“You are someone from Sword Hall?” Jian Xiaotian’s eyes shone. Although he was already badly wounded, his will to fight instead grew stronger.

“Yes. I am an elder from Sword Hall. I didn’t think I would encounter a cultivator from Heavenly Sword Faction here today. Tsk, tsk. Even more so, I never thought that a disciple from Heavenly Sword Sect would end up in such a miserable state, becoming a fugitive, and hunted endlessly within our Northern Plains.” A ridiculing look appeared on Bai Jianlei’s face.

“Ha ha ha ha ha! Is there anyone in this world who doesn’t know that the founder of your Sword Hall was a traitor from our Heavenly Sword Faction? Not to mention, amongst all the people in the Northern Plains, only you cultivators from Sword Hall would not have the guts to step into the Central Plains. It is because you are afraid of getting hunted down by our Heavenly Sword Faction! And yet, what is this? You want to act all high and mighty in front of me? What a farce!” Jian Xiaotian laughed loudly.

“Humph! You are already on death’s door, but you are still going to talk glibly? Whatever! I will kill off you fellows right now and see what else you have to say,” said Bai Jianlei, who began attacking.

Bai Jianlei’s finger flicked forward and three cyan-coloured sword beams slashed towards Chen Feng’s team of three.

“Careful! Those are formed using Jadebolt Enigma Sword Energy!” Jian Xiaotian said, his body quickly radiating a fierce will to fight. Thanks to the surging stimulations from his sword energy, his badly beaten great sword shone with a dazzling sword luminescence once more.

“Skywheel Shattersword!”

“Longevity Sword Technique!”

Puchi! Puchi! Puchi!

Blood sprayed out from the bodies of Chen Feng, Jian Xiaotian and Lin Shaokun as countless sword marks and wounds appeared on their bodies. Their opponent had only just flicked his fingers to gravely wound them.

However, Bai Jianlei was also wounded. Chen Feng had utilized the grade 9 Prized-tier Fire Wyrm Sword to unleash his Longevity Sword Technique earlier.

Although Chen Feng had yet to fully refine it, he could still push out some of its power. Thus, a burst of fire streaked out – like an erupting volcano – to engulf Bai Jianlei.

“A good chance! Let’s run!” Chen Feng shouted.

“Ha ha ha ha! Where do you think you’re going?” The flames enveloping Bai Jianlei were swept away all of a sudden. Next, countless sword beams fired out from Bai Jianlei’s body, tearing even the space around him.

“Looks like I have no choice but the use the Sacred artefact. Demon Sealing Sword! Dimensional power!”

Next, Chen Feng brought out the Demon Sealing Sword and a dimension swiftly spread out to shield the three of them. The countless sword beams struck the dimension’s barrier, causing booming sounds to ring out.

“Sealing power!”

The Demon Sealing Sword shone once more and a sealing power enveloped Bai Jianlei, turning him as immobile as a wooden puppet.

“Demonic Heavengorging Art!”

In desperation, Chen Feng decided to risk it. He stretched his hand out to grab Bai Jianlei’s shoulder and a black hole appeared on his palm. Next, a formidable suction force emerged from it. Seemingly connected to a bell-mouth spillway deep within the ocean, the black hole began devouring the Bai Jianlei’s power.

“So, you are practicing demonic arts. However, you are dreaming if you think you can devour my power,” Bai Jianlei said and the primary energy within his body surged out furiously to form sword beams.

Bang!

An explosion erupted from Chen Feng’s palm and tears could be seen on his palm as a result. Blood began flowing out from his wounds. Thankfully, Chen Feng’s skin had melded with a top-grade Prized-tier body armour, otherwise the move would have blasted him into bits.

“Soul Subduing Mantra! Subdue!”

Chen Feng bellowed as he abruptly unleashed his soul technique. Immediately a mysterious energy sped into Bai Jianlei’s mind, transforming into a large Soul Subduing Talisman before slamming heavily against his soul.

“Humph!”

Bai Jianlei grunted. Clearly, the move had seriously affected him. A disoriented look appeared in his eyes.

Shua!

Wielding the Demon Sealing Sword, Chen Feng swiftly hacked down against Bai Jianlei.

Puchi!

Blood scattered about and Bai Jianlei was nearly severed into two, his chest split open. Chen Feng could even see his beating heart.

“Eargh!”

Bai Jianlei screamed, sword beams firing out ferociously from his body like an exploding volcano to send Chen Feng flying.

Next, Bai Jianlei covered himself to the brim with streams of sword energy before darting away, howling wretchedly as he did. After just a few flashes, he had disappeared from sight.

“Brother Chen, are you all right?” Both Jian Xiaotian and Lin Shaokun came over, their bodies completely stained with blood.

“Cough! Cough! I’m fine. I have a top-grade body armour protecting my body so he cannot harm me. However, you two are badly wounded,” Chen Feng said. Even so, he could not stop his body from wobbling.

“Damn it! My soul power is still too weak!” Chen Feng said, shaking his head.

“Compared to those on the same level as you, your soul power should be the strongest. However, you have yet to overcome Lightning Tribulation. Utilizing the Soul Subduing Mantra will definitely weaken your soul,” Tower said with an amused tone.

“Quick, let’s go. This is truly a miserable result for us,” Chen Feng said with a bitter smile.

“Let’s head back and recover. Then, we’ll come back and continue,” Jian Xiaotian said with a grin.

On their way back to the valley, however, they were attacked a few more times in a row. Although they were able to finish off the cultivators attacking them, the wounds they received grew more serious. They were already barely holding on.

