How to Continue Strengthening the Body

"Greetings, imperial grandfather!" After a moment of stunned silence, Zhu Zhanshan finally came to his senses. He instinctively dropped to his knees and kowtowed three times to Zhu Di, each knock resounding.

"What exactly happened?" A Grandmaster Realm expert could fight his way in and out of an army ten thousand strong seven times over, while a Celestial Person Realm expert could treat an army of a million as though it were nothing. At the higher Shattering the Void Realm, an expert was commonly called a Land True Immortal in the martial world, and a single one was enough to determine the course of the realm. Zhu Di appeared as steady as Mount Tai, but inwardly, his thoughts were a tangled mess.

"To answer imperial grandfather, I spent two months traveling from the Capital to Mount Wudang, where I unexpectedly met my revered master, who was living in seclusion from the world. He not only expended his own power to open my eight extraordinary meridians and twelve standard meridians, but also showed me the path to reaching the Celestial Person Realm within ten years and sealed his Shattering the Void Realm insights into the sword Dao inside the sword I carry. Early this morning, he took pity on me for being away from home so long and used a qinggong technique beyond my understanding. In just three steps, he brought me from Mount Wudang to the Hall of Supreme Harmony. The longer I spend with him, the more unfathomable I find him. Even with boundless imagination, I cannot fathom one ten-thousandth of him. He wishes to tour the Forbidden City. I know this is against propriety, but I still wish to ask imperial grandfather to give me a chance to repay my master by serving as his guide!" Zhu Zhanshan looked at Zhu Di, his eyes full of anticipation.

"The Forbidden City is where the dragon dwells, and the residence of the imperial consorts and palace maids. How could outside officials be permitted to enter and leave at will? This would be improper!" After a moment's thought, an imperial censor loyal to Zhu Zhanji raised a stern and righteous objection.

Under the law of inheritance by the eldest legitimate son, Zhu Di was the emperor, Zhu Gaochi was the crown prince, and Zhu Zhanji was the imperial crown grandson.

Zhu Zhanshan was the fifth imperial grandson. Under the normal order of succession, he did not even rank.

But now that Mo Wenjian was here, things were completely different.

Master Daoyan was merely an invincible great grandmaster, not even at the Celestial Person Realm, yet he had been enough to help Zhu Di seize the throne.

Mo Wenjian was a Land True Immortal at the Shattering the Void Realm. A single word from him could change the minds of countless people, and helping Zhu Zhanshan would be as easy as turning over his hand.

Zhu Zhanji's position as imperial crown grandson was already hanging by a thread.

With Mo Wenjian's support, Zhu Zhanshan could take his place at any time.

Zhu Zhanshan wanted to serve as Mo Wenjian's guide and raise his favorability.

For Zhu Zhanji, this was clearly not good news.

It was only natural, then, that an imperial censor loyal to Zhu Zhanji would object.

"I am a simple wanderer from the mountains. I mistakenly thought touring the emperor's Forbidden City would be like visiting an ordinary family's farmhouse courtyard, and so I overlooked the taboos involved. I ask Your Majesty's forgiveness!" Mo Wenjian reached out and rubbed Zhu Zhanshan's head. "It was only a passing fancy. Now that I'm no longer interested, I won't insist. I'd like to go eat the Capital's roast duck, renowned throughout the realm. Whatever else there is can wait until tomorrow!"

Mo Wenjian had never felt particularly strongly about touring the Forbidden City.

He had not visited it when he was on Earth.

Nor had he visited it in the National Martial Arts world.

He had said he wanted to tour the Forbidden City this time, but the real reason was that Zhu Zhanshan had a nightmare last night, and Mo Wenjian felt a little sympathy for him, having left home so young.

By bringing Zhu Zhanshan back to the Capital, Mo Wenjian had achieved his real purpose.

Whether or not he toured the Forbidden City was not important.

Mo Wenjian used spatial folding and stepped onto a bustling street.

