by Translator: Pokka; Author: 我本纯洁 (I Am Pure); Licensed From: Migu
He then ignored Xiang Shaoyun and vanished into thin air.
Xiang Shaoyun was left standing blankly. He grumbled gloomily, You old bastard. One day, I will make you my servant and work you to death!
He had never expected that the little fame he gained from the arena battles would pull him into such disaster. He did not know what the bet of the villains entailed, but he was sure it wouldn't be a simple bet. Otherwise, they wouldn't have bothered to put so much effort into it. But it was pointless to think of all that for now. His priority would be ridding his body of the poison.
Ugly Gambler's poison is no ordinary poison. It has probably spread throughout my whole body by now. Regular antidotes won't work. I need to find one of those legendary saint medicines to stand a chance of curing myself. But saint medicines are way too rare. Not even the Ziling Sect can supply me one. Looks like I will have to work hard on becoming the Yu Clan's son-in-law before I do anything else, concluded Xiang Shaoyun.
He then started looking for a way back. After searching around, he discovered that he had already reached the border of the Bloodsin City's territory. It would take him some time to return.
During his return, a few groups discovered him, including those from the Skeleton Gang and the city hall. Those from the city hall left noiselessly when they saw that Xiang Shaoyun was safe. Only the members of the Skeleton Gang approached him.
He did not follow them back to the Skeleton Gang. Rather, he went straight to Devouring Ghost's restricted space. He was there to see if Jin Wo had successfully entered the third-stage Demon Emperor realm.
If Jin Wo had reached the third stage, he was going to bring him along to the Devil Domain. After all, he had nearly been assassinated at the arena. He had a feeling he had the attention of someone hostile to him. With Jin Wo by his side, he would feel much safer.
As for the three Skeletons, although they were strong, it wasn't practical to bring them to the Devil Domain. After all, someone wanting to become the Yu Clan's son-in-law would probably have to rely on himself instead of external help. Otherwise, there would be no point for the young lady to hold the banquet at the Yu Moon Pavilion.
When Xiang Shaoyun returned to the restricted space, he was greeted by the sight of a bored Jin Wo lounging in the courtyard in his original form.
When he saw Xiang Shaoyun, he quickly greeted joyfully, "Your highness, you're finally back!"
"Looks like your breakthrough has been a success. Come, I'll take you out," said Xiang Shaoyun with a smile.
Chapter 430: Havoc Dance
At a certain serene courtyard within Bloodsin City, a young man was silently listening to the report a deferential Emperor was giving him.
"Seventh young master, the Rat Assassins had failed," said the Emperor.
The young man was dressed blandly, yet that did not affect his heroic and handsome appearance. He had a sense of overbearingness about him, a trait that made it clear he was a young master of a powerful organization.
He looked to be about 26 years old, yet he was already a peak King. This was a talent far surpassing the disciples of the Seven Villains. If Xiang Shaoyun was here, he would know who this young man was. He was none other than the seventh son of Di Batian, Di Tong. Di Batian was the sworn brother of his father, Xiang Yangzhan. However, he was much older than Xiang Yangzhan and had fathered nine children.
There was a saying that when a dragon gave birth to nine children, each of the nine would be different. Some would be strong, and some would be weak. That was not the case for Di Batian. All nine of his sons were akin to dragons among men. Each of them was extremely talented, and Di Tong was ranked in the top three in terms of talent among his nine brothers.
Why had Di Tong appeared here? Obviously, he was also here to become the Yu Clan's son-in-law. Although his Di Clan had seized the leadership of the Ziling Sect, they still did not have full control over some of the older members. On top of that, the enemies of the sect were constantly eying them, awaiting the perfect moment to strike.
The Di Clan desperately needed some help, and the Yu Clan would be the best choice. If he managed to become the son-in-law of the Yu Clan, the internal disobedience would instantly vanish and the enemies of the sect would need to think twice before making a move against them.
