Chapter One: Utter Madness!
The Divine Origin Continent, Eastern Palace Holy Dynasty, Eastern Palace Holy City.
As the night deepens, the darkness is as dark as ink. A torrential rain envelops the world!
"Ah!"
A painfully heart-wrenching scream tears through the night.
In a rundown shack in the northern part of the city, a white-robed boy of about fifteen lies on an old cot, his face twisted in agony, veins popping as if undergoing unbearable torture.
At the front of the cot is an elderly man in his 80s, clad in blue. His murky eyes well up with tears as he chokes out, "Young Master, what has happened to you? Are you ill again?"
The old man's name is Xue De. Just three days ago, he was still the renowned housekeeper of Marshal Xue's Mansion in the Eastern Palace Holy City. But now, he’s like a destitute stray, huddled with Marshal Xue's only grandson, Xue Feng, in this dilapidated cottage.
With a sorrowful glance at the unconscious Xue Feng, Xue De staggers out of the shack. Standing under the pouring rain, he looks up at the darkening sky and cries out in despair, "Heavens above, open your eyes and look! The Marshal Xue's Mansion is being treated unjustly..."
At this moment, Xue Feng feels like his head is about to explode and slowly opens his eyes, the pupils of which have turned purple as if showing a pair of demonic eyes to the world!
Suddenly, amidst the depths of his soul, a stream of massive fragments of memory, like torrential waves, flood into Xue Feng's mind.
These unfamiliar streams of memory threaten to burst Xue Feng's head...
…
The next day, as the sun rises in the east.
Xue Feng opens his eyes, astonishment flickering in his purple pupils!
In the unfamiliar memories within his mind, he discovered various formidable techniques, along with pills, formations, equipment, and symbols. Overnight, he became omniscient and omnipotent!
"Eh... the Immortal Furnace!" Xue Feng furrowed his sword-like eyebrows, discovering that within the mystical pool in his third eye, a purple furnace was suspended.
According to his memories, Xue Feng was able to immediately name the furnace when he introspected the mystical pool.
The mystical pool is where cultivators store their mystic energy, it is the foundation of the cultivator.
The Immortal Furnace emitted a twinkling purple light, standing only an inch high, radiating both a holy and an evil aura!
Xue Feng closed his eyes to meditate, entering his mystic pool and standing before the furnace, peering down to witness a scene that was utterly shocking and terrifying!
Within the furnace was another universe, a vast expanse. In this expansive area, countless enormous and incomplete skeletons were piled up like mountains!
"How could there be so many skeletons?" Xue Feng's forehead was covered in beads of sweat. "Why are these skeletons in the Immortal Furnace, and why is the Immortal Furnace in my mind? Could it be related to the memories I obtained?"
Xue Feng felt as if the Immortal Furnace was part of his own body, and that he could enter it with a mere thought.
With trepidation and confusion, his figure vanished from the mystic pool in a thought and reappeared inside the Immortal Furnace the next instant. A roar filled with unwillingness lingered throughout the entire furnace, "I am eternal and immortal, no one can extinguish me!"
Xue Feng's body trembled, finding the voice familiar yet strange, unable to recall any memory of it no matter how hard he tried.
With confusion, Xue Feng climbed over a mountain of piled up skeletons, his eyes wide in shock!
But what he saw was a ten-thousand-foot long coffin covered in purple patterns, suspended among the mountain ranges formed by the piled-up skeletons!
Inside the giant purple coffin, streams of milky-white gas, radiating with a divine aura, flowed out like giant dragons.
At the same time, streams of purple demonic energy, emitting an evil aura, surged from inside the coffin.
According to his memory, Xuefeng identified at a glance that the gas emitting a sacred aura is none other than Immortal Divine Power!
If one were to cultivate the Immortal God Body remembered from his past, they would need to consume the Immortal Divine Power to refine their physique.
On the other hand, the purple demonic aura represents Immortal Demonic Power. To cultivate the Immortal Demonic Body found within his memory, ingesting the Immortal Demonic Power to refine his body would be necessary!
At this very moment, as Xuefeng stared at the four characters, "Immortal Divine Coffin," inscribed on the massive purple coffin, an inexplicable sorrow welled up in his heart. He didn't understand why he felt so disheartened, but he knew he was in deep distress.
Suddenly!
From within the Immortal Divine Coffin, an old man with silver hair appeared, his silhouette fluctuating as though he might vanish into the world at any given moment.
The old man gazed down at Xuefeng from above the coffin, and within an instant, tears of anguish flowed down his cheeks. He knelt down before Xuefeng, his voice frail amidst his endless longing, crying out, "I, Cangtian, the spirit of the Divine Coffin, pay my respects to my master!"
