Everlasting

 

Without the threat of the Thunderhawk, Chen Feng and the others felt more relaxed. They spent the following half day flying over 5,000 kilometres and finally made it out of the dense forest.

“Hurry, look there. There is a plain up front!” Shangguan Yun cried out in joy.

“We finally got out of the damned forest,” Tie Changkong swore.

“I have a different opinion. For me, the forest is very suitable for cultivation. In comparison, the dangers within the forest is relatively small. We may have made it out from the forest, but who knows if the outside of the forest could be even more dangerous? Do not forget, this is Driftcloud Immortal Mountain. I wouldn’t be surprised if there is an Immortal beast up front,” Chen Feng said.

“Brother Chen’s words are logical. Although the forest is vast, the dangers within it are few. The only one we met so far is that Thunderhawk. If we are to purely consider it from a cultivation point of view, this is a good place.” Tie Changkong nodded his head in agreement.

“That was my belief in the beginning. Later on, though, I realized that, with my current cultivation base, it is not appropriate to stay here for 10 plus years. Besides, since I have entered this immortal mountain, I should go check out other places. Maybe I might actually come across immortal serendipity,” Chen Feng said with a smile.

“Liu Tian and Xu Ziping are up front,” Shangguan Yun suddenly said.

Truth be told, Chen Feng and Tie Changkong had noticed those two early on. However, they had not said anything. After Shangguan Yun mentioned it, the two of them gave a scoff and a slight sneer appeared on their faces.

“It seems they are waiting for us,” Chen Feng said.

“Let’s go see what they have to say,” Tie Changkong said with a sneer.

“You guys are here. Where is Liu Xihua?” Liu Tian was the first to speak up. It was as though nothing had happened earlier.

“The Thunderhawk killed him,” Tie Changkong replied coolly.

“What about the Thunderhawk?” Xu Ziping then asked.

Tie Changkong cast a nonchalant look at him, but did not reply. Both Chen Feng and Shangguan Yun did not reply as well.

“Ha ha ha! Since you are all safe and sound, all is good. We have finally left the damned forest, but we are strangers in a foreign land and there is no way to tell if there are any dangers ahead. I think it would be for the best that we continue to group up and work together,” Liu Tian said.

“I am just afraid that someone will run away in advance when we encounter danger,” Shangguan Yun said sarcastically.

“He he. If we truly do encounter an unassailable danger, I believe that everyone will only care about themselves,” Liu Tian said, a faint smile on his face.

Although there was a rift between them, there were in a dangerous place. Thus, they had still decided to temporarily group up with them. Even though they were unreliable in times of danger, having more people would still give them a higher level of confidence.

“Just now, we met a group of cultivators. According to them, there is a strange mountain not far ahead. There are plenty of rare medicinal herbs growing on the mountain. Let’s go check it out,” Liu Tian said.

“Oh, you met other cultivators? Which sect are they from?” Tie Changkong asked curiously.

After meeting other cultivators, Liu Tian did not get into a conflict or join forces with them. Hearing that made Tie Changkong puzzled.

“Just a group of loose cultivators,” Liu Tian said disdainfully. He was seemingly looking down on them. However, Chen Feng noticed a slight unnatural look on Liu Tian’s face when he said that. Thus, Chen Feng knew that this matter was not as simple as that.

After coming to an agreement, they headed forward. Tie Changkong, Shangguan Yun and Chen Feng deliberately trailed behind.

“I don’t think this matter is that simple. Liu Tian must be holding something back,” Shangguan Yun said through secret vocal transmission.

“What is there to fear? If something does happen, can the three of us not kill them?” replied Chen Feng with a scoff.

“You want to kill Liu Tian?”

Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun sucked in a cold breath each. They did not imagine Chen Feng could be so bold.

“First ignore whether or not we can kill Liu Tian. He is an elite disciple from Nine Firmaments Palace. His death will surely cause a shock in the world of cultivation. Even the higher-ups of Nine Firmaments Palace will send some people to investigate his death,” Shangguan Yun said.

“Hey, this is not the outside world. Even if we kill others or let others kill us, the outside world will not find out. Besides, I was just speaking in jest. It is as you said earlier, Liu Tian’s cultivation base is high. If something truly does happen, it will be because he attacked us first,” Chen Feng said with a smile.

“Yes, if Liu Tian dares to plot against us, the three of us combined should be able to kill him. If we kill him here, as long as no one finds out, this is where it all ends. However, if that happens, there is no need to keep Xu Ziping alive as well. In other words, the ones we face are Liu Tian and Xu Ziping. At present, I am still not fully healed up. The same goes for Junior Sister Yun. We are surely no match for them,” Tie Changkong considered.

Chen Feng pondered for a bit before saying, “In that case, let’s give it a test and see what Liu Tian is up to.”

Shangguan Yun nodded her head. Then, she openly spoke up, “Senior Brother Liu, let’s stop for a while.”

Hearing Shangguan Yun’s words, Liu Tian and Xu Ziping stopped moving forward. They were all flying through the sky using their swords at a high velocity. For them to stop in such a responsive manner without revealing any rigidity showed that their cultivation bases had reached an extremely high level.

“Junior Sister Yun, what is it?” Liu Tian asked with a smile.

