Of the three factions, Chu Feng was the first to return. After all, with the mysterious man by his side, no one could match him in either speed or strength.
A few days later, the Dragon Daoist also came back. Possessing the secret Green Dragon Swift Movement Technique, his cultivation was far inferior to that of the mysterious man, but his speed was still remarkably fast.
The slowest were the forces of the Jiang Dynasty. Though the Emperor had personally led a squad of elite warriors, in terms of both strength and speed they fell significantly short of the mysterious man and the Dragon Daoist.
All in all, however, the haul from all three parties was enormously rich. The pity was that while the wealth was great, it covered too wide a range.
True cultivation resources made up only about a third of the total. The remainder consisted mostly of rare weapons, treasures, and similar items.
Chu Feng was eager to break through to the Heaven Martial realm as quickly as possible, so he made a proposal: he would trade his rare weapons and treasures for the cultivation resources of the Dragon Daoist and the Emperor of the Jiang Dynasty.
The Dragon Daoist and the Emperor agreed to the proposal — but they flatly refused to take anything from Chu Feng, instead handing over all of their cultivation resources to him without any strings attached.
Facing such generosity from the Emperor and the Dragon Daoist, Chu Feng could not say much in return. He could only hold deep gratitude in his heart, remembering their kindness.
Just as Chu Feng was about to enter seclusion with his massive stockpile of cultivation resources, Zhang Tianyi, Jiang Wushang, Jiang Yini, and a handful of other peers gathered for a small farewell get-together with him.
"Brother Chu Feng, even though I didn't witness what happened that day, just hearing my sister's account gets my blood pumping."
"I used to know you were strong, but I never really felt you were that far above me. Now I understand just how much stronger you really are."
"Me, Jiang Wushang, I've never truly looked up to anyone in my life. But right now, I admire you to death. Regardless of everything, as a member of the royal clan, I still have to thank you for your great mercy — for saving tens of thousands of my people."
Jiang Wushang had recently recovered from his severe injuries and brimmed with vitality. Still, his gaze lingered more on the mysterious man standing beside Chu Feng, for he too had heard about how formidable this person was.
"Brother Wushang, there's no need to be so formal between us." Chu Feng smiled faintly.
"Chu Feng, I heard you're going to attempt a breakthrough to the Heaven Martial realm during your seclusion. The Heaven Martial realm isn't so easy to break into. Back when I did it, I needed dozens of attempts before I finally succeeded," Jiang Yini said gently.
"That's right, Junior Brother Chu Feng. The Heaven Martial realm truly is difficult — it's a major threshold. It took me twenty tries back then," Zhang Tianyi chimed in.
"Brother Tianyi, you only needed twenty attempts? It took me a full thirty!" Hearing that Zhang Tianyi had succeeded in just twenty tries, Jiang Wushang was somewhat astonished.
To all three, Chu Feng merely offered a slight smile. Back when Ziling had been by his side, he had personally witnessed her attempts to break through to the Heaven Martial realm.
Breaking through to the Heaven Martial realm was genuinely difficult. First, you needed thorough preparation — not just for the body, but for the mind as well. Only then could you make the attempt, and each attempt stretched out over a very long period: a few days at the shortest, more than ten days or even several months at the longest.
Moreover, after each failure, a portion of the accumulated Mystic Qi was lost and the body sustained damage, requiring a waiting period before the next attempt could be made.
In short, the breakthrough to the Heaven Martial realm was incredibly hard. Even Ziling, with her God-given natural talent, had needed more than ten attempts before she finally succeeded. Chu Feng understood full well the magnitude of the challenge that lay before him.
He could not afford to fail, because the Mystic Qi he had accumulated was simply too vast to squander.
If Jiang Wushang and Jiang Yini knew that the price of his breakthrough to the first level of Heaven Martial was the accumulated wealth of an imperial clan spanning thousands of years — who knew what they would think.