Everlasting

 

“Impudence! You dare attack me? This act of yours has violated our sect's rules again!” Zhao Long looked at Chen Feng, his face looking slightly uncertain. However, an atmosphere of rage quickly rose up from his body.

He was a sect elder, with 5 Lightning Tribulations under his belt. And yet, he had failed to handle a Concealed stage disciple in front of so many people. If news of this were to spread out, he would suffer a severe loss of face. He would likely not have the courage to face the other elders too. As for some of the elders who opposed him, they would ridicule him to the high Heavens.

No! I must capture this kid! Otherwise, I will have no face to keep staying in the sect. After thinking that, Zhao Long suddenly brought out a sword. This sword in his hand had a restrained sword luminescence and bolts of lightning kept flashing across the edges of the sword. Even though Zhao Long had not made a single move, Chen Feng could sense their surrounding space freezing.

“Be careful! The sword in his hand is a grade 7 Prized artefact. He definitely did not refine it on his own. At present, the strongest magic treasure that you can wield is the grade 2 Prized artefact. You are seriously no match for him. Do you want me to handle him? Drag this fellow into the Longevity Tower and refine him up,” Tower suggested.

“If you take action, experts from Extreme Celestial Sect will likely appear. When that happens, I will be killed and you will be taken away and refined,” Chen Feng replied with a wry smile.

Chen Feng stretched his hand and the Fire Wyrm Sword appeared in his grip. Although he had yet to refine it, it was still a grade 9 Prized artefact. If he could mount a slash at his opponent, the sword should be able to deal a significant amount of damage.

“Top-grade Prized artefact!” Zhao Long’s pupils contracted and he grew wary. However, a trace of greed glinted across his eyes.

By then, Sun Xuan, Luo Bo and the others had returned. When they saw the offensive stances of both Chen Feng and Zhao Long, they became dumbfounded. They had rushed over to the Hall of Elders to get the elders in order to help relieve Chen Feng of his crisis. Unexpectedly, the situation would escalate to such a point. Under such circumstances, interfering was no longer a possibility for them.

“What is this? Why are Chen Feng and the elder fighting?”

“Damn it! That Elder Zhao is a member of the Zhao Family! There is a conflict between Chen Feng and the Zhao Family. Elder Zhao must be misusing his status!”

“What do we do?”

“Unless some other elders intervene, nothing we do can help.”

“Elder Zhao, this action of yours is somewhat inappropriate. Sage Clearwind thinks highly of Chen Feng,” Bai Ziyan suddenly spoke up.

“Sage Clearwind!” Zhao Long was taken aback and a hesitant look flashed across his face. However, it disappeared in a flash.

Humph! Sage Clearwind may be strong, but does he dare offend our Zhao Family? Zhao Long sneered inwardly.

Seeing the light glinting across Zhao Long’s eyes, Bai Ziyan screamed inwardly. This is bad! She knew that Zhao Long was about to attack. However, she did not possess the strength to stop him. No matter what, she had been the one to introduce Chen Feng to the sect. She cannot simply watch as something happened to Chen Feng.

Even if I am no match for him, I must go all out against him. The more pressure I face, the faster my cultivation base will rise! Chen Feng maintained a strong fighting spirit.

As Chen Feng was about to make the first move, the expression on Zhao Long’s face suddenly flickered. The muscles on his face twitched a few times before calming down. As Chen Feng was feeling bewildered, Zhao Long – without saying anything – turned around and left.

Forget Chen Feng and the distant onlookers, even Liu Shan, who had come together with Zhao Long, was puzzled by his behaviour. He did not understand. Zhao Long had been on the verge of attacking earlier. Why did he suddenly leave instead? However, there must be a reason as to why Zhao Long did not attack. Thus, Liu Shan swiftly went after him to ask him about the matter.

What happened? Zhao Long would never retreat without a reason. There must be a reason for it. To be able to make a level 5 Sky Human stage cultivator leave without saying a word, the other person must be no ordinary character. It seems someone is looking out for Chen Feng. Bai Ziyan pondered.

“Tower, do you know what happened?” the bewildered Chen Feng secretly asked Tower.

“Of course. Someone sent a secret vocal transmission to the fellow just now. As the fellow was afraid of that someone, he left,” Tower replied.

“Someone sent a secret vocal transmission? Who?” Chen Feng asked.

“You know him. Your cheap master,” Tower said with a chuckle.

“You mean the chubby old man?” Chen Feng was a little surprised.

“Indeed! It seems I was right! The old man is someone from Extreme Celestial Sect. What level is he at? To be able to make Zhao Long back away without saying a word, he should be no ordinary character,” Chen Feng asked as he considered the issue.

“He hasn’t cultivated up to the Human Immortal stage. However, it will happen soon enough,” Tower replied after a moment’s consideration.

“How long is soon enough?” Chen Feng wanted a more detailed answer.

“Maybe one year, maybe 1,000 years, or maybe he will fail to break through even after his lifespan ends,” Tower said.

“Tch! You might as well have said nothing,” Chen Feng replied disdainfully.

“Humph! I was simply stating the truth. Do you think breaking through to the Human Immortal stage is easy? There are billions of cultivators from Eternal World that are capable of cultivating up to level 9 of the Sky Human stage. However, how many amongst them can successfully break through to the Human Immortal stage? If it is that easy to become Human Immortals, the Immortal Plane would be filled to the brim long ago,” Tower said with a scoff.

