20: The Path of Rifts, Ancient Demons for Food

The malevolent energy of the Buried Bone Wasteland was like the cold breath of billions of departed souls, coiling and gnawing at every inch of space.

With every step Chen Feng took, the withered bones beneath his feet groaned under the unbearable weight, and dark gold cracks flickered beneath his skin, echoing the pulsations of some ancient existence deep within the wasteland.

When the tide of malevolent energy transformed into a black giant wave engulfing the heavens and earth, the chaos base point within him let out a silent roar—not to evade, but to treat this world-ending torrent as sustenance to repair the cracks.

At the core of the devouring storm, a seated jade skeleton with incomplete hand seals pointed its finger with a faint glow directly towards the frozen land in the northwest... There, something even more alluring than malevolent energy awaited.

The Buried Bone Wasteland truly lived up to its name.

The ground beneath his feet was not soil, but layers upon layers of pallid bones, accumulated over countless millennia. Every step Chen Feng took was accompanied by a teeth-grinding crunch, as fine bone dust rose and was then swept away by the omnipresent, viscous, grey-black malevolent energy. This malevolent energy was formed from the resentment, killing intent, shattered laws, and unwilling vital blood of ancient immortals and devils after their demise, fermented together. It was bone-chillingly cold and intensely corrosive, attempting to penetrate Chen Feng's body through every pore, gnawing at his spiritual power and polluting his dao foundation.

"Hmph."

An almost imperceptible cold snort escaped Chen Feng's lips. He didn't deliberately circulate his cultivation technique; the base point, slowly rotating within his dantian like a miniature chaotic universe, merely trembled slightly, and an invisible yet overbearing suction force quietly spread. The violent malevolent energy surging towards his body was like a mud ox entering the sea, instantly devoured, crushed, and purified by the base point, transforming into strands of extremely pure chaotic energy. Part of this energy was absorbed by the hungry base point itself, while another part subtly integrated into his limbs and bones, like the most nimble craftsman, silently repairing the dark golden cracks that covered his entire body, deep enough to expose bone.

The dull pain from deep within the cracks was slightly soothed by this cold energy, but what followed was a deeper 'hunger.' The chaos base point was like a primeval beast that had just awakened, greedily craving larger, purer, and more ancient power. The malevolent energy of this Buried Bone Wasteland was merely enough to barely fill its belly.

He lowered his head, glancing at the fragment of the fate plate pressed tightly against his chest. On that fragment, which was neither gold nor jade, a subtle yet hideous new crack was clearly visible, its edges flickering with extremely unstable light, as if it could completely shatter at any moment. The backlash from devouring the Skeleton Tyrant and enduring the Nirvana Heavenly Condemnation Imprint had ultimately taken its toll on this mysterious reliance. It urgently needed the nourishment of high-level energy, and this wasteland... seemed to hide clues.

Chen Feng looked up, his gaze piercing through layers of grey haze towards the northwest. That was precisely where the Guanghan Ruins, sealed by the Ice Fiend Gale, were located. A distance of three hundred li wasn't far for a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but on this cursed fragment of a battlefield, every step could be a fatal blow.

Suddenly, his footsteps halted.

A few feet ahead, a broken sword was obliquely plunged into the eye socket of a giant skull. Its blade was covered in rusted holes, yet the moment Chen Feng approached, it hummed and trembled! The remaining half of the guard rune on the hilt suddenly lit up, and a pale sword qi, condensed from a thousand years of killing resentment, silently yet faster than lightning, stabbed directly at Chen Feng's glabella!

"A dead object's obsession dares to cause trouble?"

Chen Feng did not dodge, nor did he even raise a hand. Within him, the dormant Nirvana Heavenly Condemnation Imprint seemed to be activated by this pure killing sword qi, spontaneously manifesting an extremely subtle yet seemingly all-annihilating purplish-black lightning pattern beneath the skin of his glabella.

Pfft!