Di Tong had not expected that he would hear of Xiang Shaoyun soon after he arrived at Bloodsin City. Unfortunately, he had not come with a lot of people and was forced to hire the Rat Assassins to kill him. Alas, his plan was foiled by Ugly Gambler.
Di Tong did not seem overly bothered. Instead, a smile formed on his face as he said, "So after playing the fool for so many years, you are finally going to start your rise? Fine. Let me see if you have what it takes to retake what you have lost."
Di Tong was a prideful person. Although he wished to see Xiang Shaoyun dead, since even the Rat Assassins had failed, he would wait for an opportunity to arise before personally killing Xiang Shaoyun. After all, Xiang Shaoyun was someone who once addressed him as "big brother". How could a big brother not personally send his little brother off to the afterlife?
...
After Xiang Shaoyun brought Jin Wo back to the Skeleton Gang, he placed all his focus on recuperation and meditating on the 10 battles he had just experienced. During his battle with the devil apeman, he had used the gift of instincts, a talent he had gotten from the Nether Soul Domain, to detect the trajectories and openings of the devil apeman's attacks.
After repeated attempts of doing the same to other opponents, his comprehension in the way of reading his opponent's energy flow had deepened as well. His cultivation level was not high enough, and increasing it in a short time frame wasn't possible. Thus, his only way to grow his strength was to focus on battle techniques.
That was why he wished to properly absorb all he had learned from the 10 battles so that the experience could transform into something he could rely on after entering the Devil Domain. Again and again, he replayed the battles in his mind, and his comprehension of the essence of move prediction increased bit by bit.
To accomplish a feat like move prediction, he needed to know the trajectory of his opponent's attack, which he could find out from his opponent's energy flow. Therefore, how to read energy flow was the essence of move prediction.
This would be something extremely difficult for an ordinary person to accomplish. But Xiang Shaoyun was different since he possessed the Nether Soul Domain, which gave him an incomparably exquisite detection ability far beyond an ordinary person's.
Because of that, he could detect the changes in his opponent's energy flow, figure out the attack's trajectory, and make a move before his opponent could complete the move. That way, he could disrupt his opponent's flow or even downright kill his opponent. This was how wondrous move prediction could be once he perfected it.
As Xiang Shaoyun meditated on his previous combat experiences, he suddenly stood up and started waving his hands around in a completely random manner. At times, he punched. At times, he palmed. At times, he clawed. He moved in no specific pattern, yet his every move seemed to follow an indescribable rhythm.
An odd energy field formed around him the moment he entered this weird state. The energy field was in a state of complete disarray, and it was extremely hard to read.
Xiang Shaoyun remained in this state for a long time. Again and again, he danced about like he had endless stamina. Numerous afterimages appeared around him, each of them only performing a single move, whether it be punching, palming, clawing, kicking, and so on.
After an unknown amount of time, Xiang Shaoyun finally stopped. He took a deep breath and smiled. "Formlessness prevails over form. Move prediction essentially requires me to react differently in accordance to the opponents I am facing. My disorderly set of movements seem to be powerless, but this is a set capable of countering the many moves of various opponents. I shall name it Havoc Dance."
Just like that, the first stance of Xiang Shaoyun's first self-created technique obta
ined its name. In the future when he created even more stances, he could then combine them all together into a technique and come up with an overall name for the technique. He meditated for a bit more before leaving the cultivation room. He called over Earth Skeleton.
"Master," Earth Skeleton greeted deferentially.
Xiang Shaoyun's survival after Ugly Gambler kidnapped him was in truth one of the greatest miracles to have ever happened in the Bloodsin City. One ought to know that most of the time when the Seven Villains kidnapped someone, the victim rarely returned unharmed.
Xiang Shaoyun had become the exception, giving rise to more wild rumors. Had Ugly Gambler released him or had he escaped? Regardless of the truth, it served to prove how extraordinary Xiang Shaoyun was.
"Do you know where I can find saint antidotes in the Bloodsin City?" asked Xiang Shaoyun.
"This...I'm afraid you can only find something like that in the Devil Domain," replied Earth Skeleton after some hesitation.
