"Third Sect Master, I heard you had something important to discuss with me?" Xiao Yunlong asked directly after entering the reception hall and seeing Jing Yeli sitting by the tea table.
Jing Yeli stood up and smiled, "Indeed, it's important. I already know about what happened at the Wang family last night, and the other major sect masters of Wentiange are also aware."
"How so? Did Wentiange make any statement because of it?" Xiao Yunlong inquired.
Jing Yeli shook his head, "No, Wentiange mainly looks at the attitudes of the Chief Sect Master and the Second Sect Master. Those two are still remaining silent and haven't made any statement regarding last night's events at the Wang family!"
"Then why did the Third Sect Master come to see me today?" Xiao Yunlong waved his hand, signaling the other to sit down, and poured him a cup of tea.
Jing Yeli pondered for a moment and then asked, "Yunlong, you must know about the existence of the Huglong Pavilion, right?"
Xiao Yunlong nodded and smiled, "Of course. It's said that the status of Huglong Pavilion is even higher than that of Tiance Mansion and Wentiange. Oh, and Wang Chongshan of the Wang family last night seemed to be from Huglong Pavilion."
Changing the subject, Xiao Yunlong continued, "It seems the Third Sect Master is here for this matter?"
"Yes!" Jing Yeli nodded slightly. "The status of Huglong Pavilion is indeed above Tiance Mansion and Wentiange. However, Huglong Pavilion does not concern itself with worldly affairs and generally does not interfere. Its focus is mainly on that mysterious place!"
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yunlong couldn't help but ask, "May I ask, Third Sect Master, I've heard about that mysterious place many times recently. What exactly is that place?"
Jing Yeli shook his head and said, "I don't know the specifics, but based on some clues, I vaguely guess that the mysterious place is not on this Earth, or rather, not on this plane."
"Broadly speaking, the superiors in Huglong Pavilion call that place the 'Outer Realm'!"
"Outer Realm?" Xiao Yunlong's brows furrowed.
"Yes, this Outer Realm is very mysterious. Ordinary people cannot enter it at all. In fact, let alone entering, ordinary people in the world have never even heard of it. Even we sect masters of Wentiange are not qualified to enter it!"
Jing Yeli sighed with a hint of regret and unwillingness, while also revealing a longing for that Outer Realm.
Xiao Yunlong became even more curious. One thing was certain: that legendary Outer Realm must contain extremely vast spiritual energy, so much so that even the air was filled with it. Otherwise, Wang Chongshan and the others' weapons wouldn't have been able to absorb so much spiritual energy.
Based on this alone, Xiao Yunlong was full of anticipation for that place.
"Third Sect Master, do you know if I am qualified to enter that place?" Xiao Yunlong asked, thinking of this.
Jing Yeli nodded and smiled, "Actually, I came for this very matter. To be precise, with your current age, qualifications, and martial arts talent, you are fully qualified to enter. However, to enter that mysterious place, you must first join Huglong Pavilion."
"I know that. How can I join Huglong Pavilion?" Xiao Yunlong asked.
"The conditions for entering Huglong Pavilion are very strict. It does not actively recruit people from the outside; it is mainly a system of recommendation!" Jing Yeli said.
"Recommendation system? How does the recommendation work?" Xiao Yunlong asked with a frown.
"There are several ways. Huglong Pavilion has three Pavilion Masters from top to bottom, one principal and two deputies. Below the Pavilion Masters are the Eight Huglong Elders, and further down are the Eighteen Stewards. You can either get a recommendation from a Huglong Elder or a Pavilion Master to qualify for the assessment. After passing the assessment, you can join. However, I heard that the assessment is very strict. Those under thirty must reach the realm of Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown Martial King. For those between thirty and fifty, the martial arts cultivation requirements are said to be even higher!"
Jing Yeli paused and then continued, "Of course, I've only heard about it generally, and I'm not too clear about the specific assessment. Besides that, if you can become a disciple of one of the Eighteen Stewards, you can also get the qualification to participate in the assessment. Of course, if you can become a disciple of the Grand Pavilion Master, you can be directly selected without an exam!"
Xiao Yunlong couldn't help but ask, "Does the Third Sect Master know who the current Grand Pavilion Master of Huglong Pavilion is?"
Jing Yeli immediately gave a wry smile, "How could I possibly know? As I said, my qualifications are not even enough to meet the minimum requirements for entering Huglong Pavilion. However, I heard that the Grand Pavilion Master seems to be an old monster who has lived for nearly three hundred years!"
