"Sect Master, do we have the ident.i.ty of the perpetrators?" asked an elderly man. He was one of Purplecloud Sky Grotto"s elder.
"Unknown for now. However, Sage Astral Thunder says he remembers the aura of the other party," said Liu Dianfeng heavily.
"Since Sage Astral Thunder has chosen to take action, the perpetrators will definitely be found. He will avenge the Young Master. This is a critical juncture for Sect Master"s attempt to a.s.sail the Sky Human stage. Please do not let this bring harm to your state of mind," advised the old man.
"Yuntian"s death has thrown my mind into a state of chaos. I am simply unable to focus on cultivating." Liu Dianfeng sat down on a chair and the expression on his face was constantly changing. All of them were ugly to behold.
"We who practice the dao are always facing the possibility of dying at any moment. Sect Master, do not allow your mind to be fettered. Besides, Sage Astral Thunder did not say that Yuntian was definitely murdered. Who knows? A change might occur," advised another middle-aged cultivator.
"Reporting to Sect Master! Second Young Master, Third Young Master and Fourth Young Master request an audience." Someone suddenly entered to report.
"Humph, no! I will soon be entering cultivation retreat. Relay my orders. Without my orders, no one is to disturb me. Great Elder will be responsible for protecting Purplecloud Sky Grotto. Third Elder and Fourth Elder are to go to Purplebolt Mountain to a.s.sist Second Elder. In a few more days, Nine Firmaments Palace will be sending a batch of experts to protect the place. Then, our Purplecloud Sky Grotto will no longer have to feel so anxious." After saying that, Liu Dianfeng"s figure disappeared into the grotto-mansion.
"Sigh! Our Purplecloud Sky Grotto is having an eventful period. Although we did find a Magic crystal mine, it is not necessarily a good thing. The other five great Sky Grottoes, some of the smaller sects and even some loose cultivators would prey on us. If news of this gets exposed, who knows what will happen?"
"Right now, we can only hope that Sect Master can break through to the Sky Human stage. Once he rises to the Sky Human stage, we will be able to handle the situation. If not, we can only ask Nine Firmaments Palace for a.s.sistance."
"Humph! Everyone from Nine Firmaments Palace is so arrogant, their noses are practically on the same level as the firmaments. They clearly do not view us as anything important. I wonder who they will send over this time?"
The several grotto-mansion elders shook their heads and sighed.
Then, three young cultivators hurriedly walked in. The moment they entered, they burst into tears, looking miserable to the extreme.
"Enough, there is no need for you fellows to cry. Sect Master has already given the orders. He will not be meeting anyone. Additionally, Sect Master also said that there is no accurate news regarding Liu Yuntian"s death. There is no need for you fellows to be so sad. Just go do whatever it is you have to do," said the Great Elder with a frown.
Hearing those words, the three young men immediately stopped crying. Not a single drop of tears could be seen on their faces. They looked around the grotto-mansion for a bit before stepping back out.
"Sigh! Our Purplecloud Sky Grotto"s newer generation is lacking," said Great Elder with a sigh.
…
"Purplebolt Mountain is just up ahead. The mountain does not appear too high. There is also nothing special about the terrain," said Lu Ta as he a.s.sessed the rolling mountains in the distance.
"Although we can see nothing of the terrain, I can feel a trace of lightning power," said Chen Feng, who had closed his eyes to sense ahead.
"Truth be told, the sky is not the only thing that can generate lightning. Even the depths of the earth can give birth to various types of lightning. I believe the purple-coloured lightning here must be a product of this place"s terrain," said Ye Ziming.
"Tower, come out quick!" Chen Feng sent a strand of divine sense into the Longevity Tower to call Tower.
"Sup?" Tower asked.
"Try to sense around if there is any Magic crystal aura nearby," said Chen Feng. This was the time to get the Longevity Tower"s help. Chen Feng was not so foolish as to settle accounts with Tower at a time like this.
"One hundred li ahead. There is a Magic crystal mine located underground. Well done, kid! To think you could find such a good place so quickly. If I can devour this Magic crystal mine, I will be able to restore a portion of my power," said an excited Tower (1 li = 0.5 km).
"These Magic crystals can help you restore your power?" Chen Feng suddenly sensed something amiss.
"Of course. Due to how badly damaged I am, absorbing the worldly spiritual energy is not an effective method for me. Additionally, I am presently lacking the magic power to devour life force. I can only make use of some worldly spiritual objects to recover. Although the Magic crystal is a low-grade object, it is still much better compared to worldly spiritual energy," Tower slowly answered.
Hearing those words, Chen Feng was unable to help himself from quickly sending his divine sense to sweep through the Longevity Tower. As expected, the 10,000 Magic crystals he seized from Liu Yuntian had disappeared. Not even a piece of the Magic crystals remained.
"Where are my Magic crystals?!" Chen Feng could not stop himself from blurting out.
"Brother Chen, what are you talking about?" Ye Ziming and Lu Ta, who were outside with Chen Feng, looked at him curiously as he shouted those words.
"Err! Nothing, nothing! I just suddenly recalled something. It"s nothing to worry about," Chen Feng hastily said. After that, he continued to scream within Longevity Tower.
"Where are my 10,000 Magic crystals?! I clearly remember placing them here!" Chen Feng howled.
There was no way Chen Feng would not go crazy. That was 10,000 Magic crystals, the equivalent of 1 million Basic Yang Pills. That was the biggest amount of wealth Chen Feng had ever laid his eyes on. It was like an ordinary human who had gained a mountain of gold only to have the mountain of gold disappear all of a sudden. The resulting feeling was something that could cause blood to spray out from his mouth.
