Chapter 16: Breakthrough to the Fourth Order
Standing before the corpse of the Bara Floret Python, the little violet monkey leaped out and landed on the python’s head, and with a swipe of its sharp little claws, it made an opening and dug out a tiny yellow thing that looked like a bead.
When Huang Xiaolong saw the tiny yellow bead, his eyes widened in surprise; beast core?
In general, the probability of a mid-level demonic beast condensing a beast core was one in a thousand, only demonic beasts of Stage Seven and above could condense a beast core with a hundred percent success rate!
Surprisingly, there was a beast core in this Stage Four Bara Floret Python!
A Stage Four beast core could fetch a price of two to three hundred gold coins if sold outside.
At this time, the little violet monkey moved closer to the belly of the python’s corpse; two small fingers slide across the skin making an opening, and once again small fingers dug around and took out some disgusting looking part that the size of two thumbs.
Snake gall! Huang Xiaolong lit up brightly thinking; this Stage Four Bara Floret Python’s gall is an excellent source of nourishment, swallowing it could not only enhance one’s battle qi cultivation, but also strengthened the body!
After digging out the snake gall, the Violet Devourer Spirit Monkey gave it to Huang Xiaolong with a cheeky grin, then he opened his mouth and swallowed the beast core before Huang Xiaolong could react.
“You ate it?” Huang Xiaolong was shocked.
A beast core was a consolidation of the demonic beast’s element power, but this concentrated element wasn’t pure. It could only be swallowed after it was refined with other herbs or elixirs into pills. If a practitioner swallowed a beast core directly, he would die from blowing up into pieces due to the violent demonic beast energy running amok inside their body.
But the little monkey was still fine after swallowing the beast core!
Looking at the little monkey acting innocent made Huang Xiaolong speechless. A moment later, he turned back to the Bara Floret Python’s remains, and after a brief consideration, he decided to leave the body as is and walked away with the little violet monkey back to Huang Clan Manor.
Back to Huang Clan Manor, Huang Xiaolong instructed one of the guards to buy some wine, which he mixed the snake gall in. Submerging the snake gall in the wine, he gulped the whole jug of wine down his throat.
Once the wine hit his belly, a powerful raw energy gushed out, instantly turning into warm strands of energy, spreading throughout his body.
Huang Xiaolong immediately ran the Asura Tactics to refine the energy coming from the snake gall.
One night passed.
When Huang Xiaolong woke up, there was a hint of delight in his eyes ㅡ from last night’s practice, the thickness of his battle qi had increased a lot; that one snake gall was equivalent to one month of hard practice.
He had a gut feeling that within these few days’ time he could break through to the Fourth Order!
The barrier to the fourth order had become thinner, which was a sign he could breakthrough any time. Standing up from the cold jade bed, just after he kept the bed back into Asura Ring, he heard his sister, Huang Min’s voice calling from outside the courtyard: “Big Brother, Big Brother!”
Huang Xiaolong was slightly baffled, the sun just rose and already this little girl ran over here to look for him; not sure what had happened, Huang Xiaolong walked out from his room.
“Big Brother, Dad and Mom want you to head over to the Grand Hall.” Huang Min came into the courtyard and said once she saw Huang Xiaolong.
“To the Grand Hall?” doubt flashed in Huang Xiaolong’s mind; only important matters involving Clan matters were discussed in the Grand Hall.
Stepping out from the small courtyard, he headed to the Grand Hall as summoned and when he arrived, he noticed that his parents were already there, including his Uncle Huang Ming, Huang Wei, and other Elders of Huang Clan Manor.
When Huang Xiaolong stepped into the hall, gazes carrying different meaning were directed at him, and Huang Wei was glaring at him with venomous eyes.
“Dad, Mom.” Huang Xiaolong came beside Huang Peng and Su Yan, taking a seat beside them.
Huang Peng and Su Yan nodded at their son, their faces were full of smiles looking at their child.
Huang Qide and Li Mu walked into the Grand Hall at this moment, and beside Li Mu was his granddaughter, Li Lu. Seeing that Li Mu and Li Lu were also present, Huang Xiaolong could already guess the reason.
As expected, after Grandfather Huang Qide took his seat, he gave a cursory glance at those present in the Grand Hall, he smiled and said: “I requested everyone here to inform you of one matter. In the future, our Huang Clan Manor and the Li family will be in-laws.”
