Everlasting

 

On the other side, Zhao Qiang and the others had gained the upper hand. Their flying swords kept circling around, transforming into streams of light as they hacked down on the two Demonic Bloodthirsty Hunters. Additionally, Zhao Qiang and Ma Wu had begun utilizing their Soulflames.

Under the attacks from the Soulflames, the hard scales on the two Demonic Bloodthirsty Hunters began cracking and black-coloured blood trickled out.

“Just what is this thing? Why is its blood black?” Ma Wu shouted.

“Be careful. These two monsters are about to lose. Be wary of them going all out!” Zhao Qiang said grimly.

As expected, due to the siege from all the disciples, the wounds on the two Demonic Bloodthirsty Hunters grew. They wanted to escape but were fully surrounded and could only howl out in rage.

“Give way. Here comes my Skysilk Net!”

A palm-sized, white-coloured net descended from the sky. By the time it reached the top of the Demonic Bloodthirsty Hunters heads, the net had expanded to a radius of two zhang (1 zhang = 3.333 m).

Cha! Cha!

The low-grade net was easily torn apart. However, more nets descended. Additionally, there were also chains shooting out from every direction to wrap around them.

Having gained the upper hand, the Extreme Celestial Sect disciples’ strength quickly rose. The fear in their hearts gradually disappeared and each of them brought out their respective items and abilities to attack the two Demonic Bloodthirsty Hunters.

As for the Phantom Beast that Chen Feng had smashed into the ground, no movements came from it. Everyone ignored it and simply surrounded the two Demonic Bloodthirsty Hunters.

A layer of net, two layers of net…

A chain, two chains…

Under the relentless siege of the disciples, the two Demonic Bloodthirsty Hunters were finally captured. Their bodies were tightly tied up with chains. Fearing the unexpected, everyone kept unleashing heavy attacks upon the two, causing the two Demonic Bloodthirsty Hunters to become terribly wounded.

When they saw the two monsters in a grievously wounded state, the Extreme Celestial Sect disciples breathed a sigh of relief.

“Right, there is another monster. Didn’t it get smashed into the ground?” someone suddenly shouted. However, with the exception of the crater on the ground, there was no sign of the strange monster. Everyone then turned their attention to Chen Feng.

Chen Feng immediately revealed an ‘I don’t know’ expression.

“What manner of creature is this? Are these yao beasts?” The disciples stepped forward to inspect the two bloodthirsty monsters that had appeared out of nowhere.

“What kind of yao beasts are these? I have never heard of them before. Besides, the black energy on them is clearly strange.”

“I don’t think they are yao beasts.”

“If they are not yao beasts, then what are they? Could they be human cultivators?”

The outer and inner disciples discussed loudly while Zhao Qiang and the other heir disciples secretly discussed it amongst themselves.

“This is problematic. The black energy is clearly demonic energy. I think the creatures that suddenly appeared today must be creatures from the Demon Plane.”

“You mean to say these are demonic beasts from the Demon Plane?”

“Probably. Although I do not recognize these two monsters, the black energy their bodies exude is surely demonic energy.”

“We suffered a high number of casualties today. Even Senior Brother Hei was killed, his body burst apart with just one blow. Just talking about it terrifies me.” 

“Unfortunately, the most powerful one managed to escape.”

“Hey, letting it escape may not be a bad thing. If we really have to fight that thing, there will surely be more casualties amongst us.”

“Earlier, it was that outer disciple who smashed it to the ground.”

It was at that moment that Zhao Qiang and the others recalled Chen Feng’s display of strength during the fight, a strength that was in no way inferior compared to heir disciples like them. One by one, they turned their attention towards Chen Feng.

Chen Feng ignored the gazes of the heir disciples. Instead, he began treating the wounded disciples. The ones who suffered the most in this night battle were the outer disciples.

Seeing the dried-up corpses of those fellow disciples who had been fine and dandy just this afternoon caused a feeling of guilt to rise up within Chen Feng. If he had utilized his Prized artefacts right from the start, he could surely have killed off all three demonic beasts. However, he was not only trying to hone himself through the battle, he also did not want to expose his real strength. Thus, so many people had died.

“Humph! You are too soft, kid. This softness will make you vulnerable to inner demons,” Tower said.

“I am not being soft-hearted. I just feel that their deaths were unnecessary,” Chen Feng replied with a sigh.

“Humph! Sometimes, a fight between experts could even destroy a world. The number of lives lost will go beyond 10,000. Could it be those deaths are unnecessary as well? Cultivation has always been the path of defying Heaven. Not participate in the act of killing and simply enter cultivation retreat? Do you really think that you can reach the immortal stage by doing that? Besides, after reaching the immortal stage, the number of lives you will have to kill will likely grow even higher,” Tower said coldly.

Only after dawn had arrived did they finish cleaning up the scene. A headcount revealed 28 dead and 7 wounded amongst the outer disciples, 8 dead and 2 wounded amongst the inner disciples, 1 dead and 4 wounded amongst the heir disciples.

Judging by the number of casualties, they noticed an issue. Overall, there were fewer wounded disciples compared to the number of killed disciples. Those who were attacked by the monsters would often end up dying. The only ones wounded while fighting the monsters were the heir disciples. As for the outer and inner disciples, theirs were minor wounds from the chaos during the battles.

“Junior Brother Chen, you were the one who shouted out. Could you tell us the situation during that time?” Suddenly, Zhao Qiang and a few heir disciples came to stand before Chen Feng. The one who spoke up was a calmer-looking, middle-aged man in his thirties. Chen Feng knew that he could be considered the one in charge of the little town. He was a cultivator at level 7 of the Concealed stage.

