Chapter 420: Challenge

Chu Feng was indeed a bit apprehensive. Having inexplicably become the Chosen One, he always felt it was unreliable and that something might go wrong at any time.

When people from Mount Fangzhang Immortal Island came to invite him, he wasn't intimidated at all. Acting quite like a divine being, he fully immersed himself in the role of the Chosen One and conversed with the envoy.

He wanted to probe the depth of the overseas immortal islands, to understand how strong these ancient clans truly were and what profound heritage they possessed.

However, the result was unexpectedly smooth. The envoy from Mount Fangzhang Immortal Island concealed nothing, frankly revealing that there were indeed grand masters on the island, far surpassing the evolutionaries in the outside world.

This was because their heritage had existed since ancient times and had never been broken, unlike the outside world where evolution only became possible after the world underwent dramatic changes.

At the same time, Chu Feng learned that whether it was the Himalayas or places like Fangzhang and Yingzhou, the dwelling places of the ancient clans on Earth were all secret realms, similar to folded spaces, and they too had manifested after the world underwent dramatic changes.

It wasn't easy for the ancient clans within the secret realms to come out. They also needed to undergo trials from Earth's field, and one misstep could lead to death.

Hearing this, Chu Feng was quite surprised.

"Relatively speaking, it's still easier than for extraterrestrial beings to enter Earth via star paths," the envoy said.

Even so, Chu Feng was filled with surprise and doubt. Did Earth's will and its field still restrict indigenous beings? The ancient clans should be considered descendants of powerful individuals from Earth's ancient past.

Relatively speaking, these beings should have purer bloodlines. And precisely because of this, they considered themselves the true inheritors.

In the end, he could only agree with the envoy's view. It had nothing to do with bloodline, only with space; secret realms and folded spaces were all excluded, belonging to subsidiary areas.

Therefore, to enter Earth's main space, they needed to undergo life-and-death trials.

After this conversation, Chu Feng gained a lot. Before bidding farewell to the envoy, he said he would consider going to Mount Fangzhang Immortal Island overseas after handling some personal matters.

Before leaving, the envoy once again praised the little princess on the island for her natural beauty and captivating charm, urging Chu Feng to set off for Mount Fangzhang Immortal Island soon.

"Go chat with other divine sons and saintesses? Hmm, I'd better first digest what I've gained this time," Chu Feng muttered to himself.

Carrying his bronze sword, he set off. As he walked, he took out the field manual and browsed through it roughly.

The field manual was made of special metal; each page was a metal sheet engraved with numerous dense symbols, which seemed like a heavenly script.

Now, with his solid foundation, these symbols were no longer inscrutable to him. He recognized many of them. Those he didn't know needed to be carved onto lodestones to slowly figure out their functions. This kind of deduction was very time-consuming.

The path of fields was inherently difficult; otherwise, only a few people would not have embarked on this path. It was truly time-consuming and labor-intensive, yet difficult to achieve much.

Chu Feng was quite talented in this field. He relied entirely on self-study and managed to figure out the intricacies. If not for that, he would have abandoned it long ago.

"Excellent!"

He was very satisfied. As expected of a family with a saint guarding them, their collection was truly remarkable. This manual was extremely profound, involving many complex field symbols, and was of an extremely high level.

Chu Feng was confident that if he could truly comprehend this manual thoroughly, he would definitely become a significant figure in the field domain!

Finally, he simply plunged into the nearby mountain range and buried himself in diligent study and research.

He wanted to improve his field attainments so he could go to Mount Huang to solve the mystery and pick the strange fruits. There was a peculiar tree there, its fruits dazzling and truly alluring.

He had been coveting that strange tree for a long time!

He studied it carefully and pondered it meticulously. Chu Feng forgot to eat and sleep, burying himself in research for half a month before emerging.

"I understand a field model now; it feels a bit like the situation at Mount Huang. I can go try it," Chu Feng murmured to himself.

