Immortal-Exterminating Divine Venerable

'No wonder the Path of the Human Emperor requires sealing my cultivation. The Dao of the Human Emperor is all about winning others over with your abilities and capturing the hearts of the masses!'

Carefully contemplating the breakthrough he just had in the Emperor Golden Dragon Secret Technique, Yang Xiao suddenly became filled with confidence.

Originally, while he was confident and persistent in walking the Path of the Human Emperor, the task of becoming a continent's Common Lord within three months was the kind of thing rarely seen even in Ancient Times.

It was clear he was being deliberately challenged.

Although Yang Xiao was unwilling to accept the difficulty, he resolved to try his hardest.

But his confidence had been low.

But now, things were different.

He had now grasped the essence of the Emperor Golden Dragon Secret Technique and the Path of the Human Emperor. He understood why the path was designed this way, and with that, Yang Xiao now had a clear direction for the road ahead.

That was, to win the hearts of the people.

As long as he won over enough hearts, he would naturally become the Human Race's Common Lord.

Furthermore, his comprehension of the Emperor Golden Dragon Secret Technique would also deepen.

Yang Xiao could even sense it.

One day, perhaps he could use the power gathered from the hearts of the people to comprehend the Emperor Golden Dragon Secret Technique to an extremely high realm and, in one fell swoop, break the Seal on his body.

Because just now, when the Emperor Golden Dragon Secret Technique broke through, he could clearly feel that the Seal on him had weakened slightly.

Although it was only a little.

But it was hope.

'The breakthrough in the Emperor Golden Dragon Secret Technique was clearly because the Mining Slaves outside are on my side. It seems my actions yesterday were effective.'

Yang Xiao smiled faintly.

Continuing with his earlier thought, he decided to go out and take a look.

He wanted to see the current state of the people who had enabled his breakthrough in the Emperor Golden Dragon Secret Technique.

The moment he stepped out.

Yang Xiao saw a thousand people, under Ye Wanqing's guidance, starting to practice the Basic Boxing Skill.

Among them, the nearly one hundred people who had taken the Strengthening Pills were brimming with qi and blood, their punches forceful. It looked like all of them had stepped into the Qi Blood Stage. In fact, a few of them had vaguely reached the Peak of the Qi Blood Stage, just a hair's breadth away from breaking through to the Inner Breath Stage and becoming true Martial Artists.

'Not bad.'

Yang Xiao nodded slightly.

Although he was very confident in his Strengthening Pills, he was still delighted to see that some of these people were on the verge of breaking through to the Inner Breath Stage after just one day.

After all, in the Celestial Cloud Region, those who started cultivating from a young age needed several years, or even over a decade, to advance from the Martial Disciple Realm of the Qi Blood Stage to the Martial Artist Realm of the Inner Breath Stage.

But what surprised Yang Xiao even more was that when he appeared, everyone who was training immediately stopped and turned to look at him in unison.

Their gazes were filled with adoration and respect.

At the same time, Yang Xiao could clearly feel the Visible Flood Dragon formed by the Emperor Golden Dragon Secret Technique inside him grow excited.

It was clearly stimulated by the convergence of their feelings.

"Yang Xiao, you're amazing! Many of them now believe that we Martial Artists don't eat people. By the way, do you have any more of those Pills? A lot of people want to learn the Basic Boxing Skill, but their bodies are too weak to meet the requirements. Even these thousand people here barely met the standard. If you have more of those Pills, perhaps all of them could cultivate the Martial Dao."

Ye Wanqing's face was also full of excitement.

Her gaze toward Yang Xiao was also filled with adoration.

"Of course I do."

He had to have more. Never mind that the Path of the Human Emperor required him to build his own foundation; his Emperor Golden Dragon Secret Technique itself depended on these people's attitude toward him.

How could Yang Xiao not do everything in his power?

Right away, he had the hundred people who had taken the pills before come over. He gave each of them one hundred pills to distribute to those who wanted to cultivate the Martial Dao.

Just like that, ten thousand Strengthening Pills were distributed.

