In that critical moment, Xiang Shaoyun suddenly recalled his gift of insight. His eyes began to glow as the world around him began to slow down. The angle and speed at which Gong Qinyin’s sword was coming at him became extremely clear, as if he was watching her in slow motion. This gave him the opportunity to dodge her attack.
Overlord’s Nine Nether Steps!
Xiang Shaoyun barely dodged her sword with the help of the Overlord’s Nine Nether Steps. Without wasting a breath, he counterattacked immediately.
Golden Wolf Sword Technique!
The sword qi condensed into a wolf, rushing straight for Gong Qinyin’s throat. Gong Qinyin was badly startled, backing off at once. If she had been slower by just a step, Xiang Shaoyun’s sword qi would have ripped out her throat.
Of course, Xiang Shaoyun could have chosen to press his advantage by externally manifesting his astral energy to attack her. However, he chose not to do so. Even if it was an accident, he had indeed seen a maiden’s fully naked body.
“Enough! Don’t force my hand. This was all a misunderstanding,” Xiang Shaoyun took the opportunity to communicate his intentions to Gong Qinyin.
“Can claiming that it’s a misunderstanding resolve this just like that?” Gong Qinyin coldly replied.
“Then what is it that you want? Don’t tell me that you really want this young master to take responsibility for this? Although your looks aren’t bad at all, when compared to the maidservants in my palace, you’re still lacking,” Xiang Shaoyun casually said as he looked Gong Qinyin’s body up and down.
It went without saying that the current Gong Qinyin possessed quite the womanly charm. Adding on the fact that her clothes were not properly worn due to her rush, there was yet another distinct charm to her. However, Xiang Shaoyun saying these words did not help to appease her at all. On the contrary, he added fuel to the fire, causing Gong Qinyin to explode in rage!
“You f*cking pervert! I’ll f*cking kill you!” Gong Qinyin’s expression became clouded with fury. An enormous amount of Astral Energy cloaked her sword, sending bright light all around her.
Crashing Wave Slash!
The light from Gong Qinyin’s sword transformed into several huge waves, attacking Xiang Shaoyun from all around. This was a technique Gong Qinyin used to blow off stress. An extremely tyrannical technique, even a fourth-stage Astral Realm expert would find it difficult to deal with.
Seeing such a terrifying display of might before him, Xiang Shaoyun did not dare to pull his punches either. The might of his nine stars flared up as his astral energy surged. He slashed out furiously with the Golden Wolf Sword.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
In the moment that the two relentless forces clashed with each other, an ear-shattering sound pierced the air, and the aftershock decimated several nearby trees. Even with the two of them fighting at full power, Xiang Shaoyun still came out slightly behind, and he was forcefully pushed back several steps.
However, just as Gong Qinyin was about to continue to press her assault, Xiang Shaoyun turned around and sprinted for the hills. This time, Xiang Shaoyun did not try to preserve his strength. He pushed the Overlord’s Nine Nether Steps to its very limit and ran straight into the densely packed woods. As long as he managed to enter the cover of the woods, Gong Qinyin’s arrows would lose their effect.
Sure enough, by the time Gong Qinyin realized that she was unable to match Xiang Shaoyun in terms of pure speed, he had already fled deep into the forest. The numerous trees inside the forest meant that it would be impossible for her to hit him with her arrows.
“Damn it! Even if you run to the four corners of the earth, I must still kill you!” Gong Qinyin hysterically shrieked, rushing in the direction where Xiang Shaoyun disappeared with her bow still in hand.
As Xiang Shaoyun sprinted at full speed, he startled numerous demonic beasts, causing many a beast to chase him. Luckily for him, his raw power had risen exponentially since he had broken through to the astral realm. His speed right now could not be compared to his speed when he was still in the Basic Realm, and he was not caught by any of the beasts.
Moreover, it was Gong Qinyin behind him who was suffering the most from these accursed beasts. As she tried to catch up to Xiang Shaoyun, she found the demonic beasts constantly attacking her, forcing her to slow down to deal with them. Those that she could not deal with, she could only run away from.
