The Sacred Ruins

The whole summit trembled under his roar. The bamboos rustled and their leaves fell like rain amidst the quake. The fleeing Peacock Tribe expert had disintegrated in mid-air!

Chu Feng was seemingly clad in a brilliant cloak of light as if it was woven from the threads of the sun’s brilliance. Anyone who stared at him directly would find their eyes hurting.

"Chu Feng, please stop!" The remaining Peacock Race members were all pale with fright.

The golden ripples from Chu Feng’s mouth were aimed towards the air away from them. Even so, they were all trembling and had almost collapsed.

Chu Feng stopped and looked at them calmly. His gaze placed unbearable pressure upon them as if they were facing a cold demonic god.

"Our tribe’s king didn’t move against your parents. It was simply by coincidence that he had participated in the attack at Mount Yunluo," a pale young Peacock Tribe member explained.

"Just coincidence?! Spoken quite lightly indeed. The beast kings at Mount Yunluo had used my parents as bait to lay down a trap and the Peacock King was present. That’s enough for me!" Chu Feng raised his glowing right hand and threw out a slap.

The whole summit trembled and was suddenly engulfed by a stifling force of suppression.

"If you still consider yourself a magnanimous and heroic human, go and fight it out with our tribe’s king. That is if you’re confident enough!"

The quasi-king forced himself to keep calm and said these words. He knew it was impossible to escape unless this Demon King Chu stays his hand.

"Filial piety is the foremost of all virtues. I’m a very virtuous person who will never allow anyone to touch my parents. Heroism can wait. You’re playing such an obvious mind game with me. Tell me, are you courting death or are you courting death?"

Chu Feng’s expression was cold. Without hesitation, he lifted his sparkling palm and struck forth. The quasi-king flew out with a thump and died with blood spraying out of his mouth.

The remaining Peacock Race experts felt their scalps go numb. They felt fear and anger in equal measures for they knew that the man before them had steeled his heart to kill them.

Those from Bodhi Biogenetics at the back revealed odd expressions. This Demon King Chu claimed himself virtuous and yet he was killing people with every raise of his hand.

"Divine monk, please save us!" The remaining Peacock Tribe members didn’t dare fly away and looked towards the monk with the golden glow.

The old monk was over a hundred years old and was known as one of the successors of Buddha. He was the most powerful existence in Bodhi Biogenetics.

"Amitabha Buddha," the monk chanted as golden light flourished on his body.

Chu Feng turned back to gaze at the monk. "I’ve come to settle the score because someone attacked my parents indiscriminately. If you try to stop me, I’ll take this as a declaration of war!"

The old monk was merciful at heart but he knew that he might implicate all the mutants of Bodhi Biogenetics if he tried to stop Demon King Chu.

He understood Chu Feng’s intentions. The latter wanted to kill the Peacock Tribe members as an example to the others despite knowing that the peerless Peacock King wasn’t someone to be trifled with.

Who wouldn’t be apprehensive if this Demon King Chu, when enraged, dares kill even those under the Peacock King’s banner?

"King Chu, you’re too overbearing!" Another ancient temple door opened as two people walked into the courtyard.

The one who spoke just now was a man clad in black apparel. His eyes were mysterious as if suffused by a faint black mist.

Beside him was a lady. She was like a feline demon with her long golden hair, jade green eyes, and somewhat furry ears.

Chu Feng guessed these two should belong to the Golden Crow and Nine-lives Cat tribes respectively.

He calmly scanned the two people and proceeded to attack the remaining three Peacock Race experts immediately. A palm strike shot out with a boom, covering a radius of a hundred meters with surging divine radiance.

Thump, thump, thump!

The three flew out like rags and lost their lives soon afterward, their hearts filled with hatred and unwillingness.

The scene was completely silent.

Chu Feng coldly replied, "Overbearing was when the Peacock King continuously sent experts to kill me at Shuntian or when a Peacock Tribe member ordered the Woodpecker King to kill me out of the blue. Overbearing is killing people just because they don’t bow and scrape. I’m here today in order to settle the grievances with the Peacock King. It’s also fine if you think I’m being domineering."

The black robed man was indeed someone from the Golden Crow tribe but his bloodline was still quite distant from the Golden Crow’s. He was just a normal raven quasi-king in human form.

