Huang Xiaolong's victory in the Academy overall championship allowed the guards and servants of Tianxuan Mansion to bask in some of the limelight. Everyone stood a little taller and more proud.
At the Tianxuan Mansion's front entrance, red firecrackers were lit and people on the street joyfully watched the explosions for more than an hour.
On the same night, Tianxuan Mansion held a big celebration banquet, and almost all of the big and small forces within Luo Tong Royal City came bearing congratulatory gifts. From top to bottom, everyone in the Tianxuan Mansion was in a joyous mood.
The next morning, even King Lu Zhe himself made a visit to the Tianxuan Mansion. Tagging along with him was his son, Lu Kai.
King Lu Zhe spoke many nice words of encouragement to Huang Xiaolong and generously rewarded him with three high Grade Five Spirit Dan as well as many other valuable herbs and elixirs. Just like Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu, King Lu Zhe hoped Huang Xiaolong would enhance his strength a little bit more by consuming these things before he participated in the Imperial City Battle.
The stronger Huang Xiaolong was, the better his chances at achieving a higher ranking in the Imperial City Battle. As the King of Luo Tong Kingdom, the generous reward bestowed by the Duanren Emperor corresponded closely with Huang Xiaolong's result!
Before he left, Lu Kai patted Huang Xiaolong's shoulder playfully saying, "I really have to give it you, damn, and there I was, asking if you were planning to get the Third Year Third Class's first place before the competition. I didn't expect you to go ahead and grab the Third Year's first place, and even the overall Academy championship!"
Huang Xiaolong laughed, "Didn't you also take the Second Year's first place?"
Lu Kai grinned sheepishly, and then he moved closer to Huang Xiaolong's ear, saying in a barely audible whisper, "Bro, you should pay more attention, I can see that Chen Caixiu is a little interested in you." He instantly hopped away and fled after leaving his best friend with a friendly warning.
Huang Xiaolong shook his head with a wry smile while watching Lu Kai's fleeing back.
This rascal!
The celebration banquet in Tianxuan Mansion continued for three days straight. It was what Huang Peng and Su Yan wanted and Huang Xiaolong had no intention to stop them. As long as his parents were happy, he didn't mind.
During these three days' time, Huang Xiaolong did not practice any of the Asura techniques. Instead, he concentrated on the Body Metamorphosis Scripture.
Huang Xiaolong's Body Metamorphosis Scripture practice had reached Stage Nine: The Azure Dragon Flexing Its Claw, and it was at its limit. It was possible for him to break through to stage ten at any time now.
After three days of celebration, Tianxuan Mansion returned to its usual calmness.
Once the celebration was over, Huang Xiaolong activated the God Binding Ring and entered the ancient battlefield. Next, he swallowed down the spirit dans from the Academy's prizes and also King Lu Zhe's reward, then started practicing.
After the New Year, they would set off to Duanren Empire for the Imperial City Battle, hence, increasing his strength was crucial in the interim.
Therefore, this year, Huang Xiaolong did not give the high Grade Spirit Dans to his parents and planned to use them himself.
Adding the spirit dans from the Academy competition and the ones rewarded by King Lu Zhe together, there were seven pellets in total!
One early Grade Five Spirit Dan, one mid-Grade Five, and five high Grade Spirit Dans!
Huang Xiaolong took one pellet each day.
On the first day, he swallowed the lowest graded early Grade Five Spirit Dan, and so it went until the last of the high Grade Five Spirit Dans were consumed.
On the seventh day, Huang Xiaolong took and refined the last of the pellets. After refining seven spirit dans, not only did Huang Xiaolong's battle qi increase, it even boosted his internal force.
Although his battle qi wasn't enough to step into the Xiantian realm, it brought him infinitely closer by a single step.
Half a month went by.
The cloudy night sky turned the silvery moonlight hazy.
Huang Xiaolong stood in the yard with his legs spread apart, both hands clenched into fists in a guard position close to his waist. Then, his left hand punched out, fingers bent like hooks downward as his upper torso kept turning towards the left side while breathing in a set rhythm continuously.
Spiritual energy rumbled as it gathered towards Huang Xiaolong and was absorbed into his body as he breathed in and out. Above his head, the spiritual energy gathered in a shape resembling three flower blossoms.
While he was continuing to adjust his breathing, Huang Xiaolong's body suddenly trembled. A radiant light shone from his dantian which was situated below his navel. Next, a hot stream of energy burst out from Huang Xiaolong's dantian like scorching fire, shaking the airflow in the entire yard.
At that time, every person in Tianxuan Mansion felt the strong vibrations of the energy and its terrifying pressure.
