What a wondrous spiritwalking technique. However, it looks like he is not one of the bandits from Soulless Valley. A pondering look appeared in Chen Feng's eyes. At the same time, he wondered, if he were to utilize the Longevity Wings, would he be able to catch up to the other party?

By the time Chen Feng returned, the battle had already ended. The hundred plus bandits from Soulless Valley were all killed off while the Six Daos Sword Faction suffered from six deaths and many were injured. Chen Feng did not care about that, neither was he feeling guilty. The strength that Chen Feng displayed earlier had already exceeded that of a True Immortal. If these fellows could die to these bandits, it would only mean that their cultivation bases were lacking. Even if they could survive this battle, the next one would probably take their lives.

Besides, even the hidden Heavenly Immortals had chosen to not help them out. This proved that they did not care about it. Though, a better way of putting it would be that they wanted the disciples to hone themselves.

“Thank you, Senior Brother Chen!”

“Unexpectedly, not only is Senior Brother Chen good at eye techniques, you also possess formidable swordsmans.h.i.+p.”

“If I may ask, Senior Brother Chen, what kind of sword technique did you cultivate? Could it be from the Six Daos Sword Codex?”

Before Chen Feng could steady himself, a group of cultivators moved over. That included the heir disciples from the Six Daos Sword Faction. There were respectful and flattering smiles on their faces.

“Enough, guys. Heal up and let's continue onwards. I believe that the City of Dead Souls will be even more dangerous,” Chen Feng said.

“Senior Brother Chen, please take care of us then.”

After having witnessed Chen Feng's strength, even the half-step Heavenly Immortals revealed a look of respect towards him. After all, level alone was not important. Combat power was above all.

Despite being at the mid-level True Immortal stage, the strength that Chen Feng displayed was comparable to a Heavenly Immortal. This factor alone made him worthy of their respect and attempts to gain favour. And while he appeared somewhat aloof, they all believed that it was a demeanour that an expert should possess.

Their journey forward was smooth sailing and it wasn't until they reached the City of Dead Souls did a high number of cultivators appeared.

The City of Dead Souls was something of a famous city in the Immortal Plane. There were several reasons why it was so famous. It was big and ancient. Even some Heavenly Immortals who had been cultivating for tens of millions of years did not know how long this city had existed or why it existed or who constructed it. All of those remained a mystery.

Additionally, this city was filled with death energy, making it unsuitable for living and cultivation. Naturally, some who cultivated special cultivation techniques would also come here. Only, they could not stay here for long, else their bodies would be invaded by the death energy and become corrupted.

There were also many cultivators who would come from all over the Immortal Plane to venture into this city. The reason for that was because someone had once obtained a treasure inside this city. It was a treasure that could tempt even Heavenly Immortals.

Mysterious, ghastly, chaotic and filled with death energy. That was the impression that everyone had towards the City of Dead Souls.

“Here is the information about our targets. Check it out.” The half-step Heavenly Immortals brought out a piece of jade stone and tapped it, causing faint light to s.h.i.+ne from it. Immediately, Chen Feng and the others received a set of information which clearly introduced them to the contents of this mission. The information about the 13 cultivators that they were after were clearly written there. There was even information about their auras.

Thirteen people. The strongest amongst them is a half-step Heavenly Immortal. The biggest difficulty here is to search for them. As long as we can find them, we will be able to quickly finish our mission. The other objective is the Bead of Dead Souls. Although they can be found in the City of Dead Souls, they will mostly be found in the dangerous areas. After receiving the information, Chen Feng quickly pondered the situation.

The mission is not concerning. However, for there to be Heavenly Immortals secretly following us, entering the City of Dead Souls will likely involve some dangers, or perhaps…

When he thought about that, Chen Feng secretly contacted the Heavenly Immortals from the Six Daos Sword Faction.

“In addition to capturing traitors and finding the Beads of Dead Souls, there is another objective here, right?”

“Err…”

Upon receiving Chen Feng's question, the Heavenly Immortals hesitated for a moment. True Immortals were not supposed to know of this matter. It was the instructions given to them by the higher-ups of the sect before they left. However, Chen Feng's combat power had reached the Heavenly Immortal stage. Due to that, the Heavenly Immortals there grew troubled.

Although the higher-ups thought highly of Chen Feng, he was still an outsider in the end. Meanwhile, this matter was of great importance. Should it be leaked, they would not be able to handle the consequences.

“If you fellows don't want to talk about it, then forget it,” Chen Feng said, ignoring them.

Seeing Chen Feng follow the others into the City of Dead Souls, the Heavenly Immortals sighed before following suit.

Since you fellows aren't telling me what's going on, don't think about having me help out. Chen Feng scoffed.

From afar, the City of Dead Souls appeared to be enveloped by black air. It looked somewhat dilapidated. However, after inspecting it, Chen Feng noticed that the number of damaged parts in the city was quite small. Rather, by spreading out his divine sense, Chen Feng was able to sense that the damaged parts were slowly repairing themselves. He knew. This was the power of the City of Dead Souls. Bluntly speaking, this city had a life of its own.

The death energy here is very thick. It is also very special, different from the Death Dimension that I had been to in the past. The Death Dimension only has some corpses of Heavenly Immortals. Here, though, I can clearly sense the death energy transformed from ageless power.

It is said that a Gold Immortal had died here. Perhaps, it is the truth. Regardless of what it may be, I hope I can obtain something here. For others, this death energy is something life-threatening. But for me, not only can I use it to cultivate, I can also use them to refine my magic treasures. It is time for my Twin Swords of Life and Death to level up.

