The Sacred Ruins

The Crisis Continues

Just as Chu Feng arrived back home, he was discovered by the napping Wang Jing. She got up immediately and, with a face full of smiles, asked, "How’d it go?"

"A surprising meeting, an unrestrained course of events followed by complicated circumstances and a passable conclusion," Chu Feng conveniently explained.

"Speak human language!" Wang Jing stared at him.

Chu Feng said with a look full of regret, "The lady was not bad, she was indeed a beauty. However, our ideals were a little bit different. I fear she will bear a grudge against me for life."

Wang Jing asked in suspicion, "So terrifying, how did it come to that? Did you trick her? You better not have done anything bad!"

"Of course not, how would I have the heart to bully such an innocent and refined young lady? Okay, now that this blind date business is out of the way, I’m hungry. I’m going to take a nap after eating my fill," claimed Chu Feng as he hurried into the kitchen.

"Explain everything to me in detail! Just what were the circumstances? Were you satisfied with the lady? Wait, didn’t you just eat at the restaurant?" Wang Jing chased him down, intending to clarify everything.

Chu Feng ate as fast as he could and replied, "Mom, you should stop worrying. She’s about a rising star, bound to become famous very soon. There’s a huge gap between us."

He had a fairly guilty conscience, so he quickly produced a perfunctory explanation and ran back to his room. Pretending to sleep, he refused to open the door no matter what.

"What situation is this? That girl looks down on my son just because she’s a rising star? Preposterous!" Wang Jing was dissatisfied, feeling that Chu Feng had been wronged.

What’s more, her son was an expert among mutants. He couldn’t be considered shabby in the mutant world.

"This won’t do, I have to ask my good friend about this. Maybe her niece had too high an expectation and thinks our little Feng is beneath her."

In the room, Chu Feng’s ears stood up—he clearly heard all of it. Quickly opening the door, he shouted, "Mother, don’t poke into this matter anymore!"

Half an hour later, Wang Jing still called the other party.

"What? Your niece has been ignoring you since she got back? But, our Chu Feng said something along the lines of your niece being a rising star and that they weren’t of the same status."

"Ah, your niece said little Feng is a pervert? That’s not possible. I know my child very well, that’s impossible!"

"Wait, what does this have to do with Jiang Luoshen? On the headlines with her? No, no, our little Feng doesn’t need to resort to promoting himself like this."

"What? Not that? Just what in heaven’s name happened?"

After hearing the conversation between his mother and Xia Qinayu’s aunt, he realized that he could no longer stay at home. He hurriedly got out of bed and fled decisively.

"To Hollow Jade Temple!"

Indeed, not long after his escape, Wang Jing contacted him. He didn’t dare to pick up the phone the first time, but after that came a second and a third—truly an unending barrage.

Chu Feng took the call and urgently spoke first, "Mom, I’ve told you I’m practicing martial arts in seclusion here at Hollow Jade Temple. Please don’t disturb me no matter what, or else I might suffer a Qi Deviation. Furthermore, I won’t be back home for a few days. I need to achieve enlightenment on an ancient divine art."

After saying all that, he quickly ended the call and also set the communicator to silent mode, deciding not to take any more calls.

Wang Jing was momentarily startled. What Qi deviation?! There wasn’t even such a thing! She had long known that the fist techniques that the mutants practice were nothing like those described in novels.

"You stinky brat! Just you wait!"

...

Meanwhile, in another location. Xia Qianyu was beyond furious. This pervert had the nerve to tell his mother things like having dissimilar ideals! Even implying that as a rising star, her expectations were too high... truly infuriating!

"Luoshen, this kid is just too terrible, a thief who cries thief! He went home and played down today’s incident with sophistries like, what was it again: complicated circumstances, unrestrained course of events. Everything was clearly his fault, yet he’s pretending not to know. Oh, and by the way, he lives at..."

"Luoshen, send someone to investigate him as soon as possible. Let’s give him a lesson as soon as possible! We need to vent our anger."

Xia Qianyu gave Jiang Luoshen the information she received from her aunt, but the address she received was their former residence—she still didn’t know that they had moved out.

This incident cast a shadow over her heart, so much so that she decided never to go on a blind date again.

At twilight, on a street in Shuntian.

"Evening papers, evening papers! Breaking News! The goddess involved in a scandal!"

The pedestrians glanced at him - there was actually someone selling newspapers like so in this day and age.

"You guys probably don’t know, Jiang Luoshen was found dating with a mysterious man. This kind of explosive news can only be found in this evening newspaper."

Suddenly there was a commotion on the streets.

Jiang Luoshen had maintained a clean record up till now. Surprisingly, she had been caught red-handed, going on a date.

