Chapter 228: Sinking and Awakening

The leather clothing was incinerated, the Giant Fork snapped, and the skin and flesh all over her body began to char and peel away under the scorching of the electric light.

Feng Feiyi was bathed in churning, terrifying lightning plasma; every step forward required a heavy price.

Having rushed only a few zhang into the Tribulation Lightning, her entire person was unrecognizable, her flesh and blood scorched away; one could only see a humanoid light shadow flickering with blinding golden light, still struggling forward within it.

Ten zhang... twenty zhang... thirty zhang...

There was no longer any intact muscle on Feng Feiyi's body, with bone exposed in most places; inside her chest, her exposed heart was still beating powerfully, but the lightning light coiling and churning upon it was burning it away layer by layer into flying ash that drifted off.

Strands of red Ancient Rune light flickered into appearance from her muscles and bones under the scorching of the lightning, only to shatter and vanish within the lightning light.

This was the Divine Pattern hidden within her body being crushed by the Heavenly Tribulation.

However, ever since Xu Chen had activated different clan patterns for her, she had never sensed the existence of Divine Patterns, and thus had not activated any Divine Pattern Battle Technique.

Her eyes had already been blinded by the lightning light.

But she could still rely on the clan pattern between her brows to sense that deep within the electric light was the very person she most wanted to recall.

And that person's aura was growing weaker and weaker; she was almost unable to catch up.

Ahead, a massive black Shell stood at the center where the lightning light was most intense.

The entire Shell was enveloped in thick golden lightning plasma, and as it opened and closed slightly, a large amount of electric light was swallowed into it, emitting a sound like rumbling thunder.

Wrapped in blinding lightning plasma light, Feng Feiyi stumbled and ran forward with all her might.

One leg was already lost, and soon, an arm also turned into flying ash.

Her flesh and blood had almost entirely vanished, leaving only the remaining bones and that Ancient Rune mark between her brows that was flickering with a faint blue light.

Relying on her final consciousness and the resonance of the Ancient Rune, Feng Feiyi threw herself heavily onto the black Shell; she wanted to open her arms to embrace the back that was about to vanish in her senses, but she had lost all power of perception, and as her body slid down along the Shell, she used her last bit of strength and the power of her remaining Soul to call out a name:

"Xu Chen..."

The sixth Tribulation Lightning had not yet dispersed when the seventh Tribulation Lightning followed in quick succession.

Amidst a heaven-collapsing and earth-shattering tremor, the lightning light surged like a tide, completely blasting Feng Feiyi's remaining body into flying ash; a speck of Blue Starlight, wrapped in churning lightning plasma, was sucked into the Shell as it opened and closed, and vanished.

"Xu Chen..."

In the endless, pitch-black, and cold abyss, the only remaining wisp of Xu Chen's consciousness was constantly dissipating as it sank.

But just as this wisp of his consciousness was about to fall completely into the darkness, a faint, extremely weak voice suddenly rang out in the endless black.

"Xu Chen... who is that..."

This wisp of consciousness seemed somewhat dazed, reflecting a vague question.

It seemed this name was very familiar.

"Xu Chen... it seems... it seems that is me..."

The consciousness actually regained some clarity, and then began to recall and search for the self incessantly.

"Right, I am Xu Chen; where am I? Why is it so dark and cold?"

In his slow recollections, Xu Chen finally remembered who he was, but before him remained a boundless, cold darkness; he could not sense anything at all, as if he were floating in a boundless, cold abyss cavern.

This situation also felt somewhat familiar to him.

So he struggled to think again, wondering why he felt such a familiar scene, and then, he slowly remembered that he had been carried by a massive Nether Beast and fallen into the Nether Rift, wandering everywhere in the pitch-black darkness without finding a direction.

And the moment he thought of the Nether Rift, a massive amount of memories suddenly surged in like a tide.

Underworld River, Shell, giant beast, Feng clan...

A large amount of memories from entering the Underworld were all recalled at once, and thus he also suddenly realized that he should currently be undergoing his Heavenly Tribulation.

Undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation... but why have I fallen into darkness, and why can I not sense my own body? Could it be that I failed the Heavenly Tribulation and was blasted into flying ash?

But that is not right either; if I failed the Heavenly Tribulation, why do I still have memories and consciousness?

Xu Chen pondered deeply but could not find an answer.

He tried to use his Divine Sense, but found not the slightest reaction; he tried to circulate his cultivation technique to release Qi, but there was also no reaction; he even attempted to circulate the Grand Void Demon Refining Art, but there was no movement at all.

And so he was at a loss; he was still alive, yet it was as if he were dead.

If his deduction was correct, his Soul had been imprisoned somewhere, completely losing contact with his body, and thus only his isolated consciousness remained.

Then, his consciousness must have just fallen into an extreme state of sinking; if he had not been awakened by a voice, once he completely lost consciousness, then he would truly be dead.

Who exactly awakened me?

What happened during the process of undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation?

Why did I fall into this state of sinking?

Xu Chen began to rack his brains to recall.

He only remembered that before the first strike of Tribulation Lightning fell, he had come into contact with a mass of purple liquid brimming with life force inside his False Golden Core, and then the False Golden Core exploded in his dantian; that mass of purple liquid appeared, giving him a sense of unprecedented life force, and his entire person was rapidly repaired amidst the Tribulation Lightning, resisting the first Tribulation Lightning; furthermore, he vaguely saw a massive Clam Shell Phantom appear outside his body at that time...

