Cultivation starts from simplifying the exercises

Chapter 2125 Suppressing Heaven and Earth

Outside the main hall, the dark figure had its eyes closed and its face indistinct. Only where its eyes were, two points of scarlet, blood-red light would occasionally flash by, revealing endless coldness, deathly silence, and an instinctive hatred for the living.

He is Shi Junqing, a vengeful demon bound by ancient restrictions and ordered to guard the outer perimeter of this palace. In his previous life, he was a celestial being of the Heavenly Court. After falling into the vengeful demon state, his strength has slightly decreased, but he is still fearless and retains some of his former fighting instincts and strange supernatural abilities.

At this moment, most of his senses and attention were focused on the vast corridor outside the main hall, keeping a watchful eye on any intruders.

However, at that very moment, the faint yet unique ripples of primordial energy originating from within the hall, generated by the movement of the jade box, though weakened by the hall walls and already extremely thin, still penetrated the space and touched Shi Junqing's soul, causing an almost imperceptible resonance.

"Ok?"

Like a sleeping beast awakened by the slightest disturbance, Shi Junqing's previously tightly closed scarlet eyes suddenly opened outside the barrier.

Two points of scarlet light, like will-o'-the-wisps lit in the night, burst forth with chilling killing intent and intense suspicion. His intuition instantly locked onto the source of the anomaly—it came from behind him, inside the main hall that should theoretically be absolutely sealed.

"Why is there any commotion inside the hall?" Shi Junqing's mind raced. His consciousness, which had been almost numb by the erosion of the resentful aura, was also greatly disturbed by this completely unexpected situation.

"Roar!"

A low, violent roar was squeezed out of his throat, unlike a human voice, more like a mixture of metal scraping against metal and the wailing of a demon.

His seated figure vanished like a ghost, and in the next instant, he appeared at the edge of the illusion barrier.

He stretched out his right hand, which was wrapped in gray-black death energy and had sharp, hook-like nails, and slashed it sharply at the seemingly empty space in front of him.

"Hey!"

With a piercing sound like cloth being torn apart, the perfect illusion barrier was forcibly ripped open, leaving a gap several feet long, through which the scene of the main hall and corridors could be clearly seen.

Without pausing, Shi Junqing transformed into a streak of gray-black lightning, shooting out from the crack and aiming directly at the two heavy, tightly closed palace doors a hundred feet away.

"Boom!"

Without any probing, Shi Junqing concentrated the surging resentment and demonic energy around him onto his right fist. The gray-black demonic energy, like burning ghostly flames, slammed solidly into the seemingly indestructible bronze palace door.

With a deafening roar, the two heavy bronze palace doors burst open inwards as if struck head-on by a battering ram.

The dim light outside the hall, mixed with the gray-black death aura swirling around Shi Junqing, surged into the suddenly opened hall entrance like a tide.

Shi Junqing's tall figure, shrouded in deathly aura, was like a demon god stepping out of the underworld. He strode into the main hall in one step, his scarlet eyes like two cold knives, instantly sweeping across the entire area.

As far as the eye could see, the center of the hall was empty, with only a thick layer of dust on the ground and the clearly visible blank outlines left by the hundreds of jade boxes that had been taken away.

Deeper still, not far from the mural depicting a ferocious beast carrying a stele, a young figure in a green robe stood quietly, turning to look at them.

Eyes facing each other.

Shi Junqing's scarlet pupils suddenly contracted to the size of pinpoints, and boundless violence and killing intent erupted like a volcano.

Although his mind was impaired, the scene before him was crystal clear: the sacred objects in the hall had been stolen, and the thief was right in front of him.

"You dare touch anything here? Who gave you the guts, you ant!"

Shi Junqing's throat bobbed, emitting a hoarse and piercing screech, his voice filled with offended rage and an instinctive loathing for the presence of the living.

He didn't know how Chen Fei had bypassed his guard and appeared silently in this closed hall, but at this moment, these questions were no longer important.

The important thing is to kill him and take back the artifact!

As Shi Junqing's fierce roar, filled with resentment and killing intent, echoed in the hall, the already surging gray-black resentful and deathly aura around him exploded as if it had been thrown into boiling oil and cold water.

