Zhang Ruocheng's gaze was sharp, and his will was firm as he said, "Mother, don't worry! I will quickly cultivate and become a powerful warrior, using my own strength to protect you."
Holding the blood pill, Zhang Ruocheng returned to his room and continued to train diligently.
"Your Majesty, I've heard that warriors not only need to take blood pills, but they also need to cultivate martial arts techniques. One must have a martial art technique to open up meridians," said the maid, Yun'er.
Queen Lin looked at Zhang Ruocheng's departing figure, pursed her lips, and nodded bitterly. "I know! But even the lowest-grade martial arts technique costs over five hundred silver coins, which I can't afford with my current finances. Furthermore, the queen and the national teacher are in charge of the court, and the queen would never let Ruocheng take martial arts techniques from the 'Library Hall.' It seems there is only one way left."
The maid, Yun'er, said, "Your Majesty, are you going to beg the Lin family? But three years ago, you completely fell out with them. Would they give the Ninth Prince a martial arts technique?"
"As long as they are willing to give Ruocheng the martial arts technique, I am willing to kneel and apologize, even if it means humiliating myself," said Queen Lin, her eyes filled with tears as if recalling some past event.
"But it wasn't your fault back then..." Yun'er sighed lightly.
Inside the space of the time crystal stone, the spiritual energy was abundant, about twice as dense as the outside world.
In Yunwu County, the spiritual energy concentration of those famous mountains and rivers would be considered a cultivation treasure if it reached 1.5 times that of the outside world, and it would be fought over by various families.
Sitting in the center of the inner space, Zhang Ruocheng took out a jade bottle containing ten blood pills and sniffed one lightly.
Although "blood pills" were made from the blood of savage beasts, they did not have a bloody smell; instead, they carried a faint fragrance.
When the alchemist refined the blood pills, they removed the blood scent and added tiger's vine grass and mandala flowers.
Long-term use of blood pills not only provided a continuous source of strength for the warrior, but it also improved the warrior's meridians, bones, and organs, making the body stronger.
"It's only a Grade One blood pill," Zhang Ruocheng murmured. "With my current cultivation, one Grade One blood pill is enough."
He swallowed a blood pill and immediately sealed the jade bottle and placed it back on the stone platform.
With the activation of his true energy, the blood energy from the pill quickly dissolved, providing Zhang Ruocheng with an endless supply of strength.
"Although I have reached the early stage of the Yellow Extreme Realm and become a warrior, this body is still too weak compared to other warriors. I need to strengthen my body, or I will suffer great losses when fighting other warriors of the same realm."
For warriors, it wasn't just about cultivating true energy but also cultivating martial arts techniques.
"Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm!"
A mysterious palm technique appeared in Zhang Ruocheng's mind, one of the top three martial arts techniques in the martial arts secret manual in his memory, perfect for his current cultivation.
His legs spread apart, his waist sank, and he filled his legs with true energy to stabilize his body. Slowly, he raised both arms and began to strike with his palms according to a certain mysterious pattern.
In his mind, he imagined himself as an ancient divine elephant with boundless strength and a deep abyssal dragon, with every strike using all his power as if he was expelling every bit of strength from his body.
Every strike activated his muscles, and the true energy flowed into his muscles and bones, transforming them to become stronger, more resilient, and even merging with the true energy.
The Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm consisted of thirteen palm prints, classified as a low-grade royal martial technique.
To be precise, if one could cultivate the Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm to the thirteenth palm, it would be almost comparable to a divine-level martial technique.
Martial techniques and cultivation methods were divided into five ranks: Human, Spirit, Ghost, King, and God.
The first palm of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm, "Wild Elephant Charging the Earth," was comparable to a low-grade human martial technique when successfully cultivated.
The second palm, "Flying Dragon in the Sky," was comparable to a mid-grade human martial technique.
The third palm, "Dragon Elephant Returning to the Field," was comparable to a high-grade human martial technique.
The fourth palm, "Dragon Shape Shadow," was comparable to a low-grade spirit martial technique.
...
The thirteenth palm, known as "Dragon Elephant Destroying the World," was comparable to a divine-level martial technique, with unimaginable power when unleashed.
The earlier palms of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm were low-level techniques with relatively weak power, and the technique was extremely difficult to cultivate. Few could cultivate past the seventh palm.
Beyond the seventh palm, each additional palm required enormous amounts of time and energy to cultivate. If one could not withstand the overwhelming yang energy in their body, they might even burn their own body.
For these reasons, the Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm was considered a low-grade royal technique.
Although it was extremely difficult to cultivate, it was perfect for Zhang Ruocheng to practice now, as it could quickly make his body stronger.
"Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm, first palm, Wild Elephant Charging the Earth."
Zhang Ruocheng first stood in a horse stance, then quickly moved his feet, charging forward and striking out the palm print.
