There is indeed something strange. However, I am unable to tell exactly what is strange. Chen Feng had already ventured deep into Black Origin Mountain Range. He had never ventured so deep into the mountain range before.
"Tower, did you discover anything?" Chen Feng asked secretly.
"He he!" Tower simply chortled, not answering Chen Feng.
Chen Feng knew that Tower must have discovered something. Thus, he ventured deeper. It did not take him long to discover a corpse.
A casual glance revealed that the corpse had been there for some time now. Its flesh had utterly rotted away to reveal its white bones.
This fellow should be just an ordinary cultivator. I wonder, is he a loose cultivator or a disciple from Black Origin City"s great sects? Chen Feng stepped forward and examined the corpse, but was unable to find anything that could help him identify the corpse.
Next, Chen Feng continued advancing only to discover even more corpses scattered around. Finally, Chen Feng was able to discover some clues on the corpses.
These fellows should be disciples from Iron Sword Sect. Chen Feng flicked his hand and two small iron plates flew into his hand. The words Iron Sword Sect was written on each of the iron plates.
There are a few more corpses here. They should be from the City Lord Residence. Chen Feng observed the armours on the corpses.
These fellows must have died to wild animals. These fellows, on the other hand, don"t look like they were killed by wild animals. Chen Feng carefully examined the corpses on the ground.
Finally, Chen Feng realized what it was that felt amiss to him. Black Origin Mountain Range was not particularly large. Given his current speed, he should have entered the core area of the mountain range. However, Chen Feng had a feeling that he was still just hovering around the peripheral areas of the mountain range.
After Chen Feng came to that conclusion, a stream of light shone beneath him and he swiftly flew into the sky. He flew forward. Given his present eye power, he could already see the end of Black Origin Mountain Range. However, after having flown swiftly for some time, covering a distance of over 500 kilometres, he was still incapable of reaching the end of Black Origin Mountain Range. It was as though he had simply been circling around in the sky.
Sou!
Chen Feng descended and began running on foot. Once again, he ran through hundreds of kilometres before coming to a halt.
"Tower, what is going on here?" Chen Feng could not stop himself from asking.
"He he! This is just an application of the laws of time and s.p.a.ce," Tower replied with a chortle.
"Laws of time and s.p.a.ce! These are not the kind of things that ordinary cultivators can grasp," Chen Feng said.
"Yes. Sky Human stage cultivators can jump through s.p.a.ce. However, they cannot master the governing laws of time. In order to master the governing laws of time and utilize them, they must at least be at the Human Immortal stage," Tower said.
"Could this be a barrier set up by a Human Immortal? Surely, there is no way a Human Immortal would come to this s.h.i.+thole." Chen Feng grew curious.
"He he, there are no absolutes in this world. There might actually be a Human Immortal"s site here," Tower said with a chuckle.
"However, I cannot simply charge in recklessly. If I am not mistaken, the other cultivators from Black Origin City who had gone missing must have encountered the same situation. They then ventured too deep, encountered the power of time and s.p.a.ce and were no longer capable of escaping." Chen Feng speculated.
Despite knowing something odd was happening within Black Origin Mountain Range, Chen Feng did not panic. He simply felt curious and desirous of exploring the place.
"He he! No rus.h.!.+ You have nothing to do, anyways. Just walk around and consider this as part of your training." Tower laughed.
Helpless to do anything, Chen Feng flew randomly through the mountain. Finally, he encountered a yao beast, a very savage yao beast.
A one-zhang tall sabre-toothed tiger suddenly emerged from the forest without making a single sound and it pounced at Chen Feng. Only when it was descending upon Chen Feng did it unleash a roar.
The shockwave generated by the roar struck Chen Feng"s face. If Chen Feng were an ordinary cultivator, the shockwave would have shocked him to the point of dizziness, allowing the sabre-toothed tiger to smash him to the ground.
Chen Feng, however, merely smirked in the face of the attack. The soundwave dissipated when there was only one chi left between it and Chen Feng. As for Chen Feng, he simply swiped his hand out to capture the large sabre-toothed tiger.
"Roar!"
The sabre-toothed tiger became infuriated. However, it was incapable of extricating itself. Thus, it bellowed loudly.
Chen Feng smirked again. He then released a strand of his aura and the sabre-toothed tiger immediately fell silent. After Chen Feng released his grip, the sabre-toothed tiger lay down on all fours, its entire body trembling, too fearful to escape.
This yao beast"s cultivation base was only at level 2 of the Concealed stage. For Chen Feng, this was nothing. However, for the cultivators living near Black Origin Mountain Range, this was a nightmarish existence. In the face of this yao beast, even someone like Mo Yuan would have no choice but to flee.
Chen Feng waved his hand to toss a spirit stone into the sabre-toothed tiger"s mouth. After swallowing the spirit stone, its fear towards Chen Feng diminished. It instead started moving its head around in a fawning manner.
Chen Feng smiled. Next, he leapt up and got on the sabre-toothed tiger.
"Let"s go." Chen Feng gave it a simple instruction. Next, the sabre-toothed tiger roared and leapt forward according to the directions Chen Feng gave it.
Riding the sabre-toothed tiger, Chen Feng galloped through the forest for half a day. Suddenly, the sabre-toothed tiger stopped. It began whimpering non-stop and its feet began moving backwards. It was as though there was something terrifying in front.
Looks like I found it, Chen Feng thought. After that, he jumped down from the sabre-toothed tiger"s back.
