《The Supreme Lord Donghuang》


 Chapter 1 A Betrayal of Grace

    The Magnolia Guild, Qingshan Town.


    This is¡­ my past... my room in the Magnolia Guild?


    Wasn''t I on Earth?


    The young man, roughly fifteen to sixteen years old, looked around at the familiar setting of the room: a smooth, unweathered face in the mirror stared back at him, and a calendar hung on the wall. He was at a complete loss, and it took him a long time to regain his composure.


    The date according to the latest page of the calendar on the wall was, shockingly, the twelfth day, the twelfth month, year 1227 of the Ziyun Era.


    Zhou Donghuang took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and searched through his memory of what had happened moments ago¡­


    He had been at his home on Earth conducting research on a wondrous circular slate in the year 2359 of the Ziyun Era, which was year 3150 of the Earth Era.


    He suspected that wondrous circular slate, which was unique in every aspect, had been handed down from generation to generation since ancient times. Even though he had the power to extinguish any star in the universe as he wished, he could not leave a slight mark on this wondrous circular slate.


    It all came back to him now¡­ when his psyche entered the circular slate, the term "chronospace slate" had appeared in his mind out of nowhere. A mysterious and irresistible force reached out from the circular slate and completely enveloped him. Then he blacked out.


    When he was awake, he realized that he had been transported back to this familiar, yet faraway place from the depths of his memory.


    This was not Earth but another planet in the boundless universe, Ziyun.


    The Ziyun Era was the astronomical calendar of the planet Ziyun.


    Wait! Chronospace slate¡­ chronospace?


    Is it possible that this chronospace slate has sent me back to a thousand years ago?


    Zhou Donghuang sobered up immediately at this thought, suppressed his raging emotions, and gradually began to calm down.


    Year 1227 of the Ziyun Era¡­ I turned sixteen that year.


    That mad cultist appeared in Qingshan Town when I was sixteen and took me away from Ziyun all the way across the universe to Earth.


    I remember it was the twenty-second day of the twelfth month in year 1227 of the Ziyun Era.


    And today is the twelfth day of the twelfth month in year 1227 of the Ziyun Era, so if the date is accurate, the mad cultist will show up here in ten days.


    Zhou Donghuang shut his eyes as countless scenes flashed through his mind.


    He arrived on Earth on November 5, 2018 of the Earth Era.


    Earth was a planet where the Spirit was thin and weak. However, there were ancient legends there such as "Pan Gu creates the heavens,""Nu Wa repairs the heavens,""Hou Yi shoots the suns,""Chang''E flies to the moon" and others¡­


    It was not difficult to deduce that a group of mighty practitioners had once dwelled on Earth, and their world had once been glorious.


    However, by the time he had reached Earth, the world that the practitioners had built was already in decline, and the whole Earth had descended into an age of ignorance about the arts.


    Who knew that even though he could claim to be among the most talented in the universe, he would still end up spending a hundred years on Earth before he was able to leave?


    Upon leaving Earth and travelling into intergalactic space saturated with the Spirit, his true potential was unleashed¡­


    A mere thousand years later, he had travelled across the stars, engaging a countless number of mighty opponents in battle and never tasting defeat. He had earned himself the title of "Battle-lord Donghuang."


    Back in my youth, I did not have the power to extinguish stars with a gesture or reach out across the stars with my supernatural will with a mere thought or even project my essence out of my physical form and wander the cosmos¡­


    Zhou Donghuang sighed. Just a moment ago, he tried to trigger some response from inside him but found that he was completely empty inside.


    The "seal" that would be broken on Earth later by the mad cultist was still there.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    He was now quite literally where he was a thousand years ago before he had encountered the mad cultist.


    I''m not dreaming, am I?


    On a childish impulse, perhaps because he was now in the body of a sixteen-year-old, Zhou Donghuang reached up and pinched his face hard.


    The sharp pain that registered in the next instant made him realize beyond any doubt that it was not a dream but entirely real!


    ¡­


    Why would Lady Dandan be with the master of the Sunset Guild? Moreover, the master of the Sunset Guild is following Lady Dandan as though he thoroughly respects her.


    When I glanced into the receiving chamber, I saw the expression on our guild master''s face was terrible and frightening.


    On the other side of the door, the voices of two serving girls in conversation brought Zhou Donghuang back to reality.


    That''s right¡­ today is the twelfth day of the twelfth month in the year 1227 of the Ziyun Era!


    Today, Chen Dandan will reveal the formula that the Lin family offered Mother to support the business of Magnolia Guild to their rivals, the Sunset Guild!


    After this, the Lin family would be furious and would withdraw their support for the Magnolia Guild and expel Mother from the Lin family¡­ When word from the Lin family reached Qingshan Town eight days later, Mother would be overcome with a rage that would lead to her death!


    Without hesitation, Zhou Donghuang burst out of the room through the door and sprinted to the receiving chamber.


    The Magnolia Guild was one of the two major guilds in Qingshan Town, and the room which was used as their receiving chamber was spacious, luxuriously decorated, and unrivaled in its extravagance.


    But now, something seemed off in the atmosphere of the receiving chamber.


    "Mother!"


    Zhou Donghuang strode into the receiving chamber, his eyes fixed on the beautiful lady standing in its center. Emotions that were impossible to express in words glittered in his eyes.


    He had not seen his mother in over a thousand years.


    "Donghuang, why are you here?"


    The beautiful lady had been trembling with rage, but upon seeing Zhou Donghuang, her frosty and severe demeanour transformed immediately into a lovely smile, and the fury in her eyes gave way to a tender look of love.


    The beautiful lady was the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, Lin Lan.


    "Mother, I know everything."


    Standing beside the beautiful lady, Zhou Donghuang turned his gaze toward the two people opposite him before letting it come to rest on the leader of the two, the young lady.


    The young lady was dressed in a pale green gown and seemed to be of a similar age as Zhou Donghuang. She was slender and graceful and her beautiful face was smooth and unblemished- every inch of her appearance proclaiming what a rich brat she was.


    "Why?" Zhou Donghuang asked in a low growl, levelling an icy stare at the girl.


    Previously, he did not have the chance to ask the young lady this question before he was taken away by the mad cultist.


    He wanted to seek her out to ask her this question after he managed to leave Earth and return to Ziyun, but by then she had been long gone, and he did not manage to find her.


    This had become a knot in Zhou Donghuang''s heart.


    It was a heaven-sent opportunity to be transported back a thousand years into the past. He never expected to have a chance to undo this gordian knot in his heart.


    "Everyone has his own ambitions!" the young lady replied with a stoic expression, fearlessly meeting Zhou Donghuang''s stare.


    "Indeed!" Zhou Donghuang smiled a brilliant smile. "Ten years ago, you, Chen Dandan, were wandering the streets penniless and destitute with no one to turn to, almost starving to death. It was Mother and I who brought you in out of the wind and snow. We fed you, clothed you, and Mother even took you in as an adopted daughter, giving you an enviable position of privilege.


    "When you were nine and you fell ill, it was Mother who braved the wind and rain to scale the cliffs of Mount Daliang, defying death to gather herbs to treat you and save your life. When you were twelve and training to build up your qi, you could not make the connection at first. It was Mother who spent three days and three nights helping you find your qi, neglecting her own well-being just to help you successfully get started on the path of the Martial Way!"


    Zhou Donghuang stopped speaking. His eyes narrowed, and he clenched his fists tightly. His fingernails cut into his skin, and blood seeped out from the cuts in his palm.


    "Five years ago, you told Mother that you would marry me when you grew up, but I said I saw you only as a sister. Mother and I almost had a falling out because of this. She praised you to high heaven and told me that the chance to take you as my wife was the accumulated luck of several lifetimes...


    "I agreed to it later on to ease Mother''s worries. But today¡­ who would have thought that you would ally yourself with outsiders to ruin Mother, to ruin the Magnolia Guild that she single-handedly built up from nothing! Where is your shame? Have you got any shred of dignity left?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s voice seemed to grow colder, and the chill permeated the room as he spoke. It began to feel as though the temperature in the receiving chamber had dropped by a few degrees.


    "Had I known earlier that you, Zhou Donghuang, were a useless piece of trash who could not manifest his qi, I would never have thought of marrying you!"


    Chen Dandan laughed humorlessly, her eyes betraying no hint of emotion. Shades of condescension and spite flickered across her beautiful, delicate face.


    "Fine, despise me as you wish, I couldn''t care less¡­ but Mother? Has she ever done anything to let you down?" Zhou Donghuang challenged.


    "She has never let me down¡­ but please remember that I didn''t ask her to shelter me from the wind and snow. Nor did I ask her to scale the cliffs for medicinal herbs for me and help me find my qi and manifest it in training."


    "Perhaps she intended to use me to earn a good reputation so that the Magnolia Guild could enjoy smoother business dealings here in Qingshan Town," Chen Dandan replied nonchalantly.


    Upon hearing Chen Dandan''s answer, Zhou Donghuang was dumbstruck.


    How could a person be so shameless? Previously, as he wandered amongst the stars, he had visited countless places and met countless shameless people, but Chen Dandan''s shamelessness was in a class of its own!


    "I should kill you!"


    Zhou Donghuang could no longer control himself. With a cold gleam in his eyes and a bone-chilling roar, he rushed towards Chen Dandan.


    But at the first hint of movement from him, the man behind Chen Dandan took a big step forward, blocking his path.


    "Lady Dandan is now the young mistress-to-be of the Hong family of the prefecture capital."


    The middle-aged man was the guild master of the Sunset Guild, Hong Yue. Hong Yue was a level-one adept of the gathered qi and possessed the strength of a bull.


    "Get lost!"


    Because of the seal within him, Zhou Donghuang had yet to manifest his qi, but banking on his memories from the past thousand years, he was able to utilize every inch of muscle in his body to channel the accumulated strength into an explosive burst.


    Although his body was not yet fully developed, the maximum burst potential of his strength was more than enough to neutralize a level-one adept of the gathered qi.


    Bang!


    A deafening sound reverberated around the receiving chamber.


    It was Zhou Donghuang who made the next move, charging in a frenzy towards Hong Yue and hitting him with a strike that sent him sprawling to the floor outside with blood spurting from his mouth.


    "How is this possible?!"


    There was a look of incomprehension on Chen Dandan''s face as she wondered how a level-one adept of the gathered qi could be wounded and soundly defeated after exchanging blows with Zhou Donghuang.


    How could such a useless piece of trash be so powerful?

 Chapter 2 The Formula for the Blood-Staunching Elixir

    Disbelief showed in the eyes of Lin Lan and the elderly lady behind her.


    Just like Chen Dandan.


    They knew Zhou Donghuang inside out.


    Zhou Donghuang had not yet been able to manifest his qi.


    But now, he was able to soundly thrash and injure a level-one adept of the gathered qi and dominate him completely.


    They simply could not believe it. Could they be dreaming?


    Watching as Hong Yue struggled to his feet, Zhou Donghuang bared his teeth in a savage grin. "Another false move and I''ll end your miserable life!"


    Under the murderous glare of Zhou Donghuang, Hong Yue quailed in fear and stood there motionless as though his legs were filled with lead.


    "Chen Dandan!"


    Zhou Donghuang''s gaze found Chen Dandan again, staring daggers at her.


    Sensing Zhou Donghuang''s murderous rage towards Chen Dandan, Hong Yue''s pupils contracted and refocused. Turning to Lin Lan, he reminded her in a low voice, "Guild Master Lin, restrain your son, don''t make things worse¡­"


    "Lady Dandan is the esteemed daughter-in-law of the Hong family!"


    By saying this, Hong Yue was blatantly threatening Lin Lan.


    Lin Lan paled at this but immediately suppressed her anger. "Donghuang, come back here," she commanded, looking lovingly at him standing with his back to her.


    Neither of them were her biological children, but how did he come to be so close to her?


    Zhou Donghuang turned slowly. "Mother, are you still protecting her even now?" he asked, his voice betraying a momentary hoarseness.


    "This is the last time¡­ from this day forth, I, Lin Lan, and her, Chen Dandan, sever all ties between us!" Lin Lan said, her voice filled with indignation.


    "Fine. As a token of respect to you, Mother, I won''t kill her today¡­"


    At these words, Chen Dandan breathed a sigh of relief.


    "But if I let you walk away just like this...I would feel that I did something too unfair to myself!" Zhou Donghuang muttered.


    The moment Chen Dandan changed her expression, Zhou Donghuang darted forward and landed a savage slap on her face.


    Piak!


    The sharp, clear sound echoed in the chamber, and Chen Dandan fell down beside Hong Yue. Her face began to swell, and she spat out blood and bits of broken teeth. She looked even worse than Hong Yue.


    Chen Dandan glared hatefully at Zhou Donghuang, her delicate features twisting into a savage mask. "Zhou Donghuang, you dare hit me? Do you wish to¡­"


    But Chen Dandan swallowed the rest of her threat upon seeing the cold, murderous look in Zhou Donghuang''s eyes.


    "Chen Dandan, each person has to take responsibility for his or her actions¡­ I only hope you won''t end up regretting this."


    Zhou Donghuang kept his cold gaze on Chen Dandan, his voice completely emotionless.


    "Of course I won''t regret it!"


    Suppressing her murderous rage, Chen Dandan returned his gaze with a humourless smile. As her rage subsided, bewilderment emerged in its wake.


    How had this useless piece of trash suddenly come to possess such abilities? Not only had he defeated Hong Yue, but he had managed to close the distance between them and strike her before she could react.


    Despite this and the fact that Zhou Donghuang evidently had some ability, Chen Dandan remained nonchalant. The man she, Chen Dandan, was about to marry, was, after all, the first young master of the Hong family of the prefecture capital, a man so blessed that he seemed favored by the gods.


    How could he be compared with this piece of trash here?


    "Guild Master Hong, let''s take our leave."


    Chen Dandan struggled to her feet and led Hong Yue away. At the door of the receiving chamber, she hesitated and gazed back at Zhou Donghuang with a deep look. "I can only hope that you will be able to withstand the fury that will come down upon the Lin family of the prefecture capital¡­"


    "After all, I do not wish to see the Magnolia Guild that I have grown up in be destroyed just like that."


    A mocking smile pulled at the corners of Chen Dandan''s bloody mouth.


    "If you don''t leave now, make no mistake, I will kill you!" Zhou Donghuang roared through gritted teeth as he stepped forward menacingly, his lips drawn back in anger.


    Chen Dandan cowered in fear and turned away, leading Hong Yue hastily away.


    "How did we not realize earlier that this sh*t was such a wretched ingrate?"


    After Chen Dandan and Hong Yue had departed, even the elderly lady behind Lin Lan had her face twisted in rage.


    "Mother!" Zhou Donghuang turned and dashed to the stunned-looking Lin Lan, swept her into a hug and held her closely for a long time.


    Lin Lan only then noticed that her son had grown and was now a little taller than she was.


    "Donghuang, I''m fine."


    Lin Lan was under the impression that Zhou Donghuang was feeling sorrowful over this whole disastrous episode and had no idea that Zhou Donghuang was actually emotional because he had not seen her for such a long time.


    A thousand years had slipped by, and everything changed.


    At this moment, only Zhou Donghuang himself could understand how he felt.


    "My Lady, what should we do now? The formula is in the hands of the Sunset Guild and effectively belongs to the Hong family¡­ Even though Chen Dandan has betrayed us, the Lin family will not take that into consideration. They will vent their fury on you and the Magnolia Guild anyway."


    The elderly lady was fidgeting with anxiety.


    Lin Lan trembled at the elderly lady''s words and worry clouded her eyes.


    She had expected this outcome.


    The Lin family, just like the Hong family, was a great family of the prefecture capital. As a scion of the Lin family, Lin Lan had been sent to Qingshan Town early on to set up a guild to conduct business, the result of which was the Magnolia Guild.


    The price for enjoying the protection and resources of the Lin family was a tithe of nine-tenths of the Magnolia Guild''s yearly profit.


    Only the remaining tenth belonged to the guild master of the Magnolia Guild.


    If the Lin family discovered that the formula had been leaked by Lin Lan''s Magnolia Guild, they would be furious.


    Zhou Donghuang felt Lin Lan trembling. He released Lin Lan and asked, "Mother, what kind of formula was lost?"


    Prior to this, although he knew that Chen Dandan had revealed the formula, he did not know what kind of formula it was. However, he wasn''t worried about whatever formula the Lin family had produced.


    He had stood at the figurative peak of the universe. What kind of formula had he not seen before?


    In his eyes, a formula made by a small family from a small planet like Ziyun was no different from rough paper.


    "It''s a special kind of blood-staunching elixir. Moreover, it was formulated personally by the intermediate-level medicine master who was invited at great cost to practice in the Lin family household. Its blood-staunching effect is 30% greater than that of the usual blood-staunching elixirs commonly available on the market."


    The planet of Ziyun was one where the Martial Way was a part of life and where only the strong earned respect. Fights and disputes between adepts were commonplace; thus, blood-staunching elixirs were always in demand.


    Naturally, the more effective the blood-staunching elixir, the higher the demand for it.


    "Blood-staunching elixir?"


    Zhou Donghuang racked his brain, searching through the accumulated memories of a thousand years. He managed to recall the formula for the lowest grade of blood-staunching elixir very quickly.


    Its effectiveness was double that of the widely available blood-staunching elixirs on the market in the country of Yunyang!


    If I remove a few of the ingredients, I should be able to reduce its effectiveness a little¡­


    Zhou Donghuang did not intend to use the formula wholesale, but was intending to remove several ingredients to reduce the effectiveness of this blood-staunching elixir. That was the lowest grade of blood-staunching elixir he could recall.


    Otherwise, once this blood-staunching elixir was circulated, it would shake the whole country of Yunyang!


    In his opinion, this was not a good thing.


    He had seen too many cases of innocent men getting into trouble because of their wealth during the thousands of years of trials he had previously experienced.


    "Mother, I''m going to the medicine storehouse. If nothing goes wrong, I''ll formulate an even better blood-staunching elixir for you within a quarter of an hour!"


    Determined to help, Zhou Donghuang glanced at Lin Lan, whose expression was full of worry, and bluntly told her, "When it is time, take that blood-staunching elixir back to the Lin family, and I believe they will not even consider blaming you. Instead, they will reward you."


    "Young Master, this is not the time for such jokes."


    Thinking he was joking, the elderly lady behind Lin Lan replied with a rueful smile before Lin Lan could speak.


    The elderly lady had served Lin Lan since she was very young. Such was her loyalty to Lin Lan that she even left the Lin family and the prefecture capital together with Lin Lan and followed her out to Qingshan Town. Because of this, Zhou Donghuang did not keep his plan from her that he was going to formulate a better blood-staunching elixir.


    "Donghuang, there is no need to console me."


    Lin Lan was shaking her head, evidently not taking Zhou Donghuang''s claim seriously. Although this was not her own biological son, she had watched him grow up. What abilities could he possibly have that she was not aware of?


    "Mother, Granny Lian, I really am not joking. Wait here, and I''ll be back within 15 minutes with the formula!"


    As soon as he had spoken, Zhou Donghuang left the receiving chamber briskly and went to the medicine storehouse.


    He arrived at the medicine storehouse very shortly since it was less than two hundred meters away from the receiving chamber.


    The guards of the Magnolia Guild who were guarding the medicine storehouse naturally did not dare prevent the entry of Zhou Donghuang, the Young Master of the Magnolia Guild, and allowed him to pass unhindered.


    Once he entered the medicine storehouse, Zhou Donghuang began to gather the necessary ingredients and prepare the blood-staunching elixir all from memory.


    The preparation of the formula only required the ingredients to be ground into powder, so Zhou Donghuang was able to prepare the blood-staunching elixir very quickly given the availability of the required apparatus in the medicine storehouse.


    "Done!"


    In less than 15 minutes, he had further suppressed the effectiveness of the lowest grade of blood-staunching elixir from his memory by 60%.


    He had created a formula for a blood-staunching elixir that was 40% more effective than those available on the market.


    After he returned so quickly to the receiving chamber and handed the formula over, both Lin Lan and granny Lian were naturally skeptical.


    However, as soon as Lin Lan personally tested the blood-staunching elixir made by Zhou Donghuang, she could not help but be convinced!


    "Could it be true?"


    Lin Lan and granny Lian exchanged a glance, and saw the look of incredulity in each other''s eyes.


    "Donghuang!"


    Lin Lan looked solemnly at Zhou Donghuang. "Tell your mother honestly¡­ where did you obtain the formula for this blood-staunching elixir?"


    The value of the formula for a blood-staunching elixir of this kind would greatly exceed that of the formula for the blood-staunching elixir leaked by Chen Dandan.


    After all, this was 40% more effective, compared with the leaked formula of 30% more effectiveness.


    "Also, you have not managed to manifest your qi, so how did you manage to defeat Hong Yue, the guild master of the Sunset Guild?"


    For the first time, Lin Lan felt that she might not understand her son completely.


    "Mother, I created this blood-staunching elixir. As for the origins of the formula and how I defeated Hong Yue, it''s a long story."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Zhou Donghuang said impatiently, "Why don''t you send the formula to the Lin family in the prefecture capital to make up for this whole debacle?"


    "I''ll tell you all about it when you return. How''s that?"


    At this moment, Zhou Donghuang''s goal was to get his mother out of this sticky situation so that she could avoid a similar fate to what she had suffered before.


    "Agreed! I will ask you about it when I return."


    Lin Lan understood the gravity of the situation, and after delegating some minor tasks to granny Lian who had remained by her side, she departed for the prefecture capital on a fast horse.


    Lin Lan herself was a level-one adept of the gathered qi; moreover, since no one knew that she was carrying such a valuable formula on her, Zhou Donghuang was not worried that something might happen to her on her journey.


    "When Chen Dandan learns that the Young Master has produced an even better formula, I fear that she will vomit blood in anger," granny Lian chuckled after Lin Lan had left.


    Upon hearing granny Lian mention Chen Dandan, a frosty look flashed across Zhou Donghuang''s eyes and the corners of his mouth pulled upwards in a cold smile.


    "There''s no rush, let''s play with her slowly¡­ We''ll crush her beneath our feet when she is least expecting it to inflict even greater despair upon her."

 Chapter 3 The Seal

    "Granny Lian, is there any hundred-year-old blood ginseng in the guild''s rare material storehouse?" Zhou Donghuang asked.


    He had not seen any blood ginseng greater than twenty years of age when he was in the medicine storehouse earlier. Therefore, he guessed that any blood ginseng older than twenty years must have been stored in the treasure vault of the Magnolia Guild.


    It was the Magnolia Guild''s practice to store items of value in a special treasure vault. Lin Lan and Granny Lian were the only two people in the entire Magnolia Guild who knew the location of the treasure vault. Anyone else would have difficulty even locating the treasure vault, let alone gaining entry.


    "Hundred-year-old blood ginseng? Young Master, what do you want it for? It is a rare and extremely valuable herb, not just an ordinary herb!"


    Granny Lian was shocked at Zhou Donghuang''s request.


    "I need it urgently¡­ Is there any?" Zhou Donghuang asked sincerely.


    "There was a stick of it several years ago, but we have already sold it."


    Granny Lian shook her head. "But there are two sticks of fifty-year-old blood ginseng¡­ Young Master, do you want them?"


    Ordinarily, Granny Lian would not have so readily offered even fifty-year-old blood ginseng to Zhou Donghuang for fear that he would waste or squander it. But now, seeing how Zhou Donghuang had produced an even better formula than the one produced by the intermediate-level medicine master of the Lin family, she was inclined to trust his ability in this area.


    "There is only fifty-year-old blood ginseng?"


    Zhou Donghuang was somewhat disappointed.


    Fifty-year-old blood ginseng was substantially inferior compared with hundred-year-old blood ginseng.


    However, under the current circumstances, he had no choice but to make do.


    "That''s fine¡­ Granny Lian, please have the two sticks of fifty-year-old blood ginseng sent to my room."


    After instructing Granny Lian, Zhou Donghuang returned to the medicine storehouse to gather some other ingredients before returning to his room.


    The most urgent matter is to remove the seal in my body!


    Previously, the mad cultist was drawn to me by his curiosity about the seal within my body. That was why he brought me to Earth.


    Although Zhou Donghuang had remained on Earth for a hundred years and considered it his home with a lot of acquaintances there.


    The Spirit on Earth was too weak and thin, nothing like on the planet of Ziyun. He had no intention of returning to Earth before he could successfully manifest his qi.


    If only I could remove the seal, then that mad cultist will not be drawn to me.


    The blood ginseng that Zhou Donghuang had requested from Granny Lian was the main ingredient among the many medicinal herbs that he needed to loosen the seal within his body.


    The heap of herbs that he had gathered earlier in the medicine storehouse were only common herbs. If he used a single stick of hundred-year-old blood ginseng as the main ingredient, it would take only a single night for the seal within his body to be loosened completely. But with two sticks of fifty-year-old blood ginseng as the main ingredients, it would take three or even four days to loosen the seal.


    In any case, even though it might take three to four days, there is enough time¡­ After all, the mad cultist will only show up ten days later.


    Several years ago, when Zhou Donghuang had wanted to learn to manifest his qi, Lin Lan had told him that there was a seal in his body. This seal had been put in place by his biological father, sealing up the meridians in his body, denying him the ability to manifest his qi and become an adept of the Martial Way.


    Even though he had questioned Lin Lan about the identity of his father, she knew only that he was a benefactor who had saved her life and subsequently entrusted Zhou Donghuang to her care.


    "I do not know what kind of man your father was, but he said that he was not from Ziyun¡­ He hoped that you would not practice, but instead be an ordinary person and live out your life in peace."


    Those had been Lin Lan''s exact words.


    Previously, he had not known what kind of person his father was.


    However, many years after he left to go to Earth, he came into possession of a jade tablet that his father had left him. He learned from that tablet what kind of man his father was as well as the events that occurred at that time which led his father to entrust him to someone on the planet of Ziyun.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    By then, his parents had been long gone for many years.


    He could completely understand how those difficulties led to his father''s decisions.


    At this moment, from nowhere, a jade tablet appeared in Zhou Donghuang''s hands.


    On the front of the jade tablet were lifelike carvings of three people. One was a handsome young man. Another was a beautiful young woman. And the last was a baby lying in the young woman''s arms.


    On the back of the tablet were carved three names. The name ''Zhou Donghuang'' was the largest, taking up almost half of the space on the back of the jade tablet.


    On the other half were carved two other names: Zhou Haotian, Zhuge Jing.


    Father, Mother, your son was too late last time, but this time, I will surely save you, and I won''t let anything bad happen to you again!


    Looking at the jade tablet in his hands and thinking of the terrible fate of his parents, Zhou Donghuang felt his heart ache.


    This was also one of his greatest regrets from his last life.


    Previously, not long after he had left Earth, his father''s Primordial Soul had spontaneously combusted, killing him instantly. His mother had passed away soon after.


    Venerable Master, Third Sister, Senior Brother Qinghong¡­ Since I''m back, this tragic series of events and the regrets of my previous life¡­ I will not allow them to happen again!


    There was a look of unshakable resolve in Zhou Donghuang''s gaze.


    Previously, my mother Lin Lan''s death was the greatest regret in my heart¡­ The mad cultist brought me away less than seven days after she had passed away, while I was keeping vigil at her wake.


    This time, I have traveled back a thousand years. Since I resolved the trouble caused by the formula being leaked, her fate should be different.


    Zhou Donghuang let out a sigh of relief at the thought of having one less regret to burden him.


    Previously, Zhou Donghuang had spent only a thousand years to develop the power that was unparallelled within universe. He battled the champions from ten thousand different civilizations and emerging undefeated, therefore he was then publicly recognized as the absolute genius in the world of practitioners.


    But few people knew that he carried so many regrets in his heart that his lack of courage prevented him from advancing further as a practitioner.


    The reason for this lack of courage was the fact that to advance, he would have to undergo "Deity''s Tribulation".


    A "Deity''s Tribulation" was the tribulation for those who would like to advance into the deity stage.


    That was a step that not just he but many other equally accomplished practitioners did not take with ease. Once it was taken, it would trigger Deity''s Tribulation, and if one could not overcome it, one''s life and cultivation would be extinguished, leaving only ashes and smoke.


    However, if one managed to overcome it, he would be elevated to the divine world of legend, become a Divine Being and live forever as long as the heavens and earth existed.


    Big as the universe was, it was still a mortal world. Only those elevated to become divine beings could claim to have transcended the mortal realm.


    The Thundery Tribulations that makes up the first portion of the Deity''s Tribulation can be overcome by strength, and I have no fear of that¡­ But the Tribulation of Demon-In-The-Heart that comes next cannot be overcome by strength.


    I''ve had too many regrets in my past life, therefore I would have no chance of overcoming the Demon-In-The-Heart as part of the Deity''s Tribulation.


    Zhou Donghuang was under no illusions regarding this point. The Demon-In-The-Heart Tribulation was to test the most fragile parts of one''s inner self. He had never even taken the first step because he did not have any confidence that he could pass the trial. However, overcoming the tribulation, transcending the mortal realm, and being elevated to the divine world was something he had always dreamed of.


    This time, I not only want to rid myself of my past regrets, but I also don''t want to have any regrets at all¡­


    I, Zhou Donghuang, resolve to be elevated to the divine world in this life and make the deities in the divine world tremble at my name!


    There was suddenly a strong conviction in Zhou Donghuang, and his eyes shone with resolve.


    This would be the ultimate goal that he would strive for in this life!


    "Young Master."


    Granny Lian''s voice was coming from just beyond the door, reining in Zhou Donghuang''s drifting train of thought and lighting up his eyes.


    Granny Lian had arrived, and that could only mean that the two sticks of fifty-year-old blood ginseng had arrived as well.


    After opening the door and receiving an embroidered box containing the two sticks of fifty-year-old blood ginseng, Zhou Donghuang made his next request.


    "Granny Lian, please get the servant girls to prepare the bathtub and bath water. I am going to soak myself."


    "As you wish," Granny Lian replied and immediately left to find the servant girls.


    Zhou Donghuang intended to soak himself in a medicinal bath to loosen the seal within his body.


    The seal within his body had been put in place by his biological father. His father, although not as powerful as Zhou Donghuang himself had previously been, had still been extremely powerful among the tens of thousands of civilizations.


    Using brute force to break the seal his father had left would not work unless he practiced at a higher level than his father.


    In the past, even the mad cultist who could physically cross the stars was unable to break the seal within his body by using brute force. It was only after doing some research upon arriving on Earth that the mad cultist had discovered the method of soaking in a medicinal bath to loosen the seal¡ªthe method he was preparing to use now.


    In the beginning, the mad cultist had used a substantial amount of precious herbs, but nothing had worked. Later he managed to loosen the seal using a complicated combination of some common herbs.


    This cunning and ingenious seal was evidence that Zhou Donghuang''s biological father was no fool.


    The next step is to infuse these herbs and the blood ginseng into the water¡­


    While the servant girls were readying the bath water, Zhou Donghuang worked hard to distill the blood ginseng and other herbs into six bottles of liquid medicine.


    He had taken with him six empty bottles he had found lying around in the medicine storehouse when he was there earlier.


    The servant girls took about a quarter to prepare the bathtub and water. When they were done, he poured the contents from two of the bottles into the bathtub and mixed them thoroughly with the water. Then he undressed and got in.


    This feels great!


    Soaking naked in the warm water, Zhou Donghuang felt so relaxed and comfortable that the foul mood he had been in evaporated. Without realizing it, he slipped into a deep sleep.


    He had not been so relaxed in a very, very long time.


    It was before dawn on the second day when he awoke.


    So it has all been absorbed.


    Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes and looked at the water in the bathtub. The water, which had been turned cloudy by the liquid medicine, was now clear again.


    This meant that his body had absorbed all the liquid medicine. I can feel that the seal within my body is beginning to loosen up¡­ Two bottles of the liquid medicine a day is the limit to avoid developing a resistance to the medicine. I''ll continue soaking in the medicinal bath tomorrow night.


    Zhou Donghuang''s thoughts turned immediately to the techniques from his previous life. He tried to take in the Spirit that saturated the air around him and manifest something, and he found that the Spirit did not dissipate once it entered his body as before but was retained for a while before dissipating completely.


    This was the effect of loosening the seal.


    At this rate¡­ In three days I should be able to completely remove the seal.


    When that happens, I can begin to manifest my qi and start afresh on the path of the Martial Way!


    Zhou Donghuang wore a satisfied expression as he got out of the bathtub, put on his pajamas, and casually tore off the page of the calendar that showed the previous date before climbing into bed and going back to sleep.


    That day was the thirteenth day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era.

 Chapter 4 Nine Levels of Perfection

    Zhou Donghuang left in the morning after finishing his breakfast which was prepared by the servant girls.


    In his previous life, when he had returned to Ziyun and Qingshan Town after leaving Earth, he had found that the place had not changed, but the people he knew were gone.


    Because the seal within his body was still there, he could not practice for now. Since he was bored with nothing to do, he decided to go out for a stroll.


    What I am seeing is really familiar¡­ Yet it seems like a distant memory.


    Strolling along the streets and alleys of Qingshan Town, the shops lining on both sides of the street as well as the small stalls in front of the shops gradually jogged his memories from a thousand years before.


    More than nine-tenths of the herbs sold in this medicine shop were collected from the Magnolia Guild¡­ I remember having come here twice for deliveries.


    The iron ore used in this weapons shop was also provided by the Magnolia Guild.


    And this shop¡­ and that shop...


    As he strolled on, Zhou Donghuang saw many shops that had business dealings with the Magnolia Guild. He had even personally delivered stock to some of these shops before.


    "Young Master Donghuang."


    "Young Master Donghuang."


    ¡­


    There were many people whom he had a vague impression of but could not recall, and they came forward one by one to greet him. Even though he could not recall who each person was, Zhou Donghuang smiled back at them all to avoid any awkwardness.


    Although Qingshan Town was considered a small town, it was still bustling with people.


    On the main road, horse carriages went past in a constant stream, and the shouts of street vendors hawking their wares and haggling with customers could be heard everywhere.


    Hmm?


    Zhou Donghuang was just casually glancing at the roadside stalls, but one of the stalls was displaying something that caught his eye and stopped him in the middle of his walk.


    That''s¡­


    Zhou Donghuang stooped down and narrowed his eyes. His heart skipped a beat. Spirit¡­ A spirit stone?!


    What caught Zhou Donghuang''s eye was a lamp, which, from the wear and tear on it, looked as though it had a story to tell.


    More accurately, what had attracted Zhou Donghuang was the white jade stone set into the lamp.


    It was no ordinary jade stone, but a "spirit stone."


    Although it was only a spirit stone of inferior quality, it surprised Zhou Donghuang just by its presence. Spirit stones were special stones formed from ordinary stones that stored large quantities of the Spirit from the heavens and earth.


    Upon attaining a certain level of manifestation, further progress by absorbing the Spirit from the surroundings alone was slow; however, with the help of a spirit stone, the rate of progress could be greatly raised.


    Usually, on a small planet like Ziyun, only the extremely powerful adepts would have the ability to obtain a spirit stone and use it to aid them in practice. Zhou Donghuang had never imagined that he would be able to find a spirit stone in Qingshang Town. This was something way beyond his expectations.


    Never mind Qingshan Town, it would have been inconceivable if a spirit stone had appeared in the country of Yunyang.


    If it contains enough of the Spirit, even though it is an inferior quality spirit stone¡­ I could use it to advance to the Great Consummation level of Qi-gathering stage, and become an adept who possesses the strength of nine bulls and two tigers!


    At this thought, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes lit up.


    Great Consummation of Qi-gathering was the highest level of achievement in Qi-gathering stage. The strength that a Great Consummation level practitioner could release would be unstoppable!


    The stage of the Qi-gathering was divided into nine levels of perfection: level-one of Qi-gathering stage, level-two of Qi-gathering, level-three of the Qi-gathering¡­ and so on up to level-nine of Qi-gathering.


    After that came Petty Consummation level of Qi-gathering, and then Great Consummation level of Qi-gathering.


    Respectively, each level corresponded to the strength of one bull, two bulls, three bulls¡­ nine bulls, nine bulls and one tiger, and nine bulls and two tigers. The strength of one bull was approximately eight hundred jin of force, and the strength of one tiger was approximately two thousand jin of strength!


    It was impossible to compare them both.


    "Sir, how much for this lamp?"


    Zhou Donghuang strode over to the stall, picked up the lamp with the inferior quality spirit stone set into it and began stroking it in an attempt to induce the inferior quality spirit while questioning the stallholder.


    The stall was an antique stall.


    The stallholder was a shrewd looking old fellow. Seeing Zhou Donghuang take an interest to that lamp, he chuckled and said, "Young Master, no doubt you are the son of Guild Master Lin. You have a pair of discerning eyes¡­ you have identified the most valuable antique in my stall with just one look."


    As the son of Lin Lan, the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang was pretty known among the store owners and stallholders in Qingshan Town.


    However, Zhou Donghuang put down the lamp he was holding just as the stallholder finished speaking, leaving him a look of disappointment. The stallholder''s heart had suddenly skipped a beat, and a sense of doubt came over him.


    I was overthinking things after all¡­ if there was still any Spirit left in this inferior quality spirit stone, anyone who had manifested his Qi, even though he or she may not have attained level-one of Qi-gathering¡ªthey would only need to brush his or her hand against it to realize that it was something extraordinary. How could I have been the only one to spot it?Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    When Zhou Donghuang had brushed his hand against the inferior quality spirit stone, he had realized that though this inferior quality spirit stone had retained its appearance, the Spirit within it had already been completely expended.


    Usually, once all the Spirit within a spirit stone had been expended, it would revert to its original appearance as an ordinary stone.


    However, a clear coating of some kind had been applied to the inferior quality spirit stone that was set into the lamp, and this prevented its appearance from changing accordingly as the Spirit within the stone had been expended.


    If I had my divine will, I would not have even needed to feel it to know that it was just a used-up spirit stone.


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head and straightened up, walking away immediately and leaving the stallholder behind with a dumbfounded look on his face.


    The stallholder could not understand how the Young Master of the Magnolia Guild could show such a keen interest in his wares at one moment and lose interest so completely in the next.


    Sorely disappointed, Zhou Donghuang hung his head as he continued walking down the street. He had barely gone a few steps when he heard someone call out in derision, "Hey! Isn''t that Zhou Donghuang of the Magnolia Guild? Young Master Zhou!"


    Zhou Donghuang snapped back to reality and looked in the direction of the voice.


    He immediately saw a youth who looked about his own age in a brocade outfit standing at a distance. The youth was staring at him with a smug expression on his face.


    "You are¡­ Wang Feng?"


    Zhou Donghuang slowly recognized the identity of the youth before him by digging through his memory.


    It was the first young master of the Wang Family of Qingshan Town, Wang Feng.


    Wang Feng was only sixteen years old and had already manifested his Qi at a basic level. He had mastered four hundred jin of force and had the potential to master the strength of one bull and attain level-one of the Qi-gathering to become an martial adept before he turned twenty. Within the Wang Family, he was a rare prodigy of the Martial Way.


    Whenever Zhou Donghuang had gone out alone and met Wang Feng, Wang Feng would bully him, but Wang Feng would never go too far since Zhou Donghuang''s mother was the guild master of the Magnolia Guild.


    And even though Zhou Donghuang had lost every time, he never told his mother of these incidents for fear of worrying her.


    Although Wang Feng had not yet attained level-one of the Qi-gathering, he had attained a reasonable level of manifestation of his Qi, and he had already surpassed many adults in terms of ability.


    Previously, Zhou Donghuang had been limited by the seal within his body and had no way to manifest his Qi, so naturally, he had been no match for Wang Feng.


    "What? Our Young Master Zhou does not even recognize me?"


    Wang Feng laughed mockingly, "It seems that Chen Dandan''s betrayal has hit you really hard and caused some memory loss¡­ Come to think of it, your Magnolia Guild will be finished in a few days. Without a guild, what difference will there be between you, Zhou Donghuang, and an invalid?"


    Wang Feng''s words had startled more than a few bystanders.


    "The Magnolia Guild will be finished in a few days? Is that really true?"


    "This is the first young master, Wang Feng, of the Wang Family of our Qingshan Town. What he says may have merit."


    "Master Wang Feng, have you received any news?"


    ¡­


    A group of passersby had gathered and were all looking curiously at Wang Feng.


    "Everybody, you might not know yet¡­ But the formula for a blood-staunching elixir given to the Magnolia Guild by the Lin Family of the City of Jun has been leaked to the Sunset Guild by the adopted daughter Chen Dandan of the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, Lin Lan."


    Faced with questions from the group of bystanders, Wang Feng replied reassuringly, "The formula for that blood-staunching elixir is complicated, and it is 30% more effective than the commonly available ones on the market. It will monopolize the market for high-end blood-staunching elixirs if it appears in Qingshan Town.


    "Apparently, the formula was researched after great efforts by an intermediate-level medicine master invited into the Lin Family at great cost to them. That the Magnolia Guild should leak this formula¡­ do you think the Lin Family of the City of Jun would give Lin Lan a free pass? Can the Magnolia Guild be anything but finished?"


    As he reached the latter part of his speech, Wang Feng smiled a brilliant smile as if he would very much enjoy seeing the Magnolia Guild fall as soon as possible.


    He had heard this news just before he left home. As he passed by the great clan hall of the Wang Family, he overheard the conversation between his father and an elder of the Wang Family.


    "If this is the case¡­ the Magnolia Guild is surely finished!"


    "I never thought that Chen Dandan would turn out to be such an ingrate¡­ I heard that she was once a street urchin, and she is only where she is today because Guild Master Lin Lan took her in out of the goodness of her heart."


    "Turns out that Guild Master Lin Lan raised a wretched ingrate!"


    ¡­


    Upon hearing Wang Feng''s words, the bystanders were filled with rage and indignation on behalf of Lin Lan.


    Zhou Donghuang gave Wang Feng one brief, apathetic glance before turning and walking away without any further acknowledgment.


    From his perspective, although Wang Feng frequently bullied him, he saw now that it was nothing more than children making noise and being rowdy. If he were to get into a dispute with Wang Feng, it would show that he had not learned anything from such a long life.


    Unfortunately, as he was passing by, Wang Feng put his arm up to bar his way. Wang Feng evidently did not intend to let him leave.


    "Zhou Donghuang, did I let you leave?"


    "Wang Feng, I''ll give you one chance¡­ Move your arm out of my way now!"


    Zhou Donghuang narrowed his eyes, staring coldly at Wang Feng. At this moment, his originally calm voice carried a hint of iciness. Even though he had wanted to avoid any conflict, Wang Feng was starting to push him beyond his limit.


    If Wang Feng continued to pester him, he would not object to teaching him a lesson he would not soon forget.


    "I''m not moving it¡­ I''d like to see what you intend to do about it, you useless piece of trash."


    Wang Feng smiled smugly.


    A useless piece of trash like Zhou Donghuang, who could not even manifest his Qi and whom he had toyed with in the past, dared to threaten him?


    "You''re not going to move it?"


    Seeing how Wang Feng was not taking him seriously, Zhou Donghuang returned with his own cold smile.


    "If that''s the case, I will¡­ move it for you!"

 Chapter 5 The Wang Family

    Without waiting for Wang Feng to respond, Zhou Donghuang darted forward like lightning, grabbing Wang Feng''s wrist with one hand and his shoulder with the other.


    Instantly, Zhou Donghuang exerted the maximum strength of the muscles in both arms in an abrupt explosion of force.


    Ka-chak! Ka-chak! Ka-chak!


    ¡­


    The gathered crowd felt their goosebumps tingle and their hair stand on end at the successive snapping sounds of bones breaking and being crushed.


    "Aaaahhhh¡ª"


    Wang Feng let out a terrible scream like the shrill cry of a pig being slaughtered and fainted immediately.


    "Fainted just like that?" Zhou Donghuang raised his eyebrows and casually remarked, "Really useless."


    Zhou Donghuang stepped over Wang Feng''s body and walked away with ease, leaving the onlookers mystified.


    Wang Feng lay unconscious on the main road with one of his arms tied in a knot as though it contained no bones.


    The arm in question was the one Wang Feng used earlier to block him. Zhou Donghuang had forcibly twisted it into a knot as though he was making a braided dough twist.


    It was obvious that all the bones in Wang Feng''s arm had been almost completely snapped or shattered by Zhou Donghuang''s strength, and the arm was now completely useless.


    There would be no way to restore Wang Feng''s maimed arm¡ª at least not on the planet of Ziyun.


    Hisssssss!


    It was only when Zhou Donghuang was out of sight that the crowd regained their senses and collectively released the breaths they were holding.


    "This is the Young Master Zhou Donghuang of the Magnolia Guild. How could he have such power?"


    "Oh heavens! To be able to twist the arm of Wang Feng like this, how great must his strength be?"


    "Isn''t he a martial invalid who is unable to manifest his qi? Is this something a martial invalid is capable of?"


    ¡­


    Looking at the prone form of Wang Feng with his arm twisted into a knot, many of the bystanders felt a chill down their spine and shivered involuntarily.


    "Wang Feng is not only the beloved son of the head of the Wang family but also the favorite grandson of the patriarch of the Wang family¡­ now that he has been maimed, the Wang family will definitely not let the matter past!"


    "The Wang family might have been cautious with the Magnolia Guild before¡­ But now that the Magnolia Guild is on shaky ground and might fall apart at any moment, they might not be able to protect Zhou Donghuang."Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "The Magnolia Guild may or may not fall apart. It is not certain¡­ Right now, we only have Wang Feng''s side of the story."


    "The only thing I can say for certain is that the Wang family will not take this lightly."


    ¡­


    It was indeed as many people had guessed.


    After retainers from the Wang family had brought Wang Feng back to the Wang family mansion, the atmosphere in the Wang family had become heavy and somber.


    "Second Uncle, is it really true that my arm cannot be healed?"


    Wang Feng had just awoken and found himself lying in bed in a spacious room. His expression had changed to one of shock upon realizing that his family members had unanimously decided to amputate his right arm.


    Wang Feng''s second uncle "Bamboo Crane Wang," was a basic-level medicine master. When faced with Wang Feng''s hopeful look, he only shook his head gently. "Feng''er, if your arm had been snapped in two, a full recovery would definitely be possible. I would have confidently guaranteed at least an 80 or 90% chance of a complete recovery.


    "However, the bones in your whole arm are shattered and broken. Never mind that I''m just a basic-level medicine master; even a superior-level medicine master would not be able to help."


    Bamboo Crane Wang sighed, "Moreover, if your arm is not amputated in time¡­ the high risk of gangrene may endanger the rest of your body.


    "No¡­ no¡­ no!!"


    Wang Feng was so agitated that he leaped off the bed and made to escape like a madman to avoid having his arm amputated.


    "I refuse! I refuse!"


    Peng!


    In the end, it was the head of the Wang family, "Red Crane Wang," who struck his son unconscious with a single blow.


    "Second younger brother, please begin."


    Throughout the whole process, Red Crane Wang''s expression was terrible to behold.


    His son was the most talented, direct descendant of the Wang family in a hundred years, and he had a bright future ahead of him. It was everyone''s hope that he would lead the Wang family to even greater heights in the future.


    Now that his right arm had been maimed, his future was ruined together with it.


    "Zhou Donghuang!"


    Red Crane Wang left the room, staring solemnly in the direction of the Magnolia Guild with murderous look in his eyes. "You have maimed my son''s arm, so I, Red Crane Wang, will take your life!"


    A moment later, Bamboo Crane Wang came out of the room. "Big brother, Feng''er''s injuries have been taken care of.


    "What are you going to do about this? Will we go in force to punish the Magnolia Guild, or wait for Father to return?" Bamboo Crane Wang asked Red Crane Wang.


    "Let''s wait for Father to return¡­ If we go there now, it''s not Lin Lan we have to fear, but the adept who is at level-two of Qi-gathering stage stationed there," Red Crane Wang said thoughtfully.


    Both he and his second younger brother were only level-one adepts of Qi-gathering stage. There was only one level-two adept in the Wang family, and that was their father, the patriarch of the Wang family.


    "In addition, by the time Father returns, the Magnolia Guild should have lost the support of the Lin family of the prefecture capital. If that happens, Lin Lan will be expelled from the Lin family, and the level-two Qi-gathering adept who stationed at the Magnolia Guild will also be recalled to the Lin family.


    "Lin Lan alone cannot protect that little swine!"


    The more Red Crane Wang spoke, the colder his voice became.


    "Big brother, isn''t Zhou Donghuang a useless piece of trash who can''t even manifest his qi? To wound Feng''er so gravely... Even if he sneaked the attack, he must have three to four hundred jin of strength in his arms."


    Bamboo Crane Wang was puzzled by this.


    "It''s highly probable that Lin Lan used some kind of invaluable treasure on him that temporarily increased his strength. There''s nothing to worry about," Red Crane Wang replied nonchalantly.


    ¡­


    "Go back."


    After spending the morning strolling leisurely through Qingshan Town, it was almost noon when Zhou Donghuang returned to the Magnolia Guild.


    Huh?


    Passing by the receiving chamber, Zhou Donghuang heard granny Lian pleading earnestly with someone, "Elder San, I really cannot return you the money for now¡­ When my Lady returns, the money will still need to be invested into the production of the blood-staunching elixir."


    "The entire Qingshan Town knows of the circumstances that your Magnolia Guild is in. Your formula has been leaked to the Sunset Guild, which implies that the blood-staunching elixir produced by your Magnolia Guild cannot monopolize the market, and thus will have a hard time making a high profit," said a confident voice.


    "In addition, I know that the formula belongs to the Lin family of the prefecture capital¡­ Having leaked such a valuable formula, the Lin family will not let Guild Master Lin Lan off lightly. From what I can see, the Magnolia Guild might not survive for long.


    "If we don''t demand repayment of the loan now¡­ We might end up losing our original investment in a few days'' time."


    Zhou Donghuang raised his eyebrows upon hearing this.


    Although it was such a long time ago, he could still remember very clearly that the Magnolia Guild had to borrow money from external parties if it wanted to further develop its business, especially since it paid nine-tenths of its monthly profit to the Lin family.


    Of course, the high-interest rates that came with borrowing money from external parties were considered to be a normal expenditure. This was all because the Lin family would not give money directly to the Magnolia Guild or any of the other guilds under the Lin family for that matter.


    I remember¡­ When the Magnolia Guild borrowed money from external parties, we usually only borrowed from one person. That person was Zhao San, the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, and the wealthiest man in Qingshan Town.


    Just now, Granny Lian called him Elder San¡­ I guess he is Zhao San.


    Still deep in thought, Zhou Donghuang entered the receiving chamber.


    As he entered, he saw a middle-aged man sitting at the side of the receiving chamber on a wooden armchair with one leg crossed over the other. He was toying with two obviously very expensive pearls in his right hand.


    The middle-aged man was dressed splendidly and had a regal look about him. He kept a small goatee on his chin, and his eyes sparkled with intelligence.


    It really is Zhao San.


    Although he had been to Zhao San''s Yunxuan Restaurant several times in his previous life, he had never before seen Zhao San because he rarely showed himself.


    However, he had seen paintings of Zhao San hung on the walls of the great hall on the ground floor of Yunxuan Restaurant.


    According to my memory¡­ Zhao San is not only a level-two adept of the Qi-gathering, but I think he is also a direct descendant of the Governor''s Household of the prefecture capital. No doubt, he has an illustrious background.


    All these memories from long ago slowly came back to him.


    "Young Master," Granny Lian greeted Zhou Donghuang hastily as he entered before turning back to Zhao San, who was sitting at the side of the receiving chamber with his leg up. "Elder San, we have already emerged smoothly from this troubled period¡­ I can guarantee you that our Magnolia Guild is under no threat."


    "Oh?" Zhao San looked at Granny Lian with interest. "Then I shall wish to hear how your Magnolia Guild has overcome its troubles. If the Magnolia Guild truly can overcome its troubles, I will have no qualms about leaving my money with you."


    Zhao San scooped up the teacup on the table before him, raised it to his lips, took a sip, and put it down slowly while waiting for Granny Lian''s reply.


    As Granny Lian was getting ready to tell the story of the formula of the new blood-staunching elixir, Zhou Donghuang spoke first. "Zhao San, if I am not mistaken¡­ You were previously a Qi-gathering level-four adept?"


    As Zhou Donghuang spoke, his piercing gaze settled on Zhao San.


    "Eh?"


    When Zhou Donghuang had entered, Zhao San merely spared him a glance and had not even looked directly at him.


    But now, after hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, Zhao San was looking incredulously at Zhou Donghuang. "You¡­ How did you know?"


    There was only one person other than himself who knew that he had once attained level-four of Qi-gathering.


    That person was his older brother.


    He had not told anyone else about this, and it was also impossible that his older brother would have told anyone.


    "It''s not difficult to tell," Zhou Donghuang said matter-of-factly. "It was a pity that when you attained level-four of the Qi-gathering, you overextended yourself and did not enter it smoothly. Because of this, you regressed to level-two of Qi-gathering instead and subsequently could not advance further to level-three. Am I correct?"


    Earlier, with just one look at Zhao San, Zhou Donghuang had been able to discern some of these problems just by looking at Zhao San''s slightly swollen temples.


    With his experience from once having been the greatest being in the universe, it was not difficult to identify Zhao San''s problem.

 Chapter 6 The Formidable Zhao San

    Just as Zhou Donghuang finished speaking, Zhao San had already risen from his seat and was staring intently at Zhou Donghuang.


    "You are Guild Master Lin''s son, Zhou Donghuang, the one who is unable to manifest his qi, right?"


    Zhao San had deduced Zhou Donghuang''s identity earlier when Granny Lian had greeted him with the title of "Young Master".


    "So, what do you say? Have you ever wished to regain level-three of the Qi-gathering¡­? Well¡­ I should be asking, have you ever wished to recover to level-four of Qi-gathering?" Zhou Donghuang asked unhurriedly, gazing profoundly at Zhao San.


    "Do you have a solution?"


    Zhao San''s eyes were round with anticipation. Although there was still a hint of doubt in his eyes, he looked at Zhou Donghuang incredulously.


    "From what I know¡­ You are unable to even manifest your qi, how are you going to help me?"


    "What? Aren''t you even interested in giving it a try?" Zhou Donghuang asked calmly, a serene expression on his face.


    "If you are indeed able to help me regain level-four of the Qi-gathering¡­ No! If you are able to help me regain just the level three of the Qi-gathering, you can keep all the money I have loaned to the Magnolia Guild. Besides, I will even give you Yunxuan Restaurant!" Zhao San solemnly swore.


    "Yunxuan Restaurant?"


    Zhou Donghuang had never imagined that Zhao San would swear something of this magnitude.


    Yunxuan Restaurant was the largest and best restaurant in Qingshan Town and had an uninterrupted flow of customers every day. It was the most profitable business in Qingshan Town.


    It was the fortune Zhao San had earned from Yunxuan Restaurant that made him the wealthiest man in Qingshan Town. His other sources of income were a mere trickle in comparison.


    The money that Zhao San had loaned to the Magnolia Guild was nothing compared to the value of Yunxuan Restaurant.


    "Young Master."


    Hearing Zhao San''s words, Granny Lian took a deep breath and looked at Zhou Donghuang with an expression full of emotion.


    If the young master of her house could cure Zhao San, that would solve everything!


    In the past, if Zhou Donghuang had claimed that he could have cured Zhao San''s chronic ailment caused by his overexertion, she would have chided him for spouting nonsense.


    However, after witnessing Zhou Donghuang, who had not yet manifested his qi, defeat Guild Master Hong Yue of the Sunset Guild and produce a formula for a blood-staunching elixir superior to the one formulated by the Lin family''s intermediate-level medicine master, she did not dare doubt Zhou Donghuang''s abilities.


    Eh?


    Zhao San had assumed that by making such a solemn promise, Zhou Donghuang would be so excited that he would lose his composure. He never imagined Zhou Donghuang would remain unruffled, as though he could remain indifferent in the face of a landslide.


    Zhao San''s esteem for Zhou Donghuang increased several notches in that moment.


    This son of Guild Master Lin has more to him than meets the eye.


    "Granny Lian, please prepare a quiet room for us," Zhou Donghuang instructed Granny Lian.


    Granny Lian left to arrange it at once, and when it was ready, she personally escorted Zhou Donghuang and Zhao San into the quiet room.


    Granny Lian herself stood watch outside the door, preventing anyone from approaching and disturbing Zhou Donghuang and Zhao San.


    As she stood watch outside the door, Granny Lian''s face betrayed her uneasiness. She could not be completely sure that Zhou Donghuang could really cure Zhao San''s chronic ailment.


    If he could not, Zhao San might be shamed and that shame might turn into fury, and he might insist that the money he had loaned to the Magnolia Guild be returned to him.


    "Hahahaha¡­ hahahahaha¡­"


    Roughly an hour later, Granny Lian heard Zhao San''s hearty laughter coming from the quiet room, as though the cloud hanging over his heart had been swept away in an instant.


    "It succeeded?"


    Granny Lian''s eyes lit up.


    In the quiet room, it was only after Zhao San''s laughter had died down that he calmed his raging emotions and bowed in salute to Zhou Donghuang, who was drenched in sweat from head to toe.


    "Esteemed Master Zhou, till my dying day, I will never forget this service!" he said earnestly.


    "I have already cleared the meridians in your body that had been blocked by your overexertion¡­ go home and practice for two to three days, you should be able to properly attain level-four of Qi-gathering stage."


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes were closing, and his body was swaying. He said in a weakening voice, "If nothing goes wrong, you¡­"


    Before he could finish, Zhou Donghuang collapsed into unconsciousness due to his exertion.


    "Esteemed Master Zhou!"


    Zhao San''s expression changed, and only after he was assured that Zhou Donghuang was unharmed and had only fainted from the exertion did he let out a sigh of relief.


    "Young Master!"


    Granny Lian burst into the room, realizing by now that something was wrong.


    "Don''t worry. Esteemed Master Zhou fainted from overexerting himself in the process of clearing the flow of my meridians. He should be fine after resting¡­ when he awakes, may I trouble you to tell him that I, Zhao San, will return another day to express my gratitude!"


    After relaying his message to Granny Lian, Zhao San left.


    Zhao San now walked with a swagger in his step.


    He had now regained the level three of Qi-gathering, and after accumulating his qi for another two to three days, he could attain level-four of Qi-gathering, and become a level-four adept, possessing the strength of four bulls!


    Right then, Zhao San was eager to get home and practice.


    As soon as he had confirmed that Zhou Donghuang was unharmed, he felt an urgent need to leave the Magnolia Guild and return home to practice.


    ¡­


    It was evening when Zhou Donghuang awoke.


    "Young Master, you''re awake."


    Granny Lian had kept a constant watch beside Zhou Donghuang''s bed. Seeing that he had awoken, she could not help but heave a sigh of relief.


    "Granny Lian, I''m hungry," Zhou Donghuang told her, rubbing his empty belly.


    "No problem! I''ll tell the servant girls to prepare something for you to eat at once!"


    Granny Lian left immediately.


    Without qi in my body, even performing some simple massage techniques on Zhao San caused me to faint from overexertion¡­ I am still really weak right now.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    Zhou Donghuang smiled bitterly after Granny Lian had left.


    Zhao San''s ailment had not been serious, and he had been able to cure the ailment with some basic massage techniques.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang had helped Zhao San because he remembered from his previous life that Zhao San was a principled man who stood by his friends. If Zhao San had been an ingrate, he would not have bothered to offer his help.


    "Young Master, before he left, Zhao San of the Yunxuan Restaurant wanted me to tell you that he will return another day to express his gratitude."


    Granny Lian had returned to Zhou Donghuang''s room after she had instructed the servant girls to prepare food.


    "Young Master¡­ you, really healed his chronic ailment?"


    Even now, Granny Lian did not dare to believe it.


    Zhao San from the Yunxuan Restaurant was known to be very resourceful, and if it had been just an ordinary ailment, he would have found someone capable of healing him long ago. Zhou Donghuang would never have gotten the opportunity to treat him.


    "Yes." Zhou Donghuang nodded. "I used a special technique to help him clear the blockages in his meridians caused by his overexertion, allowing him to regain the level-three of Qi-gathering. Under his present circumstances, he only needs two or three days of practice before he can smoothly attain level-four of Qi-gathering, and become a level-four adept with ease."


    "Granny Lian, Zhao San''s reputation is formidable¡­ Rumor has it that he is a direct descendant of the Governor''s Household of the prefecture capital?"


    In Zhou Donghuang''s opinion, Granny Lian would be more knowledgeable in these matters than him, because Granny Lian had lived in the prefecture capital and served the Lin family from early on. It was only later that she came to Qingshan Town with Lin Lan.


    "I have heard this rumor too," Granny Lian said, shaking her head. "However, it is probably true¡­ if not, he could not have run Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan Town for so many years."


    "Yunxuan Restaurant is a big money-spinner in Qingshan Town, even the Magnolia Guild and the Sunset Guild combined do not earn as much. Moreover, Yunxuan Restaurant is unlike the Magnolia Guild or the Sunset Guild in that it does not have to hand nine-tenths of its profit to the family that is backing it¡­ It is the personal enterprise of Zhao San, and the money it brings in belongs entirely to Zhao San."


    Even though Yunxuan Restaurant is only a restaurant in Qingshan Town, it was already a significant enough prize to be coveted by the other great houses of the prefecture capital.


    However, no one had dared to attempt a takeover since Yunxuan Restaurant had opened for business. Evidently, it was no mystery that the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhao San, had some influence.


    "Granny Lian¡­ in the prefecture capital, how would a level-four adept of Qi-gathering stack up?" Zhou Donghuang asked.


    As far as he could remember, the strongest adepts in Qingshan Town were those few second-level adepts of Qi-gathering: Zhao San of Yunxuan Restaurant, those few senior members of the Wang family and other local families, and the second-level adepts stationed at the Magnolia Guild and Sunset Guild.


    "Young Master, in the prefecture capital, there is only one fifth-level adept of Qi-gathering, that is the governor himself¡­ in the Lin family of the prefecture capital that backs our Magnolia Guild, the strongest are three level-four Qi-gathering adepts. Therefore, a level-four adept is considered powerful in the prefecture capital, and is strong enough to support a preeminent family," Granny Lian explained.


    In the country of Yunyang, power was effectively held by the various families. The Royal Household was the greatest family, next was the Wang Household, and then came the tycoons, the grand families, the preeminent families, and the lesser families.


    A family in Qingshan Town that included a second-level adept of Qi-gathering, such as the Wang family, would barely qualify as a lesser family.


    "If Zhao San is really a direct descendant of the Governor''s Household of the prefecture capital¡­ he will return to the Governor''s Household once he has recovered his abilities. The Governor''s Household will not allow a level-four adept of Qi-gathering to languish in a backwater town like Qingshan," Granny Lian said.


    Several servant girls sent food over after Zhou Donghuang and Granny Lian had chatted for a while.


    Zhou Donghuang was ravenous, and after devouring the food, he left Granny Lian to instruct the servant girls to prepare the bathtub and bath water.


    Today was the second day of soaking in the medicinal bath, and he would be another step closer to loosening the seal within his body.


    This is comfortable.


    Soaking in the bathtub, Zhou Donghuang soon fell asleep and did not awake until dawn the next day.


    Seeing that the medicine in the water had been absorbed into his body, Zhou Donghuang dressed himself, tore off the old page of the calendar, and returned to bed.


    It was now a new day.


    The Ziyun Era had entered into the fourteenth day of the twelfth month of the year 1227.


    The seal within my body is even looser now¡­ one last soak tonight will be enough to completely remove it tomorrow by morning.


    When that happens, I can begin to manifest my qi, and start afresh on the path of the Martial Way!


    At this thought, Zhou Donghuang could not help being excited, even though he had a thousand years of memories from his previous life. He felt alert and energetic, not the slightest bit of sleepiness.

 Chapter 7 The Way of the Four Supremes

    "The stage of Qi-gathering is the gateway to the Martial Way; it is necessary to get the basics right¡­ only then will your future progress be smooth," Zhou Donghuang muttered to himself, sitting cross-legged on the bed.


    "Previously, I concentrated on practicing the methods that were popular in Ziyun and had only an average foundation, which put me at a disadvantage from the beginning¡­ Even though I had many encounters later on with the champions of various great civilizations and cultures like star clans and supreme factions, I could only barely manage to remain undefeated."


    "This time, I must choose the best and most suitable practice method for myself!"


    Zhou Donghuang''s thousand years'' worth of memories contained a myriad of practice methods, more than enough for him to take his pick from.


    "''Thousand Star Sword Technique'' is the pinnacle of sword techniques. If I practice this technique starting from the stage of Qi-gathering, I will be in an unassailable position when I engage other champions in battle."


    The Thousand Star Sword Technique was plundered from the dimensional ring of an enemy that Zhou Donghuang had killed in his previous life. It was the genuine, original technique from one of the supreme sects, the Thousand-Star Sword Sect. This enemy had been the lead disciple of the sect.


    In that fight, if Zhou Donghuang had not unintentionally advanced his level of practice, which allowed him to fight at a higher stage, he might not have been able to kill his opponent.


    "''The Fiery Thunder Training Regimen'' is the pinnacle of physical martial art techniques, and it was mastered by another supreme sect. However, that sect had provoked too many powerful adversaries and was utterly defeated by their combined efforts. He eventually vanished into the tides of history."


    Although the champions of the great civilizations were powerful¡ªit could be said that they stood at the peak of the universe¡ªthey were not invincible.


    There were still some but not many that could equal them; incur the wrath of them, and it would be difficult to endure.


    "If I practice the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen, even if I encounter a prime user of the Thousand Star Sword Technique, all I would have to do is bide my time and wait for an opportunity to get close to him, and I would be able to defeat him easily!"


    Zhou Donghuang was inclined to the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen over the Thousand Star Sword Technique.


    At that time, the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen was dominant, and its users were bloated with arrogance. In the end, they had made too many enemies and caused their own demise.


    Zhou Donghuang had obtained the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen by accident, just like the Thousand Star Sword Technique, and he had memorized its teachings completely.


    "''Manual of Unruffled Sage'' is an extremely rare and potent practice method that focuses on developing one''s divine will in the initial stages and spiritual attacks in the subsequent¡­ If faced with an opponent trained in the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen, its users only need to prevent their opponents closing in, and keep them at a distance and wait for an opportunity to strike. With their divine will¡­ they could destroy their opponent''s Primordial Soul completely!


    "However, the demands of practicing Manual of Unruffled Sage are harsh¡­ One must forsake all emotions and become completely emotionless. Only then can one maintain an unshakable resolve and successfully develop an unbreakable divine will."


    Zhou Donghuang had come across Manual of Unruffled Sage while he was exploring an ancient and secret place. According to the legends, it was the technique that had the highest probability of elevating its users to divinity.


    The disaster of the demon in the heart that was a part of the divine disaster would be no obstacle to an emotionless person.


    In addition, a practitioner of this level who mastered Manual of Unruffled Sage would not be defeated by other techniques in a divine disaster.


    Zhou Donghuang was also able to completely recall the contents of Manual of Unruffled Sage.


    These three techniques were the pinnacle of all the techniques in the universe, and of all the other techniques Zhou Donghuang was familiar with, including those he had previously practiced, none could match these three.


    "Why not¡­ choose either the Thousand Star Sword Technique or the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen?" Zhou Donghuang muttered, finding it hard to make up his mind.


    Manual of Unruffled Sage did not interest him at all, other than it being a level higher than both the Thousand Star Sword Technique and the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen.


    What meaning would life have for an emotionless person?


    Why don''t I choose the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen?


    But the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen is only strong in close combat¡­ it is too weak in ranged combat.


    Against an opponent matching or inferior to me in terms of speed, there would be no problem. However, against a faster opponent, even if his combined abilities were no match for me, I would only be able to watch him flee.


    The Thousand Star Sword Technique is suitable for both close combat and ranged combat¡­ but it neglects defense completely. It allows for fast, strong attacks but also has obvious weaknesses. By this point, it is far inferior to the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen.


    Previously, I practiced a mish-mash of techniques, and the result was excelling in certain areas but appearing merely average in others¡­ if I did not have the miraculous experience of having lived such a long life, I would have had no chance of contending with any of the star clans and supreme factions of the great civilizations.


    In the course of practicing, one could switch freely between different techniques.


    However, if you didn''t stick to the same one technique as you started with, you would not reach the best state later when you completed the practice.


    This was the problem Zhou Donghuang had faced in his previous life, and even though he could identify the problem, he had been unable to rectify it.


    It would be unrealistic for him to erase all his achievements in the Martial Way, become an ordinary person, and start all over again. Because Zhou Donghuang had previously been at such a disadvantage, he made up his mind this time to choose the most suitable technique for himself and pursue it as far as he could go.


    Even though he might have to settle for the second best, he would establish a strong foundation for himself.


    That''s right¡­ how could I have forgotten?


    The Lord Of The Four Supremes!


    Previously, when Zhou Donghuang had found the chronospace slate in the Kunlun Mountains on Earth, he had found some jade writing tablets on which a particular technique was recorded .


    The technique recorded was called the "The Lord Of The Four Supremes."


    The "four supremes" the technique referred to were the four ancient legendary beasts: the azure dragon, the white tiger, the vermillion bird, and the black tortoise-snake.


    He had then begun researching on the chronospace slate after he had memorized The Lord Of The Four Supremes, and eventually, he had been transported back a thousand years into the past.


    However¡­ the technique of The Lord Of The Four Supremes can only be practiced to a maximum stage of ''Primordial Soul.''


    Zhou Donghuang knitted his brows at this thought. This was the fatal shortcoming of The Lord Of The Four Supremes.


    Among the thousands of civilizations in the universe, the practice of the Martial Way could be divided into nine stages: Qi-gathering, Connate, Primal Core, Dharma Laws, Primordial Soul, Divine Transformation, Separating Divinity, Immortal, and Deity''s Tribulation.


    Previously, Zhou Donghuang had practiced until he had attained the pinnacle of the Immortal stage. Even across the universe, it was rare to find an opponent who was his match.


    At the pinnacle of the stage of Immortal, Zhou Donghuang had been able to extinguish any star he wished with a gesture. He could extend his will across vast swathes of the heavens and even project his soul out of his body and roam the universe at will!


    The Lord Of The Four Supremes is very difficult to master¡­ After the stage of Primal Core, it is at least three times more difficult than usual!


    Anyway, so what if it is difficult. Effort produces reward¡­ if I practice The Lord Of The Four Supremes and after I attain the stage of Primal Core, I will be far superior to an opponent of a similar stage, regarding only individual ability and not any external factors.


    The hardest thing to accept is the fatal shortcoming of this technique¡­ which is that the maximum stage for this technique is the stage of Primordial Soul.


    From there on, it will be up to me to improvise.


    Zhou Donghuang was faced with an aching choice to make.


    When it came to establishing a foundation, The Lord Of The Four Supremes was the best.


    If he chose the technique of The Lord Of The Four Supremes, to progress from the Connate stage to the Primal Core stage, he would have to condense four cores as prerequisite.


    An ordinary adept would only need to condense one primal core to progress from the stage of Connate to the stage of Primal Core. Whereas, the technique of The Lord Of The Four Supremes required four.


    If he chose to practice The Lord Of The Four Supremes, there would be no shortcuts, and he would have to condense four primal cores in order to progress to the next stage. In other words, to attain the stage of Primal Core, a practitioner of The Lord Of The Four Supremes would have all four cores completed within his body.


    Consider this: with four portions of Primal Core to draw strength from, compared with an opponent with just one core¡­ how would that turn out?


    It was exactly the same as for the next stage¡ªthe stage of Dharma Laws.


    Only if he fully utilized the four primal cores would he reach the pinnacle level of Primal Core stage and have a chance to break through the stage of Dharma Laws.


    Entering into the stage of Dharma Laws, four primal cores will reveal different aspects¡­ the difference will be determined by the laws of the four ancient legendary beasts.


    Once I break through to the stage of Primordial Soul, the four portions of Primordial Soul will merge with the different aspects revealed, and I can then utilize the Primordial Soul of the four ancient legendary beasts.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The Primordial Soul of the azure dragon excels at spiritual attacks.


    The Primordial Soul of the white tiger excels at close combat.


    The Primordial Soul of the vermillion bird excels at long-range attacks.


    The Primordial Soul of the black tortoise-snake excels at defense.


    At the thought of attaining the stage of Primordial Soul with the technique of The Lord Of The Four Supremes, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes lit up, and an intense look of longing filled his eyes.


    With The Lord Of The Four Supremes at the stage of Primordial Soul, he would be able to use the Primordial Soul of the four ancient legendary beasts against his enemies, and he would be incredibly powerful!


    Why don''t I¡­ practice the technique of The Lord Of The Four Supremes? Although there is no established progression further on, could I, Zhou Donghuang, not find a way to refine and perfect it?


    Although doing this will put me under great pressure¡­ but, if life was pressure-free, what difference would there be between my life and that of a fish?


    At the thought of that, Zhou Donghuang took a deep breath, and in that early morning of the fourteenth day, twelfth month, year 1227 in the Ziyun Era, he made a decision that would chart the course of his life¡ªhe would practice The Lord Of The Four Supremes!


    The most important reason for choosing The Lord Of The Four Supremes was that it could give him the four Primordial Souls of the four ancient legendary beasts.


    The four Primordial Souls of the four ancient legendary beasts would leave almost no weaknesses if used in conjunction with each other.


    If this was not the case, he would not have chosen a technique that would allow him to advance only to a maximum stage of Primordial Soul.


    Now, by the time the next medicinal bath to completely rid me of the seal¡­ I can start practicing The Lord Of The Four Supremes in earnest and start afresh on the path of the Martial Way!


    Having made his decision, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes were filled with anticipation.

 Chapter 8 Practicing

    Zhou Donghuang woke up early the next day.


    After tonight, the seal within his body would be removed completely, and he would be able to start afresh on the path of the Martial Way.


    Although the Spirit on Ziyun was dense, probably as dense as it previously was on Earth, he would still need some time to attain level-one of Qi-gathering stage.


    Practicing the conventional way step-by-step is too slow¡­ I still prefer a shortcut.


    Previously, when Zhou Donghuang was at the peak of his powers, aside from being extremely accomplished in the Martial Way, he was also at a very high level in the Alchemy.


    The Alchemy referred to the practice of producing and refining powerful elixir or pills. Alchemy could only be done by those at the level of Primal Core and above.


    The reason was that only those of the level of Primal Core and above possessed "true core", and the three concealed fires required to produce elixir or pills could only be drawn out by the true core.


    Those below the level of Primal Core could not be considered "alchemist." No matter how deeply they may have delved into the medical use of essence, they would only be considered "medicine masters."


    Medicine masters were ranked in order of basic-level, intermediate-level, superior-level, earth-level, with the culmination at heaven-level.


    Within the borders of the country of Yunyang, a superior-level medicine master would be much sought after¡ª even in the Imperial Court¡ª and treated with reverence and waited upon.


    As for earth-level medicine masters, there were none within the country of Yunyang, and if any existed, they would not remain in a backwater country like Yunyang for long.


    Heaven-level medicine masters were unheard of in the history of Yunyang.


    There is no hope of producing ''Qi-gathering Pill'' before attaining Primal Core¡­ however, even if that''s the case, I can still use some combination of herbs to produce a ''qi-gathering elixir.''


    A qi-gathering elixir was a medical elixir used by adepts to aid their practice; it made them more sensitive to qi and allowed their practice to progress more quickly. Qi-gathering elixirs were extremely valuable and usually only those whose families were well-off could afford to use them.


    There are also qi-gathering elixirs in the country of Yunyang¡­ but the ordinary ones available and widely used can only increase sensitivity to qi by 50% and correspondingly increase the rate of practice by 50%.


    Even the best qi-gathering elixir in the country of Yunyang, which comes from the Imperial Court and is formulated by a superior-level medicine master, can only double the sensitivity to qi and the rate of practice¡­ In addition, it costs ten times more than an ordinary qi-gathering elixir.


    As far as I can remember, the best formulated qi-gathering elixirs could produce an increase in sensitivity to qi and the rate of practice by ten times.


    Two days later, Zhou Donghuang went once again to the Magnolia Guild''s medicine storehouse and gathered all the herbs he needed before going to see Granny Lian.


    "Granny Lian¡­ does the guild have these herbs?"


    Zhou Donghuang had already written out all the ingredients he needed on a piece of paper, which he now passed to Granny Lian.


    "Rainbow snake flower, purple caltrop leaf, earth lingzhi that is at least fifty years old¡­"


    The ingredients on the list were precious and costly herbs, and Granny Lian felt her scalp tingle. The value of these herbs greatly exceeded the value of the two fifty-year-old sticks of blood ginseng.


    "Young Master, at most, only half of these herbs can be found in the guild''s treasure vault."


    Granny Lian smiled bitterly.


    Having witnessed Zhou Donghuang''s many startling actions, she dared not doubt the Young Master''s decisions.


    Every decision the Young Master made had to have a rationale behind it.


    Had they been on Earth, Granny Lian would be the equivalent of Zhou Donghuang''s most ardent fan girl.


    "Only half?"


    Zhou Donghuang furrowed his brows. The herbs he had listed could all conceivably be found in Qingshan Town.


    He had not even listed those more precious herbs that could not be found in Qingshan Town.


    "Which ones?" Zhou Donghuang asked. If only half the ingredients could be found, he would just have to settle and make do with a lower quality qi-gathering elixir.


    After Granny Lian had named those herbs which could be found, Zhou Donghuang sighed.


    These herbs, together with what I took from the medicine storehouse¡­ I can produce a qi-gathering elixir that can only triple my sensitivity to qi, which will only triple the rate of practice.


    It''s too slow, but that''s the best I can do for now.


    Just as well that no one knew what Zhou Donghuang was thinking. If anyone had known, they would surely have vomited blood in exasperation.


    In the country of Yunyang, the best qi-gathering elixir produced by the superior-level medicine master of the Imperial Court could only double the user''s sensitivity to qi.


    It was not difficult to imagine that if the news got out that Zhou Donghuang succeeded in producing a qi-gathering elixir that tripled the user''s sensitivity to qi using only the few herbs available in humble Qingshan Town, it would make waves.


    Done at last.


    With Granny Lian''s cooperation and help to gather all the valuable herbs that he needed, Zhou Donghuang took only an hour to produce a qi-gathering elixir that tripled his sensitivity to qi.


    Everything is ready! Now for the final piece of the puzzle!


    After taking care of the qi-gathering elixir, Zhou Donghuang waited patiently for nightfall. Once night had fallen, he could administer the last soak in the medicinal bath.


    ¡­


    Before dawn on the fifteenth, twelfth month 1227 in the Ziyun Era.


    It''s done!


    Throughout his soak in the medicinal bath the previous night, Zhou Donghuang had not slept but had waited in anticipation for the seal within his body to be removed instead.


    In the wee hours of the second day, the seal was finally removed.


    At that moment, even though Zhou Donghuang had a thousand years'' memories, he could not help but feel emotional. Only after he dried himself off, changed into his clothes, and returned to his bed did he manage to slowly control his emotions.


    Sitting cross-legged, Zhou Donghuang gulped down a bottle of the qi-gathering elixir and began to practice.


    The Lord Of The Four Supremes!


    Zhou Donghuang searched for his memories of The Lord Of The Four Supremes and switched to that technique. Taking in the Spirit from the surroundings, he began to practice.


    Because of his experience in his previous life, Zhou Donghuang was able to progress smoothly, and with the additional aid of the qi-gathering elixir, he managed to take in the Spirit at an astonishing rate.


    The spirit on Ziyun is much more dense compared with that on Earth after it dissipated¡­ at the present rate of practice, I feel that I will need only a month before I smoothly attain level-one of the Qi-gathering!


    If Zhou Donghuang''s thoughts were known to others, it would have shocked them.


    In the history of the country of Yunyang, the fastest to attain level-one of the Qi-gathering were the scions of the Imperial Court, and the process took them two full years to manifest their qi.


    And right now, Zhou Donghuang believed he could attain level-one of the Qi-gathering in only a month.


    Of course, there were reasons why Zhou Donghuang''s rate of practice could be so much faster than the scions of the Imperial Court.


    First, Zhou Donghuang''s parents were among the most accomplished practitioners of the Martial Way in the universe, and he had inherited their competence. In terms of talent, he was among the greatest in the universe.


    Second, the qi-gathering elixir that he had consumed had tripled his sensitivity to qi. In addition, he had a thousand years'' rich experience to draw upon, and he was able to absorb the Spirit with maximum efficiency and convert it into qi stored within his body.


    Finally, The Lord Of The Four Supremes that he was practicing was far superior to the other techniques that were widely practiced on Ziyun.


    All in all, his rate of practice could not have been matched by the scions of the Imperial Court of Yunyang.


    Engrossed in practicing, Zhou Donghuang lost track of time.


    He only awoke two days later with an expression of pleasant surprise.


    I never thought that once I was familiar with The Lord Of The Four Supremes, I would be able to absorb the Spirit and convert it into qi at an even faster rate¡­


    It seems that I won''t even need a month; ten to fifteen days should be enough for me to smoothly attain level-one of Qi-gathering and become a level-one adept of Qi-gathering, possessing the strength of one bull.


    When that happens, if I coordinate all my muscles and exert maximum strength¡­ even without any techniques of the Martial Way, I will be able to kill a level-two Qi-gathering adept with a single blow just by using brute strength!


    After this pleasant surprise, Zhou Donghuang continued practicing.


    Only this time, he had not practiced for long before he was startled awake by Granny Lian''s voice, "Young Master, Elder San of Yunxuan Restaurant is here."


    Zhao San?


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes flashed at being startled awake, and he murmured in a low voice, "It seems that Zhao San¡­ has smoothly attained level-four of Qi-gathering."


    Zhou Donghuang met Zhao San once again in the receiving chamber of the Magnolia Guild.


    Zhao San had brought someone along. Standing behind him was a middle-aged man dressed in a manner similar to the people of the Tang Dynasty on Earth. He sported a beard that resembled a mountain goat''s and had a rather intelligent look about him.


    This time, as soon as Zhou Donghuang had entered the receiving chamber, Zhao San rose hurriedly from the armchair and saluted him respectfully.


    "Esteemed Master Zhou."


    Up till now, Zhao San was unable to hide the astonishment in his eyes.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    "It seems that your level of practice has reverted to its prior state," Zhou Donghuang said with a placid smile.


    "It is all due to the efforts of Esteemed Master Zhou."


    Upon hearing Zhou Donghuang mention this, Zhao San broke into a wide smile and fished out a piece of paper that was richly textured and looked extremely valuable. He presented it to Zhou Donghuang, saying, "Esteemed Master Zhou, this is the title deed for Yunxuan Restaurant. From this day forth, Yunxuan Restaurant belongs to you, Esteemed Master Zhou."


    Zhou Donghuang casually reached out and took the title deed with a simple, "Thank you."


    To him, wealth was still important at this moment.


    Only with wealth he could purchase more and better herbs to aid and increase his rate of practice so that he could leave the planet of Ziyun as soon as possible and explore the boundless universe!


    Zhou Donghuang merely glanced at the richly-textured title deed in his hand, before stuffing it into his pocket, his expression as calm as before.


    It was as though what he had stuffed into his pocket was not the title deed for the most profitable business in Qingshan Town, but an inconsequential piece of rough paper¡­

 Chapter 9 Lin Lan Returns

    "Esteemed Master Zhou, this is Chief Steward Li. It is his duty to ensure that Yunxuan Restaurant operates smoothly¡­ if Esteemed Master Zhou does not wish to personally oversee the running of Yunxuan Restaurant, you can delegate this duty to Chief Steward Li."


    Upon seeing that Zhou Donghuang had kept the title deed of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhao San introduced the middle-aged man standing behind him.


    "After I leave, he will remain at Yunxuan Restaurant and serve the Esteemed Master Zhou."


    "Chief Steward of Yunxuan Restaurant, Li Xian, here, acknowledging your presence, Young Master Zhou," the middle-aged man said humbly as he saluted Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang nodded mildly in acknowledgment and turned his gaze back to Zhao San.


    "Will you be preparing to leave Qingshan Town and return to the Governor''s Household in the prefecture capital?"


    Zhao San nodded, "It seems that you already know that I am of the Governor''s Household¡­ you are correct, I set out today for the Governor''s Household in the prefecture capital."


    "If you ever have the time, you are welcome to see me in the Governor''s Household in the prefecture capital, and I will be delighted to entertain you," Zhao San said with a slight smile.


    "Moreover, as I have promised earlier¡­ the money that I have loaned to the Magnolia Guild from this moment on belongs to the Esteemed Master Zhou," Zhao San said with a glance at Granny Lian.


    Following that, Zhao San and Zhou Donghuang chatted for a short while, but upon seeing that Zhou Donghuang had no interest in continuing their chat, he tactfully chose to leave with Li Xian.


    Zhou Donghuang, under the dumbfounded gaze of Granny Lian, returned to his room to practice.


    Young Master¡­ is now the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant?


    Granny Lian was still grappling with reality, and she felt as though she was dreaming. It all felt too surreal.


    Outside the Magnolia Guild, Li Xian was walking behind Zhao San.


    "Elder San, you gave Yunxuan Restaurant to him just like that? That is the most profitable business in Qingshan Town, and it rakes in money every day!"


    Zhao San grunted in acknowledgment and nodded. "I will be returning to the prefecture capital soon, and keeping Yunxuan Restaurant will not benefit me. I owe him big time, and I consider giving Yunxuan Restaurant to him to be paying off this moral obligation."


    "Elder San, in the past, your support sustained Yunxuan Restaurant, and no one dared to attempt a takeover¡­ now, with you gone and Yunxuan Restaurant in the hands of a new owner, I fear there will be many takeover attempts."


    Li Xian cast a probing gaze at Zhao San and asked, "If there really is a takeover attempt¡­ when that happens, should I warn them that even though Elder San has left, he will still not stand for any takeover attempts?"


    At Li Xian''s words, Zhao San stopped and looked back in the direction of the Magnolia Guild.


    After that momentary halt, he looked away and said mildly, "Since I have already given Yunxuan Restaurant to him, whether or not he is able to hold on to it will depend entirely on how capable he is."


    Although one word from Zhao San would have been enough to forestall anyone who was planning a takeover attempt on Zhou Donghuang''s Yunxuan Restaurant, he would not say the word.


    He felt that Zhou Donghuang, who had been able to cure his chronic ailment, was no ordinary person, despite rumors saying that Zhou Donghuang was unable to practice and was a martial invalid.


    Would a martial invalid be able to maim Wang Feng, the grand master of the Wang family, and tie his arm into a knot?


    Thinking back to the news he had heard about the events of that day, Zhao San was still rather startled.


    Interesting fellow¡­ I only hope that since you have accepted Yunxuan Restaurant, your performance will not disappoint me.


    Of course, Zhao San said this in his heart and not out loud.


    "Depending on how capable he is?" Li Xian''s eyes lit up suddenly at Zhao San''s reply, and a look of greed flickered across the depths of his eyes.


    Zhao San obviously did not have eyes in the back of his head and noticed nothing.


    ¡­


    Two days later.


    Zhou Donghuang was awakened once again from his practice, but this time, it was because his mother Lin Lan had returned from the Lin family in the prefecture capital.


    Lin Lan sought him out soon after returning.


    "Mother, have you given the formula to the Lin family?"


    Zhou Donghuang had a look of tenderness in his eyes as he looked at Lin Lan.


    Although Lin Lan was only his adoptive mother, the love she had shown him was no less than his biological mother had. It was even more than most mothers showed their own biological children.


    Lin Lan remained unmarried till this day because of him.


    When he was young, he had overheard Granny Lian advice Lin Lan to find a good family to marry into, but Lin Lan had firmly rejected her advice.


    Lin Lan''s exact words had been, "This life of mine has been saved by Donghuang''s father¡­ In this lifetime, I will never let Donghuang suffer even the slightest wrong."


    Evidently, Lin Lan had felt that if she were to marry and bear children, she would have wronged Zhou Donghuang. Therefore, she had never considered marrying.


    Even when Zhou Donghuang had grown up and matured, and he advised Lin Lan to marry, she had deflected the advice with a smile.


    "I would." Lin Lan smiled and gave a slight nod, but the look she gave Zhou Donghuang was conflicted.


    Just now, upon her return, Granny Lian had apprised her of what had happened while she was away from the guild¡­


    Firstly, her son had cured the chronic ailment that Zhao San, the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, was suffering from, and had been gifted Yunxuan Restaurant as a result.


    Secondly, her son had the misfortune to be provoked by the grand master of the Wang family, Wang Feng, and had maimed one of his arms.


    She was not particularly surprised by the latter.


    After all, she had been present when her son had defeated Hong Yue, the guild master of the Sunset Guild, who was a level-one adept of Qi-gathering. Wang Feng was not even a level-one adept of Qi-gathering and would naturally have been no match for her son.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    If she were to be surprised, it would be at how savage her son had been, which was totally different from the impression she had of him as a well-behaved boy.


    It was the former that had surprised her most.


    Zhao San was no ordinary person; he was the scion of the Governor''s Household of the prefecture capital, and he had surely sought out many healers to treat the dark affliction that he suffered. They had all failed, but he had finally been healed by her son.


    The fact that Zhao San had given away Yunxuan Restaurant was proof that her son had performed a great service to Zhao San!


    "What did the Lin family say?"


    What Zhou Donghuang wanted to know of most was the reaction of the Lin family, and whether his mother had been able to extricate herself from the trouble she was in.


    "It is not known for now," Lin Lan said, shaking her head. "However, I have handed the formula over to the fourth elder who has been in charge of liaising with the Magnolia Guild¡­ the fourth elder said to wait for him to submit the formula to the patriarch, and the patriarch would dispatch someone to inform us of his decision."


    "Fourth Elder?" Zhou Donghuang furrowed his brows slightly. "Mother, are you saying that you did not meet with the patriarch? Or the head elder? That fourth elder¡­ is he trustworthy? Won''t he snatch the formula for himself?"


    In the Lin family, the final decisions were made by the patriarch and head elder of the Lin family. Zhou Donghuang knew this.


    "The fourth elder said that the patriarch was in seclusion and the head elder was away on business," Lin Lan said.


    "Such a coincidence."


    Zhou Donghuang began to feel suspicious at Lin Lan''s words.


    "Probably¡­ that shouldn''t be the case? This is no small matter."


    Now, seeing the suspicion on Zhou Donghuang''s face, Lin Lan began to worry, but she still tried to console herself.


    "When there is a personal benefit at stake, nothing is impossible," Zhou Donghuang said, shaking his head.


    In the thousand years of previous experience, he had seen too many self-serving people.


    Presented with such a golden opportunity, the fourth elder of the Lin family would not hesitate to take full advantage.


    "The hearts of man cannot all be that bad¡­ I feel we should look on the bright side," Lin Lan said.


    Of course, despite her words, Lin Lan was still worried. After all, if the adopted daughter she had raised for ten years could betray her, it was not inconceivable that the fourth elder might misappropriate the formula.


    "Let us hope for the best," Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    He allowed himself to hope that the fourth elder of the Lin family would not have any ill intentions regarding the formula that his mother had sent, but if he had¡­


    At this thought, a cold glimmer flickered across Zhou Donghuang''s eyes.


    "Donghuang, since I''m back, isn''t it time to tell me everything?"


    Lin Lan''s stare burned into Zhou Donghuang. Evidently, she remembered what Zhou Donghuang had said before she left.


    Zhou Donghuang had told her that when she returned, he would tell her how he had come up with the formula for the blood-staunching elixir and how he had defeated Hong Yue despite not being able to manifest his qi.


    "Mother," Zhou Donghuang''s expression changed, and he suddenly became very stern. "Regarding what I am about to tell you, you must not breathe a word to anyone¡­ not even Granny Lian. This is a grave matter; it even involves my personal safety!"


    Zhou Donghuang trusted Lin Lan unconditionally.


    Therefore, he did not think too much when it came to revealing everything about his previous life to Lin Lan, and perhaps it would help to preempt any shock Lin Lan might feel at anything he would do in the future.


    "It has implications on your personal safety?"


    Lin Lan''s expression changed, and she shook her head repeatedly. "Donghuang, if that''s the case, you don''t need to tell me, I don''t want to know¡­ it is my enduring belief that whatever happens to you, you''ll always be my son!"


    Lin Lan resolutely refused to listen to Zhou Donghuang. She had evidently been frightened by his words. Zhou Donghuang could not help this and did not insist.


    In reality, what he was about to tell Lin Lan was neither good nor bad. But now, if Lin Lan refused to listen, Zhou Donghuang would play along and not insist.


    After Lin Lan had left, Zhou Donghuang continued to practice. He was now completely focused on attaining level-one of Qi-gathering as soon as he could. Only by building up his abilities could he have the capacity to protect himself and those he cared about.


    In this life, he would not allow himself any regrets.


    Besides, the other reason he practiced so desperately was that he wanted to leave the planet of Ziyun as soon as possible and embark on an expedition across the boundless universe.


    Out there, he could grow up very fast.


    In addition, there were some people out there who were waiting for him to change their fate¡­

 Chapter 10 A Farce of a Meal

    "Big Brother Donghuang! Big Brother Donghuang!"


    It was almost noon. Not long after Lin Lan had left, Zhou Donghuang, who had just calmed down and was beginning to practice, was startled by a voice from outside.


    The voice belonged to a girl, and it sounded tender and musical to the ears.


    This voice...


    Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes, and memories from a thousand years before surfaced in his mind, causing the corners of his mouth to be pulled upwards in a slight smile.


    He had been ten years old that year.


    He had seen a little girl, five or six years old, being bullied by several boys about the same age as her on the main street. He had stepped forward, grabbed one of the boys, and hit him hard, scaring away the other boys.


    From then on, the little girl often came to the Magnolia Guild seeking his company, following him and Chen Dandan around, calling them "Big Brother Donghuang" and "Big Sister Dandan."


    That''s right, today is the nineteenth, , the twelfth month, 1, 1227 in the Ziyun Era.


    On this day in my previous life, Xiaoyu came to invite me out for a meal¡­ but because of Chen Dandan''s betrayal and the precarious situation of the Magnolia Guild, I was in a bad mood and rejected her invitation.


    Zhou Donghuang recalled the incident just as he opened the door.


    Outside stood a girl who looked about eleven or twelve years old, delicate looking and with well-formed features, and it was not hard to imagine that she would grow up to be a beauty.


    Qin Xiaoyu was eleven that year and was from a branch of the Qin family of Qingshan Town.


    In the past, Qin Xiaoyu''s position in the Qin family was ordinary, but ever since her father had a breakthrough and became a level-one adept of the gathered qi and an elder in the Qin family three years ago, she had become the little princess of the Qin family in one fell swoop.


    "Big Brother Donghuang, I have been invited for a meal at the earthly dining booth at Yunxuan Restaurant¡­ Let''s go together, shall we?"


    This scene played out exactly as he remembered it.


    At first, Zhou Donghuang was planning to reject the invitation just like he had previously, but seeing the look of longing on Qin Xiaoyu''s face, his heart melted, and he agreed.


    "Big Brother Donghuang, whenever my father brings me for a meal at Yunxuan Restaurant, we only go to the people''s dining booth and never the earthly dining booth¡­ I heard that the earthly dining booth is magnificent; there are more dishes on the menu, and there is a minimum expenditure of thirty liang of silver."


    Qin Xiaoyu''s excitement was plain to see during their journey to Yunxuan Restaurant after leaving the Magnolia Guild.


    "Xiaoyu, who is hosting the meal?" Zhou Donghuang asked curiously.


    Ordinary people couldn''t usually spend the money to eat in the earthly dining booth at Yunxuan Restaurant. As the son of the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, he was naturally somewhat aware of the costs involved.


    The great hall did not have a minimum expenditure. The booths, however, did have a minimum expenditure.


    The lowest class of booths was the people''s dining booth, with a minimum expenditure of twenty liang of silver, and the slightly better earthly dining booths had a minimum expenditure of thirty liang of silver.


    The next class above the earthly dining booths was the best class of heavenly dining booths, with a minimum expenditure of a hundred liang of silver.


    Even when the heads of the lesser families of Qingshan Town went to eat at Yunxuan Restaurant, they would only go to the earthly dining booths at most.


    They would only reserve a heavenly dining booth if they had an important guest to entertain.


    A hundred liang of silver for a meal was a great expenditure even for the head of a lesser family.


    In Qingshan Town, an ordinary family of three would spend at most eight to ten liang of silver in a year.


    "It''s Zhong Gang of the Zhong family. He lost a bet with Big Brother Qin Fei, so now he has to treat Big Brother Qin Fei to a meal in the earthly dining booth of Yunxuan Restaurant."


    Qin Xiaoyu giggled. "Big Brother Qin Fei brought me along and told me that I could bring someone else along, anyone I wanted¡­ the first person I thought of was you, Big Brother Donghuang."


    The Big Brother Qin Fei that Qin Xiaoyu mentioned was the first young master of the Qin family, who was a year older than Zhou Donghuang.


    Be it the Zhong family or the Qin family, all the lesser families of equal status to the Wang family each had a level-two adept of the gathered qi in command. They were considered the most illustrious person in the family.


    Zhou Donghuang felt a surge of warmth in his heart at Qin Xiaoyu''s words. This little girl did not forget him when such an opportunity presented itself.


    At that moment, Zhou Donghuang was thinking about how he would bring Qin Xiaoyu to the heavenly dining booth in Yunxuan Restaurant some day in the future for a good meal and let her eat her fill.


    He was now the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, and the entire Yunxuan Restaurant was his business. He would not even need to spend money to eat at Yunxuan Restaurant.


    Zhou Donghuang and Qin Xiaoyu were soon approaching Yunxuan Restaurant.


    As the best restaurant in Qingshan Town, Yunxuan Restaurant was located in the bustling center of Qingshan Town and occupied an area comparable to any of the family mansions in Qingshan Town.


    With Qin Xiaoyu leading the way, they both entered an earthly dining booth on the second floor.


    As they walked through the main entrance of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang spied the chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant, Li Xian, whom he had met two days ago. Li Xian was calculating a bill with his head lowered and had not seen him.


    "I knew that if I allowed Xiaoyu to bring someone, she would surely look for you at the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang."


    As soon as he entered the booth with Xiaoyu, Zhou Donghuang heard a familiar yet distant voice from his memory. It was the first young master of the Qin family, Qin Fei.


    Currently, there were three people in the booth besides Qin Fei, and they were all people whom Zhou Donghuang could recall from memory.


    The first young master of the Zhong family, Zhong Gang, second master Zhong Yi, and third lady Zhong Xiu.


    Of course, other than the six of them, there were two servant girls standing aside to serve them. This was the standard in the earthly dining booths of Yunxuan Restaurant.


    "Little Sister Xiaoyu, why did you bring him? In two days'' time, he will no longer be on the same level as us."


    Zhong Xiu looked at Zhou Donghuang with scorn.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    As the third lady of the Zhong family, Chen Dandan''s betrayal and the peril that the Magnolia Guild was in was known to Zhong Xiu.


    "What do you mean not the same level? Whatever happens, Big Brother Donghuang will always be my big brother!" Qin Xiaoyu said with annoyance, giving Zhong Xiu a hard stare.


    "Everyone here is a guest¡­ let''s take a seat, the food should be served soon."


    Qin Fei intervened just as the atmosphere in the booth turned awkward.


    Qin Xiaoyu took Zhou Donghuang''s hand, led him to a table, and then sat down beside him. During the whole process, it was obvious to Zhou Donghuang that Qin Fei''s careless gaze had a touch of coldness to it, and there was an element of jealousy in that coldness.


    Does this Qin Fei have designs on Xiaoyu?


    As a man, Zhou Donghuang naturally saw through Qin Fei''s intent, and his heart froze suddenly.


    If he was not wrong, Xiaoyu would be only eleven that year.


    This Qin Fei was a beast!


    "Zhou Donghuang, listen to me, you maimed Wang Feng on the streets several days ago, right?" Zhong Yi asked as he narrowed his eyes. He was sitting beside Zhong Xiu.


    "Yes." Zhou Donghuang nodded. "He blocked my way, and I asked him to move his arm. He refused, and I merely helped him do it."


    Zhou Donghuang skimped on the details, as though maiming Wang Feng''s arm was something inconsequential.


    In fact, it really was a small matter to him.


    Zhong Yi did not expect Zhou Donghuang to answer in this manner. His eyes narrowed, and his mouth twitched involuntarily.


    "Zhou Donghuang, you must realize¡­ the head of the Wang family, Red Crane Wang has put out the word that he wants your life as compensation for maiming his son''s arm!" Zhong Gang warned, looking seriously at Zhou Donghuang.


    "Really?" Zhou Donghuang was rather shocked. "I have not heard of this¡­ anyway, I have been at the Magnolia Guild and have not been out the past few days, and he has not come looking for me. He probably was just joking," Zhou Donghuang said as he scooped up a cup of tea that the servant girl had just poured and took a gentle sip. His expression was as calm as before.


    "Zhou Donghuang, are you really dumb or just acting?" Zhong Xiu laughed coldly. "Now, you can still turn to the Magnolia Guild for support, and the Wang family cannot easily do anything to you¡­ do you think the Lin family of the prefecture capital will let your Magnolia Guild off for leaking the formula? In two days, the Lin family will surely send someone to expel your mother, Lin Lan from the Lin family, and recall the level-two adept of the gathered qi from the Magnolia Guild. When that happens, the Magnolia Guild will live on in name only¡­ do you think the Wang family will let you off?


    "Your mother is only a level-one adept of the gathered qi; can she protect you?"


    As she said this, the cold smile on Zhong Xiu''s face became even more pronounced.


    "Big Brother Donghuang!"


    Seated beside Zhou Donghuang, Qin Xiaoyu''s expression changed. Although she had heard rumors, she was still young and did not fully understand the peril that Zhou Donghuang was in.


    "Zhou Donghuang, although your mother is a level-one adept of the gathered qi, the Wang family has no fewer than five level-one adepts and even a level-two adept."


    Zhong Yi looked at Zhou Donghuang and laughed.


    "The Magnolia Guild will lose the support of the Lin family from the prefecture capital, and it will soon cease to exist¡­ When that happens, how will you stand up to the Wang family?"


    "That is my problem; I do not wish to burden you with it," Zhou Donghuang said casually. From the beginning till now, there had not even been a ripple across his calm expression.


    Seeing this, both Zhong Xiu and Zhong Yi felt a sense of helplessness.


    Just then, there was knocking at the door.


    It was the head chef of Yunxuan Restaurant, who had personally come to serve the dishes. As he served each dish, he matched it with a quote from literature.


    However, just as he was preparing to give the quote for the second dish, Zhong Gang dismissed him rudely. "We are here to eat, not to hear your nonsense¡­ you may leave."


    The head chef retreated.


    After the dishes had all been served, Qin Fei invited them all to eat, taking on the role of a good host.


    "We get to eat in this earthly dining booth not even twice a year¡­ Qin Fei, my gratitude to you for your treat, letting us have a taste of the delicacies in this earthly dining booth," Zhong Yi grunted as he shoveled food into his mouth.


    At this, Qin Fei''s expression changed immediately.


    Zhong Xiu and Zhong Gang, who were seated beside Zhong Yi, knitted their brows, and Zhong Xiu even kicked Zhong Yi under the table, giving him a shock.


    Immediately, Zhong Yi realized he had let the cat out of the bag, and an awkward expression came over his face.


    "Big Brother Qin Fei, isn''t Zhong Gang treating us to this meal? You told me that you lost a bet to him, which is why this is his treat, right?"


    Qin Xiaoyu looked at Qin Fei suspiciously, and Qin Fei could only smile awkwardly. "Xiaoyu, Zhong Gang and I have been close friends for many years, the bet was just for fun¡­ him or me, it makes no difference whose treat it is."


    Zhou Donghuang raised his eyebrows.


    Right then, if he still could not tell that this meal was a farce arranged to provoke him, he would really have wasted a thousand years of life.

 Chapter 11 Chief Steward Li Xian

    Since the moment they entered the earthly dining booth at Yunxuan Restaurant, the three Zhong siblings had taken turns provoking Zhou Donghuang. Every word and sentence from them emphasized the difficulties he was facing.


    At first, Zhou Donghuang thought that the three of them were shooting off their mouths.


    But now that he knew Qin Fei was the one treating them to the meal, he could guess with certainty that Qin Fei had deliberately brought Xiaoyu along to witness his humiliation.


    His motive was obvious.


    It was surely to belittle him and diminish her impression of him, in the hope that she would not stick as close to him as before.


    Because Qin Fei had eyes on Xiaoyu.


    It was a man''s possessiveness that made Qin Fei refuse to accept that Xiaoyu could be close to another man.


    Because of this, Zhou Donghuang had naturally become a thorn on Qin Fei''s side.


    Upon realizing this, Zhou Donghuang laughed in his heart.


    Still just a¡­ little fart who has not grown up.


    It was as though Zhou Donghuang had forgotten that he was only sixteen years old, and Qin Fei was a year older than him.


    "Brother Donghuang, we have always heard that you are unable to manifest your qi¡­ how did you maim Wang Feng? You must know that Wang Feng''s ability is comparable to mine and Zhong Gang''s," Qin Fei asked curiously, looking at Zhou Donghuang.


    At Qin Fei''s question, not just the three siblings Zhong Gang, Zhong Yi and Zhong Xiu, but also Qin Xiaoyu, turned curiously to look at Zhou Donghuang.


    They were all evidently curious about this.


    The fact that Zhou Donghuang was a martial invalid who could not manifest his qi was no secret in the whole of Qingshan Town.


    "Although I have no qi, I still have brute strength," Zhou Donghuang said as he helped himself to the dishes on the table. Till now, he had not so much as glanced at Qin Fei.


    Qin Fei''s face sank a little at Zhou Donghuang''s perfunctory reply, although he still managed to force a smile. "From what I know, Wang Feng has manifested his qi at a reasonable standard and should have at least a few hundred jin of force¡­ even if Wang Feng had been careless, mere brute strength should not have been enough to force his arm into a knot, should it?"


    "That can only be because his arm was too weak and fragile," Zhou Donghuang said.


    "Zhou Donghuang, the reason that you could have such brute strength is that Guild Master Lin Lan has searched everywhere for some rare and exotic supplements to increase your physical strength, am I right?"


    Zhong Yi gave Zhou Donghuang a profound look. "If that''s not the case, you could not possibly have such brute strength!"


    Zhong Xiu snorted in derision and added, "No wonder Chen Dandan betrayed Guild Master Lin Lan, she showed such favoritism..."


    Zhong Xiu stopped in the middle of her sentence and shut her mouth because Zhou Donghuang had stopped helping himself to the food and was glaring at her icily.


    Zhou Donghuang''s icy glare exerted a great unseen wave of pressure on her, robbing her of the courage to continue.


    "Mention Chen Dandan again, and I won''t mind¡­ tying your arm in a knot too!"


    Zhou Donghuang grinned slowly, revealing two rows of gleaming white teeth. His icy voice seemed to bring the temperature in the booth down by several degrees in that instant.


    "Zhou Donghuang!"


    "Zhou Donghuang! You''ve gone too far!"


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang threaten their sister, both Zhong Gang and Zhong Yi stood up in an instant, staring daggers at Zhou Donghuang.


    However, Zhou Donghuang did not even spare either of them a glance and continued eating as though they did not even exist.


    This only made them both even angrier!


    "Everybody, please sit down¡­ we don''t meet up often, why make it so tense? Zhong Xiu, you are at fault. Chen Dandan is an ingrate and is no better than a rat on the street. She is the object of everyone''s ire. How could you stick up for her?"


    Once again, Qin Fei played the peacemaker and at the same time sent a strong hint to Zhong Gang and Zhong Yi. Both of them resumed their seats reluctantly.


    "Xiaoyu, am I not correct?" Qin Fei followed up immediately with a smile.


    "Big Brother Qin Fei is correct; Chen Dandan is truly an ingrate, just like a rat on the street!"


    Qin Xiaoyu nodded diligently and thanked Qin Fei softly while giving him a grateful look.


    "Big Brother Qin Fei, thank you for getting Big Brother Donghuang out of that difficult situation."


    "Xiaoyu is too courteous, your friends are also my friends," Qin Fei replied softly, but joy blossomed in his heart.


    This was exactly what he wanted. Otherwise, why would he have saved Zhou Donghuang from embarrassment?


    Anyway, he still felt that Zhou Donghuang had been able to maim Wang Feng because Wang Feng had been careless. Zhong Gang and Zhong Yi together were more than he could handle, and he could not imagine that Zhou Donghuang would be a match for them.


    The discreet exchange between Qin Xiaoyu and Qin Fei, although soft, was still clearly audible to Zhou Donghuang.


    The Way of the Supreme Four Divisions which he had been practicing was an extremely potent technique, and aside from raising his physical level, it was also capable of heightening his senses.


    Although he had not yet attained level-one of the gathered qi, his hearing had been greatly enhanced.


    What a hypocrite! Zhou Donghuang cursed in his heart.


    It was obvious that Qin Fei was trying to court Qin Xiaoyu''s favor.


    The atmosphere in the booth calmed down once more.


    "Brother Donghuang."


    In the end, it was Qin Fei who broke the silence and asked Zhou Donghuang, "Frankly speaking ¡­ the troubles faced by the Magnolia Guild, do you think they can be smoothly resolved this time?"


    "Frankly speaking?"


    Zhou Donghuang gave a blank stare, followed by a smile. "I love speaking frankly."


    Then in front of Qin Fei and the others in the booth, Zhou Donghuang said as frankly as he could, "Whether or not the Magnolia Guild can resolve its problems, I really couldn''t care less about that. The only thing I care about is that my mother remains safe."


    Zhou Donghuang spoke the truth.


    The stark truth of the matter was that the Magnolia Guild merely represented his mother working for the Lin family, and however much profit it made, nine-tenths would still go to the Lin family. The remaining tenth would belong to Lin Lan after much effort, and still, she would have to reinvest it into the guild to earn more money.


    If more money was needed, they would even have to come up with ways to borrow money. It was fair to say that his mother had not had a day of good rest in recent years because of the Magnolia Guild.


    In other words, only without the Magnolia Guild would his mother be able to rest.


    "You don''t care? Who would believe that!" Zhong Xiu laughed in derision.


    "Haha¡­ this has got to be the best joke we have heard in our entire lives!" Zhong Yi guffawed.


    "Zhou Donghuang, without the Magnolia Guild, you have no background whatsoever¡­ now, based on your background with the Magnolia Guild, people greet you as Young Master Donghuang. Without the Magnolia Guild, you are nothing more than a martial invalid who cannot manifest his qi. Who will respect you?" Zhong Gang asked disdainfully.


    "Why is it that no one believes anything of what I say?"


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head and heaved a long sigh, seeming to be dejected for reasons only he knew.


    "Brother Donghuang, I never before realized that you were so¡­ humorous."


    Qin Fei played the peacemaker once again.


    "What? You don''t believe me either?" Zhou Donghuang asked Qin Fei.


    "I¡­"


    Qin Fei looked at Zhou Donghuang, then looked back again at Qin Xiaoyu and spread his palms helplessly, saying, "It''s not that I don''t believe your words, it''s just that what you''re saying is¡­ quite unbelievable."


    "What if I told you¡­ that even if that level-two adept of the gathered qi from the Wang family came personally to make trouble for me, I could kill him with a single blow," Zhou Donghuang asked Qin Fei. "Would you believe me?"


    Qin Fei was dumbstruck.


    Qin Xiaoyu was stupefied.


    The two servant girls beside the table were also stunned by Zhou Donghuang''s words.


    "Hahahaha¡­ hahahaha..."


    The three Zhong siblings simultaneously broke into uncontrollable laughter. Their laughter flooded the entire booth and was so loud that even some of the lighter plates on the table started vibrating.


    "Zhou Donghuang, I see that you are unable to accept the reality that the Magnolia Guild is about to fall. Have you gone insane?"


    Zhong Xiu laughed till tears fell from her eyes.


    "Zhou Donghuang, you really know how to exaggerate¡­ Why don''t you simply say that you and Zhao San, the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, are brothers, and you can eat here for free?"


    Zhong Yi was rocking with laughter.


    "Exactly! You can exaggerate, can''t you? Why don''t you exaggerate even more?" Zhong Gang echoed, looking at Zhou Donghuang as though he were a performing monkey.


    "You''ve really hit the mark."


    Zhou Donghuang looked at Zhong Yi and said with all seriousness. "I really can eat here at Yunxuan Restaurant for free. However, the reason I can eat here for free is not because Zhao San and I are brothers, but because¡­ I am the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant."


    Zhou Donghuang said this very solemnly and very earnestly.


    "Hahahahahaha..."


    The three Zhong siblings laughed even harder, and it seemed they would not be able to stop.


    Zhao San was the wealthiest man in Qingshan Town and the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant. This truth was ironclad, but now Zhou Donghuang was saying that he was the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant?


    What other jokes could beat this one?


    "This Zhou Donghuang probably really has gone insane!"


    When Qin Fei looked again at Zhou Donghuang, it was with a look of pure hatred.


    "What? Qin Fei, you still don''t believe what I said?" Zhou Donghuang asked Qin Fei.


    "Brother Donghuang, let''s stop here."


    Qin Fei shook his head, his voice losing its former warmth and becoming much colder. He could now not even be bothered to pander to Zhou Donghuang.


    "Big Brother Donghuang..."


    Qin Xiaoyu was looking worriedly at Zhou Donghuang, trying to figure out whether her Big Brother Donghuang was ill. Why else would he be spouting nonsense incessantly?


    Although she was young, she knew that Zhou Donghuang was not being realistic, and what he said could not be true.


    Knock. Knock.


    A sharp knock sounded from the door and caused the laughter of the three Zhong siblings in the booth to die down temporarily.


    Qin Fei shouted in the direction of the door, "Come in!"


    "Esteemed guests, your loudness is disturbing other guests¡­ Could you please lower your volume?"


    The door of the booth opened, and a middle-aged man with a beard like a mountain goat''s and eyes sparkling with intelligence walked in.


    "Chief Steward Li Xian!"


    Immediately upon seeing the middle-aged man, the three Zhong siblings jumped to their feet as though they had sat on a pin, and Qin Fei also stood up, tugging Xiaoyu to her feet.


    The three Zhong siblings and Qin Fei all bowed and saluted him humbly and respectfully.


    Although Li Xian was only a lowly steward, he was the Chief Steward of Yunxuan Restaurant, and was employed by Zhao San, the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant.


    It was normal even for their elders to treat Li Xian respectfully.


    Naturally, they would not dare to misbehave in front of Li Xian.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.

 Chapter 12 The New Owner of Yunxuan Restauran

    "So it''s Grand Master Qin, Grand Master Zhong, Second Master Zhong, and Third Lady Zhong."


    Even though the four people before him were the scions of the Qin and Zhong Families of Qingshan Town, Li Xian merely gave them a mild nod.


    Had the patriarchs of the Qin and Zhong Families been there, they would still have treated him respectfully and appropriately.


    These small fries were insignificant to him.


    "Esteemed guests, please lower your volume from now on¡­ After all, you are not the only patrons of Yunxuan Restaurant!" Li Xian said softly, looking at Qin Fei and the others with a gleam in his eye.


    "Chief Steward Li Xian has no need to worry, we will definitely be quiet from now on," Qin Fei replied, bowing hastily.


    The three Zhong siblings all nodded and echoed Qin Fei, forcing smiles on their faces and nodding like chickens pecking at rice grains.


    Qin Xiaoyu was standing beside Qin Fei, and the look in Li Xian''s gaze gave her a sense of restraint and fear.


    Usually, whenever her father saw Li Xian when they were both at Yunxuan Restaurant for a meal, her father would prompt her to follow his lead as he bowed respectfully to Li Xian.


    Li Xian was the Chief Steward of Yunxuan Restaurant and was also a trusted servant of Zhao San, the wealthiest man in Qingshan Town.


    Zhao San was held in high esteem in Qingshan Town, and it was said that he had direct connections to the Governor''s Household in the prefecture capital.


    As Li Xian turned to leave, Qin Fei and the others simultaneously let out their breath.


    "Chief Steward Li, that was magnificent!"


    A calm voice rang out suddenly in the booth, causing Qin Fei and the others to shrink back and tremble in fear.Find authorized novels in Webnovel£¬faster updates, better experience£¬Please click www.novelhall.comfor visiting.


    The voice seemed familiar to Li Xian, who had just turned around, and he turned back again to look in the direction of the voice.


    He immediately saw Zhou Donghuang, who had half his face blocked by Qin Xiaoyu who was standing in front of him.


    Although he could only see half his face, Li Xian recognized Zhou Donghuang at once.


    The new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant!


    Why is he here?


    Thinking of his earlier performance, Li Xian''s heart thudded and looked uneasily at Zhou Donghuang, not making a sound for a long while, just like a little boy who had been caught doing wrong.


    "Zhou Donghuang, you went too far!"


    Zhong Yi stared furiously at Zhou Donghuang, and yelled, "You don''t really think that you are the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, do you?"


    "Zhou Donghuang, you really are insane! You dare behave like this in front of Chief Steward Li Xian. Today, even though the Magnolia Guild has not yet fallen, it still will not be able to protect you!"


    "Zhou Donghuang, apologize immediately to Chief Steward Li Xian¡­ If not, I will not spare you today!" Zhong Gang followed up with an angry roar, trying to stand up for Li Xian.


    "Zhou Donghuang, I, Qin Fei, called you brother out of respect¡­ I never thought you would throw that respect away!"


    Seeing how Zhou Donghuang dared speak to Li Xian, Qin Fei, who did not want to be dragged down with Zhou Donghuang, hastily tried to draw a line between them.


    "If it were not for my treat, in two days'' time, when your Magnolia Guild has fallen, you would never have the chance to step into the earthly dining booth of Yunxuan Restaurant for the rest of your life."


    "Now, I command you, apologize immediately to Chief Steward Li Xian¡­ if not, don''t even think about walking out of this earthly dining booth!"


    Qin Fei looked at Zhou Donghuang with a look of extreme coldness, as though he would strike Zhou Donghuang if his command was not obeyed.


    From the moment Zhou Donghuang had spoken, all eyes had been on him, and no one noticed the uneasy expression on Li Xian''s face.


    "Big Brother Donghuang..."


    Qin Xiaoyu''s expression had also changed; she never imagined that her Big Brother Donghuang would dare behave in this manner in front of Li Xian.


    Was he not afraid of offending Li Xian?


    "Chief Steward Li Xian, my big brother has been feeling moody these few days, what he said just now was nonsense, you¡­ please don''t take it seriously," Qin Xiaoyu said as she shifted her gaze from Zhou Donghuang to Li Xian.


    As she did, she was stunned.


    She saw Li Xian looking uneasily at Donghuang, as though Donghuang were some kind of sea monster.


    Piak!


    The clear, sharp, sound of a slap echoed around the booth without any warning, as suddenly as Zhou Donghuang had spoken just now.


    It was Li Xian who had moved to face Qin Fei and had given him a fiery slap, immediately leaving a red palm print on his cheek.


    "Chief Steward Li Xian, you..."


    With blood dribbling from the corners of his mouth, Qin Fei looked at Li Xian in stupefaction, having no clue as to why Li Xian had slapped him.


    If he recalled correctly, had he not been sticking up for Li Xian? Even if Li Xian had wanted to slap somebody, it should not have been him, should it?


    The slap had also gotten the attention of the three Zhong siblings, but they were equally dumbfounded at the scene before them.


    And now, Li Xian, who had just slapped Qin Fei, ignored the shocking face of Qin Fei and said respectfully with a trembling voice to Zhou Donghuang, who was seated in the booth, "Young Master Donghuang, I¡­ I did not know you were coming¡­ If I had known, I would definitely have arranged a heavenly dining booth for you."


    This scene left everyone else in the booth wide-eyed in shock.


    Good heavens!


    What was going on?


    Li Xian, the chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant, who was treated with respect even by the patriarchs of the lesser houses of Qingshan Town, was bowing to Zhou Donghuang?


    Moreover, the humility which Li Xian was showing was something they could not have imagined.


    Could this Zhou Donghuang have some secret identity they did not know about?


    If he was merely the son of Lin Lan, the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, Li Xian would have no reason to treat him this way, would he?


    Qin Fei and the three Zhong siblings were utterly confused. At this moment Qin Xiaoyu was stunned as well, looking dumbly at the scene before her.


    "Li Xian, tell them¡­ when I eat at Yunxuan Restaurant, can I have the bill waived?" Zhou Donghuang said mildly.


    "Young Master Donghuang must be kidding," Li Xian smiled bitterly. "You are now the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant. If you eat at your own restaurant, who would dare charge you?"


    As Zhou Donghuang was speaking to Li Xian, the hearts of Qin Fei and the three Zhong siblings skipped a beat in unison and left them with a hunch that disaster was imminent.


    Indeed, what Li Xian said confirmed that hunch.


    "Big Brother Donghuang¡­ is the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant?"


    Qin Xiaoyu''s mouth was hanging open in shock, and it took sometime before she closed it. Qin Fei and the three Zhong siblings were also stunned motionless to the extent that they wondered if they were dreaming, and pinched themselves in unison.


    The sharp pain told them that they were not dreaming.


    In that instant, the four of them exchanged glances and saw panic and disbelief in each other''s eyes.


    Zhou Donghuang, the son of Guild Master Lin Lan of the Magnolia Guild, a martial invalid who could not manifest his qi¡­


    How did he become the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant?


    Was not the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant Zhao San, the wealthiest man in Qingshan Town?


    "Chief Steward Li Xian¡­ you¡­ are you mistaken? Isn''t Elder Zhao San the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant?" Zhong Xiu asked, swallowing hard, as though clutching at the last straw that would save her life.


    "Hmmmph!"


    Li Xian looked Zhong Xiu once over and replied coldly, "Elder San returned to the prefecture capital two days ago¡­ before he left, he gave Yunxuan Restaurant to Young Master Donghuang. Since then, Young Master Donghuang has fully accepted the ownership of Yunxuan Restaurant and is the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant."


    Li Xian''s reply shattered the final hope deep in Zhong Xiu''s heart.


    In that instant, not only Zhong Xiu but also Zhong Gang and Zhong Yi all felt their faces burn¡­


    Zhou Donghuang had not been exaggerating after all; he could eat without being charged at Yunxuan Restaurant because he really was the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant!


    "What kind of devil''s luck could Zhou Donghuang have? How could Elder Zhao San have given him Yunxuan Restaurant?"


    When Qin Fei returned his gaze to Zhou Donghuang, it was with a look of hatred and envy.


    What kind of character and abilities does Zhou Donghuang have? he roared in his heart.


    "Young Master Donghuang, let me escort you to the heavenly dining booth," Li Xian offered.


    "No thank you, I''ve eaten my fill."


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head and glanced at Qin Xiaoyu beside him, smiling. "Xiaoyu, if you are still hungry, please feel free to follow Chief Steward Li to the heavenly dining booth to continue your meal."


    "From this day on, whenever you come to Yunxuan Restaurant for a meal, you may go directly to the heavenly dining booth¡­ all expenditures will be waived! I have matters to attend to, I will be taking my leave."


    Zhou Donghuang stood up as he finished speaking.


    He had not intended to come in the first place, and now that he had drunk and eaten his fill, it was time to go back and continue practicing.


    After all, his top priority at the moment was to practice. Anything else was not important.


    Before leaving, Zhou Donghuang glanced casually at Li Xian.


    "Chief Steward Li Xian, did you hear what I just said?"


    "Yes I did. Will do."


    Li Xian nodded hurriedly in reply and looked at Qin Xiaoyu.


    "From this day on, this young lady may come to Yunxuan Restaurant, go directly to the heavenly dining booth, and all expenditures will be waived."


    "Hm!" Zhou Donghuang nodded in satisfaction and strode freely out of the earthly dining booth, leaving everyone staring at his back.


    "Big Brother Donghuang..."


    Qin Xiaoyu took a long while to regain her composure after Zhou Donghuang had left, as though she were in a dream.


    As for Qin Fei and the three Zhong Siblings, their expressions were terrible to behold, extremely terrible¡­


    That day, they had intended for Zhou Donghuang to join them so they could thoroughly humiliate him and make him lose face completely.


    Now, they were the ones who had lost face.


    ¡­


    Not long after Zhou Donghuang had returned to the Magnolia Guild and continued practicing, the news began spreading around Qingshan Town: Zhao San, the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, had left Qingshan Town two days ago. Before leaving, he had given Yunxuan Restaurant to Zhou Donghuang, the son of Guild Master Lin Lan of the Magnolia Guild!


    Consequently, Qingshan Town was in an uproar.


    Yunxuan Restaurant was the most profitable business in Qingshan Town, raking in money daily. Even the combined earnings of the Magnolia Guild and Sunset Guild, which were the two major guilds, could not equal Yunxuan Restaurant.


    And now this restaurant had a new owner, and that was the famous martial arts invalid of Qingshan Town, Zhou Donghuang.


    That Elder Zhao San¡­ actually gave Yunxuan Restaurant to that little swine?


    A look of dread flashed across the eyes of Red Crane Wang, the patriarch of the Wang family, as he got wind of this news.


    What kind of connection to Elder Zhao San does that little swine have?

 Chapter 13 The Lin Family Sends Word

    The level of gathered qi was the starting point of the Martial Way.


    The requirement at this level was to absorb the Spirit in the atmosphere, incorporate it into the body and convert it into qi, storing it in the various meridians in the body. The meridians in a person¡¯s body started out very small and could only hold very little qi.


    To hold even more qi, it was necessary to expand the meridians through practice to enlarge and widen them.


    When the meridians was expanded to a certain degree, the stored qi would be enough to generate the strength of one bull when expended, and you would be considered to have attained ¡°level-one of Qi-gathering.¡±


    To become even stronger, one must further widen the meridians.


    Up till now, I have been practicing for five days¡­ relying only on the qi stored in my meridians, and I am already capable of generating half a bull¡¯s strength of force!


    In a room in the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang, who was sitting cross-legged on the mattress as he practiced, opened his eyes.


    In at most five days, I will be able to smoothly attain level-one of Qi-gathering, and become a level-one adept of Qi-gathering!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes lit up at this thought.


    Today is¡­ the twentieth, the twelfth month, 1227 in the Ziyun Era.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes narrowed subconsciously as he tore off the old page from the calendar and looked at the new one.


    In his previous life, the messenger from the Lin family of the prefecture capital would arrive and announce the decision the patriarch of the Lin family had made: As a consequence of the Magnolia Guild having leaked the Lin family¡¯s precious formula, the Lin family will no longer support the Magnolia Guild, and Lin Lan will also be expelled from the Lin family.


    His mother, Lin Lan, would be angered to death.


    ¡°Young Master! The Lin family of the prefecture capital has sent someone!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s drifting train of thought was yanked back to the present by Granny Lian¡¯s voice.


    Presently, he left his room and walked to the receiving chamber together with Granny Lian.


    ¡°Lin Lan, this letter is addressed to you from the fourth elder.¡±


    As the two of them arrived at the door of the receiving chamber, they heard a confident voice.


    In the receiving chamber, a travel-worn middle-aged man in a green robe was handing a sealed letter to Lin Lan.


    ¡°I will inform you of the patriarch¡¯s decision once you have read the letter¡­ this was what the fourth elder explicitly instructed me to do when he handed me the letter before I left.¡±


    ¡°By the way, you should thank the fourth elder, if not for him, you would have been expelled from the Lin family!¡± the middle-aged man said after he had handed the letter to Lin Lan.


    In the moment it took for Zhou Donghuang and Granny Lian to enter the receiving chamber together, Lin Lan had already opened and read the letter.


    An awful expression rapidly spread across her face, and she swayed as though about to fall.


    ¡°Mother! What¡¯s the matter?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression changed, and he reached out a hand to take the letter in Lin Lan¡¯s hand, but she stopped him.


    ¡°Clan-brother, I¡¯ve read the letter¡­ please continue,¡± Lin Lan said to the middle-aged man, sighing deeply. However, her eyes were full of anger and indignation.


    ¡°Regarding the formula given by the clan that has been leaked by the Magnolia Guild, from this day on, the clan will no longer support the Magnolia Guild, and will hence take back the title deed of the Magnolia Guild.¡±


    ¡°You all have three days to move out of the Magnolia Guild¡­ in three days¡¯ time, the clan will send agents to take over this place and establish a new guild.¡±


    The middle-aged man said solemnly, ¡°The patriarch¡¯s decision: You, Lin Lan, will not have a clan to turn to, you are to be barred from entering the family compound.¡±


    The middle-aged man paused and shook his head, saying, ¡°Speaking of this, your luck is actually not bad¡­ Recently, the fourth elder managed to obtain a formula for an even better blood-staunching elixir from elsewhere and handed it over to the clan. Bearing this in mind, the patriarch did not expel you from the clan. If not for this, given the grave error you have committed, there is no way that you would not have been expelled!¡±


    As the middle-aged man finished speaking, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression darkened. A murderous look flashed across his eyes, and he subconsciously curled his hands into fists.


    He had guessed correctly after all.


    That fourth elder of the Lin family of the prefecture capital had indeed coveted the formula Zhou Donghuang had given his mother. The fourth elder had not misappropriated it and used it for himself, but had used it to improve his standing in the Lin family and benefit himself.¡±


    Granny Lian¡¯s expression changed as well.


    She was about to speak, but Lin Lan stopped her and stepped forward simultaneously, telling the middle-aged man in a low voice, ¡°I would like my clan-brother to take just one sentence back to the patriarch¡­ I, Lin Lan, thank the patriarch for showing mercy.¡±


    ¡°I will.¡± The middle-aged man nodded and acknowledged and continued, ¡°Next, I am required to inform the clan-brother, the level-two adept stationed here, that he has been recalled by the clan.¡±


    The level-two adept of Qi-gathering, the commander of the guards of the Magnolia Guild, was a scion of the Lin family of the prefecture capital who had been sent to Qingshan Town. He was stationed at the Magnolia Guild.


    Now that the Lin family would not support the Magnolia Guild, they would naturally not allow him to stay.


    The middle-aged man finished speaking and left the receiving chamber.


    ¡°My lady, why didn¡¯t you tell him that the formula the fourth elder handed over to the clan was actually from you?¡±


    Granny Lian was hopping madly and would have said so herself if Lin Lan had not prevented her earlier.


    Zhou Donghuang was also looking at Lin Lan.


    ¡°An arm cannot defeat a leg.¡± Lin Lan sighed and smiled bitterly as she passed the letter in her hand to Granny Lian.


    Granny Lian opened the letter and read it, and her expression changed at once.


    ¡°Shameless! Too shameless! That Lin Tonghong should go and die!¡±


    Lin Tonghong was the fourth elder of the Lin family of the prefecture capital.


    Zhou Donghuang had also moved beside Granny Lian and finished reading the contents of the letter.


    Lin Lan, I know you sneaked a look at the formula for the blood-staunching elixir that I obtained that was intended for the family. If you dare spread it around, you should think of that martial invalid son of yours, even if you are not afraid of your own death.


    The letter from Lin Tonghong did not reveal that he had stolen Lin Lan¡¯s formula but was intended to threaten Lin Lan.


    It had to be said that this was a brilliant move on his part.


    Using me to threaten my mother?


    Zhou Donghuang broke into an ugly smile, laughing coldly in his heart.


    You, Lin Tonghong, handed over that formula to the Lin family, and the Lin family will surely reward you. Enjoy the pleasure for a few days¡­ one day I will go to the prefecture capital in person and knock on the Lin family¡¯s door, and we will meet face to face!


    It was clear to Zhou Donghuang that whatever he said to the Lin family¡¯s messenger would be useless because the messenger would not possibly believe him.


    Of course, he could have written out a formula for an even better blood-staunching elixir for the messenger on the spot. But what purpose would it serve? It would not prove that the fourth elder of the Lin family had stolen his formula.


    In addition, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s character was such that he most enjoyed collecting his ¡°debts¡± in person!


    ¡°Mother, don¡¯t worry¡­ I ensure that you will enjoy a fair outcome in this matter,¡± Zhou Donghuang promised, looking at Lin Lan with a sincere expression.


    ¡°Donghuang, don¡¯t do anything silly¡­ you must remember that I only want you to be safe, on top of everything else.¡±


    Lin Lan dutifully forced a smile, saying to Zhou Donghuang, ¡°Anyway, the patriarch did not expel me from the Lin family, and even though the right to return to the Lin family has been taken away, I am still a member of the Lin family.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang knew in his heart that other than himself and Chen Dandan, what she valued most in her life was her identity as a member of the Lin family.


    The Magnolia Guild came second.


    Not long ago, Chen Dandan¡¯s betrayal had pierced his mother¡¯s heart. What his mother was left right now was just him and her identity as a member of the Lin family.


    Previously, the reason for his mother¡¯s suicide was that she had been expelled from the Lin family.


    This time, his mother had not been expelled from the Lin family, and naturally would not be seeking death like she previously had.


    ¡°Mother, you and Granny Lian pack up your things¡­ we will go to Yunxuan Restaurant together in two days¡¯ time. Other than the front area that is open to the public for meals, there is a large private compound behind Yunxuan restaurant where Zhao San used to live. Now that he is gone, we can stay there,¡± Zhou Donghuang said to Lin Lan.


    Since Zhao San had given him Yunxuan Restaurant, it had been his second home, and the more he thought about it, the more convinced he was that the decision to treat Zhao San¡¯s ailment had been the correct one.


    ¡°I would have forgotten it if you hadn¡¯t mentioned it¡­ my son, you are now the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant.¡±


    Lin Lan smiled at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, and the previously dejected look in her eyes was replaced by a sparkle.


    After the Lin family¡¯s messenger had left the Magnolia Guild with the level-two adept of Qi-gathering who had been the commander of the guards, Lin Lan gathered the servants and guards of the Magnolia Guild and asked them if they were willing to move to Yunxuan Restaurant.


    Anyone who did not wish to move could claim three months¡¯ payment and was free to go.


    Even though the Magnolia Guild was about to become history, Lin Lan could still afford this.


    Yunxuan Restaurant was the most profitable business in Qingshan Town after all, and it rolled in god knew how much more money than the Magnolia Guild. In the end, not a single servant girl or guard chose to leave, and they all decided to move to Yunxuan restaurant together.


    This was a great consolation to Lin Lan.


    At the same time, the matter of how the Lin family of the prefecture capital had dealt with the Magnolia Guild spread slowly throughout Qingshan Town.


    The whole of Qingshan Town knew shortly that the Magnolia Guild was about to fall.


    Three days later, agents of the Lin family of the prefecture capital would arrive in Qingshan Town and establish a new guild.


    ¡­


    In a spacious garden in the Wang family mansion.


    ¡°Father, I¡¯ve secretly asked Chief Steward Li Xian of Yunxuan Restaurant¡­ he said, there is no special relationship between Zhao San and that little swine Zhou Donghuang. Whether he lives or dies, Zhao San does not care. The reason he gave Yunxuan Restaurant to that little swine seems to be that the little swine did him a favor, and he was merely discharging a moral obligation.¡±


    As night fell, Red Crane Wang had just returned and sought his father out immediately, the grand patriarch of the Wang family one generation above him, Wang Yukun.


    Wang Yukun was the only level-two adept of Qi-gathering in the Wang family, and he had been away on a long journey, having just returned the night before.


    ¡°Right now, the level-two adept of Qi-gathering at the Magnolia Guild has left with the messenger from the Lin family of the prefecture capital. The only ones that the little swine, Zhou Donghuang can rely on now are Lin Lan and that old granny with Lin Lan.¡±


    ¡°Second Younger Brother and I can easily handle Lin Lan together. That old granny with Lin Lan is also a level-one adept of Qi-gathering, and I¡¯ll bring two elders who are level-one adepts of Qi-gathering to handle her.¡±


    Red Crane Wang outlined his plan. ¡°We are preparing to lead men over tomorrow¡­ Father, you need not go over, they are not worthy enough for you to get personally involved.¡±


    He did not even make mention of Zhou Donghuang, as though Zhou Donghuang was no threat to them since they were level-one adepts of Qi-gathering.


    Of course, this was also because Guild Master Hong Yue of the Sunset Guild was protecting his image, and he did not spread the word of how he had been defeated by Zhou Donghuang.


    Otherwise, Red Crane Wang would definitely not have dared to look down on Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°I will bring Feng¡¯er over together with you all tomorrow,¡± Wang Yukun said with an icy expression. ¡°Lin Lan and that old granny are yours¡­ that little swine, I will capture him personally and hand him over to Feng¡¯er, and let Feng¡¯er kill him with his own hands!¡±

 Chapter 14 The Blockade

    The afternoon of the twenty-first day, twelfth month, 1227 of the Ziyun Era.


    Six riders mounted on large, strong horses and galloped away from the Wang family¡¯s mansion, making themselves as conspicuous as possible as they moved through the town in the direction of the Magnolia Guild.


    At last, the six riders arrived at the Magnolia Guild and blockaded the main entrance, giving out an aura of arrogance with their imposing presence.


    They were led by a well-built old man whose cheeks were covered by white curly sideburns and whose short white hair stood up straight from his scalp, giving him the appearance of a white-haired lion.


    Behind the old man was a youth, two middle-aged men, as well as two other old men, one thin and one fat.


    ¡°It¡¯s the Wang family!¡±


    A crowd had gathered in anticipation of what was about to happen, and many of them recognized the six people blocking the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that Red Crane Wang, the patriarch of the Wang family? And he is following¡­ the old man leading them, isn¡¯t he the grand patriarch of the Wang family, the one called the ¡®bloody-handed butcher,¡¯ Wang Yukun?¡± a bystander cried out in awe, staring wide-eyed at the old man leading the group.


    Following his cry of alarm, the gathered crowd became rowdy.


    ¡°Wang Yukun? That is the¡­ the bloody-handed butcher who single-handedly massacred a force of one hundred bandits?


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard that the leader of the bandit gang was approaching level-two of Qi-gathering, and he had five lieutenants who had attained level-one of Qi-gathering¡­ the six of them took on Wang Yukun together, but were all killed by him! From then on, Wang Yukun gained the title of ¡®bloody-handed butcher.¡¯¡±


    ¡°Good heavens! This is a rare public appearance for him¡­ and today, he did not just appear but also blocked the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild; it seems like he intends to exact vengeance for his grandson, Wang Feng!¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious? That Wang Feng whose arm was maimed by Guild Master Lin Lan¡¯s son is right behind him.¡±


    The first young master of the Wang family, Wang Feng, was following behind Wang Yukun. He stared at the wide-open entrance of the Magnolia Guild, a bloodthirsty look in his eyes.


    Zhou Donghuang, you maimed my arm, and today I will have your life!


    Wang Feng¡¯s heart was consumed by the thought of revenge.


    ¡°Yesterday, the news that the Magnolia Guild lost the support of the Lin family of the prefecture capital went around, and today, the Wang family is here to seek revenge¡­ it seems that the son of Guild Master Lin Lan of the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang, is in for some trouble today.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the level-two adept of Qi-gathering who commanded the guards of the Magnolia Guild has also returned to the Lin family¡­ today, even if those other people from the Wang family were here without Wang Yukun, they would be enough to sweep the Magnolia Guild clean!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s only natural. Behind Wang Yukun is the patriarch of the Wang family, Red Crane Wang, the second master of the Wang family, Bamboo Crane Wang, and the second and third elders of the Wang family. The four of them are all level-one adepts of Qi-gathering! And it seems the Magnolia Guild right now only has Lin Lan as the level-one adept of Qi-gathering.¡±


    ¡°I heard that the elderly lady who is always with Guild Master Lin Lan is also a level-one adept of Qi-gathering.¡±


    ¡°Even if she is, they will not be able to resist the Wang family¡¯s four level-one adepts.¡±


    By now, more than a few of the gathered bystanders were already mourning silently for Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t Zhou Donghuang now the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant? Zhao San gave him Yunxuan restaurant before he left, and that should mean that they are close, right?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the Wang family afraid that Elder Zhao San might retaliate?¡±


    ¡°If you could have thought of it, the Wang family would definitely have considered it. The fact that the Wang family would dare block the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild today is evidence that Elder Zhao San will definitely not help Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    ¡°However, we really don¡¯t know what Elder Zhao San is thinking¡­ how could he just give Yunxuan Restaurant to Zhou Donghuang? It is the most profitable business in Qingshan Town.¡±


    ¡°Elder Zhao San¡¯s thoughts are beyond our understanding.¡±


    The crowd of bystanders got larger and larger, and it seemed that more and more people made their way over from all around Qingshan Town as the news spread.


    Upon receiving the news, the members of the other two lesser families of Qingshan Town rushed over in anticipation as soon as they could.


    The first young master of the Qin family, Qin Fei, made his way over as soon as he received the news.


    It seems that you, Zhou Donghuang, only got lucky to take possession of Yunxuan Restaurant¡­ but you are not close with Elder Zhao San at all.


    Seeing the members of the Wang family blocking the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, Qin Fei had easily deduced this fact and was standing in the crowd, taking pleasure in the unfolding disaster.


    ¡°Qin Fei!¡±


    Right then, three figures came into Qin Fei¡¯s view: they were the First Young Master Zhong Gang of the Zhong family, Second Young Master Zhong Yi, and Third Lady Zhong Xiu. They had evidently come as soon as they heard the news.


    ¡°What? You came to watch a good show?¡± Qin Fei laughed.


    ¡°Haha¡­ how could we miss such a good one?¡± Zhong Yi chuckled.


    ¡°When we found out that day that Zhou Donghuang was the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, we assumed he had some deep connection with Elder Zhao San¡­ it seems we were thinking too much. If he was really close to Elder Zhao San, the Wang family would not be parading themselves so brazenly outside the Magnolia Guild demanding vengeance.¡±


    Zhong Gang was also taking obvious delight in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s misfortune.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang was so gleeful at Yunxuan Restaurant two days ago¡­ today, I, Zhong Xiu, would very much like to see what fate he suffers!¡± Zhong Xiu laughed coldly.


    ¡°Even Grand Patriarch Wang Yukun of the Wang family has come¡­ in my opinion, Zhou Donghuang is probably not going to survive this day. This bloody-handed butcher is famous for spoiling his offspring.¡± Qin Fei¡¯s smile widened.


    However, he quickly wiped the smile off his face because he spied a pretty and delicate-looking girl of about eleven or twelve years of age. She was holding on to a young man¡¯s hand, and they were making their way towards Qin Fei.


    Qin Fei abandoned the three Zhong siblings and went to meet her.


    ¡°Xiaoyu, Uncle Zhen.¡±


    The new arrivals were Qin Xiaoyu and her father, Qin Zhen.


    Qin Zhen was from a side branch of the Qin family and had no great importance, but several years earlier, he had broken through to level-one of Qi-gathering, and had become the sixth elder of the Qin family.


    In the three lesser families of Qingshan Town, even a member of the side branches could rise to become an elder of the clan, only if he was able to break through and attain level-one of Qi-gathering and become a level-one adept.


    ¡°First Young Master,¡± Qin Zhen greeted Qin Fei. Qin Xiaoyu merely swept a glance over Qin Fei and didn¡¯t bother to greet him.


    The incident at Yunxuan Restaurant two days ago when Qin Fei had revealed his true feelings towards Zhou Donghuang had left her extremely displeased.


    ¡°Xiaoyu!¡±


    In the end, under the frown and stern words of Qin Zhen, Qin Xiaoyu finally greeted Qin Fei reluctantly.


    After paying lip service to Qin Fei, Qin Xiaoyu looked at the group of people at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, her face full of worry. ¡°Father, Big Brother Donghuang is now the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant; isn¡¯t the Wang family afraid of Elder Zhao San¡¯s displeasure if they cause trouble for him?¡±


    ¡°Xiaoyu,¡± Qin Fei cut in before Qin Zhen could say a word, ¡°that the Wang family would even dare to show up means that they know Elder Zhao San will not help Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    ¡°Father, is this true?¡±


    Qin Fei¡¯s reply caused Qin Xiaoyu to look worriedly at Qin Zhen, and she turned as white as a sheet when she saw Qin Zhen nodded.


    ¡°Father¡­ could you help Big Brother Donghuang?¡± Qin Xiaoyu begged Qin Zhen.


    ¡°Xiaoyu, even if I wanted to help, I would not be able to¡­ There are six of them in the Wang family, and except Wang Feng, I cannot match any of them.¡± Qin Zhen laughed bitterly.


    There were differences in ability among fellow level-one adepts of Qi-gathering.


    ¡°Big Brother Qin Fei, I¡¯m sure you can think of something¡­ can¡¯t you?¡±


    Qin Xiaoyu looked at Qin Fei. For the sake of Donghuang, she would put aside her annoyance with Qin Fei; the only thing she was concerned about was the safety of her Brother Donghuang.


    ¡°Xiaoyu, even the bloody-handed butcher of the Wang family is here¡­ unless my grandfather intervenes, no one can stop him.¡±


    Qin Fei also laughed bitterly and shook his head. ¡°And my grandfather would not offend the Wang family for the sake of Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    ¡°Then¡­ Big Brother Donghuang is beyond rescue?¡± Qin Xiaoyu said softly to herself, her face pale and her spirits sagging.


    Right then, someone in the crowd exclaimed excitedly, ¡°Someone is coming out!¡±


    ¡°It is Guild Master Lin Lan of the Magnolia Guild!¡±


    Under the gaze of the crowd, two figures walked out from the Magnolia Guild, an elegant, beautiful lady and an elderly lady following her.


    It was Guild Master Lin Lan of the Magnolia Guild, with Granny Lian beside her.


    ¡°Father, she is the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, Lin Lan,¡± the patriarch of the Wang family, Red Crane Wang, said to Wang Yukun who mounted on the horse in front of him, as Lin Lan led Granny Lian out.


    Wang Yukun, who had retired a long time ago, had no dealings with Lin Lan, the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, who had come to Qingshan Town about ten years ago.


    ¡°You are Lin Lan?¡±


    Wang Yukun stared down icily at Lin Lan and said coldly, ¡°Today, I am not here for you¡­ where is your son Zhou Donghuang? Let him show himself!¡±


    ¡°Lin Lan acknowledges Grand Patriarch Wang.¡±


    Lin Lan, standing not far from Wang Yukun, gave a slight bow in greeting and continued, ¡°Grand Patriarch Wang, you are the elder and therefore surely more reasonable.¡±


    ¡°My son Zhou Donghuang was bullied every so often in the past by your grandson Wang Feng, but never brought this matter to me¡­ some days before, it was also under the provocation of your grandson Wang Feng that he lost control and maimed Wang Feng¡¯s arm. If you don¡¯t believe this, you may ask those who were present¡­¡±


    Before Lin Lan could finish, she was interrupted by Wang Yukun¡¯s roar, ¡°Enough of this nonsense! I will be the judge of this! Today, if I say that he is wrong, then he is wrong! Bring him out to me at once. Otherwise, don¡¯t expect any mercy from me!¡±


    As Wang Yukun finished speaking, he looked at Lin Lan with eyes brimming with cold, murderous intent.


    ¡°What a bully! Such thuggish behavior!¡±


    The gathering onlookers all felt a shiver in their hearts and agreed that Wang Yukun was being overbearing. But they were clear on one thing¡ªWang Yukun had the prerogative to be overbearing.


    He was a level-two adept of Qi-gathering after all, and within Qingshan Town, there were few who could stand up to him. None could suppress him.


    ¡°Grand Patriarch Wang, since you feel that my son is in the wrong, let us consider him to be in the wrong¡­ However, the failings of my son are purely the result of my inadequate upbringing.¡±


    Lin Lan forced back anger and humiliation, gritted her teeth and continued, ¡°Therefore, whatever offenses he has committed, allow me, as his mother, to bear all the consequences!¡±


    ¡°Whatever the consequence, let me take it!¡±


    Lin Lan had only one thought in that instant: That she would protect her son Zhou Donghuang from harm even at the cost of her own life.


    At this moment, the eyes of many of the gathered onlookers were wet with tears.


    ¡°Guild Master Lin Lan, I believe you are only Zhou Donghuang¡¯s step mother? You are willing to sacrifice yourself to protect an adopted son, you truly are a shining example for all mothers!¡±


    Many onlookers sighed at this, but they only dared to sigh softly, in fear of incurring the wrath of the Wang family.


    ¡°Aunty Lin Lan,¡± Qin Xiaoyu sobbed, tears streaming down her face.


    ¡°Hahahaha¡­¡±


    Wang Yukun roared with laughter as he jumped off his horse, stopping only after he landed.


    ¡°How moving! Since this is the case, I will give you, Lin Lan, one chance. If you, Lin Lan, can withstand three blows from me and stay alive, I will spare your son¡¯s life today!¡±

 Chapter 15 Donghuang Intervenes

    Zhou Donghuang was in his room, concentrating on practicing the Way of the Supreme Four Divisions. As the meridians in his body expanded, the qi stored in them increased.


    Suddenly, he heard someone shouting urgently and frantically, ¡°Young Master! Young Master!¡±


    ¡°Granny Lian?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression changed upon hearing her voice, and he leaped off the bed and sprinted out of the room.


    ¡°Granny Lian, what¡¯s wrong? Has something happened?¡±


    ¡°Young Master, people from the Wang family are here, led by the level-two adept, Grand Patriarch Wang Yukun. They are at the entrance. Her Ladyship did not want me to tell you and went out alone with me¡­¡±


    Granny Lian blurted out everything as fast as she could.


    As soon as Granny Lian mentioned that Lin Lan was willing to suffer three blows from Wang Yukun for his sake, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression changed completely.


    ¡°Mother!!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes popped out of their sockets, and his first thought was to rush out, but Granny Lian stopped him.


    ¡°Granny Lian, what are you doing?!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang glared angrily at Granny Lian as though about to devour her, scaring her so badly that she trembled.


    ¡°Young Master, I told you this to see if you were able to rescue Her Ladyship,¡± she said through trembling lips. ¡°If you are unable to face that Wang Yukun, I will prevent you from going out with my life¡­ because Her ladyship told me as we were going out that I should bring you away if the opportunity arises.


    ¡°If you are unable to face Wang Yukun, I can only bring you away! If you stubbornly insist, there is only one way, that is over my dead body.¡±


    Granny Lian stood squarely in front of Zhou Donghuang, blocking him, her voice firm and resolute, leaving no room for any doubt about her resolve.


    Lin Lan had actually not allowed Granny Lian to tell Zhou Donghuang what had happened and had only intended that Granny Lian find a way to sneak away with Zhou Donghuang while she stalled the Wang family members.


    Granny Lian had spilled everything out to see if Zhou Donghuang was able to find a way to stop Wang Yukun.


    Although she felt it was improbable, she had resolved to try nonetheless. After all, the Young Master had surprised her again and again in recent days¡­


    ¡°Granny Lian, come out with me.¡±


    Hearing Granny Lian¡¯s story, Zhou Donghuang took a deep breath, and after calming his raging emotions, a cold murderous look shone in his eyes.


    Granny Lian¡¯s eyes lit up. Going by the Young Master¡¯s actions, he seemed really confident.


    Leaving Granny Lian staring blankly, Zhou Donghuang had already sprinted off at a speed that left her, a level-one adept, choking on dust.


    ¡°Young Master¡¯s speed¡­¡±


    Granny Lian¡¯s eyes narrowed, and gasping with astonishment, she ran after him.


    ¡­


    Outside the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild.


    Pong!!


    As a level-two adept, Wang Yukun used his full force of two bull¡¯s strength and with one blow, sent Lin Lan flying. She crashed into a pillar at one side of the Magnolia Guild¡¯s main entrance and fell heavily to the ground. Her breathing was shallow, and blood spurted from her mouth.


    ¡°Mother!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang had just arrived, and looking at the scene before him, his expression changed completely. He dashed to Lin Lan¡¯s side and tipped a bottle of medicine into her mouth.


    ¡°Mother, swallow this¡­ this is a healing elixir I made.¡±


    Only after making certain that Lin Lan¡¯s injuries were not life-threatening did Zhou Donghuang let out a breath and stand up. His gaze had turned cold and fell upon Wang Yukun.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    Behind Wang Yukun, Wang Feng jumped off his horse as well and moved to stand beside Wang Yukun. He stared at Zhou Donghuang with an expression full of hate and anger, as though he wanted to bite Zhou Donghuang¡¯s head off.


    ¡°You are Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    Wang Yukun¡¯s gaze fell on Zhou Donghuang, and he smiled placidly.


    ¡°Your step mother treats you really well¡­ she agreed to suffer three blows from me just to protect you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s too bad that after just one blow from me, she can¡¯t even stand¡­ one more blow and that will be the end of her! You can say you¡¯ve saved her life by coming out, if not, both of you would have died today.¡±


    Wang Yukun was now looking at Zhou Donghuang as though he were a dead man, and indeed, Zhou Donghuang was no different from a dead man in his eyes.


    ¡°Donghuang¡­¡±


    Lin Lan struggled to stand, but her severe injuries had robbed her of the strength to stand. After trying to push herself up with her palms, she collapsed again.


    ¡°Granny Lian, take good care of my mother.¡±


    Just then, Granny Lian came out, and after turning back to instruct her, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gaze found Wang Yukun once more.


    ¡°And you are Wang Yukun?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang grinned, showing two rows of snow-white teeth. Instead of showing anger, he smiled a radiant smile.


    ¡°Today, you can consider yourself to have lived a worthy life, to be able to die by my hand.¡±


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, Wang Yukun was stunned, as was Wang Feng beside him.


    So was everyone else.


    No one had expected that Zhou Donghuang would suddenly say such a thing. Did this mean that he intended to fight Wang Yukun?


    ¡°Donghuang!¡±


    Lin Lan¡¯s expression changed, and she tried to push herself up again but was stopped by Granny Lian.


    ¡°Lady, don¡¯t you feel that¡­ Young Master is now very self-confident?¡±


    Granny Lian was still unable to hide the shock in her eyes as she thought of the speed at which Zhou Donghuang had sprinted out.


    ¡°Self-confident?¡±


    Lin Lan was stunned, and glancing at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s back, she saw him standing proudly with both hands behind his back, unmoving and exuding an aura of tremendous confidence.


    ¡°Hahahahahaha¡­¡±


    Wang Feng roared with laughter till tears flew from his eyes.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, it seems that the anger from seeing your mother injured this badly has driven you insane?¡±


    ¡°You think you are a match for my grandfather?¡± Wang Feng said in derision.


    The gathered onlookers were also shaking their heads, and no one believed that Zhou Donghuang had the ability to stand up to Wang Yukun.


    Zhou Donghuang was the famous martial invalid of Qingshan Town, and Wang Yukun was a fearsome level-two adept, also called the ¡°bloody-handed butcher.¡±


    The two of them were on completely different levels.


    The former, compared to the latter, was like a baby compared to an adult; the latter could strangle the former to death at any time.


    Other than Granny Lian, no one had any hope for Zhou Donghuang except a middle-aged man standing in the corner of the crowd. That middle-aged man was the guild master of the Sunset Guild, Hong Yue.


    Zhou This Zhou Donghuang is more than he seems¡­ when he defeated me that day, he had more than a thousand jin of force! Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have been so soundly defeated.


    Thinking of how he had been defeated by Zhou Donghuang that day when he was at the Magnolia Guild with Chen Dandan, Hong Yue still felt some residual fear.


    It was clear to him that the adopted son of Guild Master Lin Lan of the Magnolia Guild was more than what he seemed.


    Of course, at a glance, he did not expect Zhou Donghuang to be able to match Wang Yukun. After all, Wang Yukun was a level-two adept possessing two bull¡¯s strength and was one of the strongest people in Qingshan Town.


    ¡°Qin Fei, do you still remember?¡± Zhong Gang glanced at Qin Fei, who was beside him. ¡°Two days ago in the earthly dining booth at Yunxuan Restaurant, this Zhou Donghuang said that if the level-two adept of the Wang family came looking for trouble, he would be able to kill him with a single blow.¡±


    At this, Zhong Gang began to smile.


    Qin Fei wanted to laugh, but upon seeing Qin Xiaoyu nearby, dared not to. Instead, he did everything he could to hold back his laughter.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang!¡± Zhong Yi looked at Zhou Donghuang and laughed loudly. ¡°Two days ago, didn¡¯t you say that if the old man from the Wang family came looking for trouble, you would be able to kill him with a single blow? Now you have your chance¡­ Demonstrate it for us will you?¡± Zhong Yi said and smiled even wider.


    ¡°I heard that too¡­ Zhou Donghuang, all eyes are on you,¡± Zhong Xiu joined in the chorus of mockery.


    ¡°Big Brother Donghuang¡­ perhaps, he really is confident in taking on that old man from the Wang family?¡± Qin Xiaoyu was reminded by the three Zhong siblings of what Zhou Donghuang had said two days ago in the earthly dining booth of Yunxuan Restaurant.


    That day, her Big Brother Donghuang mentioned three things which no one believed he was capable of.


    The first was that he did not care if the Magnolia Guild fell, and while no one had believed him at first, no one doubted him once they knew that he was the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant.


    The second was that he could kill the level-two adept of the Wang family with a single blow, but this had not been proven yet.


    The third was that he could eat for free at Yunxuan Restaurant because he was the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, and this had already been confirmed by Chief Steward Li Xian of Yunxuan Restaurant himself.


    Big Brother Donghuang has already accomplished two things¡­ could he also accomplish the third?


    Qin Xiaoyu¡¯s eyes lit up with hope at this thought.


    Of course, it was also because Qin Xiaoyu was still young and had not begun to practice, and there were many things she did not yet understand. Otherwise, she surely would not have had this thought.


    The claims of the three Zhong siblings raised a commotion in the crowd.


    ¡°Zhou ¡°This Zhou Donghuang would really say such things?¡±


    ¡°Is he crazy?¡±


    ¡°From what he just said, could he not be crazy?¡±


    ¡­


    More and more people began to look at Zhou Donghuang, but this time with a pitiful gaze.


    Most people could only believe that Zhou Donghuang had gone insane.


    Why else would he say such things?


    Outside the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang looked indifferently at the three Zhong siblings before looking away and back at Wang Yukun.


    ¡°Let us begin¡­ I¡¯m in a rush to send my mother back so that she can recover.¡±


    Although Zhou Donghuang¡¯s tone was calm, the murderous intent in his eyes was increasingly pronounced.


    ¡°Little brat, you are not worthy enough for the grand patriarch himself to act!¡±


    As soon as Zhou Donghuang had spoken, the thin old man behind Wang Yukun leaped off his horse and soared through the air in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s direction.


    ¡°I will capture you and let First Young Master kill you himself!¡±


    While he was still in the air, the old man had drawn his right hand into a claw and reached out, grabbing for Zhou Donghuang¡¯s neck.


    Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression did not change, and he remained still.


    At the last moment, just when the old man¡¯s hand was about to touch him, he tilted his head smoothly to the side.


    Whoosh!


    Zhou Donghuang tilting his head to the side was a masterstroke, and the old man was left grasping air.


    The crowd was shocked, and before they could recover from their shock, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s right hand had already shot out like lightning.


    Pong!!


    His palm rose and fell like a shadow of doom on the old man¡¯s skull, with a fearsome strength like a tiger leaping down a mountain. The old man fell with a sound and died instantly.

 Chapter 16 A Single Killing Blow

    His power¡­ seems greater than it was before.


    Standing in the crowd, Guild Master Hong Yue of the Sunset Guild swallowed hard. Looking at that youth in the distance, the look of dread in his eyes grew more pronounced.


    When the second elder of the Wang family had made his move, he had known that he was in for trouble.


    The second elder¡¯s ability was of a similar level as his, and since even he had been so badly beaten by Zhou Donghuang, the second elder of the Wang family would be no exception.


    What he did not expect was this: In just one exchange, Zhou Donghuang had killed the second elder of the Wang family whose ability was comparable to his, showing a level of power even more fearsome than he had that day.


    Is this Zhou Donghuang really a martial invalid who is unable to manifest his qi?


    Even though this assertion came from the lips of Young Mistress Chen Dandan of the Hong family of the prefecture capital, Hong Yue could no longer believe it.


    As of now, the only ones present who were clear on this matter were Hong Yue, Granny Lian, and Lin Lan. These three people had witnessed Zhou Donghuang¡¯s abilities.


    A mere level-one adept would be no match for Zhou Donghuang.


    However, it was different for the others.


    Witnessing the second elder of the Wang family make the first move against Zhou Donghuang, but get killed by him instead, everyone including the grand patriarch of the Wang family Wang Yukun was shocked for a while.


    ¡°Second Elder!¡±


    Patriarch Red Crane Wang of the Wang family recovered his wits, and his expression changed.


    As his attention turned from the corpse on the floor to the youth, his eyes involuntarily showed an expression of incredulity.


    Was not Zhou Was not this Zhou Donghuang a martial invalid?


    How could a martial invalid kill the second elder of the Wang family?


    As for the rest of the members of the Wang family, their expressions had changed completely as well.


    Wang Feng, the first young master of the Wang family, was so frightened that his whole body trembled, and thinking of that day when Zhou Donghuang had only maimed one of his arms, he could not help but feel that he had been fortunate.


    ¡°This¡­ how is this possible?!¡±


    ¡°He¡­ killed the second elder of the Wang family?!¡±


    ¡­


    In the crowd, Qin Fei and the three Zhong siblings were just as shocked. What had just happened was something they could never have imagined in their wildest dreams.


    Zhou Donghuang, who was a martial invalid, had killed the second elder of the Wang family, who was a level-one adept?


    And it ended in just one exchange, with the second elder having made the opening move?


    ¡°Big Brother Donghuang!¡±


    Qin Xiaoyu¡¯s eyes lit up, and her little fists which had been curled up in anxiety now relaxed a little.


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    Qin Zhen, who was standing beside Qin Xiaoyu, had a shocked expression on his face, and there was a look of pure disbelief in his eyes.


    The second elder of the Wang family was a level-one adept who was more powerful than him, but he had been killed in an instant at the hands of a youth who was publicly known to be a martial invalid.


    Was this youth the same martial invalid that he used to be?


    The crowd seethed with excitement!


    ¡°My God! Am I dreaming? The second elder of the Wang family, a full level-one adept, dead at the hands of Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    ¡°This Zhou Donghuang, isn¡¯t he a martial invalid? How did he kill a level-one adept? Was he too careless?¡±


    ¡°Careless? They were face to face, and they could see each other¡¯s every move¡­ Zhou Donghuang evaded his attack, and he could not evade Zhou Donghuang¡¯s blow; how could this be carelessness, it¡¯s obviously a difference in ability!¡±


    ¡°When Zhou Donghuang maimed First Young Master Wang Feng¡¯s arm, I felt that he could not possibly be a martial invalid¡­ but even then, I never imagined that he had the ability to kill a level-one adept.¡±


    ¡°He¡­ he is only sixteen years old, and he can kill a level-one adept? Even if he was the most outstanding son of a preeminent family such as the Lin or Hong Families of the prefecture capital, he would still not be able to kill a level-one adept at this age, right?¡±


    ¡­


    Looks of shock and disbelief were turned towards Zhou Donghuang, making him the focus of the entire scene.


    Zhou Donghuang, a youth of sixteen years, had killed the second elder of the Wang family who was a level-one adept in just a single exchange.


    From this day on, Zhou Donghuang would be a legend in Qingshan Town regardless of whether he survived.


    ¡°I must be mistaken¡­ I never thought that a little boy like you could have such ability,¡± Wang Yukun said coldly as he gave Zhou Donghuang a searching look. ¡°If you grew and developed well, your future would be limitless¡­ it¡¯s a pity that you must die at my hands today.


    ¡°I consider myself to have lived a worthy life, to be able to kill a prodigy like you in my lifetime.¡±


    As he said this, Wang Yukun stared at Zhou Donghuang suddenly with a bloodthirsty look.


    ¡°You intend to kill me all by yourself?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled a brilliant smile, as though he had heard the funniest joke.


    ¡°Little boy, since you are in a hurry to die, let me send you on your way!¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang mocking him, Wang Yukun¡¯s expression turned cold. He moved in a flash, and it seemed as if he had turned into a hunting dog, rushing towards Zhou Donghuang.


    In the eyes of the gathered onlookers, it seemed that Wang Yukun had become a gust of wind, charging towards Zhou Donghuang and leveling a blow at him.


    ¡°Donghuang!¡±


    Lin Lan¡¯s heart was in her mouth.


    ¡°Young Master.¡±


    Granny Lian looked at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s back in anticipation.


    ¡°Even a mere level-two adept talks about killing me, Zhou Donghuang? Laughable!¡±


    As Wang Yukun was charging towards him, Zhou Donghuang seemed to flicker as he moved to intercept Wang Yukun, and to the gathered onlookers, it looked as though he was moving into the path of the blow.


    As a level-two adept, the full force of Wang Yukun¡¯s blow contained the strength of two bulls, and it seemed to rip through the sky and create wind.


    ¡°Die!!¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang expose himself, Wang Yukun smiled a savage smile and aimed his blow at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s chest with a roar.


    ¡°Donghuang!¡±


    ¡°Young Master!¡±


    Seeing Wang Yukun¡¯s palm just a hair¡¯s breadth away from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s chest, Lin Lan¡¯s expression changed, and Granny Lian began to doubt Zhou Donghuang¡¯s earlier self-confidence.


    ¡°Die.¡±


    Qin Fei and the three Zhong siblings broke into a wide smile at the same time.


    ¡°Big Brother Donghuang!¡±


    Qin Xiaoyu¡¯s expression changed completely, and Qin Zheng sighed a long sigh next to her. ¡°Heaven envies heroes.¡±


    Just then, everyone thought that Zhou Donghuang was about to be killed by Wang Yukun¡¯s blow.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s legs quivered as they remained planted on the ground, and he demonstrated a swiftness technique. His legs left twin tracks on the ground as he slid aside like a ghost to evade Wang Yukun¡¯s full force.


    Huh?


    Wang Yukun never dreamt that his blow would strike thin air, and in the instant that it took his target to vanish from right in front of him, his expression changed completely.


    Right now, he wanted to withdraw and retreat, but the momentum from the force of his blow was too great, and he was unable to stop the follow-through in that instant.


    Whoosh!


    In the same instant that Zhou Donghuang took to evade Wang Yukun¡¯s blow, he swept in like a ghost behind Wang Yukun, who could not possibly turn around in that short a time.


    It is over.


    With a cold gleam in his eyes, Zhou Donghuang stiffened his palms, and summoning every ounce of strength from his muscles and channeling all the qi in his meridians to his palms, he swung at Wang Yukun¡¯s neck.


    Ka-chak!!


    As his palm made contact with Wang Yukun¡¯s neck with over a thousand jin of force, it was as though a metal club had been swept downwards, shattering the vertebrae in his neck.


    With his vertebrae shattered, Wang Yukun¡¯s head was flung forward towards his chest, and he turned his body around with great effort, trying to reach out and point his finger at Zhou Donghuang. He only managed to extend his arm halfway before he collapsed with a blank stare and a defiant expression on his face.


    Thud!!


    Wang Yukun¡¯s corpse threw up a cloud of dust as it hit the ground.


    Silence descended over the scene.


    At this moment, everyone was looking at Zhou Donghuang as though they had seen a ghost.


    The grand patriarch of the Wang family, also known as the bloody-handed butcher, Wang Yukun, had actually been killed by a single blow from this youth?


    ¡°Young Master, he¡­¡±


    Granny Lian¡¯s aged face was full of shock. At first, she had thought that the Young Master had merely hoped to stand up to Wang Yukun and force him to retreat.


    She never imagined that the Young Master would actually kill Wang Yukun!


    This was Wang Yukun, the legendary bloody-handed butcher of Qingshan Town, a level-two adept, not just any ordinary opponent¡­


    ¡°Donghuang¡­¡±


    Lin Lan was deeply shocked as well, and although she knew that her son¡¯s abilities were no longer insignificant, she never thought that he would be able to contend with Wang Yukun, and what¡¯s more, kill him!


    Moreover, killing him in a direct confrontation with one blow!


    Even if Wang Yukun had been careless, it could not hide the fact that her son had a frightening level of power.


    At the very least, even another level-two adept might not have been able to evade Wang Yukun¡¯s blow just when it was about to land.


    However, her son had managed to evade it.


    ¡­


    The people in the crowd forced out cold breaths, making a sound like the bellows used to stoke the furnace. The sound only died down slowly after a good while.


    ¡°Grandfather!¡±


    ¡°Father!¡±


    ¡°Grand Patriarch!¡±


    The four surviving members of the Wang family, Wang Feng, Red Crane Wang, Bamboo Crane Wang, and the grand elder of the Wang family, let out shrill cries of anguish once they had recovered their wits from the unbelievable scene before them.


    Wang Yukun was the pillar that held up the Wang family.


    And now, that pillar had been toppled.


    Without the support of a level-two adept, could the Wang family maintain its standing?


    Earlier, the six members of the Wang family had ridden out in majesty¡­ and now, two of them were dead, and the four remaining members found themselves in an extremely difficult situation. They were like dogs who had lost their home.


    ¡°Now¡­ do you believe me?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked calmly, sweeping a casual gaze over Qin Fei and the three Zhong siblings.


    Their expressions changed, and not daring to answer, they lowered their heads and left, trembling. They dared not look at Zhou Donghuang, fearing that he would return seeking vengeance.


    Zhong Yi was so frightened that he had pissed his pants.


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang saw Qin Xiaoyu and her father Qin Zhe and greeted them with a smile and a nod before turning away and walking to Lin Lan.


    ¡°Mother, I¡¯ll bring you back to rest.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang bent down to scoop Lin Lan up and returned to the Magnolia Guild with Granny Lian in tow.


    Only after Zhou Donghuang was out of sight did the gathered onlookers recover their wits one-by-one, expressions of shock and amazement on all their faces.


    What they had seen today had completely overturned what they thought they knew¡­


    A sixteen-year-old youth had killed a level-two adept in a direct confrontation.


    The twenty-first of the twelfth month,1227 in the Ziyun Era would be seared into the memory of all the people of Qingshan Town who were present.


    This day, outside the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, the son of Guild Master Lin Lan of the Magnolia Guild, the sixteen-year-old Zhou Donghuang killed the level-two Qi-gathering adept, Wang Yukun, and earned great renown!

 Chapter 17 Squaring The Accounts

    Zhou Donghuang sat on the edge of the bed in Lin Lan¡¯s room with a stern expression, telling Lin Lan, who was half lying in bed, ¡°Mother, in the future, whenever you encounter such situations, don¡¯t hide it from me¡­ the person I am now, I can already hold up a patch of sky.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes, yes¡­ I know that now.¡±


    Although Lin Lan was still pale, there was a radiant smile on her face, and her eyes were full of relief.


    Without her realizing it, her son had grown up and was now a strong and capable man.


    ¡°Young Master, my lady acted as she did because she did not know Young Master had the ability to kill Wang Yukun.¡±


    Granny Lian looked at Zhou Donghuang curiously.


    ¡°Young Master, what move did you use to evade Wang Yukun¡¯s blow earlier?¡±


    Earlier, everyone¡¯s attention had been on Wang Yukun¡¯s blow when he had struck out at Zhou Donghuang.


    Only Granny Lian had happened to glance at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s legs and had seen Zhou Donghuang¡¯s feet move in a curious sequence of steps.


    ¡°Move?¡±


    Lin Lan¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly, and she looked at Zhou Donghuang with an inquisitive expression.


    Martial art techniques in the country of Yunyang were extremely rare and valuable. The most widely used techniques in the country of Yunyang were lesser-grade techniques, and in the country of Yunyang, only the Imperial Court and the Royal Family possessed third-grade techniques.


    However, a small place like Qingshan Town did not even have any lesser-grade martial art styles, and even though the preeminent families in the prefecture capital did possess specialized styles, usually only those of their direct lineage could practice them.


    ¡°Hmm.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded. He really had demonstrated an interesting move, and a third-grade technique at that. It was called ¡°Star-Stepping Footwork.¡±


    Although there were many martial art styles in his memory, he could only utilize third-grade techniques with the qi he currently had.


    Even though he was familiar with second-grade martial arts and even more powerful martial arts, the qi within his body was still insufficient to allow him to utilize those martial arts.


    Right now, his level of practice was too low, and though he had a head full of precious martial arts, he could only utilize third-grade techniques.


    My level of practice is too low, and the qi within my body is spread thin. When I used the Star-Stepping Footwork earlier, it cost me a third of my qi.


    After that, when I used the third-grade technique, Weighted Sand Palm, to kill Wang Yukun, I expended almost all the qi within my body.


    Moreover, the power it released was not from the technique I practiced, but the maximum strength from all the muscles in my body.


    At this thought, Zhou Donghuang sighed inwardly.


    His level of practice was still too low, and if he had attained level-one of the gathered qi, he would not need to expend almost all his qi to utilize these two forms of martial arts.


    Sss!


    At Zhou Donghuang¡¯s confirmation, both Granny Lian and Lin Lan could not help but suck in a breath of cold air.


    They never imagined that Zhou Donghuang had really mastered any martial art techniques, much less martial art techniques of the rarer style of swiftness techniques.


    Of course, they did not know that the move Zhou Donghuang had demonstrated was a third-grade technique. Otherwise they would surely be even more shocked.


    ¡°Mother, you must rest well¡­ when you have recovered, I will pass on that style of swiftness technique to you,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a slight smile. Seeing the shock in Lin Lan¡¯s eyes, he understood her feelings.


    ¡°Can it really be done?¡±


    Lin Lan¡¯s eyes showed anticipation but still betrayed some hesitation. After all, she did not know where the martial art her son had mastered had come from or whether it could be passed on to her easily.


    The Lin Family of the prefecture capital also possessed a style of lesser-grade martial arts, but it was a purely offensive martial art and could not match the specialized swiftness technique in terms of value.


    Even so, only the elders of the side branches and those of the direct lineage of the Lin Family were allowed to practice this style of martial arts.


    A side relation, such as Lin Lan, was not entitled to practice it.


    However, just because she was not entitled to practice, it did not mean Lin Lan had no desire to practice it.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded in assurance and glanced at Granny Lian who was standing to one side. ¡°If Granny Lian would like to learn as well, I can pass it on to her too.¡±


    ¡°Young Master¡­¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words moved Granny Lian immensely. Even in the prefecture capital, martial art techniques were greatly treasured.


    From what she knew, in the prefecture capital, lesser-grade martial arts were possessed by only the Governor¡¯s Household. The other preeminent families had at most one or two styles of specialized offensive and defensive martial arts.


    In a small place like Qingshan Town, even if a level-one adept had practiced only lesser-grade martial arts, it would be enough for him to sweep aside other level-one adepts who had not practiced any martial arts.


    Martial arts were techniques produced by the deep study of using qi at the highest level, and although one could create a martial art from scratch, it was extremely difficult.


    Even when it came to lesser-grade martial arts, very few people were capable of creating them from scratch, and the vast majority of people were merely enjoying the fruits of their ancestors¡¯ labor.


    ¡°Granny Lian, take good care of my mother¡­ I¡¯m going out for a while, I have matters to attend to.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang waited till Lin Lan had fallen asleep before he stood up. He quietly left Lin Lan¡¯s room.


    It is public knowledge in Qingshan Town that I am the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant¡­ anyone would think that I have deep connections to the previous owner Zhao San and would fear me as a result.


    There was an unpleasant expression on Zhou Donghuang¡¯s face at the thought of the day¡¯s events as he walked out of the Magnolia Guild.


    He never imagined that the Wang Family would come seeking revenge.


    Under usual circumstances, even if the Magnolia Guild had lost the support of the Lin Family of the prefecture capital, his identity as the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant would be enough to deter the Wang Family.


    However, the Wang Family had come.


    This was evidence that the Wang Family had some source of intelligence¡­ at least, if the Wang Family would not have dared to act thus unless they were certain that Zhao San would not come to his aid.


    He needed to get to the bottom of this matter.


    The crowd at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild had already dispersed, and the Wang Family members were gone, along with the corpses of Wang Yukun and the second elder of the Wang Family.


    The Wang Family.


    Zhou Donghuang walked out of the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild and went directly to the Wang Family¡¯s mansion, attracting a steady stream of onlookers as he went.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang of the Magnolia Guild intends to go to the Wang Family?¡±


    ¡°It seems that the day¡¯s events are not over¡­ however, I never thought that he had the ability to kill the bloody-handed butcher, Wang Yukun.


    ¡°I can¡¯t believe we thought all along that he was a martial invalid¡­ if he is a martial invalid, then what are we? Invalids among martial invalids?¡±


    ¡­


    Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang arrived at the main entrance of the Wang Family mansion.


    Pong!


    He kicked the tightly shut doors open and strode in.


    However, none of those who had followed him dared to follow him in.


    This place was the Wang Family mansion after all and was not a place that one could enter at will.


    If Zhou Donghuang had entered the mansion to wipe out the Wang Family, they would be able to enter freely¡­ but if he did not, the Wang Family would surely not let any busybodies off lightly if they entered.


    Although they were curious, they did not dare take the gamble.


    About 15 minutes later, they saw Zhou Donghuang come out, and they watched wide-eyed till Zhou Donghuang¡¯s silhouette vanished at the end of the road before they recovered their wits one by one.


    ¡°What¡­ what is going on?¡±


    ¡°So fast?¡±


    This short period of time would be insufficient to wipe out the Wang Family.


    Shortly, they saw several junior members of the Wang Family come out, repair the door and shut it, and the Wang Family mansion returned to its peaceful state.


    ¡­


    The heavenly dining booth in Yunxuan Restaurant.


    Zhou Donghuang was sitting before the dining table with his legs crossed, his left hand resting on his elevated left thigh, and his right hand in front of the dining table with his fingers curved, drumming gently on the table.


    Chief Steward Li Xian of Yunxuan Restaurant stood before him, pale and trembling from head to toe.


    ¡°Li Xian, good for you,¡± Zhou Donghuang grinned.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, your servant has erred.¡±


    Although Zhou Donghuang was smiling, Li Xian was frightened enough to drop to his knees with a thud, confessing his wrongdoings with his head lowered.


    ¡°You should know¡­ because of that one word from you, my mother is now still lying on her bed?¡±


    The wider Zhou Donghuang¡¯s smile became, the colder his gaze turned, and the temperature in the booth seemed to fall by several degrees in that short time.


    ¡°If I had not gone out in time¡­ she would have been killed by Wang Yukun.¡±


    After his visit to the Wang Family, he had now gained a full understanding of every detail of this whole incident.


    When Red Crane Wang, the patriarch of the Wang Family had seen him, it was as though a mouse had seen a cat, and far from mentioning vengeance for Wang Yukun, it was as if he wished he could drag his son Wang Feng out to beg for forgiveness.


    Faced with Zhou Donghuang¡¯s threatening questions, Red Crane Wang answered truthfully that it was because Li Xian said Zhao San would not intervene that the Wang Family had dared to block the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, your servant has erred, your servant begs for a chance to redeem himself.¡±


    Sensing the murderous intent in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s icy tone, Li Xian trembled even more violently, and his voice was filled with fear.


    ¡°As a sign of respect for Zhao San, I¡¯ll make it quick.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s rose and nonchalantly decided Li Xian¡¯s fate.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, you cannot kill me! You cannot kill me!¡±


    In the face of death, Li Xian was flustered and panicked.


    ¡°If you spare me, when my clan-brothers arrive from the prefecture capital, I will warn them away and dissuade them from attempting to take over your Yunxuan Restaurant¡­ If you kill me, they will surely be even more determined to seize Yunxuan Restaurant!¡±


    ¡°Li Family? The prefecture capital? It seems you still serve the Li Family of the prefecture capital¡­ and notified them to make plans to seize my Yunxuan Restaurant?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang never thought that Zhao San would leave him a ticking time bomb such as this before he left.


    Of course, it was clear to him that this had definitely not been Zhao San¡¯s intention. Otherwise, giving Yunxuan Restaurant to him would have been an unnecessary move by Zhao San.


    He had helped Zhao San treat his chronic ailment without making any extra requests, and Zhao San had given Yunxuan Restaurant to him of his own free will.


    The Li Family of the prefecture capital as well as the Lin and Hong Families of the prefecture capital, which backed the Magnolia Guild and Sunset Guild respectively, were the preeminent families of the prefecture capital.


    ¡°So¡­ you think I will be afraid of your family?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang gave him a cold smile and raised his leg, bringing it down with fearsome strength on Li Xian, killing him!


    The whole process was as simple as stepping on an ant.

 Chapter 18 Earth

    When Zhou Donghuang had arrived at Yunxuan Restaurant this time around, the servant girls and waiters looked at him with a look of respect and even worship from the moment he entered. Evidently, they all knew about the events that had occurred at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild that afternoon.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang had killed Chief Steward Li Xian of Yunxuan Restaurant, and as he walked out of Yunxuan Restaurant, the look that a group of servant girls and waiters gave him carried more than a tinge of dread as if he was some kind of sea monster.


    ¡°What is your name?¡± Zhou Donghuang turned to ask the waiter who had followed him out to see him off.


    Although Yunxuan Restaurant had much staff, this waiter was the only one who had dared to follow him out to see him off; all the others seemed to have their legs turned into lead and did not even dare move.


    ¡°Boss, call me ¡®Fu.¡¯¡±


    The waiter was about seventeen or eighteen years old, tall and well-built, and a simple and honest smile spread across his plain face at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s question.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded. ¡°For the next few days, you will be the surrogate chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant and manage Yunxuan Restaurant in place of Li Xian¡­ if you do well, you shall be the new chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant.¡±


    Not waiting for Fu to recover his wits, Zhou Donghuang turned to leave.


    ¡°Thank you, Boss!¡±


    Fu finally gave a start and recovered his wits. He followed Zhou Donghuang¡¯s distant figure with his gaze for a long time, his eyes and face full of excitement and gratitude.


    The rest of the servant girls and waiters of Yunxuan Restaurant felt like slapping themselves when they heard Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words to Fu¡­ why had they not followed Zhou Donghuang out like Fu?


    However, there was no cure for regret, and Fu¡¯s bravery had earned him his reward.


    After leaving Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang went to the Sunset Guild.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    In the receiving chamber of the Sunset Guild, Guild Master Hong Yue of the Sunset Guild showed Zhou Donghuang to the best seat with a humble smile on his face.


    ¡°May I ask, what business brings you here today?¡±


    Actually, Hong Yue¡¯s heart was beating furiously, as he was worried that by leaking the formula for the blood-staunching elixir, Chen Dandan might have brought Zhou Donghuang¡¯s anger upon him by association.


    Zhou Donghuang was powerful enough to kill him with a single blow.


    ¡°These herbs, gather them all for me in two days.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang requested a piece of paper from Hong Yue and listed down the names of the herbs.


    ¡°Of course, I will pay for them. If you are unable to gather these herbs in two days¡­ Yunxuan Restaurant will not lend money to the Sunset Guild again in the future.¡±


    Putting down the piece of paper, Zhou Donghuang rose and strode out of the receiving chamber of the Sunset Guild.


    Hong Yue was left alone holding the piece of paper, a bitter smile on his face.


    This Young Master Zhou Donghuang has really given me a problem. There is no way these herbs can be gathered in such a short period of time in Qingshan Town¡­


    It seems the only solution is to send someone on a fast horse to do rounds in the neighboring towns. That should allow me to gather all these herbs in two days.


    The Sunset Guild, just like the Magnolia Guild, would borrow money from time to time when it needed more funds.


    Now that Zhou Donghuang was the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, it would only take a word from him to break the close borrower-and-lender relationship that the Sunset Guild had built up with Yunxuan Restaurant over the years.


    Moreover, if Yunxuan Restaurant refused to lend money to the Sunset Guild, the several lesser families of Qingshan Town would definitely not lend money readily to the Sunset Guild for fear of offending Zhou Donghuang.


    Today, outside the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang made himself a legend when he stepped over Wang Yukun¡¯s corpse¡­ From now on, Qingshan Town¡¯s list of prominent people will have lost a Wang Yukun and gained a Zhou Donghuang.


    Hong Yue was completely clear that this was a significant development, and he would spare no effort to complete the task Zhou Donghuang had given him, no matter how difficult it was.


    As he left the Sunset Guild, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly.


    I put Hong Yue under great pressure, he should be able to gather the herbs for me in two days¡­ when that time comes, I can formulate an even better qi-gathering elixir which will allow me to further increase my rate of practice!


    This way, I will be able to attain level-one of the gathered qi even sooner.


    The herbs that Zhou Donghuang had written out for Hong Yue earlier were those that the Magnolia Guild did not have, and although it would be difficult to gather them from within Qingshan Town on such short notice, there was a good chance of gathering them from the several small neighboring towns around Qingshan Town.


    On the way back to the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang recalled something.


    Today is the twenty-first day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era¡­ Tomorrow will be the twenty-second day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era.


    In my previous life, tomorrow was when that mad cultist would appear before me and bring me to Earth. The mad cultist was drawn to me because of the seal within my body¡­ now, the seal has been removed, and he will not be drawn to me and bring me to Earth as before.


    However, although he will not bring me away, he will definitely still go to Earth¡­ because he was originally on his way to Earth and noticed the seal within my body just as he was passing Ziyun. He took an interest in it which was why he brought me along with him to Earth.


    The mad cultist was a deranged, sloppily dressed old practitioner, and it was for this reason that Zhou Donghuang called him a ¡°mad cultist.¡±


    He knew nothing regarding the mad cultist¡¯s origins.


    Previously, after the mad cultist had helped him remove the seal from his body on Earth, he had vanished completely, and he had not seen the mad cultist again even after he had left Earth.


    Earth¡­


    Thinking of Earth caused a look of longing to flash across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes.


    That beautiful azure planet was the planet he had spent the most time on in his previous life, and he considered it his home.


    Before he arrived on Earth, he had never in his wildest dreams imagined that there would be such a curiously unique planet, where the Martial Way had died away and where science was dominant, where there were so many wondrous modes of transport: Bicycles, motorbikes, trishaws, cars, airplanes, and so much more.


    Only several days after arriving on Earth did he learn that a holiday could be turned into an occasion for frenzied shopping.


    Previously, the date when he had arrived on Earth was November the fifth, 2018 in the Earth Era.


    November the eleventh, 2018 in the Earth Era was Singles¡¯ Day, and also a day when everyone went crazy shopping.


    When I have the ability to physically travel across the stars, I will go and visit Earth¡­ there are several friends there who have helped me greatly and who are waiting for me to go and change their fate!


    Previously on Earth, Zhou Donghuang had met many people who had helped him out not long after he arrived on Earth. Later, some among them had encountered severe trials which he had helped them overcome.


    In this life, the mad cultist would not bring him to Earth, and those people would surely not recognize him.


    However, their trials would still occur. Therefore, Zhou Donghuang decided to visit Earth to help them overcome these trials. Otherwise, this would surely become a regret in his heart.


    But it is too early to be thinking of these matters¡­ the most important thing now is to attain level-one of the gathered qi.


    Upon returning to the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang resumed his seclusion, concentrating fully on practicing the Way of the Four Supremes.


    He did not sleep for the rest of the day and night, and practiced till the morning of the next day. Then he left his room and went to his mother¡¯s.


    ¡°Donghuang, what kind of wound-healing elixir did you give me yesterday that can heal such serious internal injuries in one night?¡±


    When Zhou Donghuang entered, Lin Lan was already out of bed. She was light and refreshed as though nothing had happened to her. ¡°What¡¯s more, my whole body feels light and energetic, and I have not felt so relaxed in a very long time.¡±


    ¡°Mother, that is a wound-healing elixir I made¡­ it was only one bottle, and the herbs I used exceeded thirty liang of silver in value. How could it be ineffective?¡± Zhou Donghuang laughed.


    ¡°Thirty liang of silver?¡± Lin Lan was so shocked that she turned pale. ¡°The cost of just that one bottle of wound-healing elixir exceeds thirty liang of silver?¡±


    ¡°Mother, you are the most familiar with your wounds from yesterday¡­ a wound-healing elixir that heals wounds of such severity in a single day and night, how much would it cost on the market?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked with a smile.


    ¡°My wounds from yesterday, not only my ribs and meridians were damaged, but also my internal organs slightly were wounded and even moved slightly out of place¡­¡± Lin Lan muttered to herself, thinking. The more she thought, the more shocked she became.


    People would be fighting to buy a wound-healing elixir of this effectiveness, even if it was priced at a hundred liang of silver on the market!


    As the guild master of the Magnolia Guild, Lin Lan could estimate very accurately the prices of goods on the market.


    ¡°Using widely available wound-healing elixirs on the market, my wounds would take at least ten to fifteen days to heal to this extent. Which is to say¡­ the value of this wound-healing elixir exceeds the value of the widely available wound-healing elixirs on the market by ten!¡±


    Her muttering ended, and Lin Lan looked at Zhou Donghuang with light in her eyes, just like a starving wolf finding its prey.


    ¡°Donghuang¡­ do you have the formula for this kind of wound-healing elixir?¡±


    Seeing this, Zhou Donghuang naturally knew that Lin Lan¡¯s nose for business had been triggered. Smiling, he shook his head and threw a wet blanket on Lin Lan¡¯s hopes.


    ¡°Mother, don¡¯t forget that the Magnolia Guild has fallen. Moreover, do you think we can openly sell this kind of wound-healing elixir just like that? Think about it¡­ in the country of Yunyang, how effective was the best wound-healing elixir that has ever existed?¡±


    Within the country of Yunyang, the best wound-healing elixir that had ever existed was the one made by the superior-level medicine master of the Imperial Court. Its effectiveness was only two times greater than the widely available wound-healing elixirs on the market.


    At Zhou Donghuang¡¯s reminder, Lin Lan recovered her sense of reason and said with a serious face, ¡°Your mother was too emotional just now¡­ this wound-healing elixir must not be disseminated!¡±


    The saying ¡°an innocent commoner whose possession of treasure makes him guilty¡± was naturally familiar to Lin Lan, having been the guild master of the Magnolia Guild for so many years.

 Chapter 19 The Technique of Everlasting Youth

    Zhou Donghuang did not continue practicing for the whole of the next day.


    He helped Lin Lan and Granny Lian move all the valuable goods from the treasure vault of the Magnolia Guild to the mansion in the compound behind Yunxuan Restaurant. A group of guards and servant girls would be responsible for moving the rest of the goods.


    As night fell, the Magnolia Guild was empty, and Zhou Donghuang kept Lin Lan company at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild. They stood there for a long time.


    ¡°Mother, if the old does not go, the new cannot come,¡± Zhou Donghuang advised.


    ¡°Even so¡­ the Magnolia Guild has existed for over ten years,¡± Lin Lan sighed.


    Was ten years¡¯ toil of blood and sweat really going to be irrevocably lost?


    ¡°The old Magnolia Guild has fallen¡­ why can¡¯t a new Magnolia Guild be started?¡± Zhou Donghuang countered.


    ¡°A new Magnolia Guild?¡± Lin Lan turned, looking at Zhou Donghuang with sparkling eyes. ¡°Donghuang, you mean¡­ establishing a new Magnolia Guild?¡±


    ¡°Only if you are willing¡­ Yunxuan Restaurant will forever be behind you,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a slight smile.


    He had thought things through over the past two days, such as letting his mother establish a new Magnolia Guild with the financial support of Yunxuan Restaurant if she could not let go of the Magnolia Guild and it would be able to match the old Magnolia Guild as well.


    ¡°Donghuang,¡± Lin Lan smiled bitterly, ¡°Establishing a guild is not so easy¡­ the preeminent families of the prefecture capital will not allow an ordinary person to establish a guild that will compete with the guilds under their control. If I establish a new Magnolia Guild, neither the Hong family nor Lin family of the prefecture capital will allow it, because Qingshan Town is the territory of the guilds under their control. Even more so for your Yunxuan Restaurant, if not for Elder Zhao San¡¯s reputation, there would be many people who would attempt a takeover.¡±


    At this, Lin Lan¡¯s expression became solemn again.


    The Wang family coming the previous day to seek revenge had allowed her to guess some truths. Zhao San would not be concerned with what happened to her son, Zhou Donghuang. Zhao San might very well have given her son Zhou Donghuang Yunxuan Restaurant purely to discharge a moral obligation.


    In the days that followed, the change of ownership of Yunxuan Restaurant would reach the prefecture capital, and surely many people would go to the Governor¡¯s Household seeking Zhao San¡¯s comments.


    If Zhao San showed that he was not concerned about the ownership of Yunxuan Restaurant, it would result in many people coming to Qingshan Town to fight for the ownership of Yunxuan Restaurant.


    ¡°Donghuang, tell meyour mother honestly¡­ what is your connection to Zhao San? If someone comes to seize Yunxuan Restaurant, will he help you?¡± Lin Lan asked Zhou Donghuang solemnly.


    ¡°Mother, I am able to protect what is mine,¡± Zhou Donghuang smiled nonchalantly.


    To Lin Lan, his words carried a different meaning: Zhao San would not help.


    Immediately, Lin Lan began worrying. Her only thoughts were of how to help Zhou Donghuang protect Yunxuan Restaurant, and she no longer thought about establishing a new Magnolia Guild.


    ¡°Donghuang, I¡±m tired¡­ let¡¯s go back.¡±


    At Lin Lan¡¯s wish, Zhou Donghuang and Lin Lan left the Magnolia Guild and returned to Yunxuan Restaurant.


    Yunxuan Restaurant occupied a large piece of land, but only the area in front was open to the public; the area in the back was a compound and mansion that was not open to the public.


    This was where Zhao San used to stay.


    Compared with the Magnolia Guild, the environment here was even better, and the smiles on the faces of the guards and servant girls who had come here were even brighter than before.


    When they got back, Granny Lian had already finished supervising the guards and servant girls in arranging everything.


    The spacious room that Zhao San had stayed in was now Zhou Donghuang¡¯s room.


    That Zhao San really knew how to enjoy life.


    A partition divided that spacious room into two areas: in one area was the bed, and in the other was a table with paper and a brush; it was evidently where Zhao San usually did his writing.


    Besides that, the walls of the room were decorated with several scrolls of calligraphy and paintings, the brush strokes forceful and sure, with the signature ¡°Zhao San¡± on all of them.


    The writing is not bad¡­ pity that it lacks character.


    Zhou Donghuang stood before the table, and with sudden inspiration, picked up the brush, dabbed it in ink, and wrote out twelve words on the white paper spread out on the table: If anyone dares to provoke me, I will teach him a lesson!


    These twelve words were more forceful than the words Zhao San had written, and more importantly, they carried a sense of majesty.


    Finally, with a casual sweep of his hand, Zhou Donghuang left his signature on the paper with a flourish.


    A work of calligraphy far superior to what Zhao San had written was born.


    However, Zhou Donghuang did not hang it up but left it lying carelessly on the table instead. He walked around the partition and went to his bed to continue practicing.


    Zhou Donghuang practiced continuously until the second day and only awoke when the guild master of the Sunset Guild Hong Yue came calling. He had sent over all the herbs that Zhou Donghuang wanted.


    With the herbs he required, Zhou Donghuang formulated a qi-gathering elixir that would increase his sensitivity to qi by 30%.


    When Lin Lan tried the qi-gathering elixir after it was ready, she could not help being shocked beyond words.


    ¡°Mother, expend all the qi in your body now and start practicing all over again,¡± Zhou Donghuang said to Lin Lan with a sincere expression. ¡°I have a style of practicing that is even more suitable for you, and if you practice this technique, your future will be limitless.¡±


    ¡°I¡±m agingmy years, how can my future be limitless?¡±


    Lin Lan shook her head, thinking that Zhou Donghuang was merely comforting her. ¡°However, if you feel it is beneficial, I have no objection to expending all my qi and starting all over again.¡±


    Finally, Lin Lan expended all her qi right then in front of Zhou Donghuang, intending to start practicing from scratch with the technique that Zhou Donghuang gave her.


    She had absolutely no regrets from the beginning until the end, trusting Zhou Donghuang unconditionally.


    The technique that Zhou Donghuang gave Lin Lan was not the Way of the Four Supremes, neither was it the Way of the Thousand Star Sword, Fiery Thunder Training Regimen, or Manual of Unruffled Sage, but a technique called ¡°Everlasting Youth.¡±


    This technique was one of the supreme techniques in the universe, but its focus was not on combat, but on lengthening one¡¯s life.


    The longer one practiced this technique, the longer one¡¯s life would be. Moreover, the rate of practice was not that slow. The most important thing was that it was extremely accessible to people with average potential.


    In the course of practicing the Technique of Everlasting Youth, it would exert a subtle influence on the practitioner, increasing his potential.


    ¡°Mother, this Technique of Everlasting Youth is the most suitable technique for you that I can think of. Practice it well, and in time, you will feel how wonderful it is.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang wrote down the Technique of Everlasting Youth, and after instructing Lin Lan to memorize the contents before burning it, he left behind ten bottles of the qi-gathering elixir that increased sensitivity to qi by 30% for Lin Lan. Only then did he leave.


    The technique he gave Lin Lan might not be the best, but it was the most suitable for her.


    The next thing I should do is to use the new qi-gathering elixir that I formulated to attain level-one of Qi-gathering as quickly as I can.


    Zhou Donghuang devoted his full concentration to practicing once he returned from seeing Lin Lan.


    Zhou Donghuang spent the twenty-second day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era practicing as it passed slowly.


    This whole time, the mad cultist did not appear.


    Zhou Donghuang had avoided being brought away from Ziyun and to Earth by the Mad Cultist and had smoothly revised the course of history.


    ¡­


    The afternoon of the twenty-third day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era.


    ¡°Young Master, Chief Steward Fu says¡­ there is a guest having lunch in the heavenly dining booth of Yunxuan Restaurant, and he claims to be from the Li family of the prefecture capital and insists on seeing you personally.¡±


    Granny Lian¡¯s voice was carried into the room, causing Zhou Donghuang to pause his practice.


    ¡°The Li family of the prefecture capital?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly with a cold gleam. ¡°It seems to be the clan-brother from the Li family of the prefecture capital that Li Xian mentioned.¡±


    When Zhou Donghuang entered the heavenly dining booth of Yunxuan Restaurant, a slim and strong-looking middle-aged man dressed in blue was busy devouring the delicacies on the table.


    ¡°You¡¯re looking for me?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked, nonchalantly sweeping his gaze over him as he pushed the door open and entered.


    ¡°You are the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    The middle-aged man merely glanced up with an indifferent look at Zhou Donghuang, before returning his attention to the delicacies on the table. He spoke with a commanding tone as he ate, ¡°Where is Li Xian? Let him come and see me.¡±


    ¡°Li Xian?¡± Zhou Donghuang smiled calmly. ¡°I¡¯m afraid you will not be able to see him.¡±


    ¡°What do you mean?¡±


    The middle-aged man finally stopped eating, and his gaze fell on Zhou Donghuang like lightning, his expression darkening slightly.


    ¡°I don¡¯t mean anything by it. I just want to tell you¡­ if you want to see him, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll have to pass the gates of hell.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you killed him?!¡±


    The middle-aged man¡¯s expression changed, and he shook his head. ¡°I almost forgot, you are only a martial invalid¡­ you instructed someone to kill him?¡±


    ¡°What if I told you¡­ that I killed him with one stomp, would you believe that?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked, smiling.


    ¡°You?¡± The middle-aged man laughed derisively. ¡°Although Li Xian was not particularly talented in the Martial Way, he was still a level-one adept of Qi-gathering¡­ as a martial invalid, how could you kill him?¡±


    ¡°I see you have just arrived in Qingshan Town.¡±


    Hearing the middle-aged man¡¯s words, Zhou Donghuang knew for sure that he had just arrived in Qingshan Town. Otherwise, he would definitely have heard the news that Zhou Donghuang had killed Wang Yukun, a level-two adept of Qi-gathering.


    These few days, the topic of conversations in Qingshan Town had been centered almost entirely on how he had killed Wang Yukun.


    ¡°Never mind, why are you looking for me?¡± Zhou Donghuang said impatiently. ¡°If it¡¯s nothing important, I¡¯m eager to resume practicing.¡±


    ¡°You are a martial invalid, what are you practicing?¡± The middle-aged man smiled coldly. ¡°Zhou Donghuang, since you are already here¡­ I will be straightforward. This Yunxuan Restaurant has caught the attention of the second young master of the Li family of the prefecture capital, and he sent me here in Qingshan Town to purchase it over from you.¡±


    The middle-aged man stated his motives succinctly.


    Several days ago, he had received a letter from Li Xian and had sought out immediately the second young master of the Li family of the prefecture capital whom he served.


    He knew that a business such as Yunxuan Restaurant was beyond his ability to handle.


    Moreover, if he made a gift of it to the second young master, not only would he have earned merit but would also surely gain substantial practical benefits.


    ¡°Purchase Yunxuan Restaurant?¡± Zhou Donghuang fixed a searching look on the middle-aged man and asked indifferently, ¡°In that case¡­ how much is your second young master of the Li family of the prefecture capital willing to spend on Yunxuan Restaurant?¡±


    ¡°A thousand liang of silver.¡±


    The middle-aged man¡¯s gaze was like lightning as he stared at Zhou Donghuang.

 Chapter 20 Delivering the Goods

    ¡°A thousand liang of silver?¡± Zhou Donghuang was stunned at first but started laughing uncontrollably immediately after. ¡°You should know¡­ the pure profit from a single day of business from my Yunxuan Restaurant, regardless of all operating costs, already exceeds a thousand liang of silver. If Yunxuan Restaurant was yours, would you sell it to someone offering you a thousand liang of silver for it?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked at the middle-aged man as he spoke as though he were looking at an idiot.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, a thousand liang of silver is the greatest gesture of sincerity our second young master will offer¡­ if you are not willing, just beware that you might lose the restaurant and not get a single cent!¡±


    The middle-aged man had a cold gleam in his eye, and his tone was threatening.


    ¡°What? Your second young master of the Li family of the prefecture capital is surely not thinking of seizing my Yunxuan Restaurant?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang remained expressionless, but his smile became brighter and brighter.


    ¡°You could say that,¡± the middle-aged man said in a low voice, ¡°I¡¯ll give you one last chance¡­ accept the thousand liang of silver and hand over the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant. Otherwise, I¡¯ll maim your arms and legs and take the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant off your body myself.¡±


    The middle-aged man began to rise as soon as he finished speaking, fixing Zhou Donghuang with a savage grin as though he would lash out immediately if Zhou Donghuang dared to refuse.


    As a level-two adept, he believed that he could handle this martial invalid before him.


    ¡°What? You intend to start a fightsomething?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked with a laugh, his expression carefree and relaxed, not showing even a hint of the fear that the middle-aged man expected.


    However, there was a touch of coldness in the depths of his gaze.


    Maim his arms and legs?


    ¡°It seems you have chosen the latter.¡±


    The middle-aged man¡¯s eyes flashed, and his body seemed to flicker as he swiftly took a large step towards Zhou Donghuang. He extended and then tucked in his arms like a hawk would with its wings and grabbed for Zhou Donghuang¡¯s shoulders with both clawed hands. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll maim both your arms first!¡±


    A level-two adept?


    In the split-second the middle-aged man took to make his move, Zhou Donghuang had already discerned that he was a level-two adept, although his qi was not as concentrated as Wang Yukun¡¯s.


    Anyway, even Wang Yukun had died at his hands, and Donghuang had been nowhere near as strong then as he was now.


    These two days of practice had made the qi within his body even more concentrated, and he was only a step away from level-one of the gathered qi.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The middle-aged man¡¯s figure flashed before Zhou Donghuang, and as both his clawed hands grabbed for Zhou Donghuang¡¯s shoulder, Donghuang bent his upper body backwards as though he was drawing a bow. His arms trembled as he straightened up in an instant, and Donghuang flung his body forward like a thunderclap, both palms aiming for the middle-aged man¡¯s arms.


    Eh?


    As the middle-aged man was surprised at how quickly Zhou Donghuang had struck out with his palms, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palms had already landed on both his arms.


    Pong! Pong!


    Ka-chak! Ka-chak!


    Two loud sounds were followed by the clear sound of bones shattering.


    The next moment, ¡°Aaaahhhhh¡ª¡±


    The middle-aged man let out a piteous scream like a pig being slaughtered and flew backwards, landing heavily on the dining table with no way out of this difficult situation.


    Swoosh!


    As the middle-aged man landed on the dining table, Zhou Donghuang moved in a flash to pursue him and stomped down with one foot on the chest of the middle-aged man as he struggled to rise.


    ¡°With just this little bit of ability, you intend to seize Yunxuan Restaurant from me, Zhou Donghuang?¡± Zhou Donghuang smiled, looking down at the middle-aged man.


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Now, the middle-aged man looked at Zhou Donghuang with shock and dread as though he had seen a ghost, cursing Li Xian continuously in his heart.


    Did Li Xian not say that this Zhou Donghuang was a martial invalid? How could a martial invalid have such great abilities?


    In the instant that Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palms had struck his arms, he realized that Zhou Donghuang¡¯s ability exceeded his.


    Without considering any other factors, the strength contained in the blows from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palms was not what an ordinary level-two adept would have been able to exert.


    ¡°Go back and tell your dog sh*t, second young master that if he wants to seize my Yunxuan Restaurant, he can come here personally.¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang finished speaking, his gaze suddenly turned cold, and he squatted down without warning. With a whoosh, his palms landed on the middle-aged man¡¯s legs.


    Immediately, the middle-aged man¡¯s legs suffered the same fate as his arms, and with another piteous scream like a pig being slaughtered, he fainted.


    Just a moment ago, the middle-aged man had been supremely arrogant, proclaiming that he would maim Zhou Donghuang¡¯s limbs. Now, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s limbs were whole and undamaged, and it was this man¡¯s limbs that had been maimed.


    Walking out of the heavenly dining booth, Zhou Donghuang instructed Chief Steward Fu who had been waiting outside, ¡°Take the money for the meal off his body¡­ then go out and find some people and a stretcher and send him back to the Li family. The money to employ those people and buy the stretcher, you don¡¯t have to take it from him¡­ our Yunxuan Restaurant can still afford this bit of money.¡±


    As soon as he finished, Zhou Donghuang left under the reverent gaze of Fu.


    It seems that I, Zhou Donghuang, becoming the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant has led many people to make stupid moves.


    As he left Yunxuan Restaurant, a cold look flashed across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes.


    However, we shall see if they have the ability to seize Yunxuan Restaurant from my hands!


    It was clear to Zhou Donghuang that the takeover attempt by the Li family of the prefecture capital was only the beginning.


    Because of Li Xian, the Li family of the prefecture capital had more updated news and knew that Zhao San actually had no close connection to him and would not intervene on his behalf.


    In the future, there would be even more people seeking out Zhao San, and once they were certain that there were no close connections between Zhao San and him, they would definitely not spare Yunxuan Restaurant from their attention.


    As the most profitable business in Qingshan Town, Yunxuan Restaurant would be a worthy prize for any of the preeminent families of the prefecture capital.


    I must strive to attain level-one of the gathered qi by today.


    After leaving Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang returned to the compound behind Yunxuan Restaurant and was greeted by the guards at the entrance with respectful bows.


    ¡°Young Master.¡±


    ¡°Young Master.¡±


    ¡­


    Several of the guards had served the Magnolia Guild for a long time and had watched Zhou Donghuang grow up. But now, the looks they gave this young master were full of reverence.


    They dared not look at Zhou Donghuang even though he was a child a generation younger than them. They understood perfectly that after this young master killed Wang Yukun, a level-two adept, the main pillar of strength of this family was no longer the former guild master of the Magnolia Guild, Lin Lan, but this young master.


    On the way back to his room, Zhou Donghuang had to pass Lin Lan¡¯s room, and he immediately saw a worried-looking Granny Lian hesitating outside the door of Lin Lan¡¯s room, undecided whether to knock or not.


    ¡°Granny Lian, what¡¯s wrong? You want to see my mother?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked Granny Lian gently.


    ¡°Young Master.¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang, Granny Lian looked carefully at Lin Lan¡¯s room and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go outside to the receiving chamber and talk.¡±


    When they reached the receiving chamber, Granny Lian said with a bitter smile, ¡°Young Master, what happened was this¡­ Half a month ago, the Qingyun Guild of Ningping Town ordered ten bracelets of pure gold from the goldsmith of the Lin family through the Magnolia Guild. Because of their great value, the original plan was for Commander Lin Ping to deliver them personally, but now he has been recalled by the Lin family.


    ¡°Lin Ping was the commander of the former Magnolia Guild¡¯s guards, a level-two adept, and the man stationed in Qingshan Town by the Lin family of the prefecture capital to protect the Magnolia Guild. The goods of high value that the Magnolia Guild sent out would usually be delivered personally by Lin Ping.¡±


    ¡°The agents sent by the Lin family of the prefecture capital to establish the new guild should already have reached Qingshan Town, right? Why not let them deliver it?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked.


    Granny Lian shook her head. ¡°The payment for the items on this account was previously settled with the Lin family of the prefecture capital, and the money to be paid upon delivery of these ten bracelets belongs to the Magnolia Guild. We do not need to split it with the Lin family.¡±


    This was the reason why they had to deliver the goods themselves and collect the balance of the money owed.


    Ten bracelets of pure gold¡­


    Ten bracelets of pure gold had considerable value, and without a level-two adept to personally deliver them, it would be too risky to deliver.


    ¡°Granny Lian, I¡¯ll make the delivery personally,¡± Zhou Donghuang told Granny Lian. ¡°Prepare a carriage for me, I intend to practice during the journey.¡±


    One day and one night was enough time to get from Qingshan Town to Ningping Town on a fast horse at top speed. However, if a carriage was used instead, three days and three nights would be needed. He would not be able to practice if he rode a fast horse at top speed, but if he rode in a carriage, he would be able to practice during the journey.


    At this crucial time when he was about to attain level-one of the gathered qi, Zhou Donghuang did not want to waste any time.


    ¡°Good!¡±


    Upon hearing Zhou Donghuang say that he would personally deliver the ten bracelets of pure gold, Granny Lian¡¯s eyes lit up, and she left the receiving chamber hurriedly to make arrangements.


    In her view, as long as the young master of her family made the delivery personally, all would be well.


    It was known that the young master of her family could kill even the Wang family¡¯s level-two adept, Wang Yukun, who was known as the bloody-handed butcher. The bandits who made their rounds between the small towns could not possibly be a match for the young master of her family.


    Granny Lian was extremely efficient at doing things.


    Roughly 15 minutes later, Zhou Donghuang had gotten into the carriage with the ten bracelets of pure gold, which were stored in a thick, heavy wooden box, and left Qingshan Town.


    The driver of the carriage was a middle-aged guard who had followed them over from the Magnolia Guild. He had served the Magnolia Guild for a long time, right from the time when the Magnolia Guild was established.


    ¡°Sir, if you encounter anything on the road you can¡¯t handle, throw this bell,¡± Zhou ¡°Uncle, if you encounter anything on the road you can¡¯t handle, throw this bell,¡± Zhou Donghuang said once they had left Qingshan Town. He passed a bell to the middle-aged guard who was driving the carriage.


    ¡°If they are ordinary bandits, you can warn them off¡­ if they refuse to go away and you can¡¯t handle them, throw the bell in, and I will deal with themact.¡±


    The cold gleam in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes as he said this would have made people swallow in fear.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master,¡± the middle-aged guard acknowledged as he took the bell from Zhou Donghuang respectfully and put it carefully into his pocket.


    Zhou Donghuang then prepared to concentrate fully on practicing; he did not wantintend to be interrupted during his practice. Therefore, he had given the middle-aged guard a bell to prepare for a time of need.


    This bell was also something he had instructed Granny Lian to prepare.

 Chapter 21 Bandits

    It was peaceful and quiet in Qingshan Town. However, once outside Qingshan Town, danger was always present.


    Danger could come in the form of wild and savage beasts that came out from the forests, or bandits that roamed everywhere. Bandits would often lie in ambush along the road from Qingshan Town to Ningping Town, waiting for the opportunity block off the road so they could plunder and rape.


    Girls were not the only victims of rape, but young boys who looked tender and delicate could also be raped.


    Between Qingshan Town and Ningping Town was a road that all travelers were forced to take that passed through wild and untamed forested mountains.


    Here was where bandits struck most frequently. And now, there was a small group of bandits lying in wait in the forest beside the road, waiting for the chance to strike.


    ¡°Second-In-Command, I¡¯ve heard that your practise is nearing the next stage¡­ it won¡¯t be long before you attain level-two of Qi-gathering, will it?¡± a knife-scarred middle-aged man mounted on a large, strong horse asked with a smile, turning to the young man who led them.


    Just like the five men behind him, the young man who was their leader was dressed in light black clothes, wore a woven bamboo hat, and had a cape woven from bamboo grass. This all made him seem to blend into the landscape around him.


    His mount was a fine steed that was a head taller than the already large horses his five companions were mounted on, and it was completely crimson in color as though it had been dyed in blood. It was a genuine ferghana horse.


    Ferghana horses were the cream of the crop among horses and were capable of journeys of a thousand kilometers in a single day. They were also known by their title of ¡°kings among the horses.¡± On the market, a ferghana horse foal could fetch a thousand liang of silver.


    Ferghana horses had to be raised as foals; otherwise, there was no way to control them. As for mature ferghana horses, they were extremely proud, and seldom could they be tamed by people. Most mature ferghana horses would rather bash themselves to death than be tamed.


    ¡°Within three months, I will surely attain level-two of Qi-gathering!¡±


    The young man¡¯s stern face conveyed a sense of immense confidence, and his eyes sparkled with light.


    ¡°Second-In-Command, in three months you will be only twenty-six years old.¡±


    Another well-built middle-aged bandit could not help sighing. ¡°Attaining level-two of Qi-gathering before thirty¡­ Second-In-Command will be the first level-two adept of Qi-gathering under thirty years old in the area around Qingshan Town for the past few decades.


    ¡°The first level-two adept of Qi-gathering under thirty years old in the area around Qingshan Town for the past few decades?¡±


    The young man shook his head at his subordinate¡¯s flattery, the image of a youth surfacing in his mind.


    Although he was a bandit, most of the people who had ever seen him were already dead. Therefore, he frequently changed his attire and went into Qingshan Town like a common man walking around and shopping, and at the same time, he would stop by Yunxuan Restaurant for a meal.


    The delicious food and fine dishes of Yunxuan Restaurant were not something that could be found in the wilds outside Qingshan Town. Therefore, even if he did not need to buy anything, he would still go to Qingshan Town about once a month to visit Yunxuan Restaurant for a meal.


    Several days ago, he had visited Qingshan Town as usual, and he would never forget that day.


    Standing in the crowd outside the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild to watch the commotion, he saw with his own eyes how a youth of sixteen years old had killed the bloody-handed butcher, Wang Yukun, who had been legendary around Qingshan Town for many years.


    Moreover, he had killed Wang Yukun with a single blow!


    Zhou Donghuang.


    This name had been seared into his memory on that day. Even if he did not have any interactions with Zhou Donghuang in this life, he would never forget this name.


    My talent is a joke compared to his.


    The young man sighed inwardly.


    ¡°Second-In-Command, there¡¯s a carriage coming towards us!¡±


    Just as the young man was thinking about the impossible scene from several days ago, a sound coming from behind him startled him out of his reverie.


    He looked up and saw a carriage in the distance coming from the direction of Qingshan Town, and it was traveling very fast.


    ¡°Second-In-Command, do we make our move?¡±


    Just as another bandit questioned the young man, a group of ten bandits spurred their horses out from the opposite side of the road, blocking the carriage and surrounding it tightly.


    ¡°It¡¯s those fellows from Black Tiger Bastion¡­ their leader is the Second-In-Command of Black Tiger Bastion, Qian Tongtian!


    The knife-scarred middle-aged man frowned. ¡°Seems that we will have to give half of today¡¯s plunder to them again.¡±


    The Black Tiger Bastion was another stronghold of bandits, and they were the direct competitors of the Green Wolf Bastion in the area.


    The unwritten code of the bandits stipulated that if two or more groups of bandits found the same prey, and if they were evenly matched, they would split the plunder evenly.


    By this means, needless conflict could be avoided.


    And now, the middle-aged driver of the stationary carriage was shouting loudly to the bandits surrounding the carriage, ¡°Gentlemen, my passenger is the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan Town, please make way.¡±


    ¡°The owner of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan Town?¡±


    In the forest, the expressions of the five bandits behind the young man on the ferghana horse changed at once.


    ¡°Is that Elder Zhao San?¡±


    Even in the eyes of the bandits around Qingshan Town, the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant Zhao San was not someone to trifle with.


    It¡¯s him?!


    The young man reacted differently from the five bandits behind him, and his eyes narrowed slightly as the image of that youth resurfaced in his mind.


    Several days ago when he made a trip to Qingshan Town, he had learned that Zhao San, the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, had already left Qingshan Town and had given Yunxuan Restaurant to a youth named Zhou Donghuang before he left.


    At first, he had known only that Zhou Donghuang was the son of Guild Master Lin Lan of the Magnolia Guild. And just as he was preparing to leave Qingshan Town, he had personally witnessed Zhou Donghuang kill Wang Yukun at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild.


    ¡°Elder Zhao San?!¡±


    When the bandits surrounding the horse carriage heard this, their expressions changed completely as well.


    The big, burly man who led them was the first to dismount, bowing in the direction of the horse carriage. ¡°Second-In-Command of Black Tiger Bastion Qian Tongtian, acknowledges Elder San.¡±


    ¡°We acknowledge Elder San.¡±


    The other bandits surrounding the horse carriage dismounted one by one and bowed in the direction of the carriage.


    This display frightened the middle-aged driver of the horse carriage, and his expression changed slightly before he sucked in several deep breaths, finally calming his emotions.


    Eh?


    Realizing that it had been a long time and there was yet no response to his greeting, Qian Tongtian frowned, and spoke again, ¡°Elder San, according to the rules of the road¡­ please come out so that we can see you.¡±


    Bandits who lived by their swords were not so easily fooled.


    Just like now.


    If Zhao San was really inside, they would leave tactfully once they saw him with their own eyes. Otherwise, if it was just someone impersonating Zhao San, why should they return empty-handed?


    ¡°Commander,¡± said the driver of the horse carriage to Qian Tongtian, ¡°Haven¡¯t you heard? Yunxuan Restaurant had a change of ownership several days ago¡­ the owner now is not Elder Zhao San, but the young master of our family, Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    ¡°Yunxuan Restaurant has changed owners?¡±


    Qian Tongtian was stunned but recovered with a cold smile. ¡°You say Yunxuan Restaurant has a new owner, but so what? Everyone knows that since the day Yunxuan Restaurant was established, Elder Zhao San has always been the owner.¡±


    ¡°I would like to find out¡­ the young master of your family, what kind of connections does he have that Elder Zhao San would give him Yunxuan Restaurant, the most profitable business in Qingshan Town.¡±


    At that moment, the look of fear in Qian Tongtian¡¯s eyes disappeared and was replaced by an icy look.


    Hearing the exchange between Qian Tongtian and the driver, the other bandits in the forest except for the young man were all shaking their heads.


    ¡°It¡¯s not Elder Zhao San after all¡­ nevertheless, this driver is really naive, he thinks that he can fool Qian Tongtian with his words?¡± the knife-scarred man said disdainfully.


    ¡°Second-In-Command, let¡¯s go out too. It¡¯s late, the meat is about to be devoured by those fellows from Black Tiger Bastion,¡± another bandit said to the young man leading them.


    It really is him.


    Hearing the middle-aged driver¡¯s words, the young man was certain that the person in the carriage was that youth whom he still could not forget.


    ¡°Second-In-Command?¡±


    The other bandits were beginning to pester the young man.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t want to die, stay right here,¡± the young man instructed.


    ¡°Second-In-Command, you mean¡­¡±


    The knife-scarred man and the other bandits had confusion written all over their faces. They could not understand why their Second-In-Command of Green Wolf Bastion, who had always acted swiftly and decisively, had suddenly become so timid.


    ¡°Just enjoy the show¡­ Qian Tongtian is in a heap of trouble.¡±


    The young man narrowed his eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled up in a cold smile.


    Meanwhile, seeing that the bandits surrounding the carriage had remounted their horses and were staring at him with a predatory look, the middle-aged driver hastily fumbled for a small bell in his pocket and threw it into the carriage.


    Ding, Ding¡­ Ding¡­ Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding¡­


    The bell made a clear ringing sound as it fell to the floor.


    ¡°What? Throwing a bell to help your young master recover from his shock?¡±


    Qian Tongtian grinned, the saber in his hand already raised, ready to give the signal for his bandits to attack.


    ¡°Hahahahaha¡­¡±


    The bandits surrounding the carriage could not help but laugh at Qian Tongtian¡¯s words.


    Having heard the bell, Zhou Donghuang had already woken from his practice.


    ¡°Only a little more, and I would have broken through to attain level-one of Qi-gathering¡­ too bad I was interrupted. If I had not been interrupted, I would have made the breakthrough within half an hour at most.¡±


    In the cabin of the carriage, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression became so heavy that it seemed water would drip from it. ¡°Now that I¡¯ve been interrupted, I will need at least half a day before I can make the breakthrough.¡±


    Fwoosh!


    Pulling aside the curtains of the cabin, Zhou Donghuang walked out.


    ¡°Young Master.¡±


    The middle-aged guard who was driving the carriage bowed and greeted Zhou Donghuang respectfully, and continued, ¡°These bandits don¡¯t believe that you, Young Master, are the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, and I have no idea what to do with them, so¡­¡±


    ¡°Hmm, I know.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded, and just as his gaze fell on the person before him, he gave a slight start. ¡°A ferghana horse?¡±


    The fine steed that Qian Tongtian, the Second-In-Command of Black Tiger Bastion who led these bandits was mounted on was also a ferghana horse.


    ¡°You are the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant?¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang come out, Qian Tongtian¡¯s smile became wider, and his eyes were full of disdain and spite.


    From what he saw, he could crush this fifteen or sixteen-year-old youth to death with any one of his fingers!


    ¡°I see that you are the leader of these bandits.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang got off and walked to the front of the carriage, his icy gaze finding Qian Tongtian. ¡°Do you know¡­ that you have disturbed my practice?¡±

 Chapter 22 Freezing Wind

    ¡°Disrupted your practice?¡±


    Qian Tongtian stared blankly at Zhou Donghuang, then broke out in uncontrollable laughter. ¡°So what if I did? Perhaps I should accompany you to play with bells to make up for it?¡±


    ¡°Hahahaha¡­¡±


    The bandits around the carriage laughed at this, and several of them laughed to the extent that tears fell from their eyes.


    ¡°Second-In-Command, I see this little boy is smooth and tender, why don¡¯t we bring him back as a captive to the bastion and present him to the commander?¡± a bandit laughed evilly.


    ¡°Agreed! We¡¯ll bring him back to Black Tiger Bastion and present him to Boss!¡±


    Qian Tongtian cast an appraising look at Zhou Donghuang, and his smile widened.


    In the next instant, his smile froze on his lips¡­ because Zhou Donghuang made his move.


    The Star-stepping Footwork!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s figure seemed to flicker as he made some curious steps, and in a flash, he was standing before the ferghana horse that Qian Tongtian was mounted on.


    That is¡­ a swiftness technique?


    In the forest, amazement showed on the face of the young man mounted on the ferghana horse, and his eyes lit up.


    Swoosh!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s left leg shook the ground, and he seemed to rise into the air like a hawk. His right leg landed on the head of the ferghana horse, causing it to neigh and rear up in pain.


    Oh no!


    Right then, Qian Tongtian finally realized that the youth before him was no ordinary person.


    Needless to say, seeing the speed that the youth had just displayed, he knew he was hopelessly outmatched. Even in the Black Tiger Bastion, not even the commander had that kind of speed.


    ¡°What kind of person are you?¡±


    Qian Tongtian¡¯s expression turned serious. He knew that even if the swiftness technique demonstrated by the youth was just a lesser-grade swiftness technique, such a person was still not to be trifled with.


    Within the territory governed by the prefecture capital, it was likely that only the governing Zhao family possessed a style of lesser-grade swiftness technique.


    Could he be a member of the Zhao family?


    He trembled in his heart, and facing Zhou Donghuang, who had now turned to face him, Qian Tongtian brandished the saber in his hand with all his might, hoping to force Zhou Donghuang back and preserve himself.


    The saber in his hand gave him great confidence despite his opponent¡¯s speed.


    ¡°The person who will kill you.¡±


    As Qian Tongtian brandished the saber at him, Zhou Donghuang stood firm and unyielding, and with a quiver of his arms, he brought his palms together and gripped the back of the saber between his palms.


    In the next instant, Zhou Donghuang swung his arms in a circle, spinning his whole body around with the saber still in his grip, the force of it tearing Qian Tongtian¡¯s hand open between his thumb and index finger. Blood spurted everywhere, and he was forced to release his grip on the saber.


    As the saber left Qian Tongtian¡¯s hand, Zhou Donghuang released the saber from his palms, and his right hand shot out like lightning to grab the handle of the saber.


    Whoong!


    In the hands of Zhou Donghuang, the saber seemed to take on a life of its own, leaving his hands as it spun with a terrible strength and speed straight for Tian Tongtian¡¯s throat.


    ¡°No¡ª¡±


    With the saber bearing down menacingly on him, Qian Tongtian could not possibly evade it in time. He could only bring both his arms up in that instant in an attempt to shield himself.


    Pu-chi! Pu-chi!


    Both his arms were severed at the wrist, and Qian Tongtian let out a shrill howl of pain and suddenly fell completely silent.


    The reason was that after severing his arms, the momentum from the sheer speed and strength of the saber¡¯s flight carried it onwards, leaving a deep knife wound across his throat that ended his life.


    Thud!


    As the saber returned to Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand, Qian Tongtian¡¯s corpse fell heavily from the ferghana horse and crashed to the ground, raising a cloud of dust as it landed.


    Everything happened in the blink of an eye, too fast for the bandits surrounding the carriage to react.


    It was only as Zhou Donghuang turned around and turned his icy gaze on them that they were shocked back to their senses, their expressions changing one by one.


    ¡°Second-In-Command is dead!¡±


    ¡°Run!!¡±


    Seeing that even their second-in-command who was close to the level of a level-two adept of Qi-gathering had been killed, and the bandits of Black Tiger Bastion scattered like a flock of crows, spurring their horses in every direction in an effort to escape.


    Thinking of escaping?


    In the end, they did not make it far before the saber in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand flew out whistling again like lightning, returning to his hand only after killing three more bandits.


    Whoong! Whoong!


    Two more passes of the saber that Zhou Donghuang flung out and the remaining six bandits had all been killed.


    The last bandit to be killed had only managed to gallop a distance of less than twenty meters from the carriage.


    Any single one of these bandits had hands stained with the innocent blood of untold numbers of victims, and Zhou Donghuang had acted against them without a moment¡¯s hesitation and without a shred of mercy.


    ¡°Young Master¡­¡±


    Shock was written all over the face of the middle-aged guard who was driving the carriage, and it was a long while before he came to his senses.


    Although he had the utmost confidence in Zhou Donghuang, he never imagined Zhou Donghuang could be this fearsome, that it would take him only moments to wipe out a troop of ten bandits.


    After killing the bandits, Zhou Donghuang suddenly looked at the forest across the road without any warning.


    A split second later, he looked away and back at the ferghana horse before him.


    ¡­


    In the forest.


    Gulp¡­


    Except for the young man who led them, the other five bandits including the knife-scarred man all swallowed with difficulty, their bodies covered in a cold sweat from head to toe.


    ¡°Second-In-Command¡­ he wouldn¡¯t have seen us, would he?¡± the knife-scarred man asked, his voice trembling.


    ¡°If he didn¡¯t see us, then what was he looking at?¡± the young man answered matter-of-factly. This whole time, his gaze never left the youth.


    He was looking at this youth again after only a few days.


    Today, the ability demonstrated by the youth was obviously more fearsome than what he had shown that day.


    ¡°My god¡­ I wouldn¡¯t have believed it if I didn¡¯t see it with my own eyes, that a youth who seems about fifteen or sixteen years old has such ability!¡± another bandit said with a look of shock.


    ¡°Yes, it¡¯s terrifying¡­ the ability of the second-in-command of Black Tiger Bastion Qian Tongtian was approaching that of a level-two adept of Qi-gathering, but still he was killed in just one exchange.¡±


    ¡°The speed with which he swept towards Qian Tongtian was incredibly fast¡­ was that a swiftness technique?


    ¡°It probably was.¡±


    ¡°With his ability, he definitely could contend with a level-two adept of Qi-gathering.¡±


    The several remaining bandits could not help whispering among themselves, shock written on their faces and in their eyes and dread in their hearts.


    Thankfully, they had not gone out.


    ¡°When I went to Qingshan Town several days ago, I witnessed¡­ he killed that bloody-handed butcher of the lesser family the Wang family of Qingshan Town in a single exchange.¡±


    The young man who led them spoke up.


    ¡°The bloody-handed butcher? Second-In-Command¡­ you are referring to Wang Yukun?¡±


    The knife-scarred man¡¯s eyes were wide, and his breathing shallow; evidently, he was deeply frightened.


    ¡°Is there another bloody-handed butcher in Qingshan Town?¡± the young man countered.


    ¡°That bloody-handed butcher is a ruthless man who once fought our commander of the Green Wolf Bastion to a standstill¡­ even he died at this youth¡¯s hands?¡±


    The other bandits were stunned.


    Now, they finally understood why the commander-in-chief of the Green Wolf Bastion had stopped them from going out.


    Never mind just the six of them, but even if the entire Green Wolf Bastion descended on him, such a ruthless person might not be satisfied even if he killed them all.


    ¡°Good heavens¡­ has he tamed the ferghana horse? That¡¯s a mature ferghana horse and almost untamable, how did he manage it?¡±


    Just then, the knife-scarred man noticed with shock that under the supervision of the youth, the middle-aged driver had harnessed the ferghana horse that formerly belonged to the Second-In-Command of Black Tiger Bastion to the carriage. Moreover, the ferghana horse showed not the slightest bit of resistance and was as agreeable as¡­ a cat.


    It was also because he did not know how fearsome Zhou Donghuang had been in his previous life. Otherwise, he would not have been so shocked.


    In his previous life, Zhou Donghuang had been able to tame even the most powerful and dreadful monsters that could reduce a city of ten thousand to ruins with a single breath, rendering them completely docile.


    What challenge did a ferghana horse pose compared to that?


    Zhou Donghuang had returned to the cabin, and the middle-aged driver had also mounted the carriage, preparing to resume their journey.


    The young man in command gritted his teeth and spurred his ferghana horse towards the carriage. ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    ¡°Second-In-Command!¡±


    ¡°Second-In-Command, don¡¯t be rash!¡±


    The five bandits, including the knife-scarred man, were pale-faced with terror at the young man¡¯s actions. Such a ruthless person was not someone they could handle.


    Nevertheless, the knife-scarred man and the other bandits eventually gritted their teeth and followed.


    The Second-In-Command of Green Wolf Bastion had saved each one of their lives before, and to let their Second-In-Command ride to his death before their eyes was not something they could do.


    ¡°Young Master, there are bandits coming again,¡± the middle-aged guard informed Zhou Donghuang, who had just entered the cabin with a bitter smile. The six bandits of Green Wolf Bastion rode out of the forest just as he was about to get the carriage moving.


    However, before Zhou Donghuang could reply, he saw the bandits, who were led by a young man, dismount in unison.


    ¡°The Second-In-Command of Green Wolf Bastion, Freezing Wind, acknowledges Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    Upon dismounting, Freezing Wind bowed respectfully towards the carriage.


    ¡°We acknowledge Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    The knife-scarred man and the other bandits released their breath as they saw their second-in-command had no intention of attacking, and they bowed towards the carriage together.


    ¡°Is there a problem?¡± came Zhou Donghuang¡¯s voice with a hint of lethargy from within the cabin.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, you are preparing to go to Ningping Town?¡± Freezing Wing asked respectfully.


    ¡°Hmm,¡± Zhou Donghuang answered nonchalantly.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, there is still a good distance from here to Ningping Town, and there is a high chance of running into unsavory characters¡­ why don¡¯t you allow my brothers and I to escort you the rest of the way?


    Freezing Wind said respectfully, ¡°I, Freezing Wind, am of some status on this road¡­ any bandits we meet will surely not dare to make trouble if they see me. If we meet any savage beasts, I can also help Young Master Donghuang take care of them. Thus, Young Master Donghuang, you may practice in peace.¡±


    Freezing Wind finished speaking and looked at the carriage uneasily.


    In the cabin, it had to be said that Freezing Wind¡¯s words had moved Zhou Donghuang, and he replied, ¡°Do as you suggested¡­ when we reach Ningping Town, I will not leave you shortchanged.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I, Freezing Wind, make this offer not for any reward, but out of esteem for Young Master¡¯s ability, to show respect for Young Master,¡± Freezing Wind said in a low voice, a look of displeasure flashing across his eyes.


    ¡°Second-In-Command!¡±


    The expressions on the faces of the knife-scarred man and the other bandits changed, and they were terrified that Freezing Wind had offended the savage youth in the cabin.


    This Second-In-Command of Green Wolf Bastion really is sincere.


    In the cabin, Zhou Donghuang gave a slight smile as he heard the displeasure in Freezing Wind¡¯s voice.


    ¡°When we reach Ningping Town, take a look at what I give you and reconsider whether to accept or reject my goodwill,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied.


    He did not think that Freezing Wind, the Second-In-Command of the Green Wolf Bastion, could reject the boon that he would give.

 Chapter 23 Third Grade swiftness technique

    Even though the ferghana horse was pulling a carriage, it was still very fast, and it outpaced a carriage pulled by a normal horse by far.


    With the ferghana horse pulling the carriage at top speed, we should reach Ningping Town by tomorrow morning at the latest.


    Zhou Donghuang had left on the afternoon of the previous day.


    It was now was the afternoon of the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era.


    A journey that originally could only be completed by the afternoon of the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era could now be completed earlier¡ªthe early morning of the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era when they would reach Ningping Town.


    Previously, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s carriage had traveled the road all by itself.But now, it was escorted by six bandits mounted on big horses.


    The young bandit in command was mounted on a ferghana horse, and his imposing presence scared off any rag-tag groups of bandits that were waiting in ambush beside the road.


    ¡°It¡¯s Freezing Wind, second-in-command of Green Wolf Bastion!¡±


    Many bandits recognized Freezing Wind, who was riding ahead of the carriage.


    ¡°Perhaps the person in the cabin¡­ could it be the commander of Green Wolf Bastion?¡±


    ¡°It probably is. Other than the commander of the Green Wolf Bastion, who else would Freezing Wind personally clear the way for?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t recognize the four people beside the carriage¡­ but that middle-aged man with the scar riding behind the carriage seems familiar; he¡¯s You Hengkun of the Green Wolf Bastion.¡±


    ¡°You Hengkun? The third most powerful person in the Green Wolf Bastion? The one whose ability is second only to the commander and second-in-command of the Green Wolf Bastion?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s him. I heard that the commander of Green Wolf Bastion had long ago intended to appoint him third-in-command of Green Wolf Bastion to give him his own command, but You Hengkun rejected it out of his gratitude to Freezing Wind for saving his life, so he would rather serve Freezing Wind.


    Zhou Donghuang was currently in the cabin devoting his full attention to practicing and had no idea that the bandits outside along the road had taken him to be the commander of Green Wolf Bastion.


    And with the second-in-command of Green Wolf Bastion Freezing Wind escorting him through this leg of the journey, it was turning out to be very peaceful indeed. Occasionally, a ferocious wild beast would appear, but the other bandits would already have killed the beast with their swords without Freezing Wind himself having to lift a finger.


    The bandits in Freezing Wind¡¯s troop were all level-one adepts of Qi-gathering and were the elite among the troops of the Green Wolf Bastion. Although they were just six men, they were not any weaker compared to the ten bandits of Black Tiger Bastion who had been killed earlier by Zhou Donghuang.


    I¡¯ve finally broken through.


    In the cabin, Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes just as night fell, a smile spreading over his face.


    He had finally attained level-one of Qi-gathering. Now, he could exert the strength of one bull using only his qi.


    Added to the thousand jin of force he could exert from the maximum strength of his muscles, he could kill a level-two adept with a single blow without using any martial arts!


    I¡¯ll resume.


    After attaining level-one of Qi-gathering, Zhou Donghuang consumed a bottle of qi-gathering elixir and continued practicing The Lord of the Four Supremes.


    It was only after practicing till the wee hours of the second day that he awoke from his practice.


    By then, they had arrived at their destination, Ningping Town.


    ¡°Young Master, Ningping Town is just before us,¡± the middle-aged guard driving the carriage said to Zhou Donghuang, as the carriage came to a stop.


    At the same time, the second-in-command of Green Wolf Bastion Freezing Wind stood off to one side with his five bandits and saluted towards the carriage.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, we are fortunate not to have disgraced ourselves. In the future, if Young Master Donghuang has any esteem for me, I, Freezing Wind, would like to visit Yunxuan Restaurant and raise a toast with you, Young Master Donghuang,¡± Freezing Wind said as he prepared to leave with the bandits under his command.


    Swoosh!


    Just as Freezing Wind was turning his horse, a gust of wind emanated from the cabin, and with the gust of wind came a bounded scroll of paper, flying towards Freezing Wind.


    Freezing Wind instinctively grabbed it, and frowning at the carriage, he asked in a serious voice, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, do you have no esteem for me, Freezing Wind?¡±


    ¡°This is a record of a style of swiftness technique, you have probably seen it¡­ when I killed the second-in-command of Black Tiger Bastion, Qian Tongtian that day, it was this swiftness technique that I used.¡±


    Swiftness technique?!


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, not only Freezing Wind, but the five bandits behind him too could not help their disbelief.


    In the lands governed by the prefecture capital, swiftness techniques, and even the lowest grade of lesser-grade swiftness techniques, were possessed by only by the Zhao family that governed the prefecture capital.


    And now, after escorting the person in the carriage for less than a day and night, was he actually giving away a style of swiftness technique?


    Could this be real?!


    This was the thought that rose in all their minds, but as soon as the thought arose, it was suppressed immediately.


    Someone of this ability had no need to cheat them.


    ¡°Does Young Master Donghuang believe¡­ that after knowing this is a swiftness technique, I will be overwhelmed with gratitude and accept it?¡±


    After recovering from his shock, Freezing Wind shook his head, his gaze more resolute than ever.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I, Freezing Wind have said that I would escort you to Ningping Town solely out of esteem for your ability, out of respect, and not for any reward. It is better that you keep this swiftness technique.¡±


    As he finished, Freezing Wind threw the swiftness technique in his hand towards the window of the cabin under the reluctant gaze of the five bandits behind him, showing absolutely no hesitation in the process.


    However, just as it hit the curtains hanging at the window, a force propelled it back out and returned it to Freezing Wind¡¯s hand.


    You really are full of surprises.


    In the cabin, a look of surprise flashed across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes. ¡°This really is a style of swiftness techniques, since you say you don¡¯t want it, then don¡¯t take it¡­ but I, Zhou Donghuang, don¡¯t like to owe any moral obligations, so you should just accept it. Don¡¯t you want me to hold you in esteem? Take it, and I will have esteem for you¡­ also, Yunxuan Restaurant welcomes you anytime.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang instructed the middle-aged guard who was driving the carriage as he finished speaking, ¡°Uncle, let¡¯s enter the town.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Young Master.¡±


    With a shake of the reins, the middle-aged guard sent the ferghana horse galloping towards the main gate of Ningping Town, pulling the carriage behind it and leaving Freezing Wind and his men behind them.


    Freezing Wind held the swiftness technique in his hand, watching the receding figure of the carriage, a bitter smile on his face.


    Given the way Zhou Donghuang had put it, he could not have refused to accept it.


    ¡°Second-In-Command, take a look¡­ is there really a swiftness technique recorded there?¡± a bandit prompted with a gleam in his eyes.


    The other bandits, including the knife-scarred man, You Hengkun, all turned to look at Freezing Wind with light in their eyes.


    Hearing this, Freezing Wind unrolled the paper in his hand with an expression of excitement and curiosity and read it at a glance.


    You Hengkun, and the others waited silently.


    After roughly the time it would take for ten breaths, Freezing Wind¡¯s expression changed completely, and moving his fingers rapidly, he tore the paper into countless bits.


    A gust of wind blew, and the bits of paper were scattered through the air. Now, no one could piece them together again, even if they had wanted to.


    ¡°Second-In-Command, what are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Perhaps the swiftness technique was fake?¡±


    ¡­


    With the exception of You Hengkun, the other four bandits were all looking at Freezing Wind with uncertainty and some suspicion.


    ¡°It¡¯s fake.¡±


    Freezing Wind said with a downcast expression, ¡°I never thought that the dignified owner of Yunxuan Restaurant would take pleasure in toying with people!¡±


    As he spoke, Freezing Wind managed with some difficulty to cast a discreet glance at You Hengkun, who caught the meaning in his glance and immediately chimed in, ¡°No matter how great his ability is, he is still a fifteen or sixteen-year-old boy, it¡¯s normal for him to be a little childish.¡±


    ¡°That makes sense¡­ how could he have so casually given away such a valuable thing as a swiftness technique.¡±


    You Hengkun¡¯s words had the other four bandits nodding their heads, the suspicion in their gaze dissipating.


    However, there still remained a trace of suspicion.


    It was no secret that the second-in-command of Green Wolf Bastion, Freezing Wind, had a photographic memory. If it had really been a swiftness technique, that span of ten breaths would have been enough for the second-in-command to memorize it completely.


    But after thinking about it, the four bandits felt that the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant really had been making fun of them. The second-in-command of Green Wolf Bastion was not a man who was uncaring towards his brothers and not one who would keep a swiftness technique for himself.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go back,¡± Freezing Wind commanded and led his men back to Green Wolf Bastion.


    On the journey back, Freezing Wind could not hide the shock, surprise, and disbelief in the depths of his gaze.


    When they arrived at Green Wolf Bastion, Freezing Wind called You Hengkun over once he saw that the other four bandits had returned to their quarters.


    ¡°Second-In-Command, that swiftness technique¡­ it wasn¡¯t a fake, was it?¡± You Hengkun asked in a low voice.


    ¡°Indeed, it wasn¡¯t.¡± Freezing Wind smiled bitterly.


    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t a fake, why did you lie to our brothers?¡±


    You Hengkun¡¯s eyes were full of incomprehension at receiving this confirmation from Freezing Wind. He knew the character of the second-in-command of Green Wolf Bastion, and he was not the kind of person who would keep a swiftness technique for himself.


    ¡°Scar, I lied to them for their own benefit.¡± Freezing Wind smiled even more bitterly.


    Hearing this, You Hengkun was even more lost.


    ¡°Do you know what kind of swiftness technique it was that Young Master Donghuang gave us?¡± Freezing Wind sighed deeply.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it that lesser-grade swiftness technique he used when he killed the second-in-command of Black Tiger Bastion, Qian Tongtian?¡± You Hengkun countered.


    ¡°It really was that swiftness technique¡­¡± Freezing Wind nodded, then continued with difficulty, ¡°but, it was not a lesser-grade swiftness technique, it was a¡­ third-grade swiftness technique!¡±


    ¡°Third¡­ third-grade swiftness technique?¡±


    You Hengkun was stunned speechless at this, and it seemed that he had been struck by lightning, leaving him frozen with a blank stare.


    ¡°Now, I think you understand why I said¡­ I lied to them for their own benefit?¡±


    ¡°Second-in-command, you have really thought it over.¡±


    You Hengkun finally regained his wits after a long while, a bitter smile on his face.


    People talk, and word spreads, and the fewer people knew about this, the better.


    Third-grade swiftness technique.


    It was easy to imagine how the entire Green Wolf Bastion would have invited catastrophe upon themselves once it became known that they possessed such a swiftness technique!


    ¡°What kind of person is this new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant? Within the country of Yunyang, only the Imperial Court and the Royal family possess third-grade techniques, and yet he not only possesses it, but gives it away casually?¡±


    As he muttered, You Hengkun¡¯s expression was full of surprise and incomprehension.

 Chapter 24 Li Rui

    Once they reached Ningping Town, Zhou Donghuang ordered the middle-aged guard, who was driving the carriage, to head straight for Qingyun Guild.


    The guild master of Qingyun Guild was also a woman, a member of a side branch of the Li family of the prefecture capital named Li Yun, and a good friend of Lin Lan¡¯s for many years.


    ¡°Aunty Yun, the goods and accounts are settled, I should be going,¡± Zhou Donghuang told Li Yun in the receiving chamber of Qingyun Guild as he put the money away.


    He had a very good impression of Li Yun because he remembered that Li Yun had visited the Magnolia Guild several times, bringing him a gift each time.


    ¡°Donghuang, you don¡¯t visit often, stay a night with Aunty Yun before you leave,¡± Li Yun said with a slight smile.


    She and Lin Lan were close friends of many years, and they got along fabulously, each treating the other as a sister and loving everything that was dear to the other. She had never treated Lin Lan¡¯s adopted son as an outsider.


    ¡°Aunty Yun, I don¡¯t want to trouble you, I¡¯m in a rush to get back.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head, for he had never intended to stay the night in Ningping town.


    Right now, Granny Lian was the lone level-one adept of Qi-gathering at Yunxuan Restaurant. His mother Lin Lan had already expended all her qi to start practicing the Technique of Everlasting Youth from scratch and did not have the abilities she used to.


    He would not feel at peace if he were to delay his return.


    ¡°Then let¡¯s have lunch this afternoon¡­ it¡¯s almost noon now. Donghuang, surely you won¡¯t refuse to even have a meal with Aunty Yun?¡±


    Li Yun tried again, ¡°Or is it¡­ now that you are the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, you look down on Aunty Yun?¡±


    ¡°Aunty Yun, you know about that too?¡±


    This was unexpected for Zhou Donghuang; he did not think Li Yun knew about him becoming the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant.


    ¡°How could I not? The day before yesterday, I heard people who had arrived from Qingshan Town say that the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhao San, had given Yunxuan Restaurant away to you, Donghuang.¡±


    Li Yun said with a sigh, ¡°Yesterday, I also heard someone who had arrived from Qingshan Town say¡­ you killed the second elder of the Wang family of the lesser families of Qingshan Town, a level-one adept of Qi-gathering, then killed with the grand patriarch of the Wang family, the one called the bloody-handed butcher, Wang Yukun!


    ¡°At first, I couldn¡¯t believe it. But today, you Donghuang have safely delivered ten bracelets of pure gold all by yourself, so I cannot disbelieve it even if I wanted to.¡±


    At this, a knowing look flashed across Li Yun¡¯s eyes.


    Encountering bandits was common on the road from Qingshan Town to Ningping Town, and if an ordinary person was not carrying anything of great value, he would be allowed to continue on his way after being searched for valuables and paying a toll to the bandits.


    If the victims cooperated and did not resist, the bandits would usually not kill them. The bandits were worried that if they killed too many people, no one would even dare to leave the small towns.


    Killing the goose that laid the golden egg was not a long-term strategy.


    The fact that Zhou Donghuang was able to deliver ten gold bracelets without a hitch to Ningping town spoke volumes about his capability.


    ¡°Since Aunty Yun extends her warm hospitality, I won¡¯t reject it.¡±


    Seeing Li Yun look expectantly at him, and thinking that just having a meal would not take up too much time, Zhou Donghuang agreed.


    ¡°Excellent! Donghuang, wait here for a while, Aunty Yun will get someone to make arrangements.¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang agree, Li Yun broke into a radiant smile. She left the receiving chamber to make arrangements after exchanging greetings with Zhou Donghuang.


    After about 15 minutes, Li Yun returned to the receiving chamber. With her was a girl who looked about the same age as Zhou Donghuang.


    The girl wore clothes of light blue and had a beautiful face, and her forehead bore a slight resemblance to Li Yun¡¯s. She stood there looking slim and graceful, but the slight frown on her face implied that she was not too happy to be there.


    ¡°Li Rui.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang recognized the girl as Li Yun¡¯s daughter, Li Rui, who was a year younger than him. They had played together when they were young, but they had not seen each other for the past few years and had naturally drifted apart.


    ¡°Li Rui, this is your Big Brother Donghuang, why haven¡¯t you greeted him?¡± Li Yun frowned at Li Rui.


    ¡°Mother, he¡¯s only a year older than me¡­ can¡¯t I just call him by his name?¡± Li Rui said with some displeasure.


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Just as Li Yun¡¯s expression began to change and she was about to get angry, Zhou Donghuang smiled nonchalantly and said, ¡°Aunty Yun, it¡¯s just a title, I don¡¯t mind anyway, so you don¡¯t have to bother either.¡±


    Then, looking at Li Rui, Zhou Donghuang smiled and greeted, ¡°Xiao Rui, it¡¯s been a long time.¡±


    ¡°What right do you have to call me Xiao Rui? Call me Li Rui!¡± Li Rui said with a cold snort of displeasure and a look of dissatisfaction.


    She naturally remembered that Zhou Donghuang was the son of her mother¡¯s good friend Lin Lan and was also a martial invalid who could not manifest his qi.


    Although her mother said the Zhou Donghuang of the present could not be compared to the Zhou Donghuang of the past, she did not believe it at all, and neither did she believe the recent news concerning Zhou Donghuang.


    How could a martial invalid become the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, the most profitable business in Qingshan Town?


    How could a martial invalid kill the grand patriarch of the Wang family of Qingshan Town, Wang Yukun?


    Moreover, in her view, even if he was not a martial invalid, sixteen-year-old Zhou Donghuang could not possibly have the ability to kill Wang Yukun.


    Wang Yukun was, after all, a level-two adept of Qi-gathering.


    Within the country of Yunyang, sixteen-year-olds with the ability to kill him were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, and such a person could not possibly be found in a small town.


    ¡°Umm, Li Rui.¡±


    Although Zhou Donghuang did not mind being calculative with a little girl, the smile had vanished from his face at Li Rui¡¯s rudeness, and his voice had gained a measure of indifference.


    Seeing this, Li Yun sighed.


    She had originally planned for her daughter and her good friend Lin Lan¡¯s adopted son to socialize and see if there was any potential for their relationship to develop further. But now, it was evidently impossible.


    ¡°Donghuang, Rui¡¯er, let¡¯s go over.¡±


    Li Yun had sent someone to a restaurant in Ningping Town to reserve a booth, and as she led Zhou Donghuang and Li Rui out of the door, she noticed the carriage parked at the main entrance of Qingyun Guild.


    An ordinary carriage would not have caught Li Yun¡¯s attention. However, the horse harnessed to this carriage was a ferghana horse!


    A carriage drawn by a ferghana horse.


    Even in the prefecture capital, few were this extravagant.


    A ferghana horse?


    Seeing the carriage drawn by the ferghana horse, Li Rui was shocked and could not help asking Li Yun, ¡°Mother, whose carriage is this?¡±


    Just as Li Yun was about to shake her head and reply ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± the middle-aged driver of the carriage jumped off the carriage and bowed respectfully to Zhou Donghuang, greeting, ¡°Young Master.¡±


    ¡°Umm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded and acknowledged the greeting and turned to Li Yun.


    ¡°Aunty Yun, let¡¯s take my carriage there¡­ after eating, I¡¯ll send you both back before I leave for Qingshan Town.¡±


    ¡°Sure¡­ sure.¡±


    Only then did Li Yun realize that this was actually Zhou Donghuang¡¯s carriage.


    As the carriage got on its way, Li Rui, who was sitting beside Li Yun in the cabin, frowned at Zhou Donghuang and said, ¡°Zhou Donghuang, what a reckless waste of resources to use a ferghana horse to draw a carriage!¡±


    ¡°A reckless waste of resources?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang gave a blank stare, followed by a slight smile.


    A ferghana horse was a treasure in the eyes of most people, but in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes, it was no different from a fine stallion of an ordinary breed.


    Moreover, it was the accumulated good fortune of several lifetimes for this ferghana horse to be able to draw the carriage of Zhou Donghuang.


    Seeing that Zhou Donghuang did not seem willing to entertain her, Li Rui¡¯s frustration turned to anger, ¡°I will be going to the Li family in the prefecture capital in a few days to practice, but I have never let my mother buy me a ferghana horse¡­ that¡¯s because I know she puts in great effort to make money and I can¡¯t bear to spend too much of her money.


    ¡°But you, a martial invalid, not only allow your mother to use her hard-earned money to buy you a ferghana horse, but you even use the ferghana horse to draw your carriage¡­ how can you face your mother? Seems that there is still a difference between a biological child and an adopted child,¡± Li Rui said, sweeping a hateful glance over Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Rui¡¯er!¡±


    Li Yun¡¯s expression changed, and she slapped Li Rui with a loud smack right in front of Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Apologize to Donghuang immediately!¡±


    ¡°Mother, you¡­ you hit me? Did I say anything wrong?¡±


    Li Rui covered the side of her face, which had begun to swell, and she looked wide-eyed at Li Yun with a look of disbelief. This was the first time her mother had ever hit her since she was young.


    What she did not know was that Li Yun had hit her not to stand up for Zhou Donghuang, but to protect her.


    The Zhou Donghuang of the present was not someone to be trifled with.


    ¡°Hmm, you¡¯re very mature,¡± Zhou Donghuang glanced at Li Rui nodding with all seriousness, ¡°However, I hope that you will be clear on one point, that I didn¡¯t ask my mother to buy me this ferghana horse, and neither did my mother buy me this ferghana horse.¡±


    ¡°If your mother did not buy it, where did you get so much money to buy a ferghana horse?¡± Li Rui asked disdainfully, her attention caught by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s reply.


    ¡°This ferghana horse is a trophy from yesterday, when I killed the second-in-command, Qian Tongtian of Black Tiger Bastion on the way here,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied nonchalantly.


    Li Yun blinked hard at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words.


    She naturally knew that the Black Tiger Bastion was a powerful nest of bandits that made its lair somewhere between Qingshan Town and Ningping Town.


    The commander of Black Tiger Bastion was a level-two adept of Qi-gathering, and the second-in-command of the Black Tiger Bastion, Qian Tongtian, had attained a level of practice close to a level-two adept of Qi-gathering.


    ¡°Qian Tongtian has been killed by you, Donghuang?¡± Li Yun asked, her heart trembling.


    ¡°Boasting does not make something real!¡± Li Rui laughed in derision. ¡°The second-in-command of Black Tiger Bastion, Qian Tongtian, is said to be on the verge of breaking through to level-two of Qi-gathering for the past few years¡­ the number of people in the whole of Qingshan Town who can kill him can be counted on the fingers of one hand, so how could you, a martial invalid, kill such a person?¡±


    ¡°Young Lady, the young master of my family killed the second-in-command of Black Tiger Bastion, Qian Tongtian, and this is something I have witnessed with my own eyes. And this ferghana horse really did belong to Qian Tongtian at first, but it was tamed by the young master of my family and was used to draw his carriage.¡±


    The middle-aged guard driving the carriage could stand it no longer and spoke up in defense of Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°He¡¯s the young master of your family, so even if he exaggerated to high heavens, you would still back up his lie,¡± Li Rui said scornfully. ¡°From what you say¡­ this mature ferghana horse was tamed just yesterday by the young master of your family? Who doesn¡¯t know that a mature ferghana horse has an extremely strong-willed temperament, and would rather kill itself than allow someone to tame it against its will!¡±

 Chapter 25 The Qin Family Mansion

    Zhou Donghuang could not be bothered to reason with Li Rui, ignorant as she was. If not for the respect he had for Li Yun, he would have slapped Li Rui long ago and shut her up.


    Li Rui tried to make conversation during the meal, but seeing Zhou Donghuang focus on helping himself to the food and showing no sign of entertaining her, she slowly fell silent.


    However, she looked at Zhou Donghuang with a look of even greater disdain, because she thought that Zhou Donghuang would not answer her due to his guilty conscience.


    ¡°Aunty Yun, thank you for your hospitality.¡±


    After they finished their lunch and left the restaurant, Zhou Donghuang sent the two ladies back to the main entrance of Qingyun Guild. After thanking Li Yun, he returned to the carriage.


    Li Yun sighed as she watched the carriage grow smaller in the distance as it left a trail of dust behind it.


    ¡°Mother, why are you sighing? He¡¯s only a martial invalid, we don¡¯t really need to have any dealings with him,¡± Li Rui said.


    ¡°Rui¡¯er, you are mistaken. Donghuang is a dragon among men, if you cross him, you¡¯ll regret it later.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll regret it? Impossible!¡± Li Rui said disdainfully. ¡°As a man that even Chen Dandan did not want, naturally I, Li Rui, would not want him¡­ The person that I Li Rui should marry should at least be a grandson of the eldest son from one of the preeminent families in the prefecture capital. Otherwise, won¡¯t I have lost out to Chen Dandan? Zhou Donghuang, a martial invalid, is completely unworthy of me!¡±


    ¡­


    It was completely unavoidable that the carriage being drawn by the ferghana horse would draw the attention of a group of passers-by as it passed through Ningping Tow. The ferghana horse was simply too eye-catching.


    However, the middle-aged man driving the carriage was already accustomed to this because he had had the same experience that morning when he drove the carriage into Ningping Town.


    ¡°Young Master, the daughter of Guild Master Li Yun of Qingyun Guild is too short-sighted¡­ why didn¡¯t you demonstrate your abilities in front of her to shut her up?¡± the middle-aged guard couldn¡¯t help asking Zhou Donghuang as they left Ningping Town.


    Even he could not stand the manner in which Li Rui had spoken to Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Uncle, do you think¡­ if a cat challenged a tiger to a fight, the tiger would entertain the cat?¡± Zhou Donghuang smiled indifferently.


    ¡°Of course not. Young Master, I understand, it was simply beneath you to nit-pick with her.¡±


    As realization dawned on the middle-aged guard, he could not help thinking to himself how his Young Master was simply on a higher level. If he had been in his Young Master¡¯s shoes, he would surely not have been able to suppress his temper.


    ¡°Uncle, we¡¯ll do the same thing¡­ if there¡¯s a problem, throw the bell into the cabin. Otherwise, I will not rouse myself.¡±


    After exchanging greetings with the middle-aged guard, Zhou Donghuang crossed his legs and resumed practicing of The Lord of the Four Supremes.


    ¡­


    The journey back was uneventful, and no one made trouble for them.


    The carriage drawn by the ferghana horse that Zhou Donghuang sat in was too eye-catching, and it was what the bandits waiting in ambush by the road assumed to be the carriage of the commander of Green Wolf Bastion.


    Although there were many bandit camps between Qingshan Town and Ningping Town, only the Black Tiger Bastion could compare in strength to the Green Wolf Bastion.


    The rest of the bandit camps were inferior to the Green Wolf Bastion in strength. Because of this, no one dared to antagonize the commander of the Green Wolf Bastion whom they assumed was in the carriage.


    Occasionally, one or two wild beasts showed themselves and were beaten back or killed by the middle-aged guard.


    Zhou Donghuang left Ningping Town on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era to return to Qingshan Town. He arrived at Qingshan Town and returned to Yunxuan Restaurant on the twenty-sixth day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era.


    The entire return journey had taken him only three days and three nights.


    If Zhou Donghuang did not have the ferghana horse to draw his carriage, he would only now have reached Ningping Town.


    ¡°Young Master, you¡¯re¡­ back so soon?¡±


    Granny Lian was astounded when she saw Zhou Donghuang at the door, evidently not expecting him to have returned so soon.


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded as he handed the fees from delivering the gold bracelets to Qingyun Guild in Ningping Town over to Granny Lian.


    ¡°Someone gave me a ferghana horse along the way, and I let the ferghana horse draw the carriage, so there weren¡¯t many delays along the way.


    ¡°Gave you a ferghana horse?¡±


    Granny Lian wanted to ask who could have been so generous, but Zhou Donghuang had already turned and left.


    Nevertheless, that night, Granny Lian pieced together the events that occurred on the way to Ningping Town from the conversations between some of the guards.


    ¡°Hearing it from Old He, our young master met a gang of ten bandits led by the second-in-command of Black Tiger Bastion, Qian Tongtian on his way to Ningping Town¡­ in just one exchange, he managed to snatch Qian Tongtian¡¯s saber and kill him, then he flung the saber out three times and killed the remaining bandits.


    ¡°Young Master was able to kill that bloody-handed butcher of the Wang family in just one exchange, and Qian Tongtian¡¯s ability was inferior to the bloody-handed butcher¡¯s. It¡¯s not unexpected that he was killed by Young Master. Nevertheless, I never thought Young Master could fling a saber out and kill people with it.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you think this is too far-fetched? Could Old He be exaggerating things?¡±


    ¡°Old He is well known for being straight as an arrow. I¡¯ve known him for many years and understand him well, it¡¯s not possible that he¡¯s lying.¡±


    Granny Lian could never have imagined that the ferghana horse the young master of her family said was given to him was actually a trophy that he claimed when he killed the second-in-command of Black Tiger Bastion, Qian Tongtian.


    ¡°Young Master he¡­ is able to tame even a mature ferghana horse?¡±


    Even though Granny Lian knew the young master of her family was immensely capable, she still could not avoid feeling a sense of shock when she became aware of this.


    There was only one thought in her head: Was there anything in the world that the young master of her family could not do?


    ¡­


    As he passed by the door of Lin Lan¡¯s room, Zhou Donghuang noticed Lin Lan was practicing with the door closed, and he returned straight to his room without disturbing her.


    ¡°The seal within my body was broken and removed on the fifteenth day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era¡­ and that was the time I started practicing in earnest. I attained level-one of Qi-gathering on the twenty-fourth day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era, just as night fell. Which means¡­ I managed to attain level-one of Qi-gathering in less than ten days.¡±


    Sitting on the bed, Zhou Donghuang muttered to himself.


    ¡°Hmm, that¡¯s still within expectations¡­ next, to advance from level-one to level-two of Qi-gathering, I will need a longer time, perhaps about twenty days.¡±


    Just as well that no one had overheard Zhou Donghuang, for if not, they would have been exasperated to death.


    How could anyone complain that twenty days was a long time to advance from level-one to level-two of Qi-gathering?


    For the people of the country of Yunyang, it was normal to begin practicing at eleven or twelve years of age not because they did not want to begin earlier, but because they could only practise after they had entered puberty.


    Some people who attempted to practice before puberty not only advanced very slowly, but also adversely affected their puberty and development. They would establish the roots of an illness that was very difficult to treat.


    It was said that outside the country of Yunyang, there was a miraculous panacea that once consumed would allow a person to start practicing from the age of three or four. Moreover, it would not affect you physically.


    However, this miraculous panacea had never appeared before in the country of Yunyang and was nothing more than a legend to the people of Yunyang.


    In the history of the country of Yunyang, the royal who holds the record for the fastest practice started practicing when he was eleven, and he attained level-one of Qi-gathering when he was thirteen, level-two when he was fourteen, level-three when he was sixteen, and level-four when he was twenty¡­


    Beginning with nothing, it took him two years to attain level-one of Qi-gathering.


    But from level-one to level-two of Qi-gathering, he only took a year¡­ this is also because he got more familiar with practicing and was not feeling his way and trying to get accustomed to it like he was when he was trying to attain level-one of Qi-gathering. That had indeed caused him to waste a good deal of time.


    An ordinary person would not find it entirely smooth sailing when they started practicing, even if they had some method to guide his practise.


    After all, these methods were ultimately only a paper exercise, and one would definitely still encounter difficulty in turning it into a reality.


    However, Zhou Donghuang was different.


    With the thousand years of memories from his past life, he was like a fish in water when it came to practicing, and because of this, his rate of practice was extremely fast.


    It seems that I¡¯ll still need someone to visit the prefecture capital for me to help me buy some other herbs¡­ with the ferghana horse, it should take at most two days and two nights for a return trip to the prefecture capital even with rest breaks.


    The last time Lin Lan had visited the Lin family in the prefecture capital, the return journey had taken her seven days and seven nights, but that was because Lin Lan had used only an ordinary horse.


    The speed of a ferghana horse far exceeded that of an ordinary horse.


    I only require the herbs from the prefecture capital, and I will be fully capable of formulating an even better qi-gathering elixir¡­ when that time comes, I might be able to smoothly attain level-two of Qi-gathering in half a month.


    Although Zhou Donghuang could make the trip to the prefecture capital to buy herbs himself, he did not intend to. It would be too much of a waste of time if he made the trip personally. Galloping on a horse to the prefecture capital, there would be no way for him to practice during the journey.


    Two days and two nights is enough for me to raise my level of practice considerably¡­ but, if I¡¯m to send someone to the prefecture capital to buy herbs, who should I send?


    Zhou Donghuang muttered to himself as he considered for a moment before his eyes lit.


    ¡°It shall be him!¡±


    ¡­


    The Qin family was one of the three great lesser families of Qingshan Town.


    The mansion of the Qin family occupied a large plot of land, comparable to the land that the Wang family¡¯s mansion stood on. Qin Xiaoyu had brought Zhou Donghuang to the Qin family mansion several times in the past, but the scene then was totally different from now.


    Now, he had only just reached the main entrance of the Qin family mansion, and once the junior Qin family members guarding the door saw him, they immediately ran to report his arrival to the patriarch, Qin Long.


    The patriarch of the Qin family, Qin Long, appeared shortly before Zhou Donghuang and welcomed him into the mansion personally.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, are you here to look for Xiaoyu?¡±


    It was no secret in the Qin family that Zhou Donghuang and Qin Xiaoyu were close. Because of this, Qin Xiaoyu¡¯s status in the Qin family had skyrocketed the day Zhou Donghuang had killed the patriarch of the Wang family, Wang Yukun.


    With a big brother who could kill the bloody-handed butcher Wang Yukun with one blow, who in the entire Qin family, including the level-two adept in the Qin family, would dare offend Qin Xiaoyu?


    Now, the first young master of the Qin family, Qin Fei did not dare pester Qin Xiaoyu like before, as he was terrified that this may offend Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°I¡¯m not here to look for Xiaoyu.¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m here to look for the grand patriarch of the Qin family.¡±

 Chapter 26 Modifying a Martial Art

    ¡°Young Master, you¡¯re looking for me?¡±


    As soon as he knew that Zhou Donghuang was looking for him, Qin Yi hastily stopped whatever he was doing and rushed to the receiving chamber of the Qin family.


    Qin Yi was the patriarch of the older generation of the Qin family and was the only level-two adept in the Qin family. He was just as well-known in Qingshan Town as Wang Yukun, and his ability was on par with Wang Yukun¡¯s.


    Still, Qin Yi did not dare put on any airs in front of Zhou Donghuang, who had killed Wang Yukun with a single blow, and his demeanor was as humble as could be, even though he was a prominent figure in Qingshan Town.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded casually. ¡°I¡¯m here because I would like to ask the Grand Patriarch of the Qin family for his help on a certain matter.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, if anything is the matter, just speak plainly! As long as it is within my power, I Qin Yi, will definitely help you sort out every last detail.¡±


    Qin Yi¡¯s promise was sincere, and from his manner, it was as though he was ready to leap through hoops for Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°I would like to ask the Grand Patriarch of the Qin family to ride as fast as he can to the prefecture capital on a ferghana horse, to help me buy some herbs.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang fished out a piece of paper covered with the names of various herbs from his pocket as he spoke, ¡°Of course, it is not necessary to buy them all¡­ just buy whatever you are able to buy.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing.¡±


    Unhesitatingly, Qin Yi reached out and took the paper and swore solemnly, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, within two days, I will bring back all the herbs you need.¡±


    ¡°Of course, I won¡¯t allow the Grand Patriarch of the Qin family to run my errands for me without reward.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang fished out a scroll of paper from his pocket with a flourish and presented it to Qin Yi.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, you don¡¯t have to feel obligated with me¡­ to be able to help you out is Qin Yi¡¯s honor.¡±


    This time, Qin Yi did not reach out to take the paper that Zhou Donghuang presented to him. In his opinion, what could be more precious than the obligation of this Young Master Donghuang?


    If he accepted the gift, would not the obligation of Young Master Donghuang be gone?


    Zhou Donghuang killed Wang Yukun with one blow, and he was just sixteen years old.


    Wang Yukun¡¯s abilities were not inferior to Qin Yi, and in a fight to the death with Wang Yukun, he might not necessarily emerge alive.


    And yet, such a man had been killed by the youth standing before him in a single blow.


    He was extremely clear on what this implied.


    He was already this fearsome at sixteen years of age.


    If this Zhou Donghuang grew up without incident, there would be nothing that could contain him, not just in Qingshan Town, but also the prefecture capital, the capital, or even the whole of the country of Yunyang.


    If he, as well as the Qin family, could cultivate a relationship with such a person, there would be all the world to gain from it and nothing to lose from it.


    ¡°Grand Patriarch Qin, this is a martial arts technique,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a slight smile, ¡°Are you certain¡­ that you will abandon this martial arts technique on behalf of the Qin family?¡±


    A martial arts technique?!


    Although Zhou Donghuang had spoken softly, his words shook him to his core and left him stunned, and he stared blankly for a time before a feverish expression began to show on his face.


    In the next instant, Qin Yi¡¯s arm shot out like lightning and took the paper Zhou Donghuang had offered without any hesitation, and he opened it and began to read.


    Shortly, he was left staring dumbly, his hands shaking in fright until the paper almost fell to the floor, but thankfully he recovered in time to catch hold of it again.


    ¡°Weighted Sand Palm¡­ third¡­ third-grade offensive martial art?


    Qin Yi originally assumed that the martial art Zhou Donghuang had passed to him was a style of lesser-grade martial art, and if that had been the case, it would have been a huge stroke of good fortune if the Qin family had managed to obtain it.


    And now, looking at the words written on the paper that Zhou Donghuang had passed to him, he came to the realization that this was not a lesser-grade martial art, but a third-grade technique.


    In the country of Yunyang, only the Royal family and the Imperial Court possessed third-grade techniques!


    This Young Master Donghuang, what kind of person is he? Giving the Qin family a third-grade technique just for helping him run an errand for two days?


    In the more than sixty years of Qin Yi¡¯s life, this was the first time he had lost his composure this badly.


    If it could be said that a lesser-grade martial art was the object of his dreams, then a third-grade technique was something he would not even dare dream of in a dream.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, you¡¯d better take it back.¡±


    Qin Yi passed the paper that the third-grade offensive martial art, Weighted Sand Palm, was recorded on back to Zhou Donghuang with a bitter smile.


    But Zhou Donghuang did not reach out to take it.


    ¡°Grand Patriarch Qin, I am giving this martial art to the Qin family not only as compensation, but also because I hope the Qin family will make me a promise: In the future, treat Xiaoyu well, and don¡¯t force Xiaoyu to do anything she does not want to do.¡±


    The Qin family was a lesser family. Oftentimes, the women of the Qin family had no choice in their marriage.


    He would have to leave Qingshan Town sooner or later, and so before leaving Qingshan Town, he hoped to be able to make arrangements to provide for the future of his little sister, Qin Xiaoyu.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, even if you didn¡¯t give this martial art to the Qin family, the Qin family would not mistreat Xiaoyu and force her to do anything she was unwilling to do¡­ you can be rest assured on this point.¡± Qin Yi said solemnly, ¡°You had better take back this martial art¡­ the Qin family cannot accept it.¡±


    Even if Zhou Donghuang dared to give a third-grade technique, Qin Yi dared not to accept it.


    It was easy to imagine how the Qin family would invite catastrophe on itself if one day if word got out that the Qin family was in possession of a third-grade technique.


    A third-grade technique was so coveted that not just the preeminent families, but also the powerful grand houses and the tycoons would resort to any means necessary to obtain it.


    Cannot accept?


    Zhou Donghuang could not understand at first, but after Qin Yi had spoken, realization dawned on him. He had not thought so far ahead.


    He had thought by giving the Qin family a third-grade technique, he would be granting them a great boon and ensuring that the Qin family could take good care of Qin Xiaoyu in the future.


    ¡°You¡¯re saying that you don¡¯t dare to accept a third-grade technique¡­ but if it was a lesser-grade martial art, you would accept it?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang raised his eyebrows and continued muttering, ¡°But I don¡¯t have any lesser-grade martial arts¡­ third-grade techniques are the lowest grade of martial arts that I have.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s voice was not very soft, and Qin Yi could hear him clearly. Consequently, Qin Yi began to tremble in his heart fearfully.


    From what this Young Master Donghuang had said, this meant that he possessed even more potent martial arts than third-grade techniques?


    A martial art more potent than a third-grade technique would be a second-grade martial art¡­ in Yunyang country, probably only the Imperial Court has a second-grade martial art?


    Qin Yi was so shaken that he started breathing faster, his chest rising and falling like a bellows, and it took him a long time to calm down.


    ¡°Forget it, since you don¡¯t want a mainstream martial art, I¡¯ll modify this Weighted Sand Palm and reduce its potency to the level of a lesser-grade martial art.¡±


    Taking the paper on which the Weighted Sand Palm was recorded on from Qin Yi¡¯s hand, Zhou Donghuang requested a pen from Qin Yi and began to write on the paper.


    After about 15 minutes, Zhou Donghuang presented the paper once again to Qin Y.,


    ¡°It¡¯s done. Now, this palm technique, even if practiced to its most extreme limit, will only have the potency of a lesser-grade martial art. This way, you can rest assured, can¡¯t you?¡± Zhou Donghuang glanced at Qin Yi.


    Qin Yi¡¯s hands were shaking as he took the paper, and as he read the amended palm technique, his heart began trembling even more violently.


    At first, he did not dare believe that Zhou Donghuang could modify a martial art by himself.


    Someone who was able to modify a martial art technique was usually also able to create a martial art technique, and in the history of the country of Yunyang, there probably had never been such a gifted person.


    Now, as he read the writing on the paper, Qin Yi was easily able to tell that this was indeed a lesser-grade palm technique martial art.


    ¡°Regarding the money for the herbs, you¡¯ll pay for it first¡­ and as for the ferghana horse, the Qin family should have one, so I won¡¯t be lending you my ferghana horse.¡±


    While Qin Yi was still stunned, Zhou Donghuang had already walked out of the Qin family¡¯s receiving chamber, his voice reaching Qin Yi over a distance.


    By the time Qin Yi recovered his wits, Zhou Donghuang was long gone.


    This Young Master Donghuang¡­ what kind of person is he?


    Qin Yi¡¯s eyes had an imposing look, having lived through more than sixty years of life, but still, he felt that he was unable to read this youth of only sixteen years old.


    Taking a deep breath, Qin Yi carefully put away the lesser-grade palm technique in his hand and proceeded directly to find his son, the patriarch of the current generation of the Qin family, Qin Long.


    ¡°These few days, send invitations out saying¡­ I, Qin Yi, invite everyone to a banquet in ten days to mark the adoption of Qin Xiaoyu as my daughter.¡±


    Qin Yi told Qin Long sternly, ¡°Send two invitations to Yunxuan Restaurant¡­ one for Zhou Donghuang, one for Lin Lan.¡±


    ¡°Father, why are you suddenly adopting Xiaoyu as a daughter?¡±


    Qin Long felt this was rather drastic. Even if Zhou Donghuang and Qin Xiaoyu were close, there was surely no need for this?


    If his father adopted Qin Xiaoyu as a daughter, then Qin Xiaoyu would be his adopted sister, and his son Qin Fei would have to call her ¡°Aunty.¡±


    ¡°Have a look at this.¡±


    Qin Yi fished out a piece of paper from his pocket and passed it carefully to Qin Long. It was the paper that Zhou Donghuang had edited.


    ¡°This is¡­¡±


    At first, Qin Long, Qin Long did not think much of it, but by the time he finished reading the words on the paper, his expression had changed completely.


    ¡°A martial arts technique?¡±


    ¡°More accurately, this is a martial arts technique given to the Qin family by Zhou Donghuang,¡± Qin Yi said. ¡°Now, do you understand my decision?¡±


    ¡°Father, I¡¯ll see to it at once!¡±


    Qin Long sucked in a deep breath and suppressed his excitement; then he left hurriedly after returning the paper to Qin Yi.


    Naturally, he clearly understood what a martial arts technique meant for the Qin family.


    This was a stroke of good fortune for the Qin family!


    And not long after Qin Long had left, Qin Yi rode his ferghana horse away from the Qin family and out of Qingshan Town, heading towards the prefecture capital.


    ¡­


    Somewhere else.


    Back in his room in the mansion behind Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang shook his head gently.


    I forgot, in this country of Yunyang, a third-grade technique could be enough to trigger a bloodbath.


    When I previously gave the third-grade swiftness technique, Star-Stepping Footwork to the second-in-command of the Green Wolf Bastion, I probably harmed instead of helped him.


    I can only hope he was smart about it and kept it low-key, Zhou Donghuang thought to himself.


    This time, with Qin Yi rushing to the prefecture capital to buy the herbs for me, I will definitely be able to obtain the herbs as soon as possible, and this way, I will be able to formulate an even better qi-gathering elixir in the shortest time possible.


    Before he began practicing, a look of anticipation flashed across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes.


    Traveling from Qingshan Town to the prefecture capital was actually far safer than travelling from Qingshan Town to Ningping town and the other small towns. There were public roads from the prefecture capital to all the small towns, and these public roads were patrolled by powerful adepts of the Martial Way from the Governor¡¯s Household. Ordinary bandits did not dare take the risk of robbing travelers on these roads.


    However, someone riding hard on a ferghana horse would still attract the attention of braver bandits who were willing to take a risk.


    To avoid the risk of unnecessary complications, Zhou Donghuang had thought of getting the level-two adept of the Qin family to make the trip to the prefecture capital to buy the required herbs for him.

 Chapter 27 Li Pingyun

    Dawn on the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era.


    Zhou Donghuang and Lin Lan were having breakfast together in the dining room when Granny Lian burst in.


    In her hand were two invitations.


    ¡°My lady, these invitations were delivered personally by the patriarch of the Qin family Qin Long; he said they are for you and Young Master.¡±


    Granny Lian placed the invitations on the table and retreated.


    ¡°Invitations?¡± Lin Lan stared blankly. ¡°Could there be some happy occasion in the Qin family?¡±


    In the next moment, Lin Lan opened the invitation, read it, and was dumbfounded.


    ¡°This¡­ the grand patriarch of the Qin family is taking Xiaoyu in as his adopted daughter? Isn¡¯t this¡­ a little too far-fetched?¡±


    In Lin Lan¡¯s view, the grand patriarch of the Qin family Qin Yi was already past sixty, and Qin Xiaoyu was only an eleven-year-old girl.


    Even Qin Yi¡¯s grandson was older than Qin Xiaoyu. And now, Qin Yi was going to adopt Xiaoyu as his daughter?


    Hearing Lin Lan¡¯s words, Zhou Donghuang was also momentarily dumbstruck, and reaching out for the other invitation, he opened and read it. Then he shook his head and smiled.


    ¡°That Qin Yi really knows how to conduct himself.¡±


    He was very satisfied with what Qin Yi had done.


    At least, as long as the Qin family did not fall, Qin Xiaoyu would be able to live her life in safety and without worries.


    Although Qin Xiaoyu was not his biological sister, their friendship over the past few years had long ago ensured that he treated Qin Xiaoyu as his own biological sister.


    ¡°Donghuang, is this because of you?¡±


    It was not difficult for Lin Lan to guess why Qin Yi had done this.


    ¡°But then, even if the Qin family doesn¡¯t dare mistreat Xiaoyu because they fear you, there still would be no need for them to go to this extent, would there?¡±


    ¡°What if I gave a lesser-grade palm technique to the Qin family?¡± Zhou Donghuang countered.


    Realization dawned on Lin Lan.


    ¡°No wonder¡­¡±


    As to why Zhou Donghuang had given the Qin family a martial art technique, she did not probe because she knew that her son would have his reasons for doing so.


    ¡°Mother, how has your practice been going recently?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked Lin Lan. The past few days, although he knew that Lin Lan had been concentrating fully on practicing, he did not know how she was progressing.


    ¡°Donghuang, that technique you gave your mother is wonderful¡­ and together with the qi-gathering elixir you formulated, my level is improving by leaps and bounds.¡±


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang bring up her practice, Lin Lan became lively and animated, and she was in high spirits.


    ¡°Soon, in less than a month, your mother is confident of regaining the level of level-one of Qi-gathering.¡±


    Although Zhou Donghuang¡¯s talent was on an entirely different level from Lin Lan¡¯s, she had originally been a level-one adept. Even though she had expended all the qi in her body and began practicing from scratch, the meridians in her body had already been expanded long ago and had not shrunk.


    Now, all she needed to do was to let the qi fill her meridians, and she would smoothly recover level-one of Qi-gathering.


    Thus, she could very quickly return to level-one of Qi-gathering when she practiced from scratch.


    ¡°Mother, when you are not practicing, you can try to master these two martial art techniques.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang passed Lin Lan two sheets of paper that were rolled together. The third-grade techniques, Star-Stepping Footwork and Weighted Sand Palm, were recorded on them.


    These two martial art techniques that Zhou Donghuang previously gave to the second-in-command of the Green Wolf Bastion Freezing Wind and the Qin family were actually intended for Lin Lan. Zhou Donghuang had written them out for her, but because she was practicing in seclusion, he never had the chance to give them to her.


    He had written out these two copies that very morning.


    ¡°Techniques?¡±


    Lin Lan¡¯s eyes lit up, and she eagerly reached out to take the two pieces of paper that Zhou Donghuang passed to her. She opened one of them and read it and was immediately dumbstruck.


    ¡°Weighted Sand Palm¡­ this is a third-grade technique?¡±


    Lin Lan tore her gaze away from the paper with some difficulty and looked up at Zhou Donghuang with incomprehension written all over her face.


    ¡°The other one, Star-Stepping Footwork, is also a third-grade technique.¡± Zhou Donghuang smiled.


    Third-grade technique?


    After reading the other swiftness technique, Star-Stepping Footwork, that was recorded on the other piece of paper, Lin Lan was completely stunned.


    In the country of Yunyang, only the Royal Household and the Imperial Court possessed third-grade techniques, and her son had not only casually produced one, but two of them!


    Zhou Donghuang had given Lin Lan too many surprises during this period of time, and therefore, Lin Lan was able to recover fairly quickly this time.


    After hurriedly finishing her meal, Lin Lan left the dining room and went to the backyard to practice the martial art techniques she had just received.


    Third-grade techniques were the lowest grade of martial art techniques from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s thousand years¡¯ worth of memories, and they were no different from rubbish to him.


    However, these were incomparable treasures to Lin Lan.


    After finishing his breakfast alone, Zhou Donghuang also returned to his room to practice.


    What he did not expect was that on the afternoon of the second day, the grand patriarch of the Qin family Qin Yi would appear at the door, caked with dust from his travels and with obvious black circles under his eyes.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, here are the herbs you wanted. I only managed to get two-thirds of them¡­ I visited all the large medical halls in the prefecture capital, but there was no stock of the remaining third,¡± Qin Yi said with a tinge of regret.


    ¡°The grand patriarch of the Qin family need not blame himself, to be able to buy this much herbs already exceeds my expectations¡­ go home and rest first, I¡¯ll visit the Qin family another day to settle accounts for these herbs.¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a slight smile, looking at Qin Yi with a gaze that carried more than a hint of friendship.


    Qin Yi had returned from the prefecture capital within two days and two nights, and even riding the ferghana horse, he would not have had time to rest on the journey.


    It was obvious that Qin Yi had not rested for the whole journey.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, these herbs are a gift to you from the Qin family, if you are going to talk about money, don¡¯t blame this old man for turning hostile.¡±


    At Zhou Donghuang¡¯s mention of money, Qin Yi¡¯s expression became ugly in an instant. ¡°What are these trifles compared to what Young Master Donghuang has given to the Qin family?¡±


    ¡°Agreed, as the grand patriarch of the Qin family wishes.¡±


    Right then, Zhou Donghuang was hoping that Qin Yi would return home to rest as soon as he could, and he did not haggle over the money that Qin Yi had spent to buy the herbs.


    He would just find some other way to return Qin Yi the favor.


    After Qin Yi left, Zhou Donghuang muttered to himself in a low voice, ¡°In eight days¡¯ time, Qin Yi will take Xiaoyu as his adopted daughter¡­ that day, I¡¯ll give him and the Qin family another martial arts technique. Hmm, I¡¯ll modify the Star-Stepping Footwork and give it to him as a lesser-grade swiftness technique.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang soon reached a decision.


    Regardless of whether in his previous life or this life, the thing he did not want to owe the most were favors.


    Just like the benefactors who had helped Zhou Donghuang on Earth in his previous life¡ªalthough they had helped Zhou Donghuang, he had already returned the favor during his previous life¡­


    In this lifetime, Zhou Donghuang had not gone to Earth, and it was impossible for those people to help him, but he still intended to return to Earth and help them out of their troubles.


    A little act of grace would be repaid many times over.


    This was a basic principle of how Zhou Donghuang treated others.


    ¡­


    The thirty-first day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era was the last day of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era.


    However, all was not peaceful in the Li family of the prefecture capital.


    ¡°Second Young Master, you must avenge me!¡±


    The middle-aged member of the Li family of the prefecture capital whose four limbs had been maimed by Zhou Donghuang had finally been sent back to the Li family of the prefecture capital after many days.


    The Li family of the prefecture capital was a preeminent family, and the lesser families in the small towns could not hope to compare to it. The strongest in the lesser families in the small towns was usually a level-two adept.


    But in the preeminent families, level-two adepts of Qi-gathering were as numerous as the hairs on a cow.


    In the lesser families of small towns, a level-one adept could be elevated to the rank of an elder, but in the preeminent families, only level-three adepts of Qi-gathering could be elevated to the rank of elder.


    This was the extent of the difference between a lesser family and a preeminent family.


    Of course, this was not the most important difference. The most important difference was that preeminent families had at least one level-four adept in charge.


    A family without a level-four adept in charge would not be acknowledged as a preeminent family, and no matter how many level-three adepts of Qi-gathering it had, it would still only be considered a lesser family if it did not have a level-four adept.


    Of course, lesser families of this kind were usually only found in the prefecture capital, as they would not be content to remain in a small town.


    ¡°Who did this?¡± asked an ordinary-looking man dressed in rich, brocaded clothes. He gave off an air of arrogance, and he frowned slightly at the middle-aged man on the stretcher.


    He was the second young master of the Li family of the prefecture capital, Li Pingyun, the only son of the patriarch of the Li family, and the designated heir to the title of Patriarch of the Li family.


    If nothing went wrong, he would be the future patriarch of the Li family.


    ¡°It¡¯s the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan Town Zhou Donghuang. I did as Second Young Master commanded and went to buy Yunxuan Restaurant over from him. He not only said that Second Young Master was a deluded idiot but also maimed my arms and legs!¡±


    The middle-aged man had a savage expression, and staring vengefully, he said in a low voice, ¡°He said, he let me live so that I can report to you, Second Young Master¡­ that if you dare attempt a takeover of his Yunxuan Restaurant, you will share my fate!¡±


    With all four limbs maimed, his life was ruined, and the middle-aged man now lived for only one thing¡ªto exaggerate the details of the incident to provoke the second young master of the Li family so that he would take action and have Zhou Donghuang killed to avenge him.


    Of course, not everything he said was a lie.


    At least, Zhou Donghuang had indeed refused to sell Yunxuan Restaurant to the second young master of the Li family.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he a martial invalid? You are a full-fledged level-two adept, and still, you were maimed by him? Are you joking?¡±


    Although Li Pingyun¡¯s voice remained calm, the fires of anger were already burning fiercely in the depths of his eyes, and once released, it would not be quenched!


    A nobody in a small village dared claim that he would maim Li Pingyun¡¯s arms and legs? Besides that, Li Pingyun did not believe that a youth of sixteen years could maim the middle-aged man before him. Although this middle-aged man was only a relative from a side branch of the Li family, he was still a level-two adept.


    If he recalled correctly, the strongest person in Qingshan Town was only a level-two adept.


    ¡°Second young master, I too thought that he was a martial invalid at first¡­ but after he acted, I realized that he wasn¡¯t a martial invalid, he was an adept of greater ability than me.¡±


    The middle-aged man¡¯s voice still carried a trace of dread at the mention of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s ability.


    ¡°Even if he has not already attained level-three of Qi-gathering, I fear he is already close.¡±

 Chapter 28 Our Boss Does Not Have a Very Good Temper

    ¡°According to you, that Zhou Donghuang, a youth of sixteen, is already a level-two adept?¡±


    Li Pingyun gazed coldly at the middle-aged man.


    ¡°Even among the current generation of youths in the prefecture capital, the two fastest people to attain level-two of Qi-gathering did so only when they were eighteen years old. Now, you are telling me that there is a sixteen-year-old, level-two adept in Qingshan Town?¡±


    Evidently, Li Pingyun did not believe the middle-aged man¡¯s words.


    ¡°Young Master, I would not believe it if I had not seen it with my own eyes, that there could be a sixteen-year-old, level-two adept in a small town like Qingshan Town¡­ but that Zhou Donghuang¡¯s ability has already been demonstrated on me.¡±


    Seeing Li Pingyun¡¯s disbelief, the middle-aged man began to get anxious.


    ¡°I fought him straight up, and I was no match for him!¡±


    ¡°Enough.¡±


    Li Pingyun looked over the middle-aged man impatiently and said to the two junior Li family members standing to the side, ¡°Send him back to his home.¡±


    The two junior Li family members were also the ones who had carried the middle-aged man in.


    ¡°At once, Second Young Master.¡±


    The middle-aged man, with his limbs maimed, could only lie on the stretcher and be carried away. The two junior Li family members lifted the stretcher and walked out briskly.


    ¡°Second Young Master, if you still intend to buy Yunxuan Restaurant, you must send an elder who is a level-three adept to Qingshan Town. If not, he will not be a match for that Zhou Donghuang!¡± the middle-aged man continued to remind Li Pingyun loudly as he was being carried away.


    After the middle-aged man had been carried away, Li Pingyun smiled scornfully.


    This useless fellow really thinks I will believe what he says? A sixteen-year-old youth from a small town, a level-two adept? If there really is such a person, then for twenty years, haven¡¯t I, Li Pingyun, been living like a dog?


    Li Pingyun, the son of the patriarch of the Li family of the provincial capital, was the cream of the Li family¡¯s current generation of youth. He was twenty years old and had attained level-two of Qi-gathering a year before.


    However, to be able to maim Li Dong like this is proof that this Zhou Donghuang really is an adept with formidable abilities on his side¡­ he¡¯s at least stronger than Li Dong, but definitely not a level-three adept.


    After all, if he was a level-three adept, the Lin family of the prefecture capital could not possibly punish his mother, Lin Lan that severely over a blood-staunching elixir that was past its prime, out of respect for that level-three adept.


    It has to be said that Li Pingyun considered matters carefully. And he had indeed guessed correctly.


    Zhou Donghuang was not a level-three adept.


    I¡¯ll leave early tomorrow for Qingshan Town¡­ I¡¯ll find out whether that Zhou Donghuang dares to reject me, Li Pingyun, to my face.


    A cold look flashed across Li Pingyun¡¯s eyes, and he muttered softly to himself in an icy tone, ¡°If he dares reject me, I¡¯ll make him regret it for the rest of his life!¡±


    ¡­


    Qingshan Town, Yunxuan Restaurant.


    ¡°Three Young Masters, isn¡¯t it rather inappropriate for you to act this way?¡±


    Chief Steward Fu walked out of the restaurant and looked at the three young men who were blocking the entrance, looking rather foul.


    The three young men were all dressed in splendid clothes and had tender white skin, and one look was enough to tell that they were the pampered sons of wealthy families. Behind one of the youths was a middle-aged man. This middle-aged man was solidly built with a thick waist, broad back, and a sword sheathed at his waist. He gave off an aura of harshness as he stood there that kept people away.


    Peng!!


    Fu had just walked out and finished his sentence when a young man dressed in blue landed a kick on Fu¡¯s chest, sending him flying. He crashed heavily into one of the pillars at the side of the restaurant¡¯s entrance.


    ¡°Ahhh¡ª¡±


    Fu slid to the ground and spat blood, his face unhealthily pale. However, he gritted his teeth and stood up again.


    ¡°Three Young Masters, how is Yunxuan Restaurant supposed to do business if you behave like this?¡±


    The three young men before him had come out of nowhere and immediately chased all the guests in Yunxuan Restaurant away. After that, they had blockaded the door of Yunxuan Restaurant, preventing anyone from entering or leaving.


    The two guards who were near the level-one of Qi-gathering had attempted to intervene, and the middle-aged man behind the three youths, felled each of them with a blow, driving the fight out of them.


    ¡°I hope you three young masters don¡¯t make too big a scene¡­ the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant does not have a very good temper,¡± Fu said seriously.


    Fu was indeed not bluffing.


    The new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang, had made a name for himself by killing the level-two adept of the Wang family, Wang Yukun. Then he had killed the original chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant, Li Xian, and finally, he had maimed a level-two adept who claimed to have been sent by the Li family of the prefecture capital.


    Putting it all together, it was not hard to see that the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant really did not have a very good temper.


    ¡°Your boss does not have a very good temper?¡±


    A young man wearing green looked down at Fu with a condescending gaze and smiled.


    ¡°I heard, the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, the one called Zhou Donghuang, is only sixteen years old, and he killed the level-two adept of a lesser family, the Wang family, Wang Yukun? And so, you people of Qingshan Town all believe he has the ability to kill a level-two adept?¡± the young man in green asked, his tone dripping with disdain. ¡°Sixteen years old, and he killed a level-two adept? Whoever believes that is a fool! Especially those people who said they witnessed it! In my opinion, they probably accepted who knows how much money from the owner of your Yunxuan Restaurant.¡±


    A condescending look flashed across the eyes of the last young man dressed in yellow.


    ¡°He thinks he can spend money and get people to spread this story everywhere and fool people to protect his Yunxuan Restaurant? It has to be said that he really is naive!¡±


    ¡°You have one chance¡­ send someone to tell Zhou Donghuang to come out here!¡± said the young man who had just sent Fu flying through the air with a kick. He was smiling coldly.


    ¡°Who are they?¡±


    ¡°No idea. Looking at their bearings, they are obviously not ordinary people. Even those few young masters from the three lesser families of Qingshan Town are not as imposing as them.¡±


    ¡°They should be from outside.¡±


    ¡°They don¡¯t believe that Young Master Donghuang of Yunxuan Restaurant killed Wang Yukun? And they even think that we took his money and are helping Young Master Donghuang exaggerate the story?¡±


    ¡­


    Many onlookers had gathered outside the main entrance of Yunxuan Restaurant. And just when the young man in blue ordered someone from Yunxuan Restaurant to summon Zhou Donghuang out, there was a commotion at the back of the crowd.


    Many people turned around and saw at once a handsome and delicate looking youth dressed in snow-white clothes, walking slowly towards Yunxuan Restaurant with a calm expression.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang!¡±


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang!¡±


    The crowd parted of its own accord and bowed respectfully to the youth.


    ¡°Boss.¡±


    Fu dragged his badly injured body up, gritting his teeth as he walked out one step at a time to greet Zhou Donghuang.


    Once he was before Zhou Donghuang, Fu said shamefully with his head lowered like a child caught in the wrong.


    Boss, I¡¯m really useless. I failed to look after Yunxuan Restaurant properly¡­ Boss, get someone else to take my position. I, Fu, am not fit to be the chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant.¡±


    ¡°Who injured you?¡±


    Seeing Fu so badly injured, Zhou Donghuang remained expressionless. He spoke to Fu nonchalantly.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    Fu did not respond.


    ¡°I asked¡­ who injured you?¡± Zhou Donghuang repeated.


    Fu had not yet spoken when the young man dressed in blue who had attacked him cut in, looking at Zhou Donghuang as he spoke, ¡°You are the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang, right? He was injured by me, and with a kick that sent him flying no less¡­ what? You want to avenge him?¡±


    As he spoke, the young man in blue smiled coldly, and he looked condescendingly and disdainfully at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Which leg?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked as he merely glanced at the young man in blue before looking back at Fu.


    This time, Fu reacted when he heard Zhou Donghuang, glancing discreetly at the right leg of the young man in blue.


    And just when Fu¡¯s gaze was fixed on the right leg of the young man in blue, Zhou Donghuang moved without warning.


    Swoosh!!


    A shake of his body and Zhou Donghuang had flashed past the gathered crowd like lightning, right up to the young man in blue.


    ¡°Stop!!¡±


    The middle-aged man standing behind the young man in green reacted the fastest, and his expression changed as he drew the sword hanging at his waist from its scabbard.


    Ka-chak!


    Ka-chak! Ka-chak!


    ¡­


    In the time it took for the middle-aged man to draw his sword, the clear sound of bones breaking was heard, followed closely by a piteous scream.


    ¡°Ahhhhhh¡ª!¡±


    The piteous scream was incredibly shrill, and it caused the scalp of each person in the crowd to tingle. It was difficult to imagine just how much pain it took to trigger such a scream.


    Then, as the crowd recovered their wits, they saw that the young man in blue had already fallen to the ground, and Zhou Donghuang was stepping on the lower part of his right leg. Where Zhou Donghuang¡¯s leg was, the lower leg of the young man in blue was almost flat on the ground, flattened like a meat patty!


    Immediately after screaming, the young man in blue fainted from the pain.


    ¡°The bones in his lower leg are shattered to bits¡­ even a superior-level medicine master would probably not be able to restore his leg, right?¡±


    ¡°Not just a superior-level medicine master, even the legendary earthly-level medicine master or heavenly-level medicine master would probably not be able to get him standing on that leg again.¡±


    ¡°This Young Master Donghuang of Yunxuan Restaurant¡­ is too fearsome.¡±


    ¡°I feel that out of everyone who provokes him, not one remains unharmed. Nevertheless, he really does treat those around him well, and this time he is standing up for Chief Steward Fu of Yunxuan Restaurant, which is why he is so ruthless.¡±


    Just looking at the lower leg of the young man in blue, which had been stomped into a meat patty, everyone in the gathered crowd involuntarily felt a shiver.


    ¡°Boss.¡±


    Fu recovered from his shock, and the gaze he gave Zhou Donghuang was full of resolve.


    Right then in Fu¡¯s heart, his boss, Zhou Donghuang, assumed a place more important than his own life.

 Chapter 29 The Elite Lesser Families

    ¡°You¡­ you dare maim Ma Jin? Do you have any idea who he is?¡±


    When the young man dressed in yellow looked back at Zhou Donghuang, there was a look of shock and dread in his eyes. Zhou Donghuang had moved at such a speed that his reactions were unable to keep up.


    Could it be¡­ that this incident where Zhou Donghuang killed the level-two adept is true?


    After seeing Zhou Donghuang maim Ma Jin, who was a level-one adept, in the blink of an eye, he would have lived twenty years of life in vain if he was still unable to tell that Zhou Donghuang¡¯s ability was no laughing matter.


    ¡°Ma Jin is the first young master of the Ma family, an elite lesser family of the prefecture capital¡­ you have maimed him, and the Ma family will not let you off.¡±


    The young man in green gave Zhou Donghuang a somber look, and his eyes also showed traces of shock and dread.


    The extent of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s abilities was something they had never dreamed possible.


    He realized in that moment that the stories in Qingshan Town concerning the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant were more than just rumors.


    This guy¡¯s ability was at least at the level of level-two of Qi-gathering. If not, he could not possibly move with such speed, and it was even more impossible for him to have maimed Ma Jin so efficiently.


    ¡°What incredible speed!¡±


    ¡°What tremendous strength!¡±


    As the saying went, the layman enjoys the show, while the expert appreciates the technique. While the middle-aged man behind the young man in green had drawn his sword from its scabbard, he had not made a move yet.


    The palm of his hand that held the sword was covered in a thin layer of cold sweat.


    Although he was a level-two adept, he had to admit that neither his speed nor strength could match that of the youth dressed in white before him.


    The speed of the youth in white was obvious for all to see.


    As for strength, the youth in white had stomped Ma Jin¡¯s lower leg flat like a meat patty, and although the middle-aged man could have done the same, he knew he could not have done it as cleanly and efficiently.


    From this, he concluded that his opponent¡¯s ability exceeded his.


    That was why he had not made a move.


    If he still rushed in despite knowing the extent of his opponent¡¯s ability, would that not be futile?


    He¡­ really is only sixteen years old?


    The eyes of the middle-aged man showed shock and incredulity as he looked at the youth in white who stood nearby.


    The Ma family of the prefecture capital¡­?


    After the young men in yellow and green had spoken in turn, Zhou Donghuang had not yet shown any hints of a reaction, but the gathered crowd of Qingshan Town residents had been frightened.


    ¡°This young man who has been maimed by Young Master Donghuang, is he really from the Ma family of the prefecture capital? Moreover, is he the first young master of the Ma family?¡±


    ¡°The Ma family is not an ordinary lesser family; it far surpasses the three lesser families of Qingshan Town in every aspect¡­ I heard that in the Ma family, there are four level-three adepts of Qi-gathering, and as for level-two adepts, there are over twenty.¡±


    ¡°The Ma family is exceptional among the lesser families. Young Master Donghuang has invited disaster by maiming this first young master of the Ma family.


    Among the crowd, there were a fair number of people who knew something about the Ma family of the prefecture capital, and after they had spoken, the crowd collectively wiped away a trickle of cold sweat on behalf of Zhou Donghuang.


    Hearing the crowd whisper and mutter in discussion among themselves, both the young man in yellow and the young man in green subconsciously lifted their heads up, giving themselves an incomparably arrogant look.


    ¡°I am Fang Tianyi, the third young master of the Fang family of the prefecture capital.¡±


    The young man in yellow looked at Zhou Donghuang and spoke up arrogantly, ¡°The Fang family of the prefecture capital has three level-three adepts and over twenty level-two adepts of Qi-gathering¡­ In the eyes of the Fang family of the prefecture capital, the three lesser families of Qingshan Town are no more than ants.¡±


    He paused and looked at the young man in green.


    ¡°And this gentleman, he is the first young master of the Lu family of the prefecture capital, Lu Yuan. The Lu family of the prefecture capital has five level-three adepts of Qi-gathering and over thirty level-two adepts of Qi-gathering.¡±


    Hearing the words of the young man in yellow, many in the gathered crowd of Qingshan Town locals could not help drawing in a sharp breath. They could never have imagined that the three people blockading the entrance of Yunxuan Restaurant could have such illustrious backgrounds.


    They were all from the elite lesser families of the prefecture capital!


    ¡°We thought that a sixteen-year-old youth like you could not possibly have the ability to kill a level-two adept¡­ it seems that we had too low an opinion of you.¡±


    Lu Yuan looked at Zhou Donghuang and said in a menacing voice, ¡°Zhou Donghuang, if you have any sense, hand over the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant now. If you do, I can guarantee you that the Ma family will kill only you for maiming Ma Jin, and those close to you will not be dragged into the matter. If you do not have the sense to hand over the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant¡­ not only you but also those closest to you will be killed, right down to the last man!¡± Not just your relatives, but also the staff of Yunxuan Restaurant will all forfeit their lives.¡±


    Lu Yuan paused, a cold smile on his lips.


    The group of waiters and servant girls of Yunxuan Restaurant turned pale when they heard Lu Yuan¡¯s words, and they made plans in their hearts to leave Yunxuan Restaurant if their boss did not hand over the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant.


    Although their boss was powerful, the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital were even more powerful! They were not confident that their boss could outmatch the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital.


    Although the pay at Yunxuan Restaurant was high, it was not as important as their lives.


    ¡°So these people from the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital are here for the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant.¡±


    ¡°They came here all the way from the prefecture capital. Evidently, they¡¯re sure that Elder Zhao San will not intervene in the matter of Yunxuan Restaurant¡¯s ownership.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang is in trouble.¡±


    ¡°It would be fine if Young Master Donghuang had not maimed First Young Master Ma Jin, he only had to hand over the title deed, and he would be safe¡­ but now that he has maimed First Young Master Ma Jin, the situation is not so simple anymore. Even if he hands over the title deed, the Ma family will not let him off so easily.¡±


    The gathered crowd were shaking their heads as they muttered among themselves. At that moment, the looks they gave Zhou Donghuang were looks of sympathy, pity, and most of all, regret.


    A martial prodigy who could kill a level-two adept at sixteen years of age would be a force to be reckoned with in the country of Yunyang if he was allowed the chance to grow and develop.


    But now, he did not seem to have that chance.


    ¡°Very imposing, for just three lesser families!¡± Zhou Donghuang smiled indifferently and stared profoundly at Lu Yuan. ¡°If you want the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant, come and get it yourself, and show me the ability of a young master from an elite lesser family.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang paused and showed a mocking smile.


    Other than Fu, the staff of Yunxuan Restaurant paled in fear. They realized that their boss did not intend to hand over the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, although your abilities are strong, they are nothing in the eyes of our three families¡­ you and those around you should prepare themselves to bear the wrath of the Ma family!¡±


    Fang Tianyi laughed coldly and looked at Lu Yuan.


    ¡°Lu Yuan, let¡¯s bring Ma Jin back¡­ since he wants to be buried with those close to him, we¡¯ll oblige him.¡±


    ¡°Uncle Gang, bring Ma Jin, let¡¯s go!¡± Lu Yuan ordered the middle-aged man behind him. He walked towards Ma Jin, who was still trapped under Zhou Donghuang¡¯s foot.


    ¡°Did I allow you to leave?¡±


    Before the middle-aged man Lu Gang could reach Ma Jin, Zhou Donghuang spoke again.


    Although his expression was as calm as before and his tone as indifferent as before, there was now a cold gleam in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Coming as you wish, going as you wish¡­ do you think you are playing house?¡±


    The people before him were obviously here for the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant. If his ability could not match theirs, they would already have taken the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant, and he would not have had a pleasant fate.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you¡¯d better think carefully¡­ if you dare lay a finger on us, you will have irrevocably offended the Fang family and the Lu family.¡±


    Fang Tianyi¡¯s expression changed as he discerned from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words that he intended to do them harm.


    Lu Yuan¡¯s expression had also changed.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, although your ability is without question, there are many in the Lu family who are able to dispose of you,¡± Lu Gang told Zhou Donghuang with a threatening expression.


    ¡°Does that include you?¡± Zhou Donghuang smiled derisively.


    ¡°You think I¡¯m afraid of you?¡±


    Lu Gang was a level-two adept, and with his sword in hand, he was confident in himself. Staring fiercely at Zhou Donghuang, he brandished his sword, showing off the gleaming edge of the keen blade.


    ¡°If you survive one exchange, I¡¯ll let you all leave unharmed.¡± Zhou Donghuang grinned, angering Lu Gang till his face turned red. With a flicker of his body, his legs began to move quickly.


    Star-Stepping Footwork!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s speed was so great that the only thing everyone around saw was a blur of white.


    Lu Gang only reacted after Zhou Donghuang had covered half the distance between them, the sword in his hand whistling through the air, sunlight reflecting brilliantly from the blade.


    Whoosh!!


    It had to be said that Lu Gang was an excellent swordsman. He swung his sword horizontally across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s path, and if Zhou Donghuang did not reduce his speed, he would meet the sword¡¯s edge head-on.


    But could flesh and blood withstand a meeting with the edge of a sword?


    Obviously not.


    Just as everyone concluded that Zhou Donghuang would choose to retreat against the sword stroke of Lu Gang, Zhou Donghuang still showed no intention of slowing down.


    It was as though he was trying to get himself sliced in half by Lu Gang.


    ¡°Looking for death!?¡±


    Seeing this, Lu Yuan and Fang Tianyi laughed coldly as one, and their hearts unclenched because from Lu Gang¡¯s reaction. They thought Lu Gang was no match for Zhou Donghuang, but now it seemed that Zhou Donghuang was no match for Lu Gang.


    ¡°Boss!¡±


    Fu¡¯s expression changed.


    Trying to kill himself!


    Just when the sword in Lu Gang¡¯s hand was closing in on Zhou Donghuang, and he felt that Zhou Donghuang would be dead in the next moment, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand shot out like lightning, his palm sweeping downwards towards the face of the sword.


    What a pathetic skill!


    Seeing this, Lu Gang snorted in derision and turned the sword such that the blade was angled towards Zhou Donghuang¡¯s descending palm.


    ¡°Not bad, it¡¯s a pity that you¡¯re too inexperienced¡­ when you enter the gates of hell, remember that the man who killed you was Lu Gang of the Lu family!¡±


    Under these circumstances, it had to be said that Lu Gang¡¯s mastery of the sword was impressive, given how he had adjusted the direction of the blade with such speed.


    Whoosh!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm would not be able to avoid meeting the keen edge of Lu Gang¡¯s sword.

 Chapter 30 Making Enemies

    Oh no!


    A palm against the keen edge of a sword. Everyone present expected Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm to be severed by the sword in Lu Gang¡¯s hand.


    You use the sword clumsily. If you want to sever my hand, you need more finesse.


    Just as many people thought Zhou Donghuang was doomed, Zhou Donghuang smiled nonchalantly. In the instant when his hand met the sword, he curved his thumb and fingers to pinch the face of the sword tightly.


    Stonebreaking Fingers was a third-grade technique, allowing your qi to be concentrated in any of the fingers to bore through stone easily.


    If enough qi was used, even metals such as bronze or iron could be bored through easily.


    Now, it was this martial art technique that Zhou Donghuang was demonstrating. His qi concentrated in his five fingers, making them hard as steel. They pinched the face of Lu Gang¡¯s sword with the edge only half an inch away from his palm, but they prevented it from advancing any further and even touching him.


    ¡°Whoa¡ª¡ª¡±


    Lu Gang¡¯s face turned red, and he roared like a wild beast as he channeled all the qi in his body to his hand. He tried to free his sword from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s control, but no matter how much effort he put in, the sword in his hand remained frozen.


    What terrible strength!


    In that instant, Lu Gang¡¯s heart trembled as it struck him how fearsome this youth was. He could not hope to contend with him.


    ¡°Come here!¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang spoke casually, he pulled the hand pinching the sword towards the side of his body with a savage tug, and Lu Gang, who was holding on to his sword with a death grip, was pulled in as well.


    In the blink of an eye, Zhou Donghuang released his grip, allowing the sword to pass beside his body and allowing Lu Gang to rush towards him with the momentum from the enormous strength of his tug.


    Weighted Sand Palm!


    Zhou Donghuang had already formed his hand into a rigid palm as he released the sword, and he struck out with a whoosh as Lu Gang headed directly for him.


    Pong!!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm landed squarely on Lu Gang¡¯s unprotected chest like a thick metal cudgel, making a loud sound and caving Lu Gang¡¯s chest inwards in an instant.


    Lu Gang was dead the instant his chest was caved in, but the force of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm sent him flying three meters clear before he crashed to the ground.


    Ka-dum!


    Even at the moment of his death, Lu Gang had not released his grip on the sword, and the sword crashed to the ground together with him.


    From the time when Lu Gang adjusted the face of his sword to the edge up to the moment Zhou Donghuang pulled him in closely only to kill him with a single blow¡ªthe whole process all happened in the blink of an eye. It was so fast that the gathered onlookers were unable to react.


    By the time the crowd outside Yunxuan Restaurant had come to their senses, Lu Gang had already been killed by Zhou Donghuang.


    How¡­ how is this possible?


    The smiles on the faces of Lu Yuan and Fang Tianyi froze, and dread and shock surfaced in their eyes once again.


    Lu Gang was a level-two adept, and he was armed. But he had still died at the hands of this sixteen-year-old Zhou Donghuang?


    Even if they were beaten to death, they would not have believed that a youth of only sixteen years old could have this level of ability if they had not witnessed it with their own eyes.


    ¡°The man that Young Master Donghuang killed called himself Lu Gang of the Lu Family?¡±


    ¡°Lu Gang? That level-two adept who is called the ¡®frenzied sword,¡¯ of the Lu Family of the prefecture capital?¡±


    ¡°This Lu Gang, it¡¯s said that he once killed a bandit chief who was a level-two adept in the span of ten breaths, and he earned the title ¡®frenzied sword¡¯ after that battle.¡±


    ¡°Even with a sword in hand, the frenzied sword, Lu Gang was still killed in one exchange by Young Master Donghuang?¡±


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang¡¯s ability is incredibly fearsome, isn¡¯t it? Even if Young Master Donghuang was not a level-three adept, it seems that few level-two adepts of Qi-gathering are a match for him.¡±


    Many of the Qingshan Town locals recognized Lu Gang, and this created an uproar among the crowd, and also many exclamations at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s ability.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang is only sixteen years old. Even if tomorrow was a new year in the Ziyun Era, he would still only be seventeen years old.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s just a pity that this time he has completely offended the elite lesser families of the prefecture capital, the Ma Family and the Lu Family. If not, when he grew up, even if the entire Ma and Lu Families come out to kill him, they might not be enough.¡±


    ¡°Heaven envies heroes.¡±


    The more outstanding Zhou Donghuang¡¯s performance, the more regret the people of Qingshan Town felt for him.


    ¡°Boss.¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang kill Lu Gang made Fu¡¯s eyes shine with gratitude. But the waiters and servant girls in Yunxuan Restaurant, as well as the chefs who had come out when they heard the commotion, all had ugly expressions on their faces.


    In that moment, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s calm and emotionless gaze found Lu Yuan and Fang Tianyi, and he smiled suddenly, showing two rows of snow-white teeth.


    ¡°I said just now that if he could survive one exchange with me, I would let you leave unharmed. Too bad he was too useless.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s tone was calm, and he spoke unhurriedly.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    Fang Tianyi was scared witless and took a step back instinctively.


    ¡°If you dare touch me, the Fang Family will definitely not let you off!¡±


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, if you let us go now, I guarantee the Lu Family will not make trouble for you,¡± Lu Yuan said solemnly.


    Of course, this was just an expedient measure to Lu Yuan. When he returned home, he would get his father to send the most able men with him to Qingshan Town, kill Zhou Donghuang, and seize Yunxuan Restaurant!


    ¡°You may leave if you wish but leave a leg behind like him.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang turned to glance at Ma Jin, who was still lying unconscious and said indifferently, ¡°Everyone has to pay the price for their actions. You should have prepared yourselves from the moment you thought of seizing my Yunxuan Restaurant. I don¡¯t have time to waste with you here. After ten breaths, if you don¡¯t do something, I¡¯ll send you to keep Lu Gang company!¡±


    A murderous look flashed across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes, and his tone was cold and resolute.


    Fang Tianyi and Lu Yuan¡¯s expressions changed completely.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, if only you let us leave, I will not only guarantee the Fang Family will not make trouble for you but also, I will beg my father to guarantee your life in front of the Ma Family.¡±


    Fang Tianyi was scared out of his wits and hastily began making guarantees to ensure his safety, not doubting at all that Zhou Donghuang dared to harm him.


    After all, Ma Jin had been maimed by Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, do you really want to offend our three elite lesser families at once?¡± Lu Yuan asked icily, staring coldly at Zhou Donghuang.


    Between them, Lu Yuan and Fang Tianyi were playing the good cop and bad cop, hoping that Zhou Donghuang would stay his hand.


    Right then, they regretted not establishing all the details about Zhou Donghuang before coming to Qingshan Town to seize Yunxuan Restaurant.


    ¡°You still have five breaths¡¯ time.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang spoke with the same indifferent tone.


    From Zhou Donghuang¡¯s demeanor, both Lu Yuan and Fang Tianyi could see that Zhou Donghuang would not be placated, and their expressions grew uglier and uglier.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you watch out!¡±


    Lu Yuan stared furiously at Zhou Donghuang, and with a chilling roar, sprinted to Lu Gang¡¯s corpse and took the sword from his hand.


    Taking a deep breath, his body trembling, Lu Yuan shut his eyes tightly and swung the sword downwards.


    ¡°Ahhhh¡ª¡ª¡±


    Lu Yuan let out a shrill, piteous scream and fainted.


    ¡°You still have three breaths¡¯ time.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang stared intently at Fang Tianyi.


    Immediately, Fang Tianyi moved beside the unconscious Lu Yuan, his face pale, and raised the sword with trembling hands, and only when Zhou Donghuang said there was one breath remaining did he swing the sword down, following in Lu Yuan¡¯s footsteps.


    ¡°Fu, help them staunch the flow of blood then find a carriage and send them back to the prefecture capital.¡±


    From start to end, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression did not change much, and after instructing Fu, he departed under the shocked and reverent gaze of the crowd.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang is leaving himself no path of retreat by doing this, and also his relatives, and those around him as well!¡± many people sighed, with bitter smiles.


    ¡°But wasn¡¯t Young Master Donghuang too ruthless?¡±


    ¡°I, however, feel that Young Master Donghuang cannot be considered ruthless, if he was really ruthless, he would have killed them all, and possibly even kill all of us, cover up the evidence, and not let anyone from the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital know about this.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang really cannot be considered ruthless. If today, Young Master Donghuang¡¯s ability could not match theirs, what kind of fate would he have had? Frankly speaking, they aren¡¯t saints, they came to seize Yunxuan Restaurants; they are robbers!¡±


    No matter what was said, on the last day of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era, the actions of Zhou Donghuang made him famous once more in Qingshan Town.


    At the same time, the vast majority of people felt that Zhou Donghuang was as good as dead. And Zhou Donghuang¡¯s relatives and those close to him were also as good as dead.


    The news reached the ears of the three elite lesser families of Qingshan Town very quickly.


    ¡­


    In the Wang Family mansion.


    ¡°That Zhou Donghuang maimed the scions of the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital?¡±


    Hearing the news, the patriarch of the Wang Family Red Crane Wang laughed heartily.


    ¡°He¡¯s dead for sure! He¡¯s dead for sure!¡±


    ¡°Father, your son is useless and unable to avenge you, but now, there will be someone to avenge you!¡±


    ¡­


    In the Zhong Family mansion.


    ¡°This time, that Zhou Donghuang is dead for sure!¡± one of the three people sitting around a stone table, laughed coldly. It was Second Young Master, Zhong Yi of the Zhong Family.


    The third young mistress of the Zhong Family Zhong Xiu also had a cold smile on her face.


    ¡°He dares provoke even the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital? That Zhou Donghuang is trying to get himself killed!¡±


    ¡°Disaster is looming over Zhou Donghuang. The grand patriarch of the Qin Family should go back on his word and cancel that banquet to celebrate his adoption of Qin Xiaoyu Qin Fei. At least he will be relieved that he doesn¡¯t have to call an eleven-year-old girl, ¡®Aunty.¡¯¡± First Young Master Zhong Gang of the Zhong Family laughed mockingly.


    ¡­


    In the Qin Family mansion.


    ¡°Grandfather, that Zhou Donghuang has offended the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital; he must surely be dead! Since he is going to die, you no longer need to adopt Xiaoyu as your daughter,¡± Qin Fei told Qin Yi in his private compound.


    ¡°Father, if you still adopt Xiaoyu as your daughter I¡¯m afraid the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital will find you guilty by association and bring their wrath down on the rest of the Qin Family,¡± Qin Long, the patriarch of the Qin Family, warned Qin Yi as well.


    ¡°In this life, I, Qin Yi, will not do anything in bad faith.¡± Evidently, Qin Yi was resolute on this. ¡°Since I have already decided to take Xiaoyu as my adopted daughter, I will do it! No matter if Zhou Donghuang is still alive or even if he is dead, this decision will not change!¡±

 Chapter 31 Surrender

    The first day of the first month of the year 1228 in the Ziyun Era.


    As the saying went: ¡°A new year, a new beginning.¡± On the first day of the year, many ordinary families in Qingshan Town were willing to splurge on a meal at the expensive Yunxuan Restaurant.


    This year, however, they realized upon arriving at the main entrance to Yunxuan Restaurant that it was not open for business.


    There was a notice on the tightly shut door:


    Yunxuan Restaurant will be closed temporarily. There will be a special promotion on the first day of reopening¡ªall food and drinks at half price.


    ¡ªZhou Donghuang


    ¡°Yunxuan Restaurant is closed?¡±


    ¡°I suppose it¡¯s because of what happened yesterday.¡±


    ¡°I heard the chefs, waiters, and servant girls of Yunxuan Restaurant have all fled¡­ except for Fu. I thought it was just a rumor, I didn¡¯t expect it to be true.¡±


    ¡°When Yunxuan Restaurant next opens for business¡­ I fear the boss might no longer be Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    ¡­


    After some debate about the matter, the group of people gathered outside Yunxuan Restaurant gradually dispersed, making their way to other smaller restaurants.


    Zhou Donghuang had maimed the young masters of the three elite lesser families from the prefecture capital the previous day. The staff of Yunxuan Restaurant, fearful of retaliation due to their association with Zhou Donghuang, had fled as a result.


    In the end, big as Yunxuan Restaurant was, only Chief Steward Fu remained. Therefore, Zhou Donghuang allowed Fu to close Yunxuan Restaurant as staying open would be pointless.


    All the staff had fled, and without manpower, doing business was impossible.


    Of course, not only had the staff of Yunxuan Restaurant left, the servant girls and guards from the Magnolia Guild had also left.


    Just like the staff of Yunxuan Restaurant.


    Faced with the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital, they also had no confidence in Zhou Donghuang and were fearful of being dragged down with him and dying at the hands of the three elite lesser families.


    Suddenly, the whole compound behind Yunxuan Restaurant had become eerily quiet.


    When the tree falls, the monkeys scatter.


    Sitting at a stone table in the front courtyard and drumming his fingers on the table, Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a rueful smile. He was not displeased because he could empathize with these people.


    Now, all in all, there remained only Granny Lian and Fu other than him and his mother.


    ¡°Fu, you have manifested your qi, haven¡¯t you?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked, smiling at Fu who was standing to the side respectfully.


    He was surprised that Fu had stayed. After all, faced with the possibility of death, no one else had been willing to face it together with him when their own lives and those of their families were at stake.


    ¡°Boss, Fu has not been blessed with talent and is able to manifest only two or three hundred jin of strength,¡± Fu replied, scratching his head with an embarrassed smile.


    ¡°Who else is in your family?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked again.


    ¡°I am an orphan.¡±


    The smile on Fu¡¯s face faded, and he lowered his eyes, a look of dejection flashing across his face.


    ¡°In the future, my mother and I, and Granny Lian as well, consider you our relative,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a gleam in his eye. ¡°And you don¡¯t need to call me boss, just call me ¡®Young Master.¡¯ Also, during these two days, expend all the qi in your body. I will pass on to you a new technique and give you some qi-gathering elixir¡­ if all goes well, you will be able to attain level-one of Qi-gathering within half a year, regardless of how little talent you have.¡±


    That Fu had stayed proved that he was willing to gamble his life on Zhou Donghuang, and Zhou Donghuang would not shortchange such a person.


    He also intended to pass on a technique to Granny Lian and provide her with some qi-gathering elixir.


    Difficult times bring out true character. What had happened so far had caused him to no longer view Granny Lian and Fu as outsiders.


    ¡°Young Master, don¡¯t trouble yourself.¡± Fu shook his head with a bitter smile.


    In his view, there were only several days left to live, and there was no need for such trouble.


    ¡°Why not? You think I cannot deal with those three lesser families?¡± Zhou Donghuang easily guessed what was on Fu¡¯s mind and was unable to stifle a laugh. ¡°Fu, you stayed¡­ just to wait for death with me?¡±


    ¡°Young Master, those three lesser families are all elite lesser families¡­ they have more than ten level-three adepts of Qi-gathering in total.¡±


    Previously, when Zhou Donghuang had maimed the level-two adept of Qi-gathering from the Li family of the prefecture capital, Fu had feared for Zhou Donghuang and dreaded that people from the Li family would come seeking revenge.


    Now that Zhou Donghuang had maimed the young masters of the three elite lesser families, he did not believe that Zhou Donghuang could survive their wrath.


    He advised Zhou Donghuang to leave, but his advice had fallen on deaf ears. Therefore, he could only wait for death with Zhou Donghuang.


    He had already given his life to Zhou Donghuang the day before when Zhou Donghuang had stood up to defend him.


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Before Zhou Donghuang could speak, Granny Lian burst into the front courtyard and reported respectfully to Zhou Donghuang, ¡°Young Master, there is someone outside looking for you. He says he is called ¡®Freezing Wind.¡¯¡±


    Freezing Wind?


    An image of a young man with a stern face, dressed all in black surfaced in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s mind. It was the second-in-command of Green Wolf Bastion, Freezing Wind.


    ¡°Young Master, he rides a ferghana horse; I don¡¯t think he is an ordinary person,¡± Granny Lian warned.


    ¡°Fu, go and show him in.¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang instructed Fu to show Freezing Wind in, he replied to Granny Lian, ¡°Granny Lian, he is the one who escorted me on my journey to Ningping Town, the second-in-command of Green Wolf Bastion.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s him?!¡± Granny Lian was shocked.


    She could never have imagined that the decent-looking young man she saw was in fact a bandit who could kill a man without blinking.


    Shortly, Freezing Wind was led into the front courtyard by Fu.


    ¡°I acknowledge Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    Freezing Wind bowed respectfully to Zhou Donghuang upon entering.


    ¡°What brings you to look for me?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked.


    ¡°I originally planned to visit Yunxuan Restaurant for a meal and pay my respects to Young Master Donghuang¡­ but when I got here, I saw that Yunxuan Restaurant was closed,¡± Freezing Wind replied. ¡°I heard what happened yesterday when I was outside just now. Young Master Donghuang, I came to ask you¡­ are you still accepting people here?¡±


    Swiftly and succinctly, Freezing Wind presented his motive for seeking out Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°If you will accept me, I want to leave Green Wolf Bastion to follow you and work for you.¡±


    ¡°Work for me?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was momentarily dumbstruck and gave Freezing Wind a searching look.


    ¡°You are the second-in-command of Green Wolf Bastion, and you have men under your command. Why would you need to renounce that identity and follow me? Moreover, you are now aware of my current circumstances¡­ aren¡¯t you worried that when the three elite lesser families send people to kill me, they will kill you too because of your association with me?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked with a laugh.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, actually from the first time I saw you in action, I have wanted to follow you and work for you¡­ however, it would not have been appropriate at the time if I had said I wanted to follow you and work for you,¡± Freezing Wind said. ¡°Today, knowing that Young Master Donghuang is facing difficult times, I know my opportunity has arrived.


    ¡°Although the three elite lesser families are powerful and Young Master Donghuang will struggle against them¡­ I still want to follow you, and even if I die in the conflict with the three elite lesser families, I will have no regrets.


    Freezing Wind spoke very earnestly, looking at Zhou Donghuang resolutely in the eye and without any fear.


    A person had many opportunities to make choices in their lives. Some choices, if made correctly, could lead to a bright future.


    A wrong choice could very well turn out to be catastrophic.


    ¡°If you are willing to leave Green Wolf Bastion and to follow me instead and work for me, isn¡¯t that the same as betraying Green Wolf Bastion? I have no interest in traitors,¡± Zhou Donghuang said plainly. ¡°Today, you may betray Green Wolf Bastion, and tomorrow, you could likewise betray me.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang has misunderstood,¡± Freezing wind replied with a sigh. ¡°Actually, I never wanted to be a bandit. I stayed with Green Wolf Bastion only to repay the grace shown by the commander of Green Wolf Bastion when he saved my life that year. Now, whatever grace there was to be repaid has been repaid. I have the chance to leave Green Wolf Bastion, and I don¡¯t want to stay there.¡±


    Freezing Wind and Zhou Donghuang were looking each other in the eyes unblinkingly as he said this.


    The eyes were the windows to the soul, and with the thousand years¡¯ worth of experience that Zhou Donghuang had, he could naturally tell that Freezing Wind spoke truthfully.


    ¡°If I guess correctly¡­ there is another reason that you are choosing to follow me, which is that you want to gamble everything, am I right?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked meaningfully, with a suddenly profound look.


    The profound look Zhou Donghuang gave Freezing Wind made him feel completely exposed, and he nodded without hesitation.


    ¡°I admit this is true,¡± he acknowledged. ¡°If Young Master Donghuang is unable to withstand the trials from the three elite lesser families, I, Freezing Wind, will die together with you. If Young Master Donghuang successfully withstands it¡­ I am certain that you can give me a better future!¡±


    Freezing Wind spoke plainly and with no deceit.


    ¡°That makes sense,¡± Zhou Donghuang smiled lightly. ¡°If that is the case, go and get your belongings and put your affairs in order; then come and find me.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang agreed to Freezing Wind¡¯s proposal and granted his wish to work for him.


    ¡°Many thanks to Young Master.¡± Freezing Wind¡¯s eyes lit up, and he bowed hastily in thanks. ¡°Tomorrow, I will come looking for you, Young Master.¡±


    Right then, Freezing Wind began to address Zhou Donghuang as ¡®Young Master¡¯ instead of ¡®Young Master Donghuang.¡¯


    After Freezing Wind left, Granny Lian looked at Zhou Donghuang worriedly.


    ¡°Young Master, there is nothing good among bandits¡­ isn¡¯t it rather unseemly to allow him to follow you?¡±


    It would have been inappropriate for Granny Lian to rebut Zhou Donghuang when Freezing Wind had been present earlier.


    Now that Freezing Wind had left, she could not but help remind Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Granny Lian, you can rest assured, I am a good judge of character.¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a smile. ¡°Moreover, under the present circumstances, do you think an ordinary person would dare follow me?¡±


    Freezing Wind was honest, straightforward, and of good character, and he suited Zhou Donghuang just fine.


    Moreover, he was now in need of people.


    Having an adept of Qi-gathering with a reasonable ability working for him would give him more peace of mind when he would be away on long journeys in the future.


    Compared to his mother, Lin Lan, Freezing Wind was more resilient.


    This was because Freezing Wind was younger and more talented than her.

 Chapter 32 Excruciating Pain

    The second day of the first month in the year 1228 of the Ziyun Era.


    Granny Lian presented a letter from the Qin family to Zhou Donghuang early that morning.


    ¡°Young Master, someone from the Qin family delivered this letter¡­ he said that it was written personally by Grand Patriarch Qin Yi of the Qin family.¡±


    ¡°The banquet was canceled?¡±


    The letter stated that although the banquet organized by the Qin family that was to take place in several days had been canceled. Qin Yi guaranteed Zhou Donghuang that the Qin family would never mistreat Qin Xiaoyu, but he would not be taking her as his adopted daughter.


    Besides that, Qin Yi also wrote that he had burnt the paper that recorded the lesser-grade palm technique and that he would no longer practice it, nor would he pass it on to anyone in the Qin family.


    ¡°It seems that Qin Yi is also afraid of the three lesser families of the prefecture capital.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang put the letter down with a resigned smile.


    ¡°Young Master,¡± Granny Lian spoke up, ¡°The news I received yesterday says otherwise¡­ the grand patriarch of the Qin family never intended to cancel the banquet to celebrate his adoption of Qin Xiaoyu. However, the elders of the Qin family were adamant, and the patriarch of the Qin family Qin Long and First Master Qin Fei kept adding oil to the fire¡­ finally, the grand patriarch of the Qin family had no choice but to relent,¡± Granny Lian said with a sigh.


    ¡°That¡¯s why I said that this does not seem like something Qin Yi would do¡­ that explains it,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with sudden realization.


    When he read the contents of the letter earlier, he thought that he had been mistaken in his judgment of Qin Yi.


    As it turned out, there were other circumstances behind this. However, this response from the Qin family was not unexpected.


    The banquet thrown by the Qin family and Qin Yi¡¯s adoption of Qin Xiaoyu as his daughter were seen by the people of Qingshan Town as attempts by the Qin family to pander to Zhou Donghuang.


    Most people in the Qin family probably felt that way too.


    Only Zhou Donghuang knew that Qin Yi was not trying to pander to him but had done this to return the moral obligation from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gift of the lesser-grade palm technique.


    Even then, so what?


    The people of the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital would only acknowledge what the people of Qingshan Town told them, and if they discovered the close connection between the Qin family and Zhou Donghuang, they would definitely not spare the Qin family.


    The Qin family canceled the banquet to draw a line between themselves and Zhou Donghuang and thus protect themselves.


    ¡°The three elite lesser families?¡± Zhou Donghuang raised his eyebrows as a cold smile spread over his face. ¡°In order for Yunxuan Restaurant to be open for business as soon as possible¡­ it seems that I had better visit the prefecture capital personally.¡±


    Regarding the matter of the three elite lesser families, each day it remained unresolved was one more day that no one dared to work for him.


    Because of this, Yunxuan Restaurant could not open for business.


    Just when Zhou Donghuang decided to visit the prefecture capital, Freezing Wind arrived.


    ¡°Young Master, I have settled matters at Green Wolf Bastion¡­ from now on I will follow you.¡±


    ¡°Hm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded in acknowledgment, returned Freezing Wind¡¯s greeting, then led him to a quiet room.


    ¡°Young Master, what are your instructions?¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang lead him to a quiet room, Freezing Wind thought that Zhou Donghuang had some duties to assign him.


    ¡°I have a way that will enable you to attain level-two of Qi-gathering within three days,¡± Zhou Donghuang said directly. ¡°And also, you will be able to utilize the full potential of your muscles, which will allow you to exert your maximum muscular strength.¡±


    ¡°Attain level-two of Qi-gathering within three days?¡±


    Freezing Wind sucked in a breath of air, looking at Zhou Donghuang with shining eyes. Although he did not understand the concept of maximum muscular strength, he did not think much of it.


    Although Freezing Wind was confident of attaining level-two of Qi-gathering, it would have taken him at least two months. How could he not be excited when Zhou Donghuang said that he could accomplish it within three days?


    ¡°The strength of a normal young person is somewhere between one and two hundred or more jin¡­ and the maximum muscular strength of a normal young person is about 1500 jin,¡± Zhou Donghuang continued.


    Hearing these words, Freezing Wind began to take the maximum muscular strength mentioned by Zhou Donghuang seriously, and his breathing sped up. ¡°Young Master, you mean¡­ within three days, other than attaining level-two of Qi-gathering, this will also give me over a thousand additional jin of muscular strength?


    If an ordinary person had told him the same thing, there was no way he would have believed it. But since Zhou Donghuang had said it, he did not suspect that it was false. Nevertheless, he still felt that it was unbelievable.


    ¡°Not only that,¡± Zhou Donghuang continued, ¡°in the process of enabling you to exert your maximum muscular strength, the qi in your body can be stored temporarily in your expanding muscles¡­ at that time, I will pass on an even better technique, and you can switch to practicing that one. Within three days, not only will you be able to return the qi to your meridians, but you will also be able to break through smoothly and attain level-two of Qi-gathering.¡±


    Freezing Wind¡¯s eyes grew brighter and brighter as Zhou Donghuang spoke, and he bowed promptly.


    ¡°I thank Young Master for his indulgence!¡±


    Although he still found it hard to believe, Freezing Wind was prepared to give it a try in case it really worked.


    Attaining level-two of Qi-gathering within three days, and to control over a thousand jin of strength, and being able to switch to practicing an even better technique¡ªthis was a golden opportunity for him!


    If I become that powerful¡­ even those three elite lesser families will not dare provoke me carelessly.


    Freezing Wind¡¯s eyes shone, and he began to tremble with barely controlled excitement as he looked at Zhou Donghuang expectantly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t rush to thank me yet.¡±


    Seeing how excited Freezing Wind was, Zhou Donghuang narrowed his eyes at him. ¡°You probably have heard the saying¡­ the greater the reward, the greater the risk. Just like how if you robbed someone from the Governor¡¯s Household when you were a bandit, you would definitely be richly rewarded¡­ but doing so carries great risk as well, and even a small mistake could cause the entire Green Wolf Bastion to be wiped out by the Governor¡¯s Household,¡± Zhou Donghuang reminded Freezing Wind.


    Freezing Wind sobered up suddenly, as though he had a bucket of cold water thrown over him.


    ¡°Young Master, what danger is there?¡±


    ¡°If you want to do what I have just said, you must endure excruciating pain for an entire half a day¡­ every muscle in your body will feel as though it is being gnawed by ants and beetles.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang gazed deeply at Freezing Wind as he spoke, ¡°Only one out of a hundred people can endure that kind of extreme pain and live. And of those who survive, it is the will and desire of every single one that makes them so tenacious.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang stopped and hesitated. After a pause, he continued, ¡°Now, you have to decide if you are willing to endure this pain, and challenge death.¡±


    ¡°If you fail, you will die,¡± Zhou Donghuang reminded Freezing Wind.


    Excruciating pain?


    Every muscle feeling as though it is being gnawed by ants and worms?


    ¡°Freezing Wind felt his scalp tingle as he listened to Zhou Donghuang, and he muttered to himself distractedly, ¡°Only one in a hundred can survive¡­¡±


    Zhou Donghuang stood aside quietly, waiting silently for Freezing Wind to make his decision.


    He allowed Freezing Wind to make this choice because he hoped that when he left Qingshan Town for the prefecture capital, he could spare himself some worrying about his family at home.


    This was the only way that Freezing Wind could become powerful enough to protect his mother, Granny Lian, and Fu.


    Although he told Freezing Wind that only one in a hundred people would be able to endure it and survive, he did not reveal that while he was around, Freezing Wind would not die even if he could not bear the pain.


    At most, he would fail.


    He did not tell Freezing Wind this because he wanted to find out if Freezing Wind had sufficient courage. In addition, if he had revealed that there was a way out, Freezing Wind would certainly not only be willing to try it but might not show his full potential. Therefore, by not mentioning these points, he intended to force Freezing Wind to make a tough decision.


    After approximately five breaths, Freezing Wind looked at Zhou Donghuang with flashing eyes.


    ¡°Young Master, prosperity is plucked from the jaws of danger¡­ I¡¯m willing to try it!¡±


    Although the cost was grievous, the gains were generous, and Freezing Wind decided to try it.


    Most importantly, he had confidence in himself!


    Seeing how Freezing Wind had agreed decisively after a moment¡¯s consideration, Zhou Donghuang began to smile.


    Freezing Wind had not disappointed him.


    ¡°Wait here for a while; I¡¯ll go and prepare some tools.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang exchanged greetings with Freezing Wind and left to find Granny Lian to get the silver needles she prepared for him the previous day.


    There were eighteen silver needles in all, and their tips shone with a fearsome light as they lay in an exquisite sandalwood box.


    When he returned to the quiet room, Zhou Donghuang began to apply the needles to Freezing Wind according to the needle technique he had unexpectedly obtained on Earth, called the ¡°Divine Marrow Cleansing of I Ching.¡±


    As he began applying the needles, Freezing Wind merely trembled a little and broke out in a cold sweat.


    After about fifteen minutes, Freezing Wind¡¯s face was twisted into a savage mask, and blood flowed from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth. His features, smeared with blood, looked exceptionally savage.


    After about half an hour, blood was oozing out from all of Freezing Wind¡¯s pores, but the color of the blood was not the pure crimson of fresh blood, but mixed with black.


    This Freezing Wind really is tenacious.


    Seeing Freezing Wind covered in blood after half an hour, gritting his teeth and refusing to cry out, Zhou Donghuang could not help but be moved despite all that he had seen in his previous life.


    Even in his previous life, it was rare to come across someone so tenacious.


    It seems that I have struck gold this time.


    As Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes lit up, he thought to himself, I planned to pass on to him only a passable technique¡­ but now it seems I can consider passing on the Way of the Thousand-Star Sword to him.


    The Way of the Thousand-Star Sword was one of the most potent techniques that Zhou Donghuang possessed, and it was one of the top techniques in the universe, originating from the peerless School of the Thousand-Star Sword.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang considered giving the Way of the Thousand-Star Sword to Freezing Wind also because he felt that Freezing Wind was a good person.


    However, he only intended to give him the portion of the Way of the Thousand-Star Sword that was of the Qi-gathering stage.


    As for the rest, he would decide later whether to pass it on to Freezing Wind or not.


    It would all depend on whether he was satisfied with Freezing Wind¡¯s performance.

 Chapter 33 Journey to the Prefecture Capital

    The wee hours of the third day of the first month of the year 1228 in the Ziyun Era.


    Pong! Pong!


    Two urgent knocks shattered the silence of the compound behind Yunxuan Restaurant, startling Zhou Donghuang who was practicing in his room.


    Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes, leaped off his bed, and opened the door. Freezing Wind was standing outside.


    Freezing Wind was dressed in black, and his long hair hung loose, which combined with his stern face to give him a defiant look.


    ¡°Young Master, I¡¯ve broken through.¡±


    Freezing Wind¡¯s stern face twitched as he looked at Zhou Donghuang, and he could barely hide the excitement in his eyes.


    After enduring that excruciating pain the previous afternoon, he felt as though he was hovering between life and death.


    But now, he felt that it had all been worth it!


    Not only had he attained level-two of Qi-gathering, but he was also able to exert one thousand five hundred jin of force with his maximum muscular strength. This was an increase of more than one thousand two hundred jin of force after accounting for his original muscular strength of about two hundred jin.


    Now, with his maximum muscular strength to complement the qi within his body, the strength he was capable of exerting far exceeded that of an ordinary level-three adept.


    After all, an ordinary level-three adept would only have had one bull¡¯s strength more than him, which was about eight hundred jin of force, while he would have more than one thousand two hundred jin of force, more when it came to muscular strength.


    He now exceeded an ordinary level-three adept in strength by several hundred jin.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded in satisfaction.


    Although he knew Freezing Wind was about to break through, he did not expect it to happen this soon. It seemed he had evidently underestimated Freezing Wind¡¯s talent.


    Previously, he had told Freezing Wind that he could attain level-two of Qi-gathering within two days¡­ but that was if he passed on another technique to Freezing Wind.


    But then, with the Way of the Thousand-Star Sword that he passed on to Freezing Wind, which he practiced while using the qi-gathering elixir, Freezing Wind naturally was able to attain level-two of Qi-gathering earlier.


    He originally thought that Freezing Wind would need two days before he could attain level-two of Qi-gathering, and never imagined that he would be able to break through within two days.


    ¡°How is your practice going with the swiftness technique I gave you outside Ningping town?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked.


    ¡°Young Master, that swiftness technique is a third-grade technique; I can barely demonstrate it fully¡­ for it to be second nature to me, I need more time to familiarize myself with it.¡±


    Although Freezing Wind did not dare bring out the third-grade swiftness technique, Star-Stepping Footwork given to him by Zhou Donghuang for his fellow bandits to practice, he had practiced it himself in secret.


    Other than that, he had passed it on to only his old comrade who had followed him for many years, the bandit known as ¡°Scar,¡± who was named You Hengkun.


    ¡°Not bad.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded and continued, ¡°Come in, I have something for you.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang turned and led the way into the room, and Freezing Wind hurried to keep up.


    Zhou Donghuang came to the table and picked up two pieces of paper covered in writing that he had done in the morning. He passed them to Freezing Wind.


    Freezing Wind reached out to receive them, and as he read one of the papers, his eyes widened.


    ¡°This is¡­ a third-grade sword technique?!¡±


    ¡°This third-grade sword technique, ¡®Swift Wind Sword¡¯ relies on a sword and thus is considered a technique with potent killing power,¡± Zhou Donghuang said.


    ¡°Take a look at the other technique,¡± Zhou Donghuang prompted.


    Freezing Wind picked up the other piece of paper, and as he stared at the paper, it seemed that his stare had rooted his eyes to the paper, and he was unable to tear his gaze away.


    ¡°This¡­ this¡­¡±


    As he continued reading, Freezing Wind¡¯s expression became even more incredulous.


    ¡°Why do I sense that this sword technique is even more advanced than Swift Wind Sword?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang laughed at Freezing Wind¡¯s incredulous expression and replied, ¡°Second-grade techniques are naturally more advanced than third-grade techniques.¡±


    Freezing Wind went stiff with shock at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, as though he had been struck by lightning. He didn¡¯t move for a long time.


    After a while, he finally sucked in a breath of air and recovered his wits. Looking with shock at Zhou Donghuang, he asked in a slurred voice, ¡°Young Master, this¡­ this is a second-grade technique?¡±


    In the whole of the country of Yunyang, there was probably only one second-grade martial art.


    Moreover, this second-grade technique was a national treasure of the country of Yunyang.


    But now, the paper he was holding also contained a second-grade technique?


    ¡°Although second-grade techniques are good, the qi you have now is only enough for you to barely demonstrate one aspect of it¡­ unless it is absolutely necessary, it is better not to use it now,¡± Zhou Donghuang spoke plainly. ¡°At first, I did not intend to give this to you this early¡­ but I am traveling out of Qingshan town to the prefecture capital tomorrow. I am giving this to you now so that you can practice part of the defensive aspect in the meantime at your convenience.¡±


    Given Freezing Wind¡¯s current ability, the third-grade swiftness technique, Star-Stepping Footwork, and the third-grade sword technique, Swift Wind Sword were enough for him to overpower most level-three adepts.


    Freezing Wind only needed to master half the second-grade sword technique, and even an average level-four adept would have little chance of escaping his sword.


    ¡°Young Master, are you going to the prefecture capital to seek out the three elite lesser families?¡± Freezing Wind asked with a gleam in his eye. ¡°I¡¯ll go with you.¡±


    Freezing Wind was now full of confidence.


    Those three lesser families did not even possess lesser-grade techniques, and the strongest among them were only level-three adepts.


    The ability he currently had was enough to put those three lesser families to shame.


    ¡°No need,¡± Zhou Donghuang said as he shook his head. ¡°Stay here and look after the house, and protect my mother and Granny Lian¡­ I will go with Fu tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, why don¡¯t I pay a visit to the three lesser families of the prefecture capital on my own?¡± Freezing Wind proposed. ¡°Young Master can rest assured, I will keep them honest, and they won¡¯t dare to keep their eyes on your Yunxuan Restaurant in the future.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m going to the prefecture capital not only because of this matter with the three lesser families, but there are also some matters that I have to see to personally.¡±


    Freezing Wind did not press the issue any further, given the way Zhou Donghuang put it. All the same, he could not suppress an involuntary shiver.


    Comparing Young Master¡¯s ability to mine¡­ I find only strengths and no weaknesses in him.


    It was plain to Freezing Wind that by bringing Fu, who had almost no ability at all, with him to visit the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital, the young master of his family did not have a high regard for the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital.


    Shame on him for thinking that the young master of his family had run into trouble. Thinking back on it now, it seemed laughable.


    ¡°After I leave, you¡¯ll be in charge of the house.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang fixed Freezing Wind with a piercing gaze, and he said in a low voice.


    ¡°If anything happens to my mother, I¡¯ll hold you accountable!¡±


    ¡°Young Master can rest assured, unless I, Freezing Wind am dead, no one will harm a hair on my lady¡¯s head!¡±


    His level of ability now had seemed unthinkable several days ago, and because of this, he was extremely grateful to Zhou Donghuang who had bestowed all this upon him.


    ¡­


    At dawn the next day, Zhou Donghuang led Fu away from the compound behind Yunxuan Restaurant, and they left Qingshan town.


    The carriage driven by Fu made its way towards the prefecture capital with Zhou Donghuang practicing in the cabin.


    Ever since I formulated the qi-gathering elixir that can increase your sense for qi by four times, my rate of practice has increased¡­ a few more days at the most, and I will be able to smoothly attain level-two of Qi-gathering.


    Zhou Donghuang was very satisfied with the stage of his practice.


    It was only ten days since he had attained level-one of Qi-gathering. At first, he would have needed about twenty days to attain level-two of Qi-gathering. But with the qi-gathering elixir that he had formulated with the herbs that Qin Yi, the grand patriarch of the Qin family, had procured on his behalf from the prefecture capital, that period of about twenty days had been further shortened.


    Now, counting from the day he attained level-one of Qi-gathering, he would need only half a month to attain level-two of Qi-gathering if all went according to plan.


    The road from Qingshan town to the prefecture capital is long, and even with the ferghana horse drawing the carriage, the journey would take four or five days, including the time taken to rest.


    If all goes according to plan, I will have attained level-two of Qi-gathering by the time we reach the prefecture capital.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes gleamed before he shut them. He focused entirely on practicing the Lord of the Four Supremes, which he had found together with the chronospace slate in the Kunlun Mountains¡­ besides having a fast rate of practice, it was also extremely stable, and there was no need to worry about having a shaky foundation caused by advancing to the next level of practice too quickly.


    After practicing the Lord of the Four Supremes for some time, Zhou Donghuang was beginning to appreciate how extraordinary the Lord of the Four Supremes was.


    ¡­


    Compared to the journey from Qingshan town to Ningping town, the journey to the prefecture capital was far more peaceful.


    Until late at night on the first day, no bandits or wild beasts appeared to disrupt Zhou Donghuang¡¯s practice.


    A ferghana horse?


    From afar came the sound of hooves and carriage wheels rolling over the level ground, and soon Fu, who was driving the carriage, could make out a carriage also drawn by a ferghana horse hurtling towards them under the light of the moon.


    The only place this stretch of road led to was Qingshan town. Of course, they could only be passing through Qingshan town on their way to somewhere else.


    Someone who would use a ferghana horse to pull a carriage must be extremely wealthy, and he is coming from the direction of the prefecture capital¡­ could he be on his way to make trouble for our Yunxuan Restaurant?


    With this in mind, Fu took a deep breath and reached back to open the curtains of the cabin, shouting, ¡°Young Master, there is a carriage being drawn by a ferghana horse coming towards us, heading towards Qingshan town. Could they possibly be from the prefecture capital going to Qingshan town to seize your Yunxuan Restaurant?¡± Fu voiced his thoughts.


    In all his years living in Qingshan town, this was the first time he had seen someone else use a ferghana horse to draw a carriage other than the young master of his family.


    Even the former owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhao San, never used a ferghana horse to draw his carriage, even though he owned one.


    It was not for lack of money neither was it because he dared not; Zhao San could not bear to use the ferghana horse he had bred since it was a foal to draw a carriage.


    A carriage being drawn by a ferghana horse?


    Zhou Donghuang, who had been roused by Fu, stopped his practice and pulled the drapes aside. He stuck his head out of the carriage and looked into the distance.


    There, a carriage drawn by a ferghana horse was closing the distance.


    ¡°Fu, block them.¡±


    There was a fierce gleam in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes.


    The carriage drawn by the ferghana horse heading towards Qingshan town could very well be what Fu guessed it to be¡­ the person it carried could have eyes on Yunxuan Restaurant.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master.¡±


    As soon as Fu had acknowledged, he immediately blocked the path of the oncoming carriage, causing the driver of that carriage to yank hastily on the reins of the ferghana horse, bringing the carriage to a stop.


    ¡°Who are you? Why are you blocking our carriage?¡±


    The other driver was a middle-aged man with a face full of curly whiskers, and he stared angrily at Zhou Donghuang and Fu.


    Just then, an impatient voice coming from the opposite carriage asked, ¡°What is happening?¡±


    ¡°Second Young Master, a carriage has blocked our path on purpose.¡±


    The curly-whiskered man¡¯s face colored slightly as he hurriedly explained to the person in the cabin.

 Chapter 34 Level-Three Adept

    As the curly-whiskered man spoke, someone said leisurely from inside the cabin, ¡°They better get out of the way. If they don¡¯t¡­ kill them!¡±


    ¡°Yes, Second Young Master,¡± the curly whiskered-man replied respectfully and returned his gaze to Zhou Donghuang and Fu. He said with murderous intent in his eyes, ¡°Did you hear the second young master of my family? If you don¡¯t get out of the way, I¡¯ll kill you both!¡±


    ¡°Kill us both?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s piercing gaze fell on the cabin of the carriage facing him, and he smiled indifferently. ¡°Big talk¡­ but who is that anyway?¡±


    ¡°The second young master of my family is the son of the patriarch of the preeminent Li family of the prefecture capital, Li Pingyun. He is in the cabin behind me now with the ninth elder of the Li family, Li Yan.¡±


    The curly-whiskered man smiled coldly.


    ¡°Little fellow, you had better get out of the way as fast as you can¡­ if you anger Second Young Master and Ninth Elder, you¡¯re dead meat!¡±


    Fu squinted at him.


    The Li family of the prefecture capital?


    The image of a middle-aged man surfaced in Fu¡¯s memory.


    He had identified himself as a level-two adept from the Li family of the prefecture capital. Zhou Donghuang had maimed his arms and legs and hired people to send him back to the Li family in the prefecture capital.


    ¡°The second young master of the Li family?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes gleamed coldly as he looked at the cabin, and he replied nonchalantly, ¡°If that¡¯s the case¡­ you should be the one who sent someone to Yunxuan Restaurant the other day, offering to buy it for a thousand liang of silver?¡±


    That day, the level-two adept from the Li family of the prefecture capital had claimed that he had been sent by the second young master of the Li family.


    ¡°You are Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    Almost as soon as Zhou Donghuang had spoken, the curtains of the opposite carriage were drawn aside, and a young man dressed in a brocaded gown and a splendidly dressed middle-aged man dismounted from the carriage.


    It was the young man who had spoken, and he was the second young master of the preeminent Li family of the prefecture capital.


    ¡°It really is you.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang dismounted as well and stood facing Li Pingyun.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect that I, Li Pingyun, would meet you even before I reached Qingshan town¡­ but that¡¯s just as well, this saves me a lot of time.¡±


    Li Pingyun looked Zhou Donghuang over indifferently and said, ¡°Zhou Donghuang, hand over the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant, then maim one of your own arms¡­ and I will not pursue the matter of you maiming Li Dong.¡±


    Before beating a dog, you must first consider its master.


    Li Dong whom he had sent to Qingshan town to buy Yunxuan Restaurant from Zhou Donghuang had instead been maimed by him, and this was a slap to the face of Li Pingyun.


    ¡°Maim one of my own arms?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was stunned at first, then he smiled a brilliant smile.


    ¡°Due credit to the second young master of the Li family for being to the point in admitting that he was scheming to seize Yunxuan Restaurant, and even asking to break my own arm. If this is the case, today you, the second young master of the Li family, must leave one arm behind!¡±


    As he spoke, a cold gleam flashed across the depths of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°You¡¯d make me leave an arm behind? You must still be asleep!¡±


    Li Pingyun was stunned at first, but then he smiled coldly as a cold murderous look came into his eyes.


    ¡°Now I¡¯ve changed my mind¡­ today, not only will I take the title deed to Yunxuan Restaurant, but also your life!¡±


    As soon as Li Pingyun stated his intent to kill Zhou Donghuang, he addressed the splendidly-dressed middle-aged man beside him, ¡°Ninth Elder, kill him.¡±


    ¡°Second Young Master, you¡¯re too careful.¡±


    The splendidly dressed middle-aged man smiled scornfully.


    ¡°You could kill this little fellow easily. Surely you don¡¯t believe Li Dong¡¯s words, that this young man¡¯s ability is close to that of a level-three adept?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think it¡¯s possible,¡± Li Pingyun said, ¡°but there should be a level-two adept of considerable ability with him.¡±


    ¡°Ninth Elder, we stick to the plan we discussed earlier¡­ after the deed is done, one-tenth of the profits from Yunxuan Restaurant will be yours.¡±


    It was evident from Li Pingyun¡¯s words that he already considered Yunxuan Restaurant to be his.


    ¡°Thank you, Second Young Master.¡±


    The splendidly dressed middle-aged man¡¯s smile grew even brighter, and he continued looking at Zhou Donghuang. He said with an indifferent tone, ¡°Little fellow, call the person in the cabin out.¡±


    He was looking at the cabin of the carriage behind Zhou Donghuang as he said this.


    As for Fu who was driving the carriage, there was no way he could be mistaken for Zhou Donghuang¡¯s champion, from the panicked expression on his face.


    ¡°The cabin?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was taken aback by the splendidly dressed middle-aged man¡¯s words but then realized that he was assuming that there was another person in the cabin.


    ¡°Second Young Master of the Li family, it seems you have assumed¡­ you think the person you sent earlier was maimed by someone working for me?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang paced forward slowly towards Li Pingyun, who was six or seven meters away.


    ¡°Was he not?¡±


    Li Pingyun smiled scornfully. ¡°Could you please enlighten me on how a sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth could have the ability to kill Li Dong, a level-two adept?¡±


    ¡°Little fellow, since he is stalling and refusing to come out, then I, Li Yan, will start by killing you first before digging him out!¡±


    The splendidly dressed middle-aged man was Li Yan, the ninth elder of the Li family. He looked away from the cabin and back at Zhou Donghuang, smiling cruelly. He immediately charged at Zhou Donghuang.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    ¡­


    Li Yan rushed forward, his body blurred and accompanied by the sound of the wind from his passing. His speed was greater than anyone Zhou Donghuang had met so far since starting this new life.


    A level-three adept?


    Zhou Donghuang raised his eyebrows and began stepping in a peculiar sequence, displaying the third-grade swiftness technique, Star-Stepping Footwork and stepping forward to meet Li Yan.


    Using only the maximum muscular strength from both his legs, the Star-Stepping Footwork demonstrated by Zhou Donghuang was incredibly fast, and he perfectly capable of matching Li Yan¡¯s speed, despite not yet having attained level-two of Qi-gathering.


    What incredible speed!


    Watching from a distance as Zhou Donghuang stepped in that particular sequence and matched Li Yan¡¯s speed, Li Yan¡¯s gaze turned solemn at once.


    It seems that Li Dong could really have been maimed by him!


    And is he demonstrating¡­ a swiftness technique?


    Li Pingyun looked greedily at Zhou Donghuang and called out to Li Yan, ¡°Ninth Elder, don¡¯t kill him, we will force the swiftness technique out of him!¡±


    Actually, Li Yan had the same thought as soon as he saw Zhou Donghuang demonstrate the swiftness technique, even before Li Pingyun had called out to him.


    Although he was startled by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s speed, he nevertheless felt that Zhou Donghuang would not be a match for him.


    Someone who demonstrated a swiftness technique and yet could only match his speed could not have the same level of raw ability as him.


    A swiftness technique¡­ even though I have become an elder of the Li family and am allowed to practice the martial art styles of the Li family, we only possess an offensive martial art. We don¡¯t have a swiftness technique.


    Li Yan¡¯s eyes shone as he looked at Zhou Donghuang, and as he drew near to Zhou Donghuang, he reached out like lightning with both hands to capture him.


    Just then, Zhou Donghuang stamped hard on the ground, exerting the maximum muscular strength of his muscles, and charged towards Li Yan.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Full of qi, Zhou Donghuang shot his hands out and formed them into claws. He reached out like lightning and grabbing both of Li Yan¡¯s wrists that were reaching for him.


    Exerting the maximum muscular strength of his muscles in addition to the level of qi near to a level-two adept, Zhou Donghuang now possessed a strength that far exceeded Li Yan, even though Li Yan was a level-three adept.


    Stonebreaking Fingers!


    As he used the third-grade finger technique Stonebreaking Fingers, there came the clear sound of bones shattering, which was caused by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s ten fingers explosively shattering both Li Yan¡¯s wrists.


    ¡°Ahhhh¡ª¡±


    Drops of sweat flew from Li Yan¡¯s forehead, and he gave a cry of agony from the intense and unbearable pain.


    As he cried out and drew back his maimed wrists, Zhou Donghuang once more stepped in a peculiar sequence, flinging out his right hand and thrusting his palm towards Li Yan¡¯s chest.


    Weighted Sand Palm!


    As Zhou Donghuang demonstrated the third-grade palm technique, the surface of his palm rippled like sand and caved Li Yan¡¯s chest in when it landed.


    Pong!!


    With a loud sound, Li Yan¡¯s agonized cry suddenly died off, and he was thrown backwards, landing at Li Pingyun¡¯s feet and throwing up a cloud of dust.


    Even though he was dressed in a long gown, his caved-in chest was still clearly visible to Li Pingyun.


    ¡°Ninth¡­ Ninth Elder¡­¡±


    Li Pingyun looked wide-eyed at Li Yan lying lifeless in the dust, shock, and disbelief showing on his face.


    ¡°How¡­ how is this possible¡­ how is this possible?!¡±


    A sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth from a small town had killed the ninth elder of the Li family, Li Yan, a level-three adept, before his eyes.


    What could be more sensational?


    ¡°I originally only intended to maim one of your arms¡­¡±


    Zhou Donghuang had begun to walk slowly towards Li Pingyun, and with every step, it was as if a boulder was crushing his chest, making it difficult for Li Pingyun to breathe. His expression grew more and more frightened.


    ¡°But since you changed your mind and intended to kill me, it would be remiss of me not to ask for your life as well.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang stood before Li Pingyun and smiled, showing two rows of snow-white teeth.


    ¡°Second Young Master of the Li family, what do you say to that?¡±


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, I am the second young master of the Li family, the only son of the patriarch of the Li family of the prefecture capital and the future patriarch of the Li family¡­ my most beloved elder sister is the most favored concubine of the young governor of the intermediate-level Guangling Prefecture. If you kill me, neither the Li family nor the Governor¡¯s Household of Guangling Prefecture will let you off!¡±


    In the face of impending death, Li Pingyun played his trump card in an effort to intimidate Zhou Donghuang and scare him into sparing his life.


    ¡°Don¡¯t kid yourself,¡± Zhou Donghuang said in a low voice. ¡°The one thing I am least afraid of is a threat.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled nonchalantly and darted forward in a flash, smashing his palm into Li Pingyun before he could react and killing him instantly.


    Then Zhou Donghuang turned his gaze on the curly-whiskered man driving the carriage.


    ¡°Spare me, master, spare me!¡±


    The curly-whiskered man had been dumbstruck since earlier when Zhou Donghuang had killed Li Yan, and now, seeing Zhou Donghuang looking at him, he knelt down and begged for his life as he was stricken with panic.

 Chapter 35 Yunfeng Prefecture

    ¡°Young Master, you should have killed him,¡± Fu said to Zhou Donghuang as he entered the cabin.


    ¡°Are you worried that¡­ leaving a witness will alert the Li family of the prefecture capital that I have killed Li Pingyun and Li Yan?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang, who was about to start practicing, shook his head with a smile at Fu¡¯s statement.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Fu admitted. He continued in a voice full of dread, ¡°Young Master, the Li family of the prefecture capital is a preeminent family after all¡­ it is said that they have two level-four adepts.¡±


    Fu¡¯s voice became glum as he spoke.


    ¡°Fu,¡± Zhou Donghuang said nonchalantly, ¡°remember this¡­ if I was afraid of the Li family, I would not have maimed that man from the Li family that day at Yunxuan Restaurant, and I would not have killed Li Pingyun and Li Yan today.¡±


    So what if the Li family was a preeminent family?


    If they riled him enough, he had no compunction about wiping them off the face of the planet!


    ¡°Anger a lord, and thousands will die¡± was a well-known proverb in the country.


    There was a similar proverb that was known throughout the universe: ¡°Anger a supreme lord, and millions die.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang had been a supreme lord in his previous life.


    Moreover, he had been one of the most powerful supreme lords and had been within touching distance of the Deity¡¯s Tribulation stage.


    ¡­


    The rest of the journey over the next few days was smooth and uneventful.


    After four days of traveling and resting, Fu drove the carriage drawn by the ferghana horse into the prefecture capital as dusk fell. It was the eighth day of the first month of the year 1228 in the Ziyun Era.


    Qingshan town was located in Yunfeng prefecture, and now they entered the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture. Yunfeng prefecture was an inferior-level prefecture.


    Within the country of Yunyang, there was only one imperial city under the direct control of the Imperial Court, and it was the largest city in the country of Yunyang.


    The imperial city of the country of Yunyang controlled the entire country.


    The country of Yunyang was further divided into nine kingdoms which were located around the imperial city like stars gathered around the moon.


    Each kingdom was controlled by a king. Each kingdom controlled by a king contained many prefectures which likewise surrounded the royal city. The royal city was the city directly controlled by the king¡¯s household.


    Prefectures were classified as superior-level, intermediate-level, or inferior-level prefectures. The closest prefectures to the royal city were superior-level prefectures, those a little further away were intermediate-level prefectures, and those at the border regions of the prefecture were almost all inferior-level prefectures.


    The closer a place was to the heart of the kingdom, the more prosperous and busier it was.


    Therefore, an inferior-level prefecture would not be as prosperous as an intermediate-level prefecture, and likewise for an intermediate-level prefecture compared to a superior-level prefecture.


    The prefecture that Qingshan town was located in was only an inferior-level prefecture situated near the border of a kingdom in the country of Yunyang. It was considered extremely remote.


    Previously, as far as Zhou Donghuang could remember, the furthest he had ever been was the area around Qingshan town. He had never been to the prefecture capital of this inferior-level prefecture.


    This was the first time he was visiting the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture.


    Even the prefecture capital of an inferior-level prefecture is so busy and prosperous¡­ an intermediate-level prefecture and a superior-level prefecture, and even the royal city and the imperial city must be far more prosperous.


    Although night had fallen, Zhou Donghuang was still able to see the unceasing flow of traffic through the open curtains. Vendors hawked their wares all over, creating a constant cacophony. It was much busier than Qingshan town.


    ¡°Fu, find an inn for us to stay the night,¡± Zhou Donghuang instructed Fu.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master.¡±


    At Fu¡¯s reply, Zhou Donghuang began muttering to himself as he sat in the cabin, ¡°My level of practice is almost at the level of level-two of Qi-gathering¡­ tonight, I¡¯ll take this opportunity to breakthrough!¡±


    That night in the inn that Fu had found to rest in, Zhou Donghuang smoothly broke through to level-two of Qi-gathering. This implied that he could exert a force equal to the strength of two bulls using only his qi.


    Now, if he encountered someone with a similar ability to the ninth elder of the Li family Li Yan¡­ Zhou Donghuang could kill him with a single blow even without using any techniques!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes gleamed.


    Zhou Donghuang did not resume practicing, but instead leaned on the window with the shutters open, watching the stars in the night sky.


    Fifteen minutes passed before Zhou Donghuang emerged from his reverie with a sigh.


    Without realizing it, I¡¯ve been back for almost a month.


    The day Zhou Donghuang returned was the twelfth day of the twelfth month of the year 1227 in the Ziyun Era.


    Now, it was already the ninth day of the first month of the Ziyun Era.


    Chen Dandan should now be in the preeminent Hong family of the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture.


    Thinking of that ungrateful and shameless girl, he could not help having a cold gleam in his eye even though he had a thousand years¡¯ worth of memories and experiences.


    That day in the receiving chamber of the Magnolia Guild, he was so furious that he had wanted to kill Chen Dandan there to stand up for his mother.


    However, his mother had stopped him.


    Later, he realized that it was a blessing in disguise¡­


    There were times when death came as a release.


    He intended to toy with Chen Dandan slowly and make her live out the remainder of her life in unmatched pain and regret.


    That was the only way he could purge his hatred of her.


    That fourth elder of the Lin family, Lin Tonghong misappropriated the formula for the blood-staunching elixir that I gave my mother to present to the Lin family¡­ I¡¯ll have to make a trip to the Lin family while I¡¯m here.


    Another cold gleam flashed across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes.


    Those three lesser families¡­ if the matter with them is not resolved, there is no way Yunxuan Restaurant can open for business.


    Looking at the time, those three rich fellows should already have returned to their families.


    ¡­


    This night proved to be a sleepless night for the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital¡ªthe Lu, Ma, and Fang Families.


    That same afternoon, three carriages had arrived at the main entrances of the Lu, Ma, and Fang family residences, and when the occupants of the carriages emerged, the three families were furious.


    The first young master, Lu Yuan of the Lu family, the first young master, Ma Jin of the Ma family, and the third young master, Fang Tianyi of the Fang family were whole and healthy when they had left their families, but one leg had been maimed upon their return.


    A maimed arm would greatly affect an adept. A maimed leg meant that he would be as good as an invalid for the rest of his life.


    Because the patriarchs of the three lesser families had ordered an embargo on this news, no one other than the people of the three elite lesser families knew about this.


    It was deep into the night, but the lights still blazed brightly in the receiving chamber of the Lu family.


    Three middle-aged men stood together with terrible expressions on their faces. These three people were the patriarchs of the three elite lesser families of the prefecture capital¡ªthe Lu, Ma, and Fang families.


    They were gathered because their sons had been maimed.


    ¡°Brother Qinghu, Brother Tianba¡­ what do you think of this matter?¡±


    The patriarch of the Fang family, Fang Jishan, was a tall and well-built middle-aged man. He had a dignified forehead and came across as forceful, even without being angry. He spoke with a voice like thunder, and his voice echoed around the whole receiving chamber.


    ¡°Could a youth of only sixteen or seventeen years really have the ability to kill Lu Gang?¡±


    The patriarch of the Ma family, Ma Tianba, was small and robustly built, with a sparkling pair of eyes like bronze gongs. But his voice was small and shrill. Looking at him and hearing his voice gave anyone observing him a strange feeling.


    ¡°No one would believe it if they did not see it with their own eyes¡­ but our three sons all reported the same thing, so it should be true.¡±


    The patriarch of the Lu family, Lu Qinghu, was as skinny as a bamboo pole and looked as though a gust of wind might blow him away. Just by looking at him, no one could possibly guess that he had the highest level of ability among the three of them.


    ¡°Brother Qinghu, our three families are in the same boat¡­ what do you think we should do next?¡± Fang Jishan murmured.


    ¡°What else can we do? Naturally, we should send a level-three adept, or one of us three should go personally to Qingshan town, kill that Zhou Donghuang and his entire household and avenge our sons!¡±


    ¡°Revenge has to be taken¡­ however, there¡¯s something strange about that Zhou Donghuang. How could someone known in Qingshan town to be a martial invalid suddenly be able to kill a level-two adept so easily? Moreover, what about him made Zhao San give him Yunxuan Restaurant?¡± Lu Qinghu had a flash of insight and continued, ¡°I just feel that there is some secret about him. Therefore, as for my suggestion¡­ let¡¯s move slowly and scope him out thoroughly before we plan our next move.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s strange indeed.¡± Fang Jishan nodded.


    ¡°Excellent! We¡¯ll scope him out, and if we can¡¯t find out more, we¡¯ll go directly to Qingshan town and kill him and all those who are with him,¡± Ma Tianba said vengefully.


    Although he had several sons, his eldest son, Ma Jin had the most talent among them, having attained grade-two of Qi-gathering at twenty-two years of age.


    Now that he had been maimed by Zhou Donghuang, it would be difficult for him to accomplish anything significant.

 Chapter 36 The Return of Li Rui

    At dawn, after eating the breakfast that Fu had brought, Zhou Donghuang left the inn with Fu. Crossing a few streets and alleys, they walked into a majestic armory selling weapons.


    ¡°Here to buy weapons?¡±


    Just as they entered the armory, a young lady assistant called out enthusiastically as she approached them.


    In a white silk robe and with his young and outstanding features, coupled with a maturity beyond his age, it was clear to all that Zhou Donghuang was not of a humble background. This was also evident from the refined demeanor that exuded from him as well.


    Retail assistants in the large shops in Yunfeng County had extremely sharp eyes and could easily distinguish the spending capacity of the customers who entered.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded slowly and got right to the point. ¡°I wish to buy a spear, as heavy as possible. Could you please recommend one?¡±


    As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes had already landed on a corner of the armory, where the racks were filled with spears.


    A heavy spear was the king of weapons, a kind of heavy weapons.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang did not want a spear because he was proficient at it, but because presently, his level was too low. A spear was most suited for him now.


    In his previous life, as Battlelord Donghuang, he was on top of the world and proficient at all weapons, including such heavy weapons. But, among the heavy weapons, his favorite was the spear.


    To some extent, his love for spears was influenced by some historical figures.


    Western ¡°Chu¡± Overlord Xiangyu¡¯s weapon was a spear.


    Zhaoyun of Changshan county, whose millions of troops were always victorious, used a vivid blue silver spear.


    Machao, a top general just like Zhaoyun, used a tiger head gold spear.


    Luo Cheng, a famous general from the Suitang ages, used a five tiger soul-breaking spear, creating history.


    ¡°A spear? As heavy as possible?¡±


    The lady was visibly shocked to hear Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words. Looking him up and down, she asked hesitantly, ¡°Sir, are you buying it for yourself¡­ or as a present?¡±


    ¡°For myself,¡± said Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Please follow me.¡±


    Although she felt that the spear was far too heavy for this teenager, the lady still brought Zhou Donghuang before the heaviest spears in an inconspicuous corner of the store.


    The reason why the spears were placed in this corner was because they were less popular and much harder to sell.


    Most of those who were adepts of the martial way either used a knife or a sword, which were lighter and easier to carry around.


    The spear was less frequently used in armies. However, in the country of Yunyang, only the queen and the king had armies. In the Governor¡¯s Household, there were only small teams of security to maintain order.


    ¡°Sir, this is the heaviest spear we have. Two meters long, body forged of pig iron, stainless steel spearhead, and weighs 150kg.¡±


    The lady thought that the teenager in white would find the spear too heavy once he heard her introduction.


    After all, for a teen of his age, having level-one of the gathered qi would be commendable.


    For those adepts with level-one of the gathered qi, even if they fully utilized their qi, it would only be equivalent to one bull¡¯s strength. With the strength of the teenager, he would have at most 500kg of strength.


    With 500kg of strength, it would not be difficult to carry a 150kg heavy spear; but to use it as a weapon and an extension of the arm, that would be unrealistic.


    To use a 150kg spear with ease, one would need at least level-two of the gathered qi, and the strength of two bulls.


    ¡°One hundred and fifty kilograms?¡±


    Hearing the lady¡¯s words, Zhou Donghuang shook his head.


    But just as the lady imagined that he was shaking his head as he found the weapon too heavy, Zhou Donghuang said, ¡°Too light.¡±


    ¡°Anything heavier?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Before the lady could say anything, a laugh came from behind Zhou Donghuang. A young man and lady walked into the armory with another sales assistant.


    The young man laughed, ¡°Such a young lad, making such bold claims that a 150kg spear is too light? Ridiculous!¡±


    The young man in a high-quality green robe had ordinary features and crafty eyes.


    On the other hand, the young lady beside him looked beautiful. Despite her air of innocence, it was difficult to mask her enchanting beauty.


    Hearing this, Zhou Donghuang turned and glanced at the young man.


    He found the young man rather familiar, but he could not recall where he had seen him before.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    Just as Zhou Donghuang glanced at the young man and was about to ignore him, the young lady beside him let out a gasp.


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    Hearing the gasp, Zhou Donghuang looked at the young lady and raised his brows, greeting her.


    ¡°Li Rui.¡±


    The young lady was none other than Li Rui, the daughter of the chairperson of Qingyun Guild in Ningping City.


    A few days ago, as Zhou Donghuang was making a delivery to Qingyun Guild, he had been invited to a meal with the mother and daughter.


    However, he had a good impression of Li Yun, but not the daughter.


    ¡°Xiao Rui, do you know him?¡±


    Seeing how Li Rui had greeted Zhou Donghuang, the young man beside Li Rui looked startled.


    He had met Li Rui when she came over to the Li family of the prefecture capital. In the beginning, Li Rui had ignored him, but she finally started paying him attention after his hard work and effort.


    Today, he had asked Li Rui out to gift her a weapon, so he had brought her to the best armory in the prefecture capital.


    He never would have thought that this boastful handsome teenager that they had met in the stall would know Li Rui.


    ¡°Brother Li Hui, he is the adopted son of my mother¡¯s friend, a worthless adept who is unable to train his qi.¡± Answering the young man, Li Rui glanced at Zhou Donghuang and smirked. ¡°My mother even wanted to get the two of us together, but I rejected him.¡±


    ¡°A martial invalid is simply not worthy of my Li Rui.¡±


    Li Rui¡¯s eyes were full of disdain.


    Previously, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s disrespect for her in Ningping City had left her furious.


    Now that she met him again, she could not help but take a jab at him in front of so many people out of revenge.


    ¡°Martial invalid?¡±


    Hearing Li Rui¡¯s disdain for Zhou Donghuang, Li Hui breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He looked down on Zhou Donghuang, ¡°A martial invalid fantasizing of something unattainable? Kid, I advise you stay away from Li Rui, if not I, Li Hui, will not let you off!¡±


    Li Hui looked menacingly at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°My¡­¡± Just as Fu, who was furious, stepped forward and tried to say that his young master was not a martial invalid, Zhou Donghuang held him back.


    ¡°Li Rui,¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at her and said calmly, ¡°On account of Aunty Yun, I will not hold this against you.¡±


    Li Rui said that he was not worthy of her? Zhou Donghuang found this ridiculous.


    In his previous life, countless star clans¡¯ supreme leaders had tried to send their beloved daughters to him, but he had not been interested.


    The looks of Li Rui could hardly compare to the daughters of those supreme leaders, not even the servers beside those ladies.


    ¡°Not hold it against me?¡±


    Li Rui was first shocked, then she laughed sarcastically. ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you¡¯re a martial invalid, could you possibly think of doing anything against me?¡±


    ¡°Although I have not reached level-one of the gathered qi, the qi within me is enough to release more than 250kg of strength¡­ I advise you not make a fool of yourself!¡±


    Li Rui¡¯s sarcastic smile slowly turned cold.


    ¡°Xiao Rui, if he really tries to do anything to you, why would you need to do anything? I, Li Hui, will beat him senseless!¡±


    Li Hui wanted to show off in front of Li Rui, he and looked at Zhou Donghuang with disdain.


    ¡°Kid, I, Li Hui, am not only the son of Li Yan, the ninth elder of the preeminent Li family, but I am also a level-one adept. If you want to touch Xiao Rui, you have to get past me first!¡± Li Hui put up a protective stance.


    ¡°Son of Li Yan, the ninth elder of the preeminent Li family?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was shocked, then realized why he could not remember where he had met this familiar face before.


    No wonder, it was not because he had met him, but he had met his father, the ninth elder of the preeminent Li family, Li Yan.


    The ninth elder of the preeminent Li family, Li Yan, that he had killed on the way to the prefecture capital from Qingshan town looked similar to this Li Hui.


    ¡°Ninth elder of the Li family?¡±


    Standing behind Zhou Donghuang, Fu was shocked to hear what Li Hui said. When he recovered from his shock, he let out a gasp.


    This man still did not know that his father has died. Moreover, his father had died at the hands of the man right before him.


    ¡°This is the one who you found¡­ whom you think is worthy of you?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled as he looked at Li Rui.


    ¡°Hmph!¡±


    Li Rui snorted and glanced at Li Hui beside her. She said, ¡°Brother Li Hui is ten times, a hundred times stronger than you!¡±


    But deep within her eyes, Li Rui had some kind of disdain.


    Li Hui had pestered her since she first came to the Li family in the prefecture capital, but she had never fancied him, even though he was the son of the ninth elder.


    Later, her attitude towards him improved entirely because she had found out by chance that Li Hui and his father were close to the second young master of the Li family, Li Pingyun.


    She had accepted Li Hui because she wanted to use him to get closer to Li Pingyun.


    Li Pingyun was the only son of the Li family¡¯s chief, and he was the future chief of the Li family. Furthermore, the head mistress of the Li family, Li Pingyun¡¯s eldest sister, was also the concubine in the Governor¡¯s Household in Guangling county.


    Even the Governor¡¯s Household of the Zhao family was afraid to offend the Li family because of the head mistress.


    In Li Rui¡¯s eyes, in the whole Li family of the prefecture capital, only Li Pingyun was worthy of her.

 Chapter 37 The Second Floor of the Hall of Gods

    ¡°Brother Li Hui is naturally ten times, a hundred times stronger than you, Zhou Donghuang!¡± Li Rui had thought that this would definitely anger Zhou Donghuang. She never expected Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression to not change at all.


    ¡°As long as you like him.¡±Zhou Donghuang nodded gently and turned his attention back to the sales assistant beside him. ¡°As the biggest armory in Yunfeng County, are these all the weapons in the Hall of Gods?¡±


    The Hall of Gods was the name of this armory, the biggest in Yunfeng County. The weapons found in the Hall of Gods were all made of pig iron or stainless steel, not from more precious metals like gold. As far as he knew, in Yunfeng County, one could buy weapons of black iron, but he did not see any here. Thus he was suspicious that the Hall of Gods in fact sold more weapons.


    ¡°Tsk!¡± Before the lady had a chance to answer Zhou Donghuang, Li Hui could not resist a smirk. ¡°Kid, the Hall of Gods could not possibly just have one floor of weapons. On the second floor, there are not only better weapons made of gold and iron ore, but even those made of black iron. But the cheapest weapon upstairs is three thousand liang of silver, do you have the money for that?¡±


    As he spoke, Li Hui looked at Zhou Donghuang with disdain.


    ¡°You have a second floor here?¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at the lady beside him.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± The lady smiled and nodded. ¡°The first floor sells the ordinary weapons, while the more precious weapons are all upstairs. The prices are also extremely steep.¡±


    ¡°Are there heavier spears on the second floor?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Please bring me upstairs,¡± said Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Sir, we only permit guests who have demonstrated sufficient financial capability to head to the second floor,¡± the lady pointed out.


    ¡°How does one demonstrate financial capability?¡± Zhou Donghuang raised his eyebrows. He did not expect such an odd request from the Hall of Gods.


    ¡°At least five thousand liang of silver on hand,¡± answered the lady.


    ¡°Heard that, kid?¡± Just as the lady said this, Li Hui could not help but laugh. ¡°The second floor of the Hall of Gods is not for everyone. Without five thousand liang of silver on you, they will not allow you to go up.¡±


    ¡°You said our Young Master could not go up, but¡­ can you?¡± Fu could no longer tolerate Li Hui, even though his Young Master could hardly be bothered to pay him any attention.


    ¡°If I want to, I can easily borrow the money from my father¡­ but who can your Young Master borrow the money from?¡± As the son of Li Yan, the ninth elder of the Li family, Li Hui looked down on Fu with a sense of superiority.


    ¡°Your father?¡± Fu smiled.


    Zhou Donghuang stopped him, ¡°Fu.¡±


    Right after, to the amazement of Li Hui and Li Rui, Fu stepped forward with a huge bundle of notes and waved it before the sales assistant. ¡°Is this enough?¡±


    The notes in Fu¡¯s hands were all worth one thousand liang of silver each, stamped with the imperial stamp of the Yunyang imperial family. They were the official currency within Yunyang Country.


    Back then, as Zhao San left Yunxuan Restaurant, he had left behind the operating funds of Yunxuan restaurant. That sum of money was worth two hundred thousand liang of silver. This time, Zhou Donghuang had instructed Fu to bring 150 thousand liang with him.


    ¡°Enough, enough.¡± Fu had taken out at least seventy to eighty thousand liang. The lady¡¯s eyes widened as she knew that she had chanced upon a rare huge customer.


    ¡°Upstairs please, sir.¡± The lady bowed as she waved Zhou Donghuang and Fu upstairs. Although she had not slighted them previously, she was clearly more respectful now.


    Li Hui and Li Rui only recovered from their shock after the three of them had disappeared past the staircase entrance. They were both in disbelief.


    As for the sales assistant with him, her eyes were filled with regret that she had not stepped forward to attend to those two customers earlier.


    As a sales assistant in the Hall of Gods, they could earn 1% commission of sales. Even the cheapest weapon upstairs cost three thousand liang of silver¡­ which meant that she could earn at least three hundred liang of silver.


    ¡°Xiao Rui, who exactly is he?¡±


    After Li Hui recovered from his shock, his expression changed. Even his father could not possibly have taken out seventy to eighty thousand liang just like that. Only those of extraordinary family backgrounds could possibly carry so much money with them.


    ¡°I¡­ I don¡¯t know either.¡± Li Rui shook her head. ¡°I only know that his mother used to be the chairperson of the Magnolia Guild of Qingshan Town. But the Lin family no longer supports the Magnolia Guild, and they have already collapsed. Furthermore, even if Magnolia Guild had not collapsed, his mother could not possibly have so much money to give to him. But there have been rumors that the boss of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan Town, Zhao San, gave him the restaurant¡­ unless that is true?¡±


    Although she had heard the story from many people when she was in the Qingyun Guild in Ningping City, but she had never believed it. After all, why would Zhao San give such a valuable business to a martial invalid?


    But now, seeing how Zhou Donghuang¡¯s assistant just took out a stack of notes worth at least seventy to eighty thousand liang, she could not help but believe the story. Otherwise, there was no way to explain why Zhou Donghuang had so much money.


    ¡°Yunxuan Restaurant?¡± Upon hearing Li Rui¡¯s words, Li Hui could not help but laugh. ¡°No wonder I found his name so familiar. He¡¯s the new boss of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan Town, Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    ¡°Brother Li Hui, you know him too?¡± Li Rui was surprised.


    ¡°I not only know him¡­ I also know that my father and Second Young Master had gone to find him in Qingshan Town.¡± Li Hui smiled even brighter. ¡°Xiao Rui, don¡¯t worry. He can only be arrogant for so long. Once his money is gone, he¡¯ll become a pauper.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Li Rui guessed, ¡°But if Zhao San really gave him Yunxuan Restaurant, wouldn¡¯t Zhao San step in if someone else tried to take over the restaurant?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Rui, Second Young Master had asked Zhao San personally at the Governor¡¯s Household. Zhao San¡¯s intention is that once he gave the restaurant away, he will no longer interfere in its business.¡± Li Hui laughed. ¡°Which means, once he gives it to Zhou Donghuang, it¡¯s all up to him.¡±


    Li Rui¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°That means, in the future, Yunxuan Restaurant will be owned by Second Young Master? Great.¡±


    Li Hui nodded and replied proudly, ¡°When he brought my father over this time, Second Young Master promised to give a tenth of the profits from the restaurant to him.¡±


    Li Rui looked at Li Hui with a hint of disapproval, but once she thought of Second Young Master, Li Pingyun, her eyes lit up again. This meant that once she got together with Li Pingyun, she would become the lady boss of Yunxuan Restaurant?

 Chapter 38 The Black Iron Spear

    On the second floor of the Hall of Gods, the female sales assistant eagerly brought Zhou Donghuang and Fu to the rack filled with spears. ¡°Sir, we only have these two spears here.¡±


    As she spoke, Zhou Donghuang could also see that there were only two spears on the rack before him. One of them had a spearhead of iron ore, with a shiny blade that looked extremely sharp. The shaft was made of a bamboo stick, but he could easily tell that this was no ordinary piece of bamboo. Furthermore, a spear made of ordinary bamboo would not possibly be placed here on the second floor of the Hall of Gods.


    Seeing his gaze fall on that spear, the lady smiled and said, ¡°Sir, for this spear, the head is made of purified precious purple iron ore. As for the shaft, it is made of extremely rare tan bamboo, which makes it as strong as steel but more flexible. But this spear is only about 50kg heavy.¡±


    Even before her introduction, Zhou Donghuang could see that this spear was not heavy as it was an extremely tough, tan bamboo spear.


    Spears had many types. The most common and the most direct type would be a big heavy spear. However, some spear masters preferred tan bamboo spears as they were more flexible, and their elasticity could be used to fight the enemy.


    Though tan bamboo spears were good, they were not what Zhou Donghuang needed. His eyes landed on the only other spear.


    This spear was fully black with red iridescence. It looked extremely heavy, with the head and the shaft fused into one.


    ¡°Black iron!¡± At a glance, Zhou Donghuang could tell that this spear was forged of pure black iron, and the spearhead had already been sharpened, gleaming with coldness. Black iron that had been sharpened could easily cut any other metal.


    ¡°Sir, this spear is the heaviest in our armory. The whole body is made of black iron and weighs 600kg,¡± the lady introduced.


    ¡°This is it,¡± Zhou Donghuang announced.


    This was exactly the spear he wanted. Initially, he had thought that he could only find a spear mixed with black iron in the Hall of Gods, but he never imagined that he would be able to find one forged purely of black iron. It was a pleasant surprise.


    ¡°Sir, because this spear is made purely of black iron, it¡¯s also extremely expensive¡­¡± the lady reminded.


    Zhou Donghuang asked, ¡°How much?¡±


    ¡°One hundred forty thousand liang of silver. Of which 120 thousand liang is the cost of the raw material, and of the other 20 thousand liang of silver, 10 thousand is for the wasted black iron during the forging process, while the other 10 thousand is the fee for the blacksmith.¡± The lady not only introduced the price but also all the components within.


    Black iron cost a hundred liang of silver per 500g in Yunyang Country. Because black iron was dense and heavy, 500g of it was very little. For a simple dagger, more than 30g of black iron would be needed.


    ¡°Fu,¡± Zhou Donghuang called Fu. Fu stepped forward and took out all the notes on him and handed it all to the lady, with just ten thousand liang remaining,


    Before leaving, besides 150 thousand liang of silver, Fu had also brought some loose change. Their daily expenses had used this loose change, so the notes had not been used, all 150 thousand liang of silver were intact.


    ¡°Sir, please give me a moment while I get the shopkeeper to issue you a receipt.¡± After confirming that the sum was correct, the lady rushed to the third floor of the armory where the shopkeeper was.


    The lady came back shortly, following an old man.


    The old man wore a loose grey robe and had a small, diminished frame but with a pair of attentive eyes. On his sunken dry face, he wore a huge smile. His smile looked worse than a frown.


    ¡°Sir, this is the shopkeeper of the Hall of Gods, Elder Chen.¡± The lady introduced the old man to Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°I, Zhao Ruochen, am the shopkeeper of the Hall of Gods.¡± As the old man walked to Zhou Donghuang, he bowed slightly and handed him a thick piece of paper. ¡°Sir, this is your receipt for the black iron spear you just bought.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded and took the receipt and passed it to Fu. His gaze never left the old man. ¡°Now, can I leave with the spear?¡±


    ¡°Sir, do you need us to deliver it to you?¡± Zhao Ruochen was surprised, as was the lady behind him.


    ¡°There is no need for that,¡± Zhou Donghuang answered flatly. He stepped forward and lifted the black iron spear off the rack easily with one hand. 600kg was not heavy for him. But at his current strength, it would be difficult to handle the spear easily. Unless¡­ he used some martial arts techniques meant for wielding heavy weapons. He had no lack of knowledge about these tricks.


    Immediately, under the amazed eyes of Zhao Ruochen and the lady sales assistant, Zhou Donghuang left the armory with Fu, holding the spear with one hand.


    As for Li Rui and Li Hui, they had left shortly after Zhou Donghuang went to the second floor.


    ¡°Who on earth is he?¡± At the entrance of the Hall of Gods, Zhao Ruochen muttered to himself as he watched the two of them leave. A teenager who looked 16 or 17 years old easily picked up a 600kg black iron spear and took it with such ease. It seemed like it was effortless to walk with the heavy spear.


    What could that mean? It meant that that teenager had at least 1000kg of strength. How could a 16 or 17-year-old teenager possibly have more than 1000kg of strength?


    ¡°Elder Chen.¡± Right then, the lady who had served Li Hui and Li Rui heard Zhao Ruochen muttering to himself and said, ¡°Just now, the two guests whom I served called him ¡®Zhou Donghuang.¡¯ They said that the teenager was the boss of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town.¡±


    ¡°Zhou¡­ Zhou Donghuang?!¡± Just as the words left her mouth, Zhou Ruochen¡¯s eyes narrowed and turned intently to the lady. ¡°Are you sure he¡¯s called Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    ¡°Elder Chen, just now, the two guests whom Sister Mei served definitely addressed my guest as Zhou Donghuang,¡± the lady who had served Zhou Donghuang confirmed.


    Zhou Donghuang had no idea about the shock that the shopkeeper of the Hall of Gods, Zhao Ruochen had when he found out his identity. He led Fu back to the inn and instructed him, ¡°Fu, prepare a letter and get someone to bring it to the Lu family and hand it to their chief, Lu Qinghu. In the letter, tell him that tomorrow at noon, I will visit the Lu family.¡±


    As he said this, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes glimmered. It was time to settle some matters. He had bought a spear today just for this purpose.


    ¡°Yes, sir.¡± Fu went to prepare.

 Chapter 39 The Zhao Family of the Governor s Household

    ¡°For a 600kg weapon, a typical adept would have to be at least level-five of the gathered qi to be able to use it with ease. Furthermore, even for a adept of level-five of the gathered qi, he could only use it for a short duration. To be able to use it at ease, one would need at least level-seven of the gathered qi.¡± After Fu left, Zhou Donghuang sat on the bed in the inn, muttering to himself as he stared at the black iron spear leaning against the wall. ¡°At my current strength, to be able to use this heavy black iron spear at ease for even a short time would only be possible with perfect execution of ¡®Qi-Stacking.¡¯¡±


    Qi-Stacking was a level-one martial art technique different from the typical level one techniques. For typical level-one techniques, Zhou Donghuang simply could not execute them with his current qi. Even if he managed to execute it, the power would only rival level two martial arts, and his internal qi would be completely depleted with just one use.


    On the other hand, Qi-Stacking required one to stack levels of qi for assault, the more qi that could be stacked, the stronger the power. Qi-Stacking could only stack up to nine levels of qi, but the resulting power would be totally dependent on the strength of the qi of the adept himself.


    It was different from typical level-one techniques because even a adept of level-one of the gathered qi could execute it perfectly, only that the power will be much less. Its power was entirely determined by the strength of the inner qi, so those with a higher level of practice would produce a greater amount of power when executed.


    For Zhou Donghuang, with his current level-two of the gathered qi, executing this level one martial art ¡°Qi-Stacking¡± would similarly deplete his qi quickly unless he held back.


    ¡°My qi is still too weak, and my training is too slow.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang had trained himself from a commoner with no qi into a level-two adept within less than a month since he had broken free of the ¡°seal.¡± This rate of training was considered second to none in the country of Yunyang and even Ziyun planet.


    But he still found it too slow? One could imagine that if anyone else knew about his complaint, they would definitely feel like killing him.


    ¡°I must find a way to get better herbs in order to brew a better qi elixir. That way, my training will be faster,¡± Zhou Donghuang said to himself. ¡°If not, using the present qi elixir, I would need around a month to be able to reach level-three qi.¡±


    Going from level-two to level-three of the gathered qi would need about a month¡¯s time¡ªtoo slow! Those were Zhou Donghuang¡¯s thoughts then.


    However, even though he found it slow, he still swallowed a bottle of qi elixir, sat cross-legged and began to train the Way of the Four Supremes. He immersed himself in the training.


    In Yunfeng County, the biggest family clan would be the Governor¡¯s Household of the Zhao family.


    The Zhao family was also a preeminent family. In the many preeminent families in the country of Yunyang, even the Zhao family could only be considered above average, as the family clan only had one adept of level-five of the gathered qi.


    For the highest tier of preeminent families, most of them had many level-five adepts, and some of the top family clans even had five or six level-five adepts. Of course, preeminent families could not possibly have adepts with level-six of the gathered qi. This was because any family with one level-six adept would directly become a grand family in the country of Yunyang.


    Adepts with level-six of the gathered qi were akin to the face of a grand family, while adepts with level-four of the gathered qi were the face of a preeminent family.


    At that same time, in the house of the Governor¡¯s Household of the Zhao family, in a beautiful garden, an old man was reporting something to a middle-aged man. If Zhou Donghuang was there, he would have been able to immediately identify the two men.


    The old man was the shopkeeper of The Hall of Gods, Zhao Ruochen, while the middle-aged man was the previous owner of Yunxuan restaurant of Qingshan town, Zhao San.


    ¡°Oh? He has come to the prefecture capital?¡± Zhao San was surprised to hear the news from the old man. ¡°He even went to The Hall of Gods and bought the black iron spear for 140 thousand liang of silver?¡±


    That black iron spear was 600kg heavy and even for him, with level-four of the gathered qi, he would still find it extremely exhausting to use it as a weapon, even if he could carry it. Even his elder brother, Zhao Lishang, governor of Yunfeng County and chief of the Zhao family, could only use the heavy black iron spear with ease for a short time, despite him being a level-five adept.


    ¡°He not only bought that heavy black iron spear, but he also didn¡¯t even need us to deliver it to him. He picked it up and left¡­ from the second floor to the first, then out the door. It looked effortless to him,¡± Zhao Ruochen said with a heavy smile.


    The Hall of Gods was the business of the Zhao family.


    Zhao San¡¯s elder brother had given him the business to run after he had recovered his level-four of gathered qi and returned to the Zhao family household. Zhao Ruochen was the shopkeeper and the direct subordinate of Zhao San. Zhao Ruochen had heard about Zhou Donghuang from Zhao San, which was why he was shocked when he had found out that the teenager at The Hall of Gods was Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Zhao Ruochen had barely finished speaking when Zhao San leaped to his feet in shock, his face flashing with amazement.


    ¡°Elder Chen, do you speak the truth?¡±


    Zhao San¡¯s eyes were filled with shock. Any level-one adept would not be able to even lift that 600kg black iron spear. To be able to bring it from the second floor out of the door so effortless would require at least level-two of gathered qi.


    ¡°Master San, I saw it with my very eyes,¡± Zhao Ruochen vowed.


    ¡°Looks like I have underestimated him,¡± Zhao San said with a sigh. ¡°Last time, he cured me of disease after I had trained too intensely. Then I felt that he was no simple man¡­ but never would I have thought that he would become a level-two adept in such a short time. A seventeen-year-old level-two adept¡­ looks like Fengxia¡¯s title of the Best Youngster in Yunfeng County has to be given to him.¡±


    Zhao Fengxia was none other than the son of Zhao Lishang, governor of Yunfeng County, and the nephew of Zhao San.


    Back in the day, Zhao Fengxia had reached level-two of gathered qi when he just turned eighteen and was publicly known as the most outstanding youngster in Yunfeng County. But now, Zhou Donghuang had reached the same level at just seventeen years of age, clearly outdoing Zhao Fengxia.


    ¡°Master San, I believe we can keep this outstanding teenager for our use,¡± Zhao Ruochen suggested.


    ¡°Use him?¡± Zhao San thought of the sight of that unruly teenager. After a moment of silence, he shook his head and smiled bitterly. ¡°I doubt I myself, or even my elder brother, will be able to subdue him.¡±


    Though that teenager was young, his arrogance was still apparent. To Zhao San, even if someone could subdue him, neither he nor his elder brother would be able to do it.


    ¡­


    Meanwhile, in the house of the Lu family, Chief Lu Qinghu looked cunningly at the letter in his hands and laughed.


    ¡°This Zhou Donghuang! I haven¡¯t even looked for him, but he came knocking at our door.¡±


    Soon, he sent someone to the house of the Ma family and the Fang family and found the chief of the Ma family, Ma Tianba, and the Fang family chief, Fang Jishan.


    ¡°So Zhou Donghuang will be coming to the Lu family at noon tomorrow? If he really dares to come, I¡¯ll make sure he won¡¯t be able to return!¡±


    Upon finding out the news, Ma Tianba and Fang Jishan both had an evil, murderous glimmer in their eyes.

 Chapter 40 Asking for Forgiveness?

    Ziyun Era,10 January 1228, noon.


    Seven men stood in the Hall of the Lu family house. The atmosphere was tense. Besides the Lu family¡¯s chief, Lu Qinghu, the Ma family¡¯s Chief Ma Tianba, and the Fang family¡¯s chief, Fang Jishan, there were four other people. A middle-aged man and an old lady stood behind Lu Qinghu¡ªhis second brother, Lu Bao and the Lu family head elder, Lu Pinglan, both level-three adepts. The middle-aged man behind Ma Tianba was the Ma family second elder, Ma Dongfeng, a level-three adept and the second strongest in the Ma family. The old man behind Fang Jishan was the Fang family head elder, Fang Zhan, a level-three adept whose strength was second only to the Fang family chief.


    The seven level-three adepts had gathered here on this day because of the letter that Lu Qinghu had received the previous day.


    ¡°Will Zhou Donghuang really be coming?¡± Fang Jishan frowned.


    ¡°Since he already sent a letter, he will definitely be coming,¡± said Lu Qinghu solemnly. ¡°Otherwise, the only possibility is that the letter was a prank. But that¡¯s unlikely. After all, only the three families here know that each of our sons has been killed by him.¡±


    As the saying went, don¡¯t hang one¡¯s dirty linen outside. The Lu, Ma, and Fang family have kept the fact that Lu Yuan, Ma Jin, and Fang Tianyi have been killed as a close secret.


    ¡°Master, Zhou Donghuang is here!¡± Just then, a voice rang from outside. The seven adepts in the hall immediately tensed.


    After a while, they saw an ordinary-looking young man in a white gown walking slowly into the hall with his hands behind his back, under the guidance of a Lu family member. Behind the young man was a teenager with strong features, followed behind by two muscular, middle-aged men.


    The two strong men were carrying a two-meter long spear. The spear was totally black with a red iridescence, and the sharpened blade shone with an eye-catching glint, displaying its sharpness.


    ¡°You are Zhou Donghuang?¡± Lu Qinghu stepped forward, glaring at the young man.


    ¡°Lu Qinghu?¡± Zhou Donghuang glanced at Lu Qinghu as he asked in a calm voice, totally unlike that of such a young man. Although this was his first time meeting Lu Qinghu, Fu had gone out to find out more about the Lu, Ma and Fang family these two days, so Zhou Donghuang knew about Lu Qinghu.


    Despite his frail body, Lu Qinghu was the most powerful one within the Lu, Ma and Fang families.


    ¡°You¡¯ve got guts. We haven¡¯t gone to find you, but you came yourself instead.¡± Lu Qinghu laughed coldly.


    ¡°I¡¯ve no choice¡­ your three sons scared away all my customers in Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town. If I did not look for you, my restaurant would not be able to open.¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gaze skimmed across Lu Qinghu, Ma Tianba, and Fang Jishan. His tone was calm.


    At the same time that he had recognized Lu Qinghu, he had also recognized Ma Tianba and Fang Jishan. When Fu had sent the letter, he had already expected the Ma and Fang family to turn up as well, as they had always been on close terms with the Lu family.


    In Yunfeng County, for lesser families to survive, they had to stick together, or they would be bullied by the preeminent families.


    ¡°They were smart, if they had not run, they would¡¯ve been buried together with you!¡± Ma Tianba glared at Zhou Donghuang menacingly.


    ¡°I shall not waste time on nonsense.¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes suddenly sharpened. ¡°I am here today for one thing only. Your three families shall send members without any martial art talent to Qingshan town to be servant girls and clerks at my Yunxuan Restaurant. Of course, we will pay them their deserved salaries.¡±


    If the three big lesser families sent people to work at the restaurant, it would be able to re-open. The chefs who used to work at the restaurant would naturally return once they saw the three big lesser families sending people to work at the restaurant. In any case, they would not be able to earn anything better than the salary at Yunxuan Restaurant.


    All was silent after Zhou Donghuang had spoken. Even Fu, who was standing behind Zhou Donghuang, was shocked. Although he had known that his young master had come to solve the trouble that the three lesser families had caused to Yunxuan restaurant, but he had not imagined that his young master would simply ask the families for people.


    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡± Ma Tian burst into tears of laughter and was visibly agitated.


    Lu Qinghu also began to laugh, as a smirk appeared on the faces of the rest as well.


    ¡°Today, you brought the black iron spear from the Hall of Gods here to give it to the three families here as a peace offering?¡± Fang Jishan joked. When Zhou Donghuang entered, he had noticed that the black iron spear that the two men were holding was the one from the second floor of the Hall of Gods.


    ¡°Hmm?¡± Upon hearing Fang Jishan¡¯s words, Lu Qinghu and Ma Tianba turned their gaze to the black iron spear. As the chiefs of the three big lesser families of Yunfeng county, they had all been to the second floor of the Hall of Gods and could easily recognize that this was indeed the heavy black iron spear from there.


    ¡°One hundred and forty thousand liang of silver, how generous of you!¡± Ma Tianba¡¯s eyes flashed with greed as he smiled at Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Why don¡¯t you leave the spear and stay for the day too.¡±


    ¡°How about the rest?¡± Hearing Ma Tianba¡¯s words, Zhou Donghuang only glanced at him and looked at Lu Qinghu and the rest as he asked with an air of nonchalance.


    Fang Jishan smiled coldly, ¡°Since you¡¯re here, don¡¯t think of leaving.¡±


    Lu Qinghu was silent, but the murderous glint in his eyes said it all. Now, he was not thinking of what secrets Zhou Donghuang was hiding nor the relationship between Zhou Donghuang and Zhao San. If he really had a trump card to play, why would he bring such an expensive gift to ask for forgiveness?


    ¡°I advise you reconsider.¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes narrowed.


    ¡°No need to consider.¡± Ma Tianba cackled as he walked faster and faster towards Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°I gave you all a chance.¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head and sighed quietly. In a swift movement, he had used Star-Stepping Footwork to step behind the two strong men.


    Wham! As Zhou Donghuang raised his hand, he grabbed the black iron spear and lifted it off from the two strong men. In the next moment, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s internal qi shook as it leaped in waves towards his two hands, just like the waves of the sea stacking on top of one another. He was using Qi-Stacking, a level-one technique.


