However, the power behind Chen Feng's punch shattered the countless fist silhouettes. Due to the power of the punch, True Immortal Illusion grunted before his figure was sent flying. He then turned and attempted to flee.
Sou!
The Longevity Wings on Chen Feng's back flapped as he pursued True Immortal Illusion. Another punch from him then smashed True Immortal Illusion to the ground. Following that, Chen Feng unleashed a series of blows to finally blow up True Immortal Illusion's body. The resulting streams of energy were all devoured by Chen Feng.
Outside…
True Immortal Illusion's real body was fighting against True Immortal Thundercloud. In fact, he held the upper hand in the fight. Just as he was about to finish off True Immortal Thundercloud, though, his figure froze and his aura fell into a state of chaos. His face contorted from the extremely unbearable sensation. Seeing that, True Immortal Thundercloud laughed and began counter attacking. After exchanging blows a few times, True Immortal Illusion was struck. With a wretched cry, he then fled. His figure flashed several times before disappearing from sight.
“A pity. Worthy of the status of True Immortal. I was unable to completely devour the soul power that is inside his body.” Chen Feng's soul body, inside the pseudo-Divine artifact, felt a tinge of regret.
By borrowing the power of the pseudo-Divine artifact, Chen Feng had managed to devour a great deal of soul power. Additionally, they were the souls of a half-step True Immortal and a True Immortal, high-quality souls. For Chen Feng, this was a chance that could only come once in a blue moon. With the soul power he had obtained, his own soul power could grow at least 10 times stronger. Most importantly, the quality of his soul power would rise as well. Naturally, some time was needed to refine and temper the soul power to make the power his own.
“All right, Tower. Let's take control of this pseudo-Divine artifact. Naturally, it would be even better if you can simply devour it.” Chen Feng's cultivation base had improved greatly. Thus, he wanted the Longevity Tower to devour this pseudo-Divine artifact to increase its power.
Outside…
“What happened inside?” True Immortal Thundercloud asked, looking at the cultivators there.
Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!
The half-step True Immortals exchanged glances before unanimously moving forward to surround Bi Qing and Huo Yunlong.
“Fellows, what is the meaning of this?” Huo Yunlong said with a sneer.
“What do we mean?” Yan Kong retorted. His eyes were filled with hostility as he secretly prepared his killer move.
“You three planned this long ago, didn't you? We sure underestimated you fellows this time. To think that the brat from the Longevity Clan could keep his abilities so well hidden.”
“Restrain these two fellows first! We can use them to threaten Chen Feng later.”
“Attack!”
There were five half-step True Immortals left. Only, due to the damage inflicted upon their souls back then, their combat powers had plummeted. That said, they had the advantage in numbers. Thus, it was very difficult for Bi Qing and Huo Yunlong to deal with them.
Feeling anxious, Huo Yunlong instantly activated his Seed of the Fire Essence to push his combat power to the max.
Seeing a battle on the verge of erupting, True Immortal Thundercloud pondered for a moment. Next, his eyes flashed and a strand of his soul power flew into the small mountain.
“This is!” After entering the pseudo-Divine artifact, True Immortal Thundercloud did not even get the chance to a.s.sess his surroundings before a stream of light flashed before him. Chen Feng appeared, a smile on his face.
“Senior, please go out,” Chen Feng said with a smile.
“Kid, aren't you too greedy here? You want to take this pseudo-Divine artifact for yourself? If you overdo it, your stomach will burst,” True Immortal Thundercloud said.
“There is no need for you to worry about that. I believe senior must have seen what happened to True Immortal Illusion,” Chen Feng said smilingly. He then waved his hand and flames danced before bursting outwards to finally envelop his whole body. The flames raged about, like a great furnace burning within the darkness.
“Vital flame!”
True Immortal Thundercloud was shocked to see that Chen Feng could cultivate out the vital flame at the Earthen Immortal stage. He was even more shocked to see how powerful the vital flame was.
“Looks like senior wants to fight me,” Chen Feng said with a smile, the flames burning across his body becoming even more violent. Chen Feng's body, formed with his divine sense, was a notch bigger than True Immortal Thundercloud's body. The atmosphere of pressure True Immortal Thundercloud felt caused him to secretly frown.
“If we're outside, I would definitely be no match for senior. But here, I call the shots.”
True Immortal Thundercloud quickly considered the issue. Then, without saying a word, his figure flashed to disappear from the small mountain.
He had swiftly weighed the pros and cons of the present situation. Thus, he decisively chose to retreat. He would deal with Chen Feng once he emerged.
Heh! If it weren't for the fact that I cannot afford to be distracted right now, your soul power is not even enough for my appet.i.te. Chen Feng scoffed and the flames around him dispersed, disappearing into the air. He then sat down cross-legged. The semi-transparent silhouette of the Longevity Tower appeared and it took action to collect the pseudo-Divine artifact.
After some time, a strand of divine light was suddenly formed and it shot into Chen Feng's fleshly body in a flash.
That was divine-tier power, something that the Longevity Tower had stripped away from the pseudo-Divine artifact. The strand of divine-tier power entered the Void Maelstrom, a top-grade Immortal artifact. Although it did not instantly level up from that, obtaining the strand of divine-tier power laid the foundation for it, allowing for a greater development in the future.
Sou!
The second strand of divine-tier power entered the Upright Heaven Sword.
The third strand of divine-tier power entered the Chaos Chain.
The fourth strand of divine-tier power entered the Hex Sceptre.
