Chapter 9 The Truth Three Years Ago

"Exactly! It's indeed a low-grade spiritual-level sword technique, and what's more, it's a sword move diagram drawn by a powerful Heavenly Extreme Realm senior himself!"

Lin Fengxian had a look of joy on his face and immediately put away the formula and sword move diagram of the Heavenly Heart Sword Technique.

Great!

Having bought this low-grade spiritual-level sword technique, the foundation of the Lin family could be greatly enhanced.

The chief steward walked up to Zhang Ruochen and said, "Sir, the 'Heavenly Heart Sword Technique' was auctioned off for a total of 1.24 million silver coins. After deducting 12,000 silver coins paid to the auction house, there are 1.228 million silver coins in total. I wonder if you are going to exchange all of them into spirit crystals, or exchange them into blood pills, or deposit them in the Martial City Bank?"

Ordinary people used copper coins, silver coins, and gold coins when trading. However, martial artists usually used blood pills or spirit crystals when trading with each other.

Zhang Ruochen said, "Deposit 1.2 million silver coins in the Martial City Bank, exchange 20,000 silver coins into spirit crystals, and just give me the remaining 8,000 silver coins directly."

Half an hour later, the chief steward handed Zhang Ruochen a yellow crystal-cast card and said, "Sir, this is a three-star noble card of the Martial City Bank. 1.2 million silver coins have been deposited in the card."

The "noble card" was a symbol of status. There were very few people who could own a three-star noble card in the Yunwu Principality.

Having a three-star noble card meant that the wealth you possessed had reached more than one million silver coins.

Subsequently, the chief steward handed Zhang Ruochen a package containing twenty spirit crystals and 8,000 silver coins.

Without saying a word, Zhang Ruochen picked up the package and walked towards the outside of the Central Auction House.

"That person's back looks so familiar!"

Lin Ningshan stared at the gradually disappearing black figure and a sense of familiarity emerged in her heart.

Lin Fengxian said, "I also feel a bit familiar. We should have seen him in the palace. This person is not simple, and his real identity is probably quite intimidating."

Lin Ningshan asked curiously, "Father, why do you say so?"

Lin Fengxian's face became solemn and he said, "The ink of the 'Heavenly Heart Sword Technique' hasn't dried yet, which indicates that the sword move diagram was drawn today. And the person who drew the 'Heavenly Heart Sword Technique' must be a Heavenly Extreme Realm powerhouse."

"That is to say, either he is that Heavenly Extreme Realm powerhouse, or there is a Heavenly Extreme Realm powerhouse behind him. In either case, this person is not someone we can afford to offend."

"A Heavenly Extreme Realm powerhouse..." Lin Ningshan was extremely shocked and said, "Even Grandpa doesn't seem to have broken through to the Heavenly Extreme Realm yet."

Lin Fengxian nodded, with a look of longing in his eyes.

There were four major realms in martial arts: Yellow Extreme Realm, Mysterious Extreme Realm, Earth Extreme Realm, and Heavenly Extreme Realm.

The "Heavenly Extreme Realm" represented the ultimate realm of martial arts, a martial arts myth. A single person in this realm could withstand an army of 100,000 troops and was a true powerhouse.

Beyond the Heavenly Extreme Realm, it was beyond the scope of martial arts and even beyond the mortal body. The various means they could display were unimaginable for ordinary martial artists.

Lin Ningshan said, "There shouldn't be many Heavenly Extreme Realm powerhouses in the palace. If we go and investigate, we might be able to find out who it is."

Lin Fengxian's face turned serious and he said, "Don't ever do such a stupid thing. If we anger that Heavenly Extreme Realm powerhouse, our entire Lin family will have to pay a heavy price."

Lin Ningshan's eyes sparkled with wisdom and she said, "Father! I have a doubt. Since he is a big shot in the palace, he shouldn't lack silver coins. Why did he take out the spiritual-level sword technique for auction?"

Lin Fengxian pondered for a moment and said, "The eight spiritual-level martial skills of the royal family are all famous combat skills, and the 'Heavenly Heart Sword Technique' is not among them. We'd better not investigate this matter. A Heavenly Extreme Realm powerhouse is not someone our Lin family can afford to offend."

"Shan'er, you have the Sword Dao Martial God Mark and are the best candidate to practice the 'Heavenly Heart Sword Technique'. After you go back, you should go into seclusion to practice the 'Heavenly Heart Sword Technique'. If you can successfully cultivate the first move of the sword technique within three months, you will surely shine among the young talents of the royal relatives during the year-end assessment."

...

After leaving the Central Auction House, Zhang Ruochen walked out of the Martial City, walked around the royal city, found a secluded place, took off his black cloak and the unicorn-embossed gold boots, put them into the Space-Time Crystal, and put on a pair of ordinary cloth shoes instead.

With such an outfit, he looked like an ordinary young martial artist.

"Probably no one will recognize that I'm the mysterious person who auctioned the Heavenly Heart Sword Technique just now."

Zhang Ruochen carried the package containing spirit crystals and silver coins and walked into the Martial City again to buy the items he needed.

First, he spent 4,000 silver coins to buy twenty bottles of Marrow Cleansing Liquid.

Then, he spent 1,000 silver coins to buy 200 blood pills. With his current cultivation level, taking first-grade blood pills was enough. Two hundred first-grade blood pills were enough for him to take for half a year.

After that, he bought two other drugs that could improve cultivation, "Body Tempering Powder" and "Qi Gathering Pills".

