Chapter 653: Winner Takes All

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

“Chen Fei?”

Tong Linyun looked at the unfamiliar figure before him, somewhat uncertain. The aura and appearance were completely different from Chen Fei’s.

But in this eerie and perplexing situation, Tong Linyun could only assume that Chen Fei was the one coming to rescue her.

With everyone else struggling to protect themselves, encountering such powerful strangeness as the Evil paintings would likely prompt them to flee immediately.

“Are you okay?”

Chen Fei’s facial muscles twitched, returning to their original state. He smiled softly at Tong Linyun, then his features changed again, reverting to their previous appearance.

Although Fallen Heaven Pavilion aimed to detect people by locking onto their breath, Chen Fei, being cautious, still changed his appearance altogether, eliminating the last possibility of being discovered.

“I’m fine.”

Seeing Chen Fei’s original appearance, Tong Linyun’s expression eased.

During her most helpless moments in the Evil paintings, Chen Fei was the only person Tong Linyun could think of, and the fact that Chen Fei appeared when she was in the most danger was indescribable.

“I need to attend to some matters; you focus on healing.”

Chen Fei continuously refined the Evil painting in his hands, following the fragmented methods obtained from Yan Gongli.

At this moment, the Evil painting on the mountain wall twisted violently, and murmurs, fluctuating between high and low pitches, echoed in Chen Fei’s ears, attempting to deceive him. However, Chen Fei remained unfazed.

This Evil painting was undeniably formidable. If one’s mental strength faltered even slightly under its allure, they would instantly step into the Evil painting.

At that point, their fate—whether life or death—would be entirely determined by the painting.

The rules within the Evil painting were incredibly intricate. Once trapped, the mind would perpetually sink, ultimately becoming part of the painting.

Currently, numerous dark shadows lurked within the Evil painting, representing those who had been dragged into it—neither alive nor dead, forever unable to escape.

However, if one resisted the painting’s influence from the beginning, it would have no power over them. Just like Chen Fei standing before the Evil painting now, despite its continuous attempts to allure him, the painting couldn’t do anything.

In fact, Chen Fei even pulled Tong Linyun out from within, severing a part of the Evil painting, rendering it powerless.

The Evil painting in Chen Fei’s hands continued to churn, then suddenly burst open, turning into flying ashes.

The first attempt at refining failed, but Chen Fei remained expressionless. With a flash of sword light, another piece of Evil painting fell into Chen Fei’s hands, and he continued his refining attempt.

The wails within the Evil painting suddenly grew louder, causing Tong Linyun to sway slightly, almost succumbing to confusion.

Fortunately, as the target of the Evil painting was Chen Fei, Tong Linyun was only affected minimally, thus avoiding complete immersion.

After a quarter of an hour, the Evil painting in Chen Fei’s hands shattered once again. However, compared to before, Chen Fei gained much more experience this time.

Glancing at the painting before him, which almost covered the entire mountain wall, Chen Fei realized he could continue trying for a long time without worrying about materials.

Sensing Chen Fei’s gaze, the Evil painting trembled violently.

Hundreds of miles away, in a swamp, a figure plunged straight in. The mud in the swamp exploded instantly, crushing a strange creature hidden within into ashes.

“Spurt!”

Gu Danying spewed out a mouthful of blood, his face devoid of color. His internal energy was now only about thirty percent of its peak, and the pills and elemental stones in his Qiankun bag had been depleted during the chase.

When the heavens and earth are completely against you, whether it’s consuming pills or refining elemental stones, the amount of energy you can obtain is minimal, with most of it being absorbed by the natural energy of the world.

Gu Danying’s strength was beyond doubt, but in such an environment, facing the encirclement and attack of three peak-level Combined Aperture Tempering realms, surviving even for a moment was already considered remarkable.

However, at this point, Gu Danying found himself truly trapped in a situation where he had exhausted all his resources.

Tan Bingxiu and his two companions looked down at Gu Danying from their advantageous position. Although their positions seemed casual, they had effectively blocked all possible escape routes for Gu Danying.

Gu Danying raised his head slightly. Despite facing such dire circumstances, there was still no hint of surrender in his eyes.

“You’re strong. If we were to encounter you anywhere else, none of us would stand a chance against you. But here, you have no chance at all!” Tan Bingxiu spoke expressionlessly.

Gu Danying remained silent. At this moment, saying anything else would be meaningless.

It was a matter of winner takes all; losing simply meant losing.

All that could be said was that for so many years, Fallen Heaven Pavilion had concealed itself too well. No one would have thought that Fallen Heaven Pavilion would betray the Thousand Feathers Alliance in such a manner. Because in everyone’s eyes, betraying the Thousand Feathers Alliance held no benefit for Fallen Heaven Pavilion.

The records of the Minghe Record were unique, and there were far too many extraordinary techniques and arts in this world. Even those in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm couldn’t claim to know them all, let alone those beneath the Combined Aperture Tempering realm.

A subtle glimmer of knife light flickered on Gu Danying’s blade, and a sense of foreboding crept into the hearts of Tan Bingxiu and his companions.

Gu Danying’s final trump card: the Mountain Sea Sword Intent.

His gaze locked onto Tan Bingxiu and his companions. Escape was no longer possible. Gu Danying had previously hoped to find other peak-level Combined Aperture Tempering realms to join forces against Fallen Heaven Pavilion.

However, no matter how he searched earlier, he couldn’t locate the whereabouts of any other peak-level Combined Aperture Tempering realms.

Now, with his internal energy depleted, continuing to search would be futile. Gu Danying’s only thought was to make use of his remaining strength to slay one of his opponents.

