Chapter 1509: Absolute Twin Sovereigns

The medicinal tree had indeed sprouted. In the blink of an eye, it stood six zhang tall, its three leaves transforming into three branches amidst a surging, pervasive chaotic mist.

Faintly, chanting resonated from the treetop.

This tree was exceedingly strange; it rapidly grew to six zhang and then ceased its ascent.

Its trunk was purplish-brown, with old, cracked bark that seemed to have grown for eons, etched with the passage of time. Each palm-sized piece of bark resembled an unfurled dragon scale.

On the tree, the three branches, shrouded in a chaotic haze, seemed to be giving birth to myriad things. Its lush, purple-glowing leaves were so vibrant that each one resembled a miniature world.

The purple leaves were exceptionally unique, adorned with dewdrops. Each droplet sparkled like a star clinging to a leaf, reflecting the myriad aspects of the mortal world and the vast changes of epochs.

The six-zhang tree looked nothing like it had just sprouted; it exuded an boundless ancient aura, as if it had existed since the very beginning of the world.

All the leaves on the tree rustled without wind, glowing brightly. Shrouded in chaos and covered by purple clouds, its sacred aura was astounding.

When the leaves brushed against each other, the sound was like chanting scriptures, echoing from the era of creation.

Old Gu was stunned. He felt he would have to eat his words, for he indeed looked utterly dumbfounded, his mouth agape as if he had never witnessed such a sight.

He was utterly flabbergasted!

Old Gu believed this was utterly absurd; such things shouldn't happen. Yet, it was undeniably unfolding before his very eyes.

It was unbelievable, incredible. For a moment, he wondered if he was losing his mind, pinching himself so hard that his face twitched in pain.

With his mouth open and eyes wide, he slowly approached and touched the ancient tree. Its trunk was rough and hard, as if covered by the scales of an ancestral dragon.

The entire ancient tree was lush, its countless roots spreading out from the pot. Besides drawing nutrients from the peculiar soil, it was also absorbing the earth-vein energy from deep within the mountain.

Chu Feng closed his eyes, completely still. He was listening to the scriptures, comprehending the unique and profound sounds of the Great Dao.

Faintly, he saw countless light particles scattering and dancing across the dim earth. Was this a perception and realization born from an inner awakening?

He had only just learned some secrets of the pollen evolution path, and now he was witnessing these visions within his mind.

The chanting was mysterious and unique, echoing continuously as if someone were reciting scriptures beyond heaven and earth, above the cosmos, and outside the myriad boundless realms.

Though indistinct and blurry, it had the power to make one feel as if baptized, their very life essence ascending, bringing a profound tranquility to their entire being.

At this moment, years of confusion for Chu Feng, and many questions about evolution in his heart, seemed to find their answers.

He stood up, eyes closed, as if guided towards enlightenment, inspired to manifest the invincible Great Dao within his heart.

Beneath the great tree, Chu Feng stretched his body and unleashed his Ultimate Fist. Instantly, powerful fist imprints surged forth, like thunder and divine beings, erupting in the area and causing the mountain's interior to rumble.

The next moment, he performed the Seven Treasures Divine Art, unleashing several streams of divine light that made him appear like a celestial lord, supreme and majestic, with unparalleled divine grace.

Old Gu recoiled, gasping. The tree hadn't even flowered or borne fruit, yet Chu Feng was already achieving enlightenment?

The Heavenly Venerable level was crucial; legend had it that one could hear the breath of the heavens, comprehend the profound truths of the Great Dao from the era of creation, and resonate with the immortal.

Old Gu could see that Chu Feng was directly comprehending the Dao, as if reversing time, ascending the river of time to its source, to the primal beginning, seeking to grasp the ultimate Dao fruit.

But the pollen hadn't even appeared, nor had the fruit grown. How could he have been baptized by those unique scriptures?

Old Gu was suspicious and deeply perplexed.

He, too, heard the chanting, as if it emanated from unpredictable realms beyond, transcending the river of time and directly reaching this place.

However, he could not achieve enlightenment or perceive anything significant.

Old Gu found this great tree to be immensely uncanny, unique, and bizarre, filling him with both shock and awe.

“No, Chu Feng, wake up! You’ve strayed onto a dangerous path, you’re losing your mind, your physical body is rotting!” Old Gu shouted.

Beneath the great tree, Chu Feng’s fist imprints were unparalleled, and his body glowed. Yet, a terrible problem arose: his entire body began to rot, his flesh and blood emitting a putrid stench, threatening to slough off completely.

This sight was extremely terrifying!

Old Gu knew precisely what this meant: when one hundred quasi-Heavenly Venerables attempted to advance, ninety-nine would fail and perish miserably.

Rotting was one of the most terrifying phenomena; it was an inevitable calamity encountered in the later stages of the pollen evolution path.

Generally, once this situation occurred, it was almost irreversible unless one possessed a special, life-saving immortal medicine.

Old Gu himself had faced this problem, though his case was not severe—just a slight rot that he had grimly endured.

Now, Chu Feng seemed critically ill; his entire body was festering, flesh and blood separating and sloughing off, and the stench of decay was overwhelmingly potent.