    ¡°What! A level-two adept thinking of using this heavy black iron spear? Ridiculous! Even a level-four adept can¡¯t use this 600kg heavy spear to fight.¡± Ma Tianba was filled with disdain as he watched Zhou Donghuang pick up the weapon. He was not surprised that Zhou Donghuang managed to pick up the spear as any level-two adept could accomplish that. But to use it to fight would require the skill of at least level-five of the gathered qi. Even a level-four adept would find it difficult to use it to fight with ease.


    Ma Tianba was not alone in thinking this way. Lu Qinghu and the rest did not believe that Zhou Donghuang could use the spear.


    But what happened next shocked all of them.


    Boom! As Ma Tianba advanced towards him, Zhou Donghuang moved his right hand holding onto the black iron spear, and the spear flew out like a bolt of black lightning and struck Ma Tianba like a whip.


    Zhou Donghuang was strong to begin with, but with the power of Qi-Stacking and the sheer weight of the 600kg heavy iron spear, it was as if Ma Tianba had been hit by a speeding truck.


    Whoosh! Ma Tianba¡¯s body flew weightlessly as the black iron spear landed in him.


    With a loud rumble, the thick wall of the Lu family courtyard was smashed, and pieces of brick fell to the ground as Ma Tianba was thrown out of the courtyard.

 Chapter 41 A Clean Sweep

    ¡°How is this possible?¡±


    The scene had unfolded in a flash, too fast for Lu Qinghu and the others to follow. Shock and disbelief were written all over their faces as they gradually recovered their wits.


    Ma Tianba was an outstanding level-three adept of Qi-gathering who would rank among the top five level-three adepts of the three elite lesser families.


    But he had been killed by a single attack from a seventeen-year-old youth.


    Although they had not confirmed that Ma Tianba, who had been sent flying, was truly dead, they knew without a doubt that he was indeed dead.


    Under the circumstances, it would be a miracle if Ma Tianba had not died.


    ¡°Is he holding¡­ the black iron spear from the second floor of the Hall of Gods?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he only a level-two adept? How could he wield a black iron spear weighing one thousand two hundred jin so effortlessly?¡±


    ¡°If it wasn¡¯t that black iron spear¡­ how could Patriarch Ma have been sent flying like that?¡±


    When Lu Qinghu and the others looked back at Zhou Donghuang, their expressions turned serious, and their eyes were filled with dread.


    ¡°Let¡¯s advance together.¡±


    With a quiver of his body, Zhou Donghuang stepped with the Star-Stepping Footwork and darted forward, aiming to attack Lu Qinghu and the others directly.


    Although the hefty black iron spear weighed one thousand two hundred jin, he was not slowed down in the least.


    Zhou Donghuang had no intention of stopping after killing Ma Tianba because he knew that he had not yet sufficiently intimidated Lu Qinghu and the others.


    They could be thinking that he was only putting up a show and had actually exhausted himself, because such a display of prowess could only be performed once.


    Indeed, they had that exact same thought.


    Now, seeing Zhou Donghuang coming at them with the spear, Lu Qinghu¡¯s gaze froze, and he shouted, ¡°Take him down together! Let¡¯s find out if he can perform such a powerful attack a second time.¡±


    Saying so, Lu Qinghu took the lead and leaped at Zhou Donghuang like a tiger bounding down a mountain.


    ¡°Let¡¯s get him!¡±


    As Lu Qinghu attacked, the second master of the Lu family, Lu Bao, and the head elder of the Lu family, Lu Pinglan, followed up with their own attacks.


    The second elder of the Ma family, Ma Dongfeng, the patriarch of the Fang family, Fang Jishan, and the head elder of the Ma family, Fang Zhan, were close behind,


    With Lu Qinghu in the lead, the six level-three adepts attacked as one, advancing on Zhou Donghuang from all sides.


    As level-three adepts, these six were very fast and surrounded Zhou Donghuang in the blink of an eye. They began to attack him in unison.


    However, although they were fast, Zhou Donghuang was not any slower.


    Although Zhou Donghuang was only a level-two adept of Qi-gathering, he was able to exert his maximum muscular strength, and would not be any weaker in terms of strength compared to a level-three adept.


    In addition, he had the level-three swiftness technique, Star-Stepping Footwork to fall back on, while Lu Qinghu and the others did not practice any swiftness techniques. His speed was therefore equal to Lu Qinghu.


    The others could not match him in speed.


    ¡°It¡¯s a swiftness technique!¡±


    Now, Lu Qinghu and the others finally realized that Zhou Donghuang had used a swiftness technique. Their focus had not been on Zhou Donghuang¡¯s legs, so they had not realized this earlier.


    ¡°Die, kid!¡±


    Lu Qinghu roared in rage as he leaned forward and propelled himself like a cannonball towards Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Well met!¡±


    Faced with Lu Qinghu¡¯s ferocious assault, Zhou Donghuang turned serious and adjusted his stance to meet the incoming attack.


    Simultaneously, he also evaded the attacks of three out of his five other opponents, and the closest any of the three got was brushing against his sleeve.


    The five of them surrounded Zhou Donghuang and would never have imagined that he would have chosen Lu Qinghu, who was the strongest among them, to be his breaking point.


    Perhaps he thinks Big Brother is our weak link because of how thin he is? That¡¯s begging for death!


    Lu Bao chuckled to himself.


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang not bothering to dodge his attacks and even stepping up to face them instead, Lu Qinghu flexed his arms, clawed his hands, and grabbed at Zhou Donghuang from both sides.


    Lu Qinghu¡¯s attack was ferocious and intimidating.


    However, just when he thought he had caught hold of Zhou Donghuang, Zhou Donghuang moved in close enough that his body brushed against Lu Qinghu¡¯s. He slipped past him, as agile as a spirit snake.


    The move was exquisite, and it seemed like Zhou Donghuang had indeed transformed into a spirit snake.


    It was a level-two martial art technique, Way of the Spirit Snake


    ¡°Big brother, be careful!¡±


    ¡°Patriarch, be careful!¡±


    ¡°Patriarch Lu, be careful!¡±


    ¡°Brother Qinghu, be careful!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang had slipped past Lu Qinghu, who had no time to check his momentum and saw the other five looking at them with shock at something behind him.


    Chi-chak!


    The black iron spear descended like black lightning, and the razor-sharp edge of the spear head severed Lu Qinghu¡¯s arm like tofu.


    Peng!


    As the black iron spear descended to a point beside Lu Qinghu¡¯s chest, it was suddenly and savagely shoved horizontally, and the fearsome force snapped several tendons and bones and sent him flying over five meters away. He was in an untenable situation and completely lost the will to fight.


    Fang Jishan and the other five were shocked at Lu Qinghu¡¯s injury. Zhou Donghuang took full advantage of their distraction and thrust it towards Fang Jishan, who was standing on their extreme left.


    The black iron spear thrust towards Fang Jishan like a dragon emerging from the sea, and before he could react, the spear head was a hair¡¯s breadth away from him.


    ¡°No¡ª¡±


    There was no way Fang Jishan could dodge in time, and he let out a shout of despair as death descended on him.


    His shout did have its intended effect however, and at this most critical moment, the spear head moved away from his chest and towards the side, passing under his armpit.


    ¡°Hng!!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang grunted with effort, and mustering his qi and stacking it, he channeled it to his right hand that was holding the spear.


    Zhou Donghuang grasped the spear single-handedly and swept it towards his other four opponents, carrying Fang Jishan with it. With Zhou Donghuang¡¯s qi close to spent, they were sent flying, just like Lu Qinghu.


    This all happened in the blink of an eye, leaving the four no time to dodge.


    Thud!


    Thud!


    Thud!


    ¡­


    There was the sound of multiple bodies hitting the ground, and in the blink of an eye, the remaining six of the seven level-three adepts of the three elite lesser families had been defeated, with Ma Tianba, the patriarch of the Ma family, having been killed.


    Of the six, Lu Qinghu was the most gravely injured.


    Of the remaining five, only Fang Jishan had avoided major injury, and the others had various broken bones and torn ligaments.


    ¡°Take this.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang used the last of the qi within his body and threw the black iron spear to the two strong men with a flick of his arm.


    The two strong men had been scared silly by what they had witnessed and could not react in time. The black iron spear clattered to the ground on the floor in front of them with a great crash, scaring them even more.


    The floor tiles could not support the weight of the black iron spear and cracked, the cracks spreading out like a spider¡¯s web.


    Right then, Lu Qinghu and his five companions could no longer doubt the weight of the spear.


    ¡°Many thanks to Young Master Donghuang for his mercy.¡±


    Fang Jishan was the least injured, and after he struggled to stand up, he thanked Zhou Donghuang profusely with dread written on his face.


    If Zhou Donghuang had not shown mercy, the black iron spear would have impaled his chest, and he would have surely been dead. It was because Zhou Donghuang had adjusted the spear head and thrust it towards his armpit that he had only suffered only superficial injuries and some light internal injuries.


    ¡°Your life¡­ should be worth two hundred thousand liang of silver?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked at Fang Jishan with a smile, showing two rows of snow-white teeth.


    Although he knew that Zhou Donghuang was extorting money from him, Fang Jishan did not dare refuse and nodded his head eagerly, ¡°It¡¯s worth it! Worth it! Completely worth it.¡±


    Two hundred thousand liang of silver was not a small sum to the Fang family, but they would still be able to afford it.


    ¡°Lu Qinghu, three hundred liang of silver for your life¡­ any objections?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang asked as he fixed a piercing gaze on Lu Qinghu as he struggled to stand.


    ¡°No¡­ no objections.¡±


    Although Lu Qinghu looked extremely foul, he did not dare object given the circumstances, and he was terrified that any hint of objection would cause this youth to kill him.


    ¡°And for you, you should have no objections to a hundred thousand liang of silver each for your lives?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gaze fell on the other four people, and they shook their heads without hesitation, their faces pale.


    ¡°In ten days, I want to see thirty servant girls and fifty waiters at Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town.¡±


    With that, Zhou Donghuang led Fu away from the Lu family residence, and the two strong men hurriedly lifted the spear and followed them out.


    ¡°If you breathe a word about what happened today, you can forget about living if you remain another day in the city!¡± Lu Qinghu threatened the two strong men before they left.


    If the day¡¯s events became widely known, the prestige of the Lu, Ma, and Fang Families would be left in tatters.


    They did not wish for that to happen.


    ¡°Patriarch Lu, we understand.¡±


    ¡°Patriarch Lu, we will definitely not say a word.¡±


    The two strong men trembled at Lu Qinghu¡¯s threat and nodded hurriedly. They fled in the wake of Zhou Donghuang and Fu who had left long before.


    The large receiving chamber reverted to its peaceful state.


    ¡°Brother Qinghu.¡±


    After Zhou Donghuang and the others had left, Fang Jishan helped Lu Qinghu up as the others struggled to their feet. Each of them looked ashen-faced and battered.


    ¡°I never thought our three elite lesser families would one day be subdued by a seventeen-year-old youth.¡±


    Lu Qinghu shook his head, smiling ruefully to himself.


    ¡°And who would have thought that at seventeen years of age, he would possess such fearsome ability¡­ Zhao Fengxia and Hong Yunfei are not even worth a mention compared to him!¡±


    Zhao Fengxia was the first master of the Zhao family who governed the prefecture capital. He had attained level-two of Qi-gathering when he was eighteen years old and was acknowledged to be the first among the young generation of Yunfeng prefecture.


    Hong Yunfei was the first young master of the preeminent Hong family and had attained level-two of Qi-gathering only a month after Zhao Fengxia.

 Chapter 42 Lu Qinghu s Decision

    ¡°Patriarch, that Zhou Donghuang not only wields a black iron spear weighing one thousand two hundred jin like an extension of his arm, but is also capable of using swiftness martial art techniques¡­¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve seen the Zhao family members demonstrate the Zhao family¡¯s swiftness technique¡­ but it is far inferior to what Zhou Donghuang demonstrated.¡±


    As a lady, the head elder of the Lu family, Lu Pinglan, noticed every detail, and this was something that even Lu Qinghu, the patriarch of the Lu family, could not match.


    ¡°There is definitely something mysterious about him!¡±


    ¡°Why don¡¯t we¡­ deliberately spread the news that Zhou Donghuang has a level-three swiftness martial art technique? After all, not many people in Yunfeng prefecture and even superior-level and intermediate-level prefectures know what a level-three swiftness martial art technique is like.¡±


    ¡°His swiftness martial art technique is stronger than the one belonging to the governing Zhao family, and even if it is only a lesser-grade technique, people will believe us if we say it is a level-three swiftness martial art technique.¡±


    ¡°And if the news that he possesses a level-three swiftness martial art technique spreads, even the grand families and tycoons will have their eyes on him¡­ and if he is unable to hand over a level-three swiftness martial art technique, they will not let him off!¡±


    As Lu Pinglan finished, a cold smile spread over her aged face, and her eyes glittered coldly.


    Just when her idea was beginning to gain traction with Fang Jishan and the others, Lu Qinghu shook his head and said, ¡°Head Elder, this is indeed a good way to exact revenge on Zhou Donghuang¡­ but what if the outcome is different from what we planned?¡±


    ¡°A martial invalid from Qingshan town has demonstrated abilities on par with a level-five adept of Qi-gathering and thrashed us all¡­ and most importantly, he is still only seventeen years old!¡±


    ¡°In the whole of Yunfeng prefecture, probably only the governor himself has the ability to beat us so soundly by himself.¡±


    ¡°And how old is the governor compared to him?¡±


    ¡°If he attracts the attention of the grand families and tycoons and they are able to kill him, all will be well¡­ but what if they cannot? What if he manages to defeat them? With his talent, even if he practices only casually for the next twenty years, who in the country of Yunyang will be able to stand up to him?¡±


    ¡°And if he investigates and gets to the root of the matter, or even if he cannot ascertain that we had spread the news¡­ he could extinguish our three families if he had even the slightest hint of suspicion.¡±


    Lu Pinglan was deflated by Lu Qinghu¡¯s words, and Fang Jishan and the others broke out in a cold sweat.


    Although that youth was only seventeen years old, he was truly that fearsome.


    Give him twenty years more, and when he was thirty-seven years old, who in the entire country of Yunyang would be able to stand against him?


    ¡°I suggest that we do as he asks, to his satisfaction. If we do well, we could even attempt to establish a relationship with him.¡±


    Lu Qinghu¡¯s eyes glittered with wisdom. ¡°When those three fellows returned home, they agreed that he maimed Ma Jin first because Ma Jin bullied and humiliated one of his employees. That he would put himself in danger to stand up for a lowly employee proves that he has a kind heart.¡±


    ¡°We all have something to gain and nothing to lose from being on good terms with him.¡±


    ¡°Besides, I have a particularly strong hunch that if our three families want to advance to become a preeminent family, he¡­ he could be the key to achieving that.¡±


    Lu Qinghu¡¯s eyes burned fiercely. Leading the Lu family into the ranks of the preeminent families was his life¡¯s ambition.


    ¡°Brother Qinghu, you may be able to compromise and adjust, but what if I, Fang Jishan, cannot do the same? But after all, Zhou Donghuang spared my life today¡­ from today, the Fang family will follow the decision of the Lu family.¡±


    Fang Jishan was the first to make his stance clear, with the backing of the head elder of the Fang family.


    ¡°Patriarch Lu, it¡¯s all well and good for the Lu and Fang families¡­ but the Ma family has lost its patriarch today, and I am the only one who has seen how fearsome Zhou Donghuang is. Although I am inclined to go with the Lu and Fang families, I¡¯m afraid the others of the Ma family will not agree.¡± Second Elder Ma Dongfeng of the Ma family smiled bitterly.


    The issue was that although a junior of each of the three families had all lost a leg to Zhou Donghuang, now, the Ma family had lost their patriarch to Zhou Donghuang in addition to a leg of a junior member.


    ¡°Elder Dongfeng, if I remember correctly, you are also of the direct line of the Ma family¡­ as of today, Tianba is gone, and you are the strongest person in the Ma family. As long as our two families support you in becoming the patriarch of the Ma family, who in the Ma family will object? Who would dare to object?¡± Lu Qinghu asked conspiratorially with a gleam in his eye.


    Ma Dongfeng¡¯s eyes lit up when he heard this. ¡°If I am the patriarch of the Ma family, I will follow Patriarch Lu all the way.¡±


    ¡­


    Back at the inn, Zhou Donghuang returned to his room and consumed a portion of qi-gathering elixir and began to replenish his qi.


    The qi in his body had been almost entirely spent, and for his qi to recover to its previous level, he would need only half a day with the aid of the qi-gathering elixir.


    By the time night fell, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s qi had recovered to its previous level.


    Just then, Fu delivered a piece of news that ruined Zhou Donghuang¡¯s plans for the next day.


    ¡°Young Master, I¡¯ve learned that Lin Tonghong, the fourth elder of the Lin family, left the prefecture capital several days ago, and it seems that he was heading to Qingshan town.¡±


    ¡°Heading to Qingshan town?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes narrowed, and he smiled coldly.


    ¡°That old fellow¡­ could he also have eyes on our Yunxuan Restaurant?¡±


    At first, he planned to visit the Lin family the next day to look for the fourth elder, Lin Tonghong, and settle the matter of him misappropriating the formula for the blood-staunching elixir that he had given to his mother. But now, from what Fu had said, he could return earlier than planned.


    ¡°Fu, you¡¯ll make another trip to the Lu family shortly¡­ We¡¯ll return to Qingshan town early tomorrow morning.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, shouldn¡¯t we hurry back and travel through the night? That Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong of the Lin family could very well be heading straight for Yunxuan Restaurant,¡± Fu said worriedly. ¡°You¡¯re not at home, and my lady and the others¡­¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡± Zhou Donghuang was not the least bit worried. ¡°Freezing Wind is there, so even if Lin Tonghong shows himself, he will leave empty-handed.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, that Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong of the Lin family is a level-three adept,¡± Fu reminded him.


    From what he knew, the former second-in-command of the Green Wolf Bastion, Freezing Wind was almost a level-two adept.


    ¡°I know,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a nod. ¡°But he is no match for Freezing Wind.¡±


    ¡°Not a match for Freezing Wind?¡±


    Surprise and incomprehension filled Fu¡¯s eyes, and he suddenly seemed to remember something as he fell to his knees with a thud and begged, ¡°Young Master, Fu would like to practice under you.¡±


    At this point in time, he no longer dared to doubt Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words.


    Therefore, he guessed that with his Young Master¡¯s help, Freezing Wind¡¯s ability was now no less than Lin Tonghong¡¯s.


    ¡°Previously, when I wanted to pass on techniques and give you a qi-gathering elixir to aid you in practicing¡­ didn¡¯t you refuse, saying it was too troublesome? Why do you now want to practice?¡± Zhou Donghuang mocked gently.


    This question made Fu feel awkward, and it was Zhou Donghuang who finally dispelled the feeling of awkwardness. ¡°When we get back, I¡¯ll pass on some techniques to you.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Young Master.¡±


    Fu kowtowed repeatedly in gratitude, his face flushed with excitement.


    Today, his young master had single-handedly thrashed the best of the three elite lesser families, leaving him stunned.


    To put things into perspective, just the mention of the three elite lesser families was enough to frighten all the staff away from Yunxuan Restaurant, except for him. And even he did not expect his young master to be able to withstand the fury of the three elite lesser families.


    Yet today, the best that the three elite lesser families had to offer, including Lu Qinghu, had been soundly beaten by his young master, and the patriarch of the Ma family, Ma Tianba, had been killed with a single spear thrust from his young master. He now realized that his fears had been laughable.


    ¡°From what Young Master has demonstrated today, there is no need to fear even the preeminent Li family,¡± Fu said softly as realization dawned. ¡°No wonder Young Master dared to maim that level-two adept of Qi-gathering from the Li family and kill Second Young Master Li Pingyun and Ninth Elder Li Yan.¡±


    That night, Zhou Donghuang passed Fu a letter that he had written and asked him to deliver it to Patriarch Lu Qinghu of the Lu family.


    The letter listed down various herbs, some of which were those that the grand patriarch of the Qin family, Qin Yi, had not been able to buy when he made the journey to the prefecture capital. The rest of the herbs were even more valuable and were to be used to produce a qi-gathering elixir of even better quality.


    Zhou Donghuang had originally intended for the herbs to be brought to Qingshan town along with the servant girls and waiters from the three elite lesser families.


    Just as he and Fu were about to leave the prefecture capital to return to Qingshan town the next day, Lu Qinghu showed up in person, looking for him.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, these are the herbs you wanted. This is a million liang of silver in notes.¡±


    Lu Qinghu had brought all the herbs listed down in the letter and also the money that Zhou Donghuang had demanded from the three elite lesser families in exchange for their lives.


    Zhou Donghuang did not expect Lu Qinghu to be so efficient as to be able to procure all the herbs in a single night. However, from his bloodshot eyes, Zhou Donghuang knew that Lu Qinghu had gone the entire night without sleep.


    ¡°Wasn¡¯t it nine hundred thousand liang of silver for the six of you?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked calmly, refusing to accept the stack of notes that Lu Qinghu was holding out.


    ¡°The remaining hundred thousand liang is a token of respect from the Lu family to Young Master Donghuang,¡± Lu Qinghu replied humbly with a smile.


    ¡°How much are these herbs worth?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked, looking at the pile of herbs that Lu Qinghu had put down on the table.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, don¡¯t worry about the cost.¡± Lu Qinghu shook his head and waved Zhou Donghuang off. ¡°The more valuable herbs are from the treasure vaults of our three families¡­ and the rest that we bought did not cost much.¡±


    ¡°You really do know how to conduct yourself.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang gazed deeply at Lu Qinghu, and the piercing gaze made him feel as though all his thoughts were laid bare.

 Chapter 43 Joy and Sorrow

    Standing by the door of the inn and watching the carriage drawn by the ferghana horse vanish into the distance, Lu Qinghu was still in a state of shock, and it took him a long while to come to his senses.


    A lesser-grade offensive technique¡­ and a bottle of qi-gathering elixir that can help me break through the bottleneck?


    He had taken a look at the lesser-grade martial art that the youth had written out and passed to him, and it was indeed genuine.


    This confirmed that he had made the correct decision¡­ It was better to be friends than enemies with this youth.


    However, can this bottle of qi-gathering elixir really help me break through the bottleneck of level-three of Qi-gathering? If I really manage to break through, I will directly attain level-four of Qi-gathering!


    Muttering to himself, Lu Qinghu fished out a small medicine bottle from his pocket and looked at it with suspicion.


    Far from him being unwilling to believe that youth, but what the youth had told him was simply too shocking.


    He, the first among the three elite lesser families of Yunfeng prefecture, at level-three of Qi-gathering, had long ago practiced to his limit, just a step shy of level-four of Qi-gathering.


    However, it was precisely that particular step that had proven so difficult time and again.


    After such a long period of time, that step had become a bottleneck that had proved impossible to break through.


    No matter what, I have to try¡­ what if it really does work?


    Although he could not quite believe it, Lu Qinghu nevertheless hurried back to the Lu family residence and consumed the qi-gathering elixir once he got back to his room and began to practice.


    This qi-gathering elixir¡­ increases the sensitivity to qi by at least ten percent!


    After practicing for some time after consuming the qi-gathering elixir, Lu Qinghu opened his eyes, which were now filled with shock and disbelief.


    I remember¡­ even the best qi-gathering elixir formulated by the superior-level medicine master in the Imperial Court of Yunyang could only increase the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent.


    And the Lu family had no way to obtain even that standard grade of qi-gathering elixir¡­ Otherwise, I would have attained level-four of Qi-gathering long ago.


    No wonder¡­ no wonder he said that a bottle of qi-gathering elixir could help me break through the bottleneck and attain level-four of Qi-gathering. This qi-gathering elixir can increase my sensitivity to qi by forty percent!


    Lu Qinghu no longer dared to doubt Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words.


    Even using a qi-gathering elixir that increased his sensitivity to qi by twenty percent, he was fairly certain that he would be able to break through the bottleneck and attain level-four of Qi-gathering.


    Now, with a bottle of qi-gathering elixir, he might as well commit suicide by banging his head against the wall if he still could not break through.


    ¡­


    One day and night later.


    ¡°Hahahaha¡­ hahahahahaha¡­¡±


    Gales of hearty laughter coming from Lu Qinghu¡¯s room could be heard far and wide.


    Soon, Head Elder Lu Pinglan and Second Master Lu Bao of the Lu family, who both lived nearby, hurried over along with two other elders of the Lu family.


    ¡°I¡¯ve broken through and attained level-four of Qi-gathering.¡±


    Lu Qinghu had already stepped out of his room when Lu Pinglan, Lu Bao, and the others arrived in the courtyard, beaming radiantly.


    ¡°Congratulations to the patriarch!¡±


    ¡°Congratulations to Big Brother!¡±


    Lu Qinghu¡¯s words stunned Lu Pinglan and the others at first, but they recovered, and unbridled joy began to spread across their faces.


    An advancement level-four of Qi-gathering implied the birth of a preeminent family.


    From this day on, the Lu family would be a preeminent family!


    ¡°Head Elder, Second Younger Brother, please stay. Third Elder, go to the Fang family and invite the patriarch of the Fang family over. Fourth Elder, go to the Ma family and invite the new patriarch of the Ma family over.¡±


    As soon as Lu Qinghu finished speaking, the two elders left to carry out his instructions, their faces still flushed with excitement.


    From this day on, they were no longer elders of a lesser family.


    They had become elders of a preeminent family!


    ¡°Big Brother, how did you break through so suddenly? From what I know, level-three of Qi-gathering has been a bottleneck for you for many years.¡±


    Although Lu Bao rejoiced at his big brother¡¯s breakthrough, he felt that the breakthrough was extremely sudden.


    ¡°Patriarch, you haven¡¯t slept last night because you were gathering herbs for Zhou Donghuang¡­ and yesterday morning, you went to give him the herbs and money?¡±


    Lu Pinglan looked at Lu Qinghu suspiciously. ¡°Your breakthrough¡­ doesn¡¯t¡­ doesn¡¯t involve him by any chance?¡±


    ¡°Head Elder, if it doesn¡¯t involve him, why do you think I broke through at this particular time and not at any other time?¡± Lu Qinghu countered with a smile.


    Without waiting for Lu Pinglan and Lu Bao to reply, he took a piece of paper out from his pocket, passing it to them both. ¡°Have a look at this.¡±


    Lu Pinglan took the paper, and both of them were captivated by it at first glance.


    ¡°Lesser Weighted Sand Palm, a lesser-grade technique?¡±


    It took only a moment to confirm that it was indeed a lesser-grade technique that was recorded on the paper. Lu Pinglan and Lu Bao were so excited that their faces were flushed.


    ¡°Patriarch, could this be¡­?¡± Lu Pinglan looked up at Lu Qinghu and asked with some difficulty.


    She had not yet finished her question when Lu Qinghu interrupted her, ¡°Exactly! This technique is from Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    Evidently, Lu Qinghu knew what Lu Pinglan was about to ask.


    ¡°Besides that, the reason I broke through the bottleneck so smoothly in just a day and a night to attain level-four of Qi-gathering is that he gave me a bottle of qi-gathering elixir,¡± Lu Qinghu continued.


    ¡°He¡­ he even has the qi-gathering elixir formulated by the Imperial Court¡¯s superior-level medicine master that increased the sensitivity to qi by forty percent?¡± Lu Pinglan was surprised.


    A qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by forty percent?


    Lu Qinghu snorted at what Lu Pinglan had said because Young Master Donghuang had not given him merely a qi-gathering elixir that increased his sensitivity to qi. However, he did not elaborate on this because he knew revealing too much would not be wise.


    A lesser-grade technique was fine; it was the entitlement of preeminent families.


    A preeminent family that did not have martial art techniques could send a level-four adept of Qi-gathering to present himself to the Regent to request for a lesser-grade technique.


    Of course, they could only ask for a lesser-grade offensive technique or a lesser-grade defensive technique.


    Lesser-grade swiftness techniques were only given to preeminent families that had level-five adepts of Qi-gathering.


    A qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by forty percent was a different matter.


    If this was exposed, even the Imperial Court would take notice.


    It was a truly magnanimous gesture of grace that Young Master Donghuang gave me such a precious bottle of qi-gathering elixir¡­ I absolutely will not spread the word that he can produce such a high-quality qi-gathering elixir because it would endanger him.


    This was what Lu Qinghu thought.


    He did not even intend to tell his own younger brother, Lu Bao, about this, never mind Head Elder Lu Pinglan.


    ¡°From this day on, any one of the Lu family who dares to offend Young Master Donghuang, no matter if he is of the direct lineage or a side branch¡­ kill them without mercy!¡±


    Lu Qinghu declared solemnly in the presence of Lu Pinglan and Lu Bao.


    ¡­


    The Lu family had advanced to the status of a preeminent family because of their newly minted level-four adept of Qi-gathering. The whole Lu family compound was gaudily decorated to celebrate the occasion, and everyone was in a festive mood.


    The mood in the preeminent Li family, however, was at the other extreme.


    This was because Second Young Master Li Pingyun and Ninth Elder Li Yan were dead.


    Li Yan¡¯s death alone would not have had a huge impact because he was after all just a level-three adept of Qi-gathering, and he did not have the talent to advance to level-four of Qi-gathering.


    It was entirely different for Li Pingyun.


    As the son of Patriarch Li Jingyu of the Li family, Li Pingyun¡¯s talent was prodigious, and he was certain to attain level-four of Qi-gathering if all went as planned.


    Besides, Li Pingyun was destined to be the next patriarch of the Li family.


    Now, he was dead.


    ¡°Who did this?¡±


    In the spacious front courtyard of the Li family mansion, the patriarch of the Li family Li, Jingyu stared at the curly-whiskered man kneeling on the ground before him. The iciness of his voice made it feel like the temperature had dropped several degrees.


    Li Jingyu was a good looking middle-aged man of average build dressed in a green robe. He had on a threatening expression.


    Many elders of the Li family were present as well, looking extremely foul. Killing the second young master of the Li family was akin to giving them a slap in the face, and this had shamed them greatly!


    There were several junior Li family members in attendance as well.


    ¡°Second Young Master¡­ has been killed?¡±


    Li Rui was among the Li family juniors, looking lost and pale-faced, and unable to believe that it was all real.


    How could Second Young Master be dead? She was still hoping to pair up with the second young master, and rise like a phoenix to the top.


    Now the second young master was dead, and her dreams with him.


    ¡°Father!!¡±


    With a gut-wrenching cry, a figure dashed to the already decomposing corpse of Li Yan. It was Li Yan¡¯s son, Li Hui.


    ¡°Patriarch, it¡¯s¡­ it was Zhou Donghuang! It was the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town, Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    The curly-whiskered man trembled as he said, ¡°He killed Second Young Master and Ninth Elder some time ago, but because he was headed towards the prefecture capital, I did not dare to return lest I run into him.¡±


    ¡°Although I could have sneaked back on my own to report this, I was afraid that the bodies of Second Young Master and Ninth Elder would be eaten by wild beasts.¡±


    ¡°Today, I saw his carriage leave from outside the city gates, so I finally dared to return with their bodies,¡± the curly-whiskered man continued.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang?!¡±


    Li Rui and Li Hui were stunned speechless when the heard the curly-whiskered man mention Zhou Donghuang¡¯s name.


    It was a while before they recovered and shouted in unison, ¡°It can¡¯t be!!¡±


    Their shout succeeded in drawing the attention of everyone present.


    ¡°Why can¡¯t it be?¡± Li Jingyu looked at Li Hui with a cold and piercing gaze.


    ¡°Patriarch, the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town, Zhou Donghuang, is a martial invalid¡­ he could not possibly have the ability to kill my father and Second Young Master,¡± Li Hui said. ¡°Moreover, even if he was not a martial invalid¡­ do you think a seventeen-year-old youth could have the ability to kill both my father and Second Young Master?¡±


    ¡°Patriarch!¡± Seeing suspicion in Li Jingyu¡¯s eyes as he considered what Li Hui had said, the curly-whiskered man began to panic.


    ¡°I swear to heaven, it was Zhou Donghuang himself who killed Second Young Master and Ninth Elder with his own hands!¡±

 Chapter 44 The New Qi-Gathering Elixir

    January 15, the year 1228 of the Ziyun Era.


    Night was falling as the carriage drawn by the ferghana horse entered Qingshan town, attracting the attention of a crowd of passers-by.


    Many people recognized the man driving the carriage as the chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant, Fu.


    ¡°Chief Steward Fu of Yunxuan Restaurant has been gone for more than ten days with Young Master Donghuang¡­ now, they have returned?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s a long time¡­ could they have gone to the prefecture capital?¡±


    ¡°They must have gone to the prefecture capital. If the matter with the three elite lesser families is not resolved, Yunxuan Restaurant cannot open for business, so if he wants to resume business, he definitely has to visit the prefecture capital to discuss the matter with them.¡±


    ¡°How could they resolve it through discussion? The sons of those three lesser families were all maimed by Young Master Donghuang. Even if he gave away Yunxuan Restaurant, they might not be placated. Moreover, Young Master Donghuang is strong-willed and not someone who would give in.¡±


    ¡°I agree, even if Young Master Donghuang went to the prefecture capital, he would not have visited the three elite lesser families¡­ he probably went to look for Elder Zhao San.¡±


    ¡°That should be the case. If Elder Zhao San agrees to step in, this matter will be easily resolved.¡±


    ¡°Up till now, I still cannot understand this: Why would Elder Zhao San give Yunxuan Restaurant to Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    ¡­


    Amidst the speculation of the people of Qingshan town, the carriage driven by Fu returned to the compound behind Yunxuan Restaurant.


    ¡°Mother.¡±


    As soon as he reached home, Zhou Donghuang went to look for Lin Lan. Coincidentally, she was not practicing but was in the back courtyard familiarizing herself with martial art techniques.


    ¡°Donghuang is back.¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang return, Lin Lan¡¯s focused expression loosened up, and she broke out into a radiant smile.


    ¡°Mother, the Star-Stepping Footwork you were practicing already shows the basic form, I think you¡¯ll be able to master it completely before long,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with an encouraging smile.


    ¡°Mother knows her own ability, it¡¯s far below Freezing Wind¡¯s.¡±


    As she said this, she seemed to remember something and looked sternly at Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Donghuang, I wish for you to teach me how to exert my maximum muscular strength¡­ I¡¯ve just recovered my level of practice after switching to the Technique of Everlasting Youth, and even practicing the two techniques you have given me, I can only match an ordinary level-two adept in the short term. With maximum muscular strength, my ability could match an ordinary level-three adept.¡±


    Lin Lan looked expectantly at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°He¡­ told you everything?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang frowned. He had not thought that Freezing Wind would tell his mother about how he could exert his maximum muscular strength.


    ¡°Don¡¯t blame him, Mother forced it out of him.¡±


    Lin Lan continued, ¡°Two days ago, that fourth elder, Lin Tonghong, appeared, insisting that I hand over Yunxuan Restaurant. In the end, he was defeated by Freezing Wind and left with his tail between his legs. It was then that I realized how powerful Freezing Wind was. From what I knew, he had not even attained level-two of Qi-gathering before he decided to follow you. I badgered him constantly, and he finally told me that his ability was all due to you.¡±


    Lin Lan looked at Zhou Donghuang with a fire in her eyes.


    ¡°Donghuang, what Freezing Wind can endure, your mother can endure as well.¡±


    ¡°Mother,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a sigh. ¡°That kind of method is only suitable for men, and is closely dependent on the male physiology¡­ you are not a man, so it would be useless even if you attempted that method.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Lin Lan looked suspiciously at Zhou Donghuang, not believing him entirely. She stared at him as though trying to make out any traces of the lie she suspected.


    In any case, Zhou Donghuang, with his thousand years¡¯ worth of experience, had long ago mastered the art of controlling his emotions and expressions. How could Lin Lan possibly be sure that he was lying?


    What Freezing Wind had endured was not something that anyone could endure. It was not that he believed Lin Lan would not be able to endure such pain, but because it was unnecessary.


    After chatting with Lin Lan for a while, Zhou Donghuang left the back courtyard and returned to his room.


    Not long after, Freezing Wind came looking for him.


    ¡°There are some things I don¡¯t want my mother to know because she will get ideas¡­ in the future, I hope this won¡¯t happen again.¡±


    Sitting straight and rigid at the table and staring coldly at Freezing Wind, Zhou Donghuang scared him so badly that he fell to his knees and prostrated himself with a thud.


    ¡°Young Master, I was wrong, Freezing Wind guarantees that it will not happen again.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression softened, and he asked calmly, ¡°According to my mother, that fourth elder of the Lin family of the prefecture capital, Lin Tonghong, came over, and you defeated him?¡±


    ¡°Young Master, I am here precisely because of this.¡± Freezing Wind grew serious and said, ¡°That Lin Tonghong, although I managed to defeat him, I used everything I had. His ability should be considered strong among level-three adepts.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was not surprised that Freezing Wind mentioned this.


    As the fourth elder of the preeminent Lin family of the prefecture capital, Lin Tonghong¡¯s ability would naturally be above average, greater than that of the ninth elder of the Li family Li Yan whom Zhou Donghuang had killed.


    Of course, he had also expected Freezing Wind to be able to defeat Lin Tonghong.


    The level of his ability now was such that within Yunfeng prefecture, none below level-four of Qi-gathering could match him.


    ¡°I wanted to kill him, but my lady stopped me.¡± There was a cold gleam in Freezing Wind¡¯s eyes as he said this. ¡°Young Master, I can ride the ferghana horse, catch up to him and kill him before he reaches the prefecture capital. He arrived in a carriage, and I recognize the driver of the carriage¡­ I can identify the carriage he is in.¡±


    Freezing Wind had come to find Zhou Donghuang to ask if Zhou Donghuang wanted him to kill Lin Tonghong.


    ¡°No need.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head, and a cold look flashed across his eyes. ¡°Even if he wants a clean death, I¡¯m not quite willing to grant that to him.¡±


    In his view, killing Lin Tonghong would be an act of charity. He intended to toy with Lin Tonghong, and make him pay the price of misappropriating the formula with his misery!


    ¡°Young Master has a grudge against him?¡±


    Freezing Wind was stunned.


    ¡°A grudge? Hardly worth calling it a grudge,¡± Zhou Donghuang snorted derisively.


    Immediately after, Zhou Donghuang instructed Freezing Wind to help him retrieve some herbs from the storehouse. He was going to formulate an even better qi-gathering elixir.


    With the herbs that Lu Qinghu helped gather, he could formulate an even better qi-gathering elixir, and his rate of practice would be boosted.


    Several hours after Freezing Wind had retrieved the herbs, Zhou Donghuang had formulated a hundred new bottles of qi-gathering elixir.


    The new qi-gathering elixir could increase the sensitivity to qi by sixty percent!


    The herbs brought back by the grand patriarch of the Qin family, Qin Yi, had only allowed Zhou Donghuang to formulate a qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity by forty percent.


    The new qi-gathering elixir represented a fifty percent increase in effectiveness over the previous one!


    ¡°With this new qi-gathering elixir, I will attain level-three of Qi-gathering within three months!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang lips curled upwards in a smile.


    When Freezing Wing received the new qi-gathering elixir from Zhou Donghuang, he was dumbstruck. ¡°Increase the sensitivity to qi¡­ by sixty percent?¡±


    Earlier when Zhou Donghuang gave him the qi-gathering elixir that increased sensitivity by forty percent, he thought he might have been dreaming.


    To put this in context, the best qi-gathering elixir of the entire Yunyang country could only increase the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent.


    ¡°Next, I have a task for you.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang gave Freezing Wind some instructions, which he then left to carry out, riding his ferghana horse and leaving Qingshan town that very night.


    After Freezing Wind left, Zhou Donghuang went looking for Fu to pass on the technique of the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen to him.


    Of course, he would only pass on the portion that was appropriate for the stage Fu was at. He would pass on the rest slowly when Fu reached the appropriate level of practice.


    Fu¡¯s martial talent was indeed ordinary, but nurtured by Zhou Donghuang, even a wild chicken would one day become a phoenix¡­


    Zhou Donghuang was very confident of this.


    ¡°Thank you, Young Master.¡±


    Fu kowtowed repeatedly in gratitude.


    ¡°Practice well¡­ I hope you will be able to catch up to Freezing Wind soon.¡±


    Leaving Fu with ten bottles of the newest qi-gathering elixir, Zhou Donghuang left Fu¡¯s room and returned to his own room to practice.


    His expectations of Fu were high as well, or he would not have passed the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen on to him.


    The Fiery Thunder Training Regimen and Way of the Thousand-Star Sword were top techniques among all the civilizations of the universe.


    Upon returning to Qingshan town this time, Zhou Donghuang put his heart into practicing, rushing to level-three of Qi-gathering.


    However, two days later, he was interrupted by Fu as he was immersed in practice.


    ¡°Young Master, the patriarch of the Lu family is here!¡±


    ¡°Lu Qinghu?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was surprised. ¡°The day we agreed upon¡­ is still four days away, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Leaving the room and walking to the front courtyard, Zhou Donghuang saw not only Lu Qinghu but also Fang Jishan of the Fang family, and the man from the Ma family he had last seen in the receiving chamber of the Lu family.


    Lu Qinghu still looked thin and weak, but his eyes shone with light and looked full of energy.


    ¡°You¡¯ve broken through?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked at Lu Qinghu, smiling casually.


    ¡°Many thanks to Young Master Donghuang for the new lease on life.¡±


    Lu Qinghu bowed deeply as he thanked Zhou Donghuang with sincerity. Although he had attained level-four of Qi-gathering, he was extremely humble before Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°The patriarch of the Fang family Fang Jishan acknowledges Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    ¡°The patriarch of the Ma family Ma Dongfeng acknowledges Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    Just then, the two people standing behind Lu Qinghu bowed deeply and paid their respects to Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, this is the family treasure of the Fang family that has been handed down six generations, an ice jade hairpin made of a hundred-year-old piece of ice jade. It clears the mind and soothes the emotions, and this is a gift is from the Fang family to the mistress,¡± Fang Jishan said respectfully as he presented an intricate wooden box.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, the Ma family does not have a treasure like the ice jade hairpin of the Fang family¡­ these notes are worth two hundred thousand liang of silver. We hope that Young Master Donghuang will accept this small token.¡±


    Ma Dongfeng took a stack of notes out from his pocket and presented them to Zhou Donghuang.

 Chapter 45 Reopening for Business

    Seeing Zhou Donghuang looking silently at Fang Jishan and Ma Dongfeng for a long while, Lu Qinghu spoke up, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, please accept these¡­ they are doing this to thank you for the palm technique, Lesser Weighted Sand Palm.¡±


    Evidently, Lu Qinghu had shared the technique that Zhou Donghuang had given him several days ago with the Fang and Ma Families.


    ¡°Fu.¡±


    At Zhou Donghuang¡¯s word, Fu, who was standing to the side, came forward to receive the gifts from Fang Jishan and Ma Dongfeng.


    ¡°Patriarch Fang, Patriarch Ma, go and organize the people we brought here¡­ Young Master Donghuang and I will follow shortly,¡± Lu Qinghu told them both.


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    They acknowledged and greeted Zhou Donghuang respectfully before leaving.


    Seeing Lu Qinghu attain level-four of Qi-gathering after currying favor with Zhou Donghuang and leading the Lu family into the ranks of the preeminent families, both Fang Jishan and Ma Dongfeng were naturally envious.


    Because of this, they now tried to curry favor with Zhou Donghuang. However, they both understood clearly that they occupied a lower position in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes compared to Lu Qinghu.


    Now, whether as an indication of Lu Qinghu¡¯s strength or out of concern for their image in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes, they did not dare linger even though they would have liked to stay and cultivate a relationship with Zhou Donghuang.


    Soon, only Zhou Donghuang, Fu, and Lu Qinghu remained in the spacious front yard.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I know ordinary objects are nothing to you¡­ in the future, if you need any errands to be done, just say the word and I, Lu Qinghu and even the entire Lu family will not hesitate to be at your service!¡±


    Lu Qinghu stated this respectfully to Zhou Donghuang and effectively put his family at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s disposal.


    ¡°Just because I gave you a lesser-grade technique and a bottle of qi-gathering elixir that helped you attain level-four of Qi-gathering¡­ you would put your family with its newly-attained status of a preeminent family at my disposal?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked searchingly as he looked over Lu Qinghu casually.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, it is thanks to you that the Lu family has become a preeminent family¡­ I, Lu Qinghu, clearly acknowledge that without your qi-gathering elixir, I would never have attained level-four of Qi-gathering in this life,¡± Lu Qinghu said earnestly.


    Practicing martial arts became more difficult as one progressed, and it was especially difficult to progress to the higher levels.


    Lu Qinghu¡¯s father, the grand patriarch of the Lu family, had attained level-three of Qi-gathering at about the same age as him, but he had never managed to attain level-four of Qi-gathering for the rest of his life.


    His father¡¯s greatest regret was not being able to obtain a bottle of qi-gathering elixir that could increase his sensitivity to qi by twenty percent. He was highly confident that he would have been able to attain level-four of Qi-gathering and lead the Lu family into the ranks of a preeminent family if he had that qi-gathering elixir.


    Lu Qinghu knew well that without Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gift of the qi-gathering elixir, he would probably go down the same road as his father.


    ¡°That lesser-grade technique was a gift to you¡­ why did you share it with the Fang and Ma families?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang raised the teacup on the table to his lips and questioned Lu Qinghu as he sipped tea.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, those herbs were from our three families¡­ therefore I felt they should also have a share in the lesser-grade technique.¡±


    Lu Qinghu bowed in apology as he spoke. ¡°However, I did not have Young Master Donghuang¡¯s permission to share it with them, which was presumptuous, and I beg Young Master Donghuang¡¯s forgiveness.¡±


    ¡°And this was probably a show for me?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked intently at Lu Qinghu, his piercing gaze seeming to bore into his mind and leaving him with an awkward expression on his face.


    Indeed it was.


    The main reason for doing so was indeed to put on a show for Zhou Donghuang.


    He intended to use his actions to send the message that he was someone who did not forget those who had helped him.


    ¡°You are a clever man,¡± Zhou Donghuang said, ¡°otherwise, I would not have given you that bottle of qi-gathering elixir that day before I left the prefecture capital. After all, if the effectiveness of that bottle of qi-gathering elixir became known, it would have been enough to shake the whole country of Yunyang. You probably have not told anyone else of the effectiveness of that bottle of qi-gathering elixir, have you?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked leisurely, staring at Lu Qinghu.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, it was precisely because I knew how valuable and special that bottle of qi-gathering elixir was that I did not dare tell anyone else of its effectiveness.¡± Lu Qinghu nodded hurriedly and continued, ¡°Including my own brother Lu Bao, to whom I said that Young Master Donghuang had given me a bottle of qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent. A qi-gathering elixir that increase the sensitivity to qi by forty percent¡­ if that became known, the entire country of Yunyang would be in upheaval.¡±


    Lu Qinghu¡¯s expression turned serious.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang has given me a new lease on life; I could not possibly do anything to hurt you.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded in satisfaction, then looked at Fu and instructed him, ¡°Fu, prepare ten bottles of the qi-gathering elixir that increase the sensitivity to qi by forty percent as a gift to the patriarch of the Lu family.¡±


    ¡°At once, Young Master.¡±


    Fu left to carry out the instructions.


    Ten bottles?


    Lu Qinghu¡¯s eyes lit up, and his breathing quickened. He had assumed that the supply of that qi-gathering elixir was limited.


    He never imagined that Zhou Donghuang could give him ten bottles just like that.


    What he did not know was that those bottles of qi-gathering elixir were merely the rejects of what Zhou Donghuang had, and even Fu did not use them.


    ¡°Many thanks to Young Master Donghuang,¡± Lu Qinghu said respectfully.


    ¡°There¡¯s one thing more I need you to do.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang took a piece of paper from his pocket and passed it to Lu Qinghu.


    ¡°This is a formula for the qi-gathering elixir with the same effectiveness of those on the market¡­ with this qi-gathering elixir, the Lu family can monopolize the whole market for qi-gathering elixirs in Yunfeng prefecture.


    Monopolize the market for qi-gathering elixirs in Yunfeng prefecture?


    Lu Qinghu took the formula, only half-believing it. But just one glance and a shocked expression came over his face.


    ¡°Even such cheap herbs can be used to formulate a qi-gathering elixir that increases the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent?¡±


    The formula for the same qi-gathering elixir on the market was no secret, and any family above the status of a lesser family could petition the regent for it.


    However, several of the key ingredients for that qi-gathering elixir were relatively rare and valuable and therefore expensive.


    The cost of these herbs¡­ the qi-gathering elixirs made with them are equally effective as those commonly available qi-gathering elixirs sold on the market, but the cost is not even one-tenth of what it was.


    Lu Qinghu stared in stupefaction at Zhou Donghuang, not daring to believe that it was possible to formulate the qi-gathering elixir on the market with such cheap herbs.


    ¡°I have provided the formula, and I won¡¯t ask for too large a share. You¡¯ll bear the costs of the herbs and manpower, but I want half of the profits,¡± Zhou Donghuang said.


    Although Zhou Donghuang knew Lu Qinghu would not have objected if he had asked for seven or eight-tenths of the profits; that was not his style of doing things.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, two-tenths of the profit is enough for the Lu family¡­ this business is a gold mine, and we will definitely make a fortune from it,¡± Lu Qinghu replied.


    Even with two-tenths of the profit, the Lu family would still make a significant amount, far exceeding what they could earn from selling the commonly available qi-gathering elixirs. This was because they could monopolize the market for qi-gathering elixirs in all of Yunfeng prefecture.


    ¡°When I say half, I mean half. If you don¡¯t agree, I¡¯ll get someone else,¡± Zhou Donghuang said casually.


    ¡°Qinghu thanks Young Master Donghuang on behalf of the Lu family.¡±


    Lu Qinghu bowed once again in thanks, with respect and gratitude in his eyes.


    ¡°Have you brought all the servant girls and waiters like I requested?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked Lu Qinghu.


    The main purpose of the last trip to the prefecture capital had been to make it possible for Yunxuan Restaurant to reopen so that Lin Lan would not worry continuously about it.


    ¡°They¡¯re here, they¡¯re here, just outside.¡± Lu Qinghu nodded eagerly.


    Very soon, with the servant girls and waiters that the Lu, Fang, and Ma families had brought, Yunxuan Restaurant was ready to reopen. Announcements were made that Yunxuan Restaurant would reopen the next day.


    When the people of Qingshan town found out that the new servant girls and waiters were from the Lu, Fang, and Ma families of the prefecture capital, they all assumed that Yunxuan Restaurant had a new owner.


    It was only when they saw Zhou Donghuang in person, and the patriarchs of the Lu, Fang, and Ma families standing respectfully behind him that they realized Yunxuan Restaurant had actually not changed hands.


    No one suspected that the patriarchs of the three families could be impostors.


    In Yunfeng prefecture, the families and individuals with more power than these three families would not bother impersonating them, and those families and individuals who were weaker did not dare impersonate them.


    The chefs from Yunxuan Restaurant returned the same day, and many of the servant girls and waiters who heard the news returned as well.


    Yunxuan Restaurant reopened for business smoothly on the second day, and because everything was sold at half price, the threshold of Yunxuan Restaurant seemed as though it would be broken as it was trampled underfoot by the unceasing stream of customers.


    ¡°Farewell, Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    Lu Qinghu, Fang Jishan and Ma Dongfeng bid Zhou Donghuang farewell on the evening of the first day of Yunxuan Restaurant¡¯s reopening.


    Lu Qinghu was holding a brocaded box, and his face was flushed with energy as he rode his ferghana horse. In the brocaded box were the ten bottles of qi-gathering elixir that Zhou Donghuang had given him.


    With this qi-gathering elixir, his level of practice would increase rapidly.


    The smooth reopening of Yunxuan Restaurant had surprised many residents of Qingshan town, especially the three lesser families of Qingshan town, who were completely dumbfounded.


    ¡°That youth is obviously a dragon, but you all treated him like a worm¡­ now you¡¯re regretting it, aren¡¯t you?¡±


    In the Qin family mansion, the grand patriarch of the Qin family, Qin Yi, sighed heavily as he looked at the patriarch of the Qin family, Qin Long, and the first young master of the Qin family, Qin Fei, kneeling before him.


    The Qin family had good relations with that youth at first and was hopeful of climbing to a higher level. Now, that opportunity had been ruined by the Qin family themselves.


    Meanwhile, in the Wang family mansion, Patriarch Red Crane Wang of the Wang family was full of resentment.


    ¡°That swine, how did he make the patriarchs of the three elite lesser families bow and scrape before him?¡±


    ¡°Big Brother.¡±


    Just then, the second elder of the Wang family, Bamboo Crane Wang, smiled bitterly and said, ¡°I just received news¡­ the Lu family of the prefecture capital is no longer a lesser family. The patriarch of the Lu family, Lu Qinghu, has attained level-four of Qi-gathering, and the Lu family has now advanced to the status of a preeminent family. That is to say¡­ Patriarch Lu Qinghu of the Lu family, who came to Qingshan town these last two days to support the reopening of Yunxuan Restaurant is already a level-four adept.¡±

 Chapter 46 Level Three of the Gathered Qi

    ¡°A level-four adept?¡± Hearing Bamboo Crane Wang¡¯s words, Red Crane Wang was stunned and mumbled to himself, ¡°Who on earth is that little brat?¡±


    A level-four adept was a giant anywhere in Yunfeng county and could support a preeminent family. Someone like that actually traveled for miles to Qingshan town just to witness the opening of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s Yunxuan Restaurant?


    ¡°I think no matter who he is, all we have to know is that he is someone we cannot afford to cross.¡± Bamboo Crane Wang laughed bitterly. ¡°A level-four adept whose own child was crippled by Zhou Donghuang, but he is still so respectful to Zhou Donghuang¡ªthat says a lot.¡±


    ¡°That is the Lu family chief, Lu Qinghu! That the Lu, Ma and Fang families could even have footing beneath the preeminent families of the prefecture capital was largely due to Lu Qinghu.¡± Bamboo Crane Wang, being a basic-level medicine master, naturally knew how powerful Lu Qinghu was after spending so much time in the prefecture capital.


    ¡­


    At the Zhong family household.


    ¡°How could that be?!¡± Zhong Gang, Zhong Yi, and Zhong Xiu had gathered once again and were looking at each other in disbelief.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang crippled the son of the chief of one of the top three lesser families, and not only did they not try to get revenge, but they even sent him servant girls and clerks? And they even came from thousands of miles away to Qingshan town to support the opening of the restaurant?¡±


    This piece of news was incredible to all three of them. It was as if they were in a dream.


    ¡°All three of you are here? Great!¡± A burly middle-aged man with a ferocious face walked into the courtyard, wearing a grey robe.


    ¡°Father.¡± The three of them greeted the man who was none other than Zhong Yun, the chief of the Zhong family.


    ¡°I heard the three of you had some run-ins with the owner of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang?¡± Zhong Yun glared at the three of them as his face darkened.


    ¡°Father, we¡­ were just joking with him,¡± Zhong Gang stuttered.


    Before Zhong Yi and Zhong Xiu could say anything, Zhong Yun said coldly, ¡°From today onwards, whenever you see him, you better greet him respectfully as ¡®Young Master Dong Huang¡± and be as meek as you can be. If I find out that any of you were disrespectful to him, don¡¯t blame me for being nasty!¡± With that, Zhong Yun turned and left, leaving Zhong Gang, Zhong Yi and Zhong Xiu speechless.


    ¡°I don¡¯t understand¡­ how could a martial invalid suddenly rise to such greatness?¡± Zhong Xiu spit out angrily. To her, it felt as if someone whom she used to trample on had suddenly turned the tables on her.


    ¡­


    After the new opening of Yunxuan Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang regained some peace in his life, and he spent all his time practicing. During this period, the Li family that Zhou Donghuang had imagined would cause him trouble did not turn up at all. It was as if they had completely disappeared without a trace.


    But after thinking about it, it made sense to him. Lu Qinghu, who had risen to level-four of the gathered qi and led the Lu family into becoming a preeminent family, had come all the way to Qingshan town to support the new opening of Yunxuan Restaurant. It was as if he had completely forgotten that Zhou Donghuang had crippled his child. The Li family would surely have heard of this news. This must have been enough to make the Li family wary of him.


    On 31 January 1228 of the Ziyun era, Zhou Donghuang successfully rose to level-three of the gathered qi, becoming a level-three adept with the strength of three bulls.


    Of course, the strength of three bulls was only the strength from his internal qi. His extraordinary, pure strength was more than 500kg, and his current strength was similar to that of any level-four adept. With various martial art techniques, he was confident in facing even a level-five adept.


    ¡°Mother, have you ever thought of returning to the Lin family in the prefecture capital?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked Lin Lan. With his current strength, he could easily stake a piece of land for himself in the prefecture capital. But he knew that his mother could not forgo her identity as a member of the Lin family.


    ¡°Donghuang, the chief had ordered that I, Lin Lan, am not to step foot into the Lin family without an order from the family.¡± Lin Lan smiled sadly. The Lin family of the prefecture capital was her home; why would she leave her home if she had the choice? Because she had been born with no martial art talent, she had been sent to Qingshan town by the family to set up and run the guild. In the eyes of the Lin family, she was only a tool for making money, and they would not allow her to rest until they had exhausted her value.


    ¡°Mother, the Lin family chief set such an order because he does not know that after you revealed the Lin family¡¯s blood staunching elixir prescription, you had given back an even better one to the Lin family.¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes flashed. ¡°This time, I¡¯ll go back with you and clear your name. As long as I clear your name, even the Lin family chief will have no reason not to let a member of the Lin family return home.¡±


    As a level-three adept, Zhou Donghuang had already planned to leave Qingshan town and set up their home in the city. That would be much more convenient in all aspects as compared to Qingshan town.


    ¡°Donghuang, are you confident?¡± Lin Lan was moved, but she could not help but worry. ¡°If not, I can still wait¡­¡±


    ¡°Mother, if I had no confidence, I would not be talking to you about this.¡± Zhou Donghuang laughed.


    ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll follow you.¡± Lin Lan¡¯s eyes lit up as the fog that had covered her heart completely dissipated.


    Zhou Donghuang instructed Fu to make the preparations. Now, Fu was busy practicing and had handed the position of shopkeeper to the leader of the servant girls and clerks from the three big families¡ªa lady named Lu Qing from the Lu side of the family. She was very capable and meticulous.


    Besides practicing, Fu spent the rest of his time in the backyard behind Yunxuan Restaurant waiting on Donghuang¡¯s instructions.


    ¡°Fu, you should be close to reaching level-one of the gathered qi, right?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked as Fu was about to leave. Although Fu was of ordinary talent, he still laid the foundations early, and with the help of the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen and the qi-gathering elixir that multiplied his sensitivity to qi by six, Fu should reach level-one of the gathered qi quickly.


    ¡°Young Master, I just achieved it yesterday.¡± Fu smiled shyly.


    ¡°Not bad.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded. ¡°To make such progress in such a short time means that you have been working very hard without slacking¡­alright, you go ahead and prepare, we shall leave Qingshan town tomorrow.¡±


    Fu was surprised to be praised by Zhou Donghuang. As he left to make the preparations, he walked with a spring in his step.


    Before they left the next day, Zhou Donghuang made a trip to the Qin family household. Although the Qin family elder chief, Qin Yi, and the chief, Qin Long, greeted him at the door, he treated both of them nonchalantly.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to find Xiao Yu.¡±


    Under the watchful eyes of Qin Yi and Qin Long, Zhou Donghuang found Qin Xiaoyu, whose father, Qin Zhen, also happened to be there.


    ¡°Brother Donghuang, you¡¯re leaving Qingshan town?¡± Hearing that Zhou Donghuang was leaving the next day, the little girl broke into tears. ¡°Brother Donghuang, could you not leave? If you do, Xiaoyu will not be able to see you again.¡±


    ¡°Silly girl, you can go to the city anytime you want to see me. Just look for the Yunxuan Restaurant shopkeeper, Lu Qing to arrange it,¡± Zhou Donghuang said as he pet Xiaoyu¡¯s head. He smiled, ¡°I will get Fu to inform Lu Qing.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Qin Xiaoyu stopped crying.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t believe me, you can at least believe your father.¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at Qin Zhen and smiled. ¡°Uncle Zhen, if Xiaoyu wants to go to the prefecture capital, please follow her.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Young Master Donghuang,¡± Qin Zhen answered respectfully.


    ¡°Uncle Zhen, please don¡¯t be so restrained around me. There¡¯s no need to call me Young Master, just call me Donghuang just like old times.¡±Zhou Donghuang shook his head.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master Donghuang,¡± Qin Zhen replied again, but Zhou Donghuang insisted that he correct that. He knew that since the Lu, Ma and Fang family chiefs had come to Qingshan town, his position in Qin Zhen¡¯s eyes was now completely different.


    After bidding farewell to Qin Xiaoyu, he was seen out personally by Qin Yi and Qin Long. The whole time, Zhou Donghuang did not mention to Qin Yi and Qin Long to take care of Qin Xiaoyu. With his current position in the eyes of Qin Yi and Qin Long, they ought to know what to do without him saying anything.


    ¡­


    On the dawn of 1 February 1228 of the Ziyun era, a horse-drawn carriage left Qingshan town for Yunfeng county of the prefecture capital.


    Since she left Qingshan town, Lin Lan kept pulling open the curtains in the carriage, watching the town become smaller and smaller until it finally disappeared in the distance. With that, she drew the curtains back and sighed heavily.


    ¡°Mother, we can come back anytime you wish to in the future,¡± Zhou Donghuang comforted her.


    ¡°Actually there¡¯s nothing much to reminisce on¡­ after all, the Magnolia Guild is gone. I just wanted to take a few more looks at this town where I stayed for ten years,¡± Lin Lan smiled as she shook her head.


    ¡°Donghuang, what about Freezing Wind? I haven¡¯t seen him since you came back from the city half a month ago.¡± Lin Lan still had yet to see Freezing Wind when they went to the city this time. She frowned. ¡°Did you drive him away because he told me about that matter?¡±


    ¡°Impossible.¡± Zhou Donghuang smiled as he shook his head. ¡°Mother, I sent him out to settle some things. Once he¡¯s done, he¡¯ll come find us when he realizes that we¡¯ve left for the city.¡±

 Chapter 47 Back to the Lin Family

    5 February 1228 of the Ziyun era.


    As night fell, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s horse carriage entered the capital city of Yunfeng county. Within the carriage, Lin Lan pulled open the curtains as she gazed at the hustle and bustle along the streets and alleys of the capital. Her eyes seemed to be filled with emotion. ¡°Donghuang, look at that street. I used to love eating the candied haws from an old lady¡¯s stall at the end of that street.¡±


    ¡°Donghuang, that old man¡¯s roast stall has been open for more than twenty years.¡±


    ¡°Donghuang¡­¡±


    As they passed through the streets of the city, Lin Lan introduced them as if she were showing off her family treasures. Zhou Donghuang listened patiently, nodding and smiling.


    ¡°Young Master, we¡¯re going to the Lu family first?¡± Fu asked from outside the carriage.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied. He said to Lin Lan, ¡°Mother, it¡¯s late today, we shall rest for the night at the Lu family household. Tomorrow, we¡¯ll go to the Lin family together.¡±


    ¡°To the Lu family? Won¡¯t that be too troublesome?¡± Lin Lan frowned. ¡°Shall we find a guest inn for the night instead?¡±


    ¡°Mother, don¡¯t worry. Lu Qinghu can¡¯t wait for me to trouble him.¡± Zhou Donghuang laughed.


    Just as he had predicted, when Lu Qinghu knew of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s arrival, he came out immediately to welcome him. Alongside him was the Lu family head elder, Lu Pinglan, and the second elder, Lu Bao.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang.¡± Lu Qinghu and the two of them bowed deeply to Zhou Donghuang, and they hurriedly bowed in greeting to Lin Lan. ¡°Madam.¡±


    ¡°Uh¡­¡± Lin Lan was not used to this. Not long ago, she had learned that Lu Qinghu had reached grade four of the gathered qi, leading the Lu family to the ranks of a preeminent family. Lu Qinghu¡¯s present status in Yanshan county was similar to that of the Lin family chief. Yet such a figure was now bowing to her?


    It was then that she realized that her son¡¯s capabilities had far exceeded her imagination.


    Lu Qinghu arranged for two large adjacent courtyards for Zhou Donghuang and his party. Each courtyard had a few rooms. Lin Lan and Granny Lian would stay in one courtyard, while Zhou Donghuang and Fu would stay in another.


    ¡°Son, kneel and admit your mistake to Young Master Donghuang.¡± Lu Qinghu brought his son, Lu Yuan, to see Zhou Donghuang. Although Lu Yuan¡¯s leg had been joined back together, he still needed a crutch to walk.


    As the old saying went, injured muscles and broken bones take a hundred days to heal. Later, Fu had been compassionate enough to find a doctor to help him join Lu Yuan¡¯s leg back together, but he could still barely walk and could no longer exert power.


    ¡°No need.¡± Just as the pale Lu Yuan was about to kneel down on Lu Qinghu¡¯s orders, Zhou Donghuang stopped him. ¡°If you kneel using this leg that has not even healed, even I will hardly be able to heal it.¡±


    ¡°Heal?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words seemed like a bolt of lightning that lit up Lu Yuan¡¯s dim eyes. He asked, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, you¡­ you can heal my leg completely?¡±


    After he had returned, Lu Yuan had looked up an intermediate-level doctor, but that doctor could only assure that he would be able to walk like a normal person. Lu Yuan still wouldn¡¯t be able to use his strength. For a adept, if one leg could not exert power, it was no different from being an invalid.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang.¡± Lu Qinghu was also excited. His son¡¯s leg could be healed completely?


    Zhou Donghuang said evenly, ¡°Not just your leg, even your father¡¯s arm can be healed.¡±


    The last two times he had seen Lu Qinghu, his broken arm was still in a plaster cast, but now the cast had been taken off. The right arm which he had joined back together after Zhou Donghuang had cut it off would seem stiff whenever he walked, and it could only be used for daily activities. For a adept, such an arm was useless.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang.¡± Lu Qinghu bowed. He begged, ¡°If you can treat my son¡¯s leg, my life is yours.¡± Lu Yuan was his only son. Even if he exchanged his life for his son¡¯s, he was willing.


    Zhou Donghuang ignored Lu Qinghu and looked at Lu Yuan intently. ¡°I will only treat either your leg or your father¡¯s arm. Make a choice.¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at Lu Yuan with interest.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang!¡± Hearing what he had just said, Lu Qinghu was anxious. ¡°Please just treat my son¡¯s leg. As for my arm, I deserved it for offending Young Master Donghuang, there¡¯s no need for you to treat it!¡±


    ¡°Father, stop.¡± Lu Yuan laughed. ¡°If I had not offended Young Master Donghuang first, you would not have had the conflict with him. It is me who got what he deserved. Young Master Donghuang, please treat my father¡¯s arm. For my leg, just leave it as it is.¡± Lu Yuan looked at Zhou Donghuang determinedly, without a glimmer of doubt.


    ¡°At least you still have some filial piety.¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at Lu Yuan, stood up from the stone bench and turned to go into the room. ¡°The two of you can come together.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Young Master Donghuang.¡± Both Lu Qinghu and Lu Yuan had realized by now that Zhou Donghuang intended to treat both father and son. In the moment, they were extremely touched.


    ¡°Yuan¡¯er, when you see Young Master Donghuang in the future, you must bow as deeply as me. If not, I shall cut your leg off myself!¡± whispered Lu Qinghu to Lu Yuan before they entered the room.


    ¡­


    In that era, the level of medicine was so high that broken limbs could be almost completely healed after an operation. Not only Western medicine could do this, but Chinese medicine could also do it, and sometimes even better too. Of course, this was because Chinese medicine relied on qi to use acupuncture to heal the injury.


    ¡°Done.¡± After a whole night¡¯s work, Zhou Donghuang only finished acupuncture session for Lu Qinghu and his son at dawn.


    Luckily, their wounds were simple, and the limbs had been rejoined in a short time. Using his qi to do acupuncture on their nerves and veins, Zhou Donghuang was able to help them to heal completely.


    ¡°You should count yourself lucky that it was Ma Jin who attacked Fu, and not you.¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at Lu Yuan. If he had had his leg crushed like Ma Jin, even he could not heal it, because there was simply no way for that injury to return to its original state, much less to heal.


    ¡°Thank you, Young Master Donghuang.¡± Lu Qinghu and Lu Yuan kowtowed to Zhou Donghuang, then left, afraid to disturb his rest.


    ¡°Young Master, after this, the Lu father and son will be totally loyal to you,¡± said Fu after Lu Qinghu and Lu Yuan had left.


    ¡°I hope so.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded. A faint glimmer crossed his eyes. ¡°If they are honest, I can give them a prominent life ahead. But if they choose to betray me, just as I can heal their limbs today, I can break them again any other day!¡±


    ¡­


    Early the next day, Zhou Donghuang and Lin Lan brought Fu and Granny Lian to leave the Lu family household, and they headed to the Lin family household.


    Lu Family Chief Lu Qinghu brought his son, Lu Yuan to personally send the four of them to the main door.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, you really do not need me to prepare a carriage for you?¡± Lu Qinghu asked.


    ¡°No need,¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head. They had their own horse-drawn carriage, and it was a carriage drawn by a treasured horse, but his mother did not want to return in such a high-profile fashion, so he had chosen something to suit her. Furthermore, both the Lu and Lin family households were not far from each other in the city, and it would take only half an hour even if they walked.


    After half an hour, Zhou Donghuang and the three of them arrived at the main door of the Lin family household. Right there, they were stopped.


    ¡°Lin Lan?¡± The two men standing guard at the main door recognized Lin Lan immediately. Although they were also children of the Lin side of the family, they had more martial art talent than Lin Lan, so they had stayed there and were not sent away.


    ¡°Lin Lan, what are you doing here?¡± One of the men in a long gray robe frowned. ¡°Chief has already ordered that you are not to step within the Lin family household unless ordered.¡±


    Lin Lan was at a loss. Zhou Donghuang stepped forward and was about to speak when the other man in a long green and brown robe smiled. ¡°Lin Nan, we¡¯re all from the side family, why put her on the spot?¡±


    As he said this, he smiled at Lin Lan, ¡°Sister Lin Lan, you must be here to collect something, right? You may go in, but you¡¯ll have to come out quickly.¡± With that, he stepped aside.


    ¡°Lin Hua, you¡­¡± Just as Lin Nan was about to say something, Lin Hua pulled him to the side and opened the path for them.


    ¡°Thank you, Brother Lin Hua.¡± Lin Lan thanked him and led Zhou Donghuang and the rest into the Lin family household. Her face was filled with emotion as she walked towards her former home in the Lin family.


    At the main door, Lin Nan frowned. ¡°Lin Hua, if anyone finds out that we allowed Lin Lan in, Chief will definitely blame and punish us!¡±


    ¡°Who said we let Lin Lan in?¡± Lin Hua said calmly. ¡°Did you see Lin Lan? Well, I didn¡¯t¡­ but, we can¡¯t be sure that some other people didn¡¯t listen to Chief¡¯s orders and snuck into the household secretly.¡± Lin Hua smiled craftily. ¡°Lin Nan, if you¡¯re my brother, then don¡¯t betray me.¡±


    Lin Hua turned to go into the Lin household. ¡°Now, I¡¯ll report to Second Elder that someone barged into the Lin family house against Chief¡¯s orders.¡±


    Along the way, Lin Hua¡¯s smiled craftily. ¡°That slut ignored me when I tried to chase you back in the day. This time, watch how I destroy you!¡±

 Chapter 48 Slander

    Lin Lan¡¯s residence in the Lin family household was a small courtyard with four rooms. This was where she had grown up. In the past, Lin Lan, her parents and Granny Lian had all lived here.


    It¡¯s been some time since Lin Lan was last there, so cobwebs were everywhere and dust was kicked up with each step. It took just half an hour of tidying up by Granny Lian and Fu for the whole courtyard to look completely different.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, I had thought Lin Hua would cause you trouble, but not only did he not do so, he even stopped the others from putting you on the spot and allowed you into the Lin household,¡± said Granny Lian with some surprise.


    ¡°I did not expect that either,¡± said Lin Lan, who was similarly surprised.


    ¡°Granny Lian, why did you think that Lin Hua would cause trouble for Mother?¡± Zhou Donghuang was curious.


    ¡°Young Master, that Lin Hua had once tried to pursue Ma¡¯am desperately. Only when Ma¡¯am rejected him in front of everyone did he stop pestering her.¡± Granny Lian laughed. ¡°Just now when I saw him, I thought he would bear a grudge from last time when Ma¡¯am embarrassed him in front of everyone and cause us trouble. Looks like I had judged him wrongly.¡±


    ¡°That really happened?¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at Lin Lan. Looks like his mother had been extremely attractive back in the day, or she would not have been chased like that.


    ¡°How many years ago was that? If he still remembers that then that means he is really narrow-minded.¡± Lin Lan laughed as she shook her head. ¡°Furthermore, the reason why I rejected him publicly was because I was afraid after being pestered by him, that¡¯s why I decided to end it quickly there and then and not to embarrass him.¡±


    Just as they were chatting happily, Fu, who had been repairing the damaged door of the courtyard outside, said, ¡°Young Master, Madam, there are people coming. One of them is the man who let us in at the main door.¡±


    Right then, an old man in a gray robe appeared with the support of a middle-aged man.


    ¡°Lin Lan, meet Second Elder.¡±


    ¡°Second Elder.¡± Lin Lan and Granny Lian bowed and greeted the old man. Seeing Zhou Donghuang motionless, Lin Lan glanced at him and reminded, ¡°Donghuang.¡±


    ¡°Second Elder.¡± On Lin Lan¡¯s reminder, Zhou Donghuang then looked at the old man and nodded.


    The old man frowned and looked at Zhou Donghuang disapprovingly. His gaze landed on Lin Lan, and said, ¡°Lin Lan, Chief ordered that unless ordered by the family, you are not to step within the doors of this house. Coming back like this, are you disregarding Chief or the Lin family rules?¡±


    ¡°Second Elder,¡± answered Lin Lan respectfully. ¡°I would never dare to disregard the chief nor the Lin family rules. The reason why I am back today is to get Chief to revoke that ban issued to me.¡±


    ¡°Get Chief to revoke the ban?¡± The old man laughed coldly. ¡°Do you take his words for a joke? Instead of getting Chief to revoke the ban, why don¡¯t you reflect on your mistake?¡±


    ¡°Second Elder, I admit that it was my fault for releasing the formula for the blood staunching elixir,¡± said Lin Lan. ¡°But later when I returned, I gave the family an even better formula. Just because Fourth Elder took my formula for the blood staunching elixir and submitted it as his own, should my efforts be ignored? I can¡¯t accept it!¡± Lin Lan¡¯s voice rose as the depression that she had suppressed for more than a month was released entirely.


    Hearing Lin Lan¡¯s words, the old man was surprised, then frowned. The formula that Fourth Elder had presented to the family had originally been Lin Lan¡¯s?


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Just then, the man standing behind the old man, who was Lin Hua, gave a cold smirk. ¡°Lin Lan, it¡¯s enough that you brought people to sneak into the house like a thief. Now you even dare to slander Fourth Elder?¡± Lin Hua laughed.


    ¡°Sneak in like a thief?¡± Zhou Donghuang glared at Lin Hua as his eyes narrowed.


    ¡°Lin Hua, what do you mean?¡± Lin Lan¡¯s expression changed as she glared angrily at Lin Hua. ¡°Just now, didn¡¯t you let us in? Now you¡¯re telling us that we snuck in?¡±


    ¡°Lin Hua, you¡¯re lying through your teeth!¡± Granny Lian could not take it either. She glared at him. ¡°Just now, I even said that you were open-minded and would not hold a grudge from years ago. Looks like I thought too highly of you. You let us in, just to slander us?¡± Granny Lian was so angry that her old face was crunched.


    ¡°What nonsense are you talking about?¡± Lin Hua laughed. ¡°Chief had already ordered for Lin Lan not to step foot into the household unless ordered. Without any order, why would I allow Lin Lan to come in?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re really asking for it!¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression turned cold as a murderous glint shimmered in his eyes. He stepped forward, about to kill this bastard who had maligned his mother, but he was stopped by Lin Lan.


    ¡°Mother.¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes met Lin Lan¡¯s. His voice pained, he said slowly, ¡°Mother, he¡¯s setting you up.¡±


    ¡°Donghuang, promise me¡­ in the Lin family, unless they act first, you must not act against any member of the Lin family. The Lin family is my roots,¡± Lin Lan begged her son. She knew that he was extraordinary, and even Lu Qinghu, chief of the preeminent Lu family, was respectful in front of him. But she did not wish for her son to use his powers on any Lin family member, because that would only further antagonize the family. She hoped that the Lin family would accept her son. This was her home, and she hoped that it would also become her son¡¯s home.


    Zhou Donghuang was furious but could only restrain himself after seeing his mother¡¯s begging eyes.


    ¡°Fine, I will listen to you, Mother.¡± He breathed in deeply, and said, ¡°I just wish that the Lin family can be reasonable and return you justice. If not, don¡¯t blame me for being rude!¡± As he said this, his icy gaze landed on Lin Hua and Lin Second Elder.


    ¡°Lin Lan, so this is your adopted son? How audacious! I can¡¯t wait to see how a sixteen-year-old teenager can do anything to me!¡± Lin Hua looked at Zhou Donghuang with disdain. As a level-two adept, Lin Hua was hardly afraid of a young teenager.


    ¡°Lin Lan, do you have any proof for all that you just said?¡± Lin Second Elder, Lin Chonghuan, asked. He added, ¡°If you openly made such a slanderous statement about Fourth Elder without any evidence, this shall be added to your offense!¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± Lin Lan nodded determinedly.


    ¡°Alright! Wait here, for the time being; I shall report this to Chief. When Fourth Elder returns, we will call you to confront him.¡± Lin Chonghuan nodded and left.


    ¡°Second Elder, not to forget the matter about the formula, but Lin Lan snuck into the household, shouldn¡¯t we punish her?¡± Seeing Lin Chonghuan about to leave, Lin Hua hurriedly reminded him.


    ¡°If what she said is true, Chief will revoke the ban. In that case, no matter how she came in, it will not be considered as breaking into the Lin family household,¡± Lin Chonghuan said.


    ¡°She cannot be telling the truth,¡± Lin Hua said with disapproval. ¡°The blood staunching elixir made from that formula is even more effective than the one made by the intermediate-level medicine doctor that the Lin family worships. How could Lin Lan have had such a formula?


    ¡°Fourth Elder will return in a few days. Then we will all find out the truth.¡± Lin Chonghuan ignored Lin Hua and left.


    Lin Hua turned around and glared at Lin Lan, then left.


    ¡°This Second Elder is quite reasonable,¡± said Zhou Donghuang.


    Lin Lan smiled, ¡°Second Elder is responsible for order and discipline in the Lin family. He is morally upright and is worthy of respect. The next time you see him, don¡¯t be rude.¡±

 Chapter 49 The Qi-Gathering Elixir that Monopolized the Market

    ¡°Donghuang.¡± Lin Lan looked at Zhou Donghuang gently. ¡°I know you can¡¯t stand it when someone tries to wrong me, and you are also so strong now, you can even make the Lin family say that something black is white. But if we just use power to get our way, then what makes us different from Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong who stole our formula and turned around to threaten us?¡± she questioned.


    Although Lin Lan was not sure of how powerful Zhou Donghuang really was, but since even the level-four adept and chief of a preeminent family Lu Qinghu had been so respectful towards him, that must surely mean that her son had greater power than a preeminent family like the Lu family. Even the Lin family chief could not possibly have Lu Qinghu bowing so respectfully to him. Just based on that alone, her son was superior to the Lin family chief.


    ¡°Also, I have always believed that the Lin family will bring justice to me,¡± Lin Lan smiled.


    ¡°Mother, we shall follow what you said,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a nod. ¡°If the Lin family is willing to return you justice, that would be great¡­ but if not, and they choose to protect Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong, then they can¡¯t blame me for not giving them face.¡± As he said this, his eyes flashed coldly.


    Lin Lan smiled. ¡°I believe in the Lin family.¡± She then returned to her room.


    After Lin Lan had left, Granny Lian said to Zhou Donghuang, ¡°Young Master, Ma¡¯am has different feelings towards the Lin family¡­ her parents were all of this family, even though they were later robbed and killed while helping the Lin family ship goods, but until they died, they were always proud of their identity as part of the Lin family. This is why Ma¡¯am views her identity as a Lin more important than her own life. If the Lin family is in trouble, she would not hesitate to help, even if she had to risk her life.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was touched to hear this. In a previous life, his mother Lin Lan had committed suicide because she had been chased out of the Lin family and robbed of her Lin identity. ¡°I hope the Lin family, does not disappoint¡­ that way, on account of Mother, I can turn them into a grand family or even a tycoon family.¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes flashed, and he said, ¡°But if they do disappoint, don¡¯t blame me for being merciless!¡±


    Grand family? Tycoon family? Hearing this, Granny Lian was surprised. To become a grand family, the family would need at least a level-six adept. And to become a tycoon family, the family would need at least a level-eight adept! Her young master said he could turn the Lin family into a grand family or a tycoon family?


    But thinking of how Young Master had surprised her so often in the last month, she was relieved.


    ¡°Young Master is just seventeen years old, yet the Lu family chief, Lu Qinghu, treats him so respectfully¡­ as long as he is in the Lin family, the Lin family will sooner or later become a grand family or even a tycoon family!¡±


    Granny Lian did not know that Zhou Donghuang did not mean that he would turn the Lin family into a grand family or tycoon family by his power alone, but he would gift the children, and let them lead the family to prominence. He even believed that it would hardly be difficult to have the preeminent Lin family replace the imperial family of the country of Yunyang and become the new rulers of the country.


    ¡­


    In the past half a month, the most popular topic of interest in the whole Yunfeng county was none other than the cheap qi-gathering elixir released by the new preeminent Lu family. It was common knowledge that previously, the elixir sold for twelve taels of silver per bottle. Out of these twelve taels of silver, ten was for the raw materials, while only two taels of silver went to profit. After paying for the production and labor costs, there was little to be made. Hence the qi-gathering elixirs on the market were all produced by lesser families, as the preeminent families were not interested in the low profits of the business.


    But half a month ago, the new preeminent Lu family released their qi-gathering elixir for ten taels of silver per bottle, and its effect was exactly the same as the elixir that cost twelve taels. Immediately, it swept the whole market in Yunfeng county. The bottle of elixir that others sold cost ten taels for the raw materials alone, if you sold it for just ten taels per bottle, no one could compete. Thus, the Lu family elixir monopolized the market.


    ¡°Is the new preeminent Lu family doing charity? They no longer want to be in the qi-gathering elixir business and are now clearing their remaining stock?¡± In the beginning, many people thought this was the case.


    Soon enough, they no longer thought this way. Because they realized that not only did the Lu family sell their own qi-gathering elixir, but they also sold it to other retailers at a bulk price. The bulk price was just seven taels per bottle.


    This meant that no matter which family, as long as they obtained the rights to resell the Lu family elixir, even if they sold it for ten taels a bottle, they could earn three taels of silver. This also helped them save on production costs as only the cost of labor was needed.


    Of course, the families that resold the qi-gathering elixir were not allowed to sell it within the capital city of Yunfeng county. The Lu family dominated the market in the capital.


    Such a business made even the preeminent families interested. ¡°The Lu family must have found a way to save money, or they could not possibly do this!¡±


    Finally, many people realized.


    Quickly, many prominent people from the lesser families outside of the prefecture capital arrived at the Lu family household. They too wished to get resale rights to the Lu family qi-gathering elixir. But few succeeded, and only the friends of the Lu family, the Ma and Fang family, had achieved the rights.


    ¡­


    9 February 1228 of the Ziyun era.


    At the Lu family household.


    ¡°Chief, the Lin family chief, Lin Zhuoyue, just sent an invitation. He wishes to host a banquet at noon tomorrow at the heavenly dining booth in Yunxuan Restaurant, and he¡¯s invited you and Second Elder.¡± A Lu family disciple arrived at the courtyard where Lu Qinghu lived and congratulated Lu Qinghu, who was playing chess with Lu Bao.


    ¡°Big Brother, a preeminent family is finally anxious,¡± Lu Bao said with a laugh.


    ¡°The Lin family has guilds in more than a hundred towns in Yunfeng county. If they managed to get the resale rights to our Lu family qi-gathering elixir, they could easily monopolize the market in all these towns.¡± Lu Qinghu put down the chess piece in his hand slowly and smiled.


    ¡°So¡­ Brother, are you going?¡± Lu Bao asked. ¡°The person from the Lin family is still waiting outside for the news.¡±


    ¡°If it were any other preeminent family, forget it. But this Lin family, we have to give them some respect. After all, this is the family of the adopted mother of Young Master Donghuang.¡± As he spoke, Lu Qinghu looked at the disciple who had reported the news. ¡°Let the man from the Lin family tell their chief that a banquet is unnecessary¡­ tomorrow afternoon, I shall pay them a visit personally at the Lin family household.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± the disciple replied and left.


    ¡°Now that I mention it, Young Master Donghuang has been to the Lin family household for a few days now¡­ this time when I visit, I can also update him on the success of the qi-gathering elixir business.¡± As he thought of that young man, Lu Qinghu¡¯s eyes revealed utmost respect. Now, he was sincerely convinced by that young man. Not only was he powerful, but he also had amazing skills, even being able to completely heal limbs that had been severed. Even the superior-level doctors who treated the imperial family of the country of Yunyang could not achieve that.

 Chapter 50 Dirty Laundry

    10 February 1228 of the Ziyun era, noon.


    In the courtyard, Zhou Donghuang and Lin Lan were eating, while Fu and Granny Lian stood behind them.


    ¡°Young Master, someone is here,¡± said Fu suddenly.


    Hearing this, Zhou Donghuang looked towards the outside of the courtyard. A man was walking towards them quickly. When he got a clear look at the man, a murderous glint swept across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes.


    The man was none other than the disciple Lin Hua who had let them in a few days ago only to backstab them.


    ¡°Lin Lan, Fourth Elder is back¡­ Second Elder asked me to inform you to confront him in the back courtyard in an hour¡¯s time.¡± Lin Hua laughed. ¡°I can¡¯t wait to see what proof you have to show later that Fourth Elder stole your formula.¡± With that, Lin Hua left.


    ¡°Donghuang, can you really prove that you came up with the formula for the blood staunching elixir?¡± With the confrontation with Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong nearing, Lin Lan was nervous.


    ¡°Mother, relax,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a smile. ¡°When I gave you the formula the last time, I memorized it¡­ I even know what to add to it to increase its potency. Besides that, I also know what herbs to remove to lower its potency. Doesn¡¯t the Lin family have an intermediate-level medicine master? Later, let him be the judge.¡± Zhou Donghuang was confident.


    Only the person who had come up with the formula would know its potency, and which herbs to remove or add to alter its effect. This was common knowledge to not just an intermediate-level medicine master but to a basic-level master as well.


    ¡­


    At the main door of the Lin family household.


    A man in a Chinese outfit looked out towards the end of the road. He was decently built with defined facial features and had an air of majesty. His eyes looked expectant as if he was waiting for something.


    Behind him, a bulky old man with white eyebrows smiled as he said, ¡°Chief, the Lu family chief, Lu Qinghu really gave you respect. Not only did he say there¡¯s no need for a banquet lunch, but he¡¯s also even coming personally to look for you.¡±


    The man was the Lin family chief, Lin Zhuoyue. The old man behind him was Head Elder Lin Tianzheng.


    ¡°Lu Qinghu is no small figure¡­ Furthermore, this time, we are asking them for a favor. We must be courteous and respectful,¡± said Lin Zhuoyue. ¡°Head Elder, you must not treat him like the lesser family chief that he used to be. Now, he is a level-four adept and chief of a preeminent family, equal in position to me. Today, we must obtain the resale rights of the Lu family Qi gathering elixir¡­ once we obtain it, our profits will double.¡± Lin Zhuoyue¡¯s eyes were expectant.


    Even if the Lu family did not allow the families that had resale rights to sell the elixir in the capital, the Lin family had more than just their guilds in the towns. The Lin family could sell the elixir in the neighboring, inferior county. Even though there would be labor and shipping costs, there would still be substantial profits.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry Chief, I know how important this is,¡± Lin Tianzheng said with a nod.


    ¡°Here they are!¡±


    After a moment, Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng saw two sedans lifted by eight people each coming towards the Lin family household from the end of the road in the distance. Most importantly, on the curtain of these sedans was embroidered with a large ¡°Lu¡± character. These were none other than the sedans from the old lesser family and present preeminent family, the Lu family.


    Soon, the two sedans stopped at the main door of the Lin family household, and two figures walked out from the sedan. They were none other than the Lu family chief, Lu Qinghu, and the Lu second elder, Lu Bao.


    ¡°Welcome, Family Chief Lu and Second Elder Lu. It really is an honor. Please come on in,¡± Lin Zhuoyue welcomed them warmly, and Lin Tianzheng led the way personally. ¡°Chief Lu, Second Elder Lu, this way please.¡±


    ¡°You are too courteous, Chief Lin,¡± Lu Qinghu smiled and nodded. They entered the Lin family household and into the hall, behind Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng.


    ¡°Serve the tea!¡± Once the four of them were seated, Lin Tianzheng called the servant girls who were waiting at the door, and they served tea.


    ¡°Chief Lu, you single-handedly led the Lu family from a lesser family into the ranks of the preeminent families, you are simply amazing¡­ unlike us, we count on the fortune of our ancestors.¡± Lin Zhuoyue praised Lu Qinghu, giving him a thumbs up.


    ¡°Exactly,¡± Lin Tianzheng smiled. ¡°In the hundred years of history of Yunfeng county, only Chief Lu reached level-four of gathered qi as a disciple of a lesser family, and led a lesser family to become a preeminent family.¡±


    ¡°Chief Lin and Elder Tianzheng are too kind, I was only lucky.¡± Lu Qinghu sipped his tea and smiled as he shook his head. Although he pretended to be modest, he could not help laughing to himself quietly.


    In the close to one hundred years of history of Yunfeng county, the reason why the lesser families had not produced a level-four adept was first because their disciples were less talented, and secondly because the preeminent families had intentionally tried to suppress the lesser families. Whenever a lesser family produced a strong, level-three adept, he would somehow die mysteriously. Though it was claimed to be an accident, it was actually murder committed by the preeminent families.


    The alliance between the Lu, Ma, and Fang family allowed them to protect each other, and it made the preeminent families wary. They did not dare to touch any of them. If not for that, he would have suffered the same fate at the hands of preeminent families like the Lin family.


    ¡°Chief Lu is too humble,¡± smiled Lin Zhuoyue as he prepared to enter the topic. ¡°Chief Lu, let¡¯s not beat about the bush. I have asked to see you today about the hugely popular Qi gathering elixir that the Lu family has been selling¡­¡±


    ¡°Chief!¡±


    Before he could finish, Lin Zhuoyue was interrupted by a loud sound from outside. A breathless disciple had rushed to the door of the hall.


    ¡°Second Elder told me to tell you that Fourth Elder and Lin Lan are in the backyard and are waiting for you to begin the debate.¡±


    Just as the words left his mouth, Lin Tianzheng stopped him.


    ¡°Enough! Chief has no time now to bother about these small things. Let them do it at another time.¡±


    ¡°Y¡ªyes!¡± The disciple answered and turned to leave.


    Just then, Lu Qinghu said, ¡°Wait!¡± The disciple stopped in his tracks. ¡°Chief Lin, who is your fourth elder confronting in the backyard? What is going on?¡± he asked Lin Zhuoyue curiously.


    He had seemed to hear the disciple mention the name ¡°Lin Lan,¡± but he was not sure, so wanted to confirm what he had heard.


    ¡°They say not to hang one¡¯s dirty laundry outside¡­ but since Chief Lu has already asked, there¡¯s nothing to hide,¡± Lin Zhuoyue said with a heavy sigh. He continued, ¡°Chief Lu should have heard that we got the formula for a blood staunching elixir that was forty percent more potent than the ones on the market?¡±


    Lu Qinghu nodded. ¡°I heard Fourth Elder Lin had chanced upon it outside and handed it to the Lin family.¡±


    ¡°Indeed,¡± Lin Zhuoyue agreed. ¡°A few days ago, a disciple whom I had banned not only disregarded my orders and came back but even said¡­ that she had been the one who had brought the formula to us and that her credit had been stolen by Fourth Elder. Even more ridiculous is that she said she has evidence that it was her formula. So now, she is waiting to confront our fourth elder about it.¡±


    ¡°She is very bold indeed¡­ does she happen to be someone I know?¡± Lu Qinghu asked.


    ¡°Chief Lu probably has never heard of her; she is just a side disciple whom we had sent to a small town to manage the guild there. Her name is ¡®Lin Lan.¡¯¡± Lin Zhuoyue shook his head.


    Lin Lan?! Just as Lin Zhuoyue said this, Lu Qinghu and Lu Bao narrowed their eyes and stood up hurriedly.


    ¡°Chief Lu, Lu Second Elder, this¡­?¡± Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng were shocked by the abrupt actions of the two.


    ¡°Chief Lin, I know you wanted to talk about the Qi gathering elixir resale rights¡­ but now I¡¯m more curious, what evidence does your Lin side disciple have to say that the blood staunching elixir was her formula?¡± Lu Qinghu breathed in deeply and squeezed out a smile. ¡°Why don¡¯t¡­ we go over and watch their confrontation together?¡±

 Chapter 51 A Thief Accusing a Thief

    Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng¡¯s eyes lit up when Lu Qinghu mentioned the good news about the qi-gathering elixir rights.


    ¡°Of course it¡¯s convenient!¡± Lin Zhuoyue readily agreed.


    To him, Lu Qinghu¡¯s request was a small matter.


    ¡°Head Elder, let¡¯s follow Patriarch Lu and Second Master Lu to the back courtyard to take a look¡­ what evidence our side relative, Lin Lan, can produce to prove that the formula for the blood-staunching elixir is hers,¡± Lin Zhuoyue called out to Lin Tianzheng as he rose from his seat.


    Lin Tianzheng replied in acknowledgment and led the way to the door of the receiving chamber. He looked at Lu Qinghu and Lu Bao with a wide smile as he extended his arm and turned to show them in.


    ¡°Patriarch Lu, Second Master Lu, after you.¡±


    The four of them filed out of the receiving chamber and made their way to the back courtyard of the Lin family mansion.


    When they arrived, there was already a crowd gathered in the back courtyard, surrounding something like a human wall. The atmosphere was rowdy.


    ¡°Patriarch and Head Elder are here!¡± A sharp-eyed Lin family junior called out as he saw Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng.


    On cue, the gathered Lin family juniors respectfully moved aside to make a path for Lin Zhuoyue and his party to pass through.


    On one side within the human wall were Zhou Donghuang and Lin Lan, with Fu and Granny Lian standing behind them. On the other side stood a sprightly old man of an average build with a ferocious look on his face. He was looking at them with disdain.


    That old man was the fourth elder of the Lin family, Lin Tonghong.


    ¡°Patriarch, Head Elder.¡±


    Lin Tonghong bowed in respect when he saw Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng approach, and the second elder of the Lin family Lin Chonghuan who had been present for some time walked towards Lin Zhuoyue.


    ¡°Patriarch.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang saw Lu Qinghu and Lu Bao as they walked over with Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng.


    Their eyes lit up when they saw that Zhou Donghuang had noticed them, and they were about to walk over to greet him when he stopped them with a look.


    The two of them stopped in their tracks at once.


    ¡°Second Elder, this is the patriarch of the Lu family, who have just advanced to the rank of a preeminent family. This is Second Master Lu.¡±


    Lin Zhuoyue introduced Lu Qinghu and Lu Bao who stood beside him as Lin Chonghuan approached.


    ¡°Patriarch Lu, Second Elder Lu,¡± Lin Chonghuan greeted them with a wide smile after they were introduced, knowing that the Lin family was at the Lu family¡¯s mercy.


    ¡°Second Elder, please begin,¡± Lin Tianzheng instructed Lin Chonghuan. ¡°Patriarch Lu and Second Master Lu are very curious as to what evidence a side relative of the Lin family can produce to prove that the formula for this blood-staunching elixir is hers. After this matter is resolved, we still need to return to the receiving chamber to discuss the matter of the rights to the Lu family¡¯s qi-gathering elixir,¡± Lin Tianzheng prompted.


    ¡°I understand, Head Elder,¡± Lin Chonghuan replied.


    Just then, Lin Lan led Zhou Donghuang over, bowing to Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng.


    ¡°Lin Lan acknowledges Patriarch, Head Elder.¡±


    ¡°Humph!¡± Lin Zhuoyue snorted. ¡°Lin Lan, do you still consider me your patriarch?¡±


    This side relative, who ignored his orders and returned to the Lin family, was trampling on the dignity of the patriarch of the Lin family!


    Today, no matter the outcome, he would not treat this matter lightly.


    ¡°Lin Lan, the patriarch and I already know the course of events¡­ now, if you can produce evidence that this blood-staunching elixir is yours, it will suffice.¡±


    Lin Tianzheng looked at Lin Lan as he said this, and he hesitated as a grim look flashed across his eyes.


    ¡°If you are unable to produce this evidence and are found to be slandering Fourth Elder, the punishment will be the maximum¡­ If that happens, your life is forfeit,¡± Lin Tianzheng¡¯s tone was as cold as it could possibly be.


    ¡°Agreed.¡± Lin Lan nodded solemnly.


    Standing behind Lin Lan, Zhou Donghuang could clearly feel the enmity that Lin Zhuoyue and Lin Tianzheng felt towards his mother, Lin Lan, and the corners of his mouth curled upwards in a cold smile.


    ¡°Lin Lan, present your evidence.¡± Lin Chonghuan looked at Lin Lan. ¡°As long as you are able to produce irrefutable evidence to prove Fourth Elder stole the formula from you, the family clan will make amends.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Second Elder,¡± replied Lin Lan. ¡°Donghuang.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang stepped forward and looked at Patriarch Lin Zhuoyue of the Lin family, he and said calmly, ¡°Patriarch Lin, I heard that the Lin family has an intermediate-level medicine master? Let him be here as a witness.¡±


    ¡°Who are you?¡± Lin Zhuoyue frowned at Zhou Donghuang and asked threateningly. ¡°What does Lin Lan¡¯s business concern you?¡±


    ¡°Lin Lan is my mother. She was preparing to present the formula for the blood-staunching elixir to the Lin family to atone for her mistake, but it was stolen by the fourth elder of the Lin family, Lin Tonghong. This blood-staunching elixir was personally formulated by me¡­ does Patriarch Lin feel that this is still none of my concern?¡± Zhou Donghuang countered as he glanced casually at Lin Zhuoyue.


    ¡°You personally formulated the blood-staunching elixir?¡±


    Not just Lin Zhuoyue but also Lin Tianzheng, Lin Chonghuan, and all the people gathered there were stunned at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s claim.


    However, the looks they gave Zhou Donghuang immediately after were full of intent to provoke and make fun of him.


    ¡°This youth claims that this blood-staunching elixir that is more effective than what our intermediate-level medicine master can formulate has been formulated personally by him?¡±


    ¡°Does he take us for idiots? At his age, passing off as an inferior-level medicine master would already be a feat¡­ formulating a blood-staunching elixir of that quality is a fool¡¯s dream!¡±


    ¡°This is Lin Lan¡¯s ¡®proof¡¯?¡±


    ¡­


    The crowd of Lin family juniors shook their heads, none of them believing this youth dressed in white standing before them.


    Now, out of all those present, other than Lin Lan, Fu, and Granny Lian, only Lu Qinghu and Lu Bao believed Zhou Donghuang.


    The qi-gathering elixir that the Lu family had been selling like hotcakes throughout Yunfeng prefecture had been formulated by this youth before them. He could produce a formula for a qi-gathering elixir of that quality, so a formula for that blood-staunching elixir was nothing extraordinary.


    However, thinking of the look Zhou Donghuang had given them, even though they wanted to stand up for Zhou Donghuang, they could only stand by and watch.


    Besides, they knew full well that with Young Master Donghuang¡¯s ability, he was entirely capable of resolving this matter himself.


    ¡°Hahahaha¡­¡±


    Lin Tonghong could not resist laughing out loud, and he laughed for a long time before finally glancing at Zhou Donghuang a second time with a look full of condescension and disdain.


    ¡°Little fellow, you really do talk big. How dare you say that this blood-staunching elixir was formulated personally by you?¡±


    ¡°Do you take us for idiots?¡± Lin Tonghong smiled coldly.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter? The Lin family feels that I cannot formulate that blood-staunching elixir on account of my age? Why don¡¯t you summon your intermediate-level medicine master and we¡¯ll find out the truth?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang ignored Lin Tonghong as he addressed Lin Zhuoyue calmly.


    Now, Lin Zhuoyue looked at Zhou Donghuang with skepticism and disinterest.


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary,¡± Lin Zhuoyue said indifferently. ¡°Because whether or not we summon Medicine Master Huang, the result will be the same¡­ that blood-staunching elixir could not possibly have been formulated by a young pup like you.¡±


    Medicine Master Huang was the intermediate-level medicine master employed by the Lin family.


    ¡°Lin Lan, do you have any other evidence? Don¡¯t embarrass yourself with this kind of evidence,¡± Lin Zhuoyue asked impatiently, looking back at Lin Lan.


    ¡°Patriarch, the blood-staunching elixir produced from that formula was indeed formulated by my son Zhou Donghuang,¡± Lin Lan said earnestly. ¡°Invite Medicine Master Huang here and let him be the judge of it.¡±


    ¡°Patriarch Lin feels there is no need to invite Medicine Master Huang over¡­ could it possibly be to cover up for your fourth elder, Lin Tonghong?¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at Lin Zhuoyue with an electrifying gaze, and his tone was icy cold.


    Just when Lin Zhuoyue¡¯s expression began to change at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s perceived insolence and he was about to react angrily, Lu Qinghu spoke up. ¡°Patriarch Lin, why don¡¯t you invite your intermediate-level medicine master out¡­¡± Lu Qinghu suggested. ¡°I, for one, would like to see how this youth will prove himself in front of an intermediate-level medicine master.¡±


    ¡°I agree, Patriarch Lin,¡± Lu Bao chimed in. ¡°If you refuse to invite that intermediate-level medicine master over, it really will give the impression that you are covering up for your fourth elder, Lin Tonghong.¡±


    At Lu Qinghu¡¯s and Lu Bao¡¯s urging, Lin Zhuoyue glanced at Lin Chonghuan and instructed, ¡°Second Elder, go and invite Medicine Master Huang over.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Patriarch,¡± Lin Chonghuan acknowledged and left.


    ¡°Little fellow, I would love to find out¡­ how you are going to prove that you formulated the blood-staunching elixir once Medicine Master Huang gets here?¡± Lin Tonghong looked at Zhou Donghuang with a murderous glint in his eyes and smiled coldly.


    Then he turned to Lin Zhuoyue and bowed, saying, ¡°Patriarch, there is one thing I haven¡¯t told you yet. When I obtained that formula, Lin Lan had come to seek my help regarding the matter of the leaked formula by coincidence. Lin Lan was waiting at my residence, and I had placed the formula on the stone table in the courtyard. When I came out, she was reading the formula.¡±


    Lin Tonghong continued, ¡°Therefore, if her memory is not impaired, she should be able to remember the herbs, and the combinations of herbs, in the formula.¡±


    ¡°You lie!¡±


    Lin Lan¡¯s expression changed, and she trembled in fury, fire burning in her eyes. ¡±


    That day when I gave you the formula, you said that you would present it to Patriarch¡­ I never imagined that you would steal it, much less slander me!¡±


    ¡°So Lin Lan saw the formula.¡±


    Hearing Lin Tonghong¡¯s account, the gathered crowd of Lin family juniors seemed to come to a sudden realization. ¡°Surely it is because she memorized the formula that she dares to accuse Fourth Elder of stealing her formula.¡±


    ¡°Ridiculous! Obviously she is the thief, but still, she accuses Fourth Elder¡­ what is her status compared to Fourth Elder¡¯s? How could Fourth Elder misappropriate her formula?¡±

 Chapter 52 An Even Better Blood-staunching Elixir

    The murmurings of the Lin family juniors reached Lin Lan¡¯s ears, angering her so greatly that she turned white.


    For the first time, she felt a sense of alienation from this family.


    Her own family clan members would rather believe Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong rather than her, just because she was a side relative?


    ¡°Lin Lan, if you cannot produce irrefutable evidence today that the formula is your own and not one that you copied from Fourth Elder¡­ you may take your own life,¡± Patriarch Lin Zhuoyue of the Lin family told Lin Lan with a cold gleam in his eye after hearing what Lin Tonghong had to say.


    Hearing the bone-chilling declaration made Lin Lan finally realize that the patriarch of the Lin family was just like the Lin family juniors, believing Lin Tonghong¡¯s nonsense.


    Is this kind of family clan really worth being sentimental over?


    No¡­ it¡¯s because Patriarch does not know the truth, that¡¯s why he misunderstands me.


    It seemed as though there were two different voices arguing in Lin Lan¡¯s head,


    Seeing how furious Lin Lan was, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression froze, and he stared coldly at Lin Zhuoyue and said in a low voice.


    ¡°Patriarch Lin, making such serious declarations before we find out the truth¡­ isn¡¯t that rather inappropriate?¡±


    ¡°The results are already obvious¡­ when Medicine Master Huang arrives, it will just be going through the motions,¡± Lin Zhuoyue replied dismissively as he gazed indifferently at Zhou Donghuang.


    Just then, from the edge of the crowd came a shout, ¡°Second Elder is back!¡±


    ¡°Medicine Master Huang is here!¡±


    The crowd parted to make a path for Second Elder Lin Conghuan to come in, and with him came a plain-looking middle-aged man with a small and thin build. This was the intermediate-level medicine master employed by the Lin family, Huang Qishan.


    ¡°Medicine Master Huang.¡±


    At Huang Qishan¡¯s appearance, everyone from Patriarch Lin Zhuoyue to the Lin family juniors greeted him warmly.


    ¡°Patriarch, who claims to have formulated the blood-staunching elixir given to you by Fourth Elder?¡± Huang Qishan asked bluntly as soon as he arrived.


    ¡°Him.¡± Lin Zhuoyue glanced towards Zhou Donghuang.


    As soon as Huang Qishan had taken a look at Zhou Donghuang, he gave a start before frowning and shouting angrily, ¡°Absurd!¡±


    ¡°Even I, Huang Qishan, an intermediate-level medicine master, admit that I cannot formulate a blood-staunching elixir of such high quality. You, a kid who looks only sixteen or seventeen years old, would dare claim that you can formulate a blood-staunching elixir of this quality? Are you dreaming?¡±


    Huang Qishan turned to leave with a flick of his sleeves once he had finished speaking.


    ¡°A mere intermediate-level medicine master like you is not worthy of debating with me regarding medicine.¡± Zhou Donghuang spoke up casually just as Huang Qishan turned his back, ¡°Allowing you to compare yourself with me, Zhou Donghuang¡­ even feels like an insult to me.¡±


    ¡°What did you say?!¡±


    When Huang Qishan, who was about to leave, heard what Zhou Donghuang said, he turned around immediately in a rage, staring furiously at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°That is too much!¡±


    Lin Zhuoyue and the rest of the Lin family leadership stared angrily at Zhou Donghuang, shouting out rebukes in unison.


    Faced with condemnation from the Lin family leadership, Zhou Donghuang remained calm and took out from his pocket a piece of paper he had prepared long ago.


    ¡°The Lin family should have these herbs. Today, before your eyes, I will formulate a blood-staunching elixir that exceeds the effectiveness of those on the market by fifty percent, and I will enlighten you frogs in the well.¡±


    So saying, Zhou Donghuang tossed the paper in his hand to Huang Qishan who instinctively reached out and caught it.


    Huang Qishan glanced instinctively at the herbs listed on the paper and frowned.


    ¡°These herbs¡­ eight-tenths of these are the ingredients in Fourth Elder¡¯s blood-staunching elixir.¡±


    ¡°I have said before that the blood-staunching elixir was made with a formula that I made¡­ as for the blood-staunching elixir produced with these herbs, that is the enhanced version of it,¡± Zhou Donghuang said casually.


    The formula for the blood-staunching elixir that he had previously given his mother could only produce a blood-staunching elixir that was forty percent more effective than those on the market.


    Now, he intended to formulate a blood-staunching elixir that was fifty percent more effective than those on the market and give the Lin family a resounding slap in the face.


    Didn¡¯t they say I was too young to have formulated a blood-staunching elixir that was forty percent more effective than those on the market? Then I will formulate a blood-staunching elixir that is fifty percent more effective than those on the market before your very eyes!


    ¡°Ridiculous!¡±


    Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong looked condescendingly at Zhou Donghuang, smiling coldly as he said, ¡°Who in this world cannot boast? You say that you are able to formulate a blood-staunching elixir that is fifty percent more effective than those on the market, and I Lin Tonghong say that I can formulate a qi-gathering elixir that can increase the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent.¡±


    A qi-gathering elixir that could increase the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent could only be formulated by the superior-level medicine master of the Imperial Court of Yunyang country.


    Standing beside Lin Tonghong, Lu Qinghu smiled coldly when he heard Lin Tonghong¡¯s words


    What was a qi-gathering elixir that could increase the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent? Young Master Donghuang could even formulate a qi-gathering elixir that could increase the sensitivity to qi by forty percent!


    ¡°Patriarch, I would like to see how this runt can formulate a blood-staunching elixir that is fifty percent more effective than those on the market.¡±


    Huang Qishan walked towards Lin Zhuoyue and passed the piece of paper he was holding to him.


    His meaning was clear¡ªhe wanted Lin Zhuoyue to gather the herbs listed on the paper so he could see Zhou Donghuang formulate the blood-staunching elixir.


    ¡°Medicine Maser Huang, do you feel this is really necessary?¡± Lin Zhuoyue asked with a frown.


    ¡°Yes!¡± Huang Qishan replied resolutely. ¡°Today, if he cannot formulate that quality of blood-staunching elixir¡­ he must kowtow in apology to me! This is the first time in my life that I, Huang Qishan, have been insulted in such a manner.¡± Huang Qishan gave Zhou Donghuang a chilly gaze.


    ¡°With Medicine Master Huang¡¯s agreement, I¡¯ll instruct someone to get the herbs.¡±


    Lin Zhuoyue nodded and followed Huang Qishan¡¯s gaze to look at Zhou Donghuang, and smiled coldly as he said, ¡°Today, if Zhou Donghuang cannot formulate the blood-staunching elixir as promised, not only will he have to kowtow to Medicine Master Huang in apology, but also the Lin family will not let him off lightly!¡±


    As he finished speaking, Lin Zhuoyue passed the paper in his hand to Lin Tianzheng.


    ¡°Head Elder, please.¡±


    Lin Tianzheng raised his eyebrows as he glanced at the herbs listed on the paper.


    ¡°I¡¯ll send the herbs over in a few hours.¡±


    So saying, he left.


    ¡°Soon, I would like to see¡­ what fate the adopted son of Lin Lan will suffer!¡±


    ¡°What fate he will suffer? From Patriarch¡¯s words, he¡¯s surely dead!¡±


    ¡°The most he can do is formulate a blood-staunching elixir that is forty percent more effective than those on the market based on the formula his mother stole from Fourth Elder. To formulate one that is fifty percent more effective is a fool¡¯s dream!¡±


    Some of the looks that the Lin family juniors gave Zhou Donghuang were condescending, some were derisive, and some were even expressing delight at his impending doom.


    A few hours could be long, but they could also feel short.


    To the crowd gathered in the Lin family mansion, it seemed to pass by quickly.


    The head elder of the Lin family, Lin Tianzheng, hurried back as soon as he could with the herbs that Zhou Donghuang had requested.


    ¡°The herbs are all here¡­ Next, I would like to see how you formulate a blood-staunching elixir fifty percent more effective than those available!¡±


    Lin Tianzheng tossed the bundled herbs to Zhou Donghuang and gave him a chilly look before backing away. And Zhou Donghuang for his part wasted no time; he proceeded immediately to formulate the blood-staunching elixir.


    The necessary tools had all been prepared under the instruction of Huang Qishan during the time that Lin Tianzheng had been gathering the herbs.


    Under the scrutiny of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang worked quickly, and he worked so naturally that at first glance, he looked like a medicine master with many years of experience formulating elixirs.


    ¡°What a show he¡¯s putting on!¡± Lin Tonghong laughed coldly.


    However, Huang Qishan¡¯s expression had suddenly turned serious.


    It is said that the layman enjoyed the show, while professionals appreciated the craft. Huang Qishan realized that Zhou Donghuang¡¯s speed and efficiency were far superior to his.


    ¡°With such speed¡­ the elixir will probably be ready in an hour at most?¡± Huang Qishan whispered.


    Of course, such thoughts did not mean Huang Qishan believed Zhou Donghuang could formulate a blood-staunching elixir fifty percent more effective than those available.


    A blood-staunching elixir of such effectiveness was not something that an intermediate-level medicine master had the ability to formulate.


    An hour later, just as Huang Qishan had thought, Zhou Donghuang stopped working, having formulated three bottles of blood-staunching elixir.


    Of the three bottles of blood-staunching elixir, Zhou Donghuang kept one and gave one of the remaining two bottles to Huang Qishan and the other to Lin Zhuoyue.


    ¡°Try it,¡± Zhou Donghuang said casually.


    Huang Qishan eagerly slit his palm and poured the contents of the bottle over it.


    However, Lin Zhuoyue did not even bother trying it because he felt it was completely unnecessary.


    The gaze of the crowd gradually focused on Huang Qishan as they waited for him to declare the result¡­


    Although the Lin family members present all felt that Zhou Donghuang would not be able to formulate a blood-staunching elixir of that quality, they still wanted to hear Huang Qishan announce the results personally.


    Hmm?


    However, they were soon left dumbfounded.


    As they watched, Huang Qishan began to tremble, and his eyes lit up as he stared at the wound on his palm.


    ¡°This¡­ could it be¡­?¡±


    Seeing Huang Qishan lose his composure, the crowd of Lin family members felt a mounting sense of disbelief.


    ¡°Impossible!¡±


    Lin Tonghong¡¯s expression changed completely.


    ¡°Medicine Master Huang, what is the result?¡±


    At that moment, even Lin Zhuoyue, the patriarch of the Lin family, could no longer bear the suspense.


    ¡°The effectiveness of this blood-staunching elixir¡­ is indeed fifty percent more than those available on the market!¡± Huang Qishan said in a voice full of emotion.


    While Lin Zhuoyue and the other Lin family members were still stunned in disbelief, Huang Qishan looked back at Zhou Donghuang and bowed low with a serious expression.


    ¡°Regardless of whether this blood-staunching elixir was formulated personally by you or the formula was obtained elsewhere, in the matter of formulating blood-staunching elixirs, I, Huang Qishan, bow to your superiority.¡±

 Chapter 53 The Wrath of Donghuang

    Bow to your superiority?


    Huang Qishan¡¯s words caused many of the Lin family juniors who had just come to their senses to slip back into a state of shock.


    Now, they were one step closer to acknowledging that Lin Lan¡¯s adopted son Zhou Donghuang really did formulate a blood-staunching elixir five times more effective than those available on the market!


    ¡°So, in your opinion¡­ the formula that Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong of the Lin Family submitted to the Lin family is mine?¡±


    ¡°The blood-staunching elixir formulated with that formula and this one that you have just formulated yourself have similar ingredients, so naturally it is the work of the same person.¡± Huang Qishan nodded sagely.


    At Huang Qishan¡¯s words, Lin Tonghong¡¯s expression changed, and he said urgently to Huang Qishan, ¡°Medicine Master Huang! Lin Lan must have stolen my formula, and this little fellow must have used it as a template and improved on it by adding on more herbs. Even if he formulated a blood-staunching elixir five times more effective than those available on the market, it is not enough to prove that the formula is really his!¡±


    Lin Tonghong was really in a panic now. He never imagined that the adopted son of Lin Lan would have such a move prepared.


    More importantly, this intermediate-level medicine master before him could not be controlled by the Lin family and would not be concerned with protecting him.


    ¡°Are you questioning my competency in medicine?¡± Huang Qishan looked at Lin Tonghong distastefully and challenged him in a chilly tone, ¡°I¡¯ll give you one month. If you can produce an even more effective blood-staunching elixir by adding herbs to this precious formula of the Lin family, I will kowtow ten times to you! Fourth Elder, I was wondering where you obtained that formula, but I never imagined that it was stolen from someone else.¡±


    Huang Qishan shook his head as he spoke, then turned his back and left straight away.


    Huang Qishan was an intermediate-level medicine master and was the absolute authority on medicine amongst those present. In the eyes of the Lin family juniors, his words carried more weight than Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong¡¯s, who was not even an inferior-level medicine master.


    ¡°That formula¡­ did Fourth Elder really steal it from Lin Lan?¡±


    It was only after Huang Qishan had left that the Lin family juniors regained their wits and looked at Lin Tonghong with completely different expressions.


    The esteemed fourth elder had stooped so low as to steal a formula from a side relative? Moreover, he dared to pass it off as his own, submitted it to the family and proceeded to slander the other party and accuse them of stealing his formula?


    It was only because they were frightened of Lin Tonghong¡¯s power that the crowd of Lin family juniors didn¡¯t curse and condemn him.


    ¡°Lin Tonghong.¡±


    After Huang Qishan had left, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s icy gaze settled on Lin Tonghong.


    Lin Lan was overcome with relief and heaved a long sigh.


    Her son, after a great deal of effort and without resorting to threats of violence, had managed to secure justice for her.


    ¡°Patriarch Lin, your Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong has committed such wrongdoings, I wonder how you are going to deal with him?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked meaningfully, glancing casually at Lin Zhuoyue.


    Lin Zhuoyue¡¯s eyes twitched when he heard this, and he could not come up with a reply.


    ¡°Big Brother!¡±


    Lin Tonghong gave Lin Tianzheng a pleading look, anxiety and panic on his face.


    ¡°Big Brother?¡±


    When he heard Lin Tonghong thus address the head elder of the Lin family, Zhou Donghuang squinted as a cold gleam flashed across his eyes.


    ¡°Head Elder and Fourth Elder are cousins, they grew up together, so they are as close as blood brothers,¡± Lin Lan explained, as though she could see Zhou Donguang¡¯s suspicion. Lin Lan continued, ¡°However, even Medicine Master Huang has determined that Lin Tonghong stole my formula in the presence of so many Lin family juniors. Head Elder could not protect him even if he wanted to.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t necessarily think so.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head. It was evident that he did not agree completely with Lin Lan and remained noncommittal.


    ¡°Humph!¡±


    While Lin Lan was stunned by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, the head elder of the Lin family Lin Tianzheng gave a snort and stepped forward.


    As he stepped forward, he gave Zhou Donghuang a cold look and said in a low voice, ¡°To be able to improve on Fourth Elder¡¯s formula and produce an even better blood-staunching elixir, it has to be said that you, Zhou Donghuang, are a genius.¡±


    ¡°Today, if you leave the improved formula here, it will count as Lin Lan¡¯s redemption, and regardless of the matter of stealing the formula or disregarding Patriarch¡¯s command not to return or even slandering Fourth Elder, it will all be wiped clean! The Lin family will not punish her any further.¡±


    Lin Tianzheng finished speaking and swept a cold gaze across Lin Lan, his murderous expression extremely threatening.


    Lin Lan¡¯s expression completely changed in an instant! She was easily able to discern what Lin Tianzheng really meant.


    He meant that all the charges against Lin Lan still stood, but if her son Zhou Donghuang turned over the formula for the blood-staunching elixir he had just made, she would have made up for her ¡°crimes.¡±


    ¡°Patriarch¡­¡±


    Lin Lan looked at Lin Zhuoyue as though clutching to the last straw of life, biting her lip and looking expectantly at him.


    Feeling Lin Lan¡¯s gaze on him, Lin Zhuoyue merely looked at her indifferently and declared with an apathetic expression, ¡°Do as Head Elder says. As long as your son Zhou Donghuang turns over the formula, you will be considered to have redeemed yourself.¡±


    Under Lin Lan¡¯s expectant gaze, Lin Zhuoyue merely repeated everything Lin Tianzheng had said, causing her to grow even paler.


    ¡°Second Elder.¡±


    Lin Lan sucked in a breath and looked to Lin Chonghuan, pinning her last hopes on the second elder of the Lin family whom she had always seen as fair and unbiased.


    ¡°Lin Lan, allow your son Zhou Donghuang to hand over the formula.¡±


    A look of regret flashed across Lin Chonghuan¡¯s face, but it vanished quickly, and his expression grew serious.


    Lin Lan¡¯s already pale face grew even paler at Lin Chonghuan¡¯s words, and she swayed on her feet as though about to fall.


    Many of the Lin family juniors present were dumbfounded.


    ¡°What is happening?¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t Fourth Elder steal Lin Lan¡¯s formula? Medicine Master Huang confirmed it himself, how could Head Elder, Patriarch, and Second Elder do this?¡±


    ¡°In matters of medicine, even they do not have the same authority as Medicine Master Huang!¡±


    These were the thoughts of the younger Lin family juniors.


    Hearing what they said, the older Lin family juniors shook their heads and whispered among themselves, saying, ¡°This time, right and wrong no longer matters.¡±


    ¡°Exactly. To the family, protecting the reputation of Fourth Elder as a future level-four adept of Qi-gathering is more important, as is securing the formula for this blood-staunching elixir that is five times more effective than those available.¡±


    ¡°Lin Lan, as a side relative¡­ how can she compare in value to Fourth Elder?¡±


    ¡°Too bad Lin Lan just did not have more luck when being born.¡±


    ¡­


    It was only after the older Lin family juniors began to whisper among themselves that the younger ones came to a realization.


    The looks they gave Lin Lan became looks of pity.


    ¡°Mother, is this the family you love so dearly?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang stepped forward to assist Lin Lan who looked that she would fall over at any time, and he whispered to her, ¡°In the eyes of this kind of family, their benefit outweighs any notion of justice.¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang finished speaking, Lin Lan swept a chilly gaze across Lin Zhuoyue and the assembled leadership of the Lin family and declared in a hoarse voice, ¡°From this day on, I, Lin Lan, renounce the Lin family and will no longer be a member of the Lin family!¡±


    Blow after blow had shaken Lin Lan to the point where she no longer considered the Lin family to be a fundamental part of her life.


    ¡°You have my permission,¡± Lin Zhuoyue replied indifferently.


    From his point of view, the departure of a side relative would not have any impact on the Lin family.


    ¡°Donghuang, your mother does not wish to remain here¡­ not a moment longer.¡±


    Lin Lan looked at Zhou Donghuang pleadingly, and her voice was full of emotion. She looked like she was on the verge of losing her composure.


    ¡°Of course!¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded. ¡°Mother, we¡¯ll leave now.¡±


    So saying, Zhou Donghuang helped support Lin Lan as they prepared to leave. As for the debt of the Lin family, he intended to return some other time to collect it.


    ¡°You may leave if you wish, but hand over the formula!¡±


    Just as Lin Lan, supported by Zhou Donghuang and followed by Fu and Granny Lian were about to leave, the fourth elder of the Lin family Lin Tonghong called out.


    As soon as he had spoken, Lin Tonghong stepped across to bar the way of Zhou Donghuang and the others, staring at him fiercely.


    ¡°And what if I don¡¯t want to?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked calmly at Lin Tonghong, his face betraying no emotion and his tone completely even, as though he was thoroughly disinterested.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t hand over the formula, the Lin family will pursue every last detail of Lin Lan¡¯s offenses.¡± Lin Tonghong smiled coldly. ¡°Lin Lan, disregarding the patriarch¡¯s order and returning to the family is the foremost offense, stealing the formula that I submitted to the family is the second, and slandering me, the fourth elder of the Lin family, is the third. The punishment for multiple crimes should be death!¡±


    A murderous look flashed across Lin Tonghong¡¯s eyes as he said this.


    ¡°How dare you!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang handed Lin Lan over to Granny Lian¡¯s care and stepped forward, his white clothes lifting up in the wind.


    In that moment, the fury and rage in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes that had been long suppressed burst forth in a flood!


    ¡°I planned to send my mother back to rest before returning to settle this debt with the Lin family¡­ but since the Lin family is in a hurry, I, Zhou Donghuang, will oblige you all!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang grinned, showing his two rows of white teeth. This youth looked like the sun had transformed into a demon from hell in that instant.


    The Lin family is in deep trouble.


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang in this state, the patriarch of the Lu family, Lu Qinghu, who was standing beside Lin Zhuoyue, shook his head at how extremely stupid the Lin family was!


    If the Lu family had a side relative like Lin Lan, who had an adopted son like Zhou Donghuang, he would laugh till he woke himself from his dream.

 Chapter 54 Doing as he Wishes

    ¡°Settle accounts? You?¡±


    Lin Tonghong looked condescendingly at Zhou Donghuang with a derisive expression and continued, ¡°Even if that Freezing Wind were here, he would not dare to say such things.¡±


    The last time Lin Tonghong went to Qingshan town intending to seize Zhou Donghuang¡¯s Yunxuan Restaurant, he had been defeated by Freezing Wind and sent packing with his tail between his legs.


    Therefore, in his view, the strongest person that Zhou Donghuang and Lin Lan had with them was Freezing Wind.


    But he did not know that Freezing Wind¡¯s ability was given to him by Zhou Donghuang, and without Zhou Donghuang, Freezing Wind might not even have attained level-two of Qi-gathering by now.


    ¡°Enough!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang had long ago lost his patience, and seeing that Lin Tonghong still dared to carry on with his nonsense, he let out a shout of impatience and sprang into action.


    Star-Stepping Footwork!


    Zhou Donghuang swayed and stepped in a series of peculiar steps. He moved like a flash of lightning as he suddenly appeared right before Lin Tonghong, who was standing not far away.


    Lin Tonghong¡¯s expression changed immediately in the instant that Zhou Donghuang appeared before him.


    How could this Zhou Donghuang be so fast?


    Just as this thought appeared in Lin Tonghong¡¯s mind, he saw Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm rise and descend towards his head.


    At this moment, his reaction was still a split-second too slow.


    There was only one reason why the scene played out as it did: the difference in their ability was too great.


    ¡°No¡ª!¡±


    In the same instant that Lin Tonghong cried out in desperation, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm landed like a tiger bounding down a mountain.


    Pong!!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm struck Lin Tonghong¡¯s skull, and he fell to the ground with a crash, raising a cloud of dust.


    From the time Zhou Donghuang first moved till the time he killed Lin Tonghong with a single blow, the entire process had happened in the blink of an eye, too fast for the people present to react.


    Now, seeing Lin Tonghong fall lifeless to the ground, the gathered crowd of Lin family members all sucked in a cold breath.


    Lin Tonghong was the fourth elder of the Lin family, an outstanding level-three adept of Qi-gathering, with a good chance of attaining level-four of Qi-gathering within ten years. But now, he was dead before them, and moreover, he was dead at the hands of a youth who looked to be no more than sixteen or seventeen years old.


    ¡°I¡¯m not dreaming, am I?¡±


    ¡°This¡­ this is too incredible. He killed Fourth Elder?¡±


    As the Lin family juniors began to come to their senses, they exchanged glances and saw disbelief and incredulity in each other¡¯s eyes.


    Several of them even pinched themselves to confirm that they were not dreaming.


    ¡°Fourth Elder!¡±


    The patriarch of the Lin family, Lin Zhuoyue, Second Elder Lin Chonghuan, and the rest of the Lin family leadership regained their senses. Their expressions changed completely.


    When they looked again at the youth standing beside Lin Tonghong¡¯s corpse, their gazes were filled with disbelief without exception.


    If they had not seen it with their own eyes, they would never have believed that such a youth had the ability to kill the fourth elder of the Lin family, a level-three adept of Qi-gathering, Lin Tonghong.


    Among the Lin family leadership, the head elder, Lin Tianzheng, was the last to come to his senses.


    ¡°Little Brother Hong!¡±


    After he regained his senses, Lin Tianzheng stared in anguish at Lin Tonghong¡¯s lifeless body, and he wailed in sorrow, his body trembling in anger.


    Lin Tonghong was only his cousin, but to him, they were no different from brothers. And now, seeing Lin Tonghong killed before his eyes, he was filled with rage. He had no intention of holding back!


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you killed my little brother, Hong, I will kill you!¡±


    Lin Tianzheng was furious beyond reason and was not considering whether Zhou Donghuang¡¯s ability was beyond his own. He sprang forward at Zhou Donghuang like a hound fixed on its prey.


    Although he was almost beyond reason, nevertheless, when he was approaching Zhou Donghuang, Lin Tianzheng did not dare to be reckless. He used the Lin family¡¯s lesser-grade technique, Crazy Python Punch.


    Swoosh!!


    Lin Tianzheng was a level-four adept and struck with the strength of four bulls, just over three thousand jin of force, in an impressive show of force. And Lin Tianzheng¡¯s attacking arm in that moment seemed to become a frenzied python, barreling towards Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°A good attempt!¡±


    Faced with Lin Tianzheng¡¯s furious attack, Zhou Donghuang laughed indifferently and shifted his weight as his whole body shot forward.


    Swoosh!!


    As his body shot forward, Zhou Donghuang threw a punch like a cannonball, and it met the furious assault of Lin Tianzheng¡¯s fist.


    Thunderbolt Punch was a second-grade technique with an emphasis on directness, speed, accuracy, and ruthlessness, destroying enemies with sheer force and fury.


    With this second-grade technique, Thunderbolt Punch, in addition to Zhou Donghuang¡¯s strength that was no less than Lin Tianzheng¡¯s, one could imagine the power of his attack.


    Pong!!


    Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang and Lin Tianzheng exchanged blows, and it was glaringly obvious that his fist was a size smaller than Lin Tianzheng¡¯s.


    Ka-chak!!


    ¡°Ahhhh¡ª!¡±


    Before the crowd could react, they heard the clear sound of bones cracking and snapping, followed closely by a hoarse and shrill cry of agony.


    Zhou Donghuang stood where he was, unmoved, and Lin Tianzheng was sent flying to land awkwardly more than three meters away on the ground. His attacking arm was broken, obviously maimed by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s one blow.


    Their strength was comparable, but a second-grade technique was completely superior to a lesser-grade technique.


    Therefore, this was the result.


    In that moment, silence reigned.


    Even Lu Qinghu and Lu Bao could not help staring dumbfounded at the scene.


    It turned out that even without the black iron spear, this Young Master Donghuang¡¯s ability was equally formidable.


    Lin Tianzheng was not just an ordinary level-four adept. He was a level-four adept of the preeminent Lin family, second in power only to the patriarch of the Lin family Lin Zhuoyue. He had long since forged his reputation with his exploits in Yunfeng prefecture.


    Such a person had now lost an arm while exchanging blows with a youth.


    Hss! Hss! Hss! Hss!


    The gathered crowd of Lin family juniors let out a cold breath as they came to their senses after this second shock.


    When did the head elder of the Lin family become so weak that he could not withstand a single blow?


    Was this really the head elder of the Lin family, a level-four adept?


    ¡°You¡­ you are¡­ a level-five adept of Qi-gathering?!¡±


    Lin Tianzheng gritted his teeth as he endured the pain from his broken arm, and when he looked at Zhou Donghuang, it was with shock and dread. It was as though he had seen a ghost, his voice trembling with anxiety.


    Simultaneously, Zhou Donghuang slowly stepped forward towards Lin Tianzheng with an apathetic expression, his chilly gaze showing no hint of emotion.


    With every step he took, Lin Tianzheng grew more stressed, causing him to grow more and more pale.


    ¡°You¡­ you want to kill me? No! You cannot kill me! If you kill me, the Lin family will not let you go!¡±


    Lin Tianzheng was panicking.


    ¡°The Lin family?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang laughed derisively, and he darted forward like a gust of wind and brought his palm down as Lin Tianzheng raised himself up on his good arm to try to flee. It was swift and efficient.


    Hong!


    Another member of the Lin family fell, following in the footsteps of Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong. This was the head elder of the Lin family, Lin Tianzheng.


    ¡°You¡­ you actually¡­ actually killed Head Elder?¡±


    Seeing Lin Tianzheng die, Patriarch Lin Zhuoyue glared at Zhou Donghuang in anger as he trembled in rage.


    But he did not dare make a move.


    The ability Zhou Donghuang had displayed far exceeded his own, and if he rushed forward, he would probably not escape with his life.


    Faced with Lin Zhuoyue¡¯s glare, Zhou Donghuang merely swept an indifferent gaze over him and gave him a carefree smile.


    ¡°When I, Zhou Donghuang, do things, I always do as I please, and whoever takes issue with that is begging to be taught a lesson!¡±


    ¡°With your ability, why did you go through the trouble of formulating the blood-staunching elixir to clear Lin Lan¡¯s name?¡± Lin Zhuoyue asked in a low voice. ¡°You, are you making fun of us?¡±


    He could not comprehend it.


    With Zhou Donghuang¡¯s ability, he could have forced the Lin family into compliance with the threat of force right from the start. He could have forced the Lin family to deal with Fourth Elder Lin Tonghong¡­


    Even if Lin Tonghong had not actually stolen Lin Lan¡¯s formula, with Zhou Donghuang¡¯s ability, no one would have said otherwise!


    The planet of Ziyun was one where only the strong gained respect, and adepts who were strong enough could establish their own rules and order.


    ¡°I did indeed think of doing that,¡± Zhou Donghuang said as he looked at Granny Lian who was supporting Lin Lan. His gaze softened, and he continued, ¡°However, my mother did not want me to do so. She said that if I did that¡­ I would be no different from Lin Tonghong who had stolen her formula and tried to suppress her with force. Besides, she had the utmost belief in the Lin family and did not want me to raise my hand to make the first move against the Lin family.¡±


    He paused and seemed to have suddenly recalled something. Zhou Donghuang¡¯s electrifying gaze fell on the crowd, on a middle-aged man who had just turned around and was about to leave.


    ¡°Lin Hua!¡± Zhou Donghuang called out casually. ¡°Are you going to come here on your own¡­ or do I have to go over to you?¡±


    The middle-aged man who Zhou Donghuang was staring at was Lin Hua. He had let them into the Lin family mansion several days ago and proceeded to slander them, accusing them of sneaking in.


    Thud!


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s voice, Lin Hua trembled violently and turned around, sprinting to Zhou Donghuang and kneeling down before him. He was trembling and frightened to the core.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I deserve to die! I should not have slandered you! I deserve to die! I deserve to die!¡±


    As Lin Hua spoke, he raised his hands and slapped himself repeatedly on both cheeks, as though he would not stop until Zhou Donghuang told him to.


    He hoped that this would be lenient and spare his life.


    He had just witnessed Zhou Donghuang kill the fourth elder and head elder of the Lin family. He was already frightened out of his wits.

 Chapter 55 Uproar in the Prefecture Capital

    The large back courtyard of the Lin family mansion was silent except for the sound of Lin Hua slapping himself and begging for his life,


    ¡°Slander?¡±


    ¡°What has Lin Hua done? I don¡¯t understand!¡±


    Many of the Lin family juniors wore a confused expression and had no idea what had happened.


    Of course, although they had no idea what had happened, they knew one thing for certain: Lin Hua had offended Lin Lan¡¯s adopted son, Zhou Donghuang, who was incredibly fearsome.


    Otherwise, why would Zhou Donghuang single him out when so many Lin family juniors were present?


    ¡°Lin Hua, you¡¯re really digging yourself into a hole.¡±


    The side relative who had been guarding the main entrance of the mansion that day was also present, and he shook his head and sighed.


    ¡°Lin Nan, you know how Lin Hua offended this Zhou Donghuang?¡± A Lin family junior standing beside him asked in curiosity.


    As Lin Nan related the details of the matter, realization dawned on the crowd of Lin family juniors as they finally understood why Zhou Donghuang had singled Lin Hua out.


    ¡°Lin Hua is really malicious¡­ I never heard of him bearing a grudge against Lin Lan?¡±


    ¡°I remember, Lin Hua was Lin Lan¡¯s suitor, and the kind who would not be put off¡­ Finally, he only stopped pursuing Lin Lan after she publicly rejected him.¡±


    ¡°He could not possibly be bearing a grudge after all this time, could he?¡±


    ¡°He could.¡±


    ¡°If it really was because of this, isn¡¯t this Lin Hua too petty?¡±


    ¡­


    The crowd of Lin family juniors looked once more at Lin Hua with spite.


    ¡°I wonder how this Zhou Donghuang is going to deal with Lin Hua.¡±


    The gaze of many of the Lin family juniors fell on Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°If you knew how it would turn out, you wouldn¡¯t have acted in that way.¡± Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang gazed indifferently at Lin Hua before raising his leg and bringing it down to kill Lin Hua with a single stomp. The sound of Lin Hua begging and slapping himself stopped immediately.


    Zhou Donghuang killed Lin Hua with a single stomp as casually as one might kill an ant.


    All the Lin family juniors watching felt their scalp tingle.


    After Zhou Donghuang took his leg off Lin Hua, he swept his gaze over the patriarch of the Lin family, Lin Zhuoyue. That look frightened him so much that his expression changed as though doom was descending upon him.


    Only when Zhou Donghuang took his gaze off Lin Zhuoyue did he then release his breath.


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gaze fell on him, the second elder of the Lin family, Lin Chonghuan, gave a bitter look without being fearful like Lin Zhuoyue, as though he did not care whether he lived or died.


    ¡°We¡¯re wrong, all wrong¡­ Head Elder was wrong, Patriarch was wrong, and I was wrong too.¡±


    Lin Chonghuan knew that that day, every single one of them had been wrong. Otherwise, if Lin Lan had been welcomed into the Lin family, her adopted son Zhou Donghuang would also have been a part of the family.


    With such ability at sixteen or seventeen years of age, who knew what he would become in thirty years¡¯ time?


    The Lin family had missed a golden opportunity.


    ¡°Donghuang, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Just then, Lin Lan called out to Zhou Donghuang. She had watched impassively at everything Zhou Donghuang had done from beginning to end.


    The belief she had in the Lin family had crumbled completely from the moment she had announced that she was renouncing the Lin family.


    Now, the Lin family was no longer important to her, and she did not consider herself to be a member of the Lin family.


    ¡°Okay.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang acknowledged her and returned to her side, helping her along as he led Fu and Granny Lian towards the main entrance of the Lin family mansion.


    ¡°Lin Lan!¡±


    Lin Chonghuan gritted his teeth and finally looked at Lin Lan and called out to her, ¡°Would you still consider staying in the Lin family? The Lin family can give you justice.¡±


    Lin Chonghuan put his dignity aside for the sake of the Lin family.


    ¡°Justice?¡± Lin Lan turned around at this, gazing at Lin Chonghuan indifferently. ¡°Second Elder, do I, Lin Lan, still need the Lin family to dispense justice? My justice has already been delivered by my son. As for the Lin family¡­ from this day on, I, Lin Lan, will have nothing to do with you!¡±


    With that, Lin Lan left with Zhou Donghuang, and the gathered crowd of Lin family juniors parted to let them through, staring at them as they left.


    They had the same bitter smile on their faces. Just like Lin Chonghuan, they knew that the Lin family had just missed a golden opportunity.


    Lin Lan and her adopted son, Zhou Donghuang, would have been the greatest assets of the Lin family. But now, they had been thrown out the door by the Lin family!


    ¡°Second Elder, if she wants to leave, we¡¯ll let her¡­ the Lin family will not miss an insignificant side relative!¡± Lin Zhuoyue said in a heavy voice. Although he sounded unperturbed, everyone in the Lin family knew that he was trying to salvage the last shred of dignity.


    Today, the greatest loss of the Lin family had not been the deaths of the head elder and fourth elder of the Lin family, but Lin Lan¡¯s departure.


    Lin Lan had left, bringing with her a sixteen or seventeen-year old youth that was most likely already a level-five adept.


    ¡°Farewell, Patriarch Lin.¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang leave, Lu Qinghu did not intend to linger, and he bade Lin Zhuoyue farewell before leaving with Lu Bao.


    ¡°Patriarch Lu, wait!¡±


    Seeing this, Lin Zhuoyue called out hastily to Lu Qinghu. ¡°We haven¡¯t discussed the rights to the Lu family¡¯s qi-gathering elixir¡­¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need for discussion.¡±


    Before Lin Zhuoyue could finish, he was interrupted by Lu Qinghu, who had stopped. He turned around to gaze indifferently at Lin Zhuoyue, and said, ¡°The Lu family will never give the rights for our qi-gathering elixir to the Lin family¡­ From this day on, the Lu family will not cooperate with the Lin family in any aspect.¡±


    With that, a cold smile spread over Lu Qinghu¡¯s face.


    ¡°Hmmm?¡±


    Lin Zhuoyue¡¯s expression changed completely at Lu Qinghu¡¯s words, and he asked instinctively, ¡°Why not?¡±


    ¡°Because, the owner of the formula for the Lu family¡¯s qi-gathering elixir is none other than Lady Lin Lan¡¯s adopted son, Zhou Donghuang! The Lu family was only helping him with the manufacture and sale of the qi-gathering elixir.¡±


    Lu Qinghu finished speaking and left with Lu Bao.


    Only when their silhouettes vanished from the sight of the crowd of did the Lin family members regain their wits, and the expressions of shock spread over their faces as one.


    ¡°My god! The formula for the Lu family¡¯s qi-gathering elixir actually belongs to Lin Lan¡¯s adopted son, Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    ¡°This¡­ how is this possible?!¡±


    ¡°Patriarch Lu of the Lu family said so himself, it cannot be false.¡±


    ¡°I never thought, I really never thought¡­ Lin Lan¡¯s adopted son was a hidden dragon all along!¡±


    ¡°That hidden dragon should have been the Lin family¡¯s all along.¡±


    In that moment, the crowd of Lin family juniors all sighed at their missed opportunity, but they did not dare voice out the resentment against their patriarch, Lin Zhuoyue.


    ¡°Patriarch, I¡¯m going back.¡±


    The second elder of the Lin family, Lin Chonghuan, gave a long sigh and greeted him before leaving, cutting a lonely and desolate figure as he went. And Lin Zhuoyue, the patriarch, was left rooted to the ground, his expression unreadable as he was lost in his own thoughts.


    Soon, Lin Zhuoyue regained his senses, and he swept a cold gaze across the crowd of Lin family juniors.


    ¡°If anyone spreads word about what happened today, they will suffer the discipline of the family!¡±


    With that, he left.


    Although Lin Zhuoyue¡¯s words had intimidated some of the Lin family juniors, many of the braver Lin family juniors did spread the news.


    In just several days, the entire capital of Yunfeng prefecture knew what had occurred on October 10, 1228 of the Ziyun era in the back courtyard of the Lin family mansion: Zhou Donghuang, a youth of only seventeen years old and also the adopted son of Lin Lan, a side relative of the Lin family, killed the fourth elder and head elder of the Lin family, implying that he had already attained level-five of Qi-gathering!


    The news spread, and the entire capital of Yunfeng prefecture was shaken by it.


    It was easy to imagine how not only the prefecture capital but also the entire Yunfeng prefecture and the prefectures adjoining it would be shaken by this news as it continued to spread.


    In the history of Yunyang, there had never been a seventeen-year-old, level-five adept of Qi-gathering.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s accomplishment was unprecedented in the country of Yunyang.


    Of course, when this news spread, many people would remain skeptical. Unless they saw it with their own eyes, it would be very difficult for them to believe that Yunfeng prefecture could produce a level-five adept who was only seventeen years old.


    After all, this had never happened before in the history of Yunyang.


    ¡­


    In the governor¡¯s mansion, the Zhao family.


    ¡°Elder San, have you heard about the latest uproar in the prefecture capital?¡±


    The steward of the Hall of Gods, Zhao Ruochen, stood in the peaceful courtyard and questioned Zhao San, who was sitting at a stone table and leisurely sipping a cup of tea.


    ¡°What is it?¡±


    Zhao San had not been out recently and had stayed in his room practicing. He took his meals in his room and had only left his room an hour before.


    ¡°Elder San, that Zhou Donghuang has come to the prefecture capital again¡­ five days before, he was in the back courtyard of the Lin family mansion, and in a rage on his mother¡¯s behalf, killed the fourth elder and head elder of the Lin family!¡±


    As soon as Zhao Ruochen had finished speaking, the teacup in Zhao San¡¯s hand was shattered with a crack, and his originally relaxed expression was replaced by one of shock.


    ¡°This¡­ has been verified?¡± Zhao San asked after drawing in a deep breath and taking a moment to calm himself down. He looked solemnly at Zhao Ruochen.


    ¡°I have gotten someone to track down the accounts of the Lin family juniors present that day, and they have all verified it,¡± Zhao Ruochen said.


    ¡°That Zhou Donghuang¡­ where is he now?¡± Zhao San asked urgently, standing up suddenly and staring at Zhao Ruochen with an electrifying gaze.


    Although he had discerned that there was something mysterious about Zhou Donghuang in the past, he did not imagine that Zhou Donghuang, who was only seventeen years old, had the ability to kill Head Elder Lin Tianzheng of the Lin family.


    Even in his current state, and with the swiftness technique of the Zhao family, he would not necessarily be a match for Lin Tianzheng.


    ¡°He¡¯s at the Lu family,¡± Zhao Ruochen replied.


    ¡°The Lu family? The Lu family that has just recently advanced to become a preeminent family?¡± Zhao San asked.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Zhao Ruochen nodded.


    ¡°I already thought that it was strange for the patriarch of the Lu family, Lu Qinghu to suddenly break through so abruptly after failing all these years.¡±


    There was a gleam in Zhao San¡¯s eyes, as though he had a thought.


    ¡°Elder San, you mean¡­ Lu Qinghu¡¯s breakthrough had something to do with Zhou Donghuang?¡± Zhao Ruochen¡¯s eyes narrowed suddenly.

 Chapter 56 Chen Dandan

    The Li family household.


    As one of the preeminent families in Yunfeng county, the Li family had yet to recover from the loss of Second Young Master Li Pingyun.


    ¡°Is it confirmed?¡± Li family chief, Li Jingyu, asked as he looked at the Li family elder before him.


    ¡°Chief, it¡¯s been confirmed¡­ it¡¯s true,¡± the Li family elder smiled sadly.


    ¡°I knew it. No wonder Lu Qinghu and Fang Tianyi didn¡¯t avenge their son. They even went all the way to Qingshan town to be at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s beck at call¡­ Zhou Donghuang is actually so powerful?¡± Li Jingyu¡¯s eyes glinted. ¡°Looks like the death of the former Ma family chief, Ma Tianba probably had something to do with him as well.¡±


    ¡°Chief, Zhou Donghuang appears to be a level-five adept¡­ our Li family cannot afford to offend him,¡± said the Li family elder.


    ¡°We have never done anything to him before, and especially not now¡­ we¡¯ll wait for my eldest daughter to return from Guangling prefecture first. If there is really nothing we can do, I don¡¯t want to avenge my son either, in case we fail and even end up losing our whole family.¡± Though Li Jingyu said this calmly, his fists were clenched so tightly that they had started bleeding. It was clear that he was furious!


    For now, he could only plant his hopes on his eldest daughter who had married the junior governor of the intermediate-level Guangling prefecture. Although she was just a concubine, she was the most loved amongst the many wives and concubines of the junior governor.


    ¡°In my letter to her, I told her to come back with the junior governor of Guangling prefecture¡­ who knows if she¡¯ll be coming back alone this time, or with him. If the junior governor comes back with her, perhaps we can avenge my son!¡±


    Guangling county was an intermediate-level prefecture. The Wu family, the household that controlled Guangling prefecture, was a grand family with many level-six adepts. Wherever his son-in-law went, he would be accompanied by at least two level-five adepts.


    ¡­


    At this time, on the other side of the Li family household.


    ¡°Impossible¡­ Impossible¡­ Zhou Donghuang is a martial invalid, how could he possibly become a level-five adept? Furthermore, he¡­ he¡¯s only seventeen years old!¡± Li Rui shook her head continuously as she refused to believe this was true. But the more she asked, the more hopeless she felt.


    Now, even though she said that she did not believe it, deep within her heart, she still knew that it was true. She just could not be resigned to the fact. Back then, outside the main door of the Qingyun guild in Ningping county, her mother Li Yun had told her, ¡°Rui¡¯er, you¡¯re wrong. Zhou Donghuang is a dragon amongst men. You will regret giving him up.¡±


    Li Rui was regretting it now. She had always wanted to find a man of high status so that she too could enjoy the prestige, but now, she had given up on her best chance. That Zhou Donghuang whom she had looked down upon was truly a dragon amongst men, as her mother had said.


    ¡­


    The Hong family was also one of the preeminent families in the capital of Yunfeng county. By then, someone in the Hong family had also heard the news that was spreading outside like wildfire.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang killed a level-four adept, Lin Tianzheng, the head elder of the Lin family?¡± A young lady with a slim figure clad in a pale yellow shirt had an incredulous expression on her youthful face. ¡°How could that useless piece of trash have such power?¡± Her eyes were filled with disbelief.


    ¡°Uncle Hong, is that true?¡± The young lady turned to the man who had told her the news, a middle-aged man dressed in a flowing green gown and a stern look on his face.


    The man was none other than Hong Wei, chief of the preeminent Hong family.


    ¡°Dandan, it¡¯s true.¡± Hong Wei nodded his head solemnly. ¡°I sent someone to find out. Zhou Donghuang had indeed killed Lin Tianzheng. That day, Lin Tianzheng even used the Lin family fist motion technique, ¡®Crazy Python Punch, but after one round with Zhou Donghuang, his whole body flew backward and his arm was broken. The power that Zhou Donghuang showed that day is hardly inferior to a level-five adept.¡± Although this was not the first time he had known about this, Hong Wei¡¯s face was still full of shock.


    The young lady was none other than Chen Dandan, Lin Lan¡¯s adopted daughter and step-sister of Zhou Donghuang when he was younger. Because she had betrayed Lin Lan and released the Lin family medicine formulas to the Hong family, she had totally broken off contact with Lin Lan and Zhou Donghuang. After leaving Qingshan town, she had come to the preeminent Hong family.


    ¡°I had grown up with that trash¡­ I know all about him. How could he possibly have such power?¡± Chen Dandan still could not believe it, but she had no choice but to trust the words of Hong Wei, the chief of the Hong family.


    ¡°Dandan, even if he is talented, if he cannot enter the Valley of Medicine Masters, he will not be able to transcend near perfection of the gathered qi,¡± said Hong Wei with a smile. ¡°And now, Yun Feng is already in the Valley of Medicine Masters, and you are on your way there. With the help of Medicine Master Zong Er, the two of you will sooner or later be able to reach god tier. From gathered qi to god tier, that¡¯s such a huge jump that they are not even in the same league¡­ Zhou Donghuang will never be able to compete with you then.¡±


    The Valley of Medicine Masters was a sect that ruled over the country of Yunyang, and even the imperial court had to give them offerings regularly. Beneath the Valley of Medicine Masters, there were sixteen countries, like Yunyang country, also named the ¡°Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.¡±


    Within the country of Yunyang, adepts with near perfection of the gathered qi could be considered titans. But in the Valley of Medicine Masters, there were adepts who had even reached god tier, and there were quite a number of them.


    ¡°But if¡­ he really is so talented, once the Valley of Medicine Masters hears of it, won¡¯t they definitely want to have him?¡± Chen Dandan frowned worriedly.


    ¡°Haha¡­¡± Hong Wei laughed. ¡°Dandan, you don¡¯t have to worry about this at all. In the Valley of Medicine Masters, the person in charge of receiving people from Yunyang is you and Yunfei¡¯s teacher, the second elder, Chen Tianhe. As long as Zhou Donghuang does not get past him, he will never be able to enter the Valley of Medicine Masters. After you go there and become Elder Chen¡¯s disciple, as long as you and Yunfei become good friends with the other disciples there¡­ you can even ask them to help you kill Zhou Donghuang. I believe those arrogant disciples of the Valley of Medicine Masters also do not wish to see a lad from a small town rising above them someday?¡± As he said this, a murderous glint flashed in Hong Wei¡¯s eyes.


    Hearing this, Chen Dandan immediately lit up. ¡°You¡¯re right! We can kill him before he advances further. Zhou Donghuang, you are destined to be trampled beneath my feet¡­ don¡¯t ever think of redeeming yourself!¡± Chen Dandan laughed to herself quietly.


    Leaving Chen Dandan¡¯s courtyard, Hong Wei¡¯s eyes glimmered as he smiled. ¡°Who would have thought that a preeminent family like us would one day have relations with the Valley of Medicine Masters. As long as Yunfei and Dandan get together, eventually, our Hong family will be closely linked to the second elder of the Valley of Medicine Masters. By then, don¡¯t bother with the grand and tycoon families¡­ as long as we wish, the Hong family will be able to take over the imperial court and become the new rulers of the Country of Yunyang!¡±


    Chen Dandan was the illegitimate daughter of Chen Tianhe, Second Elder of the Valley of Medicine Masters. Even Chen Dandan herself was unaware of this. Back then, Hong Wei had found out by pure coincidence that Chen Tianhe was looking for his illegitimate daughter and had tried looking for him. Eventually, he had found out that Chen Tianhe¡¯s illegitimate daughter was in Qingshan town beneath Yunfeng county and had been adopted by Lin Lan, the guild master of the Magnolia guild under the Lin family. After that, everything fell into place easily.


    He had asked his daughter to chase Chen Dandan, and after they had gotten together, his son had easily pledged his allegiance to Chen Dandan¡¯s birth father. He had become a high ranking disciple of the Valley of Medicine Masters under the tutelage of Second Elder Chen Tianhe.


    In a few days, he would be sending Chen Dandan to the Valley of Medicine Masters to meet her birth father.


    ¡­


    The Lu family household.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang.¡± Lu Yuan, the first young master of the Lu family, who had been crippled by Zhou Donghuang previously, walked briskly into the courtyard where Zhou Donghuang was staying temporarily.


    ¡°You look like you¡¯re recovering well,¡± said Zhou Donghuang with a smile. He took a glance at Lu Yuan¡¯s leg, the one he had joined back together, as he sat at the stone table sipping tea in the sun.


    ¡°All thanks to your treatment,¡± said Lu Yuan gratefully. He continued, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I came to inform you¡­ Zhao San of the Zhao governor¡¯s household has come to the Lu family household. Just now, as I walked past the hall, I overheard my dad talking to him. He seems to be here for you.¡±


    ¡°Zhao San?¡± Zhou Donghuang frowned, then nodded slightly.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, although he had sold Yunxuan Restaurant to you, Zhao San is no good person¡­ back then, Fang Tianyi, Ma Jin and I had heard from his mouth that he would not protect you, so that¡¯s why they had tried to take Yunxuan Restaurant from you.¡± Lu Yuan reminded him as if he was afraid that Zhou Donghuang would become too close to Zhao San and realize he had been betrayed.


    But how could Zhou Donghuang not have known anything that he had just said? From his thousands of years of experience, he had experienced all kinds of trouble. He had already guessed what Lu Yuan was telling him.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang.¡± Just then, Lu Qinghu called from outside the courtyard.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, Zhao San from the Zhao governor¡¯s household wishes to meet you!¡± After Lu Qinghu¡¯s voice, another strong voice called from outside. From the voice, it was none other than the former owner of Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan town, Zhao San.

 Chapter 57 The New Magnolia Guild

    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I have not seen you for two months, but you still look as good as ever.¡± Zhao San stood beside Lu Qinghu, looking at the young man at the stone table with a complicated gaze.


    Two months ago, the young man had helped to treat him of his illness after he had practiced too intensely, allowing him to recover to level-four of the gathered qi. At that time, although he felt that this was no simple young man, he never would have thought that in just two short months, the young man would achieve a level that he himself found difficult to reach.


    This time when he met Zhou Donghuang again, he addressed him as ¡°Young Master Donghuang,¡± a much more respectful address compared to ¡®Esteemed Master Zhou¡¯ in the past. Although he could not be sure if Zhou Donghuang had indeed reached level-five of the gathered qi, Zhou Donghuang had just killed the Lin family head elder a few days ago, displaying power comparable to a level-five adept. Based on this alone, the Zhou Donghuang of today was equal in status to his elder brother, Zhao Lishang, the governor of Yunfeng prefecture.


    ¡°Why are you looking for me?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked calmly. He squinted his eyes in the sun and sipped his tea.


    Seeing that Zhou Donghuang was so direct, Zhao San did not beat about the bush either and said, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I am here today to invite you to become a guest elder of the Zhao family of the governor¡¯s household.¡±


    Before arriving at the Lu family household, Zhao San had not only found out that Zhou Donghuang was extremely powerful but also knew that he had numerous precious medicine formulas with him. For example, the blood staunching elixir sold by the Lin family that had monopolized the high-end market in Yunfeng prefecture had come from him. Recently, the cheap qi-gathering elixir, sold by the Lu family that had been dominating the markets, had also come from Zhou Donghuang. This was why Zhao San had looked for his elder brother and agreed to invite Zhou Donghuang into the Zhao family.


    ¡°Not interested,¡± rejected Zhou Donghuang immediately.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, as long as you join us, the Zhao family will fulfill all your requests!¡± Seeing as Zhou Donghuang had rejected him without any hesitation, Zhao San hurriedly added in their terms.


    ¡°I already said, I¡¯m not interested¡­ do you not understand?¡± Zhou Donghuang suddenly opened his eyes as he said impatiently.


    Zhao San breathed in deeply and said with a forced smile.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I know that I had previously told everyone that I would not protect you as the new owner of Yunxuan Restaurant and offended you. Can you now give me a chance to make up for my mistake?


    ¡°Protect me?¡± Zhou Donghuang laughed brilliantly. ¡°Zhao San, aren¡¯t you too full of yourself? Me, Zhou Donghuang, needing your protection?¡±


    Zhao San¡¯s expression changed. He remembered that the power that Zhou Donghuang had displayed just a few days ago simply did not need his protection.


    ¡°No matter, I will always be grateful for your favor in the past.¡± By now, Zhao San could also see that Zhou Donghuang simply had no interest in joining their Zhao family, and he stopped trying to invite him.


    ¡°I helped you then because you had a good reputation, and I knew that once I helped you, you would stop finding trouble for the Magnolia guild¡­ you gave me Yunxuan Restaurant, so that makes up for it. You no longer owe me anything.¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head gently.


    Although he really did not need Zhao San¡¯s protection, if Zhao San had not made any comments about the ownership of Yunxuan Restaurant after he had left, Zhou Donghuang would possibly be more courteous towards him now.


    However, not only had Zhao San done that, he had boasted in public that he would no longer care about who owned Yunxuan Restaurant after him, as if he was trying to cause trouble for Zhou Donghuang.


    He had no reason to blame Zhao San; after all, Zhao San had given him Yunxuan Restaurant and returned the favor. But he now had the freedom to no longer associate with Zhao San any more.


    ¡°Chief Lu, please see our guest out,¡± said Zhou Donghuang to Lu Qinghu as he stretched.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master Donghuang.¡± At that point, to Lu Qinghu, he was better off listening to Zhou Donghuang than the governor. He immediately saw Zhao San out of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s courtyard and out of the Lu family household.


    ¡°Back then, when I announced that I would no longer be caring about who owned Yunxuan Restaurant, I had purely wanted to test his depth¡­ who would have thought that it would backfire and make him prejudiced towards me.¡± Standing outside the Lu family main door, Zhao San smiled bitterly. He never would have imagined that his mistake would cause such a result now.


    ¡­


    10 March 1228 of the Ziyun era.


    In the capital city of Yunfeng prefecture, on a previously empty piece of land in the Lu family household, an expansive house had been erected. On the main door of the house, a plaque was hung, that read in large flowing characters, ¡°Magnolia Guild.¡± The words were inscribed powerfully as if to give the reader a visual shock if they looked closely.


    At the bottom right corner of the plaque was inscribed the name of the donor: Zhou Donghuang.


    A month ago, after leaving the Lin family household with Lin Lan, Zhou Donghuang had called Lu Qinghu and asked him to help to rebuild the Magnolia guild. Lu Qinghu could not be happier to have Zhou Donghuang ask for help. Of course, he accepted the request without any questions asked.


    Fortunately, there was an empty piece of land on the side of the Lu family household that the family had bought from the governor¡¯s household some time ago, but it had not been used since. Seeing this opportunity, Lu Qinghu gave this piece of land to Zhou Donghuang.


    In a month¡¯s time, the Magnolia guild was rebuilt on the empty land with the help of the Lu family. From the interior to its exterior, it was exactly the same as the guild in Qingshan town. The construction was based on Zhou Donghuang¡¯s demands and supervised throughout by Granny Lian personally.


    Today was the opening day of the Magnolia guild. Since early that morning, Lin Lan and Granny Lian had already been standing at the main door of the guild, welcoming guests who had come from all over to congratulate them on the opening.


    At the main door of Magnolia guild, a group of people had gathered.


    ¡°Today is the opening day of the Magnolia guild of Lin Lan, the adopted mother of Young Master Donghuang¡­ I wonder who will turn up.¡±


    ¡°The Lin and Li family will definitely not be coming.¡±


    ¡°The Lu family will definitely be here, but as for the other two preeminent families in the capital city, the Hong and Zhao families, who knows if they will be coming.¡±


    ¡°Logically, they ought to show some respect to Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    ¡­


    As the day passed, under the watchful eyes of everyone, a figure walked up the stairs to the Magnolia Guild, flanked by two men.


    ¡°The lesser Fang family congratulates the Magnolia guild on its new opening¡­ Guild Master Lin, please accept this gift from our Fang family.¡± Fang family chief, Fang Jishan, was the first to congratulate Lin Lan with two hundred thousand silver notes.


    ¡°Many thanks to Chief Fang.¡± Lin Lan thanked him with a smile, and Granny Lian behind her put the notes away.


    ¡°The lesser Ma family congratulates the Magnolia guild on its new opening¡­ Guild Master Lin, I am Ma Dongfeng, the new Ma family chief.¡± After Fang Jishan, the Ma family chief, Ma Dongfeng, arrived as well and presented two hundred thousand silver notes as a gift.


    ¡°Many thanks to Ma chief.¡± Lin Lan smiled while giving her thanks.


    ¡°The preeminent Lu family congratulates the Magnolia guild on its opening.¡± Soon, Lu family chief, Lu Qinghu, appeared as well. As for his gift, Lu Qinghu had presented a million taels of silver!


    ¡°A million taels of silver? This Lu family chief is really generous!¡±


    ¡°I always knew that the Lu family had good relations with Young Master Donghuang, but I never knew it was so good¡­ this is my first time seeing so much money in my life.¡±


    ¡°Accordingly, the Lu family¡¯s qi-gathering elixir was a formula from Young Master Donghuang¡­ Young Master Donghuang had given the Lu family so many benefits, it¡¯s only normal that the Lu family presents such a gift.¡±


    Lu Qinghu¡¯s gift shocked many of the onlookers.


    ¡°Chief Lu, this¡­ is too much. You have helped out the Magnolia guild enough, we simply cannot accept these notes,¡± Lin Lan said.


    ¡°Guild Master Lin, this money cannot compare to the help that Young Master Donghuang has given me.¡± In the end, Lu Qinghu pushed the notes into Granny Lian¡¯s hands.


    After Lu Qinghu, many seniors from the lesser families outside of the prefecture capital also came forth to present congratulatory gifts for the opening of the guild. All of them wished to use this chance to make good relations with Zhou Donghuang.


    However, compared to the gifs from the Lu, Ma, and Fang families, theirs was much more inferior. The most was fifty thousand taels of silver. Of course, it was not because they were stingy, but because they were that much poorer than the Lu, Ma or Fang families. Although they were all lesser families, there was still a stark difference between them.


    ¡°That is¡­ the governor?!¡±


    Suddenly, as gasps erupted, the crowd parted knowingly to open a path to the Magnolia guild.


    A tall, burly figure appeared before everyone¡¯s eyes, wearing a yellow gown with silver trimmings. The man had a majestic looking face, and as he walked, his presence gave others some kind of huge pressure.


    Zhao San and an old man in a white robe followed behind him like a shadow.


    ¡°Governor!¡±


    ¡°Greetings to the governor!¡±


    Along with Lu Qinghu, chief of the preeminent Lu family, the other seniors of the lesser families all walked down the steps of the Magnolia guild to greet the man.


    The man was none other than the governor of Yunfeng prefecture, Zhao Lishang, the widely recognized chief of Yunfeng prefecture and a powerful level-five adept!


    ¡°Governor.¡± Lin Lan also came forth with Granny Lian. Being a member of Yunfeng prefecture, Lin Lan had a strange respect for the governor. Just as she said this, the old man in blue stepped forward and looked sharply at Lin Lan.


    ¡°Where is Zhou Donghuang? The governor is here, but he is not coming out to greet him?¡± he questioned.


    ¡°Governor, my son has been busy practicing recently, so he is not around. Please forgive him,¡± apologized Lin Lan to Zhao Lishang.


    ¡°Practicing?¡± The old man in blue laughed coldly. ¡°Now the governor is here, shouldn¡¯t you call someone to tell him to stop his practice and come out to greet him?¡±

 Chapter 58 The Chapter

    ¡°Elder An, is this¡­ a little too much?¡± Lu Qinghu stepped forward, his expression darkening as he looked at the old man in blue.


    The old man in blue was Zhao Jin¡¯an, the head elder of the Zhao family and widely known as the most powerful man in Yunfeng prefecture. He was second only to level-five adepts. In Yunfeng prefecture, other than Governor Zhao Lishang, Zhao Jin¡¯an was recognized as the most powerful adept.


    Of course, that was in the past. A month ago, Zhou Donghuang had become famous overnight after his fight in the backyard of the Lin family house. Many people had viewed him as a level-five adept who was stronger than Zhao Jin¡¯an.


    Lu Qinghu knew that the governor had no intention to stop Zhao Jin¡¯an from making a scene. In a way, the governor¡¯s family was trying to establish their position. After all, there had been much talk about Young Master Donghuang recently. If he were the governor of Yunfeng prefecture, he, too, would try to suppress Young Master Donghuang.


    Even so, he could not stand by and do nothing as Zhao Jin¡¯an tried to achieve this in front of Young Master Donghuang¡¯s adopted mother. He, his son, and the Lu family all owed too much to Young Master Donghuang! With that, he stepped forward.


    ¡°What? Chief Lu, are you getting ahead of yourself after leading the Lu family from a lesser family to the rank of a preeminent family? Are you disregarding even the governor¡¯s family?¡± Seeing Lu Qinghu step forward, Zhao Jin¡¯an glanced at him coldly as he spoke with a disdainful smile. He hardly paid any attention to this new preeminent family.


    Just as Lu Qinghu was facing the scorn from Zhao Jin¡¯an, his expression darkening even further, a voice came from the main door of Magnolia guild.


    ¡°I was wondering why there was barking so early in the morning¡­ there seems to be an old dog barking in front of our Magnolia guild.¡±


    At the same time, a young man dressed in white walked out from the guild. The man had a handsome face and an extraordinary aura about him. He seemed extremely confident, as if he had nothing to fear even if the sky collapsed.


    ¡°Old dog?¡± As the words reached the crowd at the main door of Magnolia guild, both the onlookers and the seniors of the lesser families all gasped in fear.


    Zhao Jin¡¯an was the second in command in the governor¡¯s family and was the pinnacle among the level-four adepts in Yunfeng prefecture. Even the chiefs of the preeminent families in Yunfeng prefecture would have to greet him respectfully as ¡°Elder An¡± whenever they saw him.


    But now, this young man was comparing him to an old dog? Even though the young man was Zhou Donghuang who had shocked the whole Yunfeng prefecture in the last month, all those who were present could not help but feel extremely nervous. This Zhou Donghuang really dared to say anything!


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang?¡± Zhao Lishang¡¯s eyes narrowed murderously. Behind him, Zhao San looked on calmly as Zhou Donghuang walked out from the Magnolia guild.


    Zhou Donghuang slowly walked out of the main door, down the stairs and stood beside Lin Lan.


    ¡°Mother, were you¡­ frightened by this old dog?¡±


    Before Lin Lan could answer, Zhao Jin¡¯an looked murderously at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°You are Zhou Donghuang? You said I, Zhao Jin¡¯an, am an old dog?¡± Not only was his gaze cold, but his whole expression had turned cold too.


    ¡°If you keep barking, I won¡¯t mind helping your owner teach you a lesson,¡± said Zhou Donghuang flatly.


    ¡°Great, great, great¡­ really great!¡± Zhao Jin¡¯an was so angered that his breathing sped up and his chest heaved. ¡°I heard that about a month ago, you had broken the arm of Head Elder Lin Tianzheng, with only a punch, just like a level-five adept. Today, I want to see if you really are like level-five adept like they say!¡±


    As he spoke, his feet moved as he prepared to use the lesser-grade technique of the Zhao family, speeding towards Zhou Donghuang.


    Just as his body trembled and he prepared to move, a shadow flashed before his eyes. A figure rushed towards him at a speed far faster than his. As everyone watched on, Zhou Donghuang flew towards him like a bolt of lightning, just as Zhao Jin¡¯an spoke.


    Boom!!


    Just as Zhao Jin¡¯an stepped forward, Zhou Donghuang had sprung forward, his knee landing heavily on Zhao Jin¡¯an¡¯s stomach. Immediately, Zhao Jin¡¯an contorted in pain, and even the onlookers could tell that Zhao Jin¡¯an was in immense pain.


    Right after, before everyone¡¯s eyes, as Zhou Donghuang¡¯s knee rammed into Zhao Jin¡¯an¡¯s stomach, Zhao Jin¡¯an was thrown backwards. Zhou Donghuang flew together with his body, and he landed just as the body of Zhao Jin¡¯an landed heavily on the ground a few meters away.


    Boom!!


    As Zhao Jin¡¯an struggled to stand up, Zhou Donghuang stepped on his chest, pushing him back onto the ground.


    ¡°Ah¡­¡± Zhao Jin¡¯an howled as he struggled to get up, but his body could not move an inch. It was as if a huge two hundred kg boulder was pressing down on his body. No matter how much he struggled, it was of no use.


    Then the crowd recovered from their shock and gasped.


    ¡°So powerful!¡±


    ¡°This¡­ is this really Zhao Jin¡¯an? The most powerful man in Yunfeng prefecture below level-five?¡±


    ¡°Looks like Young Master Donghuang of the Magnolia guild is really a level-five adept!¡±


    ¡°I thought the rumors were exaggerating¡­ but now it seems that they were not.¡±


    The sight of Zhou Donghuang stepping on Zhao Jin¡¯an shocked everyone there.


    Even Lin Lan, Granny Lian, and Lu Qinghu, who had witnessed Zhou Donghuang defeat Lin Head Elder Lin Tianzheng just a month ago, were astonished to see Zhou Donghuang display such power.


    After all, this was Zhao Jin¡¯an, head elder of the governor¡¯s household. He was simply incomparable to Head Elder Lin Tianzheng. Although they were both level-four adepts, if Lin Tianzheng had fought with Zhao Jin¡¯an, he would not last more than three exchanges. The difference between the two was immense.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang¡­ is really too powerful.¡± Lu Qinghu was stunned. No matter if it was Lin Tianzheng or Zhao Jin¡¯an, it made no difference to Young Master Donghuang. He could easily defeat them in just one move.


    But Lu Qinghu did not know that one month ago, Zhou Donghuang would not have been able to achieve this. Within a month, with the help of the qi-gathering elixir that could increase the sensitivity to qi by six times, Zhou Donghuang had risen to the ranks of level-four of the gathered qi, becoming a level-four adept with the strength of four bulls. With his extreme strength, even if he did not use any martial art techniques, his current power was comparable to a typical level-five adept.


    Count Zhao Jin¡¯an as unlucky; Zhou Donghuang had literally reached level-four just a while ago.


    ¡°Governor Zhao,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a smile. He was looking at Governor Zhao Lishang calmly, with a foot on Zhao Jin¡¯an. ¡°Your old dog frightened my mother, and I gave him a lesson, hope you don¡¯t have any objections?¡±


    A challenge! A blatant challenge!


    To all the onlookers, this was simply a blatant challenge to Zhao Lishang, governor of Yunfeng prefecture.


    Just as they thought that Zhao Lishang would react violently, he looked at Zhou Donghuang and smiled.


    ¡°No objections, of course.¡± As he said this, he turned and said to Zhao San behind him, ¡°Brother San, please present our gifts to Guild Master Lin.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Brother.¡± Zhao San walked forward and took out a huge stack of notes and passed them to Lin Lan. He said respectfully, ¡°Guild Master Lin, the Zhao family of the governor¡¯s household congratulates the Magnolia guild on its opening. Please accept these five hundred thousand taels of silver.¡±


    ¡°This¡­¡± Lin Lan was hesitant. Her son had just abused the Zhao head elder; perhaps it would not be wise to accept their gift?


    ¡°Mother, accept it.¡± Finally, she only accepted it after Zhou Donghuang spoke.


    She thanked Zhao Lishang, ¡°Many thanks to the governor.¡±


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang lifted his foot off of Zhao Jin¡¯an and returned to Lin Lan¡¯s side.


    Zhao Jin¡¯an¡¯s face was chalky. Although Zhou Donghuang¡¯s actions had thoroughly embarrassed him, he now no longer harbored any thoughts of challenging Zhou Donghuang.


    As Zhao San helped Zhao Jin¡¯an back to Zhao Lishang¡¯s side, Zhao Lishang put his hands together in respect and smiled.


    ¡°Esteemed Master Zhou, please feel free to visit the Zhao family if you have the time. We will definitely welcome you.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a nod.


    ¡°I¡¯ll take my leave, Guild Master Lin.¡± After bidding farewell to Lin Lan, Zhao Lishang left with Zhao San and Zhao Jin¡¯an. As everyone looked on, they boarded the horse carriage that was waiting by the roadside.


    Inside the carriage, Zhao Lishang¡¯s expression darkened. It was nothing like the carefree attitude that he had displayed earlier.


    ¡°Chief, that Zhou Donghuang is definitely a level-five adept!¡± Zhao Jin¡¯an said.


    ¡°Head Elder, thank you for testing Zhou Donghuang out,¡± said Zhao Lishang apologetically.


    With that, it appeared that what Zhao Jin¡¯an had just done was clearly planned by Zhao Lishang.


    ¡°Chief, this is my small contribution to the family¡­ but after today¡¯s test, even if we cannot become friends with Zhou Donghuang, we definitely cannot become enemies with him,¡± said Zhao Jin¡¯an seriously.


    ¡°I know,¡± Zhao Lishang agreed as his eyes flashed. ¡°From his power today¡­ I may not even be able to defeat him. The scariest thing is¡­ he¡¯s only seventeen this year!¡±


    With that, a heavy air settled upon the whole carriage.

 Chapter 59 A Show of Extravagance

    Just seventeen years of age but a level-five adept.


    Out of these two points, just the latter alone was enough to cause a commotion in Yunfeng county, but with the former, there was no precedent in the history of the country of Yunyang.


    On March 10th, 1228 of the Ziyun era, Zhou Donghuang, son of Magnolia Guild Master Lin Lan, pinned the head elder of the governor¡¯s household, Zhao Jin¡¯an, to the ground under his feet outside the main door of the Magnolia Guild. After that, the governor Zhao Lishang still treated Zhou Donghuang with a smile.


    The news shocked the whole capital city of Yunfeng county.


    ¡°Now we can confirm¡­ Zhou Donghuang is indeed a level-five adept.¡±


    ¡°Unless he is a level-five adept, he could not possibly have pinned Zhao Jin¡¯an down beneath his feet¡­ we¡¯re talking about Zhao Jin¡¯an, the most powerful man in Yunfeng county beneath the level-five adepts, not some other ordinary level-four adept.¡±


    ¡°Looks like Yunfeng county has another level-five adept besides the governor!¡±


    ¡°Even the governor is afraid of him, he must be more powerful than the governor¡­ most importantly, he¡¯s only seventeen this year!¡±


    ¡°Just seventeen years old and already so fearsome, will there be anyone who can match him in Yunyang county in the next ten or twenty years?¡±


    ¡°Looks like Yunfeng county is about to produce a star!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang had become a hot topic in the capital city of Yunfeng county. Anybody who mentioned him could not help but give him a thumbs up with a face full of admiration. On the other hand, the few who had a feud with Zhou Donghuang hated him so much that they wished the skies would kill him with a strike of lightning out of jealousy.


    ¡­


    At the Magnolia guild.


    Although it had already been open for some time, the customers at the guild did not decrease, but instead, it even increased in numbers, to the extent that the doorstep was almost destroyed by the heavy traffic.


    All these people were seniors of lesser families from beyond the capital city who had come to the Magnolia Guild to seek partnerships. All of them expressed that they were willing to give most of the profits to the Magnolia Guild, even if they made a small loss in the partnership. The reason for this was none other than the fact the Magnolia Guild had a certain ¡°Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    These days, Lin Lan was always smiling happily and joyous despite the hard work. Previously, she ran the Magnolia Guild to make money for the Lin family. But now, she was earning money for herself and did not need to give it to anyone else. The old Magnolia Guild relied on the backing of the Lin family to continue its business. But the new Magnolia Guild had her son, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s support. She did not even have to put in the effort to seek partnerships because swarms of people were coming to her to request for her partnership. They were even willing to give the guild a big bulk of the profits.


    Since the Magnolia Guild reopened, Zhou Donghuang had been practicing intently in his room alone. To him, the most important thing was to practice and increase his skill level.


    ¡°Hopefully Lu Qinghu is able to get most of the herbs for the formula¡­ if he can, the quality of the qi-gathering elixir can be improved further.¡± A month ago, Zhou Donghuang had given Lu Qinghu a list of medicinal herbs and asked him to use the Lu family¡¯s resources to search for them.


    Now, using the qi-gathering elixir formula that Zhou Donghuang had given them, the Lu family business extended to other counties outside of Yunfeng county, and their connections had increased substantially as well. With that, it would definitely be much easier to search for the ingredients that Zhou Donghuang needed.


    ¡­


    Time passed quickly. Soon, it was March 22, 1228 of the Ziyun era.


    ¡°Young Master, the Lu family chief is here.¡± Zhou Donghuang, who was practicing in his room, was startled by Fu¡¯s voice from outside the room. His eyes lit up immediately.


    Lu Qinghu was likely here to deliver medicine. Zhou Donghuang guessed correctly.


    Lu Qinghu brought a portion of the herbs that he needed.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, our Lu family has only managed to find two-thirds of the ingredients you needed¡­ we are still searching for the remaining third,¡± Lu Qinghu said apologetically as he handed the herbs to Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°These herbs¡­¡± Zhou Donghuang was completely focused on the herbs in his hands. After checking what herbs were within, he gave a satisfied smile. ¡°Are just right.¡±


    In the list that he had given Lu Qinghu, some of the herbs had similar properties. He had listed them to make it easier for Lu Qinghu to find them. ¡°With these herbs, I can produce a qi-gathering elixir that increases sensitivity by seventy percent!¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes shone brightly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother looking for the rest of the herbs¡­ the two-thirds of the herbs here can replace those,¡± Zhou Donghuang told Lu Qinghu.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Hearing this, Lu Qinghu, who initially had a face of guilt, was surprised at first. Then he breathed a sigh of relief. ¡°That¡¯s great, that¡¯s great.¡±


    ¡°Take this.¡± Zhou Donghuang passed Lu Qinghu a piece of paper and three bottles of qi-gathering elixir. Then Zhou Donghuang bid him farewell and turned to return to his room to prepare an improved elixir. With an improved elixir, his progress in training could be increased further.


    When Lu Qinghu took a good look at what was written on the piece of paper that Zhou Donghuang had given him, his eyes narrowed sharply.


    ¡°This¡­ this is the formula for a qi-gathering elixir that increases your sensitivity to qi by ninety percent?¡±


    A qi-gathering elixir that heightens sensitivity by ninety percent was incredibly valuable in the market, second only to the elixir that increases sensitivity to qi by a fold that was produced by the superior medicine masters of the imperial court.


    Lu Qinghu¡¯s breathing quickened rapidly.


    However, after returning home and using one of the three bottles that Zhou Donghuang had given him, he was even more stunned after practicing for a while.


    ¡°This¡­ this qi-gathering elixir¡­ somehow¡­ increases your sensitivity to qi by six¡­ sixty percent?!¡±


    In the past, Lu Qinghu used Zhou Donghuang¡¯s elixir that could increase the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent. But today, the three bottles that Zhou Donghuang had given him were ones that Zhou Donghuang had been using for himself, a qi-gathering elixir that could increase the sensitivity to qi by sixty percent.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang¡­ who on earth is he?!¡±


    After getting over his dazed shock, Lu Qinghu carefully took out the remaining two bottles of qi-gathering elixir. His gaze, as he looked at these two bottles, was strangely bright, like the eyes of a pervert looking at two beauties.


    From using an elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by twenty percent, to the new one that increased the sensitivity to qi by sixty percent caused such a huge impact to Lu Qinghu that only he himself would know.


    ¡°Looks like, if we continue to follow Young Master Donghuang¡­ our Lu family can become a grand family, even a tycoon family or even kings in the future!¡± Lu Qinghu¡¯s eyes shone brightly as he grew even more determined to latch onto Zhou Donghuang.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang knew nothing about this. He had given Lu Qinghu the elixir that increased sensitivity to qi by sixty percent because Lu Qinghu had been very efficient. Furthermore, after interacting with him for some time, he was quite satisfied with Lu Qinghu¡¯s character.


    ¡­


    March 25, 1228 of the Ziyun era.


    A carriage drawn by three ferghana horses slowly rolled into the capital city of Yunfeng county, drawing the attention of passersby as it weaved through the traffic on the main roads. On both sides of the carriage, a man riding a ferghana horse stayed alongside the carriage like a shadow.


    Five ferghana horses together was a majestic sight, and all heads turned to take a look.


    As everybody watched on, the carriage stopped at the house of the preeminent Li family. Seeing this, many were shocked. ¡°They¡­ are going to the Li family?¡±


    ¡°I heard that the eldest daughter of the Li family had been married to the junior governor of the intermediate Guangling county¡­ could it be that she¡¯s back to visit her family?¡±


    ¡°Most likely.¡±


    ¡°Accordingly, the Wu family of the governor¡¯s household of Guangling county is a grand family!¡±


    ¡°Only families with level-six adepts can become grand families¡­ and the Wu family of the governor¡¯s household in Guangling county is not just any ordinary grand family, it has many level-six adepts.¡±


    ¡°The governor¡¯s household of Guangling county is much stronger than the one here in Yunfeng county.¡±


    As everybody watched on, the two men flanking the carriage jumped off their horses in unison and stood guard on both sides of the carriage, surveying the area carefully.


    ¡°Young Master, Young Mistress, we¡¯re here.¡±


    Of the two men driving the carriage, one pulled open the curtain in the carriage while the other jumped off and lay on all fours on the ground.


    Immediately after, everyone saw a young, handsome man with defined features dressed in luxurious clothing step out of the carriage and onto the back of the man lying on the floor.


    ¡°I was wondering why he was lying there¡­ turns out he¡¯s acting as a step for those in the carriage.¡±


    ¡°Poverty has restricted my imagination, who knew there was such a thing?¡±


    ¡°This is truly a first, the first time I¡¯ve seen anything like this.¡±


    Many onlookers gasped.


    Soon after that young, handsome man had stepped out of the carriage, a young lady who was beautifully dressed up also stepped out of the carriage and onto the back of the man on the ground.


    After getting out of the carriage, the lady naturally held the young man¡¯s hand and walked towards the main door of the Li family house. The two men who had ridden the ferghana horses over followed behind the two of them, escorting them on both sides.


    ¡°Head Lady!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s Head Lady!¡±


    The two Li disciples who had been standing at the main door had been rather dazed to see five ferghana horses appear, but as they saw the lady walking towards them, their eyes lit up.


    Hearing this, the onlookers realized, ¡°Indeed, it is Head Lady Li who had married into the governor¡¯s household in Guangling county.¡±


    ¡°That means¡­ the young man with Head Lady Li is Wu Nanxun, First Young Master of the Wu family, governor of Guangling prefecture?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s indeed the First Young Master of a grand family; what a show of extravagance.¡±

 Chapter 60 The Return of Freezing Wind

    ¡°Young Master, the Lu family chief is here.¡±


    Three days later, Zhou Donghuang, who was practicing in the room, was awoken again by Fu, as Lu Qinghu had appeared.


    ¡°What¡¯s the matter?¡± Zhou Donghuang sat cross-legged on the bed as he calmly asked Lu Qinghu, who had just entered the room.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang.¡± Lu Qinghu bowed in greeting to Zhou Donghuang and said seriously, ¡°I just received news¡­ the Li family head lady is back.¡±


    ¡°So?¡± Zhou Donghuang was expressionless as if he was not concerned.


    ¡°The Li family head lady, Li Caiyun, did not come back alone¡­ she came back together with her man.¡± As he said this, Lu Qinghu¡¯s eyes were filled with fear. ¡°Her man is Wu Nanxun, the first young master of the Wu family, the governor of the intermediate level Guangling county. The Wu governor¡¯s household is a grand family, with many level-six adepts. Whenever Wu Nanxun leaves the house, there will be at least two level-five adepts following him.¡±


    With that, Lu Qinghu breathed in deeply and looked at Zhou Donghuang as he said, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, the second young master of the Li family that you killed is the brother of Li Caiyun. I fear that she will ask Wu Nanxun to avenge her brother and harm you.¡± Lu Qinghu revealed his worries.


    ¡°You hurried over here¡­ just to tell me this?¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head, thinking that Lu Qinghu was making a mountain out of a molehill.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, they are a grand family!¡± Seeing Zhou Donghuang not concerned at all, Lu Qinghu could not help but remind him.


    In a grand family, there would be at least one level-six adept. In the Wu grand family, there were five level-six adepts and more than twenty level-five adepts. Even the governor¡¯s household of the Wu family in Yunfeng county had just one level-five adept.


    ¡°If there is nothing else, please go back¡­ don¡¯t disturb my practice,¡± Zhou Donghuang said as he looked at Lu Qinghu impatiently before closing his eyes to continue his practice.


    Three days ago, he had formulated a qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by seventy percent. These three days, his progress had improved. Previously, using the qi-gathering elixir that heightened sensitivity to qi by sixty percent, he had taken around forty days to reach level-four from level-three, achieving that on March 10, 1228 of the Ziyun era.


    It was now March 25, 1228 of the Ziyun era.


    ¡°Even with the qi-gathering elixir that increased senses by seven percent, I will still need at almost two months to reach level-five of the gathered Qi.¡± As he closed his eyes to begin his training again, Zhou Donghuang sighed quietly to himself. ¡°Perhaps it is time to pay a visit to the royal city.¡±


    The royal city was a large city second only to the imperial city. Not only was it prosperous, but there was a larger variety of herbs one could find there. Yunfeng county was on the western ridge of the Chu King, and the king¡¯s household that controlled the ridge was the household of the Chu King.


    Within the western ridge of the Chu King, the inferior counties, including Yunfeng county, and the intermediate and superior counties were all controlled by the Chu King household, which was in the royal city.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang¡­¡± In the room, seeing Zhou Donghuang close his eyes and ignore him as he continued practicing, Lu Qinghu gave a bitter smile, but at the same time, his eyes shone exceptionally bright. The calmness that Young Master Donghuang showed had made him incredibly confident. ¡°Looks like Young Master Donghuang does not fear the Wu family of the governor¡¯s household of Guangling prefecture.¡±


    This cleared all his worries as his face turned from worry to a smile. In the past, Zhou Donghuang had surprised Lu Qinghu on many occasions, such that Lu Qinghu had almost blind faith in Zhou Donghuang.


    With that, Lu Qinghu left the room quietly and closed the door carefully after he left.


    ¡°Hm?¡± As Lu Qinghu was about to leave the Magnolia Guild, he saw Fu walking towards him. Beside him was an unfamiliar but cold face.


    This young man in a black robe with a straw hat had a cold expression that seemed to repel people. The cold that dissipated from him made one¡¯s hair stand on end.


    ¡°Chief Lu.¡± Seeing Lu Qinghu, Fu smiled at him.


    ¡°Fu, this is¡­?¡± Although Fu was just a servant for Zhou Donghuang, Lu Qinghu was still very courteous to him, as if he could not let his guard down. Previously, the first young master of the Ma family, Ma Jin, had been crippled by Zhou Donghuang because he had kicked Fu.


    ¡°This is Freezing Wind, Brother Freeze,¡± he introduced. ¡°Brother Freeze, this is the chief of the preeminent Lu family.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± The man in black glanced at Lu Qinghu and nodded his head, then looked away.


    This young man in black was none other than Freezing Wind, second commander of the Green Wolf Bastion. In January 1228 of the Ziyun era, Freezing Wind had left on a mission from Zhou Donghuang and had only returned the day before, two months later.


    But on his return to Qingshan town, he found that his young master had gone to the capital. He then rode overnight to the capital on his ferghana horse. In Qingshan town, Freezing Wind had found out that his young master was now famous all over Yunfeng county. Even the governor of Yunfeng county had to be respectful when meeting him.


    The return of Freezing Wind woke Zhou Donghuang up again, though he had just been immersed in his practice.


    ¡°Young Master.¡± In the room, Freezing Wind bowed to Zhou Donghuang as his cold face revealed a smile.


    ¡°How did it go?¡± asked Zhou Donghuang.


    Two months ago, he had sent Freezing Wind out to look for some resolute orphans and choose some amongst them to nurture into adepts. For that reason, he had taught him the needlecraft ¡°Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle¡± that he had used on Freezing Wind previously.


    Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle was a craft that Zhou Donghuang had learned by accident on earth in his previous life. As long as the victim could withstand the excruciating pain during the process, he would be able to activate the extreme power in his body.


    ¡°Young Master, I found a total of three hundred orphans, of them, only 282 were willing after learning about the risks of the ¡®Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle.¡¯ In the end, only three of them withstood the pain and successfully activated all the power in their bodies.¡±


    As he said this, Freezing Wind paused as if he had something he wished to add.


    ¡°Speak,¡± said Zhou Donghuang as he saw Freezing Wind¡¯s hesitance.


    ¡°Young Master.¡± Freezing Wind dropped to kneel on the ground. ¡°According to your requests, among the orphans I found, all the rest were above twelve years old. But there was a small girl who is just nine years old. But this nine-year-old girl was able to withstand the pain that more than two hundred other teenagers couldn¡¯t and successfully activated all the power in her body.¡±


    ¡°Did you take my words for granted?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes flashed coldly as his voice immediately turned cold. ¡°A nine-year-old girl suddenly utilizing all the power in her body? Her life has now been ruined by you!¡±


    Back then, Zhou Donghuang had just two conditions for Freezing Wind: a willing orphan, and above twelve years old.


    For anyone less than twelve years of age, the body would not be fully developed. And if all the body¡¯s power was suddenly activated, that body would no longer be able to develop further, remaining in that shape till death. Someone like that would not be able to have an adult body unless they reached the level of the primordial spirit, and the primordial spirit leaves the physical body and takes over another adult body.


    ¡°Young Master,¡± said Freezing Wind as he smiled bitterly. ¡°How could I dare to go against your orders¡­ but that girl is different. I also took with me the other two orphans with her, but she insisted on coming with me, saying that if I did not, she would die before me. She smashed her head against a wall and would have died if I had not acted then. I saw that she was not even afraid of death, so I told her the consequences, but she said that she wanted revenge, even if it meant that she would remain in her nine-year-old body for the rest of her life! Later, the other two orphans with her could not withstand the excruciating pain from the Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle, but she could.¡±


    Freezing Wind paused before continuing, ¡°Young Master, I taught her the Way of the Thousand-Star Sword and gave her a qi-gathering elixir that boosted her sensitivity to qi by sixty percent¡­ In two short months, she has already reached level-two of the gathered Qi. Now, although her raw body power is only 250 to 300kg, using the techniques that she knows, her strength is not inferior to any level-three adept.¡±


    For different people, utilizing the full raw power of the body yielded different amounts of strength. As a grown man with a strong body, Freezing Wind received an increase of more than 500kg of strength when he activated his full raw power. But for a nine-year-old girl, even if all the raw power in the body was activated, there was only a limited increase in strength.


    ¡°Not only could she withstand the Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle, but she reached level-two of the gathered Qi in just two months?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Looks like she is not just determined but also has much talent.¡±


    ¡°Yesterday, the four of us reached Qingshan town together¡­ Now, I rushed over first on the ferghana horses. They don¡¯t have any horses, so they will only reach in two or three days.¡± Freezing Wind then took out a brocade box and handed it to Zhou Donghuang, ¡°Young Master, this is a ¡®thousand-year red fruit¡¯ that I happened to find.¡±


    ¡°Thousand-year red fruit?¡± As Freezing Wind spoke, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes widened and shone brightly.

 Chapter 61 Level-Five of Qi-gathering

    Red fruits were extremely rare and valuable treasures that could increase an adept¡¯s level of practice, and it was incredibly good fortune to come across one of these.


    If an adept below level-three of Qi-gathering used a hundred-year red fruit, they could increase their level by one in just a few days.


    Even an ordinary person who did not practice could attain level-one of Qi-gathering in several days if they used one.


    A thousand-year red fruit, if used by a level-six adept and below, would increase their level by at least one in a few days, and those of a lower level might even hope to advance by two levels or more.


    A ten thousand-year red fruit, if used by a level-nine adept and below, would increase their level by at least one in just several days, and those of a lower level might even hope to advance by four levels or more.


    In the history of Yunyang country, there had never been a ten thousand-year red fruit, and even thousand-year red fruits had only been seen several times throughout history.


    However, one-hundred-year red fruits were more commonly seen, but every time one appeared, it would trigger a struggle which would sometimes result in a bloodbath.


    It really is a thousand-year red fruit.


    Opening the brocaded box that Freezing Wind passed to him, Zhou Donghuang saw a fruit that was completely red, about the size of a baby¡¯s fist. It gave off a smell that made one happy and relaxed.


    To him, who had stood at the pinnacle of the universe, a ten thousand-year red fruit was like an apple back on earth, much less a thousand-year red fruit.


    But now, this thousand-year red fruit had caused a ripple in the previously calm waters of his inner heart.


    ¡°You have probably already attained level-three of Qi-gathering, haven¡¯t you?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked, looking at Freezing Wind.


    Freezing Wind nodded and replied, ¡°All thanks to the Way of the Thousand-Star Sword and the qi-gathering elixir that Young Master passed on to me, I attained level-three of Qi-gathering six days ago.¡±


    ¡°The fact that you recognized this as a thousand-year red fruit shows that you know its use¡­you only need to consume it, and your level of practice will advance directly to level-four of Qi-gathering, and even to within touching distance of level-five.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang gazed deeply at Freezing Wind and said, ¡°Actually, you could have kept it for yourself and consumed it and raised your level of practice by one level.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang knew well that the benefits of a thousand-year red fruit were immense.


    Even if Freezing Wind did not consume the thousand-year red fruit himself, he could have presented it to the Chu King or even the imperial court of Yunyang, and the royal family and the imperial court would have rewarded him richly.


    ¡°Young Master must be joking.¡±


    Freezing Wind shook his head with a resolute look in his eye. ¡°The grace you have shown me can never be repaid¡­ this thousand-year red fruit is only a small token that Freezing Wind can offer.¡±


    ¡°It is hard to come by someone like you.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded and continued, ¡°Fortunately, you did not consume this thousand-year red fruit¡­ this thousand-year red fruit can only help one person raise their level of practice if consumed directly.¡±


    ¡°But if we use it as a key ingredient and mix it with some herbs, the potion produced will be enough for ten bottles, and the effectiveness of each potion will be no less than the effectiveness of the raw fruit,¡± Zhou Donghuang said.


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, Freezing Wind was stunned.


    Did he mean that a thousand-year red fruit in the hands of his Young Master could effectively be used as ten thousand-year red fruits?


    ¡°After I formulate the potion, I¡¯ll give you a bottle,¡± Zhou Donghuang said.


    ¡°Young Master. You should keep that potion and consume it yourself¡­ this way, your level can greatly increase,¡± Freezing Wind said.


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head. ¡°The potion made with a thousand-year red fruit as the key ingredient is the same as the thousand-year red fruit itself, and it is only effective the first time it is consumed¡­ after the first time, the body develops a resistance to it, and from the second time onwards it will not help increase the level of practice.¡±


    Before Freezing Wind left, Zhou Donghuang wrote a detailed list for him to pass to Granny Lian.


    The herbs on the list were those needed to formulate the potion with the thousand-year red fruit, but they were not valuable. All of them could be easily found in the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture.


    That night, Granny Lian delivered the herbs to Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang proceeded to formulate ten bottles within half an hour.


    ¡°With this potion, I will attain level-five of Qi-gathering within three days!¡±


    After formulating the potion, Zhou Donghuang called Fu over and gave him five bottles of the potion, and instructed him, ¡°Fu, of these five bottles, take one for yourself¡­ deliver the remaining four to my mother, Granny Lian, Freezing Wind, and Lu Qinghu.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, what is this potion?¡± Fu asked curiously.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you almost attained level-two of Qi-gathering? After you consume this potion and let it take effect, you will advance directly to level-three of Qi-gathering!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled casually.


    Fu naturally believed Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words unconditionally, and because of this, he was stunned for a long time. When he came to his senses, his expression was one of unbridled joy.


    ¡°Many thanks to Young Master.¡±


    Fu knelt down and kowtowed in thanks, then left.


    Five of the ten bottles were given to Fu, and Zhou Donghuang consumed one of the remaining five bottles and began to practice¡­


    From the thousand years¡¯ worth of experience practicing in his previous life, he knew very well how to absorb the effect of the potion in the shortest time possible.


    Therefore, in only one day and two nights, he had completely absorbed the effect of the potion and smoothly attained level-five of Qi-gathering.


    Moreover, it was not just attaining level-five of Qi-gathering that would be easy.


    With my current level of practice and with the qi-gathering elixir that increases my sensitivity to qi by seventy percent, I will be able to attain level-six of Qi-gathering in at most three months.


    I never would have imagined that Freezing Wind¡¯s luck would be so good as to find a thousand-year red fruit¡­ this is really a stroke of good luck.


    After attaining level-five of Qi-gathering, Zhou Donghuang stopped practicing and left his room.


    Since the Magnolia Guild had begun operations, he rarely left his room, usually eating and drinking in his room. Other than eating, he only slept or practiced.


    I actually haven¡¯t really explored the capital of Yunfeng prefecture at all.


    With this thought, Zhou Donghuang began walking towards the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, preparing to go for a stroll.


    As he passed by the receiving chamber, Zhou Donghuang heard a familiar voice chatting with his mother, Lin Lan.


    ¡°Lin Lan, I really envy you for having a son who is already a level-five adept of Qi-gathering at seventeen years of age¡­ not like my own daughter, who has not even attained level-one yet, even though she is only a year younger than your Donghuang.¡±


    Hearing this, Zhou Donghuang was able to guess the identity of the speaker, and it really was the guild master of Qingyun Guild of Ningping town, Li Yun. She was his Lin Lan¡¯s good friend of many years.


    Li Yun was also Li Rui¡¯s mother.


    Compared to Li Rui, he had a far better impression of Li Yun.


    ¡°Sister Yun, you flatter me¡­ I have not seen Xiao Rui for many years, and she really has changed so much, she grows prettier by the day.¡±


    Lin Lan¡¯s voice reached him.


    ¡°Aunty Lan, you are also no less elegant than in the past.¡±


    Hearing Li Rui¡¯s voice, Zhou Donghuang could not help smiling a thoughtful but mocking smile. He never imagined that Li Rui had the gall to come with her mother to see Lin Lan.


    ¡°Mother.¡±


    Now, Zhou Donghuang was no longer in a hurry to go out, and he strode straight into the receiving chamber.


    ¡°Aunty Yun.¡±


    Standing beside Lin Lan, Zhou Donghuang gave Li Yun, who was standing together with Li Rui, a slight smile.


    ¡°Donghuang, you¡¯re just in time¡­ your Aunty Yun doesn¡¯t visit the prefecture capital often, this afternoon we¡¯ll have a meal with your her and Xiao Rui,¡± Lin Lan said with a slight smile, looking lovingly at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Sure.¡±


    ¡°Donghuang, Aunty Yun never imagined that you could attain level-five of Qi-gathering at seventeen years of age¡­ even among this generation of youths in the entire country of Yunyang, probably no one can compare to you.¡±


    Li Yun smiled radiantly as she praised him.


    Immediately, Li Yun glanced at Li Rui, who was beside her.


    ¡°Rui¡¯er, why are you standing there dumbly and not greeting him?¡±


    As Li Yun finished, Li Rui looked at Zhou Donghuang, red-faced, and greeted bashfully, ¡°Big Brother Donghuang.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s my honor,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied indifferently, not responding to Li Rui¡¯s affection.¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s coldness to Li Rui, Lin Lan gave a slight frown. ¡°Donghuang, why do you speak like that to your little sister Xiao Rui?¡±


    ¡°Mother, if others look down on me, how can I be warm and friendly to their cold and rude demeanors?


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head gently.


    ¡°This¡­ what is this?¡±


    At that moment, Lin Lan discerned that surely something unpleasant had occurred between Li Rui and her son. If not, she knew her son well enough to know that he would never be this rude for no reason.


    ¡°Aunty Lan, don¡¯t blame big brother Donghuang, it¡¯s my fault¡­ I annoyed big brother Donghuang the last time we met,¡± Li Rui said tearfully, looking extremely pitiful.


    When Lin Lan saw Li Rui in this state, her heart softened. Zhou Donghuang looked at Li Rui and laughed indifferently.


    ¡°Li Rui, you and aunty Yun probably came from Ningping town together and just arrived in the prefecture capital, and have not yet returned to the Li family?¡±


    Li Rui gave a start, not knowing why Zhou Donghuang suddenly asked about this.


    She and her mother had indeed just arrived in the prefecture capital.


    Earlier, when they discovered that Lin Lan¡¯s Magnolia Guild had reopened in the prefecture capital, she returned to Ningping town and asked her mother, Li Yun to come with her to the prefecture capital, and under the guise of visiting Lin Lan, get close to Zhou Donghuang and mend their relationship.


    In Li Rui¡¯s opinion, with her beauty, all she had to do was be a little more proactive, and Zhou Donghuang would definitely fall for her charms.


    ¡°You probably don¡¯t know yet¡­ but the head lady of your Li family returned two days ago?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked deeply at Li Rui and said unhurriedly, ¡°Returning together with her was the first young master of the governor¡¯s household of the intermediate-level Guangling prefecture that she married, Wu Nanxun.¡±


    ¡°Tsk tsk¡­ if she knew that a side relative of the Li family was mixing with the enemy who killed her younger brother, aren¡¯t you afraid that you¡¯ll be expelled from the Li family?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled as he clicked his tongue.


    His words caused Li Rui¡¯s expression to change in an instant. Even Li Yun¡¯s expression changed completely, sitting beside Li Rui.


    Just as both Li Rui¡¯s and Li Yun¡¯s expression changed, Granny Lian¡¯s voice came into the room:


    ¡°Lady, the people from the preeminent Li family have arrived¡­ leading them is the patriarch of the Li family, Li Jingyu!¡±

 Chapter 62 Like Killing a Dog

    The morning of March 27, 1228 of the Ziyun Era.


    At the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild was a carriage drawn by three ferghana horses, and on each side of the carriage was a middle-aged man mounted on a ferghana horse. He was guarding it as closely as a shadow.


    In front of the carriage stood another ferghana horse below the stairway of the Magnolia Guild¡¯s main entrance. Mounted on this ferghana horse was a handsome, middle-aged man of average build, gazing towards the Magnolia Guild with an extremely icy and bloodthirsty look of vengeance.


    The six ferghana horses together gave a sense of majesty and arrogance.


    Because of this, the arrival of the six ferghana horses had attracted a crowd of onlookers.


    ¡°That carriage¡­ I think it belongs to the son-in-law of the Li family, the first young master of the Wu family that governs Guangling prefecture¡­¡±


    ¡°That middle-aged man leading it is the patriarch of the Li family, Li Jingyu.¡±


    ¡°It seems that the Li family is prepared to exact vengeance on Zhou Donghuang from the Magnolia Guild¡­ After all, that second young master of the Li family, Li Pingyun, was killed by him.¡±


    ¡°In the past, the Li family did not have the ability to take revenge and could only hold themselves back¡­ Now, with the return of the head lady of the Li family and the young governor of Guangling prefecture, the Li family will definitely make use of this opportunity.¡±


    ¡°Two days ago, when I heard the young governor of Guangling prefecture was coming, I knew the Li family would definitely make trouble for Zhou Donghuang sooner or later.¡±


    ¡­


    As time passed, the crowd of onlookers grew larger and larger and clogged the main road at the entrance of the Magnolia Guild.


    The various preeminent families of the capital of Yunfeng prefecture, including the governing Zhao family, were monitoring the situation at the Magnolia Guild. They were all curious if Zhou Donghuang could extricate himself from this situation.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang is coming out!¡±


    The gathered crowd soon spotted a handsome youth dressed in white with an extraordinary aura around him. He walked out slowly with his hands clasped behind his back.


    Two people followed him¡ªthe guild master of the Magnolia Guild, Lin Lan, and her aide, Granny Lian.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    As soon as Zhou Donghuang came out, the second master of the Lu family, Lu Bao, and the several elders of the Lu family standing behind him bowed in unison. They had arrived much earlier to stand guard at the gate.


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded casually to them and strode to stand at the front of the staircase, looking at the middle-aged man riding the ferghana horse with a calm expression.


    ¡°Li Jingyu?¡±


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    Seeing his nemesis Zhou Donghuang, who had killed his son, the Patriarch Li Jingyu could not control his emotions. The murderous look in his eyes rose a notch, and his handsome face was twisted into a savage look.


    ¡°For killing my son Li Pingyun, the Li family wants you to pay with your life!¡±


    Li Jingyu¡¯s voice carried a bone-piercing chill that struck terror into many of the onlookers.


    ¡°You mean just with your Li family?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head and gave a dismissive smile as his gaze fell on the carriage not far away. ¡°Or do you mean¡­ with the help that the Li family has found?¡±


    ¡°Correct! With the son-in-law of the Li family, the young governor of Guangling prefecture, Wu Nanxun!¡± Li Jingyu replied proudly.


    Although he saw that Zhou Donghuang did not panic or lose his composure, which made him slightly puzzled, he wrote it off as Zhou Donghuang putting up a front¡­


    So what if Zhou Donghuang was a level-five adept of Qi-gathering? Could he possibly stand up to the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture?


    The Wu family was a grand family that had many level-six adepts of Qi-gathering!


    Moreover, in his view, just the two level-five adepts with his son-in-law would be sufficient to take down Zhou Donghuang easily.


    ¡°It seems that this son-in-law of yours has given you a great deal of courage¡­ that you dare to call me out.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled casually.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    Just as Zhou Donghuang finished speaking, a shrill and angry voice called out from within the cabin of the carriage.


    A beautiful and splendidly dressed woman drew back the curtains of the cabin and came out. It was the head lady of the Li family, Li Caiyun, and she was in a terrible rage.


    When the driver of the carriage saw this, he hurriedly jumped off his horse and sprawled himself on the ground, using his back as a step for Li Caiyun.


    Li Caiyun stepped on the driver¡¯s back and got out of the carriage, staring at Zhou Donghuang with a look full of cold and murderous intent.


    ¡°Today, with my brother Xun here, you¡¯re doomed!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang ignored her and looked instead at the person who had one leg out of the carriage and said calmly to him, ¡°Is that the young governor of Guangling prefecture?¡±


    ¡°Today, as long as you don¡¯t step out of the cabin, everything will be fine between us¡­ but if you dare to step out and stick your nose into this business, don¡¯t think of leaving in one piece.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang directly threatened the person who was about to step out of the cabin, the first young master of the governor¡¯s household of Guangling prefecture, Wu Nanxun.


    Once Zhou Donghuang had spoken, the entire scene dissolved into an uproar.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang is threatening the young governor of Guangling prefecture?¡±


    ¡°My god! The governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture is a grand family with many level-six adepts of Qi-gathering¡­ this Zhou Donghuang, does he think that the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture is similar in strength to the governing Zhao family of our Yunfeng prefecture?¡±


    ¡°This is truly the case of a newborn calf not being afraid of the tiger!¡±


    The gathered crowd whispered among themselves, shaking their heads. Even though they knew Zhou Donghuang was a level-five adept¡ªand even the governing Zhao family of Yunfeng prefecture dreaded him¡ªthey still felt he was in deep trouble.


    However, this time it was the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture, and moreover, this was the first young master of the Wu family, Wu Nanxun himself!


    The governing Zhao family of Yunfeng prefecture was only a preeminent family.


    But the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture was a grand family with many level-six adepts, and with more than twenty level-five adepts in the family.


    A single level-five adept was nothing compared to the grand Wu family.


    ¡°How dare you!¡±


    The two middle-aged men mounted on the ferghana horses beside the carriage stared furiously at Zhou Donghuang, shooting daggers from their eyes.


    ¡°You could say that.¡±


    At that moment, a voice that turned anger to laughter came from the cabin, and the person who had paused instinctively at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words strode out of the cabin and dismounted from the carriage.


    This was a handsome young man wearing an elaborately brocaded mandarin costume. He had such an air of arrogance that he seemed to have been born with it. As soon as he showed himself, he immediately became the focus of the entire scene.


    ¡°He is the first young master of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture, Wu Nanxun?¡±


    ¡°Someone worthy to be the first young master of a grand family simply cannot be compared to the young masters of the preeminent families in strength.¡±


    After Wu Nanxun dismounted from his carriage, the two middle-aged men on the ferghana horses flanking the carriage dismounted as well, and they followed behind Wu Nanxun.


    ¡°Brother Xun, this Zhou Donghuang seems to have no respect for you or the Wu family¡­ In my opinion, we shouldn¡¯t give him a quick death today but torment him for a long while before we kill him.¡±


    Li Caiyun took Wu Nanxun¡¯s hand as she spoke to him daintily and gazed towards Zhou Donghuang with a cold, murderous look.


    However, Wu Nanxun strode forward several paces without replying, looking calmly at Zhou Donghuang and said, ¡°Zhou Donghuang, just seventeen years old and already a level-five adept of Qi-gathering¡­ It has to be said that your martial talent is extraordinary. But however talented you are, this is your last day of life.¡±


    As he finished, besides the murderous look in the depths of Wu Nanxun¡¯s eyes, there was also a trace of envy.


    The fact that a nobody from a small village could have such great martial talent only served to emphasize how weak the first young master of his grand family was.


    ¡°I¡¯ve given you a chance.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang swept an indifferent gaze over Wu Nanxun. ¡°However, since you didn¡¯t take it¡­ just don¡¯t blame me.¡±


    As he finished, Zhou Donghuang moved without warning, stepping in a peculiar sequence of steps and shooting forward like a cannonball straight towards the closest person to him¡ªPatriarch Li Jingyu.


    Swoosh!!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s speed was extremely fast. He flew forward onto Li Jingyu¡¯s horse and brought his palm down onto his head. Only then did Li Jingyu react, his eyes widening in surprise and his expression changing completely.


    As it was, that turned out to be Li Jingyu¡¯s last expression.


    Pong!!


    With just one strike of his palm, Zhou Donghuang killed Li Jingyu as he sat on his horse. His corpse fell lifeless from the horse.


    Li Jingyu was the patriarch of the preeminent Li family of Yunfeng prefecture, a level-four adept of Qi-gathering, and he did not even have a chance to make a move from beginning to end.


    The crowd was stunned speechless.


    ¡°This Zhou Donghuang is really powerful!¡±


    ¡°Incredible! Killing a level-four adept as though he were killing a dog!¡±


    ¡°His ability would probably be considered strong even among other level-five adepts, right? I don¡¯t know if the people that the first young master of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture brought with him will be a match for him.¡±


    ¡°These two people shadowing this first young master of the Wu family also seem to be level-five adepts¡­ two on one, could the two of them not beat Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    Many people found themselves gazing subconsciously at the two middle-aged men behind Wu Nanxun.


    What they noticed was that after witnessing Zhou Donghuang kill Patriarch Li Jingyu of the Li family with one strike of his palm, their indifferent expressions had become much more serious.


    ¡°Father!¡±


    Li Caiyun wailed in sorrow as she came to her senses, and she looked back at Zhou Donghuang with an even colder look, as though she could not wait to slice his corpse into a thousand pieces.


    ¡°Brother Xun, avenge my father! Avenge my father!¡± Li Caiyun shouted urgently to Wu Nanxun beside her. At that moment, she did not wish to see Zhou Donghuang alive.


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang kill his father-in-law in front of him, the only thing that Wu Nanxun felt was that his majesty had been trampled upon, and his expression became so thunderous that it seemed about to drip water.


    ¡°Uncle Feng, Uncle Lang¡­ kill him!¡±

 Chapter 63 Meridian Destroying Palm

    At Wu Nanxun¡¯s command, the two middle-aged men behind him answered in unison, ¡°Yes, Young Master!¡± with a serious look in their eyes.


    They sprang into action together.


    Swoosh! Swoosh!


    As level-five adepts of Qi-gathering of the grand Wu family, they both practiced the lesser-grade swiftness technique of the Wu family, and they moved lightly and fluidly like shadows.


    Ching! Ching!


    When they had advanced halfway, they drew the swords sheathed at their waists almost simultaneously and charged towards Zhou Donghuang with their swords raised, the keen edges of their swords gleaming coldly.


    In the country of Yunyang, there were differences between the lesser-grade offensive techniques.


    For example, sword techniques and other weapon techniques, compared to fist techniques and palm techniques, were far more valuable.


    Preeminent families could petition the royal family for the latter. However, only grand families could petition the royal family for the former.


    The great majority of preeminent families in Yunfeng prefecture, including the governing Zhao family, did not have any lesser-grade offensive techniques that utilized weapons.


    Of course, between offensive techniques of the same level, those that utilized weapons were naturally much more powerful than other kinds of offensive techniques.


    If not, why would some adepts spend so much effort in obtaining a weapon that suited them best?


    Swoosh!!


    Faced with the ferocious advance of the two level-five adepts, Zhou Donghuang used the Star-Stepping Footwork and met them calmly.


    Huff! Huff!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hands became claws, demonstrating the third-grade technique Stonebreaking Fingers for the first time in a long while. His ten clawed fingers became hard as stone, grabbing for the swords of the two men on his left and right.


    Because the two men were using all their strength, they were not able to draw their swords back from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s grip.


    That morning, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s level of practice had advanced to level-five of Qi-gathering, and with only his qi, he was able to exert the strength of five bulls¡­


    Together with his maximum muscular strength, his total strength exceeded that of an ordinary level-six adept of Qi-gathering.


    With his current strength, and demonstrating a third-grade technique, he could easily defeat any level-five adept in the country of Yunyang.


    ¡°Let go!¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang commanded casually, he jerked his arms violently, splitting the two men¡¯s hands between their thumb and index finger. Blood spurted out, and he wrested the swords from their hands.


    Swoosh!!


    With a sword in each hand, Zhou Donghuang sped up his steps, moving like lightning through the space between the two men.


    Pu-chi! Pu-chi!


    Zhou Donghuang gripped the handles of the two swords and swept them across the throats of the two men, making a gentle sound as their throats spurted blood like a fountain.


    ¡°Ahhhhhhh!!Ahhh!!¡±


    ¡°Hak~~Hakk hakk~~¡±


    The two middle-aged men frantically grabbed at their throats in an attempt to stop the flow of blood, but it was useless, and they soon fell in a pool of their own blood with a thud.


    Ching! Ching!


    The two swords fell to the ground, their handles covered in blood, completely startling the gathered crowd.


    It had all happened in the blink of an eye, too fast for anyone in the crowd to comprehend just how fast Zhou Donghuang had been.


    As they came to their senses with a start, they saw the two men from the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture lying in a pool of their own blood, completely lifeless.


    And Zhou Donghuang was somehow already standing close to Wu Nanxun and Li Caiyun.


    Zhou Donghuang stood straight with his hands clasped behind his back, his white robe fluttering in the wind, with not a single drop of blood on him, his robe white as snow and without a speck of dust.


    If they had not witnessed it with their own eyes, no one would have dared to believe that this was the work of Zhou Donghuang. Looking at him, it seemed as if he had strolled over not just slaughtered three men.


    ¡°Those two men¡­ are they really level-five adepts?¡±


    ¡°If they really are level-five adepts¡­ then isn¡¯t this Zhou Donghuang truly fearsome?¡±


    The gathered crowd looked once more at Zhou Donghuang with shock and dread.


    Just a moment ago, they were still thinking that Zhou Donghuang was probably no match for the two men, but in the blink of an eye, Zhou Donghuang had killed them in just one exchange.


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity¡­ you didn¡¯t treasure the chance I gave you.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked at Wu Nanxun with a casual smile.


    Now, Wu Nanxun looked again at Zhou Donghuang with an expression full of dread as though he had seen a ghost.


    No one present knew better than him just how powerful the two middle-aged men with him had been.


    Those two men were somewhere in the middle in terms of ability among the more than twenty level-five adepts of the Wu family.


    But two such people attacking together had been killed by Zhou Donghuang instead. Moreover, they had been killed in a single exchange.


    This Zhou Donghuang, even if he is not a level-six adept, he is at least at the peak of level-five!


    Wu Nanxun¡¯s heart trembled. Was this really a youth who was only seventeen years old?


    Not just in Yunyang country, but even above Yunyang country, in the Valley of Medicine Masters, there was probably no one so monstrous.


    ¡°Zhou¡­ Zhou Donghuang, I¡­ I am the first young master of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture, if you dare touch me, the Wu family will not let you off!¡±


    Wu Nanxun took a deep breath and tried to threaten Zhou Donghuang with the might of the grand Wu family to intimidate Zhou Donghuang against harming him.


    ¡°If I was afraid of your Wu family¡­ do you think I would have killed those people from the Wu family?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled brilliantly.


    When Wu Nanxun heard this, his expression changed completely, and he looked at Li Caiyun beside him, who was staring wide-eyed in shock.


    ¡°It¡¯s all because of this slut that I am in this situation!¡±


    Wu Nanxun¡¯s gaze turned icy, and his hand shot out like lightning and snapped Li Caiyun¡¯s neck with a crack as though he were plucking a flower ruthlessly.


    As Li Caiyun¡¯s corpse fell to the ground, Wu Nanxun looked again at Zhou Donghuang without a trace of his former arrogance and said humbly, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, this was all started by this woman¡­ I, Wu Nanxun, have no reason to be enemies with you.¡±


    Now, Wu Nanxun wished only to use Li Caiyun¡¯s death to ensure his safety.


    Circumstances dictated people¡¯s actions.


    Although he had the grand Wu family behind him, they were far away in Guangling prefecture, and a distant lake would not help put out a nearby fire.


    Now, he could only save himself.


    If only he could remain alive, he would return with his elders who were level-six adepts of Qi-gathering once he got back to the Wu family!


    ¡°Too late.¡±


    Seeing Wu Nanxun kill his own woman without compunction, a look of disgust flashed across the depths of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes. He stepped in front of Wu Nanxun and struck out with his palm at Wu Nanxun¡¯s chest.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s speed was too great, and Wu Nanxun only reacted after the blow landed, his expression changing.


    In the blink of an eye, Wu Nanxun felt no pain, but could not help being startled.


    He noticed that Zhou Donghuang¡¯s blow did not contain much force and actually seemed to land lightly on his chest.


    ¡°Meridian Destroying Palm!¡±


    Just when Wu Nanxun was beginning to feel puzzled, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm that had landed snugly on his chest shook violently, and a strange force rolled out, completely destroying all the meridians in Wu Nanxun¡¯s body.


    Meridian Destroying Palm was a lesser-grade technique, and was useless in a fight, although it could be used to destroy an opponent¡¯s meridians under certain conditions.


    ¡°You¡­ you¡­ you destroyed my meridians?!¡±


    Wu Nanxun realized immediately that the meridians in his body had been destroyed, and his expression changed and he gaped wide-eyed at Zhou Donghuang before gasping for breath and collapsing on the ground.


    On the planet of Ziyun where only the strong earned respect, having his meridians destroyed was a fate worse than death for an adept.


    A deathly silence descended on the scene after Wu Nanxun collapsed on the ground.


    Not only the gathered crowd but also Lu Bao and the other Lu family members were trembling in fear as they looked at the youth dressed in white standing nearby.


    The youth had struck fast, accurately and ruthlessly, without seeming to consider the consequences.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang¡¯s ability¡­ could he have already attained level-six of Qi-gathering? Even if he has, isn¡¯t he afraid of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture?¡±


    ¡°That Wu family is a grand family that has may level-six adepts¡­¡±


    Remembering that his older brother Lu Qinghu had told him that Zhou Donghuang was not afraid of the Wu family, Lu Bao¡¯s eyes flashed.


    Unless he has enough ability to stand up to all the Wu family¡¯s level-six adepts!


    At this, Lu Bao could not help thinking about the first time he had seen Zhou Donghuang. That was in the Lu family mansion, and Zhou Donghuang had single-handedly made a clean sweep of the seven strongest level-three adepts of the three elite lesser families with his spear, like a god that had come down to earth.


    With this thought, Lu Bao drew in a breath of cold air, and when he looked back at the youth in white, there was only respect in his eyes.


    ¡°Granny Lian, find a storeroom in the Magnolia Guild to accommodate them temporarily¡­ If they dare try to escape, just kill them!¡± Zhou Donghuang instructed Granny Lian.


    Zhou Donghuang swept an indifferent gaze over the unconscious Wu Nanxun before looking at the two drivers who had long ago been scared stiff.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master.¡±


    Now, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s word was law to Granny Lian, and she acknowledged him hurriedly.


    Although Lin Lan felt that imprisoning the members of a grand family was unwise, this was what her son Zhou Donghuang requested, and she did not pursue the matter.


    Now, she had unconditional trust in her son, even if her son poked a hole in the sky, she would not say anything about it.


    Because she knew that her son knew his own limits.


    ¡°Mother, I¡¯m going out for a stroll¡­ after so long in the prefecture capital, I still have not taken in the sights.¡±


    Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang greeted Lin Lan with a slight smile and walked out like nothing had happened.


    Although the crowd was large, they hurriedly made a path for him when they saw him about to leave.


    It was not until Zhou Donghuang had disappeared from view at the end of the road that the crowd at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild came to their senses one by one.


    On March 27, 1228 of the Ziyun era, at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang killed Li Jingyu, the patriarch of the preeminent Li family, followed by the two level-five adepts of Qi-gathering from the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture. Then he proceeded to destroy the meridians of the first young master of the Wu family, Wu Nanxun.


    The news spread, and the whole prefecture capital was shaken once again!

 Chapter 64 Five-Year Goal

    The governor¡¯s household, the Zhao family mansion.


    ¡°Big Brother, that Zhou Donghuang killed the two level-five adepts from the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture¡­ the first young master of the Wu family Wu Nanxun had his meridians destroyed and has become a martial invalid.¡±


    After receiving the news of what occurred at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, Zhao San immediately went to find his older brother, the governor of Yunfeng prefecture and patriarch of the Zhao family, Zhao Lishang.


    ¡°I never imagined that even Wu Yunfeng and Wu Hailang would die at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hands¡­ either one of those two would be a match for me.¡± Zhao Lishang spoke with a serious expression, and continued to question Zhao San, ¡°How long did he take to kill the two of them?¡±


    Zhao Lishang had sparred with both Wu Yunfeng and Wu Hailang and knew their strengths in detail.


    ¡°One¡­ one exchange¡­¡±


    Zhao San smiled bitterly.


    Zhao Lishang was instantly dumbfounded when he heard this, and it took a long while to come to his senses with a bitter smile on his face. ¡°I originally assumed his ability was equal to mine at most¡­ now, it looks like I underestimated him.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother, I can¡¯t understand¡­ why didn¡¯t he kill just those two from the Wu family and be done with it, instead of proceeding to main Wu Nanxun. Isn¡¯t he afraid of the Wu family¡¯s vengeance?¡±


    Zhao San was puzzled by this.


    ¡°You are more familiar with him than I am¡­ do you think he would do something he is not confident of?¡± Zhao Lishang countered.


    ¡°He¡­¡±


    Zhao San hesitated momentarily as he considered it, then shook his head. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t.¡±


    Although Zhao San had not spent a long time interacting with that youth, the immense self-confidence that radiated from that youth gave him a sense that he would not be frightened even if the sky collapsed.


    ¡°Because of this, there is only one possibility: He does not consider the Wu family a threat,¡± Zhao Lishang said with a complicated look.


    ¡°Does not consider the Wu family a threat?¡±


    Zhao San was shocked.


    The Wu family was a grand family and one that had many level-six adepts of Qi-gathering.


    If that Zhou Donghuang did not consider even the Wu family a threat, how strong was his ability?¡±


    ¡­


    The Hong family mansion.


    ¡°That Zhou Donghuang¡­ has such courage?¡±


    The second master of the preeminent Hong family, Hong Kun was in a state of shock for a good while upon receiving the news from outside and had just recovered his wits.


    The strength of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s ability had greatly surprised him.


    However, he felt that Zhou Donghuang¡¯s courage was even greater, to the extent that he dared to kill the people from the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture and even maim the first young master of the Wu family, Wu Nanxun!


    ¡°I never imagined he had this level of ability.¡±


    ¡°With the ability he has demonstrated today, even the governor of Yunfeng prefecture Zhao Lishang is no match for him.¡±


    ¡°However, although the strength of his ability is indisputable, the same cannot be said of his brain¡­ he even dares to maim First Young Master Wu Nanxun of the grand Wu family. He¡¯s simply trying to get himself killed!¡±


    Wu Nanxun was the designated future governor of Guangling prefecture, and because of this, outsiders referred to him as the young governor. And now, his meridians had been maimed in the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture, and that made him a martial invalid.


    Zhou Donghuang maimed the future governor of Guangling prefecture¡­ it could be imagined how furious the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture would be when news of this reached them.


    ¡°Seems that it won¡¯t be necessary for Yun Fei and Dandan to seek the help of the disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters; that little fellow is doomed,¡± Hong Kun muttered with a glimmer in his eyes.


    Not long ago, his older brother, the patriarch of the Hong family Hong Wei, had left the Hong family together with Chen Dandan and brought her out of Yunfeng prefecture to the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    He was aware of Chen Dandan¡¯s life story as well as the conflict between her and Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡­


    The Li family mansion.


    ¡°Today, with the patriarch and head lady, together with our son-in-law, and with the two level-five adepts with him, that Zhou Donghuang of the Magnolia Guild is doomed!¡±


    This was the thought of all the members of the Li family before Patriarch Li Jingyu of the Li family, and the others set off. After all, the man of the head lady of the Li family was the young governor of the intermediate-level Guangling prefecture. Moreover, with the young governor were two level-five adepts who could match the governor of Yunfeng prefecture in ability.


    It turned out that the members of the Li family were left dumbfounded when the news reached them.


    ¡°Patriarch is dead? Killed with one strike of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm?¡±


    ¡°Head Lady is also dead? Moreover, Head Lady was killed by the son-in-law himself?¡±


    ¡°The two level-five adepts with son-in-law were also killed with a single sword stroke from Zhou Donghuang? And Zhou Donghuang even destroyed son-in-law¡¯s meridians?¡±


    ¡­


    The members of the Li family could never have imagined that the patriarch of the Li family not only failed in avenging the second young master of the Li family, Li Pingyun but had even died at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hands.


    Their source of self-confidence, the two level-five adepts of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture, had also been killed by Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Will he take his anger out on our Li family? If he does, who in our Li family is a match for him? Who can stop him?¡±


    Just when a crowd of Li family juniors was discussing the danger they were in, Li Yun and Li Rui had just arrived back at the Li family mansion.


    When they heard that Patriarch Li Jingyu of the Li family had led a force to the Magnolia Guild to make trouble, both mother and daughter had escaped through the back door of the Magnolia Guild.


    In order to avoid anyone noticing that they had been to the Magnolia Guild, they had specially made a big detour out of the prefecture capital and re-entered the prefecture capital from the opposite direction before returning to the Li family mansion.


    But after going through all that trouble to return to the Li family mansion and hearing the members of the Li family exaggerating their danger, they were dumbfounded.


    In their eyes, how could the mighty patriarch have been killed by Zhou Donghuang with a single blow?


    Moreover, the strength behind the Li family, the young governor of Guangling prefecture, the first young master of the grand Wu family Wu Nanxun, had not only killed the head lady of the Li family but had even had his meridians destroyed by Zhou Donghuang?


    The two level-five adepts of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture had also been killed by Zhou Donghuang?


    ¡°That child Donghuang¡­ is that powerful?¡±


    Li Yun was wide-eyed in shock.


    Li Rui was also in a state of shock but soon regained her senses and smiled coldly. She said with an expression of glee, ¡°If that Zhou Donghuang has offended the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture¡­ he is as good as dead!¡±


    ¡°The Wu family will definitely not let him off!¡±


    ¡°If I had known earlier that he was so stupid as to offend the grand Wu family, why would I have bowed and scraped before him?¡±


    Saying this, Li Rui¡¯s cold smile grew even colder.


    ¡­


    In the spacious mansion of the preeminent Lu family, the news of what had occurred at the main entrance of the neighboring Magnolia Guild was being proclaimed everywhere.


    The uproar even startled Lu Qinghu, who had been practicing intently in his room.


    Lu Qinghu could not resist going out to find out what was happening.


    However, he turned around and returned to his room very quickly.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang killed two level-five adepts of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture? He maimed the first young master of the Wu family, Wu Nanxun?¡±


    Shaking his head, Lu Qinghu was not surprised by this and continued to practice.


    In his view, the fact that Young Master Donghuang dared to do this meant that he was surely confident and not afraid of that grand Wu family coming to make trouble for him.


    What on earth was that potion that Young Master Donghuang instructed Fu to send over?


    In just these two days, half of the effectiveness of that potion at most has been used, and I am already at the point where I can attempt to advance to level-five of Qi-gathering.


    Two days earlier, Lu Qinghu had not thought much of it when Fu sent over that bottle of potion. But when he consumed that potion and began to practice, he noticed that his level of practice had increased dramatically, and in just two short days, he improved so much that it equaled his past ten years of hard practice.


    I feel¡­ I only need to let the rest of the potion take effect, and I will directly attain level-five of Qi-gathering!


    With this thought, Lu Qinghu suppressed his burgeoning excitement with an effort, and immersed himself once more in practicing, closing himself off to the raucous noise outside.


    ¡­


    Other than the four preeminent families of Yunfeng prefecture, the Fang and Ma lesser families had also been scared silly by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s actions that day.


    They never imagined that Zhou Donghuang would dare offend even the grand Wu family, the governing family of Guangling prefecture.


    Just as the people of the prefecture capital were in a state of shock over what Zhou Donghuang had done, Zhou Donghuang himself was wandering leisurely through the streets of the prefecture capital, weaving through the crowds at a relaxed pace.


    Without seeming to feel it¡­ it has been three months since being reborn here.


    Zhou Donghuang walked leisurely as he shook his head and sighed.


    Previously, at this time, I was on Earth¡­ the seal within my body had been broken not long ago, and I had not even attained level-one of Qi-gathering.


    In just over three months, I have already attained level-five of Qi-gathering.


    Previously, I took almost twenty years to attain level-five of Qi-gathering.


    On the Earth, in an age without practice, qi was sparse, and for Zhou Donghuang to begin from nothing and practice till the level of petty consummation of Qi-gathering, took him fifty whole years.


    This was also because he eventually traveled throughout Earth and noticed ancient traces. After some exploration, he had a fortuitous encounter.


    After spending ten more years, he smoothly attained the stage of Connate stage.


    After that, in the next few decades, he used the power of Earth¡¯s science to travel to nearby planets where qi was denser to practice, and he smoothly attained the stage of Primal Core before he left Earth.


    To physically travel across space, a minimum stage of Primal Core was required. Otherwise, one would never be able to withstand the force of the magnetic fields in space.


    ¡°In this life, I will strive to attain the level of Primal Core within five years!¡± Zhou Donghuang muttered.


    If what Zhou Donghuang had just said was announced far and wide, it would have been enough to scare everyone not just on the planet of Ziyun, but in the myriad civilizations of the universe.


    After sightseeing for a while more, Zhou Donghuang turned to return home.


    In two days, I¡¯ll travel to the Chu royal city¡­ and Guangling prefecture happens to be on the road I must take to reach the Chu royal city. I¡¯ll go with Wu Nanxun to the Wu family.


    This will prevent the Wu family from making trouble for the Magnolia Guild while I¡¯m traveling to the Chu royal city.

 Chapter 65 Yun Lu

    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    As soon as he arrived at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, Zhou Donghuang saw three large horses standing before the stairs of the main entrance, hesitating as if they could not decide whether to proceed.


    On the lead horse sat a small girl, and judging from her physique, she was about eight or nine years old. Her delicate and attractive side profile was enough to make an observer fall in love with her.


    On the two horses behind her sat two youths who looked about twelve or thirteen years old, one with his long hair tied behind him and the other with neat, short hair.


    ¡°Boss, are you sure you¡¯re not mistaken, and that the name on the plaque really is the ¡®Magnolia Guild¡¯ that Sir Freezing Wind spoke of?¡±


    The short-haired youth questioned the little girl, and his question indicated that he could not read.


    A twelve or thirteen-year-old youth addressing an eight or nine-year-old girl as ¡°boss¡± seemed strange whichever way one looked at it, but the short-haired youth did not seem to mind in the least.


    ¡°Just because you can¡¯t read doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t.¡±


    The little girl turned with her arms akimbo and gave the short-haired youth an annoyed look; then she leaped off the horse nimbly. ¡°Let¡¯s go! We¡¯ll go in and look for our benefactor and Uncle Freezing Wind.¡±


    ¡°Yes, boss,¡± the two youths replied obediently and leaped off their horses. Although their technique was good, the little girl was better, and their performance was slightly inferior compared to the little girl¡¯s.


    It was then that Zhou Donghuang deduced their identities.


    These were the three orphans that Freezing Wind had carefully selected on his orders for their perseverance and resilience.


    The three of them watched Zhou Donghuang as he approached and walked up the stairs at the main entrance of the Magnolia guild.


    ¡°Benefactor!¡±


    Just as Zhou Donghuang reached the balcony and was about to enter, he heard the delicate, moving voice of the little girl, followed by the thud of someone kneeling down.


    ¡°Benefactor?¡±


    Seeing the girl kneeling down before Zhou Donghuang, the two youths exchanged a glance and promptly followed by kneeling down behind the girl.


    ¡°Why call me benefactor?¡±


    When he heard the girl¡¯s voice, Zhou Donghuang knew that she had recognized him, and he could not help smiling casually as he turned around.


    ¡°What a clever girl.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked at the delicate and pretty little girl and sighed in his heart. It was difficult to imagine how such a girl could endure the pain of the Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle.


    ¡°Benefactor, Uncle Freezing Wind said¡­ if you had not ordered him to find us, we would not have what we have today. Therefore, you are our benefactor.¡±


    The little girl was not casual towards Zhou Donghuang like how she had been casual with the two youths, and her severe expression made her look like a miniature adult.


    ¡°How did you know who I am?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled casually.


    ¡°From the time Uncle Freezing Wind mentioned you, benefactor, I was especially eager to meet you, and Uncle Freezing Wind drew a portrait of you especially for me¡­ although the portrait did not do your good looks justice, the posture when you clasped your hands looks exactly like you.¡±


    The girl took out a folded piece of paper as she spoke and carefully unfolded it. The image of a youth could be seen, and the image was of Zhou Donghuang.


    However, the outline of the image of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s face was slightly smudged and was indeed not as good-looking as in reality, but the posture of him clasping his hands behind his back was exactly the same as in reality.


    ¡°I never knew Freezing Wind could do this.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang raised his eyebrows and said to the girl and the youths, ¡°Get up and follow me in.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Benefactor.¡±


    The three of them stood up and followed Zhou Donghuang into the Magnolia Guild.


    ¡°What is your name?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked with a slight smile as he walked beside the little girl. He gave the girl a tender look as he reached out and patted her head.


    ¡°Benefactor, I am Yun Lu.¡±


    Even as the girl was introducing herself, she did not forget to introduce the two youths behind her. ¡°As for them¡­ the short-haired one is Zhou Han. The long-haired one is called Zhou Feng.¡±


    ¡°Zhou Han? Zhou Feng?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang gave a start.


    ¡°Benefactor, they did not have proper names at first¡­ Elder Freezing Wind gave them names consisting of your surname, and first names taken from his own name,¡± Yun Lu said.


    ¡°No wonder it sounds so familiar.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded and proceeded to bring the three of them to see Granny Lian so that she could arrange accommodation for them.


    The three of them had been carefully selected by Freezing Wind from among a group of orphans, and not only had they endured the pain of the Nerve-easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle, but they had also passed Freezing Wind¡¯s test of loyalty and would surely remain loyal.


    The great majority of orphans would be grateful and loyal to the benefactors who had changed their lives and never betray them.


    After handing the three of them over to Granny Lian, Zhou Donghuang returned to his room to continue practicing. He was only waiting for Fu to be ready before leaving Yunfeng prefecture and heading for the Chu royal city.


    Fu would need at least two or three days to completely absorb the effect of the potion made from the thousand-year red fruit.


    In the following days, what surprised Zhou Donghuang the most was that his mother had taken a great liking to Yun Lu and came to tell him that she wanted to take Yun Lu as an adopted daughter.


    Zhou Donghuang knew well that his mother had always wanted a daughter. She had Chen Dandan at first, but after Chen Dandan¡¯s betrayal, the place in his mother¡¯s heart previously occupied by her daughter was once again hollow.


    ¡°Xiao Lu, from now on you don¡¯t have to call me benefactor, just call me Big Brother.¡±


    Since Lin Lan wanted to take Yun Lu as her adopted daughter, Zhou Donghuang was happy to oblige, and after interacting with her over these few days, he took a great liking to Yun Lu as well.


    Although she was only nine years old, Yun Lu was extremely mature, and the details of her daily life displayed Yun Lu¡¯s kind heart.


    ¡°Big Brother.¡±


    However strong Yun Lu seemed to be, she was, after all, still a girl, and the time spent with the family over these few days also made her fall in love with the warmth of the family. Hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, she could not help the tears streaming freely down her face.


    ¡°What¡¯s there to cry about? Silly girl.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang reached his hand out and wiped Yun Lu¡¯s tears and stroked her head, giving her an indulgent smile.


    ¡°Xiao Lu, Mother will bring you shopping to buy some nice outfits.¡±


    Lin Lan arrived, and seeing that Zhou Donghuang was there as well, she asked promptly with a smile, ¡°Donghuang, would you like to come shopping with us both?¡±


    ¡°Mother, please go ahead.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang gave her a smile. ¡°I still have some matters to assign Freezing Wind.¡±


    He planned to leave Yunfeng prefecture the next day for the Chu royal city. Of course, he had not yet told Lin Lan this.


    ¡°Bye, Big Brother.¡±


    Yun Lu said goodbye to Zhou Donghuang and left with Lin Lan.


    After the two of them left, Zhou Donghuang instructed Fu to summon Freezing Wind.


    ¡°Xiao Lu has already acknowledged my mother as her adopted mother, from now on, let her follow my mother¡­ when you leave to carry out duties, just bring Zhou Han and Zhou Feng with you,¡± Zhou Donghuang said casually.


    He had instructed Freezing Wind to find orphans and select the cream of the crop so that Freezing Wind would have the opportunity to create his own source of strength. This source of strength was not to help him in any way, but was so that his family could be better protected and they could travel onwards without worrying about matters at home!


    ¡°Yes, Young Master,¡± Freezing Wind replied respectfully. Now, after his experience with the thousand-year red fruit, he revered this youth before him as a god.


    To be able to use a one-thousand-year red fruit to get the effect of ten thousand-year red fruits, never mind in the country of Yunyang, but who on the whole planet of Ziyun could do this?


    Freezing Wind had now smoothly attained level-four of Qi-gathering after consuming the potion made from the thousand-year red fruit, and he became a level-four adept of Qi-gathering with the strength of four bulls.


    The Freezing Wind of the past could never have imagined in his wildest dreams that he could achieve this in such a short period of time.


    If I was still at Green Wolf Bastion¡­ I would only have just attained level-two of Qi-gathering, Freezing Wind thought to himself.


    ¡°Take these two bottles of potion¡­ based on your evaluation, if you are more certain that Zhou Han and Zhou Feng have the potential, give these to them,¡± Zhou Donghuang instructed Freezing Wind, casually tossing the two bottles made from the thousand-year red fruit to him.


    After this, only two bottles of potion remained in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s possession.


    He planned to give one of them to Yun Lu before he left the next day.


    ¡­


    April 1, 1228 of the Ziyun Era.


    Lin Lan and Yun Lu stood at side by side at the main entrance of the Magnolia Guild, staring at the carriage drawn by the three ferghana horses as it vanished into the distance.


    ¡°This child¡­ he only told me last night that he would be leaving this morning.¡±


    Lin Lan shook her head with a sigh and a bitter smile.


    ¡°Mother, Big Brother was worried that if you knew too early, you would not be able to bear it.¡±


    Yun Lu consoled her gently. ¡°Mother, even though Big Brother is gone, you still have Xiao Lu to keep you company, so don¡¯t feel too sad.¡±


    ¡°Silly girl, Mother isn¡¯t sad¡­ your big brother has a bright future, and I am happy for him.¡±


    Lin Lan smiled as she stroked Yun Lu¡¯s little head, and despite what she said, she could not fully conceal the longing in her eyes.


    ¡­


    Elsewhere.


    In the cabin of the carriage, Wu Nanxun looked at Zhou Donghuang incredulously. ¡°You¡­ you are really going to send me home?¡±


    ¡°Why else would I have let you live?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang swept an indifferent gaze over Wu Nanxun. ¡°For the remainder of the journey, you¡¯d better not disrupt my practice¡­ if you annoy me, I will not hesitate to leave you halfway permanently.¡±


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang, Wu Nanxun promptly shut his mouth but kept thinking over what he could do to Zhou Donghuang once he reached home.


    He has destroyed my meridians and made me a martial invalid, and my life is ruined¡­ when I get home, I¡¯ll have to personally cut up his corpse into ten thousand pieces to sate my thirst for vengeance!


    While Zhou Donghuang shut his eyes and practiced, Wu Nanxun¡¯s eyes burned with hatred as he stared at Zhou Donghuang, rage rising in his heart and threatening to spill out.


    On this journey, Fu did not take on the role as Zhou Donghuang¡¯s driver, but sat beside Zhou Donghuang, leaning on the door as he practiced.


    Now, the carriage was being driven by the two drivers who had driven Wu Nanxun, both side relatives of the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture.

 Chapter 66 Governor s Household of Guangling prefecture

    In the western ridge of the Chu King, the Chu royal city was the center, surrounded by the large and small prefectures dotted around it, like the stars surrounding the moon. Closest to the Chu royal city was the superior prefectures, followed by the intermediate prefectures, while the inferior prefectures were furthest away. Within the western ridge of the Chu King, the inferior prefectures numbered the most at twenty-six, followed by the intermediate prefectures at twelve, while there were only five superior prefectures.


    As an inferior prefecture, Yunfeng prefecture was located at the borders of the western ridge of the Chu King. From Yunfeng prefecture to the Chu royal city, one had to pass through an intermediate prefecture and a superior prefecture¡­ the intermediate prefecture was none other than Guangling prefecture.


    Guangling prefecture, being an intermediate prefecture, occupied much more land than Yunfeng prefecture. From the border of Guangling prefecture to the capital city of Guangling would take seven days and nights even riding a ferghana horse overnight. From Yunfeng capital city, to leave the prefecture, a ferghana house would not need to rush overnight and would only need three days and nights. Hence, from the capital city of Yunfeng prefecture to the capital city of Guangling prefecture, even if one rode a ferghana horse overnight, it would take ten days and ten nights.


    Even then, even though the ferghana horse was supreme among the horses, it would still get tired and would definitely require some rest. Hence, even if one rode a ferghana horse, including the rest time, to reach the Guangling capital city from the Yunfeng capital city would require at least half a month¡¯s time. Using a horse-drawn carriage would require about one and a half months, though it would be faster if there were more ferghana horses drawing the carriage.


    ¡°Young Master, we have reached the capital,¡± a voice rang from outside the carriage. Wu Nanxun¡¯s eyes lit up, and his face was undeniably emotional. A carriage drawn by three ferghana horses took a whole month to reach Guangling capital city from Yunfeng capital city.


    ¡°We¡¯re here?¡± At that time, Zhou Donghuang was awoken from his practice. He pulled open the curtain to take a look and saw busier streets and heavier traffic than in Yunfeng capital city.


    ¡°No wonder it is the capital city of an intermediate prefecture; the capital city of the inferior Yunfeng prefecture can hardly compare.¡± Zhou Donghuang felt as if he were entering the city after being in the suburbs for a long while.


    ¡°I had thought that it would take three months to reach level-six of the gathered qi¡­ who knew that practicing without distractions on this journey that the Way of the Four Supremes would give me such a huge surprise.¡± Zhou Donghuang was extremely pleased with his progress since leaving the capital city of Yunfeng prefecture. ¡°Unless something happens, I will achieve level-six of the gathered qi in about a month¡¯s time!¡±


    The original plan of three months had been shortened by almost a third. This was all due to the surprise from the Way of the Four Supremes. The more time spent practicing without any distractions, the quicker the progress. In the past, Zhou Donghuang would always be disturbed every few days while practicing in Qingshan town or the capital city and was unable to achieve absolutely no distractions.


    On this journey, because their horse-drawn carriage bore the logo of the Wu family, the governor¡¯s household of Guangling prefecture, no thieves dared to rob them, and the occasional animal was driven away by the two Wu disciples who were the coachmen.


    Hence, he was able to practice without any distractions throughout and achieved so much progress.


    ¡­


    The Wu family of the governor¡¯s household of Guangling prefecture was not only a grand family but also the premier family in Guangling prefecture.


    As the saying went, ¡°Without a lion in the mountains, the monkey calls himself king,¡± the governor¡¯s household of Guangling prefecture, which was also the Wu family house, was decorated as if it was a small palace and was extremely luxurious. Being inside it gave one a sense of being in a palace courtyard.


    ¡­


    In the brilliant hall of the Wu family household.


    Zhou Donghuang sat at the head seat, slowly sipping tea from a cup that lay on the table beside him. Fu stood behind him, holding a three-meter long spear shining in black and red. This was none other than the heavy black iron spear that Zhou Donghuang had bought from the Hall of Gods in Yunfeng prefecture.


    The first young master of the Wu family, Wu Nanxun, and the two Wu disciples who acted as the coachmen stood there, not daring to breathe. Because of Wu Nanxun¡¯s presence, the party had been able to enter the Wu family house to this hall without any obstacles.


    ¡°Now, I¡¯m sure you can¡¯t wait to call your father over to seek revenge for you, am I right?¡± Zhou Donghuang put his teacup down and stared at Wu Nanxun.


    Wu Nanxun swallowed but did not respond.


    ¡°Go ahead,¡± said Zhou Donghuang calmly. ¡°Call your father over¡­ hm, ask him to bring along all the level-six adepts in the Wu family as well. It¡¯s no challenge if it¡¯s just him alone.¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head and smiled, revealing two rows of perfect white teeth. The confidence in his smile seemed contagious to all present.


    Initially, Wu Nanxun had found it unbelievable that Zhou Donghuang had been so daring to return with him to the Wu family, even thinking that Zhou Donghuang had a death wish. But now, looking at his confidence, he could not help but question himself.


    This Zhou Donghuang¡­ could he possibly be confident in destroying all the level-six adepts in the Wu family? However, just as the thought crossed his mind, the vengeful Wu Nanxun pushed it away. No¡­ impossible! Simply impossible! I will look for my father now and have Father capture him. I want to crush him with my bare hands!


    His vengeful anger totally overpowered his rationality at this point.


    Wu Nanxun left the hall, and the two disciples followed hurriedly as if they could finally heave a sigh of relief. That young man had given them extreme pressure.


    Leaving the hall, Wu Nanxun went directly to find his father, the governor of the capital city of Guangling prefecture and the Wu family chief, Wu Wentao.


    ¡°Xun¡¯er, you¡¯re back?¡± Wu Wentao was a man in a loose green robe with a medium build and a ferocious face with a mustache. Although half his hair had turned grey, his eyes were alert and sharp.


    However, upon seeing Wu Nanxun, his sharp eyes immediately softened. Wu Nanxun was his only son, and so he not only doted fondly on him but also placed high expectations on him. He even planned to let him inherit his position as governor of Guangling prefecture.


    ¡°Father!¡± Seeing Wu Wentao, Wu Nanxun¡¯s eyes lit up. His tense face crumbled and he rushed to him, dropped to the ground, and cried while hugging Wu Wentao¡¯s thighs.


    ¡°Xun¡¯er¡­ what¡¯s wrong?!¡± Wu Wentao¡¯s expression changed. He knew his son well, and unless something disastrous happened, he would not have had such a reaction.


    ¡°Father, all my meridians have been destroyed. I won¡¯t be able to fulfill your hopes and take over your position in the future,¡± Wu Nanxun¡¯s voice trembled as he said with a pained face.


    ¡°What?!¡± Wu Wentao¡¯s expression changed. He immediately bent down and confirmed that his son had indeed had all his meridians destroyed. His eyes narrowed, and his expression turned stone cold. In that moment, the temperature in the courtyard seemed to drop by a few degrees.


    ¡°Xun¡¯er, what¡­ what happened? How did your meridians get destroyed?¡± Wu Wentao asked. After all, he was the governor and the chief of the grand Wu family. Wu Wentao quickly controlled his anger that threatened to override his rationality.


    ¡°Father, it was Zhou Donghuang from Yunfeng prefecture!¡± Faced with his father¡¯s questioning, Wu Nanxun broke into tears as he explained exactly what had happened. As he finished, Wu Wentao¡¯s expression darkened. A seventeen-year-old teenager killed two level-five adepts of the Wu family, crippled the son of Wu Wentao and still dared to come to his doorstep?


    ¡°Xun¡¯er, he really said¡­ to ask me to call all the level-six adepts in our family over?¡± Wu Wentao was different from Wu Nanxun, the latter had allowed his anger to override his rational thinking, but although Wu Wentao was furious, he could still think rationally.


    That Zhou Donghuang dared to make such bold words; he either had a death wish¡­ or he was really disrespecting the Wu family! From what his son had told him, Zhou Donghuang was clearly not the former.


    ¡°Father, he is definitely boasting!¡± Wu Nanxun said angrily. ¡°But since he wants to have a taste of the level-six adepts in our Wu family, let us show him¡­ I just wish that by then he¡¯ll wet his pants in fear!¡±


    ¡°Xun¡¯er, be calm¡­ we will definitely test out Zhou Donghuang. But before confirming that he is just boasting, we cannot offend him further.¡± Wu Wentao was much calmer than Wu Nanxun.


    Soon, Wu Wentao sent someone to gather all level-six adepts in the Wu family. Including him, there were a total of four of them together. In the Wu family, there were five level-six adepts, but one had been out recently, so only four were left in the house. But the one who was absent was the least powerful among the five level-six adepts in the family and would have been of little significance.


    ¡°Uncle Fan, Second Brother, Head Elder¡­¡± After they all had arrived, Wu Wentao told them all that had happened. All three of them were shocked.


    ¡°A seventeen-year-old teenager killed both Wu Yunfeng and Wu Hailang with just a single strike?¡± Wu Yunfeng and Wu Hailang were considered powerful among the level-five adepts in the Wu family. That was why they had been sent to protect their first young master, Wu Nanxun.


    Now, upon finding out that the two had been killed instantly by a seventeen-year-old, the three level-six adepts gasped in unison.


    ¡°Big Brother, let us head over¡­ I want to see who this demonic young man is,¡± said the second master, a skinny man who looked similar to Wu Wentao but with sharp eyes.

 Chapter 67 Let s Attack Together

    In the hall of the Wu family household.


    Zhou Donghuang sat at the chief seat and looked at the five people who walked into the hall with an air of calm. ¡°If I remember correctly¡­ there are five level-six adepts in the Wu family? Why are there only four here? Unless¡­ you think that the four of you are enough to defeat me?¡± As he spoke, his lips rose into a playful smile.


    Among the five who had just walked into the hall, one was Wu Nanxun, but the rest were unfamiliar faces to Zhou Donghuang. Two of them looked similar to Wu Nanxun.


    ¡°Sir, I am the governor of Guangling prefecture and head of the Wu family, Wu Wentao.¡± Wu Wentao introduced himself as he stepped forward and clasped his hands together. He looked at Zhou Donghuang with a heavy gaze.


    Before he had met this youngster, he had not thought anything about it. But upon seeing him for himself, he then understood the meaning of ¡°confidence.¡± It was as if the young man before him would not be bothered even if the sky fell. People with such confidence either had real power or were putting on a front. Wu Wentao had seen countless people in his life and believed that this youngster was more of the latter rather than the former.


    ¡°Second Master of the Wu family, Wu Jingtao, level-six adept.¡± After Wu Wentao had finished his introduction, the second master also stepped forward. His skinny body was as straight as a spear, but his gaze was stone-cold as he stared at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°The Wu family pays its respects. Liu Yifan, level-six adept.¡± After the second master, an old man in a green robe stepped forward. The old man had a huge figure, strong like a bull and although his face was aged and his hair white, but his body looked more like that of a young man.


    Once Liu Yifan had stepped forward, Wu Nanxun¡¯s eyes flashed with anger as he stared at Zhou Donghuang. He said with a cold smile, ¡°Zhou Donghuang, my grandpa, Liu is the strongest man in Guangling prefecture, and he even trained in the third-grade defensive technique ¡®Cold Iron Jacket.¡¯ No one in Guangling prefecture can break through his defense!¡±


    ¡°Third-grade technique?¡± Hearing Wu Nanxun¡¯s words, Zhou Donghuang looked at the old man with surprise. As far as he knew, in Yunyang country, only two other tycoon families had third-grade techniques apart from the Imperial Court and the king¡¯s households. Those two tycoon families were each gifted a third-grade technique because they had done some great work for the Imperial Court. ¡°As far as I know, the third-grade defensive technique ¡®Cold Iron Jacket¡¯ was gifted to the tycoon Liu family by the Imperial Court¡­ are you from the Liu family, governor¡¯s household of the Tianwu prefecture?¡± asked Zhou Donghuang flatly.


    ¡°Not bad,¡± said the old man as he raised his head as if he were proud of his identity as a member of the tycoon Liu family.


    But what Zhou Donghuang said next caused him to freeze. ¡°Not staying in the tycoon Liu family, but in this small grand family¡­ seems like you could no longer stay in the Liu family?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words went straight to the old man¡¯s heart because this was something that had dearly upset him. Tycoon families were higher in status than grand families. For a family to become a tycoon family, they required at least a level-eight adept. For the Liu family, besides being the governor¡¯s household of the superior Tianwu prefecture, they were also a premier tycoon family with many level-nine adepts.


    In the Liu family, a level-six adept who could no longer advance had no status, although he was not cast aside to watch the door or run errands. Liu Yifan was one such person.


    ¡°This rascal¡­¡± Just as Liu Yifan had been dearly offended by Zhou Donghuang and looked ready to kill him, another old man standing at the side stepped forward and introduced himself. ¡°Head elder of the Wu family, Wu Chong, level-six adept.¡±


    ¡°Call the last one over as well,¡± Zhou Donghuang said calmly.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Liu Yifan snorted as he said, ¡°What an audacious young man! The four of us are more than enough to defeat you!¡±


    ¡°Sir, if you manage to leave in one piece today, your feud with the Wu family will be nulled!¡± Wu Wentao stared at Zhou Donghuang as he said. If this young man before him could escape unharmed from all four level-six adepts in the Wu family, he was not one that the Wu family could afford to offend. Even if his only son had been injured by him, he could only swallow this bitter pill.


    ¡°Escape unharmed?¡± Zhou Donghuang responded as he laughed dismissively. ¡°You think too highly of yourselves.¡± As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang picked up the 600kg heavy iron spear from Fu¡¯s hands. Weighing the spear in his hands, he looked calmly at Wu Wentao and the rest.


    ¡°The four of you may come at me together,¡± Zhou Donghuang said calmly as he crossed his legs on the chief seat.


    ¡°You¡­ You plan to sit there and fight against us?¡± Hearing his words and seeing as Zhou Donghuang had no intention of leaving his seat, Wu Jingtao¡¯s face darkened. This young man who looked just sixteen or seventeen was too cocky. Was he really looking down on them like that?


    ¡°The few of you don¡¯t deserve for me to stand up.¡± Zhou Donghuang glanced at Wu Jingtao as he spoke. The disdain in his eyes made Wu Jingtao furious. In a flash, he flew out as he withdrew the three-foot narrow knife from the sheath at his waist.


    Whoosh! The narrow knife that looked like a sword flew out, shining brightly. It seemed to come alive in Wu Jingtao¡¯s hands, heading straight for Zhou Donghuang as it flew out like a snake. Wu Jingtao had not only displayed the Wu family¡¯s lesser-grade swiftness technique, but also the lesser-grade knife technique.


    Swoosh!Zhou Donghuang¡¯s spear-holding hand shook, and the heavy black iron spear flew like a black bolt of lightning as it struck the knife just four feet away from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes.


    Clang!


    ¡°Ah¡ª!¡±


    As the sound of the weapons striking each other rang out in the air, Wu Jingtao shrieked. As he let go of the narrow knife, the purlicue of his hand was ripped and bleeding profusely.


    Smash! The narrow knife that had flown out was stuck in a pillar in the corner of the hall. The blade of the knife was fully stuck within, and the power in which it had flown out was clear. This was the result of just a casual flick of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s spear.


    ¡°Come together.¡± Zhou Donghuang glanced at Wu Wentao, Liu Yifan and Wu Chong, his voice as calm as before. His expression was also calm and unflinching.


    As the three of them watched Zhou Donghuang injure Wu Jingtao with just a stroke of his hand, even making Wu Jingtao¡¯s knife fly away, their expressions immediately darkened. Now, hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, they looked at each other and all moved together.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!Their three figures flew out together towards Zhou Donghuang.


    At the same time, Wu Jingtao rushed to the pillar and used his uninjured left hand to pull the knife out of the pillar, as he prepared to join the attacking army.


    Ping! Ping! Ping! However, just as Wu Jingtao pulled his knife out and prepared to join Wu Wentao and the rest, he heard three loud sounds ring beside his ear, accompanied by two painful cries and a loud thud.


    As he turned around, the sight before him caused his legs to turn into lead, making him unable to move an inch.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!Wu Wentao and Wu Chong flew backward towards a wall in the hall like arrows leaving a bow after being hit by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s spear. With a loud crashing sound, the wall which their bodies hit began to crack, lines appearing like a spider¡¯s web. Now, even the proclaimed strongest man in Guangling prefecture, Liu Yifan, was also pushed backward many steps by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s spear. His eyes widened, and his face was red as blood dripped from the corner of his mouth.


    ¡°Truly a third-grade defense technique ¡®Cold Iron Jacket.¡¯ You were only slightly injured by my spear.¡± Zhou Donghuang stood up and walked towards Liu Yifan. He reminded, ¡°Just now, I don¡¯t think you were fully defending yourself, but now, let me give you the chance to put on your complete defense¡­ let¡¯s see if your ¡®Cold Iron Jacket¡¯ can take another one of my blows!¡± As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang smiled, revealing a shining set of teeth.


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang raise his hand and come towards him with his spear, Liu Yifan knew a clash was unavoidable. His face darkened as he released all the inner qi in his body, displaying the third-grade defense technique ¡®Cold Iron Jacket¡¯ of the Liu family. After he had displayed the Cold Iron Jacket, Liu Yifan looked again at Zhou Donghuang with renewed confidence.


    ¡°Qi-stacking!¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes flashed, and the qi in his body stacked one upon the other. Grasping the spear, he flew like a meteor and landing heavily on the strong chest of Liu Yifan.


    The strongest point of defense of the ¡®Cold Iron Jacket¡¯ was on the chest.


    Ping!The heavy black iron spear landed heavily as Liu Yifan stepped backward in shock. Seeing this, Wu Wentao and the rest lit up as they believed that Liu Yifan had managed to withstand this blow.


    Then in the next moment, they froze.


    Whoosh!Liu Yifan¡¯s body flew backward in the same moment as he stepped back as if gravity did not exist. The speed at which he flew backward was many times faster than that of Wu Wentao and Wu Chong just now.


    Hong! Liu Yifan¡¯s body flew through the wall and out of the hall as if it was a bullet, not stopping along the way. It was as if the thick wall was not enough to slow him down at all.

 Chapter 68 Liuxiang Restaurant

    Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom!


    ¡­


    After the wall had been penetrated, the broken bricks fell to the floor, and the loud crashing sounds shocking the stunned Wu Wentao and the rest.


    ¡°Uncle Fan!¡± The expression of Wu Wentao, governor of Guangling prefecture and Wu family chief, changed entirely. He would never have expected that the youngster could cause Liu Yifan to fly away even after he had displayed the third-grade defense technique, Cold Iron Jacket. Even a level-seven adept could not have such ability.


    Wu Second Elder Wu Jingtao, Head Elder Wu Chong and First Young Master Wu Nanxun were all in disbelief as well.


    Soon, the four of them walked through the collapsed wall and found the collapsed Liu Yifan more than ten meters away. The robe on his chest was entirely torn, revealing a huge eye-catching bruise. After confirming that Liu Yifan had just been severely injured and not killed, the four others breathed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°Head Elder, please bring Uncle Fan downstairs to recuperate,¡± Wu Wentao instructed Wu Chong. He turned to Wu Nanxun and said sadly, ¡°Xun¡¯er, you saw for yourself¡­ the Wu family is not able to avenge you.¡±


    ¡°Father, it is me who has implicated all of you,¡± responded Wu Nanxun with a bitter smile. When he witnessed Zhou Donghuang cause Liu Yifan to fly with just a stroke of his weapon, he had realized that the Wu family could not avenge him.


    There was simply no one who was Zhou Donghuang¡¯s match. Furthermore, after all that he had seen, he realized that he was incredibly lucky to have survived at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Now, I just hope that he will forgive our disrespect¡­ with his strength, he can easily decimate our whole Wu family,¡± sighed Wu Wentao.


    When the three of them returned to the hall and found that Zhou Donghuang had already left, they all heaved a sigh of relief. This showed that Zhou Donghuang had no intention to continue the dispute with the Wu family.


    ¡­


    To Zhou Donghuang, he had only one aim in going to the Wu family, which was to scare them and not allow them to have any thoughts of revenge. He was not afraid of their revenge, but he had to consider his mother.


    ¡°Fu, find a restaurant, we¡¯ll begin our journey after having our meal.¡± After leaving the Wu household and boarding the horse-drawn carriage, Zhou Donghuang instructed Fu. He did not plan to stay long in Guangling prefecture; he planned to go straight to the Chu royal city. There, he could increase his level of gathered qi more quickly¡­ to him, that was the priority. The resources in even the superior prefecture capitals could not compare to those in the royal cities.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master,¡± responded Fu. He directed the horse carriage to a decent restaurant nearby. As the governor¡¯s household, the Wu family household was in the city center of the capital of Guangling prefecture. Fu found a nearby restaurant in the most prosperous city center of Guangling prefecture capital. It was furnished lavishly and had a huge crowd.


    Liuxiang Restaurant was the largest restaurant in the whole of Guangling prefecture and one of the businesses owned by the Wu family. Even Zhou Donghuang¡¯s Yunxuan Restaurant was far inferior to this Liuxiang Restaurant.


    The restaurant had a dedicated space for leaving carriages. After Fu stopped the carriage there, he called to Zhou Donghuang, ¡°Young Master, we¡¯re here.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang led Fu into the restaurant and asked if there were any private rooms available. The waiter replied, ¡°Sir, the people¡¯s dining booth, and the earthly dining booths are all not available¡­ though there is one heavenly dining booth remaining, would you like that?¡±


    Right after, he added, ¡°Sir, the heavenly dining booth here at Liuxiang Restaurant come at a minimum of a thousand liang.¡±


    ¡°A thousand liang?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes flashed. Even in his Yunxuan Restaurant in Qingshan Town of Yunfeng prefecture, the best heavenly dining booth cost only a hundred liang. But to him now, there was no difference between a hundred and a thousand liang.


    ¡°Lead the way,¡± said Zhou Donghuang flatly.


    ¡°This way please, sir.¡± The waiter led Zhou Donghuang and Fu to the last available heavenly dining booth in Liuxiang Restaurant. As the heavenly dining booth of Liuxiang Restaurant, the furniture and decor were all extremely particular. Not only were they elaborate, but they gave one a rare sense of the warmth of home.


    ¡°Sir, this is our menu, please take a look.¡± The waiter had just prepared to hand the menu to Zhou Donghuang, but he already shook his head and said, ¡°No need for that¡­ just bring us the best dishes you have at this restaurant. Make it quick, we still have a long way to go after eating.¡±


    ¡°Yes, sir,¡± replied the waiter as he left.


    ¡°Fu, take a seat. In the past month, so much has happened, but we have not yet had a good meal¡­ we¡¯ll have a good meal here before we make our way to the Chu royal city.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Young Master.¡± Having served Zhou Donghuang for a while, Fu knew Zhou Donghuang would not take ¡®no¡¯ for an answer. When Zhou Donghuang asked him to take a seat, he did not dare to decline at all and sat down immediately. He knew that if he declined, his young master would be even more unhappy. His young master was unlike others: he never treated him as a slave but as a member of his family.


    Just as Zhou Donghuang and Fu were seated in the heavenly dining booth and waiting for the food to be served, two figures walked in through the front door of Liuxiang Restaurant. It looked like a 19-year-old teenager with a fifteen or sixteen-year-old young girl.


    The teenager wore a long grey robe, with a decently handsome, but arrogant, face. The young girl wore a yellow shirt, looking prim and proper with pretty features and beautifully defined brows. Although there was a childish air about her, it was clear that she was a beauty.


    ¡°Cousin, you haven¡¯t been to Guangling prefecture capital in five years?¡± asked the teenager as he smiled.


    ¡°Mhm,¡± replied the girl as she nodded. ¡°Almost six years.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll be leaving early tomorrow morning¡­ today afternoon¡¯s lunch, take it as my farewell to you.¡± The teenager smiled.


    ¡°Thank you, Cousin,¡± said the girl.


    ¡°Shop Manager Huang!¡± Walking into Liuxiang Restaurant, the teenager brought the girl to the counter and said to the man who was accounting behind the counter, ¡°Give us a heavenly dining booth.¡±


    ¡°There are no more heavenly dining booths.¡± The man was the shop manager of Liuxiang Restaurant. He replied to the teenager while keeping his head buried in his accounting books.


    Seeing this, the teenager impatiently said in a low voice, ¡°Huang Xiong, take a look at who I am.¡±


    The man, who was the shop manager of the restaurant, Huang Xiong, raised his head and took a look at the teenager. His expression changed slightly and said awkwardly, ¡°Young Master Ping, it¡¯s you¡­ sorry, I was too focused on my bookkeeping just now.¡±


    ¡°Are you paying attention now?¡± The teenager glanced coldly at Huang Xiong and said, ¡°Quickly arrange a heavenly dining booth for me. This afternoon, I want to treat my cousin to a good meal.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Ping,¡± said Huang Xiong. ¡°There really are no more heavenly dining booths available¡­ just now, the last one was just taken by two guests. They only just entered a while ago. You also know how good the business is here¡­ even the heavenly dining booths are always fully occupied.¡±


    ¡°Just a while ago?¡± The teenager¡¯s brows raised and said flippantly, ¡°That means their first dish has not even been served yet? Alright, ask them to leave and just tell them that I, Lian Ping, want it.¡±


    Huang Xiong¡¯s expression slipped. ¡°Young Master Ping, this¡­ that wouldn¡¯t be too nice, would it?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Do I have to ask them to scram myself?¡± Lian Ping¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°Tell them, it is me who wants them to leave, Lian Ping, the first young master of the grand Lian family.¡±


    The Lian family was a grand family in Guangling prefecture. Of course, despite also being a grand family, the power of the Lian family was far from the governor¡¯s Wu family. The Wu family had many level-six adepts, while the Lian family had just one, who had just achieved that level a few years ago. The Lian family only became a grand family a few years ago.


    Seeing as Huang Xiong was hesitant, Lian Ping¡¯s eyes flashed coldly and said, ¡°Huang Xiong, if you still do not go¡­ trust me, I¡¯ll tell my uncle to make you leave!¡±


    ¡°Young Master Ping, I¡¯ll go right away.¡± Huang Xiong¡¯s expression changed. He then remembered that the teenager before him was not only the first young master of the Lian family, but also the nephew of his boss.


    With that, Huang Xiong left the counter hurriedly and rushed towards the heavenly dining booth.


    After Huang Xiong had left, the girl beside him shook her head gently. ¡°Cousin, actually there is no need for so much trouble. It¡¯s fine if there are no more dining booths, we can eat in the common hall¡­ I¡¯m not that precious.¡±


    ¡°Cousin, don¡¯t bother about it, just leave it to me,¡± Lian Ping said with a laugh. ¡°Just wait a moment, we¡¯ll go to the heavenly dining booth right away.¡±


    To Lian Ping, few people dared to offend him in Guangling prefecture capital. But after a while, Huang Xiong returned with a bitter smile. Immediately, Lian Ping¡¯s expression darkened again. ¡°What¡¯s wrong? They refused to leave?¡±


    Huang Xiong said with a forced smile. ¡°Young Master Ping, they said they would leave once they were done eating and asked you to wait.¡±


    ¡°Did you not tell them I¡¯m the one who wants that booth?¡± Lian Ping asked coldly.


    ¡°I did¡­ but they still asked you to wait.¡± Huang Xiong forced out a smile, feeling that he had been put in a tight spot.


    ¡°Did you not tell them that¡­ the owner of this restaurant, the second master of the Wu governor¡¯s household, Wu Jingtao, is my uncle?¡± asked Lian Ping again.


    ¡°I did¡­ he said, let Second Master tell him himself,¡± Huang Xiong replied as he shook his head in resignation.


    ¡°What arrogance!¡± Lian Ping¡¯s eyes flashed coldly. ¡°Bring me there, I want to see for myself who this man is!¡±

 Chapter 69 Back Again

    Lian Ping was the first young master of the grand Lian family of Guangling prefecture capital. His aunt was married to the second master of the governor Wu family, Wu Jingtao. As Wu Jingtao and his wife had no children, they doted fondly on their nephew. Whenever Lian Ping got into any trouble that the Lian family could not solve, they were always the ones who cleaned up the mess. Soon, to Lian Ping, there were few people whom he could not offend in Guangling prefecture. And even if there were, he knew all of them, and the shop manager of Liuxiang Restaurant, Huang Xiong, would definitely recognize them as well.


    ¡°Cousin, since they came first and do not wish to give up their booth, we do not have to force them to as well. Let¡¯s just eat in the common hall,¡± persuaded the girl, seeing Lian Ping ask Huang Xiong to bring him to the heavenly dining booth.


    ¡°Cousin,¡± Lian Ping said with a serious face. ¡°Now, this is not about the booth¡­ I want to see who dares to disrespect me in Guangling prefecture capital!¡±


    ¡­


    Knock! Knock!


    Inside the heavenly dining booth, Zhou Donghuang heard a knock and thought it was the food being served. But when the door opened, he saw the shopkeeper who had left just a while ago, Huang Xiong. Beside him stood two other people, a teenager and a young girl.


    ¡°Your Liuxiang Restaurant does business like this?¡± Zhou Donghuang looked calm, but his voice was stone-cold. Without a doubt, he knew that the person who had requested for him to give up the heavenly dining booth was the two people standing before him.


    ¡°So it is the two of you who dare to disrespect me, Lian Ping, and refuse to give up the heavenly dining booth?¡± As he walked in, Lian Ping glanced at Zhou Donghuang and Fu with fury in his eyes.


    ¡°You are the nephew of Wu Jingtao?¡± asked Zhou Donghuang as he glanced at Lian Ping. Wu Jingtao? Second master of the governor¡¯s household, the Wu family? The skinny man whom he had severely injured with a flick of his weapon in the hall of the governor¡¯s household just now?


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Lian Ping raised his head proudly. ¡°Wu Jingtao, second master of the Wu family, governor¡¯s household of Guangling prefecture, is my uncle. He is also the owner of this Liuxiang Restaurant.¡± With that, he looked at Zhou Donghuang with disdain. ¡°Now, I¡¯m sure you understand the situation here? Today, you must give up this heavenly dining booth regardless of your choice¡­ because you simply don¡¯t have a choice!¡± His gaze was condescending and arrogant.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Fu stood up and stared furiously at Lian Ping. ¡°Even if your uncle, Wu Jingtao was here, he would not dare to treat my young master so disrespectfully! Who are you?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha¡­¡± Hearing Fu¡¯s words, Lian Ping was first taken aback, then could not help but break into laughter. With tears flying out of his eyes, he said, ¡°You think that just based on that, I¡¯ll believe you and leave quietly? Ridiculous!¡± Lian Ping did not believe Fu at all, thinking that he was just putting on a front. In Guangling prefecture, there was nobody his uncle feared.


    ¡°Fu, throw him out.¡± At Zhou Donghuang¡¯s command, Fu immediately stretched out with his pincer-like hands. As his hands landed on Lian Ping, he could hardly struggle and was thrown out easily.


    Hong!Before he could react, Lian Ping was already thrown out of the booth by Fu. Initially, after having used the potion concocted from the thousand-year red fruit, Fu had achieved level-three of the gathered qi. Additionally, he was trained in the premier Fiery Thunder Training Regimen, and upon entering level-three of the gathered qi, his internal strength was fully realized, not needing the Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle like Freezing Wind to stimulate all the strength within him.


    Now, Fu¡¯s qi was stronger than most level-three adepts. Furthermore, with his internal strength and the techniques that Zhou Donghuang had taught him, he could easily defeat any adepts below level-five of the gathered qi.


    Although Lian Ping was the first young master of the grand Lian family and had talent, at his young age of 20 years, he had not even achieved level-three of the gathered qi. Needless to say, he was hardly Fu¡¯s rival.


    ¡°Tss¡­¡± the scene before him made Huang Xiong draw a sharp gasp of air. As the shop manager of Liuxiang Restaurant, he was also a level-four adept, but he knew that even though he had the power to throw Lian Ping out of the booth, he could definitely not do it as easily as the honest young man in front of him.


    ¡°So powerful!¡± The young girl¡¯s expression turned serious. The honest young man who looked harmless looked even younger than her cousin but was undeniably stronger than him. Although she was just from the side family of a tycoon family with a low level of qi, her insight was no less than Huang Xiong¡¯s.


    ¡°Sir, allow me to apologise on behalf of my cousin,¡± said the young girl as she bowed to Zhou Donghuang. ¡°My cousin just wanted to give me a farewell treat in this heavenly dining booth, so he had asked you to leave.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang only glanced at the young girl and turned to look at Huang Xiong and said flatly, ¡°If I do not receive my food soon¡­ you¡¯ll bear the consequences!¡± As he said this, a murderous glint flashed across his eyes. He never thought that they would encounter such a thing on the rare chance they had a meal outside.


    ¡°Yes, yes, yes¡­ sir, I will arrange for it immediately,¡± Huang Xiong responded as he left. Now, as slow as he was, he could also tell that this young man in white was no simple figure and definitely not one he could afford to offend. What a joke! Even a servant who was just eighteen or nineteen years old had as much power as him, how strong could this young man be? Furthermore, since the start, although he knew of Lian Ping¡¯s identity, the young man had no intention of giving in. This was enough to explain many things.


    After Huang Xiong left, the young girl looked again at Zhou Donghuang and bowed slightly. ¡°Sir, Liu Li takes her leave.¡± With that, the young girl left and closed the dining booth door.


    ¡°Cousin, let¡¯s go,¡± said Liu Li softly to Lian Ping, who was standing outside sheepishly. ¡°I don¡¯t want to have this meal anymore.¡±


    ¡°Cousin, just hold on¡­ I¡¯ll call my uncle here to make him scram!¡± After being embarrassed so many times in front of his cousin, Lian Ping¡¯s face contorted into an evil expression.


    ¡°Cousin, what you did was wrong anyway. For someone to give up the dining booth for you would be a favor, not an obligation, there was no need to force it¡­ Furthermore, as a teenager even younger than you but with such power, I don¡¯t think you should worsen the conflict between the two of you,¡± sighed the young girl as she shook her head in disappointment t Lian Ping. Without a pause, she turned and walked out of the restaurant. ¡°Cousin, I¡¯ll go back first.¡± After the whole fiasco, she had no appetite left.


    Until the young girl¡¯s figure had disappeared, Lian Ping recovered and stared coldly at the heavenly dining booth before him. He muttered, ¡°Today, no matter how powerful you are, I will make you bow before me!¡±


    With a deep breath, Lian Ping left Liuxiang Restaurant and went straight to the Wu family in the nearby governor¡¯s household.


    ¡°Young Master Ping.¡± The disciples of the Wu family who were watching the door recognized him and allowed him in without question.


    Lian Ping went straight to the courtyard where his uncle, Wu Jingtao stayed. But he did not find Wu Jingtao there, only his aunt, Lian Feng. Lian Feng was a beautiful lady dressed elegantly, who was not just the wife of the second master of the Wu family and governor¡¯s household of Guangling prefecture, but also the sister of the chief of the grand Lian family.


    ¡°Aunt, where is Uncle?¡± asked Lian Ping hurriedly.


    ¡°Your uncle was called over by his elder brother just now and is not back yet. He should be out for some important matters¡­ Ping¡¯er, why is your face injured?¡± Not long after the incident in the Wu family hall, Lian Feng still did not know about her husband being injured by the young man. Seeing Lian Ping¡¯s injured face, she was worried about him.


    ¡°Aunt, you must stand up for me!¡± Lian Ping told her the full story without hiding anything.


    ¡°A teen even younger than you is stronger than you?¡± Hearing Lian Ping¡¯s story, Lian Feng¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Furthermore, he said that even our second master does not dare to disrespect his young master? I want to see who on earth this young master is¡­ if he is really someone of status, then there¡¯s nothing we can do about it. But if not, and he dares to disrespect our second master and tarnish his name and even injured you¡­ he won¡¯t be stepping out of Liuxiang Restaurant today!¡±


    With that, a murderous glint flashed across Lian Feng¡¯s eyes.


    ¡­


    In the heavenly dining booth of Liuxiang Restaurant, a whole table¡¯s worth of dishes had been served, and Zhou Donghuang and Fu had already begun to dig ravenously into the food, as if a tornado swept across the table. After a month on the road, they had not had a proper meal. This meal was the first proper meal they had had since leaving Yunfeng prefecture capital.


    Knock! Knock!Knocks on the door rang across the room. Fu raised his brows slightly, ¡°Aren¡¯t all the dishes here?¡± Although confused, Fu called out, ¡°Come in.¡±


    The dining booth door swung open. Huang Xiong stood courteously to the side as a beautiful lady walked slowly into the room, accompanied by a maid, a man and a teenager.


    ¡°It¡¯s you again!¡± Seeing the teenager behind the lady, Fu¡¯s eyes flashed. The man was none other than Lian Ping, whom he had just thrown out of the booth a while ago.

 Chapter 70 Call Second Master Here

    ¡°Aunt, this is the one who threw me out just now,¡± Lian Ping told the well-dressed, elegant lady beside him as he stared coldly at Fu.


    The lady glanced past Fu and stared at Zhou Donghuang, a hint of a smile appearing on her face. ¡°I am the lady boss of Liuxiang Restaurant, Lian Feng. How may I address you?¡±


    At first, knowing that this young man¡¯s servant who was not even twenty years old could defeat her nephew, she had guessed that this was no simple young man. Now, as she saw him in the flesh, the young man seemed to display some extraordinary aura that made her feel that this man must have some prestigious background. Hence, she was very cautious and courteous with her words.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang.¡± Zhou Donghuang rose slowly, threw a glance at Lian Feng, then looked back down at the dishes on the table. The whole time, he looked extremely calm, as if there was not a tinge of surprise.


    ¡°So it is Young Master Donghuang.¡± Lian Feng¡¯s smile widened as she said, ¡°But Young Master Donghuang, where do you come from?¡±


    At the same time, Lian Feng was racking her brains to think of any Zhou families in the country of Yunyang, but after thinking for a while, she could not recall any families named Zhou¡­ from the imperial court to the preeminent families, none of them were named Zhou.


    ¡°Yunfeng prefecture,¡± responded Zhou Donghuang, without even raising his head.


    With that, he called Fu, ¡°Fu, quickly finish your food, we¡¯ll leave once we¡¯re done.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Young Master,¡± replied Fu as he ducked back into the food.


    Zhou Donghuang and Fu, master and servant, ate the food ravenously as if there was nobody else, completely ignoring Lian Feng, Lian Ping and the rest.


    ¡°Yunfeng prefecture?¡± Lian Feng frowned. Wasn¡¯t that an inferior prefecture? Her eldest nephew, which was the first young master of the Wu governor¡¯s household, Wu Nanxun, had married a lady from a preeminent family in Yunfeng prefecture as a concubine. To her, Yunfeng prefecture was an insignificant place where even birds would not lay an egg. Even the governor of Yunfeng prefecture had to be respectful to her.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, you must have passed by Yunfeng prefecture on your way to Guangling prefecture. Someone like you does not look like you grew up in that inferior prefecture,¡± Lian Feng probed as she smiled. She was a patient person.


    ¡°What? Are you looking down on us from Yunfeng prefecture?¡± Zhou Donghuang was finally full. He put his chopsticks down, raised his head and looked playfully at Lian Feng.


    ¡°You really are from Yunfeng?¡± asked Lian Feng. She froze as she stared unblinkingly at Zhou Donghuang. Up till now, she did not dare to believe that this young man could have come from a small place like Yunfeng prefecture.


    ¡°No doubt about it,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Aunt, you¡¯re being too careful¡­ someone from an inferior prefecture, even if there is a strong servant beside him, what kind of background could he possibly have?¡± Hearing that Zhou Donghuang was from Yunfeng prefecture, Lian Ping¡¯s gaze turned icy cold. Now, hearing his response to Lian Feng, Lian Ping could not help but stand up and tell her, ¡°Aunt, just now, he allowed his evil servant to throw me out of this booth¡­ You must stand up for me!!¡± He cried angrily as he stared at Lian Feng with fiery eyes.


    At the same time, Lian Feng¡¯s face also turned stone cold. ¡°This guest, you ate at my Liuxiang Restaurant, but insulted my nephew¡­ don¡¯t you owe me an explanation?¡± After getting Zhou Donghuang¡¯s confirmation twice and verified that he was indeed from Yunfeng prefecture, Lian Feng also did not think that he could possibly have any surprising background¡­ Just as her nephew had said, what kind of background could someone from an inferior prefecture have? Hence, she had nothing to fear. In fact, she even felt that being so respectful to someone from an inferior prefecture was simply beneath her status. The more she thought of how she had just acted, the more disgusted and furious she was at herself. Thus, upon hearing Lian Ping¡¯s words, Lian Feng¡¯s expression changed completely.


    ¡°Owe you an explanation?¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at Lian Feng with a curious look on his face and laughed. ¡°Why don¡¯t you ask me why I asked Fu to throw your nephew out?¡±


    Lian Feng laughed coldly. ¡°I, Lian Feng, am the lady boss of this restaurant. Of course, my nephew has priority to use the heavenly dining booth¡­ since the dishes were not served yet, you should have given up the booth when he asked you to. In fact¡­ with just a call from me, I can blacklist you and bar you from ever coming back to Liuxiang Restaurant!¡± said Lian Feng in a low voice.


    ¡°Your husband is Wu Jingtao?¡± asked Zhou Donghuang suddenly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± answered Lian Feng as she nodded. ¡°My husband is not only the owner of this restaurant, but also the second master of the Wu governor¡¯s family, and a level-six adept¡­ Today, if he was here, you wouldn¡¯t be walking out alive!¡± As she spoke, a menacing glint flashed across her eyes as she looked at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Really?¡± responded Zhou Donghuang with a smile. ¡°That Wu Jingtao is so bold? I couldn¡¯t tell.¡±


    ¡°You know my husband?¡± Lian Feng frowned.


    ¡°I wouldn¡¯t say ¡®know¡¯, but we¡¯ve met,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang calmly.


    ¡°Aunt.¡± Just then, Lian Ping spoke up, ¡°Don¡¯t forget I told you just now¡­ his evil servant boasted to me that even if Uncle was here, he would not dare to misbehave in front of his young master.¡±


    ¡°I forgot about that.¡± Lian Feng then remembered what Lian Ping had told her. Immediately, a layer of ice seemed to freeze over her face. ¡°You hurt my nephew in my restaurant and even disrespected my family¡¯s second master and the boss of this restaurant. Today, if you and your servant don¡¯t leave something behind, don¡¯t even think of leaving!¡± Lian Feng¡¯s eyes flashed with fury.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes shone. ¡°So what¡­ would you like us to leave?¡±


    Before Lian Feng could answer, Lian Ping jumped in and said coldly, ¡°Leave a leg behind!¡±


    ¡°Is that what you mean too?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes narrowed sharply, his tone turning cold as he looked calmly at Lian Feng.


    Lian Feng¡¯s eyes flashed. ¡°That is exactly what I meant!¡± With that, Lian Feng ordered, ¡°Wu Gan, break off one of their legs and then throw them out of the restaurant!¡±


    ¡°Yes, ma¡¯am.¡± The man behind Lian Feng was none other than Wu Gan, the disciple whom Wu Jingtao had sent to protect her. Wu Gan then turned and looked sharply at Zhou Donghuang and Fu. He walked forward towards them quickly.


    ¡°Fu.¡± Before Wu Gan did anything, Zhou Donghuang could tell that he was of decent power, but had not entered level-five of the gathered qi. Such an opponent would be good training for Fu. Although Fu was powerful, he lacked real fighting experience and needed more sparring practice. This Wu Gan would be a good test for him.


    Ho!Instantly, Fu rose to his feet and advanced towards Wu Gan using Star-Stepping Footwork. Although his movements seemed more unfamiliar than what Zhou Donghuang exhibited, his speed was not slower than that of his opponent¡¯s lesser-grade swiftness technique.


    In a moment, the two reached each other and began their battle. At the beginning, Fu was being overpowered by Wu Gan, but soon, Fu turned the tables and completely subdued his opponent.


    This sight alarmed Lian Feng and the rest. Wu Gan was not just any level-four adept but was the supreme level-four adept in the Wu family. That was why he had been sent to protect Lian Feng.


    Bang!!In another few moments, Fu, who had become very well-versed in the Star-Stepping Footwork and the Weighted Sand Palm, drifted in a flash and landed his palm on Wu Gan¡¯s chest, pushing him backward and defeating him.


    ¡°Ma¡¯am, I can¡¯t fight him,¡± Wu Gan told Lian Feng with a bitter smile as fresh blood spilled from his mouth.


    ¡°I can see that.¡± Lian Feng¡¯s expression was extremely dark as she turned to the maid and said, ¡°You, go back to the household and call Second Master here!¡±


    After the maid had left, Lian Feng looked at Zhou Donghuang and Fu coldly. ¡°The two of you don¡¯t even think of escaping now¡­ Even if you leave Liuxiang Restaurant or even Guangling prefecture, you won¡¯t be able to escape from the clutches of our Wu family. Our Wu family is the governor of Guangling prefecture!¡±


    ¡°Young Master,¡± Fu ignored Lian Feng and asked Zhou Donghuang politely. ¡°Now that we¡¯re done eating¡­ should we leave now or later?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s leave later,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang. Now, he was in no hurry to leave. He wanted to see what Lian Feng¡¯s husband, the second master of the Wu governor¡¯s household, Wu Jingtao, had to say about this. Furthermore, seeing Fu defeat Wu Gan made him think of a task that he could get Wu Jingtao to do.


    ¡°At least you know your place!¡± Seeing that Zhou Donghuang had no intention of leaving, Lian Ping said with an evil laugh. ¡°If you don¡¯t escape, you¡¯ll only leave a leg behind¡­ But if you do, once this matter blows up and the governor sends his troops after you, you will both be dead!¡±

 Chapter 71 Disbelief

    The governor¡¯s household of Guangling prefecture.


    The governor¡¯s mansion.


    ¡°Big brother, in that case, I¡¯m going back first.¡±


    After Wu Jingtao wrapped his wound between his thumb and index finger in bandages at the residence of his big brother, Wu Wentao, he stayed to discuss some matters with him for about half an hour more before bidding him farewell.


    The subject of their discussion was centered on the display of godly might by that youth in white in the receiving chamber of the Wu family.


    A youth of only seventeen years old had an ability that surpassed an ordinary level-seven adept of Qi-gathering, and they had never before been so shocked.


    Because of this, they had come to an understanding: even if they could not be friends with this youth, they must not become enemies!


    ¡°Second Master.¡±


    On the way back to his residence, Wu Jingtao met his wife Lian Feng¡¯s handmaid, looking harried and flustered as though she had just met with an emergency.


    ¡°What is it? How is my wife?¡±


    Wu Jingtao looked with a slight frown at the handmaid who was hurrying towards him.


    As he recalled, this handmaid was almost always beside his wife, following her like a shadow, but now she had left his wife. Seeing how flustered she was, it was obvious something had happened.


    ¡°Second Master, my lady is still at Liuxiang Restaurant,¡± the handmaid said hurriedly. ¡°It was she who instructed me to call you over¡­ there¡¯s a commotion at Liuxiang Restaurant, Brother Wu Gan has been defeated, so my lady told me to call you over.¡±


    ¡°Someone¡¯s making a scene?¡±


    ¡°Wu Gan has been defeated?¡±


    As soon as the handmaid finished speaking, Wu Jingtao¡¯s expression changed completely, and with a flash, his body became light as cotton, and he vanished from the handmaid¡¯s sight.


    What gall, daring to make a scene in the Wu family¡¯s Liuxiang Restaurant?


    Wu Jingtao rushed at top speed towards Liuxiang Restaurant, cold light shining from his eyes as the anger grew in his heart.


    No matter who it is, they better not think of leaving in one piece!


    Half an hour before, although Wu Jingtao had been completely cowed by that youth, he still harbored a great deal of resentment.


    Now that he had been told that someone was making a scene, the resentment in his heart surged forth and could not be held back!


    Wu Jingtao was furious, and someone had to bear the brunt of his anger.


    ¡­


    Liuxiang Restaurant


    The heavenly dining booth.


    Zhou Donghuang was sitting up straight at the table with his legs up, one hand on the table, tapping without rhythm as he waited calmly and patiently.


    Fu stood respectfully behind Zhou Donghuang, giving the three people standing at the door occasional cold, mocking looks.


    Out of the four people who had come together with Lian Feng, other than Lian Ping and Wu Gan, the servant girls had been instructed by Lian Feng to leave, and the chief steward of Liuxiang Restaurant, Huang Xiong had also been sent to attend to other matters in Liuxiang Restaurant.


    The three remaining people waited at the door of the heavenly dining booth.


    He should be here soon.


    Lian Feng told herself, doing a quick calculation.


    Not ten breaths after Lian Feng¡¯s thought, she heard a thunderous, angry voice from outside the heavenly dining booth.


    ¡°Who dares to make a scene in the Wu family¡¯s Liuxiang Restaurant?¡±


    Although the door was shut, the people inside could clearly make out the newcomer¡¯s rage.


    Pong!!


    The doors of the booth were thrown open with a crash, and the silhouette of a straight-backed and pencil-thin man appeared before those present.


    Zhou Donghuang and Fu saw at first glance that the newcomer was none other than Wu Jingtao, the second master of the governing Wu family whom they had seen just half an hour ago.


    ¡°Second Master.¡±


    Lian Feng was the first to meet the newcomer as Wu Gan bowed in respect to him.


    ¡°Uncle.¡±


    Lian Ping also stepped forward, looking excitedly at the newcomer with newfound self-confidence, as though he had been reborn because of Wu Jingtao¡¯s presence.


    ¡°Second Master, how did you hurt your hand?¡±


    Lian Feng looked at her husband¡¯s bandaged hand, her expression changing.


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing, just a small wound.¡±


    Seeing Lian Feng, Wu Jingtao¡¯s originally furious expression became much calmer, and he dutifully forced out a smile. He seemed to remember something, and his expression changed as he demanded coldly in a deep voice, ¡°Who is creating a scene in the Wu family¡¯s Liuxiang Restaurant?¡±


    Wu Jingtao¡¯s gaze had already swept over Wu Gan and Lian Ping who were behind Lian Feng and had fallen on the youth and the young man standing behind him in the booth.


    As soon as he had seen them, Wu Jingtao¡¯s eyes widened, and his foul expression froze on his face.


    ¡°Uncle!¡±


    Just as Wu Jingtao was staring at Zhou Donghuang and Fu, Lian Ping stepped forward and looked back at them, and said angrily with a savage expression, ¡°They are the ones!¡±


    ¡°They not only threw me out of the booth but also showed no respect to Aunty and injured Wu Gan, Uncle you¡­¡±


    Just as Lian Ping was about to make Wu Jingtao angrier, a loud slap rang out in the booth.


    Piak!


    It was Wu Jingtao who looked flustered. He gave Lian Ping a slap without any warning and interrupted him halfway.


    ¡°Uncle¡­. Uncle?¡±


    The side of Lian Ping¡¯s face began to swell, and his eyes were full of shock, and he wore a puzzled expression. He had no idea why his uncle had suddenly hit him.


    Swish!!


    Earlier, Lian Feng noticed the way her husband had looked at Zhou Donghuang and Fu, and now that her husband had given Lian Ping a slap, her expression changed in an instant as she came to a realization.


    The youth in white really did know her husband.


    And her husband really did seem to be extremely fearful of the youth.


    ¡°He¡­ he was lying to us just now, right?¡±


    Just then, Lian Feng assumed that the youth in white was deliberately lying to them saying that he was from the inferior-level Yunfeng prefecture, and she did not think that her husband would be afraid of someone from a tiny inferior-level prefecture.


    ¡°Dong¡­ Young Master Donghuang!¡±


    After giving Lian Ping a slap, Wu Jingtao¡¯s rage seemed to have been extinguished without a trace, and he looked at Zhou Donghuang nervously with a bitter smile as he clasped his hands in greeting and bowed to Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°I¡­ I did not know it was you.¡±


    Immediately, Lian Ping¡¯s expression changed.


    Although he was pampered, he was not stupid, and he could easily tell that his uncle was fearful of Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang merely looked at Wu Jingtao with an indifferent expression, seeming to smile and not smile at the same time.


    Behind Zhou Donghuang, Fu laughed cooly.


    ¡°Second Master Wu, magnificent!¡±


    ¡°This nephew of yours, as well as your wife, were boasting that he would break both mine and my young master¡¯s leg before throwing us out of Liuxiang Restaurant.¡±


    At Fu¡¯s words, Wu Jingtao immediately felt a darkness descend over his eyes, and he almost fainted from fright.


    His nephew Lian Ping and his wife Lian Feng actually threatened to maim Zhou Donghuang¡¯s leg?


    Now, even his elder brother, the governor of Guangling prefecture, the patriarch of the grand Wu family, Wu Wentao, dared not raise such an outcry before Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Scoundrel!¡±


    Without any hesitation, Wu Jingtao looked back at Lian Feng with a flash of regret and determination and lashed out immediately by a kick that broke Lian Feng¡¯s leg with a snap which, followed by her groan of pain.


    Lian Feng¡¯s delicate features were scrunched up, her whole body trembling violently, and she collapsed to the ground.


    Obviously, she was trying to resist the intense pain from her broken leg.


    Seeing this, even Zhou Donghuang could not help raising his eyebrows in surprise at this woman¡¯s endurance.


    ¡°Uncle, don¡¯t!¡±


    As Lian Ping saw Wu Jingtao stride quickly towards him, realization seemed to dawn on him, and his expression changed as he took a step back in fear.


    Ka-chak!!


    ¡°Ahhhh¡ª!¡±


    As he suffered the same fate as Lian Feng, he fell to the ground with a shrill wail like a pig being slaughtered, and only when Wu Jingtao spoke up in a cold voice did he make an effort to stop.


    ¡°Keep on wailing and I¡¯ll kill you, little brat!¡±


    This one sentence from Wu Jingtao scared him into silence, and his whole body trembled with pain as he broke out in a cold sweat from head to toe.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, does this punishment¡­ are you satisfied?¡±


    After he broke both Lian Feng¡¯s and Lian Ping¡¯s leg without warning, Wu Jingtao bowed to Zhou Donghuang once again, his voice full of anxiety and unease.


    The display of godly might just half an hour ago from this youth was still fresh in his memory.


    After that, he and his elder brother Wu Wentao had arrived at a conclusion while he was bandaging his wound: this youth was at least a level-seven adept of Qi-gathering. Moreover, he was not just any ordinary level-seven adept, but an outstanding one.


    This was not someone the Wu family could take on.


    Therefore, he had punished his beloved wife and his dear nephew without hesitation as soon as he knew that they had offended Zhou Donghuang in order to placate him and avoid his wrath.


    Under the anxious gaze of Wu Jingtao, Zhou Donghuang stood up and left the heavenly dining booth with Fu.


    Seeing this, Wu Jingtao heaved a sigh of relief, knowing that the youth did not intend to pursue the matter.


    Just then, they heard Zhou Donghuang¡¯s indifferent voice from outside the booth. ¡°I¡¯ll give you fifteen minutes to get things in order, then you¡¯ll be our driver and take us to the Chu royal city.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was evidently speaking to Wu Jingtao.


    Hearing this, both Lian Feng and Lian Ping momentarily forgot their pain and subconsciously looked at Wu Jingtao.


    The esteemed second master of the governing Wu family as a driver?


    Was this not humiliating him?


    However, Wu Jingtao merely replied in a pained voice, ¡°Yes, Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    Immediately, Lian Feng¡¯s and Lian Ping¡¯s eyes widened in surprise, disbelief on their faces.

 Chapter 72 Arrival at the Chu Royal City

    Lian Feng and Lian Ping felt that Wu Jingtao would never agree to the immense shame of being Zhou Donghuang ¡®s driver.


    However, Wu Jingtao¡¯s reply had stunned them completely.


    ¡°Second Master, you¡­ you¡­¡±


    Lian Feng looked at Wu Jingtao in disbelief. As the wife of Wu Jingtao, she understood him better than anyone.


    With the self-respect that Wu Jingtao had, he would rather die than suffer such humiliation.


    ¡°Feng¡¯er, I¡¯m sorry.¡±


    Wu Jingtao looked tenderly at Lian Feng¡¯s leg that he had broken himself. She was his first wife, and he was always tender and loving towards her and would not have taken such action unless it was absolutely necessary.


    ¡°When I struck you and Ping¡¯er, it was all calculated and with good care and rehabilitation, both your legs should recover fully in about half a year,¡± Wu Jingtao said as he helped Lian Feng and Lian Ping mend their broken bones. He was an intermediate-level medicine master, and treating such injuries was child¡¯s play for him.


    Hearing Wu Jingtao¡¯s words, Lian Ping¡¯s eyes lit up, and he managed to resist the terrible pain from his thigh as he asked, ¡°Uncle, what on earth is that Zhou Donghuang¡¯s background? Why are you even afraid of him?¡±


    At Lian Ping¡¯s question, Lian Feng looked at Wu Jingtao as well with similar suspicion in her eyes.


    ¡°He does not have any background.¡±


    Thinking of what his nephew, Wu Nanxun had told him about Zhou Donghuang¡¯s background, Wu Jingtao shook his head with a bitter smile.


    ¡°He has no background?¡±


    Lian Ping and Lian Feng were stunned.


    ¡°He is an ordinary person born and bred in Yunfeng prefecture, what kind of background can he have? Even the governor of Yunfeng prefecture would not dare remain standing if I asked him to kneel!¡± Wu Jingtao said with a sigh.


    ¡°Is he really from Yunfeng prefecture?¡±


    Lian Feng was stupefied, and Lian Ping was also looking blankly at Wu Jingtao, disbelief in his eyes and on his face.


    Lian Ping recovered shortly and asked with incomprehension, ¡°Uncle, if he has no background, why are you afraid of him?¡±


    ¡°He has no family background¡­¡±


    Wu Jingtao¡¯s eyes gleamed, and he said in a low voice, ¡°But he himself is a level-seven adept of Qi-gathering, and not just an ordinary level-seven adept at that!


    ¡°Do you think such a person would need any kind of background in front of me?¡±


    Wu Jingtao threw Lian Ping¡¯s question back at him.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    This time, not only were Lian Ping and Lian Feng dumbfounded, but Wu Gan, who was standing to the side, was also dumbfounded.


    That youth who looked sixteen or seventeen years old at most was actually a level-seven adept of Qi-gathering?


    ¡°Impossible!¡±


    Lian Ping shook his head. ¡°How old is he, how could he be a level-seven adept¡­ Uncle, are you mistaken?¡±


    ¡°Me, mistaken?¡±


    Wu Jingtao lifted his right hand and looked at his bandaged hand. ¡°This injury on my hand was inflicted by him just half an hour ago.¡±


    As the three of them sat in stunned silence, Wu Jingtao looked at Lian Feng and continued, ¡°Half an hour ago, in the receiving chamber of our Wu family mansion, I was the first to be injured by him¡­ then, my elder brother, Uncle Fan, and Head Elder took him on together. He sent my elder brother and Head Elder flying in one exchange with his spear and put them out of the fight.


    ¡°All that time, he was sitting in the wooden armchair in the receiving chamber as he fought us.


    ¡°Although Uncle Fan withstood his first attack with his spear, he was injured¡­ then he got up and sent Uncle Fan flying through the wall with a single thrust of his spear, and he landed unconscious more than ten meters away.¡±


    ¡°Now, the wall of the receiving chamber has still not been repaired yet.¡±


    Lian Feng and the others trembled more and more violently with every word that Wu Jingtao said, and they had not regained their wits even by the time Wu Jingtao had finished speaking.


    Although what Wu Jingtao said seemed incredible, they knew that he had no need to lie.


    ¡°Uncle Fan is acknowledged as the strongest man in Guangling prefecture, and with his mastery of the third-grade technique, Cold Iron Jacket, no one in Guangling prefecture can break his defense¡­ even he was no match?¡±


    Lian Feng was so frightened that she turned white as a sheet, and thinking back on her earlier display of arrogance before Zhou Donghuang, she was simply grateful that she had escaped with her life.


    ¡°Why else would I say that he is not an ordinary level-seven adept?¡±


    Wu Jingtao gave a bitter smile.


    ¡°Uncle, why would he go to the governor¡¯s house, and moreover raise his hand against you?¡±


    Lian Ping thought of this key question.


    ¡°He came back with Xun¡¯er.¡±


    Wu Jingtao¡¯s eyes flashed, and he related the details of what had happened to Wu Nanxun in the capital of Yunfeng prefecture. ¡°He probably only raised his hand against us to establish his superiority, so that we would not dare seek revenge on his family.¡±


    ¡°But we never imagined that after establishing his superiority, he would go for a meal at Liu Xiang Restaurant and come into conflict with you all.¡±


    As he finished, Wu Jingtao could not help sighing.


    Lian Feng, Lian Ping and Wu Gan were still thinking about Wu Nanxun¡¯s misfortune, and they did not recover their senses for a long time.


    Wu Nanxun, the young governor of Guangling prefecture and the cream of Guangling prefecture, had his meridians maimed by the youth they had just encountered?


    Right then, Lian Ping realized how fortunate he had been and broke out in a cold sweat.


    Compared to Wu Nanxun, his leg would recover completely, and the injury could be considered insignificant.


    ¡°If I were alone, and he asked me to be his carriage driver, I would never cooperate given my temperament¡­ but I have the Wu family to think about, and I dare not refuse him.¡±


    It was because he was afraid that the youth would take his wrath out on the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture that Wu Jingtao had no choice but to comply with Zhou Donghuang¡¯s request.


    ¡°Second Master, you have been wronged for the sake of the family.¡±


    Lian Feng sighed.


    ¡°Uncle, he¡­ he won¡¯t take revenge on me, will he?¡± Lian Ping asked anxiously.


    ¡°If he wanted to, he wouldn¡¯t have left¡­ I think that what I did to you both has placated his anger.¡±


    Wu Jingtao shook his head and instructed Lian Feng on some matters before leaving Liu Xiang restaurant to look for that youth.


    Of course, before he left, Wu Jingtao emphasized to Lian Feng and Lian Ping that they were not to even think about going to Yunfeng prefecture and taking revenge against that youth¡¯s family, or they would only end up bringing disaster to the Wu and Lian families.


    Once Lian Feng and Lian Ping had known how Wu Nanxun had been maimed by that youth and how the governing Wu family of Guangling prefecture could only accept it, they were completely cowed and did not even entertain any thoughts of revenge against that youth.


    ¡­


    Earlier at Liuxiang Restaurant, Zhou Donghuang was planning to get Wu Jingtao to send two Wu family juniors of reasonable ability to drive his carriage and take him to the Chu royal city when he arrived.


    Although Fu could also drive the carriage, it would affect his practice.


    Therefore, he intended to get someone else to drive the carriage.


    When Wu Jingtao arrived, he felt that other than another level-six adept, no one else in the Wu family was more suitable to be his driver.


    With Wu Jingtao¡¯s ability, the journey to the Chu royal city would be much less tedious.


    Because of this, he could focus even more intensely on practicing The Lord of the Four Supremes.


    Under those conditions, his level of practice would progress at great speed, and perhaps he would be able to smoothly attain level-eight of Qi-gathering before he reached the Chu royal city.


    On the road here from Yunfeng prefecture, the rate of practice kept increasing when I was able to practice The Lord of the Four Supremes without distraction¡­ and it kept increasing even when we reached the capital of Guangling prefecture.


    In other words, the rate of practice is not yet at a maximum.


    From Guangling prefecture to the Chu royal city, even with three ferghana horses pulling the carriage at top speed, it would take at least four months¡­ if my rate of practice can keep increasing during this period of time, never mind level-seven, I¡¯ll even be able to attain level-eight of Qi-gathering by the time we reach the Chu royal city!


    Level-seven of Qi-gathering is just the conservative estimate for practicing uninterrupted for two months with the maximum rate of practice.


    At this thought, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes were filled with longing.


    ¡°Uninterrupted¡± did not mean that there could be no breaks while practicing, but that while taking breaks from practicing, there could not be too many distractions that divided one¡¯s attention. Just eating and resting would not affect the state of mind required for uninterrupted practice.


    For example, during his second last trip to the capital of Guangling prefecture, that uninterrupted state of practice had been forcibly disrupted.


    Now, to enter a similar state of practice, he would need to start all over again.


    The Lord of the Four Supremes was only a technique that could be practiced until the level of divine essence¡­ However, just the portion comprising the stage of Qi-gathering is enough to defeat any of the techniques that I know of in ten thousand civilizations in the universe!


    Sitting in the cabin of the carriage, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes gleamed and he thought to himself, If The Lord of the Four Supremes can only be practiced until the stage of fundamental essence¡­ just the uniqueness of the portion of the stage of Qi-gathering in addition to the strength of the stage of contained primal essence, it can surpass any technique in the universe.


    It was exactly as Zhou Donghuang thought.


    With Wu Jingtao personally driving the carriage at top speed, the journey was extremely peaceful.


    About twenty days later, the carriage left Guangling prefecture and entered the superior-level prefecture between Guangling prefecture and the Chu royal city. It then spent the next two months traveling through that superior-level prefecture before it arrived at the outskirts of the Chu royal city.


    This was as fast as the carriage could travel.


    Using three ferghana horses to draw the carriage had the same efficiency as using more than three horses to draw the carriage.


    If not, Wu Nanxun, who was the young governor of Guangling prefecture, would not have used a carriage drawn by three horses to travel to Yunfeng prefecture.


    A person of his status could easily have a carriage drawn by ten ferghana horses.


    Because of this, Zhou Donghuang had not asked Wu Jingtao for additional ferghana horses to draw the carriage as it would have been meaningless.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, the Chu royal city is up ahead.¡±


    On September 9, 1228 of the Ziyun Era, the carriage drawn by three ferghana horses and driven by Wu Jingtao finally arrived at the city gates of the Chu royal city.


    They had set off from the capital of Guangling prefecture on March 3, 1228 of the Ziyun Era.


    In other words, they had taken four months and six days to make the journey from the capital of Guangling prefecture to the Chu royal city.

 Chapter 73 Level-Seven of Qi-gathering

    This was the second time in Wu Jingtao¡¯s life that he had been to the Chu royal city. On his first visit, he had felt a sense of curiosity and yearning.


    But this time, he felt a sense of release.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, we¡¯ve reached the Chu royal city¡­ I, am I allowed to return to Guangling prefecture?¡± Wu Jingtao asked uneasily, stopping the carriage outside the gates of the Chu royal city and looking back over his shoulder at the cabin.


    In the cabin, Fu glanced at the youth in white who was completely absorbed in practicing, and seeing no response, he pulled aside the curtain and walked out. ¡°My Young Master is still practicing, if you want to go, then go. From now on, just leave the carriage to me.¡±


    Fu sat beside Wu Jingtao, taking the reins from his hand as he spoke casually to him.


    Wu Jingtao breathed a sigh of relief and smiled at Fu¡¯s reply. He got out of the carriage immediately and leaped onto the ferghana horse following the carriage, turning it around and galloping off without a backward glance.


    Just as though he were fleeing.


    Wu Jingtao had brought along the ferghana horse that he was riding, intending all along to use it for the return journey.


    After Wu Jingtao left, Fu drove the carriage leisurely to the gates of the Chu royal city.


    The Chu royal city was the largest city in the Western Ridge of the Chu King, sprawling across the vast land like a giant beast, giving one a sense of majesty and vastness.


    And this was also something special that other cities in the Western Ridge of the Chu King did not have.


    Young Master has not yet awoken from his practice, I¡¯ll enter the Chu royal city first and find an inn to rest¡­ When Young Master has awoken, we¡¯ll see his plans are.


    Fu was now no longer the ignorant young man from a small town that he had been in the past, and after following Zhou Donghuang for such a long time, he had matured and became much steadier under his influence.


    A carriage drawn by the three ferghana horses was not an uncommon sight even in the capital of an intermediate-level prefecture. Naturally, it did not attract any attention in the Chu royal city.


    Within an hour, Fu saw many carriages similarly drawn by three ferghana horses in the unceasing flow of traffic in the Chu royal city.


    ¡­


    Night was falling by the time Zhou Donghuang, who had been sitting cross-legged in the cabin of the carriage, woke from his practice.


    The carriage had stopped in the parking area of an inn, and although Fu had already readied the guest room, he nevertheless stood guard outside the carriage, deeply afraid that someone would inadvertently disturb his young master¡¯s practice.


    ¡°Fu, where¡¯s Wu Jingtao?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang saw only Fu when he stopped practicing and walked out of the carriage. There was no trace of Wu Jingtao.


    ¡°Young Master, when we were outside the Chu royal city, that Wu Jingtao stopped the carriage and asked you if he was allowed to return to Guangling prefecture¡­ You were practicing at that moment, so I took over the carriage and let him go back,¡± Fu said.


    ¡°What¡¯s the hurry to go back?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang squinted as the corners of his mouth curled up in a mocking smile. ¡°I originally planned to give him a third-grade sword technique for the four months he spent as our driver before I let him go back¡­ looks like I won¡¯t have to anymore.¡±


    Fu was momentarily stunned and could not help shaking his head with a smile. ¡°If that Wu Jingtao knew Young Master¡¯s intentions, he would turn green with regret!¡±


    ¡°Young Master, I¡¯ve already prepared your guest room, let me show you in,¡± Fu said to Zhou Donghuang as he led the way in, showing Zhou Donghuang to the guest room he had already prepared.


    ¡°Fu, rest early tonight, we¡¯ll be going out tomorrow morning,¡± Zhou Donghuang told Fu as he stood outside the door.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master,¡± Fu replied respectfully.


    He waited until his young master had shut the door before returning to the adjacent room.


    After shutting the door, Zhou Donghuang did not continue practicing. Instead, he lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts.


    As I guessed, even practicing The Lord of the Four Supremes without distraction, the rate of practice cannot be increased without limit.


    Continuously practicing The Lord of the Four Supremes without distraction for two months has increased the rate of practice almost to its limit.


    However, over the last two months, on account of the maximum rate of practice that I achieved¡­ my level of practice has increased, and I have smoothly attained level-seven of Qi-gathering, just as I had guessed.


    Seven days earlier, Zhou Donghuang had smoothly attained level-seven of Qi-gathering and became a level-seven adept with the strength of seven bulls.


    Four months earlier when he was in the capital of Guangling prefecture, he had still been a level-five adept.


    In four short months, he had two consecutive breakthroughs and become a level-seven adept.


    After attaining level-seven of Qi-gathering, I can freely demonstrate second-grade techniques, and with some difficulty, I might even manage to demonstrate some of the powerful first-grade techniques.


    To Zhou Donghuang, advancing to level-seven of Qi-gathering was not simply about increasing his qi.


    He could only demonstrate even more powerful martial art techniques if he had enough qi.


    In the thousand years of memories from his previous life, there were countless martial art techniques demonstrated by adepts at the stage of Qi-gathering. Therefore, he had no lack of techniques.


    What he now lacked was only the ability to demonstrate these martial arts.


    ¡­


    Early the next morning, Zhou Donghuang left the inn with Fu and joined the traffic thronging the streets of the Chu royal city.


    Whenever they spotted a medicine shop, Zhou Donghuang would enter it with Fu.


    In one morning, they had already visited more than ten medicine shops, and Fu was carrying bags of all sizes filled with herbs that Zhou Donghuang urgently needed.


    These herbs were all to be used to increase the quality of the qi-gathering elixir.


    This is really worthy of being the most prosperous city in the Western Ridge of the Chu King. After visiting ten medicine shops, I have already managed to gather the herbs I need to formulate a qi-gathering elixir that increases the sensitivity to qi by 90 percent.


    Walking along the main street of the Chu royal city, Zhou Donghuang said to himself, ¡°Now, I only lack two more kinds of herbs, and I will be able to formulate a qi-gathering elixir that increases the sensitivity to qi by 100 percent!¡±


    A qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by 100 percent was the maximum effectiveness of a qi-gathering elixir.


    Of course, such qi-gathering elixir was not the best medicine for helping the practice of an adept at the stage of Qi-gathering, and if Zhou Donghuang was at the stage of Primal Core and above, he could use the Samadhi fires condensed from his essential core to forge a qi-gathering elixir that was even more effective than a qi-gathering elixir.


    Even a poor quality qi-gathering elixir would be able to increase the sensitivity to qi by 20 percent and a good one by 30 percent!


    Now, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s level of practice was limited, and the best he could do was to produce a qi-gathering elixir of maximum efficiency to aid his practice.


    ¡°Of the two million liang of silver in notes that we brought along, we have already spent close to half.¡±


    The herbs that Zhou Donghuang had bought earlier were all extremely rare and valuable, and because of this, they were extremely expensive.


    As they continued walking the streets and alleys of the Chu royal city, Zhou Donghuang kept looking around.


    The wide streets and the close press of people in the alleys all gave Zhou Donghuang a sense of how busy this city was, and it could not be compared to the prefecture capitals.


    Even a superior-level prefecture could not compete with the Chu royal city.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang also felt that the Chu royal city was more prosperous that the prefecture capitals, and this was no surprise to him.


    In his previous life, he had traveled across the universe, visiting countless planets, and had seen cities that were a thousand or even ten thousand times bigger than the Chu royal city.


    Compared to those cities, which could be considered big even when comparing cities across the whole universe, a city like the Chu royal city could only be considered a tiny city.


    ¡°A hundred-year sea lotus flowers!¡±


    After visiting several more medicine shops, Zhou Donghuang finally found one of the two remaining ingredients he needed to formulate a qi-gathering elixir that increased the sensitivity to qi by 100 percent.


    ¡°Sir, do you need this?¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang staring at the hundred-year sea lotus flowers, the manager of the shop standing behind the counter directed the question to him with a smile.


    The manager of the shop was a thin middle-aged man with a forked beard, and his eyes sparkled with intelligence.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded without hesitation, getting Fu to make the payment right away.


    A hundred-year sea lotus flowers cost two hundred thousand liang of silver.


    However, just this much hundred-year sea lotus flowers were enough to formulate a hundred bottles of qi-gathering elixir, if used sparingly.


    ¡°Sir, do you still require anything else?¡±


    The manager became very enthusiastic upon seeing Zhou Donghuang so relaxed, dearly wishing that Zhou Donghuang would buy up his whole stock.


    ¡°Nothing else for the moment.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was shopping for herbs with focus, and the only thing he needed from this shop were the hundred-year sea lotus flowers.


    Although the manager of the medicine shop was somewhat disappointed at this, his enthusiasm did not lessen.


    ¡°Sir, if there is anything you need, you can always let me know¡­ if I don¡¯t have it in stock, I will find a way to obtain it from elsewhere.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes gleamed, and he went straight to the point. ¡°There is actually one other kind of herb that I want, but I didn¡¯t see it in your shop.¡±


    ¡°Sir, may I ask what herb that is?¡± the manager asked.


    ¡°Ten-year survival weed,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied.


    Ten-year survival weed was even more expensive than hundred-year sea lotus flowers, even though it was only aged for ten years. This was because it was even rarer than the hundred-year sea lotus flowers.


    ¡°Ten-year survival weed?¡±


    The manager frowned and gave a bitter smile. ¡°Sir, I received a bunch of ten-year survival weed yesterday, but I did not display it because it had already been reserved by someone else. Not just here, but all the ten-year survival weeds in the Chu royal city have been reserved since half a year ago.


    ¡°Unless any shop is willing to take the risk of being closed down permanently and sell it to you¡­ Otherwise, you will not be able to buy ten-year survival weeds in the Chu royal city.


    The manager shook his head as he finished.


    ¡°Who has reserved the ten-year survival weeds?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked.

 Chapter 74 Yang Zixi

    ¡°The grand Yang family.¡±


    The manager of the medicine shop did not evade Zhou Donghuang¡¯s question and gave a direct answer.


    ¡°Why do they want so much ten-year survival weeds?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked curiously.


    He was extremely familiar with the medicinal uses of ten-year survival weed, and there was no need to use much of it for any of the elixirs or potions for which it was an ingredient of.


    And that grand Yang family had reserved all the ten-year survival weed in all the shops in the Chu royal city from half a year ago¡­


    Why would the Yang family need so many ten-year survival weeds?


    ¡°They are to extend the life of the patriarch of the Yang family.¡±


    The medicine shop manager shook his head and continued, ¡°The patriarch of the Yang family returned from the imperial city half a year ago and had mysteriously contracted some unusual form of poisoning.


    ¡°That kind of poison continually drains the life force¡­ Apparently, although the patriarch of the Yang family is only forty-something years old, he looks like he is sixty or seventy years old, covered in wrinkles and white-haired, and it has broken his spirit.


    ¡°In the past half a year, he would have died from old age long ago, as his life force was drained, if not for the ten-year survival weed which allowed him to extend his life.¡±


    ¡°However, buying the ten-year survival weed over the past half a year has consumed most of the Yang family¡¯s wealth¡­ Now, the Yang family has already sold off many of their side businesses for the money to buy ten-year survival weeds to extend the life of the Yang family patriarch,¡± the medicine shop manager said slowly.


    A bunch of ten-year survival weeds cost three hundred thousand liang of silver, and when purchased in such large quantities, it was a strain even on the grand Yang family. Evidently, the patriarch of the Yang family is very important to them.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang could easily see how important the patriarch of the Yang family was to his family, given that most of the family¡¯s wealth was spent on him. However, Zhou Donghuang felt that the Yang family¡¯s actions were a waste of resources.


    Ten-year survival weeds could indeed be used in this way, but to him, it was simply too wasteful. Just like directly consuming a thousand-year red fruit.


    Previously, after he had processed the thousand-year red fruit obtained by Freezing Wind, it could be used as ten thousand-year red fruits, making the most of the thousand-year red fruit.


    He could do the same for ten-year survival weeds.


    ¡°That¡¯s only natural.¡±


    The medicine shop manager nodded his head at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s statement. ¡°Although the Yang family is a grand family, they are at the bottom of the pile among the grand families. The Yang family has only one level-six adept of Qi-gathering, and that is their patriarch. Once the patriarch of the Yang family dies, they will be downgraded to a preeminent family without a level-six adept.


    ¡°And the Chu royal family does not allow families of lesser status than a grand family to do business in the Chu royal city¡­ Therefore, if the Yang family becomes a preeminent family, the Yang family¡¯s businesses in the Chu royal city will be confiscated by the Chu royal family.


    ¡°Although the Yang family could sell off their businesses before their patriarch dies¡­ If given a choice, who would kill the chicken for its eggs?¡±


    The medicine shop manager¡¯s explanation helped Zhou Donghuang understand the difficult situation that the grand Yang family was currently facing.


    Almost as soon as the medicine shop manager had finished, a melodious voice could be heard coming from the entrance of the medicine shop.


    ¡°Manager Hu, it seems that you understand the situation of the Yang family very well.¡±


    The speaker was a young lady who had just entered the medicine shop, followed by a middle-aged lady.


    The young lady was about fifteen or sixteen years old, her long hair falling like a waterfall, and she was wearing a thin, rose-red cardigan over a yellow long-sleeved dress. A purplish-red belt perfectly accentuated her slender waist.


    Of course, the most attractive thing about the young lady was not her dressing or her lovely figure, but her youthful-looking, beautiful face.


    This young lady was the most beautiful woman that Zhou Donghuang had seen in this life. In terms of looks, not considering temperament, she could compare to the great beauties of the great civilizations in the universe that he had seen in his previous life.


    Even if those great beauties of the great civilizations in the universe had fathers who were ordinary-looking, their mothers were peerless beauties over whom wars could be fought. As long as their looks were passed on to their daughters, they would be beautiful enough.


    ¡°Zi¡­ Lady Zixi.¡±


    The medicine shop manager smiled a bitter smile at the sound of her voice and looked at her, not realizing that a member of the Yang family had arrived to collect the ten-year survival weed just as he was talking about the Yang family.


    ¡°I¡¯ll bring the ten-year survival weed over for you now.¡±


    The medicine shop manager exchanged greetings with the young lady, then turned and walked into the medicine shop without waiting for her reply.


    Zhou Donghuang could easily guess that the young lady was a member of the Yang family and that she was here to collect the ten-year survival weed that he wanted as well.


    As Zhou Donghuang was evaluating the young lady, she was likewise evaluating him. With his white gown and the extraordinary air around him, even the junior direct relations of the tycoon families whom she had seen could not match up to him.


    She felt that even the direct, junior relatives of the Chu royal family might not be able to match up to the youth before her.


    Just as the young lady took her gaze off him, Zhou Donghuang asked, ¡°Young lady, would it be convenient for me to have an audience with the patriarch of the Yang family?¡±


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    The young lady was momentarily stunned at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s question, but she looked at Zhou Donghuang and knitted her brows slightly and asked, ¡°Why do you want an audience with my uncle?¡±


    Her reply revealed her position in the Yang family to Zhou Donghuang.


    The patriarch of the Yang family was the young lady¡¯s uncle. Which also meant that the young lady before him was a direct relative of the Yang family.


    However, thinking about it, to be able to collect the ten-year survival weed that was worth three hundred thousand liang of silver on behalf of the Yang family meant that her status in the Yang family was more than just ordinary.


    ¡°I am well-versed in medical treatments, and I know many methods of neutralizing poisons¡­ I would like to see what poison the patriarch of the Yang family is suffering from and whether I am able to help,¡± Zhou Donghuang said in the most straightforward manner.


    From his memories of his previous life, there were countless kinds of poisons that could result in the situation that the patriarch of the Yang family was in. As to exactly what kind of poison the patriarch of the Yang family was suffering from, he would only know if he could see it with his own eyes.


    Of course, he was so enthusiastic mainly because he wanted the ten-year survival weed.


    ¡°You?¡±


    The young lady looked Zhou Donghuang over from head to toe, her expression and gaze full of suspicion. She obviously did not believe a youth who looked barely older than she could have the ability to treat her uncle.


    ¡°Young man, your strategy for striking up a conversation is not too bad.¡±


    The middle-aged woman behind the young lady spoke up as well, ¡°However, have you considered¡­ just how old you are? No one will believe you could have the ability to treat the patriarch of our Yang family.


    ¡°Moreover, we have engaged nine of the ten great medicine masters in the Chu royal city to diagnose the poison that the patriarch of our Yang family is suffering from, but they were all helpless. Could a youth such as yourself compare to them? Are you taking my young lady for a fool?¡±


    The middle-aged woman put on an air that declared that she could see through Zhou Donghuang and read his thoughts.


    There were no superior-level medicine masters in the Western Ridge of the Chu King. Although the ten great medicine masters of the Chu royal city were all only intermediate-level medicine masters, they were all outstanding intermediate-level medicine masters, and if any one of them agreed to serve in the Chu royal family, they would be treated extremely well.


    In any case, nine of these ten medicine masters of the Chu royal city were helpless against the poison that the patriarch of the Yang family was suffering from.


    ¡°Striking up a conversation?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang could not help laughing. ¡°You think¡­ I was trying to pick up your young lady?¡±


    ¡°Were you not?¡±


    The middle-aged lady gave him a look of understanding.


    ¡°It has to be said that your young lady really is quite beautiful and will definitely be a matchless beauty in the Western Ridge of the Chu King in several years¡¯ time.¡±


    The middle-aged woman¡¯s expression relaxed when Zhou Donghuang said this, and the corner of the young lady¡¯s mouth curled upwards in an expression of disdain.


    But their expressions turned serious as soon as they heard what Zhou Donghuang said next.


    ¡°However, even if that¡¯s the case, it isn¡¯t enough for me, Zhou Donghuang, to take the first step to pick her up,¡± Zhou Donghuang said indifferently.


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Just as the middle-aged woman was getting exasperated, Zhou Donghuang gazed calmly at her and said flatly, ¡°Your accumulated labor has resulted in illness, and you suffer a persistent pain in your back lasting no less than half a day with intervals of three days at most between each episode.¡±


    The middle-aged woman¡¯s eyes widened at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, shock written on her face.


    How could this youth know this?


    There were only three people, including herself, who knew of this, and even her young lady did not know about this.


    ¡°And you.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s calm gaze moved quickly from the middle-aged woman to the young lady.


    However, he did not say anything in front of Fu and the middle-aged lady but stepped forward to the young lady¡¯s side. He said in a voice that only she was able to hear, ¡°The past half a year, your period probably has not been regular¡­ and recently it has not come for at least two months, am I right?


    ¡°As a virgin, it is normal to have your period once a month. If I¡¯m not wrong, it is because of the mental stress caused by your uncle¡¯s poisoning that is causing your cycle to stop.¡±


    Once he finished, Zhou Donghuang retreated.


    Immediately, the young lady blushed, and her cheeks turned red. There was a look of surprise in her eyes¡­ because this youth before her had been spot on.


    The young lady and the middle-aged woman exchanged glances in a moment and saw a look of disbelief in each other¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Lady Zixi, this is the ten-year survival weed, please inspect it.¡±


    At this moment, the owner of the medicine shop walked out from the inner room of the shop and passed a brocaded box to the young lady.


    She opened the box and nodded when she saw the weeds inside. ¡°Correct, this is ten-year survival weed.¡±


    The weeds in the box were fresh and green as though they had always been this way, even though they were uprooted from the soil.


    This weed had ten leaves in total, each leaf representing one year, and it was evidently ten-year survival weed.


    Seeing the ten-year survival weed, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes lit up, and he looked at the young lady and asked, ¡°Would Young Miss consider letting me take a look at the poisoning that your patriarch of the Yang family is suffering from?¡±

 Chapter 75 Fanning the Flames

    Earlier, Yang Zixi¡¯s attention had been focused on the ten-year survival weed that the owner of the medicine shop had brought out.


    Now, hearing the youth¡¯s words and bearing in mind what the youth had told her, the blush on her cheeks that had not yet subsided was already spreading even more furiously.


    A youth about the same age as her telling her about her personal matters was extremely embarrassing for her. However, what the youth had told her was her secret, and no one apart from her knew of it.


    ¡°Aunty Mei, was what he said about your condition accurate as well?¡± Yang Zixi asked the woman behind her, and she nodded, indicating that he was someone with ability. She looked afresh at the youth and said, ¡°We are returning to the Yang family now, you may come with us.¡±


    Yang Zixi¡¯s gaze lingered momentarily on the youth before she consciously looked away, because that youth had been completely correct about her secret, and she felt like there was nowhere left to hide.


    ¡°I have one condition,¡± Zhou Donghuang said.


    Just as the middle-aged woman frowned and was about to get angry, Yang Zixi asked, ¡°What is the condition?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang said directly, ¡°If I can cure Patriarch Yang¡¯s poisoning, I want the ten-year survival weeds that you are holding¡­ Of course, if you cannot make that decision, I can follow you back to the Yang family and let someone who has the power to make the decision decide.¡±


    ¡°I can make this decision.¡±


    A hopeful look surfaced in Yang Zixi¡¯s eyes. ¡°If you can cure my uncle¡¯s poisoning, the ten-year survival weed is nothing¡­ the Yang family will definitely not be stingy.¡±


    ¡°I only want the ten-year survival weed,¡± Zhou Donghuang said.


    Soon, Zhou Donghuang and Fu were following Yang Zixi and her servant as they left the medicine shop and returned to the Yang family.


    Although the Yang family was a grand family, the Yang family mansion was significantly smaller than the mansion of the grand Wu family that Zhou Donghuang had been to previously.


    Of course, he could understand this.


    This was, after all, the royal city of the Western Ridge of the Chu King and not just a prefecture capital.


    The mansion of the grand Wu family could occupy such a large plot of land not only because it was in the prefecture capital, but mainly because the Wu family was the governing family of Guangling prefecture.


    As the foremost family of Guangling prefecture as well as being the governing family of Guangling prefecture, no less could be expected of the Wu family¡¯s mansion.


    ¡°Lady Zixi.¡±


    After entering the Yang family mansion, everyone they met, from the servants to the side relatives of the Yang family, all bowed respectfully to Yang Zixi.


    ¡°My uncle¡¯s residence is just up ahead.¡±


    Very soon, Yang Zixi and her servant led Zhou Donghuang and Fu to the Yang family patriarch¡¯s residence, into a small but spacious courtyard.


    There were three people standing in the courtyard.


    A middle-aged man, a young man and an old man standing respectfully behind the young man.


    The middle-aged man wore loose a grey gown with gold trimmings, and he was pacing back and forth outside the door to one of the rooms. His grave expression made it obvious that he was unsettled.


    The young man was a little over twenty years old, and he wore a brocaded mandarin gown with a cool expression on his handsome face. He had an aristocratic look about him, making it easy to tell that he was of high birth.


    As for the old man behind the young man, he was an old servant, his hair all white, and his face thin, but his eyes twinkled with life.


    ¡°Third Uncle.¡±


    Yang Zixi led the way into the yard and bowed to the middle-aged man pacing outside the room.


    ¡°Zixi.¡±


    The middle-aged man looked at Yang Zixi when he heard her voice, breaking into an affable smile. ¡°Have you brought back the ten-year survival weed?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    Yang Zixi nodded.


    ¡°Sister Zixi.¡±


    Just then, the youth in the mandarin gown gazed at Yang Zixi, the cool look on his handsome face gone without a trace and replaced by an enthusiastic smile.


    However, faced with the youth¡¯s enthusiasm, Yang Zixi merely replied in an indifferent tone, ¡°Young Master Shi.¡±


    From the distaste in Yang Zixi¡¯s gaze, it was obvious that she not only disliked this youth but was even repulsed by him.


    However, the youth seemed accustomed to this and did not seem to mind. The smile remained on his face until he noticed Zhou Donghuang, who had arrived with Yang Zixi.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gown was whiter than snow, and his handsomeness put the youth to shame. The aura of coolness that he suddenly seemed to exude gave off a mysterious and dreamy feeling.


    Both in terms of appearance and disposition, the youth in the mandarin gown was completely outclassed by Zhou Donghuang!


    ¡°Sister Zixi, this is¡­?¡±


    The youth in the mandarin gown gave Zhou Donghuang a chilly look.


    This was the first time he had seen a man walking so closely with Yang Zixi.


    Yang Zixi was the woman he had fallen for, and it had been extremely difficult for him to even walk with Yang Zixi. Therefore, the look from his cold, glittering eyes also carried threatening undertones.


    In any case, he was ignored by Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Third Uncle.¡±


    Just then, Yang Zixi glanced at Zhou Donghuang and said by way of introduction, ¡°This is Medicine Master Zhou, here to examine Uncle.¡±


    She proceeded to introduce the middle-aged man to Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, this is my third uncle, the third master of the Yang family, Yang Yuncong.¡±


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou?¡±


    Yang Yuncong looked over Zhou Donghuang from head to toe with a look of surprise, because it was obvious to him that this youth before him was sixteen or seventeen years old at most, not much older than his niece, Yang Zixi.


    The thing was, even with extensive study of medicine, the most he could be at this age was an inferior-level medicine master.


    However, he understood that his niece was not an impetuous person.


    The fact that she had brought him back was enough evidence that he could potentially be of help, and therefore, he greeted him with a slight smile. ¡°Medicine Master Zhou.¡±


    ¡°Hmm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded casually in return.


    ¡°Tch!¡±


    A derisive sound came suddenly from nowhere.


    The youth in the mandarin gown standing to the side was looking at Zhou Donghuang with a mocking smile. ¡°Little fellow, at your age, you are at most an inferior-level medicine master, right?¡±


    ¡°You as an inferior-level medicine master would dare claim to be able to examine Patriarch Yang? You should know that Patriarch Yang¡¯s illness is not just any trivial illness, but a deadly case of poisoning!¡±


    The youth in the mandarin gown commanded arrogantly, ¡°I have already invited Medicine Master Su, who is the most learned in poisons among the ten great medicine masters in the Chu royal city to treat Patriarch Yang¡­ There is no place for you here, you may leave now.¡±


    ¡°Medicine Master Su?¡±


    Yang Zixi could not help exhaling softly and looked at Yang Yuncong. ¡°Third Uncle, is Medicine Master Su inside examining Uncle?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡± Yang Yuncong nodded with a slight smile. ¡°Medicine Master Su has been away for more than a year and has just returned today. He has been invited over by Young Master Shi. Although Medicine Master Su is not the best medicine master among the ten great medicine masters of the Chu royal city, he has the best understanding of poisons¡­ Even the superior-level medicine master of the imperial court might not be able to match him when it comes to treating cases of poisoning.


    ¡°With him around, there is hope that an antidote can be found for the poison that Big Brother is suffering from.¡±


    Yang Yuncong paused and hesitated, then continued with a bitter smile, ¡°If even he is unable to help, I¡¯m afraid there is nothing we will be able to do about the poison.¡±


    Yang Zixi¡¯s expression grew solemn at Yang Yuncong¡¯s last sentence, and she began muttering to herself continuously, ¡°There will be a way¡­ Medicine Master Su will find a way.¡±


    ¡°Hear that, little fellow?¡±


    At that moment, the youth in the mandarin gown looked at Zhou Donghuang with a mocking gaze and said with a cold smile, ¡°If even Medicine Master Su is unable to find an antidote for that poison, an inferior-level medicine master like you could not possibly succeed.¡±


    In any case, Zhou Donghuang had not bothered to even glance at the youth in the mandarin gown since he arrived and had completely ignored the repeated insults from the youth.


    ¡°You¡­ you dare disrespect me, Shi Yu?¡± Seeing that Zhou Donghuang was ignoring him, Shi Yu¡¯s expression turned foul.


    Shi Yu was the first young master of the tycoon family, the Shi family and also the designated successor of the patriarch of the Shi family. Even the patriarch of the grand Yang family greeted him as ¡°Young Master Shi¡± whenever they crossed paths.


    Just as Shi Yu¡¯s anger began to rise, the door to the room opened with a creak, and an elderly figure slowly walked out.


    This was an old man dressed in a grey gown, of average build, and although his hair and even his eyebrows were completely white, his face looked only forty or fifty years old.


    ¡°Medicine Master Su.¡±


    Seeing the old man walk out, Yang Yuncong hurried forward to meet him and asked with a grave expression, ¡°Are you able to treat the poison my big brother is suffering from?¡±


    Yang Zixi, who had stepped forward with Yang Yuncong, looked at the old man with her fists tightly clenched and a hopeful look in her eyes.


    Shi Yu swept a cold gaze over Zhou Donghuang and walked towards the old man as well.


    ¡°Third Master Yang, I am unable to identify the poison that Patriarch Yang is suffering from, but its effects are fearsome, and it has already spread throughout his entire body¡­ Without the ten-year survival weed, Patriarch Yang would have succumbed to the poison four months ago.¡±


    The old man shook his head. ¡°Moreover, the long-term use of ten-year survival weed has caused Patriarch Yang to develop a strong resistance to its medicinal effects. After using one or two more bundles of ten-year survival weed, it will no longer be of any help to Patriarch Yang. One month¡­ Patriarch Yang can only hold on for one more month.


    ¡°Prepare his affairs well.¡±


    The old man sighed.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Yang Yuncong¡¯s expression changed completely. He could not believe this was really happening.


    Yang Zixi¡¯s expression had turned pale as though all the blood had drained from her face in an instant. She wobbled and would have collapsed to the ground if the woman behind her had not managed to rush forward and support her in time.


    At that moment, Zhou Donghuang began to move, walking around them and into the room that the old man had just exited.


    ¡°Huh?¡±


    The old man was momentarily stunned and looked suspiciously at Yang Yuncong.


    ¡°Third Master Yang, who was that?¡±


    Before Yang Yuncong could reply, Shi Yu fanned the flames as he replied, ¡°Medicine Master Su, that little fellow is merely an inferior-level medicine master who said that he was here to examine Patriarch Yang¡­ Now, even though you said that Patriarch Yang is beyond help, he still rushed in. Obviously, he is questioning your diagnosis.¡±

 Chapter 76 Russell s Viper

    ¡°Basic-level medicine master?¡± Hearing Shi Yu¡¯s words, Medicine Master Xiao¡¯s expression changed as he glared at Yang Yunchong sternly and asked, ¡°Third Master Yang, was the young man who just went in really going to treat Chief Yang?¡±


    ¡°Medicine Master Xiao¡­¡± Yang Yunchong started awkwardly. After all, putting himself in his shoes, if he were Medicine Master Xiao, he would have been upset too. Finally, he nodded his head.


    That young man had been brought here by Yang Zixi to treat his big brother; how could he possibly go in and ask him to leave? Although he did not believe that the young man understood his big brother¡¯s poison, but since the old man in front of him had no solution, perhaps there was no harm in letting the young man try.


    ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, Medicine Master Zhou who just went in is actually quite capable.¡± Just then, the lady behind the young girl spoke up.


    ¡°Oh?¡± Medicine Master Xiao broke into laughter and looked at the lady curiously. He asked, ¡°I do want to know¡­ what kind of skills could that sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy possibly have?¡±


    ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, you are an intermediate-level medicine master¡­ so if I ask you to identify what illness I have with just a look, would you be able to tell?¡± asked the lady.


    Just now, in the pharmacy, that young man in the white shirt had been able to tell that she had a hidden illness at just a glance, and he was even able to fully explain her condition. Even the ten best medicine masters in the Chu royal city could not do that.


    ¡°Identify what illness you have with just a look?¡± asked Medicine Master Xiao calmly. ¡°Unless it is an obvious disease¡­ but if it is a hidden illness, even the superior-level medicine master of the imperial court would not be able to tell just by looking. Are you trying to tell me that¡­ the boy who just went in could identify your hidden illness with just a look?¡± As he spoke, his face was filled with disdain.


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± answered the lady as she nodded seriously. ¡°He could tell what hidden illness I had with just a look.¡±


    ¡°Ridiculous!¡± Medicine Master Xiao did not believe her words at all. Looking at the lady as if she were an idiot, he turned to Yang Yunchong and said, ¡°Third Master Yang, from today onwards, I, Xiao Chen will not step into the Yang household nor have any connections with the Yang family¡­ even if a Yang family member dies in front of me, I will not help at all.¡± With that, Xiao Chen snorted and left.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Yang Yunchong smiled bitterly.


    Yang Zixi could barely conceal the anger flashing in her eyes as she glared at Shi Yu and asked furiously, ¡°Shi Yu, is this what you wanted? Are you satisfied now?¡± If Shi Yu had not added fuel to the fire, Medicine Master Xiao would not have been so antagonized and even swear to never work with the Yang family or treat a Yang family member ever again.


    ¡°Sister Zixi, how could you blame it on me? All I said was the truth. If you had not brought that lad to our home, Medicine Master Xiao would not have bumped into him,¡± responded Shi Yu as he shook his head.


    ¡°Young Master Shi, you can¡¯t blame it on Zixi either,¡± said Yang Yunchong with a sigh. ¡°After all, she had not known that Medicine Master Xiao was here.¡±


    He then turned to Yang Zixi and said, ¡°Zixi, please don¡¯t take it to heart either¡­ Medicine Master Su has never worked with the Yang family before anyway, and even if he was looking for a family to work with, he would not find us. As for him no longer wanting to treat us, there are so many medicine masters around the Chu royal city that it makes no difference.¡±


    ¡°Third Uncle, don¡¯t try to comfort me, this is indeed my fault.¡± Yang Zixi sighed, though her eyes were hopeful. Just now, Medicine Master Xiao, who was one of the ten top medicine masters in Chu royal city, had said that even the superior-level medicine master of the imperial court could not possibly tell one¡¯s hidden illness from just a look. Didn¡¯t that mean that the superior-level medicine master of the imperial court also could not possibly tell her small illnesses from just a look?


    ¡°That Medicine Master Zhou should be quite capable¡­ who knows if he will be able to heal Uncle.¡± Although this was what she felt, Yang Zixi did not have much hope. Just now, Medicine Master Xiao had said that the poison had already entered her uncle¡¯s vital organs.


    As she thought of this, Yang Zixi¡¯s face was depressed, her eyes revealing tormented pain. From young, she had lost her parents, so her uncle had brought her up single-handedly. In her eyes, her uncle was like her father, just a difference in the title. Hence, since her uncle had been poisoned half a year ago, she had been unable to sleep at night, and the little sickness that the young man had identified had also manifested in her.


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if he is able to do anything.¡± Just as Yang Zixi brought the lady behind her together into the room, Shi Yu and Yang Yunchong were also about to enter.


    Suddenly, two hurried voices from outside the courtyard caused them to stop in their steps.


    ¡°Third Master, I heard that Young Master Shi had brought Medicine Master Xiao over, what¡¯s the situation now?¡±


    ¡°Third Master, Medicine Master Xiao is one of the top ten medicine masters in Chu royal city and is superb at dealing with poisons, does he have a treatment?¡±


    Along with the two voices were two old men, one plump and the other skinny, but with identical features.


    ¡°Head Elder, Second Elder.¡± Seeing the two old men enter the courtyard, Yang Yunchong rushed forward to greet them. The two men were the head elders of the Yang family, Yang Ping and the second elder, Yang An. The two of them were identical twins and also level-five adepts whose power was second only to the Yang family chief.


    ¡°Greetings to the two elders.¡± Just as Yang Ping and Yang An were looking at Yang Yunchong expectantly, Shi Yu greeted the two of them. ¡°Medicine Master Xiao could do nothing about Yang family chief¡¯s poisoning.¡±


    It was only then that Yang Ping and Yang An noticed Shi Yu, but before they had a chance to greet Shi Yu, their expression changed. Even Medicine Master Xiao, whose detoxifying capabilities was comparable to the superior-level medicine master of the imperial court, had no way to detoxify their chief? Didn¡¯t that mean that there was no way to detoxify the poison in their Yang family chief?


    Then Yang Yunchong spoke, ¡°Head Elder, Second Elder¡­ Medicine Master Xiao said that Big Brother has used too many ten-year survival weeds, and so it¡¯s caused him to have a resistance to it. After one or two more stalks of the weed, the ten-year survival weed will no longer have any effect on him.¡±


    Hearing this, the faces of Yang Ping and Yang An darkened even more.


    ¡°Does God really want to make the Yang family a preeminent family once again?¡± after Yang Ping recovered, he asked sadly.


    ¡°Elders,¡± continued Shi Yu. ¡°Medicine Master Xiao not only said that there was no way to detoxify the chief, but before he left, he even said that he would not work with the Yang family again and that he would not treat anyone from the family. Even if one of us dies in front of him, he won¡¯t lift a finger.¡±


    Yang Yunchong frowned slightly. He did not expect Shi Yu to make matters worse at this point. Of course, Shi Yu was the first young master of the tycoon Shi family, so even though he was unhappy, he could not say anything for fear of offending him.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    ¡°What is going on?!¡±


    Hearing Shi Yu¡¯s words, both Yang Ping and Yang An were shocked. After finding out what had happened from Shi Yu, their faces darkened even further. ¡°Ridiculous! How could a sixteen or seventeen-year-old teenager, a basic-level medicine master at best, have the ability to treat the chief? I used to think that Lady Zixi was reliable¡­ but how could she have been so foolish this time?¡±


    With that, Yang Ping and Yang An walked into the room where the Yang family chief was in. Yang Yunchong, Shi Yu and the old servant behind Shi Yu also followed into the room.


    ¡­


    Lying on the bed in the room was an old man who looked sixty or seventy years old. He was none other than the chief of the Yang family, Yang Yunji. The old man looked haggard with wrinkles all over his face. It was impossible to tell that he was just over forty years of age¡­ Yang Yunji was only 47 this year.


    Zhou Donghuang stood before him and stared at him calmly. After his diagnosis, he had gotten a better understanding of the poison in Yang Yunji¡¯s body¡­ the Yang family chief had been infected with snake poison, and it was the poison of a very rare snake.


    ¡°Chief Yang, you have been infected with poison from the Russell¡¯s viper,¡± Zhou Donghuang told Yang Yunji.


    ¡°Rubbish!¡± Just as the words left Zhou Donghuang¡¯s mouth, an old voice resounded around the room. Soon, a plump old man entered the room, followed by a skinny old man. It was the plump old man who had spoken.


    ¡°Head Elder, Second Elder.¡± Seeing the two men, Yang Zixi greeted the two respectfully.


    ¡°Lady Zixi, how could you bring this young boy here to treat the chief? Now, you¡¯ve offended Medicine Master Xiao,¡± Yang An, who had followed behind Yang Ping, asked Yang Zixi as he frowned. ¡°Although we can always find other medicine masters if any of us falls sick. But what is someone is poisoned? Medicine Master Xiao is an expert at treating poison¡­ his skills at treating poison are unparalleled in the whole Yunyang country. Now that we¡¯ve offended him today, we¡¯ve landed ourselves in trouble.¡± As he spoke, his tone got harsher.


    ¡°Psh!¡± Before Yang Zixi could respond, Fu, who had been standing behind Zhou Donghuang, could not help but laugh sarcastically. ¡°That Medicine Master Xiao you speak of cannot even treat your chief¡¯s poison, how dare he claim to be an expert! What a joke!¡±


    Just as Yang An glared at Fu, Yang Ping stared at Zhou Donghuang angrily. ¡°Lad, after our chief was poisoned, there was no wound¡­ what makes you think he was poisoned by a snake? Also¡­ I¡¯ve never heard of the Russell¡¯s viper; are you making that up?¡±

 Chapter 77 Sense of Security

    ¡°If you¡¯ve never heard of it, that can only mean that you¡¯re ignorant.¡± Zhou Donghuang had not planned to bother about the Yang head elder, Yang Ping, but seeing as he had no intention of stopping once he began questioning him, he replied coldly as he glanced condescendingly at him.


    The Russell¡¯s viper was a rare venomous snake. Its head was strikingly similar to themandala flower, hence giving it the common name the ¡°mandala snake¡±. The viper did not bite to poison but used its nose to release its venom, poisoning whoever breathed in the toxins.


    As Yang Ping¡¯s expression changed, Zhou Donghuang turned to look at the Yang family chief, Yang Yunji, lying on the bed. He said flatly, ¡°I can treat the snake poison in the chief.¡± With that, the whole room turned quiet.


    Even the Yang head elder, Yang Ping, who had been prepared to argue with Zhou Donghuang, kept his mouth closed. He stared at Zhou Donghuang incredulously, eyes filled with suspicion. This young man said that he could treat the poison of their Yang family chief?


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou¡­ are you serious?¡± The third master, Yang Yunchong, who had just entered the room, happened to hear Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words. After his initial shock, he was the first to respond as he asked Zhou Donghuang seriously.


    ¡°If my young master says he can, he definitely can treat it,¡± Fu, who had been standing behind Zhou Donghuang, said impatiently, seeing that they disbelieved his young master¡¯s words. To him, his young master was almost god-like and could achieve anything. For someone to doubt his young master was simply blasphemous and unacceptable to him.


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, please help treat my uncle.¡± After Yang Zixi had recovered from her shock, she looked at Zhou Donghuang agitatedly. Although they had just met, she could tell that Zhou Donghuang was a man of his word.


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, you¡­ really can treat this poison?¡± Yang Yunji struggled to open his eyes as he lay on the bed. In his muted gaze, there was a glimmer of hope.


    ¡°I do not wish to repeat what I¡¯ve already said.¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at Yang Yunji, then at Yang Zixi. ¡°I need thirty-six, two-inch-long gold needles, the finer, the better, and they must be totally straight. If you prepare it within three days, I¡¯ll be able to completely cleanse his body of the snake poison in ten days,¡± he said.


    Before Yang Zixi could speak, Yang Yunchong had already turned to Yang An and said, ¡°Second Elder, you are in charge of the gold treasury here¡­ please help to prepare the needles that Medicine Master Zhou has requested.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± Yang An responded and left. Although he did not really believe that the young man could detoxify his chief, but if even Medicine Master Xiao could do nothing about it, then they could only cling on to this last hope.


    ¡°Fu, pen and paper.¡± After Fu had passed a pen and paper to him, Zhou Donghuang wrote some herbs and quantities on it and passed it to Yang Zixi.


    ¡°Prepare these herbs within three days. After I detoxify your chief, you will have to brew these herbs for him to drink¡­ with this medicinal soup, he will be able to completely recover his strength once the poison has been purged from his body,¡± said Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°I will do it.¡± Yang Ping took the prescription from Yang Zixi and left without looking back. Their Yang family chief¡¯s health had everything to do with the success of their family, and even though he doubted this young man, he was prepared to try what he had offered. If it worked, it would be a cause for celebration. And if not, it would not be too late to make the young man answer for it.


    ¡°Hmph! I want to see how he treats the Yang family chief in three days!¡± Shi Yu, who had come into the room with Yang Yunchong, muttered to himself as he saw that all the Yang family members had believed the young man¡¯s words. He turned and left the household with his servant.


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, do you live far from our house? If not, do you want to stay here for the next three days?¡± Yang Yunchong asked Zhou Donghuang. Quietly, he was also worried that this young man would disappear after making such a bold claim. If he was prepared to stay, he would be more trusting of his words just now.


    ¡°I just arrived in Chu royal city and am staying temporarily at an inn,¡± answered Zhou Donghuang. ¡°That inn is indeed quite a distance from here.¡±


    Yang Yunchong¡¯s eyes lit up as he suggested, ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, why don¡¯t you get your servant to return the room? Our guest room here is definitely much better than the inn¡¯s,¡± Yang Yunchong said as he looked at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Alright,¡± said Zhou Donghuang with a nod.


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang agree, Yang Yunchong could not help but feel a flutter within him, because this meant that this young man was probably someone with real ability. If not, he would not have agreed to stay.


    ¡°Zixi, go ahead with Aunt Mei to prepare the guest room for Medicine Master Zhou,¡± Yang Yunchong instructed Yang Zixi.


    Yang Zixi had already viewed Zhou Donghuang as her uncle¡¯s saving grace. She excitedly brought Zhou Donghuang to the guest room and prepared the best room for him.


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, you said that you just arrived in Chu royal city? You are not a local?¡± Yang Zixi asked curiously.


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, you look just one or two years older than me¡­ can I call you ¡®Brother Zhou¡¯? You don¡¯t have to address me as Lady Yang either, just ¡®Zixi¡¯ will do,¡± said Yang Zixi with a smile.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Zhou Donghuang with a nod. To him, it didn¡¯t matter.


    ¡°Brother Zhou, my¡­ how can I treat it?¡± As she remembered the hidden illness that the young man had mentioned earlier, Yang Zixi was embarrassed. Her cheeks flushed red.


    ¡°Yours is just a small illness¡­ once the golden needles are ready, I¡¯ll do some acupuncture on you, and you¡¯ll be fine,¡± Zhou Donghuang said dismissively. ¡°But you must make sure to rest and monitor your emotions to prevent it from coming back.¡±


    ¡°As for you¡­¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at the lady behind the young girl. ¡°Tomorrow morning, come and collect your prescription from me¡­ if you take the medicine for three days, your pain will subside. After a month, your hidden illness will be treated,¡± he said.


    ¡°Thank you, Medicine Master Zhou,¡± the lady thanked him profusely, her face full of joy.


    ¡°Aunt Mei, you get back to work first¡­ I¡¯ll stay here and talk to Brother Zhou,¡± the young girl said to the lady.


    ¡°Yes, Ma¡¯am,¡± the lady said as she left.


    After the lady had left, the young girl was about to kneel before Zhou Donghuang but was stopped by him. He asked with a frown, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    ¡°Brother Zhou, I want to thank you for treating my uncle,¡± said the girl.


    ¡°You don¡¯t have to thank me.¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head. ¡°I helped to detoxify your chief only because of your Yang family¡¯s ten-year survival weed.¡±


    ¡°Brother Zhou, not just one stalk of the weed, even ten stalks of the ten-year survival weed would not be enough to repay your help,¡± said the girl seriously. ¡°Saving my uncle is akin to saving our whole Yang family!¡±


    If her uncle died from this poison, the whole Yang family would go from a grand family to just a preeminent family and lose all of their current glory. Of course, she did not care whether the family was a grand or preeminent family. As long as her uncle was fine, even if the Yang family became a lesser family, she could accept it. All she cared about was her uncle¡¯s health.


    ¡°And I kneel not on behalf of the family, but as myself.¡± Finally, the girl insisted on kneeling down and kowtowing to Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Since my parents passed away when I was young, my uncle raised me. To me, he¡¯s my father.¡±


    Seeing the stubbornness on the girl¡¯s face, even Zhou Donghuang was moved. Chen Dandan could hardly compare to this young girl.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. As long as your second elder prepares the needles within three days, your uncle will be fine.¡± Zhou Donghuang helped the young girl up. This time, his tone was gentler than before. In some ways, the young girl had earned his recognition.


    ¡°Thank you, Brother Zhou.¡± In Yang Zixi¡¯s memory, this was the first time that she had been in such close contact with a man. Instantly, she blushed even redder. Usually, she disliked those rich playboys and steered clear of them, but she felt no animosity towards this young man in front of her.


    In fact, after he had helped her up and let go of her, she had felt a strong sense of disappointment. When he had helped her up, although she did not understand why, she felt a strong sense of security as if she did have to fear anything as long as she had the young man by her side. Once the young man had stepped away, this sense of security had dissipated, and in that moment, she felt as if she was just a lone boat in the middle of the vast ocean, with nobody to depend on.


    ¡°Brother Zhou, where are you from?¡± Furthermore, the young man¡¯s abilities had filled her with admiration. She was curious about where someone like him had come from.


    ¡°Yunfeng prefecture,¡± said Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Yunfeng prefecture?¡± Yang Zixi was shocked because she had never heard of such a prefecture. Within Yunyang country, she knew all the superior and intermediate prefectures, but she was not as familiar with the inferior prefectures. ¡°Brother Zhou, are you not from Yunyang country?¡±


    Yang Zixi had not imagined that Zhou Donghuang had come from an inferior prefecture, because she believed that an inferior prefecture could not possibly have produced a man of such caliber. She thought that Zhou Donghuang had come from another country.

 Chapter 78 The Higher You Rise, the Harder You Fall

    ¡°Yunfeng prefecture is just an inferior prefecture, it¡¯s normal that you have never heard of it,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a slight smile. Seeing the girl¡¯s reaction, he could see that she had never heard of Yunfeng prefecture.


    ¡°Inferior prefecture?¡± Hearing the young man¡¯s words, Yang Zixi was stunned, though her stunned expression was extremely adorable. Zhou Donghuang could not help but sneak another look at her.


    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang as he nodded. ¡°I left Yunfeng prefecture and only reached the Chu royal city after more than five months on the road.¡±


    He had left Yunfeng prefecture capital on April 1, 1229 of the Ziyun era. Now, it was already September 10, 1228 of the Ziyun era.


    After five months¡­ who knows how Mother and Xiao Lu are doing?As he thought of Lin Lan and Yun Lu, a gentle expression formed on Zhou Donghuang¡¯s face. As she watched on, Yang Zixi could not help but feel a tinge of jealousy. The young man before her had always been cold and aloof since she had met him, and he did not talk much. But now, such a tender expression had appeared on his usually emotionless face as he thought of whoever that was.


    ¡°Brother Zhou, are you thinking of¡­ your wife?¡± Yang Zixi probed. But once the words left her mouth, she regretted it and even found it strange that she had asked such a question. Suddenly, she felt strangely awkward and looked down, unable to continue looking at the young man.


    ¡°Wife?¡± Zhou Donghuang was shocked at first, then shook his head. ¡°Just now, I was thinking of my mother and my sister.¡±


    ¡°Are they both in Yunfeng prefecture now?¡± Yang Zixi¡¯s eyes lit up as she realized that she had misunderstood him. But even she did not understand why she had felt jealous just now. Was it simply because the young man had not fawned over her like other men his age?


    ¡°Yea,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a nod. After chatting with Zhou Donghuang for a while, the young girl only left reluctantly when Fu returned. ¡°Brother Zhou, I shouldn¡¯t disturb you. I¡¯ll take my leave.¡±


    Yang Zixi rarely spoke so much to people. Even she did not know why she had grown so affectionate of this young man after just a day¡­ The young man seemed to have some natural charisma. What she did not know was that although Zhou Donghuang had the body of a young man, his memory stretched across millennia. In times like this, the charisma that he exuberated was simply nothing like those of his age. Zhou Donghuang¡¯s charisma and the typical aloofness that he displayed was extremely attractive to a young girl who had just begun her forays into the world of love.


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Zhou Donghuang with a nod. As he watched the girl leave, he only looked away when her figure disappeared in the distance.


    ¡°Young Master.¡± After the girl had left, Fu looked at Zhou Donghuang with a smile. ¡°You¡­ have fallen for Lady Zixi?¡±


    ¡°Nonsense!¡± Zhou Donghuang glared at Fu and asked, ¡°Have you brought everything over from the inn?¡±


    ¡°Everything¡¯s here. Except for the carriage drawn by the three ferghana horses and the heavy black iron spear, there was nothing else to bring over.¡± Fu nodded.


    He continued with a smile, ¡°Young Master, I think Lady Zixi is not bad¡­ just now, the disciple who had brought me to the inn told me much about her. She is a good lady who knows to repay debts of gratitude. In some ways, she is even more worthy than the biological daughter of the Yang family chief. In this aspect, Chen Dandan, who betrayed Madam, can hardly compare.¡± Although he had not personally experienced it, Fu knew of Chen Dandan. He knew that she had completely disregarded his Madam who had brought her up, and she had betrayed her cruelly.


    ¡°Chen Dandan?¡± As he was reminded of her, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression darkened, and his eyes glinted coldly. ¡°She is not worthy of comparison to Zixi.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, I still don¡¯t understand¡­ when we went to Yunfeng prefecture capital, we could have gone to the Hong family and embarrassed her or even killed her! But you did not.¡± Fu asked a question that had been bugging him for long.


    ¡°Embarrassing her, even killing her, would have been easy¡­ but I do not intend to treat her like that in the Hong family or in Yunfeng prefecture.¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes flashed coldly again. ¡°The higher you rise, the harder you fall! Now, I will let her rise higher¡­ when she can no longer climb higher, I will make her fall! Then, it will feel more painful.¡± As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang laughed evilly. Even Fu could not help but feel his hairs rise as he heard his laughter.


    In his previous life, Zhou Donghuang had left Earth and returned to Ziyun planet to look for Chen Dandan¡­ In the end, he had found out that Chen Dandan had not died of old age in Yunfeng prefecture capital of Yunyang country, but had died in the small sect called the ¡°Valley of the Medicine Masters¡± that ruled over Yunyang country.


    After some research, he then realized that Chen Dandan¡¯s biological father was the second elder of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe. Chen Dandan was the illegitimate daughter of Chen Tianhe and had been sent to the inferior Yunfeng prefecture of the lower Yunyang country, where she was adopted by his mother, Lin Lan. Eventually, it was the preeminent Hong family of Yunfeng prefecture who sent her to the Valley of Medicine Masters and reunited her with her father.


    ¡°Settling it with her in the Valley of Medicine Masters would be better than doing it in Yunfeng prefecture.¡± It was precisely because of this that Zhou Donghuang had not tried to find Chen Dandan in the Hong family when he had gone to Yunfeng prefecture capital. He planned to seek his revenge with Chen Dandan in the Valley of Medicine Masters.


    ¡°When Chen Dandan finally receives her status of daughter of the second elder of the Valley of Medicine Masters, she will be at her happiest. At that point, when I destroy everything she has and send her to the depths of despair, then I¡¯ll kill her¡­ only then will my hatred be sated!¡±


    That was Zhou Donghuang¡¯s plan. Otherwise, he would have gone directly to the Hong family when he went to Yunfeng prefecture capital, embarrass and then kill Chen Dandan.


    ¡°Chen Dandan, you should be thankful you have a biological father as the second elder of the Valley of Medicine Masters¡­ if not, you would have been dead in Yunfeng prefecture capital!¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes flashed with an evil glint as he laughed to himself.


    ¡­


    The dawn of September 12, 1228 of the Ziyun era.


    ¡°Brother Zhou.¡± Two days later, Yang Zixi came looking for Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Second Elder has already prepared the needles you requested, and Head Elder has also gotten all the herbs. Can you begin treating my uncle today?¡± she asked, looking expectantly at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Your two elders are quite efficient,¡± said Zhou Donghuang with a laugh. ¡°Let¡¯s go over together.¡±


    The previous day, Yang Zixi had also come to chat with him, and she even brought him on a tour of the Yang family household¡­ In these two days, he had grown a fondness for this young girl who was both direct and had a sense of gratitude.


    Soon, Zhou Donghuang and Yang Zixi arrived at the residence of the Yang family chief, Yang Yunji. In the small courtyard where Yang Yunji stayed, the Yang third master, Yang Yunchong, Head Elder Yang Ping and Second Elder Yang An had all gathered.


    Shi Yu was there too.


    In his chats with Yang Zixi over the last two days, she had mentioned Shi Yu, so Zhou Donghuang knew who he was. Shi Yu was the first young master of the tycoon Shi family of the Chu royal family. Although the Shi family was only considered the bottom of the tycoon families, they had a level-eight adept, which was incomparable with the Yang family. That was considered among the lowest grand families.


    The reason why Shi Yu kept coming to the Yang family so faithfully was simply because of Yang Zixi. He wanted to marry her. In fact, he had asked for her hand from the Yang family chief a long time ago. Yang Yunji had been moved, but Yang Zixi had rejected him firmly, even threatening to commit suicide. Seeing this, Yang Yunji did not dare to press further and let things take their turn naturally.


    From Yang Zixi, Zhou Donghuang had also learned that Shi Yu was a rich playboy. In the Chu royal city, many attractive-looking girls had been destroyed by his hands. More than a hundred young girls had chosen to kill themselves after he had toyed with their feelings.


    On the planet of Ziyun, people were conservative, and a lady whose chastity had been violated would typically not be able to find a suitor unless she had a strong family backing. Hence, Yang Zixi had always hated Shi Yu but feared offending him in order not to implicate her family.


    ¡°Sister Zixi.¡± Seeing Zhou Donghuang walk in together with Yang Zixi, Shi Yu glared coldly at Zhou Donghuang, but when he looked at Yang Zixi, he greeted her with a wide smile.


    But Yang Zixi only glanced at him and ignored him. Shi Yu was already used to her indifference and did not take it to heart. But when his eyes turned to Zhou Donghuang again, he could not help but laugh as he gloated, ¡°Lad, didn¡¯t expect you to really come back. I want to see for myself how you will treat a poison that even the medicine master poison expert couldn¡¯t treat!¡±


    But, from the moment he entered, Zhou Donghuang did not even look at Shi Yu. Zhou Donghuang walked straight into the courtyard and asked Yang Yunchong and the rest, ¡°Where are the needles?¡±


    ¡°Here.¡± Yang An handed a box to Zhou Donghuang. As he opened it, Zhou Donghuang saw thirty-six two-inch golden needles neatly arranged inside. The needles were extremely thin, hardly thicker than a thread.


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, are these okay?¡± Yang Yunchong asked Zhou Donghuang worriedly. He only heaved a sigh of relief when Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    ¡°Besides Zixi, the rest please wait outside.¡± As Zhou Donghuang carried the box into the room, Yang Yunchong and the rest were about to head in together, but Zhou Donghuang¡¯s voice rang from inside the room.


    Immediately, Yang Yunchong, Yang Ping and Yang An stopped in their tracks.


    ¡°Lad, stop acting mysterious! I want to see for myself how you detoxify Chief Yang¡­¡± laughed Shi Yu, who had planned to go into the room with them.

 Chapter 79 Celestial Dipper Detox Needle

    Behind the tightly closed doors of the room, Yang Zixi was dazzled as she watched the young man administer the needles to her uncle.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    ¡­


    The thin two-inch long golden needles seemed to come alive in his hands as they passed through the clothing and pierced into her uncle¡¯s body. The whole process was as fluid as flowing water.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang was using acupuncture that he had learned in his previous life on Earth on the Yang family chief, Yang Yunji. In the past, the Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle which he had performed on Freezing Wind was another form of acupuncture. Of course, he was not using the same technique on Yang Yunji, but another acupuncture technique called Celestial Dipper Detox Needle.


    Celestial Dipper Detox Needle could be used to detoxify poison and was a technique not inferior to the Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle which he had picked up by chance in his previous life on Earth. Furthermore, the technique had extremely strict standards regarding the needles used: they had to be fine, two-inch-long, pure gold needles, and it required exactly thirty-six needles for each of the thirty-six celestial dippers.


    To Yang Zixi¡¯s eyes, the young man¡¯s hands were lightning fast; she could not see how he administered the needles. When she saw him slow down and even stop administering the needles, an hour had passed. All thirty-six golden needles were in Yang Yunji¡¯s body.


    ¡°Next, I will hit your meridian points. Together with the thirty-six acupuncture points, this will help to detoxify the poison in your body,¡± said Zhou Donghuang as he looked at Yang Yunji. ¡°This process will be a little painful¡­ as long as you manage to withstand the pain, I¡¯ll be able to complete the first day of treatment. Prepare yourself. I will begin after ten breaths.¡±


    After he had spoken, Zhou Donghuang turned to the dazed young girl beside him and said with a smile, ¡°Zixi, go out and tell the rest¡­ later, no matter what they hear from this room, don¡¯t come in and disturb the process. If not, not only will they waste all our efforts, they may even endanger his life.¡± As he spoke, his tone turned serious.


    ¡°Ah?¡± The young girl was first surprised, but once she recovered from her shock, she nodded hurriedly and walked out of the door. After instructing Yang Yunchong and the rest, she then returned to the room.


    In that time, ten breaths had passed since Yang Zixi closed the door. As she looked on, the young man at the bedside began his rapid hand movements. The lightning-fast movements left her spellbound. But this time, the young man did not have needles in his hands. His hands were sometimes clenched into a fist and sometimes with palm outspread, landing on her uncle¡¯s body.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    ¡­


    As Zhou Donghuang struck with his lightning-fast hands, both fist and palm landing on Yang Yunji¡¯s body, dull thuds echoed in the room. In the beginning, Yang Yunji felt intense pain all over his body, but he clenched his teeth and winced through the pain. But towards the end, the pain became unbearable as he could not help but scream. His hair-raising screams would have made Yang Yunchong and the rest outside rush into the room if Yang Zixi had not instructed them otherwise previously.


    ¡°Third Master Yang, elders¡­ aren¡¯t you afraid that the young man will make a mistake and harm Chief even before the poison kills him?¡± Hearing the screams from within the room, Shi Yu looked at Yang Yunchong, Yang Ping and Yang An, and asked seriously.


    ¡°Young Master Shi, rather than wait for the poison to act up, I¡¯d rather let Medicine Master Zhou try,¡± Yang Yunchong said emotionlessly, ignoring Shi Yu¡¯s attempt at fanning the flames.


    ¡°Third Master Yang, from what you say¡­ are you really placing your hopes on this young lad who came from nowhere?¡± Shi Yu laughed condescendingly. ¡°That lad, even if he really is a basic-level medicine master, could he possibly be as capable as Medicine Master Xiao in terms of treating poison? There is no way that he can detoxify a poison that even Medicine Master Xiao could not treat.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Shi, he has already claimed that he can help to detoxify chief¡¯s poison¡­ today, if he fails to do it, we will definitely not let him go so easily,¡± said Yang Ping. ¡°For now, let him do what he wants.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± agreed Yang An with a nod.


    After an hour, the screams from inside the room finally quietened down, and the room regained its peace.


    Inside, Yang Zixi was shocked. Zhou Donghuang was removing the thirty-six needles which he had stuck into Yang Yunji¡¯s body, and with each needle removed, black poisoned blood seeped out from Yang Yunji¡¯s body, staining his clothes black. And as the poisoned blood left his body, Yang Yunji¡¯s condition seemed to improve.


    After all the needles had been removed, half of Yang Yunji¡¯s head of white hair had turned black. At the same time, the wrinkles on his face had reduced. Although he still looked old, he still looked much younger than before. If he had looked sixty or seventy years old previously, now he looked just slightly over sixty years old.


    ¡°This¡­ is incredible.¡± If she had not seen it with her own eyes, Yang Zixi would not have believed that someone could reverse aging in just two hours.


    Incredible! Simply incredible! That was all Yang Zixi could think of in that moment.


    ¡°You have recovered much better than I had imagined¡­ from tomorrow onwards, I will perform acupuncture on you every day. After four days, you won¡¯t need it anymore.¡± As Zhou Donghuang put the needles back into the box, he told Yang Yunji, ¡°As long as you drink the medicine that I prescribed every day, you will recover all your strength within five or six days.¡±


    At the same time, Yang Yunji recovered from his state of shock. He dropped to his knees and thanked Zhou Donghuang profusely, ¡°Yang Yunji is grateful to Medicine Master Zhou for his benevolence!¡±


    Only he could experience the miraculous transformation of his body. Previously, he could feel the life seeping out of his body with each moment, as if he were aging constantly¡­ that feeling had caused him to despair. But now, he found that he was no longer losing his vitality, and his body felt much younger. Although his condition was far from his original self, he felt strangely energetic.


    In that moment, Yang Yunji felt as if he had been released from hell and ascended to heaven. Finally, there was hope for him.


    Hence, he was immeasurably grateful to Zhou Donghuang who had given him this hope, and he knelt in gratitude. He seemed to forget that he was the chief of the grand Yang family and that the man before him was just a sixteen or seventeen-year-old young man¡­ All he knew was that the young man had saved his life.


    ¡°Remember what I said.¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at Yang Yunji, then smiled at Yang Zixi and left the room.


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, how is it?¡± Seeing Zhou Donghuang leave, Yang Yunchong, Yang Ping and Yang An rushed to him.


    ¡°Go in and see for yourself,¡± said Zhou Donghuang flatly.


    Just as he said this, hearty laughter erupted from within the room, ¡°Hahahaha¡­ Hahahahahaha¡­¡± Hearing this, the eyes of Yang Yunchong and the rest lit up as they rushed into the room.


    ¡°No¡­ no way!¡± Hearing the energetic laughter from within the room, Shi Yu looked at Zhou Donghuang in disbelief and entered the room behind the rest.


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang went straight to his room in the Yang family household.


    As Yang Yunchong and the rest entered the room, seeing Yang Yunji¡¯s current condition, they did not even have to ask to understand the situation.


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou is really superb,¡± Yang An exclaimed wholeheartedly.


    ¡°I never would I have thought that a sixteen or seventeen-year-old boy could detoxify a poison that the famed Medicine Master Xiao, a poison expert among the top medicine masters in the Chu royal city, could not treat,¡± Yang Ping could not help but remark.


    ¡°Brother, look at you now¡­ you must be recovering well, right?¡± Yang Yunchong asked Yang Yunji excitedly.


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou said, from tomorrow, he will perform acupuncture four times over the next four days and will purge my body of all the snake poison.¡± Yang Yunji¡¯s face was still filled with excitement. ¡°As long as I persevere and drink his medicine every day, I will fully recover within five to six days!¡±


    ¡°Congratulations, Uncle.¡± A wide smile spread over the beautiful face of the young girl at his side. She had not smiled this easily in a long while.


    ¡°Zixi, I owe it to you for inviting Medicine Master Zhou here.¡± Yang Yunchong looked at the young girl lovingly.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Lady Zixi deserves the credit for treating Chief¡¯s poison!¡± Yang Ping and Yang An also looked at the young girl happily.


    ¡°How is this possible?!¡± When Shi Yu saw the black hair on Yang Yunji¡¯s head and the youth in his face, he was in disbelief. ¡°That lad is only a basic-level medicine master at best, how could he possibly detoxify a poison that even Medicine Master Xiao could not treat?!¡±


    Once he had recovered from his shock, Shi Yu turned and left the Yang family household without a word.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± After leaving the Yang family household, Shi Yu¡¯s eyes flashed coldly. ¡°Kid, do you think you did a good thing by helping treat the Yang family chief?¡±

 Chapter 80 Conspiracy

    After leaving the Yang family household, Shi Yu first returned to the Shi household before going straight to Xiao Chen, one of the top ten medicine masters in the Chu royal city.


    Xiao Chen was an intermediate-level medicine master who had not joined any family, and he had opened his own pharmacy in the city. As the poison expert among the top ten medicine masters in the Chu royal city, Xiao Chen had a monopoly over the whole market for poison detoxification in the city.


    Xiao Chen hadn¡¯t joined a family not because none of them wanted him, but because he wanted the freedom of not being tied down by a family. If he wanted to, he could even join the household of the Chu king and become a royal physician there.


    Of course, if he joined the royal household, his position would not be as high as those who had joined a tycoon family, because the Chu royal household already had many intermediate-level medicine masters. If he joined the household of the Chu king, it would simply be the icing on the cake for the royal household. And if he joined a tycoon family, his position would not be as high as if he had joined a grand family. Whereas if he joined a grand family, it would be akin to providing much-needed help in a time of need.


    ¡°Medicine Master Xiao.¡± Although Shi Yu was spoiled, he was extremely courteous and respectful before Xiao Chen.


    ¡°Young Master Shi, why have you come to find me? If you are asking for help to treat someone¡¯s poison, then please leave.¡± Because of the incident two days ago at the grand Yang family, Xiao Chen was also unhappy at Shi Yu, who had invited him to the Yang family. Upon seeing him, Xiao Chen had been prepared to send him away immediately.


    After he had told the Yang family that he could not treat the poison in their chief, they had gotten a basic-level medicine master to take a look at their chief. Clearly, they were doubting his abilities and were mocking him.


    ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, allow me to apologise for what happened two days ago,¡± said Shi Yu with a sincere smile. ¡°Today I¡¯ve come to you not to ask for help, but to help you.¡±


    ¡°Help me?¡± Xiao Chen found this laughable. He questioned incredulously, ¡°Why would I, Xiao Chen, need help from Young Master Shi?¡±


    ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, I believe you haven¡¯t heard¡­ two days ago, that sixteen or seventeen-year-old basic-level medicine master whom the Yang family found managed to detoxify some of the poison in Yang Yunji,¡± Shi Yu said as his eyes narrowed.


    ¡°Impossible!¡± interrupted Xiao Chen. ¡°Even I was unable to treat Yang Yunji¡¯s poison. How could a basic-level medicine master possibly do anything?¡± Clearly, Xiao Chen did not believe Shi Yu¡¯s words.


    ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, if I had not seen it for myself, I would not have believed it either,¡± said Shi Yu as he shook his head. ¡°Today, after he detoxified the poison in Yang Yunji, I took a look for myself. Half of Yang Yunji¡¯s head full of white hair turned black again¡­ Furthermore, he originally looked at least seventy years old, but now, his wrinkles have lessened and he looks sixty at most.¡±


    Hearing this, Xiao Chen¡¯s eyes narrowed as he stared at Shi Yu and asked in a low voice, ¡°Are you serious?¡±


    Shi Yu shook his head and said, ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, if you don¡¯t believe me, you can take a look for yourself¡­ I have no reason to lie to you. Yang Yunji also said¡­ that kid will continue treating him for a few days, and he will not only be purged of the poison in five to six days, but will even recover all his original strength!¡±


    Shi Yu looked at Xiao Chen seriously and said, ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, if that kid really manages to heal Yang Yunji, your reputation will be tarnished. By then, news will spread around the Chu royal city that you, as the poison expert among the top ten medicine masters in the Chu royal city, are not even as capable as a teenager! Your pharmacy business will definitely be affected seriously.¡±


    Hearing this, Xiao Chen¡¯s expression flashed.


    Xiao Chen was not only concerned about his pharmacy business, but more importantly, his reputation was at stake.


    ¡°I will head to the Yang household right now!¡± Xiao Chen declared.


    ¡°I¡¯ll accompany you,¡± said Shi Yu with a smile.


    On the way, Shi Yu remarked, ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, actually, even if the deed is already done, it is not the end for you.¡±


    ¡°How so?¡± Xiao Chen asked curiously as he looked at Shi Yu.


    ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, think about it¡­ even if that kid manages to treat Yang Yunji¡¯s poison, as long as the Yang family tells everyone that you were the one who did the detoxification, and not him, then everyone will applaud your capability,¡± Shi Yu said with a smile. ¡°If the rest of the top ten medicine masters in the city were all unable to treat the poison, but you managed to do it¡­ then, your reputation will be elevated!¡±


    Xiao Chen¡¯s eyes narrowed sharply, ¡°You mean, once the kid treats Yang Yunji, I jump in and claim the credit?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± responded Shi Yu with a nod.


    ¡°Why would that young man or the Yang family do that?¡± Xiao Chen asked seriously.


    ¡°Don¡¯t bother about that kid¡­ as for the Yang family, as long as my Shi family gives them some benefits or threaten them a little, they will easily betray that young man,¡± Shi Yu answered with confidence.


    Hearing this, Xiao Chen seemed to realize something and stared intently at Shi Yu. ¡°Young Master Shi, you¡¯re digging my grave¡­ are you trying to make me join the Shi family?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right,¡± agreed Shi Yu.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Xiao Chen snorted. ¡°Even if I wanted to win the Yang family over, I can do it myself, without your help.¡± As an intermediate-level medicine master, he too could bribe the Yang family without the help of the Shi family. As long as the Shi family got involved, he would definitely be trapped by them. That was not what he wanted at all.


    ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, the problem is¡­ you may be able to bribe the Yang family, but can you buy me over?¡± Shi Yu laughed, his threat hardly concealed within his words.


    ¡°You?¡± Xiao Chen¡¯s eyes flashed murderously.


    Noticing this, Shi Yu said nonchalantly, ¡°Don¡¯t you think that I would have discussed this with my family before looking you up? After all, this concerns an intermediate-level medicine master joining our Shi family, and not just any intermediate-level medicine master, but one of the top ten in the Chu royal city.¡± Unless Xiao Chen was willing to give up his whole career in this city, he would definitely not dare to kill him.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Xiao Chen¡¯s eyes flashed as he said with a low voice, ¡°Let¡¯s talk about joining the Shi family after the kid actually treats Yang Yunji!¡±


    ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, once you take a look at Yang Yunji, you won¡¯t have to wait any longer to confirm that the kid will probably be able to treat him,¡± replied Shi Yu with a laugh.


    Till now, he could still remember his shock upon seeing Yang Yunji in the room; his drastic change was almost like the reversing of aging in the legends.


    Soon, Shi Yu and Xiao Chen reached the Yang family household. The two Yang family disciples guarding the front door recognized Shi Yu and naturally did not dare to stop him. Shi Yu and Xiao Chen entered the household.


    ¡°This¡­ How is this possible?!¡± When Xiao Chen saw Yang Yunji again, it was like seeing a ghost. His face was filled with fear, his eyes widened in disbelief. Unless he had seen it for himself, he would not have believed that a person could undergo such a huge change in just two short days.


    Now, he was certain that Shi Yu had not been exaggerating. Everything was exactly as he had described.


    ¡°Yang family chief, let me test the poison in your body.¡± Breathing deeply and suppressing his agitation, Xiao Chen used his own method to test the level of poison in Yang Yunji¡¯s body. To his surprise, the amount of poison had decreased by almost thirty percent, was well controlled and was no longer spreading.


    ¡°Yang family chief, that young man¡­ did he tell you what poison you had been infected with?¡± asked Xiao Chen.


    Although Xiao Chen could not help to treat his poison, he was still one of the top ten medicine masters in the city. Yang Yunji did not dare to offend him, and he answered truthfully, ¡°Medicine Master Zhou said it was a snake poison.¡±


    ¡°Snake poison?¡± Xiao Chen said firmly, ¡°Impossible!¡±


    Two days ago, when he had tested the poison in Yang Yunji, he had not noticed any bite marks anywhere on his body. Furthermore, if he had been bitten by a snake, Yang Yunji would have definitely felt it and told him.


    ¡°At first, I did not think it was possible either,¡± said Yang Yunji with a sigh. ¡°After all, I had not been bitten by a snake, and there were no bite marks anywhere on my body. But Medicine Master Zhou said that it was a snake which spit its venom and made its victim breathe the poison in, not through a bite. He also said¡­ I had been infected by the Russell¡¯s viper,¡± finished Yang Yunji.


    ¡°The Russell¡¯s viper?¡± Xiao Chen frowned. He was sure that he had never heard of such a snake before.


    Looks like he happened to know what poison it was and treated it accordingly, to detoxify Yang Yunji of the poison, thought Xiao Chen to himself, feeling relieved. This did not mean that the kid was more capable than him, just that he was lucky and happened to know how to treat this particular poison.


    ¡°Yang family chief, farewell.¡± After bidding farewell to Yang Yunji, Xiao Chen left the household with Shi Yu.


    As they walked out, Shi Yu asked with a laugh, ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, do you now believe that that kid can treat Yang Yunji?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll return to the Shi family with you,¡± responded Xiao Chen seriously.

 Chapter 81 Chapter Attitudes Like Flipping Pages

    Zhou Donghuang did not practice after returning from his visit to Yang Yunji. Instead, he sat at the stone table in the courtyard, sipping tea and enjoying the sunshine.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou.¡±


    A gentle voice, followed by a beautiful, slender and elegant young lady, slipped into Zhou Donghuang¡¯s field of vision.


    It was Yang Zixi.


    ¡°Have a seat.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled gently as he beckoned Yang Zixi over to have a seat. Perhaps it was the whole episode with Chen Dandan that gave him a sense of goodwill towards this young lady who knew the meaning of gratitude.


    Of course, it was only goodwill and not mixed with other feelings.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, First Uncle and Third Uncle asked me to give this to you.¡±


    She placed the brocaded box she was holding on the stone table and pushed before Zhou Donghuang, making sure to display it before Zhou Donghuang before opening it.


    Inside the box was the ten-year survival weed.


    ¡°I have not yet finished purging the poison from Patriarch Yang¡¯s body, and you are already giving me the ten-year survival weed? Aren¡¯t they afraid that I will not be able to complete the job?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a smile.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou must be kidding.¡±


    The young lady laughed breezily. Just from the skill that this youth had shown that day, she was fully confident that he would be able to completely purge the poison from her uncle¡¯s body.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, how did you come to have such skills? Where did you learn such a skill?¡± the young lady asked curiously.


    The technique and skill that the youth had displayed in acupuncture had left her starry-eyed and in awe. In her opinion, such skill was impossible to master without at least eight to ten years of hard work.


    ¡°I learned it from an ancient record, through trial and error.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s reply was the truth. He had indeed found an ancient record on acupuncture on Earth by accident, and he had eventually mastered it after a period of trial and error.


    However, the young lady did not believe Zhou Donghuang but assumed that he was unwilling to reveal the truth, and so she did not pursue it further.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, Shi Yu of the Shi family left and returned with Medicine Master Xiao¡­ Medicine Master Xiao is acknowledged as the foremost expert on poisons in the Chu royal city. He was stunned speechless when he saw the state First Uncle was in after you treated him.¡±


    The young lady changed the subject, smiling as she shared this with Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Or perhaps, he never imagined in his wildest dreams that youth could purge even a poison even he was helpless against.¡±


    ¡°The Russell¡¯s Viper is extremely rare, and perhaps not even ten of them could be found in the whole of Yunyang country¡­ perhaps he does not even know of Russell¡¯s Viper, so how could he treat its poison?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang graciously made light of it.


    Of course, there was something that he did not say.


    Even if the source of an ordinary poison was unknown, an intermediate-level medicine master would be able to purge it¡­ however, usually only an earth-level medicine master and above would be able to purge the poison from a Russell¡¯s Viper.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, are you really an inferior-level medicine master?¡± the young Lady asked curiously.


    ¡°An inferior-level medicine master?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was momentarily stunned, but recovered with a casual laugh and countered, ¡°Zixi, do you think an inferior-level medicine master would be able to detoxify your uncle?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    The young lady shook her head. She knew what level an inferior-level medicine master would have. Even an intermediate-level medicine master might not have such ability.


    For example, the ten great medicine masters of the Chu royal city, who were all outstanding intermediate-level medicine masters, had been helpless against the poison that her uncle was suffering from.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, then are you be an intermediate-level medicine master?¡±


    The young lady stared wide-eyed, her beautiful face full of surprise.


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head.


    ¡°How about a superior-level medicine master?¡± the young lady asked again.


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head once more.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, are you telling me¡­ that you are an earth-level medicine master?¡± the young lady asked with a smile.


    ¡°Also, no.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang continued shaking his head.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, could you possibly mean that¡­ you are a heaven-level medicine master?¡± the young lady asked with a bitter smile.


    There had never been a heaven-level medicine master in the history of the country of Yunyang. The best medicine master in the history of the country of Yunyang had only been an earth-level medicine master.


    ¡°A heaven-level medicine master? Perhaps I could be considered as one,¡± Zhou Donghuang murmured, nodding his head solemnly.


    Adepts below the stage of Primal Core could not use their essential core to forge the Samadhi fire, and without the Samadhi fire, they could not practice alchemy.


    No matter how skilled a person might be at alchemy and how knowledgeable he was about medicine, he could only be considered a heaven-level medicine master at most if he had not advanced to the stage of Primal Core.


    This was the situation that Zhou Donghuang was in now.


    In his previous life, not only had he been at the pinnacle of the universe in terms of martial power, but also in terms of practicing alchemy, no one could match him.


    However, even though he had a brain full of unsurpassed knowledge about alchemy and medicine, his level of practice had not yet advanced to the stage of Primal Core. He could also only be considered a medicine master and not an alchemist.


    A heaven-level medicine master? Could he be considered as such?


    The young lady naturally did not believe Zhou Donghuang and assumed that he was joking with her. ¡°Big Brother Zhou, you are truly¡­ interesting.¡±


    Though he saw that the young lady did not believe him, Zhou Donghuang chose not to say more. He had no control over whether people believed him or not.


    Moreover, he could not be bothered about it.


    After chatting with Zhou Donghuang for a while more, the young lady bade him farewell. ¡°Big Brother Zhou, I¡¯ll come over tomorrow morning, and we¡¯ll go over to my uncle together.¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    After acknowledging the young lady, Zhou Donghuang returned to his room to begin formulating the new qi-gathering elixir.


    Although he could have formulated a qi-gathering elixir that increased sensitivity to qi by 900% percent earlier, he was in no hurry to do so.


    He had been waiting for the ten-year survival weed from the Yang family.


    Now that he had the ten-year survival weed, he could immediately formulate a qi-gathering elixir that increased sensitivity to qi by a thousand percent!


    With this maximum strength qi-gathering elixir, my rate of practice can be increased even further.


    Several hours later, Zhou Donghuang was looking at bottle after bottle of maximum strength qi-gathering elixir, his eyes glittering.


    With this maximum strength qi-gathering elixir, when I enter that state of complete concentration needed for the Lord of the Four Supremes, my rate of practice will be even greater!


    At this thought, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes began to glitter even more brightly.


    Of course, he knew that he would not be able to enter that state of practice for the next few days¡­ because he needed to help the patriarch of the Yang family purge the poison from his body every day for the next four days.


    Of course, although he would not be able to enter that particular state of practice for the next few days, Zhou Donghuang was nevertheless impatient to consume the maximum strength qi-gathering elixir and begin practicing.


    Now, in the process of practicing the Lord of the Four Supremes, he could distinctly feel his rate of practice increasing¡­ The increase in his rate of practice was so great compared to before that it could not even be mentioned in the same breath!


    Zhou Donghuang practiced till late at night before collapsing onto his bed and falling asleep. The next morning, he continued practicing as soon as he awoke.


    At Zhou Donghuang¡¯s current level of practice, he still could not enter a state of practice that was as good as sleep.


    In the boundless universe, only adepts who had achieved the stage of Primal Core could enter a state of practice that was as good as sleep. At the stage of Primal Core, the body could enter a state of sleep while using the core condensed inside the body to absorb qi to practice, and this process would not affect the practice.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou.¡±


    After practicing for several hours, Zhou Donghuang heard the voice of a young lady. He stopped practicing immediately and left the room. He went with Yang Zixi to the accommodation of Patriarch Yang Yunji of the Yang family.


    Similar to the previous day, Zhou Donghuang allowed only the young lady to remain in the room as he purged the poison from Yang Yunji.


    Less than half a day later, after Zhou Donghuang had put the thirty-six gold needles back in the brocaded box, and the robe that Yang Yunji was wearing was once again stained with black poisoned blood.


    Besides that, almost half of Yang Yunji¡¯s hair had turned black.


    There were significantly fewer wrinkles on Yang Yunji¡¯s face. After purging the poison the previous day, he had looked just over sixty years old, but now, he looked less than sixty years old.


    ¡°First Uncle, rest well.¡±


    The young lady wished Yang Yunji before leaving with Zhou Donghuang, not lingering as she had the previous day.


    As they were leaving, the third master of the Yang family, Yang Yunchong, entered the room, smiling at Yang Yunji who was sitting cross-legged on the bed. He said, ¡°Big Brother, that girl Zixi seems to have feelings for that Medicine Master Zhou¡­ I¡¯ve never seen her so close to any young man of similar age as her.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity he is from an inferior-level prefecture, if not, we could seriously consider matching Zixi with him.¡±


    Yang Yunji was very enthusiastic in front of Zhou Donghuang, but now, at the mention of Zhou Donghuang, a look of distaste crept into his eyes.


    He changed his demeanor like flipping the pages of a book.


    He had just found out yesterday from Yang Zixi herself that Zhou Donghuang was from Yunfeng prefecture, an inferior-level prefecture.


    ¡°Big Brother, although he is from an inferior-level prefecture, there is something about him¡­ to be able to treat even the poison you are suffering from, if he and Zixi end up together, and he stays with our Yang family, it would be a great asset to our Yang family,¡± Yang Yunchong said.


    ¡°He can purge the poison from me only because he happens to recognize this particular kind of snake poison, and therefore knows how to purge this kind of snake poison,¡± Yang Yunji said indifferently. ¡°At his age, he can only be an inferior-level medicine master at best. Our Yang family does not lack a mere inferior-level medicine master.¡±


    Although Zhou Donghuang had demonstrated an extremely skillful method of acupuncture before Yang Yunji, in Yang Yunji¡¯s view, that could only have been familiarity that resulted from practice and did not prove anything.


    Even if a youth of sixteen or seventeen years of age could master such a dazzling technique, he could still not possibly be an intermediate-level medicine master.


    To become an intermediate-level medicine master, a person¡¯s mastery of medicine must meet a certain standard. How high a standard could a youth reach?


    ¡°Patriarch, the patriarch of the Shi family is here.¡±


    Just as Yang Yunji finished speaking, he heard the voice of a Yang family junior coming from outside the room. ¡°With him are Young Master Shi Yu and Medicine Master Xiao.¡±


    ¡°The patriarch of the Shi family?¡±


    Yang Yunji squinted at the Yang family junior¡¯s words. ¡°What is he here for?¡±


    The Shi family was a tycoon family, and although it was at the bottom of the pile among the tycoon families, the Yang family was likewise at the bottom of the pile among the grand families and could not compare to them.


    ¡°Shi Yu and Xiao Chen are with him¡­ why do I feel for some reason that the patriarch of the Shi family is here concerning the matter of Medicine Master Zhou treating your poison?¡±


    Yang Yunchong guessed with a frown.

 Chapter 82 Transactions

    In the receiving chamber of the Yang family mansion.


    There were three people already waiting in the receiving chamber when Patriarch Yang Yunji and Third Master Yang Yunchong arrived.


    One of them was seated at the place of honor in the receiving chamber and was an imposing middle-aged man wearing a dark gold mandarin gown. He had a solid, muscular build, curly sideburns, and a dignified forehead.


    He sat there as though he were superior to everyone else.


    Although it was presumptuous for a visitor to seat himself at the place of honor, Yang Yunji and Yang Yunchong did not dare show any hint of displeasure.


    Not only that, they even bowed to the visitors in greeting when they entered.


    ¡°Yang Yunji acknowledges Patriarch Shi.¡±


    ¡°Yang Yunchong acknowledges Patriarch Shi.¡±


    The person seated at the place of honor in the receiving chamber of the Yang family mansion was the patriarch of the tycoon Shi family of the Chu royal city, Shi Hao.


    Besides being the patriarch of the tycoon Shi family, Shi Hao was also a powerful level-seven adept of the Qi-gathering. In the Shi family, his ability was second only to the level-eight adept of the Shi family.


    There were two people standing behind Shi Hao. One of them was his eldest son Shi Yu, and the other was one of the ten great medicine masters of the Chu royal city, Xiao Chen.


    The sight of Yang Yunji and his previously white head of hair that was now almost half black left a shocked expression on Xiao Chen¡¯s face, and his eyes showed a sense of disbelief and surprise.


    When he had seen Yang Yunji the previous day, he had been in a different state entirely. Yang Yunji now seemed to be a totally different person today. Not only Xiao Chen, but Shi Yu too had a similar reaction when he saw Yang Yunji.


    Of course, not only Xiao Chen but also Shi Yu were immediately able to tell that the amount of poison in Yang Yunji¡¯s body was significantly less.


    ¡°Patriarch Yang, from the current situation¡­ the poison in your body should be completely purged three days from now,¡± Xiao Chen declared, looking at Yang Yunji.


    ¡°Correct.¡±


    Yang Yunji could barely conceal the excitement on his face when Xiao Chen brought this topic up. ¡°In two more days, the poison in my body will be completely purged.¡±


    ¡°This is all thanks to Medicine Master Zhou¡¯s efforts.¡±


    Although he looked down on that youth in private, he did not dare voice out his true thoughts. Otherwise, it would be a point of ridicule that the patriarch of the Yang family and the entire Yang family by extension repaid grace with spite. This was not something he wished to see.


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou¡¯s efforts?¡±


    Shi Yu laughed as he looked at Yang Yunji. ¡°Patriarch Yang, regarding what you said¡­ I fear you are mistaken?¡±


    ¡°It is obviously Medicine Master Xiao Chen¡¯s effort; how could you give credit to others? Such ungratefulness will definitely become a topic of conversation.¡±


    As he finished, Shi Yu gave Yang Yunji a meaningful look.


    ¡°Young Master Shi, what do you mean by that?¡±


    Yang Yunji frowned subconsciously, and a suspicious expression spread across the face of Yang Yunchong who was standing beside him. He was unsure what Shi Yu really meant.


    It was a matter of fact that his big brother¡¯s poison was treated by that youth named Zhou, so why say it was the effort of Medicine Master Xiao Chen?


    ¡°I mean exactly what I say.¡±


    Just as the brothers Yang Yunji and Yang Yunchong were beginning to get confused, Shi Hao, the patriarch of the tycoon Shi family spoke up in a booming voice with a tone that brooked no argument.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    Yang Yunji and Yang Yunchong instinctively looked at Shi Hao.


    Shi Hao looked back at Yang Yunji and casually said, ¡°After the poison in your body has been purged in several days¡¯ time, and only if the Yang family announces to the public that it was Medicine Master Xiao Chen who helped you purge the poison¡­ the Shi family will give the Yang family a medicine shop located near the center of the Chu royal city.¡±


    Almost as soon as Shi Hao had spoken, Yang Yunji¡¯s eyes lit up, and his breathing quickened in an instant.


    A medicine shop located near the center of the Chu royal city?


    Although the Yang family also had medicine shops in the Chu royal city as well, they were all located in more remote areas in the Chu royal city, and the business from those shops was sparse compared to medicine shops located near the center of the Chu royal city.


    The value of a medicine shop near the center of the Chu royal city was even greater than the value of all the other medicine shops that the Yang family owned.


    ¡°Patriarch Shi, are you serious about this?¡±


    Yang Yunji looked at Shi Hao with glittering eyes, seeking further confirmation.


    ¡°What? Are you doubting what I, Shi Hao, says?¡±


    Shi Hao smiled coldly. ¡°Does the patriarch of a tycoon family like me need to cheat the patriarch of a grand family like you? Laughable!¡±


    ¡°Patriarch Shi, I meant no offense, I was simply too excited.¡±


    Yang Yunji smiled awkwardly.


    ¡°Do you agree to this?¡± Shi Hao asked casually.


    ¡°I agree! Of course, I agree!¡±


    Yang Yunji nodded without a trace of hesitation, as though he was afraid that Shi Hao would rescind the offer if he delayed.


    ¡°Big Brother!¡±


    At the same time, Yang Yunchong recovered his wits and looked distastefully at Yang Yunji. ¡°If you agree to this¡­ how will you explain this to Medicine Master Zhou?¡±


    ¡°This doesn¡¯t seem right.¡±


    ¡°Moreover, if Zixi knows about this, she will definitely not agree,¡± Yang Yunchong said, voicing out his apprehension.


    Yang Yunji smiled coldly, ¡°That Medicine Master Zhou is merely a village bumpkin from an inferior-level prefecture, we¡¯ll just pay him off with some silver and dismiss him¡­ even if he is unwilling, what can he do? Could he possibly go against our Yang family? As for Zixi, she¡¯s just a little girl, what does she know?¡± Yang Yunji said casually.


    Yang Yunchong smiled bitterly but did not pursue the matter.


    After all, the allure of the promise made by the patriarch of the Shi family was too enticing, and if he was in his big brother¡¯s position, he might have agreed as well.


    ¡°One more thing.¡±


    Shi Hao continued speaking, ¡°My son Shi Yu has taken a fancy to that Yang Zixi of your Yang family¡­ if the Yang family will match her with my son, my Shi family will provide the Yang family with valuable medical formulas in the future, and I guarantee that all the medicine shops owned by the Yang family will at least double their profits!¡±


    The promise that Shi Hao now made took Yang Yunji¡¯s breath away.


    However, he could only give a bitter smile at the condition that Shi Hao imposed. ¡°Patriarch Shi, perhaps you are not aware¡­ that niece of mine is willful, and I am unable to force her to marry Young Master Shi. If I had a way, I would have married her off to Young Master Shi when he approached us with the subject of marriage¡­ but that girl Zixi, she threatened to take her own life, and I could do nothing about it.¡±


    Yang Yunji gave a long sigh as he finished speaking.


    He sighed not just at his helplessness regarding Yang Zixi¡¯s will but also because the Yang family had missed the opportunity to gain the formulas that the Shi family could offer them.


    ¡°So I¡¯ve heard from my son.¡±


    Shi Hao was not surprised by what Yang Yunji had said, and he spoke indifferently as he continued, ¡°Therefore, Patriarch Yang, you have another option.¡±


    ¡°If she rejects marriage to my son, as long as you expel her from the Yang family and announce it publicly that she is no longer a Yang family member, the Shi family will still provide you with the formulas,¡± Shi Hao said.


    This caused Yang Yunchong¡¯s expression to change completely.


    Yang Yunji however, looked at Shi Hao with shining eyes. ¡°Will the formulas provided also allow the medicine shops owned by the Yang family to earn more than twice their current profits?¡±


    Seeing Shi Hao nod, he immediately agreed. ¡°Excellent! I agree!¡±


    ¡°Big Brother!¡±


    Yang Yunchong never imagined that his big brother would agree. He said in a low voice with a foul expression on his face, ¡°If you do this, how can you honor the memory of your deceased second brother? Don¡¯t forget¡­ that year, Second Brother and Second Sister-in-Law were killed by the bandits while covering your escape!¡±


    As he finished, Yang Yunchong¡¯s expression became more foul.


    ¡°Even if Second Brother and Second Sister-in-Law had not protected me, they would probably not have escaped with their lives anyway.¡±


    Faced with Yang Yunchong¡¯s rebuke, Yang Yunji¡¯s expression did not change, and he said flatly, ¡°They did save my life¡­ but in the years since, I have done my best to bring up their only daughter, and I have fulfilled my obligations to them.¡±


    ¡°Now that their daughter has grown up¡­ it is time she makes some contribution to the family clan,¡± Yang Yunji said matter-of-factly.


    In reply to Yang Yunji¡¯s words, Yang Yunchong said in a low voice, ¡°I cannot agree to this!¡±


    ¡°Even if you don¡¯t agree, it is beyond your control.¡±


    Yang Yunji swept a cold gaze over Yang Yunchong. ¡°The patriarch of the Yang family makes the decision, not you!¡±


    ¡°If you expel Zixi from the Yang family, then expel me together with her.¡±


    Yang Yunchong looked furiously at Yang Yunji. ¡°Even if you don¡¯t care for her, I do!¡±


    ¡°Enough!¡±


    Just as Yang Yunchong finished speaking, Shi Hao rose with an impatient shout and sprang towards Yang Yunchong like a hound.


    Pong!!


    Shi Hao delivered a punch which sent Yang Yunchong flying before he even had time to react, and he crashed heavily into the wall of the receiving chamber and fell without a sound.


    Yang Yunchong was only a level-five adept of the Qi-gathering and naturally could not withstand Shi Hao, who was a level-seven adept of the Qi-gathering.


    Even if Shi Hao had not attacked unexpectedly, Yang Yunchong would have been hard-pressed to defend against Shi Hao¡¯s attack.


    ¡°Patriarch Yang, I don¡¯t believe you object to us helping the Yang family to clean house?¡± Shi Hao asked.


    After killing Yang Yunchong with a single blow, Shi Hao looked at Yang Yunji with a mocking smile who was staring slack-jawed at him.


    Yang Yunji was pale with fear and waved his hands hurriedly as he said, ¡°No objections, no objections¡­ many thanks to Patriarch Shi for helping the Yang family clean house!¡±


    Would he have dared to object? Shi Hao was an outstanding level-seven adept and could easily kill Yang Yunji if he wanted to.


    Of course, because of the restrictions imposed by the imperial court of Yunyang country, Shi Hao did not dare kill the patriarch of a grand family indiscriminately, but roughing him up was not out of the question.


    Within the country of Yunyang, the wholesale slaughter of families and extinguishing their roots was forbidden between the powerful families¡­ after a family had sprung up, they would have the royal family¡¯s protection as long as they were able to put on record before the royal family that they were a family of renown.


    And behind the royal family was the imperial court. The orders of the imperial court were carried out by all the royal courts. The reason for such restrictions was because the imperial court wanted to establish order within the country of Yunyang to protect the internal stability of the country.


    Otherwise, there would be families slaughtering each other everywhere, and the people of Yunyang country would have no way of making a living. This was not something the imperial court of the country of Yunyang wanted to see.