Not a single one was left; all of them ended up in the hands of the Mining Slaves. These people, who had once regarded Martial Artists as vipers and scorpions, as Demons, now began to walk the path of the Martial Dao.

Yang Xiao could clearly feel the Visible Flood Dragon inside him growing more and more excited.

Evidently, more and more of the Mining Slaves were putting their faith in him, accepting him, and seeing him as their pillar of support.

The days that followed only served to confirm this.

As the ten thousand people led by the initial hundred all formally stepped into the Qi Blood Stage thanks to the Strengthening Pills, and as the initial hundred, one by one, broke through to the Inner Breath Stage.

The once-demonized image of Martial Artists began to be replaced by a clear understanding in the minds of these Mining Slaves.

More and more people began to want to become Martial Artists.

And Yang Xiao refused no one who came to him.

Soon, among the seventy thousand people of the Fire Cloud Mountain Mine, thirty thousand Martial Cultivators had emerged.

The remaining forty thousand also held Yang Xiao in high esteem.

Faintly, a foundation belonging to Yang Xiao himself began to slowly take shape.

'As long as ten thousand of these seventy thousand people become official Martial Artists, then I can summon my Fire God Clone and the people from the Carefree Sect.'

A glint flashed in Yang Xiao's eyes.

For an ordinary person, turning ten thousand people into official Martial Artists with the strength of the Inner Breath Stage would probably not be easy. For Yang Xiao, however, it was a matter of just four or five days.

And once he established this foundation.

The forces of the Carefree Sect could swarm in.

With his Fire God Clone as well, Yang Xiao would no longer be as passive as he was now.

'And the Celestial Cloud Region... I need to speed up the process there. That will be my second foundation, and the most important one.'

A thought stirred in Yang Xiao's mind.

In fact, back when he left the Northern Wilderness Sword Mansion and stepped into the Eastern Domain, he had already given his Fire God Clone a task: to build the Celestial Cloud Region into his own kingdom.

At the time, Yang Xiao wasn't aiming to become the Human Race's Common Lord, but rather wanted the Carefree Sect to become an Overlord Level power in the Celestial Cloud Region.

Or even the sole Sect force.

But now...

Yang Xiao felt that the Carefree Sect could no longer just involve itself with Sect affairs. It had to take control of the kingdoms below, and even integrate them.

That way, his chances of becoming the Human Race's Common Lord would be even greater.

If he could cultivate some loyal Martial Arts Powerhouses, the possibility of becoming the Human Race's Common Lord would grow larger still.

The more hearts and minds he could gather, the greater the chance he could break the restriction in his body himself, without needing anyone else's help.

Perhaps this was the true test of the Path of the Human Emperor.

Thinking of this, Yang Xiao became lost in thought.

But just as things were flourishing on his end, his development proceeding smoothly as he took the first step toward becoming the Human Race's Common Lord, the first major crisis of his Path of the Human Emperor arrived quietly.

「On a high peak on the outskirts of Fire Cloud Mountain.」

Several figures had been observing from here for a long time.

"Miss Wanyu, are you certain that fellow is here right now?"

Wang Tianyi, a cultivator of the Great Divine Power Realm, asked.

Ye Wanyu nodded. "I can sense my older sister here. That bastard seems to be in some kind of trouble right now. He definitely wouldn't dare leave my sister's side for a second. Otherwise, even a random person could kill him!"

"Grandpa Wang, I just scanned the area as well," Lu Qianfan also spoke up. "Aside from one Martial Artist at the Small Divine Ability Realm, the rest are all uninitiated beginners. Though their numbers are great, they are no cause for concern. Why don't we just charge in now?"

His words met with Ye Wanyu's approval.

When it came to Yang Xiao, the young woman was already bursting with impatience.

"Alright, let's charge in and kill them!"

Wang Tianyi nodded.

Instantly, the group of four—two at the Great Divine Power Realm and two at the Small Divine Ability Realm—hesitated no longer.

In a flash, they charged into Flame Cloud Mountain together, their target: Ye Wanqing.