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Over Goldenscale Lake.
The lakewater churned, and mist permeated the air.
Zeng Pu and the Tang Family patriarch’s battle attracted attention from countless experts.
After all, the area around Goldenscale Lake was one of the most expensive in Nine Tripod City. Numerous factions of cultivators had built their bases nearby.
It was easy to imagine how great an upset an unmatched grand battle like this would cause.
“Fellow Daoist, what do you think of Zeng Pu?” the middle-aged man couldn’t help but ask Su Yi.
It was only last night that Su Yi slew the mid-stage Spiritual Manifestation Realm Huo Tiandu over Cloudcomb Lake. Now, Zeng Pu was staging yet another unprecedented battle over Goldenscale Lake.
This left the middle-aged man eager to hear Su Yi’s estimation of Zeng Pu, a monster of the ancient era.
Su Yi said casually, “He’s a good seedling. He has the Earth Element Dao Physique, and he’s inherited a first-rate fist scripture. His foundations are far more polished than others of the same cultivation. Even in an ancient orthodoxy, he’d be one of their greatest geniuses, less than one in ten thousand. He’s a level higher than the Heavenly Annihilation Demonic Gate’s Sikong Bao.”
Both the middle-aged man and Weng Jiu couldn’t help but nod to themselves. Zeng Pu really was strong, and his combat prowess was heaven-defying to the extreme.
Few could cross cultivation boundaries to kill superior opponents, but they weren’t that uncommon in Nine Tripod City.
Many modern geniuses could, even as Origin Palace cultivators, defeat ordinary Gathering Stars experts.
However, Origin Dao cultivators who could suppress Spirit Dao experts were so rare that Zeng Pu’s victory was practically a miracle.
If Su Yi hadn’t defeated and killed Huo Tiandu just the night before, the middle-aged man and Weng Jiu couldn’t have stayed so calm.
“Fellow Daoist Su, you’re absolutely right,” sighed Weng Jiu. “Zeng Pu really is a heaven-defying figure even among monsters of the ancient era.”
“I wasn’t finished talking,” said Su Yi with a frown. He seemed quite displeased that Weng Jiu had interrupted him.
Weng Jiu was stunned. “Fellow Daoist Su, don’t tell me you have other brilliant insights?”
The middle-aged man looked intrigued too.
But Su Yi had already lost interest in making any further comments, so he spoke without wasting words. “He’s inferior to me.”
“....”
Weng Jiu and his master looked at each other. Both fell silent. After all that build-up, all he wanted was to emphasize that he was even more impressive than Zeng Pu…
Su Yi added, “Don’t misunderstand. I’m just saying that his foundations and attainments in the Origin Dao are far beneath mine, but in the future…”
Su Yi suddenly shut his mouth. He suddenly realized vying for supremacy with a young man like Zeng Pu was beneath his status; it would only hurt his image.
After all, who else in this world had memories of reaching the very limit of the Imperial Realm in their past life?
And who else had condensed an unprecedented Strongest Dao Seed as he had in this lifetime?
I can’t make comparisons like that so lightly ever again. If word gets out, it’ll make me look bad, thought Su Yi.
Weng Jiu and the middle-aged man were silent too. Both of them already knew that Su Yi’s pride ran bone deep, but they wouldn’t have imagined that he’d say something so arrogant as if it were a matter of course.
For a moment, they really didn’t know how to respond.
Suddenly, a series of startle cries rang out in the distance.
The Tang Family patriarch, Tang Xiaoshan, suddenly plummeted from the sky and into Goldenscale Lake with an enormous splash, scattering snow-white droplets.
When he reappeared, he was covered in heavy wounds, pallid, and drenched as a drowned rat. He was such a miserable sight he was almost unbearable to look at.
The onlookers watching from the shore were all at a loss for words.
A long-famous Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivator had lost at the hands of a Gathering Stars Realm youth! This was unquestionably a miracle!
The gray-robed Zeng Pu hovered over the lake, an apologetic look on his face. “Agh, I’m really sorry. I almost lost control and punched you to death. I didn’t scare you, did I?”
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“....” No one knew what to say to that.
Tang Xiaoshan was so ashamed that he wanted to die. He longed for nothing more than a hole to hide himself in. How is that an apology? He’s obviously just arrogant to the extreme!
The middle-aged man’s eyebrows shifted upward. This kid sure has a poisonous tongue.
Weng Jiu had a strange look on his face. Zeng Pu’s strange, sarcastic words might be arrogant, but when it comes to hurtful remarks, Su Yi is obviously his superior.
Weng Jiu most certainly hadn’t forgotten the way Su Yi encouraged him to give up on playing the zither last night. He sounded earnest and sincere, with a trace of disappointment…
It was enough to anger someone to death!
By comparison, Zeng Pu’s jibes lacked polish.
Suddenly, one of the cultivators watching from the banks spoke up. His voice was full of awe. “Young lord, dare I ask if you’re the mysterious person who killed Huo Tiandu on Cloudcomb Lake last night?”
This question instantly attracted the crowd’s attention.
Last night’s duel on Cloudcomb Lake caused an incomparable commotion; Nine Tripod City practically boiled over in response.
Even now, the city’s cultivators were debating the mysterious young man in blue’s identity.
Only the middle-aged man and Weng Jiu reacted differently. Their expressions turned a bit strange, and they couldn’t help but glance at Su Yi.
Su Yi put his hands behind his back, and he seemed perfectly calm, as if he didn’t care about any of this in the least.
However, it was then that Zeng Pu sighed in exasperation. “If I were really the one who’d killed him, how could I possibly resort to hiding my identity?”
“Aiyo, it seems he’s rather contemptuous of the mysterious figure who killed Huo Tiandu.” The cloth-robed middle-aged man laughed, a hint of mockery in his gaze.
Weng Jiu looked at Su Yi and deliberately fanned the flames. “Fellow Daoist, it seems this kid thinks you lack courage.”
“That so?” said Su Yi flatly. “But you’re the ones who helped me hide my identity. If anyone lacks courage, it’s you, not me.”
Weng Jiu’s words stuck in his throat, and his eyes bulged.
The middle-aged man couldn’t help but laugh bitterly.
Meanwhile, on the shore…
“Then do you know who did it?” asked one of the onlookers.
Zeng Pu shook his head. “All I can say is that while Spiritual Manifestation cultivators were perhaps once strong enough to dominate the world, those old-timers won’t be the ones to lead the world into a new era.”
“Right,” said Zeng Pu. He scanned the shoreline, clasped his fist, and said with a modest, simple smile, “My name is Zeng Pu, and in nine days, I plan to participate in the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly. If any Spiritual Manifestation Realm old-timers dislike the look of me, or if they think I’m too arrogant, they’re welcome to come looking for me. I promise not to kill them.”
His smile was simple and modest, but his words weren’t the least bit humble. The combination left the crowd stunned, but before long, they burst into uproar.
Zeng Pu, meanwhile, had already taken to the skies. In a few blinks of the eye, he disappeared.
Tang Xiaoshan remained, looking like a drenched rat who’d lost his soul.
He knew that this incident would shake the city. Even with his formerly illustrious reputation, he’d effectively been reduced to a stepping stone beneath Zeng Pu’s feet.
He could imagine it now. Whenever anyone discussed Zeng Pu, they were sure to compare the two of them. He’d become a laughingstock, someone brought up only to offset his opponent’s greatness…
“This kid… he’s simply too arrogant…” said Weng Jiu with great emotion.
“Do you want to hit him and watch him suffer?” asked the middle-aged man.
“Yes,” said Weng Jiu without so much as pausing to think.
“Me too,” said the middle-aged man before looking at Su Yi. “What about you, Fellow Daoist?”
“I have no interest whatsoever in bullying someone with no hope of winning,” said Su Yi, sounding weary and distracted.
Both Weng Jiu and his master fell silent. They’d already lost track of how many times Su Yi had rendered them speechless today.
They couldn’t help it; Su Yi’s words left them unsure of what to say on numerous occasions…
That very day, word of Zeng Pu defeating Tang Xiaoshan on Goldenscale Lake spread through Nine Tripod City like wildfire, instantly causing an enormous uproar.
“It was just last night that a mysterious young man in blue killed Grand Elder Huo Tiandu of Cloudsky Divine Palace. Now, Zeng Pu’s gone and suppressed Tang Xiaoshan with his bare fists! This… what’s going on?” Some people were astonished, and their hearts shook.
“Zeng Pu sure is something! He actually said he wasn’t afraid of any Spiritual Manifestation cultivator challenging him. How many people in this world could be so bold?” Others were thoroughly impressed, and they didn’t hold back their praise.
“No one knows that mysterious young man in blue’s cultivation, but Zeng Pu is different. He used Gathering Stars Realm cultivation to defeat the early-stage Spiritual Manifestation Realm Tang Xiaoshan. This is simply unprecedented. It’s a miracle!”
This analysis won widespread approval.
Even now, almost no one knew who the mysterious young man in blue was. They didn’t even know whether he was really a young man or not; he might well be an old monster maintaining a youthful facade.
However, numerous people witnessed Zeng Pu’s battle in perfect clarity. When they compared him to the mysterious young man in blue, they naturally thought him superior.
“As the Orchid Terrace Dharma Assembly draws near, Nine Tripod City is getting livelier and livelier. In less than a day, two Spiritual Manifestation Realm cultivators have been defeated in rapid succession. Will the current Spiritual Manifestation experts really be the ones to lead us into the future? Perhaps it really is as Zeng Pu says.”
Numerous older-generation experts’ hearts swelled with emotion. All of them realized that the world was showing signs of a massive change!
When the Huo Family higher-ups found out what had happened, their spirits sank, and they felt a complicated mixture of emotions.
It was just as the middle-aged man in simple cloth robes predicted. No matter how much they hated Su Yi, they were unwilling to announce that he was the one who’d killed Huo Tiandu.
It was just too shameful!
If they spoke of it, how would that be any different from slapping themselves in the face?
….
Meanwhile, in a restaurant’s private dining room…
“Zeng Pu? Granny, do you know who that is?” Gu Cangning asked in confusion.
“Young Master, think back to thirty thousand years ago. Do you remember who once dominated the Azure Continent with nothing but a pair of iron fists?” said a gray-haired woman with a youthful face. Her eyes flashed with strange light.
Gu Cangning exclaimed, “Granny, are you talking about the one who used his fleshly body to prove his Dao and enter the Imperial Realm? The one with a body-refining technique unsurpassed in this world? The Profound Bone Demon Emperor?”
“That’s right. He was also the most tyrannical and arrogant of the Azure Continent’s Nine Emperors. He wasn’t affiliated with any faction; he alone was enough to intimidate the entire world.”
The old woman sighed with admiration. “Few rumors of his accomplishments circulated throughout the Azure Continent. However, to the continent’s top orthodoxies, the Profound Bone Demon Emperor represents the upper limit of what’s achievable through body refining!”
Gu Cangning gasped. “Are you saying that Zeng Pu is most likely the Profound Bone Demon Emperor’s disciple, or perhaps his descendant?”
The old woman sighed. “If not, I truly cannot think of any other body refiner capable of teaching a heaven-defying little monster like Zeng Pu.”
She paused here and looked at Gu Cangning. “Young Lord, it seems to me that it’s already time for you to unseal the power within you.”
Gu Cangning shook, and he fell silent. A long time passed before he nodded.