Meanwhile, the Mad Lion Hunting Group was rushing down the mountain as fast as they humanly could. That being said, they were not immortals. By the time they reached the lake, Xiang Shaoyun had long disappeared.
Xiang Shaoyun, who was already far from the scene of the crime, was still running with all his might. However, he quietly muttered to himself, “The Mad Lion Hunting Group, eh? This young master has remembered your sins. Next time, I will wash your group with blood!”
The only grudge he bore was against the Mad Lion Hunting Group. As for Gong Qinyin, the girl was not in the wrong. No matter who it might have been, being seen stark naked would be a huge humiliation.
“Forget it, I’ll let her see me naked the next time we meet. If it’s not enough, I’ll just take a loss and let her see me another two or three times. We’ll be even then,” Xiang Shaoyun shamelessly said to himself.
If Gong Qinyin was around to hear his words, she would’ve once again chased him and killed him on the spot. Xiang Shaoyun did not dally around. Only after running for a considerable distance did he finally slow down to catch his breath. He hunted a nearby medium monstrous beast and cooked its meat for nourishment. He and Little White decided to rest at that very spot.
The Hundred Beasts Mountain Range was so vast; anybody who was still looking for Xiang Shaoyun would have a hard time finding him. As for why he did not just leave the Hundred Beasts Mountain Range outright, it was because he still did not wish to return. He wished to further raise his strength before returning to Martial Hall Palace.
Xiang Shaoyun fervently wished to become stronger so that he would be able to regain all that he had lost and be able to return to his home after 10 years. The prerequisite to all this was that he needed to have sufficient power to do so. The Mad Lion Hunting Group, as well as the Wu Clan, were mere stepping stones on his path to greatness.
“Bringing this bag along really is troublesome. Little White, help me watch over it! Don’t lose it, okay?” Xiang Shaoyun instructed Little White after they both had had their fill. Following that, he assumed a meditative position and revolved the Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual. Strands of energy flowed throughout his body, constantly thickening his internal energy.
The Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual was worthy of its title as a high-tier ancient cultivation method. It increased Xiang Shaoyun’s overall strength at a staggering rate, and most importantly, it could split his power into nine and disseminate them into his nine stars.
“Stars to contain the heaven and earth. If I’m able to condense my astral energy to form an astral sea, I’ll be able to store anything of my desire inside it! If so, I won’t have to constantly carry around a huge load of objects whenever I’m travelling. Most importantly, I’ll be able to refine my own fate weapon! A pity that reaching this stage isn’t easy.”
At that moment, Xiang Shaoyun suddenly thought of a very important matter—an astral cosmos sea. It was something formed through the transformation of astral energy into qi and the conversion of qi into liquid form. By accumulating enough of this liquid, a sea with a world within it would be created, one which anything could be stored within.
This was one of the ways in which humans tapped into their full potential. Only, one needed to possess a rather high cultivation before being able to reach such a stage. For the current Xiang Shaoyun to consider, he was either looking extremely far ahead or was full of confidence.
“Screw it. This young master is exceptionally talented. Perhaps I will surpass all others in this as well. I’ll give it a try.” Xiang Shaoyun immediately acted on his thought and directly entered a state of cultivation.
Refining one’s astral sea to contain a world within. This required one to possess an ancient, special technique to accomplish. No ordinary man could achieve this stage by himself. Xiang Shaoyun had read through hundreds of ancient manuals and scrolls, long acquiring the method to refine an astral cosmos sea. He started using several ancient techniques to complement the Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual in invigorating his nine stars.
Shing! Shing!
The nine stars within Xiang Shaoyun’s body resplendently glowed as strands of light started congealing together, slowly forming a single body. However, he currently lacked the strength required to refine the energy needed to form the astral cosmos sea. When he felt like energy had stopped flowing into the body of light, he retrieved a gourd from his bag and drank from it.