Heavens' Laughter

"Ah~ I feel a lot cleaner…"

Feng Shen stood waist-deep in a river, the clear water shimmering under the moon as it caressed his skin.

His long, golden hair cascaded down his back, catching the gentle current as he ran his fingers through it.

The tranquil flow of the river wrapped around Feng Shen, its cool embrace soothing against his skin as he stood naked.

The steady current carried away the blood and gore that had clung to him, turning the crystal-clear stream into a faint red trail downstream.

Feng Shen's hands moved methodically, scrubbing away the remnants of everything.

Despite the mess he had been, he now appeared as if untouched by the carnage.

Feng Shen's body, lean and hardened, bore no signs of the wounds he had sustained—every cut, bruise, and gash had vanished, leaving only smooth, unblemished skin behind.

"It seems my forbidden bloodline has become stronger," he muttered, his voice low but filled with a quiet satisfaction.

Feng Shen's wet hand traced the now fully healed wound on his side, the flesh having knitting itself together.@@novelbin@@

He was glad his forbidden bloodline was leveling up, a faint grin tugging at his lips.

The sheer potential it held was intoxicating, a power that transcended the limits.

Once it reached its peak, Feng Shen would be untouchable—a force so overwhelming that none could challenge him.

"Soon," he murmured, his voice almost drowned out by the rushing water. "Soon, my forbidden bloodline will level up even more. No one will dare oppose me."

Of course, when Feng Shen said, "soon," what he really meant was a few million years—a timeframe that would leave any normal mortal baffled.

His sense of timing was abysmally skewed, shaped by an existence far removed from the fleeting concerns of mortals.

"Now~ that I'm washed up, let's start cultivating~," Feng Shen said to himself, as he looked downward into the water.

His reflection stared back at him—a face now free of blood and grime, its sharp, handsome features showing.

Turning around, Feng Shen stretched his arms overhead, his joints cracking.

He stepped a few steps toward the riverbank.

Stepping out of the river, water dripping from his form, Feng Shen made his way over to where he had put his robe and core.

The chilly breeze kissed his damp skin, as his eyes fell upon his discarded robe lying nearby, along with the Sky Tyrant's core.

Feng Shen crouched down, brushing his wet hair back as he moved the robe aside with one hand.

With the other, he picked up the core.

The core was warm to the touch.

"Down the hatch~."

Without a second of hesitation, Feng Shen swallowed the Sky Tyrant's core in one swift motion.

The moment it passed his lips, he could feel the surge of Qi coursing through his body, a powerful, almost intoxicating flow of Qi flooding every fiber of his being.

"Ah~ so delicious~."

Feng Shen's body relaxed as he settled into a meditative position, crossing his legs and placing his hands on his knees.

His eyes fluttered closed, his breathing deepening as he began to channel the overwhelming surge of Qi into his meridians and dantian.

With each slow, deliberate breath, Feng Shen guided the Qi through his body, pushing it through his meridians with growing precision.

He felt the Qi enter his dantian, expanding and condensing.

Feng Shen was fully immersed in the cultivation process, and the passage of time seemed to lose all meaning.

His focus intensified, every part of his being dedicated to refining the Qi, pushing it deeper into his body with each passing second.

The Qi coursed through his meridians, flowing faster, more intensely than before.

At first, Feng Shen felt a subtle shift, a tightening within his dantian as the power he had absorbed caused his cultivation to break through the Upper Stage of the Qi Realm.

The sheer power emanating from his body began to coalesce into an overwhelming surge.

The air around Feng Shen vibrated with raw energy, rippling as if the very fabric of reality was being twisted by the intensity of his newfound strength.

Suddenly, a beam of brilliant light shot up into the night sky, erupting from his body like a pillar of divine energy.

The light was so pure and blinding that it illuminated the surrounding forest.

The force behind it was immense, shaking the ground beneath Feng Shen.

His body reacted instinctively, but it was only a fleeting moment—a mere spark of progress—before the floodgates opened, and his cultivation surged forward with an overwhelming force.

Without warning, Feng Shen's realm shot upward like a rising star, crashing through the Upper Stage and into the Peak Stage of the Qi Realm.

