The Sacred Ruins

Vatican Divine City was like an unfurled ancient scroll with its rows of majestic architectures. Be it the cathedrals or castles, all of them possessed the solemnity of the vicissitudes of time.

"The city in which we stand is the same as the city recorded in the annals of history—the holy city where the glory of the Vatican was at its peak. It is indeed a miracle of God that such a city has re-emerged in this era."

The trio, accompanied by Ovidius, was touring around and learning about this mysterious city.

All these buildings have a dark golden luster to them. Through the baptism of the months and years, the whole city was suffused with sacred radiance.

"Eh, you are Chu Feng?"

Across them, a blonde-haired youth came over. His hair was sparkling brightly, as if a yellow golden fire was burning within it. His whole being was comparable to the Sun God; frightening rays of golden light would spill out of his eyes when he blinked.

This person was obviously a terrifying expert, with strength akin to the legendary holy knights, surrounded by divine energy.

"Golden Lion King!" Ovidius exclaimed, intentionally mentioning his origins to warn Chu Feng and the others.

This was an expert with four severed shackles. He was famous within the Vatican—his strength was astonishing, and normally, no one would dare to provoke him. Apart from his great strength, he also had an extraordinary background.

Behind him was an old Lion King with six severed shackles. This was not a contemporary expert; he had achieved evolution since long ago.

Although they were not blood-related, they were of the same tribe and that was sufficient!

The Golden Lion King walked over, his golden hair spread behind him and dancing like flames. His mere presence seemed to have lit up the gloomy streets as his whole body carried a terrifying energy.

He was smiling while looking at Chu Feng, with his golden pupils saturated with a terrifying energy. This was an extremely dangerous person!

The scarlet flying knife on Chu Feng’s body had already started to glow with energy, ready to strike at a moment’s notice. Even if this Golden Lion King was an extraordinary character, if he proved to be hostile, Chu Feng would not let him off.

Naturally, if he could avoid becoming enemies with such a powerful expert, it would be for the best.

Chu Feng would not actively stir up trouble, but he didn’t fear trouble either!

This Golden Lion King’s stance was unclear; he circled around Chu Feng, his terrifying aura still pulsating like the vast waters and his eyes were like two small suns.

Yellow Ox and the black yak were also silently ready for battle.

"Eh? Little lion, you’re here." At this moment, an old voice was transmitted from the other end of the street. It was an old man.

He was very old, his curled hair was all white but his deep blue eyes were deep and possessed great spirituality.

This was an old Westerner. His appearance caused the Golden Lion King to tense up and his pupils to contract. He took a few steps backward.

"Schiller," the Golden Lion King exclaimed. He was extremely apprehensive of the old man, otherwise, he would not have pulled back to a safe distance.

The old man called Schiller laughed heartily and nodded as he walked closer.

The Golden Lion King also laughed, returning to his normal demeanor. Following that, he turned around and patted Chu Feng’s shoulder. After looking at him in the eyes meaningfully, he left.

The Dhole King and the Panther King appeared at the other end of the street to welcome the Golden Lion King, evidently disappointed. Afterward, they all left together.

As expected, the Golden Lion King had come for him. No doubt, he must have been requested to do so by the Dhole King and the Panther King.

"Many thanks, senior," Chu Feng expressed his gratitude. He knew that the old man had kindly helped him scare away the Golden Lion King.

"We are all of the same race. It involved very little effort on my part, don’t mention it." Schiller left with a laugh.

Ovidius inhaled deeply and sighed. "Within the city, you have to be wary of a few top experts. They are not to be trifled with.

"The Black Dragon, the Undead Phoenix, the Arctic King, the Silvermoon Wolf, Schiller, etc. These experts are considered the apex experts within the Vatican, having severed six shackles."

Schiller was the old man they had met just now. He was of the human race and was said to be part of the Holy See. He was claimed to be the last surviving holy knight and was probably the person most familiar with this city.

Chu Feng and Yellow Ox were both alarmed. Within a single city gathered such a large number of top experts!

There was not a speck of dust on the smooth stone streets; everything was neat and tidy. The architecture lining the streets were all thousand-year-old designs, simple and solemn.

