Never Before!

"Having finished the 'old news,' it was time to look at the current news."

Gu Feng sighed, smiling as he closed the "old news" items on the screen one by one.

These had been specially collected and preserved by Kong Yang, and had already been outdated for a thousand years.

Now that he had taken office, he naturally needed to first understand the current situation.

With a tap of his finger, he opened the homepages of various news outlets. All manner of news flooded the screen.

"Xin Moyu emerges from seclusion, challenges 'Epoch Second, Wei Mo,' and suffers a regretful defeat!"

"After seven hundred years, Yue Zhen battles Fu Shan again, washes away his past humiliation, and advances to fifth in the Epoch!"

"As the end of the Epoch approaches, a hundred Epoch Paragons shine upon the Four Sages!"

"Dominating the top spot for three hundred years! Qiu Zhan suppresses all Epoch Paragons and rules the sea of stars—who can stand against him!"

Headline after headline appeared.

Xin Moyu, Wei Mo, Yue Zhen, Fu Shan, Qiu Zhan...

One name after another entered Gu Feng's sight. Some he had heard of, while others he had not.

Yet they all shared one identity: Epoch Paragons!

Nearly every news report revolved around these Epoch Paragons!

Gu Feng suddenly came back to himself and could not help letting out a weathered sigh.

"Ten thousand years have slipped by in a hurry. The Xinchen Era is nearing its end as well!"

Having awakened, he had been hit one blow after another by the tremendous shock Li Qingshan had brought, to the point that he had nearly forgotten about this.

After sweeping his gaze over the page, he simply flipped to the front-page headline and entered the Epoch Paragon Ranking livestream.

An ancient stone stele stood tall in the starry sky, with one hundred names listed upon it in order.

The stele's surface recorded only names, places of origin, and years of birth, with no specific rankings.

Yet every media outlet had thoughtfully overlaid ranking captions directly onto the image, overlapping the stele's surface so that everything was clear at a glance.

Epoch First, Qiu Zhan

Epoch Second, Wei Mo

Epoch Third, Yuan Miao

Epoch Fourth, Xin Moyu

Epoch Fifth, Yue Zhen

Epoch Sixth, Fu Shan

Epoch Tenth, Cao Wuyan

Epoch Hundredth...

A hundred paragons were listed on the Epoch Paragon Ranking, suspended above the boundless sea of stars.

The scrolling comments were blazing with activity, refreshing madly.

"Ten thousand years, with a hundred Epoch Paragons gathered together—all we await is the 'War of the Four Sages'!"

"How fortunate we are! To have been born at the end of the Xinchen Era and witness this with our own eyes!"

"Now that the end of the Epoch is near, the paragons beyond the star systems should have returned, right?"

"Obviously! Haven't you seen how little the rankings have changed over the last two years? These hundred Epoch Paragons should be all of them."

"Don't speak too absolutely, guy above. I just heard from my uncle, who cooks at the Celestial Killer Sect, that Feng Boyong is about to awaken."

"That's right. I found it in historical records—Feng Boyong should awaken in twenty-eight years and challenge the 'War of the Four Sages'!"

"Uh... forgive me for asking, but who is Feng Boyong?"

"Hahaha, you people from the White Tiger Star System are killing me. Even if such a person really exists, let me ask you this: could a newly advanced Eighth Order Myriad Manifestations expert possibly squeeze into the top ten? He'd be lucky just to hang on at the bottom of the list!"

"Heh, and he wants to challenge the 'War of the Four Sages'? That's a bit too overconfident."

"Sorry to interrupt! Feng Boyong might not be able to do it, but Li Qingshan definitely can! According to the ancestral teachings passed down in my family, as long as Li Qingshan awakens..."

"Interrupt my ass! And where did this Li Qingshan crawl out from?"

"With the end of the Epoch so close, stop fantasizing one after another. Never mind whether Feng Boyong or Li Qingshan even exists—so what if they really do emerge?"

"That's right. Qiu Zhan has dominated the rankings for three hundred years. Could they possibly turn the heavens upside down?"

"Interesting!"

Gu Feng shook his head and laughed. His gaze swept across the comments one after another, but he paid them no mind.

Compared to a thousand years, an ordinary person's century-long lifespan was simply too short.

Furthermore, with the end of the Epoch approaching, all news revolved around the Epoch Paragon Ranking. The names Feng Boyong and Li Qingshan had long since faded into legend, so it was perfectly normal for these newly born juniors not to know them.

However...

Time would ultimately prove everything!

The wheel of time rolled ever onward, crushing through year after year.

The Epoch Paragon Ranking livestream grew ever more lively. Every day, countless citizens took time out of their schedules to enter the stream and check for changes in the rankings.

