Chapter 403

Upon Zhuofeng, Fang Yu effortlessly ascended the Nine Heavenly Stairs, causing strange phenomena to erupt across the peak.

The events here drew many, and disciples from other main peaks flew in.

Amidst flickering shadows, more figures descended—white-haired and white-bearded, also from other main peaks.

These were Elders.

Upon seeing that the one who reached the ninth level of Zhuofeng's Heavenly Stairs was the Sacred Son of Taixuan Sect—Fang Yu, the senior disciple of Zhuofeng—both Elders and disciples wore expressions of shock, and some even looked disappointed.

"So it's our Taixuan Sect's Sacred Son—I thought some other prodigy had arrived."

"Back then, whenever a disciple attempted Zhuofeng's Heavenly Stairs, many gathered. Ordinary disciples could barely reach the third step; only geniuses made it to the fifth, qualifying them for Zhuofeng. To reach the seventh was a genius among geniuses; to reach the ninth? That was a supreme prodigy, unseen in a hundred thousand years. Could our Taixuan Sect's Sacred Son truly have reached the ninth level?"

"The Sacred Son is truly the Sacred Son—ascending the ninth level so effortlessly. This is heaven's will to elevate our Taixuan Sect. I only wonder what kind of sacred body our Sacred Son possesses?"

Several old men stared intently at Fang Yu. Though they could not poach him now, they were deeply curious about him.

What kind of sacred body did this Yuhua Sect Sacred Son truly possess?

"Sacred Son, may I ask one thing—what is your sacred body?"

After a moment of observation, a white-haired elder spoke up curiously.

"Respected Elder, my sacred body is the Lei Ling Sacred Body."

Hearing the Elders' questions, Fang Yu casually invented a name, rubbed his hands together, and instantly dense thunderbolts materialized in midair. The moment these divine lightning bolts appeared, purple lightning encircled his body, making Fang Yu resemble a thunder deity.

Fang Yu walked through the void, where terrifying purple lightning crackled everywhere, as if preparing to unleash a heavenly tribulation upon all living beings.

"What?"

"I??????????"

"Is there such a sacred body—the Lei Ling Sacred Body? In all my years, I've never seen such a thing. Thunder is the most fierce and dominant force in heaven and earth. Legends say only supreme geniuses, upon breaking through major realms, might attract a heavenly tribulation. But I've never heard of anyone who could casually refine thunder, or even shape it with their hands."

One Elder was so stunned he could not speak.

"Uncle, Senior Brother Fang truly has an affinity for thunder. His power and mystery are far beyond our reach."

Beside Fang Yu, Hua Qingming wore an expression of reverence as he spoke to the elder.

The elder was Hua Qingming's uncle—clearly an Elder from Xing Peak, holding high position and great power, with profound cultivation.

Yet even this old man was shaken by Fang Yu.

There was no other reason—thunder was simply too unique.

Thunder was both the most yang and rigid force in heaven and earth, capable of annihilating evil spirits, and also part of the heavenly tribulation. Whenever a peerless genius ascended a realm, thunder descended as Lei Jie.

This thunder was not a force belonging to cultivators—but now, it was being controlled by one.

"The youth is formidable, truly formidable. With a Sacred Son like you, our Taixuan Sect has indeed good fortune. I have great faith in you."

The elder—Hua Qingming's uncle—wore an expression of admiration. He had originally wished to see whether Fang Yu could rival Hua Yunfei; today's sight left him thoroughly satisfied.

Taixuan Sect truly needed Fang Yu.

"He can control thunder? How did Fang Brother cultivate to this?"

Pang Bo stared in utter shock at Fang Yu, surrounded by crackling thunder and purple lightning. Even from several zhang away, he could feel the terrifying thunderbolts splitting the void with a sizzling sound—imagine if they struck a human body; it would instantly be reduced to dust.

Yet Fang Brother wielded divine thunder as if it were nothing but illusion.

"Fang Brother has had many extraordinary encounters these past days—he truly is a mysterious person."

Ye Fan also felt stunned. He was the Primordial Ancient Sacred Body, with a body of terrifying strength—but even he sensed that his current physique could not withstand such terrifying thunder.

"Is this even a human? He's even more terrifying than my Brother Haoyue."

Ji Ziyue widened her eyes in disbelief.

Even her Brother Haoyue—the Divine Body of the Eastern Wilderness—dared not manipulate thunder like this, nor summon it. Her brother had cultivated a unique manifestation: the Moon Rising Over the Sea—but she felt even that could not extinguish Fang Yu's boundless thunder.

Many in the crowd were stunned. Disciples who had hoped to join Zhuofeng were awestruck—they could not fathom a cultivator reaching such a state.

If one could join Zhuofeng, would that not be a lifetime's blessing?

Immediately, others stepped forward to attempt the Nine Heavenly Stairs trial.

The trial continued.

It was no easy matter.

For ninety-nine percent of all cultivators in heaven and earth, reaching the fifth level of the Nine Stairs was impossible. Many came to Zhuofeng to test themselves, but in the end, only five barely made it to the fifth level and passed.

The simple-minded boy named Zhang Erdan had also passed.

This was truly peculiar.

"Unexpected—he passed the trial too?"

