"I..."
"Have I... reached the very top?"
"It was actually this simple?"
Chu Feng arrived at this place and at first found it hard to believe. After confirming several times, he finally became certain that he had truly reached the very top of the Snow Domain Heavenly Peak.
Standing at the summit, he could no longer see what lay below. All he could make out was a sea of clouds drifting beneath the mountain.
But clouds existed not only below the peak — they filled the sky above it as well.
Except those were not white clouds. They were dark, ominous ones.
The dark clouds blanketed the sky like a barrier, sealing off the entire heavens.
Those clouds were particularly eerie. As they churned and rolled, they already felt oppressive enough, but within them, bolts of purple lightning surged.
The sight was immense and utterly terrifying.
That was the great tribulation that struck the Crouching Dragon Martial Sect once every ten years.
The tribulation still lingered, and no one had been able to resolve it.
Perhaps because the Heavenly Peak was so tall and Chu Feng was closer to the tribulation, he could feel its terror more clearly.
But Chu Feng did not observe the tribulation for long.
That was not something he needed to worry about, nor something he could solve.
Presumably, only the Sect Master of the Crouching Dragon Martial Sect could put an end to this great tribulation.
Chu Feng immediately sat cross-legged, because at that moment, waves of invisible force from the Heavenly Peak were automatically surging into his entire body, then converging in his brain.
Chu Feng felt his mind grow much sharper than usual, his thoughts clearer, and his comprehension rising in tandem.
Even the strength of every aspect of his body was being enhanced.
Chu Feng at this moment felt as though he had taken a forbidden drug, but the effect was far more powerful than any such substance.
In fact, it was an effect that no forbidden drug could ever provide.
Chu Feng knew this was the power of the Snow Domain Heavenly Peak.
He could not help but marvel once again at the incredible prowess of the Crouching Dragon Martial Sect's founding ancestor.
Many cultivation sanctuaries existed by harnessing the natural forces of heaven and earth.
But this place was different — this was entirely man-made.
It was a cultivation ground left behind by the Crouching Dragon Martial Sect's founding ancestor through sheer individual power.
Marveling was one thing, but Chu Feng did not dare waste any time.
He needed to harness this power to break through the Crouching Dragon Soul Armor.
More and more people had their eyes on him now.
Chu Feng believed that Xia Ran was merely a minor player.
In the future, as Chu Feng's reputation soared, even more people who feared being surpassed by him would emerge to suppress him and make things difficult for him.
They might even plot against him in the shadows.
Both overt schemes and covert conspiracies would come his way.
What Chu Feng needed now was not merely to restore his strength, but to rapidly increase it.
Only by making himself stronger could he protect himself.
If he couldn't even protect himself here, then on what grounds could he restore Zi Ling's freedom?
However, this time Chu Feng was fortunate — he had fortune's favor.
The Crouching Dragon Soul Armor, which had previously seemed utterly impenetrable, was no longer so difficult to break through.
Chu Feng at this moment felt as though he had divine assistance — everything became easy.
In just three short hours, the first soul, the second soul, the third soul, and the Earth Soul were broken through one after another.
Chu Feng's cultivation began to recover steadily from the second rank of Supreme.
Third rank, fourth rank, sixth rank.
His cultivation had risen back to the sixth rank of Supreme.
It was fully restored.
Although the Spirit Gate still could not be opened, at least Chu Feng had recovered his true cultivation.
Though it was only the sixth rank of Supreme, with the addition of the Thunder Mark, Thunder Armor, and the Four Symbols Divine Body's power, even a ninth-rank Supreme meant nothing to Chu Feng.
It was precisely with the cultivation of a sixth-rank Supreme that Chu Feng had claimed his position as the strongest of the younger generation in the Holy Light Galaxy.
However, Chu Feng had no intention of stopping there.
He naturally wanted to press his advantage.
He wanted to use the power of the Snow Domain Heavenly Peak to attempt breaking through the fourth soul.
If the fourth soul could also be broken through, Chu Feng's cultivation would rise to the seventh rank of Supreme.
If after breaking the fourth soul, Chu Feng could truly step into the seventh rank of Supreme, then he would have grasped the pattern of the Crouching Dragon Soul Armor.
If this continued, when the Crouching Dragon Soul Armor was finally broken through completely, his cultivation might reach the second rank of Martial Venerable.
The Martial Venerable realm — that had previously seemed a distant goal for Chu Feng — for the first time, he felt it was right within his grasp.
Next, Chu Feng persevered for over an hour more.
But he still failed. The Earth Soul seemed to be his limit.
Even with the power of the Snow Domain Heavenly Peak boosting him, in his current state, he could not break through the fourth soul.
But even so, Chu Feng was content.