The Evil Infested Ridge was a graveyard of eras. It was a place where time usually rotted away, swallowed by the greyscale mist and the lingering, suffocating resentments of dead gods. The laws of the Heavenly Dao here were twisted, designed to suppress the cultivation of any intruder, turning dragons into worms.
But in a secluded clearing, occupied by Ling Feng and the Cleansing Incense Ancient Sect, the atmosphere was not one of suppression—it was a crucible.
Two weeks had passed since the massacre of the Nantian and Jiangzuo groups. To the outside world, this ridge was a forbidden death zone. To Ling Feng, it was simply an all-you-can-eat buffet of resources and a private gym with the safety protocols turned off.
The sheer volume of loot stripped from the corpses of the Royal Nobles and the Genius of the South—Life Treasures, refined jades, medicinal pills, and longevity spirits—was enough to bankrupt a minor sect. Most ancestors in this world would hoard such wealth, doling it out drop by drop. Ling Feng, however, believed in aggressive trickle-down economics.
"Drink it," Ling Feng ordered, tossing a vial of glowing, amber liquid to a trembling male disciple.
The liquid inside swirled with the essence of a thousand-year-old Longevity Spirit. It was a treasure that cultivators would murder their own kin to possess, something to be diluted and consumed over months of secluded meditation.
"Young Noble..." The disciple's hands shook as he caught the vial. "This... this is too precious. If I consume this all at once, my meridians might burst..."
"Bro, it's juice," Ling Feng said, leaning back against a moss-covered rock. He looked utterly relaxed, his robe loose and exposing his chest, contrasting sharply with the terrifying environment. "It's not some holy elixir. It's fuel. If you don't drink it, I'm going to pour it on the grass. Do you want the weeds to have a higher cultivation base than you? Because that would be embarrassing for everyone involved."
The disciple, terrified of disappointing him, uncorked the vial and downed it in one go.
Under Ling Feng's unorthodox, high-pressure coaching, the progress of the group was nothing short of terrifying. The Cleansing Incense Seven, previously mediocre talents who would have been fodder in any real conflict, were now radiating a fierce, blood-soaked aura. They had all reached the Warrior Canopy realm in a fortnight.
It wasn't just the drugs. It was the mindset. Ling Feng had systematically stripped away their fear of the "Heavens" and replaced it with a modern, utilitarian ruthlessness. They no longer fought with the stiff honor of the old world; they fought to win.
More importantly, Ling Feng had tweaked their cultivation arts. He hadn't just improved them; he had optimized them like a software patch, removing the bottlenecks that usually required years of comprehension, allowing for light-speed breakthroughs without destabilizing their foundations.
But the real stars were the women.
Xu Pei sat in a lotus position near the edge of the clearing. The air around her shimmered with a soft, verdant light, but if one looked closely, they would see arcs of green electricity crackling within the gentle aura.
She had always been the quiet one, the overlooked disciple with a gentle disposition. But under Ling Feng's guidance—and the direct infusion of Chaos Energy to act as a stabilizer—she had skyrocketed.
Purified Rebirth.
She opened her eyes. For a split second, her pupils weren't human; they were vertical slits of electric green light, a remnant of the Chaos Lightning she was learning to harness.
"I feel..." Xu Pei looked at her hands, watching the faint static jump between her fingers. "Light. It feels as if layers of sludge have been scraped from my bones."
"That's the detox working, cutie," Ling Feng grinned, pushing himself off the rock and walking over. He patted her head, not with the distance of a master, but with the affection of a proud boyfriend. "You were carrying around too much baggage. Tradition, fear, bad teaching from old geezers who don't know shit. We flushed it all out. Now you're running on premium fuel."
Xu Pei blushed, leaning instinctively into his touch. The way he spoke was often nonsense to her—words like 'detox' and 'premium fuel' held no meaning in the cultivation world—but the warmth in his hand was undeniable. It was a grounding force in this chaotic hellscape.
Then, there was Li Shuangyan.
Ling Feng turned his gaze to the supreme beauty. She stood straight as a sword, her white dress unblemished by the mud of the Ridge. She was radiating a sharpness that cut the humid air.
She had firmly stabilized at the King Noble stage. Her Fate Palaces hummed visibly behind her head, and Ling Feng's perception could sense the fourth one vibrating, on the verge of forcing itself open.
In the outside world, this speed would be considered demonic. It would invite jealousy from the Heavens. Here, it was just Tuesday.
