Chapter 83

For Zixi's question, Zhang Ruochen's answer, of course, was no.

Who would admit to being a bastard?

The following day, Zhang Ruochen and Zixi both hid in a cave to recover from their injuries.

With the aid of healing pills, by nightfall, Zhang Ruochen's injuries had recovered to about eighty percent. At his current state, even if he encountered Prince Huoxing, he had full confidence in subduing the other party.

This time, although Zhang Ruochen and Zixi had narrowly escaped death, their gains were significant.

They collected eighteen beast eyes from Qingyou, and from the other seven martial artists, they collected a total of twenty-six beast eyes. Adding the fourteen beast eyes Zhang Ruochen already had, he now had a total of fifty-eight beast eyes, equivalent to hunting twenty-nine second-rank lower-grade savage beasts.

"My current cultivation is at the middle stage of the Xuanji Realm. I only need to hunt ten second-rank lower-grade savage beasts to pass. In other words, I have already exceeded the task requirements."

Zhang Ruochen smiled slightly and looked at Zixi, saying, "Miss Zi, how many beast eyes do you have?"

Zixi sat cross-legged on the ground, reining in her true qi, and said, "A total of sixty-eight, equivalent to hunting thirty-four second-rank lower-grade savage beasts."

To reach the Xiaojiji position of the Xuanji Realm, one must hunt forty second-rank lower-grade savage beasts.

Zhang Ruochen took out twelve beast eyes and handed them to Zixi, saying, "Here, take them."

Zixi did not hesitate, took the twelve beast eyes, and put them away.

She said, "Aren't you afraid I'll kill you? Do you know the price of your head in the black market?"

Zhang Ruochen continued to count the spirit crystals, silver coins, and True Martial treasures on the ground, and without turning his head, asked, "How much?"

"150 spirit crystals, equivalent to 150,000 silver coins."

Zixi's face wore a smile as she said, "Do you know that 150,000 silver coins can hire a Diji Realm expert to personally kill you?"

Zhang Ruochen turned around, handed a bundle to Zixi, and said, "150 spirit crystals, here, keep them!"

"What do you mean?"

Zixi was slightly taken aback, took the bundle from Zhang Ruochen, and opened it to look.

The bundle emitted a kaleidoscope of colors, and a dense aura of spirituality surged out, making the concentration of spiritual energy in the air rise sharply.

It was indeed 150 spirit crystals.

Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly and said, "These are all the treasures I searched from Qingyou and the seven dead martial artists! According to the old rules, the spirit crystals go to you, and the True Martial treasures and pills go to me."

Zixi lightly bit her lower lip, stared at Zhang Ruochen, and without hesitation, put away all 150 spirit crystals.

Every young martial artist who could participate in the Wushi Academy examination was a martial genius, either from a prominent family or a large sect.

Their cultivation resources and wealth were naturally quite abundant, and the combined resources of ten people were comparable to the assets of a Diji Realm expert.

Zhang Ruochen put away all the True Martial treasures and dozens of pill bottles and asked, "Now that we have completed the task, we can end the first round of the examination early. Let's go back now!"

"No! We have only killed twenty-four martial artists from the Sifang Kingdom, which hasn't even touched their foundation. Feng Zhiyi and Qingyou are both dead at our hands. In the next two days, we can act without any reservations and completely wipe out the martial artists of the Sifang Kingdom." Zixi's eyes turned cold, and she did not intend to end the first round of the examination now.

Zhang Ruochen lightly stroked his chin and said, "You think hunting the martial artists of the Sifang Kingdom is more profitable than being an assassin, right?"

"So what if I do?"

Zixi did not hide her admission and continued, "As the ninth prince of the Yunwu Kingdom, don't you want to contribute to the Yunwu Kingdom? If you and I leave the Tianmo Ridge, how will the other young martial artists of the Yunwu Kingdom withstand the slaughter from the Sifang Kingdom?"

Zhang Ruochen said, "Now that you put it that way, I really can't stand by and do nothing!"

Zixi's face showed a beautiful smile, her long eyelashes fluttering gently as she said softly, "Of course. In battle, cultivation can improve the fastest. Moreover, the more cultivation resources we plunder, the faster our cultivation speed will be after entering the Wushi Academy."

"To save a few lives for the Yunwu Kingdom, I'll go crazy with you once." Zhang Ruochen said.

The night was dark, and Zhang Ruochen and Zixi turned into two streaks of shadows, rushing into the Tianmo Ridge.

Zhang Ruochen's current speed reached 38 meters per second, matching Zixi's speed, neither faster nor slower.

The entire night was filled with blood and carnage.

Another thirty-five martial artists from the Sifang Kingdom died under Zixi's sword.

They obtained a large amount of cultivation resources, including beast eyes, spirit crystals, silver coins, dozens of True Martial treasures, a large number of pills, and over ten pounds of spirit meat.

During the day, they hid in the cave to rest and recover their true qi.

Zhang Ruochen consecutively refined seven Three Pure True Qi Pills, finally consolidating his middle stage Xuanji Realm cultivation, healing his injuries, and making his essence, qi, and spirit even more robust.

Unconsciously, dusk had arrived again.

