âSome days ago, our Tianxuan Mansionâs guards were sent out to purchase some supplies, and on the way, they ran into the guards from the Prime Ministerâs Manor, and they were claiming the things our guards wanted were reserved by them long ago.â Fei Hou replied. âThen, an argument ensued. One of the Prime Ministerâs guards suddenly attacked, injuring one of our mansion guards, and thus, a fight broke out.â
Huang Xiaolong nodded.
Prime Minister Manor?
âPass this order; if they run into any Prime Minister Manorâs guards, no need to be polite, breaking their faces or crippling them doesnât matter as long as they arenât dead!â Huang Xiaolongâs cold voice sharply sounded.
âYes Sovereign!â Fei Hou readily acknowledged the order.
âAny news about Deities Templar?â Out of nowhere, Huang Xiaolong suddenly changed the topic. His voice sounded solemn when he asked the question.
A year ago, Huang Xiaolong had tasked Fei Hou to find out about the so-called Deities Templar.
Fei Hou shook his head: âNo news.â
In the last twelve months or so, he had exhausted all the connections he had, even instructing the Yuwai Kingdomâs Fei Mansion to look for clues about Deities Templar, yet it was all for nothing.
It was as if this Deities Templar didnât exist. Truth be told, when he was trying to find out about this Deities Templar, there seemed to be an invisible, tacit collaboration to exclude him and prevent him from finding more information.
Fei Hou explained this unnatural feeling of exclusion to Huang Xiaolong.
Listening to Fei Houâs description, Huang Xiaolong began to have pensive thoughts.
As if it doesnât exist? It seems this Deities Templar was more powerful and mysterious than he had initially thought.
I wonder how that girl Li Lu is doing now. Huang Xiaolong thought to himself.
Last year when Li Lu left, the festive cheeriness in Tianxuan Mansion dampened considerably, and now, once again, the end of the year had arrived. In another month or so, it would be another New Year.
However, Li Luâs second martial spirit had awakened before she left: twin swords martial spirits of light and darkness, one positive and one negative, a balance of Yin and Yang. Her cultivation speed must be terrifying, and in one yearâs time, she probably advanced to the Eighth Order!
Gathering his thoughts, Huang Xiaolong continued his discussion with Fei Hou, asking about the Nine Tripod Commerce and Tianxuan Mansionâs matters.
The Nine Tripod Commerce had started to expand, opening branches in the neighboring kingdoms with as much as a hundred thousand transactions on a daily basis.
Since the last incident with Clear Cloud Pavilion causing troubles in the Big Dawn County, Huang Xiaolong told Fei Hou to hire Eighth Order, Ninth Order, and Tenth Order warriors to improve the security of the Nine Tripod Commerce branches.
After all, what the Nine Tripod Commerce didnât lack was money.
Although it was hard to lure Tenth Order warriors to join them, the Eighth and Ninth Order warriors were not a problem.
After he finished listening to Fei Houâs report regarding these matters, Huang Xiaolong asked Fei Hou about his progress in cultivation.
Fei Hou had reached the sixth level of the Liquid Thunder Arts that Huang Xiaolong passed to him, and the current Fei Hou was at peak Xiantian First Order. But, breaking through to Xiantian Second Order was still a few years away.
Fei Houâs martial spirit was limited by its innate talent of being a grade ten spirit. With this limitation, even if Fei Hou swallowed the Fire Dragon Pearls Huang Xiaolong supplied every day, advancing to Xiantian Second Order would still require a few years.
A short while later Fei Hou retreated from the room.
Before Fei Hou stepped out, Huang Xiaolong withdrew thirty Fire Dragon Pearls and gave them to him.
The truth was, without Fei Hou, it was impossible for the Nine Tripod Commerce to have developed so fast during these past seven years. Although Fei Hou only followed Huang Xiaolongâs ideas and method of implementation, without Fei Houâs presence and his management skills, the Nine Tripod Commerce probably could not achieve half the success it had today.
After Fei Hou had left, Huang Xiaolong headed towards his parentsâ courtyard. When he arrived, both Huang Peng and Su Yan were practicing battle skills together in their yard.
With Huang Xiaolongâs help, Huang Pengâs and Su Yanâs cultivation had increased significantly.
Huang Peng already broke through to peak early-Eighth Order whereas Su Yan advanced to the peak late-Seventh Order.
Seeing Huang Xiaolong walk into the yard, both of them had a wide smile on their faces and stopped whatever they were doing. Su Yan even came and held Huang Xiaolongâs hand, pulling him to a garden stool. Watching Huang Peng and Su Yan, Huang Xiaolong felt warmth in his heart.
