Jun Xie had realized that he had met with a fortuitous encounter. Moreover, such an encounter was something that was extremely difficult to come across. The 'Art of Unlocking Heaven's Fortune' had turned out to be extremely mysterious. Jun Xie was certain that it was far superior to any other art. Moreover, he was sure that the Nine Layered Exquisite Pagoda was an incomparable treasure.
Jun Xie was ignorant. However, he had heard of the mythical legend of the Great God Hongjun. This Great God is the Master of the Three Great Sage Gods – Taishang Dao Jun or the Honoured Lord of the Dao and its Virtue, Yuanshi Tianzun or the Honoured Lord of the Origin, and Tongtian Jiaozhu or the Grandmaster of Heaven. These people were great individuals, and didn't have any equal under the Heavens. The abilities of the pagoda were undeniable since it was named after the Great God Hongjun.
Jun Xie had an overwhelming desire to practice the Art of Unlocking Heaven's Fortune. However, he controlled his urge. He calmed down, and started to inspect his body. He couldn't help but be surprised.
The surface of his skin was covered by a thick layer of a muddy liquid. It was black and greenish in color. An unbelievably foul stench was emitting out of it.
Suddenly, a name with a legendary origin appeared within his consciousness, [Pulp Rending Meridian Cleanser? Can it be that the entirety of my body's impurities have been ejected after I went through that extreme pain?] Jun Xie was ecstatic. In fact, he wouldn't have minded another round of such pain if it could have such a miraculous effect.
Jun Xie wouldn't be concerned with any amount of pain as long as it had a positive effect on his physical strength. It wasn't a big deal for him to deal with any amount of pain for the benefit of his bodily strength. Any amount of pain was worth-it in that case; no matter how unbearable it was.
Jun Xie stood up in an excited manner. He ignored the stench emitting out of his body, and started to run towards a pond in his residence. Then, he jumped into the pond without any hesitation.
Suddenly, several voices were heard, "Who's it?"
He snorted and replied, "Me! Young Master is taking a bath. No one is allowed to disturb me."
"Ah, it's the Young Master." No more sounds were heard after that.
*** ***
Grandpa Jun wrinkled his eyebrows in his study, "What was that?"
Butler Pang rushed out to check. He returned after a short while, and bowed, "It's the Young Master. I've heard that he jumped into the Setting Moon pond to take a bath."
"A bath in the Setting Moon pond at this hour of the night…?" Grandpa Jun became angry. His nose became twisted, and his breath became short. He shouted in a rough tone, "This damned creature!" He then went to sleep.
He had been expecting his grandson to turn into a new and better person since the last few days. But, his hopes had been crushed. Now, there was only a feeling of extreme discomfort in his heart.
The greater the hopes are… the greater is the disappointment when the hopes shatter. Grandpa Jun wanted to drag Jun Moxie inside, and beat his bottom with a stick until it 'blossomed' like a peachy flower. This ungrateful person would then realize why the flowers were so 'red'.
Jun Xie's body floated quietly on the surface of the water. He used his hands and feet to stabilize his body from time to time; this prevented him from sinking in the water. He felt a feeling of comfort washing over his body.
Jun Xie had finally got rid of that black-greenish layer from his body; he felt as if he had just stepped out of a sewer. He felt refreshed. However, there was one problem. His physical strength was nowhere close to his past life's even though his soul had fused with this body. However, the state of his physique, muscles, and bones had improved to a shocking level after the washing-away of so many impurities from his body. His mouth curled into a smile as this thought crossed his mind.
The house guards saw their Young Master floating on the water surface from afar; he was neither moving nor sinking. Their eyes were wide open in shock. What kind of divine art was the Young Master practicing? After all, it was impossible for anyone to float on the water's surface like that. One would need at least a minimum of Jade level Mystic Qi to do that even if one was to utilize his Mystic Qi.
