Xiang Shaoyun hurried along the path, not caring about his injuries. Once he had ascertained that Mei Lianhua was no longer trailing him, he found an isolated area and swallowed a healing pill. He also swallowed two more old medicines from the pack he had obtained from the dead person.

These were all herbs that would speed up his recovery rate, allowing him to recover from his wounds much faster than normally possible. Especially now that there were two deep sword wounds on his back, if he did not recover soon and was met with danger, it would be extremely hard for him to keep his life.

Xiang Shaoyun sat down cross-legged as he revolved the Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual as fast as he could, swiftly absorbing the medical properties of the medicines and healing the wounds on his back.

Before this, Xiang Shaoyun had noticed that the energy coursing through his nine stars had risen significantly. This energy was most likely the accumulation of the energy he had compressed during his breakthroughs, and having such an amount of excess energy was one of the benefits of having a nine-star physique.

It was this energy that allowed him to unleash a sword strike capable of rivalling a second stage Astral Realm cultivator at the very last moment of the previous battle. Under the threat of death, Xiang Shaoyun had made a crucial breakthrough. As such, the energy capacity of his stars had seen a qualitative increase, but his energy consumption had correspondingly increased as well. He had been weakened significantly after that sword strike.

With the increase in his star formation’s overall energy, the hidden medicinal properties in his body were once again partially dug out of him. The tiny, minute strands of energy forced from Xiang Shaoyun’s body were even more effective than all the healing pills and herbal medicines he had previously consumed.

“Ahh…”

That comfortable and composed feeling made Xiang Shaoyun let out an uncontrollable moan of pleasure. If he could look inside himself, he would find that his injuries were healing at a rate visible even to the naked eye. This was akin to swallowing a miracle medicine; he was recovering way too fast!

Not only that, the energy within his star formation was also increasing rapidly, pushing Xiang Shaoyun from his primary-phase, eighth-stage Basic Realm to the middle phase as it continually climbed. Eventually, his cultivation rose all the way to the peak of eighth-stage Basic Realm before he forcefully suppressed it.

The energy released was so great that it would not have been an issue for Xiang Shaoyun to ascend to ninth-stage Basic Realm if he so willed, but the excess energy was sent to his star formation to strengthen his foundations. 

Four hours later, energy finally stopped flowing out of his body. Furthermore, his wounds had healed by about 80 percent, to the point where they no longer affected his mobility. The scariest thing was his rapid increase in overall strength. Nobody could match him when it came to improvement rate.

“Father really was a wise man. He knew that I wouldn’t cultivate for 10 years and helped me cultivate my body with tons of medicinal properties in such a way that I could slowly unearth the potential hidden within my body. With that, even when relying on medicinal effects to advance, my foundations would not be adversely affected,” Xiang Shaoyun joyfully said.

Xiang Shaoyun was a very rational person. He knew that although he could speed up the process of gaining power, if the potential within him was used up too quickly, all he would have would be baseless power with a shaky foundation.

“The lower my cultivation, the more I need to establish a good foundation for further realms. As of now, my combat power is sufficient to rival that of a second-stage Astral Realm cultivator. By relying on the Overlord’s Nine Nether Steps, even if I don’t successfully defeat him, I should be able to retreat unscathed, so I should have no problems when it comes to fighting a primary-phase Intermediate Demon.

After settling his thoughts, Xiang Shaoyun and Little White continued their journey to the Earth Star Spring. Although he was very clear about the fact that the Mad Lion Hunting Group was probably around the area, he was still unwilling to give up that opportunity. Very quickly, they came before a mountain whose peak seemed to pierce the clouds.

This mountain was the tallest in the entire Hundred Beast Mountain Range. It contained trees whose canopies reached the heavens, and it was scarce in beast cries, as if one had come to an ancient land. Furthermore, an imposing waterfall stretched from the peak of the mountain all the way to its base like a heavenly river, leaving people in awe of its magnificence.

“This is Falling River Mountain! The Earth Star Spring must be nearby!” Xiang Shaoyun exclaimed excitedly. Just as he was about to continue rushing towards the Falling River Mountain, he found a group of scouts blocking the path up the mountain. These scouts were all powerful individuals exuding the fierce air of an expert. With their combined strength, dealing with a few Intermediate Demon beasts would be no issue.

“No matter who you are, leave at once! The Mad Lion Hunting Group has laid claim to this mountain!” These scouts had keen senses. The moment one of them detected Xiang Shaoyun’s presence, he immediately shouted a warning.

His voice radiated strength, reaching far and wide while giving off a striking aura. This aura belonged to someone at late-phase Astral Realm. Left with no other option, Xiang Shaoyun backed off slightly.

“It seems like the Mad Lion Hunting Group really is powerful. They can even afford to leave 25 experts to guard the entry. This is going to be troublesome,” Xiang Shaoyun gloomily muttered to himself.

After retreating to a safe distance, Xiang Shaoyun stopped. He was unwilling to give up just like that. Examining his surroundings, he found a sheer cliff that would allow him to reach his destination just the same if he climbed it. Only, this cliff was about 200–300 meters high. If one lost their grip, even an Astral Realm expert would instantly turn into meat paste  upon impact.

“Riches are found in the midst of danger! I haven’t seen a cliff that I cannot climb just yet!” After pondering the situation for a while, a determined gaze flashed across Xiang Shaoyun’s eyes. As such, he changed his path and reached the base of the cliff.

“I’ll treat this as life-or-death training!” Xiang Shaoyun gritted his teeth before beginning his ascent.

The steepness of the cliff was hard to describe in words. Luckily, there were jagged edges sticking out here and there, allowing one to scale the cliff. Xiang Shaoyun’s strength was comparable to an Astral Realm cultivator’s, and he also had a robust supply of astral energy. This was enough for him to climb the mountain.

A while later, Xiang Shaoyun had climbed to the 50-meter mark. Both of his hands were bruised to the point they were bleeding, and his clothes were drenched with sweat. Scaling this cliff was not just a physical trial, it was a mental trial as well. If one’s spirit was unable to hold on, the consequences would be disastrous.

“Keep going, keep going…” Xiang Shaoyun panted, revolving the Heaven Conquering Overlord Manual. Astral energy spread through his body as his acupoints lit up, supplying him with energy as he climbed. This allowed him to be like a spider, constantly ascending.

Very quickly, Xiang Shaoyun scaled half the cliff. At this crucial point, a sudden cry pierced the air.

Screech!

Stopping in his tracks, Xiang Shaoyun turned and saw an eagle beast rushing straight at him.

“Not good, it’s a fiery beak eagle!” Xiang Shaoyun was so startled that he began to slip.

Luckily, with his keen reflexes, he barely managed to claw onto the edge of the cliff, preventing him from sliding down further. However, his body was totally beaten up; any further bruises would have him bleeding profusely. This was when he found that he had an even bigger problem.

He was well over a hundred meters in the air. If he were to fall from that height, he would be falling straight into death’s embrace. At that very moment, the fiery beak eagle began rushing straight towards Xiang Shaoyun, its flaming, red body creating a road of fire in the middle of the air as its flaring eyes stared straight at Xiang Shaoyun, designating him as its lunch.

Completely at a loss, Xiang Shaoyun was on the verge of crying as he muttered to himself, “I never imagined I’d become food for a stupid eagle!”

Just as he was about to give up and descend, Little White on his back let out a roar before leaping straight at the fiery beak eagle.

“Little White!” Xiang Shaoyun shouted in shock, only to find that the little tiger had already landed on the back of the fiery beak eagle.