“Heh! I didn’t think the chubby old man is actually so powerful. To think that he will be assailing the Human Immortal stage soon. In other words, I have something of a backer in Extreme Celestial Sect.” Chen Feng could not stop himself from feeling pleased. With such a powerful character protecting him, he would be able to cultivate peacefully in the future.

“Humph! Don’t be so pleased with yourself. According to my senses and speculations, there are not just Human Immortals in this Extreme Celestial Sect. There are likely stronger existences here,” Tower said solemnly.

“An existence stronger than Human Immortal? What kind of immortal is that?” Chen Feng was taken aback.

“Earthen Immortal,” Tower replied with two words.

“Above the Human Immortal is the Earthen Immortal. Then, above the Earthen Immortal is the Sky Immortal? What stage is needed to be able to ascend to the Immortal Plane, then?” Chen Feng grew curious.

“Above the Earthen Immortal is not the Sky Immortal. It is the Ascendant Immortal. According to the laws of Eternal World, cultivating up to the Ascendant Immortal stage will allow a cultivator to ascend to the Immortal Plane,” Tower said.

“According to the laws of Eternal World? What do you mean by that? Are the conditions for ascension to the Immortal Plane different elsewhere?” Chen Feng noticed the implications within Tower’s words.

“He he, now is still not the time to be talking about this. At any rate, your cultivation base is still severely lacking. When your strength is high enough, I will tell you about it in detail,” Tower said with a chuckle.

“Chen Feng.” Seeing Chen Feng stare blankly into space, Bai Ziyan was finally unable to stop herself from calling out.

“Oh! Err, Senior Sister Bai, I was thinking about something earlier. Thank you for coming.” Chen Feng recollected himself.

“He he! I failed to help with anything this time,” Bai Ziyan said with a smile.

“Look at me just standing here. Senior Sister Bai, please come have a seat inside my residence. I have some questions.” Chen Feng invited Bai Ziyan.

“Very well, I have some questions for you as well.” Bai Ziyan nodded her head.

As Chen Feng and Bai Ziyan were about to head to his mountain residence, some disciples hurriedly flew over.

“What is this? Are there still those who refuse to give up?” Chen Feng sneered.

“You possess a Sacred artefact. Many people will not give up. However, I don’t think they are here to trouble you,” Bai Ziyan said with a smile.

Indeed, amongst the cultivators were those that Chen Feng recognized. There were the elite disciples like Sun Xuan, core disciples like Luo Mingdao and some others that Chen Feng did not recognize. However, most of them were core disciples.

“It seems the time has come to address you as Senior Brother Chen,” Sun Xuan said smilingly the moment he arrived.

“Greetings, fellow disciples.” Chen Feng greeted them all with a smile.

“We had assumed that by inviting the elders, we could help alleviate the crisis. Unexpectedly, it ended up escalating the matter,” Sun Xuan said with a sigh.

“I understand you mean well.” Chen Feng nodded.

“Well done, kid! I didn’t think your cultivation base could rise so much so quickly. It seems I am no match for you as well!” Luo Mingdao stepped forward and praised, laughing as he did.

“Greetings, Senior Brother Luo.” Chen Feng bowed respectfully. He had good impressions of Luo Mingdao, after all.

“Enough with the formalities. In terms of strength, I still need to address you as Senior Brother Chen.” Luo Mingdao waved his hand.

“Luo Mingdao, help introduce us.” A handsome youngster with silvery-white hair suddenly spoke up. 

“Ha ha! I forgot! Come, Chen Feng, let me do the introductions. These fellows are all core disciples of our sect. We should maintain a close relationship in the future!” Luo Mingdao said, laughing as he did.

“Alright. This is not the place to be holding a conversation. Let’s head inside first,” Bai Ziyan said with a smile.

“He he, Junior Sister Bai is right!” 

Their discussions – after they went into Chen Feng’s mountain residence – aside, Liu Shan finally caught up to Zhao Long.

“Zhao Long, what happened to you earlier?” Liu Shan asked with a curious tone.

“That Chen Feng has a backer. I cannot make a move on him for now. What? You think I would have let him go otherwise?” Zhao Long harrumphed coldly. He had suffered from a serious loss of face this time.

“Backer? Who?” Liu Shan asked.

“Sage Enigma Flame.” Zhao Long’s face was somewhat ugly to behold.

“What?! Sage Enigma Flame! How did Chen Feng get connected with him?” Liu Shan was shocked.

“Forget it! Since Sage Enigma Flame has spoken up, I will let that Chen Feng go for now.” Zhao Long felt unwilling. However, he was helpless to do anything about it.

While the Zhao Family had their own Human Immortal, they would not go offend Sage Enigma Flame for something so trivial. At any rate, Sage Enigma Flame was someone close to reaching the Human Immortal stage.

After Zhao Long’s departure, Chen Feng and the others returned to the mountain residence. As for the disciples who were watching the show, they began leaving. Not a single one of them had expected this ending. In the beginning, the elite disciples appeared, wanting to suppress Chen Feng. After that, core disciples appeared. And after that, even the elders came forth. Then, for no good reason, Elder Zhao chose to retreat. He seemed slightly fearful of Chen Feng. 

What could that imply? An elder with 5 Lightning Tribulations under his belt was unwilling to offend Chen Feng. That can only mean there was a powerful force behind Chen Feng.

Having figured that out, those disciples who were scheming against Chen Feng gave up. They were better off going back and focusing on their cultivation efforts. Might makes right!