"Didn"t I tell you, Magic crystals can allow me to recover my power," said Tower as-matter-of-factly.
"You mean to say, you absorbed the 10,000 Magic crystals that I placed here without leaving a single piece for me?" The calmness with which Chen Feng was talking gave himself the impression of a volcano that was on the verge of exploding.
"Although there was only a small amount of Magic crystals, they were enough to restore a smidge of my powers. In the future, you need to find more Magic crystals to restore me. That way, I can become stronger. By becoming stronger, I will be able to a.s.sist you with your cultivation practice," said Tower calmly.
"Aaaaarghhhhh!!!" Chen Feng"s divine sense roared within Longevity Tower and formidable soundwaves a.s.sailed the surrounding areas non-stop, causing the energy currents within Longevity Tower to churn violently.
The soundwaves were so grating, they caused even the Four-eared Spirit Monkey and the Purplebolt Silverlight Wyrm to reveal expressions of discomfort.
Finally, Chen Feng was done venting his frustration. He asked Tower, "You have absorbed so much Magic crystals. How much of your power is now restored?"
"Look for yourself."
Light flashed out before Chen Feng before expanding out. It did not take long before it became a mirror-like screen. An ancient, dark yellow and ruined little tower appeared on the screen.
"Longevity Tower!" Chen Feng was shocked.
"Yes, this is an image of Longevity Tower," said Tower. There was a smiling quality to his voice.
Next, the little tower rapidly grew bigger and the many cracks on its body was enlarged. Finally, one of the cracks in a certain corner appeared before Chen Feng"s eyes.
"Do you see that?" asked Tower.
"Isn"t this just a crack?" asked Chen Feng curiously.
"After absorbing those Magic crystals, I was able to fix 1 % of this crack." There was actually excitement in Tower"s voice.
Plop!
Chen Feng"s body outside fell on his b.u.t.tocks.
"Brother Chen, what happened to you?" Ye Ziming became puzzled.
"I feel a little tired. I want to rest for a bit." Chen Feng"s chest heaved up and down without respite. A feeling of vexation was seemingly on the verge of bursting out from his chest.
"Tired?" Ye Ziming and Lu Ta exchanged glances. There were looks of disbelief on their faces. This journey of theirs can certainly cause ordinary humans to feel tired. However, the three of them were cultivators with the ability to fly through the sky. To claim tiredness after such a journey was just odd.
However, Ye Ziming and Lu Ta chose not to dwell upon it. Instead, they chose to move to the side and get some rest.
Swoos.h.!.+
This time, Chen Feng"s entire body went into the Longevity Tower.
"Tower, you absorbed so many of my Magic crystals only to patch up one crack. No, you didn"t even get to patch up that little crack. Return me my Magic crystals!" Chen Feng was practically jumping up and down as he shouted.
Chen Feng knew there were countless cracks on the surface of Longevity Tower. The crack he was shown earlier was the smallest one. For the 10,000 Magic crystals to only manage to fix 1 % of the smallest crack was something Chen Feng found impossible to accept.
"That is why I say you need to find more Magic crystals. Isn"t there a Magic crystal mine right up ahead? If I can devour that Magic crystal mine up, I might be able to repair several cracks." Tower"s voice was calm, unaffected by Chen Feng"s words.
"Don"t say these useless stuffs. What I need is a tangible benefit," said Chen Feng after calming himself down.
If the 10,000 Magic crystals were spent simply on repairing the crack, Chen Feng felt that he should probably go off himself.
"Of course there are benefits. Aren"t you concerned about what to do with this yao beast and Great Yao? After absorbing those Magic crystals, I recovered a strand of my powers and can now execute some techniques." As Tower spoke, the surrounding energy currents moved and the Four-eared Spirit Monkey, who was still tightly bound up, was slowly moved forward before stopping right in front of Chen Feng.
By now, the yao beast"s aura was already withering away. The strength of its body had been greatly reduced. When it saw Chen Feng, all it did was to growl a few times. It no longer had the strength to roar at him.
"What techniques do you have?" asked Chen Feng.
"Truth is, this technique is also recorded within the Longevity Scripture. However, due to your low cultivation base, you are incapable of using it. This technique is called Soul Shackle, also known as Soul Imprint. It is a soul technique. By placing your imprint down on the target"s mind, the target will obey you completely, incapable of escaping that fate for the rest of his or her life. With a thought, you get to decide the target"s life and death. How is that for a technique?" Tower said slowly.
"What a wicked technique!" Chen Feng could not stop himself from exclaiming.
"Humph! What do you know? These magic techniques are simply one of the techniques that cultivators use. Besides, I am not a cultivator. Once their cultivation base reaches a certain point, everyone will utilize techniques like these. This is simply a type of seal. How about it? Do you want to use it or not?" said Tower with an air of impatience.
"Use it! Why won"t I? Hurry, let me see it in action!" Chen Feng hastily said.
"All right."
After hearing that word from Tower, Chen Feng saw a beam of light splitting into two. One of them pierced its way into the Four-eared Spirit Monkey"s head while the other one pierced its way into his own head. A mysterious seal flashed out and Chen Feng could sense a new, unique feeling within his mind. Everything regarding the Four-eared Spirit Monkey was now within his divine sense"s control. With one action from his divine sense, Chen Feng could make its mind explode and its soul to perish.