Everlasting

 

“Is there such a kind of ‘visit’?” Purplebolt’s voice rang out from the mountain. Next, a massive dragon talon screamed forth. With a sweeping motion, it sent the group of disciples encircling Four Ears flying.

“Sky Human stage expert! Not good! There is a Sky Human stage expert below!” The disciples began panicking. Two of them were so terrified, they turned and ran, disappearing in the blink on an eye.

Purplebolt watched the two disciples flee without giving chase. At the same time, Four Ears quickly rushed back into the mountain.

“So, it’s Senor Brother Luo. Purplebolt, let them come in.” Suddenly, Chen Feng’s voice rang out from below.

Following Chen Feng’s voice, the faint-yellow sphere of light on the mountain summit began shrinking. Finally, it seeped into Chen Feng’s body. At the same time, a change happened to the restrictive magic arrays around the mountain. A passageway leading to the mountain summit appeared.

When Luo Bo and the wretched-looking group of elite disciples landed on the mountain summit, they saw a smiling Chen Feng waiting for them.

There was a small pavilion with stone benches in the middle. Tea was served on the table.

“Fellow senior brothers, please sit. I was in the midst of my cultivation practice earlier and I ended up being remiss in entertaining you all. Please don’t feel offended,” Chen Feng said with a smile.

“Humph! Who do you think you are? Do you think you are some hot shot just because you are raising a yao beast?” a young disciple suddenly spoke up coldly.

Unexpectedly, Chen Feng did not get angry after hearing those words. Instead, he reflexively laughed out and said, “Pang Ban, Liu Yu, Zhao Xiang. Fellow senior brothers, how are you so free to be able to come to my place? You three seem to be in a much better state now compared to when we parted ways last time. Could it be your cultivation bases have recovered and you want to exchange pointers with me?”

Three of the disciples who came together with Luo Bo were Chen Feng’s old acquaintances. Naturally, it was not the good kind. Rather, there were some conflicts that would be difficult to put behind between them.

Back then, Chen Feng had taken advantage of the fact that Pang Ban and the other two were wounded to devour some of their essence power. For the three of them, it was a shameful incident. Since recovering, they had constantly been thinking of exacting revenge. At present, however, they dared not attack. The dragon talon earlier had brought about an overpowering force of deterrence. Additionally, seeing the ridiculing smile on Chen Feng’s face made them even more uncertain of their chances.

“So, you are already acquainted. That’s even better. Let me do the introductions.” Luo Bo was quick to realize that there were some conflicts between them. Thus, he quickly stepped forward to lighten the atmosphere.

In addition to Pang Ban’s gang of three, there were five others who came down with Luo Bo. All of them were elite disciples. One of them had just broken through to level 9 of the Concealed stage.

“Junior Brother Chen is truly impressive. To think there would be a Great Yao acting as a mountain guardian for you. It makes us blush with shame,” said the level 9 Concealed stage elite disciple with a smile.

He had been the only one besides Luo Bo who did not attack earlier. It seemed he did not hold any ill-will towards Chen Feng.

Seeing the disciple’s polite way of speaking, the others found it hard to throw a fit. At any rate, Chen Feng’s strength had been laid out for them to see. In the world of cultivation, strength was the equivalent of status. Thus, no matter how unconvinced they were, they would not let it show. 

“Goodbye.” Pang Ban’s gang of three exchanged glances before leaping into the sky. As they could not attack Chen Feng, staying would only wound their feelings. However, before leaving, they decided to throw some cliché words.

“Chen Feng, we will not let what happened last time slide! You better watch out!” Pang Ban’s voice came down from the sky.

“He he, I quietly await your guidance,” Chen Feng responded with a grin.

Following their departure, the tense atmosphere there gradually dissipated. Luo Bo and the level 9 Concealed stage cultivator, Sun Xuan, deliberately shifted the atmosphere and it gradually turned lively.

“Ha ha ha ha! It’s rare that we can come together for a chat. Here, I have some good, freshly brewed wine. Everyone, come have a taste.” The mighty-looking disciple who had used his hammer to attack the restrictive shield earlier brought out several jars of fine wine.

After the introductions, Chen Feng learned that this disciple’s name was Wang Meng, born with god-like strength to a family of wine makers. He was also a good drinker. Thus, he would always bring a great deal of fine wine with him whenever he went out.

Cultivators who cultivate to defy Heaven were often straightforward and unrestrained. After just a few bowls of wine, the divide from earlier disappeared completely.

“Junior Brother Chen, you should only be at level 4 of the Concealed stage, no?” Wang Meng was the most straightforward amongst them and he forwarded the question that was within his heart.

“He he, that is correct. However, due to a fortuitous circumstance, I was able to condense out my Soulflame. It is nothing worth mentioning,” Chen Feng replied with a chuckle.

“Junior Brother Chen is being modest. Fortune alone is not enough to come out from the immortal mountain. Not to mention, earlier, Pang Ban and the other two were clearly fearful of you,” Sun Xuan responded with a smile.

“Senior Brother Chen, Pang Ban’s gang has some backings. You will need to be cautious in the future,” reminded Luo Bo. Since coming out from the immortal mountain, Luo Bo had always addressed Chen Feng as Senior Brother. Seeing that caused those present to feel surprised.

For Luo Bo to address him as Senior Brother could only mean one thing. Chen Feng’s strength had surpassed Luo Bo’s strength.

“I joined Extreme Celestial Sect solely so I could cultivate properly. If someone insists on causing me trouble, though, I am not one to kneel over timidly,” Chen Feng replied smilingly. 

