"Bai Qifeng! You foul-mouthed old bastard, I will fight you to the death!" Zhan Wuyun was incandescent with rage and lunged forward.

"Come then! I've been waiting for you, old dog!" Bai Qifeng showed no weakness, laughing wildly as he stepped up to meet the charge. "Damn it, your War Family's girls can be disgraced, but no one else can speak of it? Let me teach you, head of the Cuckold Clan!" The moment the words "Head of the Cuckold Clan" left his mouth, Zhan Wuyun's eyeballs flared with green fury.

In an instant, the two old men were locked in a chaotic brawl, two flashes of white circling each other rapidly before simultaneously soaring upward, exchanging a flurry of blows as they rocketed into the mid-air.

Cao Guofeng shouted repeatedly for them to stop, but neither combatant paid him any mind.

Bai Qifeng had already been simmering with unvented rage over the assassination attempt on his beloved apprentice. Now, presented with this heaven-sent opportunity, how could he resist venting some of it?

Zhan Wuyun felt even more incensed. He had done nothing, having genuinely intended to mediate the feud between the two families, yet he suffered this undeserved calamity—not only being cursed to his face but having old wounds ripped open. He felt profoundly wronged.

Damn it, haven't you just taken in an apprentice with the Ethereal Body? Does that mean you can just go around bullying people? Others might fear your Seven Great Saint Emperors, but our War Family fears no one!

Though the fight had not yet reached the point of life-or-death struggle, both sides were truly furious!

Worse still, both men were Second-Tier Saint Emperors, evenly matched and perfectly equal in power!

As they watched the pair weave and dodge in the sky, the resulting shockwaves shattered the overhead clouds entirely.

Yet, not a single gust of wind descended to affect those below, clearly showing that even in their fierce combat, they were carefully controlling the dissipation of their vital energy flow…

"Enough!" Miao Jingyun roared with a face as dark as still water.

The entire courtyard trembled with the sound of that single, sharp exclamation, and even the air seemed to ripple with clearly visible waves!

Jun Moxie’s spirit jolted, and he focused his gaze.

The Lord of the Phantom Mansion was clearly a being of extraordinary might, his cultivation absolutely beyond the Saint Emperor level! That mere shout contained a shattering force belonging to the very fabric of space!

Moreover, those two short words conveyed a subtle sense of command that compelled everyone to bow their heads and obey!

Under that single roar, Bai Qifeng and Zhan Wuyun instantly ceased their attack and descended simultaneously.

"Are you two still children? To be so driven by impulse! Everything ends here!" Miao Jingyun said slowly. "The venting you needed should be sufficient now! If there is any further private fighting, do not blame me for showing no mercy! Even if I respect personal connections, the Mansion Rules show none!"

Everyone present understood that if Miao Jingyun had stopped them from the start, these two would never have begun fighting. But both men were brimming with resentment; if they hadn't been allowed to vent, future complications would surely have arisen!

Thus, Miao Jingyun had simply let them have a good, thorough fight first!

This, too, was a method of control!

Jun Moxie keenly grasped this point and inwardly increased the measure of respect he held for Miao Xiaomiao's grandfather.

After lunch, the various Family Heads felt they had no further excuse to linger and rose to take their leave. Only as he reached the doorway did Miao Jingyun smile specifically at Jun Moxie: "Mo-wa'er, three days from now is my five-hundredth birthday! You should come, boy."

As these words were spoken, the gazes of all the other Family Heads toward Jun Moxie shifted again, now imbued with genuine warmth!

The Lord of the Phantom Mansion personally invited a young man to his birthday banquet! What an extraordinary honor!

Five hundred years old… So this old fellow was already five centuries old, and his granddaughter was only eighteen or nineteen. "Looks like he's one who ages slowly, huh…" Jun Moxie was momentarily stunned, thinking to himself, this old scoundrel is too shameless, actually starting to openly solicit birthday gifts… This is blatant bribery… Pity this young master's own coffers are already thin…

If the Family Heads knew what Jun Moxie was thinking, they would probably spit him to death! Miao Jingyun, the Lord of the Phantom Mansion, what kind of figure was he? Would he really care about the birthday gift of a mere junior like you? Could you possibly produce anything worth noting?

Clearly, they did not understand the wealth of Young Master Jun. With the rare treasures the Young Master possessed, almost no one in the current world would fail to covet them, but absolutely no one knew this!

After receiving Jun Moxie’s affirmative reply, Miao Jingyun nodded with great satisfaction. He then instructed Cao Guofeng and the other six that they were to discuss matters that afternoon and told them to seek him out in the Phantom Mansion’s main palace before smiling and departing. The other Family Heads vanished just as quickly.

Noticing the gazes of the Seven Great Saint Emperors turning toward him, Jun Moxie instantly knew trouble was brewing. These old fogeys were certainly going to question him about his recent breakthrough. But Jun Moxie was no fool. He frowned, an idea struck him, and he suddenly let out a massive yawn, instantly contorting his face into a drowsy expression, murmuring, "So tired… Didn't sleep well last night either…" "Then you brat should hurry up and get some sleep!" The seven Saint Emperors roared their concern in unison. Jun Moxie bolted back to his room. To think such a flimsy trick could actually work… However, the Young Master’s room was no longer his original one; he had insisted on moving to a new one, supported by a very convenient rationale: to better absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Therefore, Young Master Jun’s new room was strategically located near the courtyard wall… This naturally provided great convenience for the Young Master’s maneuvers.

