Everlasting

“Scram!”

Elder Tie shouted as he descended from the sky. With a wave of his hand, three blasts of primary energy flew out, immediately killing off three Tiger Form Sect cultivators. Next, the wings formed using primary energy on his back swept out to send several more Tiger Form Sect cultivators flying far away.

Second Elder did not attack. Instead, his figure quickly flashed forward. Some of the Tiger Form Sect cultivators tried to stop him but they were all knocked down by his wings.

“Hurry! Find Chen Feng!” Second Elder shouted.

The two of them knew that this was Tiger Form Sect’s territory. After some time, the experts would definitely appear. At that time, just extricating themselves would prove difficult.

Observing the Tiger Form Sect disciples moving to stop them without respite, the two finally attacked to kill. The two of them were experts at the external discharge of primary energy (8th) layer. Thus, those disciples were simply incapable of stopping them. A casual display of primary energy from them was sufficient to kill off a group of cultivators there. 

Sou! Sou!

The two of them quickly charged forward, one soaring through the sky while the other jumped along the ground. They exerted every drop of their strength to find Chen Feng.

“The kid is seriously injured. He cannot have gone far. He must be nearby,” said Second Elder grimly.

“There is a blood splatter here. It is this way!” Elder Tie, who was searching on the ground, noticed a blood splatter. He immediately began searching around carefully.

Sou!

Second Elder quickly landed. He sniffed with his nose and began tracking Chen Feng’s scent.

“Strange, not here.”

“Let’s go! We’ll go forward to search!”

Having said that, the two of them began advancing once more. By their estimate, given how seriously wounded Chen Feng was, there must be a thick scent of blood on his body. It should be easy to locate him. At that moment, however, they had lost his scent.

“Is your Iron Sword Sect planning on starting a war with our Tiger Form Sect? For two elders to actually come over and start killing, you two can forget about returning!”

By then, the experts from Tiger Form Sect had arrived. A cultivator who was at the external discharge of primary energy (8th) layer unleashed his attack at Elder Tie even though there was still a distance of 100 metres between them. A sharp blade formed using primary energy pierced through the air and shot towards Elder Tie. At the same time, Exploding Arrows shot out from every corner of the ground.

Tiger Form Sect’s response was swift. In but moments, they had assembled a large number of cultivators.

“You want to keep us here? You still don’t have that ability! Let’s go back!” As Second Elder was saying that, his 10 fingers flicked forward to send powerful streams of energy forward. The incoming Exploding Arrows burst apart. Next, the large wings on his back flapped. Energy streams surged out around him and some of the cultivators who were rushing him were knocked off their feet. His wings unfurled and he flew into the sky. 

Watching the two figures fly farther and farther away, the elder from Tiger Form Sect became so furious that he swore again and again.

“What were those two thinking? Charging in here like this in the middle of the night! Have they gone mad?” Seeing the dead and wounded disciples on the ground, the elder flew into a fit of rage.

“Elder, they were chasing after someone,” said one of the disciples. He was the earliest one to appear. Naturally, he noticed the scene where Chen Feng was being chased.

“What? Someone entered our territory and led those two old fogies pursuing him over here? Hurry up and search around! You must find this person!” shouted the Tiger Form Sect Elder.

“Affirmative!”

The Tiger Form Sect disciples spread out as they began their search for Chen Feng.

At that moment, Chen Feng was only tens of metres away from the Tiger Form Sect Elder.

On either side of the street were row after row of buildings. Chen Feng was inside a well within one of the buildings’ courtyard.

Back then, after Chen Feng jumped into the well, he had stopped himself from breathing. In one breath’s time, he descended all the way to the bottom of the well. He could clearly hear the battles and exchange of words that occurred outside.

Chen Feng, who was at the bottom of the well, felt as though his whole body was on fire. His internal organs were terribly ruined. His extraordinary meridians had suffered from heavy injuries. He did his very best to circulate the primary energy within his body. Under the nourishment of the green-coloured primary energy within his body, he could sense the effect within him. However, this level of injury cannot be healed in a short period of time. Additionally, Chen Feng cannot continue hiding there. Getting found was just a matter of time.

If he were simply suffering from normal injuries, he could fully recover by utilizing his primary energy, which possessed a vigorous life force. However, the injuries he received this time were simply too much. He was lucky he was not killed on the spot.

Slowly, Chen Feng floated to the surface. However, he did not have the guts to climb out. With his hearing ability, he could hear footsteps constantly moving back and forth.

Phew! If I go out now, I will definitely be found out. However, hiding here will not work as well. What do I do? Chen Feng was incredibly troubled.

He pulled out a bottle of medicinal pills meant for healing internal injuries and swallowed them all in one gulp. Then, he slowly sank back down to break down the medicinal pills and use its medicinal power to heal his injuries. After killing Elder Wang, he had rummaged through Elder Wang’s corpse and obtained the medicinal pills. It had turned out to be a handy find. 

One hour later, someone came to check the well that Chen Feng was in. However, due to how deep the well was and the darkness of the night, none of them could see into the well. However, the searchers did not simply move away. They brought out two sharp spears and hurled them into the well. It was only after seeing no movements from within the well did they leave.

Beneath the well, one of the spears was embedded deep into the ground at the bottom of the well. The other one was caught by Chen Feng.

How dangerous! If they had hurled in around 10 spears, I will definitely be exposed. Chen Feng thought to himself.

Next, Chen Feng dug out a round hole on the side wall of the well. After hiding himself within the hole, his anxious heart began to calm down. With his present level of cultivation, staying within the well for one day and one night was not an issue. Naturally, the most pressing matter was for him to heal the wounds on his body.

