Chapter 356: Born a Prisoner
Translator: Alsey Editor: Chrissy
Chu Feng felt warm and comfortable inside. He was certain this golden fruit could catalyze evolution and help him break his sixth shackle!
That was because his constitution was now becoming stronger and his cells were becoming active. His physical body was boiling hot—he could feel it even without attacking the shackle consciously.
At this rate, he would definitely breakthrough!
This was an absolutely priceless fruit that could bring about a total transformation.
As Chu Feng consumed the last piece of the fruit, the juices were completely absorbed by his body. All the pores on his body erupted with brilliant radiance as his constitution improved continuously.
To others, the remaining fruit on the tree was a rare treasure, but Chu Feng casually picked it off and tossed it to the toad.
The toad was stunned—it moved about in a fluster to catch the fruit and almost dropped it.
"For me?" the toad asked with a sideways glance. He could hardly believe it.
"Give it back if you don't want it," said Chu Feng.
"Nom, nom!"
The toad bit into the fruit without so much as a second word. It was now a done deal. The corners of his mouth overflowed with golden juices as he bit off half the fruit in one mouthful.
"Delicious. So very delicious." The toad's eyes were frozen. It then began to frantically bite down. The fragrance seeped deep into its bones and caused an incomparable sense of intoxication.
Chu Feng didn't hesitate to part with the fruit. Since he wanted to become a "divine knight", he had to have a divine beast to sit on. It would be a great help to Chu Feng if the toad grew stronger rapidly.
The prerequisite was that he was confident that he could suppress this divine beast whelp of bizarre origins.
Chu Feng believed that this golden fruit was sufficient to help him sever the sixth shackle but it wouldn't be effective for higher levels. Therefore, a single fruit was enough for him.
However, he didn't dare sever the shackle intensively and merely allowed his body to evolve slowly over time. He would take the time to grind away at it until the shackles were successfully severed.
The most important point was that the little grinding stone in his body was still wrapped up in a placenta-like substance and was currently in a dormant state. Chu Feng didn't want to agitate his blood energy, causing the inside of his body to be roiled up and disturbing the peace therein.
As long as he could break through, what was the harm in a short delay?
At the same time, he wanted to observe and ponder on the many subtle changes his body would undergo during the gradual strengthening process.
Perhaps he would receive a certain enlightenment and sever the next shackle on his own without depending on fruits.
"Ah… how wonderful. I think I'm already growing stronger!" The toad was delighted and hopped about continuously while croaking. In the end, it even did a few forward somersaults.
"How many shackles have you severed?" Chu Feng asked.
"Shackles? What are those?" The toad was puzzled.
"You have no shackles in your body?!" Chu Feng's pupils dilated and then contracted again.
The toad didn't understand. "I have no idea what you're talking about. Isn't becoming stronger all about evolving one's constitution and having denser energy levels?"
Chu Feng's heart couldn't calm down. He had heard, from Yellow Ox, that there were certain extremely rare and powerful races. They were destined to be able to arouse the wind and clouds.
That was because they were too extraordinary and would display preeminent characteristics.
For instance, they would be born without shackles. As long as they activated their energy and developed normally, they would slowly evolve beyond the shackled realm.
However, only a very small number of races were so. For instance, the white qilins or the fire-bathing undying birds. All of them were heaven-defying races.
The toad scratched its head and said as if recalling something, "Oh, did you say shackles? I vaguely remember hearing some people talk about it. It's a process low-level races have to undergo on the path to evolution."
This tone and attitude made Chu Feng want to beat it up. What was this about low-level races?!
At the same time, Chu Feng noticed that the people who had told these things to the toad were people from the ancient era. Back then, the earth hadn't declined completely. Some evolved beings had talked to the divine egg on the Pilgrimage Grounds.
The toad said arrogantly, "There are races in this world that don't need to sever shackles at all because all parts of their body are connected since birth. They aren't prisoners and have no need to break through such barriers."
It then patted its chest and bragged. It didn't forget to look disdainfully at Chu Feng either. "People like you are born prisoners and have to pay a steep price for every step you take in order to extricate yourselves from confinement."
