Cao Guofeng was quite confident in his lifespan; he felt that with his Three-Step Saint Emperor profound technique, living another three hundred years shouldn't be a major issue!
And with the Ethereal Physique, reaching Saint level by fifty—so... three hundred years?! That should surely make him stronger than himself! But looking across the world, how many people could truly claim to be stronger than him?
He had to bend two fingers back after holding up five.
But in a moment of distraction, his thoughts running wild, the words tumbled out, leaving no room for concealment. At that moment, where was any lingering apology for Zhan Mubai? Cao Guofeng felt so frustrated he wanted to strike Zhan Mubai dead on the spot! Still wanting to curse me into taking his descendant, however many generations removed, as a disciple?
Dream on! Is your Profound Yin Dead Pig so amazing? Willing to die but not dying, the sooner you die the sooner you reincarnate, why haven't you died yet! Die sooner and stop dragging people down!
Zhan Mubai, you damned old fossil, you despicable wretch deserving of a thousand cuts!
You, you, it’s you who ruined so much for me, may Heaven bless you to be cut off from your line, to have no descendants…
Cao Guofeng truly felt a violent urge, but he still needed to maintain a benevolent and immortal-like appearance in front of his ‘future disciple,’ forcing himself to look kind-faced and wise. Yet inside, his gut was twisted in utter agony…
“My heavens… It really is! It really is the legendary Ethereal Body!” One Saint Emperor shrieked in shock, his tone akin to a maiden suddenly encountering her heart's idol, or a Buddhist devotee gazing upon a living Buddha!
The table was now completely bare; only the listless Young Master Jun sat upon it, resembling a dish on a platter, his face etched with helplessness.
Around him, eight Saint Emperors converged, sixteen rays of intensely sharp, divine light scrutinizing his entire body. To make an unseemly comparison, even the most stunning beauty, stripped bare and standing amidst the crowd, might not elicit such focused attention and scrutiny from these eight great Saint Emperors!
Young Master Jun's superhuman charm was clearly evident!
Though his robes remained perfectly in place, Jun Moxie felt the strange sensation of being utterly stripped bare, an almost nauseating feeling, bringing tears to his eyes! To be scrutinized like this by eight old monsters of unknown age—how could his life be so miserable?
At this moment, he suddenly understood the frustration the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers felt earlier when he was jumping with rage yet utterly helpless—this was true karmic retribution!
If retribution is due, it only waits for the right moment, and when the time comes, it strikes immediately! And striking with such shock, such humiliation—save me!
Who could have imagined that such a casual meal out would result in such immense trouble?
Before him stood eight Saint Emperors, all true, supreme experts currently standing at the pinnacle of the world! They were judging him like slabs of pork, their gazes fixed on him filled with naked greed!
Damn it, are they treating this Young Master like Tang Monk’s flesh?
In truth, all these people were mistaken; Jun Moxie was absolutely not some Ethereal Body! In terms of this physical form alone, before the Evil Monarch possessed it, it was standard trash, the worst sort of garbage body imaginable. The word ‘aptitude’ didn't even begin to apply!
The Ethereal Physique was indeed rare; since ancient times, it seemed only the First Young Master of the Nine Nethers possessed it!
But these people did not know that Jun Moxie's physique, while not congenitally Ethereal, was even rarer than the Ethereal Physique, perhaps surpassing it by more than one level!
Who could perpetually rinse their body with the purest Heaven and Earth spiritual energy? Even performing washes dozens of times a day! Who could undergo marrow cleansing and tissue replacement every day? Every hour, a complete rebirth!
Who could cultivate using the foremost technique known to heaven and earth throughout all ages? Who could constantly benefit from the perpetual assistance of the world's number one treasure, the Hongjun Pagoda?
Even more astonishingly, who could possess endless Primordial Violet Qi? That was a heaven-defying substance that even Immortals could only long for!
Nourished under such relentless, long-term care, Jun Moxie's body could no longer be described using the word ‘aptitude.’ Now, he was even more valuable than the genuine flesh of the Tang Monk!
Jun Moxie had managed to conceal the true state of his body quite well. But whether it was terrible luck or self-inflicted ruin, while he had recklessly provoked the Fourteenth Young Master of the Nine Nethers, thereby gaining insight and comprehending the great Dao intent of his Origin—this very comprehension had caused his state of mind to shift significantly from before, resulting in a slight fluctuation.
And precisely at the moment he finished comprehending this, Zhan Mubai brought Cao Guofeng and the others in! If it had been any other Saint Emperor, they would have glanced over, dismissing him as a minor worldly genius unworthy of attention.
But the arrivals were Cao Guofeng and his entourage!
The central tenet of Cao Guofeng's sect was specialized profound energy, and it had always been passed down through a single lineage! Cao Guofeng was nearly a hundred years old, yet he still had not found a disciple satisfactory enough to inherit his legacy!
This Saint Emperor Cao was currently searching for those so-called geniuses with eyes as hungry and green as a wolf's.
Cao Guofeng’s own aptitude could be considered superior, otherwise, he would never have cultivated to the transcendent realm of Saint Emperor; however, his physique did not match those few most special innate constitutions.
