Chapter 278: Devouring Demonic Spirit Stones
“It really is a spirit stone mine.” Next, Chen Feng pasted three Invisibility Talismans on his body. Only then did he possessed the courage to move forward, albeit slowly.
Chen Feng noticed that there was a circular, black pit with a radius of 100 zhang on the ground. It was unknown just how deep it was. Thick streams of demonic energy surged out from the pit and various demonic beasts would go in and out of the pit all the time. There were also row after row of humanoid demons standing guard around the pit.
Chen Feng carefully observed it all from 100 metres away. Not long after that, a row of demonic beasts came out from the pit while carrying square-shaped metal boxes.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
One by one, the metal boxes were thrown onto the ground. Chen Feng could see the demonic spirit stones within the metal boxes. They were gleaming with black-coloured light.
The demonic energy within demonic spirit stones seems thicker compared to the spiritual energy within Magic crystals. Chen Feng was somewhat shocked.
“Humph! Demonic energy is a type of spiritual energy.” Tower scoffed.
It did not take long for the metal boxes to pile up, becoming like a small mountain. By Chen Feng’s estimate, there was a total of 1,000 metal boxes stacked up. There were around 1,000 demonic spirit stones inside each metal boxes. In other words, there were 1 million demonic spirit stones right before his eyes.
Chen Feng felt slightly tempted. It was a considerable amount of wealth.
As Chen Feng was considering whether or not to attack and snatch the demonic spirit stones, two cultivators in black clothes descended from the sky. Streams of demonic energy churned around the two cultivators’ bodies as they emanated an atmosphere of brutality.
The surrounding demonic beasts knelt down the instant they saw the two black-clad cultivators. There were looks of reverence and excitement on their faces.
“How could there be human cultivators here?” Chen Feng felt puzzled.
“Did you forget about the Devourer Beast? There is also Purplebolt. These demonic beasts are similar to yao beasts. As long as their cultivation bases are high enough, they can assume human form,” Tower said.
“In other words, those two are very strong.” Chen Feng nodded his head.
“They really are very strong. At the very least, given your current level, going forward is the equivalent of committing suicide. However, in a one-on-one fight, you should be able to hold them off for a bit,” Tower said.
“A pity, I didn’t bring Purplebolt along. He would have been able to help out,” Chen Feng lamented.
The two black-clad cultivators stood before the boxes of demonic spirit stones. One of them waved his hand and a black gourd appeared in his grasp. He then pulled out the gourd stopper and the boxes of demonic spirit stones transformed into a torrential stream, which flowed into the gourd.
It did not take long for the 1,000 boxes of demonic spirit stones to disappear completely. After collecting the demonic spirit stones, the two black-clad cultivators did not tarry. They simply looked around before vaulting up into the sky, quickly disappearing from sight.
“Huh, one million demonic spirit stones! Those are good items. Even if I cannot use them, I can still hand them over to the sect to exchange out some good items,” Chen Feng lamented.
“What is there to lament about? Isn’t there a spirit stone mine here?” Tower suddenly laughed out.
“Right, you can directly devour spirit stones. These demonic spirit stones are also spirit stones. They should be useful to you, right?” Chen Feng’s eyes lit up.
“That will depend on the quality of the demonic spirit stones here.” There was a slight tone of excitement within Tower’s voice.
“Could there be experts standing guard inside?” Chen Feng felt concerned.
“Just small fries,” Tower said disdainfully.
“Fine. In that case, I will slip inside first.” After saying that, Chen Feng pasted another two Invisibility Talismans on his body. As he was about to enter, he suddenly felt a cool stream of energy flowing out from the Longevity Tower and into his whole body.
“He he, this is just a minor trick. It is far more effective compared to the Invisibility Talismans on your body. Don’t worry and just enter the mine,” Tower said with a smug tone.
Even so, Chen Feng continued to exercise caution as he approached. He deliberately walked near some demonic beasts as he headed towards the mine. Seeing no response from the demonic beasts, Chen Feng grew at ease. Slowly, he delved into the mine.
Sensing the streams of demonic energy churning about ceaselessly around him, he could not stop himself from thinking, Thankfully, the Longevity Scripture I practice can refine and absorb demonic energy. Any other cultivator would have been in trouble. However, mining here is not safe. The demonic energy here is so thick. With enough time, even the demonic beasts here would be affected.
The mine was truly deep. Only after going 1,000 zhang down did Chen Feng reach the ground. Pitch-black spirit stones could be seen all over the place. They were none other than the demonic spirit stones that demonic beasts required for cultivation.
Countless mighty demonic beasts with robust bodies were digging out the surrounding demonic spirit stones using mining tools. At the same time, there were foremen walking around.
Although the foremen were not Great Demons, their cultivation bases were, at the very least, equivalent to cultivators at level 7 or level 8 of the Concealed stage.
Chen Feng carefully wandered around the underground mine as he calculated the number of demonic beasts inside the mine.
This part alone has over 100 demonic beasts. I wonder how many more there are in the other areas. Chen Feng was at a loss about what to do.
What should he do next? Should he start mining the spirit stones? Become a miner?
Or should he kill off all the demonic beasts in the mine? Putting aside whether or not he could do that, killing off all these low-level demonic beasts would make him feel like a butcher. Besides, Chen Feng did not want to do something like this.
Chen Feng pondered and pondered. After that, he began rummaging through the Longevity Tower for something.
