Chapter 467: Strange Desert (3 in 1)

“You must hold on! It hadn't been easy to restore your power to this level. You must not be beaten back to that state again!” Chen Feng shouted.

“Ha ha ha ha! These minor Human Immortals? They don't have what it takes! Now that I have awaken, I will never be beaten back down again!” Tower laughed loudly. Next up, the Longevity Tower began burning even the grey-coloured energy streams within the tower. Almost all of the items that Chen Feng had acquired along the way, ores, spiritual herbs, magic treasures, yao cores, Vile Fountain Water, tribulation powers and everything containing power exploded, either shattering into pieces or disintegrating away. All the resulting energy gushed into the second floor and the broken magic arrays began operating again.

“What? It's actually still intact? How is this possible?”

The nine-storey paG.o.da tower, which had appeared all of a sudden, remained intact despite the barrage of attacks from 16 Sacred artefacts. Not only was it undamaged, it was not even sent flying away. Seeing that, everyone was so shocked, their jaws dropped as they stared at this unbelievable sight.

By then, two thirds of the Sky Meteorite had entered the nine-storey paG.o.da tower. Everyone knew that if the Sky Meteorite completely enter the tower, the tower would leave. If it could block the combined attacks of so many Sacred artefacts, it would be even easier for it to leave.

“What kind of magic treasure is that? Is it a Dao artefact? Surely, there are no Sacred artefacts as powerful as that!”

“That's right. We have mobilized so many Sacred artefacts this time, but we still cannot finish off the other party. If so, it is highly likely that it is a Dao artefact.”

Dao artefact! Dao artefact! Dao artefact!

The eyes of all the cultivators present burned. A Dao artefact. What kind of existence was that? It was one tier higher than the Sacred artefact. It was just one tier below the Immortal artefact. A Dao artefact. Something that contained the marks of the great daos. Be it power or grade, it was something that Sacred artefacts could not hope to match up against.

The magic treasures nurtured by Human Immortals would become Sacred artefacts. Thus, only an Earthen Immortal would be able to either nurture or forge a Dao artefact.

If I possess a Dao artefact, I will be able to dominate other Human Immortals.

If I can obtain this Dao artefact, my chances of ascending to the Immortal Plane will be much higher.

If I can obtain this Dao artefact, our sect's power will grow even stronger.

The Human Immortals from the Ten Great Sects began pondering the issue. Every one of them wanted to take this tower for themselves.

This one pause allowed another portion of the Sky Meteorite to enter the Longevity Tower. The Longevity Tower was on the verge of succeeding in its endeavour.

“Stop s.p.a.cing about! Everyone, attack together! We need to hold this tower first!” a Human Immortal from Flowing Cloud Hall shouted.

“That's right! We must not let this tower escape! Attack together!”

The 16 Sacred artefacts unleashed their might once more. Overpowering emanations spread out as 16 pillars of light were condensed out to shoot at the Longevity Tower again.

“Oh, no! It's coming again.” Chen Feng's face turned utterly pale. The Longevity Tower had barely managed to block the first wave of attacks despite exhausting a great deal of energy. This time, however, Chen Feng believed that the Longevity Tower would be incapable of blocking the attacks.

“Ha ha! Too late!” Tower laughed and the Longevity Tower abruptly shone with a brilliant radiance. In a flash, its power doubled and the Sky Meteorite was completely sucked into the Longevity Tower. Then, the Longevity Tower rapidly shrank and transformed into a stream of light, which shot towards the ma.s.sive portal.

Sou!

The Longevity Tower disappeared into the portal without creating so much as a ripple. As for the attacks unleashed by the Sacred artefacts, all of them missed. Some of the attacks even struck the portal, immediately triggering a powerful backlash from the portal. A few of the Human Immortals failed to flee in time and were badly wounded as a result.

“It actually managed to enter the pocket dimension! How is that possible? Even Human Immortals cannot enter the portal!”

“That's right. That magic treasure earlier is a Dao artefact. How could it have entered the portal?”

