Chapter 242: A Thousand Bones
Translator: Transn Editor: Transn
“What? A Half-Saint’s Sacred Glyph!”
Zhang Ruochen felt his heart leap and he quickly asked, “Did he tell you where he put that Glyph?”
The slave girl shook her head.
She was only a slave girl in Mu Qing’s eyes, how could he have possibly told her the location of the Half-Saint’s Sacred Glyph?
Suddenly, she spoke again, “Mu Qing’s life was well-ordered. If he wasn’t on the Red Spider Vessel, he would be at his mansion in the black market. The Half-Saint’s Sacred Glyph must be in one of these two places.
The Half-Saint’s Sacred Glyph was indeed very precious. Not only could it help Zhang Ruochen practice his Spiritual Power, it could also help him perceive the way of the Half-Saint’s Martial Arts.
It must be noted, Zhang Ruochen only reached the Completion of the Heaven Realm in his last life, and he was still very far from the Half-Saint Realm.
Zhang Ruochen had all the slave girls wait in the center section of the ship warehouse.
He headed to the lower level of the warehouse alone to look for the Half-Saint’s Sacred Glyph.
There were many secret rooms built in the lower level of the warehouse and each room was equipped with Inscriptions of Array. If a normal warrior were to break into here, it would be a dead end for him.
These Inscriptions of Array could not stop Zhang Ruochen. He only needed to use “Space Crack” to break through the Inscriptions of Array and enter the secret rooms.
In the secret rooms of the lowest level of the ship’s warehouse stored enormous fortune. There were more than 80,000 Spiritual Crystals alone. There were also large amounts of Genuine Martial Arms, Pills, martial technique manuals, and other precious goods. The combined total of all the Practice resources definitely amounted to more than 150,000,000 silver coins.
Furthermore, the value of the Red Spider Vessel itself had yet to be included.
This was a huge source of wealth. It might be the entire fortune of the Poisonous Spider Club in the southern border of the Square Commandery.
If the Poisonous Spider Club knew that such wealth had fallen into Zhang Ruochen’s hands, they would go crazy with rage.
Zhang Ruochen said, “The news will probably get out very quickly. Once the Poisonous Spider Club knows that the Red Spider Vessel has fallen into my hands, they will certainly dispatch a large number of masters to deal with me.”
Having searched the entire Red Spider Vessel, Zhang Ruochen still did not find the Half-Saint’s Sacred Glyph.
Seems like the Half-Saint’s Sacred Glyph must be located in Mu Qing’s mansion in the black market.
Zhang Ruochen did not touch the Practice resources in the Red Spider Vessel. Stepping out of the lowest level, he then flew the Red Spider Vessel to Lin’an County Town and hovered in the air above. He escorted the 24 slave girls into town in search of the troops.
There were only 3,000 troops stationed in the Lin’an County Town.
When the general guarding the city heard about the arrival of the Ninth Prince, he immediately rushed to welcome him. He did not dare to keep him waiting at all.
“Ah, so the mysterious youth who dueled with Hua Minggong earlier was the Ninth Prince. My god! The Ninth Prince’s cultivation has already reached such a high realm.”
The general had already visited the stronghold of the Poisonous Spider Club and saw the bodies of Hua Minggong and the Young Lord of the Poisonous Spiders. He had also discovered the identities of the two bodies through the captured evil warriors.
In the eyes of an ordinary soldier, Hua Minggong, who was a warrior of the Heaven Realm, was regarded as a legendary figure.
The general was stunned in shock when he heard that Hua Minggong and the Young Lord had died in Lin’an County Town. He was just about to send someone to report to the imperial court when the news of the Ninth Prince’s arrival had reached him, and so he quickly went to welcome him.
Upon learning the purpose of the Ninth Prince’s visit, the general immediately arranged 1000 soldiers to escort the 24 slave girls to Yunwu City, carrying along the Ninth Prince’s personal letter.
After he done dealing with the slave girls, Zhang Ruochen headed toward the exit of the town.
Arriving at the city gate, Zhang Ruochen saw a small, familiar figure.
It was a little girl around three or four years old. She had disheveled hair with a thin and emaciated face, but these could not conceal her cleaver demeanor. It was definitely the girl he had met when he first entered Lin’an County Town.
She stood there in the snow. Her face and hands were all red. She blinked, staring at Zhang Ruochen in the distance.
The long coat Zhang Ruochen had given her earlier had disappeared. She was still wearing thin, shabby clothes. Even her feet were bare, with no shoes in sight.
Zhang Ruochen was somewhat curious so he walked over and asked, “How come you are here? Where was the coat I gave you earlier, and the Blood Pill?”
The little girl stared up at him with her clear, rounded eyes while her fingers tugged on the corner of her clothes. She replied in a low voice, “I… I gave them to someone else!”
“Why are you so silly? If you wear the clothes, you can withstand the cold. And if you take the Blood Pill, you won’t feel hungry all winter. Why did you give them to someone else?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
The girl’s expression remained firm and showed no trace of regret, “I gave them away, and they helped me bury my mother.”
Zhang Ruochen suddenly understood and had nothing more to say. He observed the little girl closely and said, “Where is your mother buried? Can you take me to see her?”