“Senior Brother Liu, earlier, we were pursued by the Thunderhawk. The injuries we received back then have yet to heal completely. I want to heal up our wounds before advancing,” Shangguan Yun said with a smile.

“That is only natural. Let’s rest up for a bit then.” Liu Tian continued to smile and there was no way to know what he was thinking.

Chen Feng’s eyes glinted. When Shangguan Yun was talking to Liu Tian, Chen Feng had been keeping an eye on both Liu Tian and Xu Ziping. However, the two of them maintained calm and revealed nothing.

Could they not have any ill intentions? Was I mistaken? Chen Feng thought.

Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun sat down cross-legged on the ground and began absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy to heal their injuries. After four hours, they finally got up.

“How are your injuries?” asked Xu Ziping with a smile.

“They are more or less recovered. However, it will take quite some time to fully recover,” Tie Changkong said coolly.

After that, they continued to venture forward. After flying through several thousand li, they finally saw the outline of a mountain located far ahead.

“There really is a mountain,” Chen Feng said.

Although they had been flying through the sky, they were also paying attention to their surroundings. There were still blade-like, strong winds blowing up in the sky while the ground was flat. There was not a single grass to be found on the ground. If it were not for the thick spiritual energy around them, they would have assumed that they had come to a dead zone.

Despite having seen the outline of the mountain, they still needed to fly through 500 plus kilometres before reaching the mountain.

Observing the mountain rising high up into the clouds, they could not stop themselves from becoming dumbfounded.

“Don’t you think this mountain look somewhat similar to the external appearance of the Driftcloud Immortal Mountain?” Xu Ziping was the first to speak up.

“Somewhat similar? It is exactly the same,” Tie Changkong said.

Indeed, be it the height or shape, the massive mountain rising up before them looked very similar to the external appearance of the immortal mountain.  However, the surface of the immortal mountain had been bare and as smooth as a wall, not a single vegetation growing on it. While this mountain shared the same atmosphere of majesty, its surface was filled with various vegetation. A thick aroma of herbs wafted out from it.

“For there to be an identical-looking mountain here, there must be some good items here,” Liu Tian said. 

Nonsense! Even a blind man can tell there are good items on this mountain. Isn’t it obvious? Chen Feng could not stop the thought from rising into his mind. Naturally, he kept the thought to himself. If he were to say that out loud, it would surely lead to a fight.

Although they were too far away to get a clear view, the herbal aroma wafting out from the mountain alone was enough for Chen Feng to know that there were countless rare medicinal herbs growing on the mountain.

Rare medicinal herbs. That was one of the cultivation items that cultivators needed most.

“There are people on the mountain.” Shangguan Yun’s eyes lit up.

“Not just people. There are yao beasts as well,” Chen Feng said with a serious tone.

“Let’s go forward and have a look.” After saying that, Liu Tian took the lead to fly forward. He directly flew to the centre of the mountain.

Xu Ziping was close behind him. He flew at an extremely fast velocity and it did not take him long to fly over 100 zhang away.

“These two fellows are being quite anxious,” Tie Changkong said with a sneer.

“There are so many good things here. These things are fatally attractive for cultivators like us. Let’s go check it out as well. I won’t be able to hold myself back any longer,” Chen Feng said with a smile.

When Chen Feng landed on the crown of a big tree, he felt thick streams of spiritual energy surging towards him, enveloping him up. Despite not deliberately trying to cultivate, his casual move to breath in caused the streams of spiritual energy to flow inside him, moving towards every corner of his body.

“What a thick spiritual energy. It is mainly composed of grass essence.” After saying that, Chen Feng swiftly took in another breath. Two streams of spiritual energy formed a faint, dragon-like outline each as they flowed into Chen Feng’s nose.

“One day of cultivation here is the equivalent to 10 days of cultivation outside or more. I really want to stay here and never leave.” Tie Changkong too, was feeling intoxicated by the unbridled level of spiritual energy there.

“There are so many spirit-type medicinal herbs here.” After saying that, Chen Feng waved his hand. A faint-red ginseng that was as thick as an arm appeared in his hand.

“That is an Ardentblaze Ginseng. This spirit-type medicinal herb is at least a thousand years old,” said Shangguan Yun, who was beside him.

“Oh, what about this one?” Chen Feng waved his hand again and another plant was pulled out from the ground to fly into his hand.

The plant was only one chi long. However, it looked as though it was made of metal. Its flowers and leaves emanated a faint metal lustre. Its blooming flower was especially sharp, surpassing that of grade 2 magic swords.

“That is Wildsteel Flower. Surprisingly, it has already grown blades out. Looks like it has quite some years on it,” interjected Tie Changkong. There was a passionate look on his face as he looked at the plant in Chen Feng’s hand. He seemed tempted.

“I know you are a pure sword cultivator, so you need unique plants like this Wildsteel Flower. However, it seems there are many Wildsteel Flowers here. Don’t just keep staring at the one I am holding, will you?” Chen Feng laughed out.

“Look here! Look what I found?” Shangguan Yun suddenly cried out in joy and shock. In her hand was a round fruit the size of a thumb.

“Cyan Cluster Fruit!” Chen Feng’s eyes lit up as he recognized the cyan-coloured fruit in Shangguan Yun’s hand.

1 li = 0.5 km

1 zhang = 3.333 m

1 chi = 0.333 m