The Sacred Ruins

There was nothing at all in the quiet starry skies. The copper coffins drifted towards the outskirts of the universe, and those few disappearing figures were never seen again in the world.

At last, it became completely quiet.

Chu Feng stood within the palace hall, looking up into the obscured starry sky. It became blurry and hazy once again, and turned into the roof of the stone palace.

Everything vanished, yet Chu Feng’s mind could not settle. It was like experiencing a journey through time spanning over many years. It was a particularly heavy ordeal, truly difficult to forget and erase.

"You’ve passed the last checkpoint and the conditions have been met. We can activate the inheritance now."

It was at this time that a cold and emotionless voice sounded in Chu Feng’s ears, or perhaps it sounded within his mind. The psychic wave was robotic and mechanical.

A tattered energy pagoda appeared before his eyes. It looked like a piece of cutting-edge technology, and followed Chu Feng closely, distinctly capturing all his thoughts, desires, and even his brain waves.

Discerning all the ineffable indicators from his blood vessels to his consciousness, it deduced that Chu Feng tallied with the criteria set by ancestors, and was willing to let him have a try.

"Do you want to activate the inheritance?" The broken dark red energy pagoda asked coldly. It lacked warmth as if it didn’t know how to accommodate to the circumstance.

"After I activate it, will I obtain everything without a hitch?" asked Chu Feng.

"No, the chances of survival are very slim, but you can choose to abort every time you pass through a stage along the way," answered the dark red energy pagoda.

"Activate it!" Chu Feng replied without the slightest hesitation.

"Chi!"

In an instant, the broken dark red energy pagoda opened up a channel. The energy pagoda immediately sent Chu Feng into what seemed like a narrow wormhole.

With a grave and solemn expression, he stepped over into the channel and appeared inside a big ring-shaped trench. The place still seemed to be on the moon, but the stars were bleak.

Here it was quiet and solitary, with nothing but an array of rocks strewn across the land ahead.

His heart trembled as he walked over because there were symbols upon every single piece of rock. The domain symbols reflected in his eyes—this was exactly what he had wanted!

Not daring to miss anything, Chu Feng focused intently. He observed these seemingly ancient stones and memorized all the symbols upon them.

He need not worry about not being able to recognize some as a lingering spiritual wave would tell him the meaning of these domain symbols as well as what they could be used for.

A veteran great master directly passing on his inheritance was simply unheard of in the past. No one had explained this to Chu Feng before—he had learned everything he knew by fumbling about.

For the first time in his life, someone was teaching and expounding to him. The explanations were greatly detailed, but the tempo was too fast. When he swept over a rock, the spiritual wave only presented the information once.

He took note of what he could though no one would repeat for him what he couldn’t remember.

Chu Feng eagerly took note of the symbols on each rock, branding them in the depths of his soul. Understanding them made him joyous, and he was all smiles.

He had already studied some of the things himself but had never fully understood them well. Now, with someone letting out their secrets, he began to fully comprehend them.

There were too many domain symbols of all kinds and sorts.

Gradually, Chu Feng’s speed slowed down, and he took longer on each rock. He was digesting and absorbing the information and wasn’t impatient in memorizing everything.

He wasn’t just mechanically memorizing everything but was instead fully grasping the information and thoroughly figuring it out. Many a time he let out a knowing smile, his spirit joyous as he resonated with the information.

Finally, the symbols sparkled one after another. Chu Feng had walked from the first piece of rock to the last piece. He had no idea how long he had spent, but he felt he had grasped everything.

"Do you wish to withdraw?"

At this moment, the cold and detached voice sounded once again. The dark red energy pagoda had accompanied him from beginning to end and had silently appeared in the large ring-shaped trench.

Obviously, this was only the first stage coming to an end, and Chu Feng had the right to withdraw.

"No!" He shook his head. This was only the first step, and he still had the whole journey to go.

However, it was a bit strange. After the dark red energy pagoda heard what he had to say, it was quiet and speechless. It didn’t pay heed to him and didn’t ask him if he wanted to activate the next inheritance.

Time passed, and he couldn’t enter the second stage.

Suspicious, Chu Feng couldn’t help but ask questions. He had already deciphered the domain symbols upon the rocks, so why could he not progress? Why was it not going on to activate?

"Huh?" He was aware the situation was not quite right and looked around at the rocks. He even jumped up to reach a higher ground and look down over the area.

"These rocks..."

The rocks seem to be disordered and in a mess, but a more attentive survey clearly showed they formed the initial structure of a domain. Some of the rocks even combined together to form a strange gigantic symbol.

Chu Feng’s heart shook. With the stage he had just completed, he had the right to withdraw, but he was far from the next stage. Besides, there were some profundities he had yet to understand because they still hadn’t been triggered.

Presently, Chu Feng began to constantly arrange the rocks with careful thought. Whenever he assembled and created a new domain symbol, the spiritual wave would resonate and explain it to him.

This was not his own creation, but a combination of the symbols he had learned earlier. Only with a thorough understanding of the things he was taught could he progress further onwards.

In the end, he saw not only rocks but also a gust of qi. This was also known as domain qi. Ancient texts recorded this as a mystery among mysteries.

One could perceive this qi at a glance only when they have thoroughly understood the domains to a certain extent. It was a type of luminous qi and was made up of countless filamentous wisps.

It was the dream of some domain researchers to see this domain qi, as it was the best affirmation.

Chu Feng stared at the interlinking qi entangled amidst various stones. They seemed to be suggesting that they could be connected to build a gigantic symbol.

In the end, following the increase in his comprehension, those luminous strands interweaved together like a spider’s web under his gaze.

In fact, it was more like a sequence of stars intertwining together.