“Become in-laws.” The Grand Hall broke out in a small surprised commotion but they were not exactly surprised by the news, for it was already leaked out earlier.
Huang Wei was thrilled when he heard this. Huang Qide continued: “That’s right, an engagement between Huang Clan Manor’s Huang Wei with Li Family’s Miss Li Lu.”
All the Elders rushed to convey their congratulations: “Congratulations, Old Manor Lord!”
“No, I don’t agree!” Suddenly a tender voice spoke out; it was so unexpected that everyone was astonished. Searching for the owner of the voice, it turned out to be Li Lu who was sitting beside Li Mu.
“Lu’er, you!” Li Mu was about to admonish her, but was interrupted by Li Lu: “No, Grandfather, I don’t like this Huang Wei!” As she said this, her head turned towards a different direction, and a finger pointed at Huang Xiaolong: “I like him, if I’m to be engaged, I want to be engaged to him!”
Dead silence conquered the Grand Hall.
There was a look of ‘expecting a good show’ on everyone’s faces.
Whereas the smiles that blossomed on Huang Ming and Huang Wei’s faces withered uglily, stunned speechless by the words coming out of Li Lu’s mouthㅡespecially Huang Wei. His face turned red then darkened to a plum-purple color. His ferocious eyes fell upon Huang Xiaolong as if wishing he could swallow him alive.
Huang Xiaolong himself was stunned, staring at the little girl pointing at him, trying to rope him into the mess.
“Nonsense!” Recovering his sense, Li Mu reprimanded.
Li Lu’s small cherry mouth pouted with determination, “Grandfather, I’m not saying nonsense, I’m telling the truth. I like him!” Looking at Huang Xiaolong, she continued: “He look so cool beating people up!”
Hearing that sentence, no one present knew whether to laugh to cry. Just because during the Clan Assembly yesterday Huang Xiaolong looked cool beating up Huang Wei, this Li Lu ‘liked’ Huang Xiaolong, and will not marry anyone but Huang Xiaolong?
Li Mu found the situation extremely embarrassing, but no matter how he admonished Li Lu, she just wouldn’t change her mind, insisting on Huang Xiaolong instead on Huang Wei.
“Brother Qide, this…” In the end, Liu Mu faced Huang Qide with a helpless demeanor; both of them had already decided on this matter early on, and was just going through the motion of making it official by gathering everyone here, but now…
Huang Qide was silent for a moment then said: “Let’s wait two years before deciding.”
Li Mu nodded; it seems this is the only way.
Seeing such an issue had arisen due to Huang Xiaolong, or ‘Hellion Huang’, Huang Wei’s eyes were spitting fire as he stared fixedly at Huang Xiaolong. Of course, Huang Xiaolong could feel the hatred directed his way, nevertheless, his expression was calm as he sat there, not caring one bit.
Moments later, everyone dispersed from the Grand Hall.
Huang Xiaolong left the Grand Hall together with his parents; returning to his small yard after separating from his parents. He continued to practice hard for he was looking forward to finding out what changes his martial spirit would undergo once he broke through to Fourth Order, and what ability it would bring.
Time sped past and it was five days later.
On this night, Huang Xiaolong was sitting cross-legged on the cold jade bed, running the Asura Tactics with the netherworld’s spiritual energy gushing down on him like an endless waterfall. The double-headed serpent martial spirit was devouring the netherworld spiritual energy rapidly, as the netherworld battle qi crashed violently in his meridians again and again against the barrier to Fourth Order.
Similar to the previous breakthroughs to the Second Order, and the Third Order, Huang Xiaolong persisted and persevered, circulating his battle qi, and at last, the fourth order barrier cracked, the small fissures gradually grew bigger and bigger.
Fourth Order, breakthrough!
At the same moment he crossed into the Fourth Order, the double-headed serpent martial spirit behind Huang Xiaolong suddenly emitted bright colored lights of black and blue. A piercing roar similar to a dragon’s and yet not rang out; the double-headed serpent actually split from each other starting from the head to the tail. Two individual serpents emerged – one blue serpent and one black serpent!
Wrong, to be exact, not blue serpent and black serpent because after it had split into two, four claws grew under both serpent’s body and the new scales thickened, looking more like dragon scales!