by Shian Jeen
After successfully bidding for the Geocentric Esne, the next item was a high-grade Earth rank cultivation technique. Although a high-grade Earth rank cultivation technique was rare, the price it fetched was way worse than the Geocentric Esne.
Ch.145
After the high-grade Earth rank cultivation technique was auctioned, the auctioneer put up a high-grade Earth rank battle skill.
This high-grade Earth rank battle skill was called Noble Rebel Swordplay, and Huwang Xiao used five million to bid on it for Huwang Min. The little girl had always leaned towards swords and sword skills.
Soon, the auction ended.
Huwang Xiao and his group left the auction house and returned to Tianxuan Mansion directly.
Although it was no secret that the Geocentric Esne was bought by Huwang Xiao, no one dared to block their path in a robbery attempt.
After all, at Huwang Xiao’s sides were Marshal Haotian and Fei Hou−two Xiantian experts.
Stepping into Tianxuan Mansion, Huwang Xiao hurried off to his room, initiated the God Binding Ring, and entered the ancient battlefield to start his closed-door practice.
In the ancient battlefield, Huwang Xiao sat down in a meditative position and took the green jade heart bottle out from the Asura Ring. Uncorking the bottle, an ambrosia-like fragrance instantly wafted out from it.
This fragrance was similar to an aged wine that had been fermenting deep in the ground for many years, and just a whiff was enough to make people drunk, opening the pores.
Huwang Xiao peeped into the green jade heart bottle and saw that inside there was a few drops of milky white liquid that had a thick viscosity. As he continued to look, there seemed to be a magical allure to this white liquid that made people unable to shift their eyes away. It was a hypnotic effect on the mind that made people want to drown in that feeling.
A while later, Huwang Xiao managed to pull himself out from the hallucinatory state while feeling shocked in his heart.
Steeling his mind, Huwang Xiao gulped all the Geocentric Esne into his mouth, swallowing everything in one go. Even though taking everything in one go was a little too much, a treasure with such medicinal energy like that which was within the Geocentric Esne did not act violently; thus, it wouldn’t bring negative side effects from overconsumption.
As six drops of Geocentric Esne slid down his throat, the fragrant scent filled his mouth, flooding into every corner of Huwang Xiao’s body. Huwang Xiao had never tasted anything so fragrant and delicious.
The effect was instantaneous. Warm strands of energy spread throughout his body and Huwang Xiao quickly ran Asura Tactics to refine these warm energies. While Huwang Xiao was refining them, the battle qi in his meridians and Qi Sea was roaring as it condensed, and the area of his Qi Sea expanded.
At the same time, the netherworld battle qi in Huwang Xiao’s Qi Sea began a liquefaction process, transforming from a gaseous state to a liquid one.
When this process started, more and more gas from the battle qi condensed, turning into liquid form.
The twin dragon martial spirits behind Huwang Xiao devoured the spiritual energy greedily, and black and blue lights were scintillating as their primordial divine dragon scales fell off one by one! As these scales fell, newly thicker, shinier scales rapidly grew and replaced the old.
Huwang Xiao ran Asura Tactics one full cycle after another, continuously refining the warm energies that came from the Geocentric Esne!
In the ancient battlefield, there was a distinction between night and day.
Light came and went, and so it repeated many times over until at one point, a brilliant light broke out of Huwang Xiao’s body and he suddenly shuddered.
The peak late-Tenth Order, he finally broke through!
Joy wrapped around Huwang Xiao’s heart, but he persisted in refining the energy coming from the Geocentric Esne while the battle qi in his meridians and Qi Sea had nearly all liquefied into liquid form.
Huwang Xiao only stopped when he had refined every shred of medicinal energy coming from the Geocentric Esne.
Opening his eyes, Huwang Xiao let out a roar facing the sky, something akin to a primordial dragon’s growl, echoing in the ancient battlefield for a long time.
Peak late-Tenth Order!
Though he did not manage to step into the Xiantian realm, he had the confidence to fight someone that had just entered the Xiantian realm if he soul transformed with the twin dragons. Even killing them was not a problem!
Taking a deep breath to calm down, Huwang Xiao exited the ancient battlefield.
Walking out, he passed by his little sister Huwang Min’s yard and heard sounds of sword practice that made him halt his steps. He walked in and saw that Huwang Min was practicing her swordplay in the yard.
