Almost immediately after returning to Tianxuan Mansion from the Guo Mansion, Huang Xiaolong activated the God Binding Ring and entered the ancient battlefield to cultivate.
For the time being, Huang Xiaolong concentrated on practicing his Asura Tactics instead of his battle skills, such as the Asura Sword Skills, Asura Demon Claw, Golden Linglong Body, and God Binding Palm, among others.
For Huang Xiaolong, strengthening his battle qi and breaking into the Xiantian realm was the only goal at the moment.
These battle skills were supplementary!
Moreover, his battle skills' power would not enhance much in one year's time.
As long as he was successful in breaking through to the Xiantian realm with his battle qi, his strength would increase by leaps and bounds.
Other than Asura Tactics, Huang Xiaolong allocated two hours every day to spar with Fei Hou, and if not with Fei Hou then alternatively with Marshal Haotian.
While sparring with these two mighty Xiantian experts, Huang Xiaolong's control and understanding in battle qi deepened.
Another nine days passed.
On this particular morning, Fei Hou and Haotian were beaming as they walked into Huang Xiaolong's yard, reporting: "Sovereign, Master gave word that he and Zhao Shu will arrive in one hour's time!"
"Oh, one more hour!" Huang Xiaolong was happy hearing this and drew in a deep breath, "Let's go to the Royal City gates!"
Huang Xiaolong might be the Asura's Gate Sovereign, but Zhao Shu was a Saint realm expert. With Zhao Shu arriving, it was common sense to Huang Xiaolong that he should go receive him at the city gates.
"Yes, Sovereign!" Fei Hou and Haotian answered. Neither one felt it was weird that Huang Xiaolong wanted to go and receive Zhao Shu at the city gates.
Even someone as exalted as the Duanren Emperor must show courtesy when meeting a Saint realm expert, moreover, Zhao Shu wasn't some ordinary early Saint realm expert.
Therefore, Huang Xiaolong stepped out of Tianxuan Mansion together with Fei Hou and Haotian and headed towards the city gates, waiting for Yu Ming and Zhao Shu's arrival.
Thinking they would soon be able to meet a Saint realm expert, both Fei Hou and Haotian were excited and their palms began to sweat from nervousness. As a Xiantian realm expert, both enjoyed immense respect and high-class treatment in the kingdom, especially Haotian, but before a Saint realm expert, crudely speaking, they were nothing. If this was the past, they wouldn't even have the qualifications to meet a Saint realm expert.
Not long after the three of them arrived at the city gates, two silhouettes appeared from the mountainous path in the distance.
Watching as these two silhouettes grew closer, three pairs of eyes lit up when they noticed Yu Ming!
Yu Ming was seen riding slightly behind a burly, robust man that appeared to be somewhere around his fifties. Both of them were riding on beast mounts that looked similar to a rhinoceros, but the difference was that these beast mounts had no tails. Instead, there was a sphere with a lustrous glow that resembled flames.
The distance between them and the city gates was still quite far, yet Huang Xiaolong, Fei Hou, and Haotian already felt the terrifying pressure emanating from that middle-aged man.
Huang Xiaolong knew this middle-aged man had to be the Asura's Gate Left Custodian, Zhao Shu!
The beast mounts Yu Ming and Zhao Shu were riding moved seemingly slow, but in fact were extremely fast. In just a few breaths, Yu Ming and Zhao Shu were within a several hundred meter range of Huang Xiaolong's position.
Upon closer inspection, Huang Xiaolong noticed that Zhao Shu's eyes were round and large, akin to an Iron Eagle's: sharp, cold, and unfathomable.
While Huang Xiaolong was observing Zhao Shu, Zhao Shu was doing the same to Huang Xiaolong. From the details of Yu Ming's report to him, he already guessed this tall youth of no more than twenty should be Old Sovereign's personal disciple, the one with the Asura Ring−Huang Xiaolong.
The three people waiting walked up to the approaching two.
Yu Ming and Zhao Shu dismounted from their beasts.
"Asura's Gate Elder, Yu Ming greets Sovereign!" Yu Ming said respectfully as he dropped before Huang Xiaolong, saluting on bended knee and in proper form.
On the other hand, Zhao Shu approached and bowed respectfully, and said to Huang Xiaolong "Asura's Gate Left Custodian Zhao Shu, greets Sovereign!"
