Chương 314: Absorbing an Imperial crystal

"This is crazy..." Long Feng muttered as he stared at the fist sized glowing crystal in his palm. Which spirit realm warrior dared to think about absorbing an Imperial crystal? That was suicide for ninety percent of them.

"I hope I'm not wrong." Long Feng sighed. If Yan Jian or Li Yue'er or Hua Liuli we're here, they would definitely try to stop him. They would say he was making a reckless decision. But now, he had to make this decision, reckless or not if he wanted to meet them all again. And this was just the beginning. He would be making many more reckless decisions soon. Closing his eyes, Long Feng cleared his mind and raised his senses to their peak.

He closed his palm around the crystal and clenched his other around, holding the crystal tightly in his two hands, then he took a deep breath. Slowly, he drew out the energy of the Imperial crystal. Extremely powerful Imperial energy flowed out of the crystal in an unending stream and rushed into his two arms. A sharp pain filled Long Feng's arms as he felt like ten thousand ants were gnawing at his flesh trying to devour the arms. The veins instantly bulged out and some of them instantly burst apart.

The flesh on his arm tore open in some places, causing dark blood to flow. Luckily, he had chosen a remote area in the cave to do this, so no one could see what was going on. Long Feng gritted his teeth and endured the pain. This was just the pain from the energy passing through his arms. He still had to take the energy to circulate through his entire body... His meridians stretched to their limits and burst apart sometimes as the energy flowed.

This caused some of the energy to leak into his flesh and bones, doubling the pain he was undergoing. He couldn't stop now. He was only just beginning. He steeled his nerves and drew the overbearing energy to begin a slow and excruciating circulation. The pain that assaulted him couldn't be described with words. He blacked out for a few seconds before the pain forced him to regain consciousness. The energy was extremely powerful, surpassing what his body could bear.

It tore apart his veins and acupoints wherever it passed, leaving destruction in it's path. Long Feng's face turned white and he nearly shattered his teeth from gritting them too much. At this point, he nearly couldn't stop himself from screaming out but he sealed his mouth. No one could know what was going on, which meant he couldn't even breath too loudly! But that was undoubtedly even more torture. His heartbeat slowed down to a scratch.

The pain caused him to black out a few times and still brought him back awake. The feeling was like having numerous ants and insects crawling through the body, tearing apart the meridians. It was indescribably painful. Long Feng's robes were soaked in blood and sweat within minutes. It was as though he had just walked out of a pool. After several hours, Long Feng finally barely completed a single circulation; something that usually took him minutes. This single circulation had obvious effects.

He felt a slight relief from the pain as he began to gain slight control over this wild energy. But a single circulation wasn't enough. He ardously began the second circulation, slightly faster than the first but not by much. The pain had lessened and his body had actually gotten used to it to some extent, but even then, Long Feng couldn't help but regret making this choice. His veins were bulging all over his body, even on his palms and head, evident of how much pressure and pain he was going through.

He had to bite his lips hard enough to draw blood before he was able to prevent himself from screaming. The sweat continued to pour like rain as he finally completed the second circulation after a few hours again. The relief was barely noticeable but still there. The third circulation took slightly shorter and was less painful. But at this rate, he would lose his life before he succeeded. Fourth... fifth... sixth circulations!

If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it. The energy was far too wild, which meant he needed to circulate it several times until he gained full control over it before he could send it to his Dantian, otherwise he would risk destroying the new spirit cyclone he had struggled to create. The seventh circulation was complete! Long Feng had long since lost track of time.

In fact, under this excruciating pain, he had lost track of everything even his thoughts and caution. By now, two full days had silently passed. Everyone were preparing to face the wary dwellers again at any moment. At the same time, Long Feng had already fully lost consciousness. He was relying on sheer willpower to keep circulating the energy while holding on to life. Even after all this while, he wasn't making much progress.

He had underestimated the difficulty of absorbing an Imperial crystal as a spirit realm warrior. His meridians were unrecognizable and his vital organs were beginning to tear under the pressure. At this rate, he would definitely lose his life. And he was unconscious, which meant his death was almost signed and sealed. Seconds turned to minutes and minutes to hours. As Long Feng was unconscious, noises began to echo from the pitch black tunnel at the far end of the cave! Everyone instantly went on high alert.

The miners rushed to the entrance while the disciples rose to their feet and drew out their weapons, preparing to face the earth dwellers. Then they noticed Long Feng's absence. Over the past few days, his strength had shocked everyone and they began to see him in a new light. He usually killed vene more earth dwellers than rank six Imperials did. He was quite important to their little group. Looking around, they found him seated nearby. But his condition astounded them.

He was drenched in blood and sweat and they could all sense that his internal organs were a mess. How he was alive was a mystery in and of itself. Then they spotted the dim Imperial crystal which he held loosely in his hands and they all realized what happened.

"What was he thinking? To actually absorb an Imperial crystal with a rank seven spirit realm cultivation?" One of the two rank eight Imperials frowned.

"He must've been shaken by the deaths and decided to raise his cultivation quickly. But this... if foolish." The other rank eight Imperial replied.

"He's barely hanging on to life. His meridians are nearly crippled, his body is in a bad situation. I don't think he'll recover without a very high quality healing pill."

"I'm surprised that he didn't explode directly. But unfortunately, he's going to die anyways. What a shame."

"We still have the incoming earth dwellers to deal with. Since he made this foolish decision, then he's on his own. Get ready to fight!" Ren Hua stared at Long Feng with quivering eyebrows, shocked at Long Feng's courage. At the end, he sighed softly.

