"Fei Hou, go and inquire about this matter!" Huang Xiaolong turned towards Fei Hou and ordered quietly, barely above a whisper.
Initially, Huang Xiaolong had decided to spend a few days here and then return to Luo Tong Kingdom. But now, encountering such an event, he could only delay the trip home for the time being.
"Yes, Sovereign!" Fei Hou acknowledged respectfully, and he turned around and left the yard.
Watching Fei Hou's receding silhouette, Huang Xiaolong's hands clenched tightly at his back; no matter what, he must get this Heavenly Treasure!
In recent years, the benefits Huang Xiaolong had gotten from the Linglong Treasure Pagoda made him realize the crucial benefits of Heavenly Treasures. Without the Linglong Treasure Pagoda, even with his superb talent twin martial spirits, his practice speed would be far slower than now.
If he could subdue another treasure with the same grade as the Linglong Treasure Pagoda, then his cultivation speed would reach a new threshold, perhaps breaking into the Xiantian realm within two to three years is a possibility.
After all, Huang Xiaolong had a gnawing threat looming in the horizon that made him anxious to increase his strength.
Roughly after an hour, Fei Hou returned and reported to Huang Xiaolong: "Sovereign, I found the information. The place the vision appeared is in the vicinity of the Enlightenment Lake. The Enlightenment Lake is about three hundred li from the Yuwai Royal City."
"Oh, Enlightenment Lake?" Huang Xiaolong looked at Fei Hou.
Fei Hou swiftly explained: "Yes, Sovereign– this Enlightenment Lake has the reputation of the best lake scenery in our Yuwai Kingdom. It is huge, covering several thousand square kilometers. However, one hundred thousand soldiers are currently positioned there to guard the Enlightenment Lake; no one can get close within a hundred li. The King has decreed that those who dared to trespass into the Enlightenment Lake will be punished according to the crime of treason: death on the spot!"
"A hundred thousand soldiers guarding it," An edge flickered passed Huang Xiaolong's eyes. This Yuwai Kingdom's King reacted really fast. He may have guessed it was related to a Heavenly Treasure being born, so he placed so many soldiers there.
"Yes, the other counties' armies were called back; I'm afraid in a few days, the number of soldiers stationed at the Enlightenment Lake will reach at least three to four hundred thousand!" Fei Hou added.
Three to four hundred thousand!
Even strong and tough Xiantian experts would fall facing three hundred thousand soldiers.
Huang Xiaolong's brows creased into deep furrows.
"You retreat first, but continue to inquire about the situation." A while later Huang Xiaolong spoke.
"Yes, Sovereign!" Fei Hou answered and retreated respectfully.
Huang Xiaolong fell into a pensive mood.
Judging from what Fei Hou said, it would be impossible to break into the Enlightenment Lake– the only option was to sneak in under disguise or concealment. However….. even with his martial spirit ability –Space Concealment, wanting to sneak into the lake without being discovered with so many soldiers guarding is not that easy.
Thinking of the situation with a mass of four hundred soldiers in one place, that would mean in every hundred meters distance, there would be a team of soldiers on watch.
It seems I can only act according to the situation. Huang Xiaolong thought to himself.
In general, a Heavenly Treasure would be born around sixty days after the vision manifested in the sky. Therefore, Huang Xiaolong was in no hurry. At the moment, he has no other option but to wait.
The sky slowly turned dark, signaling the end of another day.
Compared to the usual bustling and lively Yuwai Royal City, today, the atmosphere seemed to be taken a notch down. One almost could not see a normal person on the streets as there was mostly patrolling soldiers.
Huang Xiaolong sat cross-legged in the Linglong Treasure Pagoda's space, swallowing one Fire Dragon Pearl and practicing Asura Tactics.
When they were journeying through the Silvermoon Forest, Huang Xiaolong collected enough beast cores from killing demonic beasts, and there was much more of them in the Asura Ring. He need not worry about running out of supply without making trips to the Silvermoon Forest, the number of beast cores inside his ring was enough to last him one year!
The night passed.
And Huang Xiaolong came out from the Linglong Treasure Pagoda the next day morning, and coming to the yard, he started training in Asura Sword Skill, Ethereal Palm, and Collapse Fist.
