The Sacred Ruins

On the altar, Chu Feng sat silently in a cross-legged position and no longer connected with the outside world.

His figure became hazy as high-grade energy mists shrouded his unmoving body.

However, the inside of his body wasn’t calm at all. The world therein had been flipped over as major changes took place. His origin after severing dozens of shackles was like an erupting volcano—energy gushed out like a breached dike and rushed towards every inch of his flesh and blood, refining his bones and tendons.

Looking within, one could see damage and destruction everywhere just like the boiling lava of hell. It almost seemed to be going out of control.

He had already broken through his confinements and was marching on the carefree realm!

But this kind of feeling was extremely uncomfortable because he had opened too many shackles. Presently, he was surging with energy and attacking in unison, almost tearing his body apart.

Others would undergo and vital transition with just 12 shackles while he had severed dozens more. They were on completely different terms!

He had to destroy all agitation since he wanted to put ink to paper and draw out his own path. The obstruction he had to face was unimaginable!

As time passed by, Chu Feng began to tremble. The result of the rapid evolution of his physical body was that the changes were too intense and his constitution was on the verge of collapse.

In order to draw out a painting, he must allow himself to return to his origins and make himself whole from the inside out, destroying all of the different techniques he had gained while severing shackles.

This process was simply too difficult!

The inside of Chu Feng’s body seemed as though it had suffered a major explosion—he could no longer maintain his calm and his pores were gushing out blood. Apparently, the carefree realm painting wasn’t that easy to draw.

Naturally, the most important part was that his path was special. He had severed a terrifyingly dense array of shackles.

"Boom!"

The lightning rune on Chu Feng’s left palm exploded. It was even more prominent inside; lightning interweaved and extended along his arms towards his body.

His external appearance was also fairly shocking. His left hand drenched in blood and speckles of scarlet red fell into the sacrificial altar.

And this was only the beginning. The abilities he had obtained after opening up all the shackles in various parts of the body had to be destroyed and thoroughly emptied out. He had to return his body to a state of chaos in order to paint!

Following which, dazzling flames burst out from Chu Feng’s right hand and raged brightly. His hand was so red that it was frightening.

Pfft!

A beam of blood energy rushed out from his palm and ignited. It was almost as though Chu Feng’s spirit was soul was burning!

Another ability had been eliminated!

This process was extremely painful and even more difficult than when he was severing his shackles. It could easily affect his survival since he was exhausting himself in both form and soul.

But Chu Feng could only hold on. He had already taken a step forward and could no longer pull back. He had to endure the pain in order to reach the peak. One had to bear the weight in order to wear the crown.

Next were his two legs. Chu Feng hesitated whether he should destroy his divine feet ability, but he clenched his teeth and decided to do it.

That was because, according to his understanding, there were many such secret arts. For instance, the continental divine movement technique and the adjacent world’s end technique were extremely powerful if one had the fortune to cultivate them.

So much so that, they were more mature and perfect than his current divine feet.

Within moments, Chu Feng’s feet erupted with light like two small suns. Aftwards, beams of blood and energy shot out, causing his face to contort due to the extreme pain.

The next was Chu Feng’s spine. Presently, it had turned a golden color like a dormant true dragon.

At this time, his spine had almost burst apart. There was a dazzling golden weapon hidden within—at times it was a dragon sword and sometimes it was a dragon lance.

The weapon broke and was then obliterated. In the end, it returned to a raging form of primal energy.

Chu Feng’s spine emitted a crisp sound and blood stained his body.

Afterwards, he checked his heart and felt a moment of hesitation. But he decided to erase it in the end. The shackle here had afforded him astonishing regenerative abilities and great benefits.

He had asked Yellow Ox and consulted Yaoyao regarding this matter and knew that this ability could be replaced.

For instance, the bronze wall tiger tail technique and immortal technique could both serve as replacements. Cultivating one of them was enough.

Naturally, the value of such a rare volume would be outrageous and extremely difficult to get a hold of.

But Chu Feng had just found a way out. He could sell divine sons and auction off saintesses to trade with the people in the depths of the starry sky.

Before this, he couldn’t easily let go of the recovery arts from his heart, but now he was more confident.

A tearing pain came from his heart and Chu Feng coughed up blood. This was something everyone marching on the carefree realm had to face. Others would only need to go through this for a short while.

But Chu Feng had severed too many shackles and there was much left for him to suffer.

When the metallic sword intent he had been nurturing in his lungs was dissolved, it almost tore his lungs apart and shattered his innards. Chu Feng gasped for breath as his chest rose and fell with great ferocity.

In this manner, he wiped away the odd techniques one after another and suffered immense pain.

He left some places for last—his kidneys for instance. Chu Feng frowned but erased it in the end. His kidney qi immediately collapsed and the energy returned to his original form.

He let out a muffled groan and looked into this body, afraid that he had harmed his foundations.

Later on, Chu Feng braced himself and chose another important yet fragile shackle, carefully returning it to energy.

Many different voices rang out from the origin beast platform. Some shouted, "This brat has opened a shocking number of shackles. Could he have comprehended all of them? What is he looking at so intently? Why is it that chickadee?!"

