"I am not a prodigy or a genius like you. By that time, I realized I have only 500 years left for me to live, so I put aside my research and Soul Forging Cultivation, choosing to cultivate Body Tempering Cultivation."

"500 years later, I reached the Seventh Stage from the Fourth Stage in Body Tempering Cultivation.

"Do you comprehend? I took 500 years to cultivate to the Seventh Stage from the Fourth Stage of Body Cultivation. I had to use all my accumulated resources and sacrifice various things to enter the Martial Master Stage!"

"As a result, it increased my life-span to ten thousand years!" Old Man Garvin's eyes widened as he exclaimed.

"Wait! Sacrifice? Did you lose your family or something like that?" Davis interjected.

"No, at that time, I had no family nor did I have any wives for that matter. By sacrifices, I meant that I had simply lost my property, place, respect as I had to beg everyone for resources... in a sense."

"Oh..." Davis nodded.

"Heh, it was all worth it since 800 years later, I managed to find an inheritance belonging to a Peak-Level King Soul Cultivator, which finally let me become a strong King Soul Cultivator after 2000 years!"

"I came back to the Emperor Sword Sect Territory! Entered the Emperor Sword Sect as a Guest Elder! Created my own palace, married hundreds of women, starting my own Woller Family!" Old Man Garvin uttered with a proud expression on his face.

"Interesting..." Davis commented as his mouth slightly hung low and his eyes twitched. At the same time, he was astonished to hear how difficult it was for him to cultivate without anyone's help.

Seems like Old Man Garvin did everything he could to survive but finally, wasn't he still chased to this place by his enemies, finally making him wait for his death.

"So till coming into power, you were afraid to have a wife, weren't you?" Davis was amazed at his story but he still had to knock him down while he was up.

"Don't tell me you never touched a woman before you reached King Soul Stage!?" Davis smirked deviously, like how a kid would ask an adult if the latter was a virgin.

"Don't be stupid, there are simply many places to let out your lust, especially in the Dual Lotus Manor Territory..." Garvin got annoyed and casually dropped an information, causing Davis's eyes to lit up in understanding.

"But that still doesn't explain why you didn't take a wife before you reached King Soul Stage..." Davis grinned smugly, still intending to put him down.

"Hmph, everyone knows that women are the downfall of many male geniuses and prodigies. I wouldn't make such a blunder until I am sure that I can take care of myself in any event of betrayal."

"Then where exactly did you go wrong? Who did you offend exactly to be in this state?" Davis held his chin as he couldn't understand the enemy's intent to kill Old Man Garvin.

"I didn't, I myself didn't bother about people as long as they didn't bother about me... Some people... another faction of the Emperor Sword Sect didn't like my cultivation that has been nearing Peak-Level King Soul Stage."

..."When I was about to reach the Peak-Level Soul King Stage, they were simply afraid that I would enter the Soul Emperor Stage in a few thousand years!"

"Those jealous bastards hid from the shadows and poisoned one of the resources that I procured and was going to use to enter the Peak-Level King Soul Stage!"

"They simply didn't leave any path left for me! But with me being still alive somehow, I managed to inform my trusted descendants of the devious plot secretly and told them to not act without giving birth to a descendant who had reached the Eighth Stage!"

"When they finally caught my tail, they managed to destroy my body. In a pitiful state, I managed to escape with my Soul Body and hid in this place for two thousand years before finally managing to meet you..."

"At that time, this territory was not under the control of the Tripartite Alliance, so they don't know that an existence such as I have hidden in this place."

"I only managed to heal my soul through this lake. Actually, healing is the wrong word, instead, I should've used the word poison, a poison to keep myself alive through tempering."

"Honestly, I was on the brink of death and even with a soul lifespan of 8,000 years, I was still going to die from the injuries."

"In the end, my suicidal actions didn't end in vain as I managed to temper my soul through poison, increasing my chances to live for 2,000 years."

Old Man Garvin sighed as he waved his hands.

"The people who plotted against me, they look like this...."

He projected their images with his Soul Force.

Davis silently listened all this while and memorized their appearances as he nodded his head, indicating that he will keep his end of the contract.

Davis gazed at him with a scrutinizing gaze, "I don't understand."

"What?" Old Man Garvin looked at Davis's expression, which had suspicion written all over the face.

"You said that they feared you becoming a Soul Emperor... isn't that advantageous to the Emperor Sword Sect as it would mean that they would gain another Ninth Stage Expert?"

Old Man Garvin sighed, "You don't know the terror of Emperor Soul Stage Cultivators. You see, as the name implies, if they release their Soul Force to pressure anyone under Ninth Stage, then the latter has no choice but to bow their heads down."

Davis blinked as he imagined a scenario but the next words Old Man Garvin said made him realize its significance.

"There are only 9 Emperor Soul Stage Experts in the entire 52 Territories, including all the races." Old Man Garvin slowly added.

Davis's eyes widened in excitement as he thought that he would be the 10th without a doubt.