Chapter 50: Only Astral Realm
"Bastard! Damn you bastard! This young lady won't spare you!" Li Hong'er shouted from the lake. She grew up in the Martial Hall Palace and was known as the number one tyrannical mistress of the palace. She had always been the one doing the bullying, not the other way around. Today, she was going to teach this conceited kid a lesson but was pulled into the lake instead! That was too infuriating!
Nevertheless, Li Hong'er had practiced martial cultivation since young, and she was presently a mid-phase, third-stage Astral Realm cultivator. It did not take her long to climb out of the water. Her entire body was now wet, perfectly revealing her developing figure before Xiang Shaoyun's eyes.
"Eh, you do look decent. But unfortunately, your chest is too flat, and your backside is not curvy enough. More importantly, your character is terrible. If I have to rate you, your rating will be in the negatives," Xiang Shaoyun said right to Li Hong'er's face.
"Die!" Li Hong'er was not one with a good temper. Upon hearing those words, she erupted in anger. She ignored the sorry state she was in and directly attacked Xiang Shaoyun. She slammed her palm toward Xiang Shaoyun’s chest. The palm was reinforced with astral energy and was glowing with a blood-red radiance.
Blood Noxious Palm!
A third-stage Astral Realm cultivator already qualified as an expert, and an ordinary person would never be able to stop the attack of a cultivator at this level. Facing this attack, instead of dodging, Xiang Shaoyun stepped forward and sent out his own punch.
Rushing Qi Fist!
The punch was not exuding any astral energy, yet it carried an extremely violent momentum with it. The palm and the fist met. A muffled thud sounded in the air. The clash forced Li Hong’er to take two steps back, and even her palm was aching. On the other hand, Xiang Shaoyun did not move a single step, as if he was completely unaffected by Li Hong'er's attack.
"Considering how you have received your lesson, I hereby grant you permission to piss off from my face. Otherwise, don't blame me for not showing you any mercy," Xiang Shaoyun said coldly.
Li Hong'er had once whipped and scarred his beautiful face, and he had once vowed to teach this girl a harsh lesson. But now, when he saw Li Hong’er’s sorry state after falling into the lake, his anger dissipated. Thus, he decided to spare her instead. He believed that as a man, he had to be magnanimous. Unfortunately, Li Hong'er felt no sense of gratefulness toward his magnanimity.
"You dare tell me to piss off? If I don't kill you right this moment, I won't be able to alleviate the anger in my heart!" Li Hong'er shouted before she mustered all her strength and started attacking Xiang Shaoyun madly.
She was indeed worthy of being the daughter of Li Xuemeng. She had mastered the Blood Noxious Palm, and each of her palms contained a boundless power. Her attacks were all aimed at Xiang Shaoyun's vitals, and each attack was launched from an extremely tricky angle.
Clearly, Li Hong'er was only now revealing her true strength. Xiang Shaoyun did not activate his gift of instincts this time, but he was still able to see the trajectory of Li Hong'er's attacks. He used his Cloud Splitting Palm to face her Blood Noxious Palm. In the blink of an eye, the two had already exchanged more than 10 moves, and the victor was still undetermined.
"Not fair! You have the advantage fighting me with that wet body of yours! Should I just capture you instead?" Xiang Shaoyun could not stop his gaze from roaming Li Hong'er's body.
And when Li Hong'er heard that, she shivered slightly, which immediately caused her to reveal an opening. Taking advantage of the opening, Xiang Shaoyun sent a palm right at the girl's chest. The palm landed, and Li Hong'er was once again pushed into the lake.
Splash!
This was the second time Li Hong'er had fallen into the lake, and her body was even wetter now. Li Hong'er floated on the surface of the lake, completely dumbfounded. She suddenly roared like an angry tigress, "I...will not rest until you're dead!"
"Hey, that...was an accident!" Xiang Shaoyun replied with an innocent expression. He quickly added, "I told you to piss off, but you refused. Fine, fine. This young master is a magnanimous person. I'll forgive you."
