Everlasting

 

“Yes. Like we said earlier, you fellows are fools. If you fellows hadn’t drunk the tea, it would have taken us quite a bit of effort to deal with you fellows. Now, however, you fellows will have to come in quietly,” said Ling Long, who began giggling.

“Come, tie them up and seal up their magic powers.” Following Ling Long’s command, a group of cultivators rushed forward. They produced special ropes to tie up the poisoned cultivators. Occasionally, they would encounter a few cultivators with relatively high cultivation bases. Those cultivators tried to resist the bandits. However, after a few punches and kicks, they ended up coughing out blood. In just a few breaths’ worth of time, the bandits had tied up almost everyone.

At that very moment, two of the bandits came over with the ropes to stand beside Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian. They tied them up and sent out streams of potent energy into their bodies to seal up the circulation of magic powers.

Seeing Chen Feng not make any moves, Jian Xiaotian, too, did not resist. He allowed them to tie him up.

Suddenly, one of the cultivators who was tying them up said with a puzzled tone, “Eh? Where are your storage-type magic treasures?”

“We are poor loose cultivators. Other than our primary energies, we don’t have any magic treasures,” said Chen Feng, who deliberately put on a tearful look.

“Nonsense! Don’t bullshit me! Now that you are already here, you still dare spout lies before me? Kid, let me tell you. Now that you have arrived at Skycloud Mountain, you will have to behave yourself. If you do not, I assure you, you will face a fate worse than death,” said the bandit standing before Chen Feng, his face contorting to reveal a fiendish-looking expression. 

“Oh? What could be worse than death? Is there such a thing?”   Chen Feng asked smilingly.

“Of course! We will seal your cultivation base and send you to the bottom of the lake to mine. You can forget about getting out after that,” the bandit said fiercely.

“Mine!” Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian exchanged glances, looks of joy and surprise appearing within their eyes.

“In other words, there is a spirit stone mine here?”

“Humph! Kid, you are asking too many questions. You don’t want to be obedient? I have plenty of ways to deal with you,” the bandit said as he prepared to utilize a soul-searching technique to enter Chen Feng’s mind.

“Bring the two of them over.” Suddenly, Ling Long spoke up.

Thus, Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian were brought over to Ling Long and the others. In addition to Ling Long’s prior group of five, there were presently 10 more cultivators there. Five amongst them possessed higher cultivation bases compared to the insidious-looking man.

Incredible! This bandit lair is very strong. There are likely only a few bandit groups of this level in the Northern Plains, Chen Feng thought.

“Chen Feng, Jian Xiaotian, right? Welcome to our Skycloud Mountain,” the insidious-looking man said smilingly.

“Skycloud Mountain, that’s quite a good name. Judging by the size, it must have been around for quite a while,” Chen Feng asked coolly.

“Naturally. Our Skycloud Mountain is very famous in the Starsea Region. Now that we have captured you two, we can obtain a Sacred artefact and a Sky-tier cultivation technique. When that happens, our Skycloud Mountain will grow even stronger.  When you think about it that way, we should be thanking you two,” the insidious-looking man said.

“You fellows are so confident that you can stomach us?” Chen Feng suddenly said with a grin.

“You have already fallen prey to the Hidden Soul Fragrance and Soul Bewildering Tea. What else can you do? Little brother, you should obediently hand over all the items on you. If we are happy, we might let you live,” Ling Long said smilingly.

“Really? Would you do something so kind? The way I see it, you fellows will send me over to Nine Firmaments Palace for the rewards.” Chen Feng sneered. 

“Kid, you are right. Now that you have entered our Skycloud Mountain, you must behave yourself. Ling Long, stop exchanging nonsense with this kid. Since he is unwilling to hand over his possessions, I’ll take action.” The bald muscleman could hold back no more. He strode forward to stand before Chen Feng. Next, he extended one hand to grasp Chen Feng’s head.

“Die!”

Two rays of light shone out from Chen Feng’s eyes and a series of popping sounds rang out from his body. That was the sound of the seals within his body breaking apart. At the same time, all the ropes tying him up were broken. Like swords, the broken ropes shot towards the bald muscleman.

“Not good!” The bald muscleman was quick to realize that things were not looking good for him. He wanted to dodge the attacks. However, everything before him flashed and he could no longer feel anything.

“What happened?”

The bald muscleman had been cleaved into two. Seeing that shocked Ling Long and the others, who backed away.

“Ling Long, what is going on here? This kid is clearly not poisoned!” One of the bandits, a gaunt old man cried out in shock. The killed bald muscleman was a Sky Human stage cultivator, after all. Not getting scared after seeing such a character killed with one sword beam would be a lie.

“Don’t panic! No matter how powerful this kid may be, he is alone! There are so many of us here. Capturing this kid is an easy matter!” the insidious-looking man shouted loudly.

“That’s right! This fellow must surely possess some treasures. Everyone, attack together and capture him.” Hearing the insidious-looking man’s words, some of the bandits agreed with him. Additionally, a few amongst them revealed looks of greed. Even as they were talking, three of the bandits were already pouncing at Chen Feng.

Chen Feng swung his palm to send a stream of potent energy into Jian Xiaotian’s body. Immediately, the seals within Jian Xiaotian’s body were all unravelled. After a series of popping sounds, Jian Xiaotian’s figure seemingly transformed into a sky-soaring sword. His body pulsed and the ropes tying him up were torn.

