“It's obvious. This city was protected by an invisible power before this, but now that people have entered this place, that power has been disrupted, causing some of the things to turn to powder. They have been around for too long, after all.”

“Hopefully, some treasures will remain.”

Weng!

Suddenly, Chen Feng sensed a wave of energy fluctuation outside. Surprised, he rushed out to see Liu Wuxiang holding a stone lance with him as he walked out from one of the buildings.

“Brother Chen, come look.” Liu Wuxiang then handed the lance to Chen Feng.

“Strange, what kind of power is this?” Sensing the peculiar power radiating from the lance, Chen Feng felt surprised. It was a power that he had never seen before, different from the power of immortal dao or demonic dao. Instead, it was an ancient binding power.

Ding!

Chen Feng gave it a tap with his finger and a faint light shone from the surface of the stone lance. Next, cracks spread out from the spot and the lance shattered into countless fragments with a bang.

“A pity! This lance should be a decent Sacred artefact. Unfortunately, it has been too long. The fact that it could survive this long is already a testament to how good it was.” Chen Feng shook his head.

“Not even Sacred artefacts could remain intact. I wonder how much power a Dao artefact can retain. Still, this city is very big. There should be a high number of good items inside this place.”

As the two of them were chatting, some cultivators moved forward from behind them. They were none other than the group that had entered the city after them.

The one in the lead sported two horns on his head and his beefy body was at least one zhang tall. Black scales covered his whole body and a long beard grew out from his face. Demonic energy surged within his eyes. He was a Demon Deity.

“Two little fellows and two Yao Immortals. You fellows, come!” the Demon Deity shouted coldly.

“Oh? I wonder, does Sir Demon Deity have instructions for us?” Liu Wuxiang said with a smile.

“Naturally. Be obedient and listen to my commands. Do everything I tell you to do, or you all will die right here!” the Demon Deity shouted again as he took another step forward to unleash a formidable wave of demonic energy.

Behind the Demon Deity were four more cultivators. Two of them had a pair of wings on their backs respectively. They were also at the Demon Deity (Earthen) stage. The other two radiated a ghostly energy. They were Ghost Generals from the Ghost Plane.

“Sure thing! What does fellow sirs want of us?” Chen Feng said with a smile.

“You, go check that building. You, go to the small courtyard. You two, keep walking forward.” The two-horned Demon Deity began giving them instructions, treating Chen Feng and the others as scouts.

“Let's not get into a conflict with them first.”

“Yes, we'll wait for an opportunity first.”

Chen Feng and Liu Wuxiang secretly discussed the matter before following the Demon Deity's instructions. As for the h.e.l.l Dog and tree yao, they simply chuckled and ignored the Demon Deity. Seeing that, the Demon Deity had wanted to attack them, only to hold himself back in the end. Two Yao Immortals were not easy to deal with, after all.

“It's fine. Having the two little fellows as scouts is enough.”

Weng!

Another wave of energy fluctuations spread out from the small courtyard and Chen Feng walked out, a wooden mallet covered in runes in his hand.

“Bring it to me.” The Demon Deity beckoned and s.n.a.t.c.hed the wooden mallet away from Chen Feng's hand.

Pa!

The wooden mallet shattered apart and a wisp of power dissipated into the air.

“What broken toy is this?” The Demon Deity waved his hand, blowing the shattered remnants away.

Next up, Chen Feng and Liu Wuxiang found some more items. There were blades, spears, lances, hammers and some oddly-shaped weapons. They even found some daily utensils containing unique power. The power contained within them all, however, would dissipate away the moment they held them. Without exception, all of them shattered apart.

They advanced through several streets and had entered who knows just how many buildings. And yet, they were incapable of finding even a single item that could be useful to them. Due to that, they all felt very upset.

Will this trip end in vain? That was the thought going through the minds of all present.

“Why did you two stop? Hurry up and go check out the two small courtyards!” the two-horned Demon Deity shouted again.

Chen Feng and Liu Wuxiang's eyes lit up and killing intent glinted across them. They had yet to find a good opportunity, but they were already on the verge of losing their patience.

“Looks like we'll have to fight them.”

Just as they were planning on attacking, a ten-metre-tall building located not too far away suddenly exploded and countless building fragments shot towards them. At the same time, a power soared up into the sky. Sensing that power, the eyes of all present shone.

“It must be a good item!”

The two-horned Demon Deity was the first to charge forward. When he re-appeared, there was a short staff forged from what appeared to be bronze in his hand. A simplistic-looking pattern was engraved upon the surface of the short staff. However, the aura radiating out from the short staff was surely not fake.

“It actually contains grand dao powers. That Dao artefact is quite good,” Liu Wuxiang said.

Chen Feng nodded silently. Although the grand dao powers within the short staff in the Demon Deity's hand was already in an incomplete state, he estimated that it was at least a mid-grade Dao artefact.

“After all this time, only magic treasures containing grand dao powers would be able to remain intact.”

“A Dao artefact! Hand it over!”

