At an isolated area in Martial Hall Palace’s outer court, there was a pitiful youth licking his own wounds.

Heheh. I used to be the glorious young master of a seventh-tier sect, and now I’ve fallen so low I’m beaten by a group of small fries. This is truly a fall from grace! the youth melancholically thought to himself.

Who else could this youth be but Xiang Shaoyun? In the canteen, by himself, he was utterly unable to withstand the pounding of the group of loyal dogs. In the end, he could only attempt to protect his handsome face and charge out, escaping to this isolated corner by himself.

If people could hear what Xiang Shaoyun was talking to himself about, they would be scared out of their wits! A seventh-tier sect! This was a formidable power! Each realm in the cultivation tree was split into nine stages. Similarly, the organizations in the Nine Gods Province also had nine different tiers of ranking. The higher one’s rank, the more influence and backing one would naturally have.

Xiang Shaoyun actually called himself the young master of a seventh-tier sect! If others heard of this, it would be sure to cause waves. He had fallen to a point where he was forced to enter Martial Hall Palace, an unranked organization. Him once being a revered young master was something utterly unbelievable!

As for his whole story, only Xiang Shaoyun knew of the matter. Thinking back to those times, he was unfettered and free to do as he liked back at his home town. If he had nothing to do during the day, he would read various books and scrolls, expanding his knowledge of the Nine Gods Province as well as practicing the dao.

Otherwise, he would gather the demonic beasts for a spin, ordering the various servants to accompany him as well as the children of the elders to go visit the dwelling places of immortals, destroying the descendants of the demonic beasts, and unearthing spirit medicines. At night, he would be waited upon by pure, dainty female attendants who would attend to his every need. There was nothing he lacked—this was the grand freedom of a youth! It was a pity that such days were long gone.

“Father, I know that you definitely haven’t died, but your son has had no choice but to give your property to that villian. Your son has failed you! However, your son swears to the heavens that I will definitely reclaim everything that belongs to our Xiang family! I remember telling you when I was five years old that I would allow those so-called geniuses to have ten years of glory; as of today, the ten year mark has passed! I, Xiang Shaoyun, will rise to the peak, destroying all barriers! Whoever dares to block me, I will trample! Whoever wants to kill me, I will utterly destroy!”

The pure white face of Xiang Shaoyun had become extremely distorted at this instance, and both of his fists clenched in front of his heart as he swore to himself. He then thought to himself, Wu Mingliang, you will be the first stepping stone in this young master’s rise!

After sorting out his thoughts, Xiang Shaoyun did not bother treating his injuries. Rather, he once again sprinted to the outer court practice area, this time putting the 250-kilogram rock on his back as he sprinted away. In the Basic Realm, for every increase in stage, one’s strength would increase by 50 kilograms; hence, a fifth stage cultivator could just nicely lift a 250-kilogram rock.

“AHHHHHHH!!!!!”

Xiang Shaoyun yelled as if he had gone insane.

“Was that genius beaten stupid by Gou Zi’s gang? He’s wailing as if he’s a ghost!”

“Heheh, from how he is behaving, he is probably intending to train hard. But how can someone who cannot even fill his belly ever become great? This genius is bound to stay at the bottom.”

“Indeed. Even though he might have the protection of the Purple Lightning Marquis, Wu Mingliang has the town chief as his backing. Even the palace master has to be respectful to him whenever they meet!”

“It really is a pity. We’ll witness the fall of a great genius soon!”

When they saw him, various outer disciples revealed sympathetic glances as they lightly sighed. In their eyes, Xiang Shaoyun would have a very hard time trying to find his footing here, especially since they were currently in the physical training phase of their cultivation where food was extremely important. Not only would food ensure they had sufficient energy for training, it would also convert into bodily strength, allowing them to become physically stronger. For somebody who could not even have a meal, how could he even think about cultivating?

“Young Master Wu, that brat seems like he still has a lot of fight left in him.” At one corner, Gou Zi was speaking to Wu Mingliang.

“Geniuses are not easily broken. Keep pressuring them, and they’ll break eventually. Keep a close eye on him. When I become an inner court disciple, I will definitely not mistreat you,” Wu Mingliang replied.

