Today, No One Could Save You

"Junior, how dare you—"

Zhao Jinnian's life hung by a thread. Ascending Wu Rong and the others were shocked. They roared and charged forward, only to be blocked by Nangong Renshe and his companions.

"Senior, save me!"

With Liu Chengfeng's foot pinning him to the ground, Zhao Jinnian was scared out of his wits.

"Today, no one can save you."

Liu Chengfeng's eyes turned cold. His foot was like a vein, his body like a mountain, and his spiritual energy surged. He had already borrowed the power of Little Meng Mountain's terrain and ley line, just in case.

"Nangong Renshe, Zhao Tian has entered the Divine Dynasty. If his father dies here, the Cloud Rising Sect will be wiped out."

The Ascending Wu Clan was anxious too.

Nangong Renshe and the others couldn't help but change their expressions. Those words carried a great deal of weight.

"Even if he were a son of the Divine Dynasty, I'd still kill him without hesitation."

Liu Chengfeng's killing intent surged. His foot came down, bones shattered, and blood covered the ground.

"My son, Zhao Tian, is destined to become a god! Young Master Ye, please save me—"

The Grandmaster Mansion, which had been watching from the sidelines, finally made a move. A force swept across the space, trying to save Zhao Jinnian.

Ah Yuan let out a roar beside them and swiped her claws, scattering that force.

"Time to go—"

Liu Chengfeng raised the broken half of his sword and slashed at Zhao Jinnian's head.

"Stop this slaughter—"

A great shout shook the mountains and rivers and rattled their souls. A figure strode through the air, bearing a rolling aura of pressure that surged toward Liu Chengfeng from afar.

A great figure had arrived, his imposing presence like a rainbow. Strange visions appeared behind him, and the power of the Divine Dynasty manifested.

"Someone from the Divine Dynasty—"

Faced with such overwhelming pressure, the Cloud Rising Sect, the Ascending Wu Clan, and the Grandmaster Mansion were all astonished.

Someone from the Divine Dynasty had come to save Zhao Jinnian.

"Die—"

Liu Chengfeng was set on killing. Even if a god came, he would kill all the same.

He gripped the Golden Incense Stick tightly in his left hand, while his right hand brought the broken sword down without the slightest hesitation.

"You're asking for death—"

The newcomer from the Divine Dynasty was furious too. A divine blade slashed toward Liu Chengfeng from afar.

"Oh no—"

Nangong Renshe and the others were shocked, but they were too far away to help.

A beast's roar exploded through the mountains and rivers. The powerful figures present were all shaken to the core, their legs going weak.

A colossal beast, as tall as a mountain, stepped forward. It opened its mouth and roared, shattering the divine blade.

"Oh no—"

Seeing the enormous beast, stronger than even the Giant Ape and Fire Sparrow, Ah Yuan trembled in fright.

This colossal beast stood over a hundred meters tall. Its beastly aura crashed over them like towering waves, shocking even the newcomer from the Divine Dynasty.

"Demon Imp—"

The newcomer's expression changed drastically. He forgot all about Zhao Jinnian and turned to flee.

"Retreat—"

The Grandmaster Mansion and the Ascending Wu Clan were terrified by the sudden appearance of the colossal beast. Even the newcomer from the Divine Dynasty had run away—how could they dare stay?

"Let's go!"

Nangong Renshe and the others were frightened too.

The Demon Imp strode toward them, shaking the earth as it looked down at Liu Chengfeng.

With the Demon Imp so close, Nangong Renshe and the others had no time to escape.

The Demon Imp had been reaching out to grab Liu Chengfeng, but suddenly it seemed to have been struck by lightning. As though it had seen something terrifying, it turned and fled.

Its massive body thundered across the earth, shaking the ground with every stride.

Those who hadn't managed to escape stared at the scene, dumbfounded.

No one understood why the Demon Imp had appeared so suddenly, or why it had fled just as abruptly.

By then, Liu Chengfeng had already cut off Zhao Jinnian's head. Even if his son, Zhao Tian, was a son of the Divine Dynasty, he couldn't save his father's life.

As the person from the Divine Dynasty fled Little Meng Mountain, he saw that the Demon Imp wasn't pursuing him and let out a sigh of relief.

