After spending some time researching the runes, however, Chen Feng grew disappointed. Although he was able to understand most of the runes there, he was unable to obtain any substantial result, let alone figure out the origins of this Divine artifact.
Despite the growing disappointment in his heart, Chen Feng did not stop. He continued to slowly circle around the ruined palace, committing all the runes on the palace into memory. In Chen Feng"s opinion, no matter how ruined this palace may be, it was still a Divine artifact in the end. The items on it must surely be of some value.
“Kid, scram!” As Chen Feng was making his way around the back area of the palace, one of the unique creatures that was lying on the ground there sent a wave of divine sense towards Chen Feng. This was not merely an act of sending a message, but also a sneaky soul attack.
The attack successfully entered Chen Feng"s sea of wisdom, but Chen Feng only shook his head, unscathed by the attack. Next, he swiftly rushed forward to fire out a punch, which knocked the unique creature off its feet. He followed it up by rapidly grabbing the unique creature"s giant horn before abruptly hurling it away.
The unique creature"s figure hurtled through a distance of over 500 kilometres before smas.h.i.+ng heavily against the ground, creating a giant crater in its wake.
The unique creature was a peak-level Earthen Immortal. And yet, Chen Feng had so easily tossed it aside, like a giant man bullying a little child.
Seeing that, all the cultivators present grew startled and they cast shocked looks at Chen Feng. Some had a thoughtful look on their faces and there was no way to tell just what was on their minds.
There was, however, an upside. No one came to trouble Chen Feng anymore. Even the unique creature that Chen Feng had sent flying – after it returned – did not trouble him. Instead, it simply lay on the ground, a faint look of fear in its eyes.
Is no one going in? Chen Feng felt puzzled. Thus, he wanted to find someone and inquire the situation.
Before he could do so, something happened and Chen Feng came to understand why all those cultivators were staying outside.
A cultivator, having just arrived, tactlessly chose to enter the palace. He had only just taken one step into the palace when a thin layer of light barrier shone out from the gaps on the palace. The light barrier instantly enveloped him and the cultivator – a high-level Earthen Immortal – was instantly incinerated to ash. Even his soul had been incapable of escaping.
Witnessing that, Chen Feng took in a sharp breath. At the same time, he came to understand that he had been mistaken. This Divine artifact was not utterly destroyed, after all. As such, even though it only possessed a strand of its energy remaining, killing Earthen Immortals was an easy task for it.
If it weren"t for the fact that Chen Feng had noticed the many cultivators not entering the palace, he would have wanted to try and enter as well. Still, judging from their actions, it would appear that some other cultivators must have suffered from the same fate earlier.
Tsk, tsk. Yes, back then, the Longevity Tower had refined the powers of intact Divine artifacts. Would it be interested in this terribly broken Divine artifact? No wonder Tower is ignoring me. Still, I must obtain the Divine Longevity Fountain!
That said, entering was now an issue. Chen Feng brought out some hard items to test it out. However, without exception, the light barrier coming from the gaps would reduce them all to nothingness. Even ores that were comparable to Ascendant Immortals in toughness were not exempt from meeting the same fate.
Looks like entering it will be somewhat difficult.
As time pa.s.sed, even more cultivators were lured over. This ruined palace was continuously emanating waves of majestic power, after all. Even cultivators who were billions of li away would be able to notice this power. Chen Feng believed that, with enough time, all the cultivators on this floor would be lured over.
Finally, Chen Feng decided to give it a test. With a wave of his hand, the Heaven Piercing Lance appeared in his grasp. A sharp aura that could seemingly pierce Heaven radiated from it. Next, without acc.u.mulating too much momentum, Chen Feng unleashed a stab at the palace.
Puchi!
Unexpectedly, the lance managed to pierce the wall of the palace. That said, it failed to pierce right through it.
As expected, this Divine artifact has eroded away. After that, Chen Feng channelled wave after wave of power into the Heaven Piercing Lance as he attempted to pierce all the way through the wall. The very next instant, however, Chen Feng"s face grew tense. Realizing that the situation did not bode well for him, he rapidly backed away. Even so, a wave of power had still managed to travel through the Heaven Piercing Lance to reach him.
With both his hands holding onto the Heaven Piercing Lance, Chen Feng backed away, moving back through a distance of over 50 kilometres before stopping, leaving a deep gully on the ground throughout the way.
Due to what happened, Chen Feng"s face turned flushed. Taking a deep breath, his complexion returned to normal, but a fine crack had appeared on the Heaven Piercing Lance.
A pity. This is all the power it has left. While it may have no problems killing off Ascendant Immortals, it can no longer match the majestic might that Divine artifacts possess. Chen Feng sighed.
When the other cultivators saw Chen Feng taking action earlier, they had been gloating somewhat. But when they saw the result, every single one of them gaped with widened eyes. They began wondering how strong Chen Feng was and what his background may be.
After making his way back, Chen Feng then used the Heaven Piercing Lance to casually point at one of the cultivators there. He asked, “Where did you come from and how much do you know about this s.p.a.ce?”
“Kid, who do you think you are?” The cultivator grew furious. He was a peak-level Earthen Immortal. And yet, a starter-level Earthen Immortal was now provoking him. No matter how powerful this other party may be, this was unacceptable.
“Is your reputation more important than your life?” Chen Feng then asked coolly.
“What?”
Sou!
With a stab, Chen Feng"s lance pierced through the cultivator"s chest. Then, with a swing, the cultivator"s body split apart.
