After Chu Feng and the others were settled, the Ancient World leader did not leave. Instead, he summoned the tribe leaders and all the senior elders to the great hall in the square.
"Everyone, what do you think of Chu Feng?" the Ancient World leader asked.
"Chu Feng's cultivation is the weakest among the remaining six."
"But Chu Feng's talent is truly extraordinary. In my opinion, it may not be inferior to that of Chu Xuanyan back then," an elder said.
"Not inferior? I think that's quite the understatement."
"Chu Feng's performance is clearly superior to Chu Xuanyan's back then — these are eighteen Sacred Steles of Ancestral Worship," Elder Lai offered a different perspective.
"Elder Lai speaks truly. I also believe that, in terms of talent alone, Chu Feng's surpasses that of Chu Xuanyan from back then."
Elder Lai's remark was immediately endorsed by the majority present.
Even those tribe leaders who had been rejected by Chu Feng and harbored ill will toward him now had to concede that Chu Feng's talent surpassed Chu Xuanyan's.
This showed that while the people of the Ancient Realm had their own agendas, they were still relatively fair in their assessments.
"Elder Lai, then give us your evaluation of Chu Feng," the Ancient World leader said.
"My lord, Chu Feng's talent is unparalleled. While his cultivation is the weakest among the six, he is also the youngest. In my view, it is only a matter of time before he surpasses the others."
"Compared to Chu Xuanyan back then, Chu Feng's cultivation is far stronger."
"Therefore, I believe that if this assessment truly is special, the person most likely to complete it would be Chu Feng," Elder Lai said.
The Ancient World leader nodded, then turned to the others. "What does everyone else think?"
"My lord, while Chu Feng's talent is formidable, his cultivation is truly limited. Talent represents the future, but what matters now is actual strength. I believe Miss Bai is more likely to pass the assessment," another elder offered a different opinion.
Following that, other elders recommended Zhou Dong and Qin Shu respectively.
However, no one recommended Jia Chengying or Bai Yunqing.
Everyone in the Ancient Realm admired strength. Jia Chengying and Bai Yunqing had provoked Chu Feng that day only to be thoroughly humiliated by him, which made everyone feel they were not up to par — so they were naturally ruled out.
"My lord, what is your opinion?" Elder Lai asked.
At his words, all the elders and tribe leaders turned to the leader.
Their opinions did not truly matter — what mattered most was their leader's own thoughts.
"Sigh, actually, in my view, I also believe Chu Feng is the most likely."
"It's just that this boy, for reasons unknown, chose the Source Vein Tribe. Based on Chu Feng's performance today — single-handedly earning the recognition of eighteen Sacred Steles of Ancestral Worship — who knows how great a benefit the Source Vein Tribe will receive."
"Fortunately, the Source Vein Tribe has already fallen into decline. If those people were still around, it would truly be troublesome," the Ancient World leader said.
"Indeed. Why did Chu Feng choose the Source Vein Tribe? Did he feel sorry for that little girl?"
"But aren't the people of the Source Vein Tribe almost all mad? Can madmen bear children?"
The elders expressed their confusion. They had long considered the Source Vein Tribe no threat at all and had paid it no attention.
That was precisely why they had been surprised to see Little Crescent emerge from it.
"That little girl is called Little Crescent. She is indeed from the Source Vein Tribe. The girl has decent talent, and her birth even triggered some unusual phenomena."
"Later investigations revealed that her parents were only pretending to be mad. However, they had no intention of raising Little Crescent to take revenge against us."
"They simply hoped for Little Crescent to grow up safely and had been hiding her all along," Elder Lai said.
"So Elder Lai, you knew about this all along?" someone asked.
"Yes. The leader also knew about this matter," Elder Lai said.
"The leader knew too?" Everyone was taken aback. No one present probably hated the Source Vein Tribe more than the Ancient World leader.
For the Source Vein Tribe to produce a descendant with decent talent — that could truly pose a threat. And the leader had actually let her live?
"You should all know that I originally intended to slaughter the Source Vein Tribe. But at that very time, the Ancestral Statue gave a directive, instructing that we must not slaughter our own."
"The Source Vein Tribe may be dangerous, but the Ancestral Statue's directive cannot be defied. Besides, a little girl couldn't stir up much of a storm, so I had Elder Lai send people to monitor her. I simply didn't expect that an accident would occur later," the Ancient World leader said.
"An accident? What accident?" the crowd asked curiously.
"We had no intention of killing her, but not long after Little Crescent was born, her parents died — poisoned to death," Elder Lai said.
"Poisoned to death? Could it have been done by their own people from the Source Vein Tribe?" someone asked.
"Since it wasn't us, it must have been their own. This means that in the Source Vein Tribe, it wasn't just Little Crescent's parents who were pretending to be mad."
"And their internal killing was none of our concern. We figured that without parents, Little Crescent wouldn't survive long either, so we simply stopped watching."
"Unexpectedly, she actually survived and grew up to this age."
"That is why both the leader and I suspect that there are still people within the Source Vein Tribe with hidden ambitions. They may have killed Little Crescent's parents precisely to raise Little Crescent," Elder Lai said.
"That's simple — just interrogate Little Crescent directly," someone suggested.
"There is no rush. We'll discuss it after the assessment," the Ancient World leader said.
"My lord, this matter is of utmost importance. We absolutely cannot give the Source Vein Tribe any chance. Their methods are too cruel. If they are given an opportunity, I fear..."
At this point, the elder's face showed unease.
The others also looked uneasy, recalling the battle from those days. Fortunately, the Ancient World leader had led the various tribes to victory.
Otherwise, if the Ancient Realm had been seized by the Source Vein Tribe, they would have been living in misery.
The more they thought about it, the more fearful they became, and they urged, "My lord, we should interrogate her as soon as possible."
They did not want to wait.