by Translator: Pokka; Author: 我本纯洁 (I Am Pure); Licensed From: Migu
Xiang Shaoyun answered, "Not really. Don't think too much, Elder Liu."
He then stopped Liu Xinji from continuing to send him off. He wanted to take a walk with Zi Changhe alone. Since Liu Xinji was feeling discouraged because his plan had failed, he agreed and let the two walk alone.
Is it possible that this kid already has a master? Is it the Zither Empress? questioned Liu Xinji inwardly while looking at Xiang Shaoyun's departing back.
While walking through the pathway between two mountains with Xiang Shaoyun, Zi Changhe nagged repeatedly, "Shaoyun, you have challenged the Lightning Alliance. I'm afraid the stronger members of the alliance will start showing up. You need to be careful."
He was one of the few that knew about Xiang Shaoyun's extraordinary origin, which was why he had never viewed Xiang Shaoyun as an ordinary young man, and he had been keeping Xiang Shaoyun's origins a secret from even his master.
Xiang Shaoyun nodded and said, "Don't worry, senior brother. I will be careful." He paused for a bit before saying solemnly, "Senior brother, I think it is best you attempt your Skysoar Realm breakthrough within this month."
"Why so?" asked Zi Changhe in astonishment.
Chapter 248: Senior Brother Will Succeed
Skysoar Realm! Who wouldn't want to reach this realm as soon as possible? The moment one reached that realm, one would gain an ability to fly and undergo a complete change in status, akin to the transformation from a carp to a dragon.
Zi Changhe was already a late-stage Transformation Realm cultivator back when he was at the Martial Hall Palace. After receiving a high-level cultivation method from Xiang Shaoyun, he was able to advance three stages in two years, reaching peak Transformation Realm, getting infinitely closer to the Skysoar Realm.
Recently, he had been hesitating whether he should attempt a breakthrough, as he had a feeling he would have a chance to succeed if he was supplied with enough spirit crystals. But his master disagreed with taking the risk. Instead, he was suggested to take two or three more years consolidating his cultivation base. After building a firmer foundation, he could then attempt the breakthrough.
That was a very safe and stable way of growth, and it had the lowest amount of risk. But Xiang Shaoyun was actually telling him to attempt a breakthrough within the month, which caused him to start hesitating again. Should he listen to his master or should he listen to Xiang Shaoyun?
"The earlier you break through, the more beneficial it would be for your future cultivation. The higher the cultivation level you reach when young, the more perfect your spirit, flesh, and vitality will be. It will be of great help when pursuing the Emperor Realm, or even the Sovereign Realm," said Xiang Shaoyun firmly.
"I-is that even possible for me?" Zi Changhe trembled. He had never even dreamed of reaching the Emperor Realm.
"Why not? You think those Emperors were born Emperors? They have merely relied on astonishing talent, firm willpower, and hard work to reach that realm. Senior brother, you are still young. If you can enter the Skysoar Realm now, you will have a wider path ahead of you. The longer you wait, the narrower your future path will be," said Xiang Shaoyun.
Xiang Shaoyun was not a Skysoar Realm cultivator and definitely not an almighty Emperor Realm cultivator. However, he was far more knowledgeable than Zi Changhe. As Zi Changhe listened on, he appeared visibly moved as he found himself believing almost everything Xiang Shaoyun was telling him.
"Senior brother, do you have any other misgivings that make you hesitate?" asked Xiang Shaoyun.
Zi Changhe hesitated slightly and said, "You may be right, but I am completely unprepared for a breakthrough attempt right now."
"You're worried about spirit crystals?" Xiang Shaoyun asked.
An awkward look covered Zi Changhe's face as he said, "I can ask for some spirit crystals from my master, but my master recommends that I only attempt the breakthrough after two or three years."
No matter what, he still couldn't fully commit to it. Xiang Shaoyun pondered for a bit and said, "Come to my place, senior brother. We'll talk about it."
Zi Changhe agreed and went along to Xiang Shaoyun's estate. At the estate, Xiang Shaoyun brought Zi Changhe into his private cultivation room. Before Zi Changhe could say anything, strands of innate purple lightning surged out of Xiang Shaoyun's body. Zi Changhe's eyes instantly widened when he sensed the pure power of natural lightning coming from Xiang Shaoyun’s body.