Once Chu Feng had grasped the nature of things and learned the domain symbols here, he began to form more mature models and construct smaller units.

Some were of a defensive nature, while others were offensive.

Only after he was certain he could no longer see anymore and there was no way he could gain anything further did he stop everything.

"You have greatly overperformed in the first basic stage. Do you want to go on and continue with opening the inheritance?" The robotic voice sounded, but this time, it wasn’t as cold as before.

"I want to continue!" Chu Feng nodded.

He didn’t know that the overperforming part of the assessment was an extraordinary affirmation.

Before, the dark red energy pagoda gave others star ratings. Obtaining one-star was considered a pass, while five-stars was considered exceptionally good and could be classified as an inheritor of the highest order.

After Chu Feng had finished the stage, it did not give him a star rating, and instead directly completed the review, quoting his overperformance.

"You performed exceptionally well in the first stage and over-fulfilled everything. Considering this, if you perform so remarkably in the second stage as before, I must warn you that it may become quite dangerous and your life may be at risk."

The dark red energy pagoda had eased down its tone and had actually spoken some more. It was no longer cold as before.

Was this his affirmation and high praise? Chu Feng stared blankly as he now realized that this impersonal energy pagoda was being kind to him.

"Thank you!"

Chu Feng expressed immense gratitude.

With a whoosh, the shattered dark red energy pagoda tore open a small worm-hole and sent Chu Feng into it.

As Chu Feng walked out from the worm-hole, his blood began to run quick and he seethed in anger, his whole body shaking.

He was in a big ring-shaped crater as before and was, providing there were no accidents, still on the moon.

A knight clad in black and gold armor was riding an armored horse as it galloped. With an evil grin and an iron lance in his hand, he was pursuing a group of women and children. Ferociously thrusting forward, he impaled a youngster looking 12 or 13 years old amidst a huge splatter of blood. With a shake of his lance, the youth screamed as he was torn into pieces.

Wasn’t this the imagery Chu Feng saw when he looked up from the palace? Now it was actually really happening in reality?

"You animal!" shouted Chu Feng, his eyes cracking with rage. At that moment, his consciousness fluctuated and surged as he took out the diamond chakram.

But then the voice of the dark red energy pagoda sounded once again, "In order to use domains to wipe out enemies, one must learn to apply it and remain cool-headed under any circumstances!"

Although Chu Feng held the diamond chakram in his hand, he realized he couldn’t toss it out and he was shackled.

He instantly sobered up and glanced around to find that there were various kinds of magnets on the ground. He moved and strode forward quickly. Many magnets jumped into the air, whereupon he pointed his finger like a knife and scribbled rapidly upon them.

Then, the magnets flew forward like rain, pitter-pattering.

However, he was still a moment too late. An old woman was trampled by the smirking armored horse and fell into a pool of blood, mangled and mutilated.

Was this an old thing of the past, or was it happening in reality? A chill ran through Chu Feng’s body before his blood boiled. It simply would be no good to depend on him manually inscribing upon the magnets. He couldn’t keep up with the knight’s speed.

"Brand!"

The next instant, Chu Feng’s forehead glowed as his spirit condensed into a light beam. Afterwards, the light-beam penetrated through his bones and shone onto the ground. Through his spirit, he directly imprinted the domain symbols onto the interior of various magnets.

Following that, he took a step and all the magnets jumped up. They transformed into light rays and shot up into the air towards the armored horse, cutting its path and engulfing it.

The knight, with his white teeth and gleaming cold smile, was already approaching a four or five-year-old girl with his iron lance and had almost impaled her.

She was very beautiful, but her face was as pale as snow, filled with dread and despair. She looked tearfully towards her relatives collapsed within pools of blood.

Chu Feng’s heart skipped a beat. This little girl’s face was extremely familiar and he had seen this scene before under the starry skies. He suddenly jumped up and rushed over. With his back facing the spear, he picked up the girl and rolled over.

Behind him, the knight’s merciless expression froze as he was unable to thrust his spear through. The magnets that encircled him emitted a glaring luster as they obstructed him. These magnets formed a small offensive domain which, with a bang, crushed him into a cloud of bloody mist.

Chu Feng held the little girl in his arms and felt the warmth of her body; she was still breathing. It was absolutely heartbreaking to see her large teary eyes and her face full of distress.

He was shocked!

This was a real body, so was this all not part of the exam? It wasn’t an illusion? His heart trembled.

"Thank you, big brother!" The little girl tilted her head to look at him and meekly expressed her gratitude. Then, she gazed at her deceased relatives in the distance with tears streaming down her face.

Soon afterwards, she transformed into a bundle of light and disappeared from Chu Feng’s embrace. The gentle yet appreciative voice also faded into the distance, "Thank you..."

"This..." Chu Feng stood up and watched the bundle of light drift off into the starry sky. It felt as if his heart was entering the vast ocean of stars, and he felt a tang of despair and frustration.

Then, his gaze became fierce as he stared into the distance. There, armored horses galloped freely across the plain. With them were several figures, all of which were hunters and executioners.

Many women and children were fleeing into the distance on the verge of racial annihilation. The helpless wails of children were heartbreaking, and the crooked figures of the disabled and the elderly stifled one’s heart.

"Kill!" Chu Feng bellowed like an injured beast. He let out an anguished howl and charged ahead. He wanted to put his heart and soul in one battle.

However, he did not lose his calm and kept a clear mind.

People shouted and horses neighed. The executioners’ smiles were cruel, and their methods were bloody. It made Chu Feng’s blood boil as if he had returned to those desperate times. He killed his way over to save those pitiful people. He wanted to strike out a path of survival for them.