Chapter 5207: Blessing in Disguise
“Let’s make a move too.”
Tao Wu brought Chu Feng and Old Cat through the spirit formation gate with him.
Weng!
Right after they passed through the spirit formation gate, Chu Feng realized that Tao Wu and Old Cat had disappeared without a trace. He had individually entered a spatial tunnel with walls filled with sharp thorns.
He tried taking a step forward, but a thorn immediately impaled his body.
“Isn’t this too harsh?”
While it was only a single thorn and it had only impaled one part of his body, the pain it inflicted was several times more vivid than being slashed at by a sword. Even with Chu Feng’s high tolerance to pain, the pain inflicted by the thorn brought a frown to his forehead.
To make things worse, the pain was lasting. Chu Feng tried suppressing the pain with his pills, but it was to no avail.
He could tell that this was part of the trial and that he had no choice but to proceed forward if he wished to clear this trial. Thus, he gritted his teeth and continued walking on in spite of the thorns piercing through his body.
He even hastened his footsteps later on in order to clear it faster. It didn’t take long for his body to be covered in thorns, just like a porcupine.
Weng!
All of a sudden, Chu Feng felt a surge of spirit power washing over him. The excruciating pain he was in slowly faded, and the thorns lodged into his body transformed into a flood of spirit power that flowed into his body.
At the same time, another wave of energy wrapped itself around Chu Feng, seeking to take him away from this spatial tunnel.
“Is that how it is?”
Chu Feng widened his eyes in realization.
He thought that he would have to bear with the pain and march to the end of the spatial tunnel in order to clear the trial, but that wasn’t the case at all. He noticed that it had been exactly two hours since he entered the spatial tunnel, which strongly hinted at this being a time trial instead.
All thorns that had lodged onto him during this time period would flow into his body as spirit power.
Chu Feng felt himself gaining tremendous strength, reaching a terrifying level within a matter of moments. By comparing it against the Demon Spirit King’s oppressive might, he estimated his current strength to be around rank eight or rank nine Half-God level.
However, this didn’t mean that Chu Feng’s strength had actually grown. This growth was nothing more than a temporary boost from the thorns’ spirit power.
He still couldn’t use weapons and martial skills beyond his current level, and he was unable to further raise his fighting prowess through external means such as the Lightning Mark and the Four Symbols Divine Power either.
Weng!
Chu Feng was teleported out of the spatial tunnel into a deep cavern. In front of him stood Tao Wu and Old Cat.
It was the exact same position they had stood right as they entered the spirit formation gate.
“Shit! I didn’t think that would be the case. How could I have made such a grievous mistake?” Old Cat lamented woefully.
There wasn’t a significant change in Old Cat’s aura, suggesting that he hadn’t gotten many thorns lodged onto him. It probably only realized the true nature of the trial at the final moment.
“Old Cat, why isn’t there much of a change in your strength? Was the pain too much for you to bear?” Tao Wu asked with a smile.
“Haa! Don’t even talk about it. Holy! Brother Chu Feng, your aura! Is that peak Half-God level?” Old Cat asked Chu Feng with eyes widened in astonishment.
“You’re incredible, young brother Chu Feng. I only managed to raise my strength to rank eight Half-God level, but you’re actually able to outdo me.”
Tao Wu looked at Chu Feng in surprise.
“I was lucky,” Chu Feng replied with a smile.
“Brother Chu Feng, did you bear with the pain because you saw through the nature of the trial?” Old Cat asked.
“I only wanted to clear the trial as soon as possible, so I charged forward as fast as I could. I also didn’t think that the thorns would morph into spirit power that we can utilize. I guess you can think of it as a blessing in disguise,” Chu Feng replied.
“Are you a pervert? How did you bear with that pain! Damn, just how many thorns did you get lodged onto yourself for your strength to rise all the way to peak Half-God level? Do you… feel no pain at all?” Old Cat asked in disbelief
Tao Wu also looked at Chu Feng admiringly.
Boom!
A series of loud rumbles suddenly echoed, and a terrifying surge of energy suddenly rippled out from the depths of the cavern. It was so powerful that not even Tao Wu was able to fend against it.
Without any hesitation, Chu Feng stood in front of them and unleashed the spirit power he had gained earlier. He was able to stand his ground against the energy ripple and block it off.
Boom!
However, this was only just the start.
More and more energy ripples came in their direction, but it was fortunate that Chu Feng had gained strength comparable to a peak Half-God level cultivator in the earlier trial. Otherwise, the three of them would have been dead by now.
“What’s going on? Is it the other three?”
Old Cat patted his chest in fear. He knew that they would have been dead if not for Chu Feng stepping in front of them.
“I sense the auras of the Demon Spirit King and Daoist Ninth Dragon. There’s one more person with them… That’s probably Daoist Eighth Dragon, right?” Chu Feng asked.
“They’re fighting each other? They must have stumbled upon a treasure. Let’s head over to take a look,” Tao Wu said.
Chu Feng began pushing against the energy ripples to advance forward.
Soon enough, he spotted the Demon Spirit King’s silhouette. There were two other wrinkly elders dressed in a daoist robe together with him.
One of these elders had a mixture of black and white hair and mustache, and the spirit power he emanated was comparable to that of a rank eight Half-God level cultivator. He was likely to be Daoist Ninth Dragon.
The other elder had snowy-white hair, and the spirit power he emanated was comparable to a rank nine Half-God level cultivator. He was likely to be Daoist Eighth Dragon.
Daoist Eighth Dragon was the one crossing blows with the Demon Spirit King. Daoist Ninth Dragon was unable to directly participate in the battle due to his limited strength, so he employed formations to enhance Daoist Eighth Dragon’s fighting prowess instead.
The fight between the three of them was extremely intense, especially now that Chu Feng was witnessing it close-up. This wasn’t just a simple spar but a life-and-death battle.
“Are they fighting for that?”
Chu Feng quickly noticed a gate located at the edge of the cavern. The gate was covered in runes that clearly contained some sort of mysticism behind them. Anyone who managed to decipher those runes would likely be able to obtain something.
Other than that, there was nothing else noteworthy in the cavern.
Chu Feng guessed that the three of them had turned against each other over the runes on the gate.