More than twenty orkhis fruits hovered in the air around Huang Xiaolong with streams of golden vapor continuously flowing out, entering his body.
That golden vapor was the energy contained within the fruits. As it flowed into Huang Xiaolong’s body, his flesh glimmered with bright golden light.
Above Huang Xiaolong’s soul sea, his three supreme godheads were emitting resplendent radiance as they absorbed the spiritual fruits’ energy.
One day, two days, ten days passed in a blink, yet Huang Xiaolong was still sitting cross-legged in the cave, not moving an inch.
The golden light had covered him entirely, akin a cocoon, only the shadow of his silhouette was barely discernible from the outside.
Five more days passed when all of a sudden a crisp sound of something breaking sounded. Huang Xiaolong’s godforce rippled with vigor as he finally broke through to mid-Tenth Order Highgod Realm!
However, Huang Xiaolong continued to absorb the streams of energy flowing out from the orkhis fruits.
Days passed. A little over two months later, Huang Xiaolong finally finished absorbing all the energy coming from the twenty-odd fruits, reaching peak mid-Tenth Order Highgod Realm!
In fact, he was very close to advancing to late-Tenth Order Highgod Realm. Huang Xiaolong was ecstatic with the result.
Now, even without using his primordial divine dragon form, he was confident he could kill a Second Order Heavenly God such as the Lin Family Fort Lord, Lin Chaoqun.
Of course, that was on the condition that Lin Chaoqun did not flee using an ancient talisman like he did the last time.
Huang Xiaolong came to a stand, a self-deprecating smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He spent more than two months refining all the orkhis fruits, which exceeded his estimation and expectations.
In the past, when he was in the lower realm, a ten-million-year-old spiritual fruit would be easily refined within an hour’s time.
Huang Xiaolong recovered from his moment of humility and walked out from the cave. Leaping into the air, he continued making his way toward the Barbarian God Sect.
Even though refining the orkhis fruits had delayed his journey by more than two months, it was quickly negated by the increase in speed brought by his advanced cultivation. Therefore, he would still be able to make it in time for the disciple recruitment exam.
Six days later.
At a certain part of the primeval forest, just as Huang Xiaolong’s palm fell, a blood-curdling beast roar reverberated in the air. An early First Order Heavenly God Realm giant bear laid sprawled in a puddle of blood.
Huang Xiaolong approached the giant bear corpse, dug out its godhead, then disappeared from the scene.
For the last six days, he had hunted demonic beasts as he made his way through the forest. During this time, over a dozen First Order and Second Order Heavenly God Realm demonic beasts died in Huang Xiaolong’s hands. As for Highgod Realm demonic beasts, he didn’t keep count.
Moreover, it didn’t take much of his time to deal with these demonic beasts, hence, his speed wasn't hindered much. But he put away all the godheads he had collected so far, it wouldn't be too late to refine them after completing the disciple recruitment registration.
Soon, three months came and went.
By now, Huang Xiaolong couldn’t remember how many demonic beats he had killed. Inside the Godly Mt. Xumi’s space, the two piles of First Order and Second Order Heavenly God Realm demonic beast godheads had more than two hundred each!
If these godheads were taken out to sell, it would bring quite the income by the Green Cloud Island’s standards.
At some point in the latter part of his journey, Huang Xiaolong couldn’t be bothered to dig out godheads from the Highgod Realm demonic beasts he killed, hurrying on his way.
About three and a half months later, his cultivation had improved from peak mid-Tenth Order to late-Tenth Order, inching that much closer to peak late-Tenth Order Highgod Realm.
Deep into the night, the silence was broken by the random growls of demonic beasts.
Huang Xiaolong was sitting beside a crackling bonfire, roasting a large piece of meat, which caused a savory fragrance to permeate through the forest.
After almost four months of traveling, he would be out from the Blood Phoenix Forest in another two or three more days, arriving at a city called Pingyi City.
A short distance from the Pingyi City was the Barbarian God Sect. Based on his current speed, it would only take him three days at most to reach that place.
There were still three weeks left until the disciple recruitment exam began, giving Huang Xiaolong ample time left to reach his destination.
Huang Xiaolong picked up the roasted bear paw off the bonfire and took a hearty bite. Pieces of hot and tasty meat filled his mouth, washing them down with a gulp of fragrant wine. This scene brought Huang Xiaolong back to the times when he and the others ate roast meat and drank wine in the Martial Spirit World.
‘I wonder if Xiaofei, Father, Mother, and the others are doing well.’ Huang Xiaolong wondered to himself absentmindedly.
Even though he had only arrived in the Divine World for half a year, he often thought of his family, especially the endless waking nights spent with Shi Xiaofei prior to his ascension.
Then, his thoughts drifted to Li Lu, and the message she left for him, ‘Xiaolong, I’ll wait for you in the Divine World, forever waiting for you.’
He had a feeling that he and Li Lu would meet again when he becomes the Barbarian God Sect's chief disciple and participates in the All Islands Great War on the Fortune Mainland.
However, that was a matter of two decades in the future.
Two decades and then some!
To a Heavenly God Realm cultivator, two decades was neither long nor short, just like the ripples across the water surface, gone in the blink of an eye.
The night gave way to the day as the sun rose on the horizon.
Huang Xiaolong started on his journey again. Two days later, he was out from the Blood Phoenix Forest, arriving at Pingyi City.
Due to the city’s proximity to the Barbarian God Sect and its strategic location, where one needed to go through it to head into the Blood Phoenix Forest, this city was quite famous on the Green Cloud Island.
Huang Xiaolong stood about thirty seconds on the main path leading to the Pingyi City’s gates before lifting his foot, walking toward the gates with the rest of the crowd.
At a first glance after passing through the city gates, Huang Xiaolong found the city to be even bigger and livelier than he had imagined.
The streets were five to six times wider than the ones in the Divine Dan City, with rows and rows of shop fronts, welcoming the droves of various cultivators entering the city.
Perhaps because it was close to the day of the Barbarian God Sect’s disciple recruitment exam, cultivators from various parts of the island were arriving here, causing the spacious Pingyi City to feel crowded.
Huang Xiaolong followed the crowd, deciding to stay the night at the city and continue onward tomorrow.
As he was passing by a restaurant, he slipped inside, escaping from the crowded streets.
As it was noon, the restaurant was bustling with customers, taking him some effort to find a table that was in a corner, after which he ordered some dishes and a jug of wine.
“Look, that’s the Zhu Family’s Young master, Zhu Wanchen!”
“Zhu Wanchen! The Zhu Family’s brightest genius in the last ten thousand years, I heard rumors saying he succeeded in condensing a top rank ten godhead. He’s barely over nineteen, but already has a cultivation of perfection stage late-Tenth Order Highgod Realm. Someone made a prediction that he’ll break through to the Heavenly God Realm within the year!”
“A twenty-year-old Heavenly God Realm master! Even on the Fortune Mainland, that is extremely rare! Is this Zhu Wanchen here for the Barbarian God Sect’s disciple recruitment exam as well? With his talent, the Barbarian God Sect will definitely nurture him well!”
The restaurant suddenly became noisy. Huang Xiaolong followed the crowd’s gaze and saw a young man clad in a blue robe, exuding a distinguished air, walking in with two old men following behind him.
This was undoubtedly the Zhu Wanchen everyone was talking about.
‘A top rank ten godhead?’ To others, this was indeed a great genius but Huang Xiaolong didn't put it in his eyes.
Right at the moment he was about to turn away, Huang Xiaolong caught sight of a familiar figure passing by the restaurant entrance, stunning him. Lin Chaoqun? Why would Lin Chaoqun be in this Pingyi City?