Chapter 88

Wuta, Second Level, Third Stage.

After passing through the second stage's Rapid Arrow Corridor, Zhang Ruochen stepped onto the hard ground and arrived at the third stage.

Pushing open the iron gate of the third stage, a square pond about ten feet across appeared before his eyes. A transparent and crystal-clear jade stele stood by the pond. On the stele, a line of text appeared: "Count the number of ripples in the pond, with an error not exceeding ten ripples."

"What does it mean to count ripples?"

Before Zhang Ruochen could react, he heard a splash.

"Plunk!"

A silver coin fell from the top of the pond, landing on the calm surface.

Ripples immediately spread out from the center of the pond, rippling towards the edges.

Although Zhang Ruochen did not understand the meaning of this stage, he immediately focused on the water surface to count the ripples, "One, two, three..."

The ripples became finer and weaker, making the observation increasingly difficult.

"This is testing a martial artist's mental power, observational skills, judgment, and willpower!"

Zhang Ruochen's eyes became increasingly dry and even a bit painful, but he still stared intently at the water surface without looking away.

What seemed to be a very simple task actually contained profound martial principles.

First, mental power. If one's mental power is not strong enough, they cannot see the subtle changes in the ripples.

Second, observational skills. Only those with sharp observational skills can clearly see each ripple. When the ripples spread from the center and hit the iron walls of the pond, they start to surge back, affecting the martial artist's observation. Those with poor observational skills will panic when the ripples surge back and fail this stage.

Third, judgment. As the ripples become weaker and the water surface appears completely calm, this is the time to test the martial artist's judgment. When exactly is the water surface truly calm?

Fourth, willpower. Under intense concentration, continuously counting the ripples can easily tire the eyes. Without willpower, one cannot persist until the water surface is completely calm.

After about fifteen minutes, the water surface finally calmed down.

Zhang Ruochen's eyes burned with pain. He closed his eyes, allowing them to rest for a moment: "Fortunately, I have opened the Eye Meridian, and my eyesight far surpasses that of martial artists at the same level. Moreover, my mental power is strong, reaching the 30th level, allowing me to clearly distinguish each ripple. This stage is not too difficult for me!"

Zhang Ruochen walked to the jade stele, picked up a marking pen from the ground, and carved a number on the stele.

2,765 ripples!

"Whoosh!"

A white light appeared on the surface of the jade stele, followed by a line of text:

2,765 ripples, zero error. Pass.

Zhang Ruochen smiled faintly, "Indeed, just as I observed. However, this stage is quite extreme, no wonder so many people fail to pass it. This is a test of a martial artist's overall qualities!"

"Boom!"

The door to the third level of Wuta opened.

Zhang Ruochen walked straight in, climbed the steps, and arrived at the third level of Wuta.

The tower lights on the third level of Wuta lit up.

At this moment, the young martial artists and the nine elders outside Wuta were once again startled.

Of the ten martial artists who entered Wuta with Zhang Ruochen, eight had already retreated, leaving only Xie Zhaowu from Sifang County and Zhang Ruochen from Yunwu County still attempting to pass the stages.

"Someone has passed the third stage of the second level and entered the third level of Wuta. Who could it be?"

"It must be Xie Zhaowu from Sifang County."

"Yes! It must be Xie Zhaowu! Although Xie Zhaowu's fame is not as great as Prince Huo Xing and Qing You, he is still a genius at the Lesser Extreme of the Profound Realm. To reach the Lesser Extreme of the Profound Realm at such a young age, he cannot be an ordinary person."

No one thought it was Zhang Ruochen who had passed the third stage of the second level, after all, Zhang Ruochen was too young, only sixteen years old, and only at the Middle Extreme of the Profound Realm.

Even Elder Situ nodded slightly, saying, "Xie Zhaowu must have hidden his true strength, waiting for the Wuta challenge to make a stunning appearance. This young man has such a temperament, and he will surely achieve great things in the future."

The other eight elders had cold faces, not wanting to see Elder Situ's smug expression.

Elder Situ was the guide for the martial artists from Sifang County. The better the performance of the martial artists from Sifang County, the more rewards Elder Situ would receive.

Seeing the tower lights on the third level light up, Elder Situ was naturally very pleased and could not help but feel smug.

But the next moment, Elder Situ's expression froze.

"Creak!"

The door of Wuta opened, and Xie Zhaowu walked out dejectedly.

Xie Zhaowu slightly raised his head and saw the nine elders staring at him with wide eyes, which startled him, causing him to take a step back.

What happened?

Elder Situ immediately went up to him and asked, "Xie Zhaowu, which stage did you pass?"

Seeing Elder Situ's intimidating demeanor, Xie Zhaowu was frightened and took another step back. After steadying himself, he said in a trembling voice, "Reporting to Elder, I passed the second stage of the second level and failed at the third stage. Elder Situ, what happened?"

Elder Situ's face immediately turned a dark red, almost furious, and he shouted, "Since you failed at the third stage of the second level, why did the tower lights on the third level light up?"

