Huang Xiaolong chuckled when he heard Di Huai's reminder. "There's nothing to worry about. He isn't my opponent."
Di Huai was stunned for a second, and he reminded, "Your Highness, Li Chen might have already entered the late-Second Heaven True Saint Realm. He wasn't able to use his holy artifacts during the trial. Otherwise, he would have definitely grabbed the first position."
"I've heard that Li Chen managed to get his hands on a dao artifact…," Di Huai whispered.
"A dao artifact?" Huang Xiaolong was stunned to say the least.
"That's right. It probably had something to do with the treasury he obtained in the past."
Light flashed through Huang Xiaolong's eyes.
"Even though you managed to form your holy soul, you might not be able to stand against his dao artifact." Du Huai continued, "When the Cangqiong Holy Manor opens, the Devil Palace will stop at nothing to kill you. In fact, it's possible for them to give Xie Bufan a dao artifact."
Huang Xiaolong burst out laughing all of a sudden. "I really hope so!"
Huang Xiaolong had a ton of holy artifacts, but he was really lacking when it came to dao artifacts.
After seeing that Huang Xiaolong wasn't taking it seriously, Di Huai turned anxious. "Your Highness, the Devil Palace might even place some grand dao law from their Primal Ancestors' Inextinguishable Dao Heart into the dao artifact!"
If that was really the case, there was a chance of destroying Huang Xiaolong's holy soul.
"Alright, alright. I will take care of myself." Huang Xiaolong nodded and brushed off the subject.
If he hadn't entered the mid-level half-True Saint Realm, he would definitely be wary of their tricks. However, now that his Dao Heart had formed, there was nothing for him to worry about!
If Qiao Jinyang, the true palace master of the Devil Palace made a move, then Huang Xiaolong would be a little careful. If they sent Xie Bufan out to carry out their plans, they would probably be wasting their efforts.
In the following days, Huang Xiaolong no longer messed about as he continued to refine the blood stele he had obtained in the city.
He had long since refined the Black Corpse Holy Ring on the way back, and he could use its full powers.
As the blood runes on the blood stele were comprehended by Huang Xiaolong, blood qi enveloped Huang Xiaolong's body. As the third year passed, Huang Xiaolong's body was covered in a sea of blood as tiny figures emerged from the sea of red.
The blood stele was originally extremely tall, but as Huang Xiaolong continued to absorb its essence, it shrunk continuously.
In three short years, the blood stele shrunk to a mere hundred feet.
When the stele was about the size of a regular stone plate, Huang Xiaolong completely comprehended the blood runes.
In fact, the blood stele Huang Xiaolong absorbed, held some similarities to the Devil Eye Blood Stele Huang Xiaolong had absorbed in the Lower Worlds. However, the energy contained in it was several trillion times more than the Blood Eye Devil Stele. If he wanted to compare them together, one would be a speck of sand while the other would be a whole desert.
When Huang Xiaolong comprehended the blood runes, he could feel that the energy contained in his physical body rose by another level.
Along with the holy pills Huang Xiaolong had ingested in the past three years, he easily entered the late-Fourth Tribulation half-True Saint Realm.
With his speed of breakthrough, everyone would be terrified if they learned that he had arrived at the late-Fourth Tribulation half-True Saint Realm in three short years.
With his speed, he would definitely enter the Fifth Tribulation half-True Saint Realm before the opening of the Cangqiong Holy Manor.
Four years passed in the blink of an eye.
As brilliant rays of light emerged from the remnants of the blood stele floating in front of Huang Xiaolong, blood qi and nefarious qi soared into the skies. They only scattered after several hours when the stele shrunk to the size of three feet.
The blood runes on the stele seemed to connect and they pulsed with radiant light.
A flash of joy appeared in Huang Xiaolong's eyes. He had finally comprehended the entire stele. He could finally control the blood stele after seven years of refinement!
"Flying Heavens Blood Stele…."
Huang Xiaolong muttered to himself when he looked at the stele.
When he comprehended the stele, he gained several memory fragments belonging to the stele. From those, he learned about its origins.
The blood stele was called the Flying Heavens Blood Stele, and it didn't come from the Holy World. It came from somewhere outside the Holy World, and it originated from the Flying Heavens Race.
As soon as they left the Holy Heavens, they would arrive at the Alien Lands. There were tons of strange races, and they possessed incredible strength. The strongest race even possessed their own Primal Ancestors!
However, the Holy Heavens and those living outside never interfered with each other.
Of course, that didn't mean that there wasn't any conflict between them. Every billion to several tens of billions of years, the Holy Heavens would wage a massive war with those outside the Holy Heavens. That was also the origin of the Ancient Battlefield.
"Alien Lands…." Huang Xiaolong muttered softly.
Since the Alien Lands was outside the Holy World, there were people who knew of their existence. However, if one traveled to the edge of the Alien Lands, there was a river known as the World River. No one knew what existed on the other side of it.
There were some who said that another Holy World existed past the World River.
There were also those who said that nothing existed outside the river.
However, there had never been anyone who had managed to cross the river. In the past, when the Heavenly Master had tried to cross it, he had flown for several hundred years without finding the end, and he could only turn back.
Perhaps, Huang Xiaolong needed to head to the Alien Lands to visit the World River….
After all, the Ancient Battlefield was located near the edge of the Holy World. After he looked for the Black Corpse Holy Emperor's inheritance, he could visit the Alien Lands when he was done.
Whatever the case, the Flying Heavens Blood Stele seemed to contain a huge secret of the Flying Heavens Race. He had to visit them no matter what.
After keeping the blood stele away, Huang Xiaolong finally left seclusion. He summoned Di Huai as soon as he emerged. He planned to take a stroll around the True Reason Holy Grounds.
"We're really going to the True Reason Holy Gate?!" Di Huai was stunned when he suddenly thought of a possibility. The flames of hope reignited in his heart.
Huang Xiaolong chuckled, "Yeah. It's time to visit Fan Xia."
Huang Xiaolong hadn't forgotten about Di Huai's grudge. In the past, he had wanted to settle it as soon as he got back from the Trial of Blood. However, he had wasted several years comprehending the blood stele.
Along the way, they would pass by the Zhuoyuan Holy Grounds and Huang Xiaolong decided to settle the score with the Jiang Family while he was at it.
Naturally, Huang Xiaolong wanted to use the chance as he was about to break through to the Fifth Tribulation half-True Saint Realm. Causing such a huge commotion in the city wasn't a smart idea.
"Your Highness, I sincerely thank you!" Di Huai stared at Huang Xiaolong gratefully.
Huang Xiaolong merely shook his hand and chuckled. "Di Huai, you can just call me Xiaolong."
Di Huai shook his head hastily. Huang Xiaolong's status was something no one in the Holy World could shake. Even Grand Hall Master Wu Ge of the Holy Heavens had to address him as 'His Highness'. Di Huai didn't dare to do otherwise.
On the day itself, Huang Xiaolong and Di Huai left the Heavenly Master Holy Grounds. When he left, Huang Xiaolong brought the Departing Sword Sage and the other six True Saints. With the four undead spirits, he left for the True Reason Holy Gate. Whatever the case, the True Reason Holy Gate was no weakling. Huang Xiaolong wouldn't allow Fan Xia to escape no matter what.