“What an overbearing sword energy! What kind of sword technique is that?” Seeing that, the eyes of the Heavenly Immortals from the Six Daos Sword Faction widened. Their sect was famed for their sword techniques. Their sect guardian treasure was a peerless sword technique, the Six Daos Sword Codex. Seeing the sword techniques that Chen Feng displayed, they grew even more interested in Chen Feng.

“Can you guys recognize what sword technique he is using?”

“No. He must have created it himself. However, he must have used a certain other sword technique as a base.” 

“To be able to create a sword technique like this, his comprehension of the dao of the sword is very high. If he is sincere in wanting to join our sect, letting him study the Six Daos Sword Codex is not out of the question.”

“I am of the same opinion.”

On Chen Feng's end, his face finally turned serious. The thick tribulation clouds had finally disappeared, replaced by a ma.s.sive palm silhouette. Faint-golden light flowed across the surface of the palm silhouette, coating it and making it impossible to get a clear view of the palm. However, the oppressive atmosphere of power that it brought forth caused Chen Feng's scalp to tingle.

“The Hand of Heaven! That's the Hand of Heaven!” The Heavenly Immortals who had been secretly observing the tribulation cried out loud. They swiftly retracted their divine senses. Some other cultivators who had been standing close to the tribulation dashed away at lightning-like speed.

So, the danger comes from this Hand of Heaven. Chen Feng nodded. Now that he knew, he no longer felt fearful. The most terrifying thing was an unknown danger.

Cultivators who end up facing the Hand of Heaven during their tribulations are all peerless geniuses that would only appear once in ten thousand years. Looks like I fit the bill. Chen Feng revealed a self-deprecating smile. Curling up, his body then flexed to release a pulse of unparalleled power. Following that, he shouted and raised both his hands to take on the Hand of Heaven head on.

The ma.s.sive golden palm slammed heavily against the ground, quaking it to send shockwaves into its surroundings. Everywhere the shockwaves went, the ground would split apart and mountains would break and collapse. The magic arrays that Chen Feng set up beforehand were only capable of holding on for half a breath's worth of time before breaking apart completely.

“This is bad! Hurry, take action!”

Despite their shock at seeing the Hand of Heaven earlier, the Heavenly Immortals had originally decided against doing anything. But seeing the rampaging shockwaves, they had no choice but to set up thick barriers to stop the shockwaves. Who knows just how badly the mountain range would be damaged if the shockwaves were allowed to continue?

“How is Chen Qing?”

After the Heavenly Tribulation was over, their thoughts flew back to Chen Feng and they all revealed a look of uncertainty.

“Given how strong the Hand of Heaven was, even a mid-level Heavenly Immortal would have been incapable of stopping it. Taking it head on would only result in death. Additionally, it would appear that Chen Qing did not utilize any magic treasures for that.”

“Sigh! A genius that might not even appear once in ten thousand years have died to the Heavenly Tribulation. A pity, a pity!” Some of them shook their heads and sighed.

“Yes. He was too reckless. Why did he decide to so carelessly undergo his tribulation?”

“Who knows what kind of Heaven-defying cultivation technique he cultivated? He could actually trigger such a formidable Heavenly Tribulation.”

It had been a long time after the Heavenly Tribulation ended, but Chen Feng's aura was still absent. Due to that, they all a.s.sumed that Chen Feng had died.

“Eh, hold on! I sense a hint of energy!” a high-level Heavenly Immortal said before arriving at the very spot that Chen Feng used to undergo his tribulation.

The ma.s.sive palm had utterly flattened the ground there, turning it as hard as iron. However, there was a circular hole there. The hints of life the Heavenly Immortal sensed had come from this hole. When the rest of the Heavenly Immortals arrived, a formidable wave of life force surged out from the hole. The strength of the life force was such that it attracted the attention of all the Heavenly Immortals.

Sou!

With a flash, Chen Feng appeared before them all. And while his clothes were somewhat ragged, his body was upright and filled with strength. The look in his eyes gave them quite the impression.