However, as time passed, shifts in rank became fewer and fewer. Even news of arranged battles disappeared completely.

It seemed that the ranked paragons had thoroughly grasped one another's strength and tacitly accepted the current rankings.

Just as countless citizens were bored out of their minds and could only keep revisiting and analyzing past spectacular moments.

Xinchen Era, Year 9975.

One name suddenly crashed into everyone's sight.

Epoch Fifth, Feng Boyong

In an instant, the scrolling comments were dumbfounded.

"?"

"?+1"

"?+2"

Demon Subjugation Division, Qingshan Star

"Feng Boyong is this fierce?!"

Xia Cunzhen's eyes widened as he stared blankly at the light screen and looked at the name beneath Feng Boyong's.

Epoch Sixth, Yue Zhen

Clearly, the moment Feng Boyong emerged from seclusion, he had sought out Yue Zhen and defeated him in a single battle, avenging the pursuit and killing attempt from back then!

Only...

Xia Cunzhen swallowed, then shifted his gaze to the equally shocked Gu Feng. His eyes were full of bewilderment as he said:

"Elder Gu, you only just broke through to Eighth Order Myriad Manifestations, and Feng Boyong only just broke through too..."

"But isn't his strength a little too unscientific... no, a little too un-Martial Dao?"

"Cough, cough!"

Gu Feng coughed repeatedly, his face twitching.

Could he even be compared to Feng Boyong?

After shooting Xia Cunzhen a hard glare, he looked back at the screen and sighed with emotion.

"This is the Martial Dao. You simply do not understand it!"

Xia Cunzhen was even more confused.

"I don't understand?"

Gu Feng turned around and fixed his gaze on Xia Cunzhen.

"Do you still remember the five bodies of the God Phase?"

"Of course!" Xia Cunzhen nodded forcefully.

"Meteor Body, Satellite Body, Dwarf Planet Body, Planet Body, Gaseous Giant Star Body!"

"Back when I had just broken through to the seventh order, I was the same as Kong Yang is now—I had only reached the Planet Body."

"It was precisely because I listened to your advice that I did not choose Body as Celestial Body at the tenth level of Planet Body, but instead embarked upon the path of advancing to the Gaseous Giant Star Body."

Gu Feng nodded lightly and said earnestly:

"It was too early back then, so I did not explain much to you. Today, I will tell you properly!"

"The advancement of the five bodies of the God Phase is a path for making up for one's foundations."

"Yet even the weakest Meteor Body can still undergo Body as Celestial Body and still step into Eighth Order Myriad Manifestations!"

"Then why must those foundations be made up for?"

Without hesitation, Xia Cunzhen answered directly:

"Of course, because of Myriad Manifestations Embodiment!"

"That's right, Myriad Manifestations Embodiment!"

Gu Feng nodded with a smile and explained:

"After Body as Celestial Body, the celestial body one becomes is one's True Form, from which myriad manifestations are then derived."

"The disparity between True Forms represents an enormous disparity in foundations!"

"Just like those old Eighth Order fossils who died beneath Li Qingshan's blade back then, and the Epoch Paragons currently on the ranking!"

"Moreover, only those whose True Form is at least a Gaseous Giant Star have a chance to unite all myriad manifestations in the end, pry open the rules of the Star Realm, and advance to the ninth order!"

"Ninth order..."

For a moment, Xia Cunzhen's eyes filled with longing, but he quickly came back to his senses.

"Elder Gu, then Feng Boyong and Yue Zhen..."

What Gu Feng had just said did not explain at all why Feng Boyong was so powerful!

"It's very simple!"

Gu Feng smiled faintly and waved his hand.

"The Star Martial Hall's research has never stopped. At the seventh order, there is the Azure Sun Sutra, sufficient to fight against the eighth order. Naturally, there is similar research at the eighth order as well. According to Minister Ming, it seems to be related to Martial Dao Will and bloodlines..."

"Qiu Zhan has dominated the rankings for three hundred years. He must have fused his bloodline and achieved the Qiuniu True Form!"

"There is no bloodline within Feng Boyong, so he should have grasped a certain Martial Dao Will and fused it into his True Form!"

"Martial Dao Will?"

Xia Cunzhen was utterly bewildered and wanted to ask more, but judging from Gu Feng's earlier "according to Minister Ming," it was clear that Gu Feng could not provide any further answers either.

After thinking for a moment, he suddenly recalled another question.

"Elder Gu, if we do not count Martial Dao Will or bloodlines, and use a star alone as the True Form, then compared to Qiu Zhan and Feng Boyong..."

"I don't know."

Gu Feng shook his head as if it were only natural, not even offering a single guess.

Facing Xia Cunzhen's thoroughly puzzled expression, he directly uttered eight words.

"Apotheosis as a Star has never existed since ancient times!"