Chapter 557: Injured

In the underworld, at the capital of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom, before the royal palace, Chu Feng looked up, nervously watching the sky, gripping the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade tightly.

From within the blade came wave after wave of violent demonic nature, battering against his mind.

In the sky, the grey clouds of flesh suddenly churned and surged toward the Heavenly Pool Kingdom.

Chu Feng's spirits soared: "What Master True King instructed has come to pass!"

The Celestial Venerable must eliminate the Heavenly Pool Kingdom.

Because the Heavenly Pool Kingdom was the last Dao Field of the Empress of Earth in the underworld, and the ghost clans within the kingdom held the Grand Sacrifice, worshipping the Empress, allowing her divine power to flow endlessly. Only by eliminating the Heavenly Pool Kingdom and slaughtering all these ghosts and ghost gods could the Empress of Earth's divine power be cut off from replenishment.

"Master True King instructed me that when the blood clouds attack, I should offer up the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade. This blade contains Master True King's magical power and can be offered up three times."

Chu Feng's heart was restless with anxiety. Seeing the grey clouds rushing in at terrifying speed, he did not hesitate to offer up the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade, activating the divine blade.

"First time!"

The Blood-Transforming Divine Blade soared into the air, its blade light scattering like a bright moon, flying beneath the blood clouds as radiant blade light carved through them.

The primordial insect's blood gushed forth, absorbed by the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade. It hastily severed its own body parts, lest it be killed by the poison of yin and yang qi concealed within the blade.

Other flesh tentacles flew out, transforming into a massive bloody hand in midair, slamming heavily down toward the royal palace where Chu Feng stood.

Chu Feng offered up the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade once more: "Second time!"

The power within the blade erupted, this time even greater. Streaks of blade light shone like scattered stars, converging into a torrent that formed a swirling river of stars, severing the massive hand and flattening the surrounding blood clouds!

From the distant blood clouds, long tentacles flew out, transforming into all manner of weapons, slashing down upon the various tribes both large and small of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom!

"Third time!"

Chu Feng offered up the blade again. The blade light shimmered brilliantly, like ripples on a long river, reflecting across the sky as it severed every weapon in the air.

The blood clouds retreated, daring not to attack again.

Chu Feng sheathed his blade and looked into the distance, seeing the blood clouds hovering at the outskirts of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom, not daring to cross its borders.

His expression remained calm, but his heart was in turmoil.

The magical power Chen Shi had stored within the blade was now spent.

If the blood clouds attacked again, he would have to personally activate the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade.

From within the distant blood clouds, a gigantic eyeball suddenly emerged. It shot forth divine light with a crackling sound, sweeping across this area, scanning Chu Feng from head to toe.

Chu Feng was alarmed and uncertain, unsure of what to do. He felt that having been swept by that divine light, he had been seen through inside and out by that massive eyeball.

The blood clouds surged forward once more.

Chu Feng gritted his teeth, reached out to grasp the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade, and activated the Blood Lake Sutra.

"Master instructed me to cultivate the ninth level of the Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art, to harness the Celestial True God to fight the blood clouds and protect the Heavenly Pool Kingdom. But I couldn't memorize it all. However, I've cultivated the Blood Lake Sutra quite well!"

He had been cultivating the Blood Lake Sutra this entire time.

The Blood Lake Sutra was easy to learn, quick to cultivate, and astonishingly powerful.

Chu Feng gripped the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade, activated the sutra, and surging divine power flowed from the blade. Blood qi gathered toward the back of his head!

Behind his head, a blood pool rapidly formed, elevating in the blink of an eye to a blood pond, then to a blood lake, and then to a vast blood sea!

In just a few short moments, this divine blade had elevated his cultivation to heights he had never before dreamed of reaching!

When the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade had been in Chen Shi's hands, it had drunk the blood of immortals, slashed out the Celestial Venerable's eye, and severed the primordial insect's tentacles. Its power had long since been refined far beyond what it once was. But at the same time, its demonic nature had also been refined to a terrifying degree!

Chen Shi could wield this blade because he had achieved Great Completion in the Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art, refining a demonic Dao Field.

Though Chu Feng had cultivated the Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art to the eighth level, his comprehension of the demonic path was far inferior to Chen Shi's. When he first gripped the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade, he felt nothing unusual, but as time passed, he gradually felt another voice in his head, speaking with him.

At first, he was unaccustomed to it, but gradually he accepted this voice, believing it to be his own inner voice.

"Kill!"

Chu Feng charged into the sky, swinging the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade to meet the grey clouds of flesh high above.

At that moment, the blade techniques of the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade surfaced in his mind, and various moves coordinated with the Blood Lake Sutra naturally emerged.

He unfolded his blade technique, forming a rainbow arc in the sky, splitting the grey clouds of flesh apart with unstoppable force!

Suddenly, strips of flesh tentacles danced and swept toward him. Another Dao technique surfaced in Chu Feng's mind, and he executed it without a second thought. The blade light bloomed like flowers in full blossom, bursting all around him, quickly forming a sea of petals.

When those flesh tentacles touched these flowers, the flowers spun and bloomed, radiating blade qi in all directions, severing the invaders!