A great hand silhouette descended from the sky to grasp the short staff in the Demon Deity's hand. At the same time, the surrounding buildings exploded and countless pieces of rubble became like arrows as they shot towards all the cultivators present.

“You have a death wish!”

The two-horned Demon Deity grew infuriated and he swiftly swung out with the short staff in his hand to shatter apart the great hand silhouette above him.

“It's a cultivator from the Immortal Plane,” Liu Wuxiang quickly said.

“Let's move farther away from here.” Chen Feng retreated as he blocked the pieces of rubble shooting at him.

A sword spun as it flew high up in the sky. Then, like a colourful blooming flower, it exploded to release streams of sword energy containing a riot of colours. The streams of sword energy then became like rivers as it a.s.sailed the buildings below, smashing and breaking holes through everything it touched.

Shua! Shua!

The other two Demon Deities with wings on their backs suddenly grew in size and their broad wings flapped furiously to create a gale. Shockingly, the gale created by the flap of their wings was capable of blasting the streams of sword energy away. At the same time, the two Ghost Generals abruptly exploded, transforming into semi-transparent silhouettes, which then disappeared from sight.

When they next re-appeared, they could be seen fighting against a cultivator.

“What a mess! Just fight, the more chaotic it is, the better.” The h.e.l.l Dog's Nether Eye opened up and a faint stream of light shone out before disappearing into s.p.a.ce.

“That is?” Chen Feng did not understand what just happened.

“It's a type of mental attack that can stir the target's killing intent.” The h.e.l.l Dog smiled.

“Sinister.”

“Brother Liu, do you know who the other cultivators are?” Chen Feng had already rushed out from the scene of battle. Additionally, his domain was already unfurled as he kept himself on guard against any sudden attacks.

Liu Wuxiang shook his head. “The Immortal Plane is too big. I do not recognize them. However, for them to put on such a display of arrogance, they are likely characters with quite the background.”

“There is no need for us to worry too much about it. We should leave this place first. At any rate, there is nothing to be gained from staying here.”

Weng!

Suddenly, the ground quaked and a formidable and unmatched power emerged from the ground to envelop the surrounding buildings. Due to that power, the dust blowing through the air began gathering and the shattered rubble began reforming their original shape as time seemingly rewinded itself. Everything that was destroyed earlier was returned to its original shape.

“This, this is, the laws of time!”

Seeing the buildings restored to their original state, all of the cultivators there were shocked and they all became speechless. They even stopped fighting one another.

Sou!

A scarlet beam of light suddenly descended from the sky. It was from one of the many pillars of light shining out from the city. The beam of light easily pierced through the chest of one of the cultivators from the Immortal Plane.

“This, this, why did it attack me?” The cultivator lowered his head to look at the wound on his chest and a feeling of dread filled his whole body. He could feel his vitality draining away at a terrifying rate.

Kacha! Kacha! Kacha!

Like a piece of shattering porcelain, cracks spread out all across the cultivator's body before it finally exploded into shattered bits. To the surprise of all present, not a drop of blood could be seen from the explosion.

“An Earthen Immortal died just like that.” Cold sweat broke out from all of the cultivators there. If that attack earlier had been aimed at them, they too would have ended up with the same fate at him.

“That fellow must have triggered some array earlier.”

“I think we should avoid destroying the buildings here. Who knows if we will end up triggering some more of the arrays here?”

“We'll let these fellows off first. Let's go!”

“Humph! We'll leave too.”

Soon enough, both parties left. The two-horned Demon Deity chose to ignore Chen Feng and Liu Wuxiang as he left.

“See where they are headed to.”

“They are heading towards the scarlet-coloured pillars of light. Since there are Spirit Gathering Arrays there, there must also be other good items to be found.”

“Let's go as well.”

Chen Feng's eyes shone brightly. Since entering the city, his soul power's ability to scan his surroundings had fallen greatly. As for his Magic Eyes of Darkness, it was no longer capable of displaying even 10% of its former power.

“Senior h.e.l.l Dog, you will have to clear a way.”

The h.e.l.l Dog's Nether Eye opened up. Although it was somewhat restricted, it was still capable of seeing through the many buildings there.

“There is something in the small courtyard up ahead.” It didn't take long before the h.e.l.l Dog came to a halt.

“Let's go check it out.”

However, when Chen Feng and Liu Wuxiang approached the gate of the small courtyard, a hazy yellow light radiated out from the surface of the gate and layer after layer of restrictive arrays appeared to push Chen Feng and Liu Wuxiang backwards.

“Good!”

The two of them instead grew delighted. This was the first time they had encountered a courtyard with restrictive arrays.

“Senior h.e.l.l Dog, what's inside it?”

“I cannot see clearly. The thing is in the centre of the courtyard. It looks like a human.” The h.e.l.l Dog pushed his Nether Eye to its limits, causing the restrictive arrays around the small courtyard to appear, bursting with sparks as they did.

“There must be something good inside. Let's not tarry. Charge!” Liu Wuxiang grew high-spirited and he instantly brought out his Yao-refining Furnace. The power of a Dao artefact surged forward to a.s.sail the small courtyard.

1 zhang = 3.333 m