Chen Feng possessed two other Prized artefacts that he had yet to refine. One of them was the flaming blade obtained from the Shadowless Goldshine Wasps. Thus, Chen Feng named the blade Shadowless Goldshine Blade [1]. The other one was the Lightstream Shield he seized from Xu Ziping. The two of them were grade 1 Prized artefacts.

At that moment, however, Chen Feng had yet to even finish refining Bloody Soul and the Thousand Seeker Mirror. Thus, he had no intentions of refining the other two magic treasures yet.

Chen Feng felt frustrated. On the one hand, his cultivation rate was very good. However, the amount of time he had spent on cultivation felt lacking. He kept getting the feeling that his cultivation rate was too slow.

That was especially so after entering the immortal mountain. He had encountered too many Great Yaos and Sky Human stage cultivators. In fact, there was even a Human Immortal. Once again, Chen Feng felt the insignificance of his strength. If it weren’t for the fact that he was fortunate, he would already be dead by now.

…

As Chen Feng was underground absorbing the fire essence, Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun, who were far away, became impatient.

“It has been almost a month now, but there still isn’t any news from Chen Feng. Even the Messaging Talismans are not working. Did a mishap occur?” said a concerned Tie Changkong.

“Surely not,” answered a hesitant Shangguan Yun.

The two of them viewed Chen Feng as a fairly mysterious person. However, Chen Feng had saved them several times before. Thus, a sense of friendship had formed between the three of them. They did not wish any harm to befall Chen Feng.

“Look! Someone is coming!”

A large flying sword was leisurely flying up in the sky and a cultivator was seated cross-legged on the surface of the sword. The cultivator looked quite young.

Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun exchanged glances. Could this fellow be here to enjoy himself? He was giving off a feeling of leisure.

When the cultivator came closer, Tie Changkong’s eyes lit up and he spontaneously shouted out, “Senior Brother Jin!”

The eyes of the young cultivator, that had been partially closed, immediate snapped open. The silhouettes of two sharp swords flashed out from his eyes and the overpowering aura radiating from the move forced both Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun to take several steps back.

That was especially true for Tie Changkong. As a sword cultivator, he was more sensitive towards the might of the other party. The gaze that the young cultivator sent out felt like rows of sharp swords, seeking the weaknesses on his person, ready to deal a fatal blow at any moment.

“What a formidable sword intent! As expected of Senior Brother Jin,” Tie Changkong said, his heart stirring.

The young cultivator was a core disciple from Sword Hall, a sword cultivator, Jin Ye. Age wise, he was younger than Tie Changkong. However, his cultivation base was far above Tie Changkong’s cultivation base. Due to that, the normally prideful Tie Changkong could not stop himself from feeling respectful towards him.

Shua!

With a flash, the young cultivator appeared before both Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun.

“Greetings, Senior Brother Jin.” Both Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun bowed respectfully.

“So, it’s Junior Brother Tie and Junior Sister Shangguan. You two have come in as well. Level 9 of the Concealed stage? It seems you two have had some gains,” Jin Ye said jovially. Although there was a hardness to his face, his voice was very gentle.

“Congratulations, Senior Brother Jin, for your success in breaking through to the Sky Human stage. Our Sword Hall have another sage now,” Tie Changkong said happily.

“He he, it seems to me you two are waiting for someone?” Jin Ye said, laughing.

“Yes, we are waiting for a companion. However, it has been a month. We still haven’t gotten any news of him.” Tie Changkong nodded.

“This place is too dangerous. You two should come with me,” Jin Ye said with a smile.

“Err.” Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun exchanged glances. They felt troubled.

It was true. By following a Sky Human stage expert, they would be much safer. However, they were worried about Chen Feng.

“How about this? I am feeling bored right now, anyways. You two tell me which way to go. I will bring you two along to search for your companion,” said Jin Ye after a moment’s consideration.

“Thank you, Senior Brother Jin.” The two became overjoyed.

…

By then, Chen Feng had already emerged from the underground cavern. Chen Feng did gain some harvest after spending all that time cultivating. After absorbing and refining a great amount of the fire essence, Chen Feng had successfully found the location of his Fire acupoint. Opening it up was just a matter of time.

Seeing Chen Feng emerge, Purplebolt stood up without saying a word. He then followed Chen Feng while keeping a distance from him. Although the aura inside the Longevity Tower was more profound and more suitable for cultivation, Purplebolt wouldn’t choose to always stay inside. Coming out was more enjoyable.

“Come, let’s see what is inside this stone forest,” Chen Feng said.

Next, Chen Feng found that he had indeed gotten lost. There was no way for him to determine his bearings and get out from the forest.

He then tried flying up.

After flying tens of metres up into the sky, Chen Feng felt a pressure descending upon his body. It was as though the entire sky was enveloping his body.

Plop!

Chen Feng’s figure fell heavily against the ground. Due to the earlier restrictive power, Chen Feng had failed to balance his body.

“Flying is restricted, this is troublesome.” Chen Feng got up, cutting out a wretched sight as he did. After considering it for a moment, he then climbed up one of the stone pillars rising up into the clouds.

After making his way tens of metres up the stone pillar, Chen Feng felt the pressure coming down on him again. This time, Chen Feng did not wait until the pressure was upon him. Instead, he took the initiative to jump down.

