Sensing the aura emanating from Ling Chen’s comprehension of the mortal martial art fragment, Ling Xiao didn’t waver. Instead, he redoubled his efforts in cultivation.
Time flowed like water.
The date of the Tianfeng Gala drew ever closer.
Beyond the sixteen slots reserved for the four major clans, the remaining four spots sparked fierce competition.
Not everyone was content to roam the martial world their whole lives.
Achieving success at the Tianfeng Gala would earn an invitation from the city lord to join the military of the Northern Han Kingdom, complete with an official rank.
Such a life was the dream of countless people.
Outside Tianfeng City, numerous young talents flocked to witness the flair of the Four Young Masters of Tianfeng City.
Of course, some came purely to catch a close-up glimpse of the city’s reputed number one beauty.
Ling Xiao had no interest in these matters, nor the time to pay them any mind.
Through Second Master Ling, he learned that among the Four Young Masters of Tianfeng City, Ling Feifan ranked last, making him the weakest.
The other three Young Masters all boasted strength above the sixth level of the Martial Vein.
However, their ages hovered around eighteen.
This level of strength warranted serious preparation from him.
Additionally, though the Ling Clan forbade word of Ling Xiao defeating Ling Feifan from spreading, there’s no wall impervious to leaks.
The news had gotten out eventually.
Now, aside from the three Young Masters, martial artists from the four major clans were all eyeing that fourth Young Master slot.
As for Ling Xiao?
They didn’t take him seriously. Defeating Ling Feifan was impressive, sure, but his displayed realm was only the late fifth level of the Martial Vein.
Those vying for the fourth Young Master position were all peak fifth-level Martial Vein martial artists, and they naturally refused to admit they were weaker than Ling Feifan.
What they didn’t know was that Ling Xiao’s strength had long surpassed anything they could compare to.
Even the current three Young Masters, plus Ling Chen and Tianfeng City’s number one beauty, Shi Yulian—none of them could likely match Ling Xiao one-on-one.
At the Ling Clan.
Inside the training room of Ling Xiao’s home.
He sat cross-legged on the floor, his body enveloped in a thin golden film.
His martial soul clone attacked relentlessly from all angles, yet Ling Xiao didn’t budge from start to finish.
Even so, every strike from the martial soul clone was completely repelled by the golden film, unable to inflict the slightest damage.
At fourteen years old, Ling Xiao had finally cultivated the superior top-tier defensive martial art, the Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique, to the seventh turn.
Unless an opponent’s gang qi quality surpassed his own or they wielded some extraordinary treasure, not only would they fail to breach his defence, but they’d also suffer rebound damage.
The stronger the attack, the worse the injury.
At just fourteen, Ling Xiao stood a head taller than his peers, his physique perfectly proportioned.
Not overly bulky, nor excessively lean, every muscle on his body seemed just right.
Neither too bloated nor too sparse.
Forged by the Cold Pool Golden Liquid, his body had reached a level of strength that was unthinkable for martial artists of the same realm.
Breaking through to the seventh turn had happened over ten days ago.
Setting aside everything else, with his sixth-level Martial Vein cultivation and the seventh turn of the Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique, he was confident he could claim a Young Master title.
However, having never faced the other three Young Masters and unsure of their exact strength, he didn’t dare proclaim himself invincible.
Thus, after breaking through the Nine-Turn Golden Body Technique, he didn’t stop cultivating. He turned his focus to a final push with the Heavy Shadow Sword Technique, the Black Iron Scroll of Sword Control, the Soul Condensation Technique, the Snow Lotus Qi Technique, and the secret art Earth Core Ice Lotus Binding.
By today, his Soul Condensation Technique and Black Iron Scroll of Sword Control had nearly reached the transcendent stage, achieving a state of sublime mastery.
Naturally, his sword control and soul power had made significant strides, with their applications growing more versatile.
The Snow Lotus Qi Technique, thanks to a thousand-year-old golden snow lotus, had broken through to the seventh layer, entering the great success stage.
The Earth Core Ice Lotus Binding had also benefited from the golden snow lotus, surging to the peak of the sixth layer and reaching the proficiency stage.
This was far beyond Ling Yixue’s level.
Though the Heavy Shadow Sword Technique remained at the peak of the third layer without further progress, he had solidified this stage and wielded it with greater finesse.
While training the Heavy Shadow Sword Technique, Ling Xiao faintly noticed that when paired with the evil qi of the Bull Demon Technique, each shadow clone’s attack power increased by about ten percent.
The higher the Bull Demon Technique’s realm, the greater the boost.
That meant that once he broke through to the fourth layer of the Heavy Shadow Sword Technique, each shadow clone’s combat power wouldn’t be fifty percent of his own, but sixty percent—or even more.
And that was just the boost from the evil qi.
According to his estimations, if he cultivated the Heavy Shadow Sword Technique to the fifth layer’s perfection and let the Bull Demon Technique: Transformation devour it, the gains would be even greater.
Using this insight, Ling Xiao also enhanced his martial soul clone’s combat power.
Compared to shadow clones, the martial soul clone lasted longer and had a more diverse range of moves.
After all, shadow clones were merely extensions of a single sword technique, while the martial soul clone existed independently. Aside from lacking its own soul, it was practically a weaker version of Ling Xiao himself.
Ling Xiao speculated that once the Heavy Shadow Sword Technique reached the transcendent stage, its attack power would be unrivalled below mortal-level martial arts.
Even the mysteries of mortal martial art fragments couldn’t compare.
Fragments, after all, were just that—fragments, not true mortal-level martial arts. They only granted martial artists some enhancements in attack or defence, nothing miraculous.
“Next, it’s time to improve my movement technique.”
With ten days left until the Tianfeng Gala, Ling Xiao planned to advance his Soaring Cloud Steps: Dragon Transformation as well.
Given his current situation, his once-impressive movement technique was now holding him back. A mere entry-level top-tier movement technique wouldn’t cut it—it had to be upgraded!
Fortunately, this wasn’t an issue for him. He’d acquired six entry-level top-tier martial arts from the library. Besides the three he was cultivating and the Seven-Coloured Glow Garment he’d traded to Ling Yixue, the remaining two were both movement techniques.
Entry-level top-tier movement techniques!
He intended to spend the next few days fully mastering these two techniques, using them as a foundation to elevate Soaring Cloud Steps.
There was no other way—Soaring Cloud Steps could only be improved by building on other movement techniques.
And so, eight days passed.
The training room door suddenly swung open, and a golden dragon shot out, moving at incredible speed—nothing but a streak of golden light, impossible to discern.
This golden dragon, though small at two to three metres long, landed in the courtyard, revealing itself as Ling Xiao.
“Hahaha, Soaring Cloud Steps: Young Dragon! Equivalent to a rare top-tier movement technique. Looks like my efforts paid off—these eight days weren’t wasted!”
Ling Xiao laughed heartily, thrilled. Soaring Cloud Steps had finally advanced from Dragon Transformation to Young Dragon, boosting speed, airtime, and more. Paired with his other attack techniques, it even enhanced their power.
“Brother, I’m upset!”
Amid his excitement, Ling Xiao suddenly noticed Ling Luo squatting nearby, looking thoroughly displeased.
“What’s wrong, Little Luo?”
Ling Xiao asked, puzzled.
The little carrot-top of the past was now noticeably sturdier, a second-level Martial Vein martial artist.
“I just heard from my senior brothers that you’re not on the list for the Tianfeng Gala!”
