197 The Temptation of Gods Hu Liena's Counterattack Against Qian Daoliu
In the end, Chu Feng tore free of Qian Renxue, gasping for air. It had been alluring—too alluring—but damn it, he'd nearly suffocated.
"I found the way out—right at the summit!" Chu Feng panted, excitement finally overtaking him.
"Really?" The System's tiny eyes went wide; nothing sounded sweeter than escape.
"Only… it looks like I'm the only one who can use the portal."
Chu Feng was stumped. The System and Qian Renxue had poked and prodded for ages with zero response; the moment he touched the thing—whoosh—he was through. It made no sense.
Qian Renxue saw the snag as well. A thoughtful look crossed her flawless face. "Little Sword, how about I grab you and we try together?"
"Worth a shot." No better plan presented itself, and they were all stuck here anyway.
She caught hold of Chu Feng and stepped toward the cliff. A soft pop—and both of them vanished, reappearing atop the peak.
"It worked!"
Chu Feng was ecstatic; up here, spiritual energy actually existed, whereas below there had been nothing but fruit.
A moment later the System was hauled over as well.
"Aooow—ma darlin', it really works!" The moment it landed on the summit the System howled, looking as if it had swallowed a fistful of Great Tonic Pills.
Yet now none of them knew what to do next, because they had no idea how to activate the patterns carved into the boulder.
"It'll need a secret art—that array is basically a portal glyph," the System declared, stroking its chin.
Qian Renxue shook her head. She couldn't recall her missing memories, yet the rock felt anything but ordinary. "To me, this boulder… feels identical to the mountain itself."
Chu Feng had the same hunch: shrink the peak a few hundred times and it would look just like this stone—only smoother and prettier.
"So how do we crack it?"
Truth be told, they were all at a loss. None of them felt ready to leave, and no one knew what lay outside. It was like jungle-dwellers of decades suddenly forced to face the outer World—lost, apprehensive.
If danger greeted them the instant they stepped out, they were finished.
"Hold on… I think there's something in my memory about this. This stone… this stone… wait, it's a treasure!" The System squinted for ages before blurting that out.
"Little Sword, I get the same feeling," Qian Renxue said after studying it for a long while.
Chu Feng's mind, however, was elsewhere; a sudden fever swept through him, and his body felt like a starved beast now gorging itself on food.
He could sense himself devouring the ambient spirit energy—indescribable. He felt bloated, limp, sleepy.
And then—
—thud. Chu Feng collapsed, a black vortex forming around him as spirit energy poured into his body.
"Little Sword, what's wrong?" Qian Renxue paled; the Old Immortal had warned that if Chu Feng slipped into another unexplained slumber ten years later, he might never wake again.
Whether this turn was good or bad, no one knew.
Inside Chu Feng's body it was like parched rice paddies flooded with water. The nourishment of spirit energy made him shudder in bliss; bones crackled, every cell seemed to howl—and he howled along while still unconscious.
"Ooooh… feels amazing!" he yelled.
The System and Qian Renxue stared, dumbstruck. What the hell was happening?
One second they'd been discussing the boulder; the next he'd passed out—now he was moaning in pleasure? Was he faking it?
"Wait… I'm remembering something. This… this looks like a cultivation art—but which one?" The System's eyes bulged in disbelief.
"What art?" Qian Renxue demanded, so flustered she grabbed the System's ear.
"Hold on—ow! Agh, that hurts! It's—It's the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art!"
"Yes, the Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art!" the System shrieked.
Qian Renxue froze; the same phrase had just surfaced in her own memory. She was stunned.
Why?
"The Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art is rejected by the heavens. Legend claims its origins are unspeakably ancient. The reason he kept falling into slumber was that his body lacked spirit energy; only sleep could preserve his life force. In short—malnutrition. If this continued, he'd die of exhaustion," Qian Renxue thought, head buzzing. She could scarcely believe it.
The terrifying part was that the art devoured everything—even the sky. A heaven-defying technique, branded a 'demonic art' precisely because it could refine any spirit energy for itself, including the life force of living beings.
Heaven and Earth could not tolerate it.
Clearly, Chu Feng had been sealed away—imprisoned in a place devoid of spirit energy.
Qian Renxue's face twisted in conflict; she realized that once the seal broke and spirit energy poured in, he might devour the entire Yellow-World.
"We're doomed. I don't think we should leave after all… this Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art…" The System glanced at the prostrate, entranced Chu Feng, its little eyes darting.
"Fair Maiden, what do we do?" it asked, turning to Qian Renxue.
Staring down at Chu Feng, Qian Renxue was lost in thought. After all their years together, she had come to see him as the one person she could rely on; this sudden turn left her reeling.
The Heaven Swallowing Demonic Art was an ancient cultivation method—also a mighty innate divine ability. Its greatest strength: unlike ordinary arts, it had no bottlenecks, no ranks. Devour, and keep growing stronger forever.
On my Patreon, I have several advance chapters available if you're interested in more than 100: For $1, you get 20 fewer chapters than the $2.50 tier. For $2.50, you get 40 fewer chapters than the $4 tier. And for $4, you get them all.
The number of chapters is updated every 7 days and increases by 7 to 8 chapters.
My Patren: paroncom/FanTranslator