“No. Flying is not restricted as long as it is done within a low altitude.” After saying that, Chen Feng’s figure slowly floated upwards. So long as his body remained within a certain limit, nothing would happen to him.

“It seems I need to figure a way out of this stone forest. Purplebolt, you yao beasts should have an innate method of determining your bearings, right?” asked Chen Feng after pondering for a while.

“I do not have that ability. However, I can sense something very strange about this stone forest. My strength feels suppressed somewhat. Although it is very weak, it is affecting me. Boss, I suggest we leave this place as soon as possible,” Purplebolt said solemnly.

“Nonsense! I have already finished off the objective. Do you think I don’t want to leave this place?” Chen Feng said with a displeased tone.

Back then, Yu Jingyang said that some disciples from Extreme Celestial Sect had entered this stone forest. I wonder if it’s true? Chen Feng pondered.

After that, Chen Feng and Purplebolt began walking randomly through the stone forest. They were truly walking around randomly. After three days, they had taken an uncountable number of paths. However, they were still incapable of making their way out from the stone forest. Fortunately, they did not encounter any dangers.

Bang!

Feeling depressed, Chen Feng punched the stone pillar beside him. Surprisingly, the stone pillar remained undamaged while a powerful rebounding force lashed back at Chen Feng, forcing him to take several steps back.

“How strange. These stone pillars don’t look all that durable. However, there is a strange power enveloping them. I was thinking of destroying a way forward. Looks like that plan is not possible,” Chen Feng said, shaking his head.

Bang!

Another banging sound rang out. This time, however, it was not due to Chen Feng. The sound had come from afar. As Chen Feng was still in shock, a series of clashing sounds rang out.

“Something is going on. Could it be other cultivators?” After saying that, Chen Feng quickly rushed towards the source of the sound.

After Chen Feng and Purplebolt left, a shocking change happened to the stone pillar that Chen Feng punched. It was as though the stone pillar was being burned as it grew soft. Next, a beefy stone man walked out from the stone pillar.

Not moving, the stone man would appear as no more than a stone sculpture. At that moment, however, the stone sculpture was alive.

The stone man looked around. Then, it strode forward in pursuit of Chen Feng.

“Here.” After rushing forward for a while, Chen Feng finally caught sight of a group of cultivators. However, the group was in a tough spot.

“Stone men? What is going on here?” Chen Feng observed the two parties fighting each other from afar.

One side consisted of human cultivators while the other side consisted of stone men. Additionally, those stone men’s movements were dextrous. Their defence was strong and their attack patterns varied. Chen Feng almost thought they were humans in armour.

Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!

Chen Feng watched as some flying swords struck the bodies of the stone men, only to create bursts of sparks.

“Those stone men must be similar to the surrounding stone pillars. Their surfaces are enveloped by a wondrous power. Those cultivators don’t appear to be in a good spot,” Chen Feng said.

As Chen Feng was observing the situation in detail, Purplebolt, who was standing beside Chen Feng, suddenly turned around and punched out.

Cracks spread out across a stone man’s body and it fell back. When it crashed onto the ground, it broke into pieces.

Only then did Chen Feng realize that a stone man had approached him. He had utterly failed to notice it. He could not stop himself from breaking out in cold sweat.

“These stone men don’t give out any life signs. It would normally be hard for others to detect them,” Purplebolt said coolly.

Swoosh!

What happened next was even more shocking for Chen Feng. The broken pieces of stone began moving. Finally, all of them flew towards the stone pillar beside them. It was as though there was an overpowering suction force coming out from the stone pillar. After making contact, the broken stones would enter the stone pillar. It did not take long for the ground to become clean once again.

“Could the stone man recover?” Chen Feng wondered.

Suddenly, another two stone men launched attacks at Chen Feng and Purplebolt, one from the left and one from the right. The two stone men had not made any sound as they approached and Chen Feng had failed to see where those two had come from.

The attacks were very simplistic. Two large fists shot out. Wanting to test the offensive power of the stone men, Chen Feng sent out his own fist against his attacker. The two fists collided.

Kacha! Kacha!

Cracks began spreading across the stone man’s fist. Chen Feng abruptly channelled more power into his fist and the stone man’s entire arm broke into pieces. However, the stone man simply did not know pain. It swung its other arm, sending a fist towards Chen Feng again. Not to mention, there was no decrease in its attacking speed.

Pa!

Chen Feng swiftly stepped forward to send a slap towards the stone man’s chest. Cracking sounds then rang out as the stone man exploded into pieces. After that, all the broken pieces were absorbed by the surrounding stone pillars again.

On the other side, Purplebolt had also finished up the stone man attacking him.

Chen Feng was inwardly surprised. Although he had not used all his strength earlier, he had still used up to 80 % of his strength. And yet, he had failed to instantly kill off the stone man. It was a testament to how powerful the stone man’s defence was.

Chen Feng, however, breathed a sigh of relief. He was thankful that the stone men were not as tough as the stone pillars, otherwise he would have to figure a way to escape.

After they finished off the two stone men, more stone men appeared. This time, Chen Feng could clearly see where the stone men had come from.

1 Shadowless Goldshine Wasps are the flaming wasps from Chap 220.↩