The toad was indeed asking for a beating. It was too conceited.
Of course, Chu Feng couldn't help but ponder deeply. Born a prisoner, huh? They would have to slowly break through in order to arrive at the same starting line as the topgrade races.
The toad rubbed its belly and said, "Nothing can be done as this is one's gift. We're powerful since birth. As for you, every footstep will be stained with blood. Life-forms like you will have to tread a future path full of thorns and difficulties. You will have to cultivate bitterly to cross each realm and pass through mortal tribulations."
"Spit out that golden fruit for me!" Chu Feng replied with a dark face. He felt this toad was really asking for some punishment.
"Dammit, this is so unjust? I'm a divine beast and yet I keep getting beaten up by an ordinary human. This happens every day. You just beat me up as soon as you're unhappy. This is outrageous!"
The toad was feeling stronger after eating the fruit and thought he should be able to rival Chu Feng or even take revenge.
He didn't expect to find that the gap had not contracted at all. He still had a long ways to go.
That was because Chu Feng had eaten the fruit. Although he hadn't completely severed his sixth shackle, various benefits were already emerging.
"Damn your second grandpa! Why can't I beat him? His path to evolution isn't as smooth as mine. How can he be stronger than me in combat?!" The toad was furious.
"Are you still unconvinced?!" Chu Feng glared at it.
In the end, it was another round of beating which sent the toad flying east and tumbling west, like a sandbag. Its eyes had turned dark like a panda.
"I surrender! I surrender!" It cried out oddly.
After Chu Feng stopped the beating. It crouched down nearby and said while drawing circles on the ground. "What an abnormal guy. How can a lowly prisoner suppress a high-grade bloodline?" the toad mumbled.
It had been beaten until it had no more confidence. The toad originally believed that its strength in combat would grow faster than Chu Feng as long as they obtained the same opportunity.
Presently, it seemed not to be the case. He had encountered an abnormal case.
"Ah, have I actually encountered a legend?" it wondered.
"What legend? What are you mumbling about?" Chu Feng enquired.
The toad was irritated but still narrated some old matters. As a divine egg, the toad had heard an old Taoist briefly mention it.
Those races without shackles could naturally be considered a favorite of the heavens.
However, it wasn't as if the lower races didn't have any chance at all. It was rumored that some low-level races with bad bloodlines could still advance step by step despite the difficulties along the bumpy road.
The most frightening thing was that those who had climbed up from the lowest races possessed astonishingly stable foundations at each realm.
This signified that such lifeforms could contend against any divine bloodline and could challenge the heaven's chosen. This was especially true for those who had reached the latter stages of development. They would grow even more terrifying!
"Judging from your appearance, you don't look like one of those abnormal beings. You lack that certain saint-slaughtering spirit. It can only be said that you're not bad," the toad commented.
"What the f*ck do you know!" Chu Feng beat it up again.
"Goddammit, why wouldn't I know? The old Taoist had commented on this before and I remember it clearly. According to his standards, you haven't reached such a stage. You can be considered barely satisfactory." The toad was furious.
In the end, it didn't give in and was actually quite serious about it.
This surprised Chu Feng. A saint-slaughtering spirit? How abnormal was that?!
"Ah, it's burning!" The toad cried oddly.
After the two golden fruits were picked and eaten, the one meter tall little golden tree gradually started to burn and disintegrate until it was reduced to a heap of ash on the ground!
"What a pity!" Chu Feng sighed.
Later on, he told the toad to move the ashen remains of Li Xinghe, Liu Wencheng, and Yu Hanzhi and place them around the little tree.
"Why do I have to do such dirty work? So disgusting!" The toad pinched its nose and began to work.
In the end, it hesitated for a moment because the bird king hadn't been burnt yet. Its gigantic carcass was still there, so should he roast and eat it? Apparently, it had been affected by Chu Feng's gluttony.
"Let it be. Let's not waste too much time here. Just burn it up." Chu Feng shook his head.
