“For them to still be in contact with the Immortal Plane is normal. Senior, did you discover anything else?” Chen Feng nodded before asking again.
“No. Maybe Bi Qing did discover something. However, he went to outer s.p.a.ce not long after returning. Like you, Bi Qing is very mysterious. I don"t even know his origins.”
“By the way, for you to be asking all that, did you discover something?”
“I just came back from the Northern Plains. If I am not mistaken, Heavenly Firmaments Palace might have a True Immortal on its side,” Chen Feng said calmly.
“What? A True Immortal?” Heavenly Premier Absolute abruptly got to his feet.
“Is that true? If Heavenly Firmaments Palace really has a True Immortal, unifying the entire Eternal World will be an actual possibility for it.”
“It should be true.” Chen Feng then recounted what he saw and heard back then. There was nothing for him to hide.
“Looks like it has to be true, then. Wait a moment. I will call the others,” Heavenly Premier Absolute said, bringing out three small swords. The small swords pierced through s.p.a.ce to disappear from sight in the blink of an eye.
In less than one joss stick"s worth of time, one by one, the Heavenly Premiers Eternal, Four Cardinals and Heavensight arrived.
“Absolute, why summon us in such an anxious manner? What happened?” Even before Heavenly Premier Four Cardinals appeared, his laughter could already be heard.
“Eh?” After looking at Heavenly Premier Absolute, Heavenly Premier Eternal let out a cry of shock.
“Absolute, your cultivation base! You"ve advanced to the next level? No, you are still a starter-level Ascendant Immortal.” Heavenly Premier Four Cardinals eyes were wide open as he stared in disbelief at Heavenly Premier Absolute.
“I managed to comprehend something recently,” Heavenly Premier Absolute said proudly.
“Now, you are the strongest amongst us four,” Heavenly Premier Eternal said with a sigh.
“This is all thanks to Island Lord Chen, otherwise I would not have been able to cultivate so quickly.” Finally, Heavenly Premier Absolute could not stop himself from laughing.
In the past, their cultivation bases were more or less the same, with Heavenly Premier Eternal as the strongest. However, some time ago, Heavenly Premier Absolute had gained some insights inside the Longevity Tower. Due to that, his cultivation base rose by leaps and bounds, surpa.s.sing the other three Heavenly Premiers. Thus, it was only normal for him to feel proud about it.
Hearing that, the three Heavenly Premiers cast curious gazes at Chen Feng. The more they regarded Chen Feng, the more amazed they became. The first time they encountered Chen Feng, he was only a minor Human Immortal. But even then, he could already partic.i.p.ate in a fight between Ascendant Immortals. And yet, even though it hadn"t been too long since then, Chen Feng had already cultivated up to the Earthen Immortal stage. Additionally, the three of them were incapable of seeing through Chen Feng"s cultivation state.
“Absolute, just tell us what this is about. I"ll have you know I was in the midst of a cultivation retreat, only to have you call us up.” Heavenly Premier Four Cardinals had a better relations.h.i.+p with Heavenly Premier Absolute. Thus, he spoke in a more casual and unscrupulous manner.
“Humph! To think that you can still have a cultivation retreat at a time like this. You"ll suffer once someone comes charging up your doorstep,” Heavenly Premier Absolute retorted.
“Just what is it? Hurry up and spit it out! Don"t leave us hanging.”
“Let me tell them.” Chen Feng then repeated what he said earlier to them.
“True Immortal!”
As expected, the three Heavenly Premiers then exchanged glances, a worried look on each of their faces. A True Immortal was not something that they could handle.
“In Eternal World, just reaching the Ascendant Immortal stage would cause a cultivator to be pulled to the Immortal Plane. How could a True Immortal exist here?” Heavenly Premier Heavensight raised her doubt on the issue.
“You fellows are all at the Ascendant Immortal stage as well. And yet, you have yet to ascend,” Chen Feng replied smilingly.
“Not necessarily. If we advance by another level, we will definitely be incapable of stopping the pulling power. The higher one"s cultivation level, the harder it becomes to stop the might of the Heavenly dao.”
