“Humph! I have been feeling something amiss all this while. So, you fellows are trying to secretly harm Chen Feng.” The cultivator who spoke up earlier sneered.
“Wiselord Darknight, just ignore this.” Sword Immortal Azuretip was somewhat fearful of this cultivator.
“That Chen Feng is just a mid-level Human Immortal. If you fellows want to kill him, it should be easy. I don"t understand why you are going through all this.” Wiselord Darknight shook his head.
“Wiselord Darknight, you have been spending the past few years in cultivation retreat. So, you do not know much about what has been happening in the world of cultivation. This Chen Feng is not to be underestimated. Although his cultivation base is only at the mid-level Human Immortal stage, he has made quite the name for himself. There are very few in the world of cultivation who remain oblivious to his name,” said Sage Aquafire, who was beside them.
“Oh, is that so?” Wiselord Darknight was surprised.
“Let"s not talk about Chen Feng. Our main objective for coming here is the Gla.s.sy Lightning Flowers. Finis.h.i.+ng off Chen Feng is just something we are doing out of convenience. Besides, this is an arrangement from the higher-ups. Since Brother Darknight doesn"t know about this, you shouldn"t question too much about it,” Immortal Skyfire said.
“So, that"s how it is. I had exited my cultivation retreat for this. My goal is the Gla.s.sy Lightning Flowers here. So, I will not care about anything else,” said Wiselord Darknight, who turned to look at Chen Feng.
“Still, you fellows mentioned that this kid is not to be underestimated. Would he die so easily?”
“Heh! So what if he is strong? In the face of a formidable force, he will still die all the same.”
As they were talking, the attacking cultivators and a.s.sa.s.sins had already surrounded Chen Feng and Marquis Scarletfire.
Although Marquis Scarletfire was very strong, the fact that he also needed to protect Chen Feng left him in a somewhat fl.u.s.tered state. If it weren"t for his formidable const.i.tution, the siege would have left him in a terribly wounded state.
“I"ll fight!” Chen Feng struggled to fly up. Waving his hand, the Dao-tier Lightning Bead appeared in his grasp.
The instant it appeared, the Lightning Bead flared with a brilliant light. Here amidst the lightning powers, the Lightning Bead was able to unleash even stronger attacks.
As expected, this burst of power from Chen Feng promptly killed off two of the attacking cultivators. Even one of the a.s.sa.s.sins who attempted to kill Chen Feng was turned into a lump of charcoal.
“It"s a Dao artefact! I did hear that Chen Feng possesses several Dao artefacts on him. Looks like it"s true.”
“Humph! Borrowing the power of Dao artefacts is not real ability.”
“A mid-grade Dao artefact. It"s not bad. I want it to s.n.a.t.c.h it.”
“Don"t rush it. Let"s observe the situation first. I do not believe that this is all Chen Feng has.”
As Chen Feng and Marquis Scarletfire were fighting off the attackers, Sword Immortal Azuretip and the others simply watched from afar. None of them stepped forward to help. Some were even thinking of taking advantage of the situation to s.n.a.t.c.h his Lightning Bead.
“A good item!” Marquis Scarletfire praised and waved his hand to bring out a flaming spear. The spear – wreathed in flames – was dark-red in colour and grand dao powers emerged. Surprisingly, it was also a Dao artefact.
Puchi!
Flames flashed forth and another a.s.sa.s.sin who was hiding within void s.p.a.ce – about to unleash an attack – was pierced. His whole body burst into flames, becoming like a ball of fire.
Sou! Sou! Sou!
The flaming spear swung about ceaselessly and beam after beam of red light flashed forward. As a result, several more cultivators were killed. In the face of the attacks, every one of the attacking cultivators was transformed into a ball of fire, reduced to ash in the end.
Even though Chen Feng was wielding the Lightning Bead, the attacks from Marquis Scarletfire appeared more domineering.