“Dao artefact, Dao artefact. Oh, no! To be able to utilize a Dao artefact, the other party must at least be a Human Immortal. Additionally, judging by the fact that it could block our combined attacks earlier, it is likely an Earthen Immortal.”

“When you put it that way, we have offended an Earthen Immortal?”

All of them grew stunned and they exchanged glances. There were entangled looks on their faces. All of them were Human Immortals, existences that were generally exalted in nature who could not care less about others. That was especially so for the Human Immortals from the Ten Great Sects. They were incredibly haughty. They would even look down on cultivators with higher cultivation bases then themselves. However, this was different. An Earthen Immortal wielding a Dao artefact could muster a power so great that that not even the Ten Great Sects of the Northern Plains could handle this person. Rather, it was possible for such an existence to topple them.

Earlier, every one of them had joined forces to besiege the Earthen Immortal. What would happen if the Earthen Immortal decided to settle the score with them? None of the Human Immortals there were confident that they could fend off an Earthen Immortal's murderous pursuit.

When they considered that, the faces of the Human Immortals there turned ugly to behold. Their throats felt parched and they were incapable of saying anything.

That tower! I saw a similar-looking magic treasure inside the kid's body just now! The Great Elder had also borne witness to the Longevity Tower's actions. The Human Immortals there did not know where the nine-storey paG.o.da tower had appeared from. However, the Great Elder knew. As such, his mind roiled as greed kept flashing within his eyes.

In the end, the Great Elder decided not to expose that bit of information. If he did, everyone would set their sights on Chen Feng. Should that happen, it would be difficult for him to s.n.a.t.c.h the Dao artefact from Chen Feng.

A pity, Human Immortals cannot enter the portal, otherwise I will definitely go pursue him, the Great Elder thought.

Sou!

Suddenly, the s.p.a.ce beside the Great Elder fluctuated and a tall old man with fully white beard appeared there.

“Greetings, Supreme Elder!” The Great Elder was startled and he swiftly stepped forward to salute the newcomer.

This tall old man with a mighty appearance and stately demeanour was the Supreme Elder of Extreme Celestial Sect. He had been staying within their flying warship all this time. Only now did he appear. He was an existence that outranked both the Great Elder and even the Sect Master.

The Supreme Elder, Wan Zhongshan, said, “That young man who was here earlier. Who is he? He should be a disciple from our sect, no?”

“He is our sect's traitor. His name is Chen Feng. He had killed many of Nine Firmaments Palace's disciples,” the Great Elder said, gritting his teeth. Although he had already risen to the Human Immortal stage, he was seriously no match for this old man. When he heard the Supreme Elder's question, he felt a sense of unease within him. He did not understand what the Supreme Elder meant.

“Oh?” Unexpectedly, the Supreme Elder merely nodded his head, an impa.s.sive look on his face. He also did not further inquire the matter. Seeing that, the Great Elder secretly breathed a sigh of relief. However, he also felt confused.

…

“Is this the pocket dimension?” By then, Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian had re-appeared within a strange-looking place. No countless spiritual herbs were laid out before them, no thick spiritual energy wafted around them. The only thing there was a vast and desolate desert.

During that critical moment, the Longevity Tower had collected the Sky Meteorite and escaped into the portal by a hair's breadth. As a result, the spirit stones and almost all the other cultivation materials inside the Longevity Tower were consumed. Compared to its previous state, the Longevity Tower was practically empty now. Even the originally thick spiritual energy inside had grown diminished, much so. All that was left inside were the somewhat ruined-looking spiritual herbs growing on the herbal fields and a few of the more important magic treasures.

“No more spirit stones, no more immortal energy, no more ores. Even the spiritual herbs, there are less than one tenth of the original number left. Tower, I am now a poor beggar!” Chen Feng shouted, an extreme amount of sorrow in his voice.