The sky gradually darkened, and soon it was night.

This was the last night of the first round of the examination!

That night, the Tianmo Ridge was filled with the cries of the dying, and some candidates even crushed their Qilin balls, releasing Qilin smoke.

However, by the time the patrollers arrived, the candidate was already dead, and the murderer had vanished without a trace.

"This is strange! This year's academy examination is so brutal. At least twenty young martial artists from the Sifang Kingdom have already died." One of the patrollers, holding a long spear, said.

Another patroller, with his arms crossed, stood beside the corpse and said, "I'm afraid it's far more than twenty."

"Anyway, the Sifang Kingdom has suffered heavy losses this time. I wonder who they've offended?"

"Let's go! It's the last night, and the examination will end at noon tomorrow!"

The two patrollers rode double-headed snow eagles, turning into two large shadows as they flew away from the scene.

The slaughter continued until noon the next day, and the number of martial artists killed by Zixi reached forty-nine.

Facing Zixi, who was at the Xiaojiji position of the Xuanji Realm, those at the early and middle stages of the Xuanji Realm had no chance to fight back and were all killed in one move.

Zhang Ruochen followed behind, doing nothing.

Because, the task of cleaning up the battlefield and looting treasures was already being handled by someone, and that person was enjoying it.

To be precise, it wasn't a person, but a cat.

"Haha! Two pounds of spirit meat, profit, profit!"

Xiaohei searched a middle-stage Xuanji Realm martial artist and found a jade box. Opening the box, a dense fragrance spread out.

Inside the jade box was spirit meat.

"Twenty-one spirit crystals, three hundred silver coins. This martial artist is too poor!"

Xiaohei shook his head, threw the bundle containing the spirit crystals and silver coins to Zhang Ruochen, and then chased after Zixi.

Zixi continued to hunt the martial artists of the Sifang Kingdom, and Xiaohei continued to loot treasures. The human and the cat worked together seamlessly.

Zhang Ruochen followed behind at a leisurely pace, looked up at the sun, and said, "It's almost noon. We should go back. If we don't, we'll be late!"

"What for? I also want to try killing a couple of people." Xiaohei bared his sharp teeth and claws, looking quite fierce.

Zhang Ruochen gave him a cold look and said, "Do you believe I'll seal you back now?"

"Just a joke, why take it so seriously?" Xiaohei immediately became very docile, retracting his teeth and claws.

When Zixi first met Xiaohei, she was very curious. Now, she was used to it, just giving Xiaohei a quick glance before looking away.

As long as a savage beast is taught human language from a young age, some intelligent savage beasts can indeed speak human language.

Of course, savage beasts that can speak human language are still quite rare.

"Let's keep those treasures with you for now. We'll divide them after entering the Wushi Academy." Zixi used a piece of silk to wipe the blood off her sword and put it back in the scabbard.

Zhang Ruochen could clearly feel that after three days of slaughter, Zixi's sword realm had improved, and she was not far from reaching the advanced stage of the Sword Follows the Heart realm.

At her cultivation speed, she could reach the advanced stage of the Sword Follows the Heart realm before the Diji Realm.

"She must be cultivating the slaughter sword path!" Zhang Ruochen thought to himself.

"Meow!"

Xiaohei's body shrank to the size of a fist, leaped onto Zhang Ruochen's hand, and was placed in his pocket.

Zhang Ruochen and Zixi left the Tianmo Ridge and headed towards the outside.

Before long, they walked out of the ridge and encountered a Wushi Academy outer palace student.

The Wushi Academy outer palace student took Zhang Ruochen and Zixi, and they sat on the back of a double-headed snow eagle, flying towards the Wushi Academy.

The outer palace student was named Wang Qi, with a cultivation level of the Dajiji position of the Xuanji Realm.

Wang Qi looked at Zhang Ruochen and Zixi, and when he saw Zixi, his eyes lit up. Zixi was indeed very beautiful, with an excellent temperament, a true ice queen.

A beauty like Zixi was not much inferior to the three beauties of the West Courtyard.

Wang Qi moved closer to Zixi and said, "I entered the Wushi Academy three years ago and am ranked 238th among the outer palace students of the West Courtyard. Which kingdom's martial artists are you two?"

Zixi's eyes were cold, and she just stood on the back of the double-headed snow eagle with her sword, ignoring Wang Qi. She had seen too many men like Wang Qi trying to chat her up.

Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, "The Yunwu Kingdom."

"The Yunwu Kingdom."

Wang Qi lightly shook his head, still staring at Zixi, and sighed, "The martial artists of the Yunwu Kingdom are in a difficult position in the Wushi Academy, often suppressed by the Sifang Kingdom. Especially for new students, if they don't have a strong protector, they often suffer bullying. In previous years, some new students from the Yunwu Kingdom mysteriously disappeared, and it is said they were secretly killed by students from the Sifang Kingdom. If you encounter any trouble in the future, just mention my name, Wang Qi, and the people in the West Courtyard will give me some face."

"Thank you, Senior Wang Qi, for your concern. We will be careful." Zhang Ruochen smiled.

As they spoke, they had already flown over the West Courtyard of the Wushi Academy.