"What? The tower lights on the third level lit up?" Xie Zhaowu was even more surprised than Elder Situ.

Elder Xie, standing nearby, laughed and said, "Elder Situ, you should know there is another young martial artist in Wuta. Since Xie Zhaowu failed, it must be that young martial artist who passed the third stage of the second level."

"Prince Zhang Ruochen of Yunwu County."

At this moment, everyone finally realized and could not help but show shocked expressions.

If a martial artist at the Middle Extreme of the Profound Realm could pass the third stage of the second level of Wuta, that would be too incredible!

Only Zixi remained calm, as no one knew Zhang Ruochen's strength better than she did. If Zhang Ruochen had not passed the third stage of the second level, that would be the strange thing.

"Step back!" Elder Situ glared at Xie Zhaowu and then said, "Someone, bring me Zhang Ruochen's records."

Elder Situ still did not believe that a martial artist at the Middle Extreme of the Profound Realm could pass the third stage of the second level and wanted to investigate this Zhang Ruochen.

Not long after, an outer palace disciple brought Zhang Ruochen's records to Elder Situ.

"How is this possible?"

After seeing Zhang Ruochen's records, Elder Situ was greatly shocked, his eyes almost popping out of their sockets.

The other eight elders showed curious expressions, wondering what was so remarkable about Zhang Ruochen's records that could shock Elder Situ so much.

"Calm down! Calm down! Elder Situ, you are an old man, you should learn to remain calm in the face of unexpected events. How could a young genius's records shock you so much?" Elder Xie laughed.

Elder Situ's face turned serious, and he said, "Don't make fun of me, come and see for yourselves."

The eight elders exchanged glances, walked over, and all looked at Zhang Ruochen's records.

After reading them, the expressions of the eight elders became identical to Elder Situ's, shocked and speechless for a long time.

"Sixteen years old to open the Divine Martial Mark, and he has only been cultivating for less than a year? He reached the Middle Extreme of the Profound Realm in less than a year?"

"Look here, he became a Yellow List martial artist after only half a year of cultivation, ranking first on the Yellow List. My goodness! What kind of world-shocking genius is this?"

Elder Xie, although the guide for the young martial artists from Yunwu County, had never read Zhang Ruochen's records before.

At this moment, Elder Xie saw Zhang Ruochen's records for the first time and cursed, "That bastard Liu Chuanshen, why didn't he tell me Zhang Ruochen was so extraordinary? What a pity! What a pity!"

Elder Xie was extremely frustrated, regretting it deeply. If he had known about Zhang Ruochen's high talent earlier, he would have taken Zhang Ruochen as a disciple on the way to the Martial Market Academy.

Now, it was too late!

A genius of such high talent would definitely be taken as a personal disciple by the Dean of the Western Academy, and it would not be his turn.

Elder Xie cursed Liu Chuanshen's ancestors for generations.

Liu Chengfeng, standing nearby, showed an unhappy expression and muttered, "Uncle Xie is usually so gentle, why is he suddenly cursing my father? Never mind, he is an elder, I won't take it to heart."

Liu Chengfeng was also quite frustrated.

...

Zhang Ruochen walked into the first stage of the third level of Wuta and arrived at a closed training ground, very similar to the first stage of the first level and the first stage of the second level.

"Whoosh!"

Luo Xu's spirit body emerged from the stone wall again.

Luo Xu glanced at Zhang Ruochen and smiled, "You don't need to fight this stage! You already passed the first stage of the second level!"

Zhang Ruochen could see that Luo Xu's aura was still at the Later Extreme of the Profound Realm, so he asked, "How many moves do I need to block from Senior to pass this stage?"

"Three moves," Luo Xu said.

Luo Xu's first move was at two-tenths strength, the second move at three-tenths strength, and the third move at four-tenths strength.

As long as Zhang Ruochen could block Luo Xu's three moves, he would pass the first stage of the third level.

After all, Zhang Ruochen had already blocked Luo Xu's nine moves at the first stage of the second level. Therefore, he did not need to fight again and could pass directly.

Zhang Ruochen stared at Luo Xu and said, "I have a question in my mind!"

"I can answer one question for you," Luo Xu smiled.

Zhang Ruochen said, "In the 460 years of the Western Academy, the strongest martial artist at the Middle Extreme of the Profound Realm is you, and the strongest martial artist at the Later Extreme of the Profound Realm is also you. Are you the strongest in all seven realms of the Profound Realm?"

Luo Xu said, "Before you appeared, it was indeed so. But after you appeared, I believe you will surpass me in every realm and become the new guardian of Wuta."

After saying this, Luo Xu's body turned into a wisp of spirit energy and disappeared in the training ground.

Zhang Ruochen smiled lightly and walked towards the second stage of the third level.

...

Roar! The old fish is rolling on the ground, begging for recommendations! Recommendations! Recommendations! Important things must be said three times. Ha ha!