162: Chapter 162 Fortune Lies in Peril

“Boom—!!!!!”

A deafening, destructive roar, duller and many times more terrifying than any explosion before it, erupted from the belly of that Nine Nether Earth Dark Python!

“Awoo—!!!!!”

That peerless ancient Vicious Beast let out a shrill, mournful howl filled with endless pain and disbelief at this moment!

Its mountain-like body rolled and crashed wildly within the limestone cave, smashing the hard stalactites and the ground into pieces, sending rocks flying everywhere!

It had never dreamed that it would be severely wounded from the inside by a tiny creature that it regarded as no different from an ant!

Scalding, ink-green blood gushed out frantically from its seven orifices like a breached river!

Its massive body, filled with boundless vitality, rapidly withered and decayed under the frantic ravaging of the destructive energy originating from Chaos!

Finally, with a “rumble,” it crashed heavily to the ground, completely losing all signs of life.

And at the very moment the giant python died completely...

“Puchi!”

The sound of a sharp blade piercing flesh rang out. A hand covered in thick, ink-green blood struggled to stretch out from the python’s mangled belly.

Immediately after, a figure covered in blood, in an extremely sorry state, yet with eyes shining like two of the brightest stars, slowly climbed out from the snake’s belly.

It was Gao Feng!

He had won the gamble! With his own life, he had won this Heaven-Defying gamble where death was almost certain!

“Cough... cough...” Gao Feng coughed violently, panting heavily. He could clearly feel that the Meridians in his body were almost broken inch by inch, his internal organs had shifted, and he was extremely weak.

However, a crazy smile filled with endless joy and satisfaction appeared on his face!

Because he had succeeded! He had not only killed this ancient Vicious Beast comparable to a seventh-rank Great Grandmaster! Moreover, in the final test of life and death, he had completed the ultimate transformation on his path of Martial Arts!

He slowly reached out and pulled out a giant inner core, about the size of a human head, crystal clear and ink-green, pulsing rhythmically like a heart, from the still-hot snake belly!

That was the essence of life condensed by the Nine Nether Earth Dark Python after Cultivating for who knows how many thousands of years—the Demon Core!

Gao Feng looked at the Demon Core in his hand, which contained boundless life energy, and an unprecedented, brilliant light erupted in his eyes! He knew the final opportunity for his Breakthrough had arrived!

He did not hesitate any longer, sat cross-legged, and pressed the giant Demon Core directly onto his Dantian! Then, he operated the Myriad Dao Unity Art to its limit!

“Refine—for me!!!”

...

Meanwhile, Big Fool and Wulu, who had long since fainted from the aftermath of the battle, slowly woke up.

Looking at the giant python corpse lying on the ground like a mountain range and Gao Feng, who was frantically absorbing the energy of the Demon Core, expressions of wild joy at surviving a disaster appeared on their faces!

They did not disturb Gao Feng, who was at the critical moment of his Breakthrough. They looked at each other and saw a hint of unconcealed greed in each other’s eyes!

They cast their sinful gazes at the giant snake corpse that was still emitting an alluring “meaty fragrance”!

This was the flesh and blood of an ancient exotic beast comparable to a seventh-rank Great Grandmaster! The Qi and blood power contained within it was simply an inexhaustible, supreme treasure vault!

The two no longer stood on ceremony and pounced like two hungry wolves that hadn’t eaten for three days and three nights! They devoured the snake meat filled with boundless energy in large mouthfuls!

Gong Qianxue was not as rude as them. She walked to the snake corpse, used the sky-splitting star river blade left by Gao Feng, and carefully removed a piece of the hardest and brightest reverse scale from the python’s neck!

She also extracted a giant Dragon tendon, dozens of feet long and extremely flexible, from the python’s spine!

Looking at these two supreme treasures in her hands that would make any master archer go crazy, a genuine, brilliant smile appeared on her cold, beautiful face.

She knew that with these two Divine-Grade Materials, Gongshu Ban would definitely be able to craft a peerless Divine Bow for her that could truly shoot down the stars!

However, just when everyone was immersed in the great joy of surviving and the rich harvest, Gao Feng’s tightly closed eyes suddenly opened!

A trace of extremely obscure, icy killing intent flashed in his eyes; he faintly sensed a crisis of death!

“This place is not suitable for staying long, let’s go quickly!”

Although Gao Feng’s voice was somewhat hoarse due to weakness, the undeniable gravity and urgency contained within it made Big Fool and Wulu, who were feasting, and Gong Qianxue, who was admiring the Divine-Grade Materials, all feel a jolt in their hearts!

