Once upon a time, the Soulgobbling Clan had been the most terrifying existence amongst all the Heaven-defying races. During that time, it had been the hegemon of the Celestial Planes. Later, however, the various Celestial Planes joined forces to besiege it, leading to the destruction of the Celestial Soulgobbling Plane, the homeworld of the Soulgobbling Clan. The clan itself was scattered, almost fully wiped out. From what Chen Feng knew of them, it had been tens of millions of years since there were any news of the Soulgobbling Clan. It would not be an exaggeration to say that this clan had been lost to the river of time and history.
Naturally, there was a reason as to why Chen Feng was certain it was the Soulgobbling Clan. He was someone who had cultivated out his vital flame. More, he also cultivated the Soul Subduing Mantra. And yet, the other party had still nearly succeeded in sucking away his soul. Not to forget, Chen Feng also cultivated the Heavengulping Absorption Technique and Demonic Heavengorging Art. Thanks to these two Heaven-defying cultivation techniques, it had always been Chen Feng taking the role of devourer. This time, however, he was nearly devoured. While it did trigger emotions of rage within him, there were more emotions of wariness.
There were also the series of signs that had appeared as his soul was in the process of getting devoured. Add the fact that the Longevity Tower had to take action, the name Soulgobbling Clan appeared in Chen Feng's sea of wisdom. The thought then grew uncontrollably.
Chen Feng had not actually seen the other party or even make contact with them, but he was already certain that the other party was a member of the Soulgobbling Clan.
As Chen Feng flew forward, the semi-transparent silhouette of the Longevity Tower flew out from his glabella before rapidly expanding in size to encase the Bedazzling Star Map. With the a.s.sistance of the Longevity Tower, the speed of the Bedazzling Star Map increased greatly. With a few flashes, it jumped through s.p.a.ce several times. It was unknown just how far it had travelled.
Finally, Chen Feng managed to lock down on an obscure aura. It was this aura that had nearly sucked his soul away.
For all living creatures, having their souls devoured was even more unbearable than death. This was how the Soulgobbling Clan was able to become a hegemon amongst all the Heaven-defying races. Their innate magical ability was simply too overbearing, too much of a defiance of Heaven. It could actually devour the souls of those that were of a higher level, even those from the other Heaven-defying races. Their abilities allowed the weaker cultivator to defeat the stronger cultivator. At any rate, the number of Heaven-defying cultivators with soul-type qualities was quite small.
Back then, many geniuses from the various Celestial Planes ended up dying to the magical abilities of the Soulgobbling Clan. As time went by, prolonged conflict eventually led to the combined siege from the other Celestial Planes.
And now that Chen Feng had encountered a cultivator from the Soulgobbling Clan, he had to catch up to the cultivator. More, he also wanted to see for himself the soul power of this cultivator.
“Tower, what is the other party's cultivation base?” Chen Feng secretly asked.
“True Immortal.”
Hearing that, Chen Feng breathed a sigh of relief. The other party was a True Immortal while he was only an Earthen Immortal. Thus, having his soul nearly sucked away earlier was not a shameful thing. If Chen Feng was also at the True Immortal stage, he would be able to easily kill off this opponent.
“Though, it seems the other party had only used a portion of his power. Still, no need to worry about that. If the two of you are on the same level, that guy is definitely no match for you. But now, without my aid, not even having pseudo-Divine artifacts can stop him from devouring your soul.” Tower snickered.
“What if those True Immortals end up b.u.mping into him?” Chen Feng pondered for a moment before asking.
“They'd most definitely all die.”
“Just now, you mentioned that the other guy only used a portion of his power. Could he also be taking action against the True Immortals?”
“Possible. However, the Dark Kirin is also a True Immortal. The way I see it, the other party was targeting the magic treasures on you.”
“Found him!"
Chen Feng's figure flashed to re-appear on a broken planet. Huo Yunlong and the Dark Kirin remained inside the Bedazzling Star Map. Instantly, Chen Feng felt his soul throbbing and stormy waves rose up from his sea of wisdom. That was despite the protection of the pseudo-Divine artifacts and the Longevity Tower.
“I managed to find him so easily?” There was a slight look of surprise on Chen Feng's face as he regarded the cultivator in black robes standing before him.
“A minor cultivator from the Longevity Clan who owns a Longevity Tower. No wonder you can stop my Soulgobbling Technique. If our levels are the same, I would be incapable of dealing with you. But now, your soul is mine!”
The cultivator in black robes did not have a large stature, but he was as steady as a mountain and as profound as the ocean. The atmosphere he emanated a.s.sailed Chen Feng with great ferocity. He could even sense killing intent there. With that, Chen Feng could swiftly tell that this black-clad cultivator was different from the other True Immortals that he had encountered in the past. Furthermore, just his voice was enough to cause Chen Feng's mind to shake. If it weren't for the protection of his magic treasures, his voice alone could have thrown Chen Feng's sea of wisdom into chaos, if not destruction.
The Soulgobbling Clan is so powerful? Looks like the stories about them were not an exaggeration. Chen Feng dared not act carelessly. With a swing, the Upright Heaven Sword appeared in his grasp and a grand and upright energy bolstered him, transforming his aura entirely.
“Come!” The black-clad cultivator walked towards Chen Feng, one step at a time. Every step he took would cause strange ripples and invisible runes to spread out. In an instant, he arrived before Chen Feng, his gaze suppressing Chen Feng's mind. At the same time, his palm stretched out to grab Chen Feng.
His palm could clearly be seen. And yet, his five fingers were vibrating non-stop, displaying a dizziness-inducing magic.