Even though his fist imprints still shone brilliantly, emitting auspicious light, his body was so ominous, more severe than a ten-thousand-year-old decaying corpse.

Yet, despite Old Gu’s frantic shouts, Chu Feng remained unresponsive, as if completely unaware. He continued to operate his various secret techniques, manifesting his Dao.

Eventually, he even began practicing the Seven Deaths Body technique.

“Heh heh…” A spine-chilling, cold, and sinister laugh echoed, making one feel as if plunged into an ice cellar.

The gray creature broke free and was now closing in on Chu Feng, ready to pounce!

Old Gu grew anxious; this creature interfering at such a critical moment made the consequences even more unimaginable.

He was holding the stone jar's lid and slapped it directly at the creature. The gray creature, initially fearless of Old Gu, instantly showed dread upon recognizing it as part of the jar, and lunged even more ferociously towards Chu Feng.

“You stay right there!” Old Gu raged.

However, before Old Gu could act, Chu Feng, though with closed eyes and immersed in evolving his Dao within his inner world, seemed to sense the danger and moved on his own.

Five streams of divine light erupted from his back, sweeping the gray creature towards him in an instant. He seized it in his hand and then pierced it with a punch, nearly killing it!

The gray creature shrieked miserably as a small portion of its body disintegrated into gray matter, which was then absorbed and completely refined by Chu Feng's decaying body.

Chu Feng then threw it to the ground, pinning it with his foot, and once again immersed himself in a special state, evolving his techniques.

Old Gu was dumbfounded. He yelled, “You’re dying! Your flesh is sloughing off! Wake up!”

Indeed, Chu Feng’s condition had deteriorated. Large portions of his flesh were sloughing off, and the pervasive stench of decay grew even stronger.

Suddenly, Chu Feng opened his eyes. He awoke from that wondrous enlightenment, and upon seeing his sloughing flesh and decaying body, his expression naturally changed.

The pollen evolution path was indeed terrifying; there was absolutely no room for luck. Walking step by step, one would inevitably face a death calamity in the end.

This path became increasingly perilous in its later stages, nearly costing every practitioner their life!

This was also why ultimate beings were so rare throughout an epoch.

Even Great Cosmos-level beings, in the end, could not escape death, as it was exceedingly difficult to survive the initial stages; they would eventually decay, degenerate, and perish before reaching the mid-to-late stages.

Chu Feng looked down at his hand; his flesh had sloughed off, revealing glistening white finger bones. Yet, he felt no pain, and when he wielded his fist, its radiant power remained peerless.

What was this? Was he about to die? To decay into dust, unconsciously and without pain?

Chu Feng felt the crisis. Many predecessors throughout history had perished this way, simply unable to endure it.

Especially for someone like him, who had advanced rapidly without sufficient accumulation, he would eventually face a reckoning. This path seemed cursed!

Now, he had the distinct feeling that this path was broken, a major problem had emerged, and he seemed to be cursed.

“Cursed by what?!”

“Who can curse this evolution path? Who can take my life?!”

Unwilling, Chu Feng looked up at the sky. In that instant, his expression became terrifying; half of his formerly handsome face had rotted and peeled away, leaving only bare bone.

His body blazed with sacred flames, and the small gray millstone within him spun frantically. Yet, it was all futile; he continued to decay.

The next moment, he began to inscribe the golden runes from the stone jar, but it made no difference.

This seemed like an inherent cause of evolution, unavoidable and unstoppable by external forces. His body, and even his soul light, appeared to be rotting away.

At this moment, Chu Feng opened his palm, discovering that even his pristine white bones had begun to dim, showing signs of decay.

“I refuse to believe I’ll die! I’ve never been defeated in my domain. This is merely a degenerative decay at my current realm—it’s nothing! Begone!”

Chu Feng roared, his body glowing. Even with most of his flesh gone, he stood tall, fearless, still wielding his fist imprints.

Gradually, he calmed. Regardless of his body’s decay, he focused on comprehending the process of evolution.

Amidst the chanting, sixty to seventy percent of his flesh had sloughed off, a terrifying and gruesome sight. Yet, Chu Feng’s heart grew increasingly peaceful and serene.

Unifying insight and action, he had once told Yu Shang that he feared no decay, and that the so-called “unspeakable” was merely an inevitable tribulation in the Great Cosmos’s evolutionary process.

Had even he wavered just now?

Now, he was fearless. If death came, so be it; if not, he would emerge stronger. He was now comprehending this process, utterly unafraid of the decaying path to death.

Indeed, with this shift in mindset, letting go of attachment to gain or loss, he plunged deeper into enlightenment, comprehending the Dao.

The chanting emanating from the tree seemed like tangible runes, showering down and causing Chu Feng to further degenerate. Eventually, eighty percent of his body had rotted and sloughed off.

Even his bones were about to decay, losing their glistening white luster.

However, the further the process went, the weaker this deterioration became. It gradually halted, unable to progress further.

“Evolution, discarding the dross and preserving the essence, forgetting life and death, letting go of attachment to gain or loss—does this make it safer?!” Old Gu was profoundly shaken.