They had an almost blind trust in Gao Feng’s intuition!

“Yes! Lord!”

The three did not hesitate and immediately put down everything in their hands!

Big Fool and Wulu tore off a few pieces of the most essential snake meat at the fastest speed and stuffed them indiscriminately into their Storage Pouch.

And Gong Qianxue also carefully put away the reverse scale and Dragon tendon.

“Let’s go!”

Gao Feng propped up his body, which was almost falling apart, and leaped up from the ground!

He didn’t even have time to completely refine the boundless energy contained in the Demon Core!

He only temporarily Sealed it within his Dantian and Qi Sea!

Then, he took the three of them and ran wildly towards the deep stairs leading to the fourth level without looking back!

...

The moment the four stepped onto the fourth-level stairs, the terrifying feeling of coldness, dampness, and being filled with bloody and barbaric aura from before instantly disappeared without a trace.

Replacing it was a warm, gentle spring breeze filled with endless vitality and peaceful aura that blew against their faces.

The wind was mixed with refreshing birdsong and fragrance of flowers; just taking a breath made people feel as if even their Soul had been purified. All the fatigue, pain, and mental tension brought by the previous fierce battle vanished into thin air at this moment.

“This... is...”

When they finished walking up all the stairs and saw the full picture of the fourth level, everyone was completely stunned by the scene before them!

There was no gloomy ghost Realm, no cold steel square, and no underground limestone cave filled with death and slaughter.

This place was actually a peach blossom spring as beautiful as a painting!

In the blue sky, white clouds drifted leisurely by.

Warm sunlight shone down through the dome that came from who knows where, dyeing the entire earth with a layer of golden halo.

In the distance were rolling green mountains; nearby were clear, murmuring streams.

The banks of the stream were covered with colorful, beautiful flowers of unknown species. Colorful butterflies danced gracefully among the flowers, and a faint, refreshing fragrance permeated the air.

Everything was so quiet, everything was so beautiful, as if this was the legendary fairyland on earth free from worldly disputes.

“So... so beautiful...”

Gong Qianxue looked at the dreamlike, stunning scenery before her, and a hint of genuine intoxication could not help but appear on her usually cold, beautiful face. She couldn’t even help but reach out her hand, wanting to catch the pink flower petals slowly drifting down from the air.

“Lord, there shouldn’t be any danger here, right?”

Big Fool had completely let down all his guard; he looked at the fat koi fish swimming happily in the stream, and a trace of crystal clear saliva even flowed down from the corner of his mouth.

Even Wulu, who had always been the most vigilant, slowly relaxed his tense mind in this environment filled with peace and tranquility.

However, just at this moment!

Gao Feng’s expression changed abruptly, and a hint of unprecedented horror flashed in his eyes!

“Not good! It’s an illusion!”

“Quick! Guard your mind! Don’t be deceived by the scene before you!”

He let out a thunderous roar like the Nine Heavens divine thunder!

Without thinking, he erupted his newly transformed Chaos True Qi without reservation, trying to wake the three from this deadly trap of tenderness!

However, it was already too late!

The seemingly harmless fragrance of flowers, the seemingly pleasant birdsong, the seemingly warm sunlight...

Everything was like an invisible giant net!

The moment they stepped into this space, it had silently enveloped their minds and pulled them into the endless abyss woven from the deepest obsessions and pain in their hearts!

“Mother...”

A smile, as innocent and full of attachment as a child’s, suddenly appeared on Big Fool’s honest face.

His eyes became confused; he seemed to have returned to that childhood which was poor but full of warmth, returned to that dilapidated but small thatched cottage that could shelter him from the wind and rain.

He saw his mother, whose face was full of wrinkles but whose smile was always so kind, holding a bowl of steaming egg custard and waving at him.

“Silly child, come quickly, eat while it’s hot...”

“Mother added an extra egg for you today...”

That familiar voice, that warm smile, instantly broke through all of Big Fool’s psychological defenses.

Two lines of scalding tears flowed from his eyes; he took a step and walked foolishly towards the illusory figure.

“Mother... I’m coming...”

On the other side, Wulu’s bronze-colored face was covered with endless pain and ferocity, and his eyes became blood-red!

He seemed to see that bloody dusk again.

He saw those enemies like demons rushing into his home that had been peaceful for generations.

He saw the faces of his clansmen, full of despair and unwillingness.

