Chapter 96: The Life and Death Platform
Translator: TransnEditor: Transn
A sense of coldness showed in Feng Zhilin's eyes. His five fingers combined together again and aimed at breaking Zhang Shaochu's the other hand.
"Enough!" Zhang Ruochen exclaimed.
Feng Zhilin stopped his strike at the Fourth Prince and sneered. "My Ninth Prince, have you finally made up your mind?"
Zhang Ruochen looked irritated. He released the Death Sickle from Nie Xuan's throat and threw it on the ground, "Let my fourth brother go!"
Zhang Ruochen clearly knew that even though he had threatened Feng Zhilin with Nie Xuan's life, it wouldn't work as Feng Zhilin didn't care about whether Nie Xuan was dead.
"That's right!"
When Feng Zhilin noticed that Zhang Ruochen had let Nie Xuan go, there was a cunning smile on his face. His hand still struck Zhang Shaochu ruthlessly and broke his arm.
Then Feng Zhilin threw Zhang Shaochu, who had fainted away because of the serious pain, aside. He stared at Zhang Ruochen and chuckled. "Your Highness, bear in mind this is the School of the Martial Market, not Yunwu Commandery. Every word you say, you must mean. When it's time to back down, you have to back down. Come on guys, destroy his arms and legs, now!"
The 20-odd students all attacked Zhang Ruochen at the same time as if they wanted to tear him into pieces.
Zhang Ruochen didn't bother to look at those who were rushing towards him. He stared coldly at Feng Zhilin and walked towards him little by little.
One of the students, who was at the Advanced Stage of the Black Realm, rushed and attacked Zhang Ruochen. Zhang Ruochen caught the student's arm with one hand and smacked him with the other hand. The student's arm was broken by Zhang Ruochen's palm.
"Bang bang!"
Zhang Ruochen straightened out his palms and seized the three swords in front of him. The jade-white Genuine Qi exploded from his body, blasting the three students out, and he rolled the three swords into his sleeves.
He swung his sleeves and released the three swords. They pierced through the legs of the three students and stabbed them to the ground.
"Ahh... "
All three of them screamed loudly.
"Bang!"
A student at the Dawn State of the Black Realm slashed his sword across Zhang Ruochen's back and let out a sound of metal crashing together.
Fortunately, Zhang Ruochen was wearing Ice-fire Kylin Armour that prevented the sharp sword from injuring him.
The student who had just attacked him was fairly shocked. At the same time, he noticed that Zhang Ruochen had turned around and was staring at him fiercely.
Yet, the student wasn't frightened by his cold stare. He looked disdainfully and swung another sword at Zhang Ruochen's arm.
"Bang!"
Zhang Ruochen unleashed a palm on the student's chest as well as grasped his wrist tightly in order to snatch the sword away from his hand.
Then, he took the sword and snapped hard on the student's left face. Bang! The student passed out right away.
In terms of the mastery of martial technique, Zhang Ruochen's application was indeed sophisticated. Yet, he was facing more than 20 students and most of them were experienced warriors. There were quite a number of bloody wounds on Zhang Ruochen's body after a series of fights.
A large number of students had been attrracted by the excitement of the fight.
All of their attention focused on Zhang Ruochen, who had been surrounded by the 20 students. They all showed a sense of sympathy. It was obvious that the genius, the number one freshman's life was hopeless.
Fighting was not forbidden in the School of the Martial Market. They even encouraged fights between students under one circumstance: the outcome of death was never allowed during the fights.
If any student killed on purpose, the School of the Martial Market would no doubt put him to death. No matter how talented the students were, they would be put to death if they murdering other students.
This was the reason why Prince Huo Xing refused to show up himself, but instead, he made use of the help of Feng Zhilin to get rid of Zhang Ruochen.
Other than that, there was another rule of the School of the Martial Market. If two students appeared to hate each other, revenge was allowed in the School. For example, if one killed the other's loved one.
Therefore, it was legitimate for Feng Zhilin to take revenge on Zhang Ruochen as he had killed Feng Zhilin's brother.
It was suggested that the presbyters of the School should stay away from the fights.
Revenge and resentment should be dealt with by students themselves.
When everyone thought Zhang Ruochen would die, a tiny woman squeezed out from the crowd.
Her soft hands lifted her snow-white chin slightly and stared at those 20 students surrounding Zhang Ruochen. She chuckled. "Interesting! Very interesting!"
Seeing the tiny shadow walking out from the crowd, the students were all frightened and saluted right away. "Greetings, senior sister apprentice Duanmu!"
Duanmu Xingling didn't pay attention to any of the saluting students. Rather, she put a smile on her face and walked towards Zhang Ruochen and the 20 students who had just fought with him.
The students all stopped when they saw Duanmu Xingling heading over. Even the arrogant Feng Zhilin had shown fear on his face. He quickly greeted Duanmu Xingling with courtesy and asked, "My senior sister apprentice Duanmu, I wonder what makes you honor us with a visit?"
Duanmu Xingling extended a thin finger and pointed at Zhang Ruochen. "I'm looking for him!"
Zhang Ruochen was still surrounded by tens of students at this moment. There were numerous cuts and wounds on his body and his white robe was almost covered in blood.
Yet, 11 students were lying on the ground with severe injuries. Some had their arms broken, some had fainted from Zhang Ruochen's palm, and some had their legs pierced by swords. The situation was horrible!
