During his time in Jian Xiaotian’s residence, Chen Feng spent practically every day as a shut-in. Even when there were visitors, Chen Feng would reject their visits. As he had overcome 4 Lightning Tribulations in a row, there were some hidden dangers. Thus, Chen Feng had to spend some time in cultivation retreat to comprehend the gains from the Lightning Tribulations and stabilize his cultivation base. In particular, since he had reached level 4 of the Sky Human stage, Chen Feng had to familiarize himself with his newfound powers.

Naturally, two plus months were insufficient for that. Chen Feng had gone to Tower and burned a great deal of spirit stones to mobilize the laws of time so that one day in the outside world was the equivalent of ten days in the Longevity Tower. Thus, the two plus months became two years inside the Longevity Tower.

The two years were sufficient for Chen Feng. He managed to completely stabilize his cultivation base and the effects of undergoing tribulation had disappeared by then.

“Ha ha! Congratulations, Brother Chen! If there hadn’t been some matters that we had to attend to at the time, we would have stayed behind to help protect you as well.” Seeing Chen Feng, Jian Qingwu quickly moved forward to congratulate him.

“Humph, how unexpected. You do have some skills. To think that you could overcome 4 Lightning Tribulations in one go. I have been underestimating you in the past,” Jian Qingling said, stepping forward. Although Jian Qingling would constantly put Chen Feng down with her words, hearing how Chen Feng overcame 4 Lightning Tribulations in a row had still left her astounded. She felt admiration for Chen Feng.

“He he! I don’t know what happened either, but the Lightning Tribulations were not strong enough. Maybe there were some issues with the Heavenly dao laws, allowing me to successfully overcome my Lightning Tribulations.” As Chen Feng was feeling happy, he deliberately spouted some nonsense.

“Nonsense!” Jian Qingling turned her face to the side and ignored Chen Feng.

Chen Feng smiled and looked at the cultivators nearby. Besides him and the two sisters, there were four other cultivators standing in twos around them.

The first duo consisted of one young male and one young female. They were clearly together. The other duo consisted of two males carrying swords behind their backs and they smiled at Chen Feng.

“Chen Feng, right? Ha ha! Truly, an astonishing talent.” One of them gave Chen Feng an amiable smile.

“Senior brothers, how should I address you two?” Seeing their attires, Chen Feng knew that they were disciples of Heavenly Sword Faction. However, he did not recognize them.

“Jian Luobo!”

“Jian Zhiqiu!”

“The two of us were watching your tribulation from afar. It seems Brother Chen’s cultivation base has stabilized after all this time. With an expert like Brother Chen joining this expedition, I feel much more at ease,” Jian Luobo said smilingly.

Sensing that he was not being insincere, Chen Feng hastily said, “I cannot accept such a high appraisal. Fellow senior brothers, you think too highly of me!”

“No, no. Not at all. Brother Chen, no need to be so humble. Surely, you don’t want us to address you as Elder Chen?” Jian Luobo was the more talkative of the duo. After introducing himself, Jian Zhiqiu had simply smiled and said nothing else. However, he did appear somewhat curious about Chen Feng.

“Come, Chen Feng. Let me do the introductions. These two are members from the Qin Family. He is Qin Chuan and she is Qin Lian. The two of them are siblings. They are also the experts I invited to help us out for this expedition.” Jian Qingwu enthusiastically introduced the other two to Chen Feng.

“Ha ha! With a cultivation base of the half-step Human Immortal stage, they are naturally experts. I am Chen Feng. Well met!” Chen Feng stepped forward and smiled. He had heard of the Qin Family before. It was a famous great family within the Central Plains with quite a close relationship with Heavenly Sword Faction. The two forces had become allies in the war against Heartless Heaven Sect.

“I am Qin Chuan. This is my little sister, Qin Lian.” There was a somewhat arrogant look on Qin Chuan’s face. That was especially true when he was looking at Chen Feng. A glimmer of displeasure would glint across his eyes.

