Invincible

Chapter 140: Eliminate from the Root

The night wind blew, carrying the thick scent of blood with it.

Within the bodies of these Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples, the roaring cries of an Asura from hell continue to resound.

Huang Xiaolong stood in the midst of these corpses and a soft blue light glittered around him from head to toe.

In less than a minute, these glittering blue lights vanished and Huang Xiaolong breathed out some turbid qi through his mouth. More than an eighth of the battle qi he had exhausted recovered after initiating the natal martial spirit ability, Instant Recovery.

Huang Xiaolong’s eyes swept over the bodies of these Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples. He then walked towards the four peak late-Tenth Order warriors. From their bodies, Huang Xiaolong found two cultivation techniques and three battle skills’ manuals.

Both cultivation techniques were low-grade Earth rank cultivation techniques whereas within the three battle skills, two were at low-grade Earth rank while the last one was a high-grade Mysterious rank battle skill.

These cultivation techniques were useless for him, but his parents and little siblings could use them.

Huang Xiaolong threw everything into the Asura Ring.

From these dead bodies, Huang Xiaolong had quite a harvest of gold coins and Spirit Dans.

Gold coins were something Huang Xiaolong didn’t need, yet the Spirit Dans he found were also nothing good as most of them were Grade Two and Grade Three Spirit Dans. Not even one high Grade Three Spirit Dan could be found from the loot.

At this point, Marshal Haotian and Fei Hou returned.

Fei Hou was injured, yet he carried Mei Sen’s corpse back with him. Instead, it was Marshal Haotian that returned empty-handed; obviously, Ning Wang managed to escape.

When both of them returned, the blood-filled scene full of Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples dead bodies startled them.

All these Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples were killed by Sovereign alone?!

“Sovereign!” Both of them came before Huang Xiaolong and greeted….

“How was it?” Huang Xiaolong asked.

Marshal Haotian took a step forward, saying “This Subordinate caught up to Ning Wang, and although I managed to injure him severely, he managed to flee. However, he took my Dark Nether Palm. Without half a year’s time, he won’t be able to fully heal.”

Then, Fei Hou also stepped forward, “This Subordinate pursued Mei Sen, and finally was able to kill him.” Saying this, Fei Hou pulled out a ring,

“Sovereign, this Subordinate found this spatial ring when searching his body after this Subordinate killed him.”

Spatial ring?

Huang Xiaolong took the ring, feeling somewhat astounded for he did not expect Mei Sen would be in possession of a spatial ring. One must know how precious each spatial ring was, for even Marshal Haotian didn’t have one.

Huang Xiaolong used some of his battle qi to open the spatial ring, and much to his delight, there was quite a number of Spirit Dans inside! Most of them were Grade Three and Grade Four. Not only that, there were several stalks of precious herbs, some cultivation technique manuals, and records of battle qi.

Fei Hou spoke again at this point, “Sovereign, how do we deal with Mei Sen’s and these Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples’ bodies?”

“Just leave them here, no need to do anything,” Huang Xiaolong looked at the horizon. By this time the moon had waned but the wind remained strong.

“Let’s go.”

Three silhouettes flashed, vanishing from the spot as they left.

Not long after Huang Xiaolong and the two left, the patrolling city guards of Big Dawn County arrived. When these city guards arrived at the scene and saw the piles of the Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples’ corpses, the bloody, gory scene in front of them seemed to have emerged from hell itself. Their faces were instantly drained of color and showed a horrified expression.

Some were unable to control themselves as they vomited on the sides of the streets, last night’s dinner and whatever good tonic they consumed were all coming back out.

Suddenly, from some of these Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples bodies, an audible sound could be heard that was akin to the eerie cries of Asura. The sounds frightened these city guards so much that they nearly shit in their pants.

A long time later, these city guards finally summoned the courage to approach the scene and take a closer look.

“That one is, Clear Cloud Pavilion’s President Meisen?!” Out of nowhere, one of the city guards’ voice sounded abruptly, exclaiming in fright as he pointed towards a certain corpse some distance away.

All the surprised guards walked up, surrounding Mei Sen’s body for a better look.

“It really is Mei Sen’s corpse!”