"Did I just get away with my life?"

Ye Huijian was already standing before him.

"Who dares to show such disrespect in the presence of the Divine Dynasty—"

Before he could finish speaking, Ye Huijian had already made her move. Her jade hand came down, incinerating his three souls and seven spirits.

"Ah—"

As his soul scattered, he recognized Ye Huijian, but it was already too late.

The Demon Imp had been startled into turning and fleeing. It had run fast enough, but she still intercepted it.

Seeing Ye Huijian, the Demon Imp backed away, trying to escape with its life.

"You wanted to go back and report, but unfortunately, you won't live long enough."

Ye Huijian strolled over with leisurely ease.

The Demon Imp roared and fled in another direction, but Ye Huijian still blocked its path.

"Some secrets must never be revealed to the Beast Emperor."

Ye Huijian struck to kill. The Demon Imp roared and charged at her, fighting desperately. The earth rang with thunderous booms.

That day, shocking news spread through the Qiuchi Kingdom: a ferocious beast capable of destroying the kingdom had appeared, and a High Person of the Divine Dynasty had slain it. The entire Qiuchi Kingdom was left reeling.

After Liu Chengfeng killed Zhao Jinnian, it took the people of the Cloud Rising Sect quite some time to recover from their shock.

With a colossal beast like the Demon Imp appearing, Little Meng Mountain was no place to linger.

"Come back to the Cloud Rising Sect with us."

Nangong Renshe invited Liu Chengfeng along. He didn't feel comfortable leaving him alone at Little Meng Mountain either.

He had done everything he needed to do, and there was no point staying at Little Meng Mountain.

Liu Chengfeng readily agreed and waved goodbye to Ah Yuan.

Ah Yuan roared, leaped away, and vanished into the forest.

Zhou Yinfeng brought the tenant farmers into the city. His martial aunt was as elusive as a ghost, and there was no one in the Wu Dao Sect he needed to say goodbye to.

Liu Chengfeng turned and left with Nangong Renshe and the others.

As Liu Chengfeng departed, the Spirit Vein beneath Little Meng Mountain cheerfully licked the Golden Incense Stick.

That was exactly the reward Liu Chengfeng had promised it.

The Cloud Rising Sect was built beside a branch of the Bayu Mountain Range, and it alone possessed one of its Spirit Veins.

It covered an area of several thousand li and had seven main peaks, known as the Seven Cloud Rising Peaks.

The Cloud Rising Sect was as renowned as the Ascending Wu Clan, and was one of the two great sects in the Qiuchi Kingdom.

Nangong Renshe brought Liu Chengfeng to the Cloud Rising Sect and arranged for him to stay on one of its peaks. As a minor guest elder, Liu Chengfeng was given an entire courtyard to himself.

His courtyard was on the main peak, where he could look out over mountains and streams and enjoy the beautiful scenery.

Compared to Little Meng Mountain, the Cloud Rising Sect's mountains and rivers were far more magnificent.

Though he was only a guest elder, the Cloud Rising Sect treated him no worse than a personal disciple.

Fourth Elder and the others were especially warm, telling Liu Chengfeng to ask for anything he needed.

The three elders owed Liu Chengfeng a great debt.

Liu Chengfeng also handed Nangong Renshe the Mad Kui Heart Method and Three Husbands Sword Technique, which he had refined into Innate techniques.

"What? You're saying these are Innate techniques? How is that possible?"

Nangong Renshe could hardly believe his eyes. He flipped through the handwritten manuals, stunned.

"How did you manage this?"

"While cultivating, I had an insight and refined them, stripping away the unnecessary parts."

Liu Chengfeng didn't mention the Celestial Body.

His explanation left Nangong Renshe so astonished that he gaped, staring at the handwritten manual in his hands and unable to recover for a long while.

"A genius! A genius! A once-in-ten-thousand-years genius!"

When Nangong Renshe left, he was stumbling over his own feet.

A once-in-ten-thousand-years genius—this was not only why Liu Chengfeng had been kept at the Cloud Rising Sect, but also why the sect was willing to spare no expense for him.

When the Cloud Rising Sect decided to keep Liu Chengfeng as a guest elder, two of its Five Elders—the First Elder and the Second Elder—had opposed the idea.

