Gu Ling issued a cold harrumph, and although it wasn't loud, the entire hall seemed to fall into an eternal icy abyss.
A thin film of sweat dotted Lin Shen's forehead.
"I also heard that the outer sect disciples have been spreading rumors that Huang Xiaolong got second place because he cheated." Gu Ling added.
Sweat began to trickle down Lin Shen's forehead. He naturally knew of the rumors being spread outside, for it was something he allowed.
The hall became so silent one could hear a needle fall on the ground.
After a few minutes of heavy silence, Gu Ling spoke again, "Take out your allowance for this month, it shall be given to Huang Xiaolong as compensation. The same goes for Huang Xiaoming, Jiang Yan, and the other Elders related to this matter." Gu Ling made a deliberate paused before asking, "Do you have any complaints?"
"This subordinate has no complaints, none at all!" Lin Shen was secretly relieved, nodding his heart in agreement.
All Barbarian God Sect disciples, including Elders and Grand Elders, were given a monthly allowance, receiving a certain amount of divine pills, shenbi, and herbs.
"You, Huang Xiaoming, and everyone else will personally send it to Huang Xiaolong." Gu Ling said.
"Yes, Sect Chief." Would Lin Shen dare say anything else?
…
A figure was flying flusteredly away from the Barbarian God Sect, concealed under the dense forest. This figure was none other than the Lin Family Fort Lord, Lin Chaoqun.
The news of Huang Xiaolong winning the first place in the Submerging Dragon Ranking had already spread.
When Lin Chaoqun heard the news, he became fidgety with unease. He tried to get in touch with his cousin Chen Jinzhi, but no response came, causing his fear and unease to grow. Without a word to his son, Lin Chaoqun ran away, trying to put as much distance between himself and the Barbarian God Sect's mountain range. The farther the better.
After a burst of flying as fast as he could, Lin Chaoqun stopped to catch his breath, his back leaning against the tree behind him. The sleeve he wiped his forehead with was soaked with cold sweat.
"Fort Lord Lin, where are you headed? Should I send you there?" Right at this time, a cold voice sounded.
Listening to this familiar voice, Lin Chaoqun completely froze on the spot, his face becoming deathly white from despair looking at the person who appeared in front of him out of nowhere.
He didn't expect Huang Xiaolong to be able to catch up so soon.
"Huang, Huang Xiaolong." Lin Chaoqun's teeth were chattering as he tried to speak.
Huang Xiaolong slowly approached with a deadpan expression.
After the rewards ceremony ended, Huang Xiaolong didn't return to his cultivation room, for he needed to deal with Lin Chaoqun first.
According to Chen Jinzhi's memories of Lin Chaoqun's hiding place, he followed his tracks until here.
"Huang Xiaolong, don't kill me. I, I have obtained a sect's treasure map, I can give it to you." Lin Chaoqun blurted out anxiously but before he could finish, a force pulled him towards Huang Xiaolong.
A purple-colored symbol flew out from Huang Xiaolong's eyes, entering Lin Chaoqun's mind through the center of his eyebrows. A while later, the soul-scouring ended. Huang Xiaolong didn't bother collecting Lin Chaoqun's godhead, burning the last traces of him with a flick of divine fire.
"Zhenyu Sect." Huang Xiaolong spoke a name under his breath.
From Lin Chaoqun's memories, he had indeed found a treasure map a few years back belonging to a sect on the Green Cloud Island.
This Zhenyu Sect was one of the big sects of the island more than a hundred thousand years ago, but was destroyed by the Great Whale Sect several thousand years back.
For a sect that had existed as long as the Zhenyu Sect did, one can imagine the wealth they had amassed in their treasury.
However, Lin Chaoqun did not have that treasure map on him, it was hidden behind one of the bricks in a secret chamber below the Lin Family Fort.
In a flicker, Huang Xiaolong already left.
He would make a trip to the Lin Family Fort in the near future.