"There are saint medicines in the Devil Domain?" Xiang Shaoyun asked in astonishment.
"Yes. The Devil Domain is the territory of the devils, but it is also a place capable of supporting life. It is therefore possible for saint medicines to exist there. But only Sovereigns, or even only Saints, will have a hope of getting one of those saint medicines," said Earth Skeleton.
Xiang Shaoyun was somewhat disheartened. It seemed unlikely he would be able to get a saint medicine.
He changed the topic. "What kind of place is the Yu Moon Pavilion? Bring me there."
Since there was no way to get an antidote, he should just take part in the Yu Clan's banquet before deciding on what to do next.
"The Yu Moon Pavilion is located in the southern part of the city. I'll lead the way," said Earth Skeleton deferentially.
And thus, Earth Skeleton and Xiang Shaoyun set off toward the Yu Moon Pavilion.
Chapter 431: Meeting of Enemies
The Bloodsin City was filled with murderous and ruthless individuals with terrible tempers, but they needed the companionship of women to relieve their stress, and brothels had naturally become the perfect place to serve that purpose.
But in a city like Bloodsin City, operating a brothel was not something one could easily do. A brothel without sufficient strength would usually end up with a lot of customers that would either create trouble or refuse to pay. The brothel's operator might even end up losing both money and life.
This was not so for the Yu Moon Pavilion, the most luxurious brothel in the Bloodsin City.
The Yu Clan was an ancient influential clan and one of the most powerful organizations in the city. Thus, nobody dared to create trouble at their Yu Moon Pavilion. Of course, there were examples of people creating trouble here in the past. One such example was when someone started acting wildly after getting drunk. Then and there, he was ultimately ripped apart into eight pieces and tossed into a river.
Tonight, a grand banquet was being held at the Yu Moon Pavilion with an invitation to all youngsters below 30 years old in the city. The Holy Maiden candidate of the Yu Clan was going to pick 30 young geniuses among them to enter the Devil Domain with her. Their mission would be to help her get the yin devil wind, something that would help her become the next Holy Maiden.
During this process, anyone who managed to earn the favor of this Holy Maiden candidate would have the chance to become the Yu Clan's son-in-law. Because of that, in addition to the Bloodsin City's local geniuses, many geniuses from other provinces had arrived to attend the banquet as well.
The Yu Clan was considered a top clan even in the entirety of the Western Desert. Becoming their son-in-law basically guaranteed one power and authority. Furthermore, the Holy Maiden candidate was a remarkably beautiful woman known as the number one beauty of Yu Province. A woman with such background and looks was the kind of woman all men would fight for.
Presently, a large number of people had gathered in front of the Yu Moon Pavilion. They were the representatives from the various major organizations, composed of young masters and their followers. Each young master was surrounded by a large number of followers in their attempt to show off their power and influence.
The followers would only be allowed to enter the first and second floors of the pavilion. The third floor was reserved for the youngsters below 30 years old. Xiang Shaoyun had also arrived with Earth Skeleton and Jin Wo.
Looking at the large number of people gathered here, he couldn't help but to lament inwardly, The Yu Clan really has a great rallying power. Just look at the number of people here.
Although he was only a peak third-stage Skysoar Realm cultivator, he could still clearly sense how strong each person was. Those youngsters were all higher than him in terms of cultivation level. As for the followers, none of them were weaker than the Emperor Realm. Suddenly, a commotion broke out and attracted everyone's gaze.
A luxurious carriage was flying over, pulled by six flying demonic beasts baring their fangs and looking incomparably ferocious and majestic. A few people were seated in the carriage. Each looked extraordinary, with one of them being a youngster over 20 years old. He was lounging on a couch while looking around at everyone with disdain in his eyes.
"It's the Dragon Society! Who did they send? He actually has six Demon Emperor flood dragons pulling his carriage? What an astounding display of power!"
