Chapter 167: The Imperial City Battle Begins!
Zhao Wuji was just as stumped as Heartless Young Noble, Yao Fei. She knew the family Yao Fei belonged to very well: the Yao Family’s intelligence network web stretched far and wide throughout Duanren Empire and was known as an omniscient entity, yet they could not find any information regarding the identity of those two people!
“These two people are not from Duanren Empire?!” Zhao Wuji suddenly thought of a possibility and the words flew straight out of her mouth.
Only this explanation could justify the reason for failure.
Heartless Young Noble Yao Fei’s eyes flickered through the possibilities.
“Young Master…?” The guards inquired.
“I have nothing else for you to do at the moment, retreat.” Yao Fei waved the guard away. “Yes, Young Master!” replied the guard as he bowed, then he left the room.
At the same time in private room number three, the restaurant owner was carefully serving the dishes to the table himself. Only after Huang Xiaolong and the rest opened the jugs of wine, tasted them, and uttered some words of praise did the restaurant owner leave the room.
Huang Xiaolong, Zhao Shu, Yu Ming, and Fei Hou toasted as the scent of fragrant wine filled the room.
From the introduction provided by the owner earlier, the wine was called Beauty Allure Wine. As the liquid slid down the throat it reminded one of the taste of a beautiful woman, each taste being different yet also similar.
When tasting the first sip, Huang Xiaolong decided that he liked the wine very much.
It was comparably better than Fiery Wine or Snow Moon Wine; although both wines were not bad, it felt slightly monotonous to drink them all of the time.
Huang Xiaolong’s group left the Unforgettable Intoxication Restaurant after two hours. As it was, Huang Xiaolong currently didn't have much in his spatial ring other than some wine.
If Ren Wokuang knew Huang Xiaolong used the Asura Ring mainly to store wine, one could only imagine how he would react.
Leaving the restaurant behind, Huang Xiaolong’s group came upon an inn called Solitary Longing. Deciding to stay there, they rented four rooms and went to get some rest.
The venue for the Imperial City Battle’s martial competition was going to be at the square across from the Imperial Palace in ten days’ time, and the Solitary Longing Inn they had chosen was not far away.
While Huang Xiaolong and the rest were resting inside the inn, within the maze of Duanren Imperial City’s Imperial Palace, and in a deep underground palace, sat a middle-aged man wearing a Dragon Robe. The middle-aged man was neither tall nor thin, and there was a clear character imprint in-between his eyebrows. If one were to look carefully, they would find that this single character imprint was actually a shrunken broken blade [1. Broken Blade aka Duanren (Empire)]!
“Your Imperial Highness!” At this time, an old man dressed in the Imperial Palace’s official robes entered the underground palace, respectfully bowing to the man that was seated.
Your Imperial Highness!
This middle-aged man was Duanren Empire’s Duanren Emperor!
In the whole of Duanren Empire, the only person that could be greeted with the title ‘Your Imperial Highness’ was the Duanren Emperor alone.
“Rise.” Duanren Emperor spoke. His voice was soft and light, yet it contained an insurmountable majesty.
“Much obliged, Your Imperial Highness!” The old man in the official robe replied in a humble and respectful tone; only then did the old man stand up. “Your Imperial Highness, Xie Puti, Yanggang, Pang Yu, Cui Li, Dàishānnī, and Huang Xiaolong... these six people have all arrived in the Imperial City.”
These six were the talented individuals participating in this year’s Imperial City Battle, geniuses who possessed superb talent martial spirits. Every year, participants with superb talent martial spirits would be given extra attention.
Duanren Emperor nodded, “Cheng Jian, according to you, which one of these six will be the champion of this year?”
The old man in the official robe, Cheng Jian, spoke seriously, “Most likely, Xie Puti!”
Duanren Emperor nodded, “Likewise, I agree.” However, his tone suddenly changed, “But, that Huang Xiaolong, tell Wuya to pay more attention to him.”
“Huang Xiaolong?!” Cheng Jian was surprised.
As far as he knew, amongst these six people who possessed superb talent martial spirits, only this Huang Xiaolong was a Houtian peak late-Tenth Order warrior, whereas the other five had all entered Xiantian First Order and above.
