Chapter 85: Warming Up

In the courtyard, Master Jin was filled with emotion, as if everything before him was a miracle, stirring ripples in his heart that had long been calm. According to the unnamed ancient texts, it was not uncommon for body cultivators to lose consciousness after taking their first Golden Pill. Yet this young man had maintained his will from beginning to end—it was hard to imagine the kind of astonishing perseverance that required.

Master Jin knew that Chu Feng had successfully broken through the First Extreme. He sat quietly, not wishing to disturb the boy, understanding well that after such hellish torment, the youth indeed needed time to rest.

Inside the great cauldron, Chu Feng slept for a full day and night before waking. The moment he awoke, a particular stench assaulted his nose. When he opened his eyes, he was left dumbfounded—there was no trace of the golden liquid left in the cauldron; it had all turned into a thick black sludge. His body, his face, even his hair were covered in the stuff. Looking in a mirror, he would have been unable to recognize himself.

At that moment, Master Jin’s hearty voice rang out, “Hahaha! Come, hurry and wash yourself!”

“Good thing preparations were made in advance. The Hall Master truly has foresight,” Chu Feng sighed as he looked at the large wooden tub beside him. Stretching a little, he stepped in and began to clean himself.

During the washing, Chu Feng discovered that his physical strength had clearly increased, and his skin had lightened, becoming more delicate and pure, as if not a single impurity remained.

He understood this was the effect of the Golden Pill’s body refinement—the impurities in his body had been expelled, becoming part of the black sludge.

After tidying up, Chu Feng slung the Domain-Suppressing Sword over his back and stepped outside. Master Jin greeted him with a beaming smile, “Well, how does it feel?”

“It feels like my strength has increased severalfold,” Chu Feng replied.

Master Jin nodded. “Breaking through the Extreme brings natural increase in power. According to the records, your body now rivals a mid-grade Earth-rank spiritual weapon. Your strength is enough to match an early-stage Fifth-Rank Earth Spirit Warrior. The sheer force your body can unleash is more than enough to counter the spiritual arts of a Fifth-Rank Earth Spirit Warrior. This is the so-called ‘breaking all techniques with strength’ on the path of martial arts.”

Chu Feng was thrilled. He knew he had grown stronger, and with continued training, he would only become stronger still.

Upon questioning, Chu Feng learned that, including the day he’d spent unconscious, he’d spent seventy days inside the cauldron. But even after seventy days, he felt no hunger. He realized that his body was now utterly different—this was a complete transformation.

Most surprising of all, the process of breaking through the First Extreme had allowed Chu Feng to recover memories he thought lost. Yet this also brought him confusion—he did not understand why he had kept losing his memory during that time.

Master Jin handed Chu Feng the prescription for the second Extreme, noting that some of the required spiritual herbs were not available in the Hall of Spiritual Medicine and would have to be gathered from outside.

Chu Feng closed his eyes to send out his spiritual sense, intending to store the prescription in his storage ring. To his amazement, he found his spiritual sense had grown much stronger. Where before he could sense thirty zhang away, now it reached fifty.

Before leaving, Chu Feng carefully cleaned the cauldron and tidied the room. This place would be needed again on his path of cultivation—it was destined to become an important site for his training.

Returning to the Sky Division’s villa, Chu Feng was filled with emotion—over two months had passed, and he truly felt as though he had been through life and death.

A body as strong as a mid-grade Earth-rank spiritual weapon was something he had never even dreamed of before. In truth, Chu Feng was deeply curious; his body did not look much different than before, aside from being whiter and his skin softer. He almost wanted to test it out with a blade himself.

But he restrained himself—first, he trusted the body refining manuals could not be lying, and second, he had no suitable blade at hand. As for the Domain-Suppressing Sword, such a divine weapon could slice through not just mid-grade Earth-rank spiritual weapons, but even Heaven-rank ones with ease.

At this time, Long Yue still had not returned, nor had Murong Qiu Xue. Chu Feng felt a vague longing in his heart, hoping one day to catch up to their footsteps.

Having disappeared for over two months, Chu Feng thought it best to visit Xiao Yue, Xu Yan, Han Yan, and the others—a rare chance to relax after breaking through the First Extreme.

Leaving the villa, he saw no sign of Sun Xuan or the others; they were likely deep in training.

Unexpectedly, the first person he encountered was Yu Wenfeng, though Mo Chen was not with him.

Yu Wenfeng’s expression was as arrogant as ever, but now his gaze toward Chu Feng held an added hatred. To him, his previous injury had been a humiliation.

“Chu Feng, you finally show yourself. I thought you’d gone into hiding out of fear,” Yu Wenfeng said coldly.

Chu Feng smiled lightly. “I’m flattered by your concern. I do apologize for letting you worry.”

In truth, since recovering from his injuries, Yu Wenfeng had wanted immediate revenge. But for over two months, Chu Feng had been nowhere to be found. Now, with his own cultivation greatly improved, Yu Wenfeng was utterly confident he could easily trample Chu Feng underfoot.

A cold light flashed in Yu Wenfeng’s eyes. “You won’t be so lucky today.”

