Chapter 136: The Descent

Boundless energy surged from within me, as if someone were slicing my body with a blade, one stroke at a time. The agony was something few could fathom unless they had experienced it firsthand. My dantian was swelling, feeling like a bundle of firecrackers with lit fuses, ready to detonate at any moment. I had always wondered how one might react when facing death; now I knew. Peace. I was incredibly at peace. Perhaps death was a form of liberation. With no attachments left, dust would return to dust, earth to earth. Years from now, who would even remember me, Li Yunfei?

The High Priest struggled more and more violently, but I didn't hear a word he said. In those fleeting thirty seconds, I seemed to grasp a new state of being. This realization could not be replicated by merely absorbing energy from the blood pool or magic crystals; it was a transcendence, a metamorphosis. Sadly, it was all too late. There were at most thirty seconds left until self-destruction. What good was enlightenment now? I was a dead man walking. Twenty-nine… twenty-eight… I counted silently in my heart.

Five seconds to detonation. I looked at the High Priest’s desperate expression and felt a surge of grim satisfaction. Nothing was more gratifying than tormenting one's enemy. The High Priest knew the power of my self-destruction, but he could not break free from my grip, nor could he shake my immense, iron-like hold. Death was all that awaited him.

Two seconds left. Just as the explosion was imminent, a violent gale suddenly roared down from above. The wind was ferocious, and a boulder the size of a millstone plummeted from the mountaintop. The gale forced my eyes shut, and the massive rock hurtled toward my head. With one second remaining, the boulder struck me. I felt a chaotic collision of my internal true and demonic energies. The impact sent my body flying, slamming me violently into the cliff behind. Seizing the moment of my internal turmoil, the High Priest tore himself away, lashed his tail against the ground, and shot off like an arrow from a bow, fleeing into the distance.

The boulder did not fall to the ground after hitting me; it continued to press forward with relentless momentum. My body was driven deep into the mountainside, wedged so tightly I could not easily pull free. With a thunderous boom, the rock crushed into me. My body twisted and deformed. Pain! A heart-rending, soul-shattering pain! My stomach churned, and as darkness clouded my vision, I lost consciousness.

Night was so still that even the strange beasts in the valley had fallen silent, as if nothing existed in the world beyond this valley. On the cliff, thirty feet above the ground, a millstone-sized boulder was embedded halfway into the rock face—the very stone that had struck me.

My consciousness drifted above the valley. I longed to return to my body, but I could not. A gentle breeze caught me, and I floated slowly toward the sky. The bright moon hung in the cloudless night. I suddenly remembered that today was the Mid-Autumn Festival, a day for families to reunite. Yet here I was, struck by a rock, my physical form trapped in the mountainside, my life hanging in the balance, while my spirit wandered the heavens. Beyond the moon, I saw a second celestial body. To the right of the moon, a sphere a hundred times its size hovered in the cosmos, reflecting a faint, shimmering light. Could that be the Star of the Nether Ruins?

Gradually, my consciousness drifted further and further, seemingly leaving the bounds of the Valley of Forgotten Worries, rising ever faster. The Star of the Nether Ruins grew larger in my sight. I had not expected the Nether Ruins to descend so soon. Its surface was pockmarked with craters, appearing much like the moon from afar, but as I drew closer, I felt waves of searing heat. Although my consciousness did not fear fire or water, the heat was still agonizing. I wondered if my physical body could endure it. I could not go any higher; I had to return to my body!

It was then I realized with sorrow that I had no control over my return. More than that, my consciousness was being drawn toward the Nether Ruins by an inexplicable force.

"Am I dead?" Lying in the mountainside in a twisted position, I opened my eyes. Pain flooded my entire body, and I knew I was still alive. I had received all the sensory input from my wandering consciousness; surely, that fierce wind had been caused by the arrival of the Nether Ruins. Was this a coincidence, or was it fated? Was I, Li Yunfei, destined not to die like this? Give me a reason to live! Revenge—yes, revenge! As long as the High Priest remained, I could not die!

Upon waking, I felt my body rapidly repairing itself, an intense itching sensation crawling through every cell. I wanted to move, but even turning over was a struggle. I knew this was the natural reaction to the regeneration of damaged tissue. I gritted my teeth and endured, noting that the speed of recovery was nearly double what it had been before. I suspected it was related to my realization before the brink of death. It was said that if a mutant could achieve enlightenment in a life-or-death moment, their strength would ascend to a new level. I wondered if my true energy and Heavenly Demon Arts had advanced; I would only know once I had fully repaired my body and emerged.

A minute later, the itching subsided and my strength returned. I clenched my fists and let out a roar. An invisible wave of energy erupted from my body, and with a thunderous boom, the mountain face shattered.

I leaped down. My strength had indeed improved. The first volume of the Heavenly Demon Manual, the Thirty-Six Heavenly Demon Forms, had advanced from the third to the fifth level. The second volume, Dancing Mountains and Rivers, had advanced from the first to the third level. The Netherfire had also progressed by two levels, reaching the third.

My true energy had risen from the third to the fourth level. "He who survives a great disaster is destined for later fortune." It seemed there was truth to the saying. Beyond the true energy, every ability had advanced by two levels. Level four true energy was a rarity across the entire Continent of Gods and Demons. For an ordinary person to raise their true energy by a single level often required decades of bitter cultivation; only with great luck could one hope for such an increase. It was clear that true energy played a decisive role for any martial artist.

As for the demonic energy within me, I could not assess it without real combat. After all, those who possessed demonic energy were a rare breed, and those who could command both true and demonic energies were one in ten thousand. Coincidentally, both Qin Tian and I were such individuals.

The High Priest had escaped again. I did not know when I would encounter him next. I had been unconscious for nearly a day and needed to return to the Feathered Clan immediately. Before leaving, I returned to my master’s hut, but he was nowhere to be found. I went to the Cave of Ten Thousand Demons, but he was not there either. Never mind, I would look for him tomorrow. My master was an old man who had survived in this chaotic world for so many years; surely, he would be fine.

While my consciousness was drifting, I had been in a coma, yet I could still clearly perceive what it saw. The Star of the Nether Ruins was still a long distance from Earth, though much closer than the moon, the closest celestial body to us. It was neither too far nor too near. Although it looked hundreds of times larger than the moon from the ground, it might not actually be larger in size. Without transport, I did not believe anyone could fly up there to seize its energy—not to mention the intense heat on the Nether Ruins capable of incinerating all things in the world.