Chapter 307: A Treasure to Yearn For
Translator: Alsey Editor: Chrissy
A Treasure to Yearn For
The extremely harsh weather and heavy snowfall caused certain regions to easily suffer from subzero temperatures. But this didn't prevent mutants from going out and about.
It was quite lively in front of the Hollow Jade Temple's doors. People came to call upon Chu Feng frequently, hoping for an opportunity to meet him. They had no idea about Chu Feng's current status.
Lu Tong made an appearance and tactfully informed everyone that Chu Feng was in the process of comprehending a certain ancient manual and was at a critical juncture, that it was truly inconvenient for him to pause and receive visitors.
"No matter, we can wait. Do forgive us for the disturbance." A white-haired old demon cupped his fists amiably. He was all smiles as he left.
"I'm not mistaken, am I? That's the old monster of Mount Changbai—even the Monarch of Manchuria has come! He had long since severed his sixth shackle but rarely leaves Manchuria."
Some people who had recognized the old man's identity were whispering. He was actually a peerless expert. No one knew his true form but they knew he was completely unfathomable.
There were many people in front of the Hollow Jade Temple and most of them were here to call upon Chu Feng. All of them were surprised that even the old monster of Changbai had come.
With the world cold and frozen, it was difficult for ordinary people to go outdoors. However, there was quite a bit of traffic in front of the Hollow Jade Temple. It was quite lively there.
Many demon kings had come forth to visit and some major corporations delivered valuable notes containing insights from expert predecessors after hearing that Chu Feng was trying to comprehend a fist technique.
Chu Feng sighed as he stood in front of the window. Would these people turn hostile and retake all these manuals and notes when they found out his current condition?
He understood quite well the hypocrisy of social relationships. What people cared about right now was his strength. What other reason would these people have for visiting him if he lost these things?
He had already talked to Yellow Ox about his situation and the two oxen were extremely anxious.
Yellow Ox instructed Chu Feng not to be worried. He might still be able to turn things around. These days, Yellow Ox had been collecting various king level blood and would rush over to Shuntian very soon to help Chu Feng purify his spirit and baptize his physical body.
Chu Feng was truly dissatisfied. He tried to circulate his breathing technique once again. His spirit merged into his blood and rushed out of his heart towards every part of this body.
But in the end, the blood transformed into black substance. The most serious part was that his heart was now flickering with a black glow and was no longer sparkling red.
"Even my heart has blackened." Chu Feng laughed in self-mockery. What irony!
Lu Tong arrived and told Chu Feng that he had contacted the country's top laboratory specializing in the study of hidden abilities in the human body. They would help him perform a complete examination to see if they can help you clear the black material.
He informed Chu Feng that he could rest assured as he and the Hollow Jade Temple Master would both be present to help the lab personnel with the diagnosis and treatment.
Chu Feng frowned. It wasn't that he didn't believe in science but with all the various lifeforms undergoing evolution, medical diagnosis and treatments simply couldn't keep up with the pace.
However, he agreed to go in the end in order not to let down Lu Tong's good intentions.
They traveled secretly and arrived at a famous laboratory. Previously, they had sent some of the king level flesh and blood here for study.
Many advanced machines began to light up as Chu Feng lied down—it was like a scene out of a science fiction—he felt as if he was an object being scanned from inside out.
His blood was drawn several times to take readings of the black substance within.
When the numbers came out, the people from the lab were astonished. They began to frown because Chu Feng's constitution was too good. He didn't seem like a human but rather like a demonic god!
This would cause a great commotion if disclosed.
But they had no way to deal with the black substance. They simply couldn't extract it no matter what. They wanted to extract it from the blood but before the process was completed, the black substance would evaporate into a black mist and once again enter Chu Feng's body.
Finally, Chu Feng was sent into an enclosed spherical machine where he was automatically scanned and had blood specimens extracted. Not long afterwards, they tried injecting drugs refined from mutant fruits into his body in order to raise his bodily functions.
In the end, the drugs were proven ineffective as all of them were discharged from his pores. There was an astonishing resistance within his body, a counter-evolution force.
The person in charge of the lab was drenched in sweat after performing repeated tests. He informed Lu Tong and the Hollow Jade Temple Master that the black material possessed counter evolution properties and is lethal to mutants.
At the very least, they couldn't handle this with current technology.
Lu Tong sat there motionlessly. He sat in complete silence, his face as pale as a sheet.
At this time, the Hollow Jade Temple Master received news from the Eight Visions Temple Master and had come to a deeper understanding of this black material.