“Bulls.h.i.t! How are you a poor beggar? Don't you still have me? As long as I exist, those spirit stones mean nothing. Besides, we have obtained the meteorite. Compared to those broken goods, you actually got a bargain here.” Tower sounded somewhat weak.

“So, how are you feeling right now?” Chen Feng asked with a disheartened tone.

“I'm fine. It's much better than what I had expected. However, I will need to rest for a while. If it weren't for the fact that my body is strong enough, the combined siege from those 16 Sacred artefacts would have left me in a far more miserable situation,” Tower said.

“This is not miserable enough?” Chen Feng smirked.

“It's good to be alive, kid. Isn't that good enough? Besides, I did not grow weaker. I am just feeling a little tired. Alright, I'll go rest for a while.” After saying that, Tower went silent.

Thus, the Longevity Tower went still and both Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian appeared within the pocket dimension. Once they appeared there, the two of them felt something amiss. The surrounding air felt viscous and the s.p.a.ce there felt solid, very much so. After forcing themselves to fly through a distance of over 100 zhang, Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian sensed that they were quickly exhausting their primary energies. The rate at which they were consuming their primary energies was ten times higher than usual. Additionally, the two of them were only able to fly up to an alt.i.tude of over 100 zhang. Trying to go higher would cause a suffocating feeling to beset them.

Sou!

Chen Feng waved his hand, firing out a sword beam through a distance of over 100 metres. After that, however, the sword beam grew weaker before dissipating away. Chen Feng frowned and unleashed a punch against the ground. As a result, yellow sand flew about and a sandy crater appeared.

Knitting his brows, Chen Feng said, “This is not good. The power of laws here seems restricted. Or perhaps, it is just different from the outside world. As of right now, I am only capable of unleashing one tenth of my power.”

“I can feel it too. The circulation rate of my primary energy has gotten much slower. And it's not just me. Even my sword is suppressed. It cannot unleash its full power. I cannot unleash even one tenth of my power,” said Jian Xiaotian, who casually sent out a few sword beams. The sword beams struck the ground and disappeared into the yellow sands. However, it did not take long for the grains of yellow sand to turn into powder.

“Even the sand here is much more durable compared to the sand from the outside world.” Jian Xiaotian shook his head.

“Isn't this place supposed to be filled with spiritual herbs and spiritual energy? Why are we in an endless desert instead?”

“We can only attribute this to bad luck. I wonder where the others ended up in?”

As Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian moved forward, they slowly familiarized themselves with the power of laws there. At the same time, they were constantly inspecting their surroundings. At any rate, this was a dangerous place where dangers could befall them at any moment.

“We have walked through a distance of over 50 kilometres, right? I have not gone this far on foot since learning how to drive flying swords,” Jian Xiaotian said with a wry smile.

“Let's rest then. This place looks decent. It is very peaceful,” Chen Feng said, falling to his b.u.t.tocks. Then, he stretched his waist as he stared at the sun above with a somewhat blank look. The sun was radiating strong rays of sunlight.

“The sun here is very realistic. It shows that this is not a small world. It is one with its own laws, capable of producing such a powerful sun. Right now, I am even wondering if we are still in Eternal World,” Chen Feng said smilingly as he laid down on his back. He could clearly feel the searing heat from the yellow sand.

Due to his physical might, Chen Feng was not feeling exhausted. It was his vigour that felt somewhat drained. Perhaps, it was due to the shock he felt from the Longevity Tower getting damaged. Or perhaps, it was due to the fact that there was no direction or goals for him at the moment, causing him to feel slightly confused and uncertain about the future.

“It has been a long time since I could relax like this.” Jian Xiaotian, too, lay down on the searing sands. Speaking of which, as someone who possessed the Absolute Combat Const.i.tution, Jian Xiaotian's cultivation talent was superior to Chen Feng's cultivation talent. Additionally, the degree to which he would normally cultivate himself was something that ordinary cultivators cannot hope to match. At that moment, he laid himself down on the ground and relaxed. He had this feeling of laziness, of not wanting to get up and just take a big nap.

