That roar was truly earth-shattering, so vulgar, so utterly unrestrained! It felt like everyone in the entire City must have heard it.

The voice was boiling with rage, carrying an almost exquisitely distorted flavor of indignation, making the articulation somewhat slurred; for a moment, Zhan Mubai couldn't discern who was shouting. But one thing was certain: the strength of the one cursing him was absolutely no less than his own!

Who the hell did I offend? To pour out all my cultivation power to curse me in the dead of this silent night? Were they afraid people wouldn’t hear?

This was an unprecedented occurrence since he had achieved fame. Zhan Mubai was instantly furious. Even if the curser was his equal in power, this could not be let go lightly. Just as he was preparing to step out and investigate the source of the commotion, there was a sudden boom! The enclosing wall of his small courtyard was violently smashed open by something, leaving him stunned. As he leaped out, he heard a sharp whoosh—a piercing sound slicing through the air. Zhan Mubai focused his gaze and saw a figure draped in flowing black approaching him. Someone had actually used a piece of clothing as a projectile!

What calculation is this? Are they intending to deal with me with just a piece of cloth? This is utter contempt!

There are no absolutes in this world; no one has ever stipulated that a mere garment cannot deal with a Saint Emperor expert. In this world, there are only things one hasn't conceived of, never things that are impossible to achieve!

Feeling utterly disrespected, Zhan Mubai flushed with anger and snatched the cloth out of the air. Just as he was about to speak, he felt his palm turn sticky. The cloth was absolutely covered in bloodstains, and even some whitish, viscous fluid...

Zhan Mubai surveyed his surroundings suspiciously, yet noticed no movement whatsoever, as if this blood-soaked black garment had simply dropped from the heavens. Zhan Mubai was a man of superior intellect, and after a moment's thought, he understood part of the scheme.

He couldn't help but let out a dismissive snort, thinking, “Did the sneak attacker just now intend to frame me? With nothing more than a blood-stained black garment? Trying to slander Zhan Mubai? They underestimate me far too much! Even if they manage to frame me, who dares accuse me? That’s the real joke!”

With a hearty laugh, he called out, "What manner of rat uses such despicable tricks? Truly laughable!"

"Is it truly laughable, Zhan Mubai? Just how laughable is today's affair? Perhaps you could elaborate for this old man to hear. This old man is exceedingly interested, simply too interested!" An unnaturally grim and intensely suppressed, bizarre voice drifted in from outside. Even Zhan Mubai’s cultivation caused him to shudder involuntarily upon hearing those words.

Cao Guofeng!

Although the speaker's tone was strange and highly irregular, carrying an undercurrent of distortion, Zhan Mubai instantly judged that the speaker was Cao Guofeng!

The sky was slowly beginning to brighten. In the hazy morning light, seven imposing figures were gradually walking in through the main gate of the small courtyard. Their eyes were all bloodshot, clearly filled with the utmost resentment. They stared fixedly at Zhan Mubai, their gazes instantly locking onto the blood-soaked black garment in his hand. The seven men moved in perfect unison, almost simultaneously, their teeth grinding audibly!

At this moment, Zhan Mubai vaguely sensed that something was amiss, yet he still paid it little mind. In his view, no matter how great the issue, it could be discussed; they had centuries of friendship—surely nothing insurmountable existed between them?

He casually tossed the black garment aside, stepped forward two paces, and smiled cordially, "Brother Cao, why so early? Heh heh, could it be you're impatient to accept the Ethereal Physique into your sect and have come to discuss it with this old man?"

Zhan Mubai’s remark was precisely poking a raw, bleeding wound on Cao Guofeng! Especially his laughter, which, to Cao Guofeng’s ears, sounded like pure mockery, and worse, mockery tinged with schadenfreude!

It was equivalent to saying: You think you can do it? You wouldn't accept my great-grandson as a disciple? You want to recruit a genius with the Ethereal Physique? Heh heh, go ahead and accept a pile of mangled flesh as a disciple now! Even if I, Zhan Mubai, cannot have him, neither should you, Cao Guofeng! Dreaming of becoming the master of the world's foremost expert!

Especially since, just before speaking, his mannerisms mimicked casually tossing the black robe he had just removed onto the ground—it was utterly undisguised! To the eyes of Cao Guofeng and the other six Saint Emperors, this was nothing less than blatant provocation!

The seething fury of the seven great masters, led by Cao Guofeng, was like being doused with another ladle of oil!

"Ethereal Physique... accept into the sect... discuss with you..." Cao Guofeng spoke each word, in a heart-wrenching tone, suddenly roaring out: "Zhan Mubai! What the hell is there to discuss about you?!"

Zhan Mubai’s expression instantly froze! He had never imagined Cao Guofeng would resort to such vulgar language, so utterly unrestrained!

Following Cao Guofeng’s outburst, Zhan Mubai immediately realized that the earlier, ear-splitting curses had come from this very Saint Emperor Cao!

Both instances of screaming insults were direct, naming him openly. It was as if Cao Guofeng wanted everyone to know precisely who he was cursing!

Who was Zhan Mubai? He was a Saint Emperor expert! Not only was blatant cursing forbidden, but even raising his voice slightly was unacceptable! Everywhere he went, he was met with fawning adoration.

