The Sacred Ruins

The scorching noon sun roasted the great earth. The leaves on the trees were all wilted and in low spirits.

Xu Qing’s head was swimming and his chest was tight and almost felt like choking. The fishy smell which invaded his nostrils almost made him puke on the spot. He couldn’t bear this any longer.

He moved ever so slightly and felt intense pain from the back of his head almost as if his skull bone had shattered. His ears were ringing and he almost fell back into a coma.

Xu Qing struggled to open his eyes and was at first puzzled as to what had happened. Then all his hair stood on end. He couldn’t believe where he was lying and almost screamed out loud.

All around him was garbage and various rotten materials; pork bones, fish heads and plastic bags. The smell of garbage assailed the nose with great momentum.

It was an absolute nightmare for a fussy person like him. His scalp went numb and his glare could almost kill.

As a young Xingyi Fist grandmaster, he was like a proud sun soaring through the skies after the great upheaval. He had always been aloof and looked down on everyone. Never had he experienced such... filth!

"Ahh..." Xu Qing loudly roared. He had almost gone mad at the moment, despite his usual scholarly demeanor.

He was lying in a garbage tank with his head deep in the trash and his face stuck to the decaying items. The filthy air almost suffocated him.

Boom!

The garbage tank burst into pieces as Xu Qing jumped out from within. He stretched his limbs and trembled midair. He wished he could cast off all of his dirty skin and flesh.

He broke into a deep frown and his frosty eyes turned horrified. This experience was no different to him than the collapse of the heaven and earth.

Thump!

He fell to the ground as intense pain assailed the back of his head. He staggered forward and looked down at his badly stained robes. It almost made him want to vomit.

Who had done this to him? He was absolutely furious and had almost gone mad.

But Xu Qing was no ordinary person and didn’t completely lose his reasoning. He forcefully calmed himself down and scanned the surroundings with his divine instinct, his glare penetrative and cold.

At the same time, he examined his physical condition. He had suffered injuries to the back of his head which wasn’t that serious. He duly circulated the Xingyi breathing technique which worked to heal his wounds.

Only after he had confirmed himself to be unharmed did he begin to scan his immediate surroundings, covering everything in an area several kilometers wide. Even the breathing of animals couldn’t escape his sense.

With a swoosh, he charged into the stylish manor and arrived in the living room. Thereafter, he was thunderstruck and began to tremble uncontrollably with his fists clenched tight. Crackling sounds were transmitted from his knuckles which were becoming increasingly pale due to the pressure.

Xu Qing’s eyes were like blades and his killing intent rose uncontrollably. He had never taken such a great loss since his debut.

It was always he who had schemed against other people. He rarely ever needed to make a move on his own. All those king level entities were either killed or have submitted. Today, however, he had actually been beaten from the back and thrown into the garbage. He could scarcely believe what he had gone through!

How ridiculous was this?! Even he himself found it hard to believe the experience.

Xu Qing was completely silent as he rushed out of the villa and climbed the highest building. From there, he surveyed the whole area. His eyes, like bolts of lightning, were further reinforced by his divine intent which rushed out to search for traces of the enemy.

Finally, he chose a direction and ran towards it in pursuit. He then returned and switched to another direction.

Xu Qing spread out his powerful divine intent and attempted to give chase in several directions but all was in vain.

"Ah..."

Finally, he returned to the villa and loudly roared. He was completely enraged. His temper surged to the sky like gushing lava, causing several villas to quake and nearly collapse.

Who could it be? The white-robed Xu Qing had almost gone mad. Did this person come for the fist technique manual? But the assailant had actually spared him and left him in the garbage dump.

But this form of humiliation made him even more furious.

He knew that the enemy was truly terrifying. He had actually failed to sense his approach from the back, which was rather frightening considering his status as a Xingyi Grandmaster with six severed shackles!

Five kilometers out, Chu Feng was engrossed in the twelve true forms on the soft beast skin scroll.

