After some time, Chen Feng’s eyes lit up and the expression on his face grew grimmer.

“Brother Chen, just what is going on?” Jian Xiaotian asked.

“Nine Firmaments Palace has issued a wanted declaration. It doesn’t matter which sect they are from or if they are loose cultivators, anyone who can kill or capture the three of us will receive a generous reward from Nine Firmaments Palace,” Chen Feng said.

“Quite troublesome. However, this is very normal. Still, what are the rewards that Nine Firmaments Palace is offering?” Jian Xiaotian asked.

“A Sky-tier cultivation technique, a Sacred artefact and one million Prized crystals,” Chen Feng said seriously.

“What? So ruthless?” Jian Xiaotian and Lin Shaokun simultaneously exclaimed.

“He he! Do you fellows think we can still find a place to hide?” Chen Feng chuckled.

“If so, we’ll have to face the pursuing efforts of all the cultivators in the Northern Plains. Such a generous reward is enough to attract all the loose cultivators and mercenaries. More importantly, even the disciples of some immortal dao sects would choose to take action. Once they fight us, there will surely be casualties. And once these disciples die to us, the ones after us will no longer be limited to Nine Firmaments Palace. It might even be Jade Talisman Sect, Pill Ding Sect or some other immortal dao sects,” Jian Xiaotian said, his brows furrowed as he considered the situation.

“An endless number of cultivators.” Thinking of that, all three of them revealed a look of apprehension.

“Humph! If its loose cultivators, we’ll just kill however many comes our way,” Lin Shaokun said, his killing intent soaring.

“Yes. If they want to kill us, it doesn’t matter which sect they are from. They must pay the price,” Jian Xiaotian said icily.

Subsequently, Chen Feng’s team of three swiftly left the place. However, not long after their departure, ten plus cultivators gradually appeared at the spot where Chen Feng’s team had gotten into a battle with the three cultivators.

“There was a battle here just now. It must be Chen Feng and the others!”

“This way!”

The cultivators merely paused for a moment before rushing in the same direction taken by Chen Feng’s team.

“Someone else is coming.” As Chen Feng was in possession of the Thousand Seeker Mirror, he could quickly discover that there were people coming after them.

“There are people up ahead as well,” Lin Shaokun said solemnly.

“Three on the left and four on the right,” Jian Xiaotian said.

“There are at least twenty people behind us. However, they should all be loose cultivators,” Chen Feng said coolly.

“For the sake of some benefits, these people truly don’t know the meaning of death. What do we do? Let’s stay and fight for a bit. I feel like I am going to break through soon.” Jian Xiaotian’s will to fight rose.

“No. If we get held back by these fellows, it will be difficult to get away,” Chen Feng said.

“Trying to get away now is hard as well. Don’t worry. We’ll have more fights waiting for us. I just worry you might not be able to endure,” Lin Shaokun said.

“Yes. There are more cultivators coming from afar. The auras radiating from some of them are very powerful,” Chen Feng said.

“Come, let’s kill a way out!”

The three of them quickly rushed to the left. Relatively speaking, the enemies waiting for them in this direction possessed the weakest level of strength. The three of them displayed a high level of cooperation. In order to quickly deal with their enemies, Chen Feng once again brought out the Demon Sealing Sword the moment they encountered their enemies.

First, the sword’s sealing power was used to seal up their enemies. Next, Jian Xiaotian and Lin Shaokun rushed forward to kill them off.

However, they had only just finished off the three enemies when four more enemies rushed towards them from another direction.

“It’s the three of them! Everyone, attack together! Kill the three of them and go to Nine Firmaments Palace to collect the rewards!” When the four enemies noticed Chen Feng’s team of three, their eyes turned red. It was the colour of greed. It was as though Chen Feng’s team of three were treasures in their eyes.

“You have a death wish.” Two bolts of astral lightning shot out from the Demon Sealing Sword in Chen Feng’s hand to immediately kill off two of the enemies. Likewise, Lin Shaokun managed to kill off an enemy with two staff blows. Jian Xiaotian was slightly slower, needing two breaths’ worth of time to kill off his opponent.

As a result of using the Demon Sealing Sword so much, Chen Feng’s primary energy was drained significantly. Although Chen Feng possessed a high amount of primary energy, it was still not enough for such a fierce battle. Should his primary energy be depleted during a battle, he would undoubtedly die.

“More pursuers are coming from behind,” Jian Xiaotian said.

“Let me!” Chen Feng shouted, turning around with the Demon Sealing Sword in his hand. He began mobilizing the power of the Demon Sealing Sword.

A total of twenty-three cultivators caught up to them from behind. All of them had overcome Lightning Tribulations before. Additionally, these loose cultivators were all in identical attires.

“Capture them!”

“These three fellows are mine! Nobody is allowed to snatch them!”

“Who do you think you are? I only need one of them. Then, I can go to Nine Firmaments Palace and exchange a Sacred artefact!”

“Ha ha ha ha! Fellows, there is no need to argue. According to the information I obtained, the three of them possess Sacred artefacts. There is enough for us to share,” an old cultivator suddenly said, laughing.

“Idiots,” Chen Feng said icily.

Next, the cultivators saw a dazzling bolt of lightning spread out from Chen Feng’s hand to charge towards them.

“What a powerful Sky Lightning!”

“It’s a Sacred artefact!”

“NO!”

This was the strongest attack that Chen Feng could muster. Practically every drop of power within Chen Feng was sucked away by the Demon Sealing Sword in his hand and a wave of weakness rapidly washed over him.

