Everlasting

 

“Hurry up and run!” Liu Tian and the other survivors said nothing else as they fled as fast as they could.

“Brother Chen, hurry up and run! We cannot afford to provoke this Great Yao!” Tie Changkong hastily shouted.

Large craters had appeared on the ground and more were spreading out as a scorched scent filled the air. Each of the sparks was capable of creating a large crater by itself. That was the power of fire within the attack from the Two-headed Icefire Wyrm.

Liu Tian and the others had assumed that they were done for. Unexpectedly, the Two-headed Icefire Wyrm did not give chase and instead allowed them to flee. In but the blink of an eye, Liu Tian and the others disappeared from sight.

Chen Feng’s team was the only one that remained as Chen Feng stood still on the same spot. As for Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun, they remained as well. However, they were ready to flee at any moment.

The Two-headed Icefire Wyrm stared at Chen Feng, a look of surprise flashing across its eyes. The attack it unleashed earlier had disappeared in a peculiar fashion after arriving before this youngster before it. Those were its essence flames, capable of incinerating cultivators whose cultivation bases were lower compared to it. If this opponent had simply dodged them, that was normal. However, for its attacks to suddenly disappear was something else entirely.

Could this fellow possess a magic treasure capable of collecting my essence flames?

The Two-headed Icefire Wyrm kept staring at Chen Feng. Then, it raised its head, slammed against the ground and soared upwards. In the blink of an eye, it disappeared from sight.

“Brother Chen, just now?” Tie Changkong felt curious.

“Wait up. I’ll be back!” After saying that, Chen Feng vaulted up into the sky as well as he flew in pursuit of the Two-headed Icefire Wyrm.

“What is up with Chen Feng? He isn’t going after the Great Yao, is he?” Tie Changkong blurted out.

“The chances of that is very high.” Shangguan Yun nodded her head.

“Does he have a death wish? Is a Great Yao of that level something that we can provoke?” Tie Changkong shook his head.

Despite saying that, Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun flew after Chen Feng. Only after flying for over 500 kilometres did they stop as they had long since lost sight of Chen Feng.

“Forget it. Let’s go back and wait,” Tie Changkong said helplessly.

…

“Tower, are your words reliable? It seems to me that Great Yao is still very powerful.” Chen Feng, who was in the midst of pursuing the wyrm, asked Tower.

“Didn’t you see? If it were not for the fact that the little snake’s wounds are severe, it wouldn’t have just attacked with some sparks. If it still has enough strength within it, considering how ferocious it is, it would have incinerated you all to ashes long ago,” Tower said.

“Makes sense.” Chen Feng nodded.

“But I don’t feel confident.”

“It is the good old saying again, rewards and risks come hand in hand. If you want to obtain great rewards, you will have to risk your life for it. Or what? Are you hoping that this little snake would fall to its death before you? Such a good thing does not exist in this world,” Tower said with an amused tone.

“Eight Lightning Tribulations, it is already close to reaching the Human Immortal stage while I am just a cultivator at the Concealed stage. This is simply the difference between Heaven and Earth.” Chen Feng could feel his heart beating profusely. He had witnessed the power of the Great Yao before, albeit from afar. A yao beast that could go against a Human Immortal was no ordinary yao beast.

“What is there to fear? One of its head is no more and its essence power is badly ruined. There is simply nothing to fear. All right, kid. Enough with all the nonsense. Hurry up and give chase. If someone else ends up picking up on this good opportunity instead, you will end up puking blood,” urged Tower.

“Just think about it, if you can kill off the wounded Great Yao, its body alone is of immeasurable value. This is a rare opportunity that comes once in a thousand years. Where else can you find such a good thing? You are really lucky today!” Tower kept beguiling him.

Chen Feng was already tempted to begin with. Under Tower’s beguiling efforts, Chen Feng felt his blood surging. Imagining himself killing off a yao beast with 8 Lightning Tribulations under its belt, Chen Feng felt an impulsive desire to laugh out.

After chasing for over 5,000 kilometres, Chen Feng slowly came to a halt.

“You’re kidding me. What a coincidence, it is the stone forest that Yu Jingyang mentioned,” said a shocked Chen Feng.

A thick stone forest blocked his path.

Short and tall, straight and curved, smooth and rough, angular and smooth, sky-piercingly tall and less than one zhang tall, the rows of stones were all varied and peculiar. Just by glancing at the many densely packed stones there, Chen Feng could tell how big the forest was. However, Chen Feng felt a sense of fear within his heart.

The Two-headed Icefire Wyrm had long since entered the forest. Chen Feng, however, observed the peculiar and inscrutable stone forest and did not enter. Instead, he carefully inspected the outskirts of the forest. 

“Don’t bother inspecting. Someone had utilized great magics to create this stone forest,” Tower said.

“A Human Immortal?” Chen Feng guessed.

“Even stronger than Human Immortal. Kid, you need to carefully consider this. This stone forest is no ordinary place. If you enter, I do not have the confidence to help you get out from this stone forest.” There was a serious tone in Tower’s voice.

“You said it yourself. Rewards and risks come hand in hand. I’ll risk it! Besides, if that yao beast can enter, why can’t I?” After saying that, Chen Feng gritted his teeth and walked into the stone forest.

At first, Chen Feng was able to remember the directions he took. However, after continuing forward for tens of li, Chen Feng lost his way. Various fantastic-shaped stones surrounded him and he found himself incapable of determining the cardinal directions.

Other than losing the ability to determine the cardinal directions, however, Chen Feng did not encounter any other dangers. Thousands of rocks laid out before him. Even the ground beneath his feet were made from tough rock. Additionally, every one of the rocks and stone pillars was connected to the ground, making him suspect that those pillars and rocks had been carved out from the ground.

