“I've long since prepared for this!” A stream of water charged out from Chen Feng's body. It was none other than the Dawnsource Crystal Water from the Treasured Ocean Pearl. It surged out to collide against the hex power. Black waves of water then rippled outwards.

Even the corpse on the altar jerked about. At the same time, light shone from the altar. It was as though a mysterious power had activated.

During the chaos, the Longevity Tower secretly took action. A beam of light swept out all of a sudden and the sceptre disappeared. As for Chen Feng, he unleashed a heavy slash against the altar before rapidly backing away.

As Chen Feng had expected, this attack from a high-grade Immortal artifact only managed to leave a shallow mark on the surface of the altar. But as Chen Feng was retreating, the chain that was attacking Bi Qing sent one of its ends shooting at a diagonal angle at Chen Feng.

“Kid, you have a death wis.h.!.+”

Everyone there knew that Chen Feng was behind the sudden disappearance of the sceptre. The Hex World cultivator was extremely enraged and he utilized a secret technique, causing the corpse of the True Immortal to abruptly stand up and grasp at Chen Feng.

“I'm not even afraid of a living True Immortal, let alone a dead one!” Chen Feng had been spending all this time fighting against experts. Thus, despite having to face a True Immortal, he was not afraid. It was just a little difficult.

The Upright Heaven Sword moved about, occasionally fast and occasionally slow, displaying the Sword Intent of the Flowing Clouds to block the True Immortal's attacks. Bi Qing, on the other hand, swung his sword to block the attacks from the chain. Clas.h.i.+ng sounds kept ringing out as the chain was sent flying again and again. However, Bi Qing failed to cut it apart.

Sou!

Facing the True Immortal's attacks, Chen Feng gave it his all to display his sword techniques. Even so, he had to constantly give ground. Just as he was thinking of how to deal with the situation, the star wanderer, now also corrupted by the hex power, attacked Chen Feng.

“How troublesome!”

Chen Feng swore. Huo Yunlong was unable to help out while Bi Qing was also under attack. 

“Starry Sword Technique!”

Motes of starlight bloomed around Chen Feng. One by one, however, all the motes of starlight were extinguished. When the last mote was extinguished, an attack struck him. Chen Feng made use of the impact to speed himself up, evading the next incoming attack.

“Chen Feng, we cannot continue like this!” Huo Yunlong shouted.

“Think of a way to get out of here!” The present situation was very unfavourable. The Longevity Tower was still in the midst of suppressing the sceptre. Thus, it could not divert too much power to help out. Bi Qing was also being held down. He would not be able to free himself anytime soon.

“Figure a way to collect this chain! We can forget about the corpse.” Bi Qing sent Chen Feng a secret vocal transmission. The unremarkable-looking chain was also a high-grade Immortal artifact, possessing the grand dao power of both softness and firmness. It was quite extraordinary. Bi Qing's attacks earlier had actually failed to cut it down.

“Just leaving is already difficult now, let alone collecting the chain.” Chen Feng felt his head aching. The sceptre the Longevity Tower collected just now was a high-grade Immortal artifact possessing ghastly hex power. And while the Longevity Tower was capable of suppressing it, that would require time.

“Use your Longevity Clan's secret technique. No, you fellows should cover for me. I will utilize the secret technique of my Celestial Clearblue Plane,” Bi Qing said.

“Very well. Huo Yunlong and I will cover for you,” Chen Feng said and two of his insight acupoints shook as two top-grade Dao artifacts blew up. Chen Feng's aura soared and the Upright Heaven Sword thrummed. Chen Feng was able to push out even more of its power now.

“Fine! I'll go all out as well!” Huo Yunlong took drastic actions, burning a portion of his essence flames, causing his power to instantly double.

Thanks to the protection provided by Chen Feng and Huo Yunlong, Bi Qing was finally able to find the time he needed. The cyan sword in his hand abruptly transformed into a stream of light, which then flowed into his body. Following that, Bi Qing grunted and his body convulsed. Strands of formidable power began brewing within him and it didn't take long before a cyan line appeared on his body.

The appearance of the cyan line caused Bi Qing's aura to double in strength.

“The Seven Clearblue Meridians! Senior, doing so will bring about side effects! You should have let me do it. I cultivate the longevity-type primary energy. There is no need to worry about side effects for me.” Chen Feng was shocked.

“There are some side effects. However, by going into the Longevity Tower for a while, I will be able to recover. Enough! Be careful!” Even as Bi Qing spoke, a second cyan line appeared and his aura grew a notch stronger.

“It's already double!” Chen Feng said.

A third, a fourth and then a fifth cyan line appeared. Bi Qing's aura became five times stronger.

Boom!

The power of the Celestial Clearblue Plane descended, strengthening Bi Qing further to push him to the half-step True Immortal stage.

Weng!

For Chen Feng, it was as though their surrounding s.p.a.ce had become cyan in colour. He knew then that it was due to sword energy. The pressure bearing down on him lessened and both the star wanderer and the Immortal Plane cultivator had their bodies cleaved into two each at almost the same time.

The Hex World cultivator realized that things were not looking good, but he was already prepared for it. Thus, although the sword light managed to wound him, it was not fatal. The chain had helped him stop most of the sword light. Additionally, he was still able to control the corpse to counter attack.

