"Uuu..." Suddenly, Purple Bell's delicate figure lunged forward as she threw herself into Chu Feng's embrace, her small arms wrapping tightly around his neck, refusing to let go as she sobbed silently.
No one would have imagined that this young girl, already capable of slaughtering her way through powerful foes at the age of fifteen and blessed with a Divine Spirit Body, could also display such a vulnerable side.
Chu Feng opened his arms and held the beauty in his embrace just as tightly. This time, his hands didn't wander. Instead, he gently stroked Purple Bell's soft hair, soothing her emotions.
"Chu Feng, let's go back to the Nine Provinces Continent. Let's go to Qingzhou. I want to see those two sisters," Purple Bell suddenly said, raising her small face to look at him earnestly.
"Mm." Hearing this, Chu Feng nodded quickly. Having been away for so long, he had been thinking of Su Rou and Su Mei, as well as his other family and loved ones.
Thus, that very day, Chu Feng and Purple Bell boarded the Exquisite Chariot, which crushed through the sky as they headed back towards the Nine Provinces Continent.
The return journey wasn't exactly short. First, they had to enter the Nine Provinces Continent, then cross Tangzhou, then Yuanzhou, before finally reaching Qingzhou. It would take at least half a month.
However, as soon as Chu Feng and Purple Bell entered Tangzhou, they heard two earth-shattering pieces of news.
The first was that the young valley master of Sword God Valley, Murong Yu, had been killed by Zhang Tianyi, and that Sword God Valley's prized treasure, the "Divine Wood Sword," had been taken by Zhang Tianyi.
This event caused an uproar across the Nine Provinces Continent. In the months since Chu Feng's disappearance, the continent had been relatively peaceful, but Zhang Tianyi's actions undoubtedly stirred up a storm. Moreover, Zhang Tianyi also hailed from Qingzhou.
The news sparked endless discussion, with people marveling that Qingzhou was truly rising, having produced two monstrous talents who feared nothing under heaven.
The second piece of news, however, left Chu Feng extremely indignant, almost unable to accept it.
It was that Sword God Valley was enraged. Murong Yu's father personally took action and began scouring the Nine Provinces Continent for Zhang Tianyi.
When he failed to find Zhang Tianyi, he led the army of Sword God Valley to Qingzhou, to the Azure Dragon Sect which had already been razed to the ground, and committed an act of utter barbarity.
After still failing to find Zhang Tianyi in Qingzhou, Sword God Valley actually set fire to the entire Azure Dragon Mountain Range, slaughtering every single commoner within several hundred li of its vicinity. It was a truly horrific massacre.
Having killed all these people who had absolutely no connection to Zhang Tianyi or Chu Feng, the Valley Master of Sword God Valley even declared that these people died for Zhang Tianyi and Chu Feng, that Zhang Tianyi and Chu Feng were responsible for their deaths, and that they had only themselves to blame for living within the former territory of the Azure Dragon Sect and having any association with Zhang Tianyi and Chu Feng.
When this event occurred, the entire Nine Provinces Continent trembled. Many felt that the Valley Master of Sword God Valley, unable to bear the pain of losing his son and the theft of his sect's treasure, had gone mad, completely possessed by demonic thoughts.
After all, those commoners had no relation to Chu Feng or Zhang Tianyi whatsoever. Slaughtering them simply because they lived within the Azure Dragon Sect's former sphere of influence was truly monstrous.
Most frustratingly of all, the Jiang Dynasty had turned a blind eye to Sword God Valley's atrocities, choosing to ignore them completely.
Furthermore, the Qilin Prince's Mansion, the very overlord of Qingzhou, had watched it all happen without lifting a finger to stop it, drawing the scorn of many across the Nine Provinces Continent, who cursed them as utterly useless. As the rulers of Qingzhou, they let Sword God Valley run rampant in their own territory without daring to utter a single word of protest.
But all of this was still within the realm of what Chu Feng could endure. What he found absolutely intolerable was what Sword God Valley did afterward.
After committing a horrific massacre, Sword God Valley conducted a meticulous search of the Azure Dragon Mountain Range and actually discovered the burial ground of the Azure Dragon Sect's ancestors, digging open the graves of all the past predecessors.