“Good, very good! You say you’ve never heard of me before, eh? Heh heh…,” Wang Yang said, bursting out into maniacal laughter. In his eyes, Xiang Shaoyun was no more than a prancing clown. The only possible concern was that he had the ability to break through his limits. However, he was a mere outer court disciple who had a long way to go before maturity, no more than a cricket in Wang Yang’s eyes.

The people within the restaurant also burst out in laughter. They were laughing at Xiang Shaoyun for being completely ignorant, seeking his own death. Getting up from his seat, Wang Yang stared daggers at Xiang Shaoyun as he drew closer to Xiang Shaoyun, emitting some of his astral energy.

Before Wang Yang had the opportunity to fully close in, Xiang Shaoyun shouted in alarm, “This young master is the junior brother of Zi Changhe, and hence half an elder! Do you dare to be disrespectful towards me?!”

“Zi Changhe? Is-isn’t that the Purple Lightning Marquis?!” Wang Yang said, completely startled.

“Brother Wang, don’t listen to his bullshit. The junior brother of the Purple Lightning Marquis won’t be from the same generation as us! Look at how young this brat is! How can he be the Purple Lightning Marquis’s junior brother? He’s clearly bluffing us!” the inner court disciples sitting at the same table reminded him.

“Oh right! This damned brat dares to fool me? You even dare to use the Purple Lightning Marquis’s name to weave lies! I must thoroughly discipline you today!” Wang Yang shouted furiously.

“You dare? I’m the one and only Xiang Shaoyun!” Xiang Shaoyun said, declaring his status.

“Who cares if you’re Shaoyun or Shaolin, I’ll still hit you!” Wang Yang bellowed, sending a palm straight for Xiang Shaoyun’s face.

Xiang Shaoyun initially had thoughts of running away, but he found that he was rooted in place by Wang Yang’s aura, all but destroying his hopes of ever escaping.

“F*ck, Zi Changhe’s name is so useless! I can’t even deter a fellow disciple!” Xiang Shaoyun cursed to himself.

Just as Xiang Shaoyun expected to be hit by a solid palm, a person suddenly dashed in front of him and stopped Wang Yang’s palm while saying, “Hold your hand!”

Taking note of the person who had stopped him, Wang Yang angrily shouted, “Wang Zhenchuan, you dare to hinder me?!”

At first glance, Wang Zhenchuan didn’t seem much older than Xiang Shaoyun. Although he could not be considered dashing, he likewise had an extraordinary bearing. He was also another one of Martial Hall Palace’s top 15 inner court disciples.

Wang Zhenchuan came from a poor household, but his talents were anything but ordinary. He poured all his focus into cultivation and was widely known as the next Purple Lightning Marquis. Furthermore, Zi Changhe was Wang Zhenchuan’s idol, a target for him to work toward.

“He is indeed the junior brother of Elder Zi Changhe,” Wang Zhenchuan indifferently replied to Wang Yang.

“You’re utterly blind! He’s so young; how can he possibly be the Purple Lightning Marquis’s junior brother?! Even if he is his disciple, I don’t like his face! You’d better make way soon, or else I’ll consider this as you challenging me!” Wang Yang roared.

Completely unfettered, Wang Zhenchuan cooly replied, “It was Xiang Shaoyun who had caused the five stars illuminating the sky yesterday.”

After he spoke, his words resounded through the entire restaurant, causing everybody there to finally piece everything together.

“So he’s the Xiang Shaoyun who attracted the five stars illuminating the sky phenomenon? No wonder his name sounds so familiar! It was him all along!”

“Five stars illuminating the sky! This guy has a natural high-tier natal chart; his future is limitless! Even our Martial Hall Palace only has one such person—our number one beauty, Gong Qinyin!”

“Indeed! I was lucky enough to see everything yesterday! Many elders wanted to take him in as a disciple, including Vice Palace Master Qing Xiuhe! It was a pity that the nineteenth elder said that he was taking in this disciple on behalf of his master. However, this indeed proves that Xiang Shaoyun is the junior brother of the nineteenth elder!”

“Wang Yang is doomed this time for offending the junior brother of the Purple Lightning Marquis! His days from now on will be hard! We’d better stay away from him!”