After taking a clear look at the face, the leader of the city guards, Captain Wu blurted out. His body couldn’t help but shiver from the chill running up his spine.

Mei Sen was a Xiantian realm expert ah, still, he was killed!

Moreover, the way Mei Sen died was truly miserable. Other than the face looking slightly better, there was no other complete part of him.

Moments later, Captain Wu’s reason returned and he issued out an order in a shaky voice: “Quick- quickly go report to the Castellan!”

This time, it was truly a big mess!

Mei Sen and so many Clear Cloud Pavilion Big Dawn County branch disciples were massacred. That was in Big Dawn County City itself!

Apart from Mei Sen, there were more than two hundred of the Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples!

More than two hundred!

That meant nearly all of the Clear Cloud Pavilion Big Dawn branch disciples died here!

It has been a very long time since a murder or fight happened within the boundary of Big Dawn County City!

“Captain Wu, do you think it might be the Nine Tripod Commerce who did this?” One of the city guards couldn’t help asking this question aloud.

The Nine Tripod Commerce!

All the forces in Big Dawn County knew about the conflict between the Nine Tripod Commerce and the Clear Cloud Pavilion.

Astutely, Captain Wu neither denied nor confirmed.

…

At this time, in the Clear Cloud Pavilion’s building, Mei Pengliang was sitting, waiting in the main hall. His head kept turning towards the entrance.

“Young Lord, don’t worry, this time President is cooperating with Patriarch Ning Wang and there are so many of our Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples going out in droves. That Huang Xiaolong and Fei Hou won’t be able to escape!”

One of the Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples noticed this and also spoke out to reassure him.

“That’s right Young Lord, after killing Huang Xiaolong, the headquarters will surely reward the President heavily for this merit. At that time, the President might even be promoted to Deputy Pavilion!” Another disciple smiled flatteringly as he joined in.

Mei Pengliang nodded.

However, exactly at this time, twenty or so Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples ran into the main hall in panic, blood stained their robes. These were the fortunate ones that managed to run away from Huang Xiaolong’s gruesome macabre.

Seeing these disciples returning, Mei Pengliang jumped out from his seat, urging them, “Where’s father?”

“Young Lord, we were tricked by Huang Xiaolong! No one knew Marshal Haotian accompanied him here to Big Dawn County. We were lucky enough to escape, but the other disciples have all fallen!” One of the survivors forced out in a brittle voice.

“What?! All Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples are dead?!” Mei Pengliang and the other disciples that were waiting in the main hall turned ashen.

“Then, my father?!” Mei Pengliang repeated his question again.

“Don’t know, when we ran away, the President and Patriarch Ning Wang had already left before us.” A different disciple replied.

In this situation, even staying inside the Clear Cloud Pavilion wasn’t safe.

Mei Pengliang’s heart breathed in relief hearing this, but at this time, a disciple ran into the main hall, shouting: “Young Lord, the President was killed!”

“What?!” Mei Pengliang’s mind buzzed as if lightning struck his brain.

The other Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples had despondency hanging on their faces, turning gray in color.

“Young Lord, we’d better flee from here, that Huang Xiaolong might come here next!” A Clear Cloud Pavilion disciple urged frantically.

Now, even this place wasn’t safe.

Mei Pengliang’s senses were jolted back to the present. Then, together with the remaining Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples, he ran out of the building without bothering to take anything, leaving Big Dawn County City in the deepest hour before dawn.

When Huang Xiaolong returned to the Nine Tripod Commerce, Li Bin, who was instructed to keep a lookout on Mei Pengliang, appeared and reported to Huang Xiaolong, saying Mei Pengliang and a group of disciples hurriedly left the city.

“Running away?” Huang Xiaolong sneered and then turned around to signal Fei Hou with his eyes.

Fei Hou nodded, “Yes, Young Lord, Subordinate will head out now.” Without further delay, he turned around and left.

Of course Huang Xiaolong wouldn’t allow Mei Pengliang to escape. Troubles must be eliminated from the root!

Chapter 141: Million Treasures Auction

After Fei Hou left, Huang Xiaolong and Marshal Haotian waited for him in the Nine Tripod Commerce’s main hall.