Chen Feng hurled the Lightning Bead up and it hovered in the sky, expanding to form a lightning barrier around him. At that very moment, Chen Feng appeared terribly pale and his whole body was trembling. It seemed he would not be able to continue using the Lightning Bead for long.
It was then that even more cultivators appeared to attack them. There were even some mid-level Human Immortals amongst them. Behind them, roars rang out continuously from the Lightning Pond. They were the roars from the lightning beasts. Their formidable aura stirred the surrounding lightning powers, causing them to turn even more chaotic.
“We are cultivators from Absolute Academy! You dare attack us? You have a death wis.h.!.+” Despite the Dao artefact in his hand and the formidable attacks that Marquis Scarletfire was unleas.h.i.+ng, the number of enemies was too high. As time went by, he began taking even more damage. In truth, for Marquis Scarletfire, taking some wounds from cultivators at this level was nothing serious. However, the problem here was the amount of energy expended. Not having the time to recover his energy meant that he would become engulfed by the endless attacks coming his way.
“We"re here to kill you two!” One of the mid-level Human Immortals finally attacked. His attack brought forth sinister winds mixed with ghastly wails that were capable of even blocking the surrounding lightning powers.
“You"re Premier Ghostshadow! This action of yours is suicide, you know?” The rage within Marquis Scarletfire"s heart soared.
Premier Ghostshadow was a loose cultivator who had been secluding himself in the Absolute Mountain Range to cultivate himself. He possessed a highly formidable cultivation base. That said, he would normally show respect towards the students from Absolute Academy. Unexpectedly, he would actually dare to take action against Marquis Scarletfire this time.
If this had been a normal fight, Marquis Scarletfire would not have viewed him as a threat. He could casually kill off Premier Ghostshadow. However, there were other Human Immortals besieging him. Not to mention, there were also several Yao Kings joining the siege.
These fellows are all after Chen Feng. This must be the combined might of various forces. Looks like they are really determined to kill off Chen Feng.
Sigh! If I move too far away, these fellows would not attack me and direct all their attention towards Chen Feng.
It was then that Marquis Scarletfire received a secret vocal transmission from Chen Feng. “Brother Scarletfire, charge out now. These fellows are after me.”
“What?” Hearing that, Marquis Scarletfire grew enraged.
“Chen Feng, are you looking down on me here? We are partners. Even if I die, I will not abandon my partner!” Marquis Scarletfire replied. At the same time, the flaming spear in his hand thrust forward to kill another person. However, a gust of sinister wind struck him as he did, causing the skin on his body to tear and malevolent, yin-type energy flowed into his body.
“That"s not what I mean, listen to me.” Chen Feng sent another secret vocal transmission. “You need to stop fighting them and regroup with the others. I will lure them away and hide myself. Then, the both of us will act in concert to s.n.a.t.c.h the Gla.s.sy Lightning Flowers, one in the open and one in the dark. Should the opportunity arise, we"ll kill off those fellows.”
“But you are seriously wounded right now.” Marquis Scarletfire was quick to reply.
“Don"t worry, I am just putting on an act. These cultivators are incapable of doing anything to me. Once I lure them over to a remote location, I"ll be reaping every single one of them.” Chen Feng chuckled.
“Fine. Since you already have a plan, I will not object. Just be careful. If you really cannot hold on, be sure to contact me. If it comes down to it, we can just join forces to charge out.” After that, Marquis Scarletfire"s body burst into flames, transforming into a streak of flames as he left the place. Next, he landed before Sword Immortal Azuretip and the others.
As expected, seeing Marquis Scarletfire retreating, the cultivators did not give chase. Instead, they all turned to attack Chen Feng. It also proved that their target was indeed only Chen Feng.
“Why did you come back? Weren"t you showing off how brave you are just moments ago? I was just about to go help you.” Immortal Golden Soul laughed.
“Humph! When I return to the academy, I will be reporting you fellows. You colluded with outsiders to harm your fellow team mate. Heh! I am not an easy target. I have Earthen Immortals backing me as well. If you want to kill me, I will have a few of you die with me!” Marquis Scarletfire scoffed as he worked on healing his wounds, ignoring Immortal Golden Soul.
