Gao Wu insists on cultivating immortality.

Chapter 259 Golden Apple

Gao Wu wouldn't normally be so sarcastic; it was mainly because Venus used her mental power to bewitch him. For a dignified eighth-level saint to use such methods is truly shameful!
Now that he has won, he naturally has to say a few words of victory speech.

Venus, a dignified eighth-level saint, still possessed composure. Regardless of her inner thoughts, she outwardly remained calm and collected, accepting the young man's mockery.

Losing both matches certainly made Venus feel frustrated and under immense pressure from the league.

Especially considering that Ars was killed by Gao Wu with a single sword strike, the two were roughly equal in strength. Ars even had an advantage in terms of source power and a huge advantage in controlling lightning abilities.

While Gao Wu was indeed faster, what truly made him win was that exquisite sword strike – a victory for martial arts!
Hai Wuji expressed his consistent hardline stance, and Venus had no interest in talking to him anymore.

She left in haste, taking Helen, the Dragon Slayer Knights, and a suit of armor containing ashes with her.

The enormous luxury yacht parted the waves and slowly moved forward, heading straight for Dongzhou.

Hai Wuji didn't stop Venus, since she was a Federation envoy who had even given a formal notification before arriving.

He had no reason to stop Venus, whether for personal or public reasons.

As for what Venus will discuss with Qin Jiuyue and Wei Qiankun, that's beyond his control. But he's not worried.

Qin Jiuyue is inclined to cooperate with the Demon God to gain a foothold in the merged world. However, this is only an inclination; he is not yet ready to kneel before the Demon God.

Qin Jiuyue was proud and only respected the strong; he would never look down on Venus.

It is highly unlikely that the two sides will reach an agreement on cooperation.

Of the three, Wei Qiankun is the centrist. This doesn't mean that Wei Qiankun is adept at pleasing both sides, but rather that he dislikes both radicalism and conservatism.

Wei Qiankun prefers to make choices based on reality and with rationality and composure. Although he is pure and genuine in martial arts, he is actually very gentle in his actions.

Even with Venus's abilities, it was impossible for her to persuade Wei Qiankun.

Hai Wuji watched the yacht slowly sail away, and he couldn't help but sigh softly.

Gao Wu leaned closer and asked, "Master, why are you sighing? Your disciple is willing to share your burdens!"

Looking at Gao Wu's triumphant face, Hai Wuji couldn't help but smile: "You won beautifully today. All three golden apples are yours."

He handed three golden apples to Gao Wu. They were called golden apples, but they were only the size of oranges, shaped like apples, and had a beautiful golden color.

Gao Wu said with a grin, "I'll offer you three golden apples as a token of my respect, Master. Please accept them."

"You're quite the filial son, then don't accept it," Hai Wuji said with a laugh.

"Mainly because Master's skills are unparalleled, this thing is useless to you. We're just expressing our feelings."

Gao Wu chuckled and handed Song Mingyue a golden apple. Song Mingyue didn't refuse, but simply said softly, "Thank you."

Chao Fengying watched longingly from the side, but the item was too precious for her to ask her senior brother for it.

Gao Wu originally wanted to tease Chao Fengying, but then he felt that it was not appropriate to do so, since the golden apple was precious and not suitable for joking.

He casually tossed a golden apple to Chao Fengying, saying, "Everyone who sees it gets one."

Chao Fengying accepted the golden apple with both hands, her face full of surprise and joy. "Senior brother, you really gave it to me?"

“You don’t have to force yourself if you don’t like it,” Gao Wu said earnestly.

"No, that's not what I meant..." Chao Fengying hugged the golden apple tightly, smiling nervously, "It's too precious, I'm just a little embarrassed."

"Hahahaha..." Gao Wu was amused by the girl. He waved his hand generously, "We are fellow disciples, don't be so formal! If you follow your senior brother, he will treat you to the best of everything!"

"Thank you, senior brother. You're so kind!" Although Gao Wu was joking, Chao Fengying was deeply moved, and tears were welling up in her eyes as she spoke.

She had never heard of the Golden Apple, but the fact that the teacher was willing to wager an eighth-level dragon crystal against Venus showed how valuable it was.

Gao Wu affectionately patted Chao Fengying's head. This child is still young; she's easily moved by a little favor and is too gullible.

Hai Wuji was also a little surprised. The relationship between Gao Wu and Ming Yue was obvious; it would have been strange if he hadn't given them a golden apple. But he had given Feng Ying a golden apple so readily, which was truly generous.

After all, this isn't candy, which everyone can happily share. This is a divine golden apple.

Only the ancient divine realms of other worlds controlled by the Federation possess such divine artifacts. Gao Wu can dispose of them privately; there's no need to share them with Feng Ying.

The key point is that Gao Wu didn't know the Golden Apple could only be taken once. This kind of generosity is truly generous.

He was also very pleased that his apprentices were so loving and close; it was truly wonderful.

"The Golden Apple is only effective the first time you take it."

Hai Wuji said, "This item is somewhat miraculous, and it will have different effects on different people. The most direct manifestation is, of course, beauty enhancement. In my opinion, this item should be able to develop a person's potential and adjust their physical and mental state."

Hearing the teacher explain the effects of the golden apple, Song Mingyue's heart stirred. Although she didn't care much about appearance, she still felt a little envious of beauty like Helen's.

