I Am Overlord c1-962
Page 176
"He is only a third-stage Skysoar Realm cultivator. I'm now sure he is a genuine Super King."
"Look at his frail and thin body. I never would have thought that he would be a match for the strongbear king. Looks like I have underestimated him."
"Once again, the Gambler's Law is proven to be right. Although I did not make much from this bet due to the payout, it is still a win."
...
When the people looked at Xiang Shaoyun again, respect and admiration were visible in their eyes. This was a King with a terrifying potential of growth. Even these vicious criminals respected strength. In a certain corner, a middle-aged man was holding a pearl, recording everything that had happened.
"Possessing such combat prowess at such a young age. I wonder which organization he is a young master of. I need to figure that out immediately. I hope his background isn't too crazy. Only then will I have a chance to recruit him. If I can recruit someone like this, it will be an accomplishment of great merit," said the middle-aged man with an expectant look.
He then waved his hand at the person beside him and said, "Go investigate his background."
"Yes, lord," the person answered respectfully before vanishing amid the crowd of pedestrians.
At a different corner was a different old man who had also recorded everything that had happened. With his eyes narrowed, he muttered, "It is hard to see his background from the way he fights. The Lightning Bolt Fist is a very common battle technique. But his tiger energy is so pure. Is he from the Tiger Palace? But the people of the Tiger Palace rarely come here."
At yet another corner was a person of unknown gender wearing a cloak with a hood. They were also muttering, "This kid is a Super King. We have to recruit him. In 100 years, he will be yet another Emperor of Emperors!"
A similar scene was happening at several other locations. Xiang Shaoyun had successfully caught all of the scouts' attention.
Chapter 415: Ten Victories
Even after defeating the bear king, Xiang Shaoyun still remained on the arena. He shouted again, "Anyone else dares to battle me?"
He no longer looked as clean and sharp as before. After all, the intense battle with the bear king had messed him up and stained his clothes with blood even though he had essentially withstood all the attacks. It was becoming quite obvious that he had only about half his combat prowess left.
The crowd couldn't help but feel a sense of admiration for his courage when they heard him asking for another opponent. Continuously battling like this was extremely dangerous. If he found himself out of energy in the midst of the next battle, death would be very possible.
"I'm betting 10,000 mid-grade spirit crystals on this kid," said Ugly Gambler with a curious look on his face.
The larger the bet Ugly Gambler placed, the less confidence he had on Xiang Shaoyun's victory. Even so, he still placed his bet, as this was the kind of bet that excited him. This habit of his was what separated Ugly Gambler from other gamblers.
As for Earth Skeleton, he did the same and placed all his winnings on Xiang Shaoyun yet again. That was what Xiang Shaoyun had told him to do before, and from this, one could see how confident Xiang Shaoyun was in himself.
"How can I leave the arena before I have enough fun?" said Xiang Shaoyun toward the crowd, giving them the impression he was egotistical.
Immediately, someone from the six-armed race stepped forth to challenge Xiang Shaoyun. The six-armed race essentially looked human, but they were much bigger in build comparatively.
The new challenger was a peak fourth-stage King. With his six-armed unique abilities, he was also a King that could hardly find a match. Alas, this six-armed King was killed after only five exchanges with Xiang Shaoyun.
The fifth challenger was another humanoid race that specialized in speed. This was also an expert who could hardly find a match among those of the same cultivation realm. This challenger thought that it would be easy to defeat Xiang Shaoyun. But when Xiang Shaoyun used his Overlord's Nine Nether Steps with footwork intent, the challenger was utterly defeated and ultimately killed.
After killing his opponent, Xiang Shaoyun continued asking for more challengers. The crowd found it unbelievable that after such exhaustion, he still wasn't taking herbs or pills to replenish his energy. The commotion caused the crowd to swell, and Xiang Shaoyun's name started spreading in the Bloodsin City.
