Everlasting

 

Not long after Chen Feng’s departure, demonic beasts arrived. Amongst them were several large, humanoid-shaped demonic beasts. Four of them had proper human forms.

“What is going on here?” One of them, a three-zhang tall humanoid-shaped demonic beast, said with a low tone. It was none other than the humanoid demon that Chen Feng had fought against earlier.

“Let’s head down and check it out!”

Several of the humanoid-shaped demonic beasts hastily jumped into the mine. It did not take long for them to fly back up, their faces grim.

“What happened?!”

“The mines below are utterly empty! There is not a single demonic spirit stone left!”

“This must be the work of the trespassing humans!”

“Humph! His Highness, the Demon King is already on the verge of breaking the seal. When His Highness comes out, he will lead us forward to occupy the Eternal World! I have heard that this Eternal World is filled with countless resources. Even Immortal Humans would be moved by it.”

“No! This is the aura of that human!” The humanoid demon that had fought against Chen Feng suddenly spoke up.

“What did you say, Tuel?”

“The aura left here is by a human cultivator. I had fought against him before,” Tuel said.

“Human cultivator? Hurry up and tell us what is going on,” a massive demonic beast with steel needles growing out from every part of his body asked with a serious tone.

“The other fellow is a youngster. He has yet to reach the Sky Human stage, but is very powerful. He is very fast as well. He should be a disciple from Extreme Celestial Sect.” Tuel then recounted his earlier battle with Chen Feng and the others.

“A cultivator who is not yet at the Sky Human stage is so powerful? Not to mention, he can collect all the demonic spirit stones below. When you put it that way, this youngster must possess some treasures on him!”

“Let’s go! Inform the others immediately and spread news about this youngster. It is extremely imperative that we capture this youngster!”

Chen Feng was unaware of what was happening because he was in the middle of searching for his next objective. After devouring so much demonic spirit stones, the Longevity Tower managed to recover a bit more of its power. Chen Feng, who had been practicing the Demonic Heavengorging Art was also able to make some progress. Due to his excitement, and the tempting words from Tower, Chen Feng began searching for other demonic spirit stone mines.

Along the way, Chen Feng also managed to pick up some rare spiritual herbs such as the Bloodthirsty Flowers, Demonblood Grasses and various other herbs that would only grow in places filled with demonic energy.

However, he failed to find the more valuable Withered Bone Vines and Plague Flowers.

“The harvest from this trip is quite considerable. It seems I will need to go deeper. It will be even better if one or two Great Demons appear so I can kill them,” Chen Feng whispered.

“Kid, be careful. There is a horde of demonic beasts up ahead,” Tower warned him.

“I know. There are only 100 plus of them and all of them are low-level demonic beasts. Whatever, they are not worth my time,” Chen Feng said.

When the low-level demonic beasts saw Chen Feng, who quickly flew past them, they began discussing something. Their topic of discussion was none other than Chen Feng. Earlier, they had just received news about Chen Feng. Thus, they grew overjoyed at having found Chen Feng. Reporting this information meant that they will be rewarded.

Chen Feng, however, was in the dark about that. He continued flying around, picking up whatever treasures he could find.

Everywhere he went, anything usable for cultivation would be shoved into the Longevity Tower. He was practically scraping up the ground itself. At any rate, to him, the space within the Longevity Tower was large enough. Not using it as a warehouse would truly be inappropriate.

When Tower found out what Chen Feng was thinking, he grew so infuriated, he nearly puked out blood. Unexpectedly, a lofty existence such as himself was being used as a spatial pouch.

“I am an offensive-type magic treasure.” Tower was finally unable to hold it in.

“Fine, if we encounter Human Immortals or Demon Kings, you can step forward, right?” replied a smiling Chen Feng.

“You’re vicious.” Tower grew angry.

“Ha ha ha ha ha! Excellent! Excellent!” Not long after that, however, Tower suddenly shouted out joyfully.

“What did you discover? Is it a demonic spirit stone mine?” Chen Feng hurriedly asked.

“It is a spirit stone mine. However, it is not a demonic spirit stone mine. Rather, it is a demonic soul stone mine,” replied Tower with a joyful tone.

“Demonic soul stone?” Chen Feng grew puzzled.

“It is a spirit stone of a higher grade compared to demonic spirit stone. A demonic spirit stone is the equivalent of a Magic crystal while a demonic soul stone is the equivalent of a Prized crystal,” Tower said.

Chen Feng nodded as he quickly understood the value of the demonic soul stone. The average Concealed stage cultivators would use Magic crystals for their cultivation efforts. However, for Sky Human stage cultivators, Magic crystals would no longer be as effective in helping them progress. As such, they would have to use spirit stones of a higher grade, the Prized crystals.

“In other words, we’re gonna be rich!” Chen Feng blurted.

“He he, if we can get it, then we’ll definitely be rich. If I can devour this mine, my powers will recover by yet another notch. Then, some of my memories will be restored as well. When that happens, kid, I will be able to guide you in your cultivation path,” said Tower with a gleeful tone.

“If we can get it? What do you mean by that?” The smile on Chen Feng’s face suddenly disappeared.

“I mean to say, there are Great Demons standing guard around the mine. Additionally, their numbers are considerable,” Tower said.

“Great Demons.” Chen Feng grew slightly dumbfounded.