"You've been working hard too, my dear," Ling Feng said, his voice dropping an octave as he stepped into her personal space.
Li Shuangyan didn't back away. A faint blush dusted her porcelain cheeks, highlighting her cold, jade-like beauty, but her eyes remained locked on his. "I cannot lag behind. You walk a path that defies the Heavens and suppresses the Dao. If I am to be your sword, I must be sharp enough to cut what you command."
"You're not just a sword, darling," Ling Feng reached out, his thumb brushing her jawline. The touch sent a jolt of electricity through her that had nothing to do with cultivation. "You're the whole damn armory. But relax a bit. You're tense. All work and no play makes Shuangyan a dull girl."
"I... I do not know how to 'play' in a place like this," she admitted softly, her usual arrogance completely dismantled by his casual intimacy. "This is a forbidden zone."
"I'll teach you later," he winked, his voice low and suggestive.
Li Shuangyan quickly looked away, her heart pounding against her ribs, flustered in a way no genius of the Nine Worlds had ever achieved.
Finally, Ling Feng turned his attention to Chen Baojiao.
The supreme beauty of the Jewel Pillar Sacred School was off to the side, gripping her saber until her knuckles were white. She was sweating profusely, her chest heaving. The Tyrannical Immortal Physique was a curse as much as a blessing. It tore at her veins, demanding a release of violence that her current cultivation method couldn't fully support. It was like trying to channel a tsunami through a garden hose.
Ling Feng walked over, his expression softening instantly. He knew her pain. In the original novel, she suffered greatly before Li Qiye resolved her issues. Ling Feng hadn't fully fixed the River of Problems yet, but he had the ultimate cheat code.
"Hurts?" he asked quietly.
"It burns," Chen Baojiao admitted, gritting her teeth. She looked up at him, her eyes fierce yet vulnerable, brimming with unshed tears of frustration. "It feels like my blood is trying to eat me alive. But I can control it. I'm not a damsel."
"I know you're not. You're a beast," Ling Feng smiled, crouching down to eye level. "But even beasts need a pit stop."
He placed his hand on her shoulder. He didn't use spirit energy; he channeled the Chaos Force directly from his Inner Void.
The energy that entered her wasn't the gentle nurturing of the Grand Dao. It was a heavy, alien force—dense and absolute. It didn't fight her physique; it dampened it. The Chaos Force acted like a lead blanket over a nuclear reactor, absorbing the excess feedback loop of her body and stabilizing the violent tremors in her meridians.
The relief was instant. Chen Baojiao let out a long, shuddering breath, her body going limp against his leg as the agony receded.
"Better?"
"Much," she murmured, looking up at him with unmasked adoration. "You have so many secrets, Ling Feng. You ignore the suppression of the Ridge, you crush Royal Nobles with gravity... are you sure you're even human?"
"I'm just a guy," Ling Feng shrugged, helping her stand up. "Just a guy who hates seeing his future wife in pain."
Chen Baojiao flushed a deep, crimson red, matching the ferocity of her physique. "Future wife... you are truly shameless. You say that so openly."
"Confidence is key," Ling Feng winked. "Fake it 'til you make it, right? Except I don't need to fake it."
He turned back to the group, clapping his hands. The sound cracked like a whip, snapping the disciples out of their cultivation trances.
"Alright, squad, listen up," Ling Feng announced, his voice carrying effortlessly across the clearing. "Training montage is over. You guys leveled up nicely. Together, you bunch of misfits could probably mug an average Royal Noble in a dark alley and get away with it. But alone? Killing a Named Hero still needs some effort. We're burning daylight."
"Where are we going?" Su Yonghuang asked, stepping forward. She was the strategist, the Sect Master in title, always looking for the objective. "Deeper?"
Ling Feng pointed toward a section of the forest where the trees were twisted into agonizing shapes and the silence was heavy enough to crush a mortal soul.
"We're going to the zoo," Ling Feng grinned, his eyes flashing with a predatory light. "I'm craving a snack. And there's a really big monkey that needs to be evicted."
...
The journey to the Ape's territory should have been a suicide march through treacherous terrain filled with Heavenly Beasts and spatial traps. However, with Ling Feng, it was a stroll.
He didn't bother walking the path. He utilized the Green Chaos Emerald (Space) to fold the distance. The scenery blurred around them—one moment they were in the clearing, the next, reality warped and snapped them kilometers forward.
He brought the group to the edge of the Ape's domain—a desolate valley that smelled of musk, ozone, and ancient blood. The ground was littered with crushed bones that had been ground into white dust. The trees here had been snapped like twigs.
