Chapter 25: He Is My Prince Charming!
Two days after clearing the Hall of Limits, the injuries on Xiang Shaoyun’s body had mostly healed. He had no problems when it came to moving normally. This was all attributed to his absolutely amazing physique.
“I’ve gained quite a few benefits this time around. I should train in the second room whenever I have the time,” Xiang Shaoyun mused to himself.
The challenges one would face in each room within the Hall of Limits were different. The first room focused on one’s physical prowess, forcing one to go even further beyond one’s potential, granting one exceptional strength. The second room contained a rock formation, one which was closely compacted and contained very little breathing room. Ordinary people would find it extremely difficult to last for too long. This environment focused on training one’s reaction and combat ability.
Avoiding the boulders required both keen senses as well as adept footwork, and breaking the boulders entirely required explosive strength and force. No matter which method one chose with which to face the room, the room would raise their overall combat power. For somebody such as Xiang Shaoyun who wanted to raise their combat ability as quickly as possible, the boulder formation was undoubtedly the best place to train.
The current Xiang Shaoyun, however, did not intend to go back into the second room just yet. He still had to fulfil his promise of treating his friends to a meal. Upon his arrival at the outer courtyard, numerous cultivating outer court disciples turned to look at him with sparkles in their eyes. Some even showed a hint of admiration.
Being able to easily defeat Wu Mingliang, Xiang Shaoyun was now worthy of the title of one of the top 10 outer court disciples. These disciples couldn’t help admiring him. The female disciples all called out to him with “Brother Xiang!”; some of the bolder ones even cast him seductive glances. This left Xiang Shaoyun proud beyond compare.
“This kind of feeling is great! It’s like the feeling when I was at home!” Xiang Shaoyun happily said to himself. Once he had this thought, however, his expression began to cloud. The place he had once called home was now the home of somebody else, making him a stray dog with no place to call home.
“Boss, are your injuries fully healed?” Xia Liuhui shouted at the top of his lungs, seemingly afraid that others would not know Xiang Shaoyun was his boss.
Regaining his wits, Xiang Shaoyun replied, “How can I possibly heal so fast? But I feel much better now.” Pausing for a while, he then added, “Go and call Lu Xiaoqing, Mo Buhui, and Mei Lianhua. I promised to treat you guys to a feast! I won’t go back on my word.”
“I knew boss’s words were as good as gold!” Xia Liuhui gleefully said as he raised his right thumb. He then added, “They’re over there! Let me go get them!”
Mo Buhui and Mei Lianhua, as well as Lu Xiaoqing, had all been motivated by Xiang Shaoyun and had been madly cultivating their physical strength. All of them strove to quickly clear the second room, not wanting to lag too far behind Xiang Shaoyun.
“Shaoyun, are your wounds fully healed?” Mei Lianhua asked the moment she saw Xiang Shaoyun, full of concern. This caused the equally concerned Lu Xiaoqing to come to an awkward halt, biting back the words she had meant to say.
Xia Liuhui’s expression became exceedingly gloomy, his heart filled with sorrow. He had a crush on Mei Lianhua. However, not only did she not even look in his direction, her heart was set firmly on his boss.
“Thanks for your concern, I’m almost fully healed. I’m here to treat all of you to a feast! Let’s get going!” Xiang Shaoyun smilingly replied.
“Great! I was just becoming a bit hungry.” Mei Lianhua lightly giggled as she drew closer to Xiang Shaoyun.
This one action of hers made even Mo Buhui’s expression turn frigid, his eyes full of unhappiness. Before Xiang Shaoyun appeared, Mei Lianhua belonged to him and him alone. Although they appeared very close, she had never interacted with him the way that she was with Xiang Shaoyun right now. This created a very unstable feeling within him.
Although he was unhappy, Mo Buhui quickly calmed himself down and said, “Since Brother Xiang is so generous, we’d be glad to oblige.”
“What are we waiting for then? Let’s go and eat our hearts out!” Xiang Shaoyun jovially laughed.
