Chapter 1076: The Mad Older Brother

"Mastered?!"

The Nine Netherworld Being was so astonished its jaw dropped. Who was this kid, that he could actually master it, when even its elder brother found it immensely difficult back then, eventually cursing in frustration? How could this kid, who had just obtained the scripture, claim to have mastered it already? However, in an instant, it realized that no one could possibly master it; he must have been tricked. With a "clack," it snapped its dislocated jaw back into place, disdaining to say more, merely sneering.

Chu Feng reprimanded, "Why are you laughing like a ghost? You sound like an old gourd with holes, whistling horribly in the wind—it's unbearable!"

Chu Feng stood up, stretched his limbs, and unleashed a strange boxing technique. A faint golden glow emanated from his arms to his fists, accompanied by a swirling aura of blood energy. The air crackled! His movements were clearly slow, yet the fist imprints he produced were somewhat terrifying. Countless tiny versions of himself emerged, coiling around the fist imprints. The so-called radiance was actually imprints of his own miniature self. What was happening? The Nine Netherworld Being was greatly moved. Not only that, this change occurred all over Chu Feng's body. As he stretched, it was the same from head to toe; the light outside his body consisted of minuscule, human-shaped particles. Earlier, when he was sitting cross-legged, those light clusters were still three inches high, but now they were the size of ants, yet still in his own image, densely covering his outer form.

"I've gained a bit of insight," Chu Feng declared. "I call it the Ultimate Evolution Fist! It seems I was fooled by that mechanical monster, Meng Guda; this is apparently just a page of a boxing manual. Perhaps I need to comprehend more." Chu Feng pondered as he demonstrated the strange boxing technique.

The Nine Netherworld Being finally recovered its wits. It was quite astonished, and thinking of its elder brother's situation back then, it suddenly understood. How could an evolver capable of restraining the Martial Lunatic not be terrifying? An absolute peerless overlord! The Nine Netherworld Being's elder brother had also made some gains, developing a terrifying finger technique—the Heaven-Mending Finger, which was exceptionally formidable. "Heaven-Mending" was merely a flattering title. The ability to mend the heavens naturally indicated unfathomable power, but in reality, it involved the spread of rules from the fingertips, capable of obliterating all things.

After hearing it describe some of the situation, Chu Feng asked in surprise, "Didn't you say your elder brother hadn't mastered it?"

"Given my elder brother's evolutionary level, a casual poke from his finger could pierce a hole in the sky and shatter a fragment of complete Grand Dao rules," the Being explained. "His 'mastery' naturally demanded an impossibly high standard, beyond your imagination. However, he did manage to grasp some fundamental insights during that process."

After its explanation, Chu Feng immediately understood what was happening. At the same time, he wanted to know more and asked the Nine Netherworld Being to elaborate.

"Let's put it this way: that page of the Ultimate Evolution scripture is quite unorthodox. My elder brother gained some understanding at different evolutionary stages, but it was fragmented, lacking continuity." The Nine Netherworld Being recounted some past events. After comprehending some things from this scripture, he couldn't progress further; it was as if his path forward was cut off. However, after his elder brother abandoned it and paid it no mind, he unexpectedly bathed in the blood of a hundred dragons, and then once again succeeded in practicing it further.

Furthermore, on another occasion, his elder brother, with incredible daring, secretly attacked the patriarch of one of the top ten clans of the Mortal Realm in a previous life. While attempting to seize the clan's highest breathing technique by invading the patriarch's mind with earth-shattering mental power, he unexpectedly gained insights that allowed him to continue on the broken path.

"Wait a minute, what did your elder brother do?!"

"He secretly attacked some old geezer."

Chu Feng was quite speechless upon hearing this. He now understood that the prehistoric madman was absolutely no good person, not benevolent in the slightest. Daring to secretly attack an old patriarch from the former top ten, he was ruthless and powerful enough. "It was very risky. My elder brother almost met with an accident that time, as he was only slightly stronger than that old fellow, yet he forcibly invaded his main battlefield—the depths of his mind—and nearly capsized."

"Why didn't he pick an easier target?" Chu Feng asked.

"Do you think he didn't want to? Those 'soft targets' had mental prohibitions; they were too fragile and would burn to ashes with the slightest invasion. Furthermore, the secrets of the final few layers of some clans' breathing techniques could not be comprehended or mastered until one reached the patriarch's level. So, all things considered, my elder brother could only target their old patriarchs."

What more could Chu Feng say? He could only sigh, "How ruthless!" At the same time, he realized that the Nine Netherworld Being's character was probably heavily influenced by its elder brother's conduct.

"Your elder brother secretly attacked and forcibly seized an ultimate breathing technique?" Chu Feng asked, unable to calm his mind, significantly shaken by the news.

"No, he was only slightly stronger than that old fellow and didn't fight to the bitter end," the Nine Netherworld Being replied. Forcibly seizing the breathing technique would likely have led to the old fellow's demise, and his elder brother might also have suffered a severe setback. This was because invading the mind of a patriarch of that level was even more perilous than a battle to the death! The Nine Netherworld Being added, "The main reason was that my elder brother was afraid of alerting them. He still wanted to target old fellows from other clans."

Chu Feng felt dizzy upon hearing this. Its elder brother was truly... ruthless and ferociously insane, targeting evolvers of this caliber, and not just one of them! One must understand that such targets were all grandmasters who had mastered ultimate breathing techniques!