As strand after strand of divine-tier power flowed out, the power of the pseudo-Divine artifact rapidly fell. It was the work of the Longevity Tower.
“Tower, you sure are ruthless.” Chen Feng chuckled.
“If I am strong enough, would I have to go through all this trouble? I would've just blown it up,” Tower said disdainfully.
“You sure know how to talk. If I am strong enough, everything will be easier as well.”
Outside…
Bi Qing and Huo Yunlong were already displaying their full might. Even so, it was still a one-sided battle. They were simply no match for the half-step True Immortals.
After emerging, True Immortal Thundercloud then walked towards Chen Feng's real body.
“Senior, you are taking advantage of the situation here.” Chen Feng still had half of his soul power in his real body. Seeing True Immortal Thundercloud moving over, he knew what was on his mind.
Truth be told, Chen Feng was not feeling too concerned about it. If it came down to it, he could simply hide himself inside the Longevity Tower.
“In the face of a pseudo-Divine artifact, everything can be tossed aside,” True Immortal Thundercloud said.
“You would even discard your dao heart?”
“Dao heart? For my dao heart, might is everything.”
“Looks like you are suffering from cultivation deviation.”
The two of them fired words at one another. Seeing that, Bi Qing and Huo Yunlong grew anxious, but they were unable to free themselves. Due to that, they grew even more anxious.
“True Immortal Thundercloud, you are a True Immortal, after all! Are you really going to take action against a minor Earthen Immortal?” Huo Yunlong shouted.
“He is not an ordinary Earthen Immortal!”
“Are you really going to attack? Senior, you should consider this through.” Chen Feng waved his hand and the Hex Sceptre appeared in his grip. Hex power swirled around and an even stronger aura emerged.
“The power of a Divine artifact! No, it is the power of a pseudo-Divine artifact. You extracted the power of the pseudo-Divine artifact? How is that even possible?” True Immortal Thundercloud was utterly astounded. Suddenly, his eyes shone and realization dawned.
“The Longevity Tower. It's the Longevity Tower! The real Longevity Tower!” No one there knew what True Immortal Thundercloud meant, but Chen Feng knew that True Immortal Thundercloud had figured out the Longevity Tower's background.
“That's right!” Chen Feng nodded. He then waved the Hex Sceptre and invisible hex power spread out. Only, before reaching True Immortal Thundercloud, it seemingly hit a wall, incapable of advancing anymore.
Woah! Woah!
The Chaos Chain flew out as well. It moved about around Chen Feng, intertwining one another as it spread outwards. The power of chaos and hex combined to give off an even greater atmosphere of oppression.
“These little tricks are useless against me.” True Immortal Thundercloud finally took action. He was already planning to take action. However, upon learning the truth about the Longevity Tower, he grew even more determined to take action.
He grasped and s.p.a.ce exploded. The formidable shockwaves created by his move caused the Chaos Chain to shake, giving Chen Feng a feeling that this was an una.s.sailable opponent.
“Chaos!”
Chen Feng bellowed and the Chaos Chain swirled around like a dragon. Popping sounds rang out as it brought forth the divine-tier power that was poured into it earlier. Due to that, the Chaos Chain became several times stronger. Its movements created ripples in the air to unravel True Immortal Thundercloud's power.
“Hex!”
Chen Feng bellowed again and hex power condensed into an invisible sword. It also contained the power of wind and lightning. With an explosive sound, it arced through the air to arrive before True Immortal Thundercloud.
True Immortal Thundercloud responded by opening his mouth to send a stream of energy forward, shattering the sword. Next, he grabbed the Chaos Chain, like how one would catch a small snake.
“A True Immortal indeed!” Chen Feng said with a smile. There wasn't a hint of concern on his face.
“What other moves do you have?” After catching the Chaos Chain, True Immortal Thundercloud's other hand made yet another grasping motion at the Hex Sceptre in Chen Feng's hand.
Weng! Weng! Weng!
Suddenly, the Chaos Chain struggled violently before las.h.i.+ng out with lightning-like speed to send True Immortal Thundercloud tumbling backwards.
Chen Feng then leapt forward. Wielding the Chaos Chain, he performed a sudden tug with it and the Chaos Chain a.s.sumed the form of a circle before flying forward to restrain True Immortal Thundercloud.
As the battle outside raged, the changes to the pseudo-Divine artifact became even more p.r.o.nounced. Strands of divine-tier power were stripped out and placed inside Chen Feng's body, where they were sent into the various magic treasures there. The power of the pseudo-Divine artifact fell drastically. In the end, the small mountain itself began collapsing and the materials used to forge the mountain were devoured by the Longevity Tower to increase its power.
This was akin to slowly boiling the live frog. Although somewhat slow, its effects were remarkable.
Bang!
Huo Yunlong was finally incapable of holding on. The time limit for his Seed of the Fire Essence's power had arrived and his cultivation base fell back to the high-level Ascendant Immortal stage. Due to that, he became less capable of facing the half-step True Immortals.
Bang!
Bi Qing was incapable of holding on as well. In a one-on-one fight, Bi Qing was not afraid of them. But his opponents had the numerical advantage. The fact that he could endure this long was already a remarkable feat.
Chen Feng beckoned with his hand and both Bi Qing and Huo Yunlong were drawn into the Longevity Tower at the same time. Next, two strands of divine-tier power entered their bodies.
“Brother Huo, don't say I have no sense of camaraderie. This is the essence power of a pseudo-Divine artifact. By refining it or using it on a magic treasure, I am sure you know just how much it will benefit you.” Chen Feng's voice rang out within the Longevity Tower.