A stream of extreme yang flame essence emerged and immolated Cai Ying's remains.
"Okay, it's time for you to suffer some physical pain too," said Chu Feng.
"What… what do you want to do?!" The toad was shocked.
In the end, the toad screamed miserably as it burned until its skin was charred and there was even a faint smell of burnt flesh coming from it. The burns seemed quite serious but, in truth, they were only external injuries.
"Damn your grandpa! Why don't you just kill that little woman? Silencing her will save a lot of trouble. Why do you have to burn me?! This is completely unnecessary!"
"What do you know? We can't cut off the origin magnetic cave completely. We have to maintain a good working relationship with them. Who do I go and find if all of them are dead?"
The toad's teeth became itchy after seeing Chu Feng's righteous attitude. "Shameless! You clearly want to wipe out the whole origin magnetic immortal cave. Why are you making it seem so righteous?!"
"This is cooperation, understand?!" Chu Feng corrected.
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To Chu Feng, this thread definitely couldn't be severed. These people knew about the tombs of primordial khans and were knowledgeable about the ancient inheritances on earth. So much that they could point them all out.
It could be said that this group knew too many things and were worthy of exploitation.
"Ah…" Xu Mei cried out in alarm. She could hardly believe it when she saw the exhausted Chu Feng, the half-dead toad, and the piles of ashes on the ground. She almost fainted on the spot.
Her face was pale. She could hardly believe that they had almost been completely wiped out in mere moments. Her good friends had all died!
Chu Feng said, "Let's go! We can't stay here for long or we'll die here. This divine khan's tomb isn't something we can get our hands on."
In fact, that was really the truth. The hovering coffin in the distance and the meteorites surrounding made Chu Feng uneasy.
There were obvious domains in that area. The current Chu Feng had no way to deal with the domain symbols covering the air.
Xu Mei's spirit was trembling and her face was pale. She glanced at the human-shaped ashes and felt terrified and apprehensive. She listened to Chu Feng's advice and immediately left the underground area.
Additionally, Chu Feng activated the ancient domains here to put on a world-shaking display in order to make things more realistic.
After they fled dozens of kilometers, nine golden suns rose from the ground behind them and illuminated the whole grass plain. Afterwards, the cry of a golden crow was heard as the mythical animal flew through the sky.
The scene was clearly visible even from hundreds of kilometers away. It was truly overwhelming.
"What is that? There really are suns and golden birds underground?!" Xu Mei's voice was trembling. She was still frightened even after such a long time.
Chu Feng explained, "There definitely aren't any suns underground, but the terrifying geography here acts to condense vast amounts of extreme yang essence flames and hence this scene. As for the golden crow, I can't say for certain. There might really a golden crow egg in this cave."
In the end, Xu Mei said her farewells and decided to leave.
Xu Mei's next stop wasn't the Origin Magnetic Immortal Cave but Mount Qinling. This disappointed Chu Feng quite a bit because he wanted to go to the north pole to take a look. It seemed his hopes had been dashed.
"One of my seniors is at Mount Qinling. Let's go over there. I heard they made some astonishing discoveries there related to an ultimate supreme art!" Xu Mei sounded quite excited and seemed to have forgotten about the painful experiences of the grassy plains.
Perhaps her relationship to the deceased wasn't as deep as one would imagine.
Xu Mei was flexible and active by nature. At the same time, she was extremely alluring. Her exquisite facial features were quite charming, and a segment of her snowy white abdomen was exposed under the short t-shirt.
In the end, she followed Chu Feng all the way north and towards Mount Qinling.
They reached there only after a day of traveling because their travel speed wasn't as fast without the bird king. The most important part was that Chu Feng didn't want to be exposed.
"Ah, the golden fruits have been eaten by the toad and myself. This time, I'll collect mutant fruits for Yellow Ox and Ole Blackie. I'll make them into peerless experts!" Chu Feng decided secretly.
After realizing Chu Feng had arrived, the people from the Pre-Qin research institute sighed a breath of relief. They needed his help badly.