Sacred Body of the Immortals

Outside the Jun Family's gates, two groups stood beneath the heavens.

The nine-headed lion emanated brilliant golden light.

The mystical qilin beast stepped on purple qi, radiating divine power.

"Cousin Xiaoyao, shall we compete again at the Heavenly Dao Tower?" Jun Lingcang said.

Though his eyes were covered, his gaze swept toward the distant void, as if trying to glimpse that extraordinary figure in gray.

"Since cousin is so eager, I shall certainly oblige," Jun Xiaoyao smiled in response.

Their exchange seemed peaceful on the surface, yet carried strong undertones of rivalry.

Seeing this, the Jun family elders breathed sighs of relief.

They understood that the matter of A-Jiu had clearly left a knot in Jun Lingcang's heart.

What they feared most was seeing Jun Xiaoyao and Jun Lingcang fall out, or even become enemies.

If Series Zero and Series One were to oppose each other, it would not bode well for the Jun family.

It could even affect the clan's future destiny.

Fortunately, both of them showed enough grace to not disappoint the family elders.

Their current rivalry remained within reasonable bounds.

"This time, I hope our Jun family's talented youths can dominate the rankings at the Heavenly Dao Tower!" an elder declared boldly.

What a glorious thing it would be if their clan's young talents could dominate the tower rankings.

As one of the Three Great Houses, they had the confidence to aim for this.

Just as Jun Xiaoyao and the others were preparing to depart for the Sacred Spirit Academy...

Other powers began to move as well.

Some witnessed a terrifying golden divine bird rising from within a golden mountain range.

Its wings spread like clouds reaching to the heavens, stirring up massive storms!

"Gasp, could it be that the Golden-Winged Peng King from Garuda Sacred Mountain has emerged from seclusion!"

Many cultivators were shocked.

The Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird was also known as Garuda.

The Garuda Sacred Mountain was also a top-tier Ancient Royal Clan.

Like the Nine-Headed Lion Clan, their numbers were too few to qualify as an Ancient Imperial Clan.

But this did not mean the Garuda Sacred Mountain was weak.

Every talent that emerged from their ranks had the ambition to challenge all directions.

The most famous among them was none other than the Golden-Winged Peng King.

His name was Jin Lie, the most renowned genius of the current generation from Garuda Sacred Mountain.

His strength was no less than the top geniuses of the Ancient Imperial Clans, and perhaps even surpassed them.

At least talents like Huang Xuanyi and Feng Qingling would be very wary when facing Jin Lie, lacking confidence in matching him.

"Finally out of seclusion. This time, I, Jin Lie, shall dominate all directions at the Heavenly Dao Tower!"

The Golden-Winged Great Peng Bird flapped its wings and streaked across the sky like golden lightning.

...

In the Western Dao Province of the Desolate Celestial Domain.

At the entrance of an ancient, natural temple.

"Law Sea, your heart is unsettled, too chaotic. Go experience the mortal world."

"Your Six-Zhang Golden Body is one step from perfection. The karmic connection... lies within the Heavenly Dao Tower."

An old monk with long eyebrows reaching the ground and wearing a kasaya spoke to a handsome young monk with thick eyebrows and large eyes.

The young monk named Law Sea replied: "Master, please rest assured. This disciple will not shame Small Western Heaven's name. In this journey to the mortal realm, I shall widely spread Western Heaven's Buddhist teachings."

"Alas, striving for dominance is not the righteous path. Take care of yourself," the old monk sighed.

If others saw this scene, they would certainly be shocked.

Small Western Heaven was a powerful legacy with profound foundations in the Desolate Celestial Domain, eternal and undying.

Throughout the realm, countless faithful gathered their power of belief.

No one knew how deep Small Western Heaven's foundations ran.

But it was rumored to have connections with the ancient Buddha Emperor.

In the current era, Small Western Heaven maintained an extremely low profile, rarely appearing in the world.

The outside world only knew that Small Western Heaven's most outstanding talents were the Buddhist Son and Buddhist Daughter.

The Law Sea before them was precisely the Buddhist Son of Small Western Heaven.

"Master, disciple takes his leave." Law Sea pressed his palms together and bowed slightly.