The long sword in Huwang Min’s hand was the very same one Huwang Xiao bought for her from the Thousand Treasures Auction: the South Parting long sword.
The sword skill that Huwang Min was practicing had very strange movements. Whilst the sword was attacking, the front of her body would suddenly spin, allowing her to thrust the long sword in the opposite direction. Just as the tip of the sword stabbed to the back, her wrist would turn the attack once again to concentrate to the front.
“This is Noble Rebel Swordplay?” Huwang Xiao spoke.
Hearing Huwang Xiao’s voice, Huwang Min stopped her practice and turned around. Her eyes sparkled as she ran over to Huwang Xiao’s side: “Big brother, you’ve finally come out from closed-door practice.”
Huwang Xiao smiled: “How long was I in practice this time?”
“Almost three months.” Huwang Min answered.
Three months!
This greatly surprised Huwang Xiao-- he did not expect that three months had already passed! Fortunately, he did not miss the timing for the Academy’s annual competition.
“Oh right, Big brother, Senior Fei Hou looked for you a few times, saying that he has something to report to you.” Huwang Min said.
Huwang Xiao nodded to indicate he understood. Then, he guided his little sister on her sword practice before he left her courtyard and headed to the main hall. He sent someone to call for Fei Hou as he waited.
“Sovereign, you’re finally out!” Seeing Huwang Xiao, Fei Hou had a happy expression on his face as he quickly added, “Sovereign, there’s good news! There’s a message from Master!”
“What, there’s news from Yu Ming?!” Huwang Xiao blanked for a moment before delight set in. This was indeed great news!
“Where’s your Master now?” Huwang Xiao asked.
“Several days ago, I and Senior Brother Haotian received Master’s message. Master said he would arrive in Luo Tong Kingdom in two months’ time, and this time, he would be coming together with the Left Custodian!” Fei Hou said with clear respect in his voice.
Left Custodian Zhao Shu!
Huwang Xiao beamed.
Ever since Yu Ming left and there had been no news of him, Huwang Xiao worried that his Senior Brother Chen Tianqi somehow found out about him and would bring about a disaster on the Huwang Family. But now, as long as Left Custodian was there, he would have a Saint realm expert beside him. This had now risen the guaranteed safety of the Tianxuan Mansion to another level.
Two more months.
That meant their arrival would be close to the end of the year; Yu Ming and Zhao Shu would finally arrive in Luo Tong Royal City.
“Are there any movements from Big Sword Sect, Martial Ning Family, or Clear Cloud Pavilion recently?” Huwang Xiao gathered his thoughts and asked Fei Hou.
“Half a month ago, Big Sword Sect’s Lin Zhiren advanced into the Xiantian realm and a grand celebration was held. They invited many forces in the Baolong Kingdom for the banquet. The Martial Ning Family and Clear Cloud Pavilion seemed to be hatching something secretly, and during these past few months, Ning Wang and Clear Cloud Pavilion’s Vice-Pavilion Master Ke Yu have become very close.” Fei Hou reported the events that took place one by one.
&nbs
p; “Ke Yu?” Huwang Xiao puzzled.
“Yes, this Ke Yu is a Xiantian Second Order warrior and a big beauty as well.” Fei Hou replied: “Ning Wang probably has some goodwill towards this Ke Yu.”
Huwang Xiao nodded.
At first, Huwang Xiao did not have full confidence in destroying the Big Sword Sect, Martial Ning Family, and the Clear Cloud Pavilion after breaking through to the Xiantian realm in the coming days. However, in two months’ time, when Yu Ming and Zhao Shu arrived, Big Sword Sect, Martial Ning Family, and the Clear Cloud Pavilion wouldn’t be able to escape annihilation!
Huwang Xiao made a decision that once these two people arrived, he would make a trip to the Baolong Kingdom with them.
“Sovereign, there is another matter. Recently, there have been many clashes between our Tianxuan Mansion guards and the Prime Minister’s Manor.” Fei Hou hesitated as he brought the issue up.
“Prime Minister’s Manor?” Cold light glinted in Huwang Xiao’s eyes, “What is the matter?”
Note:
[1] Custodian - person who has responsibility for or looks after something. i.e the custodian of a relic.
