Suddenly, a gentle breeze swept through the air. The crowd first froze, then collectively let out a sigh of relief.
The tension that had gripped them finally eased.
It turned out that the Dao Sea Fairy and the Eight Sword Immortals of the Dao Sea had all vanished.
They had left — without a word of explanation, without so much as a farewell to anyone. They had simply disappeared.
But no one found their behavior the least bit odd. This was simply the Dao Sea Fairy's way of doing things.
She was a reclusive expert by nature, never one to deliberately curry favor with anyone. On the contrary, it was countless others who sought to curry favor with her.
The Flying Flower Sect was one such party.
And the Flying Flower Sect was one of the few forces that had actually earned the Dao Sea Fairy's trust.
But that, too, sealed their fate for today.
The Dao Sea Fairy would naturally never allow someone who had deceived her to continue breathing in this world.
There were certainly plenty of wicked and crooked cultivators in the world, but the Dao Sea Fairy did not see it as her duty to purge them all. She was not someone who took it upon herself to eliminate evil and defend what was right.
However, she would absolutely not permit those around her to be wicked and crooked.
And she would never tolerate a wicked, crooked cultivator disguising themselves as a righteous faction to deceive her.
That was the reason the Flying Flower Sect was annihilated.
"Young friend Chu Feng, you really are something — you had the entire Flying Flower Sect running around in circles."
"For a junior to achieve such mastery of Spirit Formation techniques… that is truly rare."
"Young friend Chu Feng, you are indeed accomplished beyond your years, truly accomplished."
"I wonder who your master is?"
After the Dao Sea Fairy departed, those who had been berating Chu Feng just moments ago all changed their tune. Many began heaping praise on Chu Feng, though more than anything, they wanted to know which sect or school he hailed from.
But for these fair-weather fence-sitters, Chu Feng naturally had no interest in engaging.
Chu Feng first thanked Ping Fan, then bid farewell to Liu Shangwu, and after that pretended to leave the area — only to secretly make his way back into the city.
He headed straight for the lake where the mysterious expert had previously been.
Chu Feng had already obtained the treasure he needed, but that person had yet to make contact. Though the expert had said he would come find Chu Feng on his own, Chu Feng decided it was better to seek him out instead.
That person could afford to wait. Chu Feng could not.
To Chu Feng's delight, the mysterious expert was indeed still there by the lake.
He had already prepared himself for the possibility of not finding the expert, so when he actually spotted him, Chu Feng was overjoyed.
"Senior, the item you requested — this junior has obtained it."
After flying down, Chu Feng immediately produced the treasure he had received from Grandmaster Huizhi and presented it to the mysterious expert.
The mysterious expert reached out and took the item, then handed Chu Feng a scroll.
"What you are looking for is currently hiding in this very place. However, I would advise you not to go after it, because you are no match for it," the mysterious expert said.
Chu Feng unrolled the scroll and discovered it was a map.
It turned out that deep beneath the city lay a hidden world, and the celestial treasure was currently hiding within that concealed realm.
No wonder the Tracking Compass had remained locked onto this very city.
Chu Feng had been about to ask more questions, but when he looked up, the mysterious expert had already vanished.
"That was awfully fast…"
"Senior, have you truly left?"
"You promised earlier that you would protect this junior, so why did you never show yourself?"
"This junior was nearly killed by that old scoundrel from the Flying Flower Sect."
Chu Feng called out several times, but there was no response.
Then again, he was only half-serious. The matter had already passed, and he was unharmed, so he was not particularly bothered by it.