"Chu Feng, to be honest, the reason we came here this time was indeed to rescue Kong Sheng."
"But a situation like this doesn't require our Grand Elder to personally step in."
"Had we not heard that you were here, our Grand Elder wouldn't have come at all."
"And the reason he came isn't to deal with that so-called monster — he actually wants to invite you to visit our Kong Heavenly Clan as an honored guest."
"So we hope that Young Friend Chu Feng can set aside past grievances and give our Kong Heavenly Clan some face."
"That's right, Young Friend Chu Feng. Our Grand Elder rarely extends invitations to anyone. You really should accept this gesture of respect."
At that moment, the experts of the Kong Heavenly Clan also spoke up one after another, addressing Chu Feng with pleasant and conciliatory words.
"Young Friend Chu Feng, we were in the wrong before. We hope you'll be magnanimous and not hold it against us."
Not only that — even those who had clashed with Chu Feng and the others back at the Eight Desolations Mass Grave were present. They stepped forward on their own initiative, offering apologies and courtesies to Chu Feng. It was clear that the Kong Heavenly Clan had come thoroughly prepared to win Chu Feng and his companions over.
"Kong Sheng, Kong Zheng! Young Friend Chu Feng is an honored guest of our Chu Heavenly Clan. You offended him greatly before — why aren't you apologizing and making amends at once?!" someone barked at the two.
…
At that moment, Kong Sheng and Kong Zheng exchanged glances.
Neither of them was stupid. They could see that the clan was genuinely trying to win over Chu Feng and his group. And they absolutely could not become obstacles in that effort.
Even though apologizing to the three of them was, truthfully, a blow to their pride.
But everyone had pride. If even those senior experts — the Grand Elder himself — had offered apologies to Chu Feng, then what was their pitiful pride worth?
"Chu Feng, Zhao Hong, Wang Qiang — before this, we truly had no idea about the things you'd accomplished."
"But now that we know, we brothers genuinely admire you. As juniors, you've truly brought honor to us all."
"We won't say any more nonsense. Please accept our bow."
Having made up their minds, Kong Sheng and Kong Zheng bowed together to Chu Feng and the other two.
"I didn't expect you two to still… sti… still have some sincerity. Since that's the case, brother, why don't we go take a stroll at the Kong Heavenly Clan?" Wang Qiang said to Chu Feng.
"Chu Feng, go. Nothing ventured, nothing gained," the Queen's voice also sounded in Chu Feng's ear.
By this point, Chu Feng had already considered the situation carefully. If the Kong Heavenly Clan truly wanted to deal with them, they could simply attack right now — there was no need to go to all this trouble.
So in Chu Feng's view, while going to the Kong Heavenly Clan did carry danger, the likelihood of something truly dire happening was relatively small.
Then again, even if their invitation truly was some sort of scheme, Chu Feng still had the Evil God Sword in hand. That would give him enough leverage to hold his own.
In short, even if he did encounter danger at the Kong Heavenly Clan, the level of that danger wouldn't be much different from what he was facing right now against all these experts.
Most importantly, Chu Feng was eager to break through in his cultivation. And if he wanted to claim that treasure, sooner or later he would have to go to the Kong Heavenly Clan.
If he refused the Kong Heavenly Clan's invitation now, it would likely leave them thoroughly displeased. At that point, the grudge would be set in stone, and going there in the future would be harder than ascending to the heavens.
Rather than being too stubborn to recognize a good opportunity, it was better to use this chance to resolve the enmity.
Just as the Queen had said — nothing ventured, nothing gained. The risk was one that had to be taken.