The sky was barely streaked with dawn light. Young Master Jun had already completed his morning physical conditioning, his powerful, ** torso slick with sweat. The young master casually wiped the perspiration from his body, threw on a long robe, and headed toward the warehouse.

He felt a distinct reluctance about sending those forty-odd young men and women, rescued by Third Uncle, away to their fiefdoms. Unlike Third Master Jun’s gentlemanly approach—where kindness is offered without expectation of return—that was certainly not the way of the great assassin Jun. I put in the effort, paid the price, and bore the risk; correspondingly, you must show me equivalent value.

While the Jun family possessed provisions and certainly wouldn't let anyone starve, this sustenance had to be earned through your own strength and wisdom! Never dream of receiving something for nothing. Don't assume that because we kindly saved you then, we are obligated to save you forever. We bear absolutely no duty to support you for life. Even if a pie truly fell from the sky, you would need a sufficiently hard head and nimble hands to catch it without being smashed to death before you could eat.

Therefore, Jun Moxie intended to first inspect whether any of these individuals were worth cultivating. His requirements were not high; one or two would suffice.

After all, the truly valuable youths and maidens had likely already been chosen by the master of the Yellow Blossom Hall!

Half an hour later, Jun Moxie emerged with a look of disappointment. As expected, there was a clear reason why the Yellow Blossom Hall had abandoned cultivating this group: both their intellect and their foundational aptitudes clearly showed they were not material for martial arts practice.

And certainly not materials for cultivating Profound Qi.

So Jun Moxie could only choose to give up. Forcing people with zero talent to train and fight would not only waste time, effort, money, and resources, but it would only hasten their deaths, thus contradicting the original intention of saving them. Perhaps this group should simply live like ordinary people: rise at dawn and rest at dusk, living in accordance with nature.

At the gate of the Jun Residence, an enormous crowd had gathered at some unknown time. Although Third Master Jun Wu Yi had been disabled for many years, he was still a prominent figure in Tianxiang City, a high-ranking individual with considerable influence. Now that Third Master Jun had spread the word that he intended to acquire a batch of Profound Beasts, any merchant with stock naturally swarmed to the location!

Thus, the Jun family gatekeepers were startled by the surging crowd when they opened the main gates.

In truth, this scene wouldn't have been unusual seven or eight years ago. Back then, shortly after Third Master Jun was crippled, the Old Master spared no effort to find renowned physicians and supreme masters to treat Jun Wu Yi, and he extensively purchased rare natural treasures and peculiar artifacts. There were even many books and curios, hoping to give Jun Wu Yi something to focus on. Though Third Master Jun had long since lost heart, he couldn't bear to disappoint his aged father’s good intentions. Regardless of his reluctance, he would reluctantly purchase a thing or two. However, both Third Master Jun and the Old Master were perceptive; after several such attempts, their mutual understanding became clear, and such efforts gradually faded.

But this time, it was Third Master Jun who proactively sent out the word to acquire Profound Beasts, causing a flood of merchants in Tianxiang City who held stock to descend upon the residence!

Jun Wu Yi slowly proceeded out, seated in his wheelchair. He perfectly understood Jun Moxie’s intent: if Jun Moxie had simply wanted Profound Beasts, there would have been no need for his Third Uncle to step forward; he could have managed it himself. Since this matter was being handled through him, it could only mean one thing: Jun Moxie did not want others to know about this, at least not that Young Master Jun himself was acquiring the beasts. His nephew often acted in ways that defied expectation, yet one had to admit that Young Master Jun spoke little, but every word hit the mark, and the more one pondered, the more sense it made—truly unfathomable. Jun Wu Yi naturally took great care in the requests made by his nephew and personally took charge of selecting the Profound Beasts.

For every level from one to five, he deliberately selected two of the finest specimens, ensuring they were a matched pair. All the rest were sent back. It wasn't that he didn't want Level Six beasts; it was simply that the entire Profound Beast trade market in Tianxiang City held not a single Level Six Profound Beast that day! Even flawed ones were priceless and impossible to find!

Jun Wu Yi waved his hand, signaling for people to carry the iron cages loaded with the Profound Beasts into his small courtyard. By the time Jun Moxie arrived, the ten Profound Beasts had already been washed once more by the Jun family servants, appearing much more spirited, at least no longer foul and scruffy.

Two Level One White Profound Rabbits, two Level Two Winged Foxes, a Level Three Swift Wind Wolf, a Level Four Savage Ox, and a Level Five Iron Bone Snake.

Jun Moxie waved, signaling the servants to leave first. He then paused before the cages of the Level One White Profound Rabbits. The two rabbits did not lift their heads or open their eyes, ignoring him completely. Rubbing his nose, Jun Moxie moved to the cages of the Winged Foxes; still, no reaction.

Level Three—still no response!

Jun Moxie began to lose confidence. Was his judgment wrong? Was his connection with that Little Whitey merely one of simple affinity? However, abandoning a task halfway was not the style of the great assassin Jun. Just as he was walking toward the fourth iron cage without high expectations, a faint hissing sound suddenly drifted over. The two Iron Bone Snakes on the edge simultaneously reared up, their heads held high, all four chilling little eyes fixing upon Jun Moxie!

