Chapter 492: Chapter 274: Imminent Crisis, Feng Hua’s Wariness
"I never expected such a harvest!"
Wei Fan sat inside the secret chamber, his heart pounding with excitement. He had figured that the martial arts left behind at Xuanyuan Peak would merely be a Martial Saint inheritance, but who would have imagined it was a peerless martial art capable of rivaling the Divine Silkworm Nine Transformations?
With the second transformation of Divine Silkworm mastered, and having shed into a golden Primordial Spirit, his comprehension was leagues beyond what it used to be. Yet even so, the mysteries of the Five Emperors Fist in his hands were profound beyond measure.
Now that he’d reached the Martial King Realm, he held his own insights into martial arts.
Even if the Five Emperors Fist didn’t quite compare to Divine Silkworm Nine Transformations, it wasn’t far behind—definitely an earth-shaking, world-class technique.
Though the Five Emperors Fist was virtually unheard of in the Wasteland, Wei Fan was certain that outside the Wasteland, its reputation would echo through the world.
Just reading through it once, he hadn’t grasped even the surface, yet his blood surged with passion. Fist intent boiled within him, and it was as though celestial music sounded in his ears.
"What a remarkable individual!"
Single-handedly founding the Demon Hunter organization, and leaving behind such a divine skill for its members; the image of Xuanyuan Peak’s founder soared in Wei Fan’s mind—towering and heroic.
"???"
Suddenly, Wei Fan sensed something amiss: the Five Emperors Fist manual in his hands began to emit a radiant light. Dao marks surfaced on its cover, stirring the invisible Dao of heaven and earth.
A scalding heat shot through his palm, and Wei Fan quickly threw the manual away.
Whoom!
In the next instant, fierce flames erupted from within, enveloping the manual and incinerating it with incredible speed.
"The manual is self-destructing!"
Understanding dawned in Wei Fan’s mind—just like the Divine Silkworm Nine Transformations. Once he mastered the first transformation, that manual had vanished as well.
"What’s going on?"
Elder Gongyang appeared, his willpower sweeping forth in an attempt to halt the self-destruction, but he instantly recoiled, screaming. He felt his own Heart Spirit nearly igniting, his Primordial Spirit stabbed with burning pain.
"I only finished reading it once, then it self-destructed. It had nothing to do with me!"
Elder Gongyang froze for a moment at Wei Fan’s words, then a look of sudden understanding crossed his face. He ceased trying to intervene.
In the Jianghu, many divine skills can only be learned by a single person. One divine art, one inheritor—the rule is common in many major sects.
The Five Emperors Fist manual must contain the same mechanism: once someone has read it, it will self-destruct, preventing a second person from learning.
A short while later, the entire manual—refined from Divine Gold—was reduced to a pool of molten iron, its divinity utterly wiped out.
Elder Gongyang left, while Wei Fan opened up the next secret chamber.
This time, the martial king-level techniques numbered only six, with the Five Emperors Fist counted among them. Of the remaining five king-level techniques, two were ones Wei Fan had already trained during the Martial Venerable Realm.
Namely, the Nanming Li Fire Palm and the Heaven-Reaching Saber Manual!
The last three consisted of a swordsmanship technique, a spear technique, and a fist technique!
He would keep cultivating the Heaven-Reaching Saber Manual. As for the swordsmanship and spear techniques, there was no need. For fists, the Five Emperors Fist far outclassed this ordinary Martial King martial technique—no point in learning it.
"I’m still missing something in terms of body technique!"
In battle, speed could not be neglected. Though he possessed the ability of Form Follows Heart, using it would risk exposing his Primordial Spirit’s uniqueness and lead others to suspect Divine Silkworm Nine Transformations.
Unless absolutely forced, Form Follows Heart was best left unused.
In the Wasteland, it wasn’t a problem. But soon he would be leaving with Feng Hua, and if he exposed himself outside, things would get wildly complicated.
"My trump cards are still lacking!"
Wei Fan pondered—he should have upgraded the Human King Bell again long ago, but his power had fallen short, so he kept putting it off.
"Once I finish cultivating these martial techniques, I’ll slay some demon fiends and harvest their power!"
A plan formed in his mind—he still hadn’t avenged the time Xuanhe Sect’s Saint Son and eighteen other Demon Venerables encircled him. If he didn’t retaliate, people in the Jianghu would think he was all bluster, daring only to punch out at his own kind, never at monsters.
[Heaven-Reaching Saber Manual: Martial King Chapter (Uninitiated)]
[Nanming Li Fire Palm: Martial King Chapter (Uninitiated)]
[Five Emperors Fist (Uninitiated)]
...
[Ordinary Power: 220,000 years]
[Martial King’s Power: 100 years]
Two hours later, both the Heaven-Reaching Saber Manual and Nanming Li Fire Palm appeared on his stat panel, but Wei Fan held back from cultivating right away. The Martial King’s Power he’d harvested from the Beidou Sword King was still untouched.
He needed to test what effect these hundred years of Martial King’s Power would have.
As the thought crossed his mind, the panel began to shimmer:
[One year Martial King’s Power: You activate the Purple Profound Martial Arts Manual, your strength increases.]
...
Cultivation at the Martial King Realm was mostly uncharted; there were no concrete guidelines, nor any clear benchmark for progress.
As he added Martial King’s Power, Wei Fan closed his eyes, solemnly feeling his strength surge ahead.
"Cultivating at Martial King Realm is as difficult as expected!"