"My Lord, were you aware? I, with your body in the divine coffin, traversed numerous mortal worlds, looking for you for a total of ninety million years, and last night, I finally found you on the Continent of God Origin."
"My Lord, the memories you have now, I transferred them to you last night, all of these memories are your memories from a time long past."
As his words came to an end, the figure of the old man gradually began to fade!
Xuefeng's expression was one of bewilderment, "You said the body in the divine coffin is me? Then who am I?"
"Yes, my Lord, the body inside the Immortal Divine Coffin is indeed yours..." As the old man from the void spoke, his body had already disappeared, leaving only his head. He gasped for breath and yelled, "My Lord, I don't have much time left."
"Remember, you passed away ninety million years ago. You now are just…"
Before he could finish his words, the figure of the elderly man faded, leaving nothing but his hurried yet reluctant voice echoing in Xuefeng's ears, "My Lord, in order to find you, I have exhausted all my vitality, and I no longer have time to accompany you."
"Remember, your past memories are sealed inside the divine coffin. As long as you step into the realm of Immortality, you will be able to unseal the Divine Coffin!"
"Master, if you absorb the residual power of gods and demons in your coffin, along with its surface, your realm can greatly increase!" Hearing this, Xue Feng became stunned. After a long time, he lifted his head to gaze at the Immortal Coffin, murmuring, "So, my former body is inside, which explains the inexplicable sadness I felt."
"Who was I before? For ninety million years the heavens carried my coffin, seeking me across countless planes of mortality. Was I not from the mortal planes?"
"Who am I truly?"
"Why did I die…"
The bewildered Xue Feng set his confusion aside, stating firmly, "From now on, I will double my cultivation efforts, step into the realm of Immortality as soon as possible, open the purple coffin, and find the cause of my death!"
After deciding, Xue Feng recalled his previous way of training from his memory, realizing his method was the joint cultivation of gods and demons.
Musing over this, Xue Feng exited his meditation.
"The Divine Demon Devourer Jue!"
Sitting cross-legged on the couch, Xue Feng formed a complex pattern with both hands, which made a mysterious trajectory in front of his chest.
As Xue Feng formed this seal, suddenly, the white celestial energy in the clear sky above his thatched cottage gathered quickly, transforming into a whirlpool of energy ten feet high, wildly pouring into the cottage.
Suddenly, Xue Feng was immersed in a sea of energy where waves of energy wildly flowed into his forehead, entering the Xuan Pool and converting into strands of Xuan strength…
Simultaneously, the divine demonic power, both sacred and evil, seeped out from the surface of the Immortal Coffin. Accompanied by a fierce whistle, like a flood dragon, it surged out of the Immortal Furnace, appearing inside Xue Feng's Xuan Pool!
An exhilarating event occurred!
Under the formidable power of the gods and demons, the Xuan Pool quickly condensed into an immortal Xuan Dan, resembling a snow-white eggshell.
Subsequently, an Immortal Demon Pill, as purple and black as an eggshell, was condensed!
This signifies Xue Feng's promotion to the first level of Mystical Pill realm!
Other cultivators only need to condense a Mystical Pill to ascend to the first level of the Mystical Pill realm. However, Xue Feng, after condensing an Immortal Mystical Pill, must also condense an Immortal Demon Pill in order to advance!
What came next was something that thrilled Xue Feng even more!
In his mystical pool, once the divine demon power was exhausted, he condensed four Immortal Mystical Pills and four Immortal Demon Pills!
This meant that Xue Feng entered the fourth level of the Mystical Pill realm in just a short while!
Keep in mind, if it was someone else, to ascend from the first level to the fourth level of the Mystical Pill realm would usually take between five to ten years!
How could Xue Feng not be excited?
Xue Feng took a deep breath to calm himself, stopped cultivating, and there was a glint of joy in his purple eyes. "I have been foolish for15 years, but today, not only I am no longer foolish, but also a fourth level cultivator of the Mystical Pill realm. I must tell my father, mother, and grandfather about this!"
As he thought of this, Xue Feng was suddenly stunned. Although his intelligence had only been that of a three-year-old, he remembered vaguely that he was born into a prestigious family, the only grandson of the majestic Marshal Xue, living in an opulent palace. However, the current thatched house was so dilapidated, it was completely contrary to his memory!
"Squeak!"
At this moment, the door opened, and Xue De, while sighing, came to the couch with a bowl of hot porridge. "Little master, here's some porridge..."
