Seeing Chen Feng slowly move away from the group, the level 5 Concealed stage cultivator's eyes glinted and he slowly followed Chen Feng. As for the wrapped-up level 1 Concealed stage cultivators, he had long since let them go. They were once again left in a dangerous predicament.

Such was the temporary alliance of loose cultivators. The moment something popped up, they would split up and go their separate ways.

Heh! This fellow is secretly following me. What could he be planning? Chen Feng had already discovered the level 5 Concealed stage cultivator following him.

If he plans on harming me, I don't mind killing him off. Thought Chen Feng with a sneer. He did not view the cultivator as a threat at all.

"Eh? What is that aura?" Chen Feng, who was rapidly moving forward, suddenly halted his movements. He spread out his divine sense to secretly perceive his surroundings.

A vast, profound, lofty and unthinkable aura was spreading out from afar. It gave Chen Feng a certain feeling of familiarity.

"This aura resembles the one Tower displayed when he spoke for the first time," said Chen Feng after pondering it for some time.

Weng! Weng! Weng!

Suddenly, Chen Feng felt ripples spreading out from down under. The surrounding mud began churning while the mud at some places burst to a height of tens of metres into the air.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

Three red beams shot out from the side of a mud pool, heading right at Chen Feng. Those were the attacks from Mud Lizards hiding beneath the mud pool.

"Courting death!"

Chen Feng growled as beam after beam flashed out and the three long tongues were cut. The tongues wriggled for a bit before slipping back into the mud.

The aura came from up ahead. It seems there really is an immortal mansion emerging. Having reached that line of thought, Chen Feng stopped hesitating. A faint sword light glowed upwards to encompa.s.s his whole body and he quickly flew up. When the vile astral winds met the layer of sword light, they were immediately cut into pieces. The sword light was a product of the Overwhelming Astral Sword. Thus, blocking off the vile astral winds became a piece of cake.

As time pa.s.sed, Chen Feng's strength grew and he became more proficient in using this Prized artefact. Chen Feng had a feeling. If he could have more time to familiarize himself with the sword, he would be able to unleash its full power.

Seeing Chen Feng fly up, the cultivator tailing him grew shocked.

"The kid was truly hiding his strength. However, his cultivation base is too low. He is simply borrowing the power of a magic treasure. That magic treasure is at least a grade 6 Magic artefact. This is a good opportunity. Later, I can take advantage of the chaos to s.n.a.t.c.h it."

Despite having flown forward through tens of li, Chen Feng failed to find Ye Ziming and Lu Ta. Meanwhile, there was a cultivator tailing him. Thus, Chen Feng felt irritated and began considering stopping his advance to finish off his tail. However, the ripples of aura coming from up front was gradually growing stronger and Chen Feng was unable to resist the allure of an emerging immortal mansion (1 li = 0.5 km).

As Chen Feng was feeling conflicted, a change occurred to the earthen mound that the cultivators from Sword Tower and Jade Talisman Court had cordoned off.

The earthen mound, 100 metres in height, suddenly shook. The powerful ripples of energy it radiated sent the cultivators from Sword Tower and Jade Talisman Court flying away. Some of them were unlucky enough to be sucked in and reduced to ashes.

Pa! Pa! Pa! Pa!

The restrictive barriers that Sword Tower and Jade Talisman Court set up around the place were immediately broken, like dried twigs.

"This is bad! Retreat! Hurry up and retreat into the distance!"

"A change is happening to the immortal mansion. Could it be about to open up?"

Cultivators from the two sects shouted out ceaselessly. There were nervousness, excitement and fear in their faces.

"Look! The earthen mound is rising up!" Someone suddenly noticed the change happening to the earthen mound.

Rumble! Rumble!

The 100-metre earthen mound kept rising upwards. It was seemingly growing out from the earth. As the earthen mound kept rising higher, the surrounding mud pools began churning and the stench from the sticky mud sprayed up incessantly. It felt as though a tsunami had arrived. Even the Mud Lizards hiding within the mud were roaring as they fell out from their hiding spots. Of course, the majority of the yao beasts were knocked unconscious by the sudden shockwaves emitted by the earthen mound.

Mighty shockwave after shockwave spread out into the surroundings and it did not take long for the entire Blackwind Marshes to quake. Even the areas beyond Blackwind Marshes were quaking.

"It is causing too much of a ruckus. I fear the entire Northern Plains will be roused by this." The leaders from Sword Tower and Jade Talisman Court exchanged glances and realized that the situation had spiralled beyond their grasp.

"Now that the restrictive barriers are broken, the other cultivators will come soon. News of this will probably spread throughout our entire Northern Plains in less than a day. In fact, even the cultivators from beyond our Northern Plains might be lured over."

…

"A mountain is rising up ahead!" Chen Feng flew swiftly as he regarded the distant rising earthen mound.

"Impressive. In just one breath's worth of time, it has risen by several metres. Could that be the immortal mansion?" A voice suddenly spoke from beside Chen Feng's ear.

Chen Feng was immediately stunned. Jerking his head, he saw that a chubby old man had suddenly appeared beside him. The old man's face was ruddy without a single wrinkle. Both his eyes were narrow and they formed two lines on his face. His hair was dishevelled and he wore a voluminous, grey-coloured robe. The old man was smiling at Chen Feng.