“Guh! Damn it! I didn’t think I would end up in such a wretched state this time. However, I’ve dished out enough. I’ve killed more than 10 cultivators this time,” Jian Xiaotian said with a smile even as blood trickled down his mouth.

There were three cultivators blocking their way. Their cultivation bases were not high, only at level 3 of the Sky Human stage. Normally, Chen Feng’s team of three could easily kill them off. At present, however, the three of them were already severely exhausted. Forget fighting these cultivators, just standing straight was a chore for them.

“Ha ha ha ha! Lucky! Unexpectedly, the three of us managed to find them. We’re going to be rich!” The eyes of the three cultivators shone as they regarded Chen Feng’s team of three. They were practically drooling.

In their eyes, Chen Feng’s team of three was the equivalent of stacks of spirit stones, Sky-tier cultivation manuals and Sacred artefacts.

More importantly, the three of them were already grievously wounded. By stepping forward, they could easily capture Chen Feng, Jian Xiaotian and Lin Shaokun.

“Enough! Brothers, do not tarry. Hurry up and kill them.” One of them strode forward, sword energy gathering within his palm.

“Everyone, attack together! Kill!” Another cultivator followed suit and they all prepared their moves.

Looks like I’ll have to use the Longevity Tower, Chen Feng thought.

“Lightsplitter Sword of Mystheaven!” Suddenly, a loud voice shouted from afar and shining sword beams bombarded the three cultivators.

“Eh?”

“What is this?”

“My body!”

All three stopped moving and looks of horror appeared in their eyes. Immediately, tears began spreading through their bodies and blood kept spraying out. Finally, all three shattered into bits with a resounding bang. They looked like porcelain vases breaking into pieces.

“Eh, who?” Chen Feng’s team of three was surprised. This was an unexpected turn of events.

Next, a white-clad youngster appeared before Chen Feng’s team of three. Jian Xiaotian and Lin Shaokun quickly assumed defensive stances, but Chen Feng revealed a smile.

“Brother Chen.” Ye Tian, too, shouted with a smile on his face. Taking a few more steps, he stood right before Chen Feng.

“Ha ha ha! Junior Brother Ye! How unexpected. After not seeing you for a few years, you’ve managed to rise from the Training Body and Energy stage to level 2 of the Sky Human stage. Your rate of cultivation is even faster than this senior brother of yours!” Chen Feng laughed.

“Brother Chen, this fellow is… your junior brother? Is he from Extreme Celestial Sect?” Jian Xiaotian said with a surprised tone.

“He he, let’s talk while we move. This is not a suitable place to chat,” Chen Feng said with a chuckle.

Next, with Ye Tian’s escort, and the fact that they were not too far away from the valley, the four of them were able to safely reach their destination.

When Chen Feng’s team returned to the valley, the Pot Brothers and the others immediately rushed forward to gather around them. When they saw the wounds on their bodies, they all grew flabbergasted.

“Phew! We finally made it back in one piece!” Jian Xiaotian exhaled lengthily.

Next, Chen Feng inquired about their situation. As expected, the valley had remained tranquil. Not a single cultivator had appeared there. Thus, Chen Feng grew at ease.

After that, Chen Feng released out some streams of immortal energy and Lin Shaokun and Jian Xiaotian began healing their wounds. Chen Feng’s wounds had completely healed up while they were still on the way back.

Taking a Pure Essence Pill, the blood energy within Chen Feng began churning and his depleted soul power began rising back up.

In comparison, his soul power was recovering at a much slower rate compared to his fleshly body.

“Junior Brother Ye, why did you come?” Chen Feng then asked.

“After emerging from my cultivation retreat, I had planned on going to Extreme Celestial Sect to find you. On the way there, however, I heard that senior brother was being hunted. Thus, I grouped up with some loose cultivators to come to Azuremist Mountain. I had been going around Azuremist Mountain for several days now. I finally got to meet senior brother,” Ye Tian said, smiling.

After a moment’s consideration, Chen Feng said, “You shouldn’t have come. I am now saddled with troubles. Almost every cultivator from the Northern Plains are after me. By appearing together with us, you will surely face serious dangers.”

“Senior brother, what are you talking about? At present, I have already overcome 2 Lightning Tribulations and I will be breaking through again soon. I am no longer the weak cultivator of the past,” Ye Tian said, patting himself on the chest.

“Ha ha! That is true. In that case, come join us first.” Chen Feng laughed. He was also feeling happy for Ye Tian. Speaking of which, Ye Tian had quite the Heaven-defying luck. He was able to obtain the legacy of a Human Immortal, allowing him to leap to Heaven with a single bound. Moreover, according to Tower, that was likely a high-level Human Immortal.

Suddenly, the space there fluctuated and two cultivators appeared within the valley. One of them was the Beast King while the other one was someone that Chen Feng had never seen before. He was a handsome youngster in cyan attire and his body exuded a thick atmosphere of life.

Eh? This fellow? Chen Feng felt puzzled.

“He’s not human. He is a tree yao,” Tower suddenly said.

“Greetings, Senior Beast King!” said Chen Feng, who stepped forward to salute the Beast King respectfully.

“This fellow is Mu Sheng.” The Beast King pointed at the youngster beside him.

“Greetings, Senior Mu.” Chen Feng and the others saluted again.

“I didn’t think you little fellows could be so brutal. In just a few days’ time, you fellows could actually kill off so many cultivators,” the Beast King said with a smirk.

“It is all thanks to the secret protection granted by you seniors, otherwise the three of us would have died under their siege,” Chen Feng said smilingly.