Chapter 116 - 115: The Number One Big Shot of the Golden Area

In the Holy Mansion, thousands of miles away.

Luo Tian had no idea that the Ancient Medicine Formula he had casually helped the Eldest Princess translate had allowed the current Monarch to regain his vigor and find a new lease on life.

"You don’t even know the reason yourself?"

Lin Dongfeng wore a strange expression.

So, Luo Tian had done nothing during his confinement, yet the Sovereign of Azure Cloud Country had personally intervened.

The whole affair was inexplicably bizarre.

Luo Tian didn’t overthink it. His gaze shifted, and he sized up Lin Dongfeng, whose aura had grown immensely.

"Congratulations, Mentor, on recovering your Cultivation. I trust you will reach even greater heights in the future."

Luo Tian said with a smile.

He activated his Qi Observation Skill and saw a thick Clear Qi Pillar above Lin Dongfeng’s head. It was magnificent, soaring into the heavens, and his Destiny Chart was wide open and clear.

The dim, gray aura that had once coiled around the Clear Qi Pillar was now barely perceptible.

In Luo Tian’s judgment,

barring any major accidents, Lin Dongfeng could hope to advance to the Earth Element Realm in his lifetime and become an Earth Level Martial Artist who could roam the Continent freely.

"I hope your words prove true!"

Lin Dongfeng’s face was glowing, and he was deeply gratified.

At that moment, as Luo Tian used his Qi Observation Skill, he exuded an air of mystery and wisdom, as if shrouded in profound, misty clouds.

He suddenly recalled something Luo Tian had once said: "It is the work of fate and the decree of destiny. I choose Master Lin."

Meeting such a student was the great fortune of his life.

If not for Luo Tian, Lin Dongfeng’s life might have remained shrouded in darkness until the very end.

The two of them walked down from the mountain cliff.

"In a little over a month and a half, the Azure Cloud Kingdom will hold its triennial ’Wu Mansion Gathering.’ You need to prepare for it."

Lin Dongfeng’s expression turned serious.

The so-called Wu Mansion Gathering was a competition of sparring matches between the major Wu Mansions of the Azure Cloud Kingdom.

At that time,

all the major Wu Mansions, including the Three Great Holy Mansions, would send students to participate. It was a rare and grand event.

"I have heard of this matter."

Luo Tian nodded.

"It’s just a pity that you’ve only recently entered the Holy Mansion. Your Cultivation Foundation is still lacking."

Lin Dongfeng said with some regret.

"The top twenty in the Wu Mansion Gathering is a watershed. Not only are there generous rewards, but there is also the immense opportunity to enter the ’Royal Secret Garden.’"

"The Royal Secret Garden?"

Luo Tian’s eyes widened slightly, full of curiosity.

Those three words alone sparked his imagination, and his Creation Technique faintly resonated in response.

Clearly, this was a rare opportunity.

"Yes. The Royal Secret Garden is a preserved Ancient Garden from Ancient Times. It contains many rare and extinct Treasure Materials, as well as lost heritage sites. Even just sitting there to practice Cultivation is several times more effective than in a Spirit Pool..."

Lin Dongfeng explained simply.

In the past, many geniuses had entered the Royal Secret Garden, obtained great opportunities, and then soared to the heavens.

"So if I break into the top twenty at the Wu Mansion Gathering, I can enter the Royal Secret Garden?"

Luo Tian’s face filled with anticipation.

Just the grand spectacle and the sparring at the Wu Mansion Gathering would be enough to hone his Martial Skills and broaden his experience and knowledge.

And that was to say nothing of the mysterious Royal Secret Garden.

"Correct! But the top twenty is very difficult. Aside from the ’prodigies’ from the Three Great Holy Mansions, at the very least, you need the combat power to contend with a Weak Spirit Sea Realm expert."

Lin Dongfeng looked at Luo Tian with a touch of pity.

Luo Tian had just become a Golden Student. Even if he was a Golden Lord of the Golden Area, his chances of breaking into the top twenty were slim.

’The difficulty is indeed high.’

A glint flashed in Luo Tian’s eyes.

The prodigies, for example, were like the Sunshine Students of the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion.

Their tyrannical strength was likely even greater than that of some Elementary Spirit Sea Realm cultivators.

One could imagine that

the top twenty spots in the Wu Mansion Gathering would be mostly occupied by these prodigies. Anyone else who managed to squeeze in would need, at minimum, the power to fight a Weak Spirit Sea Realm expert.

"Don’t be discouraged. Use this year’s Wu Mansion Gathering to accumulate experience. The next one will be your stage."

Lin Dongfeng encouraged him.

...

