Chapter 417 : Volume Eleven: The Impact of Emotions and Memories
Chapter 417: Volume Eleven: The Impact of Emotions and Memories
"The essence of the thirty-four Powers of Destruction is right before my eyes!"
Luo Feng carefully observed them. His greatest purpose in coming to the Abyss of Destruction was to accumulate the profound mysteries of the Path of Destruction.
Previously, he had personally experienced the attacks of those World Envoys and pondered the mysteries of the Power of Destruction on his own. However, his own deductions might not have been perfect. Now, all of the profound mysteries were displayed directly before him.
Although his accumulation in the Path of Destruction had already reached the threshold for creating the Primordial Blade Dao, the deeper his accumulation became, the smoother the process of creating the Primordial Blade Dao would be!
"Each of these thirty-four clusters of light contains all the profound mysteries of one type of Power of Destruction."
Luo Feng was somewhat astonished.
"And they encompass the Powers of Destruction from the First through the Nineteenth Layers of the Abyss of Destruction."
"Could it be... could it be that the entire Abyss of Destruction has exactly thirty-four layers?"
Luo Feng could not help but speculate, but he did not dwell on it. His attention was focused far more on these profound mysteries.
Luo Feng sat down cross-legged and patiently contemplated them.
In the blink of an eye, thirty Eras passed, and Luo Feng had completely mastered every one of these destructive mysteries.
"These veins?"
Luo Feng noticed that the light of the thirty-four clusters intertwined, forming veins that spread throughout the entire Destruction Mountain.
These veins perfectly combined the mysteries of all thirty-four Powers of Destruction, making them seem like a single unified whole.
At that moment, Luo Feng thought of the Life Core possessed by Naturally Born Primordial Lifeforms.
A Life Core used one profound mystery as its foundation while numerous others served as support, ultimately forming a complete whole.
"This resembles the Life Core path of the Destruction Direction."
Luo Feng vaguely realized something.
"Using destruction as the core while integrating numerous profound mysteries into the Life Core. Following the guidance of Destruction Mountain, it should theoretically be possible to develop all thirty-four Powers of Destruction and perfectly integrate them into a single whole."
Of course, that represented the most perfect scenario.
"This path is only suitable for Ancestors. It isn't suitable for us Cultivator Lords."
Luo Feng understood this clearly.
Ancestors were born with Life Cores within them. Their Life Cores were naturally nurtured by the Infinite Chaotic Origin Space, allowing them to contain numerous profound mysteries.
Containing dozens of profound mysteries was extremely common.
Cultivator Lords, however, had to comprehend everything themselves.
Even comprehending a single Primordial-level Path was already extraordinarily difficult.
"That makes sense."
Luo Feng fell into thought.
"Mysterious Lands can nurture certain Highest-Level Powers. But no matter how extraordinary a Mysterious Land is, it cannot nurture a Primordial-level Path."
For example, within the Mysterious Land known as the Wall of Fire Prison, twelve different Highest-Level Powers of Fire had already been discovered.
The Blood Crane Territory likewise contained the Power of Blood, the Power of Undying, and the Power of Shadow.
Without question...
Every Mysterious Land could at most nurture Highest-Level Powers.
A Path, however, was an aggregation of laws.
It had to be personally comprehended and pioneered.
Originally, there had been no Primordial-level Paths within the Infinite Chaotic Origin Space. Only after later generations pioneered them did such Paths come into existence.
As for the various powers...
They had existed innately from the very beginning.
"From this perspective, Ancestors are more compatible with Mysterious Lands. They are both born with Life Cores. Some are even born directly as Ancestors."
Luo Feng pondered.
"As for us cultivators, we are far less compatible."
"We cultivators have no Life Core. We must create our own path from nothing."
"But once we successfully pioneer a Path, we immediately become Highest-Level Lifeforms, Undying and Indestructible. And if we master two Primordial-level Paths, we immediately ascend to the absolute peak of the Infinite Chaotic Origin Space."
Luo Feng still believed that Cultivator Lords were ultimately more powerful.
Cultivators climbed upward from the very bottom, step by step, until they reached the absolute summit.
The weakest cultivators were so insignificant before Low-Rank Primordial Lifeforms that a single breath could kill countless numbers of them.
Yet the strongest cultivators could suppress every Ancestor.
Even though Star Light and Shazhou possessed similar combat strength...
Shazhou specialized almost exclusively in destruction and devastation.
Star Light, however, excelled in far more areas.
He could observe the past, present, and future.
His mastery over space-time.
