Chapter 787: Chu Feng's Dao Companion

Since Pulin gave the order, these tens of thousands of cavalry have become much more restrained. They no longer dared to hunt aggressively, as these were all exotic sacrifices to be sent to the Gods' Laboratory.

This also made life much easier for those who were escaping, such as Qin Luoyin, Shi Hong, and Jin Lin. Otherwise, only a fraction would have managed to escape, with most being annihilated!

Chu Feng slowly ambled around several blood-red mountain peaks, observing the terrain and studying the sacred mountain's force fields.

He estimated that forcefully taking the divine beast blood would be extremely difficult, as a large army would surely descend and seal off the area tightly.

He discussed with Ouyang Feng, concluding that they either had to ambush the convoy transporting the divine blood halfway, or wait until after the sacred medicine had been watered, so they could ascend the mountain and retrieve blood from the herb garden.

After considering all possible issues, they began making various preparations.

During this time, Chu Feng quietly erased all traces of the force fields he had set up earlier, knowing that Pulin and his companions didn't understand such techniques anyway.

"It wouldn't be good if someone who understands force fields came along and discovered them," Chu Feng thought, being very cautious and careful.

For a time, he and Ouyang Feng had nothing to do, as they had agreed with Pulin that he would recruit the Yin spirits after the current commotion died down.

Seizing the opportunity, Chu Feng humbly consulted the knights accompanying Pulin, asking them about their cultivation experiences with this esoteric art and points to note.

It was evident that the knights were perfunctory, offering only a few brief remarks, lacking sincerity.

Then, Chu Feng and Ouyang Feng feigned a request for a knight to accompany them on a hunt, wanting to personally test the power of this esoteric art.

Pulin cast a cold glance at the knight, implicitly warning him. The knight had no choice but to smile and agree, though Chu Feng and Ouyang Feng's spiritual perception easily detected the falseness of his smile.

However, the two of them didn't care; they simply wanted to test how powerful the intermediate esoteric art of the Martial God lineage truly was.

Calling one or two knights along was merely to reassure Pulin and make it clear that they weren't planning to escape.

Prey was not scarce on the wasteland. They hadn't gone far when they hunted down a cold lizard, a creature at the 'Breakfast of Rainbows' level, capable of freezing entire hilltops with a single breath.

The knight was quite cooperative, personally striking down the cold lizard with a single spear thrust, using energy at the quasi-Golden Body level. He then tossed the corpse to Chu Feng and Ouyang Feng.

"You two try it out," he said.

Chu Feng and Ouyang Feng conducted the experiment. Indeed, this esoteric art was far more efficient, refining and absorbing more than double the divine particles under the same conditions.

In contrast, their previous method absorbed limited amounts, leading to significant waste.

"Ah, so comfortable! My spiritual power is growing. This feeling of cultivation is truly wonderful!" Ouyang Feng exclaimed dramatically. This was, of course, an act; he had already experienced it.

Chu Feng said, "Brother Dao, I see dozens of cold lizards in this area. Let's hunt them together. You can also strengthen your own power this way."

The knight shook his head. "I don't need to," he said. "I've already absorbed enough divine particles this month. You two can hunt a few more, but that should be enough."

"What do you mean? With so many cold lizards here, it'd be a waste not to hunt more," Ouyang Feng said, looking confused.

The knight scoffed, "Without mastering the Martial God's highest forbidden esoteric art, who would dare to absorb divine particles without limit? Don't overthink it."

Ouyang Feng instinctively felt that something was amiss; there were things they hadn't thoroughly understood beforehand.

"Are there any specific rules?" the toad asked, feeling uneasy.

"Don't perform the esoteric art too many times each month, especially since both of you are Yin spirits. You shouldn't be greedy. I suggest each of you hunt just a few cold lizards; otherwise, you'll die a miserable death."

The knight didn't hold back, revealing the drawbacks of overusing the esoteric art.

