Wen Zhong traveled from the Southern Continent and saw many Immortal Islands in the East Sea, as vast as the mainland itself, and also witnessed several Divine Mountains piercing the sky.
Compared to them, Penglai Island was not particularly large, and its peaks were not exceptionally tall.
After following his master to pay respects to the Grandmaster and various martial uncles, Wen Zhong spent the entire next day following his own master in the Seven Fragrant Treasure Car through the Penglai Holy Realm.
It was an orientation to familiarize him with the surroundings.
In his view, this should have been a job for his senior brother, but his master seemed to hold him in particularly high regard.
During the orientation, his master spoke a solemn and heartfelt sentence that left Wen Zhong unsettled for a long time.
"Your senior brother is different from ordinary people; do not emulate him."
The following periods, Wen Zhong was somewhat distracted.
That sentence occasionally popped up in his mind.
From their brief morning interaction, he indeed felt his senior brother Yu Yuan's uniqueness.
By the time the sun neared the horizon, he followed the Seven Fragrant Treasure Car to Qianyuan Mountain.
From afar, he could see a large palace-like building halfway up the mountain, its golden glazed tiles shimmering brilliantly under the sunset.
The palace was not only immensely vast but also highly luxurious.
The floors paved with white jade, walls decorated with Golden Lotus.
Tops made of sandalwood beams, lamps of crystal jade panels, and curtains of pearls and jade.
The palace was surrounded by ancient trees reaching the sky, shaded by greenery, graced with red walls and yellow tiles, resplendent with gold.
Above the bright red lacquered main gate hung a plaque, inscribed with three large characters: "Tian Yuan Palace."
Isn't this where the senior brother lives?
Too extravagant indeed!
Wen Zhong, born into the Chaoge nobility, was well-versed in the ways of the world.
But in terms of extravagance, even the most luxurious mortal Shang King Palace pales in comparison to this Tian Yuan Palace.
This puzzled him.
In his mind, aren't Cultivators supposed to drink morning dew, sleep under the stars, shunning luxury for a focused and unattached existence?
Noticing Wen Zhong intensely staring at the Tian Yuan Palace, Golden Spirit Saint Mother lightly said, "Do not forget the words your teacher has spoken."
Wen Zhong shuddered, quickly organizing his chaotic thoughts, and whispered, "Disciple dare not forget."
"That is good. From now on, you will reside in the Shoujing Temple."
As Golden Spirit Saint Mother spoke, a Daoist temple appeared next to the open space beside the Tian Yuan Palace.
An old pine at the front, a bamboo grove at the back.
A few simple cabins, a single grassy window, mud walls and thatched roof with fence posts, and a plaque hanging on the door, inscribed with the words "Shoujing Temple."
This Daoist temple was simple yet elegant, ancient and serene, fulfilling all of Wen Zhong's fantasies about a Cultivation environment… yet if possible, he still wished for the extravagant grandeur of Tian Yuan Palace.
Golden Spirit Saint Mother left him in front of Shoujing Temple, then handed him a bottle of Immortal Pills, "Within this bottle are Satiety Pills, taking just one will quench hunger and thirst. Reside here peacefully for a few days, cleanse yourself from the worldly dust, then your teacher will transmit to you the Upper Pure Immortal Technique."
After speaking, she floated away on the Seven Fragrant Treasure Car.
Wen Zhong hastily paid his respects, "Disciple respectfully sends off the master!"
Moments later, he raised his head, exhaling a long breath.
Turning his head to glance at the luxurious Tian Yuan Palace not far away, then back at his Shoujing Temple, his gaze gradually strengthened.
What he did not see was a slender figure draped in the evening twilight floating over his head, entering into that Tian Yuan Palace.
...
As night fell, in a secluded great hall within Tian Yuan Palace, Yu Yuan, like always, lit an oil lamp made from a mixture of Deep Sea Purple Gallbladder Juice, ambergris, et cetera. He then poured water from the Spiritual Spring into a swimming pool, finally throwing in over a hundred types of highly toxic Spiritual Medicines and Spirit Grasses like Soul-breaking Grass, Forbidden God Flower, Bone-Eating Grass into the pool.
Then, he ignited the Earthly Evil Fire to heat the swimming pool.
Soon, the pool water, dyed dark green by those Spiritual Medicines and Spirit Grasses, began bubbling up with "gurgle" "gurgle" sounds.
