When Zhang Ruochen noticed the Eighth Prince and Shan Xiangling, they saw him as well, standing outside the Federation of Inscription.
On seeing Zhang Ruochen, the Eighth Prince got angry and said, “Ninth brother, what have you come to the Federation of Inscription?”
Not being willing to argue with the Eighth Prince, Zhang Ruochen just shook his head and said to Yun, “Wait for me at the roan antelope ancient carriage. I’ll buy something in the Federation of Inscription.”
Stepping off the roan antelope ancient carriage, Zhang Ruochen headed for the Federation of Inscription.
A mellow sound came from a distance. A woman said, “Please wait, Ninth Prince.”
Zhang Ruochen stopped to turn back, gave a glance at Shan Xiangling who was walking toward him, and asked, “Who are you?”
Having just met her once at Qingxuan Pavilion, Zhang Ruochen did not know anything about her. He just knew that she was the Eighth Prince’ junior sister apprentice and came from the same suzerain as him.
“I’m Shan Xiangling from the Red Cloud Sect. You greatly opened my eyes at the Year-end Assessment, defeating a warrior in the Final State of the Yellow Realm with your cultivation in the Dawn State of the Yellow Realm. If it’s possible, I would like to discuss Martial Arts with you.”
Shan Xiangling slowly walked toward Zhang Ruochen with expectation in her eyes, giving off a wisp of soft fragrance.
As one of the four beauties in the Yunwu Commandery, Shan Xiangling was really pretty. With slender arched eyebrows, long eyelashes, and exquisite facial features, she was almost as delicate as a work of art.
When she first saw Zhang Ruochen in Qingxuan Pavilion, Shan Xiangling considered him a good-for-nothing without any ability to practice Martial Arts. Suspecting he was a catamite of Qin Ya, she deeply looked down upon him.
However, Zhang Ruochen showed a marvelous gift for Martial Arts at the Year-end Assessment, by easily holding a heavy stone tray of about 500 kg, killing savage beasts of superior-class level-one, and defeating opponents who were in a higher realm.
It was known that it was not easy for a young warrior to do even one of those three things.
As a genius martialist, Zhang Ruochen could not be a catamite and a plaything of a licentious woman.
Zhang Ruochen glanced at Shan Xiangling and felt a little surprise. She thought, “The girl not only looks pretty but has a high gift for Martial Arts, as she has reached the Final State of the Yellow Realm, which is higher than that of the Ninth Commandery Princess and Lin Ningshan.”
Actually, the reason why they were all regarded as the four beauties of the younger generation was that they looked pretty and were extremely gifted in Martial Arts.
If they did not have a gift for Martial Arts, they could not become goddesses adored by numerous warriors, no matter how beautiful they were.
Shan Xiangling was 17, a little older than both the Ninth Commandery Princess and Lin Ningshan, so she had a higher cultivation.
Seeing Shan Xiangling expressing kindness to Zhang Ruochen and feeling a sense of crisis, the Eighth Prince quickly walked up to them and said, “Junior sister apprentice, you have forgotten the affairs between the ninth brother and the hostess of Qingxuan Pavilion, haven’t you? You are supposed to stay far away from him…”
Shan Xiangling raised her hand to interrupt the Eighth Prince, donning a bright smile, and said, “The Ninth Prince is a young talent. He is not the kind of person you are talking about.”
The Eighth Prince felt a greater sense of crisis!
“Junior sister apprentice, let’s go! We will apprentice to a master next time,” the Eighth Prince said as he grasped her arm to leave.
“Boom!”
As Shan Xiangling quickly operated her Genuine Qi, she lightly waved her wrist, where a strong power broke out, blowing back the Eighth Prince.
“Eighth Prince, between a man and woman there should be a prudent distance. You should conduct yourself with dignity,” Shan Xiangling said coldly.
“Junior sister apprentice…” With pain turning to numbness in his fingers, the Eighth Prince could not raise his arm.
Shan Xiangling only caught a fleeting glimpse of him and shook her head slightly.
Then she turned to Zhang Ruochen with a mellow smile and asked in a dulcet voice, “I’m going to apprentice to a master in the Federation of Inscription, what about you, Ninth Prince?”
Seeing what had happened just now, Zhang Ruochen just calmly answered, “I will just buy some inscription pens and Spiritual Paper to learn inscriptions.”
“Really? That’s great! I have been learning inscriptions from a very young age. I have already carved some basic inscriptions. With my experience of studying with inscription pens and Spiritual Paper, maybe I can do you a favor if you want to buy them,” said Shan Xiangling.
Zhang Ruochen thought for a while, finding that he was not familiar with inscription pens and Spiritual Paper, so he agreed.
Looking at the receding figures of Zhang Ruochen and Shan Xiangling, the Eighth Prince became very frustrated.
A moment later, his will to fight came back. He thought, “As long as I become Zuo En’ apprentice, a weapon refiner, junior sister apprentice will come back to me again.”
