Chapter 294: Seeking In Vain
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
“Not only has Half-Bottle Mountain changed, but many terrains have undergone alterations. This mystic realm has grown larger!”
As a phantom, Chen Fei observed his surroundings with a hint of surprise in his eyes. Suddenly, Chen Fei’s figure paused, and he descended into a basin.
Sensing his surroundings and confirming no danger, Chen Fei gently touched forward with his right hand, plucking a spiritual herb that flew into his grasp.
Indeed, Chen Fei had discovered a spiritual herb, though it was somewhat small, with medicinal properties at roughly half their full potential. It would probably take a few more years to fully mature.
Several years from now, whether Primordial Sword Sect would still have the qualification to enter this mystic realm was a question mark. Naturally, Chen Fei couldn’t wait for this herb to grow completely.
“I can use it to refine Snow Spirit Pills.”
Chen Fei placed the spiritual herb into his pouch and scanned his surroundings once more, finding no further overlooked treasures. He continued towards the cave where Baka had been originally.
However, after a short while, Chen Fei halted his steps again, not for any specific reason but simply because he had discovered yet another spiritual herb. Compared to the previous one, this herb was undoubtedly much larger.
“Good stuff seems to be quite common in this newly born Aperture Tempering Realm,” Chen Fei remarked in astonishment to himself, silently placing the herb into his pouch.
Among the herbs needed for Snow Spirit Pills, this type of spiritual herb was relatively common. It was precisely because of its commonness that these herbs were used in the pill’s refinement process.
Being more readily available ensured a sustainable supply, similar to the Body Refining Realm’s Vitality pills, Eternal Floating pills and others. If the herb was challenging to cultivate and over-harvested, it would eventually become extinct and unsuitable for use in pill-making.
Unless it’s a spiritual pill with a special purpose, rare spiritual materials are required. For example, the materials for the Primordial Sword Sect’s Origin Awakening Pill require the pulp of that spiritual tree.
Aware of the mystic realm’s current uniqueness, Chen Fei scanned for potential spiritual materials as he traveled. In less than fifteen minutes, he found another spiritual herb hidden in a mountain crevice.
Satisfied, Chen Fei placed it in his pouch. Suddenly, his ears twitched, and he activated the Wind Gathering Technique to enhance his hearing, picking up the sound of a battle in the distance.
One mile away…
“Boom!”
Mo Yuanfei involuntarily slid backward, taking more than a dozen steps before channeling the additional force onto his feet. Even so, blood still trickled from the corners of his mouth.
Mo Yuanfei watched a berserk ape-like monster in the distance. This first-tier peak beast was on the brink of evolution, making it too strong. With his cultivation and the assistance of Zeng Zaiwen, a first-tier beast shouldn’t have been such a challenge.
This fight had only been going on for a short time, yet Mo Yuanfei had already been lightly injured by a punch, and his arms continued to tremble. While there were a few wounds on the monster’s body, they were inconsequential and seemed to only increase its ferocity.
Don’t stand there in a daze, come help!”
Zeng Zaiwen’s figure darted around, constantly circling the monster, pushing his proficiency in the Soaring Heaven Technique to the limit, driving the monster into a frenzy with its relentless roars.
From the outside, it appeared that Zeng Zaiwen had the upper hand in the battle. After all, the ape-like monster hadn’t managed to land a single hit on Zeng Zaiwen, while Zeng Zaiwen had occasionally left a few bloody marks on the monster’s body.
But only Zeng Zaiwen himself understood just how perilous their situation was.
Their combined attacks, despite their frequency, struggled to penetrate the beast’s formidable defense. Instead, the monster’s every punch and kick sent shivers down their spines.
A single mistake could result in severe injury, and the consequence of severe injury was almost certain death at the hands of the monster.
The monster could make mistakes repeatedly, even dozens of times, but Zeng Zaiwen couldn’t afford a single error.
Mo Yuanfei roared angrily, and his semi-spiritual weapon emitted a faint light, unleashing a tremendous force in all directions. The monster, which had been relentlessly attacking, seemed to sense a threat and reduced the intensity of its movements.
Mo Yuanfei’s figure flickered, reaching the monster’s front, and he swung his sword at its neck. The clever monster leaped, narrowly avoiding Mo Yuanfei’s attack, creating some distance between them.
Zeng Zaiwen didn’t pursue but stood side by side with Mo Yuanfei, watching the monster. Then, they slowly began to retreat.
It was clear that the two of them couldn’t defeat this monster. Given the circumstances, it was better to withdraw early. If they continued to engage, there might be no escape.
The monster let out a roar, pounded its chest vigorously, and charged straight toward them. Despite Zeng Zaiwen and Mo Yuanfei’s attempts to retreat, the monster gave them no opportunity to do so.
Zeng Zaiwen and Mo Yuanfei’s faces changed. They had just entered the mystic realm, and they hadn’t acquired any treasures yet. It seemed they might meet their end here.
As true disciples of the Primordial Sword Sect, they could have peacefully cultivated on the True Transmission Peak. However, the opportunity presented by this mystic realm was too tempting. By seizing this chance, they might significantly increase their odds of breaking through the Aperture Tempering realm.