“Yes. Back then, I heard some noise. Thus, I rushed over.” Chen Feng nodded and narrated what happened back then to them. 

After listening to Chen Feng’s account of what happened, the heir disciples from Extreme Celestial Sect immediately frowned.

“It seems this is quite serious. Although we managed to capture two of the monsters, one managed to escape. If that monster returns and launches a sneak attack, we will probably end up with more casualties.”

“Who knows what these creatures actually are? Putting aside their incomparably tough bodies, they can actually suck human blood. That is monstrous. The two monsters we caught are comparable to cultivators at level 7 of the Concealed stage. The one that managed to escape is even stronger.” 

“What I am worried about is whether or not those are the only monsters around.”

“I recommend contacting the sect immediately. We can no longer deal with the situation here.”

Hearing their discussion, Chen Feng thought to himself, It seems these fellows do not recognize the Demonic Bloodthirsty Hunters and Phantom Beast.

After considering it for a moment, Chen Feng then said, “Senior brothers, I had once gone to Demon Soul Valley before. There, I encountered demonic humans. I feel like the black energy on the three monsters we fought today is demonic energy.”

“Yes, we too think it is demonic energy.” Zhao Qiang and the others turned to look at Chen Feng. The fact that an inconspicuous disciple like Chen Feng had gone to Demon Soul Valley before was surprising to them. They themselves had never ventured into that dangerous place.

“It seems they are really demonic beasts from the Demon Plane.”

Due to the incident, the entire town was thrown into a panic. Chen Feng and the others too, stopped working. Additionally, they were all gathered together as very few dared to go off on their own.

Two days later, during the night, Chen Feng left the small town on his own. Wearing black clothes, his figure melded into the darkness of the night and he became like a ghost fluttering through the night.

It did not take him long to put a distance of hundreds of li between him and the little town. After confirming that there was no one following him, he slowed down (1 li = 0.5 km).

When he was fighting against the Phantom Beast back then, he had secretly utilized his energy to lock down its position. The reason Chen Feng came out this time was to capture the Phantom Beast.

According to Tower’s analysis, the escaped Phantom Beast was comparable to a level 8 Concealed stage human cultivator. More importantly, the Phantom Beast’s stealth and sneak attack abilities were incredibly strong.

It should be here, right? Chen Feng suddenly stopped. Then, he carefully sensed the existence of the Phantom Beast.

A chilling sensation silently pierced the air, shooting towards Chen Feng’s back.

“Hey, hey, this trick again?” Chen Feng sneered. He did not turn around. The sword energy that he had prepared beforehand swung to his back.

As there were no one around, Chen Feng no longer feared that others might discover his strength. Thus, he utilized the Overwhelming Astral Sword right from the start to attack.

Bang!

A banging sound rang out and the beam of sword energy that Chen Feng sent out struck the Phantom Beast, causing its body to spin in the air a few times.

“How unexpected. You sure are daring. You dare to launch a sneak attack on me again?” Chen Feng turned around and said to the nearby Phantom Beast.

Every part of the Phantom Beast’s body was covered with thick demonic energy and every one of the bone spikes protruding out from the corners of its body shone amidst the darkness of the night with a chilling light. Its two scarlet-red eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light. It was an extremely monstrous sight.

However, it was clear that this Phantom Beast was unlike the mindless demonic humans who only knew carnage. Rather, it possessed an intellect that was in no way inferior to humans. By then, the Phantom Beast had sensed that Chen Feng was not easy to deal with. The bloodthirsty light within its eyes gradually turned into one of vigilance.

“You are a Phantom Beast from the Demon Plane?” Chen Feng utilized his soul power to ask.

“How do you know that? Who are you?” The Phantom Beast then released a panicked wave of divine sense.

“Enough nonsense. Submit to me,” Chen Feng said coolly. With a flick of his finger, the Overwhelming Astral Sword transformed into a three-chi-long stream of light which circled around his finger (1 chi = 0.333 m).

Sensing the aura from the Overwhelming Astral Sword, the Phantom Beast took a few steps back.

“Either submit or die,” Chen Feng said coolly.

“Human, you do not have the qualifications to make me submit.” After saying that, the Phantom Beast’s figure began fading out of view. It was about to go invisible.

“I already know you have this skill.” After saying that, Chen Feng’s five fingers flicked forward and five beams of sword energy shot out from the Overwhelming Astral Sword, assuming the star shape of the five elements to encircle the Phantom Beast.

At the same time, Chen Feng swiftly moved forward. Astral energy wrapped around his fist as it heavily smashed towards the Phantom Beast.

…

In the small town that Chen Feng had just left, Zhao Qiang and Ma Wu were secretly gathered together.

“The kid has gone out.”

“I knew there is something wrong with the kid. Come on, let’s go.”

“Don’t let the kid find out.”

“Don’t worry, we can just follow him from afar. I had put Soultrace Scent on him earlier. We can find him as long as he is within 100 li from us.”

Chen Feng, who was secretly fighting against the Phantom Beast, was unaware that his movements had been noticed. He also did not know that two people were secretly following him from behind.

Boom!

A black fist and a white fist collided. Chen Feng’s figure staggered and was forced to take two steps back.

“Impressive. I did not expect the strength of my fleshly body to be inferior to this Phantom Beast. However, if you are so strong, why do you still like to use sneak attacks so much?” Chen Feng said with a snicker. Then, with a thought, his Overwhelming Astral Sword rang out and smashed down heavily against the pouncing Phantom Beast, causing it to tumble to the ground.