Cultivation starts from simplifying the exercises

Chapter 2142 Divine Soul Sacrifice to the Blade, Burn!

"Chen! Fei!"

Shi Pojun let out a hoarse roar, like a curse from a hellish demon.

He stared intently at Chen Fei, his eyes burning with a final, frenzied rage: "I'm waiting for you! Waiting for the day you're eternally imprisoned in the Abyss of Eternal Condensation, suffering the bone-chilling pain of ten thousand years of icy torment, never to be reborn!"

Before he finished speaking, Shi Pojun's battered body suddenly erupted with its last and most intense light.

That light was a mixture of all his unburnt origins, all the shattered fragments of his Dao Domain, and even his last wisp of divine soul will.

Everything was consumed by flames, and the souls were sacrificed to the blade!

Without defense or parry, Shi Pojun chose to self-destruct his Dao body, sacrificing his remnant soul, pouring everything he had into the shattering Blade of Flames.

"Boom!"

There was no flash of swords, no shadow of halberds, only a dazzling, intensely white sphere of light that suddenly expanded.

Inside the sphere of light, Shi Pojun's twisted and shattered figure could be vaguely seen, along with the flaming blade that carried all his resentment and destruction, which had completely disintegrated and vanished.

A terrifying energy storm, centered on the sphere of light, spread wildly in all directions.

Wherever it passed, all matter—rocks, soil, remnants of vegetation, and even space itself—was silently annihilated, transformed into the most primitive particles.

A massive, pitch-black pit, tens of miles in diameter and bottomless, appeared instantly in the same spot, its walls as smooth as a mirror.

This was Shi Pojun's final moment, a self-destructive act of self-destruction at the cost of everything he had. Its power even surpassed the strike he had unleashed earlier, burning his very essence.

Its core contains destructive energy powerful enough to severely injure or even kill an ordinary mid-stage Tai Cang Realm cultivator.

Chen Fei was the first to be affected.

An energy storm powerful enough to annihilate everything instantly engulfed him. A blazing white sphere of light, pitch-black spatial rifts, and destructive energy turbulence completely submerged the area where he was, forming a temporary energy barrier where even light could not escape and divine sense could not penetrate.

However, just a breath later.

"Boom!"

A strange sound, seemingly capable of suppressing the void, emanated from the core of the destructive storm.

Immediately afterwards, a dark golden halberd light, like the first ray of light after the creation of the world, suddenly shone from the center of that chaotic and violent energy domain, and then burst forth and swept across.

Wherever the halberd's edge passed, the raging, self-destructive energy was torn apart, dispersed, and annihilated. It was as if an invisible hand had forcibly smoothed out the chaotic energy waves.

The light faded, and the energy subsided.

Chen Fei's figure slowly emerged from the center of the gradually dissipating storm of destruction.

He maintained his stance of holding the halberd in one hand, his body enveloped in a layer of constantly flowing dark golden light, as if he were wearing an invisible divine armor.

The ground beneath his feet was completely intact.

Chen Fei slowly raised his head, his face calm, his breath long and steady, without the slightest disturbance in his breathing.

Shi Pojun's self-destruction, which contained all that remained, couldn't even make him take a step back, nor could it leave even the slightest mark on him.

The Heaven-Devouring Divine Body is impervious to all laws!

The Great Perfection of the Devouring God Forging not only grants unparalleled physical body and power, but also a supreme vision that sees through the flaws of all things and points directly to the source of power.

When facing opponents of the same level, any struggle seems so pale and powerless in the face of absolute strength, defense, speed, and insight.

This is not arrogance, but the truth.

This kind of all-around crushing power means that even if he were placed in the myriad worlds to face those so-called geniuses and unparalleled prodigies of various races, the outcome would be no different.

The dust has settled, and the formidable enemy has been defeated.

Chen Fei calmly swept his gaze over the huge crater left by Shi Pojun's self-destruction. At the bottom of the crater, there were still some primordial ashes that had not been completely annihilated, as well as some remnants of divine soul that had not yet dissipated.

However, Shi Pojun's aura had completely vanished from this world; his body and soul had perished.

Chen Fei flipped his left hand and made a vague grabbing motion towards the deep pit.

Instantly, a few faint but pure Daoist charms and the original aura of the violent fire elemental power were drawn out from the bottom of the pit by an invisible force and landed in his palm. This was the last remaining Tai Cang Origin of Shi Pojun.

Although its self-destruction consumed most of it, the remaining fragments could still be separated into space fragments.

