Chapter 276: Field

"I can testify that Chu Feng is really roasting a wild goose at the Extraterrestrial Civilizations Institute; my home is right here in Gusu City!" As the outside world reeled in shock and uproar, a special individual stepped forward to confirm that the Extraterrestrial Civilizations Institute had indeed been breached, and that Demon King Chu had not yet departed.

"Poor wild goose! It was a king among birds, yet it was reduced to a mere background prop for this incident, only mentioned in passing after the battle concluded... roasted!" Someone sighed softly, feeling that its fate was too tragic. Many were left speechless.

Chu Feng had conquered two major magnate groups in a single day, causing a massive uproar like an avalanche and a tsunami. The outside world found it impossible to calm down; not only ordinary people but even various kings were dumbfounded. This was simply too terrifying. "He's too brutal!" In the end, some could only sigh in this manner.

At this very moment, Chu Feng, who was widely considered monstrously brutal, had not yet departed with the Donkey King, the Northeast Tiger, and their companions. Instead, they were engaged in a rather unseemly act: burning pavilions and roasting the goose king. After their "deeds," they were in no rush to leave. They leisurely roasted the wild goose, savored the aromatic game, and examined their spoils, utterly unperturbed.

Throughout the Extraterrestrial Civilizations Institute, everyone's faces turned pale with fear; they trembled in trepidation. To be overthrown as a magnate group and have their premises used as a picnic ground was utterly disgraceful. Yet, no one dared to approach; the enemy was simply too formidable!

"This is an ancient scroll about 'field arrays,' extremely rare and precious!" The Yellow Ox was overjoyed, its delicate little face nearly splitting into a wide smile. This was the essence of formations, commonly referred to as field arrays. Even in worlds beyond Earth, such texts were exceedingly rare. Chu Feng took the scroll and flipped through it. It was covered in mysterious, indecipherable symbols, resembling ancient tadpole script, conveying a sense of profound antiquity. He couldn't recognize a single character.

"If we can thoroughly study this, we won't be at a disadvantage when we visit famous mountains and great rivers," the Yellow Ox exclaimed, incredibly happy. Its shimmering, light golden hair framed a face where beautiful, large eyes narrowed, resembling those of a little girl. All the famous mountains currently possess "field arrays," laid down by ancient powerful beings. Some utilize geomagnetism, others draw upon solar fire essence, and still others create illusory walls. Chu Feng was delighted to hear this; if he could truly grasp the essence of field arrays, his next visit to Mount Longhu would be significantly easier.

"Haha, this book truly is a treasure!" the Great Black Ox guffawed, drooling slightly in his foolish delight. Currently, various powerful individuals are attempting to conquer famous mountains to establish their strongholds, but most have suffered heavy losses, with few successes, leaving the mountains stained with the blood of kings. This is primarily because the field arrays on these famous mountains are too potent, having been laid down by ancient evolutionaries. Every step is fraught with danger, costing many kings their lives. Of course, some unique locations exist where ancient evolutionaries bred mysterious creatures that emerged from the mountain's depths to guard the peaks.

Not only Chu Feng and the Yellow Ox, but even the Donkey King was drooling at the prospect. Once they understood the essential mysteries of field arrays, wouldn't all the world's famous mountains become their private gardens? "Oh, supreme Demon King Chu, please accept my utmost respect! I wish to follow you for the rest of my life," the old donkey, a spineless creature, buttered him up with incredible smoothness. "Get over there; you're my mount!" the Great Black Ox retorted, giving it a slap.

"Let this king study it too," the Northeast Tiger chimed in, wiping a streak of drool from its mouth before snatching the beast-hide scroll. "Brother Tiger, I'm warning you not to fall back into your old habits of snatching good things and then making a run for it," Chu Feng cautioned, knowing the tiger's lack of integrity. "What are you talking about? Am I that kind of person?" the Northeast Tiger retorted, though a hint of guilt was evident. True to its nature, it had indeed harbored such thoughts just moments ago. "You're truly unscrupulous!" the Great Black Ox rolled his eyes. Having spent so much time together, he could instantly tell the tiger was indeed up to no good. "It's just a habit, can't I change it?" the Northeast Tiger retorted defensively, while still frantically flipping through the beast-hide scroll, eager to decipher it.