The combination of all these different abilities made Star Light far superior to Shazhou.
"The fact that Destruction Mountain guided me here proves that I, a Cultivator Lord, am also qualified to become its master."
Luo Feng smiled as he stood up, bypassed the statues, and carefully explored the surroundings of Destruction Mountain.
As long as one kept a sufficient distance from the seven statues, battle would not be triggered.
"This mountain has nurtured quite a large number of weapons."
After passing around the statues, Luo Feng gradually approached Destruction Mountain. The countless weapons embedded within the mountain became increasingly conspicuous, and the scenery became clearer as well. He could vaguely make out several twisted giant trees.
Finally, Luo Feng arrived before the mountain itself.
Given Luo Feng's current level, he was completely unable to detect the slightest gap within the material composing the mountain. Various patterns carrying the essence of destruction covered its surface, naturally condensing wisps of black mist.
As an Undying and Indestructible existence, Luo Feng naturally dared to try anything.
Buzz.
Luo Feng extended a hand and touched the stone surface of Destruction Mountain.
Buzz!
The instant he touched it, endless icy killing intent instantly spread throughout Luo Feng's entire body before surging directly into his mental consciousness!
However, Luo Feng's Mental Will had already reached an extraordinarily powerful level. Even when the Annihilation Ancestor and the others had joined forces to launch soul attacks against him, they had failed to shake him.
Although this icy killing intent placed tremendous pressure upon Luo Feng's Mental Will, he endured it completely.
At that instant...
Luo Feng felt an overwhelming amount of killing intent and hatred.
Countless scenes of slaughter emerged within his mind.
They were innumerable scenes of slaughter and destruction that had occurred throughout the history of the Infinite Chaotic Origin Space, every one of them containing incomparably intense emotions.
Love.
Hatred.
Affection.
Enmity.
Even the Naturally Born Primordial Lifeforms possessed immensely powerful emotions.
Of course, the overwhelming majority of these intense emotions originated from the living beings of the Source Worlds.
Every Source World gave birth to countless forms of life.
Most of those lives were short-lived.
They endured endless disasters.
Among them, innumerable beings experienced catastrophe after catastrophe brought upon them by the Naturally Born Primordial Lifeforms.
"They destroyed everything I had! Kill! Kill! Kill!"
A cultivator charged madly toward a single strand of aura released by a World-Level Primordial Lifeform.
Merely one strand of aura descending from a World-Level Primordial Lifeform was already a catastrophe beyond the resistance of all life within that Source World.
Even its strongest experts...
Were nothing more than entertainment for that World-Level Primordial Lifeform.
"The fact that you dared raise your blade against me already shows remarkable courage."
The distorted figure formed from that strand of aura then devoured the cultivator.
"Why? Why can't we resist? Why can we only wait to die?"
Even as the cultivator died, he remained filled with unwillingness.
There were also beloved family members embracing one another as they awaited the catastrophe together.
Their love was immeasurably deep.
Their reluctance to part was overwhelming.
They truly could not bear to let go.
But what else could they do?
...
At that moment, boundless icy killing intent together with countless scenes flooded into Luo Feng's memories.
Thirty percent originated from the killing intent of the Naturally Born Primordial Lifeforms.
Seventy percent came from the killing intent of the countless cultivators from the Source Worlds.
Those cultivators carried endless hatred.
They hated the overwhelming disparity that left them powerless to resist.
They hated their own weakness.
They hated the unfairness of the Great Dao.
"I am also a cultivator."
"And I'm already considered quite powerful."
"Those World-Level Primordial Lifeforms would simply be courting death before me."
"Most Ancestors would also be forced to flee in embarrassment."
"But what can I actually do?"
Luo Feng's Mental Will could withstand the killing intent of Destruction Mountain.
Yet these scenes, containing the most intense hatred and killing intent imaginable, still deeply affected him.
Although he had previously witnessed the tragic fate of many Source Worlds outside the Cultivator Territory...
Watching them from afar and personally experiencing them were entirely different things.
Now he was personally feeling those incomparably intense emotions, as though he himself had lived through those countless scenes.
Even for a Lord, the impact was tremendous.
Unconcealed killing intent appeared within Luo Feng's eyes.
"The Naturally Born Chaotic Origin Faction, the Ice Peak Faction, and the many weaker factions—as long as they are World-Level Primordial Lifeforms or some of the weaker Ancestors among the Naturally Born Primordial Lifeforms, the Source World Origin is the finest nourishment for the growth of their Life Cores."
