Although Chen Feng did not understand what Patriarch Skytour meant with those words, he nodded.
“Yes. As I am now in control of East Dragon Island, it is only natural for me to become very familiar with everything on this island.”
“Then, I wonder if Island Lord is familiar with what lies beneath this island,” Patriarch Skytour continued.
“Beneath this island!”
Chen Feng's eyes suddenly lit up.
“Is Patriarch Golden Turtle beneath this island?”
“It is very possible. We do not have the exact details as to what is beneath this island. However, when we were together in the past, Patriarch Golden Turtle did inadvertently mention something about it before. Additionally, it is likely the reason why Patriarch Golden Turtle's strength is stronger than the three of us,” Patriarch Azure Eyes interjected.
Nodding, Chen Feng then pondered the matter. It would appear that the three of them were telling the truth. If Patriarch Golden Turtle was truly hiding beneath this island, then Chen Feng would have to go check it out, regardless of what may lie there.
“I understand. I will go check it out.” Chen Feng nodded.
“If so, the three of us will take our leave.” Patriarch Skytour and the other two saluted Chen Feng respectfully before slowly leaving the room.
After the three of them had left, Chen Feng pondered the issue again. Their words should be true. However, whether or not they truly meant well by telling him that was another matter.
After leaving East Dragon Island, the Patriarch trio did not say anything to each other. They continued moving until they reached Skytour Island. Chen Feng had a.s.signed the three of them to safeguard Skytour Island.
Upon their arrival there, they turned around to check their surroundings. Next, they quickly put up restrictive arrays around them. Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief.
“Do you guys think Chen Feng will go?”
“I am not worried about whether or not Chen Feng will go there. What I am worried about is whether or not Patriarch Golden Turtle can defeat Chen Feng.”
“So what if he can defeat Chen Feng? Even if he kills Chen Feng, then what? Did you fellows forget about the peak-level Demon Kings? Even one of them can kill us all off. I seriously don't know what you fellows were thinking back then. To think that you would actually agree to Patriarch Golden Turtle's request.”
“What's wrong? Are you regretting it? Do not forget, the three of us are now on the same boat. If anything happens to one of us, the rest will be unable to get away as well.”
“Hey, I never agreed to it since the very beginning! You two are simply begging for death here! That Chen Feng is not to be underestimated.”
“Then, what should we do now? Do we go back and inform Chen Feng?”
“Forget it. Let's just wait it out. If something unexpected happens, we'll book it as fast as we can. If it comes down to it, we can just cast the islands aside and find a new place to start anew.”
“Easier said than done. I am afraid that we might not get the chance to leave.”
…
Despite having made up his mind, Chen Feng did not immediately set off. Instead, he waited for 10 more days before setting off.
Utilizing an earthslip technique, Chen Feng began drilling his way underground. Not long after that, his figure made its way past the whole island to enter the ocean.
It truly is a floating island. Chen Feng nodded. There was no need to exert too much of his soul power to sense the energy fluctuations within the ocean waters around him.
It was a very peculiar power. Although intermittent in nature, it was very powerful. It contained the characteristics of the ocean's undercurrents. Most importantly, this power was coming from the depths of the ocean and was acting on the island.
The three fellows did not lie to me about this. There is indeed something going on below. After reaching that line of thought, Chen Feng's figure then became like a wyrm diving into the ocean, splitting the surrounding water currents away as he quickly descended.
At Chen Feng's level, even a depth of 10,000 zhang beneath the ocean surface would be no different from standing on the surface for him.
While descending, Chen Feng sensed about. After descending for 1,000 metres, various undercurrents began moving to intersect one another. There were very few fishes and other aquatic life forms here. The only creatures that can survive in this place were some ocean yaos and water monsters with some accomplishments in the path of cultivation.
After descending 10,000 metres below the ocean surface, even ocean yaos and water monsters grew scarce. Stretching his hand out, Chen Feng felt a light pain from the a.s.sailing force of the surging undercurrents.
Pondering for a moment, Chen Feng then brought out a piece of stone from the Longevity Tower. Upon appearing within the ocean, the formidable water pressure there crushed the stone into bits.
Chen Feng's eyes transformed to become two black holes and waves of black light shot out from his eyes.
5 kilometres.
50 kilometres.
500 kilometres.
Chen Feng's gaze penetrated the increasingly heavy water currents, continuing to move forward through a distance of 500 kilometres without stopping.
Chen Feng, on the other hand, grew increasingly alarmed. He had managed to make out something peculiar deep within the ocean.
Reflected upon Chen Feng's eyes was a gigantic maelstrom that was rapidly spinning deep within the bottom of the ocean. The aura and power of destruction that it was emanating alarmed even Chen Feng. In fact, he had a feeling that, if he were to rely solely on his current fleshly body to enter the maelstrom, he would be torn to pieces.
There is such a gigantic maelstrom 5,000 kilometres below the water surface. Is this a naturally-forming thing? It doesn't seem to be as simple as a naturally-forming thing. Chen Feng contemplated the matter time and again. Finally, he stopped his descent.
Patriarch Skytour's group likely had bad intentions by informing me about this. However, is Patriarch Golden Turtle here? For the average people, entering this maelstrom is the equivalent of suicide. Light radiated out from Chen Feng's eyes. At the same time, his mind raced to a.n.a.lyse the situation.
“Tower, what do you think?” Chen Feng suddenly asked Tower.
“Heh! You'll know once you go down, no?” Tower said nonchalantly, chuckling.
Chen Feng nodded and began descending once more. It was 5,000 kilometres beneath the ocean surface. No matter how fast Chen Feng was, going down that deep would take time.