Is this still a mid-level True Immortal? All of them cried inwardly. Given the combat power that Chen Feng displayed, he could already stand on equal terms with them all.

“Greetings, seniors!” Chen Feng said, neither humility nor arrogance in his tone.

“Ha ha ha! No need to stand on ceremony here. You're Chen Qing, right? With your level of strength, you can already stand on equal terms with us. I don't care where you are from. All I have to ask is this, do you sincerely want to join our Six Daos Sword Faction?” The one who spoke up was a high-level Heavenly Immortal. Chen Feng knew him. His name was Sword Premier Golden Light. He was truly a high-ranking member of the Six Daos Sword Faction.

Chen Feng hesitated for a moment before deciding to be honest about it. “I will not hide it from fellow seniors. The real reason I entered the Six Daos Sword Faction is so that I can evade the murderous pursuit of my enemy.”

None of the Heavenly Immortals were surprised to hear that. It would seem they had guessed this long ago.

“Even though our Six Daos Sword Faction's strength has declined, our sect still maintains quite the fame in the entire Immortal Plane. Which force does your enemy belong to? Perhaps, our Six Daos Sword Faction would be able to help resolve the issue.” After hearing Chen Feng's words, they did not attempt to take on the issue immediately. Instead, they tried to get to the bottom of it first.  

“I'm sorry, but I cannot reveal it, lest I bring trouble for the Six Daos Sword Faction. I have joined the Six Daos Sword Faction for quite some time now and gained quite some benefits during my time here. Please allow me to say goodbye. I will be sure to repay the sect in the future.” After saying that, Chen Feng bowed respectfully.

Seeing Chen Feng about to leave, Sword Premier Golden Light spoke up, “Wait.”

“Senior, what instructions do you have for me?” Chen Feng asked with a smile.

“Since you've chosen to join our Six Daos Sword Faction, you will be a member of our Six Daos Sword Faction in the future. If a disciple of our sect is in trouble, the sect naturally has to serve as the disciple's backer. If you are unwilling to tell us who your enemy is, we will not pursue the matter. But remember this, if you face any difficulties, you must ask the sect for help,” Sword Premier Golden Light said, a smile on his face.

“Thank you, senior.” Chen Feng nodded.

A token, different from the one Chen Feng received in the past, flew into his hand.

“From this moment onwards, you are a formal disciple of our Six Daos Sword Faction. You will be able to enjoy the treatment afforded to formal disciples. Be sure to cultivate yourself properly.”

After all the Heavenly Immortals had left, Chen Feng could not stop himself from smiling. If I had informed them that my enemy is from the Celestial Longevity Plane, these fellows would probably have chased me out, no? It wouldn't be surprising for some of the more insidious fellows to take action to capture me.

In the end, Chen Feng did not leave the Six Daos Sword Faction. Instead, he moved to a better grotto-mansion, moving from the outer areas of the sect to the central area.

As Chen Feng had only just overcome his tribulation, Chen Feng needed time to stabilize his cultivation base. Due to that, he would almost never leave his grotto-mansion. Even when some other cultivators came over to visit him, he would choose to not meet them. In addition to cultivating, Chen Feng would also work on constructing a teleportation array, to be used in case there was danger. The higher his cultivation base rose, the more capable Chen Feng became of sensing danger. The origin of this feeling of danger lay hidden in the dark.

I wonder when I'll be able to deal with the danger and openly return to the Celestial Longevity Plane? Also, how is my father doing? Even if he has yet to fully recover, he should have sent some men over to pick me up. Or does he want me to train myself?

After Chen Feng stabilized his cultivation base, he finally left his grotto-mansion. Accepting some missions, he earned himself some contribution points and used them to purchase some more items that were of use. Coincidentally, he also managed to obtain the third fragment of the Great Wilderness Ding along the way.