Hua Qingming looked surprised, but then recalled Li Ruoyu, the master of Zhuofeng, who before inheriting its legacy had seemed similarly odd—so he said no more.

Thus, Zhuofeng welcomed new disciples.

These disciples would naturally be handled by other disciples—Fang Yu would not concern himself with such trivial matters.

He now sat in his palace, meeting Ye Fan and Pang Bo.

"So many days have passed—we haven't seen each other in a while."

Fang Yu gazed at Ye Fan and Pang Bo and spoke first.

He gestured, and before him appeared fruits and elixirs—the fruits were rare treasures, the elixirs were Nascent Soul Pills.

Human Grade Top-Tier elixirs.

"Yes, Fang Brother, it's been a while. Now seeing you, your cultivation base has grown even stronger, and you've become Taixuan Sect's Sacred Son."

Ye Fan sat down, staring at the Nascent Soul Pills before him, his heart filled with greater astonishment.

In these days apart, Fang Brother had grown even more lavish—each elixir's Xu Yuan Qi was so abundant it had coalesced into human shapes, truly inconceivable.

"How are Xiao Tingting and Old Jiang?"

Fang Yu suddenly remembered two people and asked.

"Not long after Fang Brother left, people from the Jiang Clan came searching. Only then did we learn Xiao Tingting was from the Primordial Ancient Jiang Clan, of great lineage. After returning home, Old Jiang and Xiao Tingting should be living well."

Pang Bo opened his mouth. "But that Jiang Yichen of the Jiang family, he doesn't look like a good sort. He kept sizing up me and Little Ye Zi, his gaze was very sharp. Fortunately we put the treasure away, otherwise I'm afraid he would have killed us to seize the treasure."

Speaking of Jiang Yichen, Pang Bo was very displeased.

"Right, speaking of treasures, Brother Fang, these past days we really did obtain some rare treasures of heaven and earth, they would definitely be to Brother Fang's liking. Today we'll give some to Brother Fang."

When Pang Bo began speaking of past events, Ye Fan spoke up. The two exchanged a glance, and Ye Fan began to employ his methods, and so within the palace there appeared a wisp of Xuanhuang qi.

Then this wisp of Xuanhuang qi expanded, expanded, and became a great deal of Xuanhuang qi.

It really was Xuanhuang qi.

The stars were thrown into disorder, yin and yang went awry. Xuan is the essence of heaven, huang is the marrow of earth — this is the quintessence of heaven and earth, therefore Xuanhuang is used to signify heaven and earth.

"Brother Fang, this is the Xuanhuang Mother Qi we obtained near a bronze hall. I've heard people say that the Xuanhuang Mother Qi is the rarest essence qi between heaven and earth, a sacred object for refining vessels. We nearly died getting it, fighting with our lives, but we really did obtain some."

Ye Fan spoke up and released that Xuanhuang Mother Qi.

Every wisp of Xuanhuang Mother Qi was as heavy as a mountain. Once it appeared in this palace, it actually pressed the ground down, causing it to collapse directly.

But Fang Yu merely moved his mind, and atop his head appeared a Five Emperors' Flowery Canopy. From the Five Emperors' Flowery Canopy descended five-colored divine light, which fixed the five elements here in place.

In the blink of an eye, every inch of soil of the mountain peak here became many times harder than the hardest diamond.

This is the terrifying aspect of the Great Five Elements Art — the Huang Di Earth Sovereign Dao. With Fang Yu's current Huang Di Earth Sovereign Dao, any random wisp of divine light can make a mountain peak possess the effect of the Nine Heavens Breath-Earth Soil.

So no matter how much Xuanhuang Mother Qi was now atop Zhuofeng, the ground of Zhuofeng remained steadfast.

Seeing this scene, Ye Fan and Pang Bo were once again shaken. The two exchanged another glance, and Ye Fan took out an especially resplendent and weighty strand of Xuanhuang qi.

Although it wasn't much, this strand of Xuanhuang qi was utterly different from the others — more dazzling, more weighty. Every wisp was as heavy as several mountains.

"Brother Fang, this is the great treasure we obtained — the Xuanhuang Mother Qi Root. It is said to be the essence of Xuanhuang, rarely seen in a thousand ages, capable of refining extreme dao weapons."

Ye Fan spoke up, asking Fang Yu to seize some of the Xuanhuang Mother Qi Root. "In days past I once said that if I saw Brother Fang again, I would certainly give Brother Fang some rare treasures of heaven and earth to lend Brother Fang a hand in your cultivation. This time I have not failed the mission, and at last obtained some. I wonder if Brother Fang can find it acceptable."

"Yes, Brother Fang, I still remember that last trip to the Yanxia Grotto-Heaven. Brother Fang, you gave us all the sources you obtained, helping us cultivate — those were sources, extremely precious things! Now this time we have finally also obtained the Xuanhuang Mother Qi Root, it should be able to lend Brother Fang a hand, right?"

Pang Bo also spoke up.

He recalled the scene of their last parting.

At that time Brother Fang led them to the Yanxia Grotto-Heaven to seek justice for Little Tingting. Who would have thought the Sect Master of the Yanxia Grotto-Heaven was very open-minded, polite and courteous. After punishing the culprit, he even gave them several pieces of source.