Still as a mountain, moving like a wild elephant.
He practiced again and again until his true energy was depleted, then sat cross-legged, using the divine martial mark on his forehead to absorb the spiritual energy from the time crystal stone's inner space and convert it into a continuous stream of true energy.
In the inner space of the time crystal stone, he practiced for nine days, finally mastering the first palm of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm, "Wild Elephant Charging the Earth."
In the inner space, those nine days were equivalent to only three days in the outside world.
"I wonder how strong the power of the first palm of Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm is with my current cultivation?"
Zhang Ruocheng walked out of the inner space and into the backyard, standing in the center of the courtyard, circulating the true energy within his body and filling his legs.
"Wild Elephant Charging the Earth."
He stepped in a rhythmic pattern and suddenly charged forward.
As his steps advanced, a powerful force surged from his legs, traveling through his waist, spine, back, and shoulders, bursting out through his arms.
Though it was just a single palm, it activated every muscle in his body, and the explosive power was astounding.
"Boom!"
His palms struck a boulder weighing a thousand jin, leaving two shallow palm-shaped dents on the surface. The bottom of the stone sank about two centimeters into the earth.
Zhang Ruocheng was quite satisfied with the power of this strike.
Although the Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm was still just a low-grade human martial technique, it was far superior to other human-level martial techniques in terms of its subtlety and explosive power.
"The higher the rank of the martial technique, the harder it is to cultivate. If I had directly cultivated a spirit-grade martial technique, I definitely wouldn't have been able to master it in just nine days. It would have taken at least half a year. Moreover, with my current true energy, I wouldn't even be able to execute a spirit-grade martial technique."
Cultivating martial techniques and cultivation methods must be properly balanced.
If one focused too much on martial techniques and neglected the cultivation of true energy, their cultivation progress would be slow.
If one focused too much on cultivation methods and neglected martial techniques, they would be at a disadvantage in combat.
In any case, by mastering the first palm of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Palm, Zhang Ruocheng had gained a basic ability to protect himself after eight hundred years.
In these nine days, Zhang Ruocheng's cultivation had also advanced significantly, and the true energy in his energy pool had reached its limit, meaning he could now begin to open up his second meridian.
However, to open up a meridian, he would need to use a Body Cleansing Liquid. The queen had only given him one portion of it, which he had already used to open up the first meridian.
How could he obtain a second portion of Body Cleansing Liquid, or even more?
"Ninth Prince, Your Majesty has been looking for you. What are you doing here?" Yun'er, the maid, asked curiously as she walked over when she saw Zhang Ruocheng standing in the courtyard.
Yun'er was the only maid serving Queen Lin and Zhang Ruocheng. She was about seventeen or eighteen years old, quite beautiful, with bright eyes and a sharp chin.
Zhang Ruocheng walked over to Yun'er, blocking her view to prevent her from seeing the two palm imprints on the distant thousand-jin stone. He asked with concern, "Yun'er, how's your arm?"
Yun'er gently shook her head and said, "It takes about a hundred days to heal broken bones. It will probably take another two or three months before it fully recovers."
The injury on her arm was caused a few days ago when the Eighth Prince had slapped her, causing her arm to break. For people like them, even if they were beaten to death, the Eighth Prince wouldn't need to take any responsibility.
In a world where the strong ruled, the weak had no status.
Zhang Ruocheng said, "Why not buy some Bone Healing Ointment?"
Yun'er smiled bitterly while enduring the pain in her arm. "Even the cheapest Bone Healing Ointment costs two hundred silver coins. People like us, who are of low status, can't afford it. Ninth Prince, your concern for us is already much appreciated. Please come with me to see Your Majesty. Today, we are going to leave the palace."
Zhang Ruocheng followed behind Yun'er, curious. "Leave the palace? Where are we going?"
"We're going to see Ning Shan! It's been a long time since you saw her. You must be very happy, right?" Yun'er smiled brightly as she looked at Zhang Ruocheng.
Every time Ning Shan was mentioned, Zhang Ruocheng's face would turn red, shy like a young girl.
"Who is Ning Shan?" Zhang Ruocheng was about to ask, but quickly swallowed the question.
It was obvious that the former Zhang Ruocheng knew someone named Ning Shan, and judging by Yun'er's tone, their relationship might not have been ordinary.
If Zhang Ruocheng asked "Who is Ning Shan?", it would surely raise suspicion. Therefore, it was better to remain silent and say as little as possible.
Fortunately, over the years, Zhang Ruocheng had been physically weak and rarely interacted with others, except for Queen Lin who always cared for him. Otherwise, people might have already started to suspect him.
Yun'er was surprised that Zhang Ruocheng was so calm but didn't think much about it and continued walking towards the courtyard where Queen Lin lived.