With 2,000 points, one would be able to be as lavish as their hearts desired at the restaurant. When they reached the restaurant, Xiang Shaoyun immediately ordered various dishes and wines, extravagantly ordering dish after dish. This made the already enraptured Mei Lianhua even more thrilled than before.
Shaoyun is definitely my destined prince charming! Mei Lianhua thought to herself as she lovingly gazed at Xiang Shaoyun.
Sitting to one side, Lu Xiaoqing had a complicated expression plastered all over her face. Her heart was in disarray as she pondered, Why am I so bothered seeing Senior Mei so close to Xiang Shaoyun? Have I fallen for him too?! Impossible!
“Come come! Today, we’ll drink ‘til we’re merry!” Xiang Shaoyun proclaimed as he raised his cup.
“May you condense your astral energy and awaken all five of your stars soon!” Mei Lianhua hastened to speak first.
Likewise, the others also raised a toast before downing the cup in one go. Perhaps because of the wine, the atmosphere at the table became much more boisterous than before.
“Shaoyun, we have something to share with you. Perhaps it can help you break through to the Astral Realm quicker!” Mei Lianhua said, her beautiful eyes casting furtive glances at him.
“Lianhua!” Mo Buhui sternly spoke up.
“What’s the matter? Didn’t we come here today to speak with Shaoyun about this? So what if Xia Liuhui and Lu Xiaoqing are here as well? We need more manpower anyway!” Mei Lianhua replied, refusing to give way.
Seeing Mei Lianhua contradict him in public, Mo Buhui’s expression sank even further. He said, “I just wanted to remind you that we are in the restaurant, which is a far from ideal location to discuss this matter.”
Realizing her folly, Mei Lianhua apologized and said, “I was a bit too hasty in this matter. Let’s quickly finish our food and find somewhere else to discuss this then!”
Xiang Shaoyun managed to garner some information from their conversation. He pondered to himself, Something that will have me break through to the Astral Realm quicker? It seems like they have some info on the birth of some spirit item!
Not long after, the five of them cleaned each and every dish spotless, not leaving a single speck of food save the bones. Xiang Shaoyun then went to settle the bill before the group of them left the restaurant.
“Shaoyun, let’s go over there and speak! Once you hear of this, you’re sure to be as excited as I am!” Mei Lianhua coyly said, her body sticking close to Xiang Shaoyun.
Although Mei Lianhua did not have the pure, cute look of Lu Xiaoqing, she won in terms of her body’s explosive proportions, rendering most male disciples unable to resist her womanly charms. That being said, Xiang Shaoyun was of uncommon birth; thus, he’d seen too many beauties back at his home. He did not place someone at the level of Mei Lianhua in his eyes at all. This was why he was able to remain extraordinarily calm even as Mei Lianhua practically plastered herself to him.
“This news belongs to Brother Mo and yourself, how about we forget about it?” Xiang Shaoyun replied. He could infer that Mo Buhui was extremely unwilling to share this piece of information. Perhaps to anyone else, the prospect of being able to springleap into the Astral Realm was a great one.
However, it didn’t pose that much of an attraction to Xiang Shaoyun. He had already reached the point of being able to release his astral energy externally. As long as he was able to gather sufficient strength, taking the next step into the Astral Realm would not be a difficult one at all. He did not wish to get on others’ bad side just for this small shortcut.
Astonished beyond belief, Mei Lianhua asked, “Shaoyun, this is related to the Astral Realm! This will allow you to break through in a short amount of time! Do you not wish to—”
Before she could finish speaking, Xiang Shaoyun cut her short and bluntly asked, “Do you think that reaching the Astral Realm will pose any problems for me?”
Mei Lianhua could only stand there speechless. Indeed, with Xiang Shaoyun’s five-star physique, getting into the Astral Realm wouldn’t pose a challenge for him at all. Especially since he was the madman who had broken the Hall of Limits’ records.
“After hearing Brother Xiang’s words, I, Mo Buhui, am now willing to share this information with you!” Mo Buhui spoke up.