In the blink of an eye, the twin dragons had drilled more than ten meters into the ground. More and more hot air spewed out from underground, and because Huang Xiaolong and the twin dragons were in truth one entity, what they see, he could also see just the same.
More than a dozen meters below, the earth underneath was a burning red in color, akin to magma.
The twin dragons continued to drill down deeper, seventy meters, eighty meters, ninety meters, one hundred meters deep!
When it was over a hundred meters down, the surrounding soil was a deep red, as if cooked by the fire. The temperature nearly reached a thousand degrees Fahrenheit; at such a temperature, even a Xiantian expert would turn into ashes.
But, Huang Xiaolong's twin dragon martial spirits were unaffected!
Nearing two hundred meters deep, suddenly, the twin dragons came upon an open space. There was a surging sea of fire and below it was bubbling magma; the small fire dragons ballooned in size, becoming several meters thick fire dragons!
Extreme pure fire qi rolled and surged like angry waves in the sea of fire.
From the magma below, qi gathered, turning into a huge flame dragon vein.
Is this the natural dragon vein below the Dragon Flame Valley?
And suspended above the bubbling magma was a pagoda!
Golden lights flickered out from the pagoda while there were several more than one meter thick fire dragons circled around it. Moreover, Huang Xiaolong noticed that the pagoda was constantly emitting fire dragon qi!
Huang Xiaolong was stunned; could all the fire qi in this Dragon Flame Valley originate out from this pagoda? Could the formation of the natural magma vein below also have been created by the pagoda?
What is this pagoda?
At this time, the twin dragons above the sea of fire roared with excitement and one black and one blue dragon swam towards the pagoda, encircling it.
The twin dragons spun endlessly around the pagoda and the pagoda shone brightly and shook with vigor.
The fire dragons around the pagoda shot towards the blue and black dragon as if they had wisdom, wanting to swallow Huang Xiaolong's twin dragon martial spirits. However, just when these fire dragons got close to them, the black and blue dragon stretched their jaws and devoured all the fire dragons cleanly.
The twin dragons didn't stop after devouring the fire dragons that attacked them; they continued onto other fire dragons and one after another, fire dragons of various sizes went into the black and blue dragon's stomach.
These thick fire qi dragons took more ten years to reach this size and their purity was ten times higher than what Huang Xiaolong could absorb through the five-pointed star array formation in the stone chamber, maybe even higher than that.
A short while later, the fire dragons above the sea of fire were swallowed into the black and blue dragon's stomach till none were left.
And after devouring these fire qi dragons, Huang Xiaolong's twin dragon martial spirits nearly doubled in size; the scales on both of their bodies became even more compact, shinier and their stout claws grew sturdier.
On the surface, the black and blue dragons looked like they were layered with a fiery red glow, rippling along the scales of their body, and the dragons' natural oppressive aura multiplied.
When all the fire qi dragons were gone, the black and blue dragons once again circled the pagoda.
But, around the pagoda was an invisible barrier of fire qi, blocking the black and blue dragons a few meters away, unable to get closer to it.
Even so, every time the black and blue dragon spun around it, the fire qi barrier would become a little thinner. One hour later, the fire qi barrier disappeared completely.
Then, the black and blue dragon wrapped the pagoda with their bodies and headed back towards the stone chamber Huang Xiaolong was in.
In just moments, both the black and the blue dragon reached the stone chamber.
The pagoda floated above Huang Xiaolong's head. Instantly, strong pure flames broke out from the pagoda, rushing into Huang Xiaolong's body.
Huang Xiaolong's body shook abruptly as if he fell into a pool of magma; his organs felt like they were being boiled in scorching lava, causing anguishing pain. This type of pain from extreme temperatures almost made Huang Xiaolong lose his consciousness, scaring him so much that he quickly ran the Asura's Tactics to refine these violent fire dragon qi so he can absorb them.
One stream of fire qi after another caused Huang Xiaolong's face to distort due to the excruciating pain.