With a slight smile, Chu Feng replied calmly, “I was just looking for someone to practice with. Fancy you appearing. The question is, are you even qualified now?”

Yu Wenfeng was furious—never had he, a peerless talent, been so underestimated. But, having learned his lesson from last time, he did not let anger cloud his mind.

Without another word, Yu Wenfeng activated his spiritual transformation, unleashing an attack at Chu Feng. Spiritual energy surged above his head, and in a flash, Yu Wenfeng struck with his fist. A bolt of lightning as thick as a bowl shot toward Chu Feng like a raging dragon or serpent.

Chu Feng merely stood his ground. If measured by spiritual cultivation levels, after breaking through the First Extreme, Chu Feng now matched an early-stage Fifth-Rank Earth Spirit Warrior. Yu Wenfeng, by contrast, was only at the late stage of the Third Rank, nearly breaking through, with combat power approaching the mid-stage Fourth-Rank Earth Spirit Warrior at best. The gap between their levels was simply too great; there was no way Yu Wenfeng could be his match.

With a single palm strike, Chu Feng dissipated the thick bolt of lightning with ease. Traces of electricity entered his body, only making him feel a slight tingling—hardly enough to affect his actions.

Chu Feng realized that, from the moment he broke through the First Extreme, his body was no longer afraid of lightning.

Energy surged around them; Chu Feng’s hair flew, violet robes fluttering, his figure steady as a mountain—he had not moved a single step.

Yu Wenfeng’s heart trembled. This attack was far more powerful than the one that had defeated him before, yet his opponent remained unmoved, his body completely unharmed.

He could hardly accept this. He had thought his own improvement would close the gap, but it had only grown wider.

With a furious shout, Yu Wenfeng unleashed his strongest thunder-attribute secret technique: Thunder Spirit Slash.

In an instant, Yu Wenfeng was engulfed in lightning, his aura reaching its current peak. Soon, all his spiritual power condensed into a lightning sword two zhang long.

The sword pulsed with even greater destructive power—its electric surface crackling menacingly. Even a mid-stage Fourth-Rank Earth Spirit Warrior would be alarmed by it.

With a roar, Yu Wenfeng leapt forward, swinging the thunder sword straight at Chu Feng.

As Yu Wenfeng attacked with all his might, Chu Feng only smiled faintly. Now, having chosen the path of martial arts, it mattered little what spiritual techniques his opponents used. He needed only to break them with sheer force—this was the path of breaking all techniques with strength.

As the thunder sword fell, Chu Feng gathered his strength and punched out. With a thunderous crash, the giant sword shattered, wild energy rampaging. Yu Wenfeng screamed and was flung away by the force.

Amidst the energy storm, Chu Feng stood calmly, untouched, as if the raging power was nothing more than a breeze.

On the other side, Yu Wenfeng struggled to his feet, utterly disheveled. Though his clothes were sturdy, several tears marred them.

Face deathly pale, Yu Wenfeng spat blood and stared at Chu Feng in horror. What kind of strength was this? What kind of body? He could no longer comprehend it.

As the storm subsided, Chu Feng dusted off his hands, composed and unhurried. He had no wish to linger—if the commotion attracted the guards, things could get troublesome.

“You’re still young. Cherish your talent, and don’t let yourself be used by those with ulterior motives,” Chu Feng said as he passed by Yu Wenfeng.

“Chu Feng! One day, I will surpass you! I will!” Yu Wenfeng shouted, eyes burning with hatred.

“I’ll be waiting,” Chu Feng replied without looking back, leaving only those words behind as he departed.

Chu Feng did not find Xiao Yue in the new recruits camp; after some inquiries, he learned Xiao Yue had returned home. So Chu Feng headed to Xiao Yue’s residence.

Upon seeing Chu Feng, Xiao Yue’s first words were, “Kid, how come you’re so pale now?”

“I’ve always been this pale, haven’t I?” Chu Feng answered.

“No, no. Just look at your skin—so delicate and lustrous,” Xiao Yue remarked, then paused, eyes widening in shock. “Don’t tell me you’ve already broken through the Extreme?”

Chu Feng nodded without hiding it. “I finally made it through the first trial.”

“Impressive,” Xiao Yue exclaimed, deeply shaken. He had not expected Chu Feng to have broken through the body’s limits in just over two months.

Chu Feng and Xiao Yue agreed to meet that evening to catch up, settling the place and time. Chu Feng then went to visit Xu Lan, who helped him contact Xu Yan.

When Xu Yan arrived, she gave Chu Feng a strange look. “Wild man, how did you get so refined? Have you been whitening your skin lately?”

Chu Feng could only laugh helplessly. After breaking through the First Extreme, he hadn’t changed much outwardly, except for his improved skin.

Through Xu Yan, Chu Feng got in touch with Han Yan and the others, arranging a time and place for their evening gathering.

He also invited Xu Lan. That night, Chu Feng, Xu Lan, Xiao Yue, Xu Yan, Han Yan, and others met at the Returning Wild Goose Tower. Learning that Chu Feng had joined the Sky Division, his friends were shocked and offered their congratulations.

As they talked and laughed, Chu Feng shared his plans: he intended to leave Sacred City for a period of training and adventure.