The pale sword qi collided with the purplish-black lightning pattern, melting away instantly like a hot knife through butter, without even stirring a ripple. The runes on the broken sword suddenly dimmed, and the sword itself completely shattered into dust.

Chen Feng's eyes showed no fluctuation. This was merely the most insignificant 'greeting' from the ancient battlefield. He continued forward, the terrifying weight of his physical body causing each step to sink deeply into the pile of bones, the dark golden cracks flickering under the erosion of the malevolent energy, like a walking lava rift.

Time flowed by in dead silence and peril. Deep within the wasteland, colossal, mountain-like strange skeletal remains began to appear: giant skulls covered in spiral horns, spines stretching like mountain ranges, and even fragmented armor plates larger than palaces, half-buried in bone ash. The runes on them had long since faded, yet they still exuded a heart-palpitating pressure. These were the traces left by the truly terrifying existences that participated in the war back then.

Just as Chen Feng bypassed a section of a giant beast's rib cage, which resembled a collapsed city wall, a sudden change occurred!

Woo—!!!

A muffled, extreme wail suddenly echoed between heaven and earth, as if the entire wasteland was weeping in pain. Immediately after, at the edge of his vision, a grey-black 'giant wall' connecting heaven and earth appeared out of thin air, advancing with an all-destroying momentum towards Chen Feng's direction!

Malevolent Energy Tide!

This was a periodic disaster erupting from the ancient battlefield fragment, a destructive storm formed by accumulated violent malevolent energy due to some imbalance in laws! Before the storm even arrived, its terrifying pressure warped space, and countless wandering low-level malevolent energy monsters were torn into pure malevolent energy by an invisible force, merging into the storm, before they could even wail. Wherever the storm passed, the ground was scraped away by several feet, and bones turned to dust!

No escape!

Chen Feng's pupils suddenly constricted. The power of this tide far exceeded the limits that ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators could withstand, enough to instantly obliterate a Golden Core cultivator's protective spiritual light along with their flesh and bones!

However, what flashed in his eyes was not fear, but a nearly insane... hunger!

"Good timing!"

A low roar was almost inaudible amidst the storm's howl. Instead of retreating, Chen Feng faced the world-destroying grey-black giant wall and suddenly spread his arms!

Boom—!

The chaos base point began to spin wildly at an unprecedented speed! It was no longer passively absorbing, but actively devouring! An invisible vortex, seemingly capable of swallowing light, suddenly formed with Chen Feng at its center. The dark gold cracks on his body instantly erupted with dazzling light, like parched earth greedily sucking in a heaven-sent sweet rain.

The violent torrent of malevolent energy slammed into Chen Feng, but it was like hitting a bottomless abyss! Energy capable of tearing apart mountains was savagely ripped apart, devoured, and transformed by that tiny chaos base point! Chen Feng's body became the eye of the storm, a battlefield where two violent forces clashed. His entire skeleton groaned under the unbearable weight, and the cracks on his skin flickered intensely, as if they could completely shatter at any moment, yet under the nourishment of the pure energy transformed by the chaos base point, they stubbornly held on, and even... the edges of those cracks were slowly mending by a tiny amount, at a speed imperceptible to the naked eye!

The storm's core energy was frantically extracted by the base point. Chen Feng was like a reef in a raging sea, enduring the most violent impact while also drawing the most fundamental power. His coarse linen clothes had long since turned to ash, revealing his robust but crack-filled body, with dark golden patterns flickering in the grey-black storm torrent, like a god or demon.

After an unknown period, the world-destroying tide finally exhausted its strength and slowly subsided, leaving behind a ravaged wasteland, scraped three feet deep.

Chen Feng remained standing with his arms outstretched, a deep pit forming beneath his feet. He slowly exhaled a turbid breath, which actually carried wisps of grey-black malevolent energy, immediately devoured completely by the base point. The light from the cracks on his body dimmed, but the pain seemed to lessen slightly, and the rotation speed of the chaos base point also slowed a bit, conveying a sense of 'half-full' satisfaction.

