Chapter 79: Being Followed
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Zhou Feng quickly left the market while pondering over a few things.
'When did I ever obtain a spiritual artifact? Is someone trying to frame me?'
He didn't even have a completely nourished soul artifact, so where had this spiritual-artifact rumor come from?
The person who had spread this rumor was most likely from the Flying Eagle Society—Zhao Wu, to be more precise.
That was because the only person in the inner sect who had a grudge against him was Zhao Wu.
The others might have heard of his name, but they had only heard of him.
Zhou Feng had been spending most of his time on Bitter Bamboo Peak. No one would be so stupid as to take the initiative to cause trouble without a grudge.
Therefore, the person who had spread this rumor was most likely Zhao Wu.
'Spiritual artifact, eh? This seems to be a good excuse!'
The rumor that he had a spiritual artifact suddenly gave him an idea. That was how he would make people continuously send themselves to his door!
Zhou Feng wanted to collect souls passively, so he was destined to kill.
But as mentioned before, he couldn't just walk up to someone's door and kill like a madman.
Then, why not let others send themselves to his door?
A spiritual artifact! This was the perfect excuse.
Coincidentally, he had something here that could pass off as a spiritual artifact.
Zhou Feng rummaged through his storage bag for a while and took out the Blood Cicada Jade Pendant.
He had obtained this when he was in the outer sect, so he couldn't sense anything special about it at that time.
However, after breaking through to the Soul Altar realm, he could use the power of his Divine Soul to pry into this Blood Cicada Jade Pendant's secrets.
In fact, there were no secrets at all. This was not a concealed divine artifact at all.
It was just a special piece of jade. When worn close to the body, it could collect the Blood Qi that was usually emitted, store it, and slowly channel it back to the wearer.
Moreover, this channeling effect was most effective when the wearer was in the Body Tempering realm.
'A spiritual artifact…'
Zhou Feng wore the Blood Cicada Jade Pendant around his neck.
The fact that he had a spiritual artifact was a joke to Soul Altar realm cultivators.
It would be an exaggeration to say that more than one person in the entire Tri-Gu Sect had a spiritual artifact. As for a person who had just broken through to the Soul Altar realm?
Impossible!
Therefore, when the true disciples had heard this, they must have definitely smiled lightly.
As for the inner disciples, many people believed this rumor.
After all, the sect adopted a kind of imperceptible sealing of cultivation knowledge.
If Zhou Feng hadn't obtained the jade slip of inheritance, then he might not know anything. He might even be more ignorant than some inner disciples.
People with a high cultivation realm seemed to have a tacit understanding with people with a low cultivation realm.
That was to seal the upper layer of cultivation knowledge.
Only when one reached this realm would they be qualified to obtain this knowledge.
Therefore, the lower the cultivation realm, the more foolish and exaggerated things seemed in this world.
The outer sect—the Gu Refinement Cave where Zhou Feng had crawled out of—was such an example.
Other than doing hard labor and cultivating hard, one could not obtain any information about the outside world. There were only bits and pieces of half-true and half-false information at most.
I'm afraid that there are quite a number of people in the inner sect who won't be able to hold on much longer. These people won't be able to break through on their own. A spiritual artifact is enough to be their last hope!'
Zhou Feng thought about this matter as he slowly returned to Bitter Bamboo Peak. He planned to rest for a while before going out to take action at night. After all, if he took action at night, the commotion would be smaller, and it would be harder to be discovered.
To be honest, a thought suddenly arose in Zhou Feng's mind.
'If I kill all the inner Tri-Gu disciples, will my Soul Altar break through to a Grade-1 one?'
He just didn't know what realm the strongest Tri-Gu expert had reached.
For the Tri-Gu Sect to be able to dominate this region, the Sect Leader should at least be at the Purple Mansion realm!
He wondered what it would be like for a Purple Mansion cultivator to fight.
As he walked, Zhou Feng's perception told him that someone was following behind him.
This person was a little far away from him, but Zhou Feng had sensed due to the passive Master Hunter. Although it wasn't reflected in the data, the 12 points of perception he had gained made it extremely easy for him to detect the situation around him.
Just like now, the person following him was still a distance away from him.
Zhou Feng had already sensed him.
'Who is following me?'
He thought for a moment and stood at the same spot, waiting for the person following him.
…
Han Qi was carrying a Tracking Gu in his hand, and he was traveling leisurely.
'A small fry who has just broken through to the Soul Altar realm. They actually asked me to rope him in personally. What a waste of time!
'What kind of person is this? I'm afraid he doesn't even have a soul artifact right now! Maybe he hasn't even mastered a dao technique!'