“Ha ha ha! Scram! Skywheel Shattersword!” After breaking free, Jian Xiaotian displayed his unity of man and sword move. Then, like a sharp sword, he charged forward. Wave after wave of sword energy shot unrelentingly into the crowd of bandits.

“Humph! A level 3 Sky Human stage cultivator dares to act wantonly before us?” One of the bandits waved his hand and a circular seal stamp thrummed into existence. It spun and collided against the sword beams that Jian Xiaotian fired out, breaking them all into pieces.

On the other side, the three cultivators who were besieging Chen Feng were cleaved into two each by the Demon Sealing Sword. There were no moments of suspense at all in their fights.

“Vajra Seal! Smash this kid to death!”

Weng!

The rapidly rotating seal immediately expanded in size before charging forward. Jian Xiaotian was quick to sense that he was in an unfavourable situation. Dodging the attack was not possible. He could only mobilize all his strength to block the seal’s attack.

Bang!

The resulting collision instantly sent Jian Xiaotian flying. His face was flushed and he coughed out a mouthful of blood.

There is too big of a difference. The one attacking has at least 6 Lightning Tribulations under his belt while the Vajra Seal is a pretty decent Prized artefact, Jian Xiaotian considered. Knowing that he was no match for his opponent, Jian Xiaotian stopped attacking and moved closer towards Chen Feng.

“A Sacred artefact! Everyone, be careful! The sword in the kid’s hand is a Sacred artefact!”

After killing the three bandits, Chen Feng mobilized the Demon Sealing Sword to continue attacking. Every time the Demon Sealing Sword flashed out, it would kill at least one cultivator. Finally, under Chen Feng’s control, the Demon Sealing Sword unleashed a massive sword luminescence that was over 100 zhang long. The sword luminescence hacked down unimpeded and the bandits who were incapable of dodging in time were sliced to pieces. 

Finally, the place fell still. No one else chose to attack. The only sounds were from the wounded cultivators who kept on crying out.

“Brother Jian, are you all right?” Chen Feng asked with a whisper.

“Just a minor injury.” Jian Xiaotian laboured to breathe. Next, he produced a medicinal pill and shoved it into his mouth.

Observing the gully that was over 100 zhang long and several metres deep, Ling Long and the others revealed looks of fear. That short exchange had ended with the deaths of tens of men from their side. Should Chen Feng unleash a few more of the move he used earlier, all of them would die.

“Chen Feng, looks like I made an error in judgement. I didn’t think that you weren’t poisoned back then.” Traces of killing intent could be seen in Ling Long’s eyes.

“That minor trick of yours? You think you can deceive everyone?” Chen Feng scoffed.

“Fellow brother, help me! Help me unravel the seals on me!” Some of the tied-up cultivators began shouting.

Chen Feng ignored them. Instead, he focused his attention on Ling Long and the other bandits while secretly gathering his strength to prepare for his next move.

“Fellows, no matter what, we cannot let these two fellows escape! Although Chen Feng possesses a Sacred artefact, he cannot unleash its full power. Additionally, using a Sacred artefact is not a simple feat. I believe that earlier move must have exhausted a great deal of his strength. This is a good opportunity to attack!” The insidious-looking man sent a vocal transmission to the bandits.

“Boss, that is still a Sacred artefact! If we rush forward, we will surely die,” Xiao Jian, the young sword cultivator, retorted.

“Don’t worry. Don’t forget, our Skycloud Mountain also has Sacred artefacts. I have already sent out a message to the others. We just need to stall Chen Feng here for a while. Once our brothers and sisters arrive, we will use our Sacred artefacts and attack together. We will surely be able to capture this Chen Feng,” the insidious-looking man replied. 

“Yes. Boss is right. The fact that Chen Feng is still not attacking means that he must be secretly recovering. I suggest that we attack together once again,” the middle-aged scholar said.

“Very well, attack together! Vajra Seal!” The massive seal radiated with a metallic lustre and it became like a small mountain as it smashed towards Chen Feng.

“Blazing Tyrant Sword!”

“Mighty Astral Wind Fan!”

“Earthshaking Ocean Seal!”

“Sword of Five Starlights!”

“Mountainbreaker Palm!”

“Venomous Mountainpiercing Dragon Force!”

After concluding their discussion, all of the bandits attacked. Every one of them unleashed their very own killer move, causing the surrounding space to shake.

I can’t block their attacks!

Chen Feng was shocked. Utilizing the Demon Sealing Sword earlier had already exhausted a portion of his strength and he had yet to fully recover. At that very moment, however, the bandits were all attacking him. Moreover, tens of the attacking bandits possessed a cultivation base of level 5 of the Sky Human stage or above. Unless Chen Feng could utilize the Demon Sealing Sword’s full power, there was simply no way for him to block the sky-encompassing attacks.

Sigh! I am still too weak. In the end, I have to rely on the Longevity Tower. Chen Feng sighed. Next, both Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian entered the Longevity Tower, which then slipped into the void, causing all the attacks to miss.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

All of the attacks struck the ground and the very spot where Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian were standing upon was bombarded, creating a large and seemingly bottomless hole. Even the surrounding mountains were shaking as a result.

1 zhang = 3.333 m