The First Elder in particular carried great weight. Though his cultivation was inferior to Nangong Renshe's, he was the oldest elder in the Cloud Rising Sect and Nangong Renshe's martial uncle.

The three elders, including Fourth Elder, had received Liu Chengfeng's kindness and obtained true blood from him, so of course they agreed to make him a guest elder of the Cloud Rising Sect.

"Zhao Tian has been sent to the Divine Dynasty. If he becomes a god in the future, the Cloud Rising Sect will be wiped out."

The First Elder's words made the three elders, who owed Liu Chengfeng a great debt, waver.

The Three Divine Dynasties were titans of the Green Meng Realm, ruling the entire world.

If Zhao Tian became a god, the Cloud Rising Sect would be doomed for sheltering the man who killed his father.

"Who becomes a god is still anyone's guess."

"Why do you say that, Sect Master?"

"Compared to Zhao Tian, I have more faith that this child can become a god."

Nangong Renshe showed the Innate manuals to the elders. When they heard that Liu Chengfeng had created them by refining and simplifying the techniques, the Five Elders could hardly believe it.

They studied them closely, each one stunned beyond words.

"An Innate technique for the Human Scroll of the Blood Sea Divine Treasury—one or two such techniques would be rare even in the Ancient Kingdom Court."

"Across the ages, how many people can create an Innate technique?"

"A genius for the ages, a genius for the ages! The Cloud Rising Sect can create a god too!"

In their astonishment, the Five Elders all agreed to keep Liu Chengfeng.

"Help him break through the Blood Sea Divine Treasury and enter the Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury. He should begin cultivating its techniques as soon as possible."

The Second Elder, who had originally objected, was now enthusiastic and couldn't wait to get started.

"Exactly. Help him cultivate the Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury as soon as possible. The sect will support him with all its strength and provide Blood Medicine."

The other elders all voiced their support.

There was no other reason: Fourth Elder and the others were all at the fourth level of the Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury, where they had been stuck for a long time.

They were eager for Liu Chengfeng to cultivate the Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury. With his talent for the ages, perhaps he could refine and simplify its methods into an Innate technique.

If they fused it with their own techniques and replaced them with the Innate method, they would surely break through.

"To break through the bottleneck, he'll need Blood Medicine—and a lot of it. Give him ten portions. No, give him twenty."

The First Elder was the first to make the suggestion, and he approved twenty portions of First Refinement Blood Medicine.

The other elders all agreed at once, and in the end, they gave him twenty-five portions.

Each portion of Blood Medicine cost several thousand spirit stones.

"Just replenishing his blood and qi isn't enough. He needs to fill the Blood Sea, so he'll need Second Refinement Blood Medicine."

"Three portions. Give him three portions of Second Refinement Blood Medicine."

First Refinement Blood Medicine replenished blood and qi; Second Refinement Blood Medicine filled the Blood Sea.

Second Refinement Blood Medicine was ten times more precious than First Refinement Blood Medicine.

"Let's make it five. Take five portions from the reserves."

"Five portions, then."

"Five portions are worth it. We'll need to give him Mountain Pills later too."

The Five Elders calculated what they had in reserve, then gritted their teeth and agreed to give Liu Chengfeng five portions of Second Refinement Blood Medicine. It was an astonishingly generous gift—even their most favored disciples didn't receive such treatment.

A single portion of Second Refinement Blood Medicine was worth tens of thousands of spirit stones.

Liu Chengfeng was very surprised when he received this generous gift.

"The elders hope you'll break through soon and cultivate the Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury. Of course, cultivation cannot be rushed. You must decide for yourself."

Nangong Renshe was the Cloud Rising Sect's strongest expert and had already cultivated the Reception Divine Treasury. Even he didn't dare instruct Liu Chengfeng in cultivation, leaving him to make his own decisions.

Even at his current level, he didn't dare create a technique from scratch, so how could he presume to guide Liu Chengfeng?

Refining and transforming a mid-grade technique into an Innate technique—what a genius for the ages.

Liu Chengfeng hadn't expected to become the Cloud Rising Sect's once-in-an-age genius just like that.