"Heh heh, such a widespread destruction. Don’t cripple yourself in the process!"

Fortunately, Chu Feng could neither see nor hear them because he was isolated from the outside world. Otherwise, he would certainly suffer a deviation."

He exhaled deeply. Everything had been returned to their roots and his internal and external environments were now as one.

That was, except his eyes. The Fiery Eyes were the only ability Chu Feng had retained. He didn’t destroy it because it was simply too heaven-defying. How many could there be in the entire universe?

Many people have severed the eye shackles but they only gained spiritual eyes at the most!

An ability like Fiery Eyes was too rare and there was no secret volume to cultivate it; it was innate.

"Finally, the inside of my body is a field of haziness just like primal chaos with various types of energy mixed together. I can now form a detailed framework for my path ahead," Chu Feng muttered to himself.

After returning to the origins, his body was like a white sheet of paper. It could also be called a state of chaos.

Some say that it was best to destroy all innate abilities and achieve perfection, but others argue that perfection begets a sense of defect and, as such, were in favor of retaining some abilities.

Before drawing on the painting scroll, he left the Fiery eyes. Chu Feng had his own intentions and deductions—he needed a path forwards as well as a path to retreat.

He sat cross-legged and once again pondered in silence. He felt as though he had missed something.

He breathed deeply and calmed himself down.

At this moment, his body was full of blood. So much so that even his head wasn’t an exception. The hazy little human-shaped mass of spiritual power had also been wiped clean.

Chu Feng’s heart began to thump just as he was about to begin!

Bang!

He sat straight and spiritual light shot out from his eyes—he stopped all of his movements!

Hunger, emptiness, and exhaustion assaulted his heart.

Within moments, Chu Feng was so hungry that he couldn’t go on. He had severed ten shackles and also linked up all of his body to enter the carefree realm. That was a terrifying explosion of after effects!

Before coming here, he had eaten starcore turtle eggs on Mount Longhu and formed a sturdy foundation, but the starvation had still acted up.

This time, he had severed too many shackles and entered the carefree realm in one go. This was simply too much of a strain to his heart blood and spiritual energy.

That was because this process would take many years under normal conditions. He had refined himself and undergone a metamorphosis in such a short period of time. He had done in a single day what others would need many years. It was simply too tyrannical. He was betting his life on it!

Such an action would cause his body to dry up!

The quasi-divine beast egg was indeed special in that it allowed Chu Feng to hold on until now.

Although Yaoyao had made light of it and said that the starcore turtle eggs weren’t at all that much, the actual situation was proof that it contained unparalleled vital energy.

The turtles possessed long lifespans and this was especially true for starcore turtles. They were simply saint-grade supplements.

Were it not for this type of divine egg, Chu Feng would definitely be unable to hold on. The rapid evolution he had undergone was simply too intense. It would cause himself to age, deteriorate and die early on.

He ate a total of three eggs before coming here. One of them had been digested while the essence of the other two was poured into various parts of his body.

Now, in the face of this immense hunger, he cleanly absorbed the essence of the remaining two eggs like a mountain flood.

He had eaten a future quasi-divine beast!

His heart beat wildly for a while and was then nourished. His form and spirit no longer dried up.

He had almost experienced a death!

Chu Feng restored his calm.

The cells on his body erupted with silver light, surging with vitality which gushed out from various parts of his body. His arms, legs, forehead had all recovered completely.

His expression was calm as he gazed at the Seal of Domain Suppression beside him. The black light had enveloped him, providing him with safety and peace; there was no danger.

He understood after activating this seal that he had been overthinking things. The Seal of Domain Suppression used to be an absolute treasure and could hold on for over twenty hours in one go.

To him, time was abundant and he could proceed calmly.

He brought out the photon computer and carefully read through the electronic notes Lin Qi had given him. All of them were personal records of the predecessors which had been scanned into the photon computer.

He wanted to things to be as perfect as possible without leaving any regrets and defects.

"From a certain perspective, I’ve been overthinking things. Secret volumes related to energy forms aren’t necessary. For instance, the Buddhist race’s most powerful energy form, the Zhangliu Golden Body was the peerless painting a certain genius of that race had drawn as he entered the carefree realm. It was then perfected continuously during the following years and an unrivaled might was developed.

Chu Feng nodded in comprehension.

He checked one valuable note after another; all of them possessed interconnected viewpoints.

"No wonder Yaoyao told me to form my own painting and paid little heed to the analyses of energy forms. So it’s like this."

Chu Feng felt that it was energy forms were good enough as long as they were suitable. He could easily form one on his own.

As for the red spider lilies and revered banana leaves, he could reference them while drawing his own painting. There was no need for him to imitate them.

"It’s good enough that there’s no conflict with my own painting."

After Chu Feng finished reading, he became increasingly calm.

He suddenly got up, stood at the edge of the altar and looked down at the surroundings.

Boom!

His insides were churning with various types of energy as though the primal chaos were being opened. He was forming an outline and starting to paint.

