Chu Feng had no idea what had transpired after he left.
He thought he had narrowly escaped death — pulled back from the very gates of the afterlife.
It wasn't that Chu Feng was a coward. It was simply that the Sacred Valley elder was, to the current Chu Feng, incomprehensibly powerful — an existence he stood no chance against.
However, after leaving, Chu Feng was in no rush to depart that world. Once he felt he was safe, he found a quiet spot and devoted himself to studying that bead.
Chu Feng craved power desperately. He wanted to raise his cultivation as quickly as possible, wanted to enter the Sleeping Dragon Martial Sect as quickly as possible, wanted to see Zi Ling as quickly as possible.
Of course, his desire to strengthen his cultivation wasn't solely to rescue Zi Ling.
There was also his family.
After all, only with sufficient cultivation could he investigate the matters concerning his grandfather and grandmother.
But the level of cultivation required for that — the current Chu Feng was still far, far from it.
"How is this so difficult to deal with?"
Right now, Chu Feng sat atop the clouds, the bead floating before him.
But merely looking at the bead left Chu Feng feeling somewhat helpless.
The Sacred Valley elder hadn't deceived him.
The power within this bead was clearly abundant — Chu Feng could sense it with perfect clarity.
Yet harnessing the power of this bead for his own use was no simple matter.
The bead seemed to have developed a will of its own. It was plainly a cultivation resource, yet it possessed its own consciousness.
Using its power for cultivation wasn't impossible, but it required the bead's approval.
And obtaining that approval was no easy task.
Chu Feng needed to continuously channel his own power, his own aura, into the bead.
But this couldn't be rushed — it could only be done gradually. When exactly he would earn the bead's recognition, Chu Feng had no way of determining.
That depended on the bead's own will.
Though somewhat disappointed, Chu Feng wasn't particularly disheartened.
The bead's power, while difficult to obtain, was at least obtainable. The only variable was how long it would take.
It was still far better than that Divine Tree Seed lurking within his body.
That Divine Tree Seed was something truly beyond Chu Feng's control.
Whether it could ever be put to use, he still had no idea.
Whether it would bring fortune or disaster, he couldn't tell either.
After all, every time his bloodline power attempted to refine the Divine Tree Seed, the seed would resist.
And the result of that resistance was a regression in Chu Feng's cultivation.
Each regression caused him considerable trouble.
So for the time being, what the Divine Tree Seed brought Chu Feng was nothing but harm.
As for any benefit — that remained to be seen.
"Sigh, the path of martial cultivation is truly not easy."
Chu Feng sat atop the clouds, gazing at the bead. After letting out a sigh, he used the power of his barriers to seal it, preventing its energy from leaking out.
But rather than placing it inside his Universe Bag, Chu Feng stored it within his body.
He did this because he needed to continuously channel his power into the bead.
If he kept it in his robes, it would be easily discovered — and if he encountered a martial cultivator stronger than himself, the bead would inevitably be taken from him.
But concealed within his body, it was far harder for anyone to detect. Relatively speaking, it was much safer.
Having taken care of all this, Chu Feng rose to his feet and prepared to leave.
He had already decided where to go.
The Younger Generation Strongest Tournament, hosted by the Sacred Light Clan — he was definitely going.
His reason for going wasn't to make a name for himself. It was primarily to obtain the cultivation rewards the Sacred Light Clan was offering.