Midway through his training, Fei Hou came in. Reporting to Huang Xiaolong, he said the rumors about a great treasure appearing near the Enlightenment Lake has spread through the Royal City and the cities nearby. Hearing this, many experts started to rush over to the Enlightenment Lake area, but most of them were captured by the patrolling soldiers, and battles broke out. Other than a few Xiantian experts who managed to escape, the rest of the trespassers were killed on the spot by the soldiers.
Listening to Fei Hou's report, Huang Xiaolong nodded; he was secretly delighted in his heart. Just as he had expected, the message about a great treasure appearing in the Enlightenment Lake has spread. He believes that as the rumor spread further and wider, the number of experts that would head towards the lake will only increase, and at that time, the situation will become more chaotic.
Within that spiral of chaos lies his opportunity.
Huang Xiaolong asked Fei Hou some questions about the Enlightenment Lake's surroundings and situations and requested Fei Hou to continue keeping a tab on things.
Several days passed since then.
Every day, Fei Hou would come once to report the latest situation of Enlightenment Lake to Huang Xiaolong. Things happened just as Huang Xiaolong predicted; one person spread the news to ten people, ten spreads to a hundred, a hundred spread to thousands. The news about a great treasure appearing in the Enlightenment Lake had exploded, and the entire Yuwai Kingdom had learned about it, and experts were rushing over far and near to the Yuwai Kingdom.
Experts from different forces were finding ways to sneak past the soldiers into the Enlightenment Lake to check out the situation; as the number of experts increased, the conflicts between these forces and the soldiers on guard became more frequent and intense. The pressure on the army was getting heavier like a mountain.
Huang Xiaolong allowed Fei Hou to retreat.
At this rate, in no more than half a month, the neighboring forces would be arriving. The pressure on the army would double, triple, and the situation would be even more chaotic Huang Xiaolong had first anticipated.
Night.
In the middle of the yard, Huang Xiaolong stood with his left foot stepped far out to the left, and his lower body was bending down into a half-squat with his elbows positioned close to his waist. His arms were straight with the palms facing up like he was holding some very heavy weights, and a short while later, his elbows straightened out and relaxed. These actions were repeated many times as Huang Xiaolong controlled his breathing, and invisible spiritual energy came rolling at him.
As Huang Xiaolong's battle qi cultivation increased, his Body Metamorphose Scripture training had reached Stage Eight –Three Diagrams on the Terrain.
Or more accurately said, the peak of Stage Eight. He would be able to enter Stage Nine soon – The Azure Dragon Claws Stretched Out.
Huang Xiaolong constantly breathed according to a certain rhythm, and there were white fogs swirling above his head, twisting into the shape of a flower, three of them to be exact.
A large amount of spiritual energy entered Huang Xiaolong's body, accumulating in his dantian close to his navel, and as he gathered the internal force in his dantian, the battle qi in his Qi Sea and the internal force in his dantian resonated with each other.
Now, relying on just his internal force, he could kill an average late-Ninth Order.
As Huang Xiaolong breathed, each interval between breaths became longer as if he immersed into tortoise-breathing [1] mode.
When Huang Xiaolong reaches Stage Ten of the Body Metamorphose Scripture and breaks through into the Xiantian realm, using internal force, he could stay underwater for ten days, or even half a month without issues.
The days passed like this for another ten days.
During these past ten days in the courtyard, Huang Xiaolong spent the time practicing Asura Tactics, the Body Metamorphose Scripture, Asura Sword Skill, Ethereal Palm, and Collapse Fist.
In these ten days, the situation in the Enlightenment Lake had turned increasingly anarchic; the neighboring kingdom's forces had arrived in the Enlightenment Lake area and intense clashes with death toll increasing every day.
The number of soldiers stationed near the lake has gone up to four hundred thousand, yet it was still an arduous effort to fend off the forces coming in droves – the army is close to collapsing from the pressure.
The water level in the Enlightenment Lake rose peculiarly, and the surface was surging with angry waves as strange cries came out from the bottom of Enlightenment Lake. All these signs pointed to a great treasure that is about to come out.