Chapter 123: Severing Seventy-Two Knives

Luo Feng completely slew the Northern Yu Great Saint using the Lie Yuan Technique; the Dark Hall of the Yanfeng Guild immediately confirmed the complete severance of Northern Yu Great Saint's karmic thread and promptly notified all key guests of his death.

"Northern Yu Great Saint was utterly slain?"

"A top-tier Chaos Realm expert, cultivating the Path of Life's Origin. Though his combat prowess is inferior, his survival ability is extremely strong."

"Who could utterly kill him?"

"Some top-tier ancient Divine Kings of the Origin Continent? Those beings each hold exalted status and rarely bully the weak. Northern Yu Great Saint was also extremely cautious, never daring to provoke them—so what exactly happened?"

The death of the Northern Yu Great Saint attracted attention from many powerful beings on the Origin Continent, and some were even startled.

They feared this terrifying being might come after them. After all, most Chaos Realm experts lacked the survival ability Northern Yu Great Saint possessed.

"The Northern Yu Great Saint may have encountered a terrifying foe and immediately chosen reincarnation." Some powerful beings speculated he was still alive, merely reincarnated—this was common; when facing an unstoppable enemy, one must decisively reincarnate.

…

Luo Feng's divine force avatar in Chu Capital also received this critical intelligence from the Yanfeng Guild's Dark Hall; given his current status, he naturally subscribed long-term to vital intelligence from the Origin Continent.

"This intelligence only records the death of the Northern Yu Great Saint—why did he die? Who killed him? Nothing is known!" Luo Feng found it somewhat amusing as he traversed the void on his return.

When he acted, only the cultivators of that ordinary city were present; at Luo Feng's realm, even if he stood before them, those ordinary cultivators could not see him.

Thus, only Northern Yu Great Saint knew Luo Feng had acted. Luo Feng merely glanced at Northern Yu Great Saint—and under the Lie Yuan Technique, Northern Yu Great Saint died instantly. He had no chance to activate his reincarnation technique, let alone send out a message.

Huh!

Although Luo Feng's evasion and void traversal techniques were extremely fast, returning from the Tianji Ice Plain to the Chu Capital of the Yanfeng Ancient Nation still took approximately six hours.

…

Hou Fu of Di Chu Yu.

"I handed a pile of troublesome tasks to Luo He Brother, and he chose the Northern Yu Great Saint mission—just took it, and now Northern Yu Great Saint is dead?" Di Chu Yu was puzzled. "According to the Thousand Stars Battle, Luo He Brother's physical body is immensely strong, easily sweeping aside peak Chaos Realm experts. But even the strongest body… cannot utterly kill a Chaos Realm expert."

Northern Yu Great Saint had no shortage of survival techniques.

"It seems his formidable physical body is merely his surface ability. He hides lethal techniques capable of utterly slaying a top-tier Chaos Realm expert." Di Chu Yu speculated, his eyes brightening. "What is Luo He Brother's true origin? Could he really be a reincarnated Divine King?"

If he were a reincarnated Divine King, hiding unknown techniques would be perfectly normal.

Suddenly, Di Chu Yu saw a figure arrive above the Hou Fu.

"Luo He Brother." Di Chu Yu immediately stepped forward to greet him; Luo Feng descended.

"Mission completed." Luo Feng smiled faintly.

Di Chu Yu sighed. "I never expected Luo He Brother possesses such a technique to utterly slay a top-tier Chaos Realm expert. Back when you fought five at once, you clearly held back."

Luo Feng smiled.

On one hand, those five were all peak Chaos Realm experts—whether he could kill them with the Lie Yuan Technique was uncertain. Moreover, two of them were First-Rank Marquises… killing a royal eternal true god invites a bounty; killing a royal First-Rank Marquis? He'd be dead before he even finished striking.

On the other hand, in Chu Capital, he still needed to remain discreet.

"Now that the mission is complete, what proof is required?" Luo Feng asked.

