It was quite normal for Profound Sage Melon Eater to be thinking in such a way.

　　After all, he was born with the bloodline of a divine beast. With him being at the Eighth Stage Realm, many cultivators would see him as a walking natural treasure. In the past, when he was still of a lower realm, there were already many cultivators who had thought of him as such. However, those guys who had such ideas had already been crushed by the wheel of time and were no longer anywhere to be seen.

　　Moreover, it wasn’t only Sage Monarch Melon Eater who was thinking in this way… even Song Shuhang, who was at the side, wondered if the Great Northern Emperor was just hungry and wanted to secretly eat that spicy ‘fat whale feast’ of his, which was why he made an excuse to deceive Sage Monarch Melon Eater into giving him his body.

　　After all, he had just heard the Great Northern Emperor mutter something like, ‘it would be better to cook this whale in several pots, steamed and braised, with some spicy and some not so much’. Therefore, it was very normal that Song Shuhang was thinking this.

　　The Great Northern Emperor glanced at the silent whale Melon Eater and was immediately able to guess what he was thinking.

　　The Great Northern Emperor lazily said, “Don’t overthink… if I really wanted to take your life, a finger of mine would have been more than enough. At that time, not only would you lose all the blood essence in your body, but your body would also be used to make several delicious dishes. Moreover, you wouldn’t even have the opportunity to escape.”

　　If it weren’t for the face of his little friend Song Shuhang and Fairy ＠ #% ×, he would have been too lazy to even provide guidance to this monster whale.

　　Although the blood essence of an Eighth Stage monster whale was precious, for the Great Northern Emperor, it could barely be considered eligible to enter his treasury.

　　This monster whale followed the path of virtue and appeared to have done countless good deeds, so it would be quite troublesome to kill him.

　　However, if the Great Northern Emperor really wanted his essence and blood, he could just put him to sleep. At that time, he wouldn’t have any problem taking some of its blood essence. And actually, to a certain extent, bloodletting was even good for one’s health, so the whale wouldn’t really suffer a loss.

　　Sage Monarch Melon Eater heard these words and felt like crying.

　　—It was a very crude reasoning, but this senior hadn’t said anything wrong. When the other party had first appeared, he had knocked him into a daze with a single palm, and he ended up losing his consciousness. If the other party really wanted to kill him, he was afraid that he could only wait and do nothing as he got turned into a dead whale with a single move.

　　Sage Monarch Melon Eater asked curiously, “Senior, is the final step I have to take really to abandon my entire body? Does every Tribulation Transcender have to take this step?”

　　The Great Northern Emperor looked at the skies as he explained, “Of course not. For most cultivators, their physical body is a very important part of their cultivation, with it even being related to their ability to step on their path and achieve eternal life. However, you practice the ❮Dual System Virtue Technique❯, and the path of normal cultivators is different from those who practice the ❮Dual System Virtue Technique❯. This cultivation technique has a very big background, and it integrates the path of virtue into one’s body. When one practices it to the peak of the Eighth Stage, their physical body and light of virtue would almost be completely integrated. However, you should also be able to sense it yourself. In the end, your flesh is still flesh, and it has not truly transformed into light of virtue. You still bleed and can get injured. From this point, if you desire to go further, then your flesh is holding you back.”

　　Sage Monarch Melon Eater went silent.

　　Indeed, after he cultivated to the peak of the Eighth Stage, although his flesh and light of virtue appear to have merged into one, he could still bleed and get injured.

　　And faintly, he also got the feeling that his physical body seemed to be holding him back.

　　However, abandoning one’s physical body was too contrary to the current mainstream path of cultivation. No one had ever mentioned it to him before, causing him to have never even thought about such an option.

　　Sage Monarch Melon Eater asked bitterly, “Will I be unable to take this step further if I keep my physical body?”

　　His physical body, which possessed the bloodline of a divine beast, undoubtedly had great strength. Even if he weren’t to use any of his virtuous secret techniques, he would still be able to sweep through a great number of those in the same realm with just his physical body.

　　As such, he was still a little reluctant to abandon it.

　　One’s fleshly body was not the same as clothes; once taken off, one could no longer get it back.

　　The Great Northern Emperor calmly said, “I can tell you with great certainty that it is the only way. If you choose to not abandon your body, then you shall remain as a peak Eighth Stage Profound Sage for the rest of your life. Your cultivation technique is called the ❮Dual System Virtue Technique❯, and on the surface, it might seem as though it is a virtuous technique proficient in two systems. However, its true meaning is that the virtuous technique is the combination of two different systems, who were fused into one. If you were to choose to practice this technique, you will not be able to keep a foot in both camps.”

　　The Great Northern Emperor continued, “As I said earlier, the one who created this ❮Dual System Virtue Technique❯ was someone incredible, far greater than you can imagine. That being truly stood at the pinnacle of all practitioners in the universe. After creating this set of cultivation techniques, that being stopped at the Eighth Stage Realm. With their strength, they could have easily completed the technique and reached the Ninth Stage Realm… However, they seemed to be dissatisfied with how the Ninth Stage-rank version of the technique looked. Perhaps, even they had no way of creating a cultivation technique that could keep one’s physical body while ascending to the Ninth Stage. After I and the several other fellow daoists delved into this ❮Dual System Virtue Technique❯, we came to this conclusion.”

　　Song Shuhang asked curiously, “Who’s the creator of this cultivation technique?”

　　In the results of his appraisal, the information that was related to the ‘creator’ had been censored.

　　“I have already spoken very clearly. Do you still need me to further clarify what an existence that stood at the pinnacle of the universe could be?” The Great Northern Emperor revealed a slight smile.

　　Song Shuhang’s heart moved.