As Chen Feng had keen senses, he was able to notice Qin Chuan’s emotions. He pondered. Did his earlier action of divulging Qin Chuan’s cultivation level caused him to become unhappy? Chen Feng was personally indifferent to the arrogant expression on Qin Chuan’s face. At any rate, he was a member of a great family with a high cultivation base. It was only normal for him to be somewhat arrogant. Naturally, his show of arrogance within Heavenly Sword Faction seemed somewhat out of place.

Although the Qin Family was very powerful, there was still a gap between them and Heavenly Sword Faction.

As Qin Chuan appeared to dislike him, Chen Feng chose not to chat further with him. Instead, he moved over to chat with Jian Luobo and Jian Zhiqiu.

However, Qin Chuan suddenly said, “I wonder, what is Brother Chen’s cultivation level?”

“Ha ha, I had only just overcome my 4th Lightning Tribulation a few days ago.” Chen Feng smiled.

“4 Lightning Tribulations, level 4 of the Sky Human stage.” Qin Chuan’s face revealed a look of contempt and he said nothing else.

Seriously, this fellow. Chen Feng smiled to himself. He then ignored Qin Chuan and walked to the side.

“Brother Chen, this Qin Chuan fellow is trying to court Jian Qingling.” Suddenly, Jian Luobo sent Chen Feng a secret vocal transmission, giving him a wink at the same time. With that, Chen Feng understood. No wonder Qin Chuan would reveal such an antagonistic expression towards him. However, after knowing that, Chen Feng felt amused. Thus, he deliberately stepped forward to chat with Jian Qingling. As expected, Qin Chuan’s face slowly turned dark.

Heh! With this kind of mindset, how did he ever manage to cultivate up to such a high level? Chen Feng secretly felt disdain towards him.

“This Chen Feng is quite interesting.” Jian Luobo secretly chatted with Jian Zhiqiu.

“He is quite interesting.” Jian Zhiqiu nodded.

“This Chen Feng’s cultivation base is very strong. Personally, I don’t think I can defeat him in a fight. The Qin siblings are often arrogant and would look down on other cultivators. This expedition is going to be fun!” Jian Luobo snickered secretly. He was like someone who dreaded the lack of chaos in the world.

“I can’t even determine Chen Feng’s cultivation state,” Jian Zhiqiu replied coolly.

Qin Chuan’s face grew increasingly dark. As he was about to lose it, Liu Quan and Situ Nan arrived. Upon their arrival, they greeted those that were already there before moving to stand together with Chen Feng.

Jian Qingwu and Jian Qingling.

The Qin siblings.

Jian Luobo and Jian Zhiqiu.

Liu Quan and Situ Nan.

Adding Chen Feng into the mix gave them a total of nine people. Six of them were half-step Human Immortals. However, before they could set off, Qin Chuan spoke up. “Junior Sister Qingwu, Chen Feng is just a level 4 Sky Human stage cultivator. We are not going out on some sightseeing trip. We are out for a risky adventure and there will likely be dangers along the way. I suggest that Chen Feng stay behind.”

Hearing that, Chen Feng grew shocked. However, he ended up smiling. He didn’t think that Qin Chuan would go against him so quickly. Still, Chen Feng did not say anything. He wanted to see how the two sisters would deal with this.

“Qin Chuan, who do you think you are? You think you can call the shots here?” Before Jian Qingwu and Jian Qingling could reply, Liu Quan spoke up angrily. Additionally, he was most blunt in his response.

“Liu Quan, what did you just say? Are you trying to start something here?” Qin Chuan’s face sank and he said icily.

“The way I see it, you’re the one who’s trying to start something. If you don’t like it, let’s fight,” Liu Quan said with a derisive smile.

“Ha ha ha ha! Senior Brother Liu, let me do it. I want to see for myself the talent of the Qin Family.” Situ Nan, who was beside Liu Quan, laughed.