Even the weakest amongst those qualified to be called Great Demons were comparable to the Sky Human stage cultivators. However, according to Tower, there was more than one Great Demon there. If so, delivering himself forward would simply mean death for Chen Feng. 

“What should I do?” Chen Feng asked.

“I have no way of helping.” Tower’s reply was straight to the point.

“Can’t you break open space? Just break in and use that ‘three joss sticks’ worth of time’ move of yours to loot everything,” said Chen Feng as-a-matter-of-factly.

“Are you stupid? If only it were that simple. Firstly, this mine is different from the earlier one. It is completely surrounded by restrictive barriers. Even though I can break space to enter the mine, doing so will immediately alarm those Great Demons. Think about it, if I get surrounded by the Great Demons, would I have the time devour the demonic soul stones? Things would be different if you can stop the Great Demons, of course,” Tower slowly said.

“How many Great Demons are there?” Chen Feng asked, gritting his teeth.

“At least 20. A few of them are very powerful. I am myself uncertain as to whether or not I can handle them,” Tower replied frankly.

Hearing that, Chen Feng simply stayed silent. With so many Great Demons there, he would be a fool to go there.

As Chen Feng was chatting with Tower, he had also advanced by tens of li. Finally, he saw the demonic soul stone mine. It was several li away from him. There were row after row of demonic beasts and humanoid demons outside the mine. However, those demonic beasts and humanoid demons were stronger. They were equivalent to human cultivators at level 8 or 9 of the Concealed stage.  

Chen Feng halted his advance. He dared not continue onwards, lest the demonic beasts discover him. Should the Great Demons discover him, he would have no choice but to run. 

It seems I will have to slowly think of a plan. I wonder, will these Great Demons leave this place? Or perhaps, an emergency situation might pop up. If I can encounter some other cultivators, joining forces with them would be a good choice. Chen Feng’s mind began wandering.

“I should investigate my surroundings first.” After saying that, Chen Feng brought out the Thousand Seeker Mirror. When he looked at the mirror, his eyes bulged out.

Small and densely clumped black dots appeared on the smooth surface of the Thousand Seeker Mirror. Additionally, all the little black dots were moving quickly, moving towards his location.

“These black dots should be demonic beasts,” Chen Feng said with a hushed tone.

“It’s not just demonic beasts. Those are very strong demonic beasts. Look at the speed displayed by some of them, the faster black dots. If I am not mistaken, those should be Great Demons,” Tower said.

“There are so many demonic beasts. What are they planning on doing? Are they headed towards this demonic soul stone mine?” Chen Feng could not believe that so many demonic beasts would be coming after him.

“Regardless of what their objectives may be, when they arrive, they will be able to surround you,” Tower said with an amused tone.

Not far away, several humanoid-shaped demonic beasts were swiftly flying forward. The one in the lead was none other than the humanoid demon that Chen Feng had fought against, Tuel. 

“Tuel, is it this way?” Beside Tuel was a young and handsome-looking cultivator.

“Unmistakeable. This is the kid’s aura. He is not far ahead,” answered Tuel.

“As I recall, that place is the demonic soul stone mine. Is that fellow targeting the mine?”

“Humph! There are 20 Great Demons guarding the mine. Even if that kid is 10 times more powerful, he will still end up dying!”

“No matter what, we should hurry up and capture the kid to avoid any unexpected incidents. This place is also Extreme Celestial Sect’s territory, after all.”

Not too far away…

The six experts from Extreme Celestial Sect had discovered what was happening up ahead.

“Elder Sun, there are a lot of Great Demons gathering up ahead.” Sun Gan, who was flying in front, received the vocal transmission from one of his companions.

“Yes, I have noticed it as well. As I recall, there is a very big demonic soul stone mine there. I had been there once, 10 years ago. There, I had a fight with several Great Demons,” Sun Gan said.

“Yes, there is a demonic soul stone mine there. However, there are many Great Demons converging there right now. Is something about to happen?”

“Let’s go and check it out. Could there be someone from our sect there?”

By then, Chen Feng could already see the demonic beasts galloping towards him from afar. Noticing an unusual dot on the Thousand Seeker Mirror, Chen Feng immediately understood. The demonic beasts were here for him. 

“Tower, this is bad. They are coming after me. The humanoid demon must have brought them over. How could I have forgotten? He can remember my aura. It seems I will have to be more cautious in the future,” Chen Feng said with a wry smile.

“Be more cautious in the future? How about you think of a way to get out of this mess first? Right now, you have two choices. The first choice, charge out and these demonic beasts will chase after you. The second choice, head right into the demonic soul stone mine and try to find a path of life amidst death,” Tower said coolly.

Chen Feng did not have much time to think about it. After just moments, he gritted his teeth and said, “Head into the demonic soul stone mine! Even if I cannot escape, I must eat up their spirit stone mine!”

“All right. Let’s head into the spirit stone mine.” This time, Tower did not come out. Instead, he sent out a burst of energy, which enveloped Chen Feng. Next, Chen Feng felt a formidable power blossom before him, causing the space before him to crack.

Chen Feng turned and looked at the approaching demonic beasts. A smile appeared on his face and he took a step forward. When Chen Feng re-appeared, his figure was enveloped by demonic energy, extremely thick demonic energy.

Chen Feng knew. He was already inside the demonic soul stone mine.

1 zhang = 3.333 m