“Your cultivation practice caused quite the ruckus. It overwhelmingly devoured 80 % of our primary energies. Even the essence power of our domain powers is affected. Shouldn’t you compensate us?” Tie Changkong could not stop himself from uttering.

“That is right. It wasn’t until yesterday that we finally managed to recover the lost primary energies. However, the essence power of our domain powers has yet to recover,” Shangguan Yun said.

“About that.” Chen Feng felt apologetic. Regardless of what had happened, the two of them had been trying to help him back then. Unexpectedly, Chen Feng had devoured 80 % of their primary energies.

“How about this? You two are not lacking in spirit stones and medicinal herbs. We had just killed a Great Yao, no? This horn looks quite good. I was originally planning on keeping it and use it to forge a magic treasure. I’ll give it to you two,” said Chen Feng as he brought out the One-horned Thunderbull’s horn. Although the Great Yao was dead, its horn continued to flash with thin bolts of lightning.

“Ha ha ha ha! Brother Chen, you are being too modest. We are just joking. Truth be told, you are our saviour, how can we ask something from you?” Tie Changkong waved his hand.

“The three of us worked together to kill the Great Yao. I have already taken the yao core, I cannot take this horn as well,” Chen Feng said smilingly.

After that, however, no matter what Chen Feng said, both Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun refused his offer.

“You do not want this horn, but what about these items? Surely, you want these?” As Chen Feng spoke, several fruits appeared in his hand and he casually tossed them into the air.

“True Thunderscour Fruits!” Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun exclaimed at the same time.

“Yes. Did you two forget we still have some stolen goods left undivided?” Chen Feng chuckled. Next, he raised his hand and a True Thunderscour Fruit was put into his mouth.

When the True Thunderscour Fruit entered his mouth, Chen Feng felt it transforming into streams of pure medicinal power with lightning essence. After circulating it for a few times, the medicinal power was completely absorbed by Chen Feng.

“You ate it just like that?” Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun’s eyes popped out again.

That was a True Thunderscour Fruit! Even for characters like Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun, they would need some time to refine its power. Unexpectedly, Chen Feng treated it like a normal fruit. It was so casual that they secretly felt envious of his mighty fleshly body.

“Let’s check our harvest.” Chen Feng smiled and waved his hand. Next, some spatial pouches and other storage-type magic treasures of varying shapes appeared. They were none other than the loot that the three of them had obtained by robbing others back then.

Seeing those items, the three of them grew expectant, hoping to find some treasures from the spatial magic treasures.

However, after examining all of them, some feelings of disappointment rose amidst their feelings of surprised delight. There was quite a number of True Thunderscour Fruits and rare medicinal herbs, but there were no other good items.

“Makes sense. Those fellows’ cultivation bases were insufficient. How could they have good items on them? If they truly do possess Prized artefacts, it would have been hard for us to kill them.”

“Just be content. These spiritual herbs alone can be considered a great harvest. If we put this outside or bring them to our sect, we will be able to exchange them for some good items.”

“True, true. These items are enough for me to reach the Sky Human stage. We humans should learn to be content.”

“Ha ha ha! We are now inside the immortal mountain. How can we be content? Who knows? We might come across immortal serendipity later on.” 

“Dream on.”

After splitting the spoils, the three of them were in a good mood. As the oasis had been destroyed thanks to Chen Feng, the three of them decided to continue moving forward again.

Truth be told, Chen Feng had wanted to continue cultivating for a while. Due to the improvement in his fleshly body’s might, Chen Feng felt he could continue absorbing even more wood-type essence. Additionally, Chen Feng had a feeling. He was beginning to vaguely sense the position of the Wood acupoint. He might be able to succeed in opening it soon.

However, after seeing Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun’s ardent looks, Chen Feng did not object. He simply nodded his head and flew together with them.

“Truth be told, when I first entered this immortal mountain, I felt excited. I thought I had arrived at the Immortal Plane, I thought I could obtain immortal treasures and immortal scriptures. However, after going through so much, I realized I was wrong,” Tie Changkong lamented.

“A vast forest, and an endless barren land. Thankfully, we found a mountain filled with spiritual herbs.”

“He he, that’s not the right way of putting it. Who knows how big this space is? We have only just experienced a small part of it. If we are to compare this immortal mountain with the Northern Plains, those places combined are probably just the equivalent of an inconspicuous little city.”

“Brother Chen’s words are logical. The most important factor here is that our cultivation bases are lacking. If we are at the Sky Human stage, capable of travelling tens of thousands of li or even hundreds of thousands of li if stronger, this endless-looking barren land would appear much smaller,” Tie Changkong said.

“That is right. If there is a Human Immortal here, that person could probably spread his or her soul power across a radius of thousands of li instantly. People like us, however, will have to slowly explore,” Chen Feng said with a smile.

The three of them flew across the sky as they chatted. The high level of spiritual energy around them and the zooming clouds beneath them gave off a feeling of Immortal Humans out on a stroll.

Unfortunately, the feeling quickly disappeared.

The white clouds beneath them roiled. Then, the white clouds turned black, as though someone had poured ink into water. The clouds then surrounded Chen Feng’s team. At the same time, streams of vile energy blew towards the three of them. The energy streams slipped past their defensive shields and went straight into their hearts.

