"Father, Master, all of you elders, my brothers and sisters — it's been a while. Is everyone doing well?"
Suddenly, Chu Feng's voice boomed out, several times more piercing than thunder, spreading outward in all directions.
Not only were the ordinary people without cultivation startled, but even those above the volcano who were immersed in their cultivation were jolted awake by Chu Feng's voice.
The sudden sound sent a jolt of tension through many people's nerves.
After all, this place had rules — shouting loudly and disturbing others' cultivation was forbidden, and anyone who dared break that rule would be permanently expelled from the area.
Now that someone had bellowed like this and woken everyone present, people instinctively felt that this person was finished.
In an instant, gloating gazes all turned in Chu Feng's direction.
People wanted to see which hapless fool — too reckless for their own good — was about to be driven from this sacred cultivation ground.
"That's...?"
However, the moment people's eyes fell upon Chu Feng, many of those gazes immediately turned scorching with excitement.
The very next moment, figures soared toward Chu Feng from both the sky and the ground simultaneously.
One familiar face after another appeared around Chu Feng.
Chu Feng's adoptive father, Chu Yuan. His cousin, Chu Yue. His sworn brother, Chu Guyu.
The Azure Dragon Sect's ancestor, Dragon Daoist. The former Sect Master, Li Changqing. Chu Feng's Master, Zhuge Liuyun. And Chu Feng's sworn elder brother, the Demon Monkey King.
There were also Qiu Canfeng, Huangfu Haoyue, Dugu Xingfeng, Bai Ruochen, Chantai Xue, and many more — people so familiar to Chu Feng that they couldn't possibly be more so. They all appeared around him, each one brimming with excitement, surrounding him so tightly that not a drop of water could pass through.
"Feng'er, is it really you? Am I seeing things? You've come back?"
"It's him, no mistake — that's Chu Feng! Ha ha, Chu Feng, you actually came back!"
"My brother! You went to the Outer Expanse and yet you still bothered to come back and see your Monkey Bro? Is the Outer Expanse treating you well?"
"Chu Feng, how did you come back?"
In that moment, all manner of voices rang out continuously — concern, questions, but most of all, astonishment.
Chu Feng's return this time had truly given them a pleasant surprise.
And at the same time, everyone heard Chu Feng's name. Those who had been cultivating all stopped. Those who had been resting likewise ceased.
Vast crowds of people, packed dense as locusts — a dark, massive swarm blanketing the sky and earth — all surged toward Chu Feng.
The excitement on their faces was as if every last one of them knew Chu Feng personally.
And they did, of course they did. Chu Feng had once saved the entire Martial Holy Land.
And only a scant few years had passed since then. How could people not recognize him?
He was the great hero who had saved the Martial Holy Land.
One could even say — without exaggeration — that Chu Feng was the benefactor of every person present.
He had genuinely saved all of their lives.
It was precisely because of this that people were so excited.
People even unanimously decided to pause their cultivation and set up a grand banquet to celebrate Chu Feng's return.
The banquet was organized on the spot, and hundreds of millions came together to attend this grand celebration.
Beside the volcano, beneath the boundless sky, across the vast expanse of land — firelight blazed, banquets overflowed, and people filled every corner.