Near daybreak, Fei Hou returned. With Mei Pengliang’s decapitated head in his hand.

Fei Hou reported: “Sovereign, Mei Pengliang and all Clear Cloud Pavilion disciples have been dealt with.”

Huang Xiaolong nodded lightly; this result was within his expectation.

“We’ll go back to the Royal City sometime later.” Huang Xiaolong’s said solemnly. Though the issue with Clear Cloud Pavilion’s Mei Sen and his son had been resolved, there were still some loose ends to tie up, which made Huang Xiaolong decide not to head back so quickly.

“Yes, Sovereign!” Both Fei Hou and Marshal Haotian acknowledged his decision respectfully.

Before the morning light spread through the land, the news about Mei Sen struck the Big Dawn County City like thunder, giving rise to a shocked uproar throughout the city.

The commoners were also made aware that Clear Cloud Pavilion’s President Mei Sen was killed during the night. Mei Sen and all the Clear Cloud Pavilion’s disciples met with annihilation!

Within the Big Dawn County Castellan’s Mansion, Castellan Wu Dong had an ugly expression on his face as he looked at Mei Sen’s corpse.  His friendship with Mei Sen was good.

“Castellan, should we send guards to surround Nine Tripod Commerce?” One of the Castellan Manor guards came beside Wu Dong and asked, “President Mei Sen and these people were surely killed by the people from the Nine Tripod Commerce!”

“Yes, Castellan; even if that Nine Tripod Commerce have Marshal Haotian supporting them, so what? A Prince that breaks the law is as guilty as a subject. I don’t believe that Nine Tripod Commerce dares to retaliate!” Another Castellan Manor guard spoke up.

Wu Dong’s expression was extremely sullen the entire time, “Report the matter up to Lord Prime Minister first. Lord Prime Minister will have to make his decision!” After he said that, Wu Dong sent one of his confidantes to inform Prime Minister Wu Feng of the matter.

A few hours later, Wu Dong received Prime Minister Wu Feng’s reply and further instructions.

Reading the reply from Prime Minister Wu Feng, Wu Dong breathed out in relief.

Five days later.

Five days had passed since the Clear Cloud Pavilion’s President Mei Sen and over two hundred disciples were killed, and the gossip gradually died down. What baffled the big and small forces of the Big Dawn County was the lack of response from the Castellan Manor while the Nine Tripod Commerce remained safe and sound. Not only that, the Nine Tripod Commerce’s business actually fired up during the last few days.

It was ten days later when Huang Xiaolong, Fei Hou, and Marshal Haotian finally left the Big Dawn County and returned back to Luo Tong Royal City.

Arriving in Luo Tong Royal City, Huang Xiaolong headed straight for Tianxuan Mansion.

However, not long after he stepped in Tianxuan Mansion, the Cosmic Star Academy’s Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu came. The purpose of their visit was related to the inner courtyard admission.

Sitting in Tianxuan Mansion’s main hall, Sun Zhang hesitated before saying to Huang Xiaolong, “Xiaolong, the day before yesterday we had an inner courtyard round table discussion and Xiong Chu and I proposed your admittance into the inner courtyard. Most of the inner courtyard Elders agreed to it, it’s just that…” Sun Zhang’s sentence paused here.

Xiong Chu continued, “It’s just that there were three Elders that objected your admittance into the inner courtyard.”

There were Ten Elders in the inner courtyard. Three of them disagreeing meant Huang Xiaolong wasn’t eligible to enter the inner courtyard because the rules required a vote of nine.

“Oh, three Elders?” Huang Xiaolong was nonchalant to this fact. To him, the inner courtyard didn’t matter at all. The only benefit was that there were slightly more cultivation resources allocated compared to the normal Third Years, such as Spirit Dan allocation, rewards, and other benefits. However, these Grade Three and Grade Four Spirit Dan cannot compare to the Fire Dragon Pearl from the Linglong Treasure Pagoda.

Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu exchanged a vexed look seeing Huang Xiaolong’s expression. It seemed this little guy really isn’t interested in the inner courtyard. One must know that entering the inner courtyard was every student’s dream! The goal they strived for when entering the Academy!