Chen Feng subconsciously shuddered. That was not due to the coldness of the temperature. Rather, it was a coldness within the heart.

“What is this?”

“What is going on?”

The three of them instinctively sensed something amiss. Before they could turn away, however, the surrounding black clouds surged towards the them.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

Tie Changkong swung his hand, sending three sword beams shooting into their surroundings. Instantly, the beams burst out, creating an open space.

At the same time, Shangguan Yun brought out her Flowing Cloud Ribbon and dispersed the black clouds near them.

Chen Feng knitted his brows slightly. However, he did not make a move. Instead, he brought out the Thousand Seeker Mirror and checked their surroundings.

Chen Feng kept channelling his magic power into the Thousand Seeker Mirror, increasing its scanning radius. One hundred metres, one thousand metres. Chen Feng ended up becoming disappointed. Only the surging black clouds could be seen within the mirror and nothing else.

“Not good. We are completely surrounded by the black clouds,” Chen Feng said.

“I’ll open a path!”

Tie Changkong brandished his sword. With a fierce slash, a formidable sword beam flashed out and a path, over 100 metres in length, was carved open as the black clouds were blasted aside.

“Let’s go!”

Tie Changkong opened a path while Chen Feng and Shangguan Yun followed closely. As for Chen Feng, he continued to check the Thousand Seeker Mirror in his hand.

After flying for tens of li forward, the three of them were still incapable of escaping the peculiar black clouds. Chen Feng, who had been empowering the Thousand Seeker Mirror, could scan up to a radius of 1,000 zhang.

However, the surging black clouds continued to surround them.

“Just what is going on here?”

The three of them felt confused. In the beginning, they had assumed that this was the work of some yao beast. And yet, after so long, no yao beast had appeared.

However, as they kept flying forward, they finally sensed something wrong. The vile energy within the black clouds was steadily rising. If it were not for the fact that they all have their own Prized artefacts, they would need to utilize a great deal of primary energy to block the vile energy.

“The further we go, the stronger this vile energy becomes. It seems there must be something ahead,” Tie Changkong said.

“Come, let’s head up and check it,” suggested Chen Feng.

Thus, the three of them began flying upwards. After rising through 10,000 zhang, they were still met with surging black clouds. Moreover, the winds there were so strong that not even Chen Feng’s team could withstand it. Due to that, the three of them began descending instead, going all the way down to the ground.

“Eh?”

The three of them immediately felt something wrong there. The soil beneath their feet felt incomparably soft. Every step they took left a deep foot print.

“Why is the soil here so soft?” Chen Feng felt puzzled.

“It must have been eroded by the surrounding vile energy. The source must be up ahead. What do you two think?” Tie Changkong asked.

“We have nothing to do anyway. I suggest we go take a look,” Chen Feng said.

“This might be an immortal serendipity,” Shangguan Yun said with a smile.

Most cultivators possessed the spirit of adventure. Chen Feng’s team of three was no exception. Although the path ahead appeared unpredictably dangerous, dangers and rewards would usually appear together.

“Then, let’s go check it out. This is the immortal mountain after all. At any rate, we will not be able to go out. We can only keep going forward,” Tie Changkong said.

Although the surrounding vile energy was steadily growing stronger, the three of them had the protection of Prized artefacts. Thus, they were able to stave off the vile energy. Tie Changkong continued to open a path as the three of them moved forward.

As they were moving forward, Chen Feng attempted to absorb some of the vile energy to refine. Although he could refine it, the rate of cultivation was far inferior to that of him absorbing worldly spiritual energy.

After venturing forward through thousands of metres, Chen Feng abruptly halted. He stared at the Thousand Seeker Mirror in his hand, a peculiar expression on his face. 

“What is it?” Tie Changkong and Shangguan Yun felt puzzled.

“Look here.” Chen Feng pointed at the Thousand Seeker Mirror in his hand. There within the mirror was the image of stream after stream of black clouds spraying out. Like a fountain, they billowed into its surroundings.

“That is the source!” Tie Changkong exclaimed.

“Seems like it.”

After covering another 1,000 plus metres, the three of them finally arrived at the spot shown in the mirror. 

Shua!

A swift and forceful sword light radiated out and all the dark clouds within a radius of tens of metres were cleared away. A black hole appeared before the three of them.

However, the hole immediately sprayed out thick, black energy streams once again, which blocked their line of sight.

“So, the surrounding black clouds were all coming from the ground beneath. Could there be a volcano underground?” Tie Changkong exclaimed.

“There is only vile energy and no fire energy. It is probably not a volcano. It must be a vile zone,” Chen Feng said.

“Generally speaking, vile zones are all very dangerous. The vile energy here is thick. There must be surely be some yao creatures growing underground. We should exercise caution,” Shangguan Yun gave a reminder.

“However, according to the records, some rare spiritual herbs also grow in vile zones. Vileblood Poisongrasses, Bloodsoul Fruits, Soulbiting Flowers, Bonecorroding Spiritflowers and other vile objects. They are all good items.” Chen Feng smiled.

1 li = 0.5 km

1 zhang = 3.333 m