The same was true for Chen Feng. This gentle and lazy sensation felt very pleasant. Suddenly, a thought flashed across his mind. The constant struggles to cultivate himself, of putting his life on the line, was not worth it. This feeling was better. Slowly, Chen Feng's eyes closed up, seemingly due to the rays of light from the sun. Or perhaps, it was because he himself wanted to take a good nap.

“Brother Jian, are you feeling somewhat lackadaisical?” Chen Feng suddenly asked.

“Yes, my whole body feels lazy and a little tired,” Jian Xiaotian said. The lackadaisical quality of the smiles on their faces grew and the densely pumped muscles on their bodies began loosening.

“Something's not right!”

“There is a problem!”

Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian snapped open their eyes at the same time and light shone from within them. However, the two of them did not swiftly get up. Instead, they focused their minds to inspect their surroundings.

Sou! Sou!

Both Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian bounced up simultaneously. Next, Chen Feng unleashed a heavy punch – resembling a volcanic eruption – into the yellow sands. As for Jian Xiaotian, he brought out his sword to stab into the sands with lightning-like speed. Sword beams shone as the sands scattered about.

“Nothing. Were we mistaken?” Jian Xiaotian's eyes were focused. The lazy look from earlier was no longer there.

“Not a mistake. There must be something underground,” Chen Feng said warily.

Bang!

The very spot that Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian had been lying on earlier exploded all of a sudden and countless grains of sand flew out with air-piercing speed, creating “chi chi” sounds. It was a testament to the momentum behind the sands.

Chen Feng's palm spun swiftly and the sands were all sucked into his palm before turning into powder. Next, a fiery-red silhouette dashed towards Chen Feng.

Ding!

Jian Xiaotian swiftly rushed forward to unleash a sword blow upon the fiery-red silhouette, knocking it away. However, contrary to Jian Xiaotian's expectations, he had failed to cleave the silhouette into two. Instead, his sword attack only managed to create the sound of metals colliding.

A one-metre-long fiery-red scorpion appeared on the sands. Its pair of red eyes was like burning clumps of flames. Its poisonous stinger kept waving around to create swishing sounds. Due to the rays of sunlight, the body of the scorpion grew even more reddish and striking.

“Is it a poisonous desert scorpion?” Chen Feng was somewhat surprised.

“This is indeed a poisonous desert scorpion. However, this is no ordinary poisonous scorpion. That sword strike I unleashed earlier had failed to break its defence,” Jian Xiaotian said slowly.

“A yao beast that could utilize soul attacks. This scorpion is not to be underestimated,” Chen Feng said, waving his hand to condense out a sphere of formidable energy, which blasted towards the fiery-red scorpion's eyes.

Sou!

However, the fiery-red scorpion's stinger quickly shot out, moving with extreme speed. Its sharp tip flashed and the blast of energy that Chen Feng fired out became like a punctured water balloon, exploding immediately.

Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!

Next, the fiery-red scorpion attacked both Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian at the same time. Strong winds, condensed into the shape of needles, shot out from its stinger to become like a hail of haphazardly fired arrows. All of them shot towards Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian.

“Looks like it is a Great Yao.” Chen Feng pulled out his flaming sword and spun the sword in a circular motion before him and all the wind attacks disappeared.

Sou!

Jian Xiaotian rushed forward to land another heavy sword strike upon the body of the fiery-red scorpion, causing it to flip backwards. A sword mark could be seen on the fiery-red scorpion's body and crimson blood trickled out from the mark.

“Incredible! It has such a hard carapace.” Jian Xiaotian was shocked.

“Eh? Something's not right.” Suddenly, Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian felt a brief bout of inattention. When they finally recollected themselves, Chen Feng saw a chilling dot of luminescence arrive before him.

Having no time to consider anything else, Chen Feng stretched his hand out. He was actually using his palm to block the stinger attack from the fiery-red scorpion.

Ding!