Ultimately, Xiang Shaoyun went through 10 consecutive battles and won all of them. The 10 battles had left numerous wounds on his body. An obvious wound was visible on a spot near his heart. This was a wound someone from the dwarf race had inflicted on him.
It had been a fatal attack. Fortunately, Xiang Shaoyun had survived and only suffered a superficial wound. His heart was still well protected. Otherwise, he would have died. That dwarf was none other than the expert Scorching Blood Monarch had invited. He was killed on the arena just like all the other challengers.
However, Scorching Blood Monarch did not feel anything whatsoever about the dwarf's death. Rather, he was rejoicing inwardly, The dwarfs are known for never letting go of a grudge. After killing one of them, they won't forget you. Even if I don't kill you, those dwarfs will finish you off.
After the 10 battles, Xiang Shaoyun no longer continued, and he left the arena.
"Let's go," said Xiang Shaoyun to Earth Skeleton.
He had gained a lot from the 10 battles, and he was going to enter seclusion later. His cultivation level would probably grow after his many battles. He initially wanted to challenge the fifth arena as well, but he gave up on the thought after thinking about it for a bit since he had gained a lot from the fourth arena.
There was no point in forcing himself to keep going. He could always challenge the fifth arena after his seclusion. He considered this an introduction to the cruelty of the Bloodsin Arenas. He still had plenty of time in the future. If the others found out what he was thinking, they would probably curse that he was a madman.
The intensity of the fifth arena was even higher than that of the fourth arena. Although Xiang Shaoyun was a Super King, he had after all just finished 10 consecutive battles. Only a madman would consider challenging the fifth arena at this time.
However, the people present all had a feeling that this was not the extent of Xiang Shaoyun's prowess. After all, he had been fighting without weapons all along. They would not naively believe that Xiang Shaoyun specialized in punching techniques. How powerful would he be when using a weapon?
"Yes, Young Master Xiang," said Earth Skeleton respectfully.
When there were no outsiders, he addressed Xiang Shaoyun as master. And when there were outsiders around, he addressed him as Young Master Xiang. This was because Xiang Shaoyun did not wish to expose his identity for now. In the future when he had enough reputation, what they addressed him as would no longer matter.
While Xiang Shaoyun was leaving, a few people started approaching him from different directions. He was immediately on alert. Earth Skeleton quickly used voice transmission to say, "Don't worry, master. These are the scouts of the various organizations. They are probably here to recruit you."
"I am Zhang Sheng from the city hall. I wish to invite Young Master Xiang for a drink, if you are willing," asked a spirited middle-aged man.
An old man interrupted, "I am an overseer from the Dragon Society, Murong Zhen, here to invite you to become a disciple of Dragon Society."
A person in a cloak emanating a sinister feeling said, "I am Te Luo, here to invite you to join our Dark Devil Sect."
When the other scouts heard what these three spies said, they no longer dared to say anything. The three spies were the representatives of three of the city's strongest organizations. With the three here, all of them had to step aside.
They were all clear that the scouts from these powerful organizations wouldn't easily extend anyone an invitation. Only geniuses such as a King of Kings would be qualified to receive it. Them recruiting Xiang Shaoyun was proof of his strength.
; After finding out from Earth Skeleton that they were scouts, Xiang Shaoyun understood what their task was. He tactfully said, "Sorry, but I am already being helped by an organization. Thank you for the invitation, though."
Generally, the moment someone made it clear they already had a backer, the scouts would move on. After all, a genius's backer could very well be a terrifying existence as well. Although these organizations were powerful in the Bloodsin City, that did not mean they were undefeated in the region.
The scouts left with disappointment. As for Xiang Shaoyun, he quickly left with Earth Skeleton. He had no intention to stay and let everyone stare at him like he was some animal in a zoo. But before he could go far, Scorching Blood Monarch surrounded him with a group of people.
"Murderer of my son, pay with your life," said Scorching Blood Monarch, his emperor aura surging out.
