Everlasting

 

Once again, the Beast King brought Chen Feng and the others into another valley. Likewise, the valley was overgrown with weeds. However, the spiritual energy there was much thicker. Secretly sensing his surroundings, Chen Feng could feel that the spiritual energy there was much thicker compared to the spiritual energy within the Extreme Celestial Sect’s core disciple zone.

However, the spiritual energy there felt somewhat different compared to those he had encountered in the past.

“Someone has utilized magic to set up a Spirit Gathering Array. The spiritual energies from the surrounding space, the sky and the earth are brought out due to that,” Tower said.

No wonder I can sense a hint of earthen energy within them. However, there are too many wild grasses here. Does no one come tidy the place? Chen Feng thought, feeling somewhat dispirited by the sight.

Seemingly having noticed what they were all thinking, the Beast King said, “There are only a few of us here in Azuremist Mountain. We barely have enough time for cultivation, who would bother with these mundane stuff?”

“This place is quite good. There are mountains and water and a spacious terrain. Besides, the spiritual energy here is high. This is a good cultivation spot,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

“He he! Kid, you sure know how to talk. If so, you fellows can stay here and cultivate with peace of mind. When Old Freak Ming comes out from his cultivation retreat, he will come find you fellows.” After saying that, the Beast King left.

Chen Feng shook his head, a helpless smile on his face. “Everyone, let’s get to work. Tidy up this valley a little. At any rate, there is no telling how long we’ll be staying here.”

“After cleaning this place up, will we have to move again?” Third Pot Bro couldn’t stop himself from saying.

“Even if we have to move later on, we’ll still have to clean this place up. There isn’t even a place for us to practice cultivation right now. However, be sure to look carefully. I noticed earlier that there are quite a number of spiritual herbs here,” Jian Xiaotian said.

“Yes. The number of spiritual herbs here is considerable. This here is a Southstone Grass. There is even a thousand-year-old ginseng here.” Knight Yaoblade led his Great Yao, Little Blackie with him into the forest.

In order to avoid damaging the spiritual herbs growing inside the valley, Chen Feng’s group had to spend a whole day tidying up the place.

After they were done clearing the valley, they could see flat grounds, flowing rivulets, verdant grasses and spiritual herbs all over the place. They even constructed a few pavilions there. Thankfully, they were all powerful cultivators with the ability to condense their energies to form weapons, split open mountains, levitate rocks and pull out great trees. Ordinary humans would have needed several months just to clear the weeds growing within the valley, let alone construct buildings.

Chen Feng was originally concerned that the cultivators from Nine Firmaments Palace would come after them again. After several days, however, the valley had remained tranquil. Thus, Chen Feng attempted to leave the valley and check out the other places within Azuremist Mountain. Forget the cultivators from Nine Firmaments Palace, even loose cultivators would rarely come here. Along the way, Chen Feng did see several loose cultivators. Strangely enough, not long after entering the place, the loose cultivators would turn around in dread and leave Azuremist Mountain.

“Tower, what is going on here?” Chen Feng was surprised. He was unable to notice anything amiss with his surroundings.

“He he! Naturally, you wouldn’t be able to notice anything. Unexpectedly, there are some top-level Great Yaos keeping guard over this mountain. No wonder so few cultivators would come,” Tower said with a chuckle.

“Tower, do you think there is a Yao King here?” Chen Feng suddenly asked.

“Yes.” Tower was very straightforward with his answer.

“Is there a Human Immortal here?” Chen Feng asked again.

“Yes.”

“Sii!” Chen Feng breathed in a cold breath of air.

“No wonder the Beast King is so confident that the cultivators from Nine Firmaments Palace wouldn’t dare come. It is also no wonder that my master would instruct me to come here. So, Azuremist Mountain is actually so powerful!” Chen Feng was surprised.

“Eh? That’s not right. A Yao King and a Human Immortal. One is a yao beast and the other is a human cultivator. Wouldn’t there be a conflict between them?” Chen Feng suddenly asked.

“He he! Whoever told you that yao beasts and humans will get into a conflict if they stay together?” Tower chortled.

“Eh? This…” Chen Feng was momentarily lost for words. It was true. He could not tell why.

“After cultivating up to the Great Yao stage, yao beasts could already assume human form, more or less. What more could be expected of a Yao King? After cultivating up to the Yao King stage, the yao beast would practically be no different from a human. Living in harmony with humans, becoming good friends with them, these are all very normal. Humans can become immortals, so can yao beasts. Even grasses and monsters can become immortals. Rather, even magic treasures can become immortals. When you reach the Immortal Plane, you will understand that humans are just one of the uncountable number of races there. They are not the exalted beings that you imagine them to be,” Tower said in amusement.

“Tower, looks like your strength has advanced considerably of late. You can remember a lot of things now,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

“Yes. At present, I can already condense out a human form,” Tower said.

“Oh, is that so?” After saying that, Chen Feng sent a small portion of his consciousness into the Longevity Tower.

As expected, there was a boy seated on the floor, looking at him with a smile. He looked even younger compared to Chen Feng and he smiled brightly.

“You’re Tower?” Chen Feng asked, uncertainty in his voice.

“What is it? Smelly brat, do you not recognize me anymore?” A mature voice came out from the boy’s mouth.

“Err.” The muscles on Chen Feng’s face twitched as an outrageous desire rose up within him.

After some time, Chen Feng finally let loose. He pointed at Tower and shouted, “Why do you look like this!”