    ¡°If only that slut is expelled from the Yang family and is denied the support of the Yang family¡­ she will be fish on my cutting board, and I, Shi Yu, will be able to do whatever I wish!¡±


    Shi Yu¡¯s eyes glittered at Yang Yunji¡¯s agreement.


    His father had included this condition at his suggestion, and he considered it a reward from his father.


    This time, the addition of Xiao Chen, the intermediate-level medicine master, to the Shi family was all due to his effort, and therefore, his father had agreed to give him this reward.

 Chapter 83 An Invisible Hand

    The morning of September 14, 1228 of the Ziyun Era.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou.¡±


    This would be the third time that Zhou Donghuang was visiting the patriarch of the Yang family Yang Yunji to purge the poison from his body, and the young lady had arrived early in the morning to look for him.


    At the sound of her voice, Zhou Donghuang left his room and left with the young lady for Yang Yunji¡¯s accommodation.


    ¡°Eh? Where¡¯s Third Uncle?¡±


    The young lady was surprised at not seeing the third master of the Yang family, Yang Yunchong, as he would normally be around.


    ¡°I have sent your Third Uncle on some errands, he¡¯ll only be back in several days¡¯ time,¡± said the patriarch of the Yang family Yang Yunji with an affable expression. He had come out of his room to welcome Zhou Donghuang.


    He looked at Zhou Donghuang and bowed and raised his arm to usher Zhou Donghuang into the room. ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, after you.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded and led the way into the room. Yang Yunji and the young lady followed him in.


    Less than half a day later, Zhou Donghuang had completed yet another round of acupuncture on Yang Yunji.


    ¡°Tomorrow, I will come over to perform the last round of acupuncture, and the poison in your body will be completely purged. At that point, you will only need to consume the medicine prepared with my formula for two days while you recover, and your body will recover completely to its prior state,¡± Zhou Donghuang said.


    ¡°Many thanks to Medicine Master Zhou.¡±


    Yang Yunji thanked him profusely.


    Half of Yang Yunji¡¯s remaining white hair had turned black, and there were almost no more wrinkles on his face, making him look just over fifty years old at most.


    From the appearance of a roughly seventy-year-old man just three short days before, he now looked just over fifty. If this became widely known, it would shock many people.


    ¡­


    Not long after Zhou Donghuang returned and just as he was about to start practicing, the young lady came over again with a foul expression.


    ¡°Zixi, what¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, I just ran into two elders of the Yang family and overheard them discussing the matter of Uncle regaining his youth.¡± The young lady said in a low voice, ¡°They said it was that Medicine Master Xiao Chen who purged the poison from Uncle. But it is undeniably Big Brother Zhou who helped Uncle get rid of the poison, so how could they give Xiao Chen the credit?I explained it to them, but they did not believe it. They said that a youth like you could not possibly have the ability to purge the poison from Uncle¡¯s body.


    ¡°I asked them where they heard this news, and they said that they heard it from other elders¡­ I got to the root of the matter and searched out the elder who spread the news, and do you know what he said? He said it was what my First Uncle himself told him!¡±


    ¡°How is that possible?¡±


    ¡°So I went to look for First Uncle¡­ and true enough, he said that he had never said such a thing, he told everyone that it was Big Brother Zhou who helped him purge the poison.¡±


    After saying this, the young lady was still in a huff, but she still managed to console Zhou Donghuang at the same time. ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Big Brother Zhou, First Uncle said that he will severely punish the elder who spread the lie!¡±


    ¡°Zixi, you came¡­ just because of this?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a smile, thinking that she was making a mountain out of a molehill. To him, this was just a small matter of no consequence.


    Even if the patriarch of the Yang family Yang Yunji himself refused to acknowledge his efforts and instead attributed it to someone else, he would not have minded. Why would he care about rumors started by a Yang family elder?


    This was because he had decided to treat the patriarch of the Yang family only because of the ten-year survival weed.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, don¡¯t you feel exasperated?¡± the young lady asked angrily.


    ¡°Hmm, it really is exasperating.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded with a slight smile and looked at the young lady with a gaze that had become more tender than before without him realizing it.


    Although he did not care about such things, the concern the young lady showed inexplicably caused waves of warmth to wash over his heart.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, First Uncle did not know about this, please don¡¯t be angry with him,¡± the young lady said softly, looking timidly at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    The young lady exhaled in relief at his reply and bade him farewell with a smile. ¡°Big Brother Zhou, then I shan¡¯t bother you further¡­ I¡¯ll come over tomorrow morning!


    After the young lady left, Zhou Donghuang returned to his room and resumed practicing. He only stopped the next morning when he left his room to wait for the young lady in the courtyard.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou.¡±


    Once she arrived, Zhou Donghuang left with her to look for the patriarch of the Yang family Yang Yunji.


    Half a day later, Zhou Donghuang packed up the golden needles and told Yang Yunji, ¡°Patriarch Yang, the poison in your body has already been completely purged.¡±


    The wrinkles on Yang Yunji¡¯s face were gone, and not a strand of white hair remained. He had recovered his original appearance, and after staring at himself in the mirror for a long while, he finally recovered his wits.


    ¡°Many thanks to Medicine Master Zhou.¡±


    Seeing that the poison had all been purged, Yang Yunji looked at Zhou Donghuang with a nod, not bowing in thanks as he had the previous day.


    The young lady standing to the side frowned at this, thinking that her uncle was being rude. But Zhou Donghuang did not seem to mind, and looking at the golden needles in the brocaded box, he said to Yang Yunji, ¡°Patriarch Yang, this set of golden needles will not be used by the Yang family anyway, so how about giving them to me?¡±


    Although there were thirty-six golden needles, they were extremely light and not worth much. If Zhou Donghuang wanted a set, he would only have to instruct Fu to get one for him.


    However, since it was right there, he was happy to save the trouble.


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, I would like to examine these golden needles, so I¡¯m afraid I cannot give them to you,¡± Yang Yunji said flatly.


    Zhou Donghuang was startled by the reply, but he immediately put down the brocaded box. ¡°In that case, never mind.¡±


    This time, the young lady could no longer stand it and said to Yang Yunji, ¡°First Uncle, since Big Brother Zhou wants these golden needles, why don¡¯t you just give them to him?¡±


    At the same time, the young lady was confused as to why it seemed that her first uncle seemed a totally different person that day?


    ¡°Zixi, your first uncle has his own plans.¡±


    Yang Yunji gave the young lady a glance and looked back at Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, I have something to tell my niece¡­ you, could you leave us for now?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded indifferently and exited the room immediately as he prepared to leave.


    However, as soon as he had exited the room and left the small courtyard, he heard the young lady¡¯s scream of rage. ¡°Fine! I¡¯ll leave the Yang family! Even though I, Yang Zixi, may starve to death after leaving the Yang family, I will not agree to marry that playboy Shi Yu who toys with young girls!¡±


    Hearing this, Zhou Donghuang paused, frowning slightly.


    Soon, he saw the young lady rush out from the room in a huff, rivers of tears flowing down her beautiful cheeks, looking delicate and lovely even in her pitiful state.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou.¡±


    Seeing that Zhou Donghuang had not yet left, the young lady reached up to wipe the tears from her eyes, but the tears kept flowing.


    Even though Zhou Donghuang had a thousand years of memories and had seen disasters and calamities, he could not help feeling pained seeing the young lady in this state.


    ¡°What happened?¡±


    The young lady cried as she told him, ¡°First Uncle wants me to marry that Shi Yu, and said if I do not agree, he will expel me from the Yang family!¡±


    Now, the young lady¡¯s voice was trembling, and it was obvious how emotional she was.


    ¡°How could he say such a thing?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang frowned. ¡°Could he just have been angry?¡±


    ¡°No.¡±


    The young lady shook her head. ¡°I know First Uncle, and he would not say something if he did not mean it.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, I¡¯ll take my leave to pack my things and get ready to leave the Yang family¡­ now, I don¡¯t wish to linger here a moment longer.¡±


    The young lady stumbled off after wishing Zhou Donghuang, crying as she went and leaving a trail of tears behind her.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s face fell, and he entered the courtyard once more and went into Yang Yunji¡¯s room.


    ¡°Why?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked at Yang Yunji and asked in a low voice, ¡°Do you know, Zixi respects you as a father¡­ and you, in order to force her to marry someone she hates, would even expel her from the Yang family?¡±


    ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, this matter is the Yang family¡¯s concern, don¡¯t worry about it,¡± Yang Yunji replied indifferently to Zhou Donghuang question.


    ¡°Do you confirm¡­ that what you said to her was not just to scare her?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked in a low voice.


    ¡°I am the patriarch of the Yang family, and my word is decisive. Why would I scare her?¡±


    Yang Yunji smiled coldly. ¡°Medicine Master Zhou, if you are able to advise her, please do so¡­ if only she agrees to marry Young Master Shi, she will still be part of the Yang family and will continue to enjoy the blessings that come with it.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes gleamed coldly at Yang Yunji¡¯s words, and not bothering to argue, he left and returned directly to his guest room. After Fu had packed up, he led Fu in search of the young lady.


    When they found her, she was about to leave with Aunt Mei.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou?¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang and Fu, the young lady and Aunt Mei could not help being stunned momentarily.


    There were still traces of tears on the young lady¡¯s face, and Aunt Mei¡¯s face was full of rage.


    ¡°I am also about to leave the Yang family, let¡¯s go together.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled.


    As they walked out of the main entrance of the Yang family mansion, Zhou Donghuang asked the young lady, ¡°Where do you intend to go next?¡±


    She hesitated briefly before answering, ¡°I¡­ intend to go to a sister and stay with her temporarily.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll send you over,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a smile.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, you too do not have accommodation in the royal city at the moment¡­ when I see my sister, I¡¯ll get her to take you in too,¡± the young lady said as she dutifully forced out a smile.


    ¡­


    The entrance of the family mansion of the grand Zheng family.


    ¡°Young Mistress Zixi, our young mistress has instructed us¡­ if you have come seeking shelter after being expelled from the Yang family, we are not to allow you in. We are also to advise you that an arm cannot be stronger than a leg, it is best that you marry Young Master Shi,¡± the Zheng family junior guarding the entrance told the young lady.


    ¡°Did she really say that?¡±


    The young lady¡¯s face turned pale.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The Zheng family junior nodded.


    ¡­


    The main entrance of the family mansion of the grand Xie family.


    The young lady had been turned away again.


    ¡°Sister Zixi, our young mistress says, if you agree to marry Young Master Shi, you will both remain sisters¡­ if not, the bond as sisters that you share will end here.¡±


    ¡­


    Zhou Donghuang followed the young lady as she encountered one setback after another.


    It was as though there was an invisible hand pushing the young lady and forcing her to make the stark choice: Marry Young Master Shi of the Shi family or wander the streets.

 Chapter 84 Ren Jiapei

    ¡°They¡­ have all become so heartless?¡±


    The young lady was pale-faced and desolate.


    She never imagined that the daughters of the other grand families who had previously been as close as sisters to her would turn their backs on her in her time of need after being expelled from the Yang family.


    Not just that, each one of them was trying to push her into the pit.


    In the past, she had shared with them more than once that she would rather die than marry that Young Master Shi Yu of the Shi family¡­


    Now, were they really trying to force her to her death?


    ¡°Zixi, we had better find an inn to stay for now.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang sighed. He did not know how to console the young lady given her situation because this was reality.


    No one ever objected to making a good situation even better. However, no one would ever be willing to give help when it was most needed.


    ¡°No¡­ I cannot believe it, I cannot believe it¡­¡±


    The young lady shook her head with an indignant expression and proceeded to bring Zhou Donghuang to the family mansions of two more grand families, with similar results. They were turned away at the door.


    ¡°Young Mistress, listen to Medicine Master Zhou, let¡¯s find an inn for the night.¡±


    Aunt Mei sighed. ¡°Right now, you have already looked up everyone who could have helped.¡±


    ¡°No¡­ there¡¯s still one more.¡±


    There was a look of stubbornness on the young lady¡¯s face.


    ¡°Still one more? Who?¡±


    Aunt Mei was momentarily stunned. She knew all her young mistresses¡¯ friends, and she could not recall anyone else besides those whom her young mistress had already sought out.


    ¡°Ren Jiapei!¡± the young lady said solemnly.


    ¡°Ren Jiapei? The daughter of the grand Ren family?¡±


    Aunt Mei smiled bitterly. ¡°Young Mistress, you and Young Mistress Ren don¡¯t seem to have interacted much with each other? The only interaction you had with her was ten years ago, when she was almost knocked down by the carriage of the tycoon Kong family, and you pulled her aside just in time and saved her life.¡±


    ¡°Although she owes you her life, how old was she at that time? She might not even remember.¡±


    Aunt Mei shook her head. ¡°That year, the patriarch of the Ren family brought her to the Yang family mansion to thank the patriarch of the Yang family, and after presenting a lavish gift, you and she had no more interactions with each other thereafter.¡±


    The Chu royal city was not huge, but neither was it small.


    Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei had not interacted with each other since that year because Ren Jiapei had followed her mother when she left the Ren family and left the Chu royal city. They had been away for ten whole years, and they had just returned a month ago.


    Hearing Aunt Mei relate this story, Zhou Donghuang could not help shaking his head to himself. He did not believe that this young mistress of the Ren family would take the young lady in at this point in time.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, just one more¡­ this is the last person I¡¯ll look up. If even she does not agree to take me in, I¡¯ll go with you to find an inn,¡± the young lady said to Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    On the way to the Ren family, Zhou Donghuang found out from Aunt Mei that although the Ren family was also a grand family, they were much stronger than the Yang family.


    The Yang family had only one level-six adept of Qi-gathering, while the Ren family had three. For this reason, the Ren family¡¯s position in the Chu royal city was much higher than the Yang family¡¯s.


    Of course, they could still not compare to the Shi family, which was a tycoon family.


    Soon, the small group arrived at the main entrance of the Ren family mansion.


    ¡°I¡­ I am Yang Zixi, looking¡­ looking for Young Mistress Ren Jiapei.¡±


    The young lady was not holding on to too much hope after the repeated setbacks, and she spoke to the two Ren family juniors without much confidence.


    ¡°Yang Zixi?¡±


    One of the Ren family juniors gave a start and asked with a serious expression, ¡°Young Mistress Zixi of the grand Yang family?¡±


    ¡°In the past¡­ however, I have now been expelled from the Yang family.¡±


    Yang Zixi shook her head with a self-deprecating smile.


    What the Ren family juniors said next surprised everyone, including Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Young Mistress Zixi, our young mistress instructed us yesterday that if you came looking for her, we should bring you to the receiving chamber immediately and notify her to go over.¡±


    ¡°Young Mistress Zixi, this way please.¡±


    As they spoke, the Ren family juniors ushered the group of four into the Ren family mansion and led them to the receiving chamber.


    ¡°Young Mistress Zixi, please wait here for now. I¡¯ll proceed to notify our young mistress.


    After greeting the young lady, the Ren family junior jogged away from the receiving chamber.


    ¡°I never imagined, really never imagined¡­¡±


    Aunt Mei looked at the young lady in disbelief, sighing and shaking her head. ¡°Young Mistress Ren has not seen you for over ten years now¡­ I never imagined that just when Young Mistress is in need, she would be more reliable than those young mistresses of the other grand families who you are usually close to and treat like sisters. I never imagined, never imagined, really did not imagine.¡±


    Aunt Mei could still not believe it.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang was already thinking about something else.


    Earlier, the Ren family junior said that his young mistress had instructed them the day before to bring Yang Zixi to the receiving chamber and alert her to go over if Yang Zixi came looking for her?


    This meant that Young Mistress Ren already knew since the day before that Yang Zixi would be expelled from the Ren family.


    The young mistresses of the grand families who are usually so close to Zixi obviously also knew about this, which is why they instructed their family juniors in advance to turn Zixi away at the door.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes narrowed at this thought. It¡¯s that Patriarch Yang, could he have made arrangements with the daughters of the other grand families in advance for them not to take Zixi in?


    Or could it be¡­ the tycoon Shi family?


    At this point, Zhou Donghuang could already make several intelligent guesses.


    Huh?


    Suddenly, with a slight movement of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s ear, he heard the sound of hesitant footsteps drawing closer, and although they were still some distance away, he still managed to detect them.


    This was the reward of practicing the Lord of the Four Supremes. While building up his store of qi, practicing the Lord of the Four Supremes also greatly increased the acuity of his eyesight and hearing.


    Just as Zhou Donghuang was looking out of the receiving chamber.


    ¡°Sister Zixi!¡±


    A crimson figure entered, accompanied by a melodious and delicate voice.


    It was a young lady wearing a figure-hugging crimson outfit, about fifteen or sixteen years old, with an alluring figure. Her pretty face was captivating, as it seemed delicate and mature at the same time. This apparent contradiction gave the young lady an attractive sense of uniqueness.


    ¡°Sister Zixi, it¡¯s been ten years, and you¡¯ve grown even more beautiful.¡±


    The young lady in crimson immediately came up to Zixi with a brilliant smile, two small dimples appearing intermittently, her gaze softening.


    ¡°You are¡­ Sister Jiapei?¡±


    Seeing the young lady in red, Yang Zixi¡¯s expression froze. She could not reconcile the slender and elegant young lady with the alluring figure with the little girl from many years ago who cried so easily.


    ¡°What? Don¡¯t you even recognize your sister?¡± Ren Jiapei asked with a smile.


    ¡°No¡­ it¡¯s just that, Sister Jiapei, you have changed so much.¡±


    Yang Zixi gave a bitter smile.


    ¡°It has been ten years after all, big changes are normal. In the month since returning, my level of practice has been on the verge of a breakthrough, which is why I have not looked you up. I intended to do so after I had broken through.¡±


    Ren Jiapei stopped there and hesitated, and a cold gleam flashed through her eyes. ¡°But I never imagined that before I could break through, someone from the Shi family came looking for me, putting on the air of being a tycoon family and telling me politely but with an implied threat that if you were expelled from the Yang family, I must not take you in. At first, I thought that the patriarch of the Yang family could never expel you from the Yang family¡­ but I never imagined that he would actually do it.¡±


    As she finished, a hint of anger appeared on Ren Jiapei¡¯s face. ¡°From what I know, if your parents had not sacrificed their lives that year, he would have died at the hands of the bandits. What an ungrateful scoundrel!


    ¡°It appears that the Shi family has offered him substantial benefits.¡±


    Ren Jiapei got angrier as she spoke.


    However, when Ren Jiapei looked back at Yang Zixi, there was no trace of anger on her face. ¡°Sister Zixi, from now on, the Ren family is your family, stay as long as you like¡­ others may be afraid of the Shi family, but I, Ren Jiapei, am not afraid!¡±


    ¡°Many thanks to Sister Jiapei.¡±


    Yang Zixi thanked her with an expression full of emotion.


    ¡°No need for thanks between us¡­ that year, I would have been crushed by that carriage that suddenly appeared from nowhere if not for you.¡±


    Ren Jiapei shook her head with a smile.


    ¡°Sister Jiapei, I don¡¯t have to introduce Aunt Mei, you have met her in the past.¡±


    Yang Zixi looked at Zhou Donghuang, and introduced him to Ren Jiapei. ¡°This is Big Brother Zhou Donghuang, he is a medicine master, my first uncle¡­¡±


    At this point, a pained look came over Yang Zixi¡¯s face, and she corrected herself, ¡°The poisoning that Patriarch Yang Yunji of the Yang family was suffering from was purged by Big Brother Zhou himself.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou.¡±


    Ren Jiapei followed Yang Zixi in calling Zhou Donghuang ¡°Big Brother,¡± and Zhou Donghuang, who was quite positively inclined towards Ren Jiapei, returned her greeting with a smile. ¡°Young Mistress Ren.¡±


    ¡°Sister Zixi, this is not right.¡±


    Ren Jiapei looked at Yang Zixi with a slight frown. ¡°These two days, the news spreading in the Chu royal city is that¡­ the poison that Patriarch Yang Yunji of the Yang family was suffering from was purged by one of the ten great medicine masters of the Chu royal city, Xiao Chen. That Medicine Master Xiao Chen¡¯s stock has skyrocketed because of this, and he has already eclipsed the other nine of the ten great medicine masters in the Chu royal city because they had been helpless against the poison that Yang Yunji was suffering from,¡± Ren Jiapei said.


    ¡°It¡¯s not like this!¡±


    Yang Zixi shook her head. ¡°My first¡­ Xiao Chen had nothing to do with the poison that Yang Yunji was suffering from! I personally witnessed the whole process of detoxification, and only Big Brother Zhou was involved.¡±


    ¡°But¡­ the news, many people have verified that it comes straight from the mouth of Patriarch Yang Yunji of the Yang family.¡±


    Ren Jiapei knitted her eyebrows again. ¡°One more thing¡­ that Medicine Master Xiao Chen is now a part of the Shi family, and is now in service to the Shi family as their medicine master. Many people find this odd because previously, he refused to be a part of the Shi family when he was less renowned. Moreover, although the Shi family is a tycoon family, it is a tycoon family at the bottom of the hierarchy of tycoon families in the Chu royal city, where there is no shortage of tycoon families.¡±


    As she finished, Ren Jiapei had a perplexed look on her face because it really did not make sense.


    ¡°Yang Yunji himself said that it was Xiao Chen who purged the poison from him?¡±


    Yang Zixi¡¯s expression changed completely.

 Chapter 85 Are You Finished

    ¡°It was undeniably Big Brother Zhou who purged the poison for him, how could he say it was someone else? Has his conscience been eaten by dogs?¡±


    In a fit of anger, a fountain of blood spurted from Yang Zixi¡¯s mouth, and she fainted. Only Zhou Donghuang¡¯s timely intervention to support her prevented her from falling to the ground.


    ¡°Young Mistress!¡±


    Aunt Mei¡¯s expression changed.


    ¡°Young Mistress Ren, why don¡¯t you arrange a place for Zixi to rest for now,¡± Zhou Donghuang said as he supported Yang Zixi. Ren Jiapei had been scared pale by the suddenness of the scene before her.


    Ren Jiapei was, after all, only a young lady, and it was normal for her to be scared. She hurriedly accepted Zhou Donghuang¡¯s suggestion and led Zhou Donghuang and the others out of the receiving chamber.


    Ren Jiapei did not bring them towards the guest rooms, but to the compound where she stayed. ¡°This is where my mother lived apart from my father, and this is where I have been staying since I returned. There are many rooms, and you all can stay here with me from now on. This way, I can take even better care of Sister Zixi.¡±


    While Ren Jiapei was speaking, she allowed Zhou Donghuang to carry Yang Zixi back to her room as there had not been time to prepare the other rooms.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, is Sister Zixi okay?¡±


    Standing by the bed, Ren Jiapei looked worriedly at Zhou Donghuang, who had just laid Yang Zixi down on the bed.


    ¡°She¡¯s fine, Zixi just suffered a psychological attack caused by the state of her vital energy; she¡¯ll be fine after resting for a while.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head and led the way out of the room. ¡°Let her have a good rest for now; no one should disturb her.¡±


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Ren Jiapei and Aunt Mei followed him out as he instructed.


    As for Fu, he was helping several servant girls of the Ren family to prepare some other rooms, and Aunt Mei went off to help once she came out of the room.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, you purged the poison that the patriarch of the Yang family Yang Yunji was suffering from and not Xiao Chen?¡±


    After making sure that Yang Zixi was in no danger, Ren Jiapei let out a breath as her curiosity overcame her and she questioned Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Why? Don¡¯t you believe what Zixi said?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled casually, not showing any displeasure that the young lady doubted him. Firstly, he was not a petty person, and secondly, he liked the young lady¡¯s personality and was favorably disposed towards her.


    ¡°I definitely believe what Sister Zixi said, but I¡¯m just surprised.¡±


    Ren Jiapei smiled awkwardly.


    ¡°When Zixi brought me to the Yang family to examine Yang Yunji, Xiao Chen had just examined Yang Yunji and said that he was powerless to help.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang said indifferently, ¡°After that, I spent four days helping Yang Yunji purge the poison. Yang Yunji announced to the public that it was Xiao Chen who purged him of the poison, and Xiao Chen was accepted into the Shi family after this incident¡­ I believe that Yang Yunji, Xiao Chen, and the Shi family have agreed on a mutually beneficial arrangement. If I¡¯m not wrong¡­ Zixi¡¯s expulsion from the Yang family should also be a part of this agreement.¡±


    As he finished, a cold gleam flashed across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes. To him, this matter was inconsequential.


    However, he could not overlook the fact that Yang Yunji had hurt Yang Zixi because of this, and thus, he could not stand by idly.


    Moreover, Yang Zixi had rejected Shi Yu in the past had not been expelled from the family by Yang Yunji, but this time, he really had expelled her.


    He had a feeling that Shi Yu had no small part to play in this.


    ¡­


    In reality, it was soon proven that Zhou Donghuang had guessed correctly.


    The next day after Ren Jiapei returned from outside, she called Zhou Donghuang and Yang Zixi over together, her pretty face unusually serious.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, Sister Zixi.¡±


    Ren Jiapei said in a low voice, ¡°Today, the Shi family gave one of their medicine shops near the city center to the Yang family, and the Yang family is in the process of taking it over. Besides that, the big medicine shops owned by the Yang family have put on sale a good number of new elixirs and potions, and these new elixirs and potions are not something that the inferior-level medicine master of the Yang family has the ability to formulate.


    ¡°The most important thing is that¡­ the exact same elixirs and potions went on sale concurrently at the Shi family¡¯s medicine shops. If I¡¯m not wrong¡­ those elixirs and potions should all be the work of that Xiao Chen, one of the ten great medicine masters of the Chu royal city.¡±


    Ren Jiapei paused and hesitated before continuing, ¡°Besides that, I have gotten someone to find out some things from a direct relative of the Shi family who is very close to Shi Yu. Shi Yu himself is responsible for Xiao Chen joining the Shi family¡­ Shi Yu personally told that direct relative of the Shi family that the Shi family gave the Yang family a shop in return for Patriarch Yang announcing publicly that Xiao Chen purged Yang Yunji¡¯s poison, thus helping to raise Xiao Chen¡¯s status in the Chu royal city.


    ¡°The price Xiao Chen has to pay is¡­ joining the Shi family for three years. Besides that, to reward Shi Yu for orchestrating Xiao Chen¡¯s inclusion into the Shi family, Shi Hao of the Shi family promised to give the Yang family some formulas, which would take the business of the Yang family¡¯s medicine shops to the next level.


    ¡°And the price the Yang family has to pay is¡­ for Sister Zixi to marry Shi Yu!¡±


    Ren Jiapei paused and looked at Yang Zixi.


    Yang Zixi¡¯s fists were tightly clenched, and her body was trembling. She never imagined that her first uncle would go behind her back and make this sort of arrangement with the Shi family.


    ¡°Of course, if Sister Zixi stubbornly refuses to marry, the Yang family would only have to expel Zixi from the Yang family, and the Shi family would still give the Yang family those formulas. This was also Shi Yu¡¯s idea¡­ because he intended to appear before Sister Zixi after no one takes her in when she is expelled from the Yang family, making himself appear as her last straw of hope and thus lay claim to Sister Zixi from then on.


    ¡°The Shi family junior who came to the Ren family earlier looking for me was also sent by him¡­ the only thing was that he did not imagine that I would still take Sister Zixi in,¡± Ren Jiapei continued.


    ¡°Shi Yu!¡±


    A cold gleam flashed across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes, and he knew then that his guess was correct. It was him who had landed Zixi in this situation.


    He suddenly could not help feeling a sense of remorse in his heart.


    ¡°There¡¯s one more thing.¡±


    Suddenly, Ren Jiapei looked at Yang Zixi, her expression instantly turning serious again. ¡°It¡¯s about¡­ Third Master Yang.¡±


    ¡°Third Uncle? What about Third Uncle?¡± she asked anxiously.


    A sense of dread crept into Yang Zixi¡¯s heart at Ren Jiapei¡¯s expression, and her expression changed as she spoke.


    ¡°Third Master Yang is dead.¡±


    Ren Jiapei sighed.


    ¡°Third Uncle¡­ is dead?¡±


    Yang Zixi¡¯s face was pale, and she stared in shock for a moment with bloodshot eyes and asked in a low voice, ¡°Sister Jiapei, do you know when Third Uncle died?¡±


    ¡°On September 13th¡­¡±


    Ren Jiapei was referring to September 13, 1228 of the Ziyun Era, which was also the day when Zhou Donghuang performed the second round of acupuncture on Yang Yunji to purge the poison from his body.


    ¡°From what that direct relative of the Shi family said, Shi Yu told him¡­ at that time, Yang Yunji agreed to expel Sister Zixi from the Yang family, but Third Master Yang refused. He was killed with a single punch from the patriarch of the Shi family, Shi Hao. After Third Master Yang died, Yang Yunji still¡­ still thanked Shi Hao for helping him¡­ clean out his house.¡±


    As she finished, Ren Jiapei¡¯s speech slowed down, and she took a careful look at Yang Zixi. ¡°Zixi, your third uncle, he¡­ he did not abandon you.¡±


    ¡°Third Uncle!!¡±


    Yang Zixi threw her head back with a shrill wail of grief. Blood rushed to her eyes and blood flowed from her tightly clenched fists; blood also dribbled from the corners of her mouth from clenching her teeth too hard.


    Swoosh!


    A cold gleam flashed across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes as he immediately rose from his seat and said to Yang Zixi, ¡°Zixi, come with Big Brother Donghuang¡­ today, Big Brother Zhou will take you to the Yang family and the Shi family and get justice for you!¡±


    The Yang family?


    The Shi family?


    They were just ants in Zhou Donghuang¡¯ eyes.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s sudden violent outburst had given Ren Jiapei a fright, and she smiled bitterly. ¡°Big Brother Zhou, I know you are fighting for Zixi, but that Yang family, Shi family¡­¡±


    ¡°So what of them?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled coldly, spite and condescension on his face.


    ¡°The Yang family is a grand family, and although they are among the lowest grand families, they have a level-six adept of the Qi-gathering in charge, Patriarch Yang Yunji of the Yang family.¡±


    Ren Jiapei continued patiently, ¡°The Shi family is a tycoon family, and although they are also among the lowest tycoon families, they have a level-eight adept of Qi-gathering in charge. Besides that, there are the many level-seven adepts of the Shi family, including Shi Hao.¡±


    Ren Jiapei paused here, and Zhou Donghuang swept a gaze over her and asked, ¡°Are you done?¡±


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, you¡­¡±


    Just as Ren Jiapei was beginning to feel puzzled, not knowing where this youth before her was getting his self-confidence from, Zhou Donghuang had already lifted his right hand and proceeded to press down hard on the stone table beside him.


    Pong!!


    There was a loud sound, and the entire stone table trembled. It seemed to be transformed into a heap of stone powder, crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust.


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    Ren Jiapei stared wide-eyed, completely dumbfounded, and only regained her wits after a long while.


    The shock of the sudden loud sound had brought Yang Zixi back to reality, the expression of grief frozen onto her face. She too looked at the heap of stone powder before her in astonishment.


    ¡°Cough¡­ cough¡­¡±


    Finally, Ren Jiapei absentmindedly spat out a wad of saliva as she recovered, looking at the youth before her as though she had seen a ghost.


    The youth was tall, his clothes were whiter than snow, and his handsome face bore only a trace of delicateness. His eyes were deep and unfathomable, making it impossible for anyone to read him.


    The most important thing was this: This youth looked only sixteen or seventeen years old at most.


    If she had not witnessed it with her own eyes, she would not have believed even if she was beaten to death that such a youth could reduce the stone table in her courtyard to this state with just a single slap of his palm.


    Even if her father, the patriarch of the Ren family and a level-six adept of the Qi-gathering, could destroy the stone table with a slap, he probably would not be able to reduce it to this state.


    Now, the stone table was transformed into fine powder, and not a single piece was intact. Just thinking about the strength required to turn it into this state was truly fearsome.


    ¡°Zixi, come with Big Brother Zhou.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang called out to Yang Zixi again and strode out of the courtyard towards the main entrance of the Ren family mansion.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou¡­ is actually this powerful?¡±


    Yang Zixi regained her senses, and her previously dull eyes finally lit up again as she rose from her seat and followed after Zhou Donghuang.

 Chapter 86 Chuxiu Inn

    ¡°Brother Zhou, Sister Zixi, wait for me!¡± As Zhou Donghuang and Yang Zixi walked out of the courtyard, Ren Jiapei finally recovered from her shock and chased after them.


    ¡°Brother Zhou, the Shi family has a level-eight adept¡­ are you confident?¡± Although Yang Zixi had just witnessed Zhou Donghuang¡¯s frightening strength, she was not sure what level adept Zhou Donghuang was, only that he was stronger than her uncle, Yang Yunji.Although she had not reached level-one of the gathered qi, she knew that a level-six adept could not possibly destroy a stone table so easily.


    ¡°A level-eight adept?¡± Hearing Yang Zixi¡¯s words, Zhou Donghuang smiled with disdain. With his current level-seven of the gathered qi, nobody beneath level-nine in Yunyang country could defeat him.


    Ren Jiapei reached them and happened to hear Yang Zixi¡¯s question and Zhou Donghuang¡¯s nonchalance. Instantly, she was shocked. Brother Zhou¡­ is not even afraid of a level-eight adept? He¡­ he looks just sixteen or seventeen years old¡­


    Looking at the young man, Ren Jiapei was evidently shocked. She could not imagine that the young man could be so powerful at such a young age. This was simply impossible!


    ¡°Brother Zhou, if you are not confident, let¡¯s not go.¡± Yang Zixi did not see the condescending smile on Zhou Donghuang¡¯s lips. Thinking that Zhou Donghuang had not replied, she thought that he was unsure and immediately stopped in her tracks. She halted and did not continue with Zhou Donghuang.


    She breathed in deeply and said, ¡°Third Uncle has already died, I¡­ don¡¯t wish for you to be harmed too.¡±


    Then, Zhou Donghuang stopped too. He turned and walked towards Yang Zixi as he laughed and said, ¡°Silly girl, don¡¯t worry¡­ these level-eight adepts don¡¯t bother me at all.¡± As he reached Yang Zixi, Zhou Donghuang stretched out and pet her on the head. The young girl was a year younger than him and half a head shorter.


    ¡°Brother Zhou, are you serious?¡± Yang Zixi still did not believe him, her eyes revealing her suspicion.


    ¡°When have I ever lied to you?¡± said Zhou Donghuang with a smile.


    ¡°Never,¡± replied Yang Zixi, shaking her head.


    ¡°Then, come with me to that Shi¡­¡± Before Zhou Donghuang could finish his sentence, he was stopped by a sudden noise.


    ¡°First Lady, is this the Yang Zixi who was chased out by the Yang family?¡± Although the voice sounded aged, it was full of energy. The voice was accompanied by an old man in a green robe and an average build. His eyes were fierce and his actions were bold as he walked towards them.


    ¡°Head Elder,¡± greeted Ren Jiapei as she bowed. She introduced the old man, ¡°Brother Zhou, this is the head elder of the Ren family, Ren Qiong.¡±


    ¡°Greetings, Elder Ren Qiong.¡± Yang Zixi hurriedly bowed to the old man, while Zhou Donghuang merely glanced at him.


    The old man frowned slightly at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s disrespect but did not say anything. He looked straight at Yang Zixi and said seriously, ¡°Lady Zixi, if possible, please leave our Ren family before we are implicated. Our first lady was impulsive and did not think of the big picture¡­ please take care of yourself.¡± The old man tried to send her out.


    ¡°Head Elder!¡± Before Yang Zixi could respond, Ren Jiapei¡¯s expression had changed as she glared at the old man and questioned, ¡°What do you mean? I allowed Sister Zixi to stay with my father¡¯s permission, not acting on my own impulse. What right do you have to chase away my guest?¡± As Ren Jiapei spoke, her tone turned unfriendly.


    ¡°First Lady, Chief agreed to you because he felt guilty towards you over the years¡­ you too know that the Shi family sent a notice today that they would cease cooperation with our family.¡± The old man looked intently at Ren Jiapei and asked, ¡°Do you know¡­ how much the Ren family will suffer? And all of this because of your impulsiveness!¡± The old man¡¯s gaze sharply at her.


    Just as Ren Jiapei was about to respond, Yang Zixi told the old man, ¡°Elder Ren Qiong, I did not know that my presence would cause so much trouble to the Ren family. Don¡¯t worry, I will leave today.¡±


    With that, Yang Zixi turned to Ren Jiapei and squeezed out a smile, ¡°Sister Jiapei, I know you have good intentions¡­ I appreciate it very much. To me, the greatest blessings in my life have been meeting Brother Zhou and Sister Jiapei.¡±


    Yang Zixi turned her gaze to Zhou Donghuang and said, ¡°Brother Zhou, let¡¯s ask Brother Fu and Aunt Mei to leave together.¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Zhou Donghuang as he nodded.


    ¡°Brother Zhou, Sister Zixi¡­¡± Ren Jiapei¡¯s face fell, as if she was about to say something, but was interrupted by Yang Zixi.


    ¡°Sister Zixi, do you know? Before I looked for you here, I had looked up many others whom I treated as sisters. But not a single one of them dared to meet me and rejected me at the door. I will remember your help forever,¡± said Yang Zixi seriously. ¡°I know that you can keep asking the Ren family chief to allow me to stay, but my presence will only implicate your whole family¡­ that is not what I wish to see. Sister Jiapei, please don¡¯t try to keep me here, alright?The more you try, the more guilty I will feel.¡±


    As she spoke, tears sprang into Yang Zixi¡¯s eyes, but she forced a smile.


    Seeing Yang Zixi and Zhou Donghuang leave, Ren Jiapei looked terribly upset. She glared sternly at the head elder and declared, ¡°Head Elder, you will regret this!¡±


    Just now, seeing the young man¡¯s power, she knew that as long as he stayed at the Ren family household with Sister Zixi¡ªeven if the young man did not join their family, he would definitely protect the Ren family should anything happen. But now, the head elder had sent him away, along with Sister Zixi.


    ¡°Regret?¡± The old man laughed with disdain.


    Seeing this, Ren Jiapei did not bother explaining further, because she did not wish for the family to try to keep the young man out of material interest. ¡°Let nature take its course¡­ With Brother Zhou beside her, Sister Zixi should be fine out there.¡± She was comforted by that fact. She breathed heavily and began walking in the direction that Zhou Donghuang and Yang Zixi had left.


    ¡°Lady Ren, which guest inn is the best in the Chu royal city?¡± As Fu and Aunt Mei finished packing, Zhou Donghuang turned to ask Ren Jiapei as they were about to leave the Ren family household. He had not asked Yang Zixi because he knew that she would definitely not tell him.


    ¡°Brother Zhou, the best inn here is ¡®Chuxiu Inn¡¯ run by the Chu royal household. The biggest and best courtyard there costs a thousand liang a night,¡± answered Ren Jiapei. ¡°Even if you book it for a year, it would cost three hundred thousand liang.¡±


    She then added, ¡°Later, I¡¯ll get some money from my father so that you can book it for a year.¡± Three hundred thousand liang is not much for a grand family. But for Ren Jiapei, this was not a small sum that she could fork out.


    ¡°No need.¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head. ¡°I can afford this much.¡±


    ¡°Brother Zhou, we don¡¯t have to go to such a good inn.¡± Just then, Yang Zixi finally stopped him. ¡°We can just find any average inn to stay in.¡±


    ¡°Zixi, a normal inn would disturb my practice,¡± said Zhou Donghuang with a laugh. Yang Zixi had nothing to say to that.


    Ren Jiapei then instructed someone to prepare a carriage and drove them personally to Chuxiu Inn. As a guest inn operated by the Chu royal household and the best inn in the Chu royal city, Chuxiu Inn was not only situated close to the city center, but it also occupied a vast piece of land.


    From the outside, the inn¡¯s old architecture was simple yet elegant. At the front door, two rows of uniformed assistants stood at attention. ¡°Hello sir, looking for a room?¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang and the rest got closer, one of the assistants stepped forward and asked Zhou Donghuang respectfully. His eager smile made one feel like a distinguished guest returning home.


    ¡°I wish to book your best courtyard here for a year,¡± said Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Forget all the procedures, we want to move in right away¡­ if you manage to do that, you can have this tip.¡± With that, Zhou Donghuang pulled out a ten thousand liang note and handed it to the assistant.


    ¡°Sir, please come in, I will bring you there right away.¡± The assistant took the note from Zhou Donghuang with trembling fingers. In all his years working at Chuxiu Inn, this was the first time that he had encountered such a generous guest who gave him ten thousand liang as a tip.


    As the assistant took the note, the rest of the assistants at the door all turned green with envy. Especially the older ones who had worked at Chuxiu Inn for more than ten years, their tips over the years did not even add up to ten thousand liang!


    ¡°Fu, pay him the fees.¡± As the assistant brought Zhou Donghuang and the rest into the inn, Zhou Donghuang instructed Fu. Although he carried some notes with him, he had only a few hundred thousand liang for emergencies. Most of the money was with Fu.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master,¡± replied Fu as he took out a huge stack of notes and handed three hundred liang to the assistant.


    ¡°Sister Zixi, this Brother Zhou¡­ who is he?¡± By this point, even Ren Jiapei was taken aback by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s generous wealth. Even the young sons of the tycoon families were not as extravagant.

 Chapter 87 From the Valley of Medicine Masters?

    As the best courtyard in Chuxiu Inn, it was much bigger than any of the courtyards that Ren Jiapei had in the Ren family household. Within, there were fifteen rooms: five master bedrooms and ten rooms for the servants.


    The five master bedrooms were lined up in the middle of the courtyard, while the servant rooms were distributed in the two corners closer to the door. Ten servant girls stayed in the rooms.


    ¡°Welcome to the Chuxiu Inn.¡± As Zhou Donghuang and the rest walked into the courtyard, the ten servant girls stood in two rows and bowed in greeting. They then rushed forward to grab the bags from Fu and Aunt Mei. A few of them stepped forward together to take the black iron spear from Fu.


    Clearly, they could tell that it was a spear made entirely of black iron and was immensely heavy. If not, they would not have come forward to take it together. This detail did not go unnoticed by Zhou Donghuang. ¡°These servant girls have good judgement.¡±


    But after a while, he realized: what kind of place this was¡ªChuxiu Inn, the best guest inn in the Chu royal city. Furthermore, since these servant girls had been sent to wait on the guest in the best guest courtyard, they must have gone through careful selection.


    ¡°No wonder it costs a thousand liang to stay here for a night¡­ they really put on quite a show,¡± Zhou Donghuang muttered to himself as his eyes flashed. Of course, he was only mildly surprised to find such extravagance in the Chu royal city; in his past life, he had stayed in even more prestigious guest-houses as he had travelled around the universe. This inn could hardly hold a candle to those guest-houses.


    The whole courtyard was split into the front and back yard, divided by the five master bedrooms in the middle. The servant girls spent most of their time in the front yard, sometimes going into the master bedrooms in the middle to clean them. They would not step a foot into the backyard unless the guest instructed them to tidy it up. This ensured the guest¡¯s privacy.


    This was all introduced to Zhou Donghuang¡¯s party by a slightly older servant girl among the ten of them.


    ¡°In the past, I had only heard of how terrific the best guest courtyard in Chuxiu Inn is; this is my first time here¡­ This is much better than the courtyard I have at home,¡± Ren Jiapei exclaimed. She turned to Zhou Donghuang and said with a cheeky smile, ¡°Brother Zhou, look¡­ the four of you will only take up four rooms. How about leaving the last one for me?¡± Ren Jiapei pouted as she looked expectantly at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°If you want to stay here, how can I stop you?¡± Zhou Donghuang replied with a laugh. If Ren Jiapei stayed here, Zixi would have a buddy; of course, he was happy to oblige.


    That Yang Zixi was suddenly thrown into such a circumstance; he felt like comforting her, but he never did. After all, in his past life, he had traversed across the universe all alone for millennia. Clearly, he was not adept at dealing with women. Although he never lacked women, he was still never interested as he chose to focus on his practice.


    Of course, if he was being honest, it was also because he had never met someone whom he had really liked, and he was not willing to settle either. Hence, he had stayed alone all the way.


    This time, if I really meet someone whom I fancy and who is suitable¡­ I don¡¯t mind trying an intimate relationship. Zhou Donghuang had thought this way more than once before.


    ¡°It¡¯s settled!¡± Hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, Ren Jiapei¡¯s eyes lit up as she called Yang Zixi, ¡°Zixi, let¡¯s take a look at the rooms.¡±


    With that, she dragged Yang Zixi into one of the master bedrooms. But they had not entered the one in the middle. Of the five master bedrooms, the one in the middle was clearly the biggest, followed by the two on each side, while the two at the ends were even smaller. The smallest rooms had been taken by Fu and Aunt Mei. Both Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei knew to leave the biggest room to Zhou Donghuang.


    Settling down with a roof over their heads, Zhou Donghuang did not forget about the matter of standing up for the young girl. ¡°Zixi, I¡¯ve already asked the servants to prepare our meal¡­ after eating, I¡¯ll go with you to the Shi family.¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± the girl replied. ¡°Thank you, Brother Zhou.¡± She had already asked Aunt Mei to secretly ask Fu to confirm that Brother Zhou indeed did not fear the Shi family, so she was no longer afraid that he would be harmed by going there.


    ¡°I¡¯ll come along.¡± Ren Jiapei¡¯s eyes flashed, eager to be part of the fun.


    ¡­


    The Shi family was a tycoon family. Even though they were considered to be among the bottom of the tycoon families, they had some status in the Chu royal city. Although the Shi family household did not occupy as much land as many other tycoon families, it was not small either and was situated close to the city center.


    However, something had stirred the peace at the Shi family household today.


    ¡°Chief! Trouble!¡± A family disciple rushed into the courtyard where the Shi family chief, Shi Hao, was staying, and said hurriedly, ¡°Someone has broken into our house!¡±


    ¡°Who is so bold?¡± The door to the courtyard pushed open, and a muscular, fearsome man walked out. This was none other than the current chief of the Shi family, Shi Hao.


    ¡°It¡¯s a young man and two young girls,¡± reported the disciple. ¡°The young man injured many of us with just a blow, then made one of us bring them to the hall. He told the rest of us to inform you, the old chief, First Young Master and Medicine Master Xiao to come over.¡±


    This Shi disciple was one of the few who had been tasked to guard the front door that day. He grabbed his left arm with his right hand, his face pale. His left arm had clearly been injured by the young man.


    ¡°All of you are so useless that you couldn¡¯t even defend against a young teenager?¡± Shi Hao¡¯s eyes flashed coldly as he asked furiously.


    ¡°Chief, that young man is too powerful, we could do absolutely nothing,¡± replied the Shi disciple. Quietly, he thought: If he was not powerful, how would he dare to barge into their Shi household? Of course, he did not think that the young man could compare to their chief. After all, their Shi family chief was a level-seven adept, whereas the most powerful guard was only a level-three adept.


    Though the fact that the young man could overpower so many of them surprised him¡­ because that teenager looked only sixteen or seventeen. He thought to himself: Even the most talented sons of the Chu royal family could not have such power at such an age.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Shi Hao grunted, then turned and walked towards the hall. Along the way, his anger subsided somewhat, and his thinking became clearer. Just now, he had been furious to learn that someone had broken into their household. His first thought had been that the intruder was incredibly bold.


    But he had missed something out. Or rather, he had not had the chance to consider some things. ¡°Teenager?¡± In the Shi family household, even the weakest among the disciples guarding the door was a level-two adept, and there was at least a level-three adept as part of each team of guards.


    They could not defend against a teenager? As he thought of this, Shi Hao¡¯s expression turned darker. He did not consider that the disciples had lied to him because he knew that they did not dare to.


    Soon, at a distance from the hall, Shi Hao saw an old man walking in the same direction. The old man¡¯s face was filled with worry.


    ¡°Father!¡± The old man was in a loose gray robe with a huge figure and eyes that resembled Shi Hao¡¯s. This was none other than Shi Hao¡¯s father, Shi Ji.


    Shi Ji was the previous chief of the Shi family and the only level-eight adept in the family. The Shi family had ascended to become a tycoon family five years ago solely because this old family chief had entered level-eight of the gathered qi.


    ¡°Do you know who that teenager is?¡± Shi Ji asked Shi Hao worriedly.


    ¡°No idea,¡± replied Shi Hao as he shook his head.


    ¡°Just now, I found out that¡­ the few of them together were not even his match. And there was a level-three adept among them,¡± said Shi Ji with fear in his eyes. ¡°Which means¡­ that teenager is at least a level-four adept, or even level-five!


    A level-four or five adept doesn¡¯t mean anything¡­ but for a teenager who looks just sixteen or seventeen who is a level-four adept, do you know what that means?¡± As he spoke, he sounded increasingly fearful.


    ¡°At least in the country of Yunyang, even in the imperial court, I¡¯ve never heard of any prince reaching level four of the gathered qi at just sixteen or seventeen years of age!¡± Shi Ji breathed in sharply, his eyes turning frightened. ¡°I suspect¡­ he could be from the Valley of Medicine Masters!¡±


    ¡°Valley of Medicine Masters?!¡± As soon as Shi Ji mentioned the word, Shi Hao¡¯s expression changed drastically as his eyes narrowed. The Valley of Medicine Masters was a sect so strong that the Shi family could only fantasize of it. It transcended the country of Yunyang¡­ with just a word from its chief, he could easily change the ruler of Yunyang country.


    ¡°Even if he is from the Valley¡­ why is he here?¡± Shi Hao was utterly flustered. He could not help but lose his cool¡ªsince that young man has come to them in such a manner, it meant that he was not here on friendly business nor as a guest.


    ¡°Hmph! I¡¯ll have to ask you what you have done!¡± Shi Ji¡¯s face darkened as he remarked coldly. He breathed in deeply, as if to muster his courage, then continued towards the hall.


    To him, that young man whom they suspected to have come from the Valley of Medicine Master definitely did not barge into their home for no good reason. Someone in the Shi family must have offended him!

 Chapter 88 Teenage Medicine Master

    The hall of the Shi family household.


    Before entering, Shi Yu had been wondering which teenager had not only injured their Shi disciples guarding the door and barged into their home, and even dared to wait for them to arrive in the hall. Now, as he walked in and saw the man sitting arrogantly on the head seat in the hall, his expression darkened immediately.


    ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±


    When the old man beside Shi Yu saw the young man in white sitting in the hall, his brows furrowed and his face darkened slightly too. He could not fathom why this young man was here.


    This was the man who had not only injured the few disciples guarding the door and broke into their home, but even called for them to meet him in the hall? The old man could not help but curse the disciples guarding the door for being so useless that they could not even defend their home against a sixteen or seventeen-year-old teenager.


    Entering the hall alongside Shi Yu was one of the top ten medicine masters in Chu royal city, Xiao Chen. He was also one of the most reputable persons in the city recently as he had managed to detoxify a poison that the other top medicine masters in the city could not treat, and had taken only a few short days. These few days, Xiao Chen¡¯s pharmacy was overflowing with business from customers looking to buy poison antidotes.


    After news that Xiao Chen had joined the Shi family had spread, the Shi family pharmacies also enjoyed great business, as if they were giving the medicine for free. This was all because Yang Yunji, the chief of the grand Yang family, had announced that his poison had been treated by Xiao Chen.


    These days, Xiao Chen looked especially radiant, as if his life had been renewed.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you were the one who hurt our Shi family disciples and barged into our home?¡± Shi Yu demanded as he glared at the young man dressed in white, sitting in the middle of the hall.


    Now, he was not even interested in the two beautiful young ladies standing behind the young man. Because, if it was indeed Zhou Donghuang who had broken into their house. That meant that Zhou Donghuang was at least as powerful as he was.


    Xiao Chen may not have understood the formidability of the disciples guarding the door, but as the first young master of the family, Shi Yu was well aware.


    If it was indeed him, he must be at least a level-four adept, and not just an average one! Shi Yu thought to himself, perplexed. This Zhou Donghuang, isn¡¯t he just a bum from the inferior Yunfeng prefecture? How could an inferior prefecture produce someone like that? Or maybe¡­ his background was just a bunch of lies. Actually, he is from¡­ the Valley of Medicine Masters!!


    Despite his young age, Shi Yu was much more mature and meticulous in his thinking than most others his age. Otherwise, he would not have come up with the conspiracy that made Xiao Chen join the Shi family.


    As the thought crossed his mind, a fog seemed to settle over Shi Yu¡¯s heart.


    Impossible¡­ simply impossible¡­Shi Yu comforted himself quietly.


    ¡°Xiao Chen!¡± Yang Zixi, who was standing behind Zhou Donghuang, shouted as she saw the man, her eyes gleaming coldly. ¡°As one of the top ten medicine masters in Chu royal city, I never would have thought that you were so thick-skinned to claim that you were the one who treated the poison when it was actually Brother Zhou¡¯s work¡­ even I feel ashamed for you!¡±


    ¡°Your words don¡¯t mean anything,¡± said Xiao Chen, grinning. ¡°Even if you say it on the streets, nobody will believe you. Everyone will only trust the words of Yang Yunji himself. If he says it was me who treated him, then it has to be me!¡± As he spoke, his smile widened.


    Hearing this, Yang Zixi was so furious that her body trembled. She could not believe that someone could be so shameless.


    ¡°Shameless!¡± Even Ren Jiapei, standing at Yang Zixi¡¯s side, could no longer keep quiet. She scolded, ¡°You old man, with hardly any more years left, aren¡¯t you afraid of going to hell for doing such despicable things?¡±


    ¡°And you are¡­?¡± Xiao Chen recognized Yang Zixi, but not Ren Jiapei. But hearing Ren Jiapei curse him, his eyes flashed murderously.


    ¡°Medicine Master Xiao, she is the first lady of the grand Ren family, Ren Jiapei,¡± Shi Yu reminded him.


    ¡°So it is the Ren first lady.¡± Xiao Chen looked at Ren Jiapei with a look of realization. He laughed and smirked. ¡°Lady Ren, I heard you took in this Yang Zixi? I advise you to stay out of this¡­ if not, the Ren family will incur even more losses!¡± With that, his eyes glinted as the smile on his old face turned even more twisted and evil. Although he was smiling, it looked even more horrible than if he were crying.


    Just then, two sets of heavy footsteps echoed from outside the hall. As Shi Yu and Xiao Chen turned to look, they saw two figures enter. The one leading the way was an old man, followed by a middle-aged man. Both of them had dominating figures with similar faces; their noses looked almost identical.


    ¡°Grandfather! Father!¡± Shi Yu called. This was none other than the former Shi family chief, Shi Ji, and the current chief, Shi Hao.


    ¡°Shi Hao!¡± As the man walked in, Yang Zixi glared at him with eyes filled with hatred. This was the man who had killed her third uncle, Yang Yunchong.


    ¡°Greetings, old Chief.¡± Even Xiao Chen, one of the top ten medicine masters in the city, did not dare be disrespectful when meeting Shi Ji. He hurriedly bowed in greeting.


    Shi Ji was not only the old chief of the Shi family, but also the pillar of strength of the family and a formidable level-eight adept! It was solely because of him that the Shi family could become a tycoon family. If the family did not produce another level-eight adept in the next century, they would fall to the status of a grand family again.


    ¡°Chief.¡± On the other hand, Xiao Chen was more relaxed towards Shi Hao, the current chief.


    ¡°Medicine Master Xiao,¡± responded Shi Ji with a nod. He walked past Xiao Chen and Shi Yu and bowed in greeting to the young man in the head seat. ¡°Shi Ji of the Shi family greets this young master. How should I address you?¡± Shi Ji asked cordially.


    Shi Hao was hardly surprised at the respect with which they treated the young man, but Shi Yu could hardly restrain his disgust. But he was well aware of the reason for his grandfather¡¯s actions. He must have also suspected that the young man was from the Valley of Medicine Masters.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang,¡± came the response as Zhou Donghuang glanced at Shi Ji. ¡°You are the level-eight adept of the Shi family?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Shi Ji answered quickly, afraid to be rude.


    ¡°Shi Hao, chief of the Shi family, greets Young Master Donghuang,¡± called Shi Hao as he bowed respectfully.


    Seeing this, Xiao Chen was stunned. ¡°Chiefs, what are you doing? This lad is just someone from an inferior prefecture¡­ Chief, you know him, he was the one who detoxified the poison for Yang Yunji, Medicine Master Zhou.¡± Xiao Chen looked at Shi Hao, perplexed.


    ¡°What?!¡± Hearing this, Shi Hao¡¯s face dropped in fear. He turned to the young man in fright as he muttered, ¡°He¡­ he is that teenage medicine master? Wasn¡¯t he from an inferior prefecture? How can someone from such a place enter level-four of the gathered qi or even level-five at such an age?¡±


    Shi Hao was shocked. He felt his skin crawl because he realized he had messed with the wrong person.


    A teenage medicine master. The Valley of Medicine Masters. Shi Hao realized that these two were inextricably connected. No wonder this teenager who had attained at least level-four of the gathered qi at such a young age could possibly treat the poison of Yang Yunji. It was simple for someone from the Valley to achieve something like that.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, you¡­ you are from the Valley of Medicine Masters?¡± Shi Hao asked nervously as he breathed in deeply, harboring this last tinge of hope. If he was really from the Valley, then he was done for. If not, this could be solved easily.


    ¡°The Valley of Medicine Masters?¡± Hearing the question, Zhou Donghuang was first taken aback, then laughed condescendingly. ¡°Why? You want to find out if I am from the Valley before thinking of what to do next?¡±


    Shi Hao smiled awkwardly as his thoughts had just been exposed.


    Zhou Donghuang said flatly, ¡°If you want to find out if I am from the Valley, then call Yang Yunji here¡­ I can¡¯t be bothered to make another trip there. Today, let¡¯s settle everything here.¡±


    ¡°I will get Yang Yunji here right away,¡± responded Shi Hao as he rushed out.


    ¡°Valley of Medicine Masters?¡± As Shi Yu stared at Zhou Donghuang suspiciously, Xiao Chen looked again at Zhou Donghuang as his expression darkened.


    He could not figure it out: how did this teenager become linked to the Valley of Medicine Masters?


    ¡°Yu¡¯er, what is going on here?¡± Shi Ji turned to Shi Yu and whispered.


    ¡°Grandfather.¡± Shi Yu threw a cautious look at Zhou Donghuang, then told the full story to Shi Ji.


    Shi Ji was usually focused on his practice and rarely got involved in such matters. Although he was aware and even surprised that Xiao Chen had joined the Shi family, he was still not clear of the circumstances.


    Hearing Shi Yu¡¯s story, Shi Yu¡¯s expression transformed drastically. He could not blame his son or grandson for anything because he too would have done the same. But what nobody expected was that the teenage medicine master who had treated Yang Yunji, whom everyone had simply taken no notice of, could possibly be from the Valley.


    ¡°Grandfather, he may not be from the Valley,¡± reminded Shi Yu.


    Shi Ji smiled bitterly, ¡°I hope so.¡±

 Chapter 89 You Want to Stop Me?

    ¡°Sister Zixi, Brother Zhou¡­ is from the Valley of Medicine Masters?¡± Seeing how afraid all three generations of the Shi family were that the young man was from the Valley, Ren Jiapei could not help but lean into Yang Zixi¡¯s ear and whisper.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know,¡± replied Yang Zixi. She looked equally lost. ¡°I don¡¯t¡­ think so?¡± She remembered that Brother Zhou had told her that he had grown up in Yunfeng prefecture, and this was the first time that he had left the prefecture.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang had told her this because it was indeed his first time leaving Yunfeng prefecture on such a long journey in this life. In his previous life, he had gone much further, even being brought to a faraway planet, Earth.


    ¡°No?¡± Ren Jiapei was somewhat disappointed, but not afraid because the young man had already displayed immense power. Furthermore, despite knowing that the Shi family had a level-eight adept, he had been bold enough to enter the house in this manner. Surely, he did not fear them.


    After about fifteen minutes, Shi Hao led Yang Yunji to the hall in the Shi family household. The Shi family chief had ridden a ferghana horse to the Yang family and brought the Yang family chief here directly.


    ¡°Chief Shi, you have yet to tell me why you brought me here in such a hurry?¡± Yang Yunji asked as they reached the hall in the Shi family household. He sounded confused.


    ¡°You¡¯ll find out once we go in,¡± Shi Hao replied as they entered the hall.


    Yang Yunji followed him in. Immediately, he saw his nephew, Yang Zixi, whom he had chased out of the Yang family, standing behind the head seat in the hall, looking like she owned the place. He was not surprised to see Ren Jiapei beside her, as he had known that First Lady Ren had taken his niece in, though there was nothing he could do about it. Finally, his gaze landed on the young man sitting on the head seat arrogantly.


    ¡°It¡¯s you?!¡± Yang Yunji was first taken aback, then asked incredulously, ¡°You¡­ what are you doing here?¡±


    Yang Yunji could not imagine why this bum from an inferior prefecture was sitting on the head seat in the Shi family hall. Furthermore, now, even the old Shi family chief, a level-eight adept, was standing beneath him, looking afraid of the young man.


    Could it be that he had been mistaken?


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I¡¯ve brought him here¡­ now, can you please tell us?¡± Shi Hao stared at Zhou Donghuang and asked.


    ¡°Tell you what?¡± Zhou Donghuang replied flatly.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, are you from the Valley of Medicine Masters?¡± pressed Shi Hao.


    ¡°Valley of Medicine Masters?¡± Initially, upon seeing Shi Hao, the chief of the tycoon Shi family, treat the young man so respectfully, Yang Yunji¡¯s expression had changed slightly. Now, the color drained from his face.


    Valley of Medicine Masters? Wasn¡¯t this lad from an inferior prefecture? How could he be from the valley?


    ¡°No,¡± answered Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°No?¡± Shi Hao¡¯s eyes flashed, as the rest all heaved a sigh of relief. They did not think that Zhou Donghuang would deny it, because in such circumstances, at least he had not lied by saying ¡°yes.¡±


    ¡°So Young Master Donghuang¡­ which family clan are you from?¡± Shi Hao continued.


    ¡°Stop probing,¡± said Zhou Donghuang as he stood up suddenly. ¡°I have no family backing me¡­ as for me, I was born and raised in the inferior Yunfeng prefecture. I have an adopted mother who was a disciple of a lesser family in Yunfeng prefecture, but she has left that family now.¡± Zhou Donghuang revealed his entire background.


    ¡°If you really want to know about my background¡­ I, Zhou Donghuang, am my own background!¡± As he said this, his eyes flashed like the sparkling stars in the night sky. An aura of confidence seemed to surround him, as if there was nothing in this world that he feared.


    ¡°Chief Shi, I was wondering why you brought me here so hurriedly, so it is because you thought that this country bumpkin was from the Valley of Medicine Masters¡­ you¡¯ve been overthinking, disciples of the Valley are not like cabbages that can be found anywhere,¡± Yang Yunji said as he laughed, shaking his head.


    ¡°If you¡¯re not from the Valley, how dare you be so brazen in my home?¡± Shi Hao turned to Zhou Donghuang again, his gaze icy cold. He stepped forward as he declared, ¡°Today, since you have come to our Shi family, don¡¯t think of leaving!¡±


    Shi Ji stood at the side, frowning slightly as he looked at the young man. If this man had no family background, how could he be so arrogant? He could not fathom what was the source of his confidence if he lacked a family backing. Was he simply putting on a front? Or pulling a bluff?


    ¡°Then I want to see, if I want to leave¡­ how will you stop me?¡± Zhou Donghuang strode towards Shi Hao.


    Just as Shi Hao was also wondering why this young man was so arrogant, Yang Yunji laughed coldly, ¡°Lad, someone like you doesn¡¯t need the Shi family chief to get his hands dirty, I can send you on your way myself!¡±


    With that, Yang Yunji ran towards Zhou Donghuang using a lesser-grade swiftness technique.


    Hwah!! Yang Yunji reached Zhou Donghuang, his palm outstretched. He looked formidable, his power as a level-six adept fully displayed.


    Just as Yang Yunji was about to attack Zhou Donghuang, Zhou Donghuang struck Yang Yunji¡¯s palm with his right palm in a lightning-fast motion, without so much of a glance in his direction.


    Bang!! As the two palms hit each other, the loud sound resounded around the hall.


    Kach¡¯ng!!


    ¡°Ah¡ª!¡±


    The sound of bones cracking accompanied Yang Yunji¡¯s guttural scream as he flew backward. He crashed into the screens in the hall along the way before falling on the ground, blood gushing out of his mouth. The arm which he had used to attack Zhou Donghuang had been totally destroyed by the strike from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm.


    Instantly, a hush fell over the hall.


    ¡°Brother Zhou¡­¡± Even though the two young ladies were prepared to see this, they still could not help but draw in a sharp breath upon seeing Zhou Donghuang injure Yang Yunji so terribly with just a casual strike.


    Yang Yunji was the chief of the grand Yang family and a formidable level-six adept. But now, in front of their Brother Zhou, he had been defeated in just one strike as if he were a baby.


    ¡°How is this possible?!¡± Shi Yu¡¯s expression changed. Initially, he had found it hard to believe that the young man was a level-four adept. But now, the young man had injured the level-six Yang Yunji so severely with just a strike. That meant that he was at least a level-seven adept. Or even stronger.


    ¡°This young man¡­ could he be reincarnation of a magnificent practitioner?¡± Xiao Chen started at the young man with fright, his heart thumping. For a sixteen or seventeen-year-old teenager to be stronger than a level-seven adept was unheard of, even in the Valley of Medicine Masters that transcended Yunyang country. Thus, Xiao Chen could not help but suspect that this young man could be the reincarnation of a magnificent practitioner.


    Even the God-tier adepts who had surpassed the levels of gathered qi were not fit to be considered ¡°magnificent practitioners,¡± a term reserved only for the beings who surpassed God-tier.


    These beings could fly, even use their physical form to transcend through space, leaving Ziyun planet for other planets. To the people of Yunyang country, these were legendary creatures. Across the whole Ziyun planet, there were few of such beings.


    ¡°Shi Hao, chief of the tycoon Shi family and a level-seven adept¡­ I heard you are the strongest level-seven adept in the Shi family?¡± As Zhou Donghuang walked towards Shi Hao, he did not break his stride even as he blew Yang Yunji away with just a strike. Within an instant, he was right in front of Shi Hao.


    ¡°Sir¡­¡± It was only when Zhou Donghuang came face-to-face with him that Shi Hao recovered from his shock, his face revealing his fear. Even he did not have the power to injure Yang Yunji like that; in the Shi family, only his father had such power.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, please have mercy!¡± Shi Ji stepped forward. Now, he finally understood why the young man was so arrogant¡­ as he had said, his background was he himself!


    The strength that the young man had displayed showed that he was a level-eight adept like him. Although it seemed unbelievable, but he had just witnessed it for himself.


    ¡°Why? You want to stop me?¡± Zhou Donghuang tilted his head and glanced at Shi Ji. Without a warning, he rushed towards Shi Ji like a crazed bull.


    Seeing this, Shi Ji reacted quickly, prepared to attack.


    But, he was too slow.


    Just as he had gotten into his stance, Zhou Donghuang had accelerated and reached him. He did not strike with his hands or legs, but whammed into his chest with the side of his body.


    Bang!!


    With a loud bang, Shi Ji flew backward as if he had been hit by a ferocious beast. He landed on a pillar in the hall, a huge human-shaped mark forming on the stone.


    In the next instant: Boom! Boom! Bang! Bang!


    ¡­


    The whole hall trembled as if a huge earthquake had happened.


    When things became quiet after a while, Shi Ji¡¯s old body had landed on the ground, fresh blood gushing out of his mouth. His breath was weak and his face pale as he struggled to get up.


    ¡°Father!¡±


    ¡°Grandfather!¡±


    Both Shi Hao and Shi Yu were horrified.


    Xiao Chen was appalled as well. He never would have thought that this teenage medicine master was such a powerful adept.

 Chapter 90 The Regretful Yang Yunji

    ¡°Hung!¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes flashed coldly as he struck with his hand in a lightning-fast motion; before Shi Hao could react, his two hands grabbed his arm like claws.


    Shuah!!


    As Zhou Donghuang grabbed Shi Hao, Shi Hao finally recovered from the shock of seeing his father Shi Ji get defeated so easily. The blood drained from his face. He tried to pry open Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hands, but to his surprise, no matter how much force he used, his strength was like a pebble sinking in the ocean, unable to create any waves. He could hardly fathom why this was happening¡­ the man was simply too strong for him!


    ¡°This is the Shi family¡¯s strongest level-seven adept?¡± Ignoring Shi Hao¡¯s struggle, Zhou Donghuang remarked calmly. In a quick motion, he grabbed Shi Hao and threw his body behind him like a ragdoll.


    In the next moment, bang!! With a loud crash, Zhou Donghuang turned around, and as his feet touched the ground, he flew out towards Shi Hao, causing the tiles to crack. Instantly, he flew above Shi Hao¡¯s body and raised his right leg. He landed squarely on Shi Hao¡¯s chest. Zhou Donghuang pressed Shi Hao¡¯s body down to the ground, landing behind Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei.


    Hong!! With another ground-shattering sound that reverberated around the hall, Shi Hao¡¯s body crashed into the ground under Zhou Donghuang¡¯s feet. Blood gushed out of his open mouth as he lay seriously injured, like his father Shi Ji.


    ¡°Zixi,¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at the frightened young girl and smiled as he said, ¡°This is the man who killed your third uncle¡­ now you can kill him to avenge your third uncle.¡±


    The young girl¡¯s gaze was filled with hatred as she turned to Shi Hao. Shi Hao¡¯s pupils shrank in fear as he cried, ¡°Zi¡­ Lady Zixi¡­ please spare me! Spare me!!¡± Seeing that everything was under the control of the young man who was stepping on him, and the young girl really looked about to kill him, he was certain he was about to die!


    ¡°I am terribly guilty about the death of Third Elder Yang. I can pay it back to you! I can compensate you!! No matter what you want, I¡¯ll give it to you if I can! I¡¯ll give it all to you!!¡± In the face of death, Shi Hao was flustered.


    ¡°Brother Zhou, help me kill him.¡± The young girl was unmoved as she stared coldly at Shi Hao. Towards this man who had murdered her third uncle, she had no pity, only hatred.


    ¡°Sure,¡± agreed Zhou Donghuang as he nodded. He stepped down with his foot and crushed Shi Hao¡¯s heart. Shi Hao¡¯s head drooped as he breathed his last breath.


    ¡°Father!!¡±


    ¡°Hao¡¯er!!¡±


    Shi Hao¡¯s death caused both Shi Yu and Shi Ji to cry in shock. Their eyes were filled with despair and indignation, but they dared not reveal any sort of anger towards the young man who had killed Shi Hao. The young man was simply too powerful; he could kill them easily too.


    With Shi Hao¡¯s death, the young girl fell to the floor loudly. She knelt in front of Zhou Donghuang and kowtowed, ¡°Brother Zhou, thank you for avenging Third Uncle¡­ from today on, my life is yours.¡±


    ¡°Silly girl, you don¡¯t have to do this.¡± Zhou Donghuang helped her up and shook his head gently. ¡°I have a part to play in Third Elder Yang¡¯s death¡­ today, I avenged him not just to help you.¡±


    However, the young girl continued to stare resolutely at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Zixi, how do you want to deal with this Yang Yunji?¡± As Zhou Donghuang helped the young girl up, he looked at Yang Yunji who could barely stay on his feet. His eyes narrowed murderously.


    Before the girl could answer, Yang Yunji was so frightened his face had turned pale as he too fell to his knees as his entire body trembled. ¡°Zixi, I¡­ I am your uncle¡­ you¡­ you can¡¯t kill me¡­ Don¡¯t forget that it was me who raised you. As long as you agree, you can come back to the Yang family anytime. Once I return home, I will announce to everybody and accept you back into the family¡­ Uncle was wrong, I know I was wrong¡­. Give me a chance, give Uncle a chance¡­¡±


    Seeing Shi Hao, chief of the tycoon Shi family, being murdered, Yang Yunji was absolutely terrified as he begged the young girl nervously.


    ¡°I never would have thought that you could watch Third Uncle get killed¡­ You can ignore me as your niece, but Third Uncle, he¡­ was your brother!¡± The young girl looked at Yang Yunji with disgust, her body shaking with anger. ¡°From today onwards, I, Yang Zixi, have nothing to do with you and the Yang family!¡±


    Hearing this, Yang Yunji heaved a sigh of relief, because he knew that as long as the young man did not act on his own accord, he would be able to walk out alive today.


    ¡°After you go back home, prepare five million liang, that is the price you¡¯ll pay for keeping your life today.¡± Zhou Donghuang glanced at Yang Yunji as he said calmly. ¡°Later, I will get my men to collect it from you.¡±


    Clearly, Zhou Donghuang was not going to let him go so easily. Just as well, the money that he had brought from Yunfeng prefecture was running low.


    ¡°Five million liang?¡± Yang Yunji¡¯s eyes narrowed as he grimaced. In the past, it would be easy for the Yang family to produce five million liang, but in this half a year, he had spent most of the family¡¯s money on producing the ten-year survival weed. The Yang family would not be able to produce five million liang now.


    ¡°What? You really value your money more than your life?¡± Seeing Yang Yunji¡¯s reluctance, Zhou Donghuang stared at him menacingly.


    Seeing this, Yang Yunji was completely flustered and cried, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I¡¯ll prepare it right away! I¡¯ll get it right away!¡± Now, Yang Yunji was already planning to sell some of the family business to get enough money for this man¡­ He could not afford to offend him!


    ¡°Mm,¡± muttered Zhou Donghuang as he nodded with satisfaction. He turned to the pale old man who had long since been frozen with fright. ¡°Xiao Chen, Medicine Master Xiao?¡±


    ¡°Dong¡­ Young Master Donghuang, do you have any instructions?¡± Thinking that he had escaped, Xiao Chen turned in fright when Zhou Donghuang called to him. His eyes were nervous.


    ¡°The poison that I treated, you said it was you¡­ now you¡¯re famous in the city?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I will announce to everyone that you were the one who treated Yang Yunji¡¯s poison and not me!¡± Xiao Chen¡¯s expression changed as he cried hurriedly.


    ¡°No need,¡± said Zhou Donghuang as he shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t care what they are saying¡­ your fame must be worth five million liang?¡± With that, Zhou Donghuang looked hard at Xiao Chen.


    Xiao Chen¡¯s face turned pale as he heard what Zhou Donghuang had just demanded. ¡°Five¡­ five million liang?¡±


    He could fork out this sum. But once he did, that would be all his life¡¯s savings.


    ¡°Why? You can¡¯t do it?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked as his eyes flashed coldly.


    Sensing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s murderous glint, Xiao Chen broke out in a cold sweat as he shook his head hurriedly, ¡°I can! I can!¡±


    Money lost could be earned again. But once he lost his life, that was it. Xiao Chen understood this.


    ¡°Very good,¡± said Zhou Donghuang as he nodded. ¡°Later, I will send someone to collect it from the Shi family. You better prepare it soon, if I don¡¯t receive the money, I¡¯ll come here to look for you. By then, it won¡¯t be just a mere five million liang.¡± With that, Zhou Donghuang glared at Xiao Chen.


    Xiao Chen immediately agreed, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, don¡¯t worry, I will prepare the money in the next two days!¡±


    ¡°Shi family¡­¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes landed on Shi Ji, who was staring forlornly at the body of his son, Shi Hao. Zhou Donghuang said calmly, ¡°Ten million liang should be reasonable for the Shi family?¡± His eyes landed on Shi Yu as his lips curled into a murderous smile. ¡°If not, you can also¡­ leave Shi Yu with me.¡±


    Shi Yu had been influential in this whole incident. Hearing this, Shi Yu¡¯s expression changed as he dropped to his knees with fright, screaming, ¡°Grandfather, save me!! Save me!!¡±


    Shi Ji said gravely, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, don¡¯t worry, we will prepare the ten million liang within two days.¡± Today, even though he was a level-eight adept and the pillar of strength of the tycoon Shi family, he could do nothing but accede to the request. The young man was simply too strong. Even if he was not a level-nine adept, he had to be among the strongest level-eight adepts and definitely not someone the Shi family could afford to offend.


    ¡°Old Chief Shi is decisive,¡± said Zhou Donghuang with a smile. He then turned to call the two girls behind him as they left arrogantly.


    After their figures had disappeared out of sight, Shi Yu turned to Shi Ji as he cried with hatred, ¡°Grandfather, we must avenge Father¡¯s death!¡±


    ¡°Revenge?¡± Shi Ji laughed. ¡°Even I am not his match¡­ why don¡¯t you tell me how we will take revenge?¡±


    ¡°Grandfather, we can sue him in the Chu royal household!¡± suggested Shi Yu.


    ¡°Chu royal household?¡± Shi Ji shook his head as he said, ¡°Though he killed your father, it was a simple act of revenge¡­ even if it wasn¡¯t, your father¡¯s death doesn¡¯t affect the Shi family, as we are still a tycoon family. The Chu royal court will not care.¡±


    Shi Yu was silent.


    ¡°Our Yang family¡­ missed out on a huge opportunity!¡± Here, the most regretful one was none other than Yang Yunji, the chief of the Yang family. He would never have thought that this teenager that he had looked down upon would be such a powerful man¡­ if the young man had been on good terms with his niece and stayed on in the Yang family, he could have led the family to become a tycoon family!


    The Yang family had missed their chance to become a tycoon family.

 Chapter 91 Level-eight of the Qi-gathering

    After returning from the Shi family mansion, Zhou Donghuang began to devote all his energy and concentration to practicing.


    He would let Fu collect the bill from the Yang family as well as the two bills from the Shi family, ten million liang of silver in total, turning him from a pauper back into a prince.


    The two million liang of silver he had previously brought from Yunfeng Prefecture was almost completely spent.


    Sitting cross-legged on his bed as he practiced in his room, Zhou Donghuang suddenly opened his eyes. Must the state of total concentration needed for practicing the Lord of the Four Supremes really be reached only by devoting time to reach that state?


    That state of total concentration is, after all, a state of calm and focus¡­there are many elixirs that can help achieve this state. Can I use these elixirs to directly enter a state of total concentration?¡±


    The Lord of the Four Supremes that Zhou Donghuang was now practicing could be practiced at an incredibly fast rate which was incomparable to the normal rate of practice if he entered a state of total concentration.


    For example, his level of practice was still at level-five of the Qi-gathering when he was in the intermediate-level Guangling prefecture.


    In four short months, his level of practice had advanced to level-eight of the Qi-gathering by the time he had arrived at the Chu royal city, consecutively breaking through two levels of practice.


    This was because he had entered a state of total concentration, and attained the maximum rate of practice for the Lord of the Four Supremes.


    In any case, entering a state of total concentration required practicing in seclusion, so that there would be minimal external distractions.


    Zhou Donghuang had just hit on an idea.


    Could he not formulate an elixir that would help him enter a state of calm and focus so that he could enter a state of total concentration even earlier and maintain his rate of practice at the maximum level to practice the Lord of the Four Supremes?


    I¡¯ll give it a try.


    Springing into action immediately, Zhou Donghuang found a pen and some paper and wrote down a list of herbs. He passed the paper to Fu, instructing him to purchase all the herbs on the list.


    It would be a simple matter to buy all the herbs from the medicine shops in the Chu royal city.


    Zhou Donghuang intended to formulate an elixir called ¡°concentration elixir,¡± which would allow the person who consumed it to enter a state of calm and focus in the shortest time possible.


    From what he recalled, a concentration elixir did not require using the essential core forged from the Samadhi Fire to formulate the best elixir for calm and focus.


    ¡°Young Master, here are the herbs you wanted.¡±


    That night, Fu returned with the herbs. Less than half a day later, Zhou Donghuang had managed to formulate the concentration elixir that he wanted and immediately proceeded to consume a bottle of it.


    After he consumed it, he began practicing and was pleasantly surprised to find that in just an hour, his rate of practice had entered the maximum rate of practice for the Lord of the Four Supremes!


    At this rate of practice¡­ it will not be long before I can smoothly attain level-eight of the Qi-gathering, and become a level-eight adept of the Qi-gathering with the strength of eight bulls!


    After realizing that the concentration elixir was indeed effective, Zhou Donghuang could not help the smile that spread over his face despite being in a state of total calm.


    After instructing Fu to find a post station to send a letter back to Yunfeng prefecture, Zhou Donghuang retreated from the world and sank into a state of frenzied practice.


    ¡­


    All was calm in the Chu royal city.


    In both the grand Yang family and the tycoon Shi family, everything was peaceful and in order. Nothing was out of the ordinary, and there was no news being spread.


    However, many people in the Shi family noticed that they had not seen the patriarch of the Shi family, Shi Hao, for a period of time. As for the whereabouts of the patriarch of the Shi family, he was away on business, according to First Young Master Shi Yu of the Shi family.


    This was all according to what the elder patriarch of the Shi family, Shi Ji had arranged. If news of his son Shi Hao¡¯s death was allowed to spread, it would create waves in the Shi family and cause unnecessary disruption.


    That day, after the youth had left, he had sworn Yang Yunji and Xiao Chen to silence and placed an embargo on the news of his son Shi Hao¡¯s death.


    Because of this, although Zhou Donghuang had put on a display of his godly might in the receiving chamber of the Shi family mansion, only those few who were present were aware of what happened.


    Ren Jiapei did indeed mention this to her father, who was the current patriarch of the Ren family, after she returned home. Her original intention was to make it clear to the Ren family that they were not to offend the youth who was with Yang Zixi at any cost.


    However, the patriarch of the Ren family merely laughed and dismissed what she said with obvious disbelief.


    However way she said it, the patriarch of the Ren family did not believe it. It was all she could do to stop herself from bringing her father to that Big Brother Zhou to rough him up.


    Finally, although Ren Jiapei was helpless about it, she understood clearly why her father did not believe her¡­ if he had not seen it with his own eyes, who would believe that a sixteen or seventeen-year-old youth had the ability to easily defeat a level-eight adept of the Qi-gathering?


    Moreover, that level-eight adept was Shi Ji, the previous patriarch of the Shi family who had led them to become them a tycoon family five years earlier.


    ¡°Zixi.¡±


    Now, Ren Jiapei would go to Chuxiu Inn to stay for several days whenever she was free, and over the next three months, she and Yang Zixi had become as close as sisters. ¡°I have not seen Big Brother Zhou for a long time¡­ is he always practicing?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    Yang Zixi nodded with a slight smile. Hearing Ren Jiapei mention Zhou Donghuang, her eyes narrowed into a crescent shape as she smiled, making her look very pretty.


    Previously, her Big Brother Zhou had passed on a new practice technique to her, as well as the Qi-gathering elixir that left her stunned.


    In three months, she not only smoothly attained level-one of the Qi-gathering, but was even not far from level-two of the Qi-gathering.


    Over that period of time, she had come to realize that her Big Brother Zhou was not an ordinary person and could not be compared to anyone by the standards of Yunyang country or even the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Even among the most elite families and the disciples of the sects on the planet of Ziyun¡­ there is no one who can be compared to Big Brother Zhou!


    Yang Zixi had had this thought more than once and had counted herself extremely lucky that she had gotten to know this Big Brother Zhou.


    ¡°Zixi, I can tell¡­ you have feelings for Big Brother Zhou.¡±


    Ren Jiapei smiled. ¡°How about that? When are you going to confess your feelings to him? Do you want my help?¡±


    Ren Jiapei stopped there, thinking that Yang Zixi would deny it in embarrassment. Yang Zixi did not deny it but gave a long sigh.


    ¡°Sister Jiapei, I am already very satisfied to even be able to stay with Big Brother Zhou. As for anything else¡­ I will make no demands. From the time Big Brother Zhou avenged Third Uncle, my life has belonged to Big Brother Zhou. Even if I have to spend my life serving him, I am willing to do it.¡±


    As she finished, the corners of Yang Zixi¡¯s mouth subconsciously curled up in a bitter smile.


    If she had struck up her courage three months earlier when she had just left the Yang family, confessed her feelings and fought for her happiness¡­


    But now, she understood her Big Brother Zhou better and was even more acutely aware that she and her Big Brother Zhou were of two completely different worlds.


    Her sense of inferiority before her Big Brother Zhou had convinced her that she could not possibly be a match for him. Perhaps, only the daughters of the elite families or sects of Ziyun would be a suitable match for him.


    ¡°Silly girl.¡±


    Ren Jiapei did not know what Yang Zixi was thinking, and she shook her head. ¡°Since you like Big Brother Zhou, you have to fight for it yourself¡­ most of the time, you have to fight to secure your own happiness. As outstanding as Big Brother Zhou is¡­ if you don¡¯t make a move soon, won¡¯t you be giving others a better chance?¡±


    Ren Jiapei continued to offer advice.


    ¡°Sister Jiapei¡­ you wouldn¡¯t have feelings for Big Brother Zhou too, would you?¡±


    Yang Zixi looked earnestly at Ren Jiapei, who lowered her head guiltily. Seeing this, Yang Zixi sighed in her heart.


    Although Ren Jiapei had not admitted it directly, her actions made it obvious enough.


    Just as the atmosphere between the two ladies was becoming rather awkward, they heard the door of the master bedroom in the middle of the guesthouse being thrown open, and a figure dressed in robes whiter than snow walked out.


    ¡°Is Young Mistress Ren here?¡±


    For the first time in three months, Zhou Donghuang left his room with a peculiar demeanor about him.


    He had finally attained level-eight of the Qi-gathering!


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s appearance was unexpected, and the two ladies immediately focused all their attention on Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou.¡±


    Yang Zixi rose from her seat, her beautiful face radiating warmth, her gaze briefly showing a look of infatuation as she looked at the youth who seemed to have lost almost all the air of childishness that he once had.


    In three months, the youth had changed substantially. He was more mature and more charismatic now.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, have you perhaps been practicing too obsessively?¡±


    Ren Jiapei sighed. ¡°I¡¯ve been here more than ten times in the past three months, but never seen you once¡­ now, I finally understand how you have such ability at this age.¡±


    Although she said this, Ren Jiapei knew full well that even if an ordinary person was even more diligent than this youth, it was impossible for him to have the level of ability that this youth had at his current age.


    ¡°What time is it now?¡±


    After continuously practicing for three months, Zhou Donghuang could not remember clearly what time it was, but from what Ren Jiapei had said, it should be sometime in the middle of December.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, today is December 19, 1228 of the Ziyun Era,¡± Yang Zixi said with a smile.


    ¡°Big Brother Zhou, since you have stopped practicing for now and left your room, you should go out for a walk¡­ if not, even if you don¡¯t feel cooped up, Zixi probably does.¡±


    Ren Jiapei looked at Zhou Donghuang and glanced sideways as she said, ¡°It so happens that there is a gathering for the scions of the grand families in the Chu Royal city at the end of the month, why don¡¯t Big Brother Zhou and Zixi attend it as a couple?¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t go; you can just go with Zixi.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head. He did not have the slightest interest in a gathering for the youths of the grand families.


    ¡°Big Brother Donghuang, if I go with Zixi, what if we get bullied by someone? Could you bear to see us get bullied?¡± Ren Jiapei asked coquettishly with a pout.


    Zhou Donghuang raised his eyebrows and looked at Zixi, and saw a glimmer of longing in the depths of the young lady¡¯s gaze which immediately softened his heart. ¡°Sure¡­ I¡¯ll go with you both.¡±

 Chapter 92 Zheng Qiuhe

    Early morning on December 31, 1228 of the Ziyun Era.


    Chuxiu Inn.


    In the courtyard of the best guesthouse, a youth in a white robe was sitting at the stone table, drumming his knuckles gently on the tabletop with a misty look in his eyes.


    Without realizing it... it has been more than a year since I''ve been back.


    On December 12, 1227 of the Ziyun Era, Zhou Donghuang had been accidentally brought back from a thousand years in the future, and he had embarked on a journey to change his fate.


    Over the past year, many things had happened, and thinking back on it now, Zhou Donghuang still felt like he was in a dream.


    However, this was not at all a dream.


    It has already been over eight months since I left Yunfeng Prefecture... I wonder how Mother and Xiao Lu are?


    Thinking of Lin Lan and Xiao Lu, a look of worry surfaced in Zhou Donghuang''s eyes. "I should have brought them over together back then."


    Back then, he had not brought Lin Lan and Yun Lu over because he did not know if he could attain level-seven of Qi-gathering in such a short time.


    He also did not know that the concentration elixir could help him speedily enter a state of calm and focus to practice the Lord of the Four Supremes. After all, if his family was with him in a place like the Chu royal city, he could not act freely without sufficient ability.


    However, while he was formulating the concentration elixir three months ago, he had written a letter and passed it to Fu. "Fu, go and find a big post station in the Chu royal city and find a messenger that uses a ferghana horse for delivery and get this letter delivered to Yunfeng prefecture, to Patriarch Lu Qinghu of the Lu family."


    In the Chu royal city, some of the larger post stations employed a team of messengers who used ferghana horses to deliver express mail.


    Of course, the fees for such messengers were extremely expensive. However, this was small change to Zhou Donghuang, who had twenty million liang of silver.


    After today, I will have become an adult in this life.


    Returning to the stone table and sitting down, Zhou Donghuang smiled wistfully as he remembered that it was the last day of the year 1228 of the Ziyun era.


    On the planet of Ziyun, an eighteen-year-old was considered an adult.


    Those below eighteen were considered youths and young ladies, but once they reached eighteen, they were considered young men and women.


    "Big Brother Zhou!"


    Not long after Fu left, Ren Jiapei came over. "Where is Zixi? Today is the day of the gathering for the scions of the grand families, I''m here to look for you both so we can go over together."


    Ren Jiapei was not dressed as casually as she usually was, but was dressed like a lady in the same manner that Yang Zixi usually was. Zhou Donghuang was not used to seeing her like this.


    "Sister Jiapei."


    Ren Jiapei''s voice was rather loud, and just as she finished, Yang Zixi came out of her room after having heard her voice.


    Yang Zixi was dressed in a snow-white long-sleeved gown and wore a white gauze top over the dress, complementing her fair skin perfectly. This gave her an incomparably pure look. In addition to Yang Zixi''s beautiful looks, her gown accentuated her appearance such that she looked like a saint¡ªpure and holy, and nothing could mar her appearance.


    "Wah!"


    Seeing Yang Zixi''s outfit, Ren Jiapei''s eyes shone. "Sister Zixi, you look stunning today! Moreover, it really suits your personality. With your original good looks, even if you made a minimal effort in dressing up for today''s gathering, you would already outshine the crowd... now, the daughters of the other families are going to wither before you."


    Ren Jiapei spoke as though she had forgotten that she herself was one of the daughters of a prominent family attending the gathering.


    Yang Zixi''s disposition was slightly aloof, which matched her completely white outfit and gave her an aura of detachment and coolness. Usually, Yang Zixi did not speak much in front of outsiders, and sometimes not at all. Only in front of Zhou Donghuang would she behave like a girl-next-door.


    "Moreover... it really matches Big Brother Zhou''s white robe."


    Ren Jiapei looked at Zhou Donghuang as she said this with a teasing smile.


    Two spots of red bloomed on Yang Zixi''s face at Ren Jiapei''s words. Her alluring appearance made an onlooker feel like rushing forward to hold her tight and give her a kiss.


    "Big Brother Zhou, does my outfit... look good?"


    Yang Zixi looked at Zhou Donghuang as she brushed her white gown and asked anxiously. Today, she had dressed up not to impress others, but first and foremost for the youth before her.


    Women beautify themselves for their own happiness, and this described Yang Zixi now.


    "Mm, it looks good."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded with a slight smile.


    How could he fail to discern the young lady''s thoughts? However, at this point, his feelings towards the young lady were like that of a sibling. She had never plucked that particular string in his heart.


    After the last incident, he had wanted to make his feelings clear to the young lady but did not know where to start, and thereafter it had gradually fallen aside.


    This time after the gathering, when we are alone, I will make it clear to this girl... to avoid her falling deeper.


    Zhou Donghuang sighed to himself. He knew that some things had to be said, no matter how difficult. However, Zhou Donghuang did not know that the young lady had already fallen in as deep as she could go, even to the point where she could not extricate herself...


    "Let''s go," he told Ren Jiapei.


    To avoid the young lady''s misunderstanding, Zhou Donghuang quickly looked away from her and rose.


    The young lady had perceived how Zhou Donghuang had intentionally avoided her gaze, and the corners of her mouth subconsciously curled upwards in a bitter smile.


    But in an instant, her gaze once again became incomparably resolute,


    "Good! Let''s go!"


    Although Ren Jiapei was usually casual, she sensed the mood was not right. She went to the young lady''s side and took her hand, leading her out of the courtyard.


    Zhou Donghuang followed the two ladies, his white robe fluttering in the wind like drifting snow.


    ...


    Grand families were common in the Chu royal city. For example, the Yang family that Yang Zixi had been a part of was only at the bottom of the hierarchy of the grand families.


    Even the Ren family that backed Ren Jiapei was only considered an intermediate-level grand family, even though they had three level-six adepts in charge. This was because an elite grand family would usually have many level-seven adepts in charge.


    Even superior-level grand families would have at least one level-seven adept in charge.


    The gathering for the scions of the grand families was organized once a year. The scions of several elite grand families of the Chu royal city took turns to organize it, rotating this duty among their families.


    This year, the gathering was organized by the elite grand Wei family.


    As an elite grand family, the Wei family''s mansion was huge, far outclassing the mansions of the Yang and Ren families even though they were both also grand families. It would not be considered inferior even when compared to the family mansion of the tycoon Shi family.


    "Young Mistress Ren."


    Ren Jiapei took out the invitation at the main entrance of the Wei family mansion and led Zhou Donghuang and Yang Zixi in.


    The several guards who were guarding the main entrance of the Wei family mansion were left staring at the beautiful young lady in the pure, white gown from the moment the three of them had entered.


    "This... is the Yang Zixi who was expelled from the Yang family by the patriarch of the Yang family?"


    "No wonder the first young master of the tycoon Shi family had taken a liking to her, she is breathtakingly beautiful, and I don''t think any of the young ladies can hold a candle to her."


    "That Young Mistress Ren is also very beautiful; when the two of them are standing together, it is like looking at a pair of beautiful sisters."


    "That youth in white behind them has a carefree air around him, and his demeanor is extraordinary... but which family is he from?"


    "Since he did not produce an invitation, he probably is not from a grand family, and might not even be a direct relative of a grand family."


    ...


    Several side relatives of the Wei family were talking among themselves, but they managed to recognize Yang Zixi. As for Zhou Donghuang, he was a new face to them and completely unfamiliar.


    However, each of the direct relatives of the grand families attending today''s gathering could bring a maximum of two people, therefore, even though Yang Zixi was not a member of a grand family and Zhou Donghuang did not have an invitation, they did not remark upon it.


    "Young Mistress Ren, right this way."


    When they entered the Wei family mansion, someone was there to show them the way to the area where the gathering was held, which was the spacious back courtyard of the Wei family mansion.


    Zhou Donghuang followed the two ladies into the back courtyard and saw at first glance that the tables were laden with food and drink. They were neatly set up at every corner of the back courtyard, just like the buffet restaurants back on Earth.


    "Oh? Isn''t that Young Mistress Ren?"


    As soon as the three of them arrived, a young lady in a green gown approached together with a servant girl, giving Young Mistress Ren a mocking look. "Young Mistress Ren, I heard that by taking Yang Zixi in, you caused the Ren family substantial losses form the joint businesses with the Shi family."


    The young lady in the green gown could still be considered pretty, but she was miles behind Ren Jiapei and Yang Zixi in terms of looks. Now, she had been chattering continuously like a shrew since she approached them.


    Zhou Donghuang had already noticed that this young lady in the green gown, who obviously had no intention of acknowledging Yang Zixi, had been looking enviously at her since they had arrived.


    "Zheng Qiuhe."


    Ren Jiapei looked at the young lady in the green gown with an icy smile. "If I recall correctly, Yang Zixi gave you quite a lot of rouge powder in the past and also did you many favors? Before Sister Zixi was expelled from the Yang family, you called yourself her sister, but after she was expelled, you turned her away at the door. I, Ren Jiapei will have nothing to do with such an ungrateful wretch like you... get lost!"


    The young lady in the green gown, Zheng Qiuhe, was the third young mistress of the grand Zheng family.


    The Zheng family?


    Zhou Donghuang swept an indifferent gaze over Zheng Qiuhe. He remembered clearly that the first place Yang Zixi had went to after being expelled from the Yang family was the Zheng family mansion.


    Recalling that, it was to find this Zheng Qiuhe.


    The Zheng family, like the Yang family, was at the bottom of the hierarchy of the grand families. Because of this, seeing that Ren Jiapei was in a stronger position, Zheng Quiuhe''s expression turned extremely foul, but she did not dare block Ren Jiapei''s path and obediently made way.


    The Ren family was much stronger than the Zheng family.


    "Third Young Mistress, First Young Mistress of the Ren family will have to answer to First Young Master of the Shi family sooner or later if she continues to be so stubborn... you don''t have to put up with her."


    The servant girl behind Zheng Qiuhe consoled her gently.


    "Hrmph! I''ll wait for misfortune to befall Ren Jiapei," Zheng Qiuhe said hatefully, staring coldly at Ren Jiapei''s back.

 Chapter 93 The Focal Poin

    The social circles of the grand families of the Chu royal city were not considered big, but neither were they small.


    The scions of the grand families had their own social circles, too.


    For example, as a member of a grand family of lower status, Yang Zixi was closest to the third young mistress of the Zheng family Zheng Qiuhe and others of similar backgrounds, who were all members of grand families with lower status.


    Ren Jiapei''s social status, however, consisted of members of intermediate-level grand families and was considered one level higher than Yang Zixi''s original social circle.


    "Sister Jiapei, is your friend Sister Zixi? Reputation cannot compare to reality; she is truly a great beauty."


    A young man about twenty years old in a green robe gave the young lady beside Ren Jiapei a look, then quickly and self-consciously looked away. That young lady was beautiful, but she was not for him. That beautiful young lady was the one whom First Young Master Shi Yu of the tycoon Shi family had his eye on. This was no secret in the Chu Royal city.


    "Mhm."


    Ren Jiapei nodded and introduced the young lady to the young man. "Sister Zixi, this is the second young master of the Hu family, Hu Qing."


    The young lady glanced at Hu Qing and nodded casually by way of greeting. Her detached demeanor forestalled any attempt at further conversation and created an unbridgeable gulf between them.


    "This is?"


    Just then, Hu Qing''s gaze fell on the youth in white beside the two ladies, and a curious look flashed across his eyes.


    "This is my Big Brother Zhou, not someone from our social circle."


    When Ren Jiapei uttered the three words "Big Brother Zhou," the respect in her tone was evident.


    "Surnamed Zhou?"


    At the same time, Hu Qing noticed that when the young lady beside Ren Jiapei looked at the youth surnamed Zhou, the coldness in her eyes disappeared and was replaced by gentle warmth, just as if she was looking at her sweetheart.


    "Brother, may I have a private word with you?" Hu Qing asked Zhou Donghuang with a smile and a gleam in his eye.


    "Huh?"


    Zhou Donghuang gave a start, then nodded casually and stepped aside. Hu Qing followed him.


    "Brother."


    Hu Qing did not beat about the bush as he walked over to Zhou Donghuang and said, "From what I know... in the Chu royal city, and even within the country of Yunyang, there is no grand family and above with the surname Zhou. I warn you, keep your distance from Yang Zixi... that is the lady whom First Young Master Shi Yu of the tycoon Shi family has his eye on, and if he knows Yang Zixi has developed feelings from you, he will not let you off.


    "The Hu family and Ren family have good relations, and I consider Jiapei as my own sister, and since you are her friend, I have to warn you," Hu Qing said.


    "You wanted to speak to me privately just for this?"


    Zhou Donghuang was taken aback at first, then smiled casually. "Thanks for the reminder... However, I don''t care whether that Shi Yu will let me off or not."


    Shi Yu? The first young master of the tycoon Shi family? If he remembered correctly, he had already killed Shi Yu''s father Shi Hao three months ago.


    At that time, the level-eight adept of the Shi family had been present and had witnessed him kill Shi Hao. However, Zhou Donghuang could not help laughing bitterly to himself¡­ Now, even someone who had seen him and Yang Zixi for the first time could tell that Yang Zixi had feelings for him?


    "Brother, I''ve said all that I needed to say... what you do next is your own business."


    Hu Qing shook his head at the ignorance of the youth before him.


    In his opinion, he had reminded the youth for Ren Jiapei''s sake and had done all he could.


    If the youth wanted to court death, there was nothing he could do about it.


    If it wasn''t for the Ren family backing Sister Jiapei when she rashly took in Yang Zixi three months ago, she would be in deep trouble now... even so, the Ren family has already lost the opportunity to cooperate with the Shi family.


    If this youth with no background insists on flirting with Yang Zixi, he is simply trying to get himself killed!


    ...


    As the day progressed, the back courtyard of the Wei family mansion, which was the venue for the gathering of the scions of the grand families, became rowdier.


    When Zhou Donghuang and his group arrived, the scions of only a few grand families had arrived.


    After several hours, the scions of more than ten grand families had already arrived. Among them were several daughters of the lesser grand families that had turned Yang Zixi away after she had been expelled from the Yang family.


    However, not all the daughters of the grand families who had been close to Yang Zixi were like Zheng Qiuhe.


    One or two of them took the initiative to approach Yang Zixi and apologize to her and express their sorrow. Of course, there were even more who were like Zheng Qiuhe and totally ignored Yang Zixi, as though they had never had any relationship with her before.


    In the past, this would have upset Yang Zixi. However, over the past three months, she felt more peaceful than she had ever felt, because she had put this incident behind her and was no longer affected by it.


    Whether the daughters of the prominent families who had been close to her apologized to her or ignored her did not matter, it was no longer important to her now. Now, all she cared about was the youth in white who was standing at a table laden with fruits and helping himself to the fruits.


    "Sister Jiapei, do whatever you need, I''ll go and find Big Brother Donghuang."


    After exchanging greetings with Ren Jiapei, the young lady began walking towards the youth standing nearby. And that youth who had previously been as good as invisible to everyone else around him became the focus of everyone''s attention as the young lady walked over to him, a smile blooming on her face and replacing her cool expression.


    "Who is that?"


    "Earlier, other than Ren Jiapei, Yang Zixi was giving the cold shoulder to everyone else... now she actually smiles to this youth?"


    "Who is this youth in white?"


    "Is there such an outstanding person among the grand families of the Chu royal city?"


    ...


    The crowd of scions of the grand families focused their attention on Zhou Donghuang, all curious about Zhou Donghuang''s identity. However, after exchanging notes among themselves, they realized that no one knew this youth in white.


    The youth in white seemed to have appeared out of thin air.


    This Zhou Donghuang is in for trouble.


    Seeing Yang Zixi approaching Zhou Donghuang and turning them into the center of attention, the second young master of the Hu family Hu Qing shook his head and sighed gently. In his view, it was better for this Zhou Donghuang not to attract anyone''s attention. In his opinion, it would be a disaster if Zhou Donghuang attracted attention.


    "Brother Hu Qing, do you know him?"


    The person speaking to Hu Qing was a young man about eighteen or nineteen years old, and he was asking out of curiosity as he saw Hu Qing looking and sighing at the youth in white.


    "I can''t say I know him... but he is Jiapei''s friend, and we did have a chat."


    Hu Qing shook his head.


    "Where is he from? Looking at Yang Zixi, she obviously adores him..."


    The youth shook his head and continued, "If that first young master of the Shi family saw this, he would probably explode with rage."


    "His surname is Zhou, where could he possibly be from?"


    Hu Qing continued shaking his head.


    "Surnamed Zhou?"


    The youth frowned slightly and racked his brain. In the country of Yunyang, there seemed to be no family surnamed Zhou from the imperial court down to the royal families of the various kingdoms¡ªeven down to the various tycoon families and grand families.


    "With no background, how he is so close to Yang Zixi?"


    When the youth looked at Zhou Donghuang once more, he shook his head gently with a look of pity in his eyes.


    With no background, was it not courting death to be so close to Yang Zixi, who was considered to be exclusively for the first young master of the Shi family, Shi Yu?


    "Zixi, this apple is not bad, would you like one?"


    He asked the young lady walking towards him. Zhou Donghuang took a bite of the apple as though no one was around and chewed on it as he smiled.


    "Sure."


    The young lady had a radiant smile as though she had been instantly transformed from a cold and supreme goddess into a girl-next-door, stunning the crowd of scions of the grand families.


    "Here."


    Zhou Donghuang took an apple from the fruit platter on the table and passed it to the young lady, who reached out to take it began to take small, delicate bites of it.


    The scene was picture-perfect. A young lady in a gown of pure white, a youth in a robe whiter than snow, standing face to face and chewing on the apple that each of them was holding. The looks that were directed at them from all around seemed to be completely ignored by them. At that moment, there seemed to be only the two of them under the sky.


    "Brother Wei, who is that youth?"


    In the corner where the scions of the elite grand families were gathered, a delicate-looking kid in a silver mandarin gown asked the youth beside him curiously.


    The youth was handsome with sharp eyebrows and piercing eyes, and he was dressed in white like a scholar with a fan in his hand. He gave off an air of elegance. He was the host of the day, the first young master of the elite grand Wei family, Wei Hongtao.


    "I don''t know."


    At the youth in silver''s question, Hong Wei stopped tapping the fan against his hand and shook his head.


    "You don''t know? Then how did he get in?"


    The youth in silver was shocked.


    "I''ll ask around."


    Soon, Wei Hongtao had summoned the Wei family juniors who were in charge of organizing the gathering before him and learned that the youth in white had entered together with the first young mistress of the Ren family Ren Jiapei.


    "He entered with Ren Jiapei? Surnamed Zhou?"


    The youth in silver raised an eyebrow. "It seems he is not the son of any prominent family... at least not from a grand family or above."


    As he said this, his gaze lit up. "Zhang Yongshan of the Zhang family has already gone over to that youth... he usually likes to hang out with Shi Yu, following him around. Today, it seems like he wants to stand up for Shi Yu."


    Under the gaze of the scions of the grand families, a young man about twenty years old and of average build approached Zhou Donghuang.


    "Little fellow, if you don''t want to die, you had better stay away from the sister-in-law of my family."


    The youth stood before Zhou Donghuang and stared coldly at him, threatening him in a chilly voice.


    "Sister-in-law?"


    Zhou Donghuang was taken aback.


    "She is the sister-in-law of my family."


    The youth looked at Zhou Donghuang and reached out to point at the young lady before him.


    "Zhang Yongshan, don''t talk nonsense."


    The smile on the young lady''s face vanished, replaced by a frosty expression, and she stared icily at the youth.

 Chapter 94 Wei Hongtao

    "Yang Zixi, it is your good fortune that my Brother Shi Yu has taken a fancy to you, you should count your blessings!"


    Zhang Yongshan stared at Yang Zixi with a stormy expression and said in a cold voice, "I have already confirmed... this youth with you here is not from a grand family or higher! What is so good about him that you would rather choose him over Brother Shi Yu?"


    As he finished, Zhang Yongshan''s voice became even colder.


    "Shi Yu?"


    Yang Zixi shook her head and looked back at the youth with a starry-eyed look. "How could he be compared to my Big Brother Zhou?"


    The young lady''s actions were a public declaration of the feelings she felt towards Zhou Donghuang, and she abandoned all restraint that a lady could have.


    The scene broke out in an uproar.


    "Sister Zixi."


    Although Ren Jiapei had long expected that Zixi would confess her feelings for Big Brother Zhou someday, she never imagined that it would come so soon.


    She immediately felt an emptiness in her heart, and a desolate expression came over her face without her realizing it.


    "Yang Zixi... you have really fallen for this youth?"


    "This youth is surnamed Zhou, in the country of Yunyang, there is no grand family and above that has the surname Zhou. In other words, he can be at most only the son of a preeminent family. Yang Zixi would rather be together with the son of a preeminent family than with First Young Master Shi Yu of a tycoon family? If Shi Yu was here, he would surely want to kill this youth."


    ...


    Although the scions of the grand families who were present had all felt that Yang Zixi treated that youth in white differently and guessed that she had taken a liking to him, it had only been a guess.


    Now, it had been confirmed by what Yang Zixi herself had said: She really had taken a liking to this youth.


    In that moment, the daughters of the grand families looked at Zhou Donghuang with looks of pity, and the young masters of the grand families looked at him without a trace of envy, but with only pity and delight at his impending doom.


    "That little fellow is done for!"


    Some distance away, a son of a grand family sneered and turned to leave. He rode away from the Wei family mansion on his ferghana horse, heading for the Shi family mansion. When my cousin Shi Yu arrives, I''ll watch how this kid will die!


    Meanwhile, in the back courtyard of the Wei family mansion, Zhang Yongshan was momentarily stunned at the young woman''s words, but he did not take long to recover.


    "Slut! I''ll help Brother Shi Yu teach you a lesson now!"


    Zhang Yongshan glared at the young lady, and with an angry shout, he lunged towards her with his hand raised, sweeping it savagely towards the young lady''s face.


    Although the young lady''s level of practice was almost at level-two of the Qi-gathering, her reaction was still a fraction too slow against Zhang Yongshan, a level-three adept.


    By the time she had reacted, Zhang Yongshan''s hand was only several inches from her face, and she could feel the wind rushing towards her.


    That was the wind that Zhang Yongshan''s hand created.


    Even so, the young lady''s expression did not change, and she remained as calm and peaceful as before because the youth she admired was with her.


    The youth gave her an absolute sense of security.


    Piak!


    The slap that the onlookers were expecting did not materialize, and what they heard instead was a soft sound.


    In full view of the crowd, in the split-second before Zhang Yongshan''s hand landed on the young lady''s beautiful face, he found his wrist gripped by a hand that had shot out like lightning.


    The hand that had shot out like lightning was like an iron pincer, gripping Zhang Yongshan''s wrist like a vice and preventing it from moving forward any further.


    "That''s fast!"


    There was a look of shock in the eyes of First Young Master Wei Hongtao and the other scions of the elite grand families. The speed with which the youth had acted was so fast that they had not even noticed that he had moved.


    Of course, in their opinion, this was because they had not been focused on the youth from the beginning. Otherwise, the youth could not have acted faster than they noticed.


    Even so, they still felt that the youth had a considerable ability and was at least not any weaker than Zhang Yongshan.


    The youth would not have been able to do this if his ability was weaker than Zhang Yongshan.


    "Such speed!"


    "This youth is actually not weaker than Zhang Yongshan?"


    "How is this possible! He... he looks like he has not even reached maturity, only seventeen years at most!"


    ...


    The scions of the grand families were stunned by the scene before them, and only Ren Jiapei was not surprised by this because knew how fearsome her Big Brother Donghuang was.


    Just as the crowd exclaimed in shock.


    Ka-chak!!


    Without warning, the crowd heard the clear sound of bones breaking, causing their scalp to tingle.


    "Ahhhh¡ª!"


    A shrill cry of pain followed the sound of bones breaking.


    In full view of the crowd, that youth in snow-white robes casually folded Zhang Yongshan''s hand in half with a calm expression, immediately breaking his bones!


    "How ruthless!"


    The eyes of the crowd widened at this scene, and they trembled in their heart, frightened by the youth''s ruthlessness.


    The youth in question casually pushed Zhang Yongshan over, smiling as he asked about the young lady flippantly, causing a chill to creep into the hearts of the crowd.


    The previous moment, he had broken someone''s arm, the next, it was as though nothing had happened as he talked and laughed cheerfully.


    Who on earth was this youth?


    "With Big Brother Zhou around, Zixi is not afraid."


    The young lady smiled sweetly as she looked at the youth with a gentle gaze, as though it would melt everything.


    "Sir, wasn''t that too extreme?"


    A low voice spoke just as Zhou Donghuang''s actions had given the crowd a fright.


    A young man dressed in white scholar''s robes and holding a folding fan stepped forward.


    "It''s First Young Master Wei Hongtao of the Wei family!"


    "Wei Hongtao is the host of the day... this youth in white creating a scene at this gathering organized by him is like a slap to the face of the Wei family."


    "However, the ability of this youth in white is reasonably strong, and he is a whole level higher than Zhang Yongshan... and Zhang Yongshan has attained level-three of the Qi-gathering not long ago."


    "He is at least an outstanding level-three adept... otherwise, he wouldn''t have the ability to hurt Zhang Yongshan like that."


    "So what if he is? The first young master of the Wei family is an outstanding level-four adept, wouldn''t it be simple to deal with him?"


    ...


    As Wei Hongtao stepped forward, the scions of the grand families turned their gazes on him one by one.


    Wei Hongtao, the first young master of the elite grand Wei family, the preeminent person of the younger generation of the grand families of the Chu royal city.


    In the circles of the grand families, Wei Hongtao would be the focal point wherever he went.


    When Wei Hongtao stepped out, the daughters of the grand families, including Third Young Mistress Zheng Qiuhe of the Zheng family, all looked at him with starry-eyed gazes. He was the man of their dreams.


    Very quickly, Wei Hongtao was beside Zhang Yongshan, glancing with a slight frown at Zhang Yongshan who was rolling on the ground in pain. Then he looked at the youth in the white robe with a piercing gaze.


    "Sir, didn''t you hear me? Aren''t your actions too extreme?"


    Wei Hongtao repeated himself in a slightly firmer and much deeper tone, creating a sense of pressure out of nowhere.


    However, the youth did not pay him any attention, as though completely ignoring him.


    "Crazy! This youth is crazy!"


    "He actually dares to ignore First Young Master Wei like that? He wouldn''t treat First Young Master Wei like he treated Zhang Yongshan, would he?"


    "Zhang Yongshan is only the young master of an inferior-level grand family, but this Young Master Wei is the first young master of an elite grand family. They are as different as heaven and earth!"


    "Who is this youth, and how arrogant is he? He even ignores First Young Master Wei when he is speaking?"


    ...


    The crowd of the scions of the grand families looked at the youth in wonder. They could not understand where this youth was getting such courage from.


    Just as Wei Hongtao''s expression turned a shade darker, Ren Jiapei stepped forward. "Big Brother Wei!"


    "Sister Jiapei, I know you brought him along... but, today, he has gone too far. He must explain himself to me and to the Wei family!"


    Wei Hongtao said in a low voice, "Today, even your pleas on his behalf are useless!"


    Ren Jiapei smiled bitterly.


    Wei Hongtao thought that she had stepped up to plead for Big Brother Zhou?


    She stepped up only because the Wei family and the Wei family were cooperating closely, and she did not want the Wei family to provoke her Big Brother Zhou if she could help it.


    Even the patriarch of the tycoon Shi family had been killed by her Big Brother Zhou, and the Shi family dared not harbor any thoughts of revenge. What was a mere grand family to him?


    "Zixi, I feel there is no point in staying... why don''t we go out for a walk?"


    The youth''s snow-white robe fluttered in the wind as he asked the young lady with a smile.


    "Oh."


    The young lady nodded and responded obediently.


    "Thinking of leaving?"


    A cold gleam flashed across Wei Hongtao''s eyes, and he began to move to detain the youth.


    At that moment, a voice said suddenly, "Little fellow! My Big Brother has already left to bring Cousin Shi Yu over... if you wait here obediently for my cousin Shi Yu to arrive, you might be fortunate enough to leave with your life. Knowing my cousin Shi Yu''s temper, if you dare leave, you''ll be dead!"


    After he finished, a figure walked slowly forward. It was a young man in a greyish white mandarin robe.


    "It''s the second young master of the grand Tan family, Tan Li."


    "Although the Tan family is only an intermediate-level grand family, they are related to the Shi family, and their position in the Chu royal city is not lower than the elite grand families."


    The circles of the grand families of the Chu royal city were only that big, and everyone present recognized the second young master of the Tan family.


    "Big Brother Wei, why don''t you hand him over to my cousin Shi Yu to resolve personally when he arrives."


    Tan Li looked at Wei Hongtao.


    "Sure."


    Wei Hongtao nodded. Since Shi Yu was on his way, he could happily be at leisure.

 Chapter 95 Considering the Feelings of Others

    Shi Yu?


    Zhou Donghuang laughed at Tan Li''s words. Even if someone had really gone to inform Shi Yu, would he really dare come over?


    "Zixi, let''s go."


    Zhou Donghuang called to the young lady and led her out of the back courtyard of the Wei family mansion with a swagger.


    No matter how Tan Li used the might of the tycoon Shi family to threaten him, this couple, who was like a golden man and a jade lady, did not even spare him a glance. And Tan Li naturally did not dare obstruct them.


    Zhang Yongshan, who was much stronger than him, had already been left in this state. If he rashly went forward, he was afraid that he would suffer the same fate as Zhang Yongshan, given the ruthless character of the youth.


    Seeing them both leave, Wei Hongtao''s gaze grew cold, and he planned to stop them at first but was stopped in time by Ren Jiapei.


    "Big Brother Wei, you had better see if that Shi Yu dares to come over today, then consider if you want to make enemies with Big Brother Zhou."


    Ren Jiapei walked over and stood before Wei Hongtao and gently left him with this advice, then ran to catch up with the youth and the young lady. "Big Brother Zhou, Sister Zixi, wait for me!"


    Because of what Ren Jiapei had said, Wei Hongtao did not move to obstruct Zhou Donghuang and the young lady as everyone else was expecting him to.


    From what Sister Jiapei said, Shi Yu dares not come over?


    As the first young master of the Wei family, the first among the younger generation of the grand families of the Chu royal city, Wei Hongtao naturally was not stupid.


    He knew in full detail the backgrounds of everyone present except the youth in white.


    If Shi Yu dared not come over, it could not be because of anyone present, including him, so it could only be because of that youth in white.


    If Shi Yu really dares not come over because of him, he... who is he? Unless... Sister Jiapei is deceiving me on purpose to save him?


    Now, these two thoughts were bouncing around in Wei Hongtao''s mind.


    Why not wait a while and see if Shi Yu comes over.


    Wei Hongtao thought to himself.


    "Big Brother Wei, why don''t you stop him?"


    "Yes, Big Brother Wei, what that little fellow did today is a slap to the face of the Wei family. Letting him leave just like that would cause you and the Wei family to lose face."


    ...


    Many of the scions of the grand families looked at Wei Hongtao with incomprehension, not knowing why Wei Hongtao did not stop that youth.


    Even Tan Li looked at Wei Hongtao with a slight frown. "Big Brother Wei, why did you let him leave just like that?"


    "Huh?"


    Wei Hongtao was surprised at Tan Li''s words. "Tan Li, didn''t you let me hand this matter over to your cousin Shi Yu to resolve when he arrives? Since you said that, I naturally had to give Shi Yu face. Could it be that... once he leaves, Shi Yu cannot do anything about him? Even First Young Master Shi Yu of the tycoon Shi family could not lack the ability to fight this kid?"


    Wei Hongtao countered.


    "Of course not!"


    Tan Li''s gaze turned cold, and he said in a chilly voice, "He dares to leave today, and with my cousin Shi Yu''s temper, he is as good as dead!"


    At this moment, the whole crowd of scions of the grand families came to a sudden realization as they heard what Wei Hongtao said.


    "So Big Brother Wei did not detain that youth on account of Shi Yu''s face."


    "I''ve already said that if Big Brother Wei wanted to detain that little fellow, how could he have left with such confidence?"


    ...


    Hearing the crowd whispering among themselves, Wei Hongtao smiled indifferently, knowing that he had preserved his face as well as that of the Wei family.


    After instructing a Wei family junior to send Zhang Yongshan back to the Zhang family, Wei Hongtao smiled as he addressed the crowd, "It''s rare for everyone to be able to gather, please continue to enjoy yourselves... don''t let that little incident spoil the occasion."


    ...


    The Shi family mansion.


    Tan Zhi, the first young master of the grand Tan family, was able to enter the Shi family mansion freely because he was the nephew of the wife of Shi Yan, the second master of the Shi family.


    Even the members of the Shi family who crossed paths with him greeted him warmly and respectfully when they saw him.


    "Cousin Shi Yu."


    Tan Zhi went directly to find Shi Yu, the first young master of the Shi family. He went straight to the point in relating the incident that occurred in the back courtyard of the Wei family mansion to Shi Yu in full detail.


    "Cousin Shi Yu, that little fellow was too savage... as they say, consider its master before you hit a dog. The way he bullied and humiliated Zhang Yongshan, you must not let him off!"


    Tan Zhi did not notice Shi Yu''s expression becoming fouler and fouler, as he spoke angrily, absorbed in himself.


    When Tan Zhi paused and was about to continue, Shi Yu shouted coldly, "Enough!"


    "Cousin Shi Yu?"


    Just then, Tan Zhi finally noticed that something was not normal with Shi Yu''s expression. "You... what''s wrong?"


    Shi Yu took in a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Cousin Tan Zhi, don''t go back to that Wei family mansion... I hope Tan Li doesn''t blindly antagonize that youth, otherwise, you will have died for nothing.


    As he finished, a look of deep terror flooded Shi Yu''s eyes.


    Even after three months, the mention of that youth caused memories of the scene of that youth killing his father Shi Hao to surface in Shi Yu''s mind.


    Even his grandfather, the strongest in the Shi family and a level-eight adept of the Qi-gathering, was no match for that youth.


    "Hss¡ª"


    As Shi Yu finished, Tan Zhi''s expression suddenly changed completely, and he subconsciously let out a cold breath. "Cousin Shi Yu, that youth... where on earth is he from?"


    "Cousin Tan Zhi, there are some things that I absolutely cannot tell you about without my grandfather''s permission."


    Shi Yu looked sternly at Tan Zhi and said in a low voice, "You must only remember, do not return to the Wei family mansion today."


    "Go back to the Tan family and wait for Tan Li to return... if Tan Li has provoked that youth and died at the Wei family mansion, he can only blame himself for his misfortune."


    "If you receive news that Tan Li has been killed, tell your father... even my grandfather does not dare offend that youth. Your father will understand when he hears this."


    Shi Yu finished and heaved a long sigh, and he turned around and went back to his room, leaving Tan Zhi staring at his desolate silhouette.


    Tan Zhi''s expression changed completely in the instant that Shi Yu finished speaking.


    He understood his cousin Shi Yu''s character completely, and he was not someone who would lose out on even the smallest thing... and today, at the mere mention of that youth, his cousin had been like a mouse that had seen a cat.


    The important thing was that his cousin Shi Yu had told him even the grand patriarch of the Shi family did not dare offend that youth.


    The grand patriarch of the Shi family was a level-eight adept of the Qi-gathering who had led the Shi family to become a grand family five years ago! If not for the restrictions of the imperial court of the country of Yunyang, that grand patriarch of the Shi family had the ability to easily single-handedly wipe out the entire Tan family!


    On the way back to the Tan family mansion from the Shi family mansion, Tan Zhi was continuously praying in his heart, "Hopefully Xiao Li did not provoke that youth... even if he did, hopefully that youth will be the bigger man and not be calculative with Xiao Li."


    Now, Tan Zhi finally grasped the severity of the situation.


    At the same time, he also felt somewhat regretful that he had brought his third brother Tan Li along to attend the gathering of the scions of the grand families organized by the Wei family. If he had not attended, his third brother Tan Li would not have landed in this dangerous situation.


    But... what kind of person is that youth?


    Despite a sense of lingering dread, Tan Zhi''s heart was full of curiosity.


    ...


    "Young Mistress Ren, why don''t you return to the Ren family first."


    After they had exited from the main entrance of the Wei family mansion, Zhou Donghuang said to Ren Jiapei who had followed them out, "I... I have some things that I need to say to Zixi in private."


    "Sure."


    Ren Jiapei nodded and exchanged greetings with the young lady beside Zhou Donghuang, then turned and left in the direction of the Ren family mansion.


    As she turned, a bitter smile began to tug at the corners of her mouth.


    Now, beside Big Brother Zhou and Zixi, she... had already become a third wheel?


    "Zixi."


    After Ren Jiapei had left, Zhou Donghuang and the young lady walked shoulder to shoulder for a while before he began speaking with a deep sigh.


    "Big Brother Zhou, I''m listening," the young lady said gently.


    "Zixi, actually... actually..."


    Once Zhou Donghuang began, he realized he did not quite know how to continue. Now, given the choice, he would rather fight a Petty Consummation adept of the Qi-gathering than reveal his true feelings to the young lady.


    "Big Brother Zhou, whatever it is, you can be direct... with me, you shouldn''t have any misgivings."


    The young lady''s smile and considerate look made one feel pity for her.


    "Zixi!"


    Zhou Donghuang stopped suddenly and looked at the young lady, who had also stopped, and said with a serious expression, "It''s just... towards you, I feel... for now I ... for now I only take you as a younger sister and not... and not..."


    Zhou Donghuang paused here, unsure of how to continue.


    "Big Brother Zhou, is that all you wanted to tell me?" the young lady asked with a slight smile.


    "Hm?"


    Seeing that there was no change in the young lady''s expression and she was still maintaining her smile, Zhou Donghuang was momentarily stunned, but then immediately nodded.


    "Mm, Big Brother Zhou, Zixi understands."


    The young lady nodded as she acknowledged. "Moreover, as you have also said... it''s only for now."


    This scene caused Zhou Donghuang to be somewhat at a loss because what was actually happening seemed to be quite different from what he had expected.


    Shouldn''t the young lady be hurt and upset?


    "Big Brother Zhou, I''m rather tired... I''d like to go back and rest."


    The young lady spoke up first after the two of them had walked in silence for a while.


    "Sure."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded and immediately returned to the inn with the young lady, and she went straight to her room once they reached the guest courtyard.


    Just as Zhou Donghuang heaved a sigh of relief, his acute sense of hearing, sharpened by practicing the Lord of the Four Supremes, picked up a vague sound of sobbing coming from the young lady''s room.


    Although the young lady had tried to stifle the sound of her sobs, he could still hear her clearly with his current sense of hearing.


    At that moment, the young lady definitely did not know that he could hear her sobbing.


    "So, she put on a front just now... it was all a show for me."


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a bitter smile. "What a mature girl."

 Chapter 96 Lady in the Lost Fores

    Although Zhou Donghuang used to stand on top of the world in his previous life, his strengths lay in his power and the Way of Essence. In the field of romantic relationships, he was a complete "romantic idiot."


    "If I had known this earlier, I would''ve picked one of the ladies that the star clans or the top sects sent¡­ then, I wouldn''t be in such a spot when I have to face these things now." Zhou Donghuang sighed as he walked out of Chuxiu Inn.


    If he stayed in the courtyard, the girl''s cries would make him feel even more uneasy, so he decided to take a walk. As he strolled, Zhou Donghuang was not paying attention. It was only when he heard some gossip that he perked up.


    "Did you hear the news? Yesterday, someone found that the spirit in the Lost Forest suddenly turned strange¡­ accordingly, this only happens when a spirit fruit or a god-tier demon appears." The voice had come from within a horse-drawn carriage. It was the voice of a middle-aged man. Of course, it was only because of Zhou Donghuang''s extraordinary sense of sound that he could hear the conversation in the carriage as it passed by.


    "It can''t be a god-tier demon!" Another voice chimed in. "In the Lost Forest, the strongest are the two ''golden-crowned eagles¡­'' and those two eagles have only achieved petty consummation of the gathered qi and not even great consummation, how could they possibly reach connate-tier and become connate demons?"


    "This morning, our Ouyang family sent two level-nine elders to explore the Lost Forest¡­ I heard the Chu royal household also sent people in. Did your Lui family do anything?"


    "I just heard this news from you. But this morning, I saw our Head Elder Liu and Third Elder leave the household anxiously."


    "They must have gone to the Lost Forest."


    "Who cares¡­ even if there really is a spirit fruit, and even if my family gets it, we cannot possibly use it."


    ¡­


    As the carriage went further away, the voices that Zhou Donghuang heard became softer.


    "Ouyang family? Lui family?" As far as he knew, both the Ouyang and Lui family were premier tycoon families with many level-nine adepts, nothing that the Shi family could compare with. Their conversation had piqued his interest. "Lost Forest? Unnatural spirit?"


    The Lost Forest was in the north of the Chu royal city and covered a vast expanse of land. Inside, there were not only many fearsome beasts, but even some demons that had extraordinary talent. The demons in the forest ranged from level-one of the gathered qi to petty consummation, but there were only two that had achieved petty consummation. They were the kings of the forest, the two golden-crowned eagles.


    These demons were filled with treasures, the higher their level of practice, the more valuable their body parts. There was a phrase from Earth: if it can be sold, it will be killed. It was the same on Ziyun planet. Because the demon body parts were so valuable, some adepts even put themselves in grave danger to go into the Lost Forest to hunt these demons. Those who were successful earned a fortune, while some would fail and die within the forest. The Lost Forest was an extremely dangerous place, particularly the depths of the forest. This was a land ruled by the two golden-crowned eagles of petty consummation of the gathered qi, even the strongest adepts from the Chu royal household could not enter easily.


    "Unnatural spirit, there must be a reason¡­ it''s unlikely that a connate demon would appear. It must be a spirit fruit." As he thought of this, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes lit up. A spirit fruit that could affect the spirit of the Lost Forest had to be at least of the same level as the ten-thousand-year red fruit and was surely a treasure for him now.


    "Just as well, I don''t want to return to the inn for now, since I''m free¡­ I shall take a look."


    The Lost Forest was only a hundred miles from the Chu royal city. With Zhou Donghuang''s current footsteps, he only took an hour to reach it at a leisurely pace. If he had rushed, he would not have taken so long at all.


    The Lost Forest was a dense forest that looked the same everywhere within. After entering, one could get lost easily if one did not mark the route along the way.


    "The spirit here¡­ is already starting to feel strange." Not long after entering the forest, Zhou Donghuang could already sense the unnatural spirit that hung in the thick air. As compared to any others, he could sense the unnatural spirit more easily.


    "The spirit seems to be in the depths of the forest¡­ looks like there probably is a spirit fruit that appeared." With a glint in his eye, Zhou Donghuang stepped in a graceful footwork as he rushed towards the depths of the forest like a bolt of lightning. Now, Zhou Donghuang was already at level-eight of the gathered qi, and his qi alone was equivalent to the strength of eight bulls. With his extreme physical strength and with his second-grade swiftness technique, he was the fastest man in the country of Yunyang for any adept beneath petty consummation of Qi-gathering. Of course, Zhou Donghuang could also use a first-grade swiftness technique, but that would be too energy-intensive and not suitable for him to use for longer durations. Lesser-grade swiftness techniques were inferior but more efficient over longer durations.


    Ho! Ho! Ho!


    ¡­


    Where he passed, it was as if a gust of wind swept by, causing flowers and grass to tremble and the trees to sway. Even the beasts and demons scurried away in fright. His speed was so fast that it was as if a lightning bolt had flashed by; the beasts and even the demons avoided it.


    Along the way, Zhou Donghuang also saw many adepts hunting beasts and demons. But his speed was so fast that although the adepts could sense the movement, by the time they could turn to look, he had already disappeared.


    "Almost there!" After an hour, Zhou Donghuang arrived at the depths of the Lost Forest. There were only a few demons here. The rare ones that he saw were all extremely powerful, with the strength of at least a level-eight adept. At the same time, he could also sense that the source of the spirit in the forest was close by. His eyes shone with expectation.


    ¡­


    In the deepest part of the Lost Forest, there was a clear lake that looked like a piece of jade lying on the ground from a distance. Now, from the side of the lake, the spirit seemed to flow into a shadow sitting cross-legged beside the lake.


    This was a lady in a pale green dress. She seemed about twenty years of age, with beautiful eyes, a high nose and crimson lips. Her alluring face seemed to radiate coldness. Her long hair was held in a pale green hair band, the loose hair drifting despite the still air.


    Ho! Ho! Ho!


    ¡­


    Now, a spirit funnel appeared above her head, as all the spirit energy of the Lost Forest flowed straight into her body. The lady''s cold face flashed slowly with a radiance. Upon closer inspection, one could see that her pale hands and legs were also flashing as if she had been poisoned and was controlling the toxicity in her body.


    On another end of the lake, there were two huge trees upon which a massive bird''s nest lay.


    A fog hung around the lake that isolated it from the rest of the world outside. The fog not only blocked the vision of those from the outside, but any stray insects that got too close would also be instantly destroyed by the fog.


    The fog concealed a frightening killer. It was like a giant bell, isolating the lady and the two huge trees from the rest of the world.


    Whoosh!


    ¡­


    Outside of the fog, two golden-crowned eagles were circling above the layer of fog, trying to penetrate the fog but being forced back by it time and again.


    "Second Brother, forget it," said the darker colored eagle to the other in demon tongue.


    "Big Brother, could this be the shield of legends?" asked the other.


    "Isn''t that obvious?"


    "But¡­ in the legends, only magnificent practitioners who obtained the level of contained primal essence could produce a shield!"


    "I think¡­ the lady who stole our land must be such a magnificent practitioner!"


    "How could it be? That lady looks just twenty¡­ at such an age, she cannot possibly be a magnificent practitioner!"


    "Don''t forget that when she arrived yesterday, she threw us out with just a wave of the hand¡­ if she had wanted to kill us, we would not be alive."


    "If she really is a magnificent practitioner of the legends, why is she stealing our territory?"


    "From her looks, she must be injured¡­ perhaps she''s just borrowing the place to treat herself, and she''ll leave once she''s recovered."


    "I hope so."


    ¡­


    Clearly, these two large golden-crowned eagles were the masters of the Lost Forest, the famed demons who had attained petty consummation of Qi-gathering. The imperial court of Yunyang country had once sent two great consummate adepts to hunt these two eagles, but was unsuccessful because the eagles could fly. Once they took to the skies, even connate adepts could do nothing about them.

 Chapter 97 Shield?

    Boom!


    ¡­


    The ground shook as an earth-shattering noise rumbled. Zhou Donghuang stopped as he stared into the distance. As he watched behind the sea of bamboo trees, a large shadow rushed into three figures like a moving mountain.


    "Is that... a grizzly bear?" Zhou Donghuang squinted and saw that the shadow was a huge black bear with rows of long sharp teeth and a small tuft of white hair on its forehead. His eyes lit up.


    The gallbladder of the grizzly bear was a precious medicine that he could use to produce an elixir that could instantly increase his qi to more than 500kg! Most importantly, there were no side effects.


    Just as Zhou Donghuang stared at the grizzly bear, the three men who had been hit by the bear looked on with despair.


    "Chief, Second Elder and I will stop him together¡­ you escape!" Seeing the grizzly bear advance towards them faster and faster as if it was about to attack again, the old man in green reached out to wipe the blood on his mouth as he said to the middle-aged man.


    "Chief, leave!" the other old man in blue stepped forward in front of the man. Although his injured body was shaking, he stood upright like an indestructible wall.


    "We''ll leave together!" The man refused to abandon the other two. Compared to the two old men, the middle-aged man was the least injured.


    "Chief, our Tang family only has the three of us above level-eight of the gathered qi¡­ today, if all three of us die here, the family will become a grand family!" the old man in green pleaded anxiously. "Then, the three of us will become criminals of the family."


    "Chief, you are a level-nine adept, as long as you are alive, even if the two of us are not¡­ the family will still be a superior tycoon family!" Seeing the grizzly bear about to attack again, the old man in blue rushed the man.


    "Chief, please think of the family!!" With that, the old man in green shot forward towards the grizzly bear, determined and unafraid. The old man in blue did the same.


    "Head Elder! Second Elder!" Seeing this, the man''s eyes widened as he grit his teeth and finally turned around and left. Although he did not want to abandon the two old men, he knew that he could not let them down, if he died, Second Elder would have sacrificed himself for nothing!


    Whoosh!


    Just as the man turned around, from the corner of his eye, he saw a white figure shoot out from the forest towards the grizzly bear.


    Bang!


    With a loud bang, the grizzly bear stumbled by a few meters and missed the two old men. Not only did he miss the attack, but the inertia of the bear''s huge body caused it to roll over twice.


    "This¡­" Immediately, the man turned around and saw a figure in white not far from the two elders. When he saw that the figure was just a teenager, he could not help but gasp. The two stunned elders had the same reaction upon seeing the teenager.


    The guttural growl of the grizzly bear brought the three men back to attention. They watched as the bear''s eyes flashed murderously as it rushed towards the teenager. The teenager did not flinch as he flew forward and faced the bear head-on.


    The teenager seemed minuscule in front of the massive grizzly bear, like David versus Goliath.


    "So fast!" The three men realized with a shock that the teenager moved even faster than the grizzly bear. The grizzly bear was an unrivaled level-nine demon and master of the forest, besides the two golden-crowned eagles.


    In the country, any adept beneath petty consummation of the gathered qi did not dare to harass this bear.


    "Watch out!" Just as the teenager was about to crash into the bear, the man cried a warning. Their stomachs rose to their mouths as they watched the scene unfold.


    Whoosh! As the teenager was about to crash, his feet tapped the ground lightly, and he seemed to use some strange footwork to evade the bear.


    Bang!!


    As the teenager brushed past the grizzly bear, he struck the bear''s head loudly with his right fist.


    "Ah-woo¡­" the bear let out a woeful cry as its huge body crashed to the ground, dust billowing about it.


    "Is it¡­ dead?" The three men watched in utter shock. The grizzly bear was dead?


    With its strength, few petty consummate adepts could even kill it because it was not only strong, but its skin was a thick layer of impenetrable defense. But now, with just a few moments'' work, the young man had killed this grizzly bear?


    "You are from the tycoon Tang family of Chu royal city?" asked Zhou Donghuang. With the first-grade fist motion technique, "Striking the Bull," Zhou Donghuang had completely beaten the bear''s defenses and killed the bear by crushing his brain.


    "I have something to do now, you''ll take out the bear''s gallbladder and bring it to the third room in Chuxiu Inn tomorrow morning. As for the rest of the bear''s parts, you can have them." With that, Zhou Donghuang continued towards the depths of the forest because he realized that he was nearing the source that was absorbing all the spirit energy.


    From their conversation, Zhou Donghuang had found out their background, so he was not worried that they would take the gallbladder for themselves.


    It was only when the teenager''s figure disappeared that the three men stared at each other, speechless. The middle-aged man swallowed nervously and said, "Head Elder, Second Elder ¡­ are we in a dream? A teenager just killed this grizzly bear?" His face was filled with disbelief.


    "Chief, we also feel as if we''re in a dream¡­ but it isn''t!" The old man in green pinched himself as if to confirm that he was not in a dream.


    "Looks like he is going for the spirit fruit," sighed the old man in blue.


    "Let''s go back¡­ with our injuries, we can''t possibly challenge him for the fruit. Even if we were not injured, with that teenager and the people from the Chu royal court, it''ll be difficult to get the fruit," commented the man.


    The two elders agreed with him. The three of them were from the tycoon Tang family: Chief Tang Liunian, Head Elder Tang Yuxin and Second Elder Tang Yong, the three pillars of the family.


    Tang Liunian was a level-nine adept, while Tang Yuxin and Tang Yong were both level-eight adepts. Though the Tang family was not a premier tycoon family in Chu royal city, they were considered a superior tycoon family, far more prominent than the inferior Shi family. Today, the three of them had come for the spirit fruit, but they did not expect to be so unfortunate to run into the only grizzly bear in the forest on the way.


    "Although we did not get the fruit, we still gained quite a bit¡­ this bear is full of valuable body parts, even if we leave the most precious gallbladder for the teenager, we will have earned at least a million liang from this trip," smiled Tang Yong.


    The level-nine grizzly bear''s body parts were worth at least two million liang. Without the gallbladder, the other parts were also worth at least a million liang.


    "Second Elder, we cannot be greedy," Tang Liunian shook his head. "Don''t forget¡­ if not for that teenager, we would have been dead."


    ¡­


    In the depths of the Lost Forest, just outside of the white fog.


    "Hmm?" As if it noticed something, the darker golden-crowned eagle flapped its wings and shot out like a bolt of lightning towards something in the distance. "Second Brother, someone is trying to enter our territory!" it reminded the other eagle.


    The other eagle''s eyes flashed as it flapped its wings, following its brother.


    Just after the two golden-crowned eagles had flown away, a white figure raced towards the fog from another direction. This was none other than Zhou Donghuang rushing here after killing the grizzly bear.


    "Is that¡­ a shield?" Seeing the white fog and the insects that were immediately killed upon nearing it, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes narrowed. "Why would there be such a thing here?"


    Even the most simple shields would require primal core to deploy. And only adepts who had achieved primal core stage would have that.

 Chapter 98 Entering the Shield

    In the back courtyard of the Wei family household.


    "Didn''t Tan Zhi, first young master of the Tan family, go to find Shi Yu? Why isn''t he back?" Many of the grand family sons who had gathered were beginning to feel perplexed that Shi Yu had yet to come, while Tan Zhi had not come back either.


    "It''s been so long¡­ even if Tan Zhi had walked slowly from here to the Shi family household, he would''ve returned by now."


    "What''s the situation?"


    "Could it be that Shi Yu ran into Yang Zixi on the way here?"


    "Maybe."


    ¡­


    Most of those present were gossiping among themselves. None of them thought that Shi Yu had not dared to come, but rather some special circumstances had occurred. Shi Yu was the first young master of the tycoon Shi family, while that teenager in white was not even from a grand family. Nobody would have thought that Shi Yu had not dared to come.


    "Looks like Sister Jiapei did not listen to our warnings." If there was anyone present who thought that Shi Yu had not dared to come, it would be today''s host, first young master of the Wei family, Wei Hongtao. Just now, as the young man in white was leaving, he was about to stop him but was stopped by Ren Jiapei, first lady of the Ren family.


    Then, Ren Jiapei had told him mysteriously that Shi Yu would not dare to come. Naturally, he did not believe her. But now, it appeared that Ren Jiapei was probably speaking the truth.


    "This young man¡­ who is he?" Wei Hongtao did not believe that it was a coincidence. The city was huge, and the chances that Shi Yu had bumped into the teenager on the way were slim. Furthermore, even if they had run into each other, why didn''t Tan Jiazhi return to find his brother, Tan Li?


    Wei Hongtao glanced at Tan Li but overheard him telling the rest that his cousin, Shi Yu must have run into the teenager on the way.


    With nothing left to watch, many of the guests left after bidding Wei Hongtao farewell.


    "That Yang Zixi would rather fall for an average teenager than get together with Young Master Shi Yu¡­ do you think she is a fool?" laughed Zheng Qiuhe, third lady of the Zheng family. To her, anyone beneath a grand family was nothing different from an average teenager.


    "She used to find Young Master Shi Yu too much of a playboy¡­ but which capable man does not have multiple wives?"


    "In my opinion, that Yang Zixi is just playing hard to get¡­ or maybe after the teenager she''s with dies in Shi Yu''s hands, then she will realize that family background is the most important thing in this world."


    "Indeed. That teenager may be talented in martial arts, but what use can that be?"


    "If Young Master Shi Yu finds out about how he flirted with Yang Zixi, he''ll be done for!"


    ¡­


    The people ridiculing Yang Zixi with Zheng Qiuhe were all the grand ladies who used to be sworn sisters with Yang Zixi. in the past, they had been jealous that Shi Yu had taken a fancy to Yang Zixi. but because she used to be the first lady of the Yang family and of the same status as them, they had not dared to show their jealousy. Now that Yang Zixi had been chased out of the Yang family, they were free to express the jealousy that they had repressed for so long.


    ¡­


    In the depths of the Lost Forest.


    "In front of us is the territory of the two golden-crowned eagles¡­ after going around it, we know that the spirit fruit appeared within their territory." Surrounding the territory of the master of the forest, the two golden-crowned eagles, many people had gathered at different places to peer within fearfully.


    "Commander Xue, the spirit fruit should be inside the territory of the golden-crowned eagles; should we take the risk?" asked a white-haired old man in a grey robe as he looked at the man in front of him.


    The man was around fifty years old, with a fearsome face. He was in a silver robe, with a sword hanging at his waist. He was none other than the commander of the city''s army, Xue Meng. He was also one of the few adepts approaching perfection of the gathered qi within the Chu royal household, and he had come here on the orders of the Chu King.


    "We lost our chance," sighed Xue Meng.


    "Hm?" Just as the old man in grey was wondering what he had meant, he saw a black figure race towards them from the bamboo forest in the distance. As it got closer, they could see that it was a massive black eagle with a golden crown, circling them from above. Even from this distance, its eyes were murderously sharp.


    Whoosh!


    Soon, another identical eagle appeared, but this one''s golden crown was not as dark as the previous one.


    Seeing the two massive eagles circling them above, the old man gulped. He knew that these were the masters of the Lost Forest, the two golden-crowned eagles of petty consummation of the gathered qi.


    "Sirs, we have no intention of entering your territory," shouted Xue Meng as he stared seriously at the two eagles above.


    Just as the old man in grey was thinking that Xue Meng had achieved nothing, the two golden-crowned eagles flashed them a nasty look and turned to leave.


    "They¡­ understood you?" The old man was incredulous. He could not help but question, "Commander Xue¡­ I thought only connate demons could attain intelligence? Why does it seem like¡­ these two golden-crowned eagles already have intelligence?"


    Typically, demons could only attain intelligence after reaching the connate stage, and only if the demons were of a certain background.


    "Usually, only connate stage demons can attain intelligence¡­ but these two eagles are different. Although they have only achieved petty consummation of the gathered qi, they have already attained it," answered Xue Meng.


    "Let''s head back¡­ since the spirit fruit appeared in their territory, we cannot touch it. Even if all the adepts approaching perfection in the royal household came along together, we would hardly be able to steal it beneath their watchful eyes." Xue Meng sighed heavily and turned to leave.


    The old man turned to look again inside, then turned and caught up with Xue Meng. Even Xue Meng, a great consummate adept, did not dare to enter the eagles'' territory. He was just a level-nine adept and stood even less of a chance of getting out alive.


    As Xue Meng and the old man were leaving, all the people sent by the other inferior and superior tycoon families were also being stopped outside of the eagles'' territory. Initially, they had all considered taking the risk. But when they saw the two golden-crowned eagles asserting their dominance in front of them, they all turned to leave hurriedly, as if afraid that the eagles would attack them.


    Soon, the two eagles had circled their territory and scared away all those who had been drawn to the unnatural spirit in the forest.


    "These fools must have come thinking that a spirit fruit has appeared," laughed the darker-colored golden-crowned eagle as he spoke in demon tongue.


    "If they knew that the unnatural spirit was caused by a yuan-tier lady, they would probably wet their pants," added the other eagle.


    "Something''s not right!" Suddenly, the eagles ahead drew back. "Second Brother, there''s something moving in there¡­ someone has breached our territory!"


    Immediately, the two eagles flew towards the depths of their territory. When they reached the edge of the fog, they were just in time to see a white figure pass through the fog. However, it was as if the fog had completely ignored him and did not produce any blinding white light to attack him.


    "How is that possible?!" Seeing this, the two eagles looked at each other in disbelief.


    "Could it be¡­ the shield has lost its effect?" The two eagles were about to rush in as well, but just as they neared the shield, they were forced back by the blinding white light from the fog. The white light was as scary as it was before.


    "Maybe there''s an entrance there?" The two eagles turned to enter from where the white figure had bypassed the shield but were turned away by the fog again. The blinding white light from the fog was so powerful, it was no different from an attack from a connate adept and far more powerful than they could resist.


    "How did that lad¡­ go in just now?"


    "If I saw correctly, he was just a teenager."


    The two eagles stared at each other blankly. They could not fathom how a teenager could possibly breach the shield. The fog completely covered their vision, and they could not see within.


    That scary lady must have put up the shield to prevent anyone from entering¡­ now that the lad went in, he will definitely be killed by her! thought the two eagles.


    The figure who had entered the shield was none other than Zhou Donghuang. Although he was just an adept of the gathered qi, with his impressive history, he still had some knowledge of shields. The shield that had appeared here was only the lowest level of shields. Even at his level, with some effort, he could easily enter the shield unharmed.

 Chapter 99 Luo Qinghan

    "There''s a lake." After entering the shield, what appeared before Zhou Donghuang''s eyes was a clear lake and two huge trees on the shore.


    "Hmm?" Soon, his attention landed on a figure sitting cross-legged on one end of the lake. This was a young lady, roughly twenty years of age, in a light green gown. With her long, flowing hair and beautiful eyes, a high nose and ruby-red lips, she was beautiful. Yet, her features revealed an ice-cold aura.


    "Poisoned?" Zhou Donghuang realized that beneath the lady''s pale skin, a faint red glow came and went. The red glow began to flash increasingly rapidly.


    Just as he stepped towards the lady, she opened her eyes suddenly. Her pretty eyes were like two polished gems, drawing Zhou Donghuang''s gaze. Her sparkling eyes really accentuated the lady''s beauty. Be it her charisma or her features, she was far more attractive than any lady Zhou Donghuang had ever seen.


    But soon, her perfect eyes began to flash with a red glow. As she stared at him, the atmosphere suddenly became gentle yet ambiguous.


    "Leave!!" the lady opened her mouth with some difficulty and growled from the bottom of her throat. The red glow in her eyes disappeared momentarily as if they returned to flawless jewels in that moment. At the same time, her gaze revealed her anxiety and worry.


    Not long ago, Luo Qinghan had made a promise to herself to continue fighting the poison, and if she really could not suppress the power of the Yin-Yang elixir, she would release the contained primal essence herself. The power released from that would not only incinerate her body, but also the area contained within this shield. But she did not expect a teenager to suddenly appear in the grave that she had dug for herself.


    Hadn''t she set up a shield? How did this young man get in?


    But now, she had no time to explain anything to the young man; she just wanted him to stay clear of the area.


    "Wah¡ª!" The massive sound wave that the lady emitted caused Zhou Donghuang''s eardrums to burst and blood began to pour from his ears. It also shook his organs, and he coughed out a mouthful of blood.


    "She''s a primal core stage adept!" Zhou Donghuang''s eyes narrowed. He had never expected that the lady who looked just twenty years of age would be a primal core stage adept. In the climate of Ziyun planet, it was impossible to reach the primal core stage at such a young age.


    Hence, there was only one possibility: this lady came from beyond Ziyun planet.


    "What poison are you infected with? I may be able to help you." Although the lady''s voice had injured him, Zhou Donghuang could see determination and reluctance in her eyes; he could easily tell that she had her unspoken difficulties.


    Seeing that the young man had no intention to leave, Luo Qinghan was about to attack him, but before she could use the Yuan in her body''s contained primal essence, she realized: the Yin-Yang elixir in her body had become even more aggressive when she had lost focus and had spread to the rest of her body, causing her to lose consciousness.


    Whoosh!


    Just as Luo Qinghan lost consciousness and wobbled, Zhou Donghuang flew out and caught her before she fell. The Yang energy caused the Yin-Yang elixir in her body to become even more powerful, causing her consciousness to sway.


    "Leave¡­ Leave!!" Luo Qinghan bit her tongue and in the momentary consciousness, she screamed at the young man supporting her.


    "Were you poisoned by the Yin-Yang elixir?" Then, Zhou Donghuang finally confirmed the poison that she had been infected with. Strictly speaking, it was not a poison, but an extremely aggressive medicine called "Yin-Yang elixir" that was tasteless and colorless.


    Unless an adept had undergone the divine transformation, they would be fooled by this elixir. The simplest way to treat this poison was to perform the most primitive Yin-Yang mixing.


    Besides that, Zhou Donghuang had another way to treat this Yin-Yang elixir.


    "Please hang in there¡­ give me an hour, I''ll force the poison out of your body!"


    Just as he was about to treat the lady using a qi massage, the lady''s charming eyes landed on Zhou Donghuang. Her pale skin began to flash red again.


    In the next instant, Zhou Donghuang felt a huge force attack him and push him down. He wanted to fight it, but the lady was much stronger than him. He was simply powerless.


    In his previous life, he had looked down on adepts of the primal core stage. But now, he was nothing compared to them.


    "Oh no! She has already been completely controlled by the Yin-Yang elixir!" Seeing the lady suddenly seem to transform into a crazed demon girl, rush towards him and use her Yuan power to control him, Zhou Donghuang was shocked.


    "Wake up, I can treat you using other methods!"


    "Stop¡­ Stop¡­ Stop it!"


    ¡­


    Soon, an hour had passed.


    The lady sat on the edge of the lake, her clothes in a mess. She looked at the red roses scattered across the ground, then at the young man sitting cross-legged and practicing a distance away.


    "I shouldn''t have cared about him just now!" muttered Luo Qinghan. As she thought of how she had met the young man, her eyes filled with regret. She had planned to release the primal essence just now, but because the young man had barged in, she had momentarily been distracted as she had not wished to harm any innocents.


    It was in that moment that the Yin-Yang elixir took full control of her.


    What happened after was a mess to her. She could only remember parts of it¡­ with the scene that lay before her, she could easily guess what had happened.


    Her eyes flashed as she raised her hand, the primal essence appearing in her hands. She could easily end the young man with just a single stroke.


    But eventually, she put her hand down.


    Forget it¡­ at the end of the day, this has nothing to do with him. In fact, he is the victim here. Perhaps it was fate that brought him here to detoxify the Yin-Yang elixir poison, so that I would not have to release the primal essence to end myself. Since the heavens do not want me to die yet, I should return to Tianxuan planet and sort out that evil lady!


    Luo Qinghan''s eyes flashed coldly. She rose to the skies and soon disappeared behind the clouds.


    Luo Qinghan was the second lady of the Luo family of Tianxuan planet and was the precious daughter of the Luo family. She was immensely talented and widely recognized as the most powerful among the younger generation of the Luo family, even trumping her elder brother. At just twenty years of age, she had already entered yuan-tier, being the youngest Yuan adept in the Luo family history.


    A few days ago, her good friend had asked her out for a meal. She never would have expected her friend to put the Yin-Yang elixir in the food¡­ later, after the elixir had taken effect, she saw the man who had chased her for a long time but had been repeatedly rejected by her. The man wanted to take advantage of her.


    She had suppressed the poison and escaped, using all the spirit stones on her to produce an invisible shield around her that allowed her to escape to the nearest galaxy teleporter.


    "Teleport anywhere!" To prevent leaving any trace, she had chosen to allow the teleporter to send her to any galaxy and any planet within the galaxy. Then, she had been teleported to Ziyun planet and appeared near the Chu royal city. She had set foot in the Lost Forest and taken over the two golden-crowned eagles'' territory; then she set up her shield as she tried to detoxify the poison.


    Yet, the Yin-Yang elixir was too strong, and seeing that it was hopeless, she had thought of releasing her primal essence to keep her innocence. She would rather die than allow anyone to taint her purity.


    But she did not expect that just as she was about to release the primal essence, a young man would barge in and momentarily distract her from the thought. In that moment, something unimaginable had happened between her and the young man.


    "Zhou Donghuang." A while ago, as she had tumbled with the young man, she had found out his name. Of course, she had no intention to have any further connection with this man in her life.


    ¡­


    By the time the young man risen from his practice, the sun was setting, filling the skies with a crimson red. Even the fog from the shield could not block the red sky from shining through.


    "She''s¡­ gone?" Looking around him, Zhou Donghuang did not see any trace of the lady. As the fog started to fade around him, Zhou Donghuang knew that the lady had left without a word.


    "Tianxuan planet, Luo Qinghan." That was all he knew about the lady: her name and where she came from. Just as he had expected, she was not from Ziyun planet.


    "Looks like it was the first time for both of us¡­" laughed Zhou Donghuang as he looked at the bloodstains on the ground around him. He never would have dreamt that after so long, he would lose his virginity in such a situation and at such a place.

 Chapter 100 Approaching Perfection of the Qi-Gathering

    "Could this be¡­ what it feels like to be in love?" Zhou Donghuang found that whenever he shut his eyes, the image of Luo Qinghan would float into his brain unconsciously, as if it was deeply rooted within him.


    "Tianxuan planet? I will find you there." Zhou Donghuang knew that in his current state, he was too far from Luo Qinghan. Perhaps Luo Qinghan did not think that there was a chance that they would even meet again. After all, Luo Qinghan was already a Primal Core stage adept at just twenty years old. On the other hand, he was almost eighteen but had not even attained the connate stage.


    "But after this intercourse where our Yin-Yang energy mixed, because she is a Primal Core stage adept, and her first time, I gained a lot." Zhou Donghuang was practicing when Luo Qinghan awoke because he had gotten some of the Primal Core energy from her and wanted to make use of it before it dissipated.


    After one afternoon, he had managed to fully make use of the Primal Core energy and had achieved Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering after entirely skipping level nine. In fact, he was not far from Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering.


    Level-nine of the Qi-Gathering was nowhere near Petty Consummation. The latter could produce the strength of nine bulls and a tiger, while the qi of level-nine adepts was only equivalent to nine bulls. A bull''s strength was around 400kg, while a tiger''s strength was around 1000kg! Because of the huge difference between level-nine adepts and those who had achieved Petty Consummation, there was an even larger jump than from level-seven to level-nine.


    "Hm?" Suddenly, as if noticing something, Zhou Donghuang stared at the shield surrounding the area he was at. The shield was produced using Luo Qinghan''s yuan energy, and after she left, the shield naturally started degrading as time passed.


    Boom!


    ¡­


    With an earth-shattering sound, the shield surrounding the lake dissipated along with the fog, as if it had never been there.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Two shadows flew across the sky and circled above the lake. These two shadows were the masters of the Lost Forest, the two golden-crowned eagles with Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering.


    Now, they circled above the lake, staring suspiciously at the topless young man who was sitting cross-legged at its shore.


    "Brother, where is the scary lady? Why is she missing?"


    "I''ve been with you the whole time; how would I know?"


    "Brother, I think this was the man who entered the shield just now!"


    "He''s not wearing a shirt¡­ was he taking a bath in the lake? Doesn''t that mean we''ll have to drink his bathwater from now on?"


    "Brother, shall we kill him?"


    ¡­


    The two golden-crowned eagles were conversing in demon tongue as if there was nobody else around.


    "I did not bathe there." Zhou Donghuang picked up the white shirt beside him and put it on. As he stood up, he tightened the waist-strap and glanced up at the two eagles above. He replied to the eagles in a language foreign to humans¡ªdemon tongue.


    In his past life, he had come across all the different languages in the universe, but he was most fluent in the most common languages used in the universe. Demon tongue was one of those languages.


    "You¡­ you¡­ can understand us?" The two eagles were so shocked to hear Zhou Donghuang talk in demon tongue that they slowed down and stared at him incredulously.


    "Only Petty Consummation but you''ve already attained intelligence¡­ looks like there was a miracle for the both of you," continued Zhou Donghuang.


    Usually, even if it was a demon with talent, it had to reach the connate stage before it could attain intelligence. But these two golden-crowned eagles, which were just demons with Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, had somehow attained intelligence. There must have been some kind of miracle for them to achieve this so early.


    "Brother, this is incredible¡­ a human understands us."


    "Second Brother, it looks like this is no simple young man."


    ¡­


    The two golden-crowned eagles whispered excitedly to each other after Zhou Donghuang used demon tongue once again. After they had attained intelligence, they had only been able to speak to each other because all the other demons in the forest had yet to attain intelligence. Yet now, there was a human who could communicate with them. As surprised as they were, they could not help but feel excited.


    "Young man, how did you breach the lady''s shield?" the elder brother of the two eagles asked Zhou Donghuang.


    "Such a simple shield, how difficult would it be to enter it?" replied Zhou Donghuang.


    "Young man, where is the lady?" the second brother asked.


    "Gone," sighed Zhou Donghuang.


    "Gone?" hearing this, the two eagles'' eyes perked up. They excitedly circled the lake, before returning to the sky above Zhou Donghuang.


    "Young man, since you can talk to us, why don''t you stay here with us¡­ you''ll enjoy yourself here!" said the second brother, as if he wanted to take him as his younger brother.


    "I''m not a demon, why would I stay in your Lost Forest?" Zhou Donghuang shook his head as he turned to leave the forest and return to the city. It was getting late, and it would probably be dark by the time he returned.


    "Lad, you can''t just come and go within our territory!" laughed the elder brother coldly. "You can either stay here to become our younger brother, or die here¡­ you''d better consider carefully."


    "What? If I don''t agree to stay here, you''ll kill me?" Zhou Donghuang turned and glanced at the two eagles. He smiled, "I want to see¡­ how will you kill me?" After making the leap to Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, Zhou Donghuang had gotten a huge boost in his qi. Seeing the two eagles try to pick a fight, he could not help but feel excited.


    "Brother, let me teach him a lesson!" the second brother called out to the other eagle as he dived towards Zhou Donghuang.


    His black wings sliced through the air like a knife, but the real weapon of the golden-crowned eagle was not in those wings, but in its pair of razor-sharp talons.


    Whoosh!


    The eagle flew behind Zhou Donghuang like a bolt of lightning, his talons about to land on Zhou Donghuang''s body.


    Hoo!


    With a swift sidestep, Zhou Donghuang stepped out of the way of the eagle''s talons, the movement fluid like water.


    Whoosh!


    The eagle attacked again. Once again, Zhou Donghuang dodged.


    "Is that all you got?" With his first-grade swiftness technique, Zhou Donghuang''s footwork was ghoulishly fast as he dodged all of the eagle''s repeated attacks.


    Finally, the eagle was exhausted, while Zhou Donghuang seemed entirely unfazed.


    "Second Brother, you''re really useless!" Seeing this, the older brother scolded the other eagle and joined in on the attack.


    But even when both eagles attacked together, they could not touch Zhou Donghuang, not even the sleeves on his clothes.


    "Lad, do you only know how to hide?" cried the second brother of the eagles.


    "Of course not," replied Zhou Donghuang calmly. "I just wanted to see if you could touch me¡­ looks like I overestimated you."


    As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang suddenly stopped and stood at his spot. As the two eagles rushed towards him, he stretched out his hands like a pair of talons. Using the first-grade attack technique "Pincer Hands," Zhou Donghuang pushed away the talons of the two eagles rushing towards him. His hands latched onto each of their wings like a pair of pincers.


    When the two golden-crowned eagles tried to attack once again, Zhou Donghuang brought his hands together, swinging the eagles around in the air before throwing them against a huge tree across the lake.


    Bang! Bang!


    The two eagles crashed heavily into the tree, causing it to shake. They awkwardly flapped their wings and narrowly avoided crashing to the ground.


    "Lad, we didn''t expect you to be so strong¡­ I admit that on the ground, we''re not your match," called the elder brother as he flew above Zhou Donghuang, as if taunting him. "But we specialize in flying¡­ once we take to the skies, you can''t do anything to us!" His voice was filled with arrogance.


    "Is that so?" Zhou Donghuang''s feet moved as he kicked a fist-sized stone up into his hands.


    "What? You want to hit us with that stone?" laughed the golden-crowned eagle.


    Whoosh!!


    The stone flew out of Zhou Donghuang''s hand like a target-locking missile, flying straight towards the eagle. Even as it accelerated and ducked, the stone struck its head accurately with a loud whack.

 Chapter 101 Two Silly Birds

    While Zhou Donghuang was still gathering his strength, the golden-crowned eagle suddenly accelerated to a higher altitude but was still unable to dodge. The stone thrown by Zhou Donghuang smashed into its skull.


    The golden-crowned eagle plummeted in a daze, and if not for the other golden-crowned eagle that managed to grab it in support, it would have been the first golden-crowned eagle of the species to fall to its death.


    "Many thanks for your mercy."


    After recovering from its daze, the older golden-crowned eagle finally came to and thanked Zhou Donghuang profusely.


    At that moment, they looked at Zhou Donghuang with a gaze full of dread.


    Earlier, they had already witnessed the power of the youth when he had grabbed their wings and flung them away, and they could easily tell that the youth had been holding back when he had flung the stone at them.


    If not, they would be dead.


    "This qi-gathering elixir that I have should be able to help you attain Great Consummation of the Qi-gathering."


    With a flick of his arm, Zhou Donghuang tossed a bottle of qi-gathering elixir to the older golden-crowned eagle.


    Suspicion and surprise glittered in its eyes, but it nevertheless reached out a talon to catch it and opened the seal on the bottle, pouring the contents into its mouth and draining it to the last drop.


    It was not worried that the youth would harm it because if the youth had intended to, he was entirely capable of killing it mercilessly earlier on.


    After consuming the qi-gathering elixir, the older golden-crowned eagle closed its eyes and roosted on its younger brother''s broad back and began to practice. When it opened its eyes again shortly after, they were glittering with excitement.


    This qi-gathering elixir... can actually increase the sensitivity to qi by a thousand percent!


    When the older golden-crowned eagle spoke again, it was with barely contained excitement. "Compared to this qi-gathering elixir, the qi-gathering elixir that increases sensitivity to qi by a hundred percent that we stole from several adepts that year are nothing but rubbish!"


    That year, the imperial court of Yunyang country had sent a Great Consummation adept of the Qi-gathering into the Lost Forest to hunt the two golden-crowned eagles, and not only had he returned empty-handed, but several members of the party had also been robbed of their qi-gathering elixirs.


    "Increases the sensitivity to qi by a thousand percent? Big Brother, are you joking?"


    The younger golden-crowned eagle''s eyes showed disbelief.


    Almost as soon as it had finished speaking, its older brother curled its right talon into a fist and gave it a savage knock on its skull. "You dare doubt what your older brother says?"


    The younger golden-crowned eagle laughed in embarrassment. "No, of course not."


    Zhou Donghuang swept a casual gaze over the two golden-crowned eagles and turned to leave for the second time.


    "Young man, wait!"


    Just as Zhou Donghuang turned around, the older golden-crowned eagle spoke up again, making Zhou Donghuang pause in mid-step and turned to look at it, his eyes narrowing slightly. "What is it? You want another round?"


    "No, no, no..."


    The older golden-crowned eagle shook its head hurriedly. "We are no match for you, we admit defeat."


    "I asked you to wait because I wanted to ask for a few more bottles of that qi-gathering elixir that you gave me... just that one bottle is not enough for me to attain Great Consummation of the Qi-gathering."


    "Eight to ten bottles more should allow me to barely attain Great Consummation of the Qi-gathering," the older golden-crowned eagle said.


    "You want a qi-gathering elixir?"


    A smile at his successful ploy pulled at the corners of Zhou Donghuang''s mouth, and he casually said, "You and I are neither relatives nor enemies; why would I give you a qi-gathering elixir?"


    "This..."


    The golden-crowned eagle was stunned. What this youth before him was saying made sense.


    Previously, it had always been robbing adepts who entered the Lost Forest of their qi-gathering elixirs, and this had become a habit. This made it think that all the adepts who entered the Lost Forest had to surrender their qi-gathering elixirs to it.


    Now, it had just realized that this youth''s ability was stronger than its own, and it could do nothing if he refused to give it a qi-gathering elixir.


    Seeing the golden-crowned eagle sink into silence, Zhou Donghuang knew the time was ripe and said to it, "Actually, it''s not that you can''t have more of the qi-gathering elixir I gave you earlier. Leave the Lost Forest and follow me, and as long as you obey me, I can provide a steady supply of that kind of qi-gathering elixir for you. With the qi-gathering elixir that I can give you, in just a short period of time, not just Great Consummation of the Qi-gathering but even if you want to advance to the Connate stage and become Connate stage demons, it will not be difficult."


    Zhou Donghuang revealed his "motive."


    And this was also the reason that he had not killed the golden-crowned eagles earlier because he wanted to bring the two golden-crowned eagles out of the Lost Forest and bind them into his service.


    These two golden-crowned eagles were not only of uncommon ability, but they were also incredibly fast as mounts, far faster in comparison to ferghana horses.


    "Younger Brother, what do you think?"


    The older golden-crowned eagle asked the other golden-crowned eagle discreetly, but it did not know that even though it had lowered its voice, Zhou Donghuang''s could still hear it clearly.


    "Big Brother, if he can really provide us with an uninterrupted supply of qi-gathering elixirs that increases the sensitivity to qi by a thousand percent, I feel that we should follow him."


    The younger golden-crowned eagle continued softly, "At our current standard, Great Consummation of the Qi-gathering is our limit. If we follow him as he asks, we have a chance to become Connate demons!"


    "After we become Connate demons we will no longer need qi-gathering elixir... and we will be entirely capable of leaving him, could he still manage to bind us and prevent us from leaving?"


    A qi-gathering elixir was only useful to adepts and demons at the stage of Qi-Gathering, and was of no help to adepts and demons at the Connate stage.


    "Younger brother, I notice you have become cleverer," the older golden-crowned eagle chuckled.


    Zhou Donghuang laughed to himself in his heart at the whispered exchange between the two golden-crowned eagles.


    He, Zhou Donghuang, could formulate a qi-gathering elixir that could help increase the rate of practice of adepts and demons at the stage of Qi-gathering. Could he also not formulate some potion that could help adepts and demons at the Connate stage increase their rate of practice?


    These two golden-crowned eagles were too naive.


    Now, these two golden-crowned eagles still did not know that they had embarked on a path of no return.


    After they had finished their hushed discussion, they both expressed their willingness to follow Zhou Donghuang.


    On the way back, Zhou Donghuang stood on the back of the older golden-crowned eagle with his hands clasped behind his back, allowing them to fly him back to the Chu royal city.


    The golden-crowned eagles were huge, far larger than ordinary eagles. They stood at around one and a half meters tall and had a wingspan of five meters. Zhou Donghuang was able to stand on them as though he were standing on level ground.


    "Young man, how should my big brother and I address you from now on?"


    The younger golden-crowned eagle suddenly looked back at Zhou Donghuang and asked as it was clearing the way ahead.


    "Just call me ''Young Master.''" Zhou Donghuang smiled casually.


    "And you two, do you have names?" Zhou Donghuang followed up immediately.


    Seeing the two golden-crowned eagles shaking their heads in unison, Zhou Donghuang continued, "Since you don''t, I''ll give you names..."


    "From today onwards, you''ll be ''Big Gold'' and he''ll be ''Little Gold.''"


    In short order, Zhou Donghuang had named both golden-crowned eagles. The older golden-crowned eagle he was standing on was Big Gold, and the other golden-crowned eagle was Little Gold.


    On the journey to the Lost Forest, a hundred kilometers from the Chu royal city had taken Zhou Donghuang several hours.


    Now, it took him only fifteen minutes to be brought back by the golden-crowned eagles.


    This was the normal speed of the golden-crowned eagles without expending their qi. If they expended their qi in flight, they could travel even faster.


    A journey of a hundred kilometers in fifteen minutes... a thousand kilometers would need more than half a day. Ferghana horses only travel a thousand kilometers a day in the figurative sense.


    Zhou Donghuang did some quick estimates and realized that the normal flying speed of the golden-crowned eagles was around ten times the speed of a ferghana horse. Moreover, ferghana horses required a road, and golden-crowned eagles flew through the air smoothly without obstruction. They did not need to consider the availability of roads.


    From the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture to the Chu royal city at top speed, a ferghana horse would take at least two and a half months after including time for rest breaks.


    With golden-crowned eagles instead, even at their normal speed and including rest breaks... and considering that there are no obstructions in the air and traveling in a straight line, it would take only about five days at most.


    At this thought, Zhou Donghuang increasingly felt that not killing the two golden-crowned eagles and taking them into his service instead had been an extremely wise decision.


    "There."


    It was late evening, and as the golden-crowned eagles flew into the Chu royal city, no one noticed them even though they slowed down. Zhou Donghuang guided them to land in the back courtyard of the guest compound of Chuxiu Inn.


    Usually, this back courtyard was unused. It was just as well that the two golden-crowned eagles could use it as their resting place.


    However, to avoid scaring Yang Zixi, Fu, and Aunt Mei, Zhou Donghuang invited them into the back courtyard and introduced the golden-crowned eagles to them.


    After almost half a day of rest, Yang Zixi''s condition had obviously improved greatly.


    When Zhou Donghuang saw her, he could not help feeling rather diffident.


    After all, just earlier this morning, he had expressed his feelings to the young lady and told her that he only treated her as a younger sister... but that afternoon, he had fooled around with another woman in the depths of the Lost Forest.


    "This is Big Gold, this is Little Gold... umm, they are the two silly birds I took in when I was in the Lost Forest. They''ll be staying here in the back courtyard from now on," Zhou Donghuang told the three of them.


    "Silly birds?"


    The three of them started in surprise, looking at the two majestic golden-crowned eagles, unable to see how they matched the description of "silly birds."


    It was also because night had already fallen, and the back courtyard was dimly lit that Yang Zixi and Aunt Mei were unable to see the golden crowns of the two giant eagles.


    If not, even if they did not dare believe that these two giant eagles were the two golden-crowned eagles from the Lost Forest, they would definitely have made the connection to those two golden-crowned eagles.


    As the most powerful demons in the Western Ridge of the Chu King, the two golden-crowned eagles of the Lost Forest were known to everyone.


    After the three of them left the back courtyard, Big Gold looked at Zhou Donghuang and asked doubtfully, "Young Master, were you introducing us to them just now?"


    "Although I don''t understand most of the human languages, I understand when humans are referring to us... you didn''t tell them that we are the golden-crowned eagles?"


    In the past, Big Gold could always hear the shouts of panic when he was robbing adepts in the Lost Forest, and over time, he had learned how humans referred to golden-crowned eagles.

 Chapter 102 Coming of Age

    January 1229 of the Ziyun Era.


    "Young Master."


    Zhou Donghuang, who was practicing in his room, was startled by Fu. Leaping off his bed, he walked out of his room and immediately saw the three figures standing in the courtyard.


    Leading them was a scholarly middle-aged man in a brocaded mandarin gown, with a handsome face and a dignified demeanor. He had an air of superiority, but he was merely standing there, not daring even to take a deep breath.


    Behind the scholarly middle-aged man were two old men.


    From the posture of the two old men, they were not ordinary people. They wore long brocaded robes, and one of them had a jade ornamental ring on his right thumb, which was obviously valuable. The other old man had a jade plate hung at his waist, and the quality of the jade was obviously not the same as ordinary jade.


    These three people were no strangers to Zhou Donghuang; they were the three men from the tycoon Tang family that he had met in the Lost Forest the day before.


    At that time, the three men had been pursued by a grizzly bear, and since he had his eye on the gall bladder of the grizzly bear, he had killed the grizzly bear and saved the lives of the three men.


    "Patriarch Tang Liunian of the Tang family acknowledges Young Master Donghuang."


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang walk out of his room, the scholarly middle-aged man took the lead in bowing in greeting. He had learned Zhou Donghuang''s name from the servants earlier.


    "Head Elder Tang Yuxin of the Tang family acknowledges Young Master Donghuang."


    "Second Elder Tang Yong of the Tang family acknowledges Young Master Donghuang."


    Following as Patriarch Tang Liunian did, the two old men behind him both bowed respectfully in greeting to Zhou Donghuang with gratitude in their eyes, not daring to delay the slightest bit.


    The day before, they would have been killed by the level-nine demon grizzly bear in the Lost Forest if not for the timely intervention of this youth before them.


    They were sincerely grateful towards this youth.


    The Tang family? Tang Liunian?


    When Fu, who was standing to the side, heard the scholarly middle-aged man introduce himself, his eyes widened in surprise as he exhaled deeply.


    Earlier, although he had heard the three men say they were from the Tang family, he had not been thinking of the tycoon Tang family. Now, hearing the scholarly middle-aged man introduce himself, he realized¡­ actually, this middle-aged man was the patriarch of the tycoon Tang family, Tang Liunian.


    Tang Liunian, the patriarch of the tycoon Tang family, was a level-nine adept of the Qi-gathering.


    It was because of this that the Tang family could be considered a superior-level tycoon family amongst the tycoon families.


    And now, such a person was bowing respectfully to his young master.


    "Young Master¡­"


    In that moment, Fu looked back at Zhou Donghuang with growing reverence in his gaze.


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded in acknowledgment of the greetings of the three men as he walked to the stone table in the middle of the courtyard and sat down, looking at Tang Liunian as he asked casually, "Where''s the bear''s gall bladder?"


    "Young Master Donghuang, this is the gall bladder of the grizzly bear."


    At a signal from Tang Liunian, the second elder of the Tang family, Tang Yong, stepped forward and placed a brocaded box on the table before Zhou Donghuang, together with a stack of silver notes beside it.


    Zhou Donghuang opened the brocaded box and saw a whole gall bladder and nodded as he looked at the stack of silver notes on the table.


    Zhou Donghuang placed his right hand on the table palm down and curled it into a loose fist. His curved index and middle fingers rapped lightly on the table as he looked at Tang Liunian and asked, "What do you mean by this?"


    "Young Master Donghuang," Tang Liunian said respectfully, "Other than the gall bladder of the grizzly bear, the value of the remaining parts of its body exceeded a million liang of silver¡­ take this one million liang of silver as the price that the Tang family is paying Young Master Donghuang for the remaining parts of the grizzly bear''s body.


    "I''ve already said that other than the gall bladder, the rest is yours to do with as you please," Zhou Donghuang said as he looked deeply at Tang Liunian.


    "Young Master Donghuang," Tang Liunian said with a start, "Yesterday, your timely intervention saved our three lives, and that is already a great benefit¡­ how could we take advantage of you?"


    As soon as he finished and before Zhou Donghuang could reply, Tang Liunian took an invitation card from his pocket and placed it on the table before Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang looked at the invitation with a flash of suspicion in his eyes, but Tang Liunian said, "Young Master Donghuang, the Tang family is hosting a banquet in ten days'' time. The patriarchs of all grand families and above in the Chu royal city are invited¡­ the objective of the banquet is to thank you for saving my life as well as the lives of the two elders."


    "If the three of us had died in the Lost Forest yesterday, the Tang family would have been demoted from a tycoon family to the status of a grand family¡­ so this banquet is to thank you for saving our lives, and also to thank you for the grace you have given the Tang family!"


    As Tang Liunian finished, not just him but also the two elders of the Tang family all bowed low once again.


    "I''ll take the one million liang of silver, but don''t bother about the rest," Zhou Donghuang said as he shook his head.


    "Young Master Donghuang, the Tang family has already sent out the invitations to the grand families and above of the Chu royal city early this morning¡­ we still invite you to turn up in ten days'' time. Otherwise, this banquet thrown by the Tang family will be meaningless."


    With that, Tang Liunian and the two Tang family elders bade Zhou Donghuang farewell and took their leave, leaving Zhou Donghuang with no choice.


    Of course, Tang Liunian''s actions would not have offended anyone.


    After all, his intentions were good and were sufficient to show that he was a man who knew how to show gratitude and repay kindness, even if he had some small intention of getting on Zhou Donghuang''s good side.


    This Tang Liunian really conducts himself properly.


    After the three Tang family members had left, Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a smile and opened the invitation. His name was not on the invitation, and there was only the mention of a "benefactor."


    Obviously, the Tang family members had not known his name at the time when they prepared the invitation.


    "Fu."


    After letting Fu put away the gall bladder, invitation, and silver notes, Zhou Donghuang rose and returned to his room and practiced till the afternoon. It was lunchtime when Fu next called him out of his room.


    Leaving his room, he immediately saw that a large round table had been added to the front courtyard, and the table was laden with steaming hot dishes. Although they looked unremarkable, they smelled heavenly and whetted one''s appetite.


    Before the round table, Fu and Aunt Mei were standing to the side.


    The slender young lady was standing before the table, smiling slightly as she looked at Zhou Donghuang as he walked out of his room. "Big Brother Zhou, do you remember what day it is today?"


    "What day is it?"


    Zhou Donghuang was momentarily stunned.


    "Young Master, today is the day you come of age."


    Fu could not resist reminding him.


    "Young Master Donghuang."


    At that moment, Aunt Mei looked tenderly at the young lady before the table before looking back at Zhou Donghuang with a smile. "The dishes on the table were all prepared personally by my young mistress."


    "Three months ago, she asked me to teach her to cook. It was in preparation for this day, to cook a meal for you to celebrate your coming of age.


    At Aunt Mei''s words, the still waters of Zhou Donghuang''s heart could not help but be moved, and when he next looked at the young lady, his gaze had become much warmer.


    "Zixi, I appreciate your effort¡­ however, actually, I''m not really particular about it."


    Zhou Donghuang sighed.


    "Big Brother Zhou, I''ve wanted to learn to cook long ago, and this just happens to be the right time, it''s just good fortune."


    The young lady smiled slightly as she replied, but a look of dejection flashed across the depths of her gaze.


    "Big Brother Zhou, let''s sit down and eat."


    The young lady stepped forward and pulled the chair out from under the table for Zhou Donghuang. Only when Zhou Donghuang walked over and sat down did she take a seat beside him and began dishing the food out onto his plate.


    "Fu, Aunt Mei, please be seated too."


    The young lady did not forget to invite Fu and Aunt Mei over, and they both took the next seats.


    Sometimes, it seems that fate designs to make fun of people.


    If not for what had happened the previous day, Zhou Donghuang might have been sufficiently moved by the scene before him for his feelings to change from thankfulness to something else¡­


    However, the incident the previous day had installed another woman in Zhou Donghuang''s heart.


    Now, although he was grateful, he did not dare be moved.


    What was done was done between him and Luo Qinghan, even without considering that he had already fallen for Luo Qinghan, as a man, he had to bear responsibility for taking her virginity.


    With Yang Zixi, he could only choose restraint.


    After all, he was no longer considered alone, and to take the expression commonly used on Earth, he was no longer "single."


    Throughout the meal, Zhou Donghuang was on edge, and after eating, he immediately excused himself and returned to his room, making the excuse that he needed to practice.


    Seeing this, the young lady sighed, disappointment written all over her lovely face.


    "Young Mistress, don''t be discouraged¡­ I can tell that throughout the whole meal, Young Master Donghuang was very touched. I believe Young Master Donghuang will come to appreciate you sooner or later and accept you."


    Aunt Mei looked tenderly at the young lady as she consoled her.


    Standing off to the side, Fu also could not help shaking his head. He felt all along that this Young Mistress Zixi was a good match for his young master, but he could only watch helplessly and anxiously at this unrequited love.


    "Brother Fu, Big Brother Zhou¡­ does he have his eye on someone else?" the young lady asked softly, looking at Fu.


    Immediately, Aunt Mei was also looking at Fu suspiciously.


    In her opinion, her young mistress had given so much, and a man who was still not moved was either emotionally unavailable or did not like women.


    "No."


    Fu shook his head with great certainty.


    "Fu, could it be that Young Master Donghuang¡­ is not interested in women?"


    Aunt Mei asked with a strange look in her eyes.


    "This¡­"


    Fu was momentarily stunned, and after sifting through his memories from the time he began following his young master, he realized that he indeed had not seen his young master having any inclination towards women.


    "Aunt Mei, I''ve never seen my young master have feelings for any woman, but I have also never seen my young master have feelings for¡­ any man."


    Fu originally intended only to explain things on behalf of his young master, but he regretted it as soon as he had spoken.


    As he finished, not only did Aunt Mei''s gaze grew more and more peculiar, even the young lady''s gaze grew strange.


    It was just as well that Zhou Donghuang had already returned to his room and was completely immersed in practicing, and did not hear what Fu had said¡­ otherwise, he would surely not be able to stop himself from giving Fu a kick that would lay him flat out on the ground.

 Chapter 103 A Youth

    It was only half a month ago that I broke through to level-eight of the Qi-Gathering, and even with the aid of the concentration elixir and qi-gathering elixir that increases sensitivity to qi a thousand percent, it will take at least half a year to break through to level-nine of the Qi-Gathering.


    Zhou Donghuang lounged on his bed, his head on the headboard, his thumb sticking out, and his four other fingers curled up. He rubbed his chin between his index finger and thumb as the thought swirled in his head.


    And from level-nine of the Qi-Gathering to Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, it will take at least roughly a year.


    Even if I managed to obtain a natural treasure with good fortune that could aid my practice, it would still take almost half a year to break through to Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering.


    Now, even if I am not far from Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering... without the aid of any natural treasures, I must attain Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering!


    ¡­


    Regarding his current stage of practice, even though Zhou Donghuang had a thousand years of memories from a thousand years before, he still felt as though he was in a dream.


    No wonder so many adepts in my previous life were obsessed with practicing day and night... I''ve already progressed so far, even though I don''t know the technique to practice day and night. If I knew the technique, I could have an eighty to ninety percent chance of directly attaining the Connate stage this time!


    After all, she is an adept of the Primal Core stage!


    At this thought, the image of the lady in the pale green gown Zhou Donghuang and the sight of her devastatingly beautiful face rose unbidden in his mind and stayed put there.


    Luo Qinghan...


    She said she was from the planet Tianxuan


    I don''t have any impression of the planet Tianxuan, and I''m certain that it is not anywhere in the region of space near the planet of Ziyun


    Neither is it in the region of space near Earth.


    Nevertheless, she is only about twenty years old but has already attained the stage of Primal Core... since that planet can produce such martial talent, it is proof that it is not a small backwater planet. After I leave Ziyun, I''ll ask around, and I should be able to find out easily.


    That''s right... I almost forgot, I haven''t taken care of the grizzly bear''s gall bladder!


    At the thought of the grizzly bear''s gall bladder, Zhou Donghuang immediately took up a pen and paper and wrote out a long list of herbs, passing it to Fu and instructing him to purchase them all.


    These herbs, together with the grizzly bear''s gall bladder, could be used to formulate a kind of elixir called "qi-increasing elixir," which could greatly increase the strength of qi in a short period of time and sustain it for about ten breath''s time.


    Increasing the strength of qi would produce an increase of over a thousand jin of strength. Besides, the qi-increasing elixir that Zhou Donghuang could formulate was different from ordinary qi-increasing elixirs because it would not have any side effects.


    Ordinary qi-increasing elixirs would always have some form of side effects, and they were less effective than the qi-increasing elixir that Zhou Donghuang could formulate.


    Fu delivered the herbs that night.


    With the gall bladder of the level-nine demon grizzly bear, Zhou Donghuang formulated ten bottles of the qi-increasing elixir and stuffed them into his pocket, ready to use in a time of need.


    ¡­


    January 11, 1229 of the Ziyun Era.


    It was the day of the banquet thrown by the tycoon Tang family of the Chu royal city, and invitations had been sent to all the grand families.


    Of course, although the Tang family had sent an invitation to the Chu royal family to invite the king, he could not possibly attend and would at most send someone to represent him.


    Even the patriarchs of the elite tycoon families could not possibly attend the banquet, and would at most send an elder of the family instead.


    After all, the Tang family was at best a superior-level tycoon family.


    "This banquet thrown by the Tang family seems to be just a show to thank someone?"


    "Mm. I heard that about ten days ago, the patriarch, head elder, and second elder of the Tang family entered the Lost Forest and encountered a grizzly bear which almost killed them... and was saved at the crucial moment by that person."


    "Grizzly bear? From what I know, there is only one grizzly bear in the Lost Forest, and it has already come of age and is a level-nine demon. It is a powerful demon second only to the two golden-crowned eagles in strength in the Lost Forest."


    "That''s right! It''s that grizzly bear that those Petty Consummation adepts of the Qi-Gathering claim to be unable to kill."


    "To be able to save the three Tang family members from the grizzly bear, or even if he and the three Tang family members drove the grizzly bear off together, he must be at least a level-nine adept of the Qi-Gathering."


    "If the three Tang family members had died there, the Tang family would be demoted to a grand family... receiving such kindness, it is no wonder that the Tang family would put on such a banquet to express their gratitude."


    ¡­


    Such gossip was everywhere throughout the Chu royal city.


    Obviously, the tycoon Tang family that was hosting the banquet had not revealed the details but only released some general information.


    For example, the person who had saved the three Tang family members was only a youth, and the grizzly bear was killed, and not just driven off as most people had guessed.


    Also, that grizzly bear had been killed by the youth alone.


    The patriarch of the Tang family, Tang Liunian and the two Tang family elders who had been the protagonists had only revealed these details to those closest to them and had not spread the news.


    ¡­


    The main entrance of the Tang family mansion.


    Because it was a dinner banquet, it was evening when guests began arriving at the main entrance of the Tang family mansion, showing their invitations before entering the mansion.


    At first, the guests arrived in a trickle.


    But soon, more and more guests began to arrive and even began to form a small group.


    "The Shi family members are here!"


    Someone in the group recognized two guests who had just gotten off their carriage and were walking towards the main entrance of the Tang family mansion. "It''s the second master of the Shi family, Shi Yan. The young man beside him is the first young master of the Shi family, Shi Yu."


    Shi Yan was a middle-aged man who was dressed in a silver robe with gold trimmings, with a determined expression and a small goatee, his eyes sparkling with energy. He looked extremely shrewd.


    Shi Yu was dressed in a long grey-white robe and walking beside Shi Yan, his expression looking much better than before.


    "Second Master Shi, Young Master Shi!"


    The Shi family was the first tycoon family to arrive, and the people in the small group were all only members of the grand families. Seeing the two Shi family members arrive, they all stepped aside and allowed them to go to the front.


    This was the power of tycoon families; even elite grand families could not match.


    "The patriarch of the Wei family is here! With him is the first young master of the Wei family, Wei Hongtao. This Wei Hongtao is also the first among the young generation of the Chu royal city!"


    Not long after the two Shi family members had entered, the elite grand Wei family arrived. The patriarch of the Wei family arrived in person with the first young master of the Wei family.


    Obviously, the banquet hosted by the Tang family was important to the Wei family.


    However, this was normal; after all, the Wei family was only a grand family and had to accommodate the Tang family in many aspects.


    "Is that... the Ouyang family''s carriage?"


    However, even the Shi and Wei family and members could not even begin to compete for attention with the carriage that was making its way over in the distance.


    Two large characters were embroidered on the curtains of the carriage, and it caught the attention of the group of onlookers at the entrance of the Tang family mansion from far away.


    Ouyang.


    Obviously, it was the Ouyang family''s carriage.


    There was only one Ouyang family in the Chu royal city, and that was the tycoon Ouyang family.


    The Ouyang family had three level-nine adepts and almost ten level-eight adepts, and it was one of the only three elite tycoon families in the Chu royal city.


    Now, the onlookers standing at the entrance of the Tang family mansion were all not from any grand family or above, but were passers-by who were there just to soak in the atmosphere.


    "I wonder who from the Ouyang family is attending."


    "The patriarch of the Ouyang family will surely not come... in my opinion, it should be the head elder or third elder of the Ouyang family who is here."


    ¡­


    The Ouyang family had three level-nine adepts. They were the patriarch, head elder, and third elder of the Ouyang family.


    Soon, under the gaze of the crowd, a strong and sprightly old man in a grey robe stepped out of the cabin and leaped lightly off the carriage, walking towards the Tang family mansion.


    Almost immediately, someone recognized the old man. "It''s the third elder of the Ouyang family, Ouyang Zhen!"


    Ouyang Zhen was one of the only three level-nine adepts that the Ouyang family had, and he held an extremely high position in the Ouyang family.


    Level-nine adepts, even in the entire Western Ridge of the Chu King, were people of great stature. It was not unexpected that Ouyang Zhen''s presence had attracted everyone''s attention.


    "Elder Ouyang Zhen!"


    Even the Tang family juniors who were guarding the main entrance were far more respectful when they saw Ouyang Zhen compared to any of the people who had already entered.


    This was the power of a level-nine adept.


    ¡­


    The main entrance of the Zheng family mansion.


    "Hurry! Hurry!"


    A middle-aged man led a gaudily dressed young lady hurriedly up a carriage that had been waiting at the main entrance, and the carriage moved off towards the Tang family mansion.


    "Qiuhe, you''re too slow... the Zheng family is only an inferior-level grand family; if we are late, the Tang family will have a bad impression of us."


    In the cabin of the carriage, the middle-aged man who was the patriarch of the grand Zheng family Zheng Donglai, frowned slightly as he spoke to the young lady seated opposite him.


    The young lady was his daughter, the third young mistress of the Zheng family, Zheng Qiuhe.


    "Hehe... father, isn''t it just because I want to dress up to make myself a little prettier?"


    Zheng Qiuhe giggled. "Didn''t you tell me last night that today the Tang family is throwing a banquet as a show of gratitude to their benefactor, who is a youth?"


    Zheng Donglai was momentarily stunned but immediately laughed. "So, after all, Qiuhe, this is your intention... fine, fine, fine!"


    "Qiuhe, if you can make a good impression on that youth, even if you can only be his concubine, we can look forward to the meteoric rise of our Zheng family!"


    Zheng Donglai was close to a side relative to the Tang family.


    Earlier, he had found out from the side relative that the benefactor that the Tang family was throwing the banquet for was only a youth who had not yet come of age.


    Moreover, this youth possessed the ability to kill the grizzly bear.


    Right then, Zheng Donglai realized that if this was true, that youth had to be someone of superlative caliber, and the power behind the youth could be even greater than the Valley of the Medicine Masters!

 Chapter 104 Donghuang Attends the Banque

    The main entrance of the Ren family mansion.


    A carriage was making its way steadily towards the Tang family mansion.


    In the cabin of the carriage, a well-built middle-aged man dressed in a dark yellow long robe with a stern face and eyebrows that slanted upwards was sitting facing an old man.


    The old man was dressed in a green robe. He was of average build and had an unremarkable appearance. His long grey-white hair was hanging loose behind him as he sat prim and proper at the side of the cabin.


    "Patriarch, didn''t First Young Mistress say that she wanted to attend the banquet at the Tang family mansion with you?"


    The old man was the head elder of the Ren Family, Ren Qiong.


    From the way he addressed the middle-aged man sitting opposite him, that middle-aged man was obviously the patriarch of the Ren family, Ren Tianhang.


    "I have no idea what''s gotten into that girl recently, she has not been out for the past ten days... previously, she loved to soak in the atmosphere, but when I went to look for her yesterday to ask if she wanted to attend the banquet at the Tang family, she declined without the slightest hesitation."


    Ren Tianhang shook his head with a bitter smile, a look of incomprehension in his eyes.


    "First Young Mistress was often out previously and was very close to that Yang Zixi... it might be a good thing that she stays home. At least she will not draw the ire of the Shi family because she is close to Yang Zixi," Ren Qiong said.


    Ren Tianhang and Ren Qiong were talking about the first young mistress of the Ren family, Ren Jiapei.


    Since the gathering of the scions of the grand families at the Wei family mansion ten days ago, Ren Jiapei had stayed at the Ren family mansion and not gone out and had lost her previous liveliness. Those people who had interacted with her since then had also noticed that she had also lost her cheerfulness.


    She was in this state all because of love.


    After that day, Ren Jiapei realized that she had already fallen deeply in love with that youth along with Yang Zixi, even to the extent that she was unwilling to give him up.


    Moreover, Yang Zixi had also fallen for that youth.


    She treated Yang Zixi as her own younger sister, and in addition, Yang Zixi had also saved her life when she was a child, and on the basis of principle and relationship, she could not possibly compete with Yang Zixi.


    Because of this, she had shut herself away in her room ostensibly to practice, but in reality, to escape.


    ¡­


    The atmosphere at the Tang family mansion was extremely lively.


    All the patriarchs of the grand families in the Chu royal cities were all present without exception. Besides that, many of the patriarchs of the tycoon families of the Chu royal city had also attended in person.


    Although the patriarchs of the three elite tycoon families did not attend, they had all sent an elder to attend, and they were all level-nine adepts and could be considered to be giving sufficient respect to the Tang family.


    At the moment, out of all the prominent families of the Chu royal city that had received the invitation, only the Chu royal family was not represented.


    No one was surprised by this.


    The Chu royal family were the rulers of the Chu royal city and also the entire Western Ridge of the Chu King. Even the elite tycoon families had to tread carefully around them to continue to exist in peace.


    Although the Tang family was a tycoon family, it was still beneath the notice of the Chu royal family, and they had no need to consider the matter of showing respect to the Tang family.


    After all, what could the Tang family do if they did not show respect?


    To put it plainly, in the eyes of the Chu royal family, even elite tycoon families were just a slightly bigger ant.


    "Besides the representative from the Chu royal family, it seems that everyone from the grand families and above is here?"


    At the main entrance of the Tang family mansion, the Tang family juniors in charge of receiving the guests scanned through the guest list that they were holding and quickly noticed that it was not just the representative from the Chu royal family who had not arrived.


    There was someone else who had not arrived.


    However, this person did not belong to any family. Although he was at the top of the list, he was named simply as "benefactor."


    "We didn''t notice earlier... the ''benefactor'' at the top of the list, could he be the one who saved the lives of our patriarch, head elder, and second elder and for whom we are throwing this banquet?" one of the Tang family juniors guessed.


    "It probably is."


    The other Tang family junior nodded with a serious expression. "I have some impression of all the guests who arrived today... and there were no new faces."


    "Since he is not named on the list, it must be that he is not from the prominent families of the Chu royal city, and perhaps he is not even from the Chu royal city.


    "Why is he not here? If he isn''t coming, what meaning does this banquet have?"


    ¡­


    The several Tang family juniors looked around for a while, but they still did not see anyone walking towards the main entrance of the Tang family mansion and wondered: As the most important person of the day, and after saving the lives of the patriarch, head elder, and second elder of the Tang family, would he fail to turn up?


    "The representative from the Chu royal family probably isn''t coming."


    After some time had passed, the crowd of onlookers at the main entrance of the Tang family mansion slowly dispersed.


    And just when most of the crowd had dispersed, a figure dressed in white appeared at the end of the road, together with a figure dressed in a rose-red gown and walked over side by side.


    These two walked straight up to the main entrance of the Tang family mansion.


    The youth in the white robe produced an invitation from his pocket and handed it to a Tang family junior who was guarding the entrance.


    "Are they from the Chu royal family?"


    "Impossible! I recognize everyone in the Chu royal family of any importance, these two could not possibly be from the Chu royal family!"


    ¡­


    Some among those onlookers who had not yet left guessed that the youth and the young lady they saw were from the Chu royal family, but were quickly rebutted by others.


    "That young lady... isn''t she Yang Zixi, who was expelled from the Yang family personally by the patriarch of the Yang family, Yang Yunji almost four months earlier?"


    "Yang Zixi? No wonder she looks familiar, you''re right, she is Yang Zixi!"


    ¡­


    Very quickly, someone recognized the young lady in the rose-red gown as Yang Zixi, previously of the grand Yang family, who had been expelled almost four months ago from the Yang family.


    "That Yang Zixi, who was expelled from the Yang family? Could you be mistaken? Those Tang family juniors were far more enthusiastic towards her and that youth with her than they were towards the Yang family patriarch Yang Yunji."


    "Not just Yang Yunji... they were not so enthusiastic even towards the elders of the three elite tycoon families who entered earlier."


    ¡­


    Under the gaze of the gathered onlookers, several Tang family juniors bowed as they welcomed the golden couple and ushered them in.


    "I can confirm that she is Yang Zixi! These few Tang family juniors are so enthusiastic probably because of the youth."


    "In the Chu royal city, the Tang family juniors will show such treatment to only several people... could it be, you think that this youth is a prince of the Chu royal family?"


    "I''ve seen the princes of the Chu royal family; he isn''t one of them."


    ¡­


    Zhou Donghuang, who had been warmly welcomed into the Tang family mansion by the Tang family juniors, had no idea that he had been mistaken for a prince of the Chu royal family.


    The Tang family juniors who were guarding the entrance were amazed when they saw the invitation that Zhou Donghuang produced, and they ushered him respectfully into the Tang family mansion.


    This was because on Zhou Donghuang''s invitation, there was only the word "benefactor" on the line for the guest''s name.


    Of course, the Tang family juniors did not think that this youth before them was the one who had saved the patriarch, head elder, and second elder of the Tang family but was only attending on behalf of his elder, who was the actual benefactor.


    However, even so, they dared not slack off.


    "Young Master Zhou, this way, please."


    Finally, one of the Tang family juniors led Zhou Donghuang and Yang Zixi to the banquet venue, the expansive front courtyard of the Tang family mansion.


    Earlier, when asked by a Tang family junior how he should be addressed, Zhou Donghuang had casually given his name. Therefore, the Tang family juniors all already knew that his surname was Zhou.


    "Go ahead with your duties, we''ll make our way over on our own."


    Just as the Tang family junior was about to bring them directly to meet the patriarch of the Tang family, Tang Liunian, Zhou Donghuang stopped him, and he naturally obeyed, not daring to go against Zhou Donghuang''s wishes.


    As a superior-level tycoon family of the Chu royal city, the Tang family mansion occupied a large plot of land, far bigger than the family mansion of the tycoon Shi family.


    Now, in the large front courtyard of the Tang family mansion, many large round tables had been set up, and many guests were already seated at the round tables, but many more were standing around in small groups and chatting.


    With a glance, Zhou Donghuang could see that far off, at the easternmost round table in the front courtyard, Patriarch Tang Liunian was chatting with three old men.


    Second Elder Tang Yuxin and Third Elder, Tang Yong of the Tang family were also standing at a distance chatting with several people.


    Because of the distance, and the general noisiness, they did not notice Zhou Donghuang and Yang Zixi at first when they entered the front courtyard.


    However, although they did not notice Zhou Donghuang and Yang Zixi, others did.


    "Isn''t that Yang Zixi?"


    Many people recognized the young lady beside Zhou Donghuang.


    "Wasn''t this Yang Zixi expelled from the Yang family? She is now no longer a member of a grand family, how can she be here?"


    "Today, those invited by the Tang family to the banquet are all members of grand families and above... and according to the law, this Yang Zixi who has been expelled from the Yang family does not have the status to be here, so why is she here?"


    "Could that youth with her have brought her here?"


    ¡­


    Following the whispered exchanges, the gazes of many of the guests were drawn to Zhou Donghuang.


    At present, although Zhou Donghuang was already eighteen years old and more than one point eight meters tall. He was already a young man, his appearance still carrying a hint of youthfulness, and it was easy for someone to mistake him for a youth.


    "It''s him!"


    "This youth, isn''t he the youth who maimed the arm of Zhang Yongshan of the Zhang family ten days ago at the Wei family mansion?"


    "He''s still not dead yet? That First Young Master Shi Yu of the Shi family has not gotten revenge on him yet?"


    ¡­


    Many of the scions of the grand families present recognized Zhou Donghuang immediately, and many of them cast their glances at a round table in the distance as they whispered among themselves.


    First Young Master Shi Yu of the Shi family was sitting there with his back facing them.


    Shi Yu?


    First Young Master Wei Hongtao was seated at a round table nearby, and hearing the scions of the grand families whisper among themselves, he could not help shaking his head, the corners of his mouth curling upwards in a mocking smile.

 Chapter 105 Provocation

    Ten days ago, Wei Hongtao had paid a visit to the grand Tan family to see First Young Master Tan Zhi. He had been wondering why Shi Yu had not come over on the day of the gathering of the scions of the grand families and wanted to find out the reason why.


    At first, Tan Zhi attempted to evade the question, but later, he revealed something: Shi Yu did not dare offend the youth who had been with Yang Zixi.


    At that moment, he received confirmation: First Young Mistress Ren Jiapei of the Ren family had not deceived him.


    Because of this, when he heard the group of scions of the grand families talking among themselves, he looked at them as though they were idiots and with a sense of intellectual superiority welling up in him.


    "Yang Zixi!"


    A gaudily dressed young lady stepped out of the group. It was Third Young Mistress of the Zheng family, Zheng Qiuhe. She had already scanned the surroundings, that First Young Mistress Ren Jiapei of the Ren family was not around.


    With Ren Jiapei''s absence, she did not have to be concerned that someone would stand up for Yang Zixi.


    Although Shi Yu was present, Yang Zixi had brought a man along with her, and with Shi Yu''s temper, he wouldn''t be of any help to Yang Zixi.


    Zhen Qiuhe looked at Yang Zixi with a mocking smile. "How did you get in?"


    "Today, the Tang family invited the grand families of the Chu royal city and above to the banquet... I''m very curious how you, as someone who was expelled from the Yang family, managed to sneak in?"


    Right from the start, Zheng Qiuhe had not spared the young man with Yang Zixi a glance. In her opinion, someone surnamed Zhou in the country of Yunyang could not possibly have any background.


    At most, he could only be the son of a preeminent family.


    Zheng Qiuhe considered someone like that below her notice.


    "Zheng Qiuhe."


    The young lady swept a glance over Zheng Qiuhe. "I don''t think that I, Yang Zixi, have ever offended you before. That day at the Wei family mansion, you behaved in such an overbearing manner, and here today at the Tang family mansion, you are still behaving in this way. Are you trying to tell me that I''m an easy target to bully?"


    At this, an angry expression began to show on the young lady''s beautiful features.


    In the past, she had treated Zheng Qiuhe as a sister and had given much without expecting anything in return.


    It would not have mattered if Zheng Qiuhe did not give anything in return. But now, seeing that she had been expelled from the Yang family and repeatedly adding insult to injury, she could no longer stand it no matter how good her temper was.


    "Hehe... our Young Mistress Zixi seems to be getting angry."


    Accompanied by the sound of mocking laughter, another young lady of similar age as Zhen Qiuhe walked over slowly.


    "That''s not right... I almost forgot. Yang Zixi, you have already been expelled from the Yang family and are no longer fit to be called Young Mistress Zixi."


    The young lady was wearing an orange dress and could be considered elegant-looking. But now, there was a mocking smile on her face, and there was a look of delight in her eyes.


    "Xie Tingting?"


    Yang Zixi''s already angry expression grew darker. "As I recall, I also treated you well in the past."


    "So, what of it?"


    Xie Tingting smiled coldly and took several steps forward to stand beside Yang Zixi and said in a low voice, "If you must blame someone, it is your own fault for looking like a fox spirit!"


    Xie Tingting spoke in a tone full of jealousy.


    "Yang Zixi, while most of the guests have yet to be seated, I advise you to leave quickly... when the guest of honor arrives and the banquet is about to begin, you will have nowhere to hide once everyone is seated. When you are shooed away by the Tang family, it will be far more shameful for you than if you leave now," another young lady stepped forward and said with a voice full of malicious delight.


    She looked at Yang Zixi with eyes full of the same kind of jealousy.


    "He Lin."


    Seeing this young lady, Yang Zixi''s expression grew even darker.


    Zheng Qiuhe and Xie Tingting were a small matter. Although she had helped them out before, those were just small favors... but He Lin, she had done her a big favor.


    And now, He Lin was also stepping forward to add insult to injury?


    On the previous occasion at the Wei family mansion, Xie Tingting and He Lin had ignored her, and she had thought nothing of it. She really did not care if they did not reciprocate even though she had treated them so well.


    But she could not tolerate the way they added insult to injury even though she had treated them so well.


    "Zixi, they''re just three little clowns... why take them so seriously?"


    Zhou Donghuang, who had been standing silently beside the young lady all along, spoke up quietly as he detected the young lady''s anger.


    He could feel the jealousy the three young ladies felt towards Yang Zixi as they were clearly trying to provoke her.


    With this statement, Zhou Donghuang kicked the hornet''s nest. With a sudden change of expression, the three young ladies stared furiously at Zhou Donghuang in unison with chilly gazes.


    "Zhou, do you really think that since you have some martial talent, you can compete with the grand families?" Xie Tingting asked coldly.


    "Zhou, the Tang family only invited the grand families and above of the Chu royal city to the banquet... from what I know, there is no grand family and above with the surname Zhou. It seems that you sneaked in, just like Yang Zixi."


    Zheng Qiuhe put on a mocking expression. "You''ve got some guts!"


    He Lin swept a cold glance over Zhou Donghuang, then turned and walked hurriedly towards the two people engaged in conversation nearby.


    "Patriarch He is chatting with the tenth elder of the Tang family... He Lin is surely going over to inform the tenth elder of the Tang family that someone has sneaked into the Tang family," one of the scions of the grand families guessed.


    "I never expected that even before the banquet begins that there would be a show to enjoy."


    Many scions of the grand families prepared to get in on the excitement.


    "Patriarch Zhang, I believe this youth maimed your son Zhang Yongshan''s arm? Now that he is right before your eyes, won''t you avenge your son?"


    An elder of a grand family standing beside the patriarch of the Zhang family could not resist asking him after hearing the conversation between the young people.


    "Revenge?"


    The patriarch of the Zhang family was a thin middle-aged man, and hearing the old man beside him, he shook his head, a self-deprecating smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.


    That day, when his son Zhang Yongshan had been sent home, his anger had been sky-high, and his first thought was of taking revenge.


    However, before he had even left the Zhang family mansion, someone from the Shi family had arrived.


    First Young Master Shi Yu of the Shi family, seeing that his son was injured in his cause, had sent someone to warn him not to provoke the youth who had maimed his son...


    Because even the Shi family dared not provoke that youth.


    The Shi family was a tycoon family, and even though it was an inferior-level tycoon family at the bottom of the hierarchy, the Zhang family could not compare to them. The Zhang family could not afford to provoke someone that even the Shi family dared not provoke!


    Therefore, he completely aborted any thoughts of revenge.


    It was to the extent that now, seeing the three girls from the Zheng, Xie, and He families come into conflict with the youth, he could not help but mourn them silently in his heart.


    In his view, if someone who even the Shi family did not dare offend showed up at the Tang family''s banquet, he had surely received an invitation from the Tang family.


    Fortunately, he was not calculative with me... if not, even if I had been killed by him, it would have been for nothing.


    Tan Li, the third young master of the grand Tan family, was sitting beside his father, the patriarch of the Tan family, looking with fear and dread at the youth in white standing not far off.


    That day, it was only after he had returned to the Tan family mansion that he found out that this person was someone who even his cousin, Shi Yu, did not dare offend!


    Although Zhou Donghuang had caused a fair bit of commotion, Tang Liunian and the other two Tang family members had not noticed him because of the distance between them and the general cacophony.


    If the three Tang family members had realized what was happening here, they would definitely have come forward to welcome Zhou Donghuang as soon as they had seen him.


    After all, the star of the show, and the benefactor of the Tang family was Zhou Donghuang.


    "Big Brother Zhou, although He Lin''s father is only the patriarch of a grand family, he is very close to the tenth elder of the Tang family... aren''t you concerned that she is going to make a scene?" the young lady asked Zhou Donghuang softly.


    Yang Zixi did not know that the star of the Tang family''s banquet was her Big Brother Zhou.


    She merely assumed that her Big Brother Zhou had only received the invitation from the Tang family and was here to soak in the atmosphere, just like how Ren Jiapei had brought them along to the Wei family mansion ten days ago.


    However, even though she spoke very softly, Zheng Qiuhe and Xie Tingting were standing nearby and managed to overhear her.


    In an instant, a mocking smile surfaced on both their lips.


    "When the tenth elder of the Tang family comes over, I''ll see what fate you suffer!"


    The mocking smile on Xie Tingting''s face grew more pronounced.


    "Don''t think of leaving now... even if you leave, the tenth elder of the Tang family will still catch you and bring you back in a rage!" Zheng Qiuhe threatened.


    At this moment, He Lin returned with two middle-aged men.


    One of the middle-aged men had similar features to He Lin. He was obviously the patriarch of the grand He family, He Wuyi.


    The other middle-aged man wore a blue robe and was of average build, and he followed He Lin over with barely contained anger.


    "Uncle Zhanpeng, it''s them!"


    After He Lin returned, she swept a gaze over Zhou Donghuang and Yang Zixi as though to flaunt her power; then, her gaze turned serious as she spoke to the middle-aged man in the blue robe beside her.


    "Do you have invitations?" Tang Zhanpeng lowered his voice and asked as he gazed coldly at them, obviously controlling his anger."


    "How could I have entered without an invitation?"


    Zhou Donghuang returned his gaze casually and countered.


    "You mean... you have an invitation?"


    Tang Zhanpeng''s eyes narrowed, and he continued with a cold smile, "Only grand families and above of the Chu royal city received invitations to tonight''s banquet by the Tang family. So, which family are you from?"


    Tang Zhanpeng''s eyes had narrowed to a slit, and a cold look flashed through his eyes.


    Although he had just returned to the Tang family half a day ago, he knew that besides the benefactor, only the grand families and above of the Chu royal city were invited to the Tang family''s banquet.


    But this youth before him surnamed Zhou could not possibly be from any grand family and above of the Chu royal city.


    Besides, when he had just arrived, he had heard right from the mouth of the third elder of the Tang family: either this benefactor would not turn up, or he would turn up in person.


    Therefore, this youth before him could not be representing the benefactor at the banquet.


    All in all, he deduced that this youth before him definitely did not have an invitation.


    Even if he did, it must surely be forged!


    Of course, Tang Zhanpeng made this deduction also because he arrived back late, and was not in time to learn from the Tang family members in the know that the benefactor whom the Tang family was putting on such a show for, was a youth.

 Chapter 106 - Young Master Donghuang

    Chapter 106: Young Master Donghuang


    Faced with Tang Zhanpeng¡¯s questioning, Zhou Donghuang glanced at him and said calmly and slowly, ¡°I¡¯m not from any family.¡±


    Hearing this, Tang Zhanpeng¡¯s eyes widened menacingly.


    The young lady beside Zhou Donghuang then piped up, ¡°Elder Tang, my Brother Zhou may not be from any grand family in the Chu royal city, but he does have an invite. Otherwise, we would not have been able to enter.¡±


    Tang Zhanpeng looked at Zhou Donghuang with a smirk, asking, ¡°Is that so? That means you forged an invite?¡± His lips raised into a menacing smile as his eyes flashed coldly.


    ¡°Forging an invite?¡± Hearing Tang Zhanpeng¡¯s words, the grand family disciples surrounding him murmured as they looked at Zhou Donghuang with a mix of pity and gloating.


    ¡°If he really sneaked into the Tang family, he would at most be kicked out¡­ but if he forged an invite, that is no small matter.¡±


    ¡°What is this young man thinking? Unless he is trying to show off in front of Yang Zixi, that¡¯s why he forged an invite to bring her to the Tang family banquet?¡±


    ¡°The elders were right; beauty really is the cause of trouble.¡±


    ¡­


    The chatter from the crowd made the young girl¡¯s expression darken. She turned to Tang Zhanpeng and said firmly, ¡°Elder Tang, my Brother Zhou would never forge an invite!¡±


    She then looked at Zhou Donghuang and said anxiously, ¡°Brother Zhou, tell him who gave you this invite.¡±


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Before Zhou Donghuang could speak, Tang Zhanpeng laughed and said, ¡°Our chief had already ordered that only people from grand families and above in the Chu royal city would be invited. That means that every person here is all from grand families and above, except for the Tang family benefactor. Are you trying to tell me¡­ you are representing that benefactor?¡± Tang Zhanpeng asked as he stared at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°No,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang calmly. From the start, he had not revealed any nervousness at all. Then, before Tang Zhanpeng could respond, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes flashed as he said, ¡°Tang Liunian, is this how your Tang family treats its guests?¡± His voice was filled with coldness and loud enough to be heard over all the chatter in the courtyard.


    Tang Liunian?! Hearing this, everyone was first shocked, then realized¡­ Tang Liunian was none other than today¡¯s host, the chief of the tycoon Tang family.


    ¡°Not only did you forge an invite, but even dare to call our chief by name, are you tired of living?¡± He Lin asked, her eyes gloating.


    However, hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s raised voice, the expression of the He family chief He Wuyi turned serious.


    Even Tang Zhanpeng¡¯s face could not help but change slightly as a sense of foreboding rose.


    ¡°Indeed.¡± Not only First Young Master of the grand Wei family, Wei Hongtao, Third Young Master of the grand Tan family, Tan Li, or the chief of the grand Zhang family had thought that Zhou Donghuang had entered by forging an invite. Now, seeing him call the Tang family chief by name without any form of courtesy, they immediately knew that their suspicions had been correct.


    ¡°Hm?¡± As Zhou Donghuang¡¯s voice was raised over the chatter in the courtyard, the whole place turned silent as all eyes landed on him. The young man had only attracted the attention of those from the grand families previously, but now, even those from the tycoon families were staring at him.


    ¡°Who is this young man? He dares to call the Tang family chief by name.¡± Many of those from tycoon families looked at him with surprise as they gossiped among themselves.


    ¡°It¡¯s him!¡± Just then, First Young Master of the tycoon Shi family, Shi Yu, finally noticed Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Yu, that is Zhou Donghuang?¡± Noticing the expression on Shi Yu¡¯s face, Second Master of the Shi family, Shi Yan, also seemed to guess something as his expression darkened.


    ¡°It is him,¡± confirmed Shi Yu as he nodded seriously.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang?¡± At that point, the host of tonight¡¯s banquet, Tang Liunian, heard his voice and his eyes lit up. However, upon realizing the unfriendly tone in his voice, his expression changed again.


    ¡°Elders, our benefactor is here¡­ please excuse me.¡± After hurriedly bidding farewell to the representatives from the three premier tycoon families, Tang Liunian rushed towards the young man. The Tang head elder, Tang Yuxin, and the second elder, Tang Yong also followed Tang Liunian.


    In the quiet courtyard, their hurried footsteps rang through the night. As everybody watched on, the three rushed to the young man and bowed deeply to the young man as they greeted him earnestly, ¡°Young Master Donghuang!¡±


    ¡­


    At that moment, everyone¡¯s expression changed drastically.


    Seeing the scene before her, Zheng Qiuhe could not help but stagger backward. Looking at the young man, she shook her head as she screamed internally.


    Im¡­ impossible¡­ impossible¡­ it can¡¯t be him!


    That day, before heading to the banquet, she had spent a long time dressing herself up just to meet the young man who had been invited by the Tang family. Although she did not know who the young man would be, with his strength, it was clear that he would be of no simple background or even come from the Valley of Medicine Masters. Such a young man would surely carry her and her family to great heights. In the future, even the king of Yunyang country would have to treat her respectfully.


    But Zheng Qiuhe would never have imagined that the young man whom the Tang family had invited would be someone that she had met before, and someone who knew Yang Zixi. Now, no matter how slow her response, Zheng Qiuhe could also understand that this young man standing beside Yang Zixi was precisely the man for whom this grand banquet had been thrown. She did not dare to believe it, nor did she want to, but she had to believe what was before her eyes. The behavior of the three big figures in the tang family was enough to explain everything.


    ¡°What¡­ what is going on?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t this young man a nobody? Why are the Tang family chief and the two elders bowing to him so respectfully?¡±


    ¡°Who is he exactly?¡±


    ¡°Someone like him forging an invite? That Tang tenth elder must be joking?¡±


    ¡­


    The scene before them had all the grand family disciples shocked. They now looked upon the young man differently. Previously, their gaze had been filled with disdain, but now, not a single one dared to look down on this young man in white. What a joke! Even the three biggest figures in the Tang family were bowing to this young man.


    ¡°Hm?¡± Tang Liunian had been wondering what had angered the young man, but hearing the chatter around him, his eyes sharpened as his expression changed instantly.


    ¡°Tenth elder, what is going on?¡± Tang Liunian looked at Tang Zhanpeng as he asked, his tone cold enough to make one shiver.


    Seeing the three of them come over and bow to the young man, Tang Zhanpeng knew that he had made a huge mistake, his face turning pale. Now, faced with the wrath of Chief Tang, he pointed at He Lin and said, ¡°Chief, she was the one who told me that Young Master Zhou had come in without an invite.¡± Tang Zhanpeng just wanted to shift the blame off himself. At that point, the magnitude of this matter was far beyond what his small position could cover.


    As for He Lin, seeing Tang Zhanpeng accuse her, her expression changed. ¡°Uncle Zhanpeng, I indeed told you that he may have entered without an invite. But I never said that he forged an invite. Just now, from the start, it was you who claimed that he forged an invite to enter!¡± He Lin could see that Tang Zhanpeng was just trying to absolve himself of blame. She would take the blame for simple matters in order to suck up to Tang Zhanpeng, but this was far beyond what she could handle.


    Just as Tang Zhanpeng looked at He Lin menacingly as if he wanted to slap her, Tang Liunian raised his brows as he asked, ¡°Who are you?¡± Clearly, he did not recognize He Lin.


    ¡°Chief Tang, this is lady He Lin.¡± Just then, He Wuyi, chief of the grand He family, stepped forward nervously and replied with a bow.


    ¡°And who are you?¡± Tang Liunian¡¯s brows furrowed further.

 Chapter 107 - The Tang Family鈥檚 Attitude

    Chapter 107: The Tang Family¡¯s Attitude


    As the chief of a tycoon family, Tang Liunian typically only rubbed shoulders with chiefs of premier grand families. He Wuyi was just the chief of an inferior grand family, so Tang Liunian would not have an impression of him even if they had met before.


    Although Tang Liunian did not recognize him, He Wuyi did not dare to show any kind of displeasure as he forced out a smile and said courteously, ¡°Tang chief, I am the chief of the grand He family, He Wuyi.¡±


    ¡°He family chief?¡± Tang Liunian¡¯s eyes flashed coldly as he cried, ¡°Bring your people and get out of my house! From today on, the Tang family will end all cooperation with the He family. Any family who works with the He family will receive the same treatment from the Tang family!¡± Tang Liunian turned as his gaze swept around the courtyard.


    He did not know if their family had any connections with the He family. But he was sure that there were definitely some of the Tang business partners who also worked with the He family.


    With that, the whole courtyard breathed in sharply as some muttered, ¡°The He family is done for!¡±


    ¡°Who is this young man? The three biggest figures in the Tang family are treating him so respectfully.¡±


    ¡°Could he be the representative of the benefactor?¡±


    ¡°Just now, Elder Tang Zhanpeng asked him, but he denied it.¡±


    ¡°Then who could he be? In Yunyang country, there is no Zhou family? Unless he is from the Valley of Medicine Masters?¡±


    ¡­


    Everybody in the courtyard knew that the He family was gone for after the Tang family chief¡¯s words. Those who had connections with the He family had already decided to cut all ties with them once they went back.


    He Wuyi was stunned, as was He Lin. They had never imagined that the Tang family chief would destroy their He family just to stand up for the young man in front of them! For sure, once Tang Liunian¡¯s word spread, most of their business in the Chu royal city would collapse.


    Piak!


    He Wuyi slapped his daughter heavily as the loud sound rang through the air.


    He Lin was completely shocked. As she opened her mouth and spat out blood, there were pieces of broken teeth mixed within. Clearly, her father had treated her with no mercy.


    ¡°Stupid girl, aren¡¯t you going to apologize to Young Master Donghuang?¡± He Wuyi scolded her furiously. However, on the inside, he was filled with bitterness and helplessness. If he wanted to save their family, he had no choice but to treat his daughter like this.


    He Lin was not dumb either and knew why her father, who always doted on her, had done that. Clenching her teeth, she dropped to her knees before Zhou Donghuang and begged, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I was foolish, please forgive me! Please! Please!!¡±


    But Zhou Donghuang did not even glance at her.


    Seeing this, He Lin turned to the young girl beside him and begged, ¡°Sister Zixi, it was all my fault, I should not have been jealous of you, I should not have deserted you then, I was wrong, I know I was wrong! Please help me to ask Young Master Donghuang for mercy, ask him to let my family off! Please! Please!!¡±


    He Lin kowtowed to the young girl desperately. Even as the skin on her forehead bled furiously, she did not stop. She knew that with one word, the young girl could save her whole family.


    The young girl had never seen anything like this before. Instantly, her face showed a sign of pity as she looked towards the young man beside her.


    ¡°Zixi, some people treat you extremely well when you are in power¡­ but when you are in the troughs, they¡¯ll trample all over you.¡± Before Zixi could speak, Zhou Donghuang turned to her and said flatly, ¡°Some lessons only need to be learned once.¡±


    Over his millennia of experience, he had seen too many people like He Lin. People like her would not return the gratitude even if Yang Zixi spared her today.


    The young girl nodded seriously. ¡°Brother Zhou, I understand.¡± With that, no matter how desperately He Lin begged her, the young girl did not spare her a glance, because she trusted her Brother Zhou. Since he had put it that way, he must have had his reasons.


    ¡°Get out!¡± Tang Liunian shouted as he glanced at He Lin, then He Wuyi.


    He Wuyi had turned pale with fright. He hurriedly dragged He Lin out of the courtyard and fled.


    After the two had left, Tang Liunian then looked at the tenth elder, Tang Zhanpeng, and turned to the second elder, Tang Yong, standing beside him. ¡°Second Elder, he is from your side, please take care of him.¡±


    Tang Zhanpeng was from Tang Yong¡¯s side of the family, and called Tang Yong ¡°Uncle.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Chief,¡± responded Tang Yong as his eyes flashed resolutely. He stepped forward, and as Tang Zhanpeng looked on in despair, his palm landed squarely on Tang Zhanpeng¡¯s head, killing him instantly.


    Tang Zhanpeng was dead before he could ask for mercy.


    Boom!!


    Tang Zhanpeng¡¯s lifeless body fell to the ground, his eyes still open. Perhaps he never would have imagined that his careless mistake would lead to such an outcome.


    With that, a hush fell over the whole courtyard once again.


    From how the Tang family chief had treated the two from the He family just now, they had realized how important this young man was in Tang Liunian¡¯s eyes. But they would never have imagined that the tenth elder of the Tang family would be executed by the second elder just because he had offended this young man!


    The tenth elder of the Tang family was a level-six adept and could easily support an entire grand family. But someone as powerful as him had been executed just because he had offended the young man here.


    ¡°Who exactly is this young man?¡±


    Now, even the three elders from the three premier tycoon families of the Chu royal city all looked upon the figure in white with shock. They knew that even if Tang Zhanpeng had offended one of them in that manner, he would not be executed by the family, but at most punished before them.


    The young man was in flowing white, with handsome features and a distinguished aura. His expression did not flinch, even as Tang Zhanpeng was killed right in front of him.


    The young girl standing beside him was filled with horror as he looked at the lifeless body of Tang Zhanpeng lying on the ground. This was the tenth elder of the Tang family. The Tang family had just killed him just to show her Brother Zhou?


    ¡°Looks like the special benefactor for which the banquet was hosted today is none other than Brother Zhou.¡± Now, the young girl realized this.


    Pong! Pong!


    Before everyone could respond to the execution of Tang Zhanpeng, Zheng Qiuhe, the third lady of the grand Zheng family, and Xie Tingting, the second lady of the grand Xie family, both fell to the ground in shock.


    ¡°Zheng Qiuhe and Xie Tingting must have never dreamed that the young man whom they had treated so condescendingly had such status.¡±


    ¡°The Zheng family and the Xie family are in trouble.¡±


    ¡­


    Many grand family disciples glanced at the two ladies on the ground and shook their heads, but many of them had glee in their eyes. Many of them had disapproved of their behavior.


    Previously, both Zheng Donglai, chief of the ground Zheng family, and Xie Yixun, chief of the grand Xie family, were away talking to the tycoon family chiefs and had not noticed what had happened.


    Now, seeing the outcome of the He family, they too felt that the He family was really unfortunate indeed. But they never would have expected that their daughters had offended the young man and lady, just like He Lin had.


    As they heard the muttering from the rest of the grand family disciples, their expressions changed into fear.


    ¡°Zheng family? Xie family?¡± Tang Liunian looked coldly at the two ladies sitting on the ground. ¡°From today on, the Tang family and all those who work with us will no longer have any connection with the Zheng or Xie family. Now, scram!¡±


    Before Zheng Donglai or Xie Yixun could say anything, Tang Liunian had kicked them out. Seeing what had happened to the He family, the two did not dare to say anything further because they knew that any pleading would be useless. They grabbed their daughters and left the courtyard, their hurried figures disappearing into the distance. They were well aware that from that day on, the Zheng and Xie family would face the same fate as the He family of being ostracized by all the other families in the city.


    All the premier tycoon families of the Chu royal city, and even the Chu royal household, could easily disregard Tang Liunian¡¯s warning, but those families would never work with them anyway. As for the families who would work with them, none would dare to go against the orders of the chief of the premier tycoon family.


    As Zheng Qiuhe and Xie Tingting were being led away, their faces were crestfallen. They pinched their faces to check if they were in a dream. But the pinch reminded them that all of this was really happening in real life!


    Especially for Zheng Qiuhe, her face was filled with despair and regret, her eyes empty and forlorn. ¡°How could this be¡­ how could it be¡­ how could it possibly be him¡­¡±

 Chapter 108 - Uninvited Guest

    In the courtyard of the Tang family household, a young man in flowing white with handsome features and an extraordinary aura had now become the center of attention.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, Lady Zixi, please.¡± The Tang family chief, Tang Liunian, bowed courteously as he led the two of them to the eastern side of the courtyard where the grand banquet table was. As everybody watched on, Tang Liunian invited the young man to the main seat at the table.


    That was a seat that even the three elders from the top tycoon families of the city had never sat at before. Seeing this, many of those from the grand families or tycoon families could not help but gasp, ¡°Even the Chu royal family would not receive such treatment.¡±


    At that same time, at another round table in the western side of the courtyard, a plump, middle-aged man in a gown smiled at another man at the table and said, ¡°Chief Yang, your family has really produced a phoenix¡­¡±


    This man, who was known as the Yang family chief, was none other than Yang Yunji, the uncle of Yang Zixi.


    Despite his laughing demeanor, this plump man was gloating. The Yang family had indeed produced a phoenix. But that phoenix had been kicked out of the household by Yang Yunji!


    With that, the rest of the people at the table also looked at Yang Yunji as if they were mocking his misfortune. With all of them being inferior grand families, they naturally did not wish for someone else to suddenly rise in prominence.


    Despite his efforts to control himself, Yang Yunji¡¯s expression was dark. Breathing in deeply, he ignored the plump man¡¯s words, but his gaze could not help but land on the main table in the eastern side.


    A young lady, as beautiful as a piece of art, sat beside the young man. Even the tycoon family chief, Tang Liunian, whom he had to treat so respectfully, was courteous towards her.


    ¡°If I had not kicked her out of the family, if she was still part of the Yang family¡­¡± Thinking of this, Yang Yunji sighed heavily. In that instant, he seemed to age by decades.


    Months ago, for his own benefit, for the family¡¯s benefit, he had unintentionally killed his own brother and chased this niece out of the family. Afterwards, the young man had barged into the Shi family and injured the old Shi family chief, Shi Ji, and killed the current chief, Shi Hao. Then, he had realized his folly. Later, out of anger over Shi Hao¡¯s death, the Shi family had chosen to no longer work with the Yang family, causing the family to return to their original state. Then, he was even more regretful. He had sacrificed so much in order to gain the support of the Shi family, but in the end, it was all for nothing!


    ¡­


    ¡°Head Elder, is he the young man that Jiapei had mentioned previously, Zhou Donghuang?¡± the Ren family chief, Ren Tianhang, asked quietly.


    Back then, his daughter had said before that this young man had broken into the Shi family and had not only defeated the Shi old family chief but also killed the chief, Shi Hao. He had not believed it then. After all, a sixteen or seventeen-year-old could not possibly have such power, even if he were a disciple of the Valley of Medicine Masters. But now, seeing the scene that had unfolded before him, and remembering what his daughter had said earlier, he realized that she may have been speaking the truth.


    ¡°It is him,¡± the Ren family head elder, Ren Qiong, finally recovered from his shock and smiled bitterly. ¡°Before he left our household, I had met him before. Now that I think of it, at that time First Lady had reminded me that I would regret chasing them away¡­ Back then, I did not heed her words, but now, it seems that she was serious.¡±


    Now, Ren Qiong was indeed regretting his decision. If he had not chased the two of them out of the Ren household, even if the young man had not joined the Ren family, but he would be of immense to the family.


    ¡°That girl also reminded me of the same thing, but I ignored her.¡± Ren Tianhang shook his head sadly. He was certain that many people would be fighting to get into the young man¡¯s good books after today. As the chief of a middle grand family, he could not compare to the rest of them.


    ¡­


    ¡°Now, we can be sure that the benefactor that the Tang family hosted this banquet for is none other than Zhou Donghuang.¡± Shi Yan, the second elder of the Shi family, said seriously to the first young master, Shi Yu. ¡°Looks like he really is a level-nine adept!¡±


    Although Zhou Donghuang had defeated his father, the former Shi family chief, Shi Ji, they could not confirm whether Zhou Donghuang was a level-nine adept or a top level-eight adept. But now, seeing that Zhou Donghuang was the benefactor who had saved the three members of the Tang family from a level-nine grizzly bear, Shi Yan was certain that Zhou Donghuang was a level-nine adept.


    ¡°Level-nine adept¡­¡± Shi Yu was bitter. Although the family could not avenge his father, knowing that he was a level-nine adept, he felt even more hopeless.


    ¡°Who is this man?¡±


    ¡°Someone from a small town, how could he reach such a level at such a young age?¡± Shi Yu¡¯s eyes were filled with doubt. ¡°When the men I sent to Yunfeng prefecture return, we¡¯ll find out if he was really born there¡­ if he really has no background, he must have some hidden secret to be able to achieve this at such an age! Maybe¡­ he received some special treasure that gave him such strength. Adepts at the connate stage should not have the ability to keep such treasures¡­ but the legends say that magnificent practitioners who have reached the primordial core stage may be able to keep such treasures!¡± Shi Yu¡¯s eyes glinted. ¡°Of course, even if he had such a treasure, I, or even the Shi family, would not be able to take it from him. We can only make use of the treasure to serve our purpose! Since we can¡¯t steal it, why not we make it known to everyone that he has such a treasure? The Chu royal household or even the imperial family would surely be interested in the treasure!¡± Shi Yu¡¯s eyes glinted fervently.


    Shi Yu had never forgotten his father¡¯s death, so he had sent someone a few months ago to check on the young man¡¯s background in Yunfeng prefecture.


    ¡­


    At the eastern main table of the Tang family courtyard.


    ¡°Elders, this Young Master Donghuang is my benefactor who saved me from the grizzly bear about ten days ago in the Lost Forest,¡± introduced Tang Liunian as Zhou Donghuang sat down at the table with the three other elders. His eyes glinted as he added, ¡°Young Master Donghuang killed a full-grown grizzly bear himself with just one strike!¡±


    His words earlier were enough to surprise the three elders. After all, working together with the three others to scare off the grizzly bear, and killing the bear were two entirely different affairs. However, Tang Liunian¡¯s last sentence shocked the three elders entirely as they looked at each other incredulously.


    Killing a full-grown grizzly bear with just one strike?


    Just this young man alone?


    Tang Liunian took the chance to introduce the three elders to the young man:


    Third Elder of the Ouyang family, Ouyang Zhen.


    Second Elder of the Liu family, Liu Xuyang.


    Fourth Elder of the Lv family, Lv Zhongan.


    The Ouyang family, Liu family and Lv family were the three most powerful families beneath the Chu royal household. The three elders were all level-nine adepts similar to Tang Liunian.


    ¡°Chief Tang, are you speaking the truth?¡± Ouyang Zhen asked seriously. The other two men looked at the young man as if they doubted Tang Liunian¡¯s story.


    ¡°Young Master!¡± Suddenly, an anxious voice rang from the entrance of the courtyard, loud enough that it could be heard over all the chatter.


    ¡°Fu?¡± Hearing the familiar voice, Zhou Donghuang, who had been sitting calmly at the table, stood up instantly. Fu would not have rushed here if it was not a serious matter, nor would he be so flustered.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang.¡± As Zhou Donghuang turned to Fu, he realized that there was another man beside him. It was none other than Lu Qinghu, the chief of the preeminent Lu family from Yunfeng prefecture. But now, Lu Qinghu was not only in shambles but injured all over his body.


    ¡°What happened?!¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression changed immediately. Four months ago, he had gotten Fu to send a messenger on a ferghana horse to inform Lu Qinghu to personally escort his mother, Lin Lan and his sister Yun Lu to the Chu royal city. But now, seeing Lu Qinghu severely injured, he could not help but feel a sense of worry.


    Thud!


    Lu Qinghu fell to his knees as he cried remorsefully, ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I was useless, I could not take good care of Madam Lin Lan and Lady Yun Lu¡­ they¡¯ve been abducted!¡±

 Chapter 109 - Fan Family of Tianxiu City

    Chapter 109: Fan Family of Tianxiu City


    Four months ago, after producing the concentration elixir, which could allow him to rapidly master ¡°Lord of the Four Supremes,¡± Zhou Donghuang had gotten Fu to find a relay station with ferghana horse messengers, to pass the letter to Lu Qinghu in Yunfeng prefecture.


    Such a relay station allowed for a change in messenger and horse between every station, without having to cater for rest stops along the way. That would allow the letter to reach Yunfeng prefecture capital from Chu royal city within a month.


    Lu Qinghu appearing here now meant that he had rushed over on a ferghana horse.


    ¡°Where were my mother and Xiao Lu taken? By whom?¡± Zhou Donghuang glared at Lu Qinghu and questioned. Although he was trying hard to suppress his anger, those around him could still sense the fury in his voice.


    Lu Qinghu replied, ¡°Madam and Lady Yun Lu were abducted just after we entered the central ridge¡­ both me and Brother Freezing Wing almost died at their hands, if Lady Yun Lu had not threatened to kill herself at that crucial moment, they would have killed us.¡±


    ¡°Do you know who they are?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes flashed menacingly, as an icy cold settled over him. Taken his mother? Abducted his sister? Whoever they were would be sorry!


    ¡°They said they were from the Fan family of Tianxiu City!¡± Lu Qinghu said, ¡°Now, Brother Freezing Wind brought Zhou Han and Zhou Feng to Tianxiu City, while I came over to tell you the news.¡±


    ¡°The Fan family of Tianxiu City?¡± Tang Liunian, who had come over with Zhou Donghuang, had wanted to help the young man after hearing the story. However, upon hearing who had abducted Zhou Donghuang¡¯s family, he shut his mouth.


    Tianxiu City was not a prefecture capital. As compared to a prefecture capital that controlled a prefecture, Tianxiu City was just a city within the central ridge of the Western Chu Ridge. The Chu royal city was in the centre of the Western Chu Ridge, while the other lands that did not belong to any prefecture were known as the central ridge. Within the central ridge, besides the Chu royal city, there were many other cities directly ruled by the Chu royal household. Tianxiu City had four tycoon families, one of which being the Fan family.


    The Fan family was similar in power to the Tang family, as the Fan family also had just one level-nine adept. However, Tang Liunian was afraid of them not because it was a tycoon family, but because the Fan family enjoyed a very close relationship with the Chu royal household. The concubine of the prince of the Chu royal household had come from the Fan family, and she was the sister of the current Fan family chief! With such a relationship, not only the Tang family, but even the three greatest tycoon families in the Chu royal city did not dare to offend the Fan family.


    ¡°The Fan family?¡± The elders from the three premier tycoon families, despite all being fearsome level-nine adepts, all shook their heads upon hearing that Zhou Donghuang¡¯s family had been taken by the Fan family, their eyes showing a hint of sympathy.


    At this point, the other superior tycoon families present all shook their heads sadly. As for those from the other families, they felt that Zhou Donghuang had no chance against the Fan family. After all, the Fan family had the backing of the ruler of the Western Chu Ridge, the Chu royal household!


    However, as everybody watched on, Zhou Donghuang looked at Lu Qinghu again and asked, ¡°Do you know the way?¡±


    ¡°I do,¡± answered Lu Qinghu with a nod. He had separated from Freezing Wind somewhere near Tianxiu City, so he knew where the city was and how to get there.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, the Fan family appears to be a tycoon family,¡± reminded Lu Qinghu quietly. His eyes were filled with fear. Even the most inferior tycoon family had at least a level-eight adept. Although the young man in front of him seemed powerful, but he did not think that he had attained level-eight of the Qi-Gathering in less than a year¡¯s time.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang.¡± Tang Liunian could not help but add, ¡°The Fan family of Tianxiu City is a tycoon family no weaker than our Tang family. The family has one level-nine adept and three level-eight adepts.¡± Seeing the young man disregard his words, Tang Liunian continued, ¡°The scariest part is that they are not just a tycoon family, but have close ties with the Chu royal household. The royal concubine is the sister of the current Fan family chief¡­ hence the Fan family is not just a superior tycoon family, but they have an extraordinary status within the Western Chu Ridge region.¡± As he spoke, his eyes shone with fear.


    ¡°Even our Lui family does not dare to offend the Fan family,¡± said the Lui family fourth elder, Lui An as he shook his head gently.


    ¡°Young man, although I don¡¯t know why your family was taken by them, but since it was the Fan family who did it, just give up,¡± added the Liu family second elder, Liu Xuyang, with a sigh.


    ¡°In the Western Chu Ridge, even adepts who have achieved Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering do not dare to offend the Fan family,¡± Ouyang Zhen, Third Elder of the Ouyang family, chimed in.


    Fear seemed to show on the faces of the three elders, level-nine adepts of the three premier tycoon families in the Chu royal city.


    Yet, Zhou Donghuang seemed not to hear any of what the three of them had just said as he turned his head to the sky.


    ¡°Finally here¡­ if they took any longer, I would have had them for stew!¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes flashed as he muttered to himself.


    Hearing this, and seeing him turn to the skies, everybody looked to the skies as they followed his gaze.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    At that moment, high above them, two shadows streaked across the sky like lightning from the distance, only slowing down when they appeared above the Tang family courtyard. The two dark figures then rushed downwards, causing those beneath to scatter out of the way.


    Boom!


    Bang!


    ¡­


    The two dark figures landed on the ground like two huge boulders, causing the large round table to shatter all over, creating a huge mess. The whole courtyard shook as if a massive earthquake had happened.


    Looking closely, one could see that cracks had started to form beneath the feet of the two dark figures, wide enough to fit a toddler¡¯s first.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Everybody was stunned. Even Tang Liunian or the three elders were similarly in a state of shock.


    It was only when Zhou Donghuang landed a hand on Lu Qinghu¡¯s shoulder and brought him with a leap onto the back of one of the figures that everyone recovered from their shock.


    ¡°Fu, bring Zixi back,¡± ordered Zhou Donghuang from above. He then turned to the dark figure beneath him, his mouth moving, yet without making a sound. He was conversing in demon-speak.


    ¡°Which direction?¡± he asked Lu Qinghu.


    ¡°That way.¡± Lu Qinghu glanced at the golden-crowned eagle beneath his feet and gulped as he raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Tianxiu City.


    Flap! Flap!


    ¡­


    Suddenly, a huge gust of wind blew as the two black eagles flapped their wings in unison and rose to the skies, flying in the direction that Lu Qinghu had pointed.


    It was only after the two figures disappeared that the group of them in the Tang family courtyard regained their senses.


    ¡°Just now that was¡­ a golden-crowned eagle?!¡± Tang Yong, third elder of the Tang family, exclaimed in shock.


    ¡°The two golden-crowned eagles from the Lost Forest! Half a year ago, they had robbed me of my concentration elixir when I was hunting in the woods!¡± screamed a tycoon family chief as his eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost.


    ¡°Oh my gosh! Why did the two eagles appear in the city? And that stronger eagle among the two had somehow allowed the young man to ride on it?¡±


    ¡°Even the prince of the Chu royal household can¡¯t ride that eagle.¡±


    ¡°Who is that young man?!¡±


    ¡­


    The group of people were all shocked and in a state of disbelief.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang¡­¡± Tang Liunian gasped. He had thought that he had already thought too highly of the young man, but now, it appeared that he had underestimated him.


    The elders from the three premier tycoon families were similarly shocked. Now, they did not dare to doubt the words of Tang Liunian anymore. That young man had even managed to subdue the rulers of the Lost Forest. Of course, he could easily kill a level-nine grizzly bear.


    ¡°Brother Zhou¡­¡± uttered the young lady as the blood drained from her face. She had never imagined that the two silly birds that her Brother Zhou had talked about were the two golden-crowned eagles from the Lost Forest!

 Chapter 110 - : Household of the Fan family

    Chapter 110: Household of the Fan family


    The two golden-crowned eagles of the Lost Forest were renowned demons which had achieved Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, and even the Chu royal household that controlled the Western Chu Ridge could do nothing about them. The imperial court of Yunyang country had even sent some adepts who had achieved Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering to deal with the two eagles, but to no avail. In fact, among those in the party, with the lowest skill being a level-nine adept, many of them did not make it back. Since then, the fearsomeness of the two eagles was known all around the Chu royal city.


    Now, seeing the young man in white stand on one golden-crowned eagle while being escorted by the other eagle, the group of people who had gathered in the Tang family courtyard was shocked. This time, they were even more amazed than when the Tang family chief had treated the young man so respectfully.


    ¡°Our Yang family¡­ has lost a great fortune!¡± cried Yang Yunji, chief of the grand Yang family. Although he had already been extremely regretful about kicking Yang Zixi out of the family, he had still tried to hide his emotions. But now, his face was filled with regret. The more outstanding that young man, the greater his regret.


    ¡°Chief, I am so sorry,¡± said Ren Qiong, the head elder of the grand Ren family, as he faced Ren Tianhang sadly, his face twitching slightly.


    Ren Tianhang, the chief of the grand Ren family, shook his head as he smiled bitterly.


    ¡°He¡­ he somehow managed to overcome the golden-crowned eagles?¡± Head Elder of the tycoon Shi family, Shi Yu, still looked incredulous. It was unbelievable that the young man could somehow defeat the two golden-crowned eagles, the kings of the Lost Forest. ¡°If he really is from the lowly Yunfeng prefecture¡­ then what secret must he be hiding? How valuable must that treasure he received be?¡± As he thought of that, Shi Yu¡¯s eyes shimmered.


    After Zhou Donghuang had left, although the banquet continued, everyone had lost all interest.


    Yang Zixi and Fu were treated eagerly by Tang Liunian and only left after their meal.


    The elders from the three premier tycoon families left soon after Zhou Donghuang, rushing back to their respective homes to report what they had just seen. The appearance of a young man who had the power to overcome the two golden-crowned eagles of the Lost Forest meant that a great force had come to the Western Chu Ridge¡­ whichever family received that powerful force would surely be able to rise in power!


    ¡­


    Tianxiu City was as large as the prefecture capital of a typical intermediate-level prefecture and much bigger than the capital of an inferior prefecture. As the city was located at the edge of the central ridge, even though Lu Qinghu was riding a ferghana force without any breaks, he took a full ten days to rush from Tianxiu City to the Chu royal city.


    But with the speed of the golden-crowned eagles, and unobstructed flight in the air, Tianxiu City, was in view by the next afternoon.


    ¡°We¡¯ve reached?¡± Seeing the city, Lu Qinghu was stunned. He never imagined that he would reach the city within less than a day. He had taken a full ten days previously on horseback.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, Freezing Wing, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng have stayed in Tianxiu City to watch the Fan family household and gather information about Madam and Lady Yunlu¡­ shall we meet up with them first?¡± Seeing the eagles about to reach the skies above the city, Lu Qinghu asked Zhou Donghuang respectfully.


    ¡°No need,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang, shaking his head. ¡°Just find someone and ask where the Fan family household is.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang turned to the other golden-crowned eagle and said in demon tongue, ¡°Little Gold, you find someone and bring him here¡­ be careful, I want him alive.¡±


    ¡°Young Master, you want me to catch someone, but not kill him¡­ that¡¯s too difficult,¡± Little Gold responded. His talons were so sharp that it would be almost impossible not to grab a person without killing him.


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at him and said slowly, ¡°I give you ten breaths, if after that time, I don¡¯t see the person, I¡¯ll cut off a month¡¯s supply of the qi-gathering elixir.¡±


    Whoosh!!


    With that, Little Gold streaked away like a black bolt of lightning, straight towards the city.


    After seven or eight breaths, Little Gold returned with a teenager within his claws. The teenager was pale and shaking all over. He had been strolling along the street when suddenly, a massive black eagle rushed down from above and took him to the skies.


    ¡°Young Master, when I flew down, he was the best dressed in the whole street¡­ he probably knows more, so I grabbed him,¡± said Little Gold. Thankfully the teenager did not understand its words. Otherwise, he would definitely never take to the streets in fancy clothes again.


    ¡°Do you know where the Fan family is?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked the teenager calmly.


    ¡°Ah?¡± The teenager had yet to recover from his shock.


    ¡°If you don¡¯t answer, I¡¯ll get it to drop you,¡± said Zhou Donghuang.


    The teenager¡¯s face turned stone cold as he hurriedly pointed into the distance. ¡°The Fan family household is on the east side of the city, along the eastern border¡­ the biggest house there is the Fan family household.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang as he nodded. He then called to Big Gold and sped towards the East. Before leaving, he instructed Little Gold to release the teenager, then meet them at the Fan family household.


    Soon, the teenager was returned to the streets.


    ¡­


    Seeing Little Gold rise to the skies and fly towards the Fan family household, the teenager was still stunned.


    ¡°The black eagle that captured the Hua second young master had a golden crown¡­ it really looked like the mythical golden-crowned eagle of the Lost Forest,¡± muttered a bystander not far away.


    ¡°Now that you mentioned it, it really does look like what the legends said¡­ if that really is a golden-crowned eagle, the Hua second young master is really lucky to be alive!¡±


    ¡°The Hua second young master is really lucky indeed.¡±


    ¡°Although the Hua family is a tycoon family, the two golden-crowned eagles of the Lost Forest are demons with Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering. Even if he had been killed, the Hua family would not have the power to avenge his death.¡±


    ¡­


    The teenager was none other than the second young master of the tycoon Hua family. As he was not arrogant and treated both the elderly and young kindly, he was well-loved by the residents of Tianxiu City.


    ¡°Golden-crowned eagle?¡± Hearing the commotion, the teenager did a double-take as his eyes widened. ¡°Those two eagles really looked just like the mythical golden-crowned eagles of the Lost Forest.¡±


    But soon, his face changed. ¡°That young man and the middle-aged man standing on the eagle¡­ who were they? The golden-crowned eagle became their stead? And that young man asked for directions to the Fan family household, he doesn¡¯t seem like he¡¯s paying them a friendly visit! Are they seeking trouble?¡±


    ¡­


    The Fan family household was much larger than the Tang family household of the Chu royal city. Of course, this was also because this was Tianxiu City, which had more resources and land. As a tycoon family, the Fan family could easily occupy a huge plot of land.


    Within the household, there was a small dungeon used to hold disciples who had made mistakes.


    Now, within a cell in the dungeon, a small eight or nine-year-old girl was tied to the wall. Her body was bruised and scarred, and her breathing was weak.


    The cell door opened with a clang. A mean-looking old lady walked in and squinted at the young girl, asking, ¡°She hasn¡¯t talked yet?¡±


    ¡°Aunty Xin, this girl has kept her mouth shut. Even if we torture her to death, she may not say anything,¡± replied the middle-aged lady in the cell. In her hands, she held a thick whip that was dripping blood.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± snorted the old lady. ¡°In that case, change our methods¡­ bring the woman that was with her here and torture the woman in front of her. Even if she does not fear death, I want to see if she cares about that woman!¡± As she spoke, an icy cold glint flashed across her eyes.


    ¡°Old lady Xin, if you dare to touch my mother, I, Yun Lu, will not let you off even if I die!!¡± screamed the young girl. Her originally muted eyes now shone with a murderous glint.


    ¡°Oh? Looks like this girl cares about that woman,¡± said the old lady with a laugh.


    The middle-aged lady laughed and said, ¡°Aunty Xin, I will bring the woman here right away.¡±


    ¡°No!!¡± cried the young girl. Her eyes shone with fury as she screamed, ¡°If you let my mother go, I¡¯ll tell you where it is!¡±

 Chapter 111 - The Patriarch of the Fan Family

    Chapter 111: The Patriarch of the Fan Family


    In the air above the Fan family mansion.


    A youth wearing a snow-white robe stood on a golden-crowned eagle with his hands clasped behind his back, looking down expressionlessly on the entire Fan family mansion.


    ¡°Little Gold, destroy the Fan family mansion for me.¡±


    The youth gazed dispassionately at the buildings below him as he spoke evenly to the other golden-crowned eagle.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master!¡±


    Little Gold had long been itching for some action, and when he heard the youth¡¯s command, his eyes lit up, and he immediately dived towards the building that occupied the largest area.


    Crash!!


    ¡­


    The black golden-crowned eagle was like a black bolt of lightning, and as it passed, building after building collapsed with a crash. Not a single building could withstand its attack.


    A Petty Consummation demon of the Qi-Gathering, just like a Petty Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering, could exert a force of nine bulls and one tiger by using its qi.


    A force of nine bulls and one tiger already exceeded nine thousand jin of force.


    In addition to Little Gold¡¯s original strength, being a demon was far greater than a human¡¯s maximum muscular strength. The sum of his total strength from his muscular strength and the strength from his qi was incomparable to a human Petty Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering.


    Even Zhou Donghuang, who was already at the level of Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, could not compare in terms of pure strength to Little Gold.


    The reason he could overcome both Little Gold and Big Gold with his all-around abilities was entirely because he had used human martial arts techniques.


    Human martial arts techniques were sufficient enough to make up for the difference in physical strength between humans and demons.


    Of course, some demons were simply too strong, and even though a human at the same level demonstrated a reasonable level of martial arts, he might not be a match for the demon.


    For example, the grizzly bear that Zhou Donghuang killed in the Lost Forest was an unsurpassed level-nine demon of the Qi-Gathering, but the patriarch of the tycoon Tang family, Tang Liunian, who was at the same level, was no match for it.


    The grizzly bear¡¯s physical form was even stronger and more robust than the golden-crowned eagle!


    Following Little Gold¡¯s attack, the entire Fan family mansion very soon descended into chaos as it had been almost half destroyed by Little Gold in the blink of an eye.


    Little Gold¡¯s speed was too great, and in addition to his strength, no demolition team on Earth would have been able to match him.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening?¡±


    ¡°What is that?¡±


    ¡°My god! That¡¯s an eagle!¡±


    ¡­


    A crowd of Fan family members rushed out from the collapsed buildings with fear in their eyes. When they looked at the giant eagle that had caused the destruction in the Fan family mansion, their expressions changed completely one by one.


    ¡°Pui.¡±


    Lu Qinghu, who could stand steadily beside the youth only because the youth held on firmly to his shoulder, spat savagely at the scene before him.


    ¡°Young Master, this¡­ this eagle, what level of demon is it? Why do I feel that when it attacks, there seems to be a sonic boom? That is the mark of a Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering!¡±


    Witnessing firsthand the speed of the two giant black eagles, Lu Qinghu could easily tell that they had considerable ability, but he could not be sure of their exact level. Now, seeing one of the black eagles in action, he was completely shocked.


    Sonic booms were the mark of a Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering. Besides that, moving with a thousand jin of force or more could produce a sonic boom. And now, this black eagle had demolished the buildings of the Fan family mansion and occasionally produced sonic booms. This had prompted him to ask Zhou Donghuang this question.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Petty Consummation demon of the Qi-Gathering, but because of a demon¡¯s physical strength together with the strength from its qi, it has enough strength to barely muster a thousand jin of force,¡± Zhou Donghuang said unhurriedly.


    Although he was long since mentally prepared, Lu Qinghu could still not help sucking in a cold breath when he heard Zhou Donghuang say that the two black eagles were Petty Consummation demons of the Qi-Gathering.


    ¡°You mean to say, he¡­ he is also a Petty Consummation demon of the Qi-Gathering?¡±


    Lu Qinghu looked down at the black eagle he was standing on as he mumbled his question.


    ¡°He is the elder brother of the silly bird that just attacked, so what do you think?¡± Zhou Donghuang countered.


    Lu Qinghu was stunned.


    Two Petty Consummation demons of the Qi-Gathering, moreover flying demons, had been subdued by his Young Master Donghuang?


    How long had it been?


    Had his Young Master Donghuang already grown to such extent?


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, you¡­ have you now¡­ already attained Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering?¡± Lu Qinghu asked in a trembling voice as he swallowed hard.


    ¡°Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head. ¡°Almost¡­ in half a year, I should more or less be able to attain it.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was being overly modest about this, but he nevertheless shocked Lu Qinghu so severely that his heart trembled. He looked again at the youth as though he was looking at a stranger, like the first time he had seen him.


    Crash!


    ¡­


    Very soon, all the buildings with some height in the Fan family mansion had been demolished by Little Gold, and swirls of dust rose into the air accompanied by the loud crashes booming out.


    ¡°Young Master, could you give me this kind of assignment in the future? Little Gold is having all the fun while I¡¯m getting bored watching from here.¡±


    Big Gold was watching as Little Gold shot out from the clouds of dust and flew over towards him while speaking to the youth on his back.


    ¡°You will have your chance in the future,¡± Zhou Donghuang said calmly.


    ¡°Young Master, I did well, didn¡¯t I?¡± Little Gold asked Zhou Donghuang happily as he tried to claim all the credit.


    ¡°A little sloppy,¡± Zhou Donghuang answered off-handedly.


    ¡°This is considered sloppy?¡±


    Little Gold stared back at him in indignation.


    ¡°What? Any objections?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang exchanged looks calmly with Little Gold, frightening him into looking away as he shook his head. ¡°No¡­ no¡­ no objections! None at all!!¡±


    At this crucial moment, Little Gold remembered the qi-gathering elixir. If he irritated this youth and caused him to withhold the qi-gathering elixir, he would lose out big time.


    Why did he leave the Lost Forest and follow this youth? Was it not for the qi-gathering elixir? If not, why had he left when he had been known as the tyrant of the Lost Forest, free to do whatever he desired?


    After about fifteen minutes, the cloud of dust engulfing the Fan family mansion slowly dispersed.


    At this moment, Zhou Donghuang allowed Big Gold to dive down to a lower altitude, revealing themselves to many of the Fan family members.


    Little Gold followed suit and dived down.


    In an instant, several sharp-eyed Fan family juniors spotted Big Gold and Little Gold. ¡°Look over there! That was the work of those two black eagles just now!¡±


    ¡°Correct! It¡¯s them!¡±


    ¡°Where did they come from? Why did they attack our Fan family mansion?¡±


    ¡­


    Several Fan family juniors obviously thought that the attackers were the two black eagles they saw, and immediately, a vengeful tinge look crept into their frightened looks.


    ¡°Young Master, what are they saying?¡± Big Gold asked Zhou Donghuang as he spotted several of the Fan family juniors staring at him.


    ¡°They are saying that it was you and Little Gold together who destroyed the Fan family mansion.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang laughed casually.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s translation, Big Gold got angry. ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything, but they said I attacked them? Young Master, if you want to wipe them out, let me do it¡­ I, Big Gold, have never been so depressed before in all my life!¡±


    ¡°Only Little Gold enjoyed himself while I didn¡¯t, and they said I had fun? I can¡¯t stand it! Can¡¯t stand it!!¡±


    Earlier, seeing that Little Gold had been allowed to destroy the Fan family mansion, Big Gold was extremely envious and dearly wished that he could have been part of that demolition team, but with his young master on his back, he dared not act rashly.


    But now, with the Fan family members were accusing him of attacking when he had not, how could he tolerate it?


    ¡°Golden-crowned eagles! I think they¡¯re golden-crowned eagles!¡±


    Suddenly, from among the crowd of Fan family members, there came a shocked shout that cut through the noise from the crowd.


    Soon, more and more people noticed after carefully observing the two giant black eagles circling at low altitude that the two giant eagles looked exactly the same as the two golden-crowned eagles of the Lost Forest were said to appear.


    ¡°Correct! These are golden-crowned eagles!¡±


    ¡°My God! Why did the golden-crowned eagles come to our Fan family?¡±


    ¡°No wonder I vaguely heard a sonic boom when these two black eagles were destroying our Fan family mansion¡­ it seems that these two black eagles are the two golden-crowned eagles of the Lost Forest, the tyrants of the Lost Forest, the Petty Consummation demons of the Qi-Gathering!¡±


    ¡­


    After confirming that the two black eagles they were watching as they circled at low altitude were the two golden-crowned eagles from the Lost Forest, which were also Petty Consummation demons of the Qi-Gathering, the Fan family members all had panic written on their faces.


    ¡°Why would the golden-crowned eagles come and cause such destruction at our Fan family mansion?¡±


    ¡°Do you all see that? There are two people standing on the back of the golden-crowned eagle with the deeper-colored gold crown! A youth and a middle-aged man.¡±


    ¡°There really is! I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.¡±


    ¡°My God! Who can they be? Using the golden-crowned eagle as a mount¡­ even the king who controls the entire Western Ridge of the Chu King does not have the ability to subdue those two golden-crowned eagles.¡±


    ¡­


    When the crowd of Fan family members saw Zhou Donghuang and Lu Qinghu, they were so frightened that their expressions changed completely, and at the same time, they had a hunch: the reason these two golden-crowned eagles had wrought such destruction on the Fan family mansion was inextricably linked to these two people.


    ¡°Patriarch!¡±


    ¡°Patriarch!¡±


    ¡­


    As more and more Fan family members gathered, soon, a middle-aged man in a silver robe with gold borders strode over quickly as he was respectful greetings were called out.


    This middle-aged man was ordinary-looking and of average build, but his eyes were bright and lively, and they seemed to bring him to life.


    Behind this middle-aged man were two old people. One of the old people was an old woman.


    ¡°The patriarch of the tycoon Fan family, Fan Chen, acknowledges the two sirs.¡±


    The middle-aged man in the lead arrived at the spot below where the golden-crowned eagles were circling and bowed to the two people on the eagle¡¯s back.


    Although his eyes were filled with a towering rage, they did not dare show the slightest hint of anger when faced with the two golden-crowned eagles.


    He had once entered the Lost Forest with men from the Chu royal family and had been robbed of his qi-gathering elixirs by the two golden-crowned eagles.


    Therefore, he could tell with a single glance that these two golden-crowned eagles were the same two golden-crowned eagles from the Lost Forest, the absolute tyrants of the Lost Forest!

 Chapter 112 - Spare No One!

    Chapter 112: Spare No One!


    ¡°But how¡­ how has our Fan family offended you gentlemen?


    Although the two people were unfamiliar to him, as the patriarch of the tycoon Fan family, Fan Cheng was not sloppy. He spoke respectfully in a low voice as he voiced his question.


    What kind of joke was this!


    The two people before him were using the golden-crowned eagle from the Lost Forest as a mount, so how could they possibly be ordinary people?


    Even his brother-in-law, the king of the Chu royal family or even the emperor of the country of Yunyang, did not have the ability to make these two golden-crowned eagles their mounts.


    Of course, these two people could have used some unconventional methods to subdue these two golden-crowned eagles, but even so, they were not people he could afford to provoke.


    At their command, the golden-crowned eagles had caused such destruction to their Fan family mansion, and it could be seen that the golden-crowned eagles obeyed their orders completely.


    From start to finish, Fan Cheng did not think that the golden-crowned eagles were acting of their own will, because he had never heard of the golden-crowned eagles leaving the Lost Forest, what more leaving the Lost Forest and attacking any family clan.


    Even if the two golden-crowned eagles decided to attack a family clan, they could not possibly have chosen the Fan family, could they?


    From the Lost Forest to Tianxiu City where the Fan family was, not only did they have to pass the Chu royal city, but also two other cities that had many family clans; there were over a hundred family clans in the Chu royal city.


    ¡°About ten days ago, your Fan family members abducted a woman and a girl on the road south of Tianxiu City.¡±


    Lu Qinghu spoke solemnly and reached out to point at the old woman behind Fan Cheng. ¡°That day, it was this old woman who led the group that carried out the abduction!¡±


    The old woman was the second elder of the Fan family, Fan Qizhu.


    Earlier, she had found the middle-aged man on the golden-crowned eagle¡¯s back rather familiar, but could not quite recall where from in that moment. Now, hearing his words, her expression changed in an instant, panic and disbelief on her face. ¡°It¡¯s you!¡±


    She could not have imagined in her wildest dreams that someone she had seen as ants and whom she could kill at will ten days ago would today be standing on the back of a golden-crowned eagle, using it as a mount and looking down at her.


    Who could tell her how this was possible?!


    ¡°Her?¡±


    A cold gleam flashed across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes, and his mouth twitched.


    The next moment, Little Gold, who had been circling beside, suddenly shook his wings and grabbed Fan Qizhu like a black bolt of lightning. By the time she reacted, she was already grasped tightly and more than a hundred meters in the air.


    The way Little Gold had grabbed Fan Qizhu was completely different from how he had grabbed that young man in the mandarin robe in Tianxiu City earlier.


    He had not hurt the young man.


    But now, his sharp talons pierced right through Fan Qizhu¡¯s shoulder, and as she was carried up into the sky, blood sprayed through the air, bright and eye-catching.


    ¡°No¡ª!¡±


    Before the gaze of the crowd, Little Gold released his talons a hundred meters up in the air, and Fan Qizhu let out a shrill, piteous cry as she plummeted to the ground.


    Crash!!


    Before the crowd of Fan family members, Fan Qizhu had only been wounded in both shoulders before she was carried into the sky, but when she landed, she was smashed into a meat paste, completely lifeless.


    Not even a Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering, what more a level-eight adept like Fan Qizhu, could possibly hope to survive a fall from a height of over a hundred meters.


    ¡°Second¡­ Second Elder¡­¡±


    ¡°This¡­ this¡­¡±


    The whole crowd of Fan family members, including Patriarch Fan Cheng of the Fan family, felt their scalp tingle and a chill run up their spine as their expressions changed completely.


    A whole and healthy person had been thrown to her death in an instant right before their eyes!


    As Little Gold threw Fan Qizhu to her death, he purposely flew lower, circling around the crowd of Fan family members, frightening them so much that the fear showed on their faces.


    ¡°Just who has Second Elder offended?¡±


    Fear was on the faces of many Fan family juniors, and some of the more timid ones had wet themselves with fear.


    Even the strength of the entire Fan family would definitely not be sufficient to resist such powerful demons.


    ¡°The woman and girl abducted ten days ago¡­ it seems that Patriarch¡­ sent Second Elder to abduct them?¡±


    A direct relative of the Fan family spoke softly as he glanced subconsciously at Patriarch Fan Cheng of the Fan family.


    When Fan Cheng heard it, his expression changed completely, and he stared in fury at him, as though he wanted to skin him alive that very moment.


    Saying something like that at this time was akin to getting him into more trouble.


    Fortunately, however, it was not very loud, and the two people on the back of the golden-crowned eagle probably did not hear it.


    But what the youth in white standing on the eagle¡¯s back said next made Fan Cheng despair. ¡°Was it you who sent people to abduct my mother and little sister?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked down indifferently at Fan Cheng, his tone casual, as though he felt no emotion whatsoever.


    ¡°Sir, that Yun Lu is only a member of an insignificant grand family, how could she be¡­ your sister?¡±


    Fan Cheng sucked in a deep breath as he looked anxiously at the youth on the eagle¡¯s back as he asked, ¡°You¡­ could you be mistaken?¡±


    ¡°Grand family?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang came to a realization. That was why Freezing Wind had said that Xiao Lu had considerable martial talent, for she had been born into a grand family.


    ¡°Where are they?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked flatly.


    Almost as soon as Zhou Donghuang had finished speaking, Fan Cheng hurriedly turned to glance at the old man behind him. ¡°First Elder, hurry! Quickly go and invite Madam and Young Mistress Yun Lu over.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Patriarch.¡±


    The old man acknowledged and left.


    ¡°Sir.¡±


    Fan Cheng looked anxiously at Zhou Donghuang. ¡°I¡­ I did not know the lady traveling with Young Mistress Yun Lu was your mother, but I guarantee, the Fan family¡¯s target was only Yun Lu and not your mother.¡±


    However, Zhou Donghuang paid no attention to him and stood silently on the golden-crowned eagle¡¯s back and waited.


    After about fifteen minutes, the old man returned with a cunning-looking old woman and a middle-aged lady, both looking extremely foul.


    They could never have imagined that just when they had managed to force the location of the object from the girl¡¯s mouth according to the instructions of the patriarch of the Fan family, the little girl¡¯s savior would arrive. Moreover, he was a savior so powerful that the Fan family could not hope to resist.


    ¡°It really is the golden-crowned eagles!¡±


    At that moment, they knew that the first elder had not deceived them.


    Now, the three of them were clustered around a beautiful lady as they walked, and the beautiful lady was holding a little girl who was covered in wounds, clinging to life by a thread.


    ¡°Xiao Lu, your brother is here, endure, you must endure.¡±


    Lin Lan¡¯s expression was full of anxiety, and her tears flowed freely, her gaze never leaving the little girl she was holding.


    ¡°Mother!¡±


    In the split second when he saw Lin Lan, Zhou Donghuang ordered Big Gold to fly towards Lin Lan and land just in front of her. He leaped off the eagle¡¯s back with Lu Qinghu.


    Zhou Donghuang walked before Lin Lan, and looking at the little girl in her bosom all covered in wounds and soaked in blood, his eyes suddenly turned cold, and a murderous rage rose in him.


    ¡°Donghuang, quick take a look at Xiao Lu¡­ you can do something right? Am I right?¡±


    Lin Lan was stricken with panic as she passed the little girl to Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang took the little girl and produced a small medicine bottle and tipped the elixir in it into the little girl¡¯s mouth. ¡°Xiao Lu, this is the wound-healing elixir that your brother has formulated, take it, and you¡¯ll recover in no time.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s tone was as gentle as water.


    ¡°Cough¡­ cough¡­¡±


    The little girl swallowed the elixir with some difficulty and opened her eyes with an effort. When she saw Zhou Donghuang, her pretty face broke into a brilliant smile. ¡°Brother¡­ you¡¯re here?¡±


    ¡°I¡­ I protected mother, Xiao Lu did not let mother get hurt¡­ cough¡­ cough¡­ Brother, I am sleepy, so very sleepy¡­¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang, the little girl seemed to let out a long breath and shut her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.


    Zhou Donghuang solemnly produced a bottle of blood-staunching elixir, and drop by drop, he dropped it very carefully on the wounds on the little girl¡¯s body.


    He had been fine initially, but when he saw that all ten of the little girl¡¯s fingernails had been pulled out, he could no longer control his emotions as he raised his head suddenly and looked up, a red mist descending over his eyes.


    ¡°Big Gold, Little Gold¡­ everyone in this Fan family mansion, spare no one!¡±


    ¡°Leave the leader for last.¡±


    After Zhou Donghuang instructed Big Gold and Little Gold, he gathered up the little girl and greeted Lin Lan, walking with her towards the main entrance of the Fan family mansion.


    Lu Qinghu followed them closely.


    When the patriarch of the Fan family Fan Cheng stepped forward and saw the youth leading them towards the main entrance of the Fan family Mansion, he could not help heaving a sigh of relief, thinking that the Fan family had escaped a calamity.


    Perhaps he knows about the Fan family¡¯s connections with the Chu royal family and dares not cross the line.


    Fan Cheng said to himself.


    However, just as the youth had taken several steps, he noticed that the two golden-crowned eagles had moved.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The two golden-crowned eagles shot out like lightning, and in the blink of an eye, they killed the head elder of the Fan family as well as the old lady and lady beside him.


    Immediately, the two golden-crowned eagles turned and swooped towards him, and just as he thought he was about to die, he saw the two golden-crowned eagles sweep a cold glance over him and ignore him as they proceeded to slaughter the other Fan family members.


    And those Fan family members, faced with two golden-crowned eagles that were Petty Consummation demons of the Qi-Gathering, naturally had no way to defend themselves. They were killed one by one as they screamed shrilly.


    ¡°Make them stop now!¡±


    Fan Cheng looked at the youth who was walking away as he shouted, ¡°My sister is the consort of the Chu royal family! The king of the Chu royal family is my brother-in-law!¡±


    However, the youth did not even glance back and led his family out of the Fan family mansion to find an inn to stay in.


    Yun Lu was too severely injured and was in no shape to travel. Even with the wound-healing elixir and blood-staunching elixir that Zhou Donghuang had formulated, she would need several days to recover.


    On January 12, 1229 of the Ziyun Era, the Fan family of Tianxiu City was wiped out, root and branch.


    Apparently, the ones responsible for wiping out the Fan family were none other than the two golden-crowned eagles from the Lost Forest!


    When the news spread, it created an uproar in Tianxiu City, and as it spread further from Tianxiu City, it shook everyone who heard it!

 Chapter 113 - The Sword Sphere

    Chapter 113: The Sword Sphere


    With the wound-healing elixir that Zhou Donghuang administered to Yun Lu, it took only three days before Yun Lu¡¯s internal injuries were seventy to eighty percent healed, and it would be several more days at most before they were completely healed.


    As for Yun Lu¡¯s external wounds, they had already scabbed over with the aid of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s blood-staunching elixir.


    Only the ten fingernails that had been pulled out would need time to recover slowly.


    ¡°Big Brother, I¡¯ve been awake for two days¡­ aren¡¯t you curious why the Fan family wanted to capture me?¡±


    Half-lying on the bed in a room in the inn, Yun Lu glanced at the youth sitting at the head of the bed with a witty smile.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing to be curious about.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled casually. ¡°I only know that you are my little sister¡­ that is enough.¡±


    ¡°Then would Big Brother like to hear of my past?¡± Yun Lu asked.


    ¡°If Xiao Lu would like to share, of course Big Brother is willing to listen.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled as he patted the girl¡¯s head. His warm and gentle demeanor made him seem like a totally different person from his usual aloof self.


    ¡°Big Brother, I was originally the daughter of the patriarch of the grand Yun family¡­ when I was five, some people from the Fan family came to my home and killed my parents, my grandfather, and killed everyone in the Yun family.¡±


    Yun Lu could still control her emotions at the beginning, but when she reached this point, her little fists were clenched together and her expression was taut, her eyes showing a look of vengeance.


    Usually, even major tycoon families did not readily exterminate another family, not even if the other family was only a grand family.


    But the Fan family was different.


    The elder sister of the patriarch of the Fan family was the consort of the Chu royal family and had the support of the Chu royal family, and they did not need to abide by the decrees passed down by the imperial court of Yunyang country.


    This was the advantage of one¡¯s background.


    ¡°My mother took advantage of the chaos and sent me away from the Yun family mansion, and entrusted the item that the Fan family was after to me. I wanted my mother to come with me, but she refused and insisted on meeting death together with my father. After a long time, after I had walked very far and escaped the pursuit of the Fan family, I found myself in Yunfeng prefecture¡­ after four years, I met Uncle Freezing Wind, and he originally did not agree to take me, but I viewed him as my hope for revenge and insisted on following him.


    ¡°Big Brother, you don¡¯t know¡­ when I attained level-two of the Qi-Gathering, how happy I was because I had the hope of revenge.¡±


    ¡°Later on, when I met Big Brother and Mother, it was the first time I had the feeling of belonging to a family.¡±


    ¡°The only thing I did not expect was that while traveling with Mother on the way to meet you, I was recognized by the Fan family.¡±


    At this, Yun Lu¡¯s expression was full of regret. ¡°Big Brother, I should not have insisted on riding a ferghana horse with Mother to rush to the Chu royal city, if I had ridden in a carriage with Mother, I would definitely not have attracted the attention of the Fan family.


    ¡°Silly girl, that isn¡¯t your fault.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head. ¡°Anyway, Mother is fine, but you have been wronged.¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­ Big Brother, I¡¯ll take you to retrieve that item. You¡¯ve helped avenge the Yun family. I would like to give you that item,¡± Yun Lu said earnestly.


    ¡°No need for that.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head again. ¡°I avenged you only because you are my little sister and no other reason. Whatever it is, it is yours, since it belongs to the Yun family. In the future, keep it with you, and Big Brother will teach whoever tries to take it from you a lesson,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a slight smile.


    ¡°Big Brother, although the Yun family treats that thing as a family heirloom, several generations of research has yielded nothing about it¡­ if not for my uncle who talked about it when he was drunk, it would never have drawn the attention of the Fan family.¡±


    Yun Lu shook her head and said, ¡°That thing in my hands is useless. However, if I give it to you, perhaps you could find out something about it. After all, Big Brother is so capable.¡±


    As Yun Lu said this, she looked at Zhou Donghuang with a look of worship, like a complete fangirl.


    ¡°Big Brother, accompany me to retrieve that thing, will you?¡± Yun Lu asked as she held Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand with both her hands, swinging his arm and pouting.


    ¡°Fine, fine, fine, I will go with you to retrieve that thing,¡± Zhou Donghuang answered helplessly. ¡°Where did you hide it?¡±


    ¡°In Nanzhao prefecture.¡±


    Nanzhao prefecture was the superior-level prefecture that one had to pass through when traveling from Guangling prefecture to the Chu royal city.


    ¡°Big Brother will make arrangements for Mother and Freezing Wind, then we¡¯ll go together to Nanzhao prefecture.¡±


    After Zhou Donghuang said this to Yun Lu, he left her room to look for Freezing Wind, Lu Qinghu, and the others. Now, Freezing Wind had already met up and gathered together with Zhou Han, Zhou Feng and the others.


    ¡°The three of you, I¡¯ll get Little Gold to send you and my mother to the Chu royal city.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked at Freezing Wind, Zhou Han, and Zhou Feng. ¡°When you reach the Chu royal city, Fu will arrange accommodation for you when you see him.


    As Freezing Wind and the others acknowledged respectfully, Zhou Donghuang looked at Lu Qinghu. ¡°As for Patriarch Lu¡­ you¡¯ll return to the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture.¡±


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    Lu Qinghu gritted his teeth and knelt down before Zhou Donghuang. ¡°In the future, I want to follow you and give my all in your service!¡±


    ¡°You are a patriarch of a family; why should you follow me?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head.


    ¡°I can hand over the Lu family to my second brother, Lu Bao¡­ as for me, I would like to follow Young Master Donghuang and experience some of the world out there!¡± Lu Qinghu said with an earnest look on his face.


    Each time he saw the youth before him, he always gave Lu Qinghu a different surprise. How long had it been, and the youth was already a Petty Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering? And the amount of improvement in everyone with the youth had shocked him and made him extremely envious.


    Being the patriarch of the Lu family had its glory, but its appeal to him could not be compared to the appeal of attaining the legendary ¡°Connate stage.¡± He e still felt that if he followed this youth, he had the chance of attaining the Connate stage in the future!


    Zhou Donghuang looked deeply at Lu Qinghu, who was waiting anxiously and said casually, ¡°You¡¯d still better make a trip back to the Lu family. If you don¡¯t change your mind on the way, make all the necessary arrangements in the Lu family, then come and find me in the Chu royal city.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks to Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s assent left Lu Qinghu in a state of frenzied joy.


    ¡­


    ¡°Mother, you return to the Chu royal city first, Xiao Lu, and I will be back in two days,¡± Zhou Donghuang told Lin Lan with a smile as he personally saw her off onto Little Gold¡¯s back.


    ¡°Donghuang, Mother knows your current ability is very great¡­ but be careful nonetheless, don¡¯t be arrogant.¡±


    Lin Lan said this with a serious expression, obviously worried that Zhou Donghuang would swell up with pride because of his great ability and do as he pleased. ¡°You must remember, there¡¯s always a bigger fish.¡±


    But she did not know that Zhou Donghuang had a thousand years of experience and knew these principles better than her. ¡°Mother, don¡¯t worry, I know this.¡±


    ¡°Xiao Lu, keep an eye on your big brother,¡± Lin Lan said to Yun Lu before leaving, looking at her with a tender expression.


    ¡°I will, Mother.¡±


    Yun Lu giggled.


    ¡°Go on.¡±


    At Zhou Donghuang¡¯s command, Little Gold took flight with Lin Lan, Freezing Wind, Zhou Feng and Zhou Han on its back, and headed towards the Chu royal city.


    Only when they were on their way did Zhou Donghuang gather Yun Lu up in his arms and mount Big Gold¡¯s back, and they flew off in the direction indicated by Yun Lu.


    With Big Gold¡¯s speed, it only took them a day and a night to arrive at the place Yun Lu spoke of.


    A bamboo forest outside a small town.


    ¡°I remember¡­ I think it is here.¡±


    It had been three years ago, and Yun Lu had then been six years old. Although she had matured as a result of the through tough times she had endured, it had been too long, and her memory was still fuzzy. Only after they had combed half the bamboo forest did they find the parcel she had buried years before.


    The parcel was not big, only about the size of an adult¡¯s fist. When Yun Lu opened the parcel, a small metal box with rusted frames was revealed.


    Yun Lu gazed at the small box with mixed emotions. It was because of this thing that her whole family was destroyed.


    ¡°Big Brother.¡±


    Yun Lu passed the box to Zhou Donghuang, forcing out a smile. ¡°Take a look, see if it is any use to you.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang took the box and opened it and saw at once something lying in the box that looked like a metal ball about the size of a baby¡¯s fist. It gave off a piercing sense of chilliness.


    ¡°This is¡­ a sword sphere?!¡±


    As he picked up the small metal ball, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes widened involuntarily. ¡°This¡­ how did this appear here?¡±


    In Zhou Donghuang¡¯s view, this should not have even appeared in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, much less in the country of Yunyang.


    This was a ¡°sword sphere,¡± something that only adepts at the Primal Core stage and above could produce using their Samadhi fire. Once it was activated, it could transform into a sword and attack.


    Sword spheres were something that adepts of the Primal Core stage and above produced for the personal protection of their juniors who were at a lower level of practice.


    Of course, activating the sword sphere took a certain technique. Without that technique, even Connate stage adepts would be unable to activate the sword sphere.


    ¡°Big Brother, you recognize this thing?¡± Yun Lu asked in surprise. ¡°You just said¡­ it¡¯s called a sword sphere?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Lu, watch carefully.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled as he called out to Yun Lu and activated the qi in his body, using a special technique to transfer his qi into the sword sphere.


    After his qi had entered the sword sphere, Zhou Donghuang felt a sense of hunger from the sword sphere that swallowed up more of his qi. It was only after half the qi in his body had been swallowed did Zhou Donghuang stop transferring his qi to the sword sphere. The sword sphere immediately flashed in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand as it transformed into a small, unremarkable-looking sword, glittering with a visible coldness.


    Whizz!


    At a flick of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand, the small sword shot out and circled the bamboo forest. In a flash, it had sliced all the bamboo in half, then transformed back into a small metal ball and returned to his hand.


    ¡°That attack¡­ below the Connate stage, no one can defend against it.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes gleamed. ¡°Transferring forty percent of my qi into the sword sphere activated it like this¡­ if I transfer all my qi into the sword sphere, even an ordinary Connate stage adept cannot escape death!¡±

 Chapter 114 - Uproar in the Chu Royal City

    Chapter 114: Uproar in the Chu Royal City


    ¡°This¡­¡±


    When Yun Lu saw the small metal ball in the youth¡¯s hand transform into the small sword, she had been dumbfounded.


    In the blink of an eye, seeing the small sword vanish, she was stunned once more and only came to her senses when the small sword had reverted to a small metal ball and returned to the youth¡¯s hand.


    At the same time, she heard a swoosh.


    She looked around and noticed that a large swathe of bamboo in the forest had all been cut, and moreover the cut was clean and was obviously made by a sharp instrument.


    ¡°Big Brother, this¡­ did you do this?¡±


    Yun Lu stared blankly at the youth, shock and disbelief on her face.


    ¡°More accurately, we did this.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang indicated the small metal ball in his hand and replied with a slight smile.


    ¡°It?¡±


    Yun Lu looked wide-eyed at the small metal ball. ¡°Big Brother, was I seeing things just now? I think¡­ think¡­ I saw it suddenly transform into a sword.


    ¡°You were not seeing things; it really did transform into a sword just now.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a smile. ¡°Xiao Lu, this small metal ball is a sword sphere, and by right, it should not appear in a backwater like the country of Yunyang¡­ and I have no idea where the ancestors of the Yun family obtained this sword sphere from.


    ¡°Sword sphere?¡±


    Yun Lu¡¯s expression indicated that she was at a loss.


    ¡°I¡¯ll explain on the way back.¡± Zhou Donghuang told Yun Lu and grabbed her as he leaped onto Big Gold¡¯s back. He noticed immediately that Big Gold had not reacted at all, as though he were daydreaming.


    ¡°Big Gold, let¡¯s go,¡± Zhou Donghuang prompted Big Gold impatiently in demon speech, who acknowledged abruptly before he spread his wings and took flight.


    However, as he flew off, his sharp eyes were full of terror.


    Earlier, when the small metal ball in the youth¡¯s hand had transformed into a small sword and shot out, he had been frightened.


    After witnessing the small sword¡¯s speed and destructive power, he realized: If the youth had directed the sword at him, he would be dead!


    ¡°Youth, that thing just now¡­ what is it? Why does it feel so fearsome?¡±


    At last, Big Gold could not resist questioning the youth. ¡°In that moment just now¡­ I felt that I could not resist it. Even if I flew up over a hundred meters into the air, if that sword could track me, I don¡¯t think that I could block it.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled casually. ¡°Unless its target is a Connate stage adept or demon, and unless that adept has some special defensive technique or the demon has an exceptionally strong defense, they would be killed in a single attack.¡±


    ¡°That fearsome?¡±


    ¡°Big Gold exhaled a cold breath, and his feathers went taut. ¡°What on earth is it?¡±


    ¡°A sword sphere.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang explained to the little girl in his arms using human speech as he explained to Big Gold, ¡°Sword spheres are something that only adepts of the Primal Core stage and above can produce because it requires the Samadhi fire forged from the essential core and a special type of metal. The sword sphere contains many complicated scenarios¡­ usually, the sword sphere is in the form of a metal sphere, and only when a particular scenario is activated will it transform into a sword.


    ¡°And if the sword sphere is activated and transforms into a sword, the more qi is transferred into it, the stronger it will be, and the amount of power it can utilize will be greater.¡±


    ¡­


    ¡°Wow! Big Brother, you really know a lot!¡±


    Yun Lu lifted her little head and looked at the youth worshipfully.


    ¡°Xiao Lu, for now, leaving this sword sphere with you will not be useful¡­ why don¡¯t I hold on to it for now and keep it safe for you?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked as he stroked the girl¡¯s head with a gentle smile.


    The sword sphere belonged to the girl, and if she resolutely wanted it back, he would not insist even though his heart said otherwise.


    Since he had not yet attained the Primal Core stage, the sword sphere was still of some use to him. Once he attained the Primal Core stage, the sword sphere would be no more than scrap metal to him.


    At that point, he would be able to produce as many sword spheres as he wanted.


    Of course, he would first need to obtain the special metal required to manufacture the sword sphere. Otherwise, he would not be able to manufacture it even if he had the ability.


    ¡°Big Brother, I originally wanted to give it to you.¡±


    The girl giggle. ¡°At first, I was worried that it would be useless even to you, but now that I know how useful it is, I¡¯m very happy.¡±


    ¡°This sword sphere is not merely just useful to me; it is a great advantage.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked at the girl with an indulgent smile.


    Now, with the sword sphere, it was just as though he had hacked a game back on Earth.


    Of course, the sword sphere could not be used indiscriminately.


    After all, every use of the sword sphere required a great expenditure of qi. If he only transferred a small amount of qi to the sword sphere, it would not be very effective.


    At Big Gold¡¯s speed, Zhou Donghuang and Yun Lu were able to return to the Chu royal city in only two days, and they arrived at the back courtyard of apartment number three at Chuxiu Inn.


    When they arrived at Chuxiu Inn, it was already late into the night, and it was pitch black in the back courtyard.


    ¡°Young Master, Big Brother.¡±


    Little Gold had been sprawled lazily in the back courtyard as he napped but stood up hurriedly upon seeing that his young master and big brother had returned.


    Golden-crowned eagles had extremely acute night vision, and even without any light, Little Gold was able to see clearly.


    After Zhou Donghuang had left with Yun Lu, Big Gold looked at Little Gold as he told him about the sword sphere, leaving him shivering with fear.


    ¡°In other words¡­ with Young Master¡¯s current ability, if he activates that sword sphere with all his ability, even an ordinary Connate stage adept or demon would probably not be able to escape him?¡±


    Little Gold¡¯s eyes began to glitter as he recovered from his fear and remembered that the owner of the sword sphere was his young master and not someone else.


    ¡°You idiot, don¡¯t you find it strange why Young Master not only recognizes something like that but even knows how to activate it?¡± Big Gold asked in exasperation.


    ¡°Oh, right, that is a little strange.¡±


    It took Big Gold¡¯s reminder to bring Little Gold back to his senses. ¡°Moreover, the qi-gathering elixir that Young Master has is also far more effective than the qi-gathering elixir that we took before.¡±


    ¡°The best qi-gathering elixir that we have ever taken could only increase the sensitivity to qi by a hundred percent¡­ but what he gave us could increase the sensitivity to qi by a thousand percent,¡± Little Gold said.


    ¡°These two days, I have a very strong premonition¡­ if we follow him, perhaps the Connate stage is not the limit for us in this lifetime.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother, you mean¡­ by following Young Master, we could hope to attain the legendary Primal Core stage and become Primal Core demons?¡±


    Little Gold sucked in a cold breath.


    ¡­


    After Zhou Donghuang returned with Yun Lu, they went to find Fu and found out that Fu had taken over the adjacent apartment number two for Freezing Wind, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng to stay in.


    He had moved in together with them too.


    ¡°Young Master, I have already allocated this room here for Madam¡­ and the biggest master bedroom in the middle of apartment number two is reserved for you,¡± Fu said. ¡°As for Young Mistress, she can stay with Madam or in the room that Young Mistress Ren was previously staying in.¡±


    ¡°Oh, well done.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded in satisfaction.


    ¡°Xiao Lu, Mother is surely already asleep, stay in this room tonight¡­ tomorrow, Big Brother will come look for you and Mother tomorrow,¡± Zhou Donghuang said, smiling at Yun Lu as he indicated the room that the young mistress of the Ren family Ren Jiapei had previously slept in.


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    Yun Lu nodded in understanding and waited until Zhou Donghuang and Fu had walked out of the main entrance of the apartment before she returned to her room and shut the door.


    ¡°Young Master.¡±


    As they entered the adjacent apartment number two, Fu looked at Zhou Donghuang with a slight frown. ¡°I heard about the incident with the Fan family of Tianxiu City from Brother Freezing Wind. That Fan family is related to the Chu royal family, and moreover, the first wife of the king of the Chu royal family, the consort, is the elder sister of the current patriarch of the Fan family Fan Cheng.


    ¡°Now that Fan Cheng is dead and the Fan family is wiped out¡­ it will only be a few more days at most before the news reaches the Chu royal city and the Chu royal family. When that happens, it will only take a simple check by the Chu royal family for them to find out that the two golden-crowned eagles were the culprits. And many people saw the two golden-crowned eagles land in the Tang family mansion and leave with you several days ago.


    ¡°This Chuxiu Inn is, after all, a business belonging to the Chu royal family¡­ would we be putting ourselves in harm¡¯s way by continuing to stay here?¡±


    Fu stopped there, dread in his eyes. ¡°That day, when I left the Tang family mansion, the patriarch of the Tang family Tang Liunian reminded me¡­ the Chu royal family has a Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering, so that I could warn you in turn so you could exercise caution.¡±


    Obviously, Tang Liunian had already expected that Zhou Donghuang would antagonize the Chu royal family by offending the Fan family.


    ¡°A Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled casually.


    It did not matter that he had the sword sphere now. Without the sword sphere, he would not have been afraid even if the Chu royal family had a Great Consummation adept.


    His current level of practice was already approaching Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, and with his maximum muscular strength, he could exert more strength than most Great Consummation adepts of the Qi-Gathering.


    Together with the all the first-grade techniques from his memories and the qi-increasing elixir formulated from the gall bladder of the grizzly bear, there was no one his equal in the country of Yunyang below the Connate stage.


    ¡°Fu understands.¡±


    Seeing the confident smile on his young master¡¯s face, an expression of realization came over Fu¡¯s face, and the dread in his eyes vanished. He was calm once more.


    Seeing his young master in this state, he knew: His young master was not afraid of the Chu royal family.


    Because of this, he had nothing to be worried about.


    ¡­


    Three days later, the news that the Fan family of Tianxiu City had been wiped out finally reached the Chu royal city and spread through to every corner of the Chu royal city.


    There was an uproar in the Chu royal city.


    ¡°The Fan family of Tianxiu City has been wiped out?¡±


    ¡°My God! Who did it? Don¡¯t the culprits know about the connections the Fan family has to the Chu royal family?¡±

 Chapter 115 - The Chu Royal Mansion

    Chapter 115: The Chu Royal Mansion


    The Tang family mansion.


    ¡°The Fan family has been wiped out? All of them killed by flying demons?¡±


    The patriarch of the tycoon Tang family Tang Liunian was frightened out of his wits once he heard the news from Tianxiu City.


    He knew that the youth would surely provoke the Fan family and hence offend the Chu royal family¡­ but he never imagined that the youth would wipe out the Fan family in one trip to Tianxiu City!


    They were a superior-level tycoon family comparable in strength to the Tang family!


    ¡°Patriarch, do you think it is the work of that Young Master Donghuang?¡± the second elder of the Tang family Tang Yong, who was standing to the side, asked.


    ¡°Other than him, do you think it could have been anyone else?¡±


    Tang Liunian smiled bitterly. ¡°Moreover, according to the news we received, all of the Tang family was killed by flying creatures¡­ it is definitely the two golden-crowned eagles acting on his orders.¡±


    ¡°Two Petty Consummation flying demons wiping out the Fan family would be too simple.¡±


    Tang Liunian stopped here, shaking his head.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t he afraid of offending the Chu royal family?¡±


    Tang Yong smiled bitterly.


    ¡°The Chu royal family?¡±


    Tan Liunian shook his head. ¡°Even if the Chu royal family knows he was responsible for this incident, they might not dare to confront him directly, even if he is staying in Chuxiu inn that is owned by the Chu royal family.¡±


    ¡°The Chu royal family might have a Great Consummation adept, but doesn¡¯t he have two golden-crowned eagles?¡±


    ¡°It will only take a command from that Young Master Donghuang, and that Great Consummation adept of the Chu royal family will only be able to stand and stare as the two golden-crowned eagles massacre the entire Chu royal family.¡±


    ¡°Unless they are confident in killing Young Master Donghuang first¡­ but who can predict whether the two golden-crowned eagles will continue to attack the Chu royal family after Young Master Donghuang is killed?¡±


    ¡°That year, the imperial court of Yunyang country sent a Great Consummation adept specifically to deal with those two golden-crowned eagles, and he was even stronger than the current Great Consummation adept of the Chu royal family who was only recently promoted. Wasn¡¯t he still unable to do anything about the two golden-crowned eagles?¡±


    ¡°Not only was he helpless against the two golden-crowned eagles, but many of the Petty Consummation and level-nine adepts accompanying him were killed.¡±


    ¡°In the end, that Great Consummation adept of the imperial court could only stare in impotent rage.¡±


    ¡°Apparently, he was so vexed that he vomited blood.¡±


    Evidently, Tang Liunian knew all about the expedition sent by the imperial court of Yunyang to deal with the two golden-crowned eagles.


    ¡°So, the Chu royal family can only accept the situation?¡±


    Tang Yong appeared to be in shock.


    ¡°The Chu royal family will definitely not dare make an overt move¡­ but the Chu royal family will definitely not take this lying down. If I were the king of the Chu royal family, I would report this to the imperial court of Yunyang and let the imperial court deal with the matter.¡±


    Tang Liunian stopped here with a gleam in his eye. ¡°After all, wiping out a tycoon family is already in violation of the decree of the imperial court.¡±


    ¡°If the imperial court of Yunyang country does not take action to resolve this, they will lose credibility once the news spreads.¡±


    ¡°Therefore, I¡¯m guessing¡­ the imperial court of Yunyang will take action against Young Master Donghuang and those two golden-crowned eagles,¡± Tang Liunian said with certainty.


    ¡­


    When the tycoon Tang family received the news that the Fan family of Tianxiu City had been wiped out, the other tycoon families and even grand families of the Chu royal city had also received the news.


    At that point in time, all these families were both baffled and shocked.


    Of course, they could easily guess who was responsible for wiping out the Fan family.


    The image of the two golden-crowned eagles from the Lost Forest arriving at the Tang family¡¯s banquet that day came flooding back.


    ¡°The entire Fan family was killed by flying demons¡­ it must have been the handiwork of those two golden-crowned eagles!¡±


    However, although they could be certain that the youth was connected to the Fan family¡¯s demise, the various prominent families were certain that even so, the Chu royal family might not dare to move against that youth carelessly.


    Not only because of some unfathomable background that the youth might have, but just the two golden-crowned eagles were enough to make the Chu royal family wary enough to think twice before acting.


    If they were just two Petty Consummation demons, the recently-promoted Great Consummation adept of the Chu royal family would be able to kill them.


    However, those two Petty Consummation flying demons were not something that the Great Consummation adept could easily kill.


    Unless that Great Consummation adept was accomplished in ranged attacks, for example in the use of ranged weapons such as bows, and even then, he would require a special bow.


    This was because ordinary bows could not bear the strength of a Great Consummation adept, and they would not be sufficient to express the full strength of a Great Consummation adept!


    ¡­


    The Chu royal mansion.


    As the mansion of the Chu royal family that controlled the entire Western Ridge of the Chu King, it occupied a vast plot of land, almost ten times larger than the land occupied by the tycoon Tang family¡¯s mansion. It was like a royal palace.


    And now, the atmosphere in the great hall of the Chu royal mansion was extremely somber.


    A middle-aged man wearing a dark gold long robe embroidered with many with four-clawed dragons sat at the place of honor in the great hall with a gloomy expression.


    This middle-aged man was tall and well-built, with fierce brows and a stern gaze, and exuded an intimidating aura. The middle-aged man was the king of the current generation of the Chu royal family, Xiang Xiong.


    Now, beside Xiang Xiong stood a beautiful lady in a dark gold phoenix gown, graceful and luxuriously dressed. She seemed to be not very young, but one could not make out any wrinkles on her face, and age seemed to not have left any mark on her face.


    However, the beautiful lady¡¯s face was now tear-streaked, and her lovely eyes were red. She had obviously been crying her heart out.


    She was the first wife of the Chu king Xiang Xiong, the royal consort, Fan Ji.


    ¡°Commander Xue, how is the investigation going?¡±


    Xiang Xiong asked in a low voice as he looked at the middle-aged man standing closest to him with an electrifying gaze.


    The middle-aged man was about fifty years old, with a square face and a naturally imposing expression. He wore silver-colored light armor, and a longsword hung in a scabbard at his waist.


    He was the commander of the city guard, Xue Meng, and also one of the Petty Consummation adepts of the Chu royal family.


    ¡°Your Majesty, the situation is basically thoroughly investigated.¡±


    Xue Meng hurriedly answered Xiang Xiong¡¯s question. ¡°That youth named ¡®Zhou Donghuang¡¯ saved the lives of patriarch Tang Liunian, the head elder, and second elder of the tycoon Tang family in the Lost Forest.¡±


    ¡°As such, the Tang family hosted a banquet to thank him for this several days ago.¡±


    ¡°During the banquet, that youth received news that his mother and younger sister had been kidnapped by the Fan family of Tianxiu City, and summoned the two golden-crowned eagles from the Lost Forest. He used the golden-crowned eagle with slightly stronger ability as his mount and left the Tang family mansion.¡±


    Xue Meng stopped and hesitated, and after a careful glance at the consort of the Chu king Fan Ji, he continued after a pause, ¡°On the afternoon of the second day, other than those Fan family members who were not at the Fan family mansion, the Fan family was almost wiped out.¡±


    ¡°Calculating the time taken¡­ at the speed of the golden-crowned eagles, he would have arrived at the Fan family around this time. In addition to the fatal wounds on the Fan family members being inflicted by flying demons¡­ we can deduce from this that that youth is inextricably linked to the wiping out of the Fan family. At least, if it was not done at the youth¡¯s command, those two golden-crowned eagles would not have wiped out the Fan family for no reason.¡±


    Xue Meng finished in a single breath.


    ¡°The Great Consummation adept that the imperial court of Yunyang sent that that year was helpless against those two golden-crowned eagles from the Lost Forest¡­ how could a youth have subdued them?¡±


    Xiang Xiong¡¯s expression was extremely foul. ¡°Did you manage to find out the youth¡¯s origins?¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty.¡±


    At that moment, an old man dressed in a long grey robe stepped forward, addressing Xiang Xiong respectfully. ¡°Regarding the origins of that youth, there is someone who is extremely familiar with it.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡±


    Xiang Xiong gave the old man a piercing gaze.


    ¡°The first young master of the inferior-level tycoon Shi family, Shi Yu.¡±


    The old man continued, ¡°This morning, Shi Yu came looking for me, asking to be summoned to the Chu royal mansion if Your Majesty wanted to know more about that Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    ¡°First Young Master Shi Yu of the Shi family?¡±


    Xiang Xiong raised an eyebrow. ¡°If that¡¯s the case, Sixth Elder, please go and bring him here.¡±


    ¡°At once.¡±


    The old man acknowledged and left.


    After the old man left, Xiang Xiong swept a piercing gaze across the people gathered in the great hall, including Xue Meng, and said in a low voice, ¡°From what we know, that youth has outstanding abilities and is at least a Petty Consummation adept. Otherwise, he could not possibly have killed that grizzly bear in the Lost Forest in one exchange, as claimed by the Tang family members.¡±


    ¡°However, even if he is a Petty Consummation adept or even a Great Consummation adept, he could not possibly have subdued those two golden-crowned eagles by pure brute strength.¡±


    ¡°Therefore, he could have subdued those two golden-crowned eagles using some unorthodox methods.¡±


    ¡°Even in the history of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, much less the country of Yunyang, there has never been an adept with such ability at such a young age. He either has some fantastic background or has had some unnaturally fortunate encounter.¡±


    As he finished, there was a feverish look in Xiang Xiong¡¯s eyes. ¡°Now, we¡¯ll wait for First Young Master Shi Yu of the Shi family to arrive and see if we can learn anything valuable.¡±


    After about an hour, the sixth elder of the Chu royal family returned with a youth in brocaded clothes.


    This youth in brocaded clothes was none other than the first young master of the tycoon Shi family, Shi Yu.


    ¡°I acknowledge the king and the royal consort.¡±


    After Shi Yu entered, he bowed respectfully to Xiang Xiong, who was seated on the throne, as well as Fan Ji.


    ¡°Shi Yu, you are familiar with that Zhou Donghuang¡¯s origins?¡± Xiang Xiong went straight to the point.


    Without waiting for Shi Yu¡¯s reply, he immediately continued, ¡°If you are able to provide any valuable leads, the Chu royal family will not be stingy with you.¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, my father, Shi Hao was killed by this Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    Shi Yu¡¯s expression darkened slightly, and he continued angrily, ¡°Since then, I sent men to the prefecture capital of the inferior-level Yunfeng prefecture to find out everything they could about that Zhou Donghuang. Just several days ago, the men I sent out returned and reported the results of their investigation to me.¡±

 Chapter 116 - The Decision of the Chu King

    Chapter 116: The Decision of the Chu King


    ¡°They investigated separately but came to the same conclusion: Zhou Donghuang just turned eighteen this year, and was born and raised in the inferior Yunfeng prefecture. He has no background at all.¡± Shi Yu paused.


    ¡°Yunfeng prefecture? An inferior prefecture? Born and raised there?¡± Hearing what Shi Yu just said, the whole hall turned silent. From the Chu king, Xiang Xiong, to the royal concubine, Fan Ji, to the Chu royal city guard commander, Xue Meng and the elders from the Chu royal household¡ªeveryone was shocked.


    That young man who had defeated the two golden-crowned eagles from the Lost Forest and destroyed the whole Fan family was from an inferior prefecture?


    ¡°Impossible!¡± Xue Meng was the first to respond as he shook his head fervently. ¡°Someone from an inferior prefecture cannot possibly accomplish this; it would be a miracle for the person to even achieve level-six of the Qi-Gathering.¡±


    ¡°I think it¡¯s impossible too.¡±


    ¡°Absolutely impossible!¡±


    ¡­


    The other elders from the Chu royal household also shook their heads in disbelief.


    What a joke! How could such a young person from an inferior prefecture, who has just turned eighteen, already achieve Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering? If so, then what would that make of them? Simply ridiculous!


    ¡°What proof do you have?¡± Xiang Xiong glared at Shi Yu as he asked coldly. ¡°You should know that if you dare lie to me, not just you, but your whole family will pay the price!¡±


    ¡°Your Highness.¡± Shi Yu dropped to his knees as he said seriously, ¡°Shi Yu would not dare to lie to Your Highness. All that I say is the truth. If Your Highness does not believe what I say, you may send people to Yunfeng prefecture to investigate. That Zhou Donghuang was adopted from young by his mother, Lin Lan¡­ and Lin Lan was a disciple of the side family of the preeminent Lin family and was sent to a town beneath Yunfeng prefecture to run a guild. That town is called Qingshan town, and her guild is Magnolia Guild. Everyone in Yunfeng prefecture knows this. Furthermore, in Yunfeng prefecture, Zhou Donghuang is something like a legend¡­ because he is just a young man from a small town, but in such a short time, he caused such an uproar in the prefecture.¡±


    Shi Yu continued, ¡°If I uttered a lie, the royal household may execute me after investigating its truth!¡±


    With that, Shi Yu¡¯s words brought silence over the hall again.


    ¡°Your Highness!¡± Xue Meng said to Xiang Xiong. ¡°I am willing to make a trip to Yunfeng prefecture myself to find out more about Zhou Donghuang to see if he really is as what Shi Yu says.¡±


    ¡°Thank you for the trouble.¡±


    With Xiang Xiong¡¯s approval, Xue Meng turned and rushed out of the hall.


    ¡°Your Highness,¡± said Shi Yu after Xue Meng had left. ¡°I suspect that Zhou Donghuang could possibly have received the essence from a Primal Core adept, which allowed him to achieve such power at such a young age and even overcome the two golden-crowned eagles.¡±


    Primal Core! Hearing this, Xiang Xiong¡¯s eyes narrowed. If what he said was true¡­ then there was really such a possibility! Otherwise, there was no possible explanation for how someone born and raised in an inferior prefecture could achieve Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering at such a young age.


    ¡°Enough, you may take your leave first.¡± While Fan Ji and the other elders were all stunned by Shi Yu¡¯s words, Xiang Xiong waved his hand and said, ¡°If Commander Xue returns and verifies all that you said, I will definitely reward your Shi family.¡±


    ¡°Thank you, Your Highness.¡± With that, Shi Yu turned and left.


    Once he left the hall, Shi Yu broke into a wide smile. ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you killed my father, now I will destroy you too! If the Chu royal household cannot handle you, there is still the imperial court of Yunyang country¡­ and even if the imperial court fails, there is always the Valley of Medicine Masters. I don¡¯t believe that they will not be able to defeat you.¡±


    ¡­


    After Shi Yu left, Xiang Xiong ordered, ¡°Second Elder, head to the imperial city as quickly as possible and tell the imperial court everything so that they can send people to deal with Zhou Donghuang and the two golden-crowned eagles. Also, tell them everything that Shi Yu just said.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness!¡± The second elder hesitated before he continued, ¡°If everything that Shi Yu said was true, then Zhou Donghuang really received the essence from a Primal Core adept¡­ if we tell the imperial court, wouldn¡¯t we be left with nothing?¡±


    ¡°Fool!¡± Xiang Xiong shook his head as he smiled sadly. ¡°Even if what Shi Yu said was true¡­ do you think we can defeat this young man based on our current capability? Although Father achieved great consummation of the Qi-Gathering a few years ago, even he could not overcome the two golden-crowned eagles. Our Chu royal household will not fight that young man unless we are entirely confident of success!¡±


    Xiang Xiong¡¯s words were wise, but he still looked extremely displeased. Even then, there was nothing he could do about it. The young man was simply too powerful for the Chu royal household to control.


    ¡°Your Highness, from my understanding, he stays in Chuxiu Inn run by us.¡± Fan Ji, who was standing beside Xiang Xiong, pointed out. ¡°Shall we try¡­ to poison him?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± Her suggestion was immediately rejected by Xiang Xiong. ¡°Notwithstanding how unlikely success would be, but even if we poison him, what do we stand to gain? We¡¯ll surely be attacked by those two golden-crowned eagles. You may poison Zhou Donghuang, but not those two eagles¡­ as demons, they are extremely sensitive to any poison.¡±


    ¡­


    Zhou Donghuang was naturally ignorant to whatever had transpired in the Chu royal household. Of course, the news that the Fan family had been destroyed had spread like wildfire throughout the Chu royal city, but he was not concerned.


    Now, he was troubled. His mother had taken a liking to that lass Yang Zixi, and knowing that Yang Zixi was interested in him, he could not wait to bring them together.


    ¡°Donghuang, what¡¯s wrong with Zixi? Not only is she beautiful, but her figure is also nice. After you marry her, she can definitely give birth to a healthy grandson for me.¡± Lin Lan could not understand her son. ¡°Where else can we find such a great daughter-in-law? You don¡¯t realize your own fortune. Xiao Lu, do you agree?¡±


    That morning, Lin Lan brought Yun Lu to the second courtyard where Zhou Donghuang was now staying and has thrown a bunch of questions at him.


    ¡°Brother, I also think Sister Zixi is very good, why don¡¯t you make her my sister-in-law?¡± agreed Yun Lu with a smile.


    ¡°What do you know!¡± Zhou Donghuang glared at Yun Lu, then turned and smiled bitterly at Lin Lan. ¡°Mother, have you forgotten what happened with Chen Dandan? Now, you want to do this again?¡±


    Lin Lan was quiet. Back then, she had almost forced Zhou Donghuang to agree to marry Chen Dandan once he grew up, but she had mercilessly betrayed the both of them. Before leaving, she had even called Zhou Donghuang a piece of ¡°trash.¡±


    ¡°Donghuang, Zixi is different, don¡¯t compare her to Chen Dandan¡­ Chen Dandan is not worthy of her!¡± Lin Lan breathed heavily, her tone softening.


    ¡°Mother, I know that Chen Dandan cannot compare with Zixi. But I really have no intentions towards Zixi. Just like Chen Dandan back then, I only treat her as my younger sister,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang with a smile.


    ¡°Plus¡­ I already have someone else in mind.¡± Seeing Lin Lan about to continue, Zhou Donghuang pulled his killer move. At the same time, an image of the figure flashed through his mind.


    ¡°What¡­ What¡­ what is your name?¡±


    ¡°My¡­ My¡­ My name is Luo Qinghan.¡±


    ¡­


    The scene that unfolded in the Lost Forest seemed to appear before his eyes. Although that had been an accident, it was that accident that had made that girl, Luo Qinghan, leave such an unforgettable impression on him. Every time his mind wandered, he would think of her uncontrollably.


    ¡°Who knows¡­ does she think of me in her free time too?¡± wondered Zhou Donghuang anxiously.


    ¡°Wow!¡± Just as Lin Lan was shocked by his words, Yun Lu had already cried in surprise, her eyes widening. ¡°Brother, Brother¡­ no wonder every time I see you in a daze, you have a smile on your face, and your gaze will seem so gentle. That gentleness is different from when you look at Mother or me. Were you thinking of that lady then? No! Were you thinking of my sister-in-law?¡± Yun Lu looked excited at Zhou Donghuang, as if she had just discovered a whole new world.


    ¡°You¡¯re a troublemaker!¡± After being exposed by Yun Lu, Zhou Donghuang glared at her and reached out towards her.


    ¡°Mother! Brother is turning angry!¡± Yun Lu hid behind their mother and made a face at Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Naughty brother, I must have guessed correctly, right? Brother, when are you bringing her back for us to see? Is she as beautiful as Sister Zixi? Also, is she from the Chu royal city?¡± Yun Lu was just like an excited baby.

 Chapter 117 - Imperial Court of Yunyang Country

    Chapter 117: Imperial Court of Yunyang Country


    ¡°Donghuang, are you speaking the truth?¡± Lin Lan asked seriously.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    ¡°Which family is she from?¡± asked Lin Lan anxiously. ¡°Is she a lady from a reputable family? Or just an ordinary family? You are already eighteen and an adult who can get married. If the two of you love each other, can I visit her family someday? After that, you can marry her on a favorable day.¡± Lin Lan seemed anxious to marry Zhou Donghuang off so that she may hold a grandchild soon.


    ¡°Mother, she is not from this planet,¡± answered Zhou Donghuang, shaking his head sadly.


    ¡°What do you mean?¡± replied Lin Lan with a frown.


    ¡°I meant that she is not from Ziyun planet,¡± said Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Not from this planet? You mean she is from another planet?¡± Lin Lan¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°From what I know, only magnificent practitioners who have achieved Primal Core stage can leave the planet. Are you trying to tell me¡­ she is someone like that?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± answered Zhou Donghuang, nodding seriously.


    ¡°Donghuang, your power¡­ could it be from her?¡± Lin Lan breathed in sharply as she asked.


    Zhou Donghuang was stunned: he had never imagined that his mother would link his power with Luo Qinghan. But soon, he realized. From his current performance, it was indeed unusual, but if he had gotten into contact with a magnificent practitioner, his power would make more sense.


    ¡°Yes,¡± he nodded.


    Lin Lan¡¯s brows furrowed. ¡°Donghuang, since she is a magnificent practitioner who has entered the Primal Core stage, how old is she? As far as I know, on Ziyun planet, magnificent practitioners who have achieved the Primal Core stage are all at least a hundred years old. The younger ones are all almost a hundred years old. Although they may live up to three centuries¡­ but at such an old age, won¡¯t it affect their fertility?¡±


    ¡°Mother,¡± responded Zhou Donghuang, laughing. ¡°She is not that old, at most just two or three years older.¡±


    ¡°Just two or three years older than you but achieving the Primal Core stage? You think I¡¯m stupid?¡± Lin Lan clearly did not believe him.


    ¡°Mother, just two days ago in Tianxiu City, you told me¡­ there is always someone better. There are some planets out there with twenty-year-old adepts achieving the Primal Core, some even younger than that,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang.


    Quickly, using practice as his excuse, Zhou Donghuang escaped to his room and sat cross-legged on the bed frame, but he could not calm himself. Towards Luo Qinghan, even he was unsure of what he felt towards her.


    Was it responsibility? Or had he really fallen for her? The former was acceptable, but the latter was simply unimaginable because they had only met once and did not know each other at all. As someone who had been single for a whole millennium, Zhou Donghuang was still clueless about relationships.


    ¡­


    Yunyang country was ruled by the imperial court, the Jiang family. For a country like Yunyang, the innermost city was the imperial city, while the imperial city of Yunyang country was named the Yunyang imperial city.


    The palace of the imperial court was found within the imperial city. As the ruler of the country, the Jiang family was so high in status that even the royal households of the big ridges meant nothing to them.


    And now, the atmosphere was tense in the imperial court. This was all caused by someone¡¯s sudden appearance.


    From the Chu royal city of the Western Chu Ridge, the second elder of the Chu royal household, Xiang Donghua had finally reached the imperial city of Yunyang country. Xiang Donghua was a Petty Consummate adept, but standing in the imperial court, he was afraid to even breathe. Every person in there, including the man sitting on the throne, were Great Consummate adepts. Before these people, his petty consummation of the Qi-Gathering meant nothing. In fact, any of them could easily kill him.


    ¡°I understand everything that you just said.¡± The man sitting on the throne was clad in a long robe embroidered with nine golden dragons. His appearance was fearsome, his thick brows completing his cold look. He was none other than the emperor of Yunyang country and chief of the imperial Jiang family, Jiang Tianchen. He was also one of the many Great Consummate adepts in the imperial family.


    ¡°Commander Xiao,¡± said Jiang Tianchen, his eyes landing on a man in golden armor. The man looked almost sixty years of age, half of his hair was white, yet his eyes were ferocious. He was none other than the commander of the imperial guard, Xiao Jiancheng. He was also a famous Great Consummate adept in Yunyang country.


    ¡°I remember¡­ four years ago, I ordered you to go to the Lost Forest and kill those two golden-crowned eagles. But then, not only did you fail, but many of those with you also perished.¡± Jiang Tianchen looked at Xiao Jiancheng and said, ¡°I also heard that in the past four years you have been working on your bow and arrow skills, even going to the second elder from the Valley of Medicine Masters to pick up the second-grade arrow technique ¡®Guanhong Arrow.¡¯ Are you confident of shooting down those two golden-crowned eagles?¡±


    Second-grade technique? Hearing this, not only Xiang Donghua, but everyone else present also turned to look at Xiao Jiancheng.


    ¡°Commander Xiao, you even went to learn a second-grade technique from the Valley of Medicine Masters? And an arrow technique? Looks like what happened four years ago really affected you!¡±


    ¡°Second-grade technique¡­ Commander Xiao, even if you had some ties with that second elder from the Valley, it must have taken a lot to exchange for that technique?¡±


    ¡°Commander Xiao, I¡¯ve never heard you mention this at all¡­ you really hid it well!¡±


    ¡­


    The other Great Consummate adepts in the court all burst into a discussion. Clearly, they had just found out about this.


    ¡°Based on Commander Xiao¡¯s strength, with the second-grade technique ¡®Guanhong Arrow.¡¯ The two golden-crowned eagles should not pose any problem.¡± Xiang Donghua, the second elder of the Chu royal household, looked at Xiao Jiancheng as if he could already imagine the two eagles being killed by him.


    ¡°Your Majesty,¡± said Xiao Jiancheng, his expression dark. ¡°I do not dare to boast in front of you. With my current ability with the arrow, even with the second-grade technique, I am only half-confident of handling those two eagles. If you give me a few more years¡­¡±


    Jiang Tianchen interrupted him, ¡°We don¡¯t have that much time.¡± He smiled sadly. ¡°If I lend you the Cloud Condor¡­ how confident will you be?¡±


    ¡°Cloud Condor?¡± Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s eyes lit up and cried, ¡°Your Majesty, with the Cloud Condor, I am fully confident of killing those two golden-crowned eagles!¡±


    The Cloud Condor was a flying beast trained by the imperial family and was a Petty Consummate demon like the golden-crowned eagle. Its speed was similar to the eagle, but if the two beasts were put to a fight, any of the eagles could easily kill it. The golden-crowned eagle hailed from the Lost Forest and was wild and used to killing. However, the condor was just like a flower in a greenhouse. Based on speed, it was not slower, but it was not the eagle¡¯s match when it came to killing.


    ¡°With the Cloud Condor¡¯s speed and Commander Xiao¡¯s power, the two eagles will be no problem!¡±


    ¡°So what if the young man achieved Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering? Can he be stronger than Commander Xiao, who reached that stage ten years ago?¡±


    ¡°Commander Xiao and the Cloud Condor will definitely triumph!¡±


    The other people in the court also seemed to envision the triumphant scene.


    Xiang Donghua, who was standing at the side, was similarly excited. With Commander Xiao and the Cloud Condor together, wouldn¡¯t it be simple to defeat both Zhou Donghuang and the two golden-crowned eagles?


    ¡°Commander Xiao.¡± Hearing Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s confidence, Jiang Tianchen nodded with satisfaction and added, ¡°That young man called ¡®Zhou Donghuang,¡¯ if he really is someone from an inferior prefecture¡­ try your best to keep him alive and bring him back here. He could really have gotten the essence from a magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage.¡±


    Jiang Tianchen¡¯s eyes shimmered. If he could gain that essence, their Jiang family could even be more powerful than the Valley of Medicine Masters!

 Chapter 118 - Unnatural

    Chapter 118: Unnatural


    As adepts who had achieved Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, Xiang Donghua, the second elder of the Chu royal household, or Xue Meng, commander of the Chu city guard, had their own demon stead. Xiang Donghua rode a level-seven demon, ¡°Lightning Leopard,¡± which could run many times faster than a ferghana horse. Xue Meng¡¯s stead was a level-eight demon ¡°Saber-toothed Tiger¡± which was even faster than the Lightning Leopard.


    The distance from the Chu royal city and Yunfeng prefecture was shorter than that from the city to the Yunyang imperial city, so Xue Meng returned to the Chu royal city sooner.


    ¡°Your Highness.¡± Xue Meng rushed to the Chu royal household once he returned to report his findings to Xiang Xiong. ¡°I have investigated¡­ everything is as what Shi Yu said. Zhou Donghuang was indeed born and raised in Yunfeng prefecture. He did not grow up in the Yunfeng prefecture capital, but in a small town. I went to that small town and asked many people, and they said they all saw Zhou Donghuang grow up with their own eyes. Just a year ago, in that town, Zhou Donghuang was known to be a martial invalid¡­ he only began to show his martial arts power at the end of the year 1227 of the Ziyun Era. Since then, in just a few months¡¯ time, he became a hated figure of even the Yunfeng prefecture governor and even became famous in the prefecture!


    ¡°On April 1, 1228 of Ziyun Era, he left the inferior Yunfeng prefecture capital and headed to the city. A month later, he destroyed the entire Wu family of the governor¡¯s household of Guangling prefecture, which contained four level-six adepts. On September 9, 1228 of the Ziyun Era, he arrived at the royal city. Your Highness knows what happened next.¡±


    In two months, Zue Meng had traversed between Chu royal city and Yunfeng prefecture capital and dug out all of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s history.


    Xiang Xiong was silent. After a moment, he then slowly asked, ¡°A year ago, he was still a martial invalid? Was he faking it?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so,¡± replied Xue Meng, shaking his head.


    ¡°Don¡¯t think?¡± Xiang Xiong frowned.


    ¡°Your Highness, with that young man¡¯s arrogant character¡­ would he pretend to be powerless when he got bullied a year ago?¡± asked Xue Meng. ¡°He was born and raised in that small town, where a lesser family disciple bullied him for years¡­ a year and a half ago, he was always being bullied because he lacked qi, or rather, he could not train his qi. At the end of 1227, where that lesser family¡¯s disciple tried to humiliate him on the streets¡­ that time, he struck out and paralyzed that man¡¯s arm! I looked for that man¡­ he said Zhou Donghuang paralyzed him in December 1227, but just a month before that, he had bullied Zhou Donghuang, and Zhou Donghuang had no power to fight back. That shows that before December 1227, Zhou Donghuang was really a martial invalid.¡±


    ¡­


    Both Xue Meng and Xiang Xiong realized something terrifying: that young man Zhou Donghuang only began practicing in December 1227. In just ten days, he had the power to destroy a level-two adept. Three months later, he could defeat a level-four adept. Now, in less than two years since he began, he had already achieved Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, even possibly Great Consummation.


    ¡°In less than two years, from zero to Petty Consummation or even Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering?¡±


    At this point, even Xiang Xiong, the most powerful man in the Western Chu Ridge, was shocked. After a while, he turned to Xue Meng, breathed deeply and asked, ¡°Xue Meng, you think¡­ what kind of miracle would allow a lad from such a poor background to reach such heights in less than two years? Such growth can even be said to be unnatural!¡±


    ¡°Your Highness, I think you know the answer,¡± answered Xue Meng with a bitter smile. ¡°Besides the legendary essence of a magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage, I can¡¯t think of any other way that the young man could achieve this in less than two years.¡±


    ¡°The essence left behind by a magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage¡­¡± Xiang Xiong¡¯s eyes lit up, then he shook his head and said with a laugh, ¡°Too bad we did not find out about his secret earlier. If we had found out before he grew up, we could easily have taken him down. But now, he is so strong that we can no longer defeat him. Hopefully, the imperial court will leave some goodies for us after they deal with him.¡± Xiang Xiong sighed.


    ¡°Who knows¡­ who the imperial court will send this time.¡± Xue Meng¡¯s eyes flashed with curiosity.


    ¡­


    Chuxiu Inn, second guest courtyard.


    In the largest master bedroom, the young man stood cross-legged on the mattress. ¡°Progress has been pretty good recently¡­ I¡¯ll reach Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering within three months.¡±


    Since his return from Tianxiu City, two full months had passed. It was now March 19, 1229 of the Ziyun Era.


    Freezing Wind, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng were all still with him, staying in the second guestroom so that they could practice together with him. In the past, he had wanted the three of them to extend their power outside because he did not expect his own power to rise so quickly. With his current strength, the three of them had no need to head out to increase their power, but rather stayed with him and practice faithfully.


    ¡°Young Master, Lady Jiapei is here to look for you.¡± Suddenly, Fu¡¯s voice came from outside the door.


    Zhou Donghuang was surprised. ¡°Lady Ren?¡±


    Since the end of 1228, when he had gone with Ren Jiapei to the Wei household to attend the gathering there, he had not seen her since they left. Even at the Tang family banquet two months ago, he had only seen the Ren family head elder, Ren Qiong, and the man who seemed like Ren Jiapei¡¯s father, the Ren family chief.


    ¡°Ren¡­ Lady Ren?¡± Jumping off the mattress, Zhou Donghuang finally saw Ren Jiapei again after he pushed open the door. At a glance, the girl before him was unrecognizable.


    Ren Jiapei was as pale as paper, her eyes listless and her body was skinny. She had none of her former grace and beauty.


    ¡°Brother Zhou, can you stop calling me that? If you can call Sister Zixi by her name, can¡¯t you call me by ¡®Jiapei?''¡± Hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s greeting, a sadness seemed to flash across her eyes as she smiled.


    ¡°Sure¡­ Jiapei.¡± The appearance of the young girl caused Zhou Donghuang to lose any thought of rejecting her. Furthermore, he had always thought highly of her. But now, from her gaze, he realized something else. He suddenly thought: he could be the reason why they had not met in more than three months.


    First Zixi, now Jiapei¡­ this is a real headache.


    Now, from the girl¡¯s eyes, Zhou Donghuang could tell that she still had feelings for him, because that was the same look in Yang Zixi¡¯s eyes when she looked at him.


    ¡°Lady¡­ Jiapei, I haven¡¯t seen you in so long, are you looking for me?¡± Zhou Donghuang avoided her eyes as he asked with a smile.


    Hearing this, Ren Jiapei¡¯s expression turned serious. ¡°Brother Zhou, I came today to tell you something. Today, the tycoon Tang family chief, Tang Liunian, suddenly came to my house. When my father welcomed him, he asked me to join them. Then, in front of me, he told Father about how the Chu royal household has done nothing to you yet. He said that perhaps the Chu royal household does not dare to touch you. But they will definitely not let the matter rest and will send someone to inform the Yunyang imperial court. He even said that if the imperial court sends someone, the person will definitely be confident of defeating you.¡±


    Ren Jiapei¡¯s face was fraught with worry. ¡°Brother Zhou, maybe you should leave the Chu royal city and lay low outside? With the speed of those golden-crowned eagles, you can surely hide somewhere safe well before the people from the imperial court arrive.¡± Ren Jiapei tried to persuade Zhou Donghuang to leave.


    ¡°That Tang Liunian is really interesting¡­ he doesn¡¯t dare to come tell me, but went to the Ren family to get you to relay the message.¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head and laughed.


    ¡°Brother Zhou, did you hear what I said?¡± Ren Jiapei said seriously, ¡°If the imperial court sends someone, it will definitely be someone confident of defeating your two golden-crowned eagles. You may not be afraid of the Chu royal household¡­ but the Yunyang imperial court, as the ruler of the country, is far more powerful. Although they say that the strongest in the imperial court is just a Great Consummate adept¡­ but the same rumor says that the strongest person in the Chu royal household is just a Petty Consummate adept. But in reality, the Chu royal household has a Great Consummate adept!¡±

 Chapter 119 - Valley of the Medicine Masters

    Chapter 119: Valley of the Medicine Masters


    ¡°The Tang family chief said¡­ the imperial court of Yunyang country could have an adept who has already reached the Connate stage!¡± Ren Jiapei told Zhou Donghuang seriously. ¡°He even said, the court also rears a Petty Consummate demon Cloud Condor. That condor is as fast as the golden-crowned eagle. If the imperial court sends a Great Consummate adept together with the Cloud Condor, then your two golden-crowned eagles will no longer have any advantage.¡±


    Ren Jiapei tried her best to persuade Zhou Donghuang to leave, just short of personally sending him out of Chu royal city.


    ¡°Jiapei, thank you for telling me of all this.¡± However, after hearing Ren Jiapei¡¯s words, Zhou Donghuang merely smiled and said, ¡°However, if the imperial court is really just as powerful as you say¡­ I don¡¯t think that¡¯s enough to make me leave the city to hide.¡±


    ¡­


    Yunfeng prefecture capital.


    ¡°You¡¯re finally back!¡± The man in a loose green robe looked extremely tired as he rode through the prefecture capital walls on a ferghana horse. His entrance was recognized by many people.


    ¡°It¡¯s the chief of the preeminent Hong family, Hong Wei.¡±


    ¡°Greetings, Chief Hong.¡±


    ¡­


    Many people along the street greeted the man. Clearly, he was none other than Hong Wei, chief of the preeminent Hong family of Yunfeng prefecture capital.


    ¡°I heard that his son, the first young master of the Hong family, Hong Yunfei, managed to enter the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡­ is it true?¡±


    ¡°The Valley of the Medicine Masters? The sect that rules over Yunyang country and has adepts of the Connate stage?¡±


    ¡°Indeed. Accordingly, all sixteen countries in the western valley, including Yunyang country, have to prepare offerings to the Valley of the Medicine Masters every year to seek protection.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve heard of that too. Apparently, it was only because of their protection that other Connate stage adepts did not come and cause trouble in Yunyang country.¡±


    ¡°The Valley of the Medicine Masters is truly the guardian angel of Yunyang country.¡±


    ¡°But, where did you hear that Hong Yunfei entered the Valley?


    ¡°From a drunk disciple of the Hong family.¡±


    ¡­


    Hearing the commotion, Hong Wei frowned slightly and asked, ¡°Who spoke so loosely?¡± However, almost immediately, his frown disappeared. ¡°Forget it, even if they don¡¯t know about it now, they will find out eventually when Yunfei and Dandan return home. Now, maybe it¡¯s for the better that the news has spread¡­ at least the governing Zhao family will not treat us so poorly anymore.¡±


    Soon, Hong Wei returned to the Hong family household.


    ¡°Second Brother, has anything happened in Yunfeng prefecture recently?¡± After washing up, Hong Wei asked his second younger brother, Hong Kun. In the time that he had been away, he had left all matters regarding the family to his brother to handle.


    ¡°Big Brother, nothing much has happened in Yunfeng prefecture¡­ however, that Zhou Donghuang has really grown too quickly.¡± As he spoke, his expression turned serious.


    ¡°How so?¡± asked Hong Wei.


    ¡°A few months ago, someone came to Yunfeng prefecture to find out about Zhou Donghuang¡­ at that time, I thought nothing of it, just thinking that he had made some enemies outside, who were now seeking revenge against his family. But just a month ago, someone from the Chu royal household came straight to the Zhao governor¡¯s household. I heard some people from the Zhao family say that the man was the commander of the Chu royal guard, Xue Meng, a Petty Consummate adept!¡± Hong Kun¡¯s face darkened as he spoke.


    ¡°If it was someone else finding out about Zhou Donghuang¡¯s background, they may just be seeking revenge. But why would the Chu royal household do something like that? Even if they did want to do that, they would not create such a huge fuss just to find out about his background. Although I have no idea why¡­ but if Zhou Donghuang was able to get the attention of the Chu royal household in just a year after leaving Yunfeng prefecture, and even have the royal household send a Petty Consummate adept personally to check on him, he must be doing well out there.¡± Hong Kun shared his thoughts.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Hearing Hong Kun¡¯s words, Hong Wei just snorted, as if he was unimpressed. ¡°So what if he is doing well out there? Could he possibly be on the level of the Chu royal household? At most, he is highly regarded by the Chu royal household. Taking a step back, even if he has the power to compete with the Chu royal household, not just the Chu royal household, even the Yunyang imperial court is nothing compared to the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters! And my daughter-in-law, Chen Dandan, is the biological daughter of the second elder from the Valley of the Medicine Masters!¡±


    ¡­


    The sixteen countries of the eastern valley, including Yunyang country, were all closely linked geographically. The Valley of the Medicine Masters was found in the south-western area of the sixteen countries of the eastern valley. It was a vast valley, highly developed, and it had major roads leading out of the valley. On each of these main roads, there was a majestic gate that stood over ten-meters tall and four-meters wide. On the side of each gate, a huge five-meter-tall stone was carved with the flowing words ¡°Valley of the Medicine Masters.¡±


    Now, just outside of one of these gates, there were three people, and one was sprawled on the ground.


    ¡°Chen Dandan, what is this? Are you destroying the bridge once you¡¯ve crossed it?¡± The young man, with blood spewing out of his mouth and dirt all over his face, stared forlornly at the young girl not far away.


    The young girl was in a light blue shirt and had a childishly beautiful face that was sure to evoke the envy of other girls her age. She was looking coldly at the teenager who lay injured on the ground, her watery eyes filled with disgust.


    ¡°Hong Yunfei, you are not fit to say anything like that,¡± said the girl with a cold laugh. ¡°I used to find it strange why a young master from a preeminent family would come to a deserted place like Qingshan town and chase me so desperately as if I was the only girl left in the whole world. Actually, both you and your father had always known that my father was the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters. You tried so hard to get close to me, while your father tried so many ways to please me; surely it was because you were eyeing my father¡¯s prestige and power. But I will not be made use of so easily. Today, I am being merciful by not killing you. You had better scram back to Yunyang country and be the preeminent young master you are. Someone as worthless as you is not fit to enter the Valley of the Medicine Masters.¡±


    Clearly, the two of them were Chen Dandan and Hong Yunfei, from the inferior Yunfeng prefecture of Yunyang country. Hong Yunfei was the first young master of the preeminent Hong family of Yunfeng prefecture. Chen Dandan was originally the adopted daughter of a guild master of Qingshan town, but after being chased by Hong Yunfei, she had gotten close to him. In order to please him and the Hong family, she had even betrayed her adopted mother who had taken such good care of her. She had thought that it was finally her chance to shine, like a phoenix rising into the skies. However, she had never imagined that she had always been a phoenix, and one that could look over the whole Yunyang country!


    ¡°Not only was that invalid, Zhou Donghuang not worthy of me¡­ even you, Hong Yunfei, are not worthy of me either!¡± Chen Dandan looked at him with disdain and walked towards the gate. The disciples standing guard outside the gate all bowed and greeted her respectfully, ¡°Lady Dandan.¡±


    Seeing Chen Dandan disappear into the gates, Hong Yunfei struggled to stand up to chase after her.


    Bang!!


    The loud sound came from one of the two young men who were just about to turn to leave with Chen Dandan. He had just stepped on Hong Yunfei and pushed him to the ground. He smiled and said, ¡°Hong Yunfei, did you not hear what Sister Dandan said? You better return to Yunyang country, otherwise, I will make you stay outside these gates forever!¡± The man smiled coldly, his eyes filled with a murderous glint.


    ¡°Hong Yunfei, I advise you not to yearn for something unattainable¡­ even the princes of Yunyang country are not worthy of Sister Dandan; who do you think you are? You¡¯re just someone from a preeminent family of Yunyang country.¡± The other young man shook his head and said, ¡°Sister Dandan already asked you to scram, and Second Elder has also kicked you out of the sect¡­ even if you do not wish to leave, you can never step foot into the Valley.¡±


    ¡°What?!¡± The color drained from Hong Yunfei¡¯s face. ¡°Teacher¡­ has kicked me out? What did I do wrong? Did I do anything wrong?¡± His eyes were filled with indignance.


    ¡°You think Second Elder would accept you based on your pitiful talent? He had only accepted you because you had helped him to find his daughter. Now, Sister Dandan does not want to see you any longer¡­ why would Second Elder keep you? Ridiculous!¡±


    ¡­


    Hearing their condescending words, Hong Yunfei was filled with regret. He punched the ground furiously as blood flew from his fist. With a deep breath, he struggled to stand up. After a long look at the gate to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, he then dragged himself home.


    He was filled with anguish. ¡°The biggest mistake I made was bringing Chen Dandan out of Qingshan town¡­ I should have let her stay there forever to be a country bumpkin! I regret it!!¡±

 Chapter 120 - Arrival of the Imperial Court

    Chapter 120: Arrival of the Imperial Court


    March 30, 1229 of the Ziyun Era. Deep in the night.


    Whoosh!


    A huge creature swept through the night like a gust of wind into the skies above the Chu royal city, directly above the Chu royal household. As the huge creature paused in the sky, a forceful order came from above its back, ¡°Down!¡±


    Immediately, the creature broke through the clouds, going straight down towards the Chu royal household. As the clouds spread, a majestic condor appeared, its wings spreading to more than eight meters wide. The bird¡¯s body was a pale green, its eyes ashen grey. Soon. it had landed in the open courtyard of the Chu royal household.


    ¡°Who?!¡±


    ¡°Who is it?!¡±


    ¡­


    The sound of the condor landing was loud enough for the patrolling guards to be alarmed. They shouted and came from all directions, holding onto weapons that glinted in the moonlight. But when they saw the massive creature before them, their expression changed, ¡°A flying¡­ flying beast?!¡±


    The condor was more than two-meters tall, as huge as a small hill, giving one a sense of overbearing.


    ¡°It¡¯s me.¡± As an old voice rung out, an old man leaped out from the bird¡¯s back and appeared in front of the guards. As the moon lit up his face, all the guards stood at attention and bowed, ¡°Second Elder.¡±


    Clearly, the old man was the second elder of the Chu royal household, Xiang Donghua.


    However, when he landed, he did not pay any attention to the guard, but turned around to face the bird and bowed deeply. ¡°Commander Xiao, I¡¯ll bring you to see our king.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± came the response from the back of the bird. A burly figure leaped off the bird, his actions as graceful as flowing water, much more at ease than Xiang Donghua.


    The man was in a body of golden armor and looked almost sixty years old. Half his hair was white, but his fearsome eyes were terrifying.


    ¡°This is the commander of the Yunyang imperial guard, Xiao Jiancheng, Commander Xiao.¡± Xiang Donghua introduced him to the guards as if afraid they would offend him.


    The guards were momentarily stunned before bowing in unison, ¡°Greetings, Commander Xiao!¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± responded Xiang Donghua before he immediately led to the way to the king¡¯s residence.


    After the two men had left, the guards then regained their composure.


    ¡°My goodness! That man¡­ is the commander of the imperial guard, Xiao Jiancheng? I heard that he achieved Great Consummation ten years ago, and he is one of the strongest Great Consummate adepts in the imperial household,¡± said one of the guards softly.


    ¡°That Commander Xiao came to our Western Chu Ridge four years ago, but he did not enter the city but went right into the Lost Forest¡­ he was here to hunt the two golden-crowned eagles.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I know about that too. Apparently, although he was a Great Consummate adept, he was severely defeated by the two golden-crowned eagles, and most of his party died.¡±


    ¡°The golden-crowned eagles can fly, so even though they are just Petty Consummate demons, they do not fear Great Consummate adepts.¡±


    ¡°Looks like Commander Xiao is here to make up for his mistake.¡±


    ¡°If he is not confident, he definitely wouldn¡¯t have come.¡±


    ¡°If I am not wrong, this condor is the tamed Petty Consummate demon from the Yunyang imperial court, the Cloud Condor!¡±


    ¡­


    The guards in the Chu royal household were well-read and knew of the Cloud Condor of the imperial court.


    ¡°If even the Cloud Condor has been activated, looks like the imperial court is not messing around this time!¡±


    ¡°Four years ago, if Commander Xiao had come with the Cloud Condors, the two golden-crowned eagles would not be around today.¡±


    ¡°A well-established Great Consummate adept paired with a Petty Consummate demon against two golden-crowned eagles, wouldn¡¯t that be easy?¡±


    ¡­


    By now, Xiang Donghua had brought Commander Xiao to the king¡¯s residence.


    ¡°Your Highness.¡± As he stood in the courtyard, Xiang Donghua called into the rooms.


    Although it was late in the night, the light was still lit in the room. The man inside was clearly still awake.


    ¡°Second Elder, you are back so quickly?¡± came the shocked response from inside the room.


    Not long later, the door opened as the Chu king, Xiang Xiong, stepped out. He was in a sleeping gown and was evidently about to go to bed.


    ¡°Commander Xue?¡± Just as he walked out of the door, Xiang Xiong noticed Xiao Jiancheng standing beside Xiang Donghua. He would never have thought that the imperial court would send someone here.


    Four years ago, this man had come to the Western Chu Ridge once to hunt the two golden-crowned eagles but had returned unsuccessfully after suffering a heavy defeat. In his eyes, although four years had passed, the man may still be unable to defeat the two golden-crowned eagles.


    ¡°Chu king, it¡¯s been long.¡± Xiao Jiancheng nodded to Xiang Xiong. Although Xiang Xiong was the king of the whole ridge, his position in Yunyang country was still not any higher than his, and his strength was far less than his own, so there was no need for Xiao Jiancheng to be respectful.


    On the other hand, Xiang Xiong hurriedly bowed as he greeted, ¡°Xiang Xiong of the Chu royal household of the Western Chu Ridge pays his respects to Commander Xiao.¡± Although Xiang Xiong doubted that Xiao Jiancheng could defeat the two golden-crowned eagles, with the man¡¯s position and power, he still did not dare to be disrespectful.


    ¡°Looks like the king has no confidence in me.¡± Xiao Jiancheng easily saw through Xiang Xiong.


    ¡°Commander Xiao must be joking; I wouldn¡¯t dare think that.¡± Xiang Xiong laughed awkwardly.


    ¡°Your Highness,¡± said Xiang Donghua, who was standing at the side. ¡°Commander Xiao has been training with the bow since his defeat four years ago and even spent a huge amount to learn the ¡®Guanhong Arrow¡¯ technique from the second elder of the Valley of Medicine Masters. Commander Xiao has been so ashamed by his defeat that he has been working tirelessly since to make up for it.¡±


    Xiang Xiong¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Trained in the bow technique for four years? The second-grade technique ¡®Guanhong Arrow?''¡± If he had lacked confidence in Commander Xiao previously, he was now fully confident. Based on his martial arts achievements, Commander Xiao was definitely a talented man and would surely have mastered the bow technique in four years. With the second-grade ¡®Guanhong arrow¡¯ technique and his Great Consummation power, it would not be difficult for him to kill the two golden-crowned eagles.


    ¡°The most important thing is¡­¡± continued Xiang Donghua, ¡°Commander Xiao came with the Cloud Condor of the imperial court.¡±


    Xiang Xiong¡¯s eyes narrowed. ¡°Cloud¡­ Cloud Condor?!¡± Now, he finally understood why Second Elder had been able to return in such a short time. Usually, on the Lightning Leopard, it would take almost four months to go between Chu royal city and the Yunyang imperial city. But now, he had returned in just two months. Looks like he had flown back together with Commander Xiao on the Cloud Condor.


    ¡°Haha¡­¡± Xiang Xiong began laughing hysterically. Finally, once he stopped his laughter, he turned to look at Commander Xiao, his eyes brimming with confidence. ¡°Commander Xiao, with the Cloud Condor¡­ this time, you will definitely be able to easily kill those two golden-crowned eagles! Commander Xiao, when are you planning to strike?¡± asked Xiang Xiong seriously.


    ¡°It has been a long journey, I want to wash up and take a good rest before we attack tomorrow morning,¡± Xiao Jiancheng said flatly. ¡°Before that, I hope that you can send someone to watch that young man and don¡¯t let him escape. If he tries to run, wake me immediately!¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± answered Xiang Xiong respectfully. He got Xiang Donghua to arrange a room for Xiao Jiancheng, before returning to his own room to change.


    ¡°Your Highness.¡± In the room, the beautiful Fan Ji helped Xiang Xiong to change. She asked, ¡°That Commander Xiao and the Cloud Condor should be more than enough to deal with the young man and the two golden-crowned eagles?¡±


    ¡°As long as that young man does not escape, it will definitely be a success.¡± Xiang Xiong changed his clothes and rushed out of the door. ¡°Now, I will look for Xue Meng to send someone to watch Chuxiu Inn to prevent anyone from tipping the young man off. My lady, tomorrow, Commander Xiao and the Cloud Condor will definitely be able to help you avenge your Fan family! Tonight, you just have a good rest.¡±


    As Xiang Xiong left, some of the guards who had just changed shift had already spread the word that Commander Xiao and the Cloud Condor of the imperial court had arrived.

 Chapter 121 - A Sleepless Night

    Chapter 121: A Sleepless Night


    Once the news got out from the Chu royal mansion, it reached the ears of some of the major tycoon families very quickly.


    News spread extremely fast between the various major tycoon families of the Chu royal city, and less than half a day later, all the major tycoon families in the Chu royal city knew that the imperial court of Yunyang was sending someone to the Chu royal city.


    As time passed, the news continued to spread, and it spread to all the major grand families.


    At the same time, Chuxiu Inn was also under tight surveillance by the city guard, to the extent that all the streets and alleys surrounding Chuxiu Inn had been sealed off, and no one was allowed to enter.


    ¡°Tonight, I have only one demand. Do not let anyone approach or enter Chuxiu Inn to bring news to that Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    Xiang Xiong, the Chu king, said only this one sentence to Commander Xue Meng of the city guard when they met.


    If no one brought him news, he did not think that Zhou Donghuang could know about Commander Xiao bringing the Cloud Condor to the Chu royal city, and would not need to worry that Zhou Donghuang would leave.


    Of course, if Zhou Donghuang had coincidentally decided to leave that night, the city guard could not possibly stop him, because he had two golden-crowned eagles to ride and could simply fly out.


    For this reason, he had ordered Xue Meng to personally keep watch on the sky above Chuxiu Inn before he returned from their meeting, and if he saw any hint of movement from the golden-crowned eagles, he was to send word back to the Chu royal family immediately.


    If that occurred, he would wake commander Xiao, who would ride the Cloud Condor in pursuit of the Zhou Donghuang who would be riding the golden-crowned eagles.


    There are several people with Zhou Donghuang, they cannot possibly ride the two golden-crowned eagles and leave together¡­ they will need two trips at least to ferry everyone away.


    Xiang Xiong¡¯s confidence grew as he realized this.


    ¡­


    The Shi family mansion.


    The spacious courtyard was brightly lit.


    There were three people seated around the stone table in the middle of the courtyard.


    ¡°Grandfather, I remember four years ago that the Great Consummation adept that the imperial court of Yunyang sent to kill those two golden-crowned eagles was Commander Xiao Jiancheng of the Yunyang imperial palace guard. He will be coming again, right?¡±


    Shi Yu glanced at Shi Ji who was sitting beside him with a slight frown. ¡°That time, he left with his tail between his legs; this time, what could he possibly do to those two golden-crowned eagles?¡±


    Shi Yu had just arrived at his grandfather Shi Ji¡¯s accommodation, and at the moment, he knew only that the imperial court of Yunyang had sent Xiao Jiancheng and did not know that the imperial court¡¯s Cloud Condor would be coming with him.


    ¡°Father, you should be direct and make it clear to Xiao Yu¡­ you see, not just me, but also Xiao Yu feels that Xiao Jiancheng alone does not have the capability to handle those two golden-crowned eagles.


    Second Master Shi Yan of the Shi family was also present, looking at Shi Ji and shaking his head.


    ¡°Mm?¡±


    Shi Yu gave a start at Shi Yan¡¯s words. ¡°Second Uncle, what do you mean by that?¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­¡±


    Shi Yan laughed for a long time at that. After he had stopped laughing, he made a guess. ¡°Xiao Yu, Commander Xiao will not be coming alone.¡±


    ¡°Not coming alone?¡±


    Shi Yu¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Who else is coming with him?¡±


    ¡°Make a guess.¡±


    Shi Yan chuckled.


    ¡°Guess?¡±


    Shi Yu frowned slightly, and after muttering to himself for a while, his eyes lit up. ¡°Second Uncle, the one who is coming with Commander Xiao¡­ could it be that Cloud Condor of the Yunyang imperial court?¡±


    ¡°Xiao Yu, you managed to guess that?¡±


    Now, not only was Shi Yan stunned, even Shi Ji was stunned.


    ¡°Is it true?¡±


    Shi Yu did not expect himself to have guessed correctly, and he smiled and shook his head. ¡°Actually, I was just putting myself in the shoes of the emperor of Yunyang and imagining what he would have done.¡±


    ¡°If I were him and if I were to send Commander Xiao again, I would definitely not send other Great Consummation adepts with him because that would be too wasteful. Moreover, I would not do anything I was not confident about. Therefore, I would send the Cloud Condor with Commander Xiao, that is the best decision.


    Shi Yu finished in the same breath.


    After listening to Shi Yu, Shi Ji said with an expression of satisfaction, ¡°Yu¡¯er, having you is the Shi family¡¯s fortune¡­ I believe, in the future, the Shi family will go far under your leadership!¡±


    ¡°Grandfather flatters me.¡±


    Shi Yu smiled humbly and glanced subconsciously in the direction of Chuxiu Inn with a cold look.


    ¡°With Commander Xiao and the Cloud Condor together, those two golden-crowned eagles are done for!¡±


    ¡°As for Zhou Donghuang¡­ they probably will not kill him. After all, there probably are some great treasures left behind by a Primal Core adept on him.¡±


    ¡°However, even if they don¡¯t kill him for now, that Zhou Donghuang cannot have a pleasant fate. The imperial court of Yunyang cannot allow such a threat to exist.¡±


    ¡°Father, your killer is on his way to join you!¡±


    ¡­


    The Tang family mansion.


    The great hall was also brightly lit.


    The patriarch of the Tang family, Tang Liunian, sat at the seat of honor, his expression extremely serious. ¡°It really turned out as I guessed, the imperial court of Yunyang sent that Petty Consummation demon, the Cloud Condor.¡±


    ¡°Together with the accomplished Xiao Jiancheng¡­ this time, Young Master Donghuang is in danger.¡±


    As he finished muttering to himself, Tang Liunian heaved a long sigh.


    ¡°Xiao Jiancheng, together with a flying demon that can match the two golden-crowned eagles in speed¡­ those two golden-crowned eagles will have no advantage, and they will definitely be killed in the battle!¡±


    Head Elder Tang Yuxin shook his head with a bitter smile.


    ¡°With the two golden-crowned eagles dead¡­ will Young Master Donghuang have the ability to stand up to Commander Xiao, who is accomplished and famous in the country of Yunyang for many years?¡±


    Second Elder Tang Yong was also present, uncertainty showing in his eyes.


    ¡°It will be difficult.¡±


    Tang Liunian shook his head. Although he knew the youth was confident, the youth¡¯s opponent this time was Xiao Jiancheng who had the help of a Petty Consummation demon, the Cloud Condor, and he could not help but feel that the youth¡¯s chances were slim.


    ¡°Patriarch, are we only able to watch helplessly as Young Master Donghuang goes to his death?¡±


    Tang Young frowned and said in a low voice, ¡°Whatever is said about him, he has saved our lives, and if not for him, Head Elder and I would definitely be dead, and you might not have managed to escape from the grizzly bear.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Patriarch.¡±


    Tang Yuxin also looked at Tang Liunian. ¡°Why don¡¯t we make a trip to Chuxiu Inn and look for Young Master Donghuang to warn him about this, so that he can leave as soon as possible?¡±


    ¡°Head Elder, in your opinion, am I, Tang Liunian, an ungrateful person?¡±


    Tang Liunian smiled bitterly. ¡°As soon as I heard the news, I wanted to personally go to Chuxiu Inn, but I could not even approach it¡­ Chuxiu Inn is completely surrounded by the city guard under the personal command of Xue Meng.¡±


    ¡°Now, even a housefly cannot get near to Chuxiu Inn, much less enter Chuxiu Inn.¡±


    Tang Liunian finished, shaking his head.


    ¡°Moreover, I recently made a special trip to the Ren family mansion to warn Young Master Donghuang to leave through Young Mistress Ren Jiapei, who is rather close to Young Master Donghuang.


    ¡°In the end, although Young Mistress Ren did warn him, he has no intention of leaving. Because of this, I made another trip to the Ren family mansion to confirm this with Young Mistress Ren¡­ but she said that she was confident that her Big Brother Zhou could weather this storm. I have already done so much¡­ what else do you think I can do?¡±


    Faced with Tang Liunian¡¯s counter-arguments, Tang Yuxin and Tang Yong both could not help shaking their heads with a bitter smile.


    Now they knew that their patriarch of their Tang family had done so much behind the scenes.


    Moreover, this Young Master Donghuang did not seem to appreciate it.


    ¡­


    The Yang family mansion.


    ¡°The imperial court of Yunyang has sent both Xiao Jiancheng and that Petty Consummation demon, the Cloud Condor? Excellent!¡±


    Upon receiving the news, Patriarch Yang Yunji of the Yang family was full of excitement.


    Over this period of time, when he saw the two golden-crowned eagles from the Lost Forest arrive at the Tang family banquet, and witnessing the youth standing on one of them as he departed under the escort of the other, he was green with regret.


    If he had not expelled his daughter from the Yang family, the Yang family would be able to grow in strength on the back of that youth who was close to his daughter.


    If they got together, it was almost a given that the Yang family could become a tycoon family!


    In any case, there was no medicine for regret.


    Once things were done, they were done for good. The floodwaters could not be swept back.


    Later on, when he found out that the youth had ordered the golden-crowned eagles to wipe out the Fan family of Tianxiu city, he no longer had any regrets but instead immediately began to take delight in the youth¡¯s impending misfortune, as he felt the youth was about to be in trouble.


    Wiping out the tycoon Fan family and disregarding the decree of the imperial court of Yunyang, the youth was trying to get himself killed!


    Even if the Chu royal family was unable to deal with the youth, in order to preserve the authority of the imperial court of Yunyang, the imperial court could not possibly tolerate the youth breaking the law at will!


    That night, he received news.


    The imperial court of Yunyang had sent an accomplished and experienced Great Consummation adept and a Petty Consummation flying demon Cloud Condor to deal with that Zhou Donghuang.


    Under these circumstances, he did not think that Zhou Donghuang could escape with his life.


    Die¡­ if only he is dead, I will no longer need to have any regrets!


    A cold gleam flashed across Yang Yunji¡¯s eyes, and he gritted his teeth with a savage expression on his face. When he dies, it will prove that my decision was correct.


    If I did not expel that girl, Yang Zixi from the Yang family, Zhou Donghuan**g¡¯s close relationship with that girl would have dragged the Yang family into disaster when he offended the imperial court of Yunyang.


    ¡­


    At the same time.


    The seniors of many of the tycoon and grand families were gathered through the night, discussing the arrival of the men from the imperial court that night.


    ¡°The Chu king has ordered the city guard to seal off the streets and alleys surrounding Chuxiu Inn, with the intention of preventing anyone from bringing news to Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    ¡°Commander Xiao from the imperial court obviously does not intend to strike tonight.¡±


    ¡°He and the Cloud Condor had a long journey here, and with a night¡¯s rest, they will be able to recuperate and regain their energy and face Zhou Donghuang and the two golden-crowned eagles in their best possible state.¡±


    ¡°Tomorrow, I fear there will be a terrible battle at Chuxiu Inn.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s all disperse and go back to rest¡­ tomorrow morning, we¡¯ll go to Chuxiu Inn and watch Commander Xiao from the imperial court and the Cloud Condor fight Zhou Donghuang and the two golden-crowned eagles!¡±


    ¡­


    Of course, most people could not sleep that night due to their anticipation of the fight at Chuxiu Inn the next morning.

 Chapter 122 - : Great Power Arrives

    Chapter 122: Great Power Arrives


    The morning of March 31, 1229 of the Ziyun Era.


    Swoosh!!


    A huge creature flew through the air above the Chu royal mansion, swift as thunder, and before long arrived at Chuxiu Inn, circling in the air and surveying the courtyards and guest rooms below.


    ¡°Commander Xiao has arrived.¡±


    The commander of the city guard stationed outside Chuxiu Inn, Xue Meng, saw the large Cloud Condor high above Chuxiu Inn flying into Chuxiu Inn, and his eyes lit up.


    ¡°We¡¯ll enter.¡±


    The Chu king, Xiang Xiong, was standing beside Xue Meng and saw the Cloud Condor fly into Chuxiu Inn at the same time as Xue Meng. He gave the order and led the way into Chuxiu Inn.


    Two old men followed closely behind Xiang Xiong.


    One of the old men was the second elder of the Chu royal family, Xiang Donghua, who had personally made the trip to the imperial court of Yunyang to invite Commander Xiao Jiancheng of the imperial guard over.


    The other old man was the head elder of the Chu royal family, Xiang Chong.


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡±


    Xue Meng acknowledged and turned to give the order to his lieutenants. ¡°Let everyone withdraw, those who should rest may go, and those on patrol duty in the city may carry on!¡±


    At Xue Meng¡¯s order, the city guards who were sealing off the streets and alleys around Chuxiu Inn dispersed.


    The presence of these city guards was only to prevent anyone from approaching Chuxiu Inn to bring word to that youth.


    Now that the commander of the imperial guard and the Cloud Condor from the imperial court of Yunyang had arrived, there was no need to be concerned that someone would bring news to that youth.


    It would be tempting death for someone to dare bring news to that youth now, and even if he were successful, that youth had lost the opportunity to flee.


    Under these circumstances, there was no purpose for the group of city guards to maintain their presence here.


    ¡­


    As the Cloud Condor carrying Xiao Jiancheng flew into the air over Chuxiu Inn, no less than twenty flying demons took off into the air surrounding Chuxiu Inn and approached Chuxiu Inn.


    One or two people stood on the backs of each of these flying demons.


    However, only two of these flying demons flew into the airspace bordering Chuxiu Inn, and the other flying demons could only fly around the surrounding area.


    ¡°This Cloud Condor is a Petty Consummation flying demon¡­ the golden flame eagle, the level-seven flying demon raised by our Ouyang family, dares not go any further.¡±


    An eagle covered with feathers like golden flames circled in the air around Chuxiu Inn. It was obviously a size smaller than the golden-crowned eagles, and two people were standing on it.


    One was a middle-aged man, and the other was a young man.


    The one who had sighed was the middle-aged man. He was of average build, wore a green robe and had long hair that was black as ink hanging over his shoulder. He stared at the Cloud Condor circling in the air above Chuxiu Inn with his sharp and far-sighted gaze.


    ¡°Patriarch Ouyang, that applies not only to the golden flame eagle of your Ouyang family¡­ isn¡¯t it the same for the level-seven white-headed vulture flying demon raised by our Lu family?¡± a cheerful voice piped up from nearby.


    The speaker was another thin middle-aged man in a long grey robe with salt-and-pepper hair, looking at the middle-aged man standing on the back of the golden flame eagle with a slight smile.


    This middle-aged man had also arrived standing on the back of a flying demon.


    This flying demon was a vulture completely covered in black feathers, and only the feathers around its bare head were white. While circling in the air, it had caught the gaze of the Cloud Condor and also gave off waves of fear.


    ¡°I acknowledge Uncle Lu.¡±


    Just then, the young man on the back of the golden flame eagle bowed respectfully to the middle-aged man in the grey robe on the back of the white-headed eagle.


    ¡°Haha¡­ Qiuping has grown up so quickly. How is it? Any intention to take a wife yet? If not, Uncle Lu will choose a beautiful one from the Lu family, and just as well the Lu family can be related to your Ouyang family by marriage.¡±


    The middle-aged man laughed heartily at the young man¡¯s bow, an amicable expression on his face.


    The three of them were from two of the three elite tycoon families of the Chu royal city. They were Patriarch Ouyang Ye and First Young Master Ouyang Qiuping of the Ouyang family, and Patriarch Lu Yuanshan of the Lu family.


    ¡°Patriarch Lu, actually we should be content¡­ in the Chu royal city, other than the Chu royal family which raises a level-eight flying demon, only the flying demons raised by our two families have that level of ability.¡±


    At Lu Yuanshan¡¯s words, Ouyang Ye glanced towards the east as he said with a smile, ¡°Didn¡¯t you see the patriarch of the Liu family standing on the back of the level-six flying demon gale bird, looking at Chuxiu Inn from such a distance?¡±


    ¡°What can he see at such a distance? I don¡¯t know what excitement he can catch.¡±


    Flying demons were notoriously difficult to rear.


    Only the Chu royal family had managed to rear a level-eight flying demon in the entire Chu royal city or even the entire Western Ridge of the Chu king.


    In any case, the Chu king had not ridden that flying demon because he knew that it would not dare approach the Cloud Condor or the golden-crowned eagles.


    He might as well enter Chuxiu Inn himself, and this way he would be able to watch from the closest distance possible as the man sent by the imperial palace attacked and killed those two golden-crowned eagles and captured that youth.


    In the entire Chu royal city, only the two elite tycoon families, the Ouyang and Lu families, had level-seven flying demons.


    As for the other families, they could only rear some level-five or level-six flying demons and could only look on from the outskirts of Chuxiu Inn.


    ¡°The Liu family originally had a level-seven flying demon¡­ however, their little son roasted and ate the baby flying demon not long after it hatched.¡±


    Lu Yuanshan laughed.


    ¡°The Chu king and Commander Xue are standing outside that guest apartment¡­ it seems that the youth is staying in that apartment.¡±


    Suddenly, Lu Yuanshan¡¯s gaze sharpened, and he stared into Chuxiu Inn.


    Now, due to the distance, he could only see four figures standing outside the courtyard of one of the guest apartments, and from the attire of the leading figure, it was not difficult to tell that he was the king of the Chu royal family, Xiang Xiong.


    ¡°We are closer than them, but we can barely see anything¡­ Old Liu and the rest must surely have an even worse view.¡±


    Ouyang Ye shook his head with a bitter smile.


    ¡°That can¡¯t be helped¡­ we cannot brazenly walk into Chuxiu Inn to gawk, can we? Even if the Chu king doesn¡¯t mind, who is to say whether that man from the imperial court will take offense at the sight of us and do something unpleasant to us?¡±


    Lu Yuanshan also broke out into a bitter smile. ¡°He is a Great Consummation adept, even if he used just one arm, we would not be able to resist him.¡±


    ¡°Father! Uncle Lu!¡±


    Just as Ouyang Ye and Lu Yuanshan were smiling bitterly at each other, Ouyang Qiuping spotted a commotion in Chuxiu Inn. ¡°Look! It¡¯s those two golden-crowned eagles! They were in the neighboring courtyard, now they are in the air above the courtyard where the Chu King and the others are at.¡±


    When Ouyang Ye and Lu Yuanshan heard this, they refocused their gaze on Chuxiu Inn and saw that it was indeed the case. ¡°It seems that youth is really staying in that guest apartment.¡±


    ¡­


    In the courtyard of the second guest apartment.


    A youth dressed in clothes whiter than snow was sitting at a stone table, contentedly sipping tea.


    ¡°Young Master!¡±


    ¡°Young Master!¡±


    As the voices of his two companion demons reached him, in the sky above the courtyard, the youth appeared immediately with the two giant eagles, with pitch-black bodies and golden heads.


    ¡°Big Gold, Little Gold¡­ it¡¯s early in the morning, what are you fussing about?¡± the youth asked lazily, as he raised an eyebrow sluggishly, and swept a languid gaze over the two golden-crowned eagles circling in the air.


    ¡°Young Master, there is a Cloud Condor above, and it looks to be no weaker than us¡­ it is probably also a Petty Consummation flying demon.¡±


    Big Gold cast a wary glance at the air above him and continued, ¡°The person on his back seems familiar, he is the human who was soundly defeated by Little Gold and I four years ago and left with his tail between his legs, a Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering.¡±


    ¡°Big Brother, I remember that too now that you mentioned it.¡±


    Little Gold looked at the sky above, and continued, ¡°I also find this human familiar. That time, those people with him all had qi-gathering elixirs that increased the sense of qi by a hundred percent. That occasion was the largest bounty we had after living so long in the Lost Forest.¡±


    Little Gold quickly looked back again. ¡°However, with the qi-gathering elixir from Young Master, that kind of qi-gathering elixir is nothing more than rubbish.


    ¡°That Cloud Condor is descending!¡±


    Following Big Gold¡¯s warning, the Cloud Condor swooped down from on high into the air above the courtyard the youth was in, circling and keeping a watchful eye on Big Gold and Little Gold.


    ¡°You are Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    On the Cloud Condor¡¯s back, a robust middle-aged man with hair that was turning white, dressed in golden armor, looked down coldly on the youth sipping tea in the courtyard. He spoke in an interrogative tone.


    This man and bird were the Great Consummation adept, Xiao Jiancheng and the Petty Consummation demon Cloud Condor sent by the imperial court of Yunyang.


    Crash!!


    Almost as soon as Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s voice died away, the door of the courtyard of the second guest apartment was burst open by brute force. Crumbled stone was all over the floor and rubble rolled in all directions.


    Immediately, four figures led by a middle-aged man in a dark gold dragon robe strode into the courtyard of the second guest apartment, staring ferociously at the youth.


    ¡°I was just saying that you were standing outside foolishly, not making a sound and not coming in¡­ turns out that you were waiting for him.¡±


    The youth spread his arms and stretched as he stood up unhurriedly, his gaze sweeping over the four people who had just come through the door, finally landing on the well-built man on the back of the Cloud Condor.


    The four men led by Xiang Xiong could not help staring in shock when they heard the youth.


    They knew then that the youth had long been aware of them.


    ¡°You, are you from the imperial court of Yunyang?¡±


    The youth squinted as he stared at the well-built middle-aged man in golden armor on the Cloud Condor¡¯s back, questioning him in an even tone.

 Chapter 123 - The Sword Sphere Transforms Into a Sword

    Chapter 123: The Sword Sphere Transforms Into a Sword


    ¡°Correct!¡± the well-built middle-aged man answered proudly with a cold, dispassionate expression. ¡°I am the fourth elder of the imperial court of Yunyang, the commander of the imperial guard, Xiao Jiancheng!¡±


    Xiao Jiancheng was not only the commander of the imperial guard of Yunyang, but also the fourth elder of the imperial court of Yunyang, one of the Great Consummation adepts of the imperial court of Yunyang, and moreover one of the strongest.


    It could be said that in the country of Yunyang, anyone who was not hopelessly out of touch would know of Xiao Jiancheng, the accomplished Great Consummation adept of Yunyang country.


    ¡°Never heard of you.¡±


    The youth spoke casually, causing Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s expression to turn serious immediately. The arrogance Xiao Jiancheng displayed earlier was shattered to bits.


    ¡°But¡­ I don¡¯t like having someone standing above me.¡±


    The youth spoke again, and suddenly he was toying with a small metal ball which seemed to have appeared from nowhere. He raised his arm gently, and a small metal sword that gleamed coldly flew out.


    Swish!!


    The small metal sword cut through the air with an ear-piercing whistle.


    Pak!


    The moment the whistling sound died away, the youth¡¯s right hand, which he had not even had time to lower, opened as though to catch something, and the small metal sword which had returned transformed back into the small metal ball was caught in his hand.


    In the same instant, the Petty Consummation flying demon Cloud Condor which had been circling in the air plunged to the ground under the shocked gaze of the four men led by Xiang Xiong


    Crash!!


    Accompanied by a deafening crash, the body of the Cloud Condor smashed heavily into the courtyard, and because the man on its back had given it a push before it hit the ground, its body was smashed out of shape.


    Upon close inspection, a bloody hole could be clearly seen on the Cloud Condor¡¯s head from which warm blood was still spurting.


    Obviously, this was the fatal wound.


    Crash!


    At the same time, the man who plunged down with the Cloud Condor as it died had slapped its back decisively, reducing the speed of his fall and landing soundly before the four men of the Chu royal family.


    The speed of his reaction was too fast for the eye to follow.


    To the extent that the four men from the Chu royal family were questioning themselves whether they would have fallen together with the Cloud Condor and died, or at least suffered serious injury if they were in the same situation.


    Immediately, the four men subconsciously glanced respectfully at the back of the well-built man.


    However, very quickly, when they took a second look at the youth in white lounging at the stone table, they recalled the previous scene and came to their senses as their expressions changed.


    Earlier, a sword had shot out as the youth had raised his arm casually and cleanly killed the Petty Consummation Cloud Condor.


    It was only sometime after the entire event that the four men from the Chu royal family, and Xiao Jiancheng who had been on the Cloud Condor¡¯s back, were able to regain their wits. They were so frightened that they broke into a cold sweat.


    ¡°You¡­ what did you do?!¡±


    Although Xiao Jiancheng had landed soundly without a scratch, he looked at the youth who was still casually sipping tea at the stone table with a grave expression.


    Before setting off that day, he had already obtained confirmation directly from the Chu king Xiang Xiong that the youth before him was indeed born in a small inferior-level prefecture within the Western Ridge of the Chu King. Moreover, he had grown up in that small inferior-level prefecture. Because of this, he could conclude immediately: This youth had indeed probably had gained some treasure from a magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage.


    That morning, he had arrived on the Petty Consummation demon Cloud Condor, supposing that he could easily kill those two golden-crowned eagles before capturing the youth and bringing him back to the imperial court of Yunyang.


    But he never imagined in his wildest dreams that the youth would strike and kill the Cloud Condor immediately, and the speed of that sword was so great that neither the Cloud Condor nor himself could not react in time.


    In any case, faced with Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s solemn question, the youth had no intention of responding and sat there silently sipping his tea as though no one else was present as he toyed with the small metal ball in his hand.


    Seeing this, Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s expression darkened.


    He, Xiao Jiancheng, had attained Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering ten years ago, and even in the imperial court of Yunyang, his position was extremely high.


    Now, a youth dared to show him disrespect?


    If he had not been so fearful of the trick that the youth had just used, and which he knew he could not defend against, he would have struck long ago and captured the youth.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, do you think that you are invincible since you have some secret weapon?¡±


    A moment later, seeing that the youth continued to ignore him, Xiao Jiancheng could no longer control himself and became thoroughly frustrated as he stared icy daggers at the youth.


    Although the trick that the youth had just used had caused a sense of dread in him, he was still the only Great Consummation adept among all the Great Consummation adepts of the imperial court of Yunyang who specialized in defense, and he was known to have the strongest defense in the entire country of Yunyang.


    Thinking back on it, if he was prepared and was on guard against the youth¡¯s trick, he was confident that he could block it.


    Earlier, the youth was able to get the better of him only because he had been unprepared.


    After all, he was riding the Cloud Condor as it circled in the air, and had been guarding mainly against the two flying demon golden-crowned eagles. Who would have thought that the youth on the ground could pose a threat to him and the Cloud Condor in the air?


    ¡°I, Xiao Jiancheng, have perfected the highest levels of the imperial court of Yunyang¡¯s second-grade technique ¡®Crazy Bull Strength,¡¯ and also the third-grade defensive techniques that I have integrated with Crazy Bull Strength into a defensive technique that is almost the quality of a first-grade defensive technique.¡±


    Xiao Jiancheng stepped forward, looking humorlessly at the youth as he said, ¡°In the country of Yunyang, the number of people below the Connate stage who can break through my defense can be counted on one hand, and all of them are Great Consummation adepts who are at the threshold of the Connate stage.


    ¡°Today, I would like to see whether your underhand methods can break through my defense!¡±


    As soon as he finished, Xiao Jiangcheng advanced suddenly. He seemed to be transformed into a raging bull, charging towards Zhou Donghuang who was still sipping tea, accelerating all the while.


    Everything happened without warning, such that even the four men from the Chu royal family did not expect Xiao Jiancheng to make any move.


    As he approached Zhou Donghuang, his speed was great enough to distort the air and produce clearly audible sonic booms.


    Sonic booms could only be produced by moving through the air with a thousand jin of strength.


    This was evidence that Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s offensive was all out, and that he was putting everything he had into this attack!


    Obviously, although Xiao Jiancheng claimed that he did not fear the youth¡¯s secret weapon, he was actually fearful in his heart. Otherwise, he would not have struck without warning immediately after making his empty boast.


    ¡°Now, I would like to see how you use your secret weapon!¡±


    As he forced his way forward till he was inches away from the youth, a cold look came into Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s eyes. He did not think that this youth before him could still have time to deploy his secret weapon to attack him.


    Whoosh!!


    Xiao Jiancheng shot out a clawed hand, aiming for the youth¡¯s right hand, which was holding the metal ball, intending to restrain the youth¡¯s and prevent him from activating that secret weapon which was so incredibly fast.


    In Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s view, attacking without warning and using the imperial court of Yunyang¡¯s national technique Crazy Bull Strength to increase his speed, the youth would definitely not be able to react in time.


    ¡°Decent speed, but too bad it¡¯s too clumsy.¡±


    Faced with Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s ferocious attack, Zhou Donghuang remained unfazed, and as he spoke casually, he sprang up and rose into the air as though he was ignoring gravity.


    Cloud-scaling ladder, a first-grade technique.


    This technique was one that Zhou Donghuang had obtained by coincidence on Earth¡¯s Wudang mountain. It was supposedly the ultimate skill of the Wudang sect of the ancient times.


    ¡°How is this possible?!¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang seeming to rise up as though he was stepping on thin air, rising above him in a flash and dodging his attack, Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s eyes went wide with shock as his expression changed.


    ¡°A first-grade swiftness technique! You actually know a first-grade swiftness technique!¡±


    Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s shocked and fearful voice rang out and echoed around the courtyard.


    Xiao Jiancheng had experienced a second-grade swiftness technique, and it was definitely not as fearsome as this, therefore, there was only one possibility¡­ the youth was demonstrating what even the imperial court of Yunyang did not have¡ªa first-grade technique!


    A first-grade technique?!


    Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s cry reached the ears of the four men of the Chu royal family, and their eyes widened.


    Even the Valley of the Medicine Masters, which looked with contempt upon the imperial court of Yunyang, only had two first-grade techniques.


    And this youth could actually demonstrate a first-grade technique?


    Swish!!


    As Zhou Donghuang demonstrated Cloud-Scaling Ladder, he flicked out his right hand once more, and the sword sphere once again transformed into a small sword that gleamed coldly and whistled as it flew out straight towards Xiao Jiancheng.


    ¡°Ahhhh¡ª!¡±


    Before Zhou Donghuang flicked his arm out, Xiao Jiancheng had already used brute force to check his inertia, bringing himself to a halt and putting all his strength into defense, his muscles swelling and the surface of his skin faintly gleaming with light.


    His body was saturated with Qi.


    This was the hallmark of an adept at the threshold of the Connate stage.


    Of course, Xiao Jiancheng was only at the threshold of the Connate stage because he had concentrated on defensive techniques, although he fell far short in other aspects.


    Seeing this, Zhou Donghuang smiled condescendingly. ¡°Parlor tricks!¡±


    As soon as Zhou Donghuang finished speaking, the coldly-gleaming small metal sword that the sword sphere had transformed into had already passed easily through Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s chest and went cleanly through his body with a spray of bloody mist.


    It was as though Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s defense was nonexistent.


    Even then, the small sword bore no trace of blood and circled in the air before transforming back into a small metal sphere and returning to Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Big Brother¡­ this was the small metal sphere you mentioned earlier?¡±


    Previously, Little Gold had already been frightened by how Zhou Donghuang had killed the Cloud Condor, and now, seeing how Zhou Donghuang killed Xiao Jiancheng in a similar manner, his eyes widened and he could not help being overcome by terror.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Big Gold¡¯s serious tone carried more than a hint of dread.

 Chapter 124 - One Person Against a Country

    Chapter 124: One Person Against a Country


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Xiao Jiancheng pressed his hands to his chest as though in a daze in an effort to staunch the flow of blood. To his despair, it continued to seep out between his fingers as he began to tremble more and more violently with anxiety.


    Finally, Xiao Jiancheng spat out a word as he glanced at the figure in white who landed soundly beside him, before collapsing with a look of indignation.


    Thud!


    As he fell, he still bore a look of indignation in his dulled eyes that were staring ferociously ahead.


    ¡­


    After Xiao Jiancheng collapsed, the only sound in the large courtyard was the sound of the two golden-crowned eagles flapping their wings as they circled in the air.


    Zhou Donghuang sat at the stone table, raising his tea that had not yet cooled and taking a sip. Then he looked evenly at the four men from the Chu royal family.


    When the four men, who had been shocked at how Xiao Jiancheng had been killed in a single attack, became aware of the youth¡¯s gaze, their expressions changed completely. Looks of fear and panic simultaneously began to show in their eyes.


    Although there were four of them, they might not even have been a match for Xiao Jiancheng.


    Earlier, their courage had been destroyed by the shock of Xiao Jiancheng¡¯s death, how could they entertain any notion of hostility?


    Thud!


    The Chu king Xiang Xiong was the first to grit his teeth and kneel down, paying his respects to the youth. ¡°Xiang Xiong was confused and offended Young Master Donghuang, hopefully, hopefully I can make amends to Young Master Donghuang!¡±


    As the king of the Western Ridge of the Chu King, the Chu king Xiang Xiong placed great importance on his dignity, but in these circumstances, and after seeing that even Xiao Jiancheng and the Cloud Condor sent by the imperial court of Yunyang had been killed in one attack by the youth before him, his dignity was no longer relevant and was now the last thing on his mind.


    Now, he had only one concern, and that was to survive at any cost.


    He had not witnessed the youth¡¯s tactic before, although he had heard about it.


    His wife Fan Ji¡¯s family had been wiped out by the two golden-crowned eagles at the youth¡¯s command¡­ someone so ruthless that he would wipe out an entire family might well decide to wipe out the Chu royal family in a fit of anger!


    Although the Chu royal family had a Great Consummation adept, he had only been recently promoted several years ago and was no match for Xiao Jiancheng. How could he be a match for this youth who had killed Xiao Jiancheng with one strike?


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, show mercy!¡±


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, show mercy!¡±


    ¡­


    The Chu king Xiang Xiong had already fallen to his knees, and as his subordinates, Xue Meng and the other two men followed suit without hesitation. If one looked closely, it could be seen that their bodies were trembling slightly.


    The fearsomeness of the youth¡¯s ability was something they could not have imagined in their wildest dreams.


    Even the techniques of a Connate stage adept¡­ could not match up?


    The three of them were trembling in their hearts.


    Of course, they could be sure of one detail, and it was that the youth was not a Connate stage adept.


    When a Connate stage adept was in action, the great amount of Connate stage qi would flow to the surface of the adept¡¯s body and be revealed.


    Exuding qi was the hallmark of a Connate stage adept.


    Moreover, the youth had not exuded any trace of qi when he had struck first, nor when he had demonstrated what they suspected was a first-grade swiftness technique. This proved that he was not a Connate stage adept and was at most a Great Consummation adept.


    Zhou Donghuang merely swept a glance over the four men of the Chu royal family as they knelt down, and it was only at the sight of their pale faces and visibly palpitations that he responded.


    Zhou Donghuang took out a piece of paper that was crammed with writing, tossing it into the air and sending it floating lightly to land in front of Xiang Xiong. ¡°You have three months to gather all the herbs on it¡­ if you fail, I¡¯ll kill the four of you in three months¡¯ time.¡±


    Xiang Xiong and the others heaved a huge sigh of relief at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, and thanked him profusely.


    ¡°Farewell, Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    Xiang Xiong did not even see what herbs were written on the paper that Zhou Donghuang had tossed over before putting it away in his pocket like a treasure. He knew that he had to do everything in his power to gather all these herbs.


    Xiang Xiong, the Chu king of the Western Ridge of the Chu King, had arrived with confidence and authority but left with dejectedly with clipped wings.


    As for the corpses of Xiao Jiancheng and the Cloud Condor, Xue Meng and the two men self-consciously tidied up the area for the youth before carrying them away, following Xiang Xiong as he departed.


    Although the Cloud Condor was a Petty Consummation demon and it had many valuable parts, Zhou Donghuang was unable to make use of it. Therefore, he did not instruct the four men from the Chu royal family to return with the dismembered parts.


    Those parts were extremely valuable, but was he short of money at the moment?


    Today, he had shown mercy by sparing the lives of these four men, and if he needed money, he only had to ask. Could the Chu royal family refuse him? Would they dare to?


    ¡°Young Master, you let them off just like that?¡± Little Gold could not help asking as he watched the four men from the Chu royal family depart, and Zhou Donghuang having no intention to strike.


    He continued without waiting for Zhou Donghuang¡¯s reply, ¡°Today, they will not let Young Master off lightly since you have shown the ability to kill that Petty Consummation flying demon and that Great Consummation adept.¡±


    ¡°I know,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied casually. ¡°However, if I kill them, what do I gain? Sparing them would be more useful.¡±


    Many of the herbs on the paper that Zhou Donguang had given Xiang Xiong earlier were not herbs that could be purchased even if money was not an issue, and they were so valuable that they were not sold openly.


    In the Western Ridge of the Chu King, possibly only the Chu royal family was capable of gathering all these herbs in a short period of time.


    Zhou Donghuang needed these herbs for the elixirs and potions that he was preparing to formulate next, for which these were the main ingredients. He could get Fu to purchase the accompanying ingredients from the big medicine shops in the Chu royal city.


    In three months, I must attain Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering¡­ then I will make preparations to rush into the Connate stage!


    Reaching the Connate stage purely by practicing would require an extremely long time.


    However, there were shortcuts that required the aid of some rare and valuable herbs, which would help him attain the Connate stage even faster!


    Among the herbs that Zhou Donghuang had ordered the Chu king Xiang Xiong to gather were some valuable herbs that he needed for formulating these mixtures. Moreover, they were the main ingredients and were all essential in the formula.


    These herbs¡­ should be available in the Western Ridge of the Chu King.


    Zhou Donghuang squinted as he thought about it.


    Fu, Freezing Wind, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng were also staying in the second guest apartment.


    Earlier, although they had not stepped out of their room, they had witnessed everything through the gaps between the unlocked windows.


    The Great Consummation adept sent by the imperial court of Yunyang had been killed by their Young Master.


    Xiang Xiong, the Chu king who ruled the Western Ridge of the Chu King and someone whom they held in high esteem, had knelt before their young master and begged for mercy.


    This had all left them in a daze and feeling as though they were in a dream.


    Only when they realized that they were not actually dreaming did they turn around and resume practicing even more fervently.


    The youth¡¯s power put a great deal of pressure on them.


    Now, to be even more of a burden beside the youth was something they could not accept.


    ¡­


    ¡°Your Majesty, why do I feel¡­ that the youth had specially prepared the paper that he gave you?¡± the second elder of the Chu royal family Xiang Donghua asked the Chu king Xiang Xiong with a bitter smile after they left Chuxiu Inn.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that obvious?¡±


    Xiang Xiong shook his head. Although he was the head of the Chu royal family and supreme in the Western Ridge of the Chu King, his position was not even noteworthy among great exponents of the martial way.


    And that youth was obviously someone of that sort whom he could not afford to provoke.


    ¡°He has obviously weighed the benefits of not killing us and feels that keeping us alive will benefit him,¡± Xiang Xiong continued.


    Just as Xiang Xiong and Xiang Donghua had thought, Zhou Donghuang had long ago guessed that they would show up along with someone from the imperial court of Yunyang¡­ killing the person from the imperial court was Zhou Donghuang¡¯s way of giving a warning by making an example of him.


    When the four men left Chuxiu Inn, they did not bring the bodies of Xiao Jiancheng and the Cloud Condor with them, but instead left the bodies behind at Chuxiu Inn for safekeeping. Taking the bodies away in broad daylight would attract unwanted attention.


    Even so, those observers in the air on their flying demons had already spotted some clues.


    ¡°The Chu king and the others are already leaving?¡±


    ¡°What about that Commander Xiao from the imperial court? And that Cloud Condor? Why does it seem that we never saw them again after they swooped down?¡±


    ¡°That Commander Xiao cannot be inside their drinking tea with that youth, can he?¡±


    ¡­


    The observers on the backs of their flying demons in the air surrounding Chuxiu Inn were all perplexed and could not figure out what had happened.


    But the three people on the two flying demons in the air just outside Chuxiu Inn had expressions of such shock that it was difficult to describe.


    ¡°That Commander Xiao and the Cloud Condor¡­ were defeated by that youth?¡±


    ¡°My god! What kind of person is that youth?¡±


    ¡°Although he looks to be seventeen or eighteen years old at most, he already has such power?¡±


    Lu Yuanshan of the Lu family, Ouyang Ye and Ouyang Qiuping of the Ouyang family were all shocked by the scene they had just witnessed, and it took them a long while to regain their wits.


    Earlier, they had witnessed with their very own eyes: On March 31, 1229 of the Ziyun Era, the youth called Zhou Donghuang killed the fourth elder of the imperial court of Yunyang, the commander of the imperial guard, a Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering, Xiao Jiancheng, and also killed the Petty Consummation flying demon Cloud Condor that was raised by the imperial court.


    When this news spread from the tycoon Ouyang and Lu families to the Chu royal city, it created an uproar.


    ¡°That youth¡­ is really that fearsome?¡±


    ¡°Even that Xiao Jiancheng has been killed by him¡­ can the imperial court of Yunyang do anything about him?¡±


    ¡°What kind of god is he? He has the power to stand against an entire country at such a young age!¡±


    ¡­

 Chapter 125 - Two Options

    Chapter 125: Two Options


    Originally, most people in the Chu royal city assumed that the youth named Zhou Donghuang might not be stronger than the two Petty Consummation demon golden-crowned eagles in terms of ability, but had subdued them using some other methods.


    Now that Xiao Jiancheng from the imperial court of Yunyang had been defeated in the Chu royal city, one thing was clear to the people of the Chu royal city: That youth¡¯s ability was actually greater than that of the two golden-crowned eagles!


    The two golden-crowned eagles would not have been able to kill Xiao Jiancheng from the imperial court of Yunyang even if they joined forces.


    The youth had proven his ability in this battle.


    Of course, even though it was well-known in the Chu royal city that the youth had killed Xiao Jiancheng, very few knew that he had been killed in one attack by the youth¡­


    Killing an opponent in one attack and managing to kill an opponent only after using every ounce of effort were two completely different things.


    How could it be? That little swine, how could he have such incredible ability?


    When Patriarch Yang Yunji of the grand Yang family heard that Zhou Donghuang had killed Xiao Jiancheng, his mood seemed to fall from heaven straight down to hell, and he was so exasperated that he almost vomited blood.


    When the patriarch of the tycoon Tang family received the news, he heaved a sigh of relief with even as shock was written all over his face. Seems that I was worried for nothing¡­ I never imagined that Young Master Donghuang had such ability.


    That¡¯s why he was not bothered when I got the young mistress of the Ren family to warn him¡­ he never was afraid of the imperial court of Yunyang in the first place!


    This time, by killing the Petty Consummation flying demon Cloud Condor of the imperial court, he has nothing else to worry about in the imperial court of Yunyang.


    Unless¡­ the Connate stage adept that the imperial court of Yunyang could possibly have is proficient in the use of bows.


    After all, even if the imperial court of Yunyang has a Connate stage adept, he will only be an ordinary Connate stage adept at most. At that level, he will not be able to do anything to Young Master Donghuang unless he is proficient in the use of bows.


    Therefore, even if the imperial court of Yunyang has a Connate stage adept, he might not be able to strike against Young Master Donghuang easily¡­ after all, Young Master Donghuang could order the two golden-crowned eagles to go to the imperial palace and slaughter everyone there when the Connate stage adept is trying to deal with him!


    This thought put Tang Liunian completely at ease.


    That youth was the benefactor who saved his life and also the benefactor who saved the Tang family, and he naturally hoped that no harm would befall him.


    He was happy with the status quo.


    Now, the only thing to be worried about was¡­ the imperial court of Yunyang could very well feel that they cannot tolerate Young Master Donghuang and offer some benefits in return for the Connate stage adepts of the Valley of the Medicine Masters to take action.


    At this thought, Tang Liunian could not help but be slightly worried. In the Valley of the Medicine Masters, there were numerous Connate stage adepts¡­ and there were definitely Connate stage adepts who were proficient with the bow.


    Moreover, in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, there were even Connate stage adepts so powerful that they could kill those two golden-crowned eagles even though they were not proficient with the bow!


    Besides that, in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, there was supposedly a Connate stage flying demon!


    The more Tang Liunian thought, the more worried he became.


    Now, I just hope¡­ that the imperial court of Yunyang will be so concerned about its reputation that it will not be willing to seek help from the Valley of the Medicine Masters just to deal with a youth.


    Tang Liunian prayed in his heart.


    ¡­


    The Chu royal family.


    After returning from Chuxiu Inn, the Chu king Xiang Xiong gave orders, mobilizing every ounce of the Chu royal family¡¯s resources to secure all the valuable herbs that the youth needed.


    After all, that youth had only given him three months.


    ¡°Your Majesty¡­ is there really no other way to deal with him?¡±


    The royal consort, Fan Ji, had an expression of indignation on her face ever since Xiang Xiong had returned from Chuxiu Inn.


    She had expected that the person sent by the imperial court of Yunyang would be able to help her avenge the ocean of blood from when her Fan family was wiped out.


    She did not expect that he would be killed by the youth.


    ¡°My dear,¡± Xiang Xiong sighed. ¡°That youth is not someone the Chu royal family can deal with¡­ and moreover since the imperial court has already sent someone over, the Chu royal family can no longer pursue this issue.¡±


    Now, Xiang Xiong was truly afraid.


    Although that youth was not a Connate stage adept, he gave the impression that he was even more fearsome than an average Connate stage adept.


    At least, the small metal sphere that could transform into a sword that the youth possessed was not something that he could comprehend. If I¡¯m not wrong¡­ that small metal sphere is a treasure that a magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage left behind!


    With a treasure left behind by a magnificent practitioner, an average Connate stage adept would not be able to oppose that youth even though he had not yet attained the Connate stage.


    However, although Xiang Xiong obviously did not dare to mess with the youth again, he had already sent a messenger to the imperial city at top speed to report the news of Xiao Jiancheng and the Cloud Condor¡¯s death to the imperial court of Yunyang.


    The news had already begun to spread, and if the Chu royal family had not reported it by the time it reached the ears of the imperial court, the imperial court would show no mercy to the Chu royal family.


    ¡­


    On June 6, 1229 of the Ziyun Era, the messenger sent to the imperial city by the Chu royal family finally arrived at the imperial city and went immediately to the imperial palace to report every detail about the deaths of Xiao Jiancheng and the Cloud Condor.


    Immediately, the senior leadership of the Jiang family of the imperial court of Yunyang, led by the emperor of Yunyang, the patriarch of the Jiang family Jiang Tianchen, convened once more in the golden palace.


    ¡°I have just received news from the Chu royal family¡­ Commander Xiao and the Cloud Condor have been killed by that youth called Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    Jiang Tianchen sat on the dragon throne wearing his golden dragon robe, surveying the senior leadership with a stormy expression as he spoke.


    Large as the imperial court was, prior to this moment, only Jiang Tiancheng knew of this.


    Therefore, this was a shock to the senior leadership of the imperial court when he revealed it.


    ¡°How is this possible? Although Commander Xiao¡¯s ability is not the strongest among the Great Consummation adepts in the imperial court¡­ but his specialization in defense is so strong that only a few Great Consummation adepts have the ability to kill him.¡±


    Some shook their heads, unwilling to believe this reality.


    ¡°How could the Cloud Condor have been killed? It is a flying demon, and together with Commander Xiao, it would have been child¡¯s play to kill those two golden-crowned eagles from the Western Ridge of the Chu King!¡±


    Some were suspicious of this.


    Unless that youth is a Connate stage adept and one who is proficient in the use of the bow¡­ Otherwise, how could he have killed Commander Xiao and the Cloud Condor?¡±


    ¡°A youth and already a Connate stage adept? Impossible! Even if he has somehow obtained a treasure from a Primal Core stage adept, he could not have attained the Connate stage at this age!¡±


    ¡°Your Majesty, I would like to know the details of what happened.¡±


    ¡­


    As the golden palace descended into an uproar, Jiang Tianchen questioned the messenger from the Chu royal family in a low voice which carried to all the members of the senior leadership present.


    ¡°Someone on the ground killed the Cloud Condor a hundred meters in the air with one attack?¡±


    ¡°A metal sphere transformed into a sword, shot into the air and killed the Cloud Condor before it could react?¡±


    ¡°That sword was so fast that even Commander Xiao was caught unprepared and could not react in time?¡±


    ¡°Demonstrating a suspected first-grade swiftness technique to easily counter Commander Xiao¡¯s sneak attack? Moreover, killing Commander Xiao with a single sword attack, completely bypassing Commander Xiao¡¯s specialized defenses?¡±


    ¡­


    The senior leadership of the imperial court was stunned speechless at what Jiang Tiancheng said.


    Although this was shocking to hear, they knew full well that the messenger from the Chu royal family would not dare lie to mislead the imperial court.


    ¡°This youth¡­ perhaps we can kill him only if the retired emperor personally takes action.¡±


    An old man with a goatee like a mountain goat said with an expression of dread, ¡°Moreover, there is only a chance. After all, that metal sphere he has is too strange, it is obviously a treasure left behind by a magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage.¡±


    ¡°Even if the retired emperor manages to kill that youth, what about the two golden-crowned eagles with him? It has been less than ten years since the retired emperor has attained the Connate Stage, and without being proficient in the arts of using the bow. Without the Cloud Condor, it will be extremely difficult to kill those two golden-crowned eagles. If there comes a time when those two golden-crowned eagles should decide to exact vengeance on the imperial court, how will the juniors of the imperial court be able to resist them?¡±


    Another old man voiced out his concerns.


    ¡°Second Elder, you are being overly concerned¡­ if the retired emperor is able to kill that youth and acquire that metal sphere, wouldn¡¯t it be simple to kill those two golden-crowned eagles?¡± a middle-aged man said.


    ¡°That¡¯s indeed the case.¡±


    Someone else agreed.


    ¡°I am thinking of two options.¡±


    Jiang Tianchen waved his hand, and once the senior leadership of the imperial court had quietened down, he continued in a solemn voice, ¡°The first option is for the retired emperor to intervene personally and kill that youth. But, as Head Elder has said, even so, he might not be able to kill that youth.


    ¡°If that youth can bypass Commander Xiao¡¯s defense with that metal sphere that transforms into a sword and kill him, it implies that that attack is not weaker than that of an ordinary Connate stage adept.


    ¡°If the retired emperor takes action, there is a degree of risk.¡±


    Jiang Tianchen stopped here and hesitated before continuing after a pause, ¡°The second option is to report this to the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡­ the Valley of the Medicine Masters will definitely be interested in what the treasure that the youth got from his fortunate encounter with the magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage.¡±


    ¡°From the metal sphere that the youth possesses, we can further confirm¡­ he definitely had a fortunate encounter with a magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage. Otherwise, he could not possibly have come to possess such a treasure!¡±


    ¡°However, once we report this to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, it will imply that whatever the youth gained from the magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage will not be shared by the imperial court of Yunyang!¡±


    ¡°The first option is risky, but if it succeeds, we can obtain the benefits from the treasure left behind by the magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage, and even if we cannot, we will be able to gain possession of that metal sphere if nothing goes wrong.


    ¡°On the other hand, the second option is very safe, but the imperial court of Yunyang must give up any claim to the traces left behind by the magnificent practitioner of the Primal Core stage as well as that metal sphere.¡±

 Chapter 126 - Great Consummation of the Qi-gathering

    Chapter 126: Great Consummation of the Qi-gathering


    Chu royal city, Chuxiu Inn.


    In the largest master bedroom of the second courtyard, a young man in white sat cross-legged on the mattress, practicing in silence. Waves of spirit energy seemed to be absorbed into his body from the surrounding air at a rapid speed and seemed to go in cycles within his body ceaselessly.


    ¡°This ¡®Lord of the Four Supremes¡¯ really allows you to practice at rapid speeds when you are focused and undistracted¡­ otherwise, there is nothing too special about it. But even the premier techniques within the universe like the ¡®Thousand-Star Sword Technique¡¯ or ¡®Fiery Thunder Training Regimen¡¯ or the ¡®Manual of Unruffled Sage¡¯ are all similar¡­ even the best techniques are all roughly the same. ¡®Lord of the Four Supremes¡¯ is special in that it allows you to increase your rate of practice¡­ at least this makes it superior to the other techniques.¡±


    Now, Zhou Donghuang was already at the last frontier of Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, as long as he managed to break through this last frontier, he would be able to achieve Great Consummation, becoming an adept with the strength of nine bulls and two tigers.


    To him, it was hardly difficult to break this frontier, only a matter of time. He could easily achieve it within the shortest time possible. His millennia of experience allowed him to be extremely proficient in his practice. Furthermore, with his knowledge of the huge variety of drugs, his rate of practice was absurdly fast, almost achieving the same speeds as the sons from the star clans or supreme sects. Nonetheless, those sons were faster because they had professional potion masters to concoct medications and potions to aid their practice. These potions were far more effective than the pills used by Zhou Donghuang. Although he could concoct those potions as well, he still had not achieved the Primal Core stage and lacked the power to create them. He also could not find any of the necessary rare ingredients.


    ¡°Although I can¡¯t compare to their rate of practice¡­ they still won at the starting line. Once I leave Ziyun planet and reach the prosperous galaxies, with my millennia of experience and knowledge of the secret treasures of the universe, I will easily be able to surpass them!¡± In his previous life, he had always heard of who had discovered what secret treasures. Although he had not laid his hands on any of these treasures in his previous life, this time, he would be able to go in advance to steal the treasures since he had time-traveled. To him, his memory was his greatest resource, allowing him to always be a step ahead of the rest!


    ¡°Within two hours, I will achieve Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering before nightfall!¡± Zhou Donghuang settled himself down and continued breaking the final frontier of Petty Consummation. The spirit in the air entered his body and was converted into qi, aiding his attempt.


    Two hours later, he finally broke through.


    ¡°Done.¡± As he achieved Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes as he punched the air in front of him, seemingly gentle but full of power.


    In that instant, a loud boom was heard. This was the sound wave from a ton of power going through the air.


    ¡°Before today, I needed to use all my extreme strength and my inner qi to break the sound barrier¡­ but now, with Great Consummation, with just my qi, I can do the same!¡±


    Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering meant that his power had gained substantially as well. ¡°Now, I can come up with my own potions and drugs.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang did not continue his practice as he stepped off the mattress. He walked towards the pile of herbs that lay in the corner of the room. Beside the herbs was the equipment that was needed to produce the potions and drugs.


    Ten days ago, the Chu royal household had already prepared all the items he required and sent them to him half a month before the deadline that he had requested. He had then asked Fu to buy the other herbs that could be found in the city. Hence these herbs had all been prepared ten days ago, awaiting his Great Consummation before he could utilize them.


    ¡°First, the qi-stabilizing elixir!¡± This pill could allow him to stabilize his inner qi, to prepare to achieve the Connate stage.


    ¡°Then, the qi-concentration potion!¡± This potion would allow him to concentrate his inner qi, purifying it to increase his efficiency in reaching the Connate stage.


    ¡°With the qi-stabilizing elixir and the qi-concentration potion, I can reach the Connate stage within a year!¡±


    After concocting the elixir and the potion, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes seemed to shine like stars in the night sky. He was in no hurry to continue practicing, as he cracked the room door open and stepped outside for some fresh air.


    Practicing was not meant to be done through the night. Work with rest was the ideal way. That was his experience from over a thousand years.


    ¡°The imperial court¡­ still nothing from them?¡± Sitting at the stone table and sipping the tea that the servant had just brewed, Zhou Donghuang was surprised. Then again, this also made him put the emperor of the country in higher regard. From what it seemed, the emperor was not a rash person. Otherwise, the imperial court would have sent someone to cause trouble for him by now.


    ¡°Brother!¡± Not long after he had emerged, Yun Lu came running from outside the courtyard. Clearly, she knew that Zhou Donghuang had left his room. Yun Lu rushed into his arms and said, ¡°Brother, you were so busy practicing that I have not seen you in so long¡­ today, you must chat with me.¡±


    Ever since Zhou Donghuang had helped Yun Lu to seek revenge, she had reverted to her old childish self. But this innocence was exactly what Zhou Donghuang loved to see. The troubled and mature Yun Lu was too heartbreaking to bear.


    ¡°Xiao Lu.¡± Seeing her, he was reminded that unless she managed to achieve the Primordial Soul and rob someone¡¯s body, she would only remain in her body of a child for the rest of her life. His heart broke. ¡°Brother will definitely help you find a way to let your body grow up.¡±


    Yun Lu looked exactly the same as when they had first met, as if the little girl was frozen in time. This was the result of her being given the Nerve-Easing, Marrow-Cleansing Needle.


    ¡°Hehe¡­ Stupid brother, this is fine,¡± said Yun Lu with a laugh. ¡°This way, I can always run into your arms anytime and get a hug¡­ otherwise, once I grow up, your wife will get jealous if you hug me.¡±


    ¡°Naughty girl,¡± said Zhou Donghuang as he looked at the little girl in his arms.


    ¡°Brother, have you really fallen in love?¡± Yun Lu asked curiously.


    ¡°Why do you ask?¡± Zhou Donghuang was speechless.


    ¡°I just wanted to confirm¡­ otherwise, if you said you had someone in mind just to lie to Mother, I really think Sister Zixi is not bad. Of course, Sister Jiapei is great too, but I think she does not want to compete with Sister Zixi.¡± Yun Lu shook her head. ¡°I really don¡¯t understand what she is thinking¡­ if I were her, I would confess straight away without thinking so much.¡±


    ¡°Xiao Lu, looks like your mother and I don¡¯t have to worry about marrying you off¡­ after all, you are so bold, there should be no issue.¡± Zhou Donghuang laughed as he shook his head.


    ¡°Hehe¡­ for me to confess, the man has to be at least half the man you are. But I feel, in this world, there is definitely no man like that. So I think I¡¯ll be clinging on to you and Mother.¡± joked Yun Lu.


    Just then, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s smile disappeared as his eyes landed on an old man in a grey robe standing outside the courtyard.


    The old man had a strong build, his long white hair tied behind his back. His brows were defined, framing deep-set eyes that seemed like a deep abyss. He had a goatee that made him look kind, but there was an unmistakable presence about him.


    ¡°Connate.¡± With just a look, Zhou Donghuang was almost certain that this man was a Connate adept. Otherwise, with his current level, he would have detected the man¡¯s presence earlier.


    ¡°From the imperial court?¡± After confirming that the man was indeed a Connate adept, Zhou Donghuang guessed that he was likely the Connate adept that was said to be in the imperial court.

 Chapter 127 - Death of a Connate Adept

    ¡°Astute observation.¡± Realizing that the young man in white had noticed him within moments of his appearance, the old man put his hands together respectfully as he greeted the young man, ¡°I wonder¡­ is it convenient for me to have a cup of tea with you?¡±


    ¡°Not at all.¡± Zhou Donghuang stared at the old man as he rejected him immediately.


    ¡°Young man, don¡¯t you think¡­ it¡¯s impolite to reject someone at the door?¡± The old man did not expect to be rejected. He was first shocked, then could not help but frown.


    ¡°So what if I am impolite? I, Zhou Donghuang, have always done whatever I want¡­ what does your opinion have got to do with me?¡± Zhou Donghuang said flippantly.


    ¡°I am from the Yunyang imperial court!¡± reminded the old man seriously as he frowned.


    ¡°So?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s tone did not change as he replied impatiently, ¡°Say your piece, then you may leave.¡±


    ¡°Sir, in the whole country, you are the first one who dares to speak to me like this,¡± said the old man. His expression darkened as the kindness left his face. His eyes glinted murderously as he stared at Zhou Donghuang, his cloak whipping in the wind.


    A faint green hue seemed to radiate from his skin. Without making any move, but the inner qi also radiating from the body uncontrollably¡­ that was the hallmark of a Connate adept.


    Clearly, the old man was aware of this and was trying to intimidate the young man in the courtyard.


    ¡°Why? You want to spar with me?¡± The young man grabbed the little girl with his left hand. In his right hand, a small metal ball rolled out from his sleeve into his palm. He toyed with it as he stared at the old man, a playful smile on his lips.


    Seeing the metal ball in the young man¡¯s hands and getting a sense of his immense confidence, a spark of fear seemed to flicker in the old man¡¯s eyes. Soon, he withdrew the qi that was radiating from his body.


    ¡°Sir, I am the previous emperor of Yunyang country, Jiang Yunding.¡± After he had calmed the qi that was stirring within his body, the old man looked at the young man. When he spoke, he not only reported his background, but his tone had turned softer. ¡°I have come today on behalf of the imperial court to make a deal with you.¡±


    Just as he spoke, Zhou Donghuang responded without hesitation, ¡°Not interested!¡±


    ¡°Sir, I suggest you listen to me before you make a decision,¡± said Jiang Yunding as he breathed in deeply, trying his best to control the anger that was stirring within him. Before Zhou Donghuang could reply, he continued, ¡°If we guessed correctly, you must have obtained a treasure from a Primal Core adept, which allowed you to achieve so much in such a short time. You even have this metal ball that can transform into a spear and is equivalent to a blow from a Connate adept.¡±


    As he spoke, Jiang Yunding¡¯s gaze landed on the ball in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s right hand. Of course, he did not know that this was a sword sphere.


    ¡°And?¡± Zhou Donghuang seemed extremely calm as he replied emotionlessly.


    ¡°Sir, maybe you do not fear the imperial court¡­ but, what about the Valley of Medicine Masters?¡± asked Jiang Yunding.


    ¡°The Valley of Medicine Masters?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression slipped as he seemed to go into deep thought. In fact, he had been reminded of Chen Dandan, the lady whom he had grown up with but who had eventually betrayed his mother.


    Initially, he had not taken revenge against her, partly because his mother had persuaded him not to, but more importantly because he wanted to take action only when the Valley of Medicine Masters had forgiven Chen Dandan and when she stood at her highest point. That way, she would be punished most severely for doing what she had done.


    But to Jiang Yunding, it looked as if the young man was afraid of the Valley of Medicine Masters.