He kept refining the fire qi that entered his body, but the pagoda kept spewing out an endless stream of fire qi that it even made Huang Xiaolong hallucinate that he was being roasted inside out.
As Huang Xiaolong continued to refine the fire qi inside his body, on the surface of his skin were traces of black impurities mixed with blood that oozed out from his pores. Years ago, when Huang Xiaolong ate the Yang Fruit, it cleansed his marrows and at that time, black impurities also came out from his body. Now, however, the amount was significantly higher and it was mixed with blood; soon, these blood mixed impurities turned into a layer of hard scab as if imprisoning him inside.
From afar, Huang Xiaolong looked like someone who fell into a pool of blood.
After a little more than an hour, relying on the continuous usage of the Asura Tactics, Huang Xiaolong could feel the pain gradually subside, and after another two hours, the pure fire qi spewing out from the pagoda gave Huang Xiaolong a warm, comfortable feeling instead of the unbearable pain it had in the beginning.
Every time the pagoda spewed out fire qi, Huang Xiaolong detected the changes inside his body, that his internal organs were becoming stronger.
During the entire time, the black and blue dragons were wrapped around the pagoda, swallowing the fire qi that came out from it.
While Huang Xiaolong's twin dragon martial spirits 'abducted' the pagoda into the stone chamber he was in, the rest of the students who were cultivating in the other stone chambers such as Lu Kai and Chen Cheng, felt the fire qi from the array formation had weakened slightly. Although, they felt weird, none of them thought too much of it.
Three days passed quickly.
The surface of Huang Xiaolong's skin hardened with layers of blood mixed with impurities and it slowly glowed a fiery red color; then, it melted piece by piece and fell to the floor. At this time, more impurities were pushed out from his body once again, creating a new layer on the surface of his skin.
Another three days came and went, these layers of impurities melted, fell, and emerged once again, repeating itself.
Like this, after three rounds, there were no longer any impurities mixed with blood coming out from Huang Xiaolong's pores; the surface of his skin looked as white as snow with a glow to his entire body.
Inside-out, Huang Xiaolong's body had undergone tremendous changes.
Not only his skin and body, but even his temperament and aura was not the same.
When the time limit of fifteen days came, Huang Xiaolong had advanced to peak late-Sixth Order from peak mid-Sixth Order-- less than half a step and he could break through to the Seventh Order Warrior!
After the fifteenth day, Huang Xiaolong recalled his twin dragon martial spirits back into his body and that pagoda actually followed into his body as well!
Inside his body, the pagoda continued to spew out fire qi, tempering his body nonstop. This discovery made Huang Xiaolong very happy; in this case, doesn't that mean the fire qi will continue to strengthen his physique every second of the day?
In the long run, to what extent would his physical strength and defense improve? Not only that, his meridians and battle qi can be enhanced infinitely-- what extent can they reach?
Huang Xiaolong took a deep breath to calm himself down.
Suppressing the excitement in his heart, he walked out from the stone chamber seconds later. The other three people also came out from their respective stone chambers where Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu were already waiting for them.
Seeing the four students come out, Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu's gaze could not help but fall on Huang Xiaolong's body; and the finding made their eyes widened in shock.
"You, you are Huang Xiaolong?!" Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu stared at Huang Xiaolong with exaggeratedly widened eyes. It had only been fifteen days inside the stone chamber, yet Huang Xiaolong actually grew a head taller! His skin, his temperament, and his aura had changed drastically.
If they were in a different place, without careful observation, they truly would not be able to recognize Huang Xiaolong.
In fact, when Chen Cheng and the other two students came out from their stone chambers, they really did not recognize Huang Xiaolong.
Looking at Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu's reaction, Huang Xiaolong felt helpless about it and could only nod his head in affirmation.
"Xiaolong, ar-, are you alright?" Sun Zhang came up beside him and asked, full of concern. Such drastic changes in fifteen days, hopefully, there isn't anything wrong. Nowadays, Huang Xiaolong was considered to be the Academy and the Luo Tong Kingdom's darling.