"T-this is...innate purple lightning!" Zi Changhe cried out in alarm.
"Good eyes, senior brother. That's right. This is the innate purple lightning. With my innate purple lightning and these mid-grade spirit crystals serving as the foundation for your breakthrough attempt, will it be enough?" said Xiang Shaoyun while taking out a few thousand mid-grade spirit crystals.
These were not the spirit crystals he had earned from Xie Sanqian. Rather, they were the crystals he had traded for using his top-quality goldsteel stones. He hadn't spent them all during the previous auction.
Staring at the pile of mid-grade spirit crystals, Zi Changhe was stunned. He had a feeling not even his master could afford giving him that many spirit crystals for a breakthrough attempt. These were mid-grade spirit crystals, not some ordinary low-grade spirit crystals.
"Shaoyun, are you sure?" Zi Changhe had an unreal feeling.
Ignoring the innate purple lightning, just these mid-grade spirit crystals were worth more than everything Zi Changhe had. That was why it felt so unreal to him.
Xiang Shaoyun smiled, "Since when did you become such a hesitant person? The innate purple lightning is something I can regenerate at any time. As for the spirit crystals, this really isn't much. I have more coming my way soon. How can all this be more important than your breakthrough to the Skysoar Realm, senior brother?"
Xiang Shaoyun had always felt gratitude toward Zi Changhe. If Zi Changhe hadn't brought him into the Martial Hall Palace back then, he really couldn't imagine where he would be now. Just for that alone, he wished that Zi Changhe could be even stronger. That would be his way of repaying Zi Changhe.
"Fine, am I a man if I still hesitate after you said all that?" Zi Changhe finally made up his mind.
"That's more like it!" Xiang Shaoyun smiled.
He then started planning the breakthrough with Zi Changhe. First, he would transfer his innate purple lightning to Zi Changhe, allowing the latter to refine his innate purple lightning. Zi Changhe was a cultivator of the lightning power and would benefit greatly from refining the innate purple lightning.
Although he still wouldn't be able to regenerate an endless amount of innate purple lightning like Xiang Shaoyun, refining some innate purple lightning would still help him further increase his combat prowess and his compatibility with the lightning power.
After Zi Changhe was done refining the innate purple lightning, when he was in his peak state, he could then make use of the spirit crystals to start the breakthrough attempt. By doing that, the odds of him succeeding would be much higher.
"Senior brother, just attempt the breakthrough in my estate. I will send someone to notify Elder Liu," suggested Xiang Shaoyun.
"Ok. Let's start. Let me have a taste of the power of innate purple lightning," said Zi Changhe after taking a deep breath.
Xiang Shaoyun started transferring his innate purple lightning to Zi Changhe. He had only transferred a tiny bit, but the moment Zi Changhe took the power in, he started twitching and wailing in pain.
"Senior brother, hang in there! Guard your mind and refine the energy as quickly as possible," shouted Xiang Shaoyun.
With the reminder, Zi Changhe clenched his teeth, ignored the pain, and started refining the innate purple lightning. After four full hours, Zi Changhe's condition finally stabilized. The pain on his face vanished, and his entire body was shrouded by a purple luster. His aura had also grown more powerful.
"Again, Shaoyun!" said Zi Changhe after finally opening his eyes.
Xiang Shaoyun wasted no time and started transferring
innate purple lightning to Zi Changhe again. This time, Zi Changhe only needed two hours to finish the refining process. His speed had increased considerably.
Then, Xiang Shaoyun transferred some innate purple lightning to him again. This time, he transferred double the amount, making Zi Changhe take on even more lightning power at once.
This continued for three whole days before Zi Changhe was done absorbing 49 strands of innate purple lightning energy from Xiang Shaoyun. He had absorbed as much as he could. He now needed to focus on consolidating his gains and preparing himself for the breakthrough attempt.
The somewhat exhausted Xiang Shaoyun left the cultivation room, thinking to himself, Senior brother will succeed!