“Let's go!” Bi Qing said. That killer move had consumed a great deal of his strength.

“Chance!”

Finding the opportunity, Chen Feng mobilized the Longevity Tower to collect the chain as well.

Bi Qing broke open a spatial crack and all three rushed in.

“I wonder, will the other party come after us?”

“I doubt it. He has the corpse. Also, he is already wounded. He will likely be unwilling to go all out.”

“Regardless, we cannot stop running yet. Then, we'll go find a quiet place.”

Chen Feng and Bi Qing were quite familiar with Eternal World. Thus, it did not take long before they found a spa.r.s.ely populated spot. After casually setting up some restrictive arrays, the three of them began working on healing their wounds.

Truth be told, Chen Feng was not suffering from too many injuries. Only, he had exhausted himself too much during the previous battle. His longevity-type primary energy circulated and he was able to heal his wounds quickly.

Recently, I have been using up the magic treasures within my body, blowing up most of them already. Even so, the stockpiled foundation for the Longevity weapons is still far lacking. There are still quite some ways to go before they can level up. More, my level is also not high enough. I need to advance by another level as well. Chen Feng pondered as he cultivated himself. Suddenly, his sea of wisdom began roiling. Flames appeared and sparks flashed out all over the sea.

After having absorbed so much soul power, Chen Feng's soul power began undergoing a ma.s.sive transformation. It began levelling up. 

The number of sparks within the sea of wisdom kept rising and they finally became connected, forming streams of sparks. Like rivers, they then converged upon his soulflame.

Chen Feng's soulflame burned with increasing ferocity and vigour. In the end, even its colour began changing.

Chen Feng's soulflame was both white and cyan in colour. At that very moment, the cyan portion grew and grew, becoming an even darker cyan in the process. Finally, the entire soulflame became cyan in colour. 

A few days later, the soulflame began shrinking. Upon reaching a certain size, it then expanded in size only to shrink again. And so, the process continued and it expanded and shrunk continuously. The soul power of a True Immortal that was stored inside his sea of wisdom was completely refined, transformed to become part of Chen Feng's strength.

Even after Huo Yunlong and Bi Qing had recovered from their wounds, Chen Feng remained in a deep state of cultivation. Seeing that surprised Bi Qing. After inspecting Chen Feng's situation for a moment, he became truly astounded.

I've always said that this kid has good luck. Looks like his talent for cultivation is also spectacular. To think that he would be able to cultivate his soulflame up to the vital flame realm at this cultivation level. This is truly a defiance of Heaven! 

“Vital flame!” Huo Yunlong was so shocked that he blurted aloud.

“How is this possible? Chen Feng is just an Earthen Immortal! I am a high-level Ascendant Immortal, but I have only just cultivated out my vital flame a hundred years ago. Am I mistaken?”

“You are not mistaken. It is indeed the vital flame. By cultivating out the vital flame, one's vitality would be greatly improved, extending one's life span. During critical junctures, it could also allow one to reincarnate. Generally speaking, only Ascendant Immortals would be able to do this. However, there are many cultivators in this world. It is only natural for some Heaven-defying figures to appear,” Bi Qing said coolly.

“Even in the Celestial Planes, such monstrous characters are surely a rarity, no?” Huo Yunlong had believed himself to be quite the cultivation genius. However, since meeting Chen Feng, his mind had taken hit after hit. This one, in particular, was an extremely serious blow.

“Truth be told, if you think about it, it is only normal. Chen Feng is from the Longevity Clan and he cultivates the Heavengulping Absorption Technique. He has absorbed the soul power of a True Immortal. By refining the soul power, he could make it his own. Thus, the rapid increase in his soul power is understandable.”

Heavengulping Absorption Technique. Right! I have the Demonic Heavengorging Art! I'll cultivate it right now! Huo Yunlong's eyes lit up and he began cultivating himself again.

It didn't take long before a wave of vitality spread out from Chen Feng. Everywhere it went, the lands would become rejuvenated. Withered gra.s.ses sprouted back up and all vegetation began growing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

After Chen Feng was done with his cultivation session, the surrounding mountain range, spanning a radius of 500 kilometres, had undergone a world-shaking transformation. Various types of vegetation grew, filled to the brim with vitality. In fact, many of the gra.s.ses ended up forming spirits. There was even a thick life force within the air. The ordinary beasts there ended up developing wisdom and they breathed in spiritual energy to cultivate themselves.

That was what was happening outside. As for Chen Feng, every cell in his body was filled with formidable life force. His longevity-type primary energy had also levelled up. His fleshly body became more densely packed and stronger. Chen Feng could sense that his life span had improved greatly. His mental faculties and rate of reaction improved to such a degree that it shocked even Chen Feng.

Finally, my soulflame has fully reached the vital flame realm. My life span has improved and my body is br.i.m.m.i.n.g with vitality. In truth, this is a life-changing transformation.

Looks like the soul power of the True Immortal that I absorbed played a big role in this. There are still some left inside the Longevity Tower. By refining all of them after I stabilize my level, I will be able to grow a little bit stronger.

1 li = 0.5 km