The journey ahead was smooth sailing, with no more suicidal rushers appearing to cause trouble. A few magical beasts were casually dispatched by Chen Feng, drawing cheers from the crowd.

Ever since that incident, all the crew members on the ship held Chen Feng in deep admiration; his every word was treated as an imperial decree, and no one dared to disobey.

In their conversations, everyone inadvertently revealed their praise for Chen Feng, with some even beginning to pray for him.

When one person started praying, a second followed, and soon the entire fleet was praying for this young man, wishing him safe passage and no encounters with that fifth-rank Ling Shi.

While everyone prayed for him, Chen Feng himself remained unconcerned, focusing only on cultivation, cultivation, and more cultivation.

With the aid of the Violet Fire Crystal Stones, his cultivation speed increased rapidly—a full six times faster than when relying solely on absorbing the natural energy of heaven and earth!

The sheer consumption rate of the Violet Fire Crystal Stones was terrifying; nearly twenty were used up daily. Two such stones would be priceless on the market, if they were even available for purchase.

But for the sake of improving his cultivation, Chen Feng completely disregarded the expenditure of these stones.

Although the Violet Fire Crystal Stones were precious, they weren't comparable to the Yellow Jade Demon Crystals, as Ling Feng had mentioned. A Yellow Jade Demon Crystal, once its demonic power was fully absorbed, would completely regenerate after about ten days. The Violet Fire Crystal Stone, however, was a single-use consumable; once its energy was depleted, it became useless scrap.

How could a single-use item compare to a reusable one?

Still, this situation brought him great comfort. Having 5,000 Violet Fire Crystal Stones on hand was enough to indulge in for quite some time.

In between training, Chen Feng would take out the "Divine Mansion of Light" after deploying his domain. This wasn't due to any mental lapse on his part, but because he had distinctly sensed something peculiar.

The crystal sphere that controlled the Divine Mansion seemed to be continuously absorbing something. Since he had fully recovered and refined the crystal sphere, his spirit could clearly feel that after it absorbed certain things, his spiritual perceptive power was constantly growing!

Spiritual perceptive power was something that usually only increased with one's cultivation level; no one had ever heard of it increasing independently.

Due to his status as a transmigator, having two souls condensed within his body, his spiritual perceptive power was far higher than his actual cultivation level suggested. When he was a second-rank Fighter, his spiritual perceptive power was nearly equivalent to a fourth-rank Battle Master. However, over the past three years, the growth rate of his spiritual perceptive power hadn't kept pace with his advancement in rank. Thus, at his current strength as a second-rank Battle Venerable, his spiritual perceptive power was only on par with a seventh-rank Battle Venerable.

This was the primary reason he could control a high-level domain.

Now, his spiritual perceptive power was growing inexplicably.

If the intensity of his spiritual perceptive power were translated into a measurable range, a few days ago his coverage was similar to his domain, about one meter in radius. Now, it had reached 150 meters!

This meant that within these few days, his spiritual perceptive power had increased by fifty percent!

Although he couldn't be certain of the exact cause, it was definitely linked to the crystal sphere absorbing something specific!

This substance was most concentrated every morning when all the crew members prayed for him—that was when his spiritual perceptive power grew fastest!

If the experts of the Sacred Domain knew that the power of faith, which even they couldn't utilize, was being harnessed by someone at the Battle Venerable level, they would likely go mad with envy.

A greater range for his spiritual perceptive power also meant that his ability to use Ma Gong Athena's Teleportation technique was enhanced. Thinking of this, he was overjoyed beyond measure.

Furthermore, the benefits gained from the crystal sphere absorbing this substance didn't stop there; his comprehension of the Great Serpent's Black Particle technique had deepened!

Previously, he had only witnessed the annihilation of space resulting from the collision of various elements within spatial turbulence, mimicking that process to perform the Black Particle technique. Now, looking back, it was completely different.

While the collision of various elements certainly causes spatial annihilation, the essence of the Black Particle technique is controlling space and inducing its annihilation. His current application was merely a makeshift trick; in essence, he was not utilizing the Black Particle technique in its complete form.

When performing low-level attacks, the difference was imperceptible, but when encountering a true master, his version of the Black Particle technique would become ineffective due to external interference.

In other words, when facing an attack from a Sacred Domain expert, where the might of heaven and earth and all elements become chaotic, his Black Particle technique would become entirely useless due to the anomalous elemental fluctuations!

Understanding this, Chen Feng realized how fortunate he had been to kill the Fourth Deputy Lord. If the Fourth Deputy Lord hadn't been overly confident, assuming Chen Feng was dead, hadn't been unguarded, and if he hadn't neglected to lock down the space around his body while trying to please Ling Feng, if... in short, without all those "ifs," his Black Particle technique could never have reached the target!

Realizing this truth, a cold sweat broke out. He had previously thought that mastering the Black Particle technique meant he didn't need to fear the Sacred Domain experts, but he now saw that was a grave mistake!

In future encounters with Sacred Domain masters, he needed to proceed with extreme caution—preferably through sneak attacks. If a sneak attack failed, he should flee; otherwise, his only option would be hiding inside the "Divine Mansion of Light" while being battered.

"Unleashing the true Black Particle technique, commanding the power of space, that’s simply beyond what I can achieve now; perhaps only a deity could manage it!" Chen Feng muttered to himself, when suddenly, a flash of inspiration brought a daring thought into his mind.