Next, the black-clad cultivator's palm grabbed hold of Chen Feng's shoulder only for a sword to shoot out from Chen Feng's body. It was a sharp sword beam. The power of carnage spilling out from the sword beam shocked the black-clad cultivator and he reflexively retreated.
Two waves of sword light, one from the Upright Heaven Sword and the other from the Immortal Slaughter Sword, criss-crossed one another before slas.h.i.+ng towards the black-clad cultivator, leaving minor spatial cracks in their wake.
The black-clad cultivator's eyes narrowed and two vortexes spun rapidly within his pupils before firing out streams of light, which struck the sword beams. Without creating a sound, both the streams of light and sword beams disappeared at the same time.
“The innate abilities of the Soulgobbling Clan are indeed very strong. However, their fleshly bodies should be relatively weaker in comparison. Are you so confident in your ability to so easily stomach me? Or did you lose your sense of reasoning due to your greed?” After saying that, Chen Feng waved his hand and a clump of starlight floated up above his head. Next, starlight scattered about to envelop Chen Feng's body, the Upright Heaven Sword and Immortal Slaughter Sword in each hand.
The black-clad cultivator said nothing as he regarded Chen Feng. In truth, however, his heart was in a state of turmoil. He had been cultivating for millions of years now. And yet, he had never encountered a cultivator like Chen Feng before. Even though Chen Feng had the protection of magic treasures, his cultivation base was too low. Normally, the black-clad cultivator would only need one blow to take down a cultivator at Chen Feng's level.
Weng!
An invisible wave of energy fluctuations made its way through void s.p.a.ce as two streams of power swirled towards the black-clad cultivator.
“Eh!”
Chen Feng's eyes lit up and he immediately took action. The Longevity Tower shook slightly as it released a devouring force to absorb one of the two streams of power heading towards the black-clad cultivator.
The other stream of power was absorbed by the black-clad cultivator.
“You're courting death!”
Chen Feng's actions caused killing intent to spill out from the black-clad cultivator's eyes and he stretched his hands all of a sudden to grasp, causing the surrounding s.p.a.ce to shake. Due to that, Chen Feng felt his sea of wisdom shaking and his soul flame also began flickering uncontrollably.
“Humph! This trick of yours can devour other True Immortals, but it is useless against me.” At that very moment, there was a Soul Subduing Talisman safeguarding Chen Feng's sea of wisdom. The talisman shone brightly to illuminate the whole sea of wisdom and the soul attacks that the black-clad cultivator fired out would all be melted by the light upon entering Chen Feng's sea of wisdom.
“Hold up. I think we should talk about this,” Chen Feng said with a smile.
“You want to talk? Fine, hand over the soul power!” The black-clad cultivator's eyes flashed with light.
“It's first come, first serve. The soul power of True Immortals is a good item.” Chen Feng shook his head. He was secretly feeling shocked. Even though this black-clad cultivator was facing him, he could still divert part of his attention to devour the souls of the other True Immortals. Won't he be able to instantly kill off most of the True Immortals then?
“I'll give you one way to live.” After having absorbed a portion of the True Immortals' soul power, the black-clad cultivator's aura grew even stronger.
“Tell me about it,” Chen Feng said.
“Hand over the pseudo-Divine artifacts on you and you can leave.”
“Are you not afraid that I will expose your whereabouts? The whereabouts of a member of the Soulgobbling Clan, the public enemy of the entire Celestial Planes?”
“To be saying that, looks like you want to die here.
“Sealing Pillar of Eight Paths!”
Boom!
Surprisingly, eight stone pillars appeared around them. There were various mysterious-looking patterns drawn on the pillars and each pillar was different from the rest. The eight pillars sealed up the surrounding s.p.a.ce while chains connected each of them. And while Chen Feng said nothing about it, he was in a state of high alert.
These eight stone pillars contain True laws and the blood and sweat of a True Immortal. Forcibly charging out will likely be impossible. That said, it will still be difficult for him to do anything to me, Chen Feng thought. The Bedazzling Star Map above his head shone with even greater radiance. At the same time, the Primary Spirit Diagram of First Origin's power also flowed out to support Chen Feng. Add the secret support of the Longevity Tower, Chen Feng was not worried that this opponent would be able to break through his defence.
“In addition to the Longevity Tower, you actually have two other pseudo-Divine artifacts. Do you not know how dangerous the outside world can be?” the black-clad cultivator said, the eight stone pillars around them shaking at the same time. Roaring sounds charged out and light flashed as a black-coloured yao beast emerged from one of the stone pillars.
It was a black panther. All Chen Feng saw was a black flash before a formidable power acted upon his body, causing his energy s.h.i.+eld to tremble.
“Prior to its death, this Demonic Phantom Panther was a Yao Emperor. Its strong points are its strength and speed,” the black-clad cultivator said with a sinister tone.
“A Yao Emperor. Not bad. However, it is not strong enough to break my defence.” Chen Feng then swung to fire out wave after wave of sword beams at it. However, all of them were shattered into nothingness the moment they struck the Demonic Phantom Panther's body.
That said, the attacks did manage to slow it down. Next, the Chaos Chain rapidly flew out to seal up s.p.a.ce and bind this Yao Emperor.
Roar!
The Demonic Phantom Panther had already died. This panther in front of Chen Feng was a war soul created using a special technique. In fact, it could display a power exceeding that of when it was alive.
As Chen Feng was thinking of collecting the panther, a sky-shaking roar rang out from beside Chen Feng, shocking him. Another stream of light then emerged from one of the stone pillars.