The Sacred Ruins

Outside of the valley, the golden falcon was extremely excited because Chu Feng was about to die; the Bird King himself had gone forth to seal the deal.

However, soon afterward, he was suddenly frozen in place.

The peacock was also enjoying the delightful taste of imminent revenge, waiting to see Chu Feng being beheaded. However, at that moment, he felt a wave of cold spread throughout his body, sending chills from his head down to his feet.

"Oh god, your majesty!" the two bird cried in unison as the Bird King plummeted to the ground. How could this be?

Within the valley, the purple gold woodpecker was in immense pain. One of its wings had been severed; it was a serious trauma.

It was comparable to a human losing one of his arms—the ground was dyed red with fresh blood.

He fell to the ground and was rolling in pain; even a king level entity could not bear the pain of losing an arm. He miserably cried while drenched in his own blood.

Crack!

The most terrifying part was that lightning descended and struck him squarely. Immediately, some purple gold feathers exploded and he was sent flying.

The purple woodpecker himself could stand a couple of strikes from the lightning, but if it came repeatedly, he would not be able to withstand it. He had truly fallen into a life or death situation.

"Ah..."

He loudly screamed, even though he was trying his best to forcefully suppress the immense pain. He was completely unresigned as he glared at the distant Chu Feng.

The circumstances had taken a sharp turn for the worse. Originally, he had everything in his grasp. He had never expected himself to be in such dire circumstances after falling into the Gates of Hell.

He was always as cautious as he was crafty. It was evident from his scheme against Chu Feng that he was not willing to embroil in a direct battle but wanted to use an external force to kill him.

If he did not have to fear alarming the other beast kings, he would not have been in a rush to go into this danger zone himself.

He had made a huge blunder and sensed mortal danger. He was both alarmed and resentful as he glared daggers at Chu Feng.

"You’re quite the interesting feathered animal, aren’t you? There’s a saying that goes, what, ‘Don’t pretend, don’t pretend— lest you be struck by lightning’!" Chu Feng laughed on the side, bearing his own pain.

However, his laughter was soon frozen—he realized that he had also cursed himself since he was also struck quite a few times by lightning.

Chu Feng felt angry and humiliated; this was the first time he had been tormented into such misery. He had, at one point, lost count of how many times he had been struck by lightning.

Swoosh!

The scarlet flying knife crossed the distance at great speeds, forming a red bolt of lightning that slashed towards the Bird King.

"Pfff!"

The purple woodpecker was indeed extraordinary as it shot out a purple beam. This was an ability gained from severing his second shackle; it was comparable to a powerful sword beam. With it, he was usually able to overpower everyone.

That was also the reason why he coveted the Imperial Sword Technique; it was similar to his own innate ability. If he was able to combine the two together, his combat strength would increase explosively.

Dong, dong, dong!

Sparks flew everywhere as the scarlet flying knife was deterred momentarily.

Chu Feng’s attack with the scarlet knife was on the same level of that displayed by the old weasel back then. However, he was unable to cut through the Woodpecker’s purple light.

The next moment, the flying knife started glowing with great resplendence as Chu Feng activated his psychic powers to an even greater extent. The palm-sized scarlet knife tore through the air, emitting vibrant colors, like a small sun.

Pff!

The purple woodpecker was no longer able to block this attack. The purple light was split opened, and through it came a scarlet flying knife that drew a gaping hole across his abdomen.

Even though its purple feathers were comparable to metal, they had no defensive capabilities against the scarlet flying knife apart from letting out clanging metallic sounds. Fresh blood sprayed out from the gaping wound.

"Ah..."

The purple woodpecker miserably cried, all its feathers standing on end. The stream of blood ran continuously from its abdomen; it had never suffered such grievous wounds before today’s crisis.

With a thump, Chu Feng had once again been struck by a flash of lightning. He was flung away and had to temporarily stop his assault.

This whole area was fairly terrifying as lightning would randomly descend.

The purple gold woodpecker’s eyes shone with a vengeful radiance, hoping that the lightning would kill Chu Feng so that he would have a chance at survival.

The bird retreated, hoping to sneak into one of the blind areas that he had memorized.

However, detecting his movement, a bolt of lightning struck him almost immediately, leaving him bleeding and scattering his burnt feathers into the air.

"Swoosh!"

