Xiang Yun followed Ji Shan on a stroll through the imperial palace.
Eventually, they came to a sizable square, where many people were toughening their bodies and others were sparring.
The sounds of bodies colliding rang out one after another, accompanied by cheers.
The arrival of Ji Shan and Xiang Yun caused little stir, though someone did notice them. A graceful, proud figure called out with a touch of exuberance, "Brother, is this your friend?"
When Ji Shan saw her, he hurriedly said, "Little sister, don't be disrespectful. This is the Young Hall Master of the Primordial Hall!"
"Young Hall Master, this is my younger sister, Ji Yue."
Xiang Yun looked at the woman's delicate face and striking figure, then glanced back at Ji Shan. "Same father, different mothers?" he asked in puzzlement.
"Same father and mother."
Seeing Xiang Yun's gaze and his silence, Ji Shan knew what he was thinking. "My sister takes after my mother."
"Oh, I see."
Ji Yue's eyes widened. Hearing Ji Shan's words, she hurriedly composed herself and said, "Greetings, Young Hall Master."
"Princess Ji Yue, there's no need for such formalities."
After learning Xiang Yun's identity from Ji Shan, she suppressed her normally lively personality.
Every now and then, her pretty eyes flicked toward Xiang Yun before she looked away again, her cheeks faintly flushed.
So the Young Hall Master of the Primordial Hall was that handsome! She had thought everyone in the Primordial Hall was a brawny man like her eldest brother!
Having grown up in such surroundings, she felt nothing for men like that. Only her mother liked her imperial father.
Xiang Yun smiled. "You two don't need to be so reserved. In two or three years, we might be fellow disciples."
It might have been better left unsaid. Once he said it, Ji Shan and Ji Yue looked a little awkward.
"Hmm? With your strength, Brother Ji, you should be able to achieve a good result in the Hundred Dynasties War. Are you planning to join the Primordial Hall?"
Ji Shan hurriedly waved his hands. "No, no, I've always longed to join the Primordial Hall!"
Ji Shan's voice was full of longing as he spoke. As someone who cultivated body-refining martial arts, he naturally wanted to join the Primordial Hall, the holy land of body refinement in the Eastern Xuan Region.
Ji Yue looked embarrassed. "I might not even take part, and... I don't cultivate body-refining martial arts."
Though she hadn't said everything, Xiang Yun understood.
In other words, even if Ji Yue joined a sect, she couldn't join the Primordial Hall. She probably had her sights set on the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace or the Dao Sect.
"If you decide to join the Nine Heavens Taiqing Palace when the time comes, that's fine too. I'm fairly familiar with its Young Palace Master."
At the mention of Ling Qingzhu, Ji Yue's eyes lit up. She couldn't help asking, "Young Hall Master, you know Fairy Ling?"
"I do. I've known her for a long time. We've had an exchange." Xiang Yun smiled. It certainly had been an exchange.
As for how they had exchanged, never mind that. Sounding out each other's depths and exploring each other's lengths naturally counted as an exchange too.
"Is she really beautiful?"
"She certainly is."
"What's her cultivation like now?"
"Half-Step Nirvana, I think."
Ji Yue chattered away, asking question after question about Ling Qingzhu, and Xiang Yun answered each one.
After all, someone admired his wife. Wasn't that a good thing?
Watching Ji Yue grow lively again, Ji Shan looked a little embarrassed. "That's enough, little sister. Don't pester the Young Hall Master."
"I'm just asking."
Ji Yue muttered, then suddenly asked, "Young Hall Master, who's stronger, you or Ling Qingzhu?"
"Ji Yue!"
Ji Shan gave a cold shout. Was that the sort of question she could ask? No matter how one looked at it, it seemed like she was trying to drive a wedge between them.
"Brother Ji Shan, there's no need to be so serious. Even if Ling Qingzhu were standing right here, I'd dare say I'm stronger."
Xiang Yun smiled.
The Great Desolate Dynasty counted as one of their own, and he was fairly amiable toward his own people.
"Oh? Is that so?"
"Of course. I started suppressing her back in the Body Tempering Realm, and I've kept suppressing her ever since."