After bidding farewell to Master Lin,

six or seven days later, Luo Tian returned to Sunrise Peak.

"Senior... Senior Luo?"

Along the way, students of all levels stared with trembling, incredulous eyes.

A few days ago, Luo Tian had become a Golden Lord, but he was taken away by the Law Enforcement Hall during his celebration banquet, causing a huge sensation.

The Law Enforcement Hall had also publicly announced Luo Tian’s punishment.

Two months of confinement!

And the forfeit of one year’s worth of stipend and resources!

Faced with such a heavy penalty, some felt pity, while others gloated over his misfortune.

But only a few days had passed.

How could Luo Tian be returning to Sunrise Peak so openly? This was a blatant slap in the face to the Law Enforcement Hall!

Ignoring the shocked and suspicious gazes of the others,

Luo Tian walked straight back to his private villa in the Golden Area.

That evening,

a bombshell piece of news spread throughout the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion.

Luo Tian’s punishment had been nullified.

Ge Xingyun of the Law Enforcement Hall had been stripped of his position as Law Enforcement Elder.

The news was too shocking!

The implication was that not even a Law Enforcement Elder could afford to provoke Luo Tian, and doing so had led to a miserable end.

The students who had once opposed Luo Tian were now trembling with fear.

Even a Law Enforcement Elder had been taken down.

Who in the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion would still dare to provoke Luo Tian?

It wasn’t just the students who were terrified of Luo Tian; even some of the Mentors felt a sense of dread.

Luo Tian’s return

drew a crowd of students who came to celebrate.

The two Golden Lords, Xie Lin and Yue Jing, both showed up, not to mention the other Golden Students and the big shots from the Silver Area.

Li Yunxiu, Nangong Yu, Chen Haofei, and others all came to offer their heartfelt congratulations.

"Yunxiu."

Luo Tian pulled Li Yunxiu aside to ask her about what had happened.

Li Yunxiu quickly explained the reason.

After Luo Tian was taken away by the Law Enforcement Hall, she had failed to get an audience with the Seventh Prince. In the end, she had sent an urgent letter to her aunt, the Eldest Princess.

’So that’s what happened.’

Luo Tian felt a surge of gratitude.

Including the time she had intervened in front of the Battle Castle, he now owed the Eldest Princess a huge favor.

「Meanwhile」

in a luxurious residence on another of the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion’s mountain peaks.

"My father, the King, took action? Elder Ge was stripped of his position..."

The Seventh Prince’s expression froze. He stood stunned for a long time, cold sweat soaking his palms.

After all, he had been the one instigating Elder Ge’s actions from behind the scenes.

Now that his father had dismissed Elder Ge, would he be displeased with him as well?

He remembered that

the very reason Li Yao had left the Royal Capital for the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion was because he was worried his bad reputation would reach the Monarch’s ears.

He had a penchant for women and had harmed many beauties.

’It seems I can no longer use official power to suppress Luo Tian,’

the Seventh Prince murmured, his face dark and gloomy.

Being far from the Royal Capital, he was unaware of Luo Tian’s connection to that Divine Marvelous Medicine Formula.

Li Yao simply assumed that this was all due to pressure from the Eldest Princess.

After all, the Monarch owed the Eldest Princess a great deal.

...

「The next day.」

A personnel change occurred among the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion High Level.

Lin Dongfeng became a new Elder of the Sun Chasing Holy Mansion and was temporarily appointed as the Law Enforcement Elder.

The matter caused little stir in the student circles, but it set off a huge uproar among the mid-to-high level staff.

This was because Lin Dongfeng’s prestigious name had been far too renowned several decades ago.

It was foreseeable that the news of Lin Dongfeng’s comeback would also cause a sensation in the Martial Arts Circle of the Azure Cloud Kingdom.

Luo Tian, for his part, was delighted to see it.

Now, he was the student of a Holy Mansion Elder and had some connections to the Royal Family. His background was becoming more and more profound.

「Over the next few days.」

Luo Tian began to focus on his Cultivation.

His Cultivation had reached the Peak of Seventh Layer of Meridian Opening.

His Guiyuan True Skill was also at the Peak of Second Layer.

Luo Tian had a premonition.

The moment his Guiyuan True Skill broke through to the Third Layer would be the moment his Cultivation advanced to the Eighth Layer of Meridian Opening.

Once he crossed this threshold, Luo Tian’s strength would experience its greatest leap since he first broke through to the Meridian Opening Realm.

However, four or five days passed,

but both Luo Tian’s Cultivation and his Cultivation Technique remained just a sliver away from breaking through.

The few Contribution Points he had left were all spent on cultivating in the Spirit Pool.