He shot a cold glare. "King Chu, you can be considered an expert, but your actions are absolutely unrestrained. You’ve to realize that no one is absolutely peerless."

Chu Feng spoke, "Although the Golden Crow did travel south from Mount Tai in order to move against me, he didn’t touch my parents. Thus, I shall not attack your race today; I’ll just go and kill your tribal king when the time comes. Take care in the future."

The old monk from Bodhi Biogenetics couldn’t help but put his hands together in prayer after hearing Chu Feng’s fierce words. It seemed even the Golden Crow was on his target list.

The other mutants were even more flustered. They didn’t want to have anything to do with this demonic god for the rest of their lives.

The black-robed man’s eyes were frosty. He felt upset after witnessing the death of several Peacock Race members but he dared not interfere.

He directly addressed Chu Feng in a cold voice, "Chu Feng, you do know that the Golden Crow, the Peacock King, and the Nine-lives Cat are allied. Since you dare to act so domineering today, you should be beware their retribution."

Chu Feng turned back and glared at the man with great ferocity. "I said I wouldn’t attack the Golden Crow tribe today but that doesn’t mean I’m promising you absolute immunity. A mere quasi-king dares act so unbridled and speak threatening words before me?! You’re courting death!"

Thump!

Chu Feng formed a fist seal and smashed forth.

"You! Ah...." the black-robed man cried loudly. He wanted to fly away by rushing upwards in his crow form, but he was duly struck down.

Terror and regret filled his eyes as they soon lost all signs of life. His body had been torn to pieces.

Some of his fresh blood landed on the lady from the Nine-lives Cat Tribe, causing her to scream and retreat lest Chu Feng kill her too.

Before the thousand-year-old temple, seemingly ancient sounds of tolling bells reverberated amidst Buddhist chants. However, none of these were able to drown out the austerity in the air.

Chu Feng strode towards the Peacock Tribe’s grounds. There was a bamboo grove behind this ancient temple enshrouded in a dense spiritual aura, a suitable residence for birds. At this moment, however, it had long since been emptied. Only the few peacocks from before remained while the rest had already fled.

Chu Feng didn’t say anything. His actions thus far had already made his intentions clear to them.

If he did finish off the whole Peacock Tribe before killing the Peacock King, the latter would madly seek revenge regardless of the costs.

Chu Feng turned back to face those from Bodhi Biogenetics. "I want to know if Bodhi Biogenetics was involved when I was besieged by the host of kings."

He didn’t hide his abilities and let his peerless aura diffuse throughout the area. This caused the nearby mutants to tremble and almost collapse.

At this time, Jiang Luoshen had also turned pale and restless. This was the first time she had felt such great ferocity and terror from this acquaintance.

Since he even dares kill those from the Peacock and Golden Crow tribes, it was obvious that he dared do just about anything. Jiang Luoshen wanted to speak at first but now her red lips only opened slightly and no words came out.

She suspected she might be killed in one punch if she spoke too much.

"Bodhi Biogenetics didn’t besiege this benefactor. We only regret that we couldn’t come to save you." The old monk’s demeanor was calm and his gaze, gentle.

To his surprise, Chu Feng felt his killing intent diminish quite a bit before this golden centenarian monk.

"If benefactor still has doubts, this monk is willing to open his consciousness and allow you to judge for yourself."

The spiritual realm of king level entities wasn’t that easy to probe. It would be nearly impossible to break inside if the subject wasn’t willing.

Chu Feng was moved after seeing the old monk calmly open up his consciousness.

He extended a sparkling finger and tapped between the brows of this Buddha’s Disciple. The old monk didn’t move at all and stood there smiling peacefully.

Chu Feng suddenly withdrew his hand just as his finger was about to touch the old monk’s forehead. "I believe you."

He was quite certain that this was his first time seeing this old monk and that this Buddha’s Disciple wasn’t among those who had attacked him that night. However, there was no way for him to know if Bodhi Biogenetics still had other hidden experts.

Chu Feng had a good impression of this old monk and didn’t want to make things difficult for him.

"Are there any executives from Bodhi Biogenetics here?!" Chu Feng asked the other mutants.

