Chapter 96: Confrontation

Translator: podao001

Shua!

Four Ears, who had been accompanying Chen Feng, took action. Dashing forward, he left a flash of golden light in his wake. Next, he caught a flying sword in his hand. Despite the sharpness of the undulating sword luminescence on the sword, it was incapable of harming Four Ears in the slightest.

Weng! Weng! Weng!

The flying sword vibrated ceaselessly, seemingly in an attempt to escape. However, Four Ears tightened his grip and a golden light flowed out through his palm. Next, cracks spread out across the flying sword before it finally shattered with a bang.

“Amazing! That is a grade 4 flying sword, but he managed to shatter it with his grip alone. The fleshly body of yao beasts are truly powerful,” praised the nearby Lu Ta.

“Oomph!”

The moment Four Ears crushed the flying sword, a muffled grunt could be heard coming from afar. Next, clumps of fire erupted forth. It seemed as though ring-shaped suns were flying towards Chen Feng’s group. Even before the fire attack arrived, the temperature of the ground had risen quickly. Chen Feng could feel his face getting barbequed by the heat.

“Be careful, this is a fire manipulation technique!” said Ye Ziming before quickly throwing out a punch. The resulting wind from his punch blew forward to quickly form fist seals, which dispersed the fire attack away. When the fire attacks were dispersed, sparks scattered about and the surrounding temperature rose again.

“Attack!”

Chen Feng shouted as he mobilized his divine sense. The Overwhelming Astral Sword swiftly shot forward. The stronger Chen Feng’s divine sense became, the more power the Prized artefact could unleash. The Prized artefact became like a roaring dragon displaying its wrath. Anything obstructing its path would be swept aside. Even the tough ground beneath was affected and a deep concave-shaped gully was left in its wake.

“Not good! That is a Prized artefact! Hurry up and dodge!” Someone cried out in shock from within the darkness.

Boom! Rumble!

The Overwhelming Astral Sword heavily smashed into the wall, causing a loud booming sound to spread out. The entire Purplebolt Mountain seemingly shook as a result and its wall exploded, sending pieces of hard rock scattering in every direction. With the attack, a crater, 10-metre deep and a radius of over 10 zhang, appeared on the wall. Such was the might of the Overwhelming Astral Sword (1 zhang = 3.333 m).

Next, Chen Feng controlled the Overwhelming Astral Sword to circle the place, causing pieces of gravel to scatter about once again. Several wretched screams could be heard as well.

“Four Ears.” Chen Feng hurriedly called out and the Four-eared Spirit Monkey sped forward, transforming into a golden beam as it disappeared into the darkness.

In merely two breaths’ worth of time, Four Ears returned to stand before Chen Feng, a young man in his grasp. The young man’s clothes were ruined and stained with blood while one of his arms dangled down. Obviously, he had been struck by the explosion of rocks earlier. There was a somewhat fearful expression on his face as he regarded Chen Feng and the others. He wanted to escape but was incapable of extricating himself from Four Ears’ grip.

“Who is this?” Chen Feng brought Third Senior Brother out.

“Third Senior Brother! It’s you! You brought these fellows in? You traitor!” Seeing Third Senior Brother, the injured young man immediately shouted out.

“Fourth Junior Brother, you cannot blame me for this. I had no choice.” Third Senior Brother shook his head and sighed.

“So, he is a disciple of Purplecloud Sky Grotto.” Chen Feng directed his mind to send his soul power out. Next, the injured young man fainted.

“He will not wake up for three days. Let’s hurry forward,” said Chen Feng grimly.

“I will lead the way,” Third Senior Brother offered.

Chen Feng and Ye Ziming exchanged glances before nodding. They were not fearful of him trying anything.

Under Third Senior Brother’s guidance, Chen Feng’s group moved past several more passageways. Finally, pile after pile of Magic crystal ores appeared before their eyes. All the ores there were freshly mined. After this, they still had to be processed and cut. There was a need to grind away the rocky residues on them. Only after all that can they become sparkling Magic crystals.

“There are around 10,000 Magic crystals. Let’s keep it first,” said Ye Ziming.

Unexpectedly, before Ye Ziming could do anything, the Longevity Tower within Chen Feng’s forehead could no longer hold back. A bluish-green energy current flowed out from between Chen Feng’s brows to instantly transform into more than 1,000 beams. Each of the beams was finer compared to a piece of hair. The moment they appeared, they enveloped the Magic crystal ores.

Every one of the beams shone upon a piece of the Magic crystal ores. Under the illumination of the beams, the spiritual energy within the Magic crystal ores quickly flowed out. In but one breath’s worth of time, the Magic crystal ores were reduced to powder and ore slags.

Before Chen Feng’s group could even react, the 10,000 Magic crystals on the ground had been absorbed by the Longevity Tower. Ye Ziming, who was about to collect the crystals, was especially shocked as he turned to look at Chen Feng in disbelief.

“He he! There is nothing I can do about it. The magic treasure in my body is acting on its own,” said Chen Feng with a bitter smile.

“There are still plenty underground,” said Lu Ta with a smile. Next, with a wave of his hand, he displayed out the Endless Sky of Turbidity attack to burst out a huge hole underneath them. Next, his hand swiped forth to reveal a piece of pure Magic crystal in his grasp. It was around one cubic metre in size.

“This piece of Magic crystal alone is the equivalent of 1,000 pieces!” said Lu Ta cheerfully before keeping it.

“Hurry up and run! Someone is killing their way in!”

“Don’t panic! This is a good opportunity. Everyone, use this opportunity to rush out!”

“No, before going out, I have to take some of these Magic crystals. I have had to mine here for so long, it cannot be for nothing.”