With each rise in power, the invisible, awe-inspiring presence looming overhead grew ever clearer. Together with it, the weight of suppression increased—though the panel ensured a steady climb in strength, the crushing sensation mounted as well.
[One hundred years Golden Body Power: Though your strength surges immensely, you are still Martial King First Layer.]
[Martial King First Layer]
[Ordinary Power: 220,000 years]
[Martial King’s Power: None]
"First Layer Perfection of Martial King—probably requires five hundred years of Martial King’s Power!"
Once the hundred years of Golden Body Power was spent, Wei Fan carefully gauged his increase and drew that conclusion—he’d need four hundred more years of Martial King’s Power for First Layer Perfection.
"This is troublesome!"
Wei Fan frowned—five hundred years of Martial King’s Power just for First Layer Perfection meant he needed to kill five king-level powers.
Throughout the Wasteland, human and demon king-level beings combined barely numbered ten or so, maybe fifteen at most.
If he wiped out every human and demon king here, the most he’d reach was Martial King Third Layer.
He might not even make it to Third Layer, since not every Martial King of the human race could be harvested for power.
Ordinary Power, tainted under the influence of Dao Collapse, was almost useless for cultivation progress. Leaving the Wasteland was becoming more urgent by the minute.
If he lingered here, he might spend centuries with barely any gains. Outside, there was no Dao Collapse to hinder him, and normal cultivation would work just fine. Plus, even if demon kings weren’t everywhere, there were certainly enough—the world beyond was where he belonged.
Even if there weren’t that many demon kings out there, at least Ordinary Power could be used to steadily advance his cultivation.
"I need to get everything ready—and then go find Feng Hua!"
Lost in thought, Wei Fan was ready to resume training, planning to master the Heaven-Reaching Saber Manual, Nanming Li Fire Palm’s Martial King Chapter, and the Five Emperors Fist.
Rumble rumble rumble...
But in the next moment, within his Heart Spirit came a roar like the skies and earth collapsing. His Primordial Spirit shook, and in the depths of his mind, wild storms erupted.
"Dao Collapse is accelerating again; what on earth is causing it?"
An intangible, terrifying pressure poured down from the heavens. Even the Demon Hunter Sub-Hall—buried deep underground—was useless now; Dao Collapse’s suppression did not care that he was hundreds of meters below.
Yesterday, Dao Collapse had sped up twice already. Wei Fan thought it was finished—who would have guessed another wave would hit today?
Enduring the pressure, he stepped out into the main hall, finding chaos everywhere. Counters were smashed by terrifying force; Elder Gongyang sat pale-faced and cross-legged, resisting with all his might.
Clearly, the intensification of Dao Collapse had caused Elder Gongyang’s power to spiral out of control, leading to this devastation. This time’s Dao Collapse was ferocious—far more than yesterday’s double surge.
If not for his golden Primordial Spirit and formidable Will Power—reacting swiftly—his own strength would have lost control.
Peering upward through the earth with his Heart Spirit, Wei Fan saw Qi Daozhen’s Dao spanning the sky, chunk by chunk falling apart in the void, smashing down toward the land. The scene went on for nearly half an hour before subsiding—much longer than yesterday’s ordeal.
"Troublesome indeed!"
Elder Gongyang ignored the wrecked hall, his expression grave: "If it keeps up like this, two surges a day, each stronger than the last—it won’t take two thousand years, maybe just a dozen or so, and Dao Collapse will be utterly gone."
This meant external powerhouses could soon cross the Dao Collapse Barrier and enter the Wasteland ahead of schedule.
Forget a dozen years—even decades meant little to Martial King powerhouses. The issue was evading notice to gain the ’original inhabitant’ status in the Wasteland.
"No need to worry, Elder—not early or late, Dao Collapse would end regardless. The only difference is whether we face it now or leave it for those after us!"
After consoling Elder Gongyang, Wei Fan couldn’t be bothered to leave the sub-palace and continued his cultivation here.
...
Somewhere in the mountains of the Wasteland, Feng Hua had also just barely recovered from the intensified Dao Collapse pressure—her face deathly white, a faint streak of blood at the corner of her mouth.
When Dao Collapse sped up, the higher your cultivation, the tougher the suppression. Her own abilities were sky-high, yet even she had sustained injuries.
"At this rate, external powerhouses will be inside within a day or two!"
Her expression darkened; once outsiders arrived, her affairs could take a drastic turn.
She hoped to move ahead with her plans, yet Wei Fan had still not reached out to her.
"Since you broke through to Martial King, why haven’t you come looking for me?"
Rumor throughout the Jianghu recently was that Wei Fan had successfully broken through. Feng Hua had heard, and though she doubted someone could reach Martial King so quickly, the evidence suggested Wei Fan was now a true Martial King powerhouse.
"Is it that you don’t trust me, or did the rumors get it wrong—you really haven’t broken through?"
She wanted to seek out Wei Fan, yet dreaded angering him. Last time, she’d used her Communication Waist Token to locate him, and he’d been clearly displeased.
If Wei Fan really had become a Martial King in such a short time, she would have to re-evaluate his talent. To rise from the Golden Body Eighth Rank to Martial King within a month or two was astonishing even in the outside world, let alone here in the Land of Dao Collapse.
A prodigy like that was best left unprovoked; Dao Collapse couldn’t hold a person like Wei Fan. Unless she made use of him first, then killed him off—but that wasn’t her way.
"I’ll wait a few more days. Fewer people should be able to get in for now—as long as I keep a low profile and avoid detection by outsiders, I should be fine."
She still refrained from seeking out Wei Fan.
