10: The natal chart devours lifespan, the earth's veins draw spiritual energy.

“Do you wish to expend the remaining longevity (five years) to execute ‘Extreme Distance Energy Extraction’?”

Icy words floated in his Sea of Consciousness, like a contract offered by the God of Death. Chen Feng leaned against the cold rock, his fingertips digging deep into his palm, blood mixed with rock fragments dripping down. Demonic Qi was corroding the bone in his left shoulder, the wound on his back was festering down to the flesh, his Sea of Consciousness was boiling, and Su Wanzhao lay beside him, her breath faint as a gossamer thread—a true dead end!

Five years of longevity! How many five-year periods could he, with his Pseudo Spiritual Root Mortal Body, possibly have?

But if he didn't gamble... the Withered Old Demon's Foul Blood Demon Arrows raged inside his body, and Vengeful Spirit Demon Thoughts tore at his soul. Su Wanzhao's Blood-Burning Backlash had penetrated deep into her marrow, and her Profound Yin Origin was like a flickering candle in the wind. In the darkness behind them, the 'Bone-Clinging Blood Curse' bat was like a soul-reaping phantom, ready to summon the Old Demon's thunderous strike at any moment!

There was no choice!

Chen Feng's eyes were bloodshot, and a beast-like growl rumbled in his throat: “I'll gamble! Yes!”

The instant his thought solidified, a sense of stripping away, far more complete and terrifying than the three years of longevity he had previously expended, swept over his entire body! It felt as if something fundamental had been forcibly extracted from the depths of his soul; his body instantly withered, his skin lost its luster, wrinkles crept onto the corners of his eyes, and even his dark hair tips quietly took on strands of startling gray-white!

Buzz—!

In his Sea of Consciousness, the gray [cosmic destiny plate] erupted with an unprecedented dazzling light! The Chaotic Vortex at the center of the wheel spun wildly at an unparalleled speed, and countless profound runes detached from the plate, transforming into a gray beam of light condensed to the extreme. Ignoring the spatial distance, it fiercely pierced toward the direction indicated by the life plate—the Earth Vein Convergence Point in the Dragon Severing Ravine behind the mountain, three hundred zhang deep!

Boom!

It was not a real sound, but a dull throbbing originating from the depths of the earth. Following the invisible life plate beam, it violently slammed into Chen Feng's Sea of Consciousness! He felt as if his skull had been struck by an invisible giant hammer; black blood seeped from his seven orifices simultaneously, and his body trembled violently like a sieve!

Extreme Distance Energy Extraction, commencing!

Deep within the Dragon Severing Ravine lay the core of a Spirit Stone Mine Vein, abandoned for an unknown number of years. The Spiritual Energy here had long been exhausted, with only scattered fragments of Low-Grade Spirit Stones, dim as fireflies, embedded in the cold rock walls, emitting faint spiritual light. However, at the deeper Earth Vein Convergence Point, a layer of strange, viscous, liquid-like energy, radiating a dark golden luster, had settled—this was the product of the remaining Mine Marrow Essence and the Earth Vein Turbid Qi mutating and fusing over long years after the spirit stone mine vein had completely dried up. It was incredibly pure, yet also violent and chaotic, like dormant volcanic magma!

The life plate's gray beam, like the most greedy straw, fiercely stabbed into this dark golden energy mire!

Boom!!!

The dark golden energy instantly turned violent, like an enraged dragon awakened! Following the trajectory of the gray beam, they transformed into a destructive torrent, ignoring the obstruction of three hundred zhang of rock strata, traversing space, and savagely crashing into Chen Feng's Sea of Consciousness, brutally pouring into the spinning life plate vortex!

“Ugh ah ah ah—!”

Chen Feng felt as if his head had been stuffed into an erupting volcano! The torrent of violent, chaotic, and terrifyingly pure energy, carrying the immense weight and ferocity settled in the depths of the earth for ten thousand years, instantly shattered his fragile Sea of Consciousness defense line! Excruciating pain! Tearing! Swelling! Countless chaotic fragments of earth vein information, violent energy turbulence, and the settled Will of the Mine Marrow, like billions of red-hot steel knives, churned and sliced frantically within his soul!

