“You want to take advantage of us?” Man Niu immediately burst into a smile and his copper staff swung out to send the cultivators flying.
“If anyone else dares come over, do not blame us for being rude!” Chi Mingzi shouted as well.
“Friend, right now, we need to work together!” one of the cultivators shouted.
“In that case, you must listen to our instructions,” Chen Feng said.
“No way.”
“If that's how it is, then we'll just have to fight on separately. Let's see how long you fellows can last,” Chen Feng said with a derisive grin. The stone plate spun rapidly while a vortex appeared above his head. Large amounts of wood essence were devoured into the vortex as the vines were shredded.
For Chen Feng, who cultivated the Longevity Scripture, the wood essence were great supplementary items. Though, it was a pity. His other magic treasures could not be used. If it weren't for that, they would have been able to swiftly charge out.
“I am willing to work together with you fellows.” The arrogant, young cultivator with the stone sword fought his way over. Everywhere he went, all the vines would be cut down.
“Then, you will be responsible for this spot.” Chen Feng pointed, giving him the most dangerous spot there. However, the young swordsman charged forward without saying a word.
“Count me in!” A beefy cultivator wielding a golden hammer charged forward as well. While his cultivation techniques appeared highly unwieldy, every swing of the golden hammer caused golden light to flare out brilliantly and the vines were incapable of approaching him.
The other cultivators who were dissatisfied with Chen Feng's team subconsciously grouped up as well. Due to that, their combat power began rising and the number of vines began falling.
Finally, all of the vines were cleared.
But before they could feel delighted, a mountainous vine lashed towards them. Chen Feng's team swiftly evaded the vine while the others clenched their teeth as they tried to stop the vine, only to be swept apart.
Two thick whips suddenly swept out. While their attack patterns appeared simplistic, they actually contained grand dao laws and cosmic power. An attack from the whips sent the stone plate in Chen Feng's hand flying and cracks appeared on the stone plate. For Chen Feng, he felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
Man Niu and Chi Mingzi were forced to give ground as well, the flaming spear wailing, seemingly having sensed danger.
On the other hand, the young swordsman and beefy hammer wielder did not back down. Roaring, they rushed forward to attack.
Boom!
One of the cultivators had wanted to retreat only for the whips to target him. One of the whips struck him, smas.h.i.+ng his body to pieces.
“Everyone, don't panic! Now that it's come to this, we can only go all out!”
The two whips disappeared and a clump of cyan light appeared instead.
“It's a plant-type monster!”
“No, it is just a puppet containing the power of wood. It is similar to the stone man and flaming giant from earlier. Only, this one looks even stronger.”
“It will definitely be stronger. It has 108 Heavenly laws and a Wood Essence Crystalcore with seemingly limitless vitality. It is stronger than the flaming giant. This will be a tough battle.” Chen Feng shook his head.
“However, the cultivators here are no slouches. By working together, this should not be an issue,” Man Niu said with a grin.
“Humph! They're just a bunch of trash.” Chen Feng cast a contemptuous look at the other cultivators. His actions caused them to grow furious and a few of them swore. If it weren't for the fact that Chen Feng's team now had a total of five cultivators, those Heavenly Immortals would have rushed forward to kill off Chen Feng.
“One Divine artifact will not be enough to share between us all. This is troubling.” Chi Mingzi shook his head.
“We might get lucky and find even more treasures.” Man Niu was nonchalant about it.
“Attack!” After Chen Feng said that, light flashed before their eyes and a bout of dizziness a.s.sailed them all.
“An illusion technique!”
Two cyan-coloured combat puppets roared as they emerged from the halo of light. One attacked Chen Feng while the other attacked Man Niu.
“This illusion is not that strong. Fellows, let's work together and fight!” Chen Feng said, the stone plate transforming into a stream of light to slash down on one of the combat puppets.
Man Niu had also met the other combat puppet in battle.
Chi Mingzi, the young swordsman and beefy hammer wielder quickly rushed forward to help. The other cultivators, however, merely stood aside to watch them.
“The fools!” Chi Mingzi swore.
“Not fools, they're brain-dead. Guys, I can sense a foreboding sensation. We'll have to go all out this time.” Chen Feng kept giving ground, the stone plate in his hand wailing and shaking.
The two combat puppets were brandis.h.i.+ng wooden staffs, but the swings of the wooden staffs were so strong that even the stone plate was incapable of blocking them.
“Divine artifacts! The two wooden staffs are Divine artifacts!” The eyes of the Heavenly Immortals who were watching the fight from the side lines immediately turned red. They stopped watching from the side and pounced towards the two combat puppets instead. And so, the situation devolved into chaos.
Surface wise, Chen Feng appeared to be having an easier time, but he was secretly becoming apprehensive, highly so. The feeling of danger was becoming increasingly strong, so much so that Chen Feng could feel his scalp going numb. Looking around, he saw that only the young swordsman and Chi Mingzi had a grim look on their faces while the rest failed to sense anything wrong.
Chen Feng kept looking around. His Divine Eyes of Heavenly Insight was capable of seeing things that even Heavenly Immortals would miss. And yet, he could not find anything.
Finally, as Chen Feng's scalp was on the verge of breaking apart from the foreboding sensation, a cyan-coloured blade of light shot forward.
“Oh, no! Evade!” Chen Feng shouted, the Longevity Wings unfurling to rapidly flap. However, Chen Feng could feel a viscous power entangling him.
By then, everyone there had begun to panic. The appearance of the cyan blade of light gave them a feeling that their vitality would be cut down.