Jun Xie finally came out of the pond. He felt refreshed, but that feeling was soon overshadowed by a sense of exhaustion. It was a big feat that he hadn't fainted in the light of the fact that he had just gone through the painful process of Pulp Rending Meridian Cleanser since the original Young Master Jun hadn't taken good care of his body.
He managed to reach his room owing to his strong will. He then changed into a set of white robes. After that, the young Lolita brought in a bowl of bird's nest soup with a playful smile on her face.
One's priority is always strength; no matter the kind of a world one is in. People can survive without having any influence, but they must never be short of personal strength. Jun Xie had never been so wishful of increasing his strength; not even in his past life.
Jun Xie had come into this world alone. So, the only thing that could bring him some peace of mind was strength; a strength so powerful that he could hold the life and death of multitudes of people in his hands.
Jun Xie was confident that he was the master of the mysterious pagoda. It was going to be his trump card in this new world. He believed that the secrets present in the mysterious pagoda weren't limited to the Art of Unlocking Heaven's Fortune. He was certain that there were other secrets inside it. He would surely know about them in the time to come.
His inner conviction was also strengthened since the Art of Unlocking Heaven's Fortune was proclaimed as the 'First Eternal Art'. This meant that it wasn't an average technique.
Jun Xie recalled the practice methods of the first stage of the Art of Unlocking Heaven's Fortune – the Great Overflowing Illumination. He then sat down cross-legged on the ground. After that, he entered a peaceful state with his 'mind and body as one', and started to practice the first stage.
"Illumination is spread when the divine light is set into movement. Tread upon the Spring of Immortals to Transcend the Nine Heavens. The heart becomes a mountain of treasure when the world is within grasp. A soul that undergoes nine divine refinements may never fall to Hell!"
Surprisingly, Jun Xie felt nothing even after he began to practice the method; he couldn't even feel the slightest bit of Qi. However, he didn't feel discouraged. He continued to monitor his body to prevent it from relaxing, and started to practice once again.
However, there was no reaction even after he had practised the methods to regulate his body over two-hundred times. His meridians had remained inactive from beginning to end. Moreover, his legs had gone numb due to sitting in a cross-legged position for such a long time. It seemed that the capabilities of this body were yet to be developed even though it had gone through the cleaning process. He had even started to feel dizzy; he felt that he could faint anytime.
He took another deep breath and cleared his mind. He thought, [I don't believe that I can't succeed in forcing out the Qi. I'm a master when it comes to being evil. Who can be more evil than I – the Evil Monarch? This senior will certainly succeed].
[This senior will never fall before other evils. The other evils must fall before me. I'm the Evil Monarch. I'm the Supreme Leader of all evils.]
He entered into the state of meditation once again. His muscles started to feel strained and stiff after a while. His body refused to obey him. He regulated his body as per the instructions of the Art of Unlocking Heaven's fortune more than three-hundred times. But, he felt nothing.
Jun Xie closed his eyes in an attempt to suppress his exhaustion. He continued to repeat one thing in his mind, [One more time… one more time… one more time… more… more…]
Jun Xie finally felt a change taking place in the Niwan Palace within his mind after an indefinite period of time. He then felt a little change in his meridians along with a flush of heat. But, it felt very weak and insignificant; one couldn't feel it unless one monitored every part of the body in a constant manner. The flow of the Qi was thin to the point of being almost non-existent. But, its presence was truly abnormal. It was something rather peculiar. The one to practice internal arts can manage to practice to the point of feeling the flow of Qi. But, it shouldn't have condensed to become a solid existence that flows within one's body. However, Jun Xie had lost himself in his practice to the point of absurdity. So, he couldn't realize it.
A seven-hued ray of light rose from the base of a miniature pagoda inside Jun Xie's consciousness as soon as the flow of Qi appeared. Then, the pagoda started to rotate in the air slowly. A huge amount of white mist was emitted out with each of its rotations. Countless white threads – invisible to the naked eye – were formed by the mist around Jun Xie's body as the white mist slowly floated around. The threads then started to penetrate Jun Xie's skin – all the way down to his meridians…