It was true. Given the current situation, even if the reinforcements from Extreme Celestial Sect arrived, they would be incapable of handling the combined might of the three sects.
“What is there to fear? If it comes down to it, we'll just start a b.l.o.o.d.y fight. They want to kill us? It won't be that easy!” one of them said, gnashing his teeth.
“That's right! I don't believe they have that many experts!”
“Everyone, don't panic. Our sect's reinforcements have arrived as well.” Lei Feng sent a vocal transmission to the others.
As expected, more flying warships appeared. In fact, there were more than one. Flying warships appeared one after another. Within one joss stick's worth of time, more than ten ships had appeared. Additionally, almost all of them were at the Sacred-tier. The terrifyingly coercive atmosphere of majesty caused every part of the world to tremble. Even some of the water monsters within the surrounding lakes were knocked unconscious as a result.
“So many Sacred artefacts!” Chen Feng was stunned.
“He he! If I can devour all these Sacred artefacts, I should be able to recover a bit more of my powers.” Tower chuckled.
“Forget it. Given how many Sacred artefacts there are, bringing you out will probably result in you getting s.n.a.t.c.hed away and refined,” Chen Feng said, pursing his lips to the side.
A Sacred-tier flying warship halted before Lei Feng and the others and a middle-aged cultivator appeared before them all.
“Greetings, Great Elder.” When Lei Feng and the others saw the cultivator, they swiftly moved forward to respectfully salute him. That was especially true of Lei Feng, whose eyes widened. “Great Elder, you, you broke through!”
“I broke through last month.” The Great Elder revealed a faint smile. Truth be told, he was secretly feeling happy. His cultivation base had been stuck for nearly 200 years. If it were not for the Sect Master, who had provided him with several Earthen Essence Pills, it would have taken him who knows how long to break through to the Human Immortal stage.
“You are Chen Feng?” Suddenly, the Great Elder turned to look at Chen Feng.
“Greetings, Great Elder.” Chen Feng moved forward to perform a salute. At the same time, he sensed two eyes scanning his body. The gaze easily pierced through the grade 9 Prized-tier body armour beneath Chen Feng's skin.
Impressive. He's a Human Immortal! Chen Feng was originally considering using the Longevity Tower's power. However, after considering it, he decided against it and simply allowed the Great Elder to see through his cultivation state.
However, the gaze merely lasted for a moment. Thus, Chen Feng breathed a sigh of relief.
“Not bad. Despite not having overcome Lightning Tribulation, you possess such a vigorous power. Even within the sect, this is a top cultivation talent,” the Great Elder said coolly.
Chen Feng merely smiled at the comment. The Great Elder had not made any express actions, but for some unknown reason, Chen Feng had this uncomfortable feeling. He could not say why, but there was a sense of wariness and dread within his heart.
“Great Elder, this situation is not looking good,” Lei Feng said.
“Don't worry. Nine Firmaments Palace's side will not be trying to trouble us. Right now, all of us are here for the Sky Meteorite,” the Great Elder said, looking at the 100-metre-tall meteorite.
“Sky Meteorite?” Many of the disciples present exclaimed. Chen Feng too, felt puzzled. However, he did not forward any questions.
The Great Elder pondered for a moment before saying, “This meteorite is not as simple as it looks, otherwise it could not have led the various powers within the Northern Plains to take action. I believe that the various great sects from the Northern Plains will have records about this meteorite. This meteorite has no name and it originated from outer s.p.a.ce. Thus, everyone named it Sky Meteorite. This meteorite's value is comparable to an Immortal artefact. However, the significance of this meteorite far surpa.s.sed the value of an ordinary Immortal artefact.”
With the exception of Chen Feng, the other disciples from Extreme Celestial Sect were confused by those words. After staring blankly for a moment, Hua Zhuliu then said, “Great Elder, what do you mean by that?”
“According to some reliable sources, the spot where this meteorite appears will be the entrance to a pocket dimension. Additionally, it is not an ordinary pocket dimension. At the very least, it is transformed from an Immortal artefact. Thus, it must contain various types of treasures. If we can open up the entrance, all the cultivators present will be able to benefit from it,” the Great Elder said.
“This is also why we brought a high number of disciples with us this time around.” The words did not come from the Great Elder. Rather, it had come from a middle-aged man who emerged from the flying warship. This middle-aged man had an insidious-looking face.
“Zhao Zhen, you came as well?” Lei Batian was surprised.
“What? If you fellows can come, why can't I? This time, the sect has sent forth 200 Sky Human stage cultivators to enter the pocket dimension for the sake of obtaining treasures.” As Zhao Zhen spoke, his eyes swiftly gave Chen Feng a glance.
“If there are treasures, then the risks must also be very high. Additionally, we'll need to face the sneaky attacks from Nine Firmaments Palace. I think, if we can really enter, everyone will need to exercise caution,” Chen Feng suddenly said.
“He he! You are Chen Feng, right? You have no right to be talking here. Back down right now. The pressure that Nine Firmaments Palace is putting on us is all because of you. Later, we'll capture you and bring you back to the sect for a trial.” Zhao Zhen suddenly snickered, his eyes glinting with killing intent.
“Zhao Zhen, you are being too presumptuous! Chen Feng is a core disciple of our sect. Who are you to be talking nonsense? Whether or not to capture Chen Feng will depend on the Sect Master. A small elder like you do not have the right to decide that!” Lei Batian said scornfully.