He actually didn’t run very far and had merely relocated to another abandoned villa. He heard the enraged cries and couldn’t help but raise his head and glance out of the window with a gentle smile on his face.

Chu Feng had previously studied some parts of the Xingyi Fists and thus he was able to catch on very quickly. He stood in the guest room and attempted to continuously evolve his Xingyi True Form, finally becoming familiar with the process.

So much that he even extracted a portion of the hidden breathing technique after some time.

Chu Feng was completely engrossed—he studied the beast skin diagrams while practicing the forms time after time, all the while circulating white mist from his nose and mouth. He felt a warmth rising from within his body.

He remembered neither food nor sleep and was like a complete martial nut. All his energy and time had been invested in understanding the Xingyi Twelve True Forms.

He arched his back like a true dragon and shot out bolts of lightning. This was his dragon form. The projectile shot out with a pfft and pierced through the wall and continued for over 800 meters. He maintained the posture all the while, ready to erupt with power at a moment’s notice.

At that moment, he felt the energy in his body surge up and seep through his spine like a colossal dragon coming to life.

After landing on the ground, he stopped with a grunt and then leapt up once more like a divine tiger coming into being. The form emanated a bitter and baleful aura as if it had killed its way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood. This was the Xingyi Tiger Form.

Following that, he shot out with the elegance and swiftness of a swallow soaring in the skies. This was his swallow form.

...

The mist around his nose and mouth became increasingly intense as Chu Feng repeatedly practiced those techniques. It was a form of spiritual substance and also the manifestation of vitality. His comprehension of the Xingyi Breathing Technique had also become increasingly penetrative.

His earlier foundation, obtained from his practice of the Xingyi Fist back at the Hollow Jade Temple, played a crucial role in this. He had already comprehended the secrets behind quite a few true forms. Everything became much easier now that he was applying the ancient technique to his prior knowledge.

The red sun was waning to the west when Chu Feng’s communicator rang and cut his cultivation short. It was the old man Lu Tong.

"Brat, I’ve looked into the name you mentioned. The Wudang Grandmaster used to be known as Wu Qifeng but that was his layperson name and it’s been many years since its disuse."

After Chu Feng snatched the Xingyi Fist Manual, he contacted Lu Tong and asked him to look up the name to see if there was a certain Wu Qifeng among the contemporary experts. Who would’ve thought it was actually the Wudang Grandmaster!

He immediately put down the fist manual and became solemn. His eyes turned cold at the thought of how the white-robed man was planning to kill the Wudang Grandmaster.

Chu Feng wasn’t one to forget favors. When all the beast races rose up against him, the Wudang Grandmaster had stood up for him twice, even to the point of directly opposing the Peacock King. It was especially true this time because the grandmaster had personally arrived at Jiangxi and was battling against the mariner race.

"Old man, you have to find a way to contact the Wudang Grandmaster and tell him that a young white-robed grandmaster of the Xingyi School is planning to kill him. And while you’re at it, also check on this young man’s identity!" Chu Feng spoke with all due seriousness.

Following that, he safely put away the technique manual and rushed out of the villa to kill the white-robed man!

He was somewhat regretful because that man was indeed not a good person. He was colluding with the marine race to kill the Wudang Grandmaster.

The air exploded as Chu Feng tore through the skies, covering over a thousand meters with every warp. At five and a half times the speed of sound, the distance of five kilometers was crossed within the snap of a finger.

Boom!

Chu Feng landed within the Golden Sea Villa Area, cracking the earth with the impact. He no longer hid his aura because he was going to kill this person.

He punched out from a distance, his right hand surging with radiant flames. The ability he gained from severing his first shackle erupted with violent force and tore through the villa, effectively demolishing it.

Unfortunately, the person in question had long since left and only silence remained within the whole area.

Chu Feng could easily sense all life forms within several kilometers with his divine instinct and was certain that the white-robed man was no longer present.