Chapter 249: Depths of Hundred Beast Mountain Range
After leaving the cultivation room, the only thing Xiang Shaoyun could do was return to his room and start recovering from energy exhaustion. Although he had the lightning bone that could generate innate purple lightning for him, he had transferred an excessive amount of innate purple lightning essence to Zi Changhe. It was completely different from regular innate purple lightning exhaustions during battle.
After refining the 49 strands of innate purple lightning from Xiang Shaoyun, Zi Changhe would be able to unleash part of the innate purple lightning's power in the future as well. Even though it wouldn’t be comparable to the pure innate purple lightning Xiang Shaoyun had, his new lightning power would still be much stronger than his original lightning power.
From the benefit Zi Changhe stood to gain, the massive toll the energy transfer took on Xiang Shaoyun was understandable. Currently, Xiang Shaoyun could feel that his lightning bone was completely empty, and a large amount of energy was required to satiate its hunger.
But even after refining a large amount of spirit crystals, the lightning bone was still not satisfied. It was as if the bone had no interest in the energy within spirit crystals.
Looks like I need to absorb some natural lightning, Xiang Shaoyun told himself.
Since there was no way he could quickly replenish the energy of his lightning bone, he called Long Hui over. Nowadays, Long Hui was acting as Xiang Shaoyun's butler. If news of this spread, it would cause a massive uproar.
"Long Hui, has Xie Sanqian sent the 10,000 mid-grade spirit crystals over yet?" asked Xiang Shaoyun.
Long Hui replied respectfully, "Yes, two days ago. But since the young master was in seclusion, I did not disturb you with it."
"Good. Take the spirit crystals and buy some lightning elemental items for me," said Xiang Shaoyun.
Long Hui then left to carry out the order.
...
At the depths of the Hundred Beast Mountain Range, a group of extremely powerful individuals were in an intense battle with the local demonic beasts.
Rumble! Rumble!
World-shaking explosions erupted unendingly, collapsing numerous mountains and reducing many ancient trees to powder. The energy explosions were extremely terrifying, and not even Kings could create such explosions. These individuals were at least Emperor Realm cultivators.
"Damn it! Leave! We need to leave or we will all die!" shouted a person fearfully. He was mounted on a seven-tailed silver fox, swinging a saber repeatedly at the demonic beasts around him.
This was a group of experts that had arrived from a different province. As for the man on the seven-tailed silver fox, his name was Linggu Haonan. He was the leader of the group and was an extremely strong combatant.
As for why they were here instead of somewhere else searching for the person they were supposed to be hunting, that was because they had accidentally discovered the tracks of a top-tier beast, the white tiger.
Thus, they put their mission on hold and focused on taming the white tiger first. After all, they could sense that the white tiger they had discovered was only a Demon King. If they managed to capture the beast and train it into a top-tier white tiger, it would be an accomplishment worthy of pride. In comparison, accomplishing their mission of killing a cripple was a negligible feat.
But right as they were about to capture the white tiger, a large number of demonic beasts appeared to attack them. Even Demon Emperors had appeared, which made them realize that this mountain range was probably the territory of the white tigers. Moreover, they also realized that it was an ancient mountain range. There wouldn't be so many terrifying demonic beasts otherwise.
Leading his subordinates, Linggu Haonan carved a path of blood away from the demonic beasts. Many of them were killed during the escape. Tiger Emperors, lion Emperors, wolf Emperors, mutated three-eyed ape Emperors...all these powerful demonic beasts were working together to attack the group.
Inwardly, Linggu Haonan cursed, Good thing I escaped when I did. I can feel there are even more terrifying beasts deeper in the mountain range. If those beasts had been provoked as well, none of us would have been able to escape.
More than half of Linggu Haonan's group had been killed, and the survivors were forced to find a place somewhere hidden to recuperate. They no longer dared to try anything against the white tiger. The only thing they could do was report this to their sect when they returned. Their sect would have to send some powerful experts to come deal with this white tiger.
In the depths of the Hundred Beast Mountain Range, a sturdy and handsome young man was standing facing the wind on top of a mountain. He was dressed in a white pelt outfit that clearly showcased his finely-defined muscles.