If they were in the Boundless Sea, the Mountain Sea Sword Intent alone would be enough to intimidate all three of them, allowing Gu Danying to seize the opportunity to kill two of them.

But this peculiar environment tempered his expectations. Gu Danying’s anticipation had to be lowered. He wasn’t even sure if he could successfully slay one of them in the end.

Tan Bingxiu and his companions sensed the power within Gu Danying’s blade, their expressions turning solemn. This was the power of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, albeit only a fraction of it. Despite its small magnitude, the disparity in levels was vast.

As long as they avoided this strike, Gu Danying would undoubtedly meet his demise.

It felt as if thunder surged within the blade, dispersing the surrounding natural energy of heaven and earth in an instant. The sensation of being drained vanished, and Gu Danying’s internal energy ceased to deplete.

His gaze remained fixed on the three individuals, the radiance on his blade growing increasingly intense.

The Mountain Sea Sword Intent, while powerful, lacked the ability to control its release. If Gu Danying possessed such control, he would indeed be a formidable Combined Aperture Tempering realm practitioner himself.

Tan Bingxiu and his companions did not take the opportunity to flee because any movement at this moment would expose a vulnerability. The instant they moved, it would trigger an attack from the Sword Intent, leading to even more disastrous consequences.

The void began to tremble slightly, and the entire Evil environment seemed to become unstable.

However, this sensation was extremely subtle. Within the Mountain Sea Sword Intent, there was more of a mental intimidation factor, with the actual physical power being secondary.

With this level of power, slicing through other third-grade Evil environments would be effortless. However, this particular environment was too unique, and this Sword Intent couldn’t cut through it.

“Buzz!”

As Gu Danying accumulated his power to its peak, he finally unleashed a strike.

The entire world suddenly paled. Even though Tan Bingxiu and his companions were prepared, their consciousness was momentarily blank. But soon, the trembling of the surrounding natural energy of heaven and earth brought them back to their senses.

At this moment, within a radius of about one mile, much of the natural energy of heaven and earth had lost its original will, becoming ordinary natural energy.

Just now, Tan Bingxiu and his companions had piled up countless strands of natural energy of heaven and earth before them.

In other places, using this method to resist the power of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm would be suicidal and would result in a quicker death. The natural energy of heaven and earth would directly amplify the power of the Mountain Sea Sword Intent.

But in this eerie environment, due to the uniqueness of the natural energy of heaven and earth, the Mountain Sea Sword Intent was engaged in a battle of attrition with the will within the natural energy of heaven and earth, dissipating its most terrifying aspect on the natural energy of heaven and earth.

At some point, Gu Danying had already appeared beside Si Huayuan, the blade in his hand merely a foot away from Si Huayuan’s neck.

This distance was almost instantaneous, but Si Huayuan’s alertness turned this foot into an insurmountable gap.

Sensing Si Huayuan’s alertness, Gu Danying’s eyes dimmed slightly.

“Boom!”

Gu Danying’s blade swept through the void, finally striking the swamp below. Countless cracks spread from below, and numerous toxic mists surged out from the cracks.

Rather than directly confronting Gu Danying’s attack, Si Huayuan, relying on his control over the surrounding natural energy of heaven and earth, retreated.

“Ahahaha!”

Gu Danying stood in the void, watching as Tan Bingxiu and his companions closed in, laughing heartily.

A moment later, Gu Danying’s body plunged straight into the swamp below, completely losing consciousness.

Fate is fate. Falling into this eerie environment, besieged and unable to use the natural energy of heaven and earth, Gu Danying accepted all of these circumstances.

Battle has never been fair; if someone leads you into a trap, it’s their skill.

If it weren’t for the unique nature of the natural energy of heaven and earth here, preventing the activation of the transformation of soul through natural energy, Gu Danying might have chosen to break through to the Combined Aperture Tempering realm when he was trapped.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, and there might have been an opportunity.

Unfortunately, the environment of this eerie place sealed off all possibilities, leaving no chance for Gu Danying and others of his level.

Tan Bingxiu waved his right hand, completely sealing Gu Danying. The decision to kill or spare Gu Danying would depend on Tan Bingxiu’s attitude toward Fallen Heaven Pavilion once he reached the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, along with Min Yanlu and others.

Killing Gu Danying now would mean a complete rift with Min Yanlu. Moreover, talents like Gu Danying might still have the chance to refine their physical bodies.

If Min Yanlu were willing to accept Fallen Heaven Pavilion, then everything would be fine. The deaths would only be those of strong individuals from other factions, which wouldn’t matter much to Fallen Heaven Pavilion, which had the Combined Aperture Tempering realm.

Half an hour later, in a valley, Tianya Sect’s Grand Elder Sheng Zequan died.

“Who shall we use this Spiritual essence to awaken?” Tan Bingxiu turned to look at Guo Xuanji and the others.

With Sheng Zequan dead and Gu Danying sealed, there were now only three peak-level Combined Aperture Tempering realms left within the Evil environment.

Especially with the most significant threat, Gu Danying, being sealed, there was no one left within the eerie environment who could pose a threat to Fallen Heaven Pavilion.

Within five days, the power of Shen Yuanjun would reach its peak, and then he would truly take that step forward.

This eerie environment was anchored to the Black Jade of the Minghe Record, which lay deep within the Boundless Sea, appearing no different from an ordinary stone.

Even for those in the Combined Aperture Tempering realm, finding them would be almost impossible, let alone within just a few days.

The power of the Combined Aperture Tempering realm could move mountains and seas, but it did not extend to omniscience..