And after the second Tribulation Lightning fell, his memories began to become chaotic; a large amount of ancient scenes that did not belong to him appeared and flooded his mind like a tide, letting him slowly sink through the passage of billions of years of time, until he completely lost perception of his body and the outside world.

As for the situation outside right now, and whether he had passed the Heavenly Tribulation, he was completely unaware and did not care; what he urgently wanted to know was how to extricate himself from his current predicament.

But having only consciousness and no physical body, he was effectively trapped in a dream, without the slightest method or power.

However, after some thought, he felt that this predicament was not necessarily a dead end.

The voice that had just awakened him from his sinking was able to reach him, which at least indicated that this place imprisoning his Soul was not without flaws; there must be other channels to perceive his body and the outside world.

Additionally, he carefully recalled that faint call, which sounded as if it were coming from an infinite distance, and finally realized at once that it was Feng Feiyi's voice.

How could Feng Feiyi be calling him during his process of undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation?

Had he not warned everyone that they were not allowed to approach the area where he was undergoing the Heavenly Tribulation?

And just as the name Feng Feiyi came to mind within Xu Chen's consciousness, a speck of Blue Starlight suddenly appeared out of thin air in the endless black, and then flew off in one direction like a meteor.

Blue Starlight?

Why would it appear here?

Moreover, from this speck of starlight, he seemed to sense a familiar aura, as if he were seeing Feng Feiyi herself; he even had a familiar image surface before his eyes of Feng Feiyi wearing tight leather clothing, with a head of red curly hair, gazing at him like a magnificent, tough woman.

For no reason, Xu Chen suddenly felt sad, as if he had lost something very familiar.

Blue Starlight flickered slightly as it streaked through the boundless darkness.

Xu Chen's consciousness followed this speck of starlight as it moved forward.

He felt that Feng Feiyi must have encountered an accident.

If he guessed correctly, this speck of starlight should be the special Ancient Rune mark he had planted on Feng Feiyi using the Slave Seal.

Although he did not know why the starlight had suddenly appeared here, it must be related to that cry Feng Feiyi had just let out.

As long as he followed this speck of starlight, he might be able to figure out exactly what had happened to Feng Feiyi.

Xu Chen's consciousness drifted, as if flowing with the current, moving forward through the endless, pitch-black, and cold void following the Blue Starlight; he did not know how much time had passed when a blue light suddenly appeared ahead, and as the blue light drew closer, he slowly saw clearly that it was a Blue Light Treasure Bottle suspended in the pitch-black void.

Xu Chen was overjoyed.

As long as he found the Blue Light Treasure Bottle, his consciousness could restore its connection with his Soul, he could cast the Grand Void Demon Refining Art, he would inevitably be able to communicate with his body, and finally completely shake off this nightmarish imprisonment.

And as he drew closer to the Blue Light Treasure Bottle, the Blue Starlight's speed of movement increased, and Xu Chen's consciousness, carried by the Blue Starlight like a stream of light, flew rapidly forward, finally plunging into the mouth of the bottle which was still emitting white mist.

"Boom—"

The moment his consciousness entered the mouth of the bottle, Xu Chen suddenly felt that he had regained his Soul power, and the powerful Soul aura, like water seeping into every crevice, allowed his Divine Sense to instantly fill the entire Blue Light Treasure Bottle, restoring his incomparably familiar perception in an instant.

An illusory treasure bottle, a floating Divine Pattern Battle Technique Jade Tablet, a few God Crystals, a pool of Ghost Soul Water, and two Nether Soul Flowers.

Although it was empty, it made him feel an unprecedented sense of fulfillment and joy.

However, this was not the time to celebrate; after a moment of excitement, he hurriedly spread his Divine Sense out from the mouth of the bottle, entering the boundless, cold, and dark place to perceive and search for the existence of his body.

But unfortunately, apart from the darkness and cold, he could not perceive any physical body, Meridians, or acupoints.

However, this did not stump him, and he began to circulate the Grand Void Demon Refining Art.

As a wave of aura rippled within the treasure bottle, multicolored lightning flashed beneath the bottle, and the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus trapped within began to emit violent hisses and roars amidst the refining process, its countless roots rolling and crashing within the sky-filling Black Water and Black Mist, but unfortunately, as Xu Chen's strength grew stronger and his cultivation higher, the Blue Light Treasure Bottle became increasingly sturdy, and the power of the refining became ever more formidable.

Compared to when it was first taken in, the Mysterious Water Nether Lotus's aura had not weakened much, but its power to resist appeared increasingly feeble; this powerless resistance had almost turned into a sense of ritual, posing no threat to the treasure bottle or Xu Chen.

A large amount of white light rushed out of the Blue Light Treasure Bottle.

The boundless, pitch-black, and cold world began to tremble slightly, and a large amount of Black Mist exploded like fireworks under the impact of the white light, releasing multicolored, misty radiance.

And as the Black Mist dissipated, scenes of the primordial wilderness began to appear in Xu Chen's memory again, but these scenes were constantly collapsing, and then purple light began to appear, followed by the boundless, cold, and dark void beginning to disintegrate and collapse on a large scale, while at the same time, a powerful aura of life appeared within Xu Chen's Soul perception.

(End of chapter)