The three temple masters were busy flipping through ancient texts from Daoist scriptures to secret Buddhist notes and comparing them to various ancient texts.
"This is a material refined by demonic sages using a rare substance from the depths of the cosmos. Its value is absolutely priceless. One might not necessarily be able to obtain it even if he offered secret Taoist scriptures in trade."
The Hollow Jade Temple Master was astonished. Although he had heard Chu Feng say that experts at the level of divine knights and the Golden Arhat, had miraculous uses for this material. However, he hadn't expected it to be so valuable.
Very soon, the Roaming Jade Temple Master also gave him some more information, all of which were dug up and reorganized from ancient documents. The various clues, when combined, pointed towards the fact that this was an item deeply coveted by evolved beings!
Whose collection was the most abundant at present? It was naturally the government's.
The Eight Visions, Hollow Jade and Roaming Jade Temples were the three largest mutant organizations in the country. All relevant ancient documents, rare Taoist books, and records were all open to them.
Many people were ordered to go through various unique copies and to reference a great many secret texts. Unexpectedly, they were actually able to find various clues.
While sorting through these documents, they even found a certain heavenly master's hand-written notes, in which were recorded many of his praises of the black substance.
This heavenly master once said that he wouldn't trade a couple of grams of this black substance even for a bottle of Dragon-Tiger Golden Pills!
Dragon-Tiger Golden Pills were the most famous divine pills during ancient times. It's said that they were treasured divine medicines. It was precisely because the ancestor of Mount Longhu, Zhang Daoling had successfully refined a furnace of such pills that he evolved to the apex stage.
The heavenly masters of other generations found it too hard to refine these Dragon-Tiger Golden Pills.
Even an ancient powerful evolved being, a heavenly master praised it so much and said that a couple of grams of this black substance couldn't be traded for a whole bottle of Dragon-Tiger Golden Pills. This was simply too shocking.
Even the Eight Visions Temple Master and Hollow Jade Temple Master were astonished after getting a glimpse if this news from the heavenly master's notes.
Naturally, they also understood that the black substance had very strict requirements. One had to be at a certain level to use it. Otherwise, it would only act as a poison.
"According to the secret records in those ancient books, Chu Feng has already been crippled. He's already on the path of reverse evolution and no longer has any hope." The Eight Visions Temple Master also arrived.
The Hollow Jade Temple Master ordered the people from the laboratory that they must find a way to extract the black substance at all costs.
"This will be difficult. We've already extracted many blood samples but before we can remove it, the black substance disappears and returns to the patient's body."
The person in charge of the laboratory explained. It wasn't possible even within an enclosed receptacle. The bizarre black substance was able to pierce through all glass and metal containers.
"Extract some of his blood and inject it into a living being. Let's see if we can retain the black material," said the Hollow Jade Temple Master.
"This is Chu Feng were talking about. Is this even appropriate?" The lab manager's forehead was all sweaty. This wasn't any ordinary specimen—would Chu Feng be willing?
"This involves a great secret on the path of evolution but I don't think Chu Feng will oppose even if he finds out. Our side is severely lacking in peerless experts. This much will need to be asked of him," said the Hollow Jade Temple Master.
A day later, Chu Feng was absolutely furious. The laboratory was treating him like a guinea pig. Within a short 20-hour period they had drawn his blood countless times.
He shattered the experimental apparatus with a single kick and smashed his way out through the metal wall. His expression was extremely ugly.
Lu Tong appeared immediately after hearing of this and was enraged after understanding what had happened. He sent the manager flying with a kick and started scolding to his face, "Old Li, I've always delivered many king level blood samples to support you. Have you become addicted to experiments?! You're completely forgetting your roots! You dare target Chu Feng?!"
The person in charge of the laboratory felt that he was in the wrong. He stood there as if he wanted to say something but, in the end, only informed Lu Tong that he couldn't solve the problem of the black material.
"Old Li, are you behaving so unscrupulously because Chu Feng can't be treated?!" Lu Tong scolded the manager while trying to calm Chu Feng's wrath.
The Hollow Jade Temple Master arrived but left without saying anything.
"You should know that Old Li alone won't have the boldness to treat me like this." Chu Feng said calmly.
Lu Tong went silent before sighing, "The Temple Master shouldn't have any evil intentions. He's just too eager to crack the secrets of the path to evolution."
Chu Feng didn't say anything else and simply followed Lu Tong back to the Hollow Jade Temple.
Before long, the Hollow Jade Temple Master appeared to apologize to Chu Feng. "The heaven and earth have become adverse and our side is sorely lacking in peerless experts. I was anxious and wanted to find some ways. I was… too extreme. I'm sorry, I hope you don't mind."