As a genius disciple of the Penta-Poison Peak, Han Qi actually didn't think much of Zhou Feng.
Even though Zhou Feng was also in the Soul Altar realm, this kind of poor Soul Altar realm was actually not much different from the Qi Condensation realm.
Given the Grand Elder's personality, he definitely wouldn't help Zhou Feng in the slightest.
Perhaps, in the end, Zhou Feng would even end up in the Grand Elder's belly.
Now, spending resources to rope in such a person, wasn't this a waste of resources?
Even if he was a Soul Altar cultivator, so what? It didn't affect the situation of fighting for the Sect Leader position at all.
Han Qi noticed that Zhou Feng had been waiting there, and his tone was extremely frivolous. "Yo! Your senses are pretty good! You can actually sense me!"
At that moment, Zhou Feng finally saw who was following him.
It was a man of medium build. He looked unexpectedly young, and… did not look like an adult?
Han Qi was handsome, and his skin was smooth like a 15-year-old youth.
However, the arrogant look between his brows made people feel a little uncomfortable.
In layman's terms, he resembled an arrogant good-looking teenager.
'Grade-8 Soul Altar realm?'
Zhou Feng sensed Han Qi's realm and realized that he was actually slightly more powerful than him.
'How old is he? He actually succeeded in forging a Soul Altar? He looks even younger than Liu Yan!'
This was probably the first genuine genius he had encountered!
His Battle Instinct was also warning Zhou Feng that the person in front of him was very dangerous.
Han Qi was displeased as Zhou Feng was standing there in a daze. "Eh? Aren't you going to say anything?"
Logically speaking, Zhou Feng should at least reply to what he said just now!
No matter if it were good or bad, there would always be some reaction.
However, Zhou Feng's expression was wooden. He only stared at Han Qi and had no intention of speaking at all.
Zhou Feng remained silent and circulated his Spiritual Qi, ready to fight at any time.
"As expected! All Bitter Bamboo disciples are lunatics and idiots! Forget it! I won't waste any more time!"
Han Qi was als also too lazy to pay heed to Zhou Feng's silence, so he went straight to the point and stated his intentions..
Chapter 80: Purple Jade Bell!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Han Qi suppressed the impatience in his heart and explained some things about the Sect Leader position to Zhou Feng. "That's it! Do you understand?"
This should be the first time Zhou Feng had come into contact with information regarding the Tri-Gu Sect's upper echelon.
From Han Qi's description, the Tri-Gu Sect's upper echelon seemed to be in a fierce battle.
The Sect Leader had not made an appearance to take charge for a long time, while the inner sect of the Tri-Gu Sect was empty due to the skirmishes with the other sects.
Not long ago, they had even sent the First Elder (Grand Elder) to handle some matters.
Under normal circumstances, the Grand Elder was the most important position in the sect besides the Sect Leader.
If even the Grand Elder had been forced to go out, one could imagine how lacking the Tri-Gu Sect's high-level combat power was.
Under such circumstances, a normal sect's faction might end their infighting and work together to deal with the outside world.
Unexpectedly, the Tri-Gu Sect's factions placed even more importance on fighting amongst themselves in such a situation. It would be even better if they could use other sects to weaken the opposing faction.
From the way they nurtured their disciples, it could be seen that the Tri-Gu Sect itself was abnormal.
They had been able to survive purely due to their powerful combatants. After all, the Tri-Gu Soul Altar cultivators were equivalent to two normal Soul Altar cultivators.
Zhou Feng finally opened his mouth to reply. "So?"
He was very clear about Han Qi's meaning. It was a question of choosing sides.
He would have to choose between the Bloodthirsty faction or the Penta-Poison faction.
Han Qi was representing the Penta-Poison faction.
Zhou Feng did not want to participate in these battles. Even if he needed a battle team, he could not choose a side at this time.
One had to know that his master-in-name was the Grand Elder, Old Demon Gu.
Old Demon Gu should be from the Bloodthirsty faction! Wouldn't he be courting death if he sided with the Penta-Poison faction?
"Looks like it's time for a poor wretch like you to face reality! Even if we are both in the Soul Altar realm, the difference is something you can not imagine!"
Han Qi could no longer tolerate Zhou Feng's attitude.
He had already done what needed to be done. Under such circumstances, it should be enough to deal with those old fellows.
"If you can make me move one step, I'll consider it your win!" Han Qi raised his chin slightly, his eyes revealing disdain.
Zhou Feng's entire body suddenly tensed up. As Han Qi's voice fell, a sense of crisis spread throughout his entire body.