For he discovered that Chu Feng had halted his decline. Not only that, but flesh began to regenerate on his body, and his bones clanged, becoming even more glistening white and robust.

But how many people, at this juncture, could remain composed and fearless? Witnessing their own decay, over ninety percent would go mad and struggle against it.

Even if one managed to stay calm, how many could truly endure it and succeed?

Old Gu’s gaze toward Chu Feng changed. This demon possessed remarkable talent, and his body’s resistance was terrifyingly potent, actually withstanding the tribulation of decay!

Old Gu wondered if Chu Feng could truly succeed and reach the very end, should he embark on the Great Cosmos path.

It was well-known that throughout history, no Great Cosmos-level being seemed to have survived to the very end; they all met tragic ends, unable to withstand the various horrifying mutations.

Of course, Chu Feng’s current decay was far from comparable to that of a Great Cosmos-level being. Furthermore, the Great Cosmos path involved not just decay, but various other unimaginable tribulations.

Eventually, his flesh and blood regenerated, and he gradually recovered completely.

Meanwhile, on the great tree, a flower bud began to grow, and all the chanting sounds seemed to transform into tangible runes, converging upon it.

The purple leaves shimmered, and amidst them, a pristine white flower bud, as large as a sea bowl, suddenly bloomed with a soft pop.

Old Gu watched, stunned from afar. This medicinal tree was utterly mysterious; growing instantly and blooming in a flash was simply unimaginable. Such a herb had never even been heard of in prehistoric times.

The next moment, the massive, pristine white medicinal flower swayed, pouring down vast clouds of white mist that enveloped Chu Feng, its fragrance intoxicating.

Instantly, all of Chu Feng’s pores opened, and a sense of profound comfort enveloped him. He felt as if he was lifting off the ground, poised to ascend and drift weightlessly.

He was engulfed by light particles, his entire being nourished.

The two Dao fruits within him were both sublimating and transforming, undergoing a complete evolution.

Chu Feng’s physical body grew stronger, and his spirit expanded vigorously, becoming increasingly extraordinary. He could feel his own strength surging.

Boom!

His body trembled violently; he had broken through his realm, entering a higher domain!

With both Dao fruits advancing simultaneously, Chu Feng’s physical attributes improved comprehensively, and his power surged. A powerful gust of wind erupted, making Old Gu stumble backward a considerable distance, unable to stand against the overwhelming aura!

At this very moment, Chu Feng’s body underwent another sinister transformation. Unexplained, bizarre patterns spread across his entire form, like iron chains, threatening to bind and strangle him!

Ultimately, Old Gu was shocked, for he distinctly heard the cold, deafening clang of iron chains.

The patterns emerging on Chu Feng’s body were like real iron chains, tightening increasingly, binding even his soul, intent on completely strangling it!

“Is there any justice left in this world? To face such a deadly calamity and bizarre transformation at only the Heavenly Venerable realm—it’s terrifying!” Old Gu fretted, utterly helpless.

It was an internal cause, a problem inherent to the evolver themselves, possibly due to insufficient accumulation, overly rapid evolution, or perhaps having inadvertently attracted something ominous.

Chu Feng remained unfazed, neither joyful nor sorrowful, as he continued to perform his martial arts, demonstrating all his knowledge. Operating the Daoist Breathing Technique, white mist billowed from his mouth and nose.

He was attempting to integrate all his profound techniques and fist scriptures, truly making them his own.

At this moment, he feared neither life nor death, nor degeneration. Although his body eventually showed renewed signs of decay, and the iron chains tightened relentlessly, he was simultaneously growing stronger.

His body erupted with dazzling light, forcefully shattering the iron chain patterns on him. His physical form became flawless, his soul pure, and those bizarre patterns vanished completely.

On the ground, the gray creature, pinned into the mud by Chu Feng, was terrified. It trembled, hardly daring to believe that this man could even erase such intricate patterns.

In its view, these patterns were the strangest of the strange; once they appeared, anyone afflicted would surely rot. If they didn’t become a corpse servant, they would perish.

The gray creature recognized that these were the auras emanated by its ancestral beings. And since something had happened at Soul River not long ago, it wondered if this person had been there and become tainted.

Chu Feng was transforming, his body becoming flawless and increasingly radiant, more brilliant than the sun. A mere clench of his fist caused the void to collapse, demonstrating his unparalleled might.

“Is he going to succeed?” Old Gu was surprised.

Chu Feng’s heart was serene. Both Dao fruits had advanced simultaneously this time, and he was still considering finding an opportunity to let the other Dao fruit be influenced by the aura of the Great Netherworld.

However, he couldn't dwell on that now; he would consider it later if the opportunity arose to enter the Great Netherworld.

Rumble!

His body glowed, his soul shimmered, and a cascade of light particles rained down around him, as if a long-lost scene was reappearing, enveloping him completely.

This was an ancient path, a broken path, an evolutionary branch that had vanished for endless ages, now re-emerging!

“Peerless Dual Venerable!”

Old Gu murmured softly. He didn't need to think much; merely witnessing this phenomenon, he knew Chu Feng's evolution was incredibly perfect, a complete success. Who could possibly be his match in this realm now?!

Three Sect Masters