"Chu Feng..."
Chu Lingxi looked at Chu Feng, her heart brimming with gratitude.
For her, killing Gu Yang was exactly what she wanted. Had it not been for her mother's bond with Gu Yang, she most likely would have chosen to give him a chance.
In a way, Chu Feng had done what she wanted to do but couldn't.
She still couldn't help stealing a glance at her mother, however.
Sure enough, seeing Gu Yang slain, Gu Mingyuan's expression was deeply complicated. In those eyes that were always domineering, a rare flicker of sorrow had surfaced.
Gu Mingyuan was not an indecisive person. On the contrary, her methods were ruthlessly decisive. But Gu Yang truly held some weight in her heart.
When she was young, the Wanzhou Ancient Clan had been rife with infighting and constant struggle. Gu Yang had given her no small amount of help during those years.
Without Gu Yang, she might not have risen as smoothly as she did.
"Senior, this Gu Yang was scum."
"He may have been a member of your Wanzhou Ancient Clan, but Lingxi is a clanswoman of my Heavenly Clan."
"He harbored ill intent toward Lingxi. No matter how I look at it, I cannot think of a single reason to spare him."
Chu Feng said to Gu Mingyuan.
"Young hero Chu Feng, what are you saying?"
"That Gu Yang deserves death ten times over. Even if you hadn't killed him, our Wanzhou Ancient Clan would never have let him off."
"Exactly. Lingxi is the most important person in our clan. For Gu Yang to commit such a despicable act for his own selfish gain — he absolutely cannot be shown leniency. Killing him is letting him off easy. He deserves a far worse end."
The elders of the Wanzhou Ancient Clan spoke up one after another.
Not only was there no blame directed at Chu Feng — they fully endorsed his actions.
How could they dare blame Chu Feng? If not for him, every last one of them would be dead today.
Perhaps to ease the burden in Chu Feng's heart, they all turned to look at Gu Mingyuan.
"Mingyuan, even if you were the one handling this, you wouldn't have let Gu Yang go either, right?"
By asking this, they were really hoping Gu Mingyuan would say something to ease Chu Feng's reservations.
Given how things had already played out, Gu Mingyuan quickly composed herself and turned her gaze toward Chu Feng.
"Chu Feng, Gu Yang did once do me a great kindness. But what he has done recently was undeniably wrong."
"If it were up to me, I would indeed be reluctant to kill him. But if you chose to kill him, I would not blame you."
Gu Mingyuan said to Chu Feng.
These were Gu Mingyuan's honest words. Though she could not bear to kill Gu Yang, she would absolutely not hold it against Chu Feng for doing so.
After all, she knew full well that Gu Yang deserved death.
With that, the matter came to a close. Not only had the Wanzhou Ancient Clan narrowly escaped disaster, but they had also received a massive haul of treasures as compensation from those powerful forces — a bountiful windfall.
Their gratitude toward Chu Feng was deep, and well aware that the Dragon Clan and the other factions had played an indispensable role, they immediately prepared a grand banquet to thank Chu Feng and the members of the Dragon Clan and the others.
Normally, colossal powers like the Dragon Clan would never want to have any dealings with a minor force like the Wanzhou Ancient Clan. They would even consider befriending such a small clan to be a humiliation.
Why would they attend a banquet hosted by the Wanzhou Ancient Clan?
Yet out of respect for Chu Feng, they not only agreed but showed up without a shred of arrogance. At the banquet, these great figures carried not an ounce of haughtiness.
The members of the Wanzhou Ancient Clan could never have imagined that one day they would be sitting together, drinking and laughing, with people from the Dragon Clan, the Myriad Demon Holy Temple, the Yu Heavenly Clan, and the Cloud Sky Immortal Sect.
Setting everything else aside, this experience alone was a moment of glory that the Wanzhou Ancient Clan had never known before.
Some among the clan even felt that if they died after witnessing this day, it would all have been worth it.
And when they saw how the great figures at the banquet — the Clan Master of the Dragon Clan, the Holy Emperor of the Myriad Demon Holy Temple, the Patriarch of the Yu Heavenly Clan, and the Sect Master of the Cloud Sky Immortal Sect — treated Chu Feng with such courtesy, even a touch of deference, they realized that Chu Feng's current standing was perhaps even greater than they had imagined.
After all, those individuals were among the most powerful and prestigious existences in the entire Holy Light Galaxy, second only to the Holy Light Clan.
Gu Mingyuan and Chu Lingxi, mother and daughter, gazed at Chu Feng with expressions far more complex than the simple awe shown by their clansmen.
"Mother, it seems I'll never have the chance to catch up to Chu Feng."
Chu Lingxi said to Gu Mingyuan.
"Silly girl, you're already remarkably talented. Why must you compare yourself to Chu Feng?"
"Back in my day, your mother and Chu Xuanyuan were spoken of as equals. But I knew very well that there was a vast gap between us — I could never compare to him."
Gu Mingyuan consoled her daughter.
But a look of defiance suddenly appeared on Chu Lingxi's delicate face: "Even though the odds are against me, I won't give up. I refuse to keep being called 'little sister' by that guy. I still want to be his older sister."
Looking at her daughter's refusal to concede, Gu Mingyuan smiled gently: "That's my girl. I like that kind of spirit."
"What a lively gathering we have here."
But suddenly, a voice rang out from high above in the sky.