Chapter 323: Another Glorious Path

Green pines and cypresses, rooted in the rock face, gleamed with a faint golden light in the afterglow of the setting sun. Below, a vast, white sea of clouds stretched out. In the distance, the red sun sank, and crimson clouds filled the sky, edged with gold.

Chu Feng did not perceive the poignant beauty of the evening sunset; instead, he felt a serene beauty in the tranquility of the moment.

He even forgot it was sunset. In a daze, he imagined it as the rising sun, with red clouds bursting forth, feeling not the weariness of dusk but a vibrant, flourishing vitality.

Everything he saw was overflowing with life and surging vigor. Unconsciously, Chu Feng exhaled, feeling a sense of ease and peaceful contentment.

Overlooking the distance, he felt something unusual. While dusk and sunset usually evoked melancholy, he now felt as though he was basking in the morning glow, his heart burning with a wild passion.

The vast mists below transformed into a boundless azure sea, and a red sun leaped from the sea's surface, carrying the energy of the rising sun and the primordial power of creation.

"Perhaps I should look at some people and things from a different perspective."

A different perspective yielded a completely different experience; he now felt as if he had escaped from a cage.

That night, Chu Feng ate heartily and slept soundly.

He woke up early the next morning and asked the old grandmaster to borrow a mount, wanting to go out and explore.

The old grandmaster was surprised and slightly concerned about him.

"I want to solve my current problems from another path," Chu Feng said. He smiled and added, "I want to cast off old burdens, escape the quagmire of evolution, and now, as an ordinary person, observe the mountains and rivers of various regions."

On Wudang Mountain lived a mountain sparrow. Its body, once gray, was now a vibrant red and so large that it could carry people, soaring through the sky and burrowing into the earth.

Chu Feng sat on the mountain sparrow's back, traveling eastward towards the sea. Along the way, he observed the terrain, noting that many areas were completely different from before.

He was not aimless; he was traveling as a field researcher, observing the trends of mountain ranges in various places, clearly sensing that the magnetic fields were extremely unusual.

The old grandmaster was not at ease. King-level creatures were now more than ten times more numerous than before, and super experts were emerging frequently everywhere—a true global evolution. Thus, he also followed along.

Chu Feng stood on the shore of the East Sea, looking at the ocean, which was even vaster than before. Billions of acres of undulating azure waves stretched out before him, majestic and magnificent.

Listening to the sound of the waves and watching the true red sun break free from the sea, Chu Feng stretched his muscles and bones, practiced a round of Tai Chi, and performed the Great Thunder Sound Breathing Technique.

The old grandmaster asked Chu Feng about his future plans, feeling that he seemed to have let go and resolved his inner conflict. Could there truly be another path?

"Look at the sea, travel among famous mountains, chase that... girl, um, I mean, I want to start enjoying life, not just enduring it." Such words left the centenarian speechless.

"Of course, I also have to strive to become the strongest person," Chu Feng added casually.

The old grandmaster nodded, not wanting to dampen his enthusiasm. He decided to let him do as he wished.

"I'm serious; I haven't given up on the path of evolution. This is just a brief rest stop. Most importantly, I've now discovered a golden path, and I can't wait to fully dedicate myself to it." Chu Feng was in a good mood, his face full of smiles.

They had entered the sea, landed on some islands, then returned, subsequently wandering among the mountains and rivers on land. During this period, Chu Feng never forgot to take notes while visiting famous mountains. From large features like earth veins and peaks, to small ones like magnetic stones, jade fragments, and underground soil, he touched and experienced them all.

For half a month, they traveled around outside, with the old grandmaster accompanying them the entire time, which made Chu Feng feel a bit embarrassed.

"Just let the mountain sparrow accompany me."

The old grandmaster once suspected that the young man was giving up on himself, thinking that after visiting famous mountains, he would go and wallow in the mundane world, enjoying what he called a "colorful" life.

Several days later, they returned to Wudang Mountain. This time, Chu Feng became busy, spending every day carving dense symbols in the mountains and conducting repeated experiments.

He was studying field arrays, aiming to become a grandmaster in this area.

On the current Earth, no one was proficient in field arrays. Relatively speaking, he was an expert. The current changes in terrain revealed the layouts of ancient evolvers, allowing him to reference them and improve his skills.

Opportunities were rare, as some areas were covered with astonishing field arrays.

The book Chu Feng obtained contained numerous tadpole-like symbols whose functions he needed to verify. He had already achieved extraordinary results when he was in Kunlun Mountain.

He stayed there for a long time, traversing every inch of land.

In the Ten-Mile Pure Land of the Himalayas, he discovered many magnetic stones recording various broken and damaged symbols. By cross-referencing these with the Heavenly Book of Field Arrays, he could decipher many semi-destroyed symbols.

He had already begun and achieved some results, and now he wanted to study them meticulously to truly master them.

He had heard the Yellow Ox say that in other powerful worlds with dense energy, some field array prodigies were not only highly skilled in this domain but also possessed transcendent, divine strength.

This was because those with exceptional talent in field arrays could set up certain formations to cultivate themselves and achieve unique evolution.

