God Emperor
chapter-75

After two hours, all of the warriors from the Nine Western Prefectures had entered the dangerous ridge. Although they were only in the outskirts of Omen Ridge, they still could hear the roars of savage beasts.

1,537 warriors disappeared into the ridge within moments, like sand scattered into the ocean.

"You are a warrior in the Dawn State of the Black Realm. You need to kill 40 inferior-class level-two savage beasts to pass round one. Are you not at all in a rush?" Zhang Ruochen placed his hands behind his back, walking on the fallen leaves. He glanced towards Zi Qian who was in front of him.

Zi Qian had a tall figure. Both of her hands were holding her sword, and her eyes were on the surrounding ancient, towering trees. "How tiring would it be to kill 40 savage beasts? Wouldn't it be faster to kill warriors of Square Commandery and steal their Beast Eyeballs?"

Zhang Ruochen looked steadily at Zi Qian and said, "You must know, this area of the ridge is huge, and everyone is scattered in all directions. It will not be easy to find warriors of Square Commandery."

Zi Qian replied, "I have my ways!"

Suddenly, Zi Qian's ears moved a little.

With a swish, she became a purple shadow and flew out, crossing a distance of 100 meters.

SWISH!

Her arm shook, and a streak of sword light flew from her hand, striking with great force into the ground.

Under the ground, there came a beast's terrified cry.

A fountain of blood spouted from the earth.

Just as the fresh blood was about to stain her hand, her fingers twisted, and she changed her pace. Moving like floating clouds and flowing water, she returned her sword to her scabbard.

The entire process happened in mere seconds.

Sword out, strike, and sword returned, all in the time it took to take a breath. No flourishes, perfectly executed.

Zhang Ruochen squinted and stared at Zi Qian. Her sword technique was already at the Intermediate Stage of the Sword Following the Heart, not far from the Advanced Stage!

"Boom!"

Zhang Ruochen stomped on the ground, sending his Genuine Qi into the ground. With a boom, the earth split open. The body of an Iron Shell Rat about the size of a basin rose from the ground.

The Iron Shell Rat was an inferior-class level-two savage beast. Its entire body was covered in scales and it had 10-centimeter-long teeth that were as sharp as knives. It had a huge appetite and could eat an entire living person in one sitting, so it was known as a Death Rat.

If a normal warrior of the Initial Stage of the Black Realm met an Iron Shell Rat, it was likely that before they could even react, the Iron Shell Rat would sneak up on them and bite their legs off.

For a warrior, if both their legs were broken, it was pretty much a death sentence. It would be impossible for them to escape.

Zi Qian's sword managed to pierce through the Iron Shell Rat's neck arteries. It was extremely precise.

"Her hearing is incredible. She's able to hear the Iron Shell Rat from 100 meters away beneath the ground." Zhang Ruochen indeed found this difficult to believe. He raised his alertness subtly. Zi Qian's background was not common, and she was definitely not a normal warrior.

Without rigorous training, a warrior of the Dawn State of the Black Realm would not have such incredible hearing.

"Everyone has their secrets, it's no big deal. Your Majesty, since you are the one who could catch a Poisonous Bee Needle, you must also have secrets you cannot tell?" Zi Qian casually probed with her question.

Zhang Ruochen naturally could not tell her about the Space Domain, so he only smiled lightly and nodded gently.

"Swish!"

Zi Qian's sword swept out and removed the Iron Shell Rat's two eyeballs. She used a 10-centimeter-long box to store the eyeballs.

It must be remembered, a warrior of the Dawn State of the Black Realm needed to kill 40 inferior-class level-two savage beasts to pass through this exam.

The warriors would not be able to carry the bodies of 40 beasts. They could only take out the eyes and use those as proof of their kills.

Zi Qian then removed from within the Iron Shell Rat a walnut-sized piece of Spiritual Brawn.

It only weighed half a kilogram. It was snow white, and crystal clear. It had no scent of blood, rather, it carried a very light fragrance.

She hefted the Spiritual Brawn and looked towards Zhang Ruochen and said, "My cultivation has already reached the Dawn State of the Black Realm, eating a half-kilo of Spiritual Brawn won't help me much. Here, you have it!"

Finishing her sentence, she handed the piece of Spiritual Brawn to Zhang Ruochen.

Zhang Ruochen did not refuse. He took the Spiritual Brawn and swallowed it straight away.

After consuming the Spiritual Brawn, it was very quickly absorbed.

Zhang Ruochen felt his spirit becoming full, his body felt energetic, and all the Meridians inside him widened. Even the flow of his Genuine Qi increased in speed a little.

Zi Qian walked ahead. She walked and talked. "For a warrior who has just reached the Initial Stage of the Black Realm, consuming about two kilograms of Spiritual Brawn will allow them to break through to the Mid Stage of the Black Realm."

"You were able to rank first in the Yellow Board while you were in the Yellow Realm, your Body of the Martial Arts must be far beyond that of those in the same Realm as you. If you want to break through a Realm, you will need to burn through more resources. You probably need three kilograms of Spiritual Brawn to be able to break through to the Mid Stage of the Black Realm."

Zi Qian assumed Zhang Ruochen had only just cultivated the Initial Stage of the Black Realm. She did not know that Zhang Ruochen had already reached the peak of the Initial Stage.

