historical

Chapter 224: Direct Confrontation

Translator: podao001

Observing the somewhat panicked look on their faces, Chen Feng slowly sneered inwardly.

These fellows are clearly hiding something from me. Why would the Thunderhawk keep chasing after them? There must be a reason for this, Chen Feng thought.

No wonder they would be so kind as to recruit me into their team. It turns out they wanted to find another cannon fodder.

“All right. Given our current situation, splitting up may seem like the best option. However, we all know that exploring alone might lead us to some unknown dangers. Thus, it would still be better for us to stick together. I believe the Thunderhawk will not keep hounding us forever.” As he spoke, Liu Tian deliberately turned to look at Chen Feng. However, Chen Feng maintained a calm expression and said nothing.

“I think we should figure a way to get out. I don’t want to try getting that immortal serendipity,” Ling Fei suddenly said.

“You want to go out? You don’t have that ability. Don’t forget, we can’t even get out from this forest,” Tie Changkong said with a sneer.

“If others can do it, so too can we,” Ling Fei retorted.

“Even if the number of cultivators who made it into this immortal mountain does not reach 1,000, it is still a considerable number. However, how many amongst them managed to get out?” It would appear as though Tie Changkong loathed Ling Fei and there was an icy tone in his words. Chen Feng believed that, were it not for Liu Tian, Tie Changkong would have slapped Ling Fei.

Truth be told, Chen Feng also felt the desire to slap him. However, it was not the time for that.

“It seems there is no immortal serendipity in this forest. Our primary objective is to avoid getting attacked by the Thunderhawk. Our second objective is to get out from this forest.”

“However, do not forget. If we leave this forest and enter flat terrain, it will be even harder for us to escape the Thunderhawk.”

“No need to worry about that. When we reach the other side, it will no longer be this Thunderhawk’s territory. There will surely be other Great Yaos. This Thunderhawk will probably not risk venturing ahead.”

Watching them discussing and arguing, Chen Feng secretly sneered. He began regretting his decision to join this team. Although these fellows were mostly disciples of great orthodox sects, possessing decent cultivation bases, it would appear that their code of conduct was not all that.

“Enough! Everyone, stop raising a ruckus,” Liu Tian suddenly said, a frown on his face.

Out of their team of seven, Liu Tian’s cultivation base was the highest. Thus, everyone stopped talking.

“We’ll go that way.” Liu Tian decided on a path.

...

Tens of li away from them, a wild-looking, middle-aged man was quickly making his way through the forest. He moved at a very fast pace, like a gust of wind blowing past each of the giant trees. Suddenly, the middle-aged man stopped. Carefully sensing around for a bit, he then changed his route before continuing ahead.

This wild-looking, middle-aged man was the human form of the Thunderhawk and he was fast approaching Chen Feng and the others.

...

“What kind of trees are these? They could grow to possess such exuberant vitality.” Observing the trees flashing past them, Chen Feng smiled.

“Appearance wise, it shouldn’t be some rare type. It is just due to the thriving spiritual energy here,” Tie Changkong replied with a smile.

“It’s really strange. These trees are the only objects here. There is no other vegetation around. This is an immortal mountain. Could it possibly not have a single medicinal herb growing in it?”

“Truth be told, these trees can be considered as a large fortune. If you give me a wood-type cultivation technique and allow me to cultivate here with peace of mind for tens of years, overcoming Lightning Tribulation to reach the Sky Human stage is not impossible.”

“Now that you mention it, I totally forgot about that. We should cut down some trees and keep them. Even if we cannot use it, we can also sell it to others.”

After that, they stopped going forward to start cutting down the trees. Soon enough, the thick trees were cut down and kept inside the spatial pouches of these cultivators.

Seeing their actions, Chen Feng immediately felt the urge to puke blood. What kind of situation are we in right now? We haven’t even dealt with the danger of the Thunderhawk and these fellows could find the state of mind to go cut trees?

After ruminating the issue for a moment, Chen Feng slowly left them to enter the luxuriant forest. Then, he channelled all of his magic power. A tsunami seemingly erupted from the Magnetic acupoints on his feet as an extremely tyrannical power surged from his feet into the ground.

Rumble! Rumble!

A series of dull rumbling sounds rang out. Then, the ground beneath one of the giant trees, covering a radius of tens of zhang, began trembling. Next, the giant tree and the thick soil beneath it slowly rose high up.

“Ha!”

Chen Feng wrapped both his hands around the giant tree. Then, with a loud shout, he pulled the giant tree up. Next, his glabella flashed with light and the giant tree disappeared, leaving only a huge and deep crater on the ground.

Unlike the others, Chen Feng did not choose to cut the tree. Instead, he pulled up the entire tree, soil included, and grafted it into the interior of the Longevity Tower.

“Again!”

Both of Chen Feng’s feet stamped down, causing the surrounding land to shake continuously. This time, two giant trees began shaking.

Sou! Sou!

One after another, the two giant trees disappeared and two more deep craters were left on the ground.

Chen Feng kept his distance from the others, ceaselessly grafting the giant trees into the Longevity Tower. In one breath, he kept over 100 giant trees before stopping.

Glancing around, he saw deep craters within a radius of several li around him. It was quite the sight.

If only Tower is here to help, I won’t have to exhaust myself so. I wonder when will I be able to fully restore the Longevity Tower? Chen Feng felt his head aching. Without Tower’s assistance, he was simply incapable of fully utilizing the Longevity Tower’s abilities.