A sensation of pain a.s.sailed Chen Feng's palm and he quickly backed away. Looking down, he saw a small, needle-like hole on his palm. No blood trickled out, but Chen Feng could feel his palm going numb.

Circulating his longevity-type primary energy, the feeling of numbness immediately disappeared and the small, red-coloured wound on his palm swiftly closed up as it healed.

What a formidable attack! If it weren't for my body armour's protection, it would have pierced through my palm! Chen Feng was secretly shocked.

At that moment, Jian Xiaotian was fighting against the fiery-red scorpion. Judging by the way their fight was developing, Jian Xiaotian would be able to kill off the scorpion soon. The fiery-red scorpion's body was already filled with wounds and a great deal of blood was flowing out from them. Due to that, the scorpion was gradually growing weaker.

Suddenly, however, Jian Xiaotian's movements came to a sudden and brief halt. Although it was just a very brief halt, it was enough for the scorpion.

Sou!

Two thick and terrifying pincers rapidly flew towards Jian Xiaotian's throat. Should the scorpion succeed in pulling off this move, Jian Xiaotian would die.

Due to the sudden halt in his movements earlier, it was very difficult for Jian Xiaotian to block this attack.

It was then that Chen Feng arrived. He swiftly brandished the flaming sword in his hand and a flaming sword silhouette flashed out to cut down the two thick pincers. Copious amounts of blood began gushing out from the two open wounds.

Jian Xiaotian responded by swinging his sword. Sword light erupted to envelop the wounded fiery-red scorpion, shattering it apart. At the same time, a fiery-red bead rolled down the sands.

Chen Feng beckoned and the bead flew into his hand. Immediately, he could sense that the bead contained a strong power of fire.

“This is a yao core. Additionally, it has quite the decent grade.” Chen Feng tossed it up and down for a bit before tossing it to Jian Xiaotian.

“A very pure power of fire. However, there are some fire poison inside as well. I won't be able to use it,” Jian Xiaotian said, tossing it back to Chen Feng.

Nodding, Chen Feng kept the yao core. He then glanced around. “There should be other creatures here. I don't think the soul attacks earlier were from the scorpion we killed.”

“Yes, my thoughts exactly. If you hadn't interfered earlier, it would have been bad for me.” Jian Xiaotian was still feeling somewhat shocked about what had happened earlier. Had it not been for Chen Feng's a.s.sistance, even if he had managed to survive, his throat would have been torn by the scorpion's pincers.

Chen Feng released his soul power, only to find that his soul power was also restrained here. It could only go tens of metres into the sand. He was simply incapable of sensing anything out of the ordinary.

“The magical restrictions here are too strong. I wonder though, are the creatures inside affected as well?” Chen Feng said.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Chen Feng had only just said that when the sands around them exploded. Next, one fiery-red silhouette after another jumped out to attack Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian.

“So many poisonous scorpions!” Chen Feng cried out in shock. He vaulted upwards, wanting to charge up into the sky. However, the fiery-red scorpions were extremely fast. Chen Feng had only just vaulted ten or so metres upwards when four fiery-red scorpions surrounded him. One silhouette after another flashed out as their sharp stingers shot towards him from four directions.

Likewise, Jian Xiaotian was also besieged by four fiery-red scorpions.

“Be wary of their soul attacks!” Chen Feng's eyes shone as he quickly shouted.

As expected, just as those words left Chen Feng's mouth, his sea of wisdom churned and his vision blurred for a brief moment. Additionally, this was even more severe than the previous one. Chen Feng was actually feeling a wave of dizziness as well.

Still, Chen Feng had prepared for this in advance. Although he had fallen prey to the soul attack, the flaming sword in Chen Feng's hand swung out on its own to block the incoming attacks.

As for Jian Xiaotian, he had already experienced it before. Additionally, there was also the warning from Chen Feng. Thus, his figure erupted with a formidable power. Not only did he manage to block their attacks, he even managed to send one of the scorpions flying with a hack.

