At this moment, Lin Xiao stood up, his face full of excitement. His blood dragon phenomenon had upgraded again. This yellow jiao blood pill was truly effective.
The last time his blood dragon phenomenon upgraded was at Shengyuan Academy, rising from low-earth-tier to mid-earth-tier. His cultivation had broken through from ninth-level Martial King to first-level Martial Venerable, crossing a major realm.
This time, his cultivation was not at the edge of a major realm breakthrough.
Yet he had directly broken through two minor levels, advancing from third-level Martial Emperor to fifth-level Martial Emperor.
At this point, Lin Xiao only felt the power within his body was immense. He himself did not know how strong he had become.
If reasoned by past experience, when his essence sea was equivalent to sixth-level Martial Emperor, he could contend with a first-level Martial Saint.
Then, with his essence force at sixth-level Martial Emperor, he should roughly have combat power to rival a first-level Martial Saint.
However, the changes from the phenomenon upgrade were significant, making his same-realm combat power much stronger.
Lin Xiao felt that even if his current fifth-level Martial Emperor essence force could not contend with a first-level Martial Saint, it had probably nearly filled the gap between half-step Martial Saint and Martial Saint.
He was very close to Martial Saint combat power. One could say he was now a near-saint powerhouse.
Even if he encountered a Martial Saint, relying solely on essence force, he should be able to preserve his life and escape.
Of course, this was only his guess. The exact combat power would only be known after fighting.
After all, the gap between half-step Martial Saint and Martial Saint was vast. Lin Xiao was not sure if he had fully bridged it.
Moreover, his petrification power had not yet fought a true Martial Saint.
“Brother Lin, you broke through two cultivation levels again? How strong has your combat power become now?” Wang Qi approached, asking in utter astonishment.
“Actually, I do not know exactly how strong I am…” Lin Xiao spread his hands and replied.
Wang Qi’s face could not help but twitch.
“Does this cultivation breakthrough have any relation to your petrification power? With your cultivation improved, will the petrification power become even stronger?” the half-step Martial Saint asked, also very curious.
Lin Xiao at third-level Martial Emperor could unleash petrification power with Martial Saint combat strength. Having broken through two more levels, would that not mean he could even defeat Martial Saints?
“My cultivation has nothing to do with petrification.” Lin Xiao stated truthfully.
The half-step Martial Saint let out a long breath of relief. If it were related, that would be too terrifying, too monstrous. Monstrous to the point they could hardly accept it, though they also hoped Lin Xiao would grow stronger.
“Brother Lin, do you want to test your combat power?” Wang Qi suddenly asked.
“Hm?” Lin Xiao looked at Wang Qi curiously Bras.
Wang Qi’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly said, “Not me. There is a guy called Xiao Zihao who has sent people to shout challenges every few days.”
“Xiao Zihao?” Lin Xiao was puzzled, but from the name, it seemed like someone from the Xiao family?
“During your seclusion, the eight states have already completed pairwise clashes and produced an overall ranking…”
Wang Qi briefly explained the clashes among the eight states, then said, “Xiao Zihao is precisely the strongest genius under twenty-five from the Xiao family. He is very strong, sweeping all peers from the eight states. Even I was defeated by him. However, since he has not fought you, he feels his reputation is incomplete. So he has repeatedly come to challenge.”
“Since he is from the Xiao family, then please Brother Wang send a response. I am ready for him to challenge at any time.” Lin Xiao said straightforwardly.
The Xiao family was of the same clan as his mother.
As clansmen who had treated his mother that way, he would strike hard to teach them a harsh lesson and vent anger for his mother.
And this was merely the beginning.
Wang Qi nodded gladly and immediately arranged for people to send the message overnight.
That night, with the courtyard destroyed, Lin Xiao went to another courtyard to rest.
Originally, the commotion here had drawn many from the Wang family to watch, but they were all sent away by Grand Elder Wang Xizhi. Thus, no one came to disturb.
As for Wang Xizhi, Lin Xiao knew it must have been him who suppressed the outburst of his aura. Since he did not appear and left immediately, Lin Xiao could only have Wang Qi convey his thanks.
The next day, Wang Qi’s response to Xiao Zihao had already spread like wildfire.
Of course, there was some exaggeration added by Wang Qi, which caused such a massive dissemination effect.
In not much time after dawn, people in all eight cities knew about it.
In every street and alley, the same types of messages were circulating:
“I, Mu Haoran, sweep all peers. Come fight if you disagree!”
“I do not see Xiao Zihao because I disdain fighting him. Since he is unwilling repeatedly, come fight anytime!”
“I, Mu Haoran, can easily sweep Xiao Zihao. If I use full power, it counts as my loss!”
“I, Mu Haoran, am invincible among peers!”
“I, Mu Haoran, do not put Xiao Zihao in my eyes at all. If he remains stubborn, come fight tomorrow!”
…
All sorts of messages raged, leaving everyone unsure what Mu Haoran had actually said.
They could not tell which sentence was Mu Haoran’s words, or if all were his, or spoken in parts.
Multiple waves of messengers had been sent, all from Yanzhou, infuriating the people from Minzhou.
If not for wanting more people to witness on the spot, Xiao Zihao would have long charged into Lingnan City.
The Xiao family remained relatively calm. Only at noon did they lead the Minzhou crowd and people from their city, arriving in Lingnan City in a grand procession.
By now, a massive crowd had already gathered around the outskirts of Lingnan City in all directions.
“Mu Haoran, get out here!” As soon as he appeared, Xiao Zihao’s furious voice rolled out, resounding through the entire city.
Hearing Xiao Zihao’s voice, even Lin Xiao in the inn was slightly surprised and quite puzzled.
It was just accepting a challenge. Was there need for such anger and arrogance?
Soon after, Lin Xiao flew out from the inn. Together with Wang Qi and the others, he flew towards the top of the city wall, joining the area where the Yanzhou people were.
At this moment, seeing the dense figures from all sides, even Lin Xiao could not help but say in surprise, “All states have come?”
He was only accepting a challenge from Xiao Zihao alone, yet geniuses from all eight states had gathered. This momentum was somewhat grand.
Did the people from other states pay such attention to him?
Or was Xiao Zihao’s recent fame too great?
“That guy is Mu Haoran!” Someone pointed at Lin Xiao from afar.
“He does not look particularly extraordinary. Yet he has such big words, claiming to sweep all peers?”
“He really dares say invincible among peers.”
“After killing one Ji family genius, he became this arrogant. Truly overestimating himself!”
“He has some strength, but Xiao Zihao swept peers from seven states. How dare he humiliate him? Claiming to easily sweep Xiao Zihao and that using full power would count as his loss. In my view, he would be lucky to force Xiao Zihao to use full power.”
“Now, let us see how he backs out!”
“Invincible among peers? Hmph, if not for giving face to Xiao Zihao, I would be the first to defeat him!”
…
All sorts of heated discussions rose and fell endlessly. The entire scene was noisy, filled with nothing but voices cursing Lin Xiao.
