Inside the Nine Souls Sacred Clan, every martial cultivator of the Nine Souls Heavenly River who had been imprisoned by Sima Xiangtu was released by Chu Feng.
The Nine Souls Sacred Clan returned to its former state.
Xian Miaomiao's mother was rescued as well.
The Nine Souls Sacred Clan's clan chief remained unconscious. The torture he had endured was severe, and he would need time before he could awaken.
At that moment, Chu Feng stood above the skies of the Nine Souls Sacred Clan, his heart a mess of conflicting emotions.
Back when he had first learned of what Xian Miaomiao had gone through at the hands of the Nine Souls Sacred Clan, he had hated them with every fiber of his being.
He had even harbored thoughts of destroying the entire clan.
But now, after everything he had been through, the hatred in his heart had largely dissipated.
At the very least, he himself had no intention of making things difficult for the Nine Souls Sacred Clan anymore.
However, if Xian Miaomiao, once separated from Princess Xiaoxiao's body, still chose not to let the Nine Souls Sacred Clan off, Chu Feng would honor her wishes and help her.
Thanks to the dramatic improvement in his mastery of formation arts, Chu Feng had already figured out how to help Xian Miaomiao separate herself from Princess Xiaoxiao.
It simply required a great deal of materials to prepare.
Chu Feng handed the list of materials directly to the people of the Nine Souls Sacred Clan, giving them a chance to make amends.
As for the Nine Souls Sacred Clan members, after witnessing Chu Feng's strength, they wouldn't dare slack off. They had long since thrown themselves into collecting the materials with everything they had.
"Look — it's Lord Chu Feng!"
"Lord Chu Feng! Lord Chu Feng!"
Suddenly, a cry rang out, and moments later, the heavens and earth erupted with cheers for Chu Feng.
The cheers were not only thunderous but filled with reverence and adoration.
The people raising their arms in jubilation — some even dropping to their knees in full prostration before Chu Feng — were all the martial cultivators of the Nine Souls Heavenly River who had previously been trapped here by Sima Xiangtu.
They had lingered around the Nine Souls Sacred Clan, refusing to leave, out of gratitude toward Chu Feng and a desire to see him once more.
In their hearts, Chu Feng was the hero who had saved them, a sacred imprint that could never be erased.
But seeing all these people — saved by him, worshipping him — Chu Feng felt nothing but sorrow.
He had saved so many, yet the one person he wanted to save most was the one he could not.
Chu Feng gazed up at the stars scattered across the sky and could only pray.
Pray that his Master would truly be of use to Sima Xiangtu, and that it was precisely because of this usefulness that Sima Xiangtu would let his Master live.
At the same time, Chu Feng turned his thoughts inward, reflecting on everything that had happened recently.
So much had occurred in such a short time — so much that even he found it hard to believe.
"I just remembered."
Suddenly, something clicked in Chu Feng's mind.
He immediately retrieved the Celestial Master's Whisk.
Staring at the whisk, Chu Feng's gaze grew more certain.
When he had previously traveled to the Demon Spirit Clan, both their formations and their puppets had given him a strange sense of familiarity.
He had never been able to place that feeling before, but now he knew — it was the Celestial Master's Whisk.
Though the connection wasn't strong, both the Demon Spirit Clan's formations and their puppets shared certain similarities with the whisk.
"Could it be that that powerful figure has some connection to the Celestial Master Divine Sect?"
Chu Feng felt this couldn't be a coincidence. There had to be some kind of link.
Hummm—
But suddenly, a blinding white light bloomed across the night sky.
The earth, shrouded in darkness, was instantly bathed in brilliant light, as though ten thousand suns had descended at once.
Before long, the ground began to tremble.
BOOM—
A piercing, deafening roar erupted.
The entire world shook.
"Good heavens — what in the world is that?!"
The spectacle startled everyone present.
The tremors were terrifying, as if the very world itself might be destroyed.
Countless figures shot into the air, converging around Chu Feng.
Not only those who were close to him — even those who had been on bad terms with him gathered at his side.
They had all sensed an extraordinarily terrifying power make its appearance.
And in times like these, Chu Feng was the one who could give them the greatest sense of security.
But in truth, even Chu Feng himself felt uneasy.
Fortunately, the light did not last long. As it faded, the tremors subsided as well.
Soon, the shaking stopped entirely and the light vanished without a trace.
Everything returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.
"What… was that?"
Chu Feng stared into the night sky, trying to locate the source of the light.
At the same time, everyone else was searching as well.
"It seems to have disappeared," Princess Xiaoxiao said.
Everyone already knew the light was gone, so her words didn't draw much attention.
But Princess Xiaoxiao walked over to Chu Feng and pointed toward the center of the night sky — the spot where the light had been.
"Chu Feng, there used to be a world right there. But after the light appeared, it vanished."
Princess Xiaoxiao said to Chu Feng.
"What?!"
At those words, every person's expression shifted.
The members of the Nine Souls Sacred Clan, in particular, turned pale.
They had lived in this world since childhood, and many of them had spent their youth counting the stars.
The ones farther away belonged to other Heavenly Rivers, and they naturally wouldn't know about those. But the closer stars were all worlds of the Nine Souls Heavenly River, transformed into points of light by the glow that illuminated them at night.
They knew exactly which star corresponded to which world.
And Princess Xiaoxiao was right.
A star was indeed missing.