With the Domain Geocompa.s.s defending him from the formidable attack, Chen Feng rapidly backed away. He retreated across a distance of 50,000 kilometres. After that, the attack from the black-armoured cultivator arrived. A lance charged towards the Domain Geocompa.s.s and it was knocked away with a bang. Next, the geocompa.s.s rapidly shrank before flying back into Chen Feng"s hand.
“Too weak, die!”
Riding the wicked wyrm, the black-armoured cultivator sent his lance stabbing towards Chen Feng"s heart. In his opinion, this lance attack would reap Chen Feng"s life.
On Chen Feng"s side, he could see that the black-armoured cultivator was someone with a great deal of combat experience. However, this one here was not a real person. Additionally, there were also some shortcomings that combat experience could not make up for.
For example, carelessness and contempt.
Chen Feng was aware that this time"s Heavenly Tribulation was stronger than the Heavenly Tribulations that he had to face in the past. Thus, he chose not to be careless about it right from the start. He changed his approach to undergoing tribulation. That was to end the fight as soon as possible. He would do his best to obtain the most with the least effort. He would stop taking the attacks head on and instead resort to some schemes.
Chen Feng had utilized the Domain Geocompa.s.s earlier in order to trick his opponent. Even his actions of retreating that far from the attack was part of his façade. At any rate, Chen Feng was someone who could even kill off Ascendant Immortals. Would he be put in a disadvantageous position so early on? If that was the case, he could forget about undergoing his Heavenly Tribulation.
Shua!
The lance made contact with Chen Feng"s chest. Next, it pierced its way into his body.
“Humph, how pointless!” The black-armoured cultivator swung his lance, a contemptuous look on his face. Only, that expression was quick to disappear.
“Something"s not right!”
For a cultivator to appear as part of a Heavenly Tribulation, he was undoubtedly someone proficient in the art of battle, possessing an extreme amount of combat experience. The moment he sensed that something was amiss, he did not panic. Instead, he responded swiftly, his body abruptly vaulting up into the sky as he changed his flight trajectory.
Shua!
Sword light flashed out and one of the black-armoured cultivator"s arms was severed as a result. Even the wicked wyrm that he was riding on had been cleaved into two.
This time, Chen Feng had utilized the Steel Enigma Sword. In the past, Chen Feng had almost never utilized his magic treasures when undergoing his tribulations. This time, however, not only did he resort to trickery, he even made use of an Immortal artifact. His objective was to kill off his opponent in one fell swoop.
Unfortunately, his plan failed. He had only managed to wound the black-armoured cultivator slightly. That said, seeing the cleaved wicked wyrm, the dissatisfaction within Chen Feng quickly disappeared.
The wicked wyrm that the black-armoured cultivator was riding was also at the Ascendant Immortal stage. Additionally, it contained spiritual attributes, immortal dao laws and the blood essence of a Yao Overlord. There was practically no difference between the wicked wyrm and a bona fide Ascendant Immortal.
As Chen Feng considered that, the Blood Mustering Bead flew out from his body and the nine Poisonous Vileblood Wyrms emerged from the bead to rapidly drag the two severed halves of the wicked wyrm"s body into the Blood Mustering Bead.
The Blood Mustering Bead shook slightly and shone with a wave of b.l.o.o.d.y light before flying back into Chen Feng"s body.
The time these fellows needed to advance has been shortened greatly. Chen Feng smiled. Next, his figure flashed forward to attack the black-armoured cultivator.
As the black-armoured cultivator"s arm had been severed earlier, he rapidly flew far away to re-grow his arm. He was from the Ministry of Heavenly Tribulation, capable of extracting the Heavenly Tribulation"s power into himself. Due to that, the wound he took earlier was nothing in his eyes.
Unexpectedly, a beam of red light would strike his body and the newly re-grown arm blew up while the blood streams within roiled before surging out from his wounded arm.
“What is going on here?”
As the black-armoured cultivator was in a state of shock, Chen Feng arrived before him. The Steel Enigma Sword had locked down the black-armoured cultivator"s aura, making it impossible for him to evade.
Shua!
The river of Devastation Lightning swirled to a.s.sail Chen Feng. The black-armoured cultivator wanted to use the river to buy time.
