Chapter 1109: The Jinxed Man

Where was Zhongxiu? Chu Feng wondered, searching for a long time but finding no trace of him, only an empty underground palace.

Had he already departed for training?

Chu Feng was deeply impressed by Zhongxiu, considering him stronger and more complex than both Zhuo Hong and Ming Yu. He had hoped to corner him in the palace to "test" his own cultivation progress.

Zhongxiu possessed the bloodline of a primeval god-demon, with a pair of golden wings on his back and a vertical eye on his forehead, indicating formidable power.

"What a shame," Chu Feng muttered regretfully. "I was hoping to eliminate all of you. Why leave so early?" In the empty underground palace, he found some books and letters, confirming it was Zhongxiu's retreat. It was clear Zhongxiu had already left, having finished his training early.

Chu Feng, fighting alone, had killed Ming Yu and Zhuo Hong. Additionally, he had eliminated two core disciples from the lineage of Taiwu Heavenly Venerate's senior sister, achieving a four-kill streak and yielding exceptionally rich results.

If word of this got out, it would undoubtedly cause an immense uproar, shaking the entire Yang Realm.

For years, despite the external chaos, no one had ever dared to so brazenly infiltrate a sect's forbidden grounds to eliminate its core disciples.

This was utterly insane!

If such mutual retaliation escalated to the point where Heavenly Venerates personally intervened, wouldn't the Yang Realm descend into utter chaos? In such a devastating scenario, who, apart from a Heavenly Venerate, could guarantee their own survival?

Should it truly reach that stage, the Yang Realm would plunge into the darkest and bloodiest turmoil in history, with no sects able to protect themselves from being swept into the conflict.

At that time, the lands of the Yang Realm would be destined to see mountains of corpses and rivers of blood, with over ninety percent of its traditions potentially wiped out!

Such events were not unprecedented; previous cruel and bloody lessons had forced even powerful beings to flee to the Minor Underworld to escape disaster.

It was foreseeable that once this incident was exposed, the major best-selling newspapers in the Yang Realm would become highly sought after, brimming with explosive headline content that would ignite the world.

Yet, Chu Feng, the instigator of it all, remained unsatisfied, feeling he hadn't killed enough and should continue his efforts.

Unfortunately, the corresponding palaces were all empty; there were no more targets.

Finally, he set his sights on a secret chamber emanating a powerful aura. He hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to attack this individual. There truly were no other suitable targets left for a clandestine strike.

This was Long Yu's secluded cultivation chamber.

Inside the palace, a powerful young man, two meters tall, with a full, golden-glowing beard, appeared rugged and as formidable as a divine lion king.

He was in seclusion, meditating on a crushing defeat against a successor of the Great Yi Palace, where he had nearly been shot dead. While his physical wounds had healed long ago, the emotional trauma remained difficult to overcome.

He couldn't overcome this internal barrier. He earnestly pondered, always feeling that if he encountered the divine archer again, he would still be pierced by arrows, or even killed.

That battle had left him with a deep psychological scar!

Before this, he had swept through opponents on the battlefield, invincible, defeating many prodigies and even slaying experts ranked among the top hundred on the divine list, which had greatly boosted his confidence.

However, all of that confidence was shattered by a single divine arrow. He had clearly seen his opponent draw the mighty bow and aim directly at him, yet he had been utterly unable to evade it.

Even now, the thought of that divine archer, clad in golden divine armor and wielding a golden great bow, filled his heart with despair; he couldn't shake it off. The archer's calm, focused, and ruthless expression remained deeply etched in his mind.

Each time he recalled it, his body would tense, and he'd feel an uncontrollable urge to leap up and rush out of the palace.

Especially when he fell into a deep sleep, he would often wake up in a cold sweat, his arrow-pierced chest throbbing faintly, as if bloody and shattering from the impact all over again.

"Roar..."

Long Yu let out a low growl, like a trapped beast. A violent aura spread throughout the palace as anger consumed him, furious that he couldn't escape the shadow of that defeat.

Perhaps it wasn't anger so much as a helpless anxiety, a deep-seated fear stemming from his belief that even if he faced the archer again, he would still be pierced by that arrow, still unable to evade it.

"How can I defeat it? Is the Great Yi divine archery truly unsolvable, destined to be my lifelong nemesis?!"

His chest heaved as he pondered for a long time, yet he still couldn't find a viable way to counter the brilliance of that arrow.

He sprang to his feet, pacing back and forth with growing agitation. That arrow had pierced not just his physical body and soul, but also his pride and confidence.

"They say the Great Yi Palace is the ancestral land of divine archery, where nearly every generation's top divine archer originates, almost to the point of being unmatchable. Could the female archer I faced be destined to become the world's foremost divine archer?!"

He couldn't even recall a clear image of the woman; he only remembered her golden divine attire, the golden great bow in her hand, and a pair of extraordinarily beautiful and profound eyes. Her face, however, eluded his memory entirely. His nerves had been so taut, completely fixated by that arrow, that he couldn't have focused on anything else.

