Upon seeing the looks of concern on their faces, Huang Xiaolong chuckled, "Don't worry, everything is fine!"
Zhang Wenyue could only swallow the rest of her words when she noticed Huang Xiaolong's attitude on the matter.
Along their journey, Huang Xiaolong was never flustered. It was as though he wouldn't be surprised even if the sky fell the very next second!
Before Zhang Wenyue could continue to nag, Huang Xiaolong interrupted her. "Alright. Everyone should take a good rest. We shall stroll around the capital city later in the afternoon!"
Zhang Wenyue's eyes widened in shock when she realized that he was still in the mood to mess around.
How could he still be in the mood to enjoy himself after offending the Nine Heavens Gate?!
Ignoring Zhang Wenyue and the others, Huang Xiaolong entered his room to begin cultivating.
After staring at each other in disbelief, Zhang Wenyue, Zhang Haochen, and Prince Qian could only retreat to their respective rooms.
In the year that had passed, Zhang Wenyue who was at the peak of the late-Tenth Order God King Realm had received a ton of help from Huang Xiaolong. She had entered the Heavenly Monarch Realm without many difficulties. As for Zhang Haochen, he was merely half a step away from the Heavenly Monarch Realm. Even though Prince Qian's improvement wasn't as obvious, it was true that he was much stronger than before.
Sitting in the middle of the bed made from spirit jade, Huang Xiaolong crossed his leg and circulated the Grandmist Parasitic Medium.
Traces of grandmist purple qi gathered in the air as it turned into tiny purple dragons.
When Huang Xiaolong next opened his eyes, it was time for him to explore the city.
"It seems like I have to look for another method to locate purple grandmist aura."
In the lower worlds, Huang Xiaolong had managed to reach the tenth level of the Grandmist Parasitic Medium. He had remained in the tenth level without much improvement, and he was only at the early stage of the tenth level. It seemed as though breaking through to the eleventh level wouldn't be easy.
Luckily for him, he had learned from Wan Zhuoyuan's memories that there was grandmist holy aura in the Holy World.
Grandmist holy aura was tens of thousands of times more effective than purple grandmist aura, but it was difficult to obtain a trace of it even in the Holy World.
Huang Xiaolong eventually left his room, and he summoned the other three members of his group.
Leaving the inn, he started to stroll around.
Obviously, Huang Xiaolong wasn't intending to mess around in the capital city. He was planning to look for the branch of the Zhuoyuan Holy Gate in the capital city of the Falling Jade Dynasty.
He was only planning to seek them out the day after, but after the matter with Zhuo Heng, he had no choice but to bring his plans forward.
As long as he passed the test, he would be a disciple of the Holy Gate. With his newfound identity, the Nine Heavens Gate would be nothing but a speck of dust! Even if a stronger supreme sect on the Forceful Heavenly Bull Continent came knocking, there was nothing to fear!
That was also the reason Huang Xiaolong had no fear when dealing with Zhou Heng.
When harming a disciple of the Nine Heavens Gate, it was nothing to him, and it was even possible they would close one eye due to his cultivation level. However, injuring the grand elder of the Nine Heavens Gate was another story altogether! It was impossible for the Nine Heavens Gate to let him run free!
Moreover, Zhou Heng was also a disciple in name of a Eminent Elder in the Nine Heavens Gate, making things all the more complicated.
The secret technique of Eminent Elder Wang Qi wasn't something any individual in the Nine Heavens Gate could execute.
…
In the main hall of the headquarters of the Nine Heavens Gate, everyone stared at the gaping hole in Zhou Heng's chest in disbelief.
"He's strong… His physique is definitely something to look out for." Wang Qi narrowed his eyes and a trace of doubt flashed through them.
"Eminent Elder, did the other party only rely on his fleshy body to injure Grand Elder Zhou Heng?" Another grand elder in the hall asked.
In an instant, the faces of all the grand elders in the hall changed.
Wang Qi nodded his head. "That's right!"
Sharp intakes of breath could be heard throughout the hall.