Earth Skeleton stepped in front of Xiang Shaoyun and shouted, "Scorching Blood Monarch, you think you can bully our Skeleton Gang so easily?"
"Move aside, Earth Skeleton. Or else, your blood will spill as well," said Scorching Blood Monarch.
At this time, a different group of people arrived. The group consisted of Emperors, led by Celestial Skeleton and Human Skeleton.
"Noxious Blood Gang, if you want war, bring it on!" Celestial Skeleton's voice rang out from far away.
The atmosphere became tense.
Chapter 416: Bloodsin City Governor Tang Zhan
Wait, is everyone in the Skeleton Gang here? Who exactly is this kid? Scorching Blood Monarch cried out inwardly. He then called out to his men, "Retreat for now. We will settle this another time."
The group he had brought was enough to deal with Xiang Shaoyun and Earth Skeleton, but with Celestial Skeleton and the others present, they stood no chance. If he did not leave now and allowed Celestial Skeleton and the others to surround him, it would be too late.
"Stay if you have the guts. I will kill you all!" Celestial Skeleton shouted.
Scorching Blood Monarch and the others started fleeing even faster, but Celestial Skeleton's group did not bother giving chase. Rather, they converged around Xiang Shaoyun and guarded him as they returned to their headquarters.
The people in the area witnessed everything that had happened. None of them had expected that a tiny organization like the Skeleton Gang would be related to Xiang Shaoyun. After all, the Skeleton Gang had a terrible reputation while Xiang Shaoyun himself was a Super King who also looked like a proper gentleman. He shouldn't have any relationship with the likes of them.
Now that they saw him getting mixed up with those nasty criminals, they started wondering if Xiang Shaoyun was merely a hypocrite pretending to be a gentleman.
If Xiang Shaoyun knew what those people were thinking, he would probably cry out furiously, saying something like "I am a handsome, graceful, honest, and pure young man. How can I be a hypocrite? You must all be blind!"
With Celestial Skeleton, Earth Skeleton, and the others escorting him, Xiang Shaoyun quickly returned to the Skeleton Gang's headquarters. There, he immediately entered seclusion to recuperate from his injuries. The 10 battles had exhausted him in both body and mind. His energy exhaustion was rather large as well.
After completing one major energy circulation and absorbing over 10,000 mid-grade spirit crystals, he found that his nine stars now had more energy within. He was also no longer an early third-stage King. Instead, he had advanced to the mid third-stage Skysoar Realm.
At the King Realm, a massive accumulation of energy was required for any advancement. Xiang Shaoyun had been in the third stage for about half a year, but he had been consolidating his foundations all this while. Today, his cultivation base had finally advanced yet again.
He had been advancing slowly not because he had a slow energy absorption rate but because he had nine stars within him that he had to simultaneously fill with energy. His energy requirement for any advancement was far higher than an ordinary King's. One should not overlook this slight growth in his cultivation base, as it had pushed his combat prowess to an even higher height.
Three days later, Xiang Shaoyun was back to his peak form. His injuries had more or less healed. He laughed and said, "Fighting is indeed the fastest way to grow. No wonder Devouring Ghost insisted I come here. But this is still not fast enough. I need to reach the fourth stage in two months. For now, I will meditate on the 10 battles I have just experienced. It will help me reduce the injuries I could possibly get when challenging the fifth arena."
He utilized his gift of visualization and started replaying the 10 battles in his mind over and over again. What he did right, what he did wrong, he analyzed everything. He also studied the techniques used by the various races, preparing himself to better face their attacks if he were to encounter them again in the future. Through studying these techniques, even when encountering opponents with similar combat prowess to him, he would be able to better predict his opponents' attacks.
At this point, Xiang Shaoyun seemed to have a sort of inspiration. If he could predict his opponent's moves to counter their incoming attack, he would also be able to steal the initiative and kill them before they could attack. At that thought, he grew excited.
Accomplishing this would be equivalent to creating his very own battle technique, something completely new. Historically, every battle technique in existence was something created by a genius and eventually passed down to the later generations.
