Chapter 1098: Enhancement

While this was a noticeable surge in strength, it wasn't an improvement in his cultivation realm. Chu Feng still hadn't used pollen, exotic fruits, or similar items; instead, he relied on the fortune liquid from the First Famous Mountain to nourish his body and soul light.

Currently, his power primarily manifested in strength and speed, in addition to his formidable spiritual energy!

He wasn't envisioning grand cultivation paths, contemplating vast worlds, or forging embryonic Dao fruits; instead, he was simply allowing his physical body to transform and his spiritual energy to be nourished.

Therefore, he hadn't yet painted the scroll most suited to himself, using his vital energy as paper and spiritual power as ink, nor had he unlocked the special abilities corresponding to certain cultivation realms.

He was still an unpolished gem of pure gold, undergoing refinement, simply unleashing the potential within all his cells, purely enhancing his physical body and spirit.

This unpolished gem was ready; once he reached the appropriate age, he could freely consume the most potent exotic fruits of various realms and absorb the pollen produced after the three seeds in the stone jar took root and sprouted.

Three years passed, and Chu Feng's strength reached the "Feast on Sunset Clouds" level. This was a pure enhancement of form and spirit, involving nothing else, a progression that could be described as straightforward and incredibly potent!

However, after reaching this point, his progress visibly slowed, because he had already achieved this level more than half a year ago, and the improvement in the past year hadn't been very significant.

Nevertheless, Chu Feng was quite satisfied. It wasn't easy to reach this stage; such advancement, without the aid of catalysts, was manageable in the early stages but became increasingly difficult later on.

Generally speaking, reaching this stage was already a great success. Regardless of what heavenly treasures or immortal cave fortunes one possessed, this was, after all, not a normal path of evolution.

Splash!

Chu Feng stepped out of the pool, his entire body glistening with the precious liquid. This was the true fluid overflowing from the First Famous Mountain. To this day, he didn't know its exact composition, but he felt it was incredibly nourishing!

After three years, his body had become tall and slender. Compared to before, he had indeed grown considerably.

"How is it?" asked the Nine Nether Deity, anxious but helpless. Sealed within its coffin, its longing for the liquid in the pool was futile.

"The effect is excellent," Chu Feng replied. "I thought that after being nourished by the True Dragon Liquid and Meng Po Soup, my physical body and spirit had reached a plateau where further improvement would be marginal. But here, I can still make significant progress."

Chu Feng was convinced that he could most likely reach the physical limit attainable by a youth here, thereby achieving perfection!

All that was needed was time, and currently, there were no major issues.

"This mountain liquid is so potent," Gu Chenhai exclaimed, surprised. "Can this single liquid alone allow you to achieve perfection?!"

Both Gu Chenhai and Chu Feng had already started calling this true liquid, which had a faint purple glow and came from the First Famous Mountain, "mountain liquid."

"Yes, I think it's possible!" Chu Feng said calmly.

The so-called perfection meant that a youth, before using pollen or exotic fruits, would purely achieve the Golden Body status, possessing an incredibly strong and solid physical body, and a full, robust spirit.

From a distance, his golden body appeared like an embryonic Celestial Venerable!

This was quite a formidable feat: fully activating the potential within all of a being's cells, yet not by force, but through a natural outflow.

Such a being, once they truly embarked on the path of evolution, would undoubtedly be astonishing and extraordinary!

These were all things recorded in the notes of Stone Fox Celestial Venerable's master. After carefully studying them, Chu Feng was now progressing based on these principles, forging the strongest path of evolution!

"A formidable youngster indeed," the Nine Nether Deity sighed. "I didn't expect this famous mountain could truly complete your path."

As Chu Feng stepped out of the pool, purple mist rippled behind him. In the center of the pool, a branch stood, emanating seven-colored light. Grand Dao runes, densely packed, resonated around it, like a heavenly scripture inscribed in the void.

If an ordinary person stood on that small mountain, they would have been shaken into a pulp long ago!

He had smeared himself with Reincarnation Earth, which provided defense and didn't wash off even in water, allowing him to approach the pool.

Of course, for the first two years, he also endured immense suffering. His physical body was torn apart and severely injured, and he only survived and gradually recovered due to the nourishment of the mountain liquid.

"How is your comprehension of the Seven Treasures Art progressing?" the Nine Nether Deity asked.

"It's going well, improving step by step." This was the truth; Chu Feng had made astonishing progress, comprehending a great deal of the art.

Primarily, he had laid a solid foundation earlier, having mastered incomplete divine techniques. Now, coming here to comprehend them, he found his efforts were twice as effective with half the work!

However, during these three years, Chu Feng didn't dedicate all his attention to comprehending the divine techniques. He also fully nourished his physical body and spirit, and furthermore, he delved into studying array formations!

He felt that as a "geological explorer," he would inevitably have to enter forbidden zones across the world in the future to find the strongest exotic fruits.

Moreover, he found that always immersing himself in one thing didn't necessarily yield the best results; a slight shift in focus often brought more inspiration.

So, when he was comprehending the Seven Treasures Art and found himself stuck without progress, he would switch to studying array formations, which often sparked new inspiration.

In the pool, grand dao symbols coiled around the branch, vibrating outwards, intertwined with the First Famous Mountain's inherent order. This allowed Chu Feng to gain immense insights when studying array formations.

"That one... is passing by again!" Gu Chenhai whispered at that moment, the coffin lid even trembling slightly.

