Within a certain elder's villa in Dragon Phoenix Academy.

Di Lin had arrived alongside Situ Yan. Before the villa, a middle-aged man stood. His hair was white, and he had the eyes of someone who had seen the vicissitudes of life. Because of that, he gave off an impression that his physical appearance did not match his actual age. The man was none other than Situ Mingyu, a previous generation elder. He was also Di Lin's master.

"You have a deathmatch coming up?" Situ Mingyu asked.

Di Lin respectfully replied, "Yes, master."

Situ Yan said, "Grandfather, Xiang Shaoyun is intolerable. He insisted on making things difficult for junior brother again and again. Junior brother did not want to waste any time with him, but he actually challenged junior brother in public, forcing the battle on him!"

"And do you know why Xiang Shaoyun had challenged Di Lin?" Situ Mingyu asked Situ Yan.

"Of course I know. Xiang Shaoyun is a stray dog from the same sect as junior brother. After he suffered defeat under junior brother's hands, he had been thinking of ways to eliminate junior brother. We can't forgive his sins!" said Situ Yan.

"Hehe, I wish things were that simple," said Situ Mingyu with a meaningful laugh. He asked Di Lin, "Are you confident in winning the battle?"

Di Lin declared solemnly, "I am confident I'll win!"

"No, you need to kill him. If you can't kill him, you might be the one to die," said Situ Mingyu.

"Yes, master. I will kill him." Di Lin's confidence swelled at his master's encouragement.

"Over the past two years, you have worked hard. However, you had not listened to me. Your advancements have been too fast, to the point you have shaky foundations. This battle will be a test of your combat prowess. In defeat, I will only lose face, but you will lose your life. Everything will be over for you. This is an Emperor Eruption Pill. Take it, in case you need it," said Situ Mingyu with a sigh as he tossed a pill over.

The Emperor Eruption Pill was a pill capable of allowing an Emperor to erupt with higher combat prowess for a short while. Unfortunately, the backlash of using this pill was rather bad. After the effects wore off, massive damage would be left in the user's body. Thus, pills like this shouldn't be used unless absolutely necessary.

Situ Mingyu gave Di Lin this pill as a last resort to preserve his life. Of course, he still wished his disciple wouldn't reach a point of needing the pill. Accepting the pill, Di Lin was overjoyed as he thought, Xiang Shaoyun, I will let you know how wrong you were to challenge me.

...

The day before the match, Xiang Shaoyun was still cooped up in his cultivation room, which made the Overlord Legion members anxious. The upcoming match was already a hot topic in the academy. If Xiang Shaoyun did not show up on time, it would be considered his defeat, which was not something the Overlord Legion members wished to see.

However, none of them dared to disturb Xiang Shaoyun. After all, Aikai was standing guard before the cultivation room loyally. Nobody dared to even approach.

Tang Longfei, Shang Jifeng, Zhuge Zhantian, Ma Qihao, and Lady Shura were gathered in the villa.

Ma Qihao was an impatient person, and he couldn't help asking Tang Longfei, "Deputy commander, the battle is tomorrow. Why is the overlord not out yet?"

"I want to know, too. Let's just wait," replied Tang Longfei.

Zhuge Zhantian said, "The overlord must have focused too much on cultivation that he forgot the time. Should we remind him?"

Zhuge Zhantian had always been a cautious person. He was merely giving everyone an excuse for why Xiang Shaoyun wasn't showing up. After all, he was the butler and the advisor. It was understandable why he would say something like that.

But right after he said that, Lady Shura's voice rang out, "Everyone, there is no need to continue talking about this. The overlord knows what he is doing."

Everyone here knew Lady Shura was the overlord's woman. Since she was saying that, they had nothing else to say. After all, she had never been a talkative person. Since she was saying something now, she had to know something.

In the cultivation room, Xiang Shaoyun had long awakened from his meditation. He was still staying in the room because he wanted to think about the changes occurring in his astral cosmos sea somewhere quiet.

Because of the gleamstar water, the astral cosmos sea was solidifying. The gleamstar water deposited in the astral cosmos sea had been transformed into a power that cleansed the astral cosmos sea, completely changing it.

The changes were inconceivable even for Xiang Shaoyun. One’s inner stars and astral cosmos sea were supposed to be incorporeal entities, but now, the astral cosmos sea had turned solid. It was something unheard of. It was as if an actual physical star had formed in his body.

Although the star had yet to fully take shape, it was currently in its embryonic form. Perhaps in the future, it would really become a full-fledged star.

"My astral cosmos sea used the whole small pond of gleamstar water that I had. Not only has the astral cosmos sea turned solid, it has even expanded several times in size. Expansion is understandable, but what is it with the solidification? I can't understand this at all." Xiang Shaoyun was completely confused.

He had always viewed himself as a well-read person who knew many things others were not aware of. However, he had not read of something like this. Of course, he had also discovered something worth celebrating.

With the solidification of his astral cosmos sea, the things stored within were changing as well. For example, the lava he had stored inside was starting to become hotter. Also, the dark origin energy stored within stopped draining passively, and other similar things were occurring.

In short, something positive was happening to everything stored within the astral cosmos sea. That could only mean that the changes happening to his astral cosmos sea were good for him.

"Forget it. It's pointless to think too much. I'll go to the Book Pavilion to look for more books after dealing with Di Lin. If I really have to, I'll go ask master about it," muttered Xiang Shaoyun as he shook his head. "That scum Di Lin has always been a crafty and ruthless person. Now that he has a previous generation elder as his master, his trump cards will probably be difficult to deal with. I can't be careless in this fight, or I will be the one to die."

He then refined a considerable amount of spirit crystals to fill his wood and light stars. As of now, these two were the only ones of his stars not completely filled, preventing him from breaking through.

For now, he was temporarily gathering more energy into the two stars. He might not necessarily need to comprehend the two powers' profundity before actually entering the third stage.