Chu Feng moved like lightning, full of vital energy. He emitted energy, forming a pair of brilliant light wings, and soared through the air. He quickly left Zhejiang and entered Anhui. This speed was astonishing.

Mount Huang was within Anhui province. It didn't take Chu Feng long to arrive.

Back then, he had brought people from the consortium and from the Arctic Primordial Magnetic Immortal Cave. After leaving the Qinling Mountains, they first went to Mount Zhongnan, then came to Mount Huang. Here, they discovered the strange tree, but all their efforts to acquire its fruits were in vain.

At that time, many people died. Because of this, the people from the consortium and the Arctic regarded him as a jinx.

"I'm back again!"

Chu Feng gazed ahead. The majestic Mount Huang stood grand and towering, silver waterfalls cascaded down, and the mountain was filled with dense energy particles.

It was said, "One who returns from the Five Great Mountains will not look at other mountains; one who returns from Mount Huang will not look at the Five Great Mountains." It was known as the most wondrous mountain under heaven.

Its original name was Mount Yi. Later, legend had it that the Yellow Emperor once refined elixirs here, so it was renamed Mount Huang (Yellow Mountain).

Chu Feng mused that perhaps it was precisely because of the abundance of strange fruits on Mount Huang that the legend of elixir refining arose.

On the mountain, peculiar rocks were everywhere, forming rugged formations; it was truly a scenic marvel. Ancient pines stretched for miles, lush and verdant, while clouds and mist resembled a sea, creating an ethereal fairyland.

Chu Feng observed the mountain's topography along the way. Following a safe path, he ascended one of the peaks.

Last time, merely ascending this peak caused many deaths, but this time, it was very smooth.

The strange tree was still there. It looked like a jujube tree, but it was as thick as a water vat. Its old bark was cracked, and it was rooted on a steep cliff.

Its emerald green leaves were very dense, emitting a radiant green glow, looking splendid. Its branches forked extensively, and the entire tree resembled an ancient dragon crouching on the cliff face.

It indeed looked like a jujube tree, but it didn't have many fruits.

A dozen or so fruits glowed like many small lanterns. Each was about the size of a fist, and they were golden yellow and extremely brilliant.

Their shape was that of a date, but they were oversized, and their color was different, radiant all over, shimmering with golden light.

Chu Feng was startled. These dates seemed to possess more spiritual energy. Although they had glowed last time he was here, they weren't enveloped in golden light and overflowing with vitality as they were now.

"Something isn't right."

Chu Feng observed for a long time. After he began to decipher the field, he found it wasn't as simple as he had imagined. The field in this place was even more powerful than he had anticipated.

This was because he had already opened his Fiery Golden Eyes, seeing the conditions beneath the ground. The golden light was dazzling, and the energy density was terrifying.

This was not the main peak, only a minor peak, yet it had such a strange tree, bearing fruits that couldn't be picked.

"Could this place be hiding something else?" Chu Feng wondered. Then, he did his best to dismantle the field here.

Underground, golden energy boiled. It surged directly upward, spewing like lava, and swept towards Chu Feng.

He turned and fled, moving at lightning speed with light wings on his back. In a blink, he was five *li* away, but behind him, golden light still surged, and hot currents rolled.

He flew further away, several *li* more.

"There's a well underground, containing dense Solar Fire Essence. What's in there?" Chu Feng wondered. The Solar Fire Essence here was even more abundant than at the Eight Trigrams Furnace on Mount Zijin.

He looked back. The jujube tree was still there, undamaged. All the Solar Fire Essence had flowed back.

"Rather than a well, it's more like a furnace!" Chu Feng's eyes flashed golden as he stared again, very surprised.

He wasn't sure if the Yellow Emperor had refined elixirs here, but he believed that ancient evolutionaries had frequented this place, refining elixirs for a long time. Could there be a furnace here, containing Solar Fire Essence?

For the next few days, Chu Feng conducted research here, occasionally drawing out Solar Fire Essence, which erupted like lava, causing a great commotion.

