“By the way, Senior Iceform, I hear that you and Senior Heavensfire have known each other since your younger days. More, in the beginning, the relationship between you two was not good and you two would often get into fights. How did you two end up becoming friends?” Chen Feng asked with a chuckle.

“Err.” Divine Prince Iceform’s face took on a somewhat awkward look.

“Ha ha, this is a somewhat complicated matter. It is quite a long story. You should go ask Heavensfire,” Divine Prince Iceform replied with a laugh.

“Very well.” Chen Feng nodded. He could not see that Longevity Edge, who was behind him, was slowly stretching his palm out. On his palm was a talisman.

Meanwhile, the face of Divine Prince Iceform, who was still chatting with Chen Feng, began taking on a somewhat odd look.

Shua!

Longevity Edge swiftly swung and the talisman in his palm was pasted onto Chen Feng’s back.

After that, a smile appeared on the faces of Longevity Edge and Divine Prince Iceform. But before the smile could pass, Chen Feng had disappeared.

Sword light flashed and Longevity Edge’s hand was severed. Then, Chen Feng appeared behind Longevity Edge, his hand plunging into Longevity Edge’s body.

A look of disbelief was etched on Longevity Edge’s face. Following that, his body wriggled to transform into the shape of a Slaughterer. Again, it was one of the Slaughterers that Chen Feng encountered previously.

As for Divine Prince Iceform, his figure slowly faded away.

“How did you find out?” the Slaughterer laboured to ask. By then, the Slaughterer was completely under Chen Feng’s thumb. The power within its body was continuously flowing into Chen Feng’s body.

“Your illusion technique is very strong. Back then, you truly did manage to trick me. However, you should not have used Longevity Edge for your illusion. In truth, there was no flaw in your illusion technique. But do not forget, Longevity Edge and I are biological brothers. The connection between our genes is not something that you can easily conjure,” Chen Feng said.

“But all those were made by reading your thoughts.” The Slaughterer was still unable to accept what was happening.

“Yes. This move of yours is truly formidable. You read my thoughts and could conjure up whatever I am thinking. That is why I was only suspicious of you. I could not be certain. That said, I did encounter a number of incidents before this. That’s why I became somewhat vigilant and began asking some questions,” Chen Feng said with a smile.

“Questions. Those questions back then?”

“Yes. Even I do not know the answer to those questions. How could you answer them? As expected, you became hesitant and faltered. Moreover, you also made another mistake. Divine Prince Iceform,” Chen Feng said.

“Divine Prince Iceform? I conjured him up according to your memories.” By then, the Slaughterer was already weakened to the extreme. If it weren’t for the fact that its soul power was strong enough, Chen Feng would have finished devouring him long ago.

Upon hearing that, Chen Feng laughed.

“In truth, I didn’t see anyone at all. I simply mentioned Divine Prince Iceform’s name and you fell for it, conjuring him out. Another thing. This chase to catch up to my Big Brother, Divine Prince Iceform did not come. Due to that, I became 100% certain that there is something wrong with you. While you were trying to attack me, I have also been keeping constant tabs on you. As expected, you attacked me in the end.” After that, Chen Feng pulled his hand out and the Slaughterer crumbled into dregs. Chen Feng had drained away all of its essence power.

This Slaughterer’s combat power was not particularly formidable. However, its illusion techniques were formidable. Correspondingly, the quality of its soul was also very high. After devouring the other party’s power, the biggest harvest that Chen Feng managed to gain from the Slaughterer was an increase in his soul power. The increase in other attributes, though, was not high enough to warrant Chen Feng’s attention.

Boom!

Chen Feng’s soul flame began burning violently. The soul power he absorbed had exceeded his imagination. Although the amount of soul power was not that great, its grade was too high. And so, Chen Feng’s soul flame began growing stronger and stronger.

After refining all the soul power, Chen Feng’s soul flame finally managed to recover to its full strength. It had managed to replenish all the losses it sustained in the past. In addition, its quality had also risen by a notch.

Strands of silvery-white light shone from within the grey-coloured soul flame before turning grey in colour as well.

Phew! I managed to obtain a lot this time. That said, while I was able to deal with the illusion-type Slaughterer, others might not. If the Slaughterer army has a group of such Slaughterers, wouldn’t they be terribly difficult to deal with?Chen Feng mumbled to himself.

“Little Brother!” It was then that Longevity Edge and Divine Prince Dark Soul arrived. Together, they approached Chen Feng.

“You’ve come.” Chen Feng smiled. He did not suspect them. He had devoured the illusion-type Slaughterer’s soul power, causing his own soul power to increase. At the same time, he had also obtained the Slaughterer’s ability to conjure illusions. He could also discern truth from falsehoods. In other words, even if another illusion-type Slaughterer were to appear, Chen Feng would not fall for its illusions.

“Are you alright?” Longevity Edge cast a puzzled look at Chen Feng. He could see that Chen Feng had just gone through a fight.

“Just now…” Chen Feng then informed them about what happened earlier.

After hearing from Chen Feng what happened earlier, the faces of both Longevity Edge and Divine Prince Dark Soul became solemn. Although Chen Feng was not an Ageless Gold Immortal, his combat power was already comparable to that of a Divine Prince. But even someone like Chen Feng had fallen prey to the illusion technique and was almost incapable of breaking free. Should the other Gold Immortals encounter this situation, would they not fall in battle?