“Will you be able to even return alive?” Immortal Golden Soul replied with a derisive smile.
“Is that so? Then, we"ll just have to see what happens next. Even if I die, I will be pulling a few others down with me,” Marquis Scarletfire said coolly, brandis.h.i.+ng the spear in his hand, causing grand dao powers to spread out.
“Marquis Scarletfire, as long as you ignore what"s happening to Chen Feng, we are still teammates. Right now, we are already inside the Lightning Pond. There are lightning beasts up ahead. Immortal Golden Soul, you lead some others to deal with them,” Sword Immortal Azuretip suddenly spoke up. Marquis Scarletfire was a talented character in the academy who possessed quite some backing. Not offending him would be for the best.
“Affirmative!” Immortal Golden Soul led three other cultivators with him as he charged forward. Next, an intense battle unfolded. The lightning beasts there were very strong. If they had come alone, this place would become a very dangerous place for them. In fact, they might even die here.
“Let"s go. We"ll head deeper into the Lightning Pond. The Gla.s.sy Lightning Flowers should be emerging soon.”
Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!
Sword Immortal Azuretip and the others moved and they quickly disappeared into the depths of the Lightning Pond.
At that very moment, the attackers had formed layer after layer of encirclement around Chen Feng. Despite the protection of the Lightning Bead, it would appear that Chen Feng was already on his last legs.
“Go all out!”
Chen Feng bellowed and wave after wave of formidable lightning radiance spread out from the Lightning Bead to throw the attackers backwards. Next, Chen Feng – still encased by the barrier – swiftly fled.
“Hurry up and chase him! He"s already on the verge of falling!”
“That"s right! This fellow possesses Dao artefacts on him and other treasures. No matter what happens, we must not let him escape.”
Nearly a hundred cultivators and yao beasts came together to chase Chen Feng. It did not take long before all of them disappeared from sight.
As Chen Feng was flitting through the lightning powers, he released his divine sense to scan his surroundings. At the same time, the corners of his lips began curling to form a devious grin.
After running through a distance of tens of thousands of li, Chen Feng finally stopped. He stood atop a mountain, waiting for the attackers. Completely enveloped by lightning powers, the mountain was bare, devoid of a single spiritual herb.
“He finally stopped running.”
“This kid sure can run. Even though he is already so badly wounded, he can still run so far away.”
“Chen Feng, you are quite the renowned character in the world of cultivation. You didn"t think you"d end up in such a wretched situation, did you? How about this? As long as you hand over the Dao artefacts and all the spatial-type magic treasures on you, we will spare your life today,” one of the attacking cultivators, a mid-level Human Immortal, shouted.
“Even if I die, I will not compromise! If you want to attack, just attack!” After saying that, Chen Feng swung his other hand and b.l.o.o.d.y light shone out. With a booming sound, a sea of blood charged high up into the sky before expanding amidst the sea of lightning powers. Every one of the cultivators who were swept by the sea of blood blew up, transforming into streams of blood energy and devoured by the Blood Mustering Bead.
“Careful, that"s the Blood Mustering Bead! It"s the other Dao artefact in Chen Feng"s possession.”
“There"s nothing to fear! We also have Dao artefacts. Attack together!”
The battle began anew and the attackers besieged Chen Feng, forcing him back again and again. Even so, cultivators were constantly falling on the attackers" side.
Seeing that, the attackers grew increasingly alarmed. This display of might from Chen Feng was simply too great.
“You want to kill me?! You"ll have to pay the price for that!” Chen Feng bellowed and the Blood Mustering Bead and Lightning Bead spun non-stop above him. The Lightning Bead absorbed the surrounding lightning powers and encased Chen Feng in a barrier while the Blood Mustering Bead kept firing out dazzling blood-coloured attacks.
1 li = 0.5 km