The Sacred Ruins

Chapter 253: Mastery

Translator: Alsey Editor: Chrissy

Hei Teng deeply groaned as the intense pain was transmitted from his severed right elbow, his hair disheveled and hanging loosely around him. He pulled back at extreme speeds, raining down fresh red blood which dyed the grassy land below.

His determination forbade him from crying out but his eyes were incomparably frosty as he glared at Chu Feng with a bone-deep hatred and killing intent.

He had actually suffered such an outrageous loss—he had been continuously suppressed and even had one of his arms torn off by this unimpressive human—he could barely accept this truth.

Chu Feng was unperturbed by the chilling murderous intent. He didn’t even take it to heart at all. He duly took on his Xingyi Tiger Form and pounced as he said, "Where do you think you’re going?!"

His body was surrounded by intense murderous qi like a primordial tiger going in for the kill. He was like an unbeatable human-shaped demonic tiger as he launched a full frontal assault, poised to tear Hei Teng apart.

Even such a powerful flood serpent race could do little in the face of such power. Chu Feng would still kill him regardless.

The Chu Feng right now was extremely dangerous. His body was even sturdier than the snake, and his attacking hands were like a vicious tiger ripping everything apart with killing intent surging to the skies!

"Aou…"

A draconic cry reverberated through the mountain woods as myriad trees rocked and swayed. Countless leaves fell from their branches and were disintegrated mid-air.

Beams of black light rippled out with Hei Teng at the center. He was emanating powerful energy and his black hair stood on end. His eyes were cold and incisive like two black suns raging with dark radiance.

"Heavenly Snake Flood Draconification!" He growled as his whole body began to glow, releasing energy fluctuations which caused the beholder to palpitate.

At that moment, Hei Teng had become incomparably terrifying and was releasing a terrifying aura which caused one’s blood to run cold. An astonishing gush of energy surged out from his body.

He was enveloped by the black light and strode forth to defend against Chu Feng with a single arm.

Boom!

The image of a black flood dragon appeared amidst gigantic energy waves to forcefully defend against that of the vicious primordial tiger, bursting with blinding light!

As the two experts clashed, so did the ephemeral dragon and tiger’s struggle for dominance.

Exceeding all expectations, Hei Teng was extremely powerful at this moment. He was even more powerful than before he lost his forearm. His combat strength had risen sharply and was successfully fending off Chu Feng’s Xingyi Tiger attacks.

Aou!

The draconic cry was astonishing. The deafening sound was as if metallic boulders were crashing into each other. It increased in intensity towards the end and was like a tsunami shaking up the earth and the sky.

The energy in Hei Teng’s body rapidly rose amidst bright lights, and he was emanating the majestic aura of a flood dragon as if he had completely switched races!

He pushed Chu Feng back and released an aura akin to that of a primordial beast. Now countless times more powerful, the blood energy in his body was rolling like the ocean waves and gradually seeping out.

An area of dark red surrounded him as the blood energy rushed out from his pores mixed with a shocking level of energy as if he was being immolated.

"Kill!"

Hei Teng loudly shouted as he charged towards Chu Feng like a bolt of lightning.

"This meager strength is far from enough!" Chu Feng’s expression was calm and his actions were composed. His peerlessly tyrannical and violent Xingyi Tiger Form leapt forward, enshrouded with fierce baleful intent.

Thump, thump, thump…

The two crossed blows with Hei Teng literally defending single-handedly. His body shook violently and his pores were all glowing as if he was burning.

The blood energy pouring out of his body was increasing by the minute. The surrounding air had all turned bright red.

But even then, he was once again sent staggering back by Chu Feng’s attack with blood seeping out of the corner of his mouth. He found, to his great shock, that lacerations had appeared not only on his left finger web but on several points throughout his body.

Accompanied by draconic cries, his body was still transforming. He was covered by scales and reverting to his serpentine form, following which four claws grew out of his body amidst a spurting blood and scattered scales.

It was a forced dragonification!

This was a terrifying ability he had obtained during one of his severings and was called the Heavenly Serpent Draconification!

Naturally, this wasn’t a true transformation to become a flood dragon but a secret technique to force an evolution with enhanced energy, allowing him to take on such an appearance.

Hei Teng was now in an odd state consisting of a serpentine body from which energy bored out to form flood dragon claws. This gave him the appearance of a flood dragon.

The shape and, to a certain extent, strength were similar.