He didn’t have any favorable opinion regarding the authoritative figures from these major corporations. They were even more cruel than the beast races when he was being hunted in Jiangxi.

"There is." Finally, someone answered. Jiang Luoshen’s words were quite unexpected for Chu Feng.

Finally, some elderly people were "invited over". Chu Feng tapped their foreheads without any regard for courtesy.

The expression of these elders were all ugly but they still complied.

Chu Feng hypnotized them and probed into their consciousness to see if any of them had sought to harm him.

Finally, after finding nothing serious, he apologized to them all.

"I’ll believe Bodhi Biogenetics for the time being." These words invoked complex emotions among the numerous mutants but they were finally able to breathe out a sigh of relief.

They were all afraid that the higher-ups might have schemed against Chu Feng. If it was found out, Chu Feng would surely massacre everyone today and wash Bodhi Biogenetics with blood.

But they also understood that Chu Feng didn’t trust Bodhi completely. He had no good impression of them after being hunted by corporate agents.

...

The old temple at the summit was scarred with vestiges of the vicissitudes. Each brick and tile all exuded the aura of antiquity, as if the temple had experienced all the changes of the world since centuries past.

The old temple which looked as if it would collapse any time was the heart of this whole area.

Chu Feng had been gazing at the divine statue within the temple and hadn’t even moved in a long while.

As the sun began to set, a large bell suspended in the nearby hall began to chime pensively.

Only then did Chu Feng walk out from among the old temples painted in the red of dusk.

He felt extremely tranquil and his mind was at peace. There was neither happiness nor worry for he had temporarily put them aside as he washed clean his baleful intent amidst the twilight and the tolls of the ancient bell.

He sighed softly. His killing intent was too dense in the recent days; he had crossed thousands of miles to kill Hei Teng, eliminate the Ashwolf Tribe and slaughter the Peacock Tribe. There was only viciousness surging in his heart.

Only now did he truly calm down.

His heart and spirit were purified after listening to the chanting monks and tolling bells. His vicious intent had dissolved.

He thought back in detail. Since he had learned the Xingyi Fist, he had wholeheartedly sought to sharpen his fist intent and began to kill enemies in every direction. This caused his murderous spirit to accumulate vigorously over time.

"It seems I need to be careful. Enemies must be killed but I must let the enmity end there and then. I shouldn’t let the viciousness linger around me," Chu Feng murmured. He had noticed this was a problem.

One’s spirit should be able to swallow the world when killing but maintain a tranquil mind when not. Otherwise, it would be no different from a demon.

"The saying ‘Ten years of Taichi in isolation while one year of Xingyi kills’ is truly reasonable." Chu Feng mused.

He felt that the rise of killing intent was related to the type of technique one practiced. Xingyi Fist was made to kill.

The old monk walked over under the rays of the setting sun. His Buddhist name was Qian Jia, senior apprentice brother to the Buddha’s Disciple Qian Ye who had taken part in the battle against the White Snake at Mount Taihang.

"I have the Golden Arhat Breathing Technique." Qian Jia’s body was glowing under the glow of the setting sun. He truly appeared like a golden arhat, solemn and dignified with his hands together in prayer.

Chu Feng felt odd. What did the monk want by telling him this?

Soon, he understood. Qian Jia was actually inviting him to join Bodhi Biogenetics. If Chu Feng was willing to convert to Mount Puto, he would be able to obtain this Golden Arhat Breathing Technique.

Chu Feng didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. How did this amiable looking monk come up with this idea? He actually wanted to persuade Chu Feng to shave his head and become a monk.

"Master Qian Jia, I’m still too young for this. I still want to move freely around this world of mortal pleasures for another 500 years at least. I don’t want to shave my head and become a monk."

"Amitabha Buddha." Qian Jia recited a prayer while scanning the surroundings with his divine instinct. He then told Chu Feng that he sensed a hint of Buddhist aura from the latter and wanted to know if Chu Feng’s so-called peerless breathing technique was related to Buddhism.

Qian Jia spoke frankly. He told Chu Feng that the lifeforms from other realms would eventually descend as the world undergoes more changes. He said that if Chu Feng grasped a breathing technique at the Bodhisattva level, he would likely encounter great fortune and might perhaps be taken away to the other worlds where he could practice supreme techniques at the Holy Land of Buddhism.