He then asked Chu Feng if he had contacted Kunlun whereupon Chu Feng nodded.
The Hollow Jade Temple Master informed him, "The situation isn't good. It's now circulating in the outside world that you've encountered a mishap. It's being said that you might have lost the ability to evolve and would probably decline to become an ordinary person."
Chu Feng replied calmly, "What must come will come. We can't hide it forever."
The Hollow Jade Temple Master nodded and patted his shoulder before leaving.
Chu Feng frowned as he gazed the receding figure of the Hollow Jade Temple Master. He refused to believe Yellow Ox would be so careless. This new like wasn't leaked from Kunlun.
Before long, Yellow Ox contacted Chu Feng and told him to stay calm and wait patiently. He was searching for the old llama. This old Buddhist monk's blood contained an extremely valuable Buddhist intent and was effective in cleansing the flesh and blood.
However, the old llama was currently roaming the Tibetan region in search of certain Buddhist weapons in preparation for their excursion to the Thunderous ancient temple.
Right now, Yellow Ox had already finished collecting the blood of the various great demons of Kunlun. He had to exert painstaking effort in order to achieve this as no one was willing to leak the secrets within their blood. The evolved beings cared more about such things after their understanding increased.
"The news definitely wasn't transmitted from Kunlun. I believe it was leaked from the Hollow Jade Temple. I'll let old blackie set out first to take care of you. You have to be extra careful right now." Yellow Ox reminded cautiously.
After ending the call, Chu Feng pondered for a while. Chu Feng then found Lu Tong and told him that he wanted to invite and entertain all the people who'd come to call on him.
"Are you worried that this place will become your prison? That won't happen!" Lu Tong sighed softly but he still turned away to arrange things according to Chu Feng's wishes.
Chu Feng muttered to himself, "Since someone has leaked the news, I'll invite everyone and announce it actively. Perhaps this will bring about a new balance."
News of Chu Feng's cultivation path coming to an end spread like wildfire that day and caused a huge commotion.
Everyone was paying attention as the world was sent into an uproar. Few believed this at first and treated it as a joke.
But there were also some who believed it because the news had been circulating in a small circle since the day before.
Before long, the news was confirmed—everything was true. That was because Chu Feng invited agents of all powers to a banquet and admitted his problem.
The Hollow Jade Temple was filled with busy traffic. Many people had come along with the demon kings from various lands. There were also some higher ups from corporate powers. All of them had arrived to greet Chu Feng.
The atmosphere at the banquet was quite odd because no one had expected Chu Feng to admit in public that he might possibly regress to become an ordinary person.
"Brother Chu, no need to speak further. I admire you greatly and wish to befriend you no matter what your problem is." The old white-haired demon of Mount Changbai stood up and offered a toast.
This was a peerless expert with six severed shackles who was extremely famous in the Manchurian region. Some people who recognized him revealed surprised expressions.
"Storms gather unpredictably in the sky while men's fortunes may change overnight. I believe brother Chu will get through this." Another great demon king stood up and said.
Following that, some corporate dignitaries delivered some rare gifts to comfort Chu Feng, saying there's no pit that is impossible to cross over.
Regardless of how sincere they were at least no short-sighted people appeared in that day. Everyone was polite and no one offended Chu Feng.
Finally, the group excused themselves, leaving a pile of valuable gifts.
However, change was inevitable after that day.
Needless to say, the whole world was shocked out of their wits. They could hardly believe this but had to accept this truth that Chu Feng who had risen meteorically and obtained glorious martial accomplishments had actually encountered misfortune at the prime of his life. Hereafter, he would fall to darkness and completely retire from the path to evolution.
A celebrated talent was about to decline—this was everyone's sigh of lamentation.
In truth, the changes were visible even within the Hollow Jade Temple. He was truly able to sense it.
Some people glanced at him from afar with odd expressions.
Among them were a few quick-witted boys and girls eagerly coming over to help him with various things.
They all seemed to be 15 or 16 years old. The two boys were extremely handsome and the three girls were exceptionally beautiful. They were all clever and quick-witted and weren't at all weak despite their young age.
"Brother Chu, I hope you'll accept me as your disciple." Finally, a beautiful girl said to him with sparkling eyes.
The others, some shy while others bold, all expressed the same desire. They wanted Chu Feng to teach them fist techniques.
Chu Feng sighed. Did these clever kids come to him on their own or did someone instruct them? The fist techniques were probably secondary—they were likely seeking his breathing technique.