A figure appeared at the end of the horizon, with sparse hair like withered yellow weeds, a hunched body, half its face devoid of flesh, and blood dripping from its mouth.

It looked weak, but both Chu Feng and Gu Chenhai felt chills down their spines, not daring to disrespect Number Nine, and feeling their hearts pound every time it appeared.

They had already noticed a pattern: every so often, Number Nine would wander around this desolate plateau, looking for blood food.

A few times, it came to the foot of the mountain, constantly drooling, but fortunately, it never ascended.

Deep within this plateau, not far away, was a blood lake – Number Nine's "food source." Standing on the small mountain, they could see vast amounts of blood light rising from it.

Number Nine passed by again. Along its path, no grass grew, only cold, hard earth and rocks. It moved so lightly and nimbly, as if weightless and utterly silent.

Even from such a distance, they could discern its every move.

In the blood lake, crimson mists dotted the surface and blood fog steamed, an extremely terrifying sight. The red mist emanating from it made even Celestial Venerables tremble with fear.

However, when Number Nine approached, it passed through a light curtain formed by bloody grand dao symbols and directly plunged in. It then pulled a bloody leg from a corpse in the lake, tearing it off.

The blood lake was extremely horrifying, filled with all kinds of bodies, including humanoids, birds, and fierce beasts. Even though they had been dead for countless years, their bodies were still covered with grand dao rules!

Number Nine turned, carrying a leg, and simply brought it out, chewing as it walked!

All along the way, blood dripped, a truly terrifying sight.

"What kind of being, from what realm, does that leg belong to?" Gu Chenhai asked, a chill running down its spine.

More than once, he had seen Number Nine carrying and chewing on a leg. He suspected that these were at least beings that surpassed the Divine King realm; if this guess were true, it would be terrifying.

"Don't you think it's a bit strange that the being on the altar in the ruined temple is missing both its legs?" Chu Feng asked via telepathy.

Gu Chenhai shivered violently. It hadn't given it much thought before, but now, with a little deeper reflection, it was instantly struck with dread.

What kind of existence was that? Either the creator or the one who greatly popularized the Seven Treasures Art, and yet... its legs were still eaten by someone?

That mechanical Buddha race—its evolutionary level was absolutely astonishing!

"Every time this one passes by, my heart pounds," Gu Chenhai said. Just as it finished speaking, Number Nine sauntered over, chewing on bloodied flesh as it came to the foot of the mountain, staring upwards.

"Senior Martial Uncle!" the Nine Nether Deity whispered from within its coffin.

"Senior, would you like to come up for some tea?" Chu Feng also greeted it. The "tea" naturally referred to the mountain liquid, as this was the only water source in the area.

"I've drunk so much I'm sick of it," Number Nine said expressionlessly, then turned and left.

This fortune liquid produced by the First Famous Mountain—to be sick of drinking it! If word got out, how would other evolvers feel?

Even Chu Feng was speechless, watching it leave in stunned silence.

"No way, I'm afraid it won't be able to suppress its instincts and will eat us sooner or later!" Chu Feng whispered.

Gu Chenhai was also uneasy. Every time Number Nine went to get blood food, it would pass by here and circle around, which genuinely left them uncertain about when they might be eaten.

"Old Nine, you wait here," Chu Feng said. "I think I need to go out for a while and hunt down a pile of golden elephant legs, Golden Crow legs, phoenix legs, or something similar for it."

The Nine Nether Deity scornfully replied from the coffin, "Give it a rest. Where are you going to find Golden Crows or phoenixes? If you want to run away, just say so, but either way, you have to take me with you!"

Chu Feng retorted, "I haven't achieved perfection yet, how could I not come back? Besides, there are so many corpses in that blood lake, hurry up and eat them! They might be rotten corpses left from over a hundred million years ago; there must be Celestial Venerables and other powerful beings among them!"

Gu Chenhai was scared to death, afraid Number Nine would overhear their discussion. It quickly whispered, "Don't shout! You're telling me to snatch food from a tiger's mouth—is that seeking death or courting death?!"

"You wait here; I'll leave for a bit!"

With a whoosh, Chu Feng ran off. The Nine Nether Deity immediately cried out in alarm. Trapped in its coffin, it couldn't move easily; how could it possibly catch up? It feared being trapped here for life.

Chu Feng was afraid Number Nine wouldn't be able to control its instincts and would treat him as blood food, so he wanted to go hunting.

Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Number Nine watched him indifferently, not stopping him.

"Senior, I keep my word. I'm going to hunt for you!"

Chu Feng successfully burst out of the First Famous Mountain's internal space, appearing outside.

Underground, the Nine Nether Deity was distraught, feeling like the entire world had turned gray, filled with fear and anxiety. One had run off, leaving only itself. If Number Nine truly wanted a change of taste, it might just gnaw on it like a can of meat!

And so, a full half month passed before there was any movement in this space again.

"Ah, Senior Martial Uncle... why are you here?!" Gu Chenhai almost broke down in tears. That familiar face at the foot of the mountain showed it a strange smile, its mouth full of stark white, sharp teeth stained with blood, dripping onto the ground.

Number Nine said nothing, simply staring at the small mountain above, standing there for two days and two nights.

The Nine Nether Deity's heart grew cold. It felt Number Nine was engaged in an internal struggle, its instinctive urges on the verge of erupting, and its old life was about to be lost.

"You're a bit strange. Let me open the coffin and take a look," Number Nine said.

Upon hearing this, the Nine Nether Deity nearly wet itself with fear.