Everlasting

 

“So, this is where we will be residing in the future? Aren’t we changing our place of residence a little too fast here?” Lu Ta said, his mouth gaping as he regarded the towering, thousand-zhang mountain.

“This is only temporary. When I condense out my domain power, we will be moving again,” Chen Feng said with a grin.

“I had originally thought that my cultivation rate is good enough, but now it seems lacking. I am only trying to condense out my Soulflame right now,” said Lu Ta with a sigh, shaking his head as he did.

“Don’t worry, we Concealed stage cultivators have a life span of 1,000 years. We can slowly cultivate. Time is on our side. Having a serene state of mind is more important.” Chen Feng smiled.

“Well, I have finished up here. I will take my leave first, Senior Brother Chen. If there are any issues, you can come find me. You can also use a messaging spirit stone to contact me.” After saying that, Luo Bo performed a hand salute and left.

“That Luo Bo should have already condensed out his domain power, right? Additionally, he is also an elite disciple. Why did he address you as Senior Brother?” Lu Ta grew curious.

“It’s simple. I am stronger than him,” Chen Feng replied with a smile.

“Tsk, tsk. The spiritual energy here is considerably thicker compared to the mountain residence of inner disciples. As expected, no matter where you go, there is a distinction between ranks,” Lu Ta lamented.

“Everything is decided through strength. That is especially true for us cultivators with our cultivation levels,” replied Chen Feng.

They quickly made their way halfway up the mountain. There, they found a very ordinary-looking building. It was very simplistic and its layout was very well-defined, giving off a comfortable atmosphere.

“This building is not as good as our previous one,” Lu Ta said with a somewhat dissatisfied tone.

“It is much better. Don’t you feel the flow of the surrounding spiritual energy?” replied Chen Feng with a smile.

Chen Feng could sense the spiritual energy of the mountain converging non-stop towards the building. The mountain itself was more than meets the eye. Not only was it absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy, it was also connected to the earthen fire below. It was no longer an ordinary mountain.

“This building can actually absorb the surrounding spiritual energy streams!” Lu Ta’s eyes widened.

“Hey, don’t think that this is just a simple building. It contains who knows how many magic arrays. Cultivating here will be several times faster compared to cultivating in the inner disciples’ zone. It seems I must speed up my rate of cultivation. If even the cultivation conditions here can be so good, how much better would it be for elite disciples?” said Chen Feng as he sensed the changes in the spiritual energy around him.

They had yet to enter through the gate when a row of disciples, six in total, walked out.

“Greetings, senior brothers,” the six of them said.

“Heir disciples sure get it good.” Seeing the six disciples, Chen Feng knew that they were for menial tasks. To be blunt, they were there to serve heir disciples.

All six of them were outer disciples. Wearing the same attire, they were all at level 2 of the Concealed stage. In the outside world, they could be considered as experts, capable of flying wherever they pleased. Here, however, they could only serve as servants.

Even so, these disciples were willing. Truth be told, for outer disciples, becoming menial workers for high-ranking disciples was the equivalent of getting their hands on a great assignment.

Firstly, the spiritual energy within the residences of high-ranking disciples was very strong. Secondly, following high-ranking disciples would generally allow them to learn some stuff. Some luckier ones could even get pointers from the high-ranking disciples. They could break through faster, allowing their status to rise, becoming someone of a higher rank.

“Mm, no need to be so formal,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

“We have cleaned up your rooms. Senior brothers, if you need anything else, please ask,” one of them spoke respectfully.

“Thank you for your efforts. Here are some spirit stones. Take it to help with your cultivation. If there is nothing going on, do not disturb us. We will call if there is anything.” After saying that, Chen Feng waved his hand and a large piece of Magic crystal appeared in the hands of each of the disciples. Each of them was the equivalent of 100 standard Magic crystals.

They watched as Chen Feng and Lu Ta walked into the building. Then, they began discussing amongst themselves.

“We got a truly generous senior brother this time. He gave out 100 Magic crystals each just like that. This Magic crystal is enough to last me quite some time.”

“Additionally, this crystal is still whole. Are those two senior brothers responsible for the sect’s Magic crystal mining operation?”

“Hush! Lower your voice. Don’t speak carelessly. The way I see it, those two senior brothers look decent. They are probably not those demanding types.”

Chen Feng randomly entered a room and saw an alchemy furnace placed in the centre of the room. The bottom of the alchemy furnace was connected straight towards earthen fire while magic arrays were engraved upon the central area of the room. Chen Feng casually sent out a stream of primary energy, causing the magic arrays to activate. Next, the surrounding streams of spiritual energy rushed into the room and the ground beneath began rumbling. Chen Feng assumed it was due to the churning earthen fire.

Chen Feng waved his hand once more and the magic arrays came to a halt and the room went back to normal.

“Quite convenient.” Feeling very satisfied, Chen Feng smiled as he walked out from the room.

On this very day, Chen Feng chose not to practice cultivation. Instead, he lay quietly on the bed. It did not take long before he entered a deep state of sleep. A higher cultivation base meant a lessening need for sleep. Due to that, Chen Feng had not experienced the sensation of lying and sleeping in bed for a long time.

The path of cultivation was a highly difficult one. Chen Feng had found that the constant effort to strive forward was extremely tiring. Taking a break and relaxing oneself for a brief moment might help increase his rate of improvement.

