Shen Xiang left early and returned late each day. During the day, he obsessively refined pills in the shop, while at night, he went to the outskirts of the city to cultivate. Twenty days had passed in this way. Not only had his cultivation improved significantly, but he had also become highly proficient in refining mid-tier Mortal-level pills and below, with almost no failures. The time it took for him to refine a pill had also shortened, to the point where even the veteran alchemist Shen Luzong felt inferior.
The money Shen Xiang earned from selling the thousand-year Blood Spirit Ginseng was nearly spent. He and Shen Luzong had refined many common low- and mid-tier Mortal-level pills, but it was still far from enough.
Of course, the Golden Spirit Fruit tree that Shen Xiang had been cultivating was also about to bear fruit. For more than twenty days, he had been able to gather a lot of Dragon Saliva every day to accelerate its growth. This was the first time he had ever used such a long period of time to accelerate the ripening of a single spiritual herb, but it was worth it.
The Golden Spirit Fruit tree was secretly planted in Shen Xiang's own courtyard. Even Shen Luzong couldn't casually enter his small courtyard.
"As long as I can recruit enough alchemists, I can relax!" Shen Xiang gently caressed the small golden fruit, which had only appeared after he watered the tree with Dragon Saliva that morning.
Shen Xiang didn't want to spend all his time refining pills to sell. He wanted to do many other things, such as searching for rare spiritual herbs, hunting beasts, acquiring martial techniques suitable for his cultivation, and exploring the vast and boundless Mortal Martial world...
There was still more than a month left until the King City Martial Arts Tournament, and Shen Xiang went to register for it. To his frustration, the tournament was hosted by the Yao Family, and the registration was at their estate.
While staying in King City, Shen Xiang had already heard about the disappearance of Yao Tianhua and the Yao Family elder. Fortunately, there had been disturbances caused by organized criminal groups of powerful warriors outside the city recently, resulting in the robbery and murder of many noble family scions on their way to King City, so Shen Xiang wasn't under suspicion.
The Yao Family's anger over Yao Tianhua's and the elder's disappearance was intense. The royal family and other families closely allied with the Yao Family also condemned the criminal groups. Within just a few days, several of these groups were eradicated, but there was still no trace of Yao Tianhua.
Yao Tianhua and the Yao Family elder had both been killed by Shen Xiang, their bodies burned to ashes. He wasn't worried about the Yao Family discovering this.
Shen Xiang soon arrived at the Yao Family estate. It was massive, and the giant plaza in front of the gate left Shen Xiang in silent awe. The inside must have been even more impressive.
The registration and preliminary matches for the tournament were all taking place in the large plaza in front of the Yao Family's gate. Although registration had started a while ago, many people were still coming every day. The plaza was bustling with long lines of participants.
After a long wait, it was Shen Xiang's turn. He stood before a table where a young man in his twenties was responsible for registration. The man yawned, picked up a pen and paper, and lazily asked, "Name?"
"Shen Xiang!"
The young man, initially uninterested, suddenly trembled upon hearing the name. He carefully scrutinized Shen Xiang! The people around them also turned their attention to him. Shen Xiang's name was well-known—it was said he could refine Marrow Cleansing Pills, and he possessed strength comparable to a seventh-level Mortal Martial Realm fighter. He had injured the Yao Family elder and even severely beaten the City Lord's son, gaining the favor of the beautiful owner of the Danxiang Herbal Manor...
Shen Xiang was considered more talented than Yao Tianhua. Anyone who was well-informed had heard of his name. However, Shen Xiang was a thorn in the side of the Yao Family, and the Yao Family despised him. They blamed him for the disappearance of their elder and Yao Tianhua, believing that if the elder hadn't been injured by Shen Xiang, they wouldn't have been in danger.
"Go over there for the strength test. If you pass, you can participate in the tournament," the young man pointed to another line.
Shen Xiang had heard beforehand that in order to successfully register, participants had to undergo a strength test. Not just anyone could participate in the final competition.
Shen Xiang received a stamped paper with his name on it and moved to the testing queue.
Many people were excited to be so close to Shen Xiang. He was not only an alchemist but also the son of the Shen family patriarch, with unlimited potential. Many of them took the initiative to strike up conversations with him.
Shen Xiang smiled and chatted with these noble family scions. This passed the time and allowed him to gauge the attitudes of other families toward the Shen family. Many families, fearing the Yao Family, hesitated to ally with the Shen family. However, from these conversations, Shen Xiang learned that if the Shen family had a strong presence in the pill market, they wouldn't fear the Yao Family's threats.
Before he knew it, it was his turn to test his strength. The method was to punch a large, strange stone. The stone was originally black, but if the punch was strong enough, the color would change!
Standing in front of a stone taller than himself, Shen Xiang heard the test administrator say, "As long as the stone turns yellow, you pass."
The stone could change to red, orange, yellow, green, blue, or purple depending on the strength of the punch, with purple representing the highest limit of the stone's capacity to absorb force.
Shen Xiang had already seen many people before him only manage to turn the stone red, and those who managed orange were rare. No one had turned it yellow.
"I heard the Crown Prince managed to turn it blue! His strength is unfathomable."
"Also, a young scion from the Yao Family was able to turn it blue too."
"That's nothing! General Leng's daughter turned it purple."
"…"
Shen Xiang overheard many people discussing the strength of various scions from famous families. Many eyes were now on him. Everyone wanted to see if Shen Xiang lived up to his reputation. Most had never witnessed his power firsthand and had only heard rumors.
Shen Xiang clenched his fist and focused on the stone. His family had a similar, though smaller, stone for strength testing. When he hit it in the past, it barely turned a faint red, indicating his strength was weak at the time.
Now, having reached the sixth level of the Mortal Martial Realm, Shen Xiang was eager to see his current results.
Taking a deep breath, Shen Xiang circulated the Vermillion Bird and Azure Dragon True Qi within his body, merging the two energies as they flowed into his arm. His sleeve was immediately burned away, revealing his thick, vein-popping arm.
At that moment, everyone held their breath. Those nearby could feel the terrifying power of his True Qi. This sudden outburst of energy intimidated the crowd of young men and women. Now, none of them doubted the rumors that Shen Xiang had defeated the Yao Family elder. The pressure from his True Qi alone made their hearts race with fear!
With a single burst of effort, Shen Xiang channeled the dual-attribute True Qi into his arm. Clenching his fist, he struck out like lightning, his punch swift as a thunderclap, smashing into the stone with tremendous force.
With a resounding "boom," the stone instantly shattered into countless pieces, scattering across the ground. Dust and debris were blown up in the air by the lingering shockwaves of True Qi!