"Phew! I am close to entering Black Origin Mountain Range." Chen Feng took a deep breath. Although there were plenty of cultivators chasing him, Chen Feng did not care about them. The thing that Chen Feng was most worried about were Concealed stage experts.
"Not good!"
Suddenly, Chen Feng"s pupils contracted as he noticed black spots moving closer at a high velocity. At the same time, a sensation of danger rushed into his heart.
"Concealed stage experts have finally stepped forward." Chen Feng was shocked. He knew that although he could now condense out wings to fly, he was far from qualified to fight against Concealed stage experts who could fly on flying swords. He was far inferior in both speed and power. It was practically the difference between Heaven and Earth. If it were not for that, the saying "only those who could cultivate up to the Concealed stage can truly be considered as cultivators" would not have existed.
"There are still 10 li left before reaching the valley up front." Chen Feng"s eyes shone. Clenching his teeth, he accelerated (1 li = 0.5 km).
Rumble! Rumble!
The primary energy within his body roared, akin to a gigantic dragon, while his blood erupted like a volcano. At the same time, all the muscles within his body shook ceaselessly and even his eyes grew bloodshot. Finally, blood trickled out from the corners of his eyes and nose. It was a somewhat terrifying sight.
This was the result of Chen Feng"s over usage of his power. He was forcibly pus.h.i.+ng out all his potential.
Shua!
Chen Feng"s speed increased by one notch and the wings made of primary energy on his back became more solid. A portion of the wings turned into a striking colour of blood-red.
As his flying speed was too fast, the interaction between Chen Feng and the air friction caused exploding sounds to reverberate outwards.
"Not good! How did this kid speed up?"
"He won"t be able to escape. The Sect Masters have already caught up!"
The various cultivators who were chasing after Chen Feng shouted.
Nine li! Eight li! Seven li! Six li!
Chen Feng fought with everything he had and his speed grew faster and faster. He was getting closer to the valley.
"One more li! I am close to entering the valley!"
Seeing that he was closing in on the valley, Chen Feng shouted to himself. Although Chen Feng knew that entering the valley alone would not ensure a successful escape, it would at least increase his chances of escaping by a great margin.
Shua!
A striking beam of light cut through the sky at lightning-like speed, just like a meteor. It was a flying sword, sent out by the Tiger Form Sect Master. The flying sword drew a fine line through the sky as it shot towards Chen Feng.
"So fast!"
Chen Feng, who was rapidly flying through the sky, abruptly performed a dive to dodge the incoming flying sword.
Shua!
After missing, the flying sword turned and shot towards Chen Feng once more. The flying sword harboured the divine sense of a Concealed stage cultivator. With a thought, the cultivator could use it to attack even from several li away.
Boom!
Chen Feng balled up his fist and threw out a punch with lightning-like speed at the flying sword. A colliding sound rang out and Chen Feng"s body convulsed as though he had been struck by lightning. However, the flying sword was knocked away by his punch.
After that, Chen Feng took advantage of the opportunity to fly forward, charging headlong into the valley. Then, he quickly descended. Like a descending meteor striking the ground, he entered the forest of trees.
Pa! Pa! Pa!
Due to the powerful impact, several large trees were broken. That destructive power was all due to the extreme speed that Chen Feng had been flying at.
"Although I was able to knock away the other party"s flying sword with one punch, my fist was terribly damaged as well. As expected, Concealed stage experts are not easy to deal with," said Chen Feng as he looked at his b.l.o.o.d.y fist.
In the exchange earlier, the flesh on Chen Feng"s fist was cut by the sharp flying sword. If it were not for Chen Feng"s thick astral energy, and that the other party was too far away from his flying sword, the sword beam attack would have been sufficient to pulverize Chen Feng"s arm. At any rate, flying swords were something beyond common weapons. They could be considered as magic treasures. The fact that Chen Feng was capable of punching the flying sword away was itself a shocking incident.
"Humph! Hu Lie, who allowed you to attack?!" shouted Tie Jianfeng, the Iron Sword Sect Master.
"If I don"t, Chen Feng would have entered Black Origin Mountain Range," replied Hu Lie with a sneer. His flying sword flashed forward from afar to fall into his hand.
"Even though you attacked, Chen Feng was still able to flee. Did you think you are the only one here who could use flying swords?" retorted Tie Jianfeng with a sneer.
"Tie Jianfeng, what do you mean by that?" Hu Lie"s face flickered.
"You ask me what I mean? You are not qualified to attack my Iron Sword Sect"s disciple. What utter disregard of reputation! Besides, after attacking, you had your flying sword knocked away by a little disciple from my sect. If news of this were to spread out, I believe you will end up having no face at all, no?" ridiculed Tie Jianfeng.
"Tie Jianfeng, it seems you want to have a go with me!" Hu Lie shouted loudly. The flying sword in his hand flew up, about to attack.
"You are most welcome!" Sharp sword energy radiated out from Tie Jianfeng"s body.
"Enough! Stop making a fuss, you two! Right now, we need to find Chen Feng first. Once that is done, we won"t care if you two want to fight." The City Lord of Black Origin City, Mo Yuan spoke up.
…
"The peripheral areas are definitely not safe. It won"t take long for them to find me. As it is, I can only make my way into the deeper parts of Black Origin Mountain Range. There are countless wild animals there. There are also some dangerous places that even Concealed stage cultivators dare not casually enter." After making up his mind, Chen Feng began venturing deep into the valley.
He was within the peripheral area of Black Origin Mountain Range. He had been there many times before and was thus very familiar with the terrain there. Back then, Chen Feng had encountered the tree spirit somewhere tens of li inside. After entering, he could easily make his way around thanks to his knowledge of his surroundings. He rushed past one old towering tree after another as he hastily ventured forward.
