Everlasting

 

“Heh, I am willing to bet there is a very powerful yao here. I am certain of it,” Xiao Yin said with a smile.

“Naturally.” Chen Feng nodded his head. Truth be told, he was secretly communicating with Tower.

“Is this the handiwork of the fire fox you mentioned?”

“There are still traces of the power of fire on the wounds. It should be the handiwork of the fire fox sealed here. However, it is strange. I sense that this fire fox should be a Yao King. For a Yao King to disregard its reputation and attack minor cultivators like these does not make any sense,” Tower said slowly.

Chen Feng pondered the matter for a moment. Then, both his eyes lit up.

“Even if that person is an Immortal Human, after getting suppressed and kept immobile for so long, his cultivation base would surely plummet. Perhaps, the power of this Yao King has fallen terribly and thus, it has no other choice but to devour the cultivators who came here to replenish its own energy?” Chen Feng made a bold guess.

“That might be possible. However, you need to be careful. Even a wounded Yao King is far stronger than you,” Tower said.

“What if the Yao King is already on death’s door?” asked Chen Feng with a smile.

“Such a coincidence is unlikely. A pity, my power has yet to recover. If not, I could try divining it for you,” Tower said.

“Divining?” Chen Feng became puzzled.

“That is right. When your cultivation base reaches a certain level, you can cultivate a secret magic to pry the secrets of Heaven and divine the blessings and disasters awaiting you in the future,” Tower said.

“What level do I have to reach to start divining my future?” Chen Feng asked.

“Truth be told, you can do it now. However, you will not be able to divine out anything. In order to truly practice the dao of divination and comprehend the future, you will need to cultivate up to the Sky Human stage first. Having said that, this secret magic is a defiance of Heaven. The occasional divining might not be an issue, but if you keep doing it, you will surely face the condemnation of Heaven,” Tower said slowly.

“Ha ha ha ha ha ha!”

Hearing those words, Chen Feng instantly broke into a laughter.

“What are you laughing at?” asked a puzzled Tower.

“We cultivators practice Heaven-defying magic and walk the Heaven-defying path. Should we fear the condemnation of Heaven? You said it before, not even Immortal artefacts can match up against you. Reaching the immortal stage means freedom from Heaven and Earth. Why would you care about the condemnation of Heaven?” Chen Feng could not stop himself from laughing.

“Your words sound somewhat reasonable. Let me ask you. Given your level of understanding, what is Heaven?” Tower slowly asked.

“Heaven? This…” Chen Feng was stunned. He did not possess even an inkling of understanding towards Heaven, let alone the ability to describe it.

“Can’t say anything, can you? Did you think that Heaven is the sky above your head? There is a Heaven beyond Heaven! Take the Nine Heavens that you humans like to mention, there is an even higher existence compared to that. Your current way of thinking, the knowledge you possess, they are but that of a frog in a well,” Tower quipped bluntly.

“Heh, you have the knowledge, but still you ended up in this situation. I may not have the knowledge, but I will cultivate step by step without fearing Heaven. One day, I will ride above Heaven. When that happens, it won’t be too late for me to observe with my own eyes this Heaven beyond Heaven,” Chen Feng said calmly.

“All right, I won’t be arguing that with you. Have you sensed out the location of the fire fox?” Chen Feng asked.

“It is not too far. However, there are some interlapping pocket dimensions in between. I do not know if these were created by the ones who sealed the fox or the fox itself,” said Tower after a moment’s consideration.

“I think it should have been set up by the ones who sealed the fox. Mo Ji must surely know something. I should not have taken action back then and stayed right behind them to see what she came here for,” Chen Feng said.

“Strange. There are neither any traces or auras of yao beasts here. What killed these people?” said Xiao Yin, who was feeling puzzled.

“I have this speculation. It is probably the work of the Yao King sealed here,” Chen Feng said.

“The Yao King? Surely not?” Xiao Yin was in disbelief.

…

Chen Feng and Xiao Yin formed one team, Mo Ji and the others also formed another team. As for Evil Moon Grotto Master’s team, there were three people in total. However, besides them, there were actually two more teams. Although they had suffered a great many wounds and casualties, they had also ventured underground through the crack.

They did not encounter any Demon Scorpions, nor did they encounter any other yao beasts. One of the two teams had even acquired a near-intact Prized artefact.

“Everyone, this demonic artefact is the equivalent of a Prized artefact, but is unsuitable for us. I suggest we change this into crystals after getting out from here and distribute the spoils between us,” one of the cultivators suggested.

“I agree. However, since we could so easily acquire a Prized artefact, there will surely be more Prized artefacts. That Mo Ji discarded us, using us as cannon fodder. She never would have expected us to find our way here.”

“Ha ha ha ha! That is right. Besides, with them paving the path for us, we can save ourselves the effort.”

“Eh? What is that thing? A fireball?” a cultivator suddenly said as he pointed into the distance.

One thousand metres away, a clump of flames was rapidly jumping across the ground, making its way towards the cultivators who were just in the middle of discussing their situation.

“Not good. It must be a yao beast, but there is only one. Everyone, focus. Let’s join forces to kill it off.”

“It is so fast. This opponent is powerful.”

Bang!

Those words had just left the speaker’s mouth when a cultivator was struck by the fireball. His figure was sent flying amidst his wretched cry.

Shua! Shua! Shua!

The cultivators’ response was incredibly quick. They immediately sent out their flying swords at the fireball.

Kacha! Kacha!

The fireball caught two of the flying swords. Next, the two flying swords were crushed.

“That is?”

“A Six-tailed Fox!”

The remaining cultivators exclaimed as they finally got a good look at the fireball.