On the surface of his body, veins bulged like twisted vipers, and dark golden light uncontrollably shone through his skin, making him look like a human lightbulb about to explode! His bones groaned under the overwhelming pressure, and his recently tempered Physical Body actually began to show fine cracks again under the impact of this terrifying energy!

Energy Backlash! The danger forewarned by the life plate instantly arrived!

“Pfft!” Chen Feng violently spat out a large mouthful of scalding, dark golden blood. When the blood hit the ground, it scorched the damp moss, causing white smoke to sizzle. His eyes rolled back, his consciousness wavered frantically on the brink of destruction, leaving only instinctive roars rumbling in his throat.

Loss of control! He was going to explode!

Just at this critical moment, the instant Chen Feng was about to be completely inflated and burst into ashes by this terrifying energy—

Su Wanzhao, who was slumped beside him, seemed to be stimulated by the violent energy fluctuations and his dying roar; her cold fingers unconsciously twitched, ever so slightly.

A trace of Profound Yin Origin energy, so faint it was almost imperceptible yet condensed to the extreme of purity, quietly dispersed like the last ice crystal in the darkness, touching the edge of Chen Feng's violent, chaotic Sea of Consciousness, which resembled a lava hell.

Sizzle—!

It was as if a red-hot branding iron had been plunged into ten-thousand-year-old profound ice! That faint but incredibly pure Profound Yin energy violently collided with the dark golden earth vein energy raging in Chen Feng's Sea of Consciousness!

There was no violent explosion. No annihilation of energy.

An unbelievable change occurred!

The violent, chaotic, and destructive dark golden energy torrent, the moment it touched that trace of Profound Yin Origin, was like being exposed to a magical catalyst: its violent, chaotic “will” was instantly neutralized and smoothed out by more than half! The nature of the energy did not change; it remained pure and heavy, but the destructive chaotic will contained within it was “frozen” and “combed” by the extreme icy coldness and condensation of the Profound Yin energy!

The chaotic energy turbulence actually became relatively “docile”!

Although it was still terrifyingly massive, still impacting Chen Feng's Meridians until they felt like tearing and causing excruciating pain in his Sea of Consciousness, the sense of destruction that threatened to tear everything apart miraculously diminished!

A sliver of hope!

Chen Feng's collapsing consciousness grasped this like a drowning man grasping a straw! He endured the inhuman agony and used his last shred of will to frantically circulate the most difficult method found in the incomplete scroll of the Poison-Inducing Body Tempering Art: the “Gathering Essence into the Sea, Tempering Body and Burning Soul” technique! He was no longer passively enduring, but actively guiding!

He stopped trying to force this “combed” and relatively “docile” dark golden energy torrent into his Dantian—that would only instantly burst him—and instead, similar to tempering Poison Qi, he forcibly guided it to violently scour all the bones, flesh, and Meridians in his entire body!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

It was as if countless heavy giant hammers, wrapped in scorching magma and icy cold currents, were simultaneously pounding every inch of Chen Feng's body! The agony reached an unprecedented peak! The dark golden light on his body flickered erratically; his skin cracked inch by inch like dry earth, only to be forcibly healed by the impact of the surging vitality! His bones emitted dense popping sounds like frying beans, their density rapidly increasing, and fine dark golden patterns, resembling the earth's veins, began to appear on their surface!

Destruction and rebirth played out again on a more ferocious level! Every scour brought the pain of being crushed to pieces, and every healing was accompanied by a faint, tingling sensation of complete transformation!

At the same time, a portion of the relatively milder dark golden energy was finally guided by Chen Feng, painstakingly flowing into his Dantian Qi Sea, which was as dry as a riverbed during a long drought!