Of course, Liu Chengfeng wanted to break through the Blood Sea Divine Treasury and cultivate the next God Treasury—the Treasure Mountain Divine Treasury.

But after arriving at the Cloud Rising Sect, the first thing he did wasn't cultivate. Instead, he used his Celestial Body to sense and observe the sect.

The Cloud Rising Sect covered several thousand li.

With his Celestial Body sensing and observing, he detected the Spirit Vein beneath the sect.

The Spirit Vein beneath the Cloud Rising Sect was a branch of the Bayu Mountain Range, a small stream stretching for a thousand li underground.

It eventually pooled beneath the Cloud Rising Sect, forming a Spirit Pool.

The Cloud Rising Sect's Spirit Vein was different from Little Meng Mountain's.

The Cloud Rising Sect's ancestors had drawn in the underground Spirit Vein and anchored it there, building a cultivation ground and establishing their sect.

As a result, spiritual energy filled all seven of the Cloud Rising Sect's main peaks, making them ideal for the disciples' cultivation.

The Cloud Rising Sect's Spirit Vein Dojo had been built with spirit stones and cultivation methods. When the disciples cultivated the sect's techniques and absorbed spiritual energy, their progress was twice as fast for half the effort.

When Liu Chengfeng circulated the Mad Kui Heart Method, spiritual energy rose from the Spirit Vein Dojo. Even without the Celestial Body's help, Liu Chengfeng could absorb spiritual energy in great quantities.

The Innate Heart Method absorbed spiritual energy faster and made it purer.

As the Mad Kui Heart Method circulated, spiritual energy gathered in a layer around Liu Chengfeng.

The spiritual energy flowed into his Blood Sea, making his blood and qi surge.

Liu Chengfeng drove his blood and qi, but still couldn't open the gate and break through the Blood Sea Divine Treasury.

Whenever he tried to open the gate, the sluggish true blood of the One-Legged Exotic Beast seemed to lack the strength to carry him through.

Liu Chengfeng tossed the True Blood he had obtained on Little Meng Mountain into the Blood Sea: three hundred years' worth of lifespan, four hundred years' worth... He threw in all of it.

The One-Legged Exotic Beast's True Blood was sucked dry in one gulp, but it showed no sign of growing stronger. It was like a cup of water trying to put out a cartload of burning firewood.

At last, Liu Chengfeng tossed in the Rolling Earth Dragon's True Blood, containing four thousand years' worth of lifespan.

The One-Legged Exotic Beast's True Blood devoured it in an instant, and only then did it grow a little. It even seemed to be left wanting more.

"Divine Blood."

Liu Chengfeng muttered to himself. The True Blood in the Blood Sea Divine Treasury could fuse together.

For example, if it had been five hundred years' worth of True Blood, and he replaced it with eight hundred years' worth, then the eight-hundred-year True Blood would fuse with and absorb the five-hundred-year True Blood.

No matter what kind of True Blood Liu Chengfeng tossed into the One-Legged Exotic Beast's True Blood in his Blood Sea Divine Treasury, it devoured it all, as if it were a supplement.

Once he had used up all the True Blood, Liu Chengfeng could only take Blood Medicine.

One-Refinement Blood Medicine strengthened the blood and qi.

Liu Chengfeng took Blood Medicine while cultivating his heart method and absorbing spiritual energy, using it to strengthen his Blood Sea.

After consuming ten doses of One-Refinement Blood Medicine and training relentlessly, his Blood Sea churned without pause. He could even hear the roar of its surging waves.

At that moment, the Divine Blood swimming through the Blood Sea began to stir with energy.

Liu Chengfeng had thought he could break through the bottleneck.

Suddenly, the Celestial Body lit up. Runes swirled around it, strange visions appeared, and divine tones rang out. It felt as if golden springs were welling up from the earth and heavenly flowers were raining from the sky.

With a soft plop, a tiny sapling sprouted in the Blood Sea Divine Treasury.

The sapling shot up from the ground, and the runes that had surrounded the Celestial Body now circled around it.

That was when things took a turn: as the runes completed a circuit, the tree took a huge gulp of blood and qi.

"Good grief—"

Liu Chengfeng watched his Blood Sea shrink, as if a single breath had sucked away a tenth of it.

