"It looks like Ying Chong has been refined," the blind elder said.
"Yeah, refined completely and thoroughly." Chu Feng waved his sleeve, and a gentle breeze swept across the remains. The Dark Hall Hall Master's otherwise relatively intact white bones crumbled into ash.
It wasn't Chu Feng's power that caused it — the Dark Hall Hall Master's bones had simply become far too fragile.
Seeing this, the other guards' expressions shifted once more. With the Dark Hall Hall Master's level of cultivation, even reduced to bones, his skeletal remains should have been virtually indestructible. They should never have been this fragile — far more brittle than the bones of an ordinary person who had never cultivated martial arts.
This scene confirmed what Chu Feng and the blind elder had said: the Dark Hall Hall Master had been refined to death, and refined completely.
"Xue Ji, what exactly are you trying to do?" Chu Feng murmured.
He was growing increasingly unable to fathom the Asura World Spirit that had once been his own.
And this inability to see through her left Chu Feng feeling deeply unsettled. Most importantly, he could not determine whether Xue Ji was friend or foe.
He suspected she was a friend because Xue Ji had saved Chu Feng before, and she had even told him about the Dark Hall Hall Master's demonic cultivation technique.
But he suspected she was an enemy because she had still done many things that Chu Feng knew nothing about.
Most crucially, back when Xue Ji had been inside Chu Feng's World Spirit space, the killing intent she had radiated had not felt the slightest bit fake.
"Reporting to Master, reporting to my lord."
"An intruder has breached the territory and has been apprehended." Suddenly, a guard rushed in.
"Did the intruder see you?" the blind elder asked.
"He did," the guard replied.
"Does that even need to be asked? Kill him," the blind elder answered decisively.
"But… that person said he is Master's friend and came here looking for him," the guard said.
"My friend?" At these words, both Chu Feng and the blind elder were taken aback. They exchanged a glance, but neither had an answer.
Chu Feng was especially surprised, because most of his friends were currently hiding inside the Gate of Illusion. How could someone have come all the way here to find him?
What's more, no one even knew Chu Feng had come to this place. Even if someone were looking for him, they could never have come directly here.
"Take me to see him," Chu Feng said, his curiosity piqued.
Led by the guard, they arrived at a palace — the very same palace where the blind elder had hosted him before.
"You brought an intruder *here*?" The blind elder grew somewhat angry. After all, this place was a restricted area even for their own clan. Only someone of Chu Feng's caliber could be entertained here.
"Ah… I was foolish. I truly believed he was Master's friend." The guard quickly dropped to his knees, his face full of remorse.
"It's fine. Whether or not he's my friend, I only need to take one look," Chu Feng said with a faint smile. Then he added: "Open the door."
Creeeak— The moment he spoke, the guards stationed on either side of the palace doors hurried to swing them open.
When the doors parted, Chu Feng finally saw the person who claimed to be his friend — and this person truly *was* Chu Feng's friend.
It was Wang Qiang.
Wang Qiang was sitting in a chair inside the great hall, eating without the slightest shred of courtesy the refreshments the blind elder had prepared for Chu Feng earlier.
He looked utterly carefree and at ease, as if he were genuinely a guest of the place.
Despite the guards surrounding him, glaring at him with murderous intent as though they might strike him down at any moment, he remained entirely unafraid.