“Eh, why not? This is how I look since the day I was born. It is only natural that I continue to look like this,” Tower said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Just imagine, an entity that had existed for who knows how long, who would usually use an aged voice – filled with the atmosphere of an elder who had experienced the many ups and downs of life – to talk, was actually a boy with a sunny smile.

At the very least, Chen Feng was unable to accept it.

“Have you never thought about changing how you look?” Chen Feng tried asking.

“I’ve always looked like this. Why change?” Tower said with a displeased tone.

“Fine, fine. Let’s not talk about that. Let’s talk about something else,” Chen Feng said helplessly.

“Come. Head to the second floor and have a look.” Tower waved. Next, Chen Feng and Tower appeared on the Longevity Tower’s second floor.

At that moment, the Human Immortal who was suppressed on the second floor of the Longevity Tower was secretly attempting to mobilize the power inside him. He wanted to break out from the chains binding him. When he sensed someone coming, he quickly opened his eyes.

“It is useless. After entering the Longevity Tower, you can forget about escaping,” Tower said smilingly.

“This voice. It’s you! It’s you!” the white-clad cultivator cried out in shock.

“That’s right. It is me! He he! Back then, if you hadn’t attempted to launch a sneak attack on me, would this happen to you? If you want to blame someone, blame yourself for being too greedy. No. You are just very unlucky. It is not easy to cultivate up to this stage, but now, your cultivation base will be used entirely to benefit others,” Tower said with a chuckle.

“Are you a Dao artefact? Or an Immortal artefact?” the white-clad cultivator asked, staring at Tower.

“You are already going to die soon. Knowing more is pointless. Next up, I will extract out all the immortal dao laws that you have managed to grasp. I can also use your essence to concoct out several Sky-tier medicinal pills,” Tower said.

The white-clad cultivator’s face contorted ceaselessly, fear seeping out from his eyes. Once again, he struggled furiously to free himself. Unfortunately, he was utterly bound by the Longevity Chains. Additionally, there was also a mountain pressing down on his body. It was simply impossible for him to break free.

“Immortal dao laws. Tower, what exactly are those?” Chen Feng asked.

“After cultivating up to the Sky Human stage, a cultivator can grasp the worldly laws. And after cultivating up to the Human Immortal stage, a cultivator can grasp the immortal dao laws and its power. I will extract this power out and directly meld them into your body. With that, the time you’ll need to reach the Human Immortal stage can be greatly reduced,” Tower said.

“Would such an action bring about any side effects?” Chen Feng asked, feeling concerned.

“You are practicing the Heavengulping Absorption Technique and the Demonic Heavengorging Art. You walk the path of snatching and plundering. What side effects are you worried about? Besides, if you choose to cultivate step by step… he he. Cultivating up to the Human Immortal stage will probably take you over a thousand years,” Tower said with a chuckle.

“Fine, then. In that case, you deal with him. Right! You must find out his background and his cultivation techniques,” Chen Feng said.

“Don’t worry. Inside the Longevity Tower, I am the rules. He can’t even die without my permission,” Tower said with a smug tone.

Chen Feng nodded and retracted his strand of consciousness. Next, he walked around the Azuremist Mountain for a while before returning to the valley.

Although there were no longer any pursuers after them, the pressure they felt did not lessen. Rather, a cultivator who was serious about cultivation would always feel a heavy pressure bearing down on his or her body all the time. 

Ordinary cultivators would always think about cultivating up to the Concealed stage. By reaching that goal, they would be able to soar through the sky and slip through the earth, summon and control the weather, becoming highly exalted figures. As for Concealed stage cultivators, they would always think about how to overcome Lightning Tribulation and reach the Sky Human stage, attaining a longer life span. As for Sky Human stage cultivators, they would always think about how to go about overcoming one Lightning Tribulation after another to reach the Human Immortal stage and attain the immortal dao. However, even if they do reach the Human Immortal stage, would they not desire going higher and grasp the peerless dao? Besides, Human Immortals were but humans who had made contact with immortality. They could not actually be considered genuine immortals.

The days went by. After everyone had recovered, they would either cultivate in the valley or leave the valley and walk around Azuremist Mountain. Firstly, there were quite a few of them there. Secondly, they were cultivators. Thus, they did not feel too lonely. At any rate, the spiritual energy there was thick. It could be considered as a cultivation spot that could only be desired and unattainable for many. Thus, everyone was able to spend their days without feeling too troubled.

Two months later, all of them had fully recovered. Additionally, their cultivation bases had also improved. On this particular day, Chen Feng was chatting with the others in one of the pavilions inside the valley when Knight Yaoblade, riding on Little Blackie, hastily descended from the sky. When they landed, they created a minor whirlwind in the sky.

“Knight Yaoblade. Did something happen? Why do you look so anxious?” Chen Feng frowned.

“Young Master, I saw many cultivators entering Azuremist Mountain,” Knight Yaoblade hurriedly said.

“Oh?” Chen Feng was surprised.

“Yes. There are a lot of them, at least 100 of them. Additionally, those were just the ones I managed to see,” Knight Yaoblade said solemnly.

“So many?” Chen Feng grew astounded.

Azuremist Mountain covered a fairly large area, after all. Naturally, some cultivators would wander into the mountain area. Occasionally, a few cultivators would enter the mountain. However, after getting scared off by the Great Yaos, they would run away. At that moment, however, so many cultivators had entered the mountain. It meant that something was about to happen.

“Are they all loose cultivators?” Jian Xiaotian, who was beside Chen Feng, asked.

“Not all of them. I saw some disciples from several great sects. Sensing something amiss, I hurried back,” Knight Yaoblade said.