“Be at ease, Young Master Wu. He will not escape from my grasp,” Gou Zi happily replied.

As a fifth-stage Basic Realm practitioner, carrying the 250-kilogram rock was not an easy task. Xiang Shaoyun was out of breath despite having only sprinted with the rock for a short distance. One must know that it had only been a day since he entered the fifth stage of the Basic Realm, so he had no opportunity whatsoever to stabilize his foundation and consolidate his strength.

Xiang Shaoyun fervently wanted to get stronger, so he would not easily lose heart over things like this.

“Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual. Maintain a tranquil heart, draw power from the stars, convert astral into qi.”

Within Xiang Shaoyun’s mind, an extremely mysterious mantra appeared. Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual was not the cultivation method that Zi Changhe had passed him. Rather, this was an ancient technique that he had long possessed.

The Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual was something that Xiang Shaoyun had acquired at a very young age. Riding a demonic beast king, he had accidentally stumbled upon a secret realm. Inside that realm, he had passed through an incredible, fantastical place before finally obtaining the mysterious scroll.

Thinking back to that time, the moment he obtained the Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual, rays of divine light seemed to seep into his head, rendering him unable to forget the mysteries of the Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual.

It was just a pity that this ancient technique was only a third complete. However, the wondrous content within the incomplete technique surpassed even his family’s high-tier heirloom cultivation method.

Because of that, Xiang Shaoyun ultimately abandoned cultivating his family’s cultivation method and fully focused on cultivating the Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual. He could not help but be amazed at the wondrousness of this ancient technique and hoped that he would, in the near future, be able to find the remaining parts of this manual, complete it, and unleash its full prowess!

However, there was one prerequisite before one could cultivate the Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual—one had to possess a six-star physique, filling the halls with jade! Otherwise, one’s body would not be able to withstand the profoundness of the manual.

One’s natal chart could have up to nine stars. Being able to activate up to four stars was already considered decent. However, the five stars illuminating the sky phenomenon Xiang Shaoyun had caused was enough to send the entire upper echelon of Martial Hall Palace into a frenzy. Furthermore, one must remember that the Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual had a prerequisite of having a six-star physique to cultivate! This ancient technique was most certainly not an ordinary one!

Seeing as Xiang Shaoyun dared to practice the Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual, one could easily deduce that a five-star physique was certainly not his limit! If one could peer inside Xiang Shaoyun and take a look at the stars within him, one would be able to discover that there were nine glittering spots of light throughout Xiang Shaoyun’s body, giving him a very mystical aura. The endless river of stars seemed to flow within him, making anybody who set their eyes on the river to easily get lost in it.

This was a true top-tier physique—nine stars shake the heavens! This level of physique was hard to find even once in every ten thousand years. If any of Martial Hall Palace’s elders were to witness this scene, they would be scared out of their pants.

This amazing physique had somehow dropped into their small and humble Martial Hall Palace. If some other powerful organizations knew about this, Martial Hall Palace would certainly be in a pickle over how to keep hold of such a genius!

As Xiang Shaoyun revolved his strength via the Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual, he found that not only were his four limbs less tired, the pressure on his body had significantly lessened. Furthermore, the rate at which he was gaining strength had compounded several times over!

Physical training was meant to constantly accumulate astral energy so that one would reach the stage of converting astral energy into qi. Once one’s converted qi was able to finally take shape, one would be considered to have reached the Astral Realm.

Xiang Shaoyun used the Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual to activate the stars within him. With the nine stars working together to absorb astral energy, the rate at which he grew in strength was far beyond one’s imagination.

Without realizing it, Xiang Shaoyun had been running for four hours! He found that although he was rapidly expending energy, fresh bursts of energy were constantly flowing out from deep within him, always keeping him at almost peak condition. Initially, he wanted to keep running for as long as he could. Alas, his stomach stopped him from doing so.

Gurgle! Gurgle!

Xiang Shaoyun felt his body gradually weaken, and he could not help but place the rock to one side.

“Dammit. People once said that a meal can defeat a hero. I, Xiang Shaoyun, am a heavenly genius among men. Am I bound to fall here too?” Xiang Shaoyun said, ironically tooting his own horn.

At this moment, a young girl’s voice came from right beside him, “I have some food here for you.”