At the same time, a scarlet light blossomed. A palm-sized blade tore through the air, bringing with it an incredible killing intent. It was glowing with a prismatic radiance, akin to the clouds at twilight spilling across the land, magnificent and cruel.

The purple woodpecker was greatly incensed—he repeatedly retreated, spewing out purple light which deflected the scarlet blade with resounding clangs.

Unfortunately, he was unable to completely defend himself against the onslaught of the indomitable scarlet knife. The purple light was once again split apart as a new gaping wound was drawn across its back. Were he not a beast king level entity, he would have been split in two.

Even so, this caused him a great deal of distress because the wound was extremely severe; it had almost cut through his body.

Boom!

His whole body started glowing. The place where his severed wing used to be started glowing with a purple light. He had expended a great amount of mysterious energy in order to form a luminous wing, which, he hoped, would hasten his escape.

However, his energy expenditure was too great; once Chu Feng caught up to him, he would probably be killed. He had lost the capacity to actually fight a decisive battle.

However, he was, by nature, not willing to have a showdown under such dire straights.

With a swoosh, he rose into the air. Even though he was struck by a bolt of lightning which greatly shook him, the bird resolutely dashed towards the blind area via which he would leave the valley.

Clang!

The sound of clashing metal was extremely crisp. Chu Feng had long since locked onto the purple woodpecker. The flying knife once again flew through the flashes of lightning, and with a pfff, struck the woodpecker’s body. This time, it was almost cleaved into two; a shower of blood burst out from the gaping wound, through which even his innards were visible.

Additionally, the purple luminous wing shattered as he fell, head first, onto the ground.

"You still want to escape?!" Chu Feng coldly asked. How could he be so kind as to let the bird go? His Imperial Sword Technique had now surpassed the old weasel’s, there was virtually nothing it could not conquer.

If he didn’t have to worry about the lightning harming his consciousness, Chu Feng would have gone in for the kill instantaneously. But, for now, he could only cautiously attack while the lightning was at its weakest.

"Quick, draw up the bronze pillar!" the purple gold woodpecker shouted towards the outskirts of the valley. He had realized that it was impossible to kill Chu Feng under such circumstances; instead, he would be the one to die first as he was unable to block the Imperial Sword Technique.

Outside of the valley, the beast race experts were all dumbfounded. They did not think that the Bird King, for all his scheming, would, himself, fall into the land of death.

"Raise the bronze pillar!" the peacock roared.

The yaks, snow panthers and Tibetan mastiffs all worked together to pull on the thick chains, raising the bronze pillar out of the dried well.

The effects were instantaneous; the lightning within the valley receded gradually and eventually disappeared.

The purple gold woodpecker gasped for breath as he stood up and retreated at full speed, his eyes focused on Chu Feng.

He was dragging it out, waiting for the other beast kings to arrive. Some of these beast kings had good relations with him, and he was confident that they would speak out for him; he might yet escape a fatal calamity.

A roar was heard.

As expected, a beast king arrived with extreme speed. It was a huge chiru; its horns were as dreadful as broadswords, gleaming with a cold light.

"Who dares behave atrociously at Mount Kunlun?!" he roared, positioning himself between Chu Feng and the woodpecker, protecting the latter behind its back.

This Chiru had also chosen not to go to the underground palace in search of fortunes because he was afraid that someone else would harm him in secret. His home peak was close to this location, and thus he had arrived first on the scene.

Chu Feng was not in a rush to attack. He sat down with his legs crossed, activating his special breathing technique and recuperating from his wounds. With the lightning gone, he could finally breathe easy.

He knew that his breathing technique was extraordinary; it was able to completely heal wounds in one night, not even leaving a scar. Naturally, it was also able to heal the wounds from the lightning strikes.

As expected, no sooner had he activated the technique than his pain began to gradually disappear.

"Kill him!" the purple gold woodpecker spoke in a low voice, transmitting his voice to the Chiru. He wanted to let the Chiru ambush Chu Feng while he was gravely wounded—this was a great opportunity.

The Chiru King hesitated for a short while because he knew of the Demon Ox’s warning. If he were to kill Demon King Chu, wouldn’t the two oxen take it out on him?

"He has the Imperial Sword Technique! Right now, he is severely wounded and on the verge of death. Kill him and we will go and seek shelter under the Peacock King," the purple woodpecker urged.