However, Chen Feng charged forward with the sword in hand to cleave the river apart before das.h.i.+ng forward. With a flash of sword light, he hacked down upon the black-armoured cultivator"s body.
Is this still an Earthen Immortal? The black-armoured cultivator brought his lance up to block Chen Feng"s sword, but a terrifying, volcanic power bore down upon the black-armoured cultivator"s body.
Boom!
The body of the black-armoured cultivator began bursting and cracks began appearing on the lance in his hand.
“Is the Ministry of Heavenly Tribulation only sending guys at your level over? Makes sense. If they send guys that are too powerful, it will be easier for the Heavenly dao to notice your actions. However, if its just guys at your level, no matter how many they send, all of them will just end up dying in the end,” Chen Feng said, a formidable power charging out from his body as he hacked down with his sword once more.
This time, the lance was broken and the black-armoured cultivator"s body disintegrated in the face of the sword light. Even so, Chen Feng managed to collect a strand of his essence, energy and soul power.
“Don"t get too full of yourself! I am just the weakest one and the Heavenly Tribulation has only just begun!” A wave of thought emerged from the essence, energy and soul power. Next, the imprint on them disappeared.
One down. I wonder, how many waves of Heavenly Tribulation is there? Chen Feng dared not be careless. He took in a deep breath, replenis.h.i.+ng the energy that he had used up for the earlier battle.
Sou!
Shortly after that, a 500-kilometre-long astral blade broke its way through s.p.a.ce to slash down against Chen Feng. Even before it arrived, Chen Feng could already feel a heavy pressure bearing down on him.
Chen Feng swung and the sword in his hand moved to unleash a spiral-type sword energy. He was not just attacking carelessly. Instead, he was doing so while making use of his eye technique. Three Spiralling Sword Beams shot out in quick succession to strike the astral blade. As a result, three booming sounds rang out from the 500-kilometre-long astral blade before it broke into three sections.
When the astral blade broke, the power within it dissipated and it could no longer threaten Chen Feng.
That was not to say that Chen Feng was incapable of taking the attack head on. Rather, he simply did not want to waste his strength on that.
Another black-armoured cultivator – his black hair flying all over the place – broke his way through the tribulation clouds as he strode forward, a blade that shone with black light in his hand. This person appeared even stronger than the previous one. Without a word, he swung his blade while charging towards Chen Feng.
As expected, it is someone from the Ministry of Heavenly Tribulation again. Looks like I have made an enemy of the Immortal Plane for real. And all I did was absorb some immortal energy. Chen Feng shook his head and displayed his own sword technique to fight the black-armoured cultivator.
This blade-wielding cultivator was slightly stronger compared to the lance-wielding cultivator from earlier. Even so, for Chen Feng, finis.h.i.+ng off this opponent would not be an issue. Still, he speculated that this Heavenly Tribulation was likely not going to be so easy to overcome.
As predicted, something happened. Chen Feng, by utilizing his Longevity Sword Technique, had forced his opponent to give ground again and again. Just as he was on the brink of defeating the black-armoured cultivator, however, the tribulation clouds swirled and another black-armoured cultivator appeared. This one wielded a sword and he displayed killing sword techniques. Ghastly streams of sword energy moved out to slice s.p.a.ce. One with a sword and one with a blade, the two of them surrounded Chen Feng to turn the situation around.
It had been a long time since Chen Feng had to face such a battle. His will to fight was aroused and he displayed the Longevity Sword Technique to its utmost. In terms of the profundity of sword moves, Chen Feng far surpa.s.sed his opponents. Add his monstrous fleshy body and comprehension towards the laws into the equation, Chen Feng was able to once again attain the upper hand after one joss stick"s worth of time.
“Is this Heavenly Tribulation only at this level? Or is it because the Ministry of Heavenly Tribulation only has guys like you?!” Chen Feng words could already be considered an act of provoking the Heavenly dao. As expected, once he said that, a thick bolt of lightning smashed down against Chen Feng.
This was the Lightning of Heavenly Wrath. In terms of destructive power, it was comparable to Devastation Lightning. It contained the power of destruction within itself.
Boom!