    ¡°Sir, you just have to hand me the first-grade martial art that you exhibited when avoided the sneak attack from Xiao Jiancheng¡­ then, the imperial court will promise not to inform the Valley of Medicine Masters about how you received a treasure from a Primal Core adept,¡± proclaimed Jiang Yunding as he looked deeply at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°You want the first-grade martial art?¡± Hearing this, Zhou Donghuang laughed. ¡°What if¡­ I don¡¯t give it to you?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t, then the imperial court will have no choice but to raise this matter to the Valley of Medicine Masters,¡± replied Jiang Yunding, his voice stone cold. ¡°I think, once the Valley of Medicine Masters managed to take what they can from you, they will reward the imperial court with the first-grade martial art to thank us for our efforts.¡±


    ¡°Are you threatening me?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes were shut, but a murderous glint flashed across his eyes. He broke into a radiant smile.


    ¡°You may put it that way,¡± smiled Jiang Yunding.


    ¡°You should know¡­¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes suddenly opened as the smile seemed frozen on his face. ¡°The thing that I hate most is¡­ being threatened!¡±


    With that, the small metal ball in his right hand transformed into a spear.


    At the same time, Jiang Yunding¡¯s eyes never left the metal ball in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes. Seeing the small metal ball transform into a shiny small metal sphere, his eyes sharpened as he brought his hand to his waist in a lightning-fast motion.


    Whoosh!!


    Jiang Yunding pulled out a soft spear from his waistband. As his qi flowed into the spear, it hardened and straightened. The qi that was radiating from Jiang Yunding pulsated with a green hue.


    Now, both him and the spear were radiating the green hue.


    Just as Jiang Yunding pulled out the spear, staring focused at the small spear floating in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm, his face fraught with caution, Zhou Donghuang quipped condescendingly, ¡°Early Connate stage?¡±


    At the same time, with a swift motion of his right hand, as if he was throwing garbage, Zhou Donghuang threw the spear.


    Whoo!! As the small spear left his hands, the rare sound of a whistling spear could be heard.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Jiang Yunding grunted as he waved the spear in his hands, to ward off the little spear that was flying towards him. But as he flung his spear, he realized that the speed of the little spear was simply too fast for him to defend against. His spear missed it entirely.


    ¡°No¡ª!¡± As his spear missed the little spear, Jiang Yunding¡¯s eyes narrowed as he cried.


    Before he could close his mouth, that shimmering little spear had already run through his chest, and returned to the young man¡¯s hand as a spear sphere, dripping with fresh blood.


    Thud!


    As the spear sphere returned to Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand, Jiang Yunding¡¯s lifeless body fell to the ground, his mouth agape and his eyes widened in shock. Jiang Yunding, the previous emperor of Yunyang country and the only Connate adept in the whole country, had just died in the courtyard outside the second guest house of Chuxiu Inn in the Chu royal city.


    ¡°Brother, why does this old man radiate a glow?¡± After witnessing Zhou Donghuang murder Jiang Yunding, Yun Lu, who was sitting on his lap and in his arms, was not only not shocked, but was even curiously asking Zhou Donghuang questions.


    ¡°That is the release of qi from a Connate adept,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang as he stroked Yun Lu¡¯s head gently as he kept the spear sphere.


    ¡°Connate adept?¡± Yun Lu¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°That was a Connate adept? Aren¡¯t Connate adepts very powerful? How did he die so easily at your hands?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s because¡­ Brother is more powerful than him,¡± answered Zhou Donghuang with a smile.


    ¡­


    ¡°The retired emperor¡­ is dead?¡±


    When the news traveled to the Chu royal household, the Chu king, Xiang Xiong, was stunned. His eyes were filled with fear. ¡°Thankfully, I did not follow along this time¡­ the retired emperor is a Connate adept, but even he was murdered by the young man. That young man has the power to go against a whole country alone indeed!¡±


    This time, the retired emperor Jiang Yunding of the imperial court had come to the Western ridge of the Chu king and the Chu royal city. His first visit on his arrival was to the Chu royal household, to clarify matters with Xiang Xiong, the Chu king.


    Then, he had left straight for Chuxiu Inn.


    Although Xiang Xiong had not followed him, he had sent someone to follow him; so he was informed of the news right away when Jiang Yunding had died.


    ¡°Inform the imperial court,¡± sighed Xiang Xiong as he ordered someone to send the news of Jiang Yunding¡¯s death to the imperial court. ¡°The death of the retired emperor will surely anger the imperial court¡­ and that young man is still holding on to a treasure. This time, the imperial court will surely stop caring about his treasure. But even if they no longer dare to seek the treasure, they will definitely inform the Valley of Medicine Masters of the news. There are so many Connate adepts in the Valley of Medicine Masters, some of whom are in the middle Connate stage¡­ in fact, the leader of the sect has even been said to have achieved the late Connate stage! If the Valley of Medicine Masters takes action, will the young man be able to stop them?¡± Xiang Xiong¡¯s eyes shone curiously. But at the same time, he was still adamant that the Chu royal household could definitely not afford to offend this young man¡­ even someone from the Valley of Medicine Masters may not be able to contain him!


    The last time, he was afraid. He had a strong hunch: if he continued to incite action from others against the young man, he would definitely not let him off!

 Chapter 128 - Treasured Land of the Connate Demon

    Chapter 128: Treasured Land of the Connate Demon


    Chuxiu Inn, the courtyard of the second guest house.


    ¡°Young Master, was that old man really a Connate adept?¡± Little Gold¡¯s eyes were incredulous as he circled above the courtyard, looking at the young man chatting happily with the little girl at the stone table.


    ¡°If you ask again, I¡¯ll break your wings, and you won¡¯t be able to fly for two months¡­ do you believe me?¡± Zhou Donghuang glanced at Little Gold and answered impatiently.


    Just now, after he had murdered Jiang Yunding, the retired emperor of Yunyang country and an early Connate stage adept, Little Gold had flown over right away after noticing something amiss. He witnessed the servants from Chuxiu Inn taking the body away. However, after finding out that that was a Connate adept, Little Gold was in disbelief and could not help but question.


    Faced with the threat from Zhou Donghuang, Little Gold shut its mouth immediately.


    ¡°Instead of doubting me, why don¡¯t you spend the energy practicing¡­ with the qi-gathering elixir and the techniques that I taught you, you are really worthless to not have broken the frontier by now!¡± Seeing Little Gold continue circling above the courtyard without any sign of leaving, Zhou Donghuang could not help but glare at him angrily. ¡°Your elder brother has already achieved Great Consummation a month ago¡­ I¡¯m worried that when he reaches the Connate stage and becomes a Connate demon, you won¡¯t even have achieved Great Consummation,¡± added Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Young Master, Brother was naturally more gifted than me, with your qi-gathering elixir and techniques, it is only expected that he breaks the frontier earlier than me,¡± responded Little Gold indignantly. ¡°I have improved so much in this short time. I am already reaching the bottleneck of Petty Consummation and will be able to overcome it in no time. Young Master, I¡¯ll call my brother over¡­ if you can kill a Connate adept, that means a Connate demon should be no problem for you either.¡±


    With that, Little Gold turned and returned to the courtyard of the second guest house.


    Soon, it returned, together with another golden-crowned eagle that was much bigger than it. This eagle was not only taller than Little Gold at standing height, but had a much longer wingspan too. Its golden crown blazed like golden fire. This was none other than Big Gold, who had achieved Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering just a month ago.


    ¡°Young Master, Little Gold said¡­ you just killed a Connate adept?¡± Big Gold had been focused on practicing earlier and had not noticed the commotion. It had only found out when Little Gold had returned to inform him of it.


    ¡°Mm,¡± answered Zhou Donghuang with a nod.


    ¡°Young Master, Little Gold and I were not originally from the Lost Forest,¡± said Big Gold, its eyes shimmering. ¡°We were born in the mountain ranges outside of the Northern border of Yunyang country. That region lies outside of the Yunyang border.¡±


    ¡°I remember, one day, Little Gold and I had stumbled upon a steep cliff out of curiosity. We discovered that the cliff was enveloped by a faint golden glow¡­ out of curiosity, we landed onto that cliff. Right then, when we were enveloped by the golden hue all around us, Little Gold and I achieved intelligence. After that, we felt a terrifying scent radiating from a hole in the cliff¡­ that was the scent of a flying demon that was far stronger than us. We left quickly.¡±


    ¡°After leaving the cliff, we turned back and saw a brown eagle with a wingspan more than ten meters glaring at us from a distance. In demon tongue, it told us to scram! Eagles like us can only reach such a size by achieving the Connate stage.¡±


    Big Gold paused before continuing, ¡°After that, Little Gold and I were afraid that the brown eagle would cause trouble for us, so we left the area and went to the Lost Forest. By stealing qi-gathering elixirs from the humans, we then slowly became the kings of the forest. After leaving that area, we did some investigation¡­ that brown eagle was a red goshawk that typically had little natural talent. Under normal circumstances red goshawks can only reach level-five of the Qi-Gathering in their lives.


    ¡°But this red goshawk had achieved the Connate stage, becoming a Connate demon! Hence, we both suspect¡­ it had found that treasured land, and by utilizing the golden glow from the land, it managed to grow to such a stage. We clearly remember¡­ when we were enveloped by the golden glow, we could easily achieve intelligence and raise our level of practice in a short time.¡±


    Big Gold turned to look at Zhou Donghuang, its eyes shimmering. ¡°Young Master, Little Gold and I were planning to defeat that red goshawk together once we became Connate demons and steal that treasured land. But to achieve the Connate stage, even with Young Master¡¯s qi-gathering elixirs and techniques, will require quite some time. By then, who knows how strong that red goshawk will have become by using the power of the land.


    ¡°Today, Little Gold said¡­ you managed to kill the Connate adept from a distance, even before he walked through the door. Clearly, with the power of that spear sphere, Young Master is stronger than a typical Connate adept. So, we want to bring you to that treasured land to see if we can defeat that red goshawk¡­ if we fail, we¡¯ll just return again when we are stronger. But if we defeat him, we¡¯ll take the land for ourselves!¡± Big Gold¡¯s eyes shone brightly as if it could not wait to head over to kill that Connate demon and take the land with the golden glow.


    ¡°That red goshawk is of low status among us eagles, its talent is hardly a tenth of us golden-crowned eagles¡­ but with that treasured land, it somehow became a Connate demon.¡± Little Gold¡¯s eyes were flashing too as he added, ¡°If we can take that land for ourselves, we can definitely gain much more than it!¡±


    Hearing their words, Zhou Donghuang hugged Yun Lu as he went into deep thought.


    Although Yun Lu did not know that her brother was talking to the two eagles, nor understand their conversation, but she could see that her brother was thinking seriously and quietened down.


    After a while, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes opened slightly. Cliff? Golden glow?


    ¡°That place which was enveloped in the golden glow¡­ did you hear any Sanskrit?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked as he looked at the two golden-crowned eagles.


    ¡°Sanskrit?¡± The two eagles turned to each other, clearly filled with confusion. They had no idea what ¡®Sanskrit¡¯ was.


    ¡°Just tell me¡­ did you hear anything when you were there?¡± Seeing their confusion, Zhou Donghuang asked further.


    ¡°Sounds?¡± The eagles quietened down as they tried to recall.


    Soon, Big Gold looked at Zhou Donghuang excitedly as it said, ¡°Young Master, now that you mention it, I remember¡­ when I achieved intelligence, I did hear some sounds. Although I could not understand what the words meant, they seemed to give me a thorough cleansing in the depths of my soul.¡±


    ¡°Indeed, it was so,¡± agreed Little Gold. He recalled it as well.


    ¡°Looks like I guessed correctly,¡± said Zhou Donghuang. His voice was calm, but his eyes were shimmering excitedly.


    ¡°Young Master, you know the secret of that treasured land?¡± Hearing this, both the eagles¡¯ eyes lit up.


    ¡°If I am correct, that is the place where a Primal Core monk had attained nirvana. After he had attained nirvana, he left behind some Buddhist essence¡­ the golden glow that you speak of is the glow emanating from this Buddhist essence. The glow of a Buddhist essence left behind by a monk from above the Primal Core stage can indeed allow you to gain intelligence before you reach the Connate stage and help you to increase your level of practice.¡±


    In his previous life, Zhou Donghuang had traversed the galaxies and had gathered vast knowledge. Hearing their story, he had guessed that the treasured land they spoke of was none other than the site where a monk had attained nirvana.


    ¡°Monk?¡± Big Gold and Little Gold had never heard of monks before. ¡°Young Master, I know that there are martial artists among humans¡­ but what are monks?¡±


    ¡°Young Master, what is the difference between a martial artist and a monk?¡±


    The two eagles were filled with questions.


    ¡°A monk is actually also a martial artist, but because they are trained in a different path from the traditional one, one that is more related to Buddhism, so they are known as monks. Martial artists train their Primal Core after achieving the Connate stage; monks train their Buddhist essence after the Connate stage. As for demons, after the Connate stage, you train your inner core.¡±


    With that, Zhou Donghuang carried Yun Lu as he stood up. Putting her down, he smiled and said, ¡°Xiao Lu, Brother needs to take a trip out with Big Gold and Little Gold here¡­ if Mother or Sister Zixi ask about me, help me tell them. I will be back soon.¡±


    After petting her on the head, Zhou Donghuang called to Big Gold as he leaped onto its back as they disappeared into the skies.


    Whoosh! Little Gold followed closely.


    Right then, both Big Gold and Little Gold were all filled with emotion. After all, they had been pining for that treasured land for so long but had not managed to snatch it.


    ¡°Horrible brother, you don¡¯t even bring Xiao Lu when you go out to play.¡± The little girl tilted her head to her sky. As she watched Little Gold disappear in the clouds, her face was filled with unhappiness.

 Chapter 129 - Buddhist Essence

    Chapter 129: Buddhist Essence


    The Western Chu Ridge was located in the northwest of the country of Yunyang. Due to the proximity of the Western Chu Ridge to the forest at the northern border of the Yunyang country, Big Gold and Little Gold had arrived in the Western Chu Ridge and settled in the Lost Forest in the central ridge.


    The distance from the Chu royal city to the Yunyang imperial city was similar to that from the Chu royal city to the hometown of the two golden-crowned eagles. Nonetheless, the distance was much further than that from the Chu royal city to the inferior Yunfeng prefecture.


    ¡°Little Gold, you are too slow¡­ if Big Gold doesn¡¯t have to take care of you, we¡¯ll save two to three days on our journey to your hometown,¡± remarked Zhou Donghuang condescendingly. He sat cross-legged on Big Gold¡¯s back as he glanced at Little Gold flying alongside them.


    Since leaving the Chu royal city, they had taken ten days to reach the rugged mountainous range beyond the northern border of Yunyang country. After Big Gold had achieved Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, not only had its inner qi been enhanced, but its body had also undergone morphogenesis. Even if it did not use its inner qi to fly, it could still fly much faster than before. If Big Gold did not need to take care of the Petty Consummate demon, Little Gold, at its current speed, they would be able to reach at least two or three days earlier.


    ¡°Young Master, give me two more months, I¡¯ll be able to achieve Great Consummation!¡± Faced with derision from the young man, Little Gold¡¯s eyes shone as it promised.


    ¡°Two months?¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head as he replied condescendingly, ¡°You¡¯re really worthless!¡±


    ¡°Young Master,¡± said Little Gold with a bitter smile. ¡°Two months is already an ambitious target, given my current progress¡­ my talent is definitely far from yours, but it¡¯s comparable to my brother¡¯s. Of course, if we manage to successfully defeat or drive away that Connate red goshawk and take over that treasured land¡­ perhaps in less than a months¡¯ time, I¡¯ll be able to achieve Great Consummation!¡±


    As it spoke, its eyes glinted with greed.


    ¡°Are we almost there?¡± asked Zhou Donghuang calmly. Hearing Little Gold mention that land again, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes narrowed as he gazed into the distance.


    Of course, despite his calm appearance, he was rather emotional¡­


    In the past, when he stood at the top of the world, a site like this where a monk had attained nirvana would hardly appeal to him. In fact, even if he had gone past it, he would be too lazy to enter. Monks that required a location to attain nirvana were merely at the Dharma Laws stage. Those that were beyond the Primordial Soul stage had already converted the Buddhist essence into the Primordial Soul; even if their body deteriorated, as long as the Primordial Soul was kept alive, they could easily abandon their current physical body to find a new one. Hence, monks of that level did not require a location to attain nirvana at all. Even if they felt merciful and did not wish to rob someone¡¯s body, they did not require a physical location to attain nirvana because once their bodies died, the Primordial soul would turn into ash as well.


    ¡°Almost,¡± responded Big Gold. ¡°At our current speed, we¡¯ll reach within a day and night.¡±


    ¡°Alright,¡± said Zhou Donghuang with a nod. He shut his eyes and returned to his practice.


    Sitting on the back of the golden-crowned eagle, although he was faced with blowing wind, it hardly affected him. After taking the concentration elixir, he could easily go into a focused state of practice. Using the Lord of the Four Supremes, he could make incredible progress.


    An afternoon passed.


    A night passed.


    It was the next dawn when Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes again. According to Big Gold, in another two hours, they would be able to reach the treasured land where the red goshawk had taken over the site of nirvana of the monk. ¡°When you first met the red goshawk, it was just in the early Connate stage?¡± asked Zhou Donghuang. Although Little Gold had mentioned it before, Zhou Donghuang still had to make sure.


    ¡°Young Master, for eagle demons like us, an early Connate adept can reach wingspans over ten meters. In the middle Connate stage, wingspans can reach over twelve meters. In the late Connate stage, they can be over fifteen miters. And in the penultimate Connate stage, wingspans can be over twenty meters,¡± explained Big Gold. ¡°When we saw that red goshawk, when it opened its wings, it was slightly more than ten meters¡­ hence it must have just achieved the Connate stage not long ago. It has been almost ten years since then. Now, we can¡¯t be certain of its level. Perhaps it is still in the early Connate stage, or in the middle stage¡­ but because it is one of the inferior breeds among the demons, even with the help of the treasured land, it can definitely be unable to attain the late connate stage or even the penultimate stage!¡±


    ¡°Mm,¡± responded Zhou Donghuang with a nod. Although he had some knowledge of demons, he only had some general knowledge and had little understanding of the evolution of eagle demons. Eagles were just one type of the many winged demons. The Cloud Condor from the imperial court was of a similar level of the Qi-gathering as Big Gold and Little Gold then, but because it was a condor, it was much larger than the eagle demons. No matter what level they were at, condors were naturally of a larger size than an equally skilled eagle.


    ¡°Young Master,¡± asked Little Gold, as if he had suddenly remembered something. ¡°You said previously that the red goshawk had taken the site of nirvana of a monk¡­ the golden glow around the place is the Buddhist essence from his body. If the red goshawk has already consumed that essence¡­ then would that treasured land disappear?¡± Little Gold seemed worried.


    Hearing this, Big Gold¡¯s eyes narrowed as it scolded uncontrollably, ¡°Little Gold, you are a golden-crowned eagle, the king among the eagles, don¡¯t learn to be a jinx like those rotten crows!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled and replied Little Gold, ¡°If it really swallows that Buddhist essence, that is in fact a good thing for us.¡±


    ¡°Why so?¡± Little Gold was confused. ¡°If it consumes that essence, then wouldn¡¯t it become a part of its stomach? Without the essence, that treasured land will just become an ordinary cliff.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head and answered, ¡°If it wanted to swallow that Buddhist essence, it would have done so earlier¡­ why would it wait till you discovered that place? Furthermore, back then, when you appeared there, it did not leave with the Buddhist essence, did it? It only chased the two of you away. The Buddhist essence, even if it was just left behind by an early Primal Core stage monk, would not be able to be swallowed by it¡­ if it does, it would be destroyed by the power released by it. In fact, it may not even be able to go close to the Buddhist essence. Even if it were left behind by just an early Primal Core monk, any humans or demons beneath the Primal Core stage would be severely injured if they attempted to go too close to it! The Buddhist essence contains the culmination of a whole life¡¯s worth of gathered qi¡­ as compared to the Primal Core or the Inner core, the Buddhist essence can continue to absorb the Spirit for a period of time after the monk has attained nirvana. After that, the essence will turn into dust after the power within disappears.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang had some understanding of the Buddhist essence. In his previous life, he had a senior who was a monk who had attained Separating Divinity. He had learned much about Buddhism from that senior.


    ¡°Senior Brother Qinghong¡­¡± As he thought of that senior, Zhou Donghuang breathed in deeply as he tried to suppress his rising emotions. In his previous life, that senior had died in the hands of two immortals because of him. Although he had taken revenge and killed the two immortals, his Senior Brother Qinghong could not be revived. Senior Brother Qinghong was both a brother and a teacher to him and was one of the few people he deeply respected.


    ¡°Since I have been reborn, in this life, I will not allow the same tragedy to happen again!¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes were firm.


    ¡°Young Master, are you really from a small town in Yunyang country? Why does it seem like you know even more than most people?¡± Little Gold asked curiously as he heaved a sigh of relief after hearing his words.


    Although Big Gold did not question, his sharp eyes were shimmering with curiosity.


    ¡°After living long enough, you¡¯ll naturally know more,¡± Zhou Donghuang murmured, his eyes filled with sadness.


    ¡°Live long enough?¡± His words left both Big Gold and Little Gold shocked. As far as they were concerned, this young man was only seventeen or eighteen years of age, how could he say that he had lived long enough? Wouldn¡¯t that mean that they had lived for an even longer time?


    ¡°Young Master, we are here!¡± After two hours, Big Gold called out, bringing Zhou Donghuang back from his whirring emotions. Just now, when thinking of his Senior Brother Qinghong, he could not help but remember many things from his past life, his mind wandering.


    ¡°It¡¯s that cliff right in front!¡± cried Little Gold. Zhou Donghuang saw a tall peak pierce through the clouds, clearly prominent among the rest of the other surrounding mountains.


    ¡°Go straight there!¡± ordered Zhou Donghuang as he looked at the mountaintop, his tone emotionless.

 Chapter 130 - : Late Connate Stage Demon

    Chapter 130: Late Connate Stage Demon


    If a Buddhist essence appeared at the site of nirvana attainment by a monk, that meant that the monk was at least an early Primal Core stage and at most of the Dharma Laws stage. In his past life, Zhou Donghuang reigned supreme over the whole universe, and he could hardly be concerned about something as minute as the site of nirvana of a monk. But now, he was extremely interested in it as he was only at the stage of Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering. If he managed to lay his hands on the Buddhist essence of the monk, he would have an easier journey ahead. He would be able to attain the Connate stage more easily and gain the ability to traverse the different galaxies. If he left Ziyun planet for more prosperous planets, and seek better resources for his practice, he would be able to reach his peak more quickly, or perhaps even surpass his previous achievements!


    ¡°Go straight there!¡± Hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s orders, Big Gold and Little Gold sped towards the mountaintop among the clouds.


    Soon, they passed through the clouds and neared the mountaintop.


    ¡°The Buddhist essence is still around,¡± commented Zhou Donghuang as he saw the golden glow that radiated from the cliff at the mountain peak. The essence had not been taken by anyone, nor had it dissipated after the power inside it had slowly diminished over the years.


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang picked up Little Gold¡¯s words to Big Gold. ¡°Brother, the golden glow seems to be much less than what it used to be back then. I remember¡­ the golden glow even covered this area. Back then, we had attained intelligence as we stayed in the hole over there, under the golden glow.¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang followed Little Gold¡¯s gaze, he saw a small opening in the straight face of the cliff. It was relatively big, and could even hold Big Gold now. It should have had no problem containing both Big Gold and Small Gold back then when they were both of a lower stage of the Qi-Gathering and smaller in size.


    ¡°Little Gold, are you sure¡­ back then, the golden glow could radiate up to here?¡± Before Big Gold could respond, Zhou Donghuang had already questioned Little Gold, his expression turning serious.


    ¡°Young Master, I am positive,¡± confirmed Little Gold as he flew towards the opening and left a long mark along the stone cliff with his claw, three meters beneath the opening. ¡°Back then, we had attained intelligence here¡­ hence, I remember it clearly. The golden glow reached here at that time.¡± Little Gold was confident.


    Big Gold added, ¡°Young Master, I remember it too¡­ Little Gold is right. Back in that year, the golden glow did indeed reach here.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    ¡°Young Master, is there anything wrong?¡± asked Big Gold.


    ¡°From the position of the Buddhist essence, if it could radiate its glow up to here, that must mean that the monk who left it behind must at least be at the penultimate Primal Core stage.¡± Zhou Donghuang looked at the mountaintop and the golden glow that enveloped it. ¡°And now, that Buddhist essence has clearly gone past the stage where it can absorb the surrounding Spirit to increase its energy¡­ now, it can no longer regenerate its power. When the power within it slowly runs out, it will disappear with the wind. Luckily, the two of you brought me here¡­ if we had waited for you to achieve the Connate stage, and become Connate demons, the Buddhist essence would have been mostly depleted, and maybe even disappear!¡±


    Hearing this, both Big Gold and Little Gold looked fearful. In the half a year that they had spent together, they had learned to trust the words of this young man without a doubt.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go! Let¡¯s meet that Connate demon red goshawk!¡± With that, Zhou Donghuang pulled out three small bottles and opened one of them. He poured its contents into his mouth, then handed the other two bottles to Big Gold and Little Gold.


    ¡°Young Master, what is this?¡± asked the eagles curiously.


    ¡°Qi-increasing elixir,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang flatly. ¡°After taking it, you will be able to temporarily boost your inner qi within that short time, increasing it by about 500kg of strength¡­ when the effects are gone, there will be no side effects too.¡±


    The qi-increasing elixir that Zhou Donghuang had swallowed and given to the two eagles had been concocted using the gallbladder of the level-nine grizzly bear. A total of ten bottles had been made, but he had never used them. But today, faced with a Connate red goshawk whose strength he was unsure of, he had not only taken a bottle for himself but even gave one to each of the two golden-crowned eagles, for safety¡¯s sake.


    ¡°Young Master, give me more of this good stuff!¡± Little Gold¡¯s eyes shone.


    ¡°More of this? You think this is cabbage?¡± Zhou Donghuang glared at Little Gold as he rushed them, ¡°Out of safety, take this qi-increasing elixir before we enter the area enveloped by the golden glow.¡±


    Big Gold and Little Gold obediently swallowed the elixir. Feeling the boost in its inner qi, Little Gold¡¯s eyes widened. ¡°My inner qi feels no less than Great Consummation¡­ too bad, this is only temporary.¡± It was visibly disappointed.


    ¡°Stop talking nonsense, let¡¯s get to work,¡± said Big Gold. It shot towards the peak of the mountain with Zhou Donghuang on its back.


    ¡°Brother, wait for me!¡± Little Gold called out as he rushed towards them.


    Soon, under the orders of Zhou Donghuang, the two eagles had not only entered the cliff within the golden glow but had even circled the area and exited in front of a small cave on the edge of the cliff.


    ¡°It is the Buddhist essence, indeed.¡± Showered in the golden glow, Zhou Donghuang further confirmed that the glow was the power emanating from the essence. Being enveloped within it made one¡¯s soul feel cleansed, and it aroused the inner qi.


    ¡°That red goshawk must be inside.¡± With the incredible hearing ability from his Lord of the Four Supremes, he could easily hear a dull buzz from within. Although it seemed like it was deliberately trying to decrease its volume, as if it did not want to be heard, Zhou Donghuang could still hear it.


    He thought to himself, Previously, before achieving Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, I probably would not have been able to hear this¡­ now, my hearing has improved greatly.


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang heard a faint noise from within the cave. Clearly, the red goshawk was coming out, but its movements were tiny. Clearly, it did not want to be found out.


    ¡°Since you don¡¯t want us to find out, let¡¯s play!¡± A cold smile played on his lips as Zhou Donghuang quietly ordered Big Gold to drop him off at a small protrusion on the mountain face near the hole. The protrusion was only enough to accommodate him standing there. Someone who was less daring would not even dare to stand on top of it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll hide here¡­ the two of you distract it, and I¡¯ll stab it from behind to try and kill it with one blow!¡± Zhou Donghuang instructed the two eagles.


    ¡°Young Master, you have the distinct scent of a human, even if it can¡¯t sense it from within the cave, once it nears the opening, it will definitely be able to smell you,¡± said Big Gold.


    ¡°Human scent?¡± Zhou Donghuang smiled slyly as he took out another small bottle and poured out some of the liquid onto his palm. He picked up some sand from the mountain and mixed it within the liquid, then rubbed the mixture on himself.


    ¡°Now, can you smell me?¡± He asked Big Gold and Little Gold playfully.


    ¡°Young Master, you¡­ how did you do this?¡± The two golden-crowned eagles were shocked because they realized that they could no longer smell the human scent on the young man. Although there was a scent that wafted out, it smelled exactly the same as the sand of the mountains. The young man seemed to have become one with the mountain. If they did not see him with their own eyes, with their keen sense of smell, they could hardly believe that there was a man standing there.


    ¡°After we settle this, I¡¯ll explain it to you.¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes turned serious. ¡°The two of you go and prepare quickly¡­ it is about to come out! Remember! Don¡¯t look in my direction and expose me!¡± Zhou Donghuang reminded the two golden-crowned eagles seriously, then he stood there quietly. Even his breathing slowed down as if he was afraid that the red goshawk would discover his presence.


    Big Gold and Little Gold then circled outside the cave opening, staring at the opening.


    Whoosh!


    Soon, at the opening, that was seven or eight meters tall, appeared a massive goshawk that was at least six meters tall. Its body was covered with brown feathers, with a crimson red on a tuft of features on its crown and at the tip of its wings.


    Its sharp eyes landed on Big Gold and Little Gold, then spoke using demon tongue, ¡°You two again.¡± It seemed to recognize the two golden-crowned eagles.


    ¡°You know us?¡± Big Gold was surprised.


    ¡°Back then, I knew that you gained something from here and attained intelligence. On account of the fact that you left immediately, I spared your life¡­ I did not think that you would dare to come back!¡±


    The massive brown eagle flew out of the cave, its wings spreading more than fifteen meters long.


    ¡°You¡­ you have already reached the late Connate stage?!¡± Little Gold¡¯s eyes narrowed as he cried in shock.

 Chapter 131 - Appetizer

    Chapter 131: Appetizer


    Unlike the Qi-Gathering stage which was split into eleven stages, the Connate stage was categorized into just four levels: early Connate, middle Connate, late Connate, and penultimate Connate.


    Early Connate adepts or demons could release their inner Qi a foot beyond their bodies. The presence of the Qi was so strong that it was like a metal slicing through mud. If an early Connate adept were to battle against an adept who had achieved Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, even before the Qi-Gathering adept had reached the Connate adept, the Qi-Gathering adept would already be injured by the inner Qi of the Connate adept radiating out of their body.


    The early Connate stage could only be considered the preliminary level within the Connate stage. As one progressed into the middle Connate stage, one¡¯s Qi could be emitted outwards up to three feet away, putting the adept or demon at an even greater advantage when battling. In the late Connate stage, the Connate Qi would be able to be released ten feet from the body and would easily be able to injure or kill anyone within three meters. In the penultimate Connate stage, such adepts were the most powerful presence within all Connate adepts, and they could release their Qi thirty feet from the body, which was a whole ten meters¡¯ distance. Nobody would be able to come within ten meters of the penultimate stage adept without being killed.


    ¡°Late Connate stage?!¡± Upon seeing the red goshawk extend its wings to reach a wingspan of over fifteen meters, both Little Gold and Big Gold were so shocked that their eyes narrowed, filled with utter disbelief.


    Not long ago, the two of them had just said that the red goshawk could only have reached the middle Connate stage at most, and it was impossible for the red goshawk to have entered the late Connate stage¡­ but now, the sheer size of the red goshawk showed that it was clearly in the late Connate stage!


    ¡°This time, since you are here, then don¡¯t think of leaving!¡± The eyes of the red goshawk flashed coldly as it cried out at them. It spread it wings, turning into a brown streak of lightning as it rushed towards Big Gold and Little Gold. Its speed of attack was a far cry from the speed that Big Gold could achieve now.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As the red goshawk spread its wings, streaks of green Qi seemed to radiate from it to a distance of ten feet, shooting towards Big Gold and Little Gold like two-foot-long swords cutting through the air. Seeing this, even though both Big Gold and Little Gold had used the Qi-increasing elixir and had boosted their Qi, but they did not dare to fight against the streaks of Qi as they escaped.


    At this point, their best chance of escape would be if they separated and flew in different directions. But, in order to ensure that their Young Master did not lose his chance, they retreated in a straight line.


    Whoosh!


    Since its appearance, the red goshawk had not discovered any trace of Zhou Donghuang. Seeing the two golden-crowned eagles retreat in a straight line, it did not suspect anything as it tried to go closer to the two of them.


    Just then, wham!! The rare sound of a spear whistling resounded through the air, sounding like a banshee.


    At the same time, a little spear radiating a cold glow flew through the air towards the red goshawk at a faster speed than even the red goshawk itself. It flew straight towards its target on the back of the red goshawk¡¯s head. If the spear landed on its target, even if the red goshawk was a late Connate stage demon, it would definitely be killed by the spear.


    ¡°Oh no!¡± But just as the little spear was about the pierce through the back of the red goshawk¡¯s head, it seemed to react in one lightning-fast motion as it tilted its head to the side.


    Boom!!


    However, the red goshawk¡¯s reaction was still half a beat slow as the spear missed the back of its head, but still pierced through the side of its head, bringing with it a flow of rushing blood.


    The blood splashed through the air, appearing especially radiant in the golden glow.


    ¡°Kill it!¡± As the spear passed through the side of the late Connate red goshawk¡¯s head, it stumbled and tried to steady itself with its huge pair of wings. Zhou Donghuang called out to Big Gold and Little Gold hurriedly.


    ¡°A human?!¡± Then, the red goshawk tilted its injured head slightly, as it locked eyes with Zhou Donghuang, its eyes filled with disbelief. It could not imagine how a human could possibly understand demon speak. Neither could it comprehend how a human had just been hiding so close nearby to the cave, but it had not noticed his scent at all. The human scent could be easily picked up even by Qi-Gathering demons, so it would definitely have been noticed by a Connate demon like itself.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    With Zhou Donghuang¡¯s orders, the two golden-crowned eagles flapped their wings, and stopped in midair at thunderous speed. They transformed into black streaks of lightning as they rushed towards the red goshawk one after the other.


    Now, the red goshawk was seriously injured by the spear that had passed through the side of its head. The inner Qi that radiated from within its body seemed to appear intermittently, as if it could not fully materialize.


    ¡°Just the two of you¡­ want to kill me?¡± Initially the red goshawk had though that a Great Consummate and a Petty Consummate golden-crowned eagle would not be able to kill it, even if they worked together. But at its current injured state, it would definitely not make it out alive, but it could surely bring the two golden-crowned eagles down together with itself.


    But as the two golden-crowned eagles flew towards it, the red goshawk realized that not only was the larger Great Consummate eagle far stronger than any ordinary Great Consummate demon, but even the smaller Petty Consummate eagle was exhibiting more power than any typical Great Consummate flying demon.


    After a brief scuffle, Big Gold and Little Gold managed to tear the red goshawk into two parts, risking serious injury to themselves. They finally killed the red goshawk!


    As the two halves of the red goshawk dropped to the abyss below, Little Gold, which was covered with fresh blood, circled in the air close to the cave, its eyes incredulous. ¡°I never would have thought¡­ a late Connate demon would die in my hands.¡±


    As the words left its mouth, Big Gold could not help but interrupt its little brother, ¡°Don¡¯t get too cocky. If Young Master had not injured it first and diminished its power to less than a tenth, based on our current strength, we would have died if we had faced it head-on.¡±


    As it spoke, Big Gold turned to Zhou Donghuang, its eyes filled with shock. ¡°Young Master, I originally thought that since it was a late Connate demon, you would not be guaranteed to be able to kill it even with the help of the spear sphere¡­ I did not imagine that you would still manage to injure it severely, giving us the chance to attack it.¡±


    ¡°It was just luck,¡± said Zhou Donghuang as he took a deep breath. After he called Little Gold to send him to the door of the cave, he was still reeling from the shock. Just now, even for him, he was not confident of the attack.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you two say¡­ the red goshawk could only be a middle Connate demon at best?¡± Thinking of the sheer fright from just now, Zhou Donghuang glared at Big Gold and Little Gold. ¡°If you had told me the correct information, I would have made more preparations. Thankfully, our luck was good this time.¡±


    Just now, as Zhou Donghuang struck with the spear sphere, he had used all of the inner Qi within his body, which had been enhanced by leaps and bounds by the Qi-increasing elixir. Without the qi-gathering elixir, even if he had exhausted all of his inner Qi and flung the spear, he would not have been able to injured the red goshawk as seriously as he did.


    Hence, he had felt very lucky. Furthermore, Big Gold and Little Gold could only have destroyed the red goshawk so easily because they had taken the qi-increasing elixir too. Otherwise, with their current strength, even if the red goshawk was so seriously injured, they may not have been able to kill it.


    ¡°Young Master, we did not expect it as well.¡± Hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, Big Gold laughed bitterly, as Little Gold followed suit. Both of them also had never expected that even the red goshawk, which was one of the most inferior species among the eagle demons, would be able to achieve the late Connate stage within such a short time at this place. Late Connate demons were vastly stronger than middle Connate demons; the difference between the two could be said to be like comparing Earth to the skies.


    ¡°Forget it, no matter what, we managed to get through this crisis.¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head. When he looked at Big Gold and Little Gold again, his eyes turned strange. ¡°Then again¡­ the two of you, just let the body of the red goshawk drop all the way down like that? Although it had not achieved the primal core stage, or crystallized the inner core¡­ but as a late Connate stage demon, every piece of flesh and bone on its body is filled with intense concentrated spirit energy. That is the product of the spirit energy that it had absorbed from the Earth and air during its practice. If you consumed its body, Big Gold would be another step closer to achieving the Connate stage, and Little Gold will definitely be able to achieve Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering within a few days.¡±


    As his words left his mouth, Big Gold and Little Gold seemed to turn crazy as they flapped their wings desperately and sped downwards towards the carcass that was falling through the air.


    ¡°Those two dumb birds.¡± Shaking his head again at the two golden-crowned eagles, Zhou Donghuang turned his attention to the cave behind him. Standing there, he could still clearly feel that gentle energy that was cascading out from the cave behind him. Most importantly, he would hear Sanskrit chanting surrounding him.


    Zhou Donghuang was not a Buddhist monk after all. This Sanskrit chanting would seem like the words of a higher God in the ears of a Buddhist monk, but to him, it sounded just the same as any other noise.


    ¡°Let¡¯s take a look inside.¡± Zhou Donghuang pulled a torch out and lit it with fire, then ventured into the dark depths of the cave. Inside, he listened closely to confirm that there was no other living being within the cave. Typically, there would be no chance of any other living thing inside the cave¡­ because the other living thing would definitely compete with the red goshawk for the benefits of the Buddhist essence, and the red goshawk would surely no tolerate that.


    ¡°Young Master, it¡¯s so incredible.¡± Zhou Dongunag had just slowly walked into the cave, but within the period of ten breaths, Big Gold and Little Gold had returned. Looking at the blood stains on their mouths, it was easy to tell that they had already swallowed the red goshawk whole.


    Little Gold walked behind Zhou Donghuang, looking towards Zhou Donghuang with eyes that were filled with respect. ¡°If not for your reminder, I would never have thought¡­ that red goshawk¡¯s body would bring me so much benefits! Now, I feel that the last bottleneck of the Petty Consummation of Qi-Gathering has been loosened, and if I begin practicing now, I am confident of breaking through the frontier within a day and achieve Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering!¡± With that, Little Gold¡¯s voice was extremely excited.


    Although Big Gold was silent, its eyes were filled with unmistakable gratitude. It was clear that it felt as pumped as Little Gold was at that moment.


    ¡°The body of the red goshawk was just an appetizer¡­. the most valuable thing in this place is the Buddhist essence!¡± Zhou Donghuang did not even turn back to look at the two golden-crowned eagles as he walked straight into the depths of the cave, his footsteps increasing in speed.

 Chapter 132 - Buddhist Essence of Early Dharma Laws Stage

    Chapter 132: Buddhist Essence of Early Dharma Laws Stage


    ¡°Buddhist essence!¡± Hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, the eyes of the two golden-crowned eagles following behind, be it Big Gold or Little Gold, all lit up with glee.


    ¡°Young Master, that red goshawk was just a lowly eagle demon of inferior blood, but with the help of the Buddhist essence, it was able to achieve the late Connate stage¡­ that Buddhist essence must be something extraordinary, am I right?¡± Little Gold asked as he followed the footsteps of the young man leading the way ahead of them.


    ¡°It is indeed extraordinary,¡± agreed Zhou Donghuang as he nodded and continued walking. ¡°Based on what you have told me, and the fact that the red goshawk managed to reach the late Connate stage¡­ the Buddhist monk that left the essence behind must be at least of the Primal Core stage, or maybe even the Dharma Laws stage!¡±


    Dharma Laws. That was the stage above the Primal Core stage.


    Both Big Gold and Little Gold were clearly aware of this, so when they heard Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, their eyes narrowed. ¡°Dharma laws?!¡±


    ¡°Even if it is the Buddhist essence left behind by a monk who had achieved the Dharma Laws stage, today, its power is left with just a fraction of the original,¡± said Zhou Donghuang with a sigh. But he added, ¡°Even then, even if the Buddhist essence is hardly left with any of its original power and is far less useful to us than what it used to be at its peak¡­ it is still very helpful to all of us now. On the whole, we will gain much from this.¡±


    As he spoke, in the deep recesses of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes, a shimmer of light seemed to appear, shining especially brilliantly in the glow cast by the fire of the torch in his hands.


    ¡°Young Master.¡± After Little Gold had spoken, Big Gold also piped up. ¡°Just now, the little bottle of fluid that you took out, what liquid was that? It was somehow able to mask your human scent.¡± Big Gold was fully aware: if the young man had not used that bottle of liquid to mask his human scent and thus was able to carry out a sneak attack without the red goshawk noticing¡­ today, even if they had used the qi-increasing elixir, they would not be able to have killed the red goshawk.


    ¡°That is the scent-mixing potion, a potion I produced using the leftover herbs from some other medicine.¡± Hearing Big Gold¡¯s question, Zhou Donghuang could not help but slow his steps. ¡°That scent-mixing potion, after it makes contact with any object and is rubbed on the body, will be able to mask the body¡¯s scent for half an hour.¡±


    The scent-mixing potion was a kind of unpopular potion that Zhou Donghuang had decided to produce on a whim. Although he had produced more than ten bottles, he had only one bottle on him.


    Before today, he never would have thought that the scent-mixing potion would be so useful in such situations, and could be said to have even turned the tides in the most crucial of times.


    ¡°If not for the scent-mixing potion today that allowed me to hide from the red goshawk without it discovering my presence¡­ even if I had used the qi-increasing elixir, it would have been extremely difficult for us to kill it without a sneak attack.¡± Zhou Donghuang was clearly aware that without either one of the qi-increasing elixir or the scent-mixing potion today, they would not have been able to kill the late Connate red goshawk demon. Of course, Big Gold and Little Gold had been crucial in retreating in a straight line at the most important moment.


    ¡°Humans are really amazing, producing a potion like that,¡± exclaimed Little Gold. Its eyes were also filled with fear, because this also meant that if any other human used this potion against it, the human could also be able to destroy it with a sneak attack.


    ¡°We¡¯re here!¡± At the same time, Zhou Donghuang had discovered that there was no further road leading forward using the light from the fire torch in his hands. As he looked around him, he saw that there was a pile of bones on the ground in the corner of the cave, and on top of the bones lay pieces of clothing.


    Most important, within the pile of bones that lay on the ground, there was a round orb that was golden in color. Even from that distance, one could sense the coldness that was emanating from within the orb that seemed to push anybody more than a thousand miles away.


    ¡°Young Master, this is the Buddhist essence?¡± Little Gold looked at the faintly golden orb, its eyes widening.


    ¡°Yes,¡± responded Zhou Donghuang with a nod of his head.


    Little Gold¡¯s eyes were filled with confusion. ¡°Young Master, didn¡¯t you say that the golden glow outside was emanating from this Buddhist essence? Why is it no longer radiating any golden glow? Furthermore, since we entered this cave, we have not been able to see any golden glow.¡±


    ¡°We cannot see the golden glow inside this cave because there is no light, but this area is still filled with the energy that it is releasing uncontrollably¡­ as for the golden glow outside, it is caused by its energy mixing with the natural light outside, which is why you see the glow,¡± explained Zhou Donghuang. ¡°If you stand outside at night, if there happens to be moonlight or starlight, then you will still be able to see a faint glow that appears and disappears intermittently¡­ but if there are no moon or stars that night, then you will not be able to see the golden glow.¡±


    ¡°I see,¡± responded Little Gold.


    At the same time, Big Gold was staring intently at the Buddhist essence that was glowing brightly. It did not forget to ask the young man, ¡°Young Master, this little Buddhist essence¡­ are you able to tell what level of Buddhist monk left it behind?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes had not left the Buddhist essence ever since his gaze had landed on it. Now, hearing the question from Big Gold, his eyes shone as he answered, ¡°This Buddhist essence was left behind by a Buddhist monk of the early Dharma Laws stage after he had sat here to attain nirvana. It looks like even when you first discovered it, it had already gone past the stage where it could absorb spirit energy to replenish itself, and had begun depleting its internal energy and dissipating into ash. Otherwise, the golden glow that it radiated would surely reach further than the area where you attained intelligence! Now, the power within it is less than twenty percent of its original at most¡­ roughly similar to a Buddhist essence left behind by a late Primal Core stage Buddhist monk who has attained nirvana.¡±


    As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes seemed to shine even brighter. To him now, even if it was just a Buddhist essence left behind by a late Connate stage monk, it would be an incredibly valuable treasure to him.


    ¡°Early Dharma Laws stage? Late Primal Core stage?¡± Both Big Gold and Little Gold were noticeably disappointed after hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words.


    If this was originally a Buddhist essence left behind by a late Primal Core stage monk, they would have been more than satisfied. However, knowing that this was originally a Buddhist essence left behind by an early Dharma Laws stage monk, they were not only not satisfied, but were disappointed that they had missed their best chance.


    ¡°Learn to be happy with what you have.¡± The look in the two golden-crowned eagles¡¯ eyes allowed Zhou Donghuang to easily see their disappointment. He told them, ¡°Think about it this way¡­ If you had not told me about this and waited until the two of you had achieved the Connate stage and become Connate demons before coming back here, it could already have disappeared. Even if it was still around, its power would be left with much less¡­ and that red goshawk could possibly have achieved the penultimate Connate stage. Could the two of you, who would have just reached the Connate stage, be able to defeat a penultimate Connate stage red goshawk?¡±


    Hearing his words, the eyes of Big Gold and Little Gold were no longer dark and even shone brighter than they used to be, because what Zhou Donghuang had just said did indeed make sense. What they had right now was in fact a decently good outcome.


    ¡°Young Master, do you have any way to take this Buddhist essence?¡± Big Gold asked Zhou Donghuang. Seeing that the young man had not even reached the Connate stage, Big Gold was suspicious if he would be able to take the Buddhist essence.


    Zhou Donghuang was silent but answered Big Gold with his actions. He stretched out his hands gently and easily grabbed the Buddhist essence with his outstretched hands. In fact, the hand that Zhou Donghuang had used to grab the Buddhist essence was emanating waves of gentle inner Qi that infused into the Buddhist essence, allowing him to use a special method to suppress the icy cold power that shot straight out of the surface of the Buddhist essence like icy cold daggers.


    In the instant that Zhou Donghuang grabbed the Buddhist essence, the icy cold power that was radiating from the golden orb seemed to completely disappear. Rather, it had been absorbed back into the orb.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head back!¡± After taking a look around him and not seeing anything of value, Zhou Donghuang called out to the two golden-crowned eagles as they left the cave.


    The two golden-crowned eagles soon realized that after that had left, the golden glow around the cave had disappeared. ¡°Young Master, what is going on here? Why is the golden glow from the Buddhist essence gone?¡±


    ¡°I have already used my Qi to seal it so that the power within the essence will no longer leak out of the orb. Since it is no longer interacting with the light outside, it will no longer produce the golden glow that we used to see,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied as he held the Buddhist essence in his hands. ¡°You should have noticed it a long time ago¡­ in the instant that I picked up the Buddhist essence, not only did the icy cold atmosphere within disappear, but the noise that had been sounding in your ears had also disappeared as well.¡±


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The two golden-crowned eagles streaked across the sky like black lightning as they flew towards the Chu royal city, making their way back home.


    ¡°Young Master,¡± asked Little Gold along their journey. ¡°Since the Buddhist essence left behind by a monk is so valuable¡­ why did the Buddhist monk find such a place to meditate and achieve nirvana? And he even left his essence right there. Why didn¡¯t the monk just achieve nirvana in front of his friends or family and leave the Buddhist essence to them?¡± Little Gold was perplexed about this matter.


    ¡°Buddhism is concerned about this thing called ¡°Fate¡±¡­ only a small portion of Buddhist monks would choose to achieve nirvana in front of their close friends or their disciples, and leave their essence to them. Most other Buddhist monk are more concerned about leaving it to fate, and will choose to leave the Buddhist essence at a place where few people would know about, and wait for someone fated to find it,¡± answered Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°And what if there is no one fated to find it? Wouldn¡¯t that Buddhist essence be left to waste?¡± asked Little Gold again.


    ¡°To most Buddhist monks, even if nobody finds their Buddhist essence, and it is left to disappear like ash in the wind, it is also a form of fate,¡± continued Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Young Master, you¡­ how do you intend to make use of the Buddhist essence?¡± asked Big Gold curiously.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, the two of you will definitely benefit as well,¡± assured Zhou Donghuang with a slight smile.

 Chapter 133 - Chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters

    The afternoon of August 5th, 1229 of the Ziyun era.


    An old man who looked worn and weary, rode a massive beast as he entered the main gate of the Yunyang imperial city arrogantly. Many passersby stopped to look at the sight.


    The beast beneath the old man looked like a leopard but seemed slightly different from a typical wild leopard. This was a demon that looked like a leopard. It was covered with dark gray fur that shone in the light. Its saucer-large eyes were bloodshot, and its mouth was filled with two rows of razor-sharp teeth. It was a fearsome creature to behold.


    ¡°It¡¯s a Lightning Leopard, a level-seven demon of the Qi-Gathering stage!¡± Many people recognized the demon that the old man was riding. Although it was a common sight to see demons being ridden as a steed, having a level-seven demon as a steed was a rare occurrence. A person who was able to ride a beast like this was either somebody from the imperial family or from one of the few premier tycoon families within the imperial city. Furthermore, even those few premier tycoon families had only one or two demon steeds of such a high level. Hence, when the old man rode the Lightning Leopard along the streets of the imperial city, it drew the attention of many people throughout the city¡¯s streets.


    ¡°I hope¡­ that emperor does not get angry at me,¡± said the old man on the Lightning Leopard going towards the emperor¡¯s palace. As he spoke to himself, a bitter smile appeared on his lips, his eyes filled with impatience.


    This old man was none other than the second elder of the Chu royal household of the Western Chu ridge, Xiang Donghua. This was the second time that Xiang Donghua had come to the Yunyang country imperial city this year.


    The first time, it was because a young man had appeared in the Western Chu ridge, who had managed to defeat the two Great Consummate golden-crowned eagles of the Lost Forest. That young man had ignored the orders of the imperial court and had ordered the two golden-crowned eagles to destroy the tycoon Fan family of the Western Chu ridge. The Chu royal household could do nothing about the young man and could only report the matter to the imperial court in the hopes that they would be able to take action against him.


    However, that time, although he had brought one of the most powerful adepts in the Yunyang imperial court back with him to the Chu royal city, together with the Cloud Condor that the imperial court had spent much effort training. But both the adept and the demon had been killed by that young man.


    As he had brought the adept and the Condor back with him, so, when they were both killed, the Chu king had ordered him to return to the imperial city to report the news to the imperial court.


    He had rejected it right away. What a joke! He had been the one to bring both the man and bird to the Chu royal city, and they had never returned. What if the imperial court was furious at him?


    Because he had refused to go to the imperial city, the Chu royal household had sent someone else to report the news to the Yunyang imperial court. This time, he was here because of the continuation of the same matter.


    After the messenger had relayed the news of the death of both man and bird to the Yunyang imperial court, the imperial court had sent the previous emperor and the current retired emperor of Yunyang country, Jiang Yunding, who was an early Connate adept, personally to the Chu royal city of the Western Chu ridge.


    After that, Jiang Yunding had personally paid a visit to the young man. However, even before he got past the front door, he had been killed by that young man, and in just one blow, just like the previous time!


    Jiang Yunding was the retired emperor of Yunyang country and the only Connate adept in the whole Yunyang country, but he had died in the Chu royal city of the Western Chu ridge, and even in one of the guest inns under the Chu royal household.


    This matter was extremely significant and had to be reported to the Yunyang imperial court immediately. Hence, he was sent once again by the Chu king.


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡± As they reached the main entrance to the palace of the imperial household, Xiang Donghua hesitated as he rode his Lightning Leopard. He then inched closer and identified himself before he was allowed to enter the imperial palace.


    In the imperial court, the emperor of Yunyang country, Jiang Tianchen, sat at the emperor¡¯s seat. As he looked at Xiang Donghua, his expression seemed dark.


    Although Xiang Donghua had not said a single word, Jiang Tianchen still had a faint sense of evil foreboding.


    ¡°Speak,¡± said Jiang Tianchen in a low voice.


    Xiang Donghua breathed in deeply, then smiled bitterly as he said, ¡°Your Majesty, my¡­ my sincere condolences.¡±


    Crack!


    Just at the instant that the words left Xiang Donghua¡¯s mouth, Jiang Tianchen¡¯s right hand shook as he the right armrest of the throne was broken off by him, wooden splinters flying out of the chair. He had tried to comfort himself that his father must have run into some issues either on the way there or on the journey back, so had not returned to the imperial court yet. Now, this phrase from Xiang Donghua had confirmed his greatest worry.


    ¡°Your Majesty, please calm down.¡± Seeing Jiang Tianchen¡¯s fury, Xiang Donghua was taken aback like a bird that had just been faced with an arrow. He was so frightened that his expression changed drastically, his body crumbling to the ground as he kneeled down anxiously and plastered his head to the ground. He did not dare to get up at all. Of course, this was a smart move on his part, as this gave him the greatest chance of keeping his life.


    ¡°Speak.¡± When Jiang Tianchen opened his mouth once again, although his tone seemed flat, it was clear that he was trying extremely hard to suppress the anger that was boiling within him.


    ¡°Your Majesty.¡± Xiang Donghua took a deep breath as he gathered his courage to look up. He looked respectfully at the emperor and continued, ¡°The retired emperor came to the Chu royal city and headed directly to our royal household and learnt more about that young man. Right after that, he had left for the guest inn that the young man was staying in. According to eye witnesses inside the guest inn at that point in time, the retired emperor was originally very courteous and wanted to have a peaceful talk with that young man¡­ but the young man did not even allow him past the door. The retired emperor had then asked the young man to give up the first-grade martial art at the door.¡±


    Xiang Donghua told Jiang Tianchen truthfully, ¡°The young man refused, and the retired emperor then threatened him by saying that if he did not do so, the imperial court would report everything about him to the Valley of Medicine Masters. Then, the Valley of Medicine Masters would gift the imperial court the first-grade martial art technique anyway. Later, in his fury, the young man then released a spear in a single blow, killing the retired emperor right outside the door. Before he died, the retired emperor had taken out the soft waist spear to defend himself, but he was not able to block the phantom like spear that transformed from the metal ball in the young man¡¯s hands.¡±


    With that, the atmosphere within the imperial court seemed to appear exceptionally oppressive and dark.


    After a lifetime, Jiang Tianchen still had not responded. Xiang Donghua remained kneeling on the floor, too fearful to stand up.


    ¡°How was my father¡¯s body handled?¡± Finally, Jiang Tianchen spoke, his eyes staring emotionless at Xiang Donghua as he asked in a deep voice.


    ¡°Your Majesty, the body of the late retired emperor was kept in an ice casket¡­. at the same time, once our Chu royal household prepares enough ice blocks, we will send the body of the retired emperor on its way to the imperial city,¡± answered Xiang Donghua hurriedly.


    ¡°Mm,¡± said Jiang Tianchen as he nodded his head with satisfaction. He added, ¡°If there are no further matters, you may leave now.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Your Majesty.¡± As Xiang Donghua left the imperial court, the robe on his back was entirely soaked with his cold sweat, but he seemed to not be bothered by it and even heaved a heavy sigh of relief.


    After Xiang Donghua had left the imperial court, Jiang Tianchen did not leave, but the aides beside him all left hurriedly.


    Soon, the top level of ministers in the imperial court of the Yunyang country had once again gathered in the court.


    ¡­


    That night, the emperor of Yunyang country, Jiang Tianchen, personally rode a demon and left the palace. The beast as his steed was a massive lion covered with a body of golden fur. As it ran, its speed was not any slower than the Petty Consummate flying demon, the Cloud Condor. This was another of the Petty Consummate demons that the Yunyang imperial court had reared, the Fiery Lion.


    When the Fiery Lion ran, its whole body of golden hair shook like the flames of a brilliant golden fire burning brightly. Although the speed of the Fiery Lion was not slower than that of the Cloud Condor, it was not a flying demon and had to stay on the roads¡­ so based on its speed on the roads, it was still much slower than the Cloud Condor.


    Now, Jiang Tianchen left the royal palace riding the Fiery Lion, riding straight into the distance. That was the direction where the Valley of Medicine Masters lay.


    ¡°The issue of this young man, if I report it directly to the second elder of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe, whom we always communicate with, knowing the lazy nature of Chen Tianhe, even if he eventually reports it up to the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, he will surely claim all the credit for himself and not mention me at all.¡± As Jiang Tianchen sped on his way, his eyes were shining. ¡°Thus, it is better if I make the trip there myself. If this time, our Yunyang imperial court is not able to gain some real benefit from the Valley of Medicine Masters from this matter¡­ then my father would have sacrificed his life for nothing!¡±


    As he thought of the death of his father, Jiang Yunding, Jiang Tianchen¡¯s expression turned immensely dark once again.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang is the name? I want to see how you can try to fight against the Valley of Medicine Masters!¡±


    ¡­


    After many days, Jiang Tianchen finally rode the Fiery Lion and reached one of the mountain gates of the Valley of Medicine Masters.


    ¡°I am the emperor of Yunyang country, chief of the Yunyang imperial Jiang family, Jiang Tianchen. I am looking for the valley chief for some extremely important matters.¡± At the gate, Jiang Tianchen identified himself and stood outside the door into the Valley of Medicine Masters, waiting for the disciple guarding the gate to relay the message into the Valley. He appeared extremely patient the whole time.


    Although he was the emperor of a whole country, but before the Valley of Medicine Masters, he did not dare to be arrogant.


    After two minutes, the disciple who had relayed the message then returned, as he brought with him a message from the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters. ¡°Chief Jiang, the valley chief ordered me to bring you in.¡±


    ¡°Thank you.¡±


    As he came in front of the mountain gate, Jiang Tianchen leapt off the back of the Fiery Lion and held on to the Fiery Lion. Now, as he entered the gate, he led the Fiery Lion alongside him.


    This was one of the rules of the Valley of Medicine Masters: other than Connate adepts, within the valley, no matter if the person was from the valley or an outside, no person was allowed to ride a beast around.


    ¡°Chief.¡± After a minute, Jiang Tianchen came up to the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters.


    As for his Fiery Lion, it had been brought somewhere else by someone from the valley, and had not accompanied him to the residence of the Chief.


    The residence of the Chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters was found in a small courtyard in front of a small waterfall in the corner of the valley. Inside the courtyard, there were many flowers and plants, and even some plants that were brightly colored and in strange shapes, which were clearly rare plant species.


    ¡°Emperor of Yunyang country, why are you looking for me?¡± The chief of the valley was a middle-aged man in a loose gray robe. His eyes were bright and his brows sharp. His face was princely, and it was not hard to see that he had been a handsome young man in his youth. Even now, he had a special kind of aura as a mature man.

 Chapter 134 - Connate Demon Silver-Crowned Crane

    Chapter 134: Connate Demon Silver-Crowned Crane


    This was the second time that Jiang Tianchen had seen the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters.


    Back then, before he had taken over the position as emperor of Yunyang country, he had once visited this Valley chief together with his father Jiang Yunding, then the emperor of Yunyang country. Then, he was just a young teen, barely thirteen years of age.


    In the blink of an eye, thirty years had passed, and he had already gotten so much older. The years had left their mark on his wizened face, but the emperor that stood in front of him still looked the same as he had thirty years ago, just like a middle-aged man.


    ¡°Although I had heard a long time ago that the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters had the ability to maintain his image well¡­ but I never thought that he would still be able to maintain his look from more than thirty years ago.¡± Jiang Tianchen looked at the middle-aged man in front of him as he sunk deep into his thoughts. He was extremely shocked that the man looked exactly the same as he had thirty years ago. Was this really the valley chief that he had met on his previous visit and not the son of that chief? Although he had long heard that this chief of the valley had such abilities, but it had always been just hearsay. Now that he finally saw the man in the flesh for himself, Jiang Tianchen was shocked and could hardly calm himself.


    Even when the valley chief spoke, Jiang Tianchen did not respond as he was still deep in thought.


    ¡°Jiang Tianchen, right? Even your father did not dare to be as disrespectful in front of me.¡± The elegant man was the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Su Mo. Seeing that Jiang Tianchen had ignored him, although there seemed to be hardly any change in his expression, his eyes seemed to flash with a murderous cold glint that scared Jiang Tianchen so much that he recovered from his daze immediately.


    ¡°Your Excellency, please do not misunderstand. I was just so alarmed to see that Your Excellency looks exactly as young as you did thirty years ago. That was why I went into a daze.¡± Jiang Tianchen bowed deeply as he spoke, his voice apologetic.


    Although he was the emperor of Yunyang country and the one who reigned supreme over the whole of the country, but in front of this man, he did not dare to show any sign of arrogance. Not only was the man the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, which ruled over all sixteen countries of the Eastern valley, including Yunyang country, but just the level of power within the man was also enough to make him cower in fear. Not only was the man the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, but he was also a Connate adept who had achieved the late Connate stage!


    Needless to say, Jiang Tianchen was very good with his words. At least, what he just said was enough to soften Su Mo after it entered his ears. His fierce gaze turned gentler as he said, ¡°So¡­. what urgent matter brings you here today to find me?¡±


    Jiang Tianchen breathed in deeply, before he spoke slowly, ¡°Your Excellency, my father has been murdered.¡± As he spoke, his tone turned low as if he could not control it. In front of Su Mo, the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Jiang Tianchen, the emperor of Yunyang country, did not dare to refer to himself as the emperor, but referred to himself in the first person using just the term ¡°I.¡±


    ¡°Oh?¡± Su Mo raised his brows. ¡°As far as I know, your father Jiang Yunding had already achieved the early Connate stage quite some time ago¡­ recently, did a Connate adept cause trouble for you in Yunyang country?¡± As he spoke, Su Mo¡¯s eyes seemed to flash coldly. All the sixteen countries within the Eastern valley were under the protection of the Valley of Medicine Masters, including Yunyang country. This was widely known. Hence, although many of the sixteen countries of the Eastern valley did not have any Connate adepts, these countries did not receive any trouble from other Connate adepts. This was because it was understood that these sixteen countries of the Eastern valley had the backing of the Valley of Medicine Masters.


    Now, hearing that the retired emperor of Yunyang country, Jiang Yunding, who had already achieved the Connate stage, had just been murdered, Su Mo, as the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, immediately felt that someone had dared to disrespect the Valley. Laying hands on Jiang Yunding was no different from slapping the Valley of Medicine Masters on the cheek.


    ¡°Your Excellency, my father was not killed by a Connate adept¡­ the man who killed my father is only a Great Consummate adept of the Qi-Gathering at best,¡± replied Jiang Tianchen, his face bitter.


    ¡°Jiang Yunding had already achieved the Connate stage many years ago, but he was killed by a Great Consummate adept of the Qi-Gathering? What happened to his years as a Connate adept?¡± The icy cold glint in Su Mo¡¯s eyes disappeared and was replaced with disdain. A Connate adept of the early Connate stage being murdered at the hands of a Great Consummate adept was simply a disgrace to Connate adepts! In that instant, Su Mo felt that Jiang Yunding had embarrassed the ranks of Connate adepts.


    ¡°Your Excellency, although that man is only a Great Consummate adept of the Qi-Gathering, he is definitely not your typical Great Consummate adept.¡± Seeing Su Mo¡¯s disdain towards his late father, Jiang Tianchen was infuriated, but he did not dare to show his anger. He forced a bitter smile out of the edges of his mouth as he said, ¡°That man most likely received the treasure of a Primal Core adept!¡±


    ¡°Primal Core adept?¡± Su Mo¡¯s eyes narrowed. His expression, which had been relaxed, now changed drastically.


    ¡°In his hands, he had a small metal sphere which could transform into a spear¡­ the metal spear did not look impressive, but it radiated a cold glow that was visible to the naked eye. Once if flew out, it could easily kill a man. My father had died because of that metal sphere, and had been murdered by that metal ball which had transformed into a spear and pierced through him.¡± Jiang Tianchen continued, ¡°My father was wary and had defended in time, but he was still unable to defend himself against that spear.¡±


    ¡°Small metal ball? Transformed into a spear?¡± Su Mo¡¯s eyes narrowed again as his gaze landed on Jiang Tianchen like lightning bolts. He asked seriously, ¡°Are you sure¡­ the small ball in that man¡¯s hands could transform into a spear?¡±


    The sudden seriousness of Su Mo gave Jiang Tianchen immense pressure. He breathed in deeply, then dared to respond, ¡°Your Excellency, although I did not see it for myself, many people in the Chu royal household of the Western Chu ridge of Yunyang country saw the scene with their own eyes¡­ Most importantly, my father had died because of the small metal spear that had transformed out of that small metal sphere!¡±


    As he spoke, Jiang Tianchen paused before adding, ¡°The reason why I suspect that he is in possession of a treasure left behind by a Primal Core adept¡­ this mysterious metal ball that can transform into a spear is just one of the reasons.


    ¡°The other reason is the sheer speed of his increase in power. Two years ago, he was just sixteen years old and a martial invalid that everyone knew about¡­ but now, he is just eighteen years of age and has already achieved Great Consummation of Qi-Gathering! Most importantly, he was not born into any reputable families, but is just someone who was born and raised in a desolate little town in an inferior prefecture of the Western Chu ridge.¡± Jiang Tianchen finished his piece in one breath.


    ¡°Sixteen years old, a martial invalid?¡± Su Mo¡¯s eyes narrowed once again. His expression changed drastically again as he asked, ¡°Eighteen years old and somehow appears to have achieved Great Consummation of Qi-Gathering? Plus, using a small metal ball that seems to be a spear sphere, he killed the previous emperor of Yunyang country, the early Connate adept Jiang Yunding?¡±


    Su Mo had seen records in the old books that had been passed down through generations of the Valley of Medicine Masters of an amazing weapon that only adepts of the Primal Core stage and above could produce. That weapon was known as the spear sphere.


    Within the spear sphere, there were many complicated spells, and if one did not know how to use the spear sphere, it was simply impossible to awaken it. But once the spear sphere was awoken, it was able to release frightening amounts of murderous power, and the more inner Qi that was injected into the weapon, the more powerful it would become.


    According to the old books and records¡­ middle Connate stage adepts who managed to awaken the spear sphere and utilize it had a more than eighty percent success rate in using it to ambush and kill penultimate Connate stage adepts. If late Connate stage adepts injected all their energy into the spear sphere, they did not even have to ambush the opponent, as long as they had the opportunity, they could easily use it to kill a penultimate Connate stage adept!


    Thinking of this, Su Mo¡¯s eyes flashed as he sucked in a deep breath of cold air.


    In an instant, his eyes glinted brightly as his gaze landed on Jiang Tianchen once again. ¡°You should now¡­ the consequences of lying to me.¡± His eyes flashed threateningly as he said this.


    ¡°Your Excellency.¡± Seeing his reaction, Jiang Tianchen was sure that the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters before him was very interested in the treasure that was in the hands of that young man. Otherwise, Su Mo would not have confirmed the truth in his words once again. ¡°If there is any untruth in anything that I, Jiang Tianchen, told you today, Your Excellency can take away my life at any time!¡± Jiang Tianchen said seriously, even using his life as a guarantee.


    Seeing this, Su Mo no longer doubted him. He pulled out a short flute and put it to his mouth, blowing a short verse of music on the flute. The sounds of the flute rolled away into the distance.


    Whoosh!


    Just as Jiang Tianchen raised his brows slightly at the ear-piercing flute music, another sound came to his ears, the sound of something speeding through the air. When he raised his head towards the source of the noise, he saw a massive white crane. Its wingspan was more than ten meters wide. As it appeared in the air above him and the chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Su Mo, it circled in the sky, its sharp eyes fixated on Su mo.


    ¡°Is this the Connate demon of the Valley of Medicine Masters, the silver-crowned crane?¡± With just a glance, Jiang Tianchen could easily see the silver crown on the head of the white crane. Instantly, he guessed that this white crane was the Connate stage flying beast that the Valley of Medicine Masters had reared.


    The Connate demon, silver-crowned crane.


    ¡°Old friend, follow me on a trip,¡± said Su Mo to the silver-crowned crane with a smile. Usually, even Connate demons which had attained intelligence would find it difficult to understand human language. But if the Connate demon had lived long enough and people had always used human language to communicate with it, eventually these Connate demons would be able to understand human language easily.


    But even though they could fully understand human language, Connate demons could not speak the language. This was simply because demons had a bone in their throat that only allowed them to use demon tongue¡­ only Primal Core demons which had their inner core would be able to use the inner energy of the Primal Core to transform the bone in their throat such that they would be able to speak the human language and interact with humans.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!!


    ¡­


    As Su Mo spoke, the massive Connate silver-crowned crane that was circling above now shot towards the ground, scooping Su Mo up together with it into the skies and flying towards the direction of Yunyang country. As for Jiang Tianchen, the emperor of Yunyang country, he was also brought onto the back of the silver-crowned crane together with Su Mo.

 Chapter 135 - Foot-Long Streak of Qi

    Chapter 135: Foot-Long Streak of Qi


    Western Chu ridge of Yunyang country.


    Chu royal city.


    ¡°In the blink of an eye, we have returned for a whole month¡­ this Buddhist essence, till now, has really been fully utilized by us.¡± In the biggest master bedroom in the second guesthouse of Chuxiu inn, a young man dressed in a shirt as white as the snow was seated cross-legged on the mattress. He opened his eyes and muttered to himself.


    Around him radiated a faint golden glow that not only filled the whole room, but even extended outside and surrounded the whole second guesthouse and the neighboring third guesthouse. From a distance, the ten bedrooms in these two guesthouse, as well as the rear courtyard of the third guest house, were all basking in this golden glow.


    ¡°Little Gold, how is your progress? I am about the reach the final bottleneck of Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, with just a little more, I will be not far from achieving the Connate stage and becoming a Connate demon.¡± In the backyard of the third guesthouse, a massive black eagle with a fiery golden crown called out to another slightly smaller black eagle not far away from it. Its eyes shone with unmistakable emotion, and its voice was agitated.


    ¡°Black Gold, within such an environment, just give me another half a month and I will be able to catch up to where you are now!¡± the black eagle in the back said unhappily.


    ¡°If you give me another half a month, I may already be able to reach the final bottleneck of Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering¡­ You will always be less powerful than me.¡± The huge black eagle in front raised its head proudly, its eyes filled with glee.


    As it spoke, it seemed to suddenly remember something, and its eyes suddenly shone as it said, ¡°Then again¡­ I never thought that Young Master would not only able to take the Buddhist essence that even the late Connate stage red goshawk could not obtain, but even swallow it into his stomach! Young Master not only understands the Buddhist essence, but even understands how to control it¡­. based on the current situation, after he swallowed the Buddhist essence, he was able to perfectly control the power within the Buddhist essence and aid us in our practice.¡±


    The eyes of the other black eagle also seemed to shine with genuine respect and admiration. ¡°Young Master is definitely no ordinary person¡­ it is truly our fortune to be able to follow him. In the past, we were thinking of leaving him and regaining our freedom once we entered the Connate stage and became Connate demons¡­ but now, I do not really want to leave him. I feel that we will be able to see more of this vast world if we stay by his side.¡±


    ¡°I agree.¡±


    ¡­


    These two black eagles were none other than the two golden-crowned eagles that Zhou Donghuang had taken with him from the depths of the Lost Forest.


    When the two golden-crowned eagles had first left the Lost Forest, they had only been Petty Consummate demons, and they were a great distance away from achieving Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering¡­ But now, after following Zhou Donghuang for this period of time, both of them had not only achieved Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering, but they were even close to the Connate stage.


    They had achieved this within just a month.


    Now, with the help of the Buddhist essence that had already been integrated with Zhou Donghuang¡¯s body, not only were the two golden-crowned eagles able to progress rapidly, but their rate of practice of Donghuang¡¯s entourage was also ridiculously fast.


    The most amazing improvement was in Yun Lu, that little lass. Yun Lu had always had the most natural talent among the people around Zhou Donghuang. Furthermore, she had mastered the premier technique, ¡°Thousand-Star Sword Technique,¡± which allowed her to achieve level-six of the Qi-Gathering in just a short month¡¯s time, all under the influence of the golden glow that emanated from the Buddhist essence that was controlled by Zhou Donghuang.


    A month ago, Yun Lu was just a level-three adept. She had surpassed three levels in just a month.


    ¡°Xiao Lu¡¯s progress is really incredible¡­ but it is partly because I did all I could to move the energy within the Buddhist essence in order to aid their practice. If they were to stay on that cliff on the mountaintop and train within the golden glow of the Buddhist essence that bathed the mountaintop, they would not be able to make so much progress in such a short time with just the natural release of energy from the Buddhist essence.¡±


    A month ago, after obtaining that Buddhist essence, Zhou Donghuang had then used his own inner Qi to set up some spells that suppressed the energy that the Buddhist essence radiated out of itself. After that, after fully bringing the Buddhist essence under his control, he was able to control the release of its energy and swallowed it to make it a part of his body.


    Now, with just a thought, he would be able to fully stop the flow of energy out of the Buddhist essence. In the same away, he could fully control the energy released and the boundaries where it stretched up till¡­ just like now, he was controlling its release of energy in order to aid the practice of the two golden-crowned eagles and the other people around him. Of course, when he was controlling the flow of energy, it was depleted much faster than if it slowly diminished naturally.


    ¡°If we continue to exhaust it like this¡­ even if this Buddhist essence is of the same power as that left behind by a late Primal Core stage Buddhist monk, within one or two years, its energy within will be completely depleted, and it will disappear!¡± Zhou Donghuang was very clear about this fact.


    But, even then, I will be able to use its strength to achieve the early stages of the Primal Core! Thinking of this, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes revealed his immense confidence.


    The Buddhist essence in his body was left behind by a Buddhist monk of the early Dharma laws stage, so even though just a small portion of its strength was remaining, it was still similar to the Buddhist essence left behind by a monk of the late Primal Core stage.


    The red goshawk was only a lowly species among the eagle demons and had little natural talent and poor technique, but it was able to achieve the late Connate stage using just its practice under the help of this Buddhist essence. With Zhou Donghuang¡¯s natural talent and the help of medicine that he produced, he would be able to make use of the Buddhist essence to the greatest extent.


    Today, not only can I control the energy of the Buddhist essence to reach out to aid others in their practice, but I can even use its power to attack. Although I have not achieved the Connate stage and am not able to fully utilize its energy to produce power similar to that of a Primal Core adept. But¡­ Before he could finish the thought, he seemed to hear something as his eyes turned dead serious.


    Instantly, he cut off the energy that was released from the Buddhist essence. After a few breaths, the golden glow that covered the two guesthouses slowly dissipated, and eventually disappeared, as if it had never appeared before.


    ¡°What is going on?¡±


    ¡°Young Master cut off the energy from the Buddhist essence?¡±


    ¡­


    Not just the two golden-crowned eagles, but also Fu, Freezing Wind and Lu Qinghu, or Lin Lan, Yun Lu or Yang Zixi all noticed at the same time that their rate of practice had returned to its original speed. Of course, they were well aware that this was the result of Zhou Donghuang cutting off the flow of outward energy of the Buddhist essence.


    Just as the two golden-crowned eagles and the rest of the people stopped their practice, Zhou Donghuang had already opened the door of his room and stepped out. He stood in the middle of the courtyard, his eyes staring at the skies.


    Flap! Flap!!


    ¡­


    Just as Zhou Donghuang stood in the center of the courtyard and stared into the skies, a large shadow appeared in the sky above. It was a massive white crane that descended rapidly, appearing in the skies above Zhou Donghuang, circling at a low height.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Before the white crane landed, the two golden-crowned eagles had already shot out of the third guesthouse, they circled the nearby skies. As they stared at the white crane with caution, they told Zhou Donghuang:


    ¡°Young Master, this crane is a Connate demon!¡±


    ¡°Young Master, this Connate demon is probably not as powerful as the red goshawk.¡±


    Big Gold and Little Gold took turns to remind Zhou Donghuang about the danger.


    By now, Zhou Donghuang had taken a good look at the white crane that descended from the skies. Its wingspan was more than ten meters, and there was a silver crown on its head. Its eyes did not look as gentle as that of most other white cranes. They were fearsome.


    ¡°Silver-crowned eagle?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s brows furrowed. From his millennia of experience and knowledge from traversing the universe, it was easy to tell that this white crane was a silver-crowned crane, a species that had rather superior blood among the flying demons. Among the cranes, it was only lesser to the golden-crowned crane and some other species. Zhou Donghuang only glanced at the silver-crowned eagle, then his gaze landed on the two figures on its back.


    One of the two men was in a dragon robe embroidered with nine five-clawed golden dragons. His face was serious with thick arching brows that seemed to add an intense coldness to his whole figure, like the eyes of a dragon.


    ¡°Emperor of Yunyang country?¡± Seeing the clothing of the man, Zhou Donghuang could easily guess his identity. This man was most likely the emperor of Yunyang country.


    But Zhou Donghuang then looked at the man who was standing in front. To be able to have the emperor stand humbly behind him, it was obvious who this man was. This man was in a humble gray dress, his brows sharp and his features defined. He stood with his hands behind his back as he stood upright on the back of the silver-crowned crane, looking down upon him with a cold gaze.


    ¡°You must be Zhou Donghuang?¡± The man in gray stared at him as he asked calmly.


    But Zhou Donghuang¡¯s response was simply to transform the small metal ball that he spun in his hands into a little spear shimmering with a cold radiance. The spear sped out of his hands with a whistle, flying straight towards the silver-crowned crane.


    Whoosh!!


    The little spear was so fast that the silver-crowned crane in the early Connate stage was too slow and had no time to react, its eyes filled with defeat.


    ¡°It is indeed a spear sphere!¡± Seeing the little spear fly towards the silver-crowned crane, and about to slaughter the crane, the man in gray muttered in an agitated tone as he pointed with his finger.


    In that instant, a burst of green Qi appeared and crystallized into a green streak that was as thick as his finger, which easily hit the flying little spear.


    The green streak that appeared was a foot long and then returned into his fingertip after it had hit the little spear.


    ¡°Late Connate stage?¡± Zhou Donghuang reached out to catch the metal sphere that had returned to him. His gaze hardened as he stared at the man. ¡°Chief of the Valley of Medicine Masters?¡±

 Chapter 136 - Su Mo Makes His Move

    Chapter 136: Su Mo Makes His Move


    To be able to exert the Qi force externally into rays was a sign of true mastery of the Connate stage.


    So when this middle-aged man, riding on a Connate demon silver-crowned crane¡¯s back, started shooting out Qi at the point of a finger with such ease, it only pointed to one fact¡ªthat he was an advanced Connate level adept!


    Presently, there could only be one master practitioner from the country of Yunyang that fit that description:


    The Head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Moreover, this master practitioner that stood before Zhou Donghuang, seemed to have come accompanied by the emperor of Yunyang himself. The latter seemed to cling to him, showing him such reverence and respect; this was yet another reflection of how extraordinary this character truly was.


    A Connate stage, advanced level adept practitioner, riding right alongside the Emperor of Yunyang¡ªif this was not the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters, who else could it be?


    ¡°Indeed, it is I, the Head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo.¡±


    On the back of the silver-crowned crane, Su Mo peered at the young boy indifferently. ¡°18 years old, and already you have achieved the Great Consummation of Qi-gathering. Never¡ªacross the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, and even in the history of the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡ªhas there ever been a practitioner that has attained this level of wizardry and genius, such as yourself.¡±


    ¡°Although the essence of the Primal Core seems to have helped, this is still rather difficult to achieve,¡± Su Mo expressed nonchalantly.


    ¡°Get down.¡±


    Donghuang gave Su Mo the same look of indifference. ¡°I don¡¯t like people who try to patronize me. I¡¯ll take five breaths. If you don¡¯t come down in that amount of time, I¡¯ll have to make you come down.¡±


    As Donghuang said this, the words seemed to startle Su Mo for a moment.


    The Emperor of the country of Yunyang, Jiang Tianchen, who stood behind Su Mo, had heard news of the young man¡¯s arrogance before. Yet, he never would have thought that this young man in front of him would dare to be this impetuous while he was standing face to face with the Valley Head and Connate level practitioner.


    ¡°Hey kid, how dare you show such blatant disrespect for the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters. Do you have a death wish?¡± Jiang Tianchen¡¯s tone was severe as he regarded the young man coldly.


    His eyes flashed with bloodthirsty hatred in need of revenge. This was the very man that had killed his father Jiang Yunding, and he was desperate to exact some vengeance quickly!


    ¡°The Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters?¡±


    Having just noticed the commotion outside, Fu, Leng Hanfeng, Lu Qinghu and the others stepped out of their room. On hearing Jiang Tianchen¡¯s words, their faces collectively drained of color.


    The Valley of Medicine Masters¡ªby far, the Valley held the greatest sect in all of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, including the country of Yunyang. Every year, the Sixteen Countries would pay the Valley large quantities of tributes of gold and silver, in exchange for the Valley¡¯s protection.


    And within that Valley, where master practitioners roamed aplenty, legend had it that there was one Connate level practitioner who was strongest amongst them.


    ¡°That¡¯s him, Su Mo, the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t the Head of the Valley supposed to be more than 70 years old by now? How does he look so young?¡±


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯d heard that the Head of the Valley was supposed to have some age-defying abilities, but this looks pretty preposterous, doesn¡¯t it?¡±


    ¡­


    Fu, Leng Hanfeng, Lu Qinghu and the rest of the men, had heard about the legendary Valley Head before, but they had stayed in Chu Royal City for far too long, and everything they did hear about this man was through the grapevine¡ªinformation collected through hearsay and gossip.


    And what they¡¯d known so far was from the deliberate investigation on their part.


    This was because, up until now, their young master had not yet met a worthy opponent in all of the country of Yunyang, and the only person that was a threat to his reputation was this Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters.


    Considering all that they understood about this man, they were naturally afraid and had as a group prayed in their hearts that Su Mo would not interfere in the feud between their young master and the Yunyang royal family. They did not think that Donghuang, their young master, could yet contend with the likes of the Valley Head.


    The only thing was, they never would have thought in a million years that not only would the Valley Head interfere in this business with the Yunyang royal family, but the advanced Connate adept would personally come riding on the Connate demon silver-crowned crane to meet them.


    And now, looking at the middle-aged man in the unmistakable dragon print robes behind Su Mo, it was easy to guess who that person was¡ªit had to be the Emperor of Yunyang himself.


    ¡°It looks like the Yunyang imperial family possesses a short memory.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang cast a casual glance at Jiang Tianchen. ¡°Originally, I couldn¡¯t care less about getting involved in more issues with the royal family, but, since you have personally made your way here today, Emperor of Yungyang, I guess after this, Yunyang is ready for a change in leadership.¡±


    Upon hearing these words, Jiang Tianchen was taken aback at first, but then he couldn¡¯t help but start laughing. ¡°Zhou Donghuang,¡± he jeered sarcastically, ¡°you haven¡¯t lost your mind yet, have you? A ¡®change in leadership¡¯ from me¡ªto you?¡±


    ¡°I am thinking, perhaps you should run this by the Valley Head first to see if he¡¯ll give you permission to take over the rulership.¡± As Jiang Tianchen said this, the sneer at the corner of his mouth became more and more pronounced.


    ¡°Ignorant young fool!¡± Su Mo by now had regained his composure and regarded the young man once more, this time with an icy stare. ¡°I can¡¯t remember, after all these years, the last time that someone has infuriated me this much. I must really say, your courage is admirable. Did you really think, that with the essence of the Primal Core and the weapons and techniques you¡¯ve reaped from the Primal Core adepts, that you¡¯d be completely invincible?¡±


    The same sneer appeared at the corners of Su Mo¡¯s lips as he said this.


    ¡°You know nothing!¡±


    ¡°You must know, if I wasn¡¯t thinking of asking you to hand over the Primal Core essence and show me how to use the sword sphere techniques, you would actually be dead by now!¡±


    As Su Mo¡¯s voice fell, there was a murderous intent in his eyes.


    ¡°Five breaths. Your time is up.¡±


    Under the gaze of those around him, the young man seemed unperturbed. Instead, he responded to Su Mo¡¯s lecture with his brightest smile, parting his lips to reveal his snow-white teeth.


    Hua!


    In an instant and with barely any movement in his robes, the young man held the sword sphere in the palm of his right hand. In a flash of light¡­


    The next moment.


    Xiu!


    With a subtle whistle, the sword sphere was turned into a small iron sword that flew out like a phantom. Su Mo, who stayed vigilant the whole time, found his response to this slower by half a beat.


    Xiu!


    A long rod of Qi shot out, but this time, it failed to hit its target.


    Phoosh!


    With that, the small iron sword went right through the skull of the Connate demon silver-crowned crane¡¯s and killed it in an instant.


    The silver-crowned crane¡¯s pair of fierce, twinkling eyes instantly dimmed, and both wings ceased their flapping. The huge creature¡¯s body that had been hovering above everyone, suddenly plunged and landed heavily with a loud crash in front of the stone table in the courtyard.


    Thump!


    Emperor Jiang Tianchen was flung violently and haphazardly to the ground, and when he stood up, his legs seemed to sway¡ªthat was a sure sign of injury to his legs.


    Because he was an adept of the Qi-Gathering, at the moment he landed, Jiang Tianchen was able to hurriedly project his qi to protect his legs in time. Even so, the impact of the landing was so strong, that it still managed to cause some injury to his leg.


    Boom!


    Rumble! Boom! Boom!


    ¡­


    On the other hand, the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Su Mo, seemed to float as he descended. As he landed, a blast of green qi started pulsating from his feet, the cemented ground shattered and stone fragments flew as he landed.


    The power of the Qi propulsion helped Su Mo return safely to the ground.


    The Connate stage adept had just landed from a 10-meter fall and was completely unharmed.


    ¡°Old friend!¡±


    As Su Mo landed, his eyes fell on the silver-crowned crane that had fallen dead to the ground. His eyes flashed in mourning.


    This creature had been with him for so many years. And now, it just lay before him, lifeless.


    Su Mo instantly locked eyes with the young man again. His eyes were cold and ruthless. ¡°It looks like I¡¯ve underestimated you. I didn¡¯t expect you to be able to use the sword sphere with such a speed that¡¯s no slower than my own attack, all without having reached the Connate stage. This is this the working of the essence of the Primal Core then?¡±


    As he said this, Su Mo¡¯s eyes grew hungry with greed, and he stared at Zhou Donghuang as if he were regarding a rare treasure.


    Although Zhou Donghuang¡¯s speed closely matched his, he was responsible for the death of the Valley¡¯s own Connate, silver-crowned crane.


    Still, he could not concede that Zhou Donghuang was equally matched with him.


    For an adept who had not managed to attain the Connate level, even with the Primal Core sword sphere and other little tricks up his sleeve, there was no way this man could be his match.


    If he really did have the ability to kill him, why didn¡¯t he just aim for him directly, instead of killing the silver-crowned crane first?


    This was what Su Mo was thinking.


    ¡°So what if it is?¡± Zhou Donghuang replied belligerently, his tone still bored.


    ¡°Junior, when I make you kneel, we shall then see¡­ if you can be just as cocky as you are now!¡±


    Su Mo¡¯s face darkened, and his eyes grew cold. At the same moment, the gray garments that clothed him started bulging, and green rays of qi started emanating from his body¡ªsome rays were short and some were longer, and some were as long as a stake!


    ¡°Connate level unleashed!¡±


    Fu and the others had only known that the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters was a Connate level adept from rumors and gossip, but now, they were first-hand witnesses to the sheer display of Connate level power that the Valley Head had.


    ¡°Young master!¡± They collectively held their hearts in their mouths and regarded the young man who was near them with worried faces.


    Even though they did have confidence in their young master¡¯s skills, this was Su Mo, the undefeated fighter from all of the sixteen countries!


    Could an 18-year-old really contend with the power of this man in front of them?


    Emperor Jiang Tianchen gave the young man an icy stare. ¡°You¡¯d better get ready to get on your knees and beg for mercy, brat,¡± he said darkly. ¡°Perhaps then, the Valley Head will spare you the amount of pain you deserve!¡±


    Despite this, Zhou Donghuang ignored him completely. His eyes were transfixed on the Qi that was emanating from Su Mo, but otherwise, he was expressionless.


    ¡°I won¡¯t be a bully. I¡¯ll give you a chance to make your move. If you don¡¯t do something in three breaths, I won¡¯t wait any longer.¡±


    It didn¡¯t seem like Zhou Donghuang thought much of Su Mo at all.


    ¡°You crazy kid!¡±


    Su Mo couldn¡¯t withhold his anger any longer, and in that instant, the Qi emanating from his body seemed to swell up. His whole being seemed to become wrapped in green flame as he rushed toward Zhou Donghuang.


    Hua!


    The green flames raged and transfigured into the shape of a flaming giant beast with its mouth wide open, poised to swallow Zhou Donghuang whole!

 Chapter 137 - Become my dog

    Chapter 137: Become my dog


    ¡°Unleashing of the Connate level?¡±


    In the face of the explosive Qi emanating throughout Su Mo¡¯s body, advancing toward him like raging flames, a touch of laughter seemed to involuntarily appear at the corner of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s lips.


    Presently, Zhou Donghuang ¡®s face was one of complete calmness and serenity¡ªit was as if he had the whole situation that was unfolding before him under complete control.


    ¡°Young Master!¡±


    As Su Mo drew closer to Zhou Donghuang, Fu and the other men¡¯s faces immediately drained of color¡ªso much for fearing the two flying golden-crowned eagles! This time, the situation was cause for real worry.


    The Emperor of Yunyang looked at Zhou Donghuang, and once more his lips curled with a disparaging smile. Looking at this, he thought, no matter how strong Zhou Donghuang was, surely it was not enough to beat Su Mo.


    Su Mo was not just a Connate adept, but also the only one of the entire Sixteen Countries of the East Valley to have attained this level of power.


    In the face of the oncoming onslaught, when Su Mo had crossed almost half the distance to where his target was, Zhou Donghuang eyes narrowed ever so slightly. He said in a soft tone, ¡°If you want to get near me, try getting past this first.¡±


    As he said this, a flash of lightning appeared in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s right hand, and with that, a brilliant ray of light suddenly burst from the palm of his hand, which surged over three meters across.


    Hua!


    As Zhou Donghuang lifted and dipped his right hand, the surge of brilliant golden light that had grown over three meters suddenly transfigured into a giant golden palm that reached for Su Mo¡¯s head. It landed with great momentum and shocking force.


    Boom!


    Rumble! Boom! Boom!


    ¡­


    A loud booming and explosive noise filled the air as the giant golden palm the size of a small mountain soared through the air. It whistled as it descended towards Su Mo to crush his head.


    ¡°The Connate stage?!¡±


    When he saw Zhou Donghuang use this technique with such ease¡ªthe golden light skyrocketing and turning into a palm heading toward him¡ªSu Mo was stunned, the look on his face changed dramatically, and he couldn¡¯t help but make a loud exclamation in surprise.


    Emanating Qi more than three meters long¡ª this for sure was a sign of the Connate stage technique.


    This Connate level practitioner, Su Mo thought, was definitely not at a level that his own Connate stage technique could contend with.


    In the face of the current offensive strike, Su Mo had already made up his mind about this, but now that he was right in the middle of the young man¡¯s current onslaught, he decided that he could only try to stick it through.


    Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu! Xiu!


    ¡­


    Blades of green rays of light shot out from Su Mo¡¯s ten fingers toward the descending giant palm.


    Every ray of light was more than a meter long. This move alone, in normal circumstances, would have been enough to shock many people.


    However, right now, each ray of light that shot out from Su Mo¡¯s ten fingers severely paled in comparison to the three-meter wide palm that appeared before him.


    All that original allure he carried was now completely stolen from him.


    Boom!


    Boom! Crash! Crash!


    ¡­


    As the crowd watched on, the giant golden palm the size of a small mountain whistled as it descended upon the ten rays of light, shattering them in an instant.


    ¡°How could it be?¡±


    Even though he knew it would be difficult to subdue the oncoming giant palm, Su Mo never in a million years would have thought that the Profound Celestial Fingers technique¡ªa first-grade martial arts technique borrowed from the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡ªwould be so vulnerable in the face of this giant palm.


    Little did Su Mo know, that just like him, Zhou Donghuang could similarly demonstrate such a display of first-grade techniques.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s first-grade technique called the Eclipsing Palm, was of equal class to Su Mo¡¯s Profound Celestial Fingers technique, however, the latter¡¯s belonged to a lesser-grade technique in that class compared to the former¡¯s technique, which was one definitely an apex move.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang borrowed from the strength of the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood that was buried deep within his being, and in a blink of an eye, was able to demonstrate the full force of the Connate level strength.


    Boom!


    The monstrous giant palm continued straight for Su Mo¡¯s shroud after it destroyed his attack.


    ¡°Have mercy on me!¡±


    Su Mo called out in panic. As he pleased for Zhou Donghuang¡¯s leniency, the qi around his body recoiled, surrounding the surface of his body tightly, as if he were being shrouded by a green jade wall.


    This defensive martial stance called the Jade Wall, was also a first-grade martial arts technique.


    Bang!


    The giant palm still continued to descend upon Su Mo, smashing his external Jade Wall defense to pieces in an instant. Su Mo fell, and his whole being was soon firmly crushed into the solid ground itself.


    ¡°Oof¡ª¡±


    As Su Mo lay buried in the ground, all the appearance of elegance he had before was now reduced to a battered and exhausted mess. He opened his mouth to cough up some blood and seemed to become entirely dispirited. The qi he was emanating seemed much weaker, and he was like a shadow of the person he was before.


    All this happened because of the release of the golden palm at the very last moment. If not, Su Mo would undoubtedly have died in that single attack!


    ¡°Thank¡­ thank you for having mercy on me.¡±


    Su Mo took a deep breath, barely able to lift his head to look at the young man who was not too far away, his eye filled with fear as he said this.


    In his heart, he knew, that if the young man had not exhibited restraint, he would definitely have been a dead man with no chance of survival.


    ¡°You have two options.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang gave Su Mo a dispassionate look. ¡°You can choose to die, or you can choose to¡­ become my dog.¡±


    As he said this, there was a flash of murderous intent in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes, as if he was ready to devour his prey.


    Swish!


    At Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, the look on Su Mo¡¯s face changed completely.


    He was after all, a legitimate Connate level practitioner, Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters and number one in all of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley¡­ and this teenager, wanted to for him to become Zhou Donghuang¡¯s dog?


    ¡°Sir, even if I were not your match, it doesn¡¯t mean that you can just put me through such embarrassment!¡± Su Mo¡¯s face darkened as he said, ¡°One can kill, but not humiliate!¡±


    ¡°Oh, is that so?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang, took two steps forward, looking over the severely injured Su Mo who was rendered immobile. He grinned. ¡°Since you still have so much backbone, let me give you something you can really enjoy!¡±


    At this, Zhou Donghuang raised his hand once more, and the same three-meter-long golden rays shot out once more to form the giant palm.


    ¡°Humph!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s face grew cold, and with a grunt, he started to wave his hand.


    All those who were present, including the Emperor of Yunyang, Jiang Tianchen, had no doubt that it would only take this one strike to kill Su Mo.


    ¡°Have mercy, Master!¡±


    On the brink of death, his heart filled with terror, Su Mo hurriedly pleaded for leniency as he called Zhou Donghuang ¡°Master.¡±


    Before that, he had sincerely believed that preserving his dignity was very important. He had always thought to place it above his own life.


    However, as he saw death approaching and that suffocating sense of oppression, he suddenly recalled the hardship of cultivation and practice over the past few decades. He realized that life itself was more important.


    When you are dead, you have nothing, and everything would have been for nothing.


    Plus, looking at this young man, barely 18 years old and already applying the full strength of the Connate level practitioner, he was sure that he would become an icon in the years to come¡ª one that would shake the very history of the Ziyun era.


    For this man to be his master, that can¡¯t be considered a shameful thing.


    As Su Mo said the word ¡°master¡± to Zhou Donghuang, the entire room fell into a deathly silence.


    Su Mo, a Connate level practitioner, the Head of the Valley of Medicine Master, and an elder of more than 70 years¡­ Now, a servant of this young man?


    ¡°Young Master.¡±


    This time, Fu, Leng Hanfeng, Lu Qinghu and the others were the first to regain their composure and saw that the young man¡¯s eyes burned with a certain fanatical passion.


    Back then, even know their young master was not ordinary, they didn¡¯t think that their 18-year-old lord would be able to pressure the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters into calling him his master.


    Hovering above this scene was Little Gold, overcome with shock. As he flew toward Big Gold, he asked with some difficulty, ¡°Brother, the technique that young master just used was with the strength of Buddha¡¯s lifeblood, right? He¡­ He was able to harness all that power from Buddha¡¯s lifeblood to use that against his enemy? And was able to demonstrate the power akin to that of Connate level practitioners!¡±


    ¡°That must be it. This power is different from the type of power that helps us with our practice. I never would have thought that young master would be able to display such power with the help of Buddha¡¯s lifeblood.¡±


    Big Gold¡¯s own eyes were similarly filled with both shock and wonder. Never in a million years did he think that his young master could pull off this stunt.


    Splat!


    As Zhou Donghuang focused his gaze on the Yunyang Emperor Jiang Tianchen, the Emperor¡¯s face, which was in a rage before, suddenly changed, and his eyes filled with mortal fear. He instantly fell to the floor on his knees and started begging. ¡°Master¡­ Master Dong, please let me live!¡±


    Jiang Tianchen¡¯s voice was clearly quavering with fear.


    Jiang Tianchen did seem to put on quite a display of bravado earlier on.


    However, this was only because he thought that the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters could suppress the young man before him. No one would have thought that Su Mo would be so sorely defeated by this youth, to the point that he would be clinging for his own life and willingly prostrate himself to become the young man¡¯s dog.


    In his eyes, Su Mo was unbeatable, and no one could surpass him.


    Still, the juvenile proved himself well above Su Mo. Now, even Su Mo was willing to become a dog in front of him¡­


    Xiu!


    In response, the sword sphere in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand transformed once more into a small iron sword. It took all of one stab to end Jiang Tiangchen¡¯s life.


    Just like this, Jiang Tianchen¡¯s¡ªthe Emperor of Yunyang, and the Head of the Jiang¡¯s, the Yunyang imperial family¡ªreign of the Western Chu Ridge was over.


    With a look of desperation as Jiang Tianchen lay dying at the hands of Zhou Donghuang, there was only one thought in his heart:


    If he could turn back time, even if he had the courage of one thousand, or even ten thousand men, he would not have dared to provoke this boy.


    ¡°This time, I will head for the Valley of the Medicine Masters.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gaze calmly swept across towards the defeated Su Mo, who was still splayed on the floor. He held out a small medicine bottle at Su Mo. ¡°This is the wound-healing elixir I concocted,¡± he said plainly.


    Taking his eyes off Su Mo, Zhou Donghuang regarded the two golden-crowned eagles, Fu and the other men as he made strides towards his own bedroom. ¡°Let¡¯s get back to practicing.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯ll wait till I attain the Connate stage, before I take you all to the Valley.¡±


    When Zhou Donghuang finished, he headed back into his room.


    ¡°Attain the Connate stage?¡±


    Upon hearing what the young man said, Su Mo was completely dumbfounded. ¡°He¡­ He¡¯s not yet a Connate level practitioner?!¡±¡±

 Chapter 138 - Will the Myth Be Shattered?

    Chapter 138: Will the Myth Be Shattered?


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡±


    ¡°The qi that he emanates is not the usual green¡­ It looks like, for some reason or another, he is able to harness a power similar to that of a Connate level practitioner!¡±


    Su Mo thought of this at once.


    This young man has definitely not attained Connate-level strength, but there must still be some reason for this ultimate display of power so similar to that of the finest practitioners.


    At the very least, he must have practiced to the point of the Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering.


    However, even so, thinking about how close he was to death just a moment ago and recalling that feeling of desperation, he knew in his heart that he would not dare to raise any negative thoughts against the young man.


    No matter what the reason, he would not dare to take a risk at incurring the wrath of this young man, considering he was able to harness this amount of power.


    The quick decisiveness with which this young man took to kill the Emperor of Yunyang left a sorely deep impression on Su Mo. This youth was definitely an iron-fisted and compassionless young man!


    In fact, he felt that chances were, the young man had some other use for him. Otherwise, he would not have spared his life at all.


    ¡°It looks like what this man really has is not simply the ordinary Primal Core essence that I assumed he had,¡± Su Mo thought.


    While Su Mo did ponder about this, he did not dare have any intention of obtaining the Primal Core essence from the young man. This was because he knew that if he were to challenge the youth again, there was no way Zhou Donghuang would spare his life another time.


    If he were to put himself in the man¡¯s shoes, he could not possibly show mercy time and time again if someone were to try to offend him repeatedly.


    Su Mo was truly afraid.


    To this day, it had been over 16 years since he had started practicing at the Qi-Gathering level. If he were to throw this all away today, all that effort would have been for nothing at all.


    ¡°A wound-healing elixir that he prepared himself?¡±


    Looking at the little medicine bottle in his hand, a feeling of complete disdain stirred up within Su Mo.


    Even if this were to be a wound-healing elixir that was left by the Primal Core practitioners, he did not think that it would compare to his very own concoction, much less a concoction prepared by this young man.


    ¡°I¡¯ll have to see for myself how good a concoction his wound-healing elixir is. Even if it were to pale in comparison to mine, I have brought some of my own to use.¡± As Su Mo thought about this, he took off the seal from the medicine bottle, brought it to his lips and consumed its contents.


    After a while, the look of disdain he had in his eyes was all but gone and instead was replaced by a look of complete disbelief and wonder.


    ¡°This wound-healing elixir¡­ how can it be so effective¡­ and so strong?


    ¡°Can a wound-healing elixir even have this level of efficacy? I had always thought that my own concoction was already the best of its kind. To think that there would be a wound-healing elixir of this quality in the world!¡±


    This time, Su Mo was well and truly astounded.


    He never would have thought in a million years that there would be a medicine of this level in existence. In fact, this concoction was so strong, it beat his own wound-healing elixir that he knew to be the best in the world, and it beat it by a long shot!


    ¡°In my own knowledge, this grade of elixir can only be formulated by the very best of the Primal Core stage practitioners and refined with the healing elements of the Samadhi fires. I never thought that a wound-healing elixir could in fact be this powerful.¡±


    Su Mo could only think that his own elixir, which he had always carried with him, was rubbish compared to the wound-healing elixir he had just consumed.


    Su Mo had to acknowledge that the efficacy of this miracle drug that Zhou Donghuang had given him was indeed very strong.


    It only took a moment, and Su Mo struggled to sit up. After that, he was already completely mobile and able to move freely.


    Before leaving, Su Mo stood in the courtyard in front of the master bedroom and called out respectfully, ¡°My master, I will await your most honored arrival in the Valley of the Medicine Masters!¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    The simple curt response came from within the master bedroom, and Su Mo turned to leave with a pained look on his face.


    He completely regretted coming with the Yunyang Emperor, Jiang Tianchen, to provoke a fiend like this, to the point of being forced to call him master.


    But he immediately sobered up as he thought of Jiang Tianchen¡¯s dreadful fate.


    At least, he was still alive.


    Fwoop! Fwoop! Fwoop!


    ¡­


    As Su Mo was leaving, he did not go towards the main door. Instead, his body seemed to change in shape. With his qi flowing on the surface, he leaped across the walls, and in the blink of an eye, he was soon far from the enclosure.


    As a sense of calm and quiet was restored on the grounds, a few maids who kept their distance outside the courtyard, mustered enough courage to open the main doors.


    When they saw the lifeless bodies of the Yunyang Emperor, Jiang Tianchen and the Connate demon, the Silver-Crowned Crane, they were not surprised. In the last few months alone, there had already been similar deaths that had occurred in the same courtyard grounds.


    However, when Jiang Tianchen¡¯s body was carried out of the guesthouse, and Chuxiu Inn¡¯s keeper invited Xue Meng, leader of the guards of Chu Royal City, to claim Jiang Tianchen¡¯s body, the look on Xue Meng¡¯s face was hard to describe.


    As he looked on, his pupils rapidly constricted. ¡°Don¡¯t let anyone touch him. I will call for His Highness immediately!¡±


    Xue Meng left the innkeeper in a hurry and ran out of the Chuxiu Inn. As he rushed toward the Chu royal household, his heart was pounding rapidly.


    ¡°Oh heavens!


    ¡°That young man, had the cheek to kill the Emperor of Yunyang?¡±


    Xue Meng had been with the Chu king when he saw the Emperor of Yunyang once. It was only the one time, but it was enough for him to remember what he looked like.


    And that young man in the courtyard with the dragon robes was for sure the very same emperor that he had seen before¡ªJiang Tianchen.


    ¡°Your Majesty!¡±


    When the Chu king saw Jiang Tianchen¡¯s body after he had hurriedly followed Xue Meng into the Chuxiu Inn, his face drained of color, and he could not help give an involuntary shout.


    ¡°Your¡­ Your Majesty?!¡±


    The shout gave the Chuxiu innkeeper a fright.


    The innkeeper saw the lifeless body of a young man lying on the ground, clothed in robes that had been stitched with a five-clawed golden dragon. He recognized this instantly as the distinctive emblem of the Yunyang Emperor¡¯s attire.


    While he saw all this, he did not dare associate this scene with the likes of His Majesty, the Yunyang Emperor.


    The emperor himself, the man at the top. How could he so inexplicably appear in this very inn, dead?


    So, he had thought that it was someone else who had deliberately dressed in the dragon robes as a hoax to fool people.


    Only until he heard the confirmation come from the Chu royal household¡¯s king¡¯s own mouth did he finally come to terms with the fact. This man whom he thought had dressed in the robes as a joke was in fact the Emperor of Yunyang!


    ¡°That young man¡­ He was at odds the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters!¡±


    The Chuxiu innkeeper was just as elderly as the Chu King and was aware that the young man had killed the Yunyang Emperor. He knew the young man was in for a whole lot of trouble.


    The country of Yunyang was under the protection of the Valley of Medicine Masters.


    And those in control of the country of Yunyang, was the Yunyang imperial family, the Jiang family. As the head of the Jiang family, the Emperor of Yunyang was naturally under the protection of the Valley of Medicine Masters.


    This did not only apply to the Emperor himself, but also any other king of the Sixteen Countries of the Eastern Valley was under the protection of the Valley.


    In the past, there had been assassinations of the emperors of old, and the perpetrators were always foreign Connate-level practitioners.


    Even then, all those murderers had in turn been killed by the master practitioners of the Valley of Medicine Masters without exception!


    Before long, with the Valley safeguarding the Sixteen Countries of the Eastern Valley, no other Connate level practitioner had tried to dethrone the royal families or even attempt to interfere with each country¡¯s affairs.


    This was solely because all the Sixteen Countries had come under the protective wing of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    The strongest clans who dominated the Eastern Valley all resided in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and within them, Connate-level practitioners roamed aplenty.


    At the border of the Sixteen Countries of the Eastern Valley was a large district of land, primarily claimed by the Medicine Masters as their own territory.


    ¡°Who else will he kill?¡±


    When Xiang Xiong regained his composure, his face broke out in a bitter smile. As he looked towards the Chuxiu innkeeper, he asked, ¡°Did his majesty go looking for the young man on his own?¡±


    ¡°He was also accompanied by a giant white crane,¡± replied the Chuxiu innkeeper.


    ¡°Take me there, I want to have a look.¡±


    Xiang Xiong was able to spot the white crane that the Chuxiu Innkeeper spoke off fairly quickly. Sure enough, there lay the carcass of the great beast.


    ¡°This¡­ this is¡­ the Silver-Crowned Crane?!¡±


    Even though this was the first time that Xiang Xiong lay eyes on the alarmingly huge white crane, he had known that the Valley of the Medicine Masters was in possession of a great Connate demon called the Silver-Crowned Crane.


    ¡°Your Highness, this¡­ this can¡¯t be the Connate demon, the Silver-Crowned Crane, the very one owned by the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡±


    Xue Meng, who was standing by the side, could not help but swallow and spoke with some difficulty in response to Xiang Xiong.


    ¡°It most certainly is that very one.¡±


    Xiang Xiong laughed bitterly, saying, ¡°If I were to be so bold, Your Highness, if the Retired Emperor, a Connate-level practitioner, could be killed by the young man, I¡¯m sure the Yunyang Emperor did not attempt to face him on his own.


    ¡°He most definitely would have employed some help from the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°It looks like this Connate demon, which belongs to the Valley of the Medicine Master, was the cavalry that he sent for.


    ¡°I guess the only thing was that he did not think that even this Silver-Crowned Crane would be no match for the young man and end up being completely helpless.¡±


    ¡°This Connate demon attained the Connate stage over 20 years ago. If it were to have only just reached the Connate stage recently, its strength would not have been much compared to the Retired Emperor, who had entered the Connate stage a few years earlier.¡±


    As he said this, Xiang Xiong drew in a long breath. ¡°From what I know, this Silver-Crowned Crane was the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters¡¯ very own mount.


    ¡°And now that the Silver-Crowned Crane is dead, the Head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters must be furious. Once that Connate-level practitioner gets angry, he can be more terrible than the emperor of all of the Eastern Valley!¡±


    ¡°This young man, he¡¯s really testing the limit this time!¡± Xiang Xiong murmured to himself while shaking his head, a look of pity filling his eyes.


    ¡°I have also heard that this Connate demon was almost akin to the Valley Head¡¯s family and best friend,¡± said Xue Meng, feeling the same amount of pity.


    Both Xiang Xiong and Xue Meng now felt that this young man named ¡°Zhou Donghuang¡± was in for some bad luck.


    They both empathized with the young man, considering the calamity that was about to befall him.


    ¡°Your Highness, what should we do next? Do we immediately send a messenger to notify the Valley Head, or should we send someone to report to the imperial household and let the royal family share the bad news with the Valley Head?¡± asked Xue Meng.


    ¡°Commander Xue, you will personally make a trip down to the imperial city to report at the imperial household. This news¡­ it must be shared with the royal family as soon as possible.


    ¡°If we don¡¯t do this, the imperial family might place the blame on the Chu kingdom,¡± Xiang Xiong said darkly.


    ¡°Yes, Master Wang,¡± Xue Meng responded as he made his leave.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be long before this myth created about this young man who can make an enemy of an entire country on his own strength alone¡­ will be completely shattered,¡± Xiang Xiong murmured quietly as Xue Meng left the inn.

 Chapter 139 - The 18-Year-Old Connate Warrior

    Ziyun and Earth were similar in that both supported life, and their place among the stars and galaxies were quite alike.


    Ziyun¡¯s weather patterns were also identical to that of Earth¡¯s.


    The Sixteen Countries of the East Valley lay in approximately the same area where the Asian continent could be found on Earth. Toward the end of November in the Year 1229 in Ziyun¡¯s calendar, the weather had started to turn cold.


    At the Chuxiu Inn, in the courtyard of the number three guest room: ¡°Aunt Lan, are you sure you don¡¯t plan on going to the Valley of the Medicine Masters with Elder Brother Zhou?¡±


    A teenage girl, about 16 or 17 years old and dressed in a flowing rose-colored mink fur coat, questioned the beautiful woman seated opposite her at the stone table.


    The gorgeous lady was resplendent in a silver mink fur coat, and she exuded a quiet and elegant grace.


    ¡°Mm.¡± The lady nodded her head in response to the young girl¡¯s questions. ¡°The country of Yunyang, and even the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, is just a starting point for that boy Donghuang, I¡¯m afraid. The road that this child wants to travel, I¡¯m sure, will not be limited to the Sixteen Countries. I don¡¯t think I want to follow where he goes, I will just be a burden to him. Besides, it has been over a year already, and I find I have not grown accustomed to these other places. I still very much prefer Qingshan town, compared to the Chu royal city, or even the city in Yunfeng prefecture.¡±


    As the beautiful lady said these words, a wistful smile appeared at the corner of her lips; in her eyes was a look of yearning as she reflected on the past.


    ¡°We¡¯ve been gone for so long¡­I¡¯m sure Aunt Lian misses me.¡±


    On the subject of Aunt Lian, some warmth was brought back into the woman¡¯s eyes. From as early as she could remember and into her adult life, this was the first time she had left the care of Aunt Lian for this long.


    She had watched Aunt Lian grow from a middle-aged woman to the one she knew now, aged and weathered through the years.


    ¡°Heh heh¡­¡± A young child of seven or eight years in a similar mink fur coat ran over from somewhere. ¡°Mother, if you want to head back to Qingshan town, Little Lu will come along with you.¡±


    ¡°Good,¡± the beautiful lady answered in laughter as she heard the little girl¡¯s words. She quietly breathed a sigh of relief.


    After all, when it came to choosing the next path to take, she could decide for herself, but she could not force anyone else to make the same choice.


    A faint look of disappointment seemed to flash across the teenage girl¡¯s face. She looked across to the woman and smiled, saying, ¡°Aunt Lan, I¡¯m sure you wouldn¡¯t mind if I came along with you too?¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t wish to hold back Brother Zhou, Zixi, you can come with us.¡±


    At the stone table, the three beautiful ladies, old and young, named Lin Lan, Yang Zixi and Yun Lu, talked among themselves and discussed the affairs of Qingshan town.


    Little did the three ladies know that while they were talking, their voices had traveled past the walls of their room and were clearly heard by Fu, who had just left his own room.


    The room that Fu stayed in was just adjacent to the courtyard of guestroom number three.


    ¡°Yes indeed. if I were to follow the young master to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, wouldn¡¯t it be cumbersome for him? Mm, I guess I should head back to Qingshan town with you, Milady and little Miss Lu.¡±


    Fu had really intended to continue staying by Zhou Donghuang. However, as he thought about how far his young master¡¯s strength had surpassed his own, he decided to cancel any thoughts of heading back to Qingshan town with him.


    As Fu considered this, he had also thought to consult with the four men¡ªLeng Hangfeng, Lu Qinghu, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng¡ªand tell them what he had overheard from Lin Lan and the other ladies.


    The four men fell silent as they heard this news.


    ¡°If even Lady Lian is not willing to follow the young master to the Valley of the Medicine Masters for fear of being a burden to him, then aren¡¯t we being selfish for doing so?¡±


    Leng Hanfeng was the first to express his thoughts, his eyes flashing with a new resolve. ¡°I have decided to head back to Qingshan town with Lady Lian, and in the free time I have outside of my training, I will gather a strong team from within Yunfeng prefecture to protect Lady Lian and Miss Lu. This way, we will spare our young master any further worry about the future of their welfare!¡±


    Both Zhou Han and Zhou Feng looked up to Leng Hanfeng as a second parent as well as their teacher. So when Leng Hanfeng made this decision, they naturally accepted it wholly and unconditionally.


    ¡°Originally, I had planned to follow Young Master Donghuang. With him, I had harbored the hope of achieving the Connate stage in the days ahead¡­ However, now it looks like even if I am not meant to go with the young master to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, I am fully confident that there will come a time when I will reach that Connate stage!¡±


    Lu Qinghu¡¯s eyes shone with renewed vigor, and he responded with a laugh, ¡°Since you have all decided to head back to Yunfeng province with Lady Lian, I guess I should do the same as well.¡±


    ¡°From this day onward, the Lu family shall not perish, but for the protection of the Lady!¡± As Lu Qinghu declared this, his whole being seemed to be ablaze with a hardened resolve.


    For some time now, with the help of Buddha¡¯s lifeblood exuded by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s strength, Lu Qinghu¡¯s practice had improved drastically and very quickly, as if he were onboard a rocket.


    Meanwhile, in the Chu royal household: ¡°My Lord, it has been three whole months since the time Commander Su last delivered a message to the imperial family. Has there been any news of activity at all from the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡±


    In the middle of a spacious courtyard was a splendidly dressed, beautiful woman, her eyes full of worry as she questioned the middle-aged man sitting and reading at the table.


    The middle-aged man, clothed in dark gold robes that had been embroidered with a four-clawed golden dragon, was the head of the Chu royal household¡ªKing Chu, Xiang Xiong.


    The beautiful lady was his betrothed, a Chu royal consort, Fan Ji.


    ¡°No.¡± Xiang Xiong closed the volume in his hands, shaking his head. ¡°It does seem like there is something odd going on here. I have asked Commander Su. He was in the imperial city in the ninth month. He had gone into the palace to report on the killing of His Majesty and the Connate demon, the Silver-Crowned Crane to the imperial family.¡±


    ¡°And by my estimates,¡± Fan Ji said darkly, ¡°if the imperial family were to send word to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, it would not take more than a month to do so, no matter how slow. Besides, other than the flying beast Cloud Condor which has died, the imperial family has also raised and trained a Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering beast, the Fiery Lion.


    ¡°And even if the Fiery Lion has for some reason been retained in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, the imperial family has also trained two other flying beasts who are level-nine adepts of the Qi-Gathering. With the speed of these two flying beasts, the news would have reached the Valley in less than a month.


    ¡°By more generous estimates, it would only have taken them a little over a month.


    ¡°And if the men from the Valley of the Medicine Masters didn¡¯t have means of transportation via the Connate demons, they could have depended on one of their many other Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering beasts, not to mention their flying beasts.


    ¡°It would take no longer than half a month for a messenger of the Valley of the Medicine Masters to reach the Chu royal city.


    ¡°But now, it has been over three months¡­and yet there hasn¡¯t been a word or sound from the other side.¡±


    Fan Ji looked terribly disturbed when she finished.


    As he considered Fan Ji, Xiang Xiong was able to read and understand her thoughts completely. He couldn¡¯t help but let out a sigh. ¡°My royal consort, you still can¡¯t let it go, can you?¡±


    ¡°My king, for many days now, I have not been able to stop dreaming about the Fan family, kneeling and begging us to avenge them!¡±


    A burning desire for revenge could be seen in Fan Ji¡¯s eyes as she spoke through clenched teeth in a measured voice. ¡°I hate that I lack the strength to avenge them myself. Otherwise, I wouldn¡¯t have to helplessly wait on a hero from the Valley of the Medicine Masters to come to kill that Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    As Fan Ji spoke, the iciness in her tone seemed to manifest more clearly in the chilly weather, throwing her anger into sharper relief.


    Xiang Xiong sighed again.


    ¡°My king, I do not blame you.¡± There was cold-blooded murder in Fan Ji¡¯s eyes. ¡°Where there is injustice, there must be someone who must pay the debt¡­ My only hope is that a hero from the Valley of Medicine Masters will come quickly to kill that Zhou Donghuang for the sake of avenging my entire Fan family!¡±


    ¡°Even if their main purpose for killing Zhou Donghuang isn¡¯t to help me exact that revenge,¡± said Fan Ji, her eyes narrowed and full of hatred.


    Not long after Fan Ji said these words¡­


    Bang!


    A sudden loud noise came out of nowhere, and a stunned Fan Ji froze completely, while the volume in Xiang Xiong¡¯s hands fell to the floor.


    In the next moment, both Xiang Xiong and Fan Ji realized that a man had appeared in the middle of their courtyard. This man was dressed in plain, thin white robes, and a green light seemed to emanate from his entire body and surrounded him. Some of these green rays of light shot out more than a meter away from his body.


    ¡°A Connate-level practitioner!¡±


    Seeing the white figure before them, his back towards them, both Xiang Xiong and Fan Ji could not help but shrink back and call out in surprise.


    ¡°Your Excellency¡­are you from the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡±


    Xiang Xiong immediately rose and took a deep breath, respectfully bowing toward the white figure in greeting.


    ¡°I had no quarrel with you, but, since the two of you are so bent on killing me, it looks like there is no reason why I should spare your lives,¡± a bored voice rang out.


    Upon hearing this, Xiang Xiong¡¯s face drained of color, and the pupils in his eyes immediately contracted in fear.


    The white figure, whose entire body was wrapped in qi, slowly turned towards them. A handsome face with a youthful appearance appeared before Xiang Xiong.


    This young man, whose robes were white as snow, seemed to exude an extraordinary aura about him. His eyelids seemed to droop halfway, and he seemed to have a rather lackadaisical attitude about him.


    ¡°Young¡­Young Master Donghuang.¡±


    Xiang Xiong¡¯s face was pale, his legs turned to jelly, and he was so frightened that he fell seated onto the ground, ¡°I¡­we¡­we have no intention of becoming your enemy!¡±


    Never in a million years would he have thought that in just a span of a few months, the young man before him would so suddenly enter the Connate stage.


    An 18-year-old Connate practitioner? Young Master Donghuang?


    When Fan Ji heard this uninvited guest speak, she had not been able to react. But upon hearing how Xiang Xiong had addressed him, the look on her face also changed completely.


    The young man clothed in white in front of her¡­was he the very same one that drove the two golden-crowned eagles to destroy the Fan Family: Zhou Donghuang?


    ¡°No intention of becoming my enemy?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at the two of them, a wry smile appearing at the corners of his lips. ¡°Then I guess I must have been deaf a while ago?¡±


    In the next moment, as Xiang Xiong and Fan Ji looked on in horror, Zhou Donghuang made a small wave with his hand, his own face completely calm.


    Xiu!!


    The sword sphere transformed into a sword, and with a fleeting, howling sound, it took the lives of both people.


    Just a moment before, Zhou Donghuang had entered the Connate stage. He had been about to initiate the Lord of the Four Supremes technique when he found himself in a sort of surreal state of being.


    And in that state, his sense of hearing seemed to reach an astonishing level of keenness, and he was able to hear everything a mile away, from the Chuxiu Inn to the furthest reaches of the Chu royal household.


    To be sure, the distance between the Chuxiu Inn to the Chu royal household was not that long, but they were still a few hundred meters apart, with a lot of other noises interfering in the middle.


    Despite the distance, as Zhou Donghuang reached this surreal state of being, he was able to hear every word that came from within the Chu royal household.


    This, of course, had included what was said between Xiang Xiong and Fan Ji.


    It was because of this that when he returned from that ethereal state, and he could no longer hear voices from outside the Chuxiu Inn, he quickly left his room and leaped from roof to roof from the Chuxiu Inn until he finally came to the Chu household.

 Chapter 140 - Secrets Divulged

    Ziyun Era, Year 1229, December 25


    Zhou Donghuang had entered the Connate stage and become a Connate-level practitioner!


    After killing Xiang Xiong, Zhou Donghuang did not bother using any martial arts to leap onto roofs or vault across the walls to leave the Chu royal household. Instead, he arrogantly swaggered out of the main doors of the courtyard where Xiang Xiong and his royal consort had been.


    To top it off, he kicked open the courtyard doors.


    ¡°Who goes there?!¡± the maid and guards who kept watch outside the courtyard shouted out in anger, but when they saw meter-long green rays of light emanating from the young man who stepped out of the yard, they were quick to keep their lips sealed. Instead, there was only fear in their eyes.


    ¡°Qi emanating a meter long¡ª that is a true sign of a Connate-level practitioner who has just entered the Connate stage,¡± they thought.


    ¡°This young man clothed in white: is he really a Connate-level warrior?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang took a quick glance at the maid and the guards and then turned and headed toward the main entrance of the Chu royal household, controlling the qi that was radiating from his body while he walked.


    He was still trying to adapt to this newfound Connate state.


    Even though Donghuang had experienced being in this state in a previous life, it was a completely foreign and new encounter to his present life and current body, and he definitely needed some time to adjust to it.


    He could get used to maintaining the outward flow of qi quite quickly.


    Therefore, as Zhou Donghuang stepped out of the gates of the Chu royal household, it was already apparent to most of the people in the vicinity that their master, the Chu king, Xiang Xiong, had been killed by a Connate-level practitioner.


    And killed along with the king was the Chu royal consort, Fan Ji.


    About half an hour later, in the main hall of the Chu royal household: ¡°I have come back from Chuxiu Inn. The innkeeper witnessed with his own eyes the meter-long rays of green light radiating from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s body when he returned to the inn.¡±


    Xiang Donghua, the second elder of the Chu royal household, said gravely in response, ¡°It has been confirmed that the young man who killed the king and the royal consort, and who so arrogantly strutted out of our palace a while ago was Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    ¡°He¡­has already entered the Connate stage?¡±


    The look on Xue Meng¡¯s face, the commander of the Chu royal city guards, changed dramatically at this moment.


    ¡°It looks like there has not been an appearance of a representative from the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and in all the border districts of the Sixteen Countries there is not one person who has been able to stop him!¡±


    ¡°Commander Xue, it looks like it has been two months since you last made your report at the royal household to tell them that His Majesty and the Valley¡¯s Connate demon had been killed? In my estimates, a representative sent from the Valley would have been here by now, so why hasn¡¯t he come?¡±


    ¡°Someone from the Valley of the Medicine Masters will come eventually. It is possible that they are not bothered about Emperor Yunyang¡¯s death, but surely they could not ignore the fact that their Silver-Crowned Crane is dead.¡±


    ¡°I think so too. That Silver-Crowned Crane was not just the Valley¡¯s only Connate-level demon, it was also the Head of the Valley¡¯s personal mount for many years!¡±


    ¡­


    The Chu royal household had intended the keep the death of their king, Xiang Xiong and the royal consort, Fan Ji under wraps. However, the number of people who already knew were too many, and soon enough, the news had managed to spread far and wide.


    This sensational news stirred up all of the Chu royal city.


    ¡°Both the king and the royal consort died at the hands of that Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    ¡°Heavens! That young man, is he not worried that the Yunyang imperial household will hold him responsible?¡±


    ¡°The Yunyang imperial household? Didn¡¯t he also kill the last Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering that the Yunyang imperial household sent? Why would he be afraid of them?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no wonder everyone says that he can make an enemy of an entire country, there hasn¡¯t been any sign of a response from the royal household. It could be that they are very fearful of him.¡±


    ¡°The districts surrounding the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley and even the Valley of the Medicine Masters have refused to make a move. I¡¯m afraid no one can stop him!¡±


    ¡°I hear that after he had committed the murders, shafts of qi more than a meter long were wrapped around his body as he left the royal household. Apparently he has entered the Connate stage!¡±


    ¡°The Connate stage? Him, a young man his age, entering the Connate stage?¡±


    ¡°A Connate-level teenager¡­that seems to defy the laws of nature itself!¡±


    ¡­


    A teenage Connate practitioner. Never in all of the country of Yunyang, much less the surrounding districts of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley including the Valley of the Medicine Masters, had there ever been an appearance of one.


    And this young man¡¯s achievements could be considered completely unprecedented in all of the surrounding areas of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    Inside the Tang Family mansion, the head of the powerful and influential aristocratic family Tang Liunian wanted to immediately step forward with his congratulations when he heard that the young man had entered the Connate stage. However, after more serious consideration, he laughed bitterly as he decided to strike that idea.


    ¡°The Yungyang royal household must have no guarantee of being able to put him to task and that is why they are taking so long to send someone over. However, the champions from the Valley of the Medicine Masters, whose abilities have been called ¡®strong like a forest, and unwavering under the force of the wind,¡¯ I estimate should not take much longer to come and deal with him,¡± Tang Liunian said with a sigh.


    At first, when the Yunyang family¡¯s Emperor had died at the hands of Zhou Donghuang, news of this had been kept so tightly under wraps that even the aristocratic families in the Chu royal city were completely unaware.


    They only thought that a Great Consummation adept of the Qi-Gathering had been sent from the Yunyang imperial household, together with a Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering beast, and both had been killed by the young man.


    ¡°Now all I hope is that the champion from the Valley of the Medicine Masters be willing to accept him into the Valley, as opposed to killing him. Otherwise, it would be a complete waste of talent.¡±


    It was precisely because he had considered the possibility of the young man being defeated by the Valley that Tang Liunian decided against paying a personal visit to congratulate him.


    Imagine if he were to congratulate the young man today. The Chu royal household wouldn¡¯t dare to touch him, and the Yunyang imperial family wouldn¡¯t go near him.


    But what if the arrival of the representative from the Valley of the Medicine Masters meant death for Zhou Donghuang?


    After the young man¡¯s death, the Yunyang imperial family still would not care for him, but the Chu royal household surely wouldn¡¯t let him get away so easily!


    As the head of the Tang family and generations of aristocracy, Tang Liunian needed to consider all the possibilities.


    At the Yang Family mansion, the head of the grand Yang family, Yang Yunji, had received news that the young man had entered the Connate stage. He was thoroughly displeased.


    ¡°I only wish that the champion from the Valley of the Medicine Masters would kill him right away when he comes and that he doesn¡¯t recognize his talent and try to accept him into the Valley.¡±


    As Yang Yunji prayed silently about this his eyes were full of cold-blooded murder.


    In the Shi Family mansion: ¡°The Yunyang imperial family hasn¡¯t sent anyone over for a long time now, and the Valley of the Medicine Masters has been nothing but silent. It looks to me like the Yunyang imperial family has no intention of sharing the spoils of the Primal Core practitioners¡¯ essence that Zhou Donghuang now possesses.


    ¡°Otherwise, considering the lure of the power of the Primal Core Essence, it is impossible that no sound or word has come from the Valley,¡± said the head of the Shi grand family, First Young Master Shi Yu, as a look of realization flashed across his eyes.


    ¡°I¡¯m sure that the Yunyang imperial household has kept this from the Valley of the Medicine Masters only because they want this miracle essence of the Primal Core practitioners for themselves!¡±


    As he considered this, Shi Yu left the Shi family mansion immediately and headed straight for the Lu family mansion.


    The Lu family was the foremost of the three grand families in the Chu royal city, and other than the occasional business dealings that they had with the Shi family, they did not have much else to do with each other.


    Nonetheless, this time Shi Yu was heading straight for the head of the Lu family. Lu Yuanshan.


    ¡°Dear Nephew Shi Yu, I hear from my family¡¯s subordinates of reports that you have a plan to establish a connection between the Lu family and the Valley of the Medicine Masters? Is there any truth to this?¡±


    Lu Yuanshan was a middle-aged man, an emaciated figure dressed in long grey robes. Half his hair had already turned white. With a grave look on his face, he considered Shi Yu.


    ¡°Master Lu, would I dare spread deceit and lies as I stand right in front of you?¡± Shi Yu smiled slightly. ¡°I¡¯m here this time because I want to offer a rare opportunity to the Lu family.¡±


    ¡°Explain the details to me.¡±


    Lu Yuanshan stared at Shi Yu intensely. He did not think that Shi Yu, a subordinate from a more inferior grand family such as the Shi family, would dare take the head of the finest of the grand families¡ªthe Lu¡¯s¡ªfor a ride.


    Shi Yu drew a deep breath and proceeded to explain all he knew about Zhou Donghuang, planning out every detail. ¡°Now, both the Chu royal mansion and the imperial household already know that Zhou Donghuang has gotten his hands on the Primal Core essence. However, the imperial household apparently does not want the Valley of the Medicine Masters to know about this. If they did, even if the imperial household did not dare to send a representative to deal with Zhou Donghuang, the Valley would not wait until today to make a move.


    ¡°So I have come to the conclusion that the imperial household has kept this news from the Valley.¡±


    As Shi Yu came to this point, Lu Yuanshan could not help but draw a sharp breath. ¡°Who would have thought that a man like Zhou Donghuang could have come from an inferior prefecture.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ve always said, how could an evildoer such as he appear in the country of Yunyang¡­an 18-year-old Connate practitioner¡­¡±


    ¡°And so it is, all because he has gained the powers of the Primal Core essence.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s no wonder then.¡±


    As he said this, Lu Yuanshan stared deeply into Shi Yu¡¯s eyes. ¡°And so, you, Shi Yu, wish to have the Lu family report of this to the Valley of the Medicine Masters? Why don¡¯t you go on your own?¡± questioned Lu Yuanshan.


    ¡°Master Lu, you must be worried that there is some error in this news, and that the Valley would somehow place the blame on you?¡±


    Shi Yu seemed to be able to read Lu Yuanshan¡¯s thoughts with one look. ¡°How about this: I will make the trip with you,¡± he said, smiling slightly. ¡°I¡¯ve come here for you, because I know that the Lu family owns a Qi-Gathering level-seven flying beast. Of course, if you decide not to go, I will look to the Ouyang family instead.¡±


    ¡°According to my sources, the Ouyang family also possesses a Qi-Gathering level-seven flying beast,¡± smirked Shi Yu, knowing for sure that Lu Yuanshan would take the bait.


    ¡°The Chu royal household has a Qi-Gathering level-eight flying beast. Why didn¡¯t you look to them?¡± asked Lu Yuanshan.


    ¡°Master Lu, if the Chu royal household had the intention of doing that, they would have reported of this to the Valley on their own¡­After all, they had known about that Zhou Donghuang and his Primal Core essence for a long time now.¡±


    ¡°If I were to go to the Chu royal household, it would come to nothing. And if so, why would I want to take that extra mile?¡± Shi Yu asked, shaking his head.


    ¡°Master Lu, if you and I were to go together, and the Valley of the Medicine Masters does eventually get hold of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s Primal Core essence, I am sure they will not let a good deed go unrewarded.¡±


    ¡°If you¡¯re really uninterested, I will head for the Ouyang family now,¡± continued Shi Yu.


    Lu Yuanshan reacted immediately at the mention of the Ouyang family, but at last he finally agreed. ¡°Okay! You and I will make the trip together!¡±


    Soon after, a vulture rose from the Lu family mansion into the sky and headed for the region beyond the Chu royal city. Its entire body was jet black, except for the feathers surrounding his shiny bald head, which were white.


    This very vulture was the Lu family¡¯s Qi-Gathering level seven flying beast, the white-headed vulture.


    And at this very moment, on the white-headed vulture¡¯s back, stood Shi Yu and Lu Yuanshan.

 Chapter 141 - Returning to Qingshan Town

    Chapter 141: Returning to Qingshan Town


    ¡°Big Brother, you have already attained the Connate stage?¡±


    The news that Zhou Donghuang had attained the Connate stage was spreading through the Chu royal city. Meanwhile, Yun Lu, who was in the third apartment of Chuxiu Inn, heard the servant girls whispering among themselves and ran to the second apartment immediately in search of Zhou Donghuang.


    When Yun Lu arrived, the youth was seated at the stone table sipping tea and enjoying the sunshine, and the shimmering green aura that enveloped him had been drawn back into his body and could no longer be seen.


    ¡°Wow! Big Brother is fantastic. An eighteen-year-old Connate stage adept! In the history of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, it is said that there has never been such a powerful person.¡±


    Yun Lu leapt into the youth¡¯s arms, looking at him with a worshipful smile as she continued muttering, ¡°But I wonder when I will be able to attain the Connate stage just like my big brother.¡±


    ¡°Silly girl, aside from Big Gold and Little Gold, you will definitely be the first among the others to attain the Connate stage with your talent.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang stroked the girl¡¯s head with an indulgent smile.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Yun Lu¡¯s eyes shone, moist and bright, as she gave him a doe-eyed look, as though seeking further confirmation of what the youth had just said.


    ¡°Of course.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded confidently.


    He was impressed by Yun Lu¡¯s improvement during this period of time.


    Yun Lu¡¯s current level of practice was almost catching up with Lu Qinghu and Freezing Wind, the two members of his entourage who had the highest current level of practice.


    With Yun Lu¡¯s martial talent, she would definitely be the first among his entourage to attain the Connate stage and become a Connate-stage adept if all went well.


    ¡°When I attain the Connate stage, I will no longer be a burden to you. When that happens, I will be able to go to the Valley of the Medicine Masters to look for you.¡±


    There was a look of longing in Yun Lu¡¯s sparkling eyes.


    ¡°Burden?¡± Zhou Donghuang frowned. ¡°Xiao Lu, who said you were a burden to me?¡±


    ¡°Hehe¡­ Big Brother, that was a slip of the tongue. Mother said that, and she told me not to tell you.¡± Yun Lu giggled. ¡°Big Brother, don¡¯t you tell on me.¡±


    ¡°Mother said that?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s frown deepened. ¡°Xiao Lu, what¡¯s the meaning of this?¡±


    ¡°Big Brother, Mother said that if we go to the Valley of the Medicine Masters with you, we would definitely burden you. Moreover, she said that she prefers Qingshan town and plans to return to Qingshan town in Yunfeng prefecture after you go to the Valley of the Medicine Masters,¡± Yun Lu said as she blinked her doe-like eyes.


    After hearing what Yun Lu had said, Zhou Donghuang shook his head. ¡°Why would Mother think that? You all would never be a burden to me.¡±


    After finding out from Yun Lu that Lin Lan wanted to return to Qingshan town, Zhou Donghuang paid a special visit to Lin Lan to persuade her to go with him to the Valley of the Medicine Masters. ¡°Mother, you all will not be a burden to me. Moreover, I will be able to take even better care of you in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.¡±


    ¡°Donghuang, I have made up my mind. You don¡¯t need to try and persuade me.¡± Lin Lan said with a smile, ¡°Go and focus on what you have to do. In the future, just come back to Qingshan town and visit me as often as you can, whenever you are free.¡±


    ¡°I will also practice diligently, and will strive to live long enough to see you get married and start a family and have many children.¡±


    At this, there was a look of longing in Lin Lan¡¯s eyes.


    Zhou Donghuang spent some time trying to persuade her, but Lin Lan was adamant and Zhou Donghuang had no choice but to give up. ¡°Mother, since you really have made up your mind, I won¡¯t try to persuade you anymore. Tomorrow, I will send you back to Qingshan town personally and spend some time with you there before going to the Valley of the Medicine Masters.¡±


    ¡­..


    It was just as well that the golden-crowned eagle Little Gold had attained Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering and had grown physically larger. Otherwise, the two golden-crowned eagles would not have been able to ferry Zhou Donghuang and the other ten people.


    ¡°Sister Zixi, Aunty Mei, don¡¯t be afraid. Even if you do fall off, Little Gold will save you,¡± Yun Lu said to Yang Zixi and Aunty Mei who had their eyes squeezed tightly shut as they sped through the air on Little Gold¡¯s back with Yun Lu seated next to Lin Lan.


    It was the first time that Yang Zixi and Aunty Mei were sitting on a golden-crowned eagle. High in the air, they did not dare open their eyes for a long time.


    After a long while, Yang Zixi finally mustered enough courage to open her eyes and take in the surrounding view.


    ¡°You all¡­really don¡¯t intend to go with me to the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang stood beside Lin Lan and addressed Fu, Freezing Wind, Lu Qinghu, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng in a calm, even voice.


    ¡°Young Master, since Mistress has already decided to return to Qingshan town, I will also prepare to return to the Lu family. If Mistress would like to continue running the Magnolia Guild, the Lu family will be her biggest backer!¡± Lu Qinghu began with a smile, but as he finished, his expression became more earnest and serious.


    ¡°Young Master, my ability is too weak, and I will only burden you if I follow you. Moreover, I was born and raised in Qingshan town, and I have deep feelings for Qingshan town. If Mistress wants to return, I would like to return with her,¡± Fu said.


    ¡°Young Master, I, Zhou Han, and Zhou Feng¡ªthe three of us¡ªwill protect Mistress and Young Mistress. As for you, after you go to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, you will no longer need to have any worries at the back of your mind,¡± Freezing Wind added in.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    In all honesty, if these people all stayed with him, he really would be somewhat restricted. Now that they were all staying of their own accord, he did not try to persuade them otherwise.


    Of course, this did not mean that Zhou Donghuang intended to abandon them.


    Conversely, Zhou Donghuang had decided to nurture each and every one of them. This way, after he ascended to the divine realm, he would be able to leave a trusted and powerful source of strength behind in the physical universe that was completely loyal to him to protect his mother Lin Lan, his little sister Yun Lu, as well as everyone else he cared about.


    His experience in his previous life had driven home the importance of this.


    In the history of this physical universe, there was no shortage of powerful adepts who, after ascending to the divine realm, neglected to provide for their friends and relatives in the physical universe, leaving them unprotected against vengeful attacks by old enemies.


    After ascending to the divine realm, not only did the friends and relatives of those powerful adepts suffer disaster, but even the sects and family clans that they had previously been a part of had been wiped out and extinguished!


    In the physical universe, any attachment was a potential worry and a point of weakness, unless he lived like he did in his previous life without any attachments.


    At the same time, in the course of exploring and wandering the universe, one could be certain that feuds would be started with other people or powers. This was something that was unavoidable and could not be solved at the root every single time.


    Therefore, cultivating a source of strength that was loyal and belonged completely to himself was extremely important.


    ¡°It is also good that they stay in the country of Yunyang. In the future, as long as I obtain some resources for practicing, I can send it back to them anytime. That way, their progress will definitely not be slow!¡±


    With this thought, Zhou Donghuang made a decision in his heart.


    Even without using their qi, the two Great Consummation golden-crowned eagles demons managed to reach Qingshan town in Yunfeng prefecture in a short period of several days using their own natural flying speed.


    It was on the last day of the year 1229 of the Ziyun Era, December 31, that they returned to Qingshan town.


    At Yunxuan Restaurant, business was still booming. After Zhou Donghuang and his entourage finished their meal in the heavenly dining booth of Yunxuan Restaurant, they retreated to the compound behind Yunxuan Restaurant.


    Although no one had stayed there for a very long time, the chief steward of Yunxuan Restaurant, a side relative of the Lu family named Lu Qing, had arranged for someone to keep it in order. Being a lady, she was very meticulous. Therefore, everything there was still as clean and neat as ever, and once Zhou Donghuang and the others had arrived, they were able to move straight in.


    ¡°This Lu Qing of your Lu family really is pretty good.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was generous in his praise of Lu Qing¡¯s work in the presence of Lu Qinghu.


    ¡°I will make sure I reward her and her family handsomely once I return to the Lu family,¡± Lu Qinghu replied with a nod.


    ¡°When do you intend to return to the Lu family?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked.


    ¡°I intend to stay with you till you leave so that I can listen to your teachings,¡± Lu Qinghu replied diligently.


    ¡°Listening to my teachings is a pretense. Hoping that I can help with your practice is the truth, isn¡¯t it?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked deeply at Lu Qinghu, laying bare his innermost thoughts with a word and making Lu Qinghu smile awkwardly. ¡°The most important thing is that practicing with you, Young Master, will help increase my rate of practice more than ten times.¡±


    Although Lu Qinghu had been enjoying the Buddhist light given out by the Buddhist essence all along that aided in his practice, he did not know it was Buddhist light given out by the Buddhist essence.


    He only knew that under the glow of that golden light, his rate of practice increased more than ten times!


    This was also the main reason he could not bear to leave Zhou Donghuang before he left for the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Over the next few days, Zhou Donghuang constantly maintained the output of Buddhist essence from his body and transformed it into Buddhist light, aiding Lu Qinghu and the others in their practice.


    As for him, he remained at Lin Lan¡¯s side, chatting idly with her, talking about events from his childhood up till recent times.


    However, whenever he mentioned Chen Dandan, Lin Lan would abruptly fall silent.


    Chen Dandan. A cold gleam flashed across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes. He knew that Chen Dandan was most probably in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and if only he went to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, he would see Chen Dandan again.


    ¡°Chen Dandan, are you still congratulating yourself now because you found out that your biological father was the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters?


    Don¡¯t worry. Very soon, I will be going to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and turn your heaven into hell!¡±


    With this thought, it seemed that a layer of frost had formed on Zhou Donghuang¡¯s face.


    Later, as Lin Lan had constantly mentioned Granny Lian, Zhou Donghuang specially made a trip to the capital of Yunfeng prefecture on Big Gold to personally bring Granny Lian back to Qingshan town.


    At the same time, he wrote down many formulas and gave them to Lin Lan. ¡°Mother, among these formulas is the formula for the qi-gathering elixir that you are all currently using, as well as formulas for some other elixirs and potions¡­¡±


    ¡°As for the more valuable herbs among those that cannot be found in Yunfeng prefecture, I will make a trip to the Chu royal city before I move on to the Valley of the Medicine Masters to get them to procure those herbs, and send it over to you.¡±


    Seeing that Zhou Donghuang had given the formulas to her, Lin Lan knew that her son was about to leave soon.


    ¡°Donghuang, when are you preparing to leave?¡± Lin Lan asked with some reluctance.


    ¡°In two days¡¯ time.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang continued with a slight smile, ¡°Mother, I will come back to visit you when I am free. Big Gold will be able to attain the Connate stage very soon, and when he becomes a Connate-stage demon, it will only take a few days to return to Qingshan town from the Valley of the Medicine Masters.

 Chapter 142 - Acknowledging Master

    Farewells always made one sad.


    Therefore, Zhou Donghuang bid only Lin Lan farewell as he was leaving this time, leaving it to Lin to Lan inform the others in turn.


    On the morning of January 8, 1230 of the Ziyun Era, Zhou Donghuang rode the golden-crowned eagle, Big Gold, and they both departed Qingshan town, preparing to travel to the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    As for the golden-crowned eagle Little Gold, he was ordered by Zhou Donghuang to stay at Qingshan town to protect his mother Lin Lan and little sister Yun Lu as well as the others. ¡°Little Gold, keep a close eye on them. If anything happens to my mother or Xiao Lu, I will hold you solely responsible!¡±


    Little Gold had a thousand objections to being instructed to remain in Qingshan town. After all, if he left the youth, he would have no way to enjoy the glow of the Buddhist light from the Buddhist essence, and his rate of practice would drop.


    However, in the end, he had no choice but to stay behind, being constrained by the youth¡¯s power.


    Moreover, the youth had already told him that when his big brother attained the Connate stage and became a Connate stage demon, he would order his big brother to return to Qingshan town and take over, allowing him to travel to the Valley of the Medicine Masters and practice with him.


    Several days later, Zhou Donghuang and Big Gold returned once more to the Chu royal city, appearing in the air directly over the Chu royal mansion.


    As Big Gold landed in the Chu royal mansion carrying Zhou Donghuang, they naturally caused a commotion and a large amount of movement. A group of palace guards who had arrived at the sound of the commotion scattered, not daring to approach.


    ¡°It¡¯s the golden-crowned eagle!¡±


    ¡°That youth in white on the golden-crowned eagle¡¯s back¡­ could that be that Connate-stage youth?¡±


    ¡°In the territory of our country of Yunyang, there is no one other than he who can use a golden-crowned eagle as a mount.¡±


    As the group of palace guards whispered to each other, the second elder of the Chu royal family Xiang Donghua presented himself, leading several other elders of the Chu royal family. They all bowed respectfully to the youth. ¡°We acknowledge Young Master Donghuang!¡±


    At that moment, the group of palace guards watching at a distance were completely certain of the youth¡¯s identity when they heard the words of the second elder of the Chu royal family. This was the Connate-stage youth, Zhou Donghuang!


    Although the Ziyun Era had entered the year 1230 and Zhou Donghuang was considered to be almost nineteen years of age, his face still bore some traces of youth, such that a casual observer would still naturally assume that he was still only a youth.


    Going strictly by age, one was considered a young man on the planet of Ziyun after turning eighteen.


    ¡°Who is currently in charge of the Chu royal family?¡± Zhou Donghuang stood on the back of the golden-crowned eagle with his hands clasped behind his back as he surveyed Xiang Donghua and the elders of the Chu royal family as he addressed them calmly.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, Head Elder and I are in charge at the moment,¡± Xiang Donghua answered respectfully.


    Although the youth before them had killed the king and the royal consort of the Chu royal family, he was a Connate-stage adept, and this meant that the Chu royal family could do nothing more than swallow this bitter pill.


    ¡°Let the Chu royal family send men to find the herbs written on this paper, and no matter how much they find, send them at once to Qingshan town in Yunfeng prefecture and hand them over personally to my mother, Lin Lan.¡±


    With a flourish of his arm, Zhou Donghuang sent a piece of paper fluttering out and flying in Xiang Donghua¡¯s direction.


    ¡°As you command.¡±


    Xiang Donghua received the piece of paper and acknowledged respectfully without even so much as a glance at it.


    ¡°This is a second-grade offensive technique. Consider it a gift to the Chu royal family for their labors. In the future, when I return to Qingshan town, and if I see that you have been productive, I will give the Chu royal family a second-grade swiftness technique.¡±


    With another flourish of his arm, Zhou Donghuang sent another piece of paper crammed with writing fluttering and flying towards Xiang Donghua.


    This time, when Xiang Donghua heard Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, his eyes widened and his face began to flush with excitement as he hurriedly reached out to receive the second piece of paper that Zhou Donghuang had thrown over.


    As the second elder of the Chu royal family, Xiang Donghua was a Petty Consummation adept, and with a single glance, he could tell that what was recorded on the paper in his hand was indeed a second-grade technique!


    Before this, the Chu royal family only had several third-grade techniques and did not possess any second-grade techniques.


    Even in the imperial court of Yunyang, second-grade techniques were extremely rare, such that the imperial court of Yunyang was unwilling to share them with the various royal families under them.


    ¡°Big Gold, let¡¯s go!¡± Zhou Donghuang commanded.


    With a flap of his wings, Big Gold shot into the sky like a flash of black lightning and vanished into the clouds, leaving Xiang Donghua and the other elders of the Chu royal family with expressions of excitement on their faces.


    Although Zhou Donghuang was not worried that the Chu royal family would not do work for him if he did not reward them, they would not be efficient in their work if they were forced into it by the threat of his power.


    And now, by giving the Chu royal family a second-grade offensive technique and promising to give them a second-grade swiftness technique if they were efficient in their work¡­


    Under these circumstances, the Chu royal family would definitely go all out to work for him as efficiently as they could.


    Swoosh!!


    After Zhou Donghuang rode Big Gold and departed the Chu royal city, they flew in the direction of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Previously, before they had left the Chu royal city, he had obtained a map on which was indicated the location of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and he had already shown it to Big Gold before they had set out.


    So Big Gold already knew the route from the Chu royal city to the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Although Big Gold had not yet attained the Connate stage and become a Connate-stage demon, few Great Consummation flying demons could match his speed in his current state. In less than ten days, Big Gold had already left the borders of the country of Yunyang.


    During this period of time, Zhou Donghuang had been seated cross-legged all the while on his back as he practiced, and even though bitterly cold strong winds had buffeted them, it did not affect his practice one bit.


    The Valley of the Medicine Masters was located southwest of the country of Yunyang, and was still some distance from the country of Yunyang.


    In the blink of an eye, three days had passed.


    ¡°Young Master, we have arrived.¡±


    Since setting out from the Chu royal city of the Western Ridge, Big Gold had spent ten days and had now reached the airspace just outside the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and he informed Zhou Donghuang immediately.


    ¡°We have arrived?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang roused himself from his practice and opened his eyes, gazing ahead. With a single glance, he took in the vast valley before him.


    Buildings could be vaguely seen scattered in clusters around in the valley, and there were several wide roads that connected the buildings and led out of the valley.


    ¡°The environment of this Valley of the Medicine Masters is really not bad.¡±


    Besides the clusters of buildings, the valley itself retained the original appearance of mountain forests, and seen from afar, the swath of green made one feel happy and relaxed.


    ¡°Young Master, do we go straight in?¡±


    In the blink of an eye, Big Gold had ferried Zhou Donghuang to the airspace bordering the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and he questioned Zhou Donghuang as he circled in the air.


    ¡°We go straight in,¡± Zhou Donghuang said casually.


    The master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo, had already acknowledged him as superior and was willing to be submit to him like a dog.


    Now that he was coming to his dog¡¯s territory, why should he have to stop at the entrance to the Valley of the Medicine Masters and let someone announce his arrival?


    ¡°As you say,¡± Big Gold acknowledged, and with a flap of his wings, he seemed to transform into a bolt of black lightning and hurtled through the air into the valley where the Valley of the Medicine Masters was located, entering into the airspace of the valley proper.


    ¡°Young Master, how shall we seek out that Valley Master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡± Big Gold asked Zhou Donghuang as he circled in the air above the valley proper.


    ¡°Wait a while, he¡¯ll naturally come over.¡± Zhou Donghuang replied casually, as though he concluded from his own words that the Valley Master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo would personally come over to welcome him.


    As soon as he finished speaking, Zhou Donghuang, who had was sitting cross-legged on Big Gold¡¯s back, closed his eyes and began to meditate.


    There were observation towers at various points in the valley where the Valley of the Medicine Masters was located, and there were usually elders of the Valley of the Medicine Masters mounted on Great Consummation flying demons there on duty.


    The main responsibility of their duty was to be the ¡°eyes¡± of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, keeping a lookout in all directions.


    One of the elders of the Valley of the Medicine Masters soon spotted a flying demon that suddenly appeared and began circling in the air above the Valley of the Medicine Masters. It seemed to be a flying demon of an eagle species.


    ¡°The rider is probably the esteemed guest that the Valley Master informed us about earlier,¡± he thought.


    Earlier, Valley Master Su Mo of the Valley of the Medicine Masters had returned from outside, and he immediately convened a meeting of the group of elders responsible for the duty of the observation towers. He informed them to keep a constant watch on the airspace over the valley where the Valley of the Medicine Masters was located.


    If there was someone riding a demon eagle into the valley, they were not to offend the new arrival and were to notify him immediately. That would be his esteemed guest, and he would receive his guest personally.


    Muttering to himself, this elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters leapt onto the back of an enormous grey vulture. Riding the vulture and transforming into a grey blur, he hurtled towards the side of the valley.


    That big grey vulture was one of the Great Consummation flying demons reared in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, a thunder-feathered vulture. Flying demons made up the majority of the Great Consummation demons reared in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    This could be attributed to the former Connate-stage demon, the Silver-Crowned Crane of the Valley of the Medicine Masters. As a Connate-stage flying demon, that Silver-Crowned Crane could easily hunt and kill Great Consummation flying demons and plunder their eggs.


    Those eggs eventually became the property of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°Valley Master.¡±


    As soon as the elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters had ridden the thunder-feathered vulture and landed at the accommodation of the master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo, reporting to him that someone riding an eagle species demon had arrived, Su Mo hurriedly mounted the thunder-feathered vulture¡¯s back and rode the mount up into the air.


    ¡°What manner of esteemed guest would cause the Valley Master to so hurriedly rush to welcome him in such a manner?¡± With an expression of surprise and shock, the elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters watched the thunder-feathered vulture rapidly become a little black dot before his eyes.


    ¡°Even when the sect master of the Guiyuan sect arrived, I had never seen the Valley Master lose his composure like that.¡±


    The Guiyuan sect was a sect of similar strength to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and their sect master was also a late Connate-stage adept.


    The Valley of the Medicine Masters commanded a vast swath of territory adjacent to the Sixteen Countries of East Valley, and the Guiyuan sect commanded a vast swath of territory adjacent to the Fourteen Countries of the North Border.


    ¡°Su Mo acknowledges Master!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and meditating on the back of the golden-crowned eagle, had waited just fifteen minutes before the Valley Master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters Su Mo arrived.


    When Su Mo saw the youth once again, he respectfully prostrated himself on the back of the thunder-feathered vulture with a humble demeanor, as compliant as a well-trained dog!


    The thunder-feathered vulture had no true intelligence. Otherwise, seeing the valley master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters kneel before a youth and address him as ¡°Master,¡± it would probably be so shocked that it would forget to flap its wings and plummet through the air.

 Chapter 143 - Connate Elixir

    Chapter 143: Connate Elixir


    Since returning to the Valley of the Medicine Masters after being gravely wounded, Su Mo considered feigning compliance, gambling that the youth might not be able to demonstrate once more the Connate-stage ability that had defeated him so soundly.


    However, in his midnight dreams, the scene of his crushing defeat by the youth played out again and again. Repeating that scene when his life hung in the balance had caused his spirit to crumble.


    This caused Su Mo to abandon any ideas of trying his luck.


    Acknowledging the youth as Master might be humiliating, but it would ensure that he could live in peace.


    He had practiced for more than sixty years before attaining the late Connate stage, and with his martial talent, there was still a chance that he would be able to successfully attempt reaching the Primal Core stage in his lifetime


    .


    If he attained the Primal Core stage, he would break free of the upper limit of his lifetime, potentially living for three hundred years.


    If he was not able to attain the Primal Core stage, he could hope to live just a hundred years.


    If he managed to attain the Primal Core stage, he could live an additional two hundred years!


    He was not willing to die for his dignity.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang lazily opened his eyes and gazed indifferently at the Valley Master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo, who was respectfully prostrated on the back of the thunder-feathered vulture.


    ¡°Get up,¡± Su Mo said evenly.


    Su Mo waited for the youth¡¯s reply before daring to rise and say respectfully, ¡°Master, you must be weary from your travels. Shall I arrange a place for you to rest?¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded. ¡°Find me somewhere quiet.¡±


    Riding on the thunder-feathered vulture, Su Mo soon led Zhou Donghuang and the golden-crowned eagle to the mountainside where their accommodation was. It was a cave by a small road that led to several main roads of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    However, just beside the bends in both directions of the small road, two giant slabs of stone had been erected and carved with the words ¡°Forbidden Place.¡±


    The two carved words had even been painted in red paint, which made them extremely obvious.


    ¡°Master, this is where my respected teacher, the previous Valley Master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, practiced. It is a paradise inside, and incomparably quiet and peaceful. Why don¡¯t you go in and inspect it, and stay here if you find it satisfactory. If you are not satisfied, I will find accommodation at the foot of the mountain for you,¡± Su Mo said respectfully.


    The entrance to the cave was very big, easily more than ten meters high and five or six meters wide. Not only in his current state, but even if Big Gold attained the Connate stage, he would be able to enter and exit the cave easily.


    ¡°Master, please go ahead.¡±


    After leaping off the back of the thunder-feathered vulture to the ground, Zhou Donghuang followed Su Mo into the cave.


    The thunder-feathered vulture waited patiently outside, but Big Gold followed them in.


    Inside the cave, there was an indistinct white light that seemed to come from the cave¡¯s depths.


    After they had walked ten more meters, the white light became brighter, and they arrived at a bend in the path.


    After rounding the bend, they entered into a gigantic cavern.


    This cavern was vast, more than fifty meters deep and at least forty meters wide, with a height of twenty meters, as though it had been scooped out of the mountainside.


    Seeing this, Zhou Donghuang was moved. ¡°Such a large cave,¡± he thought. ¡°Even if Big Gold attains the Connate stage, he could spread his wings here without a care.¡±


    Everywhere in the cave, there were green plants that people had planted that gave off a fragrance that was immediately apparent. There was no lack of plants that could be used as herbs.


    Besides this, there was a small waterfall at one side of the cave. Water welled out from a corner at the top of the cave and flowed languidly down, watering the plants around the cave.


    In the middle of the cave, there was a free-standing wooden house, sparsely furnished. Aside from a wooden bed and a wooden table, there was nothing else inside it.


    ¡°Master, what do you think?¡± Su Mo asked anxiously, looking at the youth.


    ¡°It will do.¡±


    Seeing the youth nod, Su Mo heaved a sigh of relief. He fished out a token from his pocket, which he had prepared in advance, and passed it to the youth. ¡°Master, this is the ¡®Token of the Medicine Master.¡¯ Seeing the token is equivalent to seeing me. With this token, it will be more convenient for you in the Valley of the Medicine Masters in the future.¡±


    There was only one Token of the Medicine Master in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and it was usually passed down through successive generations of Valley Masters of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    When the Valley Master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters passed the Token of the Medicine Master to someone, it meant that that person possessed supreme authority in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, equal to that of the Valley Master.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang took the token and stuffed it into his pocket, not even bothering to glance at the token that symbolized supreme authority in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°Master, when it is mealtime, I will arrange for someone to send your meals here.¡± Su Mo continued.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded again.


    ¡°If that is all, I will not disturb your rest any longer.¡±


    Su Mo bowed and retreated, and added on, ¡°Master, I will be staying at the foot of this mountain below this cave. If there is anything you need, you may look for me anytime.¡±


    ¡°Hang on.¡±


    Just as Su Mo was about to leave, Zhou Donghuang stopped him and proceeded to take out a piece of paper from his pocket, flinging it towards him.


    The piece of paper floated lightly as though it came alive in the air, and landed gently on Su Mo¡¯s palm.


    ¡°I need the herbs written on it urgently. Gather them and send them over as soon as you can,¡± Zhou Donghuang said.


    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±


    As he respectfully acknowledged the words, Su Mo glanced discreetly at the long list of herbs written on the paper. Just that glance was enough to give him a shock.


    ¡°Master, you are intending to formulate the Connate elixir?¡±


    As the Valley Master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo was not only accomplished in the martial way, his knowledge and abilities in medicine were also considerable.


    Su Mo was a genuine earth-level medicine master.


    As such, Su Mo was able to formulate a qi-gathering elixir that increased the sense of qi by two hundred percent, double the qi-gathering elixir that the superior-level medicine master of the imperial court of Yunyang could formulate.


    The importance of Connate elixir to a Connate-stage adept was the same as the importance of qi-gathering elixir to a Qi-gathering stage adept.


    Of course, even the best qi-gathering elixir was almost useless to a Connate-stage adept, because qi-gathering elixir was a medicine used only by qi-gathering stage adepts to aid their practice.


    After attaining the Connate stage, the method of practice would change since the sense of qi would be almost at its maximum limit and would not increase no matter how much qi-gathering elixir one used.


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded. ¡°I have just attained the Connate stage, and I don¡¯t have any Connate elixir yet, so I am preparing to brew some.¡±


    ¡°Master, if these are all the herbs you need to brew Connate elixir, I fear that your Connate elixir will not be right.¡±


    Su Mo looked again at the herbs written on the paper in his hand with a slight frown.


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with it,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied casually.


    ¡°Master, quite a few of the herbs you have written here have conflicting medicinal properties, and I fear that rashly pairing them together in the same formulation will cause great harm to the body.¡±


    Su Mo¡¯s frown deepened.


    ¡°As the Valley Master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, don¡¯t you know that for herbs with conflicting medicinal properties, you only need to control their balance and not only will they not harm the body, they will even produce outstanding results?¡± said Zhou Donghuang, giving Su Mo a sweeping glance.


    Shocked at what Zhou Donghuang said, Su Mo was unable to stop himself from exhaling a breath of cold air. ¡°Master, you¡­ you mean that you can control their balance?¡±


    From what he knew, controlling the balance of even just two herbs with conflicting medicinal properties, never mind balancing many herbs with conflicting medicinal properties, was something that only heaven-level medicine masters were able to do.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang replied once more, then said somewhat impatiently, ¡°That¡¯s all. You can go. Prepare these herbs for me as soon as you can. I need them urgently.¡±


    Since attaining the Connate stage, Zhou Donghuang had been wanting to formulate Connate elixir to aid his practice.


    In the country of Yunyang it was very difficult to gather all the herbs required to formulate Connate elixir; therefore, he had delayed it till now.


    The reason for coming to the Valley of the Medicine Masters was that the Valley of the Medicine Masters could provide him with the herbs to formulate Connate elixir, while at the same time he could better understand the circumstances of the planet of Ziyun.


    In his previous life, although he had returned to Ziyun after attaining the Primal Core stage and leaving Earth, he had not visited anywhere else, and had returned directly to the country of Yunyang.


    He knew only that the country of Yunyang was one of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, and that the area surrounding the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley was the territory of a sect called the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    He knew absolutely nothing else about the circumstances of the planet of Ziyun.


    ¡°At once.¡±


    Seeing that the youth had begun to grow impatient, Su Mo hurriedly retreated, although he was still shocked.


    ¡°If he can really control the balance of several kinds of herbs with conflicting medicinal properties, the Connate elixir that he can formulate can yield a ratio of up to three hundred percent of additional remaining qi.


    In any case, although the sense of qi of Connate-stage adepts had reached its limit and they could absorb the spirit energy, the efficiency of transforming their qi was less than ten percent.


    But by consuming Connate elixir, the effectiveness of preserving qi could be increased from the original of less than ten percent to a hundred percent or more, even up to two hundred percent.


    As for Su Mo, as an earth-level medicine master, the Connate elixir that he formulated could preserve an additional sixteen percent of qi.


    This was already an extremely high preservation rate.


    ¡­


    After Su Mo left, Zhou Donghuang returned to the wooden house and prepared to practice.


    The furnishings in the wooden house had obviously been cleaned not long before, and there was only a small amount of insignificant dust.


    Sitting cross-legged on the wooden bed, Zhou Donghuang muttered to himself, ¡°Relying only on the Lord of the Four Supremes to practice, only fifty percent of the qi converted from spirit energy can be preserved¡­


    ¡°But once I formulate that Connate elixir, I can increase the preservation of qi by an additional forty percent, which will allow the preservation of qi to increase to more than ninety percent when I practice!¡±


    There was a look of longing in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes at this thought.


    ¡°However, I did not expect that the Connate-stage portion of the Lord of the Four Supremes would be so potent that I could preserve fifty percent of qi.¡±


    ¡°The Thousand Star Sword Technique, the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen, the Manual of Unruffled Sage, and the other top techniques in the universe can only preserve forty percent of qi at the Connate stage.¡±


    ¡°As for techniques that are able to preserve fifty percent of qi at the Connate stage, I had heard of them in my previous life¡­ but those methods usually exist only in legends.¡±


    ¡°I never imagined that I would be able to find just such a legendary technique in the Kunlun Mountains on Earth.¡±

 Chapter 144 - Do You Know Where Chen Dandan Stays?

    It had to be said that Su Mo got things done extremely efficiently.


    On the second day, he sent Zhou Donghuang all the herbs that he required and even brought all the equipment that Zhou Donghuang needed to formulate elixirs.


    ¡°Very efficient.¡±


    Seeing Su Mo put all the herbs and equipment on the table, Zhou Donghuang nodded in satisfaction, and immediately rose and got off the bed and went to the table.


    ¡°Master, you ¡­ you are about to begin formulating Connate elixir?¡±


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang pick up the equipment and inspect it, and glance towards the pile of herbs, Su Mo¡¯s eyes lit up, but then immediately dimmed as he turned and prepared to leave. ¡°Master, I¡¯ll take my leave now.¡±


    ¡°Who gave you permission to leave?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked casually.


    ¡°Hmm?¡±


    As the youth¡¯s words reached him from behind, Su Mo stopped in his tracks and turned to face the youth again. ¡°Master, you ¡­ you mean that I can observe you formulating the elixir?¡±


    At this, Su Mo¡¯s eyes shone brighter than ever, full of hope.


    It must be stated that when most medicine masters, including him, formulated their elixirs, they did not allow anyone to be present to observe other than their own disciples.


    One reason was fear that the formula would be learned and stolen, and another was that their proprietary methods of formulating elixirs would be stolen.


    ¡°Mm,¡± Zhou Donghuang casually acknowledged again, and then proceeded to ignore Su Mo, taking up the equipment and herbs and beginning to formulate the Connate elixir that he needed.


    At first, Su Mo felt that the youth¡¯s movements were nothing extraordinary.


    But as time passed, he noticed that the youth¡¯s speed was a quick as lightning. His hands seemed to have become a blur, causing even him, a late Connate adept, to feel dizzy just watching.


    If it was an ordinary youth who claimed that he could brew Connate elixir, Su Mo could not possibly believe him.


    However, this youth before him could not be compared to any ordinary youth. Which youth had the ability to defeat him, a late Connate adept, and force him to acknowledge him as master?


    Because of this, when the youth said he intended to formulate Connate elixir, he did not even doubt whether the youth could do it, but was surprised at the herbs the youth wanted him to gather.


    There were a good number of herbs among those which had conflicting medicinal properties, and even an ordinary heaven-level medicine master would find it difficult to maintain the balance in the process.


    However, although Su Mo did not doubt the youth¡¯s capabilities, he was still shocked by the youth¡¯s skill in formulating. Completely shocked!


    It was the first time he had seen such speedy and mysterious methods, as though each kind of herb had come alive in the youth¡¯s hands.


    About fifteen minutes later, Zhou Donghuang stopped, having made twelve bottles of Connate elixir from the herbs that Su Mo had brought.


    ¡°You¡¯ve finished formulating it?¡±


    Su Mo stared agape. Had it only been fifteen minutes?


    Even he, an earth-level medicine master, needed at least six hours to be able to formulate Connate elixir, under the best conditions.


    And now, this youth before him had only taken fifteen minutes.


    Moreover, in the process of formulating this Connate elixir, he had used several kinds of herbs with conflicting medicinal properties, as though balancing their medicinal properties was child¡¯s play.


    ¡°I won¡¯t take advantage of you.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang took a bottle of Connate elixir, poured it into his mouth and swallowed it, then put nine bottles into his pocket, leaving two on the table. ¡°In the future, each time you provide me with this amount of herbs, I¡¯ll give you two bottles of Connate elixir.¡±


    Without waiting for Su Mo to reply, Zhou Donghuang returned to the bed to practice.


    Waves of golden light reached out from his body, illuminating not only himself but extending all the way out to illuminate Big Gold, the golden-crowned eagle practicing outside the wooden house.


    Of course, it only illuminated him and Big Gold, and did not illuminate Su Mo.


    Within the cavern in the cave, the walls of the cavern in all directions were mounted with luminous pearls, so that even though the cavern was located in the mountainside, it was still bright and well-lighted.


    Of these luminous pearls, the big ones were about the size of a fist, and the small ones were about the size of a chicken egg. They were extraordinarily valuable, but here they were used only for illumination.


    The light from the luminous pearls combined with the power from the Buddhist essence, producing waves of golden Buddhist light.


    ¡°Master, I¡¯ll take my leave now.¡±


    Although he was doubtful about the golden light radiating from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s body, Su Mo did not dare to ask too many questions and retreated after taking the two bottles of Connate elixir from the table.


    Once he arrived back at his accommodation, the first thing he did was to consume one of the bottles of Connate elixir and begin practicing.


    Shortly after closing his eyes to practice, Su Mo suddenly opened his eyes which were full of shock and incomprehension.


    ¡°Forty ¡­ forty percent? After consuming that bottle of Connate elixir, the efficiency of preservation of qi when I practiced increased by an additional forty percent! Impossible! Impossible!¡±


    Although Su Mo had been psychologically prepared, he had all along assumed that the Connate elixir formulated by the youth would only increase the efficiency of preservation of qi by at most thirty percent.


    Now he realized that he had underestimated this youth.


    ¡°Increasing the rate of preservation of qi by an additional forty percent ¡­ the Connate elixir I formulated can only increase the rate of preservation of qi by sixteen percent. Does this mean that with an uninterrupted supply of this type of Connate elixir, my rate of practice in the future will be almost two hundred percent faster in the future?¡±


    At this thought, Su Mo exhaled a cold breath of air, and his eyes began to glitter with dazzling light and his expression was so excited that he began to twitch slightly.


    ¡°He said earlier that each time I give him that amount of herbs, he will formulate twelve bottles of Connate elixir and give me two bottles.¡±


    At this thought, Su Mo stopped practicing, walked out of his room, and convened a meeting of the few elders who held the real power in the Valley of the Medicine Masters and issued them orders to gather the herbs that the youth needed from outside with free rein.


    Although there was still no shortage of those herbs in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, he felt that there was nowhere near enough, and he wanted more!


    ¡°Over the next few decades, if I continuously use that kind of Connate elixir in my practice ¡­ I have over ninety percent confidence that I will be able to break free of the shackles of the Connate stage, attain the Primal Core stage, and become a Primal Core adept!¡±


    Su Mo was extremely emotional.


    To him, nothing could be more important than attaining the Primal Core stage and becoming a Primal Core adept.


    If he managed to become a Primal Core adept, his lifespan would be extended to three hundred years, which was an additional two hundred years for him to use. That was his life¡¯s goal!


    ¡°It seems that I have chosen to serve the right master.¡±


    If it was said that Su Mo had previously been forced to acknowledge Zhou Donghuang as master, then now he felt that he had chosen rightly.


    When he had relied on the Connate elixir that he had formulated himself, he had less than ten percent confidence that he could attain the Primal Core stage and become a Primal Core adept.


    And now, with the Connate elixir formulated by his master, he had over ninety percent confidence of becoming a Primal Core adept!


    ¡­


    To Zhou Donghuang, giving Su Mo two bottles of Connate elixir mainly created some sense of urgency for Su Mo to gather the herbs he needed.


    Now, with the Connate elixir in addition to the aid of the Buddhist essence, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s stage of practice was advancing at an even greater pace.


    ¡°At this stage of practice¡­ I will be able to attain the late Connate stage in over a month at most!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was extremely satisfied with his current rate of practice.


    Of course, when completely devoting oneself to practicing continuously, there would always be times when one would feel drained, and continuing to practice at these times would not produce any meaningful results, and might even affect practice in the future.


    As someone who possessed a thousand years of memories from his previous life, Zhou Donghuang naturally knew how to solve this problem.


    Taking a walk outside then resuming practicing when his emotions were completely relaxed would produce better results than continuing to practice.


    ¡°It has been some time since coming to the Valley of the Medicine Masters. I still have not been out to look around.¡± At this thought, Zhou Donghuang left the mountain retreat and walked out of the cave.


    As for the golden-crowned eagle Big Gold, although he noticed that the Buddhist light that could help him increase his rate of practice had disappeared, he was still absorbed in his practice, working hard to attain the Connate stage and become a Connate-stage demon.


    After walking out of the cave, Zhou Donghuang followed the path in front of the cave and came to one of the main roads in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and continued onwards.


    At first, he did not see anyone as he walked.


    This place in the Valley of the Medicine Masters was rather secluded.


    Gradually, as he walked out of the secluded corner of the valley, he saw some disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters passing through the various crossroads.


    Among these disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters were youths, young men and women, as well as middle-aged men and women.


    Occasionally, he saw a few old people.


    Of course, the old people might not necessarily be elders of the Valley of the Medicine Masters; they could also be disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    In the Valley of the Medicine Masters, being old only meant that one was advanced in age, and did not indicate one¡¯s status in the Valley of the Medicine Masters. Status was something that one gained based on his martial prowess.


    ¡°Hey! I don¡¯t recall seeing you before¡­ have you just been inducted into the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang had originally been walking quietly by himself, when suddenly a voice came from nearby, followed by a youth who looked about sixteen or seventeen years old who walked towards him.


    The youth was wearing a blue robe, and although he could not be considered handsome, he could still be considered pleasant and delicate looking. He approached familiarly. ¡°I¡¯m called Huang Mingfeng; how about you?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang merely swept a casual glance over him before looking away, ignoring his overtures, continuing to follow the main road as he walked onwards.


    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m talking to you. Why are you so rude? Didn¡¯t you hear me talking to you?¡±


    Huang Mingfeng caught up with Zhou Donghuang and turned towards him as he spoke with displeasure.


    ¡°Do you know where Chen Dandan stays?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked, glancing at Huang Mingfeng.


    ¡°Chen Dandan?¡±


    Huang Mingfeng was stunned at first, but then he shook his head. ¡°Although you are not bad looking, I fear that pursuing sister Chen Dandan is not very realistic.¡±


    ¡°Who says I intend to pursue her?¡± Zhou Donghuang gave a start, following it up with a derisive smile.


    To say that Chen Dandan was fit to be pursued by him?


    Laughable!

 Chapter 145 - How Is It That You Are Here?

    ¡°If you are not intending to pursue her, then why are you asking where she stays?¡±


    Huang Mingfeng had a look of disbelief at what Zhou Donghuang had said.


    ¡°I¡¯m asking where she stays because I¡­am preparing to look for her to settle an old score.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang narrowed his eyes and spoke in an even voice.


    ¡°Looking for Chen Dandan to settle an old score?¡±


    After giving Zhou Donghuang an earnest look and confirming that Zhou Donghuang did not seem like he was joking, Huang Mingfeng shook his head and said, ¡°Brother, although I don¡¯t like that Chen Dandan either¡­Chen Dandan is not someone that ordinary disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters like us can provoke.¡±


    ¡°Her father is the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe!¡±


    ¡°That second elder is a late Connate-stage adept, and is among the top five in terms of the strength of his ability.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what grudge you have against Chen Dandan but I advise you to let it go for your own good.¡±


    Huang Mingfeng reemphasized his point.


    ¡°The second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe?¡±


    The corners of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s mouth had curled up with a look of bland condescension. ¡°You don¡¯t have to bother about the rest of it. Just tell me, do you know where she stays?¡±


    ¡°She usually stays with the second elder.¡±


    Seeing that the youth not only did not take his advice despite his warning but persisted in asking where Chen Dandan was staying, Huang Mingfeng could not help raising his impression of the youth.


    What kind of illustrious background did this handsome youth with an extraordinary aura, who was dressed in a snow-white robe, have that he was not afraid of Second Elder Chen Tianhe who stood behind Chen Dandan?


    Someone who was still so adamant was either extremely confident in himself or deluded.


    And this person before him did not seem at all like the latter.


    ¡°I just came from the training grounds and I saw Chen Dandan there sparring with other people. Come to think of it, she should still be there, and probably has not gone back yet.¡±


    All youths enjoyed watching a show, and seeing that Zhou Donghuang was not the least bit afraid after discovering Chen Dandan¡¯s background, Huang Mingfeng naturally assumed that Zhou Donghuang had an even more powerful background.


    ¡°The training grounds? How do I get there?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked with a gleam in his eye.


    ¡°It¡¯s over there.¡±


    Huang Mingfeng turned and glanced towards one of the branches in the road, reaching out to point into the distance beyond the branch in the road. ¡°This road leads there. After walking for some time you will see another main road on the right¡­forget it, I¡¯m free right now anyway, I¡¯ll take you there.¡±


    As soon as he finished, Huang Mingfeng called to Zhou Donghuang and led the way, walking ahead of Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang followed him.


    ¡°Brother, you still haven¡¯t told me your name.¡± Huang Mingfeng glanced over his shoulder at Zhou Donghuang and asked.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied casually.


    ¡°Brother Donghuang, how did this feud with Chen Dandan come about?¡±


    Huang Mingfeng continued, ¡°From what I know, she arrived here in the Valley of the Medicine Masters not long ago and she is the daughter of Second Elder who was wandering outside¡­I heard that she grew up in a small place in Yunyang country.¡±


    ¡°That small place is so insignificant that we can¡¯t even imagine it.¡±


    ¡°In that small place, even a mere level-two adept of Qi-gathering can be a tyrant.¡±


    Once Huang Mingfeng started talking, he seemed unable to stop and continued, ¡°Apparently, it was the second elder of a minor preeminent family of the inferior-level prefecture capital of that small place who found her. Later on, the young master of that minor preeminent family was inducted into Second Elder¡¯s family.¡±


    ¡°Hong Yunfei?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked.


    ¡°That¡¯s right! Hong Yunfei!¡±


    As Huang Mingfeng nodded, an expression of surprise came over his face. ¡°Brother, so you know Hong Yunfei.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity¡­that Hong Yunfei originally thought that he could rise together with Chen Dandan in the good graces of Second Elder. He never imagined that after Second Elder and Chen Dandan acknowledged each other as father and daughter, he would be kicked out of the Valley of the Medicine Masters by Chen Dandan.¡±


    ¡°That Chen Dandan is really ungrateful. Even if she did not want to be close to Hong Yunfei, at the very least he helped her to find her biological father and did not deserve to be cut off in such a manner.¡±


    At this, Huang Mingfeng shook his head continuously, ¡°That Chen Dandan is still pleasant to the eye, but her character is really poor.¡±


    ¡°Beautiful people can be like snakes and scorpions; the ancients never failed to warn us about this.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was not the least bit surprised to learn that Hong Yunfei had been kicked out of the Valley of the Medicine Masters. Knowing Chen Dandan¡¯s character, there was naturally no way that she could have remained together with Hong Yunfei after learning that her biological father was the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    The only thing that he did not expect was that Chen Dandan had actually kicked Hong Yunfei out of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°Brother, you still haven¡¯t told me¡­how did your feud with Chen Dandan come about?¡± Huang Mingfeng asked again.


    ¡°It can¡¯t really be considered a feud. It¡¯s just that she owes my mother a substantial debt.¡±


    A cold gleam flashed across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes, and his tone grew chilly in an instant. ¡°I am preparing to collect on that debt!¡±


    The time had come to collect on the debts that Chen Dandan owed his mother Lin Lan.


    ¡°Your mother?¡±


    Huang Mingfeng gave a start, and continued, ¡°Brother, you¡­who on earth are you? How could that Chen Dandan owe a debt to your mother? Was it from before she returned to the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡±


    Huang Mingfeng was now even more confused.


    ¡°Those are the training grounds just ahead?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked.


    Zhou Donghuang had just followed Huang Mingfeng onto another main road in the Valley of the Medicine Masters. The countryside opened up and he could see the large space that lay at the center of the valley.


    In the large open space, groups of people were scattered everywhere. There were two blurred figures in each group of people, and it was obvious that they were sparring.


    Of course, there were also some people who were gathered at a corner of the space, sitting or standing, talking and laughing, deep in conversation.


    ¡°Not bad.¡±


    Huang Mingfeng nodded in response, feeling more certain that this unfamiliar youth had just recently arrived in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, otherwise there was no way he could not know about the training grounds of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°There is still some time before the Valley of the Medicine Masters takes in disciples from the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley¡­and I am from the previous batch of new disciples who entered after passing the test of the Valley of the Medicine Masters,¡± Huang Mingfeng thought.


    ¡°And if he has just arrived in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, it proves that he has been specially invited by the senior leadership of the Valley of the Medicine Masters. Just as that Chen Dandan, and Hong Yunfei before her, had been specially invited by Second Elder Chen Tianhe.¡±


    Huang Mingfeng¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    In the Valley of the Medicine Masters, senior leaders of the late Connate stage and above had special authority to take in people from outside the Valley of the Medicine Masters. Of course, after taking someone in, the senior leader had to take responsibility for the person he took in, just as Hong Yunfei had been inducted into Second Elder¡¯s family after being taken specially invited in by Second Elder, becoming a disciple in Second Elder¡¯s family.


    When Huang Mingfeng came around after giving it some thought, he realized that the youth in the robe that was whiter than snow had already walked ahead quite a distance, so that the training grounds were now not very far off.


    Immediately, he hurried to catch up, shouting as he ran, ¡°Brother Donghuang, wait for me!¡±


    The training grounds at the center of the valley where the Valley of the Medicine Masters was located was at a higher elevation, and vast. Four long stone stairways surrounded it, leading to the four winding main roads of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, which in turn led to the entrance of the mountain.


    ¡°Chen Dandan!¡±


    Taking the stone stairs to the training grounds, Zhou Donghuang swept a calm gaze around his surroundings. A moment later, it fell on one of the groups of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    With his current visual acuity, he was able to immediately see a young lady sparring with a youth through a gap in the gathered group.


    Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!


    ¡­


    With some smooth footwork, the delicate and beautiful young lady dressed in a light green long-sleeved gown forced her way closer to a youth who looked somewhat younger than she. They began to engage in an evenly-matched duel, but she gradually began to gain the upper hand.


    From the looks of things, it was only a matter of time before the young lady was victorious.


    ¡°Sister Dandan is really good!¡±


    ¡°She is worthy of being Second Elder¡¯s daughter, as she has such ability even though she only returned to the Valley of the Medicine Masters not long ago.¡±


    ¡°She really does her father proud!¡±


    ¡­


    The group of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters gathered to watch were effusive in their praise as they watched the young lady gain the upper hand.


    ¡°Although Chen Dandan is said to have grown up in a small place, she has an uncommon martial talent, and not long after returning to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, she has already broken through successive levels of practice and has attained level-four of Qi-gathering.¡±


    When Huang Mingfeng caught up with Zhou Donghuang and saw that his gaze had fallen on Chen Dandan at the center of the group, he chimed in, ¡°Of course, this is also because Second Elder has used a good deal of rare medicine on her.¡±


    Crash!!


    As Huang Mingfeng finished, in the center of the group Chen Dandan¡¯s palm connected with great force on the youth¡¯s chest, sending him reeling back. The youth¡¯s body trembled, and blood flowed from the corners of his mouth.


    ¡°Sister Dandan, I concede defeat.¡±


    Although there was anger in the depths of the youth¡¯s gaze at being wounded to such a degree even though it was only a sparring session, he dared not let it show on his face due to his fear of the second elder who backed the young lady, and he clasped his hands in salute as he bowed humbly.


    Now Chen Dandan was like a proud peacock, gazing indifferently at the youth before looking away and walking out of the group.


    ¡°Sister Dandan, wait for me!¡±


    Two voices called out in unison as two youths left the group and followed in Chen Dandan¡¯s footsteps, as though they were two shadows following her.


    However, the young lady who had been heading out of the training grounds with great strides had suddenly stopped in her tracks.


    They looked to the front at once.


    They saw only two youths standing not far off.


    One of the youths was familiar to them. He was also a disciple of the Valley of the Medicine Masters named Huang Mingfeng, but it was the first time they had seen the handsome youth dressed in a robe whiter than snow.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    Chen Dandan had stopped suddenly because she had seen someone she never, in her wildest dreams, had imagined would appear here¡­


    That youth who had grown up with her, her childhood playmate, Zhou Donghuang!


    ¡°How is it that you are here?¡± Chen Dandan asked in a cold voice, her gaze turning chilly in an instant.

 Chapter 146 - Lions Roar

    Chen Dandan¡¯s gaze never left the person before her as she spoke in a cold voice.


    He was a youth dressed in a robe whiter than snow. His face had lost much of the tenderness of the handsome face in her memory and was now angular and sharp¡­and even more handsome and dazzling.


    Besides that, the youth had grown a head taller than her in height, and she now had to tilt her head up to look at him.


    As she and the youth stared at each other, she had a vague feeling that the youth was surrounded by an aura of extraordinary refinement that seemed to have come from nowhere, causing her to involuntarily feel a sense of inferiority.


    Even the most outstanding among this generation of youths of the Valley of the Medicine Masters had never caused her to feel this way.


    This sensation exasperated Chen Dandan extremely.


    She, Chen Dandan, was the daughter of Second Elder Chen Tianhe of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, the cream of the crop of the ladies of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, an exalted position.


    This Zhou Donghuang was only a country bumpkin from a small village in an inferior-level prefecture in Yunyang country of the Western Ridge of the Chu king. How did he manage to give Chen Dandan this feeling of inferiority?


    ¡°Who brought you here to the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡± Chen Dandan cut in before Zhou Donghuang could speak.


    In her opinion, if Zhou Donghuang were here, it could only be because he had found some way to bypass the person from the Valley of the Medicine Masters who was responsible for the country of Yunyang.


    He could not possibly have entered the Valley of the Medicine Masters through the person from the Valley of the Medicine Masters who was responsible for the country of Yunyang.


    This was because the person in the Valley of the Medicine Masters responsible for the country of Yunyang was none other than her father, the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe!


    Faced with Chen Dandan¡¯s question, Zhou Donghuang paid her no heed, and said casually, ¡°Chen Dandan, it seems that you have adapted well to the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡­and have already attained level-four of Qi-gathering.¡±


    As he finished speaking, the corners of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s mouth subconsciously curled up into a cruel smile.


    Chen Dandan attaining level-four of Qi-gathering at this age was enough to create an uproar in the country of Yunyang, but in his eyes, it was not even worth mentioning!


    The level of practice of his younger sister Yun Lu, who was eleven years old this year, had already far exceeded Chen Dandan¡¯s current level of practice.


    ¡°How about this? Would you be interested in sparring with me?¡±


    There was a look of cruel mockery in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes, and he looked deeply at Chen Dandan.


    Faced with the ¡°challenge¡± from this youth before her, Chen Dandan¡¯s expression immediately darkened. Although she was now already a level-four adept and beyond comparison to herself in the past, she knew clearly that she was not a match for the youth before her.


    When she was still in the Hong family in the prefecture capital of Yunfeng prefecture, she had heard that the youth had killed the head elder Lin Tianzheng of the Lin family, a preeminent family just like the Hong family.


    And that Lin Tianzheng had been a level-four adept.


    Today, it had been two years since that occasion.


    In two years, the youth¡¯s ability had definitely become stronger.


    Even if it had not become stronger, she could not hope to match his ability from two years ago in her current state.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, don¡¯t be gleeful!¡±


    Chen Dandan gave Zhou Donghuang an icy look, and said in a growl, ¡°In the Valley of the Medicine Masters, there are many strong adepts, and people who can do you in are all around!¡±


    Chen Dandan¡¯s speech was an admission to those around her that her ability was no match for Zhou Donghuang, and that she did not dare to fight Zhou Donghuang.


    It seemed this brother Donghuang¡¯s ability was considerable¡­at least greater than level-five of Qi-gathering.


    Huang Mingfeng, who was standing not far from Zhou Donghuang, could not help guessing in his heart as he watched Chen Dandan¡¯s reaction.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang swept a dismissive glance over Chen Dandan.


    This time, Chen Dandan did not manage to reply to Zhou Donghuang in time. The two young men following behind Chen Dandan had already taken two steps forward, flanking her on either side, glaring ferociously at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Little fellow, who on earth are you? How dare you be so disrespectful to sister Dandan!¡± One of the young men growled.


    ¡°Someone who is collecting a debt.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang did not spare the young man a glance, his gaze remaining fixed on Chen Dandan as he broke into a smile..


    Someone collecting a debt?


    The young man could not help giving a start.


    ¡°Little fellow, are you also a disciple from the Valley of the Medicine Masters? I have never seen you before. Who invited you in?¡± the other young man asked with a solemn expression.


    In the Valley of the Medicine Masters, those who had the authority to give special invitations were all senior leaders in the middle Connate stage and above, and if the youth before them had been specially invited in, it was proof that there was a senior leader of the Valley of the Medicine Masters at the middle Connate stage backing him.


    ¡°I¡¯m not a disciple of the Valley of the Medicine Masters,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied indifferently, still not bothering to glance at the other young man who had questioned him, his gaze still not leaving Chen Dandan.


    ¡°And I have no interest in being part of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang paused and hesitated, before giving Chen Dandan a searching look. ¡°There are some people who think that they can rely on the Valley of the Medicine Masters to back them up, seeing themselves as a phoenix even though they are sitting on a branch.¡±


    ¡°In any case, in my eyes, the Valley of the Medicine Masters is no big deal.¡±


    ¡°To the extent that I, Zhou Donghuang, will not even bother joining a small sect like the Valley of the Medicine Masters.¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang finished, not only Chen Dandan but also the two young men were stunned. Huang Mingfeng, who had followed Zhou Donghuang over, and the other disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters who had gathered to watch the commotion, were all stunned as well.


    This youth was actually saying that he could not be bothered to join the Valley of the Medicine Masters?


    And saying that the Valley of the Medicine Masters was a small sect?


    ¡°Big words!¡±


    Chen Dandan laughed coldly and followed up by giving the youth a freezing look. ¡°Zhou Donghuang, from what you are saying¡­you¡­no one brought you into the Valley of the Medicine Masters, but you came into the Valley of the Medicine Masters on your own?¡±


    ¡°In the Valley of the Medicine Masters, I come and go as I please, why do I need someone to accompany me?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled condescendingly.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang finished, Chen Dandan glared at him and raised her voice again. ¡°Such gall, you actually dare barge into the Valley of the Medicine Masters!¡±


    ¡°Barging into the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡±


    When they heard what Chen Dandan said, the group of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters who had gathered around broke into a commotion, and the looks that they gave the youth were filled with hostility.


    ¡°Little fellow, you are really quite capable¡­that you managed to avoid being seen by the elders of the observation towers and sneak into the Valley of the Medicine Masters!¡±


    One of the young men beside Chen Dandan took a step forward, giving Zhou Donghuang a cold look. ¡°We have rules here in the Valley of the Medicine Masters: a light penalty for trespassers is to have their level of practice destroyed; a severe penalty is death!¡±


    ¡°In view of your youth and ignorance, I¡¯ll destroy your level of practice. After that you can find your own way out of the Valley of the Medicine Masters!¡±


    As soon as he finished, the young man¡¯s arms and legs moved without warning, and his whole person seemed to transform into a hound as he sprang at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Hng¡ª¡ª¡±


    As the youth sprang at him, Zhou Donghuang suddenly gave a cold snort.


    The snort did not seem like anything to the gathered group of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, but pierced into the young man springing at Zhou Donghuang and caused his expression to change completely, and his body trembled suddenly as he stopped in his tracks.


    Crash!!


    In full view of the crowd, the young man who had sprung at Zhou Donghuang crashed headfirst into the ground, skidding forward due to his momentum, completely unconscious.


    Bright red blood ran from both his ears, flowing slowly and steadily like a stream.


    ¡°This is¡­an aural attack technique?!¡±


    There were a good number of experienced disciples among the crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and seeing that the young man had been wounded to such a degree in the blink of an eye, their expression changed, and the looks that they gave the youth in white standing with his hands clasped behind his back were now tinged with dread.


    In the instant the young man had sprung into motion, Zhou Donghuang had demonstrated an aural attack technique that he had obtained on Earth called ¡°Lion¡¯s Roar¡±.


    Although Lion¡¯s Roar was only a second-grade technique, with Zhou Donghuang¡¯s current level of practice, he could easily kill an ordinary Qi-gathering adept.


    If he had demonstrated Lion¡¯s Roar to the fullest extent of his ability, that young man would certainly be dead!


    The young man was only a level-six adept of Qi-gathering.


    ¡°This¡­how is this possible?!¡±


    The scene unfolding before her caused Chen Dandan¡¯s beautiful face to go pale. She never imagined that a level-six adept would be so gravely wounded and struck unconscious by just a sound from Zhou Donghuang before even approaching him.


    ¡°Aural attack technique?¡±


    ¡°Since when were aural attack techniques so strong? Ke Hui was a level-six adept, but he was struck unconscious at once.¡±


    ¡°Even if the aural attack technique he demonstrated was a second-grade technique, to strike a level-six adept unconscious even if he was unprepared would mean that he is at least a level-eight adept.¡±


    ¡°Him? A level-eight adept?¡±


    ¡°He looks like he is at most seventeen or eighteen years old¡­a seventeen year old level-eight adept? Are you kidding me?¡±


    ¡­


    The gathered crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters chattered among themselves and gave Zhou Donghuang looks full of disbelief, as though they were looking at a monster.


    ¡°Level-eight of Qi-gathering?!¡±


    Chen Dandan¡¯s expression changed, and the other young man beside her discreetly wiped away a trickle of cold sweat, giving silent thanks that he had not been the one to step forward first.


    Otherwise, the one lying on the ground now would not be Ke Hui, but him.


    His level of practice was similar to Ke Hui¡¯s.


    ¡°Go and bring Elder Li here!¡±


    Chen Dandan took a deep breath and suppressed her roiling emotions with an effort, instructing the young man beside her in a low voice, ¡°Tell Elder Li that there is a trespasser in the Valley of the Medicine Masters!¡±


    The Elder Li that Chen Dandan spoke of was a Connate-stage adept, the elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters who was responsible for maintaining order and discipline in the training grounds. His accommodation was near the training grounds.


    He would occasionally come to the training grounds to observe, but most of the time he would be found practicing at his accommodation.


    ¡°Very well,¡± the young man acknowledged hurriedly.


    After the young man left, the look Chen Dandan gave Zhou Donghuang contained an additional portion of dread, but her gaze was just as chilly and her expression just as icy. ¡°Zhou Donghuang, I could never have imagined that you have already attained level-eight of Qi-gathering.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a pity¡­even if you have attained level-eight of Qi-gathering, today you will surely die here!¡±

 Chapter 147 - Connate Stage Youth

    Although Chen Dandan maintained a fierce demeanor, it was actually a facade.


    Right now, the youth before her was already a level-eight adept of Qi-gathering, and if he made a move against her before Elder Li arrived, she would be unable to defend herself.


    ¡°You¡¯re truly the daughter of the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, deciding the fate of others so readily.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled coldly and took a step forward, and began to walk towards Chen Dandan. With each step, it seemed that he was stepping on Chen Dandan¡¯s chest, making Chen Dandan¡¯s expression change.


    ¡°You¡­what do you think you¡¯re doing?!¡±


    As Chen Dandan¡¯s expression changed, she looked at Zhou Donghuang in dread.


    ¡°As I said earlier¡­I am here to collect a debt.¡±


    In an instant, Zhou Donghuang was in front of Chen Dandan, breaking into a smile that showed both rows of teeth.


    It was a brilliant smile, but it frightened Chen Dandan into a fit of trembling.


    As the childhood playmate of this youth before her, she naturally knew that when the youth showed a smile like that, he was anything but happy, and was actually showing that he was extremely furious.


    In the instant that Chen Dandan¡¯s expression changed once again, Zhou Donghuang flicked his arm out, striking at Chen Dandan¡¯s chest with his palm.


    ¡°No¡ª¡±


    Chen Dandan¡¯s expression changed completely. With her level of practice, she was completely unable to dodge Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm in time.


    ¡°Stop¡­¡±


    Several of the disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters who were gathered around watching were level-eight adepts, stronger in ability, who had originally intended to stop the youth who was attacking Chen Dandan. But when they saw a foot of green haze welling out of the youth¡¯s palm, it was as though each had been savagely throttled, and their voices died in their throats.


    Out of the two words ¡°stop it,¡± they only managed ¡°stop.¡±


    Crash!!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm landed on Chen Dandan¡¯s chest, and the green haze from the youth¡¯s palm dissipated with the sound, while Chen Dandan was sent reeling two steps back from the blow. Her face alternated between turning red and green, and trickles of blood leaked from the corners of her mouth.


    ¡°Connate¡­Connate-stage adept?!¡±


    ¡°Earlier he was only¡­using his qi?¡±


    ¡­


    Now the attention of the gathered crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters was no longer on the wounded Chen Dandan. Their gazes fell in unison on the youth dressed in robes whiter than snow.


    When the youth had struck out with his palm, there had been a destructive green haze coming from his palm, easily a foot long.


    This was the hallmark of the early Connate stage.


    This youth who looked seventeen or eighteen years old was actually an early Connate-stage adept?


    ¡°Is he really a Connate-stage adept? A Connate-stage adept striking sister Chen Dandan with his palm, and only managing to drive her back two steps?¡±


    ¡°Even a level-eight adept of Qi-gathering, never mind a Connate-stage adept, would not possibly drive her back only two steps with a casual blow from his palm.¡±


    ¡­


    At the same time, some people began to be suspicious that the blow from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm only drove Chen Dandan back two steps, but basically felt that Zhou Donghuang had deliberately held back.


    ¡°You¡­you destroyed my meridians?¡±


    Chen Dandan was shocked that although Zhou Donghuang had expended his qi, when she subconsciously tried to activate the qi within her body, she noticed that the qi within her body was dispersing in all directions, and she was unable to gather it.


    At the same time, she felt waves of sharp pain coming from the meridians in her body.


    With Zhou Donghuang¡¯s palm landing on her with a not-great force, all in all, it was not difficult for her to guess that the blow from Zhou Donghuang was not intended to wound her, but to destroy her meridians!


    Immediately, a look of despair came over Chen Dandan¡¯s eyes.


    She could not be more clear what having her meridians destroyed implied.


    It implied that she would become a martial invalid for the rest of her life!


    She thought that by becoming the daughter of the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, she could fly to the top branch and become a phoenix¡­


    She never imagined that just when her level of practice was advancing at an incredible rate, promising that she would attain the Connate stage in this lifetime, her childhood playmate from former times would seek her out and directly destroy her meridians.


    With her meridians destroyed, there would be nothing she could do, even in the Valley of the Medicine Masters where there was no lack of powerful adepts.


    ¡°He¡­destroyed Sister Chen Dandan¡¯s meridians?¡±


    ¡°My god! He is offending the second elder backing Sister Chen Dandan to death!¡±


    ¡°I was wondering why he held back earlier¡­so his blow was not intended to wound Sister Chen Dandan, but was intended to destroy Sister Dandan¡¯s level of practice!¡±


    ¡°If I were Sister Dandan, and if I had a choice¡­I would rather be so gravely wounded that I would be lying on my bed for a few months than have my level of practice destroyed.¡±


    ¡°In the face of a choice like this¡­anyone would probably choose to be bedridden for a few months, wouldn¡¯t he?¡±


    ¡­


    The faces of the gathered crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters showed expressions of shock. They could never have imagined that the youth before them would be so daring, destroying Chen Dandan¡¯s level of practice with his first attack.


    It must be stated that Chen Dandan was no ordinary person.


    She was the daughter of the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe!


    Moreover, because the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe, previously had neither a son nor a daughter, he doted on his long-lost daughter, Chen Dandan.


    This was also the reason why Chen Dandan had been able to attain level-four of Qi-gathering not long after arriving at the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    The second elder had spent a considerable amount of rare and valuable herbs on his daughter, which showed his love for his daughter.


    The important thing was this: The second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters was a middle Connate-stage adept!


    Even if the youth before them were an early Connate-stage adept, he could not possibly be a match for the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°This¡­this¡­¡±


    When the disciple of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Huang Mingfeng, took a second look at the youth in white standing nearby with his back to him, his eyes widened, and an expression of shock and wonder came over his face.


    He never imagined: The youth before him was actually an early Connate-stage adept.


    Furthermore, he could never have imagined that the youth before him would destroy Chen Dandan¡¯s level of practice once he struck.


    This was as good as offending the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters to death!


    ¡°Zhou Donghang, damn you!¡±


    When Chen Dandan looked at the youth again, she wailed like a banshee and sprang towards the youth, all claws and teeth.


    In that moment, she completely forgot that the youth had shown how he exuded qi earlier.


    There was only one thought in her mind, revenge!


    Crash!!


    This time, Zhou Donghuang did not activate his qi, but kicked out casually, sending the onrushing Chen Dandan flying.


    Even without using his qi, Zhou Donghuang possessed more than a thousand jin of maximum muscular strength, making it child¡¯s play to deal with Chen Dandan, whose meridians had been destroyed.


    ¡°Wah¡ª¡ª¡±


    Chen Dandan fell to the ground, more severely wounded than before, After spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood, stared with a look of bloodthirsty vengeance at the youth whose white clothes had not even a speck of dust, saying through gritted teeth, ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you destroyed my level of practice. My father will definitely not let you off!¡±


    ¡°I will get my father to capture you, and I will flay you alive personally!¡±


    Chen Dandan was now completely consumed by vengeance as she screamed hysterically, as though she had completely forgotten that the youth was in full control of the scene before her.


    ¡°Flay me alive?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled, and his expression turned frosty. ¡°Do you believe¡­that before your father arrives, I could kill you?¡±


    Chen Dandan was so frightened by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words that she quivered, her expression changing completely.


    At that moment, she realized that the youth held a total advantage, to the extent that he could kill her before her father arrived.


    ¡°Elder Li is here!¡±


    Just at that moment, there was a commotion in the crowd of onlookers, and a group of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters parted to create a path.


    An old man dressed in a pale green long robe strode through, with the young men who had been with Chen Dandan acting as her protectors jostling around him.


    ¡°Elder Li!¡±


    At the sight of the old man, Chen Dandan¡¯s eyes lit up, even as she wore a savage expression, and she appealed to the old man urgently, ¡°This Zhou Donghuang not only trespassed in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, he also wounded Ke Hui, and destroyed my meridians!¡±


    ¡°What?!¡±


    When the old man, who appeared relaxed and easygoing at first, heard what Chen Dandan said, his expression changed completely.


    He already knew that Ke Hui had been wounded.


    But he never imagined that during the period of time he took to arrive, this youth who trespassed in the Valley of the Medicine Masters would actually destroy Chen Dandan¡¯s level of practice!


    Chen Dandan was no ordinary disciple of the Valley of the Medicine Masters. She was the daughter of the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°Elder Li, he is an early Connate-stage adept. You must restrain him. Don¡¯t let him get away!¡±


    Chen Dandan gave a timely reminder as the old man¡¯s expression changed.


    Although she did not want to believe that the youth was an early Connate-stage adept, the meter of qi exuding from his palm when he struck earlier was proof that the youth had already attained the early Connate stage.


    ¡°Connate stage?¡±


    As Chen Dandan finished, not only the old man who had just arrived, but the young men who were jostling him, were all stunned speechless.


    They looked at the youth before them with disbelief in their eyes.


    ¡°Sister Dandan, are you mistaken? Look at him! At most seventeen or eighteen years old, a Connate-stage adept?¡± the young man spoke up doubtfully.


    ¡°When he attacked me earlier, he exuded a foot of qi. Everyone here saw it clearly.¡±


    Chen Dandan was not surprised by the young man¡¯s doubt, and she replied stormily while looking at the youth hatefully.


    ¡°Sister Dandan is correct! He is indeed a Connate-stage adept.¡±


    ¡°When he attacked earlier, he exuded a meter of qi, He is an early Connate-stage adept.¡±


    ¡­


    The crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters spoke up one by one in unanimous confirmation. Even if the old man and the young man refused to believe it, they were forced to believe.


    ¡°Elder Li, you are equal to him, an early Connate-stage adept, and might not be able to handle him. You restrain him. Zhong Yuntao, you go and get my father here!¡±


    Chen Dandan told the old man and the young man.


    The young man acknowledged and left, and the old man hurriedly took several steps forward, staring ferociously at the youth. ¡°You, who on earth are you? Why did you trespass into the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡±


    ¡°Moreover, why did you injure my disciple of the Valley of the Medicine Masters Ke Hui, and destroy my disciple of the Valley of the Medicine Masters Chen Dandan¡¯s level of practice?¡±

 Chapter 148 - The Second Elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters

    The old man stared ferociously at the youth, and once he spoke, it was a steady stream of questions.


    Of course, while he was asking his questions, his gaze subconsciously betrayed an expression of dread.


    A Connate-stage youth.


    Someone of this level had never appeared before in the history of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Because of this, he was deeply afraid that the youth before him was from somewhere that was more powerful than the Valley of the Medicine Masters. That level of power was not something that the Valley of the Medicine Masters could afford to provoke.


    ¡°Who am I?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked the old man over, and glanced at the young lady who had just struggled to her feet with difficulty and was staring at him vengefully with a look of loathing. ¡°She knows best who I am, why don¡¯t you ask her?¡± he said casually.


    ¡°Oh?¡±


    The old man heard and looked at the young lady. ¡°Young Mistress Dandan, you know who he is?¡±


    ¡°Of course I know!¡±


    Chen Dandan gritted her teeth and said, ¡°He is from the country of Yunyang.¡±


    ¡°Moreover, he is someone born and bred in a small town in an inferior-level prefecture of the Western Ridge of the Chu king in the country of Yunyang ¡­he is someone I grew up with.¡±


    ¡°Elder Li, you don¡¯t have to worry, he has no personal background, only good luck that he has this level of practice at nineteen years of age.¡±


    As Chen Dandan finished her speech in a single breath, everyone present, including the old man, sank into a deathly silence.


    Now all the disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters had come over and joined the crowd.


    So after they fell silent, the entire training grounds was so quiet that if anyone had thrown a needle to the ground, they would have been able to hear the needle clearly.


    After a moment, a disciple of the Valley of the Medicine Masters regained his wits, and exhaling a breath of cold air, asked, ¡°It can¡¯t be possible ¡­someone from somewhere so small, attaining the Connate stage at only nineteen years old?¡±


    ¡°In the history of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, wasn¡¯t the youngest Connate-stage adept more than thirty years old?¡±


    ¡°Sister Dandan has no need to lie to us.¡±


    ¡°I also believe what Sister Dandan says. It¡¯s just that, it¡¯s so difficult to imagine, how could someone from such a small place achieve this level of practice at such an age?¡±


    ¡°Someone from a backwater like that, attaining the Connate stage at nineteen years of age ¡­unless he had some fortunate encounter!¡±


    ¡°Even a treasure left behind by a supreme Connate-stage adept would not allow him to do this. Unless it is ¡­a Primal Core adept!¡±


    ¡­


    As the crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters debated among themselves, their gazes, filled with burning desire, very quickly fell again on the youth.


    Who would not want a treasure left behind by a Primal Core adept?


    Even an adept who had attained the supreme Connate stage would be interested in a treasure left behind by a Primal Core adept, because it would affect the possibility of them smoothly attaining the Primal Core stage and becoming a Primal Core adept!


    ¡°A Primal Core adept?¡±


    A flicker of despair crossed Chen Dandan¡¯s face, and she looked at the youth again with intense jealousy and hatred.


    In that instant, she understood completely.


    That was why this martial invalid of the past was suddenly able to practice and attain the Connate stage in two short years!


    It was because he obtained a treasure from a Primal Core adept.


    Moreover, he probably obtained it not long before she left the Magnolia Guild of Qingshan town.


    No wonder he could defeat the guild master of the Sunset Guild Hong Yue, a level-one adept of Qi-gathering, with one punch. It was because he had already obtained the treasure left behind by a Primal Core adept by that time.


    Now there was a sliver of regret in Chen Dandan¡¯s heart.


    If she had known earlier, she would have left the Magnolia Guild later, and might even have managed to snatch the treasure left behind by the Primal Core adept from the youth¡¯s hands.


    ¡°If I had been able to snatch the treasure left behind by the Primal Core adept from his hands ¡­now it would be me instead of him who attained the Connate stage!¡±


    At this thought, Chen Dandan looked back at the youth with an even more intense look of hatred and jealousy, while at the same time bitterly regretting that she had not been able to snatch the treasure left behind by the Primal Core adept before leaving the Magnolia Guild.


    ¡°A treasure left behind by a Primal Core adept?¡±


    Even as an elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters and an early Connate-stage adept, the look he gave the youth was full of greed.


    He was now eighty-one years old. With his martial talent, there was no hope of the Primal Core stage, and he had at most twenty or thirty years of life left.


    However, if he could obtain the treasure left behind by a Primal Core adept, he would have the chance to attain the Primal Core stage and become a Primal Core adept, and the upper limit of his life would be raised to three hundred years.


    At this moment, he dearly wished to take for himself this treasure left behind by a Primal Core adept that the youth had obtained.


    In the midst of all that was going on, the old man made a decision. ¡°Although he is also an early Connate-stage adept, he might not necessarily be a match for me ¡­even if he can fight me to a standstill, I am entirely capable of discussing privately with him the possibility of fleeing with him from the Valley of the Medicine Masters before Second Elder arrives.¡±


    ¡°He only needs to agree to share the benefits left behind by the Primal Core adept with me.¡±


    The old man was clear that even if the treasure and benefits left behind by the Primal Core adept obtained by the youth were to fall to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, he would not receive a share of it, given his position in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Just as he was not worthy of practicing the first-grade techniques in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Only the senior leaders who were at the middle Connate stage and above were worthy of practicing the first-grade techniques in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Swoosh!!


    Acting on his thoughts, the old man¡¯s legs flickered, and seemed to transform into something sinister. He rushed towards the youth like a shadow, extending and withdrawing his arms as he formed his right hand into a fist and launched it forward.


    Qi exuded from the old man¡¯s body for a foot or more, deeper than the qi that Zhou Donghuang exuded, making it obvious that he was at a higher level of practice than Zhou Donghuang.


    In any case, faced with the ferocious onslaught of the old man, Zhou Donguang looked calmly at him, the qi within his body not stirring, his white clothes fluttering in the wind.


    ¡°This Zhou Donghuang, why ¡­¡±


    Many of the disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters saw the youth seem to be daydreaming and were beginning to wonder what was happening. Before they could complete their thought, they saw the old man reach Zhou Donghuang, qi gushing from his fist as he threw it at the youth, like a pale blue comet flashing past.


    Crash!!


    Just as many onlookers felt that the youth was about to be struck by the old man, there was a loud sound, and the only thing they saw was qi pouring out from under the youth¡¯s feet, over a meter of it, and with a flicker of his legs, his whole person rose up two meters into the air.


    In that instant, the crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters was dumbfounded.


    Before their very eyes, Zhou Donghuang seemed to be stepping on a ladder made of thin air, stepping two meters into the air, his whole body light as a bird.


    ¡°First-grade swiftness technique?!¡±


    As the old man¡¯s fist connected with the air, his eyes widened, and he could not help crying out.


    His cry seemed like a stone causing a thousand ripples, shocking the crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters one by one into expressions of shock. ¡°Is it really a first-grade swiftness technique?¡±


    ¡°We were wondering what kind of fantastic technique this is? So it is a first-grade swiftness technique. We understand now.¡±


    ¡°Although the Valley of the Medicine Masters has first-grade techniques, those few first-grade techniques do not include swiftness techniques.¡±


    ¡­


    Just when the crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, including Chen Dandan, realized that what Zhou Donghuang had demonstrated was a first-grade swiftness technique, Zhou Donghuang, who had risen into the air by stepping on the Cloud-scaling Ladder, landed at that moment right behind the old man.


    In the moment that it took the old man to turn swiftly around, Zhou Donguang had already calmly pushed out a palm, the abundant qi accumulating like waves before the eyes of everyone present, meeting the old man¡¯s hastily thrust palm.


    This was the first-grade technique, wave-stacking strength.


    Two layers of qi, each a meter thick, collided like a dazzling burst of fireworks.


    The next moment.


    ¡°No¡ª!¡±


    Following the old man¡¯s panicked shriek, the stacked waves of qi easily extinguished the qi from his fist.


    Ka-chak!!


    There was the sound of bones breaking, but it was the arm that the old man had used to attack Zhou Donghuang that was cleanly folded backward, with the old man¡¯s shriek accompanying it.


    Crash!!


    Still shrieking, the old man¡¯s body flew backward, crashing heavily to the ground, fresh blood spurting from his mouth.


    ¡°Elder Li ¡­is defeated?¡±


    ¡°This Zhou Donghuang¡¯s qi is obviously not as concentrated as Elder Li¡¯s, but he was able to defeat Elder Li with one blow from his palm. Could the palm technique he demonstrated also be a first-grade technique?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it obvious? Among techniques of the same grade, swiftness techniques are the most valuable, and this Zhou Donghuang has a first-grade swiftness technique that even the Valley of the Medicine Masters does not have. How is it strange that he has other first-grade techniques?¡±


    ¡°It seems this is a technique left behind by the Primal Core adept!¡±


    ¡­


    The old man¡¯s defeat was unexpected by everyone present.


    However, everyone present looked at Zhou Donghuang with an even more intense look of desire, as though looking at an invaluable treasure.


    Swoosh!!


    At the sound of a swiftly onrushing wind, the gaze of everyone at the training grounds was directed in unison up into the sky.


    There they saw an enormous flying demon rushing at great speed towards them, reaching the air above the training grounds in an instant.


    This flying demon was was a completely greenish-gray giant condor, and its fully outstretched wingspan was easily ten meters, making it impressive and intimidating.


    This giant condor was another of the Great Consummation flying demons in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, a green cloud condor.


    It was also the mount of the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe.


    ¡°Father!¡±


    At that moment, Chen Dandan raised her head and looked at the figure on the back of the green cloud condor which was circling in the air with bloodshot eyes, shouting loudly, ¡°Your daughter¡¯s level of practice has been destroyed, you must avenge her!¡±


    ¡°Descend.¡±


    When the middle-aged man standing on the green cloud condor with his hands clasped behind his back heard Chen Dandan¡¯s cry, his stormy expression immediately became even darker, as though it was about to drip water.


    At his command, his legs giving the back of the green cloud condor a shake, the green cloud condor flapped its wings, landing slowly on the training grounds, raising a cloud of dust as it landed.

 Chapter 149 - Like Father Like Daughter

    As the green cloud condor landed on the training grounds, the middle-aged man standing on it with his hands clasped behind his back leapt to the ground, three feet of green haze gushing from his feet, cushioning him as he landed soundly..


    Exuding three feet of qi was the hallmark of a middle Connate-stage adept.


    The middle-aged man was of average build, his stern face like a knife, with prominent cheekbones, his eyes sharp and alert like an eagle¡¯s.


    Besides this, he had a hooked nose like an eagle¡¯s beak. Standing there, staring at Zhou Donghuang from a distance, he made Zhou Donghuang feel like an eagle demon was staring at him.


    ¡°Father!¡±


    As the middle-aged man landed, Chen Dandan went to meet him, twin streams of tears falling from her eyes. ¡°Your daughter is useless. I have wasted all the effort you have spent on me all this time!¡±


    ¡°From today onwards, I am just a martial invalid, with no means to make you proud.¡±


    Chen Dandan rushed forward straight into the arms of the middle-aged man and hugged him tightly, twitching violently as she cried her heart out.


    The middle-aged man was Chen Dandan¡¯s biological father, the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe.


    Chen Tianhe held a high position in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and was in charge of supervising and liaising with seven of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, including the country of Yunyang.


    Now, Chen Tianhe¡¯s gaze left the youth and fell on the young lady in his arms, the severity of his gaze dissipating and replaced by a deep look of tender love.


    ¡°Dandan, don¡¯t cry, let me take a look.¡±


    Chen Tianhe did a physical check of Chen Dandan as he spoke, and when he confirmed that the meridians in Chen Dandan¡¯s body had been utterly destroyed, his expression darkened completely.


    In that moment, he was certain: his daughter¡¯s level of practice had been destroyed completely.


    Moreover, all the meridians in the body had been destroyed, with no possibility of recovery. Even a Primal Core adept would be helpless in this situation!


    In an instant, Chen Tianhe¡¯s gaze followed the path created through the crowd and landed once again on the youth, full of cold murder.


    ¡°You are that piece of trash Zhou Donghuang that my daughter mentioned to me earlier?¡±


    Chen Tianhe said in a cold voice, ¡°You dare destroy my daughter¡¯s level of practice? If you don¡¯t explain yourself, you can stay in the Valley of the Medicine Masters forever.¡±


    As soon as he finished speaking, an overwhelming look of cold murder rose in Chen Tianhe¡¯s eyes.


    Although Chen Tianhe was still some distance away from Zhou Donghuang, the entire training grounds was completely silent, so even though his voice was not very loud, it carried clearly..


    ¡°Explanation?¡±


    Chen Tianhe looked as though he was about to devour someone, but Zhou Donghuang remained calm, and his voice was even. ¡°You, what are you? When I, Zhou Donghuang, do something, why should I give you an explanation?¡±


    Such arrogance!


    As the youth¡¯s voice died away, the same thought rose unbidden in the minds of everyone present, which was that the youth was far too arrogant.


    The person who had come was not someone that Elder Li of the Valley of the Medicine Masters could match up to.


    Elder Li was only an early Connate-stage adept, and had not practiced first-grade techniques, which was why he was defeated by the youth.


    But the person who had arrived was the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, not only a middle Connate-stage adept, but also someone who had practiced the first-grade techniques of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Although the youth was strong, he was only an early Connate-stage adept, and was no match for the second elder.


    Seeing how arrogant the youth was before the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, they looked once more at the youth together with pity in their eyes.


    ¡°Fine, fine ¡­fine!¡±


    Seeing that Zhou Donghuang not only spoke arrogantly but gazed at him with a look of condescension, Chen Tianhe was vexed to the point of speechlessness.


    ¡°In my whole life so far, this is the first time that I, Chen Tianhe, have seen someone as arrogant as you!¡±


    When Chen Tianhe spoke again, his voice was even colder, as though the temperature of the surrounding air had dropped several degrees, making one feel as though they had entered a freezer.


    ¡°Dandan, your father will avenge you.¡±


    When Chen Tianhe returned his gaze to Chen Dandan, he suppressed the rage that was threatening to explode from inside him, speaking gently to her, but his voice was somewhat hoarse from suppressing his emotions.


    ¡°Father.¡±


    Chen Dandan looked up, a frosty expression on her tear-stained face. ¡°Capture him, and after you destroy his level of practice, give him to me to kill.¡±


    ¡°I want to flay him alive!¡±


    ¡°If he will cooperate and hand over the treasure left behind by the Primal Core adept, I will grant him a quick death. If he refuses to cooperate, I will cut the flesh from his body one piece at a time, and feed it to the dogs before his eyes!¡±


    Chen Dandan¡¯s tone was even colder than Chen Tianhe¡¯s, and as her voice rang out, it was as though the entire training grounds was plunged into winter.


    ¡°Dandan, you are still thinking very thoroughly. If you had not mentioned it, I would have forgotten all about the treasure left behind by the Primal Core adept that he has.¡±


    Although the disciple of the Valley of the Medicine Masters who had gone to report to Chen Tianhe earlier had mentioned that Zhou Donghuang had obtained some treasure left behind by a Primal Core adept, by the time Chen Tianhe had arrived at the scene and been so thoroughly vexed by Zhou Donghuang, he had completely forgotten about this.


    It was only when Chen Dandan mentioned it that he recalled it.


    This youth had somehow managed to obtain a treasure left behind by a Primal Core adept, so naturally should not be killed straightaway. Even if he were to be killed, it would be after he handed over the treasure left behind by the Primal Core adept.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    At this time, Chen Dandan stepped out of Chen Tianhe¡¯s embrace, and looked at Zhou Donghuang, her eyes gleaming coldly, as she said icily, ¡°I remember ¡­that day, when I left the Magnolia Guild, you told me that you hoped I would not come to regret my actions.¡±


    ¡°Do I recall correctly?¡± Chen Dandan asked.


    ¡°Correct.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded indifferently.


    ¡°Thinking back on it, you said that to me because you had already obtained the treasure left behind by the Primal Core adept, am I right?¡±


    When Dandan did not wait for Zhou Donghuang to reply to her questioned and continued, ¡°If I had only that small preeminent Hong family to back me up, perhaps I would regret.¡±


    ¡°But now, I am the daughter of the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters. And my father, the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe, can easily slaughter you!¡±


    ¡°Regarding what you said then ¡­I will reaffirm it: I, Chen Dandan, will never regret!¡±


    At this, a cold smile rose at the corners of Chen Dandan¡¯s mouth, and the look of hate and murder in her eyes became more intense again.


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    Hearing what Chen Dandan had to say, Zhou Donghuang smiled casually, and glanced again at Chen Tianhe. ¡°It seems you are very confident in your father.¡±


    ¡°Of course!¡±


    Chen Dandan raised her head confidently like a proud peacock. ¡°My father is not only the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, but is furthermore a middle Connate-stage adept.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t think that since you defeated Elder Li there is no one in the Valley of the Medicine Masters who can put you in your place. In the Valley of the Medicine Masters, although there are not many people who can defeat you, there are enough.¡±


    ¡°And my father is one such person!¡±


    As Chen Dandan¡¯s voice died away, Chen Tianhe¡¯s legs were already moving, walking towards the youth in the distance. ¡°Nineteen years old, and at the early Connate stage. If you had not had these accomplishments because you obtained some treasure left behind by a Primal Core adept, you would be the absolute tyrant of all gifted adepts!¡±


    ¡°That someone like you from a small remote place in the country of Yunyang could obtain a treasure left behind by a Primal Core adept and still be so accomplished ¡­if you gave it to any one of the disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, we would have far exceeded you in our accomplishments!¡±


    ¡°Giving that kind of treasure to you is a waste!¡±


    ¡°If you are sensible, hand it over now and I will tell my daughter to leave your corpse intact!¡±


    As Chen Tianhe finished speaking indifferently, he entered the crowd and stood facing the youth, staring furiously at him.


    ¡°Are you done?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang raised an eyebrow lazily, sweeping an indifferent gaze over Chen Tianhe. With a shake of his right arm, a small metal sphere rolled out from his sleeve.


    Zhou Donghuang toyed casually with the small metal sphere in his hand as he looked playfully at Chen Tianhe. ¡°Chen Tianhe, is it?¡±


    ¡°You should know that, when she was five, your daughter Chen Dandan was wandering the streets, orphaned and destitute, almost starving to death ¡­and my mother took her home out of the wind and snow, fed her and clothed her.¡±


    ¡°You should also know that when she was nine, she had a chronic illness ¡­and my mother braved the wind and rain to scale sheer cliffs at great risk to her own life to pick herbs to help her recover, and saved her life.¡±


    ¡°Also ¡­¡±


    Seeing that Zhou Donghuang was about to continue, Chen Tianhe interrupted him coldly. ¡°Your mother helped my Dandan probably because she knew that she was the daughter of Chen Tianhe and wanted to curry favor with me.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t speak of your mother as though she was so noble ¡­and don¡¯t use your mother¡¯s pitiful efforts to paint Dandan as ungrateful,¡± Chen Tianhe said indifferently.


    Zhou Donghuang was momentarily stunned at Chen Tianhe¡¯s words, but quickly regained his wits and could not help laughing. ¡°Previously, I had only heard of the saying ¡®like father like daughter¡¯ ¡­today I, Zhou Donghuang, consider myself to have seen it firsthand.¡±


    ¡°So Chen Dandan¡¯s ungratefulness comes from you.¡±


    Cold light shone from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°Stop talking nonsense!¡±


    Chen Tianhe smiled coldly as he spoke, an icy look coming into his eyes. ¡°Since you don¡¯t intend to surrender yourself and hand over the treasure left behind by the Primal Core adept, I will capture you myself, and hand you over to my daughter to do with as she pleases!¡±


    As soon as Chen Tianhe finished speaking, qi three feet deep burst forth from his whole body, and with a quiver of his body, he seemed to transform into a ball of blue fireworks rushing straight at Zhou Donghuang, his savage onslaught like an army of ten thousand charging the enemy.


    ¡°Hng!¡±


    Faced with Chen Tianhe¡¯s savage onslaught, which had already covered half the distance between them, Zhou Donghuang merely grunted lightly once more.


    The next moment, a foot of qi poured into the small metal sphere in his right hand.


    In an instant, following the infusion of one foot of qi, the small metal sphere, or more accurately, a sword sphere, transformed into a small metal sword that glittered all over with a visible cold light.


    Swish!!


    With a wave of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s arm, the small metal sword sliced through the air like a comet flashing briefly through the night sky.

 Chapter 150 - Commotion in the Valley of the Medicine Masters

    Chapter 150: Commotion in the Valley of the Medicine Masters


    Crash!!


    As the crowd looked on, the middle-aged man who had been charging ferociously toward the youth suddenly fell head-first to the ground, and his body skidded forward along the ground for some distance with the force of his momentum before it stopped.


    The three feet of green haze that had burst forth from his body died away, just like a fire that had been extinguished.


    The prior scene of the disciple of the Valley of the Medicine Masters who had stood up for Chen Dandan was playing out again, but this time it caused an even greater shock, causing all the disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters present to stare in stupefaction. There was a deathly silence over the whole scene.


    Pak!


    It was only when the small metal sword flew whistling back, transforming back into the sword sphere as it returned to Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand, that the crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters began to regain their wits, exhaling a breath of cold air in unison.


    ¡°Second elder ¡­ is dead?¡±


    Under the gaze of the crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, the middle-aged man who had been charging forward till he had mysteriously fallen dead was lying on the ground with no trace of life, a ghastly wound between his brows, fresh blood still streaming from the wound.


    Evidently, this was the fatal wound.


    ¡°Just now, I think I heard a brief whistling sound like a sword!¡±


    ¡°I heard it too.¡±


    ¡°You all probably didn¡¯t notice earlier ¡­ that thing in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand, that small metal sphere, suddenly transformed into a small sword like a dagger which he threw at Second Elder? I think Second Elder was killed by that small metal sword.¡±


    ¡°If that was really the case, the speed of that small metal sword had to be incredibly fast. I actually did not see anything.¡±


    ¡­


    As the whispering continued, the gazes of the crowd left the corpse of Chen Tianhe, the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters and landed on the youth.


    The youth was dressed in clothes whiter than snow, his left hand held behind his back, his right hand toying with a small metal sphere.


    Earlier many people had noticed the small metal sphere in the youth¡¯s hand, but they never imagined that sphere could transform into a sword that could kill the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters in a single strike.


    ¡°He ¡­ he ¡­ ¡±


    When the youth who had brought Zhou Donghuang there, the disciple of the Valley of the Medicine Masters Huang Mingfeng, saw that Zhou Donghuang had killed the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters Chen Tianhe, he was so frightened that he unconsciously took several steps back, as though he were afraid that others would draw a connection between him and Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°He ¡­ is done for.¡±


    Although Zhou Donghuang had displayed an extraordinary level of ability and killed the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters was not the strongest in the Valley of the Medicine Masters in terms of ability.


    That is to say, there were several other middle Connate-stage adepts in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, as well as the Valley Master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters who was a late Connate-stage adept and was acknowledged as the most powerful adept in the area surrounding the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley!


    ¡°Father?¡±


    As the gazes of the crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, as well as that of the elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters whose arm had been maimed, fell on the sword sphere in the youth¡¯s hand, Chen Dandan came around from the shocking scene before her eyes.


    ¡°Father!!¡±


    When she realized that her father Chen Tianhe had been killed by the youth, Chen Dandan let out an earth-shaking wail, and rushed to the side of Chen Tianhe¡¯s corpse, despair flooding her eyes.


    Chen Dandan was actually apathetic towards her biological father who had suddenly appeared.


    If he had been a beggar, Chen Dandan would not have acknowledged him even if she were beaten to death.


    But because he was the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, of such exalted status in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, Chen Dandan was happy to acknowledge him as her father and to put on a show of being an obedient daughter.


    Chen Dandan¡¯s sorrow and pain were not because of Chen Tianhe¡¯s death, but because she had suddenly lost the greatest pillar of strength in her life.


    Even if the Valley of the Medicine Masters allowed her to remain in the Valley of the Medicine Masters following Chen Tianhe¡¯s death, as a gesture of respect for him, Chen Dandan¡¯s status in the Valley of the Medicine Masters would take an abyssal plunge.


    Chen Dandan could not accept this reality.


    After confirming that Chen Tianhe was truly dead, Chen Dandan suddenly jerked her head up, looking at the youth standing nearby with a savage glare as she said through gritted teeth, ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you dare kill my father? The Valley of the Medicine Masters will not let you off!¡±


    And as though accompanying Chen Dandan¡¯s words, that elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters whose arm had been maimed by Zhou Donghuang used his right arm to take a small bamboo cylinder from his pocket, and a signal flare rose into the sky and exploded in the air.


    Bang!!


    This signal flare was something that only the Connate-stage-and-above seniors of the Valley of the Medicine Masters possessed, and each of them had only one. They could only request a new one upon expending the one that they already had.


    This kind of signal flare was only to be used when there was mortal danger.


    Although this elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters was in no mortal danger, this was the only way he could warn the other powerful Connate-stage adepts of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°Elder Li has sent the signal flare.¡±


    ¡°Today, this youth is going to have his wings clipped.¡±


    ¡°Once the signal flare is sent out, even the Valley Master will rush over if he sees it.¡±


    ¡­


    Just as the crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters were shocked by the signal flare, everywhere throughout the Valley of the Medicine Masters those who had heard the signal flare or seen the fireworks bursting out of the signal flare were shocked into action.


    Especially the senior leadership of the Valley of the Medicine Masters who were Connate-stage adepts and above.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Four huge figures swooped out from the four observation towers around the Valley of the Medicine Masters, heading directly for the location of the signal flare.


    ¡°It¡¯s the training grounds!¡±


    The four huge figures belonged to four flying demons, and from their huge figures and speed, they were evidently Great Consummation flying demons of Qi-gathering.


    On the backs of each of these four flying demons stood a middle-aged or old man. The gaze of these four people was especially keen as they focused on the training grounds in the middle of the valley where the Valley of the Medicine Masters was located.


    At the same time, throughout the Valley of the Medicine Masters, many figures rushed out, some riding demon mounts, others running at top speed.


    These people without exception were Connate-stage adepts of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    The signal flare that was sent was a distress signal sent by a Connate-stage adept of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and it would be useless for someone below the Connate-stage to go over.


    Therefore, the people rushing to the training grounds were all Connate-stage adepts of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡­


    At the training grounds.


    Chen Dandan stared vengefully at the youth, her cold gaze cutting like a knife, as though she would dearly like to slice the youth into a thousand pieces and chop his corpse into a thousand parts!


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you may have destroyed me today, but you can forget about living!¡± Chen Dandan said coldly.


    ¡°Really?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang merely smiled indifferently at Chen Dandan¡¯s words, with no hint of acknowledgement.


    His demeanor was greatly puzzling to the crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters that saw it. ¡°This youth not only has no intention of fleeing, but has a look of self-confidence on his face ¡­ could he possibly have something up his sleeve that would not be afraid of all the Connate-stage adepts in the Valley of the Medicine Masters?


    ¡°As I see it, he does not know the strength of the Valley of the Medicine Masters!¡±


    ¡°Does he really think that just because he can kill Second Elder with some underhanded means there is no one his equal in the Valley of the Medicine Masters? How naive!¡±


    ¡°If he had not used underhanded means, and if Second Elder had not been careless and unprepared, he might not have won.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s natural. He is only an early Connate-stage adept, and Second Elder was, after all, a middle Connate-stage adept!¡±


    ¡­


    Although many of the disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters were puzzled as to where the youth¡¯s sudden confidence was from, even more people felt that the youth was ignorant.


    ¡°Who released the signal flare?¡±


    Accompanied by a swift booming sound, a distinguished voice called out from the back of a giant gray vulture. The voice belonged to a very old man dressed in gray.


    ¡°It¡¯s the thunder-feathered vulture!¡±


    ¡°Elder Mo has arrived!¡±


    ¡°Although Elder Mo is an early Connate-stage adept, he is close to the middle Connate-stage, and is significantly stronger than Elder Li.¡±


    ¡­


    Many of the disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters immediately identified the old man on the back of the giant gray vulture who was the first to arrive at the training grounds.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    After the thunder-feathered vulture came three more giant flying demons, a person standing on each of their backs.


    ¡°The elders on duty at the observation towers have all arrived!¡±


    The four elders of the Valley of the Medicine Masters who had arrived first were those on duty at the observation towers in the valley where the Valley of the Medicine Masters was located. They were the first to see the signal and had rushed over at once.


    The four of them were all early Connate-stage adepts, and none of them were weaker in ability than Elder Li whose arm had been maimed by Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Second ¡­ Second Elder?!¡±


    However, before Elder Li could speak, the four elders of the Valley of the Medicine Masters spotted Chen Tianhe¡¯s corpse, and their expressions changed.


    Chen Tianhe was after all the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, a middle Connate-stage adept.


    In terms of ability, even the four of them together were not a match for Chen Tianhe.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    When the four elders who had rushed over from the Valley of the Medicine Masters realized that Chen Tianhe was dead, they released the only signal flare they carried without hesitation.


    Immediately, the entire Valley of the Medicine Masters was in an uproar.


    Five signal flares sent out by senior adepts above the Connate stage rang out in succession, exploding high in the sky over the valley where the Valley of the Medicine Masters was located.


    Moreover, they all came from the air above the training grounds.


    ¡°My god! What happened? Five Connate-stage adepts of the Valley of the Medicine Masters encountering danger at the training grounds at the same time? I think that signal is only used when they encounter mortal danger, am I right?¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go! We¡¯ll go investigate!¡±


    ¡°Such a commotion, even Head Elder, the two protectors, and the Valley Master have probably been startled?¡±


    ¡­


    Five signal flares exploded in the air one after another, and as they released dazzling fireworks, the entire Valley of the Medicine Masters was buzzing with activity.


    At this moment, even the adepts of the Valley of the Medicine Masters below the Connate stage were drawn towards the training grounds out of curiosity.


    Of course, they could only watch the commotion.


    Who were they kidding?


    When five Connate-stage adepts of the Valley of the Medicine Masters sent out signal flares to summon help, what could they do to help against such a degree of threat?

 Chapter 151 - Commotion on the Training Grounds

    Chapter 151: Commotion on the Training Grounds


    The Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    The training grounds.


    Since the inception of the valley, the training grounds had never been this lively. Almost everyone in the valley had gathered there, elders and disciples alike.


    Some had even come in from far off, riding atop flying beasts, were now circling the air above the field.


    Not that they didn¡¯t want to enter. The beasts they were riding upon were lower-leveled, and since there were already several higher-powered flying beasts on the field they did not dare to get too close.


    ¡°How about we go down to the field and watch?¡± a valley disciple riding a flying beast suggested.


    ¡°I¡¯m not going down there. If you want to go so bad, then you go. Can¡¯t you see the field is packed with people? Even if you try you probably won¡¯t be able to squeeze in,¡± another disciple on a flying beast lamented, shaking his head.


    ¡°I agree. Let¡¯s just watch here from far away ¡­ at least we¡¯ll be able to see something from here. If we go down to the field all we¡¯ll be able to see will be the heads in front of us.¡±


    ¡°That guy in white, I hear he¡¯s only nineteen years old.¡±


    ¡°That guy? Can¡¯t really make him out from up here, but if you say he¡¯s nineteen then he must be.¡±


    ¡°I hear he was originally from a small place in the country of Yunyang and only entered into the initial stage of his Connate abilities at such a young age because of the essence of a Primal Core monk. Plus, he even used some creepy hidden weapon to kill a mid-level second elder!


    ¡°A nineteen-year-old Connate adept ¡­ too bad, he¡¯s definitely going to die today!¡±


    ¡­


    All the residents of the Valley of the Medicine Masters who had gathered felt that the young man in white who had killed their second elder Chen Tianhe was definitely going to die today.


    On the training grounds the young man in white stood, his left hand behind his back and his right hand fiddling with a small metal ball.


    And he was now surrounded by several old and middle-aged men, all of whom were valley elders already on their Connate-stage journeys, and all of whom were staring directly at him.


    Though the young man was surrounded, no one made a move. They all seemed to be silently waiting for something.


    Aside from the young man, there was also a young woman within the circle made by the elders. She lay next to a corpse and was glaring at the young man, brimming with hatred.


    Whoosh!!


    Suddenly, a booming sound came from above, attracting everyone¡¯s attention.


    ¡°It¡¯s the head elder!¡±


    ¡°The head elder is here!¡±


    ¡­ .


    Drawing gasps from the crowd, a large blue eagle swooped low over the training grounds and a nimble figure leaped from its back.


    In a three-foot flash of green light, the figure landed firmly among a gathered group of valley elders and stepped out into view of the crowd.


    It was a woman with a medium-sized build dressed in a long gray robe. Though her hair was all white, her complexion looked to be that of a middle-aged woman.


    She had hair the color of a crane, yet possessed the face of youth.


    ¡°Head Elder!¡±


    ¡°Head Elder!¡±


    ¡­


    As soon as the woman appeared, all the gathered elders bowed to her in great reverence.


    This woman was none other than the head elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Yu Meiqin.


    Yu Meiqin was already nearing 90 years old. In terms of seniority, even the Valley Lord, Su Mo, would have had to call her ¡°Uncle.¡±


    ¡°Head elder!¡±


    Upon seeing Yu Meiqin appear, Chen Dandan ran to her and knelt to the ground, tears streaming down her face.


    ¡°My father has dedicated his life to serving the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and now he has been murdered by someone who has infiltrated the valley. You ¡­ you must avenge him!¡±


    ¡°Rise.¡±


    Yu Meiqin helped Chen Dandan to her feet. Her elderly voice was firm, ¡°No matter who it is, the Valley of the Medicine Masters will never forgive whoever has murdered our second elder.¡±


    As she said these words, Yu Meiqin¡¯s gaze landed upon the young man not far away. What had before been expressionless eyes were now sharp and piercing.


    Of course, deep within her gaze there were also traces of fear.


    After all, Chen Tianhe had been the valley¡¯s second elder, a mid-level Connate adept just like herself. Though his abilities had been no match for hers, he was not far behind.


    On her way over she had met with the valley elders who had come to see her so was already familiar with the events that transpired.


    This young man before her, a nineteen-year-old from the country of Yunyang, was suspected of receiving the essence of a Primal Core monk in order to achieve the initial Connate-stage.


    ¡°That metal ball ¡­ it transforms into a sword?¡±


    Yu Meiqin shifted her eyes to the small metal ball in the young man¡¯s hand.


    ¡°Is that ¡­ a sword sphere?!¡±


    As High Elder of the valley and higher in seniority than Valley Lord Su Mo, Yu Meiqin was every bit as proficient in knowledge as the latter.


    ¡°If this truly is a sword sphere ¡­ then I¡¯m afraid only the Valley Lord is able to defeat him!¡±


    Thinking back to what she had read in an ancient tome regarding sword spheres, Yu Meiqin could not help but feel intense fear, and it showed in her eyes.


    This was definitely not the hidden weapon spoken of by the elders who came to see her. This was something only those above the Primal Core stage could ever hope to control.


    The sword sphere was something that, in the hands of a Connate initial-stage adept, could easily kill a Connate mid-level adept. Even a late-stage Connate adept could easily fall before it without the proper preparation.


    ¡°Young man.¡±


    Yu Meiqin turned to Zhou Donghuang and spoke in a grave voice.


    ¡°Being able to receive the essence of a Primal Core monk was your good fortune. However, you came to our valley uninvited and murdered our second elder Chen Tianhe. That¡¯s crossing the line, wouldn¡¯t you say?¡±


    ¡°Crossing the line?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang let out a faint laugh, his eyes falling upon the young lady at Yu Meiqin¡¯s feet.


    ¡°Today I¡¯m here solely for Chen Dandan. Some people attack me just to try and fight for her ¡­ you think I would actually let them? Ridiculous!¡±


    At this, a smirk appeared on Zhou Donghuang¡¯s face.


    ¡°She has already sent her father on his way ¡­ At your age, I would recommend you not meddle in other people¡¯s business, lest you follow in his footsteps,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a mocking look.


    Facing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s threat, Yu Meiqin¡¯s face fell. To be intimidated by someone younger than her own great-grandson was truly humiliating.


    If only she weren¡¯t wary of the sword sphere in the young man¡¯s hand she would have attacked long ago.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang! You dare to threaten the head elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters ¡­ you really want to die that bad?¡±


    Before Yu Meiqin had arrived, Chen Dandan avoided provoking the young man, afraid that he would become enraged and kill her. Now that Yu Meiqin was here, she seemed to regain her courage.


    ¡°Head elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head and chuckled, ¡°Never mind the head elder of the valley ¡­ even if the lord of the valley were here today, he would have to kneel before me!¡±


    ¡°Insolence!¡±


    ¡°Insolence!¡±


    ¡­


    As Zhou Donghuang spoke, Head Elder Yu Meiqin¡¯s face flushed with outrage, along with those of all the elders gathered, and an angry commotion arose.


    The Valley Lord of the Medicine Masters held the most esteemed position in the valley, as exalted as an emperor and not to be disrespected.


    But now this arrogant young man before them dared to dishonor their lord.


    How could they accept this?


    ¡°How dare you!¡±


    ¡°Such insolence!¡±


    As the elders¡¯ blood began to boil, two elderly voices came from the sky above, and a massive flying beast swooped down overhead, whipping up torrents of wind.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As the beast flew past, two figures leaped from its back. As they dropped through the sky, two brilliant bolts of green light appeared beneath their feet, gliding them to a soft landing.


    They landed at Yu Meiqin¡¯s side.


    ¡°Greetings Left Sentinel, Right Sentinel!¡±


    ¡°Greetings to both Sentinels!¡±


    ¡­


    The surrounding elders¡¯ previous glares towards Zhou Donghuang were replaced by reverent bows towards the two newcomers.


    ¡°I, Meiqin, welcome you two elder brothers,¡± the head elder of The Valley of the Medicine Masters paid her respects as well.


    These two were both silver-haired and elderly, one heavyset and the other lean. The heavyset one had a youthful and chubby face that shown from within, just like Yu Meiqin.


    The lean Sentinel instead had elderly features, looking close to a hundred years old.


    In fact, the two were only a few years apart in age, both over ninety and the oldest in the valley.


    In terms of seniority, they were both uncles to the Valley Lord, Su Mo.


    The husky old man was the Left Sentinel, Wang Tao.


    The slim old man was the Right Sentinel, Yu Wei.


    Both were mid-level Connate adepts, and were infinitely close to becoming late-stage, meaning they could enter late-stage at any moment, or never at all.


    In terms of strength, they were second only to the Su Mo and even more powerful than Yu Meiqin!


    ¡°Even the Left and Right Sentinels are here?¡±


    ¡°Head Elder, both the Left and Right Sentinels have arrived. Now we have all our Valley of the Medicine Masters mid-level and above Connates. I think we are only missing the Valley Lord and Third Elder, correct?


    ¡°Third Elder is traveling and definitely won¡¯t be coming. We are still missing the Valley Lord.¡±


    ¡°Both Sentinels are here. Even if the Valley Lord doesn¡¯t come, this young man is going down!¡±


    ¡­


    The gathered elders, without exception, were certain that this was the end for the young man.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, these two are our Sentinels. You dare to dishonor our Valley Lord in front of our Valley Elder and Sentinels. I suggest that you kneel and beg for mercy!¡± Seeing the arrival of the two Sentinels, Chen Dandan¡¯s fortitude rose even more. She stared coldly at Zhou Donghuang, taunting him.

 Chapter 152 - The Valley Lord Is Here!

    Zhou Donghuang was unfazed by Chen Dandan¡¯s threats and maintained his amused gaze at the two old men.


    The two Sentinels of the Valley of the Medicine Masters. The valley¡¯s strongest duo, second only to the Valley Lord.


    As for the Head Elder Yu Meiqin, Zhou Donghuang was no longer looking at her. He had noticed that she most likely had recognized the sword orb he held in his hand.


    ¡°This kid ¡­ ¡±


    At this moment the two Sentinels, sensing the contempt in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes, stepped forward with grave facial expressions and murderous looks, as if they were ready to attack.


    ¡°My two brothers!¡±


    Yu Meiqin took two steps forward, blocking the way in front of the two old men. She spoke to them in a suppressed voice, ¡°This Zhou Donghuang¡¯s little metal ball looks to be the legendary ¡®sword sphere¡¯ that only martial adepts of the middle Primal Core stage and above are able to refine.¡±


    The two old men had not received any message from the Valley Lord and had come only because they heard the flares, so they did not fully know the specifics of what had happened earlier.


    However, as they were atop their flying beasts on the way over, they began hearing from several valley elders and disciples surrounding the training grounds regarding the murder of the valley¡¯s Second Elder Chen Tianhe at the hands of the young man.


    Of course, what they had heard was that the young man, using a hidden weapon, had snuck up on a defenseless Chen Tianhe, and thus was able to kill him.


    They had entered the sky above the training grounds just in time to hear the young man humiliating and insulting words towards the Valley Lord.


    And it was at that moment that the anger in their hearts burned rapidly.


    Now, seeing the disdain in the young man¡¯s gaze towards them, how could they stomach this?


    ¡°Sword sphere?!¡±


    Hearing Yu Meiqin¡¯s warning, the pupils in the duo¡¯s eyes constricted and their facial expressions changed in an instant.


    As two of the oldest members of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, they knew what sword spheres were. That was a legendary item, a treasure that only martial adepts of the Primal Core stage and above were able to refine.


    A Connate elementary martial adept, armed with a sword sphere, could easily kill a Connate intermediate martial adept.


    Even a Connate advanced martial adept, if not properly prepared, would most likely fall to a Connate elementary martial adept who wielded a sword sphere and knew how to use it.


    ¡°Does he know how to use the sword sphere?¡± the rotund old man, the valley¡¯s Left Sentinel Wang Tao, asked in a hushed voice.


    ¡°The Second Elder died by the sword that that sword sphere converts to ¡­ what do you think?¡±


    Yu Meiqin smiled gravely.


    ¡°So, the hidden weapon they mentioned was actually a sword sphere. They mentioned a sneak attack ¡­ but if a Connate elementary adept has a sword sphere and knows how to use it, why even bother with a sneak attack to kill a Connate intermediate adept?¡±


    The skinny old man, the valley¡¯s Right Sentinel Yu Wei, had a very heavy look on his face.


    At this point, the duo had absolutely no more inclination to make a move on the young man.


    Are you kidding me!


    This young man not only had a sword sphere but knew how to use it as well. Were they to attack they would definitely end up dead.


    Unless they were able to raise their level to the Connate advanced level, and under careful circumstances, even if their opponent had a sword sphere and knew how to use it, they might be able to defeat him and perhaps even kill him!


    ¡°What? You two are familiar with this sword sphere as well?¡± Seeing the duo¡¯s eyes directed at the sword sphere with looks of trepidation, Zhou Donghuang stared at them and asked, feigning surprise.


    ¡°Looks like you definitely received the essence of the Primal Core adept. Otherwise, you would not possess this sword sphere, which only martial adepts of the Primal Core stage and above can refine,¡± Yu Meiqin stated.


    This was not the first or even the second time Zhou Donghuang had been mistaken for having received the essence of a Primal Core adept, so, hearing Yu Meiqin¡¯s words, brushed them off and did not even think to explain.


    Of course.


    This person in front of him was not even worthy of Zhou Donghuang opening his mouth to explain.


    ¡°Little Sister Yu, why is the Valley Lord not here yet?¡± the Left Sentinel Wang Tao inquired of Yu Meiqin.


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure ¡­ ordinarily speaking, the Valley Lord should have been here by now.¡±


    Yu Meiqin shook her head, and with a sharp flash in her eye said, ¡°I will leave to look for the Valley Lord. My two brothers, please keep an eye on this Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    ¡°If possible, try not to engage with him. The sword sphere in his hands is too disturbing.¡±


    As Yu Meiqin spoke, she saw Wang Tao and Yu Wei nod. Only then did she produce a leaf from her bosom and blow on it.


    As the sound rang out, Yu Meiqin¡¯s flying beast mount swooped down from the sky, collected Yu Meiqin and departed the training grounds, heading directly for the residence of Valley Lord Su Mo.


    On the way, Yu Meiqin came across a valley elder riding a flying beast and coming from the direction of Su Mo¡¯s residence.


    ¡°Elder Yuan, you¡¯ve been to see the Valley Lord?¡±


    ¡°Head Elder.¡±


    Elder Yuan, upon seeing Yu Meiqin, greeted the Head Elder respectfully and said with a wry smile, ¡°I went to see the Valley Lord but did not get a response. He must have been too immersed in his training.¡±


    ¡°I figured you and the two Sentinels should be able to take care of the issue facing our valley, so I did not want to disturb the Valley Lord further.¡±


    Hearing Elder Yuan¡¯s words, Yu Meiqin managed a bitter smile, ¡°Neither I nor the two Sentinels are a match for him.¡±


    Under Elder Yuan¡¯s startled look, Yu Meiqin departed on her flying beast and soon came to land at the residence of Su Mo, the Valley Lord of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°That young man ¡­ who is he?¡±


    After Yu Meiqin left, Elder Yuan¡¯s eyes were filled with bewilderment, ¡°Even the Head Elder and the two Sentinels aren¡¯t able to take him on?¡±


    The training grounds.


    With Yu Meiqin¡¯s departure, some of those within the training grounds began to discuss this ¡°sword sphere¡± that the young man spoke of.


    Only very few elders in the Valley of the Medicine Masters had ever heard of sword spheres.


    However, it wasn¡¯t long before the information about the sword sphere and what it represented spread through the entire training grounds so that all elders in the training grounds now knew what it was.


    ¡°Sword sphere, a weapon that only martial adepts in the Primal Core stage and above can refine?¡±


    ¡°If a Connate martial adept were to understand how to utilize a sword sphere, using that sword sphere they could easily kill their opponent? That means this Zhou Donghuang, using the sword sphere, would be enough for him to easily kill the Head Elder and the two Sentinels?¡±


    ¡°No wonder the Second Elder who was at the Connate intermediate level was killed by him in one blow. That sword sphere in his hand really was a treasure left by a Primal Core adept and has unbelievable power!¡±


    ¡­


    An uproar was happening on the training grounds.


    At the same time, the elders and disciples on the training grounds realized that their Head Elder leaving most likely meant she was heading to see the Valley Lord.


    Judging by current circumstances, if the Valley Lord didn¡¯t show, there would be no one to take on the young man in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Moreover, if the Valley Lord were to let his guard down, and if the young man were to use his full strength in sneak attacking with the sword sphere, it would be very likely that he would be able to kill the Valley Lord.


    However, they all knew now that the young man had a sword sphere, so the Valley Lord would definitely not be careless.


    Just the thought of this calmed their hearts.


    ¡°Sword sphere?¡±


    At this point, Chen Dandan understood how her father Chen Tianhe had died, and she also understood why the Head Elder and the two Sentinels were reluctant to make a move on Zhou Donghuang.


    It was all because of that ¡°sword sphere¡± in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hands.


    ¡°Dammit!¡±


    ¡°What right does he have receiving the essence left by a Primal Core adept and stepping into the Connate-stage in only two short years ¡­ and he even got his hands on a treasure like the sword sphere!¡±


    At this moment, Chen Dandan¡¯s heart was filled with regret.


    Of course, it wasn¡¯t regret about betraying her mother-in-law Lin Lan, but regret that she hadn¡¯t stayed at the Magnolia Guild longer until she had managed to take away the Primal Core adept essence and sword sphere that Zhou Donghuang had received.


    ¡°If everything the Primal Core adept left behind had been received by me, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s accomplishments would now be my accomplishments. And I might have gotten farther and become more skilled than this piece of trash!¡±


    Chen Dandan¡¯s was filled with so much regret that her intestines were turning green.


    ¡°However, Zhou Donghuang is a fool. He knows that the Head Elder has gone to look for the Valley Lord but he still hasn¡¯t left. Once the Valley Lord is here we¡¯ll see how he plans to escape!¡±


    Now while Chen Dandan was thinking just how idiotic the young man was in not knowing to get out of there before the Lord of the Valley of the Medicine Masters arrived, she was also partly hoping he wouldn¡¯t leave, so that the Valley Lord could fight him once he got there.


    ¡°The Valley Lord is a Connate advanced-level martial adept. As long as the Valley Lord is prepared, even if Zhou Donghuang has a sword sphere he will be no match for the Valley Lord!¡±


    Even though Chen Dandan had yet to lay eyes on the Valley Lord, it did not affect her faith one bit in this almighty Valley Lord who held the supreme position in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, there is still the Valley Lord who can dispose of you ¡­ You don¡¯t have what it takes to make me, Chen Dandan, regret betraying that b*tch Lin Lan!¡±


    Chen Dandan¡¯s stared icily at Zhou Donghuang, ¡°You destroyed my life, murdered my father. Today you will die at the hands of our Valley Lord. Another day I will definitely have my father¡¯s brothers murder that b*tch Lin Lan as well as anyone connected to her!¡±


    ¡°Only then will my hatred be appeased!¡±


    Of course, Chen Dandan dared not to speak these words at the moment, but could only express her hatred in her mind, as she feared that an enraged Zhou Donghuang might attack and annihilate her.


    After all, of those currently on the training grounds, no one would be able to defeat Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°This Zhou Donghuang is still sticking around?¡±


    ¡°Is he insane? If I were him, knowing that the Valley Lord is on his way here, I would have gotten as far away as I could by now.¡±


    ¡°He must know that there is no way he can escape so he¡¯s planning on negotiating with the Valley Lord.¡±


    ¡°I agree he must be waiting to negotiate with the Valley Lord. Otherwise, even if he doesn¡¯t leave, there is no reason for him to just be standing around like that. He could use that sword sphere in his hand and start killing left and right, just to see how many people he could slaughter before the Valley Lord gets here.¡±


    ¡°Shhh ¡­ be quiet! If he hears your reminder and starts to attack us, then you¡¯ll be sorry!¡±


    ¡­


    Just then several disciples started to whisper amongst themselves ¡­


    ¡°The Valley Lord is here!¡±


    In the sky above the training grounds, an elder standing atop a flying beast looked towards the middle-aged man soaring towards them on a large flying beast. His eyes lit up and he yelled excitedly with all his might.


    The shout was so loud that it even covered the sound of whispers across the training grounds.

 Chapter 153 - Master!?

    Ah!


    A giant flying beast like a shaft of fast lightning flew from the surroundings into the skies of the martial arts field. At the same time, it slowed down its speed to a comfortable one and landed on the ground.


    This flying beast was no stranger to the people of the Valley of the Medicine Masters. They were, after all, mounted by the head elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters. Presently, this very flying beast was being mounted by two figures. Other than the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯s head elder, another person was also standing on its back, even standing before the head elder himself.


    A woman with feather-like, snow-white hair and a child-like, ruddy complexion, the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯ head elder, Yu Meiqin, was clustered together with a middle-aged man. This middle-aged man had on an elegant grey coat, giving off an aura of grace and calmness just like royalty. His body gave off a unique, charismatic aura characteristic of a mature gentleman.


    Upon seeing him, several of the female guest elders and disciples all became starry-eyed.


    ¡°All hail Your Highness!¡±


    One of the people raised his voice to call out respectfully. With such a call, the entire practicing field sprung up. All the present guest elders and disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters bowed towards the flying beast, which was carrying the middle-aged man, and showed their respect.


    ¡°All hail Your Highness!¡±


    ¡°All hail Your Highness!¡±


    ¡­


    A chorus of respectful voices filled the air and rang out in the martial arts field. Afterwards, even the entire Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯s surrounding mountains and valleys echoed the same call as well, forming an impressively thunderous chorus in overall.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, our Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯s Your Highness, is here¡­ Today, even if you have a sword pill left behind by that inferior spirit weapon warrior, you will definitely face death!¡±


    Seeing as the faraway flying beast was nearing them while carrying the charismatic, middle-aged man riding on its back, Chen Dandan¡¯s eyes shone while he cast a cold glance across the youth and spoke in a chilling voice.


    ¡°Nevertheless, you can all relax¡­ Today, if you fold in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, I will instruct my fellow brothers to take a trip to the country of Yunyang for you to reunite with that bastard, Song Linlan, while traveling on the Huangquan Road¡­¡±


    Chen Dandan previously had been too scared to speak up. However, now, things were different as she finally saw that their Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯ ruler had arrived.


    While speaking, the corners of Chen Dandan¡¯s mouth turned up, and a vicious smile appeared on her face as an evil look appeared in her eyes. To her, there were only two possible endings of today. She would either die here or be caught by the Valley of the Medicine Masters and be killed after she took on the chance encounter she gained from the inferior spirit weapon warrior..


    The Valley of the Medicine Masters could not possibly allow such a large threat to survive.


    Yet, reality took Chen Dandan by surprise. Originally, according to him, Zhou Donghuang should have been enraged by her words. Instead, once Zhou Donghuang heard her speak, she was not angered but instead laughed out loud.


    ¡°Chen Dandan¡­ Do you know why I haven¡¯t taken any action towards you all this time?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked cheerily.


    ¡°Ah?¡± Chen Dandan furrowed her brows.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words confused Chen Dandan greatly.


    Ever since the youth had personally killed her father, the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Chen Tianhe, had not taken any further action. It was a little strange as the numbers grew in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and they had all slowly gathered together.


    Not only had he stopped her attacks against the general people, but she had also halted her attacks against Chen Dandan. She had not thought about this point before but now that it dawned upon her, she found it rather strange.


    Chen Dandan questioned internally what she would do if she were in the youth¡¯s shoes. If she were to be in his position, she would leave everything behind and run for her life in order to escape death instead of staying put and waiting to be killed!


    ¡°Because¡­¡±


    Just as Chen Dandan¡¯s brows furrowed, the corners of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s mouth turned up into a cocky smile. ¡°I¡¯m prepared for when you¡¯ve lost all hope, for when you hate yourself and everything around you to take action and kill you then!¡±


    Chen Dandan¡¯s face darkened upon hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words. At the same time, Zhou Donghuang glanced at the approaching flying beast, which was nearing the duo from afar. ¡°Now, in your opinion, Su Mo should be the last saving grace and hope of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, am I right?¡±


    Just as he had spoken, the smile on Zhou Donghuang¡¯s face became even wider and brighter.


    Upon hearing these words, as well as glancing at the infuriating smile on Zhou Donghuang¡¯s face, Chen Dandan¡¯s own face turned pale and an uneasy feeling crept up into her heart.


    ¡°This Zhou Donghuang¡­ Surely he could not have any connection to Your Highness!?¡±


    ¡°Surely Your Highness was not the one who brought him into the Valley of the Medicine Masters!¡±


    Well, it was unsurprising that Chen Dandan felt this way and made such assumptions. In any case, up till the present, the martial arts skills that Zhou Donghuang had demonstrated were extremely admirable and awe-inspiring. His innate talent as a young 19-year-old was enough for him to earn the personal offer to enter the Valley of the Medicine Masters by Your Highness.


    Not far from where Chen Dandan was, the two guardians of the Valley of the Medicine Masters overheard the conversation between Chen Dandan and Zhou Donghuang. They could not help but slightly furrow their brows as well. The thoughts running through their head were somewhat similar to that of Chen Dandan¡¯s. It was just that they were still full of anger and resentment towards Zhou Donghuang for killing the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯s second elder, Chen Tianhe. After all, Chen Tianhe had been one of the mid Connate adepts. Including Chen Tianhe, there had only been five mid Connate adepts in the entire Valley of the Medicine Masters! Now that Chen Tianhe was dead, there were only four left standing.


    ¡°If he was really specifically invited to the Valley by Your Highness¡­ we have to follow the rules of the Valley of the Medicine Masters and punish him severely!¡± the fat old man, the left guardian, Wan Tao, whispered underneath his breath to his partner.


    ¡°Naturally so.¡± The thin old man, the right guardian, Yu Wei, nodded to show his approval.


    Whoo! Whoo!


    As the large, flying beast flew by in the sky, two shadows, one in front and one behind, landed neatly in the midst of a crowd of elders in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    They were the head elder, Yu Meiqin and Your Highness of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo.


    ¡°Your Highness.¡±


    ¡°Your Highness.¡±


    ¡­


    The elders that were gathered together all bowed simultaneously to show their respects to Su Mo.


    ¡°Your Highness.¡±


    For the two great guardians of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Wan Tao and Yu Wei, they were both elders to Su Mo. However, respect for status did not supersede age in such public settings, and they both bowed towards Su Mo as well.


    Under normal circumstances, Su Mo would bow in return to Wang Tao and Yu Wei. However, Su Mo presently stood where he was and did not even cast a glance at Wang Tao and Yu Wei. His gaze was fixated unwaveringly on the young man dressed in white, standing a short distance away.


    All along, due to that Mid-Connate elixir, which had shocking, medicinal-like effects, Su Mo¡¯s personal development and training had been accelerated greatly and he was now extremely close to becoming a mid Connate adept. Under normal circumstances, he of course would not have any intention to pause his training mid-way. Even as the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯s elders had sought him out, seeing as the latter had not seemed urgent nor anxious, Su Mo had still held on to the idea of continuing his training. It was only when his master, the head elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Yu Meiqin, had come forward and charged through his doorway that he had paused his training efforts.


    After understanding the happenings at the martial arts field, Su Mo immediately guessed that the person who had carried out the attacks at the field was definitely this young man¡­ the white shirt, the sword pills¡­ they were all symbols of him.


    He did not even have time to explain his predictions to Yu Meiqin. Su Mo immediately got onto the back of Yu Meiqin¡¯s flying beast and headed for the martial arts field.


    ¡°Your Highness.¡±


    Chen Dandan took two, three steps forward and knelt before Su Mo, sobbing hysterically with tears running down her cheeks. ¡°My father, Chen Tianhe, as the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯s second elder, had made countless contributions and sacrifices for the valley while he was alive.


    ¡°In spite of that, today, he was killed by the person who invaded our valley!


    ¡°Please bring justice for my father, Your Highness!¡±


    Although Chen Dandan had no confidence that this method was viable, she had little choice. Just as what the young man had said, the Valley Head before her was now the last hope that she could hold onto.


    On the other hand, Su Mo ignored Chen Dandan as if she did not exist. He took two steps forward, past Chen Dandan and knelt down towards the young man standing before him. The entire group of people from the Valley of the Medicine Masters looked on in confusion, shock and disbelief.


    ¡°I¡¯m Su Mo, Master.¡±


    Su Mo¡¯s voice was extremely courteous and bright. In an instant, his words reverberated around the entire martial arts field and even beyond to the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯ hills. With such an echo, all the people present suddenly gained some insight. The entire field went deathly quiet, and one could even hear a pin drop.


    This was especially so for the group of elders as well as the Valley of the Medicine Masters head elder, Yu Meiqin, the valley¡¯s left guardian Wang Tao and right guardian Yu Wei. They all let out expressions of disbelief as they glanced at Su Mo, who was still kneeling on the floor. If they did not have a good enough understanding of Su Mo, they would even have suspected that he was a fake and not the real Su Mo!


    ¡°Is that¡­ really Your Highness speaking?¡±


    ¡°Your Highness called the young man ¡®Master?¡¯ Is this a joke?¡±


    ¡°Is that really Your Highness? Our mighty and glorious Your Highness is kneeling and calling someone else master? Am I dreaming?¡±


    ¡­


    Now, everyone present at the field, including the common people, were completely stunned into silence. They could not believe the sight before them nor what they had just heard coming from Su Mo¡¯s mouth.


    Was this all a joke?


    Su Mo, ruler of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, was the first in status out of the Sixteen Countries of the Eastern Valley. As for this young man, he was merely someone from the country of Yunyang. How could he possibly be the master of Your Highness, Su Mo!?


    ¡°This¡­ this is impossible!¡±


    Chen Dandan was shocked into a daze by Su Mo. Now that she had regained her composure, her face had on an expression of full disbelief. ¡°How can this be possible? This is impossible!¡±


    Chen Dandan righted herself, and her body began to tremble uncontrollably. In a fit of delusion and confusion, she reached out a hand and pointed to Su Mo¡¯s back. ¡°You can¡¯t be Your Highness! You¡¯re not him!¡±


    ¡°Chen Dandan, stop being presumptuous!¡±


    Seeing Chen Dandan¡¯s actions, Yu Meiqin¡¯s face changed, and she called out coldly. Although Yu Meiqin herself was still unsure as to why Su Mo, their ruler, had called out to the young man as his master, she would not permit someone of lowly status, such as Disciple Chen Dandan, to call Su Mo out in a rude manner.


    Upon hearing Yu Meiqin¡¯s cold voice, Chen Dandan¡¯s final hope in her heart was thoroughly demolished. She collapsed onto the ground in a heap, as if all her energy had been depleted, her face as white as paper.


    ¡°Chen Dandan, everyone has to bear the consequences of whatever decisions they make. I only hope you do not regret your choices in the future.¡±


    The words that the young man had uttered to her two years ago when Chen Dandan had left the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce now floated in her mind. At that point, she had ignored the words of this young man and moved on. This was especially after she had entered the Valley of the Medicine Masters and recognized the second elder, Chen Tianhe, as her father. She had then felt even more strongly that the young man was on a different wavelength as her.


    ¡°That young man is destined to be crushed under my feet,¡± she had thought.


    As for now¡­


    The young man that she had always looked down on was now standing before her proudly, as arrogant as ever. As for Su Mo, Your Highness of the Valley of the Medicine Masters and someone she both feared and admired was now kneeling before this very young man, calling him ¡°¡®Master¡­¡±

 Chapter 154 - Golden Essence Adept

    Although Su Mo knew in his heart that kneeling before this young man would ruin his reputation as ruler of the Valley of the Medicine Masters in the eyes of the people, what did that matter?


    Now that he had tried the Mid-Connate elixir concocted by the young man in the past and experienced its sweet effects, Su Mo no longer wanted to consume the mid Connate elixir that he made for himself. This was because, after consuming the mid Connate elixir by the young man, Su Mo had greatly increased his chances of entering the Primal Core stage and become a Primal Core adept before he died! Once he became a Primal Core adept, Su Mo would be able to increase his lifespan and live up to two hundred years! With this idea of being somewhat immortal, Su Mo did not care at all about things like honor and face.


    Furthermore, what did it matter if he risked his reputation today? As long as he was still well-trained personally and as long as he was still the strongest man standing in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, everyone in the valley, including the elders, would still continue to respect him even if it was out of fear. To Su Mo, currying favor with the young man before him was thus the most urgent task at hand. Other things did not really matter at this moment.


    ¡°You may rise.¡±


    Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang glanced briefly at Su Mo and allowed him to get back up. He then stepped forward and walked up to Chen Dandan in an unhurried manner.


    ¡°Chen Dandan.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at Chen Dandan, who had collapsed into a heap on the floor and had on an expression akin to that of a ghost. Chen Dandan¡¯s mouth was pale and quivering. ¡°Now, how do you feel?¡±


    Chen Dandan acted as if she had not heard Zhou Donghuang speak at all; she continued to lie on the floor with a numb and lost expression on her face.


    ¡°Do you feel regretful?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang asked again.


    This time, some color returned to Chen Dandan¡¯s cheeks, and she seemed to regain some composure. She glanced at Zhou Donghuang and smiled coldly. ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you are simply lucky enough to gain the miracles left behind by the Primal Core adept. That is the only reason why you can be who you are today¡­


    ¡°Nevertheless, in this life you were still destined to be crushed by me, Chen Dandan!¡±


    As Chen Dandan spoke, her eyes shone fiercely with an expression of repulsion and stubbornness.


    ¡°Presumptuous!¡±


    Su Mo, who had just stood up, yelled out murderously as he heard Chen Dandan speak rudely to this young man. ¡°Chen Dandan, if you continue to be rude to my master, I will kill you!¡±


    ¡°Ah¡­¡±


    Chen Dandan smiled. This was a mocking and resentful smile. ¡°Our great highness¡­ how could you call this ordinary man a ¡®Master¡­?¡¯ Is this a joke?¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Just as Su Mo was about to explode with rage and take action against Chen Dandan, he was stopped in his tracks by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s stern gaze.


    Next, Zhou Donghuang glanced at Chen Dandan with a hint of playfulness and spoke up. ¡°Chen Dandan, as long as you are willing to kneel down before me and admit your mistakes, mentioning your regret¡­ I won¡¯t kill you. How does that sound?¡±


    ¡°Ah?¡±


    The young man¡¯s words caused Chen Dandan to blurt out some sounds of confusion, and she glanced suspiciously at the former. ¡°Are you being legitimate?¡±


    ¡°You only have three breaths of time to consider my offer,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied lightly.


    Even before Zhou Donghuang had finished his sentence, Chen Dandan had already dragged her weary body forward and knelt before the young man. With her head bowed, Chen Dandan spoke up in a low voice. ¡°Brother Donghuang, I¡­ I¡¯m sorry. I was wrong. I should not have betrayed Mother. I should not have betrayed you and the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce.¡±


    At this point, Chen Dandan did indeed feel a sliver of regret. If she had not betrayed Lin Lan, if she had not turned her back on Zhou Donghuang and the Magnolia Chamber of Commerce, even if she could not take over the chance encounters left behind by the Primal Core adept, Zhou Donghuang would probably have shared it with her given his nature. If she had stayed by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s side, it was possible that she could have progressed at a similar rate as to when she had recognized the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯s second elder, Chen Tianhe, as her father and grew within the Valley.


    Now, however, although she spoke of regret, as Chen Dandan knelt on the floor before Zhou Donghuang, who had humiliated her greatly, all she truly felt was a deep shred of hatred. All she was doing was getting her life back by uttering useless words of apology¡­


    It suddenly felt like Chen Dandan was only destined to be a normal, ordinary person in this life.


    In any case, knowing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s character from before, Chen Dandan knew that even if he did not kill her, he would not be able to stay by her side anymore either¡­


    ¡°Well, you really can be rather flexible when you want to be.¡±


    Seeing as Chen Dandan had seemingly admitted defeat, Zhou Donghuang laughed coldy, and his eyes filled with disgust and revulsion. ¡°If I killed you personally, I would really be dirtying my hands!¡±


    Just as he had spoken, Zhou Donghuang turned and Su Mo and said lightly, ¡°I simply promised that I would not kill her myself. I didn¡¯t say that anyone else couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°Do you understand my meaning?¡±


    After he spoke, Zhou Donghuang glanced severely at Chen Dandan.


    ¡°Master. I understand.¡±


    Just as Su Mo had responded, he glanced sharply at Chen Dandan with a hint of animosity.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you shameless bastard!¡±


    Once Chen Dandan had heard the young man speak, her face changed and she raised her head once again. Chen Dandan¡¯s eyes were red with rage. ¡°You¡¯re going against your word, breaking your promise!¡±


    ¡°Well, what does it matter to a brute like you? You¡¯re just someone who betrayed a woman cruelly even though she treated you like her own and raised you for over ten years¡­¡±


    Zhou Donghuang cast a light gaze upon Chen Dandan before glancing into the distance with a guarded expression. ¡°Normally, to people, I won¡¯t break my promises. However, to brutes like you, especially those who are ungrateful, why should I stick to my words?¡±


    Killing Chen Dandan was only partially fuelled by his own hatred for her. More importantly, it was to avenge his mother, Lin Lan!


    ¡°You¡­¡±


    Chen Dandan was extremely angered. Even before she could utter more than one word, however, she suddenly cried out, and blood flew from her mouth.


    ¡°Hng!¡±


    At the same moment, Su Mo had muttered under his breath, took a few strides forward like a floating spirit and appeared within two meters of Chen Dandan. He pointed his finger at Chen Dandan and a green mist flowed from it towards her.


    One foot.


    Two feet.


    ¡­


    Seeing as the mist was about to extend to about seven feet, it pierced through Chen Dandan¡¯s chest and killed her.


    Png!


    Suddenly, a loud noise sounded out and echoed around the entire area. Su Mo¡¯s body shook violently, and the mist, which had been seven feet long, dissipated and his entire body was forced to take a few steps back heavily.


    At the same time, Su Mo spat out a mouthful of fresh blood. His face turned extremely pale like paper, and it was clear that he was badly injured.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s face also changed in that instant, and he glanced up at the sky. The sword pill in his right suddenly shone like his eyes, glowing under the winter light.


    ¡°Ah?¡±


    Seeing as Su Mo had taken action, Chen Dandan had thought that she was to die today. Upon realizing that she was not dead, she first paused before following Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gaze and similarly looking up at the sky.


    There, an old man stood before them in long black robes. He was extremely frail and skinny and looked aged. The old man had wrinkles all over his face and looked even older than the right guardian of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Yu Wei. However, as he was suspended in the air, his black robes swayed with the wind. This whole scene shocked the entire crowd into silence once again.


    ¡°Yuan¡­ Primal Core adept!¡± Many of the Valley disciples cried out shrilly. Everyone present was aware that for martial adepts, only those who had crossed into the Primal Core stage were able to float in the air using their full concentration of freezing their bodies.


    Furthermore, if one observed the situation clearly, one could see a light shroud of golden light surrounding the old man¡¯s floating body, enabling him to stay suspended in mid-air.


    ¡°A Golden Essence adept!¡± Seeing as the old man¡¯s body was entirely surrounded by golden light, Zhou Donghuang flinched, and he could immediately use his foresight to tell that this black-robed old man before them was one of the Golden Essence adepts.


    ¡°Golden Essence adept¡± was another name for the martial arts disciples who had managed to enter the Primal Core stage.


    The Primal Core stage, like the Elixir stage, was divided into four main levels: the early Primal Core, mid Primal Core, late Primal Core and ultimate Primal Core.


    When an Elixir adept stepped into the Primal Core stage, the first step would be to consolidate one¡¯s Xu Essence. Once Xu Essence was successfully consolidated, one would be considered to have entered early Primal Core.


    Afterwards, the next step would be to consolidate one¡¯s Shi Essence. Once one had done that, one would enter mid Primal Core.


    After Shi Essence, one needed Silver Essence to enter the late Primal Core. Those who managed to enter this stage were all typically labeled as Silver Essence adepts.


    Afterwards, they would proceed on to Golden Essence.


    For a Primal Core adept to float in the air, one required full control of inner yuan.


    In the early Primal Core stage, an adept¡¯s inner yuan¡¯s source was their Xu Essence, and it was pale white in color.


    In the mid Primal Core stage, an adept¡¯s inner yuan¡¯s source was their Shi Essence and it was milky white in color.


    In the late Primal Core stage, an adept¡¯s inner yuan¡¯s source was their Silver Essence and it was silver in color. Lastly, in the ultimate Primal Core stage, an adept¡¯s inner yuan¡¯s source was their Shi Essence and it was gold in color.


    At this present moment, Zhou Donghuang could see that the black-robed man standing before him was a Golden Essence adept.


    Of course, in general, for all practicing monks, even those who were new to training, there would be a hint of gold in their inner yuan even at the early Primal Core stage. However, that kind of trace of gold would include some kind of Buddhist scriptures in Sanskrit. That was a completely different type of gold as compared to the gold surrounding the black-robed man right now.


    The gold of the inner yuan surrounding this black-robed man was priceless, unique and extremely valuable!


    ¡°Thank you for saving my life!¡±


    After that harrowing moment, it dawned on Chen Dandan that the black-robed man was the one who had saved her life. She frantically turned around and knelt to the ground, thanking him with a joyful gaze in her sparkling eyes.


    Of course, her facial expression remained slightly uneasy and confused. This was to be expected as she did not recognize nor identify the black-robed man before him. She knew that his one save did not guarantee that he would continue to protect her if need be.


    ¡°Sir.¡±


    Once Su Mo had regained his composure, he courteously delivered a full, 90-degree bow to the black-robed man and spoke with a voice that shook with both admiration and fear. ¡°Could I ask¡­ Why have you come to the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡±


    A Primal Core adept was someone that could not be messed with.


    Even for new adepts who were only in the early Primal Core phase, if they used all their strength and power, their inner yuan would be able to cover 100 meters and trap everyone who was standing in that range easily!


    If an adept in the mid Primal Core phase went all out, his inner yuan could envelop a land 300-meters wide and destroy a small village.


    If an adept in the late Primal Core phase went all out, his inner yuan could envelop a land 1000-meters wide and destroy a big village.


    If an adept in the ultimate Primal Core phase went all out, his inner yuan could envelop a land 3000-meters wide and destroy an entire small town.


    As for the black-robed man before them, the gold in his inner yuan was indeed extremely unique and special. It was clear that he was an ultimate Primal Core adept. Should he decide to utilize all his powers, he could easily destroy their entire Valley of the Medicine Masters.

 Chapter 155 - You Are Not Eligible!

    The black-robed man floated in the air like a god. He cast a sweeping glance over the ground and those who were looking up at him.


    Towards the question posed by the Valley Head, Su Mo, the expression in his eyes changed from dull to bright like a lightbulb had lit up within him. It was similar to that of two bright stars that lit up the entire night sky!


    He lifted his gaze slightly and lightly cast a glance upon the young man, standing a short distance away from Su Mo.


    This young man was wearing pure white and was staring at this black-robed man with his eyebrows slightly furrowed.


    ¡°Over the past few days, I have been traveling around. In one instance, I saw this young man ride a flying beast that had much youthful energy, the golden-crowned eagle, flying across the sky¡­ At that point, I became curious. Since this tiny little place has no Primal Core adepts, how could there be someone who was able to ride and conquer a beast at such a young age!? This was a flying beast at that!


    ¡°That was the first time I saw this man,¡± the old man said lightly.


    Zhou Donghuang had originally assumed that the old man had arrived for the sake of Chen Dandan. He had not realized that the old man was here for him. His furrowed brows relaxed slightly as this realization dawned upon him.


    After hearing the old man¡¯s words, Chen Dandan¡¯s face turned pale once again. This Primal Core adept, who had appeared like a lucky deity, was here for Zhou Donghuang!? Perhaps he had been amazed by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s strength at his tender age and wanted to take Zhou Donghuang under his wing as a disciple¡­


    ¡°Senior!¡±


    Chen Dandan glanced at the old man anxiously and said, ¡°This Zhou Donghuang is only able to achieve all he has now at this age because he was lucky enough to receive the opportune encounter by a Primal Core adept.


    ¡°I would not be far from his level or below his level if I was the one who had received that gift from the Primal Core adept instead!


    ¡°He is not of pure blood. He is simply a random villager from the country of Yunyang, one of the Sixteen Countries that belong to the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°As for me, I am the daughter of the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯ second elder¡­ My father, Chen Tianhe, was only around 50 years old when he became a mid Connate adept. He is a martial arts prodigy, which is rare in the Valley of the Medicine Masters!¡±


    ¡°I have inherited the bloodline of my father, my martial arts skills definitely surpass him by a lot!¡±


    At this moment, Chen Dandan frantically spouted words and tried her best to undermine the young man¡¯s talents. She was truly afraid that the old man was legitimately interested in the young man¡¯s talents, and that he was about to recruit the young man as his disciple. if that truly happened, she was doomed to die!


    However, despite Chen Dandan¡¯s frantic shouts, the black-robed man, who was floating in the air and shrouded with a faint golden mist, ignored her and did not even spare her a glance.


    The old man glanced at Zhou Donghuang and continued to speak. ¡°Of course, although I was surprised that such a talented youth could appear in a place like this, I did not stay here because of him alone.


    ¡°In any case, in the Xuanyin sect where I¡¯m from, although there aren¡¯t many, there are indeed a sizeable number of younger disciples about his age who have trained to higher levels.¡±


    Once the old man had uttered his words, be it the Valley Head, Su Mo, or the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯ head elder, Yu Meiqin, left and right guardians Wang Tao or Yu Wei¡­ Everyone¡¯s facial expression immediately changed.


    ¡°Xuanyin sect!?¡±


    The general populace may not have been familiar with the Xuanyin sect. However, for these four characters, as they were the elites of the Valley of the Medicine Masters as well as elder folk who had much experience, they definitely had heard of this term before.


    The Xuanyin sect was one of the biggest elite sects among the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, and the most ancient one at that.


    ¡°Senior, could I ask if you are the Xuanyin sect¡¯s Elder Qi Ming or Elder Zhong Ya?¡± Su Mo asked courteously, bowing once again.


    According to his knowledge, in the Xuanyin sect, there were two figures who had entered the ultimate Primal Core stage.


    One of them was Qi Ming, and was about 200 odd years old.


    The other was Zhong Ya and was nearly 300 years old.


    ¡°Ah, I¡¯m surprised that in this tiny little place, someone could really recognize me, I¡¯m Zhong Ya¡­ Hahahahaha¡­ hahahahaha¡­¡±


    The old man laughed out loud heartily. His laughter echoed in all the valleys of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°Greetings, Elder Zhong Ya!¡±


    Once the old man had uttered his name and acknowledged his identity, Su Mo, Yu Meiqin, Wang Tao and Yu Wei immediately bowed fervently, and their eyes had on an expression of admiration. Zhong Ya could be said to be the oldest and most experienced of the Primal Core adepts in the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun. For the past few hundred years, the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun had not yet produced any other adept that came close to Zhong Ya.


    ¡°Xuanyin sect? Zhong Ya?¡±


    The crowd of elders and disciples from the Valley of the Medicine Masters were vaguely familiar with the background of the Primal Core adept before them, but they were not really clear on his actual identity and powers. Nevertheless, they were still welcoming towards this powerful man who had clearly crossed into the ultimate Primal Core stage.


    This was only natural as in the history of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, they had not once yet produced an adept.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang had not heard of Zhong Ya either.


    In his previous life, after living on Earth for a hundred years, although he had returned to the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, he had returned directly to the country of Yunyang, which was one of the Sixteen Countries in the East Valley. All he knew was that there was a sect titled ¡°Valley of the Medicine Masters¡± in the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun which led all the Sixteen Countries of East Valley. Towards other sects, he had little knowledge of them.


    ¡°After meeting him that one time, not long after, I coincidentally received some.¡±


    After saying these words, Zhong Ya¡¯s gaze returned to the young man. ¡°After receiving the returning-heaven grass, I was prepared to leave this tiny little place¡­ I had not expected that I would sense this man¡¯s aura once again while cruising above this valley.


    ¡°At that moment, I began to think that we had a shared destiny.¡±


    Upon hearing this, Chen Dandan¡¯s face changed. It became paler by the minute, and her body began to shake slightly as her mood changed to become more desolate.


    All of a sudden, Zhong Ya¡¯s gaze suddenly moved from Zhou Donghuang to Chen Dandan. ¡°At that time, he had just removed you of your meridians. He was fearlessly waiting for your father to appear¡­ A mid Connate adept was easily killed by this man through the use of a sword made from a sword sphere.


    ¡°Afterwards, he was in total control of the situation.


    ¡°Until¡­ he wanted to kill you.¡±


    As he said these words, Zhong Ya¡¯s eyes slightly narrowed as he smiled. ¡°Returning-heaven grass, which is nicknamed as Back to Heaven, can train and refine the ¡°returning-heaven elixir¡±. Anyone who is at least alive and consumes it can heal any extent of injury, be it light or severe.¡±


    ¡°Even the task of reshaping the meridian is a simple matter to the returning-heaven elixir.¡±


    At this point, Zhong Ya gave a deep glance to Chen Dandan again. As for Chen Dandan, upon hearing the words uttered by Zhong Ya, the desolation in her eyes was immediately replaced by an intense fire.


    ¡°Senior!¡±


    Chen Dandan knelt and hit her head repeatedly on the ground towards Zhong Ya. She was so consumed in this action that she did not care if her forehead started to bleed. ¡°If Senior is willing to offer me the returning-heaven elixir, I¡¯m willing to dedicate my meager life to you!¡±


    Zhong Ya did not respond to Chen Dandan¡¯s pleas and instead continued to speak. ¡°I, Zhong Ya, entered the ultimate Primal Core stage and became a Golden Essence adept more than 80 years ago. However, I have remained stagnant since then and have been unable to improve myself to enter the Dharma stage.


    ¡°In 10 years¡¯ time, if I don¡¯t enter the Dharma stage, my life will end in vain.


    ¡°I left the Xuanyin sect and explored the entire powerful supreme sect of Ziyun in order to find some hope and method of entering the Dharma stage¡­ There is a legend that if one wants to enter the Dharma stage but is innately not yet ready, one needs to actively seek out one¡¯s own fate instead.


    ¡°If not, it would be hard for one to ever enter the Dharma stage¡­¡±


    The Dharma stage was one level higher than the Primal Core¡¯s practice stage.


    Once Connate adepts entered the Primal Core stage, their lives could be extended until they were 300 years old. As for Primal Core adepts, once they entered the Dharma stage, their lives could yet again be extended another 400 years.


    Dharma adepts could live 600 years, double that of a Primal Core adept!


    Zhong Ya, one of Xuanyin sect¡¯s two Golden Essence adepts, was now 290 years old. If he did not manage to cross over to the Dharma stage within the next 10 years, his life would end there and then.


    At this moment, all he could dream about was entering the Dharma stage to add 300 more years to his life.


    Of course, regarding such matters, mere panicking was not going to solve the problem. Zhong Ya thus decided to leave the Xuanyin sect, travel the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun and coincidentally met Zhou Donghuang while he was traveling at an area near the boundary of the Sixteen Countries.


    That was how everything had led to this very moment now.


    ¡°I first met this young man before I gained some returning-heaven grass. Afterwards, I met this young man again¡­ At the second encounter, I witnessed him removing this lady of all her meridians.


    ¡°At that point, I was still merely a bystander watching the spectacle.


    ¡°That is until this young man hinted to the other to kill this lady¡­ An idea occurred to me and flashed across my brain¡­ That is, I felt that this young lady is probably linked to how I managed to find the returning-heaven grass and that I was destined to know her.


    ¡°I reached out my hand to stop you from killing this lady as I wanted to bring her away with me.


    ¡°If she dies, my idea will be in vain, and I¡¯ll lose all hope of crossing into the Dharma stage!¡±


    Once Zhong Ya had uttered these words, his gaze moved from Su Mo to the young lady, Chen Dandan, whose face was now full of surprise and joy. ¡°Are you willing to follow me back to the Xuanyin sect and be my disciple?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Yes, I¡¯m willing to do so!¡±


    This change of events had happened too quickly for Chen Dandan to fully process, and her entire face was flushed red with joy as she knelt three times shakily. ¡°Chen Dandan acknowledges Senior as my teacher!¡±


    Whoosh!


    With a gust of wind that whooshed across the entire field, Zhong Ya¡¯s body, within an instant, disappeared from the skies. When he reappeared, he did so right next to where Chen Dandan was on the ground.


    Of course, it was not that Zhong Ya had really disappeared. It was just that he had moved at an extremely fast speed, in which no one on the ground could see his actual movement. Even Su Mo, who was a late Connate adept, could not clearly see the traces of Zhong Ya¡¯s shockingly fast movements.


    ¡°Here¡¯s to some mental enlightenment!¡±


    Just as Zhong Ya had grabbed one of Chen Dandan¡¯s hand and was planning to fly up to the skies with her to leave for the Xuanyin sect, Zhou Donghuang cast a light glance upon him.


    ¡°It¡¯s your right to try for the path of the Dharma stage¡­ However, this Chen Dandan is someone that I had planned to kill.


    ¡°Today, if you bring her away, it will be akin to starting a grudge against me, Zhou Donghuang¡­ Even if you have the Xuanyin sect behind you, you will still have to bear the consequences of this grudge.


    ¡°Are you prepared to accept that?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gaze pierced Zhong Ya¡¯s retreating, but his tone remained calm and devoid of any emotion.


    ¡°Consequences?¡±


    Zhong Ya turned to glance at Zhong Donghuang, and a look of disdain appeared in his eyes. ¡°Do you think that a mere individual like you could win against someone like me, Zhong Ya from the Xuanyin sect?


    ¡°You should wait till you are able to enter the ultimate Primal Core stage at the very least before you utter such words to me. Maybe then, it would sound a bit more convincing.


    ¡°The you now¡­ is not eligible to say such things!¡±


    Once Zhong Ya had finished speaking, he brought Chen Dandan away, and they disappeared from the martial arts field in front of all the Valley of the Medicine Masters people present.


    In Zhong Ya¡¯s mind, Zhou Donghuang was merely someone who was lucky enough to receive something that a Primal Core adept had left behind. He could also tell that the sword pill that Zhou Donghuang wielded was at most only inherited from a Mid Primal Core adept.

 Chapter 156 - The Shenguang Empire

    Chapter 156 The Shenguang Empire


    Zhou Donghuang was clear on this: With his current state, in the eyes of the Golden Core adept of the Xuanyin sect, he was no different from a grasshopper.


    In his own eyes, everyone present from the Valley of the Medicine Masters, including Su Mo, was no different from grasshoppers.


    The Golden Essence adept did not bother to attack them, and even if Chen Dandan had begged him to strike, he could not possibly condescend to strike.


    ¡°Teacher.¡±


    Chen Dandan, who had finally dared to open her eyes a long time after being brought aloft by Zhong Ya, said: ¡°I want that Zhou Donghuang dead!¡± Her eyes glittered coldly, and her face had a hateful expression.


    ¡°I beg you to attack and kill him for me!¡± Chen Dandan pleaded.


    ¡°I will not condescend to attack a mere early Connate-stage adept.¡± Zhong Ya said flatly.


    ¡°Moreover, I am now approaching the final trial before entering the Dharma Laws stage, and achieving mental enlightenment is paramount. If I lower myself to the level of killing an early Connate-stage adept, it would be difficult to prevent it from hindering my mental enlightenment and from there on affecting my progress to the Dharma Laws stage.¡±


    ¡°If you want to kill him, you¡¯ll be able to do it yourself in a few years.¡±


    ¡°You will follow me back to Xuanyin sect, and I will give the returning heaven grass to the essence master of the sect and ask him to forge a returning heaven core. When the returning heaven core is ready, I will give it to you to restore your meridians.¡±


    ¡°After your meridians are restored, you will practice with me.¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t slack off, you will attain the Connate stage within five years! If you work a little harder, you may even attain the Connate stage within three years.¡± Zhong Ya said.


    Five years? Three years?


    Chen Dandan¡¯s first reaction upon hearing Zhong Ya¡¯s words was ¡°why that long?¡± when Zhou Donghuang had spent just two years on rising from a martial invalid to a Connate-stage adept.


    Of course, Chen Dandan did not dare to question the old man to his face.


    ¡°Yes, Teacher.¡±


    Chen Dandan changed the subject. ¡°If you don¡¯t kill that Zhou Donghuang, you should at least take away that sword sphere from him. That is good stuff!¡±


    An early Connate-stage adept using that sword sphere had intimidated the three greatest middle Connate-stage adepts of the Valley of the Medicine Masters into submission.


    This showed how fearsome the sword sphere was.


    ¡°That sword sphere?¡±


    Zhong Ya smiled in disdain. ¡°Something forged by a middle Primal Core adept at most, no different from rubbish to me.¡±


    ¡°When you attain the Connate stage, I can forge a better sword sphere for you myself.¡±


    Zhong Ya spoke extremely casually, as though a mere sword sphere was nothing to him at all.


    Chen Dandan¡¯s eyes lit up immediately.


    The old man¡¯s words had inadvertently revealed something: The treasure obtained by Zhou Donghuang had been left behind by a middle Primal Core adept at best.


    And her teacher was a supreme Primal Core adept!


    The supreme Primal Core stage was a whole two levels above the middle Primal Core stage, which were as far apart as earth and cloud in terms of ability.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    With a murderous look in her eyes, Chen Dandan looked in the direction of the Valley of the Medicine Masters. ¡°When I, Chen Dandan, return after restoring my practice, I will cut Lin Lan into a thousand pieces before your eyes, then do the same to you!¡±


    ¡°As for that Valley Lord Su Mo of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, since you have willingly become Zhou Donghuang¡¯s dog, I will send you and your disciples along the same path!¡±


    The Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    The training grounds.


    After Su Mo borrowed Head Elder Yu Mei¡¯s flying demon and personally sent off a youth dressed in a robe whiter than snow, Yu Mei and the other elders of the Valley of the Medicine Masters left.


    The two protectors of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Wang Tao and Yu Wei, seeing that Su Mo and the youth had ridden away on the flying demon, left as well.


    Suddenly, only the crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters was left in the vast training grounds.


    Now, this crowd of disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters was still seething with excitement. ¡°I never imagined that I would actually be able to see a Primal Core adept!¡±


    ¡°I had heard that the Primal Core adepts of legend could fly through the air, but legends are just legends, and deep down in my heart I didn¡¯t quite dare believe it. It was only when I personally witnessed that elder flying through the air today that I finally believed those legends.¡±


    ¡°The same goes for me too.¡±


    The appearance of the Primal Core adept succeeded in attracting the attention of all the disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters present and completely refocused their attention.


    However, once their discussion about the Primal Core adept had died away, the topic of conversation once again returned to the youth in white.


    ¡°That youth called ¡®Zhou Donghuang¡¯ has actually been acknowledged as Master by the Valley Lord?¡±


    ¡°If I had not seen it with my own eyes, I would not have believed it even if you were to beat me to death: Our exalted Valley Lord, the mightiest person in the region of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, actually acknowledged a youth who looks like a nineteen-year-old as Master!¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t know what the Valley Lord is thinking.¡±


    ¡°We will not be able to even guess his innermost thoughts.¡±


    This matter of Valley Lord Su Mo acknowledging that youth as Master that was so difficult for the disciples of the Valley of the Medicine Masters to understand was equally incomprehensible for the group of elders.


    But no matter what, the Valley Lord was supreme and unquestioned in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    They had to support him unconditionally.


    ¡°From this day on, there is one more person above the Valley Lord. He has become the person whose word carries absolute authority in the Valley of the Medicine Masters!¡±


    This point was extremely clear to everyone in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Somewhere else.


    Valley Lord Su Mo personally sent the youth back to the cavern.


    ¡°Tell me about the origins of Zhong Ya.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang stopped Su Mo just as he was preparing to take his leave.


    Zhong Ya was the old man who had brought Chen Dandan away earlier, and other than being a supreme Primal Core adept, he also seemed to be from a sect called Xuanyin.


    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±


    Hearing the youth bring up Zhong Ya, Su Mo¡¯s expression immediately turned serious. ¡°That Zhong Ya is one of the two forefathers of the Xuanyin sect.¡±


    ¡°The two forefathers of the Xuanyin sect are both supreme Primal Core adepts. Between the two, Zhong Ya is older; the other is only just over two hundred years old, just entering the prime of his life.¡±


    ¡°As for the Xuanyin sect, it is one of the several strongest sects of our planet of Ziyun, and they are superior to all the great empires of the planet of Ziyun.¡±


    Su Mo¡¯s explanation gave Zhou Donghuang not only a clear understanding of the Golden Core adept Zhong Ya¡¯s origins, but also a deep understanding of the situation on the planet of Ziyun.


    On the planet of Ziyun, the most powerful factions were the sects, including the Xuanyin sect, followed by the various great empires.


    These empires were completely different from the small countries in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    In those small countries, there might not even be a Connate-stage adept, while in those empires, there were not just supreme Primal Core adepts, but also numerous ordinary Primal Core adepts.


    ¡°Our Valley of the Medicine Masters is located beyond the southeast border of the Shenguang Empire. That area is remote and difficult to access, which is why the Shenguang Empire has no intention of extending its influence here.¡±


    ¡°To the Shenguang Empire, the area of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley administered by the Valley of the Medicine Masters is merely a rural backwater. In addition, there is nothing of value here, so they simply aren¡¯t willing to expend manpower to occupy the area and would rather leave us to fend for ourselves.¡±


    ¡°It is under these circumstances, over the past few hundred years, that our Valley of the Medicine Masters has developed into what it is today.¡±


    ¡°That Guiyuan sect which administers the Fourteen Countries of the North Border shares roughly the same circumstances as the Valley of the Medicine Masters. Although the Fourteen Countries of the North Border are also outside the borders of the Shenguang Empire, they are to their south.¡±


    ¡°And the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley are to their east.¡±


    This was what exactly what Su Mo had said.


    On the planet of Ziyun, the various great empires were all under one of the powerful supreme sects of the planet of Ziyun and were vassals of that sect.


    Although the imperial courts of the various great empires were hereditary, they were usually responsible only for ruling the empires, and their military strength was average.


    Their greatest source of military strength came from the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun which was backing them.


    ¡°On the planet of Ziyun, there are five powerful supreme sects. The Xuanyin sect is only one of them.¡±


    ¡°Correspondingly, there are five empires in total on Ziyun.¡±


    ¡°The Shenguang Empire which is closest to us is under a sect called ¡®Shenguang¡¯ which is a Buddhist sect.¡±


    As Su Mo paused, Zhou Donghuang narrowed his eyes, unable to help thinking about the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood that had already been absorbed into his body.


    Could Buddha¡¯s lifeblood have been left behind by a forefather of the Shenguang sect?


    It was no wonder that Zhou Donghuang was thinking of this.


    Of the five great empires of Ziyun, the closest to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley was the Shenguang Empire, and the Shenguang Empire was under the Shenguang sect.


    ¡°You mentioned earlier that on the planet of Ziyun there has not been a Dharma Laws adept for several hundred years?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked Su Mo.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Su Mo nodded.


    ¡°It is now the year 1230 in the Ziyun era, which means that the current civilization on the planet of Ziyun began over one thousand two hundred years ago. In over a thousand years, how many Dharma Laws adepts have there been from Ziyun?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked.


    ¡°According to ancient records, there were only two, and they were not contemporaries.¡±


    As Su Mo continued, he seemed to remember something, and his eyes lit up. ¡°One of them was from the Shenguang sect!¡±


    ¡°That person was a martial prodigy from the Shenguang sect seven hundred years ago who attained the Dharma Laws stage when he was close to three hundred years old, dominating that period. The Shenguang sect at that time was the most powerful and influential on Ziyun and was at the peak of its power!¡±


    ¡°However, in the following three hundred years, he remained at the early Dharma Laws stage, and was unable to advance.¡±


    ¡°It is said that at the end of his life, he left the Shenguang sect and did not end his life with the Shenguang sect, nor did he leave his Buddha¡¯s lifeblood for the later generation of disciples of the Shenguang sect.¡±


    As he finished, Su Mo could not help letting out a sigh. ¡°It is this that left the greatest impression of that forefather on the later generations of the planet of Ziyun.¡±


    ¡°The question is: where did he go to end his life? And was the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood that he left behind acquired by someone?¡±

 Chapter 157 - The Black Market

    After listening to Su Mo, Zhou Donghuang was able to confidently confirm: The Buddha¡¯s lifeblood that the two golden-crowned eagles had led him to was left behind by the Dharma Laws adept of the Shenguang sect.


    The level of practice, the time period, and the location all matched up.


    Before that early Dharma-Laws-stage adept of the Shenguang sect entered his final sleep, he chose to pass on from a dangerous cliff in a place not far from the Shenguang Empire in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    ¡°Master.¡±


    Suddenly, Su Mo¡¯s expression turned serious. ¡°That Chen Dandan has now entered the Xuanyin sect under Zhong Ya; moreover, Zhong Ya has obtained the returning heaven grass that can produce a returning heaven core.¡±


    ¡°With the returning heaven core, Chen Dandan¡¯s destroyed meridians can recover to their original state, and as she is under Zhong Ya, her future level of practice will increase at an incredible rate!¡±


    ¡°In the future, I fear she could be a disaster for us.¡±


    As he said this, Su Mo¡¯s eyes filled with dread.


    After all, this time he, and by extension the Valley of the Medicine Masters, had offended Chen Dandan, and she would most probably be back for revenge.


    ¡°Chen Dandan?¡±


    Hearing Su Mo mention that young lady who had been brought away by the forefather of the Xuanyin sect, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes narrowed as a cold gleam flashed across them.


    The incident that day was something he had not foreseen.


    In Zhou Donghuang¡¯s previous life, Chen Dandan had not had this opportunity and had passed away from old age in the Valley of the Medicine Masters after attaining the Connate stage.


    However, from what that Zhong Ya said, Chen Dandan had this opportunity entirely because of him.


    Earlier, Zhong Ya had said that it was because he had seen Zhou Donghuang speed past riding a Great Consummation flying demon that his attention had been attracted to Zhou Donghuang.


    After that, Zhong Ya had passed by the Valley of the Medicine Masters after obtaining the returning heaven grass and had detected traces of Zhou Donghuang, which was why he had come to the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    As for what had happened later on, it was well known.


    ¡°Chen Dandan, so what if your fate has changed because of me? When you were in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, I came to the Valley of the Medicine Masters to kill you. Since you have gone to the Xuanyin sect, I will go to the Xuanyin sect and kill you!¡± thought Zhou Donghuang.


    He suddenly opened his eyes, which shone coldly. ¡°As for that Zhong Ya, since he and the Xuanyin sect persist in contributing to this karma, I will flatten his Xuanyin sect!¡±


    Although Zhou Donghuang muttered this to himself softly, Su Mo, who was standing nearby, nevertheless heard it clearly.


    Su Mo could not help exhaling a breath of cold air, never imagining that this master that he served had such lofty ambitions.


    Flattening the Xuanyin sect?


    Was it even possible?


    The Xuanyin sect was one of the five most powerful sects of the planet of Ziyun that stood at the peak of the hierarchy of the planet of Ziyun.


    To flatten the Xuanyin sect would require a level of practice at least of the Dharma Laws stage.


    Although the youth before him had a level of practice at the early Connate stage at only nineteen years of age, as the forefather of the Xuanyin sect Zhong Ya had said, there were numerous youths his age in the Xuanyin sect who had already exceeded this.


    Moreover, those disciples of the Xuanyin sect might not have the chance to attain the Dharma Laws stage, never mind this youth.


    Therefore, Su Mo did not take the youth¡¯s vengeful words seriously, taking them instead as words spoken in a fit of anger.


    In a moment, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s cold glare was gone, and he looked at Su Mo. ¡°I can probably find spirit stones in the Shenguang Empire, am I right?¡±


    Spirit stones were special stones formed when ordinary stones accumulated a great quantity of spirit energy from the environment, storing the spirit energy within them.


    Using spirit stones to practice could replace the need to absorb spirit energy from the environment, and the latter method could be used in synergy with the former to make practicing even more efficient.


    Since there were many Primal Core adepts in the Shenyang Empire, it was not possible that there were no spirit stones there.


    As for the five elite sects which stood at the peak of Ziyun, including the Xuanyin sect, they would not be lacking spirit stones.


    Zhou Donghuang was sure that they controlled a lode of spirit stones; otherwise, they would not be able to sustain a sect of such quality.


    That day, Zhong Ya of the Xuanyin sect had already said that in the Xuanyin sect, although those of similar age as he but already exceeding him in the level of practice were not numerous, there were more than a few.


    Those people must be prodigies that the Xuanyin sect had raised up on piles of spirit stones.


    ¡°Spirit stones?!¡±


    When he heard Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, Su Mo¡¯s eyes widened, and he smiled bitterly as he said, ¡°Master, you might be able to get spirit stones in the Shenyang Empire, but it is extremely difficult.¡±


    ¡°In the several hundred years of history of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, only the forefather who established it managed to buy a spirit stone in the Shenguang Empire, and that only at great cost after he attained the Connate stage.¡±


    ¡°He had planned to use the spirit stone to aid him in one great effort to attain the Primal Core stage and become a Primal Core adept.¡±


    ¡°However, when the spirit energy in the spirit stone had been used up, he was still unable to break through.¡±


    ¡°In the personal letter that he left behind at the end of his life, he said that if he¡¯d had three spirit stones at that time, he would have been confident of attaining the Primal Core stage.¡±


    At this, Su Mo hesitated some time before continuing, ¡°Spirit stones are extremely valuable. Even if the Valley of the Medicine Masters gathered everything of value in this valley, it might not be enough to buy one from the black market in the Shenguang Empire.¡±


    ¡°The black market in the Shenguang Empire?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes gleamed, and he asked brusquely, ¡°Can the black market in the Shenguang Empire guarantee the privacy of the negotiating parties?¡±


    ¡°Master, you can be assured on this,¡± Su Mo said.


    ¡°Operating as a middleman, the black market in the Shenguang Empire does business based on trust. That year, the forefather of the Valley of the Medicine Masters chose to buy the spirit stone from the black market of the Shenguang Empire at great cost precisely because buying the spirit stone there guaranteed his personal safety one hundred percent.¡±


    ¡°If he had chosen another option, the price he forked out to buy that single spirit stone on the black market might even have been able to get him two spirit stones.¡±


    ¡°Although he might have been able to get two spirit stones with other options, it was very possible that he would have been killed by someone else once he received the spirit stones,¡± Su Mo concluded in one breath.


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded. ¡°In one month¡¯s time, you¡¯ll come with me to the Shenguang Empire. I want to take a look at the black market.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master,¡± Su Mo acknowledged respectfully.


    ¡°Also, for this period of time, you may stay here and practice with me.¡±


    At first, Su Mo did not take the youth¡¯s words seriously but felt it was improper to refuse, so he planned to make a gesture of staying several days to practice before finding an excuse to return to his accommodation.


    However, shortly after he had sat down and begun to practice a golden light reached out from the wooden house and touched him, and he felt the efficiency of his practice increase greatly.


    His rate of practice was more than double what it previously was!


    This master of mine¡­ what kind of person is he? What kind of technique is this? He can help me increase my rate of practice by an incredible degree!


    Su Mo was surprised and shocked.


    It must be stated that when he had previously used the Connate elixir formulated by the youth, he had already felt his rate of practice increase dramatically, which gave him the hope of attaining the Primal Core stage.


    Now, under the glow of the golden light that reached out from inside the wooden house, his rate of practice was further increased: more than a hundred percent faster than his original base rate!


    If I keep using the Connate elixir formulated by my master to aid my practice while practicing by his side, I will definitely attain the Primal Core stage in ten years at the most!


    Su Mo¡¯s eyes shone with irrepressible excitement.


    Right at that moment, Su Mo¡¯s respect for his master, that youth who was inside the wooden house, increased further, because his dreams of the Primal Core stage were tightly bound together with his master.


    What Su Mo did not know at this time was that although Zhou Donghuang had granted him the aid of his Buddha¡¯s lifeblood to practice, the strength of it was not even one-tenth of what he had given to the golden-crowned eagle, Big Gold.


    Zhou Donghuang was intentionally holding back.


    Su Mo had yet to win his complete approval. And, he wanted to leave enough strength in his Buddha¡¯s lifeblood for himself to attain the Primal Core stage.


    If Zhou Donghuang had lent the full strength of the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood to aid Su Mo in his practice, Su Mo would be able to attain the Primal Core stage in two years at most, given his current level of practice and his martial talent


    ¡°When I attain the middle Connate stage, I will make a trip to the black market in the Shenguang empire to buy a spirit stone. If I have a spirit stone to practice with, my level of practice will be further boosted,¡± Zhou Donghuang thought.


    In the wooden house, Zhou Donghuang, who had been practicing, suddenly opened his eyes with a burning gaze. ¡°If I can get enough spirit stones to aid my practice in addition to the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood, I can attain the Primal Core stage in less than a year!¡±


    ¡°Two years ago, I set the goal of attaining the Primal Core stage within five years.¡±


    ¡°Now, if I have enough spirit stones, I can attain the Primal Core stage within a year, achieving the target I set with two years to spare!


    Even though Zhou Donghuang had a thousand years of memories from his previous life, the thought of this made deep waves in his heart.


    Attaining the Primal Core stage and becoming a Primal Core adept implied that he could enable his essential core to fly through the air and physically cross the stars.


    At that time, he would be able to leave the planet of Ziyun and move on to other planets.


    ¡­


    One month was not very short, but neither was it long.


    It passed in the blink of an eye.


    In the month that passed, everything in the Valley of the Medicine Masters had returned to its peaceful state, and fewer and fewer people brought up the incident that had occurred the month before at the training grounds.


    Time was able to wipe everything clean.


    Of course, even though fewer and fewer people brought up the incident, what had taken place that day was seared into the memories of those who had been present.


    A Primal Core adept.


    And the youthful master of Su Mo, their Valley Lord of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Swoosh!!


    A giant black eagle with a wingspan of over ten meters sped away like a bolt of black lightning from the valley where the Valley of the Medicine Masters was located.


    This giant black eagle had eyes that seemed to spark with electricity, and the golden crown of feathers on its head was like the fierce burning of a roaring fire.


    ¡°Master, your ¡­ your golden-crowned eagle has attained the Connate stage already?¡±


    On the back of the giant eagle, a middle-aged man in elegant gray clothes with a refined face turned his shocked look away from the giant eagle and looked at the youth dressed in clothes whiter than snow whose back was facing him.

 Chapter 158 - The Planet Tianxuan

    Several days before Zhou Donghuang had attained the middle Connate stage, the golden-crowned eagle Big Gold had also smoothly attained the Connate stage and become a Connate-stage demon!


    As a Connate-stage demon, Big Gold¡¯s physical form had grown a size bigger, and his fully expanded wingspan was over ten meters. His speed was in a completely different league compared to before it had broken through.


    ¡°This golden-crowned eagle has just broken through to the Connate stage, and in terms of speed, it is a match for my own trusty mount¡­¡±


    At that moment, after getting confirmation from the youth himself, Su Mo gazed at the golden-crowned eagle he was standing on as though in a daze, thinking of the Connate demon silver-crowned crane, previously held by the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    That silver-crowned crane had been killed by his current master Zhou Donghuang half a year ago.


    ¡°Where exactly is the black market of the Shenguang empire?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked down through the clouds at the half-seen wilderness which seemed never-ending as he questioned Su Mo.


    When leaving the Valley of the Medicine Masters by this route to travel to the Shenguang empire, all there was to see were mountain ranges and desolate wilderness. Even small villages were seldom seen. Now, Zhou Donghuang could completely understand why the Shenguang empire would not bother to occupy the land of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    The Sixteen Countries of the East Valley was simply too remote.


    In the eyes of the Shenguang empire, the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley were a worthless backwater, one that yielded no value through occupation.


    ¡°Master.¡±


    Su Mo replied to Zhou Donghuang¡¯s question. ¡°The black market of the Shenguang empire is in the empire¡¯s capital city. Previously, in my free time after practicing, I reviewed the personal letter left behind by the founding valley lord of the Valley of the Medicine Masters before he passed on and gained a better understanding of the Shenguang black market.¡±


    ¡°The imperial court of the Shenguang empire, and even the Shenguang sect that backs the imperial court, is unable to rein in the black market of the Shenguang empire. This is because the powers behind the black market include the five elite sects of Ziyun, including the Shenguang sect and also the Xuanyin sect.¡±


    ¡°The black market¡¯s existence is monitored jointly by the five great sects. Occasionally one of the sects will send someone undercover to do business, and if fighting erupts between the parties involved, they will ferret out the culprits. The sect that is backing the culprit will have to cough up four thousand spirit stones as a fine, paid to the other four sects in equal shares.¡±


    ¡°Under such circumstances, none of the five great sects dares to steal a profit from the black market.¡±


    ¡°The black market has five gathering points, which are in the capital cities of the empires under the five elite sects of the planet of Ziyun.¡±


    ¡­


    Su Mo¡¯s explanation gave Zhou Donghuang a better understanding of the black market in the Shenguang empire.


    In actual fact, the black market was something that the five elite sects of Ziyun had created together, and the yearly profits of the black market were split equally by the five sects.


    ¡°The profits from the black market are enormous. For example, we might want to exchange two spirit stones for a product. When we receive our product, one of the two spirit stones will be kept by the black market, and the other spirit stone will be given to the seller.¡±


    Su Mo click could not help clicking his tongue at this.


    ¡°As that founding forefather of the Valley of the Medicine Masters knew, the price paid to the black market could actually be exchanged for two spirit stones. But because the black market took half, the other half could only be exchanged for one spirit stone.¡±


    Su Mo¡¯s more detailed explanation gave Zhou Donghuang an understanding of the rules of the black market.


    The black market guaranteed absolute privacy of both the buyer and seller.


    However, the party who initiated the transaction would have to pay a significant price.


    ¡°I never imagined that such a market would exist on a small planet like Ziyun.¡± Zhou Donghuang was startled.


    Black markets like the one on the planet of Ziyun were not uncommon in the myriad civilizations of the universe.


    ¡°How long will it take to reach the capital of the Shenguang empire from the Valley of the Medicine Masters at the speed of my golden-crowned eagle?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked Su Mo.


    ¡°That silver-crowned crane of the Valley of the Medicine Masters carried me once to the capital of the Shenguang empire when it had just attained the Connate stage and become a Connate stage demon. That time it took a little over three months.¡±


    Su Mo answered, ¡°More than two of those months was spent traveling from the Valley of the Medicine Masters to the southeast border of the Shenguang empire. After arriving at the southeast border of the Shenguang empire, the silver-crowned crane that had just attained the Connate stage took about twenty days to arrive at the capital of the Shenguang empire.¡±


    Su Mo paused and could not help sighing. ¡°The Valley of the Medicine Masters, and even the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, is simply too far from the Shenguang empire. Nevertheless, the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley and even the Valley of the Medicine Masters have not been annexed by the Shenguang empire.¡±


    Su Mo¡¯s statement was something that Zhou Donghuang had guessed at long before, and it did not surprise him.


    Three months later.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes gleamed, and he sat down cross-legged to prepare to begin practicing. ¡°It seems that I have a chance of attaining the late Connate stage by the time we arrive at the capital of the Shenguang empire, and even if I have not, my level of practice by that time will not be far from the late Connate stage.¡±


    Ever since he had formulated the Connate elixir, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s level of practice had advanced at an unimaginable rate.


    With the Connate elixir added to the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood in his body, along with the technique of the Lord of the Four Supremes, which had a superior Connate stage component even compared to the top techniques of the Way of the Thousand-star Sword and Fiery Thunder Training Regimen, Zhou Donghuang had already smoothly attained the middle Connate stage in just over a month after arriving at the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    According to his calculations, he would be able to attain the late Connate stage in roughly two to three months.


    Without the help of spirit stones, it would take at least half a year to practice from the late Connate stage to the supreme Connate stage. Proceeding from the supreme Connate stage to the Primal Core stage would take from a year to one-and-a-half years, or even up to two years!


    Advancing at this rate of practice was too slow! Zhou Donghuang longed for a spirit stone to help him attain the Primal Core stage as soon as possible so to become a Primal Core adept!


    ¡°For the remainder of the journey until we reach the capital city of the Shenguang empire, if there is nothing that you must absolutely wake me for, don¡¯t interrupt my practice.¡±


    After exchanging some pleasantries with Su Mo, Zhou Donghuang immersed himself in his practice, devoting himself fully to the Lord of the Four Supremes. As he used the effects of the Connate elixir in his body, the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood extended and integrated itself into his body¡¯s qi.


    ¡­


    In the boundless universe, there are uncountable stars, and Earth is just one of them, as is the planet of Ziyun.


    The planet of Tianxuan was also just one of them.


    However, Earth, Ziyun, and Tianxuan each do not belong to the same region of space, and the distance between them is vast. However, the distance between the regions of space in which they are located is not considered vast.


    The planet of Tianxuan is located in a region of space called the ¡®Luohe stars¡¯. It is one of the larger planets and is better endowed with resources for practice. The martial scene was thriving, and Primal Core adepts were numerous as dogs, Connate adepts were everywhere, and there were even many Dharma Laws adepts.


    At that moment, the atmosphere in the sky above a vast mansion on the planet of Ziyun was tense and hostile.


    ¡°Hand over He Meng; otherwise we will completely wipe out the He family today!¡±


    A stick-thin old woman in a wide, loose, green long robe floated in the air, staring coldly at the three people as she growled at them.


    An image of an ape over thirty meters tall appeared over the old woman¡¯s body. This giant ape was robust and muscular, in stark contrast to the old woman¡¯s stick-thin body, and it beat its chest with its thick, muscled arms as it roared.


    Now, blood dripped from the corners of the mouths of the three people facing her, and they looked dispirited.


    A ten-meter-tall image appeared over each of them: a tiger, a sword, and a flame.


    These ten-meter-tall images were like three-year-old children standing before an adult compared to the image of the giant ape. The larger would be able to abuse the smaller at will, and the smaller would have absolutely no power to retaliate.


    ¡°Young Mistress Luo, you have known my daughter He Meng for many years. Must you be so intent on killing her?¡±


    The middle-aged man who projected the image of the giant tiger looked pleadingly at the young lady beside the green-robed old lady, and asked with a bitter expression, ¡°This whole issue is because she has been confused. If you¡¯ll spare her, I will give her to you as a slave for a hundred years to do with as you please. How about that?¡±


    The lady, Luo Qinghan, was the first among the young generation of the Luo family, the pride of the Luo family, the future hope of the Luo family.


    His daughter, He Ming, was the pride of the He family, the future hope of the He family.


    ¡°Patriarch He, if, after ten breaths, He Meng has still not shown herself, as of today the He family will no longer exist.¡±


    The girl standing beside the old lady was about twenty years old, with long hair that flowed down like a waterfall, beautiful and elegant features, and vermillion lips. She was wearing a light green long dress and a stunning face that was now radiating coldness.


    In addition to her icy expression and her freezing gaze, her tone was completely emotionless.


    Just as the girl had finished speaking.


    ¡°Luo Qinghan!¡±


    With a shrill cry, a girl in a pink long-sleeved dress was borne aloft from the mansion below on the back of a flying demon and was staring at the girl in the green dress.


    ¡°Young Lord Yuan is handsome, and exceeds you in martial talent, and I, He Meng, have pursued him for many years and failed. What I did that day was also to help you benefit, so that the Luo family could use him and the sect behind him to benefit all parties. Don¡¯t be ungrateful!¡±


    The girl in the pink dress stood on the back of the flying demon with a look of indignation. She had never imagined that the man who said he would protect her had still not come back.


    Evidently he had abandoned her.


    ¡°To him ¡­ I am only a pawn.¡±

 Chapter 159 - Dharma Laws Adepts

    Chapter 159: Dharma Laws Adepts


    ¡°You are still harping about the issue of rights at this moment?¡±


    Hearing He Meng¡¯s explanations, Luo Qinghan¡¯s expression became even colder, and with a flicker of her body, she sprang forward like a banshee, appearing in an instant not far from the girl in the pink dress riding the flying demon, while silver light enveloped her and gave off a freezing aura.


    ¡°You ¡­ you have attained the late Primal Core stage?¡±


    He Meng now saw the silver light enveloping Luo Qinghan¡¯s body, and her expression changed completely, shock and incomprehension showing on her face.


    If she recalled correctly: Luo Qinghan was only twenty-two years old. Had she already attained the late Primal Core stage and become a silver Primal Core adept?


    Even the man that He Meng adored, the one who was supposed to have even greater martial talent than Luo Qinghan, had only attained the late Primal Core stage when he was twenty-five years old¡­


    How did Luo Qinghan manage to progress to the late Primal Core stage from the early Primal Core stage in such a short period of time?


    He Meng could not understand it.


    According to the martial talent that Luo Qinghan had previously shown, even attaining the middle Primal Core stage at this time would already be unimaginable to most people.


    ¡°By riding on your luck!¡±


    Luo Qinghan smiled coldly, and the milk-white haze around her body became more translucent.


    Swish!


    Luo Qinghan flicked out her sleeve, and a thread composed entirely of essential core whistled out straight for the spot between He Meng¡¯s eyebrows, so fast that He Meng, who had not even attained the Primal Core stage, was completely unable to react.


    ¡°Meng¡¯er!¡±


    As the middle-aged man who had earlier pleaded to Luo Qinghan saw that Luo Qinghan¡¯s first strike at his daughter was with fatal intent, his expression changed completely, and the ten-meter image of a giant tiger stretched its jaws savagely as it tensed its body, as though it was about to spring forward at any time.


    ¡°He Jing, if you dare attack, all traces of your He family will be completely wiped off the planet of Tianxuan!¡±


    The old woman who came together with Luo Qinghan spoke calmly as she waited for a chance to kill. The giant ape being projected from her body swung its muscular arms to beat its chest faster and faster, as a cold, fierce light shone from its eyes.


    ¡°Patriarch, you must not attack!¡±


    ¡°Patriarch, let Young Mistress bear the consequences of the disaster she created! Don¡¯t drag the entire family down because of her mistake.¡±


    As the old woman¡¯s words died away, the other two old people next to the patriarch of the He family He Jing hurriedly tried to restrain He Jing, while the giant sword and the giant flame projected from their bodies began to move, blocking the path of the giant tiger.


    He Jing¡¯s ten-meter-tall tiger and the sword and flame of the two old people were actually their dharma.


    Adepts of the Dharma Laws stage could use the primal core within their bodies to utilize dharma to fight their enemies, and the higher their level of practice was, the stronger their dharma would be.


    Ten-meter dharmas were the hallmark of adepts at the middle Dharma Laws stage.


    The He family was considered a reputable great family on Tianxuan, and the strongest in the family were the three middle Dharma-Laws-stage adepts present, and it was because of the existence of the three Dharma Laws adepts that the He family could claim their territory on Tianxuan.


    In any case, the old woman who had come here with Luo Qinghan that day was one of the only two late Dharma Laws adepts from the Luo family, which was even stronger than the He family.


    Earlier, the old woman had attacked and wounded the three great middle Dharma-Laws-stage adepts of the He family after only several rounds. The difference in their ability was simply too great, and the He family was unable to resist.


    ¡°Young Mistress Luo, have mercy!¡±


    As a cry sounded from the He family mansion below, a giant dharma image flew out of the He family mansion. It was a curved saber, which appeared protectively in front of He Meng, blocking Luo Qinghan¡¯s attack.


    At the same time, below this giant saber, the figure of an old man appeared.


    ¡°Hrmph!¡±


    Seeing that someone had blocked Luo Qinghan¡¯s attack, the old lady with Luo Qinghan let out a cold snort, and the thirty-meter-tall image of the ape projected from her body leaped forward with a savage look in its eyes. Although it looked clumsy, its body like a small mountain, its speed was incredible.


    In an instant, before the three middle Dharma Laws adepts of the He family could react, the image of the giant ape had already rushed to the old man who had protected He Meng.


    Woosh!!


    The giant ape lifted its fist and smashed it down, grabbing the three-meter-tall saber projected by the old man.


    Crash!!


    Crash crash!!


    ¡­


    The giant ape grabbed the curved saber in its fist and squeezed, and the saber immediately shattered. Without the protection of the dharma, the old man burst apart from the squeeze of the giant fist, destroyed completely!


    A mere early Dharma Laws adept was completely helpless before a late Dharma Laws adept.


    ¡°Fifth elder!¡±


    He Jing¡¯s expression changed, and the expressions of the two old people beside him grew foul.


    ¡°Fifth grandfather!¡±


    He Meng paled, never imagining that her poor decision would harm not only herself but this old man who loved her so much and who treated her like his own granddaughter.


    ¡°He Meng, if you had come out earlier to take responsibility, you would not have brought disaster on others.¡±


    At the moment the old man died, a look of regret flashed across Luo Qinghan¡¯s eyes. Then her gaze turned cold once again, and the silver thread whistled out, passing exactly between He Ming¡¯s brows and killing her!


    ¡°Granny, let¡¯s go.¡±


    Just as the gaze of the old woman who had killed the old man who had tried to block Luo Qinghan¡¯s attack became colder, and she began thinking of exacting greater revenge on the He family, Luo Qinghan spoke up. ¡°The one who started this is dead. Let the matter rest.¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡±


    At Luo Qinghan¡¯s words, the old woman glanced discreetly at her, and the cold look in her eyes vanished and was replaced by a deep look of tenderness.


    As she turned to leave with Luo Qinghan, the old woman looked back and swept a cold gaze over the three members of the He family. ¡°If Qinghan had not been benevolent, today, I would have directly wiped out the He family!¡±


    ¡°Many thanks to Young Mistress Luo for showing mercy!¡±


    The two old people beside patriarch He Jing of the He family hurriedly voiced thanks to the back of the young lady with a bitter and helpless smile on their lips.


    The old woman with Luo Qinghan was too strong.


    Her level of practice was already high, and her dharma that she created was incomparably powerful. There were barely any late Dharma Laws adepts who could stand up to her.


    The most important thing was that such a powerful person was the granny of Young Mistress Luo Qinghan.


    And it was also because of Luo Qinghan¡¯s existence that this powerful adept would humble herself and stay with the Luo family instead of joining a faction on the planet of Tianxuan that was even stronger than the Luo family and enjoyed better prospects.


    ¡­


    ¡°Qinghan.¡±


    After leaving the He family mansion, the old woman looked lovingly at the breathtakingly beautiful girl in green beside her. ¡°You really don¡¯t need me to go and bring that fellow here from Ziyun?¡±


    ¡°Granny, you¡¯re talking nonsense again.¡±


    Luo Qinghan frowned slightly and said irritably, ¡°He and I just had a chance encounter. That time was just an accident. In the future, there will be no dealings between us.¡±


    ¡°Since you feel that you both will have no dealings in the future, I will make a trip to the planet of Ziyun and kill him and that will be it.¡±


    A murderous look flashed across the old woman¡¯s eyes and she smiled coldly. ¡°Since he has spoiled my granddaughter¡¯s purity, if I don¡¯t kill him, I will not be able to vent the hate in my heart!¡±


    ¡°Granny!¡±


    Luo Qinghan¡¯s expression changed, as though she had been frightened. ¡°Don¡¯t be rash. I¡¯ve told you many times that what happened between us was just an accident. If you really want to talk about it, he was the victim. You can¡¯t just kill innocents, good people killed by mistake.¡±


    ¡°Ha-ha! Your granny is just kidding. What is there to be anxious about? Does he have a place in your heart?¡±


    The old woman laughed, and the murderous look in her eyes vanished, replaced by a teasing expression. ¡°If you really like him, I will bring him over from the planet of Ziyun, and you both can get married, become husband and wife. Seeing you get married on your mother¡¯s behalf would be something I could tell your mother when I meet her in the underworld.¡±


    ¡°Granny, what nonsense are you talking about? You are only approaching five hundred years old. You still have more than a hundred years to try and make it to the Primordial Soul stage. You will definitely be able to break through!¡± Luo Qinghan said with some displeasure.


    ¡°The Primordial Soul stage?¡±


    The old woman shook her head. ¡°If I am able to see you start a family, attain the supreme Dharma Laws stage, and have some insight into the highest levels of the Dharma Laws stage before I pass on at six hundred years of age, I will have no regrets. The last time a Primordial Soul adept appeared on Tianxuan was over a thousand years ago.¡±


    ¡°Granny, I have confidence in you.¡±


    Luo Qinghan looked earnestly at the old woman with a resolute gaze.


    ¡°Fine, let¡¯s not talk about this now.¡±


    The old woman shook her head with a smile before her expression became serious. ¡°Girl, are you certain that that little fellow is from the planet of Ziyun?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    Luo Qinghan nodded. ¡°He is only someone from a small place on the planet of Ziyun. In that small place, he is considered a martial prodigy, but in the context of the whole of Ziyun, he can only be considered ordinary. At that time, he was at least sixteen or seventeen years old, but he had not even attained the Connate stage.¡±


    ¡°That is indeed strange.¡±


    The old woman frowned slightly. ¡°Not long after you came back, I made a special trip to that planet Ziyun to check it out. Over there, there aren¡¯t even any Dharma Laws adepts, and it is a martially backward planet with only five small inferior quality spirit stone mines.¡±


    ¡°This kind of martially backward planet cannot produce someone with such noble blood.¡±


    After her granddaughter had that happy dalliance on the planet of Ziyun with that little fellow who had not even attained the Connate stage, her rate of practice had increased by leaps and bounds, as though the happy dalliance had given a sky-high boost to her talent.


    This circumstance could only have one cause: That little fellow who had enjoyed her granddaughter had been a boy.


    Moreover, he was of noble blood, and his martial talent had far exceeded her granddaughter¡¯s. This was what had inexplicably changed her granddaughter¡¯s constitution and elevated her martial talent.

 Chapter 160 - The Conflict Above the Capital

    ¡°I don¡¯t know whether he is of a noble bloodline.¡±¡±I don¡¯t know whether he is of a noble bloodline.¡± Luo Qinghan knitted her brows when she heard the old woman. ¡°But his martial talent is probably nothing much. Otherwise, he would not still be at the Qi-gathering stage of practice at sixteen or seventeen years of age.¡±She knew what her granny was thinking of.She could confirm that the dramatic increase in her martial talent was inseparable from what occurred with that youth on the planet Ziyun.Besides that, that time had been the first time for both her and the youth.¡±There is probably some noble blood in his veins, but he just does not realize it. In that case, everything is clear,¡± the old woman guessed.¡±If that¡¯s the case, you are really in luck.¡±At this, the old woman could not help laughing.¡±This is considered good luck?¡±Luo Qinghan smiled bitterly.¡±If you were given a chance to choose, would you choose the same thing for the both of you, and raise your martial talent, or choose that nothing would have happened?¡±The old woman looked deeply at Luo Qinghan and asked, ¡°A lady¡¯s chastity is definitely important. However, I feel that exchanging it for your current martial talent was worth it.¡±Hearing the old woman¡¯s words, Luo Qinghan sank back into silence.Although she did not reject him, she had to examine the depths of her heart. Even if she did not reject him, it was not because he caused her martial talent to increase so dramatically.Had it been another man, she would rather not have her current martial talent than have abandoned her purity.After she left the planet of Ziyun, before Luo Qinghan noticed that her level of practice had increased dramatically, she did not know why unbidden thoughts of that handsome youth whose eyes were too full of experience for his age rose in her mind whenever she was free.Even if she did was unwilling to admit it, she could not help the fact that that youth had rooted himself deeply in her heart and even in her mind.Maybe it is only because he took my virginity and I have no ill feelings towards him.It was not the first time Luo Qinghan had thought this.At least Luo Qinghan was very clear and certain on one thing: she did not reject the youth.Whenever she thought of him, the corners of her mouth would curve up in a slight smile.Of course, this was something that others had told her.¡¡¡¡¡­The planet of Ziyun.The Shenguang empire.


    Three months had passed, and Zhou Donghuang had finally arrived safely at the capital city of the Shenguang empire, thanks to Big Gold, and was consequently woken by Su Mo.¡±We¡¯re here?¡±When Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes, he saw before him a vast and expansive city, like a giant beast lying there.Evidently this was the capital city of the Shenguang empire.¡±Master, let¡¯s find an inn first before planning our next move,¡± Su Mo suggested as Big Gold circled in the air outside the capital city of the Shenguang empire.¡±Mm, you go arrange it.¡±Zhou Donghuang nodded.¡±It¡¯s good I brought along all the golden notes printed by the Shenguang empire that were in the Valley of the Medicine Masters; we can stay at one of the better inns.¡±Su Mo smiled.Although there were also golden notes in circulation in the border regions of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, they were printed by the Valley of the Medicine Masters.In the border regions of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, the Valley of the Medicine Masters did not allow any of the countries to print their own golden notes. Only they could print golden notes.If any of the countries in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley wanted more golden notes, they had to send gold to the Valley of the Medicine Masters in exchange for them.The countries in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley had the power to print only silver notes.In any case, the gold notes printed by the Valley of the Medicine Masters had no value as legal tender in the Shenguang empire.In the Shenguang empire, even Su Mo, the Valley Lord of the Valley of Medicine Masters, had to use real silver and gold as currency if he did not have the golden notes printed by the imperial court of the Shenguang empire.However, many of the previous valley lords of the Valley of Medicine Masters had spent time in the Shenguang empire; therefore, there was a considerable store of golden notes in the Valley of Medicine Masters that had been printed by the Shenguang empire.On the planet of Ziyun, real silver and gold were the most widespread form of currency, but a higher form of currency was the spirit stones.In any case, under normal circumstances on Ziyun, a spirit stone could not be obtained with any amount of real silver and gold unless someone wanted to exchange the spirit stone for the precious metals.Spirit stones had value, but there was no market for them in terms of real silver and gold.¡±Master, some places in the Shenguang empire do not allow flying demons to enter. Please inform your golden-crowned eagle of this.¡±Su Mo gave a reminder before the golden-crowned eagle Big Gold entered the capital city of the Shenguang empire.When they were approaching the capital city of the Shenguang empire, Zhou Donghuang saw many flying demons entering and leaving the airspace above the capital city of the Shenguang empire.¡±There are really so many people.¡±Zhou Donghuang originally thought that the number of people entering and leaving on flying demons was great, but when he looked down, he noticed that there were even more people passing through the gates of the capital city of the Shenguang empire.There were people on foot, and also people on demons.¡±A Primal Core adept!¡±Suddenly, Su Mo¡¯s warning sounded in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s ears.Unconsciously following Su Mo¡¯s gaze, Zhou Donghuang saw at once a middle-aged man in a long blue robe flying through the air into the capital city of the Shenguang empire.There was a faint white, somewhat diffused haze around the middle-aged man¡¯s body.¡±Early Primal Core stage adept.¡±It was obvious to Zhou Donghuang that the middle-aged man in the blue robe was an early Primal Core stage adept.At the same time, Zhou Donghuang also noticed that the middle-aged man in the blue flying into the capital city of the Shenguang empire did not attract much attention, and only he and Su Mo were staring at him.It was actually Su Mo¡¯s outcry that had attracted the gaze of many of the people riding flying demons who were entering and leaving the capital city of the Shenguang empire.Many people merely glanced at Su Mo and Zhou Donghuang before looking away.However, one middle-aged man who was also riding a large eagle demon smiled mockingly. ¡°Coming from the countryside? Haven¡¯t even seen a Primal Core adept? Making such a scene, what a joke!¡±¡±What has it got to do with you if I make a scene?¡±Su Mo immediately fixed a cold stare on the man as he replied casually. He was after all the valley lord of the Valley of the Medicine Masters and being mocked by someone to his face was more than he could stand.¡±What? You¡¯re obviously from the countryside, but refuse to acknowledge it?¡±The middle-aged man¡¯s expression suddenly turned cold, and his qi whistled out, three feet long. He was evidently a middle Connate adept.At this, Su Mo laughed casually and looked away.The man was merely a middle Connate adept, and if he were to get involved in an argument over this, it would be unbecoming of him.Whatever else he may be, he was still a late Connate adept with a level of practice approaching the supreme Connate stage.However, even though Su Mo did not intend to pursue the matter, the man did not intend to let it rest. After giving a cold look, he immediately rode his giant eagle flying demon, which was at the early Connate stage like Big Gold, at great speed towards Big Gold. The middle-aged man was wearing a savage grin on his face as he struck his palm out toward Big Gold. A three-foot-long green palm whistled out, and it seemed that it would hit Big Gold.This scene happened so suddenly!By the time Big Gold had recovered his wits, the middle-aged man¡¯s palm which had three feet of qi was already so close that he was unable to dodge. He could only say in a panic to the youth on his back, ¡°Young Master, save me!¡±Zhou Donghuang¡¯s expression froze, and he prepared to retaliate and teach that middle-aged man on the eagle flying demon a lesson, shouting ¡°You dare!¡±With an enraged roar, Su Mo struck before Zhou Donghuang, his right hand sweeping through the air, his index and middle finger together pointing out.Swish!!An arrow of qi shot out from Su Mo¡¯s fingertips, slicing through the air, swelling to ten feet long in an instant, not only easily defeating the middle-aged man¡¯s three-foot palm of qi, but even passing through the skull of the man¡¯s eagle demon with a cracking sound.¡±No!¡±With the death of the eagle demon, the middle-aged man¡¯s expression changed completely, and he instinctively shook his legs, three feet of qi pouring from them, and sprung toward Big Gold using the momentum from the dead giant eagle.He intended to grab on to Big Gold to stay in the air.If he could not, falling from his current altitude, even with the dead eagle demon as a meaty landing mat, he would most likely end up dead!If he managed to survive, he would surely become a cripple.The middle-aged man made the decision in a flash and tried to grab onto Big Gold to avoid plummeting to the ground. ¡°Go down!¡±Seeing the middle-aged man springing forwards, a murderous look flashed through Su Mo¡¯s eyes, and he pointed again towards man¡¯s hand reaching for Big Gold.Ka-chak!!The qi shot out by from Su Mo¡¯s fingertips passed cleanly through the middle-aged man¡¯s wrist, leaving a bloody hole, and his whole hand fell off, followed by the man plummeting through the air.¡±No¡ª!¡±The middle-aged man¡¯s shrill cry sounded.Crash!!An instant later, a loud crash sounded from below, as the man fell onto the city walls of the capital city of the Shenguang empire, turning into meat paste.Swoosh!!As the crowd of people riding flying demons circled around watching, the golden-crowned eagle Big Gold flapped his wings in fright and shot forward into the capital city of the Shenguang empire.As Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo were carried into the capital city of the Shenguang empire by the golden-crowned eagle, an old man on the back of a flying demon watched and muttered to himself, ¡°Those two are in deep trouble!¡±¡±That person who died seemed to be Yang Wei of the Yang family?¡±¡±Correct! It was the eighth elder of the Yang family, Yang Wei!¡±

 Chapter 161 - The Transaction of a Hundred Spirit Stones

    After entering the capital city of the Shenguang empire and finding an inn, Zhou Donghuang left the Yuntai inn with Su Mo.


    He had only one objective in coming to the Shenguang empire: to obtain some spirit stones.


    Or at least to obtain enough to allow him to attain the Primal Core stage in the shortest time possible.


    ¡°The spirit stones of Ziyun are all from the five lodes of spirit stones on Ziyun: five lodes of spirit stones, controlled by the five great elite sects, including the Shenguang and Xuanyin sects.¡¯


    ¡°Out of the five lodes of spirit stones, the one that has the highest output produces about two thousand spirit stones every year, and the one with the smallest output produces about one thousand three hundred spirit stones every year.¡±


    ¡°Because of this, the punishment agreed on by the five great sects for meddling in the black market, four thousand spirit stones, is a considerable sum to any one of the sects.¡±


    ¡­


    After arriving in the capital city of the Shenguang empire, Zhou Donghuang had gained a better understanding of the availability of spirit stones on Ziyun.


    The planet of Ziyun had only five lodes of spirit stones.


    Moreover, they were all very small lodes.


    The annual output of the five lodes of spirit stones combined did not exceed ten thousand spirit stones.


    Because of this, spirit stones were extremely rare objects on the planet of Ziyun.


    For any planet, the practicing environment created from the qi saturating the atmosphere also determines that planet¡¯s endowment of spirit stones.


    Zhou Donghuang thought to himself, ¡°Although the practicing environment on the planet of Ziyun far exceeds at of Earth in its age without practice, compared to those planets with accomplished practitioners, it can only be considered average.


    ¡°Five small lodes of inferior quality spirit stones cannot produce intermediate quality spirit stones.¡±


    ¡°The five spirit stone lodes controlled by the Shenguang sect, Xuanyin sect, and the rest of the five great sects are also lodes of inferior-quality spirit stones and could not possibly produce intermediate-quality spirit stones.


    ¡°On some of the planets in the universe where there are greater resources of spirit stones, some of the medium- or large-sized lodes of inferior-quality spirit stones can sometimes produce some intermediate-quality spirit stones.


    ¡°The higher the quality of spirit stones, the more qi is accumulated in them. Moreover, the purity is also higher and is even more effective in aiding practice.


    Of course, I cannot expect to find intermediate-quality spirit stones on Ziyun. But as long as I have enough inferior-quality spirit stones, I will be able to attain the Primal Core stage within nine months!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes gleamed with self-confidence, and he allowed Su Mo to show him the way to the meeting point of the black market of the Shenguang empire.


    The black market of the Shenguang empire was in a large single-story building in the northwest corner of the capital city. It looked ordinary from the outside, and it was impossible to tell that it housed a business run jointly by the five great sects.


    At one of the main entrances of the black market stood several stern-faced middle-aged men dressed in black, and they blocked Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo as one of them spoke.


    ¡°The entry fee for two people is two hundred liang of gold.¡±


    When Su Mo heard this, he handed over a two-hundred liang gold note.


    They were immediately allowed in.


    ¡°This black market is indeed black. Even entry is charged at a hundred liang of gold per person.¡±


    Su Mo commented sarcastically as he followed Zhou Donghuang into the black market.


    ¡°Those people who come to the black market to do business will not miss that hundred liang of gold.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang completely understood this principle. ¡°Creating such a barrier avoids the problem of people entering to window shop. Only those people with real needs will be willing to pay the hundred liang of gold to enter.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s true, ¡°Su Mo nodded.


    After entering the main gate of the black market, they came into a long and narrow alley.


    At the end of the alley, there were four prettily made-up girls standing on both sides.


    They all carried a pile of black robes. ¡°Sirs, you must put on these identical black hoods and robes to conceal your identities if you are entering the black market complex.¡±


    When Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo heard this, they took a set of black outfits each and wrapped them so tightly around themselves that if they did not look closely, they would not even recognize each other.


    As they passed through the alley, it suddenly opened up, and they found themselves in a plaza thronged with people.


    There were many people gathered, and there were numerous constructs and decorations that blocked their view. If one stared at any of the people passing through, the next moment, he would lose them from view unless he followed his target closely.


    It was apparent that even those who came together to the black market would need to separate once they entered and could not move around together.


    In fact, when Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo had exited the alley, they had seen an attention-grabbing notice written in red ink on a prominent wall: ¡°None may move together upon entering the black market complex. Offenders will be killed without mercy!¡±


    Inside the black market complex, besides the people in identical black hoods and robes bustling around, were also some people dressed in normal clothes walking to and fro, keeping a sharp eye on the surroundings. These were the people who maintained order in the black market.


    Some of these people were middle-aged men; others were old men.


    ¡°Master, I¡¯ve heard that these people maintaining order in the black market of the Shenguang empire are without exception Primal Core adepts of the Shenguang sect. Of course, they are all early Primal Core adepts.¡±


    Su Mo said to Zhou Donghuang before they split up, ¡°The person in charge of the black market is apparently a Silver Core adept of the Shenguang sect!¡±


    Silver Core adepts were also late Primal Core stage adepts.


    ¡°Mm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded and replied, ¡°Let¡¯s go over.¡±


    As soon as he finished, Zhou Donghuang took the lead and headed off into the black market, slipping through the crowds and the structures and decorations, lost in the crowd in an instant.


    Even if Su Mo intended to find Zhou Donghuang, he would not be able to do it.


    The black clothes and hoods given by the black market were loose and broad at the shoulders, and there was no way to identify a person from his back unless that person spoke up and revealed his identity.


    But in the black market, there were very few people who would speak up.


    Even if someone spoke, they would lower their voice because they would be concerned about revealing their identity and bringing disaster upon themselves!


    After all, the goods that were exchanged in the black market were all very valuable goods.


    Spirit stones.


    After entering the black market, Zhou Donghuang wandered at random, eventually coming upon some small wooden huts.


    The signs hung outside the wooden huts advertised the goods offered by the people within.


    Zhou Donghuang passed by some wooden huts, looking at the prominent advertisements on the signs outside the wooden huts.


    ¡°Half a horn of a Connate-stage rhinoceros demon in exchange for a liter of the blood of a Connate-stage pangolin demon?


    ¡°The people inside have probably brought a whole horn to exchange, but they have to give the other half of the horn over to the black market upon a successful transaction,¡± Zhou Donghuang thought.


    ¡°Spirit stones?¡±


    As he passed by two wooden huts, Zhou Donghuang halted because the people inside the huts were offering spirit stones for exchange. ¡°One spirit stone in exchange for a pair of sharp talons from a supreme Connate-stage flying demon?¡±


    The higher the level of practice of Connate-stage demons, the more powerful their bodies became.


    Using the sharp talons of a supreme Connate-stage flying demon to forge a weapon would produce a weapon without equal, unless it faced a weapon forged by a Primal Core adept using the three Samadhi fires.


    ¡°Are spirit stones on Ziyun so expensive that just one can be exchanged for a pair of sharp talons from a supreme Connate-stage flying demon?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang cursed silently to himself and moved on.


    On some planets he had visited during his past life, a pair of sharp talons from a supreme Connate-stage flying demon could not be exchanged for anything less than five or more inferior-quality spirit stones.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang knew that the people in the wooden hut would fork out two spirit stones.


    One of the spirit stones would be handed over to the black market after the transaction.


    Even so, this still gave him a better understanding of the rarity of spirit stones on the planet of Ziyun.


    ¡°This wooden hut.¡±


    The third wooden hut that Zhou Donghuang passed had a sign outside with a single line of words: ¡°This hut is empty; guests can hang a sign and enter to conduct business.¡±


    There were only middlemen from the black market in this wooden hut.


    The fourth wooden hut had no sign outside. ¡°There must already be people in the midst of a transaction inside.¡±


    ¡­


    Although a good number of the more than a hundred wooden huts that traded in spirit stones, Zhou Donghuang did not have what they wanted.


    ¡°I¡¯ll go look somewhere else.¡±


    After threading through a row of structures and decorations that obstructed his vision, Zhou Donghuang came to another corner of the black market complex. Here there was another whole row of wooden huts.


    There were many people dressed identically in black robes and hoods milling around in front of the wooden huts. Occasionally someone would halt and look at the sign hanging outside a wooden hut, but many of them merely slowed to glance before moving on.


    He seldom saw people take down a sign and enter the wooden huts.


    ¡°Mm?¡±


    After passing several more wooden huts, Zhou Donghuang paused in front of one.


    There was a sign hung on the wooden hut with the words: ¡°A hundred spirit stones in exchange for completing the formula for a Qi-gathering core that increases the sense of qi a full two thousand percent. The formula is thirty percent incomplete. Anyone with confidence may take the sign and enter.¡±


    ¡°A hundred spirit stones. This is a sufficient amount.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled casually and stepped forward, taking down the sign outside the wooden hut before pushing open the door and entering, turning to close the door behind him.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s actions attracted the gazes of several people who happened to pass by, and they halted as they looked at the wooden hut which Zhou Donghuang had entered. ¡°Someone has entered?¡±


    ¡°A formula for a Qi-gathering core that increases the sense of qi a full two thousand percent. is there anyone who can fulfill that on the planet of Ziyun?¡±


    ¡°On Ziyun, the best Qi-gathering core can only increase the sense of qi by a thousand percent.¡±


    ¡°A hundred spirit stones are not that easy to obtain.¡±

 Chapter 162 - Obtaining Spirit Stones

    After Zhou Donghuang entered the wooden hut, many people began gathering outside the wooden hut, and as they discussed among themselves, they lowered their voices such that their voices became hushed and indistinguishable. After Zhou Donghuang entered the wooden hut, many people began gathering outside the wooden hut, and as they discussed among themselves, they lowered their voices such that their voices became hushed and indistinguishable. ¡°The person initiating the transaction in the wooden hut is extravagant. The sign hung there earlier said, ¡®A hundred spirit stones in exchange for completing the formula for a Qi-gathering core.¡¯ Evidently, he intends to fork out two hundred spirit stones.¡±¡±In the Shenguang empire, there couldn¡¯t be too many people who can afford two hundred spirit stones, could there?¡±¡±The people who come to the black market of the Shenguang empire are not just from there but also people from other empires. They cannot find someone in the black markets of the other empires who can solve this problem and so they come to the black market of the Shenguang empire.¡±¡±Indeed.¡±¡±To be able to produce two hundred spirit stones, if he is a lone individual, the person must be at least at the middle Primal Core stage or above. An individual at the level of the early Primal Core stage will find it very difficult to produce so many spirit stones, unless he is a core-forging master at the early Primal Core stage!¡±¡±If he is not a lone individual, he must be someone with great power on Ziyun. If that power is not of the five great sects or imperial courts of the five empires, it must be one that has many Primal Core adepts.¡± Upon entering the wooden hut, Zhou Donghuang saw at once the person in black robes and hood sitting behind a wooden table. This person was of average build, and although he was sitting there looking straight at Zhou Donghuang, the lighting in the wooden hut was dim, and Zhou Donghuang could not even make out his features. Neither could he make out Zhou Donghuang¡¯s features. Beside the wooden table stood a middle-aged man dressed in everyday clothes, and seeing Zhou Donghuang enter, invited him to sit down at once. ¡°Please have a seat, sir.¡±Zhou Donghuang was not shy and sat down right away facing the person who initiated the transaction. ¡°Let¡¯s see the formula.¡±Zhou Donghuang said casually, not bothering to lower his voice because even if he was heard, no one would be able to identify him by his voice. He was not from the Shenguang empire. ¡°Mm?¡±However, at the sound of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s voice, the person facing him hesitated, and paused before replying, ¡°Sir, from your tone, you seem rather young. Are you really confident?¡±The voice was old and hoarse, and obviously deliberately lowered. ¡°What? Afraid that I¡¯m too young to be able to complete that formula?¡±Zhou Donghuang smiled teasingly. ¡°Sir, please don¡¯t be offended. It¡¯s just that I was startled when I heard your voice.¡±The person opposite Zhou Donghuang covered entirely by the black robe and hood was, from the sound of his voice, an old man. As he replied, he placed a piece of paper on the table. His hand did not look as old as his voice sounded, and looked like the hand of a middle-aged man, the result of his taking good care of himself. Zhou Donghuang took the paper the old man produced and glanced at it, shaking his head with a faint laugh. ¡°You were careful enough.¡±What the old man took out was not the formula for the deficient Qi-gathering core, but only the portion which stated in detail the principles related to the deficient portion of the formula for the Qi-gathering core, to explain it to the reader. ¡°If you are able to solve this problem, the formula for the Qi-gathering core will be complete,¡± the old man said. ¡°Are you really confident?¡± the old man asked again. Zhou Donghuang did not reply but picked up a brush that was lying at one side of the table, as well as a piece of paper from the stack lying beside the brush. Swish! Swish! Swish! ¡­ Under the old man¡¯s watchful gaze, Zhou Donghuang wrote speedily on the paper. Soon he put the brush down and passed the paper to the old man. When the old man finished reading the words on the paper, his eyes widened and there was an expression of shock and disbelief on his face. Of course, no one saw the old man¡¯s expression because he was wearing the black robe and hood, and the lighting in the wooden hut was dim. In the stillness inside the wooden hut, however, the old man¡¯s breathing could be heard clearly. An instant later, the old man finally spoke up, his voice trembling with shock. ¡°You¡ªhow did you come to have this formula?¡±The words on the piece of paper he was holding matched exactly the formula he had. The deficient portions were still missing. The rest was identical. It was as though the person before him had a formula identical to his. ¡°Since it is a Qi-gathering core, naturally they should reach the same conclusion. Seeing the missing portions of your formula, it was not difficult to fill up the rest of the formula,¡± Zhou Donghuang said matter-of-factly. As Zhou Donghuang finished, the old man slipped temporarily into a dead silence, evidently frightened out of his wits. ¡°You ¡­ you can complete the formula?¡±The old man spoke again in a more respectful tone, evidently not daring to look down on Zhou Donghuang for his youth. ¡°Of course.¡±As Zhou Donghuang replied, he took another sheet of paper from the stack at the side of the table, and spent some time writing on it before tossing it to the old man as though he were throwing rubbish. The old man received it like treasure, looking suspiciously at the youth who jerked his head away to avoid suspicion, before looking in earnest at the words on the paper, getting more excited the more he looked. Although his expression could not be seen clearly, his emotion could be seen from the way his body trembled with increasing violence. ¡°How is it?¡±Zhou Donghuang asked casually, not afraid that the old man would play him out. If the old man said that the core formula was useless, the black market would naturally summon a core-forging master, and therefore ensure the absolute fairness of the transaction. ¡°You are a genius.¡±The old man carefully kept the piece of paper in his pocket, and, containing his emotions by force of will, sighed repeatedly. At the same time, he glanced at the youth from the black market, ¡°I am very satisfied with this transaction.¡±As soon as he had spoken, he took out a parcel from his black robes, and upon opening it revealed a pile of white gemstones which were obviously spirit stones. ¡°Altogether, two hundred spirit stones,¡± the old man said to the youth from the black market, pushing the parcel toward him. The youth stepped forward, and after a short while he nodded. ¡°Two hundred spirit stones; the number is correct.¡±The old man then picked out a hundred spirit stones from the pile, pushing them in front of Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Sir, this is the payment from this transaction.¡±Zhou Donghuang did not reply and silently swept the hundred spirit stones into his pockets. He proceeded to stand up and turn around, preparing to leave the wooden hut. ¡°Are you from the Shenguang empire?¡± the old man¡¯s voice sounded from behind him. ¡°No,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied casually, already opening the door of the wooden hut and leaving. ¡°He¡¯s out!¡±¡±He¡¯s come out!¡±¡±Do you all think this transaction has been completed?¡±¡±Need you ask? Most certainly not!¡± ¡­ Seeing Zhou Donghuang emerge so quickly, the several people outside the wooden hut who had still not left were still whispering, not believing that Zhou Donghuang had been able to fulfill his end of the transaction smoothly. However, when they saw another figure in black exit the hut after Zhou Donghuang, they were all stunned. ¡°This ¡­ transaction was completed?¡±¡±Not necessarily. Perhaps it¡¯s just that the person who initiated the transaction was preparing to leave and did not intend to wait for someone to complete it.¡±¡±But we don¡¯t know if the one who left first was the one who entered to complete the transaction, or if the one who left later was the one who entered to complete it.¡± ¡­ While those people discussed, Zhou Donghuang made his way past several structures and decorations and was lost to the sight or hearing of the group. It was not because he wanted to lose himself that he passed by these structures and decorations, but because his route forced him to pass them. This was intentional on the part of the black market, allowing customers to lose themselves easily and escape surveillance. After rounding the other two corners of the black market complex, Zhou Donghuang prepared to leave because he did not have any of the items that were in demand by those with spirit stones to exchange. There were indeed several people who offered spirit stones in exchange for core formulas, but although Zhou Donghuang had those core formulas, the value of those core formulas was too great compared to the spirit stones being offered in exchange. Zhou Donghuang would not allow himself to be taken advantage of. ¡°A hundred spirit stones are enough for now.¡± With this thought, Zhou Donghuang left the black market, entering an alley that led to the exit and taking off his black outfit, returning it to the girls stationed there before striding out. No one knew that when this youth in clothes whiter than snow left, he was carrying a hundred spirit stones in his pockets. When he returned to the inn, Zhou Donghuang saw that Su Mo had already returned. ¡°Master, did you manage to get anything?¡± Su Mo, who was waiting in the courtyard, asked anxiously. ¡°Let¡¯s go in and talk.¡±Zhou Donghuang led the way into his room, with Su Mo following close behind. This guest apartment, besides having a spacious courtyard, also had two large rooms. Big Gold rested in the courtyard and Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo had a room each. Zhou Donghuang led the way into his own room. When Su Mo turned to shut the door, Zhou Donghuang leisurely took the hundred spirit stones from his pocket and put them on the table in front of the bed. ¡°This.¡±Although it was Su Mo¡¯s first time seeing spirit stones, it did not prevent him from recognizing them right away. ¡°Master, how did you do it?¡± Su Mo asked with an expression of shock and disbelief. ¡°I helped someone complete a core formula.¡±Zhou Donghuang had a nonchalant manner as he replied, and his voice was calm, just as though he was describing something inconsequential. ¡°That formula was probably not a simple thing? Otherwise, the other party would not possibly have paid two hundred spirit stones.¡±There was a curious look in Su Mo¡¯s eyes. ¡°A core formula for a Qi-gathering core that increases the sense of qi by two thousand percent¡± Zhou Donghuang replied. ¡°Ss¡ª¡±As Zhou Donghuang finished, Su Mo exhaled a breath of cold air, shaking his head as he said, ¡°Master, you have been taken advantage of.¡±¡±As long as the price is suitable, a core formula for a Qi-gathering core that increases the sense of qi by two thousand percent could be used to forge Qi-gathering cores that would monopolize the whole market for Qi-gathering cores on the planet of Ziyun once they are distributed!¡±At the moment, the best available Qi-gathering cores on the market of Ziyun can only increase the sense of qi by a thousand percent.¡±

 Chapter 163 - Space Ring

    ¡°A Qi-gathering core that increases the sense of qi two thousand percent can monopolize the Qi-gathering core market of Ziyun?¡±¡±A Qi-gathering core that increases the sense of qi two thousand percent can monopolize the Qi-gathering core market of Ziyun?¡±When he heard Su Mo, Zhou Donghuang did not know how to react. In the formula for the Qi-gathering core that he had completed for the man, he had finished the list of required herbs, even indicating the more valuable herbs. Although there were many cheaper herbs that could substitute for these more valuable ones, he had an ace up his sleeve. Not only could he produce an even better formula for a Qi-gathering core, in his hands the same formula would yield cost savings of over fifty percent. Because of this, the Qi-gathering cores forged by the other party would have a significant production cost and could not possibly monopolize the Qi-gathering core market of Ziyun. ¡°How much does one of the best available Qi-gathering cores that increases the sense of qi by a thousand percent cost on Ziyun?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked Su Mo. A flash of inspiration had hit Zhou Donghuang, giving him an idea of how to earn many spirit stones in a single day. Half an hour later, Su Mo left with a core formula that Zhou Donghuang had written out for him and went alone to the black market. At the black market, it was usually the party that wanted to initiate a transaction that would pay a fee to the black market. However, there was one circumstance where the initiating party did not have to pay a fee: when the initiating party stated upfront that they would not bear the black market¡¯s fees. Under this circumstance, if the goods on offer were enticing enough, the interested party would agree to bear the black market¡¯s fees. Just half a day later, startling news spread out of the black market that rocked the highest circles of the Shenguang empire.¡±Isn¡¯t the price of the herbs needed to forge a batch of Qi-gathering cores that increase the sense of qi by a thousand percent more than a liang of gold? Is this true or not?¡±¡±The news comes from the black market, and that person is in the black market waiting for someone to do business with.¡±¡±Since he went to the black market, I think he is probably not joking.¡±¡±From what I know, the herbs needed to forge Qi-gathering cores that increase the sense of qi by a thousand percent cost a liang of gold to buy? A batch of those produces more than five, correct?¡±¡±I heard a core-forging master mention before that the Qi-gathering core that increases the sense of qi by a thousand percent used in their circle of core-forging masters require herbs costing over three liangs of gold.¡±¡±In other words: The formula that person is selling openly in the black market ¡­ that person, and the power he has, can potentially monopolize the market for Qi-gathering cores on Ziyun?¡± ¡­ The people in the highest levels of power in the Shenguang empire each sent agents to the black market, even though some of them did not have the authority to spend the money required to purchase the core formula. The person selling the formula for the Qi-gathering core was asking a thousand spirit stones while requesting that the buyer bear the black market¡¯s share of the fees. In other words, no matter who the buyer was, he would have to fork out two thousand spirit stones if he wanted to buy the formula from the seller. Besides the Shenguang sect behind the Shenguang empire, the number of factions in the area around the Shenguang empire with the power to produce two thousand spirit stones could be counted on the fingers of one hand. ¡­ The black market. Once it was presented, the formula for the Qi-gathering core that had rocked the highest levels of power in the Shenguang empire had shaken even the person in the highest position of authority. The person responsible for the black market was the third elder of the Shenguang sect, a late Primal Core adept, and a sprightly bald old man. There were nine marks on the old man¡¯s head, and he wore a set of silver monk¡¯s robes which identified him as an old monk. The old monk levitated above the bed cross-legged, a dull haze of silver light enveloping him, which was his silver essential core. A sharp-eyed person could see at once that this old monk was a late Primal Core stage adept, a silver core adept. ¡°Third elder, should we?¡±At that moment, in a spacious room in the black market complex, a middle-aged man was looking at the levitating old monk, making the gesture of drawing his hand like a knife across his throat as he completed the implied question. ¡°Obviously that person is showing such a formula because he is showing his intent to sell it to our Shenguang sect.¡±An insightful look flashed across the old monk¡¯s eyes, and he said plainly, ¡°If we kill him, even if we gain that core formula, we will have ruined the reputation of the Shenguang sect.¡±To the extent that the four other great sects will take the opportunity to create trouble. and when that happens, it will not be as simple as just coughing up a thousand spirit stones.¡±The black market had its rules, and if any one of the five great sects dared to abuse the rules over which they had authority, they would be punished with a fine of four thousand spirit stones. ¡°That¡¯s true.¡±The middle-aged man gave a start when he heard that and nodded his head. ¡°Go according to procedure. Draw out a thousand spirit stones from the black market¡¯s vault and give it to that person in exchange for his formula. If there are not enough spirit stones in the vault, come and find me. I will pay on behalf of the black market for now.¡±The old monk continued, ¡°I recall that the core-forging master who recently came over to the black market from the sect is Alchemist Xu, am I right?¡±¡±Correct,¡± the middle-aged man nodded. ¡°Alchemist Xu¡¯s achievements in the art of forging cores are considered outstanding on the entire planet of Ziyun. if he goes along with you, he will be able to tell at once if the core formula is genuine.¡±The old monk finished and waved his hand, dismissing the middle-aged man. ¡°Go on.¡±¡±Your disciple will take his leave.¡±The middle-aged man retreated respectfully. ¡­ In a wooden hut at one corner of the black market complex, swaddled from head to toe in black garments, Su Mo had already been waiting for several hours, but his emotions were far from calm. ¡°Master: what kind of person is he? How could he possess such a formula?¡±Su Mo felt that he was further and further from understanding his master. Although his master was not very old, the depth of experience that occasionally showed in his eyes and the maturity he showed in his conduct, not to mention his ability in medicine and cores, far exceeded any of the medicine masters and core masters on Ziyun. Sometimes, he even suspected that his master was some old creature that had retained its memories when it transferred itself into a new body and was reborn.There was no other way to explain his master¡¯s incomprehensible ways. In the entire Shenguang empire, such a core formula could only be purchased by the Shenguang sect. Even if some other faction bought it, they would have to hand it over to the Shenguang sect eventually. Su Mo was certain about this. Therefore, when an elder from the black market appeared with an elderly core-forging master, Su Mo was not the least surprised. ¡°This is a thousand spirit stones.¡±The elder from the black market was the middle-aged man who previously gone to find the overseer of the black market, the third elder of the Shenguang sect. He placed a wooden box filled with spirit stones before Su Mo. ¡°I want a space ring.¡±Su Mo said casually, ¡°If not, I will take the box and leave the black market, and anyone will be able to have access to the core formula that I¡¯m selling.¡±A space ring was an ordinary-looking ring, but it was a miraculous ring that could store non-living things and could be forged by using a space stone through special methods. As long as a Primal Core adept knew the techniques of forging a space ring, and possessed a space stone, he could always forge a space ring. The higher the quality of the space stone, the larger the capacity of the space ring to store objects would be. On the planet of Ziyun, the value of a space stone that was just enough to forge a space ring far exceeded that of spirit stones, because space stones were even rarer than spirit stones. ¡°On the planet of Ziyun, even a space ring of the poorest quality is worth over a thousand spirit stones.¡±A cold look flashed across the middle-aged man¡¯s eyes, and he growled, ¡°You! Don¡¯t push your luck!¡±¡±Since the Shenguang sect is buying this core formula themselves, you don¡¯t need to pay another thousand spirit stones in fees. I don¡¯t think that asking for a space ring is too much, is it?¡±Although Su Mo¡¯s tone remained calm and even, his heart was hanging by a thread. This was because he knew that the elder of the black market before him was at least an early Primal Core adept, or even a middle Primal Core adept!If he wanted to kill him, it would be as simple as squeezing an ant dead. ¡°Harrumph!¡±The middle-aged man gave a cold snort as he turned his palm over to reveal a stone ring that looked simple and plain and placed it on the table. There was an almost identical ring prominently displayed on the middle finger of his right hand. Evidently, he also possessed a space ring. ¡°Many thanks to you, elder.¡±Seeing this, Su Mo smiled in thanks. ¡°Don¡¯t be so happy too soon. If there is something wrong with the core formula, you will not be leaving here with this space ring and a thousand spirit stones,¡± the middle-aged man said in a low voice. ¡°That¡¯s understood.¡±As Su Mo replied, he took the formula from his pocket and placed it on the table. ¡°Alchemist Xu.¡±At the same time, the middle-aged man stepped aside, respectfully showing the skinny old man in a grey robe who was behind him to the table. ¡°Alchemist Xu?¡±Su Mo asked in a voice choked with emotion, ¡°Are you the Xu Fu, Alchemist Xu of the sect?¡±Xu Fu, an acclaimed alchemist in the Shenguang sect, was also a middle Primal Core stage adept. Su Mo had lost his composure because Xu Fu was known as the ¡°prime alchemist on the planet of Ziyun.¡± It was said that Xu Fu was not born and raised on Ziyun, but had come to Ziyun from a planet that had adepts at the Primordial Soul level of practice to hide and evade the vengeance of his enemies. The Primordial Soul stage was the stage of practice above the Dharma Laws stage. Even the planet Tianxuan that Luo Qinghan was from had not seen a Primordial Soul adept appear in over a thousand years!¡±That¡¯s me.¡±As the old man replied, he lifted the core formula to take a look. His expression started out normal, but as he continued reading, his face reddened and he became visibly excited. ¡°Alchemist Xu, is there anything wrong with this core formula?¡± the middle-aged man asked. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong!¡±As the old man shook his head, he could barely hide the excitement in his voice. ¡°Even in my hometown, those formulas for Qi-gathering cores that monopolize the whole planet which the elite sects with Primordial Soul stage adepts possess are far inferior to this core formula!¡±¡±A batch of Qi-gathering cores that similarly increases the sense of qi by a thousand percent cost more than double to produce than this formula!¡±¡±A thousand inferior-quality spirit stones and an inferior-quality space ring in exchange for this formula is worth it. Really worth it!¡±

 Chapter 164 - Energy-gathering Position

    The core formula that Su Mo had produced had unexpectedly earned the admiration of the best core-forging master on the planet of Ziyun, Alchemist Xu, and the transaction was swiftly completed.


    A thousand spirit stones were stored in the space ring and brought out of the black market.


    Of course, for insurance purposes, Su Mo did not leave the black market immediately after the payment was handed over to him but spent half a day window shopping before leaving.


    This was to avoid someone following him.


    People would have assumed he would leave the black market as soon as he could after completing the transaction.


    However, he purposefully chose a different course of action, and after spending half a day loitering in the black market, he finally left the black market in the wee hours of the next morning and headed toward the inn.


    What Su Mo did not expect was that he had still attracted attention.


    ¡°Seventeenth elder.¡±


    In a brightly lit room in the black market, an old man reported respectfully to a middle-aged man, ¡°From the time last night you assigned me, I have thoroughly investigated everyone who entered and left the black market.


    ¡°There is a total of fifty-two unfamiliar faces among them. The people stationed at the various entrances all say they didn¡¯t recognize these people, that they could all be visiting the black market for the first time. There could also be some among them who have not visited for a long time. Drawings of the fifty-two people are all here.¡±


    As the old man finished, he took several steps forward and passed a stack of drawings to the middle-aged man.


    If Su Mo had been present, he would have known immediately that this middle-aged man was the elder of the black market who had conducted the transaction with him the previous night.


    This elder of the black market was also the seventeenth elder of the Shenguang sect, Liu Xuanyu, a middle Primal-Core-stage adept.


    The ultimate authority of the black market, the third elder of the Shenguang sect, had not allowed Liu Xuanyu to do anything to obtain the core formula, as doing so might have damaged the reputation of the Shenguang sect.


    Yet Liu Xuanyu was not disheartened.


    He intended to vet all the people who had entered and departed the black market the previous day to identify unfamiliar faces.


    The person who could produce such a formula for a Qi-gathering Core could not be someone who frequently visited the black market.


    Fifty-two people ¡­


    Liu Xuanyu had drawings of fifty-two people altogether, including old men, old women, as well as middle-aged men and women, and even young men, young women, and a good number of young girls.


    ¡­


    The fifty-two drawings Liu Xuanyu was flipping through included Zhou Donghuang¡¯s and Su Mo¡¯s images.


    ¡°Go and check on these people. At the same time, check those who left the black market over the past few days, and compare them against those who entered yesterday.¡±


    As he finished, a flash of insight gleamed in Liu Xuanyu¡¯s eyes. ¡°I am afraid he may have stayed a few days in the black market before leaving. The people who left last night before I completed the transaction with him can be disregarded. This will make the checking process much easier.¡±


    As he finished, Liu Xuanyu added, ¡°Go ahead. Remember to report to me if you make any progress.¡±


    Liu Xuanyu looked deeply at the old man before him. ¡°If I can recover those thousand spirit stones and that space ring, I will give you a hundred spirit stones.¡±


    ¡°Many thanks to Seventeenth Elder.¡±


    The old man expressed his thanks profusely and turned to leave with a spring in his step.


    A hundred spirit stones.


    Even an early Primal Core adept of the Shenguang sect could only draw one spirit stone each month, needing to save for eight to nine years before having a hundred spirit stones.


    After the old man had left, Liu Xuanyu¡¯s eyes gleamed as he murmured to himself, ¡°If you had only wanted dozens or hundreds of spirit stones, I would not have been bothered to go through all this trouble to investigate you ¡­ but for a thousand spirit stones and a space ring, you are worth my while!¡±


    Liu Xuanyu¡¯s investigation of the sale of a Qi-gathering core formula to the Shenguang sect was neither on behalf of the black market nor of the Shenguang sect.


    He was investigating for his own benefit.


    After he had investigated, he would prepare to seize the spirit stones and space ring. The spirit stones and space ring would be his plunder.


    Although Liu Xuanyu was the seventeenth elder of the Shenguang sect with a level of practice at the middle Primal Core stage, the Shenguang sect issued just three spirit stones to him every month.


    A thousand spirit stones, along with a space ring worth over a thousand spirit stones, was worth every ounce of effort.


    ¡­


    When Su Mo arrived back at the inn in the capital city of the Shenguang empire, he went immediately to the youth¡¯s room and knocked on the door.


    ¡°Master, the thousand spirit stones are in the space ring.¡±


    After the youth opened the door, Su Mo passed the space ring to the youth. The look he gave the youth was more respectful than it had been before.


    The core-forging master of the Shenguang sect, Alchemist Xu, was the best on Ziyun. He was from a planet with great practitioners of the Primordial Soul stage and had vast experience of his own.


    However, Xu Fu had said that no formula for a Qi-gathering core from that planet could be compared with the core formula that his master had produced.


    What did this mean?


    It implied that the level of mastery over the art of cores his young master possessed exceeded the level on that planet!


    ¡°I, Xu Fu, am acknowledged as the best core-forging master on the planet of Ziyun ¡­ but with my level of core-forging, I am barely worth a mention on my home planet!¡±


    ¡°I might not even make it into the top ten thousand.¡±


    This was what Xu Fu had said to the elder of the black market in front of Su Mo.


    This is why Su Mo felt so strongly that there was more to his master than met the eye, and that if he continued on his current course, he would have the chance to attain the Dharma Laws stage, or even the Primordial Soul stage!


    As for the Primal Core stage, it was a given for him at this point in time.


    ¡°Only one square foot?¡± Zhou Donghuang took the space ring and infused his qi into it. An image rose in his mind, that of a small space of one square foot.


    A thousand spirit stones practically filled up the small space completely.


    Space rings were classified into different grades depending on their storage capacity. Inferior-quality space rings had a storage space of less than three square feet, with the smallest no less than one square foot.


    The space ring in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hands had a storage space of one square foot, indicating it was the lowest quality of inferior-quality space rings.


    ¡°I¡¯ll just use it first. When I attain the Primal Core stage, I¡¯ll use the three Samadhi fires to remake it, and I¡¯ll be able to increase the storage space to two square feet,¡± Zhou Donghuang said to himself.


    With Zhou Donghuang¡¯s methods, he could maximize the use of a space stone to forge space rings.


    Although the space stone used to forge his space ring was very low quality, he could nevertheless use it to forge a space ring with a storage capacity of two square feet.


    ¡°Take these one hundred spirit stones to practice.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang took out a hundred spirit stones and passed them to Su Mo, saying, ¡°In the meantime, I intend to practice in seclusion. If you want to use these spirit stones and attain the Primal Core stage in half a year, you¡¯d better practice in seclusion with Big Gold and me. If you have nothing else to do¡­¡±


    Zhou Donghuang gave Su Mo another reminder before returning to his room.


    Bang!


    When the youth shut the door Su Mo was startled back to his senses and looked at the hundred spirit stones he was holding with disbelief.


    ¡°Master ¡­ Master said earlier ¡­ I ¡­ I can attain the Primal Core stage in half a year? Can it be true?¡±


    Startled by the thought, Su Mo struggled to believe it. However, in the end, he chose to believe his master.


    In the room.


    Zhou Donghuang sat cross-legged on the bed, a thousand spirit stones intricately arranged on the mattress surrounding him.


    At first glance, these spirit stones appeared to be randomly placed.


    Upon closer inspection, the placement of these spirit stones was deliberate, not random.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t expect to be able to get a thousand inferior-quality spirit stones in such a short time. With these spirit stones, I might even be able to set up a small energy-gathering position.¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang placed his hands on one of the spirit stones in front of him, his movement immediately caused the thousand spirit stones to light up.


    A thousand rays of light shot out from a thousand spirit stones, combining and finally forming a bell-shaped envelope of light that cocooned Zhou Donghuang inside.


    ¡°With this energy-gathering position added to the strength from the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood and the Connate elixir, and using the Lord of the Four Supremes, if nothing unexpected occurs, I will attain the Primal Core stage in half a year!¡±


    With this thought, Zhou Donghuang closed his eyes and began practicing.


    At the same time, the spirit energy was being swallowed into the energy-gathering position at an incredible rate, forming a clearly visible white haze that spun like a whirlpool at the top of the energy-gathering position.


    After the spirit energy had been swallowed up, it flooded into Zhou Donghuang¡¯s body, following the pathways of the Lord of the Four Supremes, making circuit after circuit, and finally turning into qi that belonged entirely to him.


    The energy-gathering position was a set-up for rapidly gathering spirit energy and could absorb spirit energy from the surroundings at an incredible rate.


    Practicing in an energy-gathering position allowed one to progress in leaps and bounds.


    Zhou Donghuang was now just a Connate-stage adept, and even a small energy-gathering position was enough to allow his level of practice to increase at a rapid rate.


    Of course, while he was practicing Zhou Donghuang did not forget to look after Su Mo and the golden-crowned eagle Big Gold.


    The strength of the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood reached out and enveloped them as well, aiding their practice.


    ¡­


    One month later.


    The black market.


    ¡°Seventeenth Elder, I can confirm that the one who sold the Qi-gathering core formula to the Shenguang sect was that middle-aged man with uncertain background,¡± the old man reported to Liu Xuanyu in a room in the black market.


    ¡°Can¡¯t you find out anything else?¡± Liu Xuanyu asked with a slight frown.


    Someone on whom no information could be found was either an obscure person from an insignificant place, or one with such a powerful background that there was no way to find out more.


    He had to be extremely careful since the matter concerned the spirit stones and the space ring from the black market.


    ¡°At this moment, only that he and the youth with him rode the early Connate-stage demon golden-crowned eagle into the capital city.¡±


    The old man continued, ¡°And before entering the city, that middle-aged man killed the eighth elder Yang Wei of the Yang family.¡±


    ¡°The Yang family is still pursuing the assailant.¡±

 Chapter 165 - Two Primal Cores

    ¡°He killed the eighth elder of the Yang family?¡±


    Liu Xuanyu raised his eyebrows and asked, ¡°How did their conflict arise?¡±


    ¡°Apparently, that middle-aged man saw a Primal Core adept flying through the air into the city, and let out an exclamation in a loss of composure¡­ thereafter, the eighth elder of the Yang family mocked him for being from the countryside and being a country bumpkin, and that¡¯s how it started.¡±


    The old man laid out the results of his investigation, ¡°Yang Wei made the first move¡­ however, he was only a middle Connate adept, and that middle-aged man was a late Connate adept, and he wounded Yang Wei in mid-air, causing him to fall to his death.¡±


    ¡°He lost his composure and let out an exclamation when he saw a Primal Core adept?¡±


    Liu Xuanyu¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°Just this detail shows¡­ that middle-aged man very rarely sees Primal Core adepts.


    ¡°From this, we can disregard the possibility of him having an exceptional background.¡±


    ¡°We cannot find out more about his origins probably because he is an obscure person from some small place.¡±


    Liu Xuanyu looked at the old man, and a look of greed flashed across his eyes. ¡°Where is that person now?¡±


    ¡°Yuntai inn.¡±


    The old man smiled bitterly.


    ¡°Yuntai inn?¡±


    Liu Xuanyu frowned. ¡°He is actually staying at the inn sixth elder is in charge of?¡±


    The sixth elder that Liu Xuanyu mentioned was none other than the sixth elder of the Shenguang sect.


    Some of the elders of the Shenguang sect owned businesses in the capital city of the Shenguang empire. The sixth elder of the Shenguang sect, for example, had opened an inn in the capital city of the Shenguang empire.


    That inn was named ¡°Yuntai inn¡±, and was located in the affluent and prosperous district of the capital city of the Shenguang empire, and was one of the best inns in the Shenguang empire.


    ¡°Precisely because he is staying at sixth elder¡¯s inn, and has not left his room in almost a month, the situation is somewhat tricky¡­ even if he has no background and is ordinary in terms of ability, we cannot barge into Yuntai inn and take the spirit stones and space ring from him.¡±


    The old man said with a bitter smile, ¡°Otherwise, sixth elder will definitely receive news and even discover what is actually going on¡­ if the matter is exposed, the sect will not let you off easily, Seventeenth Elder.¡±


    ¡°We can only wait for them to come out.¡±


    Liu Xuanyu¡¯s tone was gloomy. What the old man had said was exactly what he feared.


    If it was an ordinary elder of the Shenguang sect, he could choose to work together with him and take the spirit stones and space ring from the youth, then divide the spoils.


    However, that sixth elder belonged to a different camp within the Shenguang sect, and would dearly like to have leverage over him, so how could they cooperate?


    ¡°In that case¡­¡±


    Liu Xuanyu looked at the old man with a cunning look and said, ¡°Find someone to go to the Yang family, and tell them that the person who killed the eighth elder of the Yang family is staying at Yuntai inn.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s see if they can find a way to lure that middle-aged man out from Yuntai inn¡­ if they can¡¯t find a way, we can only wait.¡±


    Liu Xuanyu finished.


    ¡°I¡¯ll get someone to go the Yang family now.¡±


    The old man acknowledged and withdrew.


    When the person sent by the old man had gone to the Yang family and told them that the person who killed the eighth elder of the Yang family Yang Wei was staying at Yuntai inn, the Yang family members wanted nothing more than to go immediately to take revenge, but they did not dare to proceed rashly.


    Yuntai inn¡¯s background lead directly to the Shenguang sect, and was the personal business of the sixth elder of the Shenguang sect, a late Primal Core stage adept.


    It was not something that the Yang family could trifle with.


    ¡°Send an invite to that person, and say that our Yang family is holding a banquet at Longteng restaurant tomorrow and invite him to attend¡­ if he gives us the respect, we will only require his life for Eighth Elder¡¯s. If not, we will make the youth with him pay as well!¡±


    The patriarch of the Yang family gave the order, and instructed someone to send the invite to Yuntai inn.


    In any case, once the invite was sent out, it was like throwing a stone into the ocean, and there was no response whatsoever.


    ¡°Patriarch, according to the people at the inn, that person and the youth with him have not left their rooms for the past month¡­ nevertheless, we can be certain that they are still there. We suspect that they are practicing in seclusion.¡±


    The patriarch of the Yang family very soon found out this news from several Yang family juniors who went to Yuntai inn to gather information, and could only order a rotating watch on the main entrance of Yuntai inn.


    If that person or the youth with him were to leave, they would report it to the Yang family immediately.


    Of course, while the people from the Yang family were keeping watch over the main entrance of Yuntai inn, the people sent by the elder of the black market, the seventeenth elder of the Shenguang sect Liu Xuanyu, would also be keeping watch.


    The Yang family wanted to avenge the eighth elder of the Yang family.


    Liu Xuanyu however, wanted to take his target¡¯s spirit stones and space ring.


    ¡­


    There were no markers of time while practicing.


    In a flash, seven whole months had passed since the day Zhou Donghuang used the thousand spirit stones to create the energy-gathering position.


    Now, the Ziyun era had entered the end of the year 1230.


    Winter had arrived, and the areas surrounding the Shenguang empire were blanketed with snow, and everything seemed to be draped in a layer of silver.


    ¡°Master really told me the truth¡­ in only half a year, I, Su Mo, have attained the Primal Core stage!¡±


    In a room in a spacious guest compound in Yuntai inn, the dignified middle-aged man who was sitting on the bed with his eyes closed as he practiced suddenly opened his eyes.


    The next moment, there was a dull white haze that surrounded his body and wound itself around him, dragging him up unsteadily into the air.


    I originally thought that I would need over ten years to break through¡­ I never imagined that I would break through so quickly!


    Now, the middle-aged man who was wobbling in the air was none other than the valley lord of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo.


    In just half a year, Su Mo had attained the supreme Connate stage two months before, and then smoothly attained the Primal Core stage in the six following months.


    At this moment, the qi in his dantian was already compressed into a void of white primal core, his qi completely transformed into essential core.


    Dantian was developed in the body when a Qi-gathering adept attained the Connate stage, and the qi of the Connate stage adept was stored in the dantian.


    And after the Connate stage adept attained the Primal Core stage, not only did the qi in the dantian become compressed and transformed into essential core, the dantian and the meridians of the body also developed and became even more resilient.


    Otherwise, there would be no way to endure the stress of the essential core.


    If the greatest difference between a Connate stage adept and a Qi-gathering stage adept was whether qi could be projected, then the greatest difference between a Primal Core stage adept and a Connate stage adept would be the complete transformation of strength.


    The transformation of qi to essential core was a change in quality¡­


    The difference between them was unimaginable!


    Connate stage adepts, and even supreme Connate stage adepts, were still in the world of ordinary people, and if they plummeted from the sky, they would have no chance of surviving.


    However, Primal Core adepts were entirely different.


    Primal Core adepts could physically fly through the air, and adepts at the Primal Core stage and above were also called ¡°gods on earth¡± by common people.


    This showed the great difference between the Connate and Primal Core stages.


    I wonder¡­ has my master also broken through?


    Shortly after, as soon as he had familiarized himself with the essential core in his body that had his qi had transformed into, Su Mo slowly landed, then pushed open the door of his room and left.


    Just as Su Mo opened his room door.


    The door of the neighbouring room opened as if on cue, and a handsome, detached-looking youth in white strolled out from the room.


    ¡°Master.¡±


    Su Mo bowed respectfully before closely looking over the young man in white.


    In the past half a year, the few traces of youthfulness on his master¡¯s face had disappeared completely, and he looked much more mature, and also seemed to have become even more mysterious.


    ¡°You¡¯ve broken through?¡±


    The young man in white was ¡°Zhou Donghuang¡±.


    It was now December 27, 1230 of the Ziyun era, and he would be twenty years old in a few more days.


    They youthful look on Zhou Donghuang¡¯s face had vanished, and he appeared much more mature.


    ¡°Many thanks to Master for helping me achieve my dream!¡±


    Without warning, Su Mo prostrated himself on the ground in thanks to the young man before him.


    As Su Mo practiced for the past half a year, it was obvious: The speed at which he advanced in practice was not just because of the aid of the spirit stones¡­ it was more because the strength of the golden light that had enveloped him aided his practice, and it was over ten times as powerful as before!


    Because of this, his level of practice had increased at an incredible pace.


    And the reason Zhou Donghuang did not continue to hold back from Su Mo and increased the strength of the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood he gave to Su Mo to aid his practice was also because: Half a year ago, Su Mo had won his approval for bringing back a thousand spirit stones.


    ¡°Get up.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang spoke up casually while he was already walking to seat himself at the stone table in the courtyard. ¡°Soon, I will prepare to make a trip back to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±


    Su Mo acknowledged and stood, moving to stand respectfully behind the young man, as he could not resist asking curiously, ¡°Master, you¡­ have you attained the Primal Core stage?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly at Su Mo¡¯s question. ¡°I have attained it, but yet I have not.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words naturally befuddled Su Mo when he heard it.


    In actual fact, two months ago, Zhou Donghuang had already smoothly condensed all the qi in his body into a primal core, giving him a level of ability equal to an early Primal Core adept.


    However, while he continued practicing, he found no way to increase that Primal Core, but could only continue to transform the spirit energy he absorbed into qi, and begin condensing a second primal core.


    In the past two months, he had finally condensed a second primal core after spending a great deal of effort.


    The reason for these circumstances was entirely because Zhou Donghuang chose to practice the technique the Lord of the Four Supremes.


    To ordinary people, condensing one primal core would be considered having attained the Primal Core stage.


    However, to an adept practicing the Lord of the Four Supremes, only after condensing four primal cores would he be truly considered to have attained the Primal Core stage!


    Now, Zhou Donghuang had only condensed two cores in his dantian, and was only halfway to meeting the requirements to the Primal Core stage.


    He still needed to condense two more primal cores to have four in total, before he could truly be considered to have met the requirements of the Lord of the Four Supremes for attaining the Primal Core stage!


    At first, Zhou Donghuang intended to strike while the iron was hot, and continue condensing the third primal core.


    However, after practicing for barely several days, he noticed: The thousand spirit stones that made up his energy-gathering position had been totally expended, and were now completely worthless!

 Chapter 166 - The Yang Family

    ¡°The power within the Buddhist relics mainly helped me to create an inferior spirit weapon so that I consumed nothing. In other words, it was as if I had obtained a thousand more inferior-quality spirit stones to amass spirit energy. So, I will need at most two months to cultivate a spirit weapon.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang clearly understood the current situation of his martial training.


    The pace of his study was quick, and while using his using spirit stones to gather spirit energy was part of the reason, the aid of the Buddhist relics was also important. In fact, the relics were far more significant than the spirit stones.


    Even if he had obtained a thousand more inferior spirit stones, without the help of the Buddhist relics he also would have needed to at least a month to finally produce an inferior spirit weapon.


    ¡°I might as well go for a stroll,¡± Zhou Donghuang said to Su Mo, rising at once.


    Zhou Donghuang left the Yuntai Inn to walk and think.


    Since coming to the Shenguang Empire more than half a year ago, he had not had the chance to take a good stroll; he simply wanted to go for a walk.


    He planned to go to several of the herbal medicine shops within the capital of Shenguang to purchase some medicinal ingredients.


    Although he was no longer the Lord of the Four Supremes, those two spirit weapons within his body could already produce inner Yuan and even condense and create Samadhi fire.


    He could already open a furnace to forge core energy.


    ¡°Starting today, you will be unable to rely on my Buddhist relics to aid the progress of your practice. These Buddhist relics can only help you during the initial stages of forging a spirit weapon. Thereafter, you¡¯ll have to depend on your natural ability along with core drugs, elixirs or spirit stones.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang said this to Su Mo as they exited the courtyard of the inn.


    ¡°Buddha¡¯s lifeblood relics?!¡±


    On hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, Su Mo froze in place, dumbstruck, ¡°Master, what are you saying? I don¡¯t understand. It was your Buddhist relics that made my power so intense! Are you a Buddhist monk?¡±


    He lowered his voice, shaking his head. ¡°No, that can¡¯t be it. Master, in the past you had not entered into the Primal Core stage, and you definitely didn¡¯t have those Buddhist relics.¡±


    ¡°These Buddhist relics are the ones left behind by that Buddhist monk during that year in the Shenguang Empire. It just so happened I managed to get my hands on them,¡± Zhou Donghuang said.


    ¡°What?!¡±


    Su Mo was utterly shocked. He had never imagined that Ziyun¡¯s long-sought-after Buddhist relics, Buddha¡¯s lifeblood, had been taken and were in his master¡¯s possession. And, more than that, his master had, with the Buddhist relics¡¯ assistance, attained the spiritual level of Primal Core stage in such a short time.


    ¡°So master, are you saying that you are the one who got the inheritance of that monk of the Divine Light sect?¡± Su Mo asked curiously.


    ¡°Besides these relics¡­ he¡­ did he leave anything else behind?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang responded disinterestedly as he and Su Mo exited the Yuntai Inn through the main gate.


    Despite the passage of half a year, outside Yuntai¡¯s main gate still stood the allies of the Yang family as well as Liu Xuanyu¡¯s men, who were watching the people leaving the inn.


    As soon as Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo left the inn, they were spotted by them.


    ¡°The target has appeared. The target has appeared!¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s them. They¡¯re finally here. They¡¯ve finally shown up.¡±


    The Yang family¡¯s minions and the Liu Xuanyu allies had left behind some men to tail them. The rest returned quickly to the Yang family and the black market to report back with the information.


    ¡°Master, someone¡¯s following us.¡±


    Shortly after leaving the Yuntai Inn, Su Mo, who was closely following Zhou Donghuang, noticed the people following them.


    By this time, Su Mo had entered the Primal Core stage and, luckily for them, his spiritual senses had reached the heightened level that came with this transformation. It was not hard for him to detect the two people furtively following.


    ¡°I noticed them when we first left the inn,¡± Zhou Donghuang said simply.


    ¡°Should we deal with it?¡± Su Mo said with an intimidating glint flashing in his eyes.


    ¡°Doesn¡¯t matter; it¡¯s up to you,¡± Zhou Donghuang said indifferently.


    Behind Zhou Donghuang, Su Mo ceased speaking, came to a sudden stop, and pivoted toward their two pursuers.


    Their position exposed, the two men behind them instantly looked to flee.


    Though they were quick, Su Mo was far quicker, and in the blink of an eye, he grabbed hold of both of them, seizing them one by one, and dragged the two of them to an out-of-the-way alley, asking with a gleam in his eye, ¡°Why are you following us? Who sent you?¡±


    Once he received his answer, Su Mo killed them easily and without regard. He then caught up to the young man walking a little distance in front of him.


    ¡°Master, we¡¯ve been spotted!¡±


    Su Mo gave Zhou Donghuang a grave look and said, ¡°Those two men were not normal hoodlums. One belonged to the Yang family. Half a year ago, when we came to the capital here in Shenguang, that person I fought and struck down was the Yang family¡¯s eighth elder.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know how the Yang family found out our whereabouts, but it turns out they have been watching us since then.


    ¡°However, the strongest in the Yang family is only a Connate-stage adept, nothing to worry about at all.¡±


    Having said that, Su Mo paused, and then continued with fear in his eyes, ¡°But the other person was a senior member belonging to the black market, a member of the Divine Light sect, one of the seventeenth elder Liu Xuanyu¡¯s men. Over half a year ago, he wanted to capture me in exchange for a thousand spirit stones and space rings.


    ¡°I never expected that he would actually manage to find me.¡±


    Su Mo continued gravely, ¡°Even if you and I, being early Primal Core adepts, worked together, we would still be no match for him.


    ¡°I just questioned that man sent by Liu Xuanyu. Liu Xuanyu did not dare enter the Yuntai Inn to face me since Yuntai is an establishment under the control of the sixth elder of the Divine Light sect. Liu Xuanyu is the acting seventeenth elder of the Divine Light sect. He belongs to a different camp than the boss of the Yuntai Inn, so he wouldn¡¯t want to start any trouble.


    ¡°Master, do you think we had better return to the inn and hide for some time? We can wait until you achieve the mid-rank level of Primal Core, and then we can stop hiding.¡±


    Being that the adept in question was a mid Primal Core adept, it was natural that Su Mo was frightened.


    ¡°That won¡¯t be necessary.¡±


    In contrast to Su Mo¡¯s fearfulness, Zhou Donghuang was calm and at ease, ¡°If that measly mid Primal Core adept wants to commit suicide, I have no problem helping him go down that road!¡±


    As his words faded, a voracious gleam flashed across Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes.


    As Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words reached Su Mo¡¯s ears, he once again felt a quiver in his body. While he felt Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words were incredible, his face recovered its original color at once, and he was no longer fearful of that seventeenth elder, Liu Xuanyu.


    Of course, his heart was like a raging and stormy ocean.


    How could his master be unafraid of even a mid-ranking Primal Core master within the short space of six months?


    In truth, in terms of Primal Core mastery, that sword his master wielded possessed no great, intimidating power at all.


    In other words, this meant that his master must have some card up his sleeve.


    ¡°Master, um¡­ do you intend to buy medicine?¡±


    As they walked down the street, Su Mo realized that his master went straight ahead, neglecting every herbal medicine shop, until he finally entered one particular apothecary. His master wanted to buy medicine, but did he want to buy them to use as plain medicine or core drugs to refine spiritual energy?!


    Primal Core adepts could use inner Yuan to cultivate Samadhi fire to refine their spiritual cores.


    If an ordinary person had just reached the Primal Core Stage, he would not imagine that his opponent would have the ability to refine core drugs. After all, refining core drugs required skill, extensive study, and accumulation of qi.


    Still, only half a year ago, his master could successfully create qi-gathering elixirs, so even if he could directly refine spiritual core drugs while in the Primal Core stage, Su Mo would not think it extraordinary in the least.


    ¡°Are you going to a core-forging master who sells the furnace you¡¯ll need to use?¡±


    After buying a large batch of medicinal materials, Zhou Donghuang spoke to the shopkeeper of the medicine shop and got straight to the point.


    ¡°Sir, within the capital, there are no medicinal shops selling furnaces. If you want core furnaces, try looking in weaponry shops. For the most part, public weapons shops carry core furnaces for sale,¡± the shopkeeper of the medicinal shop said.


    ¡°Understood.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    As Su Mo gave a pile of gold notes to the shopkeeper, his chest quaked violently, and it took a long time for it to return to normal.


    Although he had guessed it beforehand, actually hearing the young master say he wanted a core furnace struck fear in him. Could his master really refine core drugs upon entering the Primal Core stage?


    ¡°It seems that my master could very well be the reincarnation of some extraordinary freak of nature,¡± Su Mo then secretly thought. ¡°Or perhaps¡­ a strong, Primordial Soul has taken possession of him? Those martial adepts who have reached the Divine Essence stage are said to be able to shed their mortal bodies and take over those of other people. Afterward, the bodies of those who are supplanted are reborn with a new capacity and rank.¡±


    Although Su Mo had killed the Yang family¡¯s man who had been following them, their whereabouts had still been pinpointed by them.


    The two left the herbal medicine shop but had not gotten far when they were stopped by a group of passers-by.


    The man in front was an old man wearing a blue robe. There were also several other people standing behind him, all glaring menacingly at Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo.


    ¡°You two! I am the fourth elder of the Yang family, Yang Zhui. The head of our family requests that you come for a meeting at the Yang residence.¡± The old man in the blue robe stared at both of them with a grave expression as he spoke.


    ¡°You¡­¡± At that moment, Su Mo broke into scathing laughter, ready to cut down the man in front of him and resolve the situation. Zhou Donghuang cut in, interrupting his words, ¡°Since they are showing such great kindness in inviting us, let¡¯s go with them.¡±

 Chapter 167 - The Might of the Primal Core

    In order to enter into the upper echelons of society in the capital of the Shenguang Empire, a clan needed to have at least one Primal Core adept at the helm of the family. In order to enter into the upper echelons of society in the capital of the Shenguang Empire, a clan needed to have at least one Primal Core adept at the helm of the family. In the case of the Yang family, an adept had appeared two hundred years before, and it was at that time that the Yang family entered the upper social classes of the Shenguang Empire. Although that particular Primal Core adept of the Yang family had died of old age ten years before, the current Yang family had remained in the upper circles by allying with several other families possessing Primal Core adepts through marriage. The Yang family mansion was not in the expensive and flourishing area of the Shenguang Capital but it was easy to see from its expanse how glorious it had been. ¡°Go and inform the head of the family; say the ¡®guests¡¯ have arrived.¡±The fourth elder of the Yang family, Yang Zhui said this to a low-ranking member of the family before entering the Yang family mansion. The latter quickly ran into the mansion. Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo followed the fourth Yang elder Yang Zhui, casually entering the Yang family mansion. When they entered the drawing room, the patriarch of the Yang family and several elders had already assembled there. The Yang family patriarch was a middle-aged man wearing a white robe with silver trim. He was of tall and sturdy stature and had dignified features. He sat at the head of the table, with the posture of a judge meting out judgment on everything. Two people stood on either side of him. On his left stood one middle-aged man and one old man. On his right stood two old men. These four men were all Yang family elders. ¡°Master, we¡¯ve brought them.¡±The fourth elder Yang Zhui entered the drawing room and reported to the patriarch sitting at the head of the table. At the same time, he again turned to look at both Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo informing them in a low voice, ¡°The man sitting at the head of the table is the head of our family, Yang Ting.¡±¡±This is the second elder of our family.¡±¡±This is the fifth elder of the Yang family.¡±¡­ After he had introduced the Yang family patriarch, the fourth senior member, Yang Zhui, continued to introduce the four members ranking below him, the other four elders. The four senior-ranking family members glared at Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo like tigers eyeing their prey: the two men were not guests but personal enemies. ¡°Are you the one who killed the eighth elder of our family, Yang Wei?¡±The family patriarch Yang Ting¡¯s icy glare fell on Su Mo as he spoke in a low voice, his tone filled with murderous intent. ¡°Since you have come today, you will pay with your lives. You will stay here with the Yang family forever. Depending on whether you cooperate or not, I may allow you to remain in one piece!¡±Facing Yang Ting¡¯s stare head on, Su Mo¡¯s expression was unchanging, and he simply said, ¡°Get up.¡±¡±What?¡±Su Mo¡¯s words not only stunned Yang Ting, but it also made all the others unsettled. ¡°In the presence of my master¡­ how dare you remain seated!¡±Su Mo continued speaking, and now he saw the glare on Yang Ting¡¯s face, a look of warning flashed across his own. ¡°Master?¡±Hearing Su Mo¡¯s words, Yang Ting and the elders of the Yang family, subconsciously glanced to the young man in a snow-white robe standing in front of him.It was only then that they realized that Su Mo had been standing behind this young man the entire time, just as if he were this young man¡¯s footman, as if he were accompanying a superior. ¡°You, an adept of the latter Connate Stage, recognize a youth such as this as your master?¡±Yang Ting examined Su Mo¡¯s gaze. It was overly condescending; still, several elders of the Yang family were now looking at Su Mo with similar condescension. If the courteous and refined middle-aged man referred to the youth in white as ¡°young master,¡± they feared the possible background of the man, but his calling the young man ¡°master¡± still surpassed their ability to understand. A latter Connate-stage adept, recognizing a youth who was clearly barely twenty years old as master?¡±How can you be a latter Connate-stage adept and go so far? This is truly a disgrace to all Connate-stage adepts!¡±¡±At this age, are you still living like a dog?¡±¡±My fellow Connate-stage adept, I¡¯m personally embarrassed for you!¡±The Yang family elders each looked at Su Mo scathingly. ¡°I gave you a chance.¡±Then, despite the condescension in the Yang family elders and patriarch¡¯s faces, Su Mo seemed to have heard none of it, just as if he had not seen their looks. He began to speak softly, taking a step and then several more toward the one sitting at the head of the table, Yang Ting. ¡°What?¡± Yang Ting laughed grimly. ¡°Even though the patriarch of our family is a latter Connate-stage adept like you¡­ in all the Shenguang empire, not to mention among all Divine Light sect¡¯s members, and all those of Connate stage, there are very few who could defeat him!¡±The fourth elder of the Yang family, Yang Zhui, disdainfully looked at Su Mo as he approached Yang Ting, step by step. The other four Yang family elders were also watching Su Mo with similar scornful expressions. That is until Su Mo raised his hand and swung it down like lightning. Crash!As Su Mo raised his hand, a vast expanse of white power condensed in his palm then soared, becoming a tremendous white palm print which formed, floated and then flew above the head of the Yang family, Yang Ting. As Su Mo¡¯s hand came down, the area around Yang Ting¡¯s seat was enshrouded in the white palm. Bang!!A loud sound rang out, and the whole drawing room trembled as if there had been a violent earthquake. The Yang family elders turned to look, struck dumb with astonishment, they realized that after the immense, white palm attack fell like lightning, a gaping hole had emerged where Yang Ting had been sitting. Within the large hole, they could dimly make out a chair, strips of clothing, and a still pool of thin blood. ¡°Ugh ¡­¡±¡±Ugh ¡­ ah.¡± ¡­. The present scene scared the Yang elders as if they had forgotten they should be astounded. They stared dully at the scene as if in a daze, looking at the large hole, taking large gulps, unable to tear their eyes from the spot. ¡°Who is capable of heading the Yang family now?¡±It was only when the youth¡¯s indifferent voice sounded in the drawing room that the several Yang elders each began to look at Su Mo¡¯s expression. Their faces were filled with astonishment and fear. ¡°A Primal Core adept!¡±¡±He is a Primal Core adept!¡± ¡­. At this point, while fear remained in their hearts, they were also filled with resentment toward whomever had passed on false information to the Yang family. Who had said that the one who had killed the eighth elder was only a late Connate-stage adept?Had this been an intentional trap for the Yang family?This person who had killed the eighth Yang family elder was actually a Primal Core adept!If they had known that it had been a Primal Core adept who had killed the eighth Yang elder, even with the great depth of the Yang family¡¯s courage, not even they would have dared to seek revenge. ¡°My master spoke to you, didn¡¯t you hear?¡±In no time, the Yang elders¡¯ faces paled with fear as they hurriedly looked at the youth in the snow-white robe, saying promptly, ¡°Sir, if our Yang family patriarch is gone, then the former patriarch will take over as head of the family.¡±¡±Yes! The former head will become the family patriarch!¡±¡®The former patriarch is still one of the two ultimate Connate adepts in the family. He will be the head of the family!¡± ¡­. Hearing the Yang elder¡¯s words, Zhou Donghuang said simply, ¡°If that¡¯s how it is, then call him here.¡±As he finished speaking, Zhou Donghuang walked toward one of the seats in a row placed at the side of the Yang family drawing room. Insightfully, Su Mo had already rushed in before him and pulled out the chair, placing it before him. ¡°Master, please sit.¡±After the young man sat, Su Mo folded his arms and stood reverently and deferentially before the youth. As soon as the youth finished speaking the fourth Yang family elder, Yang Zhui hurriedly left to find the former Yang family patriarch. The remaining elders shook with fear and were filled with curiosity:What was the background of this youth who looked less than twenty years old? How had he made a Primal Core adept willingly become his servant?However, thinking of the Primal Core adept¡¯s power, they only glanced at the youth, and one by one lowered their heads, so terrified that they dared not even breathe. ¡°Pen and paper.¡±Zhou Donghuang indifferently eyed the four elders. As soon as he finished speaking, one of the Yang elders went and brought pen and paper, and then rushed to reverently take the pen and paper from his robe and gave them to Zhou Donghuang. Zhou Donghuang took them and then began to write with a vigorous flourish. As the pen in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand stopped, roughly a dozen short moments later, rapid footsteps could be heard outside the Yang family drawing room. In came a burly, white-haired old man in gray clothing, with the fourth Yang family elder as his escort.¡±Esteemed gentlemen, I am the patriarch of the previous generation. Yang Qi, my unworthy son, offended you all. I hope you will pardon the offense.¡±After the old man entered, he noticed the gaping hole at the head place in the drawing room, but he quickly bowed, cupping one hand in the other, and apologized, his voice filled with modest courtesy. Ten years ago, when their family¡¯s Primal Core adept was still alive, the Yang family did not need to fear a first-stage Primal Core adept. But now, a first-rank Primal Core adept was enough to easily wipe out the head of the family! In the presence of a Primal Core adept, the Yang family elder could not lift even a finger. Although the Yang family had several marriage connections with other families who possessed Primal Core adepts, none of these families would offend a Primal Core adept for the sake of the Yang family. ¡°Within half a month, collect the medicinal ingredients on this paper and give them to me. After half a month, I will come and collect them. If there is even one missing, I will kill the ultimate Connate-level adept of the Yang family.¡±Zhou Donghuang stood up at once and raised his hand. The paper in his hand was surrounded by a white mist then fluttered and flew directly toward the Yang family patriarch Yang Qi, floating in the air before him for a moment. Yang Qi¡¯s face paled with fear as he took it. Zhang Donghuang¡¯s action also terrified the other Yang family elders whose facial expressions contorted. ¡°He ¡­ he¡¯s also a Primal Core adept?!¡±¡±Heavens! He doesn¡¯t even look twenty; how can he be a Primal Core adept?!¡±¡±Goodness! How ¡­ how can this be?!¡±

 Chapter 168 - Primal Core Spirit Weapon

    In the history of Ziyun planet, the youngest Primal Core adept had been at least 35 years old. The young man in front of him looked as if he was not more than 20 years of age. Could he already be a Primal Core adept?