Cao Guofeng's cultivation had reached its peak at the Saint Emperor stage; he believed that for the remainder of his life, he would never break through his realm further—he was several tiers below his own master! This was the great regret of his life!
Thus, Cao Guofeng had sworn an oath: no matter what, he had to find a disciple of unparalleled aptitude, one who could surpass the ancestor to carry on his lineage's cultivation method!
His fortuitous arrival at the White Crown Tower today was like rain after a long drought!
Upon seeing the 'Ethereal Physique' spoken of only in legend, Cao Guofeng’s eyes instantly turned red and his heart boiled. The current Saint Emperor Cao had already decided: no matter what, he must take this disciple into his own fold! Even if it meant falling out with an old friend of a hundred years, even becoming mortal enemies, it would be worth it!
Among the eight Saint Emperors who shared the same intention as Cao Guofeng, at least three others were present! One of them was Zhan Mubai, Saint Emperor Zhan, who had previously ambushed Jun Moxie!
But today, Zhan Mubai was destined to have no chance, because, having sought Cao Guofeng of the Misty Phantom Mansion to take in his descendants as disciples, he had come alone today.
As long as Cao Guofeng agreed, Zhan Mubai had prepared heavy gifts for the other six men; this was not just to silence them, but also to ensure his great-great-grandson would receive the best care and benefits within the Phantom Mansion…
But now, encountering this piece of unexpected fortune, Zhan Mubai was utterly isolated and alone… The opponent was seven people, seven Saint Emperors, all belonging to the Misty Phantom Mansion! The disparity in strength was starkly obvious.
When the eight Saint Emperors were scrutinizing Young Master Jun from top to bottom, his initial instinct was to activate the Yin-Yang Escape and flee! But in that split second, a strange thought surfaced in Jun Moxie’s mind, a thought that stopped him from moving further.
A passage spoken by Mei Xueyan long ago echoed in Jun Moxie’s mind: “In the Misty Phantom Mansion, there is a Seven-Colored Strange Tree! The fruits it bears come in seven colors and are known as the Seven-Colored Saint Fruits… And in the Heavenly Saint Palace of the Three Great Sacred Lands, there is a Nine-Segment Exquisite Lotus Pond… One fruit of each of the seven colors, consumed together with the lotus petals of the Nine-Segment Exquisite Lotus, can increase pure profound energy by three hundred years! Moreover, it allows the consumer’s appearance to remain unchanged for the next five hundred years, constantly preserving the look they held at the moment of consumption…”
Guan Qinghan, Dugu Xiaoyi, and his mother… This matter was always on Jun Moxie’s mind, never forgotten. But… the Misty Phantom Mansion was always exceedingly mysterious; let alone stealing the Seven-Colored Tree, they had no clue how to even enter…
Perhaps today’s events were an opportunity? It depended on how he utilized it, but under no circumstances could this path be sealed off immediately!
Jun Moxie considered the situation tensely, momentarily forgetting the embarrassment of being observed by so many…
“Who is your master? Who did you cultivate under?”
“Where are you from? Who is left in your family?”
“You…”
Innumerable questions burst forth simultaneously from the eight Saint Emperors! Jun Moxie was momentarily overwhelmed, not knowing whose question to answer first. After much maneuvering, he finally managed to handle this barrage of inquiries by carefully constructing his replies, allowing himself a moment of relief.
For the sake of his long-term plans, Jun Moxie’s well-intentioned lies satisfied every single one of the eight Saint Emperors: an orphan, lonely and without support since childhood, his master a mere Jade Profound martial artist with whom he shared a life…
As for the profound question of how his body maintained the Ethereal Physique while growing so large, Jun Moxie responded with a look of utter bewilderment: he supposedly grew up in a tiger’s den as a child and knew nothing else.
Question: Have you ever eaten anything unusual?
Answer: When young, I once saw a white stone break open on a mountain; it contained water inside, so I drank it. I reportedly remained unconscious for several days before waking up…
Upon hearing this, all the Saint Emperors realized with a sudden understanding. Their sixteen fiercely shining eyes locked onto Jun Moxie as they exclaimed together: “No wonder! It must be the legendary Spirit Stone Immortal Milk! Perhaps it was the supreme Spirit Stone Immortal Milk with hundreds of millions of years of tempering! If so, everything can be explained!”
And so, their gazes towards Jun Moxie became even more fervent…
Truly… a miracle!
The Ethereal Physique was already a legendary level of rarity, and now this youth with the Ethereal Physique had actually consumed something that also existed only in legend: Spirit Stone Immortal Milk!
If this youth could find a renowned master, his future achievements would simply be… simply be… indescribable!! Wow!
The eyes of the eight Saint Emperors simultaneously turned green, then blue…
Regarding the genius's original Jade Profound master, the eight Saint Emperors cursed him wildly in their hearts: What trash level of skill, this is simply desecrating a heavenly gift! To take on a disciple with the rarest physique in the entire history of the world, yet after several years of nurturing, he was only at the Silver Profound level…
The incompetence of the eight masters was simply outrageous!
How could such excellent material be squandered like this? Thankfully, that fellow hadn't completely ruined him yet; if he had truly damaged the innate physique, the eight great Saint Emperors would have surely annihilated that imaginary master’s entire clan a hundred times over… A hundred times over…