The more divine particles absorbed, the more frequent the heavenly tribulations. For instance, the knight himself absorbed an excessive amount last time, resulting in a heavenly tribulation within less than a month. He barely survived, his soul almost shattered by the thunder, pulling through by the skin of his teeth.

"There's no easy path to advancement in this world; every achievement comes at a price. Killing opponents and using esoteric arts to refine the divine particles within them ultimately goes against natural harmony. It won't be long before you face a reckoning and undergo a lightning strike tribulation."

Upon hearing these words, Ouyang Feng and Chu Feng's expressions turned grim.

They realized that not long ago, they had absorbed a massive amount of divine particles and eliminated many opponents, likely far exceeding the limit. They were certainly due for a divine lightning strike.

"Of course, what I just said was merely a form of fatalism. Research by the Gods' Laboratory shows that it's primarily due to absorbing too many divine particles from overly complex and disparate sources in a short period. You see, this is a very high-level energy substance, and when various divine particles resonate, they easily attract lightning."

The knight's explanation made Chu Feng and Ouyang Feng's faces grow even uglier. Given how much they had absorbed, they likely wouldn't survive just one lightning strike; they would probably need several.

"Only after undergoing the baptism of the lightning tribulation are those divine particles truly absorbed and become your own," the knight explained.

"Sigh, it seems that no matter the world or the universe, heavenly tribulations have a reason to exist. Only by passing their tests can one achieve true fruition," Ouyang Feng privately communicated to Chu Feng.

Then, both their faces turned a bit green. This was a world with very strong Yang energy, and they estimated that if the lightning struck, they wouldn't be able to withstand it.

Because in this world, they were considered ghosts, Yin spirits!

This was not their universe—the Underworld. This world had abundant Yang energy, and they already felt burning and stinging sensations when facing various flesh-and-blood creatures.

What was lightning? A true ultimate Yang substance. Struck by such lightning, even the incredibly powerful Chu Feng felt he might not be able to withstand it.

He and Ouyang estimated that, based on the divine particles they had absorbed, each of them would have to undergo at least four heavenly tribulations.

One heavenly tribulation would involve at least dozens, if not hundreds, of lightning bolts.

In an instant, both their faces turned green. This wasn't the lightning of the Underworld, but terrifying thunderbolts imbued with surging ultimate Yang energy.

At this moment, Chu Feng felt a sense of urgency. He absolutely had to seize that bucket of divine beast blood to carefully cleanse himself, shedding his Yin energy so he could withstand the tribulation!

Ouyang Feng secretly transmitted, "Chu Pit, Chu the Great Conman, this is a matter of life and death! We might be done for. This is a classic case of digging our own graves. You need to come up with a plan quickly!"

Chu Feng replied, "According to him, even if we've absorbed too many divine particles, there's a month's accumulation and buffer period. The Yang lightning won't come in the short term."

Then, they half-heartedly went to hunt cold lizards. Feeling that they might as well go all in, each killed ten more cold lizards before returning.

Ouyang Feng said, "Brother Dao, what methods are there to counteract this, so we aren't struck by divine lightning? We might have inadvertently refined too many divine particles just now."

The knight replied, "In this world, you are Yin spirits. A single lightning bolt would be enough to scatter both your souls. If you truly absorbed an excessive amount of divine particles, there's no saving you!"

"What we absorbed shouldn't be excessive," Ouyang Feng persisted, "but I still want to ask if there's any way to resolve this. What if we encounter this situation in the future? I'm sure there must be a solution, right?"

"Indeed there are," he replied. "For example, bathing in divine beast blood. Or, have you seen those blood-red mountain peaks? Sacred medicine grows on them, watered by divine beast blood. If you could consume even a small leaf, it would naturally eliminate the disaster invisibly. Unfortunately, given your status, you are not qualified to partake."

Towards the end, the knight showed a hint of disdain, but quickly concealed it.

