Chương 315: Essense stone

Long Feng was unconscious, so he had no idea that he was currently rolling down the tunnel leading to the rumored nest of the earth dwellers. If he did know, he would probably want to cry but lack the tears to do so. His body smashed into numerous emerging rocks as he rolled downwards at an increasingly fast speed, causing much injuries to his body. At the same time, the situation in his body was strange. The hundreds of earth dwellers had rapidly devoured the energy of the Imperial crystal.

In the few minutes that passed, half of the energy was devoured. This caused a change in Long Feng's situation. Originally, the energy was far too powerful and too much for him to withstand. His body was slowly falling apart from the inside. But now, with half of the energy suddenly gone, the speed of circulation increased drastically. The remaining energy was rapidly refined and deposited into Long Feng's Dantian before the earth dwellers could consume it all.

Even just this half caused Long Feng's energy to begin to boil. His spirit cyclone slowed it's rotation as it began to turn the sudden gush of energy into Long Feng's cultivation. His aura silently rose as this went on. But while he had dealt with the issue of the Imperial crystal's energy, he now faced an even greater danger. The earth dwellers themselves. Hundreds of earth dwellers were enough to suck an early stage deity clean of their cultivation.

With the huge energy of the Imperial crystal suddenly gone, the earth dwellers followed their greatest instincts; to rush towards Long Feng's Dantian! Long Feng's consciousness was slowly beginning to return. The excruciating pain caused by his meridians tearing apart and his body collapsing was suddenly gone. With his will power, he naturally began to reawaken instantly. But the moment he regained consciousness, his eyes widened as his foggy mind cleared forcefully.

The first thing he noticed was his free falling body, already battered. A new wave of pain began to assault him due to the injuries on his body from bashing through an unknown number of rocks. If not for him slightly stronger body, his body might've not held on for so long. And that wasn't even the biggest threat. How throat went dry as he sensed tens of ghastly auras inside his body. They were so much that his innards were basically a glossy black color. Earth dwellers! And so many of them!

He woke up slightly too late. Many of them had already flew right into his Dantian. And even if he was awake, he couldn't do anything. From the moment they entered his body, his fate was practically sealed. A few earth dwellers were able to kill even a rank seven Imperial realm youth... Long Feng's mind turned cold as he realized that he couldn't do anything. His energy was in a state of turbulence, his meridians and internal organs were in a very bad shape and his body itself was covered in injuries.

Forget doing anything, he couldn't even move energy through his veins to stop his fall without tearing apart his already fragile meridians. He felt the air blowing at his face as he fell, unable to slow his fall just yet. Moreover, the earth dwellers had already rushed into his Dantian and were frantically speeding towards the large spirit cyclone in his Dantian. To Long Feng's dismay, the three dragons didn't react at all.

Once the earth dwellers entered his revolving cyclone, then he would face the same excruciating end he dreaded.

"Damn it! Damn it!" He cursed twice, feeling helpless. Without hesitation, he reached into his void ring and pulled out two Imperial crystals.

"I'm crazy..." he murmured. But there was no time to hesitate or think about it. He crushed the two crystals and absorbed the frightening energy contained within them in one go. Long Feng's entire body shook and it seemed like even his soul shivered. It was as though a hammer was smashed into his head. Crimson blood flowed out of the corner of his mouth and his nostrils. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

The skin on his two arms immediately tore open at several places as a savage energy passed through them. His veins and meridians were like dry twigs, they stretched to their limits and small tears appeared on them, causing a great deal of pain to Long Feng. He had to forcefully bite his tongue to keep himself conscious. In a normal situation, two Imperial crystals would've killed him without doubt. Hell, a single Imperial crystal put him on the brink of death. But this wasn't a normal situation.

The earth dwellers were a species that were inexplicably drawn to great energies. The energy contained within two Imperial crystals wasn't something his own spirit cyclone could compare to. The hundreds of earth dwellers seemed to have lost their minds. Piercing shrieks left their wide mouths as they completely ignored the spirit cyclone before them and left the Dantian. To them, the two Imperial crystal's energy in Long Feng's body was akin to the most fabulous meal possible.

His spirit energy in his Dantian might as well be mud. Before the energy could deal irreparable damage to Long Feng's body, they began to devour it. Within a few seconds, they halved the great energy with their rapid absorption. Long Feng silently heaved a sigh of relief, but he couldn't relax just yet. Once the earth dwellers finished with the Imperial crystals, which wouldn't take long, they would return for his own cultivation. There was little time to think.

He took out another two Imperial crystals and crushed them, absorbing everything at once. Right now, this suicidal act was keeping him alive and giving him some time to figure out another way. But he wouldn't be able to keep it up much longer.

"My body can't take more! I need to do something else!" Long Feng thought dryly. His body being able to handle so much without collapsing was a miracle. It was only possible due to his slight achievement in the body tempering path.. But there was ultimately a limit to what he could withstand. A few more Imperial crystals and he would die without the earth dwellers having to do a thing. Looking at the situation in his body, his expression changed slightly.

The earth dwellers were getting stronger the more energy they absorbed. Their devouring speed had increased drastically. Lacking tears to shed, long Feng quickly shattered two more Imperial crystals, then another two. The overwhelming flood of energy caused him to cough up blood. His heart skipped a beat and he blacked out for a few seconds before he recovered. By now, his two arms were barely more than bones. They were bloody and the bones were actually visible in many places.