As Chen Feng was evading, he saw two Heavenly Immortals attempt to block the cyan blade of light only to be engulfed by it.
Idiots!
Chen Feng scoffed, the Longevity Wings flapping as fast as they could. This movement technique was capable of jumping through s.p.a.ce, ignoring s.p.a.cetime. At that very moment, however, Chen Feng was not feeling confident in his ability to evade.
The stone plate released a quaint-looking stream of light, which wrapped around him. But that was not all. The semi-transparent silhouette of the Longevity Tower also appeared around him.
Even with all that, Chen Feng felt like a normal human buffeted by a tsunami. He might end up getting ripped apart the very next moment. This feeling of not being able to grasp his own fate was simply too much to bear.
Only when a combat puppet finally charged towards him did he recollect himself. At the same time, he felt more at ease. Pus.h.i.+ng both hands forward, he stopped the combat puppet's attack.
The earlier wave of cyan light had seemingly affected the two combat puppets. One of them was cleaved into two and was presently furiously recovering its body.
Bang!
The stone plate defending Chen Feng was knocked aside while Chen Feng swiftly sent a punch forward, striking the combat puppet's body. To Chen Feng's surprise, this combat puppet had seemingly grown weaker.
Man Niu and Chi Mingzi rushed forward as well, surrounding the combat puppet to unleash a series of attack upon it.
With the disappearance of the cyan blade of light, the danger seemed to have pa.s.sed and the two combat puppets once again became the only life-threatening objects there.
“Something is not right. Why did it become so weak?” Man Niu also sensed something amiss.
“It could be due to the effect of the cyan light earlier.” Wielding the flaming spear, Chi Mingzi unleashed furious blows at the puppet.
The semi-transparent silhouette of the Longevity Tower had returned into Chen Feng's body while the Longevity Wings had become badly damaged. As for the stone plate, there was a high number of cracks on it. Chen Feng was very worried that this Divine artifact that they had only just obtained would be destroyed.
“I'll help!” The young swordsman had lost an arm, but his aura did not fall into a state of chaos. Rather, there was a determined look on his face. Brandis.h.i.+ng the stone sword, he charged into the fight. The beefy hammer wielder, on the other hand, was in a terribly battered state. Due to that, he had to focus on healing himself. There was simply no way for him to step forward and fight.
Bang!
The flaming spear pierced the combat puppet's body and Chen Feng made use of the opening to extract the Heavenly laws within the combat puppet.
“What's going on?” Chen Feng suddenly shouted, fury in his voice.
Seeing Chen Feng's display of fury left the others puzzled. They did not understand what just happened.
“There are only 81 Heavenly laws inside!” Chen Feng shouted.
“What?!”
Hearing that, Man Niu and the others were dumbfounded. Back then, this combat puppet clearly possessed 108 Heavenly laws. How could it decrease by so much in such a short amount of time?”
“And here I was, wondering why this fellow has become easier to handle. This is a good thing!” Man Niu laughed.
Chen Feng said nothing else about it. At present, the most important matter was to deal with this combat puppet. The four of them joined forces to quickly handle the situation.
As a new member of the team, the young swordsman also received part of the spoils.
On the other side, another four cultivators were besieging the other combat puppet. The rest, though, had been killed by the cyan wave of light.
Chen Feng's team exchanged glances before charging forward. They ravaged the other combat puppet, akin to the act of chopping up vegetables and most of the Heavenly laws within the combat puppet went to Chen Feng's team. Even the Wood Essence Crystalcore within it ended up with Chen Feng.
Seeing that enraged the other four cultivators to the extreme and they attacked Chen Feng's team. After exchanging blows several times, however, both sides backed away. This was not the time to be fighting each other to the death.
“The cyan blade of light from earlier is somewhat peculiar. A few more of those and we'll all die here,” Man Niu said, a lingering note of fear within his voice.
Chi Mingzi, the young swordsman and beefy hammer wielder nodded in agreement. Chen Feng, on the other hand, was pondering about the Heavenly laws that had disappeared from the bodies of the combat puppets.
“Say, could someone be secretly messing with us?” Chen Feng suddenly said.
“Surely not? If the other party possesses this level of power, they would be able to openly take action. Why do something like this?” Chi Mingzi said.
“We'll find out once we head forward.” Man Niu took the lead and moved forward. Now that the danger had pa.s.sed, there would surely be a harvest waiting for them.
It did not take long before they found a clump of bones. The bones appeared terribly withered, but there were still strands of power wafting out from the bones.
With the exception of Chen Feng, every one there was a Heavenly Immortal. After moving forward to inspect the bones, they were able to come up with some speculations.
“Looks like someone was indeed messing with us. It must be this fellow. His fleshly body has been destroyed, but he managed to escape, taking some Heavenly laws with him as he did. I wonder, though, are there any treasures here?”
“The cave ends here. How unexpected! There is nothing here.” Man Niu's face was somewhat ugly to behold.
“Something doesn't feel right.” Chen Feng utilized his eye technique to scan his surroundings over and over again, but he found nothing.
After pondering for a moment, Chen Feng then sent out a wisp of flames, which landed on the clump of bones. In but the blink of an eye, the clump of bones had been reduced to ash. In the end, an iron card, completely covered in mottled rust, appeared.
“What is this?”
Chen Feng was taken aback. Even though there were so many Heavenly Immortals there, none of them had managed to notice anything. And yet, the iron card had appeared after the bones were incinerated.