Although the lightning bolt had struck only Chen Feng, the resulting sparks also a.s.sailed the two black-armoured cultivators, affecting them somewhat.
“Ha ha ha! That"s the consequences of recklessly interfering with the Heavenly dao!” Chen Feng laughed loudly. The two black-armoured cultivators were objects created by the Heavenly dao, but the Ministry of Heavenly Tribulation had inserted the will of its cultivators inside them. At that very moment, it would appear that the Heavenly dao had noticed it. Due to that, the power within the two black-armoured cultivators fell into a state of chaos.
As for Chen Feng, this level of lightning attack was nothing. Even his fleshly body would have been enough to easily take it on. Instead, he made use of this opportunity to unleash an attack, killing off one of the black-armoured cultivators as a result. Just as he was about to kill off the second one, a whip suddenly flew forward. Arriving before Chen Feng, the whip rapidly swirled to wrap itself around Chen Feng"s waist.
Instantly, Chen Feng felt a thick and flexible restraining power emerging from his waist. The power spread across his body and everywhere it went, his body would be left feeling paralyzed.
Two more black-armoured cultivators had appeared. One was wielding a whip while the other wielded a great hammer. One engaged in long-ranged combat while the other engaged in melee combat. As for the other one, he continued to brandish his sword to attack Chen Feng.
Back in East Dragon Island, Bi Qing and the others were standing before a holographic screen. The images playing out on the screen was that of Chen Feng"s tribulation.
“Isn"t this going too far? Chen Feng is just an Earthen Immortal. Why is his Heavenly Tribulation so much more powerful than ours?” Patriarch Heavenly Sword"s eyes were bulging widely.
That was indeed the case. Back when they had to undergo tribulation to become mid-level Ascendant Immortals, their Heavenly Tribulations were not as monstrous as the one that Chen Feng had to face.
The three black-armoured cultivators besieging Chen Feng were all at the Ascendant Immortal stage. Moreover, they were also created by the Heavenly dao. Add the Immortal Plane"s intervention into the equation, even Patriarch Heavenly Sword and the other mid-level Ascendant Immortals had no confidence in their ability to defeat the black-armoured cultivators in a one versus one.
“Chen Feng is not an ordinary cultivator. The more of a defiance of Heaven a cultivator is, the more monstrous his Heavenly Tribulation would become. Additionally, Chen Feng had also utilized the Heavenstealing Technique back then. Since his actions were noticed by the Heavenly dao, it is only natural for his Heavenly Tribulation to become even stronger,” Bi Qing said smilingly.
“Such a powerful Heavenly Tribulation?” Seeing the three black-armoured cultivators besieging Chen Feng, they all felt uncertain. They were fearful that Chen Feng would fail to overcome his tribulation. Naturally, none of them said that.
“Don"t worry. He will definitely be fine.” Bi Qing, though, did not feel concerned at all.
“But this Heavenly Tribulation has only just begun.” Someone raised the issue. That was true. For the early phase of the Heavenly Tribulation to be this formidable, just what will happen next?
“Humph! Does the Immortal Plane not care about its reputation anymore?” Some began airing their dissatisfactions.
“That"s right! They"re actually interfering in someone else"s tribulation. Worst, they"re actually bullying others with numbers!”
Chen Feng did not care about his opponents" advantage in numbers. By relying on his Longevity Steps and Longevity Sword Technique, Chen Feng was able to easily handle their siege. However, as time went by, his strength was gradually sapped away. His opponents were taking turns to fight him. Seeing that, Chen Feng knew that his prediction was true. This Heavenly Tribulation will not be easy.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Four cultivators appeared at the same time. Every single one of them was clad in black armour, a battle lance in hand. After they appeared, the four of them did not rush forward to attack. Instead, they moved to occupy four different positions around Chen Feng. Raising their lances, they then fired out stream after stream of light. Quickly, they created a barrier, with the four of them as array cores. The barrier encased Chen Feng and the three black-armoured cultivators.
Note: Ministry of Heavenly Tribulation is something of a force/governing body, part of a ruling sect in the Immortal Plane. It is only mentioned in later chapters. Author skimping on the details here.
1 li = 0.5 km. 1,000 li or 500 kilometres could also mean a great distance.
1 zhang = 3.333 m