The deathly aura was no longer merely swirling, but rather like a living black tide, spreading wildly in all directions, instantly filling a large area near the entrance of the main hall. The light became even dimmer, the temperature plummeted, and the air was filled with a bone-chilling cold and an atmosphere of despair.

But this is just the beginning.

Shi Junqing's tall figure, standing at the center of the deathly tide, suddenly rippled like a reflection in the water and then vanished into thin air.

"Buzz!"

The next moment, the entire environment of the hall seemed to be like water with pebbles thrown in, and the scene began to distort and change violently.

The once spacious, dusty, and mural-covered ancient halls have faded away like a faded painting. In their place lies a fairyland landscape shrouded in mist, with towering peaks, graceful cranes, and cascading waterfalls.

Verdant peaks pierce the clouds, pavilions and towers are nestled among them, and the air is filled with pure spiritual energy and a faint fragrance of herbs. The clear calls of cranes and the melodious sounds of bells and chimes can be heard faintly.

"Emerald Screen Peak?" Chen Fei's eyes flickered slightly, somewhat surprised.

"You scoundrel, prepare to die!"

"Trespassing on forbidden grounds and stealing medicinal herbs is an unforgivable crime!"

"Form ranks and take him down!"

Suddenly, dozens of angry shouts and sharp cries rang out from all directions. The voices were male and female, old and young, but without exception, they all contained powerful fluctuations of Yuan energy and chilling killing intent.

Amidst the churning clouds and mist, figures appeared, surrounding Chen Fei in the center.

These people were dressed in uniform blue Taoist robes with emerald screen and cloud patterns. Each of them possessed a powerful aura and sharp eyes. Most of them exuded energy fluctuations at the early stage of the Tai Cang Realm, while the leading elders had a calm demeanor and profound Yuan Power, clearly indicating that they were at the mid-stage of the Tai Cang Realm.

They held swords or hand seals, instantly forming a profound formation. Their energy intertwined, locking Chen Fei firmly in place. The overwhelming killing intent mixed with the pressure of the formation, like a net from heaven and earth, crushed towards Chen Fei.

Sword energy rained down, palm prints were as imposing as mountains, and magical treasures shone brightly. Attacks of various elemental powers converged into a destructive torrent, threatening to completely engulf and tear Chen Fei to shreds at the center.

Faced with this sudden, illusory, and deadly predicament, Chen Fei showed no panic whatsoever, and his gaze remained unwavering despite the sudden change in the surrounding celestial scenery and the siege by the people of Cuiping Peak.

After breaking through to the mid-stage of the Tai Cang Realm, not only did his physical strength and Dao Domain increase significantly, but the enhancement of his soul and perception brought by the Undying True Light Mirror also allowed him to reach a whole new level in distinguishing between reality and illusion.

"The illusion is realistic, the aura simulation is also superb, and even the energy of the array linkage is imitated perfectly... But, fake is fake."

Chen Fei was as clear-headed as a mirror. He saw that the trajectory of the Yuan energy circulation when the disciples and elders attacked was somewhat rigid. Although their Qi was tightly connected, they lacked the agility and adaptability of a real life-or-death battle. They were more like puppets operating according to a predetermined program.

More importantly, the energy source of the entire Cuiping Peak illusion, including all the people, objects, and attacks within it, subtly points to a point that is slightly out of sync with the surrounding environment.

That is where Shi Junqing's true body is, and that is the true origin and end of all the killing intent.

Chen Fei took a step towards a seemingly empty space to his left, filled only with wispy clouds.

This step came at the very moment when the illusionary attacks were at their strongest and the energy pull was at its most powerful. At the same time, his right fist, which had been hanging by his side, suddenly clenched its five fingers.

There was no earth-shattering prelude, no dazzling brilliance of Yuan energy, only a sense of power condensed to the extreme, which suddenly erupted from his fist.

The next moment, Chen Fei twisted his waist slightly and threw a simple punch at the empty space with his right fist.

"boom!"

Wherever the fist struck, the space seemed to be suddenly compressed, emitting a muffled, heart-pounding explosion.

An indestructible, pale golden fist aura tore through the air, carrying the will to shatter illusions, and slammed fiercely into that empty space.

Where the fist passed, the incredibly realistic fairyland scenery of Cuiping Peak, like a reflection struck by a stone, rippled and distorted violently, then shattered with a crash, revealing the original dilapidated and empty state of the main hall.

