After opening his eyes, Chu Feng rubbed his slightly throbbing head and then surveyed his surroundings.
The scenery was rather terrifying. The ground was riddled with cracks, and beneath him lay a semicircular pit — not particularly large, but oddly shaped.
Clearly, this place had suffered deliberate destruction at the hands of a martial cultivator. Nothing less could have produced such devastating force.
Chu Feng's current level of strength afforded him extremely keen vision capable of perceiving things from a great distance. Yet as far as his gaze could reach, the land looked the same — devastated and scarred — which only confirmed how wide a range the destruction had covered.
What was stranger still was that this place emanated a type of bone-deep chill that defied description.
The cold wasn't piercing, but it clearly had no business being in this region.
"I'm still alive?"
Chu Feng was somewhat surprised. Despite how eerie the surroundings were, the blue sky and white clouds overhead, along with the crisp chirping of birds, told him that this should be the Hundred Refinements Ordinary World.
After all, it was daytime, and everything was vividly clear.
"Eggy, are you alright?" Chu Feng asked.
Though he himself seemed fine, he was deeply worried about whether the Queen had emerged unscathed as well. After all, the damage the Soul-Devouring Sword had inflicted previously had been nearly unbearable for Chu Feng — something he had been powerless to resist. Under such circumstances, he could not be sure whether the Queen had been affected as well.
"Chu Feng, I'm fine. How about you?" came Eggy's concerned voice.
Her tone confirmed that the Queen was indeed unharmed, though her voice was thick with worry.
"I'm fine too. Strangely enough, I feel completely at ease — not the slightest hint of pain. It's nothing like what the backlash usually leaves me with," Chu Feng said.
He had endured the agony of the Evil God Sword's backlash more than once, so normally even after the worst of it subsided, some residual aches would linger and require time to fade completely.
Feeling this comfortable — practically like nothing had happened at all — was utterly unprecedented.
"As long as you're fine, that's what matters," the Queen said.
"Mm." Chu Feng rose to his feet and took a careful look around. Upon closer inspection, a flicker of tension crossed his eyes. "What did the Evil God Sword do with my body?"
The scenery around him filled him with unease. Everything was deathly still, and judging from what he could see, the scale of destruction likely extended far beyond what lay within his line of sight.
Such destructive power sent a chill of alarm through Chu Feng's heart.
In his estimation, this was almost certainly the work of the Evil God Sword.
All the signs pointed to the same conclusion: after seizing control of his body, the Evil God Sword had gone on a rampage of destruction.
The entire Hundred Refinements Ordinary World may well have suffered, because the Evil God Sword was certainly capable of that kind of devastation.
"Chu Feng, in my opinion, the Evil God Sword wouldn't break its promise to you. Since even you came out of this unscathed, your friends should be fine as well," the Queen said.
She understood exactly what Chu Feng was most worried about — naturally, it was the safety of his friends.
"I hope so," Chu Feng murmured, his mind full of doubts.
For one thing, he couldn't be certain whether his friends were still alive, because… he didn't particularly trust the Evil God Sword.
Handing his body over to it that day had been a last resort — nothing more.
But what puzzled Chu Feng even more at this moment was that the Evil God Sword had clearly taken complete control of his body. So why had it returned his body to him now? It had gone to such great lengths to seize possession of him — it shouldn't have given him back so easily.
The situation defied logic.
At that moment, Chu Feng turned his gaze toward the Evil God Sword, lying not far away.
Seeing the sword again made Chu Feng afraid. He didn't even dare pick it up.
He wasn't sure whether picking it up again would result in the sword seizing control of his body once more.
Only after witnessing the true release of the Evil God Sword's power had Chu Feng understood just how terrifying this demonic weapon he carried truly was.
But after a moment of hesitation, Chu Feng still reached out and gripped the Evil God Sword in his hand.
"No abnormalities — same as before. This is so strange…"
Chu Feng grew even more confused. The Evil God Sword was exactly the same as before this incident, still within the range of what he could control.
But logically speaking, it shouldn't be this simple.
Suddenly, a flash of resolve crossed Chu Feng's eyes. At the same time, his grip on the Evil God Sword tightened.
"Chu Feng, what are you doing? Don't do anything reckless!" the Queen cried out in alarm.
She sensed that something was wrong. She had a feeling Chu Feng was about to do something extremely dangerous.
"I'll find out what's going on by asking it myself," Chu Feng said.
Hum—
As he spoke, Chu Feng began channeling his power directly into the Evil God Sword.
The next instant, a crimson aura surged forth from the sword. Overhead, layer upon layer of dense blood-red qi blanketed the sky.
The aura spread like clouds of blood, stretching for miles, obscuring everything Chu Feng could see.
It was eerie. It was terrifying. It was like the arrival of the end of days, filling the heart with dread.
Chu Feng had truly drawn upon the power of the Evil God Sword.