Everlasting

 

“So excessive! I remember, back when the tree spirit in Black Origin Mountain was overcoming Lightning Tribulation, it was not as powerful as this!” Chen Feng exclaimed.

Unknown to Chen Feng, back then, the tree spirit had utilized a secret technique, which made use of other trees as substitutes for itself. Thus, the scene of its Lightning Tribulation was less devastating compared to Purplebolt’s Lightning Tribulation.

After finding Purplebolt, Chen Feng saw that the Great Yao was barely breathing. If it were not for the connection between their souls, Chen Feng would not have believed that the thing before him was the Purplebolt Silverlight Wyrm.

A blackened, wooden pole-like object rested before Chen Feng. It was only thanks to Chen Feng’s soul power that he could sense that the object was Purplebolt.

Purplebolt’s body was originally covered with white-coloured scales and the single horn on his head would flash with purple-coloured lightning. With an aggressive air of majesty and the ability to upend the clouds to his will, he was a prestigious existence. At that moment, however, due to the Lightning Tribulation, he had become a black piece of charcoal. For Chen Feng, the great difference between the two images was almost impossible to accept.

Chen Feng reached out with his hand to press down on Purplebolt’s body. Next, a pure stream of longevity-type primary energy flowed ceaselessly into Purplebolt’s body. Chen Feng felt as though Purplebolt’s body had become like a bottomless pit which devoured the primary energy he sent out without respite.

After one joss stick’s worth of time, as the longevity-type primary energy within Chen Feng’s body was half exhausted, Purplebolt finally moved. He opened his mouth and black smoke sprayed out from it.

“I have successfully overcome Lightning Tribulation.” Chen Feng sensed the weak soul wave.

“Return to the tower to recuperate. Since you have successfully overcome Lightning Tribulation, your power will multiply. You will be able to heal from these injuries quickly.” After saying that, Chen Feng waved his hand and kept Purplebolt back into the Longevity Tower.

Chen Feng then regarded his surroundings before vaulting up into the sky. A thick layer of astral energy enveloped his entire body and he quickly flew away.

Given how big of a ruckus that had been, some other beings would surely be lured over. Chen Feng had no desire to invite trouble within this unfamiliar and dangerous territory. It would be best for him to quickly move away and find a safe place.

One hour later, Chen Feng could be found hidden within the dense foliage of a giant, towering tree. He was in the process of familiarizing himself with his sudden increase in power.

He was already a level 4 Concealed stage cultivator. However, not even a cultivator at level 8 of the Concealed stage could match the amount of primary energy within his body. Before this, Chen Feng’s fleshly body had failed to keep up with the improvement of his soul power. At that moment, however, the two sides were beginning to balance out. Given his current state, it would not be an issue for Chen Feng to take the promotion assessment for heir discipleship after returning to the sect. However, Chen Feng wanted to go up to level 6 of the Concealed stage before doing that. At the very least, he had to be at level 5.

However, Chen Feng knew that breaking through again was not something that he could accomplish any time soon.

Surprisingly, after carefully sensing the roaring power within his body, Chen Feng sighed. This great increase in cultivation base was a joyous occasion. However, it also made Chen Feng understand something. The further along he climbed through the cultivation dao, the harder it would become. Every succeeding breakthrough would be tens or hundreds or even tens of hundreds of times harder than the last. There were countless cultivators who ended up getting stuck on one level for the rest of their lives, incapable of ever breaking through again.

Chen Feng sat on the tree and continued to cultivate for three more days. Sensing the tranquillity around him, he began pondering. He could be considered a loner. He did not have any relatives. The reason he entered Extreme Celestial Sect was for the sake of cultivation. While he had not wanted to enter Driftcloud Immortal Mountain at first, he was already inside. Thus, Chen Feng began making plans for his future.

For Chen Feng, as long as he could cultivate himself, the location did not matter. The same could be applied to his current situation. Putting the dangers here aside, this place was indeed a good place to cultivate himself. It was even much better compared to Extreme Celestial Mountain.

Forget Chen Feng, most cultivators would have no issues with cultivating themselves here for tens or hundreds of years. Naturally, that was under the assumption that they could survive.

Take Chen Feng for example. Despite only spending a few days inside, he’d had to fend off the attacks from Spirit Scouring Snakes. If Chen Feng were not in possession of Prized artefacts and a Great Yao as a subordinate, he would most certainly have died. Unless, of course, if he had chosen to hide inside the Longevity Tower.

If Chen Feng, who possessed Prized artefacts, had to face such circumstances, what about the average Concealed stage cultivators? Chen Feng thought to himself. If all the cultivators who entered this place had to face this level of danger, then only a small portion of the Concealed stage cultivators could survive. Additionally, only a small portion of the survivors would be able to make their way out from this place. As for obtaining treasures, they would be a rarity amongst rarities.

Of course, those were just some random thoughts going through Chen Feng’s idle mind. Chen Feng dared not let his guard down at all in this foreign world. There was no way to tell when more dangers would bear down upon him.

The most important reason for Chen Feng’s decision to not keep moving forward was that this place was suitable for cultivation. Fear was only a small part of his decision.

Chen Feng had spent every day trying to communicate with Tower. For some unknown reason, Tower had remained utterly unresponsive, causing Chen Feng to feel somewhat worried. He worried that a variable may have popped up in Tower’s attempt to suppress the Devourer Beast in the second level of the Longevity Tower.