Beside the Iron Bone Snakes, the two Savage Oxen also opened their eyes and looked toward Jun Moxie.

A jolt went through Jun Moxie’s heart, and he abruptly halted his steps. Luo Shishou looked at him doubtfully a few times, then lowered his head, then raised it again. After a brief moment of searching, he looked back at Jun Moxie. A flicker of hopeful expectation slowly appeared in the massive ox eyes, as if Young Master Jun were holding the most precious spiritual herbs or celestial grasses—in short, the very things they longed for most.

The two Iron Bone Snakes further away started thrashing wildly inside their cages, their tails whipping back and forth, causing the iron cages to bang noisily and sway erratically. But the four eyes of both snakes remained firmly fixed on Jun Moxie’s direction, their expressions tinged with anxiety and restlessness. One believed that if the cage hadn't held them back, they would have lunged forward already.

Jun Wu Yi watched from the side. Although he noticed the strangeness, he couldn't decipher why it was happening. His nephew seemed no different from a normal person.

Jun Moxie calmly stepped back two paces. Although his face remained utterly expressionless, his heart was already soaring with elation!

If he couldn't figure it out now, he truly would be dumber than a pig!

Whether it was his Creation of Heaven and Earth Art or the Exquisite Grandmist Tower, one or both of them must possess some kind of exceptionally powerful attractive effect on Profound Beasts! This single discovery was already a priceless treasure to Jun Moxie at this moment!

What was the most perilous place on the entire Profound Profound Continent? If anyone asked this question, no one would say the Snow Wind Silver City. While that city possessed formidable and arrogant power, it wouldn't indiscriminately take lives without reason. But there was one place that would—that was the continent's most dangerous location. And this place was known to everyone; even ordinary people would give the same answer: the Heavenly Punishment Forest!

The paradise of Profound Beasts; the hell of humans! Even peak Supreme Profound experts faced existential danger there at any moment!

But Jun Moxie was no longer afraid of it now.

What did this imply?

What was the most valuable thing on the Profound Profound Continent?

High-grade medicinal herbs, sacred healing elixirs, miraculous fruits that boost Profound Qi, Profound Cores from Profound Beasts, and the ** of Profound Beasts!

And where were the greatest quantities of all these rare items produced? The answer remained: the Heavenly Punishment Forest!

A place no one dared to enter deeply for tens of thousands of years—how could such natural treasures be lacking?

And Jun Moxie, possessing this special aura that could attract and endear high-level Profound Beasts, now held not just a glittering golden road, but a direct path to rapidly increasing his strength!

Jun Moxie refused to believe that if Profound Qi itself could be rapidly advanced through elixirs and Profound Cores, his Creation of Heaven and Earth Art had no faster method of improvement!

As if sensing the tumultuous surge of Jun Moxie's mood, the Exquisite Grandmist Tower in his mind began to spin rapidly. During this rotation, Jun Moxie felt a distinctly bizarre sensation—as if he were being despised, or perhaps mocked; like a man carrying a mountain forged entirely of gold going out to beg, with everyone along the road openly ridiculing him.

This feeling rising from his core deeply annoyed Jun Moxie. Was there something wrong with his thinking?

Jun Moxie truly did not know that his thinking was flawed—and significantly so. In reality, he was much like a beggar holding a bowl made of pure gold, perhaps even worse! This premier assassin and martial arts master from his past life was, in this one, a complete novice who had never once touched upon cultivation!

And this standard novice had received the heavens' favor, possessing the foremost spiritual treasure in heaven and earth: the Exquisite Grandmist Tower! If this pagoda had ten thousand functions, what Jun Moxie had managed to explore was likely less than one percent of them!

Guarding a mountain of treasure while not knowing how to mine it—that was the greatest tragedy!

If one insisted on drawing a comparison, the great assassin was not merely begging with a golden bowl; one might even say he was begging with bowls made of diamond, golden quartz, and other the most precious materials!

If he had merely glanced at a few cultivation novels online in his previous life, he probably wouldn't be experiencing such a meager harvest as he was now. But the few novels this great assassin had read were all masterpieces by the great Jin Yong!

All you great authors out there, you are incredibly fortunate! At least you are more fortunate than the great assassin Jun! If his brothers and sisters had transmigrated while possessing the Grandmist Tower, they would certainly fare much better than the current Jun Moxie!

So, the Grandmist Tower had every right to despise him—countless reasons to despise him to death...

The moment the Grandmist Tower began to spin, nearly all the Profound Beasts in the cages became simultaneously active, even the Level One and Three beasts that had shown no reaction before. They stared at Jun Moxie, bumping against the cages, desperate to escape and throw themselves into his embrace...

Jun Wu Yi watched from the side, his eyes wide with bewilderment. What in the world was happening? Had his nephew done something tricky?!

It seemed his nephew had only paced back and forth since arriving, doing nothing, yet the beasts' reactions were so bizarre?

What exactly was going on?

Just then, a servant arrived to report: “Several young masters and young ladies from the Dugu family have arrived.”