Chu Feng asked the Nine Souls Sacred Clan for a favor.
He wanted them to help locate the powerful yet somewhat unhinged old woman he had once encountered.
Back when Xian Miaomiao had told Chu Feng that this old woman would occasionally utter the word "Han Xian," Chu Feng had suddenly realized that this senior he had crossed paths with might very well be the grandmother he had been searching for all this time.
Of course, Chu Feng did not tell anyone that the mysterious old woman could be his grandmother.
Instead, he said that this senior had once helped him, and he wished to thank her in person.
In truth, the Nine Souls Sacred Clan had already been searching for this person. Upon receiving Chu Feng's request, they resolved to intensify their efforts, treating it as the most important matter at hand.
Afterward, Chu Feng, Saint Light Whitebrow, and the others, along with Dao Sea Fairy and her group, departed together and headed toward the territory of the Spirit Race.
However, upon arriving, Chu Feng and the rest discovered that the barrier gate had changed.
The massive barrier entrance that had once felt so familiar to Chu Feng — and had been extraordinarily powerful — was gone.
In its place stood an extremely simple barrier gate. It was nothing more than an entrance — not only could Chu Feng pass through it with ease, but everyone present could walk right in.
And once they entered, every single one of them was struck with shock.
They quickly realized that the Spirit Race had been massacred.
This was entirely beyond their expectations.
Why had such a thing happened out of the blue?
And who on earth could have committed such a heinous act?
To uncover the truth, Chu Feng and the others questioned Dao Sea Fairy's disciples. After all, the area where those disciples cultivated was very close to the entrance of the Spirit Race — if something had happened, they should have noticed.
But those disciples said they hadn't detected anything unusual at all.
This made Chu Feng and the rest feel deeply uneasy.
The barrier gate that had sealed off the Spirit Race had been so formidable — why had it suddenly vanished?
Along with the gate, the stone statue formed by that lord had disappeared as well.
Had a traitor emerged from within the Spirit Race?
Or had an outside enemy invaded?
If the gate had disappeared for some reason and this was the doing of an internal traitor, that would be one thing. But if an outsider had come and forcibly destroyed the barrier gate, then just how powerful would such a person be?
"Chu Feng, this place isn't safe. Shouldn't we leave first?" Dao Sea Fairy urged.
She was not the type to shrink from danger, but she too had sensed that the perpetrator behind this was likely someone they could not afford to cross. Staying here was far too risky.
As for Chu Feng, if it were possible, he would have wanted to avenge the Spirit Race. But even if he were to encounter the culprit right now, he had no confidence he could prevail.
And so Chu Feng had no choice but to leave.
Before departing, however, he used a special technique to collect the blood that the members of the Spirit Race had spilled across the ground. He then separated it into different graves based on each individual and buried them all in a hidden location.
"Chu Feng, this matter is far too strange."
"Most likely, whoever did this was targeting that great figure from tens of thousands of years ago."
"Besides, the dead cannot be brought back to life. In my opinion, you'd best not get involved in this."
After laying the Spirit Race members to rest, Dao Sea Fairy offered Chu Feng this counsel.
"The world of martial cultivation truly knows no peace," Chu Feng sighed, though his words carried a note of helplessness.
If he could, he would have liked to intervene. It had been only a single encounter, but the Spirit Race had still helped them.