Lin Chaoqun did not tell anyone about the treasure map he had found, which included his son, Lin Sheng. Therefore, Huang Xiaolong wasn't worried that the treasure map would be taken away by others.
Half a day later, Huang Xiaolong was back in his cultivation room on the Submerging Dragon Peak. Sitting cross-legged on the cold jade bed, he took out the rewards he received for ranking first in the Submerging Dragon Ranking battle. Among them were a hundred ten-million-years-old Flaming Dragon Fruits.
Other than the hundred Flaming Dragon Fruits, there were also one hundred Dragon Cloud Pills refined by high-level Heavenly God Realm master and one million shenbi.
Looking at the one million shenbi, a thought flashed in Huang Xiaolong's mind. 'Will I be able to condense the pure spiritual energy here into divine stones now?'
He hadn't tried it since breaking through to the Heavenly God Realm.
He decided to give it a try and pointed his finger in front of him. Immediately, a wave of pure spiritual energy was pulled out by Huang Xiaolong from the void, condensing into divine stone, dropping onto the floor one after another.
However, looking at the falling divine stones, Huang Xiaolong shook his head. The spiritual energy they contained was just average; if graded according to the Divine World's standard, these divine stones could barely be accepted as grade one.
Grade one divine stones were the lowest grade; as the quality increased, there would be grade two, grade three, and so forth. It was said that above grade ten were the chaos divine stones.
One hundred grade one divine stones could only be exchanged for one shenbi.
Huang Xiaolong made a quick calculation. At his current speed, he could condense a little over ten thousand grade one divine stones a day, which was equivalent to a mere hundred plus shenbi.
A hundred something shenbi was a great sum to forces like the Tie Family and Lin Family Forts, but to Huang Xiaolong, that amount was a drop in the bucket.
According to the refining rate of his three supreme godheads, the paltry amount of pills or medicinal herbs he could buy with one hundred shenbi was akin to a small stream flowing into the vast sea, making no difference at all.
Thankfully, there was still the one million shenbi reward, enough to tide him over a few months. After that, he would go to the Lin Family Fort to pick up that Zhenyu Sect treasure map.
The truth is, Huang Xiaolong did not want to become the Ancestor's disciple because the Barbarian God Sect and the Green Cloud Island were merely a temporary stopping point for him.
After he went to the Fortune Mainland to participate in the All Islands Great War, he wouldn't be returning here. This was one of the reasons why he preferred to not have too many strings attached.
Not to mention the many enemies he had, he didn't want the Barbarian God Sect to become one of his weak points.
Pushing away these thoughts from his mind, he swallowed down all the hundred Dragon Cloud Pills in one go and focused on cultivating.
In a short six days, all the Dragon Cloud Pills were refined and absorbed.
Following that were the hundred Flaming Dragon Fruits.
Time flowed by. In the blink of an eye, half a month had passed.
When Huang Xiaolong had completely refined the Flaming Dragon Fruits, his cultivation broke through to early Second Order Heavenly God Realm!
Huang Xiaolong remained in his room for another month, cultivating to stabilize his new advancement before exiting his room and heading to the Soaring Sky Peak not far from the Submerging Dragon Peak.
The Soaring Sky Peak was the place where an outer disciple got promoted to an inner disciple.
According to the Barbarian God Sect's rules, as Huang Xiaolong's cultivation entered the Heavenly God Realm, he was qualified to be promoted to an inner disciple. Once he became an inner disciple, he could have an independent cultivation mansion of his own, and more importantly, he could enter the Barbarian God Sect's library.
As one of the top three sects on the Green Cloud Island with more than a million-year heritage, its library collection wasn't something a place like the Tie Family Fort could compare to. Here, Huang Xiaolong could have a better understanding of the Fortune Mainland, as well as the overall situation on the Vientiane World Surface.
After two hours of flight, Huang Xiaolong arrived at the Soaring Sky Peak.