Just as Chen Feng was about to leave the Grotto of Souls, Sword Saint Windflow suddenly attacked Chen Feng.
The great purple-gold hand made its way through the shattered s.p.a.ce and its five fingers spread out to grab Chen Feng. On Chen Feng"s end, he was already going all out in the face of a perilous situation. Encountering the sudden attack from a half-step Gold Immortal caused his body to instantly freeze. The five fingers restrained the surrounding s.p.a.ce. Seeing that, Chen Feng revealed a bitter smile. His premonition was correct. The half-step Gold Immortal had decided to take action against him in the end.
At any rate, in the eyes of a half-step Gold Immortal, a minor True Immortal like him was truly nothing. It was an existence that he could capture with one swing of his hand.
d.a.m.n it! Chen Feng clenched his teeth and all the laws within his body stirred. The power that he had been stockpiling within his insight acupoints throughout the years burst out like a volcanic eruption. In Chen Feng"s opinion, even though the opponent was a half-step Gold Immortal, he was only borrowing Sword Saint Windflow"s body to channel his powers. Thus, he should only be able to display a portion of his true strength. As for Chen Feng, he had the fragments of a high-grade Divine artifact protecting him. That should allow him to defend himself somewhat.
But reality don"t often match up with plans. Only when the ma.s.sive purple-gold palm slammed his body did Chen Feng realize that he was mistaken. Even 10% of a half-step Gold Immortal"s power was beyond his ability to handle. It was not a matter of how much power they both possessed, but how well they could utilize the grand dao laws.
For Chen Feng, it felt as though every cell and bit of his flesh were being torn to pieces. His heart palpitated vigorously, showing signs of bursting apart. In the face of the opponent"s Ageless Gold laws, Chen Feng felt his soul flame on the brink of extinguis.h.i.+ng. And that was with the protection of the fragments of a high-grade Divine artifact. If it weren"t for that one layer of protection, just one contact would have reduced Chen Feng to bits.
That said, Chen Feng was not in a good spot. Even though the longevity-type primary energy was continuously surging out, he was incapable of instantly healing up his injuries.
“A high-grade Divine artifact!”
A look of shock appeared on Sword Saint Windflow"s face. An attack from a half-step Gold Immortal had actually failed to kill off a True Immortal. Who would believe that something like this could happen? Even the half-step Gold Immortal himself was in disbelief at what he just witnessed.
Sword Saint Windflow then unleashed a second attack at Chen Feng.
Again? Am I a goner? Chen Feng was horrified. It was then that a b.l.o.o.d.y light shot out from the Longevity Tower to pierce the palm.
Sword Saint Windflow cried out in shock and his body began breaking down.
“Kid, do you need any help?” Tower"s voice entered Chen Feng"s sea of wisdom. The emergence of Tower"s voice caused the condition of the sea of wisdom, which was already on the verge of breaking apart, to worsen.
“Tower, you-” Chen Feng was infuriated, but he had no time to say anything else about it.
“No need for you to help, I can handle this!”
The longevity-type primary energy that Chen Feng had been cultivating for so long gushed forth like a great river. And while his soul flame was shaking violently, it was able to maintain his primary spirit.
“Primary Self Anchoring Mantra!”
“Soul Anchor Mantra!”
“Secret Domain Circulation Technique!”
“Blood Energysprout Technique!”
As his whole body was breaking down, Chen Feng utilized a number of secret techniques from the Longevity Scripture in quick succession to finally and gradually stabilize the situation.
After leaving the Grotto of Souls, Chen Feng found a random place in the Valley of Souls and focused completely on his recuperation. While he had managed to stop his body from collapsing, he was simply too badly hurt this time. It had damaged his life essence. Even his longevity-type primary energy had been terribly exhausted. A great deal of energy was required for him to quickly recover.
Two Longevity Fruits containing hundreds of thousands of years" worth of energy melted down and streams of energy flowed into Chen Feng"s body like water. Add Chen Feng"s special const.i.tution into the equation, his rate of recovery rose to an unprecedented level.
After Chen Feng was finished with his recuperation, he realized that he was surrounded by dead souls. Tie Zhen and the others were defending him, stopping the surrounding dead souls from approaching Chen Feng. Tie Zhen"s team was highly formidable and they had killed off thousands of dead souls while protecting Chen Feng. Even so, there were still tens of thousands of the dead souls surrounding them. Rather, even more soul-type creatures could be seen coming from afar.
“Young Master! Are you all right?” Seeing Chen Feng end his recuperation session, Tie Zhen revealed a look of delight. Back then, they had been terrified to see the state Chen Feng was in when he emerged from the Grotto of Souls. Unexpectedly, he would be able to recover so quickly. This rate of recovery secretly shocked even them.
“I"m fine. Let"s go!” Chen Feng waved and a black wars.h.i.+p flew out. Next, they all entered the wars.h.i.+p.
Boom! Boom!
Formidable waves of energy swept forward to engulf countless dead souls. As for Chen Feng and the rest, even though they were inside the wars.h.i.+p, they were still able to attack. And so, after some time, they successfully smashed their way out of the Valley of Souls.
“Young Master, where do we head to next? Are we returning to the Celestial Longevity Plane?”
“No, we"ll head back to the Six Daos Sword Faction.”
After giving it some thought, Chen Feng decided to head to the Six Daos Sword Faction. The reason he decided to make such a risky move was because he believed that the half-step Gold Immortal would not throw away his status to directly come after him. Besides, the other party had suffered from a minor loss earlier. Thus, he would not casually make an appearance. Most importantly, with the Longevity Tower"s protection, even a half-step Gold Immortal might not be able to deal with him.
