Don't Rush Growth—Just Come at Me

Hearing Feng Xu tell him to stay, Ancient One's old face immediately fell.

Did this former Sorcerer Supreme not care about his dignity?

Why was he always being ordered around like a restaurant waiter?

He was in a hurry to get back to cultivating and pursue that mysterious, elusive path of immortality!

Though that was what he thought, Ancient One said something entirely different aloud.

"Sect Master, I strongly protest this favoritism of yours!"

"You should treat everyone equally. You can't keep cultivating only my ability to handle matters."

"You should also nurture the ability of my two disciples and Master Hamir to deal with affairs!"

"That way, our Ethereal Ascension Sect will have worthy successors, and every disciple under our banner will be outstanding!"

"Is that so?"

Feng Xu glanced sideways at the old man's impassioned face, fully understanding what was going through his mind.

Only after letting out a long sigh did he say calmly, "I never expected Fellow Daoist Ancient One to possess such broad-mindedness. It seems I was being narrow-minded."

"Since Fellow Daoist Ancient One has given up his spot, please go down and call the other three over."

"Though the effect will be somewhat poorer with more people, this little thing that rapidly tempers the body can still raise one's realm by at least three levels."

Ancient One's expression froze at those words. He then widened his eyes and stared at Feng Xu. "A little thing that can rapidly temper the body?"

"And raise someone by three levels at once?!"

It was no wonder Ancient One was shocked.

To safely obtain the spiritual energy needed for those three Body Tempering levels, they would have to spend at least three years drawing it from the Multiverse.

And that was for those with powerful minds and good aptitude. Those with lesser talent might barely reach Body Tempering Stage One after three years.

"That's right." Feng Xu nodded. "They are some herbs and Spirit Stones I infused with my own spiritual power yesterday."

"Besides helping raise one's Body Tempering Realm, they should also have some effect in expanding the body's potential."

Feng Xu paused as he spoke, then looked at Ancient One with a smile. "That is roughly it. You should hurry down and call them over."

"Uh..."

Seeing Feng Xu's faintly smiling expression, Ancient One cursed himself like crazy for being such an idiot.

His feet dragged around for ages, refusing to move even an inch.

After all, three Body Tempering levels would leave one's physique only slightly weaker than Captain America's body when he had first been injected with the Super Soldier Serum!

Though Steve Rogers later became even stronger and could exchange a few moves with Thanos, that did not change the fact that he had already reached the peak of the human body from the very beginning!

Most importantly, there was no chance of failure, no need for sophisticated laboratories or equipment, and perhaps not even any pain!

Do not ask how he knew about Captain America Steve Rogers. Ancient One had seen the script through the timeline!

"Well... what I meant just now was... hmm, I meant that they need training, not... forcing their growth!"

Ancient One seemed to have found an excuse and slapped his hands together. "Right, that's it, forcing their growth!"

"They are still too young. This sort of forced growth is harmful to their development, but an old man like me does not matter!"

His words still sounded righteous, as though he were thinking entirely for others.

Natasha, who was watching the show nearby, could not help turning her head and rolling her eyes.

And here she had believed Mordo and the others' bragging yesterday, thinking the Sorcerer Supreme was a powerful figure worthy of respect.

Now it seemed he was merely a shameless old man who only thought about grabbing benefits!

"Then we shall do as you said. After all, I have occupied your territory, so this is compensation you deserve."

Feng Xu could not be bothered to keep arguing with Ancient One. With a wave of his hand, dozens of Spirit Stones flew from his sleeve.

In the blink of an eye, they formed a rather profound formation on the ground.

Then two large vats appeared out of thin air, landing on the left and right within the formation. Brown and green medicinal liquid sloshed continuously inside them.

"This is the Small Spirit-Gathering Formation. As its name suggests, it gathers the spiritual energy of heaven and earth into the formation."

"As for those two vats, they contain Body-Tempering Elixir prepared from spiritual plants. They are meant to be used together with the Spirit-Gathering Formation."

As soon as Feng Xu finished speaking, Natasha looked curiously at the vats and asked, "Are we supposed to soak in them?"

"That's right." As he spoke, Feng Xu waved his hand again and tossed the old man and the young woman directly into the vats.

"Clothing will not hinder the medicine's effects. Focus on circulating your cultivation method, draw the spiritual energy into your bodies, and open your acupoints."

Watching Feng Xu toss him into the vat like a child without sparing him even a shred of dignity, Ancient One clenched his back teeth.

He then began circulating his cultivation method indignantly, while thinking about how to beat Natasha up later under the pretense of sparring.

There was no helping it. He could not beat Feng Xu, so he could only vent his anger on Feng Xu's disciple.

As the two began circulating the Longevity Formula, the spiritual energy within the Spirit-Gathering Formation swirled into two tornadoes, one large and one small.

The larger tornado was caused by Ancient One absorbing spiritual energy, while the smaller one was caused by Natasha's absorption.

Seeing that both of them had gotten on track, Feng Xu did not remain idle and began explaining.

"The human body has a total of 360 acupoints, representing every part of the body."

"Opening one acupoint strengthens the constitution of that part. Once 36 connected acupoints are opened, one reaches Body Tempering Stage One, which also provides some enhancement to the entire body."

"The same applies afterward, until all 360 acupoints are opened and every part of the body is connected, achieving the perfected Circulatory Cycle of Tenfold Body Tempering."

"Once one reaches Tenfold Body Tempering, the body undergoes a complete transformation and can easily withstand this world's blades, guns, cannons, and explosives without injury..."

As Feng Xu spoke, Ancient One chose to begin with the acupoints in his head, while Natasha chose her palm.

Clearly, Ancient One wanted to strengthen his soul and protect the weakness of his head, while Natasha wanted stronger combat power as quickly as possible.

Time passed second by second.

The spiritual energy within the Spirit-Gathering Formation gradually thinned and dissipated, while the medicinal liquid in the vats slowly receded until it dried up.

Finally, as moonlight spilled from the night sky, the Spirit Stones forming the Spirit-Gathering Formation exhausted their spiritual energy and turned to powder.

"Haha! I actually reached Body Tempering Stage Four. Looks like my talent, Ancient One, is quite exceptional!"

Looking at his visibly younger body, Ancient One grinned so broadly that wrinkles piled across his old face.

Natasha, meanwhile, wore a miserable expression as she glared angrily at Ancient One.

"You hateful old man! You bullied me for being younger and stole all my spiritual energy!"

The reason Ancient One had reached Body Tempering Stage Four was that his spiritual power was stronger, allowing him to seize more spiritual energy.

Of course, that was only because he had held himself back. Had he absorbed with all his strength, Natasha likely would not have even reached Body Tempering Stage Two.

"Oh my, so that was it. No wonder I surpassed the three levels Sect Master mentioned. I was simply too focused on cultivating!"

Ancient One put on a look of sudden realization, then looked at Natasha reproachfully.

"Little Natasha, you should have said so earlier. Now that the cultivation is over, what are we supposed to do?"

"You!!!"

Ancient One's punchable tone made Natasha so furious that her voice trembled with tears.

If she knew where Feng Xu had gone, she would definitely have marched over and punched Ancient One twice!