“I did consider that before. However, s.n.a.t.c.hing over the fragment in the Xu Family"s hands is easier said than done. Right now, the most important issue for us is what we should do to evade the Xu Family"s murderous pursuit.” Ye Ziming shook his head, a wry smile on his face.
“Let"s head to my place first. We"ll discuss the details there,” Chen Feng comforted Ye Ziming.
“Your place. Come to think of it, earlier, I think I heard someone call you Island Lord Chen. What is that all about?” Ye Ziming grew more puzzled.
“It"s a long story. We"ll talk as we move.”
Even after the two of them had reached East Dragon Island, the look of shock on Ye Ziming"s face remained. Clearly, he was still in shock at what Chen Feng had informed him.
“Unexpectedly, so much would change after just a few years. Brother Chen, not only did you manage to shake off the pursuit of the first-rate sects of the Northern Plains, you even have your own force now,” said Ye Ziming, who regarded his surroundings.
“Back then, I was forced to run away from the Northern Plains. However, there will come a day when I carve my way back. That day is not far off. Right now, though, the most important thing is to improve my strength. Although East Dragon Island is located in the ocean region, I believe that the Xu Family will definitely dispatch some men over to cause trouble. Not to mention, they will certainly come soon.” As he spoke, Chen Feng maintained a look of calmness. However, his words contained a note of severity.
If the Xu Family were to send a few mid-level Earthen Immortals or stronger characters against him, then he would have no choice but to give up on East Dragon Island. Although he was not fearful of the Xu Family, this force and territory that he had painstakingly established would fall.
If only all four of the Yao Immortals from Ascendant Immortal Skylodge could successfully overcome their Heavenly Tribulation and advance to the mid-level Yao Immortal (Earthen) stage, they will be able to fight against the mid-level Earthen Immortals from the Xu Family, Chen Feng thought.
However, Chen Feng and Ye Ziming"s concerns were redundant. Chen Feng went about preparing for a battle, but what happened next surprised him.
The days went by and it did not take long for one whole month to pa.s.s. And yet, not a single cultivator from the Xu Family came.
Finally, Chen Feng found out why the Xu Family did not send anyone to trouble him. The one who brought him that piece of information was Jian Xiaotian, who had been feeling cooped up inside Heavenly Sword Faction.
“You mean to say that the Xu Family is in a spot of trouble?”
After coming to East Dragon Island, Jian Xiaotian found Chen Feng and they had a chat. Not long after their chat began, Jian Xiaotian then took the initiative to inform Chen Feng about the Xu Family.
“A spot of trouble? More like a b.u.t.t load of trouble. Right now, the Xu Family is facing a siege from the combined forces of Sun Moon Sect and Ghost King Sect. They can"t even take care of themselves right now, how can they spare the men to come trouble you?” Jian Xiaotian laughed.
The matter of Chen Feng raising h.e.l.l in Void City to save Ye Ziming had spread through the entire Central Plains" world of cultivation. Upon hearing that, Jian Xiaotian had quickly made his way to East Dragon Island.
“Sun Moon Sect and Ghost King Sect?” Chen Feng felt puzzled. “They are not first-rate sects, are they?”
It had been a while since Chen Feng came to the Central Plains. Thus, he knew quite a bit about the forces and their rankings within the Central Plains. He knew of the two sects. He also knew that they were no match for the Xu Family. Even if they were to combine their forces, they would still be no match for the Xu Family.
“Those two are indeed not first-rate sects. However, they are no weaklings. They possess quite a profound heritage and foundation. They also have some formidable Earthen Immortals amongst their ranks. If we look at their overall strength, they are already very close to becoming a first-rate sect. In the past, these two sects would not have dared to mess with the Xu Family. However, things are different now.” After saying that, Jian Xiaotian looked at Chen Feng, a smile on his face.
“It"s because of me.” Chen Feng smiled as well.
“Yes. Void City was badly damaged and a high number of cultivators from the Xu Family were killed back then. There is no reason for Sun Moon Sect and Ghost King Sect to not make a move. If they can succeed, not only can they carve up the Xu Family"s territory amongst themselves, they can also s.n.a.t.c.h over the wealth that the Xu Family had acc.u.mulated through the ages.”
“This is a large-scale war.” Chen Feng sighed. Speaking of which, he was the cause for this incident. There was no telling just how many people would die from this war that he had inadvertently started. Thinking about it caused Chen Feng to feel sorrowful.
“Who do you think will emerge victorious in the end?”
“It will definitely be the Xu Family.” Ye Ziming, who had been sitting in the corner silently, suddenly spoke up. There was a very entangled expression on his face. No matter how you cut it, he had once been a member of the Xu Family. Although the Xu Family had locked him up, some of his branch members were still a part of the Xu Family. How many people would die in this war? For the main branch of the Xu Family, those in the other branches were only cannon fodders for this war.
“Yes. I also think that the Xu Family will emerge victorious in the end. Although Void City itself was badly damaged, the overall strength of the Xu Family was not badly affected. Amongst all the high-level cultivators on their side, only Xu Changkong was badly wounded. Even so, given the Xu Family"s foundation, Xu Changkong should have almost fully recovered by now. Although I do not know much about the strength of Sun Moon Sect and Ghost King Sect, they are not first-rate sects, after all. Thus, the chances of them losing in the end is high.”
“Of course, regardless of who the victor is, the Xu Family will not be able to come trouble East Dragon Island any time soon. This period of time will allow us to be prepared.”
