Chapter 4: 1st Layer Tempered Body Realm

The Queen, who wore a colorful dress and a golden phoenix tiara, was sitting in a tent near the altar. In Zhang Ruotian's eyes, the Queen was an elderly woman, but she looked like a 28- or 29-year-old lady with an elegant and refined character.

"His majesty is in closed door training, so I will be in charge of this year's ceremony. Minister, have you evaluated the classes of the Sacred Marks that the Ninth and Tenth Prince have acquired?" asked the Queen.

The Minister of the Yunwu's Commandey shook his head as he checked the metallic book in his hand. "'The Bible of the Sacred Marks' records all the marks of the Martial Artists in Kunlun Field. From First Class to Ninth Class, all marks were documented in this metallic book. However, none of them matches that of the Ninth and Tenth Prince."

The Queen then looked at two brothers lazily and said: "If there is no corresponding mark in the book, then I suggest that the Sacred Marks that you have acquired were a Class Zero Sacred Marks. In fact, this has happened to warriors of other commanderies in the past. Eventually, limited achievements have been made."

The Eighth Prince who was also inside the tent. He interrupted and said: "The Queen nailed it! After all, our ninth brother is 16 years old and the tenth is 15 years old. They lost the best age to cultivate martial arts. Even if they obtained a Sacred Mark of Fourth or Fifth Class, I doubt it that they would get anywhere."

The Queen nodded to acknowledge what the Eighth Prince had said. "To preserve refining resources as much as possible for other warriors of the Royal Family, only a bottle of Marrow-Washing Liquid will be given to the Ninth and Tenth Prince, since they only have a Zero-Classes Sacred Marks."

Concubine Lin was shocked and her expression changed after hearing what the Queen had said. "My Queen, it is a fact that the first year of acquisition of the Sacred Mark is the most significant year in terms of cultivation. Do you remember the year when the Seventh Prince acquired the Sacred Mark? He received 12 bottles of Marrow-Washing Liquid in 12 months. Why will my Tian'er and Chen-er only receive one bottle of it?" exclaimed Concubine Lin.

"The Seventh Prince had already acquired a Sacred Mark of Seventh Class when he was three years old. How dare you compare the Ninth and the Tenth Prince to a genius?" The Queen replied sternly.

The Eighth Prince, who wanted to please the Queen, said: "Our seventh brother is the son of our Queen, who is the first wife of the Commandery Prince. He has a Seventh Class Sacred Mark that guarantees powerful descendants for the Queen. Nobody is comparable to my seventh brother in the entire Yunwu Commandery! Both the stability and prosperity of the Yunwu Command in the future depend on him."

"Furthermore, it is impossible to compare the Seventh Prince and the Ninth and the Tenth Prince. My seventh brother's fingertip is a thousand times more important than the life of my ninth and tenth brother," he added.

Concubine Lin bit her lip hard and continued to argue with the Eighth Prince. "Don't forget that when you obtained your Sacred Mark, you were given four bottles of Marrow Washing Liquid. Why can Ruotian and Ruochen only have one? This is so unfair!" shouted Concubine Lin. As a mother, she was doing her best to protect Zhang Ruotian and Zhang Ruochen and fought for what they deserved to receive. After all, the more Marrow Washing Liquid, the better they could cultivate Martial Arts.

"The more talent a person has, the more resources he receives to cultivate his skills. Apparently, the talent of the Ninth and Tenth Prince is not as significant as that of the Seventh Prince or Eighth Prince. Compared to his notable brothers, they certainly should get fewer resources." The Queen responded angrily to Concubine Lin.

"But wait..." Screeched Concubine Lin, who had led the discussion with the queen.

However, she really angered the Queen before asking for anything. "I've made my decision, Concubine Lin. Don't you dare challenge me again! Otherwise, I'll have you beaten with a stick again!" said the Queen in a low voice.

"What? Again?"

Zhang Ruotian's eyes went wide and terrifying coldness filled them. He clenched his fists so hard that even his nails went through his translucent white skin.

He never imagined that his mother had been beaten once, a great indignation grew in his heart as he looked at the queen with his bloody eyes full of the killing intent.

She was his mother, the only one who took care of him, had given him something to eat and wear, something he had never experienced in his previous life as an orphan.

And here she was being demoted as something worthless in front of him, for just asking for justice for her beloved children.

But before he could do or say anything, a hand touched his right shoulder.

"Don't act rashly, we still don't have enough power to go against them, so we can only retreat this time, a wise man knows when to retreat and move forward," advised Zhang Ruochen.

"Big Brother?" Zhang Ruotian looked at him and regained his wits. "Yes, you are right I shouldn't act hastily at this moment, as this can have a bad influence on the mother..."

Zhang Ruochen nodded and said: "As long as you understand, there will be no problems. We can only endure this in silence, but who knows that in the future it will change."

Zhang Ruotian nodded in agreement. In this world you cannot do anything without power, the weak are trampled by the strong. That's right, it was what they were experiencing cruelly today, but it also helped him to understand that this was not a video game but real life!

He could die without knowing how for his hasty actions and end up hurting those with disabilities around him if he doesn't have enough strength.

He looked at Zhang Ruochen in surprise, he never expected his big brother to be so calm in this situation and he was the first to try to act, it seems that he needs to learn to control his emotions proficiently.

Concubine Lin fell silent immediately upon hearing what the Queen had said. Concubine Lin's body shivered slightly, as if she were remembering some scary memory from the past, it was certainly something she had to do with the queen and the stick.

While Zhang Ruotian and Zhang Ruochen were having a brotherhood interaction, two bottles of Marrow Washing Liquid was delivered to them, each with a single bottle.