Zhou Heng's divine armor was a top-grade grandmist artifact! Moreover, Zhou Heng's physique was forged with a secret technique held by the Nine Heavens Gate and his defensive abilities were far stronger than his peers.
Despite that, the other party had managed to blow a hole through Zhou Heng's chest with the might of his fleshy body alone! The wound that he had left behind couldn't even heal!
"Tell me everything that happened in the inn." Wang Qi looked at Zhao Ruigan and growled in a low voice.
Repeating the entire story one more time, he tried his best to describe Huang Xiaolong's strength to everyone in the hall. Instead of exaggerating or leaving out details like he usually would, Zhao Ruigan told them truthfully.
The more they heard, the more shocked they became.
"The other party was only a Ninth Order Sovereign, who didn't use any special technique?! He suppressed Zhou Heng with a single palm, and forced him to retreat…?!" Wang Qi's expression turned solemn. "There are only two possibilities."
Two possibilities!
A terrifying thought flashed through the heads of all the experts in the hall.
"The first possibility is that the secret art he used was a holy martial art. Even if it wasn't, it should be extremely close. Next, he should have focused on the cultivation of his physique in order to possess such explosive strength."
"The other possibility is…"
Wang Qi paused for a second and his expression turned grave.
"The other possibility is that he has a saint physique!"
Saint physique!
Silence descended on the hall, and not a single person dared to make a sound.
Zhou Heng and Zhao Ruigan felt the blood draining from their faces.
"I don't think he has a saint physique…" Zhao Ruigan stammered, breaking the silence. "He might have came across some sort of holy art, which he used to refine his body!"
Wang Qi turned around and asked an elder, "Is he still in the Lingering Fragrance Inn?"
"From what the disciples reported, they left the inn a while ago."
"Do you know where he's headed to?" Wang Qi continued to ask.
"It seems like he's headed to the Winged Tiger Street!"
Wang Qi felt his head spinning for a second. "Sh*t! That's the location of the Holy Gate's branch division!"
Holy Gate!
Zhou Heng and Zhao Ruigan felt their legs shaking when they heard what Wang Qi said.
As for the other experts in the hall, they knew that things were going south really quickly.
"Quick! Report this to the Sect Chief!" Wang Qi yelled as he started to bark out orders.
"But… but… the Chief is still in secluded cultivation!" One of the grand elders exclaimed in surprise.
"We don't have time to bother about that! Notify him immediately even if you have to disturb his cultivation!" Wang Qi knew the importance of the matter. If what he thought would happen was going to happen, the Chief wouldn't blame him.
…
Half a day later, Huang Xiaolong and the others arrived at the Holy Gate's branch division.
"Young Master, why are we here?!" Zhang Wenyue stared at the entrance of the Holy Gate's branch division and felt her jaws dropping to the ground.
No one knew what the gate was made of, but it emitted a brilliant glow. There were countless ancient runes carved onto the gate, and there was a gigantic word carved onto the body of the gate. The massive word, 'Holy,' emitted a suppressive aura as its majestic might affected everyone who looked at it.
On the stone step leading to the entrance stood four guards. Every single one of them possessed a terrifying aura, and even though Zhang Wenyue had no idea how strong they were, she knew that they were stronger than the peak late-Tenth Order Sovereign Huang Xiaolong had killed during their journey!
Even though it was only a branch division of the Holy Gate, even Venerables had to lower their heads when passing through the Winged Tiger Street.
"I'm here to enter the Holy Gate." Huang Xiaolong turned to Zhang Wenyue and winked.
Under the shocked gazes of Zhang Wenyue and the others, Huang Xiaolong stepped onto the stone step.
When the guards heard what Huang Xiaolong said, a look of indifference remained on their faces as they started to size him up.
"Follow me." One of the guards spoke up all of a sudden before turning to enter the hall. Zhang Wenyue and the others weren't lucky enough to be able to follow him in, and they had to wait for him on the street.
The moment Huang Xiaolong entered the main hall, several people emerged from the inner courtyard. A look of surprise appeared on Huang Xiaolong's face when he realized that one of the members of the group was Song Shaokang!