“Do you understand now?”
Strands of blood essence flowed into Chen Feng"s body, making their way into the Blood Mustering Bead. The blood essence of a peak-level Earthen Immortal was still somewhat useful for the bead.
“Where did you come from and how much do you know about this situation?” Chen Feng then turned to point with the lance at someone else. Once again, it was a peak-level Earthen Immortal.
Sensing the killing intent brewing within the Heaven Piercing Lance, the cultivator"s heart lurched and dread washed over his entire body, giving him a feeling of utter coldness. This feeling was something that he had not felt in a long time.
“I came from Broad World. I have been here for a full thousand years now. I have been spending all my time on cultivation and I do not know the exact details of this place. Going out is not possible….” Who knows if it was because he was terrified by Chen Feng"s actions or because he was such a person to begin with, but this cultivator actually continued to talk for two hours.
“This palace in front of us. You should know its origins, right?” after a.s.sessing the cultivator for a moment, Chen Feng continued asking.
“I do not know. This must be a magic treasure. Only, it doesn"t seem like an Immortal artifact. It might be a magic treasure from another world.”
Chen Feng nodded. It would appear that this fellow was not aware that he was inside an Immortal-tier tower. He also didn"t know that this ruined palace was a Divine artifact.
“Divine artifacts. What do you know about them?” Finally, Chen Feng decided to ask one more question.
As expected…
“Divine artifacts? I do not know about them. Are they magic treasures forged using the divine sense?” There was a puzzled look on the cultivator"s face as he asked instead.
Although Chen Feng did not get the specific answers that he had wanted, this cultivator was someone who had been here for 1,000 years, after all. He knew much about this s.p.a.ce. Thus, Chen Feng was able to gain quite a bit from interrogating him.
“You said you found a spatial portal some time ago. If so, why didn"t you leave through the portal?” Chen Feng then asked.
“The aura coming out from the portal is too terrifying. I have a feeling. If I enter, I will most likely end up dying. Rather than entering the portal, I might as well work on my cultivation here. At any rate, this s.p.a.ce has many good items. See? This thing before us is one such example.”
Chen Feng then nodded. The cultivator, on the other hand, looked at Chen Feng and asked gingerly, “Are you really a starter-level Earthen Immortal?”
“Why do you ask?” Chen Feng chuckled.
“I have never seen such a powerful starter-level Earthen Immortal.”
Next up, Chen Feng then went to question several more of the cultivators there. There were some who felt unsatisfied. However, due to the shock they felt at Chen Feng"s earlier actions, they complied. Naturally, if there were any who were upset at his actions, Chen Feng did not mind teaching that person a lesson.
Eventually, the number of cultivators there rose up to 50. All of them were Earthen Immortals. With the exception of Chen Feng, the weakest amongst the rest was a mid-level Earthen Immortal. A few of them were also from Eternal World. After understanding the situation, they cast genial smiles at Chen Feng. As for those who came even later, they did not know how powerful Chen Feng was. Thus, they did not bother coming over to talk to him.
“I suggest we join forces to attack. Break open this palace and check out what is inside it,” someone said.
“Tch!” Someone promptly snickered at the suggestion.
“Join forces to attack? Easier said than done. This palace is too strange. It could easily kill any of us. A few had already died before this. If we join forces and attack and something unexpected happens, what then?”
“If so, what do you think we should do? Are we supposed to just keep waiting here?”
“I suggest having some people act as vanguards and enter first.” The one who spoke up was a peak-level Earthen Immortal. As he spoke, his gaze darted towards several cultivators with relatively weaker cultivation levels. Naturally, that did not include Chen Feng.
He was one of those who had been here from the start. For those cultivators, Chen Feng was practically a G.o.d of Carnage.
“Humph, you sure are ruthless! However, it is actually quite a good idea. I agree.”
“Ha ha ha! I agree as well! The few mid-level Earthen Immortals here, step out. Go lead the way. If there is anything good, we"ll be sure to share it with you.”
There was a total of five mid-level Earthen Immortals there. The fact that they could make it here proved that they possessed impressive combat powers. Even so, in the face of the pressure wrought by all the cultivators there, their combat power was simply not up to par. Due to that, their faces turned pale.
“Fellows, aren"t you going overboard here? If you really want someone to lead the way, isn"t there a starter-level Earthen Immortal here?” one of them said forcefully. He was someone who had only just arrived recently. Thus, he did not know how powerful Chen Feng was.
Hearing those words, a peculiar smile appeared on everyone"s faces. They thought to themselves, He"s a dead man.
Dead indeed. With an impa.s.sive face, Chen Feng attacked. A Great Longevity Palm shot out to grab the one who spoke up earlier.
Seeing the attack, the mid-level Earthen Immortal had initially revealed a look of ridicule. But when the Great Longevity Palm successfully captured him, he knew that he had kicked the iron plate. He begged and begged for mercy, but Chen Feng ignored his cries for mercy. Instead, he simply hurled the mid-level Earthen Immortal towards one of the gaps on the palace.
The cultivator met a terrible end, his whole figure reduced to ash. As for the four remaining mid-level Earthen Immortals, their faces turned even uglier to behold. The way they looked at Chen Feng resembled the way one looked at ghosts.
“What do you guys think?” Chen Feng asked.
“The rate at which he died has slowed down. It means that the palace"s power is draining away,” one of the cultivators said solemnly.