Chapter 327: Return to Duanren Empire Huang Xiaolong felt a sense of relief when he exited the Ghost City. His current strength was sufficient to deal with Zhao Chen, but it was still quite troublesome if they ran into each other for now. Especially if Zhao Chen’s group realized that the Ghost King Sutra and Ghost King Dan fell into someone else’s hands and Huang Xiaolong seemingly walked out safely from the Ghost King’s cultivation cave, they would be able to connect two and two together. If the news ever leaked out, he would be targeted throughout the Bedlam Lands. Strength! Huang Xiaolong urgently needed to increase his strength! Regardless if he could go against an early Saint realm expert such as Zhao Chen at his current peak late-Xiantian Tenth Order strength. Even against some mid-First Order Saint realm, it was far from sufficient. He would be powerless to do anything if he came across a Second Order Saint realm. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮 The same thought once again emerged in Huang Xiaolong’s heartーbreak through to the Saint realm, as soon as possible! Not to mention that there was only slightly more than a year’s time left until Deities Templars’ disciple selection. He had to break through to Saint realm before that, every ounce of strength was crucial, increasing his chances of rescuing Li Lu. Huang Xiaolong checked the directions and then sped away southward with giant ghost Feng Yang, all the way without stopping. Huang Xiaolong and giant ghost Feng Yang flew for three hours, landing in a quiet, secluded valley. Leaving giant ghost Feng Yang as a lookout on the outside, Huang Xiaolong entered the valley, brought out the Godly Mt. Xumi and entered the Xumi Temple. Even though he knew that refining the Ghost King’s Ring would be hard at this current strength, Huang Xiaolong was determined to give it another try. He was not someone who was willing to give up that easily. As long as he could refine the ring and obtain the Ghost King Dan within, he had a high chance of breaking through to Saint realm in the next few months. Breaking through to Saint realm could not be achieved by merely swallowing some ten or hundred thousand year elixirs, otherwise, why would there be so many half-Saints stuck at that stage for a hundred years or so, unable to pierce through that slim barrier. And divine grade spirit pellets, such as the Ghost King Dan, were highly beneficial in aiding the process of stepping into the Saint realm. It was said the Ghost King spent many years and effort to refine the Ghost King Dan using more than a hundred precious elixirs, all for the sake of breaking into the God Realm. Taking out the Ghost King Ring, Huang Xiaolong observed for a moment the ring floating in front of him, glimmering in a soft purple glow. He sat down cross-legged in the center of the Ten Buddha Formation, fully releasing the Buddhism energy from his body, only then did he cautiously ran his battle qi, infusing it into the ring in an attempt to refine it. Just like the first time, the moment Huang Xiaolong’s battle qi came in contact with the ring, the howling cries of evil spirits rang out and a monstrous ghost aura enveloped Huang Xiaolong. This time, it was even more powerful than before. The intense ghost aura clashed against the Buddhism energy within the temple, raising an endless volley of explosions echoing throughout the Xumi Temple. A short while later, the monstrous ghost aura was suppressed by the Buddhism energy within the Ten Buddha Formation. Nevertheless, Huang Xiaolong’s back dampened with cold sweat at the sight. Fortunately, he prepared in advance or the result would have been devastating, especially because the second retaliation was more powerful than the first! Huang Xiaolong’s brows furrowed deeply; must he really give up here?! Moments later, Huang Xiaolong directed the true essence fire from his dantian, forming a protective barrier over his body. At the same time, he initiated the Ten Buddha Formation, combining the Buddhism energy from the array formation with his own, creating a vigor barrier out of Buddhism energy before infusing his battle qi into the Ghost King Ring again. The same thing happened, just like the previous two times. When Huang Xiaolong sent his battle qi into the ring, the ban inside was triggered, a soaring ghost aura rushed out from the ring, colliding with the Buddhism energy a second time. In the spacious hall, a