After having seen all the items stored within the fifth floor, Chen Feng grew expectant towards the next few floors. Naturally, Chen Feng had also inquired Tower about them in the past. Only, Tower would always respond ambiguously, not giving him any straight answers. Due to that, Chen Feng ended up swearing to himself after that.
Feeling more confident about this, Chen Feng secretly made some preparations before he too, began studying the profundity of the small mountain. Instantly, Chen Feng"s mind was sucked in. Focused on his cultivation efforts, Chen Feng then forgot all about time. That said, his cultivation base was also continuously growing.
Eventually, he was no longer capable of pulling his soul back, let alone pay attention to what was happening outside. If it weren"t for the support of the Longevity Tower"s power, the small mountain would have completely sucked his soul in.
“What happened?” After recovering, Chen Feng"s whole body broke into a cold sweat. Turning to look at the others, he saw that a few of them had already fallen limply to the ground, bereft of strength. Even True Immortal Thundercloud had a dazed look on his face.
Chen Feng rapidly took action. The power of wind and lightning transformed into streams of light to swiftly enter their bodies. Next, the streams of light flashed and their souls returned. Thanks to that, they were able to recover. Like Chen Feng, all of them broke into a cold sweat, looks of utter horror on their faces.
“What"s going on here? This pseudo-Divine artifact can actually absorb our souls?”
“If this pseudo-Divine artifact goes all out, given our level of strength, there is no way we would be able to break free. There must be something else going on here.”
“Reveal yourself!”
True Immortal Thundercloud suddenly stretched his hand and grasped the air. Next, energy streams flowed like water to converge upon his palm. Then, he unleashed a sudden punch, which quaked their surroundings. A clump of light flashed in mid-air before instantly arriving before Chen Feng. Chen Feng"s eyes narrowed and he saw a spiralling energy blast shooting towards his glabella.
Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!
The spiralling energy blast pierced through the s.h.i.+eld that the Longevity Tower had created. As for Chen Feng, he had wanted to fight back only to sense that the surrounding power of laws had changed. His movements became sluggish and he was simply not fast enough to react.
Bang!
A beam of lightning radiance streaked through the air to collide against the spiralling energy blast, causing both to shatter apart. The Longevity Tower"s power then surged through Chen Feng"s whole body. With a quiver, Chen Feng instantly recovered. Swinging his hand, he swiftly slashed down with the Upright Heaven Sword.
Sword light flashed to draw out a wondrous pattern, which attempted to capture the clump of light. With a swaying motion, the clump of light disappeared into the void once more.
“Are you still not going to come out?!”
True Immortal Thundercloud attacked. Lightning radiance flashed and clouds swirled about. There were also the grand dao of lightning and clouds mixed within them, making it almost impossible to defend against. As expected, this move succeeded in forcing out the clump of light that was hiding in the dark.
The clump of light wriggled rapidly to a.s.sume the appearance of a pale-looking middle-aged man with his hair combed up high. Barehanded, he was clad entirely in yellow-white armour and his eyes shone brightly. After appearing, he took a deep breath. Next, waves of energy – with runes flas.h.i.+ng within them – emanated out from his body to roil about. The incomparably violent aura a.s.sailed all the surrounding cultivators, forcing them to give ground.
Sou!
After appearing, the middle-aged cultivator used his formidable aura to disperse the surrounding half-step True Immortals before darting forward, arriving before True Immortal Thundercloud. At the same time, a ma.s.sive hand emerged from his body to swipe at True Immortal Thundercloud.
“Courting death!”
True Immortal Thundercloud"s figure seemingly shook a few times and lightning radiance abruptly flared out. Following that, clouds flew forward from their surroundings to converge upon True Immortal Thundercloud.
Lightning bolts, clouds, palm silhouettes, energy streams, silky threads, streams of colour and various other wondrous-looking spectacles appeared. Although seemingly small in scale, their changes were unpredictable. Chen Feng and the others found themselves bedazzled by the fight. With the exception of Bi Qing, the rest were all left confused, incapable of determining the development of the battle. A True Immortal was far stronger than a half-step True Immortal. They were simply on different levels.
Bi Qing, though, was different from them. In his previous life, he was a Heavenly Immortal. Even though his strength was no longer at that level, his ability to discern was still intact.