“Who says I don't have the right? This is the decision made by the Department of Elders,” Zhao Zhen said, bringing out a wooden token. There was nothing special about the wooden token. However, when Lei Batian and Hua Zhuliu saw it, their faces sank.
“Heh! We are also elders from the Department of Elders. Without our consent, this matter is not valid!” Hua Zhuliu said with a chortle.
“Zhao Zhen, let me ask you. Which sect rules did I violate that you would want to capture me back?” Suddenly, Chen Feng took a step forward and asked. There was a smirk on his face.
“You are asking what rules you violated? Disciples from Nine Firmaments Palace, Purple Firmaments Palace and Transcendent Firmaments Palace have all died under your hands. Right now, the three sects are joining forces to put pressure on our sect. They have already s.n.a.t.c.hed away many of our territories. Since you are unwilling to stand out to take responsibility for it, I will have to capture you back,” Zhao Zhen replied.
“Ha ha ha ha! So, you mean you want to hand me over to Nine Firmaments Palace?” Chen Feng laughed.
“That's right. Only by handing you over can we quell Nine Firmaments Palace's wrath. That way, we can avoid a large-scale conflict. Enough! Kid, get over here!” After saying that, Zhao Zhen extended his palm forward and ropes shot forward, intersecting one another to become like a spiderweb, which moved to wrap up Chen Feng.
Zhao Zhen took action the instant he said he would. He ignored the fact that the Great Elder was beside him. Clearly, they had discussed this through before coming here. However, when Zhao Zhen attacked, Lei Batian and the others revealed looks of fury. When Zhao Zhen's attack was about to reach Chen Feng, Lei Feng attacked.
By merely performing a grasping move, Lei Feng caused lightning bolts to crackle. Thunderous booms rang out and the ropes shooting out from Zhao Zhen's hand were immediately caught. Popping sounds kept ringing out from the ropes as Lei Feng's power shattered the power within the rope.
“Lei Feng! You dare attack?” Zhao Zhen roared.
“Lei Feng, I will handle you!” Several more cultivators walked out from the flying warship. One of them wore a cyan-coloured attire. Even though he had not made a single attack, his gaze caused everyone to feel as though a mountain of ice was exploding and the surrounding temperature immediately plummeted.
“Zhao Ming, looks like your frost-type primary energy has improved.” Lei Feng rubbed his fingers, causing a series of thunders to boom out.
“Enough! Quiet down, you fellows! Now is not the time to be fighting. Other sects will just enjoy themselves at our expense.” The Great Elder spoke up.
As the Great Elder had spoken up, there would be no more conflicts. However, even though Zhao Zhen and the others had stopped taking action, they would occasionally glance at Chen Feng, smirks on their faces.
“Our main objective for coming here is the pocket dimension beneath the Sky Meteorite. Other matters are to be put aside.” The Great Elder's gaze swept around, causing them all to feel a mighty pressure bearing down on them. Reflexively, they avoided making contact with the Great Elder's gaze.
“Hey, hey! I didn't think that Extreme Celestial Sect would be having an inner conflict. If we can enter the pocket dimension later, by joining forces, it will be very easy for us to make sure that none of them gets to come out!”
“Naturally. We have already discussed it in advance. I didn't think that Extreme Celestial Sect would be so brave. They actually sent out so many Sky Human stage cultivators for this. All of them are the pillars of the sect. If we can kill off all of the disciples, ha ha, it would be a critical blow to Extreme Celestial Sect!”
“Yes. However, we also cannot let Chen Feng go. We must capture that kid back. According to the divination performed by our elders, this Chen Feng possesses some secrets on him!”
As the forces from Extreme Celestial Sect were engaged in an inner strife, the cultivators from Nine Firmaments Palace were secretly plotting their next course of action.
Next up, the representatives from the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects gathered and began discussing what to do next.
“I believe that all of us have brought high-grade Sacred artefacts here with us. With the combined might of our ten sects, we should be able to pull up this Sky Meteorite,” a Human Immortal from Nine Firmaments Palace said.
“We have so many Human Immortals and Sacred artefacts here. If we still cannot deal with this meteorite, we'll become a laughing stock!” a Human Immortal from Sword Hall said with a grin.
“Very well. If so, let's take action. Unexpected variables might pop up if we tarry!”
“Unrelated cultivators are to move far away!” After coming to an agreement, they immediately began driving away the cultivators that were not part of the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects. This action of theirs caused those cultivators to become incessantly furious. However, when some of them fought back due to their dissatisfaction, they were killed.
“Too tyrannical! The Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects are simply looking down on us!”
“Heh! The Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects are the rulers of the Northern Plains. Whoever dares to defy them would simply be courting death!”
“But doesn't that mean we'll miss out on this good opportunity?”
“No rush. I saw them discussing something earlier. Something should be happening soon. Let's observe them first. Although there are many cultivators here, we are just unexceptional loose cultivators.”
The ones most infuriated by the great sects' actions of driving others away were not the loose cultivators. Rather, it was the Demon Order, Heavenly Spirit Order, Holy Flame Sect, Myriad Heresy Sect and the others like them. Although these sects were not as strong as the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects, they were still existences with deep roots. Some even believed that their sect was in no way inferior to any of the Ten Great Immortal Dao Sects.