It had been a long time since Chen Feng felt so relaxed. Entering a state of deep slumber, his entire body, even his most minute of cells, began entering a state of serenity. Even the ceaselessly circulating streams of primary energy within his body began calming down.

At times, relaxing was also a form of cultivation practice. Thus, Chen Feng slept for five days and five nights.

Lu Ta, Purplebolt and Four Ears were unperturbed by that. They simply assumed that Chen Feng had entered another cultivation retreat.

When Chen Feng woke up, his eyes flashed out with dazzling light before quickly returning normal.

Getting up from the bed, he stood firmly upon the ground and sensed the calmness within his body. Then, Chen Feng abruptly inhaled deeply, causing the surrounding streams of spiritual energy to surge towards him. All of them flowed into his body and Chen Feng became like a bottomless pit that was constantly devouring the surrounding spiritual energy.

That one inhaling act from him caused the spiritual energy around the mountain to stir. Four Ears and Purplebolt, who were enjoying themselves within the mountain, and even Lu Ta, who had only just returned to the mountain, could sense it.

“What is Chen Feng doing? Why is he absorbing so much spiritual energy?” Lu Ta blurted out in puzzled tone.

His action lasted for an entire joss stick’s worth of time. Finally, Chen Feng slowly walked out from his room. When Lu Ta saw Chen Feng, he felt something amiss with what he was seeing. He could feel something different about Chen Feng, but was unable to figure out what exactly the difference was.

“Are there any news from the sect?” asked Chen Feng smilingly.

“Other than sending some more disciples to Driftcloud Immortal Mountain, there is nothing else going on. Besides, I am just an inner disciple. I do not know much about what is happening with the higher-ups,” Lu Ta replied.

“Brother Lu, you should practice caution for the time being. If there is nothing, it would be better to remain here in the mountain and cultivate yourself. We have offended some clubs, after all,” said Chen Feng after a moment’s consideration.

“Did something happen?” Lu Ta was quick to realize that something was going on.

Thus, Chen Feng informed Lu Ta about what happened with He Tian. He continued, “In the past, I had assumed that those cultivators will not bully those that are much weaker than themselves. Now, however, it would seem that I was too naïve. There is no need to worry about the cultivators beneath the Sky Human stage. However, it would be troublesome if those with Lightning Tribulations under their belts decide to attack us.”

“Cultivating here means we’ll have Purplebolt to help protect us. He Tian would be incapable of getting much of an upper hand even if he comes. Still, given his status, I think he wouldn’t come himself.”

“We have offended both Fairbright Club and Astral Thunder Club. I wonder, will they come trouble us?” Lu Ta was also feeling concerned.

“There is nothing we can do to stop them from coming if they do decide to do so. We can only deal with it when the time comes,” Chen Feng said with a wry smile.

“Right, I brought many good items back this time. These spiritual herbs, thousands of years old each, are especially good. A pity, I do not know how to concoct pills, otherwise I can surely concoct out some Earthen-tier medicinal pills. However, with these resources and the spiritual energy here, I believe there wouldn’t be any issues in cultivating up to the Sky Human stage.” Chen Feng laughed out.

“Sky Human stage. Easier said than done. That is something that takes time.” Lu Ta shook his head.

Chen Feng then summoned the outer disciples before handing some herbs to them. “Plant these herbs. Be sure to take good care of them.”

“These are Frost Arrow Grasses and Starblue Grasses! This one is Fantasy Heart Grass!” Seeing the pile of rare herbs appearing on the ground after Chen Feng waved his hand, the six outer disciples were instantly shocked. 

“You fellows know your stuff.” Chen Feng smiled.

“I used to plant herbs in another mountain,” one of the outer disciples, Zhang Yan, said respectfully.

“Very good. Just plant these well. I will also leave the matter of feeding Four Ears to you fellows. As long as you do a good job, I will be sure to reward you,” Chen Feng said coolly.

“No, no. These are our duties. If senior brother needs anything else, please instruct us,” Zhang Yan took the lead and respectfully said.

After having made the proper arrangements, Chen Feng left the mountain and headed to the Heir Hall. 

In Extreme Celestial Sect, outer disciples were simply menial workers. Inner disciples were slightly better off and could practice some of the sect’s simpler magic techniques. Even so, those were but third-rate magic techniques. Chen Feng and Lu Ta could be used as an example. They had become inner disciples for quite some time. And yet, they hadn’t learned any techniques from the sect.

However, it was different for heir disciples. Successfully getting promoted to the heir disciple rank meant that the disciple would be able to truly practice the various magic techniques of Extreme Celestial Sect. Not to mention, the sect would also send forth high-level experts to act as teachers for heir disciples.

And the Heir Hall was where heir disciples go to learn.

When Chen Feng saw the Heir Hall, he was taken aback. It was a massive mountain, horizontally cut to leave only the bottom half. An immense and majestic palace rested on the surface of the mountain.

The Heir Hall was squarely shaped, with distinct, pointed corners. Clouds and birds with a celestial quality flowed and flew about. Observing the palace, Chen Feng then realized that the palaces that he had seen in the past were but little huts.

Note: Astral Thunder Club was being a dick in Chapter 181.