"Stay here," Ling Feng commanded, his voice losing its playful lilt for a moment. "Set up a perimeter. If anything else tries to third-party us while I'm working, kill it."
"Ling Feng," Li Shuangyan stepped forward, gripping his sleeve. Her beautiful face was pale. She could feel it—the aura radiating from the center of the valley. "That beast... its blood energy is shaking the sky. It is an existence comparable to an Ancient Saint, perhaps even stronger due to its bloodline. Even if you are powerful, the Ridge suppresses everyone. Don't be reckless."
Ling Feng looked at her hand on his arm, then up at her concern. He smiled, a genuine, soft smile that didn't have a trace of his usual mockery.
"I love it when you worry about me," he said, leaning in and pecking her on the forehead before she could react. "But seriously, chill. I'm built different."
Before she could protest, he vanished.
Chaos Control.
He reappeared instantly in the center of the valley, standing atop a massive, flat obsidian rock.
Sleeping in front of him was the Heaven Extermination Devil Ape.
It was colossal—a mountain of black fur and corded muscle that rose into the mist. Every breath it took sounded like a giant bellows, inhaling the spiritual energy of the environment and exhaling a turbulence that rattled the stones. Even asleep, the pressure it released was enough to turn a mortal into paste. It was a creature that had stood at the apex of this food chain for thousands of years.
In the original timeline, Li Qiye used cunning tricks to lure this thing toward his enemies, playing 4D chess to preserve his strength.
Ling Feng didn't like chess. He liked boxing.
"Hey! Big and ugly!" Ling Feng shouted, cupping his hands around his mouth. "Wakey wakey! Rent is due!"
The Ape's eyes snapped open.
They were the size of carriage wheels, burning with a crimson, tyrannical light that seemed to scorch the air. It saw the tiny, insignificant human standing on its rock. It didn't growl; it roared—a physical wall of sound that shattered the surrounding boulders and stripped the bark off the trees for a mile.
ROAAAAR!
"Ugh, morning breath is kicking," Ling Feng waved a hand in front of his nose, unbothered by the soundwave that was currently flattening the vegetation behind him.
The Ape didn't appreciate the criticism. It raised a fist the size of a small house and brought it down. The speed was blinding, defying its size. The air compressed so hard under the fist that it ignited, creating a wreath of flames around the knuckles.
This was a blow that would flatten a Royal Noble instantly. It was pure, brute force that ignored technique.
Ling Feng didn't dodge.
"Let's see what you got," Ling Feng grinned, his eyes glowing red.
He planted his feet. The Red Chaos Emerald (Power) in his Inner Void flared to life like a supernova.
Chaos Absolute Force.
Ling Feng threw a simple uppercut. No intricate Dao Law. No fancy merit law. Just absolute, unadulterated kinetic output amplified by the Chaos Force.
BOOM!
Fist met fist.
The impact created a shockwave that flattened the valley floor. Dust and debris were blasted outward in a mushroom cloud that rose above the tree line. The ground beneath Ling Feng pulverized into sand, creating a crater fifty meters wide.
But Ling Feng didn't budge.
The Ape's eyes widened in confusion. Its fist... stopped.
"Is that it?" Ling Feng stood there, his feet sunk knee-deep into the bedrock, but his single arm holding the massive fist up effortlessly. "I thought you were an Ancient Saint-level threat? You hit like my grandma."
The Ape howled in rage. It was a descendant of a Divine Beast! It had dominated this Ridge for eons!
It pulled back and unleashed a flurry of blows, turning into a blur of black death. The air exploded repeatedly, sounding like a continuous thunderstorm.
Ling Feng laughed, a wild, adrenaline-fueled sound. "That's more like it! Come on!"
He met the Ape blow for blow. He didn't use the intricate Dao Laws of the Emperor's Domination world. He used brawling. He weaved, ducked, and countered with hooks and crosses that carried the weight of collapsing stars.
BAM! BAM! CRACK!
Every punch Ling Feng landed ignored 50% of the Ape's natural defense. His fists sank into the thick muscle, breaking ribs and rupturing organs with sickening wet thuds.
The Ape, realizing physical force wasn't working against this anomaly, roared and opened its mouth.
The air in the valley grew cold. Dark particles gathered in its maw. A beam of concentrated destruction—dark energy capable of eroding the Dao and rotting the soul—shot toward Ling Feng.