However, just as Chen Fei put away the remnants of Shi Pojun's essence and prepared to leave, the Undying True Light Mirror deep within his sea of ​​consciousness began to tremble slightly.

Chen Fei's gaze shifted slightly as he looked up in the direction from which the sensation originated, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

When he fought Shi Pojun before, he vaguely felt that the opponent's strength did not match the rumor that he had "escaped from the hands of the late-stage Tai Cang Realm", and he had doubts in his heart.

At this moment, the special sensation transmitted by the Immortal True Light Mirror seemed to confirm some of his guesses.

"So they had a backup plan, no wonder..."

Chen Fei murmured something, his figure flickered, transforming into a barely perceptible stream of pale golden light, and flew towards the direction from which the sensation came.

The terrain here is low-lying, forming a basin of moderate size. In the center of the basin lies a lake.

The lake water was not the usual clear or emerald green, but an almost pure black color, calm and still, like a piece of black jade that had absorbed all the light, inlaid on the gray earth.

Above the lake, a denser, grayish-black mist drifted, emanating a chilling stillness that seemed to freeze the soul.

All around was silent; even the sound of the wind seemed to have vanished.

Chen Fei's figure appeared silently above the black lake, looking down at the lifeless waters.

A faint golden light flickered in his eyes, and the perception of the Unfading Spiritual Mirror between his brows became increasingly clear and active.

A smile appeared on Chen Fei's face. His eyes were sharp, piercing through the thick, dark gray fog on the lake surface, as if he could see directly into the depths of the lake.

In the deepest part of that pitch-black lake, a tiny, indistinct object floated silently.

"Well hidden, using this natural barrier formed by the Xuanming Heavy Water and the Soul-Slaying Mist to isolate their aura and confuse their senses," Chen Fei muttered to himself.

The pitch-black lake water was a rare type of Xuanming Heavy Water, a single drop of which weighed immensely and could erode the soul and freeze one's vital energy.

The dark gray mist not only severely interferes with divine sense detection, but also devours and assimilates the power of wandering souls. The combination of the two naturally forms an excellent place to nurture the soul and conceal one's whereabouts.

Shi Pojun's escape from the pursuit of that late-stage Tai Cang Realm expert was probably not entirely due to his own strength. More likely, he accidentally discovered some kind of treasure, which allowed him to deceive everyone and escape.

"What a pity." Chen Fei shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

He slowly raised his left hand, his fingers slightly spread, and pressed it lightly against the lifeless black lake below.

There was no earth-shattering momentum, no surging waves of Yuan energy. With this press, a terrifying force, as heavy as a mountain and as vast as the sea, was generated out of thin air and crashed down onto the pitch-black lake surface.

"Buzz!"

The once calm and still Xuanming Heavy Water Lake suddenly sank downwards, forming a huge palm-shaped crater. The heavy lake water was forcibly pushed aside, emitting a muffled roar.

The silt and pebbles at the bottom of the lake were all ripped away and cleared out by this overwhelming force.

Chen Fei slightly bent the five fingers of his left hand, making a grasping motion.

Instantly, at the center of the crater created by the invisible force, a mass of pitch-black, heavy Xuanming Heavy Water was grasped by an invisible hand, slowly rising from the lake and hovering in front of Chen Fei.

This mass of heavy water seemed to absorb all light, and its interior was completely empty. Even divine sense would be blocked and swallowed up by its special properties.

But a deep, dark black light suddenly flashed in Chen Fei's eyes. This was the Eye of Truth-Breaking that he had unleashed by activating the Great Perfection Undying True Light Mirror.

Under the gaze of this spiritual eye, the scene inside the seemingly empty Xuanming Heavy Water suddenly changed.

Within the core of the heavy water, a ring composed of countless tiny dark gold runes was slowly rotating. At the center of the ring, an extremely faint point of divine soul light was tightly enveloped and protected by the ring.

This point of divine light was extremely dim, and its consciousness seemed to have fallen into silence, but at its core, a faint, undying spiritual light flickered.

This spiritual light was Shi Pojun's last resort for survival. He intended to use the self-destruction as cover to hide this remnant soul containing his core memories and the imprint of his true spirit.

Hoping that in the future, there will be an opportunity to be reborn through a second body, or to switch to the path of the gods.

Chen Fei looked at the faint divine soul light point surrounded by the rune ring, and gently clenched his left hand, which was loosely clenched.

"Crack!"

The dark golden rune ring protecting Shi Pojun's remnant soul shattered like fragile glass, turning into specks of light that dissipated into the Xuanming Heavy Water.