A golden sun rose up in his body and illuminated the firmament. It grew bigger and bigger until it completely enveloped his body within.

With a wave of his hand, his fist seal erupted with blinding light as though a divine king had awoken. His hands seemed to be pushing a big sun as he looked down at the world.

"He’s using a vast and majestic sun as his foundation!" The divine sons and saintesses below were all visibly moved. This was a tyrannical picture scroll.

On the origin beast platform, many people were greatly alarmed. The reason was that a certain heaven-illuminating existence had also drawn such a painting in the past.

How many people would dare imitate a character of such status? It was simply courting death.

In the starry sky, many of the famous picture scrolls had been made public. However, one might not necessarily be able to imitate them. Those failed to walk the path of the predecessors would mostly die in the end.

Walking the same path as a saint and painting as he did would likely result in death.

Meanwhile, imitating the painting of a heaven-illuminator was even more terrifying. It was simply a death talisman that would consume one’s entire being. It was a path to sure destruction!

Many heavenly geniuses refused to believe this and were met with miserable outcomes. Their mistakes cost them their lives.

There was once a famous saying, "Those who learn from me shall live and those who imitate me shall die!"

It was easy to grasp their reasoning from their experience.

It meant that whoever imitated them was simply committing suicide.

Bang!

However, the sun exploded at the next moment and vast amounts of golden light returned to Chu Feng’s body.

"He’s given up!" Chen Rong said with a cold expression.

"This is called knowing oneself. He clearly knows that he can’t handle this and that he would break apart if he continued!" White-haired Lie Shan laughed. He was transformed from a silver pangolin and possessed a long face with sharp teeth.

Amidst rustling sounds, a mist arose around Chu Feng along with a pond filled with numerous gree lotuses. It was as if a lotus pond from the formation of the world had emerged.

"That’s an ancient scroll once viewed by a heaven illuminator as his foundation!" The Great Qi prince was astonished. This was the first time he had revealed his worries.

That was because Chu Feng’s accomplishments would be astonishing if he succeeded.

This kind of painting scroll was extremely famous in the starry skies and all heavenly geniuses coveted it.

It was said that the one who had drawn this kind of peerless painting was an unrivaled expert from one of the ten planets. The period in which he illuminated the heavens was frighteningly ancient.

There were many rare geniuses who tried to imitate him but only a few ever succeeded, most made a fool out of themselves.

However, there was nothing absolute in this world. In the end, there were three people who succeeded in different generations.

Those were world-shaking incidents and the accomplishments of these people were shockingly glorious!

Thump!

A soft sound rang out as the lotuses of primal chaos disintegrated at the last moment and returned to nothingness. Chu Feng had actually given up once again.

Some people were quite regretful. They really wanted him to succeed and borrow its power to form an unbeatable path. Unfortunately, however, he had pulled out.

Some people were relieved and revealed understanding expressions. How many people dared attempt such a painting scroll at this age? There were too many lessons learned by blood and too many dead geniuses.

Many people in the starry skies were expectant and hoping to see what Chu Feng would choose to draw in the end.

People like Chen Rong, Yuwen Feng, and Lie Shan were whispering quietly and discussing in secret. Their eyes were sinister as they stared at Chu Feng atop the altar.

Chu Feng stood on the altar with his silken hair reaching his waist and his eyes burning brightly. With a boom, a golden paper appeared beside him.

It was a scripture scroll!

Cries of alarm rang out once again because this was one of the peerless painting scrolls of the cosmos. Back then, a certain person had produced page after page of heavenly books—they were all empty with neither word nor picture.

The golden paper could be used to capture all kinds of techniques which existed in the world and seize various fortunes, carving them within the golden scripture scroll. It was extremely heaven-defying.

Reportedly, the saint Yuwen Chengkong’s Hundred Transformations Breathing Technique was based upon this dao. To be precise, it was a branch.

One could imagine how heaven-defying this picture scroll was!

At this moment, the golden page was fairly corporeal and resembled a true wordless heavenly book. It spread out around Chu Feng and shrouded him in its transcendent luster.

"His construction is very realistic. This painting is about to succeed!"

There was a great commotion on the Origin Beast Platform.

People were alarmed to find that Chu Feng actually possessed such a method. He had painted such a painting scroll!

Below the altar, Yu Wenfeng who had been scheming how to destroy Chu Feng revealed a malicious expression. The rebel in his eyes had actually drawn such a painting.

One had to know that their race’s rise to power was because their saint Yuwen Chengkong had imitated a few pages of this wordless scripture scroll.

Now Chu Feng had actually outlined this before the world and was about to draw this unrivaled painting scroll. Was this targeting him in a show of force?!

Chu Feng waved his hand at the critical juncture and the golden scripture scroll was burnt into divine light which entered his body.

He had given up once again!

This moved everyone. Just now he was about to succeed, but he actually discarded it?!

What exactly was he doing? Was he drawing such a painting scroll just to test the waters?

In the end, Chu Feng revealed a smile and suddenly looked up. Above the altar and in the sky above his head, there were a hundred stars illuminating the heavens. And all of them were reflected in his eyes!