Those injuries were not enough to kill them off. However, it was enough. With that, the situation had reached a point where the four Ascendant Immortals would be incapable of turning the situation around anymore. The only exception would be if they had more Ascendant Immortals on their side.

Boom!

Heavenly Premier Absolute, clad in starlight armour and the Absolute Staff in hand, appeared before them all, emanating a majestic air of power. The Seal of Mountains and Rivers transformed into a stream of light before landing on his hand.

Although Heavenly Premier Absolute was a cultivator from Eternal World, a minor place when compared to them, he was someone who had managed to reach the Ascendant Immortal stage in a place where resources were relatively scarce. It was not something that the average genius could accomplish. More, he had already spent a long time as an Ascendant Immortal. As someone who would constantly explore outer s.p.a.ce, his combat power was in no way inferior to the Ascendant Immortals from the Lightning Plane. Rather, it was slightly better.

Additionally, Heavenly Premier Absolute had attacked using two Immortal artefacts right from the start. Even more importantly was the fact that his attacks were timed perfectly. To be blunt, he had successfully executed a sneak attack on them.

Boom!

Heavenly Premier Absolute waved his hand and the Seal of Mountains and Rivers flew out once more. Like a great world filled with mountains and rivers, this Immortal artefact gave off a vivid impression of heaviness, thickness, stability and calmness.

Great! As expected of an Ascendant Immortal! This is the Seal of Mountains and Rivers' true power. If the attack against me back then had this kind of power, I would have been suppressed instantly. Chen Feng, who was nearby, praised the move.

Shua!

Bi Qing, who had launched his attack later, arrived first. He was so fast that Chen Feng failed to even notice him. All Chen Feng saw was flash of sword light, which left a sword trail behind.

Next…

The four Ascendant Immortals were grievously wounded once more. First, the Seal of Mountains and Rivers pressed down. Following that, Bi Qing's sword attacks wounded them.

Bang!

The Absolute Staff swung forward to heavily strike one of the enemy Ascendant Immortals, sending him flying. Thankfully for him, he was an Ascendant Immortal from the Lightning Plane, otherwise the attack would have made mincemeat of him.

Shua!

Suddenly, the sword beam that Bi Qing sent out made an abrupt turn to attack the restrictive arrays on Nine Firmaments Palace's headquarters. Everywhere it went, the restrictive arrays would be cut down.

Great! An opening! Chen Feng grew delighted and his figure flashed, disappearing from sight. He had utilized a stealth technique to enter the interior of Nine Firmaments Palace's headquarters.

Even though it is a two against four, there are no issues. Next up, it will be great if I can find Nine Firmaments Palace's treasure room. Chen Feng made use of all his skills to swiftly rush through the interior of the headquarters. He did not immediately unleash destruction upon the buildings there. Such actions would only cause the cultivators from Nine Firmaments Palace to rush in faster.

He was only taking advantage of the chaos to enter the headquarters. It was just a matter of time before they found him.

To Chen Feng's delight, however, as Bi Qing and Heavenly Premier Absolute were fighting the four Ascendant Immortals, they spared some time to send several attacks at Nine Firmaments Palace's headquarters, further damaging the restrictive arrays. Due to that, some buildings and mountain ranges were utterly decimated. Some unfortunate cultivators were caught up in the shockwaves of the attacks and were either killed off or wounded.

Those two fellows sure aren't holding back. However, I now owe them a favour. Hmm, that's not right! I am a student of Absolute Academy right now. It is only right that Heavenly Premier Absolute take action now. Chen Feng chuckled.

This place is?

Before Chen Feng could find a treasure room, he found something else which shocked him. Chen Feng, who was searching around, scanned about with his divine sense and found a huge secret chamber somewhere 10,000 zhang below ground. The secret chamber was protected by layer after layer of restrictive arrays. Despite pushing his divine sense to its limits, Chen Feng was still incapable of seeing what was inside.

Thus, Chen Feng decided to go down and check it out. He was of the opinion that it was a treasure room.

Surprisingly, it was a smooth trip as Chen Feng swiftly made his way underground to arrive before the secret chamber. Gritting his teeth, Chen Feng then attacked the restrictive arrays protecting the secret chamber with his magic treasure.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

Layer after layer of restrictive arrays were broken and Chen Feng was finally able to get a clear look at what was inside.

Before Chen Feng could enter, however, two Earthen Immortals charged towards him.

“Mid-level Earthen Immortals. Too weak.” Chen Feng swung his lance and the two Earthen Immortals were sent flying, their bodies smashing deep into the soil. They were no longer capable of getting out.

Boom!

Chen Feng then waved his hand and the thick wall of the secret chamber was blasted open. Next, he strode forward.

The secret chamber was very large and it appeared completely sealed. The spiritual energy inside it was very thick. In fact, it was several times thicker compared to the spiritual energy in the Immortal Plane. Sensing the surrounding streams of spiritual energy, Chen Feng was able to figure out some clues.

Immortal energy and essence power of Eternal World. In addition, there are 18 other types of spiritual energy. Each and every one of them is in no way inferior to that of Immortal crystals.

Chen Feng a.n.a.lysed his surroundings while walking forward, a look of utter shock on his face. He was not shocked at the concentration of the spiritual energy there. Rather, he was shocked at what he saw.

Crystals pillars, circular and one zhang tall each, rose up from the flat ground. The thing that surprised Chen Feng was the fact that there was a cultivator sealed within each of those crystal pillars. They looked like they were frozen in ice.

Making a quick headcount, Chen Feng calculated a total of 10,000 crystal pillars inside the secret chamber. That meant a total of 10,000 cultivators.

Moving to stand before one of the crystal pillars, Chen Feng then carefully sent his divine sense forward to investigate the situation in detail. After some time, Chen Feng retracted his divine sense, an incredibly grim look on his face.