Suddenly, the miners began shouting as they ran out. These miners were no ordinary humans. All of them were Training Body and Energy stage cultivators. Every one of them possessed robust bodies and were capable of running quickly even in the darkness. They all wanted to use this opportunity to escape and see the light of day once more.

“Where do you think you are going?!”

A malicious voice suddenly rang out from within the darkness. Next, sword beams reigned amongst the escaping miners. One after another, the escaping miners fell amidst screams of agony. By the time Chen Feng and his group could react, tens of the miners had already died and a thick scent of blood spread through the underground cavern.

“What viciousness! Is this the so-called righteous conduct of the orthodox sects?” Chen Feng sneered. With a wave of his hand, a Longevity Blade, glowing with bluish-green light, shot out from his hand to confront the flying sword reigning in the air.

Kuang!

The Longevity Blade that Chen Feng sent out was instead broken apart by the flying sword. At the same time, Four Ears dashed forward. This time, however, he failed. Despite his incredible speed, he failed to catch the opponent’s flying sword and was nearly wounded by it instead.

“Tsk tsk! There is even a yao beast. Who are you fellows? You dare cause havoc in our Nine Firmaments Palace’s property?” Within the darkness, the voice seemingly contained a fleeting quality which made it impossible for them to ascertain where it had come from.

Chen Feng’s eyes, like the others, had become like torches as they swept the place. However, they were unable to find out where their opponent was.

“You are from Nine Firmaments Palace?” asked Ye Ziming.

“That is right, I am a disciple of Nine Firmaments Palace. You cultivators must be fed up with life. You dare snatch the property of Nine Firmaments Palace? You don’t understand how to live a proper life.” The voice continued drifting through their surroundings.

“Humph! Could it be all the disciples from Nine Firmaments Palace like to play ghost?” said Chen Feng with a sneer. A soul ripple quickly spread out. At present, Chen Feng had already condensed out his Soulflame. The power of his soul could create a suppressive effect upon other Concealed stage cultivators.

As expected, after his soul ripple swept through the place, he was able to immediately ascertain the opponent’s location.

“Here!” With a thought, the Overwhelming Astral Sword transformed into a beam of light once more to shoot towards a certain location.

Boom!

The mountain shook once again and pieces of rock scattered about as the Overwhelming Astral Sword blew up another large crater.

“Soulflame! You have actually condensed out your Soulflame? Not to mention, you also possess a Prized artefact on you. Who are you? Someone with a Prized artefact can never be a nameless character.” The fleeting voice continued to dart about in the darkness. Although its owner was surprised, he did not panic.

“Soulflame!” Since his strength had been exposed, Chen Feng stopped hiding it. A small clump of flames floated out from between his brows. Although the clump of flames was only the size of a thumb, the light it radiated was enough to illuminate an area with a radius of hundreds of metres. At the same time, it was constantly emitting wondrous ripples. As each ripple swept out, the surrounding darkness was chased away to reveal the ores scattered haphazardly on the ground. There were also glittering Magic crystals.

“Soulflame! Brother Chen has actually condensed out Soulflame! When did he reach this level?” Shocked, Ye Ziming and Lu Ta exchanged glances as they began speculating in secrecy.

“Here!” Chen Feng concentrated and the Soulflame floating in mid-air swiftly transformed into a stream of light. Like a sword, it shot towards one of the dark corners within the mine.

Wherever the Soulflame went, the surrounding space would tremble while some of the nearby ores would quickly melt down. This was the might of the Soulflame. The heat it radiated was capable of burning everything.

Chi! Chi! Chi! Chi!

The Soulflame struck a large boulder to instantly liquefy it. At the same time, a lean-looking figure appeared before them.

It was a young fellow who appeared even younger than Chen Feng. In fact, there were still some childish features left on his face. It would not be an exaggeration to call him a youngster.

At that moment, however, Chen Feng’s feeling of vigilance was at its highest. He had sensed something dangerous from this opponent.

After condensing out his Soulflame, Chen Feng’s divine sense was tens of times stronger compared to before. His perception towards the world had grown clearer. That was especially true for his ability to sense and foresee danger.

The instant he saw the youngster, Chen Feng knew that this was not an easy opponent. The youngster was dangerous.

Shua!

The opponent’s gaze was like a lightning bolt, breaking through space to land on Chen Feng’s body. Immediately, Chen Feng felt a sensation of discomfort. It felt as though this opponent could pierce right through his body and soul.

“Tsk tsk! A level 1 Concealed stage cultivator could actually condense out Soulflame? In the entire Eternal World, there are probably only a handful of such cases. Kid, which sacred place did you come from?”

The youngster from Nine Firmaments Palace could not stop himself from asking after seeing Chen Feng.

Not good, this opponent can determine my state. His cultivation base must be much higher than mine. Chen Feng was secretly shocked.

“Who am I? Go ask that question in Hell!” Chen Feng gritted his teeth. The Soulflame floating in mid-air swiftly condensed into a clump of flames before charging at the youngster from Nine Firmaments Palace.

Ye Ziming, Lu Ta and Four Ears attacked at the same time. This time, Ye Ziming attacked using a flying sword. The moment the sword flew out, it disappeared in mid-air. When it re-appeared, it was already right before the youngster.

As for Lu Ta, his body expanded by a notch. His originally muscular body became taller and bigger, much taller compared to a normal human. He displayed his Endless Sky of Turbidity move again and the iron staff flew out from his hand. Spinning rapidly, the iron staff issued out sharp air-piercing sounds. Additionally, a high temperature caused by the friction between the staff and the air spread out.

Four Ears seemingly understood that the opponent they faced this time was powerful. He dashed out at an even greater speed and was the first to arrive before the youngster.