But after turning away, a hint of an arrogant smile appeared on Law Sea's face.

"Finally I can enter the world. Who should I enlighten?"

"Let this monk think... I still need a mount. Perhaps I shall enlighten a nine-headed lion or a golden-winged great peng."

"And those female benefactors, long mired in the sea of suffering, need this monk to rescue them."

Law Sea smiled.

His talent was extraordinary, mastering various Buddhist divine abilities with ease.

He had even reached extremely profound levels in Small Western Heaven's supreme methods like the Great Mighty Dragon True Scripture.

But Law Sea's personality was nothing like a monk's, instead resembling that of an unrestrained mortal.

Now that he finally had the chance to enter the world, Law Sea naturally wouldn't just make a casual tour.

It was time for him, the Buddhist Son of Small Western Heaven, to make his name known.

...

The Sacred Spirit Academy was located in the Celestial Spirit Dao Province.

As an academy with a long heritage, its disciples were spread throughout the realm - truly having students all across the land.

With such a terrifying network of connections, ordinary powers dared not provoke the Sacred Spirit Academy.

Even Immortal forces treated the Sacred Spirit Academy with great courtesy.

Of course, this did not include the Jun family.

The Sacred Spirit Academy also did not wish to provoke top-tier Immortal forces like the Jun family.

That was why the Academy had changed its tune earlier, welcoming Jun Xiaoyao to come.

But while the Academy yielded, it didn't mean its disciples would.

Ji Xuan, as the Academy's Sacred Son, was like their face to the world.

Yet he had been beaten by Jun Xiaoyao until his dao heart shattered, becoming completely useless.

Wasn't this telling the world that this was the caliber of students the Sacred Spirit Academy produced?

So Jun Xiaoyao had indirectly damaged the Academy's reputation.

The male disciples of the Sacred Spirit Academy mostly harbored hostility toward Jun Xiaoyao.

But among the female disciples, many were waiting to observe.

For they had heard that the Jun family's Divine Son possessed heavenly bearing, extraordinary handsomeness, worthy of being called the realm's number one divine immortal in looks.

If he truly met their expectations, they could perhaps forgive him somewhat.

At this moment, in a lakeside pavilion, two men and one woman were gathered.

One of the men wore black and white daoist robes, his pupils seemingly one black and one white, flowing with dao rhythms - quite extraordinary.

He was one of the Sacred Sons of the Sacred Spirit Academy, with a powerful background and origins.

"This Jun Xiaoyao crippled Brother Ji Xuan, yet still has the shamelessness to come seek opportunities at the Heavenly Dao Tower. Truly despicable to the extreme."

The other youth, wearing luxurious clothes and emanating imperial presence, shook his head and said: "Who told him to be the Jun family's Divine Son? If he's not domineering, who is?"

"I really wonder what kind of transcendent figure the Jun family's Divine Son is, that even someone as powerful as Brother Ji Xuan was beaten until his dao heart shattered."

The remaining woman wore a floral high-waisted dress, with jet-black hair cascading down to her buttocks.

Her skin was snow-white and lustrous, her features elegant and exceptionally beautiful.

Her tone carried a hint of curiosity.

Among their group of Sacred Sons and Daughters, Ji Xuan had been considered quite powerful.

To be beaten until his dao heart shattered seemed inconceivable to her.

"Hua Xiqing, you are our Sacred Spirit Academy's Sacred Daughter. Don't side with outsiders when the time comes," the luxuriously dressed youth raised his brow and said.

The youth in black and white daoist robes coldly smiled and said: "Entering our Sacred Spirit Academy's gates isn't so simple."

"All heaven's proud children must choose to undergo the trials - climbing the ninety-nine heavenly steps, ringing the ancient bell eighteen times, and finally leaping the dragon gate to enter."

"If the mighty Divine Son of the Jun family falls at these three trials, that would be quite embarrassing indeed."

"These three trials are indeed difficult. Even when I first entered the Sacred Spirit Academy, I had to expend great effort to barely pass," the luxuriously dressed man shook his head and said.

"Then let us wait and see this Divine Son's arrival," Hua Xiqing softly said.