That faint glimmer of divine soul light was completely exposed, losing its last protection, and flickered uncertainly under the oppressive chill of the Xuanming Heavy Water that eroded the divine soul.

"No...impossible! How could you have found this place? How could you have seen through the disguise of the undying aura!"

Shi Pojun's remnant soul snapped its eyes open, staring at Chen Fei in utter horror. His last reliance, his supposedly foolproof trump card, his last hope of faking death to escape, had been so easily seen through.

This was even more chilling and despairing than when Chen Fei crushed him with absolute strength.

His fearless and self-destructive fighting just now was all a carefully orchestrated performance.

He deliberately displayed extreme madness and resentment at the last moment, even uttering the curse "I'll wait until you're eternally imprisoned in the Abyss of Ephemeral Flow," all to conceal his true intentions.

Shi Pojun succeeded, and he also failed.

His inspiration did indeed escape successfully under the cover of the self-destruction and return to this place. The failure lay in the fact that Chen Fei had followed closely behind, accurately located this place, and immediately recognized his last hiding spot.

"I……"

Shi Pojun's remnant soul fluctuated, the faint light flickering. He still had too much unwillingness. As long as he could survive, even if only this remnant soul remained, there was hope.

However, Chen Fei's eyes showed little emotional fluctuation throughout, and his left hand, which was loosely clenched, slightly tucked inward.

"No! Chen Fei! I can tell you many secrets of the Dan Chen Sect, I can tell you..." Shi Pojun's remnant soul let out an extremely shrill soul scream, frantically transmitting information in his final struggle.

But Chen Fei's hand had already reached out firmly.

"puff!"

A barely audible sound.

That faint glimmer of divine soul light couldn't even last a moment before it shattered and vanished instantly, like a dewdrop crushed by a boulder, turning into the most primordial divine soul particles that dissipated into the world without leaving a trace.

Chen Fei's gaze fell on the simple, dark gold ring in his palm.

The ring is neither gold nor jade, and it feels cool to the touch. It has a unique texture and its surface is not decorated with many patterns, only some dark marks that resemble water ripples or cloud patterns.

At first glance, it looks ordinary and even unremarkable.

But at this moment, with Shi Pojun's complete demise, the last trace of his spiritual connection with the ring was also severed. The ring seemed to have lost some kind of restraint, and the profound Daoist essence it contained began to emanate naturally.

With a slight thought, Chen Fei sent a wisp of pure divine sense into the ring.

Instantly, a cool and profound Daoist aura, seemingly capable of isolating all probing, confusing the secrets of heaven, and obscuring perception, emanated from within the ring.

This ring is neither an offensive weapon nor a defensive artifact, but a rare auxiliary treasure specifically designed for concealment, disguise, and soul-nurturing.

Its core function is twofold, the first being concealment.

This ring can perfectly contain all the wearer's aura fluctuations, celestial secrets and destiny, and can even distort the surrounding light and space.

Ordinary cultivators, even those at the peak of the Tai Cang Realm, would find it extremely difficult to detect the wearer's whereabouts without special eye techniques or targeted detection methods.

It can also take advantage of certain special environments to maximize its concealment effect, making it an excellent treasure for stealth and evading pursuit.

Shi Pojun was able to evade the pursuit of the late-stage Tai Cang Realm cultivator because of the concealment ability of this ring, allowing him to hide in a perilous place.

Secondly, it is to replace the dead and nourish the soul.

Once this ring is bound to the wearer's soul, it can automatically activate its core restrictions when the wearer encounters a fatal crisis or even when their soul is damaged and about to dissipate.

It can simulate the illusion of the wearer's death and annihilation in a mysterious way, while instantly transferring and storing the wearer's undying spiritual light containing the core true spirit and memories within the ring.

This leaves a sliver of hope for future rebirth through possession and conversion to the divine path. This is the true trump card for survival, its value immeasurable.

"So it's called the Spiritual Substitute Death Ring?"

Chen Fei scanned it with his divine sense and instantly understood the many wonderful uses and names of this ring. It was a sixteenth-tier top-grade auxiliary treasure. If it could be activated with a profound divine soul technique, it could even deceive ordinary peak Tai Cang Realm cultivators.

The ability to substitute for death and nourish the soul is even more mysterious, essentially granting an extra life. Shi Pojun's acquisition of this treasure was indeed a stroke of luck, but alas, it was ultimately just a mirage.

Chen Fei played with the ring, his heart unmoved.