Zhang Ruochen estimated, according to his current Realm, he would need to consume at least five kilograms of Spiritual Brawn to be able to break into the Mid Stage of the Black Realm.

His Body of the Martial Arts was far more powerful than Zi Qian believed.

Suddenly, Zi Qian stopped and gently bent down. Stretching out two slender fingers, she picked up a broken leaf and placed it under her nose to smell it. Delight spread across her face. "This is the scent of a warrior of Square Commandery. A quarter of an hour ago, he passed by here. This leaf was stepped on and crushed by him."

Zhang Ruochen asked, "You have studied the Tracking Occult Arts?"

"A little," Zi Qian replied.

Zhang Ruochen asked again, "How do you know the scent of a warrior from Square Commandery?"

Zi Qian answered, "Last night, while you were all practicing in the drill grounds, I snuck into the camps of the warriors from Square Commandery and memorized all 667 warrior's scents."

"667 people's scents, and you can tell them all apart? Even a warrior of the Heaven realm does not have this ability," Zhang Ruochen said.

Zi Qian asked, "You don't believe me?"

Zhang Ruochen said, "Unless you are the descendent of a Saint, and have saintly blood in your veins, you could only have such incredible hearing and sense of smell after rigorous training."

Zi Qian said, "You're right. One of my ancestors was a Saint. It is unfortunate that after they passed away, our family soon fell into ruin. Now, there is only me in this clan."

Zi Qian's words were both lies and truths.

"So that's how it is." Zhang Ruochen nodded his head gently.

If Zi Qian really was a descendent of a Saint, she could indeed cultivate a special physique and possess some supernatural abilities. It would not be so strange then.

Zi Qian and Zhang Ruochen sped forward, trying to catch up to the warrior of Square Commandery.

Zi Qian's cultivation was at the Dawn State of the Black Realm and so naturally she was very fast, reaching a speed of 36 meters every second.

What she did not expect was that Zhang Ruochen was not much slower than her. He could reach speeds of 34 meters per second, and followed closely behind her.

"So fast. Only an Initial Stage warrior of the Black Realm and already so fast. If he reached the Dawn State, he would definitely be faster than me." Zi Qian thought to herself.

A normal warrior at the Dawn State of the Black realm could run at about 36 meters per second. Zi Qian was actually much faster than the usual Dawn State warriors, but she held back in front of Zhang Ruochen and did not run as fast as she could have.

Very quickly, they caught up to the young warrior.

That warrior was currently battling an inferior-class level-two savage beast.

Zhang Ruochen slowed his pace and looked ahead. "Indeed, it is a warrior of Square Commandery. His cultivation has already reached the Advanced Stage of the Black Realm, he is definitely a strong opponent."

Zhang Ruochen seemed to recognize the young warrior. He was one of the elite warriors of Square Commandery.

Zi Qian's five senses were indeed very powerful, much stronger than those of normal people.

Zhang Ruochen had to use the power of his Martial Soul and extend the Space Domain to be on her level.

The battle ended quickly. The warrior chopped through the Silver Dragon-lion's neck with one move and removed the beast's eyeballs.

The warrior from Square Commandery held the eyeballs and with delight on his face said to himself, "Another pair of eyeballs. With this Silver Dragon-lion, I have already killed three savage beasts."

Abruptly, he sensed something. He quickly put the eyeballs away, hefted his Third-class Genuine Martial Arms grade weapon, and called out. "Who's there? Come out immediately!"

Zhang Ruochen stepped out.

The warrior of Square Commandery saw Zhang Ruochen and his face overcame with delight. Laughing he said, "Is that the Ninth Prince of Yunwu Commandery? Haha! This is great, I didn't think my luck would be so good."

Zhang Ruochen asked, "Is there a need to be this happy seeing me?"

"Your Majesty, you have no idea! Prince Huo Xing has set a price for your head. If someone brings him your head, he will reward them with level-five Genuine Martial Arms. Now you know how valuable you are, don't you? Now you know why I'm so happy?" The warrior of Square Commandery smiled.

Zhang Ruochen frowned slightly and said, "Are you so confident that you can kill me?"

The warrior of Square Commandery gave a loud laugh. "You can defeat Shen Mengxi with one strike, but I can kill him with one strike. You must know, I'm a warrior at the Advanced Stage of the Black Realm."

Zhang Ruochen replied, "OK, let's battle!"

"You're not running away? Since you are so confident, then I will show you the difference between an Initial Stage warrior of the Black Realm and one at the Advanced Stage."

The warrior of Square Commandery concentrated his Genuine Qi into his sword, immediately triggering five lines of inscription. The flat of the sword glowed with fire.

He cut the air with his sword and a wave of heat billowed out, causing the leaves on the ground to be whipped into the air.

"Phew!"

The leaves caught fire, like fire rain caught in the void space.

Pieces of the fiery leaves joined together and became a giant dragon, surging towards Zhang Ruochen.

Zhang Ruochen held one hand behind his back, and used his other hand to collect a thick layer of Genuine Qi. Striking out once, he pushed out an invisible wave of Qi.

"Brute Elephant Return to Field!"

It was Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm, the third strike.

Affected by the power of the strike, the leaves on the ground flew up and circled in the air. Hundreds and thousands of leaves joined together to form a five-meter-tall brute elephant, which charged forwards furiously.