“These scorpions have a very high level of defence. Brother Jian, be careful. Why don't you bring out the sword you got last time for this?” Chen Feng reminded Jian Xiaotian as his figure dashed forward. Like a fish, he slipped out from the encirclement of the four scorpions. Then, he ran towards Jian Xiaotian.

However, before Chen Feng could get near Jian Xiaotian, the scorpions had managed to surround him again. The sands exploded again and two more scorpions emerged. Chen Feng began feeling a sense of foreboding.

Longevity Sword Technique!

As the enemies were extremely fast, Chen Feng stopped trying to run away. Instead, he used the flaming sword to display the Longevity Sword Technique. Immediately, a stretch of sword silhouettes enveloped Chen Feng. His flaming sword was the Eight Trigrams Fire Sword, a grade 6 Prized artefact. Thus, it was capable of breaking the scorpions' defences. It did not take long for Chen Feng to hack one of the scorpions into two. After just a brief moment, another scorpion had its stinger cleaved away.

By then, Jian Xiaotian was also unleashing his full power. They were presently in a dangerous and unknown place. It would serve him well to exercise caution. This time, Jian Xiaotian replaced his great sword with another sword. Although it was not a Sacred artefact, it was extremely sharp. Add his accomplished level of swordsmanship into the equation, the rate at which he was killing the scorpions soared above even Chen Feng's rate. The time it took Chen Feng to kill one scorpion would allow Jian Xiaotian to kill off two scorpions.

However, killing the scorpions did not make the two of them feel happy. A few more scorpions had appeared. These scorpions did not rush forward to attack. Instead, they stayed far away to surround Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian. Their stingers swished about and one energy blast after another, each with the appearance of a sharp needle, shot towards Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian.

Those scorpions were actually utilizing long-ranged attacks to interfere with their ability to fight.

“Humph!”

Naturally, Chen Feng was not fearful of the attacks. He had the protection of a top-grade Prized-tier body armour, after all. Thus, he simply did not care about the attacks. However, the same cannot be said about Jian Xiaotian. Soon enough, Jian Xiaotian grunted. He was wounded. Blood trickled down continuously from a small hole on his body.

“d.a.m.n it! Did we walk into a scorpion nest?” Jian Xiaotian blurted.

“It must be a scorpion nest. I thought we would be able to find treasures after entering this place. By the looks of it, our luck is not that good,” Chen Feng said.

As they chatted, they moved closer to one another. Suddenly, another invisible wave swept across their seas of wisdom, causing their movements to falter for a moment.

“Not good!”

The first thing Chen Feng did when he recollected himself was to protect Jian Xiaotian, giving up on defending himself.

As expected, Chen Feng immediately felt as though there were several sharp needles poking him. Knowing that he was. .h.i.t, Chen Feng swiftly swung the flaming sword to cut off the pincers of two scorpions.

Jian Xiaotian, who had recollected himself, also killed off another scorpion.

Next up, Chen Feng became surprised. The scorpions that had their pincers and stingers cut did not die off. Instead, they slowly grew out new pincers and stingers. In the beginning, the two of them had not noticed this. Due to that, one of the badly wounded scorpions nearly succeeded in launching a sneak attack on them.

“The hidden one is really annoying. Without those peculiar soul attacks, it would have been easy to deal with these desert fire scorpions,” Jian Xiaotian said.

“These scorpions would not be appearing for no good reason. There must be a treasure here, right?” Chen Feng suddenly said.

“I do not know if there are any treasures here or not. All I know is that it would be best for us to kill our way out as quickly as we can,” Jian Xiaotian said with a wry smile. Jian Xiaotian's offensive power was very strong. However, unlike Chen Feng, he did not possess a high-grade body armour. Thus, this type of battle was very disadvantageous for him. Not only did the fiery-red scorpions possess an astonishing level of offensive and defensive power, their attacks were also laced with potent venom.

“By the way, how do you know these are desert fire scorpions? Do you recognize them?” asked a smiling Chen Feng.

