Chapter 8: Captured

Hearing those words, Chen Feng was instantly stunned and he began pondering the meaning behind those words.

“Just who are you?” Chen Feng asked grimly as he stopped circulating his primary energy.

“You do not need to know who I am. You just need to know I can easily kill you. Now, tell me the formula for your technique. Otherwise, I will kill you,” said the tree spirit coldly. At the same time, it unleashed its killing intent, causing Chen Feng to feel his body going stiff. He became greatly alarmed as he realized that this person was not someone that he could fend off at all. Putting on a strong front would only harm himself.

“Fine.” Chen Feng nodded and revealed the techniques he practiced.

“Eight Forms of Iron Claws, Bone Shattering Fingers, Bone Crushing Hands, Thirteen Forms of Iron Sword, what kind of bull is that? I am not talking about those techniques, I am talking about your cultivation technique!” said the tree spirit anxiously.

“I am a disciple of Iron Sword Sect, the techniques I practice are all from Iron Sword Sect. What are you talking about?” Chen Feng responded.

“Hey, a kid dares to feign ignorance before me. I’ll let you know how powerful I am!” The tree spirit sneered.

Then, Chen Feng felt one of his meridians bursting apart. The primary energy within it leaked out and flowed haphazardly, causing so much pain that it caused him to convulse.

“If you try anything funny again, I will destroy all the meridians in your body, crippling your cultivation and turning you into a wastrel.” The tree spirit threatened.

“But I really did not practice any other techniques. Even if you kill me, what is the point?” Chen Feng responded with gritted teeth.

“Let me ask you, how did you cultivate the primary energy inside your body? This is clearly a very powerful wood-type technique. You think you can deceive me?” The tree spirit sneered.

“I do not know about that either. They are circulating on their own inside my body. What can I do?” Chen Feng responded. He had understood what the existence within his body wanted from him. At the same time, he felt unwilling to just give it his cultivation technique.

“Circulating on its own? As expected, it is not ordinary technique. Let me have a look.” After saying that, the tree spirit sent out strands of potent energy and Chen Feng felt his blood flowing unsteadily. Then, the primary energy within Chen Feng’s body began flowing beyond his control. It was circulating through the same route as the strange cultivation technique.

“Tsk tsk! What a profound wood-type cultivation technique. Although it is incomplete, it has already surpassed the scope of my comprehension. Wonderful! Wonderful! To think that it could devour the surrounding grass essences. By going a step further, it might even be capable of devouring worldly life forces. Ha ha ha ha! After I cultivate this technique, I will be able to devour worldly life forces and heal my injuries. I can even increase my cultivation base.”

“Good, good! Truly wonderful. This kid is simply a lucky star.” The tree spirit screamed happily from inside Chen Feng’s body. It was as though it had discovered a great treasure.

“I have already given you my technique. Hurry up and come out from my body, won’t you? I am just a nameless cultivator. Rather, I cannot even be considered a cultivator. Will an expert like you kill me?” Chen Feng said in quick succession.

“Humph, you have got a glib tongue, kid. Don’t worry, I will not be killing you for the time being. However, I now need to find a safe place to cultivate for a bit.” After saying that, the tree spirit released strands of potent energy to control Chen Feng’s body.

Chen Feng felt the primary energy within his body roiling and the surrounding spiritual energy and grass essences flowed into his body. The speed at which it was occurring was over 10 times faster than when he was cultivating.

Sou! Sou! Sou!

His body began moving on its own. His feet moved forward quickly, each step taking him tens of metres forward. His body now possessed the physical ability to reduce distance to inches. Despite knowing that this was due to the existence inside his body, Chen Feng was still shocked. Even though he was in a crisis, Chen Feng wondered when he could reach this level of cultivation.

Controlling Chen Feng’s body, the tree spirit did not move out from the valley. Instead, it turned around and rushed back into the forest. At the same time, it displayed its wood-type magic. It slapped a mark on several large trees, which confused the senses. It was placed to confound his pursuer.

Swoosh!

The woman in white quickly descended from the sky, landing right where Chen Feng had been standing earlier. Her eyes glinted as she inspected the area.

“There is the aura of another person. Did someone beat me to it?”

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The woman in white’s figure continued to flash about, like a ghost flashing through the forest. The spots she appeared at were all the places that the tree spirit – controlling Chen Feng’s body – had moved past.

“It doesn’t appear to be the case. The tree spirit has taken control of a human cultivator. How strange. The tree spirit is in a rush to flee, why bring a human along with it? Could there be something special with the human cultivator?”

The woman in white mumbled before disappearing once more as she utilized a mysterious technique to pursue the tree spirit.

“Humph, someone is chasing me after all. That woman is something else. She possesses a weapon of that level in her hand. If she catches up to me, I will die for sure. Thankfully, I have cards to play. You want to catch up to me in this dense forest? Dream on!” The tree spirit inside Chen Feng’s body scoffed.

Chen Feng continued rushing through the forest. Everywhere he went, the various plants, vines, flowers and grasses grew actively. Some plants quickly grew up from within the ground to form various arrays. At the same time, various trees moved constantly in tandem with them to change the terrain and confound the enemy.

Seeing the constant changes undergone by the surrounding plants gave Chen Feng an extreme amount of shock. This magical ability was something beyond his wildest dreams.

Thinking about that, Chen Feng felt that he might actually end up dead.