In the sky, flesh churned, and from deep within the flesh, a strange eye with nine concentric rings squeezed out. It rolled once, and vast fog poured forth—it was the Celestial Venerable's blind heart vertical eye.

This vertical eye was also called the Fog Moon Eye. With it, the Celestial Venerable had annihilated countless ghost clan lives and destroyed countless geniuses. Once the Fog Moon Eye appeared, accompanied by surging mist, countless dead bodies near the Heavenly Pool Kingdom immediately revived.

Within the Ten Thousand Mountains lay many mysterious dead. On Boundless Cliff hung the corpses of countless dead ghost clan chieftains. Now, all of these things revived under the control of Demonic Energy, climbing up Boundless Cliff and charging toward the capital of the Heavenly Pool Kingdom.

Chu Feng swung his long blade, fighting the flesh in the sky above while having to split his attention to fend off the evil spirits climbing up Boundless Cliff. He felt like a lone pillar struggling to hold up a collapsing building.

He found it increasingly difficult to hold on, and despair crept into his heart. If only he had learned the ninth level of the Profound Yin Nine Heaven Art, he could activate the Celestial True God to blast apart the Celestial Venerable's Fog Moon Eye and solve the problem before him.

"Pity I'm a bit slow-witted."

In truth, he was not slow-witted at all. He had been selected by the Grand Sacrificial Officer after long travels, chosen from among countless children as a genius. While his aptitude and comprehension might not be unmatched in the world, they could certainly be called rare.

But alas, there was always someone more talented beyond the talented. Chen Shi was himself a genius among geniuses. He had only taught the ninth level technique once, believing Chu Feng should have learned it, without considering that Chu Feng's aptitude and comprehension were still somewhat inferior to his own.

Chu Feng gritted his teeth and fought desperately. Suddenly, a massive bell flew toward him. He hurriedly swung his blade to slash, and the blade light collided with the bell, producing a deafening peal.

That massive bell was actually not split open by the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade—only a deep blade mark was left on its surface.

A Daoist reached out and grabbed the bell's knob, his gaze cold and murderous as he swept it toward Chu Feng.

"These are the dead corrupted by the Fog Moon!"

Chu Feng's heart leaped. He had heard the Grand Sacrificial Officer speak of such dead. They were said to be beings who had once cultivated to the Great Ascension Realm but had no hope of Ascension. They had fallen to the underworld and wandered the Ten Thousand Mountains.

Their physical bodies had died of old age, but they did not want to die, so they prostrated themselves among these Yin Mountains.

When the Fog Moon appeared, they would rise from death and survive in the world through another means.

However, these people had been corrupted by the Fog Moon, becoming walking corpses controlled by it—something these cultivators had never anticipated.

The Grand Sacrificial Officer called them the Starved.

The Starved meant people who had died of hunger.

These cultivators craved immortality, adopting evil methods of absorbing mist to prolong their lives, only to have their wishes backfire and become corpses controlled by the Fog Moon. Their experience was similar to those who starved to death while longing for food, hence they were called the Starved.

Before Chu Feng could slay this Daoist, he saw several Confucian scholars and monks also arriving on the mist, each holding precious treasures, their expressions grim.

They suddenly attacked in unison. Chu Feng swung his blade to parry while retreating.

At the same time, strips of flesh tentacles crashed down from the sky like massive tornadoes, slamming into the ghost clan tribes both large and small!

Chu Feng ignored the attacks of these dead, fiercely swinging his blade to sever the flesh tentacles.

A Confucian scholar's golden seal smashed into his chest, breaking several of his ribs. Chu Feng was sent tumbling and rolling, crashing into a heavenly pool.

He struggled to his feet, but a mouthful of blood sprayed out.

He surged his blood qi, flew out of the pool, and brandished the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade in a life-or-death struggle against these ghosts, soon covered in wounds.

His demonic nature grew heavier and heavier, and he increasingly felt no pain or fatigue, continuing to fight with all his might.

At that moment, a voice came from somewhere nearby, chuckling: "Did your master not teach you the demonic Dao Field?"

Chu Feng thought it was the other self in his head and paid it no mind.

The voice laughed again and asked: "What about the Yin-Yang Dao Field?"

Only then did Chu Feng realize the voice did not come from his own mind, but from not far away.

He hurriedly looked toward the sound and saw that the speaker was a young man in brocade robes with a jade belt. Around them, a Yin-Yang Dao Field rapidly formed, actually dissolving all the Demonic Energy within the mist!

Without the support of Demonic Energy, the ghosts fell one after another, turning back into corpses.

Chu Feng breathed a sigh of relief and was about to offer his thanks when the young man chuckled: "Your master truly has nerves of steel. The Empress of Earth has only this one place left for her incense offerings, and he only sent you to guard it. If you fail to hold the Heavenly Pool Kingdom, wouldn't everything be lost?"

Chu Feng hastily bowed in gratitude: "This junior is Chu Feng, paying respects to Senior. Thank you for your aid, Senior! Are you a friend of my master?"