The runes didn't stop. With every circuit, they gulped down another mouthful of blood and qi, and the tree grew at a frantic pace. His Blood Sea dropped by another huge chunk.

Liu Chengfeng was dumbfounded as the tree grew. What dumbfounded him most was that, if it kept sucking like this, it would drain his entire Blood Sea Divine Treasury.

If every last bit of his blood and qi were drained, he would turn into a dried corpse.

After the tree sprouted in the Blood Sea Divine Treasury, the Golden Lotus Root, which had always stayed in the middle, shifted aside to make room for it.

"This thing looks familiar."

Liu Chengfeng was startled to realize that the runes circling the tree looked familiar, because the Celestial Body itself had never had anything like them.

"Damn, they came out of the Heavenly Tribulation."

Liu Chengfeng thought it over carefully. No wonder the runes looked familiar. They were the runes that the goddess had analyzed during the Heavenly Tribulation.

Back then, the Celestial Body had sucked them inside and they'd vanished. Liu Chengfeng had thought it had digested them, but they were still there after all.

Guided by the runes, the tree kept sucking Liu Chengfeng's blood and qi, one gulp at a time.

Watching his Blood Sea shrink, Liu Chengfeng grew anxious. He immediately took Blood Medicine and desperately circulated the "Mad Kui Heart Method," refining spiritual energy and strengthening his blood and qi.

No matter how Liu Chengfeng refined his blood and qi, he couldn't produce enough to satisfy the tree. After two or three months of hard training, his Blood Sea had been sucked nearly dry.

"You aren't going to go mad from cultivation, are you?"

When Nangong Renshe saw Liu Chengfeng's face turn yellow and his lips go white, he jumped in alarm.

"No. I've just lost too much blood and qi."

Liu Chengfeng couldn't explain his predicament. A tree had sprouted in his Blood Sea and was frantically sucking away his blood and qi.

If he told anyone, they wouldn't believe him. They'd think he'd been possessed by the Demonic Tree.

"Don't rush your breakthrough. Let it happen naturally, when the time is right. You've already been cultivating at an astonishing pace."

Nangong Renshe assumed Liu Chengfeng was eager to break through the Blood Sea Divine Treasury and had depleted too much blood and qi.

Even so, Nangong Renshe and the Five Elders brought Liu Chengfeng several more bottles of Blood Medicine. Liu Chengfeng was deeply grateful.

"Has a tree sprouted in your Blood Sea Divine Treasury?"

His missing martial aunt, Ye Huijian, suddenly appeared and hit the nail on the head.

"How did you know? What kind of tree is it?"

"It's called a Life Tree. It's a hidden attribute of the Blood Sea Divine Treasury. No one in the Green Meng Realm has ever managed to cultivate one."

Ye Huijian's words seemed to offend the Celestial Body. With a bang, it directly imprinted three words beside the tree: "World Tree."

"Uh, it's called the World Tree."

Liu Chengfeng relayed the name to Ye Huijian.

"World Tree—"

When Ye Huijian heard the name, she lost herself for a moment, staring at Liu Chengfeng as if he were a monster.

"Pass it on to me."

"What should I pass on to you?"

"The heart method that let you cultivate the World Tree. You can call it the Ancient Heart Method."

Ye Huijian reminded him. Liu Chengfeng looked closely and only then realized that the runes circling the World Tree really did form a heart method.

"Why should I pass it on to you? What's in it for me?"

Liu Chengfeng couldn't help eyeing his bargain-basement martial aunt.

"You dare ask your martial aunt for a reward? Are you tired of living?"

Ye Huijian ruffled his head until his hair looked like a chicken coop.

"Quit messing up my hair."

"Are you going to pass it on?"

Ye Huijian glared at him, still ruffling his hair until it became a huge chicken coop.

"If you keep messing up my hair, I'll mess up yours too."

"Where?"

Ye Huijian was instantly at a loss for words.

Liu Chengfeng glanced at her ample chest.

"You little pervert—"

Ye Huijian blushed, furious and embarrassed, and moved to teach Liu Chengfeng a lesson.

"I'll pass it on, I'll pass it on! I'll do it right now."

Frightened, Liu Chengfeng immediately surrendered. Only then did Ye Huijian finally stop.