At this moment, Chu Feng had just finished circulating his special breathing technique. He suddenly opened his eyes and stood up; his body was no longer stiff, and the numbness from his lightning wounds had all disappeared. He was now able to move!

At this time, he was no longer worried! Now, not only could he use the Imperial Sword Technique, but he was also able to join the melee.

Chu Feng’s eyes were icy cold as he looked calmly at the purple gold woodpecker and said, "I will certainly behead you!"

"Demon King Chu, what are you planning to do? This is Mount Kunlun! Your atrocity will not be tolerated!" the Chiru coldly said, standing in front of the woodpecker and shielding him.

Clang!

The scarlet blade screamed through the air, its sound crisp and clear. He stared at the Chiru, saying, "You want to play the hero? If you dare block my path, I will be happy to kill you along with him!"

"You dare?!" The Chiru was greatly incensed; he was a beast king of Mount Kunlun, rarely did anyone dare to belittle him. Now that there was a man pointing his blade at him, a dense killing intent began to spill out.

Here, the strong preyed on the weak. He had a good relationship with the woodpecker; naturally, he would have to help him.

Chu Feng did not say anything else as he used his psychic powers to control the flying knife. Scarlet mist blossomed as a resplendent sword light crossed the sky, slashing towards the Chiru.

"You dare?!" the Chiru coarsely roared as its huge horn started glowing. Using it like a blade, he clashed head on with the terrifying flying knife.

However, with a clang, a section of its horn was cut off and dropped to the ground.

"You!" The Chiru was furious—its whole body started to release a terrifying aura. The pair of horns were now especially resplendent as they clashed against Chu Feng.

Chu Feng was completely unafraid as he called forth his flying knife and continued his onslaught.

At the same time, his physical body dashed towards the purple gold woodpecker. Circulating his special breathing technique, he activated the Demon Ox Fist Technique and dealt a fatal blow.

"Roar..."

In the distance, the roar of beasts could be heard. Apparently, there were beast kings approaching the area.

An astonishing battle was going on here as Chu Feng battled two beast kings at the same time. Sword lights flashed like lightning, and with a clang, the Chiru’s horn was once again shortened, inducing in him both fear and anger.

The purple gold woodpecker was now doing his utmost to block Chu Feng’s frightening fists. However, he soon realized that he was not his match—his wounds were all bleeding profusely, and a great deal of his king level blood essence had been lost.

"Who is behaving so atrociously?" A furious Yellow Ox appeared in the distance.

"Who’s bullying my brother?!" the great black yak roared as he charged over.

At the same time, some other experts also appeared in succession, among them was a graceful and refined lady. These were all beast kings of Mount Kunlun.

The horde of vicious beast kings had assembled; their astonished eyes were focused on the ongoing battle.

Boom!

It was at this moment that the battle between the purple gold woodpecker and Chu Feng had come to a conclusion. He was using his powerful fist technique boosted by the special breathing technique, causing him to surge with explosive power, which he utilized to blast the Bird King.

The group of vicious beast kings had rushed over only to be greeted by such a scene, causing many of them to gasp involuntarily.

Ka-ching!

The scarlet flying knife exploded with radiant lights as it cut off one of the Chiru’s horns and drew blood.

...

Outside the valley, the golden falcon and the peacock were both trembling. They had witnessed, first hand, how the purple gold woodpecker met his demise, nearly causing the two of them to faint.

At the same time, they were reminded of the news that they had transmitted to their race a while ago, claiming that Chu Feng was about to meet his end in the hands of the Bird King, who was on his way to finish him off. Now it seems that they had sent the news too fast!

In the peacock race, an old man was extremely excited; he had received a photo in which Chu Feng was in dire straights with his clothes tattered and covered by lightning flashes.

There was a purple gold woodpecker hovering majestically in midair and looking down on the miserable Chu Feng.

Many people within the race were crowding around to see this photo; they felt that Demon King Chu would lose his head soon!

"Let’s wait till his head is rolling on the ground. The world will surely be shaken—the demon king is finally about to die!" Some mutants were laughing uncontrollably.

"It is indeed time to shake the world!" Many beast race members expressed their agreement with great delight.

...

[1] To my surprise, I discovered that a person who commits regicide is also called a regicide.