Jian Xiaotian and Lin Shaokun stared blankly. The bolt of Sky Lightning had swept the twenty-three cultivators away. Ten of them were instantly killed off while the others were wounded.

“Too savage!” Jian Xiaotian blurted.

“Hurry up and escape. I don’t have the energy to go on anymore,” Chen Feng said.

By then, Jian Xiaotian and Lin Shaokun had also noticed that Chen Feng was not doing too well. Thus, Lin Shaokun went forward to support Chen Feng. Next, the three of them quickly flew away.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

More cultivators were coming after them from afar.

“These fellows are really persistent.” Jian Xiaotian swore.

“Brother Chen, how are you feeling?” Lin Shaokun asked.

“I am fine. I just used up too much of my energy. However, I will be able to recover quickly.” By then, Chen Feng had already kept the Demon Sealing Sword. At the same time, he channelled the Heavengulping Absorption Technique to quickly absorb the energy from the spirit stones within the Longevity Tower. The soul power within his sea of wisdom, too, began swirling as it refined and absorbed the soul power that he had devoured earlier.

As the three of them were quickly flying forward, the sky suddenly darkened. Looking up, they saw a dark cloud descending, bolts of lightning flashing from within it.

“Careful! The other party wants to capture us!” Jian Xiaotian’s face sank.

“Not so easy!” Lin Shaokun placed Chen Feng on his back and the gilded staff in his hand elongated all of a sudden, shooting towards the dark cloud above them.

The power of attraction, encasement, suppression and lightning radiated ceaselessly from the dark cloud and the power behind Lin Shaokun’s attack was unravelled.

“Blackfiend Astralbolt Net! You are Old Monster Blackfiend!” Jian Xiaotian suddenly cried out.

“Ha ha ha ha! That is right! I didn’t think that you juniors could be so knowledgeable. Unfortunately, you fellows are about to die!” A terribly grating voice rang out from the dark cloud.

“Old Monster Blackfiend, no matter how you look at it, you are a well-known figure. To attack us for no good reason, are you not afraid of losing face when news of this gets out?” Jian Xiaotian shouted again.

At that moment, Lin Shaokun was still brandishing the staff in his hand. Each swing he unleashed possessed the power to break open a mountain. However, he was incapable of stopping the descending dark cloud.

“Ha ha ha! By killing you three, I will receive the rewards from Nine Firmaments Palace. A Sacred artefact and a Sky-tier cultivation technique. How unexpected, you three juniors are quite valuable!” The grating voice rang out once more.

Finally, the dark cloud descended to envelop Chen Feng’s team of three. Immediately, they felt countless streams of suppressive power swirling towards them. There were also numerous streams of lightning power rampaging about. In the blink of an eye, the suppressive power acting upon the three of them grew even stronger. It would not take long before the three of them become completely incapacitated.

“This is Old Monster Blackfiend’s Blackfiend Astralbolt Net. It is a very powerful Prized artefact. Looks like it will be very difficult for us to charge out,” Jian Xiaotian said.

“Just a Prized artefact? Let me break it.” Chen Feng struggled to get down from Lin Shaokun’s back. Next, he brought out the Demon Sealing Sword and mobilized what little power he managed to recover earlier, hoping that he could break out from the surrounding restraints with this move.

“No, let me do it,” Lin Shaokun suddenly said. Next, an extremely overpowering aura emanated out from the staff in Lin Shaokun’s hand. Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian could sense it. The appearance of the aura had immediately caused the restraining power to disappear.

“The power of a Human Immortal!”

Three voices cried out simultaneously; Chen Feng, Jian Xiaotian and Old Monster Blackfiend.

Bang!

With one swing, the scene before them lit up. A hole had appeared within the Blackfiend Astralbolt Net enveloping them.

“Argh!” The wretched cry of Old Monster Blackfiend could be heard coming from within the dark cloud.

“Let’s go!”

Grabbing Chen Feng and Jian Xiaotian, Lin Shaokun then charged out.

After the three of them disappeared, the dark cloud suddenly disappeared and an old man in black attire appeared in the sky. There was a fierce expression on the old man’s face and his eyes were like that of a viper.

“You actually managed to break my Blackfiend Astralbolt Net and wound me in the process. However, it is impossible for the three of you to escape from me!” the old man said furiously before giving chase.

For the next three days, Chen Feng’s team encountered ten plus waves of cultivators. They spent every single one of the three days fighting and killing cultivators. Although they were wounded all over, they were able to carve out a bloody path. Thus, they were able to obtain a temporary respite.

By then, they had stopped moving forward. They were presently hiding within a dense forest, seated while leaning against a large tree. There, they healed themselves while recovering their strength.

“This forest should cover a radius of several thousand li. It should be big enough for us to hide for some time,” Jian Xiaotian said through gasped breaths. There were over ten wounds on Jian Xiaotian’s body. Every one of the wounds was so deep, his bones could be seen. His face was pale due to having lost too much blood. As for his great sword, it was left lying on the ground. It seemed Jian Xiaotian no longer possessed the strength to even pick it up.

“We’ll change our location after one joss stick’s worth of time,” Lin Shaokun said solemnly.

Lin Shaokun was the strongest amongst the three of them. At that moment, however, he appeared to be the most wounded. If it were not for Lin Shaokun’s action of activating the Human Immortal power that his master had left within his staff back then, they could have ended up getting captured by Old Monster Blackfiend.

The staff that had unleashed such an overpowering might now lay on the ground, looking like a piece of ordinary iron. As for Lin Shaokun, he leaned silently against the tree. When he spoke up, however, blood trickled out from his mouth.

1 li = 0.5 km