Two hours later, Huang Xiaolong left his parentsâ yard, initiated the God Binding Ring, and entered the ancient battlefield to practice.
Even though he had broken through to the peak late-Tenth Order, Huang Xiaolong aimed to step into the Xiantian realm before heading out to the Duanren Empire to join the Imperial City Battle.
In his opinion, the better the result he achieved, the more attention he would receive, especially in regards to cultivation resources. Once he enrolled into the Duanren Institute, it would create a more favorable cultivation environment for Huang Xiaolong.
Although he was said to be Asuraâs Gate Sovereign, the fact still remained that he didnât actually have that position officially, so there was no way for him to get cultivation resources from there.
Another month passed.
Huang Xiaolongâs routine was practicing Asura Tactic and Body Metamorphose Scripture in the ancient battlefield. The feeling of entering Stage Ten of the Body Metamorphose Scripture was getting stronger.
Other than those two things, Huang Xiaolong spent most of his extra time on the Asura Sword Skill and God Binding Palm.
Huang Xiaolongâs effort in practicing Asura Demon Claw was significantly lower compared to the rest.
This was due to its strict training requirement of absorbing blood soul qi.
Time flowed, and the end of the year inched closer and closer as one more month passed by. Huang Xiaolongâs battle qi drew infinitely close to the Xiantian level.
Reaching the peak late-Tenth Order, Huang Xiaolongâs muscles and flesh were toned and firm and his tendons were more flexible and vibrant, containing a savage, explosive power. The outer layer of his skin was extremely tough, and according to his estimates, if he soul transformed with the Black Dragon, even if a peak late-Tenth Order expert stabbed him with a sharp sword, he would not receive any injuries. At most, it would leave a vague white line on the surface without breaking into his skin.
âTomorrow is the Academyâs competition.â Huang Xiaolong muttered to himself.
This time, not only did Huang Xiaolong want to get first place for the Third Year competition, he wanted to snatch the overall Academy number one spot!
Steeling his resolve, Huang Xiaolong exited the ancient battlefield.
Walking into the main hall, Huang Xiaolong saw both of his parents, Huang Peng and Su Yan, as well as his younger siblings, Huang Min and Huang Xiaohai. They were all talking happily about something.
âWhatâs the happy occasion?â Huang Xiaolong said with a smile on his face as he walked in.
Seeing it was Huang Xiaolong, everyone in the main hall was delighted.
âXiaolong, itâs great that youâre out from closed-door practice. Minâer just said she invited that Guo Tai over for a meal in the next few days.â Su Yan explained the matter while beaming-- it was obvious she was in a good mood.
âOh, is that so?â Huang Xiaolong turned towards his younger sister, Huang Min.
Huang Min nodded shyly in affirmation.
âDoes Guo Shiyuan know the two of you are getting along?â Huang Xiaolong asked.
Huang Min shook her head at this, saying âGuo Tai mentioned he will bring it up with his father in the next few days.â
Su Yan added: âAlthough the Guo Family is a powerful family from Duanren Empire, our current Huang Family is not weak. Our Minâer definitely pairs well with Guo Tai. When Guo Shiyuan knows about this, he surely wonât have any objections.â
Huang Xiaolong nodded as he took a seat in the main hall. Then, his attention shifted onto his younger brother, Huang Xiaohai. Huang Xiaohai may be two years younger than Huang Min, but his martial spirit talent was higher than Huang Minâs. After the New Year, he would be fourteen, yet he was already a late-Sixth Order warrior.
Night came. Hazy moonlight shone down.
Tonight, Huang Xiaolong did not practice. He stood in the yard, reminiscing about certain people and certain matters.
In a monthâs time, after the New Year he would be seventeen years old.
Seventeen, meaning he has been here in the Martial Spirit World for seventeen years.
Is there a possibility that I could return to Earth... A thought flashed across Huang Xiaolongâs mind.
The night gradually deepened as Huang Xiaolong stayed in the yard in a meditative posture while adjusting his breathing and mood.
When it was daybreak, Huang Xiaolong withdrew from his meditation and stood up. Walking out from his own courtyard, he walked in the direction of the main hall so he could head to the Academy with his siblings.
When they reached the Cosmic Star Academy, they ran into Lu Kai. Noticing Huang Xiaolong, joy seemed to bloom on Lu Kaiâs face as he walked up and gave Huang Xiaolong a friendly punch on his shoulder. âBro, I just heard you were promoted to the Third Year Class, donât tell me you plan on snatching the Classâs first place?â