Martial God Asura

Chu Feng spread out his psyche, and he soon noticed a gaze. The gaze was so obscure that he wouldn’t have known if he was imagining things if not for the Heaven-devouring Qilin’s reminder.

“Elder, can you tell what his cultivation level is?” Chu Feng asked.

“You aren’t calling me a pig anymore?” the Heaven-devouring Qilin sneered.

“Elder, we’re a team now. You also tried to kill me back then. Why don’t we call it quits and not get hung up over the past?” Chu Feng said.

“Call it quits? How convenient for you to say that after putting me through so much torture. Lad, I don’t have the power to help you. I warned you earlier, but you refused to heed my advice. This is the price you have to pay for your loyalty. I wish you all the best,” the Heaven-devouring Qilin said before falling silent.

Chu Feng turned to the Divine Deer and asked, “Elder?”

“Chu Feng, I have yet to recover. You only have yourself to count on,” the Divine Deer replied.

Nevertheless, Chu Feng wasn’t too worried, since he had Qin Jiu’s talisman and his father’s protection formation to fall back on.

He hadn’t been slacking off while traveling. He had been looking into how he could maximize the power of the Seven Realms Soul Forging Incense, as well as examining his father’s martial power formation via Protection Bane to gain deeper control of it.

The more he learned about his father’s protection formation, the more impressed he was. Not only was it powerful, but it was more formidable than spirit power formations in some aspects.

It was a pity that Qin Jiu’s talisman and his father’s protection formation could only be used once. He didn’t want to resort to them unless forced to a corner, which was why he sought the Divine Deer’s help.

Still, he had nothing to fear since he had two life-preservation means.

He passed through multiple layers of spirit formation gates and eventually arrived at a palace. Upon arriving at the palace, he became certain that there was nothing good awaiting them.

There was a gate at the opposite end of the palace, and based on the map he had received from Bai Yunqing, Taishi Xingzhong’s son was there.

“Wait here.”

An elder left to report their arrival, whereas the other elders stayed behind to keep an eye on them.

Those who cleared the examination didn’t think anything was wrong with the situation, as evident from their blissful and excited smiles. They were already envisioning a brighter future. They didn’t care that Taishi Xingzhong had betrayed the Totem Dragon Clan’s Clan Chief and participated in the revolt. They were looking forward to becoming Taishi Xingzhong’s disciples.

Many sculptures could be seen along both sides of the palace. They weren’t really sculptures but samples made via a special formation; all of them used to be real living beings.

“Waaa! Isn’t that an immemorial ferocious beast, Serpentine Ferocious Beast?” a world spiritist walked up to the sample and exclaimed.

The other world spiritists gathered around.

It was a sample of a ten-meter-tall lizard standing upright like a human, and it was covered in black and dark green scales that looked like armor. It looked like a domineering soldier.

Chu Feng had long noticed the sample.

In terms of size and appearance, this sample was unassuming compared to the other samples in the room, but he could tell that it was extremely strong prior to becoming a sample, possibly the strongest compared to the other samples here.

“Is this really a sample of the Serpentine Ferocious Beast?” the other junior world spiritists excitedly asked.

“It’s in Taishi Xingzhong’s collection. How can it be fake?” one of the elders said.

“Woah, it’s real! It’s said that Serpentine Ferocious Beasts were the biggest headache to cultivators back in the Immemorial Era, but it has long gone extinct. I never thought I’d be able to see it in person,” a junior world spiritist exclaimed.

“I heard about the Serpentine Ferocious Beast from my grandfather back when I was still young. They are difficult to deal with because they group up and follow a strict hierarchy, and it’s difficult to wound them due to their natural armor. I never thought that I’d see one in person. This is an invaluable treasure!” another world spiritist said.

“Do you know why the Serpentine Ferocious Beast is named as such?” one of the elders asked.

“I know! It’s because Serpentine Ferocious Beasts grow dragon horns upon reaching a certain cultivation level. The horns indicate the tremendous potential they harness; it’s rumored that they are able to reach Heavenly God level,” a junior said.

The other juniors who had also heard about the Serpentine Ferocious Beast were skeptical about that remark.

“Heavenly God level? Are you sure?”

While there were a couple of Heavenly God level cultivators at the inception of the current era, there were hardly any of them left. In fact, no cultivators had reached Heavenly God level in the past tens of thousands of years.

Due to that, many thought that Heavenly God level didn’t truly exist. Nevertheless, the term still represented unparalleled power.

They had no doubt that Serpentine Ferocious Beasts were powerful, but it was hard for the juniors to believe that they could reach Heavenly God level.

“He’s right. Serpentine Dragon Beasts with dragon horns are able to reach Heavenly God level,” the elder confirmed the junior’s words.

“They are able to reach Heavenly God level?”

The juniors looked at the Serpentine Ferocious Beast with even greater respect than before. They might doubt the junior’s words, but it was much more credible when the elder affirmed it.

“Taishi Xingzhong has a sample of a Serpentine Ferocious Beast with dragon horns too, but it isn’t here,” the elder said.

“Waaa!”

The junior world spiritists were impressed. Their expressions showed that they were truly awed. Chu Feng could also sense just how valuable a Serpentine Ferocious Beast with dragon horns would be.

A moment later, the elder who had left earlier returned with a white-haired, one-eyed elder.

Chu Feng recognized the latter. It was Li Ta’er’s father, Bai Yunqing’s senior uncle.

“Paying respects to milord,” all of the elders bowed to the one-eyed elder.

The juniors didn’t recognize him, but they quickly lowered their heads as well as they could tell that he was of high standing.

The one-eyed elder ignored them. Instead, he waved his hand, and the door at the opposite end of the palace opened.

The crowd was taken aback by what they saw beyond the door. Their earlier blissful smiles were replaced with tensed frowns.

In the door was a room with walls covered in complicated runes and eerie talismans. At the center of the room was a pool with a transparent coffin and several vats.

The coffin was covered in talismans as well, and it harnessed unique energy. A man covered in terrifying burn scars lay inside the coffin. He gasped for air as he looked at the crowd with an excited glint in her eyes, like a hunter staring down prey.

It was clear that something was amiss, but the junior world spiritists still harbored hope that the situation wasn’t as bad as they had expected.

Soon, the one-eyed elder opened the seven vats, and pungent fluids of different colors flowed into the pool. These fluids were all blood, human blood and those from the other races.

“Milord, what are you doing?” a junior world spiritist asked in alarm.

They could tell that something sinister was happening before their eyes.

“Go in,” the one-eyed elder said.

“Ah?”

The crowd was stunned, not knowing whether they should heed the one-eyed elder’s command or not.

“That man over here is Lord Taishi Xingzhong’s son. He’s severely injured and needs you to treat him. This is your final test. Step into the pool and channel the power in the formation. If any of you can alleviate his condition, you’ll be immediately accepted as Lord Taishi Xingzhong’s disciple,” the one-eyed elder said.

The crowd hesitated.

“You may leave right away if you wish to give up.” The one-eyed elder gestured to the open doors.

Someone in the crowd gritted his teeth and leaped into the pool. A few others, fearing that they would lag behind, did the same too.

Chu Feng shook his head, thinking that they were blinded by their greed to do something this dumb.

That being said, it was not as if they could really leave. The one-eyed elder wouldn’t really let them go so easily.

So, Chu Feng leaped into the pool too, but right as he was about to come into contact with it, he suddenly charged forward and leaped onto the coffin instead. Without any warning, he smashed his fist into the coffin.

Blood spurted everywhere.

Chu Feng’s fist had penetrated the chest of Lord Taishi Xingzhong’s son!