Everlasting

 

“What a formidable attack! I can sense sword energy and the power of lightning from that.”

“By the way, what happened to Brother Wen?”

Chen Feng quickly flew back down and saw that Wen Shaoxiu was standing in the middle of the massive crater with a blank stare on his face. A glassy barrier of light encased him and it disappeared after flashing a few times.

“Are you all right?” Chen Feng landed before Wen Shaoxiu.

Wen Shaoxiu was still staring blankly. It wasn’t until Chen Feng spoke up did he recollect himself. Due to his emotions, he dropped the object that he was holding.

It was none other than the Immortal artefact fragment.

“The energy wave earlier was produced by this fragment?” Chen Feng said, tutting.

“What did you think it was? Did you think that I am that powerful?” Wen Shaoxiu said with a wry smile.

“Since this fragment is yours, it means that you are that powerful!” Chen Feng laughed.

“Phew!” Wen Shaoxiu picked up the fragment from the ground. However, his hands kept trembling throughout it all.

“Unexpectedly, during that critical moment, this unassuming fragment could display such an overwhelming amount of power.” Wen Shaoxiu felt shocked. At the same time, he was also feeling thankful.

In the earlier battle, Wen Shaoxiu had found himself incapable of enduring the siege of the Man-eater Vines. Just as he was about to fall to their attacks, the Immortal artefact fragment on him suddenly shone with a dazzling light. First, a barrier encased him. Next, a formidable energy wave assailed his surroundings.

All of it felt like a dream. By the time Wen Shaoxiu recollected himself, everything around him had changed. When he saw what had happened, despite his formidable soul and solid cultivation base, he could not stop himself from gaping in disbelief.

“And that is only a small fragment. If it is a complete Immortal artefact, how much more power could it unleash? It is simply unimaginable. I think it can probably destroy a lesser world.” Chen Feng was shocked as well.

“A truly formidable Immortal artefact can destroy an entire star region. This fragment is just the surface portion of a low-grade Immortal artefact. However, there are actually a few magic arrays preserved within it. This kid is quite lucky,” Tower said with a chuckle.

If it weren’t for the fact that Wen Shaoxiu was Chen Feng’s companion, Tower would have taken action to snatch away and refine the Immortal artefact fragment long ago. A soulless Immortal artefact fragment was something that the Longevity Tower needed the most.

Firstly, the materials used to forge it were top of the line.

Second, it was part of an Immortal artefact. Thus, it contained some immortal dao laws and energy.

If Tower were to encounter an intact Immortal artefact, the first thing he would do was run. Given his present level of strength, forget an intact Immortal artefact, even an intact Dao artefact would be able to devour the Longevity Tower.

“How unfortunate, the yao cores of the Man-eater Vines were all destroyed.” Wen Shaoxiu lamented, the surprise in his heart slowly subsiding. If he could comprehend the immortal dao laws contained within the Immortal artefact fragment, rising up to the Human Immortal stage would be easy.

“Nothing unfortunate about it. An Immortal artefact fragment is better than 100 yao cores at the Yao King stage,” Chen Feng said, his figure floating up into the sky. His soul power surged and his eyes were focused as he kept looking around.

“Here!”

Finally, Chen Feng’s eyes flickered and he swiftly flew forward.

“What did Brother Chen discover? Right, there are so many Man-eater Vines. There must surely be something here.” Wen Shaoxiu quickly followed Chen Feng.

In just one breath’s worth of time, Chen Feng flew through several hundred li before coming to a halt.

“There is a lake here. This must be it.” Chen Feng’s palm moved and the Thousand Seeker Mirror appeared.

After Chen Feng injected his soul power into it, the Thousand Seeker Mirror immediately thrummed. First, light shone from the surface of the mirror, like water ripples spreading outwards. Next, the image of the lake below appeared on the mirror surface before expanding in size.

Although the Thousand Seeker Mirror also possessed offensive capabilities, it was not an offensive-type magic treasure. Its most important function was for investigative and tracking activities. Thus, this was the most suitable time for it.

Not to mention, the Thousand Seeker Mirror had already advanced to become a grade 4 Prized artefact. Although it was not particularly high, thanks to the soul power from Chen Feng, the power it could unleash was above that of other magic treasures of the same grade.

The lake was not small, spanning a radius of over tens of li. The vegetation growing around it thrived to an extreme degree and weeds grew tall all around the lake, like sharp swords. Some of the grasses were as thick as a small tree.

“Even the weeds are thriving to such an extent here. What a thick power of water and lakes!” Wen Shaoxiu finally arrived.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

The other side of the lake was filled with a high number of Man-eater Vines. However, despite their thriving numbers and thickness, there wasn’t a single humanoid Man-eater Vine there. Clearly, all of the Yao King stage Man-eater Vines had been killed in the earlier battle.

Chen Feng and Wen Shaoxiu attacked simultaneously and sword light flashed out, shredding a high number of the Man-eater Vines into pieces.

Possibly due to the absence of the humanoid Man-eater Vines, the Man-eater Vines staying beside the lake quickly backed away from Chen Feng and Wen Shaoxiu. They became like agile snakes, slipping into the grasses, disappearing from sight.

