"You knew I was following you? You are just a level 1 Concealed stage cultivator! How could you have reached the storing artefacts in the body realm? Besides, that artefact is a Prized artefact!" the cultivator clutched his wounded hand as he cried out in disbelief.
"We don"t know each other and there are no grudges between us. Yet, you have been tailing me while harbouring malicious intentions. The fact that I did not go kill you was an act of kindness from me. Unexpectedly, you could even consider trying to s.n.a.t.c.h these medicinal pills from me. Do you think I am easy?" Chen Feng sneered.
"Brother Chen, let"s just kill him." Lu Ta swung his Endless Sky of Turbidity staff with a smile on his face. Judging by the look on his face, he was eager to step forward and kill off the cultivator.
"Help! This kid has a Prized artefact!" the level 5 Concealed stage cultivator suddenly shouted loudly, attracting the attention of the others.
"What? Prized artefact!"
"Where is the Prized artefact?!"
Swoos.h.!.+
Some cultivators quickly rushed over to surround Chen Feng"s group. As for the middle-aged level 5 Concealed stage cultivator, he took advantage of the situation and ran towards the crowd of cultivators in an attempt to flee.
"Die!"
Lu Ta was quick to swing his staff, which struck the cultivator"s body with a bang. However, the middle-aged cultivator laughed out instead and let the momentum of the attack send him flying far away.
"A minor level 3 Concealed stage cultivator thinks he can stop me? Dream on! Fellow cultivators! Its these three fellows! They have Prized artefacts on them! Hurry up and s.n.a.t.c.h them!" Before escaping, the middle-aged man shouted to create enemies for Chen Feng"s group.
Swoos.h.!.+
Suddenly, Ye Ziming disappeared before re-appearing right before the middle-aged cultivator. A big palm silhouette shot out to send the middle-aged cultivator flying.
"Save me! Fellow cultivators!" shouted the middle-aged cultivator as his figure flew to the sky.
Sou!
Chen Feng extended his index finger and performed a flicking motion with it. A sword beam flashed out to pierce the middle-aged cultivator"s glabella to instantly quake his sea of wisdom apart. It disintegrated and the middle-aged cultivator died.
"Why must you insist on courting death?" said Chen Feng, who shook his head and sighed.
By then, there were already around 10 cultivators surrounding Chen Feng. Some of them appeared eager to attack.
"If you fellows think you can take on the power of a Prized artefact, go ahead and attack," said Chen Feng as he regarded those around him.
The strongest amongst them was a level 4 Concealed stage cultivator. That level of cultivation base was nothing in Chen Feng"s eyes. The present Chen Feng had completely melded with the Overwhelming Astral Sword. Killing them all was as easy as waving his hand.
"Hey, hey, fellow cultivator. We have never seen a Prized artefact before. Bring it out and let us experience it," said one of the cultivators with a grin as his eyes glinted with ferocity. He was a short-haired youngster with a scar on his face.
"Oh, you want to experience it? Fine. However, do not regret it." Chen Feng stretched his hand out and a three-inch long sword flew out. Light flowed across its surface as it emanated a shocking power of destruction. The sword circled around his palm.
"Storing artefacts in the body!"
Some of the cultivators surrounding them cried out in shock and their gazes turned wary.
Shua!
The small sword abruptly disappeared from Chen Feng"s palm. It had transformed into a bolt of lightning before piercing through the head of the cultivator who had spoken up earlier. Next, it made a circle in the air before returning to Chen Feng"s palm.
Hua!
Seeing Chen Feng kill someone just because of some words, the surrounding cultivators pulled out their weapons to stand at the ready. Every one of them looked at the small sword in Chen Feng"s hand with both greed and dread.
"What? Are there more who wants to experience it?" asked Chen Feng with a sneer. At the same time, an enthusiastic and lofty feeling desired to surge out from him and he felt the impulse to laugh loudly.
After the Overwhelming Astral Sword melded with him, Chen Feng"s strength had increased by several folds. In the past, he would have had to spend some effort to fight off these Concealed stage cultivators. At present, however, he could do it with a mere thought. After all, not every Concealed stage cultivator could get their hands on a Prized artefact. Without a sufficient level of strength, taking on an attack from Chen Feng"s Prized artefact meant death.
"Ha ha ha! Fellow cultivators, I think you have all been bewitched. We have an immortal mansion and immortal mountain right before our eyes. There will surely be good items inside. There is even the possibility of immortal artefacts and immortal medicinal pills. When the time comes, everyone can just swarm forward to break the restrictive barriers to acquire the treasures inside. Why waste your strength fighting us? Besides, even if we do fight, you people will just end up dying." Ye Ziming suddenly laughed out.
The cultivators hesitated as they began pondering the matter. They considered Ye Ziming"s words and wondered if they should continue to attack.
It was then that the constantly rising mountain came to a halt. The mountain, which had emerged all of a sudden, had reached a height of 10,000 metres. The surface of the mountain was smooth, without a single gra.s.s growing from it. It was round and circular, looking like a colossal sword piercing straight up into the firmaments, seemingly wanting to create a hole in the sky.
As the mountain had stopped rising, the whole of Blackwind Marshes began to calm down. The astral winds disappeared and the rippling powers faded. A 10,000-metre tall mountain stood before them all, covering the sun from sight.
"For a 10,000-metre tall mountain to rise up from flat terrain, this must be a technique that only the legendary Immortal Humans possess," said Chen Feng in awe.
"Charge the immortal mountain and s.n.a.t.c.h the immortal pills!"
Suddenly, someone shouted. Next, the cultivators hiding within the various corners spontaneously stepped out to rapidly swarm the mountain.