Ji Yue was a little disappointed. Xiang Yun chuckled. Why did it feel like watching an idol fall from grace in his previous life?
"Hey, Young Hall Master, since you're so strong, could you give my eldest brother some pointers? He lost to Qin Tian again a while ago..."
"Qin Tian?"
Xiang Yun naturally knew Qin Tian; he just didn't know why she said Ji Shan had lost to him.
"Oh, he's a genius from the Yuantian Dynasty. In a competition a while ago, Qin Tian was also at the Advanced Fortune Stage, but the Spirit Martial Arts he'd mastered was incredible.
"My brother was caught off guard and lost."
Ji Shan fell silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, Young Hall Master. I've brought shame on the Primordial Hall."
The Great Desolate Dynasty was directly affiliated with the Primordial Hall, while the Yuantian Dynasty was directly affiliated with the Yuan Sect. Naturally, the two super sects couldn't clash so directly.
But the sects relied on these super dynasties for their reputations.
The Yuantian Dynasty and the Daoqian Dynasty, which was directly affiliated with the Dao Sect, were at war all year round.
"Sure. I've been itching to do something anyway. If you don't mind, Brother Ji Shan, how about a spar?"
Ji Shan nodded repeatedly. Who wouldn't want guidance from the Young Hall Master of the Primordial Hall?
Soon, a huge space had been cleared in the training ground, and the Great Desolate Dynasty's geniuses gathered in a circle around it.
"Who's that? He's going to fight Brother Ji?"
"A big shot from the Primordial Hall. I hear he's going to give Brother Ji some pointers."
"The Primordial Hall? But he doesn't look like he's in the Nirvana Realm. Could he be an outer disciple of the Primordial Hall? Is an outer disciple even qualified to instruct Brother Ji?"
The crowd didn't know Xiang Yun's identity, but in their eyes, Ji Shan was a chosen talent of his generation. Even if he joined a sect, he would at least be a personal disciple.
And he was going to fight someone?
Ji Shan and Xiang Yun paid no mind to their discussion.
Ji Shan was on high alert. Although Xiang Yun had yet to reach the Nirvana Realm, he didn't believe Xiang Yun's Creation Realm was the same as his own.
Xiang Yun had been trained from childhood, so the martial arts he had mastered were bound to be powerful.
Ji Shan held nothing back. In an instant, Origin Energy erupted around him, pale yellow Origin Energy sweeping out in all directions as a savage presence descended like a blanket over heaven and earth.
"Buzz!"
The Origin Energy formed a vast hand that bore down on Xiang Yun with the power to suppress the wilderness.
"Not bad."
Xiang Yun remained unhurried and even offered a word of appraisal.
Then he punched. The Origin Energy of heaven and earth around him seemed to turn into a current, gathering over the surface of his fist.
It burst apart with a boom.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom-!"
Violent blasts of air rang out in a frenzy. Qi and blood formed a fist imprint that instantly pierced the savage hand imprint.
A raging shock wave swept through the surroundings.
Ji Shan stamped his foot.
His already immensely muscular body swelled further until he looked like an iron tower. A terrifying savage presence coiled around him, making him look like a barbarian god walking among mortals.
"That's the martial art Brother Ji Shan obtained. I hear it's called the Great Wilderness Tyrant Body. They say its power in the early stages is no weaker than the Primordial Hall's Primordial Battle Body!"
"Brother Ji Shan's getting serious right from the start."
"Eight Desolations Barbarian King Fist!"
Ji Shan let out a low roar and clenched his fist, intent on blasting Xiang Yun away with a single punch. A faint illusory figure even appeared behind him.
Ji Shan was only in the Creation Realm. For such a figure to appear meant that this martial art had reached the level of Spirit Martial Arts.
"It's Spirit Martial Arts! Brother Ji only managed to suppress those three brothers from the Heavenly Demon Dynasty because he mastered Spirit Martial Arts!"
"If I were standing there, I probably couldn't even block one punch!"
"Now we should be able to see that man's true strength, right?"
The crowd had some expectations of Xiang Yun. After all, he was able to spar with Ji Shan.