After stowing the blue bow and gold arrows, Chu Feng turned to Long Lin and asked, "This bow and these arrows are mine now?"
"Consider them yours," Long Lin said with a smile.
"They're rare treasures, but I'm not going to thank you. Not unless you let Yao'er go," Chu Feng said.
"I will let Yao'er go, but only after you become a Martial Emperor," Long Lin replied with a grin.
"Yao'er, wait for me. Next time, I'll definitely take you away," Chu Feng said, looking at Yao'er.
"Mm." Yao'er said nothing more and simply nodded with a bright smile. Though they hadn't spent much time together, she trusted Chu Feng deeply.
Seeing that smile of hers, Chu Feng's heart ached even more. After all… it was such an obvious forced smile.
Yao'er was smiling so brightly because she didn't want Chu Feng to worry.
After that, Chu Feng didn't linger any longer. He turned and strode away quickly, feeling that the longer he stayed, the more sorrowful Yao'er would become. It was better to simply vanish as fast as possible.
Once Chu Feng had completely left the treasure vault and passed beyond Long Lin's line of sight, he couldn't help but let out a long breath — as though he had been holding it in for ages and could finally relax.
"Chu Feng, what's wrong?" Baili Xuankong asked with concern upon seeing Chu Feng's reaction.
"It's nothing." Chu Feng shook his head with a smile, then looked at his Universe Bag, a faint glimmer of joy flickering through his eyes.
The reason he felt such a sense of relief was that he had been terrified — terrified that the three purple fire arrows hidden inside his Universe Bag would be discovered by Long Lin.
True enough, Long Lin had already gifted him the blue bow and the gold arrows, but Chu Feng couldn't guarantee that he would willingly hand over the three purple fire arrows as well.
After all, those purple fire arrows were devastatingly powerful. If ten gold arrows paired with the blue bow could kill a first-grade Martial Emperor, then those three purple fire arrows paired with the blue bow could slay a second-grade Martial Emperor. For Chu Feng, they were an ultimate killing weapon.
Because no one would ever suspect that someone of Chu Feng's cultivation level possessed the ability to kill a second-grade Martial Emperor. In the Martial Continent, there simply weren't treasures like that — at least, Chu Feng had never seen one, nor had he ever heard of anyone who had such a thing.
"That Long Lin may be detestable, but I can see he clearly needs something from you. Otherwise, he wouldn't have gone to all this trouble."
"So in the meantime, he won't do anything to Yao'er. There's no need for you to worry too much," Baili Xuankong said, believing Chu Feng was fretting over Yao'er, and offered his reassurance.
"Rest assured, ancestor. I am worried about Yao'er, but I won't blame myself. I've already done everything I could do. As for the things I haven't yet accomplished, I will keep working at them."
Chu Feng nodded with a smile. Of course he was worried about Yao'er, but he also knew that worrying uselessly accomplished nothing. Rather than dwelling on it, he would be better off devoting his energy to finding cultivation resources, strengthening his own cultivation, and bringing Yao'er out of there as soon as possible.
"Good. That's exactly the kind of composure I like to see," Baili Xuankong said, nodding with appreciation.
A real man was someone who could carry the weight of the world and set it down again when needed. The words were simple, but throughout the ages, how many had been unable to achieve that? Yet Chu Feng, so young in age, had already managed it. That filled Baili Xuankong with genuine gratification.
But before leaving, Baili Xuankong couldn't help but glance back one last time and sigh, "I never would have imagined that a monster like that was hiding within our Azure Wood Mountain."
"Lord Baili, could he be a creature from ancient times?" Dugu Xingfeng asked.
"In my opinion, he may well be the true form of that great tree. The tree's branches and leaves resembled dragon horns, its bark looked like scales, and his name happens to be Long Lin. In every way, they seem connected," Elder Guan Hong said.
"Whatever he truly is, only he himself knows. What concerns me isn't who or what he is — it's that he's powerful enough to require Chu Feng's help for something." Baili Xuankong turned his gaze toward Chu Feng as he spoke.