In Asura's Gate, Saint realm experts only needed to bow in greeting to the Sovereign.
"Left Custodian Zhao Shu, Elder Yu Ming, please rise!" Huang Xiaolong swiftly moved forward to excuse them from such salutes.
At this time, Fei Hou and Haotian also came forward speedily, saying their greetings with great respect to Zhao Shu, "Asura's Gate disciple Fei Hou (Haotian) greets Left Custodian Zhao Shu!"
Zhao Shu nodded and let them rise.
Then, Fei Hou and Haotian turned towards their Master, bowing respectfully: "Master!"
Yu Ming nodded.
Without much of an exchange of words, everyone turned and headed in Tianxuan Mansion's direction.
On the way, Zhao Shu said to Yu Ming, "These two disciples of yours are not bad." Zhao Shu could easily see that both Fei Hou and Haotian's physiques and other aspects were much stronger than other warriors at the same level.
Yu Ming quickly replied respectfully, "Left Custodian Zhao Shu praises them too highly!"
The truth was, even Yu Ming himself was startled at the changes he saw in Fei Hou and Haotian.
However, after hearing Zhao Shu's words of praise, Fei Hou and Haotian were actually apprehensive rather than overjoyed.
At this point, Haotian admitted honestly, "Left Custodian, the truth is, we could achieve this level of cultivation all thanks to Sovereign's generosity."
"Oh?" This revelation was unexpected for Zhao Shu and Yu Ming.
Huang Xiaolong smiled, "I didn't do much except pass the both of them a set of cultivation techniques. Their achievements are the results of their own hard work."
Huang Xiaolong's words may have seemed modest, but at the same time, it indirectly confirmed what Haotian had just said.
This raised a strong curiosity in Zhao Shu and Yu Ming towards the cultivation techniques Huang Xiaolong passed to Fei Hou and Haotian.
A short while later, the group of people reached Tianxuan Mansion.
Back in Tianxuan Mansion, on the way to the main hall, the group of five ran into Huang Peng and Su Yan, and Huang Xiaolong solemnly introduced Zhao Shu and Yu Ming's identities to his parents.
Especially so when he was introducing Zhao Shu to them.
Though it was not the first time Yu Ming came to Tianxuan Mansion, Huang Peng and Su Yan had never met him prior to this. Hearing Huang Xiaolong state Yu Ming was Fei Hou and Haotian's Master, both were astonished.
Even though Huang Xiaolong did not clearly say Zhao Shu's identity when he introduced them to his parents, Huang Peng and Su Yan were awed when detecting the seriousness from their son's voice.
Their first reaction was to greet, "Senior Zhao Shu, Senior Yu Ming!"
Huang Peng and Su Yan were Huang Xiaolong's parents, Zhao Shu and Yu Ming dared not display any superior attitude and greeted Huang Peng and Su Yan in return.
Knowing their son had matters to discuss, they left the main hall to avoid disturbing them.
After Huang Peng and Su Yan left the hall, Huang Xiaolong inquired about what happened to Yu Ming in the last few years. If Yu Ming was not delayed, he would've returned to Luo Tong Kingdom six years ago.
Yu Ming quickly reported the events that happened to him these past years.
When Yu Ming left Snow Wind Continent, he needed to cross a place called Death Sea Gorge to return to Star Cloud Continent. While passing through Death Sea Gorge, he encountered a terrifying whirlpool, sucking him into another unknown space within Death Sea Gorge and became trapped inside of it for six years!
Six years later, a spatial crack formed which provided an opportunity for Yu Ming to escape.
Huang Xiaolong was flabbergasted hearing this.
Yu Ming was delayed for six years because of this?
A wry smile escaped Huang Xiaolong's face; he wasn't sure if he should say Yu Ming was lucky or unlucky. At that time, he thought Chen Tianqi found out about him and that Yu Ming was then locked up by him.
Fei Hou and Haotian were also dumbfounded hearing their Master's experience.
Understanding Yu Ming's reason for the delay, Huang Xiaolong changed the topic, "Left Custodian Zha Shu, Elder Yu Ming, have you ever heard of a Heavenly Treasure called God Binding Ring?"
"God Binding Ring!" Zhao Shu and Yu Ming were shocked at the sudden mention.
Watching the strong reaction coming from the Zhao Shu and Yu Ming, Huang Xiaolong was sure they had heard about the God Binding Ring.
