Everlasting

 

Looking at the harmless appearance that Ye Ziming was displaying, Chen Feng felt amused. Although he had no idea what was truly lurking within this person’s heart, the smile on his face was truly convincing.

“That is a good idea. If that is the case, I thank Brother Ye for your good intentions,” said Chen Feng with a smile.

“Excellent! In that case, we will become partners through life and death in the future. Come, then. Let’s go meet up with the others.” Having received Chen Feng’s agreement, the smile on Ye Ziming’s face grew.

“I wonder, how long have Brother Ye been here?” Chen Feng asked in a casual manner. He wanted to use this opportunity to gain some insight as to what was happening.

“Including today, it has been three days. I received news the moment the Six Great Sky Grottoes made their move. Truth be told, I was in no way slower compared to them. However, my personal strength is weak and I have no way of competing against them. I had spent the past few days making contact with quite a number of loose cultivators. By uniting them together, we can field a fairly significant level of power. I am, however, curious as to Brother Chen’s origins. You appear quite familiar with this place,” said Ye Ziming with a smile. 

Even those from the Six Great Sky Grottoes have come. I wonder, will Bai Ziyan appear as well? Bai Ziyan’s graceful figure, her white, fluttering clothes appeared within Chen Feng’s mind.

The Six Great Sky Grottoes consisted of: Extensive Truth Sky Grotto, Watermoon Sky Grotto, Purplecloud Sky Grotto, Goldenlight Sky Grotto, Yin Yang Sky Grotto and Jade Ding Sky Grotto.

The past Chen Feng did not know about that. However, after his chat with Bai Ziyan, he had obtained a general understanding of the Eternal World. Not to mention, Chen Feng also had some books describing some of the details of the world on his person.

For ordinary humans, the Six Great Sky Grottoes were highly exalted immortal dao sects, ethereal and mysterious in quality. And yet, all the veterans of the cultivation world knew that the Six Great Sky Grottoes were but the lowest layer of existence within the cultivation world. Only those with Immortal Humans within the sect could be considered a true immortal dao sect.

Having said that, the Six Great Sky Grottoes were still existences with quite the deterring force when facing loose cultivators at the Concealed stage. Moreover, the Six Great Sky Grottoes were backed by true immortal dao sects. Thus, some loose cultivators would hesitate getting into a fight with the Six Great Sky Grottoes.

“He he, I had practiced cultivation here for quite some time. So, I am a little familiar with the terrain here. I wonder, where did Brother Ye come from?” Chen Feng responded with a smile.

“I come from the Central Plains.” When Ye Ziming said that, the smile on his face mysteriously vanished and his whole person fell into a state of silence. Seeing that surprised Chen Feng, who did not understand what had happened to Ye Ziming. However, Chen Feng did not further question him. Since he was unwilling to talk about it, Chen Feng chose not to say anything.

After making their way through around 10 li, they reached an open space. At that juncture, Ye Ziming’s face regained its smile and his whole body seemingly grew relaxed (1 li = 0.5 km).

“Fellows, I am back,” Ye Ziming called out loudly. 

Only then did Chen Feng realize that there were several cultivators gathered there. There were males and females of varying sizes and attire. However, all of them shared one similar detail. All of them were loose cultivators. Additionally, they were all at the Concealed stage.

Seeing Ye Ziming and Chen Feng’s arrival, the cultivators turned their attention towards them. At that same moment, Chen Feng sensed tens of gazes falling upon him, all attempting to check his cultivation base.

Chen Feng quickly willed himself to seal up his sea of wisdom and Heavenly Origin acupoint, causing the energy movement within his body to furiously weaken. As expected, most of the gazes inspecting him turned contemptuous. Even so, there were several others whose eyes remained upon his person, seemingly wanting to see right through him.

“Ye Ziming, what took you so long? We have been waiting a long time for you. Also, is this someone you recruited? He has only just broken through to the Concealed stage. He will be of no help to us. Rather, he will end up becoming a burden,” one of them said with a sullen smile. 

The one who spoke up was a 30-year-old or so cultivator with a pale face. His eyes flashed with ferocity and he cast a mean look at Chen Feng.

This person’s blood energy is exuberant while his primary energy is teeming. His divine sense is one level higher than mine. He should be at level 2 of the Concealed stage. Chen Feng thought to himself. 

“Ha ha ha, Brother Liu sure can jest. With one extra member, our power increases. Besides, Brother Chen here is also a worthy cultivator. Surely, Brother Liu will not begrudge increasing the strength of our group?” replied Ye Ziming with a smile.

“Brother Ye is right. All of us here are loose cultivators. This is the time to band together. How else could we snatch the Spring of Life from the Six Great Sky Grottoes?” a two-metre tall fellow spoke out with a dull tone.

“The more we have, the stronger we become. I welcome the addition of this fellow Daoist,” said one of them with a smile.

“Well, then. Liu Sheng, enough. Ye Ziming has recruited a good number of people and increased the strength of our group considerably. Next up, we will need to stay united,” a sallow-faced cultivator spoke up. After he spoke up, the earlier cultivator shut his mouth. Clearly, he was somewhat fearful of the sallow-faced cultivator.

This fellow is strong.