The figures of the disciples and elders of Cuiping Peak who had charged in with great momentum were shattered inch by inch under the pressure of the pale golden fist energy, turning into countless points of light and dissipating.

At the very instant the illusion shattered, a strange fluctuation occurred in the space where Chen Fei's fist had locked onto it. A figure shrouded in dense gray-black death energy was forcibly blasted out of its stealthy illusionary state; it was none other than the true form of the Vengeful Demon Shi Junqing.

He never expected that Chen Fei could see through the illusion so accurately and find his true identity.

Chen Fei's seemingly simple punch landed squarely on the weapon that Shi Junqing had blocked in front of him at the last moment.

It was a massive warhammer with an ancient design and a dark bronze hue. The moment the fist and hammer collided, time seemed to freeze for a second. Then, an unimaginably violent shockwave of power and death energy, like a star bursting forth after being suppressed to its limit, exploded outwards with a deafening roar.

"Boom!"

Centered on the two individuals, a terrifying shockwave, a mixture of pale golden fist energy and gray-black death energy, swept outwards in all directions in a spherical shape.

Wherever it passed, the thick dust that had accumulated on the ground for countless millennia was stirred up and rushed towards the surrounding palace walls like a tsunami. The shelves that were originally scattered throughout the hall and made of some unknown spiritual wood disintegrated in mid-air, turning into a sky full of wood chips.

Even the ancient murals on the surrounding walls, depicting the conquests of the gods, trembled under the violent impact, their surfaces covered with a thicker layer of dust, and fine cracks even began to spread across some of the already fragile edges.

The entire sturdy hall, reinforced by ancient restrictions, emitted a muffled groan of unbearable strain and trembled slightly.

At the core of this devastating shockwave, Shi Junqing's tall figure trembled violently, like a tattered sack struck head-on by a battering ram. Most of the dense death aura surrounding him was dispersed, revealing the true appearance of his tattered armor and illusory body beneath.

He pressed his feet firmly to the ground, trying to steady himself, but the overwhelming and unparalleled power emanating from the bronze hammer surged into his arms and torso like a mighty river.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

Shi Junqing was completely unable to control his body. The force pushed his feet off the ground, and he staggered backward.

Each step he took left a footprint with spiderweb-like cracks on the hard, array-reinforced floor of the hall. He retreated seven steps in a row, each step heavier and more disheveled than the last.

He barely stopped falling when his back slammed hard against a thick pillar with a dull thud.

"Ho...ho..."

Shi Junqing leaned against a pillar in the palace, his chest heaving violently. Although he wasn't breathing, the flow of his malevolent energy within his body was clearly disordered and stagnant.

He looked down at his hands holding the hammer; those hands, formed from pure death energy and resentment, were comparable to divine weapons, and were now trembling slightly uncontrollably.

What shocked and horrified him even more was the power flowing continuously into his body along the bronze hammer—powerful, pure, and carrying an overbearing will to suppress everything and destroy all laws.

This force rampaged through his body, frantically eroding and consuming his malevolent energy, bringing waves of burning and tearing pain.

Shi Junqing suddenly raised his head, his scarlet eyes fixed on Chen Fei not far away, filled with surprise, rage, and disbelief.

What surprised him was that the other party could see through his carefully laid plans so easily.

That illusion was created by him by combining the resentment and evil energy after death. It was so realistic that it could fool people of the same level. Even if they could see through it, they would still have to spend their energy to distinguish between reality and illusion, and would inevitably be flustered. But this person in front of them seemed to see through it at a glance and pointed directly to his true identity without hesitation.

What he suspected was that the other party was clearly only at the mid-stage of the Tai Cang Realm, and did not wield any divine weapons, but only used his bare hands to deliver a punch.

Yet, this simple and direct punch contained such terrifying pure power and Dao Domain enhancement that it not only shattered the core nodes of his illusion technique, but also, in a head-on collision, used its absolute power advantage to send him flying backward, hammer and all.

Just as Shi Junqing was filled with doubt and surprise, secretly adjusting his breathing and trying to suppress the churning blood and chaotic demonic energy in his body, the green-robed cultivator opposite him who had knocked him back with a punch slowly withdrew his fist.

Chen Fei raised his eyelids, his deep and calm eyes looking at Shi Junqing.