The prices of these two drugs were very high. Even the genius disciples of those big families couldn't afford such treasures when they were at the initial stage of the Yellow Extreme Realm.

For Zhang Ruochen, who was "rich and powerful", as long as he could improve his cultivation quickly, it was worth spending more silver coins.

Finally, he spent five spirit crystals to buy five portions of Body Tempering Powder.

He spent ten spirit crystals to buy ten Qi Gathering Pills.

In addition, he spent 500 silver coins to buy the Bone Mending Ointment for Yun'er. Excluding the 1.2 million silver coins deposited in the Martial City Bank, he still had five spirit crystals and 2,500 silver coins left on him.

After putting all the purchased pills into the Space-Time Crystal, Zhang Ruochen returned to the palace again.

"Sister Yun'er, this is the Bone Mending Ointment I bought for you. It will definitely make your arm heal faster." Zhang Ruochen took out an exquisite ebony box and handed it to Yun'er.

Yun'er was slightly shocked for a moment, then took the ebony box in a flustered manner and opened it.

Immediately, a fragrant smell of medicine wafted out of the box.

She was both grateful and surprised in her heart and asked, "Your Highness the Ninth Prince, where... where did you get the silver coins to buy the Bone Mending Ointment?"

You should know that the worst Bone Mending Ointment cost at least 200 silver coins, and the better ones even cost 500 silver coins.

Zhang Ruochen smiled and said, "Sister Yun'er, I have some secrets that I can't tell you for the time being. I hope you can also keep them a secret for me."

Yun'er stared deeply at Zhang Ruochen for a moment, then nodded and said in a low voice, "Can I tell Lady Lin?"

"Not for now." Zhang Ruochen said.

"Alright! I promise you." Yun'er held the ebony box tightly in her hand and felt a bit relieved in her heart. Since His Highness the Ninth Prince could spend hundreds of silver coins to buy the Bone Mending Ointment for her, he must have had an extraordinary opportunity.

Perhaps His Highness the Ninth Prince could also become a martial arts powerhouse in the future!

Zhang Ruochen asked, "There's one thing that I've always been puzzled about and I hope Sister Yun'er can tell me the truth. Since Mother is the younger sister of the Lin family's head, why did Mother sever ties with the Lin family? What exactly happened three years ago?"

Yun'er sighed and said, "Because Your Highness the Ninth Prince has always been weak and sickly and couldn't bear stimulation, this matter has been kept hidden. Since Your Highness the Ninth Prince has now activated the Martial God Mark, I'll tell you about it."

"You should still remember Lin Chenyu, the number one genius of the Lin family. He's your cousin and the eldest son of the Lin family's head. At the age of seventeen, he had already cultivated to the Great Perfection of the Yellow Extreme Realm."

"But three years ago, Lin Chenyu offended another even more remarkable genius and was beaten and had his legs broken by that genius and then locked up in the Heavenly Prison."

"How could this happen?" Zhang Ruochen said, "The Lin family is also a first-class big family in the Yunwu Principality. Who would dare to lock up the number one genius of the Lin family in the Heavenly Prison? Could it be that the genius Lin Chenyu offended has a very powerful background?"

Yun'er nodded and said, "Yes! The one Lin Chenyu offended is the most dazzling prodigy in the Yunwu Principality, His Highness the Seventh Prince. In front of His Highness the Seventh Prince, other geniuses would immediately fade into insignificance."

"So that's how it is!" Zhang Ruochen nodded, finally understanding.

Yun'er continued, "After Lin Chenyu was locked up in the Heavenly Prison, the Lin family's head immediately rushed to the palace to beg Lady Lin. He hoped that Lady Lin could come forward and plead with the Prince for mercy. As long as Lin Chenyu's life could be spared, the Lin family was willing to pay any price."

"Lady Lin naturally went to beg to see the Prince immediately, but was stopped by the Queen. Because of this matter, Lady Lin had an argument with the Queen. In a rage, the Queen ordered people to cane Lady Lin thirty times. By the time the thirty strokes were finished, Lady Lin was covered in blood and on the verge of death."

"Bang!"

Zhang Ruochen slapped a palm on a pillar, gritted his teeth and said, "Didn't the Yunwu Prince care about this matter at all?"

Yun'er said, "You should know that His Highness the Seventh Prince is the most talented among the nine sons of the Prince and is deeply loved by the Prince and has high hopes placed on him. The Yunwu Prince investigated the truth and found that the whole incident was indeed all Lin Chenyu's fault. His Highness the Seventh Prince was almost killed by Lin Chenyu."

"Because of this matter, the Yunwu Prince was extremely angry. He thought that since it was clearly Lin Chenyu who had made a big mistake, yet Lady Lin still wanted to plead for him, she was simply being unreasonable."

"Although the Yunwu Prince used to love Lady Lin very much, after this incident, he became much colder towards her."

Yun'er continued, "The Lin family didn't understand the grievances Lady Lin suffered. They didn't dare to offend the Queen and His Highness the Seventh Prince, so they put all the blame on Lady Lin. They thought that it was precisely because Lady Lin didn't go to plead with the Prince that the Lin family lost a top-notch genius. Since then, the Lin family has completely severed ties with Lady Lin and no longer recognized her as a member of the Lin family."

Zhang Ruochen took a deep breath, feeling a bit bitter in his heart. He felt it was unfair for Lady Lin. He clenched his fists tightly and punched the pillar again, saying in a deep voice, "Power! In this world, without powerful strength, one can't even stand firm and can't get fair treatment at all!"