’The path of Cultivation requires a balance of tension and relaxation.’

Luo Tian’s heart was calm and peaceful.

He stopped his Cultivation and decided to go to the Spirit Fighting Tower to temper himself in battle against the Fighting Spirits.

「Sixth-Layer of the Spirit Fighting Tower.」

Luo Tian deliberately provoked the female Fighting Spirit, causing her whip attacks to become incredibly ferocious and her combat power to surge.

A moment later,

without using his Divine Vein or any Martial Skills, Luo Tian easily defeated the female Fighting Spirit at the Ninth Layer of Meridian Opening.

He entered the Seventh-Layer of the Spirit Fighting Tower.

Luo Tian fought a long and intense battle with the Half-step Spirit Sea Armless Fighting Spirit, exchanging one or two hundred moves.

"What a great fight!"

Feeling thoroughly invigorated and refreshed, Luo Tian walked out of the Spirit Fighting Tower.

In reality,

during his clash with the Half-step Spirit Sea Fighting Spirit just now, Luo Tian had not fully unleashed his Divine Vein.

Otherwise, he was forty to fifty percent confident he could have passed the Seventh-Layer of the Spirit Fighting Tower.

Luo Tian had not gone far when he heard the astonished cries of a group of students from behind him. "Heavens! Someone passed the Seventh-Layer!"

Huh?

Luo Tian looked back and saw that the Seventh-Layer of the Spirit Fighting Tower had gone dark, while the Eighth-Layer was now lit up.

Evidently,

someone had just passed the Seventh-Layer, defeating the Half-step Spirit Sea Armless Fighting Spirit.

A few breaths later,

WHOOSH!

The Eighth-Layer dimmed, and the Array’s light swirled, ejecting a beautiful young woman with messy hair and a pale face.

’Liu Ziyan!’ Luo Tian’s gaze narrowed slightly.

"Senior Sister Liu is amazing!"

"Among the four Golden Lords, Senior Sister Liu is the only one who has passed the Seventh-Layer of the Spirit Fighting Tower, right?"

The students outside the tower exclaimed with envy and awe.

The other Golden Lords could contend with the Seventh-Layer Fighting Spirit, but they couldn’t defeat it.

"Does that mean Senior Sister Liu is the number one Golden Lord in the Golden Area?"

a Golden Student exclaimed in amazement.

Before long,

the title of "Number One Golden Lord of the Golden Area" for Liu Ziyan had spread like wildfire.

For a time,

Liu Ziyan’s fame in the Holy Mansion was unrivaled, completely overshadowing the other three Golden Lords.

"The number one Golden Lord of the Golden Area?"

When Luo Tian heard the news, he couldn’t help but shake his head. He couldn’t be bothered to compete with Liu Ziyan in clearing the tower to fight for such empty titles.

The next time he challenged the tower, he would do it in one go, break past the Eighth-Layer, and become a Sunshine Student.

「Inside the Practice Room.」

Luo Tian sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, once again circulating the Heart Method of the Guiyuan True Skill.

Perhaps it was due to the improvement in his state of mind.

This time, the circulation of his True Qi Heart Method was exceptionally smooth, feeling as natural as water flowing into a channel.

「Three days later.」

BOOM!

Luo Tian’s body jolted as a potent and domineering stream of Guiyuan True Qi surged into his eighth Qi Vein.

At the same moment,

Luo Tian’s Guiyuan True Skill stepped into the Third-Layer!

WHOOM!

A sound like rolling thunder emanated from the Guiyuan True Qi within Luo Tian’s body. It was potent, fierce, and incredibly condensed.

Both the quality and quantity of his True Qi had leaped to a whole new level!

SWOOSH!

With a thought from Luo Tian, a powerful True Qi, glowing yellow like the evening clouds, formed a membrane of energy that flowed around his entire body.

"True Qi Body Protection!"

Luo Tian’s face lit up with joy.

Normally, only after reaching the Spirit Sea Realm and opening one’s Qi Sea would one’s True Qi be vast and refined enough to deploy all-around True Qi Body Protection.

But by practicing the Guiyuan True Skill, one’s True Qi was so potent that this effect could be achieved at the Third-Layer.

He estimated that

an ordinary cultivator at the Eighth or Ninth Layer of Meridian Opening would not be able to easily break through his True Qi Body Protection.

FWOOSH!

Luo Tian struck out with another palm. A brilliant, glowing yellow Palm Shadow materialized in the air, accompanied by a booming rumble that made the air feel heavy and oppressive.

’So strong! In terms of True Qi quality alone, I’m now stronger, not weaker, than an average Half-step Spirit Sea cultivator...’

Luo Tian couldn’t help but marvel.