Li Chen shook his head slowly. "That might not be true. I wasn't able to see through his cultivation level when we met previously. He has two saint godheads and a Holy Mandate Imprint. His speed of growth isn't something we can estimate."
Xie Yao sneered again. "Even if his saint attributes can evolve, and even if he has a Holy Mandate Imprint, he won't be able to enter the half-True Saint Realm before the trial!"
Li Chen and the others felt that Xie Yao made sense and they nodded slowly.
In the past, the Heavenly Master had taken ten thousand years to enter the True Saint Realm from the Venerable Realm. Therefore, in their opinion, even if Huang Xiaolong was more talented than the Heavenly Master, he couldn't enter the half-True Saint Realm in a mere forty years.
However, they were destined to eat their words.
Ten minutes later…
A disciple reported to Li Chen and the others in a hurry. After Huang Xiaolong entered the Devil Cave, he killed Tian Guxing of the 4421st arena.
"What?! Are you sure it's the 4421st arena?!" Xie Yao jumped from his seat, and he stared at Li Chen who also had an astonished expression plastered to his face.
Tian Guxing was someone in the First Tribulation half-True Saint Realm! Even though he was only a First Tribulation half-True Saint, he wasn't someone a Tenth Order Venerable could defeat!
"Yes, this disciple is sure."
Li Chen and the others immediately stared at each other with a stunned expression.
"Did he use his complete dao saint godheads during the battle?" Xie Yao was unwilling to believe that Huang Xiaolong had already progressed to such a level, and he asked.
The disciple, making the report, shook his head. "He didn't summon his godheads throughout the battle. In fact, he relied on his fleshy body to take Tian Guxing on."
He only used his physical strength to challenge someone at the First Tribulation half-True Saint Realm!
The expressions on their faces worsened.
"Speak. Tell us everything that happened during the battle. If you dare to lie…," Xie Yao growled at the disciple.
Unable to hide anything from the Holy Princes staring straight at him, the disciple reported everything from the time Huang Xiaolong entered the arena.
When they heard about how Huang Xiaolong had remained motionless for the first five minutes of the battle, and he had still managed to remain unhurt, they felt their hearts sinking. When the disciple spoke about how Huang Xiaolong had merely used a single punch to kill Gu Tianxing, the hall fell silent.
Li Chen and the others remained silent as thoughts spun in their heads.
After a long period of silence, Li Chen spoke up. "It seems like Huang Xiaolong's strength has already exceeded our expectations. With his body alone, he was able to kill a First Tribulation half-True Saint. Even if he hasn't entered the Tenth Order Venerable Realm, he won't be too far from it."
Xie Yao continued, "That might not be the case. The four Primal Ancestors might have passed on some sort of body training art to him, allowing him to triumph over Gu Tianxing with his physical body alone."
In his heart, Xie Yao was unwilling to believe that Huang Xiaolong had already entered the Tenth Order Venerable Realm.
Li Yijia shook his head slowly. "Even if the four Primal Ancestors passed on some sort of heaven-shaking physical body cultivating art to him, he won't be able to challenge someone whose cultivation base far surpasses his!"
"Humph. Even if he entered the Ninth Order Venerable Realm, he'll only be able to become a Tenth Order Venerable when the trial starts!" A cold light flashed through Xie Yao's eyes. "I refuse to believe that he can enter the half-True Saint Realm in such a short amount of time!"
Li Chen glanced at Xie Yao and muttered, "Even if he enters the half-True Saint Realm, he won't be able to change the fact that he's destined to fail the Trial of Blood. Even if he enters the Second Tribulation half-True Saint Realm, he won't be able to do anything. Ninth Tribulation half-True Saints might not even be able to enter the top three hundred ranks. The fact that he has already lost the bet will not change."
"Whatever the case, Huang Xiaolong's talent is a little too terrifying. He might enter the peak of the half-True Saint Realm soon, and he might even be able to reach the peak of the Ninth Tribulation half-True Saint Realm before the birth of the Saint Fate! If he manages to enter the True Saint Realm, things will get troublesome…," Lin Yijia said in concern, "Your position as the leader of the Holy Princes might no longer be as stable as before."
A trace of uncertainty flashed in Li Chen's eyes.
He knew that Lin Yijia was right.
However, he couldn't move against Huang Xiaolong out in the open!
Even though the four Primal Ancestors hadn't said anything about the bet they had made, it was because they wanted Huang Xiaolong to endure some hardships along his journey of cultivation. It was a type of training for Huang Xiaolong as nothing serious would happen other than his reputation taking a hit. If Li Chen really wanted to harm Huang Xiaolong, the four Primal Ancestors, including his master, Lord Long, would kill him in a heartbeat.
"Trial of Blood…." Li Chen muttered in his heart.
The six princes of the Devil Palace would definitely participate in the trial.
Perhaps….
A month passed in a flash, and Huang Xiaolong's speed of refinement was terrifying with the assistance of the eleventh level of his Grandmist Parasitic Medium. He averaged twenty kills a day in the Devil Cave.
In the month that passed, Huang Xiaolong managed to improve his saint attributes by quite a bit.
Everyone, who watched Huang Xiaolong's battles, couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.
He killed twenty half-True Saint Realm experts with his physical strength alone! When Huang Xiaolong had entered the Holy Heavens several years ago, he was only in the mid-level Venerable Realm!
Even though the disciples of the Holy Heavens weren't optimistic about Huang Xiaolong's ranking in the Trial of Blood, they were shocked by the combat prowess he showed in the arena.
Just as they were recovering from their shock, Huang Xiaolong emerged from his seclusion and started to slay Second Tribulation half-True Saints.
Like before, he only relied on his fleshy body to finish them off. There wasn't a need for flashy techniques, and he didn't even unleash his holy martial arts. Neither did he summon his saint godheads.
The news immediately shook the Heavenly Master Holy Grounds.
Half a year later, Huang Xiaolong's targets were Third Tribulation half-True Saints.
With a single punch, he dealt with all the opponents he chose.
"What?! He managed to kill Third Tribulation half-True Saints with a single punch?!" Li Chen and the others felt their jaws dropping in shock. Even after a long time, no one uttered a word.
Their expressions were ugly to the extreme.
Huang Xiaolong managed to kill a Third Tribulation half-True Saint with a single punch! What does that even mean?
"Huang Xiaolong… Don't tell me he's already a half-True Saint." Lin Yijia muttered softly.
"Impossible!" Xie Yao was like a cat whose tail was stepped on, and he screamed.
A frown slowly formed on Li Chen's face.
"What if he really enters the half-True Saint Realm?" Chen Kaiping interrupted all of a sudden.
Li Chen's expression turned completely dark, and he snarled, "Even if he enters the half-True Saint Realm, it doesn't change the fact that he won't be able to qualify!"