Zhang Ruochen grabbed the bottle so hard he almost broke it. However, he did not, as it could hurt Concubine Lin, his mother who struggled to get the bottle for him.

He looked sternly at the Eighth Prince and Queen as if he were recording them in his mind and said: "Mother, big brother since we got what we wanted, we must excuse ourselves because I don't want be staying here even for a second."

Zhang Ruochen naturally knew what his brother meant. He spared some face for Concubine Lin and giving her a way out of this embarrassing situation, but he also insulted the Eight Prince and Queen by saying that he couldn't bear to stay in the same place as them.

It was like killing a bird with one stone!

He had to admit that his little brother was really smart and insightful. He walked towards Concubina Lin and Zhang Ruotian and laughed: "Since you can't bear to stay here, we should excuse ourselves and go home quickly."

"Well!" Concubine Lin pursed his lips and nodded bitterly and gave up complaining because it will not bring results as expected. It seemed that even Concubine Lin was uncomfortable with something the queen had said.

It seemed that the queen had also noticed the tension between the two brothers and her. She looked at Concubine Lin, Zhang Ruotina and Zhang Ruochen as they walked away and murmured: "Ninth and Tenth Prince, you better practice as much as you can in preparation for the End of Year Assessment among the Royal Family in three months. You have to do your very best to reach the 'Marrow Washing and Channel Breaking' stage within these three months so that you can become an exceptional warrior. At that time, His Majesty will have finished his self-refining and will attend the assessment. If you can achieve this result in such a short period of time, he will be overwhelmed with joy."

"Even if you gave them three bottles of Marrow Washing Liquid, it is impossible to reach the stage of Marrow Wash and Channel Breaking in three months. Not to brag, but even with my talents, I still spent six months to cultivate this ability. Since my ninth and tenth brother acquired a Zero Classes Sacred Marks from the gods, I think they will probably need more than a year to acquire the technique. Haha!" The Eighth Prince scornfully stated that he considered Zhang Ruotian and Zhang Ruochen more of a circus clown than brothers.

Zhang Ruotian obviously heard what they said, as he had not advanced far from the door. His red blooded eyes shone with cold light, and he thought to himself: "Tsk! Who needs your advice, you old witch! You'll see when I make your mouths open like a window."

Zhang Ruochen also did not care much about what the Queen said, his eyes occasionally shone with an indescribable light and no one could know what he was thinking.

The trio left the Queen's courtyard without any problems. However, in the end they broke up as Zhang Ruotian was in a hurry to open his Spiritual Ring.

Concubine Lin was reluctant because she wanted to celebrate that her two sons had at last acquired their sacred marks, but she knew that their duties now were to cultivate to be a warrior and they would not have much more time than before.

Zhang Ruotian returned to his empty courtyard, with no servants or maids. But he was used to it and he liked the calm in his house.

Without delay, he entered his room and sat in a lotus position on the floor like a monk trying to achieve enlightenment.

The name of a cultivation method came to mind as a projection that would never go away.

The Sixty-Six Eternal God Emperors Technique!

The Sixty-Six Eternal God Emperors Technique was a Perfect Heaven Grade cultivation method!

According to the memories of the gods who reached the peak of Immortal cultivation, the martial arts in Immortal cultivation are divided from the highest to the lowest: Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, Human and Mortal.

Which classifications are also separated from highest to lowest: Perfect, Half-Perfect, Superior, Medial and Lower.

So one can imagine how powerful "The Sixty-Six Eternal God Emperors Technique" was.

He immediately began circulating the "The Sixty-Six Eternal God Emperors Technique". Genuine Qi started being absorbed from the atmosphere, Genuine Qi circulated in his body passing through his meridians.

Zhang Ruotian immediately directed the Genuine Qi through his body. The Genuine Qi was also very cooperative, walking as he handled it.

Urgh!

After directing and circulating the Genuine Qi through his body, unbearable pain came out of nowhere as if thousands of swords were mutilating his body.

The pain was unbearable but it was not enough to bring down Zhang Ruotian's willpower. On the contrary, he began to circulate the "The Sixty-Six Eternal God Emperors Technique" even faster thus making the pain even more intolerable.

However, he ignored the pain and continued to circulate the "The Sixty-Six Eternal God Emperors Technique". His breath was labored, his whole body was soaked in red wine, his previously snow-white skin was streaked with red.

The Genuine Qi began to refine his body nonstop, he felt as if his skin, organs, bones, and meridians were being destroyed and rebuilt at the same time.

The pain he was going through was unimaginable. Suddenly a scorching heat came from his body like an erupting volcano.

Bang!

A deafening sound like a dragon's roar and celestial screams of a phoenix resounded inside his body, while a great wave of Genuine Qi was directed down his lower body.

Genuine Qi began to combine, thus condensing a transparent ball-shaped embryo. The more Genuine Qi was soaked up at the lower part of his body, the more the transparent ball took shape.

After a few minutes, the transparent ball had finally formed. The ball was suspended below his navel and of course, Zhang Ruotian knew what that was.

It was a dantian!

And why did he form a dantian?

The answer to that question was very simple, he didn't have one, because to cultivate Immortality one is needed. Since the dantian was the organ that housed all his cultivation, it was also where a cultivator kept his energy absorbed from the atmosphere.

So without a dantian, you can only be an ordinary mortal in your life.

However, since his dantian was successfully formed, this meant that he sucessfully entered the 1st Layer Tempered Body. This made him normally happy, because now he just needed to build the Pool of Qi under the Sacred Mark on his eyebrows.

Only after that, was he finally able to open his meridians and enter the Initial Stage of the Yellow Realm.

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Equivalent to God Empepor's Chapter 3: The Yellow Realm

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