Upon noticing someone approaching, Chu Feng quickly used the power of a formation to conceal himself.
“Hurry, hurry! If we’re late, someone else will snatch it all!”
Soon, a dozen figures appeared within Chu Feng’s line of sight.
These were likely ancient beings, their appearances resembling those depicted in the mural.
They were in a state of almost transforming into humans but still retained demonic traits.
However, their clothing was extremely simple, barely wearing anything, just crude hides covering sensitive areas.
They looked more like primitive people.
Yet Chu Feng distinctly remembered that the figure in the mural, who looked strikingly like Yan Ruyu, was dressed in attire.
Though that attire was unique, different from ordinary clothing, it was refined, unlike the crude state of these beings.
Most importantly, Chu Feng could sense their cultivation levels.
Their cultivation was only at the Heavenly Immortal Realm.
Not to mention that Chu Feng was currently cloaked in the power of the formation from the Demon-Slaying Emperor’s tomb.
Even without that formation, he could easily deal with them.
“Something’s off. This is nowhere near the level of power I sensed from those ancient beings before.”
“Could it be that ancient beings also vary in strength?”
Chu Feng made this guess but didn’t immediately approach to question them.
He wanted to observe what they were up to.
With patient waiting, Chu Feng soon discovered their purpose.
These beings were after the remains of those colossal creatures.
The flesh of those massive beasts had already been devoured, and even their origin essence had been consumed.
But for these beings, the remains seemed to still hold value.
Using special tools, they began pounding the bones, breaking them apart to reveal some sparkling remnants inside.
It was residual origin essence.
This residual essence could be used for cultivation, but it was extremely weak—so weak that Chu Feng couldn’t even gauge the original cultivation level of those colossal beasts from it.
Even for cultivation, its effect was negligible, something Chu Feng wouldn’t bother with.
But these beings treated it like treasure, carefully collecting the fragmented origin essence.
“Hurry up, hurry up! If we’re slow, others will take it all. Move faster!”
“We finish this one, then we’ve got to move to the next!”
Among them, a figure who seemed to be the leader kept urging the others.
Not only did they urge, but they also chatted among themselves.
Through their conversations, Chu Feng pieced together the situation.
Those colossal beasts that had died were indeed hunted.
And the ones who hunted them were the kin of these bone-smashing beings.
Kin, but not the same as them.
Among these ancient beings, not only did strength vary, but status also had clear hierarchies.
The ones before Chu Feng were the lowest, most卑微 of the ancient beings.
Powerful ancient beings hunted these colossal creatures, devouring their flesh and absorbing their essence to boost their cultivation.
These bottom-tier beings, however, could only come after the powerful ones had their fill, breaking the bones of the beasts to collect the faint origin essence for their own cultivation.
In other words, they were a bunch of scavengers.
“I wonder if these guys know anything about Yan Ruyu.”
Seeing how lowly their status was, yet recalling the noble appearance of Yan Ruyu in the mural, Chu Feng began to doubt whether they could provide any useful clues.
“Whatever. I’ll just ask and find out.”
Ultimately, Chu Feng decided to question them.
Though he’d made up his mind, he didn’t reveal himself immediately. Instead, he used his spirit techniques to alter his appearance.
Chu Feng transformed himself to look similar to these ancient beings, even changing his clothes to match.
He did this to avoid exposing his identity as a martial cultivator.
Chu Feng was aware that among these ancient beings, there were some extremely powerful existences.
Otherwise, the Demon-Slaying Emperor wouldn’t have warned him not to provoke them.
In this situation, Chu Feng felt he couldn’t approach them as a martial cultivator.
That could potentially implicate other cultivators.
So, disguising himself as one of their kind was the best choice.
Buzz—
Suddenly, a tremendous pressure descended from the sky, blowing the ancient beings digging for origin essence to the ground, leaving them in a sorry state.
“You bunch of trash, what are you doing?”
Immediately after, Chu Feng revealed himself.
“Lord, we were wrong, we were wrong! We were just trying to extract some origin essence from the bones of the Sky-Soaring Giant Beast, no ill intentions!”
Seeing Chu Feng, the beings were so frightened they knelt on the ground.
As expected, Chu Feng’s disguise worked. They didn’t suspect he was a martial cultivator but assumed he was one of their kind—a high-status one.
“Damn it, who the hell are you lot?” Chu Feng demanded.
“I’m Dog Scrap.”
“I’m Dog Egg.”
“I’m Dog Skin.”
“I’m Dog…”
…
One by one, they gave their names.
“What kind of ridiculous names are these?”
“Ancient beings, and you have such stupid names?”
Hearing their names, Chu Feng was dumbfounded.
But he didn’t dwell on it, continuing, “I’m not asking for your names. I lost my memory fighting the Sky-Soaring Giant Beast, and I don’t remember anything. So, do you know who I am?”
Chu Feng asked loudly.
He planned to use amnesia as an excuse to inquire about this place.
“We don’t know, we don’t know!”
“Lord, please don’t make things hard for us. We’re just lowly Dog Clan, living in dog caves. How could we possibly know you?”
They shook their heads repeatedly.
“Damn it, you don’t know anything.”
Chu Feng gave them a disdainful look.
“Then what about this? Do you know who this is?”
As he spoke, Chu Feng produced a large stone with a mural carved on it, depicting Yan Ruyu.
The stone was fabricated by Chu Feng, but the mural was identical to the one on the cave wall.
“This… Lord, why are you asking about her?”
They asked in unison.
From their expressions, Chu Feng could tell they definitely recognized the woman in the mural who resembled Yan Ruyu.
So Chu Feng said, “Though I lost my memory, I saw this mural by chance and took a liking to the person in it. I want to know who she is.”
“If you know, tell me now, and I’ll let you off.”
“What?”
Hearing this, their faces changed dramatically, filled with terror.
“Lord, take back those words quickly!”
“If the other lords hear this, not only will you die, but we’ll be in trouble too!”
As they spoke, they kowtowed and begged, as if Chu Feng’s words were a death sentence.
