“A great calamity is already on your doorstep! Don’t you know? Just the number of Sky Human stage cultivators after you fellows number in the hundreds. Once you emerge, all of you will be hacked to pieces,” Yan Luo said with a sneer.

“Ha ha ha ha!” Chen Feng’s team of three laughed loudly.

“Funny, too funny!”

“What a shameless braggart! Utterly ridiculous!”

“The way I see it, a great calamity has arrived on your doorstep, not ours. Attack!”

Right after saying that, Chen Feng’s team attacked Yan Luo. The three of them had the same idea, kill Yan Luo. Additionally, they had no intentions of fighting one-on-one. Instead, they charged together.

Yan Luo attacked at the same time. Both his hands swung out and his body pulsed to send waves of black flames towards Chen Feng’s team.

“Earthen Mara Flame!”

Following the emergence of the black flames, the ground began erupting as layer after layer of soil was pushed outwards.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The attacks from Chen Feng’s team of three landed on Yan Luo at the same time. Chen Feng’s attack was a direct punch, Lin Shaokun’s attack was a staff swing from above and Jian Xiaotian unleashed his unity of man and sword attack.

Bang!

The blows lifted Yan Luo up the ground. His face turned red and he could not stop himself from spraying out a mouthful of blood. With just one confrontation, many of Yan Luo’s bones had been broken. He had also suffered from grievous internal injuries.

Not good! How did these three fellows become so powerful? If this continues, I will certainly end up dying here. Yan Luo cried inwardly. He did not expect the cultivation bases of Chen Feng and the other two fellows to rise so greatly within such a short span of time.

Run! Yan Luo was very decisive. He quickly turned, channelling all the power within him to fly away.

“Thinking of running? Not so easy! Just leave your life behind!” Chen Feng sneered and the three of them hastily gave chase.

By then, the cultivators outside had found the stone stele halfway up Pot Mountain. A group of cultivators stood around it.

“There are some marks here. It must be Chen Feng and the other two fellows!”

“Strange. Why is there a stone stele here? Additionally, there are no texts written on it at all,” said a cultivator from Nine Firmaments Palace as he stepped forward to slap the stone stele. Next, a burst of light shone from the stone stele and the cultivator uttered out a miserable cry as he was sent flying.

“Eh? There is something wrong with this stone stele!”

Woah! The surrounding cultivators quickly spread out. Even so, they continued to surround the stone stele.

“Could this stone stele be the entrance to Pot Mountain?”

All of them exchanged glances. However, no one dared to step forward. After some time, Elder Xue, from Pill Ding Sect, stepped forward. He circled the stone stele and inspected it.

The two elders from Nine Firmaments Palace exchanged glances before following suit. Likewise, the other elders from the various immortal dao sects and some of the relatively powerful loose cultivators too, approached the stone stele.

“Strange, strange.” Elder Xue drummed up his courage and reached out with one hand to feel the stone stele. He wanted to figure it out.

…

Bang!

The gilded staff in Lin Shaokun’s hand abruptly extended and the staff that had been less than one zhang long suddenly grew to a length of tens of zhang. A staff silhouette whipped forward and the staff smashed down against Yan Luo’s back. Yan Luo’s body flinched and he let out several grunts. Gritting his teeth, he charged forward at an even faster speed. Even so, the constant trickle of blood coming from his mouth showed that Yan Luo was not in a good state.

Sou!

Chen Feng swung his hand and a stream of light shot forward to pierce Yan Luo’s body.

No! This is a Meridian Sealing Needle! When Yan Luo sensed something moving within his body, his face sank. Next, he gritted his teeth, raised his hand and unleashed a furious punch at his own chest.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

His heart throbbed furiously and the primary energy within him swiftly converged. Finally, all of them erupted outwards, causing a bloody hole to appear on his chest. Due to that, the Meridian Sealing Needle that had entered his body was ejected out along with his blood.

Chen Feng beckoned with his hand and caught the Meridian Sealing Needle. Then, the sword beam that Jian Xiaotian sent out struck Yan Luo heavily on his back.

The flesh on Yan Luo’s back was torn out to reveal his bones.

“I would like to see where you can run off to!” Chen Feng said, both his hands moving about to form seals. Next, a huge palm silhouette condensed out from his hands before slapping down at Yan Luo.

Bang!

The huge palm silhouette smacked the ground, causing dust to rise up all round. In the end, a large, circular crater could be seen on the ground. However, Yan Luo had disappeared.

“Eh? Where is he?” Jian Xiaotian was puzzled.

“Just now, I felt the emanations of a power of space,” Lin Shaokun said.

“He must have escaped. How peculiar! I wonder what he did to enter?” Chen Feng said, frowning.

“This Yan Luo fellow is very powerful. It is unfortunate that he could escape today. I fear we won’t get such a good chance in the future,” Jian Xiaotian said, sighing.

Weng!

Suddenly, the stone stele outside Pot Mountain shone, scaring the surrounding cultivators into backing away.

Sou!

Next, a figure tumbled out from the stone stele. Seeing that scared all the cultivators present.

“What is going on here?”

“Eh? It’s Yan Luo!” When the two elders from Nine Firmaments Palace recognized the figure, their faces flickered and they quickly rushed forward to prop Yan Luo up.

“Cough! Cough! Greetings, elders.” Yan Luo gritted his teeth to speak before fainting.

Seeing the injuries on Yan Luo’s body, the two elders sucked in a breath of cold air. Next, they quickly began treating him.

