Everlasting

 

Chen Feng had chosen to come to Demon Soul Valley mainly for the sake of finding Soulguard Flowers. It was a harrowing adventure that had nearly taken his life. Chen Feng had already given up on the thought of finding Soulguard Flowers when an entire field of them appeared before his eyes. In fact, it was an expansive field of it. Seeing it filled him with disbelief.

Seeing the Soulguard Flower held before his eyes, Chen Feng felt as though he was imagining things.

“Are these Soulguard Flowers real?” Chen Feng dared not believe it. He thought that the field of Soulguard Flowers before his eyes was an illusion.

“Of course it is real. Soulguard Flowers are nothing exceptionally rare anyways. Why do I need to lie to you?” Tower replied with a disgruntled tone.

“But, but I was unable to buy it outside!” Chen Feng found it hard to accept.

“That was just bad luck on your part. Or rather, you did not find them at the right place. See? There are so many just in front.” Tower’s voice was filled with impatience. It would appear that he did not feel like wasting his time with this pointless topic.

“Brother Chen, you’ve found Soulguard Flowers. Eh, there are so many of them?” Xiao Yin came over. Seeing the high number of Soulguard Flowers, he revealed a slight look of shock. However, he was not as dumbfounded as Chen Feng.

“Isn’t it a little strange?” Chen Feng asked.

“No. Soulguard Flowers exist within Demon Soul Valley. Although the number here is quite high, it is still very normal. This is not some rare plant,” Xiao Yin said as he began plucking them.

“Though, they can be sold for a good amount of money.”

Chen Feng shook his head and decided to stop thinking too much about it. Finding a large number of Soulguard Flowers here was for the best. Both of his feet abruptly pressed deep into the soil and an entire stretch of Soulguard Flowers, roots included, rose into the air.

Since there are so many, I will just take more, Chen Feng thought.

…

On the other side, Mo Ji’s group had successfully opened up the spatial passageway and was making their way through it.

“The demonic energy here is even thicker. It also feels as though there is something else here?” Observing the grey-coloured space, Mo Ji felt puzzled.

“There is a powerful fire-type spiritual energy within it. It seems we are going in the right direction,” the elder said slowly.

As he had already revealed himself, he chose to stop hiding.

“According to the records, that Yao King cultivates a potent power of fire. However, why are there no signs of those two kids?” Mo Ji checked their surroundings.

“I too cannot feel their auras. However, they possess Invisibility Talismans refined by experts. That is a problem,” the elder said.

“I will establish a link with Bloody Soul.” After saying that, Mo Ji closed her eyes and focused on sensing the aura of her Bloody Soul.

After some time, Mo Ji snapped open her eyes. Her face was extremely ugly to behold.

“What happened?” The elder raised his brows.

“Bloody Soul’s aura has disappeared,” Mo Ji hissed through gnashed teeth.

“Disappeared? There are only two possibilities. The first, we are too far away from it and you cannot sense it. However, considering your cultivation base, you should be able to sense it as long as it is within a radius of 100 li. If so, there is only the second possibility,” the elder said with a grave tone (1 li = 0.5 km).

“You mean to say that the other party has already refined it? How is that possible? It had taken me so much time to refine the demonic artefact. They cannot possibly have succeeded in refining it in such a short amount of time. Besides, once they succeed, the soul imprint that I had left on it would disappear. I would have been able to sense that,” Mo Ji blurted out. 

“Actually, there is another possibility,” Mo Xigui suddenly interjected.

“The other party possesses a higher tier magic treasure, which he used to cut off your connection with the lance.”

“Although that kid possesses a Prized artefact, it’s of a lower grade compared to my Bloody Soul. Could he have a stronger magic treasure?” Mo Ji found it hard to believe.

“That possibility is very high. Don’t forget. Back then, the kid had sent out a Purplebolt Silverlight Wyrm. That is a Great Yao,” the elder said gravely.

“My Bloody Soul is a grade 2 Prized artefact. Additionally, there is also the Demon Scorpion’s poisonous stinger. That thing can probably be used to forge a Prized artefact. I have never suffered such a loss before. No matter what, I cannot let this slide.” Iciness filled Mo Ji’s face.

“We will remember that kid. Once we exit Demon Soul Valley, it will be easy to capture him. When that happens, Miss Mo Ji can deal with him however you like,” said one of the cultivators with an ingratiating tone.

“There are many overlapping spaces here that are dangerous. It would be for the best if we can meet those two. However, I think we should focus on our objective,” the elder reminded her.

“Fine. This is the reason I came all this way. I cannot mess up just because something else happened.” Mo Ji nodded her head.

Next, before the eyes of all present, Mo Ji slit her own wrist. A stream of bright-red blood spurted out. Next, Mo Ji moved her fingers without respite to draw a strange-looking diagram with her blood.

Immediately after that, the diagram grew in size and fused with the grey-coloured space. As a strange sensation was about to envelop the entire sky, it suddenly exploded, transforming into the most minute, strand-like droplets of blood. The strands of blood then seeped into the surrounding space.

“Miss Mo Ji, what are you doing?” Mo Xigui stepped forward and asked.

“It’s nothing. I just wanted to determine the locations of the Prized artefacts. Do not forget, the reason I brought you all here is so we can find Prized artefacts,” Mo Ji said coolly. Although she looked somewhat pale, she had also regained her cool and composed demeanour.

The blood she let out earlier was no ordinary blood. Rather, it was the core portion of her blood, her blood essence.

