Chapter 1099: Graceful Young Gentleman - Chu

“Uncle-Master, I’m a man, there’s nothing to see. You old man… stay back!”

The Nine Netherworld Fiend’s voice trembled; it was thoroughly terrified, like a bullied young wife, completely unlike its usual demeanor.

“I’ll just take a look, I promise I won’t eat you,” Number Nine said expressionlessly, but saliva was dripping from the corner of his mouth as he began to climb the mountain.

The Nine Netherworld Fiend was silent for a moment, then suddenly let out a long wail, breaking the silence of the desolate plateau.

“Help! Grandmaster, where are you? Quickly, come drag your brother away!”

It showed no shame, rolling around with its coffin and wailing incessantly.

Number Nine said, “As expected, something’s strange; it looks a bit familiar. Allow me to open the coffin and take a closer look.”

He wiped away some saliva as he continued his ascent.

Gu Chenhai was crying and nearly wetting himself, howling at the top of his lungs.

“Ji Dade, where did you go? Have you been here all along? Quickly, come to my rescue! I have my big brother’s evolution notes here. Save me, and I’ll help you embark on the strongest evolutionary path in history!”

*Rumble!*

Finally, after more than ten days of silence, a roaring sound came from the ground. A donkey cart sped like lightning, pulling a full load of fierce birds and beasts. Their rank wasn’t high, but they were fresh and tender; some of the beasts hadn’t even died yet!

“Senior Number Nine, don’t eat him!” Chu Feng’s loud cry came from the donkey cart.

Gu Chenhai was furious. What did he mean, “don’t eat him”? And that little bastard was truly awful; he had apparently returned early and was just watching from the sidelines, unwilling to show himself.

In truth, Chu Feng had only returned about half a day earlier. He was very curious to see what Gu Chenhai looked like inside the coffin, always finding it very peculiar.

The cart was full of prey, large ferocious beasts and exotic birds, all carrying a scent of blood. To Number Nine’s nose, however, they were simply delicacies of the Yang Realm, a heavenly taste on earth.

These were all fierce beasts and other creatures that had attacked Chu Feng when he ventured into a mountain range, and he had hunted them without hesitation.

The main reason he had been gone so long was because he had gone to look for the Donkey Spirit, and unexpectedly, he had actually found it in the area where they had originally parted ways.

“Brother De, Brother Ji, you’ve finally returned! Quickly, bring some delicious food to our Uncle-Master, starting with a golden, plump, and tender Golden Crow leg!”

The Nine Netherworld Fiend was in tears, truly terrified, because Number Nine had already reached the mountaintop, not far from it, and his drool was already a foot long.

“Don’t eat him!” Chu Feng shouted again, truly fearing that the Nine Netherworld Fiend would be eaten.

Number Nine turned around, immediately becoming alert, and fixed his gaze on the Donkey Spirit—a living creature.

The Donkey Spirit, while usually quite bold, now collapsed directly onto the ground, even with the protective layer of Reincarnation Soil smeared on its body.

Normal creatures, even Divine Kings, could not withstand Number Nine’s piercing gaze!

Chu Feng quickly explained, “Senior, this is my mount. Look, all the fresh prey is right here!”

He was quite considerate towards this donkey, having spent time to find it and planning to give it mountain liquid to help it improve its strength in this place.

Mainly, seeing this donkey reminded him of old acquaintances like the old donkey Lu Feiyang.

“Hmm!” Number Nine grunted, then with a *swoosh*, he swept away the entire cartload of prey, vanishing beyond the horizon.

Gu Chenhai was completely exhausted and didn’t want to move at all inside the stone coffin.

Chu Feng, meanwhile, began another period of seclusion. Time flew by, and another year and a half passed. His physical body and spirit had improved further, and his strength could now rival creatures at the Form Shaping realm.

This was truly astonishing. The mountain liquid nourished his body without consuming his potential; instead, it nourished his body and spirit purely, like the Soup of Forgetfulness, causing him to undergo a transformation!