The little girl tilted her head to the side and thought for a while before nodding. She walked off in the snow, her bare feet turned red from the cold. It was as if she had no idea what cold was, or her body had long frozen to numb.
For each step she took, she would sink in the snow up to her knees and left a trail of small footprints.
Zhang Ruochen walked behind her. Looking at her thin figure, he felt suspicion rose up in his heart.
In this cruel weather where cold and hunger battled, even a healthy adult would freeze to death if he stayed outside in the snow.
How could a little girl of three or four years old with such thin, shabby clothing and no food not freeze to death? Or starve to death?
“Stop!” Zhang Ruochen said.
The little girl stopped and turned her head. Her clear, big eyes were staring at Zhang Ruochen with confusion.
Walking to the front of her, Zhang Ruochen pressed down on her head with a finger and pinched it inch by inch. Following that, his hands first closed in on her vertebrae and moved downward to pinch her leg and feet joints.
After a moment, Zhang Ruochen drew back his hands and a smile played about his lips, “Unbelievable. There appear to be 1008 bones in the body. No wonder she hasn’t been frozen or starved to death. After all, she has “Thousand-bones Physique.”
A normal person only had 206 bones.
Of course, when they were young, they had a few extra bones and could reach up to 218 bones. That was because their bones were not completely formed at a young age.
Thus, the youth was the best time to practice Martial Arts. Upon reaching maturity, the bones would be shaped. Then, they would not be able to reach their full potential even if they did practice Martial Arts.
For a human to have 1008 bones was truly a miracle in terms of bone structure. She would be a genius at martial arts and only lacked the opportunity to do so. If she had the opportunity she would surely improve quickly and soar above the rest.
This was a physical quality gifted by heaven!
Take Zhang Ruochen for example, his physical quality in this life was very poor, and so he was physically weak and sick since young. Until the age of sixteen, he had not activated a Sacred Mark. Later he had died in his sickbed due to extreme cold.
If Zhang Ruochen’s soul from his previous life had not come to the present from 800 years ago and entered this body, he would not be given the chance to practice Martial Arts.
Zhang Ruochen owed everything he was today to the Practice of the Scripture of Emperor Ming’s Empyrean, as well as large quantities of Practice resources.
Therefore, Zhang Ruochen bought large amounts of pills and practiced the Dragon and Elephant Prajna Palm to strengthen his physical quality, as to make up for what he lacked from birth.
The little girl was different. She was born with her miraculous skeletal structure. Other people only had 206 bones, and yet she had 1008. Even Zhang Tiangui could not compare to her in terms of natural physical quality.
Legend had it that even dragons and phoenixes only had 999 bones, nine less than her.
So the so-called “humans among dragons and phoenixes” referred to the “Thousand-bones Physical Quality”.
If she were to be discovered by a large suzerain or a big family, they would definitely treat her like a priceless treasure.
There had only been one great emperor with Thousand-bone Physical Quality who practiced to the level of the “Nine Miracles Prodigy”. No one had been able to surpass him since.
The little girl became nervous as Zhang Ruochen moved his hands around to squeeze her body. She froze and grew more wary of Zhang Ruochen, afraid that he was a bad person.
Zhang Ruochen stared at her and asked, “What is your name?”
“Han Xue.” The little girl replied.
Zhang Ruochen asked again, “Why are you named Han Xue?”
The little girl replied, “Because daddy doesn’t like winter snow… he says, once it snows there is no food to eat. Not only will we starve, we will also freeze to death.”
“So he also doesn’t like you?” Zhang Ruochen asked.
“A girl can’t join the army. How can I practice Martial Arts if I don’t join the army? Also, girls are not as strong as boys, so I can’t farm or hunt either. Of course, daddy finds me annoying and useless. He hates me. He thinks I’m just as terrible as the cold wind and the snow in winter.”
She went silent for a while then said, “But he still froze to death in the snow. After mother and I buried him, we came to Lin’an County Town. We thought that once we reached the town we wouldn’t freeze to death, but in the end…”
Eyes brimming with tears, she began to cry again. After all, she was still a little girl.
Han Xue brought Zhang Ruochen to where her mother was buried. She was buried just outside the city under a small and simple mound.
But she was already satisfied. After all, she would not have been able to bury her mother at all with her own strength.
“SWISH!”
Zhang Ruochen found a three-meter-tall stone and smacked his palms against it. He sent out a hand-knife and split the giant rock cleanly in two.
Han Xue’s mouth dropped open and she stared in shock at the sight. She found it difficult to believe.
Zhang Ruochen raised his hand and the giant stone immediately flew up. Then, it landed on the mound under the guidance of his Genuine Qi. Zhang Ruochen extended his index finger, converged his Genuine Qi into it and began to quickly carve words into the stone.
“Mother to Han Xue.”
Engraved with eight characters, it became a simple tombstone.
Zhang Ruochen placed his hands on his back while staring at the tombstone in front of him. He asked, “Would you like to practice Martial Arts?”
Han Xue stood next to Zhang Ruochen, not even a meter tall. Her eyes lit up and she replied, “Yes!”
Zhang Ruochen nodded and said, “Since that is the case, then come with me! You can return once you succeed in your practice and build your mother a grand tomb.”