After making numerous inquiries, Mo Wenjian finally arrived at the Capital's most renowned roast duck restaurant.

Though Mo Wenjian was no professional gourmet, Earth's foodie empire had not earned its reputation for nothing.

Mo Wenjian had a natural sensitivity to good food.

Ducks raised on an all-natural diet in ancient times were especially delicious.

The natural honey brushed over the roast duck's skin was exceptionally sweet and fragrant.

The roast duck master's fifty years of professional experience showed Mo Wenjian what authentic Capital roast duck truly was.

By comparison, the twenty-yuan roadside roast duck sold in Earth's urban villages was outright junk food.

As the saying went, a full belly and warm clothes put one in mind of **.

After eating and drinking his fill, Mo Wenjian instinctively thought of visiting the Bureau of Music to experience the Capital's distinctive scenery.

But after a moment's hesitation, Mo Wenjian ultimately gave up on the idea.

Though he had long since left Earth, the nine years of compulsory education he had received there were engraved on his soul.

Mo Wenjian simply could not bring himself to go seeking flowers and willows.

Mo Wenjian was surprised to discover that the Capital actually had a night market.

Some folk performers put on displays of all sorts of extraordinary skills.

Mo Wenjian watched with such relish that he lost track of time.

Before he knew it, the time had reached 00:00:00, and the cooldown had refreshed.

As he wandered, Mo Wenjian casually opened the All-Heavens Dao Fruit Simulator.

[Age 16: You demonstrated strength at the Shattered Void level and became the Great Ming Dynasty's universally acknowledged number one under heaven. Under your guidance, Zhang Sanfeng expanded Taiji Fist to the Shattering the Void Realm. Under your guidance, Master Daoyan broke through to the Celestial Person Realm. Zhu Di wished to win you over and asked whether Zhu Zhanshan could shoulder the burden of the state. You told Zhu Di frankly that Zhu Zhanshan's disposition was neither competitive nor grasping, making him an unsuitable choice for an emperor. Zhu Di felt that you understood the greater good and regarded you with profound respect!]

[Age 17: To secure Zhu Zhanji's position as imperial crown grandson and prevent Zhu Zhanshan from taking his place, the civil and military officials loyal to Zhu Zhanji used a discord-sowing scheme against you, hoping to damage your favorable opinion of Zhu Zhanshan. Because your level of knowledge was too high and their scheme was too low-grade, you felt your intelligence had been insulted!]

[Age 18: Because the civil and military officials kept using all sorts of clumsy schemes, your impression of Zhu Zhanji grew worse and worse. You decided to help Zhu Di open his eight extraordinary meridians and twelve standard meridians, then do the same for Zhu Gaochi, making them grandmasters so they could live longer. Zhu Zhanji would spend the first half of his life as imperial crown grandson and the second half as crown prince, just one step away from the throne but only able to look at it, never touch or taste it. You would show Zhu Zhanji what cruelty really was!]

[Age 20: You used spatial expansion to break down your Chaos Sword Gang into basic, attribute-less energy particles. You finally grasped the essence of Chaos Sword Gang and could transform it into every type of sword Gang at will, truly turning one sword into ten thousand!]

[Age 24: Time and again, you used spatial collapse to compress your Chaos Sword Gang by small increments without stopping, until it reached the limit of what your body could withstand. You felt that Shattered Void experts in the conventional sense were now weaklings you could kill in an instant with a casual strike of Chaos Sword Gang!]

[Age 27: Zhu Qizhen, the Great Ming God of War, was born and became the imperial crown great-grandson under the law of inheritance by the eldest legitimate son. You knew that Zhu Qizhen would spend the first half of his life as imperial crown great-grandson and the second half as imperial crown grandson. He could forget about ever becoming crown prince in this lifetime, much less touching the imperial throne. You felt very happy!]

[Age 30: Your Chaos Sword Gang had not reached its limit and still had the potential to be compressed further, but your flesh-and-blood body was too fragile to withstand any stronger impact. This made you start thinking about how to continue strengthening your body!]