"If the Eight Lords attempted to protect every Source World, the resistance we would face would be far greater than it is now."
Luo Feng understood this clearly.
By that point, not only would they fail to protect the other Source Worlds...
Even the current Three Thousand Six Hundred World Clusters would likely become implicated.
"Just as Brother Yuan said, our Cultivator Faction still isn't strong enough."
Still touching the mountain surface, Luo Feng felt the killing intent and memory scenes gradually fade until they no longer assaulted his mind.
Yet once a Cultivator Lord experienced such things...
They would never forget them.
The endless killing intent, hatred, and countless scenes he had personally experienced upon touching Destruction Mountain were naturally engraved forever within Luo Feng's heart.
"This Destruction Mountain?"
Once the assault ended, Luo Feng touched the mountain again and sensed new information.
"Within Destruction Mountain, precious Destruction Fruits will condense into existence. These Destruction Fruits can cause an Ancestor's Life Core to develop further toward the Destruction Direction."
"For every statue defeated, one Destruction Fruit may be obtained. The more statues defeated, the more Destruction Fruits one receives."
"Besides being consumed to promote the growth of a Life Core, Destruction Fruits can also be exchanged for treasures nurtured by Destruction Mountain."
According to the information he received, he was qualified to take away one Destruction Fruit.
Alternatively, he could forgo the fruit and exchange it for a treasure instead.
The treasures obtainable in exchange for a single fruit...
Every single one was more precious than the Void-Splitting Blade.
They were all among the finest treasures nurtured by Destruction Mountain from its vast collection of weapons and artifacts.
Among them were suits of armor.
"One fruit can be exchanged for one item chosen from three thousand treasures."
"There is one suit of armor here that is very similar to Kafuxiu's."
Among the treasure information, Luo Feng discovered a suit of armor.
"Kafuxiu must have been one of the three who reached Destruction Mountain. Instead of consuming the fruit, he chose to exchange it for this armor."
Luo Feng pondered.
He had no Life Core.
Even if he took away a Destruction Fruit, he would merely sell it to another expert.
From the perspective of increasing his own strength, Luo Feng intended to exchange it for a suitable treasure instead.
"No rush."
"The more statues I defeat, the more Destruction Fruits I'll obtain."
"Then I can exchange them for even better treasures."
Luo Feng could sense that the Abyss of Destruction was guiding everything with the intention of cultivating an incomparably powerful existence specializing in the Destruction Direction.
Whether it was the veins displayed upon Destruction Mountain or the Destruction Fruits, both served to guide the growth of a Life Core along the Destruction Direction.
"Judging from all the clues, the three who reached Destruction Mountain should have been myself, Kafuxiu, and Shazhou."
Luo Feng reached what he believed was the most likely conclusion.
Shazhou had mastered only two Highest-Level Powers.
Yet her destructive might far surpassed that of the Infinite Serpent Ancestor and the Ice Peak Ancestor.
She currently occupied the Twenty-Seventh Layer of the Abyss of Destruction.
Luo Feng had every reason to suspect that Shazhou had once come here...
Perhaps she had even consumed Destruction Fruits.
Otherwise, why would the fusion of her two powers be so perfect?
Destruction Mountain was indeed an extraordinary opportunity.
However, it benefited Ancestors even more.
As for Luo Feng...
First, he could comprehend the mysteries of destruction.
Second, he could accumulate Destruction Fruits to exchange for sufficiently powerful weapon treasures.
Third, the seven statues themselves were excellent opponents.
If he could defeat them all...
He might even gain control over this highest-level Mysterious Land.
"The first statue already possesses strength within the top twenty of the Infinite Chaotic Origin Space."
"Let's see how powerful the second statue is."
After finishing his exploration of Destruction Mountain and finding no further gains, Luo Feng once again walked toward the seven statues.
As he drew nearer...
The Flying Beast Statue remained motionless.
Instead, the second statue—
The Nine-Headed Serpent—
Slowly awakened.
As the Nine-Headed Serpent awakened, its body expanded at an astonishing rate.
In almost the blink of an eye, its enormous body spread across the entire land upon which Destruction Mountain stood.
Its winding body coiled around the land more than once, while its nine heads stared directly at Luo Feng.
Its invisible pressure alone...
Had already surpassed that of the Infinite Serpent Ancestor!
Luo Feng frowned slightly.
"The second statue is already this powerful?"
"Could it be that Kafuxiu defeated only a single statue?"
At that moment, Luo Feng realized that the Seven Trials were far more difficult than he had originally imagined.