“That"s not always the case. After reaching a certain cultivation level, a cultivator can even break the Heavenly dao. They can even lay waste to an entire star region, let alone a lesser cultivation world.” Chen Feng shook his head.
“I still do not believe that a True Immortal could stay here,” Heavenly Premier Heavensight insisted.
“Enough. There is no need for us to argue here. Whether or not it is real, we can just go to the Northern Plains and check it out. I have been thinking. If that True Immortal could display his full power, my divine sense would have been incapable of returning. Rather, even my real body would have been damaged,” Chen Feng said.
“Yes, let"s go take a look,” Heavenly Premier Eternal nodded.
The four Ascendant Immortals and Chen Feng were quick to set out for the Northern Plains. The actions of Ascendant Immortals could no longer be described as just earth shaking. A distance of millions of li was simply nothing in their eyes and it did not take long before they arrived where Chen Feng had encountered the blurry figure.
“It"s right below us.”
“Let me check it out.” Heavenly Premier Four Cardinals" divine sense surged to enter the ground. Quickly, however, his face took on a peculiar expression and he retracted his divine sense.
“How is it?”
“There are indeed some restrictive arrays below. My divine sense is incapable of getting past the arrays.” Heavenly Premier Four Cardinals lamented somewhat. Back then, Chen Feng had managed to make his way past the arrays.
“Come. The four of us will join forces and give it a try.”
The four Ascendant Immortals had teamed up to go on adventures for a long time now. Thus, they had long since developed the ability to tacitly work together. Four streams of power converged to quickly break through layer after layer of restrictive arrays.
“Nothing. There is nothing at all.” In the end, all four retracted their divine senses.
“How could that be? Let me have a look.” Chen Feng linked up to the Longevity Tower and his divine sense became like a needle once more to descend deep into the ground.
“Absolute, you believe his words?” Heavenly Premier Four Cardinals asked.
“Of course.” Heavenly Premier Absolute replied.
“Chen Feng"s words are likely true. He has no reason to lie to us. Besides, we have seen the restrictive arrays here. They are truly formidable, very much so. Even if it"s not a True Immortal, that person is at least a mid-level or high-level Ascendant Immortal,” Heavenly Premier Eternal said.
“Truth is, we should have joined forces to attack Heavenly Firmaments Palace right from the start. But now, it has become very strong.”
“You can"t say that. The entire world of cultivation is in a state of chaos. We cannot be reckless.”
“We ended up giving Heavenly Firmaments Palace time to develop. As it is, even if our four academies join forces, we will still be no match for Heavenly Firmaments Palace. At any rate, not all the students in our academies are under us. There are those who came from other sects as well.”
“We"ll have to observe how things develop. No matter how powerful Heavenly Firmaments Palace may be, annexing the entire Central Plains is still not possible for them.”
As they were discussing the issue, Chen Feng"s divine sense re-appeared before them, a somewhat odd look on his face.
“It is indeed gone. The other fellow has moved away. The fact that this fellow is unwilling to expose himself proves there is an issue here.” Chen Feng pondered.
“Someone is coming. It"s Heavenly Premier Ninelink,” Heavenly Premier Absolute said.
“It"d be weird if they don"t appear.” Chen Feng sneered.
The Heavenly Premiers Ninelink, Purple Glory and Transcendent Wind flew forward to appear before them. Seeing them, shock glinted across the eyes of Heavenly Premier Absolute and the others.
“Their strength has risen greatly,” Chen Feng whispered.
“Fellows, why did you come to our Heavenly Firmaments Palace?” Heavenly Premier Ninelink said.
“Hah! This is clearly the Northern Plains. Since when did it become Heavenly Firmaments Palace"s territory?” Chen Feng said with a ridiculing tone.
“Island Lord Chen, we should find some time to have a proper discussion,” Heavenly Premier Ninelink suddenly said with a smile.
“Oh, what do you mean?” Chen Feng was somewhat surprised to hear those words.
