And so, Chen Feng easily pa.s.sed the second test without having to expose much of his strength. The Dragon Slaying Daoist also pa.s.sed. To Chen Feng"s surprise, Patron Mountriver also pa.s.sed. During the test, he was struck by a sword blow and as a result suffered from some wounds. At that very moment, however, there was a look of delight on his face. Chen Feng could clearly sense that his cultivation base had risen somewhat.
Unexpectedly, he was able to make a breakthrough after steadying his state of mind. Looks like he should not have any more issues after this.
This test eliminated hundreds of the cultivators there.
The third test, illusion arrays.
The fourth test, a test of their wills.
The fifth test, battling one another.
After going through a series of tests, Chen Feng felt amused. Unexpectedly, the a.s.sessment of these great sects would be so harsh. When compared to the great sects, the alliances created by those loose cultivators were more lax.
In the end, a total of 200 cultivators were taken in as disciples of the Six Daos Sword Faction, double that of which they had originally planned.
Following the guide of a supervisor from the Six Daos Sword Faction, they all left a soul imprint behind to light up a Soul Lamp each before getting an identification token. From that very moment onwards, they were all disciples of the Six Daos Sword Faction.
Every single one of the 200 loose cultivators was given a grotto-mansion, which was connected to the earthen fire deep within the spirit vein. There, they could enter cultivation retreat and concoct medicinal pulls during their free time. They even have young servants to attend to their needs. It was indeed the way of the immortals.
After entering his grotto-mansion, Chen Feng casually set the place up. Then, sending the servants away, he began cultivating.
…
The cultivators from the Celestial Longevity Plane had lost track of Chen Feng the moment he entered the Six Daos Sword Faction"s territory. They spent years searching through the Easternmost Region, but failed to find any news of Chen Feng.
And so, their brows began furrowing as they wondered if Chen Feng had perhaps gone to another region.
“Unlikely. The Eastern Region is simply too big. Even for us, we will need some time to make our way through it. That Chen Feng is only a minor True Immortal.”
“Do not forget, Chen Feng is not the most important issue here. The most important issue here is the Longevity Tower.”
“Humph! At present, the Longevity Tower is badly damaged. Recovering will take ages. There is nothing to worry about.”
“Be that as it may, in order to avoid any unexpected problems, we should hurry up and find Chen Feng as fast as possible.”
“If you ask me, he may have hidden himself inside one of the large sects. Either that or he is hiding inside some danger zones that not even Heavenly Immortals would recklessly venture into.”
“Hurry, mobilize our hidden forces in the Immortal Plane.”
After concluding their discussion, they had been about to leave when their faces suddenly flickered. They had sensed another wave of power coming towards them.
“The aura of the Celestial Longevity Plane? What is going on? Are there more coming?”
Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!
In but a flash, several cyan-coloured torrents of power streaked through the sky before landing on the ground, where they transformed into cultivators. All of them were clad in identical suits of armour. Wielding a battle lance each, every single one of them sported icy eyes and intense killing intent emerged from their bodies.
“So, it"s our fellow brothers and sisters from the Boundless Corps. What mission brings you to the Immortal Plane?”
“That"s a secret. What is your Limitless Corps doing here?”
“We don"t report to you, no?”
“If so, there is no need for you fellows to ask us what we"re doing here.”
“Humph! We have a mission to complete. We have no time to be dealing with you fellows. Let"s go.”
All the cultivators who were hunting Chen Feng left, leaving the newcomers there.
“Captain, the Limitless Corps have indeed mobilized their men over. Looks like the Young Clan Lord has indeed come to this Immortal Plane.”
“It looks like they have yet to find the Young Clan Lord. Just now, I really want to attack and finish them off. That will save us from future troubles.”
“It"s not that simple. Their strength is in no way inferior compared to our strength. If we fight them, it will only result in a mutually destructive scenario. Right now, the most pressing issue is to find the Young Clan Lord.”
“Let"s go! This time, we must ensure the Young Clan Lord"s safety, even if it means putting our lives at risk!”
Unknown to Chen Feng, there were also those who were trying to find and protect him. Time went by and Chen Feng, who a.s.sumed the ident.i.ty of Chen Qing, had spent up to 10 years inside the Six Daos Sword Faction.
During the past 10 years, Chen Feng hardly left his grotto-mansion. He would generally spend his time studying the grand dao, refine laws or concoct medicinal pills. In between, Patron Mountriver and some others had also come to visit him. But seeing Chen Feng in a cultivation retreat, they chose not to interrupt him.
Chen Feng had refined enough Heavenly laws and True laws that the average Heavenly Immortal would be no match for him. He studied the laws and grand daos while refining the Longevity Fruits. Every one of the Longevity Fruits would give him up to hundreds of thousands of years" worth of cultivation efforts. By Chen Feng"s estimate, as long as he could refine every single Longevity Fruits on him, he would finally have the qualifications to refine the clump of energy containing a million years" worth of cultivation from a half-step Gold Immortal.
However, despite Chen Feng"s desire to continue cultivating there, it was not up to him. The Six Daos Sword Faction did not recruit them for no reason, after all.
On this particular day, Chen Feng received a notification from the sect. He was to head over to the Chaos Battlefield to earn some contribution points.
The way to do so was by killing blood fiends, demonic notions, vengeful spirits and even cultivators from the Demon Plane. This was a mandatory mission for those who had joined the Six Daos Sword Faction.
“Senior Brother Chen!” Seeing Chen Feng, Patron Mountriver immediately approached him. He displayed a high level of enthusiasm. Even the Dragon Slaying Daoist waved towards him.
