin family, Lin Nishan, hunted one first-tier mid-class beast and four first-tier lower-class beasts."

Hearing her results, Lin Nishan was quite satisfied. After all, she was only fifteen years old and this was her first time participating in the Wang Mountain hunt. To achieve such results was already quite excellent.

She slightly straightened her chest and glanced at Zhang Ruochen. This was the difference! He didn't even manage to hunt a single beast in his first Wang Mountain hunt.

"The second daughter of the Lin family is truly outstanding. At just fifteen, she can hunt a first-tier mid-class beast. Her future achievements are boundless."

"In two years, no one will be able to compete with her in the year-end assessment."

Outside the martial arena, a series of exclamations of amazement echoed.

Of course, a few of the young warriors showed disdainful expressions, such as the first genius of the Situ family, Situ Linjiang, and the Fifth Prince and Xue Kai.

These three were all at the peak of the Yellow Extreme realm, the most powerful in cultivation, and were the hot favorites to win first place.

"Rank sixth, the Imperial Advisor's residence, Xue Hongqin, hunted two first-tier mid-class beasts."

"Rank fifth, the Southern Pacification Marshal's residence, Luo Cheng, hunted two first-tier mid-class beasts and one first-tier lower-class beast."

"Rank fourth, the Imperial Advisor's residence, Xue Kai, hunted three first-tier mid-class beasts and two first-tier lower-class beasts."

Hearing this result, Xue Kai's face darkened. He didn't expect to not even make the top three.

He had thought that with his results, he would be either first or second.

"Damn!" Xue Kai clenched his fists, his eyes icy cold.

The Fifth Prince and Situ Linjiang saw this and their faces showed a mocking smile. However, their smiles quickly froze.

"Third place, Fifth Prince, Zhang Min, hunted four first-tier mid-class beasts and one first-tier lower-class beast."

"Second place, Situ family, Situ Linjiang, hunted five first-tier mid-class beasts."

"First place, Ninth Prince, Zhang Ruochen, hunted one first-tier upper-class beast and two first-tier mid-class beasts."

After announcing the top three names, the entire royal martial arena was stunned, and everyone's eyes were fixed on Zhang Ruochen.

Then, the entire royal martial arena was in an uproar.

"Heavens! The Ninth Prince hunted a first-tier upper-class beast!"

"Remember, each first-tier upper-class beast is comparable to a Yellow Extreme realm Great Perfection martial artist. How did he do it with only a Yellow Extreme realm Lesser Perfection cultivation?"

"Impossible! Just three months of cultivation, and he hunted a first-tier upper-class beast. This is too incredible!"

...

The entire royal martial arena was filled with people too shocked to speak.

In the past ten years of the year-end assessments, only the Seventh Prince had successfully hunted a first-tier upper-class beast. Now, the Ninth Prince had also achieved this.

The Duke of Yunwu was naturally very pleased and said, "Ge Qian, bring me the Heavy Mystic Bow. I will personally present it to my Ninth Son."

"Hold on!"

Zhang Ruochen stepped out from the group of young warriors and said, "Hunting that first-tier upper-class beast was a joint effort with the Ninth Princess. The credit cannot be entirely mine."

The Ninth Princess also stepped forward and said with a smile, "Father, this time in the Wang Mountain hunt, I owe my life to the Ninth Brother. Without his help, I might have died under the beast's claws! Moreover, in hunting that first-tier upper-class beast, I didn't contribute much and didn't really help."

"Ha ha! Ninth Son, who do you think should get the Heavy Mystic Bow?" The Duke of Yunwu was even more pleased to see Zhang Ruochen and the Ninth Princess being modest.

Zhang Ruochen said, "I am skilled with the sword, not the bow. Your Majesty, please grant the Heavy Mystic Bow to the Ninth Princess."

Zhang Ruochen walked forward, grabbed the Heavy Mystic Bow, and handed it to the Ninth Princess.

"Ninth Brother, you..." The Ninth Princess looked very surprised.

Although she very much wanted the Heavy Mystic Bow, she knew it didn't belong to her.

Zhang Ruochen said calmly, "This is what you deserve. After all, without your help, I couldn't have killed the Green Fire Deer! Besides, there is still the next round of the arena competition. If I win in the arena, the rewards will be even more substantial."

"Since that's the case, I won't be polite. In the arena competition, you must do your best. With your strength, even if you don't get first place, you have a good chance of being in the top five." The Ninth Princess happily accepted the Heavy Mystic Bow, her delicate hands gently caressing the black jade bow, filled with joy.

Zhang Ruochen giving the Heavy Mystic Bow to the Ninth Princess had three reasons:

First, during the hunt for the Green Fire Deer, the Ninth Princess indeed provided assistance.

Second, he also wanted to befriend the Ninth Princess, essentially forming an alliance. After all, in the palace, he and Lin Fei were isolated and without support. Even though he had shown some strength, he was still far from the true martial experts.

Having an ally would improve his and Lin Fei's situation.

The third round of the assessment was the arena competition.

Only young warriors who successfully hunted beasts in the Wang Mountain hunt could participate in the third round.

The top five in the third round would receive substantial rewards, including the opportunity to cultivate in the "Barbarian God Pool."

If one won first place, the rewards would be even more substantial.

Therefore, everyone took the "arena competition" very seriously, eager to display their full strength and compete for the top five spots.

The Fifth Prince snorted and said, "Ninth Brother, you are truly hiding your true abilities! Let's see who is better in the arena."

Zhang Ruochen replied, "If we really meet in the arena, we will have to fight."

Zhang Ruochen felt a pair of eyes on him and looked over, seeing Lin Nishan standing in the distance.

Lin Nishan was indeed very beautiful, with delicate features, lustrous red lips, a slender figure, and long legs. Standing in the crowd, she stood out like a crane among chickens.

Lin Nishan hadn't expected Zhang Ruochen to grow so quickly, to the point of hunting a first-tier upper-class Green Fire Deer. It was simply unbelievable!

However, she had reached the "sword follows the heart" realm and had mastered a low-grade spirit-level sword technique. If they really met in the arena, she was confident she could defeat Zhang Ruochen.

The top ten in the Wang Mountain hunt did not need to participate in the preliminary rounds and directly entered the finals.

The twenty-two people with lower rankings had to fight to determine the six strongest. The number of participants in the finals was sixteen.

After two hours, the preliminary rounds ended, and the six strongest were born.

The Sixth Prince and the Ninth Princess were among the six strongest, joining the top ten young warriors from the Wang Mountain hunt in the finals.

"The finals, first match. Ninth Princess Zhang Yuxi versus Lin family's Lin Nishan," the general in silver-scaled armor announced.

No one had expected the first match to be a duel between the "two beauties of the capital." A battle between beauties naturally had plenty of appeal, and everyone began to look forward to it.