Heh! Going out now, even if all my injuries are healed, I will likely be incapable of escaping the pursuit of the Great Elder of Iron Sword Sect. Besides, news about me practicing an immortal dao sect’s cultivation technique will spread quickly throughout Black Origin City. When that happens, I wonder how many people will be pursuing me. By the looks of it, I have fallen into a dire situation. Chen Feng thought to himself and revealed a bitter smile.

Pondering the matter, a trace of resolution suddenly flashed through his eyes. Next, he pulled out a white and translucent jade bottle. Sealed within the bottle were two blood-red leaves. Their bright red colour shone and their lines vivid. They were none other than the Imperial Blood Grass, to be used to assail the Concealed stage.

This is something that only cultivators at the ninth layer of the Training Body and Energy stage can take. I wonder, what will happen to me if I take it now? Still, the cultivation technique I am practicing allows me to absorb the essence energy from grasses and wood. I suppose I can take this risk. Chen Feng’s eyes shone as he made up his mind.

Opening the jade bottle, he pulled out one of the Imperial Blood Grasses. Clenching his teeth, Chen Feng then stuffed it into his mouth.

He felt thick blood energy spreading out from his mouth before transforming into a powerful wave of medicinal power, flowing into his abdomen area. The medicinal power spread, assailing out in every direction and Chen Feng felt as though a clump of fire had appeared within his body. Additionally, the clump of fire was starting to rampage within his body.

“Pu!”

Facing the mighty charging power of the medicinal power, Chen Feng was unable to stop himself from spitting out a mouthful of blood. The spurt of blood pierced through the water around him to create a bloody hole on the hard, stone wall opposite him.

What a strong medicinal power!

In but one breath’s worth of time, Chen Feng’s body had seemingly become a stove. The fire from the stove kept erupting outwards, rolling about, seemingly wanting to burn him into charcoal.

A vast amount of medicinal power rushed into every corner of Chen Feng’s body. To Chen Feng, the condition of his blood felt as though someone had poured blazing oil into water. All of them were boiling and rumbling sounds could be heard coming out from his body. His blood vessels were incapable of enduring the powerful charging force and began to tear ceaselessly.

After another breath’s worth of time, blood had oozed out from every part of Chen Feng’s body to mix with the well’s water.

Pa! Pa! Pa!

The primary energy within Chen Feng’s body, too, began to flow chaotically. His meridians were broken and wounds were accumulated atop other wounds. At the same time, his resilient muscles and muscle fibres were being torn by the might of the medicinal power. Bones became dislocated, releasing popping sounds.

“Humph!”

This time, Chen Feng could no longer spit out blood. After the medicinal power spread out, his blood roiled, his primary energy entered a state of chaos and his body temperature rose non-stop. Before the blood oozing out from his body could properly exit, they would be vaporized by the extreme heat.

At that moment, Chen Feng began to feel glad. He was glad that he had chosen to take the Imperial Blood Grass while within a well. Otherwise, he would certainly be burned into becoming an idiot. Under the high temperature, one’s consciousness would grow blurry. The best-case scenario for such a situation was for one to become an idiot. Naturally, there was a 90 % chance of dying.

Originally, the well’s water was cool. However, due to the continuous rise in Chen Feng’s body temperature, the temperature of the well’s water slowly began to rise as well.

In just a few breaths’ worth of time, Chen Feng had nearly fainted. Hot energy waves were constantly assailing his mind, like an erupting volcano, making him feel sleepy and blurry.

Chen Feng quickly collected himself. He began to circulate the cultivation technique he obtained from the little tower with everything he had. Mobilizing his primary energy, he began to absorb and refine the medicinal power within his body.

Chen Feng was fighting on for dear life. His body had already been grievously injured to begin with. After taking the Imperial Blood Grass, the potent medicinal power assailed his body from the inside, aggravating his already existing injuries. There were tears all over his meridians, blood vessels and internal organs. 

Chen Feng’s action was the equivalent of breaking the cauldron and sinking the boat [1]. He was gambling with his life on the line. At any rate, he would most likely die if he went out as he was. Thus, he may as well take the Imperial Blood Grass. It may be able to improve his strength.

After the medicinal power of the Imperial Blood Grass diffused out, Chen Feng did feel somewhat regretful. However, he quickly focused. Circulating the strange cultivation technique, he absorbed the thick grass essence of the Imperial Blood Grass.

Sure enough, as the cultivation technique circulated within Chen Feng, little by little, his body absorbed the potent medicinal power diffused out by the Imperial Blood Grass. Although the process was very slow, it gave Chen Feng hope.

The primary energy within his body circulated for hundreds of circulations. Finally, the chaotic flows of primary energy within his body recovered. All of them flowed through the right circulation route as it began flowing through his whole body, repairing the damage there.

Hua! Hua! Hua!

The primary energy within Chen Feng’s body grew increasingly powerful. As the medicinal power of the Imperial Blood Grass was being constantly absorbed, the life force within Chen Feng rose higher and higher. Although his blood continued to boil, it no longer gave Chen Feng an overbearing sensation. Instead, it made him feel more powerful and vigorous.

Powerful heat waves ceaselessly radiated out from Chen Feng’s body. If someone were to look down into the well, he or she would notice that the normally calm water surface had begun to bubble. After some time, it began churning, just like that of boiling water.

1 Breaking the cauldron and sinking the boat is an idiom meaning to leave oneself without a path of retreat.↩