"No way. It can't be one of the Thirteen Crown Princes, right? It is rumored that each of the Thirteen Crown princes is insanely talented. Even the Golden Dragon Sword Su Jun is not qualified to be ranked among them."
"I know who he is! He's one of the Thirteen Crown Princes, Long Yunfei, the Thirteenth Crown Prince!"
"They sent him? Looks like the Dragon Society really wants to have a marriage alliance with the Yu Clan."
...
Thirteenth Crown Prince Long Yunfei was the young man lounging on the couch. He looked heroic and extraordinary with a draconic aura swirling around him all the time. He did have a look as amazing as his reputation.
Generally speaking, those capable of emitting draconic aura were generally those who were halfway into the Dragon Ascension Realm. Since this Thirteenth Crown Prince was emitting a weak draconic aura around him, it was clear he was not far away from fully entering the Dragon Ascension Realm.
Reaching this cultivation level before 30 years old placed him among the most talented youths of the various tier-7 organizations. In fact, a talent like this would be rare even among tier-8 organizations. It was no wonder he could arrive with such splendor.
The six flood dragons flew straight into the Yu Moon Pavilion, completely unlike those from the regular organizations that did not dare to fly straight inside. The group had barely entered the pavilion when yet another group of people on a luxurious carriage pulled by a bunch of Demon Emperors arrived.
These were the people from the Dark Devil Sect. Among the group, one of them was the Devil Son candidate, Xie Gongzi, someone whose status was comparable to Long Yunfei. Apart from these two groups, the representatives from the city hall and some other tier-6 and tier-7 organizations from other provinces were also arriving.
A slight trace of envy was visible in Xiang Shaoyun's eyes when he looked at the glory all those young geniuses were basking in. Inwardly, he thought, If I had worked hard back then, I would be shining just as bright as them right now.
Just as Xiang Shaoyun was about to step into the Yu Moon Pavilion, screeching sounds suddenly rang out in the air. Sharp and clear phoenix-like cries filled the sky. Xiang Shaoyun looked up by instinct, and when he saw the luxurious carriage that had just arrived, his eyes were instantly covered with a thick murderous intent. His presence of dragon and tiger instantly roiled out of him. The people on the newly arrived carriage that was pulled by five luan birds seemed to have sensed Xiang Shaoyun's existence as well. They stopped right above him.
A handsome young man walked out from inside the carriage. With a white folding fan on his hand and a graceful bearing about him,
he overlooked Xiang Shaoyun from above and said, "Little Brother Yun, it has been a while. Your big brother never expected to see you here. I am so glad to see you again!"
That young man was none other than Di Tong from the Ziling Sect. He was looking at Xiang Shaoyun with a look of derision.
"Di Tong!" Xiang Shaoyun couldn't help but to roar furiously. He had a look of hatred on his face, looking like he would wish for nothing more than to feast on Di Tong's flesh.
He once addressed Di Tong as his seventh brother, a person he saw as family. This seventh brother had always doted on him and would fulfill his every request. Who would have expected that the people from the Di Clan were actually a bunch of ambitious traitors. After his father had gone missing for half a year, they had snatched the sect from the Xiang Clan and had even killed a lot of members loyal to the Xiang Clan.
Xiang Shaoyun still remembered the scene of this seventh brother personally leading a group to hunt him down. Someone who was akin to family had suddenly turned into an enemy. It was something nobody had seen coming.
"Little Brother Yun, your big brother is very happy to see you living so well. But why are you out here in the open instead of hiding yourself away? Are you getting tired of living?" said Di Tong with a thick murderous intent in his eyes.
"Oh? Very well, let's see which of us will be the one to live after today!" said Xiang Shaoyun with a frosty look on his face.
Chapter 432: Yao Jiaojiao's Dreadful Strength
"Earth Skeleton, kill everyone in that carriage," commanded Xiang Shaoyun.
If this was any other city, Xiang Shaoyun would not dare to face Di Tong like this. However, this was Bloodsin City, and with the Skeleton Gang under his control, dealing with Di Tong's current group wouldn't be something too difficult.