    In the hall of the Yang family, the Yang family members watched a young man dressed in a flowing white robe lead the middle-aged man away. Their eyes filled with shock. The look of disbelief remained for a long while.


    After leaving the Yang family, Zhou Donghuang found a weaponry and bought a Core furnace, as well as some rare metals that he needed.


    ¡°Master, I can understand why you bought the Core furnace, to produce the Core drugs, but why did you get all of these metals?¡± Su Mo asked Zhou Donghuang curiously, looking at the heap of precious metals in his hands.


    ¡°To produce spirit weapons,¡± answered Zhou Donghuang flatly.


    ¡°Primal Core weapons?!¡± Hearing the words that had just left Zhou Donghuang¡¯s mouth, Su Mo¡¯s eyes narrowed rapidly. ¡°Master, you ¡­ you know how to make spirit weapons?¡±


    Martial artists beyond the Primal Core stage could make use of their inner Yuan to crystallize a Samadhi fire that could not only be used to produce Core drugs but could also be used to produce weapons. The weapons that were forged in the Samadhi fire were called ¡°spirit weapons.¡± The space ring was one such spirit weapon. Spirit weapons were special not because of the methods used to forge them. Instead, they required a special material to be used in the forging: the space stone.


    However, his master had not purchased a space stone among the rare metals that he had just bought. This meant that his master was about to produce another spirit weapon besides the space ring.


    ¡°Very rare?¡± asked Zhou Donghuang. In his past life, he had been most proficient in producing Core drugs, but he could also easily forge spirit weapons beneath the heavenly spirit weapon tier without any effort.


    While purchasing the Core furnace, the rare metals that he had bought together were the materials that he was planning to use to forge inferior Primal Core spirit weapons.


    Hearing this, Su Mo laughed as he said, ¡°Master, it is extremely difficult to forge a spirit weapon, and it is much harder than what is needed to produce most other Core drugs. I have heard that among the ten premier sects of the Ziyun planet, two sects each have one spirit weapon. Furthermore, these weapons were obtained by one of the sects a few centuries ago, when they were bought from a Dharma Laws adept who had arrived on Ziyun by accident. They paid a huge sum of money for the weapon. It was only an inferior Primal Core spirit weapon, but even so, it allowed the user to increase the power of inner Yuan by a tenth!¡±


    As he spoke, Su Mo¡¯s eyes seemed to glint with a burning flame.


    ¡°Just as I thought ¡­ in Ziyun planet, the spirit weapon is indeed a rare item.¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes flashed as he thought this.


    ¡°We will return to the guest inn first. Tomorrow I want to make a trip to the black market and get some spirit stones, ¡± said Zhou Donghuang to Su Mo.


    The two of them made their way back to Yuntai Inn. Their journey was smooth. It seemed like the seventeenth elder of the Divine Light sect, Liu Xuanyu, had not sent anyone to stop them, as if he had simply disappeared into thin air. Of course, Zhou Donghuang was well aware that the fact that Liu Xuanyu was in no hurry to make any move did not mean that he had given up, and most likely was just observing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s actions.


    Just as Zhou Donghuang had predicted, not long after he and Su Mo returned to Yuntai Inn, Liu Xuanyu, the seventeenth elder of the Divine Light sect, who was waiting in the black market, received the information report from his men.


    ¡°Seventeenth elder, the two people not only killed the men we had sent to Yuntai inn, but were even brought to the Yang family household by the Yang people.¡± The old man stood respectfully in front of Liu Xuanyu, as he continued seriously, ¡°However, they left the Yang family household in one piece. Our plan clearly failed.¡±


    ¡°The Yang family did not try to stop them?¡± Liu Xuanyu was surprised. ¡°Isn¡¯t that man just a late Connate-stage adept? Even if the two late Connate-stage adepts in the Yang family did not make a move, the Yang family would have had no problem stopping him.¡±


    ¡°Seventeenth elder, ¡± said the old man with a bitter smile. ¡°At the start, I had the same doubt. But I asked around and found out some news which I am unsure about. The son of one of the Yang elders personally released the news that both the man who had killed the Yang eighth elder, Yang Wei, and the young man alongside him were Primal Core adepts! In fact, the older man even calls the young man ¡®Master.¡¯ The young man looks to be not more than twenty years of age.¡± As he spoke, the old man¡¯s eyes could not help but seem extremely suspicious. ¡°A Primal Core adept who is not even twenty years old? Even though this news has been circulating, I don¡¯t really believe it.¡±


    ¡°A Primal Core adept who is less than twenty years of age?¡± Liu Xuanyu was first taken aback, then could not help but chuckle. ¡°In the history of Ziyun planet, the youngest Primal Core adept achieved the Primal Core stage when he was thirty-six years old. And that man is none other than the ancestor of our Divine Light sect, one of the only two Dharma Laws adept in the history of Ziyun planet. A Primal Core adept who is not even twenty years old ¡­ maybe in those planets which have more training resources ¡­ but, here in Ziyun planet, such an occurrence is simply impossible!¡± As the seventeenth elder of the Divine Light sect, Liu Xuanyu had the authority to say this.


    ¡°My thoughts exactly,¡± agreed the old man with a nod of his head.


    ¡°As for that middle-aged man, it is possible that he may really be a Primal Core adept, ¡± continued Liu Xuanyu. He turned to look at the old man. ¡°Has he returned to Yuntai inn? If not, you keep a close eye on him, then send someone to call me over. I will meet him for myself!¡±


    As he spoke, Liu Xuanyu¡¯s eyes shone with greed. ¡°We must not wait any longer. If he really is a Primal Core adept, within half a year, of those thousand pieces of spirit stone he will have used more than a hundred!¡±


    ¡°Yes, seventeenth elder, ¡± responded the old man as he left.


    ¡­


    Yuntai inn.


    After returning, Zhou Donghuang began producing the Core drugs in his room as Su Mo observed from the side. Of course, Su Mo had not dared to make such a request, but Zhou Donghuang had personally offered to allow Su Mo to observe him.


    ¡°Refining Core drugs is similar to producing elixirs or potions, but only in terms of the pharmacology. The refining of Core drugs is very particular about the management of the fire, besides the mixing of the ingredients¡­¡± shared Zhou Donghuang as he released the inner Yuan from within his body. It circled around the Core furnace, bringing the Core furnace to float in the air in front of him.


    Next, the many different ingredients were sliced into near blocks using the inner Yuan that had been converted into a knife in his hands. ¡°Cutting the herbs helps allow the medicinal effect of the herbs to spread evenly throughout after they are thrown into the Core furnace¡­¡±


    A young man who was not even twenty years old was here sharing the ways of refining the Core as he worked. On the other hand, there was an old man who was more than seventy years old, but who looked at most forty years old, looking on like a curious baby, learning intently as he watched the young man refine the Core drugs, as if he were afraid to miss a single detail.


    After half an hour, the young man lifted his hand and patted the Core furnace. With that, pieces of Core drug shot out from within and entered the bottle which he had prepared earlier.


    ¡°These are ten Connate drugs, with the same effect as the Connate elixirs which I had made previously, but the effect is three times that of the Connate elixir.¡± Keeping the bottle, Zhou Donghuang looked at Su Mo as he told him what he had just produced.


    ¡°Three ¡­ three times?!¡± Su Mo was stunned. He had already been amazed by the Connate elixirs that his master had produced. Now, his master was telling him that the effect of the Connate drugs which he had just produced was three times stronger than the elixir?


    Before Su Mo could recover from his shock, Zhou Donghuang had already picked up the precious rare metals that he had just purchased. His inner Yuan made them float in the air, then Zhou Donghuang used the Samadhi fire to melt the metal.


    Next, as Su Mo watched, after he had recovered from his shock, the Samadhi fire from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s inner Yuan transformed the mix of molten metals into an Exquisite Hill about the size of a fist.


    After the Exquisite Hill had taken its shape, Zhou Donghuang, who had originally looked relaxed, now had a serious expression. His hands waved rapidly in dance as thousands of streaks of inner Yuan flew across the surface of the Exquisite Hill, like pulling the silk from a cocoon.


    These actions all amazed Su Mo. ¡°Master, this is setting up a shield?¡±


    ¡°In forging a spirit weapon, the essence of it is setting up a shield. The stronger the shield, the more complex it is and the more difficult it is to set it up, ¡± Zhou Donghuang said. ¡°The spirit ring can only be considered among the most inferior tiers in terms of difficulty of forging the spirit weapon. The spear sphere is roughly similar in difficulty to the space ring, but the difference is that the material used in forging the space ring, the space stone, is so rare and precious that the material used to forge the spear sphere cannot compare at all. Hence the spear sphere cannot be considered a spirit weapon, and will not be of any assistance to a Primal Core adept.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words gave Su Mo a greater understanding of spirit weapons. In the past, he had known only that spirit weapons were extremely precious, but knew nothing about why. Now he had a newfound respect for the young man in front of him.


    ¡°Done, ¡± declared Zhou Donghuang. He finally finished his work after an hour. Clearly the effort needed to forge a spirit weapon was far more than that needed to refine a Core drug.


    ¡°Try it, ¡± said Zhou Donghuang as he threw the Exquisite Hill in his hands to Su Mo carelessly, as if he was throwing away a piece of rubbish. Now, the Exquisite Hill was not only extremely realistic but on its body there were also visible tiny lines clustered densely.


    ¡°For a Primal Core adept, whether activating a spear sphere or a spirit weapon, one would not need to be familiar with the shield within. As long as one injected energy into it, it can be used directly, ¡± added Zhou Donghuang.


    Su Mo nodded as he tried to inject some of his inner Yuan into the Exquisite Hill. In that instant, the Exquisite Hill flew up under his command. As it fell with a loud booming sound, the energy that was released made Su Mo widen his eyes in shock.


    ¡°The power increased by a whole tenth!¡±


    This was the hallmark of an inferior Primal Core spirit weapon.

 Chapter 169 - Tuo Ku

    Looking at the Exquisite Hill in his hands, Su Mo could not help but be in awe. This was the inferior Primal Core spirit weapon of which there were just two on the whole Ziyun planet? And from that moment on, including the Exquisite Hill in his hands, there was one more inferior Primal Core spirit weapon on the Ziyun planet.


    ¡°Master, how¡­ how did you do that? The metals that you bought from the weaponry were all rare and expensive metals, but they are all materials that could be obtained with money, so are not considered the rarest items on the Ziyun planet.¡± Su Mo, the shock on his face clear, looked at the young man in front of him dressed in white. ¡°Just using those materials, you were able to forge the third inferior Primal Core spirit weapon on the Ziyun planet?¡±


    ¡°To forge a spirit weapon, of course the materials are important, but they are not the most crucial, ¡± said Zhou Donghuang flatly. ¡°The spell that is placed on it is the most important. Of course, only inferior Primal Core spirit weapons can be forged out of metals that can be bought with gold or silver; in order to produce even better Primal Core weapons, one has to obtain the materials from another method, using metals that even gold and silver cannot purchase.¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang spoke, his eyes flashed. ¡°At the black market, besides getting another batch of the spirit stone, I also plan to get the materials to forge a spirit weapon of even better quality.¡±


    ¡°Master, are you truly confident of being able to defeat the seventeenth elder of the Divine Light Sect, the middle Primal-Core-stage adept Liu Xuanyu?¡± Su Mo could not help himself from asking, ¡°If Master is not fully confident, I don¡¯t think there¡¯s a need to take the risk. After all, the thousand spirit stones that you bought previously would be enough for Master to use for a while longer. They should be able to last long enough to enter the middle Primal Core stage.¡±


    ¡°That thousand pieces of spirit stone?¡± Zhou Donghuang shook his head. ¡°I used them all two days ago.¡±


    Utilizing the spirit stones to set up a spell used so many resources that it was what was used by just absorbing the spirit energy the spirit stones contained. The problem was that the former was more efficient. Even if it was wasteful, it was worth it.


    Now Zhou Donghuang was equivalent to the fusion of two early Primal-Core-stage adepts, because he had two Primal Cores within him. The energy emitted from either of the Primal Cores was not less than what any ordinary early Primal Core stage adept emitted.


    ¡°What?!¡± Su Mo was shocked. ¡°Used ¡­ used it all?!¡± This was something that he had not anticipated.


    Now that he thought about it, his Master had achieved extraordinary progress in a short half a year, achieving the late Connate stage then skipping two levels to achieve the Primal Core stage in that short time. In light of this amazing progress, it seemed reasonable that he had used up a thousand spirit stones.


    ¡°Master, you don¡¯t intend to bring this inferior Primal Core spirit weapon to the black market to exchange for spirit stones, do you?¡± Su Mo looked at the Exquisite Hill in his hands, a flash of worry in his eyes. ¡°If you are thinking of doing so, I do not advise it. In the eyes of the Divine Light sect, this inferior Primal Core spirit weapon is worth much more than just four thousand spirit stones! Such a weapon is enough to make the Divine Light sect willingly accept punishment and hand over four thousand spirit stones to the other four big sects, ¡± said Su Mo.


    ¡°No.¡± If Su Mo had thought of it, Zhou Donghuang would already have considered it. ¡°Tomorrow, when I go to the black market, I will use other methods to obtain the materials I need, as well as the spirit stones.¡± As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes shone.


    This time, if he could amass the materials he required and forge the spirit weapons that he wanted, by the time he left the black market, he would be capable of defeating anyone within Ziyun planet!


    ¡­


    The next day.


    Zhou Donghuang left the Yuntai inn early in the morning. He left alone, without Su Mo, because he felt that there was no need to bring him. When they had reached the black market, the two of them would have had to split up anyway.


    Once Zhou Donghuang left, he attracted the attention of an old man who was stationed nearby the main door of Yuntai inn. This old man was one of the trusted men of Liu Xuanyu, the seventeenth elder of the Divine Light sect and the elder of the black market. This old man was an early Primal-Core-stage adept of the sect.


    In the Divine Light sect, only if one entered the middle Primal Core stage and became an elder could one enjoy the good treatment. Of course, there were also some disciples who were being groomed by the Divine Light sect. Even if their level of skill was low and they had not achieved much growth, the sect would also invest great resources in these disciples. The resources invested in these favorite disciples would make even the sect elders go green with envy. The premier ones in the Divine Light sect were all disciples who had been groomed with the help of all these resources since they were young.


    ¡°Just him?¡± The old man frowned as he turned behind to one of the two people behind him and said, ¡°You go back and inform seventeenth elder that just the young man left the Yuntai inn. To avoid alerting that middle-aged man, I do not intend to touch him right now.¡± The disciple left.


    After leaving Yuntai inn, Zhou Donghuang went straight to the black market and walked right into an empty wooden hut. Of course, by this time Liu Xuanyu, the seventeenth elder of Divine Light sect, was already aware that Zhou Donghuang was coming, but could not be sure which was him.


    ¡°Just the young man is here? I want to see for myself if he will create the ruckus he did half a year ago when he came with the middle-aged man.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang did not disappoint.


    ¡°The recipe for a Qi-gathering elixir that can heighten the senses by twenty times ¡­ the cost of the raw materials for a pot of this elixir is less than ten liang of gold. Is this for real?¡± As soon as Zhou Donghuang placed a sign outside the wooden hut, a huge group of people gathered around the hut.


    These people, who were all dressed fully in black, spoke in whispers. ¡°Till today, the best Qi-gathering elixirs in the market could only heighten the senses by twelve times. The best was released just half a year ago, and its price was high. After all, the raw cost is very high as well.¡±


    ¡°The recipe for a Qi-gathering elixir that can heighten the senses by twelve times was released in a black market too. The cost of producing a pot of it is more than ten liang of gold. How can this one be cheap, with such high costs?¡±


    ¡°If there really is such a recipe, three thousand pieces of spirit stone is not expensive.¡±


    ¡°Indeed. To obtain the recipe for such a Qi-gathering elixir would allow one to monopolize the market for superior Qi-gathering elixirs in the Ziyun planet. Furthermore, if any of the premier sects obtain it and keep it to themselves, their future disciples will be able to grow at much faster speeds, making them able to set themselves apart from the disciples of the other four sects.¡±


    ¡°Not sell it to others? That is not feasible. Once such a Qi-gathering elixir appears on the market, the other four sects will certainly exert their pressure on the one sect that has the elixir to force them to either share the recipe or sell the elixir to them.¡±


    ¡­


    Inside the wooden hut, Zhou Donghuang was also dressed in full black, his face shielded by a large black hat. He sat patiently in front of a wooden table. On one side of the wooden table, the worker from the black market, a Connate-stage adept from the Divine Light sect, looked at the man dressed in black in front of him, his eyes filled with suspicion. He doubted that this black-robed man could produce such a recipe.


    Despite his suspicion, since the man had requested to place a sign, he could only do as the man wished. If someone wanted to purchase the elixir recipe, and this man could not produce it, it was the man who would be in trouble, not him.


    ¡°It is elder Tuo Ku!¡±


    Outside, a bald old man in a silver gown walked toward the hut, flanked by two middle-aged men. A group of black-gowned people opened a path as some of them recognized the man in the middle. He was the manager of the black market and the third elder of the Divine Light Sect, Tuo Ku.


    Tuo Ku was one of the late Primal-Core-stage adepts of the Divine Light sect and was a silver core adept.


    ¡°That is the fifteenth elder of Divine Light sect, Zheng Yong, and the seventeenth elder, Liu Xuanyu ¡­ my goodness! The head of the black market and the two supervisors are all here personally!¡±


    ¡°This is normal. After all, if there really exists such a good recipe for the Qi-gathering elixir, the level of progress of the Qi-gathering adepts in the Ziyun planet would be able to increase drastically. If they spend less time in the Qi-gathering stage, they will attain the Connate stage more quickly, and have more time to try to achieve the Primal Core stage, or even the Dharma Laws stage!¡±


    ¡­


    As the group of men in black discussed this, the three of them, led by Tuo Ku, the third elder of the Divine Light sect, had already entered the wooden house.


    ¡°Third elder, fifteenth elder, seventeenth elder.¡± As the three of them stepped in, the worker inside, who was a disciple of the sect, hurriedly bowed in greeting.


    ¡°You may leave.¡± Tuo Ku glanced at the young man. He had already backed out of the door respectfully and closed the door behind him.


    Tuo Ku sat in front of the wooden table opposite Zhou Donghuang. As he looked at Zhou Donghuang, he asked seriously, ¡°Sir, do you really have the recipe for a Qi-gathering elixir that can heighten the senses by twenty times?¡±


    ¡°Otherwise, what would I be doing here?¡± retorted Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°This voice¡­¡± Just as Zhou Donghuang spoke, Liu Xuanyu, who was standing behind Tuo Ku, was surprised as his eyes narrowed.¡± Such a young voice! It looks like he is most likely the man who sold the recipe for another Qi-gathering elixir to one of our Divine Light sect disciples.¡±


    ¡°Your voice is really youthful, ¡± said Tuo Ku as he looked with surprise at Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Looks like you are helping your elder to sell the recipe?¡±


    ¡°Think what you like, ¡± replied Zhou Donghuang flatly.


    Just then, another voice came from outside. ¡°Third elder, Alchemist Xu is here.¡±


    As Tuo Ku responded, an elderly figure pushed open the door and entered. Tuo Ku stood up as he eagerly led the other two men to greet the newcomer. ¡°Alchemist Xu.¡±


    ¡°Show me the recipe.¡± The old man nodded to Tuo Ku as he came in front of Zhou Donghuang, his eyes flashing.


    Just as they thought that the man in the black robe would hesitate, he simply took out a piece of paper from his sleeve and handed it to the old man. The old man was none other than Xu Fu, the top alchemist and core-forging master in Ziyun planet.

 Chapter 170 - Zhou Donghuangs Strength

    Xu Fu came from a planet where there were many Primordial Souls and where resources were vast. He had seen much. However, now as he looked at the recipe in his hands, his expression changed as he exclaimed, ¡°Incredible! Genius! Simply amazing! These ingredients could be put together like this. This combination is indeed more effective. Amazing!¡±


    Xu Fu reluctantly handed the piece of paper to the man in the black robe behind the table, who was Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Alchemist Xu, how is it?¡± Tuo Ku, the manager of the black market and the third elder of the Divine Light sect, looked at Xu Fu. He asked, but he already knew the answer to the question. After all, Xu Fu¡¯s reaction had said everything.


    ¡°The recipe is real, ¡± answered Xu Fu seriously. ¡°However, even if that recipe comes to me, I will need to take another ten days to half a month of studying it before I am confident of using it to produce the Qi-gathering elixir. Third elder, please buy this recipe.¡± Xu Fu¡¯s eyes flashed eagerly.


    ¡°Buying this recipe for three thousand spirit stones¡­ In the future, the other four sects will definitely want us to share this with them. Then we could accept payment of a thousand spirit stones from each of the other four sects. Even if we do not share the recipe, and just provide them with the Qi-gathering elixirs, we could easily earn three thousand spirit stones.¡± Xu Fu spoke seriously. ¡°With this recipe, the Divine Light sect¡¯s most talented Qi-gathering adepts will be able to reach the Connate stage a few years earlier!¡±


    Tuo Ku naturally trusted every word that Xu Fu said. He looked at Zhou Donghuang and said, ¡°Sir, regarding three thousand spirit stones ¡­ we are not able to produce that right now. I will send a message back to the sect to send the spirit stones immediately.¡±


    ¡°I cannot wait for so long, ¡± replied Zhou Donghuang. Another piece of paper slid out of his sleeve, surrounded by a faint white glow as it floated to Tuo Ku and waited for Tuo Ku to take it.


    ¡°Primal-Core-stage adept?¡± Tuo Ku was shocked. From hearing the voice of the man in black just now, he had guessed that the man was just twenty years of age at most. He had not expected that the other party was a Primal Core adept. Even if he was just in the early Primal Core stage, that fact was shocking.


    ¡°He really is a Primal Core adept?¡± Behind Tuo Ku, Liu Xuanyu¡¯s eyes narrowed as he said, ¡°He really is the young man who was beside the middle-aged man?¡±


    Liu Xuanyu had already quietly confirmed the identity of the man in front of him. But now, seeing the inner Yuan appear, revealing that the man was an early Primal-Core-stage adept, he could not help but wonder whether the man in black was really that young man? A young man who was not even twenty years of age was already a Primal Core adept?


    He could not believe that.


    But hearing the ¡°fake news¡± that he had received from his men the day before, he could not help but falter.


    ¡°The materials on the paper can be used as payment instead of the spirit stone. The prices are all indicated there, ¡± said Zhou Donghuang flatly. ¡°I give you three days. After three days, if you are not able to procure the things I want, I will sell this recipe to the other sect.¡±


    ¡°Sir, three days is too short a time.¡± Tuo Ku looked at the materials written on the paper. It was clear that these materials were rare on the Ziyun planet. Since they were not able to be bought with gold or silver, they had to be exchanged for spirit stones.


    ¡°Two days, ¡± said Zhou Donghuang.


    Hearing this, Tuo Ku¡¯s expression changed. The two elders standing behind him also looked at Zhou Donghuang furiously.


    ¡°Lad, this black market is the territory of our Divine Light sect. if you want to leave here in one piece, you had better know your place, ¡± said Liu Xuanyu in a low voice.


    ¡°Threatening me?¡± Zhou Donghuang raised his head as he glanced at Liu Xuanyu. With a swift motion of his hand, the inner Yuan within his hands tore the Qi-gathering elixir recipe into pieces that could never be pieced back together. ¡°One day¡­ within one day, if the items I asked for are not ready, this recipe will never be in the hands of the Divine Light sect.¡±


    ¡°Also, he shall now give me a hundred spirit stones for scaring me just now with his threat,¡± said Zhou Donghuang as he stared at Tuo Ku, pointing at Liu Xuanyu.


    ¡°Lad, you¡¯re asking for it!¡± Liu Xuanyu¡¯s expression turned dark. He had never expected that the man in front of him would dare to cheat him. He was furious.


    Zhou Donghuang ignored him as he continued staring at Tuo Ku.


    ¡°Seventeenth elder, you give him the hundred spirit stones first. The black market will cover half of it for you; later I will ask the store to hand you fifty spirit stones.¡± The dominance of the man in black was unfathomable for the third elder of the Divine Light sect. But he was profoundly aware that the sect had to lay its hands on the Qi-gathering elixir recipe, so he could only give in for now and accede to this man¡¯s request, to stop him from being even more audacious.


    Tuo Ku had ordered Liu Xuanyu to pay attention. If the man in black was indignant, he could remove just a hundred spirit stones from his space ring and hand it over to Zhou Donghuang. He glared at Zhou Donghuang murderously. He only needed to fork out fifty spirit stones, but that was no small amount. Although the sect distributed spirit stones to him each month, it would take more than a year for him to save fifty spirit stones.


    ¡°Sir, we will do our best to prepare your items within a day. Please wait here patiently.¡± Tuo Ku did not dare to bargain anymore.


    ¡°Mm, ¡± responded Zhou Donghuang loosely. Tuo Ku led his men to leave the wooden hut.


    As the crowd outside watched, Tuo Ku returned with his men to his room in the black market.


    ¡°Third elder, that young man is simply ridiculous!¡± As they entered the room, Liu Xuanyu could not help but cry out. ¡°We should just kill him straight away and take the recipe from him! Even if the news gets out, it would be worth it for us to fork out four thousand spirit stones to the other sects as punishment for breaking the rules of the black market.¡± Liu Xuanyu¡¯s eyes were murderous.


    ¡°The recipe has already been destroyed by him, ¡± responded Tuo Ku as he shook his head.


    Liu Xuanyu replied, ¡°Then we can torture him to force him to write the recipe out again. Judging by his behavior, he knows the recipe by heart and can write it out anytime. Otherwise, he would not have been able to bargain with us even after he destroyed the piece of paper.¡±


    ¡°Torture him? Force him?¡± Tuo Ku shook his head again. ¡°If he does not wish to be tortured and wants to die, we cannot stop him. Then we would have totally lost our chance to obtain the recipe for that Qi-gathering elixir. Your suggestion is not feasible at all.¡±


    Tuo Ku then turned to look at Xu Fu beside him and asked respectfully, ¡°Alchemist Xu, when you looked at the recipe just now, how much of it do you remember? Is it possible to reproduce it?¡±


    Xu Fu shook his head. ¡°I only saw it once. I can remember just ten or twenty percent of it. That recipe is extremely complicated; even if I saw it a hundred times, I would only be able to remember half of it unless I had a photographic memory.¡±


    ¡°In that case, we will have to accede to his request and prepare what he asked for.¡±


    With the order of Tuo Ku, the third elder of the Divine Light sect and the highest manager of the black market, all the elders and disciples of the sect who were not busy at work in the black market were all sent out. They headed to all the clans of the Shenguang empire, and even some sects outside of the capital, to search for the precious and rare materials that the man in black had demanded.


    It must be said that the black market was extremely efficient.


    By the next dawn, more than half of the precious materials that Zhou Donghuang had requested had already been prepared. The remainder could only be acquired by using spirit stones as payment.


    Inside the wooden hut, Tuo Ku asked the man in black, ¡°Sir, the things that you asked for are here. Will you hand me the recipe now?¡±


    On the wooden table inside the hut, beside the half-opened wooden box containing a thousand spirit stones, there was a huge variety of other precious materials laid out on the table. It was clear that they were no simple metals; rather, they were incomparable to ordinary metals.


    ¡°Yes, ¡± answered Zhou Donghuang as he glanced at the materials and spirit stones on the table. He nodded and looked at Tuo Ku as he said, ¡°You can come back in a day to retrieve it. I destroyed the recipe previously, so I need to write it out all over again. No-one shall disturb me in this wooden house, otherwise you shall bear the consequences!¡±


    ¡°Alright, ¡± responded Tuo Ku as he led his men out of the door. However, Tuo Ku remained in the vicinity of the wooden hut and even called some other elders of the sect to stand in different directions outside. They watched the wooden hut, as if afraid that the man inside would escape.


    ¡°Now, he is just an early Primal-Core-stage adept, and even a middle Primal-Core-stage adept would not be able to escape from here!¡± Liu Xuanyu stood at a corner outside the house as he glared at it, his eyes murderous.


    Inside the wooden hut.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang did not need a whole day to write the recipe. Zhou Donghuang had asked Tuo Ku to come back after a day so he could forge the spirit weapon he wanted using resources provide by Tuo Ku. ¡°The list of items that I gave to Tuo Ku is the ingredients list of an ultimate Primal Core spirit weapon, but he did not manage to get all of it. Even then, these materials are enough for me to produce a superior Primal Core spirit weapon!¡±


    Primal Core spirit weapons were spirit weapons used only by Primal Core adepts. Inferior Primal Core spirit weapons could increase the power of the infused inner Yuan by ten percent. Middle spirit weapons could increase the power by thirty percent. Superior spirit weapons could increase it by sixty percent. Ultimate spirit weapons could double the power of the inner Yuan!0

 Chapter 171 - First Blood of the Spirit Weapon

    ¡°Third elder, correct.¡± In the wooden hut a day later, Xu Fu looked at the recipe for the elixir and nodded to Tuo Ku who was standing by his side.


    With that, Zhou Donghuang stood up and walked straight out without so much as a glance behind. Tuo Ku, the third elder of Divine Light sect and late Primal-Core-stage adept, had no intention of stopping Zhou Donghuang and so allowed him to leave.


    But once Zhou Donghuang had left, Tuo Ku turned to Xu Fu and asked, ¡°Alchemist Xu, what you said just now; is it true?¡± Tuo Ku had heard Xu Fu say that the recipe for the Qi-gathering elixir that the man in black had produced, which could heighten the sense by twenty times, could not be found even in planets with Divine Transformation adepts. Divine Transformation was a level that transcended the Primordial Soul stage, was two levels above the Dharma Laws stage, and three full levels above the Primal Core stage!


    Because of what Xu Fu had said, Tuo Ku felt even more fearful of the man in black. That he was able to produce this elixir recipe meant that he must have received a huge treasure. He had either gotten it from someone from another planet, or his master had left him to practice on Ziyun planet for some reason. Within the endless universe, there was no shortage of such examples.


    If he had gotten it from someone on another planet, he could easily kill the man and take back what he had taken from the Divine Light sect. However, if his master had left him to practice, once the matter had been found out by the man¡¯s master, then their sect would be ruined! After all, the man selling Qi-gathering elixir in the black market was not a secret. His master could easily link his death to the Divine Light sect. Tuo Ku did not want to take the risk, and the Divine Light sect would not take such a risk for a thousand spirit stones and those materials.


    ¡°Third elder, are you doubting my words?¡± Xu Fu¡¯s expression turned dark.


    ¡°Alchemist Xu, please do not misunderstand, I just wanted to further confirm,¡± apologized Tuo Ku with an awkward smile.


    Xu Fu was not as powerful as he was, but his alchemy skills were unparalleled on the whole planet and he was the highest-ranking ally of the sect. Xu Fu¡¯s position in the Divine Light sect was even higher than his own.


    ¡­


    After leaving the black market, Zhou Donghuang returned to the Yuntai inn. Just as he had come, he did not fly through the skies but walked slowly in the big streets and small alleys of the Shenguang empire capital, enjoying the hustle and bustle of the city. After shutting himself away for half a year, he was not repulsed by the noise; it was a familiar and welcoming sound for him.


    However, as he walked into a small alley with just a few stalls and about ten passers-by, he sensed something that made him stop in his tracks. In that instant that he turned around.


    Woosh! Woosh! Woosh! Woosh! Woosh!


    With the piercing sound, all the people in the small alley dropped dead as flashes of white light passed through them. These people, who were just passers-by or stall owners, had no time to react at all. As they collapsed to the ground their expressions did not change. Those who had been looking around still had faces filled with curiosity. Those who had been bargaining with the stall owners still had their furrowed brows. And two children who were not even ten years old still had innocent smiles plastered on their faces. All of this happened within an instant.


    Ho!


    Just as Zhou Donghuang frowned and looked up toward the source of the white flashes, a figure landed out of nowhere.


    ¡°This is Liu Xuanyu?¡± The man in front of him was not unfamiliar to Zhou Donghuang, as he was the man who had demanded a hundred spirit stones just the day before. He had not known the man¡¯s identity, just that he held high status in the black market.


    Now, seeing him appear, he could easily guess his identity: the seventeenth elder of Divine Light sect, Liu Xuanyu. The previous day, Su Mo had killed a man who had been following them, sent by this Liu Xuanyu. It was then that he knew that he was being watched by Liu Xuanyu.


    ¡°Lad, did you not think that I could find you?¡± After landing, Liu Xuanyu smiled coldly at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°So what if you found me?¡± replied Zhou Donghuang calmly.


    ¡°It is indeed you!¡± Hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s voice, Liu Xuanyu was sure that the man who had cheated him out of a hundred spirit stones was none other than the young man in white in front of him. He had not believed that the man was a Primal Core adept, but now he had to believe it.


    ¡°Lad, I don¡¯t care if you received a treasure or have the backing of a powerful master. Today, you are not getting out alive!¡± Liu Xuanyu looked at Zhou Donghuang with a murderous glint in his eyes, the greed unmistakable. A thousand spirit stones, and precious metals that were worth at least two thousand spirit stones.


    If he killed this man, he would own everything that the man had gotten in the black market. Furthermore, he could take back the hundred spirit stones that he had given to him!


    ¡°You killed them just to shut their mouths so that nobody will find out that you are trying to attack me?¡± Zhou Donghuang glanced at the ten corpses in the small alley, his tone stone-cold.


    ¡°Indeed! As long as nobody witnesses my killing you, even if you have the backing of someone powerful, the blame cannot land on me!¡± As he spoke, his inner Yuan seemed to surround his body, lifting him straight towards Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Lad, if anything, just blame the fact that you have something valuable, but are too weak to protect it!¡± He had already come next to Zhou Donghuang, and with that, he lifted his palm and struck out with it.


    Weng!!


    The piercing sound of a knife slicing through the air could be heard as a flash of white light sliced through the air towards Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Nobody will know it was me who killed you, though I am not worried about that at all,¡± Zhou Donghuang said calmly as his right sleeve trembled and produced a fan that appeared in his hands. ¡°I do not have to use this to kill you, but I just forged it last night and have not used it yet. Yours shall be its first blood!¡±


    As he spoke, the fan in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hands opened, its frame shimmering with a cold energy. Immediately, a faint white glow appeared above it.


    Woosh!


    With a swift motion, Zhou Donghuang opened the fan. He seemed to turn into a ghoul as he prepared to face the sword of light from Liu Xuanyu.


    The fan flew out of his hands towards the flash of light, slicing through it like it was cutting through bean curd.


    ¡°Spirit weapon?!¡± When he had heard Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, Liu Xuanyu had suspected that the fan in his hands was a spirit weapon. Now, seeing him use it to easily block his attack, his suspicion was confirmed. ¡°Indeed, it is a spirit weapon!!¡±


    At that moment, the greed in Liu Xuanyu¡¯s eyes seemed to turn even more intense. A spirit weapon! Even their sect had only one of those. Although Zhou Donghuang had easily blocked his attack, Liu Xuanyu thought of nothing but the spirit weapon. He had thought that Zhou Donghuang had used all his inner Yuan to destroy the attack. But his attack was a knife of inner Yuan from his body and did not require any additional input of energy. Such an attack could be taken down by an early Primal Core adept with the help of an inferior Primal Core spirit weapon using his full power.


    ¡°Before you die, let me thank you for gifting me this weapon!¡± Liu Xuanyu¡¯s greed flashed in his eyes. With a tremor of the white glow surrounding his body, he seemed to turn into a cannonball as he flew towards Zhou Donghuang at tremendous speed. His hands moved rapidly as they produced two sharp knives of inner Yuan. He planned to use all his might to murder the young man.


    ¡°Fool!¡± Though faced with the onslaught of Liu Xuanyu, Zhou Donghuang was aware of his intentions. He smirked as he spun the fan in his hands, its sharp white glow shining brightly.


    Weng! Weng! Weng!


    ¡­


    The fan spun in his hands like a fan blade that had left its machine, flying straight towards Liu Xuanyu while emitting a piercing sound.


    ¡°Spirit weapon!!¡± Seeing the fan spin towards him, Liu Xuanyu¡¯s eyes widened. The white glow transformed into two massive white hands that grabbed at the fan. Clearly, Liu Xuanyu was thinking of simply grabbing the fan. But in the next instant, as the fan drew closer, he sensed that the fan contained a massive and solid inner Yuan. His expression changed drastically.


    ¡°Impossible!!¡± In that instant, the energy that was radiating from the fan coming toward him was even more than his own inner Yuan.


    It was not that the quality of the Yuan energy on the fan was more than his, but it was stacked together, as if it were the fusion of many early Primal Core adepts, exhibiting enough strength to destroy the energy released from his own inner Yuan.


    Strength in numbers.


    ¡°No!!¡± With a worried cry, Liu Xuanyu tried his best to ward off the flying fan using his inner Yuan in his two hands. The spirit weapon was no longer a precious treasure but the scepter of death. The greed in his eyes was gone, replaced with fear.


    Ching!!


    A soft sound reverberated around the alley. Liu Xuanyu¡¯s guttural cry stopped. The fan spun like a machine and easily sliced through the inner Yuan at Liu Xuanyu¡¯s hands, killing him instantly!

 Chapter 172 - Tuo Kus Hypothesis

    Wham!


    The spinning fan returned to Zhou Donghuang¡¯s outstretched hand, trailing fresh blood. It folded itself after it had finished its mission. The young man dressed in white looked exactly like an impeccably-featured student holding a fan.


    From the time that Liu Xuanyu had materialized to his being killed by Zhou Donghuang was only a period of around ten breaths. In that time, no one had entered the alley.


    Only after Zhou Donghuang had removed the space ring from Liu Xuanyu¡¯s finger and departed did anyone enter the alley to discover the corpses lying within.


    The death of Liu Xuanyu, a middle Primal-Core-stage adept and the seventeenth elder of the Divine Light sect, naturally caused a huge ruckus. ¡°Why would Seventeenth Elder die in this small alley?¡±


    In the black market, Tuo Ku, the third elder of Divine Light sect, was furious. Just that morning, he had helped the Divine Light sect buy the formula for a Qi-gathering elixir that could heighten the senses twenty times. It had been a cause for celebration; he did not expect by the time Alchemist Xu had brought the formula back, their seventeenth elder Liu Xuanyu would have died in this way.


    ¡°Search! Thoroughly!¡± As the third elder of the Divine Light sect and the manager of the black market, Tuo Ku¡¯s order easily elicited the information he needed: some disciples of the black market informed him that Liu Xuanyu¡¯s trusty aide had already begun investigating the appearance of new faces in the black market.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Tuo Ku stared furiously at the old man who stood bowed in front of him with his head down and his body quivering. Tuo Ku¡¯s voice was unbelievably serious. ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t know!¡±


    ¡°Third Elder ¡­¡± answered the old man. Now that Liu Xuanyu had died, and being pressured by the third elder of the Divine Light sect, the old man did not dare hide, and hurriedly told Tuo Ku the full story of what had happened.


    ¡°Half a year ago, there was a middle-aged man who sold us the Qi-gathering elixir formula at the price of a thousand spirit stones. With the middle-aged man was a young man who the Yang family claims is an early Primal-Core-stage adept.¡±


    Hearing this, Tuo Ku easily linked that young man to the man in black who had just sold them another type of Qi-gathering elixir formula that very morning. That man in black had a very light voice and was also an early Primal-Core-stage adept.


    ¡°Go to the Yang family and call the old chief, Yang Qi, here.¡±


    Soon the old Yang chief, Yang Qi, was brought by the old man to the black market to meet Tuo Ku. ¡°Yang Qi of the Yang family greets Third Elder!¡± Yang Qi greeted him respectfully with a bow.


    ¡°He should have told you about what happened. The young man who went to your family with a middle-aged man: are you sure he is an early Primal Core adept?¡± Tuo Ku asked directly as he glared at Yang Qi.


    ¡°Yes,¡± nodded Yang Qi hurriedly. ¡°He used his inner Yuan to float a piece of paper over to me. The inner Yuan that surrounded the piece of paper was as faint as fog and must have been that of an early Primal Core adept.¡±


    ¡°You should know the consequences of lying to me.¡± Tuo Ku¡¯s voice turned stone cold.


    With a loud sound, Yang Qi dropped to his knees in fright. He said nervously, ¡°Third Elder, why would I dare to lie to you? I swear to God that if I lie to you, I will die a terrible death!¡±


    ¡°One last chance,¡± said Tuo Ku flatly. ¡°If you dare to lie to me, from today on throughout the Shenguang empire and even the entire Ziyun planet, a Yang family will no longer exist!¡±


    ¡°Third Elder, I am really not lying to you.¡± Hearing Tuo Ku threaten his family, Yang Qi could do nothing but smile bitterly, both speechless and indignant.


    Seeing this, Tuo Ku then believed his words. ¡°That middle-aged man was also an early Primal Core adept?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± nodded Yang Qi. ¡°When they came to our Yang family, the middle-aged man first killed my son. Who knows who shared the false story that the man was just a late Connate-stage adept, the news that caused me to lose my son and harm my family!¡± As he spoke, Yang Qi¡¯s voice was filled with hatred. Of course, he did not hate the Primal Core adept who had killed his son, because he knew that was useless. He hated the person who had spread the false information.


    ¡°What else was special about the two of them? For example, did they say where they were from?¡± Tuo Ku could not help but feel that someone who could produce those two Qi-gathering elixir formulas must have an impressive background or have been fortunate enough to have received this treasure.


    Yang Qi paused to think before replying, ¡°They did not have any special history. but the middle-aged man addressed the young man as ¡®Master¡¯ even though they were both of the early Primal Core stage. Also, when he addressed the young man, he did it extremely naturally, as if he genuinely respected him and took him as his master.¡± Yang Qi shared all that he knew.


    ¡°The middle-aged man addressed the young man as ¡®Master¡¯?¡± Tuo Ku¡¯s eyes narrowed. If that was the case, there was a higher likelihood that the young man had an impressive background. After all, without it, how would he make a man of equal skill willingly take him as his master? Surely, the young man had some strong power or a strong backing that was threatening the middle-aged man!


    ¡°You may take your leave.¡±


    After Yang Qi had left, Tuo Ku¡¯s eyes flashed with wisdom. ¡°The man in black who sold us the Qi-gathering elixir formula this morning was definitely that same young man. Liu Xuanyu must have discovered this. So, after the young man left the black market, Liu Xuanyu tried to assassinate him to take what the young man had, including the hundred spirit stones that he had extorted from him previously. Although Liu Xuanyu was a middle Primal-Core-stage adept, the young man or the middle-aged servant, who are just in the early stage, could not have defeated him, even working together. This leaves just one possibility: there must be another Primal Core adept protecting the young man. When Liu Xuanyu attacked him, he killed Liu Xuanyu.¡±


    He continued, ¡°Liu Xuanyu¡¯s body showed no sign of a struggle, so he must have died with a single blow. That means the murderer must be a late Primal-Core-stage adept just like me!¡±


    Tuo Ku breathed in deeply as fear appeared in his eyes. ¡°I cannot solve this matter myself. I shall pass the news to the sect and see what the Lord wishes to do.¡±


    ¡­


    Zhou Donghuang was not a late Primal-Core-stage adept. But he had killed Liu Xuanyu with a single blow. In fact, he had not employed any techniques nor used any of his past fighting experience, only his pure strength and the help of the spirit weapon to kill him!


    The inner Yuan of a middle Primal-Core-stage adept was about twice as powerful as that of an early-stage adept. Although Zhou Donghuang was just in the early Primal Core stage, he had two Primal Cores inside his body, and because both were his, the inner Yuan within each could be perfectly fused to attack together. In such circumstances, his inner Yuan was twice as powerful as any ordinary early Primal Core adept.


    Furthermore, he had just produced the superior Primal Core spirit weapon that allowed him to increase his power by sixty percent. With just the explosiveness of his inner Yuan, he could have easily destroyed the middle Primal-Core-stage adept, Liu Xuanyu.


    Liu Xuanyu had been too arrogant and did not know how powerful his opponent could be, with the help of the superior spirit weapon, so he was killed with just one blow. If he had been more careful, perhaps he would have lasted longer. His incredible carelessness had caused him to be killed in an instant.


    ¡°With my wealth of fighting experience from my past life and employing the techniques to use inner Yuan, even without the spirit weapon, I would be able to easily kill Liu Xuanyu! The middle Primal Core adepts of Ziyun planet can only be considered rookies and cannot be compared to those of the star clans and supreme sects in the rest of the universe.¡±


    In the courtyard of Yuntai inn, Zhou Donghuang sat in front of a stone table as he opened the fan. He looked as if he was admiring the dense pattern on its surface, but he was thinking of something else.


    Supreme sects and star clans were the most powerful forces in the universe. They produced lead disciples with a particular technique that not only increased their level of skill but also aided them in increasing their fighting experience and technique.


    These lead disciples could easily kill a late Primal Core adept of Ziyun planet, even if they were just in the middle Primal Core stage. Even though the inner Yuan of the late Primal Core adept would be more than twice as powerful as that of the middle, the adept had to be able to fully utilize it.


    This afternoon, the inner Yuan released by Liu Xuanyu had seemed solid but was filled with weakness. If Zhou Donghuang had wished to, he could have easily killed him even without the spirit weapon.


    ¡°If I had been able to produce the ultimate spirit weapon, with my current skill level I could defeat anyone in this Ziyun planet! But plans must give way to reality. Without the materials, I could only produce something like this,¡± sighed Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°The most important thing now is to produce the third Primal Core. Then, even with just a superior spirit weapon, I will be able to defeat anyone on Ziyun planet beneath Golden Core! As for now, when faced with Silver Core adepts like the manager of the black market, Tuo Ku, I may be able to hold them off for a while, but then my inner Yuan will no longer be able to compete.¡±


    Thinking of this, Zhou Donghuang stood up and returned to his room and began to practice again.


    At the same time, the news of the death of Liu Xuanyu, the seventeenth elder of Divine Light sect, had already reached the Divine Light sect and caused a huge commotion.

 Chapter 173 - The Primal Core Beast

    The Divine Light sect was one of the five major sects of Ziyun. Its members were stationed in the highest peak within the mountain ranges north of the Shenguang empire.


    After the ancestral founders established the foundations of the Divine Light sect there, they named the mountain ¡°Shenguang Peak.¡±


    ¡°Our leader has commanded us to make a thorough investigation of the background of the young- and middle-aged men. This is a portrait of them. Take a copy and comb the entire place for their whereabouts, starting from the very center of the Shenguang empire!¡±


    On an expansive stone platform halfway up Shenguang Peak, an old monk of average build, wearing a silver cassock, addressed eleven people in front of him.


    The eleven people who stood before the old monk were either middle-aged monks wearing red robes or men in casual clothing. The Divine Light sect consisted of disciples of Buddha, as well as many who were laymen.


    Each of the eleven people was standing on the back of a giant flying beast.


    The first of them, wearing a black robe, tall and burly, was a middle-aged man with a scar on his face. Although the giant eagle at his feet was about the same size as the other giant eagles, its body was surrounded by a faint white mist, as if to make it clear to the others that it was a Primal Core beast!


    The other flying beasts kept a certain distance from this giant eagle, each of their bodies stiff, as if they were afraid to move.


    ¡°As for the scope and range of this investigation, I will leave it to the ten elders to make your own arrangements.¡±


    The old monk faced the man in the black robes as he said this.


    ¡°Yes.¡±


    The black-robed man nodded.


    ¡°Let¡¯s go!¡±


    ¡­


    After he greeted the old monk, the man in the black robes steered the giant eagle at his feet, whistled out and left Shenguang Peak in an instant.


    With both wings spread out, the giant eagle that he rode had a wingspan of over 20 meters.


    This body shape is the hallmark of the Connate stage level for the eagle species. However, this giant eagle was not a Connate stage beast, but a Primal Core beast. When most of these beasts are trained to reach the Connate stage, their shape will remain fixed.


    They will remain unchanged, regardless of whether they are trained to reach the Primal Core, Dharma, or even the Primordial and Divine Transformation stages.


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    ¡­


    As the man in black robes left, the other ten disciples and brethren of the Divine Light sect followed him on their own flying beasts. The flying beasts under their feet were just as huge.


    A few of these eagle beasts also had a wingspan of 20 meters and were quite apparently Connate-stage beasts.


    ¡°You! Head to the northwest along the path to find out about the two people. If you find nothing in the northwest area of the Shenguang empire, you must continue in the same direction into the other empires to investigate.¡±


    ¡°I will leave the West to you.¡±


    ¡°You, go southwest.¡±


    ¡­


    Following the man in black robes, each of the Divine Light sect¡¯s ten elders gave their orders and one by one the figures on the flying beasts rode swiftly away. Finally, the black-robed man led his own Primal Core beast toward the southeast.


    He chose to head southeast because the border to the next empire was so far away it required one to travel a great distance.


    He thought it best to cover this route himself.


    ¡°I wonder who these two men are. Just as we became aware of them, they managed to stun the entire Divine Light sect. The leader himself needed to order a thorough investigation of their origins.¡±


    The man in the black robes raised his hands and two portraits appeared out of thin air. In one of them was a vivid and life-like picture of a refined middle-aged man.


    The other portrait depicted a young man with handsome features and a sense of arrogance about him; he seemed unnaturally aloof.


    The two people in these portraits were none other than Zhou Donghuang and his servant.


    ¡°Ever since I entered the ¡®Eagle Eye¡¯ this is the first time that the team has been activated to this extent,¡± the man in black robes murmured to himself as he folded up the portraits.


    Eagle Eye was the intelligence division of the Divine Light sect. It was under the control and responsibility of the fifth elder who was a Primal Core practitioner. The second person in charge of this division was the man in black robes ¨C the tenth elder of the Divine Light sect.


    This middle-aged man in black was also the practitioner in the Divine Light sect who was most likely to enter the advanced Primal Core stage next.


    ¡°Elder brother, this might turn out quite well for us: a time for us to head out and relax.¡±


    The youthful voice of a teenager came from the mouth of the giant eagle at the man¡¯s feet. This Primal Core beast had managed to refine the powers and control of his larynx and was now able to speak in human language.


    ¡°That is true.¡±


    The man in the black robes smiled, ¡°However, I hope that this trip will be a rewarding one. I am curious about the origins of that young man.¡±


    ¡°A Primal Core practitioner not 20 years of age. is that even possible? I personally feel this piece of news to be quite incredible,¡± the giant eagle said, his tone full of suspicion.


    ¡°This news was passed back to the sect by the third elder. It should be genuine. I just don¡¯t know if the young man managed to get hold of some essence, or if he has a powerful teacher behind him,¡± the man wondered aloud.


    The giant eagle, a Primal Core beast, was able to travel at an incredible speed. However, because it needed to work with the black-robed man in their search for their target person, it took about half a month to reach the border of the southeast area of the Shenguang empire.


    Swish!


    After they went past the border of the Shenguang empire, the giant eagle continued forward in the southeast direction. For seven or eight days, they saw no sign of life.


    ¡°Elder brother, it¡¯s too remote here, isn¡¯t it? All I see are barren hills and treacherous waters!¡±


    Looking down at the wilderness below, the giant eagle couldn¡¯t help but blurt this out to the man in black robes.


    ¡°Haha. This area is indeed desolate. However, it is said that past this desolate land, there are groups of people inhabiting the area and even a small sect,¡± the middle-aged man said with a smile.


    ¡°A small sect? How small?¡± The giant eagle¡¯s curiosity was piqued.


    ¡°The strongest man within the sect is but a Connate stage practitioner,¡± the man replied.


    ¡°Connate stage? The strongest one?¡±


    The eagle¡¯s sharp eyes flashed with disdain. ¡°That really is small.¡±


    ¡°In all the major empires, there are but only a few Primal Core practitioners and even they are too embarrassed to establish their own sects. Now in such a small place, to start a sect where there is not one Primal Core practitioner, that is truly absurd!¡±


    The giant eagle¡¯s contempt grew as he said this.


    ¡­


    Three days later.


    Two unwelcome guests, a man and an eagle, flew over a vast valley.


    ¡°If I were to guess, this should be the location of that small sect. I have seen records of this small sect in our Eagle Eye dossier; it seems like they call it the ¡®Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯?¡±


    The middle-aged man in black robes stood on his eagle¡¯s back, its wings spreading over twenty meters. He surveyed the vast valley below them.


    ¡°There are even sentries at the height of the four corners of this valley.¡±


    The sharp eyes of the giant eagle flashed. It was not difficult for it to see the inconspicuous observation towers around the corners of the valley and that there were people on patrol, sending out signals.


    ¡°Let¡¯s head down.¡± As the man in black robes spoke, the giant eagle swooped down towards the vicinity of a lookout post.


    On that observation deck, an elder of the Valley looked at the man and the eagle as if they appeared out of thin air. On realizing the immense size of the giant eagle, his face immediately drained of color. ¡°A Connate-level beast?!¡±


    A giant eagle¡¯s wings spread more than twenty meters was the unmistakable characteristic of a Connate-level beast.


    ¡°A Connate-level beast?¡±


    In response to the elder¡¯s exclamation, the giant eagle became a little upset. ¡°Hey! old man, I¡¯m not merely a small Connate-stage beast,¡± he countered directly.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare speak of what you don¡¯t know, or I will tear you apart!¡± As it said this, the giant eagle flashed a deadly cold stare at the old man.


    ¡°Human language?¡±


    The elder of the Valley was already pale with fright, and when he heard the giant eagle speak his pupils constricted in fear, his knees buckled, and he fell to the ground. ¡°You¡­ you are a Primal Core beast?!¡±


    There had never been an appearance of a Primal Core practitioner or Primal Core beast in the Valley of the Medicine Masters before this.


    However, this didn¡¯t prevent the people of the Valley of Medicine Masters from knowing that when a beast entered the Primal Core stage, it was able to hone its laryngeal muscles and practice speaking human language.


    The ability to speak a human language was a sign of a Primal Core or even more advanced beast.


    ¡°At least you possess some form of learning.¡±


    The cold glare of the giant eagle dissipated at this.


    Whoosh!


    At the same moment, the man in black robes, a dazzling figure with a milky white halo around him, emerged from the sky and landed softly in front of the elder of the Valley.


    ¡°A Primal ¡­ Primal Core practitioner?!¡±


    The elderly man, who was sitting on the ground paralyzed with fear, shrank away even further in shock. At this moment he felt as if his whole being had become numb.


    First, a Primal Core beast.


    And now, a Primal Core practitioner.


    Was there anyone else in the history of the Valley of the Medicine Masters who has had this same encounter?


    ¡°I am the tenth elder from the Divine Light sect, Lin Hantian.¡±


    The middle-aged man in black robes, the tenth elder of the Divine Light sect and second-in-charge of the Eagle Eye intelligence team, held up two portraits in front of the elder clearly as he spoke. ¡°Do you recognize these two people?¡±


    ¡°The Divine Light sect?¡± the Valley elder asked in suspicion; he had never heard of the Divine Light sect before.


    However, as this other person was a Primal Core practitioner and, to top it off, a tenth elder from this sect named ¡°Divine Light,¡± it was not hard to imagine that this Divine Light sect was of a very different nature from his own Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Now, as the two portraits were held up before him and he was asked whether he recognized the two persons at all, he inadvertently glanced through them.


    In just one look, his eyes unwittingly narrowed in recognition.


    These two persons depicted in the drawings: he knew them.


    One of them was their very own Head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo.


    The other, whose youthful features had somehow faded, was still immediately recognizable. It was none other than the man that the Valley Head Su Mo had acknowledged as his master: Zhou Donghuang, a man from Yunyang country, of the 16 countries of the Eastern Valley, formerly known as the teenage Connate.


    ¡°My lord, I¡¯m not sure. For what reason is it that you might be looking for these two people?¡±


    The Valley elder asked cautiously because he did not know whether the other party was a friend or an enemy. If this man was an enemy and he was to reveal their Valley head¡¯s identity, that would surely undermine their safety!

 Chapter 174 - A Doppelganger?

    ¡°I¡¯m asking whether you know this man.¡±


    The Divine Light Sect¡¯s tenth elder, Lin Hantian grew somber, and the power of the essential core from the mid Primal Core adept swept out, his qi putting immense pressure on the body of the Valley elder, who was a mere elementary Connate stage adept. The elder¡¯s face turned white, and fresh blood spurted from his mouth.


    This time, the Valley elder knew for sure that these visitors before him were malevolent in nature and hurriedly shook his head in denial, saying, ¡°I don¡¯t know them! I don¡¯t know them!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you another chance to come clean¡­ are you sure you don¡¯t know them?¡± Lin Hantian asked again, his lips parted in a wide smile, revealing rows of yellowed teeth.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡±


    The elder of the Valley continued shaking his head.


    ¡°I gave you a chance.¡±


    As Lin Hantian said this, the power of the essential core leaped from his hands, pressing against the head of the Valley elder. The devastating power of the essential core crushed him like a meat grinder in an instant, splattering flesh and blood everywhere.


    ¡°The truth in your eyes couldn¡¯t get past me.¡±


    Before this, Lin Hantian had seen the subtle look of surprise flash across the Valley elder¡¯s face and was almost certain that the man recognized the characters in the portrait. He only interrogated the elder again just to be doubly sure.


    ¡°It looks like the both of them were from this godforsaken land of barren hills and treacherous waters¡­ it is no wonder that the third elder would pass on this information from the seventeenth elder, Liu Xuanyu. After thorough investigation, they were certain these two were not from the Shenguang Empire, but they also couldn¡¯t determine anything of their backgrounds even from the other four empires.¡±


    After finishing off the Valley elder, Lin Hantian settled again on the giant eagle¡¯s back in a flash. ¡°So they¡¯ve come from a place like this. It is not unusual then, for Liu Xuanyu to have uncovered so little of the origins of these people.¡±


    ¡°This place is far too remote.¡±


    Riding on the giant eagle, Lin Hantian sped toward the Valley.


    Their sudden appearance naturally shocked the other three elders of Valley of the Medicine Masters, who kept at their watch posts¡­ However, when the three of them saw that the giant eagle at Lin Hantian¡¯s feet had a wingspan of more than 20 meters, their faces drained of all color.


    ¡°A Connate¡­ Connate-level beast?¡±


    ¡°No¡­ that giant eagle that you all see with the faint white glow wrapped around its body, that is clearly the mark of a Primal Core beast!¡±


    ¡°A Primal Core beast?¡±


    As the three elders of the Valley confirmed that the giant eagle was truly a Primal Core beast, their faces changed again, and this time, they were consumed with mortal fear.


    How could a Primal Core beast suddenly appear in their Valley?


    And to top that off, one that was being steered by a strange middle-aged man.


    But it did not take much for them to deduce this: The man riding this Primal Core beast was most likely also a Primal Core adept, and very possibly a much stronger one than the beast at his feet.


    ¡°Just now, I asked a man over there a question¡­ he was not honest, and so I killed him.¡±


    Lin Hantian stood on the giant eagle¡¯s back and pointed to where he came from, as he watched the three flying beasts that the three Valley elders were riding grow increasingly restless and uncomfortable.


    The three Valley elders looked to the direction of the watch post that Lin Hantian was pointing at, and the look on their faces changed dramatically.


    They were just wondering to themselves, about why the sentry at that watchtower had not come with them. It was because he was killed by this man who was now in front of them!


    ¡°I only hope that you will not disappoint me.¡±


    As Lin Hantian declared this, he lifted his arm, and the two portraits held up by solid shafts of white light flew out.


    The two portraits were held up before the three Valley elder¡¯s eyes.


    With this one move from Lin Hantian, the three men came to a new realization: The man in black robes that was before them was not just a Primal Core adept, but a mid Primal Core adept at that!


    The milky white essential core that this man was able to amass and condense into a solid state was the mark of a mid Primal Core adept


    ¡°Valley Head?¡±


    One of the Valley elders, startled by the figure in one of the portraits, involuntarily called out in surprise.


    As soon as he had let out the exclamation, his eyes immediately showed a sense of regret. The people before him obviously had ill intentions, and if they were in search of the Valley Head, it was definitely not for good.


    ¡°Valley Head?¡±


    Lin Hantian¡¯s eyes brightened. ¡°That man there, you say he is your Head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters?


    ¡°To think that even a small sect such as yourselves, in a desolate place like this, can produce an early Primal Core adept¡­ He must be the first of his kind in the history of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, right?¡±


    Lin Hantian¡¯s eyes narrowed in curiosity as he questioned.


    ¡°A Primal Core adept?¡±


    The three elders of the Valley were completely stunned. This man claimed that their Valley Head was a Primal Core adept?¡±


    ¡°My lord, you¡­ you must be mistaken? Our Valley Head is in fact not a Primal Core adept, but only a late Connate stage adept,¡± one of the elders of the Valley explained.


    ¡°Yes. My lord, it must be someone who looks just like him, you are mistaken.¡±


    ¡°Indeed! And this other person, we do not recognize him. Perhaps, you have made a mistake my lord¡­ Our Valley Head is genuinely a Connate stage adept, and not even one who has reached his extreme level of cultivation, much less a Primal Core adept.¡±


    The other two Valley elders piped in as well.


    They said this, even though they knew for sure, and without a doubt, that the person in the portrait was their very own Valley Head.


    Other than using a doppelganger as an excuse, how would they explain the identity of the young man in the other portrait?


    The young man with the handsome features and extraordinary aura about him was obviously the history-making Connate stage teenager, and also the head master of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Now, as they deemed the new visitors to be hostile, the three Valley elders tried their best to remedy the situation and make sure that they didn¡¯t find out who exactly this person in the portrait was.


    ¡°Mm?¡±


    As Lin Hantian considered the three Valley elders¡¯ words, his brows furrowed. Was this man in the portrait truly a lookalike, a doppelganger?


    To confirm the matter, Lin Hantian personally stopped a disciple of the Valley of Medicine Masters to ask him if he knew the person in the portrait¡­ And for extra assurance, he did not bring the three elders of the Valley to the ground with him.


    The three Valley elders, still up in the air, had the still-trembling flying beasts at their feet, their eyes barely showing their subtle look of discomfort.


    Now, their only hope was that their fellow disciple would not give them away.


    Speaking of coincidence.


    The man that Lin Hantian stopped to speak to was not just any person. He was in fact, the same disciple that the legendary Zhou Donghuang met soon after he arrived at the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡ªHuang Mingfeng.


    At that time, Huang Mingfeng had personally brought Zhou Donghuang to the practice grounds himself as if he were a familiar.


    ¡°Boy, do you recognize these two men in the portraits?¡±


    Lin Hantian landed from the air and appeared before Huang Mingfeng. Naturally, this scared him as he stammered, ¡°Flying¡­ you can fly¡­ You¡­ You are a Primal Core adept?!¡±


    ¡°Tell me honestly, or I will have your head!¡±


    Lin Hantian¡¯s tone was cold, and his voice gave one the feeling of falling into an icy cellar. This scared Huang Mingfeng to the point of paralysis, as his whole body stiffened in response.


    At that moment, as Huang Mingfeng looked up at the two portraits held up by Lin Hantian, and saw that one of them was a picture of Su Mo, he involuntarily let out a small shriek.


    ¡°What is it? Do you recognize him?¡±


    Lin Hantian¡¯s eyebrow twitched impatiently as he questioned the boy.


    ¡°He does look familiar¡­ but, on closer look, it is not the same person.¡±


    Huang Mingfeng shook his head, at the same time silently cursing the man before him. ¡°How dare you threaten me¡­ And so what if you are a Primal Core adept? Even if I did recognize him as our Valley Head, why should I tell you anything? What would you do¡­ bite me? Come! I dare you to bite me!¡±


    And it was while he was harboring these thoughts that Huang Mingfeng saw the young man in the other portrait, he had to look away after a quick glance.


    ¡°Your Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters, what stage of practice is he in?¡± Lin Hantian asked coldly.


    ¡°Connate stage.¡±


    Lin Hantian¡¯s tone was so ice-cold that he frightened Huang Mingfeng on another level, and without any further thought, he had inadvertently responded to Lin Hantian¡¯s line of questioning.


    He regretted it deeply as soon as he responded. Why did he not think of continuing the lie with this bastard?


    ¡°Connate stage?¡±


    Lin Hantian frowned and considered the Valley disciple in front of him, who just a moment ago was paralyzed with fear and rooted to the ground as if his legs had been filled with lead. He asked again, ¡°Your Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters, what stage of practice is he in?¡±


    However, the Valley disciple did not seem to respond to Lin Hantian¡¯s question and instead seemed to ignore him completely.


    It was only when Lin Hantian took a few steps forward, until he was right in front of him, did he hurriedly respond, ¡°The late Connate stage! Late Connate stage! The Valley Head is a late Connate stage adept!


    ¡°My lord¡­. please¡­ please don¡¯t kill me! Please don¡¯t kill me!¡±


    This Primal Core adept could not only kill him, but could even destroy the entire Valley of the Medicine Masters, and with complete ease at that. So when this Valley disciple came face to face with the flying Lin Hantian right in front of him, he was truly scared out of his wits.


    ¡°Late Connate stage?¡±


    Lin Hantian¡¯s face sank a little. Could it really be that this person was just a lookalike?


    Nonetheless, this time, Lin Hantian was not going to give up on this.


    As he distractedly rolled up the two portraits and put them away, he went back to find two other Valley elders, threatening them with their own lives, and interrogated them about the Head of the Valley of Medicine Master¡¯s current stage of cultivation.


    At last, Lin Hantian was able to be completely certain about one fact:


    The Head of the Valley of the Medicine Master, was indeed only just a late Connate stage adept.


    At least he was at the late Connate stage a year ago.


    ¡°It looks like this person really is just a doppelganger.¡±


    At this time, Lin Hantian did not even have the intention of approaching the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters himself to confirm his identity but instead rode his giant eagle out of the Valley. Before long, he emerged from the sky above one of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    In Lin Hantian¡¯s opinion:


    A Valley Head from the tiny sect of the Valley of Medicine Masters in a barren and desolate place¡­ even the most talented and outstanding disciple from the Divine Light Sect could not, in the short time of one year, advance two levels from the Connate stage to enter into the Primal Core stage.


    Because of this, he knew that this person was just someone who resembled the man.


    ¡°According to some records of Eagle Eye¡­ there are sixteen small countries in close range of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, they are collectively referred to as the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    ¡°This must be one of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.¡±


    Lin Hantian glanced down and then addressed the giant eagle at his feet, ¡°Although the two are unlikely to have come from such a small place¡­ Since we are here, we might as well stop at each of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley to ask about it.¡±

 Chapter 175 - Zhou Donghuangs Self-Confidence

    The Capital of the Shenguang Empire.


    Yuntai Inn.


    ¡°The third Primal Core has finally been successfully amassed¡­ However, the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood, has now already been completely exhausted.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang sat on the bed inside his room. His eyes seemed to flash when he opened them, and at the same time, three misty white shapes of Primal Core energy seemed to form and float within the very core of his body.


    Three Primal Cores.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang was yet another step closer to entering the Primal Core stage required to achieve the Lord of the Four Supremes technique.


    If he were just able to amass and concentrate the fourth core, he would then have formally entered the early Primal Core level of practice that would allow him to master the Lord of the Four Supremes and also have complete control of the power of the four cores.


    And when that happened, with just the essential core alone, he would be able to easily crush his fellow adepts.


    He would even be able to crush a mid Primal Core adept.


    The core amassed by a mid Primal Core adept was usually twice as strong as that of the power that could be amassed by the everyday early Primal Core adept.


    However, the power of the four cores that Zhou Donghuang could amass from the essential core within was, in fact, three whole times stronger compared to that of a regular early Primal Core adept!


    So, of course, it went without saying that the three cores that Zhou Donghuang could currently amass, could quite easily crush all of his peers of the same level of practice.


    Even if he had to depend on his essential core alone, he could very well be on par with that of a mid Primal Core adept.


    Ziyun Era, the third month of the Year 1231.


    A 20-year-old Zhou Donghuang could now readily amass the power of three cores and advance into another level of practice.


    ¡°With the strength I now possess, coupled with the superior spirit weapon¡­ I can stop any Golden Essence adept of this age, in all of Ziyun!¡±


    An overwhelming sense of self-confidence seemed to exude from Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Out of a thousand spirit stones, only a third of them have been consumed.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gaze quickly fell to the thousand spirit stones arranged in an energy-amassing formation and found that the stones were about a third dimmer than they were before.


    Despite this, it meant that about two-thirds of spirit energy still resided in each of these spirit stones.


    ¡°If I were to continue practicing without the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood¡­ I would have no way of amassing the fourth primal core, even if I did consume the thousand spirit stones entirely.¡±


    Shaking his head, Zhou Donghuang put away the thousand spirit stones that were on his bed and immediately got up and out of his room.


    ¡°Still, not bad¡­ I¡¯ve reached the late Connate stage.¡±


    After leaving the room, Zhou Donghuang went to the other corner of the yard and looked at the golden-crowned eagle, Big Gold, and found that Big Gold seemed to have grown a little bigger from two months ago.


    ¡°This is thanks to your spirit stones and the Connate core, young master.¡±


    With the help of the Connate core refined by Zhou Donghuang and the spirit stone that his master had given time ago, Big Gold¡¯s progress during this time improved tremendously, even surpassing Su Mo.


    There was more to be said of Big Gold¡¯s training, whose beast training methods were taken from Zhou Donghuang himself. Although these training techniques were not, in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s recollection, the finest, compared to the Thousand-Star Sword Technique, Fiery Thunder Training Regimen or Manual of Unruffled Sage¡ªthe top three methods of human cultivation in the universe¡ªthey did not fare much worse.


    ¡°At present, even Little Gold has just entered the Connate stage¡­ in fact, he might not have even reached that level yet.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang laughed as he shook his head, saying, ¡°If Little Gold were to know about this, that you have already reached achieved the Connate stage¡­ I¡¯m afraid he would be driven mad with jealousy.¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­!¡±


    At Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, Big Gold could almost imagine the look of defeat on Little Gold¡¯s face, and to a certain extent, he really hoped to see it. ¡°Young master, two months ago, you said that you had plans to return. When then, will we return?¡±


    ¡°After a few more days, maybe.¡±


    There was a glint in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eye. ¡°These few days, I am hoping to gather another batch of herbs and spirit stones from the capital of Shenguang Empire¡­ We have so many people with us, and everyone needs a spirit stone to practice.¡±


    As for the herbs, these were for Zhou Donghuang and needed to be used for the refinement of the core drugs.


    Of course, the core drugs that Zhou Donghuang were able to refine up to this point were of no particular use to him; they were to be set aside for his family¡¯s use.


    ¡°It won¡¯t be long before we have to leave Ziyun.


    ¡°But before we leave¡­ I want to do my best to help create the best environment for them to cultivate their powers.¡±


    This was what Zhou Donghuang had decided to do.


    Of course, it was clear to Zhou Donghuang that if he were to return this time, it would not be his last time.


    He would not leave until he has solved every issue in Ziyun and until he could push Ziyun to the point of invincibility.


    ¡°Master.¡±


    As Su Mo¡¯s voice traveled across to him, Zhou Donghuang seemed to suddenly return to his senses and looked towards Su Mo. ¡°What stage are you at now? Are you close to attaining mid Primal Core?¡±


    ¡°Not by a mile.¡±


    Su Mo was a little embarrassed. ¡°I feel that¡­ after entering the Primal Core stage, that even with the spirit stone and the Buddha¡¯s lifeblood that you have bestowed upon me to help, the speed of my cultivation has still been very slow.¡±


    ¡°That is a matter of talent and technique.¡±Read the next chapter on our novelhall.com


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head as he raised his hands, and out of nowhere, a space ring, wrapped in a faint white mist, seemed to shoot out from one of his fingers and fly in front of Su Mo.


    ¡°This space ring once belonged to the Divine Light Sect¡¯s seventeenth elder, Liu Xuanyu¡­ I have since re-cultivated it again, and the space it holds is now two square meters, up from just one square meter before.


    ¡°Now, I have stored a manual within this space ring¡­ from today onward, you will practice this method.


    ¡°This manual consists of a mix of methods, it is a part Primal Core and part Dharma technique, you will be able to read a record of it here. Once you have memorized everything on it, it is best that you destroy it.¡±


    ¡°As for the Primordial Soul practice methods, I will hand that to you after you have achieved these,¡± Zhou Donghuang said.


    ¡°Liu Xuanyu, the Divine Light Sect¡¯s seventeenth elder?¡±


    Su Mo narrowed his eyes. ¡°Master, just a month and a half ago, while I was collecting medicine at the Yang¡¯s, I had heard the Liu Xuanyu had been killed by someone¡­. Was it you that killed him?¡±


    ¡°Mhm.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded his head lightly. ¡°I was at the black market the last time, and on the road home, he had intentionally gone in my way and threatened to kill me. It was then that I decided to kill him.¡±


    The corner of Su Mo¡¯s mouth twitched fiercely, and the shock overcame him.


    His master had said before that he wasn¡¯t afraid of Liu Xuanyu.


    And he believed it.


    However, having that faith was simple enough, and knowing that Liu Xuanyu had actually died at the hands of his master was still a fact that shook him to the very core.


    With a deep breath, and struggling to calm the terror in his heart, Su Mo retrieved the space ring that was still floating in the air before him. Within it, he unfolded two pieces of parchment that were filled with words.


    Just as he did this, Su Mo¡¯s eyes seemed to brighten, and the color returned to his face. ¡°Could there¡­ be such a wondrous technique in this world?


    ¡°Heavens! The techniques that I used to cultivate in the past are complete and utter rubbish compared to these methods!¡±


    Su Mo was now extremely excited.


    He would never have known about this if he did not see it, and it only took one look to floor him completely.


    After just casually browsing through the manual that his young master had just given him, he had discovered all sorts of wondrous things within it. He decided that all in all, he would leave every technique he had once practiced far behind him.


    Even though he had not even started practicing these new methods, he knew for sure that they would be immensely helpful to him!


    ¡°Master, what methods are these?¡±


    Su Mo excitedly asked Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°The Thousand-Star Sword Technique,¡± Zhou Donghuang answered plainly. ¡°It is considered to be the universe¡¯s most superior technique¡­ on top of that, it is a swordplay technique, purposefully designed to kill.¡±


    ¡°The universe¡¯s best and unsurpassable technique?¡±


    Su Mo was completely dumbfounded and met Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gaze once more, this time expressing in a completely different tone, ¡°Master, I have a question¡­ I¡­ I¡¯m not sure if it would be appropriate to ask.¡±


    ¡°Ask.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked at Su Mo with a hint of suspicion in his eyes.


    ¡°You¡­ Are you the reincarnation of some old mythical creature? Or perhaps, your current body might have been possessed by some magnificent adept with powers far beyond that of the Primordial Soul stage,¡± Su Mo blurted out, expressing the perplexity he had been feeling all this time.


    ¡°It is true that adepts of the Primordial Soul stage and above can claim a body by possession, however, this is always done at a considerable price¡­ 90 percent of the time, without the possibility of surpassing their abilities prior to the possession, they can only grow old in their new bodies and wait for death in their sleep, or continue to let their bodies live, without the hope of re-possessing another again.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked straight at Su Mo as he explained, ¡°And what¡¯s more, after possessing another man¡¯s body, the essence of the Primordial Soul is maintained, and it would only take a bit of additional cultivation for one to reach the early Primordial Soul stage again.


    ¡°There would be absolutely no need to start the qi-gathering afresh and go through the whole process of achieving Connate, then Dharma stages,¡± Zhou Donghuang said.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s explanation undoubtedly opened a new world of understanding for Su Mo, as if he suddenly saw the light.


    These things were totally beyond Su Mo¡¯s realm of experience before, and also something that he never would have been able to come close to seeing.


    In actual fact, he seemed to cut it quite close with his deductions.


    However, Zhou Donghuang was never some ¡°old mythical creature¡± in his previous life.


    In all the peoples of the universe, a thousand-year-old adept who has entered the Immortal stage could hardly be compared on the same page as that of some mythical creature.


    Because an Immortal could live up to 10,000 years!


    And in the face of a lifespan of 10,000 years, a person that was a thousand years old would be considered a teenager.


    ¡°If there is nothing else, come with me for a trip to the black market,¡± Zhou Donghuang said to Su Mo.


    ¡°Master, you¡­ Do you plan on selling the remedies at the black market?¡± Su Mo asked offhandedly.


    ¡°No.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head, and there was a glint in his eye as he said, ¡°This time, we will openly seek the owner of the black market, the third elder of the Divine Light Sect.¡±


    ¡°Openly, you said?¡±


    Su Mo¡¯s eyes narrowed.


    Every trip they had made to the black market before was in secret or in disguise.


    And now, his master was suddenly saying that he wanted to openly see the third elder of the Divine Light Sect. It was tantamount to completely removing their cover and exposing themselves to the third elder of the Divine Light Sect.


    ¡°After I killed Liu Xuanyu over two months ago, he has pretty much known all along that I had everything to do with his death.¡±


    ¡°The only reason why he has not made a move against me yet, is only because he is jealous of me,¡± said Zhou Donghuang plainly.


    ¡°Unless he, or the Divine Light Sect, can be entirely sure and confirm that I pose no threat to him or the Sect¡­ they would not dare to make a move on me that easily,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with utmost confidence.

 Chapter 176 - : A Battle with Tuo Ku

    The Black Market.


    A spacious hall.


    Wearing robes that were white as snow, stood a young man with handsome features and an extraordinary aura about him. An elegant middle-aged man stood right behind him, looking humble and subservient.


    Right now, a string of footsteps could be heard from outside the door.


    Soon after, three figures appeared as they stepped into the great hall.


    The leader amongst them was an old monk in a silver cassock. He was the Divine Light Sect¡¯s third elder, and also in charge of the Black Market, named Tuo Ku.


    As for the other men who followed behind him, one was a middle-aged man in plain clothes, and the other was another old monk in a red cassock.


    For these two men to be appearing next to Tuo Ku in this place, it could be said that they held pretty high positions in the Black Market or the Divine Light Sect.


    ¡°Sir, are you a master now?¡±


    As Tuo Ku entered, he recognized the young man, whom he had only ever seen in portraits before. He was sitting at the head of the great hall in a seat that was usually his, and his mood darkened ever so slightly. ¡°That seat, is my seat. If you¡¯d like to sit sir, please do take the seat to the right.¡±


    At this point, Tuo Ku still had not gleaned much about the youth before him.


    However, to a certain extent, the other party was provoking him with his behavior. It would undoubtedly be somewhat disgraceful for him to do nothing in response.


    After all, he had two other elders of the Divine Light Sect with him.


    If he were not able to handle this matter and news of this were to get out, how would he be able to show his face the same way again?


    ¡°This seat is not bad, in fact it¡¯s quite comfortable, I won¡¯t be moving.


    ¡°I¡¯ve actually come to see you today to speak about something¡­ and I¡¯ll leave once I¡¯m done. If you want to sit here, you can just wait until I¡¯m gone, and then you can sit for however long you desire,¡± said Zhou Donghuang plainly.


    Tuo Ku¡¯s face immediately turned red with fury at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words.


    ¡°Brat!¡±


    The middle-aged man in plain clothes spoke up from behind Tuo Ku, who was speechless with anger, wisps of Silver Essence starting to emit from his body. ¡°By allowing you to take the next seat, the third elder was offering you some respect. If I were him, I would not be so generous¡­ you, best not hesitate to do what you¡¯re told before you¡¯re forced to do more than you bargained for!¡± he said coldly.


    ¡°I could do with respect, but I, Zhou Donghuang, have never been forced¡­ to do anything I didn¡¯t want to before.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang smiled slightly, then narrowed his eyes. ¡°How about you show me how it¡¯s done?¡±


    ¡°You!¡±


    It was the first time that Zheng Yong had been scorned to such an extent, ever since he had reached the intermediate Primal Core stage and was promoted as the Divine Light Sect¡¯s fifteenth elder. At that moment, the rage that filled him rushed to his head, and bright white light seemed to burst from his body like bolts of lightning, as if he was ready to make a move to attack Zhou Donghuang.


    However, right at that moment, Tuo Ku stopped him.


    At the same time, the shards of Silver Essence shot out from his body, as he looked at Zhou Donghuang with a restrained sense of fear and asked, ¡°Why are you looking for me?¡±


    As he regarded the fearless youth in white before him, he could not help but think about Liu Xuanyu, their seventeenth elder, who had just died two months ago.


    At that time, he had suspected that Liu Xuanyu was killed by the late Primal Core adept who was standing by the young man.


    ¡°I¡¯m here to make an exchange with you.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang got right to the point.


    ¡°What sort of exchange?¡± Tuo Ku asked, brows furrowed.


    ¡°Make an exchange? Had this fellow, not always done business at the Black Market from the shadows? Why would he suddenly come out in the open with these demands? Could it possibly be that he knows that his identity has been exposed?¡± Tuo Ku thought to himself.


    ¡°I would like to sell a spirit weapon to the Divine Light Sect,¡± Zhou Donghuang said plainly.


    As soon as Zhou Donghuang made this declaration, Tuo Ku and the others were dumbfounded and momentarily seemed to have lost their senses.


    A spirit weapon?


    No one in the whole of Ziyun had such a weapon, outside of the Divine Light Sect and one other sect.


    The value of a spirit weapon was immeasurable, and one could not put a price to it so easily.


    If the Divine Light Sect were to willingly put up their own spirit weapon for sale, the other three sects without one would possibly offer half of their entire stash of spirit stones from their treasury just for the chance to own it.


    The energy yield of any spirit stone in existence on this planet was very low.


    Even so, after thousands of years of accumulated inheritance, each of the five great sects of Ziyun would have amassed over twenty thousand spirit stones in their treasuries!


    ¡°You¡­ you have a spirit weapon?!¡±


    Tuo Ku was filled with disbelief.


    ¡°50,000 spirit stones.¡± Zhou Donghuang continued simply, ¡°If the Divine Light Sect is not interested, I will approach the other sects.


    ¡°Of course, if I were to sell this to the others, I would not simply stop at 50,000 spirit stones. I¡¯d start from 60,000 stones and up.


    ¡°On the account that I have been relatively satisfied with the past two dealings with the Divine Light Sect¡­ This time, I¡¯m offering the sect a preferential price to see if you might be interested.¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang finished, he raised his arms, and a delicate little mound appeared in his hands. Infused with his essential core, the mound appeared to be encased in fine and concentrated strands of light that formed a complex pattern around it.


    In a strong force of qi, the little streams of light seemed to explode from the sheer power of his essential core and started to unravel.


    Without a doubt, the three people, including Tuo Ku, knew for sure that the little mount in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hands was indeed the genuine thing¡ªa spirit weapon.


    ¡°It really is a spirit weapon!¡±


    Zheng Yong shouted from behind Tuo Ku, his eyes filled with greed. The other old monk in the red cassock also stared at Zhou Donghuang, his eyes shining with wonder.


    ¡°Sir, by putting the spirit weapon on display like that¡­ Are you not afraid that we would steal it?¡±


    Tuo Ku¡¯s eyes also burned with desire.


    ¡°That would actually depend on whether you are even capable of doing that.¡±


    As Zhou Donghuang responded, he stood upright, his sharp glare sweeping across Tuo Ku and the others. ¡°The three of you¡­ come at me!¡±


    In a flash, Zhou Donghuang leaped into the air. As he secreted the delicate ball of light away, he pulled out a fan that unfolded quickly to reveal a row of sharp blades aimed at the men in front of him.


    ¡°Perhaps the late Primal Core adept standing behind you might be a more worthy opponent¡­¡± Tuo Ku said bitterly.


    Tuo Ku still insisted that the man behind the seventeenth elder, Liu Xuanyu¡¯s death, was another man who was with Zhou Donghuang, a Primal Core adept.


    In addition, through the young man¡¯s own words, Tuo Ku was able to confirm that he knew his identity had been exposed. Otherwise, he would not have taken the initiative to mention the two transactions that had been made with the Divine Light Sect before.


    ¡°Such arrogance!¡±


    Zheng Yong¡¯ face darkened as he leaped forward toward the youth. ¡°You are but an early Primal Core adept! Even with the spirit weapon¡¯s power, I alone would be enough to defeat you!


    ¡°Today, I will help your elder to teach you a lesson and make you understand that no matter how good you think you are, there is always someone out there that is better!¡±


    When he was done, Zheng Yong was already right in front of Zhou Donghuang.


    Boom!


    Zheng Yong thrust out a palm, and a vast amount of white light from his essential core condensed and shot out, aiming for Zhou Donghuang¡¯s shoulders like a menacing rainbow of bright white light.


    However, in the face of the lightning-fast strike from Zheng Yong, Zhou Donghuang seemed unperturbed, and with a quick movement of his shoulder, he allowed himself to take a direct hit from his opponent, his hair billowing from the force of the attack.


    ¡°Too weak.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang calmly responded, and before Zheng Yong even had the time to even react, he had put his hand on Zheng Yong¡¯s shoulder with thunderous force, and ripped his arm out in a split instant.


    Fresh blood poured out, a gory sight to behold!


    ¡°Urgh!¡±


    Zheng Yong groaned as he tried to stifle the pain, and eventually his whole being slumped to the ground, leaning to the side of the room. As his eyes met Zhou Donghuang¡¯s again, they were filled with sheer panic, fear and incredulity.


    He had never thought that the opponent would be able to fend off his attack.


    And even less so, that in such a short amount of time, he would be able to take the strike and return an attack!


    This experience in combat made him feel as if he were fighting with a battle-hardened monster who had stepped out from hell itself. It made him feel weak and powerless, and it canceled all thoughts of ever confronting him again.


    Hisss¡­


    As the old monk in the red cassock behind Tuo Ku considered the scene in front of him, he took a deep breath and looked again at the young man in white robes, who seemed a lot more imposing.


    Zheng Yong¡¯s strength was not far from that of his own.


    However, this was a truly devastating defeat.


    Although everything just happened in the blink of an eye, he could see that the other party was not a fluke, and that he was truly the one in control.


    What a trickster, having been able to turn the tide like that!


    And if he were to take matters in his own hands, his fate would nonetheless be the same.


    ¡°How is it that an early Primal Core adept¡­ can be capable of such moves?¡±


    The old monk in red was truly terrified and involuntarily took a step back. If there was a choice, he would not willingly challenge the young man who had so easily torn off Zheng Yong¡¯s arm.


    ¡°It was you that killed Liu Xuanyu?¡± Tuo Ku asked instinctively, he did not know why, but he had a nagging suspicion in that instant.


    Previously, because he knew that the young man was only an early Primal Core adept, and he had never completely linked Liu Xuanyu¡¯s death to him¡­ But at that moment, he was clear that if the young man did not have mercy, Zheng Yong would already be dead.


    ¡°You thought it was someone else that did it?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang simply laughed in response.


    ¡°I guess I underestimated you.¡±


    Tuo Ku¡¯s face became grave as he said bluntly, ¡°We, the Divine Light Sect, want your spirit weapon¡­ However, since you intend to spar with me, I will go along with it. And while we¡¯re at it, as Zheng Yong said before, you had better learn a lesson from your elders and let me teach you something about modesty! ¡±


    As Tuo Ku made this declaration, the Silver Essence expanded from his body and wrapped his entire being in stunning silver light.


    Boom!!


    As Tuo Ku¡¯s feet touched the ground, the floor of the entire room suddenly sank, and horrible cracks started to form and spread like spider webs across the room.


    At that moment, every man who was in the Black Market seemed to feel a tremor beneath their feet.


    ¡°What¡¯s happening there?¡±


    ¡°Is it an earthquake?¡±

 Chapter 177 - The Ambush of Flying Daggers

    Inside the room.


    Now, not only were there cracks on the ground, but even the walls and ceiling were shaken up with debris falling everywhere.


    ¡°As an early Primal Core adept, you might be able to beat a mid Primal Core adept, however no matter how strong your technique, the power of your moves, at any case, will be limited.¡±


    When Tuo Ku struck the ground, his eyes were unfeeling, and he looked completely indifferent as if he were not talking about something of little consequence. ¡°The power of an advanced Primal Core adept would be ten times of yours!


    ¡°And in the face of ten times the power, even your clever skills and methods would be entirely futile!¡±


    With the way Tuo Ku spoke, it was apparent that he thought that Zhou Donghuang had defeated Zheng Yong by a mere sleight of hand and cunning artifice.


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    Swiftly leaping from the ground and surging forward, Tuo Ku brandished blades of silver light in his hands as the silver light from his body rose sharply. Zhou Donghuang smiled indifferently, and then threw the folding fan in his hand.


    Swish!


    The fan spun at lightning speed in mid-air.


    At the same time, like a shadow, Zhou Donghuang leapt upwards and landed on the still-spinning fan to come face-to-face with Tuo Ku. The brilliant white light that was emitting from the folding fan under his feet grew stronger and stronger.


    ¡°The spirit weapon?¡±


    At this moment, not only Tuo Ku, but also the Black Market¡¯s two other Divine Light Sect elders Zheng Yong and the old monk in the red cassock, could all see that the fan at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s feet was also a spirit weapon.


    Instantly, their eyes only revealed a look of incredulity and disbelief.


    This man had only just pulled out a spirit weapon, and it was already enough to shock then, who would have thought that he would be able to pull out yet another weapon. And from the looks of it, the power that this one had was no weaker than the first spirit weapon.


    ¡°If you can take my next attack, I will give you one spirit weapon at no charge.¡±


    These calm words came just as Tuo Ku¡¯s silver blade had been condensed and formed completely, ready to go against the white-cloaked youth who had stepped on the folding fan.


    Suddenly, his heart faltered a little, and his pupils narrowed sharply.


    He felt the confidence coming from this young man.


    At the next moment, he did not dare to act rashly, and with mind and body at full alert, he stared at the youth before him and the weapon at his feet like he was about to face a great enemy.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The sound of the howls of many swords rang out, but they came from the folding fan at the feet of Zhou Donghuang, and each stick that made up its structure seemed to turn into a sharp sword loaded with essential core as they whizzed out.


    In an instant, all eight blades from the fan flew out, and the fan vanished from beneath Zhou Donghuang¡¯s feet.


    Under the gaze of everyone in the room, the eight fan blades that flew out were suspended, forming a circle above Tuo Ku¡¯s head, every blade seemingly connected by an inexplicable force.


    This was really a type of sword spell.


    ¡°Is this a¡­ spell?¡±


    Tuo Ku was the third elder of the Divine Light Sect after all, and there were such techniques and spells practiced within the sect, and so he was able to recognize at a glance the very type of spell that Zhou Donghuang was currently demonstrating.


    ¡°It seems you are not so ignorant after all,¡± Zhou Donghuang replied without enthusiasm. ¡°This technique is called the ¡®Ambush of Flying Daggers,¡¯ and using it, I can attack from all directions and leave no form of escape.¡±


    The moment he said this, Zhou Donghuang leaped upwards, and in the blink of an eye was suddenly above the array of swords over Tuo Ku¡¯s head, stepping over them as he regarded Tuo Ku from above.


    Crash!


    Crash! Boom!


    Without any signs or warning, just as Tuo Ku was fully absorbed in the moment, the eight fan blades in the air flashed in unison and fell as one, and seemed to rain from the sky towards Tuo Ku.


    ¡°Humph!¡±


    Tuo Ku bitterly snorted, as the silver light from his body rose further, setting off across his whole body as if he was bathed in a silvery light. ¡°In the face of absolute power, any of these fancy, elaborate moves would be but entirely futile!¡±


    Buzz! Buzz!


    At the same time, four-foot blades of swords condensed and formed from the essential core emanating from Tuo Ku¡¯s two hands. They seemed extremely sharp and menacing.


    ¡°Now that, I would love to see for myself!¡±


    Zhou Donghuang laughed coldly.


    For a Golden Essence adept to say this in front of him would have been acceptable.


    But for a Silver Essence adept to doubt the force of power that he had just displayed with his sword technique?


    That was just laughable!


    ¡°You¡¯ll see it in a moment.¡±


    Tuo sneered, and the Silver Essence from his body rose sharply once more. The two silver swords in his hands seemed to dance, and like a bulldozer seemed to easily deflect the rain of swords directed against him.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    The eight fan blades were all deflected in an instant but immediately came back together in full force.


    ¡°It is futile.¡±


    The harder Tuo Ku fought, the more fearless he became, and he warred against the eight fan blades so fiercely, it was hard to tell who had the upper hand.


    ¡°Third elder, watch your feet!¡±


    Zheng Yong¡¯s hasty warning came across, and Tuo Ku¡¯s face changed completely.


    He had only just realized that the youth¡¯s folding fan had not just ten blades, but in fact, ten in its structure.


    The ones that came from eight sides, he was able to shield himself from completely.


    But, only just barely so.


    If the ambush were to come from ten sides, what else could he use as a defense?


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    The ten swords silently but swiftly encircled beneath Tuo Ku and came whistling out toward him, one by one. Tired of dealing with the rain of swords against him, Tuo Ku had, in a blink of an eye and without warning, become a vulnerable target.


    ¡°Third Elder, watch out!¡±


    The old monk in the red cassock, had for a brief moment, taken a step forward to help Tuo Ku.


    Swish!


    At that moment, one of the fan blades suddenly spun around in mid-air, and headed straight toward him.


    ¡°Humph! I, Tuo Ji, am after all a mid Primal Core adept. Did you think I wouldn¡¯t be able to stop a single fan blade out of the eight from you, an early Primal Core adept?¡±


    Tuo Ji snorted, and milky white essential core started to ebb from both his hands, transfiguring into two giant hands. The two giant hands reached for the oncoming fan blade, hoping to grab onto it and stop it in its tracks.


    Hiss!


    However, a soft hissing noise was followed by the sound of Tuo Ji moaning, and he saw that fresh blood gushed from both his hands. At the same time, there were bloodstains on his neck.


    Tuo Ji bitterly took two steps back. He knew that if his opponent had been less merciful, he would already have been silenced with the quick of a blade.


    Now, even if he had still dared to make another move, Zhou Donghuang would not necessarily let him off so easily the next time, but he didn¡¯t have the cheek to come forth again.


    Swish!


    A single fan blade returned to its ambush formation with the other blades, and as they whistled about Tuo Ku, it seemed he was desperate and unable to cope with it all.


    At that moment, no matter how strong his essential core was, it was completely unable to come against that force.


    He could change tactics entirely and aim directly for the youth clothed in white to kill him off and break the sword spell. However, he was afraid that before he could even formulate the new attack, the swift and deadly fan blades would already be sticking into him like a pig.


    Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!


    As the fan blades flashed past him, they left cuts on Tuo Ku across both his hands, legs, neck and forehead.


    What was initially a brilliantly clean silver cassock, was instantly stained with blood and ripped to shreds, leaving Tuo Ku a sorry figure.


    This time, Tuo Ku could only retreat from battle with a bitter smile on his face, as he looked at the young man still the in the air like a god in the sky. ¡°I¡¯m defeated, I¡¯m not a worthy opponent.¡±


    After seeing his moves first hand, Tuo Ku was clear about something.


    Unless a Golden Essence adept from the Divine Light Sect could come forth to face-off with this man, no other man in the sect could come close to fighting him.


    And under Tuo Ku and everyone else¡¯s gaze, the eight fan blades returned to the young man and once again formed into a folding fan that he grabbed hold of.


    As the youth, in his snow-white robes, landed on his feet holding the folding fan and returned to his seat once more, the three elders of the Divine Light Sect, led by Tuo Ku, did not dare underestimate the young man again.


    ¡°Young master¡­ I am the third elder of the Divine Light Sect, Tuo Ku. May I ask for your respected name?¡±


    Tuo Ku bowed in deference as he asked this.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang made a sweeping glance across to Tuo Ku. ¡°50,000 spirit stones. You had better prepare them quickly¡­ I will leave for a few days, and then return to find you.¡±


    As he said this, Zhou Donghuang stood up from his seat and prepared to leave.


    ¡°And also¡­¡±


    Before leaving, Zhou Donghuang recalled something and said to Tuo Ku, ¡°The last time I approached the Black Market searching for a few rare materials. There¡¯s still a portion of that which hasn¡¯t yet been found. If you find them and the Divine Light Sect has some, you can use them to claim back some of your spirit stones.¡±


    Finishing his statement, Zhou Donghuang turned to leave the utterly destroyed room with Su Mo.


    And when the both of them had left the room, Tuo Ku took a long sigh of relief as if a weight had been lifted off of him.


    ¡°Third Elder.¡±


    Zheng Yong was solemn as he asked, ¡°You said¡­ what kind of man is he? Not only does he have so many spirit weapons, but with the force of his early Primal Core techniques¡­ and to possess that level of power, it truly is beyond anyone¡¯s imagination!¡±


    ¡°Early Primal Core?¡±


    Tuo Ku shook his head. ¡°He is not quite so simply an early Primal Core adept. The way he fought with me, that pure violent force of his essential core, far exceeds any mid Primal Core adept¡¯s ability even with the support of the spirit weapon. There must be another secret about him.


    ¡°Even though his essential core was truly that of an early Primal Core adept¡¯s, but the vast amount he is able to generate is nothing any normal early adept can do. In fact, it is way more than what an early Primal Core adept can do!¡±


    After that battle, Tuo Ku was riddled with questions.


    ¡°After this, you will help me manage the affairs of the Black Market, and I will head back to our Sect alone,¡± Tuo Ku said.


    ¡­


    In the following few days, Zhou Donghuang brought Su Mo on a tour around the capital of the Shenguang Empire and bought a bunch of herbs and supplies.


    A few days later, a giant black eagle with the wingspan of over 20 meters took Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo on his back from the Yuntai Inn and soared into the sky, leaving the Shenguang capital at a great speed as they headed into the Southeast.


    ¡°In the blink of an eye¡­ another year has passed.¡±


    As they left the southeastern land of the Shenguang Empire and entered into the deserted mountains, Zhou Donghuang looked at the direction of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley. He fell into a daze, his eyes filled with a sense of nostalgia.


    He remembered everything clearly.


    A year ago, the day that he had left Qingshan town, was the 8th of January, Year 1230 of the Ziyun Era.


    And now, it was already March 12, Year 1232 of the Ziyun Era.


    ¡°With the speed at which Big Gold can travel now, it will take less than a month for us to reach Qingshan town,¡± Zhou Donghuang thought.


    Of course, there was no time to rest for Zhou Donghuang on the road back, and he assumed the Qi-gathering position on Big Gold¡¯s back with Su Mo riding behind him.

 Chapter 178 - Return to the Valley of Medicine Masters

    The Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    The country of Yunyang.


    ¡°Are you certain that you recognize him?¡±


    In the Western Chu Ridge, within the Yang family mansion, a middle-aged man wearing a black robe sat at the head of the table in the living room asked in a somber tone as he looked at another middle-aged man who was standing at attention.


    In the hand of the black-robed middle-aged man was a portrait, and drawn on it, was a young man.


    ¡°My lord, while he has just lost his child-like features and looks a lot more mature¡­ Even if he were turned to ashes, I would definitely recognize him!¡±


    The lower-ranked, middle-aged man confirmed without a doubt in his mind. ¡°His name is ¡®Zhou Donghuang,¡¯ and he is from one of the inferior counties in Yunfeng in the Western Chu Ridge. This is no longer a secret in the Chu royal city.


    ¡°My lord, if you do not believe me, you may check this against other sources.¡±


    The middle-aged man was not just anyone, but Yang Yunji, the head of the Yangs, a grand family.


    This day, a huge figure suddenly descended from the sky and landed right at the Yang family mansion. Yang Yunji was stunned and hurriedly asked a group of Yang elders to see what was happening.


    The shock of what he saw at a glance almost killed him!


    A giant eagle with both wings spreading over 20 meters landed in the spacious front yard of their Yang family mansion¡­ As the Yang family head, and having lived to such a grand old age, Yang Yunji did indeed have knowledge of such beasts.


    A giant eagle with a wingspan of over 20 meters, even if it was considered a Connate stage demon, it was certainly not an ordinary Connate stage demon!


    Based on what he knew, the wingspan of an ordinary flying Connate-level demon had a wingspan of just over 10 meters.


    But this giant eagle had a wingspan of over 20 meters!


    And what shocked him the most was that there was a middle-aged man in black robes on the back of this eagle. As the man leaped into the air, rays of white light seemed to be coiled around him, as he floated, looking back at Yang.


    ¡°A Primal Core adept!¡±


    Even the strongest of the Connate adepts could not tread the air like this man. The folk tales spoke of only one type of adept that could defy gravity like that to float in the air and travel the universe, and it was a Primal Core adept.


    And so, at that moment, he guessed that this man was a Primal Core adept.


    Even though he knew nothing of why this man was here or what he intended to do, Yang Yunji spared no time in greeting this person personally and invited him into the living room of the Yang mansion.


    He did this because, on one hand, he was worried that he might inadvertently offend the other party, and on the other hand, he feared that this Primal Core adept had orders of some sort that had gotten to some other person first.


    A Primal Core adept needed only speak the word, and he could quite easily have the Yang family at his mercy, and they would not dare make any complaint.


    To be on the safe side, he decided to dismiss everyone else who was there.


    The only thing was, Yang Yunji would never have thought that the Primal Core adept before him, had, in fact, come for Zhou Donghuang!


    ¡°In that case, follow me!¡±


    The man in black robes was none other than the Divine Light Sect¡¯s tenth elder, Lin Hantian. After scouring the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley for a period of time, he had inevitably arrived at the Western Chu Ridge of the country of Yunyang.


    Then as he set foot in the Chu royal city, in the heart of the Western Chu Ridge, it was incidentally in the middle of the Yang family mansion where he would meet Yang Yunji, the head of the Yang Family.


    ¡°I am yours to command, my lord!¡± Yang Yunji replied in deference.


    And in the instant, as Yang Yunji responded, Lin Hantian seemed to fly in front of Yang Yunji in a flash, grabbed Yang Yunji¡¯s wrist with one hand, and leaped out of the living room.


    After Lin Hantian flew out of the living room with Yang Yunji, he continued to soar into the air until they were overlooking the Chu royal city at his feet, and all the buildings in the city were clearly visible.


    ¡°Who else knows that young man? I will take you to each doorstep to verify this,¡± Lin Hantian said plainly.


    ¡°My lord, the mansion located in the very center of the Chu royal city is the Chu royal household. The royal family there controls the Western Chu Ridge¡­ I am but an insignificant family head and cannot afford to buy you that information.¡±


    Yang Yunji summed up the courage to open his eyes and pointed out the place where Chu royal household was located and said to Lin Hantian, ¡°If the Chu Royal Family cannot prove that what I said is true, my lord, you can kill me at once!¡±


    ¡°If I do find that you are lying, you would certainly be dead.¡±


    When Lin Hantian spoke again, his body flickered, and Yang Yunji flew over the Chu Palace with a blink of an eye. Then he dropped Yang Yunji on top of a building in the Chu Palace. ¡°You will wait for me here.¡±


    As Lin Hantian said this, his body seemed to flicker, and in the blink of an eye, he and Yang Yunji were flying over the Chu Palace. He then dropped Yang Yunji off on the top of the roof of a building in the Chu Palace and said, ¡°You will wait for me here.¡±


    ¡°Yes, my lord,¡± Yang Yunji responded faithfully.


    Lin Hantian flew into the air in an instant, disappeared into some buildings nearby and seemed to vanish before Yang Yunji¡¯s eyes.


    At this time, just as Yang Yunji found some time to breathe, he was all at once frightened. ¡°Who is this Primal Core adept, exactly? He has definitely not come with good intentions!


    ¡°Has that Zhou Donghuang provoked him somehow?¡± Thinking of this, Yang Yunji couldn¡¯t help but sneer. ¡°Even the most powerful Primal Core adept, he would dare provoke¡­ that Zhou Donghuang is really tired of living!¡±


    Before long, Lin Hantian returned again.


    ¡°My lord, what of it?¡± Yang Yunji asked.


    ¡°I reckon you should know the inferior prefecture where the town of Yunfeng is located at?¡± Lin Hantian asked plainly.


    ¡°Yes I do, I do know.¡±


    Yang Yunji nodded his head like a little chicken pecking at rice grains. ¡°If my lord wants to go there, I will personally show you the way!¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Lin Hantian nodded. ¡°If you follow me on this trip, you will be justly rewarded after this whole affair.¡±


    ¡°You have my gratitude, my lord!¡±


    Yang Yunji¡¯s eyes were bright, and he hurriedly bowed to thank him. A reward granted by a Primal Core adept would definitely be something remarkably big, especially for a qi-gathering adept like him.


    As he thought of this, the excitement would keep him awake for days.


    ¡­


    Swish!!


    Starting from the southeast border of the Shenguang Empire, it only took a little more than half a month, and Big Gold had transported his master, Zhou Donghuang, and Su Mo back to the vast Valley of Medicine Masters.


    March 20, Year 1232 of the Ziyun Era. Master and servant, Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo, returned to the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°Valley Head!¡±


    As the golden-crowned eagle, Big Gold, flew into the Valley, a Valley elder standing guard at the lookout post drew his flying beast closer and had recognized Su Mo from afar.


    Of course, the qi-gathering flying beast at his feet would not dare approach Big Gold.


    The Big Gold before was in fact still marginally more approachable for the other qi-gathering flying beasts, but now, as he had entered the Connate stage, the same flying beasts would only keep their distance from him.


    ¡°Are we here?¡±


    At this point, Su Mo also seemed to have been shocked awake by the sudden voice.


    ¡°Valley Head, I will notify the elders.¡±


    The Valley elder who was on duty at the lookout post greeted Su Mo quickly and then left with his flying beast.


    However, before long, he returned again.


    This time, there was an extra person on the back of his flying beast, the head elder of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Yu Meiqin.


    ¡°Valley Head, you have finally returned,¡± Yu Meiqin said bitterly as he looked at Su Mo.


    ¡°Why? What is the matter¡­ Has something happened in the Valley during my absence?¡±


    Su Mo frowned slightly, his figure flashed, and he leaped into the air. Under the shocked eyes of Yu Meiqin and the Valley elder beside him, he walked on air, step by step, until he was in front of them.


    ¡°Valley Head, you¡­ You have really entered the Primal Core stage?¡±


    The Valley elder stared in surprise.


    He still remembered that some time ago, the Primal Core adept who came to the Valley of the Medicine Masters on the back of his Primal Core beast had declared that the Valley Head was a Primal Core Adept.


    At that time, he was still wondering, when had their Valley Head become a Primal Core adept?


    Today, he finally realized that at the time, the Primal Core adept was not making wild presumptions at all.


    Their Valley Head had, in the span of a year, entered the Primal Core stage and had become a flying, gravity-defying Primal Core adept!


    ¡°Primal Core adept?!¡±


    Yu Meiqin¡¯s pupils contracted sharply in panic at this moment, a lost look on her face, and she seemed to be lost in thought for a long time.


    ¡°Their Valley now had a Primal Core adept too?¡±


    The long-awaited appearance of a Primal Core adept could finally be written in the history of the Valley of the Medicine Masters after all this time?


    ¡°From what you¡¯re saying, I guess you already know that I have entered the Primal Core stage?¡±


    Su Mo frowned as he looked at the Valley elder.


    ¡°Valley Head¡­¡±


    Under Su Mo¡¯s interrogation, the Valley elder hurriedly described the incident that had happened in full detail without skipping a beat and spoke of how they had fooled the Primal Core adept who had visited them.


    ¡°To think that he was fooled by all of you?¡±


    On hearing that his own people had managed to dupe a Primal Core adept, Su Mo was rendered speechless, but at the same time, he was relieved.


    That person was definitely not a friendly force.


    If they had confirmed that he was indeed the Valley Head of Medicine Masters, who knew what would have happened to all of his people.


    Just then, Su Mo had guessed that it was the Divine Light Sect that had come looking for them in the Valley with him and his master Zhou Donghuang¡¯s portraits and had intended to tell Zhou Donghuang as much.


    Yu Meiqin, however, was a step ahead of him and spoke first. ¡°Valley Head, there is one more thing.


    ¡°Not long after you had left, there were two men who said that they had come from Yunyang, one of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley¡­ They had direct orders to come looking for you in the Valley.


    ¡°After that, upon knowing that you had long left the Valley, they sought to tell me their purpose.


    ¡°They said¡­ they wanted to tell the Valley Head that in the Western Chu Ridge in Yunyang, there was a young man named Zhou Donghuang who had gotten hold of the essence left behind by a Primal Core adept and asked that you, the Valley Head, go forward to steal it away.¡±


    As he came to this point, Yu Meiqin locked eyes with the man clothed in white standing on the giant eagle¡¯s back, behind Su Mo. She distinctly remembered that this man was their Valley Head¡¯s master, named Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Oh? Someone had come to find me to report this news?¡±


    Su Mo¡¯s eyes narrowed as his cold eyes flashed. ¡°It looks like they are my master¡¯s enemies. And where are they now?¡± Su Mo asked.


    ¡°I had also guessed that they were Young Master Donghuang¡¯s foes¡­ and so I have ordered for them to be locked up and wait on you and Master Donghuang¡¯s return for further orders,¡± Yu Meiqin said.


    ¡°Let me have a word with my master and then you can take us there¡­ I would like to see what kind of man would dare harm our master!¡±


    As Su Mo said these words, an icy glare flashed across his eyes.


    Feeling Su Mo¡¯s respect for the young man in white on the eagle¡¯s back in the distance, Yu Meiqin trembled as she thought, ¡°It seems that our Valley Head achieving the Primal Core stage in just one year has everything to do with this Zhou Donghuang!¡±

 Chapter 179 - His Name Is Zhou Donghuang?

    Within the Valley of the Medicine Masters were special prison cells.


    When the elders and disciples of the Valley would make mistakes, they would all be detained in a cell to reflect on their actions behind locked doors and only be released after a certain period of time.


    And now, within one of those very cells were two imprisoned men, who were not in fact from the Valley.


    ¡°Shi Yu, it is quickly coming to a year¡­ When did you say that the Head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters was returning?¡±


    Lu Yuanshan, the head of the Lu household, one of the elite grand families of the Chu royal city in the Western Chu Ridge of Yunyang, and who was rich as could be just a year ago, now sat like a common beggar in the corner of his cell, his hair completely disheveled.


    After almost a year of eating, drinking and even dealing with one¡¯s waste in the same cell, all without a shower, even the most glamorous person would become the drabbest type of person he once hated.


    On the other side of the cell, there was also a man looking equally disheveled. This was a young man who had traveled many miles from the Chu royal city to the Valley of the Medicine Masters with Lu Yuanshan, the young master of another elite family of Chu royal city, Shi Yu.


    Over a year ago, Shi Yu had come knocking on Lu Yuanshan¡¯s door, and they had ridden together on a borrowed flying beast to reach the Valley.


    Their original intention was to find the Head of the Valley to make a report and say that someone in the country of Yunyang now possessed the essence left behind by a Primal Core adept.


    Shi Yu had thought to let the Valley Head take the matter into his own hands and kill the young man that he so hated.


    Lu Yuanshan was hoping that once the Head of the Valley had come in possession of the same Primal Core essence that the young man had on him, he would grant the Lu family some token of appreciation.


    However, what they didn¡¯t think to consider was that when they arrived at the Valley of the Medicine Masters, the head elder of the Valley would say that their master had in fact been far gone from the Valley.


    And when they spoke of their intentions to the Valley elder, in order to enlist her help in getting the message quickly across to the Valley head, they did not think that she would immediately order for them to be locked up in a cell.


    And to be locked up for almost a year at that.


    When they had been locked up, the Valley¡¯s head elder said that they would be released when the Valley Head returned.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡±


    Shi Yu sighed.


    ¡°Had I known what would happen, I would never have left with you,¡± Lu Yuanshan said in regret.


    ¡°Whatever you say now is of no use. We had better just patiently wait until the return of that Valley Head¡­ When he returns, we will be free.¡±


    Shi Yu¡¯s eyes seemed to sparkle at the thought. ¡°And if he does successfully take the Primal Core adept¡¯s leftover essence from that Zhou Donghuang, we will have our dues paid to us!


    ¡°Now, my greatest wish is just to be able to leave this hellish place and get back to Yunyang, back to the Lu household¡­ I no longer care about what the Valley Head would or wouldn¡¯t like to give us in return for the favor,¡± Lu Yuanshan said.


    As Lu Yuanshan said this, their cell door opened in an instant, and a voice could be heard saying, ¡°Both of you, our Valley Head has returned¡­ now, I will take you to wash up and for a change of clothes before we meet with our master.¡±


    ¡°The Head of the Valley has finally returned?¡±


    It was then that Lu Yuanshan and Shi Yu both stood erect at the same time and dashed out of their cells like rockets.


    Their day had finally arrived.


    After the two had been cleaned up by the Valley¡¯s disciple and changed into a fresh set of new robes, they seemed invigorated and no longer looked like drab beggars.


    ¡°Shi Yu¡­ what would you say would be our prize if that Valley Head were to come into possession of that Primal Core adept¡¯s essence? A first-grade martial art technique? Do you think it would be that?¡±


    As they were led by the disciples of the Valley on the road to the main residence of Yaowang Valley, Lu Yuanshan couldn¡¯t help but ask Shi Yu.


    ¡°Master Lu, didn¡¯t you say that you didn¡¯t care about what the Valley Head was to give us, just as long as you could leave that hellish place? Have you had a change of heart now?¡± Shi Yu asked mockingly.


    ¡°That was then, and this is now¡­ If the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters were to generously reward me, who would I be to refuse?¡±


    Lu Yuanshan smiled, embarrassed.


    At the same time, Lu Yuanshan could not help but frown. ¡°However, there is one thing that I cannot get over¡­ even if the Valley were to detain us so that we could personally deliver this news to the Valley Head, surely it was not necessary for them to lock us up in that kind of cell?¡±


    ¡°It feels like they are not treating us like guests and more like criminals!¡±


    As he vented about this, Lu Yuanshan¡¯s anger welled up within him.


    ¡°Perhaps they were worried that we were lying to them and feared that we would run away before their Valley Head¡¯s return, that is why they imprisoned us,¡± Shi Yu conjectured. ¡°Otherwise, why would they not just kill us immediately, instead of keeping us locked up?


    ¡°If they truly had the motive to harm us and did make a move to kill us, we would have no power whatsoever to fight back anyway.¡±


    Lu Yuanshan nodded in agreement at Shi Yu¡¯s conclusion.


    ¡°Then, while we are here, I must congratulate you in advance for being able to avenge your father¡¯s death, my nephew.¡±


    Lu Yuanshan laughed at Shi Yu as he said, ¡°Once that Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters gets hold of the essence of the Primal Core adept from Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hands, he would definitely not be able to let Zhou Donghuang live on!¡±


    ¡°Many thanks, Master Lu.¡±


    Shi Yu gave a slight smile, but could not hide the excitement in his eyes.


    ¡­


    The Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Su Mo, lived in a secluded corner of the Valley.


    Here, there was only one elegant yard.


    In addition to the yard, which was planted with various flowers and plants of all sorts of colors and shapes, the area outside the yard was also lush and green with shady trees aplenty.


    Now, in the only room in the courtyard, Su Mo was talking to a young man sitting on a couch and explaining in detail the things that had happened recently in the Valley.


    ¡°The two men were from the Chu royal city? Looking for you to report on some news, saying that I was in possession of the Primal Core adept¡¯s essence?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s lips were curled slightly in mockery, and his eyes were cold. ¡°Now that is persistent¡­ it looks like there are people who just won¡¯t give up.¡±


    Within the Chu royal city were plenty of people who resented and hated him, and he could never guess who these people could have been.


    ¡°Do you know who they are?¡± Su Mo asked.


    ¡°No, I don¡¯t.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head, and then the mocking smile on the corner of his lips grew wider. ¡°But, aren¡¯t you going to let someone bring them over? When they come, I should be able to recognize who they are.¡±


    ¡°You mentioned just now¡­ that there were two things? What was the other piece of news?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked.


    ¡°The other thing was¡­ not too long ago, a Primal Core adept had come to the Valley riding on a Primal Core demon,¡± Su Mo said gravely. ¡°He killed one of the elders of our Valley.


    ¡°He came here for one purpose, to find someone¡­ in his hands, were two portraits clearly depicting you and I, Master.


    ¡°At first, I had thought that one of the Valley elders had exposed me. However, because this man had mentioned that I was a Primal Core adept, some of the elders had used their wit to claim that he had the wrong person.


    ¡°And that person finally left our Valleys elders and disciples alone in a hurry, only because he concluded that the people on the portraits were just lookalikes of you and I and in fact, not the same people.


    ¡°Nonetheless, he could not believe that a Connate stage adept could reach the Primal Core stage in such a short period of one year.¡±


    Su Mo said all this in one quick breath.


    ¡°A Primal Core adept? A Primal Core beast? Had both our portraits in his hands?¡±


    As Su Mo finished his story, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s brows furrowed, and his eyes flashed coldly. ¡°It looks like he knew that you were from the Valley and had come to look into our backgrounds.


    ¡°However¡­ even though he had left in a hurry, he would not necessarily have continued his search in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    ¡°If he had gone to the country of Yunyang¡¯s Chu royal city¡­ my identity would have been exposed.¡±


    As he said this, Zhou Donghuang suddenly opened his eyes, and a light seemed to burn within them as if he finally understood everything!


    ¡°I must make a trip back.¡±


    Even though Zhou Donghuang was not in the least bit worried that the Divine Light Sect would uncover his background or what they would do his family, he was still set on returning home.


    Whatever the case, as long as he saw that his family was safe, he would then have peace.


    Of course, so long as that Primal Core adept from the Divine Light Sect was not a fool, it would not be possible that he would take it out on his family before confirming his background.


    ¡°Master, the two men should be here soon¡­ Let¡¯s wait for them, and then I will accompany you on your return,¡± Su Mo suggested.


    ¡°After resolving the matter with the two men, I will return on my own. You should remain in the Valley and help me to prepare a quiet place to stay¡­ When I come back here, there should be quite a few people coming back with me,¡± Zhou Donghuang said to Su Mo.


    When he first left the country of Yunyang, he did not insist on bringing his mother, Lin Lan, and others to the Valley of the Medicine Masters, because he had limited abilities at that time. He was also worried that Su Mo, would plot something untoward behind his back and violate his trust.


    Now that he had sufficient powers, and Su Mo had his utmost trust, it was time to bring the rest of his family with him.


    As for what his mother, Lin Lan, had said earlier that she preferred to live in Qingshan Town¡ªhe was sure that it was nothing more than an excuse not to drag him down.


    Man seeks his way up just as flowing water always seeks its way down. One should constantly strive to make progress.


    If the conditions were right, how many would refuse to take a step up from his current status?


    ¡°Yes, Master.¡±


    On the young man¡¯s order, Su Mo was obliging.


    At that moment, a bright voice came from outside the door. ¡°Valley Head, the people you want to see are here.¡±


    ¡°Master, allow me to take a look first.¡±


    Su Mo and headed outside and closed the door behind him.


    ¡°Valley Head!¡±


    As Su Mo emerged into the yard, both Shi Yu and also Lu Yuanshan were quick to bow and show their respect; they dared not even breathe too loudly.


    ¡°I heard you were looking for me?¡± Su Mo asked as his gaze swept across the two men.


    ¡°Valley Head, our lord.¡±


    Shi Yu took a step forward and respectfully said, ¡°We have traveled far and wide from the Western Chu Ridge of Yunyang to the Valley of the Medicine Masters to tell you that within the Ridge, there is someone who is in possession of the essence left behind by a Primal Core adept.¡±


    ¡°Is that man Zhou Donghuang? A person from the inferior prefecture of Yunfeng?¡± Su Mo asked in return.


    ¡°It looks like the Head Elder has already told you about this, my lord.¡±


    Shi Yu laughed.

 Chapter 180 - The Interrogation

    ¡°My lord, if you would only make an attack, the Primal Core essence that Zhou Donghuang now holds, will be yours.¡±


    Lu Yuanshan also smiled at Su Mo as he said, ¡°That Zhou Donghuang, is just a brat from a tiny village way out of town, and he could enter the Connate level at 20 years of age with the essence left behind by the Primal Core adept¡­ If you, my lord, were to take hold of this same essence, you could hope to enter the Primal Core stage and fulfill your greatest potential!


    In the history of the Valley of Medicine Masters, there had never been a Primal Core adept, and Lu Yuan Shan knew of this.


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    Shi Yu smiled and echoed. ¡°My lord, that village boy, Zhou Donghuang is not worthy of having that essence from the Primal Core adept!


    ¡°Only you, the best amongst them, the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters and lord of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, should be worthy of owning the essence left behind by the Primal Core adept.¡±


    After he said this, Shi Yu continued to pour praise and fawn over Su Mo, but this instead made Su Mo nervous and break out in a cold sweat.


    How dare he mention that his master was not worthy and that he was?


    At once, Su Mo¡¯s face was grave, and he was about to blow up when¡ª


    Creeeaaaaak


    The room door behind Su Mo opened, and a figure cloaked in snow-white robes slowly sauntered out, saying, ¡°And I was just thinking, who is it that thinks so lowly of me.


    ¡°So it is you, Shi Yu.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked at Shi Yu, a look of calm in his eyes, his face completely cool and unfettered.


    ¡°Zhou¡­ Zhou Donghuang?!¡±


    It was only when Shi Yu stared hard at the young man in white that he recognized that this person was indeed Zhou Donghuang. It had been a while since they last saw each other, but the child-like features had gone away and were completely replaced by those of a maturing youth.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    At Shi Yu¡¯s gasp of surprise, Lu Yuanshan was at first completely shocked, but this quickly turned into a look of complete fear as he thought, ¡°This Zhou Donghuang, how is it that he is here? Furthermore, why was he stepping out of the Head of the Valley of Medicine Master¡¯s personal abode?¡±


    At this moment, Lu Yuanshan felt a bad premonition.


    Though Lu Yuanshan had never seen Zhou Donghuang before, it did not affect his impression of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s character. He knew that he was dressed in snow-white clothes all year round, had handsome features, and had an extraordinary aura about him.


    The young man dressed in white that was before him ticked off on all these criteria.


    Coupled with Shi Yu¡¯s exclamation of surprise, he was more than certain that the young man in white was the very same Zhou Donghuang who came into possession of the Primal Core essence from the Western Chu Ridge in Yunyang!


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, why are you here?¡±


    Now, Shi Yu was also starting to understand that something was in fact amiss, and all the color in his face was starting to drain.


    Judging from their current stance, this Zhou Donghuang did not seem to be held captive by any means by the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters Su Mo.


    ¡°Master, how do you intend to deal with these two men?¡±


    And while Shi Yu and Lu Yuanshan were frightened to their core, their faces having turned white with the look of fear in their eyes, Su Mo bowed to ask Zhou Donghuang this question.


    As Su Mo¡¯s words got across to Shi Yu and Lu Yuanshan, their faces instantly changed once more, and all that was left in their eyes was a look of complete hopelessness.


    Mas¡­ Master?!


    The Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters and lord of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, whom they so revered, was now calling Zhou Donghuang his master?


    At this instant, the both of them believed that they were in a dream.


    Shi Yu immediately pinched his face, and Lu Yuanshan pinched himself in the thigh, and as they felt the pain, reality hit them and they understood that they were not at all dreaming.


    Everything unfolding before their eyes was indeed real!


    ¡°I¡­ impossible! This cannot be possible!¡±


    Shi Yu was confused and panicked, his eyes filled with despair. As he took a step back, he kept shaking his head like he had been stricken with madness.


    He could not, for a moment, accept the truth before him.


    Plop!!


    As Shi Yu seemed to be losing his sanity, at the same time, Lu Yuanshan had knelt down on the ground and was repeatedly kowtowing before Zhou Donghuang. ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I am the Lu Yuanshan, head of the Lu family from the Chu royal city. We have no quarrel with each other, and I had no intention of hurting you! I swear I had no intention of hurting you!¡±


    ¡°With your reputation, you must not be bothered at all about little old me, you can¡¯t be that bothered¡­ am I right?¡±


    Lu Yuanshan was absolutely scared out of his own wits. This young man, reputed to be the Chu royal city¡¯s Connate-level teenager, was in fact now the master of the Head of the Valley of Medicine Master, the same man whose rule covered the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley?


    If he had not seen this with his own eyes, he would never believe that this was real, even if his own life was at stake.


    Now, upon hearing Lu Yuanshan¡¯s cries for mercy before Zhou Donghuang, Shi Yu seemed to suddenly come to his senses from his moment of insanity, and with a plop, he went down on his knees before Zhou Donghuang.


    On top of that, Shi Yu seemed to kowtow with a lot more force than Lu Yuanshan. ¡°Young Master Donghuang, I was wrong! I was wrong!


    ¡°With your esteemed position, I must be worth less than an ant in your eyes. My lord would not bother with such a small iniquity and take it as if I had just let off some hot air!


    ¡°I, Shi Yu, swear that I would never again try to go against Young Master Donghuang! I swear! I swear!¡±


    In the face of death, all Shi Yu had on his mind was a determination to preserve his life.


    Swoosh!


    After casting a sweeping glance at the two men, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s figure seemed to flash, and he leaped into the air, only leaving a simple command as he flew into the distance. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you to deal with this on your own.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Master,¡± Su Mo responded obediently.


    When Zhou Donghuang leaped into the air, both Shi Yu and Lu Yuanshan were shocked and dumbfounded. ¡°A Primal¡­ Primal Core adept?!¡±


    The ability to tread the air like this, as legend had it, was the mark of a Primal Core adept.


    It was at this moment that they realized that Connate-level teenager they once knew was already miles ahead of the Connate stage and had entered the Primal Core stage, becoming a legendary Primal Core adept!


    ¡°It is no wonder that even the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters would acknowledge him as ¡®master.''¡±


    The two men instinctively thought of the same thing at the same time.


    ¡°Since you had dared think of sabotaging my master, you are only looking for death!¡±


    Su Mo leapt into the air, regarded Shi Yu and Lu Yuanshan with a look of nonchalance, then raised his hands and pressed them down in one quick move.


    Instantly, a shard of pale while light formed into a palm print and fell from the sky.


    Crash!


    Following the loud noise, Shi Yu and Lu Yuanshan did not even have a chance to react, and just like that, they had been crushed into a pool of blood by the giant palm print.


    The very same spot where they had knelt was now a pit in the shape of a palm print filled with blood, an unsightly scene to behold.


    Crash!


    Crash, crash!!


    ¡­


    At the wave of a hand, the faint white light wrapped around all the dirt and mud that had been strewn about by the impact and filled the palm-shaped pit once again.


    In the blink of an eye, everything was restored to normal, and the peace of the place returned as if nothing had ever happened there.


    At the same time, Su Mo seemed to sense something and quickly lifted his head to the sky.


    Swoosh!!


    In the distance was a giant, golden-crowned, black eagle flying from the Valley of the Medicine Master in the direction of Yunyang, one of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    And standing erect on the giant eagle¡¯s back, was a young man clothed in snow-white robes, looking like the vision of a deity.


    ¡­


    The country of Yunyang.


    The Western Chu Ridge, Yunfeng prefecture.


    ¡°Tell me, that son of yours, Zhou Donghuang, what miracle was it that he had taken hold of that has helped him become the legend he is today?¡±


    In Qingshan town, in a large compound behind the Yunxuan Inn was a middle-aged man floating above a messy front yard, addressing a sole woman standing there.


    This woman, a lady of great beauty, was Lin Lan.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    Lin Lan looked grimly at the middle-aged man in black robes, her eyes full of fear.


    To be able to be airborne was, as the legends had it, a mark of a Primal Core adept.


    Of this, she knew for certain.


    And today, this Primal Core adept had appeared out of nowhere on a giant eagle, trespassing into their home, wreaking major destruction upon their buildings and structures, even hurting everyone that was in it at that time.


    If the Primal Core adept had not intended to show her mercy, she would not even be standing there.


    Now, aside from Lin Lan who was still standing, the others, such as Yun Lu, Yang Zixi, Fu, Leng Hanfeng, Granny Lian and the rest, were bleeding from the corners of their mouths or sitting or lying on the ground with no strength left within them to stand up.


    The golden-crowned eagle Little Gold was lying in the distance, barely breathing.


    At this moment, Yun Lu and the others were looking at this man in black robes with eyes equally full of fear and trepidation.


    The man before them had caused so much damage to their group with just the slightest wave of a hand.


    If not for the protection of the golden-crowned eagle Little Gold, who had only recently entered the Connate stage and was able to fend off a large portion of the black-robed man¡¯s attack, they would have most certainly have died horribly!


    ¡°The ability to float on air¡­ he is a Primal Core adept,¡± Yun Lu muttered under his breath bitterly.


    Clap!


    Under the gaze of the crowd, the man in black robes lifted his arms, and in a flash of white light, he caused Lin Lan¡¯s head to swing. At the same time, he left a painful, red palm print on her face.


    ¡°Now, it is I who should be asking the questions, and not you,¡± the black-robed man took a cold glance at Lin Lan as he said harshly.


    ¡°My lord.¡±


    Now, standing behind the black-robed man and on top of the giant eagle¡¯s back was another middle-aged man, who smiled as he said, ¡°If you were to threaten her, to kill everyone if she did not co-operate¡­ then, surely she would not dare to oppose you.¡±


    ¡°Yang Yunji!¡±


    Yang Zixi lifted her heard toward the man standing on the giant eagle¡¯s back, her eyes cold as she spat, ¡°I should have let Brother Zhou kill you in revenge for my third uncle when I had the chance!¡±


    ¡°Yang Zixi, when you chose to follow that unfortunate man Zhou Donghuang, it was destined that you would too end up with the same misfortune¡­ Perhaps, today is the day that you will die.¡±


    Yang Yunji glanced at Yang Zixi with a disdainful smile, and his smile was so wide that he looked like a villain.


    ¡°Sounds like a good idea.¡±


    The man in black robes laughed unfeelingly as he raised his hands into the air.


    Suddenly, a giant hand formed and appeared by Yun Lu¡¯s side, grabbed Yun Lu in one swift move, and threw her up meters into the air.


    ¡°Little Lu!¡±


    Lin Lan¡¯s face changed drastically, and Yang Zixi, Fu, Leng Hanfeng and others also reacted as one by one, their eyes started to fill with anger.


    However, even if they were angry, they couldn¡¯t do anything and had to helplessly watch Yun Lu be taken up into the sky.


    If this man were to let go, and she were to fall from such a height, Yun Lu would surely die!


    As she was taken up into the air, Yun Lu¡¯s eyes were full of panic, but her expression was extraordinarily stubborn as she yelled at Lin Lan, ¡°Mother, don¡¯t worry about him! Little Lu is not afraid!¡±


    ¡°Not afraid, are you?¡±


    The middle-aged man in the black robe smiled and immediately took hold of the giant hand holding Yun Lu, and slowly opened it.


    ¡°No!¡±


    At this, Lin Lan changed her mind as she begged, ¡°I¡¯ll tell you! I¡¯ll tell you!¡±

 Chapter 181 - A Hairs Breadth from Death

    ¡°Go on then.¡±


    The middle-aged man in black robes was Lin Hantian, the Divine Light Sect¡¯s tenth elder. He had brought Yang Yunji, the head of the Yang family from the Chu royal city, down to Yunfeng prefecture and into Qingshan town to further investigate the whereabouts of the younger of the two men he was trying to find.


    And so it seemed that this young man was really some village rascal, as Yang Yunji had so described.


    On top of that, according to what he had inquired from around Qingshan town, it was not hard to find out that this boy was a martial invalid at 16 years old.


    In the short span of four years, this martial invalid seemed to have come across some strange miracle, but since then, it seemed to have helped him soar into the Primal Core stage; he was a Primal Core adept now!


    He took all of four brief years to go from an absolute rookie to becoming a Primal Core adept.


    This level of success was, needless to say, unheard of and unprecedented in all of the planet of Ziyun, but it was also unprecedented in all of the histories of the great planets which had a rich history and resources in the practice.


    ¡°Which mighty adept would descend upon this deserted little village in all of Ziyun to find such a successor?¡± Lin Hantian asked himself, as he considered that the chances of this happening were so small that it was nigh impossible.


    If he were a mighty adept in search of a successor and had on the chance landed in Ziyun, he would surely have headed straight for the five great sects and picked one of the prodigies amongst their disciples and absolutely not look for a martial invalid in a godforsaken place such as this!


    All this while, Lin Hantian had thought, ¡°There¡¯s a huge possibility that this young man named ¡®Zhou Donghuang,¡¯ had in fact received the essence from some mighty adept who had come to Ziyun.¡±


    However, for a martial invalid to achieve so much in just a matter of four short years, to enter into the Primal Core stage and become a Primal Core adept, what manner of essence would that mighty adept have left behind?


    Dharma? Primordial Soul?


    Or perhaps¡­


    Divine Transformation?


    At the very least, Lin Hantian thought, even if it were to be an inheritance from a Dharma adept, it would not be possible for a complete martial invalid to become the formidable adept he was in just four years.


    There had been the appearance of a Dharma adept before in their own Divine Light Sect, and so he knew some of the Dharma-level techniques.


    And so, there could only be one other conclusion: That Zhou Donghuang had attained the essence from a mighty adept of the Primordial Soul stage or more!


    Even he would be envious of the level of power that could come from that essence.


    ¡°First it was a core formula that would multiply the strength of Qi by 10, and this was surpassed by another formula that would amplify the Qi by 20 times¡­ Our Divine Light Sect¡¯s Alchemist Yu, the top core-forging master in all of Ziyun had said before, that even if he had come from the Primordial Soul adept¡¯s own home planet, he would never have come up with such an advanced qi-gathering core formula.


    ¡°It is apparent that this core formula is something that has been left behind by a mighty adept¡­ and that mighty adept would have been an adept beyond the Primordial Soul level and one that would have come from a great planet with an abundance of resources!¡±


    The more Lin Hantian thought about this, the more scorching his look became as he considered Lin Lan.


    Now, Lin Lan had to tell him everything.


    As long as he could confirm all of his suspicions, he could use the whole group here as hostages to threaten Zhou Donghuang, force him to hand over the essence and have it all for himself to consume.


    But of course, after the fact, the Divine Light Sect should not be able to make heads or tails of any of this.


    With just the right amount of time, and with the help of the essence of that mighty Primordial Soul adept, he would surely be able to enter into the Dharma stage and become the top adept in all of Ziyun!


    ¡°My son told me that everything he has and was now was given to him by his sweetheart¡­ His sweetheart is a Primal Core adept,¡± Lin Lan said gravely under Lin Hantian¡¯s gaze.


    ¡°Sweetheart? Primal Core adept?¡±


    Lin Hantian frowned, what did that all mean?


    Did Lin Lan mean that¡­ that Zhou Donghuang was in fact living off a woman and everything he had today, he owed to a Primal Core adept who was his lover?


    ¡°Brother Zhou¡¯s sweetheart?¡±


    At Lin Lan¡¯s word, Yang Zixi momentarily lost her sense of panic at being held in mid-air, and looked suspiciously at Lin Lan, her face growing pale, ¡°And¡­ a Primal Core adept at that?¡±


    Even though this was the first time that Yang Zixi had heard Lin Lan say these things, she believed it to be a credible story.


    To top it off, she knew for sure that Yun Lu was very important to Lin Lan, and that she wouldn¡¯t put her life at risk at that moment to lie so blatantly before this Primal Core adept.


    Because of this, she felt a sting in her heart.


    Brother Zhou had a sweetheart now?


    And furthermore, one who was a Primal Core adept?


    ¡°Humph!¡±


    At this point, Yang Yunji called out coldly from his place on the back of the giant eagle. ¡°Completely absurd! Would a Primal Core adept even take interest in your martial invalid of a son?


    ¡°Besides, even if such a respected adept were to be attracted to your son, the complete invalid, he¡¯d be thrown aside after a bit of fun¡­ How could anyone possibly allow him that level of transformation!


    ¡°I would never have thought that, even at this juncture, you would dare spread lies about this, Lin Lan.¡± Yang Yunji laughed coldly.


    Yang Yunji¡¯s words seemed to have struck home with Lin Hantian, because everything he said, did seem to make complete sense.


    Especially since he himself was a Primal Core adept.


    In the eyes of a Primal Core adept, even a Connate-level adept, or any Qi-Gathering adept, much less an ordinary person, would be as insignificant as an ant.


    And if he, Lin Hantian, were indeed ever to become attracted to a young woman who was a martial invalid, he was sure that it would be just for a short, fun fling, before he would leave her for good.


    It would be impossible for him to spend that much time and energy building up the other¡¯s skills.


    That would not only be bothersome but also completely unnecessary.


    And if he were to be truly moved?


    Would a Primal Core adept, rich in experience, be so easily tempted by a person like that? And what more, by a martial invalid no less?


    The possibility of this happening was indeed slim, if not entirely impossible.


    ¡°How dare you lie to me?¡±


    Lin Hantian looked into Lin Lan¡¯s eyes again. His gaze was extremely cold, and his face seemed to be covered with a layer of frost. The ice in his voice revealed his anger.


    ¡°I am not lying to you!¡± Lin Lan frantically shook her head as she said, ¡°All of this came from the mouth of my own son.¡±


    Even then, Lin Hantian could not believe a word Lin Lan said. ¡°Since you remain stubborn, I will just have to make an example of this little girl!


    ¡°I do hope that you can protect the others after she dies.¡±


    As Lin Hantian coldly declared this, the giant hand which had seized Yun Lu in the sky quickly dissipated, leaving her without any form of support, and she started to fall from the sky, dozens of meters from the ground.


    As Yun Lu started falling, the look of panic in her eyes flickered out, and this was replaced with a smile on her delicate, little face.


    ¡°Mother! May I come back in another life as your real daughter, and be Big Brother¡¯s actual little sister!¡± she shouted as she was falling.


    Just as Yun Lu finished her sentence, as she was speeding downwards, until she was only 10 meters from the ground.


    ¡°Little Lu!¡±


    Lin Lan had subconsciously made a move to catch hold of Yun Lu, however, Lin Hantian had mercilessly flung her aside with the swipe of a hand, and she could only hopelessly watch Yun Lu¡¯s fateful fall to her death.


    In the face of death, Yun Lu managed to maintain a brilliant smile on her face as she looked on at Lin Lan.


    This, however, caused Lin Lan even more distress. ¡°Little Lu¡­ No! No!¡±


    ¡°Who goes there?!¡±


    As Lin Lan, Yang Zixi and the others despaired, Lin Hantian suddenly shouted out in a grave voice.


    At the same time, they all saw a giant black figure swoop down from the sky, and managed to grab hold of Yun Lu a split second and a hair¡¯s breadth away from her death.


    At this, Lin Lan and the others breathed a sigh of relief.


    ¡°The man who has come to kill you,¡± a bored voice rang out in response to Lin Hantian.


    At the same time, the huge shadow that rescued Yun Lu landed in the front yard of the run-down residence, right beside Lin Lan.


    At this, the crowd could see that the man who spoke was a young man in white robes.


    The youth in white held Yun Lu¡¯s waist in his arms, and at his feet was a huge, black golden-crowned eagle, its wings apart and spreading over twenty meters.


    In comparison, the size of this black eagle was no smaller than the giant eagle that Yang Yunji was riding on.


    ¡°Big Brother! It really is you Big Brother!¡±


    The girl in the arms of the young man dressed in white opened her eyes in panic, then her eyes suddenly brightened, and her pink, dainty little face was full of excitement.


    ¡°Donghuang!¡±


    ¡°Brother Zhou!¡±


    ¡°Young Master!¡±


    Lin Lan, Yang Zixi, Fu, Leng Hanfeng and the others had all collectively seen the face of the young man in white and recognized him immediately even though his features were more mature now.


    Whoosh!


    Under the shocked stare of this group of people, Zhou Donghuang emerged from the air holding Yun Lu in the air, as he slowly flew towards Lin Lan and placed Yun Lu beside her.


    ¡°Mother, Little Lu, let me deal with this matter first.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang patted Yun Lu on the head and smiled slightly as he said this to Lin Lan, his eyes full of warmth.


    ¡°Donghuang, be careful.¡±


    Lin Lan was shocked that her own adopted son had become a Primal Core adept. At the same time, she could not help but remind him as such, afraid of what he was intending to do.


    After all, both of them were Primal Core adepts, and no one could say who was the stronger or weaker one.


    ¡°Brother Zhou, he¡¯s¡­ he¡¯s a Primal Core adept too?¡±


    ¡°Young Master, he has become a Primal Core adept?¡±


    Yang Zixi, Fu, Leng Hanfeng and the others were completely flabbergasted as they regarded Zhou Donghuang in shock.


    They had never thought in a million years that, in just over a year, the young man in front of them have crossed past the Connate stage and become a Primal Core adept.


    ¡°You may rest easy, Mother.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang slightly nodded at Lin Lan and then turned and leaped up into sky to face Lin Hantian in mid-air.


    ¡°You¡¯re from the Divine Light Sect?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s right!¡± Lin Hantian raised his head proudly. ¡°I am the tenth elder of the Divine Light Sect, Lin Hantian.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, to think that you have returned¡­ This is good, and saves me the trip back to Shenguang Empire to figure out how to flush you out.¡±


    Lin Hantian returned Zhou Donghuang¡¯s gaze, his eyes full of insatiable greed.


    ¡°This Zhou Donghuang¡­ How is it that he is now a Primal Core adept too?¡± Lin Hantian thought.


    This time, Yang Yunji finally came back to his senses from the shock and looked into Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes again his face full of incredulity and disbelief.


    If his memory served him right, this Zhou Donghuang, didn¡¯t he just turn 20 this year?


    A 20-year-old Primal Core adept?


    In fact, amongst all who were present, the only person who was not at all shocked to find that Zhou Donghuang had become a Primal Core adept, was Lin Hantian, for he already knew about all Zhou Donghuang had achieved.

 Chapter 182 - : Isnt it Great to Be Alive?

    If he had come to Qingshan town before fully understanding all the details about Zhou Donghuang, Lin Hantian would have been quite threatened by Zhou Donghuang.


    However, now that he had come to Qingshan town, fully cognizant of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s background, he could only think that this Zhou Donghuang was a very lucky man.


    He could only become the man he was today, because of the essence left behind by a mighty adept who was a Primordial Soul adept, or more.


    As for the murder of the Divine Light Sect¡¯s 17th elder, Liu Xuanyu, at the Black Market, he thought it was nothing but a coincidence and had nothing to do with Zhou Donghuang.


    Liu Xuanyu was a mid Primal Core adept after all, and even if that was not much compared to what he was now, it would not have been possible for Zhou Donghuang and the early Primal Core stage adept who was with him to have killed him quite so easily.


    ¡°Isn¡¯t it good to be alive?¡±


    Under the gaze of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang cast a lazy glance at Lin Hantian, shaking his head and sighing.


    Everyone who was watching him, including Lin Hantian, were invariably stunned by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words.


    In that instant, Lin Hantian seemed to return to his senses once more. His eyes filled with cold, murderous intent, and he called out, ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you little brat, barely weaned from your mother¡¯s breast, you have absolutely no say over what becomes of me, Lin Hantian, my life or death!¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡±


    The fan in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand trembled a little, and in the blink of an eye, it shot out like a flash of lightning.


    Before Lin Hantian had time to keep up his defenses, the 18 bones that made up the structure of the folding fan spread out like 18 lethal sword blades, suspended above Lin Hantian¡¯s head.


    ¡°A spirit weapon?!¡±


    Perceiving the energy that was being transmitted through the fan bones, Lin Hantian¡¯s face froze for a minute, then his eyes became more and more radiant, and their inherent greed became more intense.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, I never would have thought that you would possess a spirit weapon¡­ I, Lin Hantian, will claim this weapon as my own!¡±


    As soon as Lin Hantian¡¯s voice fell, he rose into the air like a gust of wind. While his hands were raised, a vast amount of white inner Yuan emanated from his body like a torrent and seemed to transfigure into a giant beast, its large jaws wide open and ready to swallow whole the eighteen blades that surrounded him in mid-air.


    ¡°This Zhou Donghuang is but an early Primal Core adept, to think he would be so presumptuous as to dare challenge a mid Primal Core adept¡­ He is just courting his own death!¡±


    Now, as Yang Yunji seemed to have sobered up from the shock of realizing that Zhou Donghuang had entered the Primal Core stage, his face was full of mocking pleasure as he surveyed the fight between Zhou Donghuang and Lin Hantian.


    Seeing that Lin Hantian coveted and wanted to forcibly take hold of his spirit weapon, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes were as calm as ever, but the corner of his lips involuntarily raised with the slightest sign of disdain.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    ¡­


    Under the gaze of everyone, the eighteen fan blades, like sharp daggers, moved in unison, turning into a rain of swords and whistled in the direction towards Yang Yunji.


    As the swords started to rain down upon him, closing in on him, Lin Hantian could feel the terrible energy contained within the deathly blades.


    Even though this was but the inner Yuan of an early Primal Core adept, the amount of power that it seemed to contain, was way beyond that which his own inner yuan could ever produce on its own.


    ¡°This is not possible!¡±


    Between these flashes of lightning, Lin Hantian¡¯s first thought was, ¡°Impossible! There must be a cover-up here! How could an early Primal Core adept ever compete with me, Lin Hantian?¡±


    However, as the rain of swords fell upon him and collided with the giant beast formed of his own essence, he felt the pressure of his energy being crushed.


    Even at this moment, he just felt as if he was about to suffocate.


    The smell of his own death closing in on him was also eminent.


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to die! I don¡¯t want to die!¡±


    On the brink of death, Lin Hantian¡¯s pupils rounded with intensity, trying to urge every bit of inner Yuan from his body to fights as best as he could to stop the rain of blades that seemed to cover the sky around him.


    Crash!


    Crash! Bang! Bang!


    ¡­


    However, as the terror of swords rained from the sky, and even with Lin Hantian doing his utmost best, he was still unable to resist the attack, and his face became red with anxiety. Blood started to flow from his eyes from the strain.


    ¡°No!¡±


    ¡°No!¡±


    Before Lin Hantian¡¯s inner voice could scream out any further, the white rays of light around his body started to rise in an instant, and earth-shaking changes started to take place.


    And they became¡­


    Silver in color!


    ¡°Hahahaha¡­ Hahahaha¡­¡±


    Lin Hantian, who was still desperate at the close call with death a moment ago, laughed wildly for a moment.


    At the same time, the milky white rays of inner Yuan that once resisted the rain of swords was replaced by silver Yuan in an instant, and it blocked any further attacks from the blades in one fell swoop.


    ¡°What a breakthrough.¡±


    The scene before him surprised Zhou Donghuang, but at the same time, he realized that although Lin Hantian was only a mid Primal Core adept, he would have been infinitely close to reaching the next level.


    This time, under the oppressive force he was raining upon him, and on the brink of death, Lin Hantian took advantage of this opportunity to make a breakthrough, and entered into the late Primal Core stage, to become a Silver Essence adept.


    ¡°This is¡­ a late Primal Core adept?¡±


    Just now, Yang Yunji had thought that Lin Hantian was finished, and his eyes started to show an increasing amount of despair. If Lin Hantian was done, he would definitely not end well.


    After all, Lin Hantian had brought him to Qingshan town himself.


    But now, seeing that Lin Hantian¡¯s inner Yuan had turned to silver, he realized that Lin Hantian had entered the late Primal Core stage and became an even stronger Primal Core adept!


    Based on the lowly state of the Yang family, Yang Yunji naturally could not even begin to understand the affairs of a Primal Core adept through his familial ties.


    The fact that he could understand so much about a Primal Core adept right now was all due to the conversations he had had with Lin Hantian while they were making their way to Qingshan town. While Lin Hantian was making investigations into Zhou Donghuang¡¯s background, he had become exposed to a new universe of knowledge about the adepts.


    Because of this, he had known from before that Zhou Donghuang was an early Primal Core adept and Lin Hantian was a mid Primal Core adept. Even now, he could see for himself that Lin Hantian had entered into the late Primal Core stage!


    ¡°Congratulations, Big Brother!¡±


    At this time, the giant eagle at Yang Yunji¡¯s feet also expressed his congratulations to Lin Hantian. The color of despair in his sharp eyes that had been there just moments back disappeared and was replaced with a burst of excitement.


    Despite this, Lin Lan and others were not quite clear about the distinction between both of the Primal Core adepts.


    Just now, Lin Hantian was almost killed by Zhou Donghuang, and they all had been flushed with excitement.


    Now that Lin Hantian was able to make a breakthrough and block Zhou Donghuang¡¯s offensive, the excitement on their faces disappeared and was replaced by silent, severe looks.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    Lin Hantian, whose entire body was now wrapped in a silver glow, looked at Zhou Donghuang as he smiled darkly.


    ¡°It is all thanks to you that I was able to break through the next stage of the Primal Core to become a late Primal Core adept.


    ¡°So what, then?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang was a picture of calm, and he was completely unfettered as he said, ¡°Even so, it would only have delayed your death by just a little longer.¡±


    Hearing the words of Zhou Donghuang, Lin Hantian first froze, but then laughed more and more fervently. ¡°Zhou Donghuang, I have to say that the strength you exhibit is indeed rare but bizarre.


    ¡°For an early Primal Core adept, with the help of a spirit weapon, demonstrating a level of attack that is comparable to a late Primal Core adept¡­! However, can¡¯t you see it at this point?


    ¡°Your attacks can¡¯t stop me now.


    ¡°Even with this spirit weapon that you have now drawn¡­ If I were to guess, this would be your most powerful means of attack at this point, am I right?


    ¡°Be thankful that I don¡¯t have sufficient inner Yuan left. Otherwise, if we were to continue, I would wipe out all of your inner Yuan! And then, I could easily kill you.¡±


    As he said this, Lin Hantian¡¯s voice seemed to contain the slightest bit of pity.


    ¡°But, even so, my remaining inner Yuan can still stop your strongest means of attack¡­ even if I want to escape, I could do so quite easily!¡±


    Lin Hantian¡¯s eyes brimmed with self-confidence. ¡°Today is the day that I have escaped death and made a full comeback, and it is also the same day that you and those around you will die.


    ¡°Unless you leave Ziyun with them¡­ but then, do you have that ability? With your current strength and even with the servants next to you, how many people can you take with you out of Ziyun?¡±


    As he finished, Lin Hantian¡¯s face was one of mocking disdain.


    ¡°Now, I shall take my leave¡­ I shall wait for my inner Yuan to be fully restored and then come back to you!¡±


    As Lin Hantian said this, he prepared to leave.


    While he was saying all these, he was completely confident that he would be able to make his leave successfully.


    ¡°Who said that this was my strongest means of attack?¡±


    Just as Lin Hantian was about to leave, Zhou Donghuang said, ¡°Out of the 18 fan blades¡­ You were just able to stop only eight of them.¡±


    ¡°Eight fan blades?¡±


    Considering the rain of swords that he was fighting, Lin Hantian¡¯s face was unbelieving. ¡°Do you think¡­ that just by saying this, you can scare me?¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t you just an ignorant frog in the well!¡±


    When Zhou Donghuang shook his head, in the space just at Lin Hantian¡¯s feet, ten flashes of light shot out suddenly, and along with that were clearly the ten fan blades that he spoke of.


    When the 18 fan blades had shot out of the folding fan, ten of them silently lurked beneath him, while the other eight formed the rain of attack on Lin Hantian.


    In this Ambush of Flying Daggers technique, eight would rain down in attack, while ten lay in wait.


    And since this was an ambush, how could they be easily discovered?


    ¡°This is no good!¡±


    With all his strength, Lin Hantian had barely been able to defend against the attack of the eight fan blades. How would he be able to spare enough power to resist the offensive attack of ten?


    Plop! Plop! Plop!


    ¡­


    In a blink of an eye, Lin Hantian¡¯s whole body was penetrated by the ten fan blades, and as they went straight through him, the blood that filled the air was a sight to behold.


    Of the ten wounds, none had hit the man¡¯s vital points.


    To say that Zhou Donghuang had not done this intentionally would have been unbelievable.


    Whoosh!


    While Lin Hantian was still gritting his teeth, trying to resist the rain of swords that was coming from all sides, Zhou Donghuang flashed forward, appeared in front of him like a phantom, and then aimed for his essence point with the palm of his hand.


    ¡°No¡ª!¡±


    As Lin Hantian guessed what Zhou Donghuang was going to do, his face changed rapidly, and his eyes were stricken with fear.


    Boom!


    With just a swipe of his hand, Zhou Donghuang had penetrated his inner Yuan and purged Lin Hantian of his powers from his essence point. He had completely destroyed Lin Hantian¡¯s inner Yuan, rendering him useless as an adept.


    After he had rendered Lin Hantian completely handicapped, Zhou Donghuang raised his hand, and the 18 blades from his fan turned back into a folding fan and returned to his hand.


    At the same time, Lin Hantian, who had lost all means of attack and was seriously injured, fell from the air, seven or eight meters to the ground.


    Boom!!


    Lin Hantian slammed heavily on the ground and coughed out a few mouthfuls of blood. When he looked again at the young man, clothed in white and still in mid-air, his eyes were full of both despair and hatred.

 Chapter 183 - The Heartbroken Yang Zixi

    After destroying Lin Hantian, Zhou Donghuang did not pay any attention to him. He turned his gaze to the distance, where a giant eagle circled the skies with a man standing on top of it. ¡°If I am not wrong¡­ you are Yang Yunji, chief of the Yang family?¡± Zhou Donghuang glanced at the man.


    Since seeing Lin Hantian being crippled by Zhou Donghuang, falling to the ground after being severely injured and close to death, Yang Yunji¡¯s expression had changed to one of despair. As Zhou Donghuang turned to him and acknowledged him, Yang Yunji was frightened.


    Yang Yunji did not respond but rather squeezed his legs together as he called to the eagle beneath him. ¡°Escape! Escape!! Now!! Do you want to die?!¡±


    Just as Yang Yunji called out to the giant eagle, the eagle also seemed to come to its senses. Its eyes seemed to flash with disgust as the white glow of inner Yuan on its back trembled, flinging Yang Yunji off its back.


    Boom!!


    Yang Yunji fell to the ground from a height of more than ten meters. With a crushing sound, he landed with his legs broken, groaning in pain.


    Whoosh!!


    The huge eagle seemed to transform into a bolt of lightning as it streaked towards the distance.


    However, although it was very fast, Zhou Donghuang was even quicker. In a flash, he had appeared in front of the giant eagle.


    ¡°S¡­ Sir¡­ I¡­ I don¡¯t think¡­ I did anything to you?¡± The giant eagle looked at Zhou Donghuang with fear, its massive body trembling in fright. The man before him could even cripple an established Silver Essence adept like Lin Hantian; he could easily kill this early Primal Core stage demon.


    ¡°You¡¯re trying to say that¡­ you had nothing to do with the destruction of all those buildings?¡± Zhou Donghuang glanced at the courtyard, where more than half of the structures had been destroyed. He looked at the giant eagle again.


    ¡°Sir, I shall be your slave for ten years to make up for this!¡± begged the giant eagle, its voice quivering.


    ¡°No need,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang, shaking his head.


    Just as the eagle¡¯s eyes lit up, Zhou Donghuang spoke again, ¡°I am more interested in your inner core, your beak and those sharp claws.¡±


    With that, Zhou Donghuang struck. In the instant that the eagle¡¯s eyes revealed its despair, Zhou Donghuang had already removed the inner core from within its body, and killed it with a blow, dragging its corpse to the sky above the courtyard.


    Boom!!


    He let the corpse of the giant eagle drop to the ground below. Zhou Donghuang floated in the air as he looked down upon Lin Hantian, his lips curling into a smirk.


    ¡°Tenth elder of the Divine Light Sect?¡±


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang, you will die a terrible death!¡± Lin Hantian screamed. He then killed himself.


    ¡°At least he has some backbone.¡± Zhou Donghuang raised his eyebrows, his gaze landing on Yang Yunji, who had fallen and broken both his legs. ¡°Yang Yunji, you didn¡¯t want to stay in the Chu royal city as the Yang family chief and chose to come all the way to Qingshan town¡­ just to see me fail?¡±


    ¡°Young¡­ Young Master Zhou.¡± Yang Yunji lay sprawled on the ground, kowtowing to Zhou Donghuang with fright. ¡°You are such a high and mighty Primal Core adept, I am just like an ant compared to you¡­ May you be magnanimous and forgive me this once. I swear, if you spare my life, I will never appear in front of you again. Please! Please!¡± Yang Yunji begged.


    ¡°Brother Zhou!¡± Before Zhou Donghuang could respond, Yang Zixi, who had already recovered from some of her injuries, barely stood up as she asked Zhou Donghuang, ¡°Can you leave this Yang Yunji to me to settle?¡±


    Zhou Donghuang looked deeply at Yang Zixi, before finally nodding. ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Zixi!¡± Hearing Zhou Donghuang agree to Yang Zixi¡¯s request, Yang Yunji¡¯s eyes lit up with hope that he had been saved.


    He would never have imagined what happened next.


    Yang Zixi pulled out the sword at Freezing Wind¡¯s waist and placed it right at Yang Yunji¡¯s throat. With just a quiver of the sword, she could easily kill him.


    ¡°Zi¡­ Zixi! I¡­ I¡­ I am your uncle! Don¡¯t forget that I raised you up! You cannot be ungrateful!¡± Yang Yunji was flustered. He never expected his niece to treat him like this.


    ¡°At this point, you still have the cheek to say something like this?¡± Yang Zixi¡¯s eyes turned icy cold. ¡°Ever since I knew that you killed Third Uncle, I have not taken you as my uncle¡­ trying to use the fact that you raised me against me now? Back then, my parents saved your life¡­ that should be more than enough to make up for you raising me.¡±


    ¡°Zixi!¡± Seeing Yang Zixi so resolute, Yang Yunji¡¯s face turned chalk-white. ¡°I am your uncle, your uncle¡­. you cannot¡­ you¡­ no!!¡±


    With a twitch of her hand, Yang Zixi sliced his throat, ending him instantly.


    ¡°Brother Zhou.¡± After returning the sword to Freezing Wind, Yang Zixi turned to Zhou Donghuang, her face filled with regret. ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m sorry¡­. I did not think that Yang Yunji would bring a Primal Core adept here to cause trouble for Auntie Lan. I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really so sorry.¡± Yang Zixi could not stop apologizing, tears flowing out of her eyes.


    ¡°This is not your fault.¡± Zhou Donghuang glided down and landed in front of Yang Zixi. He reached out and stroke her head, comforting her gently. ¡°That Primal Core adept was here for me. Even if Yang Yunji did not bring him here, he would have found someone else to bring him here. The result would be the same. You do not need to blame yourself,¡± said Zhou Donghuang with a smile.


    ¡°Brother Zhou!¡± With an outburst of courage, Yang Zixi reached out with her hands and hugged Zhou Donghuang tightly, crying into his shoulder.


    The sudden act made Zhou Donghuang¡¯s body stiffen. It took a second before he relaxed, patting Yang Zixi¡¯s back softly. ¡°Zixi, I am not trying to comfort you. This really has nothing to do with you.¡± Zhou Donghuang smiled in resignation.


    He did not know that Yang Zixi was like this not just because Yang Yunji had brought a Primal Core adept here to cause trouble, but more so because of what Lin Lan had said previously. Knowing that the Brother Zhou whom she loved already had someone else he fancied, Yang Zixi could not help but feel that her heart had been shattered.


    In the past, Zhou Donghuang had said that he treated her like a younger sister, but she still believed that there was a chance. But now, knowing that Zhou Donghuang fancied someone else, her hopes were dashed.


    Yang Zixi cried for half a day and eventually was so tired that she fell asleep right there. Zhou Donghuang turned to the lady who was attending to Yang Zixi and quietly instructed her, ¡°Aunt Mei, please bring Zixi back to her room to rest.¡±


    ¡°Brother!¡± Not long after Yang Zixi had been brought away, Yun Lu rushed into Zhou Donghuang¡¯s arms as if she had been in line for her turn. ¡°Brother, Brother¡­ Xiao Lu missed you so much.¡±


    ¡°Silly girl.¡± Zhou Donghuang stroked her head gently. ¡°Isn¡¯t Brother back now? Don¡¯t worry¡­ this time, I am here to bring all of you away with me,¡± said Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Really?¡± Yun Lu looked up at him expectantly, her eyes sparkling.


    ¡°Of course,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang, nodding his head.


    ¡°Donghuang,¡± said Lin Lan, who had been standing at the side. ¡°Actually, we are living pretty well here in Qingshan town.¡± At the same time, she glared at Yun Lu discreetly.


    Yun Lu blushed as she hurriedly added, ¡°Brother, Xiao Lu is just kidding¡­ actually, Xiao Lu also likes it here in Qingshan town, really.¡±


    ¡°Mother,¡± said Zhou Donghuang with a smile. ¡°I have already asked Su Mo to arrange a residence for us in the Valley of Medicine Masters. It should be all ready by now. For now, you can stay temporarily at the Valley of Medicine Masters. Of course¡­ you cannot stay for too long there. Because, next, there is somewhere better for all of you to live.¡± Zhou Donghuang paused, then added, ¡°Mother, in the future, you do not need to worry that you are being a burden. When all of you are close by, I can be less worried. Otherwise, just like today, if I had been just a little later, who knows what would have happened!¡± His expression turned serious.


    Lin Lan was then reminded of what had just happened, and broke out in cold sweat. ¡°Yes¡­ we will all follow you.


    ¡°The reconstruction of this place, we can leave it to someone else¡­ you all prepare for us to leave tomorrow.¡± Zhou Donghuang took out a bottle of pills and handed the pills out to everyone there. ¡°This is the healing elixir that I made after reaching the Primal Core stage, and it is much more effective than those that I gave to you previously.¡±


    With the healing elixir, everyone¡¯s injuries healed quickly. After all, they were only minor injuries. Aunt Mei had already recovered enough to be able to bring Yang Zixi away to rest, even without taking the healing elixir.


    ¡°Young Master?¡± Little Gold woke up not much longer after taking the healing elixir that Zhou Donghuang fed him. It looked at Zhou Donghuang with disbelief.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not dreaming, right?¡± said Little Gold to itself.


    ¡°You¡¯re not.¡± Just then, Big Gold, which had been circling in the sky above, flew down in front of Little Gold. ¡°Little Gold, you have made good progress¡­ you¡¯ve already achieved the Connate stage.¡±


    ¡°You¡­ you are Big Gold?!¡± Little Gold¡¯s eyes narrowed as it looked at the twenty-meter wingspan of Big Gold. It swallowed nervously. ¡°You¡­ you are already in the ultimate Connate stage?¡±


    ¡°Haha¡­ you improved by a bit, but my progress was even more,¡± replied Big Gold gleefully.


    ¡°But this is nothing¡­ Young Master is already in the Primal Core stage,¡± added Big Gold.


    ¡°Primal Core?¡± Little Gold looked at Zhou Donghuang with disbelief. It remembered what had happened before it had been severely injured and scanned its surroundings only to realize that the Primal Core adept and demon were both dead.


    ¡°This¡­¡± Little Gold was stunned. It was well aware of how powerful that Primal Core adept was. With just a flick of his hand, without any effort, he had simply blown it away and knocked it unconscious.


    Yet now, the man was dead.

 Chapter 184 - Arrival at the Lu Family Household

    Chapter 184: Arrival at the Lu Family Household


    ¡°Young Master, back then, didn¡¯t you tell me that once Big Gold achieves the Connate stage, then you will let it take my place? You only came back after so long,¡± said Little Gold as he looked at Zhou Donghuang indignantly. ¡°Now, Big Gold is already in the ultimate Connate stage, but I¡¯ve only just reached the Connate stage¡­ ¡±


    ¡°Enough,¡± interrupted Zhou Donghuang. He turned to the corpse of the Primal Core demon and said, ¡°You can have the corpse of the Primal core demon here¡­ but you must leave its beak and claws to me. Besides this, you can also have the inner core of this demon.¡± Zhou Donghuang opened his hands to reveal a white orb the size of a child¡¯s fist, and white mist appeared mysteriously around it. This was none other than the inner core of the early Primal Core demon that the tenth elder of the Divine Light sect, Lin Hantian, had ridden here.


    The inner core of the demon was similar in effect to that of a human, but it could be perfectly maintained for a period of time after the death of the demon, only dissipating after that. This made it similar to the Buddhist essence of monks. However, as compared to the Buddhist essence, the inner core of the demon was more straightforward as it could be easily swallowed by another demon, which could digest it to increase its own level of power.


    ¡°Inner core?!¡± When he heard Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, Little Gold stared at the white orb in his hands, saliva dripping from its mouth. The inner core was an immensely precious treasure to any demon which had not achieved the Primal Core stage.


    ¡°Young Master, if I swallow this¡­ can I use the inner Yuan within it to jump straight to the Primal Core stage and become a Primal Core demon?¡± Big Gold asked curiously, its eyes also transfixed on the white orb.


    ¡°Of course,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang.


    Big Gold turned to Little Gold, smiling as it said, ¡°Little Gold, why don¡¯t we make a deal?¡±


    ¡°No chance! Don¡¯t even think about it!¡± Little Gold knew exactly what Big Gold was thinking about and turned him down straight away. ¡°If I have this inner core, I¡¯ll be able to chase up to you in a short time. But if you take it, and become a Primal Core demon¡­ how can I chase you? You think I¡¯m a fool?¡± retorted Little Gold.


    ¡°Little Gold, you really are a fool! If I use this inner core to attain the Primal Core stage and become a Primal Core demon, I can bring you with me to hunt other Primal Core demons. Then, we will have no lack of inner cores,¡± said Big Gold.


    Little Gold looked swayed by Big Gold¡¯s words.


    Before Little Gold could make a decision, Zhou Donghuang had already shot the inner core into its mouth with a flick of his finger. ¡°Don¡¯t be greedy¡­ just focus on yourself first.¡±


    ¡°Yes, Young Master,¡± laughed Little Gold awkwardly.


    Seeing this, Big Gold did not say anything. All that it had was given to it by its Young Master, and it naturally followed anything that he said.


    ¡­


    Early the next morning, the two golden-crowned eagles lifted to the skies of the backyard of Yunxuan restaurant, flying towards the Yunfeng prefecture capital.


    ¡°Wait here for me¡­ I will ask Lu Qinghu if he wishes to leave with me,¡± Zhou Donghuang said to the group of people on the backs of the two golden-crowned eagles, then he leaped off the back of Big Gold and headed towards the Yunfeng prefecture capital.


    From above, looking down upon Yunfeng prefecture capital, Zhou Donghuang could easily spot one of the large courtyards, which was the residence of the Lu family household. Arriving above the courtyard, Zhou Donghuang realized that a group of people had gathered in front of the household, and tables were set up everywhere, filled with all types of food and drinks as if it was a buffet for everyone.


    ¡°A gathering?¡± The sight made Zhou Donghuang think of the Wei family party that he had attended with Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei at the Chu royal city. However, the difference was that that one was hosted by the Wei family. However, this party was hosted by the first young master of the Lu family, Lu Yuan.


    ¡°Brother Lu Yuan, everyone knows that the Lu family is now the ruler of Yunfeng prefecture, far above the Zhao Governor¡¯s household. You are being too humble.¡± In the courtyard, a well-dressed young man was complimenting Lu Yuan.


    Lu Yuan appeared more mature compared to back in the day. Faced with the compliment, he was calm and composed. ¡°These things ought not to be said so lightly¡­ the Zhao family is the true ruler of Yunfeng prefecture.¡±


    ¡°Brother Lu Yuan, you are too humble,¡± said another young man with a shake of his head. ¡°Now, in the Yunfeng prefecture capital, everyone knows of how Elder Qinghu helped protect your second uncle and the current Lu family chief, Lu Bao. The person who came to create trouble was a level-nine adept from a tycoon family of a superior prefecture, but he was simply defeated by a single blow from your father. Your father is at least a Petty Consummate adept now, right?¡± asked the young man.


    ¡°I have never asked my father about this, so I am not too sure,¡± replied Lu Yuan. However, his eyes could hardly conceal his pride.


    At the moment, in a corner of the courtyard of the Lu family household, two young ladies were looking at Lu Yuan intently.


    ¡°Li Rui, for people like us from the side family of a preeminent family, if we can lay our hands on the Young Master Lu, even if we are just his concubines, that would be an achievement for us,¡± said one of the ladies to the other. ¡°Now, the Lu family¡¯s status in the Yunfeng prefecture capital is unparalleled¡­ two months ago, for the birthday of Elder Qinghu, the governor of Yunfeng prefecture even personally brought gifts here. If we are able to get close to the Young Master Lu, with the connection to Elder Qinghu, even the Zhao family would treat us differently.¡±


    The other girl was none other than a side disciple of the preeminent Li family of Yunfeng prefecture, Li Rui. Since the death of the Li family chief, the Li family had another level-four adept and so was still a preeminent family, but they were much less well-off compared to the past. On the other hand, the Lu family had achieved new highs.


    ¡°Hong Qian, you said¡­ the reason for the Lu family¡¯s present glory is the work of Zhou Donghuang a few years ago?¡± Li Rui asked, her eyes filled with disbelief.


    ¡°Apparently¡­ otherwise, how could the Lu family suddenly become so powerful? In the past, the Lu family never showed any potential, until Lu Qinghu got to know Young Master Donghuang. Then, the Lu family simply rose in prominence!¡± Hong Qian¡¯s gaze turned intense as she spoke. ¡°Apparently Young Master Donghuang achieved the Connate stage a year ago. He is the only ¡°Teenage Connate¡± in the whole Yunyang country, and even in the history of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley. What a pity¡­ someone like that, we can only watch from afar. All we can aspire for is someone like Young Master Lu Yuan¡­ unfortunately, even Young Master Lu Yuan would not be able to be secured easily,¡± sighed Hong Qian.


    Hong Qian¡¯s words had caused Li Rui¡¯s face to darken. Zhou Donghuang. The youngster whom she had looked down upon back in the day, had not only entered the connate stage, but had even brought the Lu family to such heights?


    Did she regret it? Of course. ¡°If I had not treated him that way in the past, even if I did not end up marrying him, he certainly would not leave my mother and me out¡­ I missed such a huge chance.¡± Li Rui was filled with regret.


    Suddenly, a loud sound came from the skies. It was not load, but it was enough to cover all the noise and chatter in the courtyard. It sounded familiar to Li Rui.


    ¡°Lu Yuan.¡± In the skies above the Lu family household, a handsome young man in white was floating and staring directly at the first young master of the Lu family, Lu Yuan.


    When everyone looked up and saw the young man in white floating in mid-air like a god, everyone¡¯s eyes narrowed.


    ¡°Fly¡­ flying?¡±


    ¡°He¡­ he can fly?¡±


    ¡°I heard only Primal Core adepts can fly! He is a Primal Core adept?!¡±


    ¡°Primal Core adepts only appeared in legends, why would one appear in a place like Yunfeng prefecture?¡±


    ¡­


    Everyone was shocked.


    Hearing someone call his name, Lu Yuan examined the man floating in mid-air seriously¡­ although it had been a long time, but the man¡¯s features were exactly the same, and Lu Yuan recognized him immediately.


    ¡°Young¡­ Young Master Donghuang?¡± Lu Yuan asked in a stutter. ¡°You¡­ you have achieved the Primal Core stage?¡± Only such adepts could float in the air.


    ¡°Yes,¡± nodded Zhou Donghuang. He went straight to the point. ¡°I am here to find your father.¡±


    ¡°I will call him over right away!¡± Lu Yuan did not hesitate as he hurried towards the house like a crazed rabbit, leaving every group around him.


    Even after he had left, there was not a sound in the whole courtyard. It was long after before someone recovered from the shock and stared in amazement at the young man floating in the air, whispering, ¡°He¡­ he is that Zhou Donghuang? The teenage connate who shocked the whole Yunyang country a year ago?¡±


    ¡°Lu Yuan would never have recognized the wrong person.¡±


    ¡°My goodness! A year ago, we heard that he was not even twenty years old, but had achieved the Connate stage. Now, in a year¡¯s time, he has already reached the Primal Core stage?¡±


    ¡°He must be just twenty years old? A Primal Core adept at the age of twenty?¡±


    ¡­


    In the courtyard of the Lu family household, every person there was in shock.


    ¡°Zhou¡­ Zhou Donghuang¡­ ¡± Li Rui stood in the corner, looking at the young man in the air. Her gaze was immensely complicated as her expression changed drastically.

 Chapter 185 - Someone from the Xuanyin Sect

    ¡°Zhou Donghuang!¡± Finally, Li Rui mustered her courage and called out to Zhou Donghuang. ¡°I am Li Rui, you¡­ still remember me? My mother is the chairperson of the commerce association of Ningping town, Li Yun. She is good friends with your mother, Lin Lan.¡± To Li Rui, with the power that Zhou Donghuang had now, as long as he supported her in even the smallest way possible, she would benefit greatly.


    ¡°Li Rui¡­ knows this Zhou Donghuang?¡± Hong Qian¡¯s eyes widened in disbelief. Hong Qian was the side disciple of the preeminent Hong family of Yunfeng prefecture capital. She would never have thought that her friend could possibly be acquainted with the Connate-level teenager of Yunyang country, who was now a Primal Core adept. Instantly, her eyes sparkled. If Li Rui was able to make connections with this man, she would also be able to take advantage of it!


    ¡°Li Rui?¡± Just as the people around her were looking at her with envy, Zhou Donghuang, who was floating in the air, opened his eyes slowly and glanced at her. ¡°I remember you, you¡¯re the daughter of Aunty Yun.¡±


    ¡°Correct, correct!¡± Seeing Zhou Donghuang remember her, Li Rui answered excitedly. The gaze of the other people boiled with jealousy.


    ¡°Is Aunt Yun doing well?¡± Li Rui nodded her head like a chicken pecking at rice. In that moment, she was blushing out of sheer excitement. ¡°Brother Donghuang, you rarely come back to Yunfeng prefecture¡­ why don¡¯t you stay for a few more days so that I can properly take care of you?¡±


    ¡°Brother Donghuang?¡± Hearing how Li Rui addressed him, Zhou Donghuang looked at her with a complex expression, a smirk playing on his lips. ¡°Miss Li, I am not worthy of you calling me that¡­ I, Zhou Donghuang, in your eyes, am just a martial invalid who is not worthy of you.¡±


    With that, the expression of everyone there changed as they looked at Li Rui as if she was an idiot. This Li Rui had looked down upon Zhou Donghuang? She had thought that he was a marital invalid? A twenty-year-old Primal Core adept, a martial invalid? Was Li Rui blind?


    ¡°Brother Donghuang.¡± Although she could hear the sarcasm in his voice, Li Rui still plastered a smile on her face. ¡°I was too young then and did not understand anything¡­ these things, someone as magnanimous as you, please do not take it to heart.¡±


    ¡°You are really able to bend yourself anyway you like.¡± Zhou Donghuang smiled faintly, and closed his eyes, ignoring Li Rui. Beside her, Hong Qian¡¯s hopes were dashed as well.


    Hong Qian could tell that Zhou Donghuang had no intention of paying any attention to Li Rui. After repeated attempts to talk to Zhou Donghuang, Li Rui¡¯s face slowly darkened as she realized that Zhou Donghuang was simply ignoring her. Finally, sensing the disdain from the crowd around her, she could only feel extremely embarrassed as she fled sneakily.


    ¡°Lu Qinghu greets Young Master!¡± Not long after Li Rui had left, a tall slender figure appeared in the courtyard like a phantom. He bowed respectfully to the young man in mid-air, his eyes filled with both respect and shock.


    In such a short time, that young man had already reached the Primal Core stage and had become a Primal Core adept? Just now, hearing the words of his son Lu Yuan, he had not dared to believe it. It wasn¡¯t until now, upon seeing the young man float in midair, did he fully believe that it was true.


    ¡°It¡¯s been a while.¡± Long before Lu Qinghu arrived, Zhou Donghuang had already opened his eyes. He smiled in return to Lu Qinghu¡¯s greeting. ¡°This time, I am back to bring my mother with me to leave Yunyang country¡­ I am here today to ask if you wish to leave with us?¡±


    ¡°As long as we do not burden you, I, Lu Qinghu, will go anywhere with Young Master,¡± answered Lu Qinghu without a second of hesitation.


    ¡°In that case, come with me.¡± With a stroke of his hand, the white glow of his inner Yuan wrapped around Lu Qinghu and lifted him up to the skies, right in front of the entire crowd. He brought him away from the Lu family household, disappearing before everyone¡¯s eyes.


    ¡°The old chief of the Lu family really struck gold¡­ as long as he follows Zhou Donghuang, a Primal Core adept, in the future, even the Yunyang imperial court will no longer dare to offend the Lu family.¡±


    ¡°The Lu family is really lucky.¡±


    ¡°It is truly their fortune to have Lu Qinghu in the family!¡±


    The disciples of the preeminent and lesser families in the courtyard all shook their heads and sighed, their eyes filled with envy.


    ¡­


    When Zhou Donghuang and the rest arrived at the Valley of Medicine Masters, the Valley Head Su Mo came out personally to receive them, leading them to a residence which he had prior arranged for them.


    ¡°This small valley¡­ did you especially carve it out?¡± Zhou Donghuang remembered that the Valley of Medicine Masters was in a vast valley that did not have this small valley covered with lush grass. With the power that he had, Su Mo could easily create a small valley like this with just a simple flick of his hand. However, as easy as it was to create the valley, the newly created valley would have looked unsightly. Yet the valley before them was filled with greenery, with birds singing and flowers blooming¡­ in such a short time, to transform the valley into something like this clearly required a large amount of effort.


    ¡°Master, this small valley is my gift to Madam and Miss¡­ I wonder if they are satisfied with it.¡± Su Mo looked at Lin Lan beside Zhou Donghuang and Yun Lu in his arms as he bowed and smiled.


    ¡°Valley Head is really thoughtful,¡± said Lin Lan in surprise. After all, the middle-aged man before her was the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters, and the true leader of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    ¡°Madam, you can just call me Su Mo.¡± Lin Lan¡¯s words frightened Su Mo that he hurriedly dropped to his knees, his body trembling. He looked up carefully at Zhou Donghuang, as if afraid Zhou Donghuang would be unhappy with his performance. To Su Mo, his Master Zhou Donghuang was like a deity far above him, one that could not be offended. And Lin Lan was the mother of his Master.


    ¡°Valley¡­ Su Mo, what are you doing? Get up, get up.¡± Su Mo¡¯s action shocked Lin Lan. She would never have thought that the ruler of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley and the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters would be so frightened by how she had addressed him that he would drop to his knees.


    In that moment, another voice called out from the distance. ¡°Su Mo, you are really getting worse as you age¡­ how can you kneel in front of a woman!¡±


    Long before they heard the voice, Zhou Donghuang had already noticed the appearance of someone new. Besides the elder of the Valley of Medicine Masters and his flying beast who had welcomed them just now, there was another flying beast on the platform. On it, there were two men standing.


    The one who had spoken was the middle-aged man standing slightly behind the other. The man was dressed in a mandarin gown, his eyebrows fearsome. As he looked at Su Mo, his tone was filled with sarcasm, his eyes filled with disdain.


    ¡°Tan Che?¡± As Su Mo stood up, his eyes landed on the man who had spoken as he said calmly, ¡°What I do has nothing to do with you! Why aren¡¯t you at the Guiyuan Sect, but instead came here to poke your nose in my business?¡±


    Tan Che was the leader of the Guiyuan Sect. The Guiyuan Sect ruled over the Fourteen Countries of Southern Jiang, which was neighboring the Valley of Medicine Masters. Due to their great distance from the Shenguang Empire, they had not been under its influence.


    ¡°An ultimate Connate stage demon?¡± Just then, the old man in gray standing in front of Tan Che spoke up. His originally dull eyes lit up as his gaze landed on Big Gold, which was standing not far away from Zhou Donghuang. Greed was visible in his eyes as he asked, ¡°Who would¡¯ve thought that we would have this surprise waiting for us here.¡±


    ¡°Congratulations, Lord Chi Ping,¡± Tan Che congratulated the old man. He looked at the massive golden-crowned eagle as he puzzled, wasn¡¯t there only one early Connate demon in the Valley of Medicine Masters? Where did this penultimate Connate demon appear from?


    ¡°Hm?¡± Su Mo¡¯s eyes landed on the old man in gray, his eyes turning into a slight frown. ¡°This is?¡±


    ¡°Su Mo, this is Lord Chi Ping from the Xuanyin Sect,¡± said Tan Che with a bright smile. ¡°Lord Chi Ping had left Xuanyin Sect for the Valley of Medicine Masters¡­ but he wrongly came to our Guiyuan Sect and was unsure of the directions here, so I brought him here personally. Su Mo, who would¡¯ve thought that you were so bold that¡­ you even dare to offend someone from the Xuanyin Sect.¡± Tan Che looked gleeful.


    ¡°Someone from the Xuanyin Sect?¡± As he looked at the old man once again, Su Mo¡¯s expression darkened. ¡°Sir, you are looking for me?¡±


    Of course, although he was asking this, Su Mo had already guessed that this man had come here to find him most likely because of Chen Dandan, who had been accepted into the Xuanyin Sect.


    ¡°On Miss Dandan¡¯s request, I have come here to destroy your entire valley, as well as someone named Zhou Donghuang.¡± Chi Ping was an early Primal Core adept from the Xuanyin Sect. He enjoyed bootlicking and tried his best to get closer to the two ultimate Primal Core elders in the Xuanyin Sect but never got his chance. He wanted to get closer to the lesser disciples of the two elders, but even they did not pay him any attention. Until recently, he had gotten to know Chen Dandan, a new female disciple under the wing of the elder Zhong Ya. She had instructed him to destroy the whole Valley of Medicine Masters and one person. To him, this was an opportunity to perform a favor for her, so he had come right away.


    He could easily destroy a small sect whose strongest member was just a late Connate adept. As for the man named Zhou Donghuang with a spear sphere, he similarly thought nothing of him.

 Chapter 186 - Su Mo Strikes

    Whoosh!


    As the words left his mouth, Chi Ping flew off the flying beast, as he soared above Su Mo and the rest. ¡°I have nothing against all of you, but since Miss Dandan wants you dead¡­ I can only send you on your way. But before that, you had better tell me where Zhou Donghuang is¡­ as long as you cooperate, I will allow you an easy death. Otherwise, I will slowly torture you until you die!¡± Towards the end, Chi Ping¡¯s eyes revealed his sadistic intent.


    Chi Ping floated in the air, his cloak rising behind him despite the still air. He was like an old deity, giving one a sense of uneasy oppression. Before Chi Ping had made a move, Lin Lan and the rest were already afraid of him. Now, with his inner Yuan surrounding him, this confirmed to Lin Lan and the rest that he was an early Primal Core adept!


    Along the way from Yunyang country, Zhou Donghuang had explained about Primal Core adepts to Lin Lan and the rest. He had mentioned how to differentiate the inner Yuan of the different tiers of Primal Core adepts. Hence, Lin Lan and the rest could easily tell that Chi Ping was in the early Primal Core stage.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Just as Chi Ping spoke, Lu Qinghu could not resist but snort with disdain, saying condescendingly, ¡°A mere early Primal Core adept threatening to kill my young master¡­ did you eat something to make you so daring that you¡¯re unafraid of death?¡±


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang is your young master?¡± Hearing Lu Qinghu, Chi Ping¡¯s eyes flashed as he shouted, ¡°Speak! Where is Zhou Donghuang!¡±


    Chen Dandan had told him that Zhou Donghuang was just a teenager. Among those present, there were no teenagers, so Chi Ping had not recognized Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Chen Dandan sent you to kill me, but you don¡¯t recognize me?¡± Zhou Donghuang rose to the skies, level with Chi Ping. His face was calm, his gaze silent.


    With that, Chi Ping¡¯s expression changed entirely. This young man in white, who looked no more than twenty years old, was an early Primal Core adept just like him?


    ¡°Primal Core?¡± Tan Che, the chief of the Guiyuan Sect, was also surprised. He had never expected a Primal Core adept to exist in the Valley of Medicine Masters.


    ¡°You are Zhou Donghuang?¡± Chi Ping finally responded, thinking of what the young man in white had just said previously. His expression was one of utter disbelief, his heart filled with shock. ¡°Didn¡¯t Miss Dandan say that he was just in the early Connate stage? How did he become a Primal Core adept?¡± Chi Ping was stunned, absolutely stunned.


    ¡°Master.¡± Then, as Chi Ping and Tan Che watched on, Su Mo, the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters, also rose to the skies behind Zhou Donghuang. He said respectfully, ¡°Leave this man to me.¡±


    ¡°Mhm,¡± responded Zhou Donghuang calmly.


    Su Mo had not yet attained the mid Primal Core stage, but his inner Yuan was so strong that it far exceeded any ordinary early Primal Core adept. Furthermore, he had been practicing the premier Thousand-Star Sword Technique. His inner Yuan was powerful enough to defeat any other early Primal Core adept. In the whole Ziyun planet, there was no other adept beneath the middle Primal Core stage who could match him.


    ¡°How is this possible?!¡± Tan Che, the chief of the Guiyuan Sect, had already been shocked by the Primal Core that Zhou Donghuang had displayed. Now, seeing Su Mo take to the skies, displaying his Primal Core, Tan Che was in utter denial. Were his eyes playing tricks on him? Could he be dreaming?


    He understood Su Mo. Two years ago, he had even come to the Valley of Medicine Masters to challenge Su Mo. At that time, they had both been late Connate stage adepts. That round had ended in a draw after both of them were not able to defeat the other even after a prolonged battle, because their levels were too similar.


    ¡°It is real¡­¡± In a moment, after making sure that his eyes had not been playing tricks on him, nor was he in a dream, Tan Che was stunned. A late connate adept could become a Primal Core adept in just two short years? How did Su Mo achieve this?


    ¡°This Su Mo is also a Primal Core adept?¡± Chi Ping¡¯s expression turned dark once again. Before he had left, Miss Dandan had clearly told him that Su Mo of the Valley of Medicine Masters was only a late Connate adept¡­ but now, Su Mo had displayed that he was already in the Primal Core stage.


    Whoosh!


    Just as Chi Ping was stunned, Su Mo had already made his move. In a flash, he rushed towards Chi Ping.


    ¡­


    The sounds of swords slashing through the air rung around. As Su Mo moved, his inner Yuan crystallized into ten bolts of light. In addition to one lightning bolt that supported him from beneath and made him accelerate even faster, the other lightning bolts floated around his body, shooting towards Chi Ping alongside him.


    Seeing this, Chi Ping did not take any chances. He drew his hands apart and pushed out, and his inner Yuan transformed into a palm.


    ¡°Inner Yuan is too diffuse,¡± Seeing this, Su Mo remarked condescendingly. ¡°Is this all that a Primal Core adept from Xuanyin Sect can do?¡±


    ¡°You¡­¡± Just as Chi Ping expression changed after hearing Su Mo¡¯s words, Su Mo had already reached the huge palm. With a quick motion of his hands, the lightning bolts flew out and destroyed the palm.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    ¡­


    At the same time, Su Mo arrived right in front of Chi Ping. Now, Chi Ping¡¯s face was pale. He realized that his defense could not protect against his opponent at all. His opponent was clearly far stronger and more highly skilled than he was. They were not on the same level.


    ¡°Run!!¡± With the last bit of inner Yuan left in him, Chi Ping tried to escape.


    ¡°Too late,¡± said Su Mo flatly. With a quick motion, the lightning bolts around him fused into one, containing him within as one huge bolt of light. He sped towards Chi Ping even faster than before.


    He easily chased up to Chi Ping. As Chi Ping realized his danger, his eyes widened as he cried, ¡°Su Mo, I am a disciple of the Xuanyin Sect. If you dare kill me, the sect will not let you off, nor your Valley!¡±


    His words landed on deaf ears. As the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Su Mo was well aware that if he allowed him to leave today, he himself, his young master, and even the whole Valley would be put in even greater danger¡­ once he killed Chi Ping, the Xuanyin Sect would take a while to respond, and by the time the Xuanyin Sect responded, his young master may even have progressed to a stage where they need not fear the sect.


    Instantly, the bolt of lightning killed Chi Ping with a single stroke, as his face revealed his resignation.


    After all, Chi Ping was just an early Primal Core adept from the Xuanyin Sect. He did not even have a space ring. On his death, all he left behind was a stack of notes from the Xuanyin Empire under the Xuanyin Sect.


    Witnessing Su Mo murder Chi Ping, Tan Che, the leader of the Guiyuan Sect, could not help but draw in a quick breath after he recovered from his shock. When he looked at Su Mo again, his eyes were fearful. He mustered his courage and put his hands together to congratulate Su Mo, ¡°Head Su, congratulations on achieving the Primal Core stage!¡±


    In the depths of Tan Che¡¯s eyes, it was clear that he was jealous. In fact, he was already plotting that once he left the Valley, he would inform the Xuanyin Sect that Su Mo of the Valley of Medicine Masters had killed their disciple Chi Ping of the Xuanyin Sect.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± As the inner Yuan from the bolts of lightning entered his body, Su Mo glanced at Tan Che. He opened his mouth, and a bolt of white light came out, shimmering and blazing. Before Tan Che could react, the light had already killed him even before he could beg for mercy, his look of sheer fright plastered on his face.


    ¡°Master, this Guiyuan Sect Head, Tan Che was filled with jealousy, if he left like this, he would have definitely caused trouble for us.¡± After killing the flying beast beneath Tan Che, Su Mo then returned to Zhou Donghuang and explained. With almost twenty years of experience dealing with Tan Che, he was well aware of his character, so he had no intention to let Tan Che leave after he had killed Chi Ping.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded calmly. From the start of the battle, he had just observed quietly.


    ¡°Madam, Miss.¡± At the same time, Su Mo turned to Lin Lan and Yun Lu. He said respectfully, ¡°A year ago, I was just a late Connate adept¡­ the only reason I could reach the Primal Core stage within a year was entirely because of Master¡¯s help. I am saying this to tell you that¡­ in the future, just take this Valley as your home without any worry. No matter what the issue is, as long as you look for me, I will do everything I can to help you!¡± declared Su Mo.


    Hearing this, Lin Lan and the rest were all shocked. This Valley Head was just a late Connate adept a year ago but had reached the Primal Core stage in just a short year¡­ and could even kill the other Primal Core adept from the Xuanyin Sect so easily. In that instant, all eyes turned to Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Just now, was that¡­ the Thousand-Star Sword Technique?¡± Yun Lu had also practiced the same thing. When Su Mo had used it just now, Yun Lu had felt a sense of familiarity.


    Now, hearing what Su Mo had said, she could easily guess that her brother had imparted the same technique to him.


    ¡°In the future, will I also be as strong?¡± Yun Lu¡¯s large eyes were expectant.


    At the same time, the eyes of Freezing wind, Lin Han and Lin Feng also lit up. They had all trained in the same technique.

 Chapter 187 - Golden Essence Elder of Divine Light Sect

    On his return from the Divine Light Empire to the Valley of Medicine Masters, before he returned to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, Zhou Donghuang had made another trip to the black market to order a portion of spirit stones. Then, the manager of the black market, the third elder of the Divine Light Sect, Tuo Ku, was not present as he had returned to the sect.


    The other elders managing the black market were well aware of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s formidable strength and were afraid that he would not sell the spirit weapon to the Divine Light Sect. As a result, they had not only displayed all the spirit stones in the warehouse to Zhou Donghuang, but had even given up their own spirit stones to him. Because of that, when Zhou Donghuang returned, besides the one thousand spirit stones of which he had already used half, he had gained another one thousand perfect spirit stones.


    Out of the one thousand spirit stones, Zhou Donghuang kept a portion for himself and gave the rest to Su Mo, Lin Lan, Yun Lu, Yang Zixi and the rest, so that they could use it to further enhance their speed of practice. After all, they had run out of the Buddhist essence to aid them.


    ¡°Mother, I need to make another trip to the Divine Light Empire¡­ after I get what I need, I will come back to the Valley of Medicine Masters.¡± After bidding farewell to Lin Lan, Zhou Donghuang made his way on the golden-crowned eagle, Big Gold, to leave the Valley of Medicine Masters towards the Divine Light Empire¡­


    This time, his goal was to sell his inferior spirit weapon in his hands to the Divine Light Sect. After he had collected the fifty thousand spirit stones from the sect, he planned to return to the Valley of Medicine Masters for a period of time to continue improving himself.


    Now, by utilizing the superior Primal Core spirit weapon, there was no one under the Golden Essence that was his match. However, if he was pitted against a Golden Essence adept, he would find it challenging to match him.


    Of course, on his way on the back of the golden-crowned eagle, Big Gold, Zhou Donghuang did not idle the time away but spent his time practicing with all his focus.


    It was only when they were nearing the Divine Light Empire and reached the sky above the black market did he stop his practice.


    ¡°Big Gold, just wait for me here.¡± After calling out to Big Gold, Zhou Donghuang leaped off and entered the black market.


    This time, in the black market, Zhou Donghuang saw not only Tuo Ku, the third elder of the Divine Light Sect, but also an old man whom even Tuo Ku was respectful in front of.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, this is my senior, Ci Xuan,¡± introduced Tuo Ku.


    The old monk was in a golden robe, his bald head dotted with twelve circles. He was originally meditating with his eyes closed, but upon hearing Tuo Ku, his eyes opened suddenly. Although he looked kind and gentle, one could sense the oppressive aura that radiated from him.


    ¡°Indeed a Golden Essence adept.¡± Seeing Tuo Ku treat the old monk so respectfully, Zhou Donghuang had already guessed that the man could be the Golden Essence adept from the Divine Light Sect. Now, sensing the aura that was radiating from the man, Zhou Donghuang confirmed it.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded calmly in response to Tuo Ku¡¯s introduction, as if completely unaware of Ci Xuan¡¯s intense gaze on him as if he was trying to see through him. Zhou Donghuang looked unfazed, his expression unchanged.


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s behavior seemed even more mysterious to the eyes of the old Golden Essence Elder of the Divine Light Sect.


    ¡°Sir, please do not think that our sect is over-reacting.¡± Ci Xuan¡¯s wrinkled face squeezed out an ugly smile. ¡°After all, trades concerning a few thousand spirit stones must be treated with caution.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded once again. With a wave of his hand, the exquisite hill that Tuo Ku had seen previously now appeared again. His inner Yuan brought it before Ci Xuan, allowing him to reach out to feel it.


    ¡°Indeed a spirit weapon.¡± After testing the exquisite hill, Ci Xuan¡¯s eyes which were previously dark now shone with a bright light. His old face seemed shaken.


    Although he was the Golden Essence Elder of the Divine Light Sect, in the whole sect, there was just one spirit weapon in the hands of his senior, another Golden Essence adept¡­ if this spirit weapon landed in the sect, it would definitely be his to own. In the whole sect, only he was worthy of owning the second spirit weapon.


    ¡°The spirit stones?¡± reminded Zhou Donghuang, seeing Ci Xuan¡¯s attention fully drawn by the spirit weapon.


    Ci Xuan then reluctantly let go of the spirit weapon in his hands and handed a space ring floating in the air to Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Sir, this contains fifty thousand spirit stones of the Divine Light Sect. As for the thousand spirit stones that you had ordered previously, consider it as a gift from us¡­ also, this space ring that is worth ten thousand spirit stones, please take it as a gift from us.¡± An ordinary space ring could not contain fifty thousand spirit stones.


    Hence, the space ring that Ci Xuan was now offering was a superior space ring that was extremely valuable. The material used to forge such a ring was far superior than that used for an ordinary space ring. Of course, in the eyes of Zhou Donghuang, using such high-quality rock to produce a space ring of such quality was blasphemous. If he took the space ring and forged it again, he could definitely produce a space ring of higher quality.


    ¡°I, Zhou Donghuang, do not like to owe favors.¡± Zhou Donghuang kept the space ring, then retrieved a pen and paper from his own space ring. On the paper, he wrote down a list of materials, then wrapped the paper in his inner Yuan and sent it to Ci Yuan. ¡°As long as you prepare the materials here¡­ the next time that I come to the black market, I can help to forge another spirit weapon for the sect.¡±Read latest chapters at novelhall.com


    Boom!!


    Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words resounded like a clap of lightning in the ears of Ci Xuan and Tuo Ku, leaving them stunned. They took a moment to recover.


    ¡°Sir¡­ you mean to say that you can forge weapons?¡± Ci Xuan recovered first and breathed in deeply. When he looked at Zhou Donghuang, his eyes were filled with shock.


    This young man who looked barely twenty years of age had the ability to forge spirit weapons? In the whole Ziyun planet, not a single person could produce a spirit weapon. Even the only two spirit weapons on the planet were from sources outside of the planet, and not produced by a native adept. And now, this man was claiming that he could produce spirit weapons.


    Tuo Ku looked at Zhou Donghuang as if he had seen a ghost.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded calmly. ¡°Search for these materials carefully¡­ the next time that I am here, if you can produce all of these, I can produce a spirit weapon for you. If you cannot produce them by the next time that I arrive, then forget it.¡± With that, Zhou Donghuang turned and left without another word.


    It was only after his figure had disappeared in the distance that the two of them recovered from their shock. They looked at each other in utter disbelief.


    ¡°Tuo Ku¡­ do you think¡­ he really can produce a spirit weapon?¡± asked Ci Xuan.


    ¡°Senior,¡± laughed Tuo Ku bitterly. ¡°I think you must have an answer of your own?¡± Of course, regardless of that¡­ I don¡¯t think he is lying. He must be able to produce a spirit weapon himself, otherwise he would not dare to make such a claim.¡±


    Although he had not interacted much with the young man, Tuo Ku was well aware that he was no ordinary man. Furthermore, seeing the formula for the qi-gathering elixir that the man had produced previously, he could tell that he was extremely capable. Of course, it would be no surprise if he could forge weapons.


    ¡°I shall return to the sect immediately and inform our leader of this, so that he can make the order to procure these materials as soon as possible.¡± Just as Tuo Ku had thought, Ci Xuan had an answer of his own.


    This time, Ci Xuan had left the sect to follow Tuo Ku to the black market to not only ensure that the trade went smoothly, but also to test the young man who had produced the spirit weapon.


    Although it was their first encounter, the young man had still been calm and composed, which made him realize that the young man was definitely not any ordinary person. This man was one that the Divine Light Sect ought not to offend if possible.


    But what surprised him was that he had underestimated the young man. He had the ability to produce spirit weapons. He believed him, but even if he did not, as long as there was a chance for the Divine Light Sect to obtain their third spirit weapon, he had to seize the chance, and not let it slip away.


    ¡­


    ¡°Big Gold, back to the Valley of Medicine Masters!¡± After getting the fifty thousand spirit stones, Zhou Donghuang did not linger any longer in the Divine Light Empire, and he ordered the Big Gold to return straight away.


    After returning to the Valley, he would shut himself away for a long period of time. The fifty thousand spirit stones were enough to lay out a massive formation for him to gather spirit energy. Its effect would be far stronger than those created by a thousand spirit stones.


    ¡°After this round¡­ it¡¯ll be about time for me to leave Ziyun planet.¡± To Zhou Donghuang, Ziyun planet was like Earth in his previous life¡ªtoo small. It could only serve as his starting point, but was too small for him¡­ he could only showcase himself entirely in the vast universe beyond.


    May 25, 1231 of the Ziyun Era, Zhou Donghuang returned to the Valley of Medicine Masters and set up a huge formation to gather spirit energy within the small, beautifully adorned valley for him and those around him to practice.


    ¡°What strong energy!¡±


    ¡°My goodness! What is this? Young Master, you are really like a god!¡±


    ¡°Practicing here¡­ before long, I will be able to reach the Connate stage and become a Connate adept!¡±


    ¡­


    After laying out the energy-gathering formation, the environment in the Valley was transformed. Fu, Freezing Wind and the rest all felt it, and even the oldest, Lu Qinghu, seemed to turn into a child, screaming with glee.


    But Zhou Donghuang had already walked into the wooden cabin that Su Mo had personally built for him and had begun to practice in silence, unconcerned by all that was happening outside the window.

 Chapter 188 - : The Nineteenth Elder of the Xuanyin Sect

    The Xuanyin Sect, was one of the five great clans on the planet Ziyun. It was just as famous as the Divine Light Sect.


    However, the Xuanyin Sect was currently in turmoil.


    ¡°Today is my elder brother¡¯s birthday¡­ we two brothers have agreed that no matter what happens, everyone must return beforehand and celebrate our birthday together with us.


    ¡°In these last two hundred years, we have not missed even a year.¡±


    February 21, Year 1232 of the Ziyun Era, late at night, an old man wearing a black robe, who was emaciated with aged features walked out of the courtyard. ¡°If elder brother doesn¡¯t return this time, that¡¯ll mean that something definitely went wrong!¡±


    This old man was called ¡°Chi An,¡± the nineteenth elder of the Xuanyin Sect.


    It was the same in the Xuanyin Sect as it was in the Divine Light Sect¡ªonly mid Primal Core adepts could become clan elders.


    ¡°Shortly before the new year¡­ did Elder Brother notice that Zhong Ya acquired a female disciple named Chen Dandan?¡±


    Having spent an entire evening until daybreak investigating, Chi An finally found a crucial clue from when his elder brother, Chi Ping, last left the Xuanyin Sect. The clue pointed toward the newly acquired female disciple of Zhong Ya, one of the two chief elders of the Xuanyin Sect.¡±


    ¡°Miss Dandan.¡±


    Chi An immediately opened the door and searched for Chen Dandan. ¡°Before leaving the Xuanyin Sect, my elder brother Chi Ping met with you¡­ that time when he was set to depart, do you happen to know where it is that he went?¡±


    ¡°You mean Chi Ping?¡±


    Chen Dandan knitted her brows. ¡°Now that you mention it, a year ago when I saw him that time, I never did see him again after that¡­ Nineteenth Elder, are you sure that after he met with me and left, that it was his last time leaving the sect? No one saw him return to the sect after that?¡±


    ¡°I investigated all night; I can confirm that he never returned to the sect after that time.¡±


    Chi An¡¯s voice sounded somewhat husky because of the gloomy tone in his voice. ¡°Yesterday was our birthday, and for the last two hundred years, we have celebrated our birthdays together. That is the promise between us two brothers¡­ Since the day we made that promise, this year is the first time he has failed to keep it.


    ¡°If he has broken our promise, there can only be two possibilities¡­ either he has gotten stranded somewhere and has no way to get back or he has been killed!¡±


    After saying this, Chi An¡¯s face became increasingly sullen.


    ¡°I¡¯ve come here looking for you, Miss Dandan, to ask you precisely¡­ that time when he was set to depart, do you happen to know where it is that he went?¡± Chi An asked.


    ¡°That I do know.¡± Chen Dandan nodded her head. ¡°When we were talking that time, we spoke of my birthplace, the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley. Afterwards, I mentioned my personal enemy from over there¡­ and he said, he could go to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley and help me settle the score with my foe.¡±


    ¡°So what you are saying, Miss Dandan¡­ is that he went to your home country and has not been heard from since.¡±


    Chi An¡¯s eyes flashed.


    He knew his elder brother, Chi Ping, better than anyone. Naturally, the only reason Chi Ping would go off on his own to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, was because he wanted to curry favor with the woman standing before him and get closer to the chief elder of the Xuanyin Sect, Zhong Ya.


    From the start and ever since then, that elder brother of his had always been involved with unorthodox practices and shortcuts. Otherwise, there was no way his brother¡¯s martial skills could be so inferior to his own.


    They were twins, and their innate martial talents did not differ much.


    However, he was already a mid Primal Core adept, while his brother Chi Ping, was still only an early Primal Core adept.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Chen Dandan nodded. ¡°But in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, it¡¯s impossible that there is anyone who can match him¡­ the strongest person in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley is that Head of Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo, but even he is only a late Connate stage adept.¡±


    ¡°As for my personal enemy, Zhou Donghuang, he is also only a Connate stage adept. Although he does rely on the use of a sword sphere, a sword sphere poses no threat whatsoever to a Primal Core adept,¡± Chen Dandan said.


    ¡°Miss Dandan, please tell me the location of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley,¡± Chi An begged.


    Although his brother most likely had gone out in order to help the woman before him, even if he had encountered some mishap, he could not blame the woman before him at all because it had been his elder brother who had taken the initiative to undertake the task and help her.


    However, taking a step back and looking at it, even if it had not been a voluntary action on his brother¡¯s part, but rather, it had been the woman who had forced his elder brother to go, he still would not dare accuse the woman before him.


    The woman before him was a disciple under the Xuanyin Sect¡¯s Golden Essence elder adepts, so her position within the Xuanyin Sect was high. There was no need to mention him, a mere mid Primal Core elder, when even those elders who were late Primal Core adepts were extremely courteous when they saw her.


    ¡°Very well.¡±


    Chen Dandan nodded, and afterwards told Chi An, in a few words, the location to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    After Chi An had left, Chen Dandan¡¯s eyebrows raised as she thought, ¡°I still don¡¯t know whether it was on the way to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley that something happened to Chi Ping, or if it was on his way back to the Xuanyin Sect that something happened¡­ if it is the former, then he definitely did not make it in time to kill Zhou Donghuang or to snuff out the Valley Head.


    ¡°However, if it was the latter, then he should have already killed Zhou Donghuang and the Valley Head¡­ if that¡¯s the case, then he can still be considered to have died a worthy death.¡±


    Che Dandan did not care the slightest about Chi Ping¡¯s life.


    What she was worried about was whether Zhou Donghuang and the Valley Head had been killed by Chi Ping or not.


    ¡­


    Divine Light Sect.


    In more than an entire year¡¯s time, the people sent out by the head of the Divine Light Sect¡¯s intelligence gathering, Eagle Eye, had all returned one after another, all except for Eagle Eye¡¯s second in command, the Divine Light Sect¡¯s tenth elder, Lin Hantian.


    ¡°Why hasn¡¯t the tenth elder returned?¡±


    The highest member in Eagle Eye, the Divine Light Sect¡¯s fifth elder Tuo Bei, immediately felt that something was awry, ¡°Due to his master of the Primal Core supreme demon speed, in ordinary circumstances, the one heading the search should return before the others¡­ he is absolutely not supposed to come back after everyone else!¡±


    ¡°Is it possible that something happened to him?¡±


    As soon as the thought occurred to him, Tuo Bei¡¯s face suddenly grew sullen.


    Lin Hantian, while only the Divine Light Sect¡¯s tenth elder, had been the only person with the greatest potential, having become one of the top three in his generation.


    Lin Hantian was also the most promising of his generation to achieve the ultimate Primal Core stage and was one of the few Golden Essence adepts.


    This man was extremely important to the Divine Light Sect and calling him the future pillar of the sect was not an exaggeration.


    But now, he suspected that something had gone awry.


    Without any hesitation, Tuo Bei immediately went to find the head of the Divine Light Sect and express his ideas on the matter.


    However, after the head of the Divine Light Sect heard Tuo Bei¡¯s conjectures, he immediately gave orders and sent Tuo Bei and the other two late Primal Core adept elders from the sect to go and search for Lin Hantian.


    ¡°If he¡¯s alive, I need to see him here. If he¡¯s dead, I need to see his corpse!¡±


    These were the requirements of the head of the Divine Light Sect.


    When Tuo Bei and the two with him left the Divine Sect, it just so happened that they ran into an old monk wearing a gold-colored kasaya. They fell over themselves to bow respectfully to the man in front of them in greeting.


    ¡°Uncle!¡±


    ¡°Uncle!¡±


    This old monk in the golden kasaya was none other than the elder Golden Essence adept of the Divine Light Sect, Ci Xuan.


    ¡°You three are leaving in such a rush, where are you going?¡± Ci Xuan asked curiously.


    ¡°Uncle.¡± Tuo Bei forced a smile, ¡°Here¡¯s the situation¡­¡±


    As he spoke, Tuo Bei revealed his conclusions. ¡°So, I think that some misfortune has very likely already befallen the tenth elder.¡±


    ¡°Does Old Man Lin already know about this?¡± Ci Xuan asked with a frown.


    Although Lin Hantian was only the tenth elder of the Divine Light Sect, due to his great potential, his importance was greater than several two-hundred-year-old late Connate stage adepts combined¡­ the latter perhaps had a hair of a chance to enter the ultimate Primal Core stage, but definitely could not break into the Dharma stage.


    Furthermore, Lin Hantian, though not yet one-hundred years old, had already become a mid Primal Core adept. In the future, he would most likely be able to enter into the ultimate Primal Core stage, and he even had hopes of breaking into the Dharma stage!


    Moreover, Lin Hantian belonged to the ¡°princelings¡± of the Divine Light Sect.


    Lin Hantian¡¯s paternal grandfather had been one of the three elder Golden Essence adepts of and was the only one of the great Golden Essence elders who was a disciple of a layman.


    There were three chief elders of the Golden Essence stage within the Divine Light Sect. Ci Xuan and his other fellow disciple¡¯s title was the ¡°Protector of the Buddha Dharma.¡± Ci Xuan was the right protector of the Dharma, and his fellow disciple was the left protector of the Buddha Dharma¡­ and Lin Hantian¡¯s grandfather held the title of ¡°Most Exalted Elder.¡±


    The chief Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect was the strongest of Ci Xuan¡¯s fellow disciples, then after that was him, and the least strong was Lin Hantian¡¯s grandfather.


    ¡°Brother, I must still ask you to keep this matter secret. At the moment, I don¡¯t want to tell the Most Exalted Elder¡­ The head of the clan thought it inappropriate to have the Most Exalted Elder know about this matter, otherwise it would certainly influence his frame of mind,¡± Tuo Bei said with a bitter laugh.


    ¡°I understand how serious this is.¡± Ci Xuan nodded his head. ¡°However, let¡¯s just not have anyone say anything, we also won¡¯t be able to hide it much longer¡­ okay, you guys head out.¡±


    After Tuo Bei and the others had left, Ci Xuan sighed. ¡°Now, I only hope that that Zhou Donghuang will rush to the Black Market to help us in the Divine Light Sect acquire and master the third spirit weapon¡­ we¡¯ll wait until that spirit weapon is in the hands of Old Lin, so even if something really has happened to Lin Hantian, then it will make him feel somewhat better.¡±


    If the Divine Light Sect obtained the third spirit weapon, it would definitely make the Divine Light Sect¡¯s power second only to the other Golden Essence elders.


    Ci Xuan, as a Golden Essence elder of the Divine Light Sect, was currently returning from the capital of the Shenguang Empire. On behalf of the Divine Light Sect, he had personally gone to collect all of the materials according to the requirements of that youth, Zhou Donghuang. He had taken them to the Black Market and given them to the third elder, Tuo Ku.


    ¡­


    ¡°This is the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡±


    The Xuanyin¡¯s Sect¡¯s nineteenth elder, ¡°Chi An¡± had spent nearly two months¡¯ time before finally locating the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley¡¯s location. Moreover, while in a small country of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, he had inquired about the location of the Valley of the Medicine Masters and immediately thereafter, he came to the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°I am the nineteenth elder of the Xuanyin Sect, Chi An. Where is the Head of Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo?


    Chi An¡¯s voice was of a simple and honest tone, and in the next instant, it went down from the top of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, causing those within the Valley of the Medicine Masters to raise their heads and instinctively look up toward the sky¡­ a voice really was coming down from over there.


    ¡°The nineteenth elder of the Xuanyin Sect?¡±


    At that moment, Su Mo was practicing his craft within the Valley. When he heard the voice, he immediately opened both eyes and frowned slightly. ¡°Chi An?¡±


    ¡°He has the same last name as that Xuanyin disciple I killed¡­.it seems he has come on account of Chi Ping.¡±


    Considering the other man¡¯s actions and his name, it was not difficult for Su Mo to figure this out at all.

 Chapter 189 - Wont Go Back

    ¡°The nineteenth elder of the Xuanyin Sect?


    Although Su Mo had no idea what the significance of the title was, he could still be certain that the other man was unlikely to be a late Primal Core adept.


    After all, the one who had previously been killed by his master, who belonged to the Divine Light Sect, Liu Xuanyu, had also been a mid Primal Core adept. Although the Xuanyin Sect was as equally famous as the Divine Light Sect, in truth, they were still inferior to the Divine Light Sect.


    The seventeen elders of the Divine Light Sect were all only mid Primal Core adepts. Of the Xuanyin Sect¡¯s nineteen elders, the majority were also just mid Primal Core adepts.


    ¡°A mid Primal Core adept?¡±


    Su Mo¡¯s eyes narrowed slightly, and a pallid gleam flashed across his eyes. Immediately, he skipped a step and flew toward where the voice was coming from at full speed.


    In the blink of an eye, Su Mo arrived at of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, hovering over the Valley and stood face to face with the old man in black waiting there.


    ¡°So it was a mid Primal Core adept after all.¡±


    Before he approached the old man, Su Mo could tell just by looking at the milky white inner Yuan twisting around him, that the man was only able to condense the essence of a mid Primal Core adept.


    ¡°What?¡±


    However, as he approached the old man, he could clearly make out see the old man¡¯s features, and Su Mo couldn¡¯t help but stare blankly.


    If it were not for him being a hundred percent certain that the Xuanyin Sect¡¯s member, Chi Ping, had died by his hand, he would have really thought that the Chi Ping from that day still lived and had returned to settle the score after breaking into the mid Primal Core stage.


    This was because, on first look, the old man in front of his eyes was identical to the Xuanyin Sect¡¯s Chi Ping, who he had killed with his own hands.


    Of course, looking at the other man in detail a moment, Su Mo could make out some small differences between him and Chi Ping.


    For example, the other man was much more composed than Chi Ping.


    ¡°Who are you?¡±


    As Su Mo had leapt and approached, the Xuanyin Sect¡¯s nineteenth elder, Chi An, could tell from the white inner Yuan wrapping around him, that the other man was also a mid Primal Core adept like himself. It shocked him to his core that in such a small, remote place, there existed a Primal Core adept, and at the same time, a fearfully regretful look emerged in his eyes.


    ¡°Haven¡¯t you come in search of me? You even know my name, and now you¡¯re asking who I am?


    Su Mo raised an eyebrow and looked derisively at Chi An.


    Before Su Mo had hardly finished speaking, Chi An¡¯s eyes widened, and he said automatically, ¡°You¡­ you are the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Su Mo?!¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s my name, I wouldn¡¯t hide it come what may,¡± Su Mo said with the same indifferently cool tone as before.


    After getting Su Mo¡¯s confirmation, Chi An could not control his urge to secretly curse that female disciple of the Xuanyin Sect¡¯s chief Zhong Ya. Hadn¡¯t she said that this Valley Head was only a late Connate stage adept?


    How could this man be mistaken for a Connate stage adept; it was clear he was a Primal Core adept!


    Furthermore, this was a mid Primal Core adept matching his own abilities.


    ¡°Valley Head Su.¡±


    Seeing that the man opposite him was also a mid Primal Core adept, Chi An¡¯s tone became much more genial. ¡°I am the nineteenth elder of the Xuanyin Sect, Chi An, I have an elder twin brother named ¡®Chi Ping¡­¡¯ One year ago, he must have come to your Valley of the Medicine Masters, did you happen to see him?¡±


    As Chi An saw it, his elder twin brother, Chi Ping, being a lover of unorthodox methods, would never have dared to provoke this man after seeing that the Head of the Valley of Medicine Masters was a mid Primal Core adept.


    ¡°So that¡¯s why you and that Chi Ping look alike; turns out you¡¯re twins.¡± Su Mo suddenly realized what was going on. ¡°However, that older twin brother of yours was still vastly inferior to you¡­ he was only a Connate-level Primal Core adept.¡±


    ¡°You have seen my brother, Valley Head Su?¡±


    Chi An¡¯s eyes brightened.


    At that moment, Chi An was just about to ask if Su Mo knew anything about his brother¡¯s whereabouts, but Su Mo had already begun to speak first. ¡°I¡¯ve seen him. Hm, actually I¡¯ve not only seen him, I actually killed him myself.¡±


    Whoosh!


    Su Mo said it as lightly and casually as the wind, as if the person he had killed had not been a Primal Core adept, but rather a peasant or a stray dog.


    After Su Mo finished speaking, Chi An¡¯s facial expression immediately underwent a drastic transformation. In the space of a split second, his eyes burst with the icy cold, murderous intent of battle. Still, for a short moment he had some restraint. ¡°Sir, what reason did you have to kill my brother? He was a member of the Xuanyin Sect, even if he had done some wrong, it is up to the Xuanyin Sect to punish him. Outsiders have no right to kill him!¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t just kill him¡­ today, since you¡¯ve delivered yourself up right to my doorstep, you also will not go back.¡±


    A murderous intent flashed in Su Mo¡¯s eyes, and his two hands instantly curled slightly.


    The most conspicuous thing was the mittens he wore on both hands. All the fingers were all inlaid with sharp claws.


    Upon closer inspection, one could see that they were the same as eagle claws.


    Looking even closer, it was not difficult to see that on each eagle claw were countless, fine lines carved in. Like the pattern on top of the gloves, these were clearly defined, carved lines and appeared to be extremely particular.


    ¡°I will send you off to meet up with him right away.¡±


    Su Mo grinned, a dazzling smile that would have been enough to drive tens of thousands of women crazy.


    Even in his dreams, Chi An wouldn¡¯t have expected this Valley Head to be this powerful. It was more than just being unable to reason things out with him, but as soon as he started to speak, he said he wanted to kill him, to end him to meet his elder twin brother.


    Momentarily dazed, Chi An returned to his senses, and his eyes surged with flames of fury. Just like the fires that set a prairie ablaze, the situation had become hopeless and could not be controlled!


    ¡°Su Mo, you talk big!¡±


    An angry look grew on Chi An¡¯s face, and he shouted frigidly, ¡°However, if you mean to kill me, you had better have the capacity to do it!¡±


    As Chi An saw it, this Valley Head was just an unorthodox, mid Primal Core adept, so his actual power must definitely be inferior to his own as an adept coming from the Xuanyin Sect¡­ even if Su Mo¡¯s strength really was greater than his, as a mid Primal Core adept himself, Chi An was still completely sure he could escape unscathed.


    He just had to make it back to the Xuanyin Sect, and then he could almost assuredly find others to help him return here and obliterate Su Mo, to obliterate the Valley of the Medicine Masters!


    ¡°If you can withstand one of my attacks, I¡¯ll let you go,¡± Su Mo said coolly with a laugh, and his body glowed, his inner Yuan surging forth.


    He formed a gigantic sword and brought it towards Chi An, sword screaming as he went, quick as a bolt of thunder.


    ¡°Ha!¡±


    Chi An had been ready, and as Su Mo swung his sword to kill him, he started to move to get out of the way of Su Mo¡¯s strike. ¡°You talk big!¡±


    ¡°Sorry¡­ just now I was just warming up, I am now ready to start fighting.¡±


    Su Mo did not seem at all surprised that Chi An had been able to avoid his quick move. As he spoke, both arms bent slightly, and each of his gloved hands gradually became fists.


    Except for the thumbs, the eight fingers of his hands fanned out and turned into a strong bow.


    ¡°You can be the first person to die in my home by the spirit weapon refined by and given to me by my master. In this way, you will have led something of a worthy life, Chi An.¡±


    After he spoke, Su Mo¡¯s two arms suddenly became straight, and both hands curved in creating a strong bow from his fingers. In an instant, he released it.


    ¡°A spirit weapon!¡±


    As he heard Su Mo¡¯s words, Chi An¡¯s pupils instinctively dilated, his expression astonished.


    Huh! Huh! Huh! Huh! Huh!


    ¡­


    However, in the space of a second, the whistling sound of the sword passed by his ears, and it brought Chi An back to his senses.


    He finally realized that eight swords had flown from above Su Mo¡¯s two hands, and together with each sword was a single sharp claw. In total there were eight claws like small, finely wrought swords. After the swords, they instantly appeared right before his eyes.


    ¡°Huh!¡±


    He wanted to escape again then, however there was no time. Hurriedly, Chi An¡¯s face grew grave, and he waited to accumulate his inner Yuan. All of it erupted out, flowing into two swift moves, and he created an inner Yuan sword, and brought it down menacingly on the eight swords coming his way.


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    ¡­


    In an instant, while Chi An brandished a sword in each hand, there were more than ten hundred swords flying out, and no sooner had one fallen did another take its place. Trying to withstand the attacks from Su Mo¡¯s eight swords was like taking on several people at once.


    Furthermore, the eight swords were extraordinarily swift and fierce. It was clear this was not a power that came from a single level of difference.


    ¡°How is this possible?!¡±


    If Chi An had not had any idea about the eight swords before, he could now see right before his eyes how easy it was for the swords to destroy all of his attacks. He was also finally and clearly aware that there was more than one level of difference between them.


    The eight swords were truly terrifying, completely exceeding his imagination.


    ¡°Escape!¡±


    Realizing his offense was completely thwarted by his opponent, Chi An did not have enough time to think about how a mid Primal Core adept could possibly put forth this kind of terrifying attack. He only had one thought then: how to escape from this place so as to avoid dying here.


    The only thing was, could Chi An escape this time even if he wanted to?


    ¡°I¡¯ve said it already¡­ since you¡¯ve come, there¡¯s no way you can go back.¡±


    Like electricity, Su Mo moved his body swiftly. In an instant, he stood where near Chi An had been before, and raising both hands, he made the eight claws among the eight swords come back to the fingertips of his gloves.


    In the next moment, Su Mo made another move.


    Huh! Huh! Huh! Huh! Huh!


    ¡­


    This time, the swords the eight sharp claws turned into came together halfway and created a foot-long sword. Exceeding normal speed, they overtook Chi An, and while Chi An turned his body to try to block the attack with his hands, it pierced through Chi An¡¯s brow.


    The entire thing happened in the blink of an eye.


    Chi An, the nineteenth elder of the Xuanyin Sect had been decimated!


    ¡°Hah!¡±


    After Su Mo made the eight claws return to his gloves again, he simply removed the space ring from Chi An¡¯s finger. Soon afterwards, there was a whistling sound, and a vast amount of inner Yuan caused Chi An¡¯s corpse to turn into a bloody mist that filled the air. As it fell back down, it looked as though it had begun to rain blood.


    ¡°This mid-quality spirit weapon that Master gave to me really was useful after all.¡±


    Su Mo looked at the gloves on his hands, and he broke into a dazzling smile.


    These spirit weapon gloves were actually what Zhou Donghuang made from the sharp claws of the eagle, a kind of Primal Core demon, which accompanied the Divine Light Sect¡¯s tenth elder, Lin Hantian. It had been his companion when Zhou Donghuang had killed him. Zhou Donghuang had combined it with several other ingredients to refine this. It was a mid-quality spirit weapon and it could increase inner Yuan threefold.


    In the next moment, Su Mo looked toward the area he had made off-limits in the Valley of the Medicine Masters. It was like a haven of peace, a Land of Peach Blossoms within the small mountain valley, and he said to himself, ¡°I also don¡¯t know¡­ how long master will shut himself off from the world this time.¡±

 Chapter 190 - Two Years Later

    June 12, Year 1232 of the Ziyun Era.


    After conducting a thorough investigation of the disappearance of the Divine Light Sect¡¯s tenth elder, Lin Hantian, for the past two years, the fifth elder of the Divine Light Sect, Tuo Bei, along with the other two late Primal Core adepts, finally returned to the Divine Light Sect.


    ¡°My lord.¡±


    After Tuo Bei and the other two with him returned to the Divine Light Sect, they immediately went to find the head of the Divine Light Sect, Lord Tuo Jin.


    Tuo Jin was a middle-aged monk wearing a white kasaya. His complexion was clear as jade, as clear as the ornamental jade on a cap. His eyes were bright as stars. When one looked at him, he appeared extremely benevolent, and he gave one a feeling much like that of being caressed by a spring breeze.


    However, after his eyes focused on Tuo Bei and the two with him, there was a great severity in his gaze.


    ¡°How did the investigation go?¡±


    Tuo Jin¡¯s voice was quiet and stable as if he lacked any feeling whatsoever.


    ¡°My Lord¡±


    Tuo Bei answered profusely, ¡°In the course of the last six months, we finally confirmed¡­ that the last place the tenth elder Lin Hantian was seen was a remote area located outside the Shenguang Empire called the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    ¡°He was last seen in a small village in Yunyang country called ¡®Qingshan town,''¡± Tuo Bei said.


    ¡°Why would he have gone to such an out of the way place?¡± Tuo Jin asked further.


    Tuo Bei gave a wry smile. ¡°Master, weren¡¯t you the one who ordered us of the Eagle Eye Intelligence Corps to investigate those two strange, suspicious people who showed up at the Black Market before?


    ¡°The youth?¡±


    Tuo Jin¡¯s eyes lit up. ¡°You mean to say¡­ the one who originally came here twice and sold the qi-gathering core formula to us of the Divine Light Sect and also sold us a spirit weapon, that youth called Zhou Donghuang, showed up in that remote Sixteen Countries of the East Valley?¡±


    Originally, when Zhou Donghuang fought Tuo Ku at the Black Market, and after he had outdone Tuo Ku, he himself had reported back Zhou Donghuang¡¯s full name.


    Furthermore, he reported the matter back to the Divine Light Sect in full detail.


    Tuo Jin, the head of the Divine Light Sect and the head of the Eagle Eye, Tuo Bei, had already known Zhou Donghuang¡¯s name long before this.


    ¡°Correct.¡± Tuo Bei nodded. ¡°I specifically confirmed that¡­ that Zhou Donghuang is definitely from the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley. What¡¯s more, he only originates from a small village in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley. Five years ago, he was nothing more than a locally born villager generally recognized as useless in the martial way.¡±


    After he spoke, Tuo Bei unconsciously glanced at Tuo Jin and saw, just as he had expected, that Tuo Jin¡¯s expression was incredulous.


    At first, when he had just learned all of this information, he also felt it was unbelievable.


    After all, before going to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, he already knew that Zhou Donghuang¡¯s the true power was that of an outstanding late Primal Core adept. In fact, it had appeared he could even create a spirit weapon¡­


    This kind of person, one who could be considered as defying the natural order and limits of the Ziyun planet had really come from such a small, remote place?


    Any person, regardless of who it was, would never dare to believe it.


    ¡°My lord.¡±


    At that moment the other Divine Light Sect elders at Tuo Bei¡¯s side also spoke and reported, ¡°We have also uncovered the identity of Zhou Donghuang¡¯s middle-aged companion¡­ he is the Valley Head of the small sect, the Valley of the Medicine Masters, located in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley. He is called Su Mo. Two years ago, he was still but a late Connate stage adept.


    ¡°He could be considered as an immensely powerful force in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley¡­ however, he is actually satisfied with deferring to Zhou Donghuang, a man of lowly origin, considering him his master.¡±


    This time, Tuo Bei and the others had discovered a great deal while in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    ¡°Two years ago, he was only a late Connate stage adept?¡±


    Tuo Jin¡¯s eyes widened; even in the history of the Divine Light Sect, there had never been anyone who had jumped from a late Connate stage adept to an early Primal Core adept in the extremely short space of a year.


    If he remembered correctly, according to the information brought back from the Black Market, a year ago, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s middle-aged companion had already been a Primal Core adept.


    ¡°It seems¡­ that Zhou Donghuang possesses more than a few secrets.¡±


    As the head of the Divine Light Sect, this was the first instance in which Tuo Jin was unable to see through a person like this. That youth Zhou Donghuang was just as mysterious as any of the elders who were Golden Essence adepts of any of the four clans or sects. It was unfathomable, beyond comprehension.


    ¡°My lord.¡±


    The Divine Light Sect elder who had not spoken the entire time finally spoke and reported, ¡°Based on our findings¡­ not long after the tenth elder went to Qingshan town, Zhou Donghuang went back to Qingshan town and brought his mother along with some other people to the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°We suspect¡­ that the tenth elder was very likely killed by him.¡±


    After the Divine Light elder spoke, the entire courtyard suddenly became still.


    Finally, It was Tuo Jin, the head of the Divine Light Sect, who finally broke the silence and spoke, ¡°It is enough that you all know of this situation, we can¡¯t let it get out. I will go right now to find my teacher and report these matters to see whether or not we should, in light of the circumstances, report these things to Lord Taishang.¡±


    Tuo Jin¡¯s master was one of the three Divine Light Sect¡¯s Golden Essence elders, the Right Shield of the Dharma, Ci Xuan.


    The Lord Taishang he spoke of was another Golden Essence elder, the grandfather of Lin Hantian, who they of the Divine Light Sect were almost positive was dead.


    ¡°That young Lin Hantian¡­ is it possible he may have died at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand?¡±


    At that time that Tuo Jin relayed the news to his master, the Right Shield of the Dharma, Ci Xuan, furrowed his eyebrows. ¡°Although I only met that Zhou Donghuang once¡­ still, based on young Tuo Ku¡¯s description of him, Zhou Donghuang doesn¡¯t seem like the kind to kill indiscriminately.¡±


    ¡°Master.¡±


    Tuo Jin laughed bitterly. ¡°I believe that. But, we have no choice but to consider the other option¡­ perhaps it was the tenth elder who stirred up trouble and drove him to murder.


    ¡°This could definitely be possible.¡± Ci Xuan nodded.


    ¡°Master, there¡¯ll be no keeping this under wraps¡­ I still think we had better tell Lord Taishang about this matter,¡± Tuo Jin said.


    ¡°You need not worry about this matter¡­ I will call my fellow disciples; afterwards we will go together and speak to Master Lin,¡± Ci Xuan¡¯s eyes flashed as he spoke gravely.


    ¡­


    Time Passed.


    Within the Valley of the Medicine Masters, it had been peaceful all the while.


    ¡°I¡¯ve finally broken through!¡±


    At the periphery of the Valley in the Land of Peach Blossoms, the old woman who sat cross-legged on atop an outshoot of rock suddenly opened her eyes, and the cloudiness in her eyes disappeared and was replaced with a resplendent spark.


    The young woman was the head elder of the Valley of Medicine Masters, Yu Meiqin.


    Sitting on this mountain gathering qi and producing a weapon after two years was not simply a matter of the Head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters Su Mo¡¯s coming there to practice, it was only with the special permission of the two chief dharma shields and that of the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯ chief elders that he could practice in the periphery of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    More than a year ago, Yu Meiqin easily entered into the late Connate stage.


    But today, she had easily entered into the ultimate Connate stage, she had become an ultimate Connate stage adept!


    The two chief Shields of the Dharma of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, in terms of martial skill, were stronger than Yu Meiqin. They had already entered the ultimate Connate stage and had broken into the Ultimate Primal Core stage.¡±


    ¡°Head Elder!¡±


    Yu Mei had hardly opened her eyes when a pleasant sound entered her ears at that very moment and made her thoroughly excited.


    In the next moment, the figure of a young girl about eight or nine years old swept past with a ten-meter, blue-green ray of light. She looked to Yu Meiqin¡¯s side, and both eyes gleamed as she said, ¡°You¡¯ve finally entered the ultimate Connate stage¡­ come! Let¡¯s learn from one another!¡±


    ¡°Miss Yun Lu.¡±


    Seeing the young girl, Yu Meiqin¡¯s features took on a simultaneously doting and aged appearance, full of wry humor. ¡°Don¡¯t you come trying to mess with an old woman like me¡­ I am not your adversary. If you want to find someone to learn a thing or two from, you had better go find the two Shields of the Dharma. After all, they were first successful at becoming ultimate Connate stage adepts.


    After she spoke, Yu Meiqin immediately looked toward the nearby, atop another outcropping of rock, where two old people, one fat and one thin, currently sat training with their eyes closed.


    The two old people were the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯ two chief Shields of the Dharma, Wang Tao and Yu Wei.


    ¡°They are not my opponents; fighting with them would be boring.¡± Yun Lu pouted and shook her head. ¡°Right now, I only want to fight with you.¡±


    Yu Meiqin pursed her lips.


    Three months ago, the girl before her had just entered the ultimate Connate stage and had trampled on the Valley of the Medicine Masters¡¯ elders in every situation. This was clear in her memory.


    She definitely wanted to follow in their footsteps.


    Just then, as Yu Meiqin racked her brains to come up with any way to fool the girl before her into leaving, a figure of a person walking out of a log cabin in the valley, toward where they were now, caught her attention. Her eyes brightened.


    She knew she was saved.


    ¡°Young Master Donghuang, you¡¯ve returned from the mountain?¡±


    Yu Meiqin suddenly lifted herself up and respectfully greeted the person approaching.


    She had not seen the youth in two years. He came now with a measured gait, steady and serious, and it looked like his feet were planted firmly on the ground¡­ However, looking closely, one would notice that he was skipping steps, but it still looked like he stepped on the ground. However, in reality he had not yet touched the grass at all.


    ¡°Hehe, Head Elder, you don¡¯t want to trick me.¡±


    Yun Lu had not turned her head, she was looking at Yu Meiqin and said with a laugh, ¡°You of course want me to trick me into turning my head and when I turn around, you will flee, right? Chief Elder, the Shield of the Dharma, Wang Tao, fooled me with this method. I¡¯ve already been fooled once, so there¡¯s no chance of fooling me twice.¡±


    ¡°Can Little Lu be fooled again?¡±


    After nodding at Yu Meiqin, Zhou Donghuang made a doting face and looked toward the girl¡¯s back and asked indifferently with a laugh.


    ¡°Ah?¡±


    When she heard the voice coming from behind her, it made Yun Lu¡¯s entire body waver, and in the next second, Yun Lu¡¯s face became frenzied with delight. She abandoned Yu Meiqin and hurriedly flew over to the youth in the snow white robe and embraced him. ¡°Brother, you¡¯ve returned?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang hugged Yun Lu with one arm and ruffled her head with the other. Smiling slightly, he said, ¡°Little Lu, Big brother is ready to go to the Shenguang Empire¡¯s capital, maybe I will even go to the Divine Light Sect¡­ Would you like to come along?


    ¡°Yes! Yes!¡±


    Yun Lu¡¯s two eyes shined brightly. She nodded her head eagerly, as if deeply worried that Zhou Donghuang might go back on his word.

 Chapter 191 - Spirit Weapon Upgrade

    With Yun Lu in tow, Zhou Donghuang rode the golden-crowned eagle, Little Gold, from the Valley of the Medicine Masters toward the capital of the Shenguang Empire.


    Originally, he had planned to bring Big Gold along; after all, Big Gold had been to the Shenguang Empire many times and knew the road inside and out. But Little Gold kept persisting and insisted that he wanted to go, and he kept saying that the Young Master was playing favorites. Despite Little Gold never having left the remote hinterland of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, Zhou Donghuang allowed it.


    Moreover, Little Gold¡¯s martial ability and speed had surpassed Big Gold¡¯s.


    ¡°Young Master, I heard Big Gold say¡­ the Shenguang capital is bigger than ten cities in the Valley of the Medicine Masters?¡±


    ¡°Big brother, do the people of the Shenguang Empire look like we do in Sixteen Countries of the East Valley?


    After they had left the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Little Gold and Yun Lu, much like young, curious children, asked question after question without end.


    At first, Zhou Donghuang would give a few sentences of explanation, however by the end, he simply said nothing at all.


    Now, Little Gold was already equal to Big Gold; he, too, could easily condense inner Yuan energy. He had become a great Primal Core beast. He was already able to use human speech and did not need to speak to Zhou Donghuang through demon speech like he had in the past.


    Realizing that her older brother was no longer acknowledging her, Yun Lu pouted indignantly with her small mouth. However, after being angry for a little while, she once again started speaking with Little Gold, and from time to time, she would let out a laugh that sounded like a silver bell.


    Zhou Donghuang turned and shut his eyes and practiced his skills on Little Gold¡¯s back. It was as if he had turned a deaf ear to the entire world.


    ¡°We¡¯re here.¡±


    In less than half a month, two people and an eagle appeared in the capital of the Shenguang Empire. After Zhou Donghuang spoke, both Yun Lu and Little Gold looked at the nearby city that crawled into view just like a giant creature.


    This was the first time that either of them had seen such a large city in their lives.


    ¡°Big brother, I don¡¯t want to go with you to that Black Market¡­ May I walk around the capital of the Shenguang Empire by myself?¡±


    As they got nearer to the Shenguang capital, Yun Lun looked at Zhou Donghuang with anticipation, her gaze mischievous.


    ¡°Fine.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded his head, and as he answered, his face became serious. ¡°However you must promise big brother that you won¡¯t leave the Shenguang Empire¡¯s capital¡­ and as soon as you encounter any danger, break the jade plate I gave you, and big brother will be there right away.¡±


    For this trip from the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Zhou Donghuang had specifically made several matching sets of mother-daughter jade tablets. Spells were engraved on the jade tablets, and as soon as a jade tablet was broken, the mother jade tablet would respond. It could locate the daughter tablet¡¯s position wherever it had been broken.


    However, due to the materials used, the mother-daughter jade tablets Zhou Donghuang had made could only be used within the reach of the Shenguang Empire¡¯s capital. They would not be able to signal from any further than that.


    Still, this would suffice.


    ¡°Got it, Big Brother.¡±


    After getting permission, Yun Lu¡¯s eyes lit up, and she cleverly stuck out her tongue.


    Once he had guided Little Gold into the Shenguang Empire capital and they hovered over the Black Market, Zhou Donghuang carried Yun Lu as he drove the carriage and quickly let her down in front of the entrance to the Black Market. As soon as she was on her feet, Yun Lu called out, and then quickly ran off.


    Seeing this, Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a laugh, but he was able to understand her.


    No matter how you looked at it, Yun Lu was still just a child. Furthermore, she was a child who had been stifled in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    ¡°Master Donghuang, you¡¯ve finally come.¡±


    The leader of the Black Market, the Divine Light Sect¡¯s third elder, Tuo Ku could not help but feel somewhat relieved after seeing Zhou Donghuang again.


    However, at the same time, he faintly noticed one thing¡­ this time, the youth¡¯s fighting spirit and confidence had grown fiercer. His whole body seemed like an unsheathed, sharp sword. Simply standing before him, Tuo Ku could sense an indescribable force.


    ¡°Two years ago, when he was but twenty years old, he was strong enough to defeat me¡­ after two years, his strength has no doubt increased greatly. It¡¯s just that I cannot tell by how much¡­ how powerful has he become?¡±


    Tuo Ku trembled inwardly.


    At this point, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s background and details in relation to the Valley of the Medicine Masters were no longer a secret.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded slightly and right after this, he casually mentioned, ¡°The materials I requested, have they all been collected?¡±


    ¡°They have long since been ready.¡± As Tuo Ku quickly nodded his head, he put a ring into Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hand. ¡°Master Donghuang, all of your desired materials are within this.¡±


    ¡°Prepare a quiet room for me. ¡±


    After Zhou Donghuang spoke, Tuo Ku hurriedly gave his very own room to Zhou Donghuang and left to wait outside. There was a somewhat expectant look in his eyes¡­ Could this youth really forge a spirit weapon all by himself?


    Inside the room, after Tuo Ku had left, Zhou Donghuang retrieved his own spirit weapon, his folding fan.


    Afterwards, he took out the pile of materials that Tuo Ku had given him, and from among them he took out a precious ingredient and began working on the weapon¡­ However, he did not begin by working on the spirit weapon he had promised to make for the Divine Light Sect. Instead, he began to work on his own superior spirit weapon, the folding fan, to forge it anew.


    To begin, he used the most precious material of those collected by the Divine Light Sect to improve the quality of his own spirit weapon¡¯s makeup.


    With these materials, his spirit weapon could rise in rank from a superior spirit weapon to an ultimate spirit weapon. Increasing the effects, it could transform from level six to more than four times its current level!


    Only after spending two hours¡¯ time improving the grade of his spirit weapon did Zhou Donghuang finally use the remaining materials to aid the Divine Light Sect in the forging of their spirit weapon. He spent much less time to create a sword. The sword¡¯s blade was like jade, glittering and translucent. It emitted a swift and fierce energy into the air.


    Looking closely, there were countless fine lines placed complexly all over the top of the sword. Zhou Donghuang had carved them on the blade. They were spells, scattered all over. So long as a Primal Core adept put his inner Yuan into it, then it would be activated.


    Thus, this was a principle of increasing the power of one¡¯s inner Yuan.


    ¡°It¡¯s complete.¡±


    Tuo Ku originally thought that he would have to wait several days and nights, so he never expected that within four hours¡¯ time, the youth would push open the door and give the bright and transparent, three-foot-long sword to Tuo Ku.


    He gave it a try, confirming that it was really a genuine spirit weapon fitting the price paid.


    For this reason, Tuo Ku couldn¡¯t help but be struck dumb for a moment. ¡°He¡­ really forged this on his own?¡±


    Tuo Ku had never expected that this spirit weapon would already be made now, nor that the youth would create it himself. This youth was purposefully being mysterious.


    However, thinking it over again, there really was no need for all of that!


    ¡°I am ready to go to the Divine Light Sect,¡± Zhou Dong said with an unnecessarily doubtful tone as Tuo Ku looked over at him, struck dumb with astonishment.


    Tuo Ko immediately answered, ¡°Master Donghuang, if you want to go to our Divine Light Sect, we of the sect will welcome you of course¡­ the head of the clan has wanted to meet the peerless, unsurpassed genius of Ziyun for a long time.


    ¡°However¡­ before that, I would like to ask you something.¡±


    At this point, Tuo Ku very cautiously looked at Zhou Donghuang and made as if to speak but paused.


    ¡°Speak.¡±


    Right after Zhou Donghuang spoke again, Tuo Ku breathed deeply. He asked, slightly upset, ¡°The tenth elder of our Divine Light Sect, Lin Hantian, originally went to your home country¡­ but it was then that he vanished without a trace.


    ¡°However, we don¡¯t know¡­ have you seen him?¡±


    Just as Zhou Donghuang was about to answer Tuo Ku¡¯s disturbing question, he felt a shock go through his him, which unfortunately shot out of the stone corresponding to the one Yun Lu possessed. Moreover, after the tremor, the stone in his bosom cracked open.


    ¡°What?¡±


    Hearing the sound, Tuo Ku jumped back with a start.


    Then, in that instant, Tuo Ku realized that the face of the youth before him had frozen, as if he had been covered over by a layer of ice.


    This was the first time he had ever seen the youth¡¯s facial expression this anxious. Each time he had seen the youth in the past, no matter what, the youth was always the picture of composure like an unmoving rock.


    Not even when he had been in the presence of the Divine Light Sect¡¯s elder Golden Essence adepts had the youth¡¯s expression wavered in the slightest.


    However, now, he could clearly sense a chilliness coming from the youth. It made the whole room feel just as if its temperature had dropped several degrees.


    ¡°Huh!¡±


    In the next moment, the sound of a slight wind was heard, and Tuo Ku barely noticed a white flash as the youth in white disappeared completely and without a trace. Tuo Ku¡¯s eyes widened suddenly. ¡°So fast!¡±


    This level of speed was already so quick that he could not even react to it.


    ¡°Two years ago¡­ he did not have this kind of speed!¡±


    Although the youth of two years ago was very strong, Tuo Ku could still be certain that his opponent from two years absolutely did not possess this level of speed.


    ¡­


    The Yuntai Inn.


    This was the inn where Zhou Donghuang and Su Mo had lived for a long time.


    In the present day, in the large courtyard of the Yuntai Inn, a middle-aged man wearing a long ash-gray robe sat at a stone table, staring at a girl about eight or nine standing before him.


    ¡°Girl, since you don¡¯t have a master, join us.


    ¡°Due to your natural talents, if you become our disciple¡­ I can guarantee that you will in fifteen¡­ no, thirteen years become a Primal Core adept!¡± the middle-aged man explained patiently and systematically.


    He never expected in a million years that upon leaving the Divine Light Sect and coming to the Shenguang Empire this time that he would encounter this young child while going for a stroll.


    She did not look ten yet, however, she was already a late Connate adept. Furthermore, it was obvious that this girl lacked experience, otherwise, she would not have been walking the streets of the Shenguang capital, curiously looking at everything she saw.


    A young student this good presented boundless possibilities.


    If he could marry the girl to his son, then that would ensure good fortune for his grandchildren afterwards.


    He had also considered whether or not this girl had powerful connections.


    Since she was not a disciple of any of the four great clans on the planet Ziyun, she could be a high disciple. However, she had told him very clearly that she did not have a master. She did not know what it meant to have a master to teach her.


    ¡°Little sister, it would be easy for my father to take you on as a disciple. You would be very lucky to train under him.¡±


    A boy of about twelve or thirteen stood next to the middle-aged man. He wore a haughty expression, arrogant with the pride of privileged birth.


    ¡°Who are you calling little sister, huh?¡±


    Yun Lu put both her hands on her waist. ¡°You snotty-nosed brat. How old are you that you dare call me little sister? You should call me older sister! I, Yun Lu, am already fourteen years old this year!¡±

 Chapter 192 - Has He Gone Crazy?

    ¡°You? You¡¯re fourteen years old?¡±


    The young boy looked Yun Lu up and down. He could not believe that this girl, who looked at most eight or nine, was actually fourteen already. And what¡¯s more, she wanted him to call her older sister?


    Did she take him for an idiot?


    ¡°Girl, I am the twelfth elder of the Divine Light Sect, Chen Yan. My father is the sixth elder of the Divine Light Sect, Tuo Kong. If you join us, then you¡¯re joining the Divine Light sect, and so you can become a part of the Divine Light Sect. You will enjoy the highest level of training that the Divine Light Sect has to offer,¡± the middle-aged man said to Yun Lu with a laugh.


    Chen Yan was the twelfth elder of the Divine Light Sect, a mid Primal Core adept.


    His father was the sixth elder of the Divine Light Sect, a late Connate stage adept. He was currently stationed in the Yuntai Inn, which was a business owned by his father.


    When he was outside today, he saw the girl before him on the road. Upset, she had been fighting to protect herself and displayed her abilities that reached the ultimate Connate stage, which immediately struck him dumb.


    How could a girl who did not look even ten years old yet be an ultimate Connate stage adept?


    Was she joking?


    This utterly defied everything he had known up to this point.


    Even that mysterious evildoer, Zhou Donghuang, whom he had heard about a year ago, could not have been this skilled at such an age.


    At that time, since Chen Yan had first seen Yun Lu, he had tried to worm his way into being friends with her. Subconsciously, he thought that Yun Lu had to be the child of one of the other four great sects in Ziyun, she definitely had to have some other important person backing her¡­ but as he questioned her to find out, she said that she had no teacher and furthermore did not even know what it meant to have a master.


    In that short time, he grew flustered trying to figure it out and just captured the girl and forced her to come back to the Yuntai Inn to see if she would join their sect or not.


    Afterwards, if his son could take this girl as his wife, then his descendants could raise the status of the Divine Light Sect¡­ If this girl who was not yet ten could be a Connate stage adept, would it be possible for her to break into the Dharma stage in the future?¡±


    ¡°The Divine Light Sect?¡±


    When the middle-aged man had captured and taken her to the Yuntai Inn, Yun Lu panicked. Bewildered and unsure of what to do, she immediately broke the jade tablet her brother had given to her in fear. Afterwards, she relaxed completely because she knew that her brother would not let anything happen to her.


    Now, as she heard Chen Yan¡¯s words, her eyebrows knit. ¡°My older brother told me that he was going to the Divine Light Sect while on this trip to the Shenguang Empire. Are you a member of the Divine Light Sect?¡±


    After she asked this, Yun Lu¡¯s gaze brightened up.


    ¡°Big brother?¡±


    Hearing Yun Lu speak, Chen Yan was stunned, as he finally realized that he had been too impulsive before. Hearing that the girl did not have a master, nor knew what having a master meant, he had not asked the girl if she had any relatives with her; he had just taken her back here.


    It had been as if Chen Yan had lost all reason in that moment.


    It was because, in his eyes, Yun Lu was like the greatest, most precious treasure in existence. In that time, he did not want the precious treasure Yun Lu was to be discovered by anyone else.


    Thus, he seized her and brought her back here as soon as he could.


    Just then, while Chen Yan was stunned, Yun Lu had already lifted her head and was looking at the space beside Chen Yan and his son. She looked excitedly toward the youth high in the air there and called out, ¡°Big brother! Big brother! Here I am!¡±


    Whoosh!


    In that instant, Chen Yan¡¯s expression twisted, and his body broke into a cold sweat.


    Was there someone behind him?


    Had he actually not realized?


    Chen Yan panicked and hurriedly rose from his seat. It was only when he turned around that he noticed the youth wearing a snow-white robe, stepping down from the air with a leap. All around his body milky-white of inner Yuan enveloped him. Clearly, this man was also a mid Primal Core adept like him.


    The most important thing was that the face of the man in the white robe was handsome and his demeanor dignified; he seemed extremely young, at most twenty years old.


    ¡°I thought that something had happened to you, kid.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang stepped down and looked at Yun Lu, rubbing her small head affectionately.


    Just now, when Yun Lu had broken the tablet, he had thought that some danger had befallen her.


    It was only when he got here that he finally realized that his little sister was in no danger at all.


    There were simply some people interested in his sister¡¯s talent, who wished for her to train under them.


    ¡°Hee hee¡­ Big Brother, I was scared out of my wits just now too, I thought this old guy wanted to do something bad to me.¡±


    Yun Lu giggled, sticking out her tongue playfully.


    Hearing Yun Lu speak, the corners of Chen Yan¡¯s mouth twitched involuntarily¡­ this silly girl had been thinking all that. That he would harm her? That he, Chen Yan, was a pedophile!


    ¡°As long as you¡¯re fine, that¡¯s all that matters.¡± Zhou Donghuang laughed warmly. ¡°Big Brother is all done with what he had to do here¡­ so now, I can take you to stroll around the Divine Light Sect.¡±


    ¡°Okay! Okay!¡±


    Yun Lu nodded excitedly and looked toward Chen Yan and his son and called out to them, ¡°Hey! Uncle, Little Brother, aren¡¯t you two Divine Light Sect members? Do you want to go with us to the Divine Light Sect?¡±


    Yun Lu knew that Zhou Donghuang had not been to the Divine Light Sect before, therefore her asking Chen Yan was also so that he could show them the way.


    Zhou Donghuang did not stop her.


    He had initially planned to have the man in charge of the Black Market, the Divine Light Sects third elder, Tuo Ku, show him the way. If there was someone else who could show the way, then he would not need to go and find Tuo Ku again.


    ¡°No problem,¡± Chen Yan agreed, looking at the pair of siblings with great curiosity. The older brother seemed at most twenty years old but was already a mid Primal Core adept while the younger sister, who looked no more than ten years old, was already an ultimate Connate stage adept.


    Who were they, really?


    ¡°Son, will you stay here at the Yuntai Inn or will you go back to the Divine Light Sect with Dad?¡± Chen Yan asked the boy beside him.


    ¡°Dad, I will go back with you.¡±


    The boy was Chen Yan¡¯s only son, Chen Yong. The entire time, his eyes had not left Yun Lu for a second. Bashful, the boys¡¯ tender cheeks blushed from time to time.


    Realizing this, Zhou Donghuang felt somewhat at a loss for words.


    Had this little kid taken a liking to his sister?


    ¡°Young man, what is your name?¡± After the gold-crowned eagle, Little Gold, carried the four people to the Shenguang Empire capital, Chen Yan could not help his curiosity.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang.¡±


    ¡°Zhou¡­ Zhou Donghuang?!¡± Chen Yan could not could help but be struck dumb. After a moment, he came back to his senses and laughed wryly as he shook his head.


    ¡°I should have known¡­ A man within the Ziyun planet this young and with this level of expertise, who else could it have been, but you?


    ¡°You know me?¡± Zhou Donghuang asked with a raised eyebrow.


    ¡°Brother Donghuang,¡± Chen Yan said with a sigh. ¡°At the present moment, aside from a few Divine Light Sect disciples from whom the information has been withheld, basically everyone there knows who you are¡­ once information of you, especially your fight with the third elder, and your victory over him the first time you came, got back to us, it shocked and shook everyone who heard it.¡±


    Chen Yan sighed lamentably, the astonishment in his eyes still remaining.


    ¡°Brother Donghuang.¡±


    Suddenly, Chen Yan seemed as though he had remembered something, and his expression became grave. ¡°In the past, my father, the fifth elder, and the eight elder went to your home country. They were investigating the place the tenth elder Lin Hantian had last been seen, which was there¡­ now, many people suspect it. Did Lin Hantian die at your hand?


    ¡°He died by my hand,¡± Zhou Donghuang said blamelessly, with utter calm.


    ¡°You¡­ You killed the tenth elder?¡±


    Chen Yong¡¯s eyes widened, and he looked at Zhou Donghuang just as if he had seen a ghost. Although he was only twelve years old, even he knew the position of the tenth elder Lin Hantian within the Valley of the Medicine Masters, and he knew even more about Lin Hantian¡¯s grandfather, that he was one of the Divine Light Sect¡¯s Golden Essence elders.


    However, the small boy was still only a child after all.


    Although he was shocked, there was a deep look of admiration on his face.


    What was an idol?


    This was just what an idol was!


    Not only had he had killed Lin Hantian, he moreover admitted to it so indifferently, showing his complete disrespect for that particular elder of the Divine Light Sect.


    ¡°Ss!¡ª¡ª¡±


    After being struck dumb by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s answer, Chen Yan gasped, his eyes flickering with bewilderment. He couldn¡¯t help but laugh bitterly as he said, ¡°Brother Zhou Donghuang, you¡¯ve really caused quite the mess!


    ¡°You should know¡­ Lin Hantian was not just the tenth elder of our Divine Light Sect. His grandfather, Lin Jue, is one of the three great Golden Essence elders. I fear Master Lin Jue will not take this lying down.¡±


    Chen Yan honestly thought that there would be some dread in the young man before him after he said this.


    He never expected the youth¡¯s unaffected answer of ¡°yes.¡±


    ¡°Lin Hantian has died. Aside from Lin Jue not letting it go¡­ is there anyone else who won¡¯t take it lying down?¡±


    After Zhou Donghuang asked this, his gaze deepened, and a murderous intent flashed in his eyes.


    Before he could leave the Ziyun planet, he needed to make sure all those who would threaten his family were eradicated!


    Whoever emerged and posed a threat would die!


    ¡°Master Lin Jue will of course react most vehemently¡­ other than that, there are also Lin Jue¡¯s various disciples.¡±


    Chen Yan did not know why Zhou Donghuang had suddenly asked this, however, he answered him.


    ¡°Understood.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    ¡°Brother Donghuang, why have you come to our Divine Light Sect this time? Is it to have a conversation or is it to take a stroll around?¡± Chen Yan asked.


    ¡°I originally came just to see the head of the Divine Light Sect¡­ however, there are now some other matters I must attend to,¡± Zhou Donghuang said simply.


    As they approached the Divine Light Sect, Chen Yan realized what the main matters the young man before him had to do were.


    ¡°Do me a favor and look after Little Lu for a moment.¡±


    Just as they reached the Divine Light Sect¡¯s door, Zhou Donghuang bid farewell to Chen Yan with a holler and directly flew off. In an instant, he stood in the air over the Shenguang Peak.


    Before Chen Yan, the twelfth elder of the Divine Light Sect could even react, Zhou Donghuang, who was already building inner Yuan, called down toward the Divine Light Sect, his voice blaring.


    ¡°I killed Lin Hantian¡­ all those who want to avenge him, come on out.¡±


    As soon as Chen Yan heard Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, he immediately went numb. It felt as if a frigid chill had rushed up from his toes and gone directly to his head, shaking him to his very core.


    ¡°Oh god!¡±


    Was this fellow Zhou Donghuang crazy?


    This was Chen Yan¡¯s first time seeing this kind of fearless, unruly person, especially from a youth appearing no more than twenty years old.


    Was he aware that he was provoking the entire Divine Light Sect in doing this?


    If Zhou Donghuang had gone and admitted his murder of Lin Hantian in private, he may have gained some powerful person to support him, and so Lin Jue would not dare be rash in his actions.


    However, now, with this one sentence, Zhou Donghuang had forced not just Lin Jue but the entire Divine Light Sect against him, down a road of no return!

 Chapter 193 - Killed in an Instant

    The Divine Light Sect had been thrown into chaos after that one line from Zhou Donghuang. Under such circumstances, if the sect did not do anything, how could it continue to maintain its reputation on Ziyun planet? If the Divine Light Sect did not take any retaliatory action, it would definitely become the laughing stock for the other four large sects in Ziyun planet.


    ¡°This¡­ that sounds like Zhou Donghuang!¡± Although two years had passed, as one of the three Golden Essence elders in the Divine Light Sect, Ci Xuan could recognize the owner of the voice that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere. It was none other than the young man whom he had met in the black market, Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°His strength¡­ is he so powerful that he does not even fear the three of us?¡± Ci Xuan¡¯s face was serious as the thought crossed his mind. A man who had been able to defeat Tuo Ku two years ago would definitely have grown in strength since then. He would not even doubt it if one said that the man was stronger than him now.


    But, stronger than just him was hardly the same as being able to take on all three Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect. Even for himself, if he were in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s place, he would not last longer than three breaths. Furthermore, both he and his senior had spirit weapons. Together, their power was incomparable to that before.


    Soon, Tuo Jin, the leader of the sect, came to the door as he said seriously to Ci Xuan, ¡°Elder Ci Xuan, the visitor is not friendly¡­ may you and senior please help us to protect the dignity of our sect!¡±


    Tuo Jin¡¯s senior was none other than Ci Yun, Ci Xuan¡¯s senior and one of the three Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect. He was the most powerful man in the sect! Ci Yun was almost 280 years old, and if he did not reach the Dharma stage within the next twenty years, he would reach the end of his life. Hence, in recent times, Ci Yun had rarely appeared before people.


    But what had happened that day threatened the pride of the Divine Light Sect, hence even though the leader of the sect, Tuo Jin, was reluctant to disturb his senior, but he had no choice but to do so.


    ¡°Senior Ci Xuan, you have seen Zhou Donghuang and even spoken to him¡­ that voice just now, was it him?¡± Although Tuo Ku had already guessed as much, he could not help but ask.


    ¡°Yes,¡± answered Ci Xuan.


    ¡­


    Every elder and disciple of the Divine Light Sect who was at least in the Primal Core stage had all gathered in the sky, floating in formation as they stared at a white figure in the distance.


    ¡°So this is the man who claimed to kill Tenth Elder? And even said that he was waiting for us to avenge the death of Tenth Elder?¡± The group of elders and disciples of the Divine Light Sect all stared at the young man in white in shock.


    ¡°Where is his arrogance coming from?¡±


    ¡°This young man looks at most twenty years old¡­ he is already a mid Primal Core adept?¡±


    ¡°Could he be Zhou Donghuang?¡±


    ¡­


    Just as the group of elders and disciples from Divine Light Sect were discussing fervently, a booming voice resounded and disrupted their discussion. ¡°Distinguished Elder is here!¡±


    The distinguished elder of Divine Light Sect, Lin Jue was one of the three Golden Essence adepts of the Divine Light Sect. Most importantly, Lin Jue was the grandfather of Lin Hantian, the tenth elder of the sect. Lin Hantian was his sole grandson; he was so important to Lin Jue that he even valued him more than himself!


    ¡°It was you who killed my grandson, Lin Hantian?¡± Lin Jue was an old man dressed in a long gray robe, his white hair tied up behind his back. His frame was skinny, and he looked almost like a deity there. But now, as Lin Jue confronted Zhou Donghuang, his eyes were piercing, its intensity enough to make one shiver in fright.


    ¡°Distinguished Elder.¡± Before Zhou Donghuang could respond, two figures had already emerged from the crowd and came behind Lin Jue and greeted him respectfully. They glared at Zhou Donghuang. These were both old men who looked as old as Lin Jue. They were his disciples and the late Primal Core adepts of Divine Light Sect.


    ¡°Yes,¡± replied Zhou Donghuang flatly.


    Instantly, Lin Jue turned red with fury. His gray robe billowed despite the still air, the golden inner Yuan that surrounded his body glowing even brighter.


    ¡°Lad, since you are looking for death, I shall grant you your wish!¡± In that instant, Lin Jue totally disregarded Ci Xuan¡¯s warning about the possible backing that Zhou Donghuang had.


    All he had in his mind was one thought: kill Zhou Donghuang and seek revenge for his grandson Lin Hantian!


    If Zhou Donghuang really had some powerful backing, he would just escape from Ziyun planet after killing him. He did not believe that he would be able to find him in the whole universe!


    Boom!


    Just as Lin Jue¡¯s words left his mouth, a thunderous sound seemed to shake the eardrums of all the elders and disciples in the crowd that had gathered in the air. This was the sound of Lin Jue¡¯s golden inner Yuan turning into a bolt of golden lightning that streaked straight towards Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Senior, I will help you!¡±


    ¡°You will die today for killing Lin Hantian!¡±


    As Lin Jue streaked out towards Zhou Donghuang, his two disciples also followed him, their arrogance evident.


    In that moment, the crowd stared at Zhou Donghuang. As everybody watched on, it was only when Lin Jue had crossed more than half the distance and was almost at Zhou Donghuang did Zhou Donghuang finally react. On his calm and expressionless face, his mouth finally curled slowly upwards. It was a mocking smile.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    ¡­


    Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang transformed into a line of ten shadows, leaving one at the original spot as the line of shadows trailed behind him.


    Lin Jue landed right at Zhou Donghuang¡¯s shadow, meeting with nothing.


    ¡°Not good!¡± Lin Jue did not expect Zhou Donghuang to be so fast. After his strike had landed on nothing, his expression changed as he screamed, ¡°Be careful!¡± He turned around hurriedly to rescue his two disciples.


    But just as he turned, he saw Zhou Donghuang and his shadows streak past the two disciples. As he passed them, the heads of the two disciples rose to the skies. Zhou Donghuang had simply beheaded the two of them as he rushed past them at an unimaginable speed!


    The heads of Lin Jue¡¯s two disciples still had an expression of anger. They clearly did not have the time to react before they had been killed by Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡­


    Seeing the young man in white easily kill the two late Primal Core elders of the Divine Light Sect, the crowd of elders and disciples of the Divine Light Sect all sucked in a deep breath. Their eyes were filled with utter astonishment.


    This man who looked at most twenty years of age had so much power?


    This power must be equivalent to that of an ultimate Primal Core adept?


    ¡°Father¡­ isn¡¯t Brother Donghuang simply too powerful?¡± On the back of the golden-crowned eagle, Little Gold, Chen Yong looked at the young man in white as if he was a god, his eyes filled with admiration.


    He recognized the two old men. They were the fourth and ninth elder of the Divine Light Sect, who were both late Primal Core adepts. The power of the fourth elder was even stronger than his grandfather, the sixth elder of the sect, Tuo Ku!


    ¡°Yong¡¯er, Brother Donghuang is now the enemy of our Divine Light Sect¡­ if you want to call him Brother Donghuang, you had better keep your volume down, otherwise if someone hears it, they will produce a whole article on it,¡± said Chen Yan softly to his son. He was afraid that his son¡¯s words would cause unhappiness in some others.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you go to the capital? Why are you back?¡± Just then, an old monk in a silver robe with a stocky build and ferocious brows landed on the back of Little Gold. Just as Little Gold noticed this stranger on its back and was about to angrily chase him away, Chen Yong and Chen Yan greeted the newcomer.


    ¡°Grandpa.¡±


    ¡°Father.¡±


    Hearing this, Little Gold then suppressed its anger. This whole journey, it had had a good impression of the father and son of the Chen family, so now he decided to show them some face.


    ¡°Mm.¡± The newcomer was none other than Tuo Ku, the sixth elder of the Divine Light Sect. He stared seriously at the young man in white who kept morphing his shape. Lin Jue could not touch him at all. ¡°This Zhou Donghuang is even more powerful than Distinguished Elder¡­ he is simply playing with him!¡±


    Realizing that both his disciples had been slaughtered by Zhou Donghuang, Lin Jue was furious. He struck out at Zhou Donghuang again. But Zhou Donghuang¡¯s movements were so ridiculously fast that Lin Jue, who was a Golden Essence adept, could not even get close to him.


    In that moment, Zhou Donghuang emanated an inner Yuan that was no longer a milky white color, but a brilliant silver color.


    ¡°How did he do that? Isn¡¯t he a mid Primal Core adept?¡± Not only had Chen Yan noticed the change in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s inner Yuan, but all the other elders and disciples in the crowd had also noticed the change.


    At the start, as he had stood there without any movement, the glow that surrounded Zhou Donghuang was clearly a milky white, the hallmark of a mid Primal Core adept. But now, as he evaded the attacks from Lin Jue and when he killed the two disciples earlier, his inner Yuan was a silver color. Now, the inner Yuan that surrounded him was so intense that it seemed like he was immersed in a great silver flame.


    ¡°Only the inner Yuan of a late Primal Core adept can be so thick!¡±


    ¡°No wonder fourth elder and eighth elder were killed in an instant by him¡­ this inner Yuan is more than twice as intense as that of any ordinary Silver Essence adept.¡±


    ¡­


    The crowd of Divine Light elders and disciples stared at Zhou Donghuang with amazement. He had truly toppled all that they had known about Silver Essence adepts.

 Chapter 194 - Challenging Three Golden Essence Elders

    ¡°Is that all you can do? Run?¡± Lin Jue was getting frustrated as he simply could not keep up with Zhou Donghuang¡¯s speed. Of course, he was well aware that based on his speed, if he chose to directly fight him, he was most likely not Zhou Donghuang¡¯s rival.


    Speed was also dependent on inner Yuan. The fact that his opponent was faster than him signified that his inner Yuan was also stronger than his.


    ¡°Run?¡± Hearing Lin Jue¡¯s words, Zhou Donghuang stopped immediately. Faced with the ferocious onslaught from Lin Jue, he stood stationary as he easily fended off the attacks. He looked calm as if he was not exerting at all. Despite the repeated attacks from Lin Jue, all his efforts were easily defeated by Zhou Donghuang.


    Lin Jue was so furious that he almost vomited blood. This little monster, where had he come from? Although he was just a Silver Essence adept, his inner Yuan was so strong that it was even so much stronger than his as a Golden Essence adept?


    ¡°If I did not see it with my own eyes, who would have believed that¡­ a Golden Essence adept would be unable to defeat a Silver Essence adept.¡± The crowd of disciples of Divine Light Sect could not help but mutter.


    ¡°This young man, where did he come out from? Do they exist in Ziyun planet?¡± Many people were shocked by Zhou Donghuang¡¯s strength.


    ¡°From the start, he has just been defending and running, he has not taken any action against Distinguished Elder at all¡­ what does he mean? Does he look down on him?¡±


    ¡°If you did not mention it, I would not have noticed that he really has not taken any initiative against Distinguished Elder.¡±


    ¡­


    Soon, many people noticed that Zhou Donghuang had not attacked at all.


    ¡°Father, Brother Donghuang¡­ why isn¡¯t he attacking?¡± Chen Yong could not help but ask Chen Yan.


    Before Chen Yan could reply, Tuo Ku had already turned to Chen Yong in shock. ¡°Yong¡¯er, you¡­ call this Zhou Donghuang ¡®Brother¡¯? You know him?¡± Tuo Ku was stunned that his grandson knew Zhou Donghuang?


    ¡°Father, we only just met Brother Donghuang,¡± replied Chen Yan awkwardly with a smile. ¡°In fact¡­ I was the one who brought him here. Father, I have not introduced you¡­ this is Brother Donghuang¡¯s sister, Miss Yun Lu. As for this flying beast, this is Little Gold, this is Brother Donghuang¡¯s¡­¡±


    Just as Chen Yan introduced Yun Lu to Tuo Ku and was about to introduce the golden-crowned eagle Little Gold, he realized that he had no idea how to introduce it.


    ¡°Brother! I am Young Master¡¯s brother!¡± Little Gold finished for him.


    Tuo Ku felt like he was becoming faint. Zhou Donghuang had been brought to the Divine Light Sect by his son? Wasn¡¯t that like inviting a wolf into the house?


    Furthermore, Zhou Donghuang had only just met him and he had already left his sister with him, wasn¡¯t he afraid that the Divine Light Sect would take his sister hostage? Thinking of this, Tuo Ku looked at the figure in white in the distance and thought to himself, ¡°Perhaps¡­ he is simply not worried that we would dare to take his sister hostage.¡±


    Just as Lin Jue could not seem to break through the defenses of Zhou Donghuang, his expression darkened and a scream rang through the distance.


    ¡°Zhou Donghuang!!¡± A loud voice rang through the crowd, and soon the sound of three figures rushing through the air was heard by the crowd from the Divine Light Sect. As the crowd turned to look, they saw two old monks in golden robes standing shoulder to shoulder with the Divine Light Sect leader, Tuo Jin, standing behind them.


    ¡°The Right Shield!¡±


    ¡°The Right Shield is here!¡±


    ¡°Beside the Right Shield¡­ could that be the Left Shield?¡±


    ¡°My goodness! The Left Shield¡­ he hasn¡¯t appeared before anyone in many years, right?¡±


    ¡­


    The new arrivals were none other than the leader of the Divine Light Sect, Tuo Jin, the Right Shield, Ci Xuan, and the Left Shield of the Divine Light Sect, Ci Yun.


    Ci Yun looked even paler than Ci Xuan. His body was frail and thin, but his eyes were kind. He looked like an ordinary old monk who had one foot already in the grave. Despite that, the faint golden glow that surrounded him revealed the truth that he was a formidable Golden Essence adept.


    Amidst the cheers of respect from the crowd that had gathered, Ci Xuan, Ci Yun and Tuo Jin finally arrived at the scene where Zhou Donghuang and Lin Jue were dueling.


    By this time, Lin Jue had already taken the opportunity to back away as he came alongside the three of them and greeted Ci Yun and Ci Xuan. As for Tuo Jin, even though he was the sect leader, Lin Jue only slightly nodded his head at him.


    On the other hand, Tuo Jin greeted Lin Jue respectfully with a bow.


    The man who had called Zhou Donghuang just now was none other than Ci Xuan. ¡°Zhou Donghuang, I never thought¡­ in two years, you would have such power.¡±


    What a joke! An ordinary Golden Essence adept would not be able to play around with Lin Jue like that.


    ¡°Since you are all here¡­ all of you can come at me together.¡± Zhou Donghuang ignored Ci Xuan as his eyes landed on Lin Jue, then Ci Xuan and Ci Yun as he spoke calmly.


    Challenging all three Golden Essence adepts at once! As his words rang out, everyone turned dead silent. Not a single person had thought that Zhou Donghuang would say something like that. Challenging all three Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect at one go?


    Soon, the crowd broke into chaos.


    ¡°Crazy! He¡¯s crazy!¡±


    ¡°He really thinks just because he can take on one Distinguished Elder, he will be able to challenge all three Golden Essence elders of our Divine Light Sect in one go?¡±


    ¡°Even Ci Xuan is stronger than Distinguished Elder, and Ci Yun is even stronger than Ci Xuan. In fact, Ci Yun is said to be almost at the Dharma stage!¡±


    ¡­


    Not only were the elders and disciples of the Divine Light Sect shocked by Zhou Donghuang, but even the father and son duo of Tuo Ku and Chen Yan were shocked too.


    Was Zhou Donghuang insane?


    Although he could easily handle Distinguished Elder, but the Left Shield of the Divine Light Sect, Ci Yun, could do the same! In fact, that was referring to the Ci Yun of the past. Now, he was definitely stronger than before. After all, Ci Yun had been so determined to attain the Dharma stage that he had been practicing without any distractions for the past few decades, and his level of skill was surely nothing that Lin Jue could compare to.


    ¡°If only I can be like Brother Donghuang in the future¡­ how cool would that be?¡± Chen Yong¡¯s eyes were fixed on the figure in white as if he was a die-hard fan looking at his idol.


    ¡°In your dreams!¡± Yun Lu laughed. ¡°Brother is the one and only of his kind, nobody can be like him!¡±


    Chen Yan said to Little Gold, ¡°Little Gold, Brother Donghuang might be too cocky¡­ our Divine Light Shield, Ci Yun, is not any weaker than he is. Do you think we should advise him?¡±


    ¡°Just three old fellas who are almost in their graves, how can they be any match for my Young Master?¡± Little Gold replied arrogantly. He was firm in his belief in his young master.


    Chen Yan had nothing to say to that. It seemed that not only the lass Yun Lu, but even this flying beast had been completely brainwashed by Brother Donghuang.


    At the same time, hearing Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words, Lin Jue¡¯s expression darkened. Ci Yun was furious as the anger was clear in his face, while a glint of coldness also flashed in the depths of Ci Yun¡¯s kind eyes.


    ¡°Such arrogance from you, young lad.¡± Ci Yun flew out and stood face to face with Zhou Donghuang. ¡°But, since you requested it¡­ let us grant you your wish. Only then will you understand that there is always someone stronger than you!¡±


    In that instant that the words left Ci Yun¡¯s mouth, Ci Xuan and Lin Jue flew out together and stood on both sides of Ci Yun.


    ¡°I give you the time of three breaths to produce your strongest blow,¡± Zhou Donghuang ignored Ci Xuan as he said flatly.


    ¡°What arrogance!¡± Now, despite Ci Yun¡¯s good temper, he had been angered too. The golden glow about him expanded, and the faintly glittering golden inner Yuan now became a golden fiery glow. Ci Xuan and Lin Jue had also been so agitated that their inner Yuan radiated strongly from them.


    At the same time, Ci Yun produced a four-inch-long dagger, while Ci Xuan produced an Exquisite Hill in his hands. As for Lin Jue, he did not have any weapons. For Primal Core adepts, besides spirit weapons, other weapons were all burdens and were not useful.


    ¡°The three elders are furious.¡±


    ¡°How can they not be? This Zhou Donghuang is so arrogant!¡±


    ¡°I just hope that his arrogance is founded¡­ otherwise, he is most probably going to die here today.¡±


    ¡­


    The crowd of elders and disciples of the Divine Light Sect were mostly of the opinion that Zhou Donghuang was no match for the three Golden Essence elders combined. In the Ziyun planet, the three elders together could defeat anybody if they combined forces!


    ¡°Now!¡±


    On Ci Yun¡¯s command, not just his body moved, but the inner Yuan of the dagger in his hands also expanded and became a shimmering blade that flew towards Zhou Donghuang. Ci Xuan and Lin Jue followed closely behind.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    ¡­


    Ci Yun and the knives flew out towards Zhou Donghuang.


    Boom! Boom!!


    ¡­


    Ci Xuan acted as the Exquisite Hill in his hands floated in the air above Zhou Donghuang, falling down towards him with the weight of a thousand tons.


    Lin Jue¡¯s inner Yuan crystallized into a sword that sliced through the air, straight towards Zhou Donghuang¡¯s eyes as if it was about to kill him with one strike.


    The three big Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect acted together. Both Ci Yun and Ci Xuan used their spirit weapons. Although Lin Jue did not use a spirit weapon, his power was still enhanced when he combined forces with Ci Yun and Ci Xuan.


    Time seemed to stop in that instant.


    Everyone watched on, transfixed by the sight even if some of them were not able to catch the swiftness of the movements. Those who were able to perceive the movements analyzed the situation, while those who were not able to see the quick movements were simply there to watch the commotion.


    ¡°The three elders attacking together¡­ if he is able to block that¡­ in Ziyun planet, as long as there are no Dharma adepts, he will be the most powerful person on the planet!¡± Although the thought seemed incredible, Chen Yan could not help but imagine.


    If anyone else from the sect had known what was going through Chen Yan¡¯s mind, he would have been reprimanded by all of them.


    You, Chen Yan, are the twelfth elder of the sect, is that right?


    You, as the father of Chen Yan, are the sixth elder of the sect, is that right?


    And you, the son of Chen Yan, who is also part of the sect, is to the right of you?

 Chapter 195 - Frightening Silver Essence Adept

    As everybody watched on, faced with the ferocious onslaught from the three Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect, Zhou Donghuang suddenly produced a fan in his hands. This was a spirit weapon that he had just taken out of his space ring. In fact, this was an ultimate spirit weapon, the most powerful spirit weapon among all Primal Core spirit weapons.


    Whoosh!


    Zhou Donghuang raised his hands as he opened the fan in his hands. His actions seemed slow and unhurried as the elders and disciples of the Divine Light Sect watched on, speechless.


    This fella was going to use just this against the combined forces of the three Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect? Now, to everyone who could see, it was clear that the three Golden Essence elders of the sect were leaving no room for mercy. After all, their Distinguished Elder had just been played with by this man.


    Faced with a character like this, if they showed him any mercy, the opponent might gain an opportunity and it may even prove fatal for them!


    But in the next instant, their eyes all widened in shock. They watched as the fan in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hands unfolded, and as he fanned, waves of silver inner Yuan emerged from the fan. This silver Yuan was so thick that it was like a silver sea, bringing up massive waves that rushed towards the three of them. Most importantly, the silver Yuan not only looked massive, but the energy that radiated from it was so concentrated that it did not seem like the inner Yuan was being diffused at all.


    A typical Silver Essence adept would only be able to dissipate the inner Yuan to such an extent. But after dissipating the inner Yuan to such a stage, even an early Primal Core adept would be protected from any blow when covered within this inner Yuan. But, the concentrated silver Yuan that was coming out in waves from the fan in Zhou Donghuang¡¯s hands was so dense that it was as strong as the concentrated inner Yuan of a Silver Essence adept.


    Whoosh!


    Whoosh!!


    ¡­


    The silver Yuan that seemed to block out the skies rolled towards them menacingly, like an army of a thousand troops and horses rushing towards them, aggressive in its onslaught.


    On the other side, three bolts of golden Yuan, seeming like bolts of light, were taken aback.


    ¡°Three Golden Essence adepts?¡± As the silver Yuan rolled out in massive waves towards the three elders of the Divine Light Sect, Zhou Donghuang¡¯s mouth raised slightly, the ends curling into a slight smile.


    As everybody watched on, the three Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect finally came up to the wave of silver Yuan that was gushing towards them. Before they had neared it, they had appeared fine. However, once they approached the massive waves, their expressions changed entirely.


    ¡°How can he produce so much inner Yuan?¡±


    ¡°Inner Yuan as dense and concentrated as this is almost equivalent to that of at least six Silver Essence adepts combined!?¡±


    ¡­


    Faced with six Silver Essence adepts, the three Golden Essence adepts of the Divine Light Sect were naturally not afraid as they could easily defeat them individually. However, if a single person had the power of six Silver Essence adepts combined in their inner Yuan, the power that this one person could release was far beyond that of the six Silver Essence adepts together. In fact, even if sixteen Silver Essence adepts combined forced, they would not be as strong as this one man.


    In the next instant, the disciple and elders of the Divine Light Sect who had gathered around witnessed something that they would never forget for the rest of their lives.


    Although the three Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect were bursting with golden Yuan, the gold brilliance shining brightly, but faced with the great wave of silver Yuan, the lights seemed especially minuscule.


    ¡°Grain of light comparing itself with the brilliance of the moon?¡± Zhou Donghuang¡¯s words rang in every person¡¯s ear as the massive wave of silver Yuan, which covered the skies and earth, met with the three Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect.


    His voice was not loud, but it was enough to shock everyone.


    Boom!!


    Ci Yun, the Left Shield of the Divine Light Sect, holding the dagger spirit weapon in his hands, was leading the attack. But, faced with the tsunami of silver Yuan that rushed towards him, he was simply thrown away with just a light hit.


    It was just like a small soldier being kicked away by a knight on a horse, simply thrashed.


    ¡°O¡­¡± Fresh blood gushed out of Ci Yun¡¯s mouth as he flew backwards. The crimson blood caught every one¡¯s eye, shocking one and all.


    Boom!!


    Next, the Right Shield of the Divine Light Sect, Ci Xuan, met with a similar outcome as Ci Yun. Not only was the spirit weapon in his hands thrown out, but his body was also flung backwards.


    ¡°Wa¡­¡± Blood spewed in the air, dropping down like the petals of a bright red rose.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Just as the crowd thought that their Distinguished Elder would end up just like the right and Left Shields, a loud grunt rang across the skies.


    In the next instant, everyone saw the young man in white shake the fan in his hands that was wide open.


    Immediately, the huge tsunami of silver Yuan appeared to extend and folded in on itself before splitting into two pieces. One piece rolled behind Lin Jue, as the silver tsunami attacked the Distinguished Elder of the Divine Light Sect from both sides.


    ¡°No¡­¡± Lin Jue¡¯s wispy breath rang in the air, his voice filled with despair. And this was the last sound that Lin Jue made in this world.


    Boom!


    Boom!!


    ¡­


    The two halves of the silver inner Yuan crashed into each other, with Lin Jue¡¯s body between them. His body was squeezed and crushed into a bloody fog. The only thing that remained was his spirit stone that slowly floated in the air as his body disappeared into thin air.


    The material used to forge the space ring was a special mineral that was extremely unique. Inner Yuan could not destroy it and could hardly even change its shape. But the fire crystallized from inner Yuan was able to melt and forge it into various shapes. Even then, it was almost impossible to destroy it.


    On July 22, 1233 of the Ziyun era, in the skies above the Divine Light peak of the Divine Light Sect, Zhou Donghuang defeated two Golden Essence elders with a single blow and killed the Distinguished Elder Lin Jue!


    After the battle, the whole place was silent.


    Chen Yan, the twelfth elder of the Divine Light Sect who had brought Zhou Donghuang here, swallowed nervously. His eyes were opened so wide that his eyeballs almost looked like they were about to pop out.


    He had initially thought that his idea just now had been absurd, thinking that if the young man managed to withstand the combined attack of the three Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect, he would be at the top of the food chain in Ziyun planet.


    It was only now that he realized that he had underestimated the young man. With just a simple flick of his hand, the fan in his hands had been enough to defeat the two Golden Essence shields of the Divine Light Sect. With another flick, the Distinguished Elder of the sect had been destroyed¡­ absolutely destroyed! As if it was something as simple as stepping on an ant!


    It was no accident. After everyone in the crowd had regained their senses, including the leader of the Divine Light Sect, Tuo Jin, they would not help but draw in another deep breath.


    The crowd looked once again at the young man dressed in white. In their eyes, there was nothing but fear.


    ¡°What kind of sorcery is this? A Late Primal Core and already so powerful?¡±


    ¡°Not even at the Golden Essence stage and already so powerful¡­ once he attains the Golden Essence stage, even a Dharma adept may not be his match!¡±


    ¡°In Ziyun planet, as long as there is no adept of the Dharma stage, he will always be the star fighter on the planet, powerful enough to defeat anyone!¡±


    ¡­


    The scene that had just unfolded in front of their eyes was unforgettable for all the Primal Core adepts of the Divine Light Sect who had gathered to watch it.


    ¡°Is there anyone¡­ who still wants to avenge Lin Hantian?¡± Zhou Donghuang floated in mid-air, his hand slowly flapping the fan beside his body. He glanced at the Divine Light Sect present and said, ¡°Of course, if anyone wishes to take revenge for the three persons whom I had just killed, you can also step forward and try to avenge their deaths.¡±


    Faced with this challenge, the crowd was silent. In fact, some of them silently scolded Zhou Donghuang for asking a rhetorical question. You even managed to defeat the combined forces of our three Golden Essence adepts, who else would dare to anger you?


    ¡°Brother.¡± Yun Lu¡¯s eyes were shining. Although she had been confident in her brother, she did not think that her brother would be able to defeat the three Golden Essence adepts so easily and swiftly.


    ¡°Young Master¡­ is already so strong?¡± The golden-crowned eagle Little Gold swallowed its saliva. From its understanding of its young master, his young master would definitely not do anything that he was not confident of, so it had been sure that he would be able to deal with the three Golden Essence adepts of the Divine Light Sect. However, dealing with them was one thing, but defeating them so easily was another. It did not think that its young master would be so frighteningly powerful.


    Little Gold could see that just now, if its young master had not had mercy, not only would the Distinguished Elder be dead, even the two shields of the Divine Light Sect would definitely have been slaughtered by Zhou Donghuang!


    ¡°Thank you sir for having mercy.¡± The Left Shield of the Divine Light Sect, Ci Yun, caught his breath slowly. Although he had lived for almost three hundred years, when he looked at the young man again, he could not help but feel some kind of fear. He hurriedly bowed and thanked the young man profusely.


    At the same time, the corners of his mouth slowly formed a bitter smile. He, Ci Yun, had been the genius disciple of the Divine Light Sect since he was a child. After training for nearly three hundred years, he ended up being defeated by a young man who was just slightly more than twenty years of age.


    Someone like him, trying to attain the Dharma stage? Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!!


    In that instant, a minute tear appeared in Ci Yun¡¯s steely heart, and he no longer had the possibility of attaining Dharma.


    ¡°Thank you for your mercy.¡± After Ci Xuan regained his senses, he bowed in thanks to the young man too. He had thought that he had overestimated the young man. However, he would never have thought that not only had he not overestimated him, but the young man was far more frightening than what he had formerly imagined.


    ¡°Besides the elders, the rest of you may leave now.¡± At the same time, the leader of the Divine Light Sect, Tuo Jin, ordered firmly and loudly. With this, the crowd of early Primal Core disciples slowly left. As they left, they all heaved a sigh of relief. That frightening figure, if they could avoid it, it would be best not to meet him.


    Although the man had killed their Distinguished Elder, Lin Jue, but from the fact that he had spared the two shields of the Divine Light Sect, it was clear that he had no malicious intent, otherwise he would not have had mercy on them. If he had wanted to destroy their sect, he would not have to spare any mercy. Hence, they were all well aware that they were not in any form of danger as long as they did not actively provoke the young man.


    ¡°Sir, you came to our Divine Light Sect¡­ surely it is not just to see who wishes to avenge Lin Hantian¡¯s death?¡± Being the leader of the Divine Light Sect, Tuo Jin asked Zhou Donghuang respectfully after the rest of the disciples had left.

 Chapter 196 - Traversing the Galaxies

    As the leader of the Divine Light Sect, Tuo Jin¡¯s mental capacity far surpassed that of any ordinary person. If the young man in front of him had wanted to eliminate the person who had wanted to avenge Lin Hantian, he would have also killed Lin Jue after killing his two disciples.


    Why spend so long toying with Lin Jue? With his power, it was easy to just kill Lin Jue. But, he had waited until the other two Golden Essence elders of the sect had appeared before he had made a move. Furthermore, he had challenged the three of them at once¡­ and in the end, he had only killed Lin Jue.


    What did this mean?


    It signified that the man wanted to demonstrate his power in front of all of them. By challenging the three Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect, it was simply for him to shock the whole sect. The man was definitely not here just regarding the death of Lin Hantian.


    ¡°Sir, you have come to our Divine Light Sect¡­ surely it is not just to find out who wishes to avenge Lin Hantian?¡± Hearing their own sect leader ask Zhou Donghuang this, the highest ranking persons in the sect, including the Left and Right Shield of the sect, all turned to look at Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded as he replied, ¡°Seeing who wants to avenge Lin Hantian was just a whimsical idea of mine. I am here today to discuss something with the Divine Light Sect.¡± Zhou Donghuang went straight to the point.


    ¡°May I ask what it is regarding?¡± Seeing the power of the young man before him, Tuo Jin, the leader of the Divine Light Sect, did not dare to put up a front. He even brought himself down and asked respectfully.


    ¡°Your Divine Light Sect shall move out of this area around the spirit stone quarry¡­ I want this place,¡± answered Zhou Donghuang flatly.


    The Divine Light peak on which the sect was built was the biggest quarry of spirit stones in the whole Ziyun planet. It was because of that that the forefather of the sect had opened a path through the mountains and founded the sect here.


    Zhou Donghuang had come to get the Divine Light peak from the sect. Before leaving the planet, he wanted to find a good place for his family to stay. The Divine Light peak was clearly the best spot on the planet.


    After Zhou Donghuang spoke, the whole place was quiet.


    In a moment, Tuo Jin regained his senses as he stared at Zhou Donghuang in shock, his voice trembling as he asked, ¡°Sir¡­ you¡­ you must be kidding?¡±


    ¡°I, Zhou Donghuang, do not have the time to joke with you,¡± responded Zhou Donghuang. In that instant, his eyes turned fierce, showing his seriousness.


    In that moment, the faces of all the highest-ranking persons of the Divine Light Sect turned dark, including the sect leader Tuo Jin, the sixth elder, Tuo Kong, and the twelfth elder, Chen Yan.


    The young man in front of them had really asked the whole sect to leave their Divine Light peak and hand over the base of their sect, on which they had been founded a thousand years ago, to him?


    ¡­


    Luohe galaxy, Tianxuan planet.


    ¡°Granny, Father, you don¡¯t have to take me any further.¡± In the skies above the Luo family household, a young girl in a long dress with beautiful features stood beside a woman in a long black robe, whose expression was stone-cold. She spoke to an old woman and a man in front of her.


    The old woman was dressed in a billowing green robe, her figure shriveled. She looked at the young girl, her eyes filled with unwillingness. Her mouth trembled as if she was about to say something, but finally, she did not say a word.


    ¡°Qinghan, be careful out there, don¡¯t be too careless.¡± The old man was in a flowing silver robe, his features upright and clear. He looked handsome and had a royal air. This was none other than the chief of the Luo family, Luo Wuchen.


    ¡°Granny, Father, once I enter the sect and familiarize myself with the environment, I will find time to come back,¡± said Luo Qinghan as she nodded to the old woman and the man. She then turned to the woman beside her as she said, ¡°Senior, we can leave now.¡±


    ¡°Mm.¡± The woman nodded, then brought Luo Qinghan and the other people behind her as they flew away from the Luo family household.


    Luo Qinghan did not dare to turn back. She was afraid that if she saw her granny, she would regret her decision and back out. But she was well aware that if she continued to stay on Tianxuan planet, her progress would be limited.


    A year ago, a group of people who claimed to be from faraway Hengliu galaxy had descended upon Tianxuan planet. They had claimed to be recruiting disciples for the premier sects in Hengliu galaxy.


    They had just one condition: an ultimate Primal Core adept who was less than thirty years old, or a late Primal Core adept who was less than twenty-five years old.


    Of course, this was purely on a voluntary basis.


    As long as anyone fulfilled the condition, they could register and before leaving, someone would arrive at the door to personally fetch them from Tianxuan planet, leaving Luohe galaxy for Hengliu galaxy.


    ¡°Tianxuan planet is too small, and Luohe galaxy is also too small.¡± Tianxuan planet had not had a Primordial Soul adept in more than a thousand years, despite the fact that Tianxuan planet was among the most resource-rich planets in Luohe galaxy.


    If one did not leave the galaxy, no matter how talented, one would find it difficult to enter the Primordial Soul stage. Although Luohe galaxy had a Primordial Soul adept currently, it was still extremely rare.


    But in Hengliu galaxy, any ordinary Primordial Soul adept was as common as a dog, while stronger Primordial Soul adepts were rather common too. Even early Primordial Soul adepts were plentiful. In the sects of Hengliu galaxy, an ordinary Primordial Soul adept could not even become an elder. But in Luohe galaxy, any ordinary Primordial Soul adept was regarded so highly that they were considered supreme in the whole galaxy.


    Hence, Luo Qinghan had taken this opportunity to leave Luohe galaxy while she was still young. The woman who had fetched her was just one among the group that had arrived from Hengliu galaxy. Some other adepts had recruited many others from the planet.


    ¡°Yuan Zheng!¡± As the woman led Luo Qinghan to meet with the others who had been recruited from the planet, Luo Qinghan saw a familiar figure.


    It was none other than Yuan Zheng, the youth sect leader of the Yunzhou Sect.


    Back then, her close friend had drugged her and tried to sell her to Yuan Zheng. If she had not managed to escape then, her whole life would have been ruined! So, now, seeing Yuan Zheng, Luo Qinghan¡¯s expression turned cold. A murderous glint flashed deep within the recesses of her eyes.


    At the same time, Yuan Zheng also noticed her. His eyes lit up as he came towards her, saying, ¡°Miss Luo, you are also going to Hengliu galaxy?¡±


    Luo Qinghan did not pay him any attention. Although she was confident that she was no weaker than Yuan Zheng was, but it was extremely difficult for her to kill him right then. Furthermore, even if she had the ability to kill him, she would not be able to do anything right then. If she had made a move, it would have been taken as a form of disrespect by those from Hengliu galaxy, and the consequences would have been unimaginable.


    All she could do was to ignore Yuan Zheng for now. Eventually, once she grew strong enough and surpassed his level of skill, it would not be too late to take her revenge then.


    ¡°Miss Luo, I hear that there are many premier sects in Hengliu galaxy¡­ why don¡¯t we enter the same one? Then, the two of us from the same hometown can look after each other and improve together.¡± Seeing Luo Qinghan ignore him, Yuan Zhen was not only not infuriated, but seemed to take it as normal, as he smiled and spoke.


    ¡°Scram!¡± Luo Qinghan glared at him as she muttered lowly. Her voice was sharp enough that it attracted the attention of many others around her.


    No matter how thick-skinned Yuan Zheng was, when he was faced with the stares of the group of people, his expression faltered slightly. As he looked at Luo Qinghan, there was a murderous glint in his eyes that made Luo Qinghan feel as if she had caught the eyes of a poisonous snake.


    ¡°Since Miss Luo does not wish to be disturbed, I will not disturb you.¡± On the surface, Yuan Zheng was smiling gleefully, as if he was entirely unaffected. Of course, this was nothing more than a facade. Inside, Yuan Zheng was furious as he muttered quietly, ¡°Luo Qinghan, you had better pray you do not end up in my hands¡­ otherwise, I will rape and kill you!¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡± Soon, after the group had gathered, they had made their way towards the galaxy teleporter and planned to teleport away from Tianxuan planet towards one of the transit planets along the way to Hengliu galaxy.


    ¡°We¡¯ll be leaving Tianxuan planet soon.¡± On the way to the galaxy teleporter, Luo Qinghan could not help but feel a tinge of unwillingness, as if she could not bear to leave. After growing up for so long, this was the first time that she had left Tianxuan planet and traveled out of Luohe galaxy.


    As for the time where she had been mistakenly sent by the teleporter to Ziyun planet, that was nothing more than an accident and could not be considered a long journey to her.


    Suddenly, a figure appeared in the depths of Luo Qinghan¡¯s memory. A young man in white, his features sharp and handsome, his aura extraordinary. This man had appeared many times in her dreams and had once again appeared without warning in her memory.


    ¡°Based on his age and level then, he would be bound for nothing much on Ziyun planet¡­ now, he probably has already married and started a family, leaving a simple but happy life?¡± said Luo Qinghan to herself. Although she did not understand why but whenever she thought of that, there was always some kind of despair that emerged strongly within her, as if she had lost something especially important to her.


    She took in a deep breath to shift her attention. ¡°Who knows¡­ what kind of sect I will enter in Hengliu galaxy?¡± There were many resource-rich planets in the galaxy and many sects that she could possibly enter. The recruiters had come from an alliance that had been hastily assembled by the many premier sects of Hengliu galaxy.


    The alliance had been distributed across many different galaxies that were not as resource-rich as Hengliu galaxy, and they intended to recruit people who were interested in joining the premier sects of Hengliu galaxy and bring them back. Then, after bringing together the hundreds and thousands of adepts from across the galaxies, the premier sects would then evaluate them together.

 Chapter 197 - Xuanyan City

    The grand Ziyun banquet was a traditional banquet that had been passed down for over seven hundred years. It was a banquet hosted by the five main sects of the Ziyun planet, for all who lived on Ziyun planet.


    This grand banquet was hosted once every two decades, and the five main sects took turns organizing it. Every century was one cycle, which meant that each sect would have to organize a grand banquet once every hundred years.


    This year, 1233 of the Ziyun era, it was the Xuanyin Sect¡¯s turn to organize the grand banquet. For the occasion, the four other sects would send some of their disciples along with the high ranking elders to attend the banquet.


    The grand banquet was hosted on October 10 to symbolize the idea of perfection of 10/10.


    The five main sects, including the Xuanyin Sect, had already decided on the grounds seven hundred years ago, each having a plot of land beside their base dedicated to hosting the event. Nonetheless, preparations had to begin more than a year before. Otherwise, they would never be prepared in time.


    Since the end of last year, the Xuanyin Sect leader had already ordered preparations to begin to decorate the site of the event. Hence, a group of elders and disciples of the Xuanyin Sect had already been busy since last year. The grounds that the Xuanyin Sect was using to host the grand banquet was within a vast city, a huge plot of land set aside for the grand banquet for all five main sects.


    Within the city, there was a ring of buildings. These buildings were all guest inns under the Xuanyin Sect.


    From the guest inns to the center of the city where the banquet was hosted, there was a huge stretch of market. In the ten days before the grand banquet, the city would be open to all. All those who had come to the city for the banquet would be able to exchange for goods they wanted in this market.


    The city that was used to host the grand Ziyun banquet was named ¡°Xuanyan City.¡± The first word, ¡°xuan¡± came from the title of the Xuanyin Sect, while the second word, ¡°yan,¡± was the shortened form of the term for banquet.


    ¡°Xuanyan City will be opening its doors in an hour¡¯s time!¡± On September 30, 1233 of the Ziyun era, early at dawn, the sun slowly rose in the sky, and a huge group of people had gathered outside the four big doors between the Xuanyin Sect base and Xuanyan City.


    Besides the people outside the four city doors, there were also many people dotting the skies above the city walls. Most of the people were perched on the backs of flying beasts, either sitting or standing. Others were Primal Core adepts who simply floated in the air.


    But before Xuanyan City was officially open, not a single person dared to barge into the city from the air, even the group of Primal Core adepts. This was because there were many mid Primal Core adepts who were floating in the air above the city, who were the elders and disciples of the Xuanyin Sect who had been sent to ensure order and discipline. With these people ensuring security, no one dared to do anything.


    ¡°Old Li, you are here too? If you had said so earlier, I would have come with you¡­ The journey here from the Qianqiu Empire was so boring.¡± In the skies above the exterior of Xuanyan City, an old man radiating a faint white mist was talking to another old man floating a distance away.


    ¡°You didn¡¯t ask me either,¡± replied the other old man as he shook his head.


    The two old men were both from the Qianqiu Empire and were old friends who were both early Primal Core adepts.


    The Qianqiu Empire was an empire of the Qianqiu sect, one of the five main sects of Ziyun planet. It was extremely far from the Xuanyin Empire, and there was even the Divine Light Empire in between the two cities.


    The old men had come from so far abroad to be part of the festivities of the Ziyun grand banquet.


    Although the grand banquet itself was limited only to people from the five main sects, the other carnival was open to all, so whenever there was a grand banquet, people from all over Ziyun planet would come to join the fun. For many of those in Ziyun planet, it was an honor to be a part of the Ziyun grand banquet once in their lives.


    ¡°The doors are open!¡± An hour later, shouts of glee were heard as the four huge city gates finally opened slowly.


    Soon, the crowd that had gathered outside the gates streamed into the city endlessly¡­ from the air, it looked like an army of ants sending itself into the open mouth of a giant beast.


    The people in Xuanyan City came from all over the planet, some were of the five main empires, while others were from beyond. This referred to those who were not in the five empires nor training in the five main sects, who were just training privately or in external sects or families. For example, the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley near the Divine Light Empire, or the Fourteen Countries of Southern Jiang, were all considered part of the external lands.


    Typically, those from the external lands were all of a low level of skill due to the scarce resources in those lands, although there were some exceptions who were those who had received huge gifts or opportunities that granted their rapid growth.


    ¡°Young Master, Xuanyan City is right ahead.¡± In the southern direction from Xuanyan City, a huge shadow broke through the clouds and rushed down towards the city. This massive black shadow was a huge black eagle with a majestic, fiery golden crown. On its back, a handsome young man dressed in white sat cross-legged.


    In front of the young man was a small girl who looked eight or nine years old sitting on his lap. She stretched out a finger towards the city in the distance, saying happily, ¡°Brother, the city gates seem to be open.¡±


    ¡°Just in time then, we don¡¯t have to wait.¡±Read more chapter on novelhall.com


    The little girl¡¯s face was filled with excitement.


    The young man in white was Zhou Donghuang from the Divine Light Empire. Seeing his sister Yun Lu so happy, he could not help but smile.


    ¡°Little Gold, find a guest inn for us,¡± ordered Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡°Yes, Young Master,¡± answered Little Gold. With a flap of his wings, he streaked into the city like a bolt of lightning.


    Xuanyan City was much smaller than the capital of the Divine Light Empire. From the top, it seemed like the throngs of people flowing through the streets of the city seemed no less than the population of the capital of the Divine Light Empire.


    The guest inns in the city were all owned by the Xuanyin Sect. They were centrally controlled, and the prices of the rooms varied. The best courtyard only accepted spirit stones, not gold or silver. It cost a spirit stone per night.


    The entire event from the day that the city gates were open till the last day of the grand banquet was a total of ten nights. That would cost ten spirit stones in total!


    Even among the five main sects of Ziyun planet, only Primal Core adepts were eligible to receive spirit stones distributed by the sect. An early Primal Core adept would only receive one spirit stone a month. Though the mid Primal Core elders would receive slightly more spirit stones a month, but they only received three spirit stones a month. Hence few people could afford to live in the best houses and courtyards in Xuanyan City¡¯s guest inns. Even if they could afford to, few would be willing to.


    Before the grand banquet began, besides the host, the guests from the other four sects mostly stayed in the base camp of the Xuanyin Sect. Under such circumstances, the best guest inns of Xuanyan City were usually empty.


    A year ago, there were five of the best guest inns in the city, but they were all empty most of the time¡­ this time, the Xuanyin Sect further reduced the number down to just three rooms.


    The Xuanyin Sect was responsible for receiving the elders and disciples of the guest inn. They had thought that even though there were just three of the best guest inns left, there would be nobody interested in staying there.


    None of them expected that on the first day that the city gates were opened, someone would check into the best courtyard of one of the best guest inns.


    ¡°Wow! Brother, this yard is so big!¡± It was none other than Zhou Donghuang, Yun Lu and the golden-crowned eagle, Little Gold who had moved into the courtyard. The whole backyard was Little Gold¡¯s bed. As for Zhou Donghuang and Yun Lu, they each had their room, and this guest inn only had two rooms in total, such that there wasn¡¯t even a third room.


    ¡°A spirit stone per night for just two rooms¡­ the Xuanyin Sect is really scamming people!¡± remarked Little Gold.


    The fewer the rooms, the less people could stay. Thus if a group of four people who could not stay in the same room arrived, would have to book two courtyards in the gust inn. That was how the guest inn could earn twice the amount.


    ¡°Brother, can we go out to shop now?¡± Yun Lu looked at Zhou Donghuang expectantly.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Zhou Donghuang said with a nod. He had come so early to Xuanyan City for the free market within the city. In the ten days before the grand banquet, there would be people from all over the planet trading their goods in the market. Zhou Donghuang had come to take a look at the market to see if there was anything he wanted that even the Divine Light Sect did not possess.


    Of course, this was only his secondary purpose here. This time, his main purpose was to resolve the threat from Chen Dandan¡­


    After all, he was about to leave Ziyun planet son, and he could not leave such a threat that could harm his family. He had originally planned to go straight to the base camp of the Xuanyin Sect. But knowing that the Ziyun grand banquet was about to be hosted, he was in no hurry.


    If he were to solve the matter during the grand banquet, it would be much more effective than if he went straight to the Xuanyin Sect base camp. This way, not only could the Xuanyin Sect witness it, but all four sects of the planet would be able to witness it. In fact, others outside of the four sects who had come for fun would also be able to see what he was about to do.


    In the Xuanyin base camp, all he could do was to threaten those of the Xuanyin Sect. On the other hand, here, he would be able to send a threat to all in Ziyun planet, and he would never have to worry that anyone would pose a threat to his family after he left Ziyun planet!

 198 Dharma Spirit Weapon?

    The Ziyun grand banquet was a huge event for everyone from across the Ziyun planet and was definitely not something to be missed. Many of the people who had come had even arrived early in the city for the event. In the waiting time before the banquet began, the free market of Xuanyan City became where everybody spent their time.


    Some people possessed special treasures and would be able to take this opportunity to fetch a high price for the treasure from buyers from all over the Ziyun planet.


    ¡°Brother, is this nice?¡±


    ¡°Brother, I want this.¡±


    ¡°Brother, does this look good too?¡±


    ¡­


    In the free market in Xuanyan City, a small girl who looked just eight or nine years old threaded through the maze of stalls. As long as something caught her eye, the young man in white behind her would buy it all for her without a second thought. This scene made many people shake their head in disapproval, thinking that this brother was irresponsible and would spoil his sister rotten. As for the stall owners, they wished that the little girl would take a fancy to something from their stall.


    Along the way, the young man was spending so lavishly that he had attracted the attention of many people who had their eyes on his wealth. But nobody dared to do anything, because there were guards from Xuanyin Sect maintaining order in the city. Unless they headed out of the city, they would be powerless to do anything no matter how much they envied the young man¡¯s wealth.


    ¡°Hi! Old man, this broken dagger looks like an antique, and is quite intricate¡­ how much is it?¡± A voice rang out in the distance, stopping Yun Lu in her tracks out of curiosity. Zhou Donghuang standing behind her also stopped and looked in the direction that Yun Lu was staring at.


    With just a glance, he saw an old man in a grey robe sitting cross-legged behind a stall, with a broken dagger placed horizontally at his stall. The dagger was only one-foot-long, but although its scabbard was intact, the blade was broken. The broken dagger was not rusty, but it looked extremely ancient, and on closer inspection, there were many fine carvings on its surface.


    ¡°A hundred spirit stones.¡± The old man was originally resting with his eyes closed, but when he heard someone asking about his dagger, he suddenly opened both his eyes and glanced at the man in front of his stall.


    What he said not only shocked the man, but even the group of people who had been observing the commotion were all shocked.


    A hundred spirit stones?


    Even the late Primal Core adepts of the five main sects did not earn that amount in a year.


    ¡°This old man must be insane?¡±


    ¡°This broken dagger, selling for a hundred spirit stones?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s gone crazy for spirit stones!¡±


    ¡­


    Before the man could respond, many people had crowded around as they reprimanded the old man.


    ¡°Hmph!¡± Faced with all the criticism, the old man¡¯s eyes turned stone cold as a faint white glow suddenly radiated from his body and lifted him into the air. He floated cross-legged in mid-air.


    Seeing this, the crowd which had been criticizing him immediately shut their mouths and did not dare to make another noise.


    My goodness! This old man was a Primal Core adept?


    The man standing in front of the stall, who had been about to make a snide remark, turned quiet as his expression changed upon seeing the old man demonstrate his ability as a Primal Core adept.


    Whoosh!


    As everyone watched on, the old man lifted his hand, and inner Yuan shot out of it and lifted the broken dagger into the air, as it floated in the air beside him.


    ¡°This broken dagger was an unexpected find for me. It can withstand Samadhi fire of the third level.¡± As the man spoke, his inner Yuan transformed into Samadhi fire that encircled the broken dagger. As time passed, the broken dagger not only showed no signs of melting, but even maintained its original dark green color, as if it had not been burnt at all.


    ¡°Not only is it able to withstand Samadhi fire, but even if I use Samadhi fire of the third level to burn it for three days and nights, its blade and scabbard would still be cold to the touch, as if it was not affected by the heat at all,¡± continued the old man.


    As he spoke, the old man closed its eyes once again and kept the Samadhi fire that had been produced by his inner Yuan. His body slowly lowered itself to the ground. The broken dagger also returned to its original spot on the stall.


    ¡°Withstand Samadhi fire of the third level?¡± Even if it was a spirit weapon, it would be melted by Samadhi fire! What exactly was this broken dagger?


    ¡°The spirit weapons used by Primal Core adepts are all Primal Core spirit weapons¡­ but even ultimate Primal Core spirit weapons will be melted by the Samadhi fire of an early Primal Core adept. This broken dagger, could it be a Dharma spirit weapon?¡±


    ¡°Dharma spirit weapon?¡±


    ¡°Dharma spirit weapons are used by Dharma adepts, and only the Samadhi fire of the fourth level of a Dharma adept will be able to melt it.¡±


    ¡­


    The crowd consisted of people from all over the planet who all had much knowledge about martial arts. They seemed to suspect that this was a Dharma spirit weapon.


    ¡°If it really is a Dharma spirit weapon, even if it not fully intact, a hundred spirit stones would not expensive.¡±


    ¡°Indeed.¡±


    Although many of them suspected that it was a Dharma spirit weapon, which would be a steal for just a hundred spirit stones, but none of them stepped forward to buy the broken dagger. The first reason was that most of them did not have a hundred spirit stones to spare. Secondly, it was all a hypothesis if the dagger was actually a Dharma spirit weapon or not, so even if they could afford that many spirit stones, they would not have the guts to actually buy the dagger.


    ¡°I want this dagger.¡± Just as more people started to crowd around, a young man in white appeared in front of the stall and attracted the attention of everybody present.


    The old man opened his eyes again and looked at Zhou Donghuang as he said flatly, ¡°One hundred spirit stones.¡±


    Zhou Donghuang did not say a word. In front of the crowd, he simply retrieved a hundred spirit stones from his space ring and sent it with a wave of his hand to the old man. The milky white inner Yuan that appeared not only shocked everyone¡¯s eyes but also¡­ their hearts.


    Just now, seeing this young man who looked not more than twenty years of age step forward and claim to want to buy the broken dagger, the crowd had thought that he was just kidding.


    A hundred spirit stones, how could this man produce that?


    However, when he really did take out a hundred spirit stones and send it to the old man using his milky white inner Yuan, their doubts were all shattered.


    ¡°A mid Primal Core adept?¡±


    ¡°Gosh! If he really is the age that he looks¡­ his level of talent is simply unnatural!¡±


    ¡­


    As the crowd watched on, the old man hesitated for a moment before he regained his senses and took the hundred spirit stones and collected them.


    ¡°Thank you, sir.¡± The old man stood up and bowed to the young man.


    In Ziyun planet, where strength was power, even though the young man looked no more than twenty years old, the level of skill that he demonstrated was sufficient to make this old early Primal Core adept bow in respect.


    ¡°Mm.¡± Zhou Donghuang nodded slightly. With a flick of his hands, his inner Yuan circled around the broken dagger and brought it to his hands and sent it straight into his space ring.


    The broken dagger was a Dharma spirit weapon, just as the rest had guessed. But it was not just any Dharma spirit weapon. It was an ultimate Dharma spirit weapon. Even if the spell that had been cast on it was somewhat imperfect, based on Zhou Donghuang¡¯s analysis, it would still be able to display the power of a mid-quality Dharma spirit weapon.


    ¡°Once I enter the Dharma stage and use my Samadhi fire of the fourth level to forge it once again, and recast the spell¡­ it will once again be able to display the power of an ultimate spirit weapon!¡± said Zhou Donghuang to himself.


    As the crowd watched on quietly, the young man in white walked away slowly into the distance, the little girl beside him jumping alongside him.


    Watching them leave, many of those present were still filled with shock.


    ¡°He¡­ he¡­ is a Primal Core adept?¡±


    ¡°Gosh! He looked like he was spending so carelessly on things for the little girl, I even got greedy. If not for the guards from the Xuanyin Sect here, I would have robbed him right there and then.¡±


    ¡°Me too. Now that we think about it, we almost lost our lives there.¡±


    ¡­


    Zhu Liancheng was a disciple of Xuanyin Sect and an early Primal Core adept. But because he was not even fifty years old, his treatment in the sect was no less than any elder. Most importantly, his teacher was the second elder of Xuanyin Sect, a late Primal Core adept. His senior teacher was one of the two Golden Essence elders of the Xuanyin Sect.


    Hence, in the Xuanyin Sect, Zhu Liancheng was considered as one of those in the sect whom the elders, no matter if they were middle or late Primal Core, did not dare to offend.


    ¡°Dharma spirit weapon? Mid Primal Core adept?¡±


    Zhu Liancheng had seen everything that had just unfolded. His eyes flashed excitedly as he followed the young man in white quietly.


    Although he thought that he was being stealthy, he had been discovered by Zhou Donghuang long ago. But Zhou Donghuang paid no attention to him because he was lazy, but also because he could not be bothered.


    It was only after he personally witnessed the young man bring the girl back to the guest inn did Zhu Liancheng finally stop and turn to leave Xuanyan City for the Xuanyin Sect base camp.


    ¡°Senior, I saw a young man spend a hundred spirit stones to buy a suspected Dharma spirit weapon at Xuanyan City market just now.¡± Upon returning to the Xuanyin Sect, Zhu Liancheng looked for his senior, Li Pingzhi, the second elder of Xuanyin Sect.


    ¡°Dharma spirit weapon?¡± Li Pingzhi was dressed in a loose black robe. He was aged, his face covered with wrinkles and emanated a ghostly aura. However, upon hearing Zhu Liancheng¡¯s words, his eyes lit up as he asked, ¡°Are you sure it was a Dharma spirit weapon?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not sure,¡± replied Zhu Liancheng as he shook his head. ¡°But the man selling the broken dagger was an early Primal Core adept. And the man buying it was a mid Primal Core adept. And¡­ the mid Primal Core adept looked at most twenty years old. His appearance must be young for his true age, so he must have maintained his appearance well to be able to look so young despite his age.¡±

 199 Hope You Are Well

    \"A hundred spirit stones, but that mid Primal Core adept produced it so readily,\" said Zhu Liancheng.


    \"A hundred spirit stones?\" Li Pingzhi''s nostrils flared. Even though he was the second elder of the Xuanyin Sect, he only earned 96 spirit stones a year from the Xuanyin Sect, not even a hundred. That mid Primal Core adept was able to give someone a hundred spirit stones without a second thought, just to buy a suspected Dharma spirit weapon?


    \"That broken dagger, the early Primal Core adept used his Samadhi fire of the third level to burn it in front of everyone, but it was not only unable to melt the dagger, but the dagger did not even get hot,\" continued Zhu Liancheng. \"Furthermore, on the dagger there are many carvings and inscriptions... this made it rather similar to the spirit weapon we have here in the sect.\"


    \"That mid Primal Core adept cannot be a fool,\" said Li Pingzhi after some silence. \"That broken dagger must have been a Dharma spirit weapon, no doubt about it. You go and make a trip to buy the broken dagger from him... he bought it with a hundred spirit stones, so offer him a hundred and ten spirit stones. I believe he will show the Xuanyin Sect some respect.\" With a wave of his hand, Li Pingzhi produced a hundred and ten spirit stones and sent them to Zhu Liancheng. His tone was confident.


    Xuanyin Sect was one of the five premier sects in the Ziyun planet. This was exactly the source of his confidence that the young man would pay them some respect.


    \"Yes, Senior.\" Zhu Liancheng backed off and left the Xuanyin Sect to Xuanyan City, straight to the doorstep of Zhou Donghuang.


    It came without question that Zhu Liancheng was rejected immediately.


    \"Sir, my senior is the second elder of the Xuanyin Sect, Li Pingzhi... he is the one who wants to buy your weapon.\" Zhu Liancheng looked at the young man in white as he spoke quietly.


    \"Not for sale,\" answered Zhou Donghuang flatly.


    \"My elder senior is one of the two Golden Essence elders of the Xuanyin Sect,\" said Zhu Liancheng as his voice got even deeper.


    \"Oh?\" Zhou Donghuang''s eyes flashed. \"Zhong Ya?\"


    \"At least you know something, you know my elder senior''s name. That''s right, he is Qi Ming, Zhong Ya''s brother,\" declared Zhu Liancheng proudly.


    Zhu Liancheng had thought that once he mentioned his elder senior, the young man would show some respect to the Golden Essence elder of the Xuanyin Sect.


    He did not expect to be rejected once again. This man was not giving him any respect at all.


    \"Sir, are you disrespecting our two Golden Essence elders of the Xuanyin Sect? Are you not showing the Xuanyin Sect some respect?\" Zhu Liancheng''s expression darkened.


    \"Chen Dandan, Zhong Ya... we will meet soon.\" After Zhu Liancheng had left, a playful smile rose on Zhou Donghuang''s lips.


    Three years ago, when Zhong Ya had taken Chen Dandan away, Zhou Donghuang had reminded him that once he did so, would be going against him. Zhong Ya ultimately still took Chen Dandan away. That was how he had begun this feud. This time, Zhou Donghuang had come to Ziyun grand banquet in order to end this unfinished business in front of everyone in this planet.


    \"Damn! Damn it! That rascal did not show us any respect at all!\" Zhu Liancheng left the guest inn and returned to the Xuanyin Sect, his expression extremely nasty.


    \"No respect at all? Did you mention me?\" The second elder of the Xuanyin Sect, Li Pingzhi''s expression was equally nasty.


    \"I not only mentioned you, but even our two Golden Essence elders of the Xuanyin Sect... but he still did not show us any respect at all,\" answered Zhu Liancheng furiously. \"Finally, I brought up the Xuanyin Sect, and he not only did not budge, he even told me to scram! Senior, why don''t you personally go and take the dagger from him? If he is not willing, then you can just kill him!\" Zhu Liancheng had a murderous glint in his eyes.


    \"The grand banquet is in ten days. Before we are clear of this young man''s background and details, we must not be rash... after all, the Xuanyin Sect is the host of this grand banquet.\"


    Li Pingzhi was furious, but he had not lost his rationality. \"I will look for your elder senior and ask him to send someone to watch that young man. After the grand banquet is over, if he still does not know his place, we can then take it from him by force!\" With that, Li Pingzhi looked for his senior, Qi Ming, who was one of the two Golden Essence elders of the Xuanyin Sect.


    Qi Ming was also the Distinguished Elder of the Xuanyin Sect. The Xuanyin Sect had two Distinguished Elders, who were the two Golden Essence elders, Qi Ming and Zhong Ya.


    \"Dharma spirit weapon?\" Qi Ming was an old man dressed in a long blue robe. He looked even paler than Li Pingzhi because he was many years older than he was.


    \"Senior, Elder Zhong Ya is not left with much time left, he probably has no chance of entering the Dharma stage... this broken dagger, if it really is a Dharma spirit weapon, perhaps you can use it to understand its meaning and make use of the remaining tens of years to enter the Dharma stage and lengthen your lifespan by three hundred years!\" Li Pingzhi said excitedly.


    \"You have planned well,\" said Qi Ming as he heard the full story from Li Pingzhi. He nodded, satisfied but said, \"But... you are wrong about something. Your senior uncle is almost at the Dharma stage after accepting Chen Dandan under his wing three years ago, which helped him to clear his mind and crystallize his inner peace. It is likely that if everything goes well, he will be able to enter the Dharma stage and become a Dharma adept before the end of his lifespan!\" Qi Ming''s eyes were blazing. \"As for the sect leader, I will update him... however, I must inform your senior uncle about this. If that really is a Dharma spirit weapon, it will definitely be helpful for him in becoming a Dharma adept.\"


    Qi Ming headed to find his brother senior, Zhong Ya.


    Zhong Ya was the Golden Essence adept who had suddenly descended upon the Valley of Medicine Masters and rescued Chen Dandan right before Zhou Donghuang had been about to kill her, and then took her under his wing as his disciple. In the last three years, Zhong Ya had looked even paler than before, but his eyes were still as bright and sharp as ever. His energy was blossoming, unlike what it was three years ago.


    \"If I have the Dharma spirit weapon, I will definitely be more likely to enter the Dharma stage.\" Knowing about the spirit weapon, although Zhong Ya''s heart was as calm as still water, he could not help but get worked up. \"This matter, let us just follow that Li Pingzhi''s plan. Brother, you go and update our sect leader to send two late Primal Core adepts to watch that young man. If he tries to leave before the end of the grand banquet, then follow him and kill him. Take the broken dagger, the supposed Dharma spirit weapon, from his hands!\" Zhong Ya''s eyes were gleaming, like two bright stars shining in the dark night sky.


    \"Understood,\" responded Qi Ming before he left.


    \"Congratulations, Teacher!\" In the backyard of Zhong Ya''s house, a young girl who had been trimming the bushes put down what she was doing as she congratulated Zhong Ya profusely once Qi Ming had left.


    This young girl was none other than the disciple that Zhong Ya had accepted three years ago, Chen Dandan. Three years later, Chen Dandan had lost all her childish innocence. In her sky blue long skirt, her long legs were extremely eye-catching, as were her beautiful features and figure.


    \"We are still not sure if it is a Dharma spirit weapon, it may be too early for congratulations,\" said Zhong Ya as he shook his head.


    As he spoke, he looked at Chen Dandan and continued, \"At the grand banquet in ten days, our Xuanyin Sect and the other four main sects of the Ziyun planet will send disciples to duel everyone from the early Connate to the ultimate Primal Core stage... each duel will have a prize for the winner. I intend to let you represent the Xuanyin Sect as one of the early Connate adepts.\"


    Half a year ago, Chen Dandan had already entered the Connate stage.


    \"Thank you, Teacher,\" answered Chen Dandan, her eyes flashing.


    \"There, you will have four chances to fight. As long as you win three of the matches, after the end of the grand banquet, I will send your senior together with you back to your hometown to kill your nemesis,\" said Zhong Ya.


    Hearing this, Chen Dandan''s eyes lit up even more. Her senior, and the lead disciple of Zhong Ya, was the head elder of the Xuanyin Sect and the second most powerful late Primal Core adept in the Xuanyin Sect, his level of skill was inferior only to the sect leader himself.


    \"Prepare yourself... the banquet is in ten days.\" With that, Zhong Ya returned to his room to continue his practice.


    Chen Dandan was elated. She finally caught her breath as her eyes shone with glee, \"Zhou Donghuang, I hope you are well. After the grand banquet, I will return to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley with my senior. There, I will kill your mother, Lin Lan, before your very own eyes! Then, I will cut you up into a thousand pieces!\" Chen Dandan muttered to herself, as if she was filled with confidence about her performance at the upcoming competition.


    ...


    In the next ten days, the four main sects, including the Divine Light Sect, all arrived at the Xuanyin Sect base camp.


    Ten days passed in a flash, and the day of the grand banquet arrived.


    In Xuanyan City, before the sun had risen, a large group of people had already gathered in the skies above the huge empty plot of land in the center of the city. These people were all here to reserve seats. By then, most of the seats with the best view had already been filled.


    Now, on the vast plot of land, a large stage had been erected. On the five corners around the stage, rows of seats had also been set up as spectator stands. These spectator stands were meant for those from the five main sects, the stars of the banquet.


    \"The Ziyun grand banquet, all five sects will each send nineteen representatives to duel with those of the same level from the other four sects... the winner of each duel will win a prize given out by the five sects. Among the nineteen representatives... there are three early Connate, three mid Connate, three late Connate and three ultimate Connate adepts. Two early, two mid, two late and one ultimate Primal Core adept.\"

 200 The Feast of Ziyun

    The Feast of Ziyun, put in plain words, was simply a chance for the five major sects of Ziyun to show off their skills and foundation.


    The reason they had invited various people of Ziyun here as guests and spectators was also to let everyone in Ziyun know that as long as the five major sects remained in Ziyun for another day, Ziyun would continue to be in its heyday!


    \"They''re here!\"


    About an hour after the sun rose in the east, the group of people in the sky of the Xuanyan City Center cleared a path, whether they were Primal Core adepts riding flying beasts or riding on the wings of the wind.


    As for those who did not have the ability to fly in the sky, they were also gathered around at this moment with their eyes collectively fixed on the sky.


    Over there, there was currently a group of people riding towards them on the wings of the wind.


    Upon closer look, they also realized that these people were separated into five groups.


    \"That''s the head of the Xuanyin Sect, Liu Yi!\"


    Someone recognized one of the two people in the sky, leading the group of people at the very front.


    The old man dressed in a long green robe with a forehead covered in wrinkles and hair that was grey and white was none other than Liu Yi, head of the Xuanyin Sect.


    \"The leader of the Xuanyin Sect? Although he''s traveling alongside the other person, it''s obvious that he''s deliberately lagging behind by half a shoulder''s distance¡­ if there''s anyone who can make the head of the Xuanyin Sect behave this way, it''s probably one of the two Golden Essence elders in the Xuanyin Sect!\"


    Very quickly, many people then turned their gazes to the old man beside Liu Yi, an elder of the Xuanyin Sect, who looked much older than him but whose gaze was still exceptionally sharp. They had vaguely guessed his identity.


    \"One of the two Golden Essence elders in the Xuanyin Sect is turning 300 years old in a few years. He''s currently at the critical juncture of becoming a Dharma. He can''t possibly have come¡­ this person is probably Elder Qi Ming of the Xuanyin Sect.\"


    When someone successfully guessed which of the Golden Essence elders in the Xuanyin Sect this man was, the gazes of many people started to become heated.


    Golden Essence adepts.


    The most powerful existence in the Martial Way of Ziyun.


    If not for an occasion like this, most of them would never be able to encounter a person like this.


    \"Elder Qi Ming of the Xuanyin Sect, a Golden Essence adept. He''s like a god. Even though I''m from the far-off Thousand-Year Empire, still, I''ve heard so much about him!\"


    \"Although Senior Qi Ming is a Golden Essence adept, he''s still not the strongest in the Xuanyin Sect. The powerful person is still Senior Zhong Ya!\"


    \"Of course. Senior Zhong Ya is the most senior in the Xuanyin Sect at the moment. A hundred years ago, he was already an ultimate Primal Core adept and had become a Golden Essence adept!\"


    ¡­


    The five major sects of Ziyun would also send their Golden Essence adepts to attend the Feast of Ziyun. They could have friendly matches, swap pointers with each other, and inspire awe everywhere with the display of the best martial arts of each of the major sects.


    It was clear that Qi Ming, a Golden Essence adept of the Xuanyin Sect, would be taking part in the fights at today''s feast.


    \"Among those people, most of them are monks¡­ they''re probably members of the Divine Light Sect!\"


    In no time, the crowd''s gaze landed on another group of people.


    Most of the people among them were not just bald, they were also dressed in kasayas. Each one was obviously a monk.


    \"The foundation of the Divine Light Sect is the most powerful among our five major sects... the Divine Light sect is in possession of the best spirit stone vein in Ziyun.\"


    \"In the history of Ziyun, a total of two Dharma adepts have appeared¡­ the first Dharma adept was from the Tianwu Sect. As for the second Dharma adept, the Dharma adept who appeared only recently, he happens to be from the Divine Light Sect!\"


    \"The Dharma adept from the Tianwu Sect left Ziyun when he first entered the Dharma stage. He didn''t bring any advantage at all to the Tianwu Sect¡­ unlike the Dharma adept of the Divine Light Sect, who continued to stay in Ziyun. Even though he has almost never made a move, with him overseeing the Divine Light Sect, it was publicly acknowledged to be the top sect of Ziyun. The Divine Light Sect seized the opportunity to lay a great foundation!\"


    ¡­


    After confirming that the people before them were people from the Divine Light Sect, more people began to focus their attention on the two people leading them.


    \"That middle-aged monk among the two people in front of the Divine Light Sect are probably the current head of the Divine Light Sect¡­Tuo Jin. Although he just crossed the hundred-year mark, he''s already a late Primal Core adept. Furthermore, he''s second only to the three Golden Essence elders of the Divine Light Sect in terms of power.\"


    \"Lord Tuo Jin entered the late Primal Core stage even earlier than the monks of the Divine Light Sect back then. Even earlier¡­ many people say that he will be the next monk of Ziyun!\"


    \"The old monk beside Lord Tuo Jin, who''s dressed in a golden kasaya is probably one of the two Shields of the Divine Light Sect¡­ I wonder if it''s the Ci Yun or Ci Xuan.\"


    \"It must be Ci Xuan! Ci Yun is quite mysterious about his whereabouts and he''s reaching the maximum age of 300 years old. He can''t have come here to attend the Feast of Ziyun.\"


    \"Forty years ago, Ci Xuan was always the one attending the Feast of Ziyun on behalf of the Divine Light Sect¡­ this time is surely no exception.\"


    \"Ci Xuan went up against Elder Qi Ming from the Xuanyin Sect 20 years ago and emerged triumphantly.\"


    \"Ci Xuan entered the ultimate Primal Core stage a long time ago. Whereas Elder Qi Ming only entered the ultimate Primal Core stage 20 years ago. It''s normal for Ci Xuan to be more skillful.\"


    ¡­


    After paying close attention to the group of people from the Divine Light Sect, everyone''s gaze shifted uniformly to the three other groups of people.


    People from the Thousand-Year Sect.


    People from the Tianwu Sect.


    People from the Xuesha Sect.


    Apart from the Xuanyin Sect, which had more people coming because it was the official host, there were only 20 people from the remaining four major sects who had come. Or at least, there were only 20 people who had shown themselves at the moment.


    Of course, there would definitely be elders and disciples from each of the major sects hidden in the spectating crowd. It was just that they had not accompanied the main characters of the major sects attending the Feast of Ziyun today.


    Apart from the Xuanyin Sect, among the 20 people from the four major sects who had appeared at the moment, the remaining 19 people, excluding the leaders of the major sects, were all going to participate in the friendly matches today.


    Primal Core adepts from the various major sects also brought along with them a group of Connate adepts as they flew in the sky. They landed at the grandstand in Xuanyan City which was surrounded by a high platform, split into a few rows and sat down.


    The people from each sect occupied one area of the seats in the grandstand.


    In each area, only two people sat in the first row: the leaders of the major sects and the Golden Essence adepts who were accompanying them.


    \"Everyone''s here¡­ the Feast of Ziyun is about to start soon!\"


    Anticipation shone in the eyes of the spectators from various parts of Ziyun.


    These people had traveled over 10 thousand miles to Xuanyan City for the precise purpose of personally bearing witness to the entire process of the Feast of Ziyun this time. This would not only be one of the most unforgettable experiences of their lifetimes, but it would also be something for them to brag about for the rest of their lives!


    \"The five major sects of Ziyun along with the five Golden Essence adepts at the apex of Ziyun are gathered together in the same place¡­ a scene like this can only be seen at the Feast of Ziyun.\"


    \"Because I can see the leaders of the five major sects in Ziyun, and the five Golden Essence adepts in one shot¡­ I have no regrets in this lifetime.\"


    ¡­


    Under the anticipating gazes of the people in the crowd, the Xuanyin Sect in its capacity as the official host finally opened the ceremony.


    \"Ladies and gentlemen, I''m Liu Yi, leader of the Xuanyin Sect.\"


    Lord Liu Yi of the Xuanyi Sect stood up from his seat in the grandstand. In the blink of an eye, he had flown to the platform in the sky. He made a 360-degree spin in midair and swept his eyes over the spectators.


    \"Now, I announce¡­ the official commencement of the Feast of Ziyun!\"


    ¡­


    At the same time that the Feast of Ziyun started, a huge eagle of massive proportions soared into the sky from the Xuanyan City Inn. A beautiful and fair little girl was sitting on its back, and a young man was standing behind her.


    The youth was dressed in a spotless white robe with his arms behind his back. He gazed straight ahead calmly, and the disdain in his eyes was completely obvious.


    In that moment, the youth''s tall figure seemed to be of indomitable spirit.


    Zoom!!


    In a split second, the giant eagle turned into lightning and flew into the clouds.


    \"Stop.\"


    The giant eagle followed the youth''s words. As for the little girl on the eagle''s back, she turned her head with a dumbfounded expression on her face. \"Big Brother, aren''t we going to watch the Feast of Ziyun right now?\"


    \"Xiao Lu, wait here for a while with Little Gold. I''ll go and settle some trivial matters first.\"


    Zhou Donghuang patted Yun Lu''s small head dotingly and smiled faintly. Then with a sway of his body, a white light flashed and all traces of him disappeared in a flash.


    Whoosh!


    The white figure flashed past the two stealthy figures in the sky that were about to fly through the clouds, causing them to stop in their tracks hastily.


    \"You guys have been watching me for a full 10 days.\"


    Zhou Donghuang put his arms behind his back. His white robe swayed with the breeze as he looked at the two old men from above.


    \"You noticed us that long ago?\"


    At the same time that their expressions changed slightly, the two old men also noticed the silver rings around Zhou Donghuang''s body. \"You¡­ you''ve made a breakthrough to late Primal Core?!\"


    In their eyes, the youth before them was merely a mid Primal Core adept.


    But now, it seemed that he was no longer a mid Primal Core adept. He had made a breakthrough over the past 10 days and was now a late Primal Core adept. He had caught up with them in terms of his level of practice.


    Meanwhile, in the moment the two old men''s faces changed, the silver inner Yuan surrounding Zhou Donghuang''s body exploded. In a split second, raging flames were ignited.


    The aura of the boundless and majestic inner Yuan hit them squarely in the face, enveloping and suffocating the two old men directly.


    \"What rich inner Yuan!\"


    \"We''re all Silver Essence adepts, but why does it feel as if his inner Yuan is more than twice as rich as mine?!\"


    Their expressions changed completely when they sensed the inner Yuan emanating from the youth in front of them.


    Boom!!


    When the silver flames on the surface of Zhou Donghuang''s body spread rapidly with a loud rumble, it did so at a speed that the two old men were completely unable to keep up with. The flames closed in on them rapidly.


    Swoosh!!


    His palm swept past, emitting silver light. The head of one of the old men flew into the air directly. Fresh blood splashed out and rained down on the other old man''s face.


    By this time, Zhou Donghuang had already moved to the other side. His back was facing the surviving old man, who was so frightened that his face was alternating between green and white, and his entire body was trembling violently.


    \"Tell Zhong Ya¡­ that I''m at the Feast of Ziyun. I''m waiting for him to settle any enmity between us.\"

 201 A Sudden Sound

    Xuanyan City.


    At the venue of the Feast of Ziyun.


    Thud!!


    A faint echo reverberated. It was the sound of a youth lifting his hand and landing his palm on the body of another youth, pushing him off the high platform, and emerging triumphant in this friendly match.


    Qi spread a third of a meter from the youth''s palm.


    As for the other youth, a layer of Qi also swept under his feet when he landed on the ground, battered.


    Clearly, the two of them were both early Connate adepts.


    By now, the Feast of Ziyun had already begun. The early Connate adepts from the five major sects of Ziyun, who were here this time, were divided into three groups of five. They were first to take part in the friendly matches.


    \"Number two.\"


    Dressed in a long green robe, a young girl of delicate appearance sat in the second row of the audience seats. She was looking at the inscribed jade tag in her hand with shining eyes.


    \"The first group of matches is going to end soon.\"


    The girl looked at the monk on the high platform who was dressed in a white robe. Her heart twitched. \"As long as there''s an outcome for the match between the two people from the Tianwu Sect and the Divine Light Sect¡­ it will be time for the second group of people, which includes me, to take the field.


    \"Teacher said that if I win three matches, he will tell my senior to accompany me back to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley and help me take revenge.\"


    \"But I want to win four matches!\"


    The girl was none other than Chen Dandan. Her eyes twinkled and her expression was filled with confidence.


    At the Feast of Ziyun, the first batch of people to take the field were 15 early Connate adepts, three from each sect.


    Fifteen people drew lots to divide themselves into three groups. The strongest person in each group was to be determined.


    Thereafter, the three people who distinguished themselves in each of the three groups would all achieve the generous reward given collectively by the five major sects.


    Now, the most powerful person in the first group was going to be determined.


    \"Does Senior want to take a break?\"


    The monk dressed in the white robe was none other than the early Connate disciples of the Divine Light Sect. He appeared to be around 20 years old. When the youth defending himself on the high platform smiled, two dimples appeared on his cheeks.


    \"I didn''t expend much energy. It hasn''t affected me.\"


    The young man, also the first early Connate disciple from the Tianwu Sect to take the field, shook his head gently.


    \"If that''s the case, Senior, please make a move first,\"


    The disciple from the Divine Light Sect said politely with his palms pressed against each other.


    \"Sure.\"


    Faced with the youth who attacked him with full force, the disciple of the Divine Light Sect had an imposing expression on his face too. When the youth was surging towards him, he simultaneously pulled back while warding off the attack.


    After a short period of time, he finally gained the upper hand.


    Thump!!


    After ten moves, the disciple of the Divine Light Sect randomly threw out his fist. The destructive power of his Qi increased sharply, mercilessly ousting the youth, who had already won three matches in full, off the high platform.


    Victory!


    The disciple of the Divine Light Sect attained the top position in the Feast of Ziyun this time.


    \"As expected of a disciple of the Divine Light Sect. Although he''s merely an early Connate adept, he has shown immense power. If you survey the entire Ziyun, there are probably very few early Connate adepts who are on par with him.\"


    \"Even if a typical mid Connate adept emerges triumphant in a battle against him, it will probably take them a lot of effort.\"


    ¡­


    The performance of the disciple of the Divine Light Sect made the audience gasp in awe.


    The Divine Light Sect was deserving of its name as the best sect of the Ziyun since the olden days. Even a mere early Connate disciple from the sect was this impressive.


    \"Lord Tuo Jin, Cao Gang is already our strongest early Connate disciple in the Tianwu Sect¡­ the disciples of the Divine Light Sect are amazing,\"


    The sect leader of the Tianwu Sect, a sturdy middle-aged man dressed in loose training clothes who looked like a street performer that smashed rocks on his chest, said in admiration.


    \"We don''t deserve Lord Ye''s praise.\"


    Tuo Jin smiled modestly.


    The head of the Tianwu Sect, whose name was \"Ye Wen,\" looked incredibly rough. But his name described a scholarly person as opposed to a person from a military background.


    After the Divine Light Sect''s disciple achieved victory and came down from the stage, the head of the Xuanyin Sect Liu Yi who was seated in the audience area said in a clear voice, \"Now, the disciples of various sects who drew lots with the number two, can ascend onto the high platform.\"


    Whoosh!


    Before Liu Yi had even finished speaking, a green figure had already left the audience area behind him like a phantom and ascended onto the high platform in the blink of an eye.


    It was Chen Dandan.


    The goal that Chen Dandan''s mentor, Zhong Ya, had set for her was to win three rounds. So she was the first to take the field so as to guarantee that she would attain her objective.


    Even if she was confident that she was no weaker than the early Connate disciples from the other four sects, she was nevertheless the first to take the stage.


    \"A female disciple?\"


    \"The Xuanyin Sect is going to send a female disciple?\"


    ¡­


    When Chen Dandan made her appearance, it was not just the spectators who felt that the Xuanyin Sect was messing around. Even the people of the other four major sects felt that the Xuanyin Sect was taking this way too lightly.


    Because it was believed that female adepts could not compare to male adepts physically, females were usually at a disadvantage in fights between adepts of the same level of practice.


    \"Lord Liu, is the Xuanyin Sect giving the disciples of the four major sects benefits by doing this? I can''t believe you''re sending a female disciple to take the field.\"


    These words were said by the head of the Xuesha Sect while shaking his head and smiling as he looked at the leader of the Xuanyin Sect, Liu Yi from afar. He was a middle-aged man with a curly beard who was dressed in a long scarlet robe.


    \"Lord Hu, you definitely shouldn''t underestimate this female disciple from our Xuanyin Sect.\"


    Liu Yi smiled calmly.


    \"Why? Could it be that this disciple from the Xuanyin Sect has incredible qualities or something?\"


    The face of the Xuesha Sect Leader Hu Chengshuo was filled with disdain.


    After Chen Dandan took the field, the other early Connate disciples from the four sects who had drawn the number two still did not move. Each and every one of them felt that they had an unfair advantage when pitted against a female.


    No one was willing to come forth.


    All of them were afraid of being a laughingstock.


    \"Her name is Chen Dandan.\"


    Without waiting for Liu Yi to respond to Hu Chengshuo, the old man seated beside Liu Yi, the Taoist Elder Qi Ming of the Xuanyin Sect glanced briefly at Hu Chengshuo. \"She''s the disciple my senior took under his wing three years ago.\"


    Qi Ming''s words were immediately followed by a deathly silence across the whole venue.


    Who was Qi Ming?


    The Taoist Elder of the Xuanyin Sect!


    One of the two prominent Golden Essence elders of the Xuanyin Sect!


    In the Xuanyin Sect, the only person whom he called \"Senior\" was the other Golden Essence elder of the Xuanyin Sect, the most powerful person in the Xuanyin Sect, Zhong Ya!


    \"She''s¡­ actually a disciple of Senior Zhong Ya?\"


    The disdain on Hu Chengshuo''s face vanished completely. In its place was an expression of shock. He could not have expected this female disciple from the Xuanyin Sect to be a disciple of Elder Zhong Ya of the Xuanyin Sect.


    Zoom!!


    Just when many people had yet to register what was happening, a figure rapidly flew out from the audience area where members of the Thousand-Year Sect were seated, and mounted the high platform directly.


    It was a young man dressed in a brocade garment, an early Connate adept from the Thousand-Year Sect who had drawn the number two.


    \"Damn it! He beat me to it!\"


    \"This chap moved way too quickly.\"


    \"I missed the chance.\"


    When the disciple from the Thousand-Year Sect mounted the high platform and stood facing Chen Dandan, the other early Connate disciples from the remaining three sects who had drawn the number two beat their bests and stamped their feet in unison. They felt that it was such a pity.


    Earlier, they felt that attacking Chen Dandan was a disgrace to them, but now, they felt that this was their chance to become famous in the span of one battle instead!


    In their eyes, Chen Dandan was no longer a mere disciple of Xuanyin Sect, but the disciple of the Xuanyin Sect''s Golden Essence elder, Zhong Ya!


    As long as they defeated this Chen Dandan, they would be at full liberty to go around boasting that they had once defeated a Golden Essence disciple of the Xuanyin Sect.


    This feat would be impressive enough for them to boast about for the rest of their lives!


    \"Junior Dandan, I''m Zong Tan from the Thousand-Year Sect¡­\"


    While the disciple from the Thousand-Year Sect was introducing himself, Chen Dandan interrupted him and said indifferently, \"I''m not interested in knowing the name of a losing opponent.\"


    The moment Chen Dandan said these words, the Thousand-Year Sect''s disciple was so infuriated that his expression changed completely. As for the other people, they went into an uproar. They could sense the immense confidence in Chen Dandan''s words.


    Bang!


    By the time Chen Dandan finished speaking, a layer of Qi had risen dramatically beneath her feet. Her entire body pushed off the ground and flew towards the Thousand-Year Sect''s disciple like an arrow that had left its bow.


    \"Hmph!\"


    After the Thousand-Year Sect''s disciple regained his senses, there was an extremely unpleasant expression on his face. He wanted to gain the upper hand using some tricks, only to realize that Chen Dandan was not firing blindly. Her skills were indeed at a higher level than his.


    On top of that, Chen Dandan had gained the initiative by striking first and had the upper hand. After three moves, the Thousand-Year Sect''s disciple was sent off the high platform by Chen Dandan''s palm.


    Just then, the expressions of the remaining disciples from the three major sects who had drawn the number two also became more solemn. They no longer dared to underestimate Chen Dandan because she was a woman.


    Thud!!


    Snap!!


    Boom!!


    Under the stupefied gazes of the spectators, Chen Dandan defeated one of the remaining three people in two moves. As for the other two people, she defeated one in five moves and the other in six moves.


    Chen Dandan successfully emerged victorious in the second group of battles among the early Connate adepts in the Feast of Ziyun.


    \"Impressive! Impressive!\"


    \"As expected of a disciple of a Golden Essence adept. Women are no less capable than men!\"


    ¡­


    After Chen Dandan reached the top, as expected, a wave of admiring exclamations started around her. As the crowd of people discussed amongst themselves, they were not stingy at all with their compliments.


    At the moment, even some of the higher-ranked members of the four major sects had collectively started to praise Chen Dandan.


    They also took the chance to flatter the Xuanyin Sect''s Golden Essence elder, Zhong Ya.


    \"Senior Zhong Ya is not just powerful. Even his methods of teaching his disciples are equally awe-inducing.\"


    At this moment, Chen Dandan stood on the high platform as the \"main character.\" She listened to the gasps of admiration and flattering compliments emanating from around her. She lifted her head proudly like an arrogant peacock.


    At the same time, a figure dressed in snow-white clothing flashed in Chen Dandan''s mind without any warning signs.


    \"It''s a pity that Zhou Donghuang can''t be here to see this.


    \"Zhou Donghuang, I hope you''re still alive¡­ after the Feast of Ziyun ends, I, Chen Dandan, will bring Senior back with me to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley. I will make you witness firsthand your mother being tortured to death by me. Then, I''ll make mincemeat of you!\"


    ¡­


    Just when Chen Dandan had recovered her senses and was about to leave the stage.


    \"It''s been three years¡­ Chen Dandan, have you only improved to this extent?\"


    These indifferent words suddenly traveled through the air and landed. As if it possessed some kind of magic power, it suppressed all the noise at the venue.

 202 Blood Showers filled the Sky

    At the venue of the Feast of Ziyun.


    Above the high platform, a youth was suspended in midair with his hands behind his back.


    Dressed in garments as white as snow, he had a dashing appearance and an extraordinary elegance. At the moment, he was looking down from above at Chen Dandan, who was about to leave the stage.


    In that instant, that voice of his, which seemed to possess magical powers, successfully attracted the attention of everyone present at the same time that it suppressed all the noise at the venue.


    \"After three years... Chen Dandan, is that the mere extent of your progress?\"


    The crowd looked in the direction of the voice. When they saw clearly the youth''s appearance, the Primal Core adepts led by Ci Xuan of the Divine Light Sect and Lord Tuo Jin smiled bitterly. Apart from them, the remaining people collectively narrowed their eyes.


    \"A Primal Core adept?\"


    \"Look at the dense milky-white inner Yuan around his body. He''s obviously a mid Primal Core adept!\"


    This young man, who seemed to be a mid Primal Core adept, appeared to be around only 20 years of age. No matter how skilled he was in maintaining his youthful looks, he could not be much older.


    \"Who is he?\"


    \"I don''t know... judging from his mannerisms, he doesn''t have good intentions. Furthermore, he seems to be targeting Chen Dandan.\"


    \"He''s but a mid Primal Core adept. How dare he offend Chen Dandan? Chen Dandan is a disciple of the Golden Essence elder of Xuanyin Sect, Zhong Ya. What''s more, there are so many highly-ranked people in the Xuanyin Sect here right now.\"


    ...


    The group of people from the Xuanyin Sect included, everyone''s gazes instinctively landed on Chen Dandan once again.


    \"Zhou... Zhou Donghuang?!\"


    There was no way Chen Dandan could have expected that the person she had just been praying and hoping was still alive, would immediately appear in the flesh right before her eyes.


    He was not just alive, but had even entered the mid Primal Core stage, attaining the rank of a mid Primal Core adept!


    In the span of three years.


    The childish air about his face had already faded. He looked much more mature now.


    Most importantly, he had further widened the gap between himself and her.


    And this gap nearly suffocated her and made her feel hopeless...


    Over the past three years, from a level-four Qi-Gathering adept, she had broken through again and again at breakneck speed. Now, she had become an early Primal Core adept.


    Within the same span of time, the Zhou Donghuang in front of her had advanced from early Primal Core all the way to a mid Primal Core adept. He had surpassed her completely.


    \"A 22-year-old mid Primal Core adept?!\"


    He was only 22 years old this year.


    \"That''s impossible!\"


    Chen Dandan dared not believe it. She even found herself constantly wondering if she was dreaming.


    But after a brief moment, she was sure that she was not dreaming... the youth before her had indeed succeeded in becoming a mid Primal Core adept at the age of 22!


    \"No!\"


    All of a sudden, a thought flashed in Chen Dandan''s mind. As if something had occurred to her out of the blue, her eyes immediately lit up. \"So what if he''s a mid Primal Core adept right now?


    \"Would he even be a match for Master?


    \"Even among the higher-ups in Xuanyin Sect, a majority of them have the ability to kill him.\"


    At that thought, the shocked expression on Chen Dandan''s face vanished, substituted with an ice-cold expression. Within a split second, a stern killing intent emanated from her gaze that was fixed on Zhou Donghuang.


    \"Zhou Donghuang, I really didn''t expect you to actually enter the mid Primal Core and become a mid Primal Core adept.\"


    Chen Dandan raised her head to look at the youth. \"I must say that this is surprising. But that''s all it is. Since you''ve come here today, you can forget about leaving.\"


    After she finished speaking, Chen Dandan was deeply afraid that the young man would escape. The first things she did was look at the audience area where the higher-ups of the Xuanyin Sect were located. \"Uncle, Sect Leader, Senior... this person is my mortal enemy. Three years ago, he once criticized Master and even declared that he was going to take revenge on our Xuanyin Sect!\"


    The moment Chen Dandan said these words.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Distinguished Elder Qi Ming of the Xuanyin Sect, the Sect Leader Liu Yi and the Head Elder Bai Shitang rose in unison. In the blink of an eye, they surrounded Zhou Donghuang in a triangular formation.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    ...


    After Qi Ming and the other two people had made their move, the remaining Primal Core adepts of the Xuanyin Sect came forward in unison too. They formed an outer ring and stared at Zhou Donghuang in a predatory manner.


    \"You spoke rudely about my Senior? And you even declared your intention to take revenge on Xuanyin Sect?\"


    Qi Ming stared with an electrifying gaze at the youth before him dressed in white. Although his face was expressionless, a chill emanated from his gaze.


    A thunderous noise!


    Simultaneously, the crowd of people around them went into a collective uproar.


    Chen Dandan''s words had shocked them as well.


    They could not believe that this early Primal Core adept had spoken out of turn to the most powerful person in Xuanyin Sect, Zhong Ya, and had even declared his intention to get revenge on Xuanyin Sect.


    Was he mad?


    \"But... if he had been rude to Senior Zhong Ya three years ago, why didn''t Senior Zhong Ya get rid of him then?\"


    \"I find it strange too. Logically, with Senior Zhong Ya''s capability in mind, killing a mid Primal Core adept would be as easy as slaughtering a chicken.\"


    Someone questioned this.


    \"Three years ago, Master disdained to kill him.\"


    After Qi Ming and the others looked towards her skeptically, Chen Dandan said through clenched teeth, \"At the time, Master hoped that I would kill him with my own hands. Because... he was my enemy. But, I didn''t expect that... in the mere span of three years, he would manage to enter the mid Primal Core stage!


    \"I asked myself... will I ever have the chance to kill him with my own ability in this lifetime?\"


    Nearing the end of her sentence, Chen Dandan''s tone was laced with slight bitterness. She looked towards the young man again, and her eyes turned even colder.


    The entire venue turned deathly silent again when Chen Dandan spoke.


    In three years, he had entered mid Primal Core? Was it possible for such an adept to appear in Ziyun?


    Right now, apart from the group of Primal Core adepts from the Divine Light Sect, and including Qi Ming and the other higher-ups of the Xuanyin Sect, the remaining people all had very skeptical looks on their faces.


    No one dared to believe Chen Dandan''s words for the sole reason that her words were too terrifying. They were literally unbelievable!


    From early Primal Core to mid Primal Core in the span of three years?


    Was that possible?


    \"Uncle, Sect Leader, Senior.\"


    Chen Dandan swept her eyes over Qi Ming, Liu Yi and Bai Shitang. With a solemn expression on her face, she said, \"This Zhou Donghuang progresses at such a terrifying speed. Fortunately, he came today. If we allowed him to develop further... in a few years, I''m afraid no one in Xuanyin Sect would be able to subdue him.\"


    \"Chen Dandan.\"


    The moment Chen Dandan finished speaking, Zhou Donghuang started speaking. As he gazed at Chen Dandan, there was contempt, sarcasm and mostly mockery in his eyes.


    \"What you mean is... now, there are people in Xuanyin Sect who can defeat me?\"


    There was a strong air of sarcasm about the upturned corners of Zhou Donghuang''s lips.


    The moment Zhou Donghuang spoke, he predictably attracted everyone''s gazes.


    \"As expected, he came.\"


    Lord Tuo Jin of the Divine Light Sect looked at the youth dressed in snow-white with a complicated gaze. Then, he sighed gently.


    \"The Xuanyin Sect... is done for.\"


    The Right Shield of the Divine Light Sect, Golden Essence adept Ci Xuan, followed suit and shook his head.


    Unlike the Primal Core adepts of the Divine Light Sect, the remaining people present felt instead that Zhou Donghuang had gone mad after they heard his words!


    A mere mid Primal Core adept dared to say something so outrageous?


    What was he, if not mad?


    \"Where did this lunatic come from?\"


    \"Provoking the Xuanyin Sect like this, he''s dead meat!\"


    \"Given his personality, how did he survive until now?\"


    Whether they were from the Thousand-Year Sect, the Tianwu Sect, or even the Xuesha Sect, and whether they were in as high a position as Golden Essence adepts or the sect leaders, or in as low a position as early Primal Core disciples, they looked at Zhou Donghuang as if they were looking at a dead person.


    \"Little Gold, that Chen Dandan thinks that people from the Xuanyin Sect can defeat Big Brother.\"


    In the distance, Yun Lu stood on the back of the golden-crowned eagle, Little Gold. A chill emanated from her eyes as she looked at Chen Dandan.


    Although it was her first time meeting Chen Dandan, she had heard much about how Chen Dandan had repaid kindness with ingratitude by betraying her mother, Lin Lan and her big brother, Zhou Donghuang.


    When it came to Chen Dandan, she similarly could not wait to destroy her and take revenge for her mother and Big Brother!


    \"Sometimes, being ignorant is a good thing too... at least, before she leaves the mortal world, she won''t despair for too long.\"


    Little Gold shook its head. It looked at Chen Dandan as if it were looking at a fool, an idiot.


    The group of people from the Xuanyin Sect had heard Zhou Donghuang''s words and went into a brief daze altogether. Afterwards, they all had mocking smiles appear on their faces.


    Whoosh!!


    The condensed and milky-white inner Yuan around Zhou Donghuang''s body was instantaneously drowned by a majestic and vast silver blaze. It seemed to transform him into a silver fire god.


    This scene immediately stupefied the entire crowd once again.


    The Primal Core adepts of the Xuanyin Sect who were surrounding Zhou Donghuang, including the Golden Essence adept Qi Ming, could not help but cower at this moment. Their minds could not keep up.


    They were completely confused as to how a mid Primal Core adept could suddenly release silver inner Yuan, which was exclusive to late Primal Core adepts.


    What''s more, inner Yuan that was so ridiculously dense!


    Whiz!


    Under the watchful gazes of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang''s figure swayed. Silver flames sliced through the air and immediately attacked Qi Ming, who had yet to register what was happening.


    In the split second that Qi Ming regained his bearings, an arm peeked out from the silver flames heading towards him. It was holding an open folding fan, and the ribs of the fan shone with cool light as cold as ice.


    Buzz!!


    The silver flames brushed past Qi Ming''s body. The folding fan parted the air and brought with it the sound of a blade.


    \"No-\"


    At nearly the same time that the crowd saw a streak of fresh blood spurt into the sky and the head of the Xuanyin Sect''s Golden Essence adept Qi Ming left his body and flew upwards, they heard a piercing and hopeless scream, the last sound Qi Ming made before his death.


    They had seen with their own eyes that it had traveled at the speed of light.


    And light traveled at a faster speed than sound.


    At the top of Qi Ming''s head, which had flown upwards, the unwavering and wide eyes were filled with terror. The face covered in blood also had an expression of complete despair.


    At this sight, everyone present subconsciously held their breaths.


    Qi Ming, a Golden Essence adept of the Xuanyin Sect, was dead?


    They breathed out.


    ...


    Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!


    Before Qi Ming''s head had even landed on the ground, and while the crowd had not recovered from the shock, Zhou Donghuang attacked decisively and executed all of the Primal Core adepts surrounding him.


    ...


    Head after head flew into the sky, and fresh blood splashed about. A shower of blood rained down directly on Chen Dandan''s face.

 203 Zhong Ya Is Here!

    Whoosh!


    ...


    At the Feast of Ziyun, which was now dead silent, bloody rain fell, and the droplets splashed clearly and audibly.


    Chen Dandan''s body and face were fully splashed with bloody water. As for her, she was rooted to the ground as if her entire body had been stunned, staring at the youth in the air shakily.


    Apart from a bunch of Primal Core adepts from the Divine Light Sect, as well as Yun Lu, who appeared to be rather indifferent, the other attendees were all extremely shocked and fearful.


    A moment ago, the group of Primal Core adepts from the Xuanyin Sect had rushed out and surrounded the youth.


    At that moment, everyone had clearly seen that the Xuanyin Sect''s Distinguished Elder, Qi Ming, had a golden halo surrounding him, which was very likely to be the unique golden inner Yuan that Golden Essence adepts possessed.


    As for the Xuanyin Sect''s Young Lord Yuan, Liu Yi, the Xuanyin Sect''s head elder, Bai Shitang as well as another elder from the Xuanyin Sect, their bodies were wrapped with silver inner Yuan.


    These were the three late Primal Core adepts.


    As for the other four Primal Core adepts of the Xuanyin Sect, two had a pure white inner Yuan halo while the other two had a milky, pale white fog around them.


    They were mid Primal Core and early Primal Core adepts respectively.


    These were the people who were all mass beheaded by the youth in the blink of an eye!


    Thud!


    Thud! Thud!


    When the corpses of the group of the Xuanyin Sect''s Primal Core adepts hit the ground, the entire crowd slowly regained full consciousness and their faces all had on expressions of extreme shock, fear and bewilderment.


    All of them slowly cast their glances once again on the youth floating in the sky. He held a folding fan in his hands and was dressed in white as if he were a scholar and was floating scarily above all.


    "The Golden Essence adept... was killed by him just like that? His brains even flew and splattered everywhere!"


    "Within the time it takes to take two breaths, all the Primal Core adepts from the Xuanyin Sect, including the Golden Essence adept Qi Ming, head elder Liu Yi, the two mid Primal Core elders and two early Primal Core disciples were all killed!?"


    "In front of this youth, the status of the Golden Essence adept and the early Primal Core disciples seemed to mean nothing! He managed to kill them all casually and cut out their brains..."


    Hushed voices began to ring out in the setting of the Feast of Ziyun as everyone began to voice their opinion on what had just happened.


    Just now, when the youth had taken action, his body had been moving extremely fast and had far surpassed them! Furthermore, utilizing the fan in his hand, the youth''s attacking prowess was extremely strong and they could not guarantee that they could win over him even if they all joined forces and worked hand in hand.


    This was scary!


    Way too scary!


    "Although his inner Yuan is only that of a Silver Essence adept, silver, but... that thickness and pureness is double the strength of a normal Silver Essence adept''s inner Yuan!"


    "It''s comparable to the perfect fusion of three Silver Essence adepts'' inner Yuan... this isn''t any weaker than a Golden Essence adept''s inner Yuan! A Golden Essence adept''s inner Yuan is only stronger by double of a normal Silver Essence adept''s inner Yuan..."


    "That folding fan of his has got to be a heavenly spirit weapon! Not only that, it should be a unique heavenly spirit weapon!"


    At this very moment, everyone, including the Divine Light Sect''s Golden Essence adept, Ci Xuan, stared on with growing intensity at the folding fan in the youth''s hand.


    Well, that was all they could do.


    Although they stared on intensely, none of them held on to any greedy ideas of acquiring the fan.


    It was not that they did not want to own the fan. It was more of the fact that everyone knew they were not eligible to own this item.


    Based on the showcase of ability by the youth, if they dared to thirst after this object, they would probably face the same fate as the Xuanyin Sect''s adepts...


    "No...!"


    A cry of utmost shock and confusion rang out. This was Chen Dandan, who had now regained full consciousness. She had collapsed to the ground, shaking her head continually with a look of horror in her eyes. "No... This is impossible! This is simply impossible!"


    "How could he be so powerful? This is impossible! It''s definitely impossible!"


    "I must be dreaming! I must be dreaming!"


    "Yes, I''m just dreaming! This is all a bad dream!"


    Chen Dandan sat wearily on the ground and glanced at the piercing fresh blood surrounding her. Her entire body trembled intensely. The sight of the fresh blood hurt her eyes and caused her to feel limp and weak.


    Did Chen Dandan truly think this was all a bad dream? No...


    Seeing as Zhou Donghuang had floated in the air and become a Primal Core adept, Chen Dandan had already known that she was not merely dreaming.


    Now, her cries of the situation being a dream was but her desperate attempt to forcefully console herself. Chen Dandan feared that she would reach a point where her organs would burst and her entire body would explode with horror.


    The atmosphere in the air felt thick and oppressive all of a sudden.


    "I say, I can''t believe three years was all it took for you to become powerful enough to kill all the elders in our the Xuanyin Sect!"


    An old voice, which was still energetic and full of vigor, rang out from afar.


    Although the voice came from a distance, it pierced the air with a shocking intensity and flowed to the Feast of Ziyun, into the ears of everyone present.


    This person''s voice was heard even before he had appeared physically.


    "Teacher!"


    Upon hearing this voice, Chen Dandan, who had previously collapsed onto the ground with four trembling limbs, now stood up like someone who had been injected with vigor, her face flushed with color and relief.


    Well, a second later, the voices echoing around her caused Chen Dandan to collapse on the ground once again.


    "Chen Dandan called out to the voice and called it, ''Teacher?''"


    "Is that the other Golden Essence adept of the Xuanyin Sect, their strongest elder, Zhong Ya?"


    "Well, this youth managed to kill the Xuanyin Sect''s Distinguished Elder, Golden Essence adept Qi Ming... Even if Zhong Ya were stronger than Qi Ming, how much stronger could he possibly be?"


    "He is definitely not this youth''s match! This youth''s strength, although not yet surpassing that of a Dharma adept, is definitely enough to crush any adept that is below the Dharma stage..."


    ...


    No one present here, including the people of the four big sects of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, as well as the lucky Connate adepts of the Xuanyin Sect who had survived, believed that the Golden Essence adept elder, Zhong Ya, was strong enough to defeat Zhou Donghuang.


    Chen Dandan began to have her doubts as well.


    Hua!


    Hualala!


    In the calm surroundings of the Feast of Ziyun, a grey shadow suddenly appeared. This figure''s voice was especially bright, and his robes swayed with the wind, making rattling noises.


    The owner of this grey shadow was an old man dressed in long grey robes.


    Zhou Donghuang identified this figure in an instant.


    This was the Golden Essence adept that had appeared in the Valley of the Medicine Masters three years ago, the Xuanyin Sect''s elder, Zhong Ya.


    "Hm?"


    Once he realized that Zhong Ya looked much more youthful than he had three years ago, Zhou Donghuang was momentarily stunned before he regained his composure. His eyes flashed a few times.


    "Young man, three years ago, I did not kill you simply because I was afraid that the deed would interfere with my crossing to the Dharma stage... I can''t believe that three years later, you''d dare to appear here!"


    Zhong Ya stared steely at Zhong Donghuang and spoke in a tone devoid of emotion. "Since you''re here, your life will be lost today, here and now."


    "Teacher!"


    Just as Zhong Ya had finished his sentence, Chen Dandan shouted out in a panicky fashion. "You''d better leave! You''d better leave!"


    "He killed Elder Qi Ming, head elder and our strongest brothers! You should wait till you''ve crossed over into the Dharma stage before challenging this Zhou Donghuang and avenging their deaths!"


    At this very moment, all Chen Dandan wanted was for her teacher to quickly flee and enter the Dharma stage before returning to seek out Zhou Donghuang for revenge.


    With Zhou Donghuang''s showcase of ability earlier on, unless Zhong Ya managed to enter the Dharma stage, he would definitely be no match for Zhou Donghuang!


    Ah!


    Upon hearing Chen Dandan''s words, Zhong Ya''s face changed. He glanced meaningfully to the side and saw that there were tens of corpses on the stage of the Feast of Ziyun, which included all his sect''s people apart from his personal disciple Chen Dandan, who had collapsed on the floor.


    These corpses were either rid of their brains or were separated from them.


    Among the corpses, there was the sect''s main disciple, the Xuanyin Sect''s head elder, Bai Shitang, as well as his other disciples, the sect''s Distinguished Elder Qi Ming as well as Liu Yi.


    "Qi... Qi Ming?"


    Towards the death of Bai Shitang and Liu Yi, Zhong Ya simply felt rage. However, the death of Qi Ming was something unfathomable to Zhong Ya. After all, Qi Ming was also a Golden Essence warrior.


    Yet, he had died here?


    "You..."


    When Zhong Ya looked up once again at Zhou Donghuang, who was floating in the air a short distance away from him, his eyes were full of confusion and disbelief. "As a mere late Primal Core adept, you managed to kill a Golden Essence adept?"


    Zhou Donghuang stared back at Zhong Ya calmly and said, "Three years ago, I warned you about this... Zhong Ya, as you brought away Chen Dandan against my wishes, you brought a grudge with me upon your entire sect... Today, I, Zhou Donghuang, am here to put an end to this entire grudge."


    Once Zhou Donghuang had spoken these words, everyone who was present noticed that the youth dressed in white had appeared here and massacred the people of the Xuanyin Sect because of Chen Dandan.


    She was the root of all their troubles!


    At this moment, several people turned to glance at Chen Dandan and collectively had the thought of her being a true troublemaker...


    "Hahaha... Hahahahahaha..."


    Zhong Ya laughed without any hint of mockery in his tone, and his laughter grew with time. Afterwards, he stopped suddenly as everyone looked on with shock.


    After laughing, Zhong Ya shot a glance that was as cold as steel at Zhou Donghuang. "Young man, if you had taken action three days ago, you probably could have done as you pleased and killed me, as well as destroyed the entire the Xuanyin Sect.


    "Instead, you chose to take action only today. Your goals are fated to stay as mere dreams forever!"


    Almost immediately after Zhong Ya had spoken, a strong scent unfurled from his body, and this was followed by a gust of black power that flew out from within.


    Within an instant, a shadow about one-foot tall rose from Zhong Ya''s body. It was about the size of a small hill and the shape of a black raven, standing upright.


    Surrounding this one-foot tall shadow of a black raven, there was a small trail of black halo that wrapped around him like flowing water, giving off a strong yet unique scent.


    Although Zhong Ya was not near the attendees of the Feast of Ziyun, the onlookers who were weaker were still overwhelmed with this scent. Some flushed red while others even began to bleed internally.


    "Is this... Dharma!?"


    Many immediately averted their eyes.

 204 What a Pity!

    "Ah, it''s no wonder that I felt something was amiss previously... Senior Zhong Ya from the Xuanyin Sect, as a Golden Essence adept, was floating in the air without a golden halo surrounding him. I guess it''s because he has already crossed over into the Dharma stage."


    A senior from the Thousand-Year Sect sighed and said, "The Dharma stage allows one to go back to the basics. Those who have crossed over will have an inner Yuan that is invisible."


    "Dharma... I guess this means that our powerful supreme sect of Ziyun now has our third Dharma adept..."


    At this point, other than the wild happiness that was displayed on the Xuanyin Sect member''s faces, other attendees from the other big sects had on more complex and troubled expressions.


    The powerful supreme sect of Ziyun''s third Dharma adept was a member of the Xuanyin Sect... Of course, those of other sects would have preferred a different outcome.


    In the past, the first Dharma adept of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun was someone from the Tianwu Sect... During that period, the Dharma adept of the Tianwu Sect had wanted to extinguish all the other sects and unify them all under Tianwu before he left the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun.


    As the only individual who had crossed over to the Dharma stage in Ziyun, that Dharma adept from the Tianwu Sect had been invincible and was able to do as he pleased.


    However, in the end, the other sects had all joined forces and worked together to force the Tianwu Sect to surrender their weapons as they refused to be defeated that easily.


    That day, the sects had made a stern announcement: If the Dharma adept of the Tianwu Sect dared to take action against them again, the Primal Core adepts of the other big sects would all isolate the area, leave the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, vanish into the skies before one day coming back stronger, unleashing revenge on all the Tianwu elders and disciples.


    What did it matter if only the Tianwu Sect had a Dharma adept?


    He was still unable to protect every single elder and disciple in the Tianwu Sect if every other big sect worked together against him.


    They would kill all his sect members!


    With this joint determination by the other big sects, the Dharma adept then gave up on the idea of unifying the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun under the Tianwu Sect''s name. Furthermore, the Dharma adept of the Tianwu Sect had been determined to leave the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun. Naturally, he would not have wanted to leave the Tianwu Sect in a troubled state.


    Afterwards, when the Divine Light Sect produced the second Dharma adept of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, although the other sects were slightly fearful, they no longer flew into a panic.


    "Go!"


    "Go!"


    ...


    The Golden Essence adepts of the Divine Light Sect, Thousand-Year Sect, Tianwu Sect and Xuesha sect all flew up into the sky from where the masses were sitting and flew towards different directions at an extremely fast speed.


    This leave taken by all the Golden Essence adepts of the different sects was due to their fear that they would all be defeated together by the Xuanyin Sect''s elder, Zhong Ya, who had already crossed over to the Dharma stage.


    Furthermore, they had an obligation to return back to their sects to spread the word that Zhong Ya had crossed over to the Dharma stage. They also had to make preparations to defend against Zhong Ya as they had the constant worry that he would attack their respective sects and extinguish them in the future.


    The other members of the four big sects, under the direction of their head elders, stayed to watch this spectacle.


    Since all the Golden Essence adepts had left to make their own preparations, even though Zhong Ya had crossed to the Dharma stage, he still had to be aware and would not easily attack the other sects.


    The scene of the Golden Essence adepts of the other four sects leaving of course did not go unnoticed by Zhong Ya. Not only so, but he also understood their intentions on making a quick escape. However, he did not bother to attempt to stop them.


    If he did so, he possibly could prevent all the Golden Essence adepts from leaving and destroy them.


    Yet, if he chose to focus on them, the youth dressed in white would definitely have an opportunity to escape then.


    Once this youth escaped, it was highly possible that it would signal the future destruction of the Xuanyin Sect!


    Three years.


    The youth standing before him, who was as tiny as an ant in his eyes and was originally an early Connate adept, had not only crossed over into the late Primal Core stage and become a Silver Essence adept but also now possessed the power to kill the Golden Essence adept of the Xuanyin Sect, Qi Ming!


    The existence of this youth was too dangerous and threatening to the existence of the Xuanyin Sect.


    Zhong Ya could thus only stare emptily as the Golden Essence adepts of the other big sects left and disappeared into the distance.


    "Is that... Dharma?"


    At the same time, a group of people, who were shocked into a daze by the presence of Dharma on Zhong Ya''s body, regained their senses and shocked expressions flitted across their faces.


    A Dharma adept.


    To them, such people only existed in legends and folk stories.


    Yet today, they had personally witnessed the existence of a Dharma adept right before their very eyes.


    "It''s simply unexpected that this time''s Feast of Ziyun encapsulated so many surprise events... First, a young man appeared out of nowhere and managed to kill the eight biggest Primal Core adepts of the Xuanyin Sect, including their Golden Essence adept, Qi Ming, within two breaths'' time... Afterwards, the Xuanyin Sect''s Distinguished Elder, Qi Ming, had appeared in person and revealed that he had crossed over to the Dharma stage."


    "The Golden Essence adepts of the other four sects have all taken the opportunity to run... Clearly, they are also worried that Elder Qi Ming, who is now a Dharma adept, would take action against them..."


    "Well, the unlucky one here is no longer Elder Qi Ming but the youth. He probably did not even dream that Elder Qi Ming could have crossed over to the Dharma stage."


    "Based on Elder Qi Ming''s words, it is highly likely that he crossed over to the Dharma stage only two days ago."


    ...


    The onlookers all stared anxiously at Zhong Ya with flushed and intense looks on their faces.


    A Dharma adept.


    if this was the past, they would not even have dared to dream of meeting a Dharma adept in person!


    Being able to witness this sight gave them bragging rights. No, it gave even their next generations bragging rights... To think, they had met a Dharma adept!


    "Teacher... you''ve become a Dharma adept?"


    Chen Dandan had regained her senses as well, and she stood up. She stared at Zhong Ya and bowed courteously. "Congratulations, you''ve successfully achieved your goal of becoming a Dharma adept!"


    Clearly, Chen Dandan herself had not been aware of Zhong Ya''s achievement previously.


    "Hm."


    Zhong Ya glanced at Chen Dandan warmly. Chen Dandan deserved some credit for this achievement of his. Just as he had mentioned three years ago when he had arrived at the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Zhong Ya''s plan to enter the Dharma stage involved mental enlightenment. When he had saved Chen Dandan''s life and accepted her as a disciple, it was to gain mental enlightenment.


    The more mental enlightenment he gained, the higher his chances were of crossing over to the Dharma stage.


    Two days ago, he had successfully entered the Dharma stage and extended his lifespan by 300 years. This was why he seemed to have physically gone back in time and looked younger than before.


    The Zhong Ya now could live for another 300 more years!


    Two days ago, after his breakthrough, Zhong Ya had isolated himself in his room to adjust fully to his new status. He had only appeared today after a Late Primal Core adept elder from the Xuanyin Sect had visited him and informed him hurriedly of the news of Zhou Donghuang.


    Once he had removed himself from isolation, Zhong Ya had made his way here.


    "Zhou Donghuang!"


    When Chen Dandan focused her glance once again on the youth dressed in white, it was with a completely new mood. She was now energetic again like she had been born into a new life, and her eyes were full of greed and evil intent. "I bet you never dreamt that my teacher, Zhong Ya, had already crossed over into the Dharma stage."


    "I have to admit, your progress was indeed rather shocking and unexpected, which led to your strength today and your ability to kill the other adepts. However, it''s a pity that you''re now unlucky enough to meet my teacher, a Dharma adept!"


    Chen Dandan then turned to gaze at Zhong Ya. "Teacher, since you are now a Dharma adept, you no longer need to worry that the act of killing Zhou Donghuang would affect your mental enlightenment."


    Zhong Ya replied in a cold tone, "Even if I had not yet crossed over to the Dharma stage, with his powers now, I''d have the intention to kill him, and it still would not affect my mental enlightenment.


    "Of course, if I didn''t cross to become a Dharma adept, I would admittedly be no match for him now."


    The next time Zhong Ya glanced at Zhou Donghuang, the corners of his mouth turned up into a sinister smile. "Young man, didn''t you want to inflict the consequences of this grudge you have against me and the Xuanyin Sect?


    "Make your move.


    "I''m actually curious to see... How you, a special Silver Essence adept who could kill a Golden Essence adept, manages to act against me, a Dharma adept!"


    As he spoke, Zhong Ya''s eyes flicked with mockery.


    "I can''t believe you actually became a Dharma adept."


    Zhou Donghuang glanced calmly at Zhong Ya with an undisturbed expression on his face.


    Previously, when Zhong Ya had first appeared, Zhou Donghuang had already observed that Zhong Ya did not have a golden inner Yuan halo surrounding him. Furthermore, physically, Zhong Ya had looked younger, and it was easy to guess that he had crossed over to the Dharma stage and had successfully become a Dharma adept.


    "Well, the higher you rise, the more damage you will receive when you come crashing down... Saving Chen Dandan and becoming a Dharma adept merely allows you to live 300 more years. If you did not save her, even if you never crossed to the Dharma stage, you, Zhong Ya, could actually still have lived out a few good years."


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head. "What a shame, what a shame."


    "Yet again, gaining a few days of status as a Dharma adept in exchange for a few years of life is probably a worthy exchange to you."


    With Zhou Donghuang''s words, both Zhong Ya and Chen Dandan froze momentarily. The entire place fell yet again into a deep silence.


    These words uttered by Zhou Donghuang had a deeper meaning that everyone could understand. What he meant was that despite Zhong Ya crossing over to the Dharma stage, he would still ensure his death today!


    "Zhong Ya is now a Dharma adept... but he still has the confidence of killing him?"


    The Divine Light Sect''s head elder, Tuo Jin, was wavered by Zhou Donghuang''s words. Previously, after realizing that Zhong Ya was now a Dharma adept, he had assumed that Zhou Donghuang was unluckily doomed. After hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, however, he felt swayed once again.


    Could this Zhou Donghuang really kill Dharma adept, Zhong Ya?


    "Is he crazy?"


    "Although he is indeed rather powerful, the difference between a Primal Core adept and a Dharma adept is as vast as an ocean. He wants to cross a big stage and kill a Dharma adept? Is he dreaming?"


    "What an idiot!"


    The head elders of the Thousand-Year Sect, the Tianwu Sect and the Xuesha sect shook their heads and spoke up among themselves after hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words.


    This was especially so for the head elders of the Thousand-Year Sect and Xuesha sect. The glance they gave Zhou Donghuang was one they usually reserved for fools or the mentally disabled.


    "Brother!"


    Yun Lu was standing on Little Gold''s back. Her small face no longer had on a hazy expression, and her eyes had brightened.


    Previously, upon seeing that Zhong Ya had become a Dharma adept and demonstrated training of the Dharma stage, she was still worried that Zhou Donghuang was no longer his match.


    However, upon hearing Zhou Donghuang''s confident words, all ounces of worry disappeared.


    "Weirdo!"


    Even Little Gold spoke up now. Originally, even Little Gold had not expected that the master of his home would not fear someone as powerful as a Dharma adept.


    As for the other onlookers, however, they were still unconvinced of the chances of Zhou Donghuang winning this fight.


    At the end of the day, what Zhong Donghuang faced was still the third Dharma adept of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, who had only appeared after thousands of years had passed!

 205 Battling Dharma

    "Zhou Donghuang, you''re facing your death, and you still dare to utter such ludicrous words!"


    Chen Dandan regained her composure and smiled coldly. She was confident that Zhou Donghuang would not be able to win a fight against her teacher, Zhong Ya.


    If her teacher, Zhong Ya, was the old Golden Essence adept of before, she would have a different opinion and fear for her teacher''s life when fighting against Zhou Donghuang, given that he had managed to kill the Xuanyin Sect''s other Golden Essence adept, Qi Ming, easily.


    However, Zhong Ya was now a Dharma adept.


    A Primal Core adept would definitely be unable to match up to the powers of a Dharma adept.


    In the mind of a Dharma adept, a Golden Essence adept and a normal early Primal Core adept did not differ much as both could be easily killed within seconds.


    "Young man, do you really... think that you could kill my brother, Qi Ming, and win over me?"


    Zhong Ya smiled mockingly at Zhou Donghuang before suddenly taking a giant step forward. His body flew upwards and evolved into a Dharma-level, black raven about one-foot tall and had a pair of double wings.


    Suddenly...


    Whoosh!


    Whoosh!


    With the vigorous flapping of the Dharma-level, black raven''s wings, the Feast of Ziyun''s setting was suddenly engulfed in a violent wind. Those onlookers of weaker status were taken aback by the wind and forced to take a few steps back.


    In the skies, several flying beasts were blown until they immediately ran away and escaped.


    As for the other party, Zhou Donghuang, the robes on his body were also swept up like a white flame burning up.


    "Today, I''m going to show you the power of the third Dharma adept in the history of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun!


    As Zhong Ya uttered these words, his entire body flew forward forcefully.


    Once everyone heard his words, they immediately turned their gaze to Zhong Ya.


    More accurately, they turned to glance at the one-foot-tall black raven that had arisen from Zhong Ya''s body.


    This one-foot-tall, Dharma-level beast was the symbol of an early Dharma adept.


    In full view of the audience, Zhong Ya raced forward, and the black raven similarly flapped its wings hard and moved forward like a floating shadow towards Zhou Donghuang.


    "This is the power of a Dharma adept?"


    "The power of a Dharma adept lies in the concentration of his inner Yuan... Even the inner Yuan of an early Dharma adept can easily defeat that of a Golden Essence adept''s golden inner Yuan!"


    "This Zhou Donghuang is doomed..."


    ...


    Although everyone would agree that Zhou Donghuang''s skills were impressive, he was definitely not on Zhong Ya''s level yet.


    "Die! Die!" Chen Dandan had on a maniacal expression and she laughed coldly to herself. "Zhou Donghuang, once you''re dead, I will return to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley, kill your mother and send her on her way to reunite with you!"


    The lucky survivors from the Xuanyin Sect similarly watched this scene joyously, happy at the thought of revenge for their dead comrades.


    "If you were from the supreme sects or the Star Clan, with the powers I possess now, I definitely would not be your match... It''s just a pity that you, Zhong Ya, are only a Dharma adept of a low practice planet. You simply are unable to utilize the real potential of a Dharma adept in battle!"


    Towards the murderous Zhong Ya, Zhou Donghuang could not help but laugh to himself.


    Next, he raised up his hand and opened up the eighteen-fold fan in his hand. The silver halo continued to wrap around him, and it looked as if there were eighteen dragons swimming around the fan.


    "Today, I, Zhou Donghuang, will put you, Zhong Ya, to shame as the most short-lived Dharma adept of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun!"


    Zhou Donghuang spoke up. Even before that, his body had trembled, and the eighteen-fold fan in his hand exploded outwards like eighteen sharp arrows, flying towards Zhong Ya.


    Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!


    ...


    The 18 wings of the fan cut through the air and made a whipping sound as if they were 18 separate swords. This sight was magnificent to behold, and the wings of the fan were all directed towards the black raven.


    "What powerful inner Yuan!"


    Once Zhou Donghuang reached out his hands, Zhong Ya had immediately realized just how powerful the former''s developed inner Yuan was. In fact, it was rather scary! As compared to the inner Yuan that Zhong Ya possessed before he became a Dharma adept, it was about double that amount!


    "Good thing I''m a Dharma adept now... If not, I would definitely lose this battle!" Zhong Ya cheered to himself silently.


    "He is but a Silver Essence adept. How could he have such great amounts of strength? The fan in his hand seems to be enabling his inner Yuan to expand greatly... could it be an ultimate spirit weapon?"


    While Zhong Ya made guesses on whether the fan in Zhou Donghuang''s hands was indeed an ultimate spirit weapon, his heart raced as it was a shocking matter to him should this guess be true.


    "I really cannot believe that your inner Yuan has developed to this level of strength... However, in any case, it is still not nearly enough to battle a Dharma adept like me!"


    With a deep breath, Zhong Ya quelled the surprise that had welled up within him and gazed at Zhou Donghuang with a stern glare that was as piercing as lightning.


    "Is that so?"


    Zhou Donghuang laughed coldly and lightly. Within an instant, his body shook, and his entire body rushed forward and brushed past the eighteen wings of the fan like a ghost.


    Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew! Pew!


    ...


    The eighteen wings of the fan not only began to glow silver but also largely began to change direction once they brushed past Zhou Donghuang''s body.


    Within an instant, the eighteen wings of the fan moved from all directions towards Zhong Ya and eventually converged to surround him fully, intending to kill him. It was as if eighteen silver shooting stars had appeared in the sky, determined a common direction, and had rushed towards a singular planet to attack and destroy it.


    "Ridiculous!"


    Zhong Ya glanced at this sight and laughed coldly. "Do you really think your attack can truly fight the power of a Dharma''s inner Yuan?"


    Just as Zhong Ya had spoken, the black raven on his body let out a piercing and high-pitched shout. This exclamation was ear-shattering and caused all who were present to feel almost deafened. For those who were standing close to this scene, these adepts even started to bleed and some even died on the spot.


    This only added another layer of tension to the already tense atmosphere.


    ...


    The black raven gave off an extremely aggressive aura, and it was vibrating tremulously as well. This aura was given off in all directions like a first attack wave and turned the entire Feast of Ziyun into chaos. Chen Dandan, who was standing on the high stage, was flung into the distance. With a shout, she spat out a mouthful of blood and quickly ran to escape as her face turned pale.


    "Run!"


    "Let''s run far, far away, lest we become casualties of this fight!"


    ...


    Apart from the people of the four great sects, who were still watching the fight, others began to quickly leave the scene.


    Although the people of the big sects had not left, a group of Primal Core adepts had reached out their hands collectively to unleash their inner Yuan, creating a shield layer to protect the other adepts of their respective sects.


    Their collective inner Yuan was still somewhat able to provide a respectable cover against the black raven''s power.


    "This is the extent of a Dharma adept''s power!? Zhou Donghuang is doomed for sure!"


    When Chen Dandan had run to a far distance, she stopped again to watch the scene. Although she was now in an extremely ragged state, when she raised her head to glance at the skies once more, her face was still filled with excitement as if she had already witnessed Zhou Donghuang being killed by Zhong Ya.


    "Once a Dharma adept has grasped his Dharma power, one definitely needs to train hard to allow that power to become full and intact."


    Zhou Donghuang''s words suddenly filled the air just as the eighteen wings of the fan attacked like swords in the direction of the black raven''s body.


    "If I''m not wrong... Not only have you not trained your Dharma power, but you also haven''t even identified the cracks in your Dharma power yet, am I right?"


    These words by Zhou Donghuang angered Zhong Ya slightly when he heard them. Zhong Ya furrowed his brow slightly before relaxing again. "Young man, it''s not your place to lecture me!"


    "If my Dharma power is not intact, feel free to attack me and see for yourself!"


    Clearly, Zhong Ya did not believe a word that Zhou Donghuang had uttered.


    Ping!


    Ping!


    Ping!


    ...


    At this moment, the fan by Zhou Donghuang completely split into its eighteen wings. Encompassing solid silver inner Yuan, some of it shot out and landed simultaneously on Zhong Ya''s black raven.


    In this first wave of attack, the majority of the eighteen wings were easily blocked by the black raven''s wings.


    Twelve remaining beams were shot out. Six landed on the black raven''s body again, while four did not create any significant damage to the black raven. As for the last 2 beams, however, once they had landed on the black raven, they caused him to let out a shout of anguish.


    "This is not good!"


    In that instant where Zhong Ya heard the black raven call out, he began to feel a force of repulsion travel quickly from the black raven''s body to within him, causing his entire body to swell internally.


    An instant later, the shock made him tremble violently as well.


    "Wah¡­"


    Witnessing this first exchange, the audience could not help but cry out in shock. The black raven had now shrunk from being one-foot tall to merely being five-meters tall. Furthermore, Zhong Ya was now spitting out a large amount of blood. His face turned as pale as paper and his entire being seemed to have aged greatly all at once.


    "What an embarrassment for a Dharma adept!"


    Just as Zhong Ya was damaged and spitting out blood, Zhou Donghuang had already arrived before him. By raising his hands, the eighteen wings of the fan returned to him and reformed into a singular fan.


    "I thought hitting one of the weak spots in your inner Yuan would be quite lucky... Instead, I managed to hit two of them!


    "You''re really weaker than I thought you were."


    Zhou Donghuang''s body''s silver flames exploded like a ball of fire and directly flew towards Zhong Ya, who was badly injured.


    The black raven was now unable to fend off any attacks.


    "How is this possible!?"


    Zhong Ya had never imagined that he would be so badly injured in the mere first round of battle. He was also not ready for the attack by Zhou Donghuang, which was apparently able to overcome that of a Dharma adept.


    "Is my Dharma power truly lacking in some ways?"


    Just as he was mumbling to himself, Zhong Ya realized that Zhou Donghuang was coming forward with an attack yet again. This time, he did not use the fan in his hand but instead rushed forward with his whole body.


    "Even if I''m injured, it''s still enough to summon up some remaining power... I have to kill you and end this whole saga properly!"


    Zhong Ya''s face was stony and cold, and the shortened black raven began to withdraw. It formed a thick and solid layer of black light around Zhong Ya, like a layer of black armor.


    Dharma armor.


    This was one of the main methods a Dharma adept could use in war. The Dharma power could be used to surround the body as a defense lawyer and utilize the Dharma adept''s inner Yuan at a shockingly fast speed.


    Of course, when a normal Dharma adept attacked others, it would be using Dharma power to create explosive attacks, and many seldom bothered with the Dharma armor, which was more of a defensive move.


    However, the method used by Zhou Donghuang had already scared Zhong Ya enough, and he was now more concerned that Zhou Donghuang would exploit more of his Dharma power''s weaknesses instead!

 206 Cause and Effec

    Woah!


    The black, glowing halo around Zhong Ya started flowing, and the inner Yuan emerged from his body just like a giant black ball of fire. His entire being suddenly became like a worldly, glorious god, floating mightily in the air.


    Afterwards, both his hands trembled. He reached out with both his hands, welding a knife and whipped forward as if he wanted to cast Zhou Donghuang aside before sticking a knife into him to end him once and for all.


    "Just by converting your Dharma into armor, you believe that will cover up and make up for all your weak spots?"


    Towards Zhong Ya, who was charging towards him, Zhou Donghuang''s mouth arched into a mocking smile, and he then violently shook the hand holding his folding fan, sending it flying forward.


    Swish!


    The fan cut through the air and slightly brushed past Zhong Ya''s left palm, frustrating him.


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang''s moving body brushed past Zhong Ya''s palm at the same time while the former reached out his hand like a shot of lightning, pulling the fan back to him.


    All these things happened in an instant.


    As for Zhong Ya, he had never imagined that Zhou Donghuang would be able to have such a fast reaction within such a short period of time and manage to open up his left hand.


    One had to know that his right hand''s fist had been aiming for the folding fan that Zhou Donghuang was holding on to.


    "That reaction time was scarily fast!" Zhong Ya''s heart lurched.


    This was the first time he had met such a powerfully scary being. It was as if Zhou Donghuang was able to anticipate his enemy''s every move and gain an advantage even before his enemy could take any action.


    It was as if Zhong Ya was not fighting with a young man of about 20 years old, and instead, it felt like he was fighting with an old beast that was a veteran of war, or who had experienced hundreds of years of battle.


    "Well, what does it matter that he evaded my one palm? My power can easily take him down!"


    Zhong Ya''s right hand shot out like a knife, and in it, he welded a narrow knife that had a black tip. He lunged forward towards Zhou Donghuang, slicing the knife down in the air. The sound this action made was piercing and caused one to wince.


    "If he doesn''t bother to hide, he''s really stupid then!"


    Zhong Ya''s eyes flashed and a maniacal expression appeared on his face. "As for me, at most, I''ll just suffer a few more minor injuries."


    Just as the black tip of the knife was about to slice Zhou Donghuang''s body in half, at that very moment, Zhou Donghuang''s waist, as well as the lower part of his body, glowed with silver light. Strangely, his upper body folded up and now seemed to be extremely malleable, like it did not contain any bones and could be folded at will.


    How could someone transform their body like that?!


    Hm!


    The knife in Zhong Ya''s hand fell just like his previous punch had.


    "How can this be!?"


    Seeing as Zhou Donghuang had miraculously managed to push away the knife that he so confidently thrust out, Zhong Ya''s face immediately changed and a cold sweat began to drip down his face.


    At the same time, he frantically adjusted the power within him in hopes of launching a second attack. However, right at this very moment, the lower half of Zhou Donghuang''s body, which had folded up, now used the tension amassed to bounce forward like a strong arrow shot by an archer, aiming directly for Zhong Ya.


    "Oh no!"


    Quickly, Zhong Ya activated all the remaining inner Yuan within him and emptied it all out. He used the pure black armor that was created to hide himself.


    Hm!


    Towards the fan that Zhou Donghuang had re-brandished, Zhong Ya could feel the silver glow and the power emanating from the fan. He put his hands together in preparation for a strong attack by Zhou Donghuang.


    Pshhh!


    Suddenly, the fan that Zhou Donghuang had thrown across in the air was blocked by Zhong Ya''s two hands. It had met with Zhong Ya while it was glowing bright with silver light.


    "Young man, do not overestimate the power of a Dharma adept. It''s much more powerful than you think!"


    Zhong Ya smiled victoriously as he had managed to fend off Zhou Donghuang''s attack. "Just you wait till my next move!"


    "Well, it''s not too shabby for you to be known in the future as the first to be killed by me, a Dharma adept!"


    At this moment, Zhong Ya acted as if he had already won this battle.


    Psh!


    Zhou Donghuang laughed mockingly in return and, at the same time, he waved the fan in his right hand violently. Zhong Ya''s heart immediately had an uneasy feeling. He clasped his hands together once more and attempted to snatch Zhou Donghuang''s fan by force.


    Yet, the fan in Zhou Donghuang''s hand was as slippery as a slug. No matter how earnestly Zhong Ya tried, the fan still easily slipped from his hands.


    "No..."


    After the fan slipped from Zhong Ya''s fingers, Zhong Ya felt as if something was amiss, and his facial expression suddenly changed as well. He suddenly let out a frantic and pained cry.


    Psh!


    The fan that had escaped Zhong Ya''s hands acted as if it was a wild beast that had escaped its cage. It flopped around like a fish out of water, shooting around in the sky like a beam of silver light.


    Psh! Pow!


    Fresh blood spattered everywhere.


    Phew!


    A brain flew into the sky.


    Zhong Ya now suffered the same fate as the Xuanyin Sect''s Primal Core adepts who had previously died at the hands of Zhou Donghuang.


    On the 10th of October, 1233 of the Ziyun Era, after 3 years, Zhou Donghuang had appeared at the Feast of Ziyun and murdered Zhong Ya of the Xuanyin Sect in front of all the various guests present. He delivered the consequences he had promised Zhong Ya when the latter had disobeyed his orders back then in the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Zhong Ya had thus also become immortalized in history as the Dharma adept who had lived the shortest life.


    He had been killed after stepping into the Dharma realm for a mere three days.


    This battle between Zhou Donghuang and Zhong Ya was extremely fast-paced, and if one were to be distracted or failed to observe closely, they would have missed several exciting scenes.


    The entire Feast of Ziyun had thus fallen into a silence ever since the duo had started fighting.


    Seeing as Zhong Ya''s brain had flew into the sky and he had been killed, although the entire scene remained silent as before, the sound of Zhong Ya''s motionless corpse hitting the ground still shook the audience greatly.


    How could the third Dharma adept of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun have passed away so easily?


    "No..."


    "This is impossible! This is impossible!"


    Among the crowd that was murmuring about the events that had just happened, Chen Dandan was the first to recover, and she had on an expression of disbelief and shock.


    "Brother has won!"


    Sitting on the golden-crowned eagle, Little Gold''s back, Yun Lu cheered excitedly with a flushed face. Little Gold, similarly, had let out rings of light in his excitement.


    So what if Zhong Ya was a Dharma adept? He was still killed in the end by their master!


    "Chen Dandan!"


    When Zhou Donghuang''s voice rose up once more, everyone else regained their senses as well. After sighing to themselves, they glanced at Zhou Donghuang with a completely different expression as before.


    They could not help but only view him with fear now.


    This young man, dressed purely in white, was merely a Primal Core adept. However, he was immensely powerful, and his skills were already at a shocking level.


    He could easily kill a Golden Essence adept.


    Similarly, killing a Dharma adept was also of no issue to him!


    "Who... who exactly is he!?"


    "What kind of evil being is he? Could he really be a member of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun!?"


    ...


    As the crowd of people stared at Zhou Donghuang fearfully, Zhou Donghuang had already moved to where Chen Dandan was standing. He glanced stoically at Chen Dandan with an unreadable expression.


    Just as Zhou Donghuang stared at Chen Dandan, those people who had been standing around her were now so frightened that they had scattered in all directions, keeping a distance from Chen Dandan lest they became casualties in this new conflict that was about to explode.


    "Zhou... Zhou Donghuang..."


    Glancing at this young man dressed in white before her, Chen Dandan''s face was full of desolation. She had never imagined that even with the backing of the Xuanyin Sect, one of the five powerful sects in the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, she would still lose to Zhou Donghuang.


    This youth had now become the strongest of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun.


    To Chen Dandan, several things were clear:


    In the battle today, the young man before her had already ascended to the peak of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, and no one from the several sects would dare to offend him.


    Did she regret it all? Of course she did.


    If she had not been someone who betrayed the adoptive mother who had taken care of her, if she had not betrayed the man before her, she probably would have already been married to this man under the direction of her adoptive mother.


    In that case, Chen Dandan would have been able to ride on Zhou Donghuang''s acquired glory and become a member of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun. It was a pity that one wrong step had led to her downfall of today.


    "All I wanted to say and ask, I have already done so three years ago."


    Zhou Donghuang glanced sideways at Chen Dandan, and the corners of his mouth turned up into a mocking smile. "Before I kill you, do you have anything to say, Chen Dandan?"


    Chen Dandan sighed deeply. "You have won this fair and square. I have nothing to say!"


    Three years ago, Chen Dandan knew that this person before her would never spare her so easily and would eventually kill her. Today, although she truly wished to live, she knew that Zhou Donghuang would never allow her the chance to do so.


    It didn''t matter if she remained defiant or fell to her knees. Today, she was destined to die.


    Why not die with a bit more dignity?


    "If that is so, then off you go."


    Under the watchful gaze of the entire crowd, Zhou Donghuang''s body emitted silver flames, and these flames suddenly formed a giant hand in the sky, which landed on Chen Dandan''s head.


    Ping!


    A giant explosion rang out, and the ground shook, dust spraying everywhere.


    Some people''s faces suddenly went numb with the impact.


    When the dust had settled, a giant hand-shaped valley appeared in the ground. In this giant valley, blood was everywhere, and they were some traces of clothes and long hair.


    Chen Dandan, who should have died three years ago in the Valley of the Medicine Masters, had managed to survive till today, but eventually met her death as well.


    However, now, many others accompanied her to their graves.


    After Chen Dandan''s death, the entire venue remained silent.


    Those present were all too fearful to utter a word in front of the young man dressed in white. They were all afraid that any noise they made would irritate him.


    "Lord Tuo Jin."


    Zhou Donghuang turned to look at a monk who was sitting in the front row among the audience and spoke lightly, "Have you thought about it?"


    Once Zhou Donghuang had spoken, momentarily, everyone in the crowd become confused.


    "The Divine Light Sect will follow your wishes, Lord Donghuang."


    Almost immediately after hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, Young Lord Yuan of the Divine Light Sect, Tuo Jin, immediately stood up and bowed.


    Next, under the glances of a confused crowd, he barked out an order, and several of the Golden Essence adepts of the Divine Light Sect got up and rushed towards the remaining adepts of the Xuanyin Sect.


    Like a wolf devouring a pack of sheep, within an instant, all the adepts of the Xuanyin Sect were killed.


    This scene shocked everyone present once again!

 207 Destroying Xuanyin Sec

    Tuo Jin, leader of the Divine Light Sect, ordered for the people of his sect to kill the people of the Xuanyin Sect. This situation was one that nobody present could have expected, and it left them at a loss.


    How did the people of the Divine Light Sect become pawns to the youth who was dressed in white all of a sudden?


    "Lord Tuo Jin."


    After the Primal Core adepts from the Divine Light Sect had killed the Connate adepts from the Xuanyin Sect, Zhou Donghuang exchanged greetings with Lord Tuo Jin. At the same time, he quickly swept over the auditorium that housed people of the big three sects¡ªthe Thousand-year Sect, Xuesha Sect and Tianwu Sect.


    "It seems like someone was making rude remarks about me earlier on."


    The second Zhou Donghuang said that, the faces of the big three sect leaders and their people changed immediately.


    The three sect leaders sprung up from their seats. They were about to apologize, but Zhou Donghuang beat them to it, and said, "Each of your three families have to pay me a hundred thousand spirit stones as compensation for the psychological damage you have dealt to me. I want to see the stones before Year 1234 of the Ziyun Era.


    "Lord Tuo Jin, come find me if any of the three refuse to cooperate and I will pay them a visit myself to collect the stones! I''ll also spar a little with their Golden Essence adepts while I''m there."


    There was as cold glint to Zhou Donghuang''s eyes as he spoke, which caused the three sect leaders to blanch.


    A hundred thousand spirit stones?


    Not just that¡ªthis young man was going to visit them personally if they refused to cooperate?


    To spar with their Golden Essence adepts?


    Qi Ming, a Golden Essence adept from Xuanyin Sect, had been killed by the man in a matter of seconds, a man who had killed a Dharma adept, no less. The Golden Essence adepts of the big three sects were just no match for him!


    Sparring?


    Who was he kidding?


    It was obviously a threat¡ªif they dared to not hand over the stones, Zhou Donghuang would kill the Golden Essence adepts standing behind them as interest.


    "Yes, Your Highness."


    Tuo Jin hurriedly responded. At the same time, he glanced over at the three sect leaders. "Sect Leaders, please go back and have the spirit stones delivered to us at the Divine Light Sect, please.


    "Remember to have them delivered before Year 1234 of the Ziyun Era."


    Tuo Jin reminded them emphatically.


    At the same time, the man felt somewhat relieved.


    It was a good thing that the people of the Divine Light Sect had realized just how frightening the young man was and had refrained from gossiping. Otherwise, it was likely that the Divine Light Sect would be just as unlucky as the other three sects were today.


    "Your Highness."


    "But a hundred thousand spirit stones¡­ isn''t that a little too much?"


    Hu Chengshuo could not help but let his anger seep into his words. He felt that what the man before him was doing was tantamount to extortion.


    At the same time, the sect leaders of the Thousand-Year Sect and the Tianwu Sect cast their gaze toward Zhou Donghuang simultaneously.


    Xuesha Sect Leader, Hu Chengshuo had spoken his mind.


    "Too much?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes gleamed for a second, but he quickly schooled his expression. He turned to look at Hu Chengshuo then offered blandly, "Two hundred thousand spirit stones."


    A deathly silence fell over the crowd at his words. The people looked at him as if they had seen a ghost, and the only thought that was running through their heads was that the man was going too far.


    "Your Highness, y¡ªyou''re joking, right?"


    Hu Chengshuo''s face was flushed with anger, but he suppressed it and responded in a low voice.


    Even if he totaled the entirety of the Xuesha Sect''s reserve of spirit stones, he would barely scrape together slightly more than two hundred thousand spirit stones. And the young man standing before him had the audacity to ask for them to handover what they had been accumulating for a thousand years?


    The other members of the Xuesha Sect looked at Zhou Donghuang, anger written clearly all over their faces. They would never have expected for the young powerhouse to be so vicious.


    Two hundred thousand spirit stones?


    Why not just go rob someone?


    This time, Zhou Donghuang responded to Hu Chengshuo with a slap.


    Thump!!


    Though not as fancy as the time he killed Chen Dandan, he slapped Hu Chengshuo firmly. It felt like a heavy piledriver had fallen on his head and sent him straight through the sturdy floorboards. The man was turned into a pile of meat in an instant.


    The Xuesha Sect Leader, a late Primal Core, died just like that.


    The remaining members of the Xuesha Sect were even more enraged, but all of them kept their heads bowed. Not a single one of them dared to lift their head up.


    This was no laughing matter!


    What would they do if Zhou Donghuang had them killed in a fit of rage?


    The surrounding crowd was made up of people from Ziyun. Though they were not from any of the three sects, they could not help the shiver that ran up their spine.


    They felt that the young man before them was too barbaric!


    Of course, they knew this much: This young man could afford to be this barbaric!


    "After you return to the Xuesha Sect, relay this message to the person who''ll step up as leader¡­ Two hundred thousand spirit stones, not a single stone less than that."


    Zhou Donghuang said as he glanced at the people of the Xuesha Sect.


    When he cast his gaze to the leaders of the Thousand-Year Sect and the Tianwu Sect, the two of them hurriedly bowed at their waist with their heads low. "Your Highness, we will personally deliver the hundred thousand spirit stones to the Divine Light Sect after we return!"


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded. "Since the two of you are being so cooperative¡­ I''ll give the both of you two spirit weapons each."


    After he said that, Zhou Donghuang waved his arm carelessly and tossed two swords and two daggers to the two sect leaders as if he were tossing garbage.


    Wordlessly, the two sect leaders collected a dagger and sword each. They tested the feel of the blades of a while before they turned to look at each other in pure glee.


    "These are real spirit weapons!"


    The two of them chorused. Just like that, the resentment that had built up in their chest dissipated and was replaced by a surge of excitement.