Fei Hou's yard was one of the closest to Huang Xiaolong's yard. Fei Hou had been practicing his battle qi at the time when the sudden enveloping pressure startled him. He looked in the direction of Huang Xiaolong's yard and shock was replaced by jubilation, "Could it be, Sovereign is having a breakthrough to the Xiantian realm?!"
Breakthrough to the Xiantian realm!
Once one breaks through to the Xiantian realm, they would be acknowledged as one of the strongest experts of a kingdom! One's status and identity in the kingdom would rise to prominence.
In the yard, the fire-red glow spun and rotated endlessly in Huang Xiaolong's dantian. The internal force inside the dantian suddenly evaporated upward, and in the next second, the internal force gathered again, condensing into a drop of liquid and falling to the bottom of his dantian. His dantian became abundant with vibrating energy.
Once his dantian had fully converted into a liquid form, Huang Xiaolong slowly stopped his controlled breathing, bringing his hands and legs back to the center, all the while the joy shining in his eyes was evident.
His internal force finally broke through to the Xiantian realms level!
Although it didn't include battle qi, Huang Xiaolong could still be considered as a Xiantian expert just based on his internal force alone.
At this time, Fei Hou hurried into the yard from outside, coming to a stop in front of Huang Xiaolong with a brilliant smile on his face, "Sovereign, you broke through to the Xiantian realm?"
"It can be considered so," Huang Xiaolong nodded with a smile, "It's my internal force that reached the Xiantian stage."
Fei Hou was stunned for a second before offering his congratulations, "Congratulations Sovereign for breaking into the Xiantian realm." After practicing the Liquid Thunder Arts, Fei Hou understood that internal force advancing into the Xiantian level was just as important as battle qi breaking into the Xiantian level.
Huang Xiaolong nodded, and then said, "Run your battle qi and take one of my full force attacks."
Fei Hou blanked for a moment at the request. Nodding, a strong flickering light rippled as Fei Hou ran his battle qi in all seriousness.
Seeing that Fei Hou was ready, Huang Xiaolong raised his hand and used an Ethereal Palm on Fei Hou. The palm attack was quiet and surreal, appearing in front of Fei Hou in a split second; although Fei Hou was prepared, he was still shocked. Swiftly, he punched out with a fist of his own, colliding directly with Huang Xiaolong's palm.
"Heart Shattering Fist!"
Bang!
Fist and palm crashed together and the impact caused a loud blast to resound in the yard. The airflow turned into a violent, spinning gale, causing chairs and other things to tumble around.
Fei Hou's body strongly shook, forcing him to stumble backward a total of five steps whereas Huang Xiaolong retreated three steps.
Fei Hou actually retreated two steps more than Huang Xiaolong!
Fei Hou was dumbstruck when realizing this result.
In that exchange just now, he actually fell at a slight disadvantage!
He had been in the Xiantian realm for the last few years, and all these years, he had always been taking the Fire Dragon Pearls and practicing Liquid Thunder Art with diligence. Comparatively, his battle qi cultivation was even stronger than some Xiantian Second Order warriors. However, all this was irrelevant for he just lost to Huang Xiaolong… the Huang Xiaolong who had just broken through to the Xiantian realm for less than an hour's time!
Furthermore, neither of them summoned their martial spirit. If Huang Xiaolong summoned only his black dragon martial spirit, relying on the suppression of a higher grade martial spirit towards his Silver River martial spirit, all in all, he was no match against Huang Xiaolong.
While Fei Hou was still in a daze as these thoughts went through his mind, Huang Xiaolong's silhouette blurred and continued with his second attack.
Seeing this, Fei Hou was jarred back to his senses, making a move of his own.
The longer they sparred, the more the shock inside Fei Hou increased because he noticed Huang Xiaolong seemingly grow more powerful as time wore on; his attacks became stronger, faster, and more precise.
"Can Sovereign's Instant Recovery innate Martial Ability also be applied to the internal force?" Fei Hou thought to himself. He was aware Huang Xiaolong Instant Recovery innate Martial Ability could restore exhausted battle qi.
After exchanging more than a dozen moves with Huang Xiaolong, and just when Fei Hou could no longer go on after being pushed to the limit, Huang Xiaolong suddenly stopped. Instantly, the pressure Fei Hou felt diminished greatly, allowing him to catch a breath.
In the next few days after that, Huang Xiaolong sparred everyday, training with Fei Hou and Marshal Haotian. While sparring, all three of them summoned their martial spirit. Fei Hou was not Huang Xiaolong's opponent, but against Marshal Haotian, Huang Xiaolong needed to soul transform with his black dragon martial spirit. Even when adding the Asura Sword Skill, innate martial spirit's ability, Golden Linglong Body, and Asura Physique, he could only come to a draw with Martial Haotian.
Even so, it was more than enough to jolt Fei Hou and Martial Haotian's concept of reality.