The group of cultivators surrounding Chen Feng immediately s.h.i.+fted their gaze away. Their eyes were bloodshot and they panted. Ignoring Chen Feng"s group, they rushed towards the mountain as well.
In but three breaths" worth of time, only one third of the onlooking cultivators remained standing still.
"Have these fellows truly gone crazy?" Chen Feng blurted out as he regarded the cultivators who were rus.h.i.+ng forward while screaming loudly.
"I don"t think I can hold myself back for long either." Lu Ta was somewhat excited as well.
"No hurries. Since this is an immortal mansion on an immortal mountain, it will not be easy to break through. Weren"t Sword Tower and Jade Talisman Court the first to discover this place? Even now, they have not succeeded in breaking in. Moreover, it seems they have suffered from a high number of casualties," said Chen Feng with a snicker.
"That is right. We can just wait and see. Look. There are plenty of cultivators who haven"t stepped forward. All of them are observing the situation. Although treasures are important, lives are more important," said Ye Ziming with a smile.
"The old man did not go forward as well." Chen Feng turned and saw the chubby old man standing still in the distance. Who knows what he was thinking?
"My good disciple, come here." Suddenly, the chubby old man motioned Chen Feng over.
"Come, let"s go over," Chen Feng told Ye Ziming and Lu Ta.
"Greetings, elder."
After approaching the old man, Ye Ziming and Lu Ta bowed respectfully. Regardless if he was really Chen Feng"s master, his unfathomable cultivation base alone was enough to put fear in their hearts.
"Mm, good disciple. I want to tell you, as you are right now, do not carelessly approach this mountain." There was a somewhat serious expression on the chubby old man"s face.
"Master, do you know the background of this mountain?" Chen Feng asked curiously.
"This mountain is called Driftcloud Immortal Mountain. It is unknown just how long it has existed. According to the records left behind in the books, it would sometimes appear once in a thousand years. However, sometimes, it would appear once in a hundred or even ten years. The longest known interval between its emergence is tens of thousands of years," the chubby old man slowly said.
"Tens of thousands of years!" Chen Feng was shocked. Within such a lengthy period, who knows how many kingdoms have risen and fallen before. Even some immortal dao sects cannot survive for such a long period.
"This Driftcloud Immortal Mountain has a defensive immortal light known as Driftcloud Immortal Light. Normally, it would not attack others. However, once outside forces attack it, it will counter with a powerful force. This immortal light can even kill off Immortal Humans."
"Driftcloud Immortal Light?" Chen Feng, Ye Ziming and Lu Ta stared with widened eyes as they carefully listened to the chubby old man"s words.
"That is a type of immortal light that only Immortal Humans can master. Mortals like us cannot capture or even refine it. Thus, every time this immortal mountain appears, countless cultivators would be lured over. However, every time it did, countless cultivators would lose their lives here. According to the remaining records, all that is known is that this mountain"s name is Driftcloud Immortal Mountain. No one knows where it came from and no one quite knows what is inside it," said the chubby old man.
"Elder, have no one ever entered before?" Ye Ziming suddenly asked.
"Naturally, there are." The chubby old man casted an appreciative look at Ye Ziming.
"Additionally, the number of cultivators who had entered the mountain before was quite high. However, most of them disappeared inside, never to come out."
"Most. In other words, some managed to come out." Chen Feng caught the meaning behind the chubby old man"s words.
"Correct. Of those who came out, some emerged empty-handed while others gained some treasures. According to them, the interior of this mountain seems to be a different s.p.a.ce and time, there are wonders and monstrosities inside, mountains and rivers, wondrous treasures and unique animals. However, there are even more dangers lurking around. Of those who entered, only the ones with a great deal of luck can come out," recalled the chubby old man.
"Don"t the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects have Immortal artefacts used to protect their sects? Just work together to break it open," Chen Feng suddenly said.
Hearing those words, the chubby old man"s face revealed a peculiar expression. "How could it be that easy? In the past, some forces had tried to do exactly that. Back then, there was an infamous sect, the Blackwater Order. Its strength was no weaker compared to any one of the current immortal dao sects. However, because of their attempts to attack Driftcloud Immortal Mountain, their sect"s Immortal artefact was broken. Without an Immortal artefact to control their karmic destiny, Blackwater Order slowly entered a state of decline. In the end, the other immortal dao sects joined forces to divide up the Blackwater Order."
"If even an Immortal artefact cannot break through it, how could anyone enter?" Chen Feng grew puzzled.
"Humph! Kid, given your current level of knowledge, you cannot understand. Just because it cannot be broken doesn"t mean you cannot enter. Although the Driftcloud Immortal Light is powerful, it is not without a single flaw. Moreover, the various immortal dao sects possess some secret, Heaven-defying magics. Creating a small hole to send some cultivators in is still within their ability," said the chubby old man after giving a harrumph.
"When you put it that way, this is simply a danger zone. In order to acquire the treasures inside, we must bet our lives. Tsk tsk! In that case, I might as well just go home and take a good nap." Chen Feng chuckled.
"You good for nothing! I am now regretting my decision to accept you as a disciple!" the chubby old man could not stop himself from giving Chen Feng a reprimanding shout.
"This is an immortal serendipity that appears only once in a thousand years. The path that we cultivators walk is constantly filled with life-threatening dangers. The pursuit of immortality is incredibly difficult. In our Eternal World, there have been plenty of cultivators with great perseverance, wisdom, courage and luck. In the end, however, they were all reduced to dust. Only a handful could cultivate up to the immortal realm. Now, the opportunity has arrived. Even if it is only a strand of hope, we must still charge forward, putting our lives on the line to seize it," said the chubby old man solemnly.