The Spirit World army had already returned in full, but they had failed to find the escaped Sima Xiangtu.
As for the members of the Alchemy Dao Immortal Sect, they too had already departed from this place.
It was worth noting that they had taken the Immortal Cauldron with them.
Chu Feng naturally knew that the Immortal Cauldron was an extraordinarily precious treasure — especially for a Spirit World Master, it held tremendous value.
Truthfully, Chu Feng had very much wanted to keep the treasure here. But since peace had already been negotiated, and the whole point had been to avoid making enemies of Jiang Kongping and his people, the Immortal Cauldron naturally could not be detained.
Otherwise, the other side would certainly not let the matter rest.
In truth, this peace negotiation was Chu Feng gambling — gambling that the people of the Alchemy Dao Immortal Sect knew gratitude, gambling that they would not come looking for trouble again in the future, gambling that his gesture of goodwill would reduce the number of enemies he had.
But the reason Chu Feng was willing to make that bet was that he still bore Jiang Kongping's kindness in mind.
He had always felt that if Jiang Kongping had not pleaded on his behalf that day, he would have died at Jiang Yuantai's hands — and there would naturally be no him today.
It was Jiang Kongping's very existence that made Chu Feng willing to gamble. Otherwise, Chu Feng would have simply eliminated every last member of the Alchemy Dao Immortal Sect.
That had always been Chu Feng's way. When it came to choosing between profit and bonds of loyalty, he always cared more about the latter.
……
At this moment, the members of the Alchemy Dao Immortal Sect, led by Jiang Taibai, Jiang Kongping, and the others, had already entered the ancient teleportation formation and were sailing through a spatial tunnel aboard a special warship…
"This Chu Feng probably doesn't even know what 'there is always someone beyond someone else' truly means."
"He just got lucky — stumbled upon a pack of evil spirits, and suddenly he thinks he has the right to negotiate with us?"
"Just wait until Lord Jingyu arrives. That's when he'll be scared witless."
"That said, we really have Young Master Kongping to thank today. If it weren't for Young Master Kongping, that Chu Feng probably wouldn't have let us go."
Aboard the warship, the members of the Alchemy Dao Immortal Sect praised Jiang Kongping on one hand while trashing Chu Feng on the other.
Although their resentment toward Chu Feng ran deep, what shone through even more was the sheer joy of having survived.
"Who told you that I was deceiving that Chu Feng?"
But suddenly, Jiang Kongping's voice rang out — and his tone was none too pleasant.
This stunned everyone aboard the warship.
They had assumed that the so-called peace negotiation was simply Jiang Kongping tricking Chu Feng.
Only now did they realize that Jiang Kongping's intentions seemed rather different from what they had assumed.
"Kongping — you're not actually planning to truly make peace with that Chu Feng, are you?"
"Did you not see what he did to me?"
"I nearly had my cultivation destroyed."
Jiang Yuantai rose to his feet and fixed Jiang Kongping with a stare, undisguised fury blazing in his eyes.
It was the look of a man who could not believe his own brother was siding with an outsider.
Jiang Kongping had always been afraid of Jiang Yuantai — especially when Jiang Yuantai was angry, Jiang Kongping dared not even meet his gaze.
But this time, Jiang Kongping mustered his courage and looked straight back at Jiang Yuantai's rage-contorted face.
"Brother, do me this favor. Your grudge with Chu Feng started because of me. I hope it can also end because of me. Please don't go looking for revenge against Chu Feng anymore."
Jiang Kongping said.
"Right now, what's between me and Chu Feng has nothing to do with you."
Jiang Yuantai said.
"Brother, if you give me this face, I will train according to the requirements you set before."
Jiang Kongping said.
Hearing these words, Jiang Yuantai's expression changed drastically.
The eyes that had been burning with fury — which made it unmistakably clear he would never let Chu Feng off easy — wavered now.
It was not just him. At that moment, Jiang Taibai and everyone else present turned their gazes toward Jiang Kongping, their eyes filled with astonishment — but also with a spark of delight.
"Kongping — you mean that?"
After a brief silence, Jiang Yuantai asked Jiang Kongping.
"Brother, I mean it. If I fail, then go after Chu Feng however you want — I won't interfere."
"But if I succeed, I hope you will stop going after Chu Feng. That goes for all of us. None of us should trouble Chu Feng anymore."
Jiang Kongping said.
"Very well. Since you put it that way, I'll give you this face."
Jiang Yuantai walked over to Jiang Kongping and pulled him into an embrace.