If the convergence of various elements could create spatial annihilation, forming the Black Particle, then... could the Great Serpent's other moves—God Finger, Reflect Shield, Spiritual Energy Pillar, Sunlight Rain—also be performed? (Move names referenced from the KOF '97 move list; search on Baidu if there are questions. Also, don't readers think "Sunlight Rain" sounds better and more like a move name than "All Returns to Nothingness"?)

Especially if the Sunlight Rain could be executed, even if it wasn't the original version, its power would be limitless, likely capable of instantly defeating anyone below the Sacred Domain!

The thought made Chen Feng's heart race with excitement.

If he couldn't shatter the entire space, at least inducing spatial collapse within his own domain should be achievable!

If the space within his domain shattered, his body would be protected from the spatial turbulence by the "Divine Mansion of Light," but the domain itself would be ripped apart. If the domain shattered, he would inevitably suffer injury—this action would undoubtedly be akin to killing a thousand enemies while wounding himself by eight hundred.

Was there a better way?

Chen Feng sank into deep thought. Without using his domain, it was impossible to control a large area of elements to intersect simultaneously to cause annihilation in an instant. What should he do?

This problem troubled him for three days, yielding no solution.

Rubbing his aching head, Chen Feng stood up, left his room, breathed in some fresh sea air on the deck, and proceeded to Ling Feng’s room.

Ling Feng noticed a hint of melancholy on his face and stated calmly, "The ship reaches land tomorrow!"

"Tomorrow?" Chen Feng blinked. He had been so absorbed in contemplating the Sunlight Rain issue over the past few days that he hadn't noticed—more than ten days had vanished in the blink of an eye.

Seeing Chen Feng still somewhat stunned, Ling Feng continued, "Once we land, I must return to the Phoenix Domain..." Her tone carried a distinct reluctance.

"Oh..." Chen Feng pondered for a moment, "So soon!" He trailed off after those words.

Ling Feng bit her lower lip lightly, her beautiful eyes faintly glistening with moisture, causing her deep distress: "It seems I hold no real standing in his heart..."

This was the first time in her life she had cared so much for a male friend. She couldn't pinpoint when this feeling began, but after escaping the Purple Garden Demon Territory together, she had a subtle sense that being with him brought her happiness, and she wished they could stay together forever...

Yet, reason told her such a thing was absolutely impossible. She bore the mission of her clan and could not have a future with him; staying together would only harm him.

"Don't you have anything you want to say?" Ling Feng finally couldn't restrain herself and asked.

"Something to say?" Chen Feng looked momentarily confused, then asked, "Can you find the way back to the Phoenix Domain?"

"..." A flush spread across Ling Feng's fair face, and her breathing grew ragged; the sense of humiliation intensified.

Chen Feng, whose spiritual perceptive power was highly sensitive to environmental changes, stared at Ling Feng and asked curiously, "What's wrong? Can't you find it? That's bad news. I wonder if they sell maps like that outside..."

Ling Feng sighed inwardly and managed a bitter smile. It seemed she had overthought things. Back in the prison cell of the Purple Garden Demon Territory, his clear declaration, "Ling Feng is mine," hadn't held the deeper meaning she imagined; it was simply to save her. It turned out everything she had hoped for was just her own wishful thinking...

Pain like a knife twisting in her heart, a line of clear tears traced a path down her fair cheek—this was her first time crying, the very first time since childhood.

Chen Feng was caught completely off guard by her sudden tears. He understood absolutely nothing about a girl's feelings. In his past life, he was introverted and somewhat dull; before transmigrating, he had never dated. After arriving in this world, it had been nothing but fighting and killing, leaving no time to interact with girls. In his entire life up to this point, the girl he had spent the most time with was Ling Feng, yet she maintained a detached demeanor and rarely revealed her inner thoughts. How could Chen Feng possibly know?

Don't try to guess a girl's mind, because no matter how much you guess, you will never truly understand! This was absolute truth.

"You don't need to cry just because you can't find the way back to the Phoenix Domain..." Chen Feng became flustered.

Hearing this, Ling Feng wept even harder. She stood up, turned to him, and said, "You... get out!" Then she turned, buried her face in the covers, and began to cry loudly.

No matter how high her cultivation, she was still a woman, and women have the right to cry!

"Inexplicable!" Chen Feng shook his head as he watched the weeping Ling Feng, stood up, and walked straight out.

ps:: Only 9,000 words today; barring surprises, tomorrow will be 12,000...

Also, I've noticed something strange: why did my subscriptions go up when I updated less these last two days? Sigh... Maybe updating more isn't always a good thing...

For those who frequently subscribe to this book, please just set up auto-subscribe. Old Ya's 24-hour subscription rate (which is the total subscription volume within 24 hours of a chapter being released) averages 1/X, and the number is continuously falling... At this rate, there will never be a featured recommendation...

If you can support the genuine version, please do so. My subscriptions are even lower than those of the brothers in the group chat... I feel quite disheartened...

Also, to the brothers reading pirated copies: can you please stop asking me if I'm missing words or chapters? I can barely take it anymore... Sigh... (To be continued. To find out what happens next, please log in to www**com for more chapters and to support the author and the genuine reading experience!) First release