“What are you fellows s.p.a.cing out for? This fellow is True Immortal Illusion, from Lightstream World! He has already formed a minor connection with this pseudo-Divine artifact, so I am no match for him. If I lose, there will be no hope for you younglings!” True Immortal Thundercloud"s voice suddenly rang out beside the ears of Chen Feng and the rest.
“Tower, is he telling the truth?” Chen Feng was quick to ask.
“It"s true. This Illusion guy could already make use of a strand of the pseudo-Divine artifact"s power. Thundercloud is simply no match for him,” Tower was quick to reply.
“Chen Feng, let"s work together to help Thundercloud.” Bi Qing also sent over a secret vocal transmission.
“Fellows, attack!” The others also swiftly came to an agreement. Only, just as they were about to attack, True Immortal Thundercloud sent them another secret vocal transmission.
“Go wipe out the soul imprint that Illusion left inside this pseudo-Divine artifact. I will handle this.”
“Yes, that is the best way!” The eyes of Chen Feng and the others lit up. They knew that this was the best approach.
“Let"s go!”
“Let"s wipe out his soul imprint first!”
Premier Heavenswheel and the others were fast and every single one of them transformed into streams of light to charge into the pseudo-Divine artifact. When there was a certain distance left between them and the pseudo-Divine artifact, they projected their divine senses out, sending them into the small mountain. Chen Feng and Bi Qing exchanged glances before utilizing a secret soul projection technique respectively. Their divine senses condensed and moved forward. The moment they approached the small mountain, a suction force then pulled them inside.
This is a good opportunity! Chen Feng secretly chuckled. Upon entering the small mountain, his soul power immediately a.s.sumed human form. A mote of flaming light then floated out from his glabella and waves of light spread outwards. It was like a candlelight illuminating the darkness of the night.
Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!
The cultivators rapidly gathered up. After a brief discussion, they began exploring the place. It did not take long before they found the soul imprint that True Immortal Illusion left inside the small mountain.
Seeing the cultivators enter, True Immortal Illusion laughed. “Some minor half-step True Immortals dare to come commit suicide? How amusing!”
True Immortal Illusion roared skywards and a soundwave swept towards Chen Feng and the rest. As a result, they became like a small boat within a rocky ocean, one that would be capsized at any moment.
Sou!
True Immortal Illusion strode forward and unleashed a punch, blowing up two cultivators. Due to that, the two cultivators" real bodies that were outside the small mountain released wretched cries as they began bleeding from their seven orifices. Their faces contorted to the extreme.
Inside the small mountain, True Immortal Illusion opened his mouth to suck in the dispersing streams of soul power. After that, his body became a notch more condensed.
Bang! Bang!
True Immortal Illusion advanced, seemingly mowing down withered twigs uncontested. The half-step True Immortals were simply incapable of stopping his unending a.s.sault in the slightest.
Bang!
Bi Qing swiftly rushed forward to block True Immortal Illusion"s punch, stopping his advance. Even so, Bi Qing was forced to retreat. He was no match for True Immortal Illusion.
“Eh?” True Immortal Illusion was taken aback. Next, light flashed out from his eyes to sweep across Bi Qing, a highly puzzled look on his face. A look of surprise then appeared on his face before he quickly burst into laughter.
“So, you"re a reincarnated person. Good! I"m really lucky today. For me, your soul is truly a great supplement. Not even the souls of all these fellows combined could be compared with your soul,” True Immortal Illusion said, charging straight towards Bi Qing.
If it"s a fight with their real bodies, it might be possible for a high number of half-step True Immortals to give a True Immortal a hard time. However, when it comes to this battle of soul power, a True Immortal would have no issues fighting even 100 half-step True Immortals. Chen Feng stayed at the peripheral area of the battle. Thus, he was not particularly affected by the shockwaves. Perhaps, it was because the other party did not think highly of him. Or perhaps, he wanted to deal with Chen Feng last.
Facing True Immortal Illusion"s attacks, Bi Qing had to constantly retreat. Huo Yunlong quickly rushed forward to a.s.sist. At the same time, several others encircled True Immortal Illusion.
As for Chen Feng, his actions were somewhat unexpected. Perhaps it was because the others simply did not pay too much attention to Chen Feng but invisible waves of energy fluctuations spread out from Chen Feng"s body to silently disappear into his surroundings. Meanwhile, his hands were rapidly waving about to draw certain patterns. It was none other than the Soul Subduing Mantra.
Bang!