Ch.146
“Some days ago, our Tianxuan Mansion’s guards were sent out to purchase some supplies, and on the way, they ran into the guards from the Prime Minister’s Manor, and they were claiming the things our guards wanted were reserved by them long ago.” Fei Hou replied. “Then, an argument ensued. One of the Prime Minister’s guards suddenly attacked, injuring one of our mansion guards, and thus, a fight broke out.”
Huwang Xiao nodded.
Prime Minister Manor?
“Pass this order; if they run into any Prime Minister Manor’s guards, no need to be polite, breaking their faces or crippling them doesn’t matter as long as they aren’t dead!” Huwang Xiao’s cold voice sharply sounded.
“Yes Sovereign!” Fei Hou readily acknowledged the order.
“Any news about Deities Templar?” Out of nowhere, Huwang Xiao suddenly changed the topic. His voice sounded solemn when he asked the question.
A year ago, Huwang Xiao had tasked Fei Hou to find out about the so-called Deities Templar.
Fei Hou shook his head: “No news.”
In the last twelve months or so, he had exhausted all the connections he had, even instructing the Yuwai Kingdom’s Fei Mansion to look for clues about Deities Templar, yet it was all for nothing.
It was as if this Deities Templar didn’t exist. Truth be told, when he was trying to find out about this Deities Templar, there seemed to be an invisible, tacit collaboration to exclude him and prevent him from finding more information.
Fei Hou explained this unnatural feeling of exclusion to Huwang Xiao.
Listening to Fei Hou’s description, Huwang Xiao began to have pensive thoughts.
As if it doesn’t exist? It seems this Deities Templar was more powerful and mysterious than he had initially thought.
I wonder how that girl Li Lu is doing now. Huwang Xiao thought to himself.
Last year when Li Lu left, the festive cheeriness in Tianxuan Mansion dampened considerably, and now, once again, the end of the year had arrived. In another month or so, it would be another New Year.
However, Li Lu’s second martial spirit had awakened before she left: twin swords martial spirits of light and darkness, one positive and one negative, a balance of Yin and Yang. Her cultivation speed must be terrifying, and in one year’s time, she probably advanced to the Eighth Order!
Gathering his thoughts, Huwang Xiao continued his discussion with Fei Hou, asking about the Nine Tripod Commerce and Tianxuan Mansion’s matters.
The Nine Tripod Commerce had started to expand, opening branches in the neighboring kingdoms with as much as a hundred thousand transactions on a daily basis.
Since the last incident with Clear Cloud Pavilion causing troubles in the Big Dawn County, Huwang Xiao told Fei Hou to hire Eighth Order, Ninth Order, and Tenth Order warriors to improve the security of the Nine Tripod Commerce branches.
After all, what the Nine Tripod Commerce didn’t lack was money.
Although it was hard to lure Tenth Order warriors to join them, the Eighth and Ninth Order warriors were not a problem.
After he finished listening to Fei Hou’s report regarding these matters, Huwang Xiao asked Fei Hou about his progress in cultivation.
Fei Hou had reached the sixth level of the Liquid Thunder Arts that Huwang Xiao passed to him, and the current Fei Hou was at peak Xiantian First Order. But, breaking through to Xiantian Second Order was still a few years away.
Fei Hou’s martial spirit was limited by its innate talent of being a grade ten spirit. With this limitation, even if Fei Hou swallowed the Fire Dragon Pearls Huwang Xiao supplied every day, advancing to Xiantian Second Order would still require a few years.
A short while later Fei Hou retreated from the room.
Before Fei Hou stepped out, Huwang Xiao withdrew thirty Fire Dragon Pearls and gave them to him.
The truth was, without Fei Hou, it was impossible for the Nine Tripod Commerce to have developed so fast during these past seven years. Although Fei Hou only followed Huwang Xiao’s ideas and method of implementation, without Fei Hou’s presence and his management skills, the Nine Tripod Commerce probably could not achieve half the success it had today.
After Fei Hou had left, Huwang Xiao headed towards his parents’ courtyard. When he arrived, both Huwang Peng and Su Yan were practicing battle skills together in their yard.
With Huwang Xiao’s help, Huwang Peng’s and Su Yan’s cultivation had increased significantly.