He saw his father being beheaded by the enemy to protect him!

He saw his mother resolutely jumping off the ten-thousand-foot cliff behind her so as not to be defiled!

That heart-wrenching scream!

That raging fire soaring into the sky!

That scalding blood that dyed the entire grassland red!

Everything was like the sharpest knife, frantically slicing his heart over and over again!

“Ah—!!!!!”

He let out a painful roar like an injured beast!

He drew his curved blade and slashed crazily at the surrounding air!

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

"I want to kill you all! Kill you bunch of beasts!"

He had completely fallen into that endless Reincarnation of hatred and slaughter!

And the most miserable one of all was Gong Qianxue!

Her cold, pretty face had long since been completely soaked with tears.

Her body curled up on the ground, shivering, like an injured little beast abandoned by the whole world.

That nightmare of a night, which she would never forget for the rest of her life, echoed in her ears once again.

The sound of blades entering flesh, the eyes of her parents filled with reluctance and worry before they died, the desperate flames that consumed the entire Family...

Everything was like the most vicious curse, tearing her already riddled heart to pieces once more!

She was immersed in that endless pain and despair, unable to extricate herself, and her mind was rapidly collapsing at a visible speed!

"Dammit!"

Gao Feng looked at the strange and dangerous scene before him, his expression becoming uglier than ever before!

He never dreamed that the test on the fourth level would be such an inescapable Heart Demon illusion!

This method of directly attacking the most vulnerable part of a person's Soul was far more lethal than any real fight with swords and guns!

He was the only one who did not fall into the illusion at the first moment!

This was not because his heart had no weaknesses, but because of his Soul, which had fused the memories of two lifetimes!

His supreme will, having been a Special Forces King in his previous life, had long been tempered and forged to be as indestructible as steel!

And that supreme state of mind, formed after Cultivating the Myriad Dao Unity Art and smelting all techniques, which was perfect and untainted by dust!

The combination of these three allowed him to barely resist this pervasive erosion of the illusion!

However, he was not having an easy time either!

Scenes that made his mind waver also appeared in his mind.

There were the faces of his brothers from his past life who had lived and died with him, only to die miserably under the enemy's conspiracy.

There were the eyes of his parents, far away in another space-time, their hair already gray, filled with longing and worry.

And even that trace of longing and yearning for an ordinary life deep in his heart...

Everything was like an invisible devil, constantly tempting him, pulling him, trying to drag him into that endless abyss of illusion!

"Get lost!!!"

A terrifying glint erupted in Gao Feng's eyes!

He bit the tip of his tongue hard, and a piercing pain instantly spread throughout his entire body!

He forcibly used this pain to hold onto the last trace of clarity in his mind that was about to be lost!

He knew that he couldn't go on like this!

He had to find and destroy the array eye of this illusion as soon as possible!

Otherwise, not only would Big Fool and the others suffer a mental breakdown and become walking corpses, but he himself would sooner or later be completely devoured by these endless Heart Demons!

Enduring the needle-like pain in his mind, he released his powerful Mental Energy, which had just undergone an initial transformation from slaying the giant python, without reservation!

His Mental Energy was like an invisible net, with his body as the center, spreading and searching frantically in all directions!

Finally, in the sky directly above this seemingly flawless paradise, he discovered a trace of extremely subtle disharmony!

There, a strange crystal, about the size of a palm, colored with a seven-colored glaze and constantly emitting strange mental fluctuations, was floating quietly!

It was perfectly fused with the entire space; if Gao Feng's Mental Energy had not far exceeded that of ordinary people, he would never have been able to discover its existence!

"Found it!"

An unprecedented, brilliant murderous intent erupted in Gao Feng's eyes!

He could be almost certain that that strange seven-colored crystal was the core of the entire illusion array!

As long as he could destroy it, this damned illusion would collapse on its own!

He no longer hesitated, forcibly suppressing the various Heart Demons surging in his mind, and concentrated the last trace of Chaos True Qi in his body to his fingertips!

"Give me—"

"Shatter!!!"

He let out an angry roar filled with endless murderous intent!

A beam of Chaos finger light, condensed to the extreme and carrying the supreme Divine Might to pierce through everything and break through all illusions, shot fiercely toward the seven-colored crystal floating in the air!

However, just at the moment when the Chaos finger light was about to hit the crystal.

Gao Feng's movement suddenly stalled, and a flash of struggle and hesitation flickered in his eyes.

In the end, he actually slowly dissipated the terrifying power at his fingertips that was capable of destroying everything.