"Chu Feng I’ll take your head this time. You had actually forced me to such a corner!" Hei Teng roared as he charged forth like a bolt of black lightning. His speed was extremely fast.

Under this condition, his strength had increased exponentially as he was a completely different person. But it came at a steep price for the technique drained his essence.

At this time, he was an actual flood dragon of superior agility and explosive strength. His terrifying attacks were accompanied by a sable glow.

Boom!

He clashed forcefully against Chu Feng. A pair of flood dragon claws crossed Chu Feng’s fists as deafening draconic cries reverberated throughout the mountains like a torrential mountain flood.

The two experts, locked in an intense battle, fought all the way from the mountains up onto the mountaintops and shook the whole mountain range.

They rose up once again and continued their battle midair as if they were flying. Blood energy surged and killing intent shot to the skies while the stray energy wildly enveloped the surroundings.

Thump!

A small hill was crushed as the two combatants landed.

"Hei Teng, your current appearance suits you. Your flood dragon body is strong and energetic with some hint of a saintly beast." Chu Feng praised but Hei Teng was not the least delighted—perhaps because of the words which followed, "Why don’t you become my steed?"

"You’re courting death!" Hei Teng’s cold and sinister pupils shot out incisive beams of black light. A stately Black Dragon Crown Prince was being belittled in such a manner.

Who would dare take him as a steed? That was a surefire way to invite a sect destruction. The Dragon Tribe of the southern sea would surely rise up to massacre them!

"Boom!"

Hei Teng’s body glowed brightly as if his whole body had contracted into a black sun—terrifying energy fluctuations and draconic roars were being emitted therein. His claws shot out to launch a powerful attack.

Chu Feng’s body glowed brightly. He arched his spine like a large dragon while utilizing the Xingyi Dragon Form. He was a true dragon in human form.

Thump!

As the two clashed, the mountainous terrain split apart and everything in their surrounding became a chaotic mess of rubble and debris. Large cracks extended out for hundreds of meters, and each of them was several feet wide.

All vegetation from short shrubs to tall ancient trees were disintegrated without exception.

The fight was intense.

Chu Feng was calm from the beginning till the end and was becoming more courageous with each exchange. He was continuously improving his Xingyi Twelve True Forms by switching between them at set intervals. This greatly increased his familiarity with each of them.

He had come across one of the best grinding stones to improve his abilities—a top-grade expert with six severed shackles who was hell-bent on overcoming him. He activated the Xingyi Fist with full force and, in the process, was comprehending its profundities.

The efficiency was so much better than contemplating on his own. He was using the experience gained from fighting against a flood dragon to refine his Xingyi Twelve Forms—a truly courageous endeavor!

Any carelessness in such a battle would invariably lead to being killed by the enemy. He was practicing his technique while the opponent was giving his all to kill him. There was a great difference between the two.

"Hei Teng, your time is running out. Once you exhaust your usefulness as a grinding stone for my Xingyi Fist, I’ll be sending you on your way. You need to decide before then whether or not you want to become my steed!" Chu Feng called out coldly.

Hei Teng was absolutely furious; a deep maliciousness emerged within his eyes. Some time ago, this human was neither an existence worth mentioning nor someone even remotely close to his level. Such a person suddenly wanted him to become a steed—it was an unbearable situation!

Furthermore, the other party was supposedly treating him as a furnace to refine his fist technique. This made him rather upset.

"Chu Feng, Demon King Chu, you’re really courting death. You dare insult the Dragon Race of the southern sea. I’ll not leave you with a whole corpse!" Hei Teng madly roared. Black energy rippled outward amidst draconic roars and swept through the mountains, tearing them apart.

Chu Feng coldly replied, "Black snake, what are you being so proud of? With your current state, you still dare to call yourself a dragon race? If you didn’t try to kill me out of the blue last time and act as if you’re some vastly superior being, you won’t be in such a situation today. There’s nothing to discuss—I’ll beat you up completely and unless you submit to me, you shall die!"

"It’s not a certainty who the dead person will be!" Hei Teng coldly replied. The scales on his body fluttered, burning with scarlet light as his aura rose once again.

"Then I shan’t give you another chance. I have more or less mastered the Xingyi Twelve True Forms!" Chu Feng coldly replied with surging killing intent.

At that moment, he erupted with full force, his intention was no longer to practice his techniques but to rid himself of this flood dragon.

"Kill!"

Hei Teng rushed out with a roar, his claws glowing with black light as his horn shot out divine radiance. The sudden attack was directed against Chu Feng.