Not a single blade of grass could be found. Looking around, he saw that it was a lifeless land. And yet, the spiritual energy there was incredibly thick, thicker than the outside environment.

“This is a good place to practice cultivation,” said Chen Feng with a smile. Taking a deep breath, spiritual energy surged towards all four of his limbs.

The spiritual energy contained a great deal of earthen power. After absorbing just a little bit of the energy there, Chen Feng felt a slight feeling of stiffness affecting his whole body. It was as though his fleshly body was changing, becoming a rock.

After Chen Feng channelled his longevity-type primary energy, the abnormal situation was cleared away. At the same time, Chen Feng could feel his longevity-type primary energy becoming steadier and more tangible.

“I should find the Great Yao first.” Having said that, Chen Feng brought out the Thousand Seeker Mirror. There was a blurry red dot on its surface, representing the Two-headed Icefire Wyrm.

Although the red dot appeared blurry, it was not moving. That meant the Great Yao had settled down.

“Looks like the Great Yao has a lair here,” Chen Feng said, grinning.

“But this is strange. The Great Yao is of the ice and fire attribute. This place is probably not a suitable cultivation spot for it, no?” Chen Feng asked Tower.

“You’ll know when you get there.” Tower’s voice was somewhat monotonous.

Unexpectedly, his journey forward was calm. No dangers appeared as he made his way towards the Two-headed Icefire Wyrm’s lair. In the beginning, Chen Feng had planned on making himself invisible to launch a sneak attack. However, after sensing the aura emanating from the Great Yao’s body, he knew that his plan was not feasible.

At any rate, this opponent was a yao beast that had overcome 8 Lightning Tribulations. Despite its wounds, it would still be very easy for it to discover Chen Feng.

A huge and deep hole appeared before Chen Feng. It was pitch-black and there was no way to tell just how deep it went. Streams of thick fire power sprayed out from within, causing the surrounding temperature to rise up to over 100 degrees. The surrounding stones had turned red as a result. It seemed as though the hole was connected to some underground magma.

“So, this place is connected to earthen fire. No wonder this little snake would choose to cultivate here. Hurry up and make your move. Do not hesitate. Every second you delay translates to an additional bit of recovery for this little snake,” Tower said.

“All right!”

Chen Feng nodded. His figure flashed about rapidly as he set up layer after layer of restrictive magic arrays. Those were all ready-made magic arrays, which required only energy to activate.

Chen Feng moved at an extremely rapid pace. It did not take long before he finished setting up over 100 magic arrays around the deep hole.

Truth be told, Chen Feng was secretly distressed at the number of materials he was wasting, so much so that his heart was dripping blood. 

However, Chen Feng also understood that even that much was insufficient. Far from it. Thus, he began bringing out the piles of chains and ropes from within the Longevity Tower. At that very moment, Chen Feng had seemingly transformed into a hunter who was in the midst of setting up a trap to capture a massive yao beast.

Despite Chen Feng’s actions of setting up layer after layer of traps around the hole, the Two-headed Icefire Wyrm inside remained a no-show. In fact, it did not even make a single move.

“Tower, what is going on here? Why is this Great Yao not responding?” asked an astonished Chen Feng.

“Heh, it must be absorbing the earthen fire to recover its strength. Find a way to force it out,” Tower said.

After pondering for a moment, Chen Feng brought out two streams of poisonous smoke from within the Longevity Tower. One of them was the Thousand Evil Purplesmoke while the other was the Thousand Evil Boneputrefying Smoke. The two poisonous smoke flowed down into the deep hole.

At the same time, Chen Feng also brought out a large bundle of armour-breaking, magic-breaking arrows. Amongst the arrows were the three black arrows that Chen Feng had picked up from the bottom of the lake where the Greenjade-eyed Gold Toad had resided in.

In the past, due to his weak cultivation base, Chen Feng had been unaware of the three black arrows’ function. The present Chen Feng, however, had realized that the three black arrows could break barriers and shock the soul. Although their grade was not too high, their function was great.

After considering it for a moment, Chen Feng then pulled out a large stack of talismans. All of them were Explosion Talismans. Next, he pasted the Explosion Talismans onto the arrows.

Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!

Chen Feng used both hands to serve as a bow. With one maddening hurl, he flung the bundle of arrows into the hole.

“EXPLOSION!!!”

A sky-jolting boom reverberated outwards and the large and deep hole burst, growing even bigger as a result. All the surrounding stone pillars collapsed as shockwaves punched their way out from the hole and spread out into its surroundings.

When the smoke subsided, Chen Feng heard a series of enraged howls coming from deep within the hole. It was none other than the Two-headed Icefire Wyrm.

“I don’t believe you won’t come out.” Chen Feng was already prepared to kill it.

The Two-headed Icefire Wyrm, who had been hiding underground to absorb earthen fire, felt aggrieved and enraged. It had suffered from an unprecedented level of wounds this very day and had barely escaped with its life. Originally, it had planned on returning to its lair and slowly recover its strength. Unexpectedly, it had only managed to absorb a small bit of earthen fire when someone literally blew up its plan.

Note: The Thousand Evil Purplesmoke (first used in Chapter 95) and Thousand Evil Boneputrefying Smoke (first used in Chapter 114) were treasures belonging to Grotto Master Thousand Evil, who first appeared in Chapter 95. He was counter-killed by Chen Feng in Chapter 115.

Another side note: #meguminapproves

1 zhang = 3.333 m

1 li = 0.5 km