“Turn hostility into friends.h.i.+p. Our Heavenly Firmaments Palace does not want to be an enemy of a genius like Island Lord Chen,” Heavenly Premier Ninelink said.
“Ninelink, why do I get the feeling that there is something wrong with you fellows? Did your heads go haywire as a result of cultivation deviation?” Heavenly Premier Absolute could not hold himself back.
“Absolute, I congratulate you on the leap in your cultivation base, but you are still incapable of fighting against our Heavenly Firmaments Palace. Eternal, Heavensight, Four Cardinals. I advise you fellows to submit to Heavenly Firmaments Palace. That way, you fellows will have a way out in the future,” Heavenly Premier Transcendent Wind said, giving off the atmosphere of an exalted figure.
It was no wonder the three of them would act in such a manner. At that very moment, all three were already infinitely close to the mid-level Ascendant Immortal stage, similar to Heavenly Premier Absolute. Their cultivation bases had surpa.s.sed that of Heavenly Premier Eternal and the rest.
“You want us to submit to you? Looks like you fellows have really gone mad.” Heavenly Premier Four Cardinals didn"t know whether to laugh or to cry at that.
“In the past, your Four Great Academies were hailed as Holylands. However, the might of the present Heavenly Firmaments Palace is something that you fellows cannot even imagine. It has long since surpa.s.sed you fellows. The only reason we have yet to take action against you fellows is because we do not want to kill too many people. If there are people who do not understand what is good for them, however, our Heavenly Firmaments Palace does not mind taking action. Because we will be unifying the entire Eternal World,” said Heavenly Premier Ninelink, a look of indifference on his face. It was as though everything was in the palm of his hand.
“Your Heavenly Firmaments Palace has indeed been growing at a rapid rate recently. Even so, unifying the entire Eternal World? You fellows are still far from reaching that mark,” Heavenly Premier Eternal said coolly.
“I"ll say it again, you fellows simply do not understand the true strength of our Heavenly Firmaments Palace. I"ll be honest with you fellows. Our Heavenly Firmaments Palace has obtained the decree of the Immortal Plane to unify Eternal World. No one may stop us. This is something that cannot be stopped,” Heavenly Premier Purple Glory said, giving off an aura of grandness.
“All right. Let"s not talk about that now. I have a question for fellow seniors here.” Chen Feng had been staying quiet earlier. His actions of suddenly speaking up caused the place to fall quiet.
“Ha ha ha! I dare not boast being a senior here. Island Lord Chen, please ask ahead.” Heavenly Premier Ninelink responded in a somewhat polite manner towards Chen Feng.
“The Demon Emperor that was staying here. Where has that fellow gone to?” Chen Feng pointed at the ground and asked, a smile on his face.
“Island Lord Chen, what do you mean by that? We don"t understand.” Heavenly Premier Ninelink said calmly. However, the trace of fluctuation deep within his eyes failed to escape Chen Feng"s notice.
“Since you fellows are unwilling to talk, then we"ll just bid you farewell here.” Chen Feng did not pursue the matter. He knew that he will not be getting any answers from them.
“You fellows came barging into our Heavenly Firmaments Palace for no reason and now you fellows want to leave just like this? Aren"t you looking down on our Heavenly Firmaments Palace here?”
“Of course, if Island Lord Chen wants to leave, we won"t stop you.” Heavenly Premier Ninelink"s face abruptly turned icy.
“Heh! What is this? Are you thinking of attacking? However, the three of you are probably not strong enough.” Heavenly Premier Absolute scoffed.
“The three of us may not be enough, but what if there are a few more?”
After Heavenly Premier Ninelink said that, the surrounding s.p.a.ce was ripped apart, like torn clothes. Next, three cultivators strode out.
The three cultivators who had appeared before them all were like ghosts. Not a hint of aura emanated out from them. Their eyes appeared calm. And yet, they contained lightning-like killing intent. A detailed look would give the impression that the three cultivators were like volcanoes that were gathering power, ready to erupt with formidable attacks at any moment.
1 li = 0.5 km