Inside the Dantian, the dim Dark Silver Toxic Liquid spun frantically like a shark smelling blood, emitting a powerful suction force! The pure and heavy dark golden energy was greedily swallowed and refined by it! The color of the toxic liquid rapidly deepened, shifting from dark silver toward dark gold, and its volume visibly swelled and solidified! A hybrid power, more domineering and heavier, containing the pulsation of the earth and the corrosion of potent poison, began to grow and strengthen within Chen Feng's Dantian!

His aura, amidst the torment of agony and destruction, began to climb frantically at an extremely perilous yet unstoppable speed, like a bamboo shoot forcibly pulled upward!

Qi Refining Second Layer Early Stage... Middle Stage... Late Stage... Peak!

The barrier of the bottleneck was tottering under the impact of this violent energy!

As for Su Wanzhao, who was slumped beside him, after that trace of Profound Yin Origin energy dissipated, her complexion seemed a few shades more transparent, and her breath was so weak it was almost gone. However, the raging Vengeful Spirit Demon Flames inside her were faintly suppressed by the immense vitality and heavy aura of the earth's pulsation, which radiated with a dark golden luster from Chen Feng's body, and the speed of erosion miraculously slowed down.

Deep within the Black Wind Cliff, inside a sinister cave covered in Foul Blood Runes.

The Withered Old Man sat cross-legged on an altar built from white bones, viscous Demonic Qi surging around him, constantly devouring the Essence Blood and Vengeful Spirits emanating from several fresh corpses on the altar. On his sallow, shriveled face, two points of faint green ghost fire flickered erratically, filled with malice and anxiety.

Suddenly!

“Hmm?!” He abruptly opened his eyes, and the green fire surged! He sensed that the 'Bone-Clinging Blood Curse' mark he had left inside Chen Feng was currently transmitting back an energy fluctuation that was extremely chaotic, violent, yet so pure and heavy that it made his heart palpitate! The fluctuation was like the turning over of the earth veins, filled with the immensity of the earth and an ancient aura of... mine marrow!

“The direction of the Dragon Severing Ravine? Earth Vein Anomaly?! Such pure and heavy energy... could it be... Mine Marrow Essence?!” Terrifying green light of greed instantly erupted in the Old Demon's eyes! He abruptly looked through the perspective of the Demonic Qi Bat he had left outside the cave to monitor Chen Feng's escape direction—in the shared vision, behind a pile of moss-covered rubble, Chen Feng was radiating a strange dark golden light, his body expanding and contracting as if being inflated, and his aura was skyrocketing at an unbelievable speed! Moreover, the faint vitality of the Profound Yin Maiden Body beside him seemed to be sustained by a thread of that colossal earth vein energy!

“Little bastard! He actually has such a Heaven-Defying Opportunity?! Is he using the Earth Vein Mine Marrow to temper his body?!” The Withered Old Man was startled and enraged, which quickly turned into deeper ecstasy and greed! “Jie jie jie! A heaven-sent opportunity! This Mine Marrow Essence is precisely what this old man needs to forge an Unparalleled Demonic Foundation! Along with that Profound Yin Maiden Body, they will all be mine!”

Ignoring his unhealed injuries, he forcibly interrupted his recovery! With a wave of his withered claw, the mountain of spirit stones inside the cave (mostly Low-Grade, mixed with a few Mid-Grade) was instantly swept up by Demonic Qi, surging into his shriveled body like a giant whale sucking water! An unnatural black-red color rose on his sallow face, his aura forcibly elevated, and the green fire in his eyes burned with reckless abandon!

“Blood Escape Thousand Li!”

The Old Demon roared, spitting out a large mouthful of sticky, ink-like Natal Essence Blood! The essence blood burned in the air, transforming into a twisted Skull Rune that enveloped him!

“Whoosh—!”

A blood-red demonic light, shrill enough to pierce the eardrums, instantly penetrated the cave ceiling, tore through the night sky, and shot madly toward the Dragon Severing Ravine, toward the pile of rubble emitting an enticing “delicacy,” at a terrifying speed several times faster than before! Wherever it passed, the air shrieked as if being corroded, leaving behind a lingering, foul bloody trail!

True killing intent, carrying the monstrous rage and greed of a Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator burning his origin, arrived in an instant!