“This is incredible! To achieve such results with just one type of mountain liquid — truly worthy of being the Foremost Mountain in the Yang Realm!” Even the Nine Netherworld Fiend was astonished.

As far as it knew, even within the strongest aristocratic families that had existed for over a hundred million years, various essences of creation had to be mixed and matched for physical nourishment, not just a single substance!

During this process, Chu Feng had nearly comprehended the Seven Treasures Divine Art, gradually grasping its profound mysteries!

Unfortunately, to fully master it, he would need to integrate seven of the rarest natural wonders into his body. He would have to collect them in the future.

Counting the time carefully, Chu Feng’s body had regressed to eight months old when he arrived in the Yang Realm. He had spent four and a half years in the borderlands, and another four and a half years had passed here. He was now almost ten years old.

By this time, his body had fully developed, becoming slender and powerful, and he was now a true youth!

“Hmm, finally a handsome young man again.” Chu Feng, in a narcissistic manner, stretched his long limbs and admired himself in the pool.

The Nine Netherworld Fiend looked on with contempt, and even the Donkey Spirit secretly scorned him from a distance, subtly raising a hoof.

“The rate of improvement has slowed down a bit. Unfortunately, we can only explore this far and cannot enter the deeper parts of the Foremost Mountain under Heaven,” Chu Feng said with a hint of regret.

Number Nine guarded the plateau. Every time Chu Feng and the Nine Netherworld Fiend attempted to go deeper, he would appear and block their path.

Number Nine warned that the area ahead was both vital and forbidden ground, where no foreign creatures were allowed. This was his instinct, to protect this place!

Deep within the plateau, blood mist permeated the air, and various lights shimmered, making it appear mysterious and somewhat unsettling.

Chu Feng and Gu Chenhai both strongly suspected that the ultimate secret of the Foremost Mountain in the Yang Realm lay in the deepest part of that area.

“It’s already quite good. You should be content. Even here, as long as you diligently practice your breathing technique step by step, you can still achieve the Perfect Golden Body stage.”

“I want to become stronger in the shortest possible time. Old Nine, tell me, before encountering pollen or exotic fruits, can underage humans only reach the Perfect Golden Body stage at most?” Chu Feng asked.

Gu Chenhai thought for a moment, then answered seriously, “The ultimate ancient ancestor of the Buddhist clan once deduced that, in their youth and before coming into contact with pollen, humans could reach the Saint realm at their strongest!”

The saying that a Saint in the mortal world is a Buddha has historical origins.

“Huh?” Chu Feng was greatly astonished.

This was different from what was recorded in Stone Fox Heavenly Venerable’s master’s notes. Wasn’t it just the Golden Body? Someone could actually… reach the Saint realm!

Chu Feng sighed inwardly, grateful he had asked again and again. The prehistoric era truly was different; was there another path forward?

“Don’t rush, let me finish,” the Nine Netherworld Fiend added, saying, “After that ultimate ancient ancestor of the Buddhist clan made the deduction, he then shook his head, stating that one needed to sever the Saint’s foundation for the Golden Body to appear even more complete!”

“Are you kidding me?” Chu Feng was stunned.

Gu Chenhai said, “In fact, an ultimate expert of the Dao Race, who transcended and became independent from his clan to establish the Alien Desolation Race, also nodded in agreement, saying that severing to the Golden Body was optimal.”

“What kind of nonsensical theory is this?!” Chu Feng was dissatisfied.

“I didn’t understand it back then either. Later, I asked my big brother, and he nodded, saying it was indeed the case.”

Upon hearing that Li also held this view, Chu Feng had no choice but to take it seriously. If even Li Dadan and Li Blackhand said so, it certainly couldn’t be false.

He asked the Nine Netherworld Fiend for a detailed explanation.