These two curses were utterly crude, showing no semblance of cultivation or manners whatsoever! Zhan Mubai’s rage instantly soared to the ninth heaven!

Even if your Misty Illusionary Mansion is powerful, you cannot be this arrogant, can you?

"Cao Guofeng!" Zhan Mubai shouted sharply, cold light flashing in his eyes. "This old man has always treated you with courtesy, showing you forbearance for hundreds of years. My restraint does not mean I fear you! For insulting me in this manner, you must give me an explanation today! Otherwise..."

"Otherwise, what? What do you dare to do!" Cao Guofeng laughed coldly, his smile laced with chilling killing intent, a fierce, sweeping despair mixed with the desolate sorrow of one whose heart is utterly broken!

"Otherwise, I, Zhan Mubai, will pursue this feud until death!" Zhan Mubai spat out fiercely.

Zhan Mubai’s face was already ashen with anger. Coupled with the conviction that he was in the right, he was certainly not going to yield.

Dawn had broken fully now, and everyone was awake. Coupled with Cao Guofeng’s thunderous shout, the experts from the Three Great Sacred Lands hurried over, barely dressed.

Upon arriving, everyone stood there dumbfounded: Zhan Mubai, the principal figure in charge of the Hermit Immortal Palace here, was confronting Cao Guofeng and the other seven Saint Emperors affiliated with the Misty Illusory Mansion!

Eight men, glaring at each other like fierce fighting cocks. The atmosphere was exceptionally heavy, stifling, bordering on imminent explosion; every face was contorted with grief and fury. Cao Guofeng and the others were twisted in rage, their eyeballs nearly popping out. Zhan Mubai’s face was equally grim, his whole bearing ferocious!

The two sides looked as if they harbored an irreconcilable, blood-feud type of hatred!

What on earth could cause eight supreme Saint Emperors to reach such a degree of anger? It was too unbelievable! Just yesterday, they were seen drinking together, laughing and chatting...

Yet in the span of one night, the situation had violently shifted, and now they appeared like sworn enemies!

With so many people watching now, Zhan Mubai could not afford to lose face. Even knowing he might be outmatched, he had to stand firm, or how could he ever face others again? As for Cao Guofeng, he absolutely could not back down—the thing he most desired right now was to smash Zhan Mubai’s skull with one palm strike.

Hearing Zhan Mubai’s soaring rhetoric, Cao Guofeng let out a piercing, long laugh that tore through the dawn: "Pursue until death? Zhan Mubai, you are truly good at putting on an act. Do you think Cao can still coexist with you in this heaven and earth now? What an absurd joke... Zhan Mubai, after six hundred years, I never realized you were such a person!"

He looked at Zhan Mubai with grief and indignation, lamenting with a tone as if beating his chest: "My eyes were blind! I have been blind for a full six hundred years! Zhan Mubai! Only today have I truly seen who you are! No, you don't even deserve the two strokes that make up the character for ‘person’; you are simply a beast, an animal worse than brute beasts! You want an endless feud with me? I shall grant it! Today, only one of us shall leave this place alive!"

"Insolent!" Zhan Mubai’s anger flared sky-high, his words unrestrained: "Cao Guofeng, you are pushing things too far! You refused to accept my great-grandson as a disciple, watching me, Zhan Mubai, become without an heir, and then you forcibly snatched away my disciple, leaving me without successors—that, I can overlook. As you said, helping me was a favor, not helping was your prerogative. I will treat our six-hundred-year friendship as if it never happened! But now you openly curse me like this! The words coming from your mouth actually paint me, Zhan Mubai, as the wrong party! Cao Guofeng, it's a pity you aren't an actor or storyteller, wasting that mouth of yours!"

Zhan Mubai was intensely aggrieved; this was too much bullying! Truly unprecedented shamelessness! If you won't help, fine; if you see a good talent, you snatch them away. I haven't even figured out my countermeasure yet, and if you insist on taking him, I’ll let you have him... The person is already residing in your courtyard, what more do you want?

And now, in the middle of the night, you bring up my name to curse me! Am I, Zhan Mubai, someone to be insulted casually? You, Cao Guofeng, claim sainthood, but should I, Zhan Mubai, possess no sense of honor? My reputation is also worth a thousand pieces of gold! Just because you rank slightly higher, does that make you superior? If we truly fight, even if I lose, I have means to take you down with me!

The assembled crowd from the three great Sacred Lands naturally began trying to mediate, but the eight figures in the center kept their necks stiff, their hateful gazes locked on each other. A great battle was clearly imminent, and neither side would accept any counsel!

"Zhan Mubai! You despicable villain, taste death!" Cao Guofeng roared, unable to bear it any longer. Suddenly, his body vanished from its spot, and when he reappeared, he had already launched over a dozen furious strikes around Zhan Mubai!

Zhan Mubai, boiling with rage, neither dodged nor retreated, meeting every blow head-on! A series of violent thuds echoed through the area, followed by the ground cracking open and courtyard walls collapsing, houses toppling over...

Amidst the swirling dust, the two simultaneously parried and engaged, leaping upwards to extend their battle into the air. Before the observers below could even grasp what had happened, the two were already locked in fierce combat above.

Two high-level Saint Emperors battling at full strength—even those who wished to intervene dared not rashly join in. Everyone below looked up, their minds filled with confusion.