One day, while he was studying the field manual and preparing to explore Mount Huang again, a sense of crisis welled up in his heart.

*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...*

Five figures appeared one after another, moving like lightning. One second they were four or five *li* away, but now they had directly pounced before him, incredibly fierce.

All five of them held secret treasures. Without saying a word, they immediately moved to kill him!

Since they had been discovered, they no longer concealed themselves, using their strongest methods to attack.

These five masters had all broken ten restraints. This was a terrifying combat strength, especially since their respective secret treasures were astonishing.

One of them held a long saber, which, when swung, emitted a piercing shriek, attacking one's spirit.

Chu Feng didn't say a word. He drew the bronze sword from his back and directly slashed at it. It collided with the demonic saber, emitting dazzling light.

*Crack!*

The long saber broke, split open by the bronze sword. And Chu Feng's momentum didn't diminish. With a *thud*, he instantly cut the attacker in half, bleeding profusely.

This single strike could only be described as Chu Feng's terrifying combat power and the sword's sharpness. He directly cleaved and killed a grand master, startling the other four greatly. This was truly too fierce.

On the ground, a faint golden glow flashed. A hemp rope moved like a golden snake, rushing rapidly towards Chu Feng. This made his expression change.

The Spirit-Binding Rope. This thing was the most troublesome. Generally, it was enough to suppress evolutionaries in the Restraint Realm.

With such a rope, under normal circumstances, it would be enough to capture Chu Feng.

The moment Chu Feng retreated, he held the sword with both hands and exerted force. His arms became dazzlingly bright as he poured a lot of energy into the sword body, then striking with all his might.

Chu Feng slashed the Spirit-Binding Rope with his sword. It made a metallic clanging sound, but in the end, the rope broke, unable to withstand the sharpness of the bronze sword.

Last time, when Han Ze and Huang Weiyue went to apprehend Chu Feng, they had used such a Spirit-Binding Rope. At that time, he had used his fire essence to burn through the rope.

This time, Chu Feng was much more direct: he cut it with a single slash!

Chu Feng's eyes gleamed with cold light. This group of people came prepared, each holding secret treasures. One slip-up and he would have been captured. They all deserved to die.

*Clang, clang, clang...*

He wielded his sword, fighting the remaining four. He successively destroyed their secret treasures. With a *thud*, one person's head flew off, blood gushing.

*Hiss, hiss!*

A sword sliced through, and another person was cut in half at the waist.

The third person was pierced through the forehead by Chu Feng's sword, killing him instantly.

The battle was fierce. Finally, with a *thud*, Chu Feng once again swung his bronze sword, decapitating the last person, whose head rolled on the ground.

Chu Feng's expression was grim and unpredictable. It was one thing for someone to dispatch five masters at once, all of whom had broken ten restraints. But most importantly, they all wielded secret treasures!

One should know that he was currently the nominal Chosen One, and all parties were trying to win him over. Yet today, someone had actually come to kill him. This made his expression solemn.

If he didn't have the Vajra Loop containing fire essence and this bronze sword, that Spirit-Binding Rope would have been very difficult to deal with. He might have been captured.

Clearly, the assailants didn't know he possessed a secret artifact capable of countering the Spirit-Binding Rope.

"People from Penglai Immortal Island," Chu Feng's face darkened. This was because he detected a faint salty scent of sea breeze on these people. It was actually very faint; these people had only crossed the East Sea and hadn't actually come into direct contact with seawater. So how much scent could possibly linger on them from merely being blown by the sea breeze?

Ordinary evolutionaries wouldn't be able to detect it at all. It could only be said that Chu Feng's divine senses were too keen!

"Was it the young master of the Chen family, the one with the unicorn, who ordered this? You're courting death!" he said, his expression cold.

Chu Feng had previously been wary of Penglai. But now he learned that, like the extraterrestrial beings in the folded spaces, it was quite difficult for them to exit their secret realms.

Currently, the true grand masters couldn't emerge. What was there for him to fear!