To Chen Feng"s delight, during the next 10 days, the other Ascendant Immortals also emerged. All of them successfully overcame their tribulations to reach the mid-level Ascendant Immortal stage.
Senior Bi Qing aside, we now have 11 mid-level Ascendant Immortals. Even if a True Immortal comes over, we will be able to put up a fight against him. I don"t believe we cannot break open this tortoise"s sh.e.l.l. Chen Feng sneered inwardly.
Truth be told, Chen Feng had felt terribly helpless when facing the colossal stone tortoise earlier. He had already displayed all his abilities back then. Even so, he was incapable of doing anything to the stone tortoise. However, the situation was different now. With 12 Ascendant Immortals and the now-returned Longevity Tower on his side, Chen Feng was confident that this stone tortoise, the relic of a True Immortal, would end up in his hands.
Although the 11 Ascendant Immortals had cultivated a secret technique to stop the pulling power of the Immortal Plane, their action of standing there side by side had still caused the surrounding s.p.a.ce to turn blurry. It was a scene generated from power.
“Without question, it is something that a True Immortal left behind. I sense True laws from the stone tortoise. There should be world power inside the stone tortoise,” said Bi Qing, who was beside Chen Feng.
As Bi Qing used to be a Heavenly Immortal, he would likely not be mistaken. Thus, Chen Feng grew even more confident.
“Everyone, the stone tortoise before you all is likely the legacy left by a True Immortal. I believe everyone here should understand what this means. How valuable are the items left behind by a True Immortal? You all should already know that.” As expected, after Chen Feng said that, he saw fiery looks flas.h.i.+ng across their eyes.
Ascendant Immortals could ascend to the Immortal Plane, but above the Ascendant Immortal stage was the True Immortal stage. True Immortals would cultivate True laws to transcend the illusory while maintaining the actual. Additionally, they would also cultivate world power, a true world that would allow them to extend their life indefinitely.
In the Immortal Plane, a True Immortal could already be considered as a person of strength. No matter where they went, they would be able to obtain a good position.
For these Ascendant Immortals, even Immortal artifacts were likely no match for the value of something that a True Immortal had left behind. Immortal artifacts were, at the end of the day, items that were not actually part of their body. However, if they could acquire one True law and integrate it into themselves, that power would truly become part of their bodies. And by refining the True law, advancing to the True Immortal stage would become a very real possibility.
“Since this stone tortoise appeared in East Dragon Island"s territory, no matter what happens, we must take it down. Everyone, please help break this stone tortoise. We"ll check out what is inside it.” After Chen Feng said that, he saw that there were no objections. Thus, they quickly began discussing a plan of action.
Even after they had finished forming their plan, the stone tortoise remained the same, not responding to them at all. Although Chen Feng wanted to know what had happened to the four cultivators who entered the stone tortoise earlier, he also knew that he would not find anything, not even by pus.h.i.+ng the power of his eye technique to its limits.
“Everyone, let"s get started!” Chen Feng and Bi Qing then moved to float above the stone tortoise. They did not descend. Instead, Heavenly Premier Absolute and the others descended upon the back of the stone tortoise together. They had all landed on the positions pointed out by Bi Qing earlier, each occupying a different spot.
This was the result of the research that Bi Qing had conducted for the past few days. Back then, Bi Qing was a Heavenly Immortal, after all. This stone tortoise was nothing to him in the past. At that very moment, while his strength was insufficient, his ability to perceive remained intact. They would take the most appropriate action by relying on the amount of power they currently possessed.
After listening to Bi Qing"s a.n.a.lysis and understanding of the stone tortoise, Chen Feng grew more confident and the derisive smile inside him grew wider. He imagined how he would break open this disobedient stone tortoise and s.n.a.t.c.h whatever was inside. The destined ones can go suck it.
After descending to stand on the back of the stone tortoise, the Ascendant Immortals did not attack. Instead, they waited for the stone tortoise to respond. A thick, yellow-coloured light rose up to envelop them all. This earthen power was twice as powerful than before.
“The power doubled. Still, this is likely not its limit.” Chen Feng was still hovering up in the sky, his Magnetic acupoints operating slowly to continuously devour the earthen power there. Although the amount of power absorbed was little, it was still something of a serious affront to the stone tortoise.
“Truth be told, this situation is not as serious as everyone thinks. This is just something that a True Immortal left behind, not the True Immortal himself. How much power could it unleash? At best, it would only have some True laws and world power. For the Ascendant Immortals, just refining one True law will be their limit. As for world power, they can forget about it. Naturally, you can devour powers that are even more unique and make it your own,” Bi Qing said with a smile.
“Not every cultivator in the Longevity Clan can cultivate the Heavengulping Absorption Technique.” Chen Feng smiled as well.
“Of course, I am aware of that as well. It is said that even the most talented members of the Longevity Clan can forget about looking at the complete Longevity Scripture, but you are different. You possess the Longevity Tower. I believe that not even the most hidden secrets of the Longevity Clan are off limits to you.”
“Be that as it may, I still have to wait for the Longevity Tower to recover its full power. However, this process is very difficult.” Chen Feng shook his head.
“No need for it to recover its full power. Even one tenth of its power will allow you to control the entire Celestial Longevity Plane. Then, I will be just a minor character to you.”
“It"s not that simple. If I want to return to the Celestial Longevity Plane, I will likely need senior"s help.”
“Even if I manage to recover to my previous level, I will be just a Heavenly Immortal. In the Immortal Plane, it is indeed not bad. However, you know as well as I do that a Heavenly Immortal is actually nothing much in our Celestial Planes.”
