Everlasting

Chen Feng’s mouth was large enough that he could fit a goose’s egg in it. He stared blankly at the open space before him. It all felt like a dream.

“This, this, this…”

Chen Feng’s whole body shook and he was incapable of completing a single sentence.

“Am I dreaming?” Chen Feng took a deep breath before speaking up.

The area in front was supposed to be filled with a dense number of towering, old trees. At present, all of them had disappeared. There was only a vast, fan-shaped, empty land before him.

Earlier, the little tower on his chest had released a sentence. Just one sentence had resulted in the scene before him.

“How is this possible? Even a God cannot be this powerful.” Chen Feng pinched himself before recollecting himself. Everything before him was real.

After that, Chen Feng hastily pulled out the little tower on his chest, holding it in his palm. It remained a dark yellow colour, filled with cracks and shabby. This time, however, Chen Feng could sense the ancientness from it.

“Hey!”

Chen Feng tried to call out, but the little tower did not respond.

“Hey, is there anyone there?”

Still no response.

“Is there anyone inside?” This time, Chen Feng shouted loudly.

Still no response from the little tower, which appeared like a lifeless object.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

Chen Feng flicked it a few times with his finger, creating a clear ringing sound. However, the little tower itself did not reveal any response.

“Phew.”

Chen Feng exhaled deeply. His excitement earlier slowly subsided.

Everything in front is real. This is all the work of this little tower. Rather, it is done by the one whose voice had come out from it earlier. Just the voice alone could bring about such destructive powers. I simply cannot imagine what level the character must be to be able to cause this.

I clearly heard a voice earlier. But now, it has returned to a quiet state. It seems the existence inside this little tower is ignoring me. Is it because I am too weak? Or perhaps, there is another reason?

Having reached that line of thought, Chen Feng shook his head. Drumming up his morale, he condensed out wings on his back and quickly flew up into the sky. He quickly flew forward.

Although this little tower is very strange, capable of bursting out such an unimaginable power, it is not something I can control. It can only be considered a lifeless item. Earlier, if the Li Family Patriarch had not coincidentally tapped it, the little tower would not have unleashed such a power. Then, I would have been captured.

The danger has been temporarily averted. However, it is hard to say if the others might or might not continue chasing after me. Next time someone comes after me, I would not be as lucky.

At present, I should still go deep into this Black Origin Mountain Range and find a place to hide. However, I will need to be careful of the yao beasts within this place. If I end up encountering one, I would surely end up dying.

Chen Feng quickly analysed the pros and cons. Finally, he made up his mind. For now, he should move to avoid getting captured by the group of Concealed stage cultivators from Black Origin City.

As he flew, he prayed that he would not bump into a yao beast. Otherwise, he would definitely be killed.

Unknown to Chen Feng, when the little tower had unleashed the soundwave attack, as a natural by-product, it also issued out a powerful atmosphere of coercion. The atmosphere of coercion had caused the wild animals, yao beasts and all other creatures up front, hundreds of li forward, to run away in panic. Thus, Chen Feng’s way forward was safe for the moment. As he continued onwards, Chen Feng would soon realize that the way forward was extremely quiet. Not even a wild rabbit could be found (1 li = 0.5 km).

Sou! Sou! Sou!

One joss stick’s worth of time after Chen Feng disappeared, Tie Jianfeng and the others appeared. There were bloodstains on their bodies. Clearly, they had been badly wounded. After engaging in a battle against the Red-Gold Tiger, they finally won, successfully killing the tiger.

“What happened here?” Hu Lie was the first to cry out in shock.

They were within a lush forest, with towering old trees over a hundred metres tall everywhere. Suddenly, however, a vast open space appeared within the forest. Additionally, it had a strange fan shape. Thus, all of them felt shocked. 

“This place used to have trees. Look, there are roots here. The trees here had been partially damaged. Even a portion of this large rock has vanished. It must have been destroyed by some magical power.”

“The power likely originated from here.” Mo Yuan stood at the same place where Chen Feng had been standing on.

All of them checked their surroundings carefully and came up with some speculations. After that, they all exchanged glances, their faces filled with perplexity and shock.

“Is this real? Who could unleash such power?”

“Judging by the scene in front, it should be the result of powerful magics.”

“Could it be the legendary immortal humans?”

“It seems we have borne witness to a miracle. I believe that even experts who have surpassed the Concealed stage and cultivate up to the Sky Human stage could not do this.”

One after another, Tie Jianfeng and the others spoke up. There were looks of shock on every one of their faces. Ordinary humans would have found it difficult to accept what was lying before them. However, they were all cultivators who had cultivated themselves up to the Concealed stage and had plenty of experience. Although greatly shocked, they were still able to accept it, albeit barely.

“Where are the Li and Wu Family Patriarch? Didn’t they go after Chen Feng?” Hu Lie suddenly asked.

“I suddenly have this foreboding sensation. All of this may be related to Chen Feng and those two.” Mo Yuan suddenly interjected.

“We all know just how powerful the Li and Wu Family Patriarchs are. It seems this really is connected to Chen Feng. I think all of us should return. If my hunch is correct, the two of them are probably dead,” said Tie Jianfeng.

“In all likelihood, they are ashes now. No, not even ashes are left. We have ventured deep into Black Origin Mountain Range. This place is too dangerous. It is time we left.”

