Everlasting

 

Even though the two participants in the second match were evenly matched, their fight ended quickly due to the ferocity of their battle. In the end, one of the flying swords sent the other participant flying, causing him to lose the fight.

“It’s my turn.” Zhou You stood up, the will to fight surging out from every part of his body.

However, when Zhou You’s opponent stepped into the arena, Luo Kong and Shui Yan broke into a fit of laughter. Even Chen Feng could not stop a smile from forming on his face.

“How unlucky! How unlucky!” Zhou You sighed.

“I surrender!” His opponent only had 1 Lightning Tribulation under his belt. Seeing Zhou You, the participant immediately conceded. Thus, Zhou You won.

“Congrats!” When Zhou You was stepping down from the arena, everyone gave him the thumbs-up.

“Humph! Don’t be too happy. I hope you fellows end up getting those from Extreme Celestial Hall in your matches,” Zhou You said with a displeased tone.

The next few matches were exciting as well. Thus, Chen Feng and the others did not leave. They were all core disciples, after all. Some, in fact, possessed higher cultivation bases than them.

Not to mention, they might be facing these disciples next. Know your enemy and know yourself. Only then can they formulate a suitable battle plan in their next match.

The first round for the core disciples lasted for ten days. With that, half of the participating core disciples were eliminated from the competition. As some were happy, it was only natural that some were depressed.

Chen Feng spent those 10 days observing the fights between the core disciples, absorbing as much experience as he could while secretly cultivating himself. He could feel his domain power growing even more condensed. His Eight Trigram acupoints were constantly stirring, seemingly on the verge of erupting.

Shui Yan, Luo Kong and the others defeated their respective opponents to successfully enter the second round. Luo Mingdao was the only one amongst them to face a tough fight. In fact, his opponent had managed to inflict some wounds on him.

After another three days, it was once again time for Chen Feng to fight.

Once again, his opponent was a disciple with 1 Lightning Tribulation under his belt. Thus, Chen Feng did not feel pressured.

“My name is Sun Shaoqing, please guide me,” said the decorous and fair-looking youngster as he smiled at Chen Feng.

“Senior brother, you are too polite. We are just exchanging pointers,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

Sou!

Next, Sun Shaoqing made the first move. Despite his decorous appearance, his first move was a ferocious attack.

The sword in his hand raged with intense flames the moment he attacked. With a furious swing, it transformed into a fire dragon, which swirled forward to bite Chen Feng.

Surprisingly, it was a fairly powerful Ardent Flame Sword.

“Ha ha ha! Is this kid stupid? Doesn’t he know that Chen Feng’s master is Sage Enigma Flame? He is actually utilizing a fire technique against Chen Feng? He is just showing off his skill before an expert.” Luo Kong could not stop himself from laughing out.

Sage Enigma Flame was one of the more well-known old monsters within the sect. His reputation with peerless fire techniques was known to even the other sects within the Northern Plains, let alone the core disciples in Extreme Celestial Sect.

Thus, they could not stop themselves from laughing out when they saw someone use a fire technique against Chen Feng. They wondered what Chen Feng will do next.

Chen Feng’s response, however, was something that none of the onlookers had expected. Chen Feng did not respond with a fire technique. Instead, when the fire dragon was about to reach him, he created three layers of shield formed using the power of earth. 

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The fire dragon was incomparably fierce and it instantly smashed through the three layers of earthen shield that Chen Feng had put up. However, Chen Feng then waved one hand, causing two water balls to explode. The resulting water vapour covered the sky and enveloped the fire dragon.

Immediately after that, Chen Feng’s ten fingers jabbed ceaselessly and one water droplet after another shot forward. Under Chen Feng’s control, the water droplets then surrounded the fire dragon.

“Eh? It is a water-type technique. Isn’t he Sage Enigma Flame’s apprentice? Why isn’t he using fire attacks?” blurted one of the elders in the stands.

“That is not just a simple water-type technique. It is the combined might of the power of water from the five elements and the water domain,” said Hua Zhuliu, who was beside him.

“Although there are some discrepancies, Chen Feng has yet to overcome Lightning Tribulation. It will likely be very hard for him to stop Sun Shaoqing’s attacks,” said an elder who sported a short goatee.

“Heh! That is because you did not watch his last match,” Lei Batian said with a smile.

“Chen Feng, it is said that you possess a Sacred artefact. You should hurry up and bring it out. Attacks of this level simply cannot stop me.” Sun Shaoqing was standing in the distance, controlling the attacking fire dragon. He kept changing hand seals, causing the fire dragon –transformed from a Prized artefact – to become even more violent. The flames raging across its surface grew even more intense and the water droplets that Chen Feng unleashed were all vaporized and water vapour rose up.

Roar!

The fire dragon roared and charged menacingly at Chen Feng.

“Impressive! I didn’t think Sun Shaoqing would possess this level of skill. That Prized artefact has at least overcome 2 Lightning Tribulations. Looks like Chen Feng will be utilizing his Sacred artefact!”

“Hey! Once he utilizes the Sacred artefact, he’ll easily win. That’s just bullying!”

“Not necessarily. Do you think a Sacred artefact is so easy to control? Even if Chen Feng is a genius, there is no way he can unleash a Sacred artefact’s full power. On the other hand, look at Sun Shaoqing. Transforming a weapon into a dragon. He must have fully mastered the magic treasure.”

“Sounds logical. However, the match has only just begun and Chen Feng hasn’t actually utilized any real techniques. Looks like it is still too early to say who will win this match.”