"This mission hasn't been claimed in a long time. You just took it, and Northern Yu Great Saint died—this alone counts as partial proof. If you have his corpse or weapon, present it and I'll record it. If not, you may submit a recorded memory of the killing." Di Chu Yu said.

Luo Feng flipped his hand and produced Northern Yu Great Saint's famous double-bladed axe.

Di Chu Yu glanced at it and nodded. "Good. I've submitted the mission. Your merit reward should be issued soon."

Luo Feng nodded. "Keep my mission confidential."

Di Chu Yu understood and nodded. "Rest assured. Your mission is under my direct responsibility—I submitted it through the spirit of Di Chu Palace! Only the Emperor Ancestor can know; no one outside will learn of it."

Luo Feng nodded. He had no need to publicize his ability to utterly slay a top-tier Chaos Realm expert—he must conceal this killing technique as much as possible.

"Hm?" Luo Feng's guest token received a message: ten thousand merit points awarded.

"Merit is sufficient—I can now exchange for the first volume of the 'Severing Seventy-Two Knives,' the Destruction Origin Path." Luo Feng's heart burned; he had long coveted two legacies, and last time he'd only claimed one.

Luo Feng immediately bid farewell to Di Chu Yu and headed straight for Di Chu Palace to claim the long-awaited legacy.

…

Inside the Legacy Hall of Di Chu Palace.

"Guest Luo He, are you certain you wish to exchange for the first volume of 'Severing Seventy-Two Knives'?" The spirit-old man of Di Chu Palace regarded Luo Feng.

"Certain." Luo Feng nodded.

The spirit-old man gave a slight nod, then vanished. The Legacy Hall plunged into chaos, leaving only a dim glow enveloping Luo Feng as torrents of legacy information flooded into his mind.

Luo Feng's consciousness rapidly absorbed the vast information, comprehending the true nature of this legacy.

"This…" Luo Feng was stunned. He had only known basic details before, but now, facing the true legacy, he was still awed.

The first trial of the Eight Trials of Lifeform involved the three branches of Life Origin Path: Life Spirit, Life Body, and Life Source—all three had to be perfected before training the first trial.

Yet the first volume of 'Severing Seventy-Two Knives' contained only two branches of Destruction Origin Path: the 'Sky-Splitting Line' and the 'Dark Sky Line.' Only two branches, yet this first volume required ninety thousand merit points—just slightly less than the one hundred thousand needed for the first trial of the Eight Trials of Lifeform.

Moreover, 'Severing Seventy-Two Knives' offered almost no survival ability—so why was it so expensive?

"Too powerful." Luo Feng finally understood how terrifying a path focused purely on killing and destruction could be.

On this path, survival was unnecessary—because if you killed your enemy, you were no longer threatened.

His own blade techniques were like a child swinging a twig—infinitely inferior to the first volume of 'Severing Seventy-Two Knives.'

"Sky-Splitting Blade Technique, three forms…" In the legacy information, Luo Feng saw those three slashes—each blade light was inwardly contained, appearing weak. Yet even this ordinary slash could effortlessly sever all things, even cut through the operation of cosmic laws.

Whoosh!

A simple slash cut through everything—even the thick, mysterious membrane of the world itself split open.

"I unleashed hundreds of billions of units of transformation technique power—its might was incalculable—yet it couldn't budge the world membrane even slightly. According to what I know, even some ancient Divine Kings cannot break this cage-like membrane." Luo Feng stared at this ordinary slash in the legacy information.

This slash had little raw power—but it cut through everything without exception!

As if all things must be severed!

Even the world membrane would be split open!

"Before such a slash, even the world membrane is cleaved—how many divine bodies could withstand it?" Luo Feng thought, and this was merely the Sky-Splitting Blade Technique.

!.

"Boom!"

Luo Feng also saw the blade light of the Dark Sky Line in the legacy—it was even more inwardly contained than the Sky-Splitting Blade Technique, and this containment made Luo Feng's heart tremble.