And sure enough, Zhao Shu spoke up, "Sovereign, the God Binding Ring is one of the top ten Heavenly Treasures and is placed at number six."
"Number six!" Huang Xiaolong's eye slit up and was delighted within.
Prior to this, he had guessed the God Binding Ring was higher than the Linglong Treasure Pagoda, but he did not expect it would be number six on the Heavenly Treasures List.
There was a vast chasm separating the strengths and power provided by each Heavenly Treasure on the list. The higher the rank, the larger the gap, which in turn meant that it would increase the owner's power exponentially the higher ranked the treasure was.
And the God Binding Ring was actually three ranks higher than the Linglong Treasure Pagoda!
"Left Custodian Zhao Shu is right." Yu Ming took over the explanation at this point, "Sovereign, the Heavenly Treasure, God Binding Ring, once appeared in Martial Spirit World somewhere around three thousand years ago, triggering a period of terror. At that time, the master of the God Binding Ring was someone named Lin Shengjie. He was the Lord of an evil sect, favoring slaughter and massacre by nature, which invoked the wrath of numerous forces of Martial Spirit World who decided to join hands and besiege Lin Shengjie. Although Lin Shengjie was very powerful, under the continuous attacks of so many forces, he was still killed in the end. Even the evil sect that he built was annihilated overnight!"
"Lord of an evil sect, Lin Shengjie?!" Huang Xiaolong was taken aback. The previous master of the God Binding Ring being the Lord of an evil sect truly came as a surprise to him.
"Yes." Zhao Shu said, "At that time, Lin Shengjie was at the peak of the Ninth Order Saint realm with one foot into the God Realm. The number of Xiantian and Saint realm experts under him at that time were innumerable. In that joint attack of Martial Spirits there were many forces. Although they successfully killed him, they also lost half of their experts in that battle!"
"A peak Ninth Order Saint realm master!"
"Half of their experts!"
Huang Xiaolong's understanding was once again jarred.
And there was that realm−God Realm!
Above the Saint realm was God Realm?!
This was his first time hearing about this. So, the realm above the Saint realm was called the God Realm!
Zhao Shu continued, "The battle that year was truly full of blood flowing like a river." Then, Shao Shu suddenly smiled at Huang Xiaolong at this time, saying "That year, Lin Shengjie died under the Old Sovereign's hand."
"Master?" This piece of information was outside the bounds of Huang Xiaolong's expectation.
Zhao Shu nodded, "Old Sovereign was a peak late-Eighth Order Saint realm master at that time and joined in the siege on Lin Shengjie." As he was saying this, Zhao Shu's tone suddenly mellowed down as if remembering something, "Lin Shengjie died on the Snowless Mountain if I'm not mistaken."
Huang Xiaolong looked at Zhao Shu.
"At that time, Duanren Empire had yet to come into existence, but now, that Snowless Mountains is located within Duanren Empire's territory. However, it has been more than three thousand years, and the exact location of the Snowless Mountains would be hard to determine." Zhao Shu went on, "After Lin Shengjie died that year, the God Binding Ring became a masterless item, and many forces coveted it. Man and resources were spent in search of it, yet until today there was no news about anyone finding it."
Huang Xiaolong's emotions were surging.
Snowless Mountains… Could that be the mountain range that surrounds the Enlightenment Lake of Yuwai Kingdom?
It must be!
Otherwise, it would be exceedingly difficult to explain how the God Binding Ring had appeared at the Enlightenment Lake.
Another issue that caught Huang Xiaolong's attention was his Master, Ren Wokuang. Three thousand years ago, his Master was a peak late-Eighth Order Saint realm master. Then, before Master disappeared, which was around sixty years ago, how high had his strength reached?
Could Master have reached the God Realm?!
If indeed he advanced into God Realm, then how did he die?
Someone killed him?
Who could possibly have the power to do so?
Wait! There is a possibility that Master did not die! Suddenly, this thought flashed across Huang Xiaolong's mind. All this time, he had presumed his Master Ren Wokuang was dead, what if it wasn't so? He just went somewhere? Just like the people from Asura's Gate had been saying all along, he was just missing.
"Sovereign, why did you suddenly ask about the God Binding Ring?" At this time, Yu Ming suddenly asked.
Everyone in the hall turned to look at Huang Xiaolong.
"To be honest, I have the God Binding Ring!" Facing everyone's puzzled expression, Huang Xiaolong spoke frankly. Since he asked Zhao Shu and Yu Ming, he did not plan to conceal the matter from them.