　　An existence that stood at the pinnacle of all the practitioners in the universe, could it be… a wielder of Heaven’s Will?!

　　From the Great Northern Emperor’s tone, this existence was definitely not some ordinary Immortal as he had described this existence as someone who stood at the pinnacle of all practitioners in the universe.

　　In other words, it was someone who was at the same level as the Scholarly Sage! Although he hadn’t been able to become the wielder of the Heaven’s Will, he was, nonetheless, able to sweep across the world and destroy all his opponents while defeating every Immortal.

　　The Great Northern Emperor said, “I don’t have much time to spare, so I’ll give you, hmm… about three days to consider it. If you have thought things through and decided by then, contact me through little friend Song. At that time, I shall guide you in the process of the abandonment of your physical body, which should, at the very least, allow you to reach the Ninth Stage.”

　　The great emperor was quite considerate. After all, abandoning one’s physical body was something that required one to consider carefully for some time. Furthermore, the lifespan of this giant whale was still very long, but if he did not want to die at his current realm, then he would really have to consider this decision very carefully.

　　Sage Monarch Melon Eater suddenly decided and said, “No need to wait, please teach me immediately!”

　　The Great Northern Emperor calmly said, “You don’t want to give it more thought? Don’t be impulsive. Once you truly start to abandon your flesh, there will no longer be a chance for regret.”

　　Sage Monarch Melon Eater grit his teeth as he said, “There’s no longer any need to waste time, I’ve decided. Perhaps this might be the only opportunity I will have in my life to reach the Ninth Stage. I’m afraid that if I miss it, I might never have another chance in the future.”

　　The Great Northern Emperor looked at him and said, “It seems I’ve looked down on your determination.”

　　It appeared that this monster whale that practiced the ❮Dual System Virtue Technique❯ had happened to encounter little friend Song Shuhang and him, not only because of fate, but also because of his own desire and pursuit of higher realms.

　　The Great Northern Emperor then added, “Although I praised your determination… your character makes it very easy for you to be deceived.”

　　Sage Monarch Melon Eater: “…”

　　Song Shuhang: “…”

　　If the Great Northern Emperor had really planned on deceiving Sage Monarch Melon Eater, then the latter would have been deceived for good.

　　The Great Northern Emperor said, “Now that you’ve decided, let’s start with the bloodletting.”

　　Sage Monarch Melon Eater responded, “Do I have to let out all the blood essence in my body?”

　　Was this really not just committing suicide?

　　The Great Northern Emperor replied, “I told you to bleed, but I didn’t tell you to bleed out your blood essence. I need your blood to engrave a large formation. Did you really think that the process of abandoning one’s physical body was as simple as suicide and that it could be done so casually? The process of abandoning one’s physical body is very complicated. If you hadn’t decided to allow me to help you and had depended on your own strength, it would have likely taken you years of work just to complete this large formation.”

　　After saying that, he told Song Shuhang, “After a while, I will let you stand in the center of the formation. When this big whale is in the process of abandoning his physical body, you can simply stand there and receive some benefits.”

　　“Won’t it affect the formation?” Song Shuhang asked—would he also get to participate in this interesting show?

　　“Rest assured, it won’t affect the formation in any way. The formation itself has several ‘centers’, where one can enjoy the show and receive benefits. When Fairy ＠#%× had taken this step, I and the other fellow daoists had all occupied these ‘centers’,” said the Great Northern Emperor.

　　“There are several centers? Senior, can I call out a few people then?” Song Shuhang’s eyes brightened up.

　　The Great Northern Emperor said, “Where are they? Time is tight, so don’t bother calling those who are too far away. I’ll be setting up the formation quite quickly.”

　　“They’re right here with me, I can bring them out at any time,” Song Shuhang said—meanwhile, he remembered that Seventh Stage Venerable in the Palace of Winter.

　　After this matter with ‘Sage Monarch Melon Eater’ was over, he could probably also ask him to deal with that Seventh Stage Venerable.

　　“Fine then, you can bring them out. I’ll be constructing the formation in a while and preparing your positions,” said the Great Northern Emperor.

　　Sage Monarch Melon Eater: “…”

　　He suddenly got a very subtle feeling that he was just being sent to a dining table with a group of people waiting around the table and enjoying the view.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　Next, Sage Monarch Melon Eater began to bleed, allowing his normal blood to flow out. With his strength at the Eighth Stage, this would, of course, not cause any damage to his body, and he would be able to recover the lost blood in the blink of an eye.

　　The Great Northern Emperor used a magical treasure to collect the blood. At the same time, he condensed a layer of ice on the surface of the ocean, preparing to arrange the formation.

　　Song Shuhang brought out Su Clan’s Sixteen, Little Cai, Shi, and even Lady Onion, and set everybody down on the ice to wait for the great emperor’s present.

　　The virtuous lamia, who was ‘riding’ a small fat whale, continued to float behind Song Shuhang.

　　Song Shuhang’s disease flared up and he looked up towards the sky, deep in thought.

　　He wasn’t thinking about whether or not Sage Monarch Melon Eater would end up spicy or steamed, but he was rather pondering if there was any connection between his fat whale illusory core and Sage Monarch Melon Eater.

　　Song Shuhang decided to ask him directly, “Fellow Daoist Melon Eater, have you heard of the ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯?”

　　Sage Monarch Melon Eater casually replied, “I seem to have heard of it before. It should be the core cultivation technique of the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Sect, right? However, the Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Sect should have been destroyed over a hundred years ago.”

　　At this time, the Great Northern Emperor turned around and said, “The ❮Thirty-Three Divine Beasts’ Technique❯’s Huge Whale Chapter should have been created with the ancestor of this big whale as the basis. Little friend Shuhang, it seems that your luck is quite good today.”