“Everyone, after entering the Chaos Battlefield, you must obey our commands. You junior brothers all have decent cultivation bases, but only by working together will you be able to display your strongest power and earn more contribution points. Contribution points can be used to purchase various items. Our Six Daos Sword Faction is very generous in that regard.” The one who spoke up was an heir disciple of the Six Daos Sword Faction. And although his cultivation base did not appear particularly high, he gave an insufferably display of arrogance right from the start. He simply did not think much about these loose cultivators.
“You"re our Team Leader? Do you have what it takes to lead us?” As expected, some of the loose cultivators immediately grew displeased. This person who spoke up had the necessary strength to do so. Thus, when Chen Feng and the others saw that, they quickly gathered up to watch.
“Do we have what it takes? You"ll find out soon enough. Junior Brother Zhang, teach this kid a lesson. Don"t kill him.”
“Understood!”
Chen Feng"s team consisted of 20 cultivators and the Six Daos Sword Faction dispatched three heir disciples to go with them. This Junior Brother Zhang, who stepped forward, was clad in an earthen-yellow suit of armour. Then, he broke into a stride and swung his sword at the cultivator who challenged them earlier.
“If you can beat me, the position of Team Leader will be yours!”
“Ha ha ha! Looks like I"m becoming the Team leader!” A huge lightning hammer smashed towards the incoming sword and s.p.a.ce shook as waves of energy fluctuations burst out. This clash between the two of them was incredibly intense and dazzling streams of light radiated outwards.
“Senior Brother Chen, who do you think will win?” Patron Mountriver, who was beside Chen Feng, asked.
“That Junior Brother Zhang,” Chen Feng said coolly. Hearing that, several other cultivators who were standing nearby harrumphed. Clearly, they disagreed with Chen Feng"s a.s.sessment.
The battle ended as quickly as it began. Junior Brother Zhang stabbed forward with his sword and the hammer-wielding cultivator felt s.p.a.ce-time spinning and his soul wobbled. By the time he could process his foreboding thought about his situation, the sword attack had already sent him flying.
“The Six Daos Sword Codex!” An inflamed expression appeared on the faces of all present.
The Six Daos Sword Faction would recruit a batch of loose cultivators every once in a while. And after billions of years, the number of loose cultivators recruited had risen to an uncountable number. But why would the loose cultivators choose the Six Daos Sword Faction? For a good number of them, this Six Daos Sword Codex was the reason.
The Six Daos Sword Codex was the sect guardian treasure of the Six Daos Sword Faction. For these loose cultivators, just learning one move from the codex would mean a great harvest.
“As long as you fellows can obtain enough contribution points, you can use it to purchase the cultivation techniques of the Six Daos Sword Faction,” Junior Brother Zhang said smugly.
“Is there anyone else who"s dissatisfied?”
This time, everyone behaved themselves. That hammer-wielding cultivator was one of the strongest amongst their 20-man team. And yet, he was still incapable of stopping Junior Brother Zhang"s attack. More, this Junior Brother Zhang"s cultivation base was even lower than the hammer-wielding cultivator"s cultivation base.
Loose cultivators are loose cultivators, after all. When compared to the elites from the great sects, they are a notch weaker, Chen Feng thought.
And so, the three heir disciples led the way and the 20-man team followed them quietly. Making their way through a spatial portal, they then arrived at the Chaos Battlefield.
“There is no telling just how many Chaos Battlefields there are in the whole universe. In this one, we will be encountering cultivators from the Demon Plane and Nether Plane. There may also be other cultivators and extrterrestrial creatures. At any rate, they are all forces hostile towards our Immortal Plane.”
Upon entering the Chaos Battlefield, they were greeted with an environment unlike that of the Immortal Plane. Although there were also mountains and rivers, vegetation and spirit animals, the streams of spiritual energy in the air were incredibly chaotic. This was not a good place for cultivation. That said, it was still useable for fights and training.
It did not take long before they encountered blood fiends. These creatures had the easiest time growing within battlefields. They would also devour one another to increase their power.
The three heir disciples did not take action. Instead, they left it to the loose cultivators. After just a few moments, two blood fiends at the True Immortal stage had been slain.
“We really can get contribution points.”
The three heir disciples did not say anything as they continued venturing forward. They would leave any issues to the loose cultivators.
As for Chen Feng, he did not attack at all. Compared to him, the Dragon Slaying Daoist had killed off some blood fiends and vengeful spirits while Patron Mountriver himself had attacked a few times.
“Senior Brother Chen, why aren"t you joining in? I have managed to gain nearly 100 contribution points,” Patron Mountriver said happily.
“Hey, the way I see it, this fellow must be scared.”
Before Chen Feng could say anything, someone else spoke up to ridicule him. They seemingly believed that Chen Feng was weak.
“I suggest that we split up. We should go earn our own contribution points, lest others try to fish in troubled waters.”
“What did you say?” Patron Mountriver was immediately infuriated.
“I"m talking about you. With your level of strength, without us around, you would have died long ago.”
Seeing a fight about to erupt, the Team Leader, Senior Brother w.a.n.g, said, “Next up, you fellows will be going at it on your own. We will meet up here in one year"s time.”
After saying that, the three heir disciples from the Six Daos Sword Faction left, ignoring what the loose cultivators would do next.
“They should have done this right from the start.”
Of the 20-man team, some chose to head out alone and some chose to head out in groups of two or three. It did not take long before only Chen Feng, Patron Mountriver and the Dragon Slaying Daoist were left there.
“Take care, you two.” Hesitating for a moment, the Dragon Slaying Daoist then flew away as well.
“Let"s go,” Chen Feng said, striding forward. Patron Mountriver"s cultivation base was not much weaker compared to the Dragon Slaying Daoist. Even so, he decided to continue following Chen Feng. Since that first night in the Six Daos Sword Faction, Patron Mountriver had been getting this feeling that only by following Chen Feng would he be safe.