"Dark Sky Blade Technique is the extreme condensation of power—condensed beyond ten million or even a hundred million times a normal Chaos Realm expert's."

The Dark Sky Line was pure power concentration.

The same amount of power, condensed ten million or a hundred million times…

Whoosh.

An ordinary blade light, swung, could destroy all things—before it, the cage-like membrane trembled, as if ready to rupture.

"Dark Sky Blade Technique has little raw power, yet because it's condensed to the extreme… its destructive force far exceeds mine." Luo Feng wasn't surprised—after all, only those who perfected the Dark Sky Line could hope to master the three forms of Dark Sky Blade Technique.

To perfect the Dark Sky Line is to become a Divine King.

A Divine King's destructive blade techniques naturally surpass his own.

"Merging the three forms of Sky-Splitting Blade Technique and the three forms of Dark Sky Blade Technique…" Luo Feng saw the core of this legacy.

To fuse the 'condensation' of Dark Sky Blade Technique with the 'unstoppable severance' of Sky-Splitting Blade Technique into one.

The blade light, condensed to its extreme, easily cleaved a vast gap in the world membrane—its power was cataclysmic. Luo Feng felt that even his own immensely strong body would be annihilated before such a blade light.

"This is only the first volume—the first three knives of 'Severing Seventy-Two Knives.'" Luo Feng thought.

As the first volume, the creator of the technique also explained its intent.

The technique pursued transcendence beyond the cage—limitless, ultimate destructive power, unimpeded severance, even seeking to cut through all governing rules.

"Such terrifying obsession." Merely encountering the legacy, Luo Feng sensed the obsession embedded within the technique's creator.

Sever!

Sever everything!

Even everything beyond the cage—sever it too!

'Severing Seventy-Two Knives' was merely the strongest technique the creator left behind when he passed on his legacy—he still sought even stronger blades, to sever even greater targets.

…

In Di Chu Palace, the Emperor was observing Luo Feng.

"He can utterly kill a top-tier Chaos Realm expert—could he be a reincarnated Divine King?" the Emperor mused. "Regardless of origin, all life born in this Source World can be cultivated."

The two ancient nations possessed the magnanimity to embrace all life within the Source World—even peak World Beasts were tolerated, though those uncontrollable, wantonly destructive World Beasts were beyond their patience.

"In strength, I am inferior to Di Qing. Outside the Two Primordials, Di Qing is the strongest on the Origin Continent—I cannot match him."

"But in cultivating disciples, I may not be worse than him."

The Emperor still felt a twinge of resentment.

Among the Thirteen Royal Bloodlines, Di Qing had fifteen direct disciples: six Divine Kings, eight Chaos Realm Transcendents, and one peak Chaos Realm expert. Moreover, Di Qing's six Divine Kings each had many disciples—two of whom became Divine Kings themselves.

Clearly, Di Qing's lineage was immensely powerful.

"I currently have only two disciples: one Chaos Realm Transcendent and one peak Chaos Realm expert." The Emperor thought.

He was inferior to Di Qing; his disciples were inferior too.

"This Luo He might be a reincarnated Divine King—if I take him as my direct disciple, won't I have a Divine King disciple?" The Emperor thought, watching Luo Feng receive the legacy. "Of the two legacies he chose as a guest, I don't understand the Life Origin Path—but the Destruction Origin Path? I cultivate the Destruction Origin Path myself!"

The Emperor was quite satisfied. "He truly should be my disciple."

"Yet the two legacies he chose aren't based on Hunyuan substances or Hunyuan bloodlines—they're Dao-seeker legacies. Dao-seeker legacies require no external aid; they pursue forging one's own Dao. This path is powerful, yet extremely difficult." The Emperor mused. "I must think—what should I prepare for my third disciple?"

The Emperor began to ponder.

Among the Thirteen Royal Bloodlines, it was customary for Emperors to bestow weapons and resources upon their disciples.

(End of Chapter)