    A hundred thousand spirit stones in exchange for two spirit weapons.


    This was a lucrative deal!


    In this moment, it was not just the people of the Thousand-Year Sect and Tianwu Sect who felt this way, but even the bystanders thought that the two of them had really profited from this¡ªand they had profited a great deal, at that.


    There was one thing you had to know: Before this, there were only two spirit weapons in the whole of Ziyun.


    The people of the Xuesha Sect, on the other hand, were seething with rage. Not only did they miss out on a spirit weapon, but they had to pay two hundred thousand spirit stones on top of that?


    Resentment was building up in their hearts, directed at Hu Chengshuo, the previous leader of their sect who was now dead.


    After all, they only landed in this plight because the man had stepped forward.


    If not for that, they would have profited instead of incurring a larger loss.


    "Lead the way, Lord Tuo Jin."


    Zhou Donghuang returned to perch on Little Gold''s back. After he was back beside Yun Lu, he looked again to Divine Light Sect Leader Tuo Jin, signaling for the latter to lead them to where the Xuanyin Sect was.


    "Yes."


    Tuo Jin responded. Before he left, he looked towards the leaders of the Thousand-Year Sect and the Tianwu Sect. "Gentlemen, the Divine Light Sect will be making its way to the Xuanyin Sect along with His Highness. Will the two of you be coming along?" Tuo Jin asked.


    Without waiting for the two of them to respond, he brought the Primal Core adepts from his sect to move to where the Xuanyin Sect was.


    Little Gold, the golden-crowned eagle, started to move from where he was in front of the crowd. He followed closely behind the people of the Divine Light Sect.


    After the leaders of the other two sects shook themselves out of their stupor, they scurried to gather their people and followed behind as well.


    They had their own guesses for what Zhou Donghuang and the people of the Divine Light Sect were going to do to the Xuanyin Sect. "The Xuanyin Sect¡­ it will no longer exist after today."


    The spirit weapons Zhou Donghuang gave to the two sects had pleased the people greatly and put them in a good mood. They were now more partial to currying favor with Zhou Donghuang and carrying out tasks for him.


    As such, when they were at the Xuanyin Sect base, Zhou Donghuang did not even have to lift a finger.


    The man went straight to looking for the sect''s secret storehouse, completely emptying it off all their spirit stones and a plethora of other valuables they had accumulated over the years.


    There was so much to loot that his space ring was not enough.


    It was a good thing he killed a few of their higher-ups in Xuanyin City earlier on, as well as the Xuesha Sect Leader. Their space rings were barely enough to store all of the stuff.


    ¡­


    "Lord Tuo Jin, did you guys... did you guys already know that His Highness was such a frightening man?"


    Ye Wen, the Tianwu Sect leader who had killed a Xuanyin Sect elder earlier on, turned to the Divine Light Sect leader to ask him.


    The Divine Light Sect had not uttered a single word of disrespect to Zhou Donghuang earlier on at the Feast of Ziyun.


    On top of that, it was clear from Zhou Donghuang and Tuo Jin''s interactions that the pair had known each other before this, long enough to have achieved some sort of partnership.


    "I''ve long known that His Highness had the power to kill Golden Essence adepts¡­ But I never once imagined that you would also be strong enough to kill off a Dharma adept," Tuo Jin exclaimed.


    If he had known earlier that Zhou Donghuang had the power to kill Dharma adepts, then Ci Xuan would never have had to flee in fear of Zhong Ya.


    "Lord Tuo Jin, this base will become unoccupied after the Xuanyin Sect falls, and it''s a good base¡­ there''s a spirit stone vein right under the base."


    Ye Wen''s eyes gleamed. "Did His Highness Donghuang mention anything about the management of that vein?"


    The spirit stone vein of the Xuanyin Sect produced more spirit stones in a year than the one Tianwu Sect''s does.


    "The Divine Light Sect will relocate here."


    Tuo Jin added, "This will be the new base of the Divine Light Sect."


    "Your sect is relocating here? Your entire sect?"


    Ye Wen stared with wide eyes. "Then what will become of your current base? The spirit stone vein your current sect sits on is far larger than the one here."


    "Our current base?" Tuo Jin asked with a chuckle. "That place will belong to His Highness."


    This was the agreement he reached with the Divine Light Sect when he had sought them out. The plan was to have the sect relocate from Shenguang Peak to the Xuanyin Sect base.


    In exchange for that, Zhou Donghuang promised to help refine spirit weapons for every one of the Divine Light Sect adepts in Late Primal Core.


    And it was precisely because of this that the Divine Light Sect¡ªwhether it was Lord Tuo Jin or the other higher-ups¡ªwas very pleased with the deal.


    The downfall of the Xuanyin Sect was something that had already been predetermined when Zhong Ya abducted Chen Dandan three years ago.


    Something that was set in motion three years ago had finally come to an end on this day.


    "It seems as if His Highness has given the Divine Light Sect no shortage of perks."


    It was easy for Ye Wen to come to this conclusion. Not only was Tuo Jin not dissatisfied with having to relocate to a base that was not as good as his current, he actually seemed rather happy.

 208 Donghuang Sec

    "Brother... are you leaving soon?"


    From up above the Xuanyin Sect base on the back of Little Gold, Yun Lu stared resolutely at Zhou Donghuang, her pretty face marred by a rare show of solemnity.


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled dotingly as he stroked Yun Lu''s hair. "After I''ve sent Mother to Shenguang Peak and made the necessary preparations... then I''ll leave."


    Zhou Donghuang had brought up the topic of his departure from Ziyun to Yun Lu a long time ago.


    "Brother... will you return?" Yun Lu asked again.


    "Of course." Zhou Donghuang nodded. "I can''t bear to leave you behind, you brat... Hmm, wait for me to come back. I''ll definitely bring you something good."


    "I don''t want anything good... I just want for you to come home regularly," Yun Lu replied, solemn.


    "Alright, alright... Alright."


    Zhou Donghuang responded with a smile. At the same time, he scanned the base of Xuanyin Sect. There were swords and knives everywhere, but it was a completely one-sided battle where there was not even a shred of suspense with regards to how the battle will turn out.


    The strongest of Xuanyin Sect had been killed by him at the Feast of Ziyun.


    Even the strongest of the remaining people were no match for Divine Light Sect Leader Tuo Jin, much less the adepts under the leadership of the Thousand-Year Sect and the Tianwu Sect leaders who had joined the fray.


    In just an hour, the dust settled.


    "Your Highness, I will have a hundred thousand spirit stones transported to the Divine Light Sect the moment I return. The stones will be handed over to Lord Tuo Jin, who will deliver it to you."


    Tianwu Sect Leader Ye Wen brought his men and bowed in greeting to Zhou Donghuang. Ye Wen said, "Also, if time permits, please feel free to stop by our sect... We of the Tianwu Sect will greet you with the warmest welcome!"


    "Your Highness, I, too, will have the spirit stones delivered to you as soon as possible... The Thousand-Year Sect awaits your arrival as well," the Thousand-Year Sect Leader declared.


    After the battle today at the Feast of Ziyun, both leaders knew full well that the young man clothed in white standing before them was destined to be a god!


    The young man had more power than all of the adepts in Ziyun combined. There was no doubt that he was the strongest in all of Ziyun.


    Such an existence should be one they had on their sides and not against them.


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded mildly. He then turned to look towards Divine Light Sect Tuo Jin. "I''m leaving to pick somebody up now, Tuo Jin... You return too, to make your preparations."


    "Yes, Your Highness," Tuo Jin replied respectfully.


    Shortly after, Little Gold flew up with a flap of its wings, bringing Zhou Donghuang and Yun Lu up with it and disappearing into the clouds.


    "Lord Tuo Jin, you''re rather chummy with His Excellency... Is he really from Ziyun like the rest of us?"


    After Zhou Donghuang had left, the Tianwu Sect leader could not help but ask Tuo Jin.


    In the history of Ziyun¡ªwhich spanned more than a thousand years¡ªthis was the first time they had seen someone who defied the laws of nature like Zhou Donghuang did. All of them were suspecting that the man in question was not actually from Ziyun.


    The leader of the Thousand-Year Sect looked at Tuo Jin as well, clearly curious about the man.


    "Lord Ye, I know what you''re thinking."


    Tuo Jin sighed, then spoke again, "But His Excellency is really from Ziyun."


    "I can''t believe someone like him is actually from Ziyun," Lord Ye sighed in response.


    "After the people who attended the Feast of Ziyun have gone home, they will take this news back with them... It''s only a matter of time before the name ''Zhou Donghuang'' will spread through the entirety of Ziyun!" Ye Wen exclaimed again. "You can just imagine the history of Ziyun in the future, a lasting one, one where his name will have its own place.


    "The few Dharma adepts that have appeared before him simply paled in comparison. He just overshadows them!"


    ...


    Things unfolded exactly as the Thousand-Year Sect Leader Ye Wen had predicted.


    In the short span of a few months, there was no one in the whole of Ziyun¡ªbarring the remote and desolate outskirts, like the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley and the Fourteen Countries of Southern Jiang¡ªwho did not know that name.


    Zhou Donghuang.


    A late Primal Core adept.


    Why did they say that he defied the laws of nature?


    He who was barely twenty.


    He who had killed the Xuanyin Sect''s Golden Essence elder, Qi Ming, a man who stood on top of the entire Ziyun, and then went on to kill Elder Zhong Ya despite the latter having stepped into the Dharma stage!


    He who had wiped out the Xuanyin Sect, one of the five great sects of Ziyun, with his own strength.


    "Even if the combined strength of all the Golden Essence adepts of the other four great sects of Ziyun is somehow a match for him, the more important thing is that the man is still young. His potential is boundless!"


    "Zhou Donghuang will become a prominent figure for Ziyun."


    "His Excellency is the role model for the adepts of Ziyun!"


    ...


    It seemed like Zhou Donghuang had become a lifelong goal for many people through the whole of Ziyun, whether they were adepts who had been at Xuanyan City witnessing the man''s prowess first-hand, or adepts who had heard of but never seen the man.


    There were also a few adepts who had seen Zhou Donghuang in Xuanyan City and committed his image to their memory. They then returned to have his likeness carved out as a statue to be put in their sects and families for worship.


    Zhou Donghuang was none the wiser about any of this.


    After he had left the base of Xuanyin Sect, he brought his younger sister, Yun Lu, back to Valley of the Medicine Masters. He then picked up his mother, Lin Lan, and the rest of the people back to the base of the Divine Light Sect¡ªShenguang Peak.


    The Valley Head Su Mo immediately commanded that the Valley of the Medicine Masters will disband. Instead, the Donghuang Sect will be established.


    His master, Zhou Donghuang, will serve as the founder and first leader of the new sect while he would be the vice-leader, in charge of its general affairs.


    After the Divine Light Sect completely uprooted and relocated away from Shenguang Peak, the place had become the base for the Donghuang Sect and was subsequently renamed to Donghuang Peak.


    And the Shenguang Empire had been renamed the "Donghuang Empire."


    As for the original Valley of the Medicine Masters base, it was not left deserted. It had become a branch base for the Donghuang Sect, to be owned by Lu Qinghu. Lu Qinghu was the former head of the Lu family from Yunfeng Prefecture, the Western Chu Ridge in Yunyang.


    "Spread the word to every one of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley: the Valley of the Medicine Masters is hereby dissolved, and the Donghuang Sect has been established. Detail the deeds of our Donghuang Sect leader, His Excellency, and have it bound into books to be delivered to the royal families of each of the Sixteen Countries. Have them replicate it and circulate it to even the furthest corners of the East Valley."


    Following the announcement made by Lu Qinghu, every single person in the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley knew of Zhou Donghuang''s deeds not long after.


    They also knew that, from this day forth, the new master of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley was no longer Valley of the Medicine Masters but the Donghuang Sect.


    The Valley of the Medicine Masters had now been incorporated into Donghuang Sect.


    And the previous Valley Head, Su Mo had declared Zhou Donghuang to be the Donghuang Sect leader.


    "To think that there would be so many Primal Core adepts of legends here in Ziyun... This is completely unheard of in the five great empires and the five great sects of Ziyun!"


    "So the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley is but a remote village in Ziyun... The five great empires are so vast, tens and hundreds of times more so than the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley. How fascinating."


    "Who would have thought that the Xuanyin Sect, which was once part of the five great sects of Ziyun, would have been leveled by someone from our Sixteen Countries of the East Valley... Not only that, but that person was currently the strongest in the whole of Ziyun and has singlehandedly founded Donghuang Sect. He is crowned leader by the Head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, no less. He seems so much like someone from Yunyang."


    "They say that, in the future, the Donghuang Sect will return here to the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley every year to recruit new disciples... The really talented adepts have a chance of being sent to the main sect of the Donghuang Sect."


    ... .


    This year, 1234 of the Ziyun Era, was meant to be an unforgettable one for the people of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley.


    This year, they learned about a lot of things that they had never heard of before.


    This year, they knew that an outstanding figure had walked out from the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley. That person was now the Donghuang Sect leader, who had the whole of the Donghuang Empire in his palm.


    Of course, the ones who felt this the most were the people in Yunyang.


    "Zhou Donghuang... Is it that Zhou Donghuang?"


    "It''s him."


    "The preeminent Lu Family that used to reside at Yunfeng County beneath the Western Chu Ridge... they''ve been escorted to the Donghuang Sect... That family is also on good terms with Zhou Donghuang¡ªLu Qinghu of that family has always been following Zhou Donghuang''s lead, no less!"


    "For a preeminent family like theirs to hit it big in one go like that, they''re practically superior to the royal families of the Sixteen Countries of the East Valley!"


    "They say that Lu Qinghu is the leader of the Donghuang Sect, and he''s now a Primal Core adept!"


    "He picked a good man to follow, huh. His master''s hit it big, and now he''s reaping the benefits as well."


    ...


    A group of high-level officials from the Chu royal household were gathered in the Chu royal city in the Western Chu Ridge. They were sighing and laughing bitterly as they chatted.


    If they had befriended Zhou Donghuang instead of making an enemy out of the man in the beginning, this success could have been theirs!


    "There are quite a few people in the influential, aristocratic Tang Family who followed the lead of Ren Jiapei, the first lady of the Ren Family, to the Donghuang Sect. I heard that the she was sent directly to the main branch of the Donghuang Sect."


    "That''s to be expected. Ren Jiapei''s on good terms with Yang Zixi, who''s always by Zhou Donghuang, but she''s also on good terms with Zhou Donghuang himself."


    "I heard quite a number of people from the Yang Family are fuming."


    "I really didn''t think that the young man who had been an adept back then is now standing on top of the entirety of Ziyun, completely peerless!"


    ...


    Qingshan town.


    Residence of the Qin Family.


    "Miss Xiaoyu, Uncle Zhen, I''ve been sent by my brother to come pick you up."


    The huge black eagle hovered above the front yard of the Qin residence, and on its back sat a young girl who seemed to be around eight or nine years old. When she opened her mouth to speak, her voice seemed to magically carry to the Qin residence below.


    Not long after, many people were gathered in the front yard.


    "It''s Miss Yun Lu, younger sister of Young Master Donghuang!"


    "She''s come to personally pick up Xiaoyu and Elder Qin Zhen? Are they being brought to the main branch of the Donghuang Sect?"


    ...


    Now, even a small town as remote as Qingshan town was well aware of what had happened regarding Zhou Donghaung.


    It was to the extent that a statue of him had been placed in front of the main gates of the Yunxuan Restaurant in the town. There was a tablet on one side of the statue, and carved onto it were the various things that Zhou Donghuang had done after his departure from Qingshan town.

 209 About to Leave

    Sometimes, a single decision could determine your fate.


    Within Yunyang, those who were on good terms with Zhou Donghuang were bound to succeed in time to come. Even the Primal Core stage was not an unachievable feat.


    As for the people who had made an enemy out of him, they were all wallowing in their regret.


    Just like now.


    The people watched as the teenage girl and the middle-aged man stepped onto the back of the huge eagle to join the small girl. In the blink of an eye, the giant eagle flew up and into the clouds. The higher-ups of the lesser Qin Family from Qingshan town were filled with regret.


    "The Qin Family has missed its chance!"


    "If we didn''t stop this family from adopting Xiaoyu back then, the Qin Family wouldn''t have cut ties with that Young Master Donghuang¡­ I regret it, I really do!"


    "Xiaoyu and Qin Zhen are bound to succeed after they leave! And as for us, we''re doomed to only look up at them in the days to come."


    ¡­


    But it was not just the lesser Qin Family from Qingshan town¡ªthere were a lot of people who were stewing in regrets.


    Like the preeminent Lin Family from the capital of the Yunfeng Prefecture.


    If the Lin Family had not chased Lin Lan out, Zhou Donghuang would have been a guest disciple with their family and much, much closer to them than he was with the Lu family.


    But alas, because of the Lin Family''s miscalculations, they had completely and utterly cut ties with Lin Lan and missed their opportunity with Zhou Donghuang.


    "The people of the Lu Family, every last one of them are with the Donghuang Sect now¡­ And the Donghuang Sect is now located where the Valley of the Medicine Masters once was."


    "I heard the people of the Lu Family are gifted, all of them are, and all of them stand a chance of being sent to the main branch of the Donghuang Sect. For example, Lu Qinghu, previous head of the Lu Family, is now the leader of the sub-sect, and his son was sent to the main branch of the Donghuang Sect."


    "I heard Lu Qinghu is a Primal Core adept now¡­ I remember how he was like back then, and he was nowhere near as competent as our Lin Family head."


    "If not for the fact that the family head had kicked Lin Lan out of the family, he would have been a Primal Core adept by now. And the position of the Donghuang Sub-Sect leader would definitely belong to the family head."


    "One wrong move is all it takes."


    "My God! We of the Lin Family really missed the opportunity of a lifetime!"


    ¡­


    The disciples and elders of the Lin Family alike were all lamenting and wallowing in regret back in the Lin Residence. No one said it but, deep down, all of them thought the family head must have been blind to have let such a golden opportunity slip through his fingers.


    Now the whole of the Yunfeng Prefecture capital was mocking Lin Zhuoye, the foolish head of the Lin Family who had shut his doors on such an opportunity.


    "Hahahaha¡­ Serves you right, Chen Dandan! Good kill, it was a good kill!"


    Hong Yunfei, the first young master of the Hong Family, had once been chased out of Valley of the Medicine Masters by Chen Dandan. After a desperate return to the Hong Family in the Yunfeng Prefecture capital, he cooped himself up at home to train and rarely left his home.


    After he caught wind of the news that Zhou Donghuang had killed Chen Dandan in the Feast of Ziyun, he was overcome with joy. He felt vindicated, like his revenge was complete.


    "If I had known that that brat Zhou Donghuang would become the person he is today¡­ I would have succeeded if I just sucked up to that b*itch Chen Dandan and Zhou Donghuang at the same time."


    The Hong Family Head, Hong Wei, lamented not taking action when he could have. "Otherwise, I would have been in a decent place now, even if I wasn''t as competent as Lu Qinghu."


    Now, he was a merely a Qi-Gathering adept, while Lu Qinghu was already a Primal Core adept!


    He even looked up to the Connate adepts, much less a Primal Core adept.


    "Father! I''m making preparations to take part in the assessment that the Donghuang Sect will host this year at Yunyang. I''m going to do my best to pass the assessment and become a Donghuang Sect disciple!"


    Hong Yunfei responded to Hong Wei with a serious face, "The current Donghuang Sect is even stronger than the Valley of the Medicine Masters was¡­ but I still want to join the Donghuang Sub-Sect!"


    Of course, there was still one thing he left unsaid.


    He wanted to meet the legendary Donghuang Sect leader, Zhou Donghuang. He wanted to personally thank the man for killing Chen Dandan and indirectly exacting his revenge for him!


    "Zhou Donghuang, h-he''s actually accomplished so much?"


    In the Li Residence, Li Rui paled. He never would have expected for Zhou Donghuang to climb up to the top of Ziyun in the span of a few short years.


    The Zhou Donghuang of today was just like the sky of Ziyun; with just one word, he could take the life of any person in Ziyun.


    He stood on top of the world, and there was no higher place than his.


    ¡­


    The Donghuang Peak was now the base of the Donghuang Sect.


    Of course, the Donghuang Sect had not started recruiting for disciples yet.


    The Divine Light Sect left the area completely vacant when they up and relocated, and not a single elder or disciple was left behind.


    Of course, that was partially because Zhou Donghuang did not let them leave a single person behind. Otherwise, one word of his and the Divine Light Sect would leave anyone he so wanted.


    "Sister Jiapei, I know you like Big Brother Zhou too."


    Halfway up Donghuang Peak in a sequestered courtyard, Yang Zixi was currently sitting beside Ren Jiapei who had just arrived at the Donghuang Sect. She held on tightly to Ren Jiapei''s hands as she confided.


    "Don''t worry, Sister Zixi, I¡­ I won''t compete with you."


    There was a strained smile on Ren Jiapei''s face.


    "Sister Jiapei, that''s not what I mean."


    Yang Zixi shook her head. "I just wanted to tell you that you don''t have to worry about me if you really like Big Brother Zhou. Because, to be honest, I''m just a third-party to him."


    Yang Zixi heaved a huge sigh. "Big Brother Zhou has long had someone else in his mind."


    "Who?"


    Ren Jiapei''s pupils constricted. All along, she had truly believed that Zixi would have been the first choice if he wanted a good partner.


    But now, the lady was telling her something else. Big Brother Zhou had been in love with someone else all this time?


    "I don''t know her either¡­ All I know is that she''s not from Ziyun.


    "I''ve asked Xiao Lu before, and she said that the person he''s in love with has been a Primal Core adept when she was only twenty."


    "A twenty-year-old Primal Core adept who is not from Ziyun. This person must come from an extraordinary background. There''s no telling the heights they will soar to in the days to come."


    "I''m telling you all this mainly because I want to say that if you really like Big Brother Zhou and you don''t mind the fact that he''s being surrounded by so many women all the time, you need to train hard to keep in pace with that lady."


    "I... I''m thinking the same."


    "This is the only way we can be of help to Big Brother Zhou. We might even be recognized by him."


    Yang Zixi had kept these words tucked away in a corner of her heart for a very long time and only said it all in front of Ren Jiapei, who was taken aback and fell silent in the face of the confession.


    In the next moment, Ren Jiapei''s gaze steeled, hardened over by resolve.


    "Of course, be that as it may, there''s a possibility we won''t be by his side in the future¡­ Love is not love without reciprocation.


    "But I do think that, since we like Big Brother Zhou, we should at least help him with some tasks or share his burdens, even if we won''t end up together."


    Yang Zixi fell into a trance as she spoke, her face clouded over with infatuation. "I think it''s worth if I get to see him smile."


    Lin Lan stood in another secluded courtyard not far off, staring at the two ladies from a distance as she heaved a deep sigh. "Such good girls¡­ It''d be great if one of them could be my daughter-in-law."


    "Miss, Young Master Donghuang is all grown up now¡­ Let time take its course with the matters of the heart," Granny Lian said with a smile from where she stood behind Lin Lan.


    "Sometimes, I just can''t understand what goes through that kid''s head."


    Lin Lan shook her head. "Leave it. He''s leaving Ziyun soon anyway, just let him do what he wants.


    "If he sorts out his relationship with those two girls right before he leaves, it wouldn''t be fair to them anyway. If we look at how things are now, at least they won''t be dealing with too much heartbreak even when Donghuang leaves."


    Lin Lan looked up after she said that, looking towards the higher part of Donghuang Peak. "Donghuang''s probably more or less done with the spells.


    "He''ll leave soon, when the time comes."


    The depths of Lin Lan''s gaze betrayed a sense of reluctance and unwillingness to let him go.


    Of course, she had no intention of stopping her son from leaving even if she did not really want him to go, since she knew that her child had his own path to walk.


    "A twenty-three-year-old Primal Core adept¡­ Ziyun cannot contain him."


    Lin Lan sighed gently.


    Zhou Donghuang, clad from head to toe in clothes whiter than snow, was floating high above the apex of Donghuang Peak. He used his finger as a brush, condensing the inner Yuan and using it to draw out intricate patterns and lines on the cliffs.


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    ¡­


    After carving for some time, spirit stone after spirit stone started falling from between his hands, as if they were not worth much. Every last one fell into one of the patterns he had carved out.


    He was currently casting spells to protect the Donghuang Sect.


    This would also be the very first protective spell in the whole of Ziyun.


    Whether it was the other great four sects of Ziyun of the Xuanyin Sect that Zhou Donghuang had already wiped out, not a single one of them had this spell.


    Throughout the entire universe, this spell to protect the sect could only be cast by the sects that had individuals who were at least as strong as Primordial Souls.


    Because casting the spell simply required too many resources that the average sect just could not afford.


    Even though Zhou Donghuang was carving out the spell now, he was only able to do so by recalling the most basic of the spells and discarding quite a few bits of it.


    Otherwise, the resources he had on hand would not be able to sustain this.


    "I don''t want the defensive spell or any of the other spells. Leave only the offensive spell.


    "I''ll fill the spirit stones with the offensive spell, enough for it to be activated three times.


    "Once the offensive spell is activated, even the early Dharma adepts will not be able to escape from its clutches! Surprisingly, it''s also able to injure the mid Dharma adepts."


    This was also the trump card that Zhou Donghuang was leaving here before he had to leave this place. He would then leave things in the hands of his mother, Lin Lan, and his sister, Yun Lu.


    "Done."


    Zhou Donghuang completed the spells after half a month.


    Of course, it was not like he had been working on the spells round the clock during that period of time. The spells he had done up were not just to protect the sect, there were also several other energy-gathering positions.


    Zhou Donghuang had been practicing during this half-month, and he used what time he had left to do up the spells. As such, his practice was not affected in any way.


    "I have to keep mother and Xiao Lu company in the next two days¡­ After those two days, I''ll be leaving Ziyun!"


    It was late in the night. Zhou Donghuang looked up at the vast sky, dotted with an innumerable amount of stars, eyes filled with anticipation and excitement.


    He was finally leaving Ziyun!


    He was even more excited than he had been when he had left Earth!

 210 Leaving the Powerful Supreme Sect of Ziyun

    During the period of construction of the Donghuang Peak, not only did Zhou Donghuang continue to train hard, he even managed to create some ultimate spirit weapons and superior spirit weapons for those closest to him.


    At the same time, he also created a giant batch of core drugs.


    Of course, he prescribed a few core drugs specifically for his mother, Lin Lan.


    His mother, Lin Lan, was generally a more meticulous person. Furthermore, she trained under the Technique of Everlasting Youth. After she entered the Primal Core stage, she was able to consolidate her Samadhi fire, which was extremely useful for core-forging.


    Furthermore, from the way Lin Lan favored certain prescriptions by Zhong Ya, it could be assumed that she was extremely interested in pharmacy as well as alchemy.


    Holistically, it was easy to see that Zhou Donghuang''s mother, Lin Lan, had the potential to become an outstanding core-forging master.


    "Donghuang, with the standard that you are at now, if you stay in the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, I would be assured of your safety and status... However, if you leave us, there are many dangers and obstacles that lie ahead for you outside."


    Lin Lan had on a stern expression as she spoke to Zhou Donghuang. "I only have one request for you. Please be careful no matter what!"


    "Mother, do not worry." Zhou Donghuang smiled confidently. In the previous world, he had roamed the entire universe and several planets solo for thousands of years before he could be at the peak of it all. With such an experience previously, the infinite universe was nothing terrifying to him as every area was familiar and traversed before.


    "Brother, please come back soon... if not, I will miss you very, very much."


    Yun Lu had on a face of sadness as she gazed at Zhou Donghuang. After many years of interaction, she had already accepted this teenager before her as her own brother.


    "Alright, I''ll do as you command." Zhou Donghuang smiled lovingly back at her, indulging her.


    Since he had already made all the necessary preparations beforehand, Zhou Donghuang was able to spend his entire day with his mother and sister, telling them all sorts of stories and advising Lin Lan on how to protect the sect.


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang had also prepared some core-forging hearts for his mother, which would allow Lin Lan to face fewer obstacles and issues when core-forging after she had entered the Primal Core stage.


    "Donghuang, tomorrow, spend some time with Zixi and Jiapei... It''ll be convenient since they live together. When you intend to leave, let me know."


    At night, before Zhou Donghuang returned to his living quarters, Lin Lan had said these words to him.


    Zhou Donghuang had frozen slightly before nodding casually.


    "Alright, sure."


    "Fancy you speaking like a grownup!" Zhou Donghuang said heartily as he glanced at Yun Lu before leaving.


    Once he had returned to his room, Zhou Donghuang sat on his bed and took an internal look at his essence point.


    Now, within his essence point, 4 Primal Cores were floating within. Two of these Primal Cores were silver and were surrounded by silver inner Yuan. As for the other two Primal Cores, they were gold and surrounded by gold inner Yuan.


    For the two Golden Essences, they were rotating endlessly. Even if Zhou Donghuang did not take special care to train them, they would adjust their Qi according to the Lord of the Four Supremes'' route and absorb external spirit energy to train itself.


    Of course, this was not as effective as when Zhou Donghuang underwent training himself. Nevertheless, this was the specialty of adepts who were at the Primal Core stage and above. Even if there was no deliberate training, the golden Primal Cores within the essence point would still train by itself.


    However, as this was self-training, the two Golden Essences would only grow by themselves and would not help the remaining two Silver Essences to train. That responsibility still lay with Zhou Donghuang himself.


    "It is most imperative for me to train the two Silver Essences till they become Golden Essences right now," Zhou Donghuang mused to himself.


    Now, there was about a year left before the Xuanyan City Inn were to organize the Feast of Ziyun. Previously, Zhong Donghuang''s essence point had three Silver Essences and one Shi Essence. Within a years'' time, with the help of some rare herbs preserved by the Xuanyin Sect, Zhou Donghuang had greatly improved himself by leaps and bounds. Not only had the Shi Essence been successfully converted to Silver Essence, but two out of three of the Silver Essences had also been converted to Golden Essences.


    "With my powers now, even if that fellow I met, Zhong Ya of the Xuanyin Sect, managed to train himself to the Dharma level, I can still use my ultimate spirit weapon to destroy them!" The level of strength and power of Zhou Donghuang now was completely different from that of a year ago.


    "Tomorrow, I''ll have to face Zixi again... Jiapei, too." Thinking of Lin Lan''s instructions, Zhou Donghuang could not help but feel weary. At the same time, he could not help but recall an event of the past with a girl called Luo Qinghan.


    "Previously, I thought I had truly fallen for her. However, as time passed, till now... That fluttery feeling that I had towards her has now dulled significantly. If I think hard about it... I don''t understand her and she does not understand me. Why should I be so invested in her?


    "However, duties still have to be obliged. No matter what she feels, she is still my woman. This is a fact that cannot be changed. As a woman who has been my partner, no other men will be allowed to touch her!"


    Once he uttered those words allow, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes glinted coldly for a short period of time before they dulled again.


    "Although it is true that I do not have many substantial feelings for her, well... They can be developed over time."


    ...


    The next day, Zhou Donghuang followed his mother''s instructions and visited Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei''s home. Perhaps due to them knowing that Zhou Donghuang was about to leave, Zixi and Jiapei both studiously avoided any sensitive topics when speaking.


    "Brother Zhou, do not worry. When you leave the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, I will take good care of Aunty Lin Lan and Yun Lu on your behalf," Yang Zixi said heartily.


    "Thank you," Zhou Donghuang replied, smiling.


    "Brother Zhou, we''ll be waiting for you to return." Ren Jiapei''s gaze was rather clouded, and she had a slightly saddened expression on her face.


    Around evening time, Zhou Donghuang bid farewell to Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei before heading to visit Fu, Freezing Wind, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng. Zhou Donghuang only left their company in the early morning after instructing them of certain matters, following up on their training and sharing some advice and tips.


    "I''m leaving tomorrow."


    Before leaving, Zhou Donghuang had left the group with a few words of advice. "Train hard... I hope that when I return, you will all have already entered the Dharma stage."


    After hearing these words, Fu and the rest had the understanding that their master, Zhou Donghuang, was to leave for an extremely long period of time. Of course, the expectations that Zhou Donghuang had for Fu and the others were not considered too unreasonable. Within ten years, he would definitely return. With the giant energy-gathering position that he had installed upon the Donghuang Peak, Fu and the others would have their training speeds accelerated. As long as they were hardworking and did not slack off, within ten years, they definitely would be able to cross to the Dharma stage!


    ...


    The next day, as Zhou Donghuang prepared to leave, almost everyone in the Donghuang Peak came forward to send him off:


    Lin Lan, Yun Lu.


    Yang Zixi, Ren Jiapei.


    Fu, Freezing Wind, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng.


    Qin Xiaoyu, Qin Zhen.


    There were even the golden-crowned eagles, Big Gold and Little Gold.


    "Brother Donghuang, I''ll be awaiting your return!" Qin Xiaoyu called out to Zhou Donghuang longingly, her eyes red with impending tears.


    Now, Qin Xiaoyu was no longer the little girl of the past. She was now a grown woman, and the childish looks of her youth were transformed.


    This was unlike Yun Lu, who somehow managed to still look like a little girl of eight, nine years old.


    "Within ten years, I''ll have to return." In the sky, Zhou Donghuang waved and nodded at the crowd. With a shake of his body, the area surrounding him looked like it was lit up with golden flames.


    In the next moment, these golden flames became a shot of golden lightning, shooting up in the sky and disappearing into the clouds.


    "Wow..."


    Yun Lu, who was maturely holding back her tears, could not help it and ran into Lin Lan''s embrace as she burst into tears.


    As for the adults, be it Lin Lan, Yang Zixi or Ren Jiapei, tears were similarly streaming down their faces.


    Clearly, to allow Zhou Donghuang to leave unburdened, they had been holding back their tears as well.


    "Yun Lu, let''s not cry anymore," Qin Zhen consoled her daughter. "Remember what Brother Donghuang said? Within ten years, he will be back."


    Ten years.


    If one did not enter the Primal Core stage, their lives would only be extended to around that number of years.


    ...


    This leave by Zhou Donghuang was done by him alone. He had not brought anyone with him, not even the golden-crowned eagles Big Gold or Little Gold, and instead left them behind to protect the Donghuang Sect.


    "The Donghuang Sect is now only left with a few people and is grossly misrepresented. However, when I return, I assume that they would already have developed greatly."


    This time, before leaving, Zhou Donghuang had not just placed several energy-gathering positions around the living quarters of Lin Lan, but he had also placed several energy-gathering positions in other areas of Donghuang Peak. Of course, these energy-gathering positions varied in terms of power.


    However, even the best of the energy-gathering positions at other parts of the area were quite weak as compared to those that he had placed in Lin Lan''s living quarters. Those were simply prepared for the Donghuang disciples that came forward to visit and pray to the Donghuang Peak.


    "If I remember correctly, in the entire powerful supreme sect of Ziyun''s many planets, none have energy-gathering positions. Let''s find the nearest energy-gathering position now, first."


    Zhou Donghuang raised his hands, clutching a light blue ball the size of a baby in one of them. This was an "energy-searching bead" that he had invented.


    It was used to find the closest energy-gathering position around him and the magic within it would sense others nearby as well.


    It had been rather easy to make. As long as one understood the materials needed, even manufacturers of the early Primal Core stage would be able to make such a bead as well.


    As for the materials, it was rather flexible, and anything could be used as long as it could withstand the spells it had to hold.


    Of course, in the entire powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, other than Zhou Donghuang, 80 to 90 percent of the people did not really know how to make an energy-searching bead. This was because there was no single true alchemist in the entire powerful supreme sect of Ziyun.


    In Zhou Donghuang''s eyes, a true alchemist would be able to curate an inferior spirit weapon at the very least. If one only knew how to forge sword spheres and space rings, they could not be considered a true alchemist.


    Whoosh!


    Zhou Donghuang focused his inner Yuan on the energy-searching bead. The energy-searching bead flew forward towards a certain sensed direction, and Zhou Donghuang followed on its tail.


    "Now that I''ve teleported... Where should I go next?"


    Zhou Donghuang racked his brains as he followed the energy-searching bead, trying to recall his memories from his previous life.


    "It is now the year 1234 in the Ziyun Era. At this time in my past life, I was still on Earth!"

 211 Galaxy Teleporter

    "Although I did meet them in my previous life on Earth, other than lending them a helping hand and meddling with their life tracks at the end, my encounter with them did not really impact their fates or destinies too greatly."


    Zhou Donghuang kept the energy-searching bead and increased his speed as he traveled in the direction that the bead had pointed out. He planned to leave all the stars of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun behind and travel out.


    "In this life, although I did not reappear on Earth and meet them once more, I am sure that their life tracks have not been disrupted other than those who have met with special incidents.


    "Amongst them, by right, the earliest person to meet with an incident would only do so ten years ago... At this point, it is not yet urgent to return to Earth.


    "The next time I return to the powerful supreme sect of ZIyun, I''ll make a detour to Earth and help them ease their troubles."


    Very soon, Zhou Donghuang managed to make up his mind regarding his plans.


    "However, before I reach the planet with the teleporter, I need to consider where else I would want to go. For places that I have not yet visited, there is no reason to venture there now as it would be dangerous and risky. There is also lots of uncertainty involved.


    "In this world, my greatest advantage comes from having memories from my previous life."


    Zhou Donghuang was not a pedantic person. With the advantage of remembering his memories of the past, he of course would not recklessly choose to explore unknowns in this world.


    He would simply take whichever route was most ideal.


    He already had an advantage and was not foolish enough to relinquish or ignore that!


    After all, he was not a fool.


    "Let''s think hard... Before I left Earth in my previous life, I remember hearing rumors of the appearance of relics or treasures being left behind in certain places."


    As Zhou Donghuang hurried on his way, he continued to rack his brains and run through his past memories. He had too many memories from his past life, especially that of the time period after he had left Earth. If he did not actively seek them out one by one, he could not remember the details of any. The memories most clear to him were naturally of the last few hundred years.


    As for those memories, there was much information to be gleaned regarding inheritances and relics.


    However, they were of not much use to him at this moment. This was because his current powers now were not strong enough for him to gain the inheritances for himself even if he was aware of their whereabouts and how to get them. Since he did not have the means, he could not achieve the desired end result.


    Zhou Donghuang was firm that he would not seek to do things that he knew were beyond him.


    "I''ve got it! I''ll head down to the Honglong planet of the Tianma galaxy!"


    The Honglong planet! That was one of the planets that he had visited in his past life. At that time, someone had received a Dharma Peak adept''s inheritance.


    According to that rumor, that Dharma Peak adept was a non-affiliated practitioner. At the end of his life, he had set up a spell to conceal all traces of his life, lying in wait for someone who, according to fate, would meet him and collect his inheritance.


    Afterwards, that place was discovered by a few disciples of a giant sect on the Honglong planet. Naturally, the inheritance was thus passed on to the people of the sect.


    That event had been the hottest news on the Honglong planet, and everyone who was not a hermit on the Honglong planet had heard of it as well.


    "It seems that that whole thing took place to the north of the Sky Sword Sect of the Honglong planet, in the mountains of the flying beasts... I can''t remember the exact name of that mountain, though.


    "However, that was where the disciples of the Sky Sword Sect as well as other hardworking youths used to train together. Mm. After I arrive at the Honglong planet, I''ll head to where the Sky Sword Sect is located."


    Zhou Donghuang made his decision.


    "In my previous life, I only found out about this news about 130 years after... However, at that time, the news that had traveled through the Sky Sword Sect had mentioned that the Dharma Peak adept had already lived to about 200 years old.


    "That also means that that Dharma Peak adept ended his life 70 years ago. Now, his inheritance has already been placed at his intended location."


    "Although I don''t know the exact location of the inheritance within the mountain, I am nevertheless sure that it is there. If I am meticulous enough, over time, I''m sure that I will be able to find it."


    At this point, Zhou Donghuang was feeling rather confident.


    "I hope the teleporter that the energy-searching bead directed me to is in the neighboring area to the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun. If not, I''ll still have to travel through other planets and waste a lot of time," Zhou Donghuang mumbled to himself softly.


    In his previous life, Zhou Donghuang had been brought to Earth by a mad cultist, and he had traveled through the universe.


    As for the stars of the Earth, they had been neighbors of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun. Of course, that was not where Zhou Donghuang was heading towards now.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang was heading for another galaxy.


    In the galaxy of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, there were no teleporters. This meant that anyone with the intention of visiting the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun had to be randomly transferred here or be transferred to a nearby galaxy and then travel themselves physically. Apart from these two methods, there were no other ways to arrive here.


    On the other hand, among the stars of Earth, there were many teleporters. On Earth itself, there was not just one but in fact nine teleporters alone!


    Whoosh!


    A path was directed by the energy-searching bead, and Zhou Donghuang followed it steadfastly.


    Golden flames exploded around him, and his entire being looked like a golden shooting star in the sky, blasting off and leaving sparks in his wake.


    A month later, Zhou Donghuang eventually physically arrived at another galaxy. This was because the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun was relatively closer to this galaxy. If he had wanted to go to Earth and had traveled out from the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, with is speed, he would have needed three months at the very least to enter into the galaxy of the Earth.


    When he had left the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, the spirit energy of heaven and Earth had already been rather thin. The further he traveled from the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, the thinner the power of the heavenly spirit weapon as well.


    All along, Zhou Donghuang had been depending on the spirit stone vein to allow his inner Yuan to revitalize, heal and help him on his way.


    Within the blink of an eye, another two months had passed.


    "I still can''t see the star, and yet the spirit energy has thickened considerably. It seems as if the energy-searching bead has brought me to a teleporter that is on the planet ahead."


    After the two-month journey from another planet, Zhou Donghuang could feel that the spirit energy in the air had thickened significantly, and this only continued to increase as he rushed on his way.


    In these two months, Zhou Donghuang had approached three planets. However, the three planets did not possess spirit energy, and there were clearly no spirit stone veins present. They were not habitable by man, and there was no one in sight.


    "I see it!"


    Ten days later, a planet appeared before Zhou Donghuang''s eyes. Not only was it larger than Earth, but it was even bigger than the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun.


    However, it was not as beautiful as the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, let alone Earth. Earth was the most aesthetic and beautiful planet that Zhou Donghuang had seen to this day, without exception.


    "The spirit energy is extremely thick!" A day later, following the lead of the energy-searching bead, Zhou Donghuang arrived at the skies of the teleporter of the planet before him. He easily cut through the air and landed unhurriedly.


    The thickness of the spirit energy of this planet far surpassed that of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun.


    "In the environment of the powerful supreme sect of ZIyun, it is hard for even Dharma adepts to thrive. However, on this planet, be it Dharma adepts or Primal Core adepts, one can definitely flourish here!"


    Zhou Donghuang had to admit this fact as he breathed in the spirit energy deeply. Of course, only planets that had developed Primal Core adepts or those who had visits by Primal Core adepts would even have a teleporter.


    The structure behind a teleporter was not complicated nor hard. However, there were requirements for one''s level of practice, and only those who were at the Primal Core stage and above could create one.


    "I''ve arrived."


    Quickly, using the directions of the energy-searching bead, Zhou Donghuang found the location of the teleporter in a barren desert.


    This desert looked empty and desolate. An expansive stone stage stood in the middle of it.


    On the stone stage, there were nine separate regions. Each region had complex and detailed prints and images portrayed on them, and they were all identical. Furthermore, at the four corners of the stone stage, they were four giant stone pillars erected. The four giant stone pillars would require at least fifty young people working together to embrace it. They were a hundred feet high and looked extremely glorious. On them, they similarly also had detailed prints and images portrayed on them.


    This was a highly accurate galaxy teleporter.


    Under the main array, there were nine sub-arrays, and altogether, they could enable nine people to teleport to other planets or stars at the same time.


    Furthermore, within the four pillars of this galaxy teleporter, there were three rows of words printed:


    The Akiyama galaxy.


    The Heyu planet.


    The North Desert.


    Very clearly, this was the Heyu planet, and the area Zhou Donghuang was in was the North Desert.


    Furthermore, the Heyu planet existed on the Akiyama galaxy.


    These three lines etched upon the pillar could be said to be the coordinates of this teleporter in the infinite universe. For other planets and galaxies, one could use a teleporter to arrive there.


    "Is there anyone here?"


    Once Zhou Donghuang had arrived at the stone stage, Zhou Donghuang appeared to have found something, and he furrowed his brows as his gaze landed on one of the pillars.


    "Ah, I''ve been found."


    "There''s only one target, a Golden Essence adept."


    "Leave now."


    Three simultaneous voices sounded out brashly from behind the stone pillars, and three figures enveloped in golden flames immediately appeared as well. Within a short period of time, they had surrounded Zhou Donghuang.


    "If you don''t wish to lose your life, step away quickly!"


    Towards the three Golden Essence adepts, Zhou Donghuang retained his neutral gaze and called out somewhat annoyed.


    These three Golden Essence adepts had clearly been hiding in wait in the galaxy teleporter and been planning to use the teleporter to ambush adepts who were utilizing it.


    Only Primal Core adepts and above were able to use a galaxy teleporter.


    This was why be it someone who had traveled here or someone being sent away, they would be of a rather privileged background.


    For those who lay in wait here, it was equally likely for them to would meet someone weaker or stronger than them. This was not the first time Zhou Donghuang had met people like this; he had had plenty of experience back in his past life.


    Of course, he had only ever met such people on planets with Primal Core adepts.


    On planets that housed those stronger than Primal Core adepts, it was hard to meet people like this as they would not want to risk their lives.


    If someone from the Dharma stage and above did not take action, it was usually hard to distinguish them, unless the adepts of the Primal Core stage and above used their Divine Will to investigate the situation.


    However, for the adepts of the Primal Core stage and above, they did not generally join the ranks of those who lay in wait at teleporters to ambush people.

 212 Arrival at Honglong Plane

    For the three Golden Essence adepts who were surrounding Zhou Donghuang, they were momentarily stunned upon hearing his words.


    After recovering from their initial shock, they glanced at each other and could not help but laugh out loud. "Hahaha... what a joke! He is merely a Golden Essence adept and he dares to challenge us?"


    "Does he think he is a Dharma adept?"


    "Ridiculous!"


    The three Golden Essence adepts laughed at Zhou Donghuang mockingly. At the same time, they brandished a weapon, two knives and a sword. Their Golden Essence inner Yuan was embedded within these tools, and golden light shone around them.


    "Three superior spirit weapons?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s brows furrowed.


    He had not imagined that these random three Golden Essence adepts challenging him would all own superior spirit weapons... Superior spirit weapons could enhance one''s inner Yuan by sixty percent!


    In the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, due to the limited nature of resources, Zhou Donghuang had been unable to gift all his closest friends and family with an ultimate spirit weapon. Most of them merely had one superior spirit weapon each.


    "Well... perhaps this planet does not even house any Primal Core adepts. if that is the case, they would be much more superior to the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun. Any random Golden Essence adept would be able to own a superior spirit weapon."


    As he thought about this, Zhou Donghuang felt relieved.


    "Since you all don''t feel like leaving, you can stay if you wish."


    Zhou Donghuang spoke again with a neutral tone. This time, in his right hand, he held up a heavenly spirit weapon fan, which was exploding in golden flames with golden inner Yuan embedded in it.


    "A heavenly spirit weapon?"


    The three Golden Essence adepts were all not sheltered like the people of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun. They could immediately identify that the object Zhou Donghuang was holding onto was a heavenly spirit weapon.


    On the Heyu planet, there weren''t even alchemists that could create Dharma heavenly spirit weapons, let alone normal spirit weapons.


    Furthermore, even if there were alchemists who could create Dharma heavenly spirit weapons, they may not have been able to create ultimate spirit weapons as those were extremely hard to make.


    Ultimate spirit weapons'' spells were extremely complicated and were about ten times more complex as compared to the spells of Dharma heavenly spirit weapons.


    On Heyu planet, alchemists who could create ultimate spirit weapons were extremely rare and these few alchemists were also mostly unsuccessful in their attempts.


    Because of that, the Heyu planet''s ultimate spirit weapons were mostly in the hands of disciples coming from bigger families and sects.


    "Wow! It''s an ultimate spirit weapon! We''re so lucky!"


    "Wow, this is a lucky encounter!"


    The three Golden Essence adepts'' faces lit up with greed. Almost simultaneously, they reached out with their knives and sword. With a giant glint of golden glow, like three beams of golden light, they rushed towards Zhou Donghuang.


    "Are you all really risking your lives?"


    Towards this attack by the three Golden Essence adepts, Zhou Donghuang could not help but shake his head and sighed. The golden glow surrounding him increased exponentially within the next few instants.


    As for the inner Yuan of the fan in his hand, well, its power increased exponentially as well.


    Zhou Donghuang''s golden inner Yuan within his essence fused together perfectly and exploded together. They added an extra layer of power to the ultimate spirit weapon and made it even stronger, sucking in even in the energy of the surrounding air.


    Whoosh!


    Zhou Donghuang moved forward to clash with one of the knife-wielding Golden Essence adepts. He was fully faster than the other party and easily brushed past him.


    Boom!


    Bright and golden light shone as the Golden Essence adept''s brain was sent flying into the sky.


    Whoosh!


    Before the other two Golden Essence adepts could recover from this shocking scene, their faces changed as yet another Golden Essence adept''s brain flew into the air.


    There was only one Golden Essence adept left, and he screamed wildly to himself internally, "What kind of monster is this!? His inner Yuan is thicker than ours combined! How could there be such a difference? Who is he? Is he really a human being!?"


    Boom!


    The last Golden Essence adept was sent on his way along with his fallen comrades. With a trail of blood floating in the air, the last brain was sent flying as well.


    Thump! Thump! Thump!


    The three brains landed on the ground consecutively within the time it took for one to take a singular breath.


    While this happened, Zhou Donghuang casually put away the objects and space ring previously owned by the three Golden Essence adepts.


    "The quality of the three objects are all rather decent... it is just a pity that the technique used by the alchemist was too poor. I need to remanufacture these items, but it is possible to convert them all into ultimate spirit weapons.


    "As for these three space rings, they are made of better space stones than the one on my own ring. I should play around with them to allow my ring to have more internal capacity.


    "As suspected... this planet has many mid-quality spirit stones."


    In the space rings left behind by the three Golden Essence adepts, they all encompassed a number of unusual spirit stone veins. Among which, there were mid-quality spirit stones. Normally, for a mere Golden Essence adept, unless they were of significant background, they could not be rich enough to own such items. In the infinite universe, one mid-quality spirit stone was worth the price of about ten inferior spirit stones combined.


    These three Golden Essence adepts had all gotten these items through their robberies and wit. Although they did not have much background, their luck was rather good, and thus, they were considerably wealthy from their deeds.


    They were simply unlucky to have met Zhou Donghuang this time.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang possessed the inner Yuan of a Primal Core adept as well as thousands of years of fighting experience from his past life within his head. He also possessed an ultimate spirit weapon... Even Dharma adepts in the entire universe would not be able to win against him easily, and competitors would be hard to come by.


    Of course, there would still be rare exceptions.


    This universe was huge and included many, many species and races, of which, they were some which were naturally primed for battle. As for Zhou Donghuang, he was merely one of the more experienced people out of the entire universe.


    Of course, in the entire universe, he was part of the biggest race, the humans, who took up about eighty percent of the overall population.


    Other bigger races included beasts, which were about ten percent of the overall population.


    The remaining ten percent was made up of the other races.


    "It''s time to go."


    After putting away the products he had salvaged, Zhou Donghuang ascended the stone stage within a flash of light and landed on one of the subarrays of the galaxy teleporter.


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang threw ten mid-quality spirit stones at a long notch before him.


    This notch was huge and could hold hundreds of spirit stone veins.


    Once the ten mid-quality spirit stones hit the notch, a strange and invisible power enveloped Zhou Donghuang''s body. At this point, Zhou Donghuang started to chant place names to himself.


    Tianma galaxy.


    Honglong planet.


    Sky Sword Sect.


    Using the galaxy teleporter, different adepts of different powers used different amounts of spirit stone veins.


    For Primal Core adepts, if they only wished to cross stars within one planet, they only required one mid-quality spirit stone. Ten spirit stone veins were sufficient as well.


    As for Dharma adepts, if they used the galaxy teleporter, they needed to pay about ten times the price of a Primal Core adept.


    Traveling within a planet would require ten mid-quality spirit stones or one high-quality spirit stone.


    At this point, they could even use one hundred inferior-quality spirit stones to carry out this transaction.


    As for crossing planets, one then needed a hundred mid-quality spirit stones, ten high-quality spirit stones or one ultimate-quality spirit stone.


    At this point, no matter how many one had, inferior-quality spirit stones would be useless.


    This was because the teleporter could only carry one hundred spirit stone veins at maximum.


    As for Primal Core adepts who used the galaxy teleporter, they had to pay ten times that of the price of a Dharma adept...


    If this were the past life of Zhou Donghuang, for those who had the ability, if they wanted to use the galaxy teleporter to travel across planets, they would need one hundred ultimate-quality spirit stone!


    Hua!


    Hualala!


    Almost immediately after Zhou Donghuang had completed the recitation of his destination, the prints below him suddenly lit up into a field of light. The four pillars surrounding him lit up as well.


    In the next moment, Zhou Donghuang''s entire body was enveloped by light.


    A second later, the glow faded and Zhou Donghuang was nowhere to be found as if he had simply disappeared.


    The mid-quality spirit stones in the notch had disappeared as well.


    The galaxy teleporter''s stone stage and stone pillars all returned to their original stage of calm as if nothing had happened.


    To Zhou Donghuang, in that instant where he was enveloped by the force that had shot out from the galaxy teleporter, lights had flashed before his eyes, and the view had changed to become that of another galaxy teleporter.


    In reality, this galaxy teleporter was almost identical to the previous one.


    However, due to the difference in landing area, Zhou Donghuang could identify that this had to be another galaxy teleporter. Furthermore, the three lines of words written on the four stone pillars surrounding the galaxy teleporter were different as well.


    Tianma galaxy.


    Honglong planet.


    Sky Sword Sect.


    Clearly, he had arrived at his destination.


    This, of course, was the Honglong planet of the Tianma galaxy.


    Of course, although the coordinates indicated that this was the Sky Sword Sect, it only indicated that the Sky Sword Sect was nearby and definitely not within the sect itself.


    This was only to be expected as else, any random stranger would be able to easily trespass into the sect!


    This galaxy teleporter was most likely to be planted by the Primal Core adepts of the Sky Sword Sect to enable the people of the sect to easily travel to other stars and planets.


    "Sky Sword Sect should be that way."


    This galaxy teleporter was located in the mountains and forests. Zhou Donghuang saw that not far away, a few high peaks could be seen and he remembered from his past life that that was the home of the Sky Sword Sect.


    "Now, it''s time to visit the north side of the Sky Sword Sect, visit that mountain and find the inheritance left behind by the Dharma Peak adept!"


    Zhou Donghuang went on his way towards the direction of the north of the Sky Sword Sect.


    On the way, Zhou Donghuang''s thoughts moved to that of the galaxy teleporter.


    "The galaxy teleporter is not that hard to draw on. As long as someone is Primal Core stage ad above, as long as they remember the correct details, they can etch on the teleporter and set one up... On the other hand, if one wanted to explore it thoroughly and study the science behind the galaxy teleporter, it may be hard."


    "Time travel... Even I, from another life, am unable to figure it out, let alone the normal people of this world who have only lived one life..."


    "The back of the galaxy teleporters... feels as if there is the shadow of the divine realm from all the folktales."


    "It''s as if there was the divine realm all along and under the rules governing the infinite universe, those who are Primal Core adepts and above would be able to use the Primal Core stage to utilize and activate the galaxy teleporters."


    "The source of the galaxy teleporter''s maps and diagrams are hard to trace... In fact, it may even be impossible. If I really wish to do so, I''d have to trace back to the ancient times and before!"

 213 Disciples of the Sky Sword Sec

    "Forget it, let''s not think about that anymore. The secrets of the galaxy teleporter are too complex for me to ever understand or comprehend. It''s useless for me to ponder about such things now..."


    Once Zhou Donghuang had rationalized his thoughts, he casually let go of them.


    "I''ve traveled to Honglong planet before in my past life. Coincidentally, I had had a breakthrough at that point and had stayed here for a while... After hearing that there was an inheritance left behind by a Dharma Peak adept, I had even visited this particular area out of interest.


    "At that time, I was just a normal Primal Core adept. I simply wanted to poke my nose in and explore the possibility of doing some excavating myself. Of course... I wasn''t the only one with such thoughts.


    "However, at that time, the beast mountain had been secured by the Sky Sword Sect, and it was a wasted journey."


    With his past experience, Zhou Donghuang had retained a considerable amount of knowledge on the Sky Sword Sect.


    For the Honglong planet, at this moment, they had a Primal Core adept. However, he only had tens of years left in his life. In his previous life, when Zhou Donghuang was visiting the Honglong planet, he had already heard that this Primal Core adept only had tens of years left.


    The Sky Sword Sect was considered a rather decent sect among the Honglong planet. It was considered a favored sect as their sect had a Dharma Peak adept that had trained within before.


    Because of that, to a training sanctuary where, many years ago, a Dharma Peak adept had left his inheritance, the Sky Sword Sect had become extremely protective and would definitely not allow outsiders to get their hands on this treasure.


    "I''ve arrived."


    As Zhou Donghuang was lost in his thoughts, he took a second to glance ahead and saw that there was a wide mountain right in front of him that was lush with greenery. The path up the mountain was tedious and winding. After spinning in the air, Zhou Donghuang realized that he could not find anything at all.


    "There''s no Divine Will and thus, I can''t stay in the air long enough to check out the situation below."


    As Zhou Donghuang landed, he shook his head and sighed. "Divine Will can only be formed after the Primordial Soul stage... The me now is still far from being able to do so."


    Zhou Donghuang, who trained under the Lord of the Four Supremes, was now approaching the Dharma stage. Of course, he was nowhere near the Primordial Soul stage at this moment, which was above the Dharma stage.


    "Since I can''t see much from above, let me go in and check it out... Although it may waste time, it''s better than being lost and confused."


    After cutting through a part of the forest, Zhou Donghuang entered the mountain and planned to crawl through to explore the entire mountain and find the inheritance that the Dharma Peak adept had left behind.


    Just as he had landed, Zhou Donghuang felt a slight vibration of the ground.


    Just as he turned around, he saw that there was a giant wolf with a thick, sharp black coat running towards him from afar. It stared at him with bloodshot eyes as if it was summoning all its energy.


    The giant wolf ran at an extremely fast pace, and its strides were big.


    "A Connate-level demon?"


    Zhou Donghuang could immediately see that this giant wolf was actually a late Connate Connate demon.


    In the eyes of Zhou Donghuang now, this sort of beast was no different from a mere insect.


    "Roar..."


    The giant wolf did not seem to sense its impending danger. Although it was intelligent, the man before him only looked to be about twenty years old and did not seem to pose any threat.


    Within an instant, the giant wolf arrived before Zhou Donghuang and attacked with its jaws wide open. Its teeth had saliva dripping from then and it looked extremely menacing.


    Zhou Donghuang did not move much physically but a rush of silver inner Yuan rushed from his body, suspended in the air like a giant silver palm and hit the giant wolf on the head.


    Ha!


    With a giant clap, the giant wolf''s body, which was rushing forward, suddenly froze midair and it collapsed onto the ground without a sound. Its giant brain had been destroyed and the brain juices were flowing all over the floor.


    After killing the giant wolf, Zhou Donghuang did not bother to give it a second glance and begin surveying his surroundings. He wanted to check if the place of death of the Dharma Peak adept was nearby.


    "It''s the Black Wolf King!"


    Out of a sudden, a woman''s shout of shock came from behind and Zhou Donghuang instinctively turned around.


    With his peripheral vision, Zhou Donghuang could see that a young woman had run here from afar and was crouching beside the giant wolf he had killed. This young woman was dressed modestly in green, had a clean appearance, could be considered pretty and was wielding a long sword on her back.


    Following on her heels were two other young men.


    Be it the young woman dressed in green or the two young men, both looked about the same age as Zhou Donghuang and could be assumed to be around 20.


    "It really is the Black Wolf King."


    A young man dressed in grey and holding an equally long sword reached where the young lady was and glanced at the dead wolf. "My goodness! What power! Someone directly exploded this Black Wolf King''s brain... The person who killed him must be really strong!"


    "Did you kill the Black Wolf King?"


    The last young man dressed in green, who was rather handsome and gave off a confident aura, did not chase forward with his soft sword unlike the rest. Instead, he glanced warily at Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang was standing a distance away from the wolf. As the young lady and previous young man had been focusing on the corpse of the giant wolf, they had not noticed him.


    Now, hearing their friend''s voice, they turned to glance at Zhou Donghuang and expressions of confusion and fear filled their eyes.


    Could this young man dressed in white and well-groomed be the one who had really killed the Black Wolf King?


    One had to know that the Black Wolf King was not any random late Connate-level demon. Unless one were an extremely strong late Connate adept or of the ultimate Connate stage and above, it would be impossible for one to kill the Black Wolf King alone.


    Now, the Black Wolf King''s corpse lay motionless and was untreated. This young man dressed in white was standing nonchalantly nearby and it could be assumed that he was indeed the killer.


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded lightly although he got excited internally. He opened his mouth and asked, "Are you... disciples of the Sky Sword Sect?"


    "Yes." The young lady affirmed this while asking hesitantly, "Are you not?"


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head.


    "You aren''t?"


    The young lady in green''s nostrils flared slightly as she got a shock. Similarly, the young man dressed in grey also had on a face of shock.


    As for the confident young man dressed in green, at this moment, his brows also furrowed slightly. They all clearly had never thought that this man who had killed the Black Wolf King was not from their sect.


    The young lady in green had just been thinking whether this man dressed in white could have been a fellow disciple.


    This was because in the surrounding cities, other than Sky Sword Sect, there were no other sects of families that were stronger.


    As for these other sects and families, it was impossible for them to develop a late Connate adept at such a young age, let alone an ultimate Connate adept.


    "Are you an ultimate Connate adept?"


    This time, Zhou Donghuang did not open his mouth and merely shook his head before looking away and continuing to survey his surroundings, looking out for the place of death of the Dharma Peak adept.


    "No?"


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang shook his head, the three assumed then that Zhou Donghuang was merely a mid Connate adept, probably an elite one at that.


    Only late Connate adepts and above would be able to kill this giant wolf alone, after all.


    "Friend."


    At this point, the young man dressed in grey glanced meaningfully at the young woman before looking at Zhou Donghuang again and speaking extremely courteously.


    "This Black Wolf King that you killed was our target as well... We want a pair of its teeth and the wolf''s heart. Are you willing to share it with us? Name your price," the young man in green glanced at Zhou Donghuang and said lightly.


    When Zhou Donghuang had shaken his head in response to their query on whether he was an ultimate Connate adept, this man had noticed that there had been a change in his gaze.


    At first, it was fear. Now, it was indifference.


    Zhou Donghuang glanced blankly at the young man in green before looking to the young man in grey, who was more polite. "I never wanted the items on that wolf. If you want it, you can have it."


    "You never wanted them?"


    The young man in green became even more suspicious.


    The late Connate Black Wolf King had treasures all over his body. If someone of the late Connate stage and above killed it, the person would surely raid the wolf of all its treasures.


    This young man dressed in white was merely a mid Connate adept and yet was cocky enough to pretend he did not care for these treasures?


    What a joke!


    Just as the young man dressed in grey had frozen and opened his mouth once more, before he could finish his sentence, the entire ground vibrated violently and he was unable to continue.


    A second later, five whole wolves similar to the one lying on the ground had appeared before the group. They stood in a pack and glanced silently at Zhou Donghuang.


    Occasionally, they glanced at the wolf that Zhou Donghuang had killed and expressions of rage and hatred appeared in their eyes. Their coat of fur was standing upright and alert.


    "Haha... I didn''t think we would be so lucky. Another five wolves have appeared. Alright, we do not need to take treasures from this man anymore. We can get them ourselves."


    The young man in green smiled.


    "Five Black Wolf Kings."


    The young lady in green glanced at the wolves, shell-shocked. "Zhao Si, Xie Yu and I can only defeat one at most if we work together. Are you sure you can fight the rest?"


    This young lady and the man in grey had only entered the late Connate stage not long ago. Their skills were only about that of a weak late Connate adept and definitely could not face a wolf alone.


    "Ru Lan, do not worry. This is a piece of cake for me."


    The young man in green, Zhao Si, smiled confidently. "Join forces with Xie Yu to kill one of the wolves. Allow that rather skilled young man to take two others. Within twenty breaths, I''ll be able to kill the remaining two and help you all out later on."


    Just as he had assured Ru Lan, Zhao Si glanced at the young man in white who was still looking around and barked a command at him assuredly. "Lad, if you don''t want to die, do as I say!"

 214 Justice Will Prevail

    "Useless fellow, did you hear what I said? Are you deaf?"


    Seeing as Zhou Donghuang had ignored his instructions and was continuing his stroll, Zhao Si''s face changed into a nasty expression.


    "Awoo..."


    Perhaps it was Zhao Si''s yelling that annoyed them, but the five wolves began to rush towards Zhao Si after letting out a united cry.


    Within a second, they had surrounded Zhao Si.


    "Damn it!"


    This scene made Zhao Si''s expression change to one of extreme anxiety.


    Previously, he had been focusing on Zhou Donghuang and had not noticed that the wolves were surrounding him.


    If not, as someone of the ultimate Connate stage, he would have at least ensured that he did not allow himself to be trapped and surrounded like this.


    The five Black Wolf Kings stared steely at Zhao Si with bloodshot eyes, and this caused goosebumps to rise on his arms.


    Although he was an ultimate Connate adept, he had also only just reached this stage.


    If it were one Black Wolf King, he would be able to kill it easily.


    If it were two Black Wolf Kings, he would probably be able to take them on.


    If it were three Black Wolf Kings, it would be a gamble of life and death.


    If it were four Black Wolf Kings and he had ten lives, he would die nine times out of ten.


    Now, with five Black Wolf Kings, there was no way he could live!


    "Young man, if we die... You will definitely die as well! I urge you to do something!"


    Zhao Si observed the five Black Wolf Kings warily while glancing occasionally at the young man dressed in white. His tone had changed slightly, but it was still full of arrogance.


    Just as Zhao Si had said these words, the wolves let out more cries.


    "Awoo..."


    "Awoo..."


    The five Black Wolf Kings shot forward simultaneously like five bolts of lightning and rushed towards Zhao Si from all directions, their jaws wide open and their pearly whites flashing under the sunlight.


    "Zhao Si!"


    The young man dressed in grey''s face changed, and his body curled forward like a cat, with his long sword out as well. With a pierce of the sword, he managed to hit one of the five Black Wolf Kings.


    This one Black Wolf King had no choice but to turn his attention to this sword instead of Zhao Si and he now glanced at Xie Yu instead.


    Whoo!


    The young lady in green followed her friend and took action as well. The long sword of hers was thrust forward, and with a green flash of light, she joined the battle with Xie Yu in an attempt to fend off the Black Wolf King the former had distracted.


    However, even with their combined attempts, in handling a Black Wolf King, it was rather tiring and stressful.


    The qi of the four Black Wolf Kings was not much, and it only had a range of one foot, but it was extremely solid.


    In comparison, Zhao Si''s qi was three-feet long, but it was rather incomplete and was not very formidable.


    "Friend, please help us."


    After identifying Zhao Si''s plight, Xie Yu smiled bitterly at Zhou Donghuang while he fought alongside the young lady beside him against the Black Wolf King. "I know Zhao Si is not the most pleasant person to interact with. However, with the situation now, if you don''t help us out, once Zhao Si dies, we will die as well!


    "I apologize on his behalf."


    Be it Xie Yu or the girl beside him, both could easily tell that the young man dressed in white was displeased with Zhao Si as he had not responded to any of Zhao Si''s calls all along.


    Zhao Si was disrespectful and arrogant. They were well aware of this and were still often annoyed with his manners after all this time. As a stranger, Zhou Donghuang would of course have been annoyed as well.


    Just now, Zhao Si''s tone was extremely cocky and condescending, making it irritating to the ears. If they were in Zhou Donghuang''s shoes, they would have been ticked off as well.


    That was correct.


    Towards Zhao Si, Zhou Donghuang did not have a good impression at all.


    However, he was still rather amicable towards the other two.


    Since the other two had spoken, Zhou Donghuang stopped glancing around casually and turned to see the skewed fight.


    Well, it would be more accurate to say he was glancing at the pitiful sight of an ultimate Connate adept in battle.


    The other two were still doing well as they were fighting together against a single Black Wolf King.


    Just as Zhou Donghuang was able to activate the silver inner Yuan within him to kill the group of Black Wolf Kings, Zhao Si yelled out.


    "Why did the two of you have to apologize to him!?"


    Zhao Si''s call was full of rage. "If we die, he will die as well! If he doesn''t take action, he''ll be risking his own life!"


    "Well, I''ve changed my mind now. If he''s to die too, he must die in front of us!"


    Just as he had spoken, Zhao Si''s eyes were full of explosive rage, and he casually waved his sword around, forcing the Black Wolf Kings to momentarily take a step back. He put his foot down and decided to ignore the issue of having limited qi. He simply forcibly left the trap by the four Black Wolf Kings and rushed towards Zhou Donghuang like a flash of lightning.


    The four Black Wolf Kings rushed forward in pursuit.


    "Die, stupid fellow!"


    Zhao Si''s eyes were now filled with a maniacal expression. It was as if he had lost all rational thought and was about to die alongside the person he wanted to kill!


    Psh!


    Zhao Si''s sword flew straight through the air like a poisonous snake and headed in the direction of Zhou Donghuang. Specifically, it was aiming for Zhou Donghuang''s throat.


    "Zhao Si, have you gone mad!?"


    "Stop it!"


    Zhao Si''s friends stared at this scene, aghast, and frantically yelled at Zhao Si to stop his actions.


    Had Zhao Si really and truly gone mad?


    Of course not.


    Just now, in dodging the attacks of the Black Wolf Kings, he had used up a lot of his qi, and he was well aware of it. Even if the young man in white were to take action and be able to distract two out of the four Black Wolf Kings, he did not have the capability to kill the remaining two on his own and would probably lose his life even so.


    He thus decided to explode with all his remaining qi in a short period of time, rushing forward and hopefully causing the four Black Wolf Kings to change their targets and aim for Zhou Donghuang instead. He would then use this opportunity to break free and escape.


    Well, if he did so, he knew that he would have to abandon his two counterparts.


    "Is he trying to escape at such a crucial time, in the middle of the battle?"


    Zhou Donghuang stood where he was calmly and did not take any action. He had seen Zhao Si put away his sword during the previous moment and knew what his plan was.


    "Young man, although I want to kill you, you have allowed me an opportunity to escape. I''ll leave your life in the hands of the Black Wolf Kings then! Hahaha... hahahaha¡­"


    In the instant where Zhao Si brushed past Zhou Donghuang, he had even laughed aloud as he had assumed that the four Black Wolf Kings would definitely kill Zhou Donghuang and allow him time to run away.


    At this moment, the other two friends suddenly realized that Zhao Si intended to leave them behind and save his own skin!


    Their faces changed in an instant.


    If Zhao Si escaped and the young man in white were to die, they were both doomed as well!


    Wait... What happened in the next instant made them freeze in shock again.


    Wait!


    What exactly were they seeing?


    Was... was this real?


    Were they dreaming?


    Under their shocked gazes, that young man in white, who had been sacrificed by Zhao Si and thrown to the wolves, had risen up in the sky like a deity at the most crucial moment, causing the four Black Wolf Kings to leap up and howl.


    Once the four Black Wolf Kings had leapt up and continued to chase Zhao Si, due to Zhao Si''s depleting qi, they quickly closed the gap between them and Zhao Si.


    With such a progression, within the next few seconds, Zhao Si would be killed.


    "This is not good!"


    As the two had been completely enraptured by the stunt of the young man in white, they had completely forgotten about their own battle. As they regained focus, they realized the last Black Wolf King was hurtling towards them.


    Now, even if they wanted to defend against it, it was too late.


    Boom!


    Just as the two had prepared for the moment of death, an explosive silver palm appeared from the sky and directly smashed the Black Wolf King to the ground, grinding him flat.


    The Black Wolf King instantly died before their eyes, just as the first Black Wolf King had died.


    "A silver... Silver Essence adept!?"


    Just as the two were sighing in relief, their hearts were beating fast at the same time as they had never imagined that this young man dressed in white before them, who was about their age, could be a Silver Essence adept!


    Even the most talented disciple in their age range in the Sky Sword Sect was merely at the early Primal Core stage.


    "What happened!?"


    On the other hand, Zhao Si had assumed that he had successfully used the young man in white as bait and distracted the four Black Wolf Kings. However, he realized that the thunderous footsteps behind him were getting heavier and louder.


    He quickly turned his head and saw the young man dressed in white floating in the air.


    "A silver... Silver Essence adept!?"


    Zhao Si''s face changed dramatically, and with this moment of distraction, he tripped and fell clumsily to the ground.


    Within that instant, the four Black Wolf Kings caught up with him and attacked.


    "Help me! Help me!"


    In his moment of desperation, Zhao Si glanced at the young man floating in the sky and opened his mouth to beg for assistance. To him, he knew that if this Silver Essence adept took action, he would be able to live.


    "Justice shall prevail here!" Zhou Donghuang merely glanced at Zhao Si lightly and said these words unhurriedly before going back down to the ground at his own speed.


    As for Zhao Si, he was torn to bits by the four Black Wolf Kings immediately.


    Once they had killed their prey, the four Black Wolf Kings turned to glance at Zhou Donghuang. They were intelligent and knew he would pose more of a threat. After hesitating slightly, they simultaneously bounded off towards the far forests.


    Everything went back to normal then.


    "Thank you good sir for saving us!"


    At the same time, the two remaining disciples of the Sky Sword Sect thanked Zhou Donghuang profusely at the same time. Their eyes shone with gratitude and admiration.


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded to the two of them before leaving this part of city. Just now, he had already examined it all closely and he had not found any trace of the inheritance that the Dharma Peak adept had left behind.


    It was time for him to try another location.


    Seeing as Zhou Donghuang was leaving, the two Sky Sword Sect disciples regained their senses and glanced warily at the corpse of their friend, Zhao Si, on the ground with hatred in their eyes.


    "I can''t believe this fellow Zhao Si was thinking of abandoning us and escaping on his own!"


    "Hmph! He deserved to die like this, the selfish bastard!"


    Towards Zhao Si''s death, they did not feel any pity as Zhao Si had betrayed them and turned them against him.


    "However... Zhao Si''s father is the fourth elder, after all. We better find an excuse for this as we cannot allow him to know that Zhao Si died while with us."


    "Yes, that is true. We are not as strong as Zhao Si, but we managed to survive. With the fourth elder''s favoritism and bias, he would not be pleased at all, and we will have to suffer if he finds out."

 215 Divine Soul Shaper

    After separating from the two disciples of the Sky Sword Sect, Zhou Donghuang began patiently scouring through the beast mountain to find the place of burial of the Dharma Peak adept, although it was somewhat like finding a needle in a haystack.


    One day passed to no avail.


    Two more days passed to no avail as well.


    ...


    Zhou Donghuang used a grand total of five days to find the suspected place of burial of the Dharma Peak adept. Of course, before he confirmed it, it could only be said to be the suspected place.


    That was because it was hidden too well.


    "It''s hidden too deep in... If not for the two beasts killing each other and knocking over the thorns here, loosening the ground, I would not have found it at all."


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at the cracks in the ground formed by the broken thorns, broke through these cracks and saw that there was a dark cave passage hidden below.


    Beside Zhou Donghuang, two giant creatures were lying on the ground without making any sounds. These were the two Connate beasts that had been fighting and killing each other.


    Once Zhou Donghuang had appeared, they had stopped fighting and turned to attack Zhou Donghuang instead. They then ended up dying in his hands.


    "These few days... I''ve visited this place at least three times and never discovered it till now."


    With a shake of his head and a sigh, Zhou Donghuang raised his palms, and a silver glass palm rushed out, cracking apart the passage with a giant "boom!"


    The crack could fit a middle-aged man passing through and was suitable in size for Zhou Donghuang.


    "I must be right, it has to be here!"


    Zhou Donghuang walked into the cave passage and there were no obstructions to be found. Finally, he entered a dark cave house. With Zhou Donghuang''s inner Yuan forming into Samadhi fire, the entire cave house suddenly lit up.


    The cave house was not extremely spacious and was rather simplistic in design.


    On the floor, in the middle of the ground, a man was sitting cross-legged. He was now a bag of bones, and his entire body''s clothes were torn and tattered. On the middle finger of his left hand, he wore a space ring.


    Other than that, there was nothing else left in this room.


    "Thank you."


    Zhou Donghuang bowed towards the skeleton-like figure before removing the space ring that was on his hand. Afterwards, he checked the room to ensure that there were no other valuable items before retreating out.


    "No one else will ever disturb your valuable peace again."


    After leaving the cave house, Zhou Donghuang waved his hands, causing the entire cave passage to shake and collapse. He then settled the thorns at the entrance of the cave house such that it looked ordinary enough before going on his way.


    "I can''t believe this space ring is actually a galaxy space ring!"


    Only a galaxy space ring required the owner''s drop of blood as a recognition and activation method.


    Furthermore, for a galaxy space ring, its inner capacity was at least three square feet and above. The biggest galaxy space ring could even be ten square feet... If ten feet were translated to Earth''s current measurements, it would be about over thirty meters.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang''s galaxy space ring in his hand had an inner capacity of a perfect square that had a length of more than twenty Earth meters.


    This was considered a better than average galaxy space ring.


    Furthermore, a galaxy space ring had the following advantage: Even if it was stolen by someone else, as long as the owner was alive and it did not abandon its owner, no one else could retrieve the items within it.


    "Let''s see what there is inside..."


    Zhou Donghuang began to explore what the Dharma peak adept had left behind in his galaxy space ring. Firstly, he found a letter.


    While items were stored in the galaxy space ring, time was suspended within. This letter thus looked crisp and brand new. On the letter, it stated, "To the lucky inheritor, from Mo Gan."


    It was obvious that the name of the Dharma Peak adept who had left the inheritance behind was Mo Gan.


    "I hope it''s just some random garbage."


    While Zhou Donghuang removed the letter from the envelope, his brows furrowed slightly. If it were possible, he would much rather not open the letter at all.


    Normally, for chance encounters, he preferred those who left behind challenges as it meant that he had earned the rewards fair and square.


    Furthermore, for those who left behind chance encounters, after one passed the countless challenges set in place to win the rewards, they would not leave you with any other problems.


    Even if they did, you could choose to ignore them entirely.


    "I already passed the test you left behind to gain this inheritance... Now, after passing the exam, there''s yet another task... This is a little unorthodox."


    However, if the owner had not left behind any tasks and gave away chance encounters for free, the inheritor would be at the beck and call of this owner as whatever the former wanted, the inheritor would have to follow and try his best to help fulfill it.


    This was the other consequence.


    As for Zhou Donghuang, he was someone who was very respectful of human relationships.


    "As expected."


    After opening the letter and reading its contents, Zhou Donghuang shook his head and sighed.


    "These old people are really quite evil.


    "I''d better see what he has left behind first... If it is not enough for me to desire it, or not worth the price, I''ll return it at the very least."


    Even if he was unwilling to waste his time, that could be the most viable solution for items that were not valuable enough.


    If this person was an ingrate, even after seeing the words on the letter, Zhou Donghuang could choose to ignore it and there would not be any impact on him.


    However, to Zhou Donghuang, this was a cause that he could not just ignore.


    That was unless he chose to ignore it. If he took it on, he had to see it through. If not, when he entered the Divine Realm through the Deity''s Tribulation in the future, he would become a scary Tribulation of Demon-in-the-Heart.


    "Two ultimate Dharma heavenly spirit weapons, tens of thousands of mid-quality spirit stones, many core drugs...


    "Wait... is that Core King Fruit!?"


    If Zhou Donghuang had been rather calm before, once he saw the giant golden spirit fruit the size of a giant core drug, he lost a bit of his composure.


    A Core King Fruit could only be consumed by a Primal Core adept to activate its abilities.


    For a Primal Core adept who had just entered the late Primal Core stage, within a short few days, one could become an ultimate Primal Core adept!


    Of course, for a spirit fruit like this, any Primal Core adept could only experience its effects once.


    "What a beauty!"


    "If I eat this medicine, for my remaining two Silver Essence... one of them will surely become Golden Essence after a few days!"


    Of course, he was now a little swayed.


    At this point, Zhou Donghuang had basically finished exploring all the items within the space ring. Just as he was preparing to calm himself down, he realized that at the corner of the space ring lay an item that was akin to a dried-up tree branch. It looked extremely boring and it was no wonder that he had missed it at first.


    However, once Zhou Donghuang discovered it, his eyes widened yet again, and he excitedly whipped it out.


    This dried-up tree branch was about four-feet long and the prints on it were extremely strange. It looked like it had many scales stuck on it and was completely covered in grey.


    "This is it!"


    In an instant, Zhou Donghuang''s breathing became rapid due to his excitement. His chest heaved up and down like a ship''s sail in the wind.


    "Soul Shaper! This is a Soul Shaper! A complete one at that!


    "My goodness!


    "This is something that everyone in the universe agrees is an infinite treasure!


    "If a Soul Shaper is present, big planets, stars and cities would send their best sects and disciples forward to fight for it... Even in my past life, if there was a chance to find a Soul Shaper, I would have risked my life!


    "If I had gotten this Soul Shaper in my previous life, I would not have had to care about the Tribulation of Demon-in-the-Heart in the Deity''s Tribulation! If I had this Soul Shaper, I would long have entered the Deity''s Tribulation stage, defeated the Deity''s Tribulation and entered the Divine Realm!"


    A Soul Shaper could be refined by those who were in the Dharma stage and above.


    For Dharma adepts, as long as they refined the Soul Shaper, they could agglomerate their Divine Will. Once they had mastered that, they would be able to defeat all Primordial Soul adepts and below!


    If anyone had refined a complete Soul Shaper and entered the Primordial Soul stage, the cohesive Primordial Soul''s Divine Will would be at the same level as a Primordial Soul adept, but its power would be greatly enhanced and go beyond that of the normal Divine Will attacks of a Primordial Soul adept.


    After one entered the Divine Transformation stage, they could also go beyond and disregard the Divine Will attacks of a Divine Transformation adept.


    Those were the possibilities of this fruit.


    Once one entered the highest stage in the universe, the Deity''s Tribulation stage, the Primordial Soul stage would be even more frightening and one could even disregard the Tribulation of Demon-in-the-Heart in the Deity''s Tribulation!"


    "A complete Soul Shaper...


    "In this entire universe, if anyone took out a Soul Shaper for auction¡­ when I was at the peak of my past life, even all my wealth would not have been able to pay for 10% of the value of it..."


    Zhou Donghuang sighed to himself. At the same time, he carefully placed the Soul Shaper back into the inner capacity of the galaxy space ring for safekeeping. "That Dharma adept probably did not know that this was a Soul Shaper.


    "Perhaps... he did not even realize such an object existed."


    Due to the unbelievable power of the Soul Shaper, many used to dub it as "Divine Soul Shaper" as well!


    "I guess I will have to take on the burden of the Dharma adept if I wish to keep these items."


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at the letter once more and sighed again.


    In the letter, the Dharma adept named Mo Gan, the person who had left the inheritance behind, had wanted him to seek revenge.


    The person he wanted to exact revenge on before his life had ended was a Primal Core adept, and he was the sort of adept who stole other peoples'' bodies.


    This person was Mo Gan''s only kin, his step-son.


    He and his step-son had severed ties due to this, and they had murderous intentions towards one another.


    "Hengliu galaxy, the Great Star (a nickname for the Soul Shaper), Fireism, Gong Sunling... Alright, I''ve memorized it all.


    "He even listed all the evil deeds that Gong Sunling had done... Mo Gan was probably worried that the person who collected this inheritance would only kill those who were evil and not those who were innocent.


    "What foresight indeed."


    A Primal Core adept only had one chance in his life to fight for rebirth. Normally, one could use it at any time or just before they died if they chose to.


    However, once they were successful, they would be stuck at the Primal Core stage forever, and it would be impossible for them to cross over into the next stage.


    This was why no one would easily try to steal others'' bodies unless it was absolutely necessary.

 216 Tianxuan Planets Top Beauty

    "Gong Sunling, a Primordial Soul adept, stole others'' body before... He is destined to remain as a Primordial Soul adept for his whole life, and he has no hope of becoming a divine being.


    "When I enter the Primordial Soul stage, I will avenge your death, Mo Gan, and end the connection between us."


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at the letter in his hand. Suddenly, the inner Yuan within his palm burst into Samadhi fire, burning the letter into ashes that flew away with the breeze.


    Actually, with this priceless treasure, the Soul Shaper, Zhou Donghuang could enter the Deity''s Tribulation Stage and face the Deity''s Tribulation in this life and be able to disregard the scariest Tribulation of Demon-in-the-Heart within.


    Even if he did not end the connection between him and the Dharma adept, it would not affect his future skills and life.


    However, even so, he did not intend to let go of this connection as he was not the sort of ingrate who turned his back on his benefactor.


    Furthermore, this time, he had received a full Soul Shaper, and this was something that was beyond what he had imagined to gain.


    In the infinite universe''s many races, a Soul Shaper was widely known as a "passport for the Divine Realm." If anyone was able to refine a full Soul Shaper, this person could disregard all the various Tribulation of Demon-in-the-Hearts among all the Deity''s Tribulations of the universe.


    "Once I''ve digested the Core King Fruit, I''ll leave this Honglong planet for my next destination... However, if I remember correctly, there are only a few places suitable for my chance encounter where I can get ahead at this moment."


    Next, Zhou Donghuang stayed on the Honglong planet for a few more days and completed his digestion of the Core King Fruit. Of the two remaining Silver Essence in his body, one of them became a Golden Essence successfully.


    Now, within Zhou Donghuang''s essence points, there was only one Silver Essence and three Golden Essences.


    Zhou Donghuang could now fight anyone below the Dharma stage even without divine objects as long as he had enough space for him to activate his swiftness and was not surrounded by too large a group of Golden Essence adepts that all had ultimate spirit weapons.


    "It''s time to go."


    The nearest galaxy teleporter was still the one he had used previously, the Sky Sword Sect''s. Zhou Donghuang used this galaxy teleporter to leave the Honglong planet and the Tianma galaxy.


    After this, he would probably never return here ever again.


    The universe was huge, and there was still lots to explore.


    The Tianma galaxy was merely one out of many in the universe, and there were larger galaxies that were about a hundred times the size of it.


    ...


    One year later, he arrived at the Luohe galaxy, the Tianxuan planet.


    Whoosh!


    The stone pillars had three lines of words for all to see:


    The Luohe galaxy.


    The Tianxuan planet.


    Yunke City.


    After he had glanced at the pillars, Zhou Donghuang turned his attention to his surroundings. In one direction, there were sprawling hills. In the other three directions, there was a lush rainforest, a vast piece of grassland and a city on a flat piece of land.


    "This city should be Yunke City!"


    Zhou Donghuang''s heart skipped a beat.


    He had already visited all the places that he had to visit. He had also successfully obtained the items that he had wanted to gain.


    Now, he was here at Yunke City on the Tianxuan planet to meet Luo Qinghan.


    He had had a one night stand with Luo Qinghan in the past when he was in the Lost Forest of the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun''s Yunyang Country. Taking the scene to be like husband and wife, they had both engaged in sex for the first time. This was why Zhou Donghuang viewed Luo Qinghan as his woman.


    He was now here to find her.


    "I''m not even sure if this planet is the one that she''s living in," Zhou Donghuang mused to himself.


    In the past, when he had had that one night stand with Luo Qinghan, she had told him before that he was from the Luo Family of Tianxuan planet.


    Zhou Donghuang had been unsure as to which part of the Tianxuan planet Luo Qinghan had been referring to. He had come to the Luohe galaxy as he had heard that there was a Tianxuan planet within it, and he was here to try his luck.


    Whoosh!


    Just as Zhou Donghuang was preparing to leave the stone stage of the galaxy teleporter towards Yunke City to ask about Luo Qinghan, another person appeared in the galaxy teleporter beside him.


    A middle-aged man who looked to be about 40 appeared. He was wearing Chinese clothes like a king, and his upper lip had eight words tattooed on it. His eyes sparkled brightly.


    "You''re so young, but you''re already a Primal Core adept?"


    This middle-aged man dressed in traditional Chinese clothes glanced at Zhou Donghuang with shock on his face.


    After all, only Primal Core adepts and above were able to utilize the galaxy teleporter to move from planet to planet or star to star.


    "Yes."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded. Before the middle-aged man could speak again, Zhou Donghuang asked, "On this planet, is there a family named ''Luo''?"


    "I see you are not from here."


    The middle-aged man smiled. "On our Tianxuan planet, there is indeed a Luo family. Furthermore, this Luo Family can be considered the most elite of families throughout the Tianxuan planet. They are extremely powerful and one of our greatest sects."


    Zhou Donghuang lit up internally, and his heart skipped a beat. "It seems as though I have come to the right place.


    "Where is the Luo family located?" Zhou Donghuang asked again.


    "Brother, the location of the Luo Family''s home... well, I can tell you, but you may still be unable to find the exact location."


    The middle-aged man shook his hand. "I do not have a map of the Tianxuan planet with me right now. I think you should visit Yunke City to purchase a map before heading to find the Luo family."


    "Thank you."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded his thanks and with a shake of his body, directly floated into the air in the direction of Yunke City.


    Although the middle-aged man knew long ago that Zhou Donghuang was a Primal Core adept, seeing as Zhou Donghuang had silver inner Yuan surrounding him, his eyes twitched yet again.


    "A Silver Essence adept?"


    Just now, although he knew this twenty-odd-year-old young man dressed in white was a Primal Core adept, he had assumed him to be about early Primal Core stage.


    He never imagined that he young man before him could be in the late Primal Core stage like him, and a Silver Essence adept at that!


    "Brother, wait up! I am heading for Yunke City as well!"


    The middle-aged man called after Zhou Donghuang and floated into the sky simultaneously.


    Similarly, silver inner Yuan surrounded him. Zhou Donghuang slowed down for the man to hurriedly catch up with him.


    "Brother, my name is "Chen Aotian." How do I address you?"


    The middle-aged man smiled and became much friendlier.


    In any case, a twenty-year-old Silver Essence adept definitely had some strong forces supporting him. This twenty-year-old Silver Essence adept must have a pretty good status!


    Having a good relationship with such a person would definitely be advantageous!


    "Zhou Donghuang."


    Zhou Donghuang replied directly but kept his gaze on Yunke City, which they were fast approaching.


    "Brother Donghuang, where exactly are you from? I think my assumption that you are only around twenty years old is not wrong, but if that''s the case, that is extremely young for a Silver Essence adept!" Chen Aotian questioned curiously.


    "Even if I tell you the answer, you will not understand it," Zhou Donghuang replied lightly.


    Chen Aotian could sense that Zhou Donghuang was not willing to elaborate on his previous question and so did not continue to ask further questions. Instead, he changed the topic.


    "Brother, why are you finding the Luo family? You know someone from within?"


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded his head and glanced at Chen Aotian. "Do you know a Luo Qinghan from the Luo family?"


    "Of course I do!"


    Chen Aotian nodded his head, and his gaze grew animated. "That is the crown beauty of the Luo family and the youngest Primal Core adept of the family!


    "A few years ago, when I left the Tianxuan planet, she had already become a Primal Core adept... At that time, she was only 20.


    "Furthermore, it is rumored that... For everyone who has met her, they had labeled her as the number one beauty in the entire Tianxuan planet!" Chen Aotian exclaimed.


    Zhou Donghuang''s mouth turned up in a rare smile. It seemed as though his luck was not bad as the Luo Qinghan of the Luo family on the Tianxuan planet was exactly the woman that he was looking for.


    "Brother, you know Luo Qinghan personally?" Chen Aotian''s eyes shined as he asked.


    Zhou Donghuang''s reply caused him to become shocked yet again.


    "She... she is my woman."


    This was Zhou Donghuang''s reply.


    Chen Aotian took a long time to regain his composure. Then, without any warning, he showed obvious signs of excitement as he gazed deeply into the distance.


    A second later, his excitement then died down.


    Chen Aotian glanced at the city that they were approaching and smiled at Zhou Donghuang.


    "Brother Donghuang, we are approaching the city. Do you want me to bring you to buy a map?"


    Chen Aotian was extremely earnest now.


    "Bring me to the shop. I can do my own shopping from there," Zhou Donghuang replied.


    "Sure."


    Chen Aotian agreed and brought Zhou Donghuang to an independent, multi-storied shop once the duo had arrived in Yunke City.


    "Brother Donghuang, this is the most elite and high-class "treasure chest" of the Tianxuan planet.


    They sell almost everything you could think of, including the Tianxuan planet''s map. If you have any other needs, feel free to browse around inside."


    Chen Aotian smiled. "This is where I leave you."


    "Thank you."


    Zhou Donghuang thanked Chen Aotian before reaching out his hand with ten mid-quality spirit stones. "This is to thank you for your efforts."


    Seeing as Zhou Donghuang had taken out mid-quality spirit stones, Chen Aotian''s gaze became glassy and bright. However, his face remained neutral as he said, "Why, this is too much of you, Brother Donghuang. I''ve taken you here as a friend, what do you think of me as?"


    As he spoke, he turned and walked away without a second glance at Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang glanced long and hard at Chen Aotian''s retreating back before walking casually into the shop.


    Within the shop, very quickly, a young female salesperson came forward to address Zhou Donghuang.


    "Dear guest, do you require any assistance?"


    "I want to buy an extremely detailed map of the Tianxuan planet," Zhou Donghuang said.


    "Furthermore, I also want to buy some drugs as well as a high-quality core furnace. Do show me the best core furnaces this shop offers."


    Zhou Donghuang now had ultimate quality spirit-stones with him as well as several other ultimate Dharma spirit weapons with him for usage after he entered the Dharma stage. He thus did not really need to purchase any metal ores that were meant for alchemy.


    Of course, if he happened to come across some rare materials, he would not miss his chance to get his hands on them.


    Half an hour later, Zhou Donghuang had made all his purchases and left with a cheery wave from the salesperson.


    In one shot, he had spent thousands of mid-quality spirit stones.


    Such large spenders were rare in this shop.

 217 Luo Family

    "Luo family."


    After leaving the shop, Zhou Donghuang unraveled the map in his hand and glanced at the general location of where the Luo family home was. It was extremely far away from his current location within the Yunke City.


    Furthermore, there was a galaxy teleporter near the Luo family home, and it was labeled as the Tianshui Empire.


    "From Yunke City''s galaxy teleporter to the Tianshui Empire... I can then head for the Luo family home. This is probably the fastest way."


    Zhou Donghuang mused to himself and made his plans.


    "Ah?"


    Once he had floated to the skies towards the outskirts of Yunke City, Zhou Donghuang''s face changed from a serene expression to having his brows furrowed for a while before he calmed down again.


    After he had flown out of Yunke City, Zhou Donghuang traveled towards the galaxy teleporter with the sign labeled, "Yunke City."


    At the start, when he had first arrived at the Tianxuan planet, he had not known where the different galaxy teleporters and their symbols were. When he was teleporting, he had simply recited the lines "Luohe galaxy" and "Tianxuan planet" instead of uttering all three specificities.


    In a situation like this, the galaxy teleporter would randomly send him to any of the available other galaxy teleporters within the Luohe galaxy.


    Zhou Donghuang had coincidentally been sent to the galaxy teleporter that was near to Yunke City.


    After he had flown half his intended distance, Zhou Donghuang halted his movements.


    At the same time, two swift figures suddenly flew up from behind and almost instantly appeared in front of Zhou Donghuang, effectively blocking his path.


    "Brother Donghuang, we meet again."


    Out of the two figures who were blocking the path of Zhou Donghuang, one was the middle-aged man dressed in traditional Chinese clothes, Chen Aotian, who had previously helped Zhou Donghuang cheerily in giving directions to Yunke City.


    At that point, Chen Aotian had sent Zhou Donghuang to the city''s big shop, and Zhou Donghuang had even prepared ten mid-quality spirit stones as thanks for the guidance. However, Chen Aotian had rejected the offer then.


    As for the other figure, he was an old man dressed in blue. This man was tall and strong-looking, making him significantly different from the likes of Chen Aotian. He glanced at Zhou Donghuang with a fiery expression and a greedy look in his eyes.


    A golden halo surrounded this old man''s body and this was his golden inner Yuan. It was clear that he was a Golden Essence adept who had entered the ultimate Primal Core stage.


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded his head lightly and his face remained passive. His expression did not change at all.


    "I''m sorry, Brother Donghuang."


    "And if you must, are you not aware that one should not flaunt one''s wealth so easily?"


    As Chen Aotian spoke, his motives for appearing in front of Zhou Donghuang could be clearly inferred immediately. He was here to fight Zhou Donghuang and rob him of his wealth!


    After all, at the young age of twenty years old, Zhou Donghuang was already a late Primal Core adept. It was clear that there was probably an extremely strong and respectable force behind him and it could even be a Primordial Soul adept.


    With the discovery of such a man, he must have a shocking amount of wealth in his possession. Even a normal Dharma adept would possibly have lesser amassed wealth as compared to him!


    To Chen Aotian, this meeting with such a wealthy man was too tempting.


    As he considered the fact that Zhou Donghuang may have a powerful force backing him up, Chen Aotian had no intention to allow him to live after he was done with the robbery.


    He had to make all traces of Zhou Donghuang vanish!


    If not, it was possible that there would be terrible consequences that Chen Aotian was not prepared to face.


    "No wonder you rejected the token spirit stones I offered you at the sop. I guess that was too little for your liking." Zhou Donghuang had a sudden realization.


    "My goodness, why are you still chattering away with him? We are wasting time! Let me, as your father, take the first step to kill him and obtain his space ring!"


    The old man dressed in blue suddenly exploded with a blinding flash of light, and the golden inner Yuan halo around him exploded as well. At the same time, a gleaming, lean knife appeared in his hand as well.


    Once this knife was brandished, his inner Yuan was funneled into it, and its aura expanded by a significant amount.


    "An ultimate spirit weapon?"


    Zhou Donghuang furrowed his brows.


    "Die!"


    The old man yelled out brashly, and his entire being flew across the sky at an astonishing speed like a golden ball of fire. He brought with him the knife, which left trails of golden flames, and rushed towards Zhou Donghuang.


    Although the old man could tell through the silver halo around Zhou Donghuang that he had to be only a Silver Essence adept, he did not let down his guard just yet.


    He would do his utmost best, even when handling a minor issue.


    This old man was careful and would not allow himself to make mistakes due to overconfidence.


    Although the opposing party was just a Silver Essence adept, he did not hold back and attacked with all his might. The old man wanted to kill Zhou Donghuang with one blow!


    "I wonder just how much wealth he is holding on to..." Chen Aotian commented casually as he watched this scene. The gaze he gave Zhou Donghuang was filled with evil intent, and the corners of his mouth turned up with a malicious, beaming smile.


    However, in the next instant, his smile was suddenly frozen.


    His eyes bulged out comically as if he had seen something extremely unbelievable.


    "How... How is this possible?"


    Previously, Chen Aotian had already prepared for the scenario where Zhou Donghuang would be killed with a single blow from his father. However, instead of that happening, the scene that took place before him nearly caused him to have a heart attack.


    The young man dressed in white was standing firmly on the ground, where he had not moved from.


    At this very moment, the silver inner Yuan surrounding the young man had disappeared. In its place, there was a vast and unmatched halo of golden inner Yuan. From far, it looked as if there were golden flames burning around him.


    Zhou Donghuang reached out his right hand steadily, and a heavenly spirit weapon, a knife, landed in his palm.


    Seeing a Golden Essence adept attack fully with an ultimate spirit weapon was like watching a child pretend to enact martial arts to Zhou Donghuang, and it did not pose any threat to him at all.


    "Wait... isn''t he a Silver Essence adept? How could he be a Golden Essence adept!? What is happening? This is impossible! It''s impossible!


    "Furthermore, even if he were to be a Golden Essence adept, how could he intercept the ultimate spirit weapon that my father used all his strength to throw? Now, with his inner Yuan embedded within it, the ultimate spirit weapon''s power has been doubled!


    "What situation is this? Did Father hold back? That''s not right either... It''s not like Father has no experience in killing other Silver Essence adepts.


    "Even when facing Silver Essence adepts, he also uses all his strength to kill them within seconds!"


    Chen Aotian''s facial expression changed dramatically, and thoughts swarmed in his mind. His heart beat rapidly as he grew worried and confused.


    He was completely unable to comprehend the scene before him!


    Wham!


    Boom!


    Two consecutive sounds rang out, and they were both so explosive that Chen Aotian''s eyeballs nearly popped out of his head.


    This was the explosion of the golden inner Yuan in Zhou Donghuang''s right hand. He casually snatched the old man''s ultimate spirit weapon, the lean knife, and threw it back, sending the old man''s brain into the sky as it was whipped out of his skull.


    Fresh blood floated in the air like several roses that had just bloomed, and the scene was almost mesmerizing.


    The old man''s brain floated for a short distance in the air before it came hurdling down. That bloody face was full of shock and hatred as it stared out with a gaze of confusion and utmost shock.


    Perhaps, up till the moment he had died, the old man still had not comprehended how a Silver Essence adept could explode with the inner Yuan of a Golden Essence adept out of the blue.


    Furthermore, why was that inner Yuan able to easily overcome the added inner Yuan he had given to the ultimate spirit weapon?


    "Father..."


    Seeing this, Chen Aotian let out a cry of anguish and hatred. He glanced murderously at the young man, unable to believe his father had just died.


    Whoosh!


    As if a wind had just blown by and killed the young man, obtaining his space ring, Zhou Donghuang appeared like a bolt of golden lightning right in front of Chen Aotian''s eyes.


    Chen Aotian felt like he had just fought a tough battle and had only just regained his senses. Seeing the young man standing in front of him with a neutral expression, he directly knelt and begged.


    "Brother Donghuang, I know my mistakes now. I was wrong!


    "Please, show some mercy and let me go. Please let me live!"


    Chen Aotian was fully panicking at this moment.


    Chen Aotian''s skills and power were greater than those of his father. It could even be expected that he would enter the Dharma stage in 100 years, and at that point, he would be able to extend his life for another 500 years. The him now was not even 100 yet!


    He still had about 500 more years to live, and he did not want to let that go so easily at this point.


    However, Zhou Donghuang''s reply to Chen Aotian''s begging was a casual slap with his palm.


    Boom!


    The golden palm, which was as big as a mountain, smashed down heavily. Chen Aotian did not even have any time to react before his entire body was smashed in a loud explosion and became a stream of blood.


    All that was left was a space ring that floated down singularly in the air and was caught by Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang felt as if he was experiencing a scene of deja vu.


    Over the thousand years of his past life, he had experienced too many similar scenes.


    One misstep could lead to endless consequences!


    A martial arts adept could easily die at any point.


    Ah!


    After killing the duo, Zhou Donghuang did not waste time trying to keep his golden inner Yuan and quickly hurried on his way towards the nearest galaxy teleporter.


    He then used the galaxy teleporter to transport himself to the Tianshui Empire, which was near where the Luo family home was.


    The galaxy teleporter of the Tianshui Empire was outside its capital. Once Zhou Donghuang had landed, he took another glance at his map before flying towards the opposite direction he had previously arrived from.


    The Luo family lived on one side of the Tianshui Empire''s capital, and their home took up an entire patch of mountains. This entire piece of land belonged to the Luo family, and he could not simply trespass as he wished.


    The Luo family mansion was surrounded by the mountains, just like how the stars and moon surround Earth. Flowers bloomed around it, and the entire area was tranquil and peaceful like a dystopian paradise.


    At this very moment, in the sturdy and elegant living room of the Luo family home, the head of the family, Luo Wuchen, was staring at the young man before him with surprise and confusion in his eyes. "Are you Miss Qinghan''s friend?"


    The young man before him was dressed in pure white and looked polite and graceful. He gave off a polished aura and did not look like any ordinary man.


    Well, at least to Luo Wuchen, even the most outstanding of young men out of the top great sects in the Tianxuan Empire, based on appearance and aura alone, could not compete with the young man in white before him.


    "I am Zhou Donghuang, and I''m pleased to meet you, my father-in-law!"


    Zhou Donghuang bowed courteously to Luo Wuchen.


    He knew at least to demonstrate some proper manners.


    Of course, he also bowed due to the fact that the person before him was Luo Qinghan''s father. If not, even if the person was of the Heavenly stage, he would not do such a degrading thing.


    "What... what did you call me!?"


    Luo Wuchen''s eyes grew wide, and a shocked expression appeared on his face.


    After he had regained his composure, this shock turned to anger, and a murderous look appeared on his face. A giant sword Dharma about three feet tall appeared before him, and this sword spat out a dangerous and menacing aura towards Zhou Donghuang.


    How could this audacious young man carelessly address him with such terms?


    When did his daughter marry a man like that?

 218 Old Ms. Li

    Whoosh!


    As Luo Wuchen''s sword surged forward towards Zhou Donghuang, a thick Golden halo of inner Yuan appeared around his body and easily deflected and resisted the attack.


    "A Golden... Golden Essence adept?!"


    Seeing this, Luo Wuchen temporarily forgot his anger, and he glanced at the teenager before him with a look of shock on his face.


    This young man looked to be around twenty years old and could even be younger than his daughter, Luo Qinghan. How could he be a Golden Essence adept!?


    Furthermore, two years ago, when his daughter Luo Qinghan had left the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, she had already been a Golden Essence adept, but yet the thickness of her inner Yuan was far less dense than that of the young man before him.


    Just as Luo Wuchen stared at Zhou Donghuang with a look of utter shock, many thoughts came to mind in his head.


    "After Qinghan''s encounter previously, she became extremely talented and known throughout the entire Tianxuan planet. No one could beat her. And yet, this young man before me seems to have greater talent than Qinghan!?


    "Something is wrong!


    "Qinghan only blossomed a few years ago. If she had gained enlightenment 10 years ago, she would probably be in the Dharma stage now!


    "Even so, the talent that this young man possesses far surpasses Qinghan now!"


    Within an instant, Luo Wuchen''s facial expression softened slightly as he considered the young man before him. Zhou Donghuang was extremely young, and yet he managed to have such commendable achievements. It was 80% possible that Zhou Donghuang had a powerful force supporting him, which Luo Wuchen did not want to risk offending.


    "Father-in-law."


    Zhou Donghuang opened his mouth yet again, and Luo Wuchen''s face darkened in response. Even before Luo Wuchen could speak, though, Zhou Donghuang glanced at the three-foot giant sword Dharma that Luo Wuchen had produced and said, "Your Dharma power has two obvious flaws. I believe you would have identified them before and tried to cover them up but... They can be identified easily even so as the cover-ups are too flimsy.


    "A Dharma adept with a good eye would be able to identify these flaws almost immediately."


    Once Zhou Donghuang had uttered these words, Luo Wuchen''s nostrils flared angrily as his situation was fully exposed by the young man.


    It was true that his Dharma power had two obvious flaws. These flaws had emerged due to the lacking traditions and methods that had been passed down the Luo family line and had been present for many generations.


    One could polish the Dharma but, just as Zhou Donghuang had pointed out, those Dharma adepts with a good eye would be able to see through the facade almost immediately.


    "If I did not guess incorrectly, this is due to your practice methods. Something is amiss with your methods."


    When Zhou Donghuang spoke, Luo Wuchen was shocked yet again. He suddenly felt that the young man standing before him was somehow privy to all his secrets.


    "Who... who exactly are you!?" Luo Wuchen asked extremely suspiciously.


    He could not comprehend why such a man would visit him at his home and label him as "father-in-law."


    He had never heard his daughter, Luo Qinghan, speak of any man that she fancied or had an interest in.


    "Father-in-law, I already introduced myself earlier... My name is Zhou Donghuang and I am your son-in-law. I am here at your home to seek permission to marry your daughter," Zhou Donghuang said.


    "Ask for my daughter''s hand in marriage?"


    Luo Wuchen sighed in relief upon hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words. He then furrowed his brows slightly and said, "Even if you are here to ask for my daughter''s hand in marriage, calling me "father-in-law" before receiving my blessing is jumping the gun a little, is it not?


    "Furthermore, this marriage may not even happen if Luo Qinghan does not consent to it.


    "I am not aware of your background either. I need to do my own research on you and think about it."


    Due to Zhou Donghuang''s display of talent and astonishing words, Luo Wuchen''s attitude now was at least slightly gentler and more lenient. He was now much more polite than before.


    "Father-in-law, I have already had pre-marital relations with your daughter many years ago. I am now here to ask for her hand in marriage as it is the right thing to do."


    This direct and blunt sentence uttered by Zhou Donghuang shocked Luo Wuchen till his entire face changed. With a murderous tone, he yelled out.


    "What did you say!?


    "You... you had an affair with my daughter before marriage? This happened many years ago?"


    The Luo Wuchen now was pale with rage, and the first thought that emerged in his mind was that the young man before him was uttering pure nonsense.


    Yet, when his gaze met Zhou Donghuang''s, it was hard to identify whether the latter was telling the truth.


    Furthermore, Zhou Donghuang''s gaze was clear and sharp, giving Luo Wuchen the sense that he would regret it if he doubted the young man.


    "Yes."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded with an earnest and serious expression.


    "When? Where?"


    Although Luo Wuchen still found the whole issue ridiculous, he forced himself to calm down and face the issue seriously.


    Before Zhou Donghuang could reply, Luo Wuchen''s gaze turned cold, and he added, "If this is not true, I will not care. However, if this turns out to be a made-up story, and I have found out that you involved my daughter in an untrue scandal, I will see it as a sin befitting of death and you will not leave my home alive!"


    Luo Wuchen warned Zhou Donghuang.


    Following which, as Zhou Donghuang opened his mouth, Luo Wuchen realized that the timing that Zhou Donghuang had spoken of coincided perfectly with the time period that his daughter had set out on her expedition.


    Furthermore, his daughter had also undergone a full change overnight after returning from that particular expedition.


    "Someone come here now!"


    With Luo Wuchen''s sharp command across the living room, a maid quickly rushed in following the call and bowed respectfully, awaiting orders.


    "Find Mrs. Li and tell her that I have urgent matters awaiting her. I will meet her in the living room."


    Once Luo Wuchen had given his order, the maid rushed off.


    "Father-in-law, this is my betrothal gift."


    After the maid had left, Zhou Donghuang raised his palms and revealed a stack of papers, which was the betrothal gift he had prepared for the Luo family.


    Previously, in his other life, although he had never asked for anyone''s hand in marriage, he was still aware of the general customs one should follow when carrying out such tasks.


    "This... betrothal gifts?"


    Seeing as Zhou Donghuang had presented a stack of papers and labeled them as betrothal gifts, Luo Wuchen furrowed his brows. He had never seen such a strange gesture or stunt.


    What kind of betrothal gift was this!?


    On the Tianxuan planet, marriages of status and power would include a large amount of spirit stone veins as a betrothal gift as well as several spirit-weapons.


    This young man was presenting paper? Was this a joke?


    "The betrothal gifts are not important right now. I want to first confirm whether the events you mentioned are true."


    Luo Wuchen waved his hands dismissively and said in a low voice.


    "As to whether my words have truth, we could just invite Miss Luo over to confirm them," Zhou Donghuang said.


    "Hmph!"


    Luo Wuchen snickered under his breath and glanced lightly at Zhou Donghuang. Originally, he had wanted to claim that his daughter had already left the Tianxuan planet. However, in the end, he did not let these words escape his mouth.


    About a second later, an old, frail woman dressed in a flowy green robe breezed into the living room as if she was a gust of wind.


    "A late Dharma adept?"


    Although the old woman did not showcase her Dharma, Zhou Donghuang was still able to sense that she was a late Dharma adept due to the aura of her inner Yuan.


    This old lady was even stronger than the head of the house, Luo Wuchen!


    Zhou Donghuang felt confused internally. "Who is she? At this point, shouldn''t my father-in-law invite his daughter to come forth instead!?"


    "The maid mentioned that you have urgent matters to discuss with me?"


    The old man glanced at Luo Wuchen lightly before speaking.


    At the same time, her gaze landed on Zhou Donghuang, who was sitting beside Luo Wuchen, and she nodded to herself furtively.


    This young man was clearly talented and could be the most accomplished young man of his age that she had ever met.


    "Mother-in-law."


    Luo Wuchen bowed to the old lady, and Zhou Donghuang was able to ascertain her status in the family through this greeting.


    "Grandmother." Zhou Donghuang followed Luo Wuchen''s behavior and similarly bowed to the old lady.


    "Grandmother?"


    The old lady was shocked. What was happening?


    In an instant, an idea appeared in her mind, and the old lady''s face darkened. A murderous gaze filled her eyes, and she barked coldly, "Luo Wuchen! Don''t tell me this is an illegitimate child that you have been fostering!


    "I told you a long time ago that unless your powers exceed mine, you will not do anything that goes against the honor of my dead daughter, so long as I am still alive!"


    As she spoke, the old lady''s tone turned icier.


    "Mother-in-law, you''re mistaken."


    Luo Wuchen smiled bitterly and said, "He... he is here to ask for Qinghan''s hand in marriage and my permission for him to do so."


    "Ask for her hand in marriage? Marry Qinghan?"


    The old lady mused to herself before her face softened again. She glanced at Zhou Donghuang and began to evaluate him in earnest. "Young man, you wish to marry my granddaughter?"


    "If your granddaughter is Luo Qinghan, then yes, that is correct," Zhou Donghuang replied.


    "Mother-in-law."


    At this point, Luo Wuchen stared suspiciously at the old lady and asked in a low voice, "Previously, when Qinghan had set out on an expedition and had that chance encounter, what exactly happened?


    "Although I know about the chance encounter, every time I question her as to how she came across it, she refuses to elaborate.


    "Just now, this young man told me that he had an affair with Qinghan while she was out on her expedition... Has Qinghan mentioned this to you before?"


    Luo Wuchen could not help but grow more suspicious as time passed.


    Now, he realized that his daughter''s reaction in the past had been rather strange, as if it was not convenient for her to share details of her expedition.


    "Are you Zhou Donghuang?"


    Under Luo Wuchen''s unwavering gaze, the old lady glanced at Zhou Donghuang and a shocked expression appeared on her face.


    With such words, Luo Wuchen''s confusion grew, and his heart became even more troubled.


    His mother-in-law knew this young man''s name!?


    Could it be that this young man had really slept with his pure and innocent Qinghan?


    At this point, Luo Wuchen could not help but feel irritated and unsettled as he glanced yet again at Zhou Donghuang.


    There was the Chinese saying that daughters were their fathers'' lovers in their previous life.


    At this point, Luo Wuchen could not help but feel that his daughter had been snatched away from him.

 219 I Approve of this Marriage!

    "Yes."


    Towards the question posed by the old lady, Zhou Donghuang nodded his head. At the same time, he observed that most likely, the old lady had heard about him from Luo Qinghan.


    As to Luo Wuchen''s cluelessness, Zhou Donghuang was not surprised as well.


    In any case, for the matter that had transpired between Zhou Donghuang and Luo Qinghan, from Qinghan''s perspective, it would definitely not be convenient for her to share such details with her father given their difference in gender.


    However, in contrast, it would be normal for Qinghan to share such intimate stories with her grandmother.


    This old lady was indeed Qinghan''s grandmother, Li Yu, who was a late Dharma adept and extremely powerful.


    "You... Aren''t you from the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, which is located within the Kaiyuan galaxy? If I recall correctly, that place does not even house a galaxy teleporter! How did you manage to travel to the Tianxuan planet?"


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang''s confirmation, Li Yu sighed calmly and said, "Also... you''re in the Primal Core stage now?


    "Perhaps... Someone else brought you here?" Li Yu asked in detail.


    Before Zhou Donghuang could speak, Luo Wuchen first spoke up in a low tone, "Mother-in-law, this young man is a Golden Essence adept and is even close to entering the Dharma stage."


    Seeing his mother-in-law''s reaction, Luo Wuchen could ascertain that the words Zhou Donghuang had uttered previously were probably true.


    Instantly, his face darkened considerably, and he glanced unhappily at Zhou Donghuang with a look of dissatisfaction.


    How dare this young man sleep with his daughter!?


    He ought to die!


    Furthermore, from his mother-in-law''s words, this young man was from a galaxy that did not even possess a galaxy teleporter?


    For galaxies which did not possess any galaxy teleporter, it was normal to assume that they did not produce any Primal Core adepts. Even if a rare Primal Core adept were to enter the galaxy, they would still be disinterested in building a galaxy teleporter.


    To Primal Core adepts, galaxies that did not own a galaxy teleporter were usually useless to visit and build one for, and they would not do so unless they felt that there was something to gain from visiting the galaxy or had thoughts of returning again.


    Building a galaxy teleporter did not require many treasures, but it required a long period of time. No Primal Core adept would waste time unless they found value in doing so.


    "How... For someone who was born in a galaxy that does not even have a galaxy teleporter, you still managed to enter the Primal Core stage and become a Golden Essence adept at this age!?"


    Luo Wuchen did not doubt his mother-in-law, Li Yu''s words and was thus even more muddled now.


    "A Golden Essence adept? And one that is approaching the Dharma stage at that?"


    When her granddaughter was about 16 or 17, at this young man''s age, she had only been a Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering adept. She had not even entered the Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering stage.


    And yet with a few years'' difference, this young man had become a Golden Essence adept!?


    Boom!


    With no warning, an ear-piercing, thunderous roar suddenly resonated within the living room; it was a giant, hunched-over, Dharma-level beast that rose up behind Li Yu.


    Clearly, it was a great ape.


    This great ape was bent over as it was too big to fit in the dimensions of the living room. If it were to stand up straight, it would tear through the ceiling of the living room, which was already standing at an impressive height of over ten meters.


    Previously, the three-foot Dharma power of Luo Wuchen''s was already this close to touching the ceiling of the living room, let alone this ten-foot tall great beast.


    However, even as it bent over, its back was already close to the ceiling as it was just too ginormous.


    Wah!


    As the giant ape let out a wild cry, it also sent a strong wave of aura towards Zhou Donghuang. At the same time, golden flames of inner Yuan rose up steadily around Zhou Donghuang''s body.


    Furthermore, the golden flames created out of Zhou Donghuang''s inner Yuan far surpassed that of a normal Golden Essence adept''s.


    Nevertheless, when facing a ten-foot-tall giant ape, Zhou Donghuang''s body still experienced the breaking of its inner Yuan despite his powers. The pressure on his body caused him to tremble slightly on the spot.


    "You are really a true Golden Essence adept!"


    Li Yu smoothly retracted her Dharma power before glancing a second time at Zhou Donghuang with a spooked expression, as if she had seen a ghost. "It seems that that lass Qinghan has been outmatched!"


    "He is not simply mediocre or average. This young man is so much more accomplished than Qinghan now. He is precocious and a genius!" Li Yu mused to herself.


    Although she did not speak loudly, these words were still overheard by Luo Wuchen. Luo Wuchen could not help but open his mouth to give Li Yu a reminder, "Mother-in-law, do not forget that Qinghan only changed a few years ago.


    "If she had been changed since young, she would not be any less accomplished than this young man!"


    As Luo Wuchen spoke these words, he glanced scornfully at Zhou Donghuang, feeling a sense of irritation and dissatisfaction rise up between him. What a joke! This man had actually dared to corrupt his daughter and destroy her innocence!


    "A few years ago, when Qinghan first met this man, he was only a Great Consummation of the Qi-Gathering adept! He was not even at the Petty Consummation of the Qi-Gathering stage!"


    Once Li Yu had spoken these words, Luo Wuchen was stunned into silence once again. He glanced at Zhou Donghuang with a spooked expression and could not regain his composure for a long period of time.


    "You are Donghuang, right? Come over here and let me take a good look at you!"


    Li Yu waved at Zhou Donghuang and appeared to be extremely pleased. Zhou Donghuang obediently took a few steps forward hesitantly as he was a little shocked by the overwhelming friendliness of the old woman.


    Her attitude had changed drastically, and it was a fresh welcome from Luo Wuchen''s hostility.


    "Not bad, not bad indeed... Handsome, good aura, comparable to the most outstanding disciples of the big sects down the street... Not bad, not bad indeed!"


    The longer the old woman stared at Zhou Donghuang, the more her approval for him grew.


    Now, the way she stared at him was unlike a stranger glancing at another stranger but rather with the gaze a mother gave to her son.


    "You''ve come to visit our home to ask for Qinghan''s hand in marriage? You are prepared to marry her and settle down with her?" Li Yu smiled and asked.


    "Yes."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded his head.


    "Very good, very good... At such a young age, you are sensible and courteous enough to respect customs. There aren''t many youths nowadays that are as mature as you. Mm, I am extremely satisfied. I approve of this marriage!"


    Li Yu nodded her head in satisfaction.


    "Ah?"


    Li Yu''s passion and casual reply caused Zhou Donghuang to feel slightly uncomfortable.


    However, that was simply his first reaction.


    After he had regained his senses, Zhou Donghuang immediately bowed out of respect to Li Yu and signaled his gratitude. "Thank you, Ma''am."


    "No thanks needed, we are a family now..."


    Li Yu smiled and continued to stare at Zhou Donghuang, mentally evaluating him further. As she did so, she continued nodding to herself as if she was extremely satisfied to have found a son-in-law like Zhou Donghuang.


    "Mother-in-law!"


    At this point, Luo Wuchen had finally regained his senses, and he smiled bitterly. "I am Qinghan''s father! If I have not given permission for this marriage to take place, how could you give your blessings just like that?"


    "Hmph!"


    Towards Luo Wuchen, Li Yu had on a less friendly expression, and she replied to him in a cold fashion, "In any case, I have already acknowledged and approved of this son-in-law. Why? Do you have a problem with this?"


    Li Yu glanced steely at Luo Wuchen without flinching.


    "No... No, I have no problem with that."


    Luo Wuchen smiled bitterly and shook his head as his heart grew heavier.


    He knew that his mother-in-law was not any ordinary woman. If not, as a woman, she definitely would not have been able to cross to the late Dharma stage and become a late Dharma adept even before she had turned 500 years old.


    Today, his mother-in-law was acting extremely out of the norm. There had to be some information that she knew that he didn''t!


    "Donghuang, you were born in the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun?"


    When she turned to look at Zhou Donghuang once more, Li Yu''s old face now had on a smile that looked forced, almost as if she wanted to cry.


    "I guess so," Zhou Donghuang replied.


    "You guess so?"


    Li Yu was confused.


    "When I was young, my father sent me to the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun. I was raised up by my adoptive mother. My earliest memories stem from the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun."


    Zhou Donghuang explained his situation. At the same time, a cold glance flickered in his eyes, and he clenched his fists together tightly. The already dense golden flames surrounding his body flared out once again and flickered around his clenched fists. He now looked as if he were enveloped in a thick fog of gold.


    Zhou Donghuang was now thinking about his biological father, Zhou Haotian and his biological mother, Zhuge Jing''s misfortune in his past life.


    "There are still about 100 years to go... Father, mother, in this life, I will definitely save you both before anything horrible happens!"


    With the wavering of his heart, Zhou Donghuang''s gaze grew stronger and more resolute.


    "As expected."


    Li Yu sighed coldly to herself, and she had an internal realization. All along, she had suspected that the young man standing before them had been able to allow her granddaughter to undergo changes overnight back then due to the fact that his bloodline was royal and superior. This young man had martial arts talent that far exceeded that of her granddaughter which allowed him to help her improve drastically.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang''s words had confirmed her suspicions.


    "The fact that this boy''s father abandoned him in such an isolated and unknown galaxy''s planet, well, there must be a good reason behind it all! I''m quite sure that between his father and his mother, at least one of them is not any ordinary person! If not, they would not have been able to give birth to such a talented and unique child."


    Li Yu mused to herself.


    "Donghuang."


    Now, no matter how she looked at the situation, Donghuang seemed to appeal to Li Yu more and more. Not only was he extremely talented, but he was also handsome as well. Donghuang also seemed extremely mature and stable. It would be hard for that granddaughter of hers to find a more outstanding and capable man to marry!


    Most importantly, that young man had had sexual relations with her granddaughter.


    Li Yu was extremely traditional in this aspect.


    Of course, despite this important point and all the other details, the main point was that she had already acknowledged this young man before her as her grandson-in-law. She also believed that if her granddaughter dated and married this man, she had nothing to lose and everything to gain.


    She had lived close to 500 years thus far and had gotten rather experienced at reading people.


    "Grandmother-in-law?"


    Zhou Donghuang had regained his composure, and his tightly clenched fists were loosened as well. With that, the inner Yuan surrounding him also subsided accordingly in intensity.


    "Well, it is rather a coincidence though... About a year and a half ago, that lass Qinghan followed the Primordial Souls from the Hengliu galaxy as well as a few martial arts talents aged about 30 years old from the Tianxuan planet to visit the Hengliu galaxy. They wanted to visit the top sects within the Hengliu galaxy."


    Li Yu smiled bitterly and said, "Now, she probably should have already visited several of the top sects in the Hengliu galaxy.


    "Before she left, she had mentioned that once she was familiar with the environment there, she would return to visit.


    "Perhaps you could stay and wait for her?" Li Yu asked.


    With such a speech, Zhou Donghuang realized that Luo Qinghan was not home at the moment. Instead, she was out on an expedition to the Hengliu galaxy, visiting their top sects.


    As to which of the top sects she was visiting in the Hengliu galaxy, both Wuchen and Li Yu were not sure. They all had to wait till Luo Qinghan was back to find out.

 220 Good Son-in-Law!

    "The Hengliu galaxy?"


    "The Hengliu galaxy. Isn''t that the one mentioned in the letter the top Dharma adept from the Honglong planet of the Tianma galaxy gave me? He mentioned an enemy in that letter, isn''t that where that enemy is from?"


    Zhou Donghuang remembered very clearly that the nemesis of that supreme Dharma adept was currently a Primordial Soul adept from a Fireism sect, somewhere in the vast wilderness of the Hengliu galaxy¡ªGong Sunling.


    And Fireism¡ªit was obvious from its name that this was a sect that prided itself on its religious teachings.


    "Grandmother, I''m not waiting for her any longer. If she comes back, tell her that I''m also at the Hengliu galaxy. We''ll probably meet there very soon if everything goes well," Zhou Donghuang told Li Yu, then used his inner Yuan to pass the stack of papers in his hand over to Li Yu.


    "This is my betrothal gift, Grandmother."


    Right after he said that, Zhou Donghuang hurriedly bid Li Yu and Luo Wuchen goodbye. He then turned to leave and prepared to head to the galaxy teleporter nearby to head to the Hengliu galaxy!


    Then he was gone with the wind. Li Yu and Luo Wuchen only recovered after his silhouette had completely disappeared from their sight.


    "What an impatient brat!" Luo Wuchen chided softly under his breath.


    "I think the way he does things is rather up my alley, actually."


    Li Yu smiled a little.


    "Mother-in-law!"


    There was a bitter smile on Luo Wuchen''s face. "Why did you entrust Qinghan to him so recklessly? It''s not just that, we haven''t even talked this through with Qinghan yet, so how do you know if she''ll be up for this?"


    "''Recklessly''?"


    Li Yu shook her head. Her eyes were filled with a certain wisdom. "You think that I, Li Yu, am a reckless person?


    "Haven''t you always wanted to know what exactly had happened to Qinghan that time she went out a few years back and came back a new person armed with a newfound sense of martial talent?" Li Yu stared firmly at Luo Wuchen and asked.


    "Yes."


    Luo, Wuchen nodded. "I asked that girl a few times but she always changed the topic. She didn''t want to tell me."


    "It''s normal that she didn''t want to tell you. Though you''re her father, you''re also a man. There are just some differences between men and women."


    Li Yu asked, "Did Donghuang tell you about the thing between him and Qinghan? You wouldn''t have sent someone to me for confirmation if he didn''t, right?"


    "Yes."


    Luo Wuchen nodded. "At first, I knew about the issue with He Meng of the He Family where he drugged Qinghan, but I didn''t know that Qinghan had suffered that much after that."


    Luo Wuchen was aware that Luo Qinghan had gone with his mother-in-law who was standing in front of him now to murder the first lady of the He Family, He Meng, that year.


    Luo Wuchen fell into a shocked silence when he heard Li Yu''s response. It took him a while to shake himself out of his stupor, and he stared at Li Yu in disbelief.


    "Mother-in-law, so what you''re saying is...is that Zhou Donghuang, the one of noble blood who''s supernaturally talented and far superior to Qinghan, all of which was the reason why her martial talent underwent such a drastic transformation?"


    In this boundless universe, the blood that flowed through human beings were not all that different at the start.


    But some people eventually succeeded in improving themselves, and so their blood would undergo a subtle transformation and improve in the same way the body did.


    The coupling of those people brought about descendants whose blood was naturally better than others.


    When one of the two people who coupled had far better blood than the other, and when that person in question was still a boy or a virgin, the martial talent of the other in the pair would undergo a dramatic transformation.


    Luo Wuchen knew this well.


    "Yes."


    Li Yu nodded.


    "Is there a possibility that Qinghan had any other encounters?


    Luo Wuchen followed up.


    "It''s impossible."


    Li Yu shook her head. "Qinghan told me every single thing about that incident that happened that time, and she didn''t leave a single thing out. I can conclude from her account that the transformation of her martial talent is intrinsically linked to Donghuang.


    "There''s just this one thing. Back then, Qinghan had mentioned that Donghuang was only a Qi-Gathering adept, which really puzzled me. But we know now that certain circumstances had made for Donghuang to still be a Qi-Gathering adept when he was already around sixteen to seventeen years old.


    "However, it''s obvious that Donghuang''s talents have fully developed in the past few years, or there''s no way he would be a Golden Essence adept at this age.


    "On top of that, his inner Yuan is so powerful, much more superior to that of the average Golden Essence adept. It''s so powerful that some people find it difficult to believe just how strong it is. Come to think of it, he''s barely half a step away from the Dharma stage."


    Luo Wuchen could only listen silently to Li Yu as she spoke.


    "I was initially rather puzzled: How could someone of such good blood exist on a small planet in the stars with no galaxy teleporter? But Donghuang answered my question earlier."


    When Li Yu opened her mouth to speak again, her eyes were gleaming. "Donghuang had only grown up on Ziyun; he''s not a child of that planet. He was abandoned on Ziyun by his birth father.


    "Qinghan is blessed to be able to be in this marriage with him."


    "I can also tell that Donghuang has a maturity and stability uncharacteristic of people his age, and he''s really responsible, even if a little quiet. This will not be a loss for Qinghan."


    Li Yu''s spoke at length, not the least bit stingy with her praises for Zhou Donghuang. Luo Wuchen felt a little jealous as he listened to her speak. This mother-in-law of his had never praised him like this!


    Jealous as he was, he was still rather careful when it came to the issue of his daughter''s marriage.


    He was finally able to put his mind at ease after hearing Li Yu''s analysis.


    He mulled over it for a bit, and he realized that the brat was actually not all that bad. He would be tolerable if Luo Wuchen actually made the effort to accept him as his son-in-law.


    "He was able to see through the flaws in my dharma power while only being at the Primal Core stage¡­ It seems like his father had left him quite a few gifts when he was abandoned on Ziyun or whatever, or there''s no way he would be able to pick out my flaws with that level of training," Luo Wuchen muttered.


    "I don''t know about the future, but for now, it''s not just Qinghan''s who''s losing out. The entire Luo Family is!"


    Luo Wuchen''s gaze landed on the stack of papers clutched in Li Yu''s hand, and he cursed out, "That brat just hands over a few spirit stones to pass off as a betrothal gift? All he offers is a meager few pieces of paper, is he really that stingy?


    "Us Luos are not going to be offering a dowry if he''s going to be that stingy!"


    Luo Wuchen was rather exasperated and frenzied.


    "Betrothal gift?"


    Li Yu lifted the stack of papers at Luo Wuchen''s reminder. She became serious, and her face started hardening over.


    "Hm?"


    Luo Wuchen''s heart skipped a beat at the look on Li Yu''s face. "What did the kid write on those pieces of paper?"


    After a beat, he saw glee creep onto Li Yu''s face, then a manic joy. Her eyes and then her whole face morphed into glee, and she could no longer restrain herself from bursting out into raucous laughter.


    The old lady''s laugh echoed in the large hall, which made Luo Wuchen all the more curious about just what was written on the paper.


    "Good, good¡­ Good!"


    "I, Li Yu, will definitely cross into the Primordial Soul stage with this practice method!"


    Li Yu was speaking excitedly.


    "Practice method?"


    Luo Wuchen''s pupils constricted. Those were practice methods that would help his mother-in-law cross into the Primordial Soul stage?


    The thing was that, though his mother-in-law had been trying to do so for over a hundred years, it was practically impossible for her to do so.


    This was something that the lady in question had personally admitted a long time ago, an outcome that she had long since been preparing for.


    He just did not expect this that his mother-in-law would take one look at the practice methods left behind by his future son-in-law and already proclaim that she would definitely cross over into the Primordial Soul stage with these methods?


    Just what kind of practice methods were these?


    "Mother-in-law, what are the practice methods that the kid left you?"


    Luo Wuchen balked at Li Yu. He could not help his curiosity, so he asked her.


    "It''s the Technique of Everlasting Youth!"


    Li Yu''s eyes were broiling as she stared at the paper in her hands. She flipped through the pages quickly. "This technique is far superior to the one I had been training with and the one your family owns.


    "I''d even go so far as to say that what I had simply pales in comparison to this technique!


    "Not only will this technique speed up my training time, but it will also strengthen my Dharma power¡­ For Dharma adepts, their Dharma power is strengthened if their practice methods are good.


    "If I succeed in completely switching over to this practice method, I''m confident I will be able to go head-to-head with the Supreme Dharma adepts from the top sects of Tianxuan, even if I''m still just a late Dharma adept."


    "And it''s not just that. My lifespan will be extended by three centuries if I succeed in switching over. Even if I don''t become a Primordial Soul, I can still live to be 900 years old!"


    The Technique of Everlasting Youth was the very same practice method that Zhou Donghuang had handed over to his mother, Lin Lan, in the past. Once they trained enough to reach the Primal Core stage, their lifespan could increase by 50% longer than that of Primal Core adepts.


    The longest the Primal Core adepts who trained with this practice method could live to be was 450 years old.


    Once they crossed over into the Dharma stage, they could live to be twice as old as that, which was a 50% extension of the average Dharma adept''s lifespan of 600 years.


    So on and so forth for the subsequent levels of practice.


    Anyone who trained using this practice method would have their lifespans extended by 50% of their peers.


    "To think this practice method would be able to extend one''s lifespan¡­ This is no different than playing God!"


    Li Yu became increasingly excited the more she spoke. "Donghuang added a note at the back. This practice method is the best of its kind, no matter where you are in this boundless universe!


    "He said that he would hand the latter part of this practice method to us after we step into the Primordial Soul stage.


    "With this practice method, you can train until you become a deity!"


    ¡­


    Luo Wuchen was completely stunned.


    Just up until a moment he had been talking down that future son-in-law of his, calling him stingy for only handing a stack of paper and some spirit stones over as a betrothal gift.


    Who would have known that he would be slapped in the face like this just a moment later?


    He took over the records of The Technique of Everlasting Youth from Lin Yu who was still rambling on and on. He then looked over it to verify that it was authentic, and he could not help the look of excitement that appeared on his face. He was so excited that he started to slap his thighs.


    "Good, good¡­ Good! A good son-in-law, what a good son-in-law he is!


    "I, Luo Wuchen, acknowledge him as my son-in-law! If that Qinghan has anything to say about this, I''ll break her legs!"


    It was rare, but Li Yu did not counter what the man had said this time. Instead, she exclaimed in agreement, "That''s right! If that girl dares to go against this marriage, you break her left leg and I''ll break her right!"

 221 Third Senior Sister

    "The Lightning Sword Sect... It should be right up ahead."


    After he arrived by the galaxy teleporter, the young man clad in white from head to toe stayed afloat in their air. He stared out in the distance as he muttered under his breath, his gaze fixed on the buildings nestled in the midst of the tips of blades.


    The galaxy teleporter was behind the young man. On it, the coordinates were clearly marked out:


    Hengliu galaxy.


    The Tielao planet.


    The Lightning Sword Sect.


    The young man clad in white was Zhou Donghuang, who had just left the Tianxuan planet of the Luohe galaxy, and traveled all the way to the Tielao planet in the Hengliu galaxy.


    "This time¡­ Third Senior Sister should still be in the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect."


    Zhou Donghuang came to this place because there was someone he knew here. More accurately, someone he knew from his previous life: his third senior sister.


    He did not care for many people in his previous life, but this person was one of the people he held close to his heart.


    He was not the reason for her demise, but he did owe her a great debt of gratitude since she had saved his life on multiple occasions, and it was because of this that the man was heartbroken when she had passed.


    His heartbreak had translated into a self-hatred. Why was he not strong enough to prevent her death? Why could he do nothing but watch as she died in front of him?


    Although he avenged her eventually, there was no way to bring her back to life.


    But he had the power to alter history now that he had reincarnated into a life that existed a millennium before his previous one, and there was no way he would let the person he cherished like his own mother and sister slip through his fingers again.


    "In my last life, the Lightning Sword Sect was tragically wiped out, but she was lucky to have escaped with her life. After they left the Hengliu galaxy, she joined the same sect and served the same master I did.


    "I''d even go as far as to say that the only reason I was able to join that sect was because of her¡­ Otherwise, there was no way the master would have even taken a second look at me."


    His Third Senior Sister went by the name, "He Mengxi" and was an entire decade older than he was.


    In his previous life, she had already been an ultimate Primordial Soul adept by the time he met her, and her powers were simply astonishing.


    An adept at the Primordial Soul stage who had not even been 200 hundred years old was considered gifted, even when compared to the vast universe.


    It was important to note that plenty of people improved by leaps and bounds in a short time when they were still in the early phases of their training, but they would also hit a bottleneck and cease to improve.


    However, that person had been stuck at the Primordial Soul stage all the way until the last second of the thousand-year limit before eventually dying in his sleep.


    It was worth noting that he had already crossed into the Primordial Soul stage before he turned 300.


    He had not been able to cross into the Divine Transformation stage in the 700 years that followed and had ended up dying when his lifespan expired.


    The average Primordial Soul adept lived to a thousand years.


    Of course, if the adept trained using the Technique of Everlasting Youth, they could extend their lifespan to 1,500 years.


    "Your Highness, why have you come to the Lightning Sword Sect?"


    Zhou Donghuang was stopped by someone the moment he came close enough to the perimeter of the buildings that were nestled in the midst of blade tips.


    He was stopped by two young men who looked to be about 30 years old. The golden inner Yuan that swirled around them made it clear that the both of them were Golden Essence adepts.


    One of the men had a lanky build, and strapped to his back was a sheathed long sword.


    The other man had a large, unsheathed blade strapped horizontally to his back. Well, a good craftsman never blamed his tools.


    The two men were the two people from the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect who were on patrol duty. They had managed to stop Zhou Donghuang in time when they found him getting closer to the sect.


    "Gentlemen, I''m looking for He Mengxi from your sect," Zhou Donghuang said.


    "You''re looking for Junior Sister He?"


    At Zhou Donghuang''s words, the two men on patrol squinted a little, and the cold expression they had on their faces a while ago melted into something more friendly.


    He Mengxi was none other than the daughter of the Autumn Valley Head of the Lightning Sword Sect, the cherished daughter of the sect.


    "Who are you, boy? Why are you looking for Junior Sister He?"


    There was a hint of a smile on the lanky disciple''s face as he asked very politely. The man''s condescension had nothing to do with the fact that Zhou Donghuang was only a Silver Essence adept.


    The silver inner Yuan surrounding Zhou Donghuang''s body at this very moment was a clear indicator of that.


    "She''s my senior."


    Zhou Donghuang chuckled blandly.


    "Your senior?!"


    Zhou Donghuang''s response shocked the two disciples. Was this man saying that he was a disciple that the Autumn Valley Head had accepted outside of the sect?


    He seemed to be about 20 years or so, slightly older than 20 at most, but he was already a Silver Essence adept.


    It could be possible.


    "Junior Brother, I''ll bring you to Autumn Valley right now."


    The lanky disciple brought Zhou Donghuang into the sect after he exchanged greetings with someone else.


    On the way there, Zhou Donghuang scanned the mountains that had stood tall, resembling sharp blades that were piercing through the clouds with their tips. It was rather obvious that these blade tips were carved to look the way they did now; every single one of them looked like a sword.


    It must have taken quite a bit of effort to carve the dozens of these mountains into such sharp blades, even if the one doing the carving were Diving Transformation adept.


    "Junior Brother, you''re the disciple our Autumn Valley Head accepted outside of the sect, right? Why are you only here now?" the lanky disciple questioned curiously.


    "There were some issues I had to deal with."


    Zhou Donghuang responded flippantly. It was not like he could admit that he did not know the man and had never even seen him, right?


    When he had been acquainted with his third senior sister in his past life, her father¡ªwho was the Autumn Valley''s Head¡ªhad long passed following the collapse of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Now, his priority was meeting his third senior sister.


    Everything would be easier if he met her.


    "How do I address you?"


    "Zhou Donghuang."


    "So it''s Junior Brother Zhou, huh¡­ Junior Brother Zhou, I''m Liu Ping. I''m a disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect."


    Liu Ping was leading the way to the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect. He was very enthusiastic and hospitable, so much so that it was unnerving Zhou Donghuang.


    Why was that?


    Zhou Donghuang was growing suspicious of his enthusiasm. This Liu Ping, did he know that he had been an adept at the Heavenly Stage in his previous life?


    Why else would he be this enthusiastic, to the extent of bootlicking?


    The sect divided its disciples into outer and inner disciples, and only the inner disciples could join the Autumn Valley, which was part of the Four Valleys, to become a disciple of the Four Valleys.


    The four valleys were as followed: Spring Valley, Summer Valley, Autumn Valley, and Winter Valley.


    Generally speaking, there was only one way for an outer disciple to become an inner disciple is to enter the four valleys: that was to reach the Dharma stage and become a Dharma adept before turning 30.


    The other way was to catch the eye of the four Valley leaders and have them accept you personally¡­ And it was precisely because of this that there were a few young disciples in the four valleys that were not yet at the Dharma stage.


    These young disciples who had joined the Four Valleys were still considered inner disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect even if they were not at the Dharma stage yet.


    Liu Ping, who was currently leading the way for Zhou Donghuang, was but an outer disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect. He was about 30 years old and not yet at the Dharma stage.


    The inner disciples were all individuals who were naturally gifted, and even the worst of them could become an elder in the Lightning Sword Sect in the future when they were more experienced.


    They were not like the outer disciples who could spend their whole lives training and still become nothing more than an in-charge for matters outside of the sect.


    Liu Ping thought that this Junior Brother Zhou standing in front of him must be someone who was born with a talent that set him apart from his peers, someone who had a limitless potential within him, for the Autumn Valley head to have made an exception to take him in.


    He had the chance to exchange words with this guy and make a friend out of him now.


    In the future, he might not even have the opportunity to speak to him.


    It was best that he got acquainted with Zhou Donghuang now before that happened; there were only pros and no cons to doing so.


    "Junior Brother Zhou, we''re at the Autumn Valley."


    Under Liu Ping''s guidance, Zhou Donghuang came to a stop in front of a spacious valley. The maple leaves were floating in the space of the valley, and it made for quite the picture of autumn.


    The ground was covered with red maple leaves, and many of the flowers and grass had withered to nothing. Some of the fruit trees had ripened fruits hanging from them.


    "This is the Autumn Valley?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s heart skipped a beat.


    "An outer disciple? What are you doing here?"


    A shadow flew out from a side of the hillside of the Autumn Valley. It was an impressive young man clad in green robes. Though he was walking on air, not a trace of inner Yuan was visible around his body. It was clear that this man was a Dharma adept.


    One had to at least be a Dharma adept to be able to conceal their inner Yuan.


    "Outer disciple Liu Ping. I offer my greetings to you, Senior Brother Huang."


    Liu Ping greeted the man respectfully, introducing Zhou Donghuang in the same breath. "Senior Brother Huang, this is Junior Brother Zhou. He''s a disciple who''s been accepted by Valley Head He from outside. Today is his first day here with us at the Lightning Sword Sect."


    Without waiting for the other man to respond, he smiled and turned to speak to Zhou Donghuang, "Junior Brother Zhou, I''ll be taking my leave now since I''ve already brought you here to the Autumn Valley."


    The man in green robes took a good look at Zhou Donghuang after Liu Ping left. "You. You''re a disciple the Valley Head accepted from outside?"


    Zhou Donghuang did not respond. Instead, he smiled blandly at the man. "Please take me to Senior Sister Mengxi, if you don''t mind."


    "Follow me."


    The young man decked in green did not ask any more questions after he heard that Zhou Donghuang wanted to meet Mengxi, someone his Valley Head cherished like gold. He moved ahead to lead the way.


    "Junior Sister Mengxi, someone''s here for you."


    The young man brought Zhou Donghuang to the other side of the hill where there was a spacious courtyard built atop an expansive stone platform.


    Not long after the young man spoke, a charming silhouette floated out from the courtyard. It was a young lady dressed in a long, sky-blue dress.


    The lady looked to be about 20 years old¡ªit was impossible to tell that she was over 30 just by looking at her. She had beautiful eyebrows that looked drawn on and eyes that shone like stars. Her cheeks were stained with delicate beauty, and her long hair was draped on her back like a waterfall. She stood there, a slim woman 1.7 meters tall with long legs that caught one''s eye.


    Zhou Donghuang''s gaze was completely fixed on her as she walked out. His body was trembling inconspicuously, and he could not keep his calm any longer.


    More than 800 years.


    It had been more than 800 years since he had seen his third senior sister.


    She looked exactly like the memory he had of her, just a little younger and not as mature as he had remembered her to be.


    "Who are you, and what are you here for?"


    He Mengxi stared at the young man in white robes who stood to the side of the one clad in green, confusion clouding her features.


    "Junior Sister Mengxi, you¡­ you don''t know this man?"


    The man''s face changed in an instant.

 222 Pack of Lies

    "Who are you? Why are you pretending to be an Autumn Valley disciple?"


    The young man glared at Zhou Donghuang. Never in his wildest dreams had he expected someone to pose as a disciple of the Autumn Valley.


    Wasn''t he afraid of death?


    He had only agreed to bring this young stranger to He Mengxi because he could never have imagined anyone pretending to be an Autumn Valley disciple.


    He''d failed to consider that perhaps He Mengxi did not know that the Autumn Valley Lord had already accepted this young man as a disciple. However, this scenario was practically impossible.


    He Mengxi was the Autumn Valley Lord''s only daughter!


    "Posing as an Autumn Valley disciple?"


    He Mengxi frowned a little when she heard what the young man said before finally turning to take a good look at him.


    The young man dressed in white met her gaze. She had a weird feeling. It was almost as if he knew her.


    Then, a different young man dressed in green took a step forward. Dharma manifested around his body. He Mengxi stopped him before he could harm Zhou Donghuang. "Wait, Senior Brother Huang Long."


    The young man dressed in green was named Huang Long. Although he was not as strong as He Mengxi, he was older than her and had been a part of the Autumn Valley before He Mengxi had even entered the Dharma stage. By these merits, she had to address him as "Senior Brother."


    Huang Long could not defy her. The Dharma disappeared, and he sheathed his sword, still glaring warily at Zhou Donghuang.


    "Do you know me?"


    He Mengxi looked at Zhou Donghuang. Suspicion swam in her eyes.


    "Third Senior Sister."


    Zhou Donghuang finally snapped out of his daze. He worked hard to suppress his emotions, which were threatening to swirl out of control because of his agitation. He took a deep breath, then smiled and greeted He Mengxi.


    "Third Senior Sister?"


    He Mengxi was taken aback by the title Zhou Donghuang had used to greet her. "Have you mistaken me for someone else?"


    "Third Senior Sister, I wish to speak with you alone," Zhou Donghuang said.


    "Listen, punk. It''s bad enough that you''re posing as an Autumn Valley disciple. Now, you''re even trying to make ridiculous requests of Junior Sister He Mengxi!" Huang Long ranted angrily.


    He Mengxi''s eyes met Zhou Donghuang''s. After a moment, she turned to look at Huang Long and said, "Senior Brother Huang Long, you have your own business to attend to. I''d like to hear what he has to say. I''ll deal with him appropriately. If he doesn''t have a good explanation for his actions, I''ll chase him out of Autumn Valley and the Lightning Sword Sect."


    Huang Long nodded. Before taking his leave, he glared at Zhou Donghuang and warned, "Don''t pull any tricks, punk!"


    It was more or less an empty threat.


    After Huang Long left, He Mengxi stared at Zhou Donghuang, who had not moved an inch since his arrival. "Now that it''s just the two of us, what was it you wanted to say?"


    "Third Senior Sister."


    Zhou Donghuang stared at He Mengxi. His speech was neither too fast nor too slow. "When you were six, you secretly put a mouse in your father''s boots. You were afraid that he would punish you, so you snuck back to retrieve the mouse."


    "How do you know that?!"


    He Mengxi paled immediately. Only she knew about that. Not even her father knew.


    As this young man standing in front of her told her about this incident, a chill ran down her spine.


    Who was he? How did he know her secret?


    Zhou Donghuang did not answer, but pressed on, "You reached the Connate stage on the very first day of the year when you turned 13. You wanted your father to praise you, so you told him that you reached the stage on the last day of your twelfth year."


    He Mengxi''s pupils constricted. Again, this was something only she knew.


    "When you were 19¡­"


    "When you were 21¡­"


    Everything Zhou Donghuang recounted were stories that Third Senior Sister had shared with him in his previous life during moments of idle chatter.


    She had told him all of these things before, and they were stories no one else knew but her.


    "You¡­Just who are you?"


    He Mengxi stared at the young man in front of her, and her face was devoid of any color. She felt that she had no secrets from this person.


    "Third Senior Sister," Zhou Donghuang said with a smile, "there is no reason for you to be afraid. These are the only secrets of your that I know. You may not believe me, but I learned all of this from my dreams.


    "During the last year and a half, I had a long, long dream. You were my Third Senior Sister in that dream, and you told me of your origins. You are He Mengxi, a disciple of the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect in Tielao in the Hengliu Stars.


    "I''m not a Tielao native. I''m not even from the Hengliu Stars. I come from Ziyun, a planet in the Kaiyuan Galaxy.


    "The strongest of the Top 5 Sects in Ziyun is the Donghuang Sect, and I am its current leader. I left Ziyun half a year ago.


    "Third Senior Sister, you can verify all of this. I just never thought that it was anything other than a dream!" Zhou Donghuang exclaimed.


    While he was telling her all this, he could see suspicion and doubt in her eyes, so he decided to tell her everything. He feared nothing.


    "If what I said earlier about your secrets is true and those are things that only you know, how else would I know about them? You don''t think I can read other people''s memories, do you? Besides, I''m a decade younger than you. I wasn''t even born yet when you were sixteen," Zhou Donghuang continued talking.


    The only reason why he was lying through his teeth like this now was that he knew of no other way to explain everything to his Third Senior Sister.


    Other than what he had just come up with, he could not think of a better way to go about encouraging her to accept him as a Junior Brother without divulging the fact that he came from the future¡ªone century from now.


    He Mengxi''s eyebrows relaxed after listening to what he said. She thought that it made sense.


    "So, you''re saying that you came all this way to the Lightning Sword Sect and the Autumn Valley because you wanted to meet me to test the veracity of your dream?" He Mengxi asked.


    "It''s not only that," Zhou Donghuang said with an imposing air. "There was something else in my dream. In the near future, the Lightning Sword Sect will face an existential danger! A disaster will bring about the death of your father, the Autumn Valley Lord. As for you, you will leave Tielao and the Hengliu Stars.


    "I met you after this catastrophe occurred. At that time, you were already a Primordial Soul adept. Both of us were in the same sect studying under the same master. The disciples under Master¡ªBig Senior Brother and Second Senior Sister¡ªhad already passed before you joined us. Under Master, you ranked third, and I ranked fourth because I joined last. That is why I call you ''Third Senior Sister.''"


    Zhou Donghuang did not continue. Different emotions crossed He Mengxi''s face.


    She thought that everything Zhou Donghuang had said was a little absurd. It was undoubtedly a far-fetched tale.


    But he had also revealed several of her secrets, secrets that no one should know. Of this, she was a hundred percent certain!


    She took everything in. On the whole, she thought it was ridiculous, but a part of her that believed him.


    Anxiety was written all over her face as she asked, "Why would the Lightning Sword Sect face such a thread? When exactly will this happen?"


    Zhou Donghuang knew from her question that she had bought his tale. "It was mainly brought about by the Summer Valley Lord. As for the specifics, you never told me in my dream. You didn''t mention when exactly it would happen, either."


    He Mengxi frowned, and her brow furrowed. Zhou Donghuang interjected, "At that time, you told me that you had not been at the Dharma stage for long when the sect was wiped out.


    "Unless my appearance before you today affects your training, when you step into the Dharma stage, take your father with you and leave the Lightning Sword Sect. You should be able to escape unscathed," Zhou Donghuang said.


    He Mengxi heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Third Senior Sister, Ziyun, from where I come, is no longer a suitable place for me to continue training. I wish to stay in Autumn Valley from now on. Can you help me by putting in a good word with your father?" Zhou Donghuang asked He Mengxi.


    He Mengxi listened, then looked steadily at him. "You cannot join Autumn Valley before you turn thirty and step into the Dharma stage. How old are you? And what kind of adept are you?" He Mengxi asked.


    "I am 24 and became a Golden Essence adept the year before," Zhou Donghuang responded.


    "A Golden Essence adept at 23?"


    Her shock was evident. Even she had only become a Golden Essence adept at 24. This young man had become a Golden Essence adept earlier than her?


    On top of that, it was clear that the planet he came from was not a more environment suitable for training than here on the Tielao planet, where the Lightning Sword Sect was based.


    Within the Autumn Valley, there was a formation used to detect a person''s age using their bones. He Mengxi took Zhou Donghuang to have his age assessed, then observed the golden inner Yuan swirling around his body before she finally believed him.


    "The martial abilities you''ve demonstrated are sufficient, for now. I can ask my father to accept you into the Autumn Valley," He Mengxi said to Zhou Donghuang. "However, if you cannot advance to the Dharma stage before you turn thirty, then you will have to leave the Lightning Sword Sect to join the five halls that are outside this sect, no matter how much you want to stay."


    The ''five halls outside the Lightning Sword Sect'' referred to the Gold Hall, Wood Hall, Water Hall, Fire Hall, and Earth Hall.


    Liu Ping¡ªthe disciple who had been on patrol earlier and brought Zhou Donghuang to the Autumn Valley¡ªhad declared himself a disciple of the Wood Hall.


    "Alright."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded, but he reminded He Mengxi at the same time, "Third Senior Sister, I think it''s best if you refrain from telling your father what I told you just now, just for the time being. It wouldn''t be a big deal if he didn''t believe it, but it could cause a bit of trouble if he did."


    "I know how to deal with this," He Mengxi said. "You mentioned earlier that you were from Ziyun in the Kaiyuan Galaxy and that you''re the current leader of the Donghuang Sect, the strongest of Ziyun''s Top 5 sects?"


    "Yes."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded. His eyes twinkled, and he carried himself with a bit more dignity. "When it comes to martial abilities, not a single person in the whole of Ziyun would dare declare themselves stronger than me. I, Zhou Donghuang, am peerless in the whole of Ziyun!"

 223 Entering Autumn Valley

    "Third Senior Sister, you can''t travel directly to the Kaiyuan Galaxy and Ziyun using a galaxy teleporter because there aren''t any in the Kaiyuan Galaxy," Zhou Donghuang said to He Mengxi. "However, I have the exact coordinates of the galaxy transporter closest to Ziyun, which is adjacent to the Kaiyuan Galaxy. I can give them to you.


    "Additionally, I can also make you a three-dimensional map of the stars to show you how to get to Ziyun from the planet with the galaxy transporter."


    Zhou Donghuang was truly magnanimous.


    In his previous life, he had known Third Senior Sister really well. Since she was extremely cautious and meticulous, she would undoubtedly head to Ziyun to investigate his background. Nothing less would put her heart at ease.


    The moment he made the offer, Zhou Donghuang immediately fished out paper and a pen. He set to work drawing up the map and marking out the route from the galaxy teleporter with the coordinates of the Northern Wilderness of Heyu in the Akiyama Galaxy. Then he handed the map to He Mengxi.


    He Mengxi did not intervene. Sooner or later, she would ask this man before her to draw an exact map of the stars.


    He Mengxi was visibly shocked. Zhou Donghuang said, "I had a series of dreams in which you were a cautious person, so I concluded that you''d make a trip to Ziyun.


    "Besides, I will be busy trying to break through this training stage in the days ahead, so I''m planning to stay here in Autumn Valley. That''s why I can''t take you there," Zhou Donghuang explained.


    When she took the map from him, He Mengxi looked at Zhou Donghuang with troubled eyes. In front of him, she felt transparent, as if she could not keep any secrets.


    "You said earlier that you dreamed for half a year straight, but the dreams have stopped now. When did they stop?" He Mengxi asked.


    Zhou Donghuang took a deep breath. "I woke up from the dream when you passed, Third Senior Sister."


    "I died?"


    He Mengxi paled. Everyone feared death, especially a woman who had just turned 34. With her current level of training, she should have lived to be 600.


    "How did I die?" He Mengxi asked, somber.


    "You were killed."


    Zhou Donghuang heaved a deep sigh, then said immediately, "But you can rest assured, Third Senior Sister. Now that I''m here in Autumn Valley, I will change the fate that I saw for you in my dreams.


    "Besides, based on the fact that you left the Lightning Sword Sect with your father during the crisis, my dreams can be changed.


    "In reality, I''ve already changed our life paths as shown in the dream by appearing in front of you and telling you all of this. In my dream, I only came to know you a hundred years from now," Zhou Donghuang said.


    He Mengxi heaved a sigh of relief. If this were the case, it would not be impossible to change her and her father''s fates.


    He Mengxi brought Zhou Donghuang to her father, He Jin, who was Autumn Valley''s current leader.


    He Jin was a man of average height and appearance. He wore a mustache and a goatee, and it was difficult to find any point of similarity between him and He Mengxi.


    One could even go so far as to say that it was difficult to imagine that He Jin, who was so plain you could easily lose him in a crowd, could be the father of such a pretty daughter.


    Zhou Donghuang scrutinized He Jin and at last managed to find a similarity: their ears were practically identical.


    "Father, this is Zhou Donghuang, a martial genius whom I met outside. He turned 24 this year. Last year, he became an adept at the Golden Essence stage, a year earlier than me."


    As He Mengxi stood in front of He Jin, the air of maturity she had exuded earlier disappeared. She became a lively little girl, clinging to He Jin''s arm as she introduced Zhou Donghuang to him with a smile.


    "Valley Lord," Zhou Donghuang greeted He Jin with his head bowed and his hands in a fist-and-palm salute.


    Of course, he was only greeting the person in front of him out of respect for his Third Senior Sister, He Mengxi.


    She was the only reason he was greeting anyone at all. He would not greet the Lightning Sword Sect''s leader, even if the man appeared in front of him. If she werne''t there, he certainly wouldn''t greet He Jin, who was only the leader of Autumn Valley''s Lightning Sword Sect.


    This was a result of the pride he''d acquired in his past life as a peerless adept.


    "I trust Mengxi''s judgement."


    It was evident that He Jin was genial and approachable. He smiled as he looked at Zhou Donghuang. "Friend, since Mengxi has brought you before me, it''s obvious that you wish to join the Lightning Sword Sect and my Autumn Valley."


    "Yes." Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    "I can allow you to join Autumn Valley, but I must remind you of something¡­"


    Before He Jin could finish, He Mengxi interrupted him, "Father, I''ve already told him that he''ll be kicked out of the Autumn Valley and sent to the five outer halls if he does not move to the Dharma stage before he turns thirty. He''ll go from being an inner disciple to an outer disciple."


    It was obvious that He Mengxi knew exactly what her father was going to say.


    "Since you''ve already told him all of that, there''s no need for me to repeat it."


    He Jin stared at He Mengxi affectionately. "It''s a yes from me, Mengxi, so you can take him to have the proper procedure carried out."


    "Yes, Father," Mengxi agreed. She stared at He Jin longingly, unwilling to leave. She finally left with Zhou Donghuang when her father shot her a startled look.


    "That brat. She''s never been this clingy before."


    He Jin shook his head and chuckled at her longing gaze. His eyes filled with even more affection.


    The procedures for entering the sect were not conducted in Autumn Valley but Earth Hall, one of the Lightning Sword Sect''s five outer halls.


    However, accompanied as he was by He Mengxi, the sole daughter of He Jin, the Autumn Valley Leader, things went smoothly for Zhou Donghuang. Everything was settled within an hour.


    Zhou Donghuang collected a total of three items.


    The first was a high-quality spirit stone. Only inner disciples could collect spirit stones.


    The second was an identity token for the Lightning Sword Sect''s inner disciples. It was a silver token shaped like a sword with the word ''Lightning'' carved onto it. Zhou Donghuang''s name was carved on the reverse side.


    The last item was a red metal badge in the shape of a maple leaf, and his name was again carved on the back. This was the symbol of Autumn Valley''s disciples. He pinned the badge to his chest.


    "For inner disciples, there are a total of four valleys, and the Autumn Valley is one. There is also the Spring Valley, the Summer Valley, and the Winter Valley. Including you, there are 56 of us in the Autumn Valley.


    " Inner disciples who graduate to the Primordial Soul stage before turning 100 are eligible to become core disciples. Then, they can leave the Four Valleys and head to Lightning Peak to train.


    "Lightning Peak is where the core disciples and the sect''s strongest gather and train. Every once in awhile, some of the sect''s strongest hold lectures there.


    "As the leader of Autumn Valley and one of the pillars of the Lightning Sword Sect, my father goes there to give a few lectures every year.


    "Core disciples collect ten high-quality spirit stones every year."


    Zhou Donghuang listened to He Mengxi''s explanations. He thought about Ziyun, where the five strongest sects had miniature, inferior-quality spirit stone veins. He could not help but sigh.


    It was obvious that the Lightning Sword Sect had deep pockets by comparison.


    And not only that¡ªbased on what Third Senior Sister had told him in his previous life, he knew that the Lightning Sword Sect was the top sect among the Hengliu Stars.


    Initially, when he had learned that the nemesis of the Dharma adept who had left behind the Soul Shaper was in the Hengliu Stars, he had thought it was a coincidence because he had already been planning to head to the Lightning Sword Sect to train.


    After reaching Tianxun in the Luohe Stars, he''d learned from the Luo family that his fianc¨¦e, Luo Qinghan, was also in the Hengliu Stars. This was too much of a coincidence.


    "Third Senior Sister told me in my previous life that there were adepts at the Divine Transformation stage in the Lightning Sword Sect. With their power, they should have at least one small-scale, high-quality spirit stone vein and several large-scale, mid-quality spirit stone veins."


    Zhou Donghuang''s heart skipped a beat.


    "Let''s go back to Autumn Valley, and I''ll introduce you to the other disciples."


    After He Mengxi brought Zhou Donghuang back with her to Autumn Valley, she took the skies. She officially introduced Zhou Donghuang to a group of disciples and informed everyone that there was a new disciple in Autumn Valley.


    "Why don''t you introduce yourself, Junior Brother?" He Mengxi prompted Zhou Donghuang.


    She had referred to him at first as ''Junior Brother Zhou,'' but he insisted on her calling him ''Little Junior Brother'' instead. Since he was so adament about this, he Mengxi could only agree. After all, he was the only one she could rely on to change her and her father''s fates.


    She also had a thought¡ªa fleeting one, which she never vocalized nor shared with Zhou Donghuang. She wanted to change the fate of the whole of the Lightning Sword Sect so that they might avoid eradication.


    "Hello, everyone. I am Zhou Donghuang." Zhou Donghuang stepped forward. He looked around at the levitating crowd surrounding him and greeted them.


    "Haha! Hello, Junior Brother Zhou!"


    "Junior Brother Zhou is so handsome. Is it okay if I seduce you?"


    "Junior Brother Zhou is only an adept at the Golden Essence stage, but he''s already a part of Autumn Valley. It seems like the valley leader has a lot of faith in Junior Brother Zhou''s martial talents."


    "Junior Brother Zhou, you haven''t picked a training ground yet, have you? Why don''t you stay at mine? There''s a yard nearby where you can rest. I''ll guide you when I have time this evening."


    Even in the worlds beyond planet Earth, good looks were useful. The power of charm was ubiquitous in the universe''s endless expanse.


    The most welcoming of all were the female disciple. They cast flirty glances at him.


    Many male disciples stared at him, jealously.


    "That punk. Did the valley leader accept him without Junior Sister Mengxi''s knowledge?"


    Huang Long, the disciple who had brought Zhou Donghuang to He Mengxi two hours ago, floated over. He had his guesses.


    "Then again, it''s only been two hours. How did he go from being at the Silver Essence stage to the Golden Essence stage? Did he break through in two hours?"


    Zhou Donghuang was hovering right in front of He Mengxi. Golden swirls of inner Yuan conspicuously surrounded him.

 224 A Giant Three Meters Tall

    Zhou Donghuang already had a plan before ever leaving Ziyun.


    He would leave Ziyun and make for Tielao in the Hengliu Stars. Then, he would go to the Lightning Sword Sect to look for his Third Senior Sister, He Mengxi, and help her reverse the sect''s fate so she wouldn''t be lost.


    However, if things worked out, He Mengxi might not become a disciple of the same master under whom she''d trained in her previous life. Still, he would respect any decision she made, as long as she was the one making it.


    "The Lightning Sword Sect, Tielao, and even the Hengliu Stars are adequate training environments before I reach the Primordial Soul stage. I''ll stay in the Hengliu Stars to train before I move to that stage." This was Zhou Donghuang''s plan.


    "Da Zhuang."


    He Mengxi looked out at the crowd and noticed a sturdy figure hovering around the fringes.


    "There is an unoccupied yard beside yours. Bring the little Junior Brother along with you. While you''re at it, help him tidy up the place. You entered the sect before he did, so you have to look out for him," He Mengxi said in a gentle tone, and she sounded very much like a gentle spring breeze.


    "Yes, Senior Sister."


    As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang''s gaze fell on the man.


    The sturdy figure floated over, coming closer to Zhou Donghuang.


    This young man was so fit it was almost comical. He looked to be about three meters tall, but in terms of his build, he was more or less on a par with one zhang of Dharma as coagulated by adepts at the early Dharma stage.


    One zhang was equivalent to about 3.3 meters.


    In the blink of an eye, this giant of a man stood firmly in front of Zhou Donghuang. He was unmoving like an iron pagoda.


    His mouth split into a grin to reveal two rows of pearly white teeth. He looked rather honest and straightforward when he smiled¡ªalmost a little foolish. "Hello, Little Junior Brother. I''m Da Zhuang. It''s nice to meet you."


    Da Zhuang''s build was hulking. Even though Zhou Donghuang was 1.8 meters tall, he was dwarfed by Da Zhuang and felt like a child.


    Just then, He Mengxi appeared beside Zhou Donghuang in a flash and whispered to him so quietly only he could hear, "Little Junior Brother, Da Zhuang is only an adept at the Golden Essence stage, even though he''s already 29. He''s always been a little slower than his peers, so you better not bully him."


    She spoke earnestly, and Zhou Donghuang gathered from her tone that this Da Zhuang held a special place in Third Senior Sister''s heart. Why else would he trigger her maternal instincts?


    "Da Zhuang."


    After she quietly instructed Zhou Donghuang, she turned to look at the giant. "I''ll have to leave the sect in a few days for a place that''s quite far away, so please help me take care of Little Junior Brother."


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang''s gaze, which was directed at Da Zhuang, softened. His heart stirred. "This must be the person that Third Senior Sister told me about in her past life, the disciple who fought to send her to the galaxy teleporter when she was heavily injured, then sacrificed himself to buy her more time.


    "I remember Third Senior Sister mentioned him before. His name was Da Zhuang."


    The fog around his past life memories lifted.


    In his past life, He Mengxi''s eyes shone with a mother''s love every time she mentioned Da Zhuang, the Autumn Valley disciple who had given up his life to save hers. She heaved a heavy sigh each time she spoke his name.


    And it was precise because he had remembered this that his attitude toward Da Zhuang started changing somewhat.


    "Little Junior Brother, why don''t you go with Da Zhuang?" He Mengxi suggested to Zhou Donghuang.


    Then, she looked at the rest of Autumn Valley''s disciples. "As for the rest of you, run along now. Get back to what you have to do!"


    In terms of seniority, He Mengxi was not high up on the ladder. But as the only daughter of the Autumn Valley Lord, He Jin, she had been born with an inherent charm that could sway crowds.


    With just one word from her, the horde of disciples scattered. Of course, there were still a few stragglers throwing flirty glances at Zhou Donghuang before reluctantly taking their leave.


    Although there were quite a few male disciples in Autumn Valley, not a single one had caught the eye of any female disciples.


    This disciple who had just joined the valley made their hearts skip a beat. His face alone beguiled them. It was as if their hormones, which had been dormant for many years, were suddenly triggered.


    "Come with me, Little Junior Brother." Da Zhuang grinned dopily at Zhou Donghuang. He walked ahead to lead the way, and Zhou Donghuang followed closely.


    The yard where Da Zhuang stayed was near where He Mengxi and He Jin were staying¡ªthey were all situated on the east side, halfway up the hill.


    Of course, there was still some distance separating their yards.


    Halfway up the hill, they heard the sound of water below. A small waterfall poured down. It hit a stone platform then bloomed into water flowers.


    There were two yards behind the stone platform.


    Each yard housed a spacious room, and in front of the doors to the rooms was a courtyard where plants and flowers grew. There was also a stone table surrounded by several stone stools.


    One of the yards was clean and tidy, but the other was covered with a layer of dust and several cobwebs.


    "I''ll help you clean this up, Little Junior Brother," Da Zhuang said as he rolled down his sleeves and headed into the dusty yard. Zhou Donghuang wondered what he was going to do with his sleeves like that. He soon realized Da Zhuang intended to use his sleeves to wipe the table and the door.


    "He''s an adept at the Golden Essence stage, after all. Is this necessary?" Zhou Donghuang was speechless. This man was a bit of an inflexible blockhead.


    Cling!!


    Cling clang!!


    Zhou Donghuang walked into the yard, which Da Zhuang was still tidying, and golden inner Yuan forcefully seeped out and around his body. The inner Yuan started tidying up the area, looking every bit like a mini-tornado.


    In the blink of an eye, all the dust and cobwebs in the yard were swept up by the inner Yuan swirling around Zhou Donghuang''s body.


    Just like that, the yard was spick and span.


    Whoosh!


    Under Da Zhuang''s stunned gaze, Zhou Donghuang left the stone platform and nimbly leaped into the air.


    Along with the inner Yuan that had dissipated the dust, he filtered down through the air.


    As for his white robes, they remained shiny and new, untouched by the dust.


    "You''re so clever, Little Junior Brother. Why didn''t I think of using inner Yuan to tidy up the yard?"


    Da Zhuang followed him out and extended a hand to hit his head. "No wonder Senior Sister is always calling me an idiot. It turns out, it''s because I am one! Little Junior Brother, what can I do to become as clever as you?"


    Da Zhuang stared eagerly at Zhou Donghuang.


    "Being clever isn''t always a good thing," Zhou Donghuang said with a shake of his head.


    So the saying went: win some, lose some. The smarter the person, the more numerous their worries.


    And as for people like Da Zhuang, who were born with gigantism, they were not always very bright. Though they might not be the sharpest tools in the shed, at least they did not have a lot of worries.


    Da Zhuang could not understand. "Why would it be a bad thing? Senior Sister said that if I were smarter, I wouldn''t be a match for the rest, even though I''m just an outer disciple," Da Zhuang said as he scratched his head. His worries were written all over his face. "I''m too stupid. Senior Sister says I react too slowly, and I''m always half a beat behind."


    Slow reaction?


    Zhou Donghuang smiled.


    In his past life, he had met quite a few people like Da Zhuang with hulking builds. They''d all been in the same situation he had just described. Without exception, they were all powerhouses.


    He might be a little dull, but he still had a functioning brain.


    He might be slow, but he was not inept.


    He was probably better situated in life than the average person, provided that he found the right path.


    "Come! Strike me," Zhou Donghuang said to Da Zhuang all of a sudden.


    "Huh?" Da Zhuang was shocked and unable to react.


    "I''m asking you to strike me with all you''ve got," Zhou Donghuang repeated.


    "With all I have? Attack you?"


    Da Zhuang finally recovered from his shock. He hurriedly shook his head. "I can''t, Little Junior Brother. Although I can strike the other adepts who are at the Golden Essence stage, I can''t say the same for you. I''ll become really strong the moment I strike you. The strength of my punch is far stronger than that of the average adept at the Golden Essence stage. Not even they dare to challenge me," Da Zhuang refused to hit him. As he spoke, it seemed like he was afraid of hurting Zhou Donghuang.


    "You''re strong?"


    Zhou Donghuang was taken aback then smiled. "Well, then. Now I want to witness this for myself¡­"


    As soon as he said that, he made his move.


    Whoosh!!


    The golden inner Yuan surrounding Zhou Donghuang swept through the air and moved toward Da Zhuang in a split second. It took the shape of a punch packing golden essence and flew at Da Zhuang.


    Flames surged out from the fist like golden fireworks.


    Zhou Donghuang''s punch forced Da Zhuang''s hand, but he remained cautious. He tried to estimate the strength of the hit before retaliating with a blow that was more or less as powerful as the one Zhou Donghuang had dealt him.


    Boom!!


    A loud sound rang out. Da Zhuang''s huge fist collided with Zhou Donghuang''s. Two golden flames collided, equally matched in strength.


    "I''ve only used 70% of my strength, Little Junior Brother," Da Zhuang said to Zhou Donghuang with a grin.


    "You''re strong, indeed."


    Zhou Donghuang was a little shocked. Da Zhuang''s strength came from his physical body. That alone was already stronger than the power of mid-quality spirit weapons summoned by adepts at the Golden Essence stage.


    This strength was a natural battle machine.


    Not only did his vast body look colossal, but the strength it contained was immense. Zhou Donghuang could also tell that this strength was untainted by any training.


    A person like this, who could possess such strength solely through tempering his body with inner Yuan, could be regarded as a one-in-a-million genius in terms of physical training!


    "Alright, let''s stop here," Zhou Donghuang said to Da Zhuang.


    "Okay."


    Da Zhuang withdrew his fist with a dopey grin. Zhou Donghuang also lowered his and stood up straight. He looked at Da Zhuang with sparkling eyes. "This Da Zhuang was born to train using the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen!"

 225 Da Zhuangs History

    With that, Zhou Donghuang stayed in the Lightning Sword Sect''s Autumn Valley. Whenever he trained, he produced a formation using a large number of spirit stones from his space ring. This formation aided him in his practice, allowing his speed to increase.


    Before he went to the Tianxuan planet of Luohe Galaxy to look for Luo Qinghan, besides obtaining an ultimate Dharma Laws stage martial adept''s space ring on the Honglong planet in the Tianma Galaxy, Zhou Donghuang also went to planets in other galaxies to obtain the treasures left behind by Dharma Laws adepts.


    However, some of these adepts had created tests for those seeking their treasures, and only those who managed to pass were able to receive the wealth that they had left behind.


    Such tests set by a Dharma Laws adept could not be that difficult. With Zhou Donghuang''s current power and experience from his previous life, he could easily pass them and win the treasures.


    The valuables that attracted Zhou Donghuang most were spirit stones. Even spirit weapons, elixir formulas, or inferior potions were worth nothing in his eyes.


    Besides, items as valuable as the Soul Shaper or the Core King Fruit were nowhere to be found.


    "Quickly, turn this silver essence into a golden essence. Based on the requirements of the ''Way of the Four Supremes,'' I have to turn all four primal cores in my body into the golden essence stage before I can try to reach the Dharma Laws stage."


    Behind tightly shut doors, Zhou Donghuang sat on his bed, his eyes shining. "For a typical golden essence adept, the golden essence crystallizing into Dharma Laws is the sign that one has reached the early Dharma Laws stage. As for me, who is using the ''Way of the Four Supremes'' based on this technique''s requirements, I will need all four of my golden essences to produce the Dharma laws before I can attain the early Dharma Laws stage. Of course, this is what is stated in the ''Way of the Four Supremes.'' But even if just one of the golden essences in my body produces Dharma Laws, I will be as strong as any early Dharma Laws adept. In fact, because the ''Way of the Four Supremes'' uses the Dharma Laws of the four great beasts, no one at the same Dharma Laws level will be able to defeat me."


    What were the four great beasts? They were the ancient, godly beasts of legends with the power to crush galaxies beneath their feet and swallow them whole. They were at the top of the food chain. By producing the Dharma Laws of these four great beasts, even if they contained just a little bit of the real beasts'' power, these Dharma Laws became incredibly powerful.


    "If I enter the early Dharma Laws stage as part of the ''Way of the Four Supremes'' and produce the Dharma of the four great beasts, even if only at the early stages, I will be able to defeat and even kill any typical late Dharma Laws stage adept!" Zhou Donghuang said to himself, his eyes gleaming.


    ...


    The Lightning Sword Sect had gained a new inner disciple. The Autumn Valley had a new disciple. For a disciple of the Autumn Valley, this was hardly news, and within the Lightning Sword Sect, few people paid these kinds of matters any attention. However, for the Autumn Valley disciple, Da Zhuang, this was a big deal because his Senior Sister had instructed him to take good care of her little Junior Brother.


    There were many female disciples in the Autumn Valley and many of the same rank as Da Zhuang. However, Da Zhuang always addressed them by their name and title. He only called He Mengxi simply by her title ''Sister,'' without using her name.


    "Little Brother, if you have any requests, you can look for me anytime. Even if I am training, you can interrupt me. As long as I can help you, I will. Sister told me to take care of you."


    Zhou Donghuang had an excellent first impression of Da Zhuang simply because his Third Senior Sister, He Mengxi, had mentioned him during his past life. In the days that followed, Zhou Donghuang developed genuinely positive feelings toward this three-meter tall giant because of how he had behaved. Because of that one instruction from He Mengxi, Zhou Donghuang made his first friend in the Lightning Sword Sect.


    After Da Zhuang had once again helped him to buy the herbs that he required, Zhou Donghuang did not rush to use them to produce his elixir. He smiled as he said, "Da Zhuang, how did you end up in Lightning Sword Sect and Autumn Valley?"


    "The Sect Leader and Sister brought me into Autumn Valley," replied Da Zhuang with a smile.


    "Where is your home? On this planet?" Zhou Donghuang asked curiously.


    "Home?" Da Zhuang was taken aback then shook his head as he said, "I do not have a home. As far as I can remember, my family was a group of wild apes. Of course, I only found out later than I was a human, for the apes were beasts. Back then, I was living with that group of apes, and a human adept killed the whole group. Only I was left alive. That person was about to kill me, but Sister and Sect Leader happened to come by. Sect Leader knew that man and did not want to poke his nose into his business, but Sister took pity on me and insisted on saving me. In the end, Sect Leader saved me."


    As he spoke, Da Zhuang''s eyes turned red, and the golden yuan in his body seemed to rise. "Although they were apes, if they had not raised me, I would have died, so I must avenge them! I must take revenge!!"


    Instantly, Da Zhuang deflated like a balloon. "But that man is too strong, and I cannot kill him. Sister said that he is a powerful Primordial Soul adept who is almost as powerful as Sect Leader. It is simply impossible for me to kill him."


    As he said this, Da Zhuang stooped and buried his head in his hands, crying loudly. This three-meter tall giant seemed to turn into a small crybaby.


    Zhou Donghuang looked at Da Zhuang, as he said with a smile, "I''ll help you."


    Da Zhuang stopped crying and looked at him with disbelief. "You''ll help me? You? How can you help me? You are less powerful than me, so how will you help me?"


    "You don''t trust me?" Zhou Donghuang stared at Da Zhuang.


    Faced with Zhou Donghuang''s intense glare, Da Zhuang was shocked. He regained his senses as he said thoughtfully, "If you can help me take revenge, then my life will be yours! In my heart, Sister is the most important, but if you can help me, you can be second most important."


    "This technique will be your payment for all the help you''ve given me so far." Zhou Donghuang raised his hand, and a scroll appeared in his hands. With his inner yuan, he sent the paper to Da Zhuang.


    "Can you read?"


    "Yes." Da Zhuang nodded. He did not stretch out his hand to take the scroll, which was floating in mid-air amidst Zhou Donghuang''s yuan. "Little Brother, you do not have to help me take revenge. Sister told me to take care of you. If someone tries to kill you, and I cannot defeat him, I will protect you until my death."


    If anyone else had said that, Zhou Donghuang would have doubted him, thinking that he had an ulterior motive. But after spending these few days with Da Zhuang, Zhou Donghuang knew that this giant was simple enough not to say something he did not mean. Furthermore, although he had spent some time here, he had not yet revealed his powers, so nobody knew about his strength.


    In these circumstances, even a silly giant or someone with ulterior motives would not think of sucking up to him.


    "If you want revenge, then take this," said Zhou Donghuang flatly. "There is a technique written on it that allows you to train until the Primordial Soul stage. After that, I will give you the technique once you reach the stage."


    Da Zhuang''s eyes filled with emotion, and his hand trembled as he lifted it. But his hand froze in midair. "Little Brother, Sister told me that nothing comes for free. I cannot accept this."


    "Nothing comes for free?" Zhou Donghuang shook his head. "Didn''t you say that I would become the second most important person in your heart if I helped you take revenge? To me, that is the best thing that I could ask for in return."


    Seeing Da Zhuang hesitate, Zhou Donghuang continued, "If you do not accept this today, in the future, I will not ask you for help. In fact, I will tell Sister that you did not take good care of me."


    "You! Little Brother, how can you say this?" Da Zhuang was flustered, and his face turned red. "You can''t tell Sister that! No! You can''t!!"


    "Then accept it." Zhou Donghuang was speechless. He had just offered him the premier ''Fiery Thunder Training Regimen,'' which was considered among the best in the whole universe. Other people fought to obtain it, but this silly giant was refusing to take it.


    "Alright! Alright! I will take it. But you must not tell Sister that I did not take good care of you! You must not!" Da Zhuang said hurriedly.


    "As long as you take this, follow this technique closely, train well, and do not tell the others about this, and I will not tell your Sister that you did not take good care of me."


    It was then that Zhou Donghuang realized that, in this silly giant''s heart, his Third Sister''s opinion of him was more important than anything else. No wonder, in his past life, this silly giant sacrificed his life to save her.


    "I will train well. But must I keep this technique hidden even from Sister?" Da Zhuang stared at Zhou Donghuang.


    "As for Sister, I have something more suited for her. Something as powerful as...this technique is not suitable for her."


    With that, Zhou Donghuang finally gave away the premier training technique. This moment was to be a turning point in the life of the mighty warrior Da Zhuang, who would one day come to be known all over the universe.

 226 Fake Nine-Ringed Bamboo

    "Da Zhuang, this ''nine-ringed bamboo,'' who sold it to you?" Zhou Donghuang picked out an herb that looked like a bamboo shoot from the pile of medicines that Da Zhuang had helped him buy. Its stalk was almost as long as two fingers, and it had nine intricately carved rings on its side that made it look extremely special.


    The nine-ringed bamboo was the most valuable of the herbs which Zhou Donghuang had asked Da Zhuang to help him purchase. It was the main ingredient for the elixir he was producing. It was also the most expensive.


    Of course, its price could fluctuate by around one hundred mid-level spirit stones. One hundred mid-level spirit stones was equivalent to ten superior-level spirit stones. The Lightning Sword Sect''s core disciples received ten superior-level spirit stones from the sect each month. As for inner disciples, they needed ten months to collect ten superior-level spirit stones, because the sect only issued them one superior-level spirit stone per month. As for outer disciples, the number was even lower, and they only received three mid-level spirit stones each month.


    "It was the Summer Valley disciple, Pan Yilin." Da Zhuang immediately recognized the bamboo shoot that Zhou Donghuang had picked out from the pile. After thinking about it for a moment, he remembered where he had bought the herb.


    "How many spirit stones did he sell it to you for?" asked Zhou Donghuang again.


    "A hundred and ten mid-level spirit stones," answered Da Zhuang.


    "He did not sell it cheap." Zhou Donghuang''s eyes narrowed as a murderous glint flashed across his eyes.


    "Why?" Although Da Zhuang looked slow, he still knew how to read facial expressions. Seeing Zhou Donghuang act this way, he sensed that something was not right. "This nine-ringed bamboo...is there something wrong with it?"


    "This is not nine-ringed bamboo." Zhou Donghuang''s eyes flashed open as he shook his head, saying, "It''s six-ringed bamboo. The other three rings were added. Although the nine rings look identical, they are not aligned perfectly. A proper stalk of nine-ringed bamboo has the same equal distance between each ring. Look at this. Without these three rings, the other six are all arranged the same distance apart. But with these three added rings, the order of the rings'' arrangement is broken, and now it looks almost disorderly." As Zhou Donghuang spoke, he raised the nine-ringed bamboo to Da Zhuang''s eyes and pointed out the three rings that had been drawn on.


    The nine-ringed bamboo''s unique characteristics were rarely well-understood, except by core-forging masters. In Zhou Donghuang''s past life, he had seen many people tricked by six-ringed bamboo that had been made to look like nine-ringed bamboo. However, those who had been scammed were either unacquainted or core-forging masters of poor ability. Highly-skilled core-forging masters could distinguish nine-ringed bamboo by its minute characteristics, even if they did not know how to differentiate it based on the intervals between the rings. These minute characteristics were present in all herbs above a certain age, and nine-ringed bamboo was no exception.


    "Trick...tricked?!" Hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, Da Zhuang''s face ballooned. His eyes widened with anger as he muttered, "That Pan Yilin, he scammed me? He dared to trick me? No way! I''ll find him now! I will find him right now!" Da Zhuang''s eyes turned bloodshot, as if he had transformed into a beast from hell, eager for human flesh.


    "Little Brother, I will definitely make this up to you!" Da Zhuang declared angrily as he snatched the nine-ringed bamboo from Zhou Donghuang''s hands. With that, he turned and left.


    "Summer Valley disciple, Pan Yilin?" Not long after Da Zhuang left, Zhou Donghuang stood up and followed him.


    In the Lightning Sword Sect, a market was set up specially for the sect''s members to trade. No matter if someone were from the top of the hierarchy or a lowly disciple, anyone could carry out any form of trade in the market. The only rule was this: once something was sold, and money and goods had exchanged hands, the goods could not be returned. Of course, if someone sold something and then realized that it had been sold for too cheap, they would not be able to get it back unless the buyer agreed.


    The Lightning Sword Sect''s market was governed by the sect and renowned for its fairness.


    "Senior Lian, I sold that fake nine-ringed bamboo to Da Zhuang of Autumn Valley. This will definitely anger Senior He Mengxi. Senior He Mengxi is the only daughter of the leader of Autumn Valley. If she comes to take revenge, you must protect me, and not leave me to die, please." In one corner of the market, a young man in a green shirt was talking to another young man in a golden robe. The former had a medium build and ordinary features that would be inconspicuous in a crowd. On the other hand, the latter had a burly figure and handsome features. His beguiling smile revealed a mysterious air about him.


    "Furthermore, you were the one who made me do this." The young man in green said nervously.


    "Junior Pan, don''t you trust me?" The young man in gold glanced at the other man as he asked seriously. "Are you afraid that I will sacrifice you to get into Sister Mengxi''s good books?"


    "No, no." Although he had indeed had such thoughts, he did not dare say so out loud. The man before him was none other than the son of Summer Valley''s leader, the renowned favorite in that Valley. If he offended him, he would definitely face much hardship in the Summer Valley. Once he was kicked out of the Summer Valley, none of the other three Valleys would accept him. If he wanted to remain in the Lightning Sword Sect, he would have to join an outer sect, unless he managed to become a core disciple of the Lightning Sword sect. However, it was a widely known fact that to become a core disciple of the Lightning Sword sect, one had to pass extremely stringent criteria.


    "Pan Yilin!!" Just as the young man in green was stammering in front of the man in the golden robe, a loud roar echoed in the skies above the market. The sound was filled with inner Yuan and was so strong that it could cause deafness.


    In an instant, all eyes turned up to the skies and landed on a massive figure floating in the air above the market. This massive teenager was more than three meters tall. He was so huge that he did not seem human.


    Many people recognized him. "It''s Da Zhuang! The Autumn Valley disciple!"


    "What is Da Zhuang trying to do?"


    "I heard that this rascal was raised by a bunch of apes. Did he pick up their belligerence?"


    "Who angered him?"


    ...


    From the skies, Autumn Valley''s massive disciple, Da Zhuang, attracted everybody in the market''s attention.


    The young man in green, who had been acting nervously in front of the man in gold, now appeared extremely confident and arrogant in front of Da Zhuang. He looked up at Da Zhuang in the sky and asked flippantly, "Da Zhuang, what are you trying to do?" This young man was obviously Pan Yilin, the Summer Valley disciple whom Da Zhuang was looking for.


    Da Zhuang glided down in front of Pan Yilin. Because Pan Yilin stood at just 1.7 meters, Da Zhuang looked down at Pan Yilin as he declared seriously, "Pan Yilin, you sold me a fake nine-ringed bamboo!"


    "Fake nine-ringed bamboo?" Pan Yilin raised his eyebrow. "Da Zhuang, you can eat whatever you want, but you cannot say anything you wish. The nine-ringed bamboo I sold you cannot be fake."


    "Not fake?" Da Zhuang angrily pulled out the nine-ringed bamboo that he had bought from Pan Yilin and showed it to the crowd that had gathered to watch the commotion. "My Little Brother told me that this nine-ringed bamboo is fake. The intervals between the rings are not uniform, so it is clearly only a six-ringed bamboo. A six-ringed bamboo is only worth ten mid-level spirit stones, but you took a hundred and ten mid-level spirit stones from me! Do you really think you can bully me?"


    Da Zhuang glared at Pan Yilin and lowered his voice. The golden inner Yuan the unknowingly seeping out of his body seemed to be able to attack Pan Yilin at any moment.


    "That is nine-ringed bamboo?"


    "It really seems like it is not nine-ringed bamboo. Nine-ringed bamboo''s pattern should not be like this."


    "This is a fake nine-ringed bamboo made from six-ringed bamboo. Pan Yilin sold fake nine-ringed bamboo to Da Zhuang for a hundred and ten mid-level spirit stones? That isn''t ethical!"


    "Most people do not know nine-ringed bamboo well and can easily be tricked by fake nine-ringed bamboo."


    "This Pan Yilin is really daring. In the Lightning Sword Sect, we all know that Da Zhuang is backed by the only daughter of the Autumn Valley chief, He Mengxi. By doing this, although it does not go against the rules of the market since both buyer and seller were willing, isn''t he afraid that He Mengxi will cause trouble for him?"


    ...


    Among the crowd that had gathered, many had realized that the nine-ringed bamboo in Da Zhuang''s hands was fake, but even more were surprised that Pan Yilin was so daring. Here was a Summer Valley disciple who had not even attained the Dharma stage, so where did he get the bravery to try to scam Da Zhuang, someone who was protected by the only daughter of the Autumn Valley''s leader? Was he not afraid of death?


    "Da Zhuang!" Faced with the crowd''s chatter, Pan Yilin''s face darkened. "How can you prove that this is the nine-ringed bamboo I sold you? The nine-ringed bamboo I sold you was not this stalk. You took the real nine-ringed bamboo, which you bought from me, then found a fake one to slander me!"


    Hearing Pan Yilin''s accusation, Da Zhuang was so furious that his face turned red. He screamed in anger, "Pan Yilin, you are lying through your teeth. I''ll kill you!" With that, the golden Yuan that surrounded his body exploded toward Pan Yilin.


    However, just as the golden Yuan around Pan Yilin rose, someone else acted even faster. With a quick flick of his hand, a giant palm print Dharma ten meters tall appeared and pressed Da Zhuang to the ground, trapping him. This was the work of none other than the young man in gold beside Pan Yilin.


    "Da Zhuang, the rules of the market forbid disciples from internal conflict," the young man said coldly.


    "It''s Lian Can of the Summer Valley!"


    "Lian Can is the son of Summer Valley''s chief who entered the Dharma stage at just 26. Among this new generation of Summer Valley disciples, he is the most likely to become a core disciple."


    ...


    All eyes now landed on the young man in the golden robe.

 227 Lightning Sword Core Elder

    Lian Can, the son of the Lightning Sword Sect''s Summer Valley''s chief, had already attained the Dharma stage when he was 26 years old. In the few years since, he was rumored to be nearing the mid-Dharma stage.


    "Lian Can!" Da Zhuang stared angrily at him from beneath the giant palm print Dharma of the young man in the golden robe. "Let me go! I will kill this lying bastard! Not only did he sell me fake goods, he even slandered me! I will kill him! I will kill him!!" Da Zhuang roared.


    "Da Zhuang." Lian Can smiled casually at the giant, who seemed to be losing his mind. "Do you have any evidence to prove that Pan Yilin sold you fake goods? How can you show that you are not the one slandering Pan Yilin?"


    Lian Can''s expression turned even more sour as he yelled, "Lian Can, you...you are in this together with Pan Yilin!"


    "Da Zhuang, you can''t say such things." Lian Can''s eyes flashed coldly. He pressed down further on Lian Can with the giant palm print Dharma, making Da Zhuang cough out a mouthful of fresh blood. The blood that spewed out of his mouth floated back down onto Da Zhuang''s face. His twisted face looked even more demonic.


    "Hm?" Zhou Donghuang''s expression changed when he witnessed how Da Zhuang had been injured.


    Whoosh! In a swift motion, Zhou Donghuang turned into a white bolt of lightning and rushed at Da Zhuang. As he neared Da Zhuang, Zhou Donghuang was already preparing to attack the giant palm print Dharma that was crushing Da Zhuang''s body.


    "Lian Can, put away your Dharma." Before Zhou Donghuang could strike, a wispy voice rang through the market. The volume was not loud, but it seemed to contain some magic that amplified it clearly to the ears of everyone at the market. In the next instant, an old figure strolled out from the crowd. He stared at Lian Can, who was crushing Da Zhuang. This old man wore a long, gray robe. His body was skinny but of medium build. He appeared to be kind and gentle, but his eyes shone with a fearsome light as he glared at Lian Can.


    "Elder Han." When he saw the newcomer, Lian Can''s eyes flashed with fear. He stowed his palm Dharma without another word. At the same moment, Da Zhuang rushed at Pan Yilin like a crazed man with bloodshot eyes.


    Pan Yilin did not move. He knew there was no need.


    "Da Zhuang." Just as he moved, his path was blocked by the old man, who mysteriously appeared right in front of him like a ghoul. "If you dare to act against another disciple, even that lass, Mengxi, will not be able to save you. If you are kicked out of the Lightning Sword Sect because of this, she will be so disappointed in you. By then, she will regret bringing you into this sect and even that she ever knew you." The old man blocking Da Zhuang was none other than Elder Han¡ªHan Ku.


    "Elder Han is right." As Han Ku stopped Da Zhuang, Lian Can smiled as he said, "Da Zhuang, I heard that Sister Mengxi has been out of town recently. You don''t want her to find out that you have been kicked out of the Lightning Sword Sect when she comes back, do you?"


    Da Zhuang had not given up trying to destroy Pan Yilin even after Han Ku had stopped him. But now, hearing his words, he froze for a moment, before he recovered and muttered in a daze, "Sister, Sister...No, I cannot let her down. But Sister told me to take good care of Little Brother, and I could not complete his task properly. If Sister knew about this, she would not be happy. I... I...." Da Zhuang stood on the spot, and his expression was unfathomable as thoughts raced through his mind.


    "Da Zhuang," continued Han Ku, "the market has rules. As long as goods and money exchange hands, after a trade is made, one cannot reopen it. As for what happened here, only those who were present can know the truth. Even if Pan Yilin tricked you here, based on the market''s rules and those of the Lightning Sword Sect, you can do nothing about it. During the sale, if you had discovered something wrong with the nine-ringed bamboo, you could have refused to buy it. You did not discover it and still bought it, so you can only count yourself unlucky. Even if I myself or that lass Mengxi had been the one tricked, the outcome would be the same. Just consider that you''ve bought yourself a lesson today."


    Han Ku was on good terms with the Autumn Valley''s leader, He Jin, and treated Mengxi as if she were his daughter. This courtesy also extended to Da Zhuang, whom he treated him exceptionally patiently. Otherwise, had any other of the core elders present stepped in, even if they respected He Mengxi and her father, He Jin, and tried to show him respect, they would not have treated Da Zhuang with as much patience as Han Ku.


    "But¡­but Little Brother bought that nine-ringed bamboo, and the hundred and ten mid-level spirit stones are his." Although Da Zhuang calmed down, hearing Han Ku''s words, but he was still anxious. "I...I do not have that many spirit stones to return to Little Brother."


    Seeing Da Zhuang finally calm down, Han Ku breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He shook his head and smiled as he said, "Isn''t it just a hundred and ten mid-level spirit stones? I''ll return it for you." For Han Ku, a core elder of the Lightning Sword Sect, one hundred mid-level spirit stones were nothing. The sect paid him considerably more spirit stones every month.


    "No, no. I cannot take it." Da Zhuang shook his head fervently. "I will go and tell Little Brother that when I save up eleven superior spirit stones, I will return all to him." Inner disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect only received one superior-level spirit stone per month. But Da Zhuang had used up his superior-level spirit stone almost immediately after receiving it. Since he had no other means of earning spirit stones, he was always short.


    "Da Zhuang, I don''t need you to return those spirit stones." Zhou Donghuang, who had long since landed nearby, now stepped forward.


    "Little Brother? You...you''re here?" Seeing Zhou Donghuang, Da Zhuang was first taken aback, then his face filled with guilt. "Little Brother, I''m so sorry. Those spirit stones¡ªI will return them to you. I must."


    Knowing Da Zhuang''s persistence, Zhou Donghuang did not try to convince him otherwise. Zhou Donghuang instead turned to the core elder, Han Ku, and got straight to the point by asking, "Elder Han, based on what I just heard, do you mean to say that, even if the goods are fake, as long as the sale takes place in the market, after the item and money have exchanged hands, the person who bought the fake can do nothing about it? Is this a rule protected by the sect itself?"


    "This must be the new disciple who recently joined Autumn Valley." Because he was close to He Jin, Han Ku was aware that Autumn Valley had recently gained a new disciple.


    "Indeed." Han Ku nodded his head. "The sect laid down this rule in the hopes that the disciples would be able to learn hard lessons within the sect and avoid big losses on the outside. For disciples to suffer a greater number of small losses while they are still protected by the sect is not such a bad thing, after all. In fact, inside the sect, to be able to sell a fake good successfully is considered a talent, to some extent."


    "I see," Zhou Donghuang replied with a nod. He then glanced at the Summer Valley disciples, Lian Can and Pan Yilin, before turning back to Da Zhuang and saying, "Da Zhuang, let''s go back."


    "Yes," agreed Da Zhuang, and they left together.


    The marketplace once again regained its peace. To the members of the sect who were in the market, this was nothing more than a small commotion.


    "That lad just now, was he the new disciple that joined Autumn Valley? I think his name was Zhou... Zhou something Huang?" Lian Can looked at Pan Yilin and raised his eyebrows.


    "I think so." Pan Yilin nodded. "According to people from Autumn Valley, the new disciple, Zhou Donghuang, is extremely handsome. He''s always dressed in flowing white and has an extraordinary aura. If I had not seen it for myself today, I would not have believed it."


    "Why? Do you think he''s special?" Lian Can''s eyes were now unfriendly. "If I remember correctly, I think he was brought into the sect by Sister Mengxi?" With that, his expression changed, and a cold murderous glint flashed across his eyes.


    He Mengxi was the apple of his eye. He would not allow any man besides her father to come near her. Da Zhuang was the first. Now, here was the second. He, Lian Can, would not let either of them off easily!


    Lian Can''s words made Pan Yilin''s face change in fright. He hurriedly added, "Although some may consider him remarkable, compared to you, he is inferior!"


    With this compliment from Pan Yilin, Lian Can''s sour expression improved.


    ...


    On the way back to Autumn Valley, Zhou Donghuang said to Da Zhuang, "Da Zhuang, these next days, I need you to make a fe morew trips to the market. Record down and report anything placed on the auction board by someone from Summer Valley."


    The Lightning Sword Sect''s market not only facilitated face-to-face transactions, but they also held auctions for rare items. Of course, prices at auction at least had to double the item''s original price. Otherwise, the item would not be placed on the auction board.


    "Yes." Although he was not quite sure what his Little Brother was up to, Da Zhuang was quick to agree to his request.

 228 Coincidence?

    A Summer Valley disciple, Pan Yilin, had passed off cheap six-ringed bamboo as nine-ringed bamboo and sold it to Da Zhuang. He''d even twisted the facts to claim that Da Zhuang had slandered him. This had angered Da Zhuang so much that he''d nearly tried to kill him.


    As for Zhou Donghuang, was he furious?


    Of course, he was fuming! If given the chance, he would have killed the two Summer Valley disciples right there and then! But his rationality helped him keep his cool. Killing them would have been easy, but refraining was almost impossible!


    "The Lightning Sword Sect''s core elder must be at least an advanced Primordial Soul adept. If I kill those two men, I will probably die by Han Ku''s hand. Even if he does not kill me, he will arrest me, and I''ll be charged in the Lightning Sword Sect''s court and probably executed."


    Because he was well aware of this, Zhou Donghuang had remained extremely calm in the marketplace and had not taken any drastic actions against the Summer Valley''s two disciples.


    Nonetheless, he was not one to be taken advantage of. So, he thought, the Summer Valley wants to play? Then I, Zhou Donghuang will play with you! Forgery? Where were you when I was making fake goods? Rather, where were you when I was making fake goods in my past life?


    ...


    Two days later, Da Zhuang handed Zhou Donghuang a piece of paper covered with rows of squiggly words. Some were bigger than others, and the writing was practically illegible. These were the words of Da Zhuang.


    "Da Zhuang, did you just learn to write?" Zhou Donghuang asked.


    "Mm." Da Zhuang nodded and laughed sheepishly. "I started to learn how to write two years ago after Sister brought me here. I''m sorry for making you read my poor penmanship." Da Zhuang rubbed his head in embarrassment.


    "I see." Zhou Donghuang''s attention returned to the paper in his hands. Although Da Zhuang''s writing was ugly, it was clear enough to read. Of course, he had asked Da Zhuang to copy them out word-for-word, so if he copied them incorrectly, there was nothing he could do about it except go to the market himself. Preparing for the worst-case scenario was a habit that Zhou Donghuang had cultivated in his previous life. It had served him well.


    "Little Brother, if there is nothing else, then I''ll make the first move." Seeing Zhou Donghuang so focused on the paper without making a sound, Da Zhuang then said, " I will return the eleven superior spirit stones I owe you as soon as possible."


    Zhou Donghuang looked up at Da Zhuang and responded, "Let''s not talk about that. Right now, I need you to help me buy some things."


    "Little Brother, you... you still want me to help you to buy things? Aren''t you afraid that I''ll be scammed again?" Da Zhuang''s eyes widened.


    It was not that he wasn''t willing to give Da Zhuang more spirit stones. Da Zhuang was just so stubborn that he always refused to accept additional spirit stones from Zhou Donghuang. The first time that Da Zhuang had helped him buy something, he had wanted to give him some errand fees to thank him, but Da Zhuang had flatly refused. When Zhou Donghuang had insisted, Da Zhuang had almost lost his cool, and Zhou Donghuang could do nothing but give in. Da Zhuang was as stubborn as an ox.


    "Why don''t you go now?" suggested Zhou Donghuang after handing the spirit stones to Da Zhuang.


    "Yes," answered Da Zhuang as he left. Seeing that Zhou Donghuang was in a hurry to procure the goods, Da Zhuang left the Autumn Valley right away for the market.


    Meanwhile, all around the Autumn Valley, people were discussing how Da Zhuang had been tricked by the Summer Valley''s disciples.


    "Who in the Autumn Valley does not know Da Zhuang''s personality? He does not lie. That Pan Yilin really went overboard."


    "Too bad that we cannot do anything even if we know that Da Zhuang was cheated. The sect won''t do anything about something like this."


    "When Sister Mengxi returns and finds out about this, she will definitely have a lot to say."


    ...


    Although there were not many Autumn Valley disciples and small disagreements always arose among them, these disciples nevertheless put aside their differences and stood up for each other when bullied by the inner disciples from the other Valleys. This time, Pan Yilin hadn''t broken any of the sect''s rules. In such circumstances, although they felt angry for Da Zhuang, there was nothing they could do about it.


    Huang Long, the Autumn Valley disciple who had taken Zhou Donghuang to see He Mengxi when he had first arrived at the Autumn Valley, declared angrily to some other Autumn Valley disciples, "I curse those bastards of the Summer Valley! May they always buy fake goods in the future!"


    If Zhou Donghuang had heard this, he would have definitely given him a thumbs-up¡ªgreat prophecy!


    Zhou Donghuang had just asked Da Zhuang to buy the materials he intended to use for making forgeries.


    In his past life, when he''d left Earth before entering the same sect as He Mengxi, he had seriously lacked in spirit stones. Not only did practice require spirit stones, but they were also a form of currency to buy the things that he needed. In his previous circumstances, he had desperately needed to earn some spirit stones.


    When he was most desperate for spirit stones and was about to enter the demon forest to hunt demons in exchange for stones, he''d happened to witness a battle between an ultimate Dharma adept and a Dharma demon in the forest.


    The Dharma demon was killed. The ultimate Dharma adept was also about to take his last breath. Zhou Donghuang had tried to save the man but failed. However, the Dharma adept, seeing that Zhou Donghuang had not taken this opportunity to kill him and rob him of his space ring and had even tried to save him, had whispered the location of the hiding place of his treasures to Zhou Donghuang before he''d died. He''d even told Zhou Donghuang that the most valuable of all was an old book that recorded many methods for forging various treasures. These methods were so refined that the forged items could fool anyone. Even deities found it difficult to tell fake items from real ones. The replicas recorded in the book all looked identical to the real deal on the surface and during initial inspection. Of course, they were still fakes and could not be substituted for the genuine artifacts. Even so, using the forgery methods recorded in that book, Zhou Donghuang had managed to earn a large fortune of spirit stones in his last life.


    Of course, he did not cheat just anyone. He only cheated evil, cruel, or heartless people and had never cheated a good person. Even though he''d never considered himself a ''good man,'' he had some morals and was determined to stick to them. If one did not have any conscience, how did one live? Although he''d never thought of himself as a ''good man,'' he''d never considered abandoning his principles.


    "Summer Valley disciples like fake goods, don''t they? You even pin Third Sister''s saviors to the ground, pretending I don''t exist! Since you want to play, I will grant you your wish!"


    ...


    Ten days later¡­


    Zhou Donghuang did not tell Da Zhuang when he left Autumn Valley and headed to the market. This time, Zhou Donghuang was discreet.


    In a corner of the market, he opened a small mat and laid on it a few times. Then, he sat behind the mat, closed his eyes, and began practicing leisurely.


    Half an hour later, a loud voice asked Zhou Donghuang, "Brother, how much are you selling this for?"


    The excitement in the man''s voice was barely masked. The other party was deliberately suppressing agitated emotions.


    "Someone took the bait." In a flash, Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes and looked at the man standing in front of the mat.


    The middle-aged man was clearly a disciple of the Winter Valley. This could be determined from the cherry blossom insignia hanging in front of his chest.


    "Which one?" Zhou Donghuang blinked lazily as he asked.


    "This one." The man pointed at a block of jade on the mat. Inside, there were traces of red blood. On closer inspection, the blood seemed to be flowing through the stone. This was the hallmark of Frozen-blood Jade.


    "This is the Frozen-blood Jade, and it can be used to forge spirit weapons or make elixirs," answered Zhou Donghuang casually. "I will not ask for too much¡ªa mere twenty superior spirit stones."


    The man''s eyes narrowed. This man knew Frozen-blood Jade? Since he knew what it was, did he not know that a Summer Valley disciple had just put up a bid one month ago to buy this jade for fifty superior spirit stones?


    Most likely, he has not checked the auction board recently, the man thought to himself excitedly. Looks like I am in luck today!


    "Done! I''ll take it for twenty superior spirit stones." The man did not try to bargain, took out the spirit stones from his space ring, and handed them over to Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang accepted the stones and reminded him, "Test it for yourself. Once you take it away, you can''t bring it back and argue."


    "No need." The man picked up the Frozen-blood Jade and shook his head as he said, "Only Frozen-blood Jade is as special as this. I''ve never heard of anyone being able to forge it." With that, he took the jade and looked again at the mat on the ground.


    "Brother, how about this?" This time, there was an unmistakable glint of joy in the depths of the man''s eyes. Was it a coincidence? Here was another item that a Summer Valley disciple had bid on!


    "This is Thousand-year Red Wood," replied Zhou Donghuang. "I never intended to sell it. A specimen as large and well-preserved as this is rare. But since I am in need of spirit stones, I have no other choice."


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang correctly identify the item that he had just pointed to, the man thought to himself that there was no chance of buying it cheaply.


    "Brother, how much do you intend to sell it for?" asked the man.

 229 No Badmouthing Him

    "Thirty superior spirit stones," replied Zhou Donghuang.


    The man''s hopes of being able to buy the Thousand-Year Red Wood for a low price were immediately dashed.


    "Brother, can''t you sell it for less?" asked the Winter Valley disciple with a smile. "Look, I just spent twenty superior spirit stones on your Frozen-blood Jade."


    "No bargaining," replied Zhou Donghuang flatly as he glanced calmly at the Winter Valley disciple.


    "Alright." The man looked disappointed, but he was helpless. He still intended to purchase the Thousand-year Red Wood. "Brother, I do not have enough spirit stones at the moment. Can you wait for a while? I''ll borrow them from someone and be back right."


    "Half an hour." With that, Zhou Donghuang stowed the Thousand-year Red Wood.


    "I''ll be back within half an hour!" the Winter Valley disciple promised. Then, he anxiously took to the skies and headed in the direction of the Winter Valley. Clearly, he was going to borrow spirit stones.


    En route, the Winter Valley disciple prayed quietly, "I hope that, during this half an hour, he does not look at the auction board. Otherwise, he will definitely sell the Thousand-year Red Wood to the person from the Summer Valley who bid on it! That Summer Valley disciple has bid eighty superior spirit stones for the Thousand-year Red Wood!"


    Of course, he was worried about nothing. Zhou Donghuang had already known the amount that the Summer Valley disciple had bid. Otherwise, he would not have Frozen-blood Jade or Thousand-year Red Wood in his hands. These two items had been made using cheap materials. Unless they were really used, the fakes would be indistinguishable from the real thing. The old forgery manual that Zhou Donghuang had obtained in his previous life was considered a priceless treasure throughout the entire universe. Zhou Donghuang had already used many of the forgery techniques to trick many deities.


    "What a pity that, out of the ten-plus items that the Summer Valley disciples have bid on, only nine can be forged. The remainders are either not suitable for forgery or require a fire stronger than the third-level of Samadhi fire to create." Although Zhou Donghuang had three Golden Essences, he was still some way away from attaining his fourth. He was a Primal Core adept, and the fire he produced could only be classified as a third-level Samadhi fire.


    To produce a fire of the fourth level, one of his Golden Essences would have to attain the Dharma stage. Of course, for one of his Golden Essences to reach the Dharma stage, all four of his Essences had to be Golden Essences already. Only then would he be able to break through the Dharma frontier. This was the unique characteristic of the "Way of the Four Supremes," and it was a rule that he had no choice but to obey.


    Now, I''ll sell two first. Later, I''ll try to sell the other seven, Zhou Donghuang thought to himself.


    "Correct." Zhou Donghuang accepted the spirit stones and took out the Thousand-year Red Wood and passed it to the Winter Valley disciple. "Test it for yourself."


    The Winter Valley disciple picked up the piece of wood and scrutinized it, then nodded and said, "No problem. Thank you, brother." With that, the man left after bidding farewell to Zhou Donghuang. As he left, his face and eyes were filled with excitement he could barely conceal. The two items in his hands would earn him eighty superior spirit stones once he resold them! And it would take him less than half a day to make that amount! As the Winter Valley disciple hurried off to find the disciple from the Summer Valley who had placed the bid on the items, Zhou Donghuang took out another two items.


    Not long after, someone else took the bait. This time, Zhou Donghuang had two customers. The two looked at each other knowingly, and each bought one item without saying a word. Both of them were well aware that both of these items were on the auction board.


    If they sold to the disciple of the Summer Valley, one of the items could earn the first buyer twenty superior spirit stones, while the other would make the second buyer fifty superior spirit stones. After the two of them had bought the items and walked out of Zhou Donghuang''s earshot, they whispered to each other, "That brother must be out of touch with the auction board. How could he put these two items up for sale? And for market price!" He shook his head and said quietly, and his eyes filled with excitement.


    The other person took out fifteen superior spirit stones and handed them to the first man. "I did not call you out, and you didn''t expose me either. Here, I''ll give you fifteen superior spirit stones, so we''ll each earn thirty-five spirit stones from this deal."


    "Thank you, Brother Lan!" The first man took the spirit stones and thanked him profusely.


    "Let''s go! We''ll find the two people from the Summer Valley and sell these items to them!" the second man exclaimed, his face radiating with glee. "I never thought that there would be such an easy way to earn spirit stones! With just one transaction, we can earn thirty-five superior spirit stones. Under normal circumstances, we could only earn thirty-six superior spirit stones in three years from the sect." Clearly, these two men were inner disciples.


    "Brother Lan, will that brother cause trouble for us later?" The first man was worried.


    "Don''t worry about it." The other man was nonchalant. "The market has its own rules. Furthermore, we paid for the spirit stones in full. We do not have a duty to remind the merchant that the two items are on the Summer Valley''s auction board. A while ago, the Autumn Valley disciple, Da Zhuang, bought a fake nine-ringed bamboo from the Summer Valley disciple, Pan Yilin, and lost a hundred mid-level spirit stones. But he did not get anything back at the end of the day. The market has its rules. We traded spirit stones for the item, so after the trade, nobody can reverse it."


    Hearing this, the first man then calmed down. "Now that you mention it, Da Zhuang was unfortunate. A hundred mid-level spirit stones are equivalent to ten superior spirit stones."


    The two men thought that Zhou Donghuang would not be able to hear them since they were some ways away, but Zhou Donghuang''s hearing ability had been enhanced by the "Way of the Four Supremes" each time his level of attainment had improved, so he could hear every word.


    He shook his head and smiled to himself. These two were simply pawns in the game of chess he was playing.


    "Let''s continue." Over the rest of the day, Zhou Donghuang successfully sold the remaining fake goods at his stall. He finally sold the ninth item at dusk. Then, he packed up and returned to the Autumn Valley.


    "The Summer Valley is about to have some fun these next few days!" On his way back to the Autumn Valley, Zhou Donghuang smiled to himself as if he had accomplished something unremarkable today. To him, it was indeed not worth a mention. The nine fake items had taken him ten full days to create. But this was because he had spent much of that time on his practice and had only invested a little of his downtime in creating the items.


    "The most important thing right now is to train the fourth Golden Essence. Only then can I break through the Dharma frontier. Otherwise, I can''t even go anywhere near the Dharma stage''s barrier." For Zhou Donghuang, who was practicing the "Way of the Four Supremes," he could only reach the Dharma stage after attaining his fourth Golden Essence.


    After returning to the Autumn Valley, Zhou Donghuang prepared to return to his room in the courtyard to train. When he arrived, he noticed that Da Zhuang was chatting with some people in the adjacent yard. These people were comforting Da Zhuang. Zhou Donghuang had a vague impression of these men, who were all disciples of the Autumn Valley.


    "Little Brother is back." Once Zhou Donghuang arrived in the air above his courtyard, Da Zhuang noticed him.


    Zhou Donghuang nodded, then landed in his own courtyard. As for the other people, he paid no attention to them at all. Seeing this, the few men beside Da Zhuang were slightly offended.


    "This Zhou Donghuang has no manners!"


    "Doesn''t he know how to greet his seniors?"


    ...


    The few Autumn Valley disciples beside Da Zhuang were all energetic teenage boys. Since Zhou Donghuang''s arrival in the Autumn Valley, they had noticed that, whenever the teenage girls from Autumn Valley gathered, they no longer talked about them. They were only concerned about the newcomer, Zhou Donghuang. This made them feel as if Zhou Donghuang had stolen their limelight, and they were secretly jealous of him.


    "Seniors, please do not badmouth Little Brother." Da Zhuang frowned. "Little Brother is a very kind man, so you cannot badmouth him."


    "Da Zhuang, we are not badmouthing him!" Because Da Zhuang was very close to the princess of Autumn Valley, He Mengxi, all the male disciples were very polite to Da Zhuang. "We only said that he was disrespectful. He did not even greet us when he saw us."


    "Exactly! He is nowhere as polite as you, Da Zhuang."


    "We are here discussing how to take revenge for you. What about him? Who knows what this newcomer has been doing all day out there. He comes back so late and rushes into his room as if he does not care that the Summer Valley disciples bullied Da Zhuang."


    ...


    Hearing these disciples speaking so brazenly about Zhou Donghuang, Da Zhuang was furious, and his face turned red. He growled in a low voice, "Seniors, Little Brother is nothing like that! If you badmouth him one more time, I... I... I will have nothing more to do with you!" Da Zhuang was immensely angered by what they had said.


    The Autumn Valley disciples did not expect Da Zhuang''s reaction to be so extreme. They looked awkwardly at each other, then left quickly. As they turned to leave, their eyes were filled with disgust and arrogance. If not for their intention to use Da Zhuang as a steppingstone to get into the Autumn Valley princess'' good books, none of them would have bothered talking to a big fool like Da Zhuang.

 230 Im Not That Easy to Bully!

    As Zhou Donghuang returned to the Autumn Valley, a middle-aged man with an average build appeared in the Summer Valley, exuding confidence. As he flew into the Summer Valley, his spirits were high, and it was easy to sense his joy.


    "Brother Zhong, you look thrilled today! Has something good happened?"


    A young man preparing to leave the Summer Valley smiled at the middle-aged man.


    The middle-aged man laughed. "Yes, something good has happened! I put some Thousand-year Red Wood on the market in the trade area about two years ago. Now, someone has finally bought it!"


    "Thousand-year Red Wood?" The young man was shocked. "That item has an expensive price tag but little value. After you increased the price by two or three times, it''s amazing that someone purchased it! Brother Zhong, you are fortunate!"


    "Alright, let''s talk later. I''m rushing to give these items to my master so he can help me convert themm into an ultimate spirit weapon."


    As the middle-aged man spoke, he flew into the depths of the Summer Valley.


    The Summer Valley was a vast mountain vale like others with similar names. However, it was different from the Autumn Valley, which had visible traces of autumn. Instead, in the Summer Valley, the surrounding nature showed no signs of summer. Coincidentally, this was how the Summer Valley got its name.


    "It''s fake! I can''t believe that it''s fake!"


    Around the same time that the middle-aged man with last name Zhong returned to the Summer Valley, in a courtyard on the other side of the mountains, a figure burst through the doors with a furious expression, crying out with rage, "Bai Liqing from the Winter Valley dared to sell me fake Frozen-Blood Jade!"


    "D*mn it! D*mn it!"


    "I''m going to find him and exact my revenge! He has to pay for this!"


    The speaker was a Summer Valley disciple and a mid-Dharma adept named Fang Baiwei.


    People milling around the nearby courtyards heard Fang Baiwei''s commotion and came closer to see what was going on. "Brother Fang, what''s the matter?"


    Those who lived near Fang Baiwei communicated with him often. Thus, the Summer Valley''s disciples who lived nearby all had rather good relationships with Fang Baiwei.


    After they heard Fang Baiwei''s pitiful tale, they were instantly enraged. "I can''t believe that Bai Liqing from the Winter Valley dared to do such a thing! He had the gall to sell fake Frozen-blood Jade to our Brother Fang?"


    "Let''s help him exact his revenge!"


    "Yes! He must pay for this!"


    Together with several of his fellow disciples, Fang Baiwei left the Summer Valley with murderous intentions and traveled directly to the Winter Valley.


    After they were informed that the Winter Valley disciple in question, Bai Liqing, had not yet returned, the mob then turned to travel toward the trade area and happened to find him there.


    Now, whether it was the Frozen-blood Jade or the Thousand-year Red Wood, he had already transferred their ownership to the Summer Valley''s disciples by selling them off. In the process, he had earned eighty high-quality spirit stones.


    With such a large sum of high-quality spirit stones now in his possession, he had taken a stroll around the trade area before splurging on luxurious items, which he usually refrained from buying.


    "Hm?" Suddenly, Bai Liqing realized that the Summer Valley disciple, Fang Baiwei, who had bought the Frozen-blood Jade from him, had brought a crowd of people over. They were all running at him with murderous intent.


    "Bai Liqing!!!"


    Even before the group came close to him, Fang Baiwei was already yelling out viciously. "I have never offended you in the past, and yet you dare to sell me fake Frozen-blood Jade?"


    "Fake Frozen-Blood Jade?"


    Glancing at Fang Baiwei, who had not arrived beforehand, Bai Liqing furrowed his brow before saying casually, "Fang Baiwei, what nonsense are you spouting!? The Frozen-blood Jade that I sold you was a proper financial transaction. We exchanged for your spirit stone veins, remember? You even conducted a thorough check of the item to ensure that it was satisfactory. Now that you''ve brought the Frozen-blood Jade back home, you''re suddenly here accusing me of selling you a fake after all this time? What is this? Are you trying to cheat me out of a perfectly fine sale?" As he spoke, Bai Liqing''s gaze gradually turned hostile.


    Fang Baiwei''s face darkened as he replied gravely, "Bai Liqing, it is you who are seeking trouble."


    "No, you are the one creating a fuss out of nothing." Bai Liqing glanced coldly at the man before him then said, "If you are saying that the Frozen-Blood Jade I sold you was a fake, where''s the proof?


    "You should showcase the Frozen-blood Jade for everyone to see and verify publicly whether it is real or fake," Bai Liqing retorted.


    Upon hearing Bai Liqing''s words, Fang Baiwei''s face twisted even more. "Fang Baiwei, I think you are creating a fuss out of nothing. Don''t you know that the authenticity of typical Frozen-blood Jade cannot be ascertained simply using the usual tests? The only way to find out if Frozen-blood Jade is authentic is to allow it to come into contact with Simi fire. A true piece of Frozen-blood Jade will directly turn it into smoke and ashes."


    Obviously, no one would ever use Simi fire to test the authenticity of the Frozen-Blood Jade because the jade would immediately be tainted after coming into contact with Simi fire. In the short term, if a core-forging master did not use it, or it was not made into a spirit weapon, it would become an ordinary piece of jade, which was worth very little.


    "Simi fire?" Bai Liqing smiled.


    "According to your words, I''m assuming that the Frozen-Blood Jade, this very piece you claim is fake, cannot be produced here and now?


    "What a joke!


    "Once, Pan Yilin, the disciple from your Summer Valley, passed off six-ringed bamboo as nine-ringed bamboo and sold it to one of the Autumn Valley''s disciples, Da Zhuang. In the end, Da Zhuang managed to produce the fake to prove his point. Now, you Summer Valley people are accusing me of selling fakes but are unable to produce proof." As he said this, Bai Liqing''s smile disappeared, and his eyes glazed with frost. "Fang Baiwei, if you have the guts, fight me on this! If you wish to ruin my reputation, you''ll need to work for it!" Bai Liqing called out sharply.


    Fang Baiwei''s face changed immediately, and he wanted to take action. However, he was immediately blocked and restrained by several of the disciples from his valley.


    A few of the Lightning Sword Sect''s disciples were also nearby, and they could not help but comment on the situation.


    "Senior Bai Liqing is right. If he is unable to produce proof, how can he claim that Senior Bai Liqing sold him fake goods? There is no evidence."


    "People of Summer Valley, you are all so shameless. Today, you tried to smear Bai Liqing''s reputation without any proof. Before, when Da Zhuang of Autumn Valley produced proof that your people had cheated him, the people of the Summer Valley stood by Pan Yilin. A disciple of the Summer Valley, Han Ku, even said that even if Pan Yilin had sold fake goods, the fault lay with Da Zhuang for not checking the quality of his purchases. The sects have a rule: once a financial transaction is concluded, it cannot be reversed."


    "According to the sect''s rules, other than the fact that Fang Baiwei has no proof, even if there were proof, and Bai Liqing had indeed sold fake goods, he has no right to do anything to Bai Liqing. According to the rules, it is Fang Baiwei''s fault for not verifying his purchases. Bai Liqing is not to blame."


    After hearing such comments from the Lightning Sword Sect''s disciples, Fang Baiwei''s face grew so stormy that it could have probably squeezed out water like a thundercloud. The glance he now gave Bai Liqing was so intense and angry¡ªit was like he wanted to devour him.


    "Bai Liqing, this time, I''ll end this conversation here. Next time, I hope we have no future interactions, or I will not let you go so easily!"


    Fang Baiwei glared at Bai Liqing with murderous rage and unsatisfactorily left with the Summer Valley disciples who had accompanied him.


    "Anytime! Anytime!" Bai Liqing called out cheerily without hesitation.


    By this point, everyone in the crowd had reached a consensus that Fang Baiwei was provoking Bai Liqing for personal reasons. Otherwise, he should be able to produce some evidence!


    "There was already an incident of a Summer valley disciple, Pan Yilin, cheating an Autumn Valley disciple, Da Zhuang. After what happened today, it must be said that the Summer Valley people are too much!"


    This was now the general idea shared by most of the Lightning Sword Sect''s disciples.


    After the commotion that Fang Baiwei had caused, Bai Liqing was not in the mood to continue casually browsing the trade area. He took the eighty high-quality spirit stones that he had earned that day and went on his way, returning to the Winter Valley in high spirits.


    The Winter Valley was also a mountain, an icy patch of paradise. White snow blanketed the land, and all the rivers and bodies of water were frozen.


    "Brother Bai, seeing your rosy cheeks, I''m guessing something good happened to you today."


    Just as Bai Liqing had returned to the skies above his courtyard, a skinny figure suddenly flew at him from an adjacent courtyard. He looked like a normal person, except for his glance, which was incredibly intense. He smiled at Bai Liqing as he talked.


    "Haha! Senior Zhang, let me treat you to some wine tomorrow! I can splurge on twelve flower stuffed pipes!"


    Bai Liqing laughed as he looked at the Winter Valley disciple before him, whom he was closest to in the entire East Valley. Bai Liqing viewed him as a brother.


    "Twelve flower stuffed pipes?" The skinny middle-aged man''s eyes brightened. "That''s not bad. It''s rare for you to make such an offer! I still remember that I''ve treated you to several rounds of twelve flower stuffed pipes, but you have only treated me once or twice! Furthermore, on those occasions, it was I who asked you to reciprocate, as you were rather unwilling!" said the skinny middle-aged man in a slightly teasing tone.


    Bai Liqing smiled awkwardly and explained, "That''s because I was rather short on cash, so I did not have much choice. Senior Zhang, if you want, from tomorrow onward, I''ll treat you to twelve flower stuffed pipes every day for half a month!"


    Twelve flower stuffed pipes were a particular sort of spirit wine produced by the Lightning Sword Sect''s Spring Valley. It was created with twelve different types of spirit flowers and was delicious. The wine was strong enough to enhance one''s training.


    The twelve flower stuffed pipes contained in regular wine barrels sold for one high-quality spirit stone per barrel. This was like drawing one spirit stone vein from every single disciple within a sect!


    This special wine was not affordable for a typical sect disciple. However, as the intensity of the twelve flower stuffed pipes was extremely high, even Dharma adepts would not dare drink an entire barrel in a day. A Dharma adept who had once drunk an whole barrel of hundred flower wine had ended up passing out for seven days and seven nights!


    For two Dharma adepts combined, in a day, the most they could drink would be one barrel of twelve flower stuffed pipes between them.


    "Half a month''s worth?"


    The skinny middle-aged man''s eyes lit up. "Brother, have you received a fortune recently?"


    "A small fortune, yes." Bai Liqing smiled slightly and casually took out twenty high-quality spirit stones. He returned them to the middle-aged man, saying, "Senior Zhang, I borrowed these from you this morning. I''m returning them to you now."


    The middle-aged man took the spirit stones and asked with confusion, "Brother, are you trying to tell me that you amassed this fortune using the twenty high-quality spirit stones that I lent you earlier today?"


    Before Bai Liqing could reply, an angry and outraged voice burst out from nearby. "Bai Liqing, you bastard! How dare you sell me fake Thousand-year Red Wood!"


    Bai Liqing turned around saw a middle-aged man with a stocky build charging toward him through the air. "Zhong Yin?"


    Zhong Yin, a Summer Valley disciple, had also made purchases from him today. He was the new owner of a piece of Thousand-year Red Wood.


    "Fake Thousand-year Red Wood?"


    Bai Liqing''s face darkened. What did all these Summer Valley people want from him?


    "What happened?"


    The skinny, middle-aged man standing beside Bai Liqing now looked suspicious.


    "Senior Zhang, these disciples from the Summer Valley are shameless. First, Fang Baiwei claimed that I sold him fake Frozen-Blood Jade. Now, this Zhong Yin is also claiming that I sold him fake Thousand-year Red Wood."


    Bai Liqing''s expression was murderous. "Do they all think that I''m an easy target to bully?"

 231 Lets Sell All Nine Items!

    Zhong Yin, a disciple of the Summer Valley and a late Dharma adept, was also a personal disciple of an elder of the Summer Valley.


    This elder of the Summer Valley was coincidentally an inner elder of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    In the Lightning Sword Sect, if one wanted to become an inner elder, one had to be at the mid Primordial Soul stage at the very least. That was the threshold that the inner elders abided by.


    As for those who wanted to enter the Lightning Peak and become an elder of the Lightning Sword Sect, the conditions were even stricter. One had to be at least a late Primordial Soul adept and above.


    As for becoming an outer elder, one only had to be at the early Primordial Soul stage to qualify.


    In other words, in the Lightning Sword Sect, even the most average and mediocre outer elder was also at the very least within one of the Primordial Soul stages.


    "Bai Liqing!"


    Zhong Yin floated to where Bai Liqing was in the sky, stabilized himself and stared beadily at Bai Liqing. In a low voice, he asked gravely, "I, Zhong Ya, have never offended you before, right?


    However, you dared to sell fake Thousand-Year Red Wood to me?"


    Zhong Ya had used 80 high-quality spirit stones in this exchange only to realize that the Thousand-Year Red Wood was fake; it was no wonder that he was greatly angered by it!


    Originally, after he had arrived at the Winter Valley, over a period of time, his anger had already diminished slightly.


    However, now that he was face to face with Bai Liqing, his anger was fueled yet again like a flame that was restarted. He raged, and now it was too late to calm him down.


    "Zhong Ya, is everyone from the Summer Valley crazy!?" Bai Liqing asked solemnly.


    "First, it was that Fang Baiwei who claimed that the Frozen-Blood Jade I sold him was fake... Now, you''re here creating trouble and claiming that the Thousand-Year Red Wood I sold you is fake too?


    "Are you going to act like Fang Baiwei and mention that you can''t provide any evidence for your claims since the Thousand-Year Red Wood has already been in contact with fire and got destroyed?"


    At this point, Bai Liqing was extremely frustrated and angered.


    After all, Zhong Yin and Fang Baiwei were different.


    Other than the fact that Zhong Yin had an inner elder backing him up, Zhong Yin''s stage was also higher than his.


    "You sold Frozen-Blood Jade to Brother Fang?"


    Zhong Yin furrowed his brows.


    "Furthermore, Brother Fang mentioned that the Frozen-Blood Jade was fake as well?"


    "Hmph!"


    Bai Liqing snorted coldly and replied mockingly, "All you people of the Summer Valley are clearly working together to malign me... You''re still acting right now?"


    "Bai Liqing."


    Zhong Yin sighed deeply.


    "Usually you wouldn''t have these items, much less sell it to us... but today, you suddenly managed to present both items? Be it Thousand-Year Red Wood or Frozen-Blood Jade, both are not items that are commonly found!"


    At this point, Zhong Yin glanced solemnly at Bai Liqing.


    Now, another disciple of the Winter Valley, who was standing nearby, Zhang Weiyuan, overheard the entire conversation and gained a vague understanding of the matter at hand.


    He glanced at Bai Liqing and asked, "Brother, the fortune that you mentioned you gained today was due to the fact that you had sold Thousand-Year Red Wood and Frozen-Blood Jade to Zhong Yin and Fang Baiwei?"


    Earlier today, in the afternoon, Bai Liqing had randomly sought him out to borrow 20 high-quality spirit stones and had promised that he would return them by the end of the day.


    At that point, Zhang Weiyuan had assumed that Bai Liqing had either borrowed the spirit stone veins to gamble or to sell some items and gain some profit.


    Bai Liqing rarely gambled with others, and thus Zhang Weiyuan had assumed the latter to be more probable.


    Now, he knew that his assumption was right, seeing as how a disciple of the Summer Valley, Zhong Yin, had appeared.


    "Yes," Bai Liqing affirmed this statement.


    "The Thousand-Year Red Wood and Frozen-Blood Jade were both bought from other people?"


    Zhang Weiyuan asked again.


    "Yes," Bai Liqing affirmed Zhang Weiyuan''s words yet again.


    "Who would be silly enough to trade through a dealer? The person who sold them to you could have sold those items to Fang Baiwei and Zhong Yin personally! If he did so directly, he could have earned much more than you did!"


    Zhong Yin furrowed his brows in thought. "Furthermore, the items that they want are rare, and they have been searching for them for a long time. They had even left a possible reward on the bounty list of the trade center for them!"


    "Brother Zhang, perhaps that disciple did not view the bounty list and were unaware that people were looking for these items!" Bai Liqing reasoned.


    "However, the issue lies in the fact that both Zhong Yin and Fang Baiwei have claimed that the items are fake!" Zhang Weiyuan continued to speak.


    "Brother Zhang."


    Bai Liqing''s face had changed.


    "Do you not believe me either? For those two items, I carried out an authenticity check by myself.


    Zhong Yin and Fang Baiwei both carried out authenticity checks personally as well and only passed me the spirit stone veins after ensuring they were satisfied with the products!"


    "Brother, I believe you, of course. However, I feel like this is too much of a coincidence!"


    Zhang Weiyuan shook his head as he glanced at Zhong Yin.


    "Zhong Yin, you better not be fooling around. I hope that this isn''t an instance of you teaming up with that Fang Baiwei to cheat Bai Liqing of his spirit stone veins!"


    Just as he spoke, Zhong Yin''s glance turned hostile.


    Although they were both late Dharma adepts, he was not afraid of Zhong Yin. Furthermore, previously, in a showcase of skills by the four valleys, he had managed to defeat Zhong Yin within ten moves despite them being at the same stage.


    "Zhang Weiyuan, it is not me who claims that the Thousand-Year Red Wood is fake."


    Zhong Yin sighed.


    "It is my senior who said that the Thousand-Year Red Wood is fake... I was looking for the Thousand-Year Red Wood as I wanted to ask my senior to help me create an ultimate Dharma spirit weapon that suits me. However, once his Wumei fire came into contact with the Thousand-Year Red Wood, the Thousand-Year Red Wood was immediately destroyed by the fire and turned to ashes and smoke.


    "When the Thousand-Year Red Wood first reached me, my senior and I had both agreed that there were no issues with it at first."


    As Zhong Yin spoke to this point, he looked at Bai Liqing with an unfriendly gaze.


    "Did you witness the Thousand-Year Red Wood change into smoke and ashes with your own eyes?" Bai Liqing asked with a cold smile.


    "When my senior creates weapons, he does not like bystanders disturbing him... What do you mean by that sentence? Are you trying to insinuate that my senior kept the Thousand-Year Red Wood for his own use and then lied to me?" Zhong Yin asked in return.


    "Who knows?"


    Bai Liqing gave a twisted smile.


    "Bai Liqing, you best watch your mouth before you stir up some trouble."


    Zhong Yin glanced at Bai Liqing coldly.


    "If my senior wanted the Thousand-Year Red Wood, he could have just said so, and I would have automatically given it to him. He would not have needed to find such excuses to obtain it.


    "If you do not believe this, I can bring him here to the Winter Valley, and you can argue with him yourself!"


    The more Zhong Yin spoke, the colder his tone became.


    "Brother, your words have crossed the line."


    Zhang Weiyuan shook his head as he spoke. "Elder Ke Liang is at the Primordial Soul stage, he has no need to thirst over his disciple''s Thousand-Year Red Wood!"


    "Although Thousand-Year Red Wood is seen as precious in our eyes, to Elder Ke Liang, it definitely isn''t worth much. Furthermore, at his current stage, the Thousand-Year Red Wood is mostly useless to him!"


    Ke Liang was not only Zhong Yin''s senior and the Lightning Sword Sect''s inner elder but was also an elder of the Summer Valley.


    "Senior Zhang, I was just making a joke."


    Hearing as Zhong Yin was offering to invite his senior over physically, Bai Liqing''s heart dropped slightly. Now, as Zhang Weiyuan was stepping up as well, he began to defend himself with an awkward smile for fear of further trouble.


    "Zhong Yin, did you hear that? Bai Liqing was merely joking around."


    Zhang Weiyuan glanced at Zhong Yin and said, "Furthermore... Be it you or Fang Baiwei, the transactions between the both of you and Bai Liqing were legitimate and paid for, pestering him further also leads to nothing.


    "You can''t just ignore sect rules like this.


    "If you continue to chase this matter, it will also not lead to any positive outcome for you. Even your senior, Elder Ke Liang, cannot go against our sect rules," Zhang Weiyuan said.


    "I am of course aware of this," Zhong Yin replied in a low tone.


    "Since I paid for the items, even if they were fake, I know that there is nothing I can do... I merely came here to ask Bai Liqing for an explanation as to why he wanted to cheat me of my money.


    "Of course, I also thought about the possibility that Bai Liqing himself also did not know that the Thousand-Year Red Wood he sold me was fake.


    "Just now, I heard that the Thousand-Year Red Wood he sold me was bought from someone else? It seems like this possibility is becoming more likely, then."


    As he spoke, Zhong Yin glanced directly at Bai Liqing.


    "Bai Liqing, I am not asking for those 80 high-quality spirit stones back. However, I would like to know who sold you the Thousand-Year Red Wood," Zhong Yin asked gravely.


    He intended to approach the original seller who had given the Thousand-Year Red Wood to Bai Liqing and question him.


    If it were only Thousand-Year Red Wood he had bought that had an issue, Zhong Yin may have brushed the whole issue off as a coincidence. Perhaps the person that had sold the Thousand-Year Red Wood to Bai Liqing had also been unaware that it was fake?


    However, Bai Liqing instead mentioned that the Frozen-Blood Jade that his fellow disciple from the Summer Valley, Fang Baiwei, had bought, was also fake as well!


    Furthermore, be it the Thousand-Year Red Wood or the Frozen-Blood Jade, both were from the same original seller!


    This made Zhong Yin doubt the credibility of this seller, and he came up with the theory that the original seller had planned to trick him and Fang Baiwei at the same time.


    This led him to then wonder what he and Fang Baiwei had in common.


    Well, they were both disciples of the Summer Valley.


    Of course, even so, Zhong Yin was still inclined to believe that the entire series of incidents was a coincidence... If not, it was hard to imagine what exactly could compel one to create fake Thousand-Year Red Wood and Frozen-Blood Jade at the same time.


    Could it be that coincidentally, the original seller had possessed both fake Thousand-Year Red Wood and Frozen-Blood Jade?


    Of course, Zhong Yin wanted to investigate whether or not the entire incident was indeed a coincidence.


    Just as Zhong Yin wanted to ask Bai Liqing for his source of the Thousand-Year Red Wood, from afar, a figure flew towards them in the air and landed somewhere near Zhang Weiyuan and Bai Liqing.


    "Senior Zhang, Brother Bai Li, you are both here? Did you hear about what happened at the trade center?"


    This person was a young-looking disciple of the Winter Valley.


    "What happened?" Zhang Weiyuan asked curiously.


    "On the bounty list of the trade center, out of the tens of items that the elders and disciples of the Summer Valley asked for... There are nine that have been cleared from the list today."


    The young-looking disciple of the Winter Valley sighed and said, "Within a day, nine people from the Summer Valley managed to buy items that they have been searching for for a long time... The people of the Summer Valley are really lucky today. I''m so envious of them!"


    Just as the words left the mouth of this Winter Valley disciple, Zhong Yin''s face immediately changed, and he glanced meaningfully at Bai Liqing straightaway.


    "Don''t look at me!" Bai Liqing replied gravely. "I only sold two things off the bounty list to you and Fang Baiwei. The other items were not sold by me!"


    At this point, even Bai Liqing could sense that something was amiss.

 232 Liu Lang

    This night was destined to be a chaotic night for the people of the Summer Valley!


    This was because all nine of the Summer Valley disciples who had bought items they had desired off the bounty list had first felt excitement and happiness, but had all found out later on that the items they had purchased were fake!


    None were spared, and all were inauthentic goods!


    Out of the nine, if only one or two they had received were fake goods, one could possibly believe that it was merely an unfortunate coincidence.


    However, all the items that they had bought turned out to be fake!


    "When I first heard about the nine people of the Summer Valley from the trade center, I had thought that our people''s luck had been good today! It''s amazing that nine items managed to be found off the bounty list all in the same day... However, I had not anticipated that all these purchased items would turn out to be fake!


    "My gut instinct tells me that something is amiss...


    "This is abnormal, something is definitely wrong!"


    ...


    With the news of the fake goods being bought by the nine people of the Summer Valley, the entire Summer Valley was shocked.


    Out of the people who had bought fake goods, there were seven disciples and two elders of the Summer Valley.


    Just as the Summer Valley flew into chaos, the nine who had unfortunately purchased fake goods also gathered together. Among them, there were five elderly folk and four middle-aged men.


    Out of the five elderly folk, two were elders of the Summer Valley and both were mid Primordial Soul adepts.


    As for the other seven, they were all disciples of the Summer Valley.


    Zhong Yin was, of course, one of the nine present.


    "To our two elders as well as fellow seniors and disciples... This matter can almost be certainly labeled as a trick played on us people of the Summer Valley!" Zhong Yin said to the remaining eight with a stony expression on his face.


    One of the elders of the Summer Valley replied gravely, "As long as one is not a fool, that is definitely clear."


    "That''s right!"


    Another elder of the Summer Valley added, "This is an urgent matter, and we have to find out who tricked us. If we manage to catch him, I''ll definitely mete out a suitable punishment!"


    "It''s not about the money as a hundred high-quality spirit stones are a small matter. However, we have lost face in this incident! I, Li Dahu, am a widely respected inner elder of the Lightning Sword Sect, a mid Primordial Soul adept who was too careless today and actually bought fake goods... If news of this travels out, what will happen to my reputation?"


    As the two elders of the Summer Valley spoke up, both were so angry that one could almost see them spit fire.


    Towards the two raging elders of the Summer Valley, an uncomfortable look glazed over in Zhong Yin''s eyes, but he nevertheless spoke with a forced smile on his face.


    "Now, what we need to do is to examine the fake goods that you are holding on to and check whether they are from the same original seller!"


    Just as Zhong Yin had spoken, Fang Baiwei immediately seconded his sentiments and spoke up, "Brother Zhong is correct! Tonight, we should carry out a proper investigation and examine whether the same troublemaker was the one who sold us the nine items. If it is, he''s dead!"


    For Zhong Yin and the remaining eight, tonight was to be a sleepless night.


    Although the items of the remaining seven were only purchased from five people, however, out of the five people, one such seller was the Spring Valley''s Head''s only child, the famous rich playboy of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Unless he chose to leave his quarters, no one else would dare to disturb his slumber and training.


    "Let''s wait and see."


    In the courtyard of the Spring Valley''s Head, Zhong Yin and the others waited patiently for two days until they finally heard the sound of a door opening.


    Creak...


    As the door to the room in the yard was opened, a young man dressed in lavish silk walked out as he stretched lazily and yawned to himself at the same time.


    This young man looked to be about twenty years old. He had well-shaped eyebrows and a sharp nose and lips, giving him a graceful look overall. If he was female instead of male, one would definitely think of her as charming and beautiful.


    This man was the Spring Valley''s Head''s only child, Liu Lang.


    "Brother Liu, you''re finally up."


    Seeing as Liu Lang had appeared, Fang Baiwei gave a sigh of relief and immediately greeted him.


    Liu Lang raised his head and was suddenly made aware of the presence of the nine people floating in the skies of his yard.


    "People of the Summer Valley? What do they want from me?"


    Liu Lang immediately realized that out of the nine people from the Summer Valley, one of them was an elder of the Summer Valley who had purchased something from him previously.


    It was that one item that had managed to earn him 130 high-quality spirit stones easily.


    "What did you call me?"


    Liu Lang ascended into the sky and glanced at Fang Baiwei, who had called out to him.


    "Brother Liu," Fang Baiwei repeated with a charming smile.


    Although the man before him was merely a Primal Core adept, he still had a powerful father backing him.


    The Spring Valley Head was the strongest out of the four leaders of the four valleys.


    As for this person before them, he was the only child of the Spring Valley Head. Be it anyone within the Lightning Sword Sect, much less the people of the four valleys, not many dared to disrespect or irritate him.


    "Is the title ''Brother'' one you can use to call me?"


    Liu Lang''s gaze was cold, and he replied in a stony way.


    "Do you think you are fit to call me Brother?"


    Fang Baiwei''s facial expression changed dramatically, and cold sweat began to drip down his forehead. It was now that he remembered that this rich playboy did not like hearing disciples of the sect label him as "Brother."


    To him, only the core disciples of the Lightning Peak were qualified to call him "Brother."


    Furthermore, out of the core disciples of the Lightning Peak, he only called certain individuals.


    "Senior."


    "Master Liu, I''m sorry, I''m sorry," Fang Baiwei apologized profusely.


    "Hmph!"


    Liu Lang glanced at the bowing and stuttering Fang Baiwei scornfully before glancing at the rest of the people present.


    "You Summer Valley people are all here at the crack of dawn, is there something I can help you with?


    If there is nothing important, do not disturb me from my daily routine.


    "If I''m lucky, maybe my fortune today will be as good as yesterday''s. I was merely browsing around casually, but I still managed to meet a fool who was selling what others were looking for on the bounty list at a tiny stall."


    As Liu Lang spoke, he started to become more and more impatient as he glanced at the several people of the Summer Valley.


    Upon hearing Liu Lang''s words, the people of the Summer Valley glanced at each other and a look of understanding appeared in their eyes.


    "Master Liu."


    One of the elders of the Summer Valley spoke up, and he displayed a sketch in his hands.


    "Yesterday, was it this man who sold you the item that you sold me?"


    If Zhou Donghuang were here, he would immediately recognize that the man in the picture was him.


    However, the standard of the sketch was definitely subpar as compared to the version that Freezing Wind had drawn for his sister, Yun Lu.


    Liu Lang paused and glanced meaningfully at the sketch before laughing.


    "This sketch is indeed rather similar to how he looks in real life... However, this sketch has no soul.


    When I looked at the seller, from his appearance alone, I had to admit that he was much more soulful and confident than me!


    "What is this about? You are all here so early in the morning to investigate this person? Are you all trying to find him in hopes that he would possess other items on the bounty list?"


    That was what Liu Lang assumed.


    "No."


    The elder of the Summer Valley''s face darkened as he put the sketch away, and he thanked Liu Lang multiple times.


    "Thank you, Master Liu... Now, we can confirm that this is indeed the man who had sold fake goods to you and to other sellers as well!"


    As this elder of the Summer Valley spoke, several of the other disciples of the Summer Valley yelled out furiously as well.


    "This disciple of the Autumn Valley is really cunning and deceitful! He wanted to step up to help that foolish big brute from the Autumn Valley and in doing so, dared to play tricks on us people of the Summer Valley? What nonsense!


    "Let''s find him and get our revenge!"


    ...


    The bunch of people from the Summer Valley yelled out in an enraged manner and were about to turn and leave the Spring Valley for the Autumn Valley.


    "What is this situation? That man in the sketch is a disciple of the Autumn Valley?


    "Also... Make yourselves clear! What do you mean, I sold fake goods to you people?"


    ...


    The words spoken aloud by the people of the Summer Valley aroused Liu Lang''s curiosity, and he chased up to them and asked several questions.


    Since Liu Lang had personally expressed interest, the people of the Summer Valley freely shared about the entire incident.


    Once Liu Lang had heard the story, he immediately gained a clear understanding of the situation.


    "The item he sold me yesterday... was fake? Furthermore, he passed on eight other fake items to other sellers like me and got people to sell them to you nine of the Summer Valley?


    "I even thought he was a fool for not bothering to even glance at the bounty list in the trade center... Now, it seems like he was not a fool and even managed to trick me!


    "Interesting, interesting..."


    After he had regained his composure, Liu Lang''s eyes glistened as he processed the matter.


    "He has only entered the Lightning Sword Sect for such a short period of time and is a new disciple of the Autumn Valley. Yet, he actually dared to offend so many people of the Summer Valley?


    "Interesting, truly interesting.


    "His name is Zhou Donghuang?"


    ...


    Very quickly, Liu Lang and the nine people of the Summer Valley arrived at the Autumn Valley.


    The people of the Summer Valley asked a traveling disciple of the Autumn Valley for directions to Zhou Donghuang''s living quarters. Once they had gotten the instructions, they headed for the mountains where Zhou Donghuang lived.


    However, once they arrived near Zhou Donghuang''s yard, all they saw was another disciple of the Autumn Valley sitting cross-legged in mid-air calmly.


    Once they approached, this disciple of the Autumn Valley opened his eyes and glanced at them blearily.


    "Are you all here to find Brother Zhou?"


    "Ask Zhou Donghuang to come out!" Fang Baiwei replied stonily with a dark expression on his face.


    "Brother Zhou wants me to tell you all that if you wish to urgently meet him, you should find him at the trade center."


    This disciple of the Autumn Valley was not a normal person. He was Huang Long, the person who had first brought Zhou Donghuang to find He Mengxi when he had first arrived at the Autumn Valley.


    This morning, Huang Long had also naturally heard of the news from the Summer Valley.


    This was, of course, the news that nine people from the Summer Valley had bought fake goods yesterday.


    His first thought was that someone had purposefully sold the fake items as revenge against the people of the Summer Valley.


    Huang Long had thus found Da Zhuang to ask him whether he was aware of the mastermind behind the entire incident. As for Da Zhuang, who had been made aware of the events, had told Huang Long the whole truth.


    "It was him!?"


    At that point, Huang Long had been extremely shocked. He could not believe that such a ploy could have been thought up by a new disciple who was not even at the Dharma stage yet!


    "Brother Zhou is really smart and ingenious! He had guessed that they would come... Now, it''s time for me to watch the show and enjoy this drama as well..."


    Just as the nine people of the Summer Valley turned away angrily and headed for the trade center, Huang Long caught up with them and followed them.


    "I remember you... Your name is Huang Hu, right?"


    Liu Lang slowed down his walking pace to match that of Huang Long and the two trailed behind the nine of the Summer Valley as he asked his questions.


    Even though he was aware that Liu Lang was not someone to be messed with, Huang Long''s face still darkened as he replied, "I am not Huang Hu, my name is Huang Long, Master Liu!"

 233 If You Dare

    The Lightning Sword Sect.


    The trade center.


    "Little brother, you sold fake goods to the people of the Summer Valley! They will not simply let the matter rest," Da Zhuang followed closely behind Zhou Donghuang and said with a worried expression on his face.


    "Perhaps... we should return to the Autumn Valley. In the Autumn Valley, with our Valley Head present, they will not dare to kick up a fuss."


    "Do you think they will dare to take rash actions in the trade center?"


    Zhou Donghuang appeared extremely indifferently and continued to stroll leisurely past the several stalls present in the trade center. Finally, he arrived at the corner where the bounty list was present.


    The person in charge of registration at the bounty list was an outer elder, and he recognized Da Zhuang but not Zhou Donghuang. "Da Zhuang, is this man also a disciple of the Autumn Valley?"


    Previously, when Da Huang had bought the fake goods that the disciple of the Summer Valley, Pan Yilin, had sold and had returned to the trade center to find Pan Yilin for an explanation, this outer elder had not been present to witness it.


    That was the reason why he had never met Zhou Donghuang before.


    "Yes, Elder Liu." Da Zhuang nodded.


    "Our little brother has just entered the Autumn Valley recently."


    "Young man, are you here to sell items that are on the bounty list or here to post a reward and ask for an item you desire?" Elder Liu smiled as he asked Zhou Donghuang.


    "I''m here to request an item," Zhou Donghuang replied.


    Next, he began to list the names of several herbs, and these were all ingredients that he needed to curate the core drug needed for one to enter the Dharma stage.


    These herbs were all rare herbs.


    If Zhou Donghuang put in requests for these rare herbs, even the cheapest of the lot required 30 high-quality spirit stones. This was more expensive than the nine-ringed bamboo that Zhou Donghuang had purchased for Da Zhuang previously.


    Of course, although Da Zhuang had spent 11 high-quality spirit stones, he had still only managed to gain a fake stalk of nine-ringed bamboo.


    However, after taking a stroll around the trade center just now, he had managed to make a second purchase and got himself a real stalk of nine-ringed bamboo for only ten high-quality spirit stones.


    "Young man, these herbs that you are requesting are not expensive by themselves... However, if you request for them on the bounty list, they may add up to about 200 high-quality spirit stones."


    Elder Liu glanced meaningfully at Zhou Donghuang and gave him a reminder.


    To him, the young man dressed in white standing before him had merely just entered the Autumn Valley of their Lightning Sword Sect and was possibly unable to afford so many spirit stone veins.


    "As for the guarantee fee, that''s for when someone manages to produce the item you were looking for, but you may not have enough spirit stone veins to pay them for it. In that case, the person who intends to sell you the item will then take the guarantee fee as payment."


    Knowing that Zhou Donghuang was new, Elder Liu explained the rules of the bounty list in an extremely patient manner.


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded in acknowledgment and casually raised his hands. He took out several hundreds of mid-quality spirit stones, 380 to be exact.


    Three hundred and eighty mid-quality spirit stone veins were equivalent to about 38 high-quality spirit stones.


    The herbs that Zhou Donghuang were requesting for on the bounty list added up to about 190 high-quality spirit stones. Of course, one could also use 1900 mid-quality spirit stone veins to pay for them.


    "This..."


    Seeing as Zhou Donghuang managed to take out so many mid-quality spirit stones so casually, Elder Liu began to observe the young man before him closely.


    This young man was dressed in pure white and was well-groomed as well. He gave off a confident and fresh aura and did not seem like he was of normal, average heritage... Furthermore, he had only recently joined the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect and was yet able to produce multiple spirit stone veins, which meant that he was probably no ordinary character.


    Although he was shocked, Elder Liu quickly regained his composure and took the spirit stone veins. After counting them, Elder Liu gave Zhou Donghuang a receipt for the transaction.


    The inscription on the receipt told Zhou Donghuang that this sixth elder''s full name was Liu Qing.


    Of course, in the course of the inscription of the receipt, this Elder Liu Qing had also asked for Zhou Donghuang''s name, and the receipt clearly mentioned that Zhou Donghuang, a disciple of the Autumn Valley, had paid 380 mid-quality spirit stones.


    "This will do."


    After Zhou Donghuang put the receipt away, Liu Qing then added the names of the herbs that Zhou Donghuang had requested to the bounty list.


    The placement of items on the bounty list was in descending order from most expensive to least expensive.


    At the top of the bounty list, the prices could reach up to 30,000 high-quality spirit stones... Furthermore, for this very item, if Zhou Donghuang wished, he could quickly obtain it with ease sometime in the near future, and he could even do so without spending a single spirit stone vein.


    These were fourth-grade returning-heaven elixirs.


    Returning-heaven elixirs were separated into nine different grades. First-grade returning-heaven elixirs were only useful to Qi-Gathering adepts. Second-grade returning-heaven elixirs were only useful to Connate adepts and those below the Connate stage. Third-grade returning-heaven elixirs were only useful to those at the Primal Core stage and below... This followed suit all the way to ninth-grade returning-heaven elixirs.


    Ninth-grade returning-heaven elixirs were the highest grade amongst the returning-heaven elixirs and were known to be legendary.


    Ninth-grade returning-heaven elixirs were useful even to Deity''s Tribulation adepts. As long as one still had breath left in them, after drinking the ninth-grade returning-heaven elixir, one''s injuries would be able to heal within a short period of time.


    "Previously, Chen Dandan had already been removed of her meridians thanks to me... However, that elder adept Zhong Ya of the Xuanyin sect had managed to gain some returning-heaven grass and created a second-grade returning-heaven elixir with it for her to drink and regain her meridians.


    "Afterwards, after I killed Zhong Ya, I found six second-grade returning-heaven elixirs in his space ring afterwards... Out of the six, all were made with extremely careless and subpar Internal Alchemy, resulting in the waste of those five-leaf returning-heaven grass."


    Five-leaf returning-heaven grass, in Zhou Donghuang''s hands, could be made through Internal Alchemy into fifth-grade returning-heaven elixirs... Fifth-grade returning-heaven elixirs were useful even to those at the Primordial Soul stage and were a treasure that could save a life!


    "Six second-grade returning-heaven elixirs... After I enter the Dharma stage and return to training, I will be able to use Internal Alchemy and create at least two fourth-grade returning-heaven elixirs."


    Of course, although he had the confidence to at least create fourth-grade returning-heaven elixirs, Zhou Donghuang did not have much interest in obtaining the thirty thousand high-quality spirit stones that were listed as rewards on the bounty list.


    This was despite the fact that if one counted all the spirit stone veins he had on him and converted them to the currency of high-quality spirit stones, he only had about fifty thousand high-quality spirit stones.


    Well, this amount was actually enough for him as of now.


    The spirit stone veins that Zhou Donghuang possessed were all mostly obtained from several planets within several galaxies since he still had his past life''s memories. They were all obtained before he had come to the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Of course, those spirit stone veins that Zhou Donghuang had obtained were mostly mid-quality spirit stones and usually not high-quality spirit stones.


    This was because the planets that he had visited were not like the Tielao planet, which the Lightning Sword Sect was located in. It was already hard enough to find or produce high-quality spirit stone veins in the spirit stone veins mine in the Tielao planet.


    "There he is!"


    Just as Da Zhuang had bid farewell to the outer elder Liu Qing and was preparing to leave with Zhou Donghuang, from the skies above, an enraged shout could suddenly be heard.


    This shout of anger did not contain any essential core energy, but due to the sheer volume of it, it covered the cacophony of noises from the trade center in an instant.


    Immediately, the entire trade center quietened down.


    A few people even instinctively glanced up in the direction to where the sound had travelled from.


    Under the watchful eye of the crowd, a group of nine gathered in the skies above the trade center. After they glanced around, they landed neatly as a group.


    Behind these nine people, slowly and unhurriedly, two others followed; they were of course Liu Lang and Huang Long, who were here to be nosy bystanders.


    "Little brother, it''s the people from the Summer Valley!"


    Da Zhuang''s facial expression changed immediately.


    Just as Zhou Donghuang lazily lifted his eyes to glance at the scene, the nine people of the Summer Valley had already landed and were coming towards them, surrounding Zhou Donghuang and Da Zhuang tightly.


    "Brother Zhou."


    At this point, Huang Long, who had followed on the heels of the people of the Summer Valley, landed beside Zhou Donghuang and said, "Of these nine people of the Summer Valley, two are elders of the Summer Valley..."


    As he spoke to this point, Huang Long could not help but swallow some saliva in his panic. He had not dreamt that this Brother Zhou would actually dare to enrage the elders of the Summer Valley!


    Furthermore, he had managed to enrage not one but two elders of the Summer Valley!


    These were inner elders of their Lightning Sword Sect and were both mid Primordial Soul adepts.


    "Elder Li? Elder Yu?"


    Zhou Donghuang and Da Zhuang were still near the bounty list, and the outer elder in charge of registration at the bounty list, Liu Qing, immediately recognized that there were two elders among the nine people of the Summer Valley that had landed. Furthermore, he recognized that they were both also inner elders of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    In the Lightning Sword Sect, the two elders were above him in terms of both status and skill level.


    At the same time, several other elders and disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect had also gathered around out of curiosity, and they recognized the two elders of the Summer Valley immediately as well.


    "What is going on?"


    "What situation is this?"


    ...


    Many of those crowded around were actually unaware of what had previously transpired.


    "Zhou Donghuang, you actually dared to cheat nine people of the Summer Valley!"


    Once Fang Baiwei of the crowd of people from the Summer Valley shouted out, those watching immediately gained an understanding of what was happening currently.


    This was because in the morning, they had all heard the news that nine people from the Summer Valley had somehow purchased fake goods from the bounty list as of yesterday.


    They had also heard that previously, those making the purchase had not identified that the goods were fake while carrying out their transactions.


    Today, many immediately drew the link between that piece of news and this confrontation:


    Someone probably wanted to target the people of the Summer Valley!


    Now, the people from the Summer Valley who were cheated had now appeared neatly as a group and were surrounding Da Zhuang from the Autumn Valley as well as another new disciple; it was easy to guess what was happening here.


    "Did Da Zhuang and the young man dressed in white beside him target the people of the Summer Valley?"


    "It cannot be Da Zhuang. Da Zhuang does not have the brains to carry out such a scheme. I''m 80% to 90% sure that it was done by that new disciple of the Autumn Valley."


    "His name seems to be Zhou Donghuang?"


    The attention of the crowd quickly shifted to Zhou Donghuang, and he suddenly felt all their eyes on him, making him the prime focus.


    "Zhou Donghuang, staying mute isn''t going to help you now!"


    Seeing as Zhou Donghuang was ignoring him, Fang Baiwei, a disciple of the Summer Valley, became further enraged, and he glared hard at Zhou Donghuang before gritting his teeth in frustration.


    "Believe it or not, I''ll kill you!"


    "Ah?"


    Zhou Donghuang then glanced lazily at Fang Baiwei in an unbothered fashion.


    "Kill me? Do you really dare to do so?"


    The Lightning Sword Sect had many strict sect rules. For those of the same sect, unless they had signed some contract with life and death conditions, they could not casually cause injury or death to someone else.


    Those that went against such a rule would be dealt with a harsh punishment and be expelled.


    Furthermore, if one struck out against an innocent, even if there were no injuries or death, they would receive the same degree of punishment.


    If compared to the entire Infinite Universe, the Lightning Sword Sect may not be much. However, when placed within the Tielao planet''s Hengliu galaxy, it was one of the top and highest ranking sects.


    They were extremely particular about their sect rules, more so than the smaller and lesser-known sects.

 234 Good Intentions

    "You..."


    Just now, Fang Baiwei had merely intended to scare Zhou Donghuang. He had not anticipated that not only would Zhou Donghuang be immune to his threats but even return the taunt and challenge him. Fang Baiwei was momentarily so enraged that his entire face swelled red, and his essential core was revealed, gathering around him in the form of a three-meter tall Dharma figure.


    Although he had revealed his Dharma power, Fang Baiwei did not have the courage to take any concrete action.


    The punishment that the Lightning Sword Sect meted out to those who took action against innocent fellow disciples was truly too severe to take a gamble on.


    Furthermore, if he took action, it would seem like he was a bully and that he was using his powers to bully someone weaker. Under such circumstances, the potential consequences he would face would be even more severe.


    In any case, he was already 40 years old while the young man dressed in white before him could only be about 20.


    He was a mid Dharma adept while the young man had not even entered the Dharma stage yet.


    "Zhou Donghuang."


    As Fang Baiwei stood before Zhou Donghuang and displayed his Dharma power, Zhong Yin glanced at Zhou Donghuang with a gaze as piercing as lightning and asked in a low voice, "Did you carry out this elaborate scheme all for the sake of revenge on behalf of your fellow disciple of the Autumn Valle, Da Zhuang?"


    The other disciples and elders of the Summer Valley now all cast their gaze and focus on Zhou Donghuang as well.


    "You could say that."


    Zhou Donghuang glanced casually at Zhong Yin. "There''s something else that you may not be aware of... Previously, when Da Zhuang had purchased the fake nine-ringed bamboo from your Summer Valley people, it was me who had asked him to make the purchase on my behalf.


    "The spirit stone veins that were lost, belonged to me."


    As he spoke, the corners of Zhou Donghuang''s mouth turned up slightly. It seemed as though he was amused at something, and not really affected by the loss of his spirit stone veins previously.


    In reality, he truly did not care about the loss of his spirit stone veins at all.


    Even if he did, he had already earned it all back from the people of the Summer Valley as of yesterday.


    "You decided to throw caution to the wind and deign to offend so many people of the Summer Valley over such a trivial event?" Zhong Yin asked in a dark, grave tone.


    "Offend?"


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at Zhong Yin with a look of surprise. "Do make yourself clear."


    "You purposely sold so many fake items to others, who then sold them to the nine of us... Did you not think we would be offended by this matter?" Zhong Yin''s voice became even lower as he replied.


    "This is considered an offense?"


    This person was no ordinary man. He was a Lightning Peak elder, Han Ku.


    "Although I''ve only entered the Lightning Sword Sect for a short period of time, don''t think that I am not aware of the sect rules... In this trade center, I am aware that even if one, unfortunately, purchases fake goods, they can only blame themselves for their own foolishness.


    "Within the sect, swallowing one''s pride may be a wise thing to do, lest you ruin your own reputation and embarrass yourself.


    "You could also say that... Even if those items were fake and even if I indirectly managed to sell them to you, as long as you finalized the purchase and transaction, you can only mourn your own misfortune.


    "Furthermore, those items were not even sold by me to you.


    "You all bought these items from various sellers, and yet you are here to find trouble. Isn''t this going a little overboard?" Zhou Donghuang replied in a casual way.


    "Are you trying to talk your way out of this mess?"


    Out of the two elders of the Summer Valley, one glared murderously at Zhou Donghuang.


    "Young man, you are well aware of how this whole matter came about. Don''t even try to deny it!


    "Do you really think that you can manipulate the sect rules to your favor and get away scot-free after playing tricks on nine people from the Summer Valley?


    "Unless... you intend to stay within the sect for the rest of your life and never step out of it?"


    As he spoke to this point, this elder of the Summer Valley suddenly smiled in a mocking fashion.


    With his words, there was no denying the underlying threat that was implied.


    "Ah?"


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at the smug look on this elder''s face and said, "Do you mean to say... whenever I choose to leave the sect, you people of the Summer Valley will then come forward to exact your revenge?"


    "You could say that."


    The elder of the Summer Valley smiled coldly.


    In the next instant, this elder''s facial expression changed dramatically as he glanced in the direction that Zhou Donghuang was gazing at and saw what was in the skies.


    "Elder Han Ku, you''ve heard it all? Well, I am not going against any of the sect rules. However, these people of the Summer Valley are threatening me, and they mentioned that they will take their revenge on me after I leave the Lightning Sword Sect."


    These were the original words spoken by Zhou Donghuang towards the Lightning Peak elder, Han Ku, who had arrived at the scene.


    "Elder Li."


    At this instant, Han Ku had on an extremely cold expression, and he spoke directly to the elder of the Summer Valley while staring at him. "Will, you willingly head down to the Law Enforcement Hall yourself to receive your punishment or shall I make a report to them and let the officers of the Law Enforcement Hall take you away?"


    "Elder Han."


    The elder of the Summer Valley, Li Dahu, glanced at Han Ku with a pained expression on his face. "I... I was merely joking around."


    "Save your words for the officers of the Law Enforcement Hall."


    Han Ku cast a cold, sweeping glance at Li Dahu and said, "You should be clear of the difference in punishments between you willingly turning yourself in to the Law Enforcement Hall and me reporting you to them before the officers come to bring you to the Law Enforcement Hall."


    Li Dahu''s facial expression changed again, and he turned to glare at Zhou Donghuang with an extremely cold and murderous expression before unwillingly forcing himself to leave the scene and head for the Law Enforcement Hall.


    In an instant, the entire trade center had fallen silent, and it was deadly quiet.


    An elder of the Summer Valley and an inner elder of the Lightning Sword Sect at that had been sent to the Law Enforcement Hall simply due to two or three sentences by a mere disciple of the Autumn Valley.


    Even if the elder did not face death in the Law Enforcement Hall, he would still bear a heavy punishment.


    "What are you all gathered here for?"


    Han Ku glanced lightly at the remaining eight people of the Summer Valley who were surrounding Zhou Donghuang and asked.


    "Elder Han."


    The remaining elder of the Summer Valley glanced wearily at Han Ku. "We are here not because we intend to take any action towards Zhou Donghuang... Granted, what he did was indeed well within the rules of the sect."


    "However, when the sect made the rule that one could sell fake goods without implications in the trade center, they did not consider that someone would be able to create several fakes of precious ingredients and manufacture goods that look almost authentic!


    "Yesterday, nine of us from the Summer Valley spent a total of almost 2000 high-quality spirit stone veins just to buy the fake goods that came from Zhou Donghuang."


    As the elder of the Summer Valley said these words, his tone reviewed much of his annoyance and frustration.


    Of course, those 2000 high-quality spirit stone veins had all ended up in the hands of the resellers, who had originally bought the fake goods from Zhou Donghuang at the start.


    In any case, Zhou Donghuang did not care much about those spirit stone veins.


    If he had done all these for the spirit stone veins, he would not have wasted time to recreate fakes of the items that the people of the Summer Valley had requested for on the bounty list.


    "We are here today just to demand an explanation from Zhou Donghuang for his deeds."


    Due to Han Ku''s presence as well as the fact that another fellow elder had already been "invited" to the Law Enforcement Hall by Han Ku, the remaining elder of the Summer Valley appeared to be more deferent and upright. "Of course, even if Zhou Donghuang doesn''t offer an explanation, we will not take any action against him. After all, what he has done does not break any of our sect rules.


    "We also guessed that he may not give us an explanation for his actions.


    "Nevertheless, we are still here to try to ask for one.


    "We aren''t here for ourselves but for everyone else living within the Lightning Sword Sect... In any case, anyone here could possibly be cheated by Zhou Donghuang and his fake goods in the future as well.


    "For sect disciples, under normal circumstances, they can only take one high-quality spirit stone from the sect. Even the core disciples can only obtain ten high-quality spirit stones per month from the sect. If they were cheated even once by the fake goods of Zhou Donghuang, they may lose a few months'' or even a few years'' worth of allowance by the sect."


    This torrent of words was blurted forth by the elder of the Summer Valley. He said it all in a passionate rush and was full of energy, earning him the support and acknowledgment of the crowd of Lightning Sword Sect disciples.


    Within an instant, many of the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect began to look at Zhou Donghuang in an unfriendly manner as they digested the words of the elder.


    "You people of the Summer Valley need not worry."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled casually and although his volume was average, his words managed to be clearly heard by all who were present. "As long as the buyers are people outside of the Summer Valley and they do not sell fake goods to those in the Autumn Valley... I can promise to those outside of the Summer Valley that I will never sell any fake goods to you in the trade center.


    "Of course, other than those of the Summer Valley, if you accidentally sell fake goods to us people of the Autumn Valley, as long as you are sincerely apologetic afterward and settle the issue in an amicable manner, I can choose not to pursue it further as well."


    After Zhou Donghuang spoke, it was clear that he was directly addressing the previous issue with the people of the Summer Valley and targeting them.


    Zhou Donghuang''s words caused the gazes of the surrounding crowd to change as they stared on uncomfortably. As for the people of the Summer Valley, their faces all changed as well.


    As for Han Ku, who was the main Lightning Peak elder who maintained law and order in the trade center, when he next glanced at Zhou Donghuang, it was with a gaze of slight frustration and... admiration.


    This one man dared to challenge the entire Summer Valley!


    He did not even care for the potential consequences of such an action.


    From the present, it was clear that this young man''s level of bravery was definitely admirable.


    "Zhou Donghuang, just to make it clear... You are waging war against all of the Summer Valley?"


    Zhong Yin''s face darkened, and he asked in a cold voice.


    "I have no intention of becoming enemies with the Summer Valley," Zhou Donghuang said lightly.


    "I''m doing all this just because I believe in tit for tat, an eye for an eye... If you want to trace the origins of this matter, it was a disciple of the Summer Valley who first sold fake goods to me.


    "Well, regardless of whether that matter was legitimate or not... Even if it were true, after this exchange, you haven''t sustained any losses."


    The elder of the Summer Valley said, "Shall we end this matter now? How does that sound?"


    "End things here?"


    Zhou Donghuang smiled. "You wish to end this matter here? It can be done. However, I wish for that disciple of the Summer Valley who had sold fake goods to me and Da Zhuang as well as the other disciple who had used his Dharma power to suppress Da Zhuang to both come before us and kneel on the floor in apology.


    "If you people of the Summer Valley are agreeable to that; I will not continue to target the Summer Valley."


    Once Zhou Donghuang had said these words, the entire trade center fell silent again.


    "I remember that the disciple of the Summer Valley who had sold the fake goods was Pan Yilin. As for the other disciple of the Summer Valley who had suppressed Da Zhuang with his Dharma power... He was Lian Can, the direct disciple of the Summer Valley''s Head!"


    "Well, the people of the Summer Valley would probably object to having Pan Yilin kneel to the ground in apology, after all, that is a huge blow to his face and reputation... Let''s not even talk about Lian Can doing the same thing!"


    "The terms listed by Zhou Donghuang are really too severe!"


    ...


    No one expected that the people of the Summer Valley would agree to these terms.


    "That''s impossible!"


    Just as the crowd had predicted, once the elder of the Summer Valley had regained his senses, he did not hesitate to reject the terms listed out by Zhou Donghuang.


    "In that case, I think we are done here," Zhou Donghuang shrugged indifferently and replied in a casual tone.


    "In that case, you people of the Summer Valley should be more careful when making purchases at the trade center... You may end up buying fake goods again.


    "Actually, in doing so, I am also testing your people''s ability to differentiate between real and fake goods. I''m actually doing you all a favor. One day, if your people leave the sect and get cheated by outsiders, at that point, not only would you be cheated of your wealth, you would also throw away the face of the sect!


    "I suddenly find myself to be extremely magnanimous... For you people of the Summer Valley, I really am putting in quite a lot of effort..."

 235 The Fourth Golden Essence

    "I''m afraid people like me, who requite evil with good, are quite rare in this world, right?" Zhou Donghuang asked with a faint smile.


    From the time he had reincarnated and returned to this world a thousand years ago, Zhou Donghuang had always felt out of place in this world. In the eyes of others, he seemed completely unapproachable.


    He appeared more human only when he was in front of his mother, Lin Lan and his younger sister, Yun Lu.


    It was not that he did not want to fit in with this world, but that he could not.


    He had tried but failed.


    Although he had to start practicing from scratch after reincarnating, it still could not change his disposition, which was befitting of someone who stood at the pinnacle of the vast universe.


    From a bird''s-eye view, the numerous mountains were small.


    He had seen what he should see. He had also been through what he ought to have gone through.


    In this lifetime, it was only a matter of time before he returned to the peak.


    It was only after coming to the Lightning Sword Sect this time and seeing one of the most important people in his previous life, his third senior sister, He Mengxi, that he finally felt a sense of belonging and identified with this world that he had reincarnated into.


    It was precisely because of this that great changes unknowingly occurred in his mentality. Now, he could even crack a few jokes with the people of the Summer Valley.


    The group of people in Ziyun who were familiar with Zhou Donghuang were not here either. Otherwise, their jaws would definitely drop open in shock if they witnessed this scene.


    Because they had never seen this side of Zhou Donghuang before.


    However, apart from Da Zhuang''s slightly blank expression, the people present from the Lightning Sword Sect did not expect this taciturn junior brother to have such a side to him.


    On the contrary, the others did not feel the same way. They felt strongly that Zhou Donghuang was shameless!


    Clearly, he had deliberately sold counterfeit goods to the detriment of the people of the Summer Valley. But now, he was actually speaking of it as if he had done it for their good?


    The eight people of the Summer Valley were all staring at Zhou Donghuang with predatory gazes.


    If not for their worry that they would say something vicious and follow in the footsteps of the Summer Valley elder who was heading towards the Law Enforcement Hall, they would''ve started abusing him a long time ago and even threaten him.


    "Elder Han, you''ve seen it too... this Zhou Donghuang is clearly going against the Summer Valley!" the remaining Summer Valley elder said to Han Ku with fury on his face.


    Han Ku was in slight disbelief too.


    "Little brat. When it''s possible to let people off, you should spare them," Han Ku looked at Zhou Donghuang and said with a bitter smile.


    "Elder Han."


    Zhou Donghuang looked at Han Ku with a face filled with surprise. "Earlier, I was merely repeating what you''d said that day... What''s more, didn''t you say that day that successfully selling counterfeit goods was a type of skill too?"


    "Yesterday, I took out nine fake goods in total and I sold all of them... furthermore, all the Summer Valley people have done the same thing."


    "You can''t be telling me now that whatever you told me that day was false, right?" Zhou Donghuang asked mockingly.


    "I..."


    Han Ku went silent and was left speechless.


    "Hmph!" the Summer Valley elder scoffed.


    After glancing at Zhou Donghuang with a knife-like gaze, he called out to the rest of the Summer Valley people, "Let''s go!"


    Zhou Donghuang had already shown them that he wanted to fight to the death. They would only be humiliating themselves if they continued staying here, so they would rather leave.


    "Elder Yu, are we going to just leave it at that?"


    On the way back to the Summer Valley, Fang Baiwei''s face was filled with indignation.


    "If we don''t just leave it at that, what else can you do? If not, why don''t you go and kill him? Exchange your own life for his and protect our Summer Valley?"


    The Summer Valley elder turned around and glared at Fang Baiwei impatiently, retorting with a question.


    Fang Baiwei instantly shut his mouth.


    No way he was that noble.


    "After we return this time, let''s go and meet the Valley Head together. As long as the Valley Head is willing to get involved in this matter, whether we seek out the sect leader or the Autumn Valley Head... that Zhou Donghuang definitely won''t dare to mess around again!",


    the Summer Valley elder continued.


    Hearing his words, the eyes of several Summer Valley disciples all lit up.


    After returning to the Summer Valley, the elder brought Fang Baiwei, Zhong Yin and the remaining seven disciples straight to visit the Summer Valley Head, Lian Kun.


    Lian Kun was a middle-aged man with a short and strong figure and dark tan skin. He was at most about 1.5 meters in height. When he stood beside his direct disciple, Lian Can to give him pointers, he had to suspend himself in midair so as to maintain eye contact with Lian Can, who was around 1.8 meters in height.


    Right now, Lian Kun was teaching Lian Can how to use his Dharma power more effectively in order to display stronger combat power.


    As an ultimate Primordial Soul adept, Lian Kun had even come up with a few know-hows to exert force such that it unleashed the power of inner Yuan to a greater degree.


    "Valley Head."


    Lian Can only stopped what he was doing when the eight Summer Valley people came to visit. He stood behind Lian Kun, who was floating in midair with his feet a foot above the ground.


    Even so, Lian Kun''s shoulders were only at the same level as Lian Can''s shoulders.


    "Is something up?"


    At the sudden appearance of so many people at once, even Valley Head Lian Kun could not help but frown and ask coolly.


    "Valley Head."


    The Summer Valley elder stepped forward and recounted the sequence of events in detail. He also related the words which Zhou Donghuang, the Autumn Valley disciple, had said earlier.


    "That Autumn Valley disciple actually wanted me to kneel and kowtow to him and that Da Zhuang in apology?"


    Standing behind Lian Kun, Lian Can''s eyes suddenly turned steely. In the span of a moment, a layer of ice-cold frost also seemed to form on his face.


    "Did all the fake goods you bought come from him alone?"


    Unlike Lian Can''s one-sidedness, Valley Head Lian Kun saw many more issues. "If so... his methods are indeed remarkable."


    "Master," Lian Can said indignantly, "that Zhou Donghuang is but an insignificant Golden Essence adept. So what if he has some devious tricks up his sleeve? He can''t cause any waves with them!"


    "Are you looking down on his methods?" Lian Kun asked.


    Lian Can tacitly agreed.


    "In that case, how do you think we should resolve this matter?" Lian Kun asked again.


    "I..."


    Upon hearing Lian Kun''s words, Lian Can did not know how to respond for a moment. This was because the Summer Valley elder in front of him had already said that whatever the other party had done complied with the rules of the sect. They could not punish him.


    If he could not punish him, what other method did he have?


    "Hmph!"


    Lian Kun sneered. Without any consideration for Lian Can''s feelings, he chided him, "So, don''t look down on anyone. And don''t look down on Zhou Donghuang''s methods.


    "If you had the same tricks, you would be more than capable of defrauding the Autumn Valley and ultimately force Zhou Donghuang to dispel any thoughts of continuing to harm the Summer Valley."


    Lian Kun was slightly angry after hearing the Summer Valley elder speak. Now that Lian Can had himself sought trouble, he instantly vented all his anger on Lian Can.


    As for Lian Can, he could only keep nodding sadly like a chick pecking at grains. "Master is right in reprimanding me. Master is right..."


    However, in Lian Can''s heart, he now hated Zhou Donghuang even more.


    "Valley Head, if you don''t get involved in this matter, I''m afraid this will arouse panic in our Summer Valley if it goes on," the Summer Valley elder said with a bitter smile.


    "If I were to get involved now, wouldn''t it be even more of a joke? In a contest between an Autumn Valley disciple who hasn''t even entered the Dharma stage and I can''t believe I, the Summer Valley Head, have to personally attend," Lian Kun sneered.


    The Summer Valley elder immediately went silent.


    "Master, in my opinion that Zhou Donghuang must have said that on purpose too... yesterday, he cheated Elder Yu and a few of my senior brothers. You can say that he has already helped Da Zhuang take revenge."


    At the right moment, Lian Can said, "I bet that even if we increase his guts tenfold, he wouldn''t dare to continue offending our Summer Valley."


    The Summer Valley elder and the other people felt that Lian Can''s words had some logic to them.


    As for Lian Kun, from the outset he had never intended to get involved.


    ...


    In the blink of an eye, a month had passed.


    During this month, although the Summer Valley people were all cautious when dealing in the trade center, none of them bought any more counterfeit goods.


    Any news of the Autumn Valley disciple, Zhou Donghuang, was like a pebble that had sank to the bottom of the sea.


    "Looks like that Zhou Donghuang just spoke without thinking the matter through at the time. I actually thought that he really dared to challenge the entire Valley... I overestimated him."


    "It''s normal if you think about it. He''s already had his revenge. And in comparison, he benefited considerably at their expense. Naturally, there''s no need for him to continue being hostile towards the valley."


    ...


    The Lightning Sword Sect disciples who had personally heard Zhou Donghuang say a month ago that he was going to continue cheating the Summer Valley with counterfeit goods, shook their heads collectively at this moment. They felt that Zhou Donghuang had merely said those words without any meaning behind them.


    During the span of this month, the Summer Valley people gradually started to let down their guard too.


    Even then, they still did not buy any false goods.


    However, they did not know that the reason why everything had been quiet in the Summer Valley for the past month was all because Zhou Donghuang had shut himself off completely to practice ever since returning to the Autumn Valley.


    "The last Silver Essence finally transformed into a Golden Essence."


    After a month, the last Silver Essence remaining in Zhou Donghuang''s diaphragm successfully transformed into a Golden Essence.


    Henceforth, Zhou Donghuang cultivated all four Primal Cores in his diaphragm into Golden Essences.


    "Now, I''m going to charge towards the Dharma stage... I wonder if anyone tried to sell me those medicinal herbs I offered a reward during my time in seclusion."


    When the thought came to mind, Zhou Donghuang walked out of his room and went looking for Da Zhuang.


    This time, he had left Da Zhuang with sufficient spirit stones before going into seclusion to practice. If anyone wanted to sell him the medicinal herbs in exchange for the reward, Da Zhuang could help him trade.


    "Little Junior Brother, I managed to buy the last type of medicinal herb you wanted ten days ago," Da Zhuang said, smiling foolishly as he handed the medicinal herbs to Zhou Donghuang.


    "Very good."


    Zhou Donghuang had just returned to his room and finished refining the core drug when an excited voice traveled from outside.


    "Zhou Donghuang, you chap. You''re finally out of seclusion.


    "A month ago, you agreed to let me join you in selling counterfeit goods. But in the end, you immediately shut yourself off to practice.


    "Recently, everyone in the sect has been calling you a coward and saying that you dare not deceive the Summer Valley people with fake goods again... quick, bring some counterfeit goods here and I''ll get someone to sell it to them."


    The person standing outside Zhou Donghuang''s door right now was none other than the Spring Valley disciple, Liu Lang.


    Liu Lang was the only son of the Spring Valley Head and was famously known for being a profligate disciple in the Lightning Sword Sect.


    A month ago, Liu Lang had pestered Zhou Donghuang relentlessly. He had told him that if he continued to make counterfeit goods, he had to hand them over to him so he could get someone to resell them to the Summer Valley people.


    May the whole world be in chaos!

 236 The Summer Valley Head Is At Our Door

    "This fellow..."


    Zhou Donghuang, who had just put away the core drug, could not help but shake his head when he heard the voice coming from outside.


    As expected of a profligate.


    How could he actually find something like this fun?


    But he himself would be glad to have someone help him dispose of the counterfeit goods without having to do it himself.


    After asking Liu Lang which goods were on the bounty list of the Summer Valley people, Zhou Donghuang then told him to prepare some low-cost materials.


    "Zhou Donghuang, are you sure... that you can counterfeit those few items on the bounty list of the Summer Valley people, with just these cheap materials?"


    When he delivered all the materials to Zhou Donghuang after helping him gather them, Liu Lang stared wide-eyed at him with an expression of complete disbelief.


    However, when he witnessed firsthand Zhou Donghuang turning garbage into treasure, refining a bunch of cheap materials into the various kinds of items on the bounty list of the Sumer Valley people, he could not help but be dumbstruck.


    "Good lord!"


    Liu Lang browsed through the items in front of him. He realized that he was totally incapable of telling that they were counterfeit goods. If they were not damaged, it was completely impossible to identify them as counterfeit goods.


    As for the people selling these goods, even if they were selling genuine goods, there was no way they would let anyone damage them.


    This was the same logic underlying the nine types of counterfeit items Zhou Donghuang had sold a month ago.


    "I''m even kind of looking forward to it now... The expressions on the faces of those few Summer Valley elders after buying these items and discovering that they''re counterfeit goods."


    Liu Lang, who wished for chaos to befall the world, complied with Zhou Donghuang''s request for him to select the goods on the bounty list that could be counterfeited. He specifically chose a few of the most expensive types. What''s more, the Summer Valley elder was offering a bounty for all of them.


    Even the item with the smallest bounty was a much as 300 high-quality spirit stones.


    As for the item with the largest bounty, that nearly hit 1000 high-quality spirit stones.


    Because the few items had a high price tag, all the elders and disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect would leave the sect and take great pains to look for them.


    Ordinarily, the sect members who had gone out would be able to find what they wanted in less than half a month.


    However, this time, they were destined to come second to Liu Lang.


    It was more accurate to say that the person instructed by Liu Lang would beat them to it.


    "Hm."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded. "Do as you see fit... Meanwhile, I''ll continue to practice in seclusion. Before I come out of seclusion, don''t disturb me."


    Now, the core drug that would assist him in charging towards the Dharma stage had already been produced. He wanted to try out his own idea and see if he could directly enter into the Dharma stage!


    Upon seeing Zhou Donghuang return to his room after passing him the items, Liu Lang could not help but curl his lip. "He''s so crazy about practice."


    After speaking, he looked at the few items in his hands. A brilliant smile immediately bloomed on his face. "I have these things to play with now.


    "I''m really curious about what facial expressions those Summer Valley elders will show when they discover that these things are counterfeit goods."


    ...


    Three days later in the Summer Valley.


    "Valley Head, you must do something about this... this time, the Summer Valley has already suffered losses exceeding 2000 high-quality spirit stones!"


    The Summer Valley elders came to the residence of Valley Head Lian Kun. One of the Summer Valley elders flew into a rage out of humiliation. "That Autumn Valley disciple has gone overboard!"


    Upon hearing the words of this Summer Valley elder, Lian Kun''s expression did not change. However, he could not help but look down upon them internally.


    "It was clearly you old fellows who were blind and bought counterfeit goods. You yourselves lost the spirit stones, but now you''re saying that these are losses suffered by the Summer Valley?


    "When I usually refined batches of core drugs for the Summer Valley disciples and asked for some spirit stones from you people and make some contribution to the Summer Valley, weren''t all of you stingy and pretending to be poor?"


    Of course, Lian Kun only thought about these words in his mind. It was impossible for him to verbalize them.


    "Valley Head, you really must deal with this matter. If we continue on like this, the Summer Valley people will definitely be alarmed," another Summer Valley elder said.


    "Valley Head, even if you don''t seek out the sect leader, you should at least visit the Autumn Valley Head. If the Autumn Valley Head says the word, I think the Autumn Valley disciple Zhou Donghuang will probably exercise restraint," yet another Summer Valley elder said.


    "Fellow elders, are you sure that the counterfeit goods you bought came from that Zhou Donghuang?" Lian Kun asked.


    Without waiting for their response, Lian Kun said again, "To my knowledge... ever since that Zhou Donghuang returned to the Autumn Valley a month ago, no one has seen him leave the Autumn Valley again.


    "Perhaps the counterfeit goods you bought have nothing to do with him?"


    "Valley Head, although the person who sold me the fake goods was an elder of the outer sect, the Gold Hall, and the other party was not willing to tell me the source of the counterfeit goods either... is there even a need to ask this? It must be the work of that Autumn Valley disciple."


    "Yes, Valley Head. Apart from him, who has that capability? Before he came into our Lightning Sword Sect, counterfeit goods were never this ubiquitous. Ever since he came, counterfeit goods have been so prevalent. And he''s even been targeting our Summer Valley."


    "Valley Head, make a trip to Autumn Valley. Visit the Autumn Valley Head and let him know... with one word from the Autumn Valley Head, that Zhou Donghuang definitely won''t dare to mess around!"


    ...


    The Summer Valley elders bowed collectively to Lian Kun and requested of him in unison, "May our Valley Head please give us and the Summer Valley justice!"


    Sensing the situation, Lian Kun instinctively frowned. He really disliked this feeling of being a duck driven onto a perch.


    However, since the Summer Valley elders had already made their intentions clear, he would inevitably lose popular support if he continued to refuse. "I''ll make a trip to Autumn Valley within the next two days."


    The Summer Valley elders left satisfied after obtaining Lian Kun''s response.


    After the few of them left, Lian Kun''s expression darkened considerably and turned incomparably unpleasant.


    Not long after, the elders of the Summer Valley bought counterfeit goods again. Furthermore, after a total of more than 2000 high-quality spirit stones had been squandered, there was a commotion among more than half of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "That Autumn Valley disciple has such audacity?"


    "I thought that he had learned his place... I didn''t expect him to stir up such a major incident again in the short span of one month."


    "This time, the losses suffered by the Summer Valley people are even more extreme than the last time."


    "He''s simply defrauding the Summer Valley of everything it has!"


    ...


    Now, even the Lightning Sword Sect elders and disciples who had not known Zhou Donghuang before this also found out about his existence from those of the same sect.


    Of course, apart from his identity as an Autumn Valley disciple, their knowledge of Zhou Donghuang was limited to him having top-notch counterfeiting techniques, to the extent where he could easily deceive Primordial Soul adepts.


    "Senior Brother Lian, this matter is becoming more and more serious... If I had known that this would happen, we should not have sold fake nine-ringed bamboo to Da Zhuang of the Autumn Valley," in Lian Can''s residence in the Summer Valley, Pan Yilin said with a bitter expression on his face.


    There was no way he could have imagined that just because he and Lian Can had done so in the spur of the moment, they had actually caused so many people in the Summer Valley to suffer damage in the form of counterfeit goods.


    During this time, he could tell that a few of the Summer Valley elders and disciples looked at him differently than in the past. Previously, they had ignored him. But now, they were hostile towards him.


    He was absolutely sure that if not for the rule of the Lightning Sword Sect, which prohibited members of the same sect from harming each other, those Summer Valley elders and disciples might have laid a hand on him a long time ago.


    After all, in the eyes of those Summer Valley elders and disciples, it was him, Pan Yilin, who had indirectly led them to buy counterfeit goods and lose a large number of spirit stones.


    "Since we''ve already done the deed, there''s no room for regret," Lian Can said coolly.


    "My master has already gone to Autumn Valley to look for the Autumn Valley Head. He''s going precisely because of this matter... From today onwards, you can say that this matter has come to an end."


    "But..."


    In a split second, a hint of a sneer appeared at the corner of Lian Can''s mouth. Bloodthirsty killing intent also surfaced in his eyes.


    "How dare this Zhou Donghuang raise the condition that I must kneel before him and kowtow to him. He has basically started this feud!


    "As soon as I get a chance, he''s dead meat for sure!


    "The curtain has dropped on the counterfeiting incident, but the show between him and I have only just begun... As long as he remains in the Lightning Sword Sect, I will suppress him!"


    The more Lian Can spoke, the more sinister the sneer at the corner of his mouth became.


    Just then, Pan Yilin also flattered Lian Can at the opportune moment. "Since Zhou Donghuang has offended you, he''ll get in trouble sooner or later!"


    "There''ll be ample time for that later. Let''s toy with him slowly." Lian Can smiled contemptuously.


    Meanwhile, Summer Valley Head Lian Kun was presently in the courtyard of Autumn Valley Head He Jin''s residence, sitting opposite of He Jin.


    "Senior Brother Lian Kun, you came specifically to visit me. Something''s the matter, right?" He Jin smiled and asked.


    Lian Kun nodded. "I didn''t intend to come at first. But the group of elders in the Summer Valley came to my doorstep together and requested this of me... I had no choice but to come."


    "Oh? What is it that''s so serious?"


    He Jin was completely astonished.


    "Junior Brother He, the Autumn Valley took in a new disciple just two months ago. His name is Zhou Donghuang... you probably know this, right? He has not entered the Dharma stage yet but was taken in by the Autumn Valley. This required your personal approval," Lian Kun said.


    "Zhou Donghuang? Of course I know him."


    He Jin nodded. "Come to think of it, he was a new disciple brought into the Autumn Valley by that lass back home. Initially, I merely felt that his talent in martial arts was not too bad. It was only after Han Ku told me some time ago that I found out he was also good at counterfeiting. The level of his ability could even deceive Primordial Soul adepts.


    "Senior Brother Lian Kun, you can''t be visiting me now because of what he did to your Summer Valley a month ago, right?" He Jin asked.


    "If it were just that incident a month ago, I could let it go."


    Lian Kun shook his head. "Yesterday, a few of the Summer Valley elders bought another batch of counterfeit goods. In total, they suffered losses exceeding 2000 high-quality spirit stones.


    "They suspect... that those counterfeit goods were also made by your Autumn Valley disciple, Zhou Donghuang.


    "Unlike what happened a month ago, when the person who sold the counterfeit goods to us Summer Valley people personally confessed that it was Zhou Donghuang, the person who sold us the counterfeit goods to our Summer Valley elders this time were unwilling to tell us the source of the counterfeit goods.


    "The main reason I came to look for you, Junior Brother He, is because I hope you can help me ask that Zhou Donghuang... If he wasn''t the one who did it, so be it. If it was him, tell him not to overdo it. After all, being obsessed with such unorthodox methods will affect his practice. It could even tire him out such that he can''t continue staying in the Autumn Valley when he reaches 30 years old.


    Nearing the end of his words, Lian Kun seemed instead to have Zhou Donghuang''s interests at heart.

 237 An Ancient Core Drug

    "Senior Brother Lian Kun, your good intentions are appreciated."


    Although He Jin felt that Lian Kun was being shameless, he nevertheless hid it very well. "I will have a good chat with him regarding this matter."


    "But whether or not he listens to me is not within my control... After all, whatever he did was not in contravention of the sect rules," He Jin said.


    Lian Kun shook his head and smiled. "Junior Brother He must be joking. You''re the Autumn Valley Head. If you personally tell him, how could Zhou Donghuang, as an Autumn Valley disciple, possibly dare to disobey your words?"


    "Senior Brother Lian Kun, young people these days can''t compare to what we were like in the past. Each and every one of them have their own opinions... if we were in the past, would you and I dare to do this if we had his ability?" He Jin retorted with a question.


    Lian Kun turned silent.


    If he were younger and had the counterfeiting capability of the Autumn Valley disciple, Zhou Donghuang, even if he knew that counterfeiting could make him rich, there was absolutely no way he would do what Zhou Donghuang did.


    Although doing so was not against the sect rules, it would offend many people.


    When he was young, his ambition lay in attaining the position of the Summer Valley Head. If he offended many people and they created obstacles in his way, forget about the position of the Summer Valley Head, he may not even be able to stay alive until now.


    He thought to himself, "Within the sect, others dare not mess around with you. But once you leave the sect?


    Is it possible for you to stay in the sect for the rest of your life?"


    Lian Kun had just left when a floating, travel-worn and womanly figure landed in the courtyard of He Jin''s residence. It was none other than He Mengxi, who had just returned from elsewhere. She was Zhou Donghuang''s Third Senior Sister.


    "You were away for so long this time. Where did you go?" He Jin smiled and asked with indulgence in his eyes.


    "I went out and walked around."


    He Mengxi casually skimped on the details. Naturally, she could not possibly tell her father that she had gone to investigate Junior Brother Zhou Donghuang''s background. After all, his words about the dream world seemed way too vague and without substance.


    "Father, why is Senior Uncle Lian Kun here? As far as I can remember, I''ve never seen him come to visit you in the Autumn Valley," He Mengxi asked curiously.


    "He''s here because of that Little Junior Brother of yours."


    As the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin was well aware that He Mengxi addressed Zhou Donghuang as her "Little Junior Brother."


    "He''s here because of Little Junior Brother?"


    He Mengxi was startled. Instinctively, she then asked, "Could he be here to steal away our talents? Is he trying to get Little Junior Brother to join the Summer Valley?"


    On a planet that had such scarce resources for practice, she could not believe that this Little Junior Brother of hers had attained the skills he had today within such a short period.


    Furthermore, that Little Junior Brother of hers had previously killed a newly-minted Dharma adept when he had been a Golden Essence adept!


    As a Dharma adept herself, she knew of the gap between a Dharma adept and a Golden Essence adept, the closest beneath it. It was an impassable chasm...


    No matter how weak a Dharma adept was, it was impossible for a Golden Essence adept to kill him or her.


    At least, in the history of the Lightning Sword Sect, the Tielao planet, and the Hengliu galaxy, a Golden Essence adept killing a Dharma adept was unheard of.


    This had already subverted what she knew.


    It was precisely because of this that she felt she could not look upon her Little Junior Brother as a typical Golden Essence adept. Subconsciously, she found him incredibly outstanding.


    This was why she had instinctively asked her father at this moment whether the Summer Valley Head was here to steal away their talents.


    "Steal away our talents?"


    He Jin went blank for a moment. Shortly thereafter, he shook his head and said, "No. He came to request that I visit that Little Junior Brother of yours and tell him not to counterfeit goods of the Summer Valley people in the future and get people to sell these counterfeits to them."


    "Counterfeit goods?"


    He Mengxi froze. She had just returned and was unaware of the incident that had happened a month ago and had caused a sensation in a large part of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    However, following He Jin''s explanation, she quickly understood the entire sequence of events.


    At the same time, she also found out about the Summer Valley Head Lian Kun''s objective in coming here this time.


    "He... he even had such a talent as counterfeiting¡­?"


    He Mengxi didn''t know if she should laugh or cry. However, at the same time, her eyes flashed coldly at an apt moment. "But how dare that Summer Valley disciple, Pan Yilin sell counterfeit goods to Da Zhuang and bully him?


    Where did he get that kind of courage?!"


    When she found that Da Zhuang had been cheated, He Mengxi was obviously very angry.


    "My dear daughter, that Little Junior Brother of yours has already helped Da Zhuang take revenge for this incident. You can say that everything has come to an end... just let it end like this."


    He Jin was having a slight headache. Of course, he understood his own daughter better than anyone else did. Given her temper, she would definitely help Da Zhuang regain the respect he was due.


    "There are certain things that you must do on your own for your anger to dissipate," He Mengxi said.


    "As for what Little Junior Brother did this time, I think that it was very satisfying... Father, you can''t actually be intending to look for Little Junior Brother to tell him not to make counterfeit goods and sell them to the Summer Valley people, right? You can''t do such a thing! If you go looking for him, I''ll fall out with you!"


    He Mengxi said this to He Jin with seriousness written all over her face. As for the latter, he also agreed repeatedly. In his heart, he could only silently apologize to the Summer Valley Head, Lian Kun.


    "I''m going to look for Little Junior Brother and Da Zhuang."


    After greeting He Jin, He Mengxi left again in haste.


    However, she only managed to find Da Zhuang.


    Zhou Donghuang was practicing in his own room.


    He Mengxi did not intrude on Zhou Donghuang''s practice session. She immediately greeted Da Zhuang, shouting, "Da Zhuang, let''s go! Come with me to the Summer Valley to look for that Pan Yilin!


    How dare he cheat one of my people?! He''s way too audacious!"


    He Mengxi''s eyes flashed coldly. She said this in a low voice while staring straight in the direction of the Summer Valley.


    Although within the Lightning Sword Sect, disciples of the same sect were prohibited from fighting with each other without cause or reason... putting aside the fact that there was no evidence to prove that Pan Yilin had sold counterfeit goods to Da Zhuang, even if he had done so, it still complied with the rules of the sect. This incident could not be a reason for her to cause trouble for Pan Yilin.


    But who was He Mengxi?


    The daughter of the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin, and his only daughter at that!


    Given her identity, even if she actually hurt someone, the Law Enforcement Hall could not possibly do anything to her for real even if they caught her, as long as what she had done did not reach a certain level of severity.


    It was to the extent that the sons and daughters of the Valley Heads, such as He Mengxi and Liu Lang, caused the most trouble for the Law Enforcement Hall. On top of that, they were the only daughter and the only son of the Valley Heads.


    Even if He Mengxi and Liu Lang went to the Law Enforcement Hall, the people there would still treat them with respect, as if they were their ancestors.


    "Hehe... Senior Sister, no need for that."


    Da Zhuang shook his head and smiled foolishly. "Little Junior Brother has already helped me vent my anger and take revenge. I no longer feel cheated now. I''m not angry either."


    "You blockhead."


    He Mengxi shook her head. "Since you''re not going, I''ll go alone!"


    The moment she finished her sentence, she swiftly flew off and left again without waiting for Da Zhuang to speak. She left the Autumn Valley directly and headed towards the Summer Valley.


    He Mengxi was a person who protected the weak.


    A large part of the reason Zhou Donghuang respected her in his past life was precisely because of the manner in which He Mengxi protected the weak; it made him feel like he was home.


    During that period of time, he felt a strong sense of security.


    It was if Third Senior Sister would hold up the sky for him even if it caved in.


    "Pan Yilin, get out here!"


    After going to the Summer Valley, He Mengxi asked around and found out exactly where Pan Yilin lived. She headed straight there and shouted sternly. Her voice was so loud that it traveled across a large area.


    "It''s He Mengxi!"


    "Pan Yilin, that guy... He was insensible and offended He Mengxi?"


    ...


    Many people of the Summer Valley came out to take a look. All of them recognized He Mengxi.


    However, even though some of the Summer Valley elders saw that He Mengxi had come in full fury, they did not intend to interfere at all. Each and every one of them pretended not to see anything.


    "Senior... Senior Sister He?"


    Pan Yilin had been in his room practicing when He Mengxi woke him with a start. When he awoke, his complexion was deathly pale as well. Initially, he did not intend to go out, but when he thought of the fact that He Mengxi may simply tear his residence apart if he did not go out, he had no choice but to rouse his courage and go out.


    "I hope that Senior Brother Lian can come forward as soon as possible... otherwise, I definitely won''t be able to escape a beating from Senior Sister He."


    Pan Yilin walked out of his room grudgingly. He flew up into the air and looked afar at He Mengxi, who was floating in mid-air in the distance. He braced himself and greeted her, "Hello Senior Sister He."


    "Pan Yilin, you''re a real piece of work. You even dared to deceive Da Zhuang."


    He Mengxi glanced meaningfully at Pan Yilin and said, "Looks like you have no respect at all for me, He Mengxi."


    "Senior Sister He, you... you''ve misunderstood."


    Pan Yilin smiled bitterly and said, "That incident was a misunderstanding. The nine-ringed bamboo I sold to Dazhuang was genuine. It was not counterfeited. I..."


    He Mengxi interrupted Pan Yilin and asked coolly, "You mean to say that... that Da Zhuang is the one who maligned you?"


    "I... I..."


    Upon seeing He Mengxi''s gaze harden, Pan Yilin only felt his scalp turn numb. At the same time, he felt that a beating would probably be inevitable. He only hoped that this Senior Sister He would be merciful and refrain from being too violent.


    Of course, death or disability would definitely be out of the question.


    On this point, he still trusted that He Mengxi would know her limits.


    And at the precise moment that He Mengxi''s Qi flew out of her body and condensed into a tremendous Tiger Dharma Power in preparation for her attack on Pan Yilin.


    White Tiger Dharma Power.


    A figure appeared while floating in the air and stood in front of Pan Yilin.


    "Junior Sister Mengxi."


    The person who had appeared was none other than the direct disciple of Summer Valley Head Lian Kun, Lian Can.


    Lian Can was not only the direct disciple of Lian Kun, but he was also Lian Kun''s adopted son. He was an orphan whom Lian Kun had picked up elsewhere, brought back and taken in. He was given the same surname as Lian Kun.


    In reality, Lian Can was younger than He Mengxi by three years. However, he had slightly more martial talent than He Mengxi did. Although he was younger than He Mengxi, his level of practice did not pale in comparison to He Mengxi''s.


    "Lian Can, this matter has nothing to do with you."


    He Mengxi frowned and shouted in a deep voice, "Move aside!"


    ...


    Zhou Donghuang did not know that his Third Senior Sister had already returned. Right now, he was completely immersed in practice.


    The core drug that he had refined was known as "Developing Essence." It was a kind of ancient core drug.


    He had chanced upon the recipe for the core drug in his last life at an ancient ruin after he had entered the Heavenly Stage.


    It was the product of the efforts of the ancient people. It had gone missing a long time ago in the boundless universe.


    The Developing Essence could forcibly condense Dharma Power for a Golden Essence adept in a short period.


    Of course, during this process, it was necessary to set up an energy-gathering position to absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth without restraint. Coupled with the effect of the Developing Essence, the Golden Essence would develop into Dharma Power.


    "Four Developing Essences, the effect of each to enter one Golden Essence each... I wonder if I''ll be able to cause the Dharma Power of the Four Heavenly Beasts to appear!"


    Zhou Donghuang felt a sense of anticipation.

 238 Liquefied Spiri

    Developing Essence was an ancient core drug. When Zhou Donghuang had obtained the recipe for it, he had already been a magnificent practitioner in the Heavenly Stage. Naturally, he had no use for this core drug, which was meant for Golden Essence adepts to take orally.


    Furthermore, among the disciples he had taken in in his past life, during his time wandering the galaxy and the planets, the one with the lowest level of practice at the time was already an adept who had undergone Divine Transformation. So of course, they had no use for the Developing Essence either.


    In his past life, Zhou Donghuang felt that he would rarely have use for the Developing Essence prescription, unless he suddenly had the impulse at some time or another, to take in another disciple.


    However, before he could take in another disciple, he did not expect to reincarnate and go back 1000 years in time due to an accident and have to start all over again.


    But in these circumstances, there was a use for the Developing Essence.


    "Next... I''ll set up an energy-gathering position, then swallow take the Developing Essence."


    At present, Zhou Donghuang had plenty of spirit stones with him. After leaving Ziyun and before arriving at the Tielao Planet, he had traveled to a few planets in several galaxies. With the memories of his past life, he beat everyone to the draw and obtained the possessions left behind by the Dharma adepts after their passing.


    Among these were numerous spirit stones.


    Of course, most of them were mid-quality spirit stones. Only a minority of them were high-quality spirit stones.


    The reason for this was also because the planets where the Dharma adepts were could not hold a candle to the Tielao Planet, which housed the Lightning Sword Sect, be it in terms of the practice environment or the practice resources they contained.


    The Tielao Planet had high-quality spirit stone veins, but those few planets did not have them.


    Zhou Donghuang had gone to those planets in his past life before he had entered the Dharma stage.


    It was also during that time that he had noticed the possessions left behind by the Dharma adepts. But each time, he could only sigh in regret because someone else had beaten him to the chase and taken away the belongings of those Dharma adepts.


    As for what had happened later, of course Zhou Donghuang had heard a lot about the possessions left behind by many Dharma adepts.


    But at the time, his level of practice was already quite high, so his attitude towards the belongings left behind by the Dharma adepts had been a passive one. He did not deliberately seek after them... so, although he knew when the leftover possessions of the Dharma adepts had appeared and on which planet, he nevertheless paid no attention to their precise locations.


    However, with his current level of power, he still did not have the ability to collect the various possessions left behind by those martial adepts above the Primordial Soul Stage.


    "Some precious and uncommon spirit fruits also appeared..."


    Apart from this, Zhou Donghuang also remembered the exact time and situation when many spirit fruits ripened. He was going to collect those spirit fruits in the future.


    In his past life, he knew that it was difficult for him to get even one out of a hundred of those spirit fruits.


    But in this life, using the memories of his past life, he was completely capable of beating everyone else to the chase. Before the various forces and powerful persons made a move, he could take action beforehand and collect those spirit fruits.


    To Zhou Donghuang of this life, his past-life memories were no different from an extremely effective cheating device.


    "More than 300,000 mid-quality spirit stones are equivalent to more than 30,000 high-quality spirit stones... that''s enough for me to use for quite some time."


    Thirty-thousand high-quality spirit stones. Even in the Lightning Sword Sect, not many people were likely to have such resources.


    Zhou Donghuang had obtained these spirit stones from the different resting places of several non-affiliated Dharma adepts.


    As for those non-affiliated practitioners, unlike the sect disciples who had plenty of readily-available resources, they spent all their efforts searching for spirit stones and earning spirit stones. They could only buy the various resources which they needed if they had spirit stones¡­ unlike the disciples of the sects.


    In the Lightning Sword Sect, they only needed to complete the different tasks allocated to them by the sect in order to get a fixed number of contribution points. And they could exchange the contribution points they accumulated for core drugs, for spirit weapons, and also for a few precious and uncommon materials.


    Within the Lightning Sword Sect, there were some things that spirit stones could not buy. They had to use their contribution points.


    Of course, after exchanging your contribution points for items, you could in turn exchange them for spirit stones in the trade center. This was also permissible.


    Across the entire boundless universe, the situation in all the other sects which were considered proper was basically about the same as the Lightning Sword Sect.


    In these circumstances, apart from the few people at the top level of each sect, the rest of the sect disciples usually did not have as many spirit stones as the non-affiliated practitioners outside who had the courage to venture out, unless they were lucky enough to enjoy a windfall elsewhere.


    Because of this, with the wealth of spirit stones that Zhou Donghuang had right now, forget about the outer elders of the Lightning Sword Sect, even among the inner elders, it was likely that few of them could compare to him.


    Of course, those in the upper echelons of the Lightning Sword Sect, such as the head of the sect, the four inner Valley Heads, the five outer Hall Heads, the Lightning Sword Sect elders¡ªthey definitely had an astonishing amount of spirit stones because many of the items that could be exchanged for spirit stones in the sect were all provided by them.


    Correspondingly, the sect would give them a certain number of spirit stones as compensation.


    "Ten-thousand mid-quality spirit stones are probably enough to set up an energy-gathering position, right?"


    Usually, Zhou Donghuang did not even need 10,000 mid-quality spirit stones to set up an energy-gathering position for his practice. As his level of practice was too low at the moment, absorbing too much spiritual energy from heaven and earth would cause him to be overloaded, resulting in the opposite effect.


    However, right now, Zhou Donghuang was not doing this purely to practice.


    He was intending to leverage on the effect of four ancient core drugs, the Developing Essence, to condense Dharma Power in one go!


    He had a rapacious design: He wanted to simultaneously cause four Golden Essences to develop into Dharma Power in one go!


    He had the confidence to do so because of the ancient core drug, the Developing Essence.


    However, although he was full of ambition and had a certain level of confidence, Zhou Donghuang was not entirely sure because he had never seen anyone consume the Developing Essence. This was actually his first time refining a core drug like the Developing Essence, which was recorded among the prescriptions passed down from ancient times.


    "Now, I''ll consume four pills of Developing Essence."


    The chances of the Developing Essence becoming a pill were not high. Even with Zhou Donghuang''s level of capability in refining core drugs, he could only produce a batch of two pills after using all his might¡­ and this was already Zhou Donghuang''s limit after using the Samadhi fire to refine the Developing Essence. Unless he used a more advanced fire, it would be difficult to refine more than this number of pills.


    "As expected of an ancient core drug¡­ It would be difficult for typical core-forging masters to refine the Developing Essence if their core-forging abilities were subpar, no matter how powerful the fire they created."


    Zhou Donghuang had realized this in the core-forging process.


    "Gulp¡­"


    Zhou Donghuang opened his mouth. He put four Developing Essence pills into his mouth and swallowed them.


    Immediately following this, he clearly sensed that the moment the four pills slid down his throat, they transformed into four forces that merged together. In the end, it was after his intervention that they separated into four forces once again, each entering the four Golden Essences in his essence point.


    In the next moment, he started to work on the four Golden Essences in his essence points while absorbing spirit energy in the energy-gathering position to practice.


    With the four Golden Essences spinning around together, they absorbed spirit energy at lightning speed. Coupled with the effect of the Developing Essences in the four Golden Essences right now, their speed was ridiculously fast.


    They were more than a thousand times faster than they usually were!


    "That fast?"


    Zhou Donghuang was dumbstruck for a moment before he continued to concentrate fully on spinning the four Golden Essences. Following the circulatory movement as stated in "The Lord of the Four Supremes," he spun them around in the great circulatory cycle.


    At this moment, Zhou Donghuang had his eyes closed and did not realize that the 10,000 mid-quality spirit stones placed around him on his bed were visibly losing their luster at a gradual pace.


    If this speed continued, it would not take long to exhaust these spirit stones completely!


    Meanwhile, above Zhou Donghuang''s head, the spirit energy that had gathered from all around and had even condensed into liquid form, was rushing straight down onto Zhou Donghuang''s head just like running water in a stream.


    It was necessary to know that usually, it was even considered a complete exaggeration for Primordial Soul adepts to be able to see spirit energy in fog-form through the energy-gathering position.


    But look at Zhou Donghuang now. Using the effect of the Developing Essences, the spirit energy absorbed through the energy-gathering position had condensed into liquid form.


    It was usually very difficult to see the spirit energy that filled the world. It was very difficult to even condense it into fog form, much less its denser liquid form.


    However, the reason why the spirit energy had presented itself in liquid form was entirely because of the effect of the Developing Essence.


    Under normal circumstances, even if Zhou Donghuang spun the four Golden Essences around and used this energy-gathering position to practice, it was still difficult to condense spirit energy into fog form, much less liquid form.


    Like a whale swallowing seawater, while Zhou Donghuang absorbed the liquefied spirit energy and practiced as if he had gone mad, outside his residence, minute changes occurred to the spirit energy of heaven and earth.


    At least Da Zhuang, who had been practicing, sensed it. "What''s happening?"


    However, although he sensed the changes, Da Zhuang did not know what had happened. What''s more, he no longer felt it after he stopped practicing.


    Under the location where the Lightning Sword Sect was stationed, there was not only one high-quality spirit stone vein. There were also many more mid-quality spirit stone veins.


    A place where many spirit stone veins could form was no doubt a place that had plenty of spirit energy.


    Coupled with the spirit energy emanating from the spirit stone veins, this positive feedback loop caused the entire encampment of the Lightning Sword Sect to become a sacred place of practice.


    When the non-affiliated practitioners practiced outside and used up a number of spirit stones to set up an energy-gathering position, the effect may not be as good as practicing in the Lightning Sword Sect without setting up an energy-gathering position.


    Because the Lightning Sword Sect was situated in a place with an abundance of extremely-dense spirit energy, even if Zhou Donghuang absorbed spirit energy without restraint in a corner of the Autumn Valley and condensed it into liquid form, he would not cause alarm to anyone.


    The reason Da Zhuang could sense it while practicing was because he was in close range.


    The other people of the Autumn Valley did not notice the anomaly happening in Zhou Donghuang''s residence. Not even those mid-Primordial Soul Summer Valley elders noticed it.


    Right now, the only person in the Autumn Valley who had discovered the anomaly in Zhou Donghuang''s residence was the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin.


    It was also because Zhou Donghuang''s residence was in the same direction as He Jin''s residence. They were not far apart¡­ if it were not so, even He Jin would not notice the anomaly in the spirit energy surrounding Zhou Donghuang''s residence.


    "All the spirit energy is gathering around him¡­ The speed at which it''s gathering is ridiculous. Forget about my practice, not even the Sect Leader can amass this amount of speed!"


    He Jin floated in midair and gazed into the distance at Zhou Donghuang''s residence. His face showed total surprise. "He¡­ He''s practicing?"


    "Is he really nothing more than a Primal Core adept?"

 239 Zhou Donghuang Entered the Dharma Stage

    Primal Core adepts could create an even bigger ruckus during practice than Divine Transformation adepts?


    Although He Jin was the noble Autumn Valley Head of the Lightning Sword Sect, one of the four chief elders, he could not help his confusion. He was completely at a loss as to what was happening.


    He had never encountered such a situation.


    But he also knew how difficult it was to gather spirit energy at such a speed¡­ as far as he knew, even the Lightning Sword Sect Valley Head at the Divine Transformation Stage could not do it.


    "This Zhou Donghuang is not to be underestimated¡­ he must either be in possession of some strange treasure or have some special methods up his sleeve that allow him to absorb spirit energy so wantonly," He Jin said to himself.


    "Where exactly did he pop up from? Looks like I must ask that lass Mengxi upon my return and get to the bottom of this."


    At the thought of this, He Jin''s expression became more grave as well.


    By absorbing spirit energy at a speed as terrifying as this, even if he transformed only half of the spirit energy into inner Yuan, his speed of practice could be said to be extremely frightening.


    At present, Zhou Donghuang did not know that the changes in spirit energy that had occurred during his practice had attracted the attention of the Autumn Valley Head He Jin.


    His body and mind were completely immersed in executing the practice method in "The Lord of the Four Supremes" right now.


    Time went on. He did not know how long it had been either. A century seemed to have passed, but it also seemed that only a moment had passed¡­ And during this process, he glanced internally at his essence points only to discover that the four Golden Essences had all began to show Dharma Power at its fledgling stage.


    He had witnessed such a scene in his previous life, so what was happening before his eyes was more than familiar to him too.


    Time continued to pass.


    Just then, Zhou Donghuang could vaguely make out the nascent forms of Dharma Power appearing in each of the four Golden Essences in his essence point. Their outlines were now clear.


    "That''s¡­ Green Dragon Dharma Power?"


    The newly-formed Dharma Power on one of the Golden Essences looked a little like a snake. However, the massive size of its body differed greatly from what he knew. Furthermore, there was an outline of five claws on its abdomen.


    "The Five-Clawed Azure Dragon?"


    "What''s going on? Shouldn''t it be the Four-Clawed Azure Dragon?"


    In his past life, Zhou Donghuang had come across a Dharma adept who had created Divine Dragon Dharma Power. He knew that all Divine Dragon Dharma Powers were Four-Clawed Divine Dragons. No Dharma adept had Divine Dragon Dharma Power that was a Five-Clawed Divine Dragon.


    "Even the Dragon race, one of many races in the universe and its galaxies¡­ the Divine Dragon Dharma Power gathered by people of this race in the Dharma Stage is only a Four-Clawed Divine Dragon. It''s only after entering the Primordial Soul Stage that they can gather the Primordial Soul of the Five-Clawed Divine Dragon."


    In his past life, Zhou Donghuang had interacted with the Dragon race and knew about this in detail.


    The Five-Clawed Divine Dragon was of a higher level than the Four-Clawed Divine Dragon.


    "Could it be due to "The Lord of the Four Supremes"?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s heart jumped.


    The more he thought about it, the more sense it made to him. Other than this, he could not think of any other possibility.


    "But this is a good thing too¡­ gathering Dharma Power in the form of a Five-Clawed Divine Dragon at the Dharma stage, even a Dharma adept one stage above will be defeated by it eight or nine times out of ten!"


    The Four-Clawed Divine Dragon Dharma Power alone was enough to wipe out more than ninety percent of Dharma adepts at the same level.


    Less had to be said about the stronger Five-Clawed Divine Dragon Dharma Power.


    "The Green Dragon Dharma Power is already beginning to take shape as a Five-Clawed Divine Dragon¡­ the other three Dharma Powers would probably not be ordinary either."


    At this thought, Zhou Donghuang was particularly excited. He then shifted his focus to another Golden Essence. To his surprise, the fledgling Dharma Power shown on its surface was a bird. "This is probably the Vermilion Bird Dharma Power.


    "This is the White Tiger Dharma Power."


    The outline of the Dharma Power on the third Golden Essence appeared to be a walking beast. Upon closer look, to his surprise, there were many signs that it was the king of all beasts, the tiger.


    "Black Turtle Dharma Power."


    The outline of the Dharma Power on the fourth Golden Essence closely resembled a turtle, a large turtle at that.


    Just when Zhou Donghuang was focusing on the outline of the Dharma Power appearing on the four Golden Essences in his essence point, He Mengxi returned to the Autumn Valley in a rage.


    "Just wait until I enter the intermediate Dharma Stage. I will definitely teach that Lian Can a lesson¡­ how dare he side with Pan Yilin? He''s clearly going against me, He Mengxi!"


    This time, He Mengxi had gone to the Summer Valley to settle scores with Pan Yilin. Before she could take action, Lian Can stuck his foot in and declared that he was going to protect Pan Yilin.


    In her moment of fury, she had a battle with Lian Can. They were evenly matched and each of them was helpless when it came to the other.


    Under such circumstances, she could only return in low spirits, following her failure to achieve her objective.


    Although she was the daughter of the Autumn Valley Head, Lian Can''s background was no less remarkable. He was the adopted son and the direct disciple of the Summer Valley Lord. He did not fear her identity at all.


    However, when He Mengxi came back in a fury, there was sadness written all over her brow. "That Lin Can is about to enter the intermediate Dharma Stage¡­ what''s more, his level of martial talent is slightly higher than mine."


    By the time she entered the intermediate Dharma Stage, there was an 80 to 90 percent chance that Lian Can would have broken through to that stage as well.


    When the time came, she would similarly be helpless against him.


    It was precisely for this reason that she felt extremely indignant.


    "Why? You didn''t manage to help Da Zhuang regain the respect he''s due?"


    He Jin noticed He Mengxi the moment she returned and immediately welcomed her. When he saw the indignation written all over her face, it was not difficult for him to guess that things had not proceeded according to plan.


    It seemed that someone had interfered to protect the Summer Valley disciple who had sold counterfeit goods to Da Zhuang.


    "Lian Can intervened," He Mengxi said in a low voice.


    "Lian Can?"


    He Jin was astonished. Following that, his gaze turned slightly strange. "From what I know, that fellow Lian Can seems to be a bit interested in you¡­ he actually got in your way?"


    "He''s interested in me?"


    He Mengxi froze for a moment before quickly regaining her senses. She had an expression of complete disdain on her face. "Even if all the men in the world were dead and he was the only one left, there''s still no way I would get together with him.


    "Does he really think that I don''t know about him toying with those outer female disciples who had just entered our sect, and discarding them after having made use of them?"


    He Mengxi''s eyes were filled with loathing.


    "Alright, let''s put that aside for the time being."


    He Jin shook his head and changed the subject. "Where did you find that Zhou Donghuang?"


    "What''s the matter?"


    He Mengxi was confused. She did not know why her father was suddenly asking about this.


    He Jin recounted to her what he had discovered an hour ago. For a moment, even He Mengxi was dumbfounded. "Spirit energy was gathering like crazy during his practice? And the speed and force at which the spirit energy was gathering even surpassed when the Sect Leader went into seclusion to practice wholeheartedly?"


    He Mengxi was shocked as well.


    "He''s not an ordinary person. I suspect that either his origin is unusual, or he has had extraordinary encounters," He Jin said with a grave expression.


    "He isn''t of remarkable origin."


    When she thought of the planet called Ziyun that she had recently been to, He Mengxi shook her head. "He probably had some extraordinary encounters."


    "Not of remarkable origin?"


    He Jin looked at He Mengxi. "Where''s he from?"


    "Ziyun."


    He Mengxi said, "That planet is a planet with only a few small spirit stone veins¡­ Furthermore, there isn''t even an interstellar teleporter in the galaxy where the planet is situated.


    "I went on a trip not long ago for the purpose of visiting Ziyun. I helped him bring some items to his family members."


    He Mengxi did not intend to tell her father He Jin, that Zhou Donghuang had come to her of his own accord. With just a few words, she merely said that Zhou Donghuang had been wandering about and ended up in Hengliu galaxy, in Ziyun. She had discovered him there and brought him back to the Lightning Sword Sect, bringing him back to the Autumn Valley.


    In the Autumn Valley, Huang Long was the only person who knew that she had not been acquainted with Zhou Donghuang when he first came.


    So, she had already made a special visit to Huang Long to tell him in advance.


    "He came out of a galaxy that didn''t even have an interstellar teleporter?"


    He Jin narrowed his eyes slightly. He proceeded to say with a solemn expression, "It seems that he did indeed encounter some extraordinary happenings¡­ Otherwise, given his background, it would have been impossible for him to get to where he is today."


    "He''s 23 years old and has just entered the Golden Essence Stage ¡­ forget about that kind of galaxy. Even for some galaxies which do have interstellar teleporters, it''s difficult for such a person to come out of there," He Jin verbalized his speculations.


    He Mengxi did not respond to him. She recalled what she had discovered of the situation in Ziyun after going there. She too felt that Zhou Donghuang had definitely encountered strange happenings.


    It was to the point where she secretly guessed:


    Perhaps Zhou Donghuang''s strange encounter was none other than that dreamscape of his.


    A dreamscape in which he could see the future would allow him to take full advantage of new opportunities¡­ This, in itself, was an extraordinary encounter that could be said to contravene the laws of nature.


    "Father, so be it if Little Junior Brother has had extraordinary encounters¡­ You can''t be having ideas about him, right?"


    He Mengxi glanced at He Jin cautiously.


    "What kind of person do you take your father for?"


    He Jin glared at He Mengxi in a temper. "In your eyes, am I such a person?"


    "Hehe¡­ Father, what if he were just an outsider and not a disciple of the Autumn Valley or a disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, and on top of that not someone whom I had brought back? Are you sure that you wouldn''t harbor such intentions?" He Mengxi asked with a mischievous smile.


    "Enough. Quick, go back and practice. If you don''t practice diligently, Lian Can of the Summer Valley may enter the mid Dharma Stage earlier than you do."


    He Jin glared at He Mengxi again. "Also¡­ When that Little Junior Brother of yours comes out of seclusion, remember to give him a warning ¨C people are dangerous and a man''s wealth is his own ruin when he causes others'' greed. He should still keep a low profile when he can."


    By the time He Mengxi had passed He Jin''s message on to Zhou Donghuang, half a month had already passed.


    "Third Senior Sister, that wasn''t because of some extraordinary encounter. Instead, it was because of a type of core drug."


    Zhou Donghuang looked at He Mengxi and smiled, saying, "I''m planning to give one pill of that core drug to Da Zhuang too¡­ Once Da Zhuang takes the core drug and starts practicing, you can invite the Valley Head here to take a look.


    "But¡­ Before that, Third Senior Sister, follow me on a trip to the Summer Valley."


    Earlier, Zhou Donghuang had noticed the gloominess that he could faintly discern from her brow. She had obviously been in a pretty bad mood. Upon asking her about it, he had also found out about the incident whereby the Summer Valley disciple Lian Can had caused trouble.


    "Why are you going to the Summer Valley?"


    He Mengxi was startled.


    "Of course, it''s to meet that Lian Can."


    Zhou Donghuang flew into the air. The inner Yuan surrounding his body was subtle. Seeing this, He Mengxi was again startled. "Little Junior Brother, you¡­ You''ve broken through?"


    Clearly, He Mengxi could tell that Zhou Donghuang had already entered the Dharma Stage.


    "I had a breakthrough just a few days ago."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled faintly. "I''ve been strengthening my level of practice. Otherwise, I would''ve left seclusion long ago."

 240 Dont Go Overboard

    "So quickly?" He Mengxi was shocked. A 24-year-old Dharma adept? Exactly what kind of treasure did her Little Brother receive...


    "That''s not fast at all," replied Zhou Donghuang, shaking his head. His progress was much slower than the esteemed disciples of the Supreme Sects and Star Clans. For them, it was typical to achieve the Dharma stage before the age of twenty.


    "Furthermore, it''s the work of the elixir that I told you about just now," continued Zhou Donghuang. "That elixir is an old formula. It is powerful beyond imagination. Sister, how long has Da Zhuang been at the ultimate Primal Core stage?" he asked.


    Da Zhuang was only a few years older than him.


    "About two years or so," replied He Mengxi after thinking about it carefully.


    Zhou Donghuang nodded. "When I come back from the Summer Valley, I will give Da Zhuang one of the ancient elixirs. As long as there are sufficient spirit stones to set up an energy-gathering position, within a month, he will be able to attain the Dharma stage!" Zhou Donghuang finished in an immensely confident tone. It was a confidence that could not be questioned. The ancient elixir''s power had already been tried and tested by Zhou Donghuang, so he understood its potency and had high confidence in it.


    Zhou Donghuang''s conviction was enough to convince He Mengxi. She asked, "That ancient elixir, what exactly is it? How can it enable Da Zhuang to attain the Dharma stage within a mere month?"


    Zhou Donghuang smiled as he replied, "This elixir allows Golden Essence adepts to produce a Dharma within a short time and thus attain the Dharma stage. But this is only for Golden Essence adepts. As long as there are enough spirit stones to set up a Qi-gathering formation to aid one''s practice, after using the elixir, even a Golden Essence adept who has just attained the Ultimate Primal Core stage will be able to enter the Dharma stage within a short time." Here, Zhou Donghuang paused slightly and looked at He Mengxi before continuing, "Now that I think of it, I produced this elixir using an old recipe that I learned in my dream."


    Dream! Hearing Zhou Donghuang mention his dream again, He Mengxi drew in a short breath. Now, she believed every word that her little brother was saying. Hence, she felt fortunate; her little brother''s appearance in advance would give her the chance to change her and her father''s fates. Otherwise, her father would die, and she would leave the planet and the Hengliu Galaxy, and be stranded in the vast outside universe.


    If He Mengxi squared off alone against Lian Can, nobody would step out to support Lian Can since the two of them were at the same level. But once He Mengxi joined forces with Zhou Donghuang against Lian Can, the people of Summer Valley would not stand by and do nothing.


    "Together?" Zhou Donghuang was surprised. He could not help but shake his head and smile, "Third Sister, there is no need for that."


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang''s confident smile, He Mengxi was swayed. "Can it be that this little brother is so confident?"


    Lian Can''s father was the Summer Valley chief, Lian Kun, and they lived in the same residence. As the leader of the valley, although Lian Kun''s home could not be considered lavish, it was spacious and contained many rooms, enough for many people to live in.


    "Lian Can, my Little Brother would like to spar with you." He Mengxi brought Zhou Donghuang to the Summer Valley chief''s residence. She announced their arrival in a loud voice that traveled far.


    Soon, many Summer Valley disciples were attracted by the commotion.


    "It''s He Mengxi of the Autumn Valley!"


    "He Mengxi caused trouble for Pan Yilin half a month ago, and it was Lian Can who stopped her. Then, Lian Can sparred with her, and they were both equally matched, so it was a draw in the end."


    "After half a month, why is she back again? She even said that her Little Brother wants to spar with Lian Can?"


    "The young man in white beside her¡ªis that the younger disciple she''s talking about?"


    For most people in the Summer Valley, Zhou Donghuang was an unfamiliar face.


    Pan Yilin had also come to watch the commotion, and he recognized Zhou Donghuang immediately. His recognition was followed by immense shock. "Isn''t that Zhou Donghuang from the Autumn Valley? He...he broke through the frontier?" In Pan Yilin''s memory, this Zhou Donghuang had only been a Golden Essence adept when they had met a month ago. Now, within a month, he had broken through to reach the Dharma stage?


    "Zhou Donghuang?"


    "Is he the one who indirectly sold all the fake goods to our Summer Valley disciples?"


    "He is so young!"


    "So young, but already a Dharma adept¡ªhow?"


    Pan Yilin''s words shocked many of the Summer Valley disciples around him.


    "Zhou Donghuang!"


    "How dare you come to our Summer Valley!"


    Soon, Zhong Yin and Fang Baiwei, the two Summer Valley disciples who had bought fake goods from Zhou Donghuang, arrived on the scene and glared at Zhou Donghuang.


    Many other Summer Valley disciples and elders who had been cheated by Zhou Donghuang also gathered.


    "From what He Mengxi is saying, it sounds like Zhou Donghuang wants to challenge Lian Can."


    "I heard from Pan Yilin that Zhou Donghuang was still a Golden Essence adept last year. That means that he only attained the Dharma stage within the last month."


    "Less than a month as a Dharma adept, and he is challenging Lian Can? He is out to embarrass himself!"


    Among the group that had gathered, none of them thought that Zhou Donghuang could match Lian Can. After all, Lian Can had already attained the Dharma stage a few years ago and was not far from the middle Dharma stage now. In a few years, Lian Can had already managed to train his Dharma so that it had almost no cracks in its armor, and he was skillful at handling it.


    "It''s that lass, Mengxi." Although the Summer Valley''s leader, Lian Kun, had not opened the door, he could tell that it was her from the voice alone. "The Little Brother that she is talking about must be Zhou Donghuang. He dares to challenge you, which means he is quite confident."


    Lian Kun looked at Lian Can and asked, "Are you confident? If you are not, you do not have to take on this fight. If you are sure of winning, it would be good for you to take him on. After all, he sold so many fake goods to the Summer Valley, and some of his victims were our elders. If you can defeat him, you will earn their praise, which will be good for you when you become chief one day," explained Lian Kun.


    From what Lian Kun had said, it was clear that he planned to pass on his position as Summer Valley chief to his eldest son and disciple, Lian Can. According to the Lightning Sword Sect''s rules, as a chief, he had the power to choose his successor. Once his chosen successor passed the Lightning Sword Sect''s test, he would be eligible to rule over the Summer Valley.


    "Master, from your tone, do you think that I may not be Zhou Donghuang''s match?" asked Lian Can with a smile. "Don''t you know that he was only a Golden Essence adept just a month ago?"


    "I heard." Lian Kun nodded, then continued, "Even so, something here is rather strange. Someone who has just attained the Dharma stage dares to challenge you¡ªwhat can that mean? Is he here to embarrass himself? Would someone who can produce such high-quality fakes and forgeries that can even trick some of our elders be the kind of person who embarrasses himself?" Lian Kun''s eyes were alert and vigilant.


    "Master, you are too cautious." Lian Can shook his head and said condescendingly, "If I am not able to defeat a small lad who just entered the Dharma stage, how can I possibly take over as Summer Valley chief? I must accept."


    Lian Can bid farewell to Lian Kun and walked out of the house.


    As Lian Can was leaving, Lian Kun called out a reminder to his son from behind, "Don''t be too careless. Always be ready to use your ultimate Dharma spirit weapon."


    "Sure," Lian Can replied carelessly. To him, a small lad who had just entered the Dharma stage less than a month ago did not merit the use of his Dharma spirit weapon¡ªunless he started using one first.


    "Forget it. If he fails, it will be a lesson for him to learn that there is always someone stronger." Although Lian Kun had never seen Zhou Donghuang, his understanding of Zhou Donghuang was based on his high level of skill in forgery. Based on that alone, he would not dare to look down on Zhou Donghuang. Now, Zhou Donghuang had come knocking on their door to challenge Lian Can. This move was enough to show that he was confident of winning this battle.


    As Lian Can stepped out, Lian Kun called out to him loudly, like thunder clapping. "Lian Can! Since this is a spar between disciples of the same sect, there''s no need to go all the way. A light tap is enough."


    "It''s the chief!"


    "It looks like he is afraid that Lian Can will attack Zhou Donghuang too strongly and hurt him."


    "Zhou Donghuang challenged him, so if it is not made clear that a light tap is enough, as long as Lian Can does not kill him, even if he is disabled, the sect will not take any action on Zhou Donghuang''s behalf."


    Outside, the group of Summer Valley elders and disciples that had gathered all thought that their chief was protecting Zhou Donghuang.


    "Yes, Master." Although Lian Can was unwilling, he did not dare to go against his Master''s orders.


    "Lian Can," sensing Lian Can''s unwillingness, Zhou Donghuang called out to him, "if you are not willing to stop there, remember that this is a sparring battle. Let''s set no boundaries other than nobody can be killed. How about that?"


    With that, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes flashed murderously.


    The crowd thought that Zhou Donghuang did not know his weight. Lian Can was about to agree with his father, and his expression was dark.


    Chief Lian Kun''s voice rang out again, "Zhou Donghuang, we are both part of the same sect, so let''s not go overboard."

 241 White Tiger Dharma

    Hearing the Summer Valley chief''s words, the crowd thought that Lian Kun had suggested that the fight end once an opponent was lightly attacked not only to protect Zhou Donghuang from death but also to remind Zhou Donghuang that, by saving him from an ugly situation now, Zhou Donghuang must no longer sell fake goods to the Summer Valley.


    "Since you have made this clear, Valley Chief, in this sparring battle with your disciple, I shall stop once I have lightly defeated him." Zhou Donghuang''s lips curled into a playful smile.


    Zhou Donghuang understood the hidden meaning behind Lian Kun''s warning. Lian Can also understood.


    "Master has so little trust in me?" Lian Can''s expression was unbelievably ugly.


    The crowd of Summer Valley disciples and elders that had gathered now turned condescending and looked on with disdain after hearing what Zhou Donghuang had said. They thought that he was too arrogant.


    "Make your move." Zhou Donghuang leaped into the skies and stood face to face with Lian Can. His tone was calm and measured as he said, "I still have many things to do. The faster I defeat you, the quicker I can get back."


    "Ridiculous!" Lian Can''s eyes gleamed coldly, and his expression was dark. "Zhou Donghuang, you only reached the Dharma stage less than a month ago, do you think you can defeat me? Ridiculous! Today, let me teach you some humility. There is always someone stronger than you!"


    With that, Lian Can''s inner Yuan poured out in waves. Instantly, his Dharma, which was that of an early Dharma adept, appeared floating above his head. It was the same giant palm print Dharma that had pinned Da Zhuang to the ground that time in the market. Its size was domineering.


    "It''s been less than a month, where would you find the time to train your Dharma? Today, let me allow you to understand the difference between my Dharma and yours!"


    Lian Can looked at Zhou Donghuang and laughed coldly, "Now, why don''t you show your Dharma."


    "As you wish." Zhou Donghuang casually looked at Lian Can. The inner Yuan within his body trembled as one of the four animal Dharmas within him suddenly extended a strong wave of inner Yuan that flowed out through Zhou Donghuang''s body. Since attaining the Dharma stage, the four Golden Essences within Zhou Donghuang had merged together with the Dharmas. Or more accurately, the Golden Essence had become a part of the Dharma, making the Dharma crystallize and solidify. If Zhou Donghuang''s inner Yuan used to come from the Primal Core, now his inner Yuan was produced by the Dharma.


    "Roar!" Although the white tiger Dharma was still like a small cat internally, it produced a ten-meter tall Dharma that looked majestic and fearsome when it roared with the dominance worthy of the animal king.


    "I''ll defeat you within ten strokes!" Seeing Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma appear, Lian Can, who was eager to begin, called out as he transformed into a lightning bolt that rushed at Zhou Donghuang. Streaking through the air with him was the giant palm print Dharma, which was ten meters tall.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As the giant palm print Dharma streaked through the air, because it was so fast, the air around it produced a gushing sound accompanied by a sharp whistling. It was like ghouls wailing, a shriek so shrill it could shatter eardrums.


    Lian Can''s eyes locked on Zhou Donghuang coldly. He conservatively estimated ten strokes. He felt that he would certainly be able to defeat Zhou Donghuang with less than five.


    As the considerable crowd looked on, Zhou Donghuang stood motionless, and his massive white tiger Dharma laid down. It closed its eyes and yawned lazily as if it could fall asleep at any time.


    "Is Zhou Donghuang too scared to move?"


    "This must be his first battle as a Dharma adept. It''s normal to be frightened stiff."


    Seeing Lian Can and his palm Dharma approach, Zhou Donghuang did not make any movement at all. The crowd chattered excitedly.


    This time, He Mengxi, who was watching the fight from the sidelines, could not help but call out cautiously, "Little Brother!"


    "Zhou Donghuang, looks like I overestimated you! With just one stroke, I''ll easily defeat you!" As Lian Can neared Zhou Donghuang, he still had not made a move. Seeing this, Lian Can was filled with excitement, and his eyes flashed with anticipation. He quickly lifted his hand, and the giant palm print Dharma seemed to sense his movement as it slapped down on Zhou Donghuang and his white tiger Dharma, following the motion of Lian Can''s hand.


    "Little Brother!" He Mengxi cried out as her expression changed once again.


    Boom! Boom!!


    The crowd watched as Lian Can''s palm Dharma fell upon Zhou Donghuang and his tiger Dharma like a little hill, in all its sheer might.


    Just as everyone was sure that Zhou Donghuang would be defeated by Lian Can with only one stroke, at the critical moment, Zhou Donghuang''s peaceful eyes suddenly flashed open.


    In the next instant, the white tiger Dharma, which was lazily lying in mid-air, stood up furiously. Faced with the giant palm print Dharma that was rushing down less than ten meters away from it, the tiger flew straight up into the air.


    "It''s too late."


    "Lian Can has the upper hand, and his Dharma has an absolute advantage."


    The crowd could already imagine a scene in which the tiger Dharma would be destroyed by the palm Dharma with just a single strike.


    Wham!!


    As the white tiger Dharma took on the palm Dharma, which had the overarching advantage, a huge boom resounded as the inner Yuans clashed in mid-air, producing huge gusts of wind that swept in all directions and a loud sound.


    In the next instant, the massive tiger Dharma caused the giant palm print Dharma to dissipate with just a light bump. The crystallized inner Yuan spread out in all directions, flowing endlessly.


    Boom!!


    "Ah!" After the giant palm print Dharma had been destroyed by the white tiger Dharma, the rebound of inner Yuan was so strong that Lian Can''s body was flung backward. In that instant, Lian Can''s expression turned terrible, and he spit out a mouthful of blood. His body went limp. It was clear that he had been gravely injured.


    "Roar!" The white tiger Dharma stood proudly in the air and let out a formidable roar like the king of beasts displaying undeniable might that could not be challenged. Until the white tiger Dharma was stowed away by Zhou Donghuang, everyone was deathly silent.


    "Little...Little Brother?" He Mengxi was the first person to regain her senses. She looked at Zhou Donghuang as if she had seen a ghost. "Did he really just reach the Dharma stage?" She was utterly shocked. How could he be so powerful even though he had only just reached the Dharma stage? Once he progressed even further, how frightening would his power be? There was no other early Dharma adept in the Lightning Sword Sect who could match her Little Brother!


    "Impossible! It''s impossible!!" In the sky, Pan Yilin held Lian Can steady. His eyes were filled with disbelief and helplessness as he looked at Zhou Donghuang. He had never imagined even in his wildest dreams that he would be defeated with just one blow by someone who had only reached the Dharma stage less than a month ago¡ªespecially not when he had the upper hand and full advantage!


    In that instant, Lian Can remembered what his Master had told him. Now, it seemed that his Master indeed had reason to worry. His opponent must have been absolutely confident in his abilities before coming here to challenge him!


    Before the Summer Valley''s disciples could even regain their senses, Zhou Donghuang looked at He Mengxi and reminded her, "Third Sister, now it looks like Lian Can is no longer able to protect Pan Yilin. Don''t you want to help Da Zhuang take revenge?"


    He Mengxi flew toward the frightened Pan Yilin. Without any warning, she beat up Pan Yilin. His face turned white with fear as he whimpered. The whole time, he did not have the courage to fight back. He knew that it was useless and would likely anger He Mengxi even further.


    "Third Sister, let''s go back." As he glanced at the crowd, Zhou Donghuang and He Mengxi left the Summer Valley together. Nobody from the Summer Valley stepped forward to stop them.


    Lian Can had been injured by Zhou Donghuang in a friendly sparring battle. It was rude of He Mengxi to injure Pan Yilin, but on account of the fact that even the court would not dare offend her, the people of the Summer Valley could do nothing about it. Furthermore, Pan Yilin had only been injured lightly, and not severely beaten up.


    "Did that Autumn Valley disciple, Zhou Donghuang, really only attain the Dharma stage recently?" Many Summer Valley elders and disciples doubted this.


    Lian Can and Pan Yilin were certain that, one month ago, Zhou Donghuang had indeed not yet attained the Dharma stage. He''d been a Golden Essence adept just like the Autumn Valley disciple, Da Zhuang.


    "Master." Lian Can returned to Lian Kan with a sour face. "I was careless. I did not expect him to be so powerful that he could defeat me with just one strike."


    "One strike?" Lian Kun was aware that Lian Can had lost to Zhou Donghuang, but he did not know that Lian Can had been defeated with just a single strike. His eyes narrowed as he asked, "How did he defeat you? Did he have the upper hand and take advantage of his position?"


    To Lian Kun, a scenario in which an opponent had the upper hand and took the advantage of it to defeat his son when he was being careless, would be alarming but not impossible.


    "No," replied Lian Can, his face dark and solemn. "I was the one who had the upper hand and the advantage. He only returned the blow at the last minute. It was only when my Dharma was ten meters away from his that his Dharma took any action."

 242 Da Zhuang Breaks Through

    "What?!" Lian Kun''s expression took an ugly turn. He could no longer maintain his composure. "You had the upper hand and the advantage. Still, he managed to defeat you with just a single blow! Are you certain that he is only an early Dharma adept? Are you sure that he was a Golden Essence adept just a month ago?" Lian Kun demanded, glaring at Lian Can.


    "Just one month ago, I saw him descend from the sky enveloped in a golden glow from his inner Yuan. Even today, his Dharma was only ten meters tall," replied Lian Can. A Dharma that was ten meters tall was the hallmark of an early Dharma adept.


    "Then, how is it possible?" Lian Kun''s face was filled with disbelief. "He is an early Dharma adept, just like you, and he just reached the Dharma stage not long ago. How could he possibly have defeated you with just a single blow under such circumstances?"


    "Master," said Lian Can, with a bitter smile on his face, "I am not sure either. But it must have something to do with the Dharma he produced. His massive tiger Dharma pounced on my palm print Dharma at the last moment. Even though he could not have possibly utilized its full power, my palm print was like a piece of paper in front of his giant tiger¡ªthat''s how easily it was shredded." With that, a hint of fear crossed Lian Can''s eyes. "I once sparred with a senior who was in the middle Dharma stage, and even that senior''s thirty-meter-tall Dharma was not as powerful as his ten-meter-tall Dharma." Middle Dharma adepts produced Dharmas that were thirty meters tall. The strength of their Dharmas was often far greater than that of the ten-meter Dharmas produced by early Dharma adepts.


    Now Lian Can was claiming that even the thirty-meter-tall Dharma of a Summer Valley disciple in the middle Dharma stage could not compare with Zhou Donghuang''s ten-meter-tall Dharma.


    "His Dharma was trained to a frightening level of perfection. Even though its inner Yuan was not as strong as mine, there was no chance of breaking through it¡ªit was so perfect. On the other hand, my own giant palm print Dharma suddenly had so many problems and imperfections, and his Dharma managed to attack them all. Although my Dharma itself had few imperfections before, during that short battle with the huge tiger Dharma, it became so weak, and defects kept appearing. It was as if it went crazy because of the attack. Even the Dharma of an ultimate Dharma adept may not be so perfectly trained." As he spoke, Lian Can''s eyes were filled with a complicated expression. "Who knows how he trained his Dharma so well. Within one month of entering the Dharma stage, he''s already produced such an unnatural Dharma!"


    "A ten-meter-tall Dharma! Is it really untouchable?" Lian Kun''s eyes narrowed sharply. "Even an ultimate Dharma adept cannot safely say that his Dharma is untouchable. Even though an ultimate adept''s Dharma has gone through a whole series of training, there are still a few imperfections, however rare. Typically, once an ultimate Dharma adept strikes out with a blow, he is perfectly capable of concealing the imperfection."


    Lian Kun did not believe Lian Can. He did not think that Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma was untouchable. However, he did not question that the strength of Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma and its training were on a par with that of an ultimate Dharma adept. Otherwise, Zhou Donghuang would definitely not have been able to defeat his son so quickly and effortlessly.


    Lian Can was not just any bum. He was considered superior among the disciples under Lian Kun, and it was no accident that he would likely become a core disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "That lass from the He family¡ªwhere did they find a monster like that?" In Lian Kun''s eyes, this monster should not have appeared in the Lightning Sword Sect. In fact, neither of those two forces should have appeared in the Hengliu galaxy at all.


    ...


    After returning to the Autumn Valley with He Mengxi, Zhou Donghuang took her straight to Da Zhuang then gave him an elixir. "Da Zhuang, after you take this elixir, you will reach the Dharma stage within a month!"


    Zhou Donghuang then helped Da Zhuang set up a huge Qi-gathering position. To save some trouble, he used twenty thousand mid-level spirit stones¡ªenough to cover every corner of Da Zhuang''s room. He had used them to set up the position in one go was so that he would not have to set up another one in the future.


    "Twenty thousand spirit stones for the Qi-gathering position should be roughly enough for Da Zhuang to enter the Dharma stage," said Zhou Donghuang to himself.


    Zhou Donghuang had used fifty thousand mid-level spirit stones to go from the ultimate Primal Core stage to the Dharma stage within two weeks, and all four of his inner cores had attained Dharma. In his opinion, considering that he was more talented than Da Zhuang, twenty thousand mid-level spirit stones should be enough for Da Zhuang to enter the early Dharma stage within a month. After all, Da Zhuang was currently training using the premier "Fiery Thunder Training Regime," not the old technique he''d used in the past!


    "Little Brother, where did you get so many spirit stones?" As Da Zhuang shut the door and practiced faithfully, in the courtyard outside, He Mengxi revealed her surprise. She looked at Zhou Donghuang as she muttered, "Here are twenty thousand mid-level spirit stones. All five of the inferior-level spirit stone quarries on your home planet, Ziyun, can only produce ten thousand inferior spirit stones in a single year." Twenty thousand mid-level spirit stones were equivalent to two hundred thousand inferior spirit stones. All the spirit stone quarries on Ziyun would take twenty years to produce that many, assuming not one spirit stone was used during that time. Therefore, He Mengxi could not imagine how Zhou Donghuang had obtained so many spirit stones.


    "Third Sister, in that dream where I was able to see the future, I saw the final resting place of many ultimate Dharma adepts. In the dream, many people had already taken advantage of these places, and I could only sigh in envy. But now, using my memory of the future from my dream, I can take all those precious things that were left behind before anyone else gets to them." Zhou Donghuang smiled. He understood his Third Sister better than anyone and knew that if he did not tell her how he had found the spirit stones, she would not rest easy. Now, his explanation was perfect.


    "Is that possible?" He Mengxi was shocked, but when she regained composure, she felt that there was no other explanation. Otherwise, given how much power her Little Brother had, after leaving the poor galaxy where Ziyun was located, he would not have been able to produce so many spirit stones in such a short time.


    "Hm?" Suddenly, He Mengxi seemed to notice something. Her eyes narrowed. The next instant, she looked at the door to Da Zhuang''s room and saw threads of smoke entering through the cracks in the door. At the same time, she could sense immense concentrated spirit energy rolling in waves toward Da Zhuang''s room.


    This peculiarity in Da Zhuang''s room was also noticed by the Autumn Valley''s chief, He Jin. Instantly, He Jin appeared beside Zhou Donghuang and He Mengxi and looked at Da Zhuang''s door. His expression changed as he asked, "Spirit energy turning into smoke? What is going on here?"


    He Jin looked quizzically at Zhou Donghuang. In his opinion, this was not be his daughter''s doing, for he was well aware of her capabilities.


    "Little Brother gave Da Zhuang an ancient elixir then used twenty thousand mid-level spirit stones to set up a Qi-gathering formation for him." Seeing Zhou Donghuang glance over, He Mengxi quickly answered for him. "Originally, Little Brother said that Da Zhuang would be able to attain the Dharma stage within a month. I did not believe him, but now it looks like I will have no choice but to accept it."


    "Elixir? Ancient recipe?" He Jin was not surprised about the energy-gathering formation. He also knew how to set one up. However, this was the first time that he had heard of the ancient elixir.


    He also understood that what had been going on outside Zhou Donghuang''s room for the past two weeks was now happening in Da Zhuang''s room.


    "Little Brother said that once a Golden Essence adept swallows this ancient elixir, he will be able to attain the Dharma stage within a short period," He Mengxi explained. "Just like Little Brother, who reached the Dharma stage a few days ago."


    Hearing He Mengxi''s words, He Jin''s eyes narrowed, and his face revealed his shock. He Mengxi continued, saying, "He said that Da Zhuang will attain the Dharma stage within a month."


    "How is that possible?!" He Jin could not help but scream. "Da Zhuang only reached the ultimate Primal Core stage not too long ago, so how can he attain Dharma within a month?" He Jin did not believe that it was possible.


    But, twenty-six days later, Da Zhuang opened his door and gave He Jin an unprecedented shock. Da Zhuang had entered the Dharma stage!


    "Little Brother, thank you." Da Zhuang bowed deeply to Zhou Donghuang. His face was sincere and genuine. Deep in his eyes, his resolve was clear. He had made a decision. It was at this moment that, in Da Zhuang''s eyes, Zhou Donghuang had reached the same level of admiration as He Mengxi.


    "Da Zhuang, you must take good care of Third Sister in the future. Your current strength is no weaker than hers, so you have enough power to protect her well." Zhou Donghuang smiled as he looked at Da Zhuang.


    Before Da Zhuang could reply, He Mengxi responded unhappily, "Little Brother, I know that you just entered the Dharma stage and already have unnatural powers sufficient for defeating Lian Can of the Summer Valley with a single blow. But I am well aware of Da Zhuang''s abilities. He''s just attained Dharma, so there is no way that he is my match!"


    He Jin had long since heard the story of how Zhou Donghuang had defeated Lian Can with a single blow. Hearing his daughter bring it up again now, He Jin studied Zhou Donghuang with a complicated gaze.

 243 Da Zhuangs Power

    "Third Sister, you underestimate Da Zhuang," said Zhou Donghuang while shaking his head.


    "What? Are you saying that, although Da Zhuang has only just broken through to the Dharma stage, he is already more powerful than me? Little Brother, Da Zhuang is not like you!" He Mengxi did not believe him.


    "Da Zhuang, why don''t you spar with Third Sister," said Zhou Donghuang as he looked at Da Zhuang with a smile.


    Da Zhuang quickly shook his head when he heard Zhou Donghuang''s suggestion. "No way. How can I do anything bad to Sister?"


    "Da Zhuang, it''s just a friendly challenge." Zhou Donghuang''s confidence made He Mengxi doubt herself. She looked at Da Zhuang and said, "Since Little Brother has so much faith in you, I also want to see how powerful you are. If you manage to defeat me, I will be happy for you." He Mengxi looked at Da Zhuang with motherly eyes.


    He Mengxi''s words made Da Zhuang light up. He smiled and shook his head, replying, "Sister, I am no match for you."


    Whoosh! He Mengxi took to the skies and floated in mid-air, looking down at Da Zhuang. "Come on, Da Zhuang."


    "Go ahead." Seeing Da Zhuang glance at him, Zhou Donghuang smiled calmly and said, "Don''t hold back! Otherwise, Third Sister won''t be happy."


    "That''s right! Da Zhuang, if you hold back while sparring with me, I will be very unhappy with you," He Mengxi added. She was also curious to know the source of Zhou Donghaung''s confidence in Da Zhuang.


    He Jin had not muttered a word since the beginning. He just watched quietly as Da Zhuang also took to the skies and came face-to-face with his daughter. In his opinion, Da Zhuang, who had only just attained the Dharma stage, was surely no match for her. On the other hand, Zhou Donghuang''s confidence made him doubt himself. Although he had not had many interactions with Zhou Donghuang, the lad had sprung countless surprises on them in this short time. First, he had tricked the Summer Valley people with his fake goods. Then, not long after attaining Dharma, he''d managed to defeat the arrogant Summer Valley disciple, Lian Can, who was the son of the Summer Valley''s chief, Lian Kun.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang had produced an ancient elixir that had allowed Da Zhuang to attain Dharma within one short month. The two incidents, Zhou Donghuang easily defeating Lian Can within a short time of achieving Dharma and helping Da Zhuang reach Dharma, were extremely shocking for He Jin. These were feats he considered next to impossible!


    "Da Zhuang has been practicing the ''Fiery Thunder Training Regimen.'' If this wasn''t an accident, he should have a lightning fire Dharma. As the thought crossed Zhou Donghuang''s mind, Da Zhuang took to the skies. He came face to face with He Mengxi, who was waiting to begin. Inner Yuan radiated from his body.


    "Da Zhuang, go all out. Let me see how powerful you are now that you''ve attained Dharma." With that, He Mengxi''s giant sword Dharma swooped beneath her feet and lifted her up into the air, carrying her toward Da Zhuang.


    "Yes, Sister." Da Zhuang agreed as his Dharma also appeared. It was a blazing flame ten meters tall. In the middle of the flame flashed a streak of white lightning. As the fire burned, it made an extremely sharp crackling sound.


    "What Dharma is this?" He Mengxi was taken aback. From her understanding of the technique that Da Zhuang was practicing, after Da Zhuang had attained Dharma, he should have produced a knife-shaped Dharma. However, the Dharma that Da Zhuang had just created took her by surprise.


    It was not only He Mengxi who was surprised, but Chief He Jin was also shocked. He was knew what training technique Da Zhuang was using. Unless he''d changed techniques, he should have produced a knife Dharma. "Could Da Zhuang have changed his technique?" He Jin looked at the young man in white, who was not far from him, and saw that he did not seem surprised at all to see the Dharma that Da Zhuang had just produced. It was as if he had expected Da Zhuang to create a Dharma that looked like fiery thunder.


    "Da Zhuang, I''ll make my move." Although surprised at Da Zhuang''s Dharma, He Mengxi did not overthink it. She called out to Da Zhuang, then drove the massive sword Dharma beneath her feet toward Da Zhuang, attacking him.


    Whoosh!! The giant sword Dharma pierced the air. It made a shrill whooshing sound as it split the sky. Waves of icy cold wind were released from either side of the giant sword Dharma. Its cold wind washed over Zhou Donghuang and He Jin below, making their robes flap noisily.


    Faced with the onslaught of the giant sword Dharma, Da Zhuang''s eyes flashed with terror. After all, this was his first time challenging a Dharma adept in battle. Furthermore, he was going against an adept using a fierce offensive Dharma such as the giant sword. With just a single strike, the sword Dharma could easily pierce the wind and destroy anything in its path!


    Zhou Donghuang could see the fear and anxiety in Da Zhuang''s eyes, so he reminded him, "Da Zhuang, don''t forget that you are a Dharma adept too." He could understand Da Zhuang''s feelings. In the past, when he had just attained Dharma, he had also had the same reaction during his first battle against a Dharma adept.


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang''s reminder, Da Zhuang''s expression changed, and his body wrapped around the flame like a python around its prey. In the next instant, the fire exploded. Da Zhuang and his fiery thunder Dharma faced the onslaught of He Mengxi and her sword Dharma head on.


    "Hmm?" Just as Da Zhuang struck out, he stared straight at the sword coming directly toward him. He wanted to escape from it at first, but then, suddenly had a flash of insight. He felt as if he could easily take down this sword with just a flick of his hand. His muscles tightened, and he coiled like a spring, ready to pounce. This feeling seemed to control him, as if he''d been possessed. He reached out for the giant sword Dharma flying toward him.


    When she saw this, He Mengxi''s expression changed. She tried to reduce the force of her attack. But she soon realized that Da Zhuang''s outstretched hands, with the flame surrounding the lightning and thunder, were gripping her giant sword Dharma and stopping it from moving even an inch. She tried to increase her strength, but the giant sword Dharma did not budge.


    It was only when she utilized all of her strength that the giant sword Dharma trembled lightly in Da Zhuang''s hands. Even then, Da Zhuang was still fully controlling his Dharma. No matter how much she struggled, the giant sword could not be removed from the iron clasp of Da Zhuang''s hands.


    "How is this possible?!" This situation seemed simply incredible for He Mengxi. Da Zhuang had just attained Dharma, so how could he possibly take control of her giant sword Dharma so easily? Furthermore, Da Zhuang was still holding on to her giant sword. His hands were like pincers, and her giant sword could not move an inch.


    "Sister, use more strength." Da Zhuang looked at He Mengxi with confusion. He thought that He Mengxi had been holding back to protect him. He said with a smile, "Sister, you do not have to hold back your strength. I am still able to withstand this."


    More strength? If she had not known Da Zhuang well enough to know that he would not say something like this for fun, He Mengxi would have thought that Da Zhuang was making fun of her.


    "Da Zhuang, I am already using all my strength," He Mengxi replied with a bitter smile.


    "Huh?" Da Zhuang was shocked. His eyes opened wide as he asked, "Sister, are you already using all of your strength?"


    "Based on pure strength, I was never as strong as you. Now, let go," said He Mengxi gently. "I''ll try to attack you secretly. Your weakness has always been your slow reaction time, so this is a good chance for me to test your reaction time now that you''ve attained Dharma."


    "Alright." Da Zhuang nodded stiffly. He released his hands, freeing He Mengxi''s giant sword Dharma. He Mengxi could have also ust given up her giant sword Dharma. But, if she had, her inner Yuan would have been greatly depleted, and the next time she formed a Dharma, it would have been far weaker. Then, she would be even less capable of matching Da Zhuang.


    Da Zhuang''s reaction time was always at least half a beat too slow. This was his weakness. In the past, when he had entered the Lightning Sword Sect, joined the Autumn Valley, and sparred with disciples of the same skill level, he''d lost every round. His strength was formidable, but if his opponent launched a sneak attack at him, his reaction was so slow that he would end up defeated. Today, He Mengxi had already tested his strength since attaining Dharma, and she now wanted to test if his reaction speed had improved or whether it remained his weakness.


    Whoosh! As He Mengxi''s giant sword rushed at Da Zhuang from behind, Da Zhuang could hardly respond. But his muscles instinctively tightened, and his fiery thunder Dharma rushed over to the back of his body and opened up into a colossal flame to receive He Mengxi''s sword.


    However, since the fiery thunder Dharma had only reaceted out of self-defense, its power was far less than what it would have been if Da Zhuang had taken the initiative to control it. Even so, when it stopped He Mengxi''s sword, it was as if her sword had stabbed into a ball of cotton wool. It was very hard to remove.


    "Huh?" Da Zhuang only realized what had happened when he saw the giant sword up close. He flicked his hand, and the fiery thunder rushed out and consumed the giant sword. He Mengxi was taken aback by his inner Yuan''s rebound, which was so strong that she spat out a mouthful of blood.


    "Sister!" Seeing that he had hurt He Mengxi, Da Zhuang''s expression changed drastically and filled with anxiety. "Sister, I...I did not do that on purpose. I did not do it on purpose!"


    However, although He Mengxi was hurt, she was only slightly injured and ignored Da Zhuang''s angst. With a swift motion, her inner Yuan from was released from her body and filled up the giant sword Dharma, returning it to its full strength. At the same time, she made the giant sword Dharma beneath her rush around Da Zhuang.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    ...


    In an instant, He Mengxi produced almost a hundred swords that attacked Da Zhuang from all angles. Da Zhuang''s reaction time had always been slow before, so how could he possibly react to this?


    However, at that very moment, Da Zhuang''s fiery thunder Dharma condensed. It turned into fiery armor, compacting the thunder and lightning to protect the man at its center. No matter how viciously the swords flew around, they were not enough to break through the strong armor. Da Zhuang was untouched.

 244 He Jins Confidence

    "What a perfect Dharma!" He Mengxi could no longer fend off Da Zhuang. The Summer Valley''s chief, He Jin, looked at the fiery thunder Dharma that now covered Da Zhuang like a suit of armor. His eyes shone.


    He had never seen such a perfect Dharma even from an ultimate Dharma adept.


    "What technique is Da Zhuang practicing?" He Jin was clearly aware that, based on Da Zhuang''s foundation, to produce such a perfect Dharma, the new technique must be very high-level. The higher the level of the technique, the more perfect and fewer flaws in the Dharma produced. This was a universal rule that could not be changed.


    He had already guessed that Da Zhuang had switched to a different technique. Now, seeing how perfect Da Zhuang''s Dharma was, his hypothesis was confirmed. Da Zhuang''s new technique was far superior to any within the Lightning Sword Sect.


    The Lightning Sword Sect''s technique could not produce such a perfect Dharma, even if it was the "Lightning Sword Technique." In the sect''s history, nobody had ever managed to produce a Dharma as perfect as Da Zhuang''s while practicing the "Lightning Sword Technique" in the ultimate Dharma stage. Even if there were such a person, he or she would have been a prodigy. At least, He Jin had never witnessed something like this before.


    "Da Zhuang, what Dharma is this?" Seeing her multiple attacks easily parried by Da Zhuang''s Dharma, He Mengxi was shocked. Despite her best efforts to catch Da Zhuang off guard, he was unaffected by her attacks. She was not surprised that the Dharma was protecting its owner. What shocked her was this: under most circumstances, the power a Dharma exhibited while protecting its owner was considerably less than if the adept were actively controlling the Dharma. But Da Zhuang''s Dharma easily fended off all her attacks even if he did not make an active effort to do ao. This made her extremely confused and angry.


    "I try so hard to attack you, but you only reacted after your Dharma had already managed to fend off all my attacks! How?"


    "Hehe! Sister, I am not sure." Da Zhuang shook his head.


    "You don''t know?" He Mengxi glared at him, then asked in disbelief, "It''s is your Dharma, so how can you not know?"


    "I..." Da Zhuang could not answer. In his hesitation, he turned to Zhou Donghuang for help. Then, both He Mengxi and He Jin looked at Zhou Donghuang.


    "I gave him a new technique to practice." Zhou Donghuang did not plan to hide this information, so he answered directly. To him, Third Sister He Mengxi was not an outsider. He Jin was her father, so he was not an outsider either.


    "Indeed." He Jin was shocked. Although this was exactly as he had guessed, Zhou Donghuang''s confirmation still surprised him.


    "New technique?" He Mengxi lit up as she looked at Zhou Donghuang, and her eyes filled unknowingly with a thirsty look. She soon realized how she must look and turned away awkwardly.


    His words made He Mengxi''s dim eyes light up again.


    "Third Sister, the technique that I will give you and the Valley Chief can be used to train until the Divine Transformation stage. But it is for the best that nobody else knows about this. Otherwise, you will cause trouble for yourselves!" As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang turned very serious. He would not be stingy with Third Sister He Mengxi and her father, He Jin. However, he had to warn them.


    With that, Zhou Donghuang retrieved a piece of paper, which he had prepared a long time ago, from his space ring and handed it to He Mengxi. "This technique is known as the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique.'' It is an extremely powerful sword technique. Once you train using this technique, in a short time, Da Zhuang will no longer be your match. His reaction time is his weakness. However, in the future, as Da Zhuang further improves skill, his technique will work on his weakness until it disappears entirely. By that time, even though the two of you will be at the same skill level, a confrontation will still end in a draw. Of course, if it were a real match to the death, your chances of winning would be higher. These two techniques belong to the same level. Your ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique'' is mainly an offensive technique, while Da Zhuang''s ''Fiery Thunder Training Regimen'' is more for defense. However, the "Thousand-Star Sword Technique" that I just gave you is not complete. When you reach the Divine Transformation stage, I will provide you with the rest of it."


    "Thousand-Star Sword Technique?"


    "Same level as Da Zhuang''s new technique?"


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, both He Mengxi and He Jin felt their breathing speed up.


    "You must remember my words," warned Zhou Donghuang. "Both the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique'' that I just gave you or the ''Fiery Thunder Training Regimen'' that I gave Da Zhuang are extremely high-level techniques. Once revealed, there will be no place for you to hide in this whole galaxy!"


    "I understand," said He Mengxi seriously. Although she had not known Zhou Donghuang for a long time, she had also never seen him so serious before, so it was easy for her to understand the gravity of the situation. As for He Jin, he had already quickly scanned their surroundings to check for anyone secretly hiding or listening. After confirming that nobody else was in the vicinity, he heaved a sigh of relief.


    "Little Brother." He Mengxi seemed to remember something as she looked at Zhou Donghuang. "Why not tell my father about the other matter? I don''t think he will doubt you anymore."


    The "Thousand-Star Sword Technique" was the supreme technique in the whole Hengliu Galaxy. Since Zhou Donghuang had shared it with her father, He Mengxi was sure that he would believe the story that Zhou Donghuang had told her.


    "Mm." Zhou Donghuang nodded then continued seriously with a darkened expression, "But nobody else can know about this."


    "Of course." He Mengxi nodded gravely. This matter concerned her father''s death, so, naturally, she would not mess around.


    "What is it?" He Jin looked at Zhou Donghuang and his daughter with a mystified expression, and his eyes filled with a blank curiosity.


    "Chief, why don''t you go back with Third Sister and let her tell you herself," suggested Zhou Donghuang with a smile.


    Zhou Donghuang had complete faith in Third Sister He Mengxi. Their interactions in his previous life were substantial enough for him to be sure of her character. Even disregarding those past life experiences, the fact that he had given her the "Thousand-Star Sword Technique" meant that she would not betray him. After all, she believed in returning a favor with gratitude. As for her father, He Jin, although he''d had no interaction with him in his past life, he had heard He Mengxi mention him more than once. He Mengxi''s character came from her father.


    Furthermore, in his past life, according to He Mengxi, not only had Da Zhuang died for her, but her father had sacrificed his life so that his daughter could live. After his millennia of experience, Zhou Donghuang was no fool. He would not put himself in a dangerous situation. Both He Mengxi and He Jin were worthy of his trust.


    "Da Zhuang." At the same time, Zhou Donghuang turned to Da Zhuang and reminded him, "From today on, do not easily show off your power to others. If you want to show off, you must wait till you are at the ultimate Dharma stage. Until then, maintain a low profile."


    "Ah, why?" Da Zhuang was confused. At the same time, his eyes filled with disappointment. He had just been thinking about sparring often in the future to let the others know that he, Da Zhuang, was easily able to defeat others of the same level of skill. He was not a piece of trash like they''d always said.


    "If you do not want Third Sister or me to die, you''d better do as I say." Zhou Donghuang was too lazy to explain to Da Zhuang. Although he could have tried, Da Zhuang''s slow brain would have only understood after a lengthy explanation.


    Zhou Donghuang was well aware that the amount of power Da Zhuang had displayed using the Fiery Thunder technique just after attaining Dharma was enough to make He Mengxi and even He Jin guess that Da Zhuang was now practicing an extremely high-level technique. Otherwise, Da Zhuang would not have displayed unimaginable advancement in such a short time. After all, He Jin was well aware of Da Zhuang''s talent, and so were many other people in the Lightning Sword Sect.


    But Zhou Donghuang was different. Although he had displayed his power when he defeated the Summer Valley disciple, Lian Can, just after he had attained Dharma, not many people would associate that with his high-level training technique. Instead, most people assumed that he had spent a long time at the Ultimate Primal Core stage, training his Dharma when it was still a fetus.


    After all, none of them knew about his past.


    "I understand." Although Da Zhuang had an overwhelming urge to show off his newfound power, when he heard that this matter involved the two people whose lives he considered even more important than his own, he immediately suppressed his desire and made this promise sincerely.


    Meanwhile, He Jin was in a state of shock after hearing what his daughter had to say back at their residence. No wonder Zhou Donghuang had called his daughter ''Third Sister.'' No wonder his daughter had suddenly decided to leave the house for such a long time. Normally, she would have given him considerable advance notice before going on a long trip.


    "No wonder! He''s dreamed of the future, including my death." He Jin''s expression was grave.


    By now, he had already taken a look at the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique'' that Zhou Donghuang had given him. The sheer magnificence of the technique far surpassed the ''Lightning Sword Technique,'' the sect''s trademark, which he had been practicing ever since he''d entered the Dharma stage! They were as different as night and day!


    "After I convert to the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique,'' I will be the most powerful person below the Divine Transformation stage in the whole Hengliu Galaxy!" He Jin''s eyes shone with confidence. Now, at his skill level, there were many Primordial Soul adepts in the Lightning Sword Sect who were more powerful than him. And that was not even taking into consideration the rest of the Hengliu Galaxy or even this planet!

 245 Deity Grade Technique

    In the Lightning Sword Sect, the Chief, who''d reached the Divine Transformation stage, was the most powerful adept.


    The guardians and elders were beneath the Chief. There were just three guardians in the Lightning Sword Sect, all Ultimate Primordial Soul adepts.


    Although there were many elders, just four had attained the Ultimate Primordial Soul stage. These were the four chiefs of the valleys of the inner sect.


    The four chiefs of the valleys of the inner sect were also the four chief elders of the Lightning Sword Sect. Their power was equivalent to the sect''s three guardians.


    However, among the seven Ultimate Primordial Soul adepts in the Lightning Sword Sect, He Jin was considered moderate in terms of his power. He was not the weakest but far from the strongest.


    Zhou Donghuang had learned about this hierarchy from He Mengxi.


    Hence, he was sure that once He Jin converted to the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique,'' he would become the strongest of the Lightning Sword Sect''s seven Ultimate Primordial Soul adepts.


    In fact, on the whole planet, or even in the entire Hengliu Galaxy, he would be the most powerful person below the Divine Transformation stage.


    "With the help of my elixir, it''s like he''s taken a shortcut from the Ultimate Primal Core stage to the early Dharma stage. But, in his future practice, unless he receives a precious herb or spirit fruit to produce a potion to aid hm, there will be no more shortcuts for him." When Zhou Donghuang remembered this point a few days later, he went to inform He Mengxi so that she could tell He Jin to take be on the lookout for precious herbs and spirit fruits. If he had the means to obtain them, no matter the price, he should get his hands on them.


    "As for the spirit stones, I will find a way to pay Chief. I have many recipes for potions and elixirs that are far superior to those that can be found here in Hengliu Galaxy," said Zhou Donghuang to He Mengxi.


    "Little Brother, I will let Father note down the things you need," replied He Mengxi, looking at him gently. "As for the spirit stones, you don''t have to worry. Nor do you have to return them to Father. Although I do not understand the full value of the technique that you gave him, Father has already told me. that it is worth far more than all the wealth in the Lightning Sword Sect!"


    As she spoke, He Mengxi''s face revealed her amazement. She looked around carefully. After confirming that they were alone, she asked Zhou Donghuang, "Little Brother, that technique, what grade is it?"


    In the limitless universe, techniques had different grades and levels.


    The best techniques in the universe allowed one to train until the Deity stage. These techniques included the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique'' and the ''Fiery Thunder Training Regimen.''


    The ''Technique of Everlasting Youth'' only allowed one to train to the Immortal stage.


    "It''s a Deity grade technique." When he had given the technique to He Mengxi and He Jin a few days ago, Zhou Donghuang had not told them its grade. But now that He Mengxi had asked, Zhou Donghuang casually revealed it.


    These words stunned her. "Deity grade technique?"


    A technique''s grade was related to the level of skill.


    The ''Lightning Sword Technique'' used by the Lightning Sword Sect was a Divine Transformation technique¡ªand a low-level one at that. This meant that disciple could only use it to train up to the Early Divine Transformation stage but would require further trial and error to break through this frontier. Furthermore, it was extremely difficult for a disciple to figure out a method of training beyond this stage.


    As for the techniques of the Middle Divine Transformation grade and above, after completing the training which the technique required, a disciple could easily attain the Middle Divine Transformation stage.


    In the Hengliu Galaxy, the best technique around was a Middle Divine Transformation technique. It was a secret technique that only the supernatural force ruling over the many sects, including the Lightning Sword Sect, was able to use.


    The best technique in the Hengliu Galaxy was only a Middle Divine Transformation technique.


    Now, her Little Brother was telling her that the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique'' was a Deity grade technique?


    "But the portion I gave to you only allows you to train to the Ultimate Divine Transformation stage. Once you attain this stage, I will give it to you, as I told you the other day."


    Indeed, Zhou Donghuang had told He Mengxi and He Jin that he would give them the rest of the technique after they had attained the Ultimate Divine Transformation stage.


    However, even then, He Jin had only guessed that the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique'' was a Divinity Separation grade technique.


    To He Jin, a Divinity Separation technique was unbelievably precious.


    And now, Zhou Donghuang had just informed He Mengxi that the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique'' was a Deity grade technique. Naturally, this shocked He Mengxi.


    After a moment, He Mengxi regained her senses but still appeared to be in a daze.


    "Little Brother...thank you."


    He Mengxi did not know what else to say, so she thanked Zhou Donghuang in a quivering voice.


    "Third Sister, ever since my dream about the future, I have regarded you as my sister. Which is precisely why I came to the Lightning Sword Sect to find you."


    Zhou Donghuang stared at He Mengxi seriously as he continued, "You are my Third Sister, and I am your Little Brother. Between the two of us, we will never have to say a word of thanks."


    "I understand, Little Brother." He Mengxi nodded and smiled. Her gaze was gentle as she looked at Zhou Donghuang.


    Then, Zhou Donghuang explained the importance of the items that he had requested of her: "Third Sister, if Valley Chief is able to get the herbs and spirit fruit that I mentioned, I can use them to produce many elixirs. Then, not only me, but also you and Da Zhuang will be able to quickly increase the rate of your practices."


    "Don''t worry. I will ask my father to look for them." He Mengxi nodded thoughtfully.


    "Mm." Zhou Donghuang bid farewell to He Mengxi and returned to his room.


    In the days that followed, Zhou Donghuang stayed quietly in the Autumn Valley practicing without leaving his room. Soon, the Lightning Sword Sect disciples who had been amazed by how he''d managed to defeat the Summer Valley disciple, Lian Can, just after attaining Dharma also slowly forgot about him.


    Of course, some people could never forget Zhou Donghuang.


    For instance, Lian Can.


    Also, the Summer Valley elders and disciples who had witnessed Zhou Donghuang defeat Lian Can with their own eyes.


    ...


    Time passed quickly.


    It had already been half a year since Zhou Donghuang first arrived at the Lightning Sword Sect. By now, he had successfully attained the Middle Dharma stage.


    This was in large part due to He Jin''s help.


    He Jin had spared no effort in helping Zhou Donghuang find the herbs and spirit fruits that he required. He''d spent a large number of spirit stones.


    But he did not feel the pinch.


    He Jin had found out from his daughter that the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique'' was not a Divinity Separation technique, but a Deity grade technique¡ª supreme throughout the whole universe!


    When he had first learned this, he had been stunned for a long time.


    Since converting to the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique,'' although he had not sparred with any other Ultimate Primordial Soul adepts, he was sure that his current power was vastly superior compared to what it had been.


    In fact, he was confident that he could defeat his old self with just a single blow.


    "Father, I have broken through."


    The first thing that He Mengxi did when she left her room was find her father. Her face was filled with excitement. "The elixir that Little Brother produced is seriously amazing!"


    "You broke through?" He Jin''s eyes lit up. He chuckled and said, "That boy, Donghuang, is truly our benefactor. You just broke through to the Middle Dharma stage, and I have also been able to reach the frontier of the Divine Transformation stage after converting to the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique.''"


    He Jin grinned widely.


    "Congratulations, Father."


    "Lass." Suddenly, He Jin''s smile disappeared, and his expression turned serious as he suddenly remembered something. "Although you have converted to the ''Thousand-Star Sword Technique'' and attained the Middle Dharma stage, before you reach the ultimate Dharma stage, you better maintain a low profile, just like Da Zhuang.


    "Few people in the sect know about Zhou Donghuang''s background. No matter how strong his Dharma is, nobody will think that it this is because of his superior technique. Most people just think that he spent a long time sharpening his Dharma while he was still in the Ultimate Primal Core stage.


    "Furthermore, in recent months, I''ve been asking people to spread the news. Now, the whole Lightning Sword Sect believes that the reason Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma is so strong is because he perfected it while still in the Ultimate Primal Core stage.


    "But you and Da Zhuang are different. Everyone knows your backgrounds. Before attaining the Ultimate Dharma stage, you must not reveal your perfect Dharma."


    As the Autumn Valley Chief, and one of the foremost elders of the Lightning Sword Sect, He Jin was cautious and meticulous in his thinking.


    "Father, I know." He Mengxi nodded thoughtfully.


    At that moment, a loud voice rang out from outside. "Elder He Jin, the sect leader has summoned you to the main hall right away to receive a group from the Thunder Knife Sect, including their leader."


    "The Thunder Knife Sect is here?"


    He Jin raised his eyebrows, and his lips curled into a smile. "A while ago, I heard that the Thunder Knife Sect had accepted a rare talent as disciple. I was just thinking that the sect would not waste a chance to show off to us. Now, they are finally here!


    "Twenty-four years old and already at the Middle Dharma stage. This disciple of theirs is very talented. But now, our Lightning Sword Sect also has a Middle Dharma adept who is only twenty-four years old!"


    He Jin was referring to Zhou Donghuang.


    For the past few centuries, besides Zhou Donghuang, the youngest Middle Dharma adept in the Lightning Sword Sect had been twenty-five years old.


    He Jin said to He Mengxi, "Daughter, you rarely leave your room. Why don''t you follow me to Lightning Peak to watch the fun?"


    The two of them left Autumn Valley and made their way together toward Lightning Peak.

 246 Unfriendly Intentions

    The Thunder Knife Sect originated from the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Six thousand years ago, there was internal strife within the Lightning Sword Sect. One of the guardians of the Lightning Sword Sect, after attaining the Divine Transformation stage, took a group of elders and disciples with him and left the Lightning Sword Sect to form his own sect, becoming the founder of the Thunder Knife Sect.


    The Thunder Knife Sect had its own technique, the "Thunder Knife Technique," which was practically the same as the "Lightning Sword Technique" of the Lightning Sword Sect, with the only difference being the weapon that was used.


    The guardian, elders and disciples who left the Lightning Sword Sect changed to using the knife instead of the sword in order to distinguish themselves from the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Since then, the planet gained a new strong sect, the Thunder Knife Sect.


    The founders of the Thunder Knife Sect, after leaving the Lightning Sword Sect, somehow discovered the secret of a treacherous land found on the planet, where they found a quarry of superior spirit stones.


    A superior spirit stone quarry was the foundation for a formidable force in the Hengliu galaxy!


    After gaining control of the superior spirit stone quarry, the Thunder Knife Sect developed itself for thousands of years and became a sect that was powerful enough to challenge the Lightning Sword Sect.


    The Thunder Knife Sect was considered among the superior sects in the Hengliu galaxy.


    Because it originated from the Lightning Sword Sect, the Thunder Knife Sect was always determined to rid itself of the shadow of the Lightning Sword Sect, so they loved to compete with the Lightning Sword Sect at any opportunity.


    This time, the Thunder Knife Sect had gained a new disciple who was a martial talent, and they had brought him to the Lightning Sword Sect to show off.


    The party was led by the chief of the Thunder Knife Sect, Luo Yuanqiu.


    "Luo Yuanqiu, what a rare guest." As the host to the party from the Thunder Knife Sect, the chief of the Lightning Sword Sect personally brought the four chief elders of the Lightning Peak to welcome them.


    The chief of the Lightning Sword Sect was Yu Yucheng, a man who looked just barely over fifty years of age, but was actually more than a thousand years old. He was dressed in a long beige robe, his long white hair tied behind his back, his gray brows straight and fearsome.


    "Haha... Chief Yu, we have not met for over a hundred years." The chief of the Thunder Knife Sect, Luo Yuanqiu, was just like Yu Yucheng in terms of age, from both his appearance and actual age.


    However, as compared to the elegance of Yu Yucheng, he seemed plain and ordinary, like a plump businessman in the city market. With pearls and rubies all over his body and his oversized head, his face seemed to always be covered with a bright smile.


    "Chief Luo."


    "Chief Luo."


    ¡­


    Just then, the chief elders of the Lightning Peak standing behind Yu Yucheng, who were the four leaders of the inner valleys, all stepped forward and greeted Luo Yuanqiu together.


    "My four valley chiefs, we have not met for many years either. You all look as good as ever, while I have aged." Luo Yuanqiu looked at He Jin, Lian Kun and the rest, as he answered with a smile.


    Next, the few old men and the young people behind Luo Yuanqiu also stepped forward and bowed in greeting to Yu Yucheng, the chief of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "These are the elders of our Thunder Knife Sect, while the young people behind them are the upcoming talents in our sect." Luo Yuanqiu introduced the people standing behind him, smiling as he said, "Chief Yu, this time, I had wanted to bring these kids out to relax and train... by sheer coincidence, we ended up near your Lightning Sword Sect."


    Hearing this, He Jin smiled sarcastically. He could already guess what Luo Yuanqiu was about to say next.


    "I had not intended to disturb you, but some of these kids said they wanted to come to the Lightning Sword Sect to see how powerful the talented disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect are... at first I told them: you kids can hardly compare to the talented disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect. Who knew that they could not accept that! In the end, I could not argue against them, so I had no choice but to bring them here to pay you a visit so that they understand that there is always someone stronger than they are. Chief Yu, are we disturbing you?"


    As Luo Yuanqiu spoke, his smile widened as he looked at Yu Yucheng.


    "Of course not." A slight hint of something flashed deep within Yu Yucheng''s eyes, but the smile remained on his face. "I heard that Chief Luo recently accepted an outstanding disciple who is already a mid Dharma adept despite being just twenty-four years old. I wonder... is he here with you this time?" asked Yu Yucheng.


    Luo Yuanqiu laughed. "Chief Yu really has ears everywhere, you even know about me accepting a new disciple recently. Yuzheng, step out and greet Chief Yu."


    Luo Yuanqiu turned slightly and called out, and a young man in black, who looked the youngest in the group, walked out and bowed slightly to Yu Yucheng.


    "Han Yuzheng pays his respects to Chief Yu. I heard from my senior that the Lightning Sword Sect is full of talents who are far more powerful than those of us from the Thunder Knife Sect... Today, Yuzheng and some of my seniors finally got the chance to pay a visit to the Lightning Sword Sect, and we hope to meet the seniors from your great sect."


    Han Yuzheng was dressed in black with a bulky build. His cold face had a handsome expression that seemed to distance him from everybody else.


    Right from the start, he directly challenged the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "Would that be convenient?" Han Yuzheng asked.


    "No problem, of course." At this point, as the chief of the Lightning Sword Sect, Yu Yucheng could not possibly reject this challenge. If he did so, that would be equivalent to admitting that the Lightning Sword Sect was unable to produce any talented disciples capable of defeating the Thunder Knife Sect.


    Furthermore, this Han Yuzheng was naturally talented, at just twenty-five years of age, he was already a mid Dharma adept.


    Regardless of age or the skill of a mid Dharma adept, the Lightning Sword Sect had many mid Dharma adepts who were probably not be weaker than him.


    "In that case, can I trouble Chief Yu to arrange this meeting," continued Han Yuzheng. "These seniors and I are all mid Dharma adepts... we hope that you may arrange any disciples of equivalent skill level to spar with us.


    I heard from my senior that the Lightning Sword Sect has a grand arena that can hold a huge crowd of spectators... we hope to spar with your disciples there."


    Han Yuzheng boldly requested to spar with the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect in the largest arena in the sect.


    In fact, he also declared that he wanted to challenge other mid Dharma adepts in the Lightning Sword Sect.


    The Lightning Sword Sect had a total of six arenas, five of which were smaller and were in the Lightning Peak and each of the four valleys of the inner sect.


    There was one last arena, which was the largest in the Lightning Sword Sect that was located outside of the sect grounds.


    Unlike the other five arenas which were meant only for the use of the core and inner disciples, the largest arena was meant for all disciples of the sect to use, hence its grand size.


    "Looks like that disciple of Luo Yuanqiu is not only naturally talented, but highly skilled as well," on the way back to the Autumn Valley, He Jin remarked to He Mengxi.


    "I noticed that too." He Mengxi nodded. "He is very confident... he must be sure that in the Lightning Sword Sect, there is no mid Dharma adept who can be his match."


    Yu Yucheng, the chief of the Lightning Sword Sect, had agreed to the request of the Thunder Knife Sect disciple, Han Yuzheng, and instructed the four valley chiefs to return to their respective valleys to bring the most outstanding mid Dharma disciples to the arena.


    Yu Yucheng himself led the party from the Thunder Knife Sect to the arena, together with some elders of the Lightning Peak.


    Once the Valley Chiefs returned to their valleys, the news was spread instantly, and everybody in the inner sect now knew that the Thunder Knife Sect had come to challenge their sect.


    "The chief of the Thunder Knife Sect brought some mid Dharma adepts to challenge us? He really thinks he can bully us?"


    "They have unfriendly intentions... I heard that the sect recently took in a twenty-four-year-old mid Dharma adept, and that man is here now. He is definitely formidable, otherwise he would not dare to challenge any disciple of the same level as him in our sect."


    "Hmph! If I had seen this day coming, I would not have tried to rush to attain the late Dharma stage last month!"


    "This time, the Thunder Knife Sect only brought a few mid Dharma adepts, if we do not have any disciples who can defeat them, that would be a huge embarrassment."


    "That Thunder Knife Sect must have brought their strongest mid Dharma adepts here today... they must have ulterior intentions!"


    "They came prepared. But our Lightning Sword Sect has no choice but to take up their challenge."


    ...


    After the news spread in the inner sect, it also spread to the outer sect, and everybody from the elders to the disciples of the outer sect all rushed to the arena.


    The Summer Valley.


    "Lian Can, after being defeated by Zhou Donghuang the last time, you were able to enter the mid Dharma stage with the pressure of Zhou Donghuang, and further honed our Dharma power. Now, although you have just entered the mid Dharma stage, you are as strong as the most outstanding mid Dharma adepts in the Summer Valley. You can say it was a blessing in disguise."


    Lian Kun returned to the Summer Valley and asked the elders to gather the strongest mid Dharma adepts of the Summer Valley. He also looked for Lian Can.


    "Today, the Thunder Knife Sect has unfriendly intentions, if you are able to defeat any of the mid Dharma adepts from the Thunder Knife Sect... I can take the chance to request the chief to allow you to enter the Lightning Peak early to become a core disciple."


    Core disciples of the Lightning Peak were not just Divine Transformation adepts. In the Lightning Sword Sect, a few outstanding adepts had also gotten the chance to enter the Lightning Peak early, becoming core disciples.


    Of course, one had to gain the approval of the chief of the sect.


    "Mentor, I will not let you down!"


    Lian Can clasped his hands tightly together, his eyes shining brightly.


    If he could enter the Lightning Peak early, that would be a huge blessing for him.

 247 Punishment On Behalf of the Cour

    The Autumn Valley.


    Upon returning to the Autumn Valley with He Mengxi, He Jin personally went to the strongest mid Dharma adepts in the Autumn Valley, while he asked He Mengxi to look for Zhou Donghuang.


    Although Zhou Donghuang had not displayed his power since attaining the mid Dharma stage. He Jin was sure that Zhou Donghuang was definitely training in a supreme technique that had allowed him to be as powerful as a mid Dharma adept even when he was just in the early Dharma stage.


    Now that he had attained the mid Dharma stage, he was definitely stronger than ever.


    At the very least, in the Autumn Valley, or even in the Lightning Sword Sect, it would be difficult to find a mid Dharma adept that was his match.


    He Jin did not know that Zhou Donghuang was currently training using the "Way of the Four Supremes," which could only be considered a Primordial Soul technique that only allowed him to train up till the Primordial Soul stage.


    Beyond that, he would need to figure it out a way to train himself further.


    Nonetheless, although the "Way of the Four Supremes" was only a Primordial Soul technique, it was definitely more powerful than the other Deity-grade techniques he had.


    Be it the "Thousand-Star Sword Technique" or the "Fiery Thunder Training Regimen" or the "Manual of Unruffled Sage," none of them were as powerful as the "Way of the Four Supremes" before the Divine Transformation stage.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma power from the "Way of the Four Supremes" was so perfect that he could not make it any better. There was simply no room for improvement!


    As for the Dharma power produced by the other Deity-grade techniques that he knew, they were almost perfect but would require some simple improvements to attain true perfection.


    "Little Brother."


    When He Mengxi finally found Zhou Donghuang, he was in his room producing an elixir. He Jin had recently helped him to find some precious herbs and ingredients, and he had not found the time to use them to produce the elixir yet.


    After a short while that Zhou Donghuang did not respond, He Mengxi was not anxious but waited patiently outside.


    After ten minutes, Zhou Donghuang finished producing his elixir, then pushed open the door and called, "Third Sister, are you looking for me?"


    "Little Brother, Father asked me to look for you so that we can make a trip to the outer sect arena together," explained He Mengxi.


    "Chief is looking for me? Outer sect arena? What is going on?" Zhou Donghuang was perplexed.


    He Mengxi then explained everything that had happened, such that Zhou Donghuang immediately understood the situation.


    "Little Brother, if you manage to save our sect from embarrassment this time, the sect chief will definitely make an exception to allow you to enter the Lightning Peak as a core disciple," continued He Mengxi.


    But now, with the unwavering support of the chief of the Autumn Valley, Zhou Donghuang did not need the benefits that came from being a core disciple.


    As for whether he could become a core disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, he had no interest at all.


    However, since He Jin had asked him to go along, and he was free at the moment, he did not mind taking part in the fun.


    Recently, he had either been practicing or producing elixirs, and had not left the Autumn Valley in a long while, so it would be good for him to relax as well.


    "Third Sister, you told Chief that I had attained the mid Dharma stage?"


    Zhou Donghuang could easily guess this because He Mengxi was the only one who knew that he had attained the mid Dharma stage.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang had four beast Dharmas within him, and only the white tiger had managed to attain the mid Dharma stage, while the other three Dharmas were still in the early Dharma stage.


    Based on the strict guidelines of the "Way of the Four Supremes," Zhou Donghuang was only really considered a mid Dharma adept if all four of his Dharma energies attained the mid Dharma stage.


    He had chosen to let his white tiger attain it first because the white tiger had the function of blinding eyes and deafening ears. Otherwise, once the green dragon or peacock Dharmas appeared, anybody would be able to guess that the technique that he was training in was no simple one. While the turtle Dharma had the same function, it was more for defense and was not as helpful for his current purposes.


    "Mm," nodded He Mengxi. "Little Brother, it isn''t convenient for me to participate... otherwise, we would not need you to help, for I could easily defeat that Han Yuzheng of the Thunder Knife Sect!"


    Although He Mengxi had yet to spar with anyone since attaining the mid Dharma stage, she could sense that she was powerful.


    Once her almost-perfect Dharma sword appeared, even the strongest mid Dharma adepts in the Autumn Valley would not be able to take more than three blows from her.


    Since converting to the "Thousand-Star Sword Technique," He Mengxi''s Dharma sword looked the same, but it was close to perfect. With some time, she could definitely perfect her Dharma power.


    "Third Sister, it is indeed not appropriate for you to participate." Zhou Donghuang nodded. Both He Mengxi or Da Zhuang were well known among the people of the Lightning Sword Sect, so if they suddenly showcased their perfect Dharma power, it would surely cause others to question if they had obtained a new formidable technique.


    At that time, not even He Jin would be able to protect them.


    Be it the "Thousand-Star Sword Technique" or the "Fiery Thunder Training Regimen," as long as they did not cooperate and hand the technique out, it would surely cause the whole Lightning Sword Sect to turn against them.


    "Both you and Da Zhuang, before entering the ultimate Dharma stage, should not showcase your power in front of others... even if you do, you must try to conserve your power," said Zhou Donghuang.


    "My father said the same thing," He Mengxi agreed. Although she was indignant, she knew that both her father and her little brother were thinking for her own good.


    Soon, Zhou Donghuang and He Mengxi met with He Jin.


    Now, behind He Jin, there were three young men who were the top martial artists in the mid Dharma stage in the Autumn Valley.


    A young man dressed in blue with a moderate build and ordinary features frowned at Zhou Donghuang, then his eyes landed on He Mengxi and immediately turned gentle.


    "Sister Mengxi, you must be almost attaining the mid Dharma stage?"


    "Mm." He Mengxi nodded slightly at the young man in blue and did not tell him that she had already attained the mid Dharma stage.


    "Sister Mengxi, I heard from the Valley Chief that the few mid Dharma adepts from the Thunder Knife Sect had unfriendly intentions... Now, I, Wang Cheng, will let them know what it feels like to lose!" continued the young man in blue.


    "Wang Cheng, there is no use talking big now... wait till you have defeated them." As Wang Cheng kept talking, He Mengxi interrupted him impatiently.


    "Sister Mengxi... If I defeat them, will you give me a chance to pursue you?" Wang Cheng did not pay any attention to her impatience, as if he had already gotten used to it, and he continued smiling at He Mengxi.


    "Sure," He Mengxi responded curtly. "But if you do not defeat them... from today on, you had better not cross my path!"


    Wang Cheng was first taken aback, then laughed as he agreed, "Sure!"


    As compared to Wang Cheng''s reaction to He Mengxi, the other two young men appeared more mature, as they did not speak a word.


    "Hebin, Liuji, later at the outer sect arena, please give me a chance and let me spar first... I''ll deal with those punks from the Thunder Knife Sect!" Wang Cheng told the other two young men.


    "Wang Cheng, since the chief of the Thunder Knife Sect dared to bring them here to challenge any mid Dharma adepts of our Lightning Sword Sect, that means that they are not weak at all, so do not look down on them," reminded one of the young men as he glanced at Wang Cheng.


    "Haha... Liuji, you are too careful. They may not be weak, but are we weak? You think too highly of them..." Wang Cheng remarked loosely.


    "Shut up!" Wang Cheng''s incessant chatter finally made Zhou Donghuang lose his cool, as he let out a low growl and interrupted Wang Cheng.


    Instantly, Wang Cheng''s expression darkened as he glared at Zhou Donghuang. He had wanted to retort angrily, but heard He Jin suddenly call out, "Wang Cheng, keep quiet."


    Since the chief of the Autumn Valley had spoken, Wang Cheng did not dare to speak any further, but his gaze was vengeful and angry as he glared at Zhou Donghuang.


    He had always been jealous that He Mengxi was so close to Zhou Donghuang, and now that Zhou Donghuang had offended him, he was so furious that he could not contain his anger!


    "Zhou Donghuang, you''d better not let me find the chance... otherwise, I will definitely kill you!" Wang Cheng cursed silently as he stared at Zhou Donghuang murderously.


    In this moment, Zhou Donghuang felt like there were a pair of eyes fixed on him. He turned his head slightly and met Wang Cheng''s eyes, then laughed coldly as he said, "Why? You... want to kill me?"


    "Hmph!" Wang Cheng snorted coldly, his icy cold voice made one''s hair rise. Clearly, he was agreeing with Zhou Donghuang''s words.


    "What?" This time, He Jin turned around and happened to see the murderous glint in Wang Cheng''s eyes as he stared at Zhou Donghuang. His face darkened immediately.


    Instantly, He Jin glared at him as he raised his hand, and an invisible force was built up in the air which transformed into thousands of visible sparks of light, like the countless stars in the midnight sky.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    ...


    As the sparks of light surrounded Wang Cheng from all directions, like the countless stars in the galaxy, Wang Cheng''s expression suddenly changed. Before he could react, the sparks of light drowned Wang Cheng.


    As the sparks of light disappeared, a storm of blood dissipated in the air, leaving a single space ring that floated to the ground.


    Instantly, a man had disappeared into thin air.


    Died without a trace!


    "Wang Cheng, disciple of the Autumn Valley, had intended to kill someone of his own sect. As the chief of the Autumn Valley, I helped the court to punish him, to get rid of this piece of trash!" declared He Jin after he had killed Wang Cheng.


    Present there, besides Zhou Donghuang and He Mengxi, were just Liuji and Hebin, and He Jin''s words were clearly directed towards them.


    Liuji and Hebin only recovered from their shock of Wang Cheng''s death after hearing He Jin''s words. They felt their body turn stone cold as a gush of cold wind rose from their feet towards their head, turning the skin of the scalp numb.

 248 Lian Cans Outcome

    Just because of one word from the new disciple who had entered the Autumn Valley just half a year ago, Zhou Donghuang, and the cold response of Wang Cheng made their Valley Head execute him on the spot?


    In fact, he had even declared that he was acting on behalf of the court!


    As the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin had the power and authority to do so, but he had never made use of this authority and had always presented himself as a kind and approachable Valley Head.


    Even when Wang Cheng implied something about his daughter, He Mengxi, He Jin had not reacted at all.


    But now, he had killed Wang Cheng without a second thought because of Zhou Donghuang!


    Be it Liuji or Hebin, all looked at Zhou Donghuang with a fearful gaze.


    Although they did not know why their Valley Head had acted in this manner because of Zhou Donghuang, it was clear that Zhou Donghuang was not someone they could offend.


    "Donghuang, are you pleased with how I handled it?" He Jin asked Zhou Donghuang with a smile, his expression kind and affable. If they had not witnessed the man kill Wang Cheng with their own eyes, Liuji and Hebin would have thought that this was a totally different person.


    "Thank you, Valley Head." Zhou Donghuang nodded with a smile.


    "Let''s go to the outer sect arena," He Jin called as he led Zhou Donghuang, He Mengxi and the other two disciples towards the outer sect area. Throughout the journey, the party was silent as Liuji and Hebin were even afraid to breathe too loudly.


    He Jin''s courtesy towards Zhou Donghuang had far exceeded their expectations.


    They could hardly imagine why their Valley Head had treated Zhou Donghuang in such a manner.


    Even if he were the illegitimate son of the Valley Head, there was no need for the Valley Head to treat him like that.


    "The Autumn Valley Head is here!"


    Once Zhou Donghuang and the party arrived outside the outer sect area, many outer sect disciples had already recognized He Jin at the head of the party and called out excitedly.


    "Now, all four Valley Heads have brought their disciples here... looks like the battle between the mid Dharma adepts of our Lightning Sword Sect and the Thunder Knife Sect is about to begin."


    "Hmph! Those people from the Thunder Knife Sect are too arrogant, how dare they challenge our Lightning Sword Sect! We have many talents of our own!"


    "The Thunder Knife Sect have unfriendly intentions; we should not underestimate them."


    ...


    Now, among the group of Lightning Sword Sect elders and disciples who had gathered in the outer sect arena, some were filled with confidence while others were somewhat fearful of the challengers from the Thunder Knife Sect.


    "Zhou Donghuang, what a rare sight, I did not expect to see you here... I looked for you many times, but you were always training behind closed doors."


    This young man was none other than the only son of the Spring Valley Head, Liu Lang, and a renowned rich playboy in the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Liu Lang floated in mid-air, a faint golden glow enveloping his body. Clearly, he was still in the ultimate Primal Core stage and had yet to reach the Dharma stage.


    "You were looking for me? What''s the matter?" Zhou Donghuang glanced at Liu Lang. He was not familiar with Liu Lang. Previously, Liu Lang had bugged him to produce some fake goods for him to sell, and because he happened to be free, he had passed the fake goods to Liu Lang for him to sell.


