The Sacred Ruins

Death was a form of relief for Schiller. After being corroded by the black material to suffer endless torment, his spirit had combusted and was now completely annihilated.

Chu Feng couldn’t help but admit how ruthless this person was. There would probably be no one to suppress him on the continent if he wasn’t interrupted coincidentally by Chu Feng.

This Schiller had still left Chu Feng with a gigantic problem even as he died.

The black substance was akin to a river breaching its dike as it came into contact with Chu Feng’s spirit. He was drowned by the dark radiance with no way to evade.

Chu Feng gave it his all and to have his spirit charge out of this mysterious space, causing a blinding mass of light within the Hollow Jade Temple.

"Chu Feng, what’s wrong!" Lu Tong shouted in alarm. The frantic old man’s face was now pale as sheet.

The development was simply too sudden. The jade stone disintegrated and was burnt to a crisp, illuminating the whole of the Hollow Jade Temple.

Chu Feng’s spiritual body was in extreme pain after being enshrouded by the black material. He was like a drowning man struggling fiercely to escape but to no avail.

Lu Tong was nervous. He was originally stroking his beard but had snapped half of his long goat’s beard in his shock. He rushed over and was about to touch Chu Feng in order to help get rid of the black matter."

"Don’t touch him. Back off!" The Hollow Jade Temple Master shouted.

Chu Feng’s spiritual body shone as it became entangled with the black material. The struggle was quite intense—his spiritual energy was fluctuating continuously like a mountain flood breaking through the damn.

Within moments, the tables, chairs and weapon racks in the area began to float. Then, they crashed into each other and burst into pieces.

Chu Feng’s spiritual energy had gone wild as it resisted the black material with great ferocity. However, it wasn’t able to break free in the end and couldn’t expel it completely.

Furthermore, part of the black material left his spiritual body and shot into his physical body.

The substance was extremely odd—it was searching for auras of similar origin. After sensing that Chu Feng’s spirit and body were one, it split off a part and sent it charging towards the physical body.

Chu Feng knew he temporarily had no way to break free and that his circumstances were dire. Schiller’s fate might be his ending tomorrow.

The area calmed down after his spiritual body merged into his physical body. Many people in the distance were shocked after seeing the weapons being torn apart and the steel walls that were several meters thick utterly destroyed. All of them were astonished.

Chu Feng’s spiritual energy devastation was actually so terrifying? Everyone revealed expressions of reverence and apprehension!

"Chu Feng, how are you feeling?" Lu Tong’s face was the picture of anxiety. He had noticed that he might’ve harmed Chu Feng—he shouldn’t have let Chu Feng come to Hollow Jade Temple.

Chu Feng left without saying a word because he wasn’t sure what kind of chain reaction might occur if the truth about there being a serious problem with his body was spread.

"Eh?!"

Chu Feng was overwhelmed to find that his physical energy circulation had already begun to stagnate within this short period. The channels within his lustrous flesh and blood were beginning to clot!

This was simply too fast. The black material had distributed itself quite evenly within every part of his body. From his skin and tendons to his marrow, it was everywhere—it’s speed of invasion was terrifying.

His spiritual energy had also been affected but, comparatively, it wasn’t completely covered by the black material.

Chu Feng forcefully circulated the energy within his body. A one-meter thick wall in front of him was torn apart as his body began to glow with intense fluctuations. The scene was terrifying.

However, he knew he was about to be done for.

That was because he had originally wanted to leave quietly and not cause such a huge ruckus. However, he had lost control just now.

When he circulated his physical energy with all his might, the energy failed to circulate within this body and instead gushed out of his body. His pores were all glowing but he no longer appeared divine but was instead overflowing with a bizarre dark radiance!

The surface of his body was enshrouded in a dark glow. It seemed like the treasure halo emitted from an invincible body when, in fact, it was the manifestation of this horrible condition.

Within an instant, not only his marrow, skin, and bones but even the energy within his body was merging with and had become one with the mysterious substance.

"Chu Feng, something’s seriously gone wrong! Don’t move recklessly!" The Hollow Jade Temple Master spoke. The divine light within his eyes was deep and clear. He appeared like a man in his forties who gave off a sense of might and dignity.

Chu Feng turned silent as his thoughts raced. It wasn’t suitable to leave at the moment.

Lu Tong was now sweating all over. He rushed over recklessly and grabbed onto one of Chu Feng’s arms. He wanted to check thoroughly and was unafraid of the black light’s corrosion.

"What is this thing? How did this happen?!" Lu Tong normally seemed like an old fox but now he was under great pressure. He had lost his cool and his mind was in turmoil.

There were many mutants within the Hollow Jade Temple. A lot of them had begun to approach because the commotion was simply too great. Everyone was astonished.

Presently, Chu Feng’s name had shaken the world and intimidated all the races. Mentioning Chu Feng’s name in the outside world now caused an even greater deterrence than mentioning the Hollow Jade Temple, causing all the king level lineages to be apprehensive.

All of this was felt by everyone from the Hollow Jade Temple. Previously when they went out, some experts from the beast race were quite arrogant and even hostile. But now, everyone had become extremely amiable.

Now that they were able to observe the well-known demon king Chu, many people felt complex emotions and were somewhat excited.

Some young ladies had peculiar expressions. Their gazes flowed towards and glanced repeatedly at the almost expressionless youth.