Chen Feng gave the sallow-faced cultivator a glance. The impression he gave was that of a deep ocean. Not a wisp of aura emanated out from him. A perfunctory glance would have only informed Chen Feng that he was an ordinary human. However, the moment he cast a profound gaze at the sallow-faced cultivator, he felt a suction force emerge from the cultivator’s body, sucking in his gaze.

This fellow is probably not just at level 2 of the Concealed stage. Chen Feng thought to himself.

Next, Chen Feng rapidly glanced through the cultivators there and found that most of them possessed a higher cultivation base than him. A few of them gave him a sense of danger. There were, however, around eight cultivators who were like him, at level 1 of the Concealed stage. 

Powerful! There are so many dreadful figures here. Some of them are clearly very dangerous. I will have to be cautious to ensure that I do not get plotted against. Chen Feng considered.

However, that tall fellow earlier mentioned snatching the Spring of Life from the Six Great Sky Grottoes. Looks like that is the reason they are gathered here. Although I do not know what the Spring of Life is, for it to attract so many cultivators, it must surely be good stuff.

Ye Ziming had the gift of gab and he quickly struck up a conversation with some of the cultivators there. As for Chen Feng, he stood alone in the corner as he quietly analysed the situation before him without chatting with the others. The others did not mind his actions and assumed that he was hesitant to talk due to his shallow level of cultivation.

After another hour, several more loose cultivators joined up with them. Chen Feng secretly calculated their numbers. They had a total of 68 loose cultivators, all possessing the cultivation base of the Concealed stage.

A line-up with such a magnitude of power was something that Chen Feng had never seen in Black Origin City. Even if they were to gather every single Concealed stage cultivator within Black Origin City, they could not come up with such a high number.

As expected, the outside world is big. Even though I have not stepped out of Black Origin Mountain Range, I have encountered so many Concealed stage cultivators. The past me would never dare to even think about something like this. Chen Feng mused inwardly.

During that time, Chen Feng had also been listening to the discussions between those present and was able to gain an understanding of what was going on.

Someone had found a spring within Black Origin Mountain Range, a Spring of Life. This spring contained the Water of Life. Once news of this spread out, the Six Great Sky Grottoes that was closest to Black Origin Mountain Range could not hold themselves back from sending their respective men forward to seize the Water of Life. Of course, the news had also spread to the loose cultivators, who were unwilling to be left out. They all came with the desire of obtaining a piece of the pie. However, given their individual strength, they could not go against the Six Great Sky Grottoes. Thus, they had to band together.

“The Water of Life possesses a powerful regenerative quality. Even if your arm is cut off, by utilizing the Water of Life, you can re-grow a new arm. It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say it could revive the dead. Additionally, it could also bolster one’s life force and strengthen the sea of wisdom’s divine sense. There are other additional effects. I hear that many high-grade medicinal pills require the Water of Life in their concoction formula,” said one of the cultivators loudly. 

“I have also heard stories about it before. As long as you still have life in you, the Water of Life can save your life and restore you. However, there is one thing that puzzles me. This Black Origin Mountain Range is not some well-known place and it is not playing host to some powerful figure. How could a divine object like the Spring of Life appear here?”

“Could the news be false?”

“The news is not false. Back then, someone had indeed obtained the Water of Life from this place. There are eyewitnesses to that incident. It cannot be false. Still, I did hear that a Great Yao resides within the depths of this mountain range. Rather, there might even be a Yao King. We will have to exercise caution.”

“What? A Yao King? If that is true, all of us will die! All of us here are probably not enough to even fill the gaps between the teeth of such an existence!” one of the cultivators cried out in terror.

“What are you afraid of? If something happens, there are the Six Great Sky Grottoes to serve as fodder. Besides, the Water of Life is worth the risk. If anyone here is afraid, it is still not too late to quit.”

“That is right. The Water of Life is a divine object that warrants putting our lives on the line.”

The Water of Life. It is truly a good thing. It is filled with a potent life force and suitable for my Longevity Scripture’s cultivation technique. Chen Feng considered.

“Brother Chen, what are you thinking about?” Ye Ziming suddenly asked.

“It’s nothing. Just, if there is really the Water of Life in there, getting it will certainly not be easy, right?” said Chen Feng with a smile.

“Naturally. Forget the fact that this place usually plays host to a great number of yao beasts. Any place with a Spring of Life will definitely become highly dangerous as there would be powerful yao beasts guarding over it. If one or two Great Yaos make their appearance… tsk tsk, things will get interesting,” said Ye Ziming with a smile. It seemed as though he knew something about it.

Hearing those words, Chen Feng’s heart gave a thump and he focused his attention at Ye Ziming, who appeared to be in possession of some unknown information.

“All right, we have almost enough. Let’s not put it off any longer and set off immediately. Don’t let the Six Great Sky Grottoes take it away.” It was at that moment that the sallow-faced cultivator spoke up with a grave tone.

From the conversations he overheard earlier, Chen Feng had found out that this man’s name was Blood Profound Daoist. His face took on the sallow quality due to his special cultivation technique. However, his cultivation base was very high, at level 3 of the Concealed stage. Additionally, he also possessed several formidable magic treasures on him. He possessed quite the reputation amongst the loose cultivators.