Opening an acupoint was not an easy feat; it was as challenging as climbing to the heavens. Even for the sect’s true disciples, the chances of breaking through the Aperture Tempering realm were only slightly higher than those of ordinary inner disciples.
Several months ago, Miao Daoxin, who held the position of True Transmission First, had attempted to break through to the Aperture Tempering realm but ended up in failure.
Miao Daoxin had occupied the first position among the true disciples for many years, even briefly unseated by Chen Fei a few years ago. He had accumulated profound strength at the pinnacle of the Body Tempering realm over many years. However, despite all of this, Miao Daoxin had still failed to break through.
The high-ranking members of the Primordial Sword Sect were somewhat disappointed. They had expected a new Aperture Tempering realm cultivator to emerge within the sect shortly after Chen Fei’s breakthrough. To their surprise, even the most promising candidate, Miao Daoxin, had fallen short.
This event left everyone bewildered and heightened the anxiety of many about their own breakthroughs.
If even the first-ranked true disciple could fail, what hope was there for those ranked lower? As a result, many true disciples, including Zeng Zaiwen and Mo Yuanfei, had joined the expedition into the mystic realm.
Unfortunately, they had barely begun to explore the mystic realm when they encountered this formidable ape-like monster, which proved to be too powerful even for two true disciples to handle.
With a resounding thud, Mo Yuanfei was sent flying again, but this time he wasn’t as lucky as before. The blow had struck him squarely in the chest.
If it weren’t for a slight change in angle at a critical moment, Mo Yuanfei might have been punched through his body.
Despite the continuous tempering of their physical bodies by Body Refining realm cultivators, when compared to the terrifying strength of a first-tier peak monster, they still appeared somewhat inadequate.
It was a case of brushing against danger—if you barely escaped, you would still be gravely wounded.
At this moment, Mo Yuanfei was a testament to this. A mist of blood still lingered in the air from his mouth, and a second mouthful of blood gushed out uncontrollably, containing fragments of his internal organs.
Just from that one punch, Mo Yuanfei had lost nearly eighty percent of his combat capability. Even standing upright seemed challenging at this point.
A thunderous crash echoed as the ape-like monster’s fist struck the air. The immense sound disrupted Zeng Zaiwen’s use of the Skyfaring Technique for a moment.
Zeng Zaiwen’s face turned pale, and almost instinctively, he threw himself backward with all his strength. Just after making this move, a massive fist passed above his cheek.
In an instant, several bloody gashes marred Zeng Zaiwen’s cheek, and the stench of blood filled the air, barely missing a direct blow to his head.
“Run!
Zeng Zaiwen shouted at Mo Yuanfei, his feet flashing as he took advantage of the monster’s momentary pause in strength. He darted behind the creature and unleashed his sword technique with incredible intensity, filling the area with a fierce aura.
But the monster seemed to have eyes in the back of its head, and it kicked backward, slamming its foot into the blade on Zeng Zaiwen’s back.
The semi-spirit weapon in Zeng Zaiwen’s hand emitted a distorted and grating sound. His right arm couldn’t withstand the force, and the entire arm was torn apart, while the semi-spirit sword ended up piercing his thigh due to the angle.
The ape-like monster let out a pained roar, and its foot was scratched in a few places, but these were minor flesh wounds.
Mo Yuanfei, upon hearing Zeng Zaiwen’s words, wore a bitter smile on his face. Even if he could run, he wouldn’t stand a chance against the monster’s pursuit. Even with the injuries to the monster’s feet, it remained a formidable threat.
Zeng Zaiwen glanced at Mo Yuanfei and then at the monster. Their chance was gone; they were truly going to die here.
The monster, upon seeing Zeng Zaiwen injured and smelling the scent of blood in the air, let out an excited roar and lunged toward Zeng Zaiwen. It knew that this human was the most significant threat.
Zeng Zaiwen’s internal energy surged to its peak as he held the sword blade in his left hand. Even in death, he was determined to land a blow on the monster.
“Swish!”
Suddenly, a sound resembling a swiftly breaking blade cut through the air. The monster’s entire body trembled as it attempted to jump aside, but before it could leap, a black sword pearl had already appeared in front of it.
“Roar!”
The monster felt a terrifying aura on the sword pearl, one it had only encountered on a few stronger beasts before. The monster’s arms instinctively blocked its path, and its entire body tensed up, with its robust vitality rapidly converging to focus on defense.
In the next instant, the sword pearl collided with the monster’s arms. Zeng Zaiwen stood not far away, his eyes slightly widened, as he watched the sword pearl slowly crush the monster’s arms, from its fur and flesh to its eventual bones.
In Zeng Zaiwen’s eyes, even multiple swords couldn’t have harmed the monster’s skin and flesh much, but in front of this sword pearl, it was as fragile as paper.
“Thud!”
A dull sound snapped Zeng Zaiwen back to his senses. Looking at the monster again, a large hole had appeared in the middle of its massive head, piercing through from front to back. As for the monster’s arms, they had long been crushed and disappeared.
With such injuries, no matter how strong a monster’s vitality was, it couldn’t continue to survive.
The giant body of the monster slammed onto the ground with a muffled sound, twitched slightly for a moment, and then lay still, clearly completely dead.
Zeng Zaiwen remained motionless, still somewhat stunned. Several meters away, Mo Yuanfei was in a similar state..