Chi!

The air vibrated ever so slight as Chu Feng took on the monkey form with shocking agility. He swiftly evaded the sharp claws and the beam attacks.

Hei Teng was putting his life on the line and overdrafting 120 percent of his energy to kill off Chu Feng.

His body suddenly swept sideways at close distance like a black bolt of lightning, causing the air to explode amidst thunderous explosions.

Although his current body wasn’t as long, the condensed energy was terrifying. A boundlessly powerful whip from his body was enough to tear through a steel wall.

However, such a powerful strike only connected with empty air as Chu Feng flipped away like a flying swallow with due grace and agility. His whole being was permeated by an aura of emptiness.

That was the Xingyi Swallow Form. He was now able to use it at will to escape tricky situations at the exact moment.

Thump!

He violently stomped as he descended with the stallion form as if he would tear apart Hei Teng’s body with one strike. The latter could only withdraw in shock.

Boom!

While still in midair, Chu Feng’s body spun into an incline and his right leg whipped out violently towards Hei Teng.

This was the serpent form which he casually displayed in passing.

Thump!

This time, his leg struck Hei Teng’s body and sent him flying amidst miserable cries. The latter had apparently been wounded.

Within a short moment, Chu Feng had deployed the monkey form, swallow form, stallion form, and serpent form with great ease and familiarity. Every move, cast at the perfect moment, formed an instinctive ability in and of itself!

This proved that his Xingyi Fist was taking form. He was truly beginning to reach a higher level!

"Roar!"

Hei Teng felt the situation had gone from bad to worse. He gathered up his energy and spat out black flames which possessed powerful corrosive properties. At the same time, his body glowed brightly as he shot out incisive beams of light.

Additionally, his single horn began to release divine radiance, shooting out continuous streams of intense light.

His whole body had become a weapon, launching continuous attacks at Chu Feng. He understood that he was in mortal danger, but there was little else he could do to turn things around except launch an all-out attack.

"It's too late!" Chu Feng coldly said.

He was never one to be merciful towards his enemy. From the moment this flood serpent came to kill him arrogantly for the flying saucer’s master, he had become an enemy.

Boom!

Chu Feng leapt up like a true dragon shooting through the skies and deployed his dragon form. Hei Teng was beaten into a stumbling retreat whereupon Chu Feng followed up with a dragon fist which penetrated the former’s body, which soon became drenched in blood.

Roar!

Following that, Chu Feng took the form of a primordial tiger descending upon this mundane world. His whole body was enshrouded in a black glow as he forcefully tore off Hei Teng’s dragon claw.

Soon, he was a falcon with a faint golden glow, soaring through the skies. He made use of the Xingyi Falcon Form to assault Hei Teng, the two races being inherent rivals. He tore at Hei Teng’s body, sending scales and blood flying in all directions.

Thump!

The moment they landed on level ground, Chu Feng took on the bear form. Great strength coursed through his body with which he slapped Hei Teng flying with blood all over his body and multiple fractures within.

The next moment, Chu Feng’s hands extended out with a swift flicker and, like an immortal crane spreading its wings, ripped off another of Hei Teng’s claws. This drew even more flood dragon blood.

"Ah…"

Hei Teng miserably cried. Within a short moment, the opponent had transformed into a dragon, tiger, falcon, bear, and crane to counter and crumble all of this combat abilities.

Finally, Chu Feng leapt into the air with the agility and grace of the swallow form. Then he whipped down with his brilliant right leg appearing both serpentine and draconic!

Chu Feng’s tyrannical energy was focused on his legs at that moment and was even sharper than divine weapons. The attack connected with a boom and smashed into Hei Teng’s abdomen!

Pfft!

The glow of blood radiated in all directions accompanied by Hei Teng’s miserable cries. He failed to evade and was cut in half at the waist by Chu Feng’s descending blow.

Undoubtedly, the Black Dragon Crown Prince of the Southern Sea had lost miserably. His arrogance and conceit had all been trampled mercilessly.

Chu Feng’s gains were great. After practicing his fist techniques against a flood serpent with six severed shackles, he had reached complete proficiency with the Xingyi Twelve True Forms.

This increased his strength exponentially!

"I heard the four sharks brought a killing weapon for you from the southern sea. Why don’t you demonstrate it for me?" Chu Feng looked down on Hei Teng, planning to toss him into the marked perimeter for observation.