"Did the Elder Lion not come?" the great black yak asked.

"No, its chaotic enough with just the Golden Lion King," said Ovidius. Even experts with six shackles severed like Schiller wouldn’t easily provoke him.

Chu Feng realized that he had established his might with that single battle, saving himself from much trouble. At least the minor characters didn’t dare to provoke him anymore, but the threat of the Golden Lion King and the Chilin King still remained.

Especially that lion just now; he had almost made his move.

The great black yak was unconvinced. "Let’s find a chance to flay that lion. He was threatening us just now without a word. If old man Schiller had not arrived, he probably would have attacked us."

The Divine City was very large. Some buildings were shining with light, and cathedrals were chanting hymns; it was astonishing.

Ovidius informed them that the sounds accumulated for a thousand years had imprinted themselves on the ancient walls.

Finally, they entered the city center, where a medicinal garden was located, covered by a light screen. It was like a huge glowing bowl placed face down on the ground, blocking outside access.

This was the sacred medicinal garden, the most astonishing place in the Vatican, and the reason why all the beast kings had gathered here.

Lush and verdant, within the garden, various grasses and trees were sparkling with moisture. Radiant and translucent, these divine species were emitting an aura of great vitality.

There was a jade green tree no taller than a man; its trunk was bold and vigorous, hidden within its leaves was a single golden peach, swaying in the wind and blossoming with strands of golden mist.

Just looking at it caused one’s heart to palpitate—it was, no doubt, an extraordinary fruit!

On another side, there was a three-meter tall ancient tree. It was completely red from the trunk to the leaves. It was as if it was carved from red agate; a few bowl-sized flower buds hung upon its branches, on the verge of blooming, enshrouded by scarlet mist. This was no doubt a divine flower!

A short distance away, there was vine, violet and lustrous. It was coiling around a gigantic rock, and it its end hung a purple gold colored fruit the size of a baby’s fist.

Further inside was an ancient tree, ten-odd meters tall and completely silver. On top of it was a flower over one meter in diameter radiating silver light.

...

At this moment, Chu Feng, Yellow Ox and the black yak were all wide-eyed—anywhere they looked, there would be several astonishing plants.

Yellow Ox swore that any one of the plants they had seen just now was sufficient for them to evolve.

It was no wonder why all the beast kings had converged on the Vatican. Who could resist such allure?

And this was only the outer region. In the depths of the hazy garden, they could make out the silhouette of an ancient tree.

"There’s someone atop that ancient tree?" Chu Feng was shocked.

Through the hazy lights, he saw the branches of the ancient tree moving. It appeared as if some human-shaped objects were hanging from them.

Unfortunately, the vision wasn’t clear.

"Those aren’t humans, they’re fruits," Ovidius explained.

"Initially, we saw flowers; after they had blossomed and wilted, they produced these human-shaped fruits.:

How astonishing!

"There’s something even more shocking, look this way."

Ovidius took the trio about 30 steps to one side and pointed towards a certain direction. There, within the medicinal garden, were a few withered ancient trees. There were a few leaves upon them, and part of their roots were visible above the earth.

"What is that?!" Even the black yak was surprised.

There were living things on the roots!

One of those ancient trees had a lot of roots on the surface and one could observe them more clearly. Among the roots sat a lady with her back to the people, exposing her snow white back and long golden hair.

She sat there with half her body buried within the earth, connected to the large tree by means of a single root. She appeared to have been born from that tree!

"What kind of situation was this?" Even Chu Feng was dumbfounded.

Even though he had once joked about such a scenario with the three seeds within the stone box, he knew that it was not quite possible.

However, before his eyes was an ancient tree growing a living being!

Chu Feng looked at Yellow Ox, hoping that the latter would explain the phenomenon.

"This medicinal garden is similar to the inaccessible depths of Mount Kunlun, populated with many sacred trees in anabiosis. However, regarding the products they are sprouting, I don’t understand either!"

Even Yellow Ox was unable to explain everything; he could not ascertain whether the being attached to the tree was a fruit or a living being.

"When will this boundary be lifted?" the great black yak asked; he could hardly wait to rush in and start picking fruits.

