In the end, Chu Feng successfully crossed that mountain of blades — but by now, he no longer looked human.
He was more like a walking corpse.
"Chu Feng, if you can't take it, turn back. There's still time."
"But if you step into that sea of fire, you'll be in real danger."
Looking at Chu Feng — his flesh ground to a pulp, nothing but a skeleton left, yet still standing — the Golden Crane True Immortal couldn't help but speak up, urging him to stop.
However, whether Chu Feng couldn't hear or simply chose not to answer, he dragged his ravaged body forward and resolutely stepped into the sea of fire.
Chu Feng's tiny frame, set against that boundless inferno, looked pitifully small.
The moment he entered, the flames swallowed him whole, as though he had plunged into a vast ocean — vanishing without a trace.
Only this was no ordinary sea. It was a roiling expanse of fire, its heatwaves churning and flames surging in great rolling waves.
Most critically, once Chu Feng entered that sea of fire, even the Golden Crane True Immortal's power was not enough to see him.
"This sea of fire is no simple thing — it's nothing at all like what it appears on the surface. I wonder whether Chu Feng can survive this trial." A voice came from behind — the cloth-robed old monk.
The cloth-robed old monk had in fact been present the entire time. He simply hadn't revealed his true form, so Chu Feng had no idea that this elder had also been by his side, watching everything unfold.
"I just hope he'll be all right. Otherwise… for a talent like this to fall because of me — my conscience would never let me rest." The Golden Crane True Immortal sighed.
The cloth-robed old monk said nothing more. A man who was always serene and composed, even his eyes now held a faint, unmistakable trace of worry.
Naturally, he didn't want anything to happen to Chu Feng either.
Time trickled by, one agonizing moment at a time — but for these two great figures, the minutes crawled, slow and excruciating.
They were both restless, fidgeting in their seats. Very few things in this world could make them this uneasy — but this was, after all, a matter of Chu Feng's life and death. How could they not be worried?
Rumble—
Suddenly, a series of strange sounds echoed out from within the mountain of blades and sea of fire.
Before long, the mountain of blades began to sink, the sea of fire dissipated in tandem, and the ground that had collapsed earlier restored itself.
The mountain of blades was gone. The sea of fire had vanished. But that figure was still there — it was Chu Feng.
"It's Chu Feng. He made it."
Seeing Chu Feng now, the Golden Crane True Immortal and the cloth-robed old monk felt a mixture of joy and heartache.
The joy was because Chu Feng now stood at the far end of where the sea of fire had been — proof that he had successfully crossed it.
It was precisely because he succeeded that the sea of fire and the mountain of blades had disappeared.
The heartache was, of course, because the Chu Feng standing before them was utterly unrecognizable.
Not only was all his flesh gone, leaving nothing but a skeleton — even that remaining skeleton was pitch-black, with heat still rising from its surface.
Fortunately, he was, after all, a Martial Ancestor-level cultivator. Even with his cultivation sealed, the foundation of a Martial Ancestor remained.
Otherwise, with no protection whatsoever, walking through that sea of fire would have reduced him to ash long ago — he would never have made it out.
But even though Chu Feng had emerged, the sight of him — swaying on his feet, each step a tremendous struggle — made it abundantly clear just how much agony he had endured.
Chu Feng's cultivation was bound, so he had lost the ability to fly. He couldn't simply soar to the mountain's peak; he could only climb, one grueling step at a time.
Still, the worst was over. The mountain of blades and the sea of fire had passed. Though Chu Feng was grievously wounded, his iron willpower allowed him to keep going.
He didn't know how long it took, but eventually Chu Feng finally reached the summit of the peak.
"Heh…"
A bitter laugh escaped him. He had long since lost his throat, his tongue, his heart, liver, spleen, and lungs — and yet he could still speak.
The voice came from his formidable Mental Power.
After all, Chu Feng was a martial cultivator, one who had painstakingly advanced to the realm of Martial Ancestor.
Even with his cultivation sealed and his power locked away, certain things simply could not be sealed — such as his virtually indestructible bones and his soul.