Chapter 171: The Dragon Horn
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
Facing Zhang Ruochen without speaking, Zi Qian stared at him coldly with her clear and beautiful eyes.
Zhang Ruochen frowned and said, “Maybe I didn’t consider enough beforehand. I thought that you wouldn’t mind…”
“Save it!”
With her lips pressed together, Zi Qian put away her sword and continued, “If you were anyone else, I would definitely kill you. But since you’ve saved me twice, I’ll let it go. What’s more… I do mind!”
Indeed, Zi Qian had made her point rather clear. She was telling Zhang Ruochen that she did mind if other men saw her body, but she would not mind if it was him.
However, Zhang Ruochen did not get her implication. He smiled breezily and replied. “Are we still friends?”
“No one wants to be your friend. I’m a killer from the black market while you are a genius of the School of the Martial Market. We are totally incompatible, and we will become enemies one day,” said Zi Qian coldly.
Zhang Ruochen still did not get her meaning. Suddenly, he thought of another issue and asked seriously, “Who unsealed the Purgatory of the Red River?”
Zi Qian also turned serious and replied. “The power within the black market is very complicated. It includes the killers’organizations like the Hades Department, schools of some heretics, chambers of Commerce made up of businessmen from the black market, the Female Warriors’ League made up of prostitutes, and so on. The black market represents the dark side of the world that has countless forces—even I can’t list all of them.”
“Every organization is a member of the black market. They are independent of one another, interdependent on one another, and hostile to one another.”
“Each of them may send spies to the School of the Martial Market and those spies must keep their identities strictly confidential. So I really have no idea who unleashed the seal of the Purgatory of the Red River.”
Zhang Ruochen looked even more interrogative and confused. He asked, “Then why did the heretics from the black market force you to the corner of rock cave?”
Zi Qian said, “You’ve heard of the Fourth Level Dragon Cave, haven’t you?”
“No. What is that place?” asked Zhang Ruochen with doubt.
“What? How can you not know?” Zi Qian responded in surprise, “So you’ve never been to the Fourth Level Dragon Cave since entering the Chikong Secret Mansion?”
Zhang Ruochen shook his head and answered, “I was secluding myself for refining.”
Everyone who went to the Chikong Secret Mansion was making the best use of their time to search for treasures, and yet, he spent most of his time refining.
What was the point of coming to the Chikong Secret Mansion if he only secluded himself for refining?
Zi Qian gave Zhang Ruochen a cold stare and said, “The Fourth Level Dragon Cave was once the Four-wing Earth Dragon’s nest, and it was also the major battlefield of the war between humans and savage beasts. Many treasures were left there. So after entering the Chikong Secret Mansion, many students rush to the Fourth Level Dragon Cave to search for the treasures.”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “How many of them have found the treasures now?”
Zi Qian shook her head slightly and answered, “It’s not easy to find these treasures at all. The Four-wing Earth Dragon is known as the Saint of the savage beasts, so it left a huge amount of Spiritual Qi in the Fourth Level Dragon Cave, which gives birth to many powerful underground savage beasts. It’s very dangerous there. Therefore, no one dares to go inside, so we can only search at the boundary of the Fourth Level Dragon Cave.”
Zhang Ruochen sighed slightly and said, “You guys are over-ambitious. No doubt it’s hard to find the treasures left by a Saint. Why don’t you go to some places where the Half-Saints fell? Maybe you can find more treasures there.”
“Really?”
Zi Qian took out three Three Leaf Holy Clovers from the Spatial Ring and said complacently, “I found these Three Leaf Holy Clovers at the boundary of the Fourth Level Dragon Cave. You can’t find this treasure anywhere else… Wait! How come you have so many… so many Three Leaf Holy Clovers…”
Zhang Ruochen took out an entire jade box full of 98 Three Leaf Holy Clovers and opened it right in front of Zi Qian.
A fragrance of medicine emanated from within it.
Zi Qian’s jaw dropped when she saw the box. She clenched her beautiful fingers together, held her breath, and asked, “Where did you collect all these Three Leaf Holy Clovers?”
Zhang Ruochen closed the box and put it away. He said, “The entire Chikong Secret Mansion is full of treasures. Not merely the Fourth Level Dragon Cave is the sanctum to find them.”
Seeing Zhang Ruochen so proud of himself, Zi Qian was a little displeased. After considering, she took out a palm-sized vessel and grabbed it with her hand.
It looked similar to a dagger, but slightly different. There were some meticulous lines carved on the surface, making three bulges. The entire ware was very weird.
“I found this eighth-level Genuine Martial Arm at the boundary of the Fourth Level Dragon Cave. There are altogether 59 inscriptions on it. I was hunted down by Tu Yun and others because they found me with it.”
Zi Qian furrowed her long black eyebrows and said with a slight sigh, “But I still don’t know what it is used for. It looks like neither a Genuine Martial Arms for attacking nor for defense.”
Zhang Ruochen stared at the weird eighth-level Genuine Martial Arm with delight. He said, “I’ll exchange something for it!”
“With what?” Zi Qian looked up and stared at him.
Zhang Ruochen took out the box with the Three Leaf Holy Clovers again and said, “With 20 Three Leaf Holy Clovers.”
“20 Three Leaf Holy Clovers?” Zi Qian was a little desirous.
20 Three Leaf Holy Clovers would allow her to break through to the Initial Stage of the Earth Realm or even the Mid Stage of the Earth Realm in a short period of time.