For example, a field array genius once created a world-shaking body-nourishing site. Using eighteen types of field arrays, he constructed an area where life energy was frighteningly dense, enhancing an abandoned ancient phoenix nest there.

As a result, he stayed in the phoenix nest, achieving six major nirvana evolutions and ultimately becoming a formidable great power of his generation.

This path of evolution was very peculiar; it didn't involve consuming exotic fruits but rather "devouring" mountains and rivers, which was far more ambitious. Of course, it also utilized the phoenix nest's nirvana ability.

In fact, the so-called phoenix nest was also a type of field array, just far more complex. Ordinary field array researchers couldn't comprehend it or build such a nest on their own; they could only use an old nest abandoned by an ancient phoenix.

When the old grandmaster heard Chu Feng's plan and understood his intentions, he was momentarily lost in thought. This path of evolution truly made one yearn for it.

"My path is now broken, so I plan to forge a path from another direction to eventually clear the original one," Chu Feng said. He had never thought of giving up.

He asked the old grandmaster for help in finding ancient documents, rare secret texts, and similar items. He wanted to learn more, believing that recorded experiences from ancient times would save him many detours.

On Earth, there had always been legends of true dragons, said to have appeared in the oceans. There were also records of ancient phoenixes, with their traces found in many places.

He felt that both true dragon lairs and ancient phoenix nests would be of great use to him. If found, and enhanced with multiple field arrays, they would be sufficient to solve his problems.

He wanted to emulate the ancients, "devouring" mountains and rivers to evolve.

"Good, I'll help you search. The items in the national secret vault don't solely belong to those three extraordinary organizations; I and others can also enter and consult them."

The old grandmaster exerted himself with extreme efficiency. Within a few days, he brought back some ancient, yellowed paper volumes for Chu Feng, all of which were extremely precious rare books.

There were indeed records of dragon lairs, but Chu Feng found them difficult to reach. In ancient times, traces of true dragons existed in the "eyes" of both the East Sea and the South Sea, serving as dwelling places for two dragons.

It was rumored that the dragon qi there was extremely dense, catalyzing ordinary herbs into exotic ones like Dragon Blood Grass, Dragon Fetus Tree, and Inverse Scale Flower, making it a peerless treasure land.

Such places, if combined with complex field arrays and properly arranged, could naturally nourish living beings and facilitate their evolution.

At the same time, Chu Feng also found some records of ancient phoenixes in a stack of ancient books, learning about their movements and habitats.

"In the south, there is a bird called Yuan Chu. Do you know of it? The Yuan Chu flies from the South Sea to the North Sea, but it will not stop anywhere except on a wutong tree..."

It was too difficult for Chu Feng to venture into these areas, as they involved forbidden zones in the ocean. The sea race would absolutely not allow him to undergo nirvana there, nor would they permit him to "devour" underwater mountains and rivers for evolution.

"I need to find dragons on land, and ancient phoenixes dwelling on land." However, he knew the difficulty was equally great, as even during the most prosperous period of ancient evolution, such creatures were extremely rare, having appeared only a few times.

However, there was also other good news: several damaged bamboo slips brought back by the grandmaster contained other records that inspired Chu Feng.

A field array researcher utilized three geomagnetic mountains to set up a "Three Flowers Gathering on Top" formation. He carved out a Primeval Magnetic Cave, concealed himself within it, and ultimately achieved super evolution. He also attained a Primeval Magnetic Body, acquiring immense power that reached both heaven and earth, becoming a great figure in his region.

Furthermore, another field array researcher of extraordinary talent transformed famous mountains into exotic lands and regarded himself as a divine root. Using several famous mountains as a foundation, he "planted" himself, ultimately shedding his skin repeatedly underground, constantly regenerating, and finally achieving profound accomplishments.

Chu Feng was deeply captivated. It turned out there was more than one method; the geniuses and prodigies among field array researchers had various ways to escape their own weakness, forging new paths to transcend, even more terrifying than creatures solely following the path of evolution.

"Evolving by 'devouring' mountains and rivers truly shows greater ambition, often allowing one to overtake others," Chu Feng exclaimed.

However, he frowned. Not only were such special places hard to find, but even if he did discover them, what then? He didn't have the strength for it at his current stage. Although very talented in this field, he had only just begun and couldn't yet turn decay into wonder.

The reason he dared to take this path was that he had discovered several ready-made models in the Heavenly Book of Field Arrays. He hadn't understood them before, but recently, through continuous exploration, he had noticed clues.

Inside, he detected a "life-nourishing" method!

This "life-nourishing" was not general conditioning, maintenance, or supplementation; it involved leaps in life levels and physical improvement—it was evolution.

There were thousands of field array symbols. To combine and arrange them to form a unique field array with a personal style would require time to accumulate experience.

Moreover, this field was too abstruse, even harder than the path of evolution. Therefore, people in this area were extremely rare, and only top-tier orthodoxies could cultivate them.

Now that Chu Feng had discovered ready-made models, he was naturally delighted. Moreover, those field array models appeared exceptionally mature and extraordinarily profound.

He realized that this book must be even more significant than he and the Yellow Ox had imagined.