However, it was always difficult to achieve perfection when cultivating a technique created by someone else. Not even those high-grade battle techniques would let a cultivator fully unleash its true prowess. But if one was using a self-created battle technique, one would be able to use it as one wished, unleashing 100, or even 200, percent of that technique's prowess. That was the benefit of creating an original technique.
The seed of this new idea was thus sowed in Xiang Shaoyun's mind. After replaying the battles, summarizing his inefficiencies during the battles and studying the strengths and weaknesses of his opponents, he started considering ways in which he could start predicting their moves.
Anything related to prediction was extremely hard to cultivate. Even those godly divination techniques would only be able to give a slight glimpse of the future much earlier in advance. To predict the moves of an opponent in the midst of battle was almost impossible.
Xiang Shaoyun was simply courting trouble for himself for trying to accomplish it. However, he was a freakish genius, and he was not one to overestimate himself.
Through replaying the battles repeatedly and thinking back to all the battles he had experienced, he seemed to have caught on to something, "Before any opponent attacks in any shape or form...stabbing, hacking, and so on...there will be some minute clues one can observe on their body to determine what's coming. If I fight enough differing opponents, will I be able to get used to their habits and gain the ability to read the prelude of their attacks and counter them before they can even attack?"
He further expanded his train of thought and seemed to have understood something. However, his comprehension was not enough to create a brand new technique. It was merely a start of a new path he was treading. Perhaps when he had enough comprehension in the future, he would be able to finally create the technique.
...
The city hall was located at the center of Bloodsin City, not far from the Bloodsin Arenas. The building was an ancient, massive, extremely majestic castle. Strands of natural power of influence streamed out of the city hall, suppressing the entire city, granting the city hall an unshakable position in the city.
Presently, Zhang Sheng was respectfully presenting the recording crystal to a handsome middle-aged man seated on the throne in the main hall. The middle-aged man had a strict appearance capable of inviting reverence from anyone who laid eyes on him.
He was Tang Zhan, the governor of Bloodsin City. After becoming a Sovereign 2,000 years ago, he had fought 108 battles and had never been defeated. He had even managed to p
enetrate the fifth layer of the Devil Domain, entering and leaving seven times. He had contributed greatly to the surface world, and he was now known as Unrivaled Tang.
He was no longer a Sovereign. He had surpassed that realm. Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to head one of the most powerful organizations in the Bloodsin City, standing toe to toe against the other organizations.
He stared deeply at the recording crystal. A look of astonishment surfaced briefly in his eyes as he said, "Have you investigated this child's background?"
"His name is Xiang Shaoyun, around 18 years old this year. He arrived at the city not long ago, and he has three Emperor followers. I don't know how he suddenly became an honored guest of the Skeleton Gang," said Zhang Sheng.
"Um. Send some people to watch over him. Keep him safe. I will personally meet him after leaving the Devil Domain," said Tang Zhan before he slowly vanished.
Chapter 417: Sect Master Medal
Around 10 days later, Xiang Shaoyun left his seclusion. When he walked the corridors of the Skeleton Gang headquarters again, the people showed him much more respect. Anyone who met him greeted him respectfully, "Greetings, Young Master Xiang."
Xiang Shaoyun was rather confused, but he soon understood why. It turned out his feat of winning 10 consecutive victories at the Bloodsin Arena had spread throughout the Skeleton Gang. They all knew he was a Super King. And when they thought of how the three leaders were so respectful of him, they all concluded that he was definitely a young master from some powerful organization.
Xiang Shaoyun did not care about their guesses as he reckoned none of them would have imagined that he was actually a disgraced young master. He went straight to the main hall and summoned the three Skeletons over.
"What's going on? Why are all of you looking so anxious?" asked Xiang Shaoyun when he saw them.
"Master, the Ghostface Sect has attacked us. Many of us have been injured," said Celestial Skeleton.