Ouyang Feng secretly exclaimed, "Damn it, let's go for broke, Chu Pit! We absolutely must seize that bucket of divine beast blood! And Chu God, your mastery of force fields needs to improve quickly, so we can harvest all those sacred medicines!"

Meanwhile, in the East Sea of Earth, at Everlasting Mountain.

The Demonic Ancestor's Cauldron glowed, emitting a mechanical voice, summoning the Black Ox and the Yellow Ox, informing them that a more brutal subsequent trial was about to begin.

"What? Didn't we pass? There are more trials?!" the Black Ox bellowed.

"Precisely because you passed, you can now enter a higher-level trial ground," the Demonic Ancestor's Cauldron informed them. They were about to enter a unique world, a path accidentally opened by the Demonic Ancestor when he was studying the profound ways of nature and mastering creation, leading to the discovery of a terrifying place.

The great cauldron then informed them that only their souls could pass through; their physical bodies could not be transported. It asked if they wished to undertake this high-level trial.

"We choose it!" the Yellow Ox nodded.

"Let's risk it, let's go!" the Black Ox also roared, clamoring to experience that new world!

He then called out to Old Donkey and the others, asking if they wanted to join the tempering experience, though he emphasized that it would be extremely dangerous, a 'nine deaths, one life' scenario, as the high-level trial grounds were too perilous.

Near the blood-red mountain peaks, Chu Feng received confirmed news from Pulin: the bucket of divine beast blood would be delivered tomorrow. The young Marquis would lead his men to receive it and then escort it up the mountain!

"It's tomorrow! We absolutely must pull off this big job!" Ouyang Feng rubbed his hands together excitedly.

That day, most of the dispatched cavalry returned. To Pulin's fury, there were actually casualties.

"Those named Jin Lin and Shi Hong are quite troublesome," someone reported, bowing their head. "They hid, then ganged up to ambush us, killing some of our knights!"

"Utter trash!" Pulin fumed, but found it difficult to continue reprimanding them.

Shortly after, a formidable contingent of cavalry returned to cheers, for they had brought back a captive.

Chu Feng and Ouyang Feng sensed trouble. They certainly didn't want to encounter any captives.

Why would anyone allow themselves to be captured? Would anything good come of falling into these people's hands? They should have decisively returned to their original universe.

"Reporting, Young Marquis," the cavalry captain reported, "we captured a prisoner... er, no, to be precise, after we surrounded her, she voluntarily requested a talk."

"Bring her over," Pulin gestured, finally showing a trace of a smile.

Then, Chu Feng saw at a glance that it was none other than Ying Zhexian, and her silver-haired little sister, Ying Xiaoxiao.

He couldn't help but sigh. This peerlessly beautiful Ying Zhexian was indeed no ordinary person. Even when surrounded, she remained remarkably composed, not rushing to self-destruct her soul, but instead wishing to meet the person in charge here. Her courage was remarkable!

"Mainly, we surrounded her sister," the cavalry captain added. "She turned back to rescue her, which is how she fell into our net and got trapped."

This explanation surprised Chu Feng and gave him a slightly better impression of Ying Zhexian. He no longer purely thought she was too cunning.

"You two are here too!" Ying Zhexian immediately smiled, radiant and exquisitely beautiful, causing Pulin and the surrounding knights to momentarily lose themselves.

Even though these people considered her a ghost, a Yin spirit, they couldn't help but marvel at her beauty.

Ouyang Feng, however, felt a severe shock in his heart, cold sweat almost breaking out. If this woman sought revenge on them, they would likely have to flee. He was already preparing to signal Chu Feng for a joint breakout.

Chu Feng remained calm. At this moment, he smiled at Ying Zhexian, feigning surprise, then turned to Pulin and said, "Young Marquis, this is my Dao companion. Earlier, those people had abducted her sister, and she had no choice but to pursue them all the way here."

"Dao companion?!" Ouyang Feng cast a sideways glance, but not at Chu Feng; his gaze went straight to Ying Zhexian.