In the following period, Chu Feng continuously explored, carving symbols on mountain rocks and utilizing special terrain to construct the original models.

This kind of work was very precise; even carving one stroke incorrectly was unacceptable. So many symbols arranged and combined required meticulous care, and their placement had to be precise to the finest detail.

If the carved symbols were off by even a tiny bit in position, it would result in failure, or even cause a great disaster.

Some potent field arrays were very dangerous; a slight error could trigger energy oscillations, causing a massive explosion and potentially leading to the tragic death of the constructor.

These past few days, Chu Feng had been extremely cautious. Fortunately, he was currently studying only life-nourishing field arrays, not aggressive, potent ones. Otherwise, the more than ten times he failed due to incorrect rune placement might have already led to his tragic death multiple times over.

Even so, an explosion occurred, as the dense energy floating between heaven and earth poured down, causing the area to disintegrate. Chu Feng was sent flying, his mouth full of blood foam.

"Damn it!"

Fortunately, Chu Feng had stone fruits on him. Peeling open the stone skin and eating a small amount of the vibrant red flesh, he was full of vigor once more.

In the following days, Chu Feng led a fulfilling life, simultaneously researching the terrain near Wudang Mountain, pondering the field array symbols left by ancient people, and constructing life-nourishing field array models.

Finally, he sighed softly, realizing that fully recreating that grand life-nourishing field array was currently impossible and beyond his reach. Too many essential materials, such as special magnetic stones and pure jade, were needed.

He didn't have any of these materials on hand, so he could only carve on ordinary mountain rocks, which significantly reduced the effect.

Finally, after much research, Chu Feng decided to start small. He laid out a simplified life-nourishing field array, which was a ready-made model from the book, serving as a small unit and component of the larger life-nourishing field array.

Chu Feng was currently not capable of carving large field arrays that needed to cover many mountain peaks; the sheer scale of such a project was somewhat daunting.

"Bang!"

In the end, the small field array model carved on ordinary mountain rocks lasted only for a moment. Before Chu Feng could carefully experience it, it disintegrated.

He was almost injured as all the mountain rocks exploded. Fortunately, the energy did not follow with a major explosion!

This small field array model was successful, but due to material issues, its lifespan was very short!

He sighed softly, somewhat envying the conglomerates. Their financial resources were astonishing, and they had numerous personnel. If he could command them, he might very well be able to construct a large field array.

The old grandmaster was very indifferent to worldly possessions; he didn't possess astonishing financial resources. Only a few Taoist acolytes followed him to practice boxing on the mountain, and he had no worldly assets or industries.

With his level of strength, he could certainly live a luxurious life, but due to his nature, he had always lived very simply, drinking mountain spring water and eating pine nuts, no different from ancient Taoists who had achieved success in cultivation.

After learning about Chu Feng's difficulties, the old grandmaster went down the mountain to help him search for magnetic stones and other materials. He also hunted a king-level fierce beast to exchange it for high-quality jade.

Chu Feng felt a warmth in his heart, but this was still far from what he needed, allowing him to construct only smaller field array models.

"No, I need to find a way to use the conglomerates to provide me with materials!" Chu Feng began to ponder.

However, now that he had magnetic stones and jade, he naturally wouldn't stop and continued his experiments.

Sure enough, after the small life-nourishing field array model was constructed, he stood within it and experienced a completely different sensation. Dense life energy continuously surged in, flowing into his body.

Soon, the energy within his body began to increase rapidly.

"Damn it!"

But at the crucial moment, the small black and white millstone slowly rotated, once again dispersing the life-nourishing energy and causing it to scatter.

Chu Feng frowned. If even this path failed, then he truly had no hope.

He hadn't expected the small millstone, formed from black and white matter, to be so dominant, crushing everything, even disintegrating the life-nourishing method of the constructed field array.

"If I could set up a large life-nourishing field array, covering all the Wudang peaks, perhaps I could succeed in one fell swoop and achieve dominant evolution."

However, current conditions did not allow it, and Chu Feng was unable to borrow the power of the conglomerates.

Unable to find a solution for a while, Chu Feng began to study other field array models, constructing them with the materials he had on hand, hoping to continuously advance in this field.

"Method for nourishing weapons?"

The second field array model startled Chu Feng. He figured out its essence: if successfully constructed, this field array could be used to nurture weapons, helping them grow.

A large field array definitely couldn't be constructed due to a lack of materials, so he also set up a simplified version.

The flying sword beside him hummed softly, and its color seemed to become more vibrant, increasingly ruddy and lustrous.

"Is it really effective?!"

Soon, Chu Feng let out a soft exclamation, then his body stiffened, and finally, his expression completely changed.

At this moment, he felt faint traces and strands of energy appearing within his body, and his body actually showed signs of improvement. How was this possible? This wasn't a life-nourishing method; it should only be suitable for weapons.

"Is it it?!"

Finally, he realized the root cause of his changed condition: it was the small black and white millstone. It seemed to be nurtured, becoming more real and much more condensed.

Chu Feng let out a loud shout, as if he had broken through a layer of paper, and burst into laughter. He felt he had found the solution!