"It seems Chu Feng has encountered some trouble." A mutant informed everyone who had just arrived with a whisper.

"Trouble? How can that be possible?! Many people are saying he’s qualified to compete for the position of the most powerful expert. Who can wound him? Furthermore, this is the Hollow Jade Temple."

"The situation isn’t good. The ancient jade brought back by the temple master is problematic. Chu Feng has been enveloped by a layer of black radiance and seems to be in serious trouble!"

The news spread via whispers.

As the Hollow Jade Temple master swept his gaze towards them, the whispering mutants immediately shut up and didn’t dare discuss further.

Lu Tong tried many times but gave up after a dozen attempts. His energy was rejected immediately by the black substance after entering Chu Feng’s body and failed to wash it off.

Chu Feng waved his hand and had the old man move away while he himself stood where he was without moving. He closed his eyes and began to investigate the situation within his body.

He discovered why Schiller wasn’t willing to suffer such torment despite being able to retain his spiritual body and possess other people. That was because the effect of the black material on the physical body was greater than on the spirit.

The energy circulation within his body became slow and stagnant as if he was walking through a marsh. It was becoming increasingly cumbersome.

His spirit was also being invaded but it wasn’t completely hopeless because he could still circulate it.

But he discovered, when using the Imperial Sword Technique, that there was a problem. His spirit would feel a stabbing pain that was almost unbearable. The black material entangling his spiritual energy would transform into a sword and pierce through his spiritual body.

The scarlet flying knife revolved around Chu Feng once like a bright red flood dragon with sword intent piercing the air. In the end, the sparkling palm-sized blade disappeared into his sleeve.

Even within such a short period, his pained spiritual body felt as if it was about to be torn apart.

"Help me prepare a quiet room," said Chu Feng.

He knew it wasn’t a good time to leave. Originally, he had wanted to leave quietly but he didn’t expect the black substance within his body to be so tyrannical. It lost control and compromised his real situation.

It was hard to tell what kind of consequences would follow after news of his problem disseminated to the outside world.

Perhaps those corporations and enemies from the beast race would heave a sigh of relief. A series of unpredictable incidents might even take place.

"Seal of this news. No one is allowed to divulge what happened here today!" The Hollow Jade Temple Master issued an order. He possessed an innately dignified manner and, despite having reached middle-age, still looked soldierly. His eyes, as sharp as lightning, swept over everyone present.

Chu Feng sat within a quiet secret chamber. He was once again attempting to clear away the black substance but to no avail.

He diffused his spirit throughout his body and circulated the mysterious breathing technique. The result was that the black light on the surface of his body began to boil but ultimately couldn’t be cleared away when coming into contact with the outside energy.

Lu Tong followed him around with his heart full of guilt. He was incomparably regretful that he had asked Chu Feng to return. Otherwise, this wouldn’t have happened.

"Let me see if there’s some way to solve this problem." The Hollow Jade Temple Master arrived along with the Eight Visions and Roaming Jade Temple Masters.

"I’ll have to trouble you all." Chu Feng nodded. He sat quietly within the room and allowed the three experts to work.

The Eight Visions Temple master possessed a withdrawn and apathetic attitude. He lost an arm on Mount Longhu and had failed to reconnect it, but it wasn’t impossible to turn things around. He still had a ray of hope during the next stage of evolution.

The blood energy within the Roaming Jade Temple Master was rolling like the tides. He was normally quite tyrannical and now his gaze was like lightning. He placed both hands on Chu Feng and sensed attentively.

The three experts performed their arts at the same time to study the black substance within Chu Feng’s body. They also attempted to clean it out but all of them failed to do so in the end. They couldn’t dispel it.

"It’s very troublesome. This unfathomable black substance opposes the force of evolution and might even cause one to unevolve." The Eight Visions Temple Master spoke.

At this point, Chu Feng didn’t hide anything. He told them all about his experiences within the jade, hoping to borrow the three experts’ aid in resolving his difficulty.

But now it seems to be of little use. The three combined couldn’t produce any results.

"We’ll go and flip through the various ancient records in the daoist depositories and see if there’s a way to resolve this," said the Roaming Jade Temple Master.

"It’s best you don’t contact the outside world at this moment, including those at Kunlun. We should keep this a secret."

The place became silent after the three left.

Lu Tong blamed himself and almost wanted to bash his head against the wall. His expression was extremely ugly.

"Yellow Ox, I’ve encountered a big problem..." Chu Feng contacted Yellow Ox. He stood outside the Hollow Jade Temple in the wind and snow, gazing at the hazy cold sky.

At this moment, his body couldn’t feel the cold. His strength still remained, even though the black substance had penetrated his skin, tendons, and marrow.

However, there was a cold and desolate feeling in his heart. He immediately sensed the chill of helplessness—his world would perhaps be turned on its head hereafter and undergo a great change.

News of Chu Feng’s arrival in Shuntian was already widely known since it wasn’t a secret. Countless invitations piled up during the following couple of days.

So much so that some great demon kings from tens of thousands of miles away rushed over to meet him fervently and respectfully.

Some large corporate powers immediately prepared valuable gifts and had their dignitaries come over personally to meet Chu Feng.

In truth, they had already expressed their intentions by sending agents to try and make contact with Chu Feng on his way. All parties were apprehensive and had no choice but to recognize him.

Chu Feng stood before the window, gazing at the heavy snowfall outside without moving for a long time. On the table before him was a large pile of invitations.