Sigh! To think that Nine Firmaments Palace would possess this trick up their sleeves. With enough time, conquering all of Eternal World is only to be expected for them.

Chen Feng was quick to understand what was happening. He had a certain understanding towards this technique.

The cultivators sealed inside the crystal pillars were all living humans, sealed using a certain secret technique. After they were sealed, energy would be pumped non-stop from the outside into their bodies to transform their bodies and increase their strength.

This was why Chen Feng could sense a thick spiritual energy when he entered the secret chamber.

Through this method, these cultivators could improve their cultivation bases at a much faster rate. Rather, it might even be tens of times faster than normal.

a.s.suming that a cultivator would require 500 years to rise up from the Concealed stage to the Sky Human stage, this method would cut down the time required to only 100 years or less.

The advantage of this method was obvious, speed. However, the disadvantage of using this method was also very obvious. Rather, it was even greater than the advantage.

The good and the bad were usually fair. In order to obtain benefits, a price had to be paid.

Utilizing a special method to rapidly improve their strength was the equivalent of over exhausting their potential growth. Although this method could make them stronger, it also destroyed their adaptability. Even their vitality would be affected by this method. Reaching an even higher cultivation level in the future would become more difficult for them.

It was somewhat similar to burning one's own soul, pushing one beyond their limits and over exhausting their own life. Naturally, if the secret technique was good enough and the energy sources used were of a high enough level, the side-effects on the cultivators could be lessened somewhat.

After inspecting it, Chen Feng found that the 10,000 cultivators in this secret chamber were all at level 5 of the Sky Human stage. They were still growing stronger, and at a rapid pace to boot. It was such that Chen Feng could clearly sense the growth of their cultivation bases.

After a.n.a.lysing it in greater detail, Chen Feng speculated that these cultivators should only be level 3 Sky Human stage cultivators prior to being sealed. In less than 20 years, their cultivation bases had increased by two levels. Compared to the standard of Eternal World's world of cultivation, this was practically an act of flying .

More, the a.n.a.lysis that Chen Feng conducted on the crystal pillars revealed that these cultivators would be sealed for several more decades. Maybe even over a hundred years. However, upon emerging, these cultivators would already be close to reaching the Human Immortal stage. Rather, some would be able to instantly break through to the Human Immortal stage.

Naturally, the cultivation rate of these cultivators could be further increased by supplying them with energy of a higher grade.

Every Lightning Tribulation that a Sky Human cultivator overcame would give them an additional 1,000 years of life span. But wait, there's more! Nine Firmaments Palace was actually able to utilize a certain technique to straight up divert their Lightning Tribulations away.

This is probably not the only chamber that Nine Firmaments Palace has. As I recall, I also sensed such protected spots in other places under Nine Firmaments Palace. Only, I did not pay too much attention to those places back then. Right now, though, I managed to stumble into one right after breaking in. Just how many of these secret chambers are inside Nine Firmaments Palace's headquarters? One secret chamber alone could house 10,000 Sky Human cultivators. If they seal up stronger cultivators and repeat this procedure to increase their strength, when the time comes, Nine Firmaments Palace will become a defiance of Heaven!

Right now, it is imperative that I destroy these cultivators. Having reached that line of thought, Chen Feng then stepped forward. However, a look of hesitation appeared on his face.

In a normal fight, by utilizing my Immortal artefacts, I can kill them all with one blow. Even in the previous battles, the number of cultivators and normal humans killed off by the shockwaves from my actions is at such a high number that I can't even count them all. And yet, even though these people cannot fight back, I am unable to attack them. There was a tangled look on Chen Feng's face.

Am I being soft-hearted here?

No, it is not that. It is a matter of principles!

Chen Feng quickly pondered the matter. In the end, he concluded that he would be unable to do it. Despite knowing that they would become strong in the end, despite knowing that they might become a problem for him in the future, Chen Feng found that he was not a cold-blooded butcher.

I am incapable of doing this, but I also know that they will become an issue in the future. Looks like I will have to utilize some other methods against them. Chen Feng considered before coming up with a certain way.

He quickly started, forming one rune after another. The runes flew out from Chen Feng's palm and into the crystal pillars before disappearing into the cultivators' bodies.

Heh! Although these cultivators have become strong, they now have the Chaos Runes in them. By activating a secret technique, these cultivators will serve me. This is something of a trump card that they will not expect. Hopefully, Nine Firmaments Palace will not find out about this.

A smile appeared on Chen Feng's face. However, there was also a hint of exhaustion. Creating those Chaos Runes had consumed a great deal of Chen Feng's essence, energy and soul power. Not to mention, he had also borrowed the power of his Immortal artefact for it. Creating 10,000 Chaos Runes by himself? That would be too exhausting. Not to mention, their quality would not be up to scratch.

After doing that, Chen Feng swiftly left, quickly making his way through the ground. Chen Feng's goal had changed. He was no longer searching for Nine Firmaments Palace's treasure rooms. Instead, he went looking for more secret chambers like the one he had just encountered.

Not long after Chen Feng's departure, several cultivators came to the secret chamber. Seeing the hole on the secret chamber and the wounded Earthen Immortals, the cultivators cried out in shock.

However, after entering the secret chamber and conducting an investigation, they breathed a sigh of relief. At the same time, they felt puzzled.

1 In , Mu Lingfeng, the Club Leader of Five Elemental Hall from Extreme Celestial Sect mentioned that, for Sky Human stage cultivators, using less than one decade to break through to the next cultivation level – for example, from level 3 to level 4 – makes the cultivator in question a peerless genius. Even the average genius would require several decades to break through. By this standard, everyone in this secret chamber can already be labelled as peerless geniuses.

1 zhang = 3.333 m