Chao Fengying, her face filled with longing, asked, "Can I become as beautiful as Helen?" Hai Wuji glanced at Chao Fengying; this disciple was indeed very beautiful, especially possessing extraordinary spirituality. However, for her to become a beauty like Helen was impossible in this lifetime…

Helen Keller is pure beauty; she doesn't need any particular charisma or aura—she's simply beautiful to the extreme. This is a unique form of evolution.

Hai Wuji didn't want to discuss such a boring topic. He said to Song Mingyue and Chao Fengying, "You need to rest and sleep after taking the Golden Apple. We won't practice martial arts today. Go and take the Golden Apple first. If you feel unwell, you can come to me."

Song Mingyue and Chao Fengying responded in unison and went back to their room first.

Gao Wu looked at Hai Wuji. The old man had left him alone; did he have something to tell him?

"You've been mentally marked by Venus, so be careful."

Hai Wuji said seriously, "Charming others may seem improper, but it actually involves using mental power to connect, infiltrate, assimilate, and tame them. It is a very complex and advanced mental technique."

"Don't just focus on Venus's appearance. How could she possibly make a group of level six experts follow her so devotedly, even to the point of dying for her, based solely on her looks? This is an extremely powerful and terrifying secret technique!"

"Your mental strength is good, but there is still a huge gap between you and level eight."

Hai Wuji was somewhat helpless. This disciple was too daring; he had specifically instructed him to do so, yet he still went looking for thrills.

If Senior Brother Qin were here, he could break that subtle spiritual imprint with his Nine Phases Transformation. If Wei Qiankun were here, he could also purify his high-level martial arts intent with his pure and true martial arts divine intent, eliminating all external forces.

He was only lacking in this aspect because his sword intent was too sharp and fierce. Removing the spiritual imprint was not difficult; the difficulty lay in not harming the high-level martial artist.

“I will be careful,” Gao Wu said. He could transfer his consciousness to the Yin Spirit, which Venus could not perceive, so it was impossible for the Yin Spirit to cause any real harm to his consciousness.

"What are you being careful of?!"

Hai Wuji finally couldn't help but curse, "Venus can construct temples of consciousness in the spiritual world, and she can guide your consciousness into the temple through her mark. You can think of the temple of consciousness as her sacred domain."

"If you waver even slightly, you will be controlled by her. Moreover, her consciousness temple can unite with Poseidon, just like your spiritual resonance with Mingyue!"
“Although Poseidon is not the true god of the sea, his strength is not much less than mine. This is also the most dangerous aspect. In short, once you see Venus, immediately unleash your mental power to break the connection. Or notify Mingyue to come find me.”

"Understood." Gao Wu saw how seriously Hai Wuji was taking it and realized that he had underestimated Venus.

He thought Venus used her beauty to bewitch others, but in reality, Venus's true power lay in her temple of consciousness.

An eighth-level saint is indeed not to be underestimated.

Hai Wuji led Gao Wu in sword practice for a full day and night, without letting Gao Wu sleep in between.

Until Song Mingyue woke up from her deep sleep.

After consuming the Golden Apple, Song Mingyue's appearance did not change significantly. Her eyes became clearer and brighter, and her skin seemed more radiant. Apart from that, there were no other noticeable changes.

Gao Wu observed with his Yin spirit and could see that the eight-pointed star between Song Mingyue's eyebrows was shining brightly. Deep within the eight-pointed star, there were two black and white snakes connected head to tail, forming a circle, with a faint sense of light and shadow.

Previously, Song Mingyue only had a white snake between her eyebrows, which was a manifestation of her spiritual power. As her martial arts cultivation improved, the white snake also merged with her martial arts divine form, becoming the foundation of her martial arts cultivation.

The fact that the white snake split into two snakes, one black and one white, is actually a higher-level transformation of the Xuanming Heavenly Serpent.

Consuming the Golden Apple clearly brought about a qualitative leap in Song Mingyue's mental strength, enabling her to achieve a leap in martial arts level and truly lay a solid foundation in martial arts.

Chao Fengying's source power didn't change much, but she clearly grew a few centimeters taller. As for the deeper changes, Gao Wu couldn't see them.

Song Mingyue's talent is psychic power, and this ability is clearly manifested through her source energy. As for Chao Fengying, it's unclear what talent she's been given…

Hai Wuji didn't care much about it. The golden apple was obtained by chance, and he was already very surprised that Song Mingyue could use it to rise to the top.

As for his youngest apprentice, it would be good if his talent was unleashed, but it wouldn't matter if it wasn't. In any case, Chao Fengying has extremely high talent in swordsmanship, and becoming a top sword king in the future shouldn't be a problem.

In the century-long history of the alliance, there have only been three martial saints like them. How could they possibly cultivate more outstanding successors?

Song Mingyue and Chao Fengying are both fine now, it's Gao Wu's turn to use the Golden Apple.

Hai Wuji specifically instructed Song Mingyue to keep watch and notify him if anything happened.

Back in his room, Gao Wu washed up first before leisurely sitting on the bed and consuming the Golden Apple.

This thing looks like an apple, but it actually melts into a golden sap with just one bite...

Gao Wu glanced at Song Mingyue sitting by the bed and said with a smile, "Don't sneak a kiss on me when I fall asleep later."

Song Mingyue said earnestly, "I promise."

"Haha..." Gao Wu chuckled, "Actually, it's okay that we kissed, I don't blame you..."

Before Gao Wu could finish speaking, he felt a heavy drowsiness and his consciousness began to fall into the depths of his spiritual world.

In a daze, Gao Wu heard someone call his name. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw Venus's stunningly beautiful face, sitting on a high throne, like a god who ruled over everything...

(End of this chapter)