…
“Both inscription pens and Spiritual Paper have five levels as follows: Beginner Stage, Medium Stage, Superior Stage, Heaven Stage, and God’s Stage. The five levels correspond with the five levels of inscriptions respectively.
“To carve basic inscriptions, basic inscription pens and Spiritual Paper are enough.
“And people with Spiritual Power below the 30th level can only carve the basic inscriptions. The higher the Spiritual Power is, the more basic inscriptions can be drawn. The more stable the inscriptions are, the higher possibility it has.”
Introducing inscriptions to Zhang Ruochen, Shan Xiangling said, “I started practicing Spiritual Power and learning inscriptions at a very young age. Now my Spiritual Power has reached the 16th level, but I carve several basic inscriptions with little success, carving 20 times before I succeed once.
“A weapon refiner, like Zuo En, with a high success rate can make seven or eight successfully out of 10 times.”
There were weapon refiners that practiced Spiritual Power in the Red Cloud Sect. But their weapon refiner with the highest Spiritual Power had only reached the 18th level. After all, the Red Cloud Sect was just a suzerain of Martial Arts. The weapon refiner in the Red Cloud Sect was unable to guide Shan Xiangling with his cultivation.
Therefore, Shan Xiangling visited the Federation of Inscription to take Zuo En as her master as a way to continue to further her study of inscription and weapon refining. That was because she wanted to become a first-class weapon refiner as soon as possible.
“Your Spiritual Power has reached the 16th level!” Zhang Ruochen said unexpectedly.
It was known that the people who could practice Spiritual Power to the 15th level before 20 years old would be regarded as geniuses. It was great that Shan Xiangling’s Spiritual Power was much stronger than that of her peers.
As he mentioned Spiritual Power, Shan Xiangling felt proud with a sense of superiority arising in her mind and said, “Generally, the people whose Spiritual Power has reached the 15th level have an opportunity to become first-class weapon refiners.”
Halting a while, she despondently said, “Unfortunately, I don’t do well in weapon refining and inscription. I failed twice in the first-class weapon refiner’s test. If I can take a second-class weapon refiner as my master, I would become a first-class weapon refiner quickly with his help.”
Zhang Ruochen asked, “What happens when you become a first-class weapon refiner? Are there any benefits?”
“There are so many benefits! First, as a first-class weapon refiner, you can become a member of the Federation of Inscription. Second, you can study books written about the more esoteric Spiritual Power. What’s more, you can attend a class given by master.
“Meanwhile, as a first-class weapon refiner, you can gain a robe refined by the Federation of Inscription. The robe will symbolize that you are a member of the Federation of Inscription. When someone tries to hurt you, as long as it’s not because of a personal grudge or your fault, the Federation of Inscription will help you.
“Of course, as a first-class weapon refiner, you can get respect from warriors. Generally, no warriors dare to offend a weapon refiner or an alchemist.”
After hearing what Shan Xiangling said, Zhang Ruochen also wanted to give it a try. After all, the Federation of Inscription had a long history established in Medieval Ancient Times 100,000 years ago. Even the First Central Empire created by Empress Chi Yao only had a history of 500 years.
It could be said that even the cultural details of the First Central Empire ruling Kunlun’s Field could not compare with that of the Federation of Inscription.
Nobody knew how strong the Federation of Inscription was and nobody dared to provoke it.
Zhang Ruochen nodded and thought that it was not bad to become a member of the Federation of Inscription.
Both inscription pens and Spiritual Paper were expensive.
An inscription pen of the Beginner Stage would cost 1,000 silver coins.
A piece of Spiritual Paper of the Beginner Stage would cost one silver coin.
Ordinary warriors would leave immediately once they saw the price.
It was simply a waste of money to learn inscription. Only a big family and a strong suzerain could foster a few alchemists and weapon refiners. They carefully picked out the geniuses with strong Spiritual Power to foster.
If the person who was picked out could not develop into a first-class alchemist or weapon refiner, they would lose out.
Zhang Ruochen spent 20,000 silver coins buying 10 inscription pens and 10,000 sheets of Spiritual Paper. Enough money as he had, he also spent it very distressed.
After buying what he wanted, Zhang Ruochen visited Zuo En with Shan Xiangling. And now he knew nothing about inscription, but would just learn by himself through trial and error.
He thought that once he got guidance from a master, he would get twice the result with half the effort.
Meanwhile, a voice came from the distance.
“Congratulations, Your Highness, your Spiritual Power has reached the 12th level. You have never practiced Spiritual Power?” Zuo En asked in awe.
Zuo En thought that the Eighth Prince deserved to be recognized as gifted because his Spiritual Power had reached the 12th level without any practice at his age.
“Right, I haven’t practiced Spiritual Power.”
The Eighth Prince looked at Zhang Ruochen and Shan Xiangling with a smile on his face and said in a louder voice, “In your point of view, I was born to be a superior of Spiritual Power?”
After hearing the commendation from Zuo En, the Eighth Prince was so delighted that he could not wait to show off his talent to Shan Xiangling.