“The path of cultivation is a long one. Senior, there is no need to worry. The day will come when you cultivate out the grand ageless dao.”
“Difficult. Difficult. Difficult.” Bi Qing mumbled the word “difficult” three times before going silent.
At that very moment, a rune was flas.h.i.+ng from the bodies of all the 11 Ascendant Immortals standing on the stone tortoise, causing energy streams to intertwine. No matter how the stone tortoise exerted its power to a.s.sail them, they were able to stand steadily. This was a secret technique that Bi Qing had come up with.
The power coming out from the stone tortoise grew stronger. As a result, the yellow waves of energy – besides completely enveloping the Ascendant Immortals – spread 10,000 zhang into the sky. From afar, it looked like a gigantic colossal sphere.
The 11 Ascendant Immortals continued to endure it. However, it was clear that they were already beginning to struggle. At any rate, they had only just succeeded in overcoming their tribulations. They had yet to fully familiarize themselves with the mid-level Ascendant Immortal stage. Even their strength had yet to reach that level. The fact that they could last this long was partly due to the magic array that Bi Qing had taught them.
“What a formidable power of earth. Does this stone tortoise only have earthen laws inside it?” Patriarch Heavenly Sword was the first to speak up, a smile on his face.
“As long as it is a True law, that"s good enough.”
“Still, it would be for the best if it is a power of law that matches our power type.”
“As if there is such a good deal. For me, it"s simple. Getting something is for the best, but even if I don"t get anything, I will not feel disappointed. I am already very satisfied with breaking through within such a short time.”
Chen Feng observed the increasingly formidable power of earth and said smilingly, “It"s time I add in some more fire.”
After that, the Longevity Tower in Chen Feng"s hand exerted a suction force. This suction force was due to the Heavengulping Absorption Technique. The moment it was used, it displayed what seemed like a true Heaven-gulping might and the power of earth beneath instantly converged into a thick pillar of light, which soared into the Longevity Tower.
Weng!
As expected, the Longevity Tower"s action triggered a strong backlash from the stone tortoise. An even stronger power of earth surged out and the power of laws began emanating out. Due to that, the 11 Ascendant Immortals felt as though they were caught within a tsunami, one that could rip them apart at any moment.
“What a formidable power of laws! It really does contain True laws!” Heavenly Premier Absolute grew somewhat excited.
“Nonsense, all of us sensed that, but I won"t be able to hold on for much longer. When will Chen Feng and Bi Qing take action?” Heavenly Premier Boltfiend said.
“Chen Feng has already taken action. He is still testing this stone tortoise"s limits. I believe it will not take long.”
“This is something a True Immortal left behind. Do you fellows think we"ll be able to succeed? Bi Qing is only an Ascendant Immortal while Chen Feng is even lower, an Earthen Immortal.”
“Shut it! Don"t forget, you were only able to break through thanks to Chen Feng"s help. Besides, if it truly came down to a fight, you may not be a match for Chen Feng.”
“Hey, I was just throwing it out casually. I am not one to do shoddy work.”
“The power of earth absorbed here is already enough for an Ascendant Immortal to cultivate for one whole year.” Holding the Longevity Tower, Chen Feng smiled. He was very satisfied with the purity of the power of earth absorbed earlier.
As Chen Feng was smiling, however, a giant, earthen-yellow hand emerged from within the stone tortoise and it grasped at the Longevity Tower in Chen Feng"s hand. As a result, Chen Feng felt his whole body becoming compressed; it felt as though he would be incapable of moving at all.
Shua!
A cyan-coloured sword beam flashed forward to heavily strike the giant earthen-yellow hand. In the face of the attack, the earthen-yellow hand was not slashed apart. Instead, it continued to rapidly charge towards the Longevity Tower.
“You want to s.n.a.t.c.h my Longevity Tower? You"re going to the wrong place.” Chen Feng scoffed and the spire of the Longevity Tower fired out a thread-like beam of light. Also earthen-yellow in colour, this beam pierced the earthen-yellow hand.
Bi Qing attacked again. Once again, he unleashed a cyan-coloured sword beam. This time, though, the sword beam was different. It vibrated rapidly and its slicing power rose tenfold to finally hack apart the earthen-yellow hand.
However, unlike the norm, the earthen-yellow hand did not dissipate away. Instead, it rapidly shrank, becoming a notch smaller and stronger. Then, it promptly shot forward to finally grab the Longevity Tower.
“This is the power of True laws,” Chen Feng said smilingly.
Sou! Sou! Sou!
Bi Qing said nothing. Instead, he swung to fire out 10,000 chilling motes of light, which fell upon the earthen-yellow hand. On the other side, Chen Feng mobilized the Longevity Tower to counter attack as well.
The Longevity Tower shook slightly. There was not much power behind this move, but the earthen-yellow hand loosened in response. It was as though a wondrous power was unravelling it from within.
The Longevity Tower and Bi Qing attacked it at the same time. Due to that, the earthen-yellow hand broke into pieces, all of which were absorbed into the Longevity Tower.
“Almost.” Chen Feng held the Longevity Tower in his hand as he observed the increasingly formidable sphere of earthen power below.
“Do it now!” Bi Qing directly took action. His figure darted down like a sharp, cyan-coloured sword, cleaving open the earthen power to land heavily upon the back of the stone tortoise.
“Do it now!” The other Ascendant Immortals shouted and they all displayed their strongest might. Add Bi Qing to the equation, they now had 12 mid-level Ascendant Immortals there. And so, 12 streams of power flowed according to a special route to finally converge as one, finally condensing into a dot. This dot then stabbed the body of the stone tortoise.
1 li = 0.5 km
1 zhang = 3.333 m