"Me? What could happen to me?" Huang Xiaolong smiled helplessly; at the moment, his body was at its best condition. He could probably even kill a Grade Seven demonic beast with a single punch.
"Then all is good." Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu secretly breathed out in relief.
With the cultivation time ended, the two of them brought Huang Xiaolong and the other three students out of Dragon Flame Valley; Lu Kai and the rest had left ten days earlier.
Coming out of the Dragon Flame Valley, the group of six soon arrived at the Academy's square.
Chen Cheng, Huang Xiaolong, and the other two bid farewell to Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu, but when Huang Xiaolong turned around wanting to leave, Sun Zhang called out, "Xiaolong, stay for a moment, I have something to say to you.''
Huang Xiaolong paused for a second and turned back, and he looked at Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu both.
A look was exchanged between Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu; subsequently, Sun Zhang took out a small bottle and stated, "This is a high Grade Five Spirit Dan, take it!"
"Five, high Grade Five Spirit Dan!" Huang Xiaolong was taken aback, then his eyes lit up.
The Academy overall champion, Chen Cheng was rewarded with one high Grade Five Spirit Dan; even to the Academy, Grade Five Spirit Dans are hard to come by.
But, Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu actually gave him one?!
Xiong Chu chuckled, saying "That's right, this is a top Grade Five Spirit Dan. Consider it as our personal gift to you. Xiaolong, practice hard. Both of us hope you can advance to the Seventh Order soon."
Huang Xiaolong took the bottle, feeling delighted in his heart. A high Grade Five Spirit Dan ah! With this, his mother's strength can enhance another level!
As for himself, he doesn't need it.
On Huang Xiaolong's face was an expression of gratefulness to Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu, and he said, "Don't worry, I will practice hard and seize the time to break through to the Seventh Order as soon as possible."
Hearing this, Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu's face bloomed.
Sun Zhang smilingly said, "With that high Grade Four Spirit Dan you have along with this one, and your talent, we believe within half a year's time you can advance to the peak late-Sixth Order; and in one year, you definitely can break through to the Seventh Order!"
If these two people knew Huang Xiaolong wanted to gift the First Year champion's reward – the high Grade Four Spirit Dan, and this high Grade Five Spirit Dan to his parents, what would they think?
Of course, even without these two pills, Huang Xiaolong estimated that he would break through within half a year's time.
A short moment later, Huang Xiaolong left the Academy, returning to the Tianxuan Mansion.
When he reached Tianxuan Mansion's entrance, Fei Hou, Marshal Haotian, and a middle-aged man were waiting at the Tianxuan Mansion main door. This unknown middle-aged man has sharp-edged eyebrows and deep unfathomable eyes, and faint streaks of gray hair on his temple. He stood there like a sword ready to fly out from its sheath anytime, able to flip the earth over. Marshal Haotian and Fei Hou who stood a step behind him, nearly faded into the background.
Seeing this middle-aged man, Huang Xiaolong could already guess his identity.
Asura's Gate Elder, Yu Ming!
When Huang Xiaolong appeared, the middle-aged man looked over, his eyes sharp like a knife, giving an invisible oppressive aura, making it difficult to breathe with the pressure he exuded.
"Sovereign!" Joy was obvious on Fei Hou's and Marshal Haotian's faces when they saw Huang Xiaolong, they hurried to introduce Huang Xiaolong to the middle-aged man: "Master, that is the Sovereign; Sovereign is back!"
Yu Ming's gaze inevitably fell on Huang Xiaolong's left ring finger where the Asura Ring was. Suddenly, he trembled excitedly, and all his tyrannical aura disappeared in an instant as he strode towards Huang Xiaolong and bowed down in salute, "Asura's Gate Elder Yu Ming greet the Sovereign. Sovereign invincible throughout!"
Seeing their Master like this, Marshal Haotian and Fei Hou quickly followed suit.