scrimmage between the rumbling ghost aura and the sacred Buddha luminescence took place. It took some time before the Buddhism energy managed to suppress the ghost aura, taking a longer time than the first time. The process repeated again and again until Huang Xiaolong’s fifth attempt to refine the Ghost King Ring, the ghost aura inside suddenly rushed out like an endless raging tsunami, shattering the vigor barrier erected from the Ten Buddha Formation, shooting straight towards Huang Xiaolong. When it rammed into the true essence fire shield burning around Huang Xiaolong, it reacted like water overboiling, black fumes of smoke filled the temple hall. Lasting until the end, the true essence fire barely succeeded in burning away all the ghost aura that aimed at him, but Huang Xiaolong’s face paled considerably. Although his true essence fire burned away all the ghost aura, he was overdrawing the true essence in his dantian at the same time. Focusing his thoughts, Huang Xiaolong executed his third martial spirit ability, Instant Recovery. Mottled blue lights spread up beginning from his feet, returning the ruddiness to his face, but it took several hours for the true essence in his dantian to recover. Having recovered from his true essence exhaustion, Huang Xiaolong breathed out turbid qi from his mouth. He stared at the Ghost King Ring before him and sighed helplessly. It seems that relying on his current level of strength, it was simply insufficient to refine the Ghost King Ring, even considering the help of an early Saint realm giant ghost Feng Yang’s assistance, the task had a very low chance of success. A light flickered as thoughts ran through his mind swiftly. ‘Then, the only option was to make a trip back to Duanren Empire. Zhao Shu and Zhang Fu were both high-level Saint realm, with their help, the possibility of refining the Ghost King Ring was much higher,’ Huang Xiaolong contemplated. Once Huang Xiaolong made his decision, he exited the Xumi Temple and called giant ghost Feng Yang over. Both of them left the valley, speeding at breakneck speed towards the Duanren Empire. As for Black Demon City, Huang Xiaolong wouldn’t be returning for the time being. The most crucial matter now was to refine the Ghost King Ring so that he could refine the Ghost King Dan and break through to Saint realm. Speeding up all the way, Huang Xiaolong and giant ghost Feng Yang were out of the Ghost Domain territory in three days’ time. They came across many other ghost creatures, but all were killed by Huang Xiaolong and Feng Yang, their ghost souls were refined by Huang Xiaolong using the Blood Pact Mandate. Hence, by the time Huang Xiaolong left the Ghost Domain, his strength further enhanced significantly, approaching half-Saint. Ten days later, Huang Xiaolong and Feng Yang reached Duanren Empire’s border. Seeing that the sky was already dark, he decided to rest for the night in the small town up ahead before traveling again. ‘Not far from here is the Luo Tong Kingdom.’ The thought crossed Huang Xiaolong’s mind when he arrived at this small town called Thousand Spring, close to Duanren Empire’s territory. ‘Luo Tong Kingdom! I wonder how Lu Kai is doing now. It has been five years, that guy should have probably advanced to Houtian Eighth Order...’ A smile appeared on Huang Xiaolong’s face at the thought of Lu Kai, that little guy most likely ascended the throne by now! He couldn’t resist chuckling imagining Lu Kai’s expression as he sat on the royal throne of the Luo Tong Kingdom. The Luo Tong Kingdom held many of Huang Xiaolong’s memories of this life. Although the Huang Clan Manor no longer existed, in Huang Xiaolong’s heart, the Luo Tong Kingdom had always been his starting place, a hometown so to speak. The best memories of his childhood were spent there. ... At this time, deep inside the Luo Tong Kingdom Palace, in an underground dungeon, sounds of whip cracking against the flesh resounded. “Hehe, Lu Kai, I didn’t expect you to be so stubborn judging from your tender appearance.” A cold sinister voice spoke. “Ptui! There will be a day when I chop you old dog into pieces and feed you to the pigs!” An angry roar echoed in through the dungeon, and this was none other than Lu Kai’s voice. Inside the dungeon, Lu Kai’s appearance was disheveled, his white robe stained with blood, both his arms and legs were chained to a thick iron column. Standing in front of Lu Kai was an old man in a gray robe.