“The three Elders’ excuse for objecting to your admittance was that all inner courtyard disciples had to reach Tenth Order, whereas you are still a Ninth Order.” Sun Zhang explained.

“Oh right, the three of them have quite a deep connection with Prime Minister Wu Feng.” Xiong Chu added. Prime Minister Wu Feng and Marshal Haotian had some conflict between them; thus, in Xiong Chu’s opinion, the main reason these three Elders disagreed with Huang Xiaolong entering the inner courtyard was likely due to Prime Minister Wu Feng’s handiwork in the dark. As for claiming Huang Xiaolong was not a Tenth Order warrior… that being the basis for the rejection was just an excuse.

“Prime Minister Wu Feng!” A sharp glint shone in Huang Xiaolong’s eyes as he repeated the name. Again, it is Prime Minister Wu Feng.

In recent days, this Prime Minister Wu Feng seemed to be looking for trouble with him at every corner!

All of these incidents were just because of Marshal Haotian?

Or perhaps, things weren’t as simple as he thought.

A short while later, Sun Zhang and Xiong Chu left Tianxuan Mansion, but before they went off, Huang Xiaolong asked the names of the three Elders.

Xie Wei! Jiang Hengyu! Cheng Fengli!

These were the names of the three inner courtyard Elders.

Committing these names to memory, Huang Xiaolong activated the God Binding Ring and entered the ancient battlefield to practice. Some months had passed since he had a breakthrough to peak mid-Tenth Order, so he felt the breakthrough to late-Tenth Order was near.

And there were four more months until the Academy’s end of the year annual competition, and Huang Xiaolong had decided to advance into late-Tenth Order as fast as he could in order to grasp the Academy overall championship in his hands! After acquiring the championship, the next step would be participating in the Duanren Empire’s Battle of Imperial City!

Initially, Huang Xiaolong’s plan was to break into Xiantian realm next year before taking the overall championship. This way, participating in the Duanren Empire’s Battle of Imperial City would leave him with a better foothold in the competition. Now, however, he changed his mind.

He must enter Duanren Institute as soon as possible, and then get a hold of and refine the number four Heavenly Treasure: Absolute Soul Pearl!

Huang Xiaolong sat cross-legged in the ancient battlefield, running Asura Tactics as he devoured the netherworld spiritual energy that fell like tidal waves from the void.

The twin black and blue dragons hovered behind Huang Xiaolong, and the dozen plus meter length of their bodies sparkled as each of the dragon’s scales grew thicker and denser.

As Huang Xiaolong’s strength approached infinitely closer to the Xiantian realm, the body of the twin dragons grew more real and solid. From afar, they looked like real life Primordial Divine Dragons.

Half a month passed.

During this half a month, Huang Xiaolong spent a large portion of his time practicing inside the ancient battlefield. Other than concentrating on Asura Tactics, there was also the Body Metamorphose Scripture.

What made Huang Xiaolong ecstatic was that there were signs of entering Stage Ten.

Entering Stage Ten represented the strength of a Xiantian realm expert!

At that time, even if Huang Xiaolong’s battle qi hadn’t broken through to the Xiantian realm, just having his internal force breakthrough the Stage Ten would help him greatly in the Imperial City.

Bright light continued to shimmer from Huang Xiaolong’s body as a vague layer of a fire-red glow appeared on the surface of his skin. Half a month of crazed practice caused the netherworld battle qi in his meridians and Qi Sea to surge, coursing through his veins.

Suddenly, Huang Xiaolong trembled from within, his meridians and Qi Sea enlarged again.

Late-Tenth Order– he finally broke through!

Huang Xiaolong continued to run Asura Tactics technique for several hours before stopping and opening his eyes. A sharp cold light shone in his eyes like the tip of a deadly blade.

Huang Xiaolong exited the ancient battlefield.

Walking out of his room, he ran into his little sister, Huang Min. Seeing Huang Xiaolong’s silhouette, Huang Min leaped up in joy and dashed towards Huang Xiaolong, “Big brother, you’re finally out from practice.”

Seeing the expression on his sister’s face, Huang Xiaolong could already guess there must be something on her mind, and a headache started to emerge.

Sure enough, Huang Min’s next sentence was, “Big brother, accompany me to the Million Treasures Auction.”