Xue De's voice abruptly ceased and he stared at Xue Feng as if he had seen a ghost.
He noticed that the little master's gaze had changed!
No longer confused, no longer the look a foolish should emit, and furthermore!
Moreover, the young master's pupils had unexpectedly turned into a mesmerizing purple!
"Clatter!"
When Xue De's hand shook, the porcelain bowl fell to the ground. As a cultivator who has also reached the fourth level of the Profound Pill Realm, Xue De let out a gasp of surprise, "Young Master, how did you become not only a cultivator overnight but also reached the fourth level of the Profound Pill Realm!"
Shockwaves rocked Xue De's heart!
Xue Feng didn't answer. Instead, with a smile on his face as if bathed in the spring breeze, he asked, "You're Xue De, the old steward of the Great Marshal's Mansion, correct?"
Xue De trembled with excitement,"Young Master, do you recognize this old servant?"
"Mmm." Xue Feng nodded: "My illness has been cured. I am no longer the idiot that the whole Sacred City thinks. From now on, I will no longer make grandfather lose face."
"Oh yes, why are we here?" Xue Feng's eyebrows knitted slightly. Immediately, as if thinking of something, deep gratitude showed in his eyes. He got up from the bed, smiling, "I must bring this good news to my parents."
"They have been worried about me, their foolish son, taking care of me for fifteen years, being talked about behind their backs for a whole fifteen years!"
Tears glistened in Xue Feng's purple eyes. He remembered how many tears his mother had shed because of him, her foolish son.
"Young Master!" Suddenly, Xue De cried out, with murky tears rolling down his face etched with the passage of years, "Wu Wu...the Great Marshal's Mansion is gone, the Great Marshal is gone!"
Hearing these words, the smile on Xue Feng's face froze in an instant, the news of his grandfather's death hit him like a bolt from the blue!
"Speak, what exactly happened!" Tears welled up in Xue Feng's eyes, his voice almost a roar, "And where are my parents?"
Xue De trembled, choking with sobs, "Young Master, the Great Marshal was murdered by the Eastern Palace sacred Emperor and the National Protector!"
"The Great Marshal was too powerful and influential, and the Eastern Palace sacred Emperor was naturally suspicious. He feared that the Great Marshal would rebel in the future, so he had the National Protector fabricate charges of the Great Marshal committing treason with enemies."
"Seven days ago, the Sacred Emperor of the Eastern Palace and the Court Protector Holy Master, led the mighty into the Marshal's Mansion."
"Finally, the Marshal was besieged and fell. I, your humble servant, managed to escape from a secret passage with you. All two thousand and eighteen people of our mansion were slaughtered without exception!"
"Young master, young mistress, half a month ago you left the Sacred City of the Eastern Palace on an errand, thus narrowly surviving this catastrophe."
"An order to apprehend them has now spread throughout the Eastern Palace Empire. They are sure to know about the incident at the Marshal's Mansion!"
"But young master, don't worry. The young master and young mistress, both are strong in the realm of God Refinement. They will certainly be unharmed!"
The path of cultivation includes the Mystical Pill Realm, Mystical Soul Realm, Pill Refinement Realm, Soul Refinement Realm, God Refinement Realm...
It is undoubtedly that Xue Feng's parents must be strong practitioners!
Hearing this, Xue Feng was furious. His purple eyes were filled with a bloodthirsty gleam as he roared, "My grandfather's military skills were godlike, he was invincible in every battle. Half of the territory of the Eastern Palace Empire was won by him!"
"Because the loyal service of my Xue family ancestors, the Eastern Palace Empire was able to grow from the weakest among the six holy empires, to now being among the top three!"
"My family's ancestors and my grandfather were always loyal to the successive Sacred Emperors of the Eastern Palace, yet the Sacred Emperor annihilated my entire family!"
"Eastern Palace Sacred Emperor, you heartless beast! And the Court Protector Holy Master, I, Xue Feng, swear to make you pay in blood for this blood debt!"
As soon as Xue Feng finished speaking, Xue De hurriedly reached out his wrinkled hand to cover his mouth, "Young master, please lower your voice. They're still hunting us in the holy city..."
"Bang! Crash!"
Before Xue De could finish his sentence, the shabby courtyard door was shattered by a powerful kick. Amid the fluttering wood chips, a noble young man in a brocade robe, accompanied by thirty guards, entered the yard!
The young man in the brocade robe squinted at Xue De and Xue Feng, his gaze chilling, "Damn it, I, this young master, have been searching for you for seven days, finally caught you!"
"Today, both of you dogs, are going to die!"