“Look at our current situation! You can still feel so carefree about it? These scorpions have a fiery-red body, so I just casually gave them that name,” Jian Xiaotian said with a helpless tone.

He had only just uttered those words when the group of fiery-red scorpions surrounding them suddenly opened their mouths. Next, streams of reddish flames surged towards Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian. The area around them quickly became a sea of flames. Additionally, the flames, which contained poison, would not subside. As the flames continued burning, the surrounding sands began bursting.

“You and your accursed mouth!” Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian looked at one another before pointing at each other at the same time.

“Forget it. Let's carve a way out. I'll lead the way.” Chen Feng sighed. Wielding the flaming sword, he strode forward. At the same time, a rapidly-spinning black hole appeared from his body. Seemingly having received a summon, the flames before Chen Feng flowed into the black hole.

Heh! It just so happens I am in need of some power. Chen Feng secretly smirked as he channelled all the absorbed flames into his Fire acupoint and Fire Trigram acupoint.

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

Chen Feng's Force acupoint spun and his strength soared. With a swing of his sword, three fire scorpions were killed. After creating an opening, Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian rushed out from the encirclement.

Bang! Bang!

The sands exploded and the rising clouds of sand blocked the pursuing fire scorpions for a bit.

“Brother Chen, I noticed something bad. These fire scorpions are actually not that strong. In the outside world, I could have easily killed off all of them. However, our powers are currently restricted,” Jian Xiaotian said.

“On the other hand, their powers are not restricted. Additionally, there is also a hidden fellow utilizing soul attacks amongst them,” Chen Feng continued.

“Do you think there will be fire scorpions ahead as well?” Jian Xiaotian suddenly said.

“You and your accursed mouth!” Chen Feng reflexively swore. A thick wall of flames had suddenly appeared before them and was charging towards them.

No questions were needed to know that there were fire scorpions up ahead. Moreover, there were a lot of them.

“Split! Eight Trigrams Fire Sword!” Chen Feng shouted and the flaming sword in his hand abruptly split into eight swords. The eight swords swiftly formed a sword array around Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian.

“Charge!”

“Kill!”

The two of them shouted simultaneously while increasing the speed behind their charge. By then, the wall of fire was already upon them.

Boom!

They blasted a large hole through the wall of fire. The sword array Chen Feng set up shook slightly due to that, but both Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian were able to charge through the wall of fire unharmed.

After making their way past the wall of fire, however, each of them abruptly took in a deep breath. Countless fire scorpions, so many that their bodies were packed densely together, were waiting for them behind the wall.

Exchanging glances, they then smiled bitterly and said, “It really is a scorpion nest.”

Shua! Shua! Shua!

Chen Feng jabbed with a finger and a sword beam flashed out. Immediately, three fire scorpions were killed. Three fiery-red yao cores flew into Chen Feng's hand.

“Without the soul attacks from that hidden fellow, we could have treated these fire scorpions as a form of training and money,” Chen Feng said.

Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou! Sou!

The countless fire scorpions before them attacked. This time, their attacks were more special and ferocious. Sharp needles were fired out from the fire scorpions' stingers. Like a rain of arrows, they rained down upon Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Chen Feng's Eight Trigrams Sword Array began trembling violently. Although the attacks failed to break the sword array, they did manage to buy time for the fire scorpions to surround Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian.

Countless stingers, large pincers and unending streams of flames a.s.sailed them. Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian were in dire straits.

We can't block it! The same thought appeared within their minds at the same time.

To further aggravate the dire situation, the soul attack came again. Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian's souls faltered briefly, causing their ability to respond to slow down.

“Longevity Tower!” In that critical moment, Chen Feng roared and summoned out the Longevity Tower. After appearing, the Longevity Tower instantly enveloped Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian to block off the incoming attacks coming from all around them.

