When Shang Jifeng arrived, he looked at Xiang Shaoyun with a look of reverence and asked, "Overlord, you called for me?"

Although Xiang Shaoyun's cultivation level was lower than his, he still revered Xiang Shaoyun greatly. Xiang Shaoyun's ability to punch above his class was something none of them could compare to.

Of course, Shang Jifeng was still worried that Xiang Shaoyun's cultivation level would be stuck. Although Xiang Shaoyun had displayed surprising growth during the past two years, his speed had clearly slowed in the past six months.

Xiang Shaoyun did not bother saying anything useless as he directly took out a yin wind grass and a yin wind stone before saying, "These are for you."

Shang Jifeng was greatly shocked to see the two items. "Th-these are a yin wind grass and a yin wind stone?"

"Good eyes," said Xiang Shaoyun with a faint smile.

"This present is too precious!" Shang Jifeng couldn't hide his joy.

"Take it. If it wasn't for your clan's help, I wouldn't have been able to resolve that issue back then so easily. In any case, I still have more of them. Since we need to go and search for the gleamstar water soon, you need to increase your strength. It will help all of us."

Shang Jifeng did not stand on ceremony and accepted the grass and stone before saying, "Don't worry, Overlord. With them, I will be able to break through before the mission."

He then returned to his own villa, making use of every bit of time to breakthrough. Next, Xiang Shaoyun called over some wind and water cultivators and offered some yin wind grass and the treasures he had gotten from the old frost wolf for trade. With these resources, they would be able to grow stronger.

Xiang Shaoyun personally set an example in trading away treasures he did not need and earned the reverence of the Overlord Legion members. Of course, he had also gotten a lot of treasures from trading with them.

For now, he had no use for these treasures. But after comprehending the profundity of all nine powers, they would help him increase his cultivation. During the remaining time before the mission, he stayed almost exclusively in his villa. Apart from cultivating in silence, he spent his time meeting Overlord Legion members.

Tang Longfei had grown considerably and was now a fourth-stage Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator. He had the highest cultivation level in the Overlord Legion. As for Lady Shura, relying on the gold elemental resources Xiang Shaoyun had left her, she reached late third-stage Dragon Ascension Realm. She was slowly catching up and might even surpass Tang Longfei in the future. After all, she had a much better physique.

After receiving the yin wind grass from Xiang Shaoyun, Shang Jifeng broke through as well, becoming the second fourth-stage Dragon Ascension Realm cultivator in the Overlord Legion.

As for Zhuge Zhantian, Ma Qihao, Li Haonan, and a few others, they were at third-stage Dragon Ascension Realm while the others were mostly at second-stage Dragon Ascension Realm.

Only two years had passed, yet the Dragon Phoenix Academy's disciples seemed to have changed completely. Their progress was clear for all to see. The Overlord Legion members weren't the best among the disciples, but they weren't the worst either.

While waiting for the mission to start, they also recruited many new members. For now, the Overlord Legion had over 500 members. One could say that their size had grown several times in a short while.

If this was any other time, they would not be able to recruit so many members. But with the release of the gleamstar water mission, many neutral disciples started looking for backers so they could join in and reap some rewards from the mission.

Eventually, the Overlord Legion reached the size of a medium-sized faction. Of course, they were still much more lacking than the Sword Society, the Crushing Sky, the Flaming Sun, the Imperial Palace, and the other peak factions.

The Sword Society was the faction founded by Baili Yixiao, the academy's number one freak disciple. He was the society master, but he had always been mysterious, and not many people had seen him. Someone else was in charge of running the Sword Society, but they were still able to recruit a large number of members. They currently had over 3,000 members.

The Crushing Sky was a domineering name, and it was founded by the number two freak, Zhan Wushuang. With his iron fists, he was undefeated. He once vowed to punch even the sky apart, and as such, the name of his faction was born. The members of the Crushing Sky were incredibly domineering as well. Not many people dared to provoke them in the academy.

The Flaming Sun was the faction of Yu Ziyang and Yu Caidie. They had great prestige as well. As for the Imperial Palace, it was founded by Huang Tianji, with countless capable subordinates under him. On the other hand, the Glacier Palace founded by Han Chenfei could only be considered a medium-sized faction.

After all, Han Chenfei only recruited ice and water cultivators. Thus, her faction was lacking in both numbers and strength. And now, Xiang Shaoyun's Overlord Legion was catching up to the Glacier Palace.

A few days before the mission, the Overlord Legion members started returning from the various cultivation zones and awaiting the order to depart.

Meanwhile, Xiang Shaoyun was silently cultivating the Dark Sky Engulfing Imprint. It was a battle technique he had obtained by trading with Han Chenfei. It was a primary-grade sovereign technique.

Prior to this, he had been busy comprehending the profundity of powers at the different cultivation zones and did not have the time to cultivate this battle technique. Now that he had some free time, he decided to increase the number of his battle techniques.

The Dark Sky Engulfing Imprint was a palm technique, and it only had a single stance. Even so, that one stance was extremely powerful. It could gather dark energy to create a world of darkness that would crash down from the sky. Everything covered in the darkness would be instantly killed.

Xiang Shaoyun had already comprehended the profundity of darkness. He even had some dark origin energy in his dark star, so it was very easy for him to cultivate the technique. As he circulated his dark energy, the entire cultivation room was enveloped in darkness. It was so dark one couldn't even see one's own fingers in the room.

Under such an environment, nobody would be able to see clearly the situation within the room. However, Xiang Shaoyun had a clear vision of everything in the darkness. He formed a seal with both hands, creating a layer of dark radiance in his palms. The power gathered within his hands intensified, and when it reached the peak, he unleashed the palm attack.

Bang!

The attack struck the cultivation room's wall, creating an overwhelmingly powerful explosion. By the time the dust settled, Xiang Shaoyun found that a palm print had been left on the wall.

A satisfied smile formed on his face as he muttered, "Indeed, this is an extraordinary technique."

The palm print did not seem too deep, but anyone with deep knowledge in cultivation would be able to see how powerful the attack actually was. This cultivation room was constructed from unique materials and was also protected by a formation. Not even peak Emperors could damage its walls. Xiang Shaoyun's act of leaving a palm print on the wall was enough to prove the battle technique's might.

Done cultivating, Xiang Shaoyun left the room. It also so happened that some guests had arrived.