It was double the size of an ordinary fox and its entire body burned with raging, scarlet-red flames. Sharp fangs, sharp claws and six dexterous tails kept swishing about. 

“So, it is a yao beast. What level is this fox yao at?”

“Judging by its speed, it must be a high-level yao beast.”

“Hey, hey, more humans coming to their deaths. Coincidentally, it has been a while since I have had some fresh food.” Unexpectedly, the fox yao suddenly spoke the human tongue. Additionally, there was an amused look in its eyes.

“What? It is speaking in the human tongue. Could it be a Great Yao? Oh, crap. This is really bad!” Exchanging glances, the others stopped attacking. Instead, they turned around and began running away.

“Now that you have entered my territory, even a dragon must lie down for me.” The Six-tailed Fox snickered. Then, the flaming tails on its back abruptly elongated forward, becoming like flaming bands, which wrapped up every one of the cultivators.

“Fight!”

The cultivators howled loudly and they sent out their few, remaining flying swords – even the newly-acquired Prized artefact – to attack the Six-tailed Fox.

Shua! Shua!

Two of its tails swiped out casually and all the weapons were sent flying.

“Too weak, too weak. You fellows have not even condensed out Soulflames. Sigh, you are not even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth,” the Six-tailed Fox said. With a roar, one of its tails swiftly lunged out to easily pierce through one of the cultivators’ chest. Next, the cultivator began screaming in dread.

His vitality was rapidly flowing out from his body. In just one breath’s worth of time, the cultivator who was alive just moments ago had been reduced to a shrivelled mummy. With a flick of its tail, the Six-tailed Fox tossed the corpse onto the ground.

“Next.” The Six-tailed Fox sneered.

…

“There are only plants here and nothing else. We can’t even find the passageway to the next area.”

Chen Feng and Xiao Yin arrived atop the highest mountain within the space that they were in. They were thus able to see more. A glance allowed them to peer 100 li ahead.

“A little strange. Should we go back through the passageway and secretly follow Mo Ji’s group?” 

“Useless. I had checked earlier. The passageway we used to come here has disappeared.”

“Tsk, tsk, something good is about to happen.” Tower suddenly laughed.

“What?” Chen Feng and Xiao Yin turned to look into the distance at the same time. A raging, red-coloured clump of flames had suddenly appeared there. Moving at an incredible speed, it seemingly became a red line streaking through the ground. It was moving towards Chen Feng and Xiao Yin.

“Something has finally appeared,” Xiao Yin said in a hushed tone, his Grotto Soul Flute quickly appearing in his hand.

…

“What is that, another yao beast?” said the old cultivator, his Ardent Sun Needle flying around him.

“It looks like a fox yao. It is a Six-tailed Fox! Be careful. You keep it busy while I execute a fatal strike.” Evil Moon Grotto Master sent out his Sky Toppling Seal again.

…

“This is a Prized artefact,” Mo Xigui said happily as he looked at the small copper furnace in his hand.

“I found a Prized artefact as well!” shouted the cultivator beside him. He held in his hand a shining black gourd the size of a palm.

The two of them had acquired a valuable harvest. The others who were looking at them revealed looks of envy.

Weng!

The space vibrated and a black passageway suddenly opened up.

“Strange, why did this spatial passageway suddenly open on its own?” someone wondered.

“Who cares? Let’s go in and have a look. Maybe there will be some good items there?” Some of the cultivators who had not acquired any Prized artefacts swiftly made their way in.

“We’ll go as well.”

The other cultivators followed suit. As Mo Xigui was about to move as well, he noticed that Mo Ji, her four bodyguards and the elder were not moving at all. Thus, he halted his steps in hesitation.

“Ah! There are so many treasures here! All of them are rare metal ores!” someone shouted loudly.

In the end, amongst the escorting cultivators, only Mo Xigui and two others with cultivation bases close to his chose not to move in. The others all rushed into the passageway.

Bang!

The space vibrated once more and the black passageway suddenly disappeared.

Observing what happened, a slightly tangled expression flashed across Mo Ji’s face. However, she was quick to recollect herself. Yet, Mo Xigui had noticed it.

Sure enough, something is going on. By the looks of it, it is not something good. Mo Xigui began to secretly put his guard up. 

“Mo Xigui, it seems we have been deceived by this woman.”

“Yes. I am guessing that the others are in dire straits right now.”

The other two cultivators secretly communicated with Mo Xigui. All three of them had already condensed out their Soulflames and could be considered highly regarded figures amongst Concealed stage cultivators. Additionally, the two of them possessed quite the background and the powers backing them up were considerable. However, in face of this unknown crisis, even these two were feeling anxious. 

“Don’t worry. Let’s observe the situation first,” Mo Xigui replied calmly. 

“Young Master Mo, the three of you sure can hold yourselves back in face of treasures.” Mo Ji finally spoke up.

“I have already acquired a Prized artefact. I am satisfied enough as it is. We humans cannot be too greedy,” Mo Xigui said with a composed tone.

“When you put it that way, you fellows plan on following me all the way?” Mo Ji said coolly, a trace of killing intent flashing across her eyes.

“All of us are going on the same route. Back then, you were the one who came to invite me. Did you forget? If some issues had not popped up, my senior brothers would have come along as well,” Mo Xigui said, hinting at something.

“Oh, I did forget about that. If that is the case, let’s move onwards together.” After saying that, Mo Ji abruptly swung the sword in her hand to open up another spatial passageway. This passageway was different compared to the rest. Fiery heat waves seeped out from the passageway.

“The following route will be even more dangerous. You fellows will have to carefully consider this.” After saying that, Mo Ji took the lead and entered.