“What? It ran away?” Chen Feng gaped.

He had a.s.sumed that the Soul Devouring Beast would engage him in a battle. After all, it was clear that this opponent was very strong.

Speed, demonic attacks, both had revealed that this demonic beast was at least a peak-level Great Demon. In fact, it might even be a Demon King.

After all, devouring the blood essence and souls of other living beings to nurture oneself would bring about a more rapid rate of growth.

“Looks like it sensed danger,” Chen Feng muttered in a hushed tone before swiftly giving chase.

Truth be told, Chen Feng was not afraid that the Soul Devouring Beast would escape. Firstly, he had already locked down its aura. Secondly, he also possessed the Longevity Tower.

However, due to how attractive the Demonic Heavengorging Art was, Chen Feng did not want any accidents to happen. Thus, he utilized the Kirin Steps to quickly pursue the demonic beast.

Shua!

In the beginning, Chen Feng ran through the gra.s.sland to pursue the Soul Devouring Beast. Later, he sensed that the Soul Devouring Beast's aura was becoming increasingly faint and on the verge of disappearing from his senses. Thus, he could not hold back and flew up into the sky.

Flying up in the sky, Chen Feng was able to see farther ahead and it did not take long for him to find his target. Next, he sped up.

Boom!

Chen Feng unleashed a heavy punch forward, causing gra.s.ses to fly about in a chaotic manner and a hole erupted upon the ground.

However, the Soul Devouring Beast had disappeared.

Strange, where did it go? Did it slip underground? Chen Feng stamped a foot heavily against the ground, causing it to quake and countless cracks spread out into his surroundings.

Chen Feng was confident that this stomp from him could quake even the rocks located 100 metres underground into pieces.

Even so, there was no sign of the Soul Devouring Beast. Rather, he saw not a single movement.

Heh! Looks like it has gone deeper. Or perhaps, this place also has restrictive arrays, Chen Feng thought and he decided to utilize an earthslip technique to go underground.

Just as he was about to do so, however, something else attracted Chen Feng. With a thought, he brought out a jade talisman, the Messaging Talisman. There was a reaction coming from it.

There is a reaction. I wonder who? Chen Feng raised his head and his eyes focused as he peered ahead.

Somewhere 150 kilometres away from Chen Feng, three cultivators were hunting Wen Shaoxiu.

Sword beams flashed forward and blood sprayed out like blossoming flowers from Wen Shaoxiu's body. Due to that, Wen Shaoxiu's figure staggered and his movement speed slowed.

“Wen Shaoxiu, why go through all this? As long as you hand it over, we will let you go. How about it?”

“That's right, Wen Shaoxiu. We are all here in search of serendipity. There is no need to be fighting to the death here. This is not the outside world. You may be a core disciple of Heavenly Sword Faction, but no one will know what happened if you die here.”

“It's very simple. Just hand over the item in your hand and we can let you live. Why won't you do it?”

“Ha ha, that's right! It hasn't been easy cultivating up to this level. If you die just like this, it will be too much of a loss.”

As the three cultivators were pursuing Wen Shaoxiu, they fired out words designed to pick at his heart. Exchanging glances, the three cultivators then spread out while increasing their movement speed.

Wen Shaoxiu remained silent through it all. Despite the attacks striking his body, despite the severity of his wounds, he maintained a firm expression on his face and said nothing. The anxiousness within his eyes was the only thing reflecting the feelings of worry in his mind.

After entering this place, Wen Shaoxiu had been fairly lucky. It did not take long before he obtained a fragment of an Immortal artefact. Although it was only a small fragment, it did contain a small bit of immortal dao laws. That aside, even the materials used to forge the fragment were out of the ordinary. In short, for cultivators like Wen Shaoxiu, the small fragment of Immortal artefact was an invaluable treasure.

As Wen Shaoxiu was feeling delighted with his find, other cultivators arrived. Although they were not from the same sect or force, in order to obtain the Immortal artefact fragment in Wen Shaoxiu's hand, they took the initiative to join forces.

Wen Shaoxiu possessed a high cultivation base and a willingness to take as much as he dished out. Thus, enduring wound after wound, he killed off several of the cultivators before charging out from their encirclement.

By then, he was already several thousand li away from his original location. Even so, three cultivators continued to pursue him. Not to mention, they held the upper hand. It seemed as though Wen Shaoxiu would not be able to escape from them for much longer.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

As expected, the three pursuing cultivators sped up and formed a triangle formation to surround Wen Shaoxiu. Due to that, Wen Shaoxiu could no longer charge out.

Wen Shaoxiu was already seriously wounded while the three cultivators had only expended some of their primary energies. Moreover, every one of them was a half-step Human Immortal. Due to that, Wen Shaoxiu was beaten to the point of coughing out blood the moment their fight began. No matter how hard Wen Shaoxiu pushed himself, he was incapable of blocking the three cultivators' attacks.

Wen Shaoxiu was in imminent peril. Due to the three cultivators' attacks, Wen Shaoxiu could not even find the time to crush his Teleportation Talisman.

Am I really going to die today? Sigh, dying for the sake of an Immortal artefact fragment is indeed not worth it. No matter! Before I die, I must take one of them down with me! Wen Shaoxiu gnashed his teeth as he resolved himself.

“Wen Shaoxiu, today is the day you die!”

“Humph! You could have taken the easy way out, but you insist on doing things the hard way. You could have taken the item out earlier. Now, it is too late!”

“Everyone, be careful! Be on guard for his attempts to go all out.”

“Don't worry. With the three of us here, killing him is just a piece of cake. Besides, it is clear that he can no longer hold on.”