“Such dire injuries! If we do not hurry up and heal him, this will leave hidden wounds on him even after he recovers,” the white-robed elder said as he sent a stream of primary energy into Yan Luo’s body.

“Right now, I am wondering who was the one who had wounded Yan Luo. Yan Luo’s cultivation talent is astonishingly high and he has long since overcome 5 Lightning Tribulations. To be able to wound Yan Luo to this extent, the other party is surely not to be underestimated,” the black-robed elder said.

“Brother Yan is so badly wounded! Just what did he encounter inside?” Lei Sha and a group of disciples from Nine Firmaments Palace gathered around Yan Luo.

Yan Luo was one of the top characters amongst the core disciples in Nine Firmaments Palace. To suddenly see him in such a state was unacceptable for some.

After some time, thanks to the treatment from the elders, Yan Luo woke up. Although it was not possible to fully recover from the injuries anytime soon, his life was saved.

“What happened? What did you encounter inside?” the white-robed elder hastily asked.

“It’s Chen Feng and the others. They wounded me,” Yan Luo said through gnashed teeth.

“Chen Feng! Chen Feng and the other two fellows are inside?” the black-robed elder asked again.

“Yes. Not long after entering, I was surrounded by Chen Feng and the other two fellows. I was nearly incapable of escaping,” Yan Luo said.

“What is inside?” the elder from Sword Hall suddenly asked.

Yan Luo’s eyes flickered, but he remained silent. Instead, he closed his eyes. Clearly, he did not want to say anything.

“Humph! Your Nine Firmaments Palace must know something. You should tell us what you know,” the elder from Sword Hall said with a smirk.

“Yes. We are all here. If there is anything good, you cannot just take it for yourself.” Elder Xue spoke up as well.

“What are you fellows planning on doing? Can’t you see that our disciple is already seriously injured?” the white-robed elder said sternly.

“He was talking fine just moments ago, but now he wants to play dead? Humph! Is your Nine Firmaments Palace looking down on the other sects in the Northern Plains?” Once again, the cultivator from Sword Hall bluntly questioned them.

“Yes. Tell Yan Luo to speak truthfully. Also, how did your Nine Firmaments Palace enter the mountain?” the cultivator from Skypond Faction asked as well.

“If there is something good, just share it out. There are so many of us watching right here. Don’t even think about taking it for yourself,” someone said sarcastically.

“He he he he!” the white-robed elder revealed a scornful smile and stood up.

“What is this? Do you all want to oppose our Nine Firmaments Palace? While I do not have the courage to say this about some other places, but here in the Northern Plains, our Nine Firmaments Palace is not afraid of anyone! If you want to attack, then just do it!” The white-robed elder sneered at the other cultivators.

Seeing such a forceful display by the white-robed elder, the cultivators there exchanged glances as they considered whether or not to toss all pretences aside.

“Hey! You are using your Nine Firmaments Palace’s name to scare us again. However, if you try to start something here, you fellows will be the one to lose.” The elder from Sword Hall stepped forward. Next, he raised his hand and sword energy spread out vigorously, causing winds and clouds to scream. The formidable aura charging out from his body caused the surrounding cultivators to back away.

The cultivators from Sword Hall were the most proficient at fighting. Not even the Nine Firmaments Palace, Purple Firmaments Palace and Transcendent Firmaments Palace combined dared to casually offend them. The reason was simple. They were famous for having the most madmen.

“What is this? Does your Sword Hall want to start a war with our Nine Firmaments Palace?” The white-robed elder’s face took on a cruel smile, his robes fluttering as the space around him grew tangible. A domain began spreading outwards. In terms of the aura that they were radiating, the white-robed elder was actually stronger than the elder from Sword Hall.

“He he! If we are to start a battle today, it will be one messy battle,” Elder Xue said with a derisive scoff. With a swing of his hand, a small and beautiful pill ding appeared on his palm. However, despite its looks, the aura that the pill ding was emanating sent fear into the hearts of the surrounding cultivators [1].

“A Sacred artefact! That is actually a Sacred artefact!” someone cried out in shock.

A brilliant light flashed out from Yu Qingshan’s palm and a talisman flashing with lightning bolts appeared. The talisman circled his palm while sending out terrifying waves of suppression.

“A Sacred artefact! It’s another Sacred artefact!” the surrounding cultivators cried out in shock once again.

“Mountainguard Ding, Upright Five Lightning Talisman. Looks like you fellows came prepared.” Seeing that, the faces of the elders and disciples from Nine Firmaments Palace sank. They knew, if they were to start a battle today, they would most likely end up getting utterly annihilated.

“Why insist on this? Elders, if there is anything, just tell us. Just share it with us. We are all from the Northern Plains. There is no need for us to be killing one another.” Someone spoke up, attempting to remediate the situation.

“My sect’s disciple is already seriously injured. I have nothing to say!” The white-robed elder refused to budge.

“In that case, there is nothing else for us to say. Attack!” The Sword Hall elder stepped forward. A thick sword intent roiled about around him and a thick but sharp sword appeared in his hand.

“He he! I do not believe that Nine Firmaments Palace will start a war with all the sects for this issue,” Yu Qingshan said with a sneer. The bolts of lightning dancing on the surface of the Upright Five Lightning Talisman grew in intensity.

A fight was on the verge of breaking out. However, as they were about to start fighting, Pot Mountain suddenly shook. Next, a faint and wondrous power sprayed out from the mountain and every single one of the cultivators there were sent flying.

1 A ding is a three-legged cauldron.↩