"An old monster who has lived for nearly three hundred years?" Xiao Yunlong's eyes widened. Even with his extensive knowledge, he was quite shocked at this moment.
"Yes, it should be true. Nearly three hundred years. It is said that the Grand Pavilion Master has already entered the legendary Divine Core realm, with heaven-shattering cultivation. His lifespan is also not something ordinary people can imagine, let alone infer from the scope of ordinary people!"
The Third Sect Master sighed, his words filled with intense envy and longing.
Xiao Yunlong nodded slightly and then asked, "Third Sect Master, you probably didn't just come to tell me this, did you?"
"Of course not. At our level, you can find this out with a little inquiry. I came today mainly for two things. The first is that I had some connection with a Huglong Elder in Huglong Pavilion years ago. I plan to get him to recommend you into Huglong Pavilion, but unfortunately, he is not in the pavilion at the moment; he has entered that place for training, so I can't contact him for now," the Third Sect Master said.
"Thank you for your kind offer to help, Third Sect Master. What about the second matter?" Xiao Yunlong asked.
"The second matter is about Lan Mingyu. You might not know, but Lan Mingyu, by some stroke of luck, was noticed by a Huglong Elder in Huglong Pavilion and taken as his personal disciple. Now, Lan Mingyu has entered that Outer Realm!"
The Third Sect Master sighed slightly and said, "If Lan Mingyu finds out that his father was killed by you, he will definitely not let it go. You don't need to worry about Lan Mingyu himself, but if Lan Mingyu asks his master to intervene, it might be very bad for you."
"Furthermore, there's Wang Chongshan. His master is also a Steward in Huglong Pavilion. Additionally, there's the Huaxia Alliance. If these peerless experts join forces against you, then you..."
Hearing this, Xiao Yunlong couldn't help but frown.
Jing Yeli smiled and said, "I actually have a suggestion. If you are willing, you can choose to retreat temporarily and leave the imperial capital for a while. Once I manage to contact that Huglong Elder, I will ask him to personally escort you back to the imperial capital, so there won't be too much risk."
"No need. I will continue to stay in the imperial capital and won't go anywhere else!" Xiao Yunlong immediately waved his hand and refused.
"But..."
"Thank you for your kindness, Third Sect Master. I was a deserter once more than a year ago, and I won't choose to evade this time!" Xiao Yunlong said decisively.
Seeing this, the Third Sect Master didn't press further. He shook his head and sighed, "Alright then. Since your mind is made up, I can't persuade you otherwise. I hope you can turn misfortune into good fortune, and I will try my best to contact that Huglong Elder as soon as possible!"
Xiao Yunlong wanted to tell him about his duel with the Long family in a month, but he thought it was pointless.
After that, they chatted a bit more about the situations in Tiance Mansion and Wentiange. Then, the Third Sect Master Jing Yeli got up to leave, and Xiao Yunlong personally escorted him to the gate.
Returning to his courtyard, Xiao Yunlong immediately announced that he would be in seclusion for a month and that no one should disturb him easily during this period. For the next month, he had to concentrate on cultivating and strive to improve his cultivation to the maximum extent.
This was because Xiao Yunlong knew very well that since the Long family dared to propose a duel in a month, they would have made thorough preparations during this time.
If nothing unexpected happened, the Long family would likely seek out experts from the Huaxia Alliance or contact powerful figures from Huglong Pavilion.
And whether it was the experts from the Huaxia Alliance or Huglong Pavilion, these individuals had all trained in that mysterious place. Their martial arts cultivation was naturally extraordinary. After all, even a junior like Wang Chongshan had already reached the Yin-Yang realm, so it was reasonable to assume that these older figures had even stronger cultivation.
Therefore, Xiao Yunlong had to enter seclusion again to improve his cultivation realm and enhance his strength.
Originally, all the high society in the imperial capital was paying attention to Tiance Mansion, Beiyun Residence, and the Long family. People even thought that there might be a major battle between Beiyun Residence and the Long family today. However, unexpectedly, it turned out to be much ado about nothing, and the situation subsided just like that.
Of course, everyone also knew that this was just a temporary truce, and the real battle would likely occur not long from now.
Liu Ruyan probably also felt the pressure from Xiao Yunlong, so after Xiao Yunlong went into seclusion, she also chose to do the same, even foregoing attending Imperial Capital University. Anyway, for her now, writing papers and conducting research was very easy and didn't take much time.
In fact, after activating the strange energy in her dantian, Liu Ruyan's martial arts cultivation advanced very rapidly. She had just broken through to the Three Flowers Gathering at the Crown Martial King realm a few days ago, but she had quickly reached the peak and was already attempting to break through to the Innate Opening Aperture realm.