"Energy battle?" Ling Feng smirked. "Cute."
Yellow Chaos Emerald (Energy Manipulation).
Ling Feng opened his palm, facing the oncoming beam of death. "Thanks for the snack."
The beam hit his hand and... vanished.
It didn't explode. It didn't deflect. The Yellow Emerald spun wildly in his Inner Void, acting like a black hole. It devoured the Ancient Saint-level energy, filtered out the impurities, and converted it into pure, raw power.
"Return to sender!"
Ling Feng closed his fist.
Chaos Blast.
A spear of emerald light erupted from his hand. It was denser and "realer" than the energy he had just absorbed, existing outside the laws of this reality. It pierced through the remnants of the Ape's energy breath, shattering the Dao Laws contained within, and slammed into the Ape's chest.
SPLAT.
The Ape flew backward, crashing into the mountain wall. The impact buried it in the rubble, collapsing the cliff face on top of it. It coughed up rivers of blood, its chest a mangled mess of gore and singed fur.
It looked at Ling Feng with genuine fear now. This wasn't a cultivator. This was a monster in human skin. The suppression of the Ridge... why did it not affect him? Why was his energy endless?
"You know," Ling Feng said, walking through the settling dust, dusting off his shoulders. "I was gonna ask for your banana stash, but you ruined the vibe. Now, I'm just gonna take your soul."
The Ape tried to rise, to burn its Life Wheel for a final stand.
"Sit. Down."
Ling Feng snapped his fingers.
Green Chaos Emerald: Gravity Lock.
The space around the Ape solidified. It was frozen in place, unable to move a muscle, pinned by the weight of the atmosphere itself.
Ling Feng leaped into the air, hovering right in front of the Ape's terrified face.
"Nothing personal, big guy. Just the food chain. And I'm currently at the top."
He placed his hand on the Ape's forehead.
Soul Refining: Ring Conversion.
The Ape screamed—a silent, psychic scream that echoed in the minds of everyone nearby—as its massive body, its cultivation, its bloodline, and its soul were all violently sucked into a vortex in Ling Feng's palm.
In seconds, the mountain-sized beast was gone.
Hovering in Ling Feng's hand was a new Ring. It wasn't gold; it was a deep, pulsing crimson, radiating a savage, primal power.
"Nice," Ling Feng tossed the ring up and caught it. "Major stat boost."
He put the Ring into his Inner Void to absorb later.
He checked his reflection in a pool of blood on the ground. Hair still perfect.
"Time to go home."
When Ling Feng returned to the perimeter, the group was on high alert. They had felt the earth shaking. They had seen the flashes of green and black light tearing the sky apart. They expected a desperate battle, or perhaps Ling Feng fleeing for his life, pursued by the enraged beast.
Instead, Ling Feng strolled out of the dust cloud like he was returning from a grocery run, hands in his pockets, whistling a tune from a world they didn't know.
"Yo," he greeted them. "Mission accomplished."
Su Yonghuang stared at him, her golden eyes wide, scanning the horizon. "The Ape... where is it? Did it escape?"
"Escape?" Ling Feng laughed. "Nah. It's in here." He tapped his chest. "Digested. High in protein, low in carbs."
The group stared in stunned silence. He killed the Heaven Extermination Devil Ape. Alone. In less time than it took to boil a pot of tea.
"You..." Li Shuangyan breathed, her composure cracking. "You are truly a monster."
"I prefer 'highly efficient'," Ling Feng grinned. He walked up to Li Shuangyan and Xu Pei, opening his arms wide. "Alright, pay up. I killed the boss. I demand a reward."
"Reward?" Xu Pei blinked, confused, her sword still drawn.
"Victory kiss. A peck on the lips. Let's go."
Li Shuangyan froze. In the cultivation world, public displays of affection were rare, especially for someone of her status as a descendant of an Emperor lineage. To kiss a man in front of disciples? It was unheard of.
"Young Noble... here? In front of everyone?" Her voice wavered.
"Why not?" Ling Feng teased, stepping closer. "Are you shy? After we held hands? Scandalous."
Li Shuangyan's face turned pink. She looked at the disciples, who hurriedly turned around, pretending to inspect the trees with intense fascination. She looked back at Ling Feng's expectant, playful face. There was no malice there, just a challenge.
She sighed, defeated by his shamelessness—and perhaps, admitting to herself that she wanted to. She leaned in and quickly pecked his lips. It was soft, cold, and smelled faintly of lilies.
