Tibetan Medicine Villa

In the eastern region of the Phantom Empire lies a luxurious giant city built against the mountains and beside rivers, breathtakingly beautiful. The city's unique architecture, featuring ancient-looking palaces, exudes an old-world charm. This place is the renowned "Cangyao Villa" of the entire Eastern Xuan Empire, one of the two rulers of the Phantom Empire.

Cangyao Villa is divided into the Outer City, Inner City, and Main City. The Outer City is used to entertain distinguished guests, the Inner City hosts various events, and the Main City is the core base of the villa, strictly off-limits to outsiders.

At this moment, the Outer City of Cangyao Villa is thronged with tens of thousands of people. Most of them are here for the much-anticipated New Talents Tournament; however, only a small portion are actual participants, while the majority are merely spectators.

After two days of traveling, Xing Jue finally arrived outside the city of Cangyao Villa. The New Talents Tournament is scheduled for the next day.

Outside the gates of the villa, there is a steady flow of people heading towards the city, all here for the New Talents Tournament. Ten men dressed in white robes, each adorned with a beautiful alchemical pill and a gourd emblem, stand in neat rows. They are disciples of Cangyao Villa.

Each disciple holds a peculiar talisman, a testing charm. When the charm touches someone, their strength is revealed on the talisman. Only those whose strength meets at least the Warrior level after verification with the charm are permitted to enter the villa.

Xing Jue and Xiao Qian easily passed the test. However, seeing that Xing Jue had reached the Martial Master level at such a young age, the disciples couldn't help but cast him a surprised look.

Such talent in cultivation is exceedingly rare, even in Cangyao Villa. Xing Jue's strength, along with Xiao Qian's Martial Master status, led these disciples to a speculation—that Xing Jue must belong to the Phantom Hall.

Cangyao Villa harbors extreme resentment towards the Phantom Hall due to their constant underhanded tactics in the struggle for control over the Phantom Empire. Although lacking concrete evidence, Cangyao Villa is highly vigilant and hostile towards the Phantom Hall. Assuming that Xing Jue and Xiao Qian are disciples of the Phantom Hall, they issued them invitations marked with the character for 'lower'.

"Why a lower invitation? The previous Martial Master received a middle-tier invitation," Xing Jue remarked with dissatisfaction upon receiving the lower-tier invitation.

Invitations in Cangyao Villa are divided into three levels: upper, middle, and lower, with varying degrees of hospitality. Naturally, the lower-tier invitation means the least favorable treatment.

"Take what you're given. Who do you think you are to complain?" The disciple snapped angrily at Xing Jue's discontent.

"Oh? So, the people of Cangyao Villa act so unreasonably?" Xing Jue retorted, his anger rising.

"You…" The disciple was about to lose his temper when another young man, around 20 years old, walked out from the villa. Draped in the same white robe, this young man had two golden stars on his chest—a rank higher than the other disciples, indicating his superior status. This young man was an advanced Martial Master.

"Senior Brother Zhao!" Upon seeing this newcomer, the disciple quickly saluted and whispered a few words to him.

After listening, Senior Brother Zhao's face twisted with fury. He approached Xing Jue coldly. "Guests in Cangyao Villa must follow our arrangements. Ever heard of 'when in Rome, do as the Romans do'? If you think the lower invitation isn't fair, you are free to leave."

"Ha! My friend, you've misunderstood. I am not a disciple of the Phantom Hall," Xing Jue said with a sudden smile, despite the young man's continued hostility.

With his unique spiritual abilities, Xing Jue had overheard their whispers and understood the reason behind their treatment.

"Is that so? Then, which faction do you belong to?" The disciple, taken aback, reined in his anger and spoke more courteously.

Because he never could have imagined that Xing Jue could overhear his whispered conversation with the disciple, even though the disciple had deliberately lowered his voice using martial energy, making it nearly impossible for others to hear. The fact that Xing Jue could hear it naturally made him look at Xing Jue in a new light.