"Ah. It's so unfortunate. Why would you make such a foolish decision?" He frowned slightly.

"Try to stay alive for a while. Once we push the earth dwellers back, I'll take you out. I'm sure the warden wouldn't refuse to let you go. As for if you'll survive..." he paused and sighed again. He honestly didn't think Long Feng would survive this. It was called Imperial crystal for a reason. Long Feng was lucky to have not exploded to pieces already. Ren Hua quickly turned around and joined the others to face the earth dwellers. The earth dwellers soon rushed out, attacking the disciples.

The six youths teamed up and tried to hold them at bay to protect the miners and Long Feng behind them. But their expressions soon changed.

"What's going on?!"

"They're nearly five times the usual numbers! And they're attacking crazily!"

"Hold! Don't let them through!" Unfortunately, just the six of them weren't enough to stop the hundreds of crazy earth dwellers. Some of them rushed past the youths and charged behind them. The youths all exclaimed helplessly. Over a dozen earth dwellers had rushed behind them... the miners would all lose their lives and they would be punished for failing their mission! But after a few seconds, they expressions changed again. Instead of attacking the miners, the earth dwellers didn't even glance at them.

They all rushed towards Long Feng and gushed into his body before anyone could react. Everyone watched in shock as over a dozen earth dwellers rushed into Long Feng's body. Ren Hua's heart shook as he sighed sadly.

"He's dead..." Indeed. Even a rank nine Imperial would die if about twenty earth dwellers entered their body, not to mention a measly rank seven spirit realm warrior. He would be sucked dey within seconds. More earth dwellers frantically broke past the six youths and rushed into Long Feng's body without even glancing at the miners. They were clearly trying to enter Long Feng's body at all cost, even fighting each other for the chance.

"Why are they fighting?"

"I don't know. What I'm more interested in knowing is how he's still alive? Over thirty earth dwellers are in his damn body!" Indeed. More earth dwellers rushed into his body. He should've died ages ago. But... His complexion was actually getting better!

"I don't believe this. What's going on?" Gui Wu asked in disbelief. One of the two rank eight Imperials stared at Long Feng with a pondering look before smiling faintly.

"I understand..." everyone turned to look at him, waiting for his explanation. He cleared his throat and continued, "this kid previously overestimated himself and absorbed an Imperial crystal. For a mere spirit realm warrior, that is a death wish. He should've already died. I don't know how, but he actually somehow managed to fully absorb the imperial energy into his body. Unfortunately for him, he wasn't able to refine the energy so he was slowly losing his life anyway." He paused and smiled slowly.

"The energy is stored in his body. That's what is causing the earth dwellers to be crazy. Unlike him, all our energies are in our Dantian, so they can't sense much of it. To them, he is a very delicious treat. Right now, they're helping him to devour the energy in his body, which is why he appears to be getting better. But... that's temporary. Once their done with the Imperial crystal's energy, they would move on to his Dantian." Everyone immediately revealed looks of understanding. It actually made full sense.

It would seem that the earth dwellers were helping Long Feng to devour the energy but in reality, his fate was sealed the moment they entered his body. He was going to die no matter what he did.

"Ah. So that's how it is? What a pity for him. Now how do we deal with these earth dwellers? They're getting crazier by the minute!" The rank eight Imperial realm youth glanced at the speaker and smiled deviously.

"Why still holding them back? This is a great opportunity." Everyone looked at him again and he took his time to adjust his robes before he explained.

"Stop obstructing them. Simple." He grinned.

"Are you nuts? If we stop, all the miners are done!" His grin widened.

"You need to think more often. Right now, all they want is him. In that case, let them have him. Once they're all in his body-""Then we throw him into their tunnel!" Gui Wu completed the sentence, enlightening everyone. Ren Hua's expression changed.

"Bai Lixi! We can't do that! He's a fellow disciple! It's against the rules!" He shouted fiercely.

"Hehehe, which rules? Besides, he's already destined to die anyways. We're just making him useful one last time." The first rank eight spirit realm warrior; Bai Lixi laughed.

"I'm sure everyone feels that way." He looked around and no one refuted him. Ren Hua breathed heavily and glared at him, but before he could speak, Bai Lixi glanced at him.

"If you are against our plan, then you can join him down there. I don't care either way." Ren Hua's expression interchanged between black and green before he finally snorted and shut his mouth.

"I'm sorry Long Feng. I've done my best..." he murmured in his heart.

"Very well. If we have no objections, then what're we waiting for? If we waste time, we'll lose this chance!" Bai Lixi nodded subtly and continued. They all withdrew their energies and moved aside, allowing hundreds of earth dwellers to rush into Long Feng's body. Within seconds, there was not a single earth dweller in sight; they were all in Long Feng's body, over a hundred on them.

"Quick, throw him in!" The other rank eight Imperial shouted. They quickly moved Long Feng's body and threw him down into the dark tunnel where the earth dwellers came from. Long Feng's body rolled down and vanished completely into the darkness.

"Ah. We forgot to take his void ring. What a waste!" Bai Lixi sighed softly after that. Then he shrugged his shoulders.

"We've bought ourselves more time to recuperate. Let's not waste it!" The other rank eight Imperial shouted. At the same time, he sent a voice transmission to Bai Lixi.

"Bai Lixi, are you sure that that kid has no background?" Bai Lixi glanced at him and smiled.

"Gong Yangyu, Relax. What background could a rank seven spirit realm warrior possibly have? Your father is a warden and the head warden is my uncle!" He replied via voice transmission. Gong Yangyu frowned slightly then nodded and didn't think too much any longer. They all sat down and began to recuperate, preparing for the final week of the month.