"you say,"

Chen Fei spoke, his voice soft and even carrying a hint of gentle laughter, yet it sounded exceptionally clear in the hall, still reeling from the violent impact and with the dust yet to settle, "Now, may I move anything in this hall?"

A seemingly casual remark, like a spark, instantly ignited the boundless resentment and violence that had been building up in Shi Junqing's chest.

Shi Junqing was a powerful figure in his lifetime. After falling into the clutches of evil, he guarded this place for countless years. When had he ever been so despised and ridiculed?

"Insanity!"

From the depths of his throat, Shi Junqing let out a hoarse roar filled with endless killing intent and rage. The sound was like the friction of ancient ice, or the shrieking of countless vengeful spirits, causing dust to fall from the top of the hall.

His bloodshot eyes, now bulging with extreme rage, were narrowed so tightly that they seemed to drip blood. The red light shining through the slits was like the forked tongue of a venomous snake, sending chills down one's spine.

Before he finished speaking, Shi Junqing suddenly pointed the bronze magic hammer in his hand forward, not at Chen Fei, but at the illusion barrier outside the hall that he had torn apart and was now slowly healing.

"Buzz!"

Outside the hall, the previously hidden and invisible illusionary barrier suddenly began to undulate and vibrate violently, like the surface of a lake tossed with a boulder.

Countless gray-black malevolent death energies surged out from all parts of the barrier, like rivers flowing into the sea, frantically converging towards the bronze demon hammer in Shi Junqing's hand. Furthermore, twisted and tormented phantoms of malevolent spirits floated and wailed in the death energy, emitting a venomous aura that made one's soul tremble.

Infused with this massive amount of death energy and vengeful spirits, the bronze demon hammer shone brightly, and the hideous spikes on its head seemed to come alive, growing and twisting wildly.

Meanwhile, Shi Junqing's own figure began to twist, expand, and deform rapidly under the influence of this overwhelming deathly aura.

The next moment, Shi Junqing's originally tall figure, along with the bronze demon hammer that had absorbed countless death energies, disappeared from the spot.

Instead, what appeared before Chen Fei was a terrifying beast that was three zhang tall, with a blue face, fangs, and a single horn on its head.

This ferocious beast resembled the legendary ancient evil beast "Zheng," but its aura was even more violent and deathly. Its two enormous, bell-like eyes burned with scarlet flames identical to those of Shi Junqing, locking onto Chen Fei with an overwhelming killing intent that was almost tangible.

"Roar!"

As soon as the ferocious beast with a blue face and fangs took shape, it suddenly raised its huge and hideous head and let out a terrifying roar that seemed to tear the sky apart, pointing towards the dome of the hall.

The roar contained Shi Junqing's endless resentment and rage, as well as the despair and madness of being bound by restrictions and fallen into demonic ways. The sound waves condensed into tangible gray-black ripples, like raging waves, sweeping and impacting in all directions.

What's even more chilling is that this ferocious beast, formed by Shi Junqing fusing the death energy and vengeful spirits of the illusion, has an aura that creates a strange and close connection with the surrounding ruins space shrouded in ancient restrictions.

It was as if it was no longer an isolated entity, but had become one with the resentful, desolate, and barren landscape, and every move it made subtly stirred up the negative aura that had accumulated over countless years in the ruins.

Standing there, it seemed to be the embodiment of malice and death within the entire ruins, exuding a terrifying aura that suppressed heaven and earth and caused all things to wither.

Before the roar had even subsided, the ferocious beast slammed its four thick, pillar-like claws backward.

"boom!"

It kicked four deep dents into the otherwise hard palace floor, sending rubble flying everywhere.

Its massive, mountain-like body charged toward Chen Fei with the speed of black lightning and a violent, destructive aura.

As it charged forward, the space was compressed to the extreme, producing a series of loud noises, and a long trail of gray-black death energy followed behind it.

A violent, bloody aura, filled with the most primal destructive desires, swept over Chen Fei like a collapsing mountain, crushing and engulfing him.

This aura not only affected the physical body but also directly impacted the soul, carrying endless resentment and death intent, as if it wanted to drag Chen Fei's flesh and soul into eternal coldness and darkness.

Unlike the previous ingenious illusions, this was a naked, destructive impact, using force and overwhelming power. (End of Chapter)