"To be honest, we are actually disciples of the Wind Pavilion. Recently, we have had some matters to attend to in the Phantom Empire. We heard about the New Talents Tournament at Cangyao Villa and decided to visit, having long heard of its renowned alchemy skills," Xing Jue replied courteously. He also took the opportunity to compliment Cangyao Villa, as most people enjoy hearing kind words.

"Oh, so you are from the Wind Pavilion! Why didn't you say so earlier? I'm Zhao Liang. May I know your name, brother? Feel free to call me 'brother' if you don't mind," Zhao Liang's attitude took a complete turn upon hearing that Xing Jue was a disciple from the Wind Pavilion. He spoke with warmth and respect, his face now adorned with a welcoming smile.

"Brother Zhao, you are older, so naturally, I should call you brother. My name is Xing Jue, pleased to meet you," replied Xing Jue with a smile, sensing his success.

"Haha, Brother Xing, it was all a misunderstanding just now. Come, let me show you around," Zhao Liang said, smiling as he led Xing Jue and Xiao Qian into Cangyao Villa.

Seeing the preferential treatment Xing Jue and Xiao Qian received, the onlookers were filled with envy.

In the Outer City of Cangyao Villa, there was a luxurious pavilion, exclusively for guests with upper-tier invitations, typically reserved for those at the Martial Lord level or higher. Yet, thanks to Zhao Liang's influence, Xing Jue also enjoyed this treatment.

Currently, in the pavilion, Xing Jue and Zhao Liang were sitting in the guest hall, laughing and chatting, while Xiao Qian had gone to her room to rest.

"Brother Xing, are you here to participate in our New Talents Tournament?" Zhao Liang asked with a smile.

"Yes, Brother Zhao. However, I'm still unclear on how to participate in this tournament," replied Xing Jue courteously. Initially worried about how to enter the tournament, he now felt assured with Zhao Liang's connection.

Xing Jue had learned that Zhao Liang was a two-star alchemist, equivalent to a main disciple of the Wind Pavilion, giving him significant influence in Cangyao Villa.

"The New Talents Tournament is open to anyone brave enough to participate. The only requirement is that participants must be under 18 years old, which shouldn't be an issue for you, Brother Xing," Zhao Liang explained with a smile.

"If you wish to participate, I can help you bypass the preliminaries. Those rounds are merely to eliminate unqualified individuals. You can skip to the finals directly," Zhao Liang offered, recalling his authority to make such arrangements.

"If that's possible, I would truly appreciate it, Brother Zhao," Xing Jue responded gratefully. With the large number of participants, the preliminaries could be time-consuming. Skipping them allowed Xing Jue more time to train.

After a friendly chat, Zhao Liang left and had someone bring refreshments and fruits to Xing Jue. Despite the brief interaction, Xing Jue already sensed that Zhao Liang was a warm-hearted and upright person.

Since cultivating the Soul Devouring Technique, Xing Jue had developed a sense for people's character. This ability would be invaluable, ensuring no one could easily deceive or harm him.

After sharing some refreshments with Xiao Qian, Xing Jue returned to his room to practice the Soul Devouring Technique. Following Xiao Qian's advice, he focused on the basic method of soul healing.

Although soul healing was an elementary technique, its practice was somewhat challenging. However, Xing Jue quickly grasped the fundamentals due to his strong comprehension skills. Souls naturally have a nourishing effect on the body, a fact many are unaware of.

When breaking through from a warrior to a martial artist, the soul's power increases, enhancing the body's nurturing effect. Many mistakenly attribute this to martial energy alone. Special training can amplify the soul's nurturing effect, eventually leading to healing abilities, which was Xing Jue's goal.

In his quiet room, Xing Jue sat cross-legged, eyes closed, with his soul energy slowly flowing out and circulating around his body, gently moving over his skin and making it healthier.

Feeling the invigorating effects, a smile curled the corners of Xing Jue's mouth. Even without injuries, he sensed he had preliminarily mastered soul healing.