This is a little peculiar. Since entering, I have not met any of the other cultivators who came in at all. I am not seeing even a trace of human cultivators. Other than the Scouring Spirit Snakes, I have not met other types of yao or demon beasts. The trees here are endless. Could the interior of the immortal mountain be an endless forest? Chen Feng felt indescribable peculiarity and uniqueness in what he saw.

After a few more days, Chen Feng finally became impatient. He finally decided to move forward. His previous breakthrough had given him a certain level of confidence. He believed that he would be able to make it through whatever dangers he might encounter. Originally, Chen Feng had wanted to wait until Purplebolt had fully recovered before moving forward. However, despite Purplebolt’s quick rate of recovery, Chen Feng realized that the injuries on Purplebolt were too severe. It would be very difficult for him to recover any time soon. Thus, Chen Feng had to move on.

Unexpectedly, facing Lightning Tribulation is so dangerous. If there is no one around to act as bodyguard during the Lightning Tribulation and I get badly wounded after that, wouldn’t I be in extreme danger? Chen Feng realized.

Observing Purplebolt focus on healing up and the continuously decreasing supply of Magic crystals, Chen Feng had to clench his teeth. The rate at which Chen Feng would normally go through the Magic crystals was fast enough as it was. At present, however, Purplebolt, who had overcome 1 Lightning Tribulation, was absorbing the Magic crystals at a much more shocking rate. Chen Feng felt as though the pile of Magic crystals, which had appeared like a small mountain within the Longevity Tower, was gradually becoming flat.

I did not expect a Great Yao to have such a rapid rate of Magic crystal absorption. It seems I will have to find crystals of a higher grade in the future. Chen Feng shook his head. He had originally assumed that he had enough Magic crystals on himself. After seeing the rate at which Purplebolt was absorbing them, however, he realized that he was mistaken.

If Four Ears manages to rise up to the Great Yao stage as well, the number of crystals required would grow even higher, Chen Feng thought.

Chen Feng had not brought Four Ears with him on this trip. He had left Four Ears in his mountain residence. The yao beasts were not too fond of getting stuck inside the Longevity Tower all the time, after all.

The rate at which Chen Feng moved forward was very slow. He cautiously covered a distance of between 200 to 300 li per day. There were times when he would move during the night and times when he would move during the day.

After venturing forward for eight days, Chen Feng finally discovered something. The corpses of some cultivators. Moreover, it would appear that it had not been too long since their deaths.

After a round of inspection, Chen Feng determined that the cultivators were like him, those who entered the mountain from the outside. They were all under level 6 of the Concealed stage. Furthermore, all of them were killed by an unknown creature. The magic treasures they carried with them remained by their corpses.

Chen Feng did not take their items. Instead, he dug a hole and buried them. No matter what, they were fellow human cultivators. Nothing wrong with spending a negligible amount of time to put them to rest beneath the earth. Chen Feng had yet to become a cold-blooded person, after all.

Since some people died here, there are probably some dangers here. After considering it for a moment, Chen Feng extended his left hand and the Thousand Seeker Mirror slowly emerged from the surface of his palm.

Although he had yet to fully refine both the Thousand Seeker Mirror and Bloody Soul, they had formed a balanced state with two of Chen Feng’s Four Extreme acupoints on either hand. However, the two Prized artefacts had only been temporarily stabilized. They may cause problems again at any time. Chen Feng himself was somewhat concerned about this.

Having said that, Chen Feng did garner some results from his actions with these two Prized artefacts. Over time, Chen Feng would be able to unleash more and more of the two Prized artefacts’ power.

Controlling the Thousand Seeker Mirror, Chen Feng examined his surroundings. The Thousand Seeker Mirror emitted rays of light and images began playing upon the surface of the Thousand Seeker Mirror.

This mirror is truly special. Looking at the images playing upon the surface of the mirror, Chen Feng widened his eyes.

The mirror showed the cultivators moving through the forest while discussing amongst themselves. They did not appear anxious nor were they wary of their surroundings. They were like friends out to have fun.

As Chen Feng was wondering if they had entered together or if they had only just grouped up after entering, something happened. Rays of blinding, golden light suddenly descended from the sky. The cultivators, seemingly unaware, failed to block those rays of golden light and were killed.

They died just like that. Only then did Chen Feng understood how the wounds on the cultivators’ bodies came about. However, Chen Feng was still having a hard time accepting it. The Thousand Seeker Mirror had not revealed the killer.

Golden light from the sky. Just as the thought was flashing through Chen Feng’s mind, he felt his scalp going numb. Several thoughts flashed through his hearts in a row and his body dashed forward, disappearing from where he was standing to re-appear tens of metres away.

Pop!

Like an explosion of fireworks, ray after ray of golden light descended from the sky, leaving small but deep holes upon the very spot that Chen Feng had been standing on earlier. A rock happened to be hit by a ray of golden light and was silently evaporated.

Seeing that shocked Chen Feng. If he were just a slight bit slower earlier, his body would have been riddled with see-through holes.

Could it be some yao beast? Chen Feng turned his left hand and the Thousand Seeker Mirror shone forward. Beams of light formed using spiritual energy shone forward to incinerate the dense foliage. It did not take it long to clear out a portion of the foliage above his head.

1 li = 0.5 km