The first floor of the Longevity Tower had become Chen Feng’s warehouse. There were at least 8,000 types of miscellaneous items piled up inside. All of them were the harvests Chen Feng had gained in his path of cultivation. Naturally, most of them were plundered goods.
Finally, Chen Feng found a small bunch of medicinal bottles. Written on the bottles were the words Captivating Fragrance, Bewitching Fragrance, Clairvoyant Fragrance, One Moment Fall, Muscle Relaxant, etc. They were all third-rate bewitching perfume.
These should be effective, right? Surely, these aren’t normal stuffs used by rapists, right? Chen Feng regarded the bottle with a look of uncertainty.
Whatever, let’s give it a shot. Chen Feng then pulled out a bottle of Captivating Fragrance. He first took a Poison Prevention Pill before opening the bottle of Captivating Fragrance. Clumps of colourless and odourless smoke flowed out from it. Chen Feng blew gently and the clumps of smoke dispersed outwards. Next, he secretly observed his surroundings.
Plop! Plop! Plop! Plop!
The effect of the perfume was quickly evident. The surrounding demonic beasts staggered drunkly before falling to the ground. The demonic beasts did not die. Rather, they had simply fallen asleep, snoring as they did.
It’s effective! Chen Feng was inwardly overjoyed. Next, he brought out the other perfumes. His figure kept flitting about and the demonic beasts within the mine began falling unconscious. A bewitching aroma wafted throughout the entire mine.
Not enough, these are still not enough. Chen Feng brought out a whole bunch more of aromatic medicinal herbs.
These Bewitching Grasses are good items. A few of them are over a thousand years old. Even Sky Human stage cultivators can be bewitched by them. These demonic beasts are getting a bargain here. After that, Chen Feng flicked his finger and a small clump of flames shot out from his finger to land on the pile of medicinal herbs. Instantly, clumps of thick, bewitching smoke began flowing around. Holding his breath, Chen Feng swiftly backed away while swallowing a few more Poison Prevention Pills.
This time, the effect was more potent. Forget the demonic beasts inside the mine, even the demonic beasts standing guard above ground began falling unconscious as well.
“All right, Tower. It is time for you to take action.” After Chen Feng said that, light flashed out as the Longevity Tower flew out from his glabella.
The Longevity Tower began thrumming the moment it emerged. At the same time, it expanded in size. An atmosphere of ancientness, greatness, prominence and loftiness emanated out from its body.
“Enough! Stop showing off! Hurry up and do it!” Having said that, Chen Feng brought out Bloody Soul and stabbed down into the demonic spirit stones embedded within the ground. Subsequently, cracks began spreading out from Bloody Soul’s position. The cracks quickly spread out into his surroundings.
Bang!
The ground erupted and hundreds of demonic spirit stones transformed into a torrential stream before entering the Longevity Tower.
Bang!
The Longevity Tower suddenly pulsed and invisible shockwaves spread out. Chen Feng could immediately feel the entire mine quaking as a result. Next, an overpowering suction force emerged from the Longevity Tower. Streams of demonic energy flowed out from the demonic spirit stones. It was as though there were countless streams converging into a sea. Finally, all of them flowed into the Longevity Tower.
Woah! Woah!
After their demonic energy was absorbed, the surrounding demonic spirit stones immediately transformed into powder. Their remnants flowed down like sand.
Seeing the Longevity Tower’s rate of absorption, Chen Feng stopped what he was doing. He had only managed to collect several hundred demonic spirit stones earlier while the Longevity Tower had managed to absorb over 10,000 demonic spirit stones in just one breath’s worth of time. Thus, Chen Feng gripped the bloody lance and stood guard while channelling the Demonic Heavengorging Art to devour the chaotic streams of demonic energy.
In less than one joss stick’s worth of time, that part of the mine had been completely devoured by the Longevity Tower. Next, the Longevity Tower flashed away. It had directly broken open space to arrive at another mining location.
“Trash! Trash! This demonic spirit stone mine’s size is acceptable, but its grade is too low. It is simply insufficient to satisfy me,” the Longevity Tower said in dissatisfaction as it rapidly devoured the surrounding demonic spirit stones.
“Be satisfied, won’t you? This is not the Immortal Plane. For it to have this type of spirit stones is good enough as it us. Hurry up. Do not attract demonic beasts from elsewhere.” Chen Feng did not show the Longevity Tower any respect.
“Three joss stick’s worth of time. I will be able to devour up this entire mine!” Tower said scornfully.
“Don’t eat all of them. Leave some for me.” After saying that, Chen Feng ignored Tower and flew out from the mine.
The demonic beasts were lying on the ground haphazardly. Other than that, there were nothing else of note. Chen Feng secretly felt relieved. He then proceeded to practice cultivation beside the mine as he waited for the Longevity Tower to come back up.
As expected, after three joss stick’s worth of time, the streams of demonic energy gushing out from the mine plummeted drastically. Finally, it stopped gushing out altogether. Seeing that, Chen Feng knew that all the demonic spirit stones below had been devoured by the Longevity Tower.
Sou!
The Longevity Tower transformed into a stream of light and landed on Chen Feng’s palm. Next, it gave a fierce pulse and the space before Chen Feng opened up to reveal a passageway.
“Hurry, leave this place.” Tower’s voice rang out from beside Chen Feng’s ear.
Chen Feng did not hesitate. Bringing the Longevity Tower with him, he strode into the spatial rift to re-appear thousands of li away.
1 zhang = 3.333 m
1 li = 0.5 km