“Humph! You cut my essence in half and now, you are forcing me to use restrictive techniques, exhausting my essence. Just you wait. Once I have recovered, I will be settling this account with you.” The tree spirit’s resentful voice could be heard coming from Chen Feng’s body.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The woman in white continued moving through the forest. Her figure drifted erratically. Every time she flashed about, she would advance by hundreds or thousands of metres ahead. Her white clothes fluttered and she looked like a mountain ghost, or perhaps, a forest fairy.

This tree spirit is quite capable. It has cultivated out its own dao path and is proficient in some secret, restrictive techniques. Borrowing the surrounding terrain to escape. It will be somewhat difficult to pursue it. The woman in white frowned slightly. However, she continued to give chase.

Chen Feng felt as though the trees were zooming past him without cease while the wind whistled in his ears. He continued to rush through the forest without respite for an unknown period of time. Finally, he stopped before a stone mountain.

Next, Chen Feng felt a strange energy wrapping his whole body. After that, he sank underground, moving through the ground. Although it was a very novel experience, Chen Feng had no time to appreciate it. He sensed that the mysterious existence within his body had found a place to hide.

As expected, after emerging from the ground, Chen Feng found himself inside a stone cave. Thinking about it, he believed it to be within the stone mountain he saw earlier.

I do not know how to escape underground nor move through rocks. It seems I cannot run away anymore. Chen Feng thought to himself as he regarded his surroundings.

The stone cave was the size of a house with the shape of a bowl. The walls of the cave were as smooth as a mirror surface and there was no exit to be found. Chen Feng speculated that this cave must either be a naturally formed cave or someone must have moved through the ground and carved out this cave, just like the fellow within his body.

“I myself had only discovered this cave by chance. It resides within the mountain. Given your abilities, you will be unable to make it out from here.” After saying that, the tree spirit moved out from Chen Feng’s body. It circled around the cave once before floating in front of Chen Feng.

Only then did Chen Feng get to see what it was floating before him.

It was a green sphere of light the size of a fist, floating eerily before him. Thinking back to how this thing had been inside his body and even talking inside him, he felt his hair standing on end.

“You, just what are you?” Chen Feng asked fearfully. At the same time, he began to secretly gather his strength in preparation for launching a sudden attack.

“Humph, originally, I was one of the ancient trees in this valley. After gaining awareness, I began cultivating. After 1,000 years, I finally reached this level. This time, I had utilized the five rows body substitution technique to undergo Heavenly Tribulation. Although it was a success, my essence was badly wounded. Unexpectedly, some human cultivators tried to plunder the burning home ^[1]. They wanted to snatch my essence. At present, my body is destroyed and only half my essence remains. I can only stay here to recover.

“However, by practicing your cultivation technique, I will be able to absorb spiritual energy from every place and restore my essence and body. When the time comes, my strength will improve greatly. Heh heh, as for you, don’t even think about attacking me. I may be badly wounded, but I only need one finger to deal with someone like you.”

After saying that, the tree spirit laughed scornfully at Chen Feng. Clearly, it had seen through Chen Feng’s plan.

Chen Feng’s face sank. He contemplated on whether he should go all out in a desperate attack.

“If you do not believe me, you are free to try,” the tree spirit continued with a sneer.

“Fine!”

Chen Feng shouted, his voice echoed out like thunder within the cave and he sent out a simple punch towards the tree spirit before him.

Chen Feng had already reached the reinforcement of internal organs (4^th) layer of the Training Body and Energy stage. One punch from him could shatter stones and break down trees. Additionally, Chen Feng was presently giving it his all into the punch. Not even cultivators on the same layer as him would be capable of blocking this punch from him.

His punch flew out, inciting strong winds within the cave. Seeing Chen Feng’s fist shooting towards the green sphere of light, seemingly about to destroy it, the tree spirit chuckled. It emanated out a small, green-coloured beam, which collided against Chen Feng’s fist.

Chen Feng’s whole body flinched. It was as though he had been struck by lightning. Next, he was thrown backwards and his body slammed onto the cave wall behind him. Rolling onto the ground, he felt the blood in his body convulsing and his primary energy moving about in confusion. His whole arm had gone numb.

“Humph, a minor Training Body and Energy stage fellow dares to attack me? If I am not badly wounded, even a consummate Concealed stage cultivator will turn to ashes with a wave of my hand,” the tree spirit sneered.

Chen Feng said nothing. He quickly circulated the primary energy within his body to heal the internal wounds he received earlier. It did not take long for him to stand back up. He looked at the tree spirit before him and continued pondering how he could escape.

“Heh heh, this cultivation technique is truly miraculous. You can recover so quickly. Tsk tsk, I am feeling impatient now.” Looking at Chen Feng, the tree spirit laughed.

“Just now, you have already understood the mystery of this cultivation technique. Why did you not let me go? No matter how you look at it, I had helped you out. Karma is part of the Heavenly way. I think you should not kill me,” said Chen Feng resolutely.

“Tsk tsk! Little fellow, you are quite something. Even now, you want to banter with me. I believe you can be considered as a talent amongst your human cultivators. Well, it is not impossible for me to let you go. However, you must wait until I have completely mastered that cultivation technique. When I have restored my strength, there might be some benefits for you. Right now, you would do well to be obedient and wait for me to recover.” After saying that, the tree spirit transformed into a stream of light and entered Chen Feng’s body once more.

1 Plunder the burning home. An idiom meaning: Take advantage of someone else’s misfortune.↩

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