“My big brother suggested: grind, refine, torment oneself,” the Nine Netherworld Fiend sighed. “I think it means to temper oneself, literally forcing oneself from the Saint realm down to the Golden Body level. I estimate it’s like laying a foundation, brutally suppressing oneself to solidify one’s very essence!”

Chu Feng was silent for a moment, carefully recalling the notes written by Stone Fox Heavenly Venerable’s master. There seemed to be hints of this, suggesting that this Golden Body was the strongest state, and after refining all accumulated elements, it would still remain a Perfect Golden Body.

“That damned old monster, she held back some information! Fearing outsiders would get her notes, she kept this specifically for her own people,” Chu Feng cursed.

He felt that Stone Fox Heavenly Venerable’s master had intentionally not written it clearly.

From this perspective, Stone Fox Heavenly Venerable’s master was extraordinarily formidable.

“Few can manage to grind, refine, and torment themselves from the Saint realm to the Perfect Golden Body,” the Nine Netherworld Fiend reminded him.

“What happens if one achieves it?” Chu Feng asked.

“From ancient times until now, such individuals can be counted on one hand. Are you sure you qualify to be one of them?” Gu Chenhai shook his head, indicating how difficult such cultivation was.

At the same time, he added, “Once achieved, it means that such a perfected youth, no matter their age — even if they are twelve or thirteen and far from the sixteen-year threshold — doesn’t need to worry. They can then consume pollen and exotic fruits, quickly return to the Saint realm, and are destined to become incomparably powerful!”

Chu Feng said, “I will strive to achieve this by age eleven, or twelve at the latest, reaching complete perfection. From then on, I will consume the strongest pollens and exotic fruits from every realm!”

This was the goal he set for himself!

In this life, he intended to walk the strongest path, rising through sheer overwhelming power. Only then would he have the chance to annihilate all his enemies and hope to face the brutal competition in the later stages of the evolutionary path.

It was conceivable that at the forefront of this path, the greatest terrors would unfold: ultimate duels, bloody storms, things unimaginable to ordinary people.

Even a madman as powerful as Li couldn’t protect his beloved confidante. In his rage, he embarked on a distant expedition, a fight to the death, only to mysteriously die before setting out, vanishing from the world.

And then there was someone as domineering as the Martial Maniac, who had been dormant from prehistoric times until now, cultivating for years on end. Most likely, he felt profoundly uneasy, consolidating himself and enhancing his strength to face the calamities on the ultimate evolutionary path.

The truth on the ultimate frontier path must be terrifying. Now, ancient artifacts like the Chaos Mace and the Myriad Tribulation Mirror have reappeared, inciting a great war in the Yang Realm, causing chaos and unrest. Perhaps this is also a terrifying atmosphere transmitted back from the very forefront of the ultimate evolutionary path.

Several more months passed, and Chu Feng officially turned ten years old. However, he felt that the effects of using the mountain liquid were becoming increasingly slower.

During this time, he went out again to hunt for Number Nine, partly for self-preservation, to avoid himself, Gu Chenhai, and the Donkey Spirit being eaten.

In the process, Chu Feng obtained some related news while connected to the network outside: the Taiwu lineage was very active and had already carved out its own territory.

The world was in chaos, with three factions vying for supremacy, leading to horrific devastation. Some large prefectures were already piled high with corpses and flowed with rivers of blood. Many sect geniuses had descended from their mountains to hone themselves amidst the turbulent times.

The Taiwu lineage had not yet decided whom to align with, presumably because they had the Martial Maniac, that great mountain, backing them, so they weren’t particularly worried and acted with impunity.

What Chu Feng found somewhat intolerable was that the Taiwu lineage had always been very vocal about the past events in the Lesser Netherworld. They showed no concern for the massacre that occurred back then, openly and brazenly declaring that they had merely slain some nether spirits and ghosts, treating them no different from livestock!

“I want to achieve perfection. Do I need to seize it from the Taiwu lineage? Go to them… and ‘borrow’ creation materials?!” Chu Feng said coldly.