His veins burned with power, and the flow of Qi within him became a roaring river that refused to be contained.

The rapid ascent sent tremors through his body, and Feng Shen gritted his teeth, resisting the overwhelming force.

His Spiritual Root, Grade D, though sufficient for right now, was clearly struggling to process the overwhelming amounts of Qi he was absorbing—at such a fast paste.

After all, this low graded Spiritual Root was not made for such rapid advancement.

And so, Feng Shen began feeling occasional flashes of discomfort.

The flow of Qi felt like it was being funneled through a narrow, cracked pipe.

Yet, Feng Shen pushed through the strain, forcing the Qi to accelerate, its flow rushing faster than ever before.

The sheer volume of energy flooding his body was nothing short of intoxicating, each surge strengthening his Qi.

Feng Shen's senses sharpened even more, and with every heartbeat, he felt his strength grow exponentially.

"MORE! GIVE ME EVERYTHING! I WANT IT ALL! MORE! MORE! MORE!!!" He roared, his voice dripping with madness, as he tore through his own limits without hesitation.

The pain was nothing to Feng Shen—he cared not for the toll it would take on his body or the risk of shattering his Spiritual Root.

His thirst for power was all-consuming, and nothing would stop him from pushing further, even if it meant crippling himself in the process.

Feng Shen's mind, clouded with obsession, ignored the warning signs, lost in the frenzy of his insatiable desire for more power.

Suddenly….

BOOOOOOOOMMMMM!!!!

Feng Shen broke through to the Initial Stage of the Foundation Realm.

His eyes snapped opened wide.

Qi erupted from Feng Shen's body, an unstoppable force that rippled outward in a violent surge.

The air itself seemed to tremble as trees were uprooted and blown away, their trunks snapping like twigs in the wake of the explosion.

The river beside Feng Shen twisted and contorted, its waters violently thrust aside as if repelled by an invisible force.

In that instant, a blinding light enveloped the area, drowning everything in its brilliance, as the raw power surged through the land like a storm unleashed

Feng Shen cared not for restraint or for minimizing the damage around him.

His newfound power was a force to be displayed, not hidden.

Slowly, Feng Shen stood up, looking at his hands:

"Initial Stage of the Foundation Realm… Hah, not bad, not bad at all… It's... acceptable… But those eyes... those filthy, pathetic eyes... lurking, spying, waiting... How dare they? How dare they peep at me? How dare they… HOW DARE THEY?!"

In the next instant, Feng Shen's head snapped to the left, his golden eyes narrowing as he locked onto the source of the unwanted pests.

Without hesitation, he unleashed Dragon's Roar, the fierce, thunderous force of his attack tearing through the air in the direction of all the eyes.

"SHIT! MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!"

About a dozen dozen men and women, all dressed in black, their faces obscured by masks bearing different types of expressions, immediately sprang into movement.

In perfect synchrony, they scattered in all directions, their movements swift and deliberate.

With the surroundings already leveled to the ground by Feng Shen's ascension to the next realm, there was nowhere for them to hide.

No cover remained.

Feng Shen was fully aware of their helplessness, and a twisted smile spread across his face, growing wider with madness.

Some were too slow to evade the Dragon's Roar, their bodies disintegrating in an instant as the force of the attack tore through them, leaving nothing but ashes in its wake.

Only half of them remained.

"I thought that bastard said he was in the Qi Realm!?" one of the surviving men shouted, his voice thick with disbelief as he turned to Yī (1), the leader of the group.

Caught completely off guard, as some of his fellow numbers were now dead.

"Shut the fuck up and focus, Èr!(2)" Yī didn't take his eyes off the target, as he gulped hard:

"We've gained some ground. We need to move, report back, and get out of here—now."

Yī had never anticipated this job would become so complicated.

They were so close to catching the Second Young Master of the Feng family off guard while he was deep in cultivation, ready to strike and kill him in that very moment.

But then, without warning, he unleashed a sudden explosion of uncontrollable power that shattered their plans in an instant.

'Did he know we were here? Is that why he didn't hold back his ascension power?'