Huwang Peng already broke through to peak early-Eighth Order whereas Su Yan advanced to the peak late-Seventh Order.
Seeing Huwang Xiao walk into the yard, both of them had a wide smile on their faces and stopped whatever they were doing. Su Yan even came and held Huwang Xiao’s hand, pulling him to a garden stool. Watching Huwang Peng and Su Yan, Huwang Xiao felt warmth in his heart.
Two hours later, Huwang Xiao left his parents’ yard, initiated the God Binding Ring, and entered the ancient battlefield to practice.
Even though he had broken through to the peak late-Tenth Order, Huwang Xiao aimed to step into the Xiantian realm before heading out to the Duanren Empire to join the Imperial City Battle.
In his opinion, the better the result he achieved, the more attention he would receive, especially in regards to cultivation resources. Once he enrolled into the Duanren Institute, it would create a more favorable cultivation environment for Huwang Xiao.
Although he was said to be Asura’s Gate Sovereign, the fact still remained that he didn’t actually have that position officially, so there was no way for him to get cultivation resources from there.
Another month passed.
Huwang Xiao’s routine was practicing Asura Tactic and Body Metamorphose Scripture in the ancient battlefield. The feeling of entering Stage Ten of the Body Metamorphose Scripture was getting stronger.
Other than those two things, Huwang Xiao spent most of his extra time on the Asura Sword Skill and God Binding Palm.
Huwang Xiao’s effort in practicing Asura Demon Claw was significantly lower compared to the rest.
This was due to its strict training requirement of absorbing blood soul qi.
Time flowed, and the end of the year inched closer and closer as one more month passed by. Huwang Xiao’s battle qi drew infinitely close to the Xiantian level.
Reaching the peak late-Tenth Order, Huwang Xiao’s muscles and flesh were toned and firm and his tendons were more flexible and vibrant, containing a savage, explosive power. The outer layer of his skin was extremely tough, and according to his estimates, if he soul transformed with the Black Dragon, even if a peak late-Tenth Order expert stabbed him with a sharp sword, he would not receive any injuries. At most, it would leave a vague white line on the surface without breaking into his skin.
“Tomorrow is the Academy’s competition.” Huwang Xiao muttered to himself.<
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This time, not only did Huwang Xiao want to get first place for the Third Year competition, he wanted to snatch the overall Academy number one spot!
Steeling his resolve, Huwang Xiao exited the ancient battlefield.
Walking into the main hall, Huwang Xiao saw both of his parents, Huwang Peng and Su Yan, as well as his younger siblings, Huwang Min and Huwang Xiaohai. They were all talking happily about something.
“What’s the happy occasion?” Huwang Xiao said with a smile on his face as he walked in.
Seeing it was Huwang Xiao, everyone in the main hall was delighted.
“Xiao, it’s great that you’re out from closed-door practice. Min’er just said she invited that Guo Tai over for a meal in the next few days.” Su Yan explained the matter while beaming-- it was obvious she was in a good mood.
“Oh, is that so?” Huwang Xiao turned towards his younger sister, Huwang Min.
Huwang Min nodded shyly in affirmation.
“Does Guo Shiyuan know the two of you are getting along?” Huwang Xiao asked.
Huwang Min shook her head at this, saying “Guo Tai mentioned he will bring it up with his father in the next few days.”
Su Yan added: “Although the Guo Family is a powerful family from Duanren Empire, our current Huwang Family is not weak. Our Min’er definitely pairs well with Guo Tai. When Guo Shiyuan knows about this, he surely won’t have any objections.”
Huwang Xiao nodded as he took a seat in the main hall. Then, his attention shifted onto his younger brother, Huwang Xiaohai. Huwang Xiaohai may be two years younger than Huwang Min, but his martial spirit talent was higher than Huwang Min’s. After the New Year, he would be fourteen, yet he was already a late-Sixth Order warrior.
Night came. Hazy moonlight shone down.
Tonight, Huwang Xiao did not practice. He stood in the yard, reminiscing about certain people and certain matters.
In a month’s time, after the New Year he would be seventeen years old.
Seventeen, meaning he has been here in the Martial Spirit World for seventeen years.
Is there a possibility that I could return to Earth… A thought flashed across Huwang Xiao’s mind.