"There are only bits and pieces of the news on the internet, photos are being deleted as soon as they surface. Only this evening paper has the courage to print this kind of headline!" shouted the newspaper boy.

Naturally, this kind of announcement had great effect. Soon, a crowd had gathered.

"I was wondering which evening paper could it be. Oh, it’s actually ‘Wang De evening newspaper’, the one claiming to be the most moral newspaper. Now look at them, they’re printing entertainment scandals and rumors, sullying several famous people. Such lack of integrity!"

"Yeah, I remember last time, it was also them who printed three articles on Jiang Luoshen. I remember the headline was the ‘three days and two nights between Jiang Luoshen and Angel Ox’"

"You’re right, this time, it’s also about Jiang Luoshen. The headline reads ‘The continued destiny between Jiang Luoshen and Angel Ox’, implying that this mystery man could be the Angel Ox."

...

The masses felt that it was despicable.

Even the newspaper boy was a bit embarrassed. He knew this newspaper had a tendency to make nonsensical reports based on groundless rumors.

"I still remember last time, Wang De evening newspaper wanted to report about a scandalous story behind the white snake of Taihang mountains and the old ape of Mount Song. They aroused the attention of the authorities, nearly shutting them down."

"Let’s go, you can’t trust such a newspaper."

At the headquarters of the Wang De evening newspaper, the chief editor was almost furious to the point of coughing up blood. He had finally found an explosive piece of news, but no one believed him!

But of course, there were also some who believed this to be true. There were indeed photos being posted on the internet, and although they were being deleted constantly, some people were able to save the images and share them privately.

"Oh god, it really is Jiang Luoshen. Who the hell is that guy? I must kill him!"

...

Zhou Yitian couldn’t stop laughing. He had downloaded the photos on the internet as soon as they popped up.

"Wait till my great landmark film starts screening, this could be a great trump card. I’ll let them suppress the news for now. When the time comes, I’ll expose everything and, no doubt, cause a great sensation! Ha, ha..."

Following that, he went to look for the clairvoyant and clairaudient to confirm the situation.

"Director, you were looking for me? Oh right, it must be about that incident. I was present after all," Ouyang Qing excitedly said, "I even personally took a marvelous photo of the goddess being pinned down by our boss. I only have a single copy. If released it, it would definitely be a magnitude 12 earthquake. But I really don’t dare to do that, the boss will kill me."

"Give me that photo. Remember, you must not release that photo. We have to wait till that right moment," Zhou Yitian reminded the clairaudient as he received the photo from him. After seeing it, he almost fainted from excitement.

Come to think about it, he now had quite a few trump cards in his hand. When the time comes, every release would cause a huge tsunami, and the world would surely boil over if he released them in succession.

"The Vajra rides a pig, the goddess dates Angel Ox..." he slowly pondered over how he should lay out everything.

...

Jiang Luoshen had a huge headache. She knew that although the photos were being deleted as soon as they appeared, and negotiations have been made with the uploader, there were a whole lot of troubles soon to follow.

At the same time, she truly wished she could bomb Wang De evening newspaper. They had not only claimed that she was dating a mysterious man, but had gone so far as to say she was having an affair. This was too despicable.

However, this newspaper had long since lost the trust of the public. The effect wasn’t too obvious.

"Chu Feng, male, height: 179cm, single, born at Qingyang town, Taihang mountains..."

The efficiency with which Bodhi Biogenetics gathered information was quite high. Chu Feng’s personal information was presented to Jiang Luoshen rather quickly.

"Eh? He just graduated from a university, and quite a famous one at that. I remember Lin Naoi is also an alumni," Jiang Luoshen thought as she slowly browsed through the documents.

Within Hollow Jade Temple, Chu Feng had been staying here for quite some time. He also decided to spend the night there.

He diligently memorized the fist technique manual. Compared to Chen Hai’s manual, he found that there wasn’t too big a difference. Merely, Chen Hai’s manual did not mention any of the 12 forms.

That was an uninheritable secret technique!

Chen Hai was actually able to use some of them: tiger, dragon and bear forms, but it was not certain if they were authentic techniques. It was a pity he didn’t have the relevant technique manual.

The manual from the Hollow Jade Temple which included the snake form, the bear form, and the falcon form, was carved into Chu Feng’s memory.

He repeatedly practiced and soon reached proficiency. His fists brought about formidable winds and thunderous sounds. Furthermore, during one bout, he even produced the shrill cry of a falcon.

He had practically succeeded in the falcon form!

One had to know that the 12 forms appeared simple, but those who had successfully learned them were few and far between. Some old experts had to ponder on them for their whole lives. If one could learn one or two forms, it could already be considered good.

It was once said that a single form was enough to use for a lifetime.

If someone could learn all 12 forms, he could be considered an exceptional genius.