At this moment, the air was filled with lethal gases, and a mortal physique like Wen Zhong's might fall dead immediately upon a single whiff, but Yu Yuan seemed accustomed to it.
In his view, a transparent screen was constantly flickering:
[Poison Gas Continues to Erode: Qi-Blood +233, Mana +422]
[Poison Gas Continues to Erode: Qi-Blood +199, Mana +495]
…
Only he could see this transparent light screen, it was one of his unspeakable secrets.
At the beginning of his transformation, he was treated as an invasive alien soul and was punished by the Heavenly Dao. Not only was his golden finger erased, but only the information display panel was retained, and he was also given the curse of [Reverse Action].
Under [Reverse Action], his cultivation would decrease Mana, eating and drinking would make him unbearably hungry and thirsty, and healing would injure him…
However, Yu Yuan soon discovered that being injured would increase his Qi-Blood, improve his physique, and being harvested by demons would enhance his Mana…
…
Seeing that the time was just right, Yu Yuan thought, and his clothes disappeared, revealing a muscular and well-proportioned body.
He then dove headfirst into the scalding medicinal liquid like a swimmer, starting his… freestyle.
The transparent light screen in front of him also underwent a huge change in an instant:
[Severe Poison Continues to Erode: Qi-Blood +3292, Mana +6523]
[Severe Poison Continues to Erode: Qi-Blood +3139, Mana +5465]
…
After swimming for a while, Yu Yuan lay back in the medicinal liquid, furrowing his brows slightly, muttering, "The effect is a lot worse than yesterday."
The herbs in the pool all had effects of eroding the body and Mana, but after prolonged use, his body had already developed strong resistance.
He could only mix them together, hoping to produce a new toxicity.
However, no matter how he mixed them, the effect was diminishing.
It seems he needs to find an opportunity to get some new medicine from another place.
Thinking this, his gaze suddenly shifted outside the hall.
He then withdrew his gaze.
A moment later, a crisp, bell-like sound came in.
"I heard you were reprimanded again today, so your senior sister came to see you. Give you a moment to dress up and come out, or else I might just come in."
Yu Yuan couldn't be bothered to respond, just lazily submerged himself into the medicinal liquid.
A moment passed, and the door to the hall was pushed open with a "creak," immediately causing the thick toxic smoke inside to whirl out like a fierce dragon.
The newcomer seemed accustomed to this, closing the hall door with a backhand, pressing the toxic dragon back in, and said grumpily, "I came to see you as your senior sister; the least you could do is come out and greet me!"
Yu Yuan responded grumpily too, "Are you really here to see me? I'm embarrassed to expose you."
"Hehe, today is the day you tell me the story of Emperor Ruthless, right?"
The visitor came to the poolside, speaking in a tender voice, "Good junior brother, you've delayed me for half a month, hurry up and tell me if the Ancient Sacred Body is really her brother?"
Yu Yuan calmly said, "Fire Spirit Sister, you need to comprehend that answer yourself. As the saying goes, a thousand people have a thousand visions of Ruthless her brother… Hey hey hey, what are you doing?"
Through the dense toxic smoke in the hall, one could vaguely see a strong fiery aura being released around the visitor, as if flames were burning fiercely.
"Your bath water has cooled down. Let me heat it up for you."
The medicinal liquid in the pool evaporated rapidly under the high temperature, and even the toxic smoke in the hall expanded under unimaginable heat, resulting in a loud explosion.
However, this massive explosion did not affect the people or objects inside the hall at all.
The hall itself was protected by an Array, spotlessly clean and indestructible.
And the people were even less affected; the explosion didn't even harm a single hair.
However, the appearance of the explosion cleared the toxic smoke from the hall, making it bright again.
The figure and appearance of the visitor were now clearly revealed to Yu Yuan.
A tall young woman with an oval face and curved eyebrows walked above the pool, as if wearing the twilight clouds on her head, her glamorous palace dress fluttering like petals, sparkling and cascading like a rain of light.
Her gentle steps, her soft waist moving like a water snake, her figure was extremely good, and her curves were very beautiful.
As she approached, Yu Yuan smelled bursts of fragrance.
The medicinal liquid in the pool couldn't even cover his waist anymore, Yu Yuan covered his face and sighed deeply, "Even taking a bath can't be peaceful, staying in this Lansong Jie Sect is indeed unbearable!"