Staring into the distance, he muttered, "I think I heard them mentioning boss's name. Are they here for my boss?"
After thinking about it for a bit, he called out, "Jin Wo, come."
At that command, a sturdy middle-aged man appeared noiselessly beside him. In a deferential manner, he said, "Jin Wo is here, your highness."
"Come on a trip with me. I need to look for my boss," said the young man.
The man called Jin Wo replied, "Your highness, the patriarch has commanded that you are not to leave so early."
"Bastard, not even you are listening to me anymore?" the young man turned around and bellowed.
Jin Wo trembled and quickly said, "Jin Wo dares not."
"Come with me, then," commanded the young man overbearingly.
Just as the young man was about to leave with Jin Wo, a few silhouettes appeared noiselessly before them and blocked their way.
"Prince, please do not make things difficult for us," said the newcomers deferentially.
"This is so infuriating. I'm going to look for the patriarch right this moment!" said the young man furiously.
With his current strength, he would not be able to leave with brute force. The only way he could leave was by the permission of the patriarch. No matter what, he did not wish to see harm come to his boss.
...
Within the Cloud Pavilion, Long Hui had just finished gathering some lightning elemental items for Xiang Shaoyun.
Looking at the lightning elemental spirit-grade medicines of pitiful quality, he was left speechless. He said, "Long Hui, is this all the Cloud Margin Pavilion has? Only the high-tier spirit medicine thunderbloom and the mid-tier spirit medicine lightning snake vine? You can't find anything with better quality?"
A guilty look covered Long Hui's face as he said, "Sorry, young master. We have a vice pavilion master called the Lightning King. He has been in seclusion trying to break through to the Emperor Realm for the past two years. Thus, many lightning elemental items have been sent directly to him. The rest were all shared between the various disciples cultivating the lightning power. Furthermore, lightning elemental herbs have always been rare. The pavilion never has much of them in stock."
Hearing that explanation, Xiang Shaoyun couldn't even bring himself to blame Long Hui.
"Fine. You may leave first. I will be in seclusion for a few days," said Xiang Shaoyun.
"Yes, young master," Long Hui answered.
After Long Hui left, Xiang Shaoyun entered his cultivation room. When he failed to sense any signs of b
reakthrough from Zi Changhe, he muttered, "Looks like senior brother has not finished refining the lightning power. Well, I will focus on entering the eighth-stage first then."
Thus, Xiang Shaoyun returned to his own room and swallowed the two stalks of spirit medicines to replenish some of his lightning energy. He also made use of the two herbs to try breaking through into the eighth stage.
While Xiang Shaoyun was in seclusion, someone came delivering him a challenge.
Chapter 250: Zi Changhe Becoming King
It was a silent and starry night. Within his room, Xiang Shaoyun had just consumed the two spirit medicines, filling his body with a large amount of lightning energy. Regular Transformation Realm cultivators would be able to grow or even enter the next stage after consuming spirit medicines.
But Xiang Shaoyun's lightning bone instantly devoured the energy from the two spirit medicines, leaving nothing behind. Even so, the lightning bone was still radiating intense hunger. Of course, the hunger wasn't as bad anymore.
Xiang Shaoyun reminded himself, Looks like I can't excessively exhaust the essence of the innate purple lightning in the future. That will only harm my own foundations.
Xiang Shaoyun ignored the lightning bone for now and started circulating his energy through his meridians. At the same time, strands of energy swirled around the star congregation jade hanging on him as it incessantly absorbed the energy from the stars. The energy congregated around Xiang Shaoyun, greatly increasing the speed of his astral energy absorption.
This was a star congregation jade of great quality, and it was capable of gathering a large amount of astral energy and increasing the energy absorption speed of a cultivator by three or even five times. That was why Xiang Shaoyun had the confidence to enter the eighth-stage in only two or three days.
Back when he obtained Yun Flame, he had reached peak seventh-stage Transformation Realm. He had been consolidating his foundations since then. Coupled with the battle he had with Qin Yu and the Lightning Alliance members, he could feel that he was going to break through soon. With the star congregation jade helping him grow even faster, there was no need for him to wait any longer.