Despite their arrogant words, the three of them displayed caution when attacking Wen Shaoxiu. They were concerned that Wen Shaoxiu would attempt to take one of them down with him before his death.

Sigh! Looks like I am really going to die. Seeing the three cultivators' mode of attack, Wen Shaoxiu felt completely crestfallen. Due to that, his movement speed faltered and one of them managed to land a heavy palm strike against his body. A series of exploding sounds rang out and many of his bones broke as a result.

If it weren't for the Boltflame Technique that Wen Shaoxiu cultivated, giving him a formidable fleshly body, that attack would have killed him.

Even so, it would seem that he would not be able to persist for much longer. Perhaps, he would fall after one breath's worth of time. Or perhaps, he would fall the very next moment.

“Wen Shaoxiu, just die!”

The three cultivators found an opportunity and they attacked simultaneously, wanting to kill off Wen Shaoxiu in one fell swoop.

Put it all on the line!

Wen Shaoxiu pushed forth whatever remained of his strength to block them for a while longer. Taking one of them down with him was no longer possible. Even so, he could not die without doing anything.

Suddenly, three spiralling sword beams flew over from afar, splitting into three directions, each going after one of the cultivators besieging Wen Shaoxiu.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

Three popping sounds rang out as the three cultivators' attacks were shattered by the spiralling sword beams that had appeared all of a sudden. One of the cultivators was slow to react and a sword wound appeared on his body. Blood trickled out from the wound.

“Who?!” The three of them were shocked and they stepped back while peering ahead warily.

Like a hurricane, Chen Feng arrived. Upon his arrival, he attacked once again.

With a swing of his sword, he caused a blazing sword beam to erupt outwards. It was like a volcanic eruption and one of the cultivators was instantly left with a hole on his chest. Flames raged across the wound.

“Onslaught of Wind and Lightning!”

With a cracking sound, sword light shone like a flash of lightning and another cultivator was sent flying. By the time his body fell against the ground, it was already utterly charred.

“Run!”

The final cultivator became terrified. Blood sprayed out from every one of his pores. Next, a b.l.o.o.d.y light flashed out and he transformed into a red beam of light, which charged far away.

He had burned his blood essence and pushed himself beyond his limits. As he fled, he pulled out the Teleportation Talisman.

“Sword Intent of the Fiery Volcano!”

Chen Feng, who was still far away, swung and a sword beam shot into the cultivator's body. Suddenly, a wave of spatial ripples enveloped the cultivator as a spatial pa.s.sageway was opened. Next, the cultivator was sucked into the pa.s.sageway, disappearing from sight.

“No! He managed to get away!” Wen Shaoxiu cried out.

“He only managed to teleport out,” Chen Feng said coolly. He did not appear particularly worried.

In the outside world, the situation within the valley where the teleportation array was built had finally subsided. The Human Immortals were no longer fighting. Instead, they were either resting with their eyes closed or grouping up in twos and threes to chat.

Suddenly, a pa.s.sageway appeared on the teleportation array yet again and a cultivator, cutting a wretched sight, appeared before them all.

“Someone else came out. Which sect is he from?”

“Please don't let it be mine.”

“Heh! He is from the Dongfang Family. Still, he is lucky to be able to come out alive.”

“Wait, something is amiss!” At that moment, some of them noticed the peculiar state that the cultivator was in.

The Dongfang Family's Human Immortal rushed forward to place his palm on the cultivator's body.

“Oh, no!”

Next, the Human Immortal's face promptly sank and he quickly backed away.

The cultivator's face began contorting and all his muscles began tearing. Finally, he exploded with a resounding boom, transforming into b.l.o.o.d.y mist, which occupied the sky. The sword beam that had erupted out from his body became like a flaming ray of light as it clashed against the Human Immortal before dissipating.

“Humph!”

The Human Immortal's face became extremely ugly to behold. The cultivator from his family had died right before his eyes. Not to mention, many Human Immortals had also witnessed what happened earlier, causing him to lose face big time.

Furthermore, the dead cultivator was one of the elites that his family had been cultivating carefully. The explosion had utterly killed him, both body and soul.

“Heavenly Sword Faction! Your disciples are too ruthless! He is already teleporting out, but your disciples still weren't willing to let him go?” The Human Immortal from the Dongfang Family turned to cast a fierce glare at the Human Immortals from Heavenly Sword Faction.

In his opinion, given how overbearing and pure the earlier sword beam was, it must be the work of a disciple from Heavenly Sword Faction.

“Ha ha ha ha! We have already informed you this beforehand. This place is dangerous beyond compare. If you fellows cannot afford to suffer from any deaths, you should have given up your spots. Saying this now is just begging for ridicule.” Immortal Scarletflame laughed loudly.

“Humph!”

The face of the Human Immortal from the Dongfang Family was as cold as frost and he said nothing else. At any rate, continuing to bicker about this would only reflect badly on him.

As for the Human Immortals from Heavenly Sword Faction, they looked at each other with a slightly self-satisfied look. Then, they began discussing in secrecy which of their disciples could have been behind that attack.

Inside the ancient battlefield…

An open s.p.a.ce had been created amidst the lush gra.s.sland. There, Wen Shaoxiu's body flashed with bolts of lightning as the wounds on his body slowly healed up.

Chen Feng was standing not far from him, a sword in his hand as he patrolled the area. Spiritual light gleamed across his eyes as he cautiously kept an eye on their surroundings.

The process took Wen Shaoxiu a good two hours. Then, he ended his recuperation process and stood up. Although the wounds on his body had already disappeared, his face was still somewhat pale.

1 li = 0.5 km