As he was leaving the City of Dead Souls, Chen Feng encountered the 10 surviving cultivators from the Six Daos Sword Faction. Seeing them, Chen Feng felt his heart stir. A total of 100 men had been dispatched for this mission. In the end, 90% of them were killed. That said, every one of these survivors managed to obtain some benefits from this mission. At the very least, they managed to get something for risking their lives here.
“Come on in.” The wars.h.i.+p stopped and Chen Feng"s voice rang out.
In the end, however, only eight of them chose to return to the Six Daos Sword Faction. The other two chose to leave.
“Those two fellows are too impulsive. In truth, this is simply how the world of cultivation is. The Six Daos Sword Faction is already quite a decent sect. Going to join others, they might end up encountering even worse situations.”
“Now that we have completed this mission, when we return to the sect, we will be able to cultivate peacefully for quite some time. Not to mention, there is also a great reward waiting for us. Although it is dangerous, it is nothing. The path of cultivation has no shortage of dangers, after all.”
“Are you being derisive just because you managed to come back alive?”
“Isn"t it the same for you?”
The cultivators chatted amongst themselves. Chen Feng, on the other hand, remained silent. As for Tie Zhen and the others, they silently stood guard. Their duty was to ensure Chen Feng"s safety.
Finally, one of the cultivators plucked up the courage to ask.
“Senior Brother Chen, what happened to the seniors who entered the Grotto of Souls?”
Although everyone there resented the fact that they were sent in as a suicide squad, seeing only Chen Feng emerge alive did pique their curiosity.
“They"re dead.”
“Then, what about this mission? Sigh! We failed to find the last two traitors. If so, doesn"t this mean we actually failed the mission? Won"t we be ineligible for the rewards then?”
“That"s right! They said that the last two traitors are inside the Valley of Souls. In the end, we did not find them at all. Rather, we were nearly killed due to that insidious move.”
“The way I see it, there is no need for everyone to worry about that. We will surely be able to gain contribution points for this,” Chen Feng said smilingly.
“Hopefully that is true.”
Suddenly, one of the cultivators there said, “Senior Brother Chen, are you interested in accepting any followers? I am willing to follow you!”
“Senior Brother Chen, I also want to be your follower!”
To Chen Feng"s surprise, five out of the eight cultivators were willing to become his followers. Given how formidable Chen Feng"s divine sense was, he was naturally able to sense that they were sincere.
Chen Feng did not ask them why. This was a very common occurrence no matter where you go. Becoming the follower of an expert was not a humiliating matter. On the contrary, it would sometimes be a form of honour.
“All right.” Chen Feng nodded, expressing his agreement.
Seeing that, the five cultivators revealed a look of delight. Of the five, three were loose cultivators who joined the Six Daos Sword Faction after Chen Feng. As for the other two, they were unable to establish themselves in the Six Daos Sword Faction. Now that they have obtained the fragment of a Divine artifact each, when they return to the sect, they will surely be oppressed. They might not even be able to protect their fragments.
More, Chen Feng was very strong and his bodyguards were all at the Heavenly Immortal stage. Following such a character could already be considered a form of honour in itself. In truth, they had been feeling apprehensive, thinking that Chen Feng would reject them.
“As long as you fellows are loyal, I will not mistreat you,” Chen Feng said, waving his hand. Five swords flew out to appear before the five cultivators.
“Top-grade immortal swords!” A look of shock appeared on their faces.
“Just a little something. Swords of this level is most suited in helping you fellows display your might,” Chen Feng said.
Chen Feng had his own plans for accepting them. Firstly, there were some matters in the Six Daos Sword Faction that required the help of others. And while they had been unable to establish themselves well, they were still high-level True Immortals. That was even more prominent thanks to the harvest they managed to gain this time. Add Chen Feng"s a.s.sistance into the equation, they will be able to quickly reach the half-step Heavenly Immortal stage.
Additionally, Chen Feng also wanted to develop his own force. It was something that began with small steps. Sometimes, even a starter-level True Immortal would prove useful.
It had to be said. In many parts of the universe, a True Immortal could already be considered as a peerless expert. Take Eternal World for example. It was a very ancient world. And yet, when the cultivators on that world reached the Ascendant Immortal stage, they would be forced to ascend.
Chen Feng"s display of generosity caused the other three cultivators to reveal a look of envy and regret. However, even if they were to step forward now and express their desire to follow Chen Feng, he might not accept them.
The journey back to the Six Daos Sword Faction was an uneventful one. Tie Zhen"s team headed to Chen Feng"s grotto-mansion while Chen Feng himself led his followers to process the mission and obtain contribution points.
The process was also smooth sailing. Although there were two more traitors left, the sect readily gave them contribution points for the mission. It was worth mentioning, however, that the sect gave them twice the amount stipulated. Chen Feng knew that this was the sect"s way of compensating them.
But when Chen Feng was leaving the Great Contribution Hall, he encountered someone he did not expect to meet.
“Sword Saint Windflow!” Chen Feng was somewhat surprised to see him.
“Greetings, Senior Brother Chen!” Sword Saint Windflow saluted Chen Feng. He gave off an air of elegance and there was a smile on his face. This was a person with flesh and blood, with a very lifelike face. Seeing that, Chen Feng determined that this was indeed Sword Saint Windflow, who had entered the City of Dead Souls with them. At that moment, however, Sword Saint Windflow had already reached the mid-level Heavenly Immortal stage.
Chen Feng was quick to surmise what happened. Although Sword Saint Windflow"s body had broken apart due to Tower"s attack back then, he did not completely vanish thanks to the protection of the half-step Gold Immortal. So long as his life imprint remained, just one wisp of his soul was enough for a half-step Gold Immortal to easily revive him.