Yet, after staring for a long time, the tiger looked completely bewildered. It didn't recognize a single word, which made its head feel enormous. "To travel the world, I've studied ancient Egyptian, ancient Greek, ancient Arabic, and ancient Chinese. I wouldn't say I'm a linguist, but I'm close! But... what do these 'bird scripts' even mean? I don't recognize a single character!" the Northeast Tiger exclaimed, indignant.

Chu Feng was quite astonished. This unprincipled tiger was actually so capable? It could truly rival the Great Black Ox! When they had visited Mount Olympus in the West, the Yellow Ox had revealed the Great Black Ox's secret: that he had mastered several ancient languages, specifically for plundering the world. "I finally understand," Chu Feng remarked, "geniuses—no, scoundrels—are all the same; they possess identical qualities!" He glanced at the Northeast Tiger, then at the Great Black Ox. Both the Northeast Tiger and the Great Black Ox raised a finger at him in disdain.

In truth, Chu Feng also found himself with a headache. How could he comprehend something if he didn't recognize a single word? He asked the Yellow Ox which languages these characters belonged to. The Yellow Ox's small face turned very serious. It explained that the scroll contained Buddhist script, such as the rudimentary works from the Golden Arhat lineage of evolutionaries, and the tadpole-like characters on the golden paper from the Zhang family were indeed Buddhist script. Additionally, it contained Daoist script from the Daoist lineage, as well as beast script, insect script, and bird script, among others.

"Languages of ten thousand nations?!" the Great Black Ox exclaimed, dumbfounded. How could anyone study that? Who had the energy for such research? "That's why I said this ancient field array scroll is no ordinary item; it's a priceless, rare edition," the Yellow Ox stated with great solemnity. According to the Yellow Ox, even in outer realms, few people delved into the study of field arrays. Only top-tier great sects had dedicated experts to comprehend them, primarily to harness geomagnetism from mountains and rivers to protect their legacies. Books on field arrays were far rarer than cultivation manuals, exceptionally scarce; any single volume was worth vying for by a great sect. As for this particular scroll, it was even more extraordinary. Its annotations in multiple languages indicated that the field array levels it explained were exceptionally profound and astonishing!

"Some characters inherently contain strange powers," the Yellow Ox explained, enlightening the group. "If you write them down and engrave them on corresponding mountains and rivers, they can cause subtle changes in geomagnetism and are perfectly suited for describing field arrays." Many characters created by powerful ancient evolutionaries from various races resonated with the energy they themselves contained, touching upon the myriad mysterious principles of heaven and earth. These characters, imbued with profound principles, when systematically arranged and effectively combined, could alter naturally occurring formations in mountains and rivers, and even create entirely new field arrays.

"This thing is too complicated; my head's already spinning. I'm not learning it!" the Great Black Ox declared, shaking its head first. With a thud, the Northeast Tiger tossed the beast-hide scroll to the Yellow Ox as if it were mere trash, no longer having any desire to snatch it or regard it as a treasure. This subject was time-consuming, energy-draining, and incredibly difficult to grasp! The Yellow Ox nodded. "Indeed," it said, "studying field arrays is genuinely much harder than cultivation—easily ten times more complex. That's why even in worlds beyond Earth, very few people bother to learn it."

"Are you going to learn it?" Chu Feng asked. "Of course! I am a genius, favored by the heavens, the first to descend upon this world. I am destined to become a saint and an ancestor. If I can't comprehend it, then no one can!" the Yellow Ox declared, small in stature but brimming with confidence. Chu Feng thought it was boasting but asked how it planned to comprehend it, as he himself was quite interested.

"Firstly, I recognize some of these characters," the Yellow Ox explained. "Secondly, studying field arrays doesn't require learning the languages of ten thousand races. Instead, you need to intuitively grasp the meaning of these characters yourself. You can carve these symbols among famous mountains and great rivers, feel the subtle changes they bring, and experience the power and principles they embody." Upon hearing this, Chu Feng nodded repeatedly, telling the Yellow Ox that he also wished to learn. The Yellow Ox mused for a moment, then flipped through the beast-hide scroll and began explaining the characters it recognized to Chu Feng, instructing him to commit them to memory. Subsequently, Chu Feng flipped through the scroll page by page, placing the ancient volume against his forehead. His brow glowed as he used a spiritual imprint to engrave the entire field array book into his mind. After recording everything, he handed the beast-hide scroll back to the Yellow Ox.