Because he suddenly thought of a better idea, a crazier and bolder idea!

Although this Seven Emotions Illusion Heart Stone was extremely dangerous and a peerless vicious object that would make any Martial Artist change color at the mention of it!

But looking at it from the other side, was it not also a supreme treasure that could be used to temper one's state of mind and slay Heart Demons?!

On the path of martial arts, one does not only Cultivate the Physical Body and True Qi, but more importantly, the cultivation of the state of mind!

If the state of mind is unstable, the Foundation will be floating; in minor cases, the cultivation will stagnate, and in serious cases, it will lead to Qi Deviation and eternal doom!

And although Gao Feng, by virtue of his experience of living two lives and his steel-like will, had a state of mind far superior to his peers.

However, deep in his heart, there were still many Heart Demons that even he himself did not want to touch!

Those regrets from his past life, those longings for his loved ones, that tyranny and hostility accumulated in the endless slaughter...

Everything was like a ticking time bomb buried deep in his Soul.

Usually, it might not be noticeable, but once it erupted at a critical moment when he was trying to Breakthrough to a higher Realm, the consequences would be unimaginable!

And today was a once-in-a-thousand-years opportunity, an excellent opportunity that would allow him to actively detonate all these Heart Demons and then, with great perseverance and wisdom, see through them one by one and completely slay them!

"Wealth... is sought in danger!"

"The path of martial arts is inherently Heaven-Defying!"

"Without a fearless heart that dares to face one's true self and slay everything!"

"How can one talk about reaching the final Peak of martial arts?!"

A brilliant divine light erupted in Gao Feng's eyes, like never before!

He no longer hesitated, actually slowly sat down cross-legged, and then actively gave up all resistance!

Letting that pervasive power of the illusion completely devour his mind and pull him into the deepest Heart Demon illusion!

When Gao Feng opened his eyes again, he found himself in a pure white hospital room filled with the smell of disinfectant.

He was wearing a blue and white striped hospital gown, and sitting by the bed were two old people with gray hair and faces full of the weathering of time.

They were his parents, far away in another space-time!

"Xiao Feng... you're finally awake..." His mother looked at him, and two lines of hot tears flowed from her cloudy eyes.

Her hand was tightly holding his, with such force, as if she was afraid that if she let go, he would disappear again.

"You brat!"

His father was still the same stern person who didn't smile much, but his slightly red eyes and uncontrollably trembling lips had already betrayed the excitement and lingering fear deep in his heart.

"Do you know that you have been in a coma for three whole years! The doctor said you might never wake up again... If something really happened to you, how could your mother and I go on living!"

Listening to his parents' voices filled with concern and lingering fear, and feeling the familiar warmth in his mother's palm, Gao Feng's heart seemed to be stabbed hard by something at this moment, and an unprecedented sense of sorrow and guilt surged into his heart.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but couldn't say a single word.

He knew that all of this was fake, that all of this was just an illusion.

However, this illusion was so real, so real that he almost wanted to sink into it and never wake up again.

"Stay..." a voice filled with temptation whispered gently in his mind.

"Stay, and keep them company. Make up for all the regrets of your past life. There is no slaughter here, no conspiracy, no endless path of hegemony. There is only the peace and tranquility you desire most..."

The voice was like a devil's whisper, constantly eroding his already exhausted heart. His will began to waver at this moment.

"Yeah... what would be wrong with staying? He was really tired..."

However, just at the moment when he was about to completely give up resistance and sink into this gentle trap, another picture suddenly appeared in his mind.

It was Panshi Land, it was Su Rou's gentle eyes filled with worry and longing; it was Big Fool's honest and trusting smile; it was Wulu's wild and loyal gaze; it was Gong Qianxue's cold yet firm and beautiful profile; it was the faces of the millions of Panshi Land citizens who regarded him as their only faith, filled with hope and expectation!

"No!"

"I cannot stay here!"

"I have more important responsibilities!"

"I have more important people waiting for me!"

A terrifying glint erupted in Gao Feng's eyes! He let out a supreme roar from the depths of his Soul!

"I am Gao Feng! I am the King of Panshi Land!"

"My path is not in the past! But in the future full of unknowns and challenges!"

"A mere Heart Demon illusion wants to trap me?!"

"Give me—shatter!!!"

"Boom—!!!!!"

With this roar filled with supreme will, the entire pure white hospital room shattered like a mirror at this moment!

The scene before his eyes changed once again!