This old man is not to be underestimated. Chen Feng thought to himself. He was incapable of determining the old man's cultivation state.

"You are?" Chen Feng carefully asked.

"Little fellow, you are something else. Even though you have only opened up your 1st sea of wisdom layer, you could already condense out Soulflame. Tsk tsk! I have never met such a talent before. To think that I could encounter such a talent right after finishing my cultivation retreat. How about it, kid? Are you interested in becoming my disciple? I guarantee that you can reach the Sky Human stage in the shortest time possible." The chubby old man chuckled as he looked at Chen Feng.

Hearing the old man's words, Chen Feng felt both shocked and amused. Shocked because this old man had been able to determine his cultivation state and amused because this old man wanted Chen Feng to become his disciple the moment they met.

Besides, let him reach Sky Human stage in the shortest time possible? For Chen Feng, those words were a big joke. At present, Chen Feng was just at level 1 of the Concealed stage. There were nine levels more to go before reaching the Sky Human stage. Not to mention, the further he went, the harder it would be for him.

I think not even Immortal Humans would dare utter those words, no? Chen Feng secretly sneered.

"How should I address elder?" Despite the criticize he was secretly giving; Chen Feng maintained a respectful look. After all, for the old man to silently appear beside him, the old man must certainly be an expert.

"How is it, kid? Have you agreed to take me as your master? You have vision, kid! We can do away with the ceremony. From this moment on, you are my disciple and I am your master," the chubby old man said quickly.

"Eh, about that." Chen Feng founded himself somewhat dumbfounded by the situation. He did not even know where this old man had come from. Yet, this old man wanted to take him as a disciple.

"Come, take this. This is a gift to mark our first meeting." As he spoke, the chubby old man shoved a bottle of medicinal pills into Chen Feng's hand.

"This is?" Chen Feng stared with a slightly blank look at the jade bottle in his hand.

"Keep it first. Let's go. Your master will take you to go check out the immortal mansion in front. If we can really get immortal serendipity, there will be hope for us master disciple to become immortals." Having said that, the chubby old man pulled Chen Feng's arm. Next, like a blast of wind, they flew into the distance.

Seeing his arm caught before he could mount a response, Chen Feng grew shocked. He struggled heavily only to find the old man's grip as firm as a mountain. There was no possibility of him extricating himself. Next, he felt as though he was riding the clouds as they flew forward. Winds whistled past his ears and he was incapable of even clearly making out the moving panorama beneath his feet. Everything felt like a blur.

"So fast!" Chen Feng grew even more shocked. This speed was several times faster compared to his speed when riding a flying sword.

Could he be a Sky Human stage cultivator? But, why toy around with me? Chen Feng dared not believe that this chubby old man truly wanted to accept him as a disciple.

At that moment, however, the old man's cultivation base was far higher than his. Thus, struggling was useless. Chen Feng had no choice but to calm down and wait for future developments.

"Eh? They disappeared? That old man who suddenly appeared, who is he?" The cultivator who was tailing Chen Feng was dumbfounded as well. He had wanted to attack Chen Feng to s.n.a.t.c.h away his magic treasure. Unexpectedly, when the old man pulled Chen Feng, they suddenly disappeared from sight. Faced with the situation, the cultivator found himself at a loss.

…

"We've arrived."

In but a few breaths' worth of time, the chubby old man who was pulling Chen Feng along with him stopped. Only around 10 li remained between them and the suddenly rising earthen mound. Chen Feng could feel a vast aura blowing his way. Involuntarily, he began to tremble. Were it not for the fact that the chubby old man was holding him, Chen Feng would probably had cried out.

"This is an immortal mansion?" Chen Feng was unable to stop himself from asking as he regarded the earthen mound, which was constantly rising higher and higher.

By then, the earthen mound was over 1,000 metres high. Although it was continuously rising, it actually looked somewhat normal. The earthen mound up front now looked like a mountain.

"It is uncertain if this is an immortal mansion or nor. However, this is no simple matter." At that moment, the smile on the chubby old man's face had disappeared. Both his eyes were solemn as he observed the rising mountain. His eyes glowed with light and it seemed he was pondering something.

Chen Feng wanted to leave. However, the old man's palm was gripping him tightly, leaving him helpless.

"Brother Chen, what is going on? Who is that old man?" A voice suddenly made its way into Chen Feng's ear. It was Ye Ziming's voice.

"Yea, how did you end up getting caught?" Lu Ta's voice rang out as well.

Chen Feng glanced around and saw Ye Ziming and Lu Ta mixed in amongst a crowd of cultivators. They were looking at him with puzzled expressions.

"Should we attack?" Ye Ziming asked using vocal transmission again.

"I am all right. Don't ever attack! I am currently doing really fine. Also, don't use vocal transmission to communicate with me for now. Observe the situation first." Chen Feng hastily sent a vocal transmission to the two.

What a joke! This old man holding him was likely an expert at the Sky Human stage. It was unlikely for Ye Ziming and Lu Ta's vocal transmissions to remain hidden before him.

Chen Feng gave the chubby old man a glance. As expected, he saw the corners of the old man's mouth curling up into an ambiguous smile. It would appear that he had discovered the words exchanged between him and Ye Ziming.

Just what is this old man planning? Surely, he won't be using me as a shield? Chen Feng cried out inwardly.