Chapter 26: The Real Stage

  Shen Xiang nodded and said: "Alright, sister Youyou, when will you teach me magic?"

  She gave him a cold and distant look, saying: "You haven't even fully grasped your sister's Four Symbols Divine Art, you're still far off!"

  Shen Xiang can now only use the Qinglong Divine Art and part of the Zhuque Divine Art. The other two, the Baihu Divine Art and the Xuanwu Divine Art, are extremely difficult to practice and require some special environment to cultivate.

  The Qinglong Claw in the Qinglong Shen Gong, and the Qinglong Roar are relatively easy to learn. The Zhuque Xuanhuo and Zhuque Huoyi are also like this. Although there are many powerful martial techniques in the Four Symbol Divine Arts, they all require a certain level of strength to practice; otherwise, one will suffer from demonic possession.

  In the dead of night, hidden in a secret chamber deep underground, came the sound of "thuds" one after another. It was Shen Xiang practicing his martial arts. With only his upper body exposed, his robust muscles were bright red and steaming with heat. He stood firmly in horse stance, punching at the iron wall not far away. Waves of scorching air burst forth as he threw each punch, and the invisible force of his fists struck the iron wall, causing the earth to tremble.

  "Not bad, you've mastered the Fire King Fist in just one day. This is actually one of the more difficult basic skills to master in the Vermilion Bird Divine Technique. You can rest now." Su Mei Yao was also feeling a bit tired from sitting here watching Shen Xiang practice for a whole day.

  Shen Xiang looked at Su Mei Yao's mature and towering chest, chuckled and said: "Mei Yao sister, I'm going to take a bath, do you want to come together?"

  Su Mei Yao's voice was soft and charming, her eyes full of temptation: "I'll have to call my senior sister to go with us, I'm worried that you little scoundrel won't behave yourself."

  At the mention of Bai Youyou, Shen Xiang's face suddenly froze: "Let's just forget it."

  Su Meiying smiled and entered the invisible ring in Shen Xiang's hand, where there was a small house with everything needed for daily life. The two women lived very comfortably inside.

  The next day, Shen Xiang woke up and spat out the "Dragon's Saliva" in his mouth into a small bottle. He didn't go to water some medicinal materials, but instead saved it for future use.

  Shen Xiang originally wanted to go find Shen Lu Zong to discuss the art of alchemy, but he didn't expect that Shen Lu Zong had already set out to purchase spiritual medicine, and even left behind a lot of spiritual elixirs.

  There is a ready-made spiritual medicine, Shen Xiang is also very happy to use this to refine the elixir, which can also increase his alchemy experience.

  Three days passed, Shen Xiang finished practicing all the spiritual medicine left by Shen Lu Zong. Since most of the spiritual medicine were lower-grade mortal-level products, the elixirs produced were also lower-grade mortal-level products. At this time, the Shen family's elixirs were not few in number and could last for a period of time.

  In the past few days, many young men from the Shen family have been gathering around Shen Xiang, and Shen Xiang often goes to the martial arts arena to spar with the Shen family's younger generation and occasionally gives them pointers, which is of great help to them.

  "Xiang Er, are you going to the Wang City Martial Arts Conference? The first prize will be a high-quality True Yuan Dan of the Spirit level." Shen Tianhu suddenly arrived at the training grounds.

  Shen Xiang thought for a moment and said: "I think I'll go to other cities to buy some spiritual medicine, and then attend the meeting by the way!"

  At this time, a member of the Shen family said: "Shen Xiang has already participated, we will definitely have no chance, but I heard that this year's Wang City Martial Arts Conference has many talented people participating, and even a seventh-order Mortal Martial Realm."

  A girl nodded and said: "I heard there are still people coming back from those martial arts schools."

  Shen Xiang had heard all this news. The Wangcheng Martial Arts Conference is held once every ten years, and the participants are mainly under the age of 20. It is held in the largest city of Nanwu State, which is also called Wangcheng. Originally, Wangcheng was four large cities, but as the city developed too much and the population grew, the four cities became connected and eventually merged.

  The Wang City is also the capital of Nan Wu Country, where the Medicine Family and the Imperial Palace are located. The powerful families of Nan Wu Country have also established themselves there, so it's a gathering place for experts.

  Shen Tianhu nodded and said, "The King's City Martial Arts Conference has another purpose, which is to select some excellent people to enter those martial arts sects. You should know that the entire Nanwu Kingdom belongs to those martial arts sects, right?"

  Every martial arts family has to pay taxes and tribute to the imperial palace every year, while Nanwu Country will hand over these to those martial arts sects, showing how powerful those martial arts sects are, surpassing all the major families in the entire kingdom.

  "Don't think for a moment that those taxes are paid in vain, you should know that those martial arts schools are maintaining our safety, otherwise places like ours would easily be ravaged by demonic beasts or evil demons." Shen Tianhu said with a serious tone, gazing up at the sky.

  The Shen family's children were suddenly in an uproar. The great door schools that had been spoken of before were just legends, and they never thought that they would have such a close connection with the secular world.

  Nanwu Country is very large, with a population of tens of billions, but the number of martial artists is not many, and alchemists are even more rare. However, based on such a large population, it is also possible to find some excellent martial artists among them. Therefore, those martial arts schools will come here every once in a while to recruit disciples. The fastest and most effective way to select the best candidates is to let a group of strong young people compete with each other, and the strongest few will have the qualification to enter the martial arts school.

  Shen Xiang followed Shen Tianhu to the study, all the way here, Shen Xiang knew that Shen Tianhu must have something important to say, because Shen Tianhu's face had been very serious.

  As expected, once inside the study, Shen Tianhu said: "Xiang Er, your great-uncle Shen Lu Zong has already gone to Wang City! In the eyes of many people, our Shen family is considered a powerful martial arts household, but if we can't enter Wang City, then we can't be considered a truly prosperous family. So, our next goal for the Shen family is Wang City."

  Shen Xiang had also heard some news, such as the Medicine Family having some connection with those martial arts families. The Medicine Family didn't need to directly supply the imperial palace, but instead directly supplied those sects.

  "The Xue family is now moving to Wang City! Because of Xue Xianxian, the Xue family has established a relationship with a powerful martial arts sect! And we have to rely on ourselves, if you want to open up a path, it's all up to you and your uncle." Shen Tiangong said with a serious tone, his hand pressing on Shen Xiang's shoulder.

  Shen Xiang furrowed his brow and asked: "What do I need to do? Join a martial arts sect?"

  Shen Tianhu shook his head and said, "No, even if that's the case, our Shen family still can't get the protection of those major sects. Now there's only one way, which is to let those major sects take a liking to us Shen family, and then they'll come find us on their own initiative! The current method is to display your alchemy potential."

  Shen Xiang's eyes shone like torches, his bright pupils sparkling with a radiant glow. He grinned and said, "I know what to do now. I'll pack my things and head to Wang City to meet up with Uncle Zu."

  Shen Tianhu patted Shen Xiang's shoulder and smiled, "Xiang'er, your stage is not this mundane world, but those strong martial arts schools where the powerful gather. That is the true world of martial arts!"