Especially in this era, there were mutated fruits and mysterious pollens that could induce evolution—it was truly an era destined for practicing these techniques.

Perhaps someone of this era would be able to learn all the 12 forms, breaking through to the highest levels.

Chu Feng had the Demon Ox Boxing Style. He was confident that while it would be best if he could obtain all 12 forms, but if he couldn’t, it was also not a great disappointment for him.

Early in the morning, the old man Lu Tong came looking for Chu Feng, his face incomparably serious.

"What happened?" asked Chu Feng.

"You go wash and have breakfast, we’ll discuss this when everyone is present."

Finally, Ye Qingrou, Chen Luoyan, Du Huaijin and Ouyang Qing had all arrived, making a full team.

They were all wondering why the old man was so serious, summoning them early in the morning.

This was a huge contrast from his usual cheerful style.

"Grave News!" The old man claimed as he sat down, presenting a few photos on the projection screen, shocking the audience.

The ash wolf!

It didn’t die and has made an appearance!

The first photo was a desolate and burnt out land with no flora to be found. A gigantic wolf appeared from within the ground. With much difficulty, it investigated his surroundings. Its hair was burnt, its skull cracked and its fangs broken.

However, it was undoubtedly alive. It struggled free from within the ground with great difficulty.

"How is this possible? Wasn’t he killed?"

"According to the most recent information, he certainly did not die!" the old man Lu Tong explained; this was truly a terrible turn of events.

"What’s fortunate is that it’s gravely wounded, and its strength has decreased tremendously. We can’t let it escape this time!" Lu Tong continued to show them more photos.

They were all astonished at the ash wolf’s tenacious vitality.

Behind its huge head, only a small portion of its main body remained. Its pair of front limbs were still present, but its claws had been broken clean. It was in a badly mutilated state.

There was virtually nothing left below its abdomen.

Even in this state, it had survived.

Afterwards, there were even more distinct photos: one of its eyes had been blinded, and a small portion of its skull bone had melted.

"It was no longer at its apex. Dispatching a group of mutants should be sufficient to kill him. Hollow Jade Temple has decided to bring its head back and showcase it as a warning to future troublemakers," old man Lu Tong said in all seriousness.

If the ash wolf’s head was taken and brought back to Shuntian and displayed for all to see, it would have a great intimidating effect.

"No matter how badly wounded it is, the ash wolf is still a King grade existence. Dispatching a normal group of mutants is no different than sending them to their deaths," the clairvoyant Du Huaijin said.

When involving a life and death situation like this, he naturally had to take it seriously. He couldn’t treat things as a joke like he normally would—he didn’t want to die tragically.

"The ash wolf is the weakest among the beast kings. He can barely be said to have reached this stage. Moreover, at present, he has been gravely wounded and a conservative estimate shows his current strength at no more than three percent of his peak state," Lu Tong explained.

"Even so, he is extremely dangerous. A beast king’s 1/30th power is still terrible. Can 30 of us even beat a single ash wolf?" the clairaudient Ouyang Qing stated.

"He can!" exclaimed Lu Tong pointing at Chu Feng.

Following that, he added, "This is a great opportunity for you all. If you dare to take this risk, a portion of the King’s blood flowing in the ash wolf will be given to you."

This caused Chen Luoyan to be shaken as a light flashed across Ye Qingrou’s beautiful eyes—the rewards were quite attractive.

"Not tempted yet? The king blood of the ash wolf is priceless. Everyone wants to get their hands on it, every nation wants to study it because research might yield secrets to promoting evolution."

"Furthermore," informed Lu Tong, "several teams located near the Yungui plateau have mobilized, swearing to take the head of the ash wolf.

"The ash wolf ran into the great desolate mountain, but no one knows how deep he went. Communicator signals are highly unstable in that area. There are even places where you can’t get a signal at all," Lu Tong said.

"Boss, let’s go get that king blood. We might even be able to evolve!" Du Huaijin could not calm down.

Ye Qingrou also nodded. Although extremely feminine and alluring, she was also bold and decisive at the critical moment.

"When will we be able to enter the pilgrimage grounds?" asked Chen Luoyan.

"For now, your power is far from being sufficient to go there. Forcing entry will only result in a tragic death. At that place, there are more than just a few beast kings," replied Lu Tong.

"Very well, then we will go to the Yungui plateau first!" Chen Luoyan agreed. He had to become stronger, and this was an opportunity he could not let go.

"I have a question. In the case that we are unable to accomplish our missions, will there be consequences?"

"En, there will be no punishments." Lu Tong nodded.

"Very well, then we can go and attempt this mission!" Chu Feng laughed.

Time was of the essence. They left immediately by plane, travelling towards the south.