Xiang Shaoyun managed to break through smoothly into the seventh stage of the Basic Realm. Yet not a trace of joy was on his face. In his eyes, this strength was way too low. His expectations were extremely high; these were only minor stages that he had to cross for now.
Rushing Qi Fist!
Standing up, Xiang Shaoyun thrust his body forward. Shaping his fist like a rock, he extended his arm, flying his fist forward. The resulting punch was so fierce even hitting pure air resulted in violent reverberations. The strength contained in that one punch was not something a seventh-stage Basic Realm cultivator could block. As he threw his second punch out, there seemed to be movement of qi within his arm meridians, unleashed via the power of his punch.
“Come out!” Xiang Shaoyun shouted. The stars in his body shone brightly, his acupoints all agitated as the qi flew through the meridians like a river before swiftly rushing out of his body.
Pow Pow Pow!
Within the span of a single breath, Xiang Shaoyun unleashed three consecutive punches, each punch containing his full strength, giving him the highest momentum possible. The very moment he released his fourth punch, a staggering burst of qi flowed out from his meridians. The qi was like a fog, but its sheer power was enough to startle people.
Pow!
This particular fist caused a vibration even stronger and more violent than before. Astral energy turning into qi, unleashing qi outwards. This was usually a symbol of one being in the Astral Realm.
After unleashing that punch, Xiang Shaoyun’s strength grew even more terrifying than before, as if he had turned mad. He sent out ten consecutive punches—each and every punch was accompanied by qi, leaving a very oppressive feeling lingering in the air after every punch. A sturdy old tree nearby was hit by a blast of his qi, leaving a deep hole outlining the blast of the qi. Unable to support itself anymore, the tree fell.
Only now did Xiang Shaoyun stop throwing out punches. By then, he was thoroughly exhausted, panting heavily, buckets of sweat dripping down his face.
“Fantastic…this feels so awesome! HA HA HA!” Xiang Shaoyun tossed his head back and roared with laughter. Able to get qi to form attacks externally as a brand new seventh-stage Basic Realm cultivator? This was simply upturning the heavens and creating a new path!
Throughout all Wu Town and even Cloud Margin City, not one person could be said to have accomplished such a heaven-defying act! Even Xiang Shaoyun himself was happy beyond belief.
“I can only release half a meter of qi with my fists, but it’s more than enough for me to take care of anyone within the Basic Realm! As for those in the Astral Realm, there still is quite a gap between us. There won’t be any after I reach the peak of the Basic Realm, though!” Xiang Shaoyun muttered to himself. Shortly after, he once again pondered, “It’s time to train with weapons!”
On the second day, Xiang Shaoyun absorbed purple qi at the start of dawn as per usual. This time, however, he managed to absorb thrice as much as he did previously due to his increase in cultivation. That being said, even as he took in thrice as much as he previously did, the purple qi still failed to cause a single ripple when absorbed into his nine great stars. His nine stars were like a bottomless abyss. Nobody knew just how long it would take to fill them.
Standing up, Xiang Shaoyun left his compound and headed for the Weapon Hall. As an outer court disciple, it was initially not possible for Xiang Shaoyun to skip training sessions. However, he’d been in the Hall of Limits for the past three days! Others may not be privy to this information, but the outer court officer naturally knew all this.
Since this was the case, Xiang Shaoyun was not required to stay in the outer court for training like the rest of the outer court disciples. He was similar to the top 10 disciples in this regard. As for the battle between Wu Mingliang and himself, he had long thrown the matter to the back of his mind. In his eyes, Wu Mingliang was merely a hopping clown not worthy of a second glance.
The Weapon Hall was situated within the inner courtyard, which happened to be where most of the inner court disciples were. The inner courtyard was not like the outer courtyard, which was a vast empty space equipped with simple training tools. Here, there were numerous cultivation rooms built for inner court disciples to self-cultivate in. There was also a large martial field, where elders would hold external lessons at every half a month, speaking about various cultivation techniques, battle techniques, and etc.
Every single inner court disciple was allowed to enter and leave Martial Hall Palace as they liked. Hence, the faces that were seen in the inner courtyard were never constant. As Xiang Shaoyun stepped into the inner courtyard, he saw various heroic and imposing youths riding on different demonic beasts.
“When I have the chance, I should get a mount too. Only then will I be eye-catching,” Xiang Shaoyun mused to himself. At that moment, a young lady dressed in fiery-red attire and riding a scorching flame cat rushed straight for the inner court exit.
“Move aside!” the red-clothed lady bellowed at the dazed Xiang Shaoyun.
The inner court exit was large enough that it would be able to fit 10 mounts simultaneously going in or out of the area. Yet this red-clothed lady seemed to be going straight for the still Xiang Shaoyun. This was an obvious disregard of him, and she had decided to brute force her way through. Xiang Shaoyun was unable to get out of her way. The scorching flame cat was simply too fast, closing the gap in what seemed like the blink of an eye.
“Oh no!” Xiang Shaoyun cried out in alarm.
At this critical moment, the red-clothed lady managed to barely control the scorching flame cat, avoiding Xiang Shaoyun by the skin of its teeth.
“Bastard! You dare to block Li Hong’er’s path?!” The red-clothed lady herself was in shock. The long whip in her hand viciously shot for Xiang Shaoyun.
Pa!
The whip was stunningly fast. Within the blink of an eye, it landed on Xiang Shaoyun’s delicate face. A red wound appeared, traces of fresh blood dripping from it.
It hurts!
A burning pain immediately spread throughout Xiang Shaoyun’s body. Not only that, he felt a sense of humiliation that he had never felt before. His handsome face had been ruined!
“This is to teach you a lesson. Good dogs don’t block the road!” the lady called Li Hong’er coldly spat before swiftly riding the scorching flame cat out of the inner court.
“Bastard, stop right there!” Xiang Shaoyun came to his wits and yelled in sheer anger at the faraway Li Hong’er. She could’ve hit him anywhere else but had chosen to specifically hit his deviously handsome face! That was taboo! Sadly, by then, the lady was long gone. How was he to catch up to a mid-tier demonic beast with his speed?
“I’ll remember this whip!” Xiang Shaoyun bellowed in the direction of the red-clothed lady.
“Junior brother, you seem very unfamiliar with this place. Are you not aware of who senior sister Li Hong’er is? You even dare to hold a grudge against her,” a passing inner court disciple asked, completely surprised.
Shaking his head, Xiang Shaoyun said, “This young one is a new disciple here, so I’m not acquainted with any such vicious females. I ask for senior brother’s enlightenment.”
“She’s the daughter of the thirteenth elder, Li Xuemeng. If you dare to go against her, the thirteenth elder might just kick you out of Martial Hall Palace!” the inner court disciple kindly said to Xiang Shaoyun before hurriedly walking away.
So she’s the daughter of the thirteenth elder! No wonder she’s so cocky, Xiang Shaoyun thought to himself. Eyes flashing with killing intent, he said, “Even if it were the palace master’s daughter who hit my face, she would still die!”
Xiang Shaoyun, who was initially planning to visit the Weapon Hall, headed straight for the Medicine Hall to seek herbal medicine to heal himself, lest a scar would be left on his face. The Medicine Hall was not far from the Weapon Hall. As he drew closer, the scent of herbs drifted by.
Xiang Shaoyun hurriedly entered the premises and asked the overseer inside the hall, “Great overseer, do you have the spirit medicine blood-clotting grass for the stopping of external blood flow and the healing of wounds?”
“The blood-clotting grass is a high-tier spirit medicine from the legends! Kid, are you here to get a laugh out of our Medicine Hall?” The overseer angrily harrumphed.