Everlasting

 

“What exactly happened? Was it Chen Feng?” Zhao Quan was somewhat displeased.

“We were knocked unconscious before we could see the other party,” one of the heir disciples said softly.

“We have been seriously wounded. We will head back now to recover.”

After saying that, the two heir disciples ignored Zhao Quan. Supporting each other, they went away.

“Senior Brother Zhao, what should we do?” one of the inner disciples asked gingerly.

Zhao Quan cast a ferocious glare at the mountain before him. Gritting his teeth, he then said, “We’ll leave!” 

Zhao Quan and his gang were able to leave safely. As for Four Ears, he did not give chase. Naturally, Chen Feng knew everything that was transpiring. Although he was not afraid, Chen Feng had no desire to go overboard against Zhao Quan. That Zhao Quan was someone with quite the backing, after all. There were some characters that Chen Feng simply could not afford to offend, for now.

“I hope you will not come trouble me again, or else, backing or no backing, I will cut you down,” said Chen Feng coolly.

After that, Chen Feng flew out from the mountain and began wandering around the inner disciple’s zone. The number of inner disciples was smaller compared to outer disciples. Conversely, the number of mountains was also smaller. However, they were all one level higher. Additionally, the spiritual energy there was exuberant and the streams of water from the mountains’ waterfalls flowed like flying water, creating a beautiful spectacle. Not to mention, the rolling mountains spread across an area of who knows how many li. Chen Feng, who had been wandering about, did not feel bored at all. Rather, he felt refreshed.

Even the mountains inhabited by the inner disciples varied in terms of height and size. Some were tall, some were short, some were big and some were small. On his way forward, the tallest mountain Chen Feng saw rose up to a height of nearly 1,000 zhang. There were mountains that were only slightly higher compared to outer disciples’ mountains, mountains surrounded by some lesser mountains, looking like a mountain range in its own right. The surface of those mountains was filled with various rare herbs. There were also some mountains that were bare. The only thing on each of those mountains was a shabby building. Seeing that puzzled Chen Feng. In the outer disciple zone, the outer disciples’ residences were all similar, all on 100-zhang mountains. There was no such disparity.

After his shock faded, however, Chen Feng gradually understood why there was such a disparity. He shook his head and said with a smile, “By becoming inner disciples, we have formally become a sect disciple. This ‘the strong preys on the weak’ situation becomes slightly more noticeable. I wonder, how is the situation for heir and elite disciples?” 

“Junior brother, I don’t think I have ever seen you before.” Chen Feng was flying high up in the sky when an inner disciple appeared to fly beside him.

“I am new,” Chen Feng said with a smile.

“Why is it so lively here?” Observing the growing number of disciples, Chen Feng was unable to stop himself from asking.

“Right, you are new. You do not know this, but there are people engaging in a decisive duel in the duelling arena.”

“A decisive duel? Didn’t the sect forbid such a thing?” Chen Feng grew curious.

“It is not forbidden. As long as both sides agree to it, the sect will not forbid it.”

“A duelling arena. This is a good approach. There are so many people within the sect, there will surely be a good number of conflicts. Rather than resorting to sneak attacks, they might as well fight it out in the open,” said Chen Feng with a smile.

“Junior brother’s words are reasonable.”

The two of them chatted while following the others forward. Through their conversation, Chen Feng found out that this young cultivator’s name was Luo Yang. He appeared around two to three years older than Chen Feng. His soul power was vigorous while his primary energy was plentiful. It seemed as though he could condense out his Soulflame at any moment.

The duelling arena that they were heading to was a very basic-looking place. It was simply a flattened mountain, circular in shape. High-level cultivators have enchanted the ground and every other place around the spot with magic power. They had also left some magic arrays there so that the duels that occurred there could not easily damage the duelling arena.

By the time Chen Feng and Luo Fang arrived, some people were already fighting there. Hundreds of people surrounded the mountaintop. Some hovered in the sky while some stood atop flying swords. They were all inner disciples who lived close by. This duelling arena before them was just one of the many duelling arenas prepared within the inner disciples’ zone.

There were two level 4 Concealed stage cultivators inside the duelling arena. They controlled their flying swords and attacked each other from afar. For Chen Feng, this battle was not worth watching. After observing for just a bit, Chen Feng began feeling bored.

However, it was different for those around him. Watching the decisive duel that could decide the two participants’ life and death, some people shouted loudly.

The two flying swords kept clashing against one another in the sky, taking different trajectories each time. Strands of sword energy emanated outwards like waves.

Chen Feng was unable to stop himself from shaking his head. This level of battle was truly not worth watching. If he were the one on the duelling arena, he could grab hold of the opponent’s flying sword and break it with a squeeze. Was there a need to trouble himself with a flying sword?

Seeing Chen Feng shake his head, Luo Yang, who was beside him, asked with a smile, “What is it, Junior Brother Chen?”

“Ha ha. It’s nothing. Since we are all disciples of the same sect, I feel that it might not be a good thing to kill each other.” Chen Feng changed the topic.

“He he! Many people say that as well. However, this is the rule set down by the Sect Master. No one may change it. Besides, a sect as big as ours do require the existence of this duelling arena. Forget out Extreme Celestial Sect, even the other sects have these duelling arenas,” said Luo Yang with a chuckle.

“Senior Brother Luo, have you ever engaged in a decisive duel with others before?” Chen Feng asked curiously.