“Rightfully so! The Purple Lightning Marquis is fiery and unyielding! He must also dearly cherish his junior brother! Otherwise, he wouldn’t bestow him a jade plate to allow him to eat here! Wang Yang dares to bully him? He sure has guts!”

Clearly hearing each and every word of the outer court disciples, Wang Yang’s face began to pale. He’d never thought in his wildest dreams that this brat was actually the junior brother of the Purple Lightning Marquis! He’d only been gone for a few days and something this major had occurred. Five stars illuminating the sky! If his palm had actually landed on Xiang Shaoyun’s face earlier, he would’ve truly been seeking his own death!

An otherworldly genius of Xiang Shaoyun’s calibre was bound to be a precious gem in the whole Martial Hall Palace! Even the personal disciples of the elders would not want to offend him, much less a mere inner court disciple like him! Doing so would be akin to digging his own grave. Right now, he could not help but feel immense gratitude towards Wang Zhenchuan. By stopping him, Wang Zhenchuan had essentially saved his life!

Looking at the slightly shivering Wang Yang, Xiang Shaoyun put on the airs of an elder and said, “So you know your mistakes now, do you? Luckily for you, this young master here is a generous man, so I will let you off this once! In the future, you better not let me catch you being such a snob anymore!”

“Y-yes…Elder Xiang is absolutely right! I-I, Wang Yang, will never do such a thing again!” Wang Yang said, chilled to the depths of his heart. He had put great effort into obtaining his status as an inner court disciple; he did not wish to throw it away just like that!

Xiang Shaoyun no longer bothered about the pathetic Wang Yang. Instead, he turned to Wang Zhenchuan and patted his shoulder, saying, “You’re not bad! I, Xiang Shaoyun, will look after you from now on!”

After he finished talking, Xiang Shaoyun turned around and strode out of the restaurant in a completely natural manner. The place, however, had become so silent that one could hear a pin drop. A sixth-stage Basic Realm practitioner was going to look after an inner court disciple at the Astral Realm? Had the ways of the world completely flipped?

After exiting the restaurant, Xiang Shaoyun heaved a huge sigh of relief as he patted his chest and muttered, “It’s a good thing that the name ‘Xiang Shaoyun’ is a terrifying one! Nobody dares to mess with me! Mere inner court disciples? Heh, they’re not even fit to be my servants!”

When the disciples in the restaurant heard his words, their expressions became slightly complicated. They all silently cursed, “This brat really is infuriating! Wang Yang was only being polite because of the Purple Lightning Marquis’s status!”

After tossing this brief episode into the back of his head, Xiang Shaoyun did not return directly to the outer court. It was already dinnertime; a vast majority of disciples would already be fighting for food.

Xiang Shaoyun also had no plans to visit Zi Changhe. After all, Zi Changhe himself had said that if he could not reach the Astral Realm within half a year, he could abandon all thought of ever seeking him out.

Outer court, Battle Technique Hall.

This was a place not far from the Hall of Limits, and it was not like the ancient pavilion of the Hall of Limits. Rather, there were several smaller erected pavilions that nobody was taking care of, and these small pavilions formed the Battle Technique Hall.

Xiang Shaoyun made his way towards the first pavilion. Within stood a piece of rock almost two meters tall. This was a Battle Technique Stele. Battle Technique Steles typically stored battle techniques that could be passed down without reservation.

Within this particular stele was Martial Hall Palace’s lowest-ranked battle techniques, the Rushing Qi Fist. All outer sect disciples of Martial Hall Palace were eligible to learn this tier-one battle technique.

Xiang Shaoyun was a very well-read individual, having deep theoretical knowledge of hundreds of high-tier battle techniques. However, with his current strength, he had no means of cultivating those particular techniques.

“I used to think that those trash techniques weren’t even worth a look, but now I’m even picking one up to cultivate.” Xiang Shaoyun sighed to himself, a plethora of emotions surging within his heart. Since he was in the Basic Realm, he could temporarily only learn tier-1 and tier-2 battle techniques. Such low-ranking battle techniques weren’t even in his memory!