Hearing that the Xu Family was involved in a war, Chen Feng grew relieved.
However, Ye Ziming suddenly said, “Brother Chen, I plan on going there to secretly check things out.”
Chen Feng was taken aback, but he was quick to understand what was on Ye Ziming"s mind. He was feeling concerned about his branch members.
Chen Feng considered it for a moment before saying, “Fine. However, I will not feel at ease if I let you go alone. You should bring some ocean yao guards with you. If you find your branch members, you can just bring them over to East Dragon Island.”
In the end, due to Chen Feng"s request, Ye Ziming decided to bring several ocean yao guards with him as he left.
After arranging a place for Jian Xiaotian, Chen Feng found himself with a moment of peace.
On this particular day, Chen Feng was seated on a cliff at the edge of East Dragon Island. Before him was the great ocean and layer after layer of ocean waves pushed forward. Occasionally, some fish monsters would emerge from the surface of the ocean. With his eye power, Chen Feng could even see some human cultivators exploring the surface of the ocean far away. There were even some cultivators on the small islands scattered about near East Dragon Island, in search of spiritual herbs.
Despite the many lively incidents going on in the ocean, Chen Feng"s heart was in an extreme state of tranquillity. He had deliberately suppressed his emotions and regulated his rate of breathing to achieve this.
Finally, Chen Feng felt his state of mind becoming as calm as the still surface of water. Next, he began inquiring about his origins. However, he had only just started when the tremors in his voice betrayed his emotions.
Sigh! As expected, this is the biggest knot within my heart and also my reason for cultivating. Chen Feng shook his head and sighed.
“Tower, it"s about time we talk, no?” There was an ambiguous smile on Chen Feng"s face. He had been searching for this answer for a long time. It would not be an exaggeration to say that he had been searching for his origins since the day he was capable of understanding. Now that he was about to find out, he felt as though he might both gain something and lose something.
Naturally, the feelings of excitement and yearning superseded that.
He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Then, he continued, “All right. Let"s talk.”
Tower remained silent. He had been remaining silent all this time, seemingly pondering how to tell Chen Feng the truth.
“Sigh! Fine, it is indeed time to tell you the truth. However, there is no need for me to tell you. Everything you want to know is inside your sea of wisdom.” The smile on Tower"s face had disappeared. In its place was a look of solemnity and wistfulness.
“What? Inside my sea of wisdom? Impossible!” Since reaching the Concealed stage, Chen Feng had combed this sea of wisdom many times before. However, he could not find anything about his origins. Thus, hearing what Tower said left him in absolute shock.
“Tower, are you bluffing me right now?” Chen Feng was quick to ask.
“Why would I bluff you? You"ll be finding out about it sooner or later. Get ready, I will help you.” Next, Tower reached out with his hand and jabbed with a finger. Then, a beam of light flew out from the Longevity Tower to move into Chen Feng"s sea of wisdom.
If Chen Feng"s sea of wisdom was like the incomparably dark universe, then the beam of light from Tower was like a rapidly burning meteor.
Boom!
The meteor suddenly exploded and Chen Feng was instantly visited by a feeling that a very small point within his sea of wisdom had been destroyed. It was as though a pa.s.sageway had opened up within a world and countless objects surged out from it.
“These are your sealed memories from back then. All of these are memory fragments. Although there aren"t too many of them, I believe it should already be enough for now,” Tower said solemnly.
“My sealed memories!” Chen Feng was shocked. He had wanted to forward more questions, but the memory fragments had already begun spreading out across his sea of wisdom to automatically fuse with the various corners of the sea of wisdom.
Images began flas.h.i.+ng within Chen Feng"s sea of wisdom. The images recorded everything that happened to Chen Feng since his moment of birth up until he was six years" old.
Because the released memory fragments were in the process of merging with Chen Feng"s sea of wisdom, Chen Feng felt as though he was reliving the memories all over again.
Truth be told, all of them were things that Chen Feng had already experienced once during his childhood. However, they had been sealed up all this time. To suddenly have them all unsealed brought Chen Feng feelings of familiarity and confusion. For humans, finding something that they had failed to find for years could sometimes bring about a sensation of fear, fear of facing that which they had been looking for all this time.
For Chen Feng, recalling all those childhood memories was just a matter of several blinks" worth of time. At any rate, given Chen Feng"s present level of cultivation, even the act of searching through a Human Immortal"s sea of wisdom would only take him a few breaths" worth of time.
However, Chen Feng ended up getting immersed into it. He stayed still, replaying the images again and again. Eventually, after three months, Chen Feng, whose face had become wet with tears, woke up.
“How do you feel?” At that moment, Tower had already emerged from the Longevity Tower. He had utilized energy to form a body for himself.
At first, Chen Feng shook his head. Then, he nodded, his eyes becoming increasingly bright. In the end, they became like compressed b.a.l.l.s of fire. Seeing that shocked even Tower.
Next, the fireb.a.l.l.s were extinguished and Chen Feng"s eyes returned to a state of tranquillity. However, the aura he emanated kept rising. It had become somewhat different from the past, having gained a somewhat unfamiliar quality and a feeling of ancientness. Moreover, there were also traces of the concept of longevity within it.
Finally, after reaching the limits of the starter-level Human Immortal stage, his aura stopped rising.
Slowly, Chen Feng stood up, his hair billowing in the wind. With a resolute expression on his face and calmness in his eyes, he suddenly roared out. The resulting soundwaves spread out to create a monstrous-like tsunami.