“Right, time to leave. Dying for the sake of capturing Chen Feng is not worth it.”

After they had a proper discussion, they cast another glance at the ‘flat plains’ before hastily returning, not turning their heads back at all.

…

Strange, how strange. I have been moving forward for hundreds of li. Forget yao beasts, I can’t find even a single wild rabbit. What is going on here? Chen Feng was shocked.

At present, Chen Feng was sitting by a stream, resting. He observed the clear, rushing stream before him with a somewhat dazed look. Originally, Chen Feng had been fearful that someone would chase after him from behind. Thus, he had fled without stopping. However, after fleeing for over a hundred li, he found that there were no movements behind him. At the same time, he also found that there was not a single life form within the forest. Due to feelings of exhaustion, Chen Feng stopped to rest.

Bang!

Chen Feng’s hand suddenly shot into the stream. A two-chi long red-coloured carp struggled as Chen Feng gripped it, pulling it up from the stream (1 chi = 0.333 m).

“What a big carp. Thankfully, there are still fishes in this stream. Otherwise, I would have thought of this as a lifeless place. A place with trees everywhere but no other life forms, a lifeless place,” said Chen Feng with a smile. Next, he sent his palm shooting forward and a large tree that was over 30 metres away abruptly exploded. Following that, Chen Feng made a grasping motion with all five fingers. Pieces of wood fell before Chen Feng, quickly forming a pile. After that, Chen Feng grabbed a piece of wood and used both hands to rub it once, causing flames to burst out.

Before long, the fragrant smell of grilled fish wafted out.

“It seems they won’t be catching up anymore.” Chen Feng, who was munching on the fish, shook his head.

A pity, in Black Origin City, there are still Elder Liang and Tie Yun, whom I have yet to kill. Elder Liang must be killed. Otherwise, the old man in the Yellow Springs will never forgive me [1]. As for Tie Yun, this fellow is even more despicable. If not for him, I would not be in such a miserable state. However, returning now is the equivalent of walking towards death, unless I have cultivated up to the Concealed stage.

As of now, I have cultivated up to the 9th layer. Next up is to assail the sea of wisdom. Once that is successful, I will be like a carp, successfully leaping through the dragon gate to become a dragon, reaching Heaven in a single bound. When that time arrives, returning to seek revenge and kill them will be easy. I still have another piece of Imperial Blood Grass with me. However, I had only just used it. As it is, I have yet to fully absorb all of its medicinal powers. If I take it again now, I fear my body might actually blow up.

For the next 10 or so days, Chen Feng no longer ventured deeper into the forest. Instead, he practiced his cultivation somewhere near the stream. Whenever he felt hungry, he would catch a fish, grill it and ate his fill. On the 15th day, some small animals slowly began to appear. On the 20th day, he could hear the roars of wild animals. 

It seems these animals were all shocked into running away that day. Now, though, they have returned. It seems this place is no longer safe. Chen Feng thought to himself.

For the past 20 days, the medicinal powers of the Imperial Blood Grass within Chen Feng’s body had been completely refined and absorbed. His cultivation base had also stabilized.

As Chen Feng was contemplating whether or not he should take another piece of the Imperial Blood Grass, three young cultivators descended from the sky, appearing before Chen Feng.

All three of them were riding on flying swords. There were two males and one female. The two males were handsome, elegant and refined. The female was shapely, quiet and modest, with a cold but charming look. 

“Eh? There is someone here.”

Seeing Chen Feng caused the three to become shocked. They quickly descended before Chen Feng. The flying sword beneath their feet transformed into a stream of light, which disappeared into their glabella, the centre of their forehead.

Eh? These three people are powerful.

Chen Feng was shocked. Most of the Concealed stage cultivators he knew were incapable of storing flying swords within their bodies. At the very least, those that were after him, Mo Yuan and the others did not possess this skill.

“Who are you?”

The youngster in white attire, who stood in the middle, gave Chen Feng a glance and asked. His chin was lifted slightly, his demeanour arrogant. It seemed as though he simply did not view Chen Feng as much.

“I am a cultivator from Black Origin City,” replied Chen Feng calmly. He knew that these three people were powerful. Despite the dissatisfaction in his heart, he did not have the courage to offend them.

“Black Origin City? What is that place?” asked the youngster in white with a frown.

“Probably a little town near Black Origin Mountain Range.” The youngster in blue attire, who was beside him, spoke up.

Hearing them call Black Origin City as a little town, Chen Feng understood that these three people had extraordinary backgrounds. It was highly likely that they were from infamous, great sects. In fact, it was also possible that they were from immortal dao sects.

“A minor cultivator in the 9th layer of the Training Body and Energy stage. You have quite the guts to come here alone,” the youngster in white suddenly said.

“Is this place forbidden?” asked Chen Feng instead.

Hearing Chen Feng’s tone, a look of dissatisfaction flashed across the youngster in white’s eyes. Next, he asked coldly, “Do you know about a Greenjade Magic Pool?”

“Greenjade Magic Pool? Never heard of it.” Chen Feng shook his head.

Next, the three cultivators exchanged glances, seemingly conversing with one another in secrecy. Finally, the youngster in white said to Chen Feng, “You, come with us for a while.”

The moment he said that, his hand shot out and grabbed Chen Feng’s shoulder. Immediately, Chen Feng felt his whole body go numb and he could no longer move.

 1 Yellow Springs refers to the afterlife.↩