    Then, Liu Lang had successfully sold all the fake goods to elders of the Summer Valley with surprising efficiency.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang did not think that he owed Liu Lang a favor because of that because Liu Lang had done that for his own pleasure.


    They were simply making use of each other.


    "Do I need a reason to look for you?" Liu Lang looked at Zhou Donghuang as he bemoaned. He smiled and said, "Wouldn''t you consider me a friend, at least?"


    Liu Lang himself did not know why he had such a fondness towards Zhou Donghuang, who treated him so coldly, when he did not even pay any attention to others who crowded around him and tried to get into his good books.


    He not only thought that it was interesting that Zhou Donghuang knew how to forge fake goods, but also respected Zhou Donghuang deeply for defeating the Summer Valley disciple Lian Can just after reaching the Dharma stage.


    "Friend?" Zhou Donghuang shook his head and said, "Master Liu, a friend like you, I am not worthy of calling you a friend. If there is nothing else between us, let us part ways."


    Zhou Donghuang had heard all about the playboy stories of Liu Lang. He did not think highly of him at all and did not wish to associate himself with such a person.


    "Zhou Donghuang, you are really even crazier than me, even more arrogant..." Liu Lang''s eyes flashed as he declared seriously. "But, I believe, sooner or later, you will take me as your friend!"


    Liu Lang stared at Zhou Donghuang for a moment, then turned and left.


    However, Zhou Donghuang pretended not to have heard Liu Lang''s words.


    "Little Brother, that Liu Lang is always very proud and looks down on everyone... who would''ve thought that he would come up and try to befriend you, only to be rejected." He Mengxi laughed.


    "Without his father, he is nothing," Zhou Donghuang replied flatly.


    "Actually, you can''t say that... if not for you, he would be the youngest to reach the ultimate Primal Core stage in the Lightning Sword Sect in the last hundred years," He Mengxi shook her head and said. "He is a year younger than you, but has already reached the ultimate Primal Core stage and has been a Golden Essence adept for two years. Although he is a playboy, he still has remarkable martial art talent."


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang''s eyes flash, but not respond, He Mengxi did not continue talking about Liu Lang and changed the topic.


    "That man there is the Valley Head of our Lightning Sword Sect, Yu Yucheng." He Mengxi looked at the Valley Head of the Lightning Sword Sect and introduced Yu Yucheng to Zhou Donghuang.


    "The man in front of Liu Lang is his father, the Spring Valley Head, Liu Fengao." After introducing Yu Yucheng, He Mengxi introduced the other three Valley Heads of the inner sect valleys to Zhou Donghuang. The other three Valley Heads had already arrived at the outer sect arena before them.


    "That is the Summer Valley Head, Lian Kun. That day, when you went to the Summer Valley, although you had heard his voice, you didn''t see him... eh? I can''t believe Lian Can is here."


    "That is the Winter Valley Head, Leng Qianqiu."


    Liu Fengao, the Spring Valley Head, stood in front of Liu Lang, his body of a moderate build and his features gentle. He was in a grey robe, dressed just like a middle-aged scholar.


    Lian Kun, the Summer Valley Head, had a short stature, but his eyes were bright and shining, and it was easy to tell with a glance that he was not one to offend.


    Leng Qianqiu, the Winter Valley Head, had a large build, his face straight and serious. He was dressed in a pure-white robe like Zhou Donghuang, exuding an air of coldness as he stood there.


    The men all looked middle-aged.


    "That is the Head of the Thunder Knife Sect, Luo Yuanqiu." After introducing all the other four Valley Heads of the inner sect, He Mengxi continued to introduce the man who was in mid-air, right in the center of the group of people.


    Luo Yuanqiu, Head of the Thunder Knife Sect, was floating in mid-air with a few other elders of the Thunder Knife Sect, as well as some young men and women.


    "Valley Head Yu, that should be all?"


    Luo Yuanqiu smiled brightly as he looked towards Yu Yucheng, the Head of the Lightning Sword Sect, as he asked, "Now, can we begin?"


    "Of course." Yu Yucheng nodded. "You are the guest, so please allow your disciples of the Thunder Knife Sect to take the stage first."


    "Haha... great! Valley Head Yu is indeed decisive!"


    Luo Yuanqiu laughed, then turned his head slightly and called, "Xie Yun."


    With that, a tall young man dressed in a grey robe stepped forward out of the group of young men and women.


    Instantly, he glided to the center of the huge arena.


    "Xie Yun, inner sect disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect, mid Dharma adept, challenges any disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect of the same skill level."


    Xie Yun stood on the stage, his voice filled with inner Yuan as it was broadcast around the vast arena.


    Almost immediately, a huge bloke with a mustache flew into the arena and stood opposite him.


    "I am Zhang Kun, outer sect disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, mid Dharma adept, here to learn from the talented disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect."


    "Zhang Kun, destroy him!"


    "Come on, Zhang Kun!"


    ...


    A group of outer sect disciples excitedly called out to Zhang Kun. Each of them looked crazed, as if the one who had just entered the arena was themselves, and not Zhang Kun.


    "That Zhang Kun is unrivaled among mid Dharma adepts in the outer sect... but within the inner sect, there are many who are much stronger than him." He Mengxi''s voice rang beside Zhou Donghuang''s ear.


    "Even that Wang Cheng, who my father just executed, is equally powerful as Zhang Kun."


    "Liuji and Hebin are slightly stronger than both of them."


    Just as she spoke, Zhang Kun of the outer sect had already made the first move. A thirty-meter-tall massive palm of Dharma power appeared, rushing downwards towards Xie Yun, the inner sect disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect, like a huge mountain falling on him.


    Faced with the huge palm of Dharma power rushing down towards him, Xie Yun''s eyes turned serious, but he did not hide just as many of the onlookers had guessed.


    Whoosh!!


    A thirty-meter tall knife of Dharma power appeared and rushed towards the massive palm in the skies above Xie Yun.


    After a long struggle, the palm was sliced in half by the huge knife, and the thick inner Yuan that had formed the massive palm dissipated with the wind.


    "Oh..." After his Dharma power had been destroyed, faced with the rebound of his inner Yuan, Zhang Kun spit out a mouthful of blood as his body crumbled.


    Although he could still produce another attack, the chances of victory were slim with his current state.


    "The talented disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect are only this powerful?" Xie Yun laughed sarcastically.


    "You..." Zhang Kun was enraged, his face turning red. The massive palm of Dharma power appeared once again above him, but it was much fainter than before.


    "You are not his match, back down."


    Just then, a loud voice rang out, as a figure descended from mid-air to stand in front of Zhang Kun.


    Shockingly, it was a young man.


    "Lian Can?"


    He Mengxi looked in shock at the young man who had just entered the arena. "He has already reached the mid Dharma stage? However, although his Dharma power was polished well, he only just reached the mid Dharma stage, so he should only be as powerful as Zhang Kun... if he has the guts to enter the stage, his Dharma power must be more powerful than it used to be."

 249 Core Disciple

    "Lian Can?"


    "It''s the disciple of Summer Valley Head Lian Can!"


    "This Lian Can, wasn''t he just an early Dharma adept? Did he have a breakthrough?"


    ...


    The arrival of Lian Can surprised many people. This was a familiar face for everybody from the inner sect and the outer sect.


    The rumor a few months ago that Lian Can had been defeated by a disciple of the Autumn Valley who had just entered the Dharma stage had done nothing to change their impression of Lian Can''s ability.


    If Lian Can had reached the mid Dharma stage, he was definitely no weaker than Zhang Kun.


    Furthermore, having just witnessed Zhang Kun being defeated with a single blow of the knife, and still daring to enter the arena, this meant that Lian Can was confident in his abilities.


    "Brother Lian, your son, Lian Can, should have only recently reached the mid Dharma stage? Can he win?" Liu Fengao, the Spring Valley Head, turned to Lian Kun, the Summer Valley Head, and asked.


    "Just wait and see," Lian Kun smiled as he answered.


    "Looks like Brother Lian is confident in your son, Lian Can."


    Liu Fengao looked at Lian Kun, then turned his attention back to the stage. By this time, Lian Can had already begun sparring with Xie Yu, the disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect.


    Boom!


    Boom!


    ...


    Lian Can''s thirty-meter-tall palm of Dharma power dropped down on Xie Yu like a gigantic mountain compressing him, dominant and oppressive.


    Wham! Wham! Wham!


    ...


    Xie Yu''s huge knife of Dharma power appeared like a ghost figure, as it stitched itself into a web of knives. In that moment, it was difficult to differentiate between the abilities of the two.


    "Lian Can''s strength has increased this much?"


    The scene before her left He Mengxi in serious shock. She was certain that if she had not converted to the "Thousand-Star Sword Technique," even if she had reached the mid-Dharma stage, she would be no match for Lian Can.


    Lian Can''s Dharma power had not only reached the mid-Dharma stage, but he had also polished many of the slight imperfections within it.


    "Lian Can''s progress is simply incredible." He Mengxi was in disbelief.


    At this point, Zhou Donghuang also could not help but reveal the surprise in his eyes. He had not expected Lian Can to improve so much in such a short time.


    Not only had he improved in terms of his level of skill, but his Dharma power had improved as well.


    "Lian Kun, your son is good. He just reached the mid-Dharma stage but is already so strong; he has great prospects ahead."


    Yu Yucheng, the leader of the Lightning Sword Sect, looked at Lian Kun. He did not hold back on his words of praise, as he promised, "If he wins this round, I will grant him special permission to enter the Lightning Peak early to become a core disciple."


    At the same time, Lian Kun''s eyes were hopeful as he watched Lian Can on stage. "Lian Can, come on."


    At this moment, the Thunder Knife Sect disciple, Han Yuzheng, seemed to mutter impatiently, "Xie Yu, stop playing around."


    "Haha... alright, Brother Yuzheng!"


    Hearing Han Yuzheng, Xie Yu laughed as his giant knife suddenly radiated with light as it overpowered Lian Can''s massive palm.


    Then, he seemed to turn into a flash and appeared behind Lian Can before he could even react. With a slight push of his hand, he pushed Lian Can out.


    "Ugh..." A mouthful of fresh blood gushed out of Lian Can''s mouth.


    Lian Can had been defeated.


    "You are not bad, just a little weaker than me."


    Xie Yu looked at Lian Can who had crumpled to the ground, glaring at Xie Yu. He shook his head and laughed. "If you can further perfect your Dharma power, perhaps you can tie with me. Now, you are just too weak."


    Xie Yu''s words made Lian Can''s face turn dark. He had not only lost the battle, but had lost his chance of entering the Lightning Peak early.


    "Lian Can lost?"


    Lian Can''s defeat made the group of elders and disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect turn quiet momentarily. Lian Can''s strength was clear to all of them, and he was surely among the top of the mid Dharma adepts of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    But now, he had been defeated by an inner sect disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect.


    Although they knew that the Thunder Knife Sect had come prepared, those from the Lightning Sword Sect were still unhappy that even someone as strong as Lian Can had been defeated by one of them.


    "I did not expect him to conceal his true strength."


    He Mengxi looked at Xie Yu with surprise. Despite the fact the Xie Yu had been holding back initially, she was still certain that she could easily defeat him based on her current strength.


    The Thousand-Star Sword Technique was a Deity-grade technique, and one of the supreme techniques in the whole universe. The strength that it gave her Dharma power was unbelievable.


    "Liuji, go ahead." He Jin turned around to his Autumn Valley disciple Liuji.


    "Yes," Liuji responded, then flew to the center of the stage.


    "Excluding us... Liuji''s strength is the most powerful among the mid Dharma adepts in the Autumn Valley." He Mengxi pointed out Zhou Donghuang.


    Liuji called out to Xie Yu, "You take a rest, we''ll fight in a little while."


    "No need for that." Xie Yu shook his head. Clearly, he did not think highly of Liuji.


    This enraged Liuji. He struck out right away, displaying his power that was much stronger than Lian Can, and eventually defeated the careless Xie Yu.


    Everybody in the arena could see that if Xie Yu had rested before he had sparred again, even if he could not defeat Liuji, he would at least tie with him.


    At the most crucial moment, Xie Yu hurriedly pulled out an ultimate Dharma spirit weapon, but Liuji had the same spirit weapon and defeated him.


    "Xie Yu, you were too careless, and now you''ve lost."


    Among the group of four teenagers from the Thunder Knife Sect, there were three young men and one young woman. Now, the lady, who had a pretty face and an elegant figure, mocked Xie Yu after he returned.


    "I did not expect this lad to be so much stronger than Lian Can and turn the tables on us." Xie Yu was frustrated. If he had not wasted so much inner Yuan in his battle with Lian Can, he would definitely be able to at least match Liuji''s power.


    "Well done, Liuji!"


    "Liuji is undoubtedly a talent among our Autumn Valley disciples, and he is as powerful as his reputation!"


    ...


    After Liuji defeated Xie Yu, the group of Lightning Sword disciples who had turned silent after Lian Can''s defeat now cheered excitedly.


    "Inner sect disciple of Thunder Knife Sect, Wang Ping."


    Out of the three disciples of the Thunder Knife Sect who had not made their entrance, another young man flew down, a similar huge knife of Dharma power appearing alongside him. He began to spar with Liuji, who was using a massive sword of Dharma power.


    Both of them had not used any Dharma spirit weapons because they had the same weapon, and that would not give them any advantages.


    Just like how Xie Yu had brought out the Dharma spirit weapon just before he had been defeated, it would not change the outcome.


    After many blows, Liuji was finally defeated.


    Wang Ping was slightly stronger than Xie Yu.


    "That Xie Yu, could he be the weakest among the four mid Dharma adepts from the Thunder Knife Sect who are here today?"


    Many Lightning Sword Sect disciples gasped in shock as they speculated.


    In time, it was proven that their guess was correct.


    Wang Ping was calmer than Xie Yu and rested for a short while before he took on his next battle. His next opponent was an inner sect disciple of the Winter Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect, who was stronger than Liuji.


    In the end, the two ended in a draw.


    Wang Ping continued to rest before he took on the next opponent. This was Hu Jian, the disciple of the Spring Valley Head, Liu Fengao. He defeated Wang Pin within ten blows.


    Hu Jian was one of the rare disciples who had been allowed to enter the Lightning Peak even before he reached the Primordial Soul stage.


    "The core disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect is indeed powerful," Wang Ping exclaimed as he backed down.


    At that point, there were only two challengers remaining from the Thunder Knife Sect.


    Even then, the hearts of those of the Lightning Sword Sect were heavy... now, even their core disciple had been defeated.


    If the remaining young man and woman of the Thunder Knife Sect were stronger than the other two who had fought before them, their Lightning Sword Sect would be in a precarious situation.


    Who knew if the next challenger would be able to defeat Hu Jian?


    Hu Jian was widely recognized as the strongest mid Dharma adept in the entire Lightning Sword Sect.


    In fact, before he had become a mid Dharma adept, he had been known as the strongest early Dharma adept in the sect!


    When he was still a Golden Essence adept, he had already begun training his Dharma power, so he was extremely powerful when he just reached the Dharma stage.


    This was the reason why he was allowed to enter the Lightning Peak and become a core disciple while he was still at the Dharma stage.


    "Head Yu, your core disciple is indeed very powerful... is there anyone stronger than him among the mid Dharma adepts of your Lightning Sword Sect?"


    Although two of his fighters from the Thunder Knife Sect had been defeated, Luo Yuanqiu, the Thunder Knife Sect still looked happy and relaxed as he asked Yu Yucheng this, the Lightning Sword Sect leader, with a smile.


    "Head Luo, looks like you are very confident in your remaining two disciples," Yu Yucheng turned to Luo Yuanqiu as he replied.


    He sighed quietly to himself as he realized that he had underestimated the Thunder Knife Sect, and he had not expected them to have so many strong mid Dharma adepts.


    Hu Jian was indeed the last hope of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "Brother Hu Jian, if you defeat the two from the Thunder Knife Sect, I''ll introduce you to some beautiful ladies later!" Liu Lang shook his fist as he shouted at Hu Jian.


    "Haven''t you always admired me and wanted to find a beautiful partner for yourself? As long as you defeat those two from the Thunder Knife Sect, I''ll find one for you!"


    Liu Lang''s words broke the serious atmosphere in the arena, making many elders and disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect break into laughter.


    "You little brat, get lost!"


    Liu Fengao, the Spring Valley Head, glared at Liu Lang, but his voice was gentle with no hint of anger. It was clear to all how forgiving he was of his only son, Liu Lang.


    "Little Brother, look how calm the Thunder Knife Sect leader is... Brother Hu Jian might be in danger."


    He Mengxi frowned. "What a pity that I cannot take part... otherwise, no matter how strong those two from the Thunder Knife Sect are, as long as they are mid Dharma adepts, I could definitely defeat them easily!"

 250 No More Than Three Moves

    "Would the Thunder Knife Sect suggest something like this if they were not extremely confident?"


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a smile after he heard what He Mengxi said.


    Before he arrived, He Mengxi had told him the details of what had happened. He knew that what was unfolding before him was the suggestion of somebody from the Thunder Knife Sect.


    If they were not confident, why would they suggest something like this?


    If things were going as planned, then the four from the Thunder Knife Sect who had come down this time were undeniably the sect''s four strongest adepts who were at the mid Dharma stage.


    "Cheng Yanyang, core disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect."


    There were still two people from the Thunder Knife Sect who had not yet stepped forward. Of the pair, the young lady stepped forward as the crowd watched. She descended, her robes billowing softly in the wind like butterflies. There was something curiously enchanting about her every move.


    The moment she opened her mouth to speak, the crowd was instantly frightened.


    The Thunder Knife Sect originated from the Lightning Sword Sect, so whatever was going on in that sect was essentially just a replication of what the Lightning Sword Sect had going on.


    For example, the Lightning Sword Sect had five external halls and four internal valleys. The Thunder Knife Sect did, too.


    The Lightning Sword Sect had the Lightning Peak. The Thunder Knife Sect had the Thunder Palace.


    The assessment criteria for the core disciples of the Thunder Knife Sect were also aligned to those of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    The Cheng Yanyang lady standing right in front of them now was a core disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect, but she was also an adept at the mid Dharma stage. This was testament to the fact that she was not necessarily any less competent than core disciple Hu Jian of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "A female disciple? A core disciple who''s at the mid Dharma stage?"


    The higher-ups of the Lightning Sword Sect, who were under the leadership of Sect Leader Yu Yucheng, looked towards Thunder Knife Sect Leader Luo Yuanqiu, only to find that the smile on Luo Yuanqiu''s face seemed to be growing more and more radiant, as if in appraisal of the female disciple.


    "Sect Leader Luo."


    At this time, Autumn Valley Lord Lian Kun looked at Luo Yuanqiu and asked curiously, "Of Thunder Knife Sect adepts who are at the mid Dharma stage, who is stronger, this female core disciple or the one you''ve recently accepted?"


    As Lian Kun spoke, his gaze subconsciously shifted to Han Yuzheng who had been standing behind Luo Yuanqiu.


    "Haha¡­"


    Luo Yuanqiu chuckled as he said, "That girl Cheng Yanyang, she will lose within three moves when she goes up against Yuzheng."


    Lian Kun''s eyes constricted when he heard what Luo Yuanqiu said. Lian Can, who had since returned to his side, was also so frightened that his face paled.


    In the next second, the crowd''s gaze turned once again towards the Thunder Knife Sect core disciple, Cheng Yanyang, and everyone become a little more somber.


    "Please."


    After Cheng Yanyang''s feet touched the ground, Hu Jian nodded at her.


    He did not let his guard down just because the opponent standing right in front of him now was a woman. He knew that it was equally difficult for one to become a core disciple in the Thunder Knife Sect before one reached the Primordial Soul stage just as it was in the Lightning Sword Sect.


    The lower your training level, the more difficult a feat it was.


    It was more difficult at the late Dharma stage than it was at the ultimate Dharma stage, and it was even more difficult at the mid Dharma stage than it was at the late Dharma stage!


    He was, to date, the only disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect who was at the mid Dharma stage. This was proof enough of how difficult for a Lightning Sword Sect disciple to become a core disciple while they were at the mid Dharma stage.


    The only exception was if one were extremely lucky and landed themselves in a unique situation, like the situation that had unfolded earlier.


    The Lightning Sword Sect Leader had promised that the Summer Valley disciple, Lian Can could move to the Lightning Peak ahead of time to become a core disciple as long as he could defeat the Thunder Knife Sect inner disciple.


    If Lian Can won, he could become the Lightning Sword Sect''s second core disciple who was at the mid Dharma stage.


    The thing was, he had failed.


    Of course, the fact that he even had this opportunity at all after landing in such a situation was due to luck, but it was also mostly due to the fact that he was the foster son of the Summer Valley Lord, Lian Kun.


    If he were any regular Summer Valley disciple, there was no way the Lightning Sword Sect leader would have made such a promise.


    "I''m not one to strike while my opponent''s still down, so you can take some time to heal," Cheng Yanyang said.


    "I didn''t expend a lot so it''s not going to affect much." Hu Jian shook his head.


    "Just heal. I don''t want to be condemned," Cheng Yanyang said again.


    Hu Jian, hearing what she said, could do little but to sit with his legs crossed. He took out a high-quality spirit stone, absorbing its inner Yuan to recover the Dharma power in his body that he had expended.


    After a few breaths, he was done healing. He stood up immediately. "All done."


    "Please."


    Cheng Yanyang had obviously wanted for Hu Jian to make the first move.


    Hu Jian, on the other hand, did not want to be careless. Since she was offering to have him make the first move, he made no move to decline the offer. After all, this was on the home court of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    If he handed the right over to her only to lose, he would have killed the Lightning Sword Sect''s last hope.


    Of course, he was only having such thoughts because he did not hear what the Thunder Knife Sect leader, Luo Yuanqiu, had said to the Lightning Sword Sect''s Summer Valley Lord, Lian Kun.


    Within the Thunder Knife Sect, the strongest mid Dharma adept was not Cheng Yanyang¡­ It was the mid Dharma adept who was only 24 years old, Han Yuzheng!


    Whew!


    Hu Jian''s Dharma power manifested in the form of a huge blade ten-meters long. It followed behind him as he flew at full speed, charging towards Cheng Yanyang.


    Buzz!!


    In the face of Hu Jian who had taken the initiative to strike first, Cheng Yanyang''s Dharma power manifested in response. Similarly, she summoned a giant sword that was ten-meters tall. The giant blade cut through the air and faced Hu Jian head on.


    The two of them were both core disciples, one from the Lightning Sword Sect and the other from the Thunder Knife Sect.


    They were the very embodiment of the standard of a mid Dharma core disciple within their respective sects.


    Under the gaze of the crowd that was looking on, Hu Jian and Cheng Yanyang exchanged blows. In the blink of an eye, they had already exchanged more than 10 blows, then 20, and then 30¡­


    After 100 moves, there was still no victor.


    Two hundred moves later, they were still evenly matched.


    The two of them separated silently.


    "Seems like it''s another draw," He Mengxi turned to Zhou Donghuang and said.


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded as he squinted lazily. He thought that the two people who were crossing blows in front of him were absolutely boring. If it were not for the fact that He Jin had intentionally asked for him to be here to watch the match, he would have left a long time ago.


    He would have gone back to sleep, which was much better than staying here.


    "What do you say to calling this match a draw?" Cheng Yanyang looked to Hu Jian to ask, admiration obvious in her gaze.


    The core disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect were not too shabby after all.


    "Mm." Hu Jian nodded, somewhat helplessly. He had already put his best foot forward in this match but was still not able to best the other.


    Though his opponent was a woman, she was undeniably strong, not the least bit weaker than him.


    "I never would have expected that the core disciples of your sect would be this outstanding, Sect Leader Yu."


    Luo Yuanqiu looked at Yu Yucheng and exclaimed with a sigh, "I had initially thought that Cheng Yanyang would be able to beat Hu Jian. To think that he had been hiding his true abilities."


    Indeed, what Hu Jian had displayed just now was much, much stronger than what he had shown in the match before.


    Clearly, that inner disciple from the Thunder Knife Sect had never forced him to put his all into a fight before.


    "You really came prepared this time, Sect Leader Luo," Yu Yucheng said bitterly with a laugh.


    Even Hu Jian had lost¡ªhe felt that the Lightning Sword Sect had lost today.


    The showdown today was just as much as one between the Lightning Sword Sect and the Thunder Knife Sect as it was one between mid Dharma adepts. There was no way the Lightning Sword Sect could send a disciple who was at least at the late Dharma stage to take part in this.


    "Maybe there are other mid Dharma adepts who are stronger than you in your sect?"


    After the two of them had tied, Cheng Yanyang looked to Hu Jian to say, "For example, there might be other mid Dharma core disciples in your sect?"


    Cheng Yanyang was sitting cross-legged as she spoke, absorbing the energy from the spirit stones to recover her inner Yuan. Her eyes were gleaming in challenge.


    "I am the only mid Dharma core disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect," Hu Jian said with a shake of his head.


    He followed up hurriedly, "Since we''ve tied in this fight, we can conclude this round as a draw."


    "No." Cheng Yanyang shook her head.


    "No?" Hu Jian frowned. "You don''t wish to continue, do you?"


    On a subconscious level, Hu Jian felt that the lady before him was probably the strongest mid Dharma adept the Thunder Knife Sect had, because it was difficult for him to imagine they would have a mid Dharma adept stronger than her.


    Now, there was only one mid Dharma adept from the Thunder Knife Sect that had not appeared, and that was Han Yuzheng.


    The thing was, Han Yuzheng was only 24 years old this year. Even if he was at the mid Dharma stage, the tempering of his Dharma power was definitely not going to be crude.


    Focus was imperative. It was natural that Dharma adepts temporarily cease the tempering of their Dharma power when they chose to focus on advancement instead.


    "You think I''m the strongest mid Dharma adept in the Thunder Knife Sect?" Cheng Yanyang countered with her own question, her tone especially playful.


    "Are you not?" Hu Jian''s eyes constricted. His chest filled with an ominous feeling.


    "The strongest mid Dharma adept in the Thunder Knife Sect is not me but Junior Brother Yuzheng¡­ I''d go as far as to say that I can''t last more than three moves when I spar with him," Cheng Yanyang said.


    The spacious outdoor martial arts arena was quiet now, save for the sounds of Cheng Yanyang and Hu Jian speaking. As soon as she spoke, the space fell deadly silent.


    The silence passed and the crowd was, unsurprisingly, in an uproar.


    "This core disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect is not the strongest mid Dharma adept of her sect?"


    "She said that she could not last more than three moves when she went up against the strongest mid Dharma adept of the Thunder Knife Sect? Is she for real? Isn''t she stretching it too far?"


    "If what she says turns out to be true, then the Thunder Knife Sect really did come prepared this time. They came with the intention to ruin us!"


    ¡­


    The league of elders and disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect who were present looked disconcerted, whether they were from outside or inside the sect, or whether they were from the Lightning Peak.


    "Are you serious?" Hu Jian asked, face pale.


    "If you don''t believe me, you can test it for yourself after you regain a bit of your inner Yuan," Cheng Yanyang said with a shake of her head.


    Almost at the same time as she spoke, the young man who was standing behind Thunder Knife Sect Leader Luo Yuanqiu morphed into a bolt of thunder as black as the robes on his body, cutting through the air and reappearing.


    In the blink of an eye, he appeared right beside Cheng Yanyang. He looked towards Hu Jian, eyes coloring with scorn and disdain, then spoke in a chilly tone, "I''ll wait until you''re done healing."

 251 Is There No One Else From the Lightning Sword Sect?

    "Han Yuzheng!"


    Hu Jian cast a fearful glance at Han Yuzheng, then sat down with his legs crossed and fished out some spirit stones to continue replenishing the inner Yuan he had expended.


    He had used up more inner Yuan this time, so the recovery period was longer.


    It took him a full thirty minutes before he finally recovered.


    During the time he was healing, the people from the Lighting Sword Sect who were present all knew that the Thunder Knife Sect disciple who was there was Han Yuzheng. He was the genius that the Tielao planet had not seen in a century and was only 24 years old this year, but he was already a mid Dharma adept.


    "A mid Dharma adept who''s only 24 probably spent all his time on training, right? How powerful can his Dharma power possibly be?"


    Quite a number of the Lightning Sword Sect people were suspicious of this.


    Of course, there were more people who were calm. "For this Han Yuzheng to appear now only means that there''s at least an 80% chance that his abilities are not inferior to Cheng Yanyang''s!"


    "Cheng Yanyang had said earlier that she could only go as far as landing three hits when she fought against him!"


    "My God! If what she said is true, which mid Dharma adept from our sect could possibly be a match for Han Yuzheng?"


    ¡­


    Hu Jian had finished healing, and he moved to stand face-to-face with Han Yuzheng. The people from the Lightning Sword Sect who were there could not help but feel apprehensive.


    As for the Lightning Sword Sect leader, Yu Yucheng and several of the higher-ups in the sect, they all sighed quietly. They knew full well that Hu Jian could not possibly be Han Yuzheng''s match.


    Thereafter, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Hu Jian moved to strike first. He struck pre-emptively, and it was a flawless move¡­


    But be that as it may, he still failed.


    Han Yuzheng made a move to block his attack, then made another one in retaliation. Hu Jian was pushed into a disadvantageous position and immediately fell into a dangerous situation.


    His third move sent Hu Jian flying.


    "Oof¡ª"


    Hu Jian flew and fell, spitting blood out his mouth. When he fell to the ground, he was half-kneeling due to the severity of his injuries.


    Hu Jian was looking bad.


    Han Yuzheng, on the other hand, was the complete opposite. He levitated, hovering slightly above the ground. He summoned forth a ten-meter tall umbrella with his Dharma power and opened it, leaving it to spin nonstop.


    The tips of the umbrella ribs at the fringes of the umbrella seemed unnaturally sharp, even for an umbrella conjured up using Dharma power.


    The large umbrella continued spinning. Its form was perfect, and it seemed almost flawless.


    The crowd fell silent.


    After a moment, everyone seemed to come back to their senses. Unsurprisingly, the crowd collectively inhaled sharply.


    "My God! Is he really only 24 years old?"


    "It''s already quite a feat to reach the mid Dharma stage at 24 years old¡­ But the real issue is the fact that his Dharma power is actually so powerful!"


    "Hu Jian is a core disciple with us at the Lightning Sword Sect. He''s 37 this year, and he''s the one we acknowledge to be the top mid Dharma adept in the Lightning Sword Sect¡­ And yet, he could not last longer than three moves against Han Yuzheng."


    "That core disciple from the Thunder Knife Sect Cheng Yanyang, she wasn''t lying."


    "He''s just too strong!"


    "Let''s not even talk about the top sects... Even the two sects in the Hengliu galaxy that have been around the longest are unlikely to have mid Dharma adepts that are his match. His very powers defy the laws of nature."


    ¡­


    At this moment, the people from the Lightning Sword Sect who were present were not in complete despair. Though they were a little dejected, they believed this was expected.


    It was a given for the Lightning Sword Sect to lose in such an exchange of blows, so this was not something that was terribly humiliating for them.


    The Thunder Knife Sect accepting a once-in-a-century martial arts genius from the Tielao planet was something out of the ordinary, and so it was natural that there would be no one in the Lightning Sword Sect who could be a match for him.


    "Sect Leader Luo, the Dharma power of this disciple of yours is already more or less on par with that of the adepts at the ultimate Dharma stage," Yu Yucheng said, looking at Luo Yuanqiu.


    He accepted his defeat in this match.


    He could blame no one but himself for underestimating his opponent''s determination in crushing the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "Haha¡­"


    Luo Yuanqiu laughed heartily. "You flatter us, Sect Leader Yu. It''s really nothing much, nothing much at all.


    "Sect Leader Yu, the Lightning Sword Sect has an extensive and profound history, and it''s not something the Thunder Sword Sect can hope to contend¡­ One can make the presumption that your sect is probably still hiding a mid Dharma adept far more outstanding than what we''ve seen so far."


    Luo Yuanqiu seemed very earnest. "Sect Leader Yu, you don''t have to hold back out of consideration for my reputation, or for that of my sect.


    "Though we are your guests, we can still accept defeat.


    "Call forth the most outstanding mid Dharma adept you have in your ranks to exchange blows with this disciple of mine. You don''t have to worry about knocking him down.


    "What is youth without setbacks, no?"


    Luo Yuanqiu said to him, his lips curling into a derisive smirk. It was obvious that he was mocking Yu Yucheng and the entirety of the Lightning Sword Sect for lacking a mid Dharma adept who could fight against his disciple, Han Yuzheng.


    Yu Yucheng was smiling, but the smile never reached his eyes. "Sect Leader Yu, Hu Jian''s the only core disciple we have at the Lightning Sword Sect who''s at the mid Dharma stage."


    However, Yu Yucheng''s response did little to deter Luo Yuanqiu. He had no intentions of letting the former go so easily. "Don''t try to play dumb with me, Sect Leader Yu, we both know better than this.


    "Don''t think I''m not aware¡­ the mid Dharma adept you''re hiding is not necessarily a core disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "Just like how this disciple of mine, Han Yuzheng, is not a core disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect."


    It had not been long since Han Yuzheng joined the Thunder Knife Sect, but he became a disciple under Sect Leader Luo Yuanqiu the moment he joined, so the title "core disciple" was really nothing more than just a title.


    In the eyes of the Thunder Knife Sect members, Han Yuzheng was every bit of a core disciple!


    Even though he never went for the core disciple assessment, much less pass the assessment¡­


    "That''s enough, Sect Leader Luo."


    Luo Yuanqiu''s continued snarky remarks were aggravating Yu Yucheng. If he took this lying down, there was no telling how much further Luo Yuanqiu would push his luck.


    "Haha¡­ I barely did anything, Sect Leader Yu. Why do you look so angry?"


    Luo Yuanqiu''s smile grew even more radiant.


    At the same time, Han Yuzheng, the core disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect who had struck down Hu Jian, tore his gaze away from his opponent and looked around himself, then said coolly, "Does the Lightning Sword Sect have any mid Dharma adepts willing to come down to spar with me?"


    With this one question of his, the crowd from the Lightning Sword Sect fell yet again into stifling silence.


    Even Hu Jian had lost so badly.


    If anyone else were to go, they would only be in a worse state.


    After all, this was a match solely for mid Dharma adepts.


    Han Yuzheng continued, "I am Han Yuzheng, 24 years old this year¡­ Now you''re no longer restricted to only sending adepts at the same stage.


    "The Lightning Sword Sect can send any disciples down to challenge me, regardless of their stage, as long as they are younger than 30.


    "As long as you can defeat me, we will consider your sect to have won this fight between the Thunder Knife Sect and the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "This is a really good opportunity to take a little revenge for your sect, so don''t let it slip by," Han Yuzheng said, lips curled slightly into a mocking smirk.


    There was not a single person in the Lightning Sword Sect who was younger than thirty but at the late Dharma stage or higher¡­ This was a point he had heard his master mention earlier.


    When they heard his proposition, the people from the Lightning Sword Sect were cursing him.


    This Han Yuzheng, he made it sound so nice.


    Within the Lightning Sword Sect, there were only a few mid Dharma adepts who were less than thirty years old that they could send out to fight. And even then, they were absolutely no match for Hu Jian, not even remotely so.


    If even Hu Jian had lost to Han Yuzheng, the few mid Dharma adepts from the sect would only end up in a worse plight if they were to challenge the latter.


    Han Yuzheng squinted at the Lightning Sword Sect members who were standing still, and the mocking smirk he had on his face seemed all the more prominent. "What, is there no one else from the Lightning Sword Sect?"


    Han Yuzheng''s words were angering and humiliating, not just to the Lightning Sword Sect disciples, but to Sect Leader Yu Yucheng as well. The man''s face seemed to harden at his words.


    Provocation!


    A bold-faced, brazen provocation!


    But no one could refute it.


    It was not like they could tell Han Yuzheng: You''re just a 24-year-old disciple from the Thunder Knife Sect. If you''re really all that, why don''t you challenge someone from our sect who''s over thirty?


    You''re just a mid Dharma adept from the Thunder Knife Sect. If you''re really all that, why don''t you challenge someone from our sect who''s at least at the late Dharma stage?


    These were words they could only keep to themselves no matter how badly they wanted to say them.


    These were words that were as good as a verbal admission of defeat should they ever leave their mouths.


    "Sect Leader Yu, if you really insist on hiding¡­ Well, then, it would be disrespectful of the Thunder Knife Sect to not accept victory for this match," Luo Yuanqiu said to Yu Yucheng with a smile.


    This time, the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin was a step quicker. He spoke before Yu Yucheng could even open his mouth.


    "Sect Leader, since Sect Leader Luo has already mentioned it¡­ There''s no reason why the Lightning Sword Sect should be hiding this any longer."


    "Hm?"


    Yu Yucheng, who had been so angry his blood vessels would burst, was taken aback by He Jin''s words. He looked towards He Jin immediately, confusion as plain as day in his eyes.


    He Jin was undeniably the steadiest of the four valley heads, even if he was not the one with the highest level of practice.


    Just why would the steady Autumn Valley Head say something like this?


    "Donghuang."


    Very soon, Yu Yucheng had his answer when He Jin spoke again.


    Zhou Donghuang, who had been resting with his eyes closed initially, snapped his eyes open and immediately flew through the air with He Jin''s call. He appeared at the scene like a bolt of white thunder, staring apathetically at the haughty young man dressed in black who had a wry smile on his face.

 252 Ignoran

    A young man dressed in white stood in the air, standing face to face with the man who was dressed entirely in black. From a distance, the pair made quite a distinct contrast.


    "You''re also a mid Dharma adept from the Lightning Sword Sect?"


    Han Yuzheng, the young man who was dressed in black, looked at the young man in front of him who was dressed in white. He raised his brows and squinted slightly, the smirk on his lips looking slightly more strained than it did before.


    "Zhou Donghuang, a disciple of the Autumn Valley," Zhou Donghuang said unhurriedly as his eyelids raised sluggishly, and he glanced over at Han Yuzheng casually.


    "An Autumn Valley disciple?"


    Han Yuzheng was shocked at first. The smirk on his lips seemed less forced this time. "Did you not see that a core disciple from your sect had lost to me?


    "You don''t think that you, an inner disciple of the Lighting Sword Sect, could possibly be my match, do you?" Han Yuzheng said with contempt in his eyes and a smirk on his face that seemed to become crueler.


    At the same time, quite a number of Lightning Sect members grew dull after they heard Zhou Donghuang''s self-introduction, but then they reacted.


    "It''s Zhou Donghuang, a disciple of the Autumn Valley! He''s the one who managed to defeat the Summer Valley disciple, Lian Can mere moments after being at the early Dharma stage!"


    "This Zhou Donghuang, he''s only been at the early Dharma stage for a few months. He can''t mean to say that he''s already at the mid Dharma stage?"


    "That''s impossible! How can he possibly make such a leap from the ultimate Primal Core stage to the mid Dharma stage within just a few months?"


    "He can''t possibly be trying to go up against Han Yuzheng with his mid Dharma training, right? Now that I think about it, Zhou Donghuang''s actually younger than Han Yuzheng."


    ¡­


    Naturally, Han Yuzheng heard what the Lightning Sect Members were discussing. "He moved up to the mid Dharma stage a few months ago?"


    "He defeated the Summer Valley disciple Lian Can? That Lightning Sword Sect disciple who lost to Xie Yun?"


    Han Yuzheng remembered that the first inner disciple the Thunder Knife Sect sent down today had once sparred with and subsequently defeated a Lightning Sword Sect disciple by the name of "Lian Can."


    This time, the smirk on his lips was so contemptuous it could not possible become any more so.


    "Valley Head He."


    From up above in the sky, Luo Yuanqiu stared deeply into He Jin''s eyes. "Is it possible that this disciple from your Autumn Valley is stronger than Hu Jian?


    "He doesn''t seem to be any older than my disciple Han Yuzheng."


    He Jin smiled indifferently at Luo Yuanqiu''s words. "He''s only 24 years old this year as well¡­ He''s more or less the same age as this disciple of yours."


    "The same age? Interesting, interesting."


    A 24-year-old inner disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect has the guts to go up against his favored disciple, Han Yuzheng?


    This was basically setting himself up for failure!


    Luo Yuanqiu firmly believed that there was not a single person of Han Yuzheng''s age in the entire Hengliu galaxy, let alone the Tielao planet, who was a match for him.


    "Junior Brother He."


    Lian Can stared suspiciously at Zhou Donghuang who made his way forward. Lian Kun leaned towards He Jin and asked surreptitiously, "This Zhou Donghuang from the Autumn Valley, he hasn''t broken through to the mid Dharma stage yet, has he?"


    Lian Kun knew full well the extent of Zhou Donghuang''s abilities.


    He had barely broken through to the early Dharma stage before he defeated his foster son and disciple Lian Can¡­ The fact of the matter was that, when Lian Can was at the early Dharma stage, there was basically no one in the whole Summer Valley at the same stage who was a match for him.


    However, he still lost pathetically to Zhou Donghuang despite giving the first strike.


    Since that moment, Lian Kun had thought Zhou Donghuang was not merely a simple person.


    He Jin went ahead and had Zhou Donghuang step forward despite the fact that a mid Dharma core disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect had lost to Han Yuzheng, so what did that say about him?


    He Jin was confident about Zhou Donghuang!


    And it was precisely because of this that he asked He Jin if Zhou Donghuang had already moved on to the mid Dharma stage. Although he did not think it was possible, he could not help but ask anyway.


    This was because he felt that Zhou Donghuang had already been strong when he was still at the early Dharma stage, but even then he would only be stronger than the average mid Dharma adept.


    With a mid Dharma adept as outstanding as Han Yuzheng, it was more likely than not that Zhou Donghuang was not his peer.


    Judging solely by the capabilities Han Yuzheng had displayed, not even a late Dharma adept could beat him in battle.


    "Senior Brother Lian, you''ll have your answer if you keep watching, no?"


    He Jin had no direct answer for Lian Kun''s query, save for a mysterious smile that made Lian Kun uneasy as he turned back to look towards the stage.


    ¡­


    "Zhou Donghuang, was it?"


    Han Yuzheng looked at Zhou Donghuang, smiling derisively. "You have to manifest your Dharma power if you want a match with me¡­ Otherwise, I fear you might not even have the chance to manifest it at all."


    It was needless to say, but Han Yuzheng was arrogant.


    Arrogant as he was, even the Lightning Sword Sect members present now could not deny that he had every right to be this arrogant.


    After all, the only mid Dharma adept they had in the Lightning Sword Sect could not last more than three moves with him.


    Zhou Donghuang was unfazed and undisturbed in the face of Han Yuzheng''s arrogance.


    On the other hand, the same could not be said of Han Yuzheng when he heard what the man said.


    "If it were not because my Valley Head had instructed otherwise, I, Zhou Donghuang, have no interest in coming out here to teach someone as ignorant as you a lesson."


    This was what Zhou Donghuang said.


    "You¡­ you''re saying I''m ignorant?"


    The contempt in Han Yuzheng''s eyes was replaced by a cold gleam. When he looked at Zhou Donghuang again, it seemed like his entire face was covered with a layer of frost.


    The mocking smirk he had on his face was replaced with a grim smile.


    "Just that little bit of skill you have from being a mid Dharma disciple, and you think you''re peerless? What are you if not ignorant?" Zhou Donghuang asked with a shake of his head. Right from the beginning up until this moment, his tone had been calm. It was impossible to detect a trace of emotion or inflection from his tone.


    Unlike how calm Zhou Donghuang was, Han Yuzheng was boiling with rage.


    Whoosh!!


    Han Yuzheng''s giant umbrella made another appearance. The ten-meter-tall giant umbrella conjured out of Dharma power was spinning nonstop above his head. From every angle, the umbrella looked perfect and harmonious, as if it had no flaws.


    Of course, this was from the perspective of the audience.


    In the eyes of Zhou Donghuang, there were still two fatal areas in his umbrella, even though there were not many flaws overall. One of the areas was not too bad since it was hidden on the inside, but there was still one flaw that was visible from the outside. No matter how hard Han Yuzheng tried to conceal it, it could not be concealed.


    "Alright! I''m convinced! This Autumn Valley disciple Zhou Donghuang is at least more arrogant if not more competent than Han Yuzheng!"


    "I''d thought that Han Yuzheng was arrogant enough¡­ to think that this guy is even more arrogant. He even kept a straight face through all of that!"


    "In terms of ignorance, Han Yuzheng truly is more ignorant compared to Zhou Donghuang."


    ¡­


    Out of all the Lightning Sword Sect members gathered here today, there was not a single person who thought that Zhou Donghuang was a match for Han Yuzheng. However, now that they had seen Zhou Donghuang completely intimidating Han Yuzheng, they felt a sense of relief wash over them.


    "Zhou Donghuang, you''re saying I''m ignorant¡­"


    Han Yuzheng glared coldly at Zhou Donghuang, and his umbrella spun at a speed even faster than before. "You, an inner disciple from the Lightning Sword Sect calling me ignorant. I really do want to see for myself just what you''re made of."


    Han Yuzheng lunged forward as soon as he said that, his entire being propelled forward by the giant umbrella. Not only was his attacking stance a violent one, even his defensive stance left no gaps for attack.


    Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!


    ¡­


    The umbrella was humming as it continued spinning in the air, much like a spiral blade.


    Han Yuzheng moved to strike first, charging towards Zhou Donghuang under the watchful gaze of the crowd.


    Han Yuzheng was lashing out aggressively this time, his actions fueled by rage. Obviously, there was no way he was holding back this time.


    "I called you ignorant, and you can''t handle it?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s face remained unchanging in the face of Han Yuzheng''s aggressive attack. As he refuted mildly, he conjured a giant tiger with his Dharma power. The king of all beasts took in its surroundings.


    "I''ll consider it your win if you can accept just one of my blows," Zhou Donghuang spoke again. It was not just his bold claim that shocked the crowd, but also the following transformation of his Dharma power.


    The crowd watched as Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma power suddenly fell to cling onto his body, making it seem like his body was alight with a raging flame of inner Yuan.


    The giant tiger was vaguely distinguishable in this inner Yuan fire: like a tiger''s head, a tiger''s body, and a tiger''s tail.


    The Dharma power was, in this instant, perfectly in sync with Zhou Donghuang''s body.


    "Dharmic possession?!"


    The crowd took in the scene that had momentarily stunned them.


    Dharmic possession was something a lot of ultimate Dharma adepts failed to do before they moved to the Primordial Soul stage.


    It was something that required a complete mastery of Dharma power on top of the ability to temper Dharma power well enough that it was essentially perfect. The adept had to also be able to command the power of Dharma as if it were their own limb¡­ Not a single requirement could go unfulfilled.


    Whoosh!!


    Under the gaze of the crowd and in the face of Han Yuzheng charging forth with his giant umbrella, Zhou Donghuang shifted and pounced like a ferocious tiger bounding down a hill. He swung down and, in an instant, a Dharmic phantom in the shape of a tiger''s paw gleamed around his palm, visible but almost not.


    Bang!!


    With a loud boom, Zhou Donghuang''s blow landed on the surface of Han Yuzheng''s umbrella. He had precisely hit one of the fatal flaws in the umbrella.


    This was a flaw that Han Yuzheng had been trying to conceal. To an extent, he had the umbrella spin nonstop in order to conceal this fatal flaw.


    Zhou Donghuang had struck it precisely. The umbrella was not able to withstand the strength of his Dharma power and was smashed to pieces immediately.


    At the same time, a jolt ran through Han Yuzheng''s body. He felt the inner Yuan blow back on him. His face turned red, and he fought against the instinct to spit out blood.


    Crash!!


    Try as he might, the pressure built up suddenly when Zhou Donghuang landed the blow and brushed up against his shoulder. The pressure was so immense that he could hold it in no longer, and he coughed up blood.


    When Zhou Donghuang''s blow brushed Han Yuzheng''s shoulder, his robes tore and split to reveal his arms. There were burn marks visible on the exposed skin, and blood poured from the wound in streams, making for a nasty sight.

 253 Are You Convinced Now?

    This was Zhou Donghuang going easy on the man.


    Otherwise, he could have landed that blow on Han Yuzheng''s head instead and ended his life!


    Even without killing the man, he could beat him completely with just a blow to his shoulder.


    Whoosh!!


    Han Yuzheng was completely terrified after the blow Zhou Donghuang landed on his shoulder. He hurried to convert what inner Yuan he had left, scurrying back to avoid the other man.


    Zhou Donghuang made no move to chase him. He stood rooted to the spot, looking at the other man with a calm face. "There. You satisfied now?"


    Han Yuzheng was back to his senses now. Just the mere thought of what had transpired earlier was enough to scare him so much he broke into a cold sweat.


    He knew full well that the other party had gone easy on him.


    Otherwise, he would have been crippled even if he made it out alive!


    He sucked in a cold breath discreetly, then turned a baleful glare onto Zhou Donghuang. He spoke with a serious look on his face, "One day, I will defeat you!"


    Han Yuzheng thought about it; he was only 24 this year.


    The young man standing in front of him seemed to be even younger than him. Although, there was a possibility that he was older than Han Yuzheng, but he just had a baby face.


    "Is that so?"


    In the face of Han Yuzheng''s vengeful declaration, Zhou Donghuang offered nothing but a mild simple. "Well, then, I''ll be waiting!"


    At this time, the audience finally recovered from their shocked stupor.


    "He won?"


    "Did Zhou Donghuang really take out the Thunder Knife Sect disciple Han Yuzheng with a single blow?"


    "My God! This sort of power is too much, isn''t it?"


    "That technique he used earlier was Dharmic possession, no? From what I know, the current Tielao planet barely has any adepts who are capable of mastering Dharmic possession, even amongst the adepts at the ultimate Dharma stage."


    "And to think we''re harboring such a beast in the Lightning Sword Sect!"


    ¡­


    The people of the Lightning Sword Sect had initially thought that today''s showdown would end in their loss against the Thunder Knife Sect, since the latter was much more prepared than they had been. After all, the only core disciple they had that was at the Dharma stage had already lost.


    They never expected for Autumn Valley disciple, Zhou Donghuang, to make his entrance at the eleventh hour. They also did not expect for him to take down the strongest mid Dharma adept in the Thunder Knife Sect, Han Yuzheng, with a single blow!


    Anyone with good sense could tell from that scene earlier on that that one blow Zhou Donghuang dealt was already him going easy on his opponent. Otherwise, Han Yuzheng would be crippled if not dead!


    He Jin was not surprised when he saw Zhou Donghuang take Han Yuzheng down with a single blow. Now, he was even teasing the Thunder Knife Sect leader, Luo Yuanqiu.


    Luo Yuanqiu was smiling, but it did not reach his eyes. It was obvious that he was being put on the spot.


    After some hesitation, he stared firmly at He Jin before directing his gaze at the Lightning Sword Sect leader Yu Yucheng. "Sect Leader Yu, the Thunder Knife Sect has lost in this showdown.


    "To think the Lightning Sword Sect had been harboring such a talent!


    "I take my leave!" Luo Yuanqiu said, not even bothering with niceties. He announced that he was taking his leave and left with the Thunder Knife Sect members.


    As the people of the Lightning Sword Sect watched Luo Yuanqiu and the bunch take their leave, a sense of fulfillment filled them.


    They watched as the silhouettes of Luo Yuanqiu and the bunch disappeared from their sight. The atmosphere seemed to be charged with excitement yet again. "Haha¡­ That Thunder Knife Sect leader probably never imagined, not even in his wildest dreams, that this would be the outcome of a showdown initiated by the Thunder Knife Sect."


    "I thought we''d lost just now, what with Hu Jian losing and all."


    "Me too."


    "I really didn''t expect for the Autumn Valley to have been hiding a trump card like Zhou Donghuang¡­ Zhou Donghuang''s made his appearance, then demonstrated Dharma power more perfect than Han Yuzheng''s was. He even went as far as demonstrating Dharmic possession and taking Han Yuzheng out with a single blow!"


    "Even the Lightning Sword Sect''s only mid Dharma core disciple, Hu Jian, could not take more than three blows from Han Yuzheng. Han Yuzheng, on the other hand, was wiped out with just one blow from Zhou Donghuang."


    "From today on, the number one mid Dharma adept in the Lightning Sword Sect is no longer Hu Jian¡ªit''s Zhou Donghuang!"


    ¡­


    Let''s say the tale of Zhou Donghuang heading towards the Summer Valley a few months prior and his defeating of the Summer Valley disciple, Lian Can, had been but a small tale.


    The Zhou Donghuang of today, though, had earned a bona fide reputation after helping the Lightning Sword Sect score a victory against the Thunder Knife Sect in that showdown. His name had spread through the whole of the Lightning Sword Sect!


    Today, he had exacted revenge on behalf of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    This incident was reason enough for a majority of the sect to owe Zhou Donghuang a debt of gratitude.


    "Haha¡­"


    After the people from the Thunder Knife Sect took their leave, Yu Yucheng, as the Sect Leader, could not help but burst into raucous laughter. "Delightful, absolutely delightful!


    "That Luo Yuanqiu, he put in all that effort to come all the way here to the Lightning Sword Sect just so he could flaunt that genius of a disciple Han Yuzheng, no? And what became of that? One of our inner disciples of the same age struck him down with a single blow!


    "Poor guy, he''s probably drowning in his own regrets."


    Yu Yucheng looked at He Jin as he laughed. "He Jin, your disciple, Zhou Donghuang, should take all the credit for what happened today! As of today, he''ll be a core disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect."


    Lian Can, who had been standing behind Summer Valley Head Lian Kun, was green with envy as he heard Yu Yucheng''s words. His bitterness was written clearly all over his face.


    He had initially thought that breaking through to the Dharma stage with his own efforts alone and quickly raising his Dharma power would have been enough to redeem himself in front of Zhou Donghuang.


    He did not expect for Zhou Donghuang to have also broken through to the Dharma stage, but it was not just that. Zhou Donghuang had displayed capabilities so advanced that late Dharma adepts, let alone mid Dharma adepts, would be no match for him.


    That Thunder Knife Sect disciple, Han Yuzheng, had abilities that were universally recognized. Not even an adept at the late Dharma stage would claim to be able to strike him down with a single blow.


    But Zhou Donghuang had managed that feat.


    In that instant, Lian Can had felt that the distance between him and Zhou Donghuang was much like a chasm. Just the sheer thought of this gap was enough to make him despair.


    "Junior Brother He, you people from the Autumn Valley bury your secrets well."


    Spring Valley Head Liu Fengao looked at He Jin, praise and admiration written all over his visage. "To think that we had a mid Dharma adept who had such abilities in the Lightning Sword Sect¡­ On top of all of that, you mentioned earlier that he was only 24 years old his year?"


    The surrounding crowd, save for He Mengxi, turned to look at He Jin the moment after Liu Fengao spoke.


    "Mm." He Jin nodded with a smile.


    The crowd could not help but suck in a cold breath. Summer Valley Head Lian Kun exclaimed, "Junior Brother He, you people of the Autumn Valley truly found a gem in him."


    "Senior Brother He, do you mind telling me where you found this Zhou Donghuang? I want to try my luck, too!"


    Winter Valley Head Leng Qianqiu looked austere. It did not seem like he was joking.


    They were treating He Jin as if he had hung the stars in the sky and he basked in it, a radiant smile plastered on his face. This sort of pride and elation was a foreign feeling to have when he was in front of this crowd.


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang took to the skies again under the watchful gaze of the crowd, flying to He Mengxi''s side. "Third Senior Sister, now that things here are settled¡­ Shall we return?"


    "Little Junior Brother, the Sect Leader said earlier that you''d be a core disciple of the sect from this day forth. You can head to the Lightning Peak to train now," He Mengxi said with a smile.


    Although she knew that Zhou Donghuang had little care for being a core disciple or being able to train at the Lightning Peak, she was still excited for him.


    After all, this little junior brother of hers was no ordinary talent. His true abilities were something only she, Da Zhuang, and her father were privy to.


    This time, he had gained the recognition of the Sect Leader, which was as good as gaining the recognition of the entire sect.


    "Zhou Donghuang!"


    At this moment, Yu Yucheng looked towards Zhou Donghuang with a warm smile. "It''s all thanks to you that the Lightning Sword Sect''s reputation is still intact today.


    "With this God-given talent of yours, becoming a core disciple of the Lighting Sword Sect is no tall order for you, so making you a core disciple should not be a reward for you.


    "Tell me¡­ What would you like as a reward?" Yu Yucheng asked.


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes gleamed as he took in Yu Yucheng''s words. As compared to Autumn Valley Head He Jin, there was a higher chance that Yu Yucheng, as the Lightning Sword Sect leader, would have collected the rare herbs he wanted.


    How could he pass up such a good opportunity when it was presented to him now?


    At this point, Zhou Donghuang responded with no hesitation, "Sect Leader, I would like some rare herbs¡­"


    To Zhou Donghuang, the most pressing issue at this moment was elevating his level of training.


    His abilities as of now could not even rank within the top band in the Lightning Sword Sect, let alone the Tielao planet, and even less so in the entirety of the Hengliu galaxy.


    It was true that his current abilities placed him well and above every adept in the entire Hengliu galaxy who was below the Dharma stage,


    However, if he were to cross path with an adept above the Dharma stage, it would be difficult for him to hold his own against them.


    ¡­


    The bunch of Thunder Knife Sect members followed their sect leader, Luo Yuanqiu, and took their leave from the base of the Lightning Sword Sect. The mood was gloomy and suffocating.


    "Yuzheng."


    Ultimately, it was still their sect leader who had made the first move to break the oppressive mood. "This failure of today, is temporary. They determine nothing."


    "I understand, Master."


    Han Yuzheng nodded, his eyes gleaming. "Just as I said to Zhou Donghuang earlier, there will come a day where I strike him down!


    "I am only 24 years old this year. When he was 24, he probably was not as strong as I am now," Han Yuzheng said.


    Luo Yuanqiu was stunned when he heard Han Yuzheng''s words. He replied with a bitter smile, "I forgot to mention earlier, Yuzheng¡­ That Zhou Donghuang, he''s as old as you are. He''s only 24 years old this year."


    Han Yuzheng''s face fell upon hearing Luo Yuanqiu''s words. The other members of the Thunder Knife Sect had looks of horror and astonishment on their faces.


    There was someone a step up from Han Yuzheng here on the Tielao planet?


    "Be that as it may, this does not mean you will not be better than him in the future¡­ I am telling you all of this in hopes that it will pressure you. The greater the pressure, the greater the drive," Luo Yuanqiu said to Han Yuzheng as he patted the latter''s shoulder.


    "Master''s got faith in you."


    Some said that the glimmer that had vanished from Han Yuzheng''s eyes not long ago had returned even stronger than before. There was now a magnificent gleam in his eyes that greatly complemented his dark eyes, looking every bit like stars twinkling in the night sky.

 254 Looking Towards the Future

    After he had taken out the famed once-in-a-century genius disciple of the Tielao planet, Han Yuzheng, Zhou Donghuang''s reputation within the Lightning Sword Sect soared!


    And when the people of the Lightning Sword Sect found out that Zhou Donghuang was no older than 24¡ªthat is, he was as old as Han Yuzheng¡ªthey could not help but be surprised.


    "Han Yuzheng, the once-in-a-century martial arts genius of the Tielao planet? He''s nothing much in the face of Junior Brother Zhou Donghuang!"


    "Exactly! They''re both only 24 years old, but if you look at our core disciple, Zhou Donghuang and then at him¡­ it''s truly embarrassing!"


    ¡­


    Zhou Donghuang had little to no regard for his sudden popularity within the sect.


    In his previous life, he had dealt with a similar situation on a larger scale.


    This bit was really not much at all. To him, it was nothing worth mentioning.


    His life was just as it had been before, revolving around inner core and training¡­ The only point worth bringing up was that he had managed to gather a batch of rare herbs that even He Jin would struggle with collecting, all because of the promise that the sect leader, Yu Yucheng, had made to him that day.


    The core drug that he could craft with these herbs would help not only him but also his third senior sister, He Mengxi to raise their level of training at an astonishing rate.


    Although the Lightning Sword Sect leader Yu Yucheng had specially permitted for Zhou Donghuang to become a core disciple and for him to train at the Lightning Peak, Zhou Donghuang had never once stepped foot into that area.


    To him, there was little to no difference between training in the Autumn Valley and training at the Lightning Peak. Both spots were within the grounds of the Lightning Sword Sect, and he genuinely could not be bothered to make the move.


    Also, there were a lot of things that were easier for him to deal with if he stayed in the Autumn Valley.


    At the very least, he had the support and assistance of Autumn Valley Head He Jin. This was something no one else in the Lightning Sword Sect could provide with him.


    He Jin had taken to keeping a close eye on Zhou Donghuang these days. As soon as he stepped out of his house, the Valley Head would immediately go to him for a quick chat.


    This was all because of a chat they had once, where He Jin had unintentionally brought up a question related to training.


    And he regretted asking the question as soon as it left his lips.


    How was a question about a Primordial Soul adept''s training one that a Dharma adept like Zhou Donghuang could answer?


    Despite that, Zhou Donghuang had a perfect solution for the man that left him enlightened, so much so that He Jin was now one step closer to the Divine Transformation stage.


    This was a thought that had crossed He Jin''s head more than one.


    Ever since that encounter, He Jin had taken to looking for Zhou Donghuang frequently to consult him on issues about training, like a student modestly and humbly sitting in a lecture.


    He Jin had never once left empty-handed.


    He Jin could not help but look at Zhou Donghuang in respect every time he saw the younger man, as if he were looking at his own teacher.


    "Valley Head, is there only one Divine Transformation adept in the entire Lightning Sword Sect?" Zhou Donghuang asked He Jin.


    "Officially, it''s just the sect leader," He Jin said with a smile.


    "However, there''s still someone else who''s also at that stage¡­ Here''s the thing: that person''s existence is something few are aware of. To quite a few people, he''s someone who''s already left the Lightning Sword Sect many years ago, someone who left the Hengliu galaxy to roam another one."


    Zhou Donghuang had an epiphany.


    He knew, instinctively, that there were many sects as traditional as the Lightning Sword Sect in this vast universe.


    If this sort of tradition was something great enough to be respected in one galaxy, it went without saying that the opposite was true somewhere in another galaxy. That is, that there was a galaxy somewhere out there that had training resources and environments which were extremely substandard.


    In such situations, a lot of people looked towards greater heights. There were also adepts who would even go one step further and try to break the longevity limit, and these were the people who would choose to leave their planet their sect was based in and move to a greater and more abundant galaxy.


    Those people either wound up dying in a foreign galaxy or return to their home planet to escort the people closest to them over to the new planet after they found their footing.


    With the passage of time, they would slowly lose touch with the sect they had originally hailed from.


    There were actually quite a few adepts at the Divine Transformation stage who walked out of the Lightning Sword Sect and left the planet, but not many of them returned. After all, the world outside was filled mystery, so there was no way for anyone to know what they would face if they stepped into the unknown.


    Some people would perish not long after leaving the Hengliu galaxy.


    All of them knew of the risks that came with their departure.


    Despite all of that, they still chose to leave because they knew that there was a limit to what they could do if they decided to stay in the Hengliu galaxy. They had to leave if they wanted to move forward with their lives!


    But never mind the tales of strangers¡ªlet''s talk about Zhou Donghuang.


    Why did Zhou Donghuang leave the Ziyun planet, and why did he leave the Kaiyuan galaxy where the Ziyun planet was?


    This was all because the Ziyun planet and the Kaiyuan galaxy, even was too small a playing field for him. The training resources were limited and exhaustible; they were simply inadequate for his growth.


    Zhou Donghuang''s continued stay in the Ziyun planet would restrict him to the Primordial Soul stage, and a thousand years'' worth of memories from his previous life be damned.


    "That person is probably stronger than the sect leader, right?" Zhou Donghuang probed.


    "Mm."


    He Jin nodded, and his eyes filled with a fire. "The old sect leader exists at the mid Divine Transformation stage."


    Martial arts training was increasingly difficult the further one progressed.


    Before he obtained the Thousand-Star Sword Technique from Zhou Donghuang, a practice method at the level of Deity''s Tribulation, the latter had claimed to be top-notch in the entire universe, this doubt had crossed He Jin''s mind more than once:


    Could he move up to the Divine Transformation stage in this life?


    Until he could fully adapt to training with the Thousand-Star Sword Technique, he wouldn''t be able to believe that the Divine Transformation stage was not too far away.


    The mid Divine Transformation stage he had once been afraid to dream of¡ªeven the late and ultimate Divine Transformation stage¡ªwould no longer be a dream if he just had enough time.


    "The mid Divine Transformation stage?"


    Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    In a conversation with his third senior sister, He Mengxi in his previous life, they had once discussed which stage the strongest adept in the Hengliu galaxy was at. As such, he had quite a good understanding on the situation in the Hengliu galaxy.


    The peak of offensive power in the Hengliu galaxy was basically at the mid Divine Transformation stage.


    Given the existing structure of the Hengliu galaxy, it was difficult for a stronger power to appear.


    Even if there was an adept at the late Divine Transformation stage in the Hengliu galaxy now, those were probably few and far between. Of course, all of this was merely conjecture on Zhou Donghuang''s part.


    However, his third senior sister had told him in his past life that she had never heard of any adept in the Hengliu galaxy that was at a stage higher than the late Divine Transformation stage.


    "Valley Head, I''m not entirely sure about the specifics regarding when the crisis will hit the Lightning Sword Sect."


    Zhou Donghuang looked at He Jin as he took the initiative to bring up this matter. "In my dreams, Third Senior Sister told me that it hit not long after she moved to the late Dharma stage.


    "However, I''m not too sure when exactly it was that she moved to that stage.


    "She''s switched to training using the Thousand-Star Sword Technique now. With that, and the help of the core drug I''ve created, she''s obviously training at a much quicker rate.


    "It might be possible that the crisis might not actually happen even when she''s at the Primordial Soul stage," Zhou Donghuang said.


    "There''s probably still some time left¡­ I only hope that I have the power to keep the sect intact when the time comes."


    He Jin''s face seemed to fall. After all, he was one of the people who perished in the destruction of that sect that Zhou Donghuang had dreamt of.


    Zhou Donghuang chuckled bitterly.


    Initially, the best solution to this problem was to let the father-daughter pair leave the Lightning Sword Sect. This way, they would naturally escape the crisis.


    They were, after all, not the source of the crisis.


    The only problem with this was that after spending some time with them, Zhou Donghuang had realized that there was no way He Jin would leave the Lightning Sword Sect and escape¡­ Especially not after he had switched to training using the Thousand-Star Sword Technique. He Jin was sure to try and protect the sect using his own abilities.


    "Alright, let''s not think about it anymore¡­ We''ll just roll with the punches."


    Zhou Donghuang had already steeled himself to prepare for the worst. If worse came to worst, he would think of another solution himself to force the father-daughter pair to leave with him when the time comes.


    And then he would stage a comeback at a later time.


    "Even without my help, my third senior sister would definitely be able to move on to the mid Dharma stage within this year¡­ With her innate martial arts talent, the training resources you''re providing her with, and the consistency of her training, the longest she would take to move on to the late Dharma stage would be around ten years.


    "This is a prediction I''m making on the assumption that there are no unforeseen incidents.


    "If something were to happen, such as her receiving certain core drugs or spirit fruits that could elevate her rate of training, you can be certain she wouldn''t even need the full ten years."


    Zhou Donghuang had planned on meticulously keeping track of the happenings within the Lightning Sword Sect, but he realized that there were too many variables in this period of time that made impossible for him to do so.


    There was no way he could do so.


    "Had I known, I would have gone back to a thousand years ago and properly ask my third senior sister right from the get go who the Lightning Sword Sect was destroyed by¡­ At that time, my third senior sister had only told me that the Lightning Sword Sect was destroyed by the greatest power, and the source of it was the Summer Valley Head!" Zhou Donghuang thought and felt a little remorseful.


    Of course, the sheer idea of remorse made him shake the feeling off in the blink of an eye because he knew there was no point wallowing in his regrets. In his previous life, there was no way he would have known that he would someday be returning to a point in time a thousand years back and restarting everything.


    "Or we could have the Summer Valley Head leave the Lightning Sword Sect?"


    The thought left Zhou Donghuang''s head as soon as it appeared, because it was simply unrealistic. Not everyone was like He Jin and his daughter, willing to play along with him like this.


    Of course, He Mengxi was willing to go along with his nonsense because he knew things about her that only she knew.


    As for He Jin, the man was only playing along since Zhou Donghuang had handed over the Thousand-Star Sword Technique.


    There was no way he could hand the Thousand-Star Sword Technique over to the Lightning Sword Sect leader and have him kick the Summer Valley Head out of the sect, right?


    No, that would never happen.


    Besides, he did not trust the Lightning Sword Sect leader either; he was not too sure what kind of a person the man was. There was no way he would risk putting the fate of his family in the hands of that man.


    He would rather force his third senior sister, He Mengxi to leave with him and seek shelter elsewhere should He Jin insist on trusting the sect leader.


    This was, of course, just hypothetical.


    Knowing He Jin, the man would likely not go ahead with a plan that Zhou Donghuang did not agree to.


    "I didn''t even realize it, but it''s already been more than a year since I''ve left the Ziyun planet¡­"


    Zhou Donghuang sat at the stone table after He Jin took his leave, staring out at the grass and flowers in the yard. He heaved a sigh as a figure appeared in his head.


    His mother, Lin Lan, his younger sister, Yun Lu, as well as Yang Zixi, Ren Jiapei, Fu, and the rest of them¡­


    He took some time to count. It was already November, Year 1235, and he had left the Ziyun planet in September, Year 1234.

 255 Qinghan Returns Home

    "Third Sister, how''s the progress on the matter that I asked you for help on?"


    Previously, after He Mengxi had returned from the Ziyun planet, Zhou Donghuang had asked her for help to find out about the whereabouts of Luo Qinghan. He wanted to know which sect she had entered in the Hengliu galaxy.


    Luo Qinghan was not like him.


    He had thousands of years of experience from his previous life, which allowed him to be at ease wherever he went.


    Luo Qinghan could only be considered someone from a little faraway place among the Hengliu galaxy... in the Hengliu galaxy, even if Luo Qinghan was especially talented, it would be difficult for her to have a smooth sailing journey throughout her life.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang already considered Luo Qinghan as his own woman and naturally could not watch her be in danger all alone out there. If she stayed by his side, he could then do his best to ensure her safety.


    Of course, by staying by his side, he could not only guarantee Luo Qinghan''s safety, but also allow her skills to attain new levels!


    Besides asking He Mengxi for help to find out the whereabouts of Luo Qinghan, Zhou Donghuang had also made use of the galaxy teleporter to make a trip to the Tianxuan planet of the Luohe galaxy, to send some elixirs to the chief of the Luo family, Luo Wuchen.


    When Luo Wuchen saw Zhou Donghuang once again, he had already called him his son-in-law, seeming as eager to meet him as if he were his real father.


    Of course, as he delivered the elixirs to Luo Wuchen, Zhou Donghuang had also found out from Luo Wuchen that Luo Qinghan had not returned to the Luo family since leaving two years ago.


    After informing Luo Wuchen that he was in the Lightning Sword Sect of the Tielao planet of the Hengliu galaxy, Zhou Donghuang had then left, while requesting Luo Wuchen to update him at the Lightning Sword Sect if Luo Qinghan ever returned home.


    It did not take very long to teleport between the Luo family and the Lightning Sword Sect using the galaxy teleporter.


    Luo Wuchen agreed profusely with Zhou Donghuang''s request and added that he would inform Zhou Donghuang once Luo Qinghan returned home so that they could plan their wedding together at once!


    For some reason unbeknownst to even himself, Zhou Donghuang found himself looking forward to this.


    "The Tielao planet has three premier sects... but, be it our Lightning Sword Sect, or the Thunder Knife Sect, or even the Xuanyuan Sect, I have asked people to find out, but there has been no Luo Qinghan among the new group of disciples," said He Mengqi.


    "I''ve also sent people to search in the neighboring countries around the Tielao planet, and I should be receiving news soon... as for the other faraway planets, I asked my father to send people to find out as well, but that will take some time before there is any news."


    "Mm." Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    "Mm."


    "Who is she?" He Mengxi looked again at Zhou Donghuang, her gaze filled with suspicion.


    She had expected Zhou Donghuang to be too shy to reply, but Zhou Donghuang was not only not shy about the matter, but even replied without a second thought, "My woman."


    Zhou Donghuang''s firm answer puzzled He Mengxi, such that she no longer knew how to continue. Finally, she changed the topic and assured him, "Don''t worry, my father has already sent people to check, so we should have news on her soon enough."


    As she spoke, He Mengxi seemed to remember something and asked, "Da Zhuang, is he still training?"


    "Mm." Hearing He Mengxi mention Da Zhuang, Zhou Donghuang''s lips curled into a slight smile. Da Zhuang was most definitely the most hardworking person he had seen in both his previous and present life.


    After realizing that he would have the chance of avenging the deaths of the apes which had taken care of him previously, Da Zhuang had begun to train like a crazed man, working harder than anyone else.


    Even Zhou Donghuang could see Da Zhuang''s determination to avenge the deaths of those apes.


    "Hasn''t he already reached the mid Dharma stage? Shouldn''t he take a break?" He Mengxi was also shocked because on every occasion that she had visited him recently, Da Zhuang had always been practicing, regardless of whether he had reached the mid Dharma stage or not.


    "Is this really alright?" He Mengxi was worried about Da Zhuang.


    How could she not understand Da Zhuang''s intentions? Da Zhuang had always wanted to take revenge for the group of apes that had taken care of him as a child, but his chances had always been slim, so Da Zhuang had looked down on himself in the past.


    Now that the opportunity lay before him, Da Zhuang was afraid that he would miss this chance, and so had been practicing as if his life depended on it.


    "Third Sister, don''t worry," Zhou Donghuang shook his head and replied. "For most people, practicing like this will surely lead to a poor outcome... but for Da Zhuang, he has the help of the elixirs that I produced to aid his practice, so there will be no problem for him."


    Zhou Donghuang was absolutely clear about the elixirs that he had produced and their effect on Da Zhuang, such that regardless of how much he practiced, it would not take a toll on his body.


    "Mm." He Mengxi fully believed Zhou Donghuang''s words. Since getting to know this little brother, he had brought her countless surprises time and again.


    "Little Brother, I''ll go and practice too." As if she had been inspired by Da Zhuang''s determination, He Mengxi left after chatting for a short while with Zhou Donghuang.


    After she left, Zhou Donghuang also prepared to return to his room to practice.


    "Zhou Donghuang! Zhou Donghuang!"


    Before he could return to his room, Zhou Donghuang heard an excited voice from behind him.


    "My little girl is here... together with her are some of the other female disciples from her sect, they all look stunning. Based on your handsome looks and your martial arts talent, you can definitely take their fancy... what a brother I am. I came to find you immediately with this good news."


    This was none other than the only son of the Head of the Spring Valley, Liu Lang, the notorious playboy of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    As for the little girl that he mentioned, it was simply a lady disciple from a small neighboring sect. This playboy changed partners many times a year.


    However, Zhou Donghuang paid no attention to Liu Lang and returned straight to his room and shut the door without a word.


    Liu Lang was not surprised by this, muttering to himself, "What a bother... this lad seems to have no interest in anything. What must I do to become his friend?"


    Liu Lang struggled to find an answer.


    Since Zhou Donghuang defeated the Thunder Knife Sect disciple, Han Yuzheng with a single blow two months ago in the outer sect arena, Liu Lang had been heading to the Autumn Valley more often.


    Every time he came, he pulled a new trick to get closer to Zhou Donghuang and become his friend.


    However, Zhou Donghuang paid no attention to him at all.


    If it were anybody else, even if they were uninterested, they would also show Liu Lang some face on account of his position as the sole son of the Head of the Spring Valley, Liu Fenggu.


    But Zhou Donghuang paid him no respect at all!


    "It''s still a little too slow... the second Dharma power has only just reached the mid Dharma stage."


    Sitting cross-legged on the mattress, Zhou Donghuang took a look at the green dragon of Dharma power that had just reached the mid Dharma stage following the white tiger and sighed heavily.


    Of course, he also knew that this was the fastest speed possible.


    All things had a limit.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang''s progress was already nearing the limit, and if he continued to progress further, both his inner core and his body would not be able to take it.


    ...


    The Ziji planet was a planet in the Hengliu galaxy and had a similar level of resources as the Tielao planet where the Lightning Sword Sect was.


    The Tielao planet had three supreme sects, while the Ziji planet had just two main sects.


    "Qinghan, you are so talented... we entered the sect together, but you are now an inner disciple, while I am still an outer disciple," in the market of the Ultimate Frost Sect, one of the two supreme sects of the Ziji planet, a tall pretty lady exclaimed to another lady beside her.


    The other lady was even more beautiful than the one who had spoken, her body long and elegant as if there were no imperfections at all.


    This was none other than Luo Qinghan, who had entered the Ultimate Frost Sect a year ago.


    A year ago, Luo Qinghan and some other talented adepts from the Tianxuan planet of the Luohe galaxy had been brought to the Hengliu galaxy after being scouted by an alliance formed by the great sects of the Hengliu galaxy.


    As a female, Luo Qinghan had been accepted by the Ultimate Frost Sect.


    The Ultimate Frost Sect had a proportion of nine female disciples to each male disciple.


    However, even then, Luo Qinghan''s extreme beauty caused her to become the subject of interest of many male disciples in the sect.


    Luo Qinghan had been widely acknowledged to be the most beautiful lady in the sect.


    "I''m just lucky." Luo Qinghan smiled slightly.


    Normally, one had to reach the Dharma stage before the age of thirty to be able to enter the inner sect of the Ultimate Frost Sect.


    However, the Ultimate Frost Sect had also set up a test for the Golden Essence disciples within the sect who were younger than thirty years of age, and whoever passed the test would be able to enter the inner sect earlier and become an inner sect disciple and enjoy its privileges.


    Of course, after these people became inner sect disciples, if they did not reach the Dharma stage by the time they reached thirty years of age, they would also be kicked out of the inner sect.


    The inner sect of the Ultimate Frost Sect was not a place for worthless disciples.


    This was similar to the Lightning Sword Sect in this aspect.


    In fact, most of the supreme sects of the Hengliu galaxy all used the same methods.


    "Qinghan, since you''ve entered the sect, you haven''t gone home once... when do you plan to go back?"


    The girl beside Luo Qinghan smiled and said, "Actually, I haven''t been home in a long time too... when you want to go back, let''s go to the nearest teleporter nearby."


    "I don''t plan to go back for now," replied Luo Qinghan with a shake of her head.


    However, after the other lady had left, on her way back to the inner sect, Luo Qinghan''s lips curled into a sarcastic smile.


    "You think I don''t know your ulterior motives for getting closer to me?"


    After being tricked once, Luo Qinghan had been extremely cautious.


    Although that outer sect disciple had entered the Ultimate Frost Sect at the same time as her, they two of them had not been close initially, and she had only begun to try to get closer to Luo Qinghan recently.


    After confirming that the other lady had not discovered her tracks, Luo Qinghan then left the Ultimate Frost Sect, her eyes filled with longing and excitement. "I haven''t been home in so long... who knows if Father and Granny are well."

 256 Luo Qinghans Shock

    The Tianxuan planet of the Luohe galaxy.


    Whoosh!


    In the galaxy teleporter near the Luo family, a figure appeared out of thin air. This was none other than Luo Qinghan, who had been teleported back home from the Ziji planet of the Hengliu galaxy.


    To date, Luo Qinghan had left home for a whole two years.


    "Two years ago, when I just left home, I had just reached the ultimate Primal Core stage... and now, my Golden Essence has already begun to have the first signs of Dharma power, and I am almost at the doorstep of reaching the Dharma stage."


    On the way home to the Luo family, Luo Qinghan''s beautiful face broke into a slight smile. "If Father and Granny knew this, they would have the shock of their lives.


    "Just based on my current progress... it should be easy to reach the Dharma stage before the age of thirty."


    Soon, Luo Qinghan had returned to her familiar home. The disciples on patrol surrounding the Luo family saw her, and their eyes lit up immediately. "First Lady is back!"


    "Congratulations, First Lady!"


    When the disciples on patrol saw Luo Qinghan, their faces broke into a radiant smile, and they could not stop congratulating Luo Qinghan.


    "Congratulations?"


    Luo Qinghan was shocked. What was going on? After two years away, did these disciples already know that she was about to reach the Dharma stage?


    Impossible!


    How could they possibly know about this?


    "First Lady, you don''t have to be shy¡­ Uncle has already been here a couple of times, and Chief has been awaiting your return so that the two of you can plan your wedding," said a Luo disciple who was slightly older than Luo Qinghan.


    "Exactly! First Lady, there''s no need to hide it at all, we''ve already seen him."


    "He really looks like talented and handsome, suited for First Lady, the two of you are simply made for each other!"


    ¡­


    Hearing the words of the Luo disciples, Luo Qinghan was shocked. Uncle? Her father was waiting for her to return to plan the wedding? Made for each other?


    What was going on?


    "What¡­ what are you talking about? What Uncle? What wedding?"


    Immediately, she regained her senses as she asked with a frown.


    "First Lady, we really know all about it already. You¡­ you cannot deny it!"


    "Exactly! The man that you found for our Luo family, not only does Chief love him, even Old Lady Li loves him."


    ¡­


    Luo Qinghan was speechless. How did she not know that the Luo family had found a new uncle?


    Luo Qinghan was sure that even if she continued to ask these Luo disciples, she would not learn anything at all, so she decided to directly ask her father and Granny.


    "Granny!" Luo Qinghan first went to find her granny, Old Lady Li Yu.


    "Is that girl back?"


    As she pushed the door open, before the smiling Luo Qinghan could utter a word, Li Yu had already grabbed her hand and dragged her out.


    "Granny, where are you bringing me?"


    Luo Qinghan was shocked. Was this really her granny? Why did she seem more like a kidnapper, grabbing her without a word!


    "To your father," answered Li Yu.


    "To Father?"


    Before Luo Qinghan could properly understand the situation, Li Yu had already brought her outside of the room of the Luo family chief, Luo Wuchen. Without a thought of whether Luo Wuchen was practicing inside quietly, Li Yu called out, "Luo Wuchen, Qinghan is back!"


    Bang!!


    A huge crash resounded, which was none other than the chief of the Luo family, Luo Wuchen, pushing the door open. His face was filled with joy.


    "Qinghan is back?"


    After seeing Luo Qinghan, his face broke into a wide smile. "Qinghan, you are really awesome, truly awesome¡­ who would have thought that the person who would bring our Luo family to prominence would be you!


    "Qinghan, since you are here, then I should go to the Tielao planet of the Hengliu galaxy to find Zhou Donghuang at the Lightning Sword Sect so that he can come and take you as his lawful wife," Luo Wuchen said as he walked out.


    "Hold up!!" Just as Luo Wuchen was about to leave, Luo Qinghan finally regained her senses as she asked quizzically, "Father, Granny¡­ what are the two of you up to? Why are the both of you acting so strangely? Get married? Who am I getting married to? Who is Zhou Donghuang?"


    Now, Luo Qinghan finally understood why the Luo family disciples outside had been congratulating her. The source of the matter was none other than her father.


    "Girl."


    Just as Luo Wuchen''s body froze, before he could respond, Li Yu had already said with a smile, "Who else could it be but that young man you met when you were sent to the Ziyun planet randomly by the galaxy teleporter¡­ a year ago, he came to find you. He said he wanted to marry you, and even left the dowry. Your father has also accepted the dowry."


    Li Yu smiled, "So, you are now someone''s wife¡­ do you understand?"


    "Granny, you are saying¡­ Zhou Donghuang of the Ziyun planet?"


    Luo Qinghan''s eyes widened in shock, her face filled with disbelief. When she had met that young man on the Ziyun planet, she had been an early Primal Core adept, but the man had been three years younger than her and was only an adept of the Qi-Gathering.


    Now, her Granny was telling her that that man had come to find her a year ago? And had paid the dowry? And her father had even accepted it?


    "That''s right." Li Yu nodded.


    "How is that possible?!" Luo Qinghan shook her head furiously in disbelief. "Seven years ago, he was just an adept of the Qi-Gathering¡­ how could he come to the Tianxuan planet in the Luohe galaxy? The planet that he is in, and even his entire galaxy, does not have a single galaxy teleporter¡­ to leave that planet, one has to be at least at the early Primal Core stage!"


    "Did someone bring him here?"


    Luo Qinghan looked at Li Yu and Luo Wuchen suspiciously.


    "Qinghan, nobody brought Donghuang here, he came here himself¡­ you really shouldn''t look down on him. When he came here a year ago, he was already a Golden Essence adept. A few months ago, when he came again, he was already at the Dharma stage!"


    As he spoke, Luo Wuchen seemed to think of something, as an awkward look crossed his face.


    When Zhou Donghuang last came to the Luo family, after finding out that Zhou Donghuang was already a Dharma adept, Luo Wuchen, who had just reached the late Dharma stage, had offered to give Zhou Donghuang some tips.


    But at the end of the day, it ended up being Zhou Donghuang giving Luo Wuchen advice.


    Zhou Donghuang used his mid Dharma stage white tiger against Luo Wuchen''s Dharma power and had defeated him within ten blows!


    And this was only because Luo Wuchen had converted to the "Technique of Everlasting Youth" and his Dharma power had been polished.


    However, as Luo Wuchen had not yet mastered the technique of integrating the Dharma power, he had been defeated by Zhou Donghuang.


    Otherwise, even if he could not defeat Zhou Donghuang, who was incredibly experienced, in battle, he could have ended it in a draw.


    "A Golden Essence adept a year ago? A Dharma adept a few months ago? Father¡­ you¡­ are you sure you know what you are saying?"


    Luo Qinghan was stunned momentarily, then glared at Luo Wuchen. Clearly, she did not believe her father''s words.


    "Me? I don''t know what I am saying?"


    Now, Luo Wuchen then realized that his daughter did not believe a word that he had said. "Qinghan, Father is not lying to you! Everything I said was the truth!"


    Luo Wuchen turned to Li Yu helplessly and cried, "Mother, you tell Qinghan¡­ did I lie to her?"


    Li Yu smiled and said, "Qinghan, although your father may not be too trustworthy sometimes, but he is really telling the truth this time. That Donghuang has not only reached the Dharma stage¡­ in fact, when he last came back, when your father offered to spar with him, your father got schooled instead. That boy used just ten blows to defeat your father."


    Li Yu''s words were even more ridiculous than Luo Wuchen. Luo Qinghan was shocked, her mind in a mess.


    As Luo Wuchen smiled sadly, Li Yu continued, "Mm, when your father was defeated by that boy Donghuang, your father was already at the late Dharma stage."


    If Li Yu''s words earlier had been shocking to Luo Qinghan, then what she had just said frightened Luo Qinghan so much that her eyes narrowed, and the color drained from her face.


    "That boy is simply unnatural!"


    Luo Wuchen cried out, "Although he is only at the mid Dharma stage, he could still defeat me, a late Dharma adept! Although I had only just reached the late Dharma stage, my strength is even more than your uncle! But I was still defeated by him. That boy is¡­ I am his father-in-law, but he did not give me any chances at all! Qinghan, you had better teach your man to be filial and respect his elders!"


    As he spoke, Luo Wuchen seemed to get agitated.


    Luo Wuchen''s uncle was one of the two late Dharma adepts in the Luo family, the only one besides Li Yu. He was also one of the two pillars of the Luo family.


    And now, after both Luo Wuchen and Li Yu had converted to the superior "Technique of Everlasting Youth," their skill level had both increased significantly in a short time¡­


    Luo Wuchen had already reached the late Dharma stage, while Li Yu was almost at the ultimate Dharma stage and would reach it within a few years!


    "Father¡­ you¡­ don''t say anything for now."


    Luo Qinghan collapsed on the stone table in the yard. With one hand holding on to the table, she used her other hand to massage her eyes. "I¡­ I need¡­ I need some time to think."


    Regardless of what her granny had said or what her father had just told her, this was a huge blow to her.


    Seven years ago, the man had been a little Qi-Gathering adept.


    And now, he had already grown to such a stage?


    Was he even human?


    Luo Qinghan was well aware that her father could possibly lie to her, but her granny would never lie to her, nor would she team up with her father to lie to her!


    So, all that they had just said must have been the truth.


    That was exactly why she had been so shocked.


    "Qinghan, I know you are filled with many questions and disbelief right now¡­ but this is the truth."


    Li Yu was well aware what her granddaughter was thinking, and she said, "Remember when I told you that the reason for your incredible increase in talent was most likely because of what happened between you and Zhou Donghuang? That was the truth."


    "When Zhou Donghuang first met you, his skill had been so low because he had only begun training when he turned seventeen¡­ in just a short year, even if he was so talented, it would be simply impossible for him to reach the Connate stage or even the Primal Core stage."

 257 Brother Donghuangs Fiancee?

    "Donghuang has royal blood, and his martial art talent far surpasses yours, that is why that accident with him could allow your talent to increase so quickly."


    Li Yu told Luo Qinghan seriously, "Donghuang also said that he was abandoned by his biological father on the Ziyun planet. His biological mother must be somebody incredibly powerful to produce someone like him with such superior blood.


    "Although you managed to attain your current level of talent through him, you can hardly be compared to him."


    With that, Li Yu''s gaze turned gentle as she continued, "Qinghan, Granny wants to know... what are your thoughts? Donghuang has already said that he will be responsible for you, and hence offered the dowry for your hand, and your father has already accepted the dowry that he brought."


    Li Yu''s words left Luo Qinghan speechless as her expression flickered.


    Finally, she looked at Luo Wuchen and asked, "Father, you did not even ask me for my opinion on whether I wanted to marry him, how could you have accepted his dowry? Return it to him immediately!"


    "I don''t want to get married to somebody just like that, without even knowing anything," declared Luo Qinghan.


    Her words made Luo Wuchen and Li Yu turn to stare at each other.


    After a short while, Luo Wuchen then said with a sad smile, "My daughter, we cannot return the dowry.


    "Donghuang is really outstanding, responsible and has incredible talent. There is surely nobody as outstanding as him in the entire Luohe galaxy or even the Hengliu galaxy."


    "It is your fortune to be able to marry him," said Luo Wuchen.


    "Father, what kind of drug did he give you to make you stand up for him like this?" Luo Qinghan frowned and asked.


    With that, before Luo Wuchen could reply, Luo Qinghan turned to Li Yu again and said, "Granny, please get Father to return the dowry to him."


    "Girl." Li Yu smiled bitterly. "That dowry, really cannot be returned."


    "Although I do not agree with most of what your father says most of the time, I totally and fully agree with what he said today!


    "Donghuang is a good man, for you to marry him, it is his fortune. Girl, you have to know that I would never harm you."


    Li Yu''s words made Luo Qinghan tremble. What exactly did Zhou Donghuang do to make the two people who were closest to her and who cared the most about her say such things?


    "Granny, I know that you will never do anything to harm me," said Luo Qinghan seriously.


    "But marriage is such an important matter, how can we settle it in such a manner? Although... although I had that little accident with that Zhou Donghuang, I cannot marry him just because of that.


    "I am not such an easy person! The dowry that he gave must be returned immediately!"


    "Qinghan, there is really no way to return it," said Luo Qinghan with a sad smile.


    "Donghuang''s gift was a technique... now, both your Granny and I have already been practicing that technique, so how can we return it?"


    "A technique?" Luo Qinghan frowned. A technique that would make her father and her granny convert would most definitely be superior to the technique that they had been practicing previously.


    Taking in a deep breath, Luo Qinghan said seriously, "I am now the inner sect disciple of the Ultimate Frost Sect of the Hengliu galaxy, and in the future, I will be able to get a technique from the sect."


    "I can promise to repay him with a different technique in the future," suggested Luo Qinghan.


    "Qinghan, do you think the technique that he gave us was just something slightly better than our Luo family technique?"


    Although he had never heard of the Ultimate Frost Sect, Luo Wuchen still had a general idea of the supreme sects of Hengliu galaxy. For those sects, even their ultimate techniques would be far inferior to the "Technique of Everlasting Youth" that his son-in-law had given them.


    "Technique of Everlasting Youth" was a superior Deity-level technique, which allowed one to train all the way till the ultimate Deity stage!


    Deities were beings who were supreme in the entire universe, and a single deity had the power to destroy entire galaxies with just a wave of their hand.


    "Is it?" Luo Qinghan had a terrible sense of foreboding.


    "The technique that he gave us was a Deity-level technique, and an ultimate Deity-level technique at that. We can use it to train up to the ultimate Deity stage!"


    Luo Wuchen asked seriously, "A Deity-level technique, do you realize what that is?"


    "As far as I know, among the top sects in Hengliu galaxy, they all have Divine Transformation techniques at best and only inferior Divine Transformation techniques at worst, so you can only use them to train up to the early Divine Transformation stage.


    "Only the two big powers of the Hengliu galaxy have techniques beyond the mid Divine Transformation stage."


    Although he had never been to the Hengliu galaxy, Luo Wuchen had done his research about it. Since his daughter had left for the galaxy, he knew some information about the sects of the Hengliu galaxy.


    With that, Luo Qinghan was shocked once again.


    A Deity-level technique?


    In fact, an ultimate Deity-level technique?


    She was well aware that as one''s skill progressed, each grade would become even more precious... in the Hengliu galaxy, even mid Divine Transformation techniques were rare and precious.


    The supreme technique of the Ultimate Frost Sect was just an early Divine Transformation level technique, like her father had said.


    "After the Divine Transformation stage is the Separating Divinity stage, then followed by the Deity stage... a Deity-level technique is only found in the supreme sects and star clans of the galaxies," contributed Li Yu.


    Now, even if Li Yu had not added that, Luo Qinghan was clear what the words "Deity-level technique" represented a superior technique in the entire universe.


    It may not be the most superior technique, but it was definitely among the best in the universe.


    "He... he offered a Deity-level technique as dowry, to marry me?"


    Luo Qinghan was in a state of shock.


    Now, even she could sense the man''s sincerity.


    But she could not understand why he was willing to do that for her. Just because of that accident?


    After a while, Luo Qinghan sucked in a deep breath, then looked at Luo Wuchen and said, "Father, I need to see him."


    The man''s dowry was simply too much for her, and there was no way to return it to him. This put her under tremendous pressure, so much that she was on the verge of crumbling.


    However, she had to settle this matter eventually.


    She wanted to meet him to find out how to solve this issue.


    "Sure! I''ll bring him here!" Luo Wuchen exclaimed.


    "Father, I''ll go with you. Just now, you said that he was in the Hengliu galaxy? And in the Lightning Sword Sect of the Tielao planet? I know the Lightning Sword Sect, it is also one of the premier sects in the Hengliu galaxy," said Luo Qinghan.


    Soon, Luo Wuchen brought Luo Qinghan to a galaxy teleporter, and the two of them were sent to the Tielao planet of the Hengliu galaxy, arriving at a location not far from the base camp of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Then, the two made their way to the Lightning Sword Sect to find Zhou Donghuang.


    ¡­


    "Who are you? What business do you have here at the Lightning Sword Sect?"


    As the two neared the base camp of the Lightning Sword Sect, they were stopped by some disciples who were patrolling the borders. Two of the young disciples saw Luo Qinghan, and their eyes lit up immediately.


    In the Lightning Sword Sect, there was no lady disciple as beautiful as her.


    "I am the father-in-law of your inner sect disciple, Zhou Donghuang, and I brought his fianc¨¦e here to see him... he told me before that he was a part of the Summer Valley of the inner sect," Luo Wuchen said.


    Despite the fact that he was a late Dharma adept, Luo Wuchen was certain that his level of skill was considered nothing in the Lightning Sword Sect.


    In fact, it was nothing compared to even an ordinary outer sect elder in the sect.


    Precisely because of that, even though the power of these patrolling disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect were far inferior to his, he did not dare to look down on them.


    These disciples had the backing of the immense power of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Luo Qinghan did not expect to be introduced as Zhou Donghuang''s fianc¨¦e, but before she could correct him, she already heard some chatter nearby.


    "Zhou Donghuang?"


    "Brother Donghuang''s future father-in-law?"


    "This... is Brother Donghuang''s fianc¨¦e?"


    The disciples who were on patrol were all outer sect disciples and had personally witnessed Zhou Donghuang protect the reputation of the Lightning Sword Sect by defeating the talented disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect.


    After that battle, many outer sect disciples were amazed by Zhou Donghuang, including these disciples on patrol.


    After discovering the identity of Luo Qinghan, the two young disciples who had been staring at her because of her beauty now turned away, fearing to take another look at Luo Qinghan.


    "So you are Brother Donghuang''s father-in-law and fianc¨¦e... please head inside, I will lead you to the Autumn Valley to find Brother Donghuang!"


    Among the group of outer sect disciples, the middle-aged man in charge now came forward eagerly and spoke to Luo Wuchen and Luo Qinghan excitedly.


    His eagerness was incredible for Luo Qinghan to witness, and surprised even Luo Wuchen.


    Luo Qinghan''s eyes were filled with suspicion.


    She could hardly imagine that Zhou Donghuang had only just entered the Lightning Sword Sect. How could he already reach a stage where even outer sect disciples were so respectful towards him?


    It was only when the outer sect disciple leading the way excitedly told them about the recent battle between Zhou Donghuang and Han Yuzheng, the talented disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect, did the two of them understand the reason why these disciples on patrol held Zhou Donghuang in such high regard.


    "That Thunder Knife Sect disciple, Han Yuzheng, was said to be a talent that appeared only once in a hundred years on the Tielao planet, so he had to be an outstanding person," said Luo Wuchen.


    "Is he not?" The outer sect disciple smiled and said, "At just twenty-four years of age, he is already at the mid Dharma stage, and his talent is simply incredible... most importantly, he''s the only core disciple of our Lightning Sword Sect who is at the mid Dharma stage was also defeated within three blows by him."


    "At that point, everybody was certain that this match between the mid Dharma adepts of the two sects would end in the defeat of our Lightning Sword Sect by the Thunder Knife Sect. It was only then that Brother Donghuang came out and defeated that rascal with just one blow!"


    "In fact, before he did anything, Brother Donghuang had even declared that if he did not defeat Han Yuzheng in one blow, that would be considered as a loss for him... now that I think of it, Brother Donghuang is really quite arrogant!"


    As he spoke, the outer sect disciple appeared especially excited.

 258 Unhappy Ending

    Hearing the words of the outer sect disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, Luo Wuchen turned to his daughter, his face filled with glee, as if he was saying: look how outstanding the husband I found for you is!


    However, Luo Qinghan had lapsed into a state of shock again.


    She had long heard about that talented disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect even when she was in the Ultimate Frost Sect in Purple Polaris planet.


    Although he was just twenty-four years old, Han Yuzheng was a mid Dharma adept and was the most powerful man in the Thunder Knife Sect beneath the late Dharma stage. Even most ordinary late Dharma adepts could only end up being evenly matched with him.


    Needless to say, such a fearsome man was always a topic of conversation in the Ultimate Frost Sect, where there was a large proportion of females as compared to men.


    Although Luo Qinghan was not as obsessed as the other female disciples, she was still very impressed by the skill that was displayed by the talented disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect.


    "He... is just twenty-four years old this year? Defeated Han Yuzheng with a single blow?"


    Luo Qinghan was stunned. She would never have imagined that the young man back then would now grow to such a stage.


    However, when she thought of what had happened back then, her eyes flickered as her beautiful cheeks blushed a light pink.


    "The Autumn Valley is right ahead."


    The outer sect disciple led Luo Wuchen and Luo Qinghan to the Autumn Valley, and after finding out the address of Zhou Donghuang, he brought the two of them to his residence.


    "Tang Hai of the outer sect wishes to see Brother Donghuang."


    The outer sect disciple stood outside Zhou Donghuang''s house and called out respectfully.


    Although Tang Hai was also a mid Dharma adept, he was well aware that he was nowhere near Zhou Donghuang''s skill. In fact, even if he reached the late Dharma stage, he may still be no match for Zhou Donghuang.


    Hence, despite the fact that Zhou Donghuang was younger than him and had entered the sect later than him, Tang Hai was still very respectful towards Zhou Donghuang.


    "Outer sect disciple?"


    Zhou Donghuang, who was practicing quietly in his room, heard Tang Hai''s voice and was taken aback as he asked himself, "Why is he looking for me?"


    Zhou Donghuang stepped out of his room doubtfully.


    Immediately, he could see two familiar figures standing behind the middle-aged man, who was a stranger to him... one of the two figures was none other than his future father-in-law, Luo Wuchen.


    As for the other figure, it was Luo Qinghan whom he could not help but think of whenever his mind wandered, looking exactly as she did seven years ago, as beautiful as if she had been frozen in time.


    "Brother Donghuang, they said they were here to see you."


    "Thank you for your hard work."


    With a nod from Zhou Donghuang, Tang Hai knew that the two people whom he had brought were indeed as they had claimed and left after bidding farewell.


    Of course, before leaving, he repeated that he was the outer sect disciple, Tang Hai, as if he was afraid that Zhou Donghuang would not know who he was.


    "Haha... Donghuang, when you looked me up at the Luo family the last time, I did not hear about how you defeated that so-called talented disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect, whom they claim to be a rare talent that appears only once in a hundred years on the Tielao planet. You really hide it well."


    Luo Wuchen laughed, stepped forward and patted Zhou Donghuang''s shoulder as he spoke, as if the two of them were very familiar with each other. If one did not know better, one would even think that the two were really father and son.


    Of course, Luo Wuchen added quietly in his heart... if I had known that you were so powerful that you could defeat the strongest mid Dharma adept of the Thunder Knife Sect with a single blow, I would have known better than to try to teach you something last time.


    "Father-in-law."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled as he greeted him, then shook his head and said, "That was such a small thing that I would have totally forgotten about it if you had not mentioned it."


    "Haha... that is a small thing, but this must be a huge affair?"


    Luo Wuchen laughed again, then slid to the side. As he smiled, he looked at Luo Qinghan, who was still floating in the air not far away. He waved at her and said, "Qinghan, aren''t you going to come and see your fianc¨¦?"


    "Father! I have not acknowledged this marriage."


    Luo Qinghan frowned slightly and retorted. She floated down and landed in front of Zhou Donghuang, looking at him with a complicated gaze.


    She had originally thought that that was just an accident that would be brushed aside. She never expected the man to come and find her.


    And he had even offered such an incredible dowry for her hand that she could not return it even if she wished to.


    "How... how are you?"


    Zhou Donghuang had lived for more than a thousand years, but he was still clueless about anything regarding girls. Upon seeing the lady who had left him thinking of her ever since that accident, he squeezed out a smile and asked somewhat awkwardly.


    "Mm... fine."


    Seeing how awkward Zhou Donghuang was, Luo Qinghan became awkward as well.


    "If you have no opinion, let''s settle the marriage between the two of us... after we settle this marriage, I''ll bring you to the Ziyun planet to see my mother and sister."


    Zhou Donghuang took in a deep breath quietly and tried to suppress his anxiety. Out of nervousness, Zhou Donghuang said right away, "As for the wedding ceremony... you can choose to do it on Tianxuan, or we can hold it on Ziyun."


    He felt that even if there was a martial art master standing before him right then, he would not be as nervous as he was standing in front of Luo Qinghan.


    "It''ll be better to have one each on the Tianxuan planet and the Ziyun planet." Before Luo Qinghan could reply, Luo Wuchen had already cut in as he stood smiling at the side. Clearly, he was extremely fond of his son-in-law.


    Luo Qinghan glared at him, then turned to look at Zhou Donghuang and said, "I can sense your sincerity towards me, and I am very moved indeed."


    "I must admit, I have good feelings towards you... but it is definitely not at the stage where we can talk about getting married.


    "What happened seven years ago was just an accident, so you do not have to feel as if you let me down. If you are worried that I will still get together with another man besides you, then you can rest assured... I can make a promise to you right now that I, Luo Qinghan, will never be with another man besides you, even if I die.


    "To me, marriage is such a huge affair, not child''s play... I only want to marry the man that I want.


    "Of course, the dowry that my father has accepted is too much, and I doubt I will ever be able to repay you for that... If you insist on getting married with me, I can make a compromise out of the pressure from my father and my granny, as well as all you have done for me.


    "However, if you do that, I will feel uncomfortable... even if you are able to have me, you will only gain my body, but lose my heart.


    "Furthermore, the two of us only met for such a short time back then and have hardly spent any time with each other... do you really like me? Or do you just want to be responsible for me?


    "If you are doing this out of responsibility, there is no need for that. After all, neither of us wanted that to happen, and you do not have to feel sorry about it¡­ Mm... that''s all I wanted to say."


    Luo Qinghan had been dead serious when she said this. However, Luo Wuchen, who had been standing by the side, was now flustered. He turned to look at Zhou Donghuang and said, "My good son-in-law, feelings can always be cultivated after marriage, don''t you change your mind because of what this girl just said!"


    Luo Wuchen was afraid, very afraid.


    If such an outstanding son-in-law now left, where would he find another like him?


    "Father, can''t you just be quiet?"


    Luo Qinghan could not believe that this was her father. Even if he was not on her side, couldn''t he be neutral? Why did he have to be on the other side against her?


    At the same time, as Luo Wuchen and Luo Qinghan watched on, Zhou Donghuang smiled suddenly.


    This smile confused the two of them.


    "I''m sorry."


    Zhou Donghuang turned to Luo Qinghan and sighed heavily. "I did not think that what I did would put so much pressure on you and cause you so much distress.


    "After hearing what you just said, I thought about it... It was indeed rude of me to ask for your hand like that. And the reason why I wanted to marry you was indeed out of a sense of responsibility and to ensure that no other man touches you.


    "As for that dowry and this elixir here, please take it as compensation for the mess that I just caused.


    "Whatever happened between the two of us, you can take it as it ends here. From now on, the two of us... let''s leave it up to fate."


    As Zhou Donghuang spoke, he retrieved a small elixir bottle from his space ring. The bottle contained a single elixir.


    "There is no need for any compensation."


    Luo Qinghan did not expect Zhou Donghuang to say that. For some reason, she felt a sense of disappointment inside her, but she was shaking her head as she said, "That technique, I promise that my father and granny will not pass it to a third person... even I will not practice that technique that you gave us."


    "Since my father and granny have both begun training in your technique, and I have no way of returning you a technique that is equally good... all I can do is to abstain from any other men for you."


    "I will maintain my chastity for the rest of my life, for you."


    With that, Luo Qinghan took in a deep breath, then managed to calm her emotions. She looked at Luo Wuchen and said, "Father, let''s go back... I have something to say to you and Granny."


    "Wait."


    At this moment, Zhou Donghuang called out to Luo Wuchen, "Father-- Chief Luo, I have something to tell you, may I borrow you for a moment?"


    "Sure."


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang address him differently, Luo Wuchen smiled sadly. Was he really going to miss his chance of getting such an outstanding son-in-law?


    He could not understand what his daughter was thinking. How could she give up such a good man?


    And she even declared that she would never marry anyone else besides this man?


    "Father, I''ll wait for you outside in the Autumn Valley."


    Luo Qinghan told Luo Wuchen, then immediately lifted to the skies. Before she left, she reminded Luo Wuchen again, "Don''t you dare take anything else from him!"


    After Luo Qinghan left, Luo Wuchen looked awkwardly at Zhou Donghuang.


    "Donghuang, this... I''m sorry."


    "The technique that you gave me, after Qinghan''s granny and I memorized it, we destroyed it... we guarantee that it will not leak out to anyone else."


    Luo Wuchen had always been a straightforward person. If Zhou Donghuang were to become his son-in-law, that would make them family, and a family did not lie to each other.


    But now, after what his daughter had done, he felt greatly regretful that he had accepted the dowry.


    However, he could do nothing about his daughter''s insistence.


    He could not break her legs to force her to do anything, could he?


    Furthermore, even if he really broke her legs, based on his daughter''s temper, she would definitely not take it lying down.

 259 Luo Qinghans Determination

    "Donghuang... our Luo family will do everything in our means to repay you for all that you have given us."


    Luo Wuchen was extremely apologetic towards Zhou Donghuang. He had really hoped that his daughter would get married to the young man in front of him, not just because his daughter had lost her virginity to him, but because it was clear that Zhou Donghuang was a responsible man. Just look at how the man had asked so sincerely for her hand in marriage.


    Someone like that was surely worth his daughter spending the rest of her life together with.


    Furthermore, besides being such a responsible person, the young man was very outstanding. In the Luohe galaxy where the Luo family was, or even in the Hengliu galaxy which was superior to the Luohe galaxy, Zhou Donghuang was definitely a supreme presence.


    If he missed out on such a son-in-law, where else would he find someone else like that?


    "No need."


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head and said, "I asked Chief Luo to stay behind not to get anything back from you... I just want to hand this elixir to you."


    With that, Zhou Donghuang handed the elixir bottle that he had taken out previously to Luo Wuchen and continued, "I made this elixir specifically for her. No matter what happens between the two of us in the future, please accept this elixir... as for how to ensure that the elixir is taken by her, please do whatever you have to."


    "Donghuang."


    Luo Wuchen was even more sorry now. "There is no need for this... you have given us more than enough. You gave us the Deity-level technique and the elixirs to help Dharma adepts, we cannot accept anything else from you."


    "Chief Luo, although there is only one pill in here, this pill alone will allow her to reach the Dharma stage within half a year."


    Zhou Donghuang''s words made Luo Wuchen''s eyes widen in shock, his face filled with an expression of utter disbelief.


    One elixir that would allow his daughter to reach the Dharma stage within just half a year?


    "Keep it."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled faintly and said, "Between us, what has happened may not end up as nothing... this elixir will help her greatly, but without it, she will need to waste another few years just to reach the Dharma stage."


    Luo Wuchen had originally wanted to reject it again, but upon hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, he hesitated once again.


    After all, if what Zhou Donghuang said was true, this elixir would be able to greatly influence his daughter''s future, speeding up her progress... as a parent, who would not wish to see their children achieve great things?


    Finally, Luo Wuchen accepted the elixir from Zhou Donghuang.


    The reason why both Zhou Donghuang and Da Zhuang had been able to reach the Dharma stage from the ultimate Primal Core stage so quickly was because they had used the same elixir.


    Although Luo Wuchen had known how to set up Qi-Gathering formations, the ones that he produced were considered inferior formations that could only use a thousand mid-level spirit stones or ten thousand inferior spirit stones, which limited its effectiveness.


    Later, Zhou Donghuang had taught him a different technique that allowed him to set up Qi-Gathering formations using more spirit stones, allowing him to produce Qi-Gathering formations using ten thousand mid-level spirit stones.


    "Donghuang."


    Luo Wuchen looked extremely seriously at Zhou Donghuang and said, "No matter what that Qinghan thinks or does, I, Luo Wuchen, have already accepted you as my son-in-law... in the future, whenever you need anything from me, or even the Luo family, with just one word from you, the Luo family and I will do anything we can to help you as much as we can!"


    Now that he had accepted even more benefits from Zhou Donghuang, Luo Wuchen felt even more sorry.


    "In the future, you are welcome to join us at the Luo family household anytime if you wish to come... you can even stay with us for a long time if you want to," added Luo Wuchen.


    "Thank you, Chief Luo."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled slightly and said, "Now, if there''s nothing else... Chief Luo, why don''t you bring your daughter back home."


    "Alright."


    Luo Wuchen nodded. Before he left, he revealed, "Donghuang, Qinghan has now entered the premier sect in The Ziji planet in the Hengliu galaxy, Jihan Sect.


    "Didn''t that girl say that she has no feelings for you now?"


    "In the future, if you can continue spending more time with each other, she will naturally realize how good you are... if the two of you really get together, I will surely plan a glamorous wedding for you!" declared Luo Wuchen seriously.


    After Luo Wuchen left, Zhou Donghuang shook his head as his lips curled into a bright smile. "What a determined girl she is... but after this, it is not hard to tell that she is not the kind of girl who does anything for fame and money and clamors after power."


    Although Luo Qinghan had rejected his marriage request now, he was not angry at all.


    Not only was he not angry, he was even a little happy, because he could now understand Luo Qinghan''s character better from what she had said.


    Based on all that he had done for Luo Qinghan up till now, if it were any of the two supreme powers of the Hengliu galaxy, those two powers would surely be so won over that they would send all their top ladies to him to please him or gain his favor.


    However, all of his actions had been rejected by Luo Qinghan.


    "The Jihan Sect of the Ziji planet?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes glinted. "We... will meet again."


    In his past life, Zhou Donghuang had had no idea about women. His only impression of them was from the ladies whom the star clans and supreme sects had sent to him to bring him closer to them, to make him an elder or distinguished member of their sect.


    To him, these ladies had all been sent with ulterior motives in exchange for his support or favor.


    This time, if Luo Qinghan had simply accepted his marriage request at the Luo family and tried to get closer to him because of his status and power, he would have looked down on her to some degree, thinking that Luo Qinghan had simply just been eyeing the benefits that he could offer her and the Luo family.


    Now, it was clear that Luo Qinghan was not somebody who would betray herself for any benefits.


    Meanwhile¡­


    Luo Wuchen left Zhou Donghuang''s house to meet Luo Qinghan. They then left the Lightning Sword Sect together and headed to the nearby galaxy teleporter to send them back to the Tianxuan planet of the Luohe galaxy.


    On the way back to the Luo household, Luo Qinghan finally could not help herself from asking, "Father, what did he tell you just now after I left?"


    "Nothing much."


    Luo Wuchen sighed deeply and said, "He told me not to feel apologetic for the dowry that I accepted... he is such a good man, even though you rejected him, he even wondered if I would feel sorry about what you did to him.


    "Tell me... such a good son-in-law, once we miss this chance, how can you find someone else like him?"


    As he spoke, Luo Wuchen''s face was filled with disappointment.


    Of course, he could not say the truth about what Zhou Donghuang had said to him or tell Luo Qinghan about the elixir.


    If he did so, based on his daughter''s personality, she would definitely not accept Zhou Donghuang''s goodwill.


    Luo Qinghan was silent for a moment, then said, "Father, I know that you are feeling disappointed... once we get home, Granny will also be very disappointed when she finds out about this.


    "But I have no other choice."


    "I know that he is very outstanding, and if I get closer to him, that will surely be good for my future... but, for me to get together with someone just because of that, I simply cannot do that."


    "I, Luo Qinghan, have my principles.


    "Not just me, let''s just say Mother... I heard from Granny that among the many young men who chased Mother last time, there were a few who had backgrounds and talents that far surpassed yours. But Mother did not marry the most talented or richest man and chose you in the end because she genuinely loved you.


    "Of course, I don''t have such good fortune like Mother... because, I will remember that even if I have no fate to be with Zhou Donghuang at the end of the day, because of the Deity-level technique that he gave to you and Granny, I will not do anything that makes him unhappy."


    Luo Qinghan had already decided not to get together with another man in this life.


    As for Zhou Donghuang, she may not have anything to do with him at all in the future.


    Actually, Luo Qinghan was certain that she had some feelings for Zhou Donghuang. After all, he was the first man that she had gotten linked with and was the only man so far who had treated her well... if Zhou Donghuang was just an ordinary man with no talent, if they had the fate to meet again, she would be willing to give him a chance to see if they were suited for each other.


    However, Zhou Donghuang was not an ordinary man with no talent, but someone who appeared to have an alarming background.


    He could easily produce a Deity-level technique as a dowry to give to her father.


    He was just twenty-four years old, and already a mid Dharma adept whose ability was stronger than her father, Luo Wuchen, a late Dharma stage.


    Her father had already converted to the Deity-level technique, so even though he had just reached the late Dharma stage, in the Tianxuan planet, or even the whole Luo He galaxy, there were few late Dharma adepts who were his match... but, he had been defeated by a mid Dharma adept, Zhou Donghuang.


    What did this mean?


    This meant that although Zhou Donghuang was just a mid Dharma adept, his ability was stronger than most other late Dharma adepts!


    Such a presence was rare in not just the Luohe galaxy, but even in the Hengliu galaxy, or even in other broader galaxies.


    Although she did not wish to admit it, she knew that she was inferior to him.


    The more outstanding Zhou Donghuang was, the more distant he seemed from her, and in this situation, she became even more sensitive.


    She had already decided to avoid Zhou Donghuang at all costs in the future, to let time fade all feelings. "Based on his talent and background... he will definitely meet a better girl in the future, and by then, he will no longer think anything of me.


    "Perhaps, I will just become a stray memory that appears in his mind once in a while when he is daydreaming."


    "This time, I will spend some time with Father and Granny, then return to the Jihan sect to train hard... I owe him too much, and all I can repay him with is my loyalty."


    ...


    Before Luo Qinghan returned to the Jihan sect, Luo Wuchen had not been able to think of any good ideas to trick her into taking the elixir that Zhou Donghuang had given her.


    Finally, he ran out of ideas and mixed it within Luo Qinghan''s food.


    He had spent a lot of effort to mask the taste of the elixir so that Luo Qinghan would not notice it.


    Just like that, Luo Qinghan left the Luo family, left the Tianxuan planet, left the Luohe galaxy, and returned to the Ziji Sect of the Ziji planet in the Hengliu galaxy, her body filled with the medicinal effect of the elixir from Zhou Donghuang.

 260 Late Dharma stage

    Spring passed and autumn came.


    Unknowingly, time had flown by, and Zhou Donghuang had already been residing in the Lightning Sword Sect for two whole years.


    Within these two years, there had been peace in the Lightning Sword Sect, and Zhou Donghuang peacefully became one of the "elders" within the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Zhou Donghuang had been part of the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect for two years, and in those years, they had received yet another batch of new disciples. In general, they were all outer disciples who had all externally entered the Dharma stage before they had turned 30 years old.


    On the other hand, although Zhou Donghuang had become one of the older members of the Autumn Valley, if one were to compare ages, he would still be seen as one of the youngest of the residents of the Autumn Valley.


    He was only 26 years old.


    Among the Autumn Valley, although there were other Golden Essence adepts who were not yet 30 years old, they were all older than Zhou Donghuang at the very least... In these two years, a few Primal Core adepts who were disciples of the Autumn Valley had also turned 30. Since they had not managed to cross over to the Dharma stage, they were eventually chased out of the Autumn Valley.


    "It is still proving to be rather difficult."


    To Zhou Donghuang, crossing to the next stage had not been hard previously due to his accumulated knowledge from his previous life. He had thus had a relatively smooth journey, till now.


    However, now, Zhou Donghuang felt that it was difficult for him to progress as he was studying the late stage of the Lord of the Four Supremes.


    Under the Lord of the Four Supremes, once he had started his training, Zhou Donghuang had already understood that he could only train to the Primordial Soul stage at the very most.


    If he wanted to enter the Divine Transformation stage or stages that were higher than that, he would have to carry out his own research and carry out trials.


    Within the past year, other than training, occasionally leaving the Autumn Valley to explore other parts of the Lightning Sword Sect, sleeping and resting up, Zhou Donghuang had simply been actively exploring further paths after the Lord of the Four Supremes in order to enter the Divine Transformation stage.


    Up till now, he had not been successful in doing so.


    "Let''s just forget it... I should first focus on crossing over to the Primordial Soul stage before I continue to refine and explore the Lord of the Four Supremes and future training methods. Perhaps, I will have a better idea of what to do after that."


    As he thought to this point, Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes and walked out of his room. Casually, he turned his head in the direction of Da Zhuang''s living quarters.


    The place that Da Zhuang lived at now was in the skies, and it was not peaceful at all.


    ...


    Whomp!


    Whomp! Whomp!


    ...


    Several howling noises as well as booming noises that filled the air were the first thing to catch Zhou Donghuang''s attention. "He''s dueling again?"


    Within the past one year, as long as Da Zhuang''s third senior sister, He Mengxi, had the time and was willing to do so, she would find Da Zhuang to duel in her free time.


    Of course, this dueling only started after Da Zhuang had entered the mid Dharma stage.


    Now, the number of times they had dueled, according to Zhou Donghuang''s best knowledge, had surpassed 30, and almost every time, the duo had been evenly matched.


    Da Zhuang was extremely satisfied with this result. He was surprised that he had been able to evenly match his senior sister. This meant that he would probably progress to become strong enough to protect his senior sister in the future.


    However, He Mengxi was extremely dissatisfied with this.


    She could not believe that Da Zhuang, a fool, was as strong as her now! She used to be much stronger than him, and yet if she put in little effort, he was actually able to defeat her. How could this be?


    Whew!


    Zhou Donghuang launched himself off the ground and quickly flew into the air to observe the fight between the two figures from afar.


    He Mengxi''s Dharma power was still the Great Sword Dharma Power. However, when she used the Great Sword Dharma Power to carry out her attacks, when the sword was thrust forward, it was as if tens of swords were thrown at the same time as they headed simultaneously towards the three-meter-tall young man.


    As for this giant young man, his entire body was surrounded by blazing flames. Around these flames, there were streams of lightning strikes that could be visibly seen.


    With one punch by the young man, explosive noises filled the air, and he managed to fend off the attack of the tens of swords that had flown towards him.


    A split second later, the swords exploded forth once again and ambushed him from all directions.


    At this point, the young man''s Thunder Fire Dharma Power managed to absorb and collect all the swords just like a body of armor, protecting him from the attack. No matter where the swords managed to land on him, he could forcefully pick them up and prevent himself from getting hurt.


    At the most, his body merely shook slightly under the pressure.


    "Da Zhuang''s reaction time has improved quite dramatically from before.... It looks like his training has paid off and his new adept stage is truly proving itself! He has now managed to shed off that shoddy, slow brain of his in the past and is now much brighter..."


    Seeing this, Zhou Donghuang mused to himself.


    "I''m not fighting anymore, let''s stop here... Da Zhuang, your "protective shell" is too strong. Unless I choose to take on some damage and fight with my actual life here, I can''t penetrate through your defense mechanisms at all."


    He Mengxi withdrew her attacks, and the Great Sword Dharma Power put away its swords accordingly. As she spoke, she looked at that three-meter tall block of a man with some visible frustration.


    "Hehe..."


    Da Zhuang laughed to himself shyly and scratched his head in an awkward manner. He could not help but glance into the distance, and his eyes lit up as he spotted Zhou Donghuang.


    "Little brother!"


    "Little brother?"


    As He Mengxi''s back had been facing Zhou Donghuang, her reaction time was slightly slower, and she had not noticed him there until she turned around physically.


    "Third Senior Sister."


    Upon seeing He Mengxi, Zhou Donghuang''s gaze softened considerably as well, and he displayed his respect through his lowered gaze.


    As far as he could remember from his memories of his past life, this third senior sister was like a motherly figure to him.


    "Little brother... How about you join our duel for today, with me and Da Zhuang joining forces against you?"


    In the past, He Mengxi had also taken the initiative to invite Zhou Donghuang to duel with them. However, she had always been sorely defeated by Zhou Donghuang to the point where she was cast out of her own shadow. Afterwards, for half a year, she had stopped inviting Zhou Donghuang to duel with her.


    However, at this point, she was suddenly inspired to try joining forces with Da Zhuang. If she alone was not sufficient to fight Zhou Donghuang, perhaps their combined forces would be potent enough.


    Furthermore, Zhou Donghuang was at the same stage as them; they were all mid Dharma adepts.


    Once He Mengxi had spoken, even before Zhou Donghuang could respond, Da Zhuang''s eyes had already lit up. Previously, he had also experienced a similar situation where he had invited Zhou Donghuang to duel and ended up being defeated badly.


    Upon hearing He Mengxi''s words, it felt as if he had stumbled upon a great new opportunity, and his heart was filled with anticipation.


    "Third Senior Sister, are you sure about this?" Zhou Donghuang looked deeply at He Mengxi and asked as he smiled.


    "Yes, I am sure!"


    He Mengxi nodded her head. "If you don''t want to do so, you can just say so!"


    "Since when have I been too scared to do such a thing?"


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head with a smile and traveled through the air to the higher skies, in the direction of He Mengxi and Da Zhuang. "Third Senior Sister, Da Zhuang... Give me all you''ve got and let''s duel!"


    "Little brother, we are merely dueling, why did you fly so high in the sky?"


    He Mengxi furrowed her brow slightly. "Are you challenging Da Zhuang and me?"


    "I''m afraid that once I start attacking, if I''m not careful, I may destroy Da Zhuang''s and my own living quarters!"


    Zhou Donghuang smiled.


    "You''re afraid that you would destroy property? Little brother, don''t tell me you have already crossed over to the late Dharma stage?"


    He Mengxi showed an expression of disbelief.


    To this, Zhou Donghuang did not respond and merely smiled as he glanced at her.


    "Da Zhuang, let''s go! Let''s show Donghuang what we''ve got!"


    He Mengxi shouted at Da Zhuang loudly and flew into the air with her swords just as the Thunder Fire Dharma Power''s flames surrounded Da Zhuang, who had also flown into the air.


    The three-foot-tall Thunder Fire Dharma Power as well as the three-foot-tall Great Sword Dharma Power both combined together to create a ferocious force that charged towards Zhou Donghuang with gusto.


    Towards the combined force of Da Zhuang and He Mengxi, Zhou Donghuang did not react much and merely picked at his eyelids lazily.


    In the next instant, he freely released his essential core, and a huge shadow of a giant tiger appeared visibly. Of course, this was his White Tiger Dharma Power.


    Once the White Tiger Dharma Power appeared, it immediately stole the spotlight from the Thunder Fire Dharma Power as well as the Great Sword Dharma Power. This was because it was extremely huge. Even compared to the three-foot-tall Thunder Fire Dharma Power as well as the three-foot-tall Great Sword Dharma Power, it was at least a few meters bigger.


    When the ten-foot-tall White Tiger Dharma Power had first appeared before He Mengxi and Da Zhuang, it had shocked the duo so greatly till their faces had turned pale.


    Ten feet was about 30 meters.


    Of course, when the White Tiger Dharma Power had first appeared, it had been standing upright. However, even so, the great height of 30 meters was still a sight to behold.


    "Little brother... You''ve really crossed over to the late Dharma stage?"


    He Mengxi''s eyes were full of shock and disbelief.


    The next move that Zhou Donghuang made had little suspense as well.


    Even before Zhou Donghuang had crossed over to the next stage, be it He Mengxi or Da Zhuang, neither of them were on his level.


    At that time, even if He Mengxi and Da Zhuang had joined forces, they would still possibly be defeated by Zhou Donghuang.


    Now that Zhou Donghuang''s White Tiger Dharma Power had crossed over to the late Dharma stage, this battle was of course skewed in his favor and the outcome was already decided clearly. There was no point left in this battle as Zhou Donghuang''s White Tiger Dharma Power immediately reached out to destroy the combined Dharma Powers of He Mengxi and Da Zhuang.


    Luckily, Zhou Donghuang put away his Dharma Power in time and only caused He Mengxi and Da Zhuang''s essential core to be slightly damaged.


    "Little brother, you... you really entered the late Dharma stage?"


    He Mengxi glanced wide-eyed at Zhou Donghuang, still in disbelief. She had assumed that her speed of training and improvement had already been rather fast. However, she was still significantly far from crossing over to the late Dharma stage. She had definitely not anticipated that this little brother of hers would enter the late Dharma stage before she did.


    As for Da Zhuang, he also had on a face of shock as he glanced at Zhou Donghuang. "Little brother... your training speed is really incredible!"


    Zhou Donghuang smiled lightly.


    In reality, his White Tiger Dharma Power had crossed over to the late Dharma stage six months ago.


    The training environment that he was in and the training resources he had did not differ greatly from that of He Mengxi and Da Zhuang. In fact, he had even shared the core drugs he had made with the duo.


    However, he had his own natural, inborn talents.


    His natural talent for martial arts were superior even if he compared to anyone in the infinite universe as he had inherited it all from his biological father.


    Previously, in the powerful supreme sect of Ziyun, due to the limited training environment and training resources, his progress in training had been extremely slow.


    Now that he was here on the Tielao planet of the Hengliu galaxy, he had access to the unlimited help of the Autumn Valley Head in finding several rare drugs. Furthermore, he had followed his past life''s memories to obtain a sustainable supply of spirit stone veins, and everything was going smoothly for him. Naturally, his training speed had improved dramatically.


    In reality, the Zhou Donghuang of the present had not only advanced his White Tiger Dharma Power into the late Dharma stage. He had also advanced his Green Dragon Dharma Power into the late Dharma stage two months ago.


    As for his Vermilion Bird Dharma Power and Black Turtle Dharma Power, they had already crossed to the mid Dharma stage over the course of the last six months as well.


    The four godly beast Dharma Powers within him were now split between two in the mid Dharma stage and two in the late Dharma stage.


    "You both better work hard... Otherwise, I will be far ahead."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled lightly.


    With these words, He Mengxi and Da Zhuang both immediately felt the pressure. Instantly, both their facial expressions became much more stern and serious.


    "Little brother."


    He Mengxi suddenly seemed to have thought of something, and her stern facial expression was quickly replaced by a teasing look. "Didn''t you hear about that girl, Luo Qinghan, from me a while back, that she is now in the Ultimate Frost Sect of the Ziji planet?"


    "Under such circumstances... why have you not visited her and instead are choosing to stay isolated and train?"

 261 Sky Sun Frui

    He Mengxi didn''t know why Luo Qinghan had visited the Lightning Sword Sect, so that was why she asked.


    Zhou Donghuang smiled casually at her question. "If we are fated to meet, we will eventually... Why should I rush it?"


    "Could it be that you are unaware of the fact that the Alliance Hunt, which happens once every ten years, is happening soon?"


    He Mengxi looked hard at Zhou Donghuang, as if she was trying to see through his neutral expression.


    "Alliance Hunt?"


    Zhou Donghuang was momentarily stunned. "What is that?"


    "You don''t know?" He Mengxi replied in a somewhat shocked manner.


    "I previously assumed that you did not go looking for Luo Qinghan as the Alliance Hunt was taking place soon. I didn''t know that you weren''t aware of the Alliance Hunt!"


    The Alliance Hunt was a hunt that was organized once every ten years by the top few elite sects of the Hengliu galaxy. The main stars were, of course, the Dharma adepts of the sects.


    Several of the Dharma adepts of the top few elite sects would all enter, and they could use the hunt to kill beasts and earn points for their sect.


    Once the Alliance Hunt ended, they would calculate the rankings of the sects and award prizes according to the rankings. Furthermore, the awards would all be contributed generously by the sects that were a part of the Alliance.


    "I see."


    After hearing the explanation offered by He Mengxi on the Alliance Hunt, Zhou Donghuang finally understood what she had been insinuating. The Alliance Hunt was basically a chance for all the Dharma disciples of the various top elite sects of the Hengliu galaxy''s Alliance to test their skills.


    "As long as one is a Dharma adept, one can participate? Is there an age restriction?" Zhou Donghuang asked curiously.


    In his opinion, since the various big sects of the Hengliu galaxy had already prepared awards for this Alliance Hunt and had made the event so hyped up, they probably would not want to waste their awards on those old Dharma adepts who were limited in skills.


    "There are restrictions, of course."


    He Mengxi nodded her head. "For the Alliance Hunt, they only allow Dharma disciples of the various elite sects who are below the age of 50 to join... Furthermore, there can only be 40 representatives per sect.


    "Among which, the ten early Dharma adepts have to be below the age of 30, the ten mid Dharma adepts have to be below the age of 35, the ten late Dharma adepts have to be below the age of 40, and the ten ultimate Dharma adepts have to be below 50."


    As she spoke to this point, He Mengxi glanced meaningfully at Zhou Donghuang. "In this case, as long as Luo Qinghan fulfills this criteria, she will very possibly be one of the disciples of the Jihan Sect taking part in the Alliance Hunt this year."


    "What''s the prize if we win?" Zhou Donghuang asked directly to the point.


    It was not that he was afraid of letting the Autumn Valley Head down. In any case, with his current abilities, if he wanted to earn the Lightning Sword Sect a good reputation, it would be easy for him to do so.


    "Actually, the prizes are pretty good... Among the prizes, the most valuable would be the Sky Sun fruit!"


    He Mengxi spoke as she glanced into the distance wistfully. "However, if one wishes to obtain the Sky Sun fruit, they not only have to be the top scorer in the entire Alliance Hunt... Their points also have to exceed a certain amount."


    "Sky Sun fruit?"


    Zhou Donghuang was shocked. He had not imagined that the Alliance of the top sects in the Hengliu galaxy could actually produce the Sky Sun fruit.


    The Sky Sun fruit was able to allow someone who had recently entered the early Dharma stage to quickly advance themselves and enter the Primordial Soul stage within a short period of time.


    Of course, whether one was able to borrow the power of the fruit to cross over to the Primordial Soul stage was dependent on the perceptions of the consumer.


    For the majority of Dharma adepts, after consuming the Sky Sun fruit, their essential core would be able to reach the peak of the ultimate Dharma stage. However, they would still need an opportune moment to cross over into the Primordial Soul stage.


    The Sky Sun fruit was not limited in power to the usage of just Dharma adepts but was usable for any martial arts adept of any stage.


    It was just that for adepts of the Primordial Soul stage and above to consume this fruit, although one''s essential core would still be raised, it would still not be of much help.


    Throughout the entire infinite universe, the Sky Sun fruit was one of the top three spirit fruits that all the Dharma adepts hoped to be able to consume.


    "Third Senior Sister, is the Sky Sun fruit really available as a prize?"


    Zhou Donghuang took a deep breath as he confirmed this fact.


    In the past two years, it was undeniable that in the Lightning Sword Sect, the Autumn Valley Head had been extremely accommodating in helping him find various rare herbs to create core drugs.


    However, even if one combined the power of those core drugs, it could not be compared to that of the Sky Sun fruit.


    "If I can obtain the Sky Sun fruit and use it as my main drug, I''ll be able to create an even better Sky Sun elixir... Then, it can become essence!"


    The Sky Sun elixir was made primarily from the Sky Sun fruit, and when paired with other rare herbs to form a core drug, it worked like the Sky Sun fruit but with further accelerated effects.


    "Little brother, it isn''t that easy to obtain the Sky Sun fruit."


    He Mengxi could easily guess that Zhou Donghuang was rather interested in the Sky Sun fruit and so gave him a little reminder. "The Sky Sun fruit prize of the Alliance has been advertised by the Alliance for hundreds of years.


    "As for the Alliance Hunt, they only organize it once every ten years... This means that in the past hundreds of years, out of the top disciples of the various elite sects who were nominated to participate in the hunt, even their points gathered in the hunt had not been high enough to obtain the Sky Sun fruit.


    "Being the top scorer in the entire Alliance Hunt is only one of the conditions to obtain the Sky Sun fruit... The other condition would be that one has to reach the minimum score standard set by the sects," He Mengxi reminded Zhou Donghuang carefully.


    "Has anyone ever reached that set score?" Zhou Donghuang asked.


    "Of course."


    He Mengxi nodded her head. "About 400 years ago, the Great Star Fireism had a late Dharma adept. He was the top scorer of the Alliance Hunt, and his points met the standard set for the Sky Sun fruit. He thus managed to obtain the Sky Sun fruit."


    The Great Star¡­ Fireism?


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes flickered as he heard those words that were extremely familiar to him. Within the Great Star Fireism, he had killed someone called Gong Sunling in the past due to a debt he owed to the person who left him an inheritance. This inheritance was left by an ultimate Dharma adept named Mo Gan. He had left behind the Divine Soul Shaper to Zhou Donghuang.


    At this point, He Mengxi continued to speak. "In that matter, the Great Star Fireism had originally been prideful... However, it was an extremely unusual situation. After obtaining the Sky Sun fruit, that talented Fireism disciple actually betrayed Fireism and joined one of the two Transcendental Forces of the Hengliu galaxy instead, the Qi Dynasty.


    "Afterwards, this individual''s identity was exposed, and everyone realized that he was the youngest son of King Qi of the Qi Dynasty, who many knew little about!


    "He had entered Fireism in hopes of obtaining the Sky Sun fruit.


    "In the Hengliu galaxy, there is only one tree that bears the Sky Sun fruit. According to the agreement between the two Transcendental Forces and the Alliance... For every 3,000 years, the Sky Sun fruit tree bears four fruits. The two Transcendental Forces receive one Sky Sun fruit each, and the Alliance receives two.


    "The rarity and value of the Sky Sun fruit is, of course, very high... After all, for every 3,000 years, the Alliance only receives two such fruits in total!"


    "That time, the young master of the Qi Dynasty used his trip to obtain one of the Sky Sun fruits and thus caused the entire Alliance to become enraged... Many of the top sects all sent forth representatives to demand an explanation from the Qi Dynasty.


    "However, as there had been no explicit clause stating that this behavior was illegal, the Alliance could only swallow their pride and accept this loss of the Sky Sun fruit.


    "After that incident, the Alliance sought out the Qi Dynasty and the other Transcendental Forces to set the clause and agreement that the two Transcendental Forces were banned from sending representatives to join the top elite sects and fight with the general Dharma disciples for the Sky Sun fruit. Otherwise, the Alliance would not hesitate to kill the Transcendental Force disciples!"


    As He Mengxi spoke to this point, she paused for a while before continuing with her speech with a slightly pained smile, "If not for the young master of the Qi Dynasty who had obtained one of the two Sky Sun fruits belonging to the Alliance, the Alliance would still have two such fruits in its possession.


    "The remaining Sky Sun fruit belonging to the Alliance as well as well as the Sky Sun fruit that the Qi Dynasty''s young master had obtained were both picked recently a thousand years ago from the Sky Sun fruit tree."


    ...


    After saying her piece, He Mengxi successfully conveyed the meaning of the Alliance Hunt to Zhou Donghuang. That was why every top sect would encourage their disciples to participate in this competition. It was a one-of-a-kind hunt.


    For such a huge competition, the Alliance was even willing to take out the Sky Sun fruit as a prize, which was only picked once every 3,000 years and of which they only had two of.


    "Third Senior Sister."


    Zhou Donghuang asked, "If in the upcoming Alliance Hunt, someone manages to obtain the last Sky Sun fruit from the Alliance, the Alliance will no longer have any more Sky Sun fruits to place as a prize for the next 2,000 years. In that case, for a disciple who manages to not only become the top scorer but who also meets the standard points required to receive the Sky Sun fruit, would he be unable to do so then?"


    After all, the Sky Sun fruit in the hands of the Alliance was only picked 1,000 years ago.


    The Sky Sun fruit tree only bore fruit once every 3,000 years.


    This meant that the next time the Alliance and the Transcendental Forces could receive the Sky Sun fruits was in 2,000 years.


    "Yes, that is how it is."


    He Mengxi nodded her head. "In the history of the Alliance, many talented disciples have been forced to endure such a consequence. Well, it is just too bad that they were unlucky enough to be born in a fruitless decade.


    "When is the Alliance Hunt taking place?" Zhou Donghuang''s eyes twinkled as he asked.


    "In seven months," He Mengxi smiled and said.


    "In a month, the sect will start to use the remaining six months to decide the 40 nominees who will get to represent the sect in the hunt... As for those who are selected as the 40 nominees, for the remaining six months, they will not be allowed to leave the Lightning Sword Sect till it is time for them to enter the venue of the Alliance Hunt."


    "Third Senior Sister, the Valley Head should probably have some say over the nominees, am I right?" Zhou Donghuang asked.


    "Regarding the nominations, you need not worry... Your nomination cannot be snatched away by anyone. According to gossip that I''ve overheard from my dad, our Sect Leader is extremely excited to see your performance in the Alliance Hunt. If you don''t join the nominations, Sect Leader may even visit you personally to invite you to sign up as a representative."


    He Mengxi sighed and shook her head. "The Alliance Hunt is, in a way, a competition of status among the top few sects... For the Lightning Sword Sect Leader, he would definitely hope that the disciples we send as representatives can obtain good results and earn a good reputation for our sect.


    "As for Da Zhuang and I, we will have to pass some test before we can be nominated."


    As she spoke to this point, the corners of He Mengxi''s mouth turned up into a teasing smile. No matter whether it was for her or for Da Zhuang, the nomination test for the Alliance Hunt was an easy feat for either of them.


    Well, this did prove to be true in reality.


    A month later, even though she and Da Zhuang had held back at some points, they still easily and comfortably earned themselves a nomination to compete in the Alliance Hunt as part of the ten Mid Dharma adepts.

 262 Nominations for the Alliance Hun

    While the Lightning Sword Sect was going through the process of deciding the 40 nominees for the Alliance Hunt, which was to take place in half a year''s time, there was a rather significant blunder that happened.


    The Lightning Sword Sect elder in charge of finalizing the nomination list had somehow included Zhou Donghuang''s name as part of the ten nominees under the category for the mid Dharma stage disciples.


    Till the end, this remained unchanged until He Mengxi proffered a reminder on the issue. She had mentioned that Zhou Donghuang had already crossed over to the late Dharma stage and this was where the amendments had to be made.


    However, at this point, all 40 names had already been confirmed.


    Because of the mistake, the weakest disciple out of the ten disciples of the late Dharma stage was kicked out of the nominations in order to make space for Zhou Donghuang.


    This late Dharma stage disciple had originally been unwilling to give up his position. However, towards his displeasure, the Lightning Sword Sect elder had said, "You can challenge Zhou Donghuang for this position. If you win against him in a fight, the nomination will remain yours." The disciple had thus then shut his mouth immediately.


    Out of the late Dharma stage disciples, he had originally been the weakest in terms of skills. Although Zhou Donghuang had only entered the late Dharma stage for a short period of time, he was definitely more skilled and could easily win against this disciple.


    Zhou Donghuang''s superior capabilities had already once been demonstrated when he had first defeated an elite disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect, Han Yuzheng and showed his Dharma power. With the methods that he had utilized as a Dharma adept, it was enough to show that he had trained himself well even just as he had entered the late Dharma stage.


    Other than this particular disciple, for the remaining nine nominees from the late Dharma stage, none of them could possibly fight Zhou Donghuang either.


    Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma power was just trained too well as compared to them.


    As Zhou Donghuang''s name was removed from the list of mid Dharma stage nominees and moved to the list for late Dharma adepts, a disciple who had previously been disqualified was now added back to the mid Dharma stage list of nominees as his skills were rather decent.


    Once the list was confirmed, within the Lightning Sword Sect, other than topics regarding and related to the Alliance Hunt, most only talked about Zhou Donghuang and his rapid progress in crossing over to the late Dharma stage.


    "Just as I expected! He managed to cross over to the late Dharma stage... Isn''t that crazily fast?"


    "I''ve never heard of a 26-year-old late Dharma adept before... I think he is the first in the history of the Tielao planet!"


    "Doesn''t that mean that Zhou Donghuang is somewhat a legend of the Tielao planet? He has made history!"


    "You are correct!"


    "That elite disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect, Han Yuzheng... Has he entered the late Dharma stage? If so, Zhou Donghuang not only made history but also could even be considered as being on par with Han Yuzheng!"


    "Han Yuzheng? He was defeated by Zhou Donghuang; can he even be compared to Zhou Donghuang at this point?"


    The Summer Valley Head''s surrogate son, Lian Can, a direct disciple, had also been added to the nomination list for the Alliance Hunt under the category of mid Dharma stage adepts.


    It was just that he had never expected that Zhou Donghuang, who had been added to the nominations without any testing, had managed to cross over to the late Dharma stage!


    Needless to say, he was also shocked that Autumn Valley Head He Jin''s daughter, He Mengxi, who he had captured his heart and was a woman he wanted to be with, had managed to lose to Zhou Donghuang!


    That woman had previously managed to defeat him within ten moves!


    Not only had that woman defeated him, even the brute of the Autumn Valley, Da Zhuang, who was clumsy and had been easily defeated, had managed to defeat him as well!


    After Zhou Donghuang had appeared, the duo''s powers had accelerated in power just like a rocket, and this was extremely shocking to all.


    At this very moment, as Lian Can made his way back to the Summer Valley, he had on an awful expression on his face.


    "Why do you have on such a troubled expression... Did you somehow get robbed of a spot on the nominee list?"


    Seeing as Lian Can had on an unreadable expression, the Summer Valley Head, Lian Kun, could not help but furrow his brows. It was unlikely that Lian Can had not been nominated for the Alliance Hunt as his current capabilities would make it extremely easy for him to be one of the top mid Dharma adepts.


    "I''ve been nominated."


    Lian Can smiled bitterly.


    Upon hearing those words, Lian Kun relaxed slightly. "Since you''ve been nominated, why the long face?"


    "Father."


    Lian Can sighed deeply. "As you had predicted previously, that Zhou Donghuang was personally appointed by the Sect Leader to enter the Alliance Hunt without any need for a test of his abilities."


    "Well, that is to be expected."


    Lian Kun smiled lightly. "With his abilities, entering the Alliance Hunt means that he has a shot to be part of the top ten participants... For our Lightning Sword Sect, we already have not had any disciple enter the top ten scorers for the last 100 years...


    "This time, I''m sure the Sect Leader is looking to Zhou Donghuang to earn some glory for our sect."


    Towards this, Lian Kun was not surprised at all. If he were the Sect Leader of the Lightning Sword Sect, he would have made such a choice as well.


    "He has entered the late Dharma stage."


    Lian Can continued to sigh.


    "Who!?"


    Lian Kun was a little stunned and confused.


    "Zhou Donghuang!" Lian Can replied.


    "What!?"


    Lian Can''s words immediately shocked Lian Kun. Hadn''t Zhou Donghuang entered the mid Dharma stage only one and a half years ago?


    Within such a short period of time, he had managed to cross over to the late Dharma stage?


    What kind of miracle was this?


    In the entire Tielao planet and even within the entire Hengliu galaxy''s history, there had been no one who had spent any less than two years training before they were able to cross over from the mid Dharma stage to the late Dharma stage, much less in the Lightning Sword Sect!


    This was extremely frightening news to hear!


    "Are you speaking the truth?" Lian Kun asked doubtfully.


    "He Mengxi said so. I think she''s right. After all, the sect has now accorded him a nomination under the list of late Dharma stage adepts."


    Upon hearing Lian Can''s words, Lian Kun''s face suddenly had on a serious expression, and his eyes clouded over as he thought to himself. "That Zhou Donghuang is really a beast!


    "It''s already shocking that he has trained his Dharma power so well. I can''t believe he managed to level up so quickly as well!"


    Lian Kun had met many talented individuals in his life. However, he was now beginning to think that none of these individuals could even hold a candle to Zhou Donghuang!


    "There''s more..."


    As Lian Kun remained in a state of shock, Lian Can spoke up once again with a bitter look on his face. "In the test today, I dueled with He Mengxi of the Autumn Valley. Within ten moves, she was able to defeat me."


    Just as Lian Kun was further dumbfounded, Lian Can continued to speak. "That disciple of the Autumn Valley, Da Zhuang, managed to defeat me within 20 moves as well!"


    With these words, Lian Kun was shocked till he felt numb.


    How had Autumn Valley upgraded themselves so well?


    "It seems like Zhou Donghuang is the lucky charm of the Autumn Valley... After he entered the Autumn Valley, the other disciples have seemed to upgrade themselves as well..." Lian Kun muttered under his breath.


    Of course, it was not hard for Lian Kun to deduce that for He Mengxi and Da Zhuang to be able to upgrade themselves within such a short period of time, Zhou Donghuang must have provided aid in one way or another.


    If not He Mengxi, Da Zhuang for sure at the very least.


    Two years ago, he was only an ultimate Primal Core adept.


    Now, not only was he a Dharma adept, he was even at the mid Dharma stage!


    The Spring Valley Head, Liu Fenggu''s only son, Liu Lang, had also secured a place in the nominee list under the category of early Dharma stage adepts.


    Although he had only entered the early Dharma stage for a short period of time, when he was at the ultimate Primal Core stage, under his father''s coaching, he had managed to train his Dharma power. When he had finally entered the early Dharma stage, his skills were thus much stronger than that of most other early Dharma adepts.


    Today, he had personally witnessed He Mengxi defeat Lian Can, a disciple of the Summer Valley.


    Before he had watched that scene, he had already heard that Lian Can was one of the strongest amongst the mid Dharma stage adepts of the Summer Valley and was hard to beat.


    His father had also told him that even if he entered the mid Dharma stage now, he would lag far behind as compared to Lian Can.


    However, He Mengxi, who had previously been on par with Lian Can, now had somehow managed to defeat Lian Can and had even done so within ten moves!


    What shocked him the most, however, was still the Autumn valley disciple, Da Zhuang.


    With a short time frame of two years, Da Zhuang had managed to go from the ultimate Primal Core stage to the mid Dharma stage. Furthermore, he was capable of defeating Lian Can within 20 moves!


    "The change they underwent is too huge... Behind all of this, Zhou Donghuang must have helped out in one way or another."


    Another thing that had shocked Liu Lang greatly was that Zhou Donghuang had already entered the late Dharma stage.


    My goodness!


    How long had it only been?


    He remembered clearly. Two years ago, Zhou Donghuang was only a Golden Essence adept just like Da Zhuang. However, within a short two years, he had entered the late Dharma stage!


    Furthermore, he had trained his Dharma power to perfection.


    His father had told him before that with Zhou Donghuang''s current Dharma power, once he entered the ultimate Dharma stage, he would be one of the strongest of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "With Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma power and the fact that he is now a late Dharma adept... Within the Lightning Sword Sect, for the Dharma adepts, no one can defeat him as of now."


    After guessing that He Mengxi and Da Zhuang''s powers had probably improved due to Zhou Donghuang, Liu Lang could not help but feel enraged and yet also resigned to his fate at the same time.


    He had always wanted to forge a good relationship with Zhou Donghuang.


    However, Zhou Donghuang had been rather adamant in ignoring his attempts at a friendship.


    "If he had not entered the Autumn Valley but had come to the Spring Valley and forged good relations with me... Well, I could also be at the mid Dharma stage by now!"


    Liu Lang knew that his innate talent and skills were not worse than that of Da Zhuang of the Autumn Valley, after all.


    In reality, Da Zhuang''s ability to greatly improve himself was mostly because his body was suited for the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen style.


    Since his body was suited for the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen style, his early training would be boosted to create the form he had now.


    Da Zhuang had thus managed to use merely one year to go from the early Dharma stage directly to the mid Dharma stage!


    ...


    The Ziji planet


    The Jihan Sect.


    Similar to the Lightning Sword Sect, the Jihan Sect had also confirmed their 40 nominees for the Alliance Hunt half a year ago.


    "That was close."


    Towards the testing that had occurred recently, after it had ended, Luo Qinghan had breathed a deep sigh of relief.


    She had nearly missed out on being nominated for the Alliance Hunt.


    Her skills had been the weakest among the ten early Dharma adepts chosen by the Jihan Sect.


    Of course, this was also because Luo Qinghan had not changed her training style to the Immortal training style, the Technique of Everlasting Youth that Zhou Donghuang had left behind for Luo Wuchen. If not, her skills would definitely be of a higher level than they were at now.


    "If I had not entered the early Dharma stage a year ago or had grandmother''s careful guidance, well, I definitely would not have managed to become one of the ten early Dharma stage nominees!"


    Luo Qinghan felt relief deep in her heart.


    Within the past years'' time, after she had entered the Dharma stage, Luo Qinghan had returned home once again and stayed for a long time before traveling out again.


    While she was dwelling at home, she had been under the careful guidance of her patient maternal grandmother, Li Yu, who had taught her how to train her Dharma power with more effectiveness and better results.


    After all, Li Yu had been training under the Immortal training style, the Technique of Everlasting Youth, and she had improved her skills greatly at her stage. Many of the other ultimate Dharma adepts were now unable to compete with her at this point.

 263 Divine Will

    Li Yu and Luo Wuchen had both never intended to pass on an Immortal training style such as the Technique of Everlasting Youth to anyone else.


    They were afraid that the Technique of Everlasting Youth would be used to harm themselves and the Luo family. Furthermore, they felt that they owed Zhou Donghuang, and thus, they never intended to pass the Technique of Everlasting Youth to anyone else.


    There was one person that they had planned to pass on the Technique of Everlasting Youth to. This person was Luo Qinghan.


    Li Yu and Luo Wuchen were very clear of the fact that when Zhou Donghuang had first passed on the Technique of Everlasting Youth as a betrothal gift, he had intended for it to be passed on to Luo Qinghan. Now, they had familiarized themselves with the technique. However, Luo Qinghan had been unwilling to train using the technique, and they felt unhappy with that. They wanted to convince Luo Qinghan to convert to using the Technique of Everlasting Youth. However, Luo Qinghan was extremely stubborn and stuck to her stance.


    Luo Qinghan said, "Father, Granny, I previously promised Donghuang that I would not use the training method he gifted you to train... Furthermore, it would be a futile attempt. I will not train using this method." Luo Qinghan had a stubborn nature. She already owed Zhou Donghuang too much. At this point, she was already unable to repay him. If she owed him further, she would feel like she was taking advantage of his kindness. She was not that kind of person.


    Because of that, Luo Qinghan was able to enjoy the success she had now. Furthermore, she was naturally talented in the martial arts. She had also taken sufficient elixirs and had a high energy-gathering position and had taken up the pointers given to her by her grandmother, Li Yu,


    Of course, if she had chosen to use the Technique of Everlasting Youth, she would be even more successful in her training now.


    "There''s still half a year''s time..."


    Luo Qinghan''s eyes shone brightly and sparkled. "From now onwards till the end of the Alliance Hunt, at the point where points and rankings are tabulated... I''m sure that those who are about to surpass the Dharma stage will put such a feat on hold in order to be selected by their sects to enter the Alliance Hunt.


    "No matter who it is, if they were to surpass the Dharma stage before the rankings and points are out... They will either be disqualified or their results will no longer count.


    "I am sure that I will not be able to cross over to the mid Dharma stage within this short period of time, no matter how hard I train. However, keeping in mind such a rule, I should then focus on training on my own Dharma Power.


    "Once my Dharma Power is stronger, that will improve my chances even though I am unable to reach the next Dharma stage in time."


    The last time she was here, her grandmother had accidentally let slip that the tips and knowledge that she had on training her Dharma Power had been inherited from Zhou Donghuang''s Technique of Everlasting Youth and not from her own experiences. This had been an uncomfortable realization for Luo Qinghan, and she felt rather put out.


    However, this time, although Luo Qinghan did not return home, since the Jihan Sect was extremely strict with its disciples who were sent to represent the sect in the Alliance Hunt, she had sought the advice of several of the elders of the sect, who had trained their Dharma Powers to the highest degree possible. In the remaining half of the year, Luo Qinghan remained focused on her training and the teachings of her elders.


    The people that helped Luo Qinghan also included some of the disciples of the 40 nominees; they all trained together to improve and upgrade their Dharma Power.


    During this process, Luo Qinghan gained some valuable insights.


    Among the group of elders who had trained their Dharma Power to the highest degree possible, although they organized classes and did not hold back in their knowledge, their teachings were still not as helpful as the pointers that her grandmother had given her.


    If she had still been unaware that the pointers her grandmother gave her were based off of the Technique of Everlasting Youth by Zhou Donghuang, she would definitely return home and gain more insights from her grandmother to improve her skills and upgrade herself. She would then only return back to the Jihan Sect when the Alliance Hunt drew near.


    However, since she was now made aware of this fact, she could not bear to return home now.


    She already owed that man too much.


    ...


    The Tielao planet.


    The Thunder Knife Sect.


    About a year ago, before he had headed for the Thunder Knife Sect, a disciple of the sect, Han Yuzheng had been labeled and recognized as one of the rare martial arts talents produced by the Thunder Knife Sect. Furthermore, he was seen as the top disciple of the younger generation of the Tielao planet.


    However, in a showcase of martial arts talent before heading for the Thunder Knife Sect, instead of having an assured victory, Han Yuzheng was utterly destroyed.


    Han Yuzheng fought with a young man from the sect who was his age and trained using the same style, but had still lost.


    From that point onwards, the people of the Thunder Knife Sect knew that the Lightning Sword Sect had a disciple called Zhou Donghuang, who was allegedly stronger than Han Yuzheng and had a higher level of talent as well.


    Han Yuzheng had felt humiliated and wanted to find a chance to prove himself and get rid of such rumors.


    "Yuzheng, do you still remember last time when you lost to the disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, Zhou Donghuang?"


    The Thunder Knife Sect Leader, Luo Yuanqiu, called the sect''s most talented disciple to the front and questioned him.


    "Master, I would never forget him." Han Yuzheng''s eyes shone with anger and indignation. "When the Alliance Hunt starts... I will defeat him and earn back my reputation!"


    Ever since he had been defeated, Han Yuzheng had returned to the Thunder Knife Sect and trained even harder.


    Now that he had managed to cross over into the late Dharma stage and had improved his Dharma Power as well, he had almost mastered Dharma-body integration.


    With a bit more time, Han Yuzheng was confident that he could master the Dharma-body integration before he entered the ultimate Dharma stage.


    "Are you assuming that Zhou Donghuang would represent the Lightning Sword Sect as a mid Dharma adept and enter the Alliance Hunt?"


    Luo Yuanqiu could of course guess what Han Yuzheng was thinking. He knew that Han Yuzheng had assumed that Zhou Donghuang was still a mid Dharma adept, and that his edge as a late Dharma adept was enough to allow him to defeat Zhou Donghuang.


    "Master, what are you saying... what do you mean by that?"


    Han Yuzheng had an uneasy feeling in his heart. However, he still chose to push these doubts away. According to his knowledge, when Zhou Donghuang had dueled with him, he had only just entered the mid Dharma stage.


    It had only been less than two years. Was it really possible that Zhou Donghuang had managed to cross over into the late Dharma stage like him?


    "Based on the latest news that I heard... that Zhou Donghuang has entered into the Alliance Hunt under the list of late Dharma adepts."


    Luo Yuanqiu sighed. "Although I can''t quite believe it as well, at this point, I can''t be in denial any longer. That Zhou Donghuang, like you, has entered the late Dharma stage.


    "You were still so confident just now. Previously, with your new training style and newly trained Dharma Power, it would still be possible for you to defeat him.


    "However, now that he is also at the late Dharma stage and of the same training as you, coupled with the fact that his Dharma Power surpasses yours, if you all fight, it is easy to guess that he would still emerge victorious."


    Even though Han Yuzheng had prepared himself for this news, after hearing Luo Yuanqiu''s words, he could not help but feel his heart drop.


    He had never imagined that Zhou Donghuang had also managed to cross over into the late Dharma stage. "Hadn''t he just reached the mid Dharma stage? It hasn''t even been two years and he has managed to cross over into the late Dharma stage?"


    Han Yuzheng''s tone was full of indignation and disbelief.


    One had to know that even for him to go from the mid Dharma stage to the late Dharma stage, it had taken close to three years'' time.


    This was even after his family and the Thunder Knife Sect had spent much of their priceless resources on him, and they had been fully committed to his growth.


    Han Yuzheng''s family was a strong force among the Tielao planet. In terms of status and power, if one included the powerful elite sects, the Lightning Sword Sect and the Thunder Knife Sect, his family would rank second in the entire community.


    "Yuzheng, I know you may be unable to believe such facts now. However, this is the truth, and you have to learn to accept it!"


    Luo Yuanqiu said in a low voice, "You have to know that every talented person will meet someone who is more talented than them. There will always be others who are greater than you... Zhou Donghuang''s presence is a good chance for you to improve on your arrogance and humble yourself.


    "Let''s not even talk about the Hengliu galaxy. Even on the Tielao planet, at this moment, he is clearly stronger than you in all areas!


    "Your little bit of success is not considered much in light of his."


    Luo Yuanqiu''s words were extremely blunt and straightforward, but they could not be rebuked.


    He had done so in order to motivate and encourage the most promising disciple of his.


    "Master, I have only lost to him previously, but this does not mean I will continue to lag behind!"


    Han Yuzheng''s gaze was steady and determined. With a steadfast tone, he bid the Sect Leader farewell and returned to his training as if he did not want to waste any more time.


    Seeing this, a satisfied smile appeared on Luo Yuanqiu''s fat face.


    A second later, the smile and satisfaction was replaced by a sigh. "I thought that Yuzheng''s presence could help our Thunder Knife Sect''s younger generation get a leg up among all the other sects and prove our worth.


    "I did not think that the Lightning Sword Sect would have such a character as Zhou Donghuang."


    To Luo Yuanqiu, Zhou Donghuang''s presence meant the doom of Han Yuzheng as he was being crushed in all areas.


    However, judging solely by the current situation, although Han Yuzheng was temporarily weaker, this added pressure had become the fuel to motivate him. It would be a good thing for him in the long run.


    "There''s still half a year to go..."


    Thinking as there were still six months before the commencement of the Alliance Hunt, Luo Yuanqiu''s eyes narrowed and he mused to himself, "With that Zhou Donghuang''s abilities, wanting to enter the top ten scorers will definitely be an easy feat for him."


    "As for Yuzheng, well, if he is unable to master his Dharma-body integration within the next six months, it will be rather impossible for him to be a part of the top ten scorers."


    The Hengliu galaxy''s share of the sects within the Alliance included over ten elite sects, and there were several ingenious talents that each had produced.


    In the upcoming Alliance Hunt, each of these elite sects would be sending out their best and most talented Dharma disciples. Towards this, he felt a mix of emotions and was excited and worried all at the same time.


    Of course, there were few who were extremely calm about the hunt, but most people were equally as tense.


    Out of this rare group of people, Zhou Donghuang was one of them.


    "I''ve finally managed to fully train that Divine Soul Shaper... As of today, my Divine Will has been formed. Entering the Primordial Soul stage and being able to agglomerate Divine Will is something that only very few living people in the entire infinite universe can do right now."


    In the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect, in a room in a random courtyard, the young man dressed in white was sitting cross-legged on a mattress. With a flash of light, a ripple traveled through the air in the skies above him, and the Divine Will swept past, trapping a corner of the city.


    At this very moment, sitting inside his room, Zhou Donghuang had full control of all the events that had just took place outside his room.

 264 Half a Year Later

    The use of Divine Will was not solely to identify items that were invisible to the naked eye. Strong Divine Will could affect one''s soul or even destroy one''s soul!


    As of now, Zhou Donghuang had managed to cultivate Divine Will as he was now at the Dharma stage. For Dharma adepts who were at the Primordial Soul stage and below and had not yet managed to cultivate their Divine Will, once they used their Divine Will, they would be able to affect the other party''s soul. Even if they were unable to fully destroy the other party''s soul, they could at least impact it.


    Once one''s soul was affected, if the person in question were to face something extremely impactful, then their soul would be lost.


    Think about this: If two Dharma adepts dueled and either one of them were to utilize their Divine Will, at a key moment should they choose to use the Divine Well to impact the other party''s soul, what would happen?


    In the instant where the other party lost their soul, almost immediately, they may even lose their lives!


    "However, this Divine Will is too weak... As compared to the Divine Will created at the early Primordial Soul stage by a Primal Core adept, it is much weaker... Other than its use of being able to identify items invisible to the naked eye, it can only be used to bully and harm those Dharma adepts who have not yet cultivated their Divine Will."


    Although Zhou Donghuang was criticizing his own Divine Will, a joyful look appeared in his eyes nevertheless. It was clear to see that he was rather satisfied with the state of his Divine Will.


    "Now, the Divine Soul Shaper has been fully refined, and I can fully train without further distractions... I need to make use of the time left before the Alliance Hunt commences and upgrade my third Dharma power to the late Dharma stage!"


    With such a goal in mind, Zhou Donghuang began to fully immerse himself in his training and was oblivious to everything else that was taking place in the external world.


    Other than Zhou Donghuang, Da Zhuang and He Mengxi also seldom left their rooms in the remaining half of the year.


    Da Zhuang and He Mengxi, however, had not isolated themselves merely to train their Dharma powers. After all, their Dharma powers were sufficiently trained.


    Even if they continued to train, it was unlikely that their Dharma powers would reach the next stage.


    As long as they managed to reach the late Dharma stage in the future, with the new Deity''s Tribulation training style that they had switched to, their Dharma powers would follow suit and be moved to the next stage.


    Of course, although they trained hard, there was still a long way to go before they could reach the late Dharma stage. A mere six months would not be enough for them to cross over to the next stage.


    ...


    Time flew by, and the six months went by in a blur.


    The Alliance Hunt of the Hengliu galaxy was jointly organized by the top 52 sects. The aim of the Alliance Hunt was to resist the two strong Transcendental Forces: the Qi Dynasty and the Guangling Academy.


    In the Hengliu galaxy, the best training environment and training resources were all concentrated in the hands of the two Transcendental Forces. Furthermore, only the Transcendental Forces'' training resources could guarantee the training speed of a Divine Transformation adept at the early Divine Transformation stage.


    This was why the two Transcendental Forces had the most Divine Transformation adepts.


    As for the various top sects in the Alliance Hunt, even if they managed to produce a Divine Transformation adept, unless they were entrusted with the precious and important role of guarding the sect, they would usually choose to leave the Hengliu galaxy.


    This was because to the Divine Transformation adepts, training in the Hengliu galaxy would mean that their training speed would be decreased. Due to the waste of time, they may even be unable to enter the Separating Divinity stage and be forced to stay stagnant for the rest of their lives.


    Even though Divine Transformation adepts had a slighter longer lifespan, they were also not immortal and had limited years to live.


    For all the Divine Transformation adepts, it was natural to seek improvement to become Separating Divinity adepts and increase the lifespan that a Divine Transformation adept normally had.


    Because of this, even if the top sects managed to produce a Divine Transformation adept, these adepts would not be willing to waste their time and living years by remaining in the Hengliu galaxy.


    Even for those in the two Transcendental Forces, once a Divine Transformation adept had trained to a certain standard, they would choose to leave the Hengliu galaxy as well.


    All of these Divine Transformation adepts naturally wanted to expand beyond this world and find a richer galaxy where they could create bright futures for themselves. Who would want to limit themselves and their living years without stepping outside to explore?


    One could say that within the Hengliu galaxy, the two Transcendental Forces were able to produce and retain more Divine Transformation adepts as compared to the various top sects only because they had good control over training resources.


    Of course, perhaps, some would be doubtful about this.


    For the Divine Transformation adepts choosing to leave the various top sects, even if the chances were slim, was it still possible for some to triumph and cross over to the Separating Divinity stage?


    The answer was, of course, a resounding yes.


    However, for those elites, they continued to desire to improve themselves and eventually reach the Heavenly Stage in order to live an even longer life.


    Furthermore, their loved ones would be brought along with them when they chose to leave the Hengliu galaxy. Under such a circumstance, it was clear that they had no intention to return to the Hengliu galaxy or the sect that they had come from.


    Of the past Divine Transformation adepts who had left their sects, there were actually more Divine Transformation adepts who had left the two Transcendental Forces.


    There were more Divine Transformation adepts in the two Transcendental Forces in the first place. Their foundation was also more concrete.


    Even so, the two Transcendental Forces also seldom saw Divine Transformation adepts returning to them. Even if the Divine Transformation adepts did so, they would also not stay within the Hengliu galaxy for long.


    This was similar to the career-minded people back on Earth. If they wanted to rise through the ranks, they would all have to head to the bigger cities as there were more opportunities and better resources there.


    "The venue of the Alliance Hunt is a planet within the Hengliu galaxy, the Guiyao planet... That planet got its name due to the fact that it is extremely strange. That planet also only has beasts."


    The Lightning Sword Sect''s team of Dharma disciples were personally led by the Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng, and was accompanied by the four Valley Heads of the respective valleys within the sect.


    The one who had spoken was the Spring Valley Head, Liu Fengao, and he was introducing the venue of the Alliance Hunt to the Dharma disciples who were unfamiliar with the Alliance Hunt''s details.


    "The Spirit energy of the skies and land there is normal during the day. However, in the later hours of each day, it will become extremely chaotic. This lasts throughout the entire year. Because of that, the venue is normally unsuitable for any human to train."


    As Liu Fengao spoke to this point, Zhou Donghuang furrowed his brows.


    Such a strange occurrence definitely had an explanation for it.


    The fact that there were turbulent conditions on that planet had to have a scientific reason behind it.


    However, it was clear through Liu Fengao''s words that the Guiyao planet''s abnormal Spirit conditions still remained unexplained and was a mystery to all.


    "Furthermore, the Spirit energy in the skies and land is not very abundant as well... Only beasts train in the Guiyao planet. Even so, they will mostly train till the Dharma stage, and it is impossible for them to cross over to the Primordial Soul stage at all.


    "The Spirit energy in the skies and land of the Guiyao planet has its sources in a rather isolated spirit stone vein mine... However, with the level of Spirit energy in the skies and land, those spirit stone vein mines seem to be rather ordinary, and there''s nothing abnormal to note about them.


    "Many people of the Hengliu galaxy have once wanted to dig through the spirit stone vein mines of the Guiyao planet to investigate them further. However, these spirit stone vein mines are hidden well and too deep in for normal people to reach. Furthermore, the land in the mines are very tough, and even a Primordial Soul adept would find it difficult to dig through it. After a while, everyone gave up the idea of exploration over time.


    "Afterwards, the various ancestors of the top sects decided to designate the Guiyao planet to be a place where disciples under the Alliance could train and allow them to do so, they installed a few formations there... Afterwards, they renamed this activity the ''Alliance Hunt.''"


    As Liu Fengao spoke to this point, he paused for a while before continuing to speak. "The process of the Alliance Hunt is simple: just kill beasts and gain points for them... I''m sure all of you are aware of that.


    "However, some of you may be unaware of the fact that for Alliance Hunt Dharma stage disciples who have different styles of training, killing the same type of beast will gain you different levels of points.


    "For example, if an early Dharma adept manages to kill a beast of the early Dharma stage, he can gain ten points. If he kills a beast of the mid Dharma stage, he can gain 100 points. If he kills a beast of the late Dharma stage, he can gain 1000 points. If he kills a beast of the ultimate Dharma stage, he can gain 10,000 points."


    As Liu Fengao spoke to this point, a few of the Dharma adepts were shocked. He quickly amended his words. "Of course, for an early Dharma adept to be able to kill a beast of the late Dharma stage, it would require lots of ingenuity and days of planning... As for a beast of the ultimate Dharma stage, it would of course be even harder.


    "If any disciple of the early Dharma stage really manages to kill a beast of the ultimate Dharma stage, once they have done so, they can leave the Alliance Hunt immediately as they would definitely be the top scorer of the season."


    As he spoke to this point, Liu Fengao shook his head. "In the last few hundreds of years, there haven''t been any Dharma disciples of the Alliance Hunt who have managed to accumulate 10,000 points.


    "As for mid Dharma adepts, if one kills a beast of the early Dharma stage, it does not earn you any points. If one kills a beast of the mid Dharma stage, they can gain ten points. If they kill a beast of the late Dharma stage, they can gain 100 points. If they kill a beast of the ultimate Dharma stage, they can gain 1000 points."


    "Of course, for a mid Dharma adept to kill a beast of the ultimate Dharma stage, it would also be extremely tough.


    "For late Dharma adepts, if one kills a beast of the early Dharma stage or mid Dharma stage, you will not gain any points... Killing a beast of the late Dharma stage earns you ten points, and killing a beast of the ultimate Dharma stage earns you 100 points.


    "Disciples of the ultimate Dharma stage will gain ten points from killing a beast of the ultimate Dharma stage. Killing beasts of any lower stage will not earn them any points at all.


    "Because of the way the points are structured, for the ultimate Dharma adepts, although they are the strongest amongst all the disciples who attend the Alliance Hunt, they are actually the most disadvantaged. This is because they can only depend on the killing of beasts at the same stage as them to earn points.


    "Killing one beast of the ultimate Dharma stage only earns them ten points at a time. If they wish to reach 10000 points, they have to kill 1000 beasts of the ultimate Dharma stage!


    "However, the Alliance Hunt only takes place for three months... Within a mere three months, it is impossible for one to meet 1000 beasts of the ultimate Dharma stage, let alone kill them all!


    "Because of this, in this history of the Alliance Hunt, no ultimate Dharma adept has managed to enter the top ten scorers.


    "Furthermore, because of this, many late Dharma stage disciples taking place in the Alliance Hunt would choose to temporarily delay their crossing over to the ultimate Dharma stage if the Alliance Hunt was coming up. They would instead train up their Dharma powers in anticipation of the Alliance Hunt."


    With such a detailed explanation by Liu Fengao, disciples who had previously been unfamiliar with the Alliance Hunt, Zhou Donghuang included, were all now more clear on the details and rules of the Alliance Hunt.


    "Mm... Well, the Alliance Hunt allows for allies and cooperation among disciples. However, if you choose to work with others to kill a beast, the feat only awards points to one of you and cannot be shared.


    "This is because once the Alliance Hunt ends, in order for your points to be confirmed and awarded, you have to present perfect and undamaged brains of the slain beasts as proof."

 265 Guiyao Plane

    Though the Guiyao planet was some distance away from the Tielao planet, a planet with an interstellar teleporter was still closer to the Guiyao planet.


    This was why the people of the Lightning Sword Sect had left directly from the Tielao planet, tearing through space to move towards the Guiyao planet.


    Zhou Donghuang was taken back by the sights he saw along the way. He saw a few planets illuminated by the glow of the central star in the Hengliu galaxy, which gleamed magnificently. It was absolutely resplendent.


    "The Guiyao planet is right up ahead."


    A voice accompanying the Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng called out. Zhou Donghuang subconsciously raised his head and saw a planet covered by intertwining colors of gray and green which brought out the little bits of blue on the planet.


    Zhou Donghuang was certain of one thing: the grayish-green portions were the land, as well as the rivers and lakes, of the planet. As for the blue portions, those were most likely the oceans. The planet was less blue than it was gray and green.


    The other thing was this: there was a layer of air encapsulating the planet. It was not so much white as it was a grayish brown, which seemed a little odd.


    "That''s a lot of people!"


    After he took a step to move closer, he heard a smattering of shocked exclamations from beside him. He then realized that there were quite a lot of people standing in groups on the planet they were approaching.


    It was obvious that these were people from the other sects of the alliance.


    "The alliance has a total of 52 sects¡­ There are more than 2,000 Dharma disciples taking part in the hunt this time. It seems like there aren''t even a thousand people here now, so it''s obvious that quite a few people have not arrived yet," He Mengxi gently informed Zhou Donghuang from beside him.


    "The hunt takes place tomorrow. Those who are not yet here should more or less arrive on time by today," Da Zhuang said.


    "Little Junior Brother."


    He Mengxi looked at Zhou Donghuang with a teasing smile on her face. "Run along and go see if your little lover''s here yet. I wouldn''t know¡ªI''m not too familiar with the Jihan Sect."


    Although the Jihan Sect had more female than male disciples, there were actually quite a few sects in the Hengliu galaxy that had a similar demographic.


    So much so that there existed a sect which only accepted female disciples!


    In the face of He Mengxi''s teasing, Zhou Donghuang could do little but look up helplessly. He let his gaze sweep over the crowd in front of him, but he did not catch a glimpse of Luo Qinghan.


    Evidently, Luo Qinghan had not arrived yet.


    Or she was already here, just on the other side of the planet.


    "Haha¡­ You and your sect are here ahead of time too, Sect Leader Yu?"


    It was easy to spot Yu Yucheng from where he stood, right at the front of the Lightning Sword Sect members.


    "Sect Leader Zhang."


    Yu Yucheng looked at the other man with a grin on his face. "You people of the Yunyue Sect are ahead of us once again."


    "We''ve only just arrived, too."


    The middle-aged man dressed in gold shook his head with a smile, then his gaze immediately and subconsciously drifted to the people standing behind Yu Yucheng. He asked without a trace of malice, "Sect Leader Yu, I heard that there''s another mid Dharma adept in your esteemed sect now, and that he''s a genius who''s mastered Dharmic possession¡­ He should be here this time, right?"


    Since the man stood quite some distance from Yu Yucheng, everyone behind both him and Yu Yucheng could hear what he said as soon as the words left his mouth.


    The group from the Lightning Sword Sect were fine. There were only a few people who unknowingly looked towards Zhou Donghuang before breaking out into whispers, "I think the Yunyue Sect leader doesn''t really know yet¡­ Junior Brother Donghuang is already at the late Dharma stage."


    "To think that Junior Brother Donghuang''s name is so widely known that even someone as far away from our sect as the Yunyue Sect would be aware of his existence."


    "Even the news of the Thunder Knife Sect accepting Han Yuzheng, the man famed to be a once-in-a-century talent of the Tielao planet, had spread to a good half of the Hengliu galaxy¡­ It''s only natural that the news of Zhou Donghuang taking Han Yuzheng out with a single blow is something that cannot be hidden. It''s probably safe to assume that the big sects from the alliance have already caught wind of the news."


    ¡­


    Unlike the group of Dharma disciples from the Lightning Sword Sect who were well aware of Zhou Donghuang''s abilities, those from the Yunyue Sect were looking at the group of them with doubt and uncertainty in their eyes.


    "He''s got a grasp on Dharmic possession even though he''s only at the mid Dharma stage? You''re kidding, right?"


    "I don''t think that''s possible either! That''s something only a few ultimate Dharma adepts are able to execute."


    "But that''s exactly what the rumors are saying."


    "Seems like it''s fake news¡­ You know how it is, information gets twisted the further it''s spread."


    ¡­


    It was evident that the group of Dharma disciples from the Yunyue Sect did not fully believe that the Lightning Sword Sect was harboring someone who was capable of executing the Dharmic possession technique despite only being at the mid Dharma stage.


    Yu Yucheng burst into laughter in the face of the Yunyue Sect leader''s question. "Sect Leader Zhang, you really are well-informed."


    "Little Junior Brother, that''s Zhang Yuanhan, leader of the Yunyue Sect," He Mengxi said to Zhou Donghuang.


    "We have quite a good relationship with the Yunyue Sect¡­ Under the leadership of Zhang Yuanhan, their sect also has quite a remarkable mid Dharma disciple. They say that the Yunyue Sect''s strength is second only to that disciple, and they''ve never lasted more than one move against him."


    Speak of the devil.


    Almost at the same time as He Mengxi finished speaking, someone appeared from behind the Yunyue Sect leader Zhang Yuanhan. A burly, young man dressed resplendently moved forward, and he lowered into a bow as he greeted Yu Yucheng. "Yuan Dong. I offer my greetings to you, Senior Uncle Yu."


    "This is the person I was talking about earlier." At this moment, He Mengxi spoke to Zhou Donghuang again.


    "He''s also done a really good job at tempering his Dharma power. Although he''s not yet at the stage of Dharmic possession, he''s pretty close to it."


    Yu Yucheng chuckled as Yuan Dong greeted him. "You''re not yet at the late Dharma stage yet, are you, Junior Nephew Yuan Dong?"


    "Senior Uncle Yu, I intend to move to that stage after this hunt ends," Yuan Dong responded mildly.


    "It seems like you can make the breakthrough now, you''re just choosing not to."


    Yu Yucheng stared firmly at Yuan Dong. This was not an uncommon occurrence within the big sect of the alliance.


    Choosing not to raise their level of training for their time being and choosing to join the alliance hunt by relying on their current Dharma power made it easier to accumulate points and gather more advantages.


    "Junior Nephew Yuan Dong, do you plan on placing within the top ten this time?" Yu Yucheng asked.


    "Hopefully so."


    As soon as Yuan Dong said that, he looked at Yu Yucheng with a fire in his eyes, then said to the latter, "Senior Uncle Yu, I know I''m no match for the genius of a mid Dharma disciple from your esteemed sect, the one who has mastered the Dharmic possession technique¡­ However, I would still like to exchange blows with him before the alliance hunt. Would that be possible?"


    The moment he said that, he followed up, "I''ve recently hit a bottleneck with my Dharma power, and it''s been difficult to move forward to learn the Dharmic possession technique.


    "I would like to find out if sparring with the genius disciple from your esteemed sect will inspire me at all."


    Yuan Dong''s words were as good as a challenge to Zhou Donghuang.


    Except Yu Yucheng shook his head after hearing what Yuan Dong had said. "I think it''s better if we don''t, Junior Nephew Yuan Dong."


    "Senior Uncle Yu."


    Yuan Dong spoke with a serious look on his face, "All I want is to witness his power for myself. Even if he strikes me down with one blow, I''ll acknowledge it."


    "Junior Nephew Yuan Dong, he''s already at the late Dharma stage," Yu Yucheng said. "There is absolutely no meaning in you sparring with him."


    The Yunyue Sect disciple had initially wanted to mock the Lightning Sword Sect disciple Zhou Donghuang, although he had no right to. However, he kept his mouth shut after hearing Yu Yucheng''s response.


    Yuan Dong''s face fell, but then he laughed bitterly and lamented, "He''s much bolder than I am."


    He retreated after saying that.


    "Sect Leader Yu, Sect Leader Zhang."


    At this time, another group of people made their way closer from the far distance. The person at the helm was an old man dressed in robes white as his hair and eyebrows. He greeted Yu Yucheng and Zhang Yuanhan with a smile.


    "Sect Leader Huang," Yu Yucheng and Zhang Yuanhan returned the greeting in unison.


    At this moment, He Mengxi introduced the man to Zhou Donghuang and Da Zhuang who were standing beside her, "This is Huang Chunqiu, leader of the Tiansong Sect."


    "Sect Leader Yu, that genius of a mid Dharma adept from your sect has quite the reputation. His name has already spread through the whole of the Hengliu galaxy, you know? He should be here now, no?"


    Huang Chunqiu lead the group of people from the Tiansong Sect and moved closer, looking towards Yu Yucheng as he approached. Judging by his words, it was clear that Zhou Donghuang had piqued his interest.


    "I told you, Little Junior Brother. You''re now famous in the entire the Hengliu galaxy. Even the two transcendent forces spread your name, I''m sure," He Mengxi said with a smile.


    "I''m sure that even your little lover would''ve heard of what happened¡­ It''s strange, though, that she hasn''t come looking for you yet.


    Zhou Donghuang was speechless as he stood there listening to He Mengxi speak.


    The leader of the Yunyue Sect, Zhang Yuanhan, said to Tiansong Sect Leader Huang Chunqiu with a smile, "Sect Leader Huang, the Lightning Sword Sect''s genius disciple is already at the late Dharma stage.


    "My disciple, Yuan Dong had wanted to look for him earlier, in hopes of sparring with him, but there was nothing he could do when he found out that the disciple was already at the late Dharma stage.


    "From what I know, the last disciple you took into your sect, Mo Yitian, tempered his Dharma power enough to execute the Dharmic possession technique when he was at the late Dharma stage¡­ Between your disciple and the one from the Lightning Sword Sect, I wonder who''s the stronger one," Zhang Yuanhan said, curiosity brimming in his eyes.


    "Sect Leader Zhang, you know how dangerous fights are. It''ll be too risky to have them spar today since the alliance hunt begins tomorrow¡­ Even if you really want to see this clumsy disciple of mine spar with the Lightning Sword Sect''s genius disciple, at least wait until the hunt ends tomorrow," Huang Chunqiu said with a shake of his head.


    "If that''s the case, then I''ll wait and see."


    Zhang Yuanhan was not the least bit surprised to hear this response because he knew very well that the leader of the Tiansong Sect was known to be a cautious man.


    Mo Yitian, the last disciple he took in, was the Tiansong Sect''s trump card for this hunt. It was natural that Huang Chunqiu would be unwilling to have the disciple spar against someone at this time.


    Especially since he might not emerge victorious.


    But even if he did, that victory might come at a price.


    "Little Junior Brother, the Tiansong Sect leader''s final disciple, Mo Yitian, mastered the Dharmic possession technique at the late Dharma stage. He''s aiming to place within the top ten this hunt. Judging by how the past hunts went, he''s basically a shoo-in," He Mengxi said to Zhou Donghuang.


    "We just don''t know what rank he''ll place at."

 266 Love at First Sigh

    There was a total of 52 sects in the alliance of sects in the Hengliu galaxy, and they were all the top sects in the galaxy.


    Whether it was the Lightning Knife Sect or the Thunder Knife Sect¡ªor even another sect altogether¡ªthey were, at the end of the day, but one of 52 sects in the alliance.


    While it was true that the genius disciple from the Thunder Knife Sect, Han Yuzheng, was unnaturally strong, there was simply no lack of competition from the other sects.


    In fact, there were probably people stronger than him, though not many of them existed.


    There was Mo Yitian, for example. He was the first among the younger generation of the Tiansong Sect and was less than 30 years old, but he was already a late Dharma adept who had trained his Dharma power so well that he could execute the Dharmic possession technique. If a comparison had to be drawn, you could even say he was no weaker than the Thunder Knife Sect''s Han Yuzheng.


    Of course, to Zhou Donghuang, there was not much difference between Han Yuzheng and Mo Yitian. Neither of them was deserving of the title "genius."


    "Genius" was, in his eyes, something befitting only the most outstanding talents from a peerless sect of all the galaxies in the vast, expansive universe.


    The Hengliu galaxy was but a tiny galaxy in within the vast universe, and the universe had plenty of galaxies within it. In terms of resources and wealth, the Hengliu galaxy was, at best, at the lower middle grade.


    Much like the Luohe galaxy where Luo Qinghan''s family hailed from, that was but a galaxy slightly above the lowest grade.


    And as for the Kaiyuan galaxy which housed the Ziyun planet, that galaxy was considered a low-grade galaxy.


    "Dharmic possession?"


    The people on the Hengliu galaxy who could execute the Dharmic possession technique at the Dharma stage were regarded as talented geniuses whose potential was limitless.


    But for people who came from a rich and resourceful galaxy¡ªgalaxies that were major powers¡ªit was the opposite. If they could not successfully execute the technique while they were still a Dharma adept, there was basically no way they would still be supported and cultivated after the moved to the Primordial Soul stage.


    The powers saw no need to cultivate the talents of these people¡ªit would only be a waste of resources. It was far better to divert these resources to be used on the few talented people.


    And it was precisely because of this that Zhou Donghuang was not particularly moved by the fact that a late Dharma adept could execute the Dharmic possession technique.


    So much so that He Mengxi and Da Zhuang, who had switched to training using the Thousand-Star Sword Technique as well as the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen, could already master the technique even though their level of training was only at the mid Dharma stage.


    Especially Da Zhuang.


    ¡­


    The more time passed, the more people trickled in.


    Some of the sect leaders of the 52 sects from the alliance were familiar with each other. They had personal friendships with each other, so they would meet up once they were here.


    "The people of the Jihan Sect are here."


    All of a sudden, the Lightning Sword Sect''s Summer Valley Head''s voice rang out. Zhou Donghuang, who had been resting with his eyes shut, opened his eyes.


    "Look carefully, little junior brother. Has your little lover arrived?" He Mengxi asked with a teasing smirk on her face when she saw that Zhou Donghuang was looking out into the distance at a group of women who had arrived.


    On his end, he had already been keeping a lookout before He Mengxi had even asked the question. Tapping into the power of the Lord of the Four Supremes to enhance his vision, he could spot Luo Qinghan among the group of people from the Jihan Sect, even from that distance.


    Although Luo Qinghan was all the way at the back of the crowd, she easily stood out in the sea of people with her beautiful face.


    Quite a few of the Dharma disciples from all of the big sects were strong, young men, which was why they were all abuzz with chatter when they caught sight of the beautiful female disciples from the alliance.


    "Quite a number of the Jihan Sect disciples are really pretty."


    "Quite a number, indeed. Must be nice being a guy from that sect and being able to interact with them on a regular basis."


    "You guys, hurry over and come take a look! That disciple all the way at the back, she''s so pretty!"


    ¡­


    A crowd of the energetic, young male disciples from the Lightning Sword Sect was already appraising the female disciples from the Jihan Sect rather seriously, despite the fact that they were still quite a distance away. The bunch of them were like a pack of hungry wolves; their eyes were gleaming, and they might as well have been drooling.


    There was no doubt that Luo Qinghan was the best of the Jihan Sect disciples in terms of her looks.


    Even if she were standing all the way at the back and not particularly outstanding, her face naturally commanded attention. Aside from the beautiful woman leading the Jihan Sect, she was the other focal point of the sect.


    "Is that her, little junior brother?"


    He Mengxi stood beside Zhou Donghuang. She followed his gaze and caught a good look of Luo Qinghan, then she continued whispering to him, "She really is quite the fair looker¡­ She suits you well."


    At this time, He Mengxi had coincidentally caught Luo Qinghan''s eye when the latter let her gaze sweep over her side. But just as quickly it came, she looked away with her head bowed.


    In a split second, the bunch of hot-blooded disciples¡ªwho were very much like wolves and tigers¡ªall turned away in disappointment.


    With a bow of her head, Luo Qinghan had kept half of her beautiful face shielded. They could no longer see her face anymore, no matter how much they wanted to.


    "Little junior brother, your little lover''s rather shy when she sees you." He Mengxi chuckled lightly.


    Zhou Donghuang had already grown accustomed to He Mengxi''s teasing, so all he did was look away with a helpless shake of his head.


    He let out a sigh of relief after he saw Luo Qinghan here.


    At the very least, he now knew that Luo Wuchen had successfully administered the Developing Essence, an ancient core drug given to him by Zhou Donghuang, on Luo Qinghan.


    Otherwise, there was no way Luo Qinghan would already be at the Dharma stage within such a short period of time; she was already strong enough to participate in the Alliance Hunt.


    "Seems like she really didn''t switch to training with the Technique of Everlasting Youth."


    Judging by how Luo Qinghan was trailing behind the Jihan Sect all by herself, it was not difficult to infer that she was the weakest in the group of early Dharma disciples from the sect.


    There was no way her abilities would be this weak if she had switched to training with the Technique of Everlasting Youth.


    "She''s as stubborn as ever," Zhou Donghuang said with a quiet sigh.


    "Sect Leader Meng, the disciples from your Jihan Sect are always the center of attention no matter where they go."


    As the group of people from the Jihan Sect moved closer, Tiansong Sect Leader Huang Chunqiu greeted the beautiful lady who was leading the group with a smile. "If I hadn''t already known that you''re here to take part in the Alliance Hunt, I''d really have thought that you assembled the prettiest disciples from your sect to gather here."


    "Sect Leader Huang, you''re good with your words, as always."


    The beautiful lady was the leader of the Jihan Sect, Meng Yuping. She shook her head with a smile when she heard Huang Chunqiu''s words. The woman was already pretty to start with but when she smiled, it was like flowers were blooming in that instant.


    Meng Yuping and Huang Chunqiu were, obviously, old friends, and it was clear that the pair had a pretty good relationship with each other.


    Meng Yuping led the group of people from the Jihan Sect, moving to stand between the people from the Lightning Sword Sect and those from the Tiansong Sect.


    Just then, someone from the group of Dharma disciples from the Tiansong Sect¡ªa young man decked in grayish brown robes¡ªmoved out from the crowd to stand beside another young man who had been standing all the way at the front of the group.


    This young man was dressed in sky-blue garb, and there was a trace of something wicked in his handsome face. This was the very man who was the focus point of the few female disciples of the Tiansong Sect who were present.


    He was the number one of the Tiansong Sect''s younger generation, Mo Yitian.


    "Senior Brother Mo," the young man, the one who had walked out from the last row of the


    Tiansong Sect disciples, greeted Mo Yitian respectfully.


    "Yuan Zheng?"


    Mo Yitian looked over at the young man mildly. "What are you doing here all of a sudden?"


    "Senior Brother Mo, do you remember the Luo Qinghan I mentioned to you before? She''s the one dressed in green, standing all the way at the back of the Jihan Sect people," Yuan Zheng said to Mo Yitian as he looked at the woman who was standing at the end of the Jihan Sect.


    There was a glint of resistance in Yuan Zheng''s eyes as he looked at Luo Qinghan, but it was soon gone.


    That year, when he was on the Tianxuan planet in the Luohe galaxy, he had coveted her.


    To that end, he had even gone as far as to rope in her closest friends to drug her, only for her to escape. He never got his way.


    After that, Luo Qinghan''s level of training increased exponentially, and she was then more or less on par with him.


    Sometime after that, both of them were brought to the Hengliu galaxy by the people of the alliance of sects in the Hengliu galaxy. Luo Qinghan had been accepted into the Jihan Sect, and he into the Tiansong Sect.


    "That''s Luo Qinghan?"


    The lady dressed in green, who was standing at the back of the Jihan Sect, had become the center of attention for the entire place when she made her entrance.


    Even Mo Yitian had noticed her, and he felt himself stir with want.


    A fair lady was a gentleman''s good mate, after all.


    Mo Yitian had never known a shortage of female company, but this was the first he had seen such an extraordinary woman.


    This woman made him want to take her as a concubine.


    To this day, he had been celibate with no wives or concubines to speak of.


    However, if he were to marry, he would have to marry someone who would be a good match for him. If the woman in front of him came from a profound background, he would be glad to marry her¡­ For the time being, however, she was only good enough to be his concubine.


    "Senior Brother Mo, you have to hold on to her if you''ve got your sights set on her¡­ There aren''t many men in that sect, but there''s still quite a number of them. Don''t let them snatch her from you," Yuan Zheng said.


    Actually, Yuan Zheng''s martial ability was no match for the current Luo Qinghan.


    The only reason he was able to be here on this day was because he had ceaselessly and diligently been licking boots since the day he entered the sect, which eventually landed him the spot of an inner sect elder like his master.


    There was also the fact that he had connections everywhere within the sect. Because of all the ties he had, he had stood to gain quite a fair bit.


    After he heard that Mo Yitian had taken a liking to the woman, he switched tactics. He intentionally approached the latter and mentioned Luo Qinghan, the young lady of the Luo family from his hometown, the Tianxuan planet in the Hengliu galaxy. He took it a step further and aggressively praised Luo Qinghan in front of Mo Yitian and made her out to be a rare beauty in this world.


    "You''ve got good taste, Yuan Zheng."


    Mo Yitian looked firmly at Yuan Zheng. "I''d initially thought that you were just running your mouth to get close to me¡­ Now that I''m seeing it with my own eyes, it seems you were telling the truth.


    "Luo Qinghan, she''s truly top-tier."


    As he spoke, Mo Yitian''s gaze that was fixed on Luo Qinghan seemed to burn more fervently.


    "You''re funny, Senior Brother Mo. There''s no way I''d dare cheat you," Yuan Zheng said with a laugh.


    Mo Yitian''s eyes gleamed, and then he ignored Yuan Zheng. He took to the skies directly, looming over the higher-ups of the Tiansong Sect. He then made his way over to stand beside Huang Chunqiu, who had been in a conversation with the Jihan Sect leader, Meng Yuping.


    Huang Chunqiu was not just the Tiansong Sect leader; he was also Mo Yitian''s master.


    "Master."


    Huang Chunqiu stared at him with suspicion as the latter made his way over. Just then, Mo Yitian said to him seriously, body still low in a bow, "I''ve fallen in love at first sight of the Jihan Sect disciple, Luo Qinghan¡­ I ask of master to have Junior Uncle Meng betroth her to me."

 267 Shes My Lady

    Mo Yitian''s words did not just shock his master, Tiansong Sect leader Huang Chunqiu. Even the other members of the Tiansong Sect were shocked as well.


    Yuan Zheng was dumbstruck. Although he did encourage Mo Yitian too hold on to Luo Qinghan tight, he never expected for the latter to be this direct and decisive.


    This was a little too much.


    So this was the confidence of the top of the younger generation in the Tiansong Sect?


    The Jihan Sect leader, Meng Yuping, who had been chatting idly with Huang Chunqiu was flabbergasted. She knew who Mo Yitian was¡ªthis was the disciple her old friend, Huang Chunqiu, was the proudest of. He was the top of the younger generation within the sect.


    One of her disciples, was rather taken with him. She had even requested a few times for Meng Yuping to matchmake them, only to be rejected on the basis that ladies had to exercise patience and restraint.


    "Luo Qinghan?"


    Truth be told, Meng Yuping would probably not know of Luo Qinghan''s existence if not for the fact that she was one of the people who was allowed to take part in the Alliance Hunt this time.


    Though the male disciples in the Jihan Sect were always talking about Luo Qinghan''s beauty, this was not the case with the female disciples.


    As such, Meng Yuping had not heard of Luo Qinghan before.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    ¡­


    While Meng Yuping was still frozen in shock, the group of Jihan Sect disciples all turned to look at the woman dressed in green who was standing all the way at the back.


    Decked in green clothes, the lady was still gorgeous and alluring, commanding the attention of people even without make-up.


    In this moment, the majority of the female disciples from the sect were green with envy as they looked at Luo Qinghan.


    The male disciples, on the other hand, seemed rather indignant.


    At the end of the day, Luo Qinghan was a flower from the Jihan Sect. A beauty like her should be kept within the sect, so the horde of them were rather opposed to having Luo Qinghan marry someone from another clan.


    Luo Qinghan had had her head bowed as she was lost in her own thoughts, so she did not hear what Mo Yitian said. But now, with the crowd turning their gaze on her and the whispers around her, she finally realized what was going on.


    Mo Yitian.


    She had heard of this person before. He was the number one among the younger generation in the Tiansong Sect, and the ideal lover for many of the female disciples in the Jihan Sect.


    It was because of this that it was not particularly surprising for so many of the female disciples in the Jihan Sect to throw her looks of envy.


    "I hope Junior Uncle Meng will allow this," Mo Yitian said as he looked towards Meng Yuping again, body low in a bow.


    "Senior Brother Mo!"


    "You barely know her since this is the first you''re seeing of her¡­and you already want for her to marry you? Aren''t you being too hasty about this?"


    This young lady was Zhong Feng, and she was the direct disciple of the Jihan Sect leader, Meng Yuping. She was also one of the mid Dharma disciples who were here to take part in the Alliance Hunt.


    She had loved Mo Yitian for many years.


    She loved him so much that she had begged for her master to matchmake them, only to be rejected.


    "This is an issue of fate. Hastiness has no bearing on this," Mo Yitian said with a shake of his head.


    "I believe in what I feel."


    "You¡­"


    Zhong Feng had heard¡ªand also saw¡ªfor herself that Mo Yitian had made up his mind. Her face blanched, and she subconsciously turned to look at Luo Qinghan, shooting an icy look at the latter.


    At the same time, when Luo Qinghan looked right back at Zhong Feng, the latter sent her a stern look of warning.


    "Sect Leader Meng."


    At this time, the Tiansong Sect leader responded, "This is the first time this disciple of mine is making sure a request¡­ I can tell that he''s truly taken with that disciple from your esteemed sect.


    "If it''s possible¡­ Sect Leader Meng, do you mind asking your disciple for her opinion?"


    Huang Chunqiu pampered Mo Yitian a lot, so it was because of this that he was extremely cooperative when the latter made his request.


    Now that Huang Chunqiu had made such a request himself, it was difficult for Meng Yuping to reject it. She immediately called for Luo Qinghan, "Come over for a second, Luo Qinghan."


    Meng Yuping was the leader of the Jihan Sect. Luo Qinghan would never dare to defy her orders no matter how unwilling she was to head over.


    Under the murderous gaze of Zhong Feng, Luo Qinghan floated over to Meng Yuping''s side and greeted her with a bow. "Sect Leader."


    Seeing Luo Qinghan step out, Mo Yitian''s eyes were gleaming with an unconcealable desire.


    "Luo Qinghan, Mo Yitian is a core disciple from the Tiansong Sect and he wishes to marry you¡­ What do you think?"


    Meng Yuping stared at Luo Qinghan calmly. She spoke to the latter in a calm and even tone that betrayed no emotion.


    "I reject his offer, Sect Leader."


    Luo Qinghan had initially planned on clarifying that she had long made up her mind to be celibate for life. But she saw the look that Mo Yitian had levelled at her, and it filled her heart with disgust, so she rejected him curtly.


    Her response made Zhong Feng smile, and the latter looked towards her more warmly now.


    "This Luo Qinghan¡­ She rejected him?"


    "My God! Does she know who she''s rejecting? Marrying him¡ªeven just to be his concubine¡ªwould secure her several lifetimes of training perks. And she rejected him?"


    ¡­


    The female disciples of the Jihan Sect were whispering among themselves. All of them thought that Luo Qinghan was foolish and did not know to seize an opportunity when it was presented to her.


    As for the male disciples, they all let out a sigh of relief.


    "She rejected him?"


    The group of Dharma disciples from the Tiansong Sect had initially been shocked by the abrupt proposal of marriage. They had recovered somewhat from that scare, only to be shocked yet again when the Jihan Sect disciple standing right in front of them had outright rejected Mo Yitian.


    They simply could not understand why the Jihan Sect disciple would reject Mo Yitian''s proposal.


    Going by the abilities he had demonstrated so far, he was basically set to become a Divine Transformation adept as long as he did not give up halfway¡­ Besides, Mo Yitian was quite the handsome man himself.


    A man like this was actually rejected?


    Not only that¡ªhe was rejected by an ordinary disciple from the Jihan Sect.


    "You''re awfully calm, Little Junior Brother¡­ If I were you, I''d long have made my way own to slap him the moment he spoke," He Mengxi said with a shake of her head from beside Zhou Donghuang.


    He was staring calmly at Luo Qinghan now.


    Though his face was calm, there was a strange, imperceptible glint to his eyes.


    "You, you''re rejecting me? Mo Yitian?"


    At the same time, Mo Yitian looked at Luo Qinghan. There was an incredulous look on his face, like he could not believe what he had just heard. "Do you¡­ do you know what kind of person I, Mo Yitian, am?"


    "I know you''re the top of the younger generation in the Tiansong Sect, and that you will become a Divine Transformation adept in the future."


    Luo Qinghan swept her gaze over Mo Yitian, looking rather disgusted. "And what about it? Maybe other women would fight to get married to you, but I, Luo Qinghan, do not care for that.


    "Are you satisfied with this answer?"


    Luo Qinghan had already become somewhat irritable when she saw Zhou Donghuang. Now that Mo Yitian had pulled such a stunt¡ªand the fact that he was such an eyesore¡ªmade her temper boil over.


    The group of male disciples from the Jihan Sect Luo Qinghan''s response were filled with pride at her statement, and there were wide grins stuck on their faces. The majority of the female disciples, however, seemed rather upset.


    Especially Zhong Feng, whose face had twisted yet again after it had calmed into a warm look.


    What did Luo Qinghan mean when she said other women would fight to marry him?


    This Luo Qinghan, was she saying the rest of them had poor taste?


    "This female disciple from the Jihan Sect, she really is quite the personality¡­ I''d thought she would agree to the proposal earlier. After all, the guy''s Mo Yitian of the Tiansong Sect," Liu Lang said in shock. He was the son of the Summer Valley Head, Liu Fengao.


    "Hahahaha¡­"


    Mo Yitian, who had been shocked still by Luo Qinghan''s words, finally recovered from the shock at this moment. He could not help but burst into laughter.


    His laughter died down after a while, and he stared at Luo Qinghan. "Interesting, interesting.


    "Luo Qinghan, I make this declaration today¡­ Today, you have rejected me, Mo Yitian. But someday, you will still end up marrying me or becoming my concubine. Do you believe me?"


    Mo Yitian had been really confident when he made this bold declaration. It was as if there was no woman in this plane that he could not have.


    "I don''t," said a languid, listless voice. Someone else had answered to Mo Yitian on behalf of Luo Qinghan.


    "Who''s that?!"


    Mo Yitian''s face warped in anger. He turned to look angrily at the bunch of people from the Lightning Sword Sect, since that was where the sound came from.


    Almost at the same time Mo Yitian threw that question out, a white shadow floated over slowly from amidst the group of people of the Lightning Sword Sect. The person regarded Mo Yitian with a calm look in his eyes.


    "Zhou Donghuang?"


    When the group of Dharma disciples from the Lightning Sword Sect had chorused with that response, there were a number of people wondering who had been bold enough to provoke Mo Yitian like that.


    Was that person not afraid of Mo Yitian taking revenge on them when they moved to the Guiyao planet for the Alliance Hunt?


    Now, as they looked at the man stepping out from the crowd, quite a few of the Lightning Sword Sect disciples were staring at him in astonishment. "It''s Zhou Donghuang¡­ You don''t think he''s taken a fancy to Luo Qinghan as well, do you?"


    "Finally¡­ He couldn''t stand it any longer, could he?"


    He Mengxi was smiling brightly, as if amused by the theatrics that were unfolding.


    "Zhou Donghuang?''


    The group of people from the Tiansong Sect, the Jihan Sect, as well as the Yunyue Sect looked at Zhou Donghuang; even the Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng was looking at him. Every single one of them were looking at him in shock, and none of them knew what the man was planning to do.


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at Mo Yitian, his lips curled into a mocking smirk as he spoke in a bland tone, "Why? You don''t sound too pleased."


    "You''re Zhou Donghuang?"


    After he heard the Lightning Sword Sect disciples address the young man dressed in white as such, Mo Yitian''s eyes constricted. His gaze, which had been one of fury, had now transformed into one of fear.


    "That''s Zhou Donghuang?"


    "I used to think that Mo Yitian was handsome, but he can''t hold a candle to Zhou Donghuang."


    "Well, it''s as the saying goes: out with the old, in with the new. It''s the same principle."


    ¡­


    The people of the Yunyue Sect were abuzz with chatter, worrying about the worst case scenario.


    "Zhou Donghuang, why are you responding to a question I directed at Luo Qinghan?"


    It was a reasonable question. Even though Mo Yitian was somewhat frightened by Zhou Donghuang, he was still charged with anger.


    In a split second, the collective gaze of everybody from the four great sects fell on Zhou Donghuang. It was as if everyone wanted to know how he would respond to Mo Yitian''s question.


    Even Luo Qinghan had unknowingly turned to look at Zhou Donghuang in this instant.


    Under the watchful gaze of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang stated calmly, "She''s my lady.


    "Is there something wrong with me answering on behalf of her?"

 268 Are You Worthy?

    "She is my woman."


    "So, is there a problem with me answering on her behalf?"


    With Zhou Donghuang''s question, the entire crowd became silent.


    Luo Qinghan looked at Zhou Donghuang with a complicated gaze, then quickly looked away, her expression returning to its normal calm.


    Of course, although she seemed calm on the surface, on the inside, her feelings were tumultuous.


    She had never expected that despite the ruthlessness which she had treated Zhou Donghuang in the past, he still stood out to protect her at this juncture.


    In that instant, even the Dharma adepts of the Yunyue Sect who had wanted to cause trouble were all scared out of their wits by Zhou Donghuang. They had never thought that Zhou Donghuang would respond to Mo Yitian with such an answer.


    "Zhou Donghuang... said that Luo Qinghan of the Jihan Sect was his woman?"


    From the leader of the Lightning Sword Sect to the four Valley Heads of the inner sect, to even the ordinary Dharma adepts, all of them now looked at Zhou Donghuang differently, their eyes filled with utter shock.


    Just now, when Zhou Donghuang had stepped out, they had felt both confused and somewhat surprised... this Luo Qinghan, a disciple of the Jihan Sect, was Zhou Donghuang''s woman?


    At the same time, the crowd from the Jihan Sect and the Tiansong Sect were all equally shocked.


    "You said that she is your woman?"


    Mo Yitian would never have imagined, even in his dreams, that Zhou Donghuang would say something like that and declare that Luo Qinghan was his woman.


    Before Zhou Donghuang could respond, Mo Yitian turned to look at Luo Qinghan intently, his eyes flashing with a glint, "Luo Qinghan, Zhou Donghuang just said that you are his woman?"


    Instantly, all the attention was turned to Luo Qinghan.


    As everyone watched on, Luo Qinghan glanced at Mo Yitian, then said calmly and slowly, "I, Luo Qinghan, will either remain unmarried all my entire life... but if I do marry, it will be to nobody else but him, Zhou Donghuang."


    In the huge crowd gathered there, besides Luo Qinghan herself, Zhou Donghuang was the only other person who understood the meaning behind what she had just said.


    However, to everybody else, what Luo Qinghan had just said was equivalent to saying that she was definitely marrying Zhou Donghuang and nobody else.


    Instantly, Mo Yitian''s expression turned ugly, then he turned to glare sternly at Yuan Zheng, a murderous glint in his eyes.


    Noticing the cold glint in Mo Yitian''s gaze, Yuan Zheng''s could do nothing but smile sadly. He knew that Senior Mo definitely hated him now. After all, he was the one who had told Mo Yitian about Luo Qinghan but had not told him that Luo Qinghan had already gotten together with someone else.


    But Senior Mo had only just found out about that piece of information.


    Yuan Zheng looked at Luo Qinghan again, his eyes filled with disdain and condescension, as if he was looking down on Luo Qinghan for pretending to be so righteous in the past.


    "Haha..."


    Just when the atmosphere had turned cold and awkward, the leader of the Lightning Sword Sect, Yu Yucheng, looked at Zhou Donghuang and smiled broadly, saying, "Zhou Donghuang, I thought that you were always too busy practicing and had no time to think about things like this that concern your life... I did not expect you to have already laid your hands on this beautiful lady from the Jihan Sect.


    "Wonderful, wonderful indeed."


    Yu Yucheng''s words had been intended to give Mo Yitian, the Tiansong Sect disciple, a chance to step down. Mo Yitian recognized his opportunity, and when Yu Yucheng spoke, he took the chance to retreat behind Huang Chunqiu, the leader of the Tiansong Sect, acting as if nothing had happened at all.


    However, it was evident to everyone that he did not look too well, as his expression was ugly.


    Huang Chunqiu was now awkward too.


    After all, what had happened today was surely a result of his disciple, Mo Yitian, thinking too much on his part and acting in a poor fashion. This was clear to all who witnessed it.


    Just as Huang Chunqiu was about to change the topic and continue chatting with the leader of the Jihan Sect, Meng Yuping, the group of Dharma adepts from the Yunyue Sect began discussing fearlessly again, as if there was nobody else around.


    "My goodness... did that Mo Yitian just go back there just like that?"


    "I thought that he would challenge Zhou Donghuang."


    "Exactly. Although Luo Qinghan and Zhou Donghuang are already engaged, but they have not gotten married yet... does he not even have the courage to challenge Zhou Donghuang for her? Is this the talented disciple of the Tiansong Sect? The most outstanding new disciple of the new generation of Tiansong Sect?"


    "Didn''t you hear what Luo Qinghan said? She will either marry Zhou Donghuang, or not marry anyone at all. Clearly, no other man besides Zhou Donghuang will have a chance with her."


    "Even if that is the case, he can still challenge Zhou Donghuang to a fight. As long as he defeats Zhou Donghuang, he will gain the respect of everyone after all the embarrassment that he''s suffered today... as long as he defeats Zhou Donghuang, he can definitely proudly ask Luo Qinghan, ''Is this the kind of man that you are interested in?''"


    "You are talking about defeating Zhou Donghuang... what if he is defeated himself instead? Wouldn''t that be even more embarrassing?"


    "That''s true. Looks like he does not have the confidence that he will be able to defeat Zhou Donghuang."


    ...


    The group of Dharma adepts from the Yunyue Sect had already been excited to watch Mo Yitian and Zhou Donghuang battle from the moment that their sect leader had suggested it. Furthermore, they wanted to see what Zhou Donghuang, the most famous new martial art talent of the younger generation in the Hengliu galaxy, was capable of.


    The Tiansong Sect Leader had not heeded the suggestion of their Sect Leader, which had disappointed all of them.


    Now that this had happened between Mo Yitian and Zhou Donghuang, they began to realize that it might actually be possible to watch the two of them spar with each other. They began to discuss excitedly, speaking in loud voices as if they were unafraid of Mo Yitian hearing them.


    The loud discussion among the Dharma adepts of the Yunyue Sect traveled clearly into the ears of everyone from the Lightning Sword Sect, the Jihan Sect and the Tiansong Sect.


    Instantly, Mo Yitian, who had only just retreated, became the center of attention once again.


    Now, not only were many disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect and the Jihan Sect murmuring among themselves, even among the Tiansong disciples, many of them looked expectantly towards Mo Yitian.


    Mo Yitian felt like he was being forced into a corner at that moment.


    Finally, to protect his reputation, and due to his confidence in his abilities, he finally looked at Huang Chunqiu and said, "Teacher, I had long since heard that the Lightning Sword Sect has recently produced an extremely talented new young disciple known as Zhou Donghuang. He was at the mid Dharma stage, but has already mastered the technique of Dharma-body integration.


    "Now, he has even reached the late Dharma stage. I wish to spar with him," declared Mo Yitian.


    Hearing this, Huang Chunqiu sighed quietly to himself. He was well aware of his disciple''s temper. After hearing the loud discussion from the group of Yunyue disciples, he had already known that his disciple would not be able to resist it.


    Since Mo Yitian had already issued this challenge, Huang Chunqiu could only look at Yu Yucheng, the Lightning Sword Sect Leader.


    He said, "Sect Leader Yu, our disciple Mo Yitian would like to spar with your talented disciple Zhou Donghuang of the Lightning Sword Sect... may I know if that would be convenient for you?"


    "You will have to ask Zhou Donghuang himself," answered Yu Yucheng.


    At the same time, Yu Yucheng then turned to look at Zhou Donghuang.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang had already returned to his original spot beside He Mengxi and Da Zhuang.


    At this time, Luo Qinghan had just returned to stand behind a group of Dharma adepts from the Jihan Sect, and some other Jihan disciples now tried to come closer to her.


    "Luo Qinghan, do you think Zhou Donghuang will agree to Mo Yitian''s challenge?"


    "Luo Qinghan, today, Zhou Donghuang could be said to have trampled all over Mo Yitian with your assistance... if he accepts Mo Yitian''s challenge and is defeated, all of that will be gone. Furthermore, even if he does not accept it, he will still lose face."


    "Luo Qinghan..."


    Many Jihan disciples who had not been close to Luo Qinghan now treated her more eagerly after knowing about her relationship with Zhou Donghuang.


    Previously, Luo Qinghan had just been another disciple of the Jihan Sect. Although her talent was not bad, there were many talented disciples in the Jihan Sect, and an inner sect disciple would not be any less talented than Luo Qinghan.


    But now, Luo Qinghan had the new identity as Zhou Donghuang''s fianc¨¦e.


    Who was Zhou Donghuang?


    A talented disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect at the age of twenty-four; he had already reached the mid Dharma stage and mastered the technique of Dharma-body integration... such an achievement was extremely rare in the history of the Hengliu galaxy, and it was previously because of that that Zhou Donghuang was now famous throughout the entire Hengliu galaxy.


    Now, from what Mo Yitian had just said, it seemed that Zhou Donghuang had already reached the late Dharma stage at just twenty-six years of age?


    Faced with the questioning from so many people, Luo Qinghan only shook her head calmly, saying that she did not know.


    Seeing Luo Qinghan refuse to answer, the rest of them now turned their attention to Zhou Donghuang, who was standing within a group of Dharma adepts from the Lightning Sword Sect. Now, Zhou Donghuang had attracted the attention of all the people from all four sects.


    "Zhou Donghuang, Mo Yitian of the Tiansong Sect wishes to spar with you... do you accept his challenge?" asked Yu Yucheng, the Lightning Sword Sect Leader.


    Just as Yu Yucheng spoke, although Zhou Donghuang did not say a word in response, he rose to the skies, indirectly answering Yu Yucheng.


    At the same time that Zhou Donghuang took to the skies, Mo Yitian also flew out and looked at Zhou Donghuang as he said, "Zhou Donghuang, I had long since heard of your extraordinary skills... even in the Tiansong Sect, many people are saying that you are worthy of being compared to me. Now, I want to see if you are really as good as what they say."


    "Compared to you?"


    Zhou Donghuang finally spoke. At the same time, his gaze turned cold as he stared at Mo Yitian; his lips curled into a sarcastic smile. "Are you worthy?"


    "You!!"


    Faced with the unmasked derision of Zhou Donghuang, Mo Yitian''s expression changed completely, and his eyes turned unfriendly as he screamed, "Zhou Donghuang, you are really arrogant, daring to say that I, Mo Yitian, cannot be compared to you... today, I want to see how powerful you really are!"


    When they heard Zhou Donghuang''s words, all the people from the four sects were shocked and could easily predict that Mo Yitian would be furious.


    "There''s a good show for us!" The group of disciples of the Yunyue Sect all looked on excitedly, awaiting the trouble that lay ahead.

 269 Three Tries For You

    Mo Yitian was now totally angered by Zhou Donghuang.


    In the night starry sky, as the whole crowd watched on, Mo Yitian stood in mid-air, his eyes filled with fury and his face red with anger. His long hair blew in the wind behind him as waves of inner Yuan left his body and finally crystallized into ten-meter-tall Dharma Power.


    Mo Yitian''s Dharma Power was in the form of a human, but because it was only formed by inner Yuan, the features of the face were not clear and visible. It was still apparent that in the hands of the human Dharma Power, it held a sword. The human Dharma Power floated in mid-air like, proud and firm as it looked around dismissively.


    "It''s Mo Yitian''s Sword God Dharma Power!"


    "I had always heard that the Tiansong Sect had the power to allow their Dharma Power to change according to their wishes... now, I can finally see it for myself. Mo Yitian produced this Sword God Dharma Power based on his thoughts, what a remarkable sight!"


    ...


    As Mo Yitian''s Dharma Power appeared, besides the Tiansong Sect disciples who were not surprised, the people from the other three sects all looked at Mo Yitian''s Dharma Power with alarm.


    In the universe, not all skill techniques had to produce just one fixed Dharma Power.


    There were many other techniques that one could train in that allowed the adept to produce any Dharma Power that they could think of at that point in time simply based on their thoughts.


    Of course, Dharma Power produced in such a manner also had to follow some guidelines. For example, Dharma Power that was too extravagant or unrealistic would cause trouble for the Dharma adept to train it, and thus put them at a disadvantage when using their Dharma Power.


    The Sword God Dharma Power that Mo Yitian had just produced was also considered somewhat extravagant, but because his talent and skill in this aspect was not bad, he could still control it as he wished. In the late Dharma stage, he had mastered Dharma-body integration, which allowed him to control Dharma Power as he wished.


    When his Dharma Power appeared, Mo Yitian looked at Zhou Donghuang and said seriously, "Zhou Donghuang, I heard that your Dharma Power is in the shape of a massive tiger... today, by the blade of the sword in the hands of my Sword God Dharma Power, I will slaughter your tiger Dharma Power!"


    Mo Yitian''s tone was low but icy. Clearly, he had been angered by Zhou Donghuang''s words.


    "Your Dharma Power is indeed flashy, but too bad that''s all it is."


    Faced with the unfriendly words of Mo Yitian, Zhou Donghuang only glanced at him lightly, and said deliberately and slowly, "Looks like you are not happy with what I said just now... in that case, I''ll allow you three hits. After three hits, I will then strike."


    As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang''s inner Yuan gushed out of his body and formed a ten-meter-tall tiger Dharma Power.


    "This is the Giant Tiger Dharma Power?"


    "My goodness! In front of the Giant Tiger Dharma Power, all the other tiger Dharma Powers that I had seen before can only be considered kittens, even tiger Dharma Powers at the ultimate Dharma stage. I never knew a tiger could be as perfect as this one here!"


    "The figure of this Giant Tiger Dharma Power is really perfect... if someone had told me that a Giant Tiger Dharma Power could be so beautiful, attractive and powerful, I would not have believed them!"


    ...


    The Dharma Power that Zhou Donghuang had now produced was no any ordinary Giant Tiger Dharma Power, but the White Tiger Dharma Power which was one of the four great beasts Dharma Powers. Naturally, it could not be compared to any ordinary Giant Tiger Dharma Powers.


    Although nobody in the crowd that day managed to recognize that this was actually a White Tiger Dharma Power, but just based on their eyes, they would tell that there were many differences between the White Tiger Dharma Power and an ordinary Giant Tiger Dharma Power. The difference was not just on the surface.


    Of course, the most alarming thing to all of them was what Zhou Donghuang had just said to Mo Yitian.


    Did Zhou Donghuang just say that he would allow Mo Yitian three hits?


    Was he out of his mind?


    Mo Yitian was the most powerful man among the new generation of the Tiansong sect. He reached the late Dharma stage before the age of thirty and even managed to master Dharma-body integration.


    Now, even Huang Chunqiu, leader of the Tiansong Sect, looked unhappy. If not for his status as the leader of the Tiansong Sect, he would definitely have scolded Zhou Donghuang as an arrogant bastard!


    "What arrogance!"


    Though Huang Chunqiu, the leader of the Tiansong Sect, managed to hold himself back, the other Dharma adepts of the Tiansong Sect could not resist but to glare angrily at Zhou Donghuang, feeling that this talented disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect was being way too arrogant.


    The most powerful man among their younger generation of Tiansong Sect was someone whom the rest could only look up to but not attain the level of, but now he was being looked down upon by this disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect. In that moment, all of them felt as if they had been humiliated.


    "Brother Mo, since he gave you three moves, then agree to it!"


    "Brother Mo, within three moves, you must defeat him! I want to see if he will really do nothing during your three attacks."


    ...


    The group of Dharma adepts from the Tiansong Sect shouted excitedly at Mo Yitian.


    At the same time, the people from the other three sects now regained their senses once again and looked at Zhou Donghuang in a daze. They had never expected Zhou Donghuang to say something like that.


    Even the people of the Lightning Sword Sect who had previously witnessed Zhou Donghuang defeat Han Yuzheng, the talented disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect, with just a single blow¡ªthey did not believe that Zhou Donghuang could defeat Mo Yitian after allowing Mo Yitian three moves to attack him first.


    Within three blows from Mo Yitian, Zhou Donghuang could already be defeated.


    "Is Zhou Donghuang being too careless? This Mo Yitian is not like the Han Yuzheng of the Thunder Knife Sect."


    Most of the Lightning Sword Sect people, including the leader of the Lightning Sword Sect, Yu Yucheng, now frowned slightly, thinking that Zhou Donghuang was being too careless.


    Of course, there were also some people of the Lightning Sword Sect who had full confidence in Zhou Donghuang.


    This included the head of the Autumn Valley, He Jin, and the Autumn Valley disciples, He Mengxi, Da Zhuang, and the son of the Spring Valley, Liu Lang.


    Although Liu Lang did not know why himself, when Zhou Donghuang lightly said that he would allow Mo Yitian three tries to attack him, Liu Lang suddenly felt that Zhou Donghuang was so much more powerful than Mo Yitian that even if he allowed Mo Yitian three tries, he would still be able to defeat him eventually.


    "I have such blind faith in him... looks like his previous performance has already touched me deeply."


    As compared to the other Lightning Sword disciples besides He Mengxi and Da Zhuang, Liu Lang could be considered one of the disciples who had had slightly more interactions with Zhou Donghuang. From the beginning when Zhou Donghuang had used forgery to trick the entire Summer Valley, to him defeating Lian Can, then Han Yuzheng, Liu Lang was well aware of how scarily powerful Zhou Donghuang was.


    This was why even though Zhou Donghuang had behaved so arrogantly in front of Mo Yitian, Liu Lang felt that his arrogance was justified!


    In the Jihan Sect, Zhong Feng, the disciple of Sect Leader Meng Yuping, now tried to get closer to Luo Qinghan and said sarcastically, "Luo Qinghan, is your man being too arrogant? Brother Mo Yitian''s ability is not as weak as he thinks; he is probably going to regret this bad decision that he just made."


    Faced with the sarcasm of Zhong Feng, Luo Qinghan totally disregarded her, but her eyes landed on Zhou Donghuang instead, her face calm and expressionless.


    She was well aware that a year ago, Zhou Donghuang''s ability was already stronger than her father.


    At that time, her father had already reached the late Dharma stage and had trained in the Deity-level technique. He had mastered Dharma-body integration and was no weaker than Mo Yitian currently... at that time, Zhou Donghuang was only at the mid Dharma stage.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang had reached the late Dharma stage, so his power must have increased as well.


    "I only just reached the early Dharma stage and barely managed to get on the list to be a part of this event... but he has already reached the late Dharma stage. The gap between me and him is getting bigger and bigger."


    Luo Qinghan sighed quietly to herself, but her eyes were filled with a momentary sadness that disappeared as quickly as it had appeared.


    "Zhou Donghuang!" Mo Yitian, who had been so angered by Zhou Donghuang''s words that he had trembled for a moment, finally tried to suppress his fury as he glared at Zhou Donghuang and said icily, "You will pay a terrible price for this mistake that you made out of sheer arrogance!


    "Since you want to be defeated by me within three tries, then I, Mo Yitian, will grant you your wish!"


    Suddenly, Mo Yitian''s body became faint as his ten-meter-tall Sword God Dharma Power now become even more solid. Clearly, he had integrated his body with his Dharma Power right from the beginning to allow the Dharma Power to become one with his body.


    "Mo Yitian looks really furious right now, he began with the integration technique right away!"


    "Now, Zhou Donghuang must be regretting what he just said."


    "He said he would allow Mo Yitian three tries, which means that until after Mo Yitian''s third attack, he cannot attack Mo Yitian at all and can only defend or hide!"


    "Why do I have the feeling that he will go back on his word?"


    ...


    As the crowd watched on, the Sword God Dharma Power stepped out of the night sky, and with that single step, he seemed to cover such a huge distance that he now seemed much closer to Zhou Donghuang in distance.


    Whoosh!


    With the sound of gushing wind, the sword in the hands of the Sword God Dharma Power sliced through the night. With the blow of the sword, inner Yuan as brilliant and vibrant as the sky was released, drawing the attention of everyone as if it could slice through a whole galaxy. The sword raced towards the giant Dharma Power of Zhou Donghuang.


    "Zhou Donghuang is definitely also going to integrate his body with the Dharma Power to either take the blow or dodge the sword."


    Faced with the sword rushing towards him from Mo Yitian''s Sword God Dharma Power, Zhou Donghuang chose not to use the technique of Dharma-body integration. He floated in mid-air, motionless and his face expressionless.


    Faced with the onslaught of the sword from the Sword God Dharma Power of Mo Yitian, the White Tiger Dharma Power only lowered its body, and easily dodged the sword. It seemed more like a coincidence, that it happened to get down at that instant.


    At least, to the Dharma disciples of the four great sects present, that was what it seemed like.


    After Mo Yitian''s Sword God Dharma Power had begun its attack, Zhou Donghuang had actually commanded his Dharma Power to lower itself, which allowed it to barely dodge the sword from Mo Yitian''s Dharma Power... the next time, if Mo Yitian was prepared, Zhou Donghuang''s luck would not be so good.


    Even Mo Yitian himself also felt the same way, and said, "Zhou Donghuang, you will not be so lucky the next time."


    However, the expressions of the leaders of the four great sects now turned serious...


    Their disciples all thought that Zhou Donghuang had achieved that based on luck, but the leaders were all highly skilled themselves and could clearly tell that Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma Power had only made its move after Mo Yitian had begun his attack.

 270 Zhou Donghuang Strikes

    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Mo Yitian''s body was integrated with the Sword God Dharma Power, and when he struck once again, the Sword God Dharma Power threw the sword in his hands. The sword turned into nine streaks of bright light in the sky, which shot out in all directions and surrounded Zhou Donghuang''s White Tiger Dharma Power on all sides.


    Seeing this, the disciples of the four main sects in the crowd all felt that Zhou Donghuang could no longer rely on his luck to evade this attack as he had the previous time.


    The only way was to integrate his body with the Dharma Power to take this blow from Mo Yitian.


    This was only the second attack from Mo Yitian.


    According to what Zhou Donghuang had declared at the beginning, Mo Yitian had three tries to attack Zhou Donghuang before he could counter-attack.


    However, Zhou Donghuang did not seem to have any intention to integrate his body with his Dharma Power, as he stood motionless at his position. As for the White Tiger Dharma Power, it appeared to become a white flash of light as it circled around Zhou Donghuang''s body rapidly like white lightning. The White Tiger Dharma Power destroyed every single one of the swords that were rushing towards it.


    This scene stunned the entire crowd.


    What kind of Dharma Power was this?


    Even without using Dharma-body integration, his Dharma Power was already so powerful?


    Was it possible for a late Dharma adept to produce such perfect Dharma Power?


    "You have one try left," Zhou Donghuang reminded Mo Yitian lazily and calmly.


    The anger in Mo Yitian''s eyes and the disdain on his face had since disappeared, only to be replaced by an air of seriousness that seemed as if he was walking on thin ice.


    Now, no matter how slow his reaction was, he could already see Zhou Donghuang''s power was immense.


    Zhou Donghuang had trained his Dharma Power to such an incredible extent that even if Mo Yitian integrated his body with his Dharma Power and surrounded him and attacked him, his attack could not even reach Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma Power.


    "Zhou Donghuang''s massive tiger clearly specializes in speed! I split up my attack so the speed became slower, and it was even more difficult to match up to him.


    "Since he insists on not integrating his body with his Dharma Power, being as arrogant as he is... I will get closer to him and then attack his Dharma Power to destroy him once and for all before he even tries to use the integration technique!


    "He will have no chance to turn the tables."


    Thinking of this, Mo Yitian, who had already become one with the Sword God Dharma Power, now controlled the Sword God Dharma Power and stepped out in the night sky. He was like a massive Sword God that ruled the world, destroying anything that came in its path and leaving a trail of carnage behind it.


    Whoosh!


    As everyone watched on, the Sword God Dharma Power struck out with its sword, straight towards the White Tiger Dharma Power.


    And at this moment, even if the White Tiger Dharma Power wanted to dodge the attack, it was already too late, because the Sword God Dharma Power had been so close when it had struck.


    Just as everyone thought that Zhou Donghuang now no longer had the chance to use his integration technique in time and the White Tiger Dharma Power would not be able to block this sword...


    Boom!!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!!


    As the loud boom resounded around the entire planet, the huge crowd watched on as the White Tiger Dharma Power suddenly appeared to turn into blazing white flames. These white flames then somehow twisted and turned into a mysterious typhoon, filled with a sense of destruction as if it could swallow everything in the entire universe.


    The sword in the hands of the Sword God Dharma Power found itself stuck within the whirlwind of white fire, and the strength that it had summoned suddenly dissipated mysteriously into thin air. The sword was then swallowed whole by the whirlwind.


    The thousands of little whirlwinds made quick work of the sword in the hands of the Sword God Dharma Power, swallowing it rapidly, and soon even the hand of the Sword God Dharma Power appeared to darken. Clearly, it had also been sucked into the whirlwind of fire.


    Whoosh!


    Suddenly, the Sword God Dharma Power controlled by Mo Yitian began to retreat, which allowed it to narrowly escape the danger that it was in.


    By now, Mo Yitian had been so scared that he had broken out in cold sweat. He glared at Zhou Donghuang with a face filled with shock.


    "What kind of Dharma Power is this!?"


    Now, Mo Yitian no longer dared to see Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma Power as an ordinary giant tiger. Although the Dharma Power appeared to be like Giant Tiger Dharma Power, it was so mysterious and its speed was so ridiculously fast--and it even had this defense ability to swallow power. It was simply incredible, leaving any opponent shocked and surprised.


    At that moment, even the group of people watching on in the crowd were so shocked that they could not help but suck in a deep breath.


    When they looked at Zhou Donghuang once again, their eyes were filled with utter shock. This Zhou Donghuang from the Lightning Sword Sect was simply insane! Mo Yitian was the most powerful man among the younger generation of the Tiansong Sect, and he was given three tries to attack Zhou Donghuang, but he could not even defeat him nor come close to him at all. He could not even put Zhou Donghuang at a disadvantage after the three attacks?


    "Zhou Donghuang is simply unnatural. He is just a late Dharma adept, but he managed to push Brother Mo into a corner just like that?"


    "In the past, I thought that Brother Mo was the man of my dreams... but now, in front of Brother Zhou from the Lightning Sword Sect, Brother Mo really pales in comparison. I have decided, from today on, the man of my dreams shall change from Brother Mo to Brother Zhou. Even if he already has Sister Luo Qinghan, but in this vast universe, it is normal for the powerful to have multiple wives and concubines."


    "Brother Donghuang is truly the pride and joy of our Lightning Sword Sect, he is really insanely powerful!"


    ...


    At that point, be it the Tiansong Sect, the Jihan Sect, or the Yunyue Sect, all three Sect Leaders of the three main sects now looked at Yu Yucheng, the leader of the Lightning Sword Sect, with jealousy.


    Why didn''t their own sects have a disciple like Zhou Donghuang?


    The Lightning Sword Sect really struck gold this time!


    "Your three tries are up."


    Just as the crowd was still dazed, Zhou Donghuang''s calm and flat voice rang out once again, attracting the attention of everybody right away. It made those who had been gossiping to each other and talking among themselves immediately stop talking.


    A strange calm settled over the night sky.


    "Now, it''s my turn."


    As Zhou Donghuang''s voice rang out, his body seemed to move in a flash, and he finally showcased his integration with the Dharma Power. His entire body seemed to fuse with the White Tiger Dharma Power as he controlled the White Tiger and leaped out in the vast starry sky. It seemed as if he could jump from one planet to the next with just a single jump.


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang finally showcase his integration with the Dharma Power, Mo Yitian''s eyes narrowed sharply as a sense of impeding fear grew in his heart.


    Just now, even without integrating his body with the Dharma Power, Zhou Donghuang had already been incredibly powerful.


    Now, after Zhou Donghuang had integrated his body with his Dharma Power and took the initiative to attack him, Mo Yitian already had a feeling of impending doom, even though Zhou Donghuang had not come close to him yet.


    As much as Mo Yitian wanted to suppress this feeling of doom, he could do nothing about it.


    This feeling of defeat felt as if it was carved in his heart.


    "Roar...!"


    As the White Tiger Dharma Power leaped out, it released a loud roar from its mouth. The roar was deafening to the ears of everyone standing nearby and was strangely low. Compared to the sound made by a normal Giant Tiger Dharma Power, it was even more beastly and filled with the confidence of a king.


    At that moment, as everybody in the crowd looked at the White Tiger Dharma Power once again, in that instant, a sense of respect rose deep within their hearts, as they realized that this Dharma Power had surprised them time and again, filling them with amazement.


    Boom!!


    A loud boom resounded around the entire planet.


    As everybody from the four sects watched on, as much as the Sword God Dharma Power controlled by Mo Yitian tried to resist it, it could not block the claws of the White Tiger Dharma Power.


    With just a swipe of the claws of the White Tiger, the Sword God Dharma Power dissipated into thin air.


    As Mo Yitian''s body appeared once again, he was thrown backwards by a powerful force. His face turned red and bloodshot, his body cut an embarrassing figure, as a mouthful of fresh blood spilled from his mouth.


    "Now, do you still think... that you are worthy of being compared to me?"


    After totally destroying Mo Yitian''s Sword God Dharma Power, Zhou Donghuang''s body reappeared as the White Tiger Dharma Power turned into inner Yuan that returned to Zhou Donghuang''s body as if it had never appeared.


    Zhou Donghuang stood there, his flowing white robes looking fresh and untouched.


    His eyes landed lazily and calmly on Mo Yitian, who was barely keeping upright, his whole body looking embarrassingly defeated and disheveled.


    One hit.


    Zhou Donghuang, after giving Mo Yitian three attacks, used just one hit to defeat Mo Yitian!


    Until now, the crowd of people from all four sects had felt as if they had been living in a dream.


    What they had just witnessed was simply impossible.


    Mo Yitian was the most powerful adept among the new generation of disciples of the Tiansong Sect, and even among the entire Hengliu galaxy, he could be considered among the top adepts of the new generation.


    Yet he had just been defeated by a single strike from Zhou Donghuang, and Zhou Donghuang had even given him three tries to attack him first.


    "His power... has indeed gotten even stronger."


    Luo Qinghan stood behind the group of disciples of the Jihan sect, and after glancing quickly at Zhou Donghuang, she then averted her gaze sheepishly. But deep within her heart, she was still greatly unsettled. "Indeed... the gap between the two of us is getting bigger and bigger by the day.


    "Will... will I still be able to catch up to him?"


    Luo Qinghan felt extremely bitter.


    At that point, some female disciples of the Jihan sect surrounding Luo Qinghan looked at her with surprise, their eyes filled with unmistakable envy. "Sister Luo, your boyfriend is simple insane. That was Mo Yitian, the most powerful adept among the new generation of disciples of the Tiansong Sect, and the top among the new generation in the Hengliu galaxy... but he was defeated with just a single strike from your boyfriend!"


    Besides the silence from the group of disciples from the Tiansong Sect, the disciples of the other three main sects could not help but discuss excited among themselves.


    "Mo Yitian is already twenty-nine years old this year, while Zhou Donghuang is just twenty-six years old... After today''s battle, Zhou Donghuang can surely be compared to the leaders among the new generation of those two supernatural powers."


    "Among the new generation of adepts from all the main sects of the Alliance, there is nobody who can compare to Zhou Donghuang."


    "Looks like in this edition of the Alliance Hunt, if nothing goes wrong, Zhou Donghuang will be able to easily win the entire championship."


    ...


    Now, Zhou Donghuang had shocked everybody from the four main sects of the Alliance, from the upper tier of the sects to the lay disciples.


    Even though the group of people from the Tiansong Sect had remained quiet since the start, Zhou Donghuang had just defeated the most powerful man among their new generation in the Tiansong Sect.


    "Sect Leader Yu, what kind of luck does the Lightning Sword Sect have? How did you manage to find a new disciple like that!"


    The leader of the Yunyue sect, Zhang Yuanhan, looked at Yu Yucheng and sighed heavily. In his eyes, there was an unmistakable look of jealousy.


    Although the leaders of the Tiansong Sect, Huang Chunqiu, and the Jihan sect, Meng Yuping, did not say anything, they still looked at Yu Yucheng with a discreet look of envy and jealousy...

 271 Luo Qinghans Thoughts

    The battle between Zhou Donghuang and Mo Yitian had been witnessed only by those of the four main sects.


    Although there were many other sects of the Alliance outside of the Guiyao planet, because of the great distance from the planet, they still did not have any idea of what had happened on the Guiyao planet... Otherwise, all of them would surely also be shocked by the power that Zhou Donghuang had just demonstrated.


    Zhou Donghuang had given Mo Yitian three tries to attack him, but not only had Mo Yitian failed to gain the upper hand, he had even been defeated with just a single blow from Zhou Donghuang!


    "Zhou Donghuang, the talented disciple from the Lightning Sword Sect, is simply too powerful. Among the sects of the Alliance, there may not be anyone else stronger than him among those in the late Dharma stage... even among those in the ultimate Dharma stage, there may not even be anyone who is his match."


    Be it the Jihan Sect, the Tiansong Sect or the Yunyue Sect, everybody was thinking the same thing.


    The power that Zhou Donghuang had just showcased was already so incredible that it made one shudder.


    In fact, everybody felt that based on the power with which Zhou Donghuang had easily defeated Mo Yitian with that day, he could definitely be taken to be the most powerful man in the Alliance below the ultimate Dharma stage!


    Because among the many sects of the Alliance, there could be nobody else in the late Dharma stage who would be able to toy around with and defeat Mo Yitian in such an outrageous manner.


    Mo Yitian was already among the top adepts in the late Dharma stage among the many sects of the Alliance, and he would definitely be able to be among the top ten in the Alliance Hunt ranking board.


    "If Zhou Donghuang''s luck is not bad, he is definitely going to win the Alliance Hunt this time."


    Now, not only did those from the Lightning Sword Sect think so, even the Jihan Sect, the Tiansong Sect or the Yunyue Sect all felt the same way.


    The Alliance Hunt was held on the Guiyao planet to hunt beasts.


    Adepts in the early, middle or late Dharma stage were all allowed to kill beasts of a higher level than them, and they held a definite advantage in the Alliance Hunt.


    Of course, late Dharma adepts had the biggest advantage in the hunt.


    This was because there were many beasts and monsters on the Guiyao planet that were all of different levels of skill and power, and there were even many ultimate Dharma beasts to be found all around.


    In such circumstances, even though early and middle Dharma adepts could kill beasts of a higher level than them, faced with an ultimate Dharma beast, these adepts could only run.


    In fact, the strongest early Dharma adept in the sects of the Alliance would surely be a dead meat if an ultimate Dharma beast laid its eyes on the poor adept.


    Although ultimate Dharma adepts had no fear of ultimate Dharma beasts, they could only kill ultimate Dharma beasts to accumulate points, and hence they did not stand as much of a chance as late Dharma adepts.


    So to everybody of the four sects, once Zhou Donghuang entered the Guiyao planet, if nothing went wrong¡ªsuch as having bad luck and not being able to meet any beasts¡ªthen all his power would be put to waste.


    Although the Guiyao planet was not considered large, it was not small either. Even adepts who had reached the Primordial Soul stage would not be able to traverse half of the planet within just three short months, much less the entire the Guiyao planet.


    In the history of the Hengliu galaxy, there had been occasions where there were extremely powerful disciples of the Alliance taking part in the Alliance Hunt, but they only had average results in the end.


    In fact, such situations were not uncommon.


    Precisely because of this, in the Alliance Hunt, powerful late Dharma adepts could only be said to have the biggest advantage, but that didn''t mean they could surely achieve a high rank at the end of the hunt.


    ...


    After the battle between Zhou Donghuang and Mo Yitian, everybody''s attention rested on Zhou Donghuang, then eventually turned elsewhere.


    After all, they could not keep looking at Zhou Donghuang forever.


    This time, they had come here to the Guiyao planet to take part in the Alliance Hunt, and the Alliance Hunt did not restrict disciples from working with each other.


    Now, if they could find a good partner or two, that would be favorable for them in the contest.


    "Sister Luo." Zhong Feng, the disciple of the leader of the Jihan Sect, Meng Yuping, who had treated Luo Qinghan very poorly all the time, now reappeared beside Luo Qinghan once again. Her face was now filled with a bright smile, looking like an entirely different person from before.


    "What do you think of us two pairing up once we enter the Guiyao planet and the Alliance Hunt begins? We will split the beasts that we killed evenly, and split the points evenly."


    Zhong Feng''s words made the other disciples of the Jihan Sect who had been thinking of pairing up with Luo Qinghan stop in the tracks.


    They could not afford to offend Zhong Feng.


    Furthermore, if Luo Qinghan decided to work together with Zhong Feng, Zhong Feng would surely not be willing to allow anyone else to join their team.


    Even Zhou Donghuang, the talented disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, would not be willing to bring so many burdens along with him.


    To them, be it Luo Qinghan or any of the Dharma adepts in the Jihan Sect, they would be considered a burden if they were to team up with Zhou Donghuang.


    "Sister Zhong."


    Luo Qinghan naturally understood the reason why Zhong Feng wanted to team up with her. She looked seriously at Zhong Feng, then smiled calmly and asked, "Are you sure you want to team up with me? No regrets?"


    "Hm?"


    Seeing Luo Qinghan ask such a weighted question, her gaze revealing that there was surely something between the lines, Zhong Feng was taken aback and filled with a sense of foreboding. "Luo Qinghan, since Zhou Donghuang is your man... could it be, this Alliance Hunt, he is not going to team up with you to accumulate points together?"


    "Indeed."


    Luo Qinghan nodded and answered, "I am not working with him."


    With that, the group of Jihan Sect disciples who had wanted to team up with Luo Qinghan heaved a sigh of relief as they looked mockingly at Zhong Feng.


    Hearing this, Zhong Feng''s expression changed drastically as she replied coldly to Luo Qinghan, "Pretend I never looked for you."


    With that, Zhong Feng turned and left right away.


    Why had she wanted to team up with Luo Qinghan?


    Wasn''t it because she had wanted the power of Zhou Donghuang?


    Now, Luo Qinghan had already declared that she would not be working with Zhou Donghuang throughout the Alliance Hunt, and Zhong Feng surely would no longer want to team up with Luo Qinghan. If she had teamed up with her, Luo Qinghan would only be a burden to her.


    Luo Qinghan was not surprised by Zhong Feng''s reaction and only laughed sadly to herself.


    After Zhou Donghuang had defeated Mo Yitian, she had realized that the disciples who had treated her coldly in the past, even the leader of the Jihan Sect, Meng Yuping, now looked at her differently.


    "Who would have thought... that one day, I, Luo Qinghan, will be treated like this because of a man."


    Luo Qinghan was extremely bitter inside.


    Since she had entered the Jihan Sect, she had wanted to use her own capabilities and hard work to make a name for herself.


    However, she would never have thought that right from the start, she would be linked to Zhou Donghuang, which made everybody of the Jihan Sect treat her differently.


    "After this Alliance Hunt, I will leave the Jihan Sect... I''ll leave the Hengliu galaxy as well, to somewhere that even Father and Granny do not know about."


    In that moment, Luo Qinghan had already made a firm decision in her mind.


    She had always been a very headstrong person. Although she could definitely grow with the support of Zhou Donghuang, she still rejected such a notion.


    She did not want to rely entirely on a man for support, that was not what she wanted!


    She did not wish to become a flower vase.


    ...


    Zhou Donghuang was naturally unaware of Luo Qinghan''s thoughts.


    However, he was well aware of Luo Qinghan''s headstrong character after that occasion where Luo Qinghan and Luo Wuchen had visited him at the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Standing among the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes landed once again on Luo Qinghan. "This is not the way to go... I must think of something to give her a better technique.


    "It is always better for adepts to convert to a better technique as early as possible."


    Ever since he had found out that Luo Qinghan had indeed refused to convert to the "Technique of Everlasting Youth," the Deity-level technique that he had given the Luo family chief, Zhou Donghuang had been anxious.


    He did not wish for Luo Qinghan''s strong nature to affect her future.


    However, he also knew that based on her personality, even if he took a knife to her neck, he would not be able to force her to do something that she did not wish to do.


    "I must think of something else..." said Zhou Donghuang to himself.


    "Little Brother, why do I get the feeling... that girl from the Jihan Sect seems to dislike you? What is going on?"


    He Mengxi always had startling intuition. She had been observing Luo Qinghan from the start, but had realized that when Luo Qinghan looked at Zhou Donghuang, her eyes were not filled with love, but rather with a sense of distance.


    "Didn''t you say that she was your woman?


    "Also... she said just now that in her life, she would either not marry anyone at all, or if she were to marry someone, it would be you."


    He Mengxi was confused, as she did not understand what was going on at all.


    What stage had her little brother and Luo Qinghan progressed to? Why did they not seem like a pair of lovers at all? In fact, they appeared to be more of strangers.


    Faced with the questions from He Mengxi, Zhou Donghuang only smiled slightly and did not reply.


    Seeing this, He Mengxi also did not probe further, as she was well aware that her little brother clearly did not want to elaborate more.


    "Third Sister."


    Zhou Donghuang turned to He Mengxi and said, "In this Alliance Hunt, I do not intend to team up with you and Da Zhuang, I want to go around myself."


    For this Alliance Hunt, Zhou Donghuang had already made other plans, and did not intend to team up with He Mengxi and Da Zhuang.


    "No worries, it is even better if you do not come with us."


    He Mengxi said, "If you team up with us, we''re afraid we will not even get the chance to do anything.


    "Don''t worry, the two of us will be fine together, you go yourself."


    As she spoke, He Mengxi almost seemed to look down upon Zhou Donghuang, the man whom everybody else had dreamed of teaming up with.


    "Even if the two of you are together, you must be careful... based on your power, even if you are alone, it will be easy for you to defeat late Dharma monsters. But ultimate Dharma beasts will be almost impossible to kill unless the two of you work together," Zhou Donghuang reminded.


    "If you meet an ultimate Dharma beast that the two of you are not able to handle even together, then you had better run."


    He was not sure if the Guiyao planet had such beasts, so Zhou Donghuang had to remind the two of them.


    By this time, more and more people had arrived at the Guiyao planet.


    The next day was the official commencement of the Alliance Hunt.

 272 Alliance Hunt Begins!

    The Alliance of the Hengliu galaxy was made up of 52 sects.


    The Lightning Sword Sect, the Jihan Sect, the Tiansong Sect and the Yunyue Sect were just four out of the 52 premier sects in the Alliance, and they made up less than ten percent of the entire Alliance.


    The sect leaders and high ranking elders of the four sects all did not mention the battle between Zhou Donghuang and Mo Yitian when they were interacting with the sect leaders and elders from the other 48 sects. As a result, the other 48 sects did not know how powerful Zhou Donghuang currently was... their understanding of Zhou Donghuang still remained at the point where he had defeated Han Yuzheng, the talented disciple of the Thunder Knife Sect, with just a single blow in the past.


    As a member of the Alliance, the Thunder Knife Sect was present as well at the Alliance Hunt.


    Han Yuzheng had come as well.


    From the looks of it, Han Yuzheng seemed to have matured since the last time where he had visited the Lightning Sword Sect.


    When he saw the group of people from the Lightning Sword Sect, his eyes landed on Zhou Donghuang, his eyes filled with a murderous glint.


    However, noticing the animosity in his eyes, Zhou Donghuang only casually glanced at Han Yuzheng, then did not pay him any attention at all.


    Seeing this, Han Yuzheng was even more furious.


    He felt as if he had been looked down upon once again!


    "This Zhou Donghuang... does he really think that just because he''s mastered Dharma-body integration, he is the most powerful man in this universe? Does he not know that I am already a late Dharma adept?"


    However, although he felt extremely displeased, Han Yuzheng was still well aware that since he had reached the late Dharma stage, it was possible that Zhou Donghuang had reached the same stage as well.


    After all, Zhou Donghuang was no less talented than he was.


    "Ladies and gentlemen."


    The 52 sects of the Alliance had nominated three people to host this Alliance Hunt. These three were the most prominent and the most experienced among the Alliance.


    "I believe we do not have to explain more about the Guiyao planet. As for the rules of the Alliance Hunt, I''m sure you have informed all your disciples about them.


    "Now, we will check the formations that have been put in place on the Guiyao planet to make sure that there are no Primordial Soul and above adepts or beasts within the planet. After that, our hunt may begin."


    After one of the three hosts had spoken, the three of them immediately flew out in three different directions, like comets streaking through the night sky, straight towards the Guiyao planet.


    To the group of Lightning Sword Sect disciples, including Zhou Donghuang, they had been expecting the hosts to do this.


    If any person or beast tried to enter the Guiyao planet, the formations would also be destroyed.


    Now, the three hosts of the Alliance Hunt had left to check if the formations surrounding the Guiyao planet had been destroyed... once they found out that the formations had been damaged, it would mean that a person at the Primordial Soul stage or above had entered the Guiyao planet. The seniors of the different sects would then have to head into the Guiyao planet to find the intruder.


    If it was someone from outside the Alliance who did not know better or a beast that had trespassed onto the planet, that could be forgiven.


    However, if it was someone from one of the sects in the Alliance, that would mean that the person was most likely trying to help others from his sect cheat. In this case, based on the rules of the Alliance Hunt, the intruder would have to be killed!


    Of course, if one of the sects of the Alliance had bribed some person or beast to enter the Guiyao planet, once this was discovered, everyone would be punished by death!


    "Hmm?"


    Suddenly, Zhou Donghuang saw three bright sparks appear on the surface of the Guiyao planet, then turn into three bright shimmering streaks of light that flashed through the night sky like comets, disappearing in the distance.


    Noticing Zhou Donghuang''s quizzical gaze, He Mengxi explained, "Those three elders entered the Guiyao planet and touched the formation... any beings at the Primordial Soul stage or above would produce such an effect if they enter the formation. Hence, once they can confirm that there are no persons or beasts at the Primordial Soul stage or above on the planet, we can officially begin the Alliance Hunt... During the hunt, there will always be people from the different sects of the Alliance outside the planet, and if anybody at the Primordial Soul stage tries to enter the planet, this will happen.


    "Those three elders are all Divine Transformation adepts, and their Divine Will is so powerful that it can cover a vast piece of land of the Guiyao planet... within half a day, they will be able to check the entire planet," said He Mengxi.


    "Mm," nodded Zhou Donghuang.


    At this point, Da Zhuang, who had been standing at the side, could not help but frown and ask, "Sister, those three elders went in, but what if they themselves cheat? If there are Primordial Soul adepts of their own sects inside the planet, can they make an agreement not to expose each other?"


    Once the words left Da Zhuang''s mouth, both Zhou Donghuang and He Mengxi looked at him in surprise.


    "Da Zhuang, this brain of yours... when did it become so scheming?"


    He Mengxi expressed Zhou Donghuang''s shock. "I can''t believe you even thought of that."


    "Hehe," laughed Da Zhuang quietly.


    He Mengxi continued, "Actually, you do not have to worry about this at all. Because at every Alliance Hunt, for the three hosts who entered the Guiyao planet to check, no matter the score that any disciples of their sects have achieved in the end, as long as anyone suspects foul play, they can challenge it. If you win, you will exchange points with the other person.


    "For example, if it was our Lightning Sword Sect who sent someone in to check, and Little Brother emerged as the champion of the Alliance Hunt... if anybody from the other sects suspected anything, they could challenge him. If they managed to win the challenge, they could become the champion immediately. And if Little Brother loses, he will have to take the points of the other person and exchange positions with the person who had challenged him.


    "So, this task of searching and checking the Guiyao planet before the hunt begins is a difficult task with no benefits... this time, it just happened to be their turn. Otherwise, who would volunteer to do this?"


    After hearing He Mengxi''s explanation, Da Zhuang understood everything and was no longer worried.


    He had asked this because he had been worried that someone would do something to Zhou Donghuang''s disadvantage. Because to him, in this Alliance Hunt, if nobody cheated, his little brother would definitely emerge as champion... he was absolutely confident in his little brother!


    Just as He Mengxi had said, within half a day, those three elders had emerged once again.


    However, they did not bring anyone else out with them.


    Clearly, there were no intruders on the planet.


    "We can begin."


    After the three hosts had returned, they looked at each of the sect leaders in the Alliance, and one of them stepped forward and declared, "Now, I seek the assistance of the sect leaders to allow your Dharma adepts to enter the Guiyao planet in an orderly manner."


    "After three months, which is ninety days from now, everybody must return. By then, we will only wait for a day.


    "Those who do not come out within a day, no matter how many brains they bring out, will not receive any points at all."


    The three hosts came from three different sects of the 52 sects of the Alliance and were considered among the senior elders of the three sects. Any of them was at least in the mid Divine Transformation stage... precisely because of this, they did not spend too long before they managed to search the entire Guiyao planet. Based on their superior level of skill and their corresponding Divine Will, they were able to accomplish this easily.


    With that, the 52 Sect Leaders of the Alliance got to work.


    The Dharma adepts of each of the 52 sects were directed to enter the Guiyao planet.


    Each sect had forty people, so in total, the 52 sects had more than two thousand people.


    A group of two thousand people gathered together seemed like a huge crowd, but once they were dispersed within the Guiyao planet, it was not considered much.


    As for Zhou Donghuang, he entered the Guiyao planet together with He Mengxi, Da Zhuang, and the rest of the Dharma adepts of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Because the whole group of them were only at the Dharma stage, when they were sent to the Guiyao planet, they did not cause any disturbances in the formation set up surrounding the planet... they were like fish that leaped out of the surface of the ocean, then sinking back into the vast ocean, as if nothing had happened at all.


    "Zhou Donghuang, why don''t you give me a lift?"


    The Spring Valley disciple and the only son of the Spring Valley Head, Liu Lang, came up to Zhou Donghuang with a wide smile plastered on his face. "It does not have to be too long... just a few days, how about that?"


    To him, as long as he stuck close to Zhou Donghuang, it would not only be safer for him, but more efficient as well.


    Of course, he was just an early Dharma adept, while Zhou Donghuang would surely be targeting late Dharma beasts and above, so he could not possibly gain points through him.


    The rules of the Alliance Hunt stated that if an early Dharma adept killed a beast in the late Dharma stage or above, besides bringing the head of the beast back, the adept would also have to display the power necessary to kill such a beast in front of everyone... for that, a group of people would follow him into the Guiyao planet to witness him kill a beast of that level.


    Only after that could he gain any points.


    This was the case for mid Dharma adepts as well.


    You could take a beast that someone else killed, but it could only be a beast of one level above your own skill level.


    To gain the points from a beast two levels above yours? You would have to display that you were capable of killing it by yourself.


    After all, an early Dharma adept would gain a thousand points by killing a late Dharma beast, and ten thousand points by killing an ultimate Dharma beast.


    In such circumstances, if Zhou Donghuang killed an ultimate Dharma beast and gave the head of the beast to Liu Lang, he would be able to easily gain ten thousand points, and who would be able to compete with him?


    This was clearly against the initial intentions of the Alliance Hunt.


    To kill a beast just one skill level above yours, the rules were not as strict, because for the disciples of the various sects in the Alliance who were able to take part in the Alliance Hunt, they would most probably have the power to kill a beast one level above theirs...


    Even the weakest adepts in the Alliance Hunt, if they used all their might, would probably be able to kill a beast one skill level above their own, but it would be extremely exhausting.


    Such as Liu Lang, he had the confidence to kill a middle Dharma adept, but it would take huge effort from him.


    If Zhou Donghuang helped him to kill the beast, wouldn''t it be a simple favor for a friend?

 273 The "Secret" of the Guiyao Plane

    After listening to Liu Lang, Zhou Donghuang did nothing but sweep a mild glance over the man. He ignored Liu Lang after that, focusing solely on making his way to the Guiyao planet.


    Much like a flash of lightning, he disappeared from the sight of the Lightning Sword Sect in the blink of an eye.


    "Liu Lang, do you take my little junior brother for a fool? Did you think he would bring a wretch like you with him?" He Mengxi mocked him when Liu Lang looked away in embarrassment.


    But Liu Lang was not at all angry. He stared blankly at He Mengxi. "Senior Sister Mengxi, both of our fathers are one of the four Valley Heads of the internal sects. It''s not a stretch to say that our fates are intertwined. Or else¡ª"


    Before Liu Lang could finish speaking, he was interrupted by He Mengxi, "If you''re trying to make me bring you along, then you can save it."


    Under Liu Lang''s bitter gaze, He Mengxi called out loudly for Da Zhuang, and the pair quickly made their way to the Guiyao planet.


    The Guiyao planet was a rather curious one.


    The beasts on the planet were basically unable to move up to the Primordial Soul stage.


    There was also this other issue: the beasts were not sentient, let alone able to speak like people were. This applied to all of the beasts, whether they were Connate beasts, Primal Core beasts, or even Dharma beasts.


    This had something to do with the environment of the Guiyao planet.


    And it was precisely because of this that the behavior of the beasts on the Guiyao planet was still dominated by the instincts of a wild animal, even if they were just Dharma beasts. They knew no fear, nor did they know how to flee.


    As long they set their sights on something, they would bite and cling onto it like a rabid dog.


    In such situations, a lot of people would die on the Guiyao planet during the Alliance Hunt, being killed in their prime years.


    It was important to note that the people who were selected to participate in the Alliance Hunt were essentially the cream of the crop from their own sects. As long as they were not taken out prematurely, their potential was limitless.


    That being said, not a single person has ever dropped out of the Alliance Hunt.


    There were so many people who were qualified to take part in the Alliance Hunt¡ªwhere one fell, another one would be there to take his place.


    This was because the Alliance Hunt brought as many boons as they did risks. There was a chance they could change their future if they played their cards right.


    The types of awards handed out after the Alliance Hunt were extremely attractive, but these were only the surface-level ones. As long as you could rank rather well during the Alliance Hunt, you would catch the eyes of the sect. In your days to come, you would definitely stand to benefit from an increase in the cultivation of your talents.


    "This Guiyao planet¡­ It''s rather strange."


    When Zhou Donghuang stepped onto the Guiyao planet, the Spirit energy that filled the entire planet was actually at a normal level and not too overwhelming.


    However, after an hour, he realized that the Spirit energy on the Guiyao planet had started to activate. Your inner Yuan would be disrupted upon inhalation of the Spirit energy. There would be a sharp, prickling pain filling your veins, and your organs would seize.


    "Generally speaking, the Spirit energy on a planet would not behave like this for no reason¡­ Unless there was some sort of force disturbing the Spirit energy on this planet," Zhou Donghuang commented quietly.


    Zhou Donghuang had come across similar situations in the thousand-year-long life he once led, and the cause for this was always different each time.


    For some planets, disruption in Spirit energy was caused by a powerful adept forcing open the cave house in its birth. The disruption served as a warning to the residents of the planet, about the cave house being forced open.


    Another possible reason was that the spawn of a demon had been born into the world. This sort of demon would definitely terrorize the people if left unrestrained.


    There was also the case where a disturbance was caused by the birth of a rare treasure. This sort of rare treasure was different from a regular spirit weapon; they contained a frightening power within them.


    ¡­


    "However, it is difficult to find the source of the disruption in Spirit energy. Although I''ve managed to tap into my Divine Will now, it''s still too weak. Unless I''ve been near the source of this disturbance, it''ll be difficult to locate it."


    Although he had accumulated a lot of experience from his past life, his Divine Will was too weak now, so there was little Zhou Donghuang could actually do.


    "Guess I''ll finish what I set out to do for now."


    In this hour or so, Zhou Donghuang had entered the Guiyao planet and crossed paths with a few beasts, but he had not made a single move yet. Right from the very beginning, he had been more focused on analyzing the Spirit energy on the Guiyao planet.


    As of now, he knew that it was difficult to properly trace the source of the Spirit energy disturbance, so he decided to redirect his energy towards the Alliance Hunt.


    "I''ll start with you."


    In an instant, his attention was directed towards the patch of forest pooled under his feet. He could see a lake in the forest, and there was a beast¡ªabout as big as a small hill¡ªlying in the lake.


    This was a large wolf. Its entire body was covered in black fur, save for the patch of white on the crown of its head. It was lying by the lake, as if in slumber.


    And at this moment, Zhou Donghuang realized that there were quite a few beasts loitering in the vicinity of the beast, but not a single one dared to approach.


    Zhou Donghuang was fully aware that although there were no traces of sentience on the Guiyao planet, they still had some concept of territorial consciousness at the very least.


    Territorial consciousness, this was something that even an untrained beast would know.


    "Ultimate Dharma stage?"


    Zhou Donghuang floated forward through the air. When he was floating above the surface of the lake, his Divine Will swept out. In an instant, it reached out to detect the level of training for the huge, black wolf that was lying lazily by the lake.


    An ultimate Dharma beast.


    This was the single strongest beast within Guiyao planet.


    "Awoo¡ª"


    Although the wolf had no Divine Will of its own, it picked up on Zhou Donghuang''s Divine Will detecting it. Its eyes blinked open instantly, gleaming something magnificent.


    Along with that came the clear howl of a wolf. There was a ferocious power that filled its body all of a sudden. Where had the slumbering wolf gone?


    The moment it saw Zhou Donghuang, it leapt into the air and immediately charged towards the man with the intent to kill. There was bloodlust swimming in its eyes and a cold glint from its sharp claws as if it wanted to tear Zhou Donghuang to shreds!


    Through all of that, Dharma Power about 100-meters tall manifested. It was clear that the manifestation of Dharma Power was an exact replica of the beast: its jaw split open and it looked like it could swallow an entire mountain!


    "Awoo¡ª!"


    "Awoo¡ª!"


    Both the actual body of the wolf and the Dharma manifestation released howls in unison. Both of them, but especially so for the Dharma wolf, let out howls so loud it caused ripples in the surface of the calm lake.


    The trees, flowers, and grass in the surrounding area also swayed with the impact of the howl.


    "Die."


    In the face of the ferocious wolf, the ultimate Dharma beast, Zhou Donghuang remained rooted in the air with a calm look on his face. His gaze only froze over when the beast approached him.


    In the next instant, his Divine Will lashed out and directly into the wolf''s consciousness.


    The wolf had no Divine Will of its own, so it could not defend itself against the attack. As the hulking body started becoming sluggish, the 100-meter-tall Dharma manifestation that had once been sturdy slowly started deteriorating.


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang''s own manifestation¡ªa White Tiger about thirty-meters tall¡ªappeared briefly.


    It appeared "briefly" because, just as quickly as it had appeared, the manifestation vanished.


    Of course, it did not actually vanish; it had solidified into a white blade in Zhou Donghuang''s hand. The moment the blade manifested, Zhou Donghuang brandished it and swung.


    Whoosh!!


    The sword struck out with a whistle. The wolf had been caught off-guard, taken back by the disturbance Zhou Donghuang had caused when he lashed out with his Divine Will. Without enough time to defend itself, the wolf was decapitated by a swing of his blade.


    Blood spurted out from the cut, and the Dharma Power disappeared from the wolf''s body. The head lay apart from the body.


    And just like that, a beast so overwhelming strong¡ªan ultimate Dharma beast that had taken up its own territory on the Guiyao planet¡ªdied.


    Zhou Donghuang raised a hand and had the wolf''s head flung into the space ring he had prepared beforehand. As for the body, he had originally planned to loot anything that was of value from the corpse, such as parts that could be used to make medicine or weapons... But then he realized that the essence of all the most valuable parts of the body had been sucked away by the Spirit energy of the planet the moment the wolf died.


    There was no further value to the corpse once it had been sucked dry of its life essence.


    On top of that, the body of the giant wolf had completely shriveled up after a few breaths.


    "If I hadn''t collected its head in time¡­ It''d probably have turned to dust like the rest of its body," Zhou Donghuang remarked quietly.


    "The Spirit energy on the Guiyao planet can actually absorb the life essence of these dead beasts?


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes constricted after he realized this. "It seems like this is 90% of the reason why the Spirit energy on the Guiyao planet is so abnormal."


    Zhou Donghuang now had a grasp of the situation at hand, and he knew more or less what to do.


    "It''s just too bad that my Divine Will isn''t good now¡­ If I had the Divine Will from my past life when I was at the Immortal stage, I would be able to detect the place that the life energy was being sucked to, even if it the ended up merging into this planet''s Spirit energy."


    The moment the beast died, its life essence would be completely drained from its corpse.


    Then there was the peculiarity of the inner Spirit energy of the Guiyao planet.


    Zhou Donghuang had a lot of guesses, so all he needed was to be able to verify his conjectures.


    "Moving on."


    After killing the huge wolf, Zhou Donghuang had moved on right ahead to finding the beasts who had been circling the wolf''s territory, fearful of moving too close. Those were all just mid Dharma beasts, so it barely took him any time before he had those killed.


    After killing those beasts, he did not move to collect their heads. This was because they were only mid Dharma beasts, so there was no way for him to integrate them into himself even if he killed them.


    "Just as I''d thought."


    At this moment, Zhou Donghuang had confirmed his guess.


    This planet was the way it was because it was spawning a demon, and this demon was causing a disruption in the flow of Spirit energy with its absorption of Spirit energy. Even the absorption of the beasts'' life essence was all to provide the demon with life force.


    "This Guiyao planet has probably been around for a long time, right?


    "And that demon still hasn''t spawned?"


    Despite all the knowledge he had accumulated from his experiences in his past life, Zhou Donghuang could not help the chill that ran down his spine at this point. The longer it took for the demon to spawn, the more abnormal it was.


    It was possible that it would be sentient.


    "A demon spawned by this planet, especially one spawned through such a process of absorbing, over years, the Spirit energy and life essence of the dead beasts on the surface of this planet¡­ The spawning of this demon will be a momentous one!


    "If it''s got a bad temper, blood will fill the entire Hengliu galaxy!"


    Zhou Donghuang''s face had hardened at this moment.

 274 Dharma Power Control

    Just how long had the issue of a disturbance in Spirit energy persisted on the Guiyao planet?


    This was something Zhou Donghuang was not too sure of.


    The only thing he knew for sure was that this situation had already been a thing on the Guiyao planet long before the Alliance Hunt had been a thing. "If the issue of a disturbance in Spirit energy on the Guiyao planet, as well as the disappearance of life essence from the dead beasts, were both for the benefit of a demon¡­


    "That demon that has been growing to this day will undoubtedly be peerless the moment it''s spawned!"


    Zhou Donghuang knew full well that even if the Spirit energy on the Guiyao planet could not compare to the amount from the countless planets in the Hengliu galaxy, the demon would have grown to a frightening level after years of accumulating the Spirit energy.


    At the very least, adepts below the Separating Divinity stage would not be able to stop it.


    Meanwhile in the Hengliu galaxy, even the stronger of the two Transcendental Forces was only a late Divine Transformation adept¡­


    This was all information Zhou Donghuang had obtained from He Mengxi.


    "In my past life, I don''t remember Third Senior Sister mentioning a demon wreaking havoc in the Hengliu galaxy¡­ So it seems I can be sure that the demon of the Guiyao planet had not been born before Third Senior Sister had left the Hengliu galaxy after the destruction of the Lightning Sword Sect."


    At this point, Zhou Donghuang let out a sigh of relief. At the same time, he was also curious: just where in the Guiyao planet was this demon hidden?


    Judging solely by the current situation: From the big sects of the Hengliu galaxy Alliance, the Divine Transformation adepts had searched the Guiyao planet before the start of the hunt in an attempt to see if there existed either martial adepts or beasts above the Primordial Soul stage. However, none of them had ever found anything.


    It was obvious that the demon had been hidden well.


    "With how I am now, I don''t think it''s a practical move to try to discover where the demon is while the hunt is on¡­ I should focus on the Alliance Hunt for now, then make my next move after I have the Sky Sun fruit in my hands. I''ll see if I can find the demon after the Alliance Hunt ends."


    Zhou Donghuang made up his mind in a split second.


    Although he did not think that his current abilities could match up to the demon, it was obvious that it had not fully formed yet. This was because a fully formed demon would be strong the moment it was born into the world. If a strong enough person did not kill or deal with the demon, there was a ninety percent chance a lot of damage would be dealt.


    The spawning ground was generally no good place to be.


    This was also one reason why Zhou Donghuang was so disturbed.


    However, Zhou Donghuang did not forget that he was still a part of the Alliance Hunt at this moment. As such, he continued roaming the Guiyao planet after he made his mind up, killing beast after beast.


    Before, he did not collect the heads of the mid Dharma beasts after he had killed them. After that, he moved on to killing other mid Dharma and early Dharma beasts, collecting their heads and storing them in the other two space rings.


    In one of the rings, he stored only the heads of the early Dharma beast. In the other he used it to store those of the late Dharma beasts.


    He could not accumulate points from these two types of beasts even if he brought them along, but he could gift them to other people before he left.


    If he could run into He Mengxi and Da Zhuang before he left, he could still hand the heads of the mid Dharma beasts over to them to boost their loot¡­ He had even thought of saving the heads of the early Dharma beasts so he could hand them over to Luo Qinghan if they crossed paths on the Guiyao planet.


    Of course, he knew that there was no way Luo Qinghan would accept them.


    As such, he had no intention to reveal his true identity to Luo Qinghan when they met.


    He could keep his identity a secret.


    "Never would have thought that I''d be having girl problems¡­ That girl, though, she really is stubborn."


    Whether it was the choice she had made earlier or the way she refused to acknowledge him now, Zhou Donghuang remained calm through it all.


    He was no longer as willful now as he was before¡ªhe had once knocked on Luo Qinghan''s door to look for the lady. With regards to her, he had resigned himself to fate. Otherwise, he would definitely have kept a close eye on Luo Qinghan the moment they entered the Guiyao planet. He would have kept tabs on her and where she went; he would follow to protect her and even help her hunt beasts.


    Earlier, he had hastily stuck up for her when the Tiansong Sect disciple, Mo Yitian had proposed, but he had not intervened to rescue Luo Qinghan.


    There were some things he could let slide, as long as he was there to witness it.


    But if he were, there was no way he could stand still.


    On the way here, there were no beasts that could stand against Zhou Donghuang, no matter what kind of beast they were.


    The early Dharma beasts, he took down with a single blow.


    The mid Dharma beasts, he took down with a single blow.


    The late Dharma beasts, he took down with a single blow.


    The ultimate Dharma beasts, too¡­ Even those, he took down with a single blow.


    There was no challenge.


    There was no pressure.


    The Zhou Donghuang of today was capable of making a clean sweep of the entire Guiyao planet just with his White Tiger Dharma Power alone¡­ In the Hengliu galaxy, a martial adept was considered to be a rare talent with potential if they could master the Dharmic possession technique while they were still at the Dharma stage.


    The Zhou Donghuang of today was capable of mastering not just the Dharmic possession technique, but also the more advanced techniques of the Dharma stage used to control Dharma Power.


    Dharma Power Control.


    It was a technique used to command Dharma Power, to command it like an arm, as your heart wished.


    With a spell from him, the Dharma Power could be used for more than just simple possession. It was not a stretch to say that the power could morph to take any shape.


    Just as it had been on his journey so far: with one spell of his, the Dharma Power condensed into a blade. This was a sort of Dharma Power Control in itself.


    His Dharma Power now could be used to take the shape of a weapon, and it was a tall order to have it take the shape of anything else.


    In this boundless universe where resources are plentiful, in the vast galaxies, adepts who could master the technique of Dharmic possession while they were at the Dharma stage were considered average¡­ Only those who could master the technique of Dharma Power Control while they were at the Dharma stage could be considered geniuses.


    Of course, in a galaxy like the Hengliu galaxy, there has not been an adept that had mastered the Dharma Power Control technique throughout the course of its history.


    "Hm?"


    On his way here, Zhou Donghuang had lost count of the number of beasts he had slaughtered. He killed indiscriminately: as long as he saw one, he would kill it regardless of its level of training and keep its head.


    Those corpses which contained precious materials were stored in another space ring. He planned on having his third senior sister, He Mengxi deal with this, exchanging them for spirit stones at the trading plaza in the Lightning Sword Sect after they had both returned.


    But even then, he still could not be bothered to loot from the corpses of a bunch of average beasts.


    In the end, he only collected from the beasts who were at the Dharma stage and that contained rare materials.


    Sometime after, his space ring was not enough to contain the loot. He trashed the corpses of a few of the regular beasts that he had collected earlier on and used the ring to store only the bodies of the beasts that were at the Dharma stage.


    At this time, only one of the three months set aside for the Alliance Hunt had passed.


    In this one month, Zhou Donghuang had crossed paths with tens of people from the different allied sects. That said, he was the one who spotted them most of the time, and they did not notice him.


    There were but a handful of people who noticed him: two early Dharma adepts and one mid Dharma adept. The three of them did not dare to provoke him upon seeing him. Although they were not entirely certain of his level of training, they knew, at the very least, that their level of training was lower than his.


    "Hm?"


    On this day, Zhou Donghuang stepped into the air, moving out from a crowd of mountains. His Divine Will that had been enveloping the surrounding area had picked up on two people hiding behind a peak.


    At that moment, Zhou Donghuang stared at their Dharma Power for a good while.


    In the end, the two people had no intention of stepping out, so he turned to leave.


    However, in the moment he turned, the two people who had been stock-still finally shifted. They stepped out, one after the other. In the blink of an eye, they had caught up to Zhou Donghuang. The pair intercepted Zhou Donghuang¡ªone of them stood in front of him, and the other behind him.


    These were two young men who seemed to be around 30 years old. Of course, they were probably older than this in reality.


    However, they were definitely no older than 50.


    This was because the disciples from the sects of the alliance that were taking part in this hunt could not be older than 50, and this was just the requirement for the ultimate Dharma disciples¡­ For disciples of a lower level of training, the age limit was enforced even more strictly.


    Before the Alliance Hunt started, mid Divine Transformation adepts from three sects of the alliance had entered the Guiyao planet for an expedition. A group of people who were taking part in the alliance hunt, which included Zhou Donghuang, had also passed the alliance''s age detection.


    Their age was verified through the age of their bones.


    This method of detection had a margin of error of fewer than three months.


    "Were you hesitant to step out earlier because you wanted to check if I had a partner with me?" At the sight of the pair rushing out to stop him even though they had been hiding away just a while before, Zhou Donghuang asked mildly with a slight squint of his eyes.


    "Indeed, you really did spot us."


    The young man blocking his way looked him straight in the eye. "You''re right¡­ Now, you''re choosing to cooperate by handing over the space ring you used to store the heads of the beasts. Or do you want for us to beat you up before you hand over the ring?"


    Before Zhou Donghuang could even respond, the young man standing behind him spoke first, "Young lad, the both of us are ultimate Dharma adepts¡­ So I''d suggest you not take any chances."


    Zhou Donghuang laughed.


    The young man who was blocking his way furrowed his eyebrows when he saw the other man laugh.


    "Young lad, what are you laughing at? Don''t try to bluff your way through this by acting like an idiot!"


    Zhou Donghuang''s smile vanished. At the same time, he looked at the young man with a profound gaze, then asked mildly, "Will the both of you choose to hand over your space rings now, or will you wait for me to beat you up before you hand over your rings?"

 275 Secret Divine Will Technique

    The two men who had been blocking Zhou Donghuang from the back and front could not help but freeze when they heard his words.


    Not long after, there was a disdainful sneer on their faces.


    The young man standing in front of Zhou Donghuang looked him up and down. "It seems like you''re also an ultimate Dharma adept, young lad, otherwise there''s no way you''d be this calm even after knowing the two of us are ultimate Dharma adepts.


    "I can tell you''re confident in your abilities.


    "It''s just such a pity that you ran into us. It''s fate that you''re so unlucky."


    The moment the young man spoke, a 100-meter-tall image manifested. It was clear that this was the Dharma Power of the young man and, judging by the sync of his body and the Dharma hammer, this did not seem to be too far from Dharmic possession.


    Whoosh!


    At the same time, the young man behind Zhou Donghuang manifested his own weapon: a 100-meter-tall blade.


    This Dharma blade was also quite in sync with the young man''s body. Evidently, this was not too far off from Dharmic possession either.


    "With our abilities, young lad, even ultimate Dharma adepts who have mastered the technique of Dharmic possession might find it difficult to go up against us¡­ And as for the ultimate Dharma adepts from the big sects that have mastered that technique, we know who they are."


    At this time, the young man who had summoned the huge hammer said with a condescending smirk on his face, "But you''re not one of those people."


    "So I''d advise you to hand over your ring to us with no fuss, if you want to be spared of the pain!" The young man reminded him.


    In the face of the reminder, Zhou Donghuang did nothing but look at him calmly. He said in a sluggish tone, "Looking at the both of you like this makes me want to fight as well."


    The moment he said that, a white tiger created from Dharma Power manifested.


    There was one thing, though. This 30-meter-tall White Tiger Dharma Power was normally rather sturdy, like a small hill.


    But now that it was standing in front of two 100-meter-tall Dharma Powers, the 30-meter-tall White Tiger Dharma Power seemed rather unsightly. It seemed like a small, white cat that a stiff breeze could knock over.


    The young men had been shocked at first when they saw the Dharma Power that Zhou Donghuang had manifested. Soon after, they looked at each other and could not help but burst into laughter. The pair laughed, condescending and loud.


    "Hahahahaha¡­ Young lad, we waited this long, only for you to be a late Dharma adept?"


    "You''re only a late Dharma adept, and you have to gall to mug us? How funny! You''re probably still asleep and think you''re dreaming, right?"


    After they realized that Zhou Donghuang was only a late Dharma adept, the two young men were laughing so hard their stomachs were almost cramping.


    "Roar¡ª"


    The white tiger''s jaw opened wide to release a loud roar. The sound reverberated; this was indeed a powerful beast.


    "You''re rather talented, mastering the Dharmic possession technique at the late Dharma stage¡­ It''s just such a waste that I can crush you with just my level of training and overall abilities, even if I haven''t mastered the Dharmic possession technique!"


    The young man who had manifested the huge hammer smirked condescendingly at Zhou Donghuang as he watched the latter demonstrate his Dharmic possession technique, charging towards him.


    Although he had not mastered the technique, his level of training was one notch higher than Zhou Donghuang''s was. As such, his inner Yuan was twice as dense, and he was far stronger than Zhou Donghuang was.


    This was the sort of opponent he could tackle with just one move if they insisted on coming at him hard!


    Crash!!


    With a condescending smirk, the young man brandished his huge hammer all of a sudden. He swung it down on the white tiger''s head. "There''s just too big a gap between our levels of training. Even if you''ve trained your Dharma Power to be much more perfect than mine, it is all in vain.


    "Your biggest mistake was taking the initiative to strike against me first.


    "You want to do things this way? Fine, we''ll do things your way!"


    In that moment, the young man brandished his hammer and made to swing it down, thinking that he had the upper hand.


    His partner had thought the same thing.


    But in this split second, Zhou Donghuang, who had seemed to become one with the white tiger he had manifested, steeled his gaze. In the next instance, his Divine Will struck out and immediately invaded the young man''s mind.


    In that split second, the young man''s face had become devoid of emotions, and the light in his eyes had gone out. At the same time, the huge hammer that had seemed so threatening was left suspending strangely in the air. It then became gradually less solid, as if it could disappear any second.


    "Hm?"


    Just then, the other young man who had summoned the huge blade was watching this unfold before his eyes. Understanding seemed to flicker in his eyes, but Zhou Donghuang had already taken control of the white tiger and moved directly to strike at the huge hammer that had become less solid.


    "Woah¡ª"


    By the time the young man''s dull eyes brightened again, he had already sustained severe injuries. His inner Yuan had rejected him, and he coughed up a mouthful of crimson red blood. At the same time, his entire body was shaky, and he struggled to maintain his balance.


    "How¡­ how is this possible?!"


    The young man who had lost his fighting spirit hastily regained his focus. As he looked at Zhou Donghuang, who was steering the white tiger towards his partner, his eyes were filled with horror and wonder. "Just now¡­ just what exactly happened?"


    All he felt before this was something like lighting striking his brain. Everything turned to white in a split second, and he was forced into a trance.


    By the time he had regained his consciousness, he found that his Dharma Power had been destroyed. He also realized that he had sustained grave injuries, and that he had lost his will to fight back!


    "What happened?"


    "How did Huang Dong lose?"


    The other young man felt chills going down his spine when he came face to face with the threatening Zhou Donghuang.


    Although he did not fully understand what he had seen earlier, it was also because of this that he thought the young man dressed in white was extremely strange. How else could he have injured Huang Dong, who was about as strong as he was, so gravely and so easily?


    "Be careful! I have to be careful!"


    In the face of the threatening Zhou Donghuang, the other young man silently reminded himself to be careful over and over again. He then took control of his giant blade and brandished it towards Zhou Donghuang, who had seemed to become one with the white tiger.


    But in this moment, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes gleamed yet again.


    In the next instant, this young man had fallen unconscious as well.


    The giant blade seemed to turn illusory shortly after, as if it would disappear any second.


    Boom!!


    Though the huge blade was 100-meters tall, it had no more power to sustain itself and was strong only on the outside. With a swing of the white tiger''s paw, the blade was destroyed, and the young man was sent following his partner''s footsteps.


    "Oof¡ª"


    After this young man regained his consciousness, he found that he had sustained serious injuries, and he could not help but cough up a mouthful of blood.


    "Hand over the space rings and I''ll spare your lives," Zhou Donghuang said in a calm tone with a calm gaze, hovering in the air after he had retracted his white tiger.


    The two young men were still looking at each other now, and when they did, they could see the shock and incredulity reflected in each other''s gazes. They stared at Zhou Donghuang as if they had seen a ghost. "What the hell are you?!"


    "What was that move you used?!"


    Although the young man dressed in white who was standing in front of them was a late Dharma adept, the two of them did not dare belittle him anymore. In fact, they were genuinely fearful of him.


    Some kind of joke this was!


    Regardless of it all, the both of them were still ultimate Dharma adepts. Yet just like this, they were severely wounded. They did not even have the chance to strike.


    If their opponent were not merciful, they would have been dead a long time ago.


    "Let''s be clear about one thing¡­ I can still get your space rings even if I kill you."


    Zhou Donghuang did not deign to respond to the both of them. His mild tone had frozen over in a split second.


    Had these two men threatened him with death earlier on, they would have been dead by now.


    Upon hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, the both space ring from the one already on their hand, and then waived the recognition for the rings before handing them over to Zhou Donghuang.


    A good space ring came equipped with a spell to recognize its owner by their blood.


    After the recognition feature was set up, no one else could access the ring to retrieve the items stored in it. This held true even if the owner had lost the ring, as long as they were still alive.


    Of course, if the owner of the ring were dead, the ring would become an item without an owner. Whoever dripped their blood on it would become the new owner.


    Drip drop! Drip drop!


    After he set up the recognition and verified the spoils, Zhou Donghuang looked at the two young men again, his eyes gleaming. The two of them seemed like they wanted to say something, but they stopped themselves from doing so.


    In the next moment, his Divine Will invaded their consciousness again.


    This time, the two of them lost consciousness for a longer period of time before coming back into consciousness.


    When the gleam returned to their eyes and they regained consciousness, they looked at each other in shock. "Weren''t we hiding at the back? How did we end up here?"


    "I don''t know¡­ When did we get here?"


    The two of them had seemed to lose their memories.


    In this instant, Zhou Donghuang had already taken his leave, leaving the pair and moving far into the distance.


    Earlier on, he had used his Divine Will to put to good use a secret Divine Will technique he had gleaned from an ancient relic in his past life. This technique was used to wipe about 15 minutes'' worth of memory from a person''s mind.


    Of course, there were a lot of restrictions to this as well.


    The individual''s Divine Will had to be one stage of training higher than their opponent before the technique could be used against them.


    If they were a Divine Transformation adept, they could use this secret technique to wipe 15 minutes'' worth of memory from a Primordial Soul adept.


    Zhou Donghuang''s level of training was lower than the both of them, but his current Divine Will was good enough to be used to wipe their memory since neither of them had channeled their Divine Will as of now.


    He had wiped their memory because he did not want anyone knowing that he had channeled Divine Will at the Dharma stage.


    This was something that would detriment him if the news got out.


    Today, those two men did not know that he had used his Divine Will, because they were not aware of its existence¡­ But once the two of the left and spoke of this matter to one of their elders, their elders would definitely be able to confirm that the both of them had been influenced by Divine Will.


    "The both of you had only tried to steal from me and did not intend to kill me¡­ So I''ll spare your lives, too."


    And this was also the reason why Zhou Donghuang had chosen to wipe the last 15 minutes from their memory after he got what he wanted, instead of killing them.


    The two people, who were still in a daze after losing 15 minutes, would never know that they had just rubbed shoulders with the Grim Reaper.


    Had they made an attempt on Zhou Donghuang''s life, there was no doubt that they would have died there and then!

 276 Twin Beasts

    After the Alliance Hunt started and the disciples from the various allied sects made their way to the Guiyao planet, the majority of them were focused on killing the beasts and collecting their heads.


    There was also a portion of the disciples who robbed others of their spoils. Those who were luckier had only been robbed. The unlucky ones were killed right away.


    And it was because of this that the beasts were not the only things they had to deal with on the Guiyao planet; they also had to deal with the threat that their fellow disciples posed.


    The ranking for the hunt was decided based on a point system.


    However, although the robberies were occurring, they only happened amongst disciples of the same level of training. This was because they could only obtain spoils that were useful to themselves if they robbed someone of the same level of training.


    Take for example the ultimate Dharma disciples. It was useless for them to be robbing late Dharma disciples and stealing the heads of late Dharma beasts. This was unless their opponent happened to have the head of an ultimate Dharma beast.


    As for the majority of the late Dharma disciples who had been robbed by ultimate Dharma disciples, they would cooperate and hand over all the heads of the ultimate Dharma beasts they had collected to them. This way, they could still keep the heads of the late Dharma beasts and accumulate some points.


    Of course, there were also some ultimate Dharma disciples who had thoroughly plundered disciples who were of a lower level of training. They had kept the heads beasts they could not use so that they could hand them off to fellow disciples from their own sects if they happened to meet.


    But there were few disciples who were of a high level of training who would kill disciples of lower levels of training. This was because they would be sentenced to death if caught.


    It was a free-for-all for disciples of the same levels of training. They were allowed to take each other out, and this was something the Alliance Hunt had implicitly allowed.


    In this boundless universe, martial training was a god-defying concept in itself. Whether it was people or the heavens they were going against, the sects of the alliance all hoped for their own disciples to be able to experience and understand the strife and danger of the human psyche.


    All the prizes that came with the hunt were but secondary to the true meaning of it, which lay in the experience it granted its participants.


    "How boring."


    The other disciples put their all into killing the beasts, and quite a few of them sustained injuries when they were careless. Zhou Donghuang, on the other hand, dealt with them as if they were but small fry, even if the beasts were at the ultimate Dharma stage.


    And just that trick of temporarily forcing them out of their consciousness was enough for Zhou Donghuang to go in for the kill.


    "I wouldn''t be here participating in this Alliance Hunt if not for the Sky Sun Fruit."


    Zhou Donghuang did not forget his purpose for joining this hunt.


    Of course, there was something else weighing on his mind now:


    There was a demon here, somewhere in the Guiyao planet, that was causing a disruption in the Spirit energy. The demon was also greedily absorbing the life essence of the dead beasts. Before this Alliance Hunt ended, he had to find out where that demon was spawning.


    It was safe to assume that that place was not a good place.


    The only thing was that he knew it was difficult to locate the place with how feeble and pathetic his Divine Will currently was. It was easier for him to reach the sky.


    It was important to note that, throughout the history of the Alliance Hunt, mid Divine Transformation adepts have entered the Guiyao planet in search of the demon. However, not a single one of them had managed to find where the demon was spawning.


    Of course, if Zhou Donghuang had the Divine Knowledge of the Divine Transformation stage, then he could be certain that he could find the demon within a few days.


    The spawning grounds of a demon like this was often cloaked with an invisibility spell. It was difficult for the average person to deal with that spell, but Zhou Donghuang could see through the spell as long as he could find it.


    Even if he was but a Dharma adept now, he could see through the spell as long as it was right in front of him.


    "Onward."


    Though this bored him to no end, Zhou Donghuang had to persevere and work hard to find Dharma beast after Dharma beast to kill and loot their heads, all for the first prize: the Sky Sun fruit.


    He did not bother himself with going out of his way to chase after beasts who were of other levels of training.


    Those that happened to be in his path, he killed.


    Just like now.


    A late Dharma beast was flying over from the far distance. It was still quite a ways from Zhou Donghuang and thus had not noticed the man, but he had already spotted the beast.


    Even then, Zhou Donghuang could not be bothered to strike at it.


    To him, a late Dharma disciple, he could only accumulate ten points from killing a late Dharma beast. An ultimate Dharma beast, on the other hand, awarded him 100 points.


    It took ten late Dharma beasts to accumulate him as many points as one ultimate Dharma beast could.


    He had no plans to chase after the late Dharma beast; his time was better spent searching for other ultimate Dharma beasts that might be hiding in the vicinity.


    "Hm?"


    All of a sudden, as if he detected something, Zhou Donghuang''s ears twitched as he stood in the lush forest.


    Boom!!


    Rumble!!


    ¡­


    With his astounding sense of hearing, he picked up on waves of sound that were coming from ahead of him.


    "Is that the sound of beasts fighting amongst themselves, or is that a disciple fighting against a beast?"


    Zhou Donghuang could hear it: it was the sound of two forces striking against one another.


    "No!"


    As he flew towards the source of the sound, he could hear even more clearly. "It''s three forces exchanging blows¡­ More accurately, it''s two on one."


    With a twist of his body, he moved towards the sound rapidly.


    Very quickly, he arrived at the source of the sound. In the deepest parts of the forest was a waterfall. In front of the waterfall was an area that seemed devoid of other beasts.


    Zhou Donghuang had come across quite a few spots like this one on his way here, and they were all territories of ultimate Dharma beasts.


    Usually, when ultimate Dharma beasts did not leave to hunt for food, they would be resting in their territory.


    Boom!!


    A large sound rang out. A young man had manifested Dharma Power about 60-meters tall, and he was sent flying harshly into the waterfall by a 100-meter tall Dharma Power manifested by the beast.


    The young man was skin and bones. He was a handsome man whose eyes twinkled.


    In this moment, the fine clothes covering his body had been torn to shreds.


    And the perpetrators of this were the two beasts that were steadily inching towards him. The beasts seemed to be identical, and each of them had a 100-meter-tall manifestation of Dharma Power near them.


    Judging by the Dharma Power of the beasts, they seemed to be at the Ultimate Dharma stage.


    As for the young man, his Dharma Power was only 60-meters tall because he had an ultimate Dharma spirit weapon with him that could double the inner Yuan of a Dharma adept!


    Ultimate Dharma spirit weapons were mostly used as an adornment to directly increase the individual''s inner Yuan and allow them to demonstrate stronger Dharma Power.


    In this young man''s case, his Dharma spirit weapon was the very conspicuous jade bangle on his right wrist.


    "They''ve already mastered the Dharmic possession technique¡­ If it''s just one ultimate Dharma beast, he can deal with it. He can definitely kill the beast if he has enough time. But two ultimate Dharma beasts¡ªand it''s obvious that they are twins with strong chemistry¡ªtheir powers are not simply stacking upon each other''s when they combine them!"


    Zhou Donghuang could tell that the pair of beasts in front of him now was a pair of twin beasts.


    Not every pair of beasts that looked similar were twin beasts.


    But here was the real problem: At first glance, they looked alike, but that was not all. All the details trailing up and down their bodies were identical, and this was something that was impossible even for beasts of the same species. As such, the only explanation left was that they were twin beasts.


    "Roar¡ª"


    "Roar¡ª"


    The two beasts had bodies similar to cheetahs. The fur covering their bodies was covered in leopard spots, but they had sharp tusks in their mouths and a stature like a small hill. It was obvious that they were not just ordinary cheetahs.


    Their Dharma Powers manifested in a shape similar to their physical bodies, just many times larger. It was as if there were huge mountains beside each other, and it made for an imposing sight.


    "Hm?"


    The young man had already been preparing to retreat but all of a sudden, his eyes gleamed and he seemed to have caught sight of Zhou Donghuang standing in the far distance, face as calm as ever.


    Although Zhou Donghuang looked to be young, his composure made it easy to guess that he was not the least bit afraid of those two beasts.


    At the very least, Zhou Donghuang was like him; he had the ability to escape from the two beasts.


    The young man was only injured now because he wanted to test his luck and see for himself if the rumors were true. He wanted to see if he could take the two beasts down if he had the chance¡­ Only to find out that the two beasts were absolutely flawless when they teamed up, and there were no openings he could take advantage of.


    Even if he had found an opening to exploit, he ended up sustaining heavy injuries.


    He took in a deep breath, then turned to look at Zhou Donghuang. He called out to him in a high-pitched voice, "My lord, what do you say we take these two beasts down together? We''ll split the spoils¡ªhalf each!"


    To this, Zhou Donghuang only looked back at him with a mild gaze. He did not respond to the young man''s suggestion.


    In the next second, under the shocked gaze of the young man, Zhou Donghuang moved to kill the two beasts.


    After seeing him charge forward alone, the young man could not help but smirk. "Do you have a death wish?"


    From his perspective, he thought that Zhou Donghuang had only charged forward alone instead of choosing to work with him because he had wanted the spoils all for himself.


    The greedy bastard.


    He could escape anytime he wanted, so the young man was confident that he could flee even with the injuries he had sustained. As such, when Zhou Donghuang had dragged the beasts'' attention onto himself, he was in no particular hurry to escape.


    He seemed to be gloating at Zhou Donghuang, who had landed himself in trouble and was looking rather desperate.


    Only for his jaw to drop at the scene that would unfold next:


    At the same time both beasts lunged for the young man dressed in white, their bodies paused strangely for a moment, and their Dharma Power seemed to become less solid and a lot milder, as if they would disappear at any instant.


    At this moment, the 30-meter-tall white tiger pounced forward and struck at the Dharma Power of both beasts. After they disappeared, it struck out again quickly with its paw, smacking both beasts down.


    Rumble! Rumble!


    Both beasts were left lying on the ground, fresh blood flowing freely from their mouths and their breaths shallow.


    "What happened?"


    The scene that had unfolded before his eyes left the young man stunned. He had no idea at all what had happened. Why did the two beasts freeze all of a sudden?


    "Some sort of luck that was."


    The young man snapped back into focus. He thought that the other man must have gotten really lucky; perhaps some disease of theirs happened to act up in that moment.


    Zhou Donghuang moved towards the two beasts, and it seemed as if he was going to collect both of their heads. When the young man saw that, he blanched. He shot out like lightning towards Zhou Donghuang. "It''s first come, first served, my lord¡­ Although you managed to injure them, that was due in part to the fact that I had already depleted quite a bit of their inner Yuan.


    "You have to hand one of the two heads to me."

 277 Crisis

    "If you want a part of the spoils, come get it yourself."


    With a swing of his hand, Zhou Donghuang casually lopped off the heads of both beasts. He then had the body stored separately, and he looked at the young man mildly.


    The two beasts might have exchanged blows with the young earlier, but they had been holding back against him. They had practically depleted close to none of their energy and were still very much at their peak.


    He had killed both beasts on his own, and now the young man wanted a share from him?


    Was there free lunch in this world?


    Although the gaze he tossed at the other man had been mild, there was a threat underlining it.


    "You¡­"


    Ultimately, the young man did not lift a hand, because he knew that there was no way he would win even if he tried to lay a hand on Zhou Donghuang.


    He was a late Dharma adept like his opponent, and his opponent had already mastered the Dharmic possession technique.


    On the other hand, he had only begun to grasp that technique not too long before the start of the Alliance Hunt. Even at his best, the young man feared that he was no match for his opponent, much less the state he was in now.


    The young man sucked in a deep breath before speaking with a forced chuckle, "My lord, I am Zhong Chengcai, son of the Yuanyin Order''s Vice-Leader, Zhong Wuyan. I''m not sure how I should address you or what sect you''re from."


    "Why? Are you asking for my name and history so you have a target for revenge?" Zhou Donghuang retorted with a mild gaze.


    "Absolutely not."


    Zhong Chengcai tried his best to suppress the anger that was building up in him. With much difficulty, he forced a smile on his face. "I would have been in deep trouble if not for your assistance today¡­ I just wish to find out more about my savior."


    Zhou Donghuang fixed Zhong Chengcai with a firm gaze. His gaze was a sharp one, as if he could see through everything. "Whether or not you''re being sincere, or if you actually want to seek revenge, I, Zhou Donghuang, will take it in stride.


    "I will probably still be in the Lightning Sword Sect in the next two years to come. If it is revenge you seek, you can look for me there."


    As soon as he said that, Zhou Donghuang made to leave immediately without waiting for the other man to respond. He was like a white shooting star, disappearing from the sky in a flash.


    "He''s that Zhou Donghuang from the Lightning Sword Sect?!"


    Zhong Chengcai''s eyes constricted and he called out subconsciously, "He¡­ He''s already at the late Dharma stage?"


    The genius disciple from the Lightning Sword Sect, Zhou Donghuang, was already a mid Dharma adept when he was only 24 years old. He had mastered the Dharmic possession technique and easily defeated the one they referred to as a once-in-a-century genius disciple, Han Yuzheng, from the Thunder Knife Sect.


    The only thing was that he had never expected, not even in his wildest dreams, was for the very same Zhou Donghuang to have already moved to the late Dharma stage within two years. He was only 26 years old this year, no?


    "A late Dharma adept who''s 26 years old¡­ This is quite the rare sight, even if you pit him against the two Transcendental Forces, right?" Zhong Chengcai remarked silently.


    At the same time, he was secretly breaking out into a cold sweat. "It''s a good thing I didn''t come off too strong earlier. But¡­ I won''t let this matter rest.


    "Zhou Donghuang, you better watch out¡­ Otherwise, I''ll have you die a graveless death!"


    There was something terrifyingly cold about Zhong Chengcai''s gaze, and he looked so vicious it seemed like he was about to devour Zhou Donghuang.


    From the moment he found out who Zhou Donghuang was, he knew that there was no way he could march up to the Lightning Sword Sect to seek revenge. Even an idiot could tell that the sect would definitely be shielding Zhou Donghuang.


    A martial arts talent like Zhou Donghuang, even if he did not come from an esteemed family, he was still not someone to be messed with, even if Zhong Chengcai was with the Yuanyin Order.


    Even if his father was the leader of the Yuanyin Order, there was no way that would be allowed.


    At the very least, he and his father would not dare pull any stunts in broad daylight.


    ¡­


    Time flew by.


    In the blink of an eye, it had already been two months since the Alliance Hunt had commenced.


    In another month, the disciples from the allied sects who were currently on the Guiyao planet would have to take their leave soon.


    The two months they spent on the Guiyao planet had been a trivial task for the more competent of the disciples.


    For the ultimate Dharma disciples from the big sects of the alliance, spending time here was akin to taking a vacation. Even without having mastered the Dharmic possession technique, they could breeze through the killing off a bunch of ultimate Dharma beasts on the Guiyao planet solely by relying on their spirit weapons.


    It was near impossible for them to accumulate enough points to place in the first few ranks. As such, their mission upon entering the planet was focused more on helping the weaker disciples of their sect accumulate more points.


    As of now, the ultimate Dharma adepts of the various sects were more or less all following a specific early or mid Dharma disciple from their sects. Either that, or they were trailing behind several people at once.


    There were some late Dharma disciples who had ultimate Dharma disciples they were on good terms with, and the latter had wanted to help the former. This was more or less a one-on-one sort of help.


    All in all, the Alliance Hunt hinged somewhat on whether there were people willing to help without expecting anything in return, as much as it did on the personal strength of an individual.


    That said, even if someone did decide to help another person kill a beast, the beast had to be one they could kill off on their own. If not, that would not count towards their own results, and they would be punished by having their results forfeited.


    This was why an ultimate Dharma disciple could only kill off a mid Dharma beast at most, even if he wanted to help an early Dharma disciple.


    "Luo Qinghan, we really are bound by fate."


    Yuan Zheng had never expected that he would run into Luo Qinghan here, not when the Guiyao planet was so big. For a moment, his eyes were practically green.


    As for Luo Qinghan, she could not help the twitch in her eye when she saw him, but she quickly calmed her expression.


    Even if Yuan Zheng was now at the Dharma stage and had obtained from the Tiansong Sect the right to participate in the Alliance Hunt, it did not necessarily mean that he was stronger than she was.


    After she calmed her expression, she swept a cold glance over the man. She did not acknowledge him, choosing to continue on her own path as she ignored him.


    "Luo Qinghan, I heard from a few of the Jihan Sect disciples on my way here that there''s an ultimate Dharma disciple from your sect who wants to help you accumulate points, but you rejected him?" Yuan Zheng chased after Luo Qinghan and asked with a smile.


    But Luo Qinghan paid him no mind.


    Indeed.


    Earlier on, they were preparing to enter the Guiyao planet to participate in the Alliance Hunt. There were quite a number of ultimate Dharma disciples from the Jihan Sect who had made it clear to her that if she wanted, they were willing to help her accumulate points by taking out the beasts without anything in return.


    However, Luo Qinghan had turned that down.


    She knew very well that those ultimate Dharma disciples were not being sincere when they said they would do it without expecting anything in return.


    They had only offered to help her so they could get to know Zhou Donghuang through her, or even curry favor with him.


    With the results that Zhou Donghuang had demonstrated today, there was little doubt that he would become a huge figure in the Hengliu galaxy as long as he did not give up halfway through!


    An existence like his was destined to rise to the top as long as he persisted, and it was the dream of many to rub shoulders with him before he blew up.


    "I cannot owe him any more favors."


    After rejecting the bunch of ultimate Dharma disciples from the Jihan Sect, Luo Qinghan had but this one thought in her head.


    Yuan Zheng''s smile slowly faded from his face when he realized that Luo Qinghan was ignoring him. He remarked callously, "Luo Qinghan, what are you doing pretending to be all high and mighty when we''re already at this point?


    "At the start while we were still on the Tianxuan planet, you acted as if you were some saint. You had no wants and you could not be bothered with me. But now, you''re all over that Zhou Donghuang.


    "You''ve only been accepted into the Jihan Sect for a few years. Even if you knew him, how long could you have possibly known him for? Have you known him for longer than you have known me?


    "Can you truly say that you''re not only so chummy with him because his martial talent and future achievements have caught your eye?"


    Luo Qinghan had been keeping her back to Yuan Zheng. At this point in his rant, her face fell completely, and she stopped in her tracks.


    "One more word out of you, Yuan Zheng¡­ Don''t blame me for what I''ll do next!" Luo Qinghan said somberly. Her hands were curled into tight fists, and her eyes were gleaming with fury.


    "Alright, then¡­"


    Yuan Zheng, on the other hand, chuckled at her words. "Just as well, I wanted to see for myself just how strong you are now.


    "I''ll be honest¡ªI was quite surprised to see that you could take part in the Alliance Hunt."


    Almost right before Luo Qinghan turned, Yuan Zheng tossed a black bead that he had concealed in his palms. The bead was flicked high up into the sky, and the horizon was aglow with resplendent fireworks.


    "Hm?"


    Luo Qinghan noticed the fireworks going off above her head at the same time she turned. Her face shifted a little. "Are you calling for the disciples from the Tiansong Sect to come?"


    Without any hesitation, Luo Qinghan turned to leave.


    She was already uncertain if she could take on Yuan Zheng just as he was.


    He would definitely not be a match for her if another Tiansong Sect disciple joined the fray!


    "Where are you rushing off to, Luo Qinghan?"


    Yuan Zheng laughed blandly. With a twist of his body, he stepped in front of Luo Qinghan to prevent her from moving forward anymore.


    At the sight of this, Luo Qinghan had no choice but to retrieve a similar black bead from her space ring. She wanted to launch this one into the sky.


    Since Yuan Zheng wanted to call the closest Tiansong Sect disciples to him, then she had no choice but to do the same and call for the closest Jihan Sect disciples to come to her.


    The disciples of all the allied sects had their assigned signal flares.


    But Yuan Zheng was one step ahead of her; he stopped her from getting her way. "Luo Qinghan, don''t you dare call for people right in front of me."


    As her face twitched yet again, she had no choice but to brandish her spirit weapon to exchange blows with Yuan Zheng. After she hit at him enough for him to retreat a little, she would have a window to launch the signal flare.


    The only problem with this plan was that Yuan Zheng was not actually weaker than her. The two of them were rather well-matched in strength, so she would not have the chance to launch her signal flare.


    Judging by his strength, Yuan Zheng would be able to wound and defeat her the moment she was distracted with launching the signal flare.


    Once she was wounded, she would become a slab of fish on Yuan Zheng''s chopping block.


    That was something she absolutely refused to watch happen.


    As such, she could only resist as best as she could.


    "Luo Qinghan, I didn''t launch the signal flare to call for people to help me defeat you¡­ If it''s just you, I''m more than strong enough to deal with you."


    Yuan Zheng chuckled darkly, "I launched the signal flare to call for Senior Brother Mo¡­ Senior Brother Mo, he''s not too far from here.


    "Tsk, tsk¡­ I really am looking forward to sending you tumbling into his embrace and letting him own you. I wonder how he''d thank me for helping him get back at Zhou Donghuang for the humiliation he was subjected to.


    "With him backing me, my future in the Tiansong Sect will be a smooth sailing one!"


    Yuan Zheng believed that the heavens had been looking out for him when they had him cross paths with Luo Qinghan, allowing him to redeem himself.


    It was important to note that he had indirectly embarrassed Mo Yitian, the top of the younger generation in the Tiansong Sect. This was something other man had despised him for.


    Two days ago, when Mo Yitian met him, the former had thrown him a cold glance.


    It was not difficult to imagine that Mo Yitian might have killed him if not for the fact that they were both under the same sect.


    But today, he had finally found the opportunity to repair his relationship with Mo Yitian.

 278 The Legendary Dharma Adep

    "A flare signal?"


    The flare signal that went off not far away startled Zhou Donghuang, who was currently passing through the forest and caused him to pause. "But it''s not the flare signal of the Lightning Sword Sect. It''s probably from another sect."


    "No matter which sect''s flare signal appears, it will definitely gather the people nearby who belong to that sect¡­"


    "Among them, the ultimate Dharma stage may even exist."


    "Killing beasts, even killing a Dharma stage beast, can only give us one beast head at a time¡­ But if we plunder the ultimate Dharma stage Alliance disciples, we can get many Dharma stage beast heads instead!"


    At this thought, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes lit up. He then proceeded to fly in the direction of the place from which the flare signal had risen in order to rob them.


    In the Alliance Hunt, the Alliance disciples were allowed to plunder spoils from each other.


    The Alliance Hunt, which was a way to train the various sect disciples, was naturally a simulation of the cruel world in which the weak were prey to the strong; the various sect disciples lost the protection of their sects the moment they walked out.


    In the history of the Hengliu galaxy, numerous Alliance disciples vanished without a trace after leaving their respective sects.


    The vast universe and the boundless galaxy was filled with too much uncertainty.


    Sometimes if a person died, others would not know how they died. Even if someone wanted to take revenge for them, they would not even know where to begin.


    "Hm?"


    After arriving at his destination and hiding behind a large pine tree, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes narrowed into slits and flashed coldly when he saw the person in front of him.


    "You guys can disperse. Having Junior Brother Yuan Zheng and me here is enough."


    Before the Alliance Hunt began, the person who had been defeated by Zhou Donghuang, the top person in the younger generation of the Tiansong Sect, Mo Yitian, was dismissing wave after wave of Tiansong Sect disciples who approached them.


    Of course, each wave of Tiansong Sect disciples did not comprise of many people. It was either one person or at most two.


    "Yes, Senior Brother Mo."


    The Tiansong Sect disciples abided by Mo Yitian''s instructions and left one after another.


    "Junior Sister Luo, that man of yours, Zhou Donghuang, is incredibly skillful."


    Accompanied by Yuan Zheng, Mo Yitian slowly approached Luo Qinghan with a dazzling smile on his face. "I can''t believe he defeated me, Mo Yitian, in front of so many people. He humiliated me completely.


    "Tell me¡­ If I take you for myself today, what expression will he show when he finds out?"


    Mo Yitian''s smile became brighter and brighter.


    "I would rather die than let you have your way."


    Dharma adepts could set their Dharma Power aflame and self-immolate.


    Of course, this was different from the Primordial Soul Self-Detonation of martial adepts above the Primordial Soul Stage. Burning herself could only destroy oneself and not others, whereas Primordial Soul Self-Detonation would affect everyone in the vicinity.


    If one went too close, they would definitely die, even if they were of the same level of practice!


    "Junior Sister Luo, even in front me, you want to set your Dharma Power aflame?"


    Mo Yitian smiled disdainfully when he saw Luo Qinghan''s Dharma Power surface on her body and saw that her breathing was becoming agitated. Following this, Mo Yitian''s Sword God Dharma Power appeared on his body. With one jab of the sword, sword energy flowed bit by bit and surrounded Luo Qinghan''s Dharma Power, which had just appeared around her body. It restrained it and suppressed it.


    In the blink of an eye, Luo Qinghan''s Dharma Power was unexpectedly pushed back into her body.


    "Pft¡ª"


    The moment her Dharma Power was forcibly suppressed, Luo Qinghan''s pretty face turned deathly pale. Her small, cherry-like lips opened, and she spurted out a mouthful of blood. Like a red rose blossoming in the air, it was stunning.


    "Senior Brother Mo?"


    However, just then, another two figures appeared. They were two other Tiansong Sect disciples. Upon witnessing the scene before them, they both went slightly blank.


    Naturally, they recognized Luo Qinghan. She was none other than the female disciple of the Ultimate Frost Sect, who Senior Brother Mo had asked to marry but was rejected. At the same time, she was also the fianc¨¦e of the Lightning Sword Sect disciple, Zhou Donghuang.


    At this exact moment, a chill ran through their hearts.


    Based on what they were seeing right now, their Senior Brother Mo was intending to lay his hand on Luo Qinghan in revenge for Luo Qinghan and Zhou Donghuang having humiliated him!


    "You guys probably know¡­ what to say after leaving this place, right?" Mo Yitian asked as he glanced meaningfully at the two Tiansong Sect disciples who had just appeared.


    "We know, we know."


    The two of them nodded like chicks pecking at grains. Their Senior Brother Mo was not merely the top dog of the Tiansong Sect''s younger generation, but also the direct disciple of the Tiansong Sect Leader. Likewise, as Tiansong Sect disciples, how could they dare to provoke him?


    Just when the two Tiansong Sect disciples were about to turn around and leave.


    "Tsk, tsk¡­"


    Along with that sound, a white figure flew towards them from afar. To their surprise, it was a tall and well-built young man dressed in clothing that was more white than snow. He had a devil mask on his face.


    Mo Yitian''s pupils shrank rapidly when he saw the slightly familiar figure. Instinctively, he asked, "You''re¡­ Zhou Donghuang?"


    At this moment, Luo Qinghan, who was just about to take out a sharp weapon from the space ring to kill herself, also stopped what she was doing. She was in a daze as she looked at the white figure that had suddenly appeared.


    Although the white robe that the person was wearing was different from what Zhou Donghuang had formerly worn, the person''s build and the aura of refinement that emanated invisibly from him were exactly the same as that of Zhou Donghuang.


    Mo Yitian was not the only one who felt that the person was none other than Zhou Donghuang. Even Luo Qinghan felt that he was Zhou Donghuang. "Is it him?"


    "Zhou Donghuang?!"


    Yuan Zheng stood behind Mo Yitian. When he saw the sudden appearance of this young man dressed in white and wearing a devil mask, his expression changed completely. If this person really was Zhou Donghuang, Mo Yitian would not be the only one who would be done for. He was afraid that he himself would be doomed as well.


    "What do we do? What do we do?"


    "Run away?"


    The moment they changed their mind, there was no hesitation at all. Yuan Zheng''s body swayed, and he flitted away into the distance in an attempt to escape.


    "Hmph!"


    Following this slightly muffled and hoarse sneer, in the next moment, Luo Qinghan, Mo Yitian, and the other two Tiansong Sect disciples saw the robe of the youth dressed in white and wearing a devil mask, shake. Dharma Power showed itself.


    To their astonishment, this was Flying Beast Dharma Power. It appeared to be aflame from head to toe. Upon its appearance, it went after Yuan Zheng, who had not gotten far after escaping shortly before this. Its wings, which were as sharp as knives, directly sent Yuan Zheng''s head flying into the air.


    This scene came too quickly, before Luo Qinghan and the two Tiansong Sect disciples could even react.


    On the other hand, Mo Yitian had regained his bearings but did not take action in time to save Yuan Zheng for another reason. "So, you''re not Zhou Donghuang."


    After Mo Yitian saw the person''s three-meter-tall Flying Beast Dharma Power and heaved a sigh of relief, his eyes turned slightly stern as he looked at him. "Who exactly are you? Why are you hiding?"


    "I''m enforcing justice on behalf of heaven!"


    The person clearly did not intend to waste words with Mo Yitian. Once he had said those simple words, his body moved, and he vaulted himself towards Mo Yitian in an attempt to kill him.


    "Hmph!"


    When he saw the person move quickly towards him, Mo Yitian let out a disdainful sneer. "If you were Zhou Donghuang, I would definitely die here¡­ unfortunately, you''re not. We''re both late Dharma stage adepts. Do you think I would fear you?"


    The moment Mo Yitian finished his sentence, the Sword God Dharma Power on his body swelled up. It only stopped when it reached six meters. Clearly, he had used an ultimate Dharma heavenly spirit weapon.


    However, at the same time, the Flying Beast Dharma Power that returned to the white-robed youth wearing a devil mask, also rapidly grew to six meters. In terms of physical size, it evenly matched Mo Yitian''s Sword God Dharma Power.


    It was obvious that he had also used an ultimate Dharma heavenly spirit weapon.


    "If you haven''t grasped the Dharma-body integration technique, you will definitely die today!" Mo Yitian suddenly shouted.


    In the next moment, his entire body merged thoroughly with the Sword God Dharma Power. The Sword God Dharma Power had surrendered itself to his control. He swung his sword and attacked in the white-robed youth.


    "Dharma-body integration?"


    The slightly hoarse and low voice of the white-robed youth rang out. It carried an overtone of disdain. "He only grasped Dharma-body integration in the late Dharma stage, and he doesn''t find that embarrassing to spread around?


    "I''ll give you a taste of what Dharma Power Control is."


    The white-robed youth had just ended his sentence when the Flying Beast Dharma Power appearing on his body fluctuated. Unexpectedly, it transformed into a Dharma Power that was exactly the same as Mo Yitian''s Sword God Dharma Power.


    After that, it attacked Mo Yitian.


    "This¡­"


    The scene caused surprise to appear all over Luo Qinghan''s pretty face. As a result, the two Tiansong Sect disciples looked at the situation before them as if they had seen a ghost. "Good lord¡­ it''s Dharma Power Control! The legendary Dharma Power Control!"


    According to legend, Dharma Power Control was a method that defied the laws of nature, which Dharma adepts could only master if they refined their Dharma Power to the extreme.


    No one had ever heard of such a character appearing in the history of the Hengliu galaxy.


    "No¡ª"


    The miserable cries that were filled with indignation shocked Luo Qinghan and the other two Tiansong Sect disciples and made their hearts shiver. When they subconsciously turned their gazes in that direction, they happened to see the Sword God Dharma Power, which was controlled by the white-robed youth behind them, abruptly turn into a massive sword the moment it went near Mo Yitian''s actual Sword God Dharma Power. The sword swung across and not only destroyed his opponent''s Sword God Dharma Power but also sliced his opponent across his middle!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    ¡­


    After the massive sword had chopped Mo Yitian in two, like a flare bursting in the sky, it transformed into sword rain that filled the sky. It covered Mo Yitian''s mutilated corpse and instantly turned it into blood droplets across the sky.


    The top dog of the Tiansong Sect''s younger generation had been killed and eliminated.


    "Ss¡ª"


    The two Tiansong Sect disciples collectively drew in a cold breath. Their scalps went numb, and they looked at the white-robed youth standing where Mo Yitian had died, their faces deathly pale.


    They both knew that they were done for if he wanted to kill them!


    "Still not going to get lost?"


    After the white-robed youth with a devil mask on his face looked at the two Tiansong Sect disciples and said these words, the latter fled into the distance as if relieved of a burden. While fleeing, they thanked their lucky stars that they were able to keep their lives.


    "Who exactly is that person? I can''t believe he managed to grasp the final technique of Dharma adepts, Dharma Power Control, in the late Dharma stage."


    "There''s no way he''s one of the Alliance disciples¡­ he can''t possibly be part of the Hengliu galaxy! Even in the two Transcendental Forces, it''s impossible for Dharma adepts who have mastered Dharma Power Control to appear in the Hengliu galaxy."


    "I think so too. I don''t think such a legendary Dharma adept has ever appeared in the history of the Hengliu galaxy."


    ¡­

 279 Zhuge Haotian

    "Sir, thank you for saving my life."


    Luo Qinghan thanked him gratefully. She had initially thought that she was definitely done for. But she did not expect the white-robed youth before her to appear like a savior of the world in her moment of greatest despair, and save her.


    Of course, at this moment, there was slight disappointment in the depths of her heart.


    In the beginning, when she saw him appear with a familiar build, she thought for a time that he was Zhou Donghuang.


    It was only when he showed his Dharma Power that she was sure he was not Zhou Donghuang, although his build was identical to Zhou Donghuang''s and his style of dress was also a white robe just like Zhou Donghuang''s.


    Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma Power was a giant tiger, whereas the Dharma Power of the white-robed youth before her was a flying beast burning uniformly from head to toe.


    The two of them had Dharma Powers that had absolutely nothing in common with each other.


    Despite the fact that this white-robed youth had already refined his Dharma Power to its peak and could fully exhibit the legendary Dharma Power Control technique of morphing at one''s will¡­ When the Dharma Power showed itself initially, it had to be a genuine Dharma Power. It could not possibly be a morphed Dharma Power the moment it appeared.


    Therefore, she could completely eliminate the possibility that Zhou Donghuang had transformed his own Dharma Power into the appearance of a Flying Beast Dharma Power.


    Unless Zhou Donghuang had condensed two types of Dharma Power in his body¡­


    But was that possible?


    Every Dharma Power was born out of the foundation of a Golden Essence. If someone had two types of Dharma Power, that also meant that he had previously condensed two Golden Essences.


    A Primal Core adept with two Primal Cores?


    Did such a person exist in this world?


    "If the person who saved me today was him¡­ I would probably be very touched. I think might even go so far as to disregard everything else and be willing to try going out with him?"


    Luo Qinghan sighed internally.


    It was a pity that it was not him.


    Upon seeing the person who had appeared when she was on the brink of death, and in the moment she thought that he was Zhou Donghuang, she thought for a moment that her past persistence was laughable.


    Of course, it was just for a moment.


    After confirming that he was not Zhou Donghuang, Luo Qinghan''s heart, that had melted slightly earlier, froze once again.


    "Hm."


    The white-robed youth wearing a devil mask nodded at Luo Qinghan. "Are you also an Alliance disciple in the Hengliu galaxy here to participate in the Alliance Hunt this time?"


    "Yes."


    Luo Qinghan nodded her head in response. At the same time, she said internally to herself, "As expected."


    It seemed that the Hengliu galaxy had never had a Dharma adept who had grasped Dharma Power Control.


    "You can say that we have affinity since I saved you today¡­ I''ll help you from now on."


    The voice of the white-robed youth remained low and hoarse.


    "I''m already unable to repay you for saving my life. How could I dare to trouble you further?"


    Luo Qinghan gracefully turned him down.


    "The fact that you and I could meet is also a sign of fate¡­ On the basis of our affinity, I intend to see the matter through this time and persist until the end," the white-robed youth insisted.


    "I''m very grateful, Sir."


    Having sensed how resolutely determined he was, Luo Qinghan also realized that it would be pointless for her to refuse him again. While thanking him profusely, she asked, "My name is Luo Qinghan, but how should I address you?"


    "Zhuge Haotian," the white-robed youth said.


    "So you''re Sir Zhuge."


    Luo Qinghan bowed slightly with her hands held in front, by way of salutation.


    Of course, the white-robed youth who called himself ''Zhuge Haotian'' was actually Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang had arrived a long time ago. He had hidden himself in the shadows and watched the situation unfold. It was only after he saw Mo Yitian attack Luo Qinghan and saw the two Tiansong Sect disciples arrive, that he appeared to intervene.


    Of course, he had specifically worn a devil mask when he showed himself.


    As for the robe he was wearing, he had not deliberately changed it as he would always change into a white robe every few days. He had more than a thousand pieces of white clothing inside his space ring, each with a different design.


    His mother Lin Lan had prepared all of these things for him before he left Ziyun.


    Since entering the Guiyao planet this time, he had already worn at least ten suits of white clothing.


    As for the devil mask, there were two reasons he had worn it.


    One of the reasons was to avoid implicating Luo Qinghan.


    In the event he appeared as himself and killed Mo Yitian and the other people from the Tiansong Sect, no one would know that he had killed Mo Yitian and the others. However, those Tiansong Sect disciples who had left before that knew about Mo Yitian''s unpleasant encounter with Luo Qinghan and his intention to attack her.


    It would be very difficult for him to kill all of those Tiansong Sect disciples.


    Furthermore, if any of them got away, they would definitely report to the Tiansong Sect Leader after getting out. They would inform him of Mo Yitian''s previous encounter with Luo Qinghan. On top of that, the fact that Luo Qinghan was completely unscathed would definitely bring her trouble.


    So, he had chosen to show himself as a stranger. He had also deliberately let two Tiansong Sect disciples go with the intention that they would notify the Sect Leader after the conclusion of the Alliance Hunt.


    As for the situation now, the two of them were completely powerless at the moment even if they wanted to notify the Sect Leader.


    This was because before the Alliance Hunt ended, the formation that covered the Guiyao planet would restrain the Alliance disciples inside from leaving. This was also to prevent the Alliance disciples from giving up halfway. At the same time, it cut off any communication between the Alliance disciples and the outside world.


    Since the purpose of the Alliance Hunt was to train the Alliance disciples from various sects, of course it had to simulate an absolute danger zone.


    The other reason Zhou Donghuang had worn the devil mask was to help Luo Qinghan and to go so far as to impart high-level techniques to Luo Qinghan¡­ Given Luo Qinghan''s temperament, he truly did not know how to persuade her and had no choice but to use this method.


    She was not willing to accept the techniques given to her by Zhou Donghuang, but that did not mean that the was not willing to accept the techniques given to her by Zhuge Haotian.


    As regards the name "Zhuge Haotian," Zhou Donghuang had come up with it using the names of his biological parents¡­ The name of his biological father was ''Zhou Haotian'' while the name of his biological mother was "Zhuge Jing."


    With Zhou Donghuang, who had assumed the name Zhuge Haotian, by her side to assist her, things also became much easier for Luo Qinghan thereafter. Every single beast they met on the way was easily killed.


    "Sir Zhuge, I only want the heads of beasts at the early Dharma Stage and mid Dharma Stage¡­ As for the corpses of other beasts, you can keep them for yourself," Luo Qinghan said.


    However, Zhou Donghuang only kept the corpses of ultimate Dharma beasts. He could not be bothered to keep the corpses of the remaining beasts. Under such circumstances, Luo Qinghan had no choice but to store them away reluctantly.


    Of course, she knew that even if she stored the corpses of late Dharma beasts, she had no way of using them to accumulate points.


    Because she did not have the ability to defeat late Dharma beasts.


    On the other hand, she could defeat and kill mid Dharma beasts albeit with difficulty.


    "The resemblance is too strong."


    Throughout their journey, Luo Qinghan realized that the physical build of the white-robed youth in front of her looked way too similar to that man''s build. It was to the extent that she frequently had the misperception that he was none other than that man.


    However, each time she saw the Flying Beast Dharma Power that he displayed, she was jolted awake from a dream: He was not that man.


    His name was Zhuge Haotian, not Zhou Donghuang.


    Over the course of the entire month, without knowing Zhou Donghuang''s true identity, she was constantly with him day and night. No matter how she consciously tried to control herself, when faced with such an outstanding and handsome young man, who also cared for her so meticulously, she could not help but feel a growing affection for him.


    Of course, she buried this growing affection deep in her heart.


    From beginning to end, she kept in mind that even if she, Luo Qinghan, wanted to look for a man, it could only be that man in this lifetime.


    It was impossible for her to get together with any other man.


    No matter how outstanding he was, even if he was more outstanding than that man, it would be the same.


    "We will have to go our separate ways tomorrow."


    Zhou Donghuang looked at Luo Qinghan and sighed. His voice remained low and hoarse. "As for me, I also plan to leave the Guiyao planet after you guys leave. I may even leave this Hengliu galaxy."


    Although she had mentally prepared herself for this long ago, Luo Qinghan could not stop her heart from trembling slightly upon hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words. A hint of reluctance flashed in the depths of her eyes before vanishing.


    "Will we¡­ meet again?"


    Luo Qinghan also sighed.


    "Perhaps."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled. Following this, he shot out a space ring in an instant. "Before we part, I have a present for you¡­ My only request is that you feed it a drop of your blood and become its owner after we part and examine the things inside."


    "Sir Zhuge, you''ve helped me way too much¡­ I can''t accept this present no matter what."


    Luo Qinghan shook her head insistently.


    Over the past month, the deeper her interactions with him, the clearer it became to her how frightening the youth before her was.


    The time spent by the youth before her in giving her pointers was far less than ten percent of the time spent by her maternal grandmother in doing the same. But it was much more helpful to her than the pointers given by her maternal grandmother. It had a profound and long-lasting impact that made her feel somewhat enlightened.


    She had already guessed that this Sir Zhuge in front of her probably had a very powerful background, to the point where he could even stand at the apex of the boundless universe.


    "This present¡­ may be an opportunity for us to meet in the future. Are you sure that you won''t accept it?"


    Zhou Donghuang glanced meaningfully at Luo Qinghan. His deep gaze caused Luo Qinghan''s heart to tremble. She felt even more hesitant¡­ Should she accept it or not?


    If she did not accept it, she may never meet the person before her again.


    If she accepted it, there was hope that they would meet again.


    In the end, another white figure flashed across Luo Qinghan''s mind. His handsome face also flashed across her mind, causing her gaze to become incomparably resolute. "Sir Zhuge, I still can''t accept this."


    At this moment, Luo Qinghan had not noticed the hint of relief that appeared in the depths of the eyes of the white-robed youth before her who went by the name of Zhuge Haotian.


    "Since you won''t accept it, I''ll let it fall to the earth and wait for its destined owner."


    Zhou Donghuang flicked his fingers and sent the space ring floating in front of Luo Qinghan. Immediately following this, his Flying Beast Dharma Power appeared again with a sway of his body. As if his entire body had transformed into a flying beast, he flapped his wings and flew off as fast as lightning. He vanished from Luo Qinghan''s sight in the blink of an eye.


    There was a distracted look in Luo Qinghan''s eyes as she watched the space ring in front of her fall slowly as it lost the inner Yuan which it relied on. Then, she sighed and ultimately reached out her hand to receive the ring with reluctance on her face.


    "I''m afraid I''ll have to disappoint you¡­ If I see you in the future, I will keep you at arm''s length too. Someone else has already left his mark on my body for the rest of my life.


    "I will either get together with him¡­ or end up all alone."

 280 Zhou Donghuang鈥檚 Plan

    "What a stubborn girl¡­ But since I have set things up this way, I think she will have no choice but to accept it even if she doesn''t want to."


    After parting with Luo Qinghan, the white-robed youth took off the devil mask on his face, revealing an exceedingly handsome face that had an extraordinary aura. He was none other than Zhou Donghuang.


    Tomorrow was the day that the Guiyao planet''s Overhead Formation would open. It was the day that the Alliance disciples from various sects who had participated in the Alliance Hunt would leave the Guiyao planet, hand over the heads of the hunted beasts and calculate their results. To avoid exposing his identity, as a matter of course, he had to part with Luo Qinghan one day in advance.


    "Although she will accept the space ring I left for her, given her personality, I think she won''t touch the things inside¡­ Fortunately, I predicted this early on and left a message inside so that she has no choice but to accept what I give her."


    While mumbling, Zhou Donghuang had confidence written all over his face. Thereafter, he found a remote place and took off the white robe that he had worn for a month.


    For the past month, he had not changed the robe he was wearing precisely because he wanted to avoid exposing his identity in front of Luo Qinghan.


    Otherwise, he would have changed so many times that he would have lost count.


    Although as a martial adept, he was immune to the heat and the cold, and the robe he was wearing would have almost no sweat and grime on it, and many martial adepts went so far as to wear the same clothes for many years¡­ He had lived on earth for some time after all. While on earth, he had showered and changed his clothes daily. By force of habit, after leaving earth in his past life, he had to change his clothes after a few days at most.


    His mother, Lin Lan had noticed this and therefore, she had prepared many robes for him before he left Ziyun.


    Not long after Zhou Donghuang left, Luo Qinghan found a secluded place to take over as the owner of the space ring that Zhou Donghuang had given her.


    Of course, in her eyes, this space ring had been given to her by "Zhuge Haotian" whom she had just met a month ago and who wore a devil mask on his face. Now, as she was getting the space ring to recognize her as its owner, she was also worried that something bad would happen to the space ring in the future.


    She had already decided that she would not touch whatever Zhuge Haotian had left for her regardless of what it was. She would return it to him if there was a chance in the future. Then, she would turn around and leave. She would not get involved with him any further and dispel any hopes he had.


    It was impossible for the two of them to end up together.


    So, even if she was not narcissistic, she could not help but speculate that he had most likely fallen in love with her.


    She was indebted to him and did not want him to be caught in between.


    "This is¡­"


    Although Luo Qinghan could sense that the items he had left for her were not ordinary, she inadvertently glanced inside the space ring and was shocked nonetheless. Numerous high-quality spirit stones were piled together like a small mountain.


    In addition, there were also core drug bottles arranged neatly one after another. She did not even have to open the core drug bottles to be able to guess that the core drugs inside were extraordinary.


    Apart from this, there was also a stack of paper and a piece of paper placed independently at the side.


    Inhaling deeply, Luo Qinghan took out the piece of paper placed at the side only to realize that it was a letter he had left for her, although she did not know when he had done so. "I, Zhuge Haotian, appeared in Hengliu galaxy''s Guiyao planet, all because a clan elder capable of predicting the future had peered into my future.


    He said that he had seen a life-or-death ordeal in my future and that I would need a benefactor to smooth the crisis over.


    As for the identity of the benefactor, he only said 11 words¡­ Hengliu galaxy, Guiyao planet, a hero saves a damsel in distress.


    In the beginning, I did not understand what this meant. It was only later, when I suddenly saw a flare signal on the Guiyao planet and headed in that direction out of curiosity, and saw that you were at risk of death, that I knew you were the benefactor I was meant to find during my trip to the Hengliu galaxy.


    The core drugs and spirit stones in this space ring, and the training styles too, are all things that I''ve left behind for you¡­ You don''t have to feel indebted to me, because I''m giving you these things only to save myself. In the future, I will have to look to you to save my life."


    Apart from these words, the remaining words were introductions to the core drugs in the various core drug bottles.


    "So that''s why¡­"


    Luo Qinghan smiled bitterly. Now, she finally understood why Zhuge Haotian had showed her that much care and concern. So it was all because of a sentence from his clairvoyant clan elder. Furthermore, he firmly believed that she was the benefactor who would save his life in the future.


    "I can''t believe I even thought that he liked me. It turns out I was just thinking too much."


    At that thought, Luo Qinghan could not help but feel a bit embarrassed. She subconsciously laughed mockingly at herself.


    Drawing in a breath, Luo Qinghan picked up the stack of paper inside the space ring. To her surprise, the training style he had left for her was recorded on the paper¡­ Initially, she had found it manageable, although she felt that this training style was better than the current one she was practicing.


    But when she flipped further, she could not help but suck in a breath of cold air. "This¡­ This is actually a Deity-level training style?!"


    In the past, when Zhou Donghuang had gone to the Luo family to ask for her hand in marriage, the dowry that he had given her father, the Immortal training style, the "Thousand-Star Sword Technique" had already stunned her indescribably. She did not expect someone from a planet as backwards as Ziyun to have a training style of nearly the highest level.


    And now, the training style known as the Thousand-Star Sword Technique that was in her possession, was surprisingly a Deity-level training style. As long as the person practicing it was not too lacking in innate talent and did not die prematurely halfway, they could continue practicing it into the Deity''s Tribulation Stage.


    The Deity''s Tribulation Stage represented the peak of all martial adepts.


    After entering the Deity''s Tribulation Stage, one would have to face the Deity''s Tribulation. If they could overcome it, they would levitate heavenwards to the legendary Divine Realm. If they could not overcome it, their bodies would die, and their souls would disappear. They would perish in the universe.


    "The Deity-level training style is the most powerful training style in the universe. Usually, only the forces standing at the top of the universe would have such legacies¡­ Who exactly is that white-robed youth called Zhuge Haotian? How could he have casually left a training style of such level to me?"


    If Luo Qinghan had previously doubted the veracity of Zhuge Haotian''s message, then now, after confirming that this training style known as the "Thousand-Star Sword Technique" was a Deity-level training style, all her prior doubts had completely vanished into thin air.


    Under circumstances where he may be rejected, would anyone hand her a Deity-level training style to court her and to please her?


    Furthermore, he was completely unaware of her character.


    It was important to know that giving away a Deity-level training style was no different from throwing out the water in one''s pail. It was forever lost.


    After interacting with someone for the short span of a month, no one would dare say that they knew a person''s moral character through and through.


    "Who exactly is he? Just because of an uncertain ''prophecy,'' he actually came to the Guiyao planet and even gave me a Deity-level training style?


    "It goes to show that the clairvoyant clan elder he spoke about definitely uttered accurate prophecies¡­ otherwise, there''s no way he would set his heart on it."


    Luo Qinghan was caught in a dilemma.


    In the beginning, she had already decided that she would not take anything from him at all. But she did not expect him to leave this message for her, as if forcing her to accept all this¡­ if she did not accept it, she may not be able to save him from a life-or-death situation in the future.


    "Well¡­ Perhaps prophecies really exist. Otherwise, why would he give me the Deity-level training style? I''ll accept everything he has given me. In the future, if he really needs my help, I will definitely do my best. I will not hesitate to go through water and fire!"


    Luo Qinghan clearly knew what the Deity-level training style given by him meant for her. It was a gargantuan opportunity that could change her fate.


    At this precise moment, an incomparably loud and clear voice reverberated throughout the entire Guiyao planet:


    "After 22 hours, the formation will open and all of you will be able to come out then¡­ A reminder to all of you that you must come out before the 46-hour mark. If you stay inside for more than 46 hours, your results for the Alliance Hunt this time will be canceled!"


    This voice was amplified and broadcasted through the Chain Formation covering the Guiyao planet. It simultaneously spread to the ears of all the Alliance disciples in the Guiyao planet.


    Immediately, the numerous Alliance disciples knew that they did not have much time left. They had to make full use of the remaining 40 hours or more. They had to try their best to kill a few more beasts and behead them so as to accumulate points for the Alliance Hunt this time.


    Everyone heard this voice, be it Zhou Donghuang or Luo Qinghan.


    Zhou Donghuang wandered about at will. He attacked when he encountered ultimate Dharma beasts. As for the remaining beasts, he could not even be bothered to make a move as long as they did not actively provoke him.


    "If I don''t meet Third Senior Sister and Da Zhuang in the remaining 46 hours, the mid Dharma Stage beast heads that I collected previously will definitely be of no use too¡­"


    If he did not meet He Mengxi and Da Zhuang before leaving the Guiyao planet, he would not be able to hand over his space ring to the two of them after leaving either. This was prohibited by the rules of the Alliance Hunt.


    This was because he had to hand over the spoils of the hunt first thing after going out.


    Furthermore, he would be isolated and prohibited from having any contact with the people who had just came out. He could only interact with those who had similarly handed over the spoils of the hunt.


    The sole reason for this rule was to prevent the disciples from any one sect from passing their small number of spoils all to one person in order to help him succeed.


    Meanwhile.


    In the remaining time, Luo Qinghan went to a secluded place and took out the Deity-level training style and started diligently memorizing it. She intended to commit the entire thing to her memory before leaving, and thereafter destroy the stack of paper on which it was recorded.


    Otherwise, it would be difficult for her to feel at peace.


    After all, this was a Deity-level training style!


    She did not feel safe at all when it was in her possession in the form of paper. She even felt repressed and stifled.


    ¡­


    Forty hours passed by in the blink of an eye.


    Just then, among the Alliance disciples from the various sects who were participating in the Alliance Hunt on the Guiyao planet, some of them started to walk out too. Many of them felt that it would be difficult to achieve greater results in the remaining four to six hours, even if they continued to hunt down beasts.


    Since that was the case, they would rather leave slightly ahead of time.

 281 He Mengxi鈥檚 Goal, The Sky Sun Fruit!

    "There''s only an hour left¡­ I should leave."


    It was an hour before the final deadline, but Zhou Donghuang had yet to meet either He Mengxi or Da Zhuang. It immediately dawned on him that there was nearly no possibility of him meeting the two of them in the following hour.


    Perhaps the two of them had already gone out by now.


    At the thought, he had no intention of continuing to stay here.


    Whoosh!


    In a flash, Zhou Donghuang''s body seemed to turn into lightning that rapidly flew out of the Guiyao planet. In the blink of an eye, he burst out of the formation.


    Just then, with all eyes centered on him, he was segregated to another area.


    "Those who just came out, stand over here¡­ Then, report your name and the sect you''re from. Hand over the space ring for our safekeeping."


    All the people who had exited had to hand in the space ring; that was where they stored their beast heads.


    Before setting off, the Lightning Sword Sect Leader had distributed one space ring to 40 disciples each, including Zhou Donghuang. All of them were space rings that had to receive blood in order to recognize their owners.


    Zhou Donghuang and the others were now handing in their space rings collectively. The people who had taken their space rings were also unable to open the space rings for the time being.


    "Zhou Donghuang, disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect."


    Zhou Donghuang stood together with the other people. A middle-aged man was collecting their space rings and recording their information. When it was his turn, the crowd of people around him immediately paid full attention to him the moment he opened his mouth.


    "He''s Zhou Donghuang?"


    In the Alliance, there was a total of 52 sects. Among the Alliance disciples of various sects who had come here to participate in the Alliance Hunt, other than the disciples from the four sects¡ªthe Lightning Sword Sect, the Tiansong Sect, the Yunyue Sect and the Jihan Sect¡ªthe disciples from the remaining sects did not know who Zhou Donghuang was.


    It was precisely because of this that Zhou Donghuang''s appearance earlier did not cause any commotion.


    Now, when they heard him report his name and sect, the gazes of everyone around him immediately landed on him collectively. This even included the person in charge of registering him.


    "He looks so young¡­ This Zhou Donghuang is about 26 years old now, right?"


    "Yes. Two years ago, he became famous throughout the major sects of the Alliance. I think his name even spread throughout the two Transcendental Forces in our Hengliu galaxy¡­ a 24-year-old mid Dharma adept who has grasped Dharma Power Control.


    "Two years have now passed. He must be even more powerful now. I''m afraid that no one can match up to him in the Hengliu galaxy among those beneath the late Dharma adepts."


    ¡­


    However, in this group of more than ten people, there was one person who knew Zhou Donghuang. He was a Yunyue Sect disciple. When he heard the person beside him say that it was difficult for Zhou Donghuang to find his match among those beneath the late Dharma stage, he could not help but interrupt immediately, "You guys must not know this yet. Zhou Donghuang has already entered the late Dharma stage."


    The moment these words left his mouth, it naturally created a significant stir.


    Zhou Donghuang was publicly acknowledged to be a martial prodigy that came by once in a hundred years. Had he already entered the late Dharma stage after merely two years?


    "This speed of practice¡­ is way too unbelievable, isn''t it?"


    "It was shocking enough that he entered the mid Dharma stage at the age of 24¡­ At 26, he has entered the late Dharma stage?"


    ¡­


    It was not only the Alliance disciples from various sects present who were shocked. Even the top-level figures of the various sects in charge of collecting space rings from the sect disciples were shocked. All of them looked at Zhou Donghuang with stunned expressions.


    As for the Yunyue Sect disciple, he seemed to be very satisfied with the situation. He dropped an explosive bomb once again.


    "One other thing. You guys may not know yet¡­ the top dog of the Tiansong Sect''s younger generation, a late Dharma adept who has already grasped Dharma-body integration, Mo Yitian, previously had a friendly match with Zhou Donghuang the day before this Alliance Hunt."


    After successfully gaining everyone''s attention, he went on to say, "Zhou Donghuang gave Mo Yitian the benefit of making three moves. But Mo Yitian did not manage to hurt Zhou Donghuang at all¡­ After the three moves, Zhou Donghuang defeated Mo Yitian in one move!"


    Gasp!


    ¡­


    It was no surprise at all that the words of the Yunyue Sect disciple caused the people present to suck in cold air one after another. When the crowd looked at Zhou Donghuang again, the shock on their faces intensified.


    They knew who Mo Yitian was. He was the top man in the younger generation of the Tiansong Sect. He was very well-known among all the sects in the Alliance.


    However, how could a person like him have suffered utter defeat at the hands of the Lightning Sword Sect disciple, Zhou Donghuang?


    "I''m probably allowed to leave now, right?" Zhou Donghuang asked under the dumbstruck gazes of the crowd. He was looking at the middle-aged man in front of him who had recorded his name and sect and who had collected his space ring.


    "Huh? Yes¡­ yes."


    The middle-aged man hastily extricated himself from his state of shock and regained his bearings and frantically nodded. Zhou Donghuang then left.


    The moment Zhou Donghuang left, the crowd of people immediately began to see him off with their eyes.


    "I really didn''t expect that Mo Yitian had previously been utterly defeated by him¡­ the news of his death spread just 44 hours ago. He''s truly unlucky. Before arriving at the Guiyao planet, he had been abused while he was alive. After arriving at the Guiyao planet, he was directly obliterated," one of the top-level figures of a sect shook his head and spoke. He was responsible for recording the names of the people exiting and collecting their space rings.


    The moment the words left his mouth, the pupils of a group of Alliance disciples who had just came out, shrank rapidly. "Mo Yitian¡­ is dead?"


    "Good gracious! Mo Yitian was a late Dharma adept. What''s more, he had grasped Dharma-body Integration. With the use of ultimate spirit weapons, killing ultimate Dharma beasts was no feat for him¡­ But he actually died inside?"


    "Could he have been ambushed and killed by a few ultimate Dharma beasts?"


    "Even Mo Yitian died inside. Shouldn''t I be kneeling down and kowtowing to thank Heaven for being merciful and letting me come out alive?"


    ¡­


    "Junior Brother Donghuang is back!"


    After catching sight of Yu Yucheng in the distance, Zhou Donghuang approached him. At the moment, most of the Lightning Sword Sect disciples had already returned. When the Lightning Sword Sect saw him, their eyes lit up collectively.


    As expected, Zhou Donghuang''s return attracted the attention of everyone in the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Just as Zhou Donghuang had guessed, all of them had left in advance, including He Mengxi and Da Zhuang.


    "Sect Leader."


    After joining the Lightning Sword Sect disciples, Zhou Donghuang first greeted Yu Yucheng.


    Yu Yucheng looked at him with a smile. "Zhou Donghuang, your results this time were probably quite good, right?"


    "You can say it''s not bad."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded. His expression was calm and completely neutral.


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang''s expression, Yu Yucheng''s heart jolted. He silently guessed, "Could it be¡­ that Zhou Donghuang had bad luck inside and encountered few ultimate Dharma beasts?"


    Admittedly, one''s ability was important in the Alliance Hunt. But luck was also crucial.


    After passing by Yu Yucheng, Zhou Donghuang then greeted the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin. After that, he nodded his head at the other three Valley Heads who were looking at him before going off to find He Mengxi and Da Zhuang.


    "Little Junior Brother, why did you come out so late? Was your luck that bad?" He Mengxi subconsciously thought this.


    She felt that if he had good luck, one more day or one less day would not make much of a difference to the span of three months.


    Given the ability of her little junior brother, if not for his bad luck, there was no way he would have waited until now to leave.


    After hearing Zhou Donghuang say "not bad," even the head of the Lightning Sword Sect, Yu Yucheng, had guessed that Zhou Donghuang''s luck had been bad and that he had killed very few ultimate Dharma State beasts. A large part of the reason why was because Zhou Donghuang had left so late.


    Hearing He Mengxi''s words, Zhou Donghuang smiled bitterly. "It was all because I wanted to wait and see if I could meet you and Da Zhuang on the very last day. But I didn''t expect you guys to leave first."


    "To see if you could meet us?"


    He Mengxi was confused.


    "I also killed many mid Dharma beasts by accident. I kept their heads and wanted to give them to you¡­ but I didn''t expect you guys to leave before me," Zhou Donghuang said.


    Unexpectedly, after hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, He Mengxi said with nonchalance written all over her face, "Aren''t they just mid Dharma beast heads? That''s nothing. One head can only accumulate ten points anyway. Only ten heads can match up to one late Dharma beast head."


    "Judging from Third Senior Sister''s words, your results were quite good this time."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled and asked, "Third Senior Sister, how many beasts did you guys kill this time?"


    "Allow us to keep that a secret from you."


    He Mengxi chuckled and continued, "Da Zhuang and I have agreed to concentrate all our spoils on me alone. It probably won''t be an issue for me to attain first place¡­ When that happens, we''ll definitely be able to get the Sky Sun Fruit that you want."


    He Mengxi''s words caused Zhou Donghuang''s heart to tremble. He could not help but feel a bit touched.


    "You guys didn''t have to do that."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled bitterly and shook his head. "Frankly, my results were not bad, either."


    He knew that Da Zhuang definitely would not get any points this time. Now that he had given all his spoils to He Mengxi and they had handed over their space rings, it was definitely impossible for them to re-allocate their spoils even if they wanted to.


    "Da Zhuang and I often went our separate ways to search for beasts and hunt them down. We had fairly good luck too."


    He Mengxi smiled and said, "Your results alone definitely can''t compare to us two. After gathering our spoils together, unless someone has particularly good luck¡­ There would be no doubt at all."


    At the Alliance Hunt, everyone wanted to rank as high as possible on the scoreboard.


    So, apart from the small number of ultimate Dharma adepts, the remaining people could not possibly give someone else all their spoils even if they hunted beasts together on the Guiyao planet.


    Situations like that of He Mengxi and Da Zhuang were extremely rare.


    It had to be borne in mind that one''s final ranking in the Alliance Hunt was extremely important to everyone. Even if they did not obtain any rewards at the time, they could still have priority to buy some precious core drugs at the Alliance Headquarters later if their results were not too bad. Those core drugs were also limited per beast head collected.


    No matter how many points a person accumulated in the Alliance Hunt, he could buy only a bottle or a pill of some precious core drugs at the Alliance Headquarters.


    It was precisely because of this that even among ultimate Dharma adepts, few people would give away all their spoils.

 282 Vermilion Bird Dharma Power

    Suddenly, as if she had remembered something, He Mengxi said to Zhou Donghuang with a grave expression on her face, "By the way, Little Junior Brother¡­ Twenty-two days ago, two Tiansong Sect disciples were the first to leave among the various sect disciples who participated in the Alliance Hunt. After making their exit, they brought us some news¡­


    "Mo Yitian is dead!"


    While listening to He Mengxi''s earlier words, Zhou Donghuang had already guessed what she was going to say later. After all, Mo Yitian had died by his hands.


    "There was another early Dharma Tiansong disciple who was killed together with Mo Yitian," He Mengxi said.


    "Those two Tiansong disciples said that the killer''s build and style of dress were both very similar to yours. He was also dressed in a piece of white clothing, but he wore a devil mask¡­ if that person had not shown his Dharma Power, they would have thought that he was you."


    At this, He Mengxi''s gaze turned slightly strange as she looked at Zhou Donghuang. "They said that his Dharma Power was a Flying Beast Dharma Power that seemed to be covered in flames from head to toe. On top of that, he has grasped Dharma Power Control!"


    Dharma Power Control.


    It seemed that such an existence had never appeared in the history of the Hengliu galaxy.


    However, in the present age of the Hengliu galaxy, although she did not know about other people, she knew three people who had grasped Dharma Power Control¡­ one of them was none other than her little junior brother, Zhou Donghuang. As for the other two, they were herself and Da Zhuang.


    While the training styles which she and Da Zhuang had switched to were different, they were both Deity-level training styles. After undergoing the change and after refining their Dharma Powers slightly, their Dharma Powers were nearly polished to perfection, and they could execute the legendary Dharma Power Control.


    Of course, until now, forget about Dharma Power Control, she and Da Zhuang did not even dare to execute Dharma-body Integration in front of others.


    The moment they showed the technique, people would definitely suspect that they had obtained incredible training styles. This would bring them calamity.


    After all, many people in the Lightning Sword Sect knew what their abilities had been like in the past.


    "Little Junior Brother, if not for the fact that your Dharma Power was different from that person''s Dharma Power¡­ I wouldn''t be able to help myself from suspecting that that person was you," He Mengxi said softly.


    Zhou Donghuang smiled faintly and did not respond. He knew that his third senior sister would definitely suspect him.


    His Black Turtle Dharma Power was the only one that had yet to breakthrough.


    Once his Black Turtle Dharma Power had broken through, he could then start aiming for the ultimate Dharma Stage.


    Before that, even if he wanted to aim for the ultimate Dharma Stage, he would be strong in will but weak in power. Because he could only advance further after all his four divine beast Dharma Powers had entered the late Dharma Stage¡­ this was no different from when he had been in the Primal Core Stage.


    "What''s the response of the Tiansong Sect thus far?" Zhou Donghuang asked.


    As this matter concerned Luo Qinghan, he could not help but ask.


    "The Tiansong Sect Leader flew into a great rage on the spot. He was about to lead his men to the Guiyao planet to search for the person who had killed his disciple¡­ Because everyone, whether it was him or the heads of the other sects, suspected that the killer was not from our Hengliu galaxy, but had appeared on the Guiyao planet by mistake. Because his level of practice had not reached the Primordial Soul Stage, none of the three mid Divine Transformation elders before him had discovered any trace of him," He Mengxi said.


    "However, because the Alliance Hunt had not officially ended, the three mid Divine Transformation elders did not allow the head of the Tiansong Sect to enter at the time¡­ they allowed him to enter only after the Alliance Hunt ended. However, before that, they had already sent many people and scattered them across the entire Guiyao planet. If anyone wanted to take advantage of the situation and leave, those highly-ranked members of the various sects would take action and capture that person.


    "This was also to prevent Mo Yitian''s murderer from leaving.


    "This time, Mo Yitian is suspected of having been killed by a martial adept outside the Alliance. As the executives of the Alliance, the three seniors take this very seriously.


    "Right now, we have the Lightning Sword Sect disciples here. The Sect Leader, my father and the rest are also in charge of monitoring this area. If anyone tries to seize the opportunity to leave, they will take action to intercept that person."


    At this, He Mengxi glanced at the head of the Lightning Sword Sect and her father. Following her line of sight, she also swept her gaze across the other three Valley Heads of the four inner valleys.


    "Senior Sister, could it be someone from one of the sects in the Alliance who took up his cudgels because he saw injustice being done?"


    Da Zhuang rubbed the back of his head and asked.


    "That''s impossible!"


    He Mengxi shook her head. "If someone from one of the sects in the Alliance did it, that person could not have killed Mo Yitian even if they could save Luo Qinghan¡­ Everyone in the Alliance knows that Mo Yitian is the favorite of the Tiansong Sect Leader, Huang Chunqiu. Killing Mo Yitian is no different from killing his son!


    "No one would be willing to be the target of the Tiansong Sect Leader''s anger.


    "Furthermore, even if he belonged to one of the sects in the Alliance, there''s no way he would''ve let the other two Tiansong Sect disciples go after killing Mo Yitian and the other Tiansong Sect disciple¡­ As the victim, Luo Qinghan may keep his identity a secret, but it''s impossible that those two Tiansong Sect disciples would do the same.


    "Most importantly¡­ That person has grasped Dharma Power Control!


    "In the history of the Hengliu galaxy, there has never been a Dharma adept who has grasped Dharma Power Control¡­ Of course, that excludes us."


    When she reached her last sentence, He Mengxi pressed her voice down very low once again. Her voice was as soft as a mosquito''s. Only the two people leaning close to He Mengxi, Zhou Donghuang and Da Zhuang, could hear her.


    "Summing up all of the above, we can conclude¡­ that that person probably came from outside the Hengliu galaxy. On top of that, he may have a powerful background."


    When she got to this point, He Mengxi''s eyes narrowed slightly. "Those three elders have already greeted the Tiansong Sect Leader, Huang Chunqiu¡­ If that person was just a non-affiliated practitioner, it wouldn''t matter. But if he had a powerful background, even if he killed Mo Yitian, the Tiansong Sect wouldn''t be allowed to take revenge.


    "The Alliance wouldn''t allow the Tiansong Sect to take revenge."


    He Mengxi glanced at Zhou Donghuang. "Not every Dharma adept who knows the technique Dharma Power Control has had an ''extraordinary encounter'' like you did¡­ If people like this are not non-affiliated practitioners, they must have powerful backers. It may be a powerful sect or a powerful family.


    "The Tiansong Sect can''t afford to offend such an existence, nor can the Alliance¡­ I''m afraid that even the two Transcendental Forces, the most powerful in the Hengliu galaxy, can''t afford to offend them either.


    "If such an existence wanted to destroy the Tiansong Sect and even the Alliance, there would be no difficulty in doing that at all!"


    Zhou Donghuang did not expect to trigger this series of effects in wearing the mask and attacking with the use of the Vermilion Bird Dharma Power¡­ However, judging from the current situation, the dust had settled completely.


    As for what would happen to Luo Qinghan subsequently, he was not worried.


    Luo Qinghan herself was a victim.


    Also, before separating from Luo Qinghan, he had already told her what to say after leaving. The head of the Tiansong Sect would not be able to take his anger out on her in any way.


    ¡­


    "Sect Leader Yu!"


    A middle-aged man dressed in gray traveled from afar as fast as lightning. In the blink of an eye, he came before the head of the Lightning Sword Sect, Yu Yucheng. "The three assistant Alliance Leaders have given a command for all sects to leave behind two Primordial Soul adepts to monitor the situation here. If anyone tries to leave the Guiyao planet, they must capture that person but not hurt them.


    As for the Sect Leaders and the various Dharma disciples of the sects, they are to head southwards for the announcement of the final results and rankings of the Alliance Hunt.


    Sect Leader Yu, please make the arrangements¡­ I still have to inform the other Sect Leaders. I''ll take my leave first."


    The gray-robed middle-aged man came in a hurry and left in a hurry.


    And after he left, Yu Yucheng immediately gave the command for the Summer Valley Head and the Winter Valley Head to stand guard here. He took the Spring Valley Head, the Autumn Valley Head and a group of Dharma disciples southwards to join the various Sect Leaders and Dharma disciples, where they would announce the final results and rankings of the Alliance Hunt.


    "Little Junior Brother, what I said was correct, right? Once it''s time, someone will notify us to go over."


    He Mengxi smiled and looked at Zhou Donghuang.


    Long before the gray-robed middle-aged man had appeared, when the Alliance Hunt was nearly ending, and the various sect disciples were still scattered across the Guiyao planet, Zhou Donghuang could not help but feel perplexed. How were the various sect disciples even going to take out their spoils for the announcement of the final results and rankings for the Alliance Hunt?


    At the time, He Mengxi said that someone would notify them to go over.


    Now, someone had indeed come.


    When the three of them¡ªZhou Donghuang, He Mengxi and Da Zhuang¡ªfollowed the troop of Lightning Sword Sect disciples southwards, in no time, they saw the crowd gathered in the distance. It was a grand sight of at least hundreds of people.


    Furthermore, the number of people was continuously increasing.


    By the time Zhou Donghuang and the other Lightning Sword Sect disciples reached the crowd, there were already more than a thousand people.


    "Tiansong Sect Leader!"


    Zhou Donghuang casually swept his eyes across his surroundings. Very soon after, he caught sight of the Tiansong Sect Leader, Huang Chunqiu standing not too far away. He was leading a group of people from the Tiansong Sect. Standing in the distance, the benign expression that was usually on his face now appeared gloomy beyond compare.


    In the group of people from the Tiansong Sect he saw the two people whom he had deliberately let off a year ago on the Guiyao planet.


    "Sect Leader, the people from the Jihan Sect are here!"


    Just when Zhou Donghuang''s gaze had landed on the crowd of people from the Tiansong Sect, one of the Tiansong Sect disciples gazed into the distant sky and cried out in surprise to Sect Leader Huang Chunqiu.


    Hearing this, Huang Chunqiu''s gaze immediately shot out like lightning.


    At this moment, Zhou Donghuang also saw a row of people from the Jihan Sect. They were heading over here in a grand fashion, led by the Jihan Sect Leader, Meng Yuping. Luo Qinghan, who used to be at the very back of the group of people from the Jihan Sect was now trailing right behind Meng Yuping.


    "Luo Qinghan!"


    Huang Chunqiu vaulted into the sky as if he had transformed into a flash of lightning. In the blink of an eye, he appeared in front of the group from the Jihan Sect. He blocked Meng Yuping''s path and stared at Luo Qinghan behind her with an electrifying gaze.


    "Who exactly was the one who killed my disciple Mo Yitian?" Huang Chunqiu asked in a low voice.


    "Sect Leader Huang, don''t forget¡­ Who was the real victim in front of your disciple, Mo Yitian!"


    Although Meng Yuping and Huang Chunqiu had known each other for a long time and had some friendly ties with one another, it made her very angry when one of her Jihan Sect disciples was nearly disgraced in this incident. Her words were laced with an unfriendly tone. She no longer cared about her friendly ties with Huang Chunqiu.

 283 What a pity that its not you

    When the two disciples of the Tiansong Sect had come out, they had not shared what Mo Yitian had done. They had merely said that Mo Yitian had allowed them to leave and that other than Mo Yitian and Yuan Zheng, there was also Luo Qinghan, a disciple of the Jihan Sect, present.


    However, after one analyzed the words of the other disciples of the Tiansong Sect, who had been previously asked to leave by Mo Yitian a few days ago, the situation of the past was not hard to imagine.


    Mo Yitian and Yuan Zheng must have had had an issue with Luo Qinghan.


    As for the details, a few of the disciples of the Tiansong Sect were aware of them but did not dare to share.


    As for the person who had tried to obliterate Mo Yitian and Yuan Zheng, he was a young man who was dressed in white and had worn a mask to conceal his identity. This was definitely someone who wanted to be a hero and come to Luo Qinghan''s rescue and had thus acted out of rage to save Luo Qinghan.


    The entire situation could be summed up as Luo Qinghan being a victim.


    If one wanted to be blunt, it could be said that even if Mo Yitian and Yuan Zheng were to die, it would be their own fault.


    However, the disciples of the Tiansong Sect did not dare to run their mouths. Because of this, the Sect Leader, Huang Chunqiu, had insisted that his disciple, Mo Yitian, had at most only discussed Dharma Power training with Luo Qinghan and could not have had any evil intentions in mind.


    Yet, everyone knew that he was covering up for Mo Yitian.


    "Sect Leader Meng, I was too hasty."


    Huang Chunqiu had, of course, recognized that he had been too biased against Luo Qinghan in this matter and immediately softened his stance. He spoke in a conciliatory tone, "Sect Leader Meng, I would like to ask your sect disciple, Luo Qinghan, some questions regarding the attempted murder of my disciple, Mo Yitian... I wonder if that would be convenient?"


    Seeing as Huang Chunqiu was conciliatory, Meng Yuping knew that she had to give him some face as well. In any case, they had a cordial relationship before. Meng Yuping thus quickly found Luo Qinghan to ask for her opinion. "Luo Qinghan, share what you know with me and do not hide or omit any details."


    In reality, while Sect Leader Meng was on the way to find Luo Qinghan, she had already heard of the matter and knew of what Mo Yitian had planned to do.


    At that moment, many disciples of the Jihan Sect had been extremely enraged about the matter. However, as the Sect Leader of the Jihan Sect, she had to contain her anger but secretly scolded and cursed at Mo Yitian in her head.


    Because of this, once the Sect Leader of the Tiansong Sect, Huang Chunqiu, had spoken hastily, she had put aside their good relations and retaliated fiercely!


    "Yes, Sect Leader."


    Seeing as Luo Qinghan seemed to be ready to share all details of the matter, Huang Chunqiu''s face changed as he had already been made aware of the issues of the past through his own disciples of the Tiansong Sect. He immediately interrupted Luo Qinghan and said, "I don''t require the details of the matter.


    "I only require information on the attempted murder of my disciple, Mo Yitian, and the nature of his murderer."


    Was this a joke?


    At this point, those who were present include those of several sects in the Alliance. If Luo Qinghan really shared on what his disciple, Mo Yitian had done, his disciple would be doomed as he would definitely be criticized by all.


    "Hmph!"


    After guessing the true intentions of Huang Chunqiu, the Sect Leader of the Jihan Sect, Sect Leader Meng could not help but scoff aloud. However, being respectful of their previous relations, Sect Leader Meng did not directly expose Sect Leader Huang but instead spoke to Luo Qinghan. "Luo Qinghan, just share on what you know about the murderer."


    "Yes, Sect Leader."


    Luo Qinghan acknowledged her Sect Leader''s words again. This time, Huang Chunqiu glanced at Sect Leader Meng with a deeply grateful and regretful look before looking at Luo Qinghan again.


    Now, those who were present included three mid Divine Transformation adepts from the Alliance. These were the three Deputy Alliance Leaders, and their attention also landed on Luo Qinghan... After all, they were all aware of the matter of Mo Yitian, a disciple of the Tiansong Sect and Sect Leader Huang, who had been murdered.


    At this point, their curiosity was aroused as well as to what kind of person the murderer had been.


    "I am not familiar with the murderer."


    Luo Qinghan seemed to ignore the heavy glance that Huang Chunqiu had cast upon her and spoke neutrally despite his clear bias. She spoke in a clear and unhurried way, "After he killed Mo Yitian and saved me, he asked me why so many people had appeared on the Guiyao planet."


    After hearing that the person in question had saved Luo Qinghan, Huang Chunqiu furrowed his brows. Wasn''t this implicitly saying that his disciple, Mo Yitian, had had evil intentions against her?


    Nevertheless, Luo Qinghan had already spoken, and the words could not be recalled. He could only cast a warning glance in the direction of Luo Qinghan.


    Luo Qinghan maintained her steady composure and continued speaking as if she had not seen Huang Chunqiu''s change in expression. "I told him the reason. Afterward, he wanted to help me kill beasts in the hunt to accumulate more points. However, I rejected his proposal.


    "Seeing as I had rejected him, he did not leave but instead insisted on following me."


    At this point, many people nodded to themselves secretly.


    Seeing as Luo Qinghan was an immense beauty, for many males, if they had saved such a girl, they would not have let her go so easily.


    After all, as heroes, it would be easier for them to curry favor with her.


    "I directly asked him if he had any romantic interest for me, and he admitted that he was interested in me. Afterward, I told him that I was already engaged.


    Luo Qinghan ended her story calmly by saying. "He felt awkward and left afterward."


    "That''s it?"


    Huang Chunqiu furrowed his brows.


    "That''s all."


    "Did he remove his mask? Did he reveal his identity?"


    "Before he could share further on himself, I had already rejected him."


    Towards Luo Qinghan''s response, Huang Chunqiu was rendered speechless as he could not find any fault with it.


    However, he could still question Luo Qinghan further on why she had not stopped the murderer and asked for him to reveal his face or his identity before letting him leave.


    One had to know that in this entire matter, Luo Qinghan had been the primary victim after all.


    "Sect Leader Huang."


    At this point, Sect Leader Meng, who had asked for Luo Qinghan to speak, glanced at Huang Chunqiu. "With what Luo Qinghan had shared, this mysterious figure should probably still be on the Guiyao planet.


    "I think... You can make use of the fact that the Alliance Hunt is still ongoing to pay the planet a visit. Perhaps you would be able to find him.


    "Seeing as there are many disciples of the other sects still around on the Guiyao planet, it would be hard for him to disappear... However, once the Alliance Hunt ends, without the presence of others who will be able to help you surround the planet, it will be harder to catch him."


    At this point, Meng Yuping''s gaze had become more intense as well.


    Hearing this, Huang Chunqiu''s face changed. Other than leaving behind a group of Dharma stage disciples, he brought a few of the high-level disciples of the Tiansong Sect and flew hurriedly into the skies towards the Guiyao planet and prepared to enter.


    "Elder Qingshan, Elder Ti Luo, and I will explore the Guiyao planet to see if we can help the sect to identify this mysterious man... You can stay here!"


    Among the three of the mid Divine Transformation elders, one spoke up.


    He then left with the remaining elder towards the Guiyao planet at the speed of lightning that far surpassed that of Huang Chunqiu''s group.


    Where the people of the Thunder Sword Sect were, He Mengxi whispered quietly under her breath to Zhou Donghuang. "Those two elders must have entered the Guiyao planet for reasons other than helping out the people of the Tiansong Sect... They must fear that if they find who they are looking for, they will kill him.


    "If the person were to be of significant status and were to die here, it would not only cause trouble for the Tiansong Sect but also for the Alliance!


    "As Deputy Alliance Leaders, they would not allow that to happen.


    "The honor of the sects in the Alliance is shared and linked. If the Tiansong Sect were to be doomed, other sects, including our Thunder Sword Sect, would follow suit and be troubled as well."


    He Mengxi''s words were indeed valid and hit the nail on the head.


    Zhou Donghuang nodded. However, his gaze landed on Luo Qinghan, and this gaze was one of extreme bafflement... Luo Qinghan had not handled the situation and Huang Chunqiu the way that he had expected her to.


    According to his predictions, Luo Qinghan could have said that Zhuge Haotian had followed her insistently and helped her kill beasts along the way, allowing her to gain many extra points in this Alliance Hunt.


    As for those points, they would still be useful for her even though she had received help.


    As long as the external helper was below the Divine Transformation stage, aid rendered did not flout the rules of the Alliance Hunt.


    Furthermore, no one could ascertain whether the beasts were injured by an external party but still ultimately killed at the hands of Luo Qinghan.


    This would be very hard to verify.


    Because of this, no one would object to extra points being allocated to Luo Qinghan.


    However, he had not expected for Luo Qinghan to change her story when facing Huang Chunqiu. "I can''t believe this... surely she is not planning to give up this opportunity to be one of the top scorers of the Alliance Hunt?"


    Zhou Donghuang was clear that since Luo Qinghan had spoken those words, it would no longer be convenient for her to present the brains of the beasts that he had helped her kill. This was because the sheer amount of it would be suspicious, and there would definitely be dissenters who suspected the true identity of the person who had helped her.


    In that case, her story would then be nitpicked and questioned as well.


    Similarly, because of this, Zhou Donghuang had taught Luo Qinghan to mention that person''s name in front of Huang Chunqiu, and highlight that the person in question was from the big Zhuge family from another galaxy. Furthermore, he taught her to say that the family had other Immortal adepts... The Zhuge family that he was talking about was actually real and was the family of his biological mother, Zhuge Jing, and there were indeed Immortals within the family.


    If Luo Qinghan mentioned this, other than the Tiansong Sect Leader, even the three mid Divine Transformation adepts who were in charge of this year''s Alliance Hunt would not dare to try and visit the Guiyao planet to hunt such a significant person down.


    "What a stubborn girl... Could it be that she feels like she would owe me a favor if she used the beasts that I killed to accumulate points for herself? Furthermore, would she not be willing to owe me anything?"


    At this point, thinking about this matter, Zhou Donghuang felt frustrated.


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at Luo Qinghan, and Luo Qinghan naturally could sense this. However, she merely glanced quickly back at Zhou Donghuang before looking away, and she sighed internally to herself in her heart, "What a pity that it wasn''t you..."

 284 Baili Feiyang

    "If he were to know that I did not follow his instructions after I came out and transferred my points to others... He would definitely think that he had wasted his time instructing me..."


    Luo Qinghan glanced meaningfully at Zhou Donghuang yet again. It was a similar body type, and the white clothes were almost identical as well. Looking at Zhou Donghuang made her think of yet another figure dressed in white. If she imagined Zhou Donghuang wearing a face mask, he would look almost like the former figure.


    Of course, she believed that Zhou Donghuang and Zhuge Haotian were two different people.


    Zhou Donghuang''s Dharma Power was the Giant Tiger Dharma Power.


    Zhuge Haotian''s Dharma Power was the Flying Beast Dharma Power.


    These two Dharma Powers were extremely different in many ways and did not overlap.


    "I hope if he found out what I did, he would understand why... Not only do I not want to continue owing him, but I also do not want to ruin his reputation," Luo Qinghan mused to herself internally.


    ...


    Seeing as two of the mid Divine Transformation adepts of the Alliance Hunt, as well as Huang Chunqiu and the people of the Tiansong Sect had left, the remaining mid Divine Transformation adepts caught the attention of the bystanders by speaking up.


    "I think that almost everyone from the 52 sects of the Alliance is here.


    "Next up, for all disciples, once you hear me call your sect''s name, come up before me and take out all the brains of the beasts you have killed and stored in your space rings. This presentation will allow us to tabulate your points and create the rankings.


    "For the beasts within the Guiyao planet, within three months of its death, the brain will still have a lingering amount of active Spirit energy... After three months, the Spirit energy remaining within the brain will completely disappear.


    "In this case, if anyone tries to cheat and present any brains from their space ring that do not contain any hint of Spirit energy, that means that they smuggled this brain into their space ring before the Alliance Hunt commenced. This is considered cheating, and you will be disqualified from the rankings and point tabulation."


    After speaking, the elder''s gaze turned to the middle-aged man who was standing beside him.


    "Let''s start."


    The disciples were all aware of the strict rules of the Alliance, and thus no one dared to try any silly attempts to cheat.


    After hearing the elder speak, no one was shocked that they had expected such penalties for cheating.


    "Yes, Deputy Alliance Leader."


    This middle-aged man was clearly the person in charge of tabulating scores for this season of the Alliance Hunt. His gaze quickly and first landed on the group of people from the sect nearest to him. With a clear voice, he called out, "Now, Dharma adepts of the Colored Glass Sect, please step forward."


    This time, out of the 40 Dharma adepts from the Colored Glass Sect that had been nominated, there were only 30 who had emerged from the Guiyao planet. Out of the remaining ten, about eight or nine of them had been killed on the Guiyao planet... As for the survivors, they were probably stuck behind for some reason or another. Nevertheless, they would all be disqualified from the Alliance Hunt, and their points would not be counted.


    Once the disciples of the Colored Glass Sect headed forward, someone took the space rings from them and allowed them to present the brains from within. Afterwards, another person was in charge of recording their achievements and awarding scores.


    "6812 points!"


    The attention of the people from the other sects was previously directed towards the massive group of Colored Glass Sect disciples, but now it landed on one disciple in particular. One of the elders of the Alliance Hunt, who was in charge of recording down the scores, could not help but exclaim out loud, "Truly a stunning disciple of the younger generation of the Colored Glass Sect, what great results!"


    6812 points?


    After hearing this announcement by the elder, the surrounding disciples of the other sects also shouted out, "What a high score! Is that the result gained by the Colored Glass Sect''s disciple, Ximen Wanwan?"


    "She is really the most skilled out of the younger generation of disciples in the Colored Glass Sect... In the sect, only Ximen Wanwan could earn this title!"


    "It''s amazing that this girl, Ximen Wanwan, not only managed to prove herself in the Colored Glass Sect and gained the recognition of being the most talented among the younger generation of the sect but also managed to receive such outstanding results in this round of the Alliance Hunt! If I recall correctly, in the previous hunt, the best results out of the disciples of the Colored Glass Sect was only about 5000 points!"


    "Such results will definitely be among the top 30 of this season''s Alliance Hunt!"


    "If tabulated within the last Alliance Hunt, it would have been among the top 30 as well!"


    ...


    As the disciples of the various sects exclaimed out loud, He Mengxi also introduced this particular disciple to Zhou Donghuang. "Ximen Wanwan is the daughter of the Colored Glass Sect Leader and is one of the most exemplary disciples within the Hengliu galaxy... If I compare my past self to her, I would be incomparable!


    "Even after I''ve adjusted my style of training, my personal scores still cannot exceed hers."


    He Mengxi appeared to be somewhat disheartened.


    "Senior, didn''t we talk about this before? The Alliance Hunt does not only measure ability but is also dependent on luck. She must have been luckier than you this time around."


    Before Zhou Donghuang could speak, Da Zhuang had already spoken up first to comfort He Mengxi. After changing to the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen, Da Zhuang''s brain had also become much more active than before. He was no longer slow and could think at the speed of an average person.


    Of course, as compared to others, who had gained more Spirit energy from their training, he was still not on par.


    About half a minute later, the results for the disciples of the Colored Glass Sect had all been tabulated and recorded. At this point, the middle-aged man who was in charge of the overall rankings spoke up again and called for a sect close to him to step forward.


    For this sect''s Dharma adepts, the top scorer only had a score of 5600 points. Although that was above average, however, it seemed inadequate after the reveal of Ximen Wanwan''s high score on behalf of the Colored Glass Sect. Few people took note of the scores of the disciples of this sect as they were not extraordinary.


    Instead, the crowd anticipated the results of uncalled sects.


    "I wonder how many sects have to go up before any other disciple can get a higher score than Ximen Wanwan of the Colored Glass Sect."


    Many people were anticipating the next high score.


    Half a minute later, the third sect was called forward for the tabulation of scores. There was one person who had a score that came close to that of Ximen Wanwan. However, he missed her score by a hundred or so points. Nevertheless, although it was still lower, these points could still easily land this disciple into the top 30.


    "It''s time for the Red Leaves Sect!"


    Once the fourth sect''s disciples were called up, the crowd''s attention was captured. All their gazes slowly landed onto a particular disciple out of the 30 disciples of the Red Leaves Sect, who had stepped forward.


    This was a young man of an average build, and his hair was extremely messy. He was wearing robes that were old and tattered, and he seemed slightly unkempt. However, most of the crowd glanced at him with looks of admiration.


    "That''s the top disciple of the younger generation of the Red Leaves Sect, Baili Feiyang."


    He Mengxi casually introduced this figure to Zhou Donghuang. "If one were to say that Ximen Wanwan is seen as mystical and someone to admire in the Tiansong Sect, well... He is ranked even higher than that in the eyes of all the youngsters of the Alliance. He is definitely seen as someone better than Ximen Wanwan and Mo Yitian.


    "Before he crossed to the late Dharma stage, he had already mastered the method of Dharma-body integration and is one of the few ingenious talents to ever emerge from the Red Leaves Sect.


    "This year, he just turned 30 years old."


    With such an over-the-top introduction by He Mengxi, Zhou Donghuang could not help but follow her gaze and look at Baili Feiyang with a look of admiration.


    This was not because he was shocked at Baili Feiyang''s results. He was more surprised that these results could have come about even though Baili Feiyang lived in such a backward galaxy, such as the Hengliu galaxy.


    If such a figure was able to train in a galaxy that had abundant resources, his results would definitely be even more impressive at this point.


    "8130 points!"


    Once Baili Feiyang''s results were announced, it naturally caused a stir among the entire crowd. Be it Dharma disciples of the Thunder Sword Sect or the others, everyone was shocked, and their eyes widened. "My goodness! More than 8000 points?"


    "In the previous Alliance Hunt, the top scorer also only gained about 8000 points! Although he has a few hundred more points, the gap should still be taken into account."


    "Baili Feiyang is truly the elite disciple of the Red Leaves Sect!"


    ...


    Towards the shouts by the audience, Baili Feiyang maintained a calm expression and was indifferent towards the looks of admiration that the audience gave him as he stepped down.


    "Little brother, this Baili Feiyang''s composure and personality are rather similar to yours... Like you, he always has on a stoic and stern expression."


    Towards He Mengxi''s words, Zhou Donghuang was somewhat speechless.


    Once the results of the Red Leaves Sect''s disciple, Baili Feiyang''s results were released, the entire crowd was extremely shocked. Other than the disciples, even the Sect Leaders of the various sects were shocked as well. This was an outstanding result that was considered excellent even when compared to past results of previous Alliance Hunts.


    At this point, the Thunder Sword Sect Leader glanced at Zhou Donghuang with a dark look and sighed.


    It was very obvious that, due to Zhou Donghuang''s previous state, he had assumed that Zhou Donghuang did not perform well and would not receive a score that would exceed Baili Feiyang''s.


    However, if Zhou Donghuang and Baili Feiyang fought a fair battle, he believed that Zhou Donghuang would not be weaker than Baili Feiyang... Besides, even Baili Feiyang could not defeat Mo Yitian so easily, just like Zhou Donghuang had.


    "Baili Feiyang is really one of the most talented youngsters of the entire Alliance... Looking at his results, it is clear that he had good luck during the hunt on the Guiyao planet as well... As long as other talented individuals did not have as much good luck, he will definitely be the top scorer for this season!"


    A random disciple from an unspecified sect shouted out his commentary of the events, and this comment was overheard by a few sharp-eared disciples of the Thunder Sword Sect.


    "The most talented of the young generation?"


    "With our Thunder Sword Sect''s Zhou Donghuang, Baili Feiyang will still lose in terms of skill and power!"


    "Exactly! Our Zhou Donghuang could easily defeat Mo Yitian and destroy him... Baili Feiyang is indeed talented, but could he possibly have defeated Mo Yitian like Zhou Donghuang did?"


    The disciples among the Thunder Sword Sect whispered among themselves, and they clearly did not believe a word that the other disciple had said.


    At this point, some of the Dharma disciples of the Yunyue Sect, who were nearby, also added to the commentary. "Although Baili Feiyang and the rest of them are rather impressive, he is no longer considered to be the most talented member of the younger generation... The most talented of the younger generation is Zhou Donghuang! He is a disciple of the Thunder Sword Sect, and he is truly unbeatable!"


    "Yes... He managed to avoid getting hurt even after allowing Mo Yitian three attempts to attack him first. And yet, he managed to defeat Mo Yitian after only one move."


    "Who else in the Alliance and of the Late Dharma stage would be able to do such a thing? Especially for disciples who are younger than 30 years old?"


    "Be it those who are below 30 or even below 35, no one else could possibly do such a thing!"

 285 Unlucky

    The disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect and the Yunyue Sect continued their animated discussion and spoke freely. For those who were unfamiliar with the context of the situation, they would have assumed that these praises were a favor to Zhou Donghuang and intended for public notice.


    Nevertheless, needless to say, such loud gossip of such an exciting topic was definitely useful.


    After a while, the people of the elite sects who were present all realized what they were discussing.


    "Zhou Donghuang?"


    Towards this disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, most were familiar with his name,


    This was especially so for the Thunder Knife Sect Leader, who was present today, as well as the Dharma disciples of the Thunder Knife Sect, who had followed their Sect Leader to visit the Lightning Sword Sect in the past. They all had a basic understanding of Zhou Donghuang.


    Of course, this understanding they had was also limited to the past.


    Now, they were not updated on Zhou Donghuang at all.


    Of course, they had vaguely assumed that within the short period of two years, Zhou Donghuang had indeed improved, but such improvements could not be too significant.


    "He gave Mo Yitian three chances to attack, and he did not even manage to touch him once! However, after the three strikes, he managed to kill Mo Yitian in one strike!"


    Among the crowd of Thunder Knife Sect disciples, after hearing that the Lightning Sword Sect and Yunyue Sect were discussing the topic of Zhou Donghuang, they had first assumed they were still comparable. Among these disciples, there was also Han Yuzheng, who had planned to compare scores with Zhou Donghuang. At this point, they were all baffled and wide-eyed.


    Han Yuzheng had been a part of the group that the Thunder Knife Sect Leader had brought to the Lightning Sword Sect. He was known as one of the rare geniuses out of the group of Dharma disciples within the last hundred years of the Tielao planet. He was supposed to have crushed the Lightning Sword Sect on behalf of the Thunder Knife Sect.


    At that point, the Thunder Knife Sect Leader had indeed intended to use Han Yuzheng to show off to the Lightning Sword Sect.


    The Thunder Knife Sect had never dreamt that the Lightning Sword Sect would have a young disciple comparable in age to Han Yuzheng, who was far more skilled and talented even though they were both at the mid Dharma stage.


    That time, the disciples of the Thunder Knife Sec had been arrogant and intense when they had set out but had returned pitifully and shamed.


    Two years had passed, and Han Yuzheng had managed to enter the late Dharma stage. He had also improved his Dharma Power and managed to master Dharma-body integration. He was confident that he would not lose if he met Zhou Donghuang yet again.


    At first, many did not believe this piece of information.


    However, with the confirmation of the Jihan Sect Leader and his disciples as well as the lack of refutation by the Tiansong Sect disciples, including Han Yuzheng, it was hard to not believe this matter.


    "I had originally assumed that this time, I could prove my worth. It seems as though that''s impossible now."


    Han Yuzheng had on a bitter expression, and his gaze became clouded as well.


    What was the point of him training hard for the last two years and training his Dharma Power without holding back? The whole point had been for him to salvage his reputation for when he next met Zhou Donghuang.


    He had not even managed to do so before such juicy news had been spread.


    Mo Yitian, who was known as the top adept of the Tiansong Sect''s younger generation, was a late Dharma adept who had managed to master the Dharma-body integration... Even with his training, if he had to face Mo Yitian, Han Yuzheng would tie with him at best.


    Furthermore, Mo Yitian had entered the late Dharma stage earlier than him and had mastered the Dharma-body integration earlier than him as well.


    Even such a person had been badly defeated by Zhou Donghuang.


    With such a commotion, Zhou Donghuang once again became the center of attention among the crowd.


    At first, some people did not respect Zhou Donghuang and even floated to the skies to take a good long look at him from a distance, as if they wanted to see what this famous disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect and the Hengliu galaxy looked like.


    Of course, the past doings of Zhou Donghuang were nothing compared to the present shocking news.


    "If this is true... This Zhou Donghuang may very well be the most talented youngster out of all our elite sects of the Alliance!"


    "If that is true... Other than him being the strongest within the Alliance itself, even those of the two Transcendental Forces may be unable to win him over. There are few stronger people... or it could even be said that there are none."


    "As of now, the strongest of the younger generation has always been assumed to be the Tiansong Sect''s Mo Yitian. Even Ximen Wanwan of the Colored Glass Sect can only be second in line behind him... The first level also includes a few others, including Baili Feiyang of the Red Leaves Sect. However, even someone like Baili Feiyang would probably not challenge Mo Yitian to strike him with three attacks and would definitely not be able to use a single attack to defeat him!"


    "A new talent is possibly going to rise up among the Alliance disciples from the Hengliu galaxy..."


    ¡­


    Upon hearing the words that were being whispered from ear to ear, Luo Qinghan, who was standing within a crowd of people, gazed into the distance and could not help but feel a flash of sadness.


    He was like a jewel gleaming in the night, mysterious and alluring.


    As for her, she was like a piece of broken stone hiding in the corner, ignored by all.


    She was far too different from him as if they were from two different worlds.


    "One day... I will eventually catch up to you."


    Suddenly, Luo Qinghan remembered that Deity''s Tribulation practice method, the Thousand-Star Sword Technique, that Zhuge Haotian had left behind for her in the past. The glossiness and emptiness in her eyes were suddenly replaced by a look of deep confidence.


    "That fellow is Zhou Donghuang from the Lightning Sword Sect?"


    Now, even the highest-ranking in status present now had on a brightened look and was gazing into the distance at Zhou Donghuang. This was the mid Divine Transformation elder and one of the Deputy Alliance Leaders.


    It was clear that he was interested in Zhou Donghuang.


    Afterwards, the elder turned to look at the middle-aged man standing a short distance away, who was in charge of recording scores and tabulating the rankings and spoke to him. After hearing the elder''s words, the middle-aged man''s eyes lit up, and he nodded profusely.


    "Can the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect step forward for the tabulation of scores?"


    Once the middle-aged man spoke, his voice was dripping with essential core and was clear and ringing, echoing in the ears of all present.


    The crowd was deathly quiet in an instant. After regaining their composure, their eyes all lit up.


    Even the Red Leaves Sect disciple, Baili Feiyang, who had just received his scores, finally showed some interest on his previously neutral face, and his eyes shone with curiosity.


    He was also curious as to how many points Zhou Donghuang, whom the crowd had perceived to be better than him, had managed to achieve.


    Of course, everyone else was interested in this as well. The disciples from the Thunder Knife Sect were especially excited. On the other hand, the Lightning Sword Sect Leader was unable to excite himself at all, and he had on an extremely bitter smile on his face.


    He had assumed that Zhou Donghuang was extremely unlucky and did not manage to kill many beasts on the Guiyao planet.


    In the end, he could only grit his teeth and lead his sect disciples to the front.


    The crowd immediately parted themselves to create a path for the Lightning Sword Sect disciples to step forward, and no one blocked their path. All of their eyes shone with curiosity and anticipation.


    It was clear that they all wanted to know how the perceived strongest youngster of the Alliance, Zhou Donghuang, had fared in the Alliance Hunt.


    Not long after the disciples of the Autumn Leaves Sect had stepped down, a sly young man dressed in luxurious cotton and holding a folding fan came over to where Baili Feiyang was. "Baili Feiyang, at this point, you should have been the center of attention... However, this attention has been snatched away by that Zhou Donghuang of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "How many points do you think he scored?"


    The young man smiled craftily.


    "We shall see," Baili Feiyang replied coolly.


    "You seem rather calm."


    The young man shook his head and smiled. "This time, my points will probably be a little higher than yours... If his exceeds mine in this hunt, then you would not even be in second place anymore."


    Baili Feiyang seemed disturbed by these words, and he looked at this young man in shock. "Hu Jingshan, it seems your luck has been good this time."


    He questioned himself internally whether his luck had been good. He had not thought that the other party''s luck would be comparable.


    Hu Jingshan was a disciple of the Taichong Gate and was seen to be the most talented among their young disciples. Among the Alliance, he was on par with Baili Feiyang in terms of many factors, including age and talent.


    "Zhou Donghuang..."


    As the Lightning Sword Sect Leader Yu Yucheng brought his disciples forward, among the crowd which had created a path for them, a young man was glaring stonily at Zhou Donghuang, who was walking with the rest of the disciples.


    Sensing an unfriendly gaze landing upon him, Zhou Donghuang turned and immediately recognized the owner of this gaze. "It''s him!"


    Towards this person, he had a vague impression.


    He had first met this person on the Guiyao planet when they were facing a pair of ultimate Dharma stage twin beasts. With the person being useless, he eventually had to take action to kill both beasts and had kept their brains.


    Before leaving, this person had asked if they could share the rewards, but he had ignored him.


    The man had not contributed at all and yet wanted to share the rewards?


    What a joke!


    "Damn it!"


    Seeing as Zhou Donghuang was merely staring back coolly, he retracted his hostile gaze. This disciple was Zhong Chengcai of the Yuanyin Order, and his facial expression soured further as he felt humiliated... This Zhou Donghuang had dared to ignore him!


    At this moment, under the watchful gaze of the crowd, the people of the Lightning Sword Sect finally reached the front of the group.


    Once they reached the front, a few of the Sect Leaders who were standing in the first row immediately greeted the Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng. "Sect Leader Yu, your Lightning Sword Sect''s luck is really rather excellent! With a disciple such as Zhou Donghuang... This time, the top scorer of the Alliance Hunt will surely be him!"


    "Sect Leader Yu, congratulations in advance!"


    "Sect Leader Yu, your sect really came prepared this time!"


    ¡­


    Towards the passionate praises of the various Sect Leaders, Yu Yucheng had on a bittersweet expression. "I''m afraid we are about to disappoint all of you... Our Lightning Sword Sect''s Zhou Donghuang did not really have much luck when he entered the Guiyao planet this time."


    Once Yu Yucheng had spoken, the other sect leaders froze. However, unmistakable joy flashed through their eyes even as they spoke reassuringly, "Ah... That''s rather unfortunate."


    "Sect Leader Yu, even if Zhou Donghuang is unable to enter the top ten scorers of this hunt, it does not mean much... The Alliance Hunt does not only evaluate talent but also includes one''s luck."


    "Sect Leader Yu, the rankings of the Alliance Hunt cannot diminish Zhou Donghuang''s good reputation."


    ¡­


    Although the other sect leaders offered words of consolation, internally, they were actually rejoicing.


    What was the use of the Lightning Sword Sect having such a talented and outstanding disciple?


    If his luck was not good, he would still be unable to prove himself at the Alliance Hunt in the end!

 286 Baili Feiyang Has Lost!

    "Zhou Donghuang was unlucky this time?"


    Furthermore, these words had been personally uttered by the Lightning Sword Sect Leader to the other Sect Leaders?


    These words were passed from ear to ear, and almost everyone present was made aware of this matter. "It seems as though this time, it will be hard for Zhou Donghuang to be among the top scorers of the Alliance Hunt."


    "I originally assumed that his score would exceed Baili Feiyang''s and surprise everyone... Well, it seems we have overestimated him."


    "What a pity, what a pity... He has such shocking talents, and yet he will not be able to gain any benefits for himself in the hunt this time."


    "It seems as though Baili Feiyang still has a chance of being the top scorer in the hunt this time, then!"


    ¡­


    Many people seemed disappointed and sighed at the news.


    As for Hu Jingshan, who was standing beside Baili Feiyang, his face first had on a look of confusion before he smiled and spoke to Baili Feiyang, "It seems that it will still be possible for you to be second this time!"


    This time, Baili Feiyang chose to ignore these mocking words.


    "Luo Qinghan, it seems as though this time, your man won''t have many points... He may even lose to me!"


    A disciple of the Jihan Sect, the Sect Leader Meng Yuping''s daughter, Zhong Feng, had somehow materialized by Luo Qinghan''s side and was spouting some infuriating nonsense with a gloating smile on her face.


    Previously, Zhong Feng had been extremely jealous when Mo Yitian of the Tiansong Sect had declared that it was love at first sight after meeting Luo Qinghan, as she had liked Mo Yitian for a long time.


    Now, Mo Yitian had died due to his attempt to get close to Luo Qinghan, so she hated Luo Qinghan further. She felt that Mo Yitian would have dated and married her instead if he had not died early... Now that Mo Yitian was dead, all her hopes and dreams were dashed.


    In such a situation, when she thought about the fact that Luo Qinghan was Zhou Donghuang''s woman, she began to feel an overwhelming sense of jealousy.


    Under such circumstances, she finally had a chance to hurt Luo Qinghan while she was down and would naturally not miss this chance.


    However, Luo Qinghan ignored Zhong Feng and did not respond at all, no matter how Zhong Feng glared at her with a look of absolute hatred.


    "His luck was not good?"


    Now, even the most authoritative figure there, the Deputy Alliance Leader and the mid Divine Transformation elder, had on a look of disappointment on his face after hearing the words of Lightning Sword Sect Leader Yu Yucheng.


    As for the middle-aged man who had intended to count up Zhou Donghuang''s results first, he chose not to speak and instead instructed the staff under him to follow the line-up order and start tabulating the scores.


    As the results were being tabulated, the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect all received average results that were not that noticeable. The attention of the crowd slowly waned, and they did not really focus on the sect''s disciples as they were no longer interested in Zhou Donghuang''s scores.


    Since his luck was bad, it could be inferred that he did not accumulate many points. He would then probably be defeated by Baili Feiyang of the Red Leaves Sect and even by Ximen Wanwan of the Colored Glass Sect!


    His own disciples had gone up only to receive average results, and his sect was losing the interest of the crowd. This, along with hearing the repeated condolences of the neighboring Sect Leaders, caused Yu Yucheng to squeeze out a smile, but he felt extraordinarily bitter and frustrated inside.


    When they had left for the Alliance Hunt, spirits were high, and they had been extremely confident.


    Now, they looked extremely pitiful.


    "So what if Zhou Donghuang doesn''t have any significant results in this Alliance Hunt? His powers and his talent are definitely unbeatable and rare among his entire generation!"


    As he thought to this point, Yu Yucheng was at least able to console himself to some extent.


    "Little brother, I''ll go first."


    It was Zhou Donghuang, Da Zhuang, and He Mengxi''s turn. He Mengxi first stepped forward. At the same time, she glanced lightly at the crowd, and the corners of her mouth turned up slightly.


    Today, the Lightning Sword Sect would still capture the spotlight no matter what, even if her younger brother''s luck was not good, and he had not gained many points.


    He Mengxi stepped forward, and Zhou Donghuang did not stop her, smiling instead as a gesture of acknowledgment. At the same time, those disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect, who had already received their results, turned to give Zhou Donghuang a meaningful glance and smiled bitterly to themselves as they looked away.


    They had initially assumed that this time, Zhou Donghuang would bring much honor and glory to the Lightning Sword Sect during this Alliance Hunt. However, due to his bad luck, this was probably impossible for them.


    From the start to the end, Zhou Donghuang''s face did not betray any emotion.


    Nevertheless, they believed the words spoken by the Sect Leader and had assumed that the lack of Zhou Donghuang''s comment meant that it was the truth.


    Well, if they had been in Zhou Donghuang''s shoes, even if they had received poor results due to bad luck, they would also choose not to refute their Sect Leader''s words and would instead accept the results.


    "Zhou Donghuang, so what if you stole my two ultimate Dharma beasts? In the end, it''s not like you received an outstanding score!"


    The disciple of the Yuanyin Order, Zhong Chengcai, now smiled mockingly at Zhou Donghuang, and his eyes were filled with murderous rage and glee. "Don''t let me find an opportunity to fight you... Or else, I''ll definitely send you to your grave!


    "Although I may not be of equal standing as you, I still have people supporting me who could kill you with one slap!"


    The previous matter, as well as Zhou Donghuang''s repeated incidents of ignoring him, had led to the anger boiling within Zhong Chengcai. He now had murderous intent floating in his mind.


    As of now, about 80 to 90 percent of the crowd was now no longer focused on the Lightning Sword Sect''s disciples.


    To them, since Zhou Donghuang did not have good results, then the others would definitely not fare any better.


    Even the Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng, had not said anything when He Mengxi stepped forward before Zhou Donghuang to count up her points.


    To him, He Mengxi had indeed improved in terms of skill. Nevertheless, it would still be difficult for her to be one of the top scorers of the Alliance Hunt.


    Perhaps, all the points she had received would not even be half of that of Ximen Wanwan from the Colored Glass Sect.


    Even if her luck had been good, she probably could not match up to Ximen Wanwan.


    As He Mengxi slowly took out the beasts'' brains one by one from her space ring and allowed the person before her to count them, Yu Yucheng sighed to himself and turned his gaze to the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin. "Valley Head He... How many points do you think your daughter will earn this time around?"


    "I''m not sure."


    He Jin shook his head. "I questioned her just now, but she only gave me a mysterious smile and did not reveal anything."


    "She was tight-lipped about it?"


    Yu Yucheng froze and could not help but smile. "It seems as though this girl has managed to exceed her expectations in this Alliance Hunt... In that case, I wonder if her points will exceed 4000."


    Having 4000 points was a rather decent result, and it was enough to land one among the first few hundred scorers.


    "We just need to wait a while to find out!"


    He Jin was waiting patiently.


    After a while, an excited shout was heard where He Mengxi was, and the entire crowd''s attention was captured again.


    The shout had come from the person who was helping He Mengxi remove the brains from her space ring and tabulating the scores. "She''s already at 7000 points!"


    "What!?"


    "Seven... 7000 points???"


    "Her points have exceeded that of Ximen Wanwan... who is she!?"


    ¡­


    Once there was the exclamation of 7000 points, the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect, who had heard the shout, all turned and looked intensely at the man who was yelling. Once they had identified him, their gaze then turned to the figure of a girl who was standing before him.


    "It''s not Zhou Donghuang!"


    "Who is she? 7000 points? When did we have such a talented female disciple in the Lightning Sword Sect!?"


    "The Lightning Sword Sect has really been hiding some talented individuals... First, there was Zhou Donghuang, now there''s this new female disciple!"


    ¡­


    Many gazes were now all solely focused on He Mengxi.


    As the daughter of the Autumn Valley Head, everyone within the sect was familiar with her. However, within the Alliance, few people actually recognized her... Furthermore, now that He Mengxi''s back was facing the crowd, even those who may have recognized her face would now be puzzled at her identity unless they were very close to her.


    "7000 points?"


    The Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng, was extremely numb with shock and froze. He was just asking He Mengxi''s father for his expectations of his daughter as well as hoping that He Mengxi would at least accumulate 4000 points... But now, He Mengxi''s points had reached 7000 and counting!


    Seven thousand.


    What kind of joke was this?


    Even when placed within the last Alliance Hunt, such a score would easily land He Mengxi among the top 20.


    If this hunt''s results were spectacular, she would still be within the top 30 scorers.


    Most importantly, the brains of the beasts stored in He Mengxi''s space ring were not finished being counted, and she was still taking out more from the ring. He Mengxi continuously pulled out more brains, and the man who had shouted earlier out continued to count, "7500... 8000!"


    Once it was revealed that He Mengxi''s points had exceeded 8000, those at the back also could not help but look up. "Who is that? Is that really not Zhou Donghuang?"


    "Looking at her back, she seems rather familiar... But it can''t be her, right?"


    "Since when did the Lightning Sword Sect have such a talented disciple?"


    ¡­


    Yu Yucheng was now gaping like a fish, almost as if he no longer had any control over his mouth.


    Although He Jin had been somewhat prepared for a surprise and felt that his daughter would have done well, he was only prepared to be satisfied at best. Once he heard that his daughter had exceeded 8000 points, his eyes shone with excitement and happiness. This was his daughter they were talking about!


    Such a daughter really made him proud.


    "It''s 8138... It has exceeded Baili Feiyang''s score!"


    Once He Mengxi''s score had exceeded 8000, many people were curious as to whether she would be able to exceed Baili Feiyang''s score, which was currently the highest.


    Now, her results had indeed exceeded Baili Feiyang''s!


    The talented disciple of the Red Leaves Sect, Baili Feiyang, was known as one of the most talented youngsters of his generation. But he was now defeated by an unknown and random female disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect!


    It was true that the Alliance Hunt required not only skill but also good luck.


    If one had high scores and could defeat Baili Feiyang, it did not mean that they were extremely talented, one may also say that they had good luck... However, even with good luck, without a certain level of skill, attaining such results would be impossible, too!

 287 Zhou Donghuangs rewards

    "It''s at 8500!"


    "It''s at 9000 now! My goodness! It''s exceeding expectations now!"


    "Will it exceed 10000?"


    "The last time someone exceeded 10000 points in the Alliance Hunt was at least a few hundred years ago!"


    "That was someone who the Qi Dynasty of the Hengliu galaxy sent undercover, and the motive of such an act was to gain the Sky Sun fruit! That person was not from the Alliance. If you want to discuss members of the Alliance who had received more than 10000 points in the Alliance Hunt, we have to dig deep into history as there has been no recent occurrences."


    ...


    Once He Mengxi''s score exceeded 9000, not only were all the present disciples shocked, even the various Sect Leaders were all baffled as well.


    At this moment, the Deputy Alliance Leader, the old man at the mid Divine Transformation stage, was now completely focused on He Mengxi. This was perhaps because he had heard that Zhou Donghuang was probably not going to do well as well as the fact that the rest of the Lightning Sword Sect disciples only had average performances.


    "My goodness! She has not finished retrieving all the brains from her space ring... How many beasts did she manage to kill?"


    "Did she really kill them all single-handedly? This is insane!"


    "Who is she!?"


    ¡­


    As more and more people turned their attention to He Mengxi, someone eventually recognized her. "She''s the daughter of the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin, of the Lightning Sword Sect. Her name is He Mengxi!"


    "He Mengxi? Ah, no wonder her back looked so familiar, it really is her... I did not expect her to accumulate so many points based on her level of training. Even if she was extremely lucky, that''s still a lot of luck!"


    "She can''t have possibly attained such results based on good luck alone!"


    "Having good luck is one thing... She must have a considerable level of talent as well."


    "Perhaps someone else shared their rewards with her?"


    ¡­


    The entire crowd was in chaos. Everyone was commenting and gossiping about the matter and causing a huge ruckus.


    "Hehe... Baili Feiyang, looks like you can''t even be second this time, just like how I may no longer be able to be the top scorer."


    Hu Jingshan stood beside Bali Feiyang and shook his head while sighing aloud. "I''ve also heard of He Mengxi before. She is not really considered one of the top disciples out of the younger generation in the Lightning Sword Sect, though. She''s only average at best, but she managed to kill so many beasts this time!


    "If she accumulated all those points solely on her own, then I applaud her," Baili Feiyang said.


    "Mm."


    Baili Feiyang nodded his head, surprisingly agreeing with Hu Jingshan.


    "Her points have surpassed 10000!"


    Very quickly, He Mengxi''s points had crossed the 10000 mark. At this moment, the atmosphere of the entire crowd did not continue to hype up. Instead, the crowd began to quieten down. "This cannot be her own work! It must be that other people in the Lightning Sword Sect helped her out and shared some of their rewards, sacrificing themselves in the process."


    "I think so too."


    "I really can''t imagine who would be so generous... are they planning to give up their rights to purchase rare herbs and medicine from the Alliance?"


    "Men in love are indeed fools... I wonder which fool was stupid enough to give up his right to buy rare herbs and other rare items from the Alliance all for the sake of a woman."


    ¡­


    Now, including all the Sect Leaders, there was practically no one who believed that He Mengxi had accumulated all her points on her own.


    Even the Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng, as well as her own father, He Jin, did not believe this.


    "10825 points."


    This was He Mengxi''s final results; it was incredibly awe-inspiring. More than one person immediately inferred that there had to have been more than one person who gave up their own brains to He Mengxi.


    "Girl."


    At this point, the elder who was the Deputy Alliance Leader glanced at He Mengxi as well.


    "How many people shared their spoils with you?


    "Don''t worry, even if you share this truth with me, your points will remain intact. I am merely curious.


    "When... did the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect become so united? I''m afraid that in doing so, some people will lose their chance to buy rare herbs and other items from the Alliance in the future."


    The more the elder spoke, the more grave his gaze towards He Mengxi became.


    At this point, everyone in the crowd looked at He Mengxi curiously as well. This crowd included the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect, as they had also assumed that some disciples within them had shared their brains with He Mengxi.


    "One person."


    Without any hesitation, once the elder had voiced out his queries, He Mengxi answered extremely candidly. "This is a combination of Da Zhuang and my points... My own points would only add up to about six to seven thousand points."


    Such a reply scared a lot of people once He Mengxi had voiced them aloud.


    Many assumed that a group of people had helped her accumulate her points. However, after hearing her reply, they realized that this was merely an accumulation of two peoples'' points!


    Furthermore, her original points had reached six to seven thousand?


    This would also exceed the score of Ximen Wanwan from the Colored Glass Sect!


    "I see."


    He Jin finally understood the entire situation. He gradually realized that the points had included those of Da Zhuang, which was why it had reached such an usually high score.


    At this point, Da Zhuang stepped up and said, "In my space ring, there are still the brains of two beasts at the late Dharma stage. From that, I can still accumulate 2000 points.


    "Senior told me that these 2000 points are enough for me to gain the right to buy rare items from the Alliance if nothing out of the ordinary occurs."


    Once Da Zhuang spoke, he smiled, and it was hard for anyone to doubt the truth of his words.


    Within the Alliance, if one wanted to gain the right to buy rare items from the Alliance, then the points wouldn''t matter. What mattered was one''s ranking... Only those who ranked in the top 1000 of the Alliance Hunt could receive this right.