"She's not old, yet her divine archery has already placed her among the top fifty deities. If given more time, wouldn't she break into the top twenty, or even the top ten?"

Long Yu's face darkened; he increasingly felt this had become his inner demon. If he couldn't devise a way to counter the Great Yi divine archery, he would never find peace.

Historically, the world's top divine archers have almost always ranked among the top ten masters.

"If I want to climb higher in the divine rankings, I must overcome this obstacle. But how do I deal with her? The Great Yi Palace's archery is unmatched!"

Long Yu grew increasingly agitated. He had spent over half a year recuperating from his injuries and meditating, yet he remained just as vexed.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

Golden armor shimmered onto his body, and he took up a golden great bow, imitating the female archer's shooting stance, drawing the bow and nocking an arrow, attempting to experience her technique firsthand.

Finally, he cast aside the bow and armor, returned to his jade table, and began poring over ancient texts and personal notes.

"Even Grandmaster Taiwu was once wounded by a Heavenly Archer from the Great Yi Palace," he thought. "How can I possibly counter this?"

With a bang, he swept all the ancestral notes and ancient texts on divine archery onto the floor. He then walked back to a distant spot and resumed his meditation.

Chu Feng observed all of this with an unusual glint in his eyes. He was quite intrigued, and his spirits lifted completely.

He was currently underground, observing with his Fiery Golden Eyes through several layers of energy fields. Hidden within his stone jar, safe from detection, he began to formulate a plan.

He wanted to slay a god!

Although he knew it would be incredibly difficult—this was no ordinary deity, and it was on their home turf—he still wanted to attempt it.

This time, he certainly wouldn't engage in a direct, open battle. Instead, he would lie in wait like an assassin, striking at the crucial moment.

"If only I could land a fatal blow on him," he thought.

Chu Feng observed, his eyes glinting with a chilling light.

As Chu Feng continued to watch, he noticed that Long Yu grew increasingly agitated during his meditation, frequently leaping up, pacing, and emitting low growls.

"He's on the verge of madness!"

Chu Feng smiled. If this continued, Long Yu would inevitably fall into a far worse state, potentially even losing his sanity.

"I'll wait for you to unravel yourself!"

Chu Feng waited and observed patiently, then finally withdrew from the location.

"Hmm, I need to get Old Gu out of Taiwu's ancestral tomb first. Otherwise, the commotion here might be too great and alert Taiwu to emerge from his seclusion."

Chu Feng mused that the events unfolding here could cause a massive uproar, and Gu Chenhai, hidden in that great tomb, would be in grave danger.

He wasn't certain he could successfully kill Long Yu; if Long Yu escaped, the tranquility of this place would be shattered, and the incident would be exposed immediately.

At that point, he would have no choice but to flee immediately, abandoning everything.

That same day, Chu Feng departed, activating a large-scale teleportation formation to head directly for Mount You.

Mount You, adjacent to the ancient battlefield, was itself an abandoned prehistoric netherworld. Billowing black mists and boundless Yin energy permeated the area, making it feel like a realm of death.

"Old Gu, are you done with your escapades? Don't tell me you've already had children! You sly old fox, you shameless old man, Taiwu is here to settle accounts with you!" The donkey spirit, a true dramatist, burst in yelling and even striking a pose as if catching someone in the act.

Gu Chenhai was furious, wishing he could devour the donkey spirit and turn it into braised donkey meat!

"How are you all so fast? I'm not even finished yet!" A stone coffin, enveloped in dense Yin energy, flew out, clearly indicating a significant surge in power.

"Old Gu, you really have no shame, saying something like 'not finished yet' out loud?" The donkey spirit chuckled.

Then, it self-righteously added, "Old Gu, you haven't actually birthed a mini-Gu, have you? Did you have a forbidden romance with a ghoul? We rushed here today to persuade you to mend your ways and stop going down the wrong path!"

"Go on, get lost! I swear I'll eat you!"

With a slight tremor, Gu Chenhai sent the donkey spirit flying.

Chu Feng looked surprised. Old Gu's power had clearly advanced significantly. He spoke, "Let's leave here first. The Taiwu lineage might go berserk soon, and I'm worried something will happen if I leave you here alone."

Upon hearing this, Gu Chenhai instantly knew the young man had caused immense trouble—a catastrophe so great it would likely shake dozens of states in the Yang Realm.

Without a second thought, it immediately yelled, "Then what are we waiting for? Run! I've finally seen your true nature. You're barely grown, yet you stir up as much trouble as my elder brother once did. You're either causing disaster or on your way to causing one. People like you, I understand perfectly!"

It was as if its rear was on fire, burning with urgency, more anxious than even Chu Feng. It clamored to flee immediately, not wanting to linger for a single moment, fearing it would die unjustly there.

They ran!