Several yards outside the Thatched Hut, Demon Phoenix lay atop the Minghong Saber, communicating and resonating with it, while Huang Xiao stood a few steps from the hut with a wooden saber in hand, holding his breath and focusing his mind.
Demon Phoenix was busy healing and recovering, and Huang Xiao naturally would not remain idle either.
His strength had increased greatly, but the appearance of Li Bai's successor, Li Chaoxun, had made Huang Xiao realize that his strength still offered no firm assurance.
When he had faced Li Chaoxun at the Ou Family, it was only his familiarity with Transcendent Immortal Swordsmanship that had allowed him to catch Li Chaoxun off guard and make him suffer a setback.
Huang Xiao believed that if they truly fought on regardless of everything, both bringing out their full strength, even if he could defeat Li Chaoxun, it would probably be a costly victory-and that was with his considerable understanding of Transcendent Immortal Swordsmanship.
Without that advantage, his strength might not match Li Chaoxun's.
Of course, this was all his own speculation. Perhaps Li Chaoxun still had moves he knew nothing about, in which case his chances of winning would not be very high.
Thinking of Sword God Yi and Pang Yi, whom he had yet to meet, those two certainly would not be weaker than Li Chaoxun. Standing out among his peers would probably not be so easy.
His journey to the Imperial Province this time was not merely for the Ranking Contest. He had another purpose as well: to find a way to obtain the final three stages of the Heavenly Demon Skill, as the Masked Old Man had instructed.
The old man had said that the Imperial Province Ranking Contest would be an opportunity for him, but Huang Xiao still