“Quake these fire scorpions to death!” After blocking off the wave of attacks, Chen Feng directed the Longevity Tower to unleash a pulse. Next, wave after wave of formidable power – with the Longevity Tower as their point of origin – spread outwards and all the fire scorpions caught in their path were quaked to pieces.

Sou!

Chen Feng was feeling joyful at what had just happened when the Longevity Tower suddenly transformed into a stream of light to once again enter Chen Feng's body. Next, no matter how hard Chen Feng attempted to mobilize it, he was incapable of getting any reaction from it.

“Don't disturb me. I am not fully rested yet.” Tower's voice rang out.

“As expected, I cannot use it. The Longevity Tower is badly damaged.” Chen Feng's face was somewhat contorted. When Chen Feng mobilized the Longevity Tower earlier, it had instantly sucked away nearly half of Chen Feng's power. Most importantly, the Longevity Tower no longer possessed its previous level of power. It had failed to even clear out all of the surrounding fire scorpions. Furthermore, the yao cores that Chen Feng had only just collected were all devoured by the Longevity Tower. This meant that the Longevity Tower required energy to recover.

“A good opportunity! Hurry up and charge out!” Jian Xiaotian pulled Chen Feng. Next, their figures dashed forward. After killing off a few of the fire scorpions obstructing their path, the two of them finally managed to break out.

“Huh!”

Next, the two of them ran non-stop through over 50 kilometres before coming to a halt. Despite their mighty fleshly bodies, this feat had still left them panting somewhat.

“Hurry up and recover our strength. Who knows if there are any other dangers?” Jian Xiaotian said, bringing out some spirit stones.

1 piece, 2 pieces, 5 pieces, 10 pieces, 5 pieces, 100 pieces.

It did not take long for the spirit stones that Jian Xiaotian brought out to be completely absorbed. Even so, Chen Feng was still not satisfied with the result. “Not enough spirit stones. Bring out some more.”

Next up, Chen Feng absorbed the energy from another 300 Prized crystals before breathing a sigh of relief. Then, he began refining the power of fire that he had absorbed earlier.

Any other cultivator would have required quite a bit of time to do so. However, as Chen Feng was practicing several monstrous cultivation techniques, the power of fire was no different from worldly spiritual energy to him.

“The spiritual energy here is quite lacking. I think we should figure a way to get out from this desert. Earlier, we encountered a group of monstrous scorpions. Who knows just what we will end up encountering next?” Jian Xiaotian said.

“No rush. The way I see it, the fire-type spiritual energy here is quite high. I just so happen to need it. Brother Jian, I will have to trouble you for this.” Chen Feng's eyes suddenly shone. After refining the power of fire from earlier, Chen Feng could sense that his Yang acupoint of his Yin and Yang acupoints was stirring. It felt as though it would open up at any time.

Thinking about it in detail, Chen Feng came to understand. The so-called power of fire here was the converted form of the energy sent down by the sun through rays of sunlight. Everyone knew that the sun was the ultimate form of yang essence. Naturally, the energy that it radiated would possess extremely strong yang attributes.

Chen Feng wanted to make use of this place's searing yang energy to make a breakthrough.

“All right. I will protect you. Brother Chen, just go ahead with your cultivation,” Jian Xiaotian was quick to say.

Chen Feng nodded. He knew that they were in a place where dangers might appear at any moment. Thus, he instantly utilized the most ferocious method of cultivation. He unleashed both the Demonic Heavengorging Art and Heavengulping Absorption Technique simultaneously. A black hole appeared on both his left and right palm and they began to devour the searing yang power around them with a maddening fervour.

Copious amounts of the searing yang power entered Chen Feng's body. Then, following the methods recorded within the Longevity Scripture, the power moved to a.s.sail the Yang acupoint.

Incredible! The cultivation technique that Brother Chen is practicing is really overbearing. The more I look at it, the more it looks like demonic arts to me. No! Not even demonic arts possess this level of monstrosity! Sensing the searing yang power around them converging furiously into Chen Feng's palms, Jian Xiaotian could not stop himself from staring with widened eyes.