This Huang Xiaolong might have a top grade twelve martial spirit, but his strength was limited at the moment. Whether he could enter the top ten was questionable, yet the Emperor actually wanted them to pay attention to Huang Xiaolong?
While these thoughts were swimming in Cheng Jian’s mind, the Duanren Emperor spoke, “That Huang Xiaolong may not be a Xiantian warrior, but his strength is not weak. He once defeated a Cosmic Star Academy’s Elder, a Xiantian First Order expert! Entering the top ten will not be a problem for Huang Xiaolong, and don’t forget, he’s only seventeen!”
“Yes, Your Imperial Highness, this minister knows what to do.” Cheng Jian respectfully answered.
“En, you can retreat.” Duanren Emperor said, “Regarding matters related to our Imperial City Battle, come report to me at any time.”
Cheng Jiang acknowledged the order respectfully and saluted properly before retreating from the room.
Huang Xiaolong on the other hand, did not tour around with Zhao Shu or anyone else after staying at the Solitary Longing Inn. Instead, he activated the God Binding Ring, entering the ancient battlefield to cultivate.
Huang Xiaolong resumed his attempt to practice Asura Tactics and the Body Metamorphosis Scripture simultaneously. As he persisted in his attempts, the flow of internal force and battle qi became smoother with each round of practice.
While attempting to combine battle qi and internal force practice, Huang Xiaolong started practicing the Fifth move of Asura Sword Skill: Flower of the Other Shore.
Huang Xiaolong had reached major completion in the Fourth move of Asura Sword Skill: State of Abundant Lightning. The only thing he lacked now was more powerful battle qi. As he grew stronger, the attack power of each move multiplied parallel to his strength.
Huang Xiaolong studied the description and battle qi route required to perform the Fifth move, Flower of the Other Shore, from the fragment of the note and committed it to memory. Standing on the ancient battlefield, the Blades of Asura swung out.
When both blades swung out, multiples rays of bright sword lights spun in the air, gathering into two blossoms of an inky, dark purple flowers—the exact color of Huang Xiaolong’s netherworld battle qi.
Two inky dark purple flowers bloomed as they constantly spun in the air, vibrant and vivid.
Spinning in bloom, the two flowers hovered within a thirty-meter radius in front of Huang Xiaolong, with no further actions. Without warning, both flowers disappeared, followed by a rumbling coming from one hundred meters to the front where two huge boulders turned into dust.
Huang Xiaolong closed his eyes, imagining the attack and the flow of his battle qi just now. According to the note’s description, the two flowers were called flower of the other shore.
Flower of the other shore, in full bloom on the other side, so far yet so near, so near yet so far. Their attacks were unpredictable, making the opponent hardpressed to defend against them. When the flower of the other shore disappeared from the other side, it took the opponent’s life in one attack!
Ten days came and went.
Huang Xiaolong could nearly circulate his battle qi and internal force simultaneously without any resistance during practice, and the Fifth move of Asura Sword Skill had great progress.
During attack, as the flowers bloomed brighter, the duration time of how long they could last would shorten, but at the same time, the attack power was stronger. Occasionally while practicing Flower of the Other Shore, Huang Xiaolong would mix in Tempest of Hell, Tears of Asura, Wrath of Nether King, and State of Abundant Lightning, trying as hard as he could to combine these four moves as well.
For now, Huang Xiaolong had successfully combined Tempest of Hell and Tears of Asura, and the power scale of the attack had increased significantly.
With his diligent practice, Huang Xiaolong’s battle qi cultivation advanced a little more during these ten days.
After taking a high Grade Four Spirit Dan and a Fire Dragon Pearl, along with absorbing the spiritual energy in the ancient battlefield, Huang Xiaolong’s strength grew every day.
Ten days had passed, and the day of the Imperial City Battle had arrived!
As the morning light emerged, it felt as if the entire Imperial City became excited. A sea of people could be seen on the streets in everything direction.
This time of year had turned into a grand occasion for Duanren Empire Imperial City. Common subjects that resided within the Imperial City would also go to watch the battle.
Huang Xiaolong walked out from his room and saw that Zhao Shu, Yu Ming, and Fei Hou were already waiting for him.
“Sovereign!” Seeing Huang Xiaolong, the three of them quickly stepped out.
Huang Xiaolong nodded, took a deep breath, and said: “Let’s go to the Duanren Imperial City’s Duanren Square.”