Everyone present heard Long Zhizhi's words.
And looking at Long Zhizhi's injuries, then at the ripples fading from the first zone, the expressions on everyone's faces grew extremely complicated.
The first zone was littered with corpses. Those formation soldiers, whose cultivation had reached the Fifth Level Half God realm, had not dissipated along with the formation—they had instead fallen to the ground as broken remains.
And that was all Chu Feng's handiwork.
Soon, the second zone also ceased its fighting, followed immediately by the rumbling of the third zone.
"So fast—he's already dealt with another ten thousand formation soldiers."
"At this rate, it seems like he really might be able to wipe out all of them within the time it takes an incense stick to burn."
A young man cried out in astonishment, his eyes practically shining as he spoke.
This young man had a refined appearance—it was the same one who had previously informed Chu Feng that Long Zhizhi had entered the second zone of the great formation.
And now, as he stared at the second zone, his gaze had actually changed. It was no longer simple shock—it was something closer to reverence.
A prodigious junior of the Totem Dragon Clan, showing reverence toward a junior from the Ancestral Martial Galaxy.
If word of this got out, no one would believe it.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Even if he has some underhanded trick to deal with those formation soldiers, there are still so many zones left ahead!"
"How could he possibly defeat all of the formation soldiers by himself within the time of a single incense stick?"
However, a bald man immediately stepped forward to shut down the refined young man.
The bald man's status was clearly a cut above the refined one's, and though the latter was visibly displeased by this rebuke, he chose not to argue further.
Seeing this, the bald man looked rather pleased with himself. He even flashed an ingratiating smile toward Long Zhizhi.
"Miss Zhizhi, would you say I'm right?"
But Long Zhizhi showed no approval whatsoever—her expression was nothing but cold.
"What, do you actually want Chu Feng to fail? You want our team to fail?" Long Zhizhi shot back.
"I—I didn't mean that. It's just that Chu Feng is ultimately an outsi—"
"Ultimately what? Ultimately an outsider? Even if he is an outsider, he was invited here by the Clan Chief."
"He stands to gain nothing from this, yet he's fighting with everything he has. He's battling on behalf of our Totem Dragon Clan."
"And you, as a member of the Totem Dragon Clan, can only stand here watching from the sidelines, contributing nothing to the effort to break this formation."
"Whether he succeeds or not, I hardly think that gives you the right to mock and ridicule him," Long Zhizhi continued.
"Exactly. Whatever Chu Feng may have been before, right now he's genuinely fighting for our Totem Dragon Clan. Making comments like that at a time like this—that's not really appropriate, is it?"
One after another, the others actually began to speak up as well.
Whether they were simply reading the wind and shifting with it, or whether their views of Chu Feng had genuinely changed, more and more people started speaking in Chu Feng's defense.
"I... I didn't mean it like that."
The bald man now looked thoroughly embarrassed.
He had known that Long Zhizhi despised Chu Feng, and had intended to use this opportunity to belittle Chu Feng in order to curry favor with her. He had never expected things to turn out like this.
As time continued to pass, Chu Feng kept breaking through zone after zone.
This reignited hope in those who had originally believed the task was impossible.
By now, the incense stick was nearly burned to its end, but Chu Feng was already fighting in the very last zone.
Seven zones—conquered. Only the final one remained.
Many of the Totem Dragon Clan members were growing tense. They wanted Chu Feng to succeed, because regardless of whether they personally liked him, if he could pull it off, it would be a good thing for the Totem Dragon Clan.
And finally, just as the incense stick burned out completely, the last zone fell silent at precisely that moment.
But the crowd only grew more tense.
They didn't know whether that silence in the zone meant Chu Feng had defeated all of the formation soldiers.