“No. I am a relatively low-key person. Since I don’t go around offending others, other people generally wouldn’t offend me as well,” Luo Yang replied with a smile.

Hearing his words, Chen Feng felt amused. Just because you do not offend others, would others not offend you?

As the two of them were chatting, the victor was decided. One of the two duellists was lacking in magic power, resulting in his sword getting knocked away. Next, the enemy sword swiftly flew forward, cutting his arm.

“I lost!” the disciple hurriedly shouted and a flying sword, shining with flowing light, stopped right before the disciple.

“Are you allowed to kill someone during a decisive duel?” Chen Feng asked curiously.

“Yes. You should know, only those who bear a grudge against one another would engage in a decisive duel. However, incidents where one party kills the other party are relatively rare. Most of them end with heavy injuries. Having a reputation of killing a fellow sect disciple is not a good thing, after all,” Luo Yang slowly said.

“Makes sense. However, we inner disciples do not have the sufficient cultivation base. Without high-tier medicinal pills, it will be quite difficult to recover a cut limb,” said Chen Feng as he observed the disciple with the cut arm walking down from the duelling arena.

“Only through competition can there be progress. Each and every one of the cultivators from Sword Hall are all arrogant. Why is that? Because the way they cultivate is more extreme. I hear that there would constantly be chaotic, large-scale battles in Sword Hall. Many sword cultivators would be wounded every day. Losing one’s limbs happens from time to time there. Some times, some disciples would even get killed during the fight,” said Luo Yang with an air of excitement.

“Tsk, tsk. Sword Hall is so crazy? Thankfully, I did not choose to enter Sword Hall to practice cultivation,” Chen Feng said with a chuckle.

“Humph! Coward! How can someone with your state of mind achieve any progress in cultivation?” said a rough-sounding voice beside them.

Turning, Chen Feng saw a relatively wild-looking inner disciple looking at him with a disdainful expression. His eyes were full of contempt, seemingly ridiculing Chen Feng’s cowardice.

Seeing that, Chen Feng simply smiled in response. He did not give any retort. As Chen Feng’s cultivation base grew higher and higher, his heart too, grew more magnanimous. At the very least, he would not get into an argument with weaklings like these.

Next, there were two more decisive duels. One of them ended with both becoming mutually injured. In the second one, one of the inner disciples was beaten to the point of coughing out blood.

Finally, no one else stepped into the duelling arena. Everyone looked around and turned as they made to leave.

“Chen Feng, I challenge you!”

Just as everyone was about to leave, a figure landed in the centre of the duelling arena. A deep voice emanated out like waves towards Chen Feng.

Everyone there was stunned. They stopped leaving and began discussing amongst themselves.

A tall, young cultivator with a large stature brandished a one-zhang-long overlord spear at Chen Feng. His skin had a dark tone and his upper body was bare, revealing his bulging muscles. His hair hung about in a dishevelled manner, giving him the look of a barbarian.

“Overlord Spear, Sun Kui!” exclaimed someone who recognized the person.

The onlookers grew shocked. Then, they turned to see where the tip of the spear was aimed at to see a frowning Chen Feng.

“Who is that? To think that Sun Kui would challenge him.” The onlookers were surprised.

“He must be new. I wonder how he ended up offending Sun Kui. This kid is screwed. Everyone knows how ruthless Sun Kui is. This kid will most likely have to crawl out of this mountain today.”

“Junior Brother Chen, is it you?” Feeling the fiery gazes from all around them, Luo Yang, who was beside Chen Feng, quickly took two steps backwards.

“It’s probably me,” Chen Feng said with a smile.

“How did you end up offending this overlord? He is a top existence amongst inner disciples. Additionally, he is an innate strongman. A few days ago, a disciple was swept down the mountain with a swing of his spear. That disciple is still bed-ridden now. I advise you, never accept his challenge,” Luo Yang furiously said.

“Chen Feng, are you still not coming over? If you don’t have the guts, then kneel and kowtow three times to me!” the Overlord Spear, Sun Kui, shouted at Chen Feng.

Chen Feng ignored him. Instead, his gaze swept through the crowd again and again until he finally saw a familiar face.

Earthfiend Sword, Pang Ming. After some thought, Chen Feng recalled the person’s name. Back then, Chen Feng, who had yet to enter Extreme Celestial Sect, was staying in First Origin City when Pang Ming came to kill him and Lu Ta. In the end, Pang Ming was sent packing instead. Unexpectedly, he would end up meeting Pang Ming again today.

Earthfiend Sword, Overlord Spear. The two of them have nicknames. It seems they are doing quite well for themselves amongst the inner disciples. No need for questions here, Pang Ming must have been the one who instigated this Overlord Spear. Chen Feng considered.

“Kid, are you afraid?” Sun Kui continued shouting loudly.

At that moment, the surrounding inner disciples were all looking at Chen Feng. There were curious expressions on their faces as they wondered if Chen Feng had become too terrified to respond.

Pang Ming knows that he is no match for me, so he instigated this Overlord Spear to trouble me. What is he up to? Chen Feng thought.

“Chen Feng, hurry up and come over here! I am challenging you!” Sun Kui continued shouting. However, his face was growing increasingly warped.

The surrounding inner disciples waited, wanting to see Chen Feng’s response. Unexpectedly, in the face of the Overlord Spear’s challenge, Chen Feng neither showed fear nor chose to accept. Instead, he did not respond at all.

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1 li = 0.5 km

1 zhang = 3.333 m

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