After saying that, he swaggered away without even bothering to wait for Li Hong'er to get out of the lake. No matter what, she was still an elder's daughter. If her father was to suddenly appear, it would be his turn to suffer.
"You f*cking asshole! I will never spare you! You won't be able to escape me!" Li Hong'er screeched in Xiang Shaoyun’s direction when she finally got out of the lake. It naturally attracted no response from Xiang Shaoyun. By now, he was already back at his own residence. After putting his luggage and some important belongings away, he brought some of the medicines he wouldn't need for now and headed to the Medicine Hall.
The Martial Hall Palace not only provided numerous medicinal herbs and weapons to the disciples but also bought them off the disciples. Xiang Shaoyun had gained quite a lot of old medicines from his trip to the Hundred Beast Mountain Range. Although he couldn't sell them all at once, he could still sell some of them to earn some points. With those points, he could buy some old medicines he actually needed.
After entering the Medicine Hall, Xiang Shaoyun took out the old medicines and said, "Revered overseer, take a look at how much these herbs are worth."
The overseer looked at Xiang Shaoyun in astonishment. "Huh? You've reached Astral Realm? That was fast!"
Xiang Shaoyun was one of the only two five-star physique disciples the Martial Hall Palace had. He had even previously bought some herbs here. Naturally, the overseer had a deep impression of him.
He remembered that Xiang Shaoyun was still a seventh-stage Basic Realm the last time he had come. It had only been a month since then, and he was now in the Astral Realm. This was quite an astonishing speed.
More importantly, he could see that Xiang Shaoyun had clearly advanced without relying on any medicine! That was because Xiang Shaoyun's foundation was thick and stable, a sign that would not appear if one advanced by relying on medicine.
"Haha, it's only Astral Realm, nothing worth mentioning," Xiang Shaoyun said humbly, but he still had a smug look on his face. He was definitely not humble at all!
"Um, you have a talent nobody can compare with. Since that is the case, you have to work even harder and not get too cocky," sincerely advised the overseer. He then added, "Show me the herbs. I'll have a look."
Xiang Shaoyun handed over the parcel and opened it. The overseer studied the herbs and praised, "This is quite the harvest!" He continued, "This is a 100-year-old grasstail flower, and this is a 150-year-old dried snake vine...huh? So many blood mushrooms! And this stalk here is even near 300 years old? It’s on the cusp of becoming a low-grade spirit medicine!"
Xiang Shaoyun did not say anything, yet he was thinking to himself, I already have a stalk of blood mushroom king for myself. I won't bother keeping these low-grade herbs.
After the overseer did his calculations, he gave Xiang Shaoyun a total of 6,500 points. Xiang Shaoyun was pretty satisfied with the price. After all, most of the herbs were gotten after killing the Mad Lion Hunting Group members and were completely earned by accident.
After getting the points, Xiang Shaoyun immediately exchanged them for a stalk of low-grade spirit medicine, illusionary star flower, and a few old medicines. He spent 6,000 points for the purchase.
"Kid, I thought your stars have been awakened? Why do you still need the illusionary star flower?" asked the overseer curiously. The illusionary star flower had a terrific efficacy on those at the peak of Basic Realm. It was a herb capable of helping one awaken their stars and enter the Astral Realm.
Because of that, the illusionary star flower was supposed to be useless for someone like Xiang Shaoyun who had already awakened his stars. That was the source of the overseer's curiosity.
"Hehe, I have my own usage for it," Xiang Shaoyun said with a wide grin. Of course he wouldn't tell the overseer that apart from awakening stars, the illusionary star flower was also quite useful in forming and growing the astral cosmos sea.
After leaving the Medicine Hall, Xiang Shaoyun headed straight toward the outer court. But when he arrived at the outer court, he found that others were bullying his underling, Xia Liuhui. Immediately, his mood soured.