"Your turn, Pei-Pei," Ling Feng looked at Xu Pei.
Xu Pei was red as a tomato, smoke practically rising from her ears, but she was braver than she looked. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips, lingering for a second longer than necessary, her heart racing like a drum.
"Jackpot," Ling Feng laughed, wrapping his arms around both of their waists for a brief hug, ignoring their stiffening postures. "See? That wasn't so hard. We're a family. We celebrate wins."
Chen Baojiao watched from the side, a complex expression on her face. Jealousy? Perhaps. But mostly amusement and a growing sense of belonging.
"And for me?" Chen Baojiao crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow, challenging him.
"You get a raincheck," Ling Feng winked, releasing the other two. "I'm saving yours for when we fix that physique of yours completely. It'll be a celebration to remember."
Chen Baojiao rolled her eyes, but her heart raced. She knew exactly what he was implying, and to her surprise, the thought didn't disgust her. "Keep dreaming."
Suddenly, the moment was interrupted.
Rustle. Snap.
Frantic footsteps. Heavy, panicked panting.
A group of cultivators burst out of the dense jungle, nearly crashing into Ling Feng's group. They were wearing the torn, bloodied robes of a minor sect. Their faces were pale with terror, eyes wide and unseeing.
"Halt!" Zhang Yu, the leader of the disciples, shouted, drawing his blade instantly.
The fleeing cultivators stopped, trembling. When they saw Ling Feng's group—clean, calm, and radiating power—they dropped to their knees, desperate for salvation.
"Fellow Daoists! Please! Help us!" the leader of the fleeing group cried out, tears mixing with the blood on his face. "The Red Light! It's chasing us!"
"Red light?" Ling Feng's interest piqued. He stepped forward, the casual vibe shifting to curiosity. "What are you talking about? A traffic stop?"
"No! The treasure!" the man stammered, pointing back the way they came. "Deep in the swamp... a red light appeared! We thought... we thought it was the birth of a God-Monarch's artifact! We went to claim it... but..." He swallowed hard, terror choking him. "It ate them! The light... it has roots! It sucked Brother Liu dry in seconds! It pulled him under the mud and drained him into a husk!"
Su Yonghuang's expression darkened instantly. She exchanged a look with Li Shuangyan.
"Red light... roots... devouring blood..." Su Yonghuang murmured. "The Evil Typha Tree."
"Ding ding ding," Ling Feng snapped his fingers, a savage grin spreading across his face. "We have a winner."
"The Evil Typha Tree?" Xu Pei asked, shivering. "Is it dangerous?"
"It's a carnivorous plant that lived for far too long, and it's on steroids," Ling Feng explained, looking in the direction the men had fled from. Through the mist, he could just barely make out a faint, crimson glow pulsing in the distance like a heartbeat. "It lures idiots in with a treasure glow, then slurps them up like a smoothie. It's an ancient evil of this Ridge."
The fleeing cultivator nodded frantically. "Yes! It is a demon! We must flee! The Ridge is waking up!"
"Flee?" Ling Feng chuckled. A predatory gleam entered his eyes—the same look he had before fighting the Ape.
He turned to his group.
"You guys hungry?"
"Young Noble," Li Shuangyan sighed, already knowing the answer. She adjusted her grip on her sword. "You want to hunt it."
"It's not a hunt, my dear," Ling Feng summoned his weapon—not a sword, but pure Chaos Energy condensing around his fists, distorting the air. "It's gardening. That tree has been eating cultivators for eons. Imagine the energy stored inside it. It's practically a candy piñata waiting to be popped."
He looked at the fleeing cultivators, who looked at him like he was insane. "You guys can run. Or you can stay and watch a landscaping tutorial. Your choice."
Without waiting for an answer, Ling Feng turned toward the crimson glow.
"Alright, squad. Formation. We're... well, you're going to see how I chop down a tree."
"Let's go!" Chen Baojiao shouted, her blood boiling. She was the first to follow him.
Ling Feng walked into the mist, a smirk on his face. The Evil Typha Tree. Another legend of the Ridge. Another terrifying existence that made Ancient Saints tremble.
To Ling Feng? It was just another Ring waiting to be forged.
'That thing is probably True God level though...' Ling Feng mused to himself. 'Ah well. I'll just use what Li Qiye used—cut that tree in half, kill most of it, and take whatever is left for myself. But faster. And with more explosions.'
As they marched into the darkness, the red light pulsed brighter, as if the ancient predator sensed a bigger, deadlier predator coming for it.