"Quick, please stand." Huang Xiaolong stepped up and helped the three of them up.
After the three stood up, Huang Xiaolong spoke: "Let's go in and talk."
Minutes later, the four came to the main hall, and Huang Xiaolong waved away the Marshal Mansion guards and Boli's group of slaves.
"I heard from Marshal Haotian and Fei Hou, you went to the Mohe Kingdom to do something?" After everyone took a seat, Huang Xiaolong asked Yu Ming.
"It is so, Sovereign." Yu Ming quickly stood up and answered respectfully, 'Three years ago, this Subordinate was searching for Life and Death Grass for alchemy and I heard that the Mohe Kingdom has them, so Subordinate had rushed over there."
Huang Xiaolong nodded, thought for a moment and said, "Actually, the main purpose I asked Haotian and Fei Hou to contact you was to inquire about the Asura's Gate current situation and the headquarters' location."
"Asura's Gate headquarters location?" Yu Ming spoke in a somber voice, "In fact, the Asura's Gate headquarters is not on the Snow Wind Continent."
"What? Not on Snow Wind Continent?!" Huang Xiaolong was greatly surprised; he turned to look at Fei Hou and Haotian and found that both of them had the same surprise look on their faces. Apparently, both of them never thought of the possibility that the Asura's Gate headquarters wasn't located on the same continent.
"That's right, Sovereign." Yu Ming continued to elaborate, "Our headquarters is built on the Star Cloud Continent."
"Star Cloud Continent!" Huang Xiaolong's eyes opened wide.
In this Martial Spirit World, wasn't there just Snow Wind Continent? Could there be many different continents? Martial Haotian and Fei Hou had never mentioned this to him before.
"In this Martial Spirit Word, there are other continents other than the Snow Wind Continent?" Huang Xiaolong took the opportunity to clarify.
Yu Ming nodded his head, "Yes, Sovereign. In Martial Spirit World, there are three continents -Snow Wind Continent, Star Cloud Continent, and Shifang Continent. Star Cloud and Shifang Continent are many times larger than Snow Wind Continent. Our Asura's Gate headquarters is in the center of Star Cloud Continent, in a place called Zhongzhou, on the peak of the Heavenly Sky Phoenix Mountain!"
Star Cloud Continent, Zhongzhou, on the peak of the Heavenly Phoenix Mountain!
Huang Xiaolong repeated once to himself.
"Sovereign wants to go to the headquarters?" At this time, Yu Ming's brown scrunched together tightly and ventured: "If Sovereign plan to go to Asura's Gate headquarters, I'm afraid…"
"Afraid what?" Huang Xiaolong pursued.
"I'm afraid it would be risky." Yu Ming said, "Fifty years ago, Old Sovereign disappeared suddenly. Main Chief Chen Tianqi had always wanted to take control of the Asura's Gate and step into the Sovereign position. But, Zhao Shu, the Left Deputy, and Zhang Fu, the Right Deputy, and many Elders opposed the idea. So, the Asura's Gate is divided into two factions because of this."
"Main Chief Chen Tianqi?" Huang Xiaolong looked at Yu Ming, full of doubt.
"Below the Sovereign, there is the Main Chief, Left and Right Deputy; and after them, there are Section Chiefs and Elders." Yu Ming explained: "In truth, Main Chief Chen Tianqi is Sovereign's Senior Brother!"
"My Senior Brother!" Huang Xiaolong was astounded by this piece of information.
Yu Ming nodded and continued "Main Chief Chen Tianqi is the disciple that Old Sovereign received about two hundred years ago. These years, he had continued to search for news of the Old Sovereign. If Sovereign wants to go to the headquarters and is made known to Main Chief Chen Tianqi, he will surely attempt to assassinate you to snatch the Asura Ring so that he could take over the Sovereign's position with justification!"
Note:
Shi Fang – lit. ten side/directions. Thus, pinyin is used here.
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