The young man was none other than Zhong Wuwang. He laughed: "An enemy, but also an ally. I merely came into contact with the Yin-Yang Dao Field and inadvertently learned a little. Using the Yin-Yang Dao Field is most suitable for dealing with these ghosts. I'll take you to poke out the Celestial Venerable's eye."

Before Chu Feng could speak, he involuntarily rose into the air, following Zhong Wuwang as they flew toward the sky.

Dozens of flesh tentacles flew toward them. Before Chu Feng could even act, he saw the tentacles explode one after another.

Within the blood clouds, around the Fog Moon Eye, one Celestial Way Divine Eye after another grew forth, all focusing on Zhong Wuwang.

Zhong Wuwang chuckled: "The Celestial Way Divine Eye? I've already studied it to the bone!"

He shot upward with Chu Feng, dodging the light beams from each Celestial Way Divine Eye, arriving before the Fog Moon.

"You just offer up the blade. Leave everything else to me." His voice reached Chu Feng's ears.

Hearing this, Chu Feng immediately offered up the Tianluo Blood-Transforming Divine Blade, pouring all his strength into a slash at the Fog Moon Eye!

At that moment, an unimaginably vast surge of magical power flowed in through his arms, empowering the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade, elevating its might to a level Chu Feng could scarcely conceive!

"Shiiing—"

This slash carved a rift a thousand li long across the surface of the Fog Moon Eye!

"No blood drawn yet! Another slash!" Zhong Wuwang shouted.

Chu Feng slashed again. That torrent of mighty power surged in, empowering the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade. As this slash descended, blood suddenly erupted from deep within the Fog Moon, the blood transforming into a scarlet current that howled forth and poured into the Blood-Transforming Divine Blade.

That massive Fog Moon Eye rapidly withered. The surrounding primordial insect tentacles ceased their attack and retreated backward.

Chu Feng panted heavily, his heart still racing from the ordeal.

Zhong Wuwang gazed at the withering Fog Moon Eye, a strange glint in his eyes. He murmured: "Celestial Venerable, didn't expect this, did you? In this battle, the first person to make you bleed... is me!"

He burst into laughter, set Chu Feng down, and shot away into the distance with a whoosh.

Chu Feng hurriedly called out: "Senior! Might I ask your esteemed name!"

"Zhong! Er! Niu!" Zhong Wuwang's booming voice echoed from afar.

Chu Feng was dumbfounded, thinking to himself: "Zhong Er Niu. How could such a formidable senior have such a crude and common name?"

Zhong Wuwang sped along like lightning, heading toward the Palace of Virtue, still brimming with excitement.

He had been in hiding all this time, seeking stability, lest he be caught and killed by the enraged Celestial Venerable.

This time, when the Celestial Venerable mobilized the primordial insect to cover the Yin and Yang realms and corrupt heaven and earth, he had detected it immediately but did not act rashly. Instead, he waited for the right moment.

When the Celestial Venerable moved to eliminate the Empress of Earth's source of incense offerings, he knew his opportunity had come.

After searching around, he discovered that the underworld government, the Immortal Capital, and other places had already been destroyed by the Celestial Venerable, leaving only the Heavenly Pool Kingdom still holding out. He knew the Celestial Venerable would spare no expense to burn down the Heavenly Pool Kingdom, so he came to the Heavenly Pool Kingdom to wait by the tree for the rabbit.

When the Celestial Venerable failed to take it by force and dispatched his vertical brow-eye, Zhong Wuwang knew his chance had arrived. So he used Chu Feng's hand to ambush the Celestial Venerable and slash out his vertical brow-eye.

"I've scored the first merit!"

Outside the Palace of Virtue, the Celestial Venerable was juggling multiple tasks—besieging the Palace of Virtue, hunting down Chen Yindu and his son Creation Little Five, seeking to slay Chen Shi and capture the Heavenly Silkworm, engaged in close combat with Wu Qi, and trying to destroy the Heavenly Pool Kingdom to ruin the Empress of Earth's doctrines.

Though his attention was divided many ways, he remained organized and composed, not the slightest bit flustered.

But at that moment, he suddenly let out a great cry. Ignoring Wu Qi, he raised his hand to cover his brow.

Blood, black as ink, seeped through his fingers from his brow.

The Celestial Venerable trembled in agony. Immediately, he was struck by Wu Qi and sent flying backward.

Wu Qi offered up the Yin Yang Qi Bottle, and just as he was about to draw the Celestial Venerable into it, countless flesh descended from the sky, plugging the bottle's mouth.

Wu Qi charged forward again, but the Celestial Venerable had already recovered his senses. After only a few exchanges, Wu Qi was slain by the Celestial Venerable.

In Xu Wu Yue Heng Heaven, on the Purple Heaven Vine, Wu Qi swayed twice and fell from the gourd vine.

He immediately flew outward. Just as he was about to leave Xu Wu Yue Heng Heaven, Wu Qi looked back and saw the Purple Heaven Vine beginning to wither. No new Wu Qi grew from the vine.

During this time, he had died too many times, exhausting the Purple Heaven Vine's power.

Wu Qi was briefly stunned. After a moment's hesitation, he turned and charged toward the Celestial Venerable.

"In this battle! One of us must die!"