Feng Zhilin's countenance changed after hearing what Duanmu Xingling had said. He saluted again and said, "My senior sister, Zhang Ruochen killed my only brother! I have to seek revenge for him! Where is the justice if we spare him? If we don't kill him, I'm sure the soul of my brother will not rest in peace. If we don't kill him, I, Feng Zhilin, cannot be classified as a warrior with the Spiritual Blood!"
Feng Zhilin put up an irritated attitude so as to arouse people's sympathy for him and anger for Zhang Ruochen. Yet, what he had said wasn't true.
In fact, although Feng Zhilin and Feng Zhiyi were brothers, their relationship was never harmonious. They had already fallen out with each other when they were scrambling for the inheritance of the Feng's long ago. They were so eager to put each other to death.
When Prince Huo Xing found Feng Zhilin, he promised him that once he killed Zhang Ruochen, he would definitely help Feng Zhilin become the leader of the Feng family.
Therefore, revenge for his brother was just an excuse for Zhang Ruochen.
Feng Zhilin added, "Moreover, I've already informed Elder Situ that I want to seek revenge for my brother. Since Zhang Ruochen slaughtered almost 100 candidates in the first-round examination, Elder Situ has also been critical that with such poor conduct, he is not suitable to become a student of the School of the Martial Market despite the fact that he is a talented warrior. Most importantly, Elder Situ will allow me to take revenge on Zhang Ruochen!"
Duanmu Xingling nodded and responded. "Oh, I get it. Are you threatening me with the name of Elder Situ?"
"Don't dare! Even if you give me power, I would not dare offend you!" Feng Zhilin said with fear.
Duanmu Xingling straightened out one of her soft hands and tapped Feng Zhilin on his shoulder. He was so scared that he bent his legs and almost kneeled down on the ground.
"Why are you so scared?" Duanmu Xingling asked with curiosity.
Feng Zhilin's forehead was covered in a cold sweat. He said, "I dare not be unafraid in front of senior sister."
Duanmu Xingling nodded with satisfaction and said, "I understand your feeling, Zhilin. Anyhow, your brother was killed by someone. If I were you, I would seek revenge for sure. To be honest, I don't want to make you feel bad, but Sister Chen has sent me here for Zhang Ruochen. She said no one can touch Zhang Ruochen. The kill is hers."
Feng Zhilin looked shocked. He couldn't believe that Zhang Ruochen was connected to the female devil Huang Yanchen.
This was absurd! If Feng Zhilin had killed Zhang Ruochen today, he would have offended both Duanmu Xingling and Huang Yanchen.
By offending two female devils, Feng Zhilin would have no way to live in Western Campus.
Duanmu Xingling walked towards Zhang Ruochen and giggled. "Well, you are the one who killed his brother as well as bringing trouble here. Why don't you think of a way to settle it?"
Hearing what Duanmu Xingling said, other students then understood what was going on instantly. Duanmu Xingling was completely on Zhang Ruochen's side,so she let him decide what to do.
With the appearance of Duanmu Xingling, even if Feng Zhilin invited 100 more students to come over, no one would dare kill Zhang Ruochen.
No matter how many Black Realm warriors there were, they would be easily defeated by the warrior of Division Profound.
Feng Zhilin had no choice but to give in before such massive power.
Zhang Ruochen stared at Feng Zhilin and said, "Feng Zhilin, I admitted that I killed your brother. If you want revenge, I'll offer you a chance. One month from now, I'll fight you on the life and death platform!"
Feng Zhilin's eyes showed a smile and said, "Senior sister, this is what Zhang Ruochen said. I didn't force him."
The crowd was absolutely shocked by Zhang Ruochen's decision.
The life and death platform of the School of the Martial Market was similar to the Coliseum of the Martial Market. Warriors had to sign the life and death contract to make sure no other people were involved if either party died.
"Since Zhang Ruochen is under the protection of senior sister apprentice Duanmu, Feng Zhilin doesn't dare get close to him. Why does Zhang Ruochen still want to fight?" One of the students was confused.
Another warrior laughed. "You kids know nothing. A grown-up man never wants a woman's protection. This is indeed a smart move by Zhang Ruochen. If he doesn't fight with Feng Zhilin, everyone in the School of the Martial Market will look down on him. Not to mention, Zhang Ruochen is an outstanding genius who is proud of himself and is confident in defeating Feng Zhilin."
"I get it now! Yet, if a Mid Stage warrior wants to fight against a Final State warrior of the Black Realm on the life and death platform, he actually will court death, right? Moreover, senior sister apprentice Duanmu can do nothing to help when Zhang Ruochen fights on the platform. Feng Zhilin will surely kill him!"
"Zhang Ruochen, I'll see you on the life and death platform in one month! Don't get frightened and not show!" Feng Zhilin said confidently.
Zhang Ruochen responded. "Don't you worry! You avenge your brother's death and I avenge my fourth brother. I'll have your arms broken in no time!"
"Haha! Looking forward to it! Let's go!"
Feng Zhilin swung his arms and led the injured students back to the School.
The life and death platform was not a place for fun. Defeating Feng Zhilin with just one month's preparation was an impossible task!
Zhang Ruochen's decision was out of Duanmu Xingling's expectation. She asked, "Are you sure you want to do this? Going onto the life and death platform is a serious matter! It may cost you your life!"
Zhang Ruochen responded with a faint smile, "Senior sister, thank you for stepping up just now. However, the hatred between Feng Zhilin and myself need to be handled. Perhaps the life and death platform is quite a good place for both of us!"
Duanmu Xingling's impression of Zhang Ruochen improved instantly. All of a sudden, she felt pleased with the number one freshman as if the misunderstanding between them had dissolved to a certain extent.