Just as Xiao Fenghua's mind reeled, overwhelmed by shock and self-doubt,
a vast aura suddenly burst forth without warning.
BOOM!!!
It wasn't pressure directed at anyone. It was simply the grand spectacle that naturally spilled out when someone broke through in cultivation.
That was right—Zhang Yu's reward had arrived, and he'd broken through.
This was... Ninth Rank?
The aura of a Ninth Rank martial artist?
Xiao Fenghua's pupils shrank. Her heart nearly leaped from her chest, and her beautiful face was filled with incredulous shock.
Before coming here, she had already used the power of Jing Prince's Estate to investigate Zhang Yu's background as thoroughly as she could.
Every report clearly stated that the Eldest Young Master of Marquis Yong'an's Estate had poor martial talent. After three years of cultivation, he had only just reached First Rank.
But now... an aura of Ninth Rank, beyond the reach of many martial artists who had devoted decades to hard cultivation, was pouring unabashedly from this so-called "good-for-nothing."
It had been barely a day.
From First Rank to Ninth Rank?
It was utterly absurd!
"It seems he was hiding his cultivation before. He must have already reached Eighth Rank some time ago and just happened to break through today."
Xiao Fenghua found an explanation that made sense, but she was still shaken to her core.
Xiao Fenghua was twenty-five. With exceptional talent and the finest resources, she had only reached the peak of Seventh Rank.
Jiang Luohan, hailed as the greatest prodigy in the Wei Kingdom, was twenty-one. Even with Zhang Yu's Bodhi Pill and a mountain of other resources, she had only just broken through to Seventh Rank.
Yet Zhang Yu before her seemed to be two years younger than Jiang Luohan, and he had already reached Ninth Rank.
"A Ninth Rank at twenty-three..."
Xiao Fenghua's mind went blank. Only this astonishing thought remained, echoing wildly in her head.
"In the more than three hundred years since the founding of the Wei Kingdom, there has never been a record like this.
"No—not just in the Wei Kingdom. Across Qingzhou, where the Wei Kingdom lies, and even the neighboring continents, I've never heard of anyone reaching Ninth Rank in martial arts at the age of twenty-three."
She suddenly recalled a passage from an ancient text. It said that in Tianzhu, that legendary place where the world's fortune converged, there seemed to be "Holy Sons" and "Divine Maidens" of such peerless brilliance.
But that was only an elusive legend, as distant from the Wei Kingdom in Qingzhou as one world was from another.
And now, a living, breathing Ninth Rank martial artist, only twenty-three years old, sat across from her in the Heavenly Prison.
At last, Xiao Fenghua found a "reasonable" explanation for Du Jun's deference and for the mysterious Formation Grandmaster's obedience to Zhang Yu (Chen Dongpeng).
That was right—it was Zhang Yu's talent.
A martial talent so heaven-defying it was despairing.
No wonder someone as haughty as Du Jun had lowered himself to befriend him and call him "young friend."
Zhang Yu had displayed the peerless aptitude to reach Grandmaster—and perhaps even glimpse a higher realm.
Investing in him meant investing in a future martial giant.
No wonder that Formation Grandmaster was willing to conceal his identity, work as a menial at Dingsheng Workshop, and follow Zhang Yu's orders.
Aside from the possible lure of inheriting formation techniques, Zhang Yu's own potential and future were surely important reasons too.
"He... he broke through to Ninth Rank right in front of me... Was he warning me?"
Xiao Fenghua felt a chill rise within her.
A Ninth Rank martial artist was nothing much before the royal family of the Wei Kingdom, which had a Grandmaster in its ranks.
Xiao Fenghua's own background meant she had no reason to fear a Ninth Rank martial artist, either.
But a twenty-three-year-old Ninth Rank was a different matter entirely.
It represented boundless possibilities and a terrifying future.
As long as he didn't fall along the way, reaching the innate realm and becoming a Grandmaster was all but certain.
He even had a very good chance of breaking through to Great Grandmaster.
Even if someone like that hadn't yet reached the height of his power, any faction would have to treat him with caution—or even do everything in its power to befriend him.
Because no one could know how far he would rise in ten or twenty years.
To offend a peerless genius who might one day stand at the pinnacle of the continent?
That would be like digging one's own grave!
What's more, he already had Pill Dao Grandmaster Du Jun and a Formation Grandmaster at his back. Even if someone wanted to snuff him out in his cradle, it likely wouldn't be easy.
Once she understood this, Xiao Fenghua's back was drenched in cold sweat.
Her previous contempt and disdain for Zhang Yu had already vanished without a trace, replaced by deep wariness, lingering fear, and a trace of barely suppressed... eagerness to befriend him.
Jing Prince's Estate was at a critical point in the "Nine Dragons Contest for the Throne." If they could gain the help of this future giant—or even just form a friendly bond with him—it would be an immeasurable boon to the estate!
"But..."
A new question arose in Xiao Fenghua's mind. "If he has such talent and strength, and connections like Du Jun and the Formation Grandmaster, why let himself end up in this situation and stay in this lightless Heavenly Prison?"
"With the methods and connections he's shown, getting himself acquitted would be child's play."
"What is he really trying to do?"
Watching Zhang Yu as the aura around him gradually subsided, Xiao Fenghua felt the fog surrounding the young prisoner grow thicker and thicker.
He was no longer merely a "mysterious" prisoner, but a monster bearing heaven-defying talent and concealing astonishing power.
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