The group of Concealed stage cultivators arrived at the sky above the valley and they began searching for traces of Chen Feng.
"Here!"
The Tiger Form Sect Master shouted and sent a palm downwards. With a whistling sound, a large palm silhouette bombarded its way down at a towering old tree.
Boom!
Tens of old trees within an area with a diameter of 10 zhang were broken apart. Broken trees and branches littered the area. There were also scattered leaves, a terribly messy sight (1 zhang = 3.333 m).
After sending out the palm attack, Hu Lie quickly pounced down. However, after landing, he found no trace of Chen Feng.
"Hu Lie! Take this newly learnt move of mine, Iron Sword, Essence Energy Chopper!" Tie Jianfeng"s bellow suddenly rang out. Wielding a broad and firm iron sword in his hand, he charged towards Hu Lie. Streams of sharp sword energy, seemingly intent on cutting the sky, radiated outwards. It was a majestic air of swiftness and ferocity, overbearing to the extreme. This was Iron Sword Sect"s Iron Sword technique. In all of Black Origin City, Iron Sword Sect"s techniques were the swiftest and most forceful, overbearingly so. That was especially true of Tie Jianfeng, whose cultivation base was stronger than most.
"Tie Jianfeng, you dare?!" Hu Lie was incredibly shocked. He quickly controlled his flying sword, placing it before himself to block.
Bang!
A booming sound rang out as Hu Lie"s flying sword was destroyed by Tie Jianfeng"s one blow. With the flying sword destroyed, Hu Lie himself suffered from grave injuries. As Tie Jianfeng was about to smash him to bits…
"Be merciful!"
At that juncture, the Black Origin City Lord, Mo Yuan and the Li Family Patriarch simultaneously took action to block Tie Jianfeng"s attack, saving Hu Lie"s life.
"Do you two want to fight me?" Tie Jianfeng said coolly. The sword intent coming off him rose to the sky. His clothes flapped about and his pair of eyes seemingly glowed with electricity. His whole being had seemingly transformed into an incomparably sharp sword.
"Tie Jianfeng, you know as well that you alone cannot defeat all of us. Could it be you want to purposely let Chen Feng off? Do not forget, Chen Feng was chased out by your Iron Sword Sect," said Mo Yuan coldly.
"In order to prevent Tie Jianfeng from interfering again, we should join forces to kill him!" Hu Lie shouted. Earlier, the flying sword suffused with his divine sense was shattered. Thus, his divine sense was badly damaged as well.
"You want to join forces to kill me? I don"t mind. You can try," said Tie Jianfeng coolly. The sharpness of the sword intent he radiated was peerless, causing the others to inwardly feel alarmed.
"No wonder. It turns out you have broken through recently. At it is, you are the number one expert within our Black Origin City," said Mo Yuan, who was in shock.
"However, if all of us really join forces, it will be easy for us to kill you."
"I don"t care about the grudge and battles between you two, I just want to capture Chen Feng." The Flash Wind Hall Master and Wu Family Patriarch exchanged glances. Then, they renewed their efforts to find Chen Feng.
"Correct! The most important matter is to find Chen Feng. Hu Lie, your actions were also wrong. If Chen Feng is killed, all of us will end up with nothing. We want to capture Chen Feng alive, not kill him," said Mo Yuan.
"Finding him is more important."
Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!
The group flew up once more as they began their search for Chen Feng. With the luxuriant and towering old trees blocking their vision and Chen Feng using his all to run for life, even after searching through tens of li, they were unable to find any trace of Chen Feng. Later on, a few of them landed on the ground to search the ground while those who remained up in the sky continued searching from above.
"There are traces of Chen Feng"s pa.s.sing here. This kid is actually fleeing into the depths of Black Origin Mountain Range."
"Everyone, be careful! There are yao beasts within Black Origin Mountain Range."
"This kid really does not fear death."
"Hu!"
After all that running, Chen Feng"s rate of breathing began growing ragged. Facing a group of Concealed stage experts was too stressful. Chen Feng"s whole body was like a tautly pulled bowstring, one that would snap apart at any given moment.
"This is a big tree that was split apart by lightning.
"This place, and this place, all a mess. This must be where the tree spirit, the black tiger and the others fought each other.
"Not far away is the stone mountain from back then. There is a cave there. A pity, I do not have the time to get inside it. Even if I hide inside it, they will still be able to find me."
Chen Feng continued to venture deeper into the forest and he recognized the route that he had taken back then.
"I have not been to the areas up front before. I wonder if there are any dangers there. However, I can no longer care about that. I can only go deeper into Black Origin Mountain Range. If wild animals really do appear, worse comes to worse, I will just drag them all down with me." Chen Feng firmly made up his mind.
Sou!
A sword beam shot out from behind him. The trees covering Chen Feng were cut to reveal Chen Feng"s laboured running figure.
"Chen Feng, hurry up and stop! We will not kill you!" Tie Jianfeng shouted.
Chen Feng did not reply. He continued running forward. With so many Concealed stage experts chasing after him, he would be a fool to allow himself to be captured so easily. Should that happen, he would be placed on the chopping block and his fate would no longer be his own.
"Iron Sword Sect Master, if he refuses to listen, cut off his legs first," said Mo Yuan grimly.
"Iron Sword Sect Master will not be able to bring himself to do it. Let me." The Li Family Patriarch flicked his finger, sending a luminescent sword beam out towards Chen Feng"s legs.
"He!"
Chen Feng dashed to the side, dodging the attack. Next, he charged into a thicker forest area.