"It's all up to you two now," the Northeast Tiger encouraged. "Study it thoroughly. In the future, whether it's the Daoist ancestral temples, the Buddhist ancestral lands, or Kunlun's Land of Myriad Gods, all the famous mountains and great rivers in the world will become our private gardens. You must dedicate yourselves to this!" Of course, this unprincipled tiger was far from sincere; it didn't truly believe Chu Feng and the Yellow Ox would succeed.

"Just wait," Chu Feng chuckled heartily, "all the mountains and rivers in this world will become our herb gardens!" "Exactly!" the Yellow Ox added, brimming with confidence. "Even if extraterrestrial beings descend, or divine sons and heavenly talents appear, they'll be helpless; they won't be able to enter our vegetable patch!" "Hmm, if we end up with too many famous mountains, we can auction them off," Chu Feng mused, his eyes gleaming. "One famous mountain for a goddess or a saintess!" "Really? That makes this king interested too!" the Northeast Tiger exclaimed. "I also want to trade for a female tiger from the outer realms—and if it's the legendary White Tiger, even better!"

They did not leave, choosing instead to spend the night at the Extraterrestrial Civilizations Institute. The faces of the magnate group's personnel darkened; they dared not voice their anger. This was truly ostentatious and domineering. After sweeping through the place, the intruders even treated it as their temporary palace, indulging in barbecues and overnight stays—it was simply too much.

"Don't we have any way to deal with these unwelcome guests?" a young direct descendant of the Extraterrestrial Civilizations Institute inwardly agonized, filled with intense dissatisfaction and indignation. "Before the world changed, we already grasped the core principles; surely there must be exceptionally talented individuals within our magnate group?" "Alas, there truly are," someone whispered, their spirits low. "If they were to be deployed, they would be invincible. But we dare not use them. If we act rashly, we will all be buried with them. At this stage, it's impossible. We hear that they are our future reliance."

The "unwelcome guests" finally departed early the next morning. By then, Chu Feng and his companions had gathered a wealth of information: the outside world was now in an uproar, buzzing with activity! Everyone speculated which magnate group they would target next, eager with anticipation, as spectators always revel in a bigger spectacle. As for the magnate groups themselves, they felt as though they were perched atop active volcanoes, with molten red lava surging beneath them. Their lives were incredibly difficult and uncomfortable, living in constant fear that Chu Feng might suddenly appear at their doorstep.

"Land-based forces are indeed weak," a sea race expert declared, commenting on the incident with a condescending tone. "What kind of magnate groups are these, with such shallow foundations? If it were our sea clan's great families, how would a few individuals dare to come to our doorstep? We would surely obliterate them!" Someone promptly exposed their weakness, scoffing, "Your esteemed South Sea clan, the Black Teng of the Flood Dragon lineage, was eaten by someone. What's left to boast about?" A sea clan member retorted coldly, "Prince Black Dragon was assassinated; there must have been supreme experts working together, conspiring to seize the South Sea Dragon Clan's ultimate weapon. This matter is far from over."

To this day, they were still in the dark, unsure who had killed Black Teng. While they had their suspects, there was no concrete evidence, and no one had come forward to claim responsibility. They were even unaware that Qian Yue, the three-eyed sea race expert, had fallen by Chu Feng's hand. This was because satellite images of the battle were inherently unclear, and the combatants appeared as mere balls of light. During the fierce struggle, Chu Feng himself seemed enveloped in a blazing aura like the sun. To date, the Jade Void Palace had not proactively leaked any information, continuing to keep Chu Feng's involvement a secret. As for the Peacock King's retreat without a fight, a small circle of individuals was aware, but they dared not speak of it publicly for fear of enraging him, as the incident was simply too humiliating.

The Great Black Ox grinned widely, chuckling to himself. If the sea race, so quick to boast, were to ever learn the full truth, they would likely be so incandescent with rage that they'd be driven to absolute fury. "Where's the next target?" the Northeast Tiger asked, eager to divide the magnate's treasury. It yearned for a magical weapon and had eyed the Great Black Ox's staff with immense desire. "Heavenly God Biology," Chu Feng replied, a hint of hesitation in his voice before finally settling on the target. Lin Nuoyi's Lin family was one of the key members of Heavenly God Biology. He had initially been reluctant to act rashly against them, but the Mu family, his sworn enemies, were also there. He intended to visit to get a clear understanding of the situation.