“Human, you have quite some skills.” Suddenly, a voice spoke up from beside Chen Feng’s ear.

Shocked, Chen Feng’s toes lightly pushed the ground and his figure flew back tens of metres. Only then did Chen Feng see a wild-looking man standing nearby. He was looking at Chen Feng with an indifferent expression.

Who is he? He could actually approach me without making his presence known at all. If he had chosen to attack earlier, I... Thinking about that caused cold sweat to ooze out of Chen Feng.

“Who are you?” Chen Feng asked with an icy grunt. The Overwhelming Astral Sword swiftly flew out to hover in the air, sword light undulating out from it ceaselessly. At the same time, Chen Feng also brought out Bloody Soul, gripping it in his hand.

The reason Chen Feng reacted in such a manner was because this person was giving Chen Feng a sense of unease. This aura was something that Chen Feng had only ever noticed from Sky Human stage cultivators. Not even level 9 Concealed stage cultivators could give Chen Feng this feeling.

The thought of suddenly encountering a Sky Human stage cultivator there caused Chen Feng’s heart to palpitate somewhat and he wondered who this person was and what his intentions were.

“You don’t recognize me?” the wild-looking man said coolly as he looked at Chen Feng, a look of shock flashing across his face.

“I have never seen you before, how could I know you?” After saying that, however, a thought suddenly flashed through Chen Feng’s mind as he recalled a certain possibility.

“Could it be, you are that Thunderhawk?” Chen Feng asked uncertainly.

“Kid, you are quite fast on the uptake. That is right, it’s me!” After saying that, the wild-looking man slowly extended his palm out. The five nails on each hand were long and sharp, gleaming with a faint lustre. One glance was enough to tell that those nails could easily tear through high-quality steel.

“Hold it!”

Seeing that this opponent was about to launch his attack, Chen Feng quickly shouted.

He had two reasons for that. Firstly, he wanted to attract Liu Tian and the others over.

His action brought about clear results. Hearing Chen Feng’s shout, the wild-looking man stopped his actions while Liu Tian and the others, who were far away, heard him.

Contrary to Chen Feng’s expectations, however, Liu Tian and the others chose the flee the moment they realized what was going on. They had left Chen Feng alone.

“What is it? What do you have to say?” The wild-looking man cast a hollow smile at Chen Feng.

“There is no enmity between us, why must you attack me?” said Chen Feng solemnly, the rage within his heart quickly fading away. The actions of Liu Tian and the others had not escaped his notice. However, even Liu Xihua, whom he saved before, did not hesitate to run away, causing Chen Feng’s heart to rage. He did not think that these disciples from great orthodox sects would have no sense of camaraderie.

“No enmity? Oh, right. Back then, you weren’t there. However, it doesn’t matter. At any rate, all you humans deserve to die,” said the wild-looking man with a sneer. His five nails began flashing with lightning bolts.

Chen Feng furiously considered his situation and said, “Hey! If you are going to kill me, you should at least let me understand why! Did they steal something from you?”

Hearing Chen Feng’s words, the wild-looking man’s eyes widened and thick killing intent radiated from his body.

“All you humans must die! You took advantage of the fact that I was not around and snuck into my grotto-mansion. I want to tear you all to pieces!” After saying that, the wild-looking man flashed forward, re-appearing before Chen Feng. His five fingernails, flashing with streams of lightning bolt, clawed towards Chen Feng’s chest.

So fast!

Chen Feng’s heart tightened while he thrust Bloody Soul towards the wild-looking man’s chest in response. It was a mutually damaging move. Simultaneously, he stamped down both his foot, causing the earth to quake and clumps of dense soil to charge out from the ground. Then, they exploded. The scattered soil engulfed both Chen Feng and the wild-looking man.

Bo!

A booming sound rang out and the dense number of soils stirred furiously in the air. With Bloody Soul in hand, Chen Feng charged out from the cloud of soil. Taking a different path, he quickly fled.

Hu!

A fierce hurricane blew forward and the cloud of soil was completely dispersed. The wild-looking man – the Thunderhawk’s human form – gave a grunt before swiftly chasing after Chen Feng.

As Chen Feng ran, blood began trickling out from his chest. In the earlier exchange, the wild-looking man’s attack had nearly pierced through his chest. Despite him failing to do so, Chen Feng was not in a great spot. Chen Feng could feel overbearing electrical currents creating havoc within his body and his heart felt as though it was on the verge of exploding.

This Thunderhawk is very strong. It could actually block Bloody Soul’s attack with just his palm. However, I also managed to block one of his attacks. Not to mention, this Great Yao has probably overcome 2 Lightning Tribulations. Despite getting wounded, Chen Feng felt somewhat pleased.

There were not many Concealed stage cultivators who could confront a Great Yao and escape. That was especially true when considering Chen Feng’s cultivation base, which was only at level 4 of the Concealed stage. The level of accomplishment in this story was enough to make him proud.

Still, Chen Feng was still in danger. He could sense that the Thunderhawk had locked onto him and was closing the distance between them.

“You birdbrain! I am not the one who offended you. If you want to kill people, go find others, won’t you?!” Chen Feng could not stop himself from swearing.

1 li = 0.5 km

1 zhang = 3.333 m