Once again, Chen Feng's divine sense entered the Great Wilderness Ding's fragment. A gigantic ding, quaint, domineering and overwhelming in appearance, appeared in Chen Feng's sea of wisdom. Finally, Chen Feng could see the silhouette of the Great Wilderness Ding and catch a faint glimpse of some mysterious runes on the surface of the ding. Despite his attempts to get a clearer look, however, that was all he could do.

In the end, Chen Feng saw the Great Wilderness Ding exploding. Once again, his divine sense collapsed. However, the instant the ding exploded, Chen Feng saw that the ding had broken into 108 fragments. Those fragments were scattered about in every direction before disappearing into the universe.

Of the 108 fragments, I found two in the Six Daos Sword Faction and one in the Scarlet Heaven Pocket Dimension. For me to be able to find three fragments here despite the size of this universe, this can be considered a lot. Is there something else going on here?

Additionally, while the Great Wilderness Ding was a high-grade Divine artifact, it had been a long time since it broke apart. Could some other forces have destroyed some of its fragments? Or could some formidable cultivators have refined them?

Having reached that line of thought, Chen Feng immediately knew just how unreliable the plan to collect all the fragments to reform the Great Wilderness Ding was.

Time went by. 

It had been over a thousand years since Chen Feng joined the Six Daos Sword Faction. During that time, with the exception of him entering the Scarlet Heaven Pocket Dimension, he had not done anything else of particular note. He spent the rest of his time on cultivation.

In fact, if it weren't for the sect a.s.signing him with a mission, he might have chosen to continue cultivating inside the Six Daos Sword Faction.

A total of 100 True Immortals left the Six Daos Sword Faction in a large Skysoar Wars.h.i.+p. Ever since joining the Six Daos Sword Faction, this was his first time leaving the Primordial Mountain Range. And although it had been a thousand years since then, the danger of being tracked down remained for Chen Feng.

Considering the usual methods of the Six Daos Sword Faction for the past thousands of years, dispatching a hundred True Immortals out on a mission proved that this mission was a difficult one. 

“Our objective this time is the City of Dead Souls. In addition to capturing 13 traitors to the sect, we will also be looking for the Beads of Dead Souls. This mission is very difficult. By successfully accomplis.h.i.+ng the mission and returning to the sect, everyone will receive a great deal of contribution points. Additionally, you can also study one of the sword moves from the Six Daos Sword Codex.”

One of the three half-step Heavenly Immortals there said. Although the rewards for this mission caused the cultivators there to cry out in shock, they grew more concerned about the difficulty of the mission. 

Chen Feng, though, knew slightly more about the situation. He had already noticed several Heavenly Immortals secretly following them.

It's not that simple. Looks like our 100-strong group of True Immortals is just bait. More than half of the True Immortals in this group are loose cultivators. Heh! The number of casualties will surely be serious.

The City of Dead Souls. It is indeed a good place.

Some of the cultivators there had rarely partic.i.p.ated in a mission of this scale. Thus, there were some who felt excited, some who felt happy and some who felt curious. They all discussed the issue. Thankfully, the Skysoar Wars.h.i.+p was big enough. Additionally, they were all cultivators. Thus, they did not find it noisy. Chen Feng, on the other hand, closed his eyes to rest while sending his divine sense out to appreciate the panorama outside.

“You're Chen Qing, aren't you? I hear that you created quite the commotion when you overcame your tribulation back then. Due to that, the seniors from our sect became interested in you. That's why they made an exception to have you become a formal disciple of our Six Daos Sword Faction.” Suddenly, one of the cultivators there moved to stand before Chen Feng. His words were arrogant and he seemed to think nothing of Chen Feng.

“Sigh! A genius that might not even appear once in ten thousand years have died to the Heavenly Tribulation. A pity, a pity!”

Note: The character translated into 'ten thousand' here is '萬', pinyin 'wàn'. Generally, it means 'ten thousand', but it could also mean 'a great number'. These fellows are cultivators with life spans of millions of years. So, yea… I dunno which one the author means here. =/