After descending to a certain depth, Chen Feng slowly unfurled his domain power. The pressure bearing down on him from his surroundings was becoming increasingly strong. Thus, Chen Feng had to be careful in dealing with the pressure, otherwise he could end up getting affected by the suction force coming from below.
After descending through several thousand li, Chen Feng reached the edges of the maelstrom. The suction force coming from the centre of the maelstrom was very powerful. Chen Feng then tried releasing a strand of his divine sense forward only to feel that divine sense getting pulled. If it weren't for his quick reaction rate, that strand of divine sense would have been devoured.
After pondering it for a moment, Chen Feng then brought out a piece of Five Elemental Goldcore and tossed it out. The incredibly durable piece of Five Elemental Goldcore, weighing up to tens of thousands of jin, was pulled into a seemingly infinitely long state. In the end, it disappeared into the maelstrom.
Incredible! This maelstrom is at least as strong as a Dao artefact! Chen Feng was shocked.
Chen Feng displayed the Kirin Steps to constantly change his position, flitting about between the various repulsive forces moving around the place.
Forget fishes and prawns, there wasn't even a single ocean yao or water monster there. And although the maelstrom was spinning furiously, it was deathly silent. That was particularly so in the depths of the ocean floor. It gave off a highly suppressive atmosphere.
If Patriarch Golden Turtle is really here, then he must be in the centre of this maelstrom. However, this whole thing is likely a set-up. By then, Chen Feng had already pushed his Magic Eyes of Darkness to its limits to continuously sweep the place. Even the various positions his figure took was becoming more erratic.
Sou! Sou! Sou!
Several undercurrents smashed against Chen Feng's body. Two, in particular, became like wyrms as they attempted to wrap around Chen Feng, one from the left and one from the right.
“Affix the world!”
Chen Feng shouted and his domain spun. At the same time, worldly powers were mobilized. Due to that, the undercurrents a.s.sailing Chen Feng were thrown off course. The power of wind and lightning then formed a sword to rapidly slash out, cleaving apart the two incoming undercurrents.
Sou! Sou!
Chen Feng's feet kept moving and his figure flashed about to put a distance of 1,000 zhang between himself and his former position. However, the movement patterns of the surrounding undercurrents changed, becoming like enlarged snakes. They then shot towards Chen Feng without respite.
Heh! Someone is definitely secretly controlling them. Most likely, it's Patriarch Golden Turtle. Chen Feng did not panic. Instead, he chuckled and displayed his movement technique to his utmost limits. By then, Chen Feng had already comprehended the second step of the Longevity Steps. At any rate, it would appear that the Kirin Steps alone was insufficient to deal with this situation.
“Ha ha ha ha ha! An attack of this level is simply useless against me! It is not even as strong as the ones I usually cultivate with!” shouted Chen Feng, who laughed loudly while his feet kept moving. It seemed as though things were getting easier for him.
As predicted, upon hearing Chen Feng's taunts, the surrounding undercurrents surged at an even faster rate. At the same time, the gigantic maelstrom below began moving and a sense of crisis surged into Chen Feng's mind.
This is bad!
He displayed the Longevity Steps to swiftly shift his position. Next, a crack flashed across the very spot that he had been occupying. Without making a sound, the ocean waters there spread out as even the rampaging undercurrents were easily shredded apart.
The attack came from the maelstrom. Patriarch Golden Turtle is indeed here. Patriarch Skytour's group did not lie to me about that.
Sou!
Another fine ray of light shot out, grazing Chen Feng's figure. As a result, a hole instantly appeared upon the Sacred-tier magic robes that Chen Feng was wearing.
That surprised even Chen Feng. His fleshly body was strong enough to take on the attack from a Sacred artefact. At that very moment, however, he was not feeling too confident.
Weng!
A booming sound suddenly spread out from below. Next, an invisible power acted upon Chen Feng and an extremely powerful suction force instantly pulled Chen Feng towards the maelstrom.
Chen Feng struggled furiously but was unable to break free. The Magnetic acupoints on his feet spun rapidly and the Lightstream Shield and Overwhelming Astral Sword thrummed to fire out two formidable streams of power, which surged down before colliding against one another.
Due to the collision between the two formidable powers, the rate at which Chen Feng was descending slowed down by a notch. Next, Chen Feng made use of the opportunity to utilize the Longevity Steps and his figure flashed to escape the area affected by the suction force.
Bang!
Chen Feng had only just escaped from the suction force when an undercurrent struck him. His figure shook violently and was forced to back away. Next, two more undercurrents surged forward, one from the left and one from the right to wrap around Chen Feng.
Chen Feng struggled furiously to break free. However, before he could break free, two more compressed undercurrents surged forward to quickly wrap around Chen Feng's limbs. Next, even more undercurrents appeared. In the end, a total of 18 undercurrents tightly wrapped themselves around Chen Feng.
Sou!
Another suction force enveloped Chen Feng's figure, rapidly pulling him into the maelstrom like an arrow. In just the blink of an eye, Chen Feng had been pulled into the maelstrom.
After coming to a halt, Chen Feng saw a mountainous golden turtle before him. The colossal golden turtle cast a pair of sun-like eyes upon him and an arrogant sound rang out.
“Ha ha ha ha ha! Kid, you didn't think that you would end up getting captured so easily, did you? Did you think that you can control East Dragon Island just by refining my soul imprint? Humph! In the end, here you are in my grasp!” Patriarch Golden Turtle said smugly.
1 zhang = 3.333 m
1 li = 0.5 km
1 jin = 0.5 kg