At that moment, Chu Feng truly wanted to remove the poison pill from the Demonic Monkey King's body, but the problem was that Egg's poison pill had been brought out from the Asura Spirit World along with her.
The antidote existed only in the Asura Spirit World, but Egg was bound by a special seal and could not return there at all, which meant there was no way to obtain the antidote.
And the more he thought about how well the Demonic Monkey King treated him now, and how he had once forced the creature to swallow a poison pill for which there was no cure, the stronger Chu Feng's guilt became.
"Oh, stop being so wishy-washy, kid. You think I called you brother as a joke? I genuinely took a liking to you, which is why I acknowledged you as my brother."
"You didn't trust me back then and made me take a poison pill—that's perfectly understandable, since I schemed against you first. Sure, it was just a test for you, but the truth is, it did put you in real danger and you nearly lost your life."
"In short, you got me once, I got you once—we're even. From now on, we're good brothers. Let's not hold any grudges about the past."
"Come on. Opening the Imperial Burial is no small matter. The Jiang Dynasty needs to prepare a great many things, and that will take quite some time."
"Let's use this time to go back to your Azure Dragon Sect first. Save those two little wives of yours before anything else." The Demonic Monkey King saw the guilt weighing on Chu Feng's heart, so he laughed it off with a carefree air, hoping to ease Chu Feng's remorse.
As he spoke, he opened the door and went to call Zi Ling and Zhang Tianyi, getting ready to leave for Qingzhou.
Watching the Demonic Monkey King like this, Chu Feng felt an extraordinary warmth in his heart. He never imagined that through a series of unexpected turns, he had ended up gaining such a fine big brother. Even though this brother wasn't human, Chu Feng liked him from the bottom of his heart.
When word spread that Chu Feng and his companions were about to leave, the ruler of the Jiang Dynasty personally held a banquet for them at the most sacred venue in the entire dynasty—Moon Gazing Terrace—to honor them.
At the banquet, everyone was in high spirits, but neither Chu Feng nor the Demonic Monkey King noticed that beyond the Moon Gazing Terrace, hidden within a sea of clouds, stood an invisible elevated platform. On it waited an elderly man in a golden robe with hair white as snow.
This old man was formidable—his aura was far more overwhelming than even the Demonic Monkey King's. And the reason this platform among the clouds went undetected was that it was shrouded in a purple barrier, a formation crafted by the old man's own hand.
His aged eyes burned with keen intensity as they carefully studied the young man on the Moon Gazing Terrace—the one laughing and conversing with Jiang Wushang and the others. Chu Feng.
"Jiang Hengyuan pays his respects to the Ancestor." Suddenly, the teleportation formation on the elevated platform shivered, and a figure appeared upon it. It was none other than Jiang Hengyuan, the Jiang Dynasty's supreme powerhouse who had been stationed in Qingzhou for years.
"Hengyuan, it's been seven years in the blink of an eye, and you've finally come back to see this old man." The ancestor of the Jiang Dynasty gazed at Jiang Hengyuan with a warm smile, a trace of tender concern in his eyes.
"Ancestor, back then Hengyuan carried out your orders and went to Qingzhou to search for a Heaven-born Divine Body. But despite bringing back countless infants, not a single one turned out to possess the Divine Body. Hengyuan felt deeply ashamed, and naturally I did not dare return to the Imperial City until I had found the body." Jiang Hengyuan replied, his face full of guilt.
"Then why have you returned today?!" the ancestor asked.
"Hengyuan heard that the Ancestor is preparing to open the Imperial Burial. I am well aware that the Imperial Burial is no ordinary matter. As a member of the dynasty, this is naturally the time for me to return and do my part for our people." Jiang Hengyuan answered.
"Haha, Hengyuan, I truly didn't misjudge you. Rise." The ancestor chuckled warmly, then stepped forward and personally helped Jiang Hengyuan, who had been half-kneeling on the ground, to his feet. Only then did he ask, "You spent a full seven years in Qingzhou—did you find anything?"
"Hengyuan is incompetent. I stayed in Qingzhou for seven long years yet came up with nothing. I beg the Ancestor to punish me." Jiang Hengyuan's guilt was overwhelming, and as he spoke he dropped to his knees once more.