Although the Black Wind Gang was wiped out, the Yao Family didn't make any big moves. It was widely known that the Black Wind Gang was merely a pawn of the Yao Family. Many speculated that the Yao Family was preparing for the upcoming Martial Arts Tournament in the King City, while also searching for their long-missing genius and elder.
The Dan King Pavilion quickly reopened for business. After the Black Wind Gang's destruction, the people of King City were deeply impressed by the pavilion's strength. Crowds now flocked to the Dan King Pavilion to buy pills, especially since their prices were much lower than those of the Yao Family's pills. This led to a significant impact on the Yao Family's pill business.
Most of the martial artists who needed pills were not wealthy and had no family backing. They worked hard just to buy pills to increase their strength. In their eyes, it was a no-brainer to choose the cheaper option. Moreover, with the Dan King of the Southern Martial Nation overseeing the pavilion, it gave buyers even more confidence.
The most popular pills were the low-tier Mortal grade pills, while middle-tier ones were less common due to their higher price. High-tier Mortal grade pills were bought even more rarely since ordinary people couldn't afford them.
Thanks to the affordable supply of spiritual herbs from the Danxiang Herbal Village, the Dan King Pavilion was able to cut down on costs and still make a good profit, even with lower prices. All the money earned from these sales was used for the pavilion's operations, as Shen Xiang didn't take any of it for himself.
One day passed, and Shen Xiang was still refining the true energy he had absorbed using the Devouring Devil Skill. The Black Wind Gang leader's true energy was very impure, and Shen Xiang spent time expelling the impurities. Finally, he was able to refine it into his own, though the process took quite a while.
Shen Xiang's dantian was now brimming with true energy, and he was continuously compressing it to store even more while attempting to break through to the eighth level of the Mortal Martial Realm!
By operating the Taiji Divine Skill, the Taiji Yin-Yang Diagram in his dantian spun rapidly, absorbing true energy and transforming it into the five elements, which were then sent into the five energy clusters within him.
The eighth level of the Mortal Martial Realm, known as the God Power Realm, involved merging divine consciousness with true energy, giving the energy a "spirit" of its own. This fusion made the true energy significantly stronger, resulting in more powerful condensed force.
In order to advance to the eighth level, a warrior needed both immense true energy and powerful divine consciousness. After devouring the true energy of the Black Wind Gang leader, Shen Xiang's true energy was abundant. His spirit had also been tempered during his training in the Immortal Devil Pool, giving him a powerful divine consciousness. Now, all he needed was to master the technique of fusing true energy with divine consciousness, and he would be able to break through.
Each stage of the Mortal Martial Realm was like breaking through a gate. In the earlier stages, brute force could be used, but later stages required both strength and "technique," or rather, comprehension.
Shen Xiang already had enough strength; now, he just needed to grasp the method of merging true energy with divine consciousness in order to open that gate and step into the eighth level, the God Power Realm!
By operating the Taiji Divine Skill, Shen Xiang began to comprehend its mysteries. Slowly, his true energy and divine consciousness started to merge. As the colorless divine consciousness fused with the multicolored true energy, it felt as though an explosion occurred inside him, creating a never-ending surge of powerful energy. This energy continuously flooded his meridians, muscles, and bones…
A loud "boom" echoed in Shen Xiang's mind, as if a door had been opened. A flood of energy rushed into his body, making him even stronger!
Shen Xiang's eyes snapped open, and two beams of white light shot out from them. The golden mist surrounding his body slowly dissipated. His senses sharpened—he could see even the tiniest grains of sand on the ground before him, and although his ears were bombarded by countless distant sounds, he could clearly discern the voices of several individuals amid the noise.
In this critical moment, Shen Xiang had successfully stepped into the eighth level of the Mortal Martial Realm, the God Power Realm!
And he was just about to turn seventeen.
---
The ten-yearly King City Martial Arts Tournament was about to begin. It was a competition open to individuals under the age of twenty and was hosted by the Yao Family. Additionally, martial experts from sects in the Immortal Mountains would be present to watch. The first-place winner would not only receive a high-tier Spirit grade True Essence Pill but also an invitation to join one of the martial sects—an incredibly tempting prize.
Spirit grade pills were extremely expensive and rarely sold. Typically, they were only crafted when needed and ordered in advance from alchemists, with no guarantee of success. The high-tier True Essence Pill was even more difficult to come by.
The True Essence Pill contained a large amount of pure true energy, and once ingested, it could be quickly refined by the body, significantly increasing one's true energy without the need for lengthy cultivation. It was an excellent pill for rapidly improving one's cultivation.
Many people signed up for the King City Martial Arts Tournament, but only forty passed the rigorous selection process, a testament to the event's high standards.
During the selection, Shen Xiang's performance stood out the most. With a single punch, he shattered the strength-testing stone, making it impossible to measure his actual strength. However, on the day of the tournament, Shen Xiang was nowhere to be seen.
In the Yao Family Plaza, a massive crowd surrounded the six-foot-tall, twenty-zhang-wide martial stage, where thirty-nine young men and women were already standing. The only one missing was Shen Xiang.
"I heard he wiped out the evil Black Wind Gang a few days ago. Maybe he got hurt and couldn't make it?" someone on the stage speculated.
"That's possible. I heard the Black Wind Gang leader had the strength of the seventh level of the Mortal Martial Realm. Shen Xiang, still so young, might have been injured in a battle that ended with both sides heavily wounded," another person chimed in.
"Yeah, no one's seen him at the Dan King Pavilion these past few days. It's a shame if he can't make it," someone else sighed.
Most of the crowd had come specifically to watch Shen Xiang compete. Now that he hadn't shown up, many were disappointed. This only served to fuel the displeasure of the proud young men and women on the stage, who were irked by the fact that everyone seemed to believe Shen Xiang would win first place if he showed up.
Just as the discussions grew louder, a young man dressed in black combat attire with sharp brows and bright eyes, his expression full of determination, slowly ascended the stairs to the stage.
Seeing this calm and handsome youth appear, the crowd immediately fell silent, only to erupt into excited cheers moments later. Shen Xiang had finally arrived, sending waves of excitement through the masses.
Among the forty young competitors on the stage, Shen Xiang stood out the most. He wore a simple black outfit, while the others were dressed in luxurious clothing. Despite this, Shen Xiang's aura and physique far surpassed that of the others.
Shen Xiang exuded an air of maturity and composure, with just a faint smile on his face. The other young competitors, by contrast, all had arrogant expressions, as though no one else was worthy of their attention. This only made the crowd feel that Shen Xiang was far more pleasant to look at.