With regards to the matter about him acquiring and refining the Linglong Treasure Pagoda, he was one hundred percent certain that Yu Ming mentioned it to Zhao Shu. Since Zhao Shu knew he had the number nine Linglong Treasure Pagoda, adding one more treasure to the list wouldn't make much of a difference.
"What?!" The four people were shocked and they all immediately shot up from their seats, which of course included Fei Hou and Haotian. Both of them were in the dark and had no idea that Huang Xiaolong also successfully acquired and refined the God Binding Ring.
Before the four pairs of shocked eyes, Huang Xiaolong summoned the God Binding Ring.
Watching the golden ring that exuded an aureate glow hovering silently above Huang Xiaolong, all eyes fell on the God Binding Ring that was floating in the air.
It was as if there was an inexplicable allure coming from the aureate glow, captivating their minds.
Zhao Shu was hit with waves of emotions. A year before, when Yu Ming returned to the headquarters and reported to him regarding Huang Xiaolong, describing in detail about Huang Xiaolong's superb talent twin martial spirits and the fact that he refined the Linglong Treasure Pagoda, both he and Zhang Fu were astounded. Now, he was seeing it with his own eyes: another Heavenly Treasure, the number six God Binding Ring was owned by Huang Xiaolong!
The excitement in Zhao Shu's heart was hard to contain.
The two Heavenly Treasures on the list, number nine and number six were refined by Huang Xiaolong. On top of that, Huang Xiaolong had superb talent twin martial spirits, so his achievements in the future were hard to imagine!
"Sovereign invincible throughout!" After a long time, Zhao Shu repressed his excitement and suddenly knelt down in salute towards Huang Xiaolong.
"Sovereign invincible throughout!" Yu Ming, Fei Hou, and Haotian reacted, and followed suit, kneeling down in salute towards Huang Xiaolong, lauding the long unheard phrase.
Invincible throughout!
Huang Xiaolong looked helplessly at the four people that suddenly knelt down in salute.
"The four of you, stand up." Huang Xiaolong could only tell them to stand after the fact.
"Thanks to Sovereign!" Zhao Shu was the first one to rise, followed by Yu Ming, Fei Hou, and Haotian.
After that, Huang Xiaolong asked Zhao Shu and Yu Ming what they knew about the God Binding Ring, as well as matters related to Asura's Gate.
Zhao Shu and Yu Ming hid nothing and spoke everything they knew about what was asked.
Gaining an understanding of the information regarding the God Binding Ring and Asura's Gate, Huang Xiaolong said to Zhao Shu and Yu Ming, "Ten days later, we're setting off to Duanren Empire."
"Sovereign wants to go to the Imperial City?" Zhao Shu and Yu Ming were surprised.
At this point, Haotian interjected, "Left Custodian Zhao Shu, Master, Sovereign won the Cosmic Star Academy overall championship, so he will be heading to Duanren Empire to participate in the Imperial City Battle!"
"Participating in the Imperial City Battle?!" Both Zhao Shu and Yu Ming's eyes widened in disbelief.
Imperial City Battle of the Duanren Empire, both Zhao Shu and Yu Ming had heard a little about it. In the Star Cloud Continent where they came from, the empires also held something like a battle or competition amongst its geniuses.
But, wasn't Sovereign only seventeen this year? At seventeen, he could snatch the Academy champion title and represent the Academy in the Imperial City Battle of Duanren Empire?
"Sovereign, you already broke into the Tenth Order?" Yu Ming ventured cautiously.
In Yu Ming's opinion, for Huang Xiaolong to be the Academy overall champion, he must at least be a Tenth Order warrior.
How old was Huang Xiaolong at the moment? This young man was practically still a boy, which made it hard for Yu Ming to believe. Even Zhao Shu was looking at Huang Xiaolong suspiciously.
Huang Xiaolong nodded, "Two months ago, I advanced to peak late-Tenth Order, now, just half a step more and I will be able to break through into the Xiantian realm."
Two months ago, peak late-Tenth Order!
Only half a foot and he could break through into the Xiantian realm!
Zhao Shu and Yu Ming's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets before a sharp intake of air could be heard coming from them. A seventeen-year-old peak late-Tenth Order warrior? No, wait! Two months ago, that means, Sovereign was still sixteen, right?!
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