“The spiritual energy here is over 10 times thicker than that of other places. Additionally, there are also other auras mixed within it. There must be something beneath this lake. Who knows? It could be an Immortal artefact fragment,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

The image on the surface of the Thousand Seeker Mirror became increasingly clear as it moved deeper into the lake. The fishes, crawfishs and plants living inside the lake were clearly shown on the mirror surface.

“This is already 100 metres deep. This lake is even deeper than I expected,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

Wen Shaoxiu held his sword as he hovered above the lake, his eyes closed. Clearly, he was also in the process of checking out the lake.

Wen Shaoxiu was a half-step Human Immortal. Thus, he used a different method from Chen Feng. His soul power quickly scanned the entire lake. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he then stepped into the lake.

“There is quite a number of fishes and crawfishs. However, given how large this lake is, it should have some yao beasts, no?” Wen Shaoxiu said curiously.

He had only just said that when the lake surface silently burst apart and a white wave surged skywards to attack Wen Shaoxiu.

“Kill!”

Wen Shaoxiu released a hushed shout and a 10-metre-long fish monster was cleaved into two. The fish monster possessed a pure-white body similar to that of an enlarged normal fish. However, sword-like spikes were growing out from its body. The spikes glittered in the face of the descending rays from the sun. It was quite the shocking sight.

“It’s quite big. However, it is not strong enough. It is only an ordinary yao beast,” Wen Shaoxiu said smilingly.

“Be careful. There are stronger fish monsters down there,” Chen Feng suddenly said.

The light shining out from the Thousand Seeker Mirror became even more dazzling. The Thousand Seeker Mirror’s probing power had gone 500 metres down the lake. From its probing, Chen Feng was able to find a flock of fishes swimming within the lake. There were fish monsters like the one Wen Shaoxiu killed amongst them.

Chen Feng could sense it. Even though the fish monsters had yet to reach the Yao King stage, they had numbers on their side. Moreover, the level of the fish monsters would rise in accordance to the depth of the lake. 

Just earlier, Chen Feng had spotted a fish monster that was over 100 metres long. Although its yao energy was restrained, the exuberant blood stream within its body shocked Chen Feng.

It must be at the peak-level Great Yao stage. However, its exuberant blood is just right for the concoction of Blood Pills. That is a good supplementary item! Chen Feng’s eyes shone.

“Strange. This fish monster is a Great Yao, but there is no yao core inside its body.” Wen Shaoxiu felt surprised.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The calm water surface kept exploding as one fish monster after another jumped out from the lake to attack Chen Feng and Wen Shaoxiu, each bigger than the previous one.

Accompanying the fish monsters were countless water spikes, waves and pillars. The seemingly weak attacks were capable of creating air-piercing sounds.

Chen Feng had no doubt that the water spikes could easily pierce through even steel plate. However, he remained still in the face of the attacks. Instead, he focused all of his attention on the images playing on the surface of the Thousand Seeker Mirror.

When there was one zhang left between all the attacks and Chen Feng, they stopped, seemingly having struck a mountain. Even the huge fish monsters that were charging at him ended up with cracked heads and they thrashed about while wailing in pain.

Chen Feng had already unfurled his domain. The power of water, fire, wind, lightning, Heaven, Earth, mountains and lakes were constantly emerging from him to form a thick layer of defensive barrier.

“Brother Wen, I am heading down,” Chen Feng said, waving his hand to send out a surging palm blast against the water surface, causing a pillar of water to erupt skywards. Several fish monsters were killed as a result.

Next, Chen Feng’s figure flashed forward to enter the lake. Then, he leisurely made his way down to the bottom of the lake.

Given Chen Feng’s present level of strength, there was no longer any need for Water Prevention Beads. By simply unfurling his domain power, he could create a small dimension around him, impervious against both water and fire. He could even slip underground or soar high above.

The moment he entered the lake, a swarm of fish monsters charged forward to surround him. Next, the fish monsters fired out water arrows from their mouths. Every one of the water arrows was like a flying sword.

Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!

The attacks erupted to form blossoming ripples of water around Chen Feng before mixing in with the surrounding streams of water.

How troublesome. Chen Feng sped up. However, he was incapable of avoiding the fish monsters. At any rate, the fish monsters held an innate advantage inside the lake.

Helpless, Chen Feng then brought out the Death Sword and swung around with it. A large number of fish monsters was killed and the lake waters became blood-red in colour. However, the fish monsters were simply unafraid of death. It seemed as though they were under the control of a certain power. In the end, it wasn’t just the fish monsters. Rather, even some large crawfish-type yao beasts emerged. Their pincers swung to create a sharp, piercing force.

Looks like I can only utilize the Blood Mustering Bead for this. Chen Feng had no other options.

The fishes and crawfishes here contained thick, vigorous blood essence, but the quality of their blood was too low. Chen Feng also did not want to kill too many of them. However, after getting entangled for so long, Chen Feng began growing irritated. Thus, he finally decided to use the Blood Mustering Bead. 

The Blood Mustering Bead hovered atop Chen Feng’s head and a sphere of blood-coloured light spread out. Any fish and crawfish that made contact with the blood-coloured light would be reduced to blood before converging and flowing into the Blood Mustering Bead.

In just one breath’s worth of time, hundreds of fishes and crawfishes around Chen Feng were reduced to worthless fragments. Due to that, Chen Feng felt the pressure on him lightening and he sped up his rate of descent.

 

1 li = 0.5 km

1 zhang = 3.333 m