"How unfortunate." Chu Feng’s eyes glowed with frostiness.

But he wasn’t overly worried because the Wudang Grandmaster would surely be able to defend against the ambush after receiving Lu Tong’s warning.

It might’ve been dangerous if the Wudang Grandmaster was unguarded against this white-robed man, thinking him to be a friend from the same race.

It wouldn’t be so easy to kill such an expert with six severed shackles once he was guarded against the assailant.

"Who would’ve thought that the man was truly a star of calamity. If only I’d known, I would’ve killed you!" Chu Feng muttered.

But he then laughed after recalling how he had tossed the man into the garbage tank. That Xingyi Fist Grandmaster would probably remember this incident for the rest of his life.

"Well meet sooner or later, I’ll kill you with the Xingyi Fist when the time comes." With that, Chu Feng turned around and disappeared with the setting sun.

He guessed that the Xingyi Grandmaster’s aim in killing Wu Qifeng was to obtain the Taiji Fist Manual.

That night, he entered Hongdu, the largest city in Jiangxi. Glancing at the flashing neon lights and skyscrapers, Chu Feng shook his head. He had almost become a man of the wilderness after leaving the city life so far behind.

He ate his fill and drank some alcohol before leaving once more. It was not yet time for him to return to the cities; there were more important things to do.

"Chu Feng we’re certain that Hei Teng is at Mount Sanqing. You have to be careful because the Manchurian Tiger received news that an agent of the south sea had gone to deliver a weapon for him. Be wary!"

"Very well, I’ll go and kill him early tomorrow morning!" Chu Feng nodded; it was certainly a good time to get rid of this great enemy.

He knew that his return couldn’t be kept hidden for too long. People would surely be able to guess even if he stayed in the dark especially after he took action.

At that time, there would surely be huge waves or perhaps even a great battle!

That night, Chu Feng wholeheartedly studied the Xingyi Twelve True Forms within an abandoned villa. The more he looked, the more he began to appreciate the details within. A delighted smile was plastered across his face.

Finally, he displayed several true forms one after another while his breathing fell into a wonderful rhythm. His body, enshrouded in treasured radiance, glowed brightly with a translucent radiance.

At this time, the roar of a dragon, tiger, falcon, and swallow could be heard with his every breath. His body became indomitable and strong as if he was refined from divine metal.

Chu Feng knew, at that moment, that he had found the right path and had walked into the halls of Xingyi, eventually mastering the breathing technique hidden within the Xingyi Twelve True Forms.

The additional breathing technique gave him a great amount of advantage. It had opened up a new time slot to work towards evolution, improving his physique and catalyzing transformations.

Facing the glow of the stars and embracing the moonlight, Chu Feng’s body was enveloped by the faintly glowing strands of mist. The blood energy within his body was as vast as the oceans, and he was growing stronger and stronger with each passing second.

That night, Hei Teng was entertaining the three-eyed man within a Taoist temple. The two enjoyed chatting over good wine and were smiling with great satisfaction.

They were planning how to kill Chu Feng. Hei Teng believed this to be a good plan. It was far more efficient to have Chu Feng come to him and deliver up his life!

"I heard the Southern Sea has dispatched several experts to help you take care of Chu Feng?" the three-eyed man asked.

Hei Teng nodded. "They did indeed. The four sea generals who answer to my second brother have brought the Dragon Locking Pillar which can lay down a domain. Once Chu Feng enters, he can forget about leaving."

The three-eyed man laughed. "Then I can rest easy. I’ll take my leave tomorrow and find a suitable beast king to be our ‘perpetrator’ and scapegoat."

That same night, the Xingyi Fist Grandmaster Xu Qing was traveling through the night, his eyes completely frosty. He contacted no one for the time being because he had a certain suspicion—the marine race!

Meanwhile, Chu Feng had set out for Mount Sanqing just before dawn.