[chaos base point: Energy replenishment in progress (45%)... Crack repair progress: 82%...]

[fragment of the fate plate: Cracks deepening (energy depletion warning)...]

The warning from the fragment of the fate plate flashed in his mind. During the recent devouring, the base point prioritized its own repair and energy reserves, providing only a drop in the bucket for the fate plate's nourishment.

Just as he was about to step forward, his gaze was drawn to something exposed not far ahead, after the storm's rampage.

It was not a skeleton, but a complete jade-colored skeleton sitting cross-legged! The skeleton was crystal clear, like the finest jade carving, and after countless years and the terrifying storm just now, it was completely undamaged! The skeleton's posture carried a strange dao charm, its right hand bone forming an incomplete yet profoundly mysterious hand seal, with its index finger pointing directly northwest—towards the Guanghan Ruins!

What made Chen Feng's chaos base point palpitate even more intensely was a faint, profound light gathered at the tip of the jade bone's finger. That light was extremely weak, yet it contained an ancient, vast, and supremely pure primordial aura, completely different from the violent and chaotic malevolent energy of the wasteland, as if... it was the most core and essential power crystallization of this ancient battlefield!

"Primordial Ancient Evil?" Chen Feng's eyes suddenly sharpened like blades. The longing emanating from the chaos base point almost burst out of his body! This was the 'sustenance' it truly craved!

He stepped before the jade bone. That faint light seemed to sense the presence of the chaos base point, trembling slightly and emitting a soft yet firm attractive force.

Without any hesitation, Chen Feng extended his finger and gently touched the tip of the jade bone's finger.

Buzz!

The moment their fingertips touched, that faint light, like a tired bird returning to its nest, instantly merged into Chen Feng's body! An indescribable, desolate, and vast torrent of power surged into the chaos base point!

The base point suddenly erupted with brilliant chaotic light, its rotation speed skyrocketing to a terrifying degree! The primordial power, far purer and more immense than that from devouring the malevolent energy tide just now, was frantically refined and absorbed! The dark gold cracks on Chen Feng's body mended and faded at a visible speed!

[chaos base point: Energy full (85%)! Crack repair progress: 90%!]

[fragment of the fate plate: Cracks stable... faint energy nourishing...]

An irresistible sense of power filled his entire body, and the dull pain from the cracks almost vanished. Furthermore, a fragmented stream of information, along with this primordial power, surged into Chen Feng's consciousness:

...Ice seal...Moon Key...Guard...Break realm...Last Light... The information was fragmented but clearly pointed to a core—Guanghan Ruins! Su Wanzhao!

Chen Feng retracted his finger. After the faint light left its body, the jade skeleton instantly lost all its luster, turning into a pile of ordinary jade powder, scattered by the wind. He took one last look in the direction where the jade powder disappeared, taking a deep breath of the wasteland's still cold, yet seemingly less violent, malevolent energy.

On his body, the dark golden cracks were only faint traces, like mysterious tattoos. Inside, the chaos base point pulsed steadily and powerfully, with unprecedented strength flowing within it. The fragment of the fate plate on his chest, though still cracked, no longer gave a sense of impending collapse, emitting a faint warmth.

The objective had never been so clear.

Chen Feng looked up, his gaze piercing through the spatial distance and the gale barrier that froze all things, firmly locked on the northwest.

Pushing off with his feet, the hard bone ground exploded into a shallow pit. His figure transformed into an almost imperceptible dark golden stream of light, tearing through layers of grey haze, rushing towards the direction sealed by the Ice Fiend Gale!

Gale like blades? Ruins frozen? Immortal Envoy tracking?

Anything blocking the 'sustenance' shall be crushed!

Three hundred li of buried bone road, at the end of which, in the frozen land, she had waited too long.