    Most of the time, the top 1000 scorers of the Alliance Hunt would at least have 1500 to 2000 points.


    In the past hundreds of years, there hadn''t been a 1000th place disciple who had scored more than 2000 points.


    Because of this, He Mengxi had left 2000 points for Da Zhuang.


    These points would almost certainly guarantee Da Zhuang a place in the top 1000 of the Alliance Hunt.


    Due to the fact that only the top 1000 scorers could gain the right to buy rare items from the Alliance, even the ultimate Dharma adepts from the various sects wouldn''t easily give up the brains they had attained from the Hunt in bulk.


    This was because they also wished to be one of the top 1000 scorers.


    Although it was easy for them to kill beasts at the ultimate Dharma stage, even with their speed and ability to hunt down such beasts, killing one beast at the ultimate Dharma stage would only give them ten points. They thus needed to kill a considerable number of beasts.


    Within three months, unless one''s luck was excellent, they would only be able to kill around 200 beasts of the ultimate Dharma stage and would have to squeeze into the top 1000 scorers.


    The ultimate Dharma adepts were all thus extremely careful of their own kills and would not easily give away the points they had, not even to disciples of their own sect.


    "You still have 2000 points?"


    The old man froze for a second and stared fiercely at Da Zhuang. "Does this mean that you actually had around the same points as He Mengxi? Your original points tally was more than 6000 as well?"


    "Yes, that is correct."


    Da Zhuang continued to nod his head and smiled breezily.


    Da Zhuang''s candidness made it hard for one to doubt him. Because of this, many people were shocked as they realized that there were two disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect with an extremely outstanding performance in this year''s Alliance Hunt.


    "Haha¡­"


    At this point, the Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng, laughed out loud and glanced at He Jin. "Valley Head He, this time, your Autumn Valley has managed to earn much glory for our Lightning Sword Sect!


    "Good, this is very good!"


    Yu Yucheng smiled brightly. His spirits had previously been dampened by Zhou Donghuang''s lack of luck. Now, they were lifted again.


    "Are they really all disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect?"


    Yu Yucheng''s words caused many to glance at He Jin in shock.


    Of course, although many believed Da Zhuang''s words and acknowledged that He Mengxi and Da Zhuang had been rather spectacular and lucky this time around, there were also many who felt that Da Zhuang''s words were suspicious. They doubted that two random disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect could truly receive such miraculous scores.


    Nevertheless, their opinions would not change anything as the scores were already set in stone.


    He Mengxi''s points had exceeded 10000, and she would still be the top scorer of the Hunt.


    Under the watchful gaze of the crowd, Da Zhuang activated his own space ring and took out two brains of beasts at the late Dharma stage, successfully claiming his 2000 points.


    Seeing this, most of the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect looked on wistfully and jealously. "I knew long ago that Da Zhuang and He Mengxi were working as a duo... I didn''t think that their luck would be so good! If I had known, I would have followed them!"


    They all felt that, be it He Mengxi or Da Zhuang, their ability to accumulate so many points was solely based on immense luck.


    After Da Zhuang, it was finally Zhou Donghuang''s turn to step forward.


    Originally, most people had lost interest in Zhou Donghuang. However, with the shock of seeing He Mengxi and Da Zhuang accumulate such a high number of points, others had renewed interest and continued to watch the point tabulation as Zhou Donghuang''s turn came.


    "Although Zhou Donghuang is indeed strong, with bad luck, he may not even be able to defeat that fool from the Lightning Sword Sect, Da Zhuang."


    "I agree."


    ¡­


    Even the Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng, was focusing on his other disciples'' outstanding performance and was not genuinely caring about Zhou Donghuang. Nevertheless, he paid attention to the scene before him.


    Under the attention of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang took out his space ring and began to retrieve the brains of the beasts he had killed on the Guiyao planet.


    A considerable number of brains were pulled out from within.


    The first few brains that he took out were all brains of beasts at the late Dharma stage.


    "What..."


    As for the person who was in charge of the records, after tabulating the number of brains of beasts at the late Dharma stage, he became a little baffled. "For the brains of the beasts from the late Dharma stage alone... If one were to count for 10 points, he has already accumulated over 3400 points?"


    For the disciples of the late Dharma stage, killing beasts of the late Dharma stage on the Guiyao planet was akin to Alliance disciples at the ultimate Dharma stage killing beasts of the ultimate Dharma stage.


    Because of this, as most disciples of the late Dharma stage intended to mainly kill beasts of the ultimate Dharma stage, if they managed to gain about 1000 points from killing beasts of the late Dharma stage, that would already be considered rather impressive.


    After all, they were not like the disciples of the ultimate Dharma stage, who solely killed beasts at the ultimate Dharma stage.


    However, he had not known that these were only late Dharma stage beasts that had been convenient for Zhou Donghuang to kill. He had not bothered to travel beyond the area he was in to chase after beasts at the late Dharma stage.


    Otherwise, from the brains of the beasts at the late Dharma stage alone, he would definitely have accumulated more than 3000 points.


    Among the group of late Dharma beasts that he had killed, most had been killed while he was with Luo Qinghan. He was not worried that Luo Qinghan would recognize that he was Zhuge Haotian as there were only a few species of beasts on the Guiyao planet.

 288 40000 points!

    Zhou Donghuang, a late Dharma adept of the Lightning Sword Sect, had managed to accumulate over 3000 points just by killing beasts at the late Dharma stage in this year''s Alliance Hunt.


    What kind of joke was this?


    In the history of the entire Alliance Hunt, there had never been any late Dharma adept who had managed to kill more than 300 beasts of his own stage!


    "In the history of the Alliance, even for nominated ultimate Dharma adepts, it was rare to hear of someone killing more than 300 ultimate Dharma beasts... Don''t forget, the Hunt only lasts for 3 months," someone said aloud.


    "Disciples of the late Dharma stage would first try to kill ultimate Dharma beasts... Could it be that Zhou Donghuang had bad luck and only managed to meet a few ultimate Dharma beasts, and was thus forced to mass kill late Dharma beasts?"


    "Well, if that''s the case, it would provide a good explanation for this situation."


    "It seems as though Zhou Donghuang''s luck was really rather terrible, and he only met many late Dharma beasts but few ultimate Dharma beasts."


    ¡­


    Now, a majority of the crowd felt that Zhou Donghuang had chosen to kill many late Dharma beasts due to this reason.


    They assumed that Zhou Donghuang had bad luck and only met with very few ultimate Dharma beasts and instead had only come across late Dharma beasts.


    "What a pity!"


    Even disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect felt pity for him. "With Zhou Donghuang''s talents, unless his luck was truly bad, this would not have been the result that we expected."


    "Brother Donghuang is really too unlucky to have only met with mostly beasts of the late Dharma stage."


    ¡­


    Just as the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect were feeling pity for Zhou Donghuang, others were rejoicing secretly at his plight. "What''s the point of being strong? If he has no luck, he is still unable to accumulate many points."


    Among these people was the disciple of the Yuanyin Order, Zhong Chengcai, but many others were people who were unfamiliar with Zhou Donghuang.


    All these people had one similarity, which was that they tended to be jealous of those who were better than them, and it did not matter who these individuals were.


    The more talented others were, the more jealous they were.


    For these people, as they tended to waste time feeling jealous, it affected their training, and this toxic cycle meant that they seldom ended up succeeding in their personal ventures.


    Jealousy was indeed a monster, after all.


    "Hu Jingshan, do you think that someone''s luck could be so horrible that they would meet up to 300 late Dharma beasts but not be able to even meet a few beasts of the ultimate Dharma stage?"


    Baili Feiyang rarely spoke first, but this time, he chose to speak up first and seek Hu Jingshan''s opinion.


    "I think this is rather impossible."


    On the other hand...


    Towards the assumptions of the crowd, Zhou Donghuang, the person in question, did not offer any explanation and instead continued to mind his own business and pull beasts out of the space ring in his hand.


    Now, he began to take out the brains of beasts that were of the ultimate Dharma stage.


    At the start, everyone, including the people of the Lightning Sword Sect, all assumed that Zhou Donghuang would not be able to take out many brains of beasts of the ultimate Dharma stage.


    However, as time passed, they were stunned yet again.


    This was because, within a short period, Zhou Donghuang had managed to take out over 100 brains of beasts of the ultimate Dharma stage!


    Possessing brains of over a hundred beasts of the ultimate Dharma stage, what did this even mean?


    According to the rules of the Alliance Hunt, for Alliance disciples of the late Dharma stage, killing one beast of the ultimate Dharma stage and presenting its brain would allow one to gain 100 points.


    100 brains of beasts of the ultimate Dharma stage meant that a late Dharma disciple would be able to accumulate a total of 10000 points!


    "As I predicted."


    Seeing this, Hu Jingshan smiled. "My instinct was indeed right¡­ What a fright! Having hundreds of brains of beasts of the ultimate Dharma stage as well over 300 brains of beasts of the late Dharma stage¡­ that''s really a sight to behold!"


    "There''s more¡­"


    Baili Feiyang reminded him at this point.


    Indeed, Zhou Donghuang was not done retrieving all the brains in his space ring.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang was still slowly retrieving brains from within his space ring, and they were all brains of beasts from the ultimate Dharma stage.


    Because of this, those people who were initially shocked now tensed up completely, and their breathing had almost stopped. They watched Zhou Donghuang without a word to see exactly how many beasts of the ultimate Dharma stage he had managed to kill.


    "128¡­"


    "136¡­"


    "152¡­"


    ¡­


    Now, many people were counting along as Zhou Donghuang continued to retrieve the brains that he had attained from the Guiyao planet, which were all brains of beasts at the ultimate Dharma stage.


    "There''s 200 now."


    Once the 200th brain appeared before the crowd, everyone felt as if their hearts had been harshly stabbed.


    Was this Zhou Donghuang crazy? Would this go on forever?


    With the brains that he had already pulled out, his total score would already be around 23000 points!


    Even so, he was still continuing to retrieve more brains!


    "How¡­ How can this be?"


    Now, even Luo Qinghan was staring with a look of utter confusion at Zhou Donghuang''s back.


    At this moment, in her brain, a raspy voice sounded out. "For disciples at the late Dharma stage, even if they possess ultimate Dharma spirit weapons and intend to fully focus on killing beasts at the ultimate Dharma stage, they will at least have to train their Dharma Power and master the art of Dharma Power Control.


    These words were spoken to her by the young man dressed in white, Zhuge Haotian, and they had been deeply ingrained in her head.


    During the process of the Alliance Hunt, the ability to kill a beast at the ultimate Dharma stage within seconds was only possible for the rare few who had managed to master Dharma-body integration against ultimate Dharma beasts. With the use of an ultimate Dharma spirit weapon, these people could then easily kill the ultimate Dharma beasts of the Guiyao planet within seconds.


    However, for those ultimate Dharma adepts who had not managed to master the Dharma-body integration technique, even if they possessed ultimate Dharma spirit weapons, they would not be able to kill ultimate Dharma beasts so easily.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang had taken out so many brains of late Dharma beasts as well as brains of ultimate Dharma beasts, which proved a singular point thoroughly: he definitely managed to train his Dharma Power to the stage of Dharma Power Control!


    Unless he could kill an ultimate Dharma beast within seconds, it would have been impossible for him to kill so many ultimate Dharma beasts within the short period of the Alliance Hunt.


    For late Dharma adepts among the Alliance, even those who had trained their Dharma Power to the Dharma-body integration stage, killing an ultimate Dharma beast would still require much effort. They would also need time to heal and rest afterwards, and it would be hard for them to consecutively kill several ultimate Dharma beasts even if they came across others.


    "300."


    Once Zhou Donghuang had retrieved his 300th brain of an ultimate Dharma beast from the space ring, everyone became numb with shock. Even the Alliance Deputy Leader, the old man in the mid-Divine Transformation stage, also had on a face of utter confusion and shock.


    His emotions had never been so intense in the last few years.


    He could not even remember when was the last time he had been so shocked by something.


    And yet, today, a young man from the Lightning Sword Sect had caused his heart much unrest.


    "That is all."


    Finally, Zhou Donghuang pulled out his 368th brain of a beast of the ultimate Dharma stage from the space ring, and this total tally had even exceeded that of the brains of the late Dharma beasts!


    "Is that all?"


    Seeing as Zhou Donghuang had finally finished with his movements, everyone felt a wave of fatigue rush over them as if they had just completed a fierce battle, causing their bodies to feel drained.


    "Is this Zhou Donghuang even human?"


    "I think his total points have crossed 40000!"


    "40000 points... In the history of the Alliance Hunt, I don''t think anyone has even exceeded 20000 points, let alone 40000 points!"


    "How could he have accumulated so many points?"


    "Unless... Unless he had already managed to train his Dharma Power to the legendary step of Dharma Power Control!"


    ¡­


    Many people began to suspect that Zhou Donghuang had indeed mastered the legendary stage of Dharma Power for Dharma adepts, Dharma Power Control. This was the only reasonable explanation for his performance.


    "Zhou Donghuang..."


    The Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng, looked at Zhou Donghuang. His body was still trembling from the shock, as this result was wilder than he could have ever imagined.


    Previously, he had assumed that due to his bad luck, Zhou Donghuang would not attain many points in the Hunt.


    However, instead, he had received an unbelievable score!


    40000 points.


    Was Zhou Donghuang even mortal?


    Yu Yucheng could imagine, once word of today''s results was leaked, the people of the various elite sects of the Alliance and people of the two Transcendental Forces of the Hengliu galaxy would get a huge shock!


    "Sect Leader Yu, didn''t you say that your Lightning Sword Sect disciple, Zhou Donghuang, had had bad luck in the Alliance Hunt? You were lying to us!"


    At this point, several of the other Sect Leaders who had been consoling Zhou Donghuang before now glared exasperatedly at him. "Sect Leader Yu, you are really rather cunning, we spent so much effort consoling you, and yet you were lying to us all along and playing us like fools."


    "Sect Leader Yu, this isn''t over yet. You owe us an explanation for this!"


    ¡­


    Towards the indignation of the various Sect Leaders, Yu Yucheng replied with an expression of bitterness and frustration. "I was also under the impression that Zhou Donghuang''s luck was not good and that he would have a poor performance."


    He had also felt cheated by Zhou Donghuang.


    With such an impressive performance, why couldn''t he have shown more positive emotions when he had left? His poker face had caused such confusion that even Sect Leader Yu had been fooled as well!


    "I''m sure that he has managed to master Dharma Power Control!" beside Baili Feiyang, Hu Jingshan exclaimed out loud confidently.


    Baili Feiyang nodded his head as well. "If he managed to kill all those beasts by himself, he couldn''t have done so without using Dharma Power Control."


    At this point, the Alliance Deputy Leader, the old man of the mid Divine Transformation stage, appeared before Zhou Donghuang within an instant and glanced kindly at Zhou Donghuang. "Zhou Donghuang, have you trained your Dharma Power to the stage of Dharma Power Control?"


    "Mhm."


    Zhou Donghuang lightly nodded as he knew that there was no use denying this fact now. Well, he had never planned to deny this fact in the first place.


    After all, it was true that he had indeed managed to master the technique of Dharma Power Control.


    Even He Mengxi and Da Zhuang had managed to master Dharma Power Control after they had shifted to the Deity''s Tribulation style of training, the Thousand-Star Sword Technique and the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen. It was just that they were not as skilled at using it as he was.


    If not, they too would have attained more outstanding results than they already did in the Alliance Hunt.

 289 Poaching

    A guess was one thing.


    The truth was something else entirely.


    Upon seeing Zhou Donghuang reply to the old man''s question, not only did the old man''s eyes widen in shock, but the other people present also drew in a sharp breath. At that moment, it seemed as if time had slowed to a pause.


    "In the history of the Hengliu galaxy, even for those two Transcendental Forces, I don''t think there has been any Dharma adept who has mastered Dharma Power Control.


    "As far as I know, there were many Dharma adepts in the Hengliu galaxy that desperately tried to perfect their Dharma Power and worked hard to master the technique of Dharma Power Control... However, until the end of their lives, they were still unable to master the technique and could only progress to the Primordial Soul stage even after they had suppressed their progress for so many years. Otherwise, their lives would surely have ended!"


    "I heard about that too, in fact, in the history of our Qingyun Guild, there were two ancestors who did precisely that... one of them was unlucky and only tried to advance to the Primordial Soul stage one year before his life was due to end, but in the end, he failed to reach the Primordial Soul stage and passed away.


    "I thought that it was only in those galaxies that were filled with resources for training that a Dharma adept could master Dharma Power Control... I never would have thought that someone like that would appear in our Hengliu galaxy!"


    "Zhou Donghuang, the Lightning Sword Sect disciple, has indeed made history in our Hengliu galaxy!"


    ...


    At that point, the different disciples of the many Alliance sects were all amazed and excited that they were able to witness a piece of history.


    Of course, there were also many disciples who sighed silently to themselves, as they felt that it was a real shame to be born into the same generation as Zhou Donghuang. They would surely find themselves inferior to Zhou Donghuang.


    "This Zhou Donghuang... he really managed to master the technique of Dharma Power Control!"


    In the far distance, Zhong Chengcai, a disciple of the Yuanyin Order, narrowed his eyes. He had never expected that Zhou Donghuang would be able to master Dharma Power Control.


    However, after thinking about it again, as he thought about how Zhou Donghuang quickly and easily killed two ultimate Dharma demons that day, perhaps that was no coincidence?


    Zhong Chengcai had always thought that those two demons had suffered from some disease that cropped up suddenly, and that allowed Zhou Donghuang to take advantage of their momentary weakness... but now, it looked like Zhou Donghuang had in fact managed to kill the two ultimate Dharma demons using his own strength.


    "Is the Dharma Power Control technique really so powerful?"


    "What should I do? I''ve already offended him twice... even if he did not take offense the first time, but from how I looked at him just now, he will definitely bear a grudge against me.


    "In the future, when he gets even stronger, he will definitely kill me when he thinks of what happened.


    "No way! I can''t just do nothing and wait for my death!


    "When I get back, I must get Father to think of a way to kill him before he gets even stronger than now... once he gains even more power, even Father, or even the entire Yuanyin Order, will not be able to contain him!"


    At that moment, Zhong Chengcai made a determined decision.


    If Zhou Donghuang knew what Zhong Chengcai was thinking, he would have thought that he was in a state of paranoia, worrying about nothing.


    "He... has he really mastered Dharma Power Control?"


    Luo Qinghan stood among the group of disciples from the Jihan Sect. In that instant, she could sense the looks of envy from many other Jihan Sect disciples. It was not hard to guess why they were looking at her with such envy; they were definitely jealous that she had a man like Zhou Donghuang.


    Faced with this, she felt both helpless and bitter. "I... when can I catch up to you?"


    When Luo Qinghan had received the Deity-level "Thousand-Star Sword Technique," she thought that she would finally have a chance to catch up to Zhou Donghuang... but now, she could not help but doubt that. Did she really have the opportunity to catch up to someone like Zhou Donghuang?


    Zhou Donghuang was clearly no less capable than that Zhuge Haotian.


    Although she still did not know who that Zhuge Haotian was, through the last words that he had left her, it was not hard to guess that he was from a strong, prominent family that was most probably among the premiere star clans in the entire universe.


    Otherwise, how could he just produce a Deity-level technique to give to her for her practice?


    "Zhou Donghuang was sent to that lousy Ziyun planet by his birth father... my father guessed before that his biological father must have been someone of some background. However, now that I look at it, his real background would surely be no less than Zhuge Haotian. Otherwise, how could he reach such a level at such a young age and even master Dharma Power Control?"


    Now, in the eyes of Luo Qinghan, Zhou Donghuang was already on the same level as Zhuge Haotian.


    And Zhuge Haotian was someone that she would most likely be unable to catch up to in terms of skill, even if she converted to practicing the Deity-level, Thousand-Star Sword Technique.


    "Maybe... it will never be meant to be between him and me..." sighed Luo Qinghan quietly.


    "Zhou Donghuang."


    As the crowd watched on, the Deputy Alliance Leader, a mid Primordial Soul elder, looked at Zhou Donghuang and said in a friendly manner, "Besides being the Deputy Alliance Leader, I am also the Distinguished Elder of the Guiyuan sect, He Qingshan."


    As he spoke, his eyes flashed as he got straight to the point. "Zhou Donghuang, I know that you are currently a disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect. But as the saying goes, water flows downwards, while men will always climb higher. If you agree to join our Guiyuan Sect, I will surely take you as my own disciple, and I can promise you that the whole Guiyuan Sect and I will surely do all we can to groom you!"


    When the leader of the Lightning Sword Sect, Yu Yucheng, saw He Qingshan introduce himself eagerly to Zhou Donghuang, he had already known that something was not right.


    Before he could react, He Qingshan had already tried to poach Zhou Donghuang from his sect.


    Instantly, his expression darkened as he looked at He Qingshan with disapproval. "Brother He, what you are doing? Zhou Donghuang is a disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect and a member of the Alliance... what you are doing surely goes against the rules of the Alliance, does it not?"


    The Alliance of the Hengliu galaxy was made up of the 52 top sects of the Hengliu galaxy, and the Alliance had its own internal rules to allow the various sects to remain on good terms with each other. In order to achieve that, sects were not allowed to poach disciples from other sects


    But now, He Qingshan, the Deputy Alliance Leader, was breaking this rule!


    Faced with the disapproval of Yu Yucheng, He Qingshan was calm as he replied flatly, "Leader Yu, in normal circumstances, poaching disciples would surely harm the relationship between different sects of the Alliance... but in special situations, there is no need to heed such rules that limit us.


    "Zhou Donghuang is just twenty-six years old, but he is already a late Dharma adept and has even perfected his Dharma Power to such an extent that he has mastered the technique of Dharma Power Control... based on his current level of achievement, there is nobody else in the entire history of Hengliu galaxy that can compare to him now.


    "Someone like this, even the Qi Dynasty of the Guangling Academy would want to have him.


    "Today, I made this promise to him to ensure that he remains with us in the Alliance... otherwise, would you want to lose him to the Qi Dynasty or the Guangling Academy?"


    Seeing Yu Yucheng open his mouth as if he was about to respond, He Qingshan quickly continued and said, "I know that you want to say that your Lightning Sword Sect can also provide anything that the Guiyuan Sect can give... But don''t forget that your Lightning Sword Sect has only been around for so many years; your history can hardly be considered half of ours in the Guiyuan Sect.


    "If we were to talk about history, the Lightning Sword Sect surely can''t compare to the Guiyuan Sect, would you disagree with that?


    "Furthermore, what the Guiyuan Sect can provide to Zhou Donghuang, your Lightning Sword Sect may not be able to do the same."


    He Qingshan''s words left Yu Yucheng speechless, as he could not respond. What He Qingshan said was indeed the truth.


    The Guiyuan Sect was one of the oldest sects that were still surviving in the Hengliu galaxy to date. They had a long and illustrious history, almost comparable to the Transcendental Forces of the Qi Dynasty and the Guangling Academy in the Hengliu galaxy.


    The Lightning Sword Sect was only established sometime after.


    If one were to compare history, the Lightning Sword Sect was definitely nothing compared to the Guiyuan Sect.


    Seeing Yu Yucheng unable to respond, He Qingshan then looked at Zhou Donghuang again and wanted to continue his pitch to convince him...


    However, before he could speak again, the leader of the Yunyue Sect had already spoken up. "Zhou Donghuang, based on history, our Yunyue Sect is comparable to the Guiyuan Sect... as long as you agree to become a disciple of our Yunyue Sect, whatever the Guiyuan Sect can give you, our Yunyue Sect can also give to you and more!"


    Once the Yunyue Sect Leader had said this, there were immediately other Sect Leaders who also chimed in, each trying to poach Zhou Donghuang from the Lightning Sword Sect, trying to convince him to join their respective sects instead.


    These sects were all as old as the Guiyuan sect and had long histories.


    When the Yunyue Sect Leader had spoken, He Qingshan''s expression had already turned sour. Now that so many other Sect Leaders had also started speaking, his expression turned sour... however, he could not say anything to refute them, because these sects were indeed as established as his Guiyuan Sect.


    In fact, some of them had even longer histories than the Guiyuan Sect.


    "Zhou Donghuang!"


    Then, even the leader of the Jihan Sect, Meng Yuping, also stood up to join in the fun. She looked at Zhou Donghuang with a warm smile on her face and said, "Our Jihan Sect has a long history as well and is as established as any other sect... if you join our Jihan Sect, we can give you anything that any other sect can offer you.


    "On top of that, you can even be together with Luo Qinghan here and be a couple."


    As Meng Yuping spoke, the Yunyue Sect Leader had a bitter smile on his face. Hearing Meng Yuping''s words, he could not help but give her a thumbs up. "Leader Meng, you''re really something else! Looks like nobody else here can compete with you today."


    When He Qingshan and the rest of the Sect Leaders, who had tried to recruit Zhou Donghuang, looked on with confusion, the Yunyue Sect Leader quickly explained the relationship between Zhou Donghuang and Luo Qinghan, and their expressions changed totally immediately.


    They would never have expected that the Jihan Sect would have an advantage like this!


    Hearing the words of Meng Yuping, Zhou Donghuang looked at Luo Qinghan, but saw that she was also looking at him and shaking her head slightly.


    "Luo Qinghan!"


    When Meng Yuping saw Luo Qinghan''s little action, her face darkened immediately as her gaze turned serious.

 290 Huang Chunqius Thoughts

    "Sect Leader Meng."


    Zhou Donghuang turned towards Meng Yuping, who was staring at Luo Qinghan with a darkened expression, and said with a faint smile, "From the very beginning, the reason why I joined the Lightning Sword Sect and not the Jihan Sect together with Qinghan was because the Autumn Valley Head my benefactor.


    "Just like my initial decision... Today, I will still choose to continue staying in the Lightning Sword Sect."


    Although Zhou Donghuang''s voice was calm, his determined tone gave off a reassuring feel, as if one could not help but believe his words.


    Upon hearing his words, Meng Yuping''s expression finally lightened up.


    She had already been wondering: If Zhou Donghuang had such a relationship with Luo Qinghan, why did he not join the Jihan Sect with her?


    While it was known that the Jihan Sect had more female disciples, they accepted male disciples too.


    After hearing from Zhou Donghuang, Meng Yuping finally understood the reason.


    "Haha..."


    The Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng, who had been waiting for Zhou Donghuang to announce his decision, could not help but laugh heartily after hearing his words. He gazed excitedly at Zhou Donghuang and said, "Zhou Donghuang, don''t worry. Since you chose to stay in our Lightning Sword Sect, the Lightning Sword Sect will definitely not let you down!"


    The Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng, knew very clearly that even if Zhou Donghuang were to leave and join another sect, the Lightning Sword Sect would be powerless to stop him. They would be unable to do anything and could do nothing to change his mind.


    Now, upon hearing that Zhou Donghuang had chosen to stay in the Lightning Sword Sect, he was unable to suppress his excitement.


    "Thank you, Sect Leader."


    Even though Zhou Donghuang had never thought of leaving the Lightning Sword Sect for any other sects in the Hengliu galaxy, he was still grateful that the other sects tried to poach him from the Lightning Sword Sect. This had made him appear even more precious and valuable and made the Lightning Sword Sect Leader make such a promise to him.


    He could almost foresee that in the future if he required any help, the Lightning Sword Sect Leader would definitely do his utmost to help him achieve his needs.


    In fact, this was also Zhou Donghuang''s aim.


    If not, he could easily accumulate 40000 points'' worth of beast heads to easily clinch the first place of the Alliance Hunt. By presenting the 40000 points'' worth of beast heads, his aim was to announce to everyone that he, Zhou Donghuang, was this outstanding. Throughout contemporary Hengliu galaxy and even in its history, nobody could surpass him!


    By showing everyone his value, only then he could receive more in return.


    At this point, his situation was similar to that.


    At the same time, the sects that tried to recruit Zhou Donghuang could only temporarily give up on that idea after seeing Zhou Donghuang express his stand. One by one, they began to look towards Yu Yucheng. They congratulated him as the Sect Leader and the whole Lightning Sword Sect for having a disciple as extraordinary as Zhou Donghuang.


    In their hearts, they had already started thinking of ways to see if they could secretly recruit Zhou Donghuang to join their sects.


    To them, as long as human nature existed, so would human desire.


    As Zhou Donghuang accumulated a total of 40000 points in the Alliance Hunt, although many other remarkable disciples went after him to present their haul, all of them were overshadowed by him...


    Not only did they pale in comparison to Zhou Donghuang''s accumulated points, but they were also overshadowed by He Mengxi''s points as well.


    "This Alliance Hunt has become the Lightning Sword Sect''s one-man show," the people of the various sects whispered to one another in a bitter tone.


    Even so, they were unable to do anything. What else could they do but bemoan the luck of the Lightning Sword Sect in getting a disciple as outstanding as Zhou Donghuang?


    In the process, the talented disciples of the various sects who initially wanted to compete with Zhou Donghuang completely gave up on the idea. This included the Thunder Knife Sect''s disciple, Han Yuzheng, who wanted to seek revenge, and some other Alliance disciples who were unhappy when others said that Zhou Donghuang was stronger than them.


    The difference was just too significant.


    It was so out of reach that they felt hopeless.


    Throughout the long history of the Hengliu galaxy, there had never been someone like Zhou Donghuang. They did not think they could surpass the countless brilliant young men recorded in the history of the Hengliu galaxy.


    When the accumulated points of all the disciples had been tallied, it also meant that the Alliance Hunt had officially ended.


    "I only have a portion of the reward for the Alliance Hunt... the rest of the reward is in the hands of the two other Deputy Alliance Leaders."


    He Qingshan, the Deputy Alliance Leader, and the Distinguished Elder of the Guiyuan Sect, tabulated the scores on the ranking board, then announced to all the disciples of the different sects present. Throughout the entire process, his eyes were gleaming brightly as his gaze landed on Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang was the well-deserved champion of this Alliance Hunt.


    As for the second position, it was clinched by another disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, He Mengxi, who also accumulated more than 10000 points.


    After the Alliance Hunt ended, the different sects of the Alliance waited for two days. Finally, the two Deputy Alliance Leaders, who had accompanied Tiansong Sect Leader Huang Chunqiu to the Guiyao planet, arrived. These two old men were all at the mid Divine Transformation stage.


    Huang Chunqiu and the rest came out with them.


    "Didn''t find anything?" When those of the other sects saw the same people who had entered the Guiyao planet return without any new additions, they had already guessed.


    "We searched the entire Guiyao planet, but could not find anyone."


    One of the two Deputy Alliance Leaders who had returned shook his head as he saw He Qingshan look towards him.


    "Is the ranking ready?"


    Another Deputy Alliance Leader asked He Qingshan.


    "It is ready."


    He Qingshan nodded and passed the piece of paper to the two of them.


    Upon receiving the paper, both of them looked down in unison. They wanted to know who emerged as the champion, how many points they received, and whether the record of 10000 points, which no one had been able to break in the past few hundred years, had been broken.


    "Zhou Donghuang?"


    Both of them saw Zhou Donghuang''s name on the first line, behind the words "first place."


    They had heard of Zhou Donghuang and knew that he was the rising star of the Lightning Sword Sect in the last two years.


    It was just that they had not expected Zhou Donghuang to emerge as the champion of the Alliance Hunt. At that moment, they only had one thought: Zhou Donghuang''s luck is pretty good.


    However, when they saw the accumulated points behind his name, they were shocked.


    Oh god!


    Did they see wrong?


    Forty thousand?


    More than 40000 points?


    Instantly, both of them looked up at He Qingshan and asked in unison, "There is something wrong with Zhou Donghuang''s accumulated points, right?"


    "There''s no mistake. It was indeed over 40000 points."


    With regards to their reaction, He Qingshan was not surprised. "Zhou Donghuang produced more than 300 late Dharma beast heads, and another close to 400 ultimate Dharma beast heads... I checked again, and they were all beasts of the Guiyao planet killed within the last three months. There is nothing wrong."


    As if he knew what the two of them were about to ask next, He Qingshan answered all their unasked questions.


    "More than 300 late Dharma beasts? Almost 400 ultimate Dharma beasts?"


    In that instant, not just the two Deputy Alliance Leaders, but even the high ranking elders of the Tiansong Sect led by the leader of the Tiansong Sect, Huang Chunqiu, were all so shocked that their eyes narrowed. They turned to look at the Tiansong Sect disciples standing behind them.


    "Sect Leader, Zhou Donghuang has indeed taken out that many beast heads and accumulated over 40000 points."


    Another Tiansong Sect disciple who was standing close by said with a bitter smile, "In addition, he has also mastered the technique of Dharma Power Control, a technique that no one in the history of the Hengliu galaxy was able to master."


    Upon hearing his words, Huang Chunqiu''s pupils immediately dilated as he had already suspected as much. "This Zhou Donghuang has also mastered the technique of Dharma Power Control?"


    His disciple, Mo Yitian, had died at the hands of someone who mastered the technique of Dharma Power Control.


    That mysterious person, besides wearing a mask, and having a different Dharma Power from Zhou Donghuang, was remarkably similar to him in all aspects... this was what Huang Chunqiu had found out from the two Tiansong disciples who had been present.


    "The two of you..."


    With a flash of his body, Huang Chunqiu now appeared in front of the two disciples and glared at them, asking them seriously, "Are you certain... that man, when he produced his Dharma Power, it was in the form of a bird and not a tiger?


    "You must know that... someone who has mastered the technique of Dharma Power Control can easily control their Dharma Power to transform into any shape a moment after the Dharma Power presents itself.


    "Are you sure... that the Bird Dharma Power did not transform from a Tiger Dharma Power?"


    Dharma adepts who had mastered Dharma Power Control would be able to transform the shape and figure of their Dharma Power at will, but at the moment that the Dharma Power appeared, it would appear in its original form.


    It would not possibly appear in the shape or figure of another Dharma Power.


    Hence, Huang Chunqiu had asked the two Tiansong disciples this question.


    "Sect Leader, I saw it bright and clear. When the Dharma Power first appeared, it was indeed a Bird Dharma Power, and it seemed to be a part of the person''s body. It was definitely the original form of the Dharma Power," confirmed one of the Tiansong disciples.


    "Sect Leader, I can also confirm that that person produced a Bird Dharma Power, not a Tiger Dharma Power... I am sure that person is not Zhou Donghuang!"


    Without hesitation, the other Tiansong Sect disciple continued with an affirming tone, "His build and clothes were indeed similar to Zhou Donghuang... but, I can confirm his white shirt and Zhou Donghuang''s white shirt have different details."


    "At first, seeing his similarities with Zhou Donghuang, I had looked at him closer."


    After listening to the two Tiansong Sect disciples, Huang Chunqiu could not help but frown...


    How was such coincidence possible?


    Both had similar builds and liked wearing white shirts; both were at the late Dharma stage and had mastered the technique of Dharma Power Control... but they were not the same person?


    One had Tiger Dharma Power, while the other one had Bird Dharma Power.

 291 Guangling Academy Elder

    "Unless this Zhou Donghuang has the ability to transform the appearance of his Dharma Power before it appears... Otherwise, he could not possibly be that person!"


    As Huang Chunqiu thought of this, he looked once again at Zhou Donghuang, his gaze becoming even more severe and intense.


    He couldn''t believe that such coincidence existed.


    "Zhou Donghuang, don''t you dare let me find any evidence... otherwise, I, and the Tiansong Sect, will never let you off!" Huang Chunqiu muttered quietly under his breath.


    Now, he couldn''t be sure that Zhou Donghuang was the person who had murdered his beloved disciple, Mo Yitian. Even if he was convinced that Zhou Donghuang was the murderer, as long as he had no evidence to prove it, he could never do anything to Zhou Donghuang openly.


    However, once he managed to prove that Zhou Donghuang had indeed killed Mo Yitian, he and the Tiansong Sect would have a reason to do something to avenge his death.


    In fact, everybody else from the other sects would all support him.


    Zhou Donghuang was too outstanding, such that he was unnaturally extraordinary.


    However, as the saying went, "Once the tree outgrows the forest, the wind must blow it over." The other sects of the Alliance would definitely want to destroy this unnatural talent from the Lightning Sword Sect if they had the chance to.


    No sect would wish to have Zhou Donghuang grow even stronger, and the Lightning Sword Sect become even more dominant.


    Someone as powerful as Zhou Donghuang, once he grew up and got even stronger, would disrupt the delicate balance between the sects of the Alliance!


    If he were to be ambitious, he could even conquer every single one of them and become the third Transcendental Force of the Hengliu galaxy.


    By that time, nobody would wish to be conquered and may even face possible annihilation!


    Nobody else was aware of what Huang Chunqiu was thinking.


    Even the two Tiansong Sect disciples who witnessed the masked Zhou Donghuang kill Mo Yitian that day would never imagine that that person was none other than Zhou Donghuang himself.


    Huang Chunqiu did not even dare to imagine the possibility that Zhou Donghuang could have two Dharma Powers, only thinking to the extent that Zhou Donghuang had mastered the technique of transforming the appearance of the Dharma Power before it appeared.


    As for the other two Tiansong Sect disciples, they did not dare to think that Zhou Donghuang had two separate Dharma Powers. They also did not think that Zhou Donghuang could possibly have the power to transform the appearance of his Dharma Power.


    What if they had all been mistaken?


    Nonetheless, even if Huang Chunqiu had such thoughts at that moment, he could definitely not say it out loud right now. Once he said it out loud, nobody would believe his words nor stand on his side.


    ...


    The Alliance Hunt, which lasted for three whole months, ended.


    Zhou Donghuang received the Sky Sun fruit that he wanted after half a month.


    The Sky Sun fruit could be said to be the best prize that the Alliance Hunt could offer. Most times, nobody could even win such a prize.


    That day, after confirming that Zhou Donghuang would be able to receive the grand prize of the Sky Sun fruit, practically all the Dharma adepts in the Alliance looked at him with envy.


    In fact, many Sect Leaders even hurried to offer high prices to buy the fruit from Zhou Donghuang.


    However, all their offers were flatly rejected by Zhou Donghuang.


    What a joke!


    The Sky Sun fruit was exactly what he desperately needed right then. With the Sky Sun fruit, he would be able to allow the four Dharma Powers in his body to quickly breakthrough to the ultimate Dharma stage and then towards the Primordial Soul stage!


    "If my four Supreme Beast Dharma Powers reach the Primordial Soul stage, with their power... even if I am just at the early Primordial Soul stage, I am confident of defeating or even killing any ordinary late Primordial Soul adepts!"


    After receiving the Sky Sun fruit from Yu Yucheng, leader of the Lightning Sword Sect, Zhou Donghuang''s face appeared calm, but his heart was fluttering with excitement.


    "Congratulations, Zhou Donghuang." Yu Yucheng smiled as he congratulated Zhou Donghuang.


    "Thank you, Sect Leader."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded at Yu Yucheng and prepared to head back to his residence in the Autumn Valley to produce the Sky Sun elixir to fully utilize the Sky Sun fruit as quickly as possible.


    Once the Sky Sun elixir was produced, his level of skill would improve drastically within a short, and perhaps he could even distribute one Sky Sun elixir each to Third Senior Sister and Da Zhuang.


    "Zhou Donghuang, please hold on."


    As Zhou Donghuang bid him farewell and prepared to return to the Autumn Valley, Yu Yucheng stopped him.


    "Yes, Sect Leader?" asked Zhou Donghuang.


    "Our Lightning Sword Sect recently received a few guests."


    Yu Yucheng smiled sadly at Zhou Donghuang as he said, "It would be nothing if they were just any ordinary guests... but they are from the Qi Dynasty and the Guangling Academy."


    "Qi Dynasty? Guangling Academy?"


    Zhou Donghuang frowned. "Are they here for the Sky Sun fruit?"


    "I''m afraid that is not the case... I think they are here because of you instead."


    Yu Yucheng shook his head and said, "Of course, if you do not wish to join the Qi Dynasty or the Guangling Academy, they will surely try to gain something from you instead, which would be your Sky Sun fruit."


    "Do I have to see them?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s brows were raised into a slight drown. He did not wish to meet anybody unimportant or irrelevant.


    "If you do not meet them, they may head to the Autumn Valley to find you themselves."


    Yu Yucheng smiled bitterly. In front of the two Transcendental Forces, even him, as the leader of the Lightning Sword Sect, would have to be cautious and respectful to avoid making any mistakes.


    This was inevitable, simply because his level of skill was too low.


    If the other party decided to attack him, or anybody else in the Lightning Sword Sect, they could easily find an excuse. After all, the Alliance did not wish to have any conflicts with these two Transcendental Forces.


    Although there were many strong adepts among the 52 sects of the Alliance, the organization could simply not bring together all these talents just because of a small conflict to argue with the two Transcendental Forces, much less fight against them.


    At the end of the day, if anyone in the highest ranks of the two Transcendental Forces, no matter how young, were to slap Yu Yucheng, he would also not be able to do anything in response.


    "In that case, let''s meet them."


    Zhou Donghuang did not wish to lead the two Transcendental Forces to the Autumn Valley and disrupt the peace there.


    Under the guidance of Yu Yucheng, Zhou Donghuang first headed to where the people from the Guangling Academy had been hosted by the Lightning Sword Sect.


    The man from the Guangling Academy was a middle-aged man who looked like a scholar, his build strong and muscular, and his facial features upright. His face seemed to always be filled with a smile, giving one the feeling of a gust of Spring wind.


    "Elder Dong."


    Yu Yucheng first greeted the man with a smile, then began his introduction, "Elder Dong, this gentleman here is Zhou Donghuang from our Lightning Sword Sect."


    "Zhou Donghuang, this gentleman here is Elder Dong of the Guangling Academy."


    Once Yu Yucheng had finished speaking, Zhou Donghuang only slightly glanced at the man from Guangling Academy, then asked impatiently, "What do you want?"


    If he could choose, he would definitely not want to see anyone from the Guangling Academy or the Qi Dynasty because there was no point in meeting them, and it would be a waste of his time.


    However, Zhou Donghuang''s impatient tone shocked Yu Yucheng. He hurriedly apologized profusely to the man, "Elder Dong, Zhou Donghuang has something important to rush off to at the Autumn Valley, so he is in a bit of a rush... I hope you can forgive him."


    The man before him looked like he was just one of the elders of the Guangling Academy. Still, he had another identity¡ªhe was the grandson of the current Principal of the Guangling Academy!


    The Lightning Sword Sect could not afford to offend someone like that.


    "No need," replied Dong Fangyou with a shake of his head. "I was also too impatient just now."


    "Zhou Donghuang." Dong Fangyou looked at Zhou Donghuang, his face filled with a kind smile as he said, "I am here today mainly to invite you to enter the Guangling Academy..."


    Before Dong Fangyou could finish, Zhou Donghuang had already interrupted him. "Not interested."


    The smile on Dong Fangyou''s face seemed to falter momentarily, but he continued with a bright smile, "Of course, since you are not willing, I, and the Guangling Academy, will not force you.


    "But there is something else..."


    Hearing Dong Fangyou''s words, Zhou Donghuang already knew that the man was definitely eyeing his Sky Sun fruit. Dong Fangyou immediately proved that Zhou Donghuang''s suspicions were correct, as he asked about the Sky Sun fruit.


    "Our Guangling Academy is willing to use a Tongshen fruit to exchange for your Sky Sun fruit... I wonder if you are willing to trade with us?" Dong Fangyou asked with a smile.


    A Tongshen fruit?


    Hearing Dong Fangyou''s words, although Zhou Donghuang appeared calm on the surface, he was extremely agitated on the inside. Clearly, he did not expect that the Guangling Academy would use a Tongshen fruit to trade for his Sky Sun fruit.


    The value of the Tongshen fruit was no less than the Sky Sun fruit. In fact, to some people, the Tongshen fruit was even more attractive than the Sky Sun fruit.


    The Tongshen fruit could guarantee ultimate Dharma adepts a breakthrough to the Primordial Soul stage. It was extremely valuable for ultimate Dharma adepts who were at the end of their lives but who seemed to have no chance in reaching the Primordial Soul stage.


    This was the same as a life-prolonging pill for them!


    Even in resource-rich galaxies, in any auction, the Tongshen fruit could easily fetch a higher price than the Sky Sun fruit.


    Even in resource-rich galaxies, there was no shortage of ultimate Dharma adepts who lacked natural talent and who had no chance of reaching the Primordial Soul stage. The family and friends of these people would try to procure the Tongshen fruit for them.


    Just based on price alone and nothing else, the Tongshen fruit was not inferior to the Sky Sun fruit.


    It was just a pity that the Tongshen fruit had no value at all to Zhou Donghuang.


    Now, even if the Guangling Academy produced ten or even a hundred Tongshen fruits, he would never exchange it for the Sky Sun fruit.


    What did he need the most right now?


    Time!


    The Sky Sun fruit would allow him to save time and reach the Primordial Soul stage earlier than expected.


    "No deal."


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head.


    From Dong Fangyou''s expression, he was clearly not surprised by Zhou Donghuang''s response.


    However, he did not just give up like that, but added, "What if I add another promise?


    "An early Divine Transformation adept from the Guangling Academy will make an appearance to fight on your behalf, no matter your opponent and no matter the reason!"


    Even after hearing this additional offer, Zhou Donghuang shook his head once again, "Not trading!"


    "Mid Primordial Soul."


    Dong Fangyou continued, "As long as it does not harm the interests of the Guangling Academy, a mid Divine Transformation adept of the Guangling Academy will fight on your behalf once!"

 292 Fourteenth Prince of the Qi Dynasty

    As long as it does not harm the interests of the Guangling Academy?


    Upon hearing Dong Fangyou''s words, even Yu Yucheng, the leader of the Lightning Sword Sect could not help but gasp.


    He knew exactly what this meant.


    This meant that as long as Zhou Donghuang was willing to exchange his Sky Sun fruit, just one word from him would be enough to make the Guangling Academy send out a mid Divine Transformation adept to kill him, Yu Yucheng!


    In fact, to kill any sect leader of the Alliance.


    Of course, it would be an assassination.


    However, without solid evidence, even if the sects of the Alliance suspected anything, they could not question anyone about the crime.


    Yu Yucheng could not help but be amazed by the attractiveness of the Sky Sun fruit.


    Hundreds of years ago, the Qi Dynasty had specifically sent out a young lord undercover in one of the sects of the Alliance and won the Sky Sun fruit openly as the champion of the Alliance Hunt.


    Now, the Guangling Academy was willing to pay such a high price in exchange for the Sky Sun fruit.


    "No deal."


    Zhoug Donghuang still shook his head and was not at all swayed by the new offer from Dong Fangyou, the elder from the Guangling Academy.


    At this moment, even Yu Yucheng was shocked. He had thought that Zhou Donghuang was going to accept the deal.


    After all, the promise for a mid Divine Tansformation adept of the Guangling Academy to fight for him was too valuable, and the offer even included a Tongshen fruit.


    In the Lightning Sword Sect, there was only one mid Divine Transformation adept.


    Even for sects with profound backgrounds in the Alliance, there were at most two mid Primordial Soul adepts who stayed in the Hengliu galaxy.


    As for late Primordial Soul adepts, it was impossible to have any in the sects of the Alliance.


    Normally, those with the ability to reach the late Divine Transformation stage in the Hengliu galaxy also had the potential to travel to galaxies with better environments and resources. Most of them would not be willing to stay in any of the sects of the Alliance.


    Unlike the two Transcendental Forces of the Hengliu galaxy, even if a late Divine Transformation adept chose to stay there, there would be enough resources for him to use freely.


    Of course, even if they were the two Transcendental Forces of the Hengliu galaxy, they were also unable to keep ultimate Divine Transformation adepts.


    After all, the Divine Transformation stage was only one stage away from the Separating Divinity stage, and no one was willing to risk staying in the Hengliu galaxy.


    What if by staying in Hengliu galaxy, one would never be able to breakthrough?


    Was this not equivalent to waiting for death?


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang once again reject the deal, Dong Fangyou thought he wanted to continue bargaining. To cut off Zhou Donghuang''s plan, he immediately continued his words.


    "Of course, if you have not met with the Qi Dynasty, you should go and meet them first... However, whatever they are willing to offer will never be comparable to the Guangling Academy.


    "The Guangling Academy is being very sincere.


    "You can pay a visit to the Qi Dynasty first, but if you think that the Guangling Academy''s offer is better, you can follow Sect Leader Yu to find me.


    "I will wait for you."


    With Dong Fangyou''s words, it was obvious that the Guangling Academy was extremely confident of the deal they had offered and was not afraid of their competition.


    He was sure that Zhou Donghuang only rejected him because he wanted to compare the items offered by the Guangling Academy and the Qi Dynasty.


    He would never have imagined that even if he had promised to send a late Divine Transformation adept to fight for Zhou Donghuang, Zhou Donghuang would still have no interest in the offer.


    To Zhou Donghuang, the Sky Sun fruit could allow him to reach the Primordial Soul stage in the fastest time possible.


    Once he reached the Primordial Soul stage, he would be able to access the treasures that he recalled from the memories of his previous life and get his hands on those treasures which others would have taken.


    Now, the thing he lacked the most was time.


    With the Sky Sun fruit, not only could he shorten the distance between him and the Primordial Soul stage, it could also shorten the distance between him and the Divine Transformation stage, the Separating Divinity and even the Heavenly stage!


    Within the shortest time, he wanted to obtain the peak abilities from his past life and even more!


    His birth father and birth mother were waiting for him to save them.


    He could not afford to waste a second!


    "Sect Leader, let''s meet the people from the Qi Dynasty."


    At that moment, the thing that Zhou Donghuang wanted to do was to return to the Autumn Valley and refine his Sky Sun fruit into a Sky Sun elixir. The other medicinal herbs required to refine the Sky Sun fruit had already been obtained not long after Zhou Donghuang returned from the Alliance Hunt.


    Out of all the medicinal herbs required to refine the Sky Sun elixir, the most important one was the Sky Sun fruit. The other medicinal herbs were precious, but they were not difficult to obtain.


    In fact, Zhou Donghuang did not even need to seek help from Sect Leader Yu Yucheng. He simply went to greet the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin, and a few days later, He Jin had prepared all the medicinal herbs and brought them to him.


    If not to prevent the people from the Qi Dynasty and the Guangling Academy from disturbing the Autumn Valley, Zhou Donghuang was not at all interested in meeting them.


    Under the guidance of Lightning Sect Leader Yu Yucheng, Zhou Donghuang quickly met the people from the Qi Dynasty.


    There was a total of two people.


    One was a mid-aged gentleman in a sky blue robe, and the other was a young gentleman clad in a flowing robe of silk.


    "Fourteenth Prince, this gentlemen is Zhou Donghuang of the Lightning Sword Sect."


    Upon meeting the guests from the Qi Dynasty, Yu Yucheng once again introduced, "Zhou Donghuang, this gentleman is the fourteenth prince of the Qi Dynasty, Qi Rui, and this is the Qi Dynasty''s official, Chu Wei.


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at the both of them and nodded slightly.


    "Presumptuous!"


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang''s cold reaction, the Qi Dynasty official, Chu Wei, who was standing behind the fourteenth prince of the Qi Dynasty, Qi Rui, glared furiously at Zhou Donghuang and yelled, "How dare you not bow down to the fourteenth prince?"


    "Why do I have to bow?"


    Zhou Donghuang took a quick glance at Chu Wei. "I am not from the Qi Dynasty, why do I have to abide by your meaningless customs?"


    "You¡ª!"


    Chu Wei was now enraged as he screamed, "Do you really think that you can do anything you want just because you have some talent in the Martial Way? Are you unaware of how powerful the Qi Dynasty is?"


    "Official Chu, you are currently in the Lightning Sword Sect''."


    Yu Yucheng reminded in an indifferent tone as he glanced slightly at Chu Wei.


    Dong Fangyou of the Guangling Academy was the grandson of the current Principal of the Guangling Academy... however, this Chu Wei was only an ordinary official from the Qi Dynasty. He, as the leader of the Lightning Sword Sect, had nothing to be afraid of.


    As for the Fourteenth Prince Qi Rui, while he was slightly terrifying, he was nowhere near the level of Dong Fangyou.


    Although the Fourteenth Prince was of the royal family, he was considered one of the least talented martial adepts in his generation of Qi Dynasty descendants and usually only played insignificant roles in the Qi Dynasty.


    Of course, even if he was not that terrifying, it was still not wise to provoke him on purpose.


    "Uncle Chu, Sect Leader Yu is here, you should show him some respect."


    Qi Rui slightly glanced at Zhou Donghuang and spoke in a condescending tone, "Zhou Donghuang, your talent is not bad. I represent Qi Dynasty to invite you to join us."


    "Not interested."


    Zhou Donghuang replied in a calm tone, "If there is no other business, I shall take my leave."


    Upon finishing his sentence, Zhou Donghuang turned and walked away.


    Just as Qi Rui was about to speak again, Zhou Donghuang continued as he walked out, "Not only am I not interested in going to the Qi Dynasty, I am also not interested in exchanging the Sun Sky fruit for anything... regardless of what Qi Dynasty is able to offer."


    With one sentence, Qi Rui became speechless instantly. He could only watch as Zhou Donghuang arrogantly walked away and disappeared in the distance.


    "Sect Leader Yu, your Zhou Donghuang of the Lightning Sword Sect is too rude!"


    Chu Wei glanced at Yu Yucheng furiously and spoke in a deep voice, "Not only has Zhou Donghuang''s actions offended the Fourteenth Prince, he has also offended the Qi Dynasty!"


    "Official Chu, Zhou Donghuang is not somebody who you can force to do anything you want."


    Although Yu Yucheng felt helpless at the arrogance and fearlessness of Zhou Donghuang, he was not afraid of Chu Wei. He spoke calmly and without emotion, and it was clear that he was protecting Zhou Donghuang.


    "Sect Leader Yu."


    At that moment, Qi Rui''s eyes turned cold and he spoke in a deep voice, "Later, help me pass this message to your so-called elite of the Lightning Sword Sect... in the Hengliu galaxy, an elite who gives up halfway and is unable to grow up is useless!"


    Upon hearing his words, Yu Yucheng''s face turned pale as his eyes shot out cold rays, "Fourteenth Prince, are you threatening my Lightning Sword Sect disciple?"


    "Hmph! Uncle Chu, let''s go!"


    Qi Rui ignored Yu Yucheng as he called out to Chu Wei and led him out of the door without looking back.


    As he watched the backs of the two disappear into the distance, Yu Yucheng''s eyes were cold and filled with a murderous glint, but in the end, he still did not do anything.


    Killing the two of them was not at all difficult for him. However, the consequences of killing them was not something he or the Lightning Sword Sect could bear.


    Although the fourteenth prince of the Qi Dynasty, Qi Rui, did not have a high status, he was still the bloodline of King Qi. If he was to die in the hands of the Lightning Sword Sect, the Qi Dynasty will definitely not show them any mercy!


    "Seems like I will have to warn Zhou Donghuang to refrain from going out if there is no important business... and even if he has to go out, he should still tell me beforehand."


    Regarding Qi Rui threats, Yu Yucheng dare not take them lightly.


    Although Qi Rui did not have a high status in the Qi Dynasty, it was only among the royal family. His one word could still gather countless Qi Dynasty Primordial Soul adepts.


    Even Chu Wei, a Qi Dynasty Official, was an ultimate Primordial Soul adept.


    Normally, Qi Rui might not be able to give orders to Chu Wei. However, as Zhou Donghuang had also enraged Chu Wei, it was possible that he would be willing to harm Zhou Donghuang.


    "Oh no, I have to warn Zhou Donghuang this instant!"


    Yu Yucheng grew increasingly worried the more he thought about it. In a moment, he began to swiftly head towards the direction of the Autumn Valley.


    As Zhou Donghuang was about to reach the Autumn Valley, Yu Yucheng caught up to him. "Sect Leader?"


    "You are not here to tell me about the conditions the Qi Dynasty has offered to exchange for my Sky Sun fruit... right? If you are, there is no need to continue as I will never exchange my Sky Sun fruit for anything."


    Zhou Donghuang''s tone was extremely strong!

 293 Pleasant Surprise

    "Zhou Donghuang, please do not be mistaken."


    Yu Yucheng smiled at him kindly and said, "The Sky Sun fruit is yours, it''s up to you whether you wish to sell or exchange it or not. Nobody can force you to do anything.


    "I am here to find you to remind you about something.


    "Just now, after you left, the fourteenth prince of the Qi Dynasty, Qi Rui, threatened you right in front of me... in his own words, he said that in the Hengliu galaxy, if a talent were to halt his growth halfway and no longer be able to progress, that man would be useless!"


    As he spoke, the smile on Yu Yucheng''s face disappeared completely, replaced by a serious expression as he continued, "In the future, before you have enough power to protect yourself well, you should try not to leave the Lightning Sword Sect if you can avoid it.


    "Even if you must leave, you must tell the Valley Head about it, and let him follow you out."


    Yu Yucheng added, "Later, I will inform the Valley Head about this."


    Now, Zhou Donghuang was a precious treasure in the eyes of Yu Yucheng. Based on Zhou Donghuang''s natural talent and ability, once he grew up and got even stronger, he would surely be a titan in the Hengliu galaxy. Furthermore, at his young age, he would be in no hurry to leave the Hengliu galaxy for greener pastures even after he reached the Divine Transformation stage.


    In the Hengliu galaxy, those who were eager to leave the galaxy to head to other planets and galaxies with better training environments and resources were mostly older Divine Transformation adepts. They were all rushing to break through to the next stage because if they were too slow, that would mean the end of their lives.


    "Based on the talent and ability that Zhou Donghuang has displayed to date, if he continues in this manner... even when he reaches the late Divine Transformation stage, his life will probably not even be at the halfway point yet. He will have no need to rush to leave the Hengliu galaxy, and at that point, he can surely lead our Lightning Sword Sect to greater heights. We can become superior to all the other sects of the Alliance, standing alongside the two Transcendental Forces of the galaxy!"


    Yu Yucheng had high hopes for Zhou Donghuang.


    In fact, the day after the Alliance Hunt had ended, the other sects of the Alliance had tried to poach Zhou Donghuang from the Lightning Sword Sect precisely because they recognized his potential and wanted him to become a part of their sects.


    "Thank you for your reminder, Sect Leader."


    Although he was well aware that Yu Yucheng was taking such good care of him because of the extraordinary talent and skill that he had displayed, Zhou Donghuang still accepted his goodwill.


    Next, Yu Yucheng and Zhou Donghuang returned to the Autumn Valley together.


    As for Yu Yucheng, he looked for the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin.


    Zhou Donghuang''s safety, to a certain extent, concerned the future of the Lightning Sword Sect. There was a reason for him to be as careful and cautious as possible.


    Yu Yucheng only left reassured after he had spoken to He Jin about the matter.


    "That Elder Dong is probably still waiting for Zhou Donghuang''s response."


    Yu Yucheng could easily guess the thoughts of the Guangling Academy elder, Dong Fangyou. He was definitely waiting to see if Zhou Donghuang would return and take him up on his offer. After all, he was certain that what the Guangling Academy had offered Zhou Donghuang was surely worth much more than whatever the Qi Dynasty could offer.


    "Hmm?"


    However, when Dong Fangyou saw Yu Yucheng return alone, he could not help but frown slightly.


    Did the Qi Dynasty really offer something even better than what the Guangling Academy had offered Zhou Donghuang?


    That was highly unlikely.


    "Elder Dong."


    Yu Yucheng smiled awkwardly and said, "The Sky Sun fruit, the Guangling Academy will not be able to get it... you can also go back. Of course, if Elder Dong wishes to stay a few days in our Lightning Sword Sect, you will be more than welcome here."


    "Did he give the Sky Sun fruit to the Qi Dynasty?" asked Dong Fangyou in a low tone.


    "No."


    Yu Yucheng shook his head and answered, "Before those from the Qi Dynasty could even offer anything, Zhou Donghuang had already flatly rejected them and left before they could say anything."


    Yu Yucheng''s words shocked Dong Fangyou. "That boy rejected them even before they could make an offer?"


    At that point, he realized that he had misunderstood Zhou Donghuang. He had originally thought that Zhou Donghuang had wanted to compare the offer from both parties before making a decision, but now, it looked like Zhou Donghuang was really unwilling to give up the Sky Sun fruit in his hands.


    "Indeed." Yu Yucheng nodded.


    "Haha... looks like our Guangling Academy still commands more respect than them, at least he waited to hear what I had to offer."


    After confirming with Yu Yucheng, Dong Fangyou laughed and said, "Forget it, since that boy is so unwilling, then our Guangling Academy will not try to force it either.


    "Farewell, Sect Leader Yu!"


    After hearing that the Qi Dynasty did not even have the chance to make an offer for the Sky Sun fruit, Dong Fangyou seemed extremely happy. It was as if he was not at all disappointed that he had failed to obtain the Sky Sun fruit for the Guangling Academy.


    In fact, as he left, he had a smile on his face.


    "It has always been said that the Guangling Academy and the Qi Dynasty are like water and fire... today, that has indeed been proven to be the case."


    After sending Dong Fangyou out of the door, Yu Yucheng reflected to himself.


    ...


    Qi Rui, the fourteenth prince of the Qi Dynasty, led the Qi Dynasty official, Chu Wei, as they left the Lightning Sword Sect. His expression was still stone cold as he said, "Uncle Chu, I cannot take this lying down... I think, you must be feeling the same way?"


    Hearing this, Chu Wei''s hawk-like eyes also flashed murderously. "That Zhou Donghuang is indeed behaving very rudely."


    "Uncle Chu, I want him dead!"


    Qi Rui''s eyes were burning with hatred, eager to kill.


    Normally, in the royal family of the Qi Dynasty, he was used to being looked down upon by his elder siblings. They had royal blood just like him and were the direct descendants of Emperor Qi. They were more talented in martial arts than him, so it was acceptable for them to look down on him.


    But this little disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, someone of lowly inferior blood, also dared to look down on him like that?


    He could not take that lying down!


    "Fourteenth Prince."


    As compared to Qi Rui''s irrational rage, Chu Wei was much calmer as he said, "You should not have said those words in front of Yu Yucheng just now... by saying that, both he and Zhou Donghuang will be prepared.


    "Things like this will alert the enemy to the danger instead," explained Chu Wei.


    "So what if they are prepared? Can Yu Yucheng possibly stick by Zhou Donghuang''s side all the time, such that wherever Zhou Donghuang goes, he will also follow?"


    Qi Rui laughed with disdain as he said, "The whole Lightning Sword Sect, including Yu Yucheng, has just two Divine Transformation adepts... even if I threatened Zhou Donghuang in front of Yu Yucheng today, he and the other mid Divine Transformation adept of the Lightning Sword Sect cannot possibly be at Zhou Donghuang''s side every single minute to protect him.


    "Besides the Divine Transformation adepts, is there anyone else in the Lightning Sword Sect who is your match, Uncle Chu?"


    As he spoke, Qi Rui looked at Chu Wei with a confident gaze.


    A faint smile appeared on Chu Wei''s face. He clearly liked what he had just heard. "Fourteenth Prince is right, they are just a small sect, I was worried about nothing.


    "However, I cannot always hang around the Lightning Sword Sect to wait for Zhou Donghuang to walk into my trap... later, when we get back, we will still need you to talk to Seventh Prince to ask him to order the spy that we have in the Lightning Sword Sect to stalk Zhou Donghuang and provide us information about his movements."


    The Qi Dynasty had spies in each of the sects of the Alliance, who regularly reported information about the various sects to them.


    Now, the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty was in charge of the spies in the various sects of the Alliance. With just an order from him, the spies in the various sects would act accordingly.


    "Sure! I will look for Seventh Brother once we get back!"


    QI Rui''s eyes flashed excitedly as he nodded eagerly. He looked at Chu Wei and said, "However, as for the act itself, we''ll have to trouble you, Uncle Chu."


    "No problem!" Chu Wei agreed without a second thought.


    ...


    After spending half a day hard at work, Zhou Donghuang finally produced the Sky Sun elixir, using the Sky Sun fruit.


    "Who would''ve thought... who would''ve thought... looks like using the Vermilion Bird Dharma Power as fire to produce the elixir really has some special effect, such that five elixirs were produced!"


    Zhou Donghuang had decided not to produce the Sky Sun elixir in one batch, but did it in two attempts.


    The first attempt, he had used the inner Yuan from the White Tiger Dharma Power to produce the fire used to make the elixir. He thought that the White Tiger Dharma Power was the first to reach the late Dharma stage, and the inner Yuan in it would surely be the purest and most effective.


    Using half a Sky Sun fruit as the main herb, mixed with the other ingredients, he managed to produce a total of two Sky Sun elixirs.


    This was not surprising to Zhou Donghuang, as it was exactly what he had expected.


    The second attempt, he had used the inner Yuan from the Vermilion Bird Dharma Power to produce the elixir. He had done this because he wanted to test a hypothesis that he had, but even if it failed, he would probably produce at least one elixir.


    In this universe, some beasts or life forms that naturally had the element of fire were more capable at producing elixirs than humans.


    They were often able to produce more effective elixirs than humans.


    Precisely because of this reason, Zhou Donghuang had thought of his Vermilion Bird Dharma Power. As one of the four great mythical beasts, the vermilion bird naturally possessed a special kind of fire. Using the fire produced from its Dharma Power to produce elixirs could possibly have a better effect.


    With this idea, Zhou Donghuang had split the Sky Sun fruit into two portions and made two batches of Sky Sun elixir.


    Once the result was out, it showed that his hypothesis was right.


    Using the fire forged from the inner Yuan of the Vermilion Bird to produce elixirs was more effective than using the fires from the inner Yuan of the other Dharma Powers!


    In fact, it was not just slightly better in effectiveness.


    Zhou Donghuang had produced a total of five elixirs in the second batch when he used the Vermilion Bird Dharma Power.


    As compared to the two elixirs that were produced by the White Tiger Dharma Power, this batch had three more elixirs!


    A total of seven elixirs were produced.


    This meant that if he had used the Vermilion Bird Dharma Power from the beginning, he could have been able to produce more than ten elixirs in the end!


    Of course, all of this was in hindsight, so Zhou Donghuang was not hung up about this wasted opportunity. There was no place for regret.


    "I did not think that I would be able to produce seven Sky Sun elixirs, what a pleasant surprise... seven Sky Sun elixirs, the medicinal effect is no less than seven whole Sky Sun fruits!"


    As for what to do with the Seven Sky Sun elixirs, Zhou Donghuang already had a plan.


    One each for He Mengxi and Da Zhuang. They would not benefit from more, because for medicines like this, the first elixir would be the most effective, but the effect would be much less from the second one and so on and so forth.

 294 Seventh Prince Qi Feng

    "For an average Dharma adept, after using a Sky Sun elixir, it would be enough for them to develop their Dharma Power intensively... As for me, I have four Dharma Powers within me. If I only use one Sky Sun elixir, it would be split among the four Dharma Powers and would thus be insufficient."


    Seeing the bottle of core drugs in his hands, which contained seven Sky Sun elixirs, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes shone.


    "With this, I can now use the shortest time possible to develop the four Dharma Powers within me and they can all cross over into the ultimate Dharma stage!


    Under the technique of the Lord of Four Supremes, which Zhou Donghuang utilized to enter the Primordial Soul stage, one had to first push their four spiritual Dharma Powers within their bodies to the ultimate Dharma stage. If one of the Dharma Powers were not at the ultimate Dharma stage, it would then be impossible to cross over to the Primordial Soul stage.


    Because of this, since Zhou Donghuang had long dreamt of being a Primordial Soul adept, he thus had to think of ways to allow his four Dharma Powers to cross over to the ultimate Dharma stage within the shortest time possible!


    "Da Zhuang."


    After eating the drug, Zhou Donghuang paid Da Zhuang a visit and gifted him with two Sky Sun elixirs. "These two core drugs are Sky Sun elixirs and both contain powers that are comparable to that of the Sky Sun fruit."


    Even though Da Zhuang may not have been familiar with the Sky Sun elixir, he was certainly familiar with the Sky Sun fruit.


    Once he heard Zhou Donghuang''s words, he immediately returned the bottle of core drugs containing the two Sky Sun elixirs to Zhou Donghuang. "Little brother, these core drugs are too precious. Use them yourselves. It would be wasted on me."


    "There are two Sky Sun elixirs within the bottle. One is for you, and the other is for He Mengxi. Help me give the other elixir to He Mengxi... These core drugs act in the same manner as the Sky Sun fruit. After you consume one, consuming a second will not make much difference."


    Zhou Donghuang did not take back the bottle of core drugs from Da Zhuang. "Don''t worry, I have more elixirs with me.


    "In the near future, for a period of time, I intend to isolate myself and focus solely on my training... If there aren''t any urgent matters, please do not disturb me for this time being. Please help me pass on this message to Third Senior Sister as well."


    Once he had spoken, Zhou Donghuang then returned to his room to train.


    He urgently wanted to allow the four Dharma Powers within him to cross over to the ultimate Dharma stage, which was a prerequisite for him to enter the stage he desired and be a well-rounded ultimate Dharma adept.


    In the past, during the Alliance Hunt, Zhou Donghuang had already discovered that the Guiyao planet was somewhat strange and had suspected that a giant demon was spawning there.


    In places where giant demons were born, there would be a great deal of opportunities.


    If he had not known about this, it would not matter.


    However, since he was aware of this, he would do what was within his nature and make a trip down to explore this possibility.


    In his past life, although he did not have many natural talents, the reason why he had managed to stand at the peak of the infinite universe 1000 years later was because he was willing to take risks.


    After Zhou Donghuang went into isolation, Da Zhuang went to pay He Mengxi a visit and passed the Sky Sun elixir to her, "Third Senior Sister, little brother said that for the near future, he will be isolating himself for training. If there aren''t any urgent matters, do not disturb him."


    "I understand."


    After receiving the Sky Sun elixir from Da Zhuang and finding out that its effects were comparable to that of the Sky Sun fruit, He Mengxi was immensely shocked. "Training one''s core using spirit fruits and having one drug be comparable to that of many... Isn''t this the ancient method of Internal Alchemy?


    "Little brother... He is even able to use the Sky Sun fruit as his main ingredient to manufacture the Sky Sun elixir? Does he actually have access to this superior method of Internal Alchemy?"


    Even though Da Zhuang was unaware of this, it did not mean that He Mengxi was equally ignorant.


    "This... could this also be a part of the benefits that little brother had reaped during that incident in his dreamscape?"


    He Mengxi could not help but assume.


    At the same time, she looked sternly at Da Zhuang. "Da Zhuang, regarding this Sky Sun elixir, do not share this information with anyone else... not even with my father."


    It was undeniable that He Mengxi trusted her father immensely. Even so, this matter was important, and the lesser people knew about it, the better.


    She could only imagine that if news of her junior disciple having a method to create superior elixirs leaked out, Zhou Donghuang would be the target of many within the Hengliu galaxy as such a method was extremely desired.


    It was so extreme to the point where those from other galaxies which possessed enough resources or wealth would even pay the Hengliu galaxy a visit just to find Zhou Donghuang with the intention of stealing the method.


    The seriousness of the situation warranted ultimate discreteness on the part of He Mengxi. At the same time, she was a little baffled as to why her junior disciple had been so careless to forget to warn Da Zhuang to keep this matter under wraps.


    What He Mengxi was unaware of was that Zhou Donghuang had not bothered to warn Da Zhuang as he had ultimate confidence and trust in Da Zhuang.


    ¡­


    As one of the two Transcendental Forces within the Hengliu galaxy, the Qi Dynasty was located in a corner of the galaxy, and its dynasty territory included tens of planets.


    In total, the Qi Dynasty encompassed 13 planets.


    These 13 planets all belonged to the same orbital system of the Hengliu galaxy and were in the same solar cycle.


    Among these 13 planets, the biggest one was where the capital of their territory was at.


    The direct descendants of the Qi Dynasty as well as the legends were all mostly gathered within the capital... As for the planet where the capital was at, it was named King Qi Planet and had been renamed after the Qi Dynasty had been gradually built up.


    The 14th prince, Qi Rui, could be considered a prince and a son of King Qi. However, as his talents and abilities were not as superior compared to the other princes and princesses, he was not really noticed by King Qi.


    King Qi had over 20 sons and daughters, and he only focused on those who were more capable and outstanding.


    For those who were like Qi Rui, in the eyes of King Qi, they were almost invisible, and this caused him to have a rather average status among the royal lineage of the Qi Dynasty.


    These many sons and daughters all came from different mothers.


    King Qi had a main queen as well as over ten concubines, and one of these concubines had given birth to Qi Rui.


    However, although Qi Rui was only average at best in terms of martial arts and natural talent, he had a biological brother who had the exact same parents as him. Among King Qi''s many sons and daughters, this brother of Qi Rui''s ranked in the top three in terms of talent and was greatly favored by King Qi.


    This biological brother of Qi Rui''s was the seventh price, Qi Feng.


    Qi Feng was only about 40 years old, but he was already a mid Primordial Soul adept. Other than being greatly favored by King Qi, he was also responsible for gathering news on the various sects within the Alliance of the Hengliu galaxy.


    The connections within the Alliance of the Hengliu Galaxy were all controlled by the seventh price, Qi Feng.


    Qi Feng looked only to be about 30 years old despite his age, and he looked regal, having bushy and stern eyebrows frame his face. He was someone who commandeered the respect of Qi Rui, the 14th prince, when they met.


    "Seventh Brother."


    Once Qi Rui had met Qi Feng, he seemed rather speechless. Although the other party was merely a brother of the same father and mother, every time they met, he felt as though he was meeting with his father, King Qi; they gave off the same regal vibes.


    Qi Feng seemed to be extremely stern and distant as well.


    "Speak."


    Qi Feng''s tone was extremely formal, and this conversation was similar to that of an elder speaking to a junior rather than two biological brothers having a conversation.


    Qi Rui seemed to have already gotten used to this a long while ago, and he did not show any surprise. "Seventh Brother, I''ve paid you a visit this time to ask you for a favor."


    Once he had spoken, seeing as Qi Feng merely stared impassively at him and did not speak, Qi Rui scrambled to continue speaking. "This time, for the Alliance Hunt organized by the Alliance, I was present to monitor the Hunt to verify if anyone managed to win the Sky Sun fruit..."


    Due the fact that for the last hundreds of year, there had been no one from the various sects of the Alliance who had managed to win the Sky Sun fruit during the Alliance Hunt, the Qi Dynasty had gone from being extremely cautious of this matter to relaxing their supervision of the Hunt.


    If not, they definitely would not have sent someone like the 14th prince, who was viewed as lowly amongst the royal lineage of the Qi Dynasty.


    Sending Qi Rui was simply an act of formality.


    "This time, someone actually managed to obtain the Sky Sun fruit!"


    At the start, the seventh price''s face still had on a rather neutral expression. However, once Qi Rui had finished his report, his facial expression changed slightly, and a shocked look appeared in his eyes. "Someone within the sects of the Alliance managed to be the top scorer and surpassed 10000 points in the Alliance Hunt?"


    In the Alliance Hunt, one could only obtain the Sky Sun fruit by fulfilling these two criterions.


    "That is correct."


    Qi Rui nodded his head. "The person in question is a disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, and he is a late Dharma adept. In this year''s Alliance Hunt, he managed to accumulate over 40000 points and successfully obtained the Sky Sun fruit."


    Once Qi Rui had uttered these words, Qi Feng immediately shouted aloud without a pause.


    "What did you say!? More than 40000 points!?"


    He thought he had misheard Qi Rui.


    After asking Qi Rui to repeat himself, Qi Feng realized that he had not misunderstood the situation.


    Furthermore, he learned more details of this extraordinary matter from Qi Rui. "Zhou Donghuang, a disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, managed to achieve this feat of accumulating so many points in the Alliance Hunt due to the fact that he managed to train his Dharma Power to the Dharma Power Control stage.


    "Hmph!"


    Qi Rui scoffed aloud and spoke with a look of indignation. "Those people of the Alliance actually claimed that Zhou Donghuang had made history in the Hengliu galaxy in terms of being a Dharma adept who had mastered the Dharma Power Control!


    "In my opinion, in the history of the Qi Dynasty, we definitely would have had a Dharma adept who had also mastered the Dharma Power Control much earlier. It was probably just that there were no records of such a happening."


    The more Qi Rui spoke, the more indignant he felt.


    On the other hand, Qi Feng did not approve of this at all and he spoke lightly, "The Qi Dynasty has no Dharma adept who has mastered Dharma Power Control in its history at all... Even for the Guangling Academy, which is known to be superior to the Qi Dynasty, has never in its history had a Dharma adept who has mastered the Dharma Power Control as well..."


    "A 26-year-old man at the late Dharma stage actually managed to master Dharma Power Control..."


    Towards the end of his speech, Qi Feng was practically mumbling to himself. His eyes had also slowly lighted up, and his fists were slowly tightening as he spoke.


    If he could somehow create a good relationship with this person...


    This would mean that he would have a better shot at ascending the Qi throne in the future!


    "Have you invited this extraordinary individual to the Qi Dynasty?" Qi Feng glanced at Qi Rui and asked.


    "Yes."


    Qi Rui nodded his head. At the same time, an angry look appeared on his face. "He is a rather ignorant man, though, and directly rejected the invitation to join the Qi Dynasty...


    "Furthermore, I did not even manage to share the price our Qi Dynasty was willing to pay him as compensation for the Sky Sun fruit. He immediately rejected me and did not give me any face at all!"


    "Damn him!"

 295 Luo Qinghans departure

    "Seventh Brother, I''ve come to find you this time to ask you to use the connections you have with the Lightning Sword Sect to get your contact to monitor Zhou Donghuang''s actions... Once it is confirmed that he has left the Lightning Sword Sect, we can send someone to murder him!"


    Qi Rui spoke in a harsh tone. "Not only did he disregard me personally, indirectly, but he also disregarded the Qi Dynasty, and this cannot be tolerated!


    "Furthermore, it is clear that he has no intention to join the Qi Dynasty. Who knows if he intends to join the Guangling Academy? The Guangling Academy is our Qi Dynasty''s direct nemesis, and we cannot allow the Guangling Academy to take him in!


    "Since the Qi Dynasty can''t have him, let''s destroy him!"


    Qi Rui spoke with a forceful tone, and it sounded as if he had a huge grudge against Zhou Donghuang.


    However, after hearing Qi Rui''s words, Qi Feng maintained his neutral expression and spoke casually in reply. "Little brother, could it be that in extending your invitation, you were not sincere enough and rushed him for a decision? True talents are often arrogant and hard to sway."


    Qi Feng himself was talented and could have been considered one of the most outstanding princes of the Qi Dynasty. Naturally, he had assumed that Zhou Donghuang of the Lightning Sword Sect would similarly possess the same high level of arrogance.


    "Seventh Brother, you weren''t present then. If not, I can guarantee that you would have wanted to give him a slap as well!" Qi Rui said.


    "Whether or not we should kill him is not something we should decide now... You have not shared this news with Father, right?" Qi Feng asked.


    "No." Qi Rui shook his head. "I only returned recently with Uncle Chu Wei. According to him, this matter should be reported to Father by you."


    "Ah, he is obliging indeed."


    Qi Feng smiled lightly. "Alright, this matter does not concern you any further. I will share this news with Father now. Afterwards, I will probably pay the Lightning Sword Sect a visit and extend a personal invitation to Zhou Donghuang to visit the Qi Dynasty."


    "What if he rejects the offer yet again?"


    Qi Rui was doubtful that Zhou Donghuang would change his mind and join the Qi Dynasty.


    "If he rejects my offer, well... As per what you said earlier, for what we can''t possess, we will destroy so as not to create complications for ourselves in the future."


    Once Qi Feng had spoken, a look of murderous intent entered his eyes.


    ¡­


    It was late at night.


    Under the moonlight, an unsuspecting guest suddenly appeared at the galaxy teleporter on the outskirts of the Jihan Sect.


    "It''s time to leave."


    This girl was no ordinary figure; she was a disciple of the Jihan Sect, Luo Qinghan.


    With yet another request for teleportation, Luo Qinghan''s consciousness slowly drifted... Many years ago, she had used this same method and ended up on the Ziyun planet. Afterwards, she had a fateful encounter with the young man called Zhou Donghuang.


    In her eyes, that had been a fateful encounter.


    She had assumed that after she left the Ziyun planet and returned home, she would never meet Zhou Donghuang again.


    However, not only had Zhou Donghuang appeared before her very eyes yet again, he had even gifted her father and grandmother with many presents... Those favors were things that she could probably never repay him for even with her entire life.


    A good lady deserved a gentleman, and this outstanding young man had naturally captured Luo Qinghan''s girlish heart.


    Had she been moved by Zhou Donghuang?


    It was undeniable to Luo Qinghan that she indeed had been moved by him.


    "Perhaps, it is hard for us to meet again... but again, perhaps, we will meet in the future. I hoped that I would have caught up to you by now. If there really is such a fateful day in the future, perhaps I will be less indecisive at that point.


    "The promise I, Luo Qinghan, made to you, I will never forget... Be it whether you are alive or dead, even if any other outstanding young men appear before me, I will not engage in any romantic relations with them."


    As she spoke softly to herself, a white figure suitably appeared in Luo Qinghan''s brain.


    This figure in white was almost identical to Zhou Donghuang. However, the figure had on a mask, and his face was hidden, and it was thus hard to ascertain his identity.


    This was Zhuge Haotian.


    Whoosh!


    Once the galaxy teleporter cast out a blinding flash of light, Luo Qinghan''s figure immediately disappeared, and it was as if she had never visited the teleporter.


    A short while after Luo Qinghan had left, within the Jihan Sect, some disciples eventually found the message she had left behind, and the news of her departure also spread to the Jihan Sect Leader, Meng Yuping''s ears, within a short period of time.


    Within the Jihan Sect, although Luo Qinghan was considered to have rather decent abilities, due to the fact that there were many other outstanding individuals, she was not the most popular and could only be considered one of the slightly above average disciples.


    If someone of her level left the sect without any prior notice, the Jihan Sect Leader, Meng Yuping, would not have cared much, and others would not have bothered to notify her as well.


    However, it was different in the case of Luo Qinghan.


    Although Luo Qinghan''s martial arts skills were average, and it was unlikely that she would be immensely successful, the issue was that she was in a relationship with the talented disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, Zhou Donghuang!


    If Luo Qinghan remained in the Jihan Sect, the Jihan Sect would be considered one of her homes, and any of Zhou Donghuang''s future successes would be attributed to not just the Lightning Sword Sect but also the Jihan Sect!


    Now, however, Luo Qinghan had left without any notice and had only left a letter behind.


    "Sect Leader, do you think Luo Qinghan left our sect to visit Zhou Donghuang at the Lightning Sword Sect?" the Jihan Sect elder who reported this news guessed aloud.


    "Let''s pay a visit to the Lightning Sword Sect together."


    Meng Yuping''s eyes sparkled. "If Luo Qinghan is indeed at the Lightning Sword Sect, we have to convince her to return here with us. I am willing to accept her as a direct disciple and allow her to enjoy luxurious treatment within the Jihan Sect."


    Zhou Donghuang''s achievements were too stunning to ignore.


    Now, as Zhou Donghuang had not yet reached his full potential, she and the Jihan Sect could use Luo Qinghan and Zhou Donghuang''s relationship to their advantage. Once Zhou Donghuang had fully developed himself, the Jihan Sect and Meng Yuping would definitely be held in high regard!


    Without any hesitation, once she had spoken, Meng Yuping brought the elder that had reported this piece of news to her and left the Jihan Sect, heading directly for the Lightning Sword Sect through the galaxy teleporter. They were sent to the Tielao planet, where it was situated.


    Once they had arrived, they immediately visited the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "Luo Qinghan?"


    Once he had heard that Luo Qinghan had left the Jihan Sect, the Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng, was shocked as well, and he replied casually to Meng Yuping, "Unfortunately, I have little information on this matter as well... Perhaps you would like to visit the Autumn Valley Head about this?


    "If Luo Qinghan visited the Lightning Sword Sect, she would definitely pay the Autumn Valley a visit as Zhou Donghuang resides within the Autumn Valley," Yu Yucheng said.


    "Sect Leader Yu, if it''s convenient, do accompany me," Meng Yuping said.


    Yu Yucheng glanced meaningfully at Meng Yuping before nodding his head. "Alright."


    Towards this sudden visit by Meng Yuping, the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin, was also a little shocked.


    However, after hearing that Luo Qinghan had left the Jihan Sect, he shook his head. "She did not visit the Autumn Valley. As for Zhou Donghuang, he has isolated himself for training, and I did not hear of any news that he had brought Luo Qinghan over."


    Eventually, He Jin still brought Meng Yuping to where Zhou Donghuang resided.


    As for Zhou Donghuang, who had been training hard, he got a shock as well.


    "Has anything happened to Luo Qinghan?"


    This was the first sentence that Zhou Donghuang had uttered once he had left his room and met with the Jihan Sect Leader, Meng Yuping.


    He had had no interaction with the Jihan Sect Leader, Meng Yuping, before and thus assumed that something had happened to Luo Qinghan since she was now paying him a physical visit.


    "She hasn''t come to find you?"


    Once Zhou Donghuang had left his room, Meng Yuping''s gaze focused solely on him as if she was trying to read him, but she did not manage to infer anything.


    "No."


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head and frowned at the same time. "Did something happen to her?"


    "She has left the Jihan Sect, and she left a note behind before leaving. She mentioned that if there''s a chance in the future, she would like to give back to our sect to thank us for aiding her with her training."


    As Meng Yuping spoke, she took out the letter that Luo Qinghan had left behind and passed it to Zhou Donghuang.


    Once Zhou Donghuang read the letter, he pocketed it before saying, "Perhaps she has returned home... Of course, it is possible as well that she did not and went elsewhere."


    "Do you know where she lives?'' Meng Yuping asked.


    "I do."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded his head and followed Meng Yuping and He Jin on a visit to the Luohe galaxy''s Tianxuan planet, where the Luo family resided. However, as Zhou Donghuang had predicted, Luo Qinghan had not gone home.


    "What''s the matter?"


    Be it the head of the Luo family, Luo Wuchen, or Luo Qinghan''s grandmother, once they had been notified that Luo Qinghan had left the Jihan Sect, they were rendered speechless, and their facial expressions changed.


    Once they had heard of Zhou Donghuang''s astounding performance in the Alliance Hunt, Li Yu smiled bitterly. "One thing about that girl is that she is truly too stubborn... Actually, I could tell long ago that she was interested in you, Donghuang.


    "From when she was young till now, she has always felt that women should be independent and not depend on strong men... You''re too outstanding, and she probably felt slightly threatened.


    "She probably left the Jihan Sect for an alternative destination to see if she could catch up to you... if she stayed in the Hengliu galaxy, she would be living in your shadow forever..."


    In the entire world, the person who understood Luo Qinghan best was definitely her grandmother, Li Yu. Even her father, Luo Wuchen, did not understand Luo Qinghan half as well.


    "Let''s hope that silly girl, Luo Qinghan is doing well."


    Luo Wuchen had on a bitter smile as well as he glanced casually at Meng Yuping, thanking her repeatedly. "Sect Leader Meng, I can''t believe you spent time visiting us personally over the matters of my daughter, especially in your position as the esteemed Sect Leader. I appreciate it."


    A Divine Transformation adept had actually traveled to the Tianxuan planet within the Luohe galaxy to the Luo family home simply for Luo Qinghan''s sake! If this news were to spread, it would definitely be hot gossip among the entire Tianxuan planet and possibly even the Luohe galaxy!


    One had to know that there were no Divine Transformation adepts within the Luohe galaxy.


    "You''re too kind, Sir Luo."


    Meng Yuping smiled slightly and did not act condescendingly despite the fact that Luo Wuchen was merely a Dharma adept. Instead, she was friendly and personable. "If Luo Qinghan ever returns home, do help me pass on the message that we would like for her to return to the Jihan Sect... Before she left, I had already intended to take her on as a direct disciple. However, before I could make an announcement regarding this matter, she already left.


    "If she returns home, do inform her that as long as she returns to the Jihan Sect, we will spare no resources in training her!"

 296 You care so much for her!

    Zhou Donghuang felt indifferent and impassive at Meng Yuping''s passionate disposition.


    After traveling across the infinite universe for thousands of years in his past life, he had met too many scheming people with ulterior motives, and many were just like Meng Yuping.


    Why exactly was Meng Yuping so persistent on keeping Luo Qinghan by her side?


    Why was Meng Yuping so courteous and gracious towards Luo Wuchen and Li Yu?


    As for the answers to these questions, Zhou Donghuang was aware of it all.


    "In that case, I''ll take my leave first, Sir Luo and Madam Li Yu."


    Before leaving, Meng Yuping first bid farewell to Luo Wuchen and Li Yu. She then bid farewell to Zhou Donghuang and He Jin, who were standing at the side, before leaving for the nearest galaxy teleporter available.


    As she intended to directly teleport herself back to where the Jihan Sect was located, she did not travel with Zhou Donghuang and He Jin.


    "Sir Luo, Madam Li Yu, I will take my leave as well."


    After Meng Yuping had left, Zhou Donghuang suitably bid farewell to the two Luo family members as well before leaving with He Jin under the watchful gaze of the former duo.


    Seeing Zhou Donghuang''s back slowly disappear, Luo Wuchen sighed. "I prefer it when he calls me ''father-in-law.''"


    "Hmph! I wish you had taught Luo Qinghan better. He''s such a good candidate for her to marry, and yet she is resisting him so much! In the future, if he is to marry some other lady, she will definitely regret it upon seeing such a sight!" Li Yu scoffed aloud and glared sternly at Luo Wuchen.


    Luo Wuchen was rather speechless at this.


    Luo Qinghan had actually grown up alongside her grandmother, who was Luo Wuchen''s mother-in-law. As a result, she was more likely to have followed the teachings of Li Yu.


    How could Li Yu blame Luo Qinghan''s character on him now?


    Of course, Luo Wuchen could only complain to himself in his heart as he did not dare to utter these words.


    In any case, even without comparing status in the family, he was also no match for Li Yu in terms of ability.


    Although he had already entered the ultimate Dharma stage, his mother-in-law, Li Yu, had already entered the Primordial Soul stage some time ago and had become the first Primordial Soul adept on the Tianxian planet in the last thousand years.


    Of course, only Luo Wuchen was aware of this at the moment.


    "Valley Head."


    After leaving the Luo family home for the nearest galaxy teleporter and going on their way, Zhou Donghuang could not help but speak up. "Valley Head, tell me... How do you know when you like a woman, and how do you know you''ve fallen in love with a woman?"


    To him, since He Jin had such a close daughter, He Mengxi, even though his wife had already passed away, he would definitely have good advice to share on this topic.


    "You would like to know how to differentiate between liking and being in love with a woman?"


    After hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, He Jin''s eyes became tiny slits as he smiled. "Liking a woman and being in love with a woman are two completely different concepts... There are many different levels of liking a woman. You could purely like her innocently. You could also have the intention of making her yours or even have the desire to convert this like into love.


    "As for love... this concept is rather hard to express in words.


    "When two people are in love, it could be said that they are ready to live the rest of their lives together," He Jin said.


    "In that case, how about you and third senior sister''s mother?"


    "Mengxi''s mother..."


    In an instant, He Jin''s eyes widened, and a wistful look appeared in his eyes. "Her mother was rather average in terms of skills. In terms of how we met, it was a complete coincidence.


    "When Mengxi was ten, that year, our family was hunted down by enemies, and we only had a slim chance of survival... At that point, we were a family of three, but with my abilities, I was only able to leave with Mengxi. Of course, I did not leave her behind willingly, but at a critical point, she chose to sacrifice herself!"


    As he spoke to this point, He Jin''s eyes flashed with unmistakable sadness and pain. "I can still visualize that scene clearly in my head to this day... If not for the fact that I wanted to take revenge on her behalf in the future, I would have chosen to die with her!"


    "Valley Head..."


    At this point, Zhou Donghuang suddenly remembered that in his past life, his third senior sister, He Mengxi, had also mentioned her biological mother to her. This included the fact that her biological mother had sacrificed herself to save her and her father.


    It was just that Zhou Donghuang had forgotten about this as it had been a distant memory.


    If not, he would not have brought up the topic of love to He Jin as he knew it would definitely pain him.


    "It''s fine."


    Before Zhou Donghuang could offer an apology, He Jin had already cut him short. "Even if you do not bring up this matter, I think about it every now and then when I am dreaming as well... Although this happened more than 20 years ago, every time I think about it, it takes me back to when it happened.


    "Do you think my relationship with Mengxi''s mother was one of love?" He Jin glanced at Zhou Donghuang and asked.


    "Of course."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded his head. Although he was still clueless towards the topic of romantic relationships, the fact that He Jin''s wife had actually chosen to sacrifice her own life and the fact that He Jin often felt pained when he thought about his wife were all definitely stellar examples of love.


    "Zhou Donghuang, are you asking me these questions because of Luo Qinghan?" He Jin asked.


    Zhou Donghuang froze. Had he been that obvious?


    Nevertheless, he nodded his head. If this were any typical youth being asked such a question, he would definitely have been red-faced and longing to escape the topic. However, although Zhou Donghuang was only in his twenties, his memories stretched back to thousands of years ago, and so he was less embarrassed when discussing topics like this.


    "As for the situation between you and Luo Qinghan, I am not familiar enough with it to say anything."


    "However, I could ask you a few questions for me to familiarize myself with your relationship before giving you my opinion," He Jin said.


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes flashed. "Go ahead."


    "If... If you happen to come across Luo Qinghan carrying out acts of intimacy such as kissing with other men, would you be unhappy or even angered by that scene?" He Jin asked.


    Just as he Jin had spoken, an image appeared in Zhou Donghuang''s head of Luo Qinghan being intimate with other men. She was laughing happily as well. Momentarily, he felt extremely angry, and his facial expression changed as well.


    This reaction was completely involuntary.


    Once he had regained his composure, his facial expression then returned back to its original look.


    At the same time, this reaction was observed by He Jin, who sighed to himself in his head.


    "I guess Mengxi has no chance with Zhou Donghuang," he thought.


    Although Zhou Donghuang viewed He Mengxi as a senior sister and He Mengxi had viewed Zhou Donghuang as a junior brother without any other feelings... As Mengxi''s father, He Jin had always hoped to find a chance for them to venture into a romantic relationship.


    He could tell that Zhou Donghuang was like a dragon; he was bound to reach for the skies one day, and if his daughter could be by his side, she would be successful in the future as well.


    Of course, although this was ideal, he had never intended to force any romantic relations on them.


    Even without discussing other factors, with Zhou Donghuang''s personality alone, even though his daughter was just temporarily his senior and he would definitely achieve much in the future, he would definitely not mistreat his daughter.


    Previously, before the Alliance Hunt had started, Zhou Donghuang had spoken up and mentioned that Luo Qinghan belonged to him. At that point, He Jin had already begun to give up on his plans to matchmake Zhou Donghuang and his daughter... Now, he was ready to completely give up this thought.


    "Seeing your reaction to my words, I''m assuming you pictured such a scene in your head," He Jin said as he wanted to be sure.


    Zhou Donghuang nodded his head.


    He Jin nodded as well. "From your reaction and expression, I could tell that you like her to the point where you would like her to be exclusively yours and that you would not like other men to be involved with her.


    "Either way... it means that you care for her.


    "Now, let me ask you a second question.


    "If she is in danger, the type of danger that is life-threatening... and your involvement means that you will die as well, would you choose to do nothing or reach out a helping hand to save her?" He Jin asked yet again.


    Zhou Donghuang imagined such a scenario in his head yet again.


    Rational thought told him that under such a situation, remaining a bystander and protecting oneself as well as choosing to take revenge later would be the right choice. However, once he thought about it harder, he knew that he would not mind risking his own life even if he would likely die as there was the chance that he could save Luo Qinghan.


    Under such a situation, he could not bear to do nothing.


    Even if he had thousands of years of experience telling him to decide rationally, he could not bear to ignore his feelings.


    "I would take action."


    When Zhou Donghuang replied He Jin again, his tone was slightly raspy.


    He Jin nodded his head once again. "Your answer to this question is enough to show that you truly care for her to the point where you are willing to risk your own life if it means having the chance to save hers.


    "Treasure her and your relationship well," He Jin replied with a warning tone before saying, "For the second question, if it stood alone, I think if it were not Luo Qinghan but He Mengxi, your answer would still be the same... However, when I put your answer for the second question alongside that of the first question, this represents a different reality.


    "In any case, if you saw He Mengxi being intimate with other men, you would probably be indifferent about it.


    "I don''t know what exactly happened between you and Luo Qinghan. However, with the current situation, it is very obvious that you care about her. Even if you are not conscious of it, she definitely has a special place in your heart that cannot be replaced so easily.


    "Treasure her well, and do not miss this opportunity."


    As He Jin spoke, Zhou Donghuang had remained silent. However, he had already made a decision in his head. "Perhaps, I was really wrong before... Although she had distanced herself from me, what I should do is not to accommodate this but to find a way to break the ice and approach her again.


    "I can only hope that she does not meet with any trouble after leaving the Jihan Sect."


    ¡­


    After returning to the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect where he resided, Zhou Donghuang had been preparing to return to training but was called out by He Jin once again.


    "Zhou Donghuang, after we left, the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty, Qi Feng, had arrived and was waiting for you... I just heard this piece of news from one of the elders, and the Sect Leader wanted this elder to inform me of this matter once we had returned. I''m to bring you to visit him," He Jin explained.


    "Another representative of the Qi Dynasty?"


    Zhou Donghuang frowned. "Previously, wasn''t there someone, the 14th prince, who came over? Now that I have already consumed the Sky Sun fruit, I definitely will not join the Qi Dynasty. Why didn''t the Sect Leader directly reject him on my behalf?"


    He Jin smiled bitterly. "Zhou Donghuang, come along with me... The seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty who is here now has a completely different status in the royal lineage of the Qi Dynasty as compared to the 14th prince of the Qi Dynasty, even though they are biological brothers."


    "If Emperor Qi were to choose... even if he had to give up 10 out of his 14 princes, he would definitely hold on to the seventh prince!"

 297 Give me 10 years!

    Zhou Donghuang was not at all interested in meeting with the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty.


    However, so as not to put He Jin in a difficult position, he eventually followed He Jin to find the Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng.


    "Zhou Donghuang, this representative of the Qi Dynasty is different from the one who visited before. Although they are biological brothers, however, their status within the Qi Dynasty is different... That is why I felt awkward to reject his proposal to meet with you."


    Yu Yucheng smiled bitterly. "Of course, regardless of whether he wants you to follow him to the Qi Dynasty or whether he is interested in your Sky Sun fruit, you can also reject him.


    "You just have to meet with him, this..."


    Before Yu Yucheng could complete with his sentence, Zhou Donghuang had already interrupted him. "Sect Leader, just bring me to see him. I would like to complete this as quickly as possible so that I could return to my training."


    "Sure."


    After hearing Zhou Donghuang''s frustrated tone, Yu Yucheng felt annoyed as well. If this visitor had been that same 14th prince of the Qi Dynasty, he would definitely help Zhou Donghuang reject him. However, this time, the visitor was the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty!


    As for the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty, his status in the Qi Dynasty was akin to that of the Dongfang elder of the Guangling Academy who had visited the sect previously.


    ¡­


    "Seventh Prince, this man here is our disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect, Zhou Donghuang.


    "Zhou Donghuang, this is the Seventh Prince of the Qi Dynasty, Prince Qi Feng."


    Yu Yucheng brought Zhou Donghuang to meet the Seventh Prince of the Qi Dynasty and took the initiative to introduce them.


    Zhou Donghuang glanced lightly at Qi Feng and observed that this seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty was a lot humbler than the Qi Dynasty''s 14th prince, who was of lower status in the Qi Dynasty. When he looked at Qi Feng, he was smiling warmly and gave someone a feeling of being in spring, unlike the 14th prince, who had been domineering.


    Behind Qi Feng, there was also another old man. This old man was extremely skinny. When he stood beside Qi Feng, who was really tall, he seemed to almost disappear in terms of size.


    However, as the old man stood silently, he gave off an aura of mystery and authority.


    Zhou Donghuang could almost confirm that this old man was definitely a Divine Transformation adept.


    "This is the eighth elder of the Qi Dynasty, Elder Qi Yuankai."


    Yu Yucheng then turned to introduce the old man standing behind Qi Feng. The old man also opened his eyes and glanced at Zhou Donghuang with a smoldering gaze. A normal Dharma adept would have been shocked by such an intense look, but Zhou Donghuang was unmovable and maintained his neutral expression.


    Yu Yucheng mentioned the old man''s level of practice, and it was exactly as Zhou Donghuang had predicted.


    "Mm."


    Even so, when facing this Divine Transformation adept, Zhou Donghuang still had on an impassive look, as if it would be impossible to shake him up. This caused Elder Qi Yuankai''s eyes to fill with a shocked look.


    "Please speak directly as I would like to return back to my residence to train."


    Zhou Donghuang casually looked at Qi Feng and spoke without any hesitation despite knowing that the person he was addressing was the highly esteemed seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty.


    Zhou Donghuang had travelled across the infinite universe over the past thousands of years. Be it a prince of the Qi Dynasty of the Hengliu galaxy or even the princes of dynasties of the top cities in the universe, no one would be able to force him to grovel in front of them.


    "Brother Donghuang is truly a training addict. No wonder you are able to be at where you are at this young age!"


    If this were to be the 14th prince of the Qi Dynasty, Qi Rui, seeing Zhou Donghuang''s attitude, he would definitely go crazy. However, for the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty, Qi Feng, he maintained a friendly attitude and his smile was still bright.


    "Brother Donghuang, I''m here on behalf of my father, King Qi, and we would like to personally invite you to visit the Qi Dynasty."


    Qi Feng spoke directly without beating around the bush. "My father has said that as long as you are willing to follow us, you will receive the most preferential treatment an elite and talented disciple can have in the Qi Dynasty. King Qi is willing to give in to all your demands and will not be stingy simply because you do not have Qi blood.


    "Furthermore... my father has personally mentioned that he is willing to adopt you as a step-son!"


    Qi Feng''s first few sentences were rather typical and Yu Yucheng was not surprised at all. However, the last part of Qi Feng''s proposal scared him greatly.


    That top member of society of the Qi Dynasty had actually personally claimed to want to accept Zhou Donghuang as his step-son?


    Who was King Qi?


    He was someone who stood at the peak of the Hengliu galaxy and who was one of the two strongest men in the entire Hengliu galaxy.


    Such a figure was actually willing to adopt Zhou Donghuang as a step-son!?


    If Zhou Donghuang had already grown up and was mature enough to take on responsibilities concerning the entire Hengliu galaxy, it would make a little more sense... The problem was, although Zhou Donghuang had indeed demonstrated much talent, he was still not fully grown.


    After sighing coldly to himself, Yu Yucheng glanced at Zhou Donghuang meaningfully with a look of worry and uncertainty.


    He knew that if he were to be in Zhou Donghuang''s shoes, he would definitely be swayed by Qi Feng''s words.


    As one of the step-sons of the top figure of the Qi Dynasty, not only could Zhou Donghuang roam the Hengliu galaxy freely, the Qi Dynasty could thoroughly develop his skills, and he would enjoy the best training resources and training environment they could offer.


    Now, he was truly worried that Zhou Donghuang would be snatched away.


    However, in the next instant, as Zhou Donghuang spoke, Yu Yucheng felt completely relieved. At the same time, he was shocked as he realized that despite his age, he was still unable to fully understand a mere youth of 20 years old.


    "I''m not interested."


    Zhou Donghuang rejected Qi Feng without an ounce of hesitation.


    "Brother Donghuang, will you not even consider the offer?"


    Qi Feng''s eyes narrowed slightly, and the smile on his face dimmed a little as well. Of course, if one was not observant, they would not notice this slight change.


    "If you become my father''s step-son, your position in the Qi Dynasty will be similar to my royal status as a prince. The resources we can offer you for training purposes far outweigh those of the Lightning Sword Sect as well."


    Qi Feng continued his attempts to persuade Zhou Donghuang.


    "Be on the same level as you?"


    Zhou Donghuang smiled, and his eyes sparkled. "Does that mean that I would also have a shot at becoming the next king of the Qi Dynasty and be able to control the whole Qi Dynasty?"


    "Zhou Donghuang!"


    Yu Yucheng''s facial expression changed greatly. He had not expected that Zhou Donghuang would utter such a phrase, and such a ludicrous and taboo phrase at that!


    The smile on Qi Feng''s face froze with shock now.


    "What audacity!"


    The old man behind Qi Feng, Qi Yuankai, now barked out an indignant reply, and his inner core shook the area surrounding him, as if he could and would strike a blow against Zhou Donghuang right there and then.


    Seeing this, Yu Yucheng immediately shielded Zhou Donghuang and stared steely at the old man, prepared to exchange blows with him.


    Qi Feng raised a hand to stop the old man. At the same time, he looked deeply at Zhou Donghuang. "Brother Donghuang, I''m afraid that will not be possible.... The Qi Dynasty has strict rules that only those of royal blood can ascend the throne. All kings of the past were of Qi blood.


    "In this case, despite your talents, you cannot become the next king of the Qi Dynasty.


    "Previously, Kaishan of the Guangling Academy had also been frighteningly talented, and I could daresay that he was more talented than the entire batch of ancestors of the Qi Dynasty... Even so, due to the constraints of lineage, he was unable to become the next King Qi and that was why he left the Qi Dynasty to create his own Guangling Academy."


    As Qi Feng mentioned this story, he had a faraway gaze in his eyes which was both stony and cold.


    "Hm?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s previously neutral expression was now finally changing as he was curious at the fact that the Guangling Academy''s founder had originated from the Qi Dynasty.


    The Guangling Academy of today could be said to be the only organization that could compete with the Qi Dynasty in the entire Hengliu galaxy.


    In the Hengliu galaxy, there were three top organizations: the Qi Dynasty, the Guangling Academy and the Alliance.


    As for the various sects of the Alliance, they were considered the top elite sects of the Alliance, but alone, they were still unable to fight against the two Transcendental Forces of the Qi Dynasty and the Guangling Academy


    "You actually believed what I said?"


    Zhou Donghuang smiled lightly. "Even if all the people of the Qi Dynasty begged me to go over to be the next king, I would not be interested as well... What is the point of standing at the peak of the Hengliu galaxy? The Hengliu galaxy is but one of the average galaxies in the entire infinite universe.


    "Even if I were to be the next king of the Qi Dynasty, although I would have more power, if you give me ten more years, I am sure I can become more powerful than your king!"


    When Zhou Donghuang spoke, he appeared to spare no thought for the prestigious status of King Qi at all.


    "How dare you!"


    The elder behind Qi Feng, Qi Yuankai, was angered till he raged once again. In the end, he only cooled down slightly after Qi Feng shook his head subtly.


    "Brother Donghuang is indeed ambitious, and I admire that... However, having ambitions does not mean you will succeed. I''ll be watching in anticipation."


    At this point, Qi Feng''s smile had diminished greatly to a cordial one and he finished his conversation bluntly with Zhou Donghuang before saying some courteous farewells to Yu Yucheng. Afterwards, Qi Feng brought the elder with him and left quickly.


    As for Yu Yucheng, after he had recovered from his shock at Zhou Donghuang''s words, he began to consider them in his head.


    Zhou Donghuang intended to exceed King Qi in a mere timespan of ten years?


    This was surely too arrogant and ambitious of him!


    That was all Yu Yucheng could think of.


    Although it was true that Zhou Donghuang was talented and could be one of the strongest of the entire Hengliu galaxy, where his talents were slightly wasted... Nevertheless, to be able to be stronger than King Qi after only ten years was almost impossible!


    King Qi was still one of the two strongest men in the entire Hengliu galaxy, and he was at least at the late Divine Transformation stage. At this point, he was at the end of the stage where he was close to the ultimate Divine Transformation stage.


    There were even rumors that the king of the Qi Dynasty or the head of the Guangling Academy could possibly already be ultimate Divine Transformation adepts. It was just that neither had shown their true powers, and everyone thus assumed they were still at the late Divine Transformation stage at this point.


    Of course, these were just rumors and it was uncertain as to whether they were true or not.


    "Sect Leader, I''ll take my leave."


    As Zhou Donghuang bade farewell to Yu Yucheng and returned to the Autumn Valley, the two representatives of the Qi Dynasty had also left the grounds of the Lightning Sword Sect and were nearing the most convenient galaxy teleporter.


    "Seventh Prince, that boy is really too arrogant. He is a mere youngster and yet he claims to want to overtake King Qi within the next ten years. This means that he does not respect King Qi''s status and position at all!" Qi Yuankai fumed aloud. "You should not have stopped me from attacking him!"


    "Attacking him?"


    Qi Feng turned to give a stern look to Qi Yuankai. "Eighth elder, do you actually have confidence in defeating that Yu Yucheng?"


    Hearing this, Qi Yuankai first froze before shaking his head, speechless.

 298 White-haired youth

    Although Qi Yuankai was an early Divine Transformation adept, among the early Divine Transformation adepts, he was only around average at best.


    As for Yu Yucheng, as the Lightning Sword Sect Leader, although he was also an early Divine Transformation adept, he was still a leader of one of the top sects within the Hengliu galaxy and definitely had some extra skills that were inherited from the Lightning Sword Sect.


    If Qi Yuankai were to fight Yu Yucheng, he would not be confident in winning the duel at all.


    Instead, Qi Yuankai also agreed that there was a higher chance that he would lose to Yu Yucheng.


    "Well, Eighth Elder, since you do not have the confidence to defeat Yu Yucheng, there was no point in you taking action against Zhou Donghuang if Yu Yucheng were to protect him," Qi Feng said.


    "Well, there''s also you, Seventh Prince!" Qi Yuankai replied.


    "Me?"


    Qi Feng shook his head. "Eighth Elder, did you notice that as we were leaving out the doors of the sect, there was someone standing a short distance away from the door. Did you notice that?"


    "Yes."


    Qi Yuankai nodded his head. "It was a middle-aged man who looked rather average."


    "Average?"


    Qi Feng smiled. "Eighth Elder, if I''m not wrong... That person was the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin, of the Lightning Sword Sect. He is one of the strongest Primordial Soul adepts of the Lightning Sword Sect. Zhou Donghuang is one of the disciples of his Autumn Valley."


    Qi Yuankai frowned.


    "Even without discussing any other matters, with the number of achievements Zhou Donghuang has at his young age, it already trumps that of everyone else in the Hengliu galaxy and this includes our ancestors... If we were to simply discuss the Primordial Soul adepts and below in the Hengliu galaxy, we could even say that Zhou Donghuang is the strongest in terms of martial arts in the entire history of the Hengliu galaxy."


    Qi Feng appeared indifferent. "It is very normal that the Lightning Sword Sect reveres this talented man."


    "Well, not only did he reject you, Seventh Prince, he also dared to belittle our king... Are we to just let it go then?"


    Qi Yuankai frowned and his eyes glinted with unwillingness and annoyance.


    "At the moment where he rejected me, he was already digging his own grave."


    Qi Feng''s tone was light and breezy as if he were simply discussing a casual matter. "Eighth Elder, this time, after we return, it will not be long before Zhou Donghuang will cease to exist within the Hengliu galaxy and the entire infinite universe."


    Upon hearing this, Qi Yuankai''s eyes instinctively lit up. "Do you need me to step up?"


    Of course, he had understood the meaning behind Qi Feng''s casual words.


    From the start to the end of their conversation with Zhou Donghuang, Qi Feng had had on a pleasant and amicable front.


    As for him now, every time he spoke, it seemed as though he was already envisioning Zhou Donghuang''s death.


    "That is true, Seventh Prince," Qi Yuankai smiled and said. "Indeed, this matter does not require me to take action."


    ¡­


    To Zhou Donghuang, the visit by the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty, Qi Feng, was merely a slight disruption, and it was not of much consequence.


    After returning to his quarters at the Autumn Valley, he continued to train and digest the power of the Sky Sun elixir.


    At the moment, he had already consumed three Sky Sun elixirs, and they had all respectively helped three of his late Dharma Powers of the Green Dragon Dharma Power, White Tiger Dharma Power and Vermilion Bird Dharma Power. As his three biggest Dharma Powers were being aided, the power of the three Sky Sun elixirs was also partially aiding his Black Turtle Dharma Power, which was not yet at the late Dharma stage. Because of this, two days ago, his Black Turtle Dharma Power had also crossed over to the late Dharma stage.


    "It feels as if they are sharing the medicinal value of the Sky Sun elixir."


    After training for a few more days, Zhou Donghuang realized this point, and so he did not hesitate and took out the last remaining Sky Sun elixir for consumption. This now allowed for his four Dharma Powers to train at the same time.


    In the process, he could also clearly sense that his four Dharma Powers had already reached a certain limit of power due to the absorption of the Sky Sun elixir''s medicinal properties. After fully digesting the power of the four Sky Sun elixirs, drinking more would not provide greater help to the four Dharma Powers.


    "Indeed, one Dharma Power can only be helped by one Sky Sun elixir."


    Originally, Zhou Donghuang had assumed that as the medicinal value of the Sky Sun elixir could be shared among the four Dharma Powers, it may be possible for him to drink all the Sky Sun elixirs he could get his hands on. That would allow his Dharma Powers to absorb their medicinal value as well, allowing himself to improve his training greatly.


    Well, in the end, such a theory was proven to be false.


    Even though the four Dharma Powers were indeed able to share the power of each Sky Sun elixir, after it was split among each Dharma Power, in the end, each Dharma Power was only able to be influenced by the cumulative power of one single Sky Sun elixir, nothing more.


    "Forget it... Even so, this is still enough for my four Dharma Powers to cross over to the ultimate Dharma stage in a short period of time!


    With the four Dharma Powers crossing over to the ultimate Dharma stage, as well as the Divine Will being cultivated due to him being a Primordial Soul adept, Zhou Donghuang was confident that for those who were below the Primordial Soul stage, he would be able to kill them and it would take no effort at all as well.


    As one Dharma Power was attacking, the other three would simultaneously be absorbing Spirit energy from the skies and the land to rejuvenate themselves. This would be akin to the rebirth of these Dharma Powers, and they would possibly never run out of energy.


    Unless, the area that he was in particularly lacked Spirit energy.


    As he thought about the fact that his four Dharma Powers would soon fully cross over to the ultimate Dharma stage, even though he had thousands of years of other good thoughts and memories, such an image in his head still made him feel excited and grateful.


    Previously, in his past life, when he had entered the ultimate Dharma stage, the big sects and the geniuses of the bigger families of the same stage would have been able to crush him, and he had felt the huge disparity between his training methods and theirs.


    However, in this life, the tides had turned and he, Zhou Donghuang, trained using the Lord of Four Supremes. If he dueled with someone of the same training stage as him, he would easily triumph in terms of training style.


    As Zhou Donghuang was hard at work in training, both Da Zhuang and He Mengxi were not slacking off either. Once they had consumed the elixir, they both went into isolated training as well.


    Within the Autumn Valley, there was peace and quiet.


    Within the Lightning Sword Sect, it was absolutely quiet and peaceful as well.


    ¡­


    Three months later.


    A man who was dressed in green robes with pure white hair but youthful features appeared near the galaxy teleporter that was closest to the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Afterwards, he glanced in the direction of the Lightning Sword Sect. Within an instant, he had already entered the grounds of the Lightning Sword Sect and from the start to end of this movement, the elders and disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect who were on patrol never noticed him at all.


    "This is the Autumn Valley?"


    After a while, this white-haired young man with white eyebrows met with a disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect near the Autumn Valley.


    "Yes... Yes, Senior."


    This disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect that met with the youth was an external disciple. Towards this white-haired youth, who had managed to freeze his entire being''s essential core within an instant, he was filled with horror and fear. As long as this youth raised his finger slightly, he could even be crushed to death!


    "Do you know where the Autumn Valley disciple, Zhou Donghuang, lives?"


    The white-haired young man spoke with a light tone that did not betray any emotion.


    "Senior, I''m unaware of this... Perhaps you should ask a disciple of the Autumn Valley instead."


    The external disciple''s face was fraught with worry. He was truly afraid that his ignorance towards the question posed by the youth would cause his own painful death. This was because he had heard before that many strongmen were merciless and killed others easily.


    "Mm."


    The young man replied calmly and released the external disciple. At the same time, the external disciple''s essential core was no longer bounded by him. "You can go."


    Once he had spoken, the young man produced one spirit stone vein and threw it to the external disciple, who caught it in his palm. Once he had observed this spirit stone vein, his nostrils flared as his face lit up with surprise and excitement. "Is this... an... ultimate-quality spirit stone!?"


    One had to know that one ultimate spirit stone was worth ten high-quality spirit stones!


    "He was so generous... If I find an elder and rat on him, would that make me an ingrate?"


    This external disciple was now in a dilemma.


    However, he still decided to report this matter to the elder of the sect in the end. He reported that an outsider had entered the Lightning Sword Sect, allegedly to find Zhou Donghuang. After all, this trespasser could have other ill intentions as well.


    If the young man were to carry out any bad schemes, with his tip off, which managed to save the Lightning Sword Sect from much trouble, it was likely that he would be approved to enter the inner sect or even receive rewards that were worth far more than one ultimate spirit stone!


    After the external disciple had regained his composure and realized that the white-haired young man was nowhere to be seen, he immediately rushed back to the outer sect to report this matter to an elder of the outer sect.


    "What!? Someone has trespassed into our grounds? Furthermore, he was here to find Zhou Donghuang!?"


    This elder of the outer sect naturally also recognized the severity of the situation. Without further hesitation, he headed for the residence of the Lightning Sword Sect Leader to report this matter.


    A man who was able to trespass without being discovered was definitely no ordinary being. This was because out of the elders who patrolled around the sect on a daily basis, there were at least three late Primordial Soul adepts who were looking out keenly for intruders.


    Furthermore, the Lightning Sword Sect had the great idea of planting several formations around its grounds and even adepts of the ultimate Primordial Soul stage would possibly be caught while trying to trespass into the Lightning Sword Sect.


    At the same time, in the Autumn Valley:


    "Zhou Donghuang."


    Before Zhou Donghuang was rudely awakened by sounds outside his door, he had been training the four Dharma Powers of his that had just crossed over into the ultimate Dharma stage. He was sure that the voice that had come from outside was one that he had heard before.


    Nevertheless, once he had heard the call, he immediately jumped up from the bed and opened the door, walking out.


    Once he had reached the yard, he saw that a young man was already standing before him. This young man had white hair that was flying with the breeze and a pair of white eyebrows. He had on a cold and icy composure and looked to be about the same age as Zhou Donghuang.


    "Who are you?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s facial expression became guarded as he saw the cold look in the young man''s eyes. At the same time, his expression became cold and cautious as well.


    Although this young man before him looked like an ordinary person, Zhou Donghuang activated his Divine Will and made use of it. Without startling the man before him, he was only able to access the area that was about three meters around the man.


    He was completely shut out otherwise.


    What did this mean?


    Only those whose who had Divine Will that was able to surpass past merely reading someone could achieve this.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang could definitely confirm that the young man before him was definitely at least an early Primordial Soul adept, judging by the power of his soul!

 299 Liu Pingsheng

    "Guangling Academy, Liu Pingsheng."


    The white-haired youth stared at Zhou Donghuang with a rather fiery look. Afterwards, without any prior provocation by Zhou Donghuang, a strong wave of essential core was sent out directly towards Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang had not thought that the other party would attack him without any provocation, and his face darkened instantly.


    However, once he realized the power that the other party was controlling, a look of inspiration flashed suitably in his eyes, and he immediately utilized his White Tiger Dharma Power. The ten-meter-tall White Tiger Dharma Power was thus shown for the first time.


    This was the first time Zhou Donghuang had fought since his White Tiger Dharma Power had crossed over to the ultimate Dharma stage.


    "Roar...!"


    The White Tiger Dharma Power growled and, with one outstretched paw, it directly toppled the white-haired youth''s essential core as if he was bringing the weight of the world. The entire process was as if destruction had been rained down.


    "You actually managed to cross over?"


    Liu Pingsheng''s tone was full of surprise and shock, and his gaze became even more fiery and intense. At the same time, he delivered yet another strike, and a wave of thicker essential core shot out directly towards the White Tiger Dharma Power.


    Afterwards, the essential core suddenly became a taut string mid-air as it was locked tight by the White Tiger Dharma Power.


    Once the essential core was bounded into a string, it quickly turned itself around the White Tiger Dharma Power in a perfect noose, as if it were about to choke the White Tiger Dharma Power to death.


    At this moment, with Zhou Donghuang''s Divine Will, the White Tiger Dharma Power morphed into a beam of light like a shooting star in the night sky, and within an instant, it managed to successfully escape the noose that was Liu Pingsheng''s essential core.


    "It really is Dharma Power Control!"


    A surprised voice rang out belonging to Liu Pingsheng. At the same time, he also released the essential core that he had summoned, and the string that was Liu Pingsheng''s essential core disappeared without a trace as if it had never existed.


    Seeing as the other party had taken a step back, Zhou Donghuang used his Divine Will to retract his White Tiger Dharma Power as well.


    At the same time, he furrowed his brows and looked somewhat annoyedly at the other party. "If you are here to invite me to join the Guangling Academy, I''m afraid you''ve made a wasted trip.


    "As for the Sky Sun fruits, I have already consumed them all. If not, I would not have entered the ultimate Dharma stage so easily within such a short period of time."


    If not, he would not even bother to explain his circumstance to him.


    With the training stage of the person before him alone, if he really wanted to kill Zhou Donghuang, even the strongest mid Divine Transformation adept of the Lightning Sword Sect, an elder, would not be able to save him.


    After hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, Liu Pingsheng''s facial expression did not change. "I am not here to ask you to join the Guangling Academy. I am also not here to ask you for the Sky Sun fruit."


    "Hm?"


    Liu Pingsheng''s words came as a surprise to Zhou Donghuang. If he was not here to invite him to the Guangling Academy and was also not here for the Sky Sun fruit, what was this Divine Transformation adept of the Guangling Academy here for?


    "Donghuang!"


    Just as Zhou Donghuang was frozen with confusion, an urgent sound that seemed somewhat distant could be heard as a figure materialized from afar. Within an instant, this figure had already arrived at Zhou Donghuang''s living quarters. Upon realizing that Zhou Donghuang was fine, he sighed a breath of relief.


    This was no ordinary person. Instead, he was the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin.


    "He Jin?"


    Seeing as He Jin had appeared before Zhou Donghuang and was taking on a stance of protection, Liu Pingsheng spoke with a rather surprised tone. "Young man, you actually managed to enter the Divine Transformation stage so quickly?"


    Young man.


    Upon hearing Liu Pingsheng''s words, Zhou Donghuang could confirm that Liu Pingsheng''s status was higher than He Jin''s.


    Of course, he was not surprised as he had guessed this long ago.


    After all, this fellow, Liu Pingsheng, was a late Divine Transformation adept after all. He was also a member of the Guangling Academy and was definitely not young either.


    "You are?"


    Seeing as the other party had recognized him and even called him "young man," He Jin first froze before giving the former a searching look. Although he felt as if he had met this man before in the past, he could not remember exactly when or where.


    Liu Pingsheng replied casually, "When you were young, you visited the Guangling Academy to find core drugs with your senior and we met once."


    Once Liu Pingsheng had spoken, He Jin''s childhood memories instantly surfaced very clearly in his mind, and he suddenly recalled why this man was so familiar. "You... you are... Senior Liu Pingsheng!?"


    Seeing this, He Jin immediately recalled why he had found this man before him to be so familiar.


    The truth was that when he was young, he had met him before.


    At that time, this man had looked how he looked now.


    It was unexpected that although He JIn had changed much since young, this other party had had no physical changes at all, and he still looked as young and youthful.


    "I''m surprised that you remember me."


    Liu Pingsheng smiled lightly. "I heard that you are now the Autumn Valley Head? You have come a long way since the last time I met you when you were still young¡­! Zhou Donghuang is a disciple of your Autumn Valley?"


    Once he had spoken, Liu Pingsheng''s gaze returned back to Zhou Donghuang, and the intensity in his gaze returned.


    "Yes, Senior."


    After recognizing the identity of Liu Pingsheng, He Jin''s attitude and demeanor became much more courteous. At the same time, he opened his mouth to do an introduction for Zhou Donghuang. "Donghuang, this is the Honorary Dean of the Guangling Academy, Honorary Dean Liu Pingsheng."


    Once he had spoken, he added on for elaboration, "Honorary Dean Liu Pingsheng has an admirably high status that is untraversed among the Guangliang Academy, and he is ingenious and clever... Even the Dean of the Guangling Academy is extremely courteous to him and views him not just as a mentor but also as a fatherly figure."


    With a few sentences, He Jin managed to explain Liu Pingsheng''s background to Zhou Donghuang.


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang''s heart jolted slightly. He had not expected the other party''s status to be so high. One could even say that Liu Pingsheng was at the peak of the Hengliu galaxy.


    Furthemore, the Dean of the Guangling Academy even saw him as a mentor and as a fatherly figure?


    According to what he knew, the Dean of the Guangling Academy was already considered high ranking among the leaders of the Hengliu galaxy...


    This seemingly young, white-haired "youth" was viewed as a mentor and a fatherly figure by the Dean of the Guangling Academy. Didn''t this mean he was ranked even higher?


    "Zhou Donghuang!"


    At the same time, another urgent voice could be heard from the skies of the Autumn Valley, and two figures quickly flew into the Autumn Valley to Zhou Donghuang''s residence.


    One was the Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng.


    The other person was an old man with white hair and white eyebrows. Although he looked to be elderly, he had eyes that shone brightly and spirit that only someone young could have.


    At this moment, Yu Yucheng was following behind the old man.


    "Junior Uncle."


    Seeing the old man, He Jin immediately greeted him courteously as he acknowledged the Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng, at the same time.


    Zhou Donghuang''s gaze also landed on this old man, and he could vaguely guess this old man''s identity... This old man was most likely the mid Divine Transformation adept of the Lightning Sword Sect, who was their strongest member.


    "Who are you? Why have you trespassed into my Lightning Sword Sect?"


    As Liu Pingsheng''s back was facing the two figures who had arrived, be it Yu Yucheng or the old man in front of him, both could not see his full features, and they were both glaring at him in a hostile manner.


    He Jin reacted to Yu Yucheng''s words by shooting him a warning glance. Before Yu Yucheng could react to this, Liu Pingsheng opened his mouth and spoke with a neutral tone. "Before, when Yu Cang was still around, he did not even dare to question my motives... Yu Cang has a good successor indeed!"


    Yu Cang.


    Yu Cang was the previous Lightning Sword Sect Leader, and he had been Yu Yucheng''s senior.


    Yu Yucheng was actually an orphan that Yu Cang had brought back from his travels. Afterwards, Yu Cang had sworn in Yu Yucheng as a disciple of the sect, and he became Yu Cang''s direct disciple.


    Many years ago, Yu Cang had left the Hengliu galaxy to work towards reaching the Separating Divinity stage.


    Now, hearing someone call out the name of his beloved senior as well as making the personal comment that his senior had previously not dared to question him, Yu Yucheng''s facial expression became grave. When he spoke again, it was with a much more cautious tone. "Who... who are you?"


    Following this, under the watchful gaze of Yu Yucheng and the old man before him, Liu Pingsheng slowly turned around.


    Upon seeing Liu Pingsheng''s features, both Yu Yucheng and the old man before him''s eyes widened dramatically, and they froze on the spot as if they had been electrocuted.


    An instant later, the old man first regained his composure, and he bowed to greet Liu Pingsheng courteously. "I am Lan Gui, senior."


    After the old man had spoken, this jolted Yu Yucheng to his senses, and he bowed in greeting to Liu Pingsheng as well. "I am Yu Yucheng, Senior Liu Pingsheng!"


    Who was Liu Pingsheng?


    As the Honorary Dean of the Guangling Academy and as a late Divine Transformation adept, he was effectively the most senior in rank among the elites of the Hengliu galaxy.


    Even the Dean of the Guangliang Academy would call him "teacher" when he met Liu Pingsheng.


    Yu Yucheng had never expected that the trespasser who had entered the Lightning Sword Sect would be this man standing before him. At the same time, he was nervous from his blunder from before he had recognized this man. He hoped that Liu Pingsheng would not be petty about it and forgive his rudeness. If not, even if the other party chose to slap him to death, even the Alliance would not be able to save him from it as well.


    The Alliance could in fact go against the two Transcendental Forces of the Hengliu galaxy.


    However, that did not really apply when it came to this senior.


    This matter was enough to cause chaos within the entire Guangling Academy, and the Alliance could only be bystanders.


    And that was only considering the Guangling Academy alone.


    It was rumored that the current Emperor Qi of the Qi Dynasty admired Liu Pingsheng as well.


    Other than the fact that the Hengliu galaxy did not have any ultimate Divine Transformation adept yet, even any who surfaced would not have the same influence, power and status within the Hengliu galaxy as this man even if he was only a late Divine Transformation adept.


    Furthermore, it was rumored that this late Divine Transformation adept had previously killed an ultimate Divine Transformation adept who had traveled to the Hengliu galaxy from a different galaxy to find trouble with the Qi Dynasty and get revenge. It meant that his powers were not weaker than that of an ultimate Divine Transformation adept... Furthermore, the admiration that the two leaders of the two Transcendental Forces had for Liu Pingsheng meant that his influence and control were the highest among the entire Hengliu galaxy!


    "Why is this senior here at our Lightning Sword Sect?


    "Furthermore, he came here for Zhou Donghuang.


    "Why exactly is he here?"


    At this moment, Yu Yucheng had too many questions due to his state of confusion.

 300 Divine Dharma

    The name "Liu Pingsheng" signified "transcendental" in the Hengliu galaxy.


    Even more transcendental than the two Transcendental Forces.


    In the Hengliu galaxy, this name was not only a synonym for the word "transcendental," but it was also a synonym for "unparalleled."


    However, this person spent most of his days hidden within the Guangling Academy and hardly stepped outside. In the last few centuries, he had not been known to step out of the Guangling Academy at all... and when he had appeared in the Hengliu galaxy a thousand years ago, he had already been a late Divine Transformation adept.


    Now, nobody but him and God knew how powerful he really was.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang knew nothing about this.


    Otherwise, he would definitely have thought that he had made a judgment error. When he had tried to sense Liu Pingsheng''s inner Yuan earlier, based on his experience from his previous life, he had guessed that Liu Pingsheng was at the late Divine Transformation stage.


    A late Divine Transformation adept a thousand years ago, and still a late Divine Transformation adept a thousand years later?


    Unless there was some special reason behind this, it could not be possible!


    Dharma adepts had a lifespan of six hundred years, and when they reached the Primordial Soul stage, their lives would be extended by another four hundred years. This was why Primordial Soul adepts were also known as "millennium adepts."


    When Primordial Soul adepts reached the Divine Transformation stage, their lives would be extended by another five hundred years. Divine Transformation adepts had a maximum lifespan of a thousand five hundred years.


    As for the Separating Divinity stage above the Divine Transformation stage, the lifespan could be extended by another five hundred years to a total of two thousand years.


    Once the person reached the Immortal stage, the lifespan would be extended by another thousand years to a total of three thousand years!


    As for the Deity stage, those who reached this stage would either die or overcome it to reach the spirit world and become a God.


    For a Divine Transformation adept, to still be alive when he was a late Divine Transformation adept a thousand years ago, this meant that he had reached the late Divine Transformation stage before the age of five hundred years.


    Such a person was still a late Divine Transformation adept a thousand years later?


    Even in the Hengliu galaxy, this possibility was minute.


    "Senior, may I ask... why have you come to our Lightning Sword Sect?"


    Lan Gui, the most senior person in the Lightning Sword Sect and the most powerful man in the sect currently, looked at Liu Pingsheng fearfully as he asked in a respectful tone.


    At that point, both Yu Yucheng and He Jin were looking at Liu Pingsheng uneasily.


    They felt as if they could not breathe properly.


    "No need to be anxious," Liu Pingsheng glanced at Lan Gui and replied slowly.


    "I am here today to look for Zhou Donghuang for something, nothing to do with your Lightning Sword Sect.


    "Now, I have something to speak to Zhou Donghuang about, please give us some time."


    Once Liu Pingsheng had spoken, Lan Gui hastily agreed and left quickly. He looked knowingly at Yu Yucheng and He Jin, his gaze filled with caution.


    "Yes, Senior." Yu Yucheng also left.


    "Donghuang."


    As He Jin was leaving left, he turned to look at Zhou Donghuang and said, "This Senior Liu Pingsheng is the current leader of the Guangling Academy and a senior even to the current Emperor Qi of the Qi Dynasty. You must not treat him with disrespect."


    He Jin''s words not only reinforced the position of Liu Pingsheng in the Guangling Academy, but they even reminded Zhou Donghuang of his position in relation to Emperor Qi, the most powerful man of the Qi Dynasty.


    He had reminded Zhou Donghuang about this because he knew that Zhou Donghuang was always relaxed and loose with his manners, and he was afraid that Zhou Donghuang would anger the man.


    Zhou Donghuang only nodded slightly at He Jin''s reminder. Still, he was quietly surprised... this white-haired young man in front of him was not only powerful in the Guangling Academy, but also influential in the Qi Dynasty as well?


    In that case, wouldn''t this man be able to do anything he wished in the Hengliu galaxy?


    "You have something to tell me?"


    If He Jin found out that after he, Yu Yucheng and Lan Gui left, Zhou Donghuang would speak first and question Liu Pingsheng in such a tone, he would have been scared witless.


    Even when his senior mentor was around, He Jin would have to greet Liu Pingsheng as "Senior."


    However, faced with the disrespect of Zhou Donghuang, Liu Pingsheng didn''t appear unhappy at all. Instead, he smiled at Zhou Donghuang and asked directly, "Do you believe that for Dharma adepts... Dharma Power Control may not be the final frontier of perfecting Dharma Power?"


    Zhou Donghuang was taken aback, as he had never thought that Liu Pingsheng would say something like that.


    As far as he knew, in the history of the Hengliu galaxy, there had never been a Dharma adept who had perfected their Dharma Power to the extent of Dharma Power Control, and he was the first and only person who had done so.


    And now, the Divine Transformation adept from the Guangling Academy in front of him was now asking him such a question?


    He looked at the man and thought, when this man was a Dharma adept, did he even master the technique of Dharma Power Control? Why was he now asking if he believed that Dharma Power Control was the final limit to perfecting Dharma Power?


    This was as if an adult had asked him: "Do you believe that a three-year-old child can lift up to a ton of weight?"


    "I have never heard of a Dharma adept who managed to perfect his Dharma Power beyond the limit of Dharma Power Control."


    This was Zhou Donghuang''s response to Liu Pingsheng.


    Towards Zhou Donghuang''s answer, Liu Pingsheng was not surprised. "That is because... in the history of the galaxy, there has never been a Dharma adept who could make this first crucial step.


    "The Dharma adepts in the Hengliu galaxy always failed to even master the technique of Dharma Power Control because of natural talent limits or training resource limits... as for the other galaxies rich in resources, although there were Dharma adepts who mastered the technique of Dharma Power Control, they often did not have much time left to understand the deeper meanings and secrets of Dharma Power."


    "Of course, in the universe, there were surely many Dharma adepts who tried to perfect Dharma Power beyond the Dharma Power Control limit... However, whenever they spent too long without any progress, they either began to doubt themselves and rushed to enter the Divine Transformation stage, or their elders did not allow them to continue going down this road, and they forced them to reach the Divine Transformation stage."


    As Liu Pingsheng spoke, he glanced at Zhou Donghuang and said, "Towards the determination of these Dharma adepts in perfecting their Dharma Power beyond the limit of Dharma Power Control, what are your thoughts?"


    "I disagree with it," Zhou Donghuang shook his head and said.


    "Since the universe has never had a Dharma adept achieve it in history, it is still unknown if the first step beyond Dharma Power Control is possible.


    "If there is an end-goal in mind, there might be something to work towards.


    "If there is no goal, it is difficult to proceed further. Not only is it difficult to progress, but it is also a huge test for one''s mental state."


    Zhou Donghuang had thousands of years of memory from his previous life. Still, he had never heard of anyone being able to perfect Dharma Power beyond the stage of Dharma Power Control. Dharma Power Control was recognized by the countless races of the universe to be the final limit of perfecting Dharma Power.


    "You are wise, indeed," Liu Pingsheng''s eyes flashed as he sighed heavily and said.


    "And the truth showed that this was indeed the case.


    "Let me ask you another question... as a Dharma adept, if you knew that the limit of Dharma Power was not Dharma Power Control, but a technique even more powerful than that, what would you do?"


    Before Zhou Donghuang could respond, Liu Pingsheng added," And if you knew that by achieving a technique superior to Dharma Power Control, that will become such a good base for you that no matter how poor the technique you are training in or how poor your foundation is, you will have a hundred percent chance of reaching the Deity stage... what would you do?"


    Initially, Zhou Donghuang had wanted to say that he would try his best so that his progress in increasing his skill would not be affected by this technique beyond Dharma Power Control.


    However, after hearing what Liu Pingsheng added, he was stunned.


    At the Dharma stage, by mastering the technique that was said to be superior to Dharma Power Control, no matter how poor the training technique or foundation in the future, there would be a hundred percent chance of reaching the Deity stage?


    Was this possible?


    If that were really possible, then that would be an incredible foundation for the future.


    But was it possible?


    This was too unbelievable.


    "What are you trying to say?"


    Zhou Donghuang looked at Liu Pingsheng, his expression serious. He could tell that Liu Pingsheng definitely had something to say.


    Liu Pingsheng sighed and said, "A thousand years ago, when I was still a Dharma adept, I chanced upon the dying place of an ancient person... there, I did not gain any treasures, and his space ring had been taken a long time ago. All that was left was a small book that was his diary.


    "After every year ended, he would write a diary entry in the book. In it, he recorded everything that he had experienced in his life.


    "It was then that I found out... in fact, in ancient times, there were many talented adepts who managed to perfect their Dharma Power to the stage of Divine Dharma.


    "Divine Dharma is exactly the technique that Dharma adepts can master that is superior to Dharma Power Control."


    As Liu Pingsheng spoke, his gaze was complicated. "The place was destroyed because I had invoked a protective formation when I left... but I brought that small notebook out together with me.


    "That small notebook... nobody believes that it is real. Only I, who went to that place, can confirm from the corpse that the person lived in an ancient time, a long time ago.


    "But, nobody believes my words, and they say that the small notebook may have been an act of mischief.


    "Although they do not believe it, since I experienced it myself, I have to believe... furthermore, at that point, I had already mastered Dharma Power Control as an ultimate Dharma adept.


    "You could imagine... after experiencing all of that, I was so drawn to the technique of Divine Dharma.


    "Among all the sects at that point, I was the youngest in the new generation of powerful adepts... but because of my determination, I spent another five hundred years in the ultimate Dharma stage and only continued to the Primordial Soul stage just before my life was about to end.


    "At that point, the rest who were the same age as me, and who used to be inferior to me, had all reached the Divine Transformation stage, and some who were more outstanding had even reached the Separating Divinity stage!"

 301 Ancient Primordial Soul Technique?

    "Of course, I have no regrets... if it was not for the fact that I was reaching the end of my life, I would not have continued to progress to the Primordial Soul stage, as that would mean that my efforts for the past hundred years would have all gone to waste!"


    At this point, a tinge of reluctance could be heard in the voice of the usually calm Liu Pingsheng.


    "You can only imagine how I felt then.


    "Hundreds of years of effort gone to waste... and those who were previously inferior to me had already surpassed me one by one.


    "At the time, I chose to leave the sect.


    "After that, I traveled around and happened to meet two people. They were people who left the Hengliu galaxy... one was from the Qi Dynasty, and the other was from the Guangling Academy.


    "The three of us accompanied one another for a long time... until we got attacked by others. The two of them died while protecting me. I was only able to survive because of their sacrifice."


    Liu Pingsheng let out a sigh, and a sense of reminiscence could be seen in his eyes.


    "As I had known them for years, I knew that although they had left the Hengliu galaxy, they still cared for and missed their descendants in the Hengliu galaxy dearly... That was also why I returned to the Hengliu galaxy after taking revenge for them. I planned to protect their descendants for a thousand years before leaving.


    "In the blink of an eye, a thousand years had passed... I had also planned to leave the Hengliu galaxy soon to search for gifted adepts who mastered the skill of Dharma Power Control. I wanted to impart to them the knowledge that I have learned over the years. Hopefully, someone will be able to fulfill my wish in my place.


    "I would never have thought that I would hear of you just as I was about to leave this planet."


    Liu Pingsheng looked into Zhou Donghuang''s eyes, his face filled with amazement. "To be honest, after hearing about your performance in the Alliance Hunt and all your achievements at such a young age, I was very surprised.


    "An astonishing young talent like you is rare to come across not only in Hengliu galaxy, but even in sects that are in galaxies that have more resources for training than the Hengliu galaxy.


    "Furthermore, the disciples of those sects have been living in those galaxies since young. The resources you had for practice was nowhere comparable to what they had.


    "And it is precisely because of this that I see so much potential in you. Now, you must have already guessed... why I am here, right?" Liu Pingsheng asked.


    For Zhou Donghuang, he was already in shock when Liu Pingsheng was halfway into his speech.


    A thousand years ago, he reached the Primordial Soul stage as he was approaching the end of his life, which meant he was already nearing 600 years of age a thousand years ago.


    Moreover, he had even traveled with two people from the Qi Dynasty and the Guangling Academy for a period of time. This meant that a thousand years ago, he was already more than 600 years old, or even older than that.


    Unless he practiced the "Technique of Everlasting Youth," then it would be simply impossible in any other circumstances.


    The lifespan of a Divine Transformation adept was only 1500 years.


    In his past life of a thousand years, Zhou Donghuang had never heard of any technique other than the "Technique of Everlasting Youth" that could extend one''s lifespan.


    "Your purpose of approaching me is to pass down the knowledge that you learned over those centuries, for me to continue polishing my Dharma Power and hopefully master the technique of Divine Dharma?"


    It was not difficult for Zhou Donghuang to guess why Liu Pingsheng had come to look for him.


    "Not bad."


    Liu Pingsheng nodded. "In the time ahead, I will be staying at your Lightning Sword Sect for a while... to personally pass down the knowledge I have gained for the past few hundred years to you. Once I have given you all my knowledge, I will then leave."


    After hearing Liu Pingsheng''s words, even the usually unshaken Zhou Donghuang could not help but gasp.


    In fact, Zhou Donghuang was already moved when he had heard that by mastering the technique of Divine Dharma, even with a poor foundation in practice, there was still a hundred percent chance of entering the Deity''s Tribulation stage.


    By practicing the "Lord of the Four Supremes," Zhou Donghuang could at most reach the Primordial Soul stage. To progress further to later stages, he would have to create his own technique.


    Even with his thousand years of memory from his previous life, it was still a challenging path to take to forge his own technique beyond the Primordial Soul stage.


    If the technique of Divine Dharma was indeed this powerful, the moment he mastered the technique, there would be no need for him to create his own technique anymore. He could reach the Deity''s Tribulation stage through mastering Divine Dharma.


    "I have to confirm something.


    "As long as the technique of Divine Dharma is mastered, one can really reach the Deity''s Tribulation stage no matter how poor their practice technique is?" Zhou Donghuang asked.


    "If I can only reach the Primordial Soul stage with my current method of practice... I can still reach the Deity''s Tribulation stage as long as I master the technique of Divine Dharma, without changing my method of practice?"


    Upon hearing Zhou Donghuang''s question, Liu Pingsheng looked at him in shock. "Your method of practice can only reach the Primordial Soul stage?"


    "Yes." Zhou Donghuang nodded.


    "What a coincidence." Liu Pingsheng smiled as he shook his head.


    "Coincidence?" Zhou Donghuang was confused as he did not know what Liu Pingsheng''s words meant.


    "In the past, even the most outstanding techniques that the ancient people practiced only allowed one to progress up to the Primordial Soul stage.


    Liu Pingsheng sighed and continued, "I found out about this from the book left behind by the ancient ancestor.


    "Even so, the outstanding adepts could still enter the Deity''s Tribulation stage. This was because when they were at the Dharma stage, they mastered the technique of Divine Dharma.


    "By using the technique of Divine Dharma, even as they entered the Primordial Soul stage, they were able to cultivate the powers of Primordial Soul Dharma Power to devour and absorb all the energy of heaven and Earth, even those in spirit stones and crystals.


    "Their practice method after reaching the Primordial Soul stage was rather straightforward. They simply utilized the technique of Divine Dharma to aid in their practice.


    "For ordinary Dharma adepts, even if they could master the technique of Dharma Power Control, they were unable to use their Dharma Power the moment they reached the Primordial Soul stage as they were unable to continue cultivating their Dharma Power... however, for adepts who were able to master the technique of Divine Dharma, even when they entered the Primordial Soul stage, they could continue cultivating their Dharma Power on the foundations of Primordial Soul stage.


    "This was also termed as Primordial Soul Dharma."


    At this point, Liu Pingsheng paused for a while before continuing, "When I first heard about this, I was also extremely shocked as I could never imagine that in the ancient times, even the greatest adepts were only able to reach the Primordial Soul stage.


    "During the ancient times, reaching the Primordial Soul stage was already considered the highest level of practice, and this was extremely rare.


    "Moreover, those who were able to reach the Primordial Soul stage during the ancient era and those who were able to reach the Primordial Soul stage in this era are different... even for those who are practicing a Deity''s Tribulation technique now, they will also be defeated easily by a Primordial Soul adept from the ancient era who was practicing the ancient Primordial Soul level technique!


    "Those who are practicing Primordial Soul in our era, even if they are able to reach the Primordial Soul stage, they may not be comparable to the ancient people who were practicing the ancient Primordial Soul technique to the ultimate Dharma stage.


    "The difference is just too great. The techniques that were practiced during that era were more powerful than we can imagine."


    At this point, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes narrowed as he was taken aback.


    Liu Pingsheng''s words seemed like a bolt of lightning that struck from the heavens above, splitting the thick fog that shrouded Zhou Donghuang''s heart.


    Ancient Primordial Soul technique?


    If Liu Pingsheng was telling the truth, then the "Lord of the Four Supremes" technique that he had been practicing could possibly be the Ancient Primordial Soul technique from the ancient era.


    Not only that, but it was also considered a rare and top practice method in the ancient era, as the "Lord of the Four Supremes" could allow one to practice all the way to the Primordial Soul stage!


    "Everything that you said... was recorded in that book?" Zhou Donghuang asked.


    "Yes." Liu Pingsheng nodded.


    "The ancient era''s history may be divided, but there must be differences between the words used during that era and now... you can recognize them?" Zhou Donghuang asked once again.


    "You even know about this?"


    Liu Pingsheng was taken aback, as he would never imagine someone from a small galaxy like Hengliu galaxy would know something like this.


    "In the sect that I was previously in, there were records written in ancient text. In my youth, as I was interested in these ancient languages, I learned to understand them," Liu Pingsheng said.


    "Can you let me take a look at this book?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s gaze flickered as he finally let the words out of his mouth.


    "No problem, it''s just that... will you be able to understand it?"


    Liu Pingsheng glanced at Zhou Donghuang suspiciously, clearly not believing that Zhou Donghuang would be able to understand the text from the ancient era.


    "Yes."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded as he had encountered a few stelae from the ancient era in his previous life. As he was curious about the inscriptions on the stelae, he specifically learned the language of the ancient era from people who understood the characters.


    However, those stelae only recorded ordinary information, and he did not gain much knowledge from them.


    While Zhou Donghuang was nodding, Liu Pingsheng had already retrieved the book from his space ring. Although the material used to weave the book seemed old and damaged, there was no sign of damage or decomposition on the book itself.


    "What is written on the cover page?"


    Liu Pingsheng was not hasty in handing the book over to Zhou Donghuang. He turned the cover page towards Zhou Donghuang and seemed to be testing him on purpose.


    Zhou Donghuang immediately recognized the characters on the booklet, "The Diary of Yun Yi."


    The moment Zhou Donghuang finished his sentence, Liu Pingsheng exclaimed, "You... you can actually recognize the characters?!"


    The booklet in his hands was indeed left behind by an ancient person, named Yun Yi.


    On the cover page, the words written were indeed what Zhou Donghuang had just said.

 302 Three Months

    As Zhou Donghuang took the book and flipped through it, Liu Pingsheng stared at him unblinkingly, his eyes filled with shock.


    Even for someone like him, he had spent a few decades understanding the ancient language that was used in this book. The young man in front of him seemed to just be slightly older than twenty years of age, yet he could still somehow read the ancient language that was in the book?


    In fact, from his lack of expression from start to end, he clearly had not encountered any words that he did not recognize.


    Even Liu Pingsheng could only roughly grasp the meaning of whatever was written in the book; some obscure words were unknown to him because these words did not appear in any other texts in that ancient language.


    "You know these words?"


    When Zhou Donghuang flipped to a page again, Liu Pingsheng pointed to a row of words on the page and asked him seriously.


    When Zhou Donghuang translated those words for Liu Pingsheng, this left him in a state of shock. He looked at Zhou Donghuang with a complicated gaze.


    Where did this boy come from?


    Not only was he skilled in martial arts, but he was also able to read this ancient language?


    From what it seemed, this young man had a better grasp of this ancient language than him.


    Zhou Donghuang flipped through the small book quickly, reading more than two hundred pages in the blink of an eye. He confirmed that whatever Liu Pingsheng had said earlier was the truth, and he even confirmed that the "Lord of the Four Supremes" technique that he was training in was indeed an ancient Primordial Soul level technique.


    In ancient times, Primordial Soul level techniques were the supreme techniques.


    Furthermore, Primordial Soul level techniques that allowed one to train up to the ultimate Primordial Soul stage were scarce in those times.


    "Earth actually has one of the supreme ancient techniques, "the Lord of the Four Supremes¡­" Looks like Earth could have flourished once many years ago. In fact, Earth could have possibly had many talented adepts."


    "Those legends from Earth could have been true," Zhou Donghuang guessed.


    "Looks like I should return to Earth in the future and take a good look around for anything that was left behind by the people of those ancient times."


    In his past life, he had not known about the supreme techniques of the ancient ages on Earth.


    Now that he knew about this, he knew that he would have to search Earth well to try to discover more items... perhaps the Lord of the Four Supremes was just the tip of the iceberg among these ancient supreme techniques.


    "I am grateful that you want to teach me the Divine Dharma technique that you spent centuries learning... but if I do not see any hope in this, I will not be as persistent as you, and I will just continue on to the Primordial Soul stage."


    Now, Zhou Donghuang had made up his mind.


    The technique of Divine Dharma seemed alluring, but it could also be a trap.


    Hence, he had to make himself clear to Liu Pingsheng to avoid him placing all his hopes on Zhou Donghuang. This technique could also prevent him from reaching the Primordial Soul stage if he did not master it, but Zhou Donghuang did not wish to spend too long at the Dharma stage.


    If he did not see any hope, he would insist on improving his level of skill and reach the Primordial Soul stage.


    "Haha..."


    Hearing Zhou Donghuang''s worries, Liu Pingsheng laughed and said, "This rascal, are you worried that I will be so stubborn that I will use my power to dictate your fate, to stop you from progressing to the Primordial Soul stage before you master the technique of Divine Dharma?"


    "Yes."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded. He had no need to hide his thoughts. This was exactly what he had been worried about.


    Liu Pingsheng was simply too powerful when compared to him. If Liu Pingsheng forced him to comply, he could not do anything to resist.


    "Do not worry."


    Liu Pingsheng shook his head and smiled. "I do not wish to hang myself on a tree like you... after I teach you whatever I learned about the technique over these years, I will leave the Hengliu galaxy and continue searching for other Dharma adepts who have mastered the technique of Dharma Power Control to teach them the same thing.


    "To say the truth, even towards you, I am just trying my luck, and not placing all my hopes on you to actually master this technique," added Liu Pingsheng.


    Zhou Donghuang only relaxed after hearing this. He stared at Liu Pingsheng and said seriously, "In this matter, take it as I, Zhou Donghuang, owing you a favor. I will pay you back in the future."


    Hearing these words from Zhou Donghuang, Liu Pingsheng was taken aback, then began to laugh as he said, "How interesting... but if you want to repay the favor, you will have to master the technique of Divine Dharma first.


    "Otherwise, you may not be able to return this favor."


    Of course, Liu Pingsheng did not take Zhou Donghuang''s promise to heart.


    It was only many years later that he realized the value of the promise that the young man had just made.


    Just like that, Liu Pingsheng began his stay in the Lightning Sword Sect.


    To make it more convenient for him to meet Zhou Donghuang, He Jin, the Autumn Valley Head, expanded Zhou Donghuang''s courtyard and built a new room to allow Liu Pingsheng to live there.


    At the start, when Liu Pingsheng had come to look for Zhou Donghuang, He Jin had been worried about Zhou Donghuang''s safety.


    Now, he was no longer worried; instead, he was overjoyed that Liu Pingsheng was staying in the Autumn Valley. In fact, he hoped that he could stay longer in the Lightning Sword Sect. For such an incredible presence to stay there and guide Zhou Donghuang was undoubtedly Zhou Donghuang''s great fortune.


    Of course, the leader of the Lightning Sword Sect also hoped that Liu Pingsheng could stay indefinitely in the sect, so that he could lead the Lightning Sword Sect to become the third Transcendental Force in the Hengliu galaxy.


    Furthermore, as long as Liu Pingsheng was at the Lightning Sword Sect, the two Transcendental Forces of the Hengliu galaxy, the Qi Dynasty and the Guangling Academy, could no nothing against the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Of course, this was nothing but wishful thinking on his part.


    Liu Pingsheng only stayed at the Lightning Sword Sect for three months, then left.


    Originally, he had intended to stay there for a few years.


    However, he did not expect that this martial art talent from the Lightning Sword Sect would be able to easily grasp all that he had learned and cultivated over all those centuries. He did not need him to repeat himself to the boy at all.


    Finally, before he left, Liu Pingsheng had a strong feeling that this martial art talent from the Lightning Sword Sect would really be able to master the Divine Dharma technique in the future and create history!


    Since the end of ancient times, in the thousands of clans and sects in the galaxies of the universe, it was unheard of for one to perfect their Dharma Power to the extent of Divine Dharma. It was widely acknowledged that the final limit of the Dharma stage was Dharma Power Control.


    "Goodbye."


    As he left, Liu Pingsheng''s greeting was short and simple.


    "Farewell."


    Zhou Donghuang''s reply was equally as simple.

 303 Three Ultimate Primordial Soul Adepts

    In three months, besides what Liu Pingsheng had learned about the technique of Divine Dharma through his experience all those years ago, Zhou Donghuang and Liu Pingsheng did not talk about anything else.


    However, after three months, the two of them felt as if they had known each other for a long time.


    In the three months, Zhou Donghuang had worked on the foundations laid by Liu Pingsheng centuries ago. Zhou Donghuang''s understanding of the technique left Liu Pingsheng shocked. In fact, he guessed that if he had met Zhou Donghuang in the past, he could possibly have successfully mastered the technique of Divine Dharma.


    Liu Pingsheng left the Lightning Sword Sect quietly. Besides Zhou Donghuang, nobody else noticed his absence.


    It was only a month after Liu Pingsheng had left that He Jin, the Autumn Valley Head, came to look for him to ask for advice on a problem that he had met with during his practice¡­ that was when he found out that Liu Pingsheng had already left the Autumn Valley and the Lightning Sword Sect a month ago.


    "Donghuang, why didn''t you inform me?"


    He Jin smiled awkwardly. Liu Pingsheng''s absence was a huge matter to both him and the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "Valley Head, what problem did you face with your practice?"


    Knowing that He Jin had come to look for Liu Pingsheng to ask for advice related to his training, Zhou Donghuang could not help but laugh quietly to himself.


    Wasn''t this going around the sun to meet the moon?


    Right before him was someone who used to be a martial art talent at the ultimate Immortal stage!


    "It''s something about breaking through¡­ I always feel as if I am about to break through to the Divine Transformation stage, but something''s still missing."


    He Jin laughed sadly as he said, "But since Senior Liu has already left, I can also consult the Sect Leader or an elder instead."


    The two Divine Transformation adepts of the Lightning Sword Sect were nothing compared to Senior Liu Pingsheng, who had already left, but they could surely give him enough advice. After all, they had their own experience with reaching the Divine Transformation stage.


    "Valley Head, after you converted to using the Thousand Star Sword Technique, it is only a matter of time before you reach the Divine Transformation stage¡­ typically, you should not encounter such a huge bottleneck," said Zhou Donghuang.


    He Jin had converted to practicing the Thousand Star Sword Technique quite some time ago, and Zhou Donghuang had expected him to already have reached the Divine Transformation stage. He did not think that he would still be stuck at the Primordial Soul stage after so long.


    "Normally, you should have broken through a long time ago," added Zhou Donghuang.


    "Although I managed to correct myself eventually, when I tried to reach the crucial point before the Divine Transformation stage, I still reached a barrier."


    Besides his slight embarrassment, He Jin was also extremely helpless.


    "Keeping some things from the previous technique?"


    Zhou Donghuang was speechless. Although that would allow one to learn the new technique more quickly, it would still be more work in the end because the technique came as a package. If one were to keep things from the old technique, it would definitely hinder the progress of mastering the new technique.


    "What is the situation now?" asked Zhou Donghuang.


    He Jin shook his head and replied, "I am not too sure myself¡­ I just have a feeling that after I converted wholehearted to the new technique, there are still remnants of the old routes from the previous technique. When the inner Yuan and Spirit energy pass through my body, some of them will somehow end up following the previous routes.


    "I have tried to correct it; I spent one day, ten days, one month, three months, and the longest I spent was even half a year¡­ but there was no improvement," said He Jin sadly.


    "Not even after half a year?"


    Zhou Donghuang frowned slightly and said, "Valley Head, when you were trying to correct it, did you at times allow your Spirit energy or inner Yuan to automatically flow through those routes?"


    "Yes."


    He Jin nodded and answered, "Sometimes, I try doing that to test if I have successfully corrected it, but usually not for long."


    Hearing He Jin''s explanation, Zhou Donghuang shook his head and said, "That is the problem.


    "During this period where you are correcting it, you must not allow your Spirit energy or inner Yuan to automatically flow through those routes¡­ why don''t you try again, whenever you are practicing, whenever anything flows through those routes, you must control the flow and not allow it to flow automatically.


    "If all goes well, within a month, you will surely be able to correct it," Zhou Donghuang said.


    "Of course, within this month, you must remember not to allow your Spirit energy or inner Yuan to automatically flow through those routes¡­ because before you successfully correct this problem, if you allow the Spirit energy or inner Yuan to flow automatically through those routes, all your previous efforts will have been for naught.


    "If you keep this up for a month and ensure that the Spirit energy and inner Yuan avoid those routes, you will be able to break that bad habit and correct the problem once and for all."


    He Jin''s problem was a small one that Zhou Donghuang could solve easily.


    He Jin was not stupid either. After hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, he clearly understood the feasibility of his idea, and after quickly bidding farewell to Zhou Donghuang, he disappeared to try it.


    After He Jin had left, Zhou Donghuang returned to his room to continue his practice.


    "I never would have thought that¡­ after Dharma Power Control, there is Divine Dharma!"


    As Zhou Donghuang sat cross-legged on the mattress, four bright sources of light emanated from his body. These were none other than the four supreme beasts. They surrounded Zhou Donghuang and swallowed the Spirit energy in the air with large gulps.


    The Spirit energy of the Qi-Gathering formation was thick, and Zhou Donghuang had hardly been able to use it up during his normal practice. But now, the speed at which the Qi-Gathering formation was absorbing the Spirit energy was far slower than the speed that the four beasts were swallowing up the Spirit energy.


    This was simply the Divine Dharma technique.


    Before Liu Pingsheng had left, Zhou Donghuang had already mastered the Divine Dharma technique, but he had not exposed himself in front of Liu Pingsheng¡­ he did not wish to become a target for everybody.


    If Liu Pingsheng had no untoward thoughts, that would be fine.


    But if Liu Pingsheng had other intentions, that would be trouble for him.


    "I did not think that by using the Lord of the Four Supremes together with the foundations laid by Liu Pingsheng''s knowledge, I would be able to master the Divine Dharma technique in just three short months."


    Up to now, Zhou Donghuang could not help but sigh. "Looks like the Lord of the Four Supremes is an ancient Primordial Soul level technique that is indeed very helpful in mastering the Divine Dharma technique."


    The effect of the Divine Dharma technique was to allow one to produce the light of the Dharma Power and allow the Dharma Power to swallow Spirit energy to aid its practice.


    Typically, the speed at which one''s Dharma Power swallowed Spirit energy was already very fast, but with the help of four Dharma Powers surrounding him, Zhou Donghuang absorbed Spirit energy at an incredible rate.


    Now, there were visible disturbances in the Spirit energy around Zhou Donghuang''s house.


    Of course, this was only noticeable if one came closer.


    Before Liu Pingsheng had left, Zhou Donghuang had not dared to use the Divine Dharma technique to absorb Spirit energy to aid his training. Now that Liu Pingsheng had left, he could then use it at ease.


    "Feels like¡­ with this speed, in no time at all, my ultimate Dharma Powers will be able to reach the Primordial Soul stage and become four supreme Primordial Soul beasts!"


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes flashed open abruptly, shining brightly.


    Previously, with the help of the four Sky Sun elixirs, the four supreme beast Dharma Powers within Zhou Donghuang had reached the ultimate Dharma stage.


    Now, after mastering the Divine Dharma technique, his practice had become even faster. He could sense that he would be able to reach the Primordial Soul stage very soon and become a Primordial Soul adept!


    Furthermore, he no longer had to worry about the problem of practicing beyond the Primordial Soul stage using the Lord of the Four Supremes. With the help of the Divine Dharma technique, he would follow in the footsteps of the ancient humans who came before him.


    He would no longer have to work on the foundations of the Lord of the Four Supremes to try to produce a technique for further improvement. Even if he wanted to produce the continuation of the technique beyond the Primordial Soul, he would not be able to do so. Since ancient times, countless talents had tried to do the same, but none had managed to figure out the continuation of the technique beyond the Divine Transformation stage.


    Of course, there was no need for that.


    The Divine Dharma technique was enough to allow one to successfully reach the Deity stage.


    However, Zhou Donghuang could not forget about the mysterious huge demon that lay on the Guiyao planet.


    ¡­


    "That Zhou Donghuang, is he still cooped up at the Autumn Valley?"


    As Zhou Donghuang was trying to reach the Primordial Soul stage, a figure was standing at the galaxy teleporter not far from the Lightning Sword Sect on the Tielao planet.


    This was a middle-aged man, and beside him, there was an old man and another middle-aged man.


    If Zhou Donghuang were here, he would be able to know with just a glance that the man who had spoken was none other than Chu Wei, the Chu official of the Qi Dynasty who had visited him along with the fourteenth prince of the Qi Dynasty, Qi Rui.


    "Yes."


    The man who had reported the news was young and one of the disciples of the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect. His real identity was a spy that the Qi Dynasty had placed within the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "Continue watching him. If he does anything, inform me immediately," ordered Chu Wei seriously.


    "Yes, Official Chu."


    The man bowed, then turned and left.


    "Chu Wei."


    Then, the middle-aged man beside Chu Wei frowned and said, "This time, are we not here to kill a Dharma adept? It would be more than enough for you to do it alone, but Seventh Prince still asked both of us to come with you.


    "Three ultimate Primordial Soul adepts to ambush a Dharma adept¡­ if news were to be leaked out, how embarrassing would it be for us?"


    As the middle-aged man spoke, he was clearly unhappy.


    "This was not decided by me¡­ if you must ask, you will have to question Seventh Prince."


    Chu Wei shook his head. He was equally confused about the decision.


    Hearing Chu Wei''s words, the middle-aged man then shut his mouth and did not pursue this topic further. Clearly, he did not have the guts to question the seventh prince of their Qi Dynasty.


    "Seventh Prince has said that this matter was personally instructed by Emperor Qi himself¡­ So even if all three of us have to be involved, then we have to do a good job!"


    The old man beside Chu Wei, who had not spoken a word, finally spoke up.

 304 Ambush

    Time waited for no man.


    In September 1234 of the Ziyun era, Zhou Donghuang had left the Ziyun planet and finally arrived at the Hengliu galaxy. He entered the Autumn Valley of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    In September 1237 of the Ziyun era, Zhou Donghuang took part in the Alliance Hunt of the Hengliu galaxy, and three months later, which was December 1237 of the Ziyun era, he successfully won the Alliance Hunt.


    In the blink of an eye, it was now the end of the year 1238 of the Ziyun era.


    At this point, it had been more than half a year since Liu Pingsheng had left, and Zhou Donghuang had also been training in isolation for a full six months.


    In the six months, with the help of the Qi-Gathering formation produced using his spirit stones and the Divine Dharma technique, Zhou Donghuang finally reached the Primordial Soul stage successfully... of course, it was not the Primordial Soul stage recognized by the Lord of the Four Supremes.


    The Lord of the Four Supremes required all four Dharma Powers to reach the Primordial Soul stage for the adept to be considered a Primordial Soul adept. If only one, two or three of the Dharma Powers transformed from the Dharma stage to the Primordial Soul stage, that wouldn''t be enough.


    "In the blink of an eye, it has already been more than three years since I left the Ziyun planet... when I come back from the Guiyao planet this time, I will go to a few more places to collect some things, then make my way back to the Ziyun planet and bring some spirit stones and elixirs back for them."


    More than three years ago, when Zhou Donghuang had left the Ziyun planet, he had planned to return once he had gathered enough training resources to give to his family and those of the Donghuang Sect.


    Now, it seemed about time to do so.


    Of course, after three years, Zhou Donghuang''s appearance had hardly changed. He looked as youthful and as handsome as before, but his pair of eyes looked like it had aged as if it was no longer the bright eyes of youth.


    "Little Brother, you''re finally out?"


    The moment that Zhou Donghuang walked out into the yard, Da Zhuang''s voice rang out from outside.


    Da Zhuang had rushed over when he had heard the creaking of Zhou Donghuang''s door being pushed open.


    "Da Zhuang, have you reached the ultimate Dharma stage?" asked Zhou Donghuang with a smile.


    "Not yet."


    Da Zhuang rubbed the back of his head sheepishly as he said, "I''m more stupid. Sister already reached the ultimate Dharma stage two months ago, but I have not reached it yet.


    "Valley Head said there is no use for me to lock myself up to train; it may even be counter-productive... so these few days, I have been training some of the moves taught in the Fiery Thunder Training Regimen in the courtyard."


    "You have already done well."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled and said, "Third Sister has always been more naturally talented than you, so it is normal that she progressed earlier than you.


    "Continue training those moves. I have something that I need to discuss with the Valley Head."


    With that, Zhou Donghuang turned and left to meet He Jin, the Autumn Valley Head. After meeting He Jin, Zhou Donghuang did not return to his own residence. Instead, he directly left the Lightning Sword Sect and headed to the Guiyao planet.


    He had waited a long time for this day.


    "Typically, that huge demon of the Guiyao planet should still be there... after all, one year ago, the Guiyao planet did not have any signs that the demon was reaching the end of its stay there."


    As he thought of this, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes lit up as he left the Lightning Sword Sect.


    He did not head towards the galaxy teleporter that was located near the Lightning Sword Sect. Instead, he made his way through the stars with his body alone, towards the Guiyao planet. There were no galaxy teleporters between the Tielao planet, where the Lightning Sword Sect was at, and the Guiyao planet.


    He would need to go to a different galaxy teleporter to reach the Guiyao planet, but it would be more efficient to simply make his way through the stars himself.


    Not long after Zhou Donghuang left the Lightning Sword Sect, a figure discreetly left the Lightning Sword Sect and headed to the galaxy teleporter stationed outside of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "Official Chu, Zhou Donghuang has just left the Lightning Sword Sect," the figure said.


    This man who had just leaked this information was none other than one of the spies that had been placed in the Autumn Valley by the Qi Dynasty.


    "Left the Lightning Sword Sect?"


    Chu Wei, an official of the Qi Dynasty, appeared excited as his eyes lit up. He asked, "Where was he headed?"


    "He stepped into the skies and seemed to be heading for outside the galaxy... from what it looked like, he did not intend to use the galaxy teleporter," the spy of the Qi Dynasty answered.


    "He did not intend to use the galaxy teleporter, but just headed into the galaxy by himself? Which direction did he go in?" Chu Wei frowned slightly as he asked.


    "There."


    With the direction pointed by the spy, Chu Wei looked though his telescope, and his eyes landed on the far distance. "This direction... is this the way to the Guiyao planet?


    "Is Zhou Donghuang trying to go to the Guiyao planet?"


    In the past, the various sects of the Alliance had the Alliance Hunt on the Guiyao planet. He and the fourteenth prince of the Qi Dynasty were nearby then and had sped through the stars with their bodies alone and arrived at the Lightning Sword Sect on the Tielao planet.


    Precisely because of that, he was familiar with the route towards the Guiyao planet.


    With the direction pointed out by the spy, he immediately realized that Zhou Donghuang was headed towards the Guiyao planet.


    "Alright, you may leave now."


    After the spy took his leave, Chu Wei spoke to the two men beside him, "Gentlemen, it is time for action.


    "I know you think that he is just a Dharma adept, and don''t think he is worth your abilities... but this matter was personally instructed by Emperor Qi himself, so I hope that the two of you do a good job. Do not be careless.


    "If there is any mistake, it will be difficult for us to report this to Emperor Qi and his son, the seventh prince."


    Upon Chu Wei''s reminder, the other middle-aged man, who had had a look of disdain on his face, now turned serious. As for the other old man, he had a calm expression on his face from the beginning till the end, hardly displaying any happiness or anger.


    "Let''s go!"


    The three officials of the Qi Dynasty, three ultimate Primordial Soul adepts, turned into three streaks of light as they disappeared from the galaxy transporter and into the skies above. In a moment, they had disappeared from view, as if they were never there.


    "We will split up as we go forth, once anybody discovers his tracks, we''ll gather again and kill him!


    "Seventh Prince said that there should be nobody left alive to tell the story!


    "A presence as outstanding as him, if he has the chance to escape from this ambush, he will surely take revenge on the Qi Dynasty. That will definitely be trouble for our Qi Dynasty.


    "So we have to ensure that he is killed today, and leave no trace of the attack by destroying the body as well!"


    Chu Wei spoke seriously to the other two alongside him. The three ultimate Primordial Soul officials of the Qi Dynasty made their way through the clouds and fog above the Tielao planet and appeared among the stars of the galaxy.


    In the next instant, the other two separated and maintained a distance from each other as they flew together.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The three people formed the three points of a triangle formation, led by Chu Wei, as they rushed towards the Guiyao planet.


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang was similarly making his way through the galaxy flying towards the Guiyao planet ahead of Chu Wei and the other two officials of the Qi Dynasty.


    In fact, Zhou Donghuang''s speed was faster than Chu Wei had expected.


    The three of them only discovered him after a long period of time, and when they witnessed his speed, they could not help but question, "This... this is a Dharma adept?"


    The two men beside Chu Wei looked at Chu Wei together and asked, "Are we following the wrong person?"


    The figure in front of them was moving at a speed that was impossible for any Dharma adept to achieve.


    He was at least an early Primordial Soul adept.


    Although there was still a large distance between them, Chu Wei''s eyes were still sharp enough to recognize Zhou Donghuang''s back at a glance. "No mistake! It is definitely him!


    "This rascal, I would remember how he looks from the back, even if turns to ashes!"


    As Chu Wei spoke, his tone was frightening.


    Back then, if the leader of the Lightning Sword Sect, Yu Yucheng, was not standing by the side, he would surely have disciplined this rascal right there and then for being so rude towards them!


    "Looks like he was almost at the frontier of the ultimate Dharma stage back then... then, after using the Sky Sun fruit, he managed to reach the Primordial soul stage within just a year," guessed Chu Wei.


    "Sky Sun fruit?"


    Hearing Chu Wei''s words, a tinge of regret seemed to flash across the eyes of the two men beside him. "What a waste that such a precious fruit would be eaten by someone who is about to die.


    "So what if this Zhou Donghuang used the Sky Sun fruit? In the end, he does not have long to live. Such a waste of something so precious, it would''ve been a better use if my grandson used it!"


    The conversation between the two men revealed their sense of disappointment that Zhou Donghuang had wasted something as valuable as the Sky Sun fruit.


    The Sky Sun fruit was an extremely rare spirit fruit, but now, it had been used by a man who was about to die.


    Not just them, even Emperor Qi would feel a tinge of loss towards this.


    "A Primordial Soul adept at just twenty-seven years old... even in the history of our Qi Dynasty, I don''t think someone like that has appeared before, right?"


    The middle-aged man asked suddenly, his eyes shining.


    "No."


    The other old man shook his head and answered, "In the history of our Qi Dynasty, the youngest disciple to reach the Primordial Soul stage only managed to achieve it at the age of twenty-nine... that disciple reached the late Divine Transformation stage before he left the Hengliu galaxy."


    "Haha..."


    Hearing this, the middle-aged man laughed as his eyes shone brightly. "To be able to kill such a talent with my bare hands will be my pride and glory for the rest of my life!"


    "Let''s go."


    Chu Wei spoke calmly. In a swift motion, he transformed into a comet that shot through the skies, inching closer to the figure ahead of them.


    The other two men followed suit.


    The three ultimate Primordial Soul adept moved at unbelievable speeds and quickly caught up to the figure that was ahead of them. They not only blocked his way but also trapped him. It was if Zhou Donghuang was locked within tight walls.


    "Zhou Donghuang!"


    Chu Wei blocked his path and glared at him. "You must have never imagined that we would meet again so soon."


    As he spoke, Chu Wei''s lips curled into a smile of disdain and mock.


    "Why?"


    However, when faced with the appearance of Chu Wei and the other two men, Zhou Donghuang did not seem surprised at all. "You all from the Qi Dynasty, are you trying to kidnap me back to the Qi Dynasty?"


    "Kidnap you to the Qi Dynasty?" Chu Wei laughed coldly as he replied.


    "Zhou Donghuang, you think too highly of yourself. Do you think our Qi Dynasty would dare try to kidnap someone and use them?"


    When Chu Wei looked at Zhou Donghuang again, it was as if he was looking at an idiot.

 305 He Jin takes action

    "What you all here for then?"


    Zhou Donghuang asked casually and his words made it seem as though he was truly ignorant as to why the others were here.


    This perceived ignorance was further demonstrated through his lack of reaction or change in his temperament.


    "To kill you!"


    Chu Weimo spoke up. "For a threat like you, since you refuse to join the Qi Dynasty, there is only one other option, which is for you to die... Your fate was decided the moment you chose to reject first the 14th Prince and next the Seventh Prince of the Qi Dynasty previously..."


    "It seems as though the Qi Dynasty is extremely scared of me."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled and this was an extremely relaxed smile for someone who was facing a life or death situation.


    "Hmph!"


    The old man had on a guarded and cautious expression as Chu Weimo and Zi Menghu glanced beadily at Zhou Donghuang, as if they were about to take action at any moment. Suddenly, something whizzed past in the end and this was an extremely well-timed arrival.


    Within an instant, under the gaze of the three people, a figure materialized and he appeared at Zhou Donghuang''s side very quickly.


    "He Jin?"


    Seeing the arrivla of He Jin, Chu Weimo frowned slightly before glancing cautiously in the direction that He JIn ahd came from. After discovering that there was no one else following behind, his frown was replaced by a relaxed expression again.


    If only He Jin was present, there was nothing much to fear.


    After all, He Jin was at the same Primordial Soul stage as him.


    Perhaps, if they duelled one on one, He Jin would be able to win the fight.


    However, now, they had three ultimate Primordial Soul adepts present. If these three ultimate Primordial Soul adepts were to join forces, even the strongest ultimate Primordial Soul adept of the Lightning Sword Sect would not be able to defeat them, let alone the Autumn Valley Sect Leader, He Jin!


    "The Valley Head of the Lightning Sword Sect Autumn Valley?"


    As Chu Weimo shouted out He Jin''s name, the two beside him all recognized his identity. Although they had never met him, they had heard of him.


    "What are you three of the Qi Dynasty doing here?"


    Out of the three before him, He Jin had only met one person before and this was Weimo. He had met Weimowhen the 14th Prince of the Qi Dynasty had first visited the Lightning Sword Sect with Weimo and that had been their first meeting. He knew that Weimo was loyal to the Qi Dynasty and was an ultimate Primordial Soul adept.


    "Qi Dynasty?"


    Upon hearing He Jin''s words, Weimo merely replied shortly, "we are not people of the Qi Dynasty. You are mistaken."


    It was clear that Weimo had no intention of admitting to his identity.


    In any case, the deed that they were about to carry out was not an honorable one at all.


    The next sentence was uttered by Weimo in an extremely straightforward and undisturbed manner.


    Seconds after Weimo''s words had been uttered, other than him, the two men beside him attacked at the same time. The strong Primordial Soul powers visibly rose up like three towering, giant mountains. As they rose up, they looked like gods of war that would cover the skies and light shone in halos around them.


    Weimo''s Primordial Soul power was shaped like three huamns and it was clearly a three figured Primoridal Soul power, adding on strength to the outer powers of the other two.


    Boom!


    Weimo''s Primordial Soul Power reached out and heavily dealth a blow to Zhou Donghuang and He Jin''s heads like a giant mountain crashing down from the sky.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    ...


    Chai Menghu''s Primordial Soul power was weilding a knife. Without much effort, he managed to shoot beams of gleaming knives towards Zhou Donghuang and He Jin, and the scene looked as if knives were raining down from the skies.


    Crash!


    As for the Primordial Soul power of the remaining old man, his previouly frail frame was now suddenly expanded. With one fist, chaos rained down as if he had managed to knock a hole in the skies. A humungous fist the size of a giant meteorite appeared and flew towards Zhou Donghuang and He Jin at a ridiculous speed.


    The combined attacks by the three people surrounded Zhou Donghuang and He Jin thoroughly and it was clear that they intended to kill both individuals at the same time.


    Towards this hostile attack by the three people, Zhou Donghuang maintained a calm and undisturbed expression, standing where he was casually. As for He Jin, who was standing by his side, he too stared impassively at the combined attack by the three enemies.


    As the three enemies'' attacks approached Zhou Donghuang and He Jin, He Jin spoke up with an indifferent tone. "If this were the me of three months ago, I would probably die facing the three of you today... It''s a pity for you that the me now is vastly different from the me of three months ago!"


    Almost instantly after He Jin had spoken, his body suddenly became illusory and increased in size. His Primordial Soul power, which was as big as a huge mountain, rose up in the endless sky and it was so big that it was looked to be able to pluck down planets and destroy seas.


    An overwhelming and scary aura filled the air as this Primordial Soul adept, He Jin, shot out beams of clear and sharp swords like arrows. His Primordial Soul power surrounded him like a Primordial Soul stage version of the Sword God Dharma Power, looking extremely magnificent as it swirled in the air.


    As He Jin revealed his Primordial Soul powers, the other three Primordial Souladepts as well as other bystanders of the Primordial Soul stage now had on extremely shocked expressions.


    He was much stronger than the others had thought and the three Primordial Soul adepts now regretted belittling him. They had originally attacked as a trio with the intention to kill both Zhou Donghuang and He Jin at the same time to present to the Qi Dynasty. However, upon seeing the Primordial Soul power that He Jin had demonstrated, the three big ultimate Primordial Soul adepts'' eyes collectively widened and their facial expressions changed dramatically.


    "A Divine Transformation adept?!"


    The trio almost collectively shouted out at the same time and their tone was full of shock and disbelief. Clearly, they had imagined that the Lightning Sword Sect Autumn Valley Head, He Jin, would be a Divine Transformation adept.


    In the entire Lightning Sword Sect, even if another Divine Transformation adept was produced, surely He Jin had not been one of those with that potential?


    How did He Jin achieve this?


    "This is the first time I, He Jin, am using my power after crossing over into the Divine Transformation stage."


    He Jin''s voice rang out and it was clear and loud, causing the entire planet to tremble


    "Since you three have barged in here, you will also die here today!"


    As he spoke, almost instantly, that giant Primordial Soul power of He Jin''s that was as big as a mountain now opened its mouth and spat out countless numbers of swords that looked like flashing beams of light. These beams of swords immediately broke up the combined attack of the trio and turned them into useless dust.


    "This is not good! He is not just a typical Divine Transformation adept!"


    "My goodness! This level of attack is not possible for even a mid Divine Transformation adept!"


    "This He Jin actually managed to conceal such strong powers!"


    ...


    The facial expressions of Chu Weimo and his two companions changed again. This time, they exchanged glances of extreme determination.


    Afterwards, the trio headed for different directions and flew far away.


    The strength of He Jin''s was far more than they had imagined.


    Even with the full force of their combined attack, which they had unleashed like a giant ball of fury, it was not able to combat even a single attack by He Jin''s Primordial Soul power, which had spat out countless swords in beams of light.


    The He Jin of now was definitely much stronger than even an average mid Divine Transformation adept''s powers!


    On the other hand, they could very well confirm that He Jin''s essential core was only that of an early Divine Transformation adept''s and the ability of his to demonstrate this shocking level of skill was only because his methods were extremely unique. One could also say that the training method he used was rather peculiar.


    "At least one of us has to live long enough to return home to report this matter... This training method by He JIn has definitely topped even the best training method of the Qi Dynasty!"


    "Run!"


    ...


    For the trio, when they had first arrived, they had been showy and arrogant as they had assumed that everything was well within their control.


    Even when He Jin had first arrived, they had not cared much as they felt that killing Zhou Donghuang alone or killing him alongside He Jin would make little difference.


    However, never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that He Jin had become a Divine Transformation adept, let alone the fact that he was able to demonstrate a Divine Transformation power that was stronger than that of a typical mid Divine Transformation adept at the early Divine Transformation stage!


    "You wish to escape?"


    He JIn watched this scene with a smile and casually waved his right hand. Immediately, a beam of swords that looked like shards of glass whipped through the air like a glass shooting star.


    Swish!


    Swish!


    With this attack by He Jin, Chu Weimo as well the old man''s souls disintegrated and their bodies vanished instantly.


    They had been mid-way through their escape and had not even the time to drop their shocked expressions before they werre hit.


    Swish!


    The swords flying cut through the air and created a glimmering path in the infinite universe as they made whooshing noises. The giant, towering Primordial Soul power of He Jin''s continue to shoot out these swords and within an instant, managed to focus on the remaining middle-aged man, Chai Menghu.


    As Chai Menghu froze, he had the sudden realization that his fellow comrades were already dead and his face changed to become as white as a sheet.


    "He Jin!"


    Glancing at He Jin, who was standing before him, Chai Menghu''s eyes flashed and he forced himself to swallow the fear that was rising up within him. In a gravelly voice, he yelled out, "You can''t kill me! If you kill me, the Qi Dynasty will not forgive the Lightning Sword Sect!


    "The three of us were sent here by the Seventh Prince of the Qi Dynasty and we were under an oath to assasinate Zhou Donghuang.


    "As for the Seventh Prince of the Qi Dynasty, he had received the permission of King Qi before he had given this order.


    "If all three of us were to die here, the Qi Dynasty would definitely carry out a thorough investigation and this would implicate the entire Lightning Sword Sect... At that point, none of you would be able to survive!"


    As he spoke, Chai Menghu could not resist adding in some baiting words as well. "If I were to be alive, well, the situation would be different then... I could return to the Qi Dynasty and vouch for the fact that the other two had died accidental deaths. The Qi Dynasty would not think to exact revenge on the Lightning Sword Sect then and you would not be implicated!


    "Although you are powerful and stronger than any typical mid Divine Transformation adept... However, King Qi as well as the other late Divine Transformation adepts of the Qi Dynasty will be able to triumph over you very quickly. They would also take the chane to kill the other two Divine Transformation adepts of your Lightning Sword Sect!"


    After he had uttered such a lengthy speech, Chai Menghu assumed that He Jin would stop to consider the suggestion he had made.


    However, he had not expected that He Jin would merely glance and him and reply, "What Qi Dynasty? Are you representatives of the Qi Dynasty?


    "Just now, your companion mentioned that you three are not from the Qi Dynasty, after all."


    As he spoke, sparkling swords emerged from He Jin''s body and surrounded the areas near ghim. Tens of thousands of swords all flew in the direction of Chai Menghu.


    "No! We are people of the Qi Dynasty!


    "Just now, Chu Weimo was trying to conceal our identities. We are actually from the Qi Dynasty, all of us are!


    "You can''t kill me, you can''t-"


    As he faced his death, Chai Menghu continued to yell in vain. At the same time, his hands were kept busy as he tried to counter He Jin''s attack. However, he eventually perished under the pursuit of the tens of thousands of swords that He Jin had produced and his remains slowly filled the infinite universe.


    He Jin''s attack was truly too impressive and it caused all bystanders to look on in awe.


    Those beams of swords were extremely accurate and sharp, directly allowing He Jin to claim the life of Chai Menghu.

 306 Return to the Guiyao plane

    Whoosh!


    After killing Chai Menghu, He Jin put his Primordial Soul power away. At the same time, he had on an expression of wonder. "I just entered the early Divine Transformation stage recently, but yet I''ve managed to reach such a high level of power. Once I''ve stabilized my training methods, does that mean I will become even more powerful?"


    On the other hand, Zhou Donghuang was not surprised at all at He Jin''s showcase of power. After hearing He Jin''s monologue to himself, he smiled and replied casually, "Valley Head, do not forget, the method you are using to train is the Deity''s Tribulation practice method, which is the most elite of methods in the entire universe!


    "This training method is usually only employed by those at the peak of the top tribes of the planets and of the most powerful sects.


    "This is why the early Divine Transformation adepts of the top families of the planets and of the most powerful sects would probably be able to defeat any mid Divine Transformation adept of the Hengliu galaxy.


    "After all, do not forget that your added powers only came about after you transferred to the Thousand-Star Sword Technique."


    Once Zhou Donghuang had spoken, He Jin was then reminded that the Thousand-Star Sword Technique, which had switched to, was an elite practice method that the entire universe would acknowledge.


    "However..."


    All of a sudden, Zhou Donghuang''s facial expression became slightly more grave. "Valley Head, if you don''t intend to create trouble for yourself, you should try not to demonstrate your full power to others.


    "Just from the fight that just took place, many could already tell that although you are at the early Divine Transformation stage, you demonstrated powers that exceed that of a mid Divine Transformation adept... Under such a situation, they would immediately first assume that you had switched to an extremely high-level practice method.


    Zhou Donghuang did not see a need to continue speaking words of caution as he knew that He Jin was probably aware of these facts as well.


    After all, He Jin was a Valley Head of the Lightning Sword Sect, and he was extremely experienced and had seen much in his life.


    "This time, I was truly too careless." He Jin nodded. "However, it is lucky that they all died so that they would not be able to spread the word after returning to the Qi Dynasty.


    "Give me some time to familiarize myself with my powers. Next time, when I launch an attack, I will be able to control my abilities better."


    Now, He Jin was sweating out of fright as well. Once news that he had transferred to a high-level practice method had spread, it would be hard to control the gossip within the Alliance, much less the two Transcendental Forces of the Hengliu galaxy. They would definitely find trouble with him.


    Even the best practice methods within the two Transcendental Forces of the Hengliu galaxy, the Qi Dynasty and the Guangling Academy, were unable to do so.


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded his head before turning to He Jin. "Valley Head, let''s continue heading towards the Guiyao planet."


    This time, before heading out, Zhou Donghuang had paid a special visit to He Jin.


    He had visited He Jin to request that he escort him on his journey to the Guiyao planet. After all, he had previously turned down offers by the two Transcendental Forces of the Hengliu galaxy, and it was likely that they would find trouble with him as he traveled.


    After traveling for thousands of years in his past life and having many experiences, that would not surprise him at all.


    In any case, although Zhou Donghuang had requested for He Jin to escort him on his journey to the Guiyao planet, he had not travelled alongside He Jin. He had instead requested that He Jin keep the furthest distance possible while travelling in the same direction as him.


    Through the previous series of events, it was clear that Zhou Donghuang''s precautions had not been in vain.


    The Qi Dynasty had really taken action and had even sent three ultimate Primordial Soul adepts to kill him.


    "Yes," He Jin replied favorably, and the duo hurriedly continued towards the Guiyao planet. This time, He Jin directly travelled alongside Zhou Donghuang.


    "Donghuang, the Qi Dynasty really viewed you as a genuine threat... After all, just to kill you, they actually sent three of their ultimate Primordial Soul adepts on this mission."


    Along the way, He Jin glanced at Zhou Donghuang and smiled bitterly.


    Although He Jin had agreed to Zhou Donghuang''s request as he had understood Zhou Donghuang''s fears, he had merely assumed that the Qi Dynasty and the Guangling Academy would probably only send one or two typical Primordial Soul adepts at most to kill Zhou Donghuang.


    He had not expected that the Qi Dynasty would actually send three ultimate Primordial Soul adepts on this mission!


    Against the trio of ultimate Primordial Soul adepts sent by the Qi Dynasty, if He Jin had not switched to the Thousand-Star Sword Technique before crossing over to the Divine Transformation stage, he definitely would have been doomed, much less Zhou Donghuang.


    "I had not expected that either."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled lightly and seemed to display little emotion on his face. However, even as his eyes narrowed, internally, he took note of this fact as well.


    This was the first attempt by the Qi Dynasty to get rid of him and they had been serious in their attempt.


    Furthermore, it had been a direct order by the highly regarded seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty at that.


    In that case, he would then choose to remember this grudge against the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty. Since he had chosen to attempt to kill him once, he would attempt to kill someone of the Qi Dynasty as well. This target would then be the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty.


    He Jin was oblivious to Zhou Donghuang''s train of thought. If he had known that Zhou Donghuang intended to kill the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty in the future as revenge for this assassination attempt, he would definitely get a shock.


    One had to know that the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty was definitely one of the top candidates in line for ascending the throne of the Qi Dynasty.


    He could even be said to be the top choice.


    To the Qi Dynasty, they would rather sacrifice 100 mediocre princes like the fourteenth prince instead of losing the seventh prince.


    "I''m afraid this is only the beginning." He Jin smiled bitterly.


    "This time, the Qi Dynasty sent out three ultimate Primordial Soul adepts on this mission, and they were all killed. The Qi Dynasty will definitely not take this well.


    "Even if they do not demonstrate this indignation directly, they will definitely feel it.


    "This time, they already sent three ultimate Primordial Soul adepts... The next time, the assassins will definitely be Divine Transformation adepts.


    "Donghuang... Will you consider going into hiding for a period of time?"


    After speaking, He Jin could not help but suggest the option of going into hiding.


    He Jin was confident that as long as the mid Divine Transformation adepts sent out by the Qi Dynasty weren''t too strong, he could guarantee Zhou Donghuang''s safety. In fact, he was confident even against mediocre late Divine Transformation adepts.


    However, just as Zhou Donghuang had cautioned, he had to be careful not to reveal his true powers as well.


    Once his powers were revealed, the fact that he had switched training methods would be revealed as well, and it would be chaotic for He Jin!


    Furthermore, there were several Divine Transformation adepts of the Qi Dynasty who were definitely stronger than him. If these Divine Transformation adepts launched an attack, even the two other Divine Transformation adepts would not be able to protect Zhou Donghuang, let alone He Jin!


    He felt that it would be suitable for Zhou Donghuang to go into hiding for the time being.


    "Valley Head, do not worry. I have plans in mind."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled casually and did not seem to be too affected by the attack from the Qi Dynasty. This time, his journey to the Guiyao planet would be his last moments spent in the Hengliu galaxy.


    After his travels to the Guiyao planet, he planned to leave the Hengliu galaxy to visit other galaxies where he could steal the rare treasures that others would gain in the future, ahead of time.


    Formerly, when he was at the Primal Core stage, he had made use of the memories from his past life to obtain several treasures, and they had provided many benefits to his training.


    However, those items were only useful for his old practice method.


    As for better treasures, with his past level of training, he was unable to obtain them.


    Now, the four Dharma Powers within him had all crossed over to the Primordial Soul stage. His powers had already exceeded that of a typical Primordial Soul adept, and he was confident in using better treasures now.


    At the same time, he wished to return to the Ziyun planet.


    He also planned to visit Earth.


    In this life, he only had a singular goal, which was to upgrade himself at the fastest speed possible in order to change the fate of all his loved ones and save his biological parents!


    In his previous life, the death of his parents was one of his biggest regrets.


    In this life, given the chance and opportunity, he would not let this painful scenario repeat itself.


    "Donghuang, what are you planning to do on the Guiyao planet? Previously, I thought you were heading to the Guiyao planet to lure out the attacks by the Qi Dynasty and the Guangling Academy... However, now that the assassins of the Qi Dynasty are already killed and I can confirm that no members of the Guangling Academy are lurking around, why do you insist on heading for the Guiyao planet?" He Jin asked doubtfully.


    "Valley Head, I''m heading to the Guiyao planet to confirm a few suspicions for myself," Zhou Donghuang said.


    "Of course, if you are interested, you could accompany me in confirming these suspicions. If not, you could remain outside of the planet to train while waiting for me."


    "I shall just wait outside for you."


    He Jin shrugged as he did not have much interest in the Guiyao planet.


    To He Jin, the Guiyao planet was merely a strange, isolated planet that was home to many beasts. However, none of these beasts had managed to cross over to the Primordial Soul stage, as if there was some kind of magical barrier preventing these beasts from doing so.


    Many had been curious about this fact and had wanted to enter the Guiyao planet to investigate this matter. This included people of the Alliance as well as of the Qi Dynasty and the Guangling Academy. However, they had all done so with no answers.


    Over time, the number of people still interested in this matter gradually dwindled.


    Now, He Jin assumed that Zhou Donghuang was headed towards the Guiyao planet over the same matter. However, he suspected that it would not be easy to get to the bottom of things.


    It was rumored that even the late Divine Transformation adepts of the Qi Dynasty and the Guangling Academy had traveled to the Guiyao planet in the past to explore its uniqueness and its secrets, but to no avail.


    With such knowledge in mind, He Jin thus did not see any point in following Zhou Donghuang into the Guiyao planet and instead chose to wait outside.


    "Be careful."


    After speaking, He Jin regretted his words as he suddenly remembered that within the Guiyao planet, even the strongest beast was only at the ultimate Dharma stage.


    Those beasts had been inferior to Zhou Donghuang even one year ago.


    Within a year, Zhou Donghuang had also successfully managed to cross over to the Primordial Soul stage.


    This point had been observed by He Jin long before he had agreed to follow Zhou Donghuang to the Guiyao planet, merely through the progress of Zhou Donghuang''s training.


    As of now, the beasts within the Guiyao planet were definitely no threat to Zhou Donghuang.


    "I hope I will be satisfied with my results from the planet."


    After responding to He Jin, Zhou Donghuang went forth and entered the Guiyao planet.


    Now, the Guiyao planet''s defense formations were not activated, and he could travel in and out of the planet with ease.

 307 Mo Ningsang

    As he watched Zhou Donghuang''s back become smaller and smaller, He Jin shook his head and laughed bitterly.


    "This young man is really quite stubborn."


    This time, before leaving the Lightning Sword Sect, when Zhou Donghuang had visited He Jin and uttered his request, Zhou Donghuang had mentioned that he believed the Qi Dynasty would send someone to kill him.


    At that point, his first words had been, "You could simply greet those people of the Qi Dynasty and mention that you are an acquaintance of Liu Pingsheng. I''m sure they would not dare to touch you after knowing that."


    Although Liu Pingsheng was not from the Qi Dynasty and instead was from the other Transcendental Force of the Hengliu galaxy, be it the Guangling Academy Dean or Emperor Qi of the Qi Dynasty, both saw him as a mentor and as a father figure.


    If Zhou Donghuang mentioned his name, the Qi Dynasty would definitely not dare to threaten him again.


    However, Zhou Donghuang rejected this notion as he did not want to owe Liu Pingsheng further.


    To Zhou Donghuang, the fact that Liu Pingsheng had shared his Divine Dharma knowledge with him was already an extraordinarily heartwarming and generous gesture. He did not wish for Liu Pingsheng to offer him any more favors.


    ¡­


    Upon reaching the Guiyao planet, Zhou Donghuang once again felt the unique Spirit energy of the planet. "I guess that Connate demon is still here."


    Once moonlight shone down, Zhou Donghuang began to explore the Guiyao planet in search of any clues or traces of the Connate demon, and he did not leave any rock unturned. Every area was scrutinized without anything being overlooked.


    Zhou Donghuang was patient, and he remained patient despite having no progress as each day went by.


    This was because he knew that being impatient would lead to him missing out on tiny details, and he would then be unable to find the breeding ground of the Connate demon.


    Nevertheless, this breeding ground of the Connate demon was hidden really well. After all, there were many natural guises and traditional spells that helped to conceal it. So although the Guiyao planet was extremely strange, no one from the Hengliu galaxy was able to successfully discover its secret, even after many years.


    One month went by in the blink of an eye.


    Zhou Donghuang still had not met with any success.


    Another month went by.


    Zhou Donghuang was still unsuccessful.


    Three months went by to no avail.


    Nevertheless, Zhou Donghuang remained as calm and as patient as before, using his Divine Will to meticulously sweep over every corner of the Guiyao planet.


    These two channels of Divine Will went in separate directions and reached out.


    "I''ve finally found it."


    Eventually, during the fourth month of his stay on the planet, Zhou Donghuang finally managed to find a clue.


    Splash!


    ¡­


    Zhou Donghuang now froze before a giant waterfall in the air. The water seemed to fall from the skies, and they splashed against the mountains and rocks below. The droplets of water that bounced off managed to reach about 10 meters tall.


    Zhou Donghuang''s gaze was now fixated on the core of the waterfall. "In the story of the ''Journey to the West'' back on Earth, the cave was hidden within the waterfall... Is it possible that it is the same here, except that the cave of this planet births more than just a monkey?"


    After muttering to himself, Zhou Donghuang first shook his head amusedly at himself as he felt that he had become too obsessed with the narrative after reading too much of ''Journey to the West.''


    However, now, he could confirm that the breeding ground of the Guiyao planet was definitely hidden behind this giant waterfall.


    If he had not been patient and meticulous, it would have been impossible for him to find this place.


    "Even if a Separating Divinity adept had been here, without patience and diligence, using pure Divine Will would not have been enough for him to find this clue... Perhaps only Immortal adepts would be able to find this place with ease."


    After speaking thus far, Zhou Donghuang flew forward, and he suspended himself in the air using a layer of essential core as his shield. Carefully, he dodged the water and crossed the waterfall without getting a single drop of water on his body.


    After crossing the waterfall, a giant mountain that seemed untouched lay before him.


    However, once Zhou Donghuang stepped onto the mountain, where his foot landed suddenly changed from being a piece of the mountain to reveal a giant hole that was only now visible.


    This hole was many meters deep and it was close to ten meters wide as well. The interior of the hole was pitch dark, and occasionally, a soft noise could be heard from within. This gave anyone who stood at the entrance chills.


    Zhou Donghuang walked into the hole without any change in facial expression.


    Randomly, Zhou Donghuang''s palms suddenly had a gust of sparks fly up. Clearly, this was essential fire that he had created with his internal essential core, and this was used to illuminate the hole and allow Zhou Donghuang to see into the distance.


    The walls of the hole were rather uneven, and they looked to be rather coarse. This was similar to that of the ground.


    "I''ve arrived."


    After reaching the end of the hole, Zhou Donghuang halted in his steps. At this moment, he could smell a strong scent coming from within, and this gave him a feeling of claustrophobia.


    He knew that the Connate demon had to be within.


    "I wonder what type of demon it is."


    In the instant where the formation before him disappeared, Zhou Donghuang''s eyes lit up, and he found himself in a giant yet brightly lit cave house. Before him, spirit weapons that looked almost real seemed to form.


    Spirit energy within the cave house was unfurling from its walls, and it was clear that the source of the Spirit energy was coming directly from the various spirit stone veins on the Guiyao planet.


    The Spirit energy here was unlike that of the outer world''s.


    "This..."


    As for Zhou Donghuang, he was now mostly enthralled by the altar in the middle of the cave. More accurately, he was attracted by the items that were on the altar.


    The altar was hexagonal, and there were many complicated lines and patterns on it, giving it an archaic look and somewhat reflecting the history it had been through.


    On this alter, there was a crystal coffin that appeared to float above it, and the surrounding Sprit energy of the skies and the land seemed to be attracted to it. From within the crystal coffin, the Spirit energy that was emitted brought along with it the special qualities that were unique to the Guiyao planet.


    Within the crystal coffin, a young lady who was dressed in pure white was lying in it, and she had a lean figure and perfect features. Her eyes were shut tightly, and Zhou Donghuang was unable to look away from her face.


    "Could she be the giant Connate demon I''m searching for?"


    Zhou Donghuang mused to himself. From his past life till now, this was still his first time coming across a woman with such a timeless look. She was beyond beautiful. Although her figure was rather uneven, she caused an indescribable feeling to overwhelm Zhou Donghuang.


    After taking a deep breath, Zhou Donghuang could not resist it further, and he extended his Divine Will to probe the girl in an attempt to determine whether or not she was a demon.


    This was a completely instinctive move.


    If this girl had been a scary-looking Connate demon, Zhou Donghuang would of course refrain from using his Divine Will to probe it as that would be an extremely dangerous action to take. It would possibly awaken the Connate demon and cause it to attack him and kill him.


    However, Zhou Donghuang reached out his Divine Will in a somewhat possessed manner. It was only at the moment when his Divine Will reached the crystal coffin that he had a sudden realization and regained his composure.


    At the same time, the neutral expression he had been maintaining was replaced within an instant, and his eyes widened as he realized his mistake. His heart pounded. This was not good!


    Within the next instant, his first instinct was to recall his Divine Will.


    At the very same time, even before he could do so, he realized that within the crystal coffin, extremely strong Divine Will collided hard against his own Divine Will.


    "Damn it!"


    At this moment, Zhou Donghuang feared that it was all over for him.


    However, within the next instant, he realized that this scary Divine Will that had emitted from within the crystal coffin had no aura of rage when it had collided with his. Instead, it was like the autumn waters, fusing perfectly with his Divine Will.


    At the very same time, in Zhou Donghuang''s brain, many pictures flashed by, and he managed to experience another living being''s life. He saw where she had come from, her experiences and why she had ended up here, lying in a deep sleep within the crystal coffin and absorbing the Spirit energy of the Guiyao planet to maintain her own body.


    Zhou Donghuang suddenly also felt as if his entire mind was being read and swept through.


    "Now that I''ve been familiarized with her life... could she have been familiarized with my entire life, too?"


    In the next moment, Zhou Donghuang''s gaze landed on the lady in white lying within the crystal coffin. This lady was like a saint, having undisturbed and perfect features. Nevertheless, she was extremely hard to read.


    "What do you think?"


    A clear and heartwarming voice floated out in Zhou Donghuang''s brain all of a sudden, giving him goosebumps.


    He was the only one present in this entire, roomy cave, right?


    At the very same time, Zhou Donghuang could see that the woman within the crystal coffin, who had previously been lying down, had suddenly stood up and was floating midair, staring at him with an impassive gaze.


    This flawless lady in white glanced at Zhou Donghuang, "No wonder you were able to wake me up... I see now that you''re someone who has transcended time. You managed to live thousands of years and then return back in time. That''s rather hard to believe."


    As the lady spoke, it was similar to the voice that Zhou Donghuang had just heard, clear and appealing.


    However, although Zhou Donghuang could not help but admire the lady''s beauty and clear voice, his facial expression darkened as well, and a cold, murderous look filled his eyes.


    This was his biggest secret yet.


    If anyone else were to know about it, this would be a giant threat to his safety!


    "You do not need to feel threatened by me."


    Although the lady''s voice remained clear, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly in a smile, giving him a feeling of being swept away by a cold wind. "When you shared your memories with me, I too shared mine with you.


    "For people of my type, we only receive a single change to share memories with another.


    "With the rules of my tribe, the privilege of sharing memories can only be utilized with one''s soulmate.


    "Although it is a little hard to accept... However, I cannot go against the rules of my tribe.


    "From now on, you are my man. My name is Mo Ningsang."


    Just as the lady, Mo Ningsang, had spoken, Zhou Donghuang froze with that same murderous look in his eyes, and his face became numb with shock.


    What nonsense did she just spout?


    What did she mean when she said that he was now her man?


    He had merely shared a portion of his memories with the other party... What kind of rules did the other party''s tribe have?

 308 Late Primordial Soul Stage

    Of course, this tribe of ladies had experienced accidents before involving sharing memories with others, in which their one opportunity was lost.


    If the other party was satisfactory to them and willing to be their soulmate, then that was still considered acceptable.


    However, if they were unsatisfied or the other party was unwilling, they would kill the other party without any hesitation!


    Under such situations, it was most likely because they were all unsatisfied with the man whom they had shared their memories with.


    "Should I be thankful that I managed to satisfy her?"


    Zhou Donghuang mused bitterly to himself.


    The tribe of ladies that Mo Ningsang belonged to was one that he had heard of in his past life. it was just that he had never met them before. The people of the tribe were all females, and they had a huge base. For men who were not part of the tribe, once they had children with a lady of the tribe, as long as they were girls, they would all inherit the bloodline of the tribe.


    These ladies of this tribe were ideal candidates for marriage for all men within the infinite universe.


    They were pale and flawless like jade, and they would only ever recognize one man as their own throughout their entire life. Once they had matched with a man, they would bring many benefits to this man and become an excellent foundation for the men to build upon for their training.


    In his previous life, a few male adepts had also planned to match with the ladies of this tribe.


    These men were naive and assumed that they could forcefully match with the ladies of this tribe. However, before they could even attempt to do so, the ladies would choose to self-detonate their Primordial Soul power to maintain their purity, and both the man and woman would thus die together.


    Those who were smarter would openly chase the ladies of the tribe and date normally before matching together.


    Of course, the ladies of this tribe were extremely picky as well.


    When picking their soulmates, they would not pick any mediocre men as they had to think for themselves and their children as well.


    Just as it was now.


    Zhou Donghuang did not think that his experience was what had satisfied the lady before him.


    The thing that had satisfied her had to be the memories that he had shared with her, where she had probably seen his future achievements.


    Since his memories originated from thousands of years ago, these years of memories made him stand out. Furthermore, in the past, he was at the ultimate Immortal stage. In this new life, he would probably better himself and expand beyond that stage.


    "Divine Soul Shaper..."


    "As for the dowry, I shall not be stingy as well, and I will provide something beforehand."


    Just as Mo Ningsang had spoken, the Spirit energy in the air became extremely volatile, and this volatility continued to grow... Simultaneously, at the corners of the Guiyao planet, the Spirit energy in the air became active as well.


    The movement of the inner Spirit energy of the Guiyao planet caused the beasts within to run amok. At this point, some of the tame beasts even started violently attacking each other.


    "What''s happening?"


    The Spirit energy''s unusual movement was noticed by He Jin as well, even though he was situated in the skies outside of the Guiyao planet. He immediately entered the Guiyao planet, and he realized that the inner, active Spirit energy of the planet was moving in a certain direction.


    "Could it be that Zhou Donghuang really managed to find out the source of the active Spirit energy on this planet?


    "Is he the one causing this unusual sight?"


    Even though He Jin was rather frightened, he was curious towards this matter and thus followed the direction the Spirit energy was moving towards and quickly arrived at the giant waterfall, the entrance of the cave.


    However, He Jin was unaware that there was a hole behind the fountain. This was because the Spirit energy that accumulated from all directions had entered this place from the various mountains and valleys that surrounded this giant waterfall. He Jin could only ascertain that there had to be something special hidden among this piece of nature surrounding the waterfall.


    "Hm?"


    Just as He Jin had activated his Divine Will towards a mountain valley to explore it, he somehow sensed something and first froze before his face changed.


    This was because an extremely strong gust of essential core had unfurled from within the mountain valley like a giant, violent thunderstorm. This scared him so much that he immediately recalled his Divine Will.


    Boom!


    Crash!


    ¡­


    He Jin took to the skies as he heard this loud noise sound out. At the same time, he sensed that there was a strong yet invisible force surrounding him and pinning him down. No matter how much he struggled, he could not adjust his inner essential core.


    His essential core was completely trapped.


    "What a strong force!"


    He Jin''s nostrils flared as he panicked, and an expression of shock appeared on his face. "Even an ultimate Divine Transformation adept would probably not have the powers that I have!


    "This force has managed to suppress me!


    "Although I am only at the early Divine Transformation stage, my powers are stronger than that of any average mid Divine Transformation adept!"


    He Jin was shocked, and he was feeling rather frightened as well.


    Suddenly, as if he had thought of something, He Jin''s facial expression changed once again. "Oh no! Donghuang could be trapped inside!"


    He Jin was extremely aware of the reason why Zhou Donghuang had wanted to make this journey to the Guiyao planet.


    Now, this strange sight before him made him guess that Zhou Donghuang most likely had something to do with it.


    Because of this, he guessed that all this was controlled or influenced by Zhou Donghuang. The fact that Zhou Donghuang could possibly be in danger made He Jin anxious.


    It was true that he had only known Zhou Donghuang for an extremely short period.


    However, Zhou Donghuang''s appearance had allowed him and his daughter''s lives to be improved tremendously in all aspects.


    He was forever grateful to Zhou Donghuang for this.


    Today, he did not wish to watch helplessly as Zhou Donghuang was in trouble.


    He wanted to enter the waterfall to explore the situation within, which would allow him a chance to save Zhou Donghuang. However, the force that seemed to surround him from all directions greatly limited his movements, and he was trapped. The fact that he was still able to float in the air was also because of this force that was propping him up.


    His own powers were completely frozen, and it was hard for him to take any action at all.


    ¡­


    "The man that came with you, He Jin, is standing outside," within the cave, Mo Ningsang said to Zhou Donghuang.


    "It is lucky that I managed to access your memories just now. Otherwise, if I had sensed someone like him approaching, even before he could come close, I would immediately kill him!"


    "Valley Head?"


    Upon hearing Mo Ningsang''s words, Zhou Donghuang first froze before he regained his composure and breathed a sigh of relief.


    Now, the chaos that Mo Ningsang was creating was extremely violent, and the entire Guiyao planet''s Spirit energy was affected. This situation would of course have attracted the attention of He Jin, who was near the Guiyao planet.


    With He Jin''s personality, it was unlikely that he would abandon Zhou Donghuang in his time of need.


    "Alright, moving on, sit cross-legged and focus on transferring the Lord of the Four Supremes."


    Mo Ningsang spoke once again.


    Wordlessly, Zhou Donghuang sat down obediently and began to transfer the Lord of the Four Supremes. He had already shared his memories with Mo Ningsang, and the fact that the other party knew his secrets was not surprising at all.


    Of course, it still felt rather strange.


    However, he also knew that he was helpless in this situation.


    If he was stronger than Mo Ningsang, he could possibly kill Mo Ningsang to prevent anyone from finding out about his secret.


    The issue was that Mo Ningsang was above the Divine Transformation stage; she was a Separating Divinity adept.


    Anyone at the Separating Divinity stage would be stronger than the entire Hengliu galaxy; they would be able to triumph over all. Even if the two Transcendental Forces of the Hengliu galaxy joined forces, they would not be able to go against a Separating Divinity adept.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang was no match for her as well.


    In that case, even though the sensation of having his mind accessed by someone else felt strange, Zhou Donghuang could not do anything about it.


    "How should I settle this matter, all I can do is wait it out... Now, I have to concentrate on staying alive first," Zhou Donghuang mused bitterly to himself.


    Being weak still disadvantaged him at the end of the day.


    All that was happening now was all directed by Mo Ningsang. Even if Mo Ningsang wanted to kill him, he would be defenseless.


    As he was training, Zhou Donghuang could sense that waves of steady liquid Spirit energy were flowing into his body. As the Lord of the Four Supremes was being transferred out of him, from here on out, his training quality would probably be boosted.


    This was a strong and helpful boost at that.


    Time passed, to which the exact amount was unknown to Zhou Donghuang.


    He realized that his two Dharma Powers that had not entered the Primordial Soul yet had now both done so.


    Now, the four early Primordial Soul powers of his continued to evolve.


    One by one, the Primordial Soul powers crossed over to the mid Primordial Soul stage.


    Next... the late Primordial Soul stage.


    Mo Ningsang only stopped accessing Zhou Donghuang''s body with the external Spirit energy after his four Primordial Soul powers had crossed over into the late Primordial Soul stage.


    It was accurate to say that the gathered Spirit energy here was now mostly depleted.


    Zhou Donghuang opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was Mo Ningsang''s flawless and beautiful face. At this point, her face was drenched with sweat, and it was not hard to guess that her energy had been depleted as well.


    Seeing this, Zhou Donghuang could not help but feel a twinge in his heart.


    Furthermore, he felt gratitude towards her as well.


    "You need not feel this way."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled bitterly. "If I wanted to achieve this, I would require a lot of time... Your efforts and essential core, as well as the disruption of the Spirit energy on the Guiyao planet, made you tired!


    "I''m afraid that for the next year and a half, you will be in a weakened state. Now, even any normal Separating Divinity adept will be able to kill you."


    At the start, Zhou Donghuang was unsure as to what Mo Ningsang wanted to do. But now, after experiencing it firsthand as well as using Mo Ningsang''s memories to guide him, he now knew what Mo Ningsang intended to do.


    Mo Ningsang had used the secrets of her tribe to forcefully disrupt the Spirit energy within the Guiyao planet in order to allow him to upgrade.


    This secret method could only be practiced once in their entire lives for all ladies of the tribe.


    Furthermore, it would use up a lot of their energy.


    "My man, after accessing your memories, I understand your desire for power, and I am only doing what I can to help you. However, I can only help you up to this point," Mo Ningsang replied calmly.


    "This could also be considered part of the dowry that I intended to give you ahead of time. I anticipate the day you enter my tribe and marry me in front of everyone.


    "Furthermore, as for the girl named Luo Qinghan, she is the bottom of the barrel. In the future, before your powers exceed mine, I will not allow you to have interactions with any other girls. If you do, then I will kill you!"


    Once she had spoken, Mo Ningsang''s pure white figure disappeared before Zhou Donghuang''s eyes.


    It was clear that she had taken her leave.


    As for the last words that she had spoken, they caused Zhou Donghuang to feel as though a cold gust of wind had just brushed past him.

 309 Qi Fengs Murderous Inten

    "These spirit drugs should be of use to you, I''ll give them on to you. Now... it''s time for me to go.""These spirit drugs should be of use to you, I''ll give them on to you. Now... it''s time for me to go."


    Although Mo Ningsang had spoken one last sentence, her god-like figure had already left Zhou Donghuang''s line of vision. She disappeared completely after uttering this last sentence.


    "You have already accessed all of my memories, and there is no need to explain them further... I will be waiting with my tribe for you to come and marry me."


    Once Mo Ningsang had left, Zhou Donghuang was still a little stunned as if he was stuck in a dream.


    An instant later, after regaining his composure, he smiled bitterly to himself. "I was single in my old life, so the gods probably assumed I was lonely and placed many attractive girls in my way. First, it was Luo Qinghan, and now, it''s Mo Ningsang. Such coincidences!"


    At the start, Zhou Donghuang was extremely wary of Mo Ningsang accessing his memories, and he had wanted to attempt to kill her to seal her mouth. But now, he had thrown that idea out of the window for the short term.


    With the situation now, it could be seen that Mo Ningsang did not have any evil intent towards him and was truly viewing him as a possible soulmate. She had used up her energy and utilized the secret of her tribe to force the disruption of Spirit energy around the Guiyao planet to enable him to upgrade himself at a breakneck speed.


    "In my memories, that kind of secret can only be utilized by core and related members of the tribe... There is a limit to it, and they can only use it once in their life without it impacting them much. However, if they forcefully choose to use it twice, it will deplete their energy and affect their lifespan. Unless they are forced to, no member of the tribe would be willing to perform this secret twice."


    Anyone with a conscience would not think to harm someone who had been good to them.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang similarly had also diminished the thought of killing Mo Ningsang.


    However, this random marriage was simply too sudden, and he was unsure as to how to react to it. Luo Qinghan alone had already caused him so much emotional turmoil, and bow he had to deal with Mo Ningsang.


    If he could choose, he would rather fight someone physically than deal with matters of the heart.


    "Forget it... I''ll think about it when the time comes. Let''s just go with the flow and let fate decide."


    After he thought to this point, Zhou Donghuang had another realization.


    "The late Primordial Soul stage..."


    As Zhou Donghuang''s mind wandered to this topic, four powerful auras unraveled from his body. Within an instant, four glorious and giant Primordial Soul Powers appeared in the skies, and each gave off potent energy.


    The second Primordial Soul Power was a flying beast, and essential core surrounded his body as if he was on fire. A fiery and intense aura emitted from him; this was Zhou Donghuang''s Vermilion Bird Primordial Soul Power.


    The next Primordial Soul Power was a giant tiger that was extremely fierce and fearless. It had explosive energy hidden within it; this was the White Tiger Primordial Soul Power.


    Lastly, the final Primordial Soul Power was a huge creature that resembled a turtle. However, its tail was short, and it actually contained another brain like a python. This was his Black Turtle Primordial Soul Power.


    "A typical Primordial Soul adept usually has two choices... One would be to create a human-based Primordial Soul Power that they liked. If not, they would have to convert their Dharma Powers to Primordial Soul Powers. As for me, through the Lord of the Four Supremes, I have no choice but to train up my four Primordial Soul Powers.


    "Of course, with my Divine Will, any of my four Primordial Soul Powers can transform into a human-based Primordial Soul Power that resembles me if I wished for it."


    Just as Zhou Donghuang was thinking these thoughts, in the skies, the four Primordial Soul Powers vibrated violently and quickly morphed into four human-based figures, which were carbon copies of Zhou Donghuang.


    Furthermore, the aura that each Zhou Donghuang lookalike gave off was unique, and they belonged to the four different Primordial Soul Powers.


    "With my abilities now... as long as one is below the Divine Transformation stage, then I will be able to kill them. I would even be able to kill some weaker adepts of the ultimate Primordial Soul stage!"


    After gaining this insight, Zhou Donghuang felt that he had become more familiar with his new powers.


    This could be said to be Mo Ningsang''s work.


    "I really owe her too much."


    Zhou Donghuang sighed silently to himself before collecting his thoughts. He collected the spirit drugs that that were in a pile, which had manifested from the old Spirit energy of the cave. Mo Ningsang was right to say that these spirit drugs would be useful to him.


    They were all spirit drugs that could be used to create the core drugs that Divine Transformation adepts needed.


    "Valley Head is still waiting outside."


    After retrieving the spirit drugs, Zhou Donghuang suddenly remembered He Jin, who had traveled to this planet with him. "Since Mo Ningsang has left, I''m assuming that Valley Head is no longer trapped and under her control."


    As Zhou Donghuang flew out of the waterfall, he realized that He Jin was floating in the skies nearby, and he had on a grave expression as if he expected enemies to attack him at any moment.


    He Jin''s grave expression disappeared only after seeing Zhou Donghuang emerge. He asked Zhou Donghuang with a face of bewilderment, "Donghuang, you actually emerged from behind the waterfall? Is there a powerful being back there?


    "Even without seeing it physically, I could sense the power coming from within. It trapped me and bound me against my will.


    "Were you also hurt by it?"


    Although the pressure and control over his body had since disappeared, before understanding what had happened, He Jin was still cautious and hadn''t moved around much.


    He had waited patiently until Zhou Donghuang had emerged.


    "No."


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head. "She has already left."


    "Left?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s words caused He Jin to take a long and deep sigh of relief. "That''s good, that''s good..."


    If he could, he would really like to avoid a repetition of the situation that had just happened.


    It was lucky that the other party had had no intention to kill him. If not, he would have died a few hundred times over at this point.


    "Valley Head, this time, after following you back to the Tielao planet, I plan to leave directly and not return to the sect... Do help me pass on this message to Third Senior Sister and Da Zhuang," Zhou Donghuang said to He Jin.


    With his powers now, he was able to take on a lot of tasks that were impossible in the past.


    In the future, he would be extremely busy.


    "Noted," He Jin replied.


    On the journey back, although He Jin was extremely curious as to what Zhou Donghuang had experienced back on the Guiyao planet, he did not ask. He understood that everyone had their own secrets. The fact that Zhou Donghuang had not shared anything meant that it was rather inconvenient for him to ask.


    However, when Zhou Donghuang next revealed his training stage, it shocked He Jin.


    "Late... late Primordial Soul stage!?"


    One had to remember that when they had arrived here, Zhou Donghuang was only an early Primordial Soul adept. Only a short period of time had passed, and yet, he had managed to enter the late Primordial Soul stage!?


    "It seems as though the large amount of lost Spirit energy on the Guiyao planet was probably related to Zhou Donghuang''s upgrading of powers... That powerful being at the Separating Divinity stage most likely took action and helped Zhou Donghuang out."


    Now, it was not hard for He Jin to guess this point as under normal circumstances, no matter how ingenious and talented Zhou Donghuang was, it would be impossible for him to surpass two stages at the same time.


    After returning to the Tielao planet, where the Lightning Sword Sect was located, and bidding farewell to He Jin, Zhou Donghuang went to the galaxy teleporter within the Lightning Sword Sect''s land and used it to take his leave.


    Just as Zhou Donghuang was leaving, a figure appeared near the galaxy teleporter.


    "It seems as though Zhou Donghuang did not die... This means that Seventh Prince''s guess was correct, and our three assassins failed in their mission!


    "However... With He Jin''s powers alone, how was it possible that he could attack the three assassins?"


    The scene of Zhou Donghuang and He Jin arriving at the sect was seen by this figure as well. He knew that He Jin had traveled out with Zhou Donghuang and that the loss of the three assassins of the Qi Dynasty was most likely due to this duo.


    However, He Jin''s powers now seemed suspicious.


    "Forget it, I won''t trouble myself over this matter... After all, I am simply a messenger! I''ll just report my findings to Seventh Prince."


    ¡­


    On a faraway planet, the seventh prince of the Qi Dynasty was anxiously waiting for any updates.


    Chu Weimo and his two companions were in pursuit of the Lightning Sword Sect disciple, Zhou Donghuang, and had not yet returned. The seventh prince had sensed that something was probably amiss, so he had sent out a second spy to the Lightning Sword Sect and tasked him with following Zhou Donghuang''s movements carefully.


    "Seventh Prince." Outside, a voice sounded out.


    "The spy from the Lightning Sword Sect is here with news."


    "Finally, some updates."


    Although Qi Feng had on an uncertain expression, he felt more concern in his heart. Nevertheless, he walked out to hear the news personally.


    After hearing the report by the spy, although he had been somewhat prepared for bad news, he could not help but freeze in shock.


    "Zhou Donghuang managed to escape completely unscathed? Furthermore, he returned to the Lightning Sword Sect with the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin?"


    He had never imagined that such an ending would be possible.


    If it had been the combined counter-attack of the two Divine Transformation adepts of the Lightning Sword Sect, such an ending would be more probable.


    But He Jin?


    This Autumn Valley Head of the Lightning Sword Sect had never really been significant in Qi Feng''s eyes.


    In the Hengliu galaxy, those who had not entered the Divine Transformation stage were all not worthy of Qi Feng''s attention.


    "Have the other two Divine Transformation adepts of the Lightning Sword Sect left the grounds of the sect?" Qi Feng asked in a low voice.


    "According to my spies, from the time Zhou Donghuang left the Lightning Sword Sect until he returned, the two Divine Transformation adepts had not left the sect at all," thy spy came forth reported.


    Hearing this, Qi Feng was silent for a long time before the corners of his mouth turned up, and his eyes narrowed slightly. "Interesting, interesting... It seems as though the Autumn Valley Head of the Lightning Sword Sect, He Jin, might have entered the Divine Transformation stage.


    "Even so... With our planned ambush, it is difficult to imagine how he managed to kill the trio from our Qi Dynasty.


    "Unless, he had external help. However, that is extremely unlikely," Qi Feng uttered his suspicions out loud.


    "Seventh Prince."


    At this point, the spy spoke again. "I''ve received news on the destination Zhou Donghuang was headed for when he utilized the galaxy teleporter not long ago."


    "That''s not a concern of ours." Qi Feng returned to his neutral expression and spoke casually.


    "As long as he is not stupid, he would first choose to go to any random place to take a stroll and conceal his true destination before making his way to where he truly intended to go...


    Furthermore, even if he really went to the place shown by the galaxy teleporter, finding him would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.


    "Nevertheless, we cannot simply let this incident go.


    "We shall first kill He Jin. That may lure Zhou Donghuang out of hiding as it would be on his conscience to not save his own Valley Head."

 310 Divine Beast Cub

    Zhou Donghuang was actually unaware that his appearance in the Hengliu galaxy in this life had caused many other peoples'' lives and fates to change drastically.


    Not only did his presence affect those around him, including the people of the Autumn Valley, the Lightning Sword Sect, as well as several members of the Qi Dynasty, but these people now had a completely new direction in life.


    All their fates were changing simultaneously.


    Zhou Donghuang had traveled back 1000 years, after all. Like a butterfly, he had flown into a time period that had had its own course and direction. Although he was weak, from the time he was young until now, he had still managed to cause quite a bit of change in this time period and in this dimension.


    Truth be told, ten years ago, such changes had started on the Ziyun planet.


    Many peoples'' fates had already been intertwined with his, and thus, as he went through changes in his life, others followed suit and began to experience changes as well.


    "As far as I can remember... In my past life, the divine beast cub that was accidentally killed in the war between several galaxies and planets that were fighting for it had appeared where I am now. I need to go and find it before this war happens."


    After leaving the Tielao planet of the Hengliu galaxy, Zhou Donghuang did not directly head for his intended destination, which was where he was now, the Yetang planet of the Xuanting galaxy.


    He had first randomly selected a destination and was sent to a random planet in another galaxy before arriving here.


    This time, he was headed here for one reason alone: the divine beast cub!


    The divine beast was actually one type of beast, but it had one of the most esteemed bloodlines of all the beasts. According to folklore and rumors, its memories could be inherited and passed down to future generations. This meant that given enough time, the divine beasts would eventually be able to evolve into divine creatures and enter the Divine Realm.


    In its realm, the divine beast was the most powerful, and no others were a match for them.


    It was also rumored that in the past, there were legendary humans who managed to fight divine beasts. However, now, this was impossible.


    In his past life, Zhou Donghuang did not know the difference between ancient human adepts and the current, more modern human adepts. However, he was aware of this difference now after he had met Liu Pingsheng. The people of the past had trained using ancient methods, such as the Lord of Four Supremes, which was an ancient method that he now used.


    "With the Lord of Four Supremes, I should still be able to fight with divine beasts in my realm."


    This time, Zhou Donghuang had traveled to the Yetang planet to find a divine beast cub.


    In his past life, he had also similarly participated in a fight over a divine beast cub.


    This was because he was not strong enough at that time, and he was no match for the other powerful humans. He could only watch the fight with other non-affiliated practitioners, and he personally witnessed how great powers fought over the divine beast cub and accidentally killed it in the process.


    "That divine beast cub looks like a dog, and it doesn''t seem too impressive... In fact, compared to the typical dogs on Earth, it looks quite similar to rural Chinese dogs. The only difference is that it has a horn on its head, which normal Earth dogs clearly do not have."


    Of course, previously, although Zhou Donghuang had been standing a distance away from the fight, he had still clearly seen the features of the divine beast cub.


    It was a dog with a single horn on its head, and it was completely black with a pair of bloodshot eyes.


    As great powers were fighting over it, it had tried to escape, but instead, it was mistakenly shot to death.


    The people who had accidentally shot it to death was unsurprisingly a group of angry powers who were out to kill eachother over the divine beast cub.


    "This was where the fight over the divine beast cub had happened."


    Now, Zhou Donghuang floated in the air above an expansive forest. This was a forest of beasts, and many beasts resided here. In his past life, he had visited this forest once, and now he had used that past memory to navigate himself back here.


    "I have to do some exploring within."


    The Yetang planet was a planet that had about the same amount of Spirit energy as the Tielao planet, which was where the Lightning Sword Sect was. Within the Xuanting galaxy, the Yetang planet was considered one of the less developed planets. In the past, it was only able to attract several powers to come forth due to the leaked news of a divine beast cub''s presence.


    The birth of a divine beast caused much chaos in the galaxy, and this auspicious event would last for many days.


    Once the news had spread, the powers of each major galaxy all immediately rushed to the Yetang planet through their own galaxy teleporters. They all had only one goal in their minds¡ªobtain this divine beast cub.


    This time, Zhou Donghuang intended to find the divine beast cub before it recalled its inherited memories and was officially birthed. After that, he wanted to bring the cub to an empty and isolated place just as it started recalling its inherited memories so that it would not startle anyone else.


    If not, the events of the past would repeat themselves, and the beast cub would be doomed to die again.


    "Before the divine beast truly recalls its inherited memories, it is almost the same as any ordinary beast... However, normally, since this is the place where it should by right inherit the past memories, it should be residing here right now. After all, before the divine beast can inherit past memories, it is at the Connate stage."


    Once beasts entered the Primal Core stage, they would be able to access their inherited memories.


    At that point, carps would become dragons, and wild chickens would become magnificent phoenixes; the inherited memories made a world of difference!


    Before that point, even divine beasts themselves would perhaps assume that they were only ordinary beasts.


    Now, what Zhou Donghuang wanted to do was find this divine beast cub even before it had inherited its past memories... Afterwards, using whatever method that was at his disposal, be it gentle or forceful, he had to bring this cub away.


    It would be a huge help to him in the future if he had a divine beast by his side, and a divine beast which had not yet recalled its inherited memories at that!


    Furthermore, if the divine beast were to grow up, it could definitely fight an entire sect or tribe without much trouble.


    "The strongest beasts in this forest are most likely only at the Primordial Soul stage."


    He was not afraid of beasts at the Primordial Soul stage with his current level of power.


    Whoosh!


    Within an instant, Zhou Donghuang''s body entered the forest of beasts below him, and he followed the path within to the center.


    At the start, he met with some resistance as some beasts tried to attack him.


    Of course, those beasts all died by his hands, and not a single one managed to survive.


    The closer he got to the center of the forest, the stronger the beasts became. Eventually, the beasts stopped blocking Zhou Donghuang''s path. It was clear that the power he had shown by killing the previous beasts scared those who were lying in hiding.


    For beasts, as long as they did not come from the Guiyao planet and as long as they could enter the Connate stage, most of them would have intelligence.


    For those who managed to enter the Primal Core stage, they would be able to speak.


    Those at the Dharma stage would be able to morph into a human form but would still have some traces of being a beast left on them. This meant that others could easily tell that it was a beast in human form and not a true human.


    Once a beast has entered the Primordial Soul stage, it can perfectly morph into a human without any identifying features affecting its disguise.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As Zhou Donghuang neared the center of the forest, on the path that he was on, where there was little disruption, two figures appeared before him and blocked his path.


    These two figures seemed to look human.


    However, although they looked human, their brains and four limbs were not fully free of beast-like features. They were clearly not 100% human. If they had appeared on Earth, they would definitely be seen as monsters.


    Clearly, these were two Dharma beasts.


    "Human, leave this place now. It is not a place where you should set foot in."


    One of the Dharma beasts had an eagle head, and although his two arms resembled human arms, they were conjoined to the rest of his body. He even had some scars that hinted at him having eagle wings before. This was clearly an eagle beast at the Dharma stage, and at this point, it was staring beadily at Zhou Donghuang.


    "I haven''t met such reckless beasts who dare to confront me in a while," Zhou Donghuang replied casually as he glanced at the two beasts before him.


    Along his journey in this forest, other than the few attacks he had originally fended off, he was left alone by the rest of the beasts. Although these beasts had noticed him, they had all sensed the danger emitting off him and did not dare to provoke him.


    Of course, this was partially because Zhou Donghuang had revealed some Divine Knowledge along the way.


    The strength of his Divine Knowledge had conditioned the beasts to stay away from him.


    Seeing as he was almost nearing the deepest part of the forest, Zhou Donghuang had retracted his Divine Knowledge with the intention of resting slightly before furthering his journey.


    However, he had not expected that after retracting his Divine Knowledge, beasts would appear to stop him.


    "Human, do not compare us to those weaklings you met earlier on!"


    The other Dharma beast had the face of a leopard. Like the first beast, he had human arms, but these arms were covered with leopard fur. He had claws as well, which also revealed his identity as a leopard beast.


    "Is that so?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes narrowed into slits. Without any warning, he raised his palms, and in an instant, his essential core formed a giant palm that came sweeping down. It hit the leopard beast straight into the ground, and its body was completely buried.


    "Wah..."


    Zhou Donghuang did not have the intention to kill it, only to deliver heavy injuries to the leopard beast. When the leopard beast glanced up at Zhou Donghuang, his face was dripping with blood, and its eyes were filled with extreme fear. His voice shook slightly as he spoke, "You... you''re a Primordial Soul adept!?"


    Whoosh!


    ¡­


    Zhou Donghuang''s attack caused a violent gust of wind to appear as if the wind was howling away. The eagle beast saw the attack, which highlighted Zhou Donghuang''s Primordial Soul power, and its two limbs buckled. He flew up like an arrow, clearly planning to take to the skies and escape.


    However, just as it had flown up and before it could fly out of the forest, Zhou Donghuang''s giant palm, which had been formed by essential core, grabbed hold of it.


    "Lord, have mercy, please have mercy!"


    The eagle beast''s beady eyes were full of fear, and he begged Zhou Donghuang repeatedly. "We were not smart enough to sense that you were actually a Primordial Soul adept. We did not know our place! Please spare our lives on account of our ignorance!"


    "Have mercy! Have mercy!"


    As if he had been inspired by the eagle beast''s begging, the leopard beast also looked at Zhou Donghuang with a helpless expression and began begging as well.


    "Hmph!" Zhou Donghuang scoffed lightly. "If I truly wanted to kill you, would I have let you live until now?"


    He was not an indiscriminate killer, whether it be towards humans or intelligent beasts.


    Along his journey, he would not kill intelligent beasts unless they tried to attack him first. Even then, he would merely teach them a violent lesson.


    As for the two Dharma beasts before him, since they had not attacked and him and had merely tried to block his path, he thus had no intention of killing them.

 311 Demon King

    "Your Excellency."


    Zhou Donghuang had generously chosen to spare them. Instead of killing them, he continued to walk towards the depths of the forest. Seeing this, the eagle beast''s eyes flashed uncertainly before he spoke up to remind Zhou Donghuang of the danger within.


    "There are many Primordial Soul beasts in the forest, and some are rumored to be near the Divine Transformation stage. They could almost be said to be Divine Transformation adepts. If possible, I advise you to leave while you can. Although I''m unsure as to your reasons for entering the forest, I''m assuming it''s not as important as your life! It would be suicide to continue."


    Upon hearing the beast''s reminder, Zhou Donghuang glanced at it with a somewhat shocked look. However, without saying much, he continued on his journey.


    As he walked, Zhou Donghuang muttered to himself, "Primordial Soul beasts that are nearing the Divine Transformation stage? How is that possible?


    "Well, as long as they are not actually at the Divine Transformation stage yet, then with my abilities now, I will definitely be able to take them on!"


    ¡­


    As Zhou Donghuang walked over and disappeared into the distance, the leopard beast, who had crawled up from the ground, glanced at the eagle beast and said coldly, "Why did you even bother giving that human a reminder? He nearly killed us both!


    "Wouldn''t it be a good thing if he somehow died in the forest?"


    As the leopard beast spoke, his eyes were filled with a vengeful and murderous look as he recalled the human who had almost killed him just now.


    "Well, he didn''t kill us in the end, now did he?" The eagle beast did not seem fearful of the leopard beast and merely replied back casually.


    "Think about how much time and effort you have spent training to be where you are today... If you had died just now, it would have all been lost just like that.


    "The fact that he spared our lives is already something we should be extremely grateful for. Don''t forget that."


    Once he finished speaking, the eagle beast turned to leave, leaving the leopard beast behind who had chosen to stay put. His eyes flashed fiercely, and his face showed an intense and grave expression.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang was oblivious to all this going on.


    Zhou Donghuang had now entered the depths of the forest, and he had not met with any other beasts who dared to provoke him because they were all low levels. They all ran away and did not dare to block his path. This made the already quiet environment seem even more silent.


    "Hm?"


    Eventually, Zhou Donghuang walked until he saw a wooden house, and he stopped in his tracks.


    The wooden house was not big, and it looked rather carelessly built. However, since it had appeared out of nowhere, he was still rather curious about it."


    Creak...


    Although the old man seemed to be extremely old and had a head of white hair, he was in extremely good spirits. Once he spotted Zhou Donghuang, his casual gaze became sharp and lit up.


    At the same time, he began to analyze Zhou Donghuang''s surroundings, and he did not miss a single thing.


    Zhou Donghuang could clearly sense that the old man was unleashing his inner Divine Will and probing the area around him as if he were searching for something.


    "There''s no need to search further," Zhou Donghuang glanced peacefully at the old man and said lightly.


    "I''m here alone."


    He could obviously tell that the old man thought he had company and so was using his Divine Will to test this theory.


    Swish!


    Just as Zhou Donghuang had spoken, the old man gathered up his Divine Will and focused it on Zhou Donghuang instead.


    "Hmph!"


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes narrowed at the hostile force of the old man''s Divine Will, and it looked like a layer of frost had appeared on his face. With a snort, an even stronger gust of Divine Will was unleashed from within Zhou Donghuang, and it clashed with the old man''s Divine Will.


    Boom!


    Two Divine Wills clashed.


    Within a split second, Zhou Donghuang''s Divine Will easily destroyed that of the old man, and it even created a counterattack against the old man. Instantly, the old man''s faced changed to become as pale as a sheet.


    His body trembled slightly before his face turned red. In the end, he could not help but spit out a huge mouthful of fresh blood.


    The counterattack of Zhou Donghuang''s Divine Will only attacked the soul, but still, it had caused much damage to the old man''s body.


    "A primordial... a late Primordial Soul adept!?"


    When he looked at Zhou Donghuang, the old man''s face was full of shock and disbelief as if he had seen a ghost.


    This young man was actually a late Primordial Soul adept?


    "Bring me to meet the Demon King."


    Zhou Donghuang did not care much for the old man''s shock and spoke again.


    In places where demons gathered, there would most likely be a Demon King.


    In the past, when Zhou Donghuang met Big Gold and Little Gold on the Ziyun planet, they were the kings of the Lost Forest.


    The old man before him was a demon at the Primordial Soul stage and was able to take on a human form. It was clear that he was probably able to battle the strongest demon in this forest to be able to live and stay here.


    If not, he would either be hunted or killed.


    At this point, the old man''s attitude towards Zhou Donghuang took on a 180-degree turn, and he became much more docile. "Yes, Your Excellency."


    To him, such a human definitely had good backing. It was thus possible that the "king" of this forest could also be no match for him. After all, he had not been able to resist Zhou Donghuang''s strength.


    The old man thus had no choice but to obey Zhou Donghuang.


    The old man led Zhou Donghuang on his way. Before they had gone too far, someone once again blocked their path.


    This was a middle-aged man who had a big build.


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at this middle-aged man and realized that he was indeed big, even bigger than Da Zhuang. With wide eyes, he glared at the old man who was leading Zhou Donghuang away and growled angrily. "You old fox, you dare bring a human in to invade my territory!? Do you think that I''ll leave you alone just because the Demon King favors you? In your dreams!"


    Just as he had spoken, the tall middle-aged man unleashed his essential core and created a big and solid-looking great ape. It stood tall and proud like a mountain, looking glorious.


    This was not a Dharma Power but rather a Primordial Soul Power.


    This solid-looking great ape was erect like a mountain and looked like a veteran proudly fighting in battle.


    Clearly, this Primordial Soul demon in the form of a middle-aged man was actually a great ape.


    "Mid Primordial Soul stage."


    This Primordial Soul beast''s powers were clearly stronger than the old man''s. The old man was only at the early Primordial Soul stage, but this beast was actually at the mid Primordial Soul stage.


    "What a fool."


    Faced with this threat, the old man merely looked the middle-aged man in the eye and said, "How dare you! You had best apologize to this man over here. If you anger him, he could easily blow your head off!"


    "What did you say!?"


    Once the middle-aged man heard the old man''s words, he froze before flying into a rage. His originally violent glare turned even more intense, and anger visibly radiated off him.


    "He is merely a small human. I could kill him with one palm just like I do with mosquitoes! He is nothing compared to me!"


    The old man''s emotions seemed to have intensified with the old man''s words. After shouting aloud, he quickly changed into his great ape form and upgraded his Great Ape Primordial Soul Power to become stronger.


    "Roar!"


    With a loud growl, the great ape raised its hands and, as promised, used a palm to strike Zhou Donghuang.


    This slap was fierce and violent, aiming directly for Zhou Donghuang''s head.


    Seeing this, the old man felt uneasy in his heart.


    Faced with this attack by the great ape, Zhou Donghuang did not flinch at all. Just as the great ape''s palm was about to land on his head, the essential core within him was then unleashed in one go like a giant wave.


    A huge and solid figure appeared and almost instantly took to the skies of the forest, enlarging itself in the process.


    This was clearly a giant tiger.


    The Great Ape Primordial Soul Power used its palm to slap Zhou Donghuang''s White Tiger Primordial Soul Power. The area surrounding these two Primordial Soul Powers immediately trembled with their force. The white tiger growled ferociously and unleashed a terrifying amount of essential core. Instantly, it was able to easily defeat the great ape.


    It did not take long at all.


    The moment the great ape was defeated, the middle-aged man''s figure once again appeared. However, this time, he collapsed to the ground with a thud. When he looked up at Zhou Donghuang, his eyes were filled with fear. "A beast at the ultimate Primordial Soul stage!?"


    Whoosh!


    At the same time, the middle-aged man''s figure began to fade out, and it was replaced by a giant black ape that was more than 10 meters tall. On the great ape''s head, there was a tuft of silvery-white hair that was extremely eye-catching.


    At this point, the look that the great ape gave Zhou Donghuang was one full of fright.


    "He is not a beast; he is just a human."


    A voice that was full of vigor and strength rang out, and out of nowhere, another figure had silently appeared at the scene.


    Of course, Zhou Donghuang was aware of the arrival of this figure for some time now, unlike the great ape and the old man.


    "Your Excellency."


    Seeing the arrival of this figure, the sly and triumphant look in the old man''s eyes disappeared and was replaced by a look of awe. He then kneeled to the ground entirely, and he even pressed his face to the ground as well.


    "Your Excellency."


    "Your Excellency."


    ¡­


    Other human-based figures who had arrived at the scene also followed suit and knelt to the ground out of respect for the figure floating in the sky.


    Out of these people, there was a teenage boy, a young girl, an old woman and a pretty woman.


    "Your Excellency, didn''t you say that he was a king? But... his Primordial Soul Power is a beast! How can that be?" the injured giant ape cried out with some level of disbelief.


    "A human is also able to have a beast Primordial Soul Power. But the human must first be very talented."


    In the skies, a middle-aged man who was wearing long silver robes held a folding fan in his hand. He had on an elegant yet strict look on his face, and he looked at the giant ape with indifference before speaking unhurriedly.


    "I''ve let you down, Your Excellency."


    The great ape struggled to kneel. His body was damaged from his fight with Zhou Donghuang; he was weak and trembling. Nevertheless, he forced himself to kneel and ignored the fresh blood dripping from his body.


    At the same time, the gaze in the middle-aged man''s eyes suddenly turned cold, and it landed on the old man, who had been leading the way for Zhou Donghuang. He casually said, "Did you plan to use this man to kill Fang Yuan?


    "Are you overlooking the rules that I''ve set? Or perhaps... You do not care much for the words that I''ve said?"


    The tone that the silver-robed, middle-aged man used was enough to make anyone feel instant regret.


    "Your Excellency, I''ve... I''ve made a huge mistake."


    The old man, who was kneeling on the ground, shook visibly from his fear, and even his voice trembled as he spoke.

 312 Single-Horned Little Black Dog

    "Since you were wrong, you have to pay the consequences."


    When the silver-robed, middle-aged man spoke up next, his voice was fully devoid of emotion. Because of this, his words scared the old man till his eyes fluttered and his expression changed greatly.


    In the next instant...


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    ¡­


    The old man continuously kowtowed, and blood flowed all over the floor. It was almost as if he did not know he was bleeding out! He did not appear to be stopping anytime soon, and he even continued to do so with greater speed.


    "Hmph!"


    The middle-aged man in the silver robes scoffed aloud. The old man, who was previously kowtowing on the floor, suddenly jerked violently, and he slumped over without a second opinion.


    The instant he fell to the ground, the old man disappeared, and he was replaced by a large, greenish-grey fox.


    This was not a normal fox as its body was much bigger than that of normal wolves. On the large fox''s head, there was also a tuft of white hair, and this was said to be a scar left behind from its earlier days.


    It was clear that this large fox was quite old.


    With the death of the fox beast, the remaining on looking beasts all turned away, except for the giant ape beast. When they looked at the middle-aged man in silver robes, their eyes were filled with even more respect and awe.


    "Human, you can go."


    When the silver-robed, middle-aged man looked at Zhou Donghuang, it was with a cold expression. He used an even tone that did not reveal any emotion.


    Faced with such an "invitation," Zhou Donghuang did not take any action immediately. He merely looked at the middle-aged man with a peaceful gaze and said, "Are you the king of this forest?"


    "Yes, I am."


    The silver-robed, middle-aged man was visibly frustrated now. "Human, although your skills are not bad, if you think you can do as you please here, you are wrong. Seeing as you are of a high martial arts status, I will let you pass this time."


    "I came here to find you." Zhou Donghuang''s face did not change. "Before I''ve settled the things I''m concerned with, I will not leave."


    "Human, are you trying to provoke me?"


    The middle-aged man was now enraged, and his robes started trembling and shaking. Previously, his eyes were normal and human-like. However, now, they had a touch of gold in them before eventually turning completely golden.


    This time, Zhou Donghuang did not say much either. The White Tiger Primordial Soul Power appeared again, and it stared beadily at the silver-robed, middle-aged man.


    Once the middle-aged man''s face darkened, the beasts surrounding him who could turn into human forms all spread out, and they closely surrounded Zhou Donghuang. The looks that they all gave Zhou Donghuang were full of extreme fear.


    As for the middle-aged man in silver robes, his face had on an extremely nasty expression.


    A big battle was to ensue.


    "What did you want to find me for?"


    In the end, they did not fight physically.


    The silver-robed, middle-aged man glanced at the breathless giant ape before looking at Zhou Donghuang''s confident figure and stance. In the end, he did not take any action, and his eyes had on a look of fear as well.


    Seeing this, the surrounding beasts that had entrapped Zhou Donghuang all breathed a sigh of relief.


    If they had a choice, they were all unwilling to make the human youth before them an enemy. The beasts had a gut feeling that caused them to be extremely fearful of the human youth before them.


    The feeling that this young man had given them was not because his Primordial Soul Power was unique. It was as if his inner body was hiding some other form of power that caused the on looking beasts to feel uneasy.


    In truth, the silver-robed, middle-aged man, the Demon King of this entire forest, who was in human form, had figured this out as well.


    "I would to ask you for a favor," Zhou Donghuang replied without beating around the bush.


    "A favor?"


    The middle-aged man furrowed his brows. "Your powers are not weak. If there''s something you cannot settle, I''m sure I would not be able to take care of it either."


    If he had known that this young man was weak, he would have had more confidence in killing him.


    He had personally witnessed this human take action and injure the giant ape under him. The young man''s Primordial Soul Power was extremely strong, even though it was only at the late Primordial Soul stage. The power the young man had unleashed was comparable to that of his own ultimate Primordial Stage Power, and it gave him a strong feeling of being trapped. His soul had felt suffocated.


    Due to that incident, he had felt much fear towards this young man, and he was not confident in defeating him, even if he took action against the young man.


    "I''m not asking for you to help in killing something." Zhou Donghuang shook his head.


    "I came to find you because I would like you to use the beasts under you to help me find a small demon."


    "A small demon?"


    Upon hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, the middle-aged man breathed a sigh of relief before following up with another question, "What kind of small demon are you looking for?"


    "A dog."


    As Zhou Donghuang spoke, he began to vividly describe the divine beast cub that he remembered from his past life. As long as he shared the specific characteristics of this divine beast cub, with the influence that this Demon King had among the demons of the forest, it would be easy to find it.


    After describing the characteristics of this divine beast cub, Zhou Donghuang spoke again.


    "If you help me with this favor, I will not be ungrateful. I will help you enter the Divine Transformation stage."


    Zhou Donghuang''s first sentence did not affect the Demon King much. However, after hearing the second sentence that Zhou Donghuang had uttered, the middle-aged man''s eyes immediately narrowed, and his face had on an expression of shock. "What? Do you mean to say that you can help me enter the Divine Transformation stage?


    "Are you speaking the truth?"


    Normally, under typical circumstances, he would not believe such words of a young, human man.


    However, the young man standing before him gave him a feeling of wisdom and importance. The Primordial Soul Power that the young man had trained was not only a Primordial Soul beast, but it could also affect and influence his own soul, causing it to feel trapped. That sort of feeling was comparable to when he stood before demons that were at a training stage much higher than his.


    "If my assumption is right... You have crossed over to the ultimate Primordial Soul stage for many years, but you have been unable to cross the last obstacle to get to the next training stage."


    Zhou Donghuang spoke once again, "This is all because there is an issue with the way you train."


    "With your body type and well as the tribe you come from, normally, the strongest you can be is only an ultimate Primordial Soul adapt. Also, the oxygen flow in your body is complicated, it''s not smooth. You probably used some human-based training methods and damaged your body in the process to try and enter the Divine Transformation stage... am I right?"


    At the end of his speech, Zhou Donghuang looked deeply at the Demon King before him.


    Although he had not used his Divine Will on the other party, the other party''s volatile essential core and aura made his observations easy to infer.


    Such situations were common for many demons that he had met in his past life, and they had all suffered from the same issues, just as what he had described.


    Zhou Donghuang had a solution prepared for this.


    As for the Demon King''s face, even before Zhou Donghuang had finished speaking, it had already changed completely.


    This was because the other party was right!


    Furthermore, he was the only one aware of his own issues.


    "Your Excellency, please help me!"


    The silver-robed, middle-aged man begged Zhou Donghuang with a look of gratitude. Because of this, his body also trembled slightly. His voice shook as well as he used a tone of awe and respect.


    One had to know that if he did not cross over to the Divine Transformation stage, after a few more decades, he would reach the end of his life.


    Faced with this, he was extremely frustrated because he had not found a solution for it.


    But this young man before him had given him hope again!


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at the middle-aged man indifferently before saying, "I stand by what I say... As long as you activate the demons under you and help me find that little demon, I will immediately help you cross over to the Divine Transformation stage."


    "Your Excellency, I''ll give the order right away."


    Now, in light of Zhou Donghuang being a potential life saver, the middle-aged man nodded wildly. Without any hesitation, he turned to look at the tens of demons before him. "All of you heard what Your Excellency just said, right? Immediately spread the message and hunt for this little demon!"


    After the demons had acknowledged his order and left, the Demon King turned to glance at Zhou Donghuang again. "Your Excellency, do wait for a while... I will go give the order to my other followers as well."


    The Demon King was in control of the entire forest.


    Now, all the demons within the forest served him and were loyal to him.


    Those who were unwilling to be led by him were killed long ago.


    Not only the human world respected the strong. The demon world was similar, just as the universe and divine world were!


    Not long later, the Demon King returned. "Your Excellency, my quarters can be said to be respectably clean. In the next few days, please use it as a rest stop!


    "I can guarantee that as long as the little demon lives within my forest, within a maximum of three days, it can be found and brought to you."


    Faced with the Demon King''s courtesy, Zhou Donghuang was not surprised at all.


    This was because he could tell that the Demon King''s days were numbered.


    Furthermore, it was only under such pressing circumstances that a demon would choose to switch to human-based training styles in hopes of crossing over to the next training stage... However, humans and demons were inherently different.


    Human methods of training could be borrowed, but the number of demons who had successfully utilized them were few and far and in between.


    Furthermore, for those demons, most were the most outstanding members of their tribe.


    As long as they were able to develop themselves as they grew, they would become leaders.


    The Demon King''s living quarters were located at the center of the forest. There were four lakes there and a courtyard that looked like a human home. This courtyard was situated right in the middle of the four lakes, and the roads along this piece of land had many trees growing alongside them.


    It could be inferred that the Demon King had good taste and had adapted a human version of decoration.


    The Demon King gave up his quarters to Zhou Donghuang, and he personally set out to the corners of the forest to find the little demon that Zhou Donghuang was looking for.


    Within an instant, all the demons in the forest who were intelligent enough were all activated, and the entire forest was put to work. Many little demons also started to run around because of this hunt.


    ¡­


    Two days later:


    The Demon King once again appeared before Zhou Donghuang.


    "Your Excellency, we got lucky!"


    At this very instant, a purely black dog the color of ink was sleeping soundly on the slender shoulders of the Demon King.


    On top of this black dog''s head, a small horn stuck out, and this gave him an oddly shaped head.


    "It''s him!"


    Zhou Donghuang''s attention was already on the single-horned little dog once the Demon King had appeared. Although it was smaller than he had remembered from his past life and his horn was smaller than before, Zhou Donghuang recognized it in an instant.


    This was the divine beast cub that he had been looking for!

 313 The Lightning Sword Sects in Trouble!?

    "Woof!"


    Seeing as the Demon King was about to pass him over to the person before them, the black puppy was visibly frightened. Although it had not inherited its memories yet, it was at the early Connate stage and was intelligent enough to sense that the person before them was not a demon.


    In the eyes of a demon, humans were aliens.


    Although the person carrying it was in human form, his body gave off the aura of a demon, and so he felt safe.


    "Little guy."


    Seeing as the black puppy was prejudiced against the human before them, the Demon King spoke up gently, using demon language to comfort it.


    "Although I''m not sure why this human wants you, he is an extremely talented man. If you follow him, you will receive benefits and not come to harm."


    "No... I do not want to follow a human!"


    The black puppy panicked. "Humans are all evil; they are the natural enemies of the demons. Some of my friends were killed by humans."


    This time, even before the Demon King could speak, Zhou Donghuang spoke up, "It is very normal for demons to be killed by humans... Do not forget that demons kill other demons as well."


    Zhou Donghuang spoke up using demon language as well.


    "Your Excellency, you..."


    The Demon King stared at Zhou Donghuang in shock as he had not imagined that the other party could speak their language.


    As long as humans were willing to, they could learn the demon language through a demon. However, that required not just effort but also the natural ability to learn languages, and there were very few humans who were willing to do so.


    Because of that, to the Demon King, the number of humans who knew the demon language was very low. From the time he was born till now, he had not met a human who could speak it fluently.


    "Follow me, and not only will I not kill you, but I will even provide you with core drugs for you to upgrade your training stage."


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at the black puppy and took out a bottle of core drugs from his space ring. "These core drugs can be used by both humans and demons at the Connate stage, and they will greatly help you in your training."


    "I want this! I want this!"


    As for the black puppy, upon hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, it shot forward like a bolt of lightning and rushed towards the core drugs in Zhou Donghuang''s outstretched palm with its mouth wide open.


    However, Zhou Donghuang stretched out his other hand, holding off the black puppy and causing it to retreat in disappointment.


    Zhou Donghuang then casually threw the black puppy on the ground and said lightly, "Since you are not willing to follow me, you can stay here."


    "Thank you, Your Excellency."


    The Demon King had on an extremely grateful expression and thanked Zhou Donghuang repeatedly. Afterward, he glanced at the black puppy on the floor, who had on a mournful expression, and gave it a reminder.


    "Little fellow, if you can follow that human, you will have good luck. Treasure this opportunity."


    Over the next few days, Zhou Donghuang helped the Demon King to adjust the essential core within his body, which had become abnormal due to him using all sorts of human methods to train. This process took three whole days.


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang passed on a method of crossing over to the Divine Transformation stage for demons to him. "With this method and with your situation now, you will become a Divine Transformation adept within three months at most!"


    "Your Excellency, if you have any requests in the future, please feel free to find me. I will do all I can to help you!"


    Before Zhou Donghuang left, the Demon King bowed to him and made a promise to him courteously.


    "Mm." Zhou Donghuang nodded and took his leave.


    As he walked away, on his shoulder sat a tamed black puppy. This was the exact same black puppy as before, the divine beast cub that he had used core drugs to try to entice and tame.


    Of course, the black puppy was not aware that it was a divine beast.


    "Boss, where should we go now?" the black puppy asked Zhou Donghuang with narrowed eyes.


    Over the past few days, Zhou Donghuang had used core drugs to buy over the black puppy, and it had thrown away all customs and habits of a typical demon. Now, it was used to calling Zhou Donghuang "boss" and took on the role of a junior.


    "We are going to another planet in another galaxy," Zhou Donghuang said.


    Zhou Donghuang had already made preparations for the path that he had to take next.


    Using his memories from his past life, he wanted to visit the places where Divine Transformation adepts had left behind their inheritances so that he could collect them. He would then find an isolated place where he could groom the black puppy until it reached the Primal Core stage.


    When he had first met the black puppy, it was only an early Connate adept.


    Now, within a few days, it had crossed over to the mid Connate stage.


    If it continued to follow Zhou Donghuang and eat core drugs, this black puppy would quickly reach the Primal Core stage where it could then inherit its memories... At that point, a miraculous event would happen.


    In Zhou Donghuang''s previous life, the black puppy had created a similar miraculous event after it had inherited its memories, and that was the reason why many strongmen of various galaxies had wanted to snatch it away.


    In this life, with Zhou Donghuang''s intervention, the black dog''s life now met with a very drastic change.


    At the very least, the time it took to enter the Primal Core stage was now greatly lessened.


    Afterward, with Zhou Donghuang paving the way for it, after the black dog became a divine beast, it would naturally not startle anyone else. It could safely pass over the most dangerous stage of growth of an orphaned divine beast''s life.


    "Orphaned divine beasts," this title referred to the orphans within divine beasts who did not have parents by their side to protect them.


    No one would dare touch a divine beast cub who had parents or loved ones by their side to protect them, even if the cub were to inherit their memories and create a miraculous event.


    In any case, for demons who could give birth to divine beast cubs, they were definitely considered the most elite of the beasts.


    They could even be divine beasts themselves or even adult divine beasts!


    Adult divine beasts were at the Heavenly stage, and using their natural bodies as well as other inherited traits, early Heavenly stage divine beasts could kill humans at the ultimate Heavenly stage. They could even directly hunt Deity''s Tribulation adepts.


    Because of this, those from the bigger galaxies or top elite sects wouldn''t dare to provoke adult divine beasts.


    In the next two months, the black puppy followed Zhou Donghuang to several planets in several galaxies. It also personally witnessed Zhou Donghuang uncovering many inheritances left behind by past human adepts.


    Zhou Donghuang naturally collected all these inheritances.


    During this time, they met with a few obstacles. At their resting places, these human adepts had left behind a few spells and tricks to guard their inheritance. However, to Zhou Donghuang, this did not mean much, and he easily overcame all these tricks.


    "Boss, how did you know about this place?"


    "Boss, are all these human adepts your ancestors?"


    ¡­


    As Zhou Donghuang followed his past memories to uncover one treasure after another, the black puppy following him naturally felt shocked at this progress. In the end, he was in awe of Zhou Donghuang.


    Of course, within this entire process, Zhou Donghuang had gathered many rare herbs and managed to manufacture core drugs for the black puppy to consume. The black puppy''s training stage thus increased at an exponential rate.


    Within a short two months, he managed to cross over to the ultimate Connate stage.


    It was even close to crossing over to the Primal Core stage.


    "How much longer do you think you''ll take?" Zhou Donghuang asked the black puppy.


    Once the black puppy crossed over and inherited its memories, a miraculous event would happen, and this would be noticed by all that surrounded them.


    "At most, half a month." The black puppy smiled cheekily. "Boss, I will quickly improve myself so that I can help you."


    "Mm." Zhou Donghuang nodded his head. "Next, I will bring you to a planet and arrange a place for you to train... When you cross over to the Primal Core stage, I will find you."


    Originally, Zhou Donghuang had wanted to find an isolated place for the black puppy to train.


    In the end, however, he felt that the Guiyao planet was still the safest.


    Although the spells set in place no longer worked at Mo Ningsang''s previous place of rest on the Guiyao planet, using the shared memories he had with Mo Ningsang, it was easy to reactivate the spells for security.


    Furthermore, once the spells were reactivated, they could provide more security than any spell he created himself.


    This would be able to completely conceal the miraculous event created by the black puppy when it inherited its memories.


    "Boss, could I follow you instead?"


    The black puppy stared doe-eyed at Zhou Donghuang. Over the last two months, it had become reliant on Zhou Donghuang, although the latter had been strict with him.


    This was because Zhou Donghuang was the first person who had treated him kindly.


    Before it had met Zhou Donghuang, it had depended solely on itself. After meeting Zhou Donghuang, it became reliant on him. He was the closest thing to family, even though they had only known one another for two months.


    "I''ve said it before, once you cross over to the Primal Core stage, I will come and get you," Zhou Donghuang replied lightly. "Of course... That is if... At that point, you are still willing to follow me.


    "But if you no longer wish to, I will not force you to either."


    The meaning behind Zhou Donghuang''s words was only understood by him and not by the black puppy, who was now extremely confused. After all, it was still young, and it could not have dreamt that it would develop into a divine beast, which was one in a million among beasts.


    "Go on now."


    Zhou Donghuang stepped into the galaxy teleporter and keyed in the coordinates for the Lightning Sword Sect, which was situated on the Tielao planet in the Hengliu galaxy... But there was no response.


    "What is happening?"


    Zhou Donghuang froze before trying once again, but to no avail.


    Instantly, Zhou Donghuang''s face changed dramatically.


    Normally, this situation would only occur if the galaxy teleporter at the destination was destroyed.


    However, this galaxy teleporter could be said to belong to the Lightning Sword Sect of the Hengliu galaxy. Why would it be destroyed out of the blue?


    Unless someone launched an attack on the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Instantly, many guesses appeared in Zhou Donghuang''s mind. "Could it be that the assassins of the Qi Dynasty dying incurred the wrath of Emperor Qi, who then decided to take revenge on the Lightning Sword Sect?


    "Or perhaps... The catastrophe of the Lightning Sword Sect happened ahead of time?"


    Either way, they were both not favorable outcomes to Zhou Donghuang.


    This was because his third senior sister, He Mengxi, her father, and Da Zhuang were all still at the Lightning Sword Sect!


    "The Hengliu galaxy, the Tielao planet, the Lightning Sword Sect!"


    Zhou Donghuang had on a dark expression, and he changed his coordinates.


    Within the next instant, the galaxy teleporter was activated, and this meant that his new destination''s galaxy teleporter was active and working.

 314 Lying in Wai

    The Tielao planet in the Hengliu galaxy.


    A galaxy teleporter was situated near the Thunder Knife Sect, and this was the designated teleporter for the sect.


    Near the galaxy teleporter, there was an old and wrinkled man sitting cross-legged on the floor. His eyes were shut tightly, although one was unclear as to whether he was training or meditating.


    Behind the old man, a middle-aged man and teenage boy were present as well. One of them was sleeping soundly, while the other was closely observing the galaxy teleporter before him. He only blinked once in a while, as if he was afraid to miss something.


    Whoosh!


    Suddenly, the galaxy teleporter produced a figure out nowhere like a sudden gust of wind.


    The figure was a handsome young man wearing pure white clothes. On the young man''s shoulder was a black puppy, and this black puppy looked like a typical stray black dog on the streets. However, if one observed this dog carefully, one would realize that this dog had a single horn on its forehead, and it looked extraordinary.


    "Zhou Donghuang!"


    The teenage boy who was keenly staring at the galaxy teleporter instantly narrowed his eyes as the white-clothed man appeared. He turned to the old man, who was still sitting cross-legged on the floor. With an urgent tone, he yelled, "Sir Wu Qian, it''s Zhou Donghuang!"


    "Hm?"


    Zhou Donghuang, who had just passed through the galaxy teleporter and arrived at his destination, sensed someone watching him from afar, and he looked in this figure''s direction. As he turned, he immediately heard the owner of the voice yell out, catching his attention. Zhou Donghuang began to sense that something was not right, and his face changed slightly.


    Within the next instant, his entire body shook and shot into the sky like a white bolt of lightning.


    At the same time, the old man who was still sitting cross-legged in the air with his eyes shut now opened his eyes. He was also holding on to a piece of jade.


    Boom!


    Crash!


    ...


    Not far away, the galaxy teleporter that was originally working was instantly enveloped by a frighteningly strong force. It was fried to dust and ashes that filled the entire sky, being reduced to almost nothing. There was almost no trace left of the once huge and towering galaxy teleporter.


    "That is Zhou Donghuang?" the old man glanced steely at the white figure in the distance and asked in a low voice.


    "Sir Wu Qian, that''s him!" the teenage boy behind the old man replied in affirmation.


    As for the middle-aged man, who had at some point opened his eyes, he spoke up as well.


    "Sir Wu Qian, he is the disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect''s Autumn Valley, Zhou Donghuang."


    "They..."


    "Who are you?"


    Zhou Donghuang glanced steely at the old man. He was suspicious of the three figures, which included two people of the Lightning Sword Sect, who had been lying in wait for him here.


    "I am Wu Qian, a servant of the Qi Dynasty."


    The old man looked passively at Zhou Donghuang as if he were staring at a dead man.


    "If you could get me, Wu Qian, to lie in wait here for almost a month for you to appear, even if you die today, then that is already considered an honor."


    Seconds after he had spoken, a towering Primordial Soul Power appeared behind Wu Qian, looking like a giant. This Primordial Soul Power towered above Zhou Donghuang.


    "Ultimate Primordial Soul stage?"


    Faced with the emergence of this Primordial Soul Power, which demonstrated that Wu Qian was an ultimate Primordial Soul adept, Zhou Donghuang appeared indifferent. His gaze turned to the two figures standing behind the old man. "Are you both disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect? Why are you both here? Did something happen to the Lightning Sword Sect?"


    "Let me answer that." Before the two disciples could speak, Wu Qian had already spoken up coldly.


    "The Lightning Sword Sect was exterminated a month ago by the Qi Dynasty. These two disciples are here because they were kept alive by the Qi Dynasty for them to help us identify you.


    "Now, they have already helped me to identify that you are Zhou Donghuang. They are of no use to me now, and it is time for them to join the rest of the deceased members of the Lightning Sword Sect."


    Once the old man had spoken, the two figures behind him both turned pale. "Sir Wu Qian, did you not promise that if we helped you identify Zhou Donghuang that you would spare our lives?"


    "Sir Wu Qian, you... you cannot go back on your word!"


    Just as the two figures were begging for their lives, Wu Qian had already taken action, and the giant Primordial Soul Power trapped the two like animals in a cage. With great force, it clammed down on the two, and before their reflexes could kick in, it smashed them dead!


    Zhou Donghuang was nearby, and he watched this solemnly.


    Faced with the death of the two betrayers, he had no sympathy for them at all.


    Now, his face no longer had on his usual peaceful expression. It was dark, and his eyes glittered with rage and murderous intent... In the end, his troubling guess had been right.


    The Lightning Sword Sect really had met with trouble.


    Indeed, it had been the Qi Dynasty, one of the Hengliu galaxy''s two Transcendental Forces, that had caused harm to the Lightning Sword Sect!


    "Zhou Donghuang, thank you for choosing to appear at this galaxy teleporter near the Lightning Sword Sect... Your life is worth as much as a Divine Transformation drug! After this, if I manage to enter the Divine Transformation stage after consuming a Divine Transformation drug, I''ll really have to thank you for it."


    Wu Qian once again glanced at Zhou Donghuang, and this time, he smiled evilly and made his Primordial Soul Power step forward. Its giant fist reached out for Zhou Donghuang.


    After hearing this, it was clear that Emperor Qi had offered up the reward of a Divine Transformation drug in return for Zhou Donghuang''s head.


    Divine Transformation drugs could help those who were close to crossing over to the Divine Transformation stage successfully close the gap. It was extremely precious, and even the entire Qi Dynasty only had less than five of such drugs. The fact that the Qi Dynasty was willing to use one of these five drugs as a reward for finding Zhou Donghuang meant that they greatly prioritized this matter.


    "Roar!"


    At almost the same time Wu Qian''s Primordial Soul Power reached out to attack Zhou Donghuang, Zhou Donghuang''s body also materialized a giant Primordial Soul Power behind him. This was a white tiger, and it let out a roar that shook the land and skies. This terrifying sound washed over everyone and caused waves of vibrations that forced Wu Qian''s Primordial Soul Power to retreat a little.


    "How can this be!?"


    Once Zhou Donghuang''s Primordial Soul Power appeared, it scared Wu Qian till his nostrils flared and his facial expression changed. "You... How can you be an ultimate Primordial Soul adept too!?"


    "Nothing is impossible," Zhou Donghuang replied impassively.


    At the same time, his White Tiger Primordial Soul Power took action and rushed towards Wu Qian''s Primordial Soul Power. Wu Qian''s Primordial Soul Power was unable to defend itself or back away, and the White Tiger Primordial Soul Power managed to scratch at it. Within an instant, as if a giant cage had landed and trapped Wu Qian''s Primordial Soul Power, it was broken and greatly damaged.


    "Wah...!"


    After spitting out a mouthful of blood, Wu Qian''s face turned as white as a sheet of paper. His eyes and facial expression were full of shock.


    "How can this be? As an ultimate Primordial Soul adept, how could you have such great powers?"


    "Like I said... Nothing is impossible."


    Zhou Donghuang spoke again, and his voice rang out like a gong. Within an instant, under his command, the White Tiger Primordial Soul Power took action again.


    "Zhou Donghuang, spare my life! If you do so, I''m willing to become your most humble servant!"


    By now, Wu Qian was badly injured, and he was unable to resist Zhou Donghuang''s further attacks. Although he was doubtful, he still chose to bow down. His body trembled visibly as he spoke these beseeching words to Zhou Donghuang.


    However, the White Tiger Primordial Soul Power''s attack did not seem to stop.


    The White Tiger Primordial Soul Power reached out a claw and hit Wu Qian to the ground, where he was forced into a bed of soil and pushed underground.


    Whoosh!


    The black puppy on Zhou Donghuang''s shoulder shot forward and snatched up Wu Qian''s space ring like a hungry gold digger. Before it left, it even took a bite of Wu Qian''s corpse.


    "Old fellow, with such looks, you want to act like a dog? You are an embarrassment to us, what an idiot!"


    Afterwards, the black puppy returned to Zhou Donghuang''s shoulder, and he coyly passed the space ring that he had collected to Zhou Donghuang. "Boss, in any case, this old man was an ultimate Primordial Soul adept. The things he stored in the space ring are probably useful for you.


    "As for the items that are worthless to you, I can eat them! You can give them to me!"


    After saying these words, the black puppy salivated at the thought of food.


    "You can hold on to it first," Zhou Donghuang said. The black puppy excitedly put the space ring into the collar that was around its neck. More accurately, it was within an empty stone that was embedded onto the collar.


    This collar had been handmade for the black puppy by Zhou Donghuang, and it was a manufactured spirit weapon. On the collar, he had attached two space stones which could be used as storage spaces for the puppy''s items.


    Not long after Zhou Donghuang had left with the black puppy...


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Two shadows appeared at the venue where the galaxy teleporter of the Lightning Sword Sect had been destroyed. If Zhou Donghuang were here, he would immediately recognize with a single glance that one of these two figures was no ordinary man. This was the Thunder Knife Sect Leader, Luo Yuanqiu.


    However, Luo Yuanqiu now glanced at the corpse buried underground with chills running down his spine.


    "Who could have taken action against him... I did not expect Wu Qian of the Qi Dynasty to die such a violent death!


    "Could it be that the Autumn Valley Head, He Jin, had taken action? After all, out of the three Divine Transformation adepts of the Lightning Sword Sect, only he managed to survive... Furthermore, if someone were to be able to kill Wu Qian, an ultimate Primordial Soul adept, so easily before we arrived, he would have to at least be at the Divine Transformation stage!" the old man beside Luo Yuanqiu guessed aloud.


    "That''s impossible!" Luo Yuanqiu shook his head.


    "As far as I know, although He Jin did in fact manage to survive, he won''t stay alive for long... he was poisoned by a man from the Qi Dynasty, and now he is just waiting for his death!"


    This man of the Qi Dynasty was a Divine Transformation adept who specialized in using poison. He had trained himself to attack using poison and could infect any adept at the Divine Transformation stage and below.


    "If this was not He Jin''s doing, then who could it be?"


    The old man''s eyes shone with suspicion and doubt.


    "I''m not sure either." Luo Yuanqiu smiled bitterly.


    "However, since we have discovered that a servant of the Qi Dynasty has died here... Although it was not our doing, we had best inform the Qi Dynasty since it was us who discovered it... They can investigate this matter themselves."


    Previously, before this Qi Dynasty servant had arrived at the Thunder Knife Sect''s galaxy teleporter to lie in wait for Zhou Donghuang, he had first paid a visit to the Thunder Knife Sect to greet the Thunder Knife Sect Leader. He had requested for the Sect Leader to accompany him on his mission. At that point, Luo Yuanqiu did not disagree as he was deeply fearful of offending the Qi Dynasty.

 315 Thats Impossible

    After leaving the Thunder Knife Sect, Zhou Donghuang brought the black puppy to the Lightning Sword Sect.


    Once he had arrived at the Lightning Sword Sect, even though he was prepared for this, Zhou Donghuang was still shocked... Previously, the Lightning Sword Sect was bustling with activity, but now, this piece of land was flattened and was completely changed into a dump.


    Furthermore, the Spirit energy here had become extremely thin, and one could vaguely guess that the spirit stone mines of the Lightning Sword Sect had all been mostly ransacked.


    Clearly, when the Qi Dynasty''s people had arrived to ransack and destroy the Lightning Sword Sect, they had also taken the chance to clear the mines of the Lightning Sword Sect, robbing them of Spirit energy.


    Among the debris, there were dried-up bloodstains everywhere, and there were mountains of corpses to the point where one was unable to count the exact number of dead people.


    "The Qi Dynasty..."


    Even though Zhou Donghuang had lived a past life of thousands of years and had seen many deaths, when he saw the condition of the Lightning Sword Sect, he could not help but feel rage rise up within him.


    This was because the Lightning Sword Sect being attacked was due to his appearance.


    According to his memories of the developments in his past life, at this point, the Lightning Sword Sect had not yet met with such a disastrous event. However, now that this event had been carried forward, it had to be linked to him.


    "What a disaster... Who is the Qi Dynasty? They were extremely cruel here, crueler than beasts even..."


    On Zhou Donghuang''s shoulder, the black puppy witnessed this scene and could not help but comment. As he spoke up, he shook his head like a human would.


    Whoosh!


    With a shake of his body, Zhou Donghuang flew up across the land that used to be the Lightning Sword Sect. Among the corpses that he saw, there were several familiar faces including elders of the Autumn Valley, Autumn valley disciples, and even the three other Valley Heads.


    The Lightning Sword Sect Leader, Yu Yucheng, had also been a victim of the Qi Dynasty''s attack. However, he was propped up on an arm, and his huge, lifeless eyes showed signs of a struggle, showing his refusal to surrender.


    What allowed Zhou Donghuang to breathe a sigh of relief was that after observing the corpses meticulously, he could conclude that out of the casualties of the Lightning Sword Sect, those three most familiar faces were not part of them.


    His third senior sister, He Mengxi, as well as the Autumn Valley Head He Jin and Da Zhuang were all not among the sea of corpses.


    Clearly, all three of them were all possibly alive.


    "Rest in peace... If this really was my fault, I will take revenge for you to make up for this wrongdoing."


    Boom!


    Crash!


    ¡­


    It was true that Zhou Donghuang had already trained his White Tiger Primordial Soul Power to the ultimate Primordial Soul stage. Furthermore, this White Tiger Primordial Soul Power was extremely powerful, much more than any normal ultimate Primordial Soul adept. However, to activate his Primordial Soul Power to sweep up sand to bury the entire Lightning Sword Sect was still a rather tiring thing to do.


    "Hm?"


    After he had fully buried the entire Lightning Sword Sect, Zhou Donghuang seemed to sense something, and his eyes darted around.


    In the next moment, two figures appeared from afar and appeared almost instantly before his eyes. One stood to his left and one stood to his right, surrounding him in the middle. They glared at him beadily. "Are you a survivor of the Lightning Sword Sect?"


    "Actually, it does not matter if you are a survivor of the Lightning Sword Sect or not... Either way, you should die. We are from the Qi Dynasty, and we chose to destroy this sect, why should he be allowed to give them a proper burial?"


    The two people surrounding Zhou Donghuang were a middle-aged man and an old man, and both were staring coldly at Zhou Donghuang. The old man, who had last spoken, even had a murderous look in his eyes.


    "People of the Qi Dynasty?" Zhou Donghuang asked impassively.


    Within the next instant, even before the middle-aged man or the old man could speak, Zhou Donghuang narrowed his eyes, and the White Tiger Primordial Soul Power appeared once again, towering above them all. The White Tiger Primordial Soul Power let out a frightening roar, and this sound reverberated in the skies!


    "An ultimate Primordial Soul adept?"


    Just as the middle-aged man and old man exchanged doubtful glances, the White Tiger Primordial Soul Power had already caught sight of them. It first headed for the old man, and its solid, thick essential core was used to reach out a claw to squash him!


    "Do you think you are the only ultimate Primordial Soul adept here?"


    The old man laughed coldly, and his human-based Primordial Soul Power appeared accordingly. With an outstretched fist, it attempted to fend off the White Tiger Primordial Soul Power''s huge and mountain-like claw.


    In the next second, the two Primordial Soul Powers clashed.


    Crash!


    With a loud ringing sound, the old man''s Primordial Soul Power crumbled first. The old man himself was badly injured and cried out in pain. He spat out a huge mouthful of blood, and his face was as white as a sheet.


    "How is this possible!?"


    Just as the old man looked up with fear at the White Tiger Primordial Soul Power, the white tiger''s next attack had already hit him.


    Boom!


    The old man''s body instantly exploded, and blood rained down to the ground. This was an incredibly shocking yet exhilarating scene to watch!


    Only his space ring was left behind. It floated down and was quickly picked up by the black puppy who had fast reflexes.


    Seeing this, the old man''s partner quickly regained his composure after the old man was killed. He unleashed some of his essential core, shook his body and attempted to run for the hills.


    He was now extremely frightened, and he was no longer interested in taking action. All he could think of was to escape.


    What a joke.


    The old man that had accompanied him from the Qi Dynasty was stronger than he was. However, the old man had died almost instantly at the hands of that white-robed young man. If it were him being attacked first, he would definitely suffer the same fate.


    "Trying to escape?" Zhou Donghuang''s mouth turned up into a mocking smile.


    In an instant, his White Tiger Primordial Soul Power already managed to catch up with the middle-aged man and blocked his path of escape.


    Seeing this, the middle-aged man who was running away could sense that it was nearly impossible for him to escape the clutches of this young man, and his facial expression changed again.


    Afterwards, his body began to tremble, and he spoke up in an apologetic and humble tone.


    "Sir, I did not mean to take action against you, that was that old fellow''s idea... I''m willing to gift you with all my fortune in exchange for my life!"


    As the middle-aged man spoke, he began to take off his space ring and removed his claim over the items inside.


    Whoosh!


    The black puppy shot out and snatched the space ring. It then returned to Zhou Donghuang''s shoulder.


    From start to end, the middle-aged man only watched this speechlessly but did not dare to take any action.


    "You are from the Qi Dynasty?" Zhou Donghuang glanced at the middle-aged man and asked in an impassive tone.


    "Sir." The middle-aged man was quaking with fear. "I am merely a lowly servant of the Qi Dynasty unlike that of the royal family and those directly attending to them... Today onwards, I will leave the Qi Dynasty and I will no longer be one of their people!"


    He did not know the true relationship between the white-clothed youth and the Lightning Sword Sect. However, to save his own life, he still decided to be more cautious and assume that the youth had a deep connection with the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "Why are you here?" Zhou Donghuang asked again.


    "I''m here because of the seventh prince... The Qi Dynasty''s seventh prince, Qi Feng, asked for me and the old fellow to lay in wait to look out for surviving disciples, if possible," the middle-aged man replied immediately.


    "He ordered us to kill any survivors that we came across and to bring these heads back to the Qi Dynasty for him to personally inspect.


    "According to what I know... What he is looking for should be a disciple of the Lightning Sword Sect named Zhou Donghuang."


    The middle-aged man said all this quickly, and when he was done, he stared up at Zhou Donghuang with a face of fear.


    "Zhou Donghuang?" Zhou Donghuang''s brows furrowed. "Why is he looking for Zhou Donghuang?"


    "I heard that it is because Zhou Donghuang''s powers are too strong, and he was unwilling to join the Lightning Sword Sect. In order to not allow Zhou Donghuang to threaten the Qi Dynasty''s position within the Hengliu galaxy in the future, he wanted to trap Zhou Donghuang and kill him as a precautionary measure."


    The middle-aged man continued to respond quickly. "In the beginning, he sent out three servants of about the same level as me to kill Zhou Donghuang but those three were all killed.


    "He then suspected that the Lightning Sword Sect was responsible for killing the three Divine Transformation adepts sent out by the Qi Dynasty... Rumor has it that the Lightning Sword Sect''s Autumn Valley Head, He Jin, took action alongside Zhou Donghuang. He suspected that He Jin had already crossed over to the Divine Transformation stage and became a Divine Transformation adept.


    "He thus sent out Divine Transformation adepts to find out if this was true and found that his hypothesis was right. Not only was He Jin a Divine Transformation adept, but he was also an extremely strong one that surpassed others at the same level.


    "At that point, the seventh prince was suspicious of He Jin''s changes, and he suspected that it was due to Zhou Donghuang''s help. If He Jin continued to grow, he would become a threat to the Qi Dynasty as well.


    "The seventh prince then obtained permission from Emperor Qi to destroy the entire Lightning Sword Sect.


    "Coincidentally, the son of the Lightning Sword Sect''s Spring Valley Head, Liu Lang, previously had an affair with an illicit daughter of the Qi Dynasty''s second prince, who was living outside our territory... With this as an excuse to bear a grudge against the Lightning Sword Sect, even before the sect could excel Liu Lang, the Qi Dynasty directly took action to execute the entire Lightning Sword Sect and announced that it was the sect''s fault for sheltering Liu Lang, which ignited the wrath of Emperor Qi.


    "Under such circumstances, the Alliance, which the Lightning Sword Sect was part of, could not help them out.


    "Before you appeared, sir, we had already killed many other survivors of the Lightning Sword Sect and kept their heads for the seventh prince."


    As the middle-aged man spoke to this point, the black puppy, who was standing on Zhou Donghuang''s shoulder, let out a yelp, and it threw out the human heads that were put inside the two space rings with a look of disgust as shown by its furrowed brows.


    Zhou Donghuang casually unleashed a wave of essential core, burying the heads into the ground. Throughout the process, he was patient and had on a solemn expression.


    "Of course, the seventh prince wanted to us to stay here mostly to wait for the appearance of Zhou Donghuang... However, out of those people that we''ve killed, none should be him as I''ve heard that Zhou Donghuang had always worn purely white clothes, and..."


    As he spoke to this point, the middle-aged man could no longer continue his sentence, and he stared at Zhou Donghuang''s white clothes with a dazed expression.


    Somehow, he felt like the person he had been talking to was Zhou Donghuang, the man the seventh prince was hunting, all along.


    "This is impossible... That''s impossible... Zhou Donghuang... Even if he had managed to enter the Primordial Soul stage, he would be a normal Primordial Soul adept... How could he be at the ultimate Primordial Soul stage!? How could he be such a scary and intimidating ultimate Primordial Soul adept!"


    The middle-aged man tried to comfort himself internally.


    "Boss, it seems as though he has recognized you at last!" The black puppy chuckled gleefully.


    Of course, the black puppy''s words were unintelligible to the middle-aged man as he was speaking in demon language. Only demons who had entered the Primal Core stage were able to speak human languages!

 316 The Valley Head Cant Hold out for Long!

    "This time, when the Qi Dynasty attacked the Lightning Sword Sect, did anyone manage to escape?" Zhou Donghuang glanced at the middle-aged man and asked coolly.


    The middle-aged man first froze at the question before nodding. "Three people managed to escape. One was the Lightning Sword Sect''s Autumn Valley Head, He Jin, and the other two were probably disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect. It was He Jin who fought his way to freedom, and he led them out.


    "However, even though He Jin managed to escape this time, he will not be able to live for very long."


    As he spoke to this point, the middle-aged man shook his head.


    "Why?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes flashed coldly, and his previously impassive and indifferent tone was now replaced by one with doubt. He urgently wanted to understand what the middle-aged man was trying to say.


    The middle-aged man could also sense the change in Zhou Donghuang''s tone, and he became more cautious and collected. "The Autumn Valley Head, He Jin, was poisoned by one of the Qi dynasty''s poison experts... The poison method of the Qi Dynasty was created by an adept who specialized in the field, and he was a late Divine Transformation adept... One dose of poison would cause the death of any individual at the late Divine Transformation stage or below!"


    Now, Zhou Donghuang had mostly established that his third senior sister, He Mengxi, was still alive. This meant that Da Zhuang was probably still alive as well, and they had been rescued by He Jin.


    "As I suspected... The disaster that the Lightning Sword Sect met with was brought forward due to my presence."


    In his past life, Zhou Donghuang had heard his third senior sister, He Mengxi, mention that the destruction of the Lightning Sword Sect had to do with the Spring Valley Head''s son, Liu Lang, but he had not asked her for the details.


    As for this life, the destruction of the Lightning Sword Sect did still relate to the same incident with Liu Lang.


    However, because of him, the event had been brought to fruition sooner.


    Whoosh!


    Zhou Donghuang suddenly turned and faced the ground where he had buried members of the Lightning Sword Sect, and he spoke up with a steady tone and gaze, "You all died because of me...


    "Today, I, Zhou Donghuang, promise you all that in the near future, I will right this wrong on your behalf!!"


    This speech by Zhou Donghuang was overheard by the middle-aged man, and his face changed greatly. "Zhou... Zhou Donghuang? You... you are Zhou Donghuang!?''


    "How can this be!?"


    "This is impossible!"


    Now, Zhou Donghuang had personally revealed his identity with no qualms and had certainly given the middle-aged man a good scare.


    Zhou Donghuang''s Primordial Soul Power was extremely strong, and it was similar to that of an early Divine Transformation adept''s. He had personally never met such a powerful and scary ultimate Primordial Soul adept before.


    Even for those at the peak of the universe''s top galaxies, the big tribes of the most talented sects, would not be able to become so strong while they were ultimate Primordial Soul adepts!


    As the middle-aged man looked at Zhou Donghuang, his gaze became unfocused. "He... He is actually Zhou Donghuang...


    "Run! Now!"


    Just as the thought occurred to him, without any hesitation, the middle-aged man turned to run at the speed of light, as if he were an arrow flying through the air.


    The question was, would he succeed in escaping?


    Roar!


    The same roar that shook the skies sounded out as a giant white appeared like a mountain towering in the sky; it instantly caught up with the middle-aged man.


    Of course, this was Zhou Donghuang''s White Tiger Primordial Soul Power.


    Crash!


    With the attack of the White Tiger Primordial Soul Power, the middle-aged man''s life ended right then and there.


    Now, Zhou Donghuang was responsible for the death of three ultimate Primordial Soul adepts of the Qi Dynasty.


    "The Qi Dynasty..."


    Zhou Donghuang narrowed his eyes towards the skies, focused on a particular direction. "This is only the beginning.


    "The debt owed to the Lightning Sword Sect will be repaid by me personally, no matter how long it takes!"


    Zhou Donghuang''s face returned to its usual peaceful expression. However, his eyes now blazed brightly with determination.


    After this, Zhou Donghuang did not linger where the Lightning Sword Sect used to be. Instead, he left the Tielao planet and went in the direction of the Guiyao planet. He wanted to first send the black puppy to the Guiyao planet before setting off to find his third senior sister, He Mengxi and the others.


    He felt that unsurprisingly, his third senior sister, He Mengxi, must have brought Da Zhuang and Valley Head He Jin to his hometown, which was far off in the Kaiyuan galaxy on the planet of Ziyun.


    This was because He Mengxi had personally visited his hometown in the past and so knew that it was his home.


    Of course, this was a guess on Zhou Donghuang''s part, but he assumed it to be the most probable.


    "Boss, I''ll be waiting for you to return!"


    In the cave house hidden behind the waterfall on the Guiyao planet, where Mo Ningsang had first rested, Zhou Donghuang used his accessed memories from Mo Ningsang to repair the spells there. He then left the black puppy behind and departed.


    Before he left, the black puppy was extremely reluctant to part ways.


    Although it had only known Zhou Donghuang for a short time, Zhou Donghuang''s care and assistance had caused the black puppy to view Zhou Donghuang as a loved one.


    One had to remember that before it met Zhou Donghuang, it was an insignificant demon within the forest.


    It was Zhou Donghuang''s appearance that had changed its life.


    "The next time I return, the black puppy will already have inherited its memories... Whether it chooses to stay by my side or not, I, Zhou Donghuang, already had a positive and fortunate encounter with this divine beast cub..."


    The black puppy was a divine beast cub, after all. After it managed to inherit its memories, Zhou Donghuang was unsure as to whether it would have a change of heart or not.


    However, no matter the outcome, he would respect the black puppy''s wishes.


    From a personal perspective, Zhou Donghuang of course hoped that this divine beast would stay by his side as it would be a tremendous boost of strength.


    Divine beasts were the elite beasts of the universe, and they were extremely rare as well. Such an existence meant that their talents, learning ability and growth all improved at tremendous speeds!


    Furthermore, as long as divine beasts did not give up halfway and continued to develop themselves, they would definitely become divine beings!


    Previously, in order to get the black puppy and boost his powers, Zhou Donghuang had visited the forest where it lived.


    However, when he personally met this black puppy, and after interacting with it for a short time, he suddenly felt that he was rather selfish in the past. Some things could not be forced. If not, they would possibly backfire.


    Divine beasts were not easily controlled by human will, after all.


    "How time flies! It''s been close to five years since I left the Ziyun planet."


    After leaving the Guiyao planet, Zhou Donghuang did not return to the Tielao planet. The Tielao planet was close to the Guiyao planet, but other than that, there were other nearby planets, and so he randomly picked one to go to.


    Using the galaxy teleporter, he was sent to another galaxy near to the Kaiyuan galaxy, where the Ziyun planet was.


    This was also the first galaxy that he had arrived at after leaving the Ziyun planet four years ago, and this was the same galaxy teleporter that he had used at that time.


    The Akiyama galaxy.


    The Heyu planet.


    The North Desert.


    He now felt a sense of nostalgia as he returned to where he had been four years ago.


    Previously, when he had first arrived here, he was pursued by three Golden Essence adepts as they wanted to steal his wealth.


    However, they had underestimated him, and he ended up killing them instead.


    "The Ziyun planet!"


    As he stepped out from the galaxy teleporter of the North Desert, Zhou Donghuang felt as if he were traveling through time once again. As he headed for the Ziyun planet, which was situated in the Kaiyuan galaxy, he had also traveled along this path in the past, and it was now familiar to him.


    Of course, he was now much more talented. Within a mere few days, he managed to travel the entire distance and quickly appeared before the familiar planet.


    "I''ve arrived."


    Seeing the planet before him, Zhou Donghuang''s originally impassive gaze became warm in an instant.


    No matter if it was Earth or the Ziyun planet¡ªhe viewed them all as his home.


    Now that he was finally back, he felt a sort of calm and gratefulness surge through him.


    Whoosh!


    ¡­


    Four years was enough for many things to happen.


    If one wanted to discuss the Ziyun planet, nothing much had changed over the last four years other than the new Transcendental Force that popped up on the planet. This was the "Donghuang Sect" that Zhou Donghuang, whom everyone on the planet viewed as a top adept, had created.


    At the start, the Donghuang Sect was rather empty. Although it was esteemed, it still had few disciples in the sect.


    However, with the influence of the Donghuang Sect Leader, Zhou Donghuang, who was mysterious and seldom seen, countless people had arrived from all over just to join the sect on the Ziyun planet.


    Because of that, after four years, the Donghuang Sect had already become an elite sect within the Ziyun planet and was extremely well known.


    Even without the mysterious Sect Leader Zhou Donghuang, the Donghuang Sect now was skilled enough to battle with other top elite sects, and it could possibly even exceed them in terms of development.


    The Donghuang Peak was where the Donghuang Sect was located.


    Right now, in a spacious courtyard at the center of the Donghuang Peak, three beautiful ladies were sitting before a table with tension lingering in the air.


    "Sister Mengxi, is there really no other way? I can''t believe it¡­" Yang Zixi stared at He Mengxi across the table and spoke up with a worried look.


    "Uncle He Jin is a Divine Transformation adept and should be much more powerful than those at the Primordial Soul stage, so how can he die because of mere poison?"


    In Yang Zixi''s eyes, a Primal Core adept was already considered impressive. In this case, Primordial Soul adepts definitely trumped any Primal Core adepts, much less Divine Transformation adepts who were much stronger. Because of this, she greatly admired Divine Transformation adepts for their sheer power.


    How could someone at the Divine Transformation stage die because of mere poison?


    "Zixi, this is not a normal type of poison," He Mengxi replied with a bitter expression.


    "This is poison from the Qi Dynasty, and it was created by a Divine Transformation adept who specializes in it. Rumor has it that anybody at the late Divine Transformation stage or below is sure to die if they are infected with this poison!


    "The fact that my father could hold out until now is only because little brother managed to give him an extremely strong training method. If not, he would have died a long time ago," He Mengxi replied.


    Just as she had spoken, an urgent voice rang out from outside, and this caused He Mengxi''s face to drastically change.


    "Senior Sister! Senior Sister! Valley Head can''t hold on for much longer! He wants to see you for the last time!"

 317 Grafting

    The person who was here to find He Mengxi was Da Zhuang, who had accompanied the father and daughter duo to the Ziyun planet.


    Da Zhuang now was even more stocky than before, and his original calm and peaceful face now looked more mature and aged, giving him a sense of maturity as if he had grown up overnight.


    At this very instant, Da Zhuang''s face and eyes were full of urgency and worry.


    Whoosh!


    He Mengxi rushed out of the yard without even greeting Da Zhuang and immediately headed for another courtyard on another side of the mountain. That was where his father, Da Zhuang and she had been residing.


    He Mengxi traveled with big and urgent steps with Da Zhuang following closely behind.


    As for Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei, they accompanied He Mengxi and Da Zhuang as well.


    "Father!"


    In one of the rooms in the courtyard, He Mengxi knelt before the bed. On the bed, an exhausted and worn out middle-aged man was lying down. This middle-aged man''s body was thin, frail and weak. Dark energy surrounded his entire body, and he looked like skin and bones.


    It was hard to imagine that this was the great Autumn Valley Head of the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "Don''t be sad."


    He Jin squeezed out a smile that was absolutely devastating to see, "Promise me that you will not be rash. Before you become strong enough and receive Donghuang''s permission, do not seek revenge on your own... Next time, do listen to Donghuang. Although he is younger than you, he is more mature and far-sighted than you.


    "Wait for him to return here, but before he returns here, do not leave the Ziyun planet. As for me, I''m afraid I will not be able to wait for his return."


    After speaking these words with great difficulty, He Jin''s energy seemed to decay further as if he were a twig burning in a fire and could be extinguished anytime.


    Just as He Mengxi''s face changed, Da Zhuang, Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei''s faces changed as well.


    A voice sounded out from outside:


    "Valley Head, I have returned!"


    This voice was full of determination, warmth and a hint of concern. Once it traveled into the ears of those present, their faces all lit up.


    Even He Jin seemed to momentarily earn back some energy.


    Whoosh!


    As if a gust of wind had blown in, a white figure flew in at top speed and appeared at the bedside. Clearly, this was a handsome young man dressed in white. He gave off a glorious aura, and once he appeared, everyone was at a loss for words.


    "Miss Mengxi, this young man says that he can help Sir He Jin to get rid of the poison."


    A young man dressed in plain clothes walked in. He had a friendly demeanor, and his gaze was warm. Clearly, this was Fu, who had been by Zhou Donghuang''s side for a long time.


    It was also Fu who had brought Zhou Donghuang here.


    Once Fu had spoken, He Mengxi''s eyes, which were already brighter, now glowed even brighter than before. "Little brother, do you... do you really have a solution to cure my father of this poison?"


    "Third Senior Sister, this little bit of poison is no match for me."


    Zhou Donghuang then helped He Jin up from the bed and placed him in a cross-legged position. He then took out a space ring, reached within and pulled out some core drugs before feeding them to He Jin.


    "Valley Head, this is a Poison Nullifying drug that I managed to get somewhere else. It is known for being able to cancel out many types of poison. Even if it is unable to nullify the poison completely, at least the poison''s toxicity will no longer affect you.


    "Just to be cautious, after you consume this pill, I will support you in getting rid of the poison... I know a method for dispelling poison. Even if this Poison Nullifying drug does not manage to cure the poison that has traveled to other parts of your body, as long as it can suppress the majority of it, then I have confidence in handling the rest."


    Upon hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, He Jin swallowed the Poison Nullifying drug that he had been given without any further hesitation.


    Afterwards, the black poison that He Jin''s body was affected with was suppressed just as Zhou Donghuang had promised, but it did not disappear completely.


    "Fu, go to the yard and pick a flower or a leaf for me."


    Zhou Donghuang quickly gave Fu instructions.


    "Yes, Young Master."


    Fu acknowledged Zhou Donghuang''s request, left the room and brought back both a leaf and a flower. Zhou Donghuang then instructed him to place these items flat on the ground next to He Jin.


    Png! Png!


    At the same time, Zhou Donghuang sat behind He Jin with both palms outstretched and placed them on He Jin''s back.


    Next, Zhou Donghuang began to transfer the essential core that was within him into He Jin. This essential core slowly and steadily flowed without facing any obstacles or issues. This was because He Jin''s internal essential core was used up to defend against the poison that had entered him.


    This easy transfer made the entire process more convenient for Zhou Donghuang as well.


    As he worked, Zhou Donghuang began to utilize the Grafting method that he remembered from his past life. This method was used to dispel poison. His essential core continued to work until it covered He Jin''s entire body. It accessed the places where the poison had infected and worked to reduce this poison.


    Then, Zhou Donghuang uttered more spells, and He Jin''s internal poison all heeded the command of Zhou Donghuang''s inner core and left He Jin''s body. The poison was then transferred to the flower and leaf that had been placed beside He Jin''s body on the ground.


    The entire time, He Mengxi stared anxiously at Zhou Donghuang and He Jin without looking away for even a second.


    About a minute later, everyone saw a beam of black light fly up from the top of He Jin''s head with a flash. They all turned their heads and saw the black light enter the flower that was placed beside He Jin.


    At the same time, the flower began to shed all its petals turned completely black as if it had been burned.


    "This..."


    He Mengxi''s nostrils flared in shock. She was originally kneeling at the bottom of the bed, but she now instinctively stood up due to her shock.


    The soft wind that was created due to her movement then swept over the ashy and dead-looking flower on the bed. The flower was instantly torn to pieces and flew up in a cloud of black ashes.


    "It''s done." Zhou Donghuang then spoke up suitably.


    However, one could tell that his voice was rather strained and weak, "As for the Valley Head, he... The poison within him has been completely dealt with. After this, he only needs to rest for some time before he returns back to his original state.


    "Third Senior Sister, you need not worry about me."


    Zhou Donghuang''s clothes were now fully soaked in sweat from top to bottom, and his forehead was drenched in sweat as well.


    Even though only a minute had gone by, it was almost as if he had used up all the energy within his body. The four Primordial Soul Powers within his inner core had also become dull. With his weakened state, it was clear that he had overworked himself, and this showed just how taxing the Grafting method was.


    "Fu, assist me in cleaning up. I would like to change into a fresh set of clothes."


    After speaking to Fu, Zhou Donghuang shut his eyes. However, his fast heartbeat could still be clearly heard in the quiet room.


    "Yes, Young Master."


    Fu quickly agreed and came forward to assist Zhou Donghuang. Under the keen gaze of the other three ladies and one male in the room, he brought Zhou Donghuang away.


    "Father, how do you feel?" He Mengxi questioned her father anxiously.


    Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei made the decision to stay with He Mengxi instead of catching up with Fu. As He Mengxi helped her father sit up, she spoke to him with concern.


    "I feel much better, the poison within me is gone... Do check in on Donghuang, he spent quite a bit of energy on me."


    In actuality, He Jin had already discovered that the poison in his body had been dispelled. However, he had been sub-consciously floating in Zhou Donghuang''s seemingly endless essential core, which was as wide and expansive as the ocean... Within Zhou Donghuang''s essential core, not only was there something as strong as an ultimate Primordial Soul adept present, but there were also three other essential cores at the late Primordial Soul stage as well.


    However, he felt that the essential core that was at the ultimate Primordial Soul stage was actually comparable to a normal early Divine Transformation adept''s essential core.


    One had to know that although he was only at the early Divine Transformation stage, he was even stronger than typical mid Divine Transformation adepts. This was because he had used the training method Zhou Donghuang had given him, the Thousand-Star Sword Technique, and this had allowed his essential core to become much stronger than counterparts at the same stage.


    Furthermore, Zhou Donghuang''s three other Primordial Soul essential cores were all comparable to a typical ultimate Primordial Soul adept''s essential core.


    His essential core was that powerful indeed!


    However, the volatility of his essential cores had gone beyond expectation, and this seemed to be the case with all his essential cores.


    Because of that, He Jin was extremely shocked.


    "Four essential cores... This is as if there are four Primordial Soul Powers within Donghuang''s body. My goodness, how did he manage to train up four Primordial Soul Powers? Furthermore, he only had such a short time to do so, but yet he managed to train up all four of his Primordial Soul Powers to respectable stages! The last time he left, what miracles did he encounter?"


    The He Jin now was trying his best to calm down to allow his daughter to check in on Zhou Donghuang. However, it was hard for him to recover from this shock.


    He naturally knew that training four Primordial Soul Powers would definitely be much more difficult than training a single Primordial Soul Power.


    Such a method was one that he would not try to do, even if he was given the chance to do so.


    The stages that Zhou Donghuang''s four Primordial Soul Powers were at were unequal. One of the four Primordial Soul Powers had clearly exceeded the other three. If Zhou Donghuang were to train all of them equally, the other three would definitely lag behind.


    Under such a situation, crossing over to the Divine Transformation stage would be hard for Zhou Donghuang.


    It was even possible that Zhou Donghuang would have to train his remaining three Primordial Soul Powers until they crossed over to the ultimate Primordial Soul stage before he could become a Divine Transformation adept.


    "Go ahead... I''m fine."


    As he instructed his own daughter to check on Zhou Donghuang, He Jin glanced at Da Zhuang, Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei. He had long guessed that the three of them had wanted to check in on Zhou Donghuang. They just felt awkward to leave as that would have been seen as impolite.


    Just as he spoke, Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei immediately headed for the door.


    As for He Mengxi and Da Zhuang, they then followed suit.


    However, after the four arrived at Zhou Donghuang''s residence, he had already closed his door. Fu was standing outside, and he smiled as he spoke to the four anxious people standing before him, "Young Master wanted me to tell you all that he is doing well and that he is merely a little worn out. He will recover after taking a bath and resting for a while."


    After hearing Fu''s words, the four then breathed a sigh of relief. However, they did not leave and continued standing in the yard.


    "Sister Mengxi, Zixi and I can stay. You can return to take care of Uncle He Jin," Ren Jiapei said to He Mengxi.


    Just as He Mengxi was hesitating, Yang Zixi and Da Zhuang echoed this sentiment. He Mengxi and Da Zhuang then left and returned to where He Jin was resting.

 318 A Mistaken Encounter with Zhou Donghuang

    Inside the house, Zhou Donghuang sat cross-legged and meditated until he replenished his inner essential core.


    The him now had already consumed many core drugs that could help with the replenishing of his inner essential core.


    After resting for a while and being assured that he had enough essential core to set up formations, he began to set up energy-gathering positions within the room to allow the four Primordial Soul Powers within him to replenish their inner essential cores as well.


    Of course, the Spirit energy on the Ziyun planet was definitely lacking in comparison to the Spirit energy on the other planets he had visited in the past. As a result, these energy-gathering positions had less potency, and he had to rely more on the spirit stone veins within the energy-gathering position to accumulate Spirit energy for him to train with.


    After three days and three nights and after using up many spirit stone veins, Zhou Donghuang managed to get his White Tiger Primordial Soul Power back to its original state of energy.


    As for his other three Primordial Soul Powers, they had only managed to regain a small portion of their essential core.


    Under such circumstances, Zhou Donghuang stopped his training and decided to rest further. This was because resting would help his Primordial Soul Powers to recuperate, and it was not urgent for him to help them recover. With his strength now, he was mostly dependent only on the White Tiger Primordial Soul Power.


    Furthermore, his White Tiger Primordial Soul Power had already crossed over to the ultimate Primordial Soul stage. In the entire Kaiyuan galaxy, with this White Tiger Primordial Soul Power, he would be able to take on anyone without fear, let alone mere citizens of the Ziyun planet.


    Now, what Zhou Donghuang wanted to do most was to see his mother, Lin Lan and his sister, Yun Lu.


    Knock knock...


    After opening his door, Zhou Donghuang immediately saw some people stand up before the stone table in his courtyard. Out of this group, two were young ladies that he had met when he had first returned. The other two were the people he had wanted to meet the most but couldn''t find.


    "Brother!"


    A tiny and endearing figure shot directly into the arms of Zhou Donghuang. He smiled and obligingly opened his arms, embracing the little girl.


    "Brother... you''re finally back! I''ve missed you, I''ve really missed you."


    The little girl who had ran into Zhou Donghuang''s arms was naturally Yun Lu. Although it had been five years, time did not seem to have any effect on Yun Lu as she still looked extremely small and childish.


    Seeing this, Zhou Donghuang was unsurprised, although he felt saddened by this as well.


    If not, she would have to enter the Heavenly stage and reconstruct her own body.


    "I''ve missed you too."


    Zhou Donghuang picked Yun Lu up in his arms and walked over to where the other three ladies were. Seeing as his mother did not have too many changes, he spoke in a relieved tone, "Mother, I''m back."


    "It''s good that you''re home."


    The person he was standing before was naturally his foster mother, Lin Lan. It had been five years since she had last seen her son, and tears streamed out her eyes in relief.


    As Zhou Donghuang had been venturing out to unknown lands, she had naturally been extremely worried for him.


    It was undeniable that Zhou Donghuang had always brought her peace of mind.


    However, the places he chose to go were often dangerous galaxies where he could possibly meet with problems at any time. Because of that, over the last few years, she had been concerned about her son''s safety.


    Now, seeing as Zhou Donghuang had managed to return home in one piece, she could finally let go of the burden that had been weighing her down the past few years.


    "Brother Zhou."


    "Brother Zhou."


    Now, both Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei stared at Zhou Donghuang with a look of relief as well. They had both lost their childish looks long ago and now looked much more graceful and ladylike.


    Although they had seen each other three days ago, that was not the right time for them to reunite, given the circumstances then. Now that they had the rare chance to meet up again, they were thankful for the opportunity as they recalled their past memories together.


    "You''ve all grown up."


    Zhou Donghuang glanced at the two ladies and smiled while sighing to himself internally.


    He had assumed that after these five years, when he next saw these two ladies, they would no longer be infatuated with him like they had been previously. He had hoped that they would go about their own business in their own lives.


    Perhaps, they could possibly meet other men that they were interested in.


    However, at this moment, upon seeing the two ladies'' hopeful glances, he could infer that he had made a wrong assumption.


    In reality, be it Yang Zixi or Ren Jiapei, even though they had met him when they were still young, Zhou Donghuang''s talents had long been admired by them.


    It was not like there weren''t any other suitors that were chasing after them. However, they either found them too childish or too incompetent. Either way, none of these men could match up to the great Zhou Donghuang in their eyes.


    To them, he was the golden standard that others would find it hard to match up to.


    "Brother, was it fun exploring other galaxies?"


    Not only did Yun Lu still look like a child, but her nature was similar to that of a child as well. In the entire Donghuang Sect, everyone endearingly called her by her nickname, "little princess."


    Seeing Yun Lu stare at him with big, watery eyes that were filled with curiosity, Zhou Donghuang sat down at the stone table with her on his lap. He smiled and said, "Of course it was fun."


    Upon hearing this, Yun Lu''s face filled with anticipation as well as desire. "In that case... Brother, when can I leave the Ziyun planet and explore other galaxies?"


    Yun Lu''s big eyes widened, and she stared wistfully at Zhou Donghuang.


    "If you wish to go out there, I can bring you anytime."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled. "After I''ve finished settling my work, let me take you on a trip. Does that sound good to you?"


    "Yes!"


    Yun Lu''s eyes shone. "Brother, don''t go back on your promise."


    "When have I ever done so before?"


    Zhou Donghuang rubbed Yun Lu''s head affectionately and smiled in an indulgent way.


    Afterwards, Zhou Donghuang chatted with Lin Lan, Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei before putting Yun Lu down back on the ground and saying to her, "Yun Lu, let me go find Valley Head Jin. I will return shortly.


    "You and Mother can wait here for me."


    As he spoke, Zhou Donghuang glanced at Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei again. He nodded at them before leaving the yard and heading to where the Lightning Sword Sect''s Autumn Valley Head, He Jin, was currently residing.


    "Valley Head."


    Upon reaching his destination, Zhou Donghuang promptly called out a greeting.


    Even before he saw He Jin, a door opened from the room adjacent to He Jin''s, and a huge, stocky man walked out with his eyes shining, "Little brother, you''re here."


    "Mm."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded to Da Zhuang. Using his Divine Will to scan the latter, it was not difficult to sense that Da Zhuang was now at the ultimate Dharma stage, and he was close to crossing over into the Divine Transformation stage.


    "Da Zhuang, you have been working hard these few days." Zhou Donghuang smiled. "You''re about to cross over into the Divine Transformation stage."


    Upon hearing this, Da Zhuang rubbed his head abashedly and said, "Third Senior Sister has been training hard. Because of that, I haven''t slacked off either. Furthermore, like Third Senior Sister said, in the future, we will have to return to the Lightning Sword Sect to take our revenge. If we do not work hard now, we will not be able to do so."


    "Third Senior Sister..."


    As he thought of He Mengxi, Zhou Donghuang could not help but sigh to himself.


    Perhaps, to Da Zhuang, the loss of the Lightning Sword Sect was not too devastating. He had only truly cared for He Jin and He Mengxi, his two saviors, and the other people were not too much of a concern to him.


    However, to He Mengxi, the Lightning Sword Sect had been her home and where she had grown up as a child.


    Now, that home was gone.


    "Donghuang is here."


    With the sound of a door opening, He Jin walked out of his room as well. Compared to the He Jin a few days ago, the He Jin now was still skinny. He hadn''t completely recovered, but he had regained most of his energy.


    "Come, sit."


    He Jin sat down at the stone table in the yard before calling out to Zhou Donghuang. At the same time, he glanced at Da Zhuang and said, "Da Zhuang, do help us brew a pot of tea."


    "Yes, Valley Head," Da Zhuang replied courteously and went off to find a teapot.


    As for Zhou Donghuang, he descended from the skies and sat down in front of He Jin.


    "Valley Head, I''m sorry to have implicated you, the Autumn Valley and our sect."


    After sitting down, Zhou Donghuang spoke up apologetically.


    "It is not your fault." He Jin shook his head. "It is merely that our biggest enemy came to find us ahead of time... As you said before, it is also because of the Spring Valley Head''s son, Liu Lang.


    "You merely brought forward what was bound to happen eventually.


    "Furthermore, in your dream, I died... Instead, I was well prepared and had trained hard with the Thousand-Star Sword Technique that you had passed down to me to reach the Divine Transformation stage, and I managed to escape with Mengxi and Da Zhuang, saving three lives in the process.


    "I could even say that if you had not appeared, the ending that had befallen the three of us would have been similar to your dream where only Mengxi managed to survive," He Jin said.


    "However, although I had crossed over to the Divine Transformation stage and am technically stronger than any typical Divine Transformation adept, when the strong force of the Qi Dynasty attacked us, I was only able to save two people, Mengxi and Da Zhuang.


    "As for the rest, I was unable to be of any help..."


    As he spoke to this point, He Jin''s face, which had originally been peaceful, now became slightly pinched. Subconsciously, he began to clench his fists and his fingernails cut into his palm, causing him to bleed.


    "Father, you tried your best."


    He Mengxi appeared beside Da Zhuang, who was ready with a fresh pot of tea. Clearly, he had informed her that Zhou Donghuang was here.


    "Little brother, I''m extremely relieved to see that you are fine. I was worried that you would have returned to the sect and run into the poison master of the Qi Dynasty. After we left, we knew that the Qi Dynasty had stationed some servants near the sect to lie in wait for you. After all, you are perceived as a great threat to them.


    "However, because Father was poisoned, we had no chance of stopping them or getting rid of them."


    As she spoke, He Mengxi sat down as well.


    At this point, Da Zhuang began to give out teacups and pour fresh tea for the other three.


    "Third Senior Sister, I did return to the Lightning Sword Sect." Zhou Donghuang smiled and glanced at He Mengxi before shaking his head.


    "I only returned to the Ziyun planet after realizing that the Lightning Sword Sect had been executed and knowing that you all had escaped.


    "This was because I had guessed that you three would be waiting here for me, and clearly, my guess was right."


    Upon hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, He Mengxi''s facial expression changed drastically.


    "What!?... You made a trip back to the sect?"

 319 Hong Yunfei?

    "Yes, I made a trip back."


    Zhou Donghuang seemed rather oblivious to He Mengxi''s change in facial expression. He nodded and spoke with an impassive look on his face.


    "Does this mean that you met with the people of the Qi Dynasty, who were lying in wait there?"


    Although Zhou Donghuang was clearly doing well, after hearing that her junior had actually returned to the Lightning Sword Sect after the sect had been destroyed, He Mengxi could not help but break out into a cold sweat.


    This was because He Mengxi had received information that after the Lightning Sword Sect was destroyed, the Qi Dynasty had left representatives at the site to lie in wait for her junior, Zhou Donghuang.


    It was undeniable that Zhou Donghuang was talented in the martial way. Nevertheless, against the Qi Dynasty, one still had to be careful.


    "Yes, I met them." Zhou Donghuang nodded his head as if he did not see He Mengxi''s face change once again.


    "I originally wanted to use the galaxy teleporter to return directly to the sect. However, I realized that the galaxy teleporter was not responding, and instead I traveled to a galaxy teleporter that was near to the Lightning Sword Sect.


    "At that point, after I had arrived, I realized that there were many people waiting near the galaxy teleporter of the Lightning Sword Sect... They were some disciples of our Lightning Sword Sect who were under the control of an ultimate Primordial Soul adept from the Qi Dynasty."


    Upon hearing this, He Mengxi''s eyes widened in shock.


    She had not expected that the Qi Dynasty would send representatives to lie in wait at the galaxy teleporter of the Lightning Sword Sect. Furthermore, she had not known that survivors of the Lightning Sword Sect were under the control of the Qi Dynasty. It was not hard to guess that their purpose was to identify Zhou Donghuang.


    "At that point, one of the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect recognized me and reported my presence to the representative of the Qi Dynasty... Afterwards, the representative of the Qi Dynasty killed all the disciples of the Lightning Sword Sect as they were of no more use to him.


    "Next, he tried to attack me."


    As he spoke to this point, Zhou Donghuang paused for a second before continuing to speak. "But he hadn''t expected to not be a match for me."


    "After killing him, I returned to the Lightning Sword Sect. I discovered that it had been destroyed and only rubble was left... After walking around, I could not find you, the Valley Head or Da Zhuang. I assumed then that all of you had fortunately survived this ordeal.


    "Afterwards, two other ultimate Primordial Soul adepts of the Qi Dynasty appeared and tried to murder me. After killing one of them, the other was compliant and told me the details of what had happened. I then confirmed that the three of you were still alive.


    "After killing the second representative, I thought hard and decided that the three of you had most likely come to my hometown, the Ziyun planet...


    "So I rushed back home immediately after."


    Zhou Donghuang told his story from start to end with an impassive look as if he were talking about something unimportant.


    After hearing Zhou Donghuang''s story, He Mengxi had on a dazed look of shock as if she were listening to divine words.


    Her little junior brother had actually managed to kill several of the Qi Dynasty''s ultimate Primordial Soul adepts?


    His powers had become so strong now?


    How long had it been?


    Furthermore, it was not just He Mengxi who had on a dazed look. Even Da Zhuang, who was pouring tea, was so shocked that he dropped and shattered the teapot in his hand. "Little brother... You managed to kill ultimate Primordial Soul adepts?"


    "The two ultimate Primordial Soul adepts worked in tandem and were still killed by you?"


    He Mengxi and Da Zhuang were visibly shocked, whereas He Jin had on a calm look and appeared unsurprised by this matter.


    After He Mengxi had regained her composure, she realized this as well and spoke up. "Father, why do you seem so unsurprised by this news? Little brother left us not too long ago, but yet he is now able to kill ultimate Primordial Soul adepts!"


    He Jin laughed and said, "A few days ago, when Donghuang was helping me get rid of the poison, I had already realized that his inner essential core was extremely strong, stronger than that of any typical Divine Transformation adept, in fact.


    "With the power of his essential core, it must have been easy for him to kill those ultimate Primordial Soul adepts of the Qi Dynasty."


    Upon hearing He Jin''s words, He Mengxi glanced at Zhou Donghuang and could not help but cry out, "Little brother, you''ve already crossed over into the Divine Transformation stage?"


    The Divine Transformation stage was beneath the Primordial Soul stage.


    Those at this elite stage were extremely rare among those of the previous Lightning Sword Sect, and these adepts had all been really old.


    As for her little brother, he was still young!


    "Not yet." Zhou Donghuang shook his head.


    "I am still an ultimate Primordial Soul adept. It is only because the training method I''ve been using is strong, and it allows me to have powers that are stronger than any other ultimate Primordial Soul adept. In fact, I could fight with an early Divine Transformation adept.


    "This is similar to Valley Head. Before Valley Head crossed over to the Divine Transformation stage, he had transferred to the Thousand-Star Sword technique and became almost undefeatable among the Divine Transformation adepts in the entire Hengliu galaxy."


    After Zhou Donghuang spoke, he turned to glance at He Jin.


    "That is true.


    He Jin turned to look at He Mengxi and nodded. "The strength of one''s training method can directly impact one''s impact in battle with someone at the same training stage. Although I am only an early Divine Transformation adept, however, by using the Thousand-Star Sword technique that Donghuang taught me, I can duel comfortably with any mid Divine Transformation adept."


    "That''s amazing." He Mengxi smiled bitterly.


    "It has only been a mere few months, yet little brother has managed to cross over into the ultimate Primordial Soul stage... As for me, I only just entered the Primordial Soul stage."


    At the start, when He Jin had first left the Guiyao planet with Zhou Donghuang and discovered that he had crossed over into the late Primordial Stage, he knew that this was a scandalous matter. He had not told anyone else about this matter, not even his own daughter, He Mengxi, as he did not want to invite any trouble.


    This was why He Mengxi was much more shocked by this turn of the events than He Jin.


    "Little brother, this is too much to handle!" Da Zhuang, who had been listening to the conversation, blurted out.


    He Jin glanced at He Mengxi and Da Zhuang and smiled. "Now you know just how far you have to go before you can catch up with Donghuang! You two better train hard! At this rate, it''s possible that by the time the both of you cross over into the Divine Transformation stage, Donghuang here will probably already be at a stage where he can destroy the entire Qi Dynasty by himself!"


    The Qi Dynasty.


    As He Jin mentioned the Qi Dynasty, a cold look swept over his eyes.


    The Qi Dynasty had almost killed his entire pseudo-family at the Autumn Valley. They had also almost entirely wiped out the entire Lightning Sword Sect, which was where he had grown up!


    If Zhou Donghuang had not returned on time, at this point, he would already have died due to the poison of the Qi Dynasty.


    Upon hearing He Jin''s words, He Mengxi and Da Zhuang''s faces now had on extremely solemn but determined looks.


    In the end, it was still Zhou Donghuang who spoke up first to break the tension in the air. "This time, after leaving the sect, I managed to gain many treasures... Out of these, two should be of considerable use to Valley Head. As for the rest, most of it can be useful for Senior Sister and Da Zhuang."


    After he had found that divine spirit cub, Zhou Donghuang brought the black puppy along to travel with him for about two months. Within that period of time, he visited places that he recalled from his past life and gained many treasures in the process.


    Other than a large pile of spirit stone veins, he had also obtained many precious spirit fruits and core drugs. Of course, out of these spirit fruits and core drugs, he had already used some to created spirit drugs.


    "Donghuang, you should keep them for your own use," He Jin spoke up. "These things are better used on you than on me... As for Mengxi and Da Zhuang, do not use those treasures on them unless they are useless to you.


    "Among us all, your potential is the greatest, and it would be good for you to speedily develop yourself rather than waste the treasures on us and slowing yourself down."


    Humans were usually selfish.


    However, Zhou Donghuang had previously saved He Jin''s life. Furthermore, he had taught He Jin the Thousand-Star Sword Technique, which had helped him greatly. He thus could not bear to be selfish in such a situation that involved Zhou Donghuang''s growth.


    The words that he uttered now were from the bottom of his heart.


    As their group grew together, it made more sense for Zhou Donghuang to develop himself first, even if it was at the expense of the growth of the others.


    "Little brother, I agree with my father."


    He Mengxi had a similar mentality to He Jin.


    "Yes, little brother, save the treasures for yourselves instead of wasting them on me... In the future, we are counting on you to help exact revenge on our brothers and sisters of the Autumn Valley," Da Zhuang said with a smile.


    Zhou Donghuang smiled as well and shook his head.


    "Do not worry, for my training stage, whether or not I have these items will not affect me... The items that I''m giving you all are either useless to me or I have them in excess."


    It was only with Zhou Donghuang''s insistence that the other three hesitantly accepted a few of the spirit fruits and core drugs that he held out, as well as a large number of spirit stone veins that shocked even He Jin.


    After the three received the spirit fruits and core drugs, they bade each other farewell and returned to their quarters quickly to train.


    Clearly, seeing Zhou Donghuang''s massive upgrade in power had inspired not just He Mengxi but also Da Zhuang and He Jin.


    "This time, I didn''t have a chance to see the others yet..."


    After leaving the three, several figures popped up in Zhou Donghuang''s mind¡ªFreezing Wind, Lu Qinghu, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng.


    Furthermore, there were two other huge figures¡ªBig Gold and Little Gold.


    After he had left He Jin and Da Zhuang''s courtyard, Zhou Donghuang took to the skies and flew over the various areas of the Donghuang Peak without disturbing anyone.


    As he observed these areas, a comforting smile appeared on his face subconsciously.


    "At the very least, they have not been slacking off."


    The Donghuang Peak now was not as empty as before; now, it was bustling with activity.


    After a few years of development and with the help of Zhou Donghuang''s name, the Donghuang Sect now had become sacred land on the Ziyun planet.


    "Hm?"


    Suddenly, a sound rang out past Zhou Donghuang''s ear, attracting his attention.


    If it had been ordinary noise, he would not have paid attention to it.


    However, this voice included the mentioning of a name: Hong Yunfei.


    He was not unfamiliar with this name. Rather, one could even say that he was extremely familiar with it.


    Previously, when Chen Dandan had betrayed his mother, Lin Lan, it had been to fly off with the young master of the Hong family. He was a part of the elite family of the Yunfeng prefecture.

 320 Chen Dandan is my old friend

    "Perhaps they were referring to someone else."


    Zhou Donghuang shook his head and got ready to leave.


    However, another voice rang out once again, causing him to freeze.


    "Hong Yunfei, I heard rumors that you are from the Yunfeng prefecture, which was the most elite and sacred group that existed when our young master of the Donghuang Sect was still alive... Those who are a part of the group are already so talented, but you aren''t of the same standard at all.


    "Previously, during the sub-sect trials, you managed to get first. Surely this wasn''t because you cheated your way through?"


    This voice was mocking and scornful.


    "This Hong Yunfei is also from the Yunfeng prefecture?"


    Zhou Donghaung froze and flew forward, appearing at the center of the Donghuang Peak, where a performing arts stage was erected.


    After glancing ahead, he could see a ragged young man sitting on the floor breathless. He looked defeated. This defeated-looking teenager was glaring up at an arrogant young man with an unsatisfied gaze. "Fang Lunjie, we are of the same age. I''ve only entered the sect for three months, and yet you''ve been in this sect for three years! Is it that surprising that you''ve managed to beat me?


    "Three months. Give me three months. In three months, I, Hong Yunfei, will definitely defeat you!"


    Hong Yunfei was the beloved young master of the Hong family, which was the elite family of the Yunfeng prefecture and one that Chen Dandan had associated with in the past.


    Previously, his father, Master Hong, had found out about Chen Dandan''s identity and asked for Hong Yunfei to chase Chen Dandan. Afterwards, he had successfully visited the Valley of the Medicine Masters, where he had met Chen Dandan''s biological father, the second elder of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    However, afterwards, Chen Dandan felt that he was not fit to marry her and had sent him out of the Valley of the Medicine Masters.


    Afterwards, Hong Yunfei had an epiphany through this incident that relying on others was not a good way to live life, and that he should depend on himself. After he had returned to the Hong family in the Yunfeng prefecture, he fully committed himself to training. He wanted to embarrass Chen Dandan and make her regret her decision in the future.


    A while later, he heard that Chen Dandan had entered one of the strongest sects in the Ziyun planet, the Xuanyin Sect, and was being cared for by Golden Essence adepts. He felt despair in his heart and felt that he had no hope left in his life. Because of that, his training stage had remained stagnant for a long time.


    After entering the Donghuang Sub-Sect, he had then entered the main Donghuang Sect.


    Half a year ago, he had gotten the top results in the Donghuang Sub-Sect''s examinations and received a nomination to enter the main Donghuang Sect. Three months prior to this, he had entered the Donghuang Sect and thus achieved his main aspiration.


    "Do you really think three months is enough?"


    The young man standing before Hong Yunfei wore an impassive look, and he glanced casually at the other Donghuang Sect disciples who were standing around as onlookers. "Did you all hear that? Hong Yunfei declared that he will be able to defeat me within three months.


    "Perhaps, he does not know that... As long as I utter the words, my father can confiscate the spirit stone veins that he would claim each month, leaving him with no spirit stone veins to train with."


    As he spoke, the young man had on a cold look.


    As Hong Yunfei heard this words, his face changed greatly.


    He naturally knew that Fang Lunjie was not joking around.


    Fang Lunjie''s father was one of the outer elders of the sect who was in charge of the internal affairs of the sect''s disciples. As long as Fang Lunjie spoke up, he could use all sorts of reasons to cut off his supply to spirit stone veins, causing him to lack spirit stone veins for training. If that happened, his training progress would slow down greatly.


    He had not expected Fang Lunjie to be so cruel just because of a small duel.


    "Senior Fang!"


    The skinny youth who had gone forward to help Hong Yunfei heard Fang Lunjie''s words and his face became as pale as a sheet. Instantly, he let go of Hong Yunfei and took two to three steps before Fang Lunjie and knelt down. "Senior Fang, let me kneel to you. I''ll even lick your shoe right now!


    "This matter does not concern Hong Yunfei, please do not cut off his spirit stone veins supply. Please."


    As the skinny youth spoke, he lowered his head and prepared to lick Fang Lunjie''s right shoe.


    One could see that the shoe had a faint grey mark on it.


    "Xiaoyong!" Hong Yunfei barked. "Do not do this and disrespect yourself! If the sect does not care for our welfare, we can return to the sub-sect and never return to the main sect!"


    "Senior Yunfei."


    The skinny youth turned to glance at Hong Yunfei, and tears streamed from his eyes. "Senior Yunfei, entering the main sect was always your dream. It was because of your hard work that you''ve turned into a role model that I could emulate, and I could enter the main sect as well.


    "Today''s events happened because of me. Let me settle them for you. I beg you," Xiao Yong begged.


    At this point, the number of onlookers grew, and Zhou Donghuang also learned of the past events through word-of-mouth.


    The skinny youth named "Xiao Yong" was careless while walking and had accidentally stepped on the shoe of the Donghuang Sect disciple, Fang Lunjie. Even though he had apologized many times, Fang Lunjie still said that he had to lick his shoe clean.


    At this point, Hong Yunfei stood up for Xiao Yong but was defeated and injured by Fang Lunjie.


    Xiao Yong and Hong Yunfei were from the same batch of people who had entered the Donghuang Sect through the Donghuang Sub-Sect''s examinations.


    Other than being an outer disciple, Fang Lunjie also had a father who was an outer elder. In the Donghuang Sect, many disciples feared him and did not dare to offend him. Those who had offended him in the past had all suffered the consequences for doing so.


    Under such a situation, Fang Lunjie became extremely arrogant and insensitive.


    Subconsciously, over time, Zhou Donghuang''s gaze had become cold.


    Such a thing could actually happen in his Donghuang Sect?


    "That''s enough."


    Zhou Donghuang stepped out slowly, cutting through the crowd of people and glanced impassively at Fang Lunjie. He then glanced at Xiao Yong, who was kneeling, and said, "Is kneeling down and licking someone''s shoe something that the Donghuang Sect taught you?


    "After you came here from the sub-sect, you learned to throw away your pride?"


    Once Zhou Donghuang spoke, Xiao Yong''s face instantly became red. "No... That''s... That''s not the case!"


    "Who are you? Are you trying to meddle in matters that do not concern you like Hong Yunfei?"


    Fang Lunjie glanced at Zhou Donghuang. Seeing that Zhou Donghuang was younger than him and looked more innocent as well, his eyes flashed with slight jealousy. He casually pointed at Hong Yunfei.


    "Did you witness what happened to him? If you do not wish to suffer the same fate, then get lost!"


    As Fang Lunjie spoke, he used a commanding tone, making him appear even more arrogant.


    However, Zhou Donghuang ignored Fang Lunjie and instead looked at Hong Yunfei, who had propped himself up and was sitting shakily.


    "Are you Hong Yunfei? From the Yunfeng Prefecture''s Hong family?"


    "How did you know?"


    Hong Yunfei was extremely shocked, and his eyes widened.


    A few years ago, he had left his family and entered the Donghuang Sub-Sect. He mentioned that he was from the Yunfeng Prefecture, but he had never mentioned that he was from the elite Hong family tribe. So no one was truly aware of the fact that he was from the city or that he was from an elite family.


    "I also know that you are the Hong family''s beloved young master."


    Zhou Donghuang smiled lightly.


    "You... Who are you?!"


    Hong Yunfei then narrowed his gaze at the man before him. He could swear that he had never met him before.


    This man had on a set of white clothes, was handsome and had bushy eyebrows. He looked regal, and this was especially because of the confidence that he radiated. With one glance, one would feel respectful towards him.


    "Do you still remember Chen Dandan?" Zhou Donghuang smiled and asked.


    Hong Yunfei''s facial expression changed greatly.


    Chen Dandan. Of course, he remembered the name Chen Dandan. In fact, he would never forget it for the rest of his life.


    "You... You know Chen Dandan?"


    Hong Yunfei trembled internally.


    "Yes, I do."


    Zhou Donghuang nodded his head. "Not only do I recognize her, but I am her old friend, and I know of the events that happened between you and her."


    Just as Zhou Donghuang uttered his words, Hong Yunfei''s face had changed, and Fang Lunjie, who had been ignored by Zhou Donghuang, now barked out in utter rage, "Young man, you dare to ignore me! You''re really asking for it!"


    With that shout from Fang Lunjie, his entire being rushed forward like a leopard and headed straight for Zhou Donghuang.


    "Be careful!" Hong Yunfei urgently reminded Zhou Donghuang.


    However, what happened next caused Hong Yunfei and the entire crowd to look up in utter shock.


    Boom...


    A crisp, clear sound rang out. Before Fang Lunjie, who had charged forward, could make any moves against the white-clothed man, the white-clothed young man had already hit his face as fast as lightning. After Fang Lunjie spat out a fresh mouthful of blood, his entire body flew to the side, and he landed heavily on the ground with a crash.


    This entire scene caused the crowd to turn deathly silent, except for Fang Lunjie, who had yelled out in pain.


    "Who is he? He managed to send Fang Lunjie flying with one slap?"


    "Fang Lunjie is one of the most powerful in our sect... Among the outer disciples, no one has such power..."


    "Could he be an inner disciple?"


    ¡­


    For the onlookers, which were outer disciples of the Donghuang Sect, they had all begun to suspect that this young man in white was not one of them and was instead an inner disciple of the Donghuang Sect.


    "Even if you are an inner disciple, my father will never forgive you! Just you wait! I''ll remember you! Just you wait!"


    An enraged voice rang out from Fang Lunjie, who was pitifully trying to steady himself. After staring at Zhou Donghuang fiercely, he hobbled away to find help.


    Zhou Donghuang did not care much for Fang Lunjie and continued to look quietly at Hong Yunfei.


    Under Zhou Donghuang''s solemn gaze, Hong Yunfei was floored.


    He had not expected this man to know about his matters with Chen Dandan. Furthermore, he had not expected that an inner disciple of the Donghuang Sect would recognize him.


    At this moment, within the Donghuang Sect, no one had recognized his true identity yet. No one knew of his previous affairs with Chen Dandan that allowed him to come across the esteemed Donghuang Sect Leader, Zhou Donghuang, who had had issues with Chen Dandan due to his adoptive mother, Lin Lan.


    "It seems as though... I can no longer stay in the Donghuang Sect. Perhaps... I cannot even leave the Donghuang Sect alive."


    Although Hong Yunfei had been mentally prepared for his identity to be exposed when he first entered the Donghuang Sub-Sect, this turn of events still left him feeling desolate and regretful. He truly regretted not rejecting his father''s request for him to chase Chen Dandan as his inability to enter the Valley of Medicine Masters had left him with unspeakable shame and pain.

 321 Fang Danming

    Hong Yunfei, who Zhou Donghuang was glaring at, was now feeling desperate.


    The young man in white in front of him was clearly one of the inner sect disciples of the Donghuang Sect. Otherwise, he would not have been able to send Fang Lunjie flying with just one offhanded slap to the face.


    While being stared down at by someone like that, Hong Yunfei could not escape even if he wanted to.


    "S... senior."


    Hong Yunfei barely mustered up the courage to address him and was initially going to blurt out "Junior," considering that this young man standing in front of him was probably many years younger than him. But upon recalling that this young man was probably one of the inner sect disciples, and knowing that his own strength paled in comparison, Hong Yunfei immediately corrected himself.


    "Whatever happened in the past was due to my youthful ignorance... for this matter, if you really want to report it, regardless of how the superiors decide to handle the case, I, Hong Yunfei, will accept it.


    "However, if Senior would be so kind as to let me off the hook this once, I, Hong Yunfei, will be extremely grateful!"


    At this point, Hong Yunfei gave a deep bow towards Zhou Donghuang with an extremely solemn expression on his face.


    Hong Yunfei knew that his life lay in the hands of the person in front of him.


    "Senior Yunfei?"


    At this moment, Xiao Yong, an outer sect disciple, finally recovered from his moment of shock. Upon seeking Hong Yunfei bowing towards Zhou Donghuang and saying a string of words that he could not comprehend, Xiao Yong looked quizzically towards Hong Yunfei.


    "Xiao Yong, this matter does not concern you, you should leave first."


    Hearing Xiao Yong call out to him, Hong Yunfei glanced at him and sighed.


    "Senior, he is a disciple I met at this new sect, he has nothing to do with my past," Hong Yunfei quickly explained, afraid that Zhou Donghuang would find trouble with Xiao Yong.


    However, Zhou Donghuang did not reply to Hong Yunfei, but instead continued to stare quietly at him.


    Zhou Donghuang was deep in thought about his past.


    His thoughts returned to a thousand years ago. The turning point then was Chen Dandan''s betrayal, and the very cause of that betrayal was standing right before his eyes.


    If Hong Yunfei had appeared before him a thousand years ago, without a doubt, Zhou Donghuang would have slapped him to his death if possible.


    However, after the betrayal, Zhou Donghuang had gone on to set up the Donghuang Sect and stood supreme at the top of Ziyun planet. Any lingering thoughts about Hong Yunfei had long been thrown to the back of his mind.


    Perhaps, from the start to the end, he had never seriously regarded Hong Yunfei.


    A crowd of outer sect brothers stood around the two of them in a daze.


    What does this inner sect disciple intend to do?


    He seems to have some sort of hold over Hong Yunfei?


    But if that is the case, why is he ignoring Hong Yunfei?


    Hong Yunfei looked nervously at the young man in white, his heart filled with unfathomable anxiety. He was not sure if Zhou Donghuang was willing to let him off the hook.


    Right when the area became rather quiet, a sudden voice was heard from afar. The voice was clearly coming from someone full of anger.


    "Father! That''s him! He''s the one who hurt me!"


    The voice drew the attention of the crowd of outer sect disciples, who, upon turning their heads in the direction of the voice, saw Fang Lunjie returning.


    Fang Lunjie was limping over, trailing behind a middle-aged man.


    This middle-aged man had a medium build and wore a long blue robe. His features were fifty to sixty percent similar to those of Fang Lunjie, but his chilling gaze bore daggers in one''s skin.


    "It''s Elder Fang Danming!"


    All the outer sect disciples present could recognize him.


    "This inner sect senior is in trouble now...even if he is an inner sect disciple, Elder Fang Danming''s father is the inner sect elder, the elder in charge of the inner sect disciples!"


    "Exactly... if Elder Fang Danming were any ordinary outer sect elder, then he might have to be concerned about whether this inner sect disciple had another elder backing him. But Elder Fang Danming is different; his father is the inner sect elder."


    "I''m afraid this inner sect senior will probably be punished. Regardless if it were Elder Fang Danming or his father, they are both notoriously protective. Two years ago, Senior Fang Lunjie was injured by an inner sect disciple. That disciple was eventually expelled from the inner sect by Fang Lunjie''s grandfather, the inner sect elder."


    ...


    The outer sect disciples gossiped among themselves. They looked at Zhou Donghuang with pity.


    In their opinion, even if Zhou Donghuang were not expelled from the sect, his plight would definitely not be optimistic. This was unless he had someone even more powerful than Fang Lunjie''s grandfather backing him.


    The moment Fang Lunjie pointed at Zhou Donghuang, Fang Danming locked his gaze onto Zhou Donghuang, and in a couple of steps, he reached his side. Fang Danming glared at Zhou Donghuang, asking "What is your name? What sect are you from?"


    Fang Danming was hell bent on finding out Zhou Donghuang''s background.


    After all, there were some inner sect disciples that were direct disciples of the core elders of the sect. They had such powerful backgrounds that even his father, the inner sect elder, could not afford to offend them.


    Of course, for the majority of the inner sect disciples, they were under the tutelage of either the inner sect elders or the outer sect elders. There were even some disciples who were not under anyone''s tutelage; they were just ordinary inner sect disciples with no background.


    "Inner sect disciple?"


    Zhou Donghuang finally shifted his gaze from Hong Yunfei to Fang Danming. "Who said I was an inner sect disciple¡­? And you are his father?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s gaze then shifted from Fang Danming to Fang Lunjie, who was standing behind him. "A son''s mistake stems from his father''s failure to teach... the fact that your son is this arrogant and disrespectful means that you as his father had a big part to play in it.


    "Also...he proclaimed that with just a word from him, you as the outer sect elder, would cut off the spirit stones that the other outer sect disciples collected from the sect every month?"


    At the mention of this, Zhou Donghuang''s glare grew fiercer.


    Having sensed Zhou Donghuang''s piercing gaze, a shiver ran down Fang Danming''s spine.


    Not an inner sect disciple?


    Add to that the fact that he was full of confidence and showed no signs of fear when facing this outer sect elder.


    Unless...


    "You... you are a core disciple?!"


    Fang Danming''s expression froze, and his voice trembled.


    In the Donghuang Sect, there were a handful of core disciples who were the biological disciples of the central sect elders and who were superior to the inner sect disciples.


    The ranking of the core disciples within the sect was comparable to that of the inner sect elders.


    And because of their background, even the inner sect elders were careful not to anger them. Though the elders were not extreme to the point of being reverent to these core disciples, the elders were still definitely courteous towards them.


    However, right after asking that question, Fang Danming furrowed his brows in confusion again.


    He suddenly recalled that he had in fact met all the ten core disciples of the Donghuang Sect, and Zhou Donghuang was not a part of them.


    Unless this was a newly recruited core disciple?


    "I am not a core disciple."


    Just as Hong Yunfei and the surrounding group of outer sect disciples were still in shock from Zhou Donghuang''s supposed "core disciple" status, Zhou Donghuang denied Fang Danming''s claims.


    "Not a core disciple?"


    Fang Danming furrowed his brows in confusion.


    Not an inner sect disciple nor a core disciple. Could he merely be an outer sect disciple?


    But there probably wasn''t anyone with such strong powers in the outer sect, was there?


    "Father, I think he''s just someone who smuggled himself into our Donghuang Sect, he does not even have the Donghuang Sect identity crest on his belt!"


    Fang Lunjie seemed to have made a sudden discovery, his gaze falling on Zhou Donghuang''s belt as he exclaimed.


    "One must know, that even people of the highest status, such as our Sect Leader''s mother, Lady Lin Lan, and his sister, Miss Yun Lu, will wear the sect''s core elder''s identity crest on their belt.


    "And every visitor to the Donghuang Sect, including Lady Lin Lan''s guests, will wear the visitor identity crest on their belt when within the compounds of the Donghuang Sect.


    "This is a rule of the Donghuang Sect that even Lady Lin Lan follows. So in my opinion, he is definitely an outsider who trespassed into the Donghuang Sect. He is fooling around with us!"


    The more Fang Lunjie reasoned things out, the fiercer his gaze turned. He shouted, "Anyone who trespasses into the Donghuang Sect, according to our Donghuang Sect regulations, will be prosecuted!"


    Upon hearing Fang Lunjie''s words, Fang Danming regained his senses and once again looked at the youth in white, his gaze turning icy. "Sir, which high-profile Donghuang Sect member are you a guest of?"


    Zhou Donghuang was already tickled by Fang Lunjie''s previous conclusion about his core disciple status, but Fang Danming''s words made him burst out in laughter. "I am not anyone''s guest."


    "Who brought you into the Donghuang Sect then? The Donghuang Peak is the property of the Donghuang Sect, and outsiders are not allowed to enter!"


    Fang Danming''s tone became even more hostile.


    "No one brought me in," Zhou Donghuang said coolly. "I came here by myself."


    Upon seeing the composure of this white-shirt youth in front of them, all the outer sect disciples thought that all this could possibly be a huge misunderstanding.


    However, upon hearing Zhou Donghuang''s words, they were stunned.


    Someone who was not a guest of any of the Donghuang Sect''s high-ranking members?


    No one brought him in?


    He came by himself?


    Doesn''t that mean he committed a crime of trespassing into the Donghuang Sect?


    "Haha..."


    Fang Lunjie could not help himself and burst into laughter. "What did I say, he definitely is a trespasser!


    "Father, since he has already admitted it himself, then there''s no need to be nice with him anymore! He trespassed into Donghuang Sect, so punish him!"


    Fang Lunjie stared intensely at the young man in white standing in front of him, as though already witnessing the scene of Zhou Donghuang being ruthlessly killed by Fang Danming.


    "Hand him over to the enforcement hall and let the law take care of him," Fang Danming said after being silent for a moment.


    He too wanted to personally kill Zhou Donghuang in order to stand up for his son.


    However, seeing as how Zhou Donghuang was exhibiting such confidence and fearlessness from the start, he hesitated. If Zhou Donghuang were indeed someone of a superior background, then by killing him, wouldn''t he be digging his own grave?


    Even if Zhou Donghuang''s background meant nothing to the Donghuang Sect, that did not mean that Fang Danming himself was not afraid of him.


    Just as Fang Lunjie was beginning to express his unhappiness at the situation, Zhou Donghuang looked at Fang Danming and calmly said, "Before you send me to the enforcement hall, shouldn''t you first discipline your son, as well as yourself?


    "He actually said in front of everyone, that with one word from him, he can get you to break the spirit stones supply of an outer sect disciple."

 322 Zhou Donghuang

    "You should be thankful that I am merciful and am choosing not to kill you with my bare hands..."


    Seeing the young man in white still mention the matter, Fang Danming could not help but feel anxious. After all, this was not something reputable. Once the matter escalated, even with the protection of his father, he may also be punished for this matter.


    "You had better not be stubborn!"


    Fang Danming glared angrily at Zhou Donghuang, his gaze icy cold. If not for the fact that he was afraid of this young man having a remarkable background which he could not afford to offend, he would have already killed him right away.


    "After you punish your son and yourself, I will then follow you to the court."


    Zhou Donghuang glanced slightly at Fang Danming, then said with a sarcastic smile, "Until you do that, I am not going anywhere."


    "Father, since he is seeking death, then grant him his wish!" Fang Lunjie called out harshly, his eyes cold and murderous.


    Fang Danming was already extremely frustrated at this young man, but with his son adding fuel to the fire, he lost his calm as he threatened once again, "Young man, I''ll give you one last chance to follow me to the court.


    "Otherwise, I will personally punish you on behalf of the Donghuang Sect!"


    On behalf of the Donghuang Sect.


    Fang Danming had already thought of a plan.


    By declaring in front of the crowd of outer sect disciples that he would be punishing the young man before him on behalf of the Donghuang Sect, even if the young man had a powerful background, they would not be able to take revenge on him alone. The whole Donghuang Sect would be involved as well.


    The Donghuang Sect was already recognized as the most powerful sect in the entire Ziyun planet, so he did not think that anyone backing this young man would be able to take on the entire Donghuang Sect.


    In the end, they would be unable to do anything.


    "On behalf of the Donghuang Sect?"


    Zhou Donghuang laughed brightly as he asked, "You think that you are worthy of representing the Donghuang Sect? In the Donghuang Sect, you are nothing more than a slug!"


    A slug.


    As the words left Zhou Donghuang''s mouth, the crowd of outer sect disciples in the crowd, including Hong Yunfei, felt as if their anger had somewhat been eased.


    Some of them had been ill-treated by Fang Lunjie in the past, and even if they had not been treated poorly, none of them fancied Fang Lunjie or his father, Fang Danming.


    However, although their anger had been slightly eased, they looked at Zhou Donghuang with a look of sympathy.


    "You''re asking for it!!"


    Zhou Donghuang''s words were the last straw for Fang Danming. He could not hold in his anger any longer, and with a loud cry, he struck out with his right arm.


    Next, with a slight tremble of his body, he got closer to Zhou Donghuang.


    Boom!!


    The inner Qi came together to form a giant palm in the air that rushed down from above towards Zhou Donghuang. Its speed was alarming, and it was clearly trying to kill Zhou Donghuang with a single blow.


    As the outer sect elder of the Donghuang Sect, Fang Danming''s power was far beyond his son, Fang Lunjie, who had only just reached the early Connate stage.


    However, this was no matter to Zhou Donghuang.


    Bang!!


    Many of the outer sect disciples in the crowd instinctively shut their eyes, afraid to see the bloody scene of Zhou Donghuang being murdered. The moment the giant palm crystallized from inner Qi landed on Zhou Donghuang''s body, it mysteriously dissipated.


    Zhou Donghuang still stood in his original spot as if nothing had happened.


    The inner Qi within the giant palm seemed to completely disappear when it landed on Zhou Donghuang, just like a stone sinking into the ocean.


    This mysterious scene left the crowd gasping in shock.


    Fang Danming was even more shocked. His eyes widened as he stared at the young man in disbelief. "How... how is this possible?!"


    The outer sect disciples who had shut their eyes originally now opened their eyes after realizing that something was amiss. They all looked at the scene before them in confusion.


    "What is happening now?"


    "Did Elder Fang Danming hold back at the last moment?"


    ...


    As the whole crowd watched on, Zhou Donghuang looked calmly at Fang Danming, and his hand shot out with his palm outstretched.


    In the next instant, Fang Danming was already suspended in mid-air.


    Connate adepts did not have the ability to float in the air, as this was a skill only for Primal Core adepts and higher.


    This meant that Fang Danming was clearly being suspended in the air by the young man in white.


    "What... what kind of power is this?!"


    Seeing the scene unfold before him, Hong Yunfei felt the back of his neck go numb. Even some Primal Core adepts wouldn''t have the power to do what this young man just did!


    As for Fang Lunjie, who was originally standing behind Fang Danming, he fell to the ground in shock. He stared in disbelief at the scene before him as he muttered, "How... how is this possible!"


    In mid-air, Fang Danming wrapped his hands around his neck. He could feel his neck being trapped by something strong and choking him. With his eyes wide open, he stared at the young man in white standing in front of him, as he asked in a shaky voice, "Who... who are you?!"


    Whoosh!


    Zhou Donghuang floated into the air and appeared in the skies above. He looked down on Fang Danming, who was struggling to raise his head to look at him.


    This scene left the crowd in fright as if they felt a cold gush of air rising from their feet up to their heads.


    Floating in mid-air.


    This was the skill of an adept beyond the Primal Core stage!


    In the Donghuang Sect, only inner sect elders and above were at the Primal Core stage and beyond.


    "Such a young Primal Core adept?"


    "Is this a skill of those at the Primal Core stage? Choking someone from a distance away... even a Golden Essence adept, the most powerful among the Primal Core adepts, may not be able to do this!"


    "Who is this man?!"


    ...


    The group of outer sect disciples, including Hong Yunfei, now looked at the young man in white with a shocked expression.


    "He... he could not possibly be..."


    Suddenly, Hong Yunfei had a thought. When he remembered how the young man had mentioned Chen Dandan upon seeing him, he immediately thought of someone.


    If it was really that person, this power would be no surprise.


    Hong Yunfei''s eyes narrowed suddenly, and he looked up at the figure floating in the sky. His face was filled with fright.


    The young man was dressed in flowing white clothes, and he had an extraordinary demeanor.


    "Zhou Donghuang," he finally answered.


    Once the words left the young man''s mouth, Hong Yunfei crumbled to the ground, breathless. The rest of the crowd descended into silence.


    Fang Lunjie, who had already fallen to the ground in shock, was now so frightened that he soiled his pants, the pungent smell spreading all around him.


    "Sect... Sect Leader?!"


    Fang Danming, who was now trapped in mid-air, gasped as his eyes narrowed and his face filled with a look of desperation and fear.


    He would never have imagined that the young man in front of him was the Sect Leader, someone who the entire Donghuang Sect revered as a god, but who was also so mysterious that nobody had ever seen him before!


    Usually, being able to see the Sect Leader in the flesh would be something to brag about.


    But now, he was filled with nothing but regret.


    "Abusing your power for your personal gain, disrespecting your seniors, and even trying to murder the Sect Leader himself... do you think it is fair to punish you with death?" Zhou Donghuang looked down upon Fang Danming as he asked calmly.


    Hearing this, Fang Danming''s expression was one of despair.


    Then, his body shattered in the air, turning into a cloud of dust that disappeared with the wind.


    Down below, the group of outer sect disciples was not frightened by the scene that had just unfolded. Instead, they looked at the figure in white with a look of respect and admiration.


    Sect Leader.


    This was the leader of their Donghuang Sect!


    They had finally seen him in the flesh!


    Zhou Donghuang floated in the air, his arms behind his back as he slowly said two words:


    "Freezing Wind."


    His voice was not loud, but it could be heard all over Donghuang Peak.


    In a few moments, a black figure appeared out of nowhere like a ghost, right in front of Zhou Donghuang.


    "Young Master... No, Sect Leader."


    As Freezing Wind looked at the young man in white before him, his body could not help but quiver in excitement.


    He had heard that his Young Master had returned a few days ago, but because he knew that his Young Master was recovering after helping He Jin dispel the poison, Freezing Wind had not gone to disturb him.


    In the last few days, he had been waiting for his Young Master to call him.


    Now, his Young Master had finally called out to him.


    It had been almost five years. Freezing Wind had not changed much in appearance, but the biggest change was in the air that he exuded.


    Freezing Wind had represented Zhou Donghuang to manage the Donghuang Sect as the Deputy Sect Leader. In the last few years, he had slowly cultivated a presence of leadership.


    However, despite the change in his temperament, his loyalty towards the young man had not changed at all.


    It was only because of this young man that he could have achieved all that he had in his life.


    Without this young man, he would have been a petty thief in a faraway land.


    "Young Master."


    "Young Master."


    Following Freezing Wind, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng also appeared. The youths of the past had now grown into adults, and they looked more mature.


    However, upon seeing Zhou Donghuang, their excitement was no less than Freezing Wind.


    "Sect Leader," Freezing Wind corrected them.


    The two of them immediately corrected themselves to address Zhou Donghuang as "Sect Leader," and the excitement on their face lingered for a long time.


    "Not bad, you have been working hard."


    Zhou Donghuang had already sensed Freezing Wind''s level of skill, as well as Zhou Han and Zhou Feng''s. He nodded in satisfaction.


    Freezing Wind and the two of them smiled from ear to ear like children who had just eaten honey upon being praised by Zhou Donghuang.


    The outer sect disciples looking at this scene seemed as if they had seen a ghost.


    The cold Deputy Sect Leader of their Donghuang Sect and Zhou Han and Zhou Feng, the two core elders who were also known to be cold and unfriendly, were now smiling so happily?


    Was this really happening?


    Many people now suspected that they were dreaming.


    At this time, Zhou Donghuang''s expression turned serious as he said, "Fang Danming, the outer sect elder, tried to kill me, and he has already been punished by death.


    "Fang Danming''s son, the outer sect disciple, Fang Lunjie, abused his authority to bully other members of the sect. He shall be stripped of all his power and kicked out of the sect!"


    With that, Zhou Donghuang glanced coldly at Fang Lunjie, who was cowering in fear on the ground, covered in his own feces and urine.


    Hearing the order from Zhou Donghuang, Fang Lunjie fainted in shock.


    "He seems to have a grandfather who is an inner sect elder of our Donghuang Sect, correct?" Zhou Donghuang looked at Freezing Wind and asked.


    "Yes."


    Freezing Wind looked at Fang Lunjie, who was lying motionless on the ground, then respectfully answered Zhou Donghuang, "The inner sect elder, Fang Kunli, is Fang Danming''s father."

 323 Su Mo Reaches Dharma

    "Check this person," Zhou Donghuang said flatly.


    "If he is clean, then don''t touch him... but if he has done anything bad at all, strip him of his power and chase him out of the sect."


    Although he had the authority to kill or save anyone in the Donghuang Sect with just a single word, Zhou Donghuang had no intention to do that.


    For a sect to become stronger and united, it had to be as fair and as equal as possible.


    As the Sect Leader, he had to lead by example, and not abuse his authority.


    That way, he could then convince the rest of the sect to follow these practices.


    "Yes."


    Freezing Wind heeded the order respectfully, then quickly ordered Zhou Han and Zhou Feng to investigate Fang Kunli.


    In the arena down below, the group of outer sect disciples heard Zhou Donghuang''s words and knew immediately that Fang Kunli, the inner sect elder, was done for because he definitely had a history of abusing his authority.


    At the same time, in Zhou Donghuang''s eyes, they saw nothing but fury.


    Even now, they could hardly believe what had happened.


    The young man that was standing so close to them was in fact the mysterious leader of the Donghuang Sect that nobody had ever seen before. He was the most powerful person on the Ziyun planet!


    "No wonder I thought he looked a little familiar just now... now that I think of it, he looks exactly the same as the statue in the square in the capital of the Donghuang Empire, but that the statue does not feel human at all, so I did not see the resemblance right away," laughed one of the outer sect disciples.


    "Now that you mention it, I remember that statue too... although it resembles our Sect Leader, it looks nowhere near as majestic and fearsome as our Sect Leader himself."


    "Majesty is not something that can be carved out of stone."


    "In the few years since the Donghuang Sect was established, I have never heard of anyone seeing the Sect Leader himself... in fact, some people even said that Sect Leader had left the Ziyun planet. Who would have thought that he would appear here after a few years?"


    ...


    Now, the group of outer sect disciples who were staring at the figure floating in mid-air finally understood why this man did not have an identity crest on him.


    Why this man said that he was not a guest of the Donghuang Sect.


    Why this man said that he was neither an inner sect disciple nor a core disciple of the Donghuang Sect...


    In fact, he was the mysterious Donghuang Sect Leader who nobody had ever seen before. He was the faith of the Donghuang Empire itself!


    Although their Sect Leader had never shown himself in the last few years, the legends that he created had never been surpassed.


    "Zhou Donghuang..."


    Hong Yunfei sat on the ground in shock as he looked at the figure in the sky, feeling as if his entire body was frozen cold.


    Will he bother dealing with me?


    Hong Yunfei was anxious.


    It was only when Zhou Donghuang disappeared into thin air that Hong Yunfei finally heaved a sigh of relief.


    "That''s right... for someone of his level, if he were to bother dealing with our dispute, that would be unbecoming of his status.


    Furthermore, although he had recognized me just now, he did not seem to harbor any hatred towards me. Perhaps he did not mean to deal with me in the first place."


    As he thought of this, Hong Yunfei heaved a heavy sigh of relief.


    At the same time, he could not help but laugh sadly. "To think that a few years ago, before I planned on joining the Donghuang Sect, I had wanted to look for him to thank him for killing Chen Dandan and for indirectly helping me get revenge.


    And now, I do not even have the courage to meet him... much less thank him."


    After taking in a deep breath, Hong Yunfei then relaxed his body that had originally frozen in fright. Then, he shakily tried to stand up.


    "Senior Yunfei."


    Xiao Yong, who had finally turned his gaze away from the spot Zhou Donghuang had disappeared from, finally regained his senses, and he rushed to Hong Yunfei''s side to support him.


    At the same time, he could not help but ask curiously, "Senior Yunfei, Sect Leader... seems to recognize you?


    "You were also from the Yunfeng prefecture that Sect Leader came from in his youth... could it be that the two of you knew each other before?"


    Xiao Yong was extremely curious about this.


    Many other outer sect disciples in the surroundings now looked at Hong Yunfei with surprise.


    Faced with the question from Xiao Yong, Hong Yunfei could only smile sadly.


    Although that was not considered a huge secret, he still did not dare reveal it.


    The leader of the Donghuang Sect clearly did not intend to deal with him regarding the matter of their past... however, other people may not be the same.


    Some people could easily deal with him and kill him just to suck up to the Sect Leader.


    He did not wish to be a target for anybody.


    ...


    Zhou Donghuang''s return to Ziyun planet came five years after he had last left the planet.


    That period could not be considered long in the eyes of any successful adepts in the universe.


    However, in the Ziyun planet, this was no short period of time.


    For almost five years, the Ziyun planet was peaceful.


    Of course, amidst the peace, the Donghuang Sect had also emerged from being beneath the Valley of the Medicine Masters to become powerful enough to stand alongside the premier sects of the Ziyun planet.


    Before Zhou Donghuang had left the Ziyun planet, the previous head of the Valley of the Medicine Masters, Su Mo, became the Deputy Sect Leader of the Donghuang Sect. He represented Zhou Donghuang in handling all the affairs of the Donghuang Sect, no matter how small.


    Later, after Su Mo had taken care of most of the matters in the Donghuang Sect, law and order in the Donghuang Sect were becoming more powerful with each passing day. Su Mo then left and handed the Donghuang Sect to Freezing Wind after seeking the permission of Zhou Donghuang''s mother, Lin Lan.


    Su Mo himself had shut himself behind closed doors to train. He was trying to reach the Dharma stage. He knew that he had the heavy responsibility of protecting the Donghuang Sect.


    In the Donghuang Sect, the most powerful person was Su Mo.


    The fact that Zhou Donghuang had left the Ziyun planet had been kept secret by the Donghuang Sect. They did not share the news and did not dare to do so. They were afraid that the other premier sects on the Ziyun planet would have ill intentions towards the Donghuang Sect if they were aware that Zhou Donghuang was not present to protect it.


    After all, the fortune that the Donghuang Sect had was a great temptation for the other sects.


    The Donghuang Peak that the Donghuang Sect was based at contained a formation that was left behind by Zhou Donghuang. Even though that could protect the sect, the moment the spirit stones that supported the formation were exhausted, the formation would become useless.


    The Donghuang Sect needed someone strong enough to be able to protect it.


    In such circumstances, Su Mo felt immense pressure. After handing the Donghuang Sect over to Freezing Wind, he shut himself behind closed doors to train and rarely appeared before anyone.


    In fact, among those who had entered the Donghuang Sect later, many did not even know of Su Mo, the previous Deputy Sect Leader.


    Su Mo seemed to have vanished for most people.


    "Just one more step."


    One a cliff on the Donghuang Peak, there was a cave that had been opened by someone. This was the site where Su Mo had been practicing.


    Now, a white figure had appeared quietly at the mouth of the cave, and he looked calmly at the middle-aged man sitting cross-legged on a platform.


    The white figure was none other than Zhou Donghuang.


    Zhou Donghuang could sense that Su Mo''s level of skill was now trapped at the final step of the ultimate Primal Core stage.


    Furthermore, he had been stuck there for a long time.


    Whoosh!


    With a wave of his hand, Zhou Donghuang retrieved an elixir from the space ring in his hands. With a flick of his fingers, the elixir flew out and landed in Su Mo''s mouth, entering his body.


    Just as Su Mo felt the elixir entering his body, his body trembled slightly, and his eyes opened slightly. Zhou Donghuang spoke up, "Focus entirely on practicing, continue using the Thousand-Star Sword Technique, I will help you out!"


    "Master?"


    From the voice alone, Su Mo could tell who was speaking to him. It was none other than his master who had left the Ziyun planet almost five years ago.


    His master was back!


    Su Mo felt a wave of emotion.


    However, he felt a gush of energy enter his body and start working the inner Yuan within him. Immediately, he calmed himself down and began practicing the Thousand-Star Sword Technique again with all his energy.


    After the inner Yuan cycled once throughout his body, Su Mo tried to break through the final step of the ultimate Primal Core stage once again.


    In the past, he had tried to break through this stage countless times but had failed each time.


    He even had a fear of it. But now, with the help of his master, he no longer had any fears but was filled with overwhelming confidence instead.


    Boom!!


    As his inner Yuan broke through the final bottleneck, even though Su Mo had mentally prepared himself, he still could not help but feel ecstatic.


    He had finally broken through!


    He, Su Mo, had finally reached the Dharma stage!


    "Much thanks to Master."


    Ignoring the tumultuous inner Yuan within his body at that moment, Su Mo opened his eyes instantly and stood up to thank Zhou Donghuang.


    However, with just his hand, Zhou Donghuang pressed down on his shoulder like a mountain, and forced him back down. "Continue to focus on your practice. The elixir that I gave you still has a lot of effect, and it will be enough to allow you to lay the foundations of the early Dharma stage. I will help you."


    For the next two days, Zhou Donghuang stayed by Su Mo''s side and helped him solidify the foundations of the early Dharma stage that he had just reached.


    After two days, Su Mo had laid the solid foundations for the early Dharma stage, and when he opened his eyes again, his face was filled with immense emotion.


    "Thank you, Master."


    Su Mo fell to his knees and thanked the white figure who was standing at the mouth of the cave with his hands behind his back. His tone was filled with immense gratitude.


    Zhou Donghuang stood at the mouth of the cave at the side of the cliff and stared out at the white clouds.


    "It has been hard on you these past few years."


    Zhou Donghuang turned around and looked at Su Mo. With a wave of his hands, an invisible force lifted Su Mo up to his feet.


    "Not at all, not at all."


    Feeling this invisible force that he couldn''t resist, Su Mo was immensely shocked.


    He believed that now he had reached the Dharma stage, even if he was not on par with his master, he was definitely closer to him than before.


    But now, he realized that that had been wishful thinking on his part.


    In less than five years, when he now faced his master again, he felt like a dwarf standing in front of a giant.


    This was not how he had felt five years ago.


    "Master, you... what stage are you at now?" Su Mo could not help but ask.


    He really wanted to know...if there was a mistake in his judgement or if he was right.


    "Ultimate Primordial Soul stage."


    Zhou Donghuang''s voice was unbelievably calm.

 324 Death of the Golden-Crowned Eagles

    Before Zhou Donghuang could open his mouth, Su Mo''s mind was already running through the ridiculous possibilities, including whether this master of his could have already entered the Primordial Soul stage?


    Otherwise, why would he look like one?


    In Su Mo''s opinion, his master actually entering the early Primordial Soul stage was already an unbelievable feat. After all, when his master had left the Ziyun planet back then, he had not even reached the Dharma stage.


    In less than five years, he went from the Primal Core stage to the early Primordial Soul stage, surpassing the four stages of the Dharma stage. This was already an incredible feat in Su Mo''s eyes.


    Su Mo did not even consider if his master had achieved more than that.


    But now...


    "Ultimate... ultimate Primordial Soul stage?"


    When Su Mo heard Zhou Donghuang''s calm answer, he was stunned beyond belief.


    Of course, despite being frozen in shock, his mind was still racing with thoughts...


    The ultimate Primordial Soul stage?


    Besides transcending the four Dharma stages, he had also transcended the three stages of the Primordial Soul stage? And in less than five years!?


    How... did his master achieve that?


    At this moment, Su Mo could very clearly hear his heart beating louder than ever before.


    Just as Su Mo barely managed to regain his senses, Zhou Donghuang''s calm voice sounded out once again.


    "Even though I am only at the ultimate Primordial Soul stage, if I wanted to kill a regular early Divine Transformation adept, that would not be a problem at all."


    Su Mo once again entered a state of shock, his heart beating faster again after having just calmed down slightly.


    By the time Su Mo regained his senses again, he had realized that his master had already left, and there was no point in him continuing to hang around in the cave.


    After all, the reason he had shut himself in there was to train to reach the Dharma stage.


    Now that he had already successfully broken through, there was naturally no more need for him to stay.


    ...


    "Xiao Lu, where are Big Gold and Little Gold?"


    After leaving Su Mo''s self-isolation cave, Zhou Donghuang arrived at the home of his mother, Lin Lan, and his little sister, Yun Lu. After taking a seat by the stone table in the courtyard, he carried Yun Lu into his arms and cheerfully said, "On this trip back, other than at Lu Qinghu''s side sect, I did not see them anywhere else."


    Big Gold and Little Gold were the two golden-crowned eagles that Zhou Donghuang had taken in years ago. When he had left the Ziyun planet, the two eagles had also successfully become Primal Core demons.


    Yun Lu frowned, saying, "In the past, when they left, they never stayed out for more than a month... but this time, it has already been two months, but they are still not back yet.


    "They left before Sister Mengxi and Brother Da Zhuang came."


    After hearing Yun Lu''s words, Zhou Donghuang nodded, and asked, "Which stage are they at now? Have they been slacking off?"


    "A few months ago, they just broke through to the ultimate Primal Core stage," Yun Lu replied.


    "Already reached the ultimate Primal Core stage?"


    Zhou Donghuang nodded and smiled in satisfaction. "Seems like they have not been slacking off. Given their training, if the two of them stick together, they would be powerful enough to go anywhere they wanted to on the Ziyun planet... furthermore, those few sects with Golden Essence adepts also know of them, so even if they were to meet, I don''t think those clans would try to do anything to them."


    Yun Lu giggled and said, "Exactly, those two rascals rely on this fact to frequently leech off the food and drinks of those sects... they will even grab a few of their spirit stones on their way out."


    "This sounds like something they would do."


    Zhou Donghuang laughed along.


    ...


    The Ziyun planet had five main elite sects.


    They were the Donghuang Sect, Shenguang Sect, Qianqiu Sect, Tianwu Sect, and the Xuesha Sect.


    And before the emergence of the Donghuang Sect, the Ziyun planet also had five top tier sects, with the additional one being the Xuanyin Sect. However, it was extinguished by Zhou Donghuang.


    The Xuesha Sect, being one of the Ziyun planet''s top five sects, also had a long history.


    However, during that fateful Ziyun feast five years ago, the Xuesha Sect lost one of their late Primal Core adepts, who unfortunately was also the Xuesha Sect Leader.


    After that incident, the Xuesha Sect''s status amongst the Ziyun planet''s top five fell to the bottom.


    Even on a daily basis, when the Xuesha Sect disciples were out, they felt a sense of inferiority to the disciples of the other four sects. This was due to the Xuesha Sect''s most powerful adepts still being weaker than those of the other sects.


    The Xuesha Sect''s territory resided within a plain of grass. The grass in this plain was all blood red in color, and when looked at from afar, the entire plain looked as if it has been soaked in blood.


    This place has also been named the "Blood Plains." Anyone who trespassed into this territory would face a terrible outcome.


    At this moment, within the backyard of one of the mansions in the Xuesha Sect camp, stood an extremely scrawny old man in a grey shirt. He sat cross-legged amidst an open space, and one could very clearly see blood flowing through his entire body.


    The streams of blood arose from the two large corpses as lying in the courtyard.


    One could see the stream of blood slowly becoming weaker.


    When the last stream of blood entered the old man''s body, a breath of life trembled through him, and he immediately came to life.


    At the same time, a part of his originally white long hair miraculously turned black.


    His skinny body also began to grow, as though being inflated like a balloon. He fully regained a normal physique, and he even looked somewhat strong.


    His old and skinny face also underwent tremendous change. Not only did it regain some fat, but it also became younger, like that of a middle-aged man.


    "I can''t believe there was a blessing in disguise that allowed me to break through to the Primordial Soul stage."


    A smile hung on his lips as the old man looked at the two mountain-like corpses that lay on the floor as his eyes shined. "These two ultimate Primal Core golden-crowned eagles were definitely a huge boost to me!"


    Months ago, as he was trying to reach the Primordial Soul stage, he was chased out of his galaxy by his enemy. Amidst his aimless escape, he had unexpectedly landed on this planet.


    He thought that he would definitely die, but who would have known that he would successfully reach the Primordial Soul stage and gain another 400 years of life.


    What was once his weak and feeble old body was now rejuvenated and retained the vigor of youth.


    "The fact that these two small golden-crowned eagles trained until they reached the ultimate Primal Core stage while being on a planet with such a weak aura and poor standards of martial arts¡ªthat is really quite a miracle!


    "It seems that Zhou Donghuang of that supposed Donghuang Sect must have precious kind of treasure.


    "Before I leave this lackluster planet, I shall take a stroll around Donghuang Sect and destroy all that Zhou Donghuang established," the old man gleefully murmured to himself, his eyes gleaming with greed.


    But right at this moment¡ª


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Three silhouettes appeared out of thin air, and in the blink of an eye, they arrived in the backyard. They each respectfully bowed towards the old man, saying "Congratulations Senior, for successfully reaching the Primordial Soul stage!"


    These three men consisted of two elders of the Xuesha Sect, as well as the new Xuesha Sect Leader, who was chosen after the previous one was killed by Zhou Donghuang a few years ago.


    Of the three of them, one was at the late Primal Core stage, while the other two were at the ultimate Primal Core stage.


    Three months ago, this old man before them, severely injured and ill, had appeared on the Blood Plains of the Xuesha Sect territory.


    Back then, they could have killed this old man.


    However, the old man had said that he was an ultimate Dharma adept and that if they saved him, he was willing to impart the secret skill of absorbing the blood and essence of demons.


    At the same time, after he recovered from his injuries, he could help them unify the entire the Ziyun planet.


    They were convinced.


    Therefore, after a brief discussion, they not only took in the old man, but even provided him with a large number of demons to allow him to absorb their essences to recover.


    One month ago, the old man fully recovered from his injury.


    Right at this time, the two golden-crowned eagles of the Donghuang Sect once again came to the Xuesha Sect.


    In the past, even though the Xuesha Sect elders were frustrated with the two golden-crowned eagles'' presumptuous ways within the Xuesha Sect, they were helpless. They couldn''t kill the eagles and were even afraid of hurting them.


    They could only allow the two eagles to continue their arrogant behavior within the Xuesha Sect.


    However, this time around, they did not intend to let the two golden-crowned eagles off, and they sought the help of the old man to kill the two golden crowned eagles.


    The old man was already close to breaking through to the Primordial Soul stage, and with the help of the blood of these two ultimate Primal Core golden-crowned eagles, the old man finally succeeded.


    There had never been a Primordial Soul adept in the history of the Ziyun planet, but one had just been produced in the Xuesha Sect!


    "What I have promised you, I will definitely not go back on my word."


    The old man looked indifferently at the three of them from the Xuesha Sect and said, "Tomorrow, you''ll bring me to annihilate the other three sects, excluding the Donghuang Sect.


    "I will help you kill all the adepts of those three sects who are at the late Primal Core stage and up.


    "Finally, I will go to the Donghuang Sect and kill all the late Primal Core adepts of the Donghuang Sect, as well as the Donghuang Sect Leader, Zhou Donghuang!


    "However, whatever treasure that Zhou Donghuang has, that will be left to me."


    The moment the old man finished speaking, the eyes of the three Xuesha Sect members lit up, and they said, "Senior, the fact that you can help us kill the late Primal Core adepts of the other four sects is already a huge blessing to us, how could we dare ask for more?"


    "Only a senior of your status is worthy of Zhou Donghuang''s treasure."


    ...


    At the same time, the three of them did not forget to remind the old man that Zhou Donghuang was not an easy target. "Senior, five years ago, Zhou Donghuang killed an early Dharma adept when he was only at the late Primal Core stage.


    "Given his progress, he most likely has already reached the Dharma stage, and as for which stage he is currently at, we are unsure. So Senior, it is better that you be careful."


    The old man was nonchalant. "That early Dharma adept had only just reached the Dharma stage when he was killed, and he did not have the chance to perfect his Dharma Power yet... furthermore, he had no Dharma spirit weapons with him.


    "As for me, even though I have only just reached the Primordial Soul stage, I have a Primordial Soul spirit weapon with me, and it is a mid-quality spirit weapon!"


    The old man was full of pride and confidence, "You should rest assured... Zhou Donghuang will not stand a chance against me!"

 325 Visitor From Beyond?

    Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, Zhou Donghuang had stayed on the Ziyun planet, visiting the Donghuang Sect for almost a month.


    During that month, Zhou Donghuang distributed all the useful items he had gained from the various galaxies and planets he had previously visited to all the people around him.


    There were spirit stones, spirit fruits and core drugs.


    In that one month, he did not leave the Donghuang Sect at all. Besides spending his time practicing, he spent the rest of his time accompanying his mother, Lin Lan, and his sister, Yun Lu.


    "Brother... another month has passed, but Big Gold and Little Gold have not returned yet. Do you think something has happened to them?" Yun Lu asked as she looked at Zhou Donghuang worriedly.


    She would only feel less anxious with Zhou Donghuang''s words of assurance.


    "Don''t worry," Zhou Donghuang smiled and said. "Just like what you said, they have already reached the ultimate Primal Core stage... as two great Golden Essence demons, no one among the other four top tier sects of the Ziyun planet would have the power to stop them.


    "Even if those sects somehow produced a Dharma adept, they would still not risk taking on Big Gold and Little Gold.


    "I am sure they haven''t forgotten that I killed a Dharma adept five years ago. I bet the two of them encountered something interesting while they were gallivanting outside and forgot about the time...


    "When they come back, I will help you teach them a lesson and ensure that they will never be so playful again."


    Zhou Donghuang''s facial expression turned serious as he spoke.


    "Brother, I won''t allow you to bully them." Yun Lu sat at a stone table with her hands on her waist as she spoke to Zhou Donghuang with a serious expression.


    "You are now a Primordial Soul adept. What if you lose control of your strength while punishing them and end up hurting them?"


    "Haha... Xiao Lu, they are tougher than you imagine." Zhou Donghuang laughed.


    "Also, with a higher level of practice, one will also have better control over one''s strength... So you need not worry about me not being able to control my strength."


    "I still won''t allow it." Yun Lu shook her head angrily. "While you were gone all these years, they were the ones who played with me. They are my good friends, so you can''t bully them."


    "Alright, alright, I won''t, I won''t."


    Zhou Donghuang reached out to pinch Yun Lu''s puffed up cheeks and smiled helplessly.


    "Brother will listen to Xiao Lu, alright?"


    "You''re the best."


    Yun Lu jumped into Zhou Donghuang''s arms and hugged him as a radiant smile appeared on her adorable face.


    "Young Master, are you around?"


    Suddenly, they heard an anxious voice coming from outside the courtyard.


    "Come in."


    "Young Master."


    In public, Freezing Wind would address Zhou Donghuang respectfully as "Sect Leader," but in private, he would still address him as "Young Master."


    "Just now, an elder from the Shenguang Sect, who was seriously injured, rushed over to our sect, saying that he wanted to meet you... Upon meeting me, he told me to give you a message before taking his last breath.


    "I could tell that he had tried very hard to hold on to his last breath while rushing over. Without such strong determination, he would have died on the way here."


    A few years ago, only people close to Zhou Donghuang were aware of his departure from the Ziyun planet. Everyone else on the Ziyun planet was unaware that he had left.


    Of course, as Zhou Donghuang had not appeared in the past few years, it was possible that people would raise suspicions of whether he had left the Ziyun planet.


    The fact that the Ziyun planet had very little Spirit energy was a known fact to the public. In outer space, there were many planets with more Spirit energy and resources than the Ziyun planet.


    All the people who had their suspicions would have thought that someone with such talent like Zhou Donghuang would never be willing to continue his practice on the Ziyun planet.


    This was why they believed that the probability of Zhou Donghuang leaving the Ziyun planet was very high.


    "What is the matter?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s expression became more serious. An elder from the Shenguang Sect with such severe injuries rushed over to see him at the Donghuang Sect?


    It was difficult to imagine what would have caused an elder from the Shenguang Sect to do such a thing.


    To the Shenguang Sect, their impression of Zhou Donghuang was relatively good.


    After all, the land that the Donghuang Sect was residing on belonged to the Shenguang Sect.


    "He said that the Shenguang Sect was extinguished... and it was done by people from the Xuesha Sect!"


    As Freezing Wind spoke, his expression turned even more serious as he remembered something.


    "The Xuesha Sect?" Zhou Donghuang frowned. "Didn''t you tell me that ever since I killed the Sect Leader of the Xuesha Sect, the Xuesha Sect had become the bottom of the top five tier sects on the Ziyun planet?


    "The Xuesha Sect has the ability to extinguish the Shenguang Sect?"


    In Zhou Donghuang''s opinion, even if he had not killed the Xuesha Sect Leader a few years back, it still would have been impossible for them to have the same ability as the Shenguang Sect.


    If this was true, there had to be something that he was not aware of.


    Freezing Wind''s expression became more solemn as he nodded with dread. His tone became even more anxious as he continued, "The elder from the Shenguang Sect also told me that when the Xuesha Sect arrived at the Shenguang Sect, they were not led by the current Xuesha Sect Leader and the two Golden Essence elders.


    "The current Xuesha Sect Leader and their two Golden Essence elder adepts were following a middle-aged man with gray hair and who was dressed in a long, gray robe.


    "When the middle-aged man in the gray robe appeared, he easily killed the Shenguang Sect Leader! After that, every single one of the Golden Essence elders of the Shenguang Sect were killed!"


    As Freezing Wind spoke, he looked at Zhou Donghuang. "Young Master, even for an early Dharma adept, it would be impossible for him to do that, right?"


    Zhou Donghuang frowned. "The Xuesha Sect has adepts with such abilities?"


    "The elder from the Shenguang Sect said that the man in the grey robe did not seem to be from the Xuesha Sect as the Xuesha Sect Leader and the two Golden Essence elders of the Xuesha Sect all addressed him as "Senior..." If he was from the Xuesha Sect, he would definitely be their junior, and they would not address him in such a way," Freezing Wind replied.


    "Not someone from the Xuesha Sect?" Zhou Donghuang frowned.


    "Seems like it may be an adept from outside the Ziyun planet."


    "Brother."


    Just then, Yun Lu, who was in Zhou Donghuang''s arms, started speaking in an anxious tone.


    "Could this adept from outside the Ziyun planet be related to Big Gold and Little Gold''s disappearance?


    "Before Big Gold and Little Gold left, they told me they were planning on visiting the Xuesha Sect."


    As Yun Lu spoke, her expression grew more worried.


    Upon hearing her words, Zhou Donghuang''s expression also started to change.


    "Young Master, the last words of the elder from the Shenguang Sect were, ''The Xuesha Sect''s target was not only the Shenguang Sect, the Xuesha Sect wants to dominate the Ziyun planet with the help of that man!''"


    Freezing Wind''s expression grew dark. "Young Master, could the ability of that man possibly be stronger than yours and Senior He Jin?"


    "Probably not." Zhou Donghuang shook his head.


    "Not only is it rare for the Ziyun planet to have adepts who have reached the Primordial Soul stage and beyond... but even in neighboring galaxies, there are only just a few Primordial Soul adepts, and rarely anyone reaches the Divine Transformation stage and above.


    "That person is probably an extremely powerful Dharma adept or a Primordial Soul adept."


    Considering the situation of the galaxies around the Ziyun planet, Zhou Donghuang had his own deductions as to where this visitor from beyond had come from.


    "Do you know the location of the Xuesha Sect?" Zhou Donghuang asked Freezing Wind as he stood up and carried Yun Lu in his arms.


    "Yes." Freezing Wind nodded.


    "Follow me to meet the Valley Head."


    Following closely behind, Freezing Wind accompanied Zhou Donghuang to meet He Jin. On the way there, he did not forget to comfort Yun Lu, who seemed restless in Zhou Donghuang''s arms. "Xiao Lu, don''t worry... Big Gold and Little Gold will be alright."


    Though he was comforting Yun Lu, his heart could not help but sink as he had a bad feeling.


    If not for the appearance of a Dharma adept or above on the Ziyun planet, he would not have been worried about Big Gold and Little Gold being outside.


    However, now that he knew a person who had the power to easily kill a Golden Essence adept had arrived, he could not help but be worried.


    "Donghuang, is there something going on?"


    Upon seeing Zhou Donghuang hurrying over, He Jin''s expression turned serious. "Has the Qi Dynasty found us?"


    "No."


    After hearing He Jin''s words, Zhou Donghuang''s appeared less anxious. "I only told Third Sister about the existence of the Ziyun planet, nobody else.


    "It was impossible for anyone to follow me when I returned here... If someone with weaker abilities had tried to follow me, I would definitely have found out. If the person had stronger abilities than me, there would be no need to follow me as they could have just directly killed me," explained Zhou Donghuang.


    "So why have you come here?"


    When He Jin heard his words, he realized that he had made a big fuss over nothing. If the Qi Dynasty had known that they were at the Ziyun planet, they would not have waited until then to find them.


    "Valley Head, it seems like a visitor at the Dharma stage or higher has arrived on the Ziyun planet, and they''ve formed an alliance with the Xuesha Sect. I would like you and Freezing Wind to visit the Xuesha Sect and find out the truth.


    "As for me, I plan on staying and protecting the Donghuang Sect. With the current information that I have, it seems like the person may visit the Donghuang sect at any time," Zhou Donghuang said.


    "Alright, I will go." He Jin nodded.


    He knew that for a planet with such weak resources, a Dharma adept would easily have the ability to dominate if the they didn''t intervene.


    With He Jin''s incredible speed as a Divine Transformation adept, he was back with Freezing Wind in less than an hour.


    However, both He Jin and Freezing Wind had terrible expressions on their faces.


    "What is the matter?"


    Zhou Donghuang had a bad feeling.


    Freezing Wind looked at Yun Lu, who was in Zhou Donghuang''s arms. Before he could look away, Yun Lu could sense that something was wrong.


    "Uncle Freezing Wind, did something... did something happen to Big Gold and Little Gold?" Yun Lu looked at Freezing Wind anxiously as she asked.

 326 Enemy Attack

    Faced with Yun Lu''s anxious questions, Freezing Wind''s expression turned even more ugly. He turned to look at Zhou Donghuang as if there was something he wanted to say but was unsure about.


    "Go ahead," said Zhou Donghuang seriously.


    "Young Master."


    Freezing Wind took in a deep breath and said, "Senior He Jin and I headed to the Xuesha Sect, and found that all the adepts who were above the Primal Core stage had left, and..."


    At this point, Freezing Wind paused momentarily before continuing, "Behind the courtyard in a corner of the Xuesha Sect, I also found the decayed carcasses of two flying beasts. From the shape of their wings and their body sizes, I thought that they could have been Big Gold and Little Gold."


    The moment Freezing Wind''s words left his mouth, Yun Lu burst into tears. Then, her cries suddenly stopped, and she collapsed into Zhou Donghuang''s arms.


    After confirming that his sister had only fainted, Zhou Donghuang heaved a sigh of relief, but his eyes were furious.


    "To confirm this, I grabbed some Xuesha Sect disciples nearby and questioned them, and they confirmed the identity of Big Gold and Little Gold.


    "Because Big Gold and Little Gold had gone to the Xuesha Sect many times in the past and frightened many of the Xuesha Sect''s disciples, most of the Xuesha Sect disciples recognized them.


    "A while ago, a powerful adept had appeared in the Xuesha Sect, and even the Sect Leader and the Golden Essence elders of the Xuesha Sect were all very respectful towards him.


    "Some time ago, Big Gold and Little Gold headed to the Xuesha Sect again, and the Xuesha Sect Leader asked for help from that powerful adept in killing both Big Gold and Little Gold.


    "I was told that he used just two blows to kill them."


    Freezing Wind took a deep breath and looked at Zhou Donghuang with a tinge of worry.


    "Young Master, please accept my condolences," he comforted.


    Freezing Wind was well aware of the relationship that Zhou Donghuang shared with Big Gold and Little Gold.


    Their relationship was nothing less than the relationship Yun Lu had with the two eagles.


    Zhou Donghuang looked at He Jin.


    At the same time that Zhou Donghuang turned towards He Jin, He Jin added, "From the injuries that they sustained, it was definitely the act of an ultimate Dharma adept.


    "After they died, all their essence was taken away, and it was definitely used to aid someone who had practiced an evil technique."


    He Jin shared what he had found out.


    "Ultimate Dharma stage?"


    Zhou Donghuang''s eyes flashed coldly. Just an ultimate Dharma adept, but being so arrogant and acting in such an unrestrained manner on the Ziyun planet¡­ and even killing Big Gold or Little Gold!


    "Big Gold, Little Gold..."


    "Someone is here."


    Zhou Donghuang was still reminiscing the times he had spent with the two golden-crowned eagles when He Jin seemed to have noticed something, and he suddenly looked into the sky.


    Upon hearing him, Zhou Donghuang turned to look up right away. With his senses, he easily discovered a group of people approaching from beyond the clouds.


    The same time that Zhou Donghuang discovered them, a voice traveled in from a distance, "Donghuang Sect Leader, Zhou Donghuang, I heard that you are the most powerful person on the Ziyun planet, so I have come to learn from you!"


    When they finished speaking, the group of people had already broken through the clouds, and they were led by a middle-aged man dressed in a long, gray robe. The party appeared in the skies beside the Donghuang Peak.


    "It is the new leader of the Xuesha Sect, and the two Golden Essence elders of the Xuesha Sect!"


    Even from this distance, Freezing Wind was able to identify the three men standing behind the man in gray.


    "Young Master, the man standing in front must be the one who killed Big Gold and Little Gold."


    Freezing Wind looked again at the man standing in front, his eyes filled with a murderous glint.


    Whoosh!


    The moment that the words left Freezing Wind''s mouth, Zhou Donghuang took Yun Lu, who had fainted in his arms, up into the skies. Instantly, he appeared in front of the party from the Xuesha Sect led by the man in the gray robe.


    The next instant, He Jin and Freezing Wind had both appeared behind Zhou Donghuang.


    "Sect Leader."


    At the same time, Su Mo had also appeared with a gush of wind, dressed in his scholarly robes. Behind him, Zhou Han and Zhou Feng had also appeared.


    Besides them, many other figures came flying in from all directions.


    Among them were He Mengxi and Da Zhuang.


    In fact, even Lin Lan, Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei had all appeared.


    In the last few years, Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei have been staying at the Donghuang Sect, training hard in order to catch up with Zhou Donghuang.


    Now, just like Lin Lan, they were both Primal Core adepts who could fly.


    Within just ten breaths, a huge group of people had gathered behind Zhou Donghuang, all made up of the highest-ranking people in the Donghuang Sect.


    "Greetings, Sect Leader."


    The group of them bowed in greeting to Zhou Donghuang, who was standing in front of them. Their tone was reverent.


    At this time, people had gathered from everywhere. Any space that could be stood on was now filled with someone.


    These people were all disciples of the Donghuang Sect.


    "Is that the mysterious leader of the Donghuang Sect who nobody has ever seen before?"


    The eyes of the Donghuang Sect disciples were locked on Zhou Donghuang''s back, their gazes filled with excitement.


    Every single Donghuang Sect disciple viewed Zhou Donghuang, their Sect Leader, as an idol.


    Even if they had never seen him before, this did nothing to dampen their devotion towards him because Zhou Donghuang''s reputation on the Ziyun planet was simply that impressive!


    Not only was Zhou Donghuang the youngest Primal Core adept born on the Ziyun planet, but he was also widely recognized as the most powerful person on the entire planet!


    "Zhou Donghuang..."


    Hong Yunfei was a part of the crowd. As he looked at the young man in white floating a distance away, his expression was complicated.


    Since Zhou Donghuang was not calculative and had not taken revenge on him last time, he guessed that Zhou Donghuang probably wouldn''t find trouble with him anymore.


    However, that was only a guess on his part.


    After that incident, he was still worried about Zhou Donghuang, and it was only recently that his worry had lessened.


    "Who would have thought that someone would dare to come to our Donghuang Sect and challenge our Sect Leader. Are they doubting the strength of our Sect Leader?"


    Now, not only were most of the Donghuang Sect disciples thinking this way, even some of the elders of the Donghuang Sect who were floating behind Zhou Donghuang also thought this.


    "Who is this person? Our Sect Leader is clearly the most powerful person on the Ziyun planet, but this person is here to challenge him!"


    Many people looked curiously at the man standing in front of the Xuesha Sect people. His long gray hair fell behind him.


    Behind this middle-aged man was an old man dressed in red, his face radiant, as well as two other aged men.


    "It''s the Xuesha Sect Leader, Wang Jin! At his side are the two Golden Essence elders of the Xuesha Sect, Xue Chan and Meng Yidong!"


    Among the high ranks of the Donghuang Sect, someone had quickly recognized the three people behind the man in the gray robe. They were none other than the strongest and highest-ranking people of the Xuesha Sect.


    At the same time, many other people of the Donghuang Sect also realized that the three from the Xuesha Sect were all sect elders.


    And all of them were Primal Core adepts.


    "They''re from the Xuesha Sect!"


    "This Xuesha Sect has always been known as the weakest among the top five sects of the Ziyun planet. How dare they come and challenge our Donghuang Sect! Are they out of their minds?"


    "Who is the man in gray? Even the Xuesha Sect Leader and the two Golden Essence elders are all so courteous towards him and even standing behind him."


    "He... could he be the backing of the Xuesha Sect?"


    ...


    After realizing that the group of people behind the man in gray were from the Xuesha Sect, the elders and disciples of the Donghuang Sect were all fuming.


    Many people now turned to look at the man in gray standing in front.


    Some old Donghuang Sect elders were the first to become wary.


    "The Xuesha Sect Leader and the two Golden Essence elders definitely would not come to seek death... they are here with unfriendly intentions."


    "Who exactly is this man standing in front?"


    After a moment, many Donghuang Sect elders looked at the man again, curious as to his identity.


    Just now, it was this man who had challenged their Donghuang Sect Leader.


    "Zhou Donghuang, we meet again."


    At this time, Wang Jin, the Xuesha Sect Leader who was standing behind the man in gray, now glared at Zhou Donghuang with eyes filled with hatred.


    He declared through clenched teeth, "In the past, you killed my senior... today, our Xuesha Sect will avenge his death!"


    "Your senior?"


    Zhou Donghuang glanced slightly at the man but could not remember if he had seen him before.


    Perhaps he had seen the man in Xuanyan City during the Ziyun Feast back then?


    "The Xuesha Sect Leader who you killed five years ago in Xuanyan City!" yelled Wang Jin coldly.


    "Oh, it''s him. I remember now." Zhou Donghuang nodded, then simply said, "So you are here today... just to challenge me?"


    "Of course not," Wang Jin answered arrogantly. "Today, we are here to annihilate your entire Donghuang Sect!


    "Come to think of it, because of you, your Donghuang Sect was very fortunate that we came here as our last stop.


    "The Qianqiu Sect, the Shenguang Sect and the Tianwu Sect have all been destroyed by our Xuesha Sect! From this day on, our Xuesha Sect will rule over the entire Ziyun planet and be the sole power on this planet!"


    As he spoke, Wang Jin''s eyes shone brightly.


    Hearing his words, Freezing Wind, He Jin and the rest were all taken aback, their expressions changing.


    "The Xuesha Sect destroyed the Qianqiu Sect, the Shenguang Sect and the Tianwu Sect? Is this for real?"


    "From the looks of Wang Jin, the Xuesha Sect Leader, he seems to be speaking the truth."


    "Is the Xuesha Sect even capable of doing that?"


    "Maybe not in the past... but now, it''s possible. After all, this group takes this man in gray as their leader, and this man had said that he wanted to challenge our Sect Leader."


    "He can''t be a simple man... he is very likely a Dharma adept!"


    "So what if he is a Dharma adept? Five years ago, our Sect Leader had killed a Dharma adept. After five years, his powers must have gotten even stronger with his talent and skill."


    "It was no secret that back in the day, our Sect Leader killed a Dharma adept, and his martial arts talent is also known to all. For the Xuesha Sect to come here, they must really have a lot of confidence in this man in front."

 327 Destruction of a Primordial Soul

    Hearing the Xuesha Sect Leader, Wang Jin, claim that they had already annihilated the Qianqiu Sect, the Shenguang Sect and the Tianwu Sect, the elders and disciples of the Donghuang Sect were all in a state of disbelief.


    Soon, the gazes of everybody present landed on the man who stood in front of the Xuesha Sect people.


    The man had a stocky build, and his long, flowing gray hair was let down behind his back. As he floated in the air, his gray robe billowed in the wind, giving one the impression that he was an other-worldly being looking down on all of them.


    Just as Wang Jin, the Xuesha Sect Leader, was gleefully looking at changed expressions on the Donghuang Sect people''s faces, Zhou Donghuang finally said calmly, "Rule over the entire Ziyun planet?


    Since when did the Xuesha Sect have such power?"


    Many of those from the Donghuang Sect silently heaved a sigh of relief at Zhou Donghuang''s simple question, and they looked at him with expectation.


    "We must trust our Sect Leader!"


    "So what if the Xuesha Sect destroyed the Qianqiu Sect, the Shenguang Sect and the Tianwu Sect with the help of an outsider? We are the Donghuang Sect, nothing that the Qianqiu Sect, the Shenguang Sect or the Tianwu can compare with!"


    "Exactly! Back then, if not for the fact that our Sect Leader had no intention of claiming the entire Ziyun planet, our Donghuang Sect would have dominated the other four sects, including the Xuesha Sect."


    ...


    Many of those from the Donghuang Sect had blind faith in their leader, Zhou Donghuang.


    Of course, there were some among the Donghuang Sect who were more realistic and thought, "Since the Xuesha Sect dares to come here, they must have faith in the abilities of this man."


    "How powerful is this man? The Xuesha Sect really thinks that with his help, they can wipe out our Donghuang Sect."


    "Will our Sect Leader be his match?"


    ...


    Some of those from the Donghuang Sect were nervous as they considered the reality of the situation.


    "Zhou Donghuang!"


    Wang Jin, the Xuesha Sect Leader, looked at Zhou Donghuang and laughed coldly. He then turned to the man in gray who was standing with his back facing him. "Senior Ke You has already issued you a challenge, and you have yet to accept it.


    "Don''t waste time talking about meaningless things... if you do not accept the challenge, then make it clear.


    "Of course, even if you do not accept the challenge, you are destined to die by the hands of Senior Ke You today!"


    Wang Jin praised the man in the gray robe, Senior Ke You, to the skies.


    "Him?"


    Then, Zhou Donghuang finally looked at Wang Jin. His lips curled into a malicious smile as he asked, "Your name is Ke You? You were the one who killed the two golden-crowned eagles of our Donghuang Sect?"


    "Correct," Ke You looked up proudly and said. "Come to think of it, I ought to thank the two golden-crowned eagles of your Donghuang Sect. It was only because they provided me with enough essence that I was able to reach the Primordial Soul stage!"


    As the words left his mouth, a huge Primordial Soul Power in his form appeared from Ke You''s body. It looked like a massive mountain peak, so huge that it towered over everything else.


    Within this Primordial Soul Power that was as massive as a mountain, Ke You stood in its midst, and with a wave of his hand, the Primordial Soul Power mirrored his actions.


    As the Primordial Soul Power of Ke You appeared, the disciples and elders of the Donghuang Sect all looked on in horror as their hearts sank.


    "Primordial Soul... he is a Primordial Soul adept!"


    "Primordial Soul adepts are even more powerful than Dharma adepts. They can live for a thousand years, and the sheer power that they possess is nothing that any Dharma adept can compare to!"


    "Our Ziyun planet has never produced any Primordial Soul adepts before."


    "Accordingly, based on the training environment and resources of our Ziyun planet, it is simply impossible to produce any Primordial Soul adept... it would be difficult to even produce a Dharma adept."


    "Even if our Sect Leader has already reached the Dharma stage, would he be a match for this Primordial Soul adept?"


    ...


    In that instant, those of the Donghuang Sect who were realistic now looked on with despair.


    As for those who had originally trusted Zhou Donghuang wholeheartedly, their faith also wavered at this point.


    Although their Donghuang Sect Leader, Zhou Donghuang, was an extraordinary presence in the Ziyun planet, the environment and resources of the Ziyun planet still limited his growth no matter how extraordinarily talented he was.


    In the past, they heard that their Sect Leader had left the Ziyun planet, but it was only now that they found out that their Sect Leader had not left and was still on Ziyun planet.


    In that case, with the limited resources and environment of the Ziyun planet, even after five years, how much could their Sect Leader have improved?"


    "How could he possibly be a Primordial Soul adept... the Ziyun planet could never produce a Primordial Soul adept!" cried a Donghuang Sect elder in shock.


    Wang Jin, the Xuesha Sect Leader, heard the Donghuang Sect elder and could not help but laugh as he said, "The Ziyun planet definitely cannot produce a Primordial Soul adept. Senior Ke You is not from this planet.


    "He is from beyond this planet and a distinguished guest of our Xuesha Sect... this time, after helping our Xuesha Sect to claim the entire Ziyun planet, he will leave.


    "Although, with his power, Senior Ke You can easily dominate over the entire Ziyun planet on his own... but a planet as backward and as poor as Ziyun does not attract his fancy at all."


    As he spoke, Wang Jin''s smile grew even more radiant.


    Hearing the words of Wang Jin, the expressions of everybody from the Donghuang Sect turned to despair...


    From outside of this planet.


    A Primordial Soul adept was now helping the Xuesha Sect destroy their Donghuang Sect.


    What could the Donghuang Sect do about this?


    "Mm, as long as you were the one who killed them."


    Just as everybody from the Donghuang Sect was panicking, Zhou Donghuang spoke once again, his tone as calm as before. He was not surprised at all by the Primordial Soul Power that Ke You had just displayed.


    "Didn''t you find it weird... that you were not able to sense my level of skill?"


    When Zhou Donghuang spoke once again, his lips curled into a smile of sarcasm.


    Hearing this from Zhou Donghuang, Ke You''s eyes narrowed as he asked in surprise, "You, you knew that I was trying to sense your level?"


    Just now, he had indeed tried to sense Zhou Donghuang''s level using his Divine Will, something that only Primordial Soul adepts and above had.


    But he realized that he was unable to sense Zhou Donghuang''s level of skill.


    For something like that to occur, there could only be two reasons:


    First, Zhou Donghuang had mastered a secret technique that masked his true level of skill so that Divine Will could not sense it.


    The second possibility was that Zhou Donghuang''s level of skill was even higher than his, and his Divine Will was not enough to sense it.


    Without a second thought, he had assumed that it was the former.


    After all, the environment and training resources on the Ziyun planet were simply too insufficient to produce any martial art adepts beyond the Primordial Soul stage... in fact, it would be difficult to produce even mid Dharma adepts!


    Reaching the early Dharma stage on the Ziyun planet could be said to be an extraordinary feat.


    But now, Zhou Donghuang had just pointed out that he knew Ke You had used his Divine Will to sense him out. Ke You now had a bad feeling creep up on him.


    "Just an early Primordial Soul adept, and daring to act like this in front of my little brother, what a joke!"


    He Mengxi, who had appeared beside He Jin, now looked at Ke You condescendingly with a smile of disdain.


    As for Lin Lan, Yang Zixi and Ren Jiapei, although they had always known that Zhou Donghuang was now extremely powerful and unafraid of the early Primordial Soul adept that was in front of him, their expressions were still dark at this point.


    The line that Zhou Donghuang had said earlier had grabbed all their attention.


    Something had happened to Big Gold and Little Gold?


    When Ke You heard the words of He Mengxi, he looked at Zhou Donghuang with a look of disbelief, as if contemplating the truth of her words. His expression faltered slightly.


    Zhou Donghuang finally took action.


    In his left hand, he held on to his sister, Yun Lu. With a wave of his right hand, the Spirit energy in the space around him shook, and a fearsome gush of inner Yuan rose to the skies like a wave. Then it rushed down towards Ke You''s Primordial Soul Power.


    "Ah..."


    Enveloped by the Zhou Donghuang''s inner Yuan, Ke You felt as if his chest had been hit by a huge hammer. He felt suffocated, and he could not help but let out a low cry.


    As he was crushed under the huge force that weighed down on him from above, he knew that if he were to allow this force to continue crushing him, even if he did not die, he would be severely injured!


    "Destroy it!!"


    A sword appeared in Ke You''s hands. With his face turning red from the pressure, he injected inner Yuan into the weapon, which then ballooned.


    At the same time, a sword had also appeared in the hands of Ke You''s Primordial Soul Power. Under the control of Ke You, the sword pierced through the translucent inner Yuan that rushed down towards him.


    All his force.


    He did not dare to hold back at all.


    At this moment, the crowd could not help but hold their breath as they stared unblinkingly at the scene before them, as if they were afraid to miss even the slightest detail.


    Boom!!


    A loud sound rolled across the skies like thunder.


    At the same time, Ke You''s Primordial Soul was knocked out of the skies, crumbling under the huge energy from the wave of inner Yuan.


    With a light crack, the shaft of the sword in Ke You''s hands cracked, with more cracks forming like a spider''s web.


    This sword was no ordinary sword; it was an inferior Primordial Soul spirit weapon.


    "Wah..."


    Ke You''s body, which was withstanding the pressure, finally succumbed to it enormous force. He fell to the ground, his mouth spewing out blood.


    It was only when Zhou Donghuang''s hand waved away the inner Yuan in the sky that Ke You heaved a sigh of relief, but he was still gasping for air. The pride was lost from his eyes and was replaced by fear.


    "Divine... a Divine Transformation adept... How could you possibly be a Divine Transformation adept!"


    With just a wave of his hand and without the appearance of even a Primordial Soul Power, his inner Yuan alone could crush the inferior Primordial Soul spirit weapon in Ke You''s hands.


    Such a feat could not be achieved by any Primordial Soul adepts, or even ultimate Primordial Soul adepts!


    Just as Ke You cried out in shock, the party from the Xuesha Sect now looked on with despair. Meanwhile, those from the Donghuang Sect were filled with shock and ecstasy.


    Zhou Donghuang lightly patted the back of the young girl in his arms, and gently called to her, "Xiao Lu, wake up."


    Yun Lu slowly woke up, but once she awoke, she broke into tears, crying, "Brother, Big Gold and Little Gold are dead, Big Gold and Little Gold are dead... I don''t want them to die, I don''t want them to be dead."


    "Xiao Lu," Zhou Donghuang smiled and said, "none of us wanted them to die. But their deaths have already been set in stone.


    "No, the man who killed them is in front of you... why don''t you personally take revenge for Big Gold and Little Gold?"