His body was nearing it's absolute limit. Absorbing none Imperial crystals as a spirit realm warrior and still be alive was a feat very few could ever boast. If he absorbed four more Imperial crystals, then he was dead. The more he realized how dire the situation is, the more he forced himself to calm down and focus. He couldn't afford to panic too much now.

"An Imperial crystal has more powerful energy than my Dantian does. If I shatter it outside my body and don't absorb the energy, will the earth dwellers be drawn out?" He rapidly thought. This idea had some flaws. An Imperial crystal outside his body wasn't as tempting as his Dantian's energy. Otherwise the earth dwellers would've absorbed the Imperial crystals all around the cave back then instead of attacking the disciples and even the miners. It simply wouldn't be enough to draw them out.

At least, they would clear his Dantian of energy before deciding to find a better meal.

"An Imperial crystal won't be enough. I need something with much greater energy than an Imperial crystal..." He had something that fit that description perfectly, but...

"I can't absorb even a tiny strand of it's energy, otherwise I'd die instantly. An essence stone contains true essence, a strand of which can kill weak Imperials. I absolutely won't survive it." He was rapidly running out of options and the earth dwellers were almost done absorbing everything in his body. He would never be able to get them out using ordinary means. A low grade essence stone was more than enough to draw them out. They would literally kill each other to rush out.

But that was a much greater risk than anything else so far. Even if Long Feng had thrice his courage, he still wouldn't think to absorb an essence stone with his current cultivation. That would be signing his own death and sealing it.

"No time to think. Shatter the stone and not absorb anything. That has to work!" Long Feng thought with hopeful determination. He was still falling towards what could possibly be the earth dwellers' nest. Heaven knew how many earth dwellers would be there. Imagining thousands of earth dwellers caused his hairs to rise. No longer hesitating, he pulled out a single low grade essence stone and held it tightly. The stone was completely ordinary in appearance and emanated no aura at all.

Looking at it, oke would find it hard to believe that this stone contained some true essence, something that dwarfed imperial energy. For an Imperial realm master to absorb an essence stone, they would need to first spend time to refine it and tame it's divine energy before they began, which could take up to several days. Long Feng didn't have that luxury. He focused his thoughts and clenched his fist, shattering the essence stone in his grasp. A massive burst of energy exploded.

This energy was beyond anything an imperial realm master could possess. It wasn't nearly as much as the energy in an Imperial crystal, but it's power was mind blowing. The tunnel walls around caved inwards and Long Feng wasn't soared. It slammed his body downward at a terrifying speed, shattering several rocks head on and causing horrifying injuries to appear on his body. His right arm which shattered the essence stone was nothing but bones right now.

Even with Long Feng's preparations, he had still underestimated the gravity of what he was doing. The shockwave alone could have killed him on the spot if he wasn't falling, causing him to out speed it slightly. Even then, some of the energy had rushed into his arm. It was tiny, barely considered a full strand of energy, but... Long Feng's eyes turned pure white as he coughed up several mouthfuls of blood.

His chest caved in from an indescribable pressure that could only belong to a deity, or more specifically, a deity's essence. The earth dwellers all shivered in his body as they sensed the appearance of a vastly powerful energy outside. Compared to this energy, forget nine Imperial crystals. Even a thousand Imperial crystals might as well be trash.

They ignored the remainder of the Imperial energy in Long Feng's body, ignored the powerful strand of essence rushing towards his Dantian and rushed straight out of his body, their crimson eyes revealing pure madness. The hundreds of earth dwellers appeared like a dense black smoke flowing out of Long Feng's body and soaring upwards towards the slowly dispersing essence energy. Within seconds, Long Feng's body was deserted. Not a single earth dweller remained.

But Long Feng himself wasn't able to smile at this moment. His luck could really be considered as pitiful. He had barely survived the earth dwellers and he was now facing an even greater danger. Wherever the strand of essence passed through, the bones cracked, the organs tore open and the meridians broke apart like dey twigs. The word 'tyrannical' was the best to describe this strand of essence. Long Feng's body was slowly collapsing on itself at this point.

That was just how powerful a single strand of essence was. The essence shattered everything in it's way with a single destination; Long Feng's Dantian. And try as he may, he was unable to do anything at all. If he wanted to control this strand of essence, he would need to circulate it over a hundred times, considering he stayed alive past the first two. Only then could he send it into his Dantian l. Right now... It broke through all his resistance and entered his Dantian.

Much of the pressure on Long Feng's body instantly vanished. His Dantian was like a separate world on it's own, able to isolate anything. Unfortunately, he had exactly zero control over that. The essence rushed straight towards the center of his cultivation; the spirit cyclone. Flowing behind it was the remaining Imperial energy which the earth dwellers abandoned. It followed behind the essence and entered his Dantian. Time seemed to move slowly as Long Feng watched this, unable to do anything.

Finally, the essence crashed into the revolving cyclone. Long Feng's mind shattered like glass. His face turned white as paper and he coughed up another few mouthful of blood. More blood flowed out of his other six facial apertures. He wasn't even able to see the result, instantly lost consciousness once again.