"Senior, it's not that Chu Feng is deliberately hiding anything. It's simply… this is something I cannot speak of," Chu Feng said.
"That mysterious, are you perhaps Chu Xuanyuan's successor?" the Immortal Armament Villa Master said with a smile, though his smile was rather peculiar.
"If I said yes, would you believe me?" Chu Feng asked with a smile of his own.
"Believe you? Of course I would. Even if you told me you were Chu Xuanyuan's son, I'd believe that too," the Immortal Armament Villa Master said.
"Why is that?" Chu Feng asked.
"Because the Divine Punishment Mystic Art — only two people in the entire Great Thousand Upper Realm have ever cultivated it."
"One is Chu Hanxian, and the other is Chu Xuanyuan."
"And Chu Xuanyuan had a child, and that child's name is Chu Feng."
As the Immortal Armament Villa Master spoke those words, his gaze sharpened. He stared fixedly at Chu Feng, watching his every movement, as though trying to find some crack, some tell, or perhaps the answer he sought.
"Everything has its coincidences. Perhaps I'm just one of them," Chu Feng said calmly.
In truth, he had considered whether to tell the Immortal Armament Villa Master that he was Chu Xuanyuan's son. He could tell that the Villa Master seemed to hold some special sentiment toward his father. If he knew that Chu Feng was Chu Xuanyuan's son, perhaps even without joining the Immortal Armament Villa, he might still protect Chu Feng.
However, Chu Feng did not want to use his father's name as a shield. That was why he hadn't told the truth.
"Coincidence — it must be a coincidence, because Chu Xuanyuan's son passed away long ago."
"Though if Chu Xuanyuan's son were still alive, he'd be about your age." The Immortal Armament Villa Master gestured toward Chu Feng to indicate his height.
"What a remarkable coincidence indeed," Chu Feng said with a faint smile.
Afterward, Chu Feng conversed with the Immortal Armament Villa Master at length, and through their exchange, he gained a good deal of indirect knowledge about the Great Thousand Upper Realm.
It was quite the fruitful haul.
The Immortal Armament Villa Master, for his part, had also wanted to learn more about Chu Feng, but… every attempt was deflected. Fortunately, the Villa Master was a perceptive man. Seeing that Chu Feng had no intention of revealing more, he dropped the subject.
After chatting for several hours, Chu Feng announced that he had important matters to attend to and prepared to take his leave.
To ensure Chu Feng's safety, the Immortal Armament Villa Master personally escorted Chu Feng and Song Xi to the ancient teleportation formation.
Accompanying the Villa Master in seeing Chu Feng and Song Xi off was the red-haired elder — the so-called Elder Tuoba.
"What happened? I already sent someone to the Armament Vault to suppress the armaments and prevent them from reacting. So why did Chu Feng still resonate with the Dark Stone Dagger?" the Immortal Armament Villa Master asked Elder Tuoba after Chu Feng departed, his expression rather grave. Clearly, losing an Immortal Armament was not something he wished for.
"Villa Master, I've already made inquiries. The several elders guarding the Armament Vault all followed your orders to the letter, but… they were still unable to control the Dark Stone Dagger."
"Blame it on this Chu Feng being far too formidable. If you hadn't secretly issued orders before he entered the second floor, instructing the Armament Vault elders to suppress the armaments, I fear… our Immortal Armament Villa would have suffered catastrophic losses today," Elder Tuoba said.
"So if they hadn't intervened behind the scenes to suppress the armaments, the number that would have resonated with Chu Feng today would have been far more than just that one?" the Immortal Armament Villa Master asked.
Elder Tuoba didn't answer right away. He took a deep breath before speaking. "If the Armament Vault elders hadn't deliberately suppressed the armaments, then today, I'm afraid it wouldn't have