He subconsciously dodged!
A venomous black bee silently passed by Zhou Feng's side like a poisonous needle. The scariest thing was that this entire process did not stir up any ripples. There was no sound at all.
If Zhou Feng's Battle Instinct had not been triggered, he would not have even noticed it.
If it were an ordinary person, they would not have thought that Han Qi would suddenly make a move.
There were no signs at all!
"You are quite vigilant! You actually managed to evade the Stealth-Venom Gu? Looks like you have some talent after all!"
Seeing that Zhou Feng managed to evade his sneak attack, Han Qi raised his eyebrows.
This venomous bee was an offense-type Gu Han Qi had refined. The most unique characteristics of the Stealth-Venom Gu were its stealth attacks, breakneck speed, and potent venom.
When that pair of wings flapped, it was able to eliminate all sound.
Han Qi had already used the Stealth-Venom Gu to assassinate a few Soul Altar cultivators. There was no lack of old foxes among the assassinated Soul Altar cultivators.
Zhou Feng's lips were tightly sealed, not saying a word.
'Kill!' he roared angrily in his heart.
Then, the splitting ax being nurtured in his Soul Altar was immed
immediately summoned.
An afterimage was left on the spot, and a violent air-piercing sound echoed.
The ax's blade was aimed straight at Han Qi's neck.
"Tsk! So shabby. Not even a complete soul artifact?"
When Han Qi saw the splitting ax in Zhou Feng's hand, he couldn't hold it in anymore and laughed out loud.
The splitting ax in Zhou Feng's hand was shabby; it couldn't even be called a soul artifact. There were only two runes engraved on it.
When facing Zhou Feng's attack, Han Qi didn't even intend to dodge. He just stood there.
"Dang!"
Then, a small bell slowly floated above Han Qi's head.
A purple light curtain hung down from the small bell, enveloping Han Qi completely.
Compared to the splitting ax in Zhou Feng's hand, the small bell hovering over Han Qi's head was a true soul artifact, and it had been nurtured for a long time.
The entire soul artifact was full of spirituality.
The small bell's name was Purple Jade Bell, and it was entirely made of Purple Jade. When it was activated, it could form a light curtain to resist all-round attacks.
Moreover, it was both an offensive and defensive artifact as it used soundwaves to attack.
Although such a soul artifact couldn't be compared to a spiritual artifact, it could still be considered a high-level artifact.
'Defensive soul artifact?'
Purple Jade Bell's rebound force shook Zhou Feng's right hand until it became somewhat numb.
Just as Han Qi shook his head and wanted to continue mocking, a trace of extremely sharp blade aura pierced through the Purple Jade Bell.
"What!?"
Han Qi's pupils slightly shrank.
This blade aura even penetrated through Han Qi's protective Spiritual Qi and directly attacked his physical body.
'Impossible! Such a simple attack? The Purple Jade Bell should have been able to withstand it!'
Shock! Disbelief!
Han Qi's emotions surged into his heart because this was simply impossible!
'This is… the Armor-Piercing Spear?'
Zhou Feng reacted immediately. This was the passive Armor-Piercing Spear taking effect!
Armor-Piercing Spear: Every attack will ignore 1% of the opponent's defense and directly attack the main body.
This passive skill had been of little use ever since he obtained it.
Although this passive skill sounded powerful, he had forgotten about it because it was of little use in actual combat.
In the face of a weak opponent, he did not even need to use this passive skill to crush them directly.
And in the face of a strong opponent, this 1% armor-piercing effect was slightly unreliable.
There was another great limitation—this passive skill was ineffective against an opponent higher than his own realm.
But now, it seemed that it was not so useless!
If he did not have this passive skill, Zhou Feng might really have no way to deal with Han Qi and his Purple Jade Bell.
His offensive methods were truly lacking against such an all-round defensive soul artifact.
"Demon-Devouring Battle Art!"
Since the Armor-Piercing Spear was effective, Zhou Feng immediately unleashed his full strength.
Soon, several demonic avatars appeared while the surroundings became dark.
This was the first time Zhou Feng was using the Demon-Devouring Battle Art after breaking through to the Soul Altar realm. Its power was at least several times stronger than in the Qi Condensation realm.
At this time, the few insolent demonic avatars resembled a group of demons dancing wildly.
The demonic avatars controlled numerous tentacles and crazily smashed them against Han Qi enveloped in the Purple Jade Bell's light curtain.
Dang, dang, dang!
The continuous knocking sounds were incessant.
Faint black Spiritual Qi filled Zhou Feng's entire body, while his long black hair danced in the air like wild pythons..