There were so many ancient trees; some were bearing fruits, some were flowering. This was the perfect time to enter.

However, one could feel something deep within the garden—something terrifying, something unknown.

"The boundary is actually rather unstable. It could open up anytime," replied Ovidius.

"Actually, we have also tried forcing our way in, but the losses were tremendous." He pointed toward the garden, indicating that they should look closely.

"Eh?"

Chu Feng noticed that on the ground before an ancient tree was a rusted greatsword. Half of it was stuck in the ground.

In another area, he saw a spear. It was originally golden in color but had eventually lost its color, luster, and sharpness.

There were weapons scattered on the ground in every direction. All of them were ancient items that had endured the passage of time.

"These weapons are extremely terrifying. Let’s just take that rusted old greatsword for example; it looks old and rusty right now, but it will rise up on its own, glowing with lustrous splendor, to slay any intruder including beast kings," Ovidius informed them.

Even Chu Feng shivered!

The two oxen were also shocked and doubled their caution towards the garden and the weapons therein.

As they moved towards a different direction, they found another ancient tree. Its whole trunk was glowing, and flower buds the size of bowls were growing upon it, releasing auspicious lights.

"This single flower bud could allow us to evolve, truly a divine flower." Yellow Ox was drooling.

"Some of the miraculous scenes are invisible from the outside—only when we charged in did we realize that there was an area in the middle that was suffused with pollen and overflowing with prismatic lights. Unfortunately, we were unable to approach that place at all." Ovidius sighed.

The pollen were condensed into a glowing mist that did not disperse.

Chu Feng was greatly moved; he really wanted to charge into the garden after hearing all that.

At this moment, they saw a lady.

Her black hair was swaying behind her, and she was slender and tall. Her gaze was focused on the sacred medicinal garden, only one side of her was visible. She was the picture of flawlessness and was, no doubt, a great beauty.

Shen turned towards the incoming party, and suddenly, black-colored flames soared around her, enshrouding her completely. An extremely terrifying aura raged towards Chu Feng’s group.

Ovidius’s expression changed as he pulled everyone in a hasty retreat.

"The Undead Phoenix!" He muttered, notifying the others.

"You lot were loitering in front of my residence the other day?" she questioned. Her voice was rather pleasing to the ears but contained a penetrating coldness to it.

"We were tricked, someone wanted to harm us," Chu Feng replied.

Boom!

A mass of black flames formed a spiritual snake on the ground which ran towards Chu Feng’s group with extreme speed, attempting to engulf them.

Even Yellow Ox felt his body tense up; this was an entity that had severed six shackles, known as the Undead Phoenix!

Chu Feng grasped the diamond chakram in his hands, ready to throw it out at a moment’s notice!

At this critical moment, a white-haired man appeared to one side. He said while laughing, "The sacred medicinal garden is about to open any moment. The Phoenix King should conserve her spiritual energy."

With that, the black-haired lady clad in raging black flames turned around and left.

"Many thanks to the Arctic King," Ovidius expressed his thanks.

"Don’t mention it. Actually, the Phoenix King also had no intention to attack." The Arctic King laughed, his white hair was rather distinct. He nodded towards Chu Feng and left.

The Arctic King, the Black Dragon, the Undead Phoenix and the Silvermoon Wolf were known as the most powerful people within the Vatican.

They all came from different places; some from the Arctic, some from the Mongolian Steppes, some from Europe.

"I want to grow stronger!" The black yak let out a low roar.

Actually, Chu Feng and Yellow Ox also felt a sense of urgency. They needed to enter the medicinal garden and attempt to evolve.

After walking around in a wide circle, they had gained some basic knowledge of the Divine City. They were also brought up to date with the situation of the medicinal garden; it was rather unstable as of late and could open up any moment.

Finally, Chu Feng and the two oxen, accompanied by Ovidius, chose a residence. They stayed within the City, waiting for an opportunity.

After two days had passed, that opportunity finally arrived!

Schiller, the Arctic King, and the Black Dragon all roared at the same time, shaking the Divine City and summoning all the king level experts over. The boundary was now unstable enough for them to crack it with their combined efforts!