"Xie Yunji, you contemptible woman, how dare you ambush me!"

On the cloud ship, Yang Xiao landed a fist on the deck, howling towards the heavens.

Right then, he was filled with nothing but anger and frustration.

Two days ago, Yang Xiao had just transitioned from the outer to the inner sect of Tianyun Sect. In order to improve his strength, he decided to go out for some adventure.

He coincidentally came across Xie Yunji being pursued and attacked at the mountain's base. Seeing that she was wearing the Daoist robe of Tianyun Sect and thus a fellow sect member, he quickly stepped in to help.

However, no sooner had he saved Xie Yunji, than she betrayed him with a sudden attack!

Only then did Yang Xiao realize that Xie Yunji had set her sights on him long ago.

Because he was about to awaken a seventh-grade spirit seed!

Xie Yunji treated Yang Xiao as her alchemical furnace, sucking away his seventh-grade spirit seed.

To prevent him from seeking revenge in the future, she shattered his qi sea, and finally threw him into the Beast Forest, to be devoured by the demonic beasts.

Luckily, Yang Xiao had also practiced in the Beast Forest and was somewhat familiar with it, knowing the patterns of the beasts.

Thanks to this, he walked for three days and three nights, able to escape the Beast Forest at the moment of utter exhaustion.

He initially planned to seek justice from the sect's executive, but his qi sea had been broken, thus his martial arts path had ended.

According to the rules of Tianyun Sect, he could only be sent back to his original status.

Moreover, fights between Tianyun Sect disciples outside of the sect were not subject to sect restrictions. Even if one was killed, it was considered a result of their own lack of skill.

The path of martial arts, it's just so brutal.

"Xie Yunji! Heaven have pity, if I can restore my cultivation base, I will surely avenge today's grudge!"

Yang Xiao gritted out each word.

At this moment, his hatred seemed impossible to dissipate!

Suddenly, a loud bang sounded in Yang Xiao's ears, and a huge black hole appeared in front of him, emanating a strong, ancient aura. Just as he was wondering, a sudden, intense pain shot through his forehead.

Something was devouring his consciousness, as if trying to take over his body!

His consciousness began to blur.

Yang Xiao realized that he was being body-snatched, which further fuelled his anger.

He had already been crippled by Xie Yunji, and now someone unknown was trying to snatch his body!

"I don't care who you are, today even if I die, you won't have your way!"

Rather than bearing this humiliation, Yang Xiao would prefer death. He pulled out the dagger at his waist with all his strength and stabbed it towards his own heart.

The dagger had just barely entered when Yang Xiao was out of strength.

However, the flow of fresh blood and the pain made his consciousness much clearer.

Just then, the invading soul disappeared.

Memories flashed through Yang Xiao's mind, revealing the origin of the soul possession. The shock on Yang Xiao's face was unmistakable.

The soul turned out to belong to the Dao Demon Heavenly Respect, one of the six major gods of the Divine Realm. These six gods were rulers of the Divine Realm and represented the pinnacle of martial arts.

Yang Xiao was stunned. He had, unknowingly, just contended with Dao Demon Heavenly Respect's soul for his body, even managing to erode it entirely. However, the memories the soul carried were inherited by Yang Xiao.

Yang Xiao was from a noble family in the Zhao Kingdom's capital city, his exposure then had only been limited to the vicinity of Zhao Kingdom.

After reaching the Tianyun Sect, he saw a broader continent, Lingzhou. Lingzhou stretched 10,000 miles east-to-west, ruled by the Great Zhou dynasty. In addition to the capital city, there were thirty-five sects and more than two hundred and thirty counties and countries under its jurisdiction.

Both the Tianyun Sect and Zhao Kingdom were in the eastern part of Lingzhou. In addition to the Tianyun Sect, there were two sects and sixteen counties here.

Yang Xiao had thought Lingzhou was enormous, but Dao Demon Heavenly Respect's memories opened his eyes. Even Lingzhou, vast as it was, seemed like a tiny spec to Dao Demon Heavenly Respect.

The reason why Dao Demon Heavenly Respect had fallen here was due to an supreme divine object—the Ancestral Secret Realm, something that he acquired by chance in the outer realm. Eager to unlock it, he spent his lifetime effort, even willing to consume his cultivation, taking three hundred years to finally open it.

Before he even had a chance to rejoice, Dao Mo Tian Zun was ambushed by his chief disciple, Hong Yin and others. He suffered a serious injury due to their sneak attack.

Just when his spirit was about to be annihilated, Dao Mo Tian Zun detonated his saintly body and ultimately cast himself along with an ancient secret realm into the void.

Originally, his spirit would have dissipated within another year.

However, Yang Xiao was similarly underhandedly sabotaged, his Qi Sea was destroyed, and he became a cripple. Shockingly, the strong resentment attracted Dao Mo Tian Zun’s spirit lying in the void.

This led to the spirit attempting to seize Yang Xiao's body, but it was ultimately defeated by Yang Xiao's willpower.

Ancient secret realm...

This revelation left Yang Xiao internally astonished, and with a surge of his spirit, he was suddenly drawn into a mysterious and ancient space.

"Could this place be the ancient secret realm?"

Curiously, Yang Xiao looked around and felt an enigmatic aura.

Dao Mo Tian Zun was ambushed shortly after opening the secret realm, hence his understanding of this ancient place was very limited.

From his current memory, Yang Xiao only knew that this secret realm could replicate the origin of martial skills.

"Mount Tai Fist!"

Yang Xiao smashed out a punch.

Shadows of punches quickly flashed, each one with a different strength.

The first shadow punch was the weakest, the following ones slightly more powerful, further ones even stronger, and the last reached the pinnacle of achievement!

In an instant, Yang Xiao's Taishan Fist had progressed from the realm of basic martial technique to that of a lower-tier, yellow-ranked martial technique.

Yang Xiao was ecstatic within.

He continued to punch, following the shadowy trajectory of his fist. The power he exerted was roughly the same as before, but the resulting force was greater than ever!

In that split second, Yang Xiao seemed to see hope, so he kept on throwing punches.

Soon, he realized that each fist was stronger than the last and his understanding of the Taishan Fist was deepening!

Punching relentlessly and gaining insights endlessly.

After throwing ten thousand punches, Yang Xiao's Taishan Fist could produce the resonating roar of a dragon and a tiger.

This signified that he had mastered the art of the Taishan Fist!

Yang Xiao took a deep breath, then threw his final punch.

This punch, which marked the culmination of his newfound strength, caused a massive explosion.

"It took me only a quarter of an hour to master this martial art to perfection. With this ancient secret realm, my revenge is in sight!"