Another cultivator was sent flying. This one was a star wanderer and his body was broken apart, only to rapidly reform itself in mid-air. Coincidentally, he appeared before Chen Feng.
“Humph! You sure know how to slack off. Are you trying to take advantage of the situation?” the cultivator berated Chen Feng.
“Yes, I want to take advantage of the situation,” Chen Feng said, the Soul Subduing Talisman in his hand abruptly flying out to paralyze the cultivator. As a result, the cultivator became like a sculpture, frozen in place.
Bang!
Chen Feng then stepped forward to punch the cultivator"s body apart before opening his mouth to inhale, completely devouring the cultivator"s soul power.
But that was not all. Chen Feng then reached out with his hand and pulled, causing the cultivator"s real body outside the small mountain to abruptly fall to the ground. The remaining portion of his soul that was inside his real body was pulled into the small mountain as well, where it was devoured by Chen Feng.
And so, the half-step True Immortal"s sea of wisdom became utterly dried up, leaving a fleshly body without a soul. He was already dead. This action from Chen Feng astounded the two sides that were engaged in battle. That was particularly true of True Immortal Illusion, who revealed a look of disbelief.
Sou!
Chen Feng made use of that brief moment to send another Soul Subduing Talisman forward. Landing on True Immortal Illusion"s body, it then sent him flying.
“What are you s.p.a.cing out for? Attack!” Chen Feng shouted.
Bi Qing and Huo Yunlong displayed a high level of cooperation with Chen Feng, having charged forward long ago. The others were slightly slower to react. Upon hearing Chen Feng"s shout, they quickly recollected themselves and attacked.
Chen Feng attacked with his secret soul techniques from a distance while Bi Qing and the others fought True Immortal Illusion in a close quarter combat. They were evenly matched.
Due to that, True Immortal Illusion"s real body became anxious and he increased the rate at which he was attacking. True Immortal Thundercloud, who had to face him, began suffering from some injuries.
The state continued for one joss stick"s worth of time. Finally, after firing out another talisman, Chen Feng quickly sat down on the ground, seemingly bereft of energy.
“Scram!” Without Chen Feng"s long-ranged support, True Immortal Illusion was able to gain the upper hand once more. He brought his full might to bear, forcing Bi Qing and the others to back away. Rather, one of them was even blown up.
Seeing this display of might from True Immortal Illusion, the remaining few cultivators – including Bi Qing and Huo Yunlong – backed away from the mountain and into their real bodies. In the process of leaving the pseudo-Divine artifact, they had to exhaust some more of their soul powers. Due to that, their faces turned somewhat pale.
At that very moment, Chen Feng was the only one left inside the pseudo-Divine artifact. He sat on the ground, his face ugly to behold as he looked at True Immortal Illusion.
“Senior, is there a need for such ruthlessness?” Chen Feng said with a wry smile.
“Meeting cultivators from the Longevity Clan is a rare occurrence. Besides, I can see that you have some secrets on you. Once I devour your soul, your secrets will be mine,” True Immortal Illusion said, striding towards Chen Feng.
“You really cannot let me go?” Chen Feng asked again.
“No. Kid, it doesn"t matter what backing you have. Meeting me is just bad luck on your part.” True Immortal Illusion raised his fist and sent it smas.h.i.+ng towards Chen Feng.
Chen Feng, still seated on the ground, sent a weak-looking fist forward. It looked as though he had accepted his fate.
“Die!”
Bang!
Contrary to True Immortal Illusion"s expectations, Chen Feng did not blow up. Instead, True Immortal Illusion was forced to back away, a look of utter shock on his face.
Boom!
Chen Feng stood up straight, the dispirited look on his face swept away, becoming lively as he opened his mouth to inhale. His aura then rose in power. In but the blink of an eye, it had surpa.s.sed True Immortal Illusion in terms of strength.
“Impossible!” True Immortal Illusion kept backing away, a somewhat dazed look on his face. It seemed as though he was in a state of disbelief.
Chen Feng leapt forward and furiously unleashed a punch. This punch was even stronger than the previous punches that True Immortal Illusion had displayed to sweep his opponents away. It felt as though it could break any restraints.
In the face of Chen Feng"s attack, True Immortal Illusion"s eyes then turned determined and a formidable aura surged out from his mouth. His arm shook violently and countless fist silhouettes appeared, forming a palm which attempted to wrap around Chen Feng.