"All right, you can head back now." Chen Feng gestured at it. The sabre-toothed tiger understood Chen Feng and it swiftly turned. With a few leaps, it disappeared from sight.
"It seems there is something up ahead," Chen Feng whispered. After considering it for a moment, he strode forward.
"Eh?" Chen Feng suddenly exclaimed.
After silently feeling his body, he said, "My body"s cells are dividing quickly. My hair and nails are also growing quickly. The flow of time here is different from the outside world!"
"Yes. The flow of time here is 10 times that of the outside world. He he! Kid, you are becoming more alert now," Tower said with a snicker.
"Ten times. If someone were to stay here for one year, their body would suffer from 10 years" worth of exhaustion?" Chen Feng was shocked.
"It"s not just that. Right now, you have probably entered this mountain range"s core location. The deeper in you go, the faster the flow of time becomes. If an ordinary human were to accidentally walk inside, he or she would die of old age," Tower said.
"I want to check out what is up ahead." Chen Feng nodded his head. With a wave of his hand, he brought the Thousand Seeker Mirror out and began scanning a large swath of his surroundings.
Weng! Weng! Weng!
Suddenly, the Thousand Seeker Mirror vibrated slightly and its surface turned blurry. No more images appeared on its surface.
It seems the Thousand Seeker Mirror"s grade is not high enough. Chen Feng waved his hand to keep the Thousand Seeker Mirror back. Next, he brought b.l.o.o.d.y Soul out for defence.
Thus, Chen Feng ventured forward, covering another tens of li. He could feel the flow of time growing even faster. According to Tower, the flow of time there was 20 times that of the outside world.
Chen Feng could see each plant growing at a visible speed. It bloomed, its petals fell and finally, it too, fell.
When the flow of time became 30 times faster, Chen Feng could witness the complete growth process of the trees around him. Dead branches and leaves kept falling while new ones kept budding out. Small saplings grew, becoming thick even as the large trees around them began withering.
Withered vines, newly-grown shrubbery and newly-hatched reptiles grew rapidly and died rapidly. Chen Feng then saw an ordinary hare; it had unknowingly dashed inside. The more it ran, the slower it became. Finally, it lay on the ground as it flailed about ceaselessly. It was rapidly growing old.
When the flow of time became 50 times faster, the Prized artefact in Chen Feng"s hand, b.l.o.o.d.y Soul, gave a warning cry.
Weng! Weng! Weng!
b.l.o.o.d.y Soul kept shaking, releasing anxious signals towards Chen Feng"s sea of wisdom.
"Not even b.l.o.o.d.y Soul can endure the law of time here." Chen Feng hastily kept b.l.o.o.d.y Soul. At present, b.l.o.o.d.y Soul was already on the verge of levelling up to a grade 3 Prized artefact. Chen Feng did not want anything to happen to it.
Chen Feng then made a grasping motion and the Demon Sealing Sword appeared in his grip. This was a Sacred artefact, something that no Prized artefact could hope to match against.
Bwong!
Even Prized artefacts could possess spirituality, let alone a Sacred artefact. Sensing the abnormality within its surroundings, the Demon Sealing Sword thrummed slightly as well and radiated a faint, glossy s.h.i.+ne. After that, it fell silent.
Seeing no issues with the Demon Sealing Sword, Chen Feng felt at ease. He began moving forward again.
The deeper he went, the faster the flow of time became. In the end, even Chen Feng felt fearful. He feared he might make a careless mistake and become an old man.
"The flow of time here is close to 100 times that of the outside world," Tower suddenly said.
Observing his nails and hair, which were growing longer and longer, Chen Feng said, "If not for my mighty fleshly body and high blood energy reserve, I wouldn"t have the guts to go forward. This is too scary. I can actually feel my vitality slowly flowing away!"
"He he! Just consider this as training." Tower laughed.
"Tower, tell me the truth. Are there any treasures here? If there aren"t, I will not be going forward anymore." Chen Feng swung his sword to cut down a branch. The branch, with the thickness of a finger, slowly withered. In just a few breaths" worth of time, it had been reduced to fine bits.
"Treasures? Of course. If I am not mistaken, this should be a cultivation site left by a Human Immortal before his or her death," Tower said.
"Human Immortal? Are you sure?" Chen Feng became sceptical.
"At least a Human Immortal. Just think about it. If that person is a Human Immortal, he or she will be able to leave some good items behind before pa.s.sing away. Even the Human Immortal"s bones can be used to forge treasures," Tower said in amus.e.m.e.nt.
"Even if it is a Human Immortal, the bones left behind would have rotted and withered away," Chen Feng retorted.
"What do you know? Normally, the body of a Human Immortal can be preserved for 10,000 years. How can a body tempered by Sky Lightning and the power of laws spoil so easily?" Tower said.
"That makes sense. I hope I can gain something from this, otherwise I would have lost too much. So much vitality lost. How many medicinal pills will I have to take to recover them?" Chen Feng said.
"If you are not willing to risk it, how can you acquire anything? Kid, set yourself straight! There are treasures waiting for you!" Tower encouraged.
Chen Feng rolled his eyes. As time went by, Chen Feng increasingly felt Tower to be a treacherous and cunning fellow. There were times when Chen Feng could not believe that Tower was the artefact spirit born from the Longevity Tower. Somehow, Tower felt more like a street ruffian to him.
1 zhang = 3.333 m
1 chi = 0.333 m
1 li = 0.5 km