Hopefully, ancestor can sense it, Mo Ji thought.

When Mo Ji released her blood essence into their surroundings, the ruins within a certain area – with a radius of who knows how many li – shook ever so slightly. The tremor was so minute that not even Mo Ji’s group could sense it. Likewise, Chen Feng, who was busy collecting Soulguard Flowers, also failed to notice it.

“Did you find anything?” Mo Xigui asked calmly. A strange look flashed across his face.

Although Mo Xigui appeared to be Mo Ji’s follower, he too harboured a high level of suspicion towards her. That was especially so after entering Demon Soul Valley. At present, his suspicion towards her had reached an incredibly high level.

“It is in this space. Or rather, in this pocket dimension. In order to obtain treasures, we will have to look for them ourselves,” Mo Ji said.

Unbeknownst to them all, somewhere deep, deep underground was a special pocket dimension. Additionally, this pocket dimension was special in that it was created using a great amount of magic power.

Inside this special space was a massive fire fox. The fire fox was at least 100 zhang long and possessed six large tails, which hovered behind it. Every one of them was several hundred zhang long. Every time one of the tails waved, it would cover the sky while bringing forth surging flames with it. It was as though the six tails were made of fire itself (1 zhang = 3.333 m).

Its thick limbs were inserted deep into the ground while its large head lay close to the ground. Whenever it breathed, flames would burst out from its nostrils.

The fox yao was immense and its whole body emanated a wild and explosive atmosphere. And yet, it had to lay there in a wretched position, incapable of moving at all. It had been suppressed.

A circular mountain, over 1,000 zhang in height was pressing the fox yao down. The surface of the mountain was as smooth as a wall, devoid of even a single blade of grass. Additionally, faint streams of light could be seen moving across its surface. One glance was sufficient to tell that the mountain had been enhanced with magic power.

The fire fox, which was in the middle of a deep slumber, suddenly opened up its eyes. Two clumps of flames burned as they moved about.

“Eh? This blood, it seems my descendants are here. Let me check it out.” After saying that, the fire fox closed its eyes again. At the same time, invisible ripples spread out from its body to seep through the layers of space and pocket dimensions.

…

“There are some bones and weapons here!” Xiao Yin suddenly shouted.

Chen Feng’s figure flashed forward like the wind and he appeared beside Xiao Yin.

Tens of human bones were scattered upon the stretch of grasses. Every one of them had completely decayed to the point where there was no longer any flesh on them. Only some rusty weapons and clothes remained on them.

“These should be top-grade magic robes and top-grade Magic artefacts. A pity, they are completely decomposed. Not a single one of them is intact,” Xiao Yin said.

Chen Feng circled the bones, his brows furrowing before finally saying, “They are likely cultivators like us, who came into this place. However, the way they died is quite unique.”

Xiao Yin nodded. He then brought out his Grotto Soul Flute and began playing it. This time, what came out was not a soundless ripple. Instead, a pleasant music came out. Hearing the music, Chen Feng felt slightly light-headed. It was as though the countless notes were moving into his body to control his mind.

Chen Feng’s heart thumped in shock and he recollected himself. Only then did he manage to rid himself from the state.

What a powerful sound attack. Just the tune from the flute possessed such power, Chen Feng thought.

As the soundwaves continued spreading, all the skeletons on the ground stood up. Seemingly having returned to life, they assumed various postures.

By then, Chen Feng had noticed something. Each of the skeletons had a see-through hole on them, either on their skulls, or their chest portions. It was unknown how they were pierced.

Xiao Yin continued to play the Grotto Soul Flute with his eyes closed, ignoring the movements of the skeletons. He had seemingly entered a wondrous state.

Chen Feng could feel the power of the musical notes growing ever stronger. In the end, he felt himself greatly affected again. He ignited his Soulflame as he backed away. Only after having retreated up to 100 metres away did he stop.

I practice the Longevity Scripture, while possessing the aid of the Longevity Tower. To possess such a cultivation base at my age, I can already be considered a genius. Unexpectedly, this youngster who is younger than me is so powerful. His cultivation base is higher than me. Although a large part of this is him borrowing the power of his Prized artefact, the fact that he could condense out his Soulflame at such a young age, the word genius is no longer enough to describe him.

Finally, Xiao Yin stopped playing the flute. The moving skeletons shattered into fine powder before utterly disappearing into the wind.

“What did you find?” Seeing Xiao Yin stop, Chen Feng hurriedly move forward to ask.

“These people were all Concealed stage cultivators. Half of them had already condensed out Soulflames. Additionally, they died not die too long ago. They died less than 10 years ago. It is strange. Considering the amount of time passed, their bones should not be so heavily damaged. Additionally, I discovered something else.” When Xiao Yin said that, there was a hesitant look on his face. It was as though he was not quite certain about his discovery.

“What is it?” Chen Feng was quick to ask.

“The bones here are frail and the fibrous tissues have shrunk. It seems as though something had forcibly drained all the vitality within them,” Xiao Yin said grimly.

“Could there be yao beasts here?” Chen Feng said.

Thus, the two of them lost interest in picking up medicinal herbs. Instead, they displayed their movement techniques to search the place.

Another pile of bones.

And another.

The two of them moved quickly. It did not take long for them to find bones of various sizes within a radius of thousands of metres. After Xiao Yin inspected them, they found that the owners of the bones had all died at different times. However, they all shared the same characteristics. The vitality within them had all been drained away.