“Sacred artefact? Against you, I still do not need a Sacred artefact,” Chen Feng replied with a smile. Next, Chen Feng’s hands furiously shot forward and Longevity Chains, formed entirely with the power of water, shot out to bind the fire dragon.

Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!

The Longevity Chains were extremely fast and the fire dragon was tied up in the blink of an eye. Due to that, the fire dragon’s speed faltered.

“Do you think this ordinary weapons condensation technique can work?” Sun Shaoqing spoke up. Next, the flames on the fire dragon abruptly spread out, causing the Longevity Chains on its body to break.

“Strange. Why isn’t Chen Feng utilizing fire techniques yet?” Luo Kong felt surprised. The situation in the arena was highly unfavourable towards Chen Feng. The water technique alone was insufficient to take on Sun Shaoqing’s attacks. 

“Don’t worry. Chen Feng will never lose this match,” Shui Yan said smilingly.

Sou!

Sun Shaoqing’s figure leapt forward to stand atop the fire dragon and proceeded to unleash a flurry of attacks at Chen Feng from a higher position.

“Roar!”

Sun Shaoqing reached out with one palm to press against the fire dragon’s head. Next, the fire dragon opened its jaws and pillar of fire, ten plus zhang long, shot forward to inundate Chen Feng.

“Not good!” Luo Mingdao revealed a look of concern.

“Humph! If he dies to fire, Sage Enigma Flame will feel ashamed, no?” One of the spectators sneered. The spectator was someone who found Chen Feng an eyesore.

“Death by fire? He deserves it!” said another spectator who detested Chen Feng.

“Shouldn’t we stop the match? That is Sage Enigma Flame’s apprentice, after all. It would be bad if he dies to the fire,” whispered one of the supervising elders outside the arena.

“No need. Chen Feng is fine. There is no change in his aura,” said another supervising elder.

Sure enough, the raging flames suddenly shrank. Finally, all of them transformed into a small, fist-sized sphere before falling into Chen Feng’s hand.

“A good power. It just so happens I need it.” After saying that, Chen Feng’s palm exerted a suction force to absorb the sphere of fire into his body.

Seeing Chen Feng absorb the pillar of fire that his fire dragon unleashed, Sun Shaoqing frowned. Next, he directed the fire dragon to simply smash Chen Feng.

As the fire dragon was the altered form of a Prized artefact, it could break a mountain apart. Thus, its charge created a potent atmosphere of oppression, which bore down on Chen Feng.

“Hey, hey. Kid, are you still not going to use any weapons?” Tower said with a snicker.

“No need.” Both of Chen Feng’s hands moved again and Longevity Chains formed using the power of water flew out once more. Again, they moved to surround the fire dragon.

“Like I said, this level of attack is useless,” Sun Shaoqing said with a sneer.

“Is that right?” Chen Feng slapped both palms together and the Longevity Chains immediately tightened, binding the charging fire dragon.

Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!

Sizzling sounds immediately rang out from the fire dragon’s body. At the same time, thick clumps of smoke rose up. After the smoke had dispersed, the domineering fire dragon’s body immediately became weaker.

Chen Feng stretched one hand out to press against the fire dragon’s head. Next, the power of wind and lightning emerged and a palm silhouette formed using the two powers struck the fire dragon to send it flying up into the sky, where it burst apart. Then, it transformed back into a sword and fell into Sun Shaoqing’s hand.

However, the Ardent Flame Sword had grown somewhat dim and the flames on the surface of the sword flickered, seemingly on the verge of extinguishing.

Sun Shaoqing’s face turned pale. He had fully refined the sword and was practically one with it. Now that the sword had been damaged, it was only natural for Sun Shaoqing to be wounded as well.

“What technique did you use just now? How can ordinary power of water break through my fire dragon’s attack?” Sun Shaoqing asked, his voice filled with uncertainty.

“Just a minor trick. Senior Brother Sun, do you want to continue?” Chen Feng said with a smile.

Chen Feng had mixed a drop of Vile Fountain Water into the Longevity Chains earlier, allowing him to break Sun Shaoqing’s fire technique.

“No need. I’ve lost.” Sun Shaoqing gently nodded before leaving the arena.

Once again, Chen Feng won.

“Did you fellows see it?” Hua Zhuliu said with a smile.

“It looks like Vile Fountain Water,” said a puzzled-looking Lei Batian.

“I also think its Vile Fountain Water. Does Chen Feng possess the ability to refine Vile Fountain Water? That is a good item,” said the cultivator sporting a short goatee.

“Sage Enigma Flame’s apprentice is actually using water techniques. This is very interesting,” Hua Zhuliu said, incapable of stopping the smile from forming on his face.

“Brother Chen, you are appearing ever more immeasurable and powerful to us,” Luo Kong blurted out after Chen Feng returned to the stands.

“This Sun Shaoqing has about the same level of strength as Mo Fei. It is only normal for me to win. There are many experts with 4 Lightning Tribulations under their belts in this competition. Those fellows are our objectives,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

“Brother Chen is correct. I can’t be bothered with those who have only overcome 1 or 2 Lightning Tribulations,” Zhou You said coolly.

“Brother Zhou, you shouldn’t be careless. Chi Lianfeng and the other junior monsters are not easy to deal with,” said Luo Mingdao, who was beside them.

“If it weren’t for the magic treasures in their hands, they simply wouldn’t have a solid foundation within the ranks of core disciples,” Luo Kong said.

“Alright, stop arguing. It is time for me to step up. I wonder who my opponent is?” Luo Kong stood up, a smile on his face.

1 zhang = 3.333 m