Following this, the entire imperial capital seemed to quiet down. Time flowed like water, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed. On this evening, Xiao Yunlong emerged from seclusion as scheduled.
After a month of secluded cultivation, he had finally absorbed and refined all the items containing spiritual energy in his hands. Now, his Three Thousand Divine Kingdoms technique had reached six hundred and fifty-six!
As for his combat power, even Xiao Yunlong himself didn't know how strong he had become.
He even had a feeling that if he unleashed a full-power punch, it might even shatter and collapse space!
"My peak strength has almost surpassed the limit that this plane can bear!" Xiao Yunlong sighed inwardly. "With my current combat power, I can easily crush even those in the Divine Dao realm. Even the legendary Divine Core realm might be a worthy opponent!"
With his strength greatly increased, Xiao Yunlong's confidence naturally soared. After sensing his own condition, he directly emerged from seclusion.
Today was the agreed-upon month-long duel with the Long family. After dinner, all his important subordinates had gathered in the hall, including the eight Black Armored Guards.
Xiao Yunlong clearly felt that in the past month, the cultivation of the Black Armored Guards had also improved significantly. It seemed they had all gone to that mysterious place for reinforcement training during this period.
This made Xiao Yunlong quite surprised. He wondered what the identity of that mysterious old man from back then was.
However, since he possessed supreme techniques like the Three Thousand Divine Kingdoms, his status and position should not be low. Otherwise, he wouldn't have had the ability to allow the Black Armored Guards to freely enter and exit that mysterious place.
Xiao Yunlong didn't ask Pan Chaofeng and the others about any movements from the Long family during this time, as it was completely unnecessary. Of course, even if he asked, he probably wouldn't get much information, as their abilities were insufficient to investigate anything at that level.
"Let's go, accompany me to the foot of Mount Taihang!" Xiao Yunlong said lightly, then took Liu Ruyan's hand and walked out.
However, at this moment, a powerful force surged from Liu Ruyan's hand. It was only then that Xiao Yunlong realized that Liu Ruyan's cultivation had progressed the fastest during this past month.
"Ruyan, have you absorbed and refined the energy in your dantian?" Xiao Yunlong asked in a low voice.
Liu Ruyan nodded and said, "I have completely refined it. I originally estimated that it would be enough for me to cultivate to the Innate True Essence realm, but strangely, a cultivation technique appeared in my mind. I followed that technique to cultivate and completely absorbed that strange energy, yet I still remained in the Qi Cultivation realm."
Xiao Yunlong couldn't help but smile, "Your Qi Cultivation realm is probably not ordinary Innate True Qi realm, and it's even much stronger than the Innate True Essence realm, completely comparable to your Yin-Yang realm. This Qi Cultivation realm is likely the Qi Cultivation from ancient legends!"
"Ancient legendary Qi Cultivation?" Liu Ruyan was confused.
"It should be so, but I can't be sure. Let's not worry about this for now. We can research it thoroughly later!" Xiao Yunlong said with a wry smile.
Liu Ruyan nodded and said no more. Although she didn't understand the origin, generally speaking, it was something to be happy about that her own cultivation had greatly improved.
However, just as Xiao Yunlong and Liu Ruyan were walking out of the mansion's gate to get into the car, in the darkness, on the street ahead, two figures were slowly walking towards them through the night.
One old and one young, they could vaguely discern from the dim yellow lamplight that it was an old man dressed in a coarse cloth robe. The old man's face was wrinkled, and he was very old, at least eighty or ninety years old, but he walked with vigor.
As the two figures drew closer, Xiao Yunlong finally recognized that the young man in the blue robe was none other than Lan Mingyu!
It was at this moment that Xiao Yunlong also recognized the identity of the old man in the coarse cloth robe. He must be one of the Eight Huglong Elders of Huglong Pavilion, and Lan Mingyu's master!
Xiao Yunlong had initially inferred that these two would have been persuaded by the Long family and become their accomplices, but he hadn't expected them to come directly to him now.
Lan Mingyu, as Xiao Yunlong's deputy back then, was not much different in age. In fact, during their time in the Northern Territory, they were like brothers. It was just that Xiao Yunlong never expected that this good brother would stab him in the back!
"Lan Mingyu, you've indeed come!" Xiao Yunlong stood on the steps at the main entrance, quietly watching the two, a slight smile appearing on the corner of his lips.
Lan Mingyu walked up to him and his master and said calmly, "Of course I have to come. If I don't come, how can I let you die!"