During the past hundreds of years, the Life Sword had been nourished by the longevity energy. Thanks to that, it had undergone a world-shaking change. And although the Death Sword had also absorbed some death energy, it was still incomparable to the Life Sword. This trip to the City of Dead Souls can be considered as something rewarding for Chen Feng.

Since entering the City of Dead Souls, Chen Feng had been absorbing strands of death energy. He did not attach too much on an importance towards this mission. In fact, after absorbing a certain amount of death energy, he began thinking about shaking them off and finding a place to cultivate.

“The most dangerous existence in the City of Dead Souls are dead souls. Everyone, be careful.”

The half-step Heavenly Immortal had only just said that when Chen Feng's hand abruptly shot out and grasped. A creature, wrapped in black energy, struggled in the air as it was forced to reveal itself.

Chen Feng exerted some power into his hand and the black energy disappeared, revealing a small, fox-like animal. This small animal possessed sharp teeth and its claws flashed with light. Even its eyes were flas.h.i.+ng with black light. And although Chen Feng had already captured it, it kept releasing a ferocious aura of power.

“A dead soul that has generated flesh and blood. It can already be considered as a dead soul sprite.” The half-step Heavenly Immortal stepped forward.

“The strength of a starter-level True Immortal and proficient in sneak attacks. Tsk, tsk. This city is not something that the average cultivator can enter,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

“In order to enter the City of Dead Souls, one must at least be at the True Immortal stage. Ascendant Immortals would not be able to last for more than one day here. Still, Senior Brother Chen can so quickly capture a dead soul sprite. Impressive!”

“Fellows, no need to feel impatient. Your chance will be coming soon,” Chen Feng said, still smiling.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, a high number of dead soul sprites are about to appear.” After Chen Feng said that, two streams of light shot out from his eyes, black and white in colour. The two streams of light intertwined and everywhere they went, s.p.a.ce itself would be destroyed. One by one, the dead soul sprites around them were forced to reveal themselves.

“It might not be just dead soul sprites. There could also be vengeful spirits and demon souls.”

“Everyone, be careful.” Chen Feng retracted the black and white streams of light and the dead soul sprites were all captured.

“How can there be so many dead souls? That many dead souls should only appear deep inside the City of Dead Souls!” Seeing that, even the hidden Heavenly Immortals were shocked.

However, the cultivators that the Six Daos Sword Faction dispatched for this mission were of a very high level. They swiftly a.s.sumed a formation, their powers joining up into one united force to fire out several sword beams that could split the earth and cleave the stars. In but one breath's worth of time, tens of dead souls had died to them. The formation then changed as one part of the formation focused on offence and another focused on defence. There was also another part which focused on recovering their strength.

Chen Feng and the three half-step Heavenly Immortals, on the other hand, were keeping watch over their surroundings. They acted like escorts while finding dead souls that were hiding around them.

In that regards, no one could match Chen Feng. Everywhere his eye power went, falsehoods would be broken and everything would be revealed.

Two hours later, the formation grew smaller. They had killed off over 1,000 dead souls. In addition, there was also a considerable number of vengeful spirits and other yin-type soul creatures.

“It's strange. Just what is going on here? This won't do. Let's charge out and find a secure place.” The three half-step Heavenly Immortals exchanged glances and they dashed forward to stand side by side. Next, three 1,000-zhang-long sword beams slashed forward, further elongating even as they shot forward. Moreover, there were also wisps of fire dancing around the sword beams. The wisps of fire were very strong and any dead souls that encountered them would be incinerated to ash.

The Cyclical Flames of the Six Daos. Its power is truly extraordinary. Chen Feng nodded. Black and white threads then emerged from his eyes. Some of the threads flew swiftly and some flew slowly. But all the threads would pierce through dead souls and vengeful spirits without respite.

The three half-step Heavenly Immortals led the charge while Chen Feng held the rear. And so, the battle went on while their formation kept changing. After two hours of fighting their way forward, they finally found a stretch of intact buildings.

“Let's go! There are cultivators manning these buildings. We'll be safe once we enter.”

The buildings there were very unique, all round in shape. It was unknown just what materials were used to construct them. There was only one gate there while the wall was tall and smooth. It was a building with an excellent defensive might. Every one of the buildings had a radius of tens of li. Peering far ahead, they saw that there were tens of such buildings.

“Some of the natives in other parts of the Immortal Plane like to construct buildings like these. Although they look somewhat rustic and eye-raising, they could be used as war fortresses. Additionally, the number of people each can accommodate is high.”

“I have seen buildings like these in the past. To think that I would see them again in the City of Dead Souls.”

The cultivators chatted as they moved towards one of the buildings. Before they could say anything, the gate opened and they entered.

After the doors of the gate closed, they looked inside and saw a high number of cultivators milling around inside. It felt somewhat packed. That said, the arrival of the 100 cultivators from the Six Daos Sword Faction failed to cause any commotion there. 

“What's happening?” The cultivators from the Six Daos Sword Faction began asking around.

“There is an outbreak of dead souls! The number of dead souls has become a hundred times greater than normal. Sigh! If it weren't for the fact that I was quick to run, I would have been ripped to pieces.”

“An outbreak of dead souls!” They turned to look at one another, having come to understand a little about what was happening. Although this was their first time here, it did not mean that they did not know about this city.

1 zhang = 3.333 m

1 li = 0.5 km