But the condition was that Chu Feng had to convert to Buddhism. Qian Jia was willing to guide him and expound scriptures, helping him lay down the foundation.

Chu Feng remained unmoved after hearing these words. Why would he want to leave when he knew that beings from other worlds were risking their lives to come to this realm?

"There are sacred trees and fortunes in this world, but we’re sorely lacking in techniques. The ones we have are all too crude and simplified. In the end, we would need to go to other worlds in search of scriptures," Qian Jia explained.

Chu Feng was moved. He had heard of the magnificence of the other worlds from Yellow Ox. They were indeed extremely brilliant—faeries and gods filled the skies while Boddhisattvas shook the world—it was indeed something to yearn for.

He did want to go and take a look. Chu Feng replied, "I’ll think about this after combing the famed mountains and great rivers of this world for various fortunes."

The old monk was dumbfounded. This benefactor was truly greedy.

"Okay, it’s settled. From now on, the Peacock Race’s territory belongs to me. I have a share of Mount Putuo!" Chu Feng announced.

Qian Jia was speechless. This man was just like a bandit! He was just planning to convert him to Buddhism but it seemed somewhat inappropriate now.

After letting go of his viciousness, Chu Feng’s mind was calm and at east.

Afterwards, he combed the whole mountain and dug up the soil from beneath the thick Bodhi Tree. This shocked the old monk to no end.

"Chu Feng, are you planning to dig up this tree and take it away?!" Jiang Luoshen appeared. Her expression was somewhat unnatural. She didn’t give it much thought before, but after seeing him massacre every today, she dared not ridicule him anymore.

"I’m only checking on something." Chu Feng rose after finding a three-colored soil beneath the tree. It wasn’t much different from the soil on Mount Tai and would probably have no effect on the seed in its current state.

He needed to wait until Mount Putuo recovers and its spirit becomes more vigorous before attempting to plant the seed from the stone box.

"Shouldn’t Mount Putuo have more fortunes than this?" Chu Feng asked.

Despite being occupied by a host of kings, both Mount Kunlun and the Pilgrimage Grounds had certain mysterious areas that couldn’t be accessed. Mount Longhu was similarly fraught with abnormal dangers.

"On that side." Qian Jia pointed towards the back mountain.

"Eh?" Chu Feng was surprised.

"It’s only vaguely visible during sunrise and sunset," Qian Jian explained.

In the glow of the sunset, Chu Feng vaguely made out an even more majestic mountain. Only its silhouette was vaguely visible and the details were hard to make out.

"Is there no way to climb it?" Chu Feng asked.

"We’ve never succeeded in climbing it." The old monk shook his head.

The mysterious mountain completely vanished just before the sun disappeared, but at this time golden specks of light began to rain down from above.

The old monk let out a silent cry and began to respire the essence of the heaven and earth. Energy was released from his physical body as he spared no effort to draw in the golden light.

Chu Feng also tried absorbing them after seeing the situation.

Chi!

Finally, a golden Bodhi leaf flew over and landed on Chu Feng’s hand. It was surging with vigorous life essence and traces of blood could be seen on it!

"What’s going on?" He was astonished.

Qian Jia was also shaken. "This old monk has also caught a few golden Bhodi leaves in the past but never one stained with blood."

"This is interesting." Chu Feng stared at the empty place. Was there a certain lifeform on that mountain trying to send a message outside?

Many thoughts ran through his mind. If the world went through another round of changes and such a Buddhist Mountain came into being, it’ll be difficult to say whether it’s a fortune or otherwise.

Suddenly, Chu Feng became alert. Everyone had always been hoping for the world to go through another upheaval as soon as possible. They were waiting to contest over the astonishing divine fruits and fortunes, however, no one seemed to have considered things from a different perspective. Perhaps great danger lurked therein.

"Eh? It’s snowing?!"

Chu Feng raised his head in surprise.

Heavy snow filled the skies and had soon covered up the whole summit in silvery white.

What’s going on? Since the upheaval, the world had been enjoying temperate climates and surging vitality no matter the season. The bitter cold of winter had almost been forgotten.

But such an odd thing happened this evening!

Chu Feng realized that the world was about to undergo another upheaval. This day had suddenly arrived.