“While they are quite tricky, I believe that this type of Slaughterer should be limited. If it weren’t for that, they would not have waited this long to appear,” Longevity Edge said after a moment’s consideration.

“That would be the best-case scenario. Hopefully, that is indeed the case. Now, let’s hurry up and head back. Since Tower said that, Big Brother should be fine. What’s important now is to stabilize the situation. The Immortal Plane, Soulgobbling Clan, Holy Light Clan had lost so many men. The way I see it, they will not let this slide,” Chen Feng said.

“Yes. We’ll need to look into this in detail.” Longevity Edge nodded.

On the way back, they met up with the other Divine Princes. And so, they quickly returned to the 1^st stronghold. There, the soldiers from the Boundless Corps who were not injured were busy treating the wounded and setting up defensive measures. Some of the Gold Immortals were also helping to repair the magic arrays.

By then, most of the cultivators who came to watch the show had left. As for those who remained, a portion of them had their own reasons for staying. As for the rest, they were here because they were concerned about the Celestial Longevity Plane. They stayed behind in order to help the Boundless Corps face whatever might happen next.

After Chen Feng returned to the 1^st stronghold, Divine Prince Iceform and the others quickly appeared. In addition, there were also the two Palace-guarding Divine Monarchs from the Longevity Palace.

While the number of men from the Longevity Palace was not high, the appearance of the two Palace-guarding Divine Monarchs had revealed the Longevity Palace’s stance.

There were also some members from the imperial family there. Naturally, regardless of which group or force it may be, it was very difficult for them to be wholly united. That was especially so in regards to a large force like the Department of Elders and the imperial family. The Department of Elders was mostly made up of Divine Princes and its members did not have a particularly deep connection with one another. In truth, it was simply a temporary cooperation, made for the sake of a common objective. This was also why only a portion of the Divine Princes from the Department of Elders chose to take action against Chen Feng.

As for the imperial family, it was even more complicated. The reason these people were given the title imperial family members was because they represented those with the purest genes amongst the Longevity Clan. They had the most ancient and direct lineage. In terms of cultivation talent, those from the imperial family possessed advantages that others simply could not match.

The Boundless Family was a branch with the purest genes amongst the imperial family. When it came to internal strife, however, there were likely none who could compare with the imperial family. That said, for the sake of interests, some imperial family members may choose to stand against the Boundless Family. But there were also those who choose to stand with the Boundless Family.

The ones who stayed behind were mostly those who supported the Boundless Family.

“Fellow seniors, I won’t be standing on ceremony now. Let’s find a quiet place. I believe there are a number of important things that we have to discuss,” Chen Feng said.

None of them would accuse Chen Feng of conceit. As Chen Feng had displayed his strength, the Divine Princes and even the Divine Monarchs treated him as someone with a high position.

At any rate, someone who could easily bring out hundreds of Gold Immortals was a force that could not be ignored, not even in the Celestial Planes. To be blunt about it, he could already become an overlord of a certain region.

The number of men participating in the meeting reached 50. They were gathered within the 1^st stronghold’s war room. After everyone had arrived, Chen Feng informed them about his encounter with the illusion-type Slaughterer. Then, he continued, “My conclusion is this. This type of Slaughter is very difficult to handle. Even the average Divine Prince would have a hard time breaking free. Right now, my hope is that there aren’t too many of these Slaughterers.”

“Illusion-type Slaughterers!” The one who spoke up first was a Divine Prince from the imperial family. He had the appearance of a middle-aged man and a somewhat solemn expression on his face. The azure-blue robes he wore was filled with various runes.

“Senior Worldseal, do you have any opinions on this? Please tell us.” Chen Feng did not recognize him, but Longevity Edge did.

This cultivator, Divine Prince Worldseal, cultivated dimension and sealing techniques. He was a member of the imperial family who would rarely involve himself in internal fights. Everything he did was for the good of the Celestial Longevity Plane. Normally, he would spend his time exploring outer space. This time, though, upon receiving news that the Boundless Corps had come under attack, he rushed back home.

“Before this, I have been spending all my time adventuring in outer space. Thus, I had fought against the Slaughterers many times. Only, I have not encountered these illusion-type Slaughterers before. That said, there are some very unique types of Slaughterers. In addition to the Sword Demons, Blade Monarchs and Space-time Slaughterers, there are some other types of Slaughterers that are even harder to handle. I had once encountered a Slaughterer covered with tentacles. The Slaughterer’s offensive power was very strong. It could also devour the blood essence of cultivators, just like the Heavengulping Absorption Technique of our Longevity Clan. The Slaughterer accompanying the tentacle Slaughterer was a soul-devouring Slaughterer. Its soul power was very strong, capable of devouring the soul power of others for its own use.

“Other than those two, there is also another type of Slaughterer capable of snatching bodies. They are like the Soul Lodge Clan members. The cultivators who had their bodies snatched would become the Slaughterer’s clones. However, these special Slaughterers are low in numbers. The majority of the Slaughterers are those who only know how to slaughter,” Divine Prince Worldseal slowly said.

“Divine Prince Worldseal is correct. I had left the Celestial Longevity Plane for over 200 million years and established some territories in other star regions. Recently, I have been engaged in several large-scale wars against the Slaughterers, but the Immortal Plane also participated in the wars. Originally, I had returned to request for reinforcements. But now, it would appear that our Celestial Plane is facing troubles of its own as well.” This person was Divine Prince Ocean Heaven, also a veteran Gold Immortal.

Note: I'm taking a 3-day break. Be back on Sunday-ish.