The moment the door closed behind him, Jun Moxie let out a great sigh of relief. This afternoon, Cao Guofeng and the others earnestly warned Jun Moxie not to venture out recklessly, then instructed the servants to attend to him properly before they themselves left, taking three lingering glances back as they went to conduct their meeting…

The topic of their discussion was undoubtedly the future development of Jun Moxie, the possessor of the Ethereal Body. As his masters, all seven were required to be present…

Seeing the seven depart, Jun Moxie instructed a servant that he needed to sleep and no one was to disturb him unless it was a grave matter. Then, he returned to his room and immediately used the Yin-Yang Escape technique to slip out of the courtyard, flying away like a shooting star.

The sun shone brightly, but Jun Moxie, the "Phantom," moved without hindrance!

Alas, the Yin-Yang Escape ability was simply too heaven-defying!

As he sped along, Jun Moxie seemed to hear the bloodthirsty sword cries of the Sword of Kindred Spirits and Yellow Flame.

This caused the hidden killing intent in his heart to grow heavier and heavier!

Zhan Qingfeng and Zhan Yushu had plotted against him repeatedly. With Jun Moxie’s temperament that repaid every grievance tenfold, how could he endure it? The fact that he had held back until now was already quite an achievement.

Now, everything was perfectly in place!

Before, he had only held back because he still needed to win the right to enter the Spirit Herb Garden through a wager with the War Family! That was the only reason he had forcibly restrained himself from acting!

Now, even the qualification to enter the Spirit Herb Garden that he desired had been specially granted by the Phantom Mansion… So what did Jun Moxie still need to hesitate about?

Naturally, it was time to act without restraint!

As long as his true identity wasn't exposed, doing anything was fine!

Therefore, Jun Moxie decided that the two brothers, Zhan Qingfeng and Zhan Yushu of the War Family, would not be allowed to live any longer! Those who provoke this Young Master must pay the corresponding price! Their family's house arrest clearly did not meet this Young Master's requirement for punishment!

When he thought about how those two bastards harbored such perverse notions about Miao Xiaomiao, Jun Moxie felt he absolutely could not stand by!

No matter who they were, they would be killed without mercy.

As he flew onward, his altitude gradually increased, rising above the cloud layer until his vision cleared greatly. Jun Moxie intended to use this great height to observe everything below him carefully.

Looking out, the great mountain where the Phantom Mansion’s main palace was situated appeared to be the central peak, surrounded by eight slightly smaller peaks. It was obvious that each peak was occupied by one of the great families belonging to the Phantom Mansion, creating an arrangement of a central star embraced by satellite planets.

Jun Moxie examined the scene closely from the high altitude and could not help but feel a jolt of surprise, because he unexpectedly discovered that the positions of these nine peaks were arranged according to the so-called Nine Palaces orientation. The entire layout was absolutely flawless!

The formation of the Nine Palaces meant that disturbing one part would affect the whole! The entire configuration of the Phantom Mansion’s main palace and the other eight peaks formed an extremely perfect whole!

This view could only be discerned from high up in the sky; on the ground, it was impossible to sense. And since there was no mountain within the Phantom Mansion higher than the one hosting the main palace, Young Master Jun muttered to himself: could this inadvertently discovered Nine Palaces layout be his exclusive secret?…

Furthermore, aside from the main peak where the central palace stood emanating a majestic, upright, and harmoniously balanced aura of authority, the other eight peaks each possessed a distinct atmospheric sense! Although their individual auras were different, they managed to form a complementary pattern with the other peaks—the Nine Peaks interlinked, sharing energy branches, unintentionally forming a colossal natural Feng Shui array!

From this Feng Shui array, one could tell that no matter how the other eight peaks shifted, the main peak would remain unshaken! As long as the main peak remained stationary, the Phantom Mansion would never perish!

All of this was certainly beyond the capability of ordinary human hands. Even if such a natural alignment were a coincidence, it was too precise to be accidental. The only possibility was that these nine peaks were arranged with intent by a masterful hand. Such a grand undertaking seemed only achievable by the Nine Nether’s First Young Master who forged this space in ages past, and the unique ingenuity displayed was enough to inspire awe!

In addition to grasping the Nine Palaces layout of the Phantom Mansion’s Nine Peaks, the Young Master also unexpectedly realized that the seven cities within the Phantom Mansion space must also hold profound secrets!

Although he hadn't verified it visually yet, he could guess with eight or nine parts certainty that the distribution of those seven cities must also be mutually resonant—either following the arrangement of the Big Dipper or that of the Seven Luminaries! Most likely the Big Dipper alignment, which would allow the main palace peak to serve not only as the core of the Nine Palaces but also as the Polaris around which the Big Dipper revolved!

No wonder the Ethereal Phantom Mansion was so much stronger than the three great Holy Lands in the outside world; it turned out there were so many secrets woven into its foundation! With such an underlying arrangement, it was no wonder the Mansion’s destiny endured so long without decline… (To be continued; for what happens next, please log on to [website address removed] for more chapters.)