This treasure is wonderful, but for him, it's more of an added bonus. However, the ring's ability to replace the dead and nourish the soul is quite miraculous, and it might play a surprisingly effective role in crucial moments.

Moreover, its ability to conceal itself may come in handy in certain specific situations.

With a thought, Chen Fei put the Spiritual Light Substitute Death Ring into his sleeve and began to refine it using a wisp of his own divine soul power, marking it with his seal. Since the ring was already unclaimed, refining it was not difficult.

After doing all this, the dark golden divine light that had been flowing around Chen Fei's body slowly receded like a tide, eventually completely subsiding and disappearing.

The immense aura and pressure that seemed capable of suppressing the heavens also subsided. He withdrew from the full-power operation of the Devouring Heaven Divine Body and returned to his normal appearance.

Chen Fei glanced around, then his figure flashed, transforming into a pale golden stream of light, instantly disappearing into the thick gray fog.

This time, Chen Fei's direction was to follow the unique mark that belonged to Cao Feiyu.

Millions of miles away, in a remote and desolate area on the shady side of the ruins.

The area is filled with jagged rocks and thick, opaque fog.

In a naturally formed cave, Cao Feiyu sat curled up in a corner, her back against the cold rock wall.

She gripped the Autumn Water Sword tightly in her hand, its blade reflecting the faint sunlight filtering through the cave entrance, gleaming with a cold luster. Her face was somewhat pale, and her eyes held a deep sorrow and resolute determination.

Instead of recuperating and healing, she stared blankly at the endless grayness outside the cave entrance. Her gaze seemed to pierce through the rock walls and thick fog, revealing the area where, not long ago, a tremendous battle had erupted, shrouded in a barrier.

“Junior Brother Chen…” Cao Feiyu murmured softly, her voice a little hoarse.

An indescribable, complex emotion, like vines, entwined around her heart. It was sadness, anger, self-blame, the pain of helplessness, and a kind of... a throbbing and concern that even she herself had not fully understood.

The state of the dark side of the ruins continues, with divine sense severely suppressed and perception range severely limited.

During her desperate escape, she carefully concealed her presence. Along the way, she encountered not only fellow disciples of the Dan Chen Sect, but also no other cultivators or creatures from the ruins.

This area resembles a desolate, abandoned wasteland.

Cao Feiyu tried to sense the unique mark left on Wei Zhongqian's body for emergency communication. However, the distance was too far, and the interference from the shady environment made the faint sense intermittent, making it impossible to determine the location, let alone call for help.

At this moment, she was truly alone, trapped in this bleak and desolate place.

Cao Feiyu took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the grief and confusion in her heart, and her eyes regained their firmness.

She wanted Shi Pojun to pay the price, to have his cultivation destroyed, and to be forever imprisoned in the dark and desolate Xu Ning Abyss, suffering endless torment for all eternity, to pay for Chen Fei's life.

Thinking of this, a cold flame ignited in Cao Feiyu's eyes.

However, even if Shi Pojun were torn to pieces and thrown into the Xu Ning Abyss to suffer for eternity, Chen Fei... would never come back.

"It's my fault... I'm so useless."

Cao Feiyu lowered her head, burying her face in her arms. If she hadn't been so weak, Chen Fei might not have had to face those four alone, and they might have had a chance to escape together…

Her mind became chaotic again. Chen Fei's calm yet firm gaze, Shi Pojun's ferocious face... all intertwined, leaving her feeling utterly confused.

"rustle……"

Just as Cao Feiyu was overwhelmed with grief and self-blame, a series of light footsteps approached abruptly outside the cave.

The footsteps were very light, but they sounded exceptionally clear in the deathly silent cave, as if they were stepping on Cao Feiyu's taut heartstrings.

Cao Feiyu's delicate body trembled violently, and she abruptly looked up.

The last trace of color drained from his pale face in an instant, and his eyes flashed with extreme vigilance and icy coldness. The tip of his sword pointed directly at the cave entrance, and his Yuan energy surged wildly around him. Although his injuries had not yet healed, he was prepared to fight to the death.

The first thought that flashed through my mind was that Shi Pojun and his men were coming after us.

To nip it in the bud and eliminate any future trouble is the most basic principle in the cultivation world. They killed Chen Fei, so they certainly won't let themselves off the hook.

Cao Feiyu stared intently at the cave entrance shrouded in gray mist. Her hand holding the sword was as steady as a rock, but only the slightly trembling tip of the sword revealed the turbulent waves in her heart.

"Senior Sister Cao, it's me!" (End of Chapter)