“Hey! We are inside Heavenly Sword Faction here!” It appeared that even Jian Luobo was somewhat displeased with Qin Chuan’s behaviour.

Qin Chuan’s rage soared. Just as he was about to say something, Qin Lian pulled him back. At the same time, Jian Qingwu spoke up. “It was the three of us, me, my little sister and Chen Feng, who found the half-section Cloud Map.”

That was all. Jian Qingwu did not say anything else.

Seeing the displeased expressions on Jian Qingwu and Jian Qingling’s faces, Qin Chuan suppressed the rage in his heart and said nothing else. He then thought to himself that having Chen Feng follow was not a bad thing. He would be able to deal with Chen Feng once they reached the place.

“Are there only the nine of us?” Chen Feng asked with a smile.

“There are two more, making it a total of eleven. This place we are heading to is quite dangerous. So, everyone should be ready,” Jian Qingwu said.

“I wonder, is Lan Ling going as well?” Chen Feng asked.

“Senior Sister Lan Ling is occupied with something else. She cannot leave.”

I forgot. Lan Ling is in the midst of assailing the Human Immortal stage, Chen Feng thought and he stopped asking.

The nine of them utilized the teleportation array within Heavenly Sword Faction to teleport 1.5 million kilometres ahead. Next, they flew for quite some time to finally stop before a mountain range that was covered in a thick layer of mist.

“Misty Mountains? Is Immortal Cloudmist’s legacy inside this place?” asked a surprised Qin Chuan.

“Yes. It is inside these mountains,” Jian Qingwu said coolly.

The Misty Mountains. It was something of a danger zone within the Central Plains. Even a Human Immortal could die after entering this place. Naturally, the more dangerous a place was, the more goodies there were to be found inside. That was also the reason why cultivators kept coming over to explore the place.

“Misty Mountains. I believe this is a very famous danger zone, right?” Chen Feng said.

“It is not too late to turn back if you are scared,” Qin Chuan said in a ridiculing tone.

“Indeed, I am feeling a little scared. I wonder, is an expert like you scared?” Chen Feng retorted.

“Why would I be scared? I have been to places that are even more dangerous than this,” Qin Chuan said arrogantly.

Chen Feng ignored Qin Chuan. Instead, he activated his eye technique to observe the Misty Mountains. The farther ahead he tried to peer, the thicker the mists became and even his Magic Eyes of Darkness were seriously affected.

“Junior Sister Qingwu!”

A clear voice, pleasant to the ears, rang out and two female cultivators floated over. The two female cultivators possessed slender and alluring figures, beautiful visages and attractive temperaments. A charming atmosphere emanated from the two figures.

They arrived before Jian Qingwu’s group. When the two female cultivators’ eyes looked around, all the male cultivators felt their hearts throbbing.

A charming technique? No. These two females must possess the Charming Constitution. They are at level 9 of the Sky Human stage. That’s quite good. They are also disciples of Absolute Academy. That means they are probably on par with the half-step Human Immortals from other sects, Chen Feng thought.

“These two are my senior sisters from Absolute Academy,” Jian Qingwu said.

“Xie Hongyan!”

“Luo Pianpian!”

“Greetings!” The two females said at the same time, their voices seemingly containing a charming quality.

“So, you two are disciples of Absolute Academy. I am Qin Chuan, a member of the Qin Family.” Qin Chuan was the first to speak up, putting on a look that he believed to be dashing.

Chen Feng instantly let out an audible laugh as his contempt for Qin Chuan grew. Hearing that, Qin Chuan cast a baleful glare at Chen Feng.

“All right. Now that everyone is here, we should head into the Misty Mountains,” Jian Qingwu said as she led the way, moving into the mists.

Note: The word half-section is translated from ‘半截' (bàn jié) . The character ‘半’ (bàn) generally means half. However, there are times when it simply means ‘incomplete’, which is why the novel continues using the character for it even though there are four pieces of the Cloud Map as opposed to two.

1 li = 0.5 km