A weird Genuine Martial Arm meant nothing to her. Hence, it would be a great deal for her to exchange it for some Three Leaf Holy Clovers, which could improve her ability.
20 Three Leaf Holy Clovers could be sold for 10,000 Spiritual Crystals in the black market, which was equal to hundreds of thousands of silver coins.
Zi Qian did not rush to respond. She thought about it for a while and bargained with him. “30!”
“There you go!”
Without hesitation, Zhang Ruochen took out 30 Three Leaf Holy Clovers and handed them to Zi Qian for that weird eighth-level Genuine Martial Arms.
Holding the eighth-level Genuine Martial Arms in his hand, Zhang Ruochen fondled it carefully. Then, he transferred his Genuine Qi into it and kept feeling the scent of this Genuine Martial Arms.
This was the first time that Zi Qian ever saw Zhang Ruochen so infatuated with something. She suddenly felt that it was a losing proposition for her.
“Zhang Ruochen, do you know its real use?” asked Zi Qian tentatively.
Zhang Ruochen nodded and told her the truth. “This is a key refined by a dragon horn. What’s more, this dragon horn throws off the most genuine dragon Qi. Thus, it must have been cut off from a dragon of a Saint’s level. Only the Four-wing Earth Dragon was in the Realm of Saints in the entire Omen Ridge.”
“What you’re saying is that this is a dragon horn from the Four-winged Earth Dragon?” Zi Qian widened her beautiful eyes and stared at the weird eighth-level Genuine Martial Arms, wanting to steal it back.
That was a dragon horn of a Saint dragon! It could be sold at a sky-high price in the black market.
Zi Qian was not reconciled and said, “Zhang Ruochen, this is the first time I find you to be a shameless person. How can you offer only 30 Three Leaf Holy Clovers in exchange for my dragon horn?”
Zhang Ruochen smiled slightly and replied. “That is how business works. It was consensual. Don’t worry! The dragon horn is actually a key to a certain door. If I find the door, I will definitely take you along to search for the Four-winged Earth Dragon’s treasures. I won’t mistreat you!”
“Zhang Ruochen, why are you two being so soppy? What are you talking about?” A soft voice shouted from a distance.
The voice was like thunder, shaking the air of the entire underground world.
A moment passed.
Turning into a graceful shadow, Huang Yanchen flew over to them on a storm using the Step of the Royal Wind Dragon.
Seeing Huang Yanchen suddenly appear, Zhang Ruochen did not hide the dragon horn. He said magnanimously, “I was two meters away from my junior sister apprentice Zi, how could we be soppy?”
Huang Yanchen landed. With her long gown trailing along the ground and her fine jaw raised, she walked towards Zhang Ruochen. She sneered and said, “You said that you wouldn’t mistreat her. Why would you say that if you had done nothing indecent?”
Zhang Ruochen was speechless.
Huang Yanchen glanced at Zi Qian and noticed the oversized gown on her tiny body. She changed color and said, “Zhang Ruochen, how dare you quibble with me? Although our engagement is fake, it is still an engagement, and everyone knows that you are my fiance now. How dare you disgrace me by hooking up with other girls?”
Zhang Ruochen replied. “If you think that I disgraced you, you can ask the Qianshui Commandery Prince to call the engagement off now. I’m completely fine with that!”
Huang Yanchen gave an arrogant look and said, “When I said I’ll cancel it in three years, I’ll cancel it in three years. I’m as good as my word. By the way, what’s in your hand?”
Zhang Ruochen was disappointed by her refusal.
Zhang Ruochen did not want to keep the dragon horn a secret from Huang Yanchen. After all, he could not pocket the treasure of the Four-winged Earth Dragon alone. He answered, “As far as I’m concerned, this is a dragon horn of the Four-winged Earth Dragon.”
“A dragon horn of the Four-winged Earth Dragon?”
Huang Yanchen was surprised with delight. She stretched her beautiful hand out toward Zhang Ruochen and said, “I’ll keep this important treasure for you. Since I’m more powerful, I can keep it safer.”
Zhang Ruochen would never give it to Huang Yanchen. He shook his head and laughed. “My senior sister apprentice Huang, do you really believe that you are more powerful than me?”
Huang Yanchen’s eyes became even brighter. She replied. “It seems like you want to exchange blows with me! Fine! If you can block my attack without being hurt, you can keep the dragon horn yourself. But if you can’t block it, you must hand it over to me.”
She did not ask for Zhang Ruochen’s opinion at all. In a second, a fierce storm formed around her body, turning into a huge tornado. Strong power gathered around her.
After entering the Chikong Secret Mansion, Huang Yanchen also improved her cultivation greatly.
She did not simply reach the Initial Stage of the Earth Realm, but rather, she was about to break into Mid Stage of the Earth Realm.
The strong wind power covered over 333 meters, making a loud whistling noise.
Suddenly, Huang Yanchen threw a punch. Her speed was as fast as lightning, and it came in front of Zhang Ruochen in no time.
Standing firmly in the storm, Zhang Ruochen slightly smiled and struck out four times at a very high speed.
The four punches integrated together and turned into one palmprint. It became four times stronger than before.
“Boom!”
Two powerful forces clashed together, resulting in an ear-splitting sound.
Zhang Ruochen and Huang Yanchen flew backward under the clash. It was a draw.