After chatting for a bit, Sun Xuan then said, “Junior Brother Chen, would you be interested in joining us in exploring the trial grounds?”

“The trial grounds?” Chen Feng grew curious.

“The so-called trial grounds are certain spaces that some cultivators opened up. These places are not necessarily within our Eternal World. There are yaos, demons, humans and some other things there. Furthermore, it is extremely dangerous. Even the worldly laws there are different from ours. Naturally, with pressure comes motivation. The more dangerous a place is, the more capable it is at stimulating one’s increase in cultivation.” Although Sun Xuan did not know why Chen Feng was unaware about the matter, he patiently explained it to Chen Feng.

“Is it a space like Driftcloud Immortal Mountain?” said Chen Feng after a moment’s consideration.

“Theoretically speaking, it is. However, there are differences. Driftcloud Immortal Mountain is just a huge dimension whereas these opened spaces could potentially be connected to some other star fields or worlds,” Sun Xuan said smilingly.

“These trial grounds can lead to the Yao Plane or the Demon Plane or some other worlds.”

“What about the Immortal Plane?” Chen Feng suddenly asked.

Hearing that, everyone present laughed out. “We have yet to hear of a trial ground that leads to the Immortal Plane. At the very least, there is no such place in our Eternal World.”

Chen Feng laughed out as well. He realized that if someone could actually open up a passageway leading to the Immortal Plane, that person could surely ascend.

“Where will we be going this time?” Chen Feng asked again.

“It is a trial ground opened up by the senior experts from our Extreme Celestial Sect. There are many humanoid demons inside it. Thus, it is named the Demon Trial Grounds,” Sun Xuan said.

“Humanoid demons. Demon Trial Grounds.” Chen Feng’s heart gave a thump as he recalled the Devourer Beast that ended up getting trapped inside the Longevity Tower and the Demonic Heavengorging Arts that he was practicing. The Devourer Beast seemed to be a very powerful existence within the Demon Plane.

“That is right. How about it, Junior Brother Chen? Are you interested in coming together? Firstly, you can increase your cultivation base. Secondly, we can help each other. If we are lucky, we can even get demon cores from some demon beasts,” Sun Xuan said with a grin.

After reaching a sufficiently high level of cultivation, a human cultivator could condense out Soulflame, essence flame or a gold core.

In comparison, a yao beast could condense out a yao core and a demon beast could condense out a demon core.

Although Chen Feng had not spent much time within the world of cultivation, he did possess a certain level of knowledge about such things.

“When will we go?” asked Chen Feng after pondering it for a while.

“In one month,” Sun Xuan replied.

“All right, no problem.” Chen Feng nodded his head.

“We’ll come again in one month.” After that, Sun Xuan and the others bade farewell and left.

Demon Trial Grounds? I wonder if there are any Devourer Beasts there. Chen Feng thought.

“What do you take the Devourer Beast for? Something that you can casually encounter?” Tower suddenly spoke up.

“Isn’t the Devourer Beast a demon beast? Since there are humanoid demons, it is possible for a Devourer Beast to appear, no?” Chen Feng, who did not understand Tower’s meaning, asked.

“Kid, remember what I told you back then? The Demonic Heavengorging Arts is comparable to the Heavengulping Absorption Technique. Even if it is just the beginner portion, do you think some random demon beast can practice this Heaven-defying magic technique?” Tower said with a scornful tone.

“What exactly are you trying to say? Don’t beat around the bush.” Chen Feng found Tower’s tone unbearable.

“The Devourer Beasts are from the imperial clan of the demon beasts and also the rulers of the Demon Plane. Compared to the other demon beasts, the number of Devourer Beasts is pitifully small,” Tower said.

“Their numbers are small, but they are very strong,” Chen Feng said.

“That is how it is. Which is why, you should consider just how lucky you were last time to be able to capture a Devourer Beast,” Tower said with an amused tone. 

“Could it have been sent out?” Chen Feng asked with a grin.

“Heh! A Devourer Beast at the Great Demon stage can only be considered the lowest ranking Devourer Beast. If it were one stage higher, I would have been incapable of suppressing it,” Tower snickered and said with a pleased tone.

“What about the Devourer Beast’s demon core?” Chen Feng suddenly remembered.

“All of it is inside the Longevity Tower. Wait until you are familiar with the Demonic Heavengorging Arts before thinking about absorbing the demon core,” Tower said coolly.

“You are thinking about going to the Demon Trial Grounds, right? I advise you to increase your cultivation base to level 5 of the Concealed stage before that. Only then will you possess some ability to protect yourself,” Tower continued.

“Could it be more dangerous than the Driftcloud Immortal Mountain?” Chen Feng laughed as he asked.

“That is not the way to be comparing these two places. You will understand when you go there.”

Rising to level 5 of the Concealed stage in one month. In other words, he would need to open up the remaining Earth acupoint and Metal acupoint, and then assail the level 5 barrier in his sea of wisdom. For Chen Feng, this was quite the difficult task. However, it was not impossible.

“Let’s deal with the Earth acupoint first. If it weren’t for their sudden arrival, I would have been very close to opening my Earth acupoint,” Chen Feng said in a hushed tone.

Once again, the faint-yellow power of earth enveloped the mountain summit and spread into its surroundings. When the faint-yellow power of earth had spread over hundreds of zhang into his surroundings, a loud rumbling sound erupted from within Chen Feng’s body.

The Earth acupoint had opened.

 Note: Pang Ban and his gang made their first appearance in Chapter 191.

1 zhang = 3.333 m