"My elder brother discovered that after invading the old patriarch's spiritual core, although he didn't obtain that clan's highest breathing technique, he was once again able to practice the so-called Ultimate Evolution Art."

"Why was that?" Chu Feng asked, surprised.

"When confronting that patriarch, the depths of his mind surged with the clan's highest inheritance—runes like a sea, boundless light—enveloping my elder brother's invading spirit..." At that moment, his elder brother had an epiphany, a sudden flash of inspiration, and was able to deduce a page of the scripture, which was the so-called Ultimate Evolution Art, as if it had been "incubated."

"Such a thing is possible?" Chu Feng was dumbfounded.

"Therefore, my elder brother became even more interested in some of the world's strongest breathing techniques and thought about them increasingly." That madman speculated that several ultimate breathing techniques might all have this effect: connecting the broken path and incubating that page of the Ultimate Evolution Art. Unfortunately, targeting beings of the top ten patriarchs' caliber was incredibly difficult; invading their minds was even harder to succeed at than hunting them. Especially since, although the madman's first attempt was covert, withdrawing at the right time and erasing all traces, what kind of person was that old patriarch? While the true culprit wasn't found, it still alerted him and made others vigilant. "Later, my elder brother made two more attempts but failed to succeed," the Nine Netherworld Being said with regret. After all, evolvers of that level, even if weaker than its elder brother, were only slightly inferior.

Chu Feng's face twitched slightly. "Your elder brother is truly... ferocious. Is there anyone in this world he wouldn't dare to target?"

"Yes, those hidden in special terrains, who have ventured too far down the unspeakable path. They're very troublesome, and confronting them isn't worth the effort." At the same time, the Nine Netherworld Being revealed that since its elder brother couldn't find an opportunity to strike at those old fellows, he extended his reach to evolvers like the Martial Lunatic. Because its elder brother had heard that the Martial Lunatic's breathing technique had a profound origin, possibly dating back to the Heaven-Burying era, he secretly attacked him. Unfortunately, although he beat the Martial Lunatic until his head was broken and his body covered in blood, the Martial Lunatic's light-escape technique was among the top few in the world. The Martial Lunatic successfully escaped.

Chu Feng was speechless for a long time after hearing this. So there was such explosive news! He had previously thought the Martial Lunatic had provoked the Nine Netherworld Being's elder brother, never imagining that he was the one who was secretly attacked! For some reason, learning that the domineering Martial Lunatic had been secretly attacked brought Chu Feng a sense of hidden satisfaction. Primarily, because he had personally witnessed the Martial Lunatic acting arrogantly and domineeringly at Meng Guda's place, slaughtering everyone, which felt too brutal. To know that someone could torment the Martial Lunatic in such a way naturally pleased Chu Feng.

"Why didn't you disclose this in detail earlier?" Chu Feng asked.

The Nine Netherworld Being gave a dry cough and said, "My elder brother's rampant, clandestine attacks on people across the world aren't exactly glorious deeds."

The madman concluded that to practice that page of the scripture, one could use ultimate breathing techniques to "incubate" it. A clan's breathing technique was like a bridge over a broken path, but it could only be used once.

"So your elder brother wanted to target a few more people?"

The Nine Netherworld Being didn't answer, but instead mentioned another viable path: drawing blood energy into the body, which also served as a kind of bridge. "Why is that?" Chu Feng asked. "Anyway, after my elder brother bathed in the blood of a hundred dragons, he connected a broken path once." As for the reason, that madman believed that all things possess spirits, and the genes of various creatures contain some kind of primeval code, holding special scriptures. There was no need for further explanation; Chu Feng already understood. "Furthermore, as you saw at Meng Guda's place, the scripture itself is golden, while blood energy swirls around it. That already explains the issue." The Nine Netherworld Being recalled its elder brother's words from back then.

"It can be interpreted like that?" Chu Feng fell silent for a moment, pondering carefully inside the hearse. Finally, he snapped back to reality, feeling something was amiss. Why would this old fellow suddenly change his style and be so good to him, even recounting his elder brother's entire cultivation process?

"I've told you everything I know, yet you doubt me?!" The Nine Netherworld Being stomped its foot, making the coffin lid bang loudly.

Chu Feng curled his lip and said, "You're not a good person. You're utterly vicious, yet now you're suddenly putting on a benevolent face. Obviously, something's wrong!"

The Nine Netherworld Being was choked, too furious to speak for a long while. It felt that its rare moment of "goodwill" had been "misunderstood"—or perhaps, exposed.

"Alright, I'll be honest. The more I ponder over you, kid, the more something seems off. You're so tiny, yet you're full of abnormalities, even producing soul flesh. I strongly suspect there's something unusual about your origin, so... I'm just making a casual move, treating you better as a kind of preemptive investment."

Chu Feng felt a surge of alertness upon hearing this. Indeed, spending time together every day made it too easy to reveal flaws; he would have to be careful from now on. He slapped the coffin lid, making it thump. "You old geezer, you're too utilitarian!"

"Is there any justice left?! I say I had a change of heart, and you don't believe me. I say it's an emotional investment, and you call it utilitarian. What am I supposed to say, what am I supposed to do?!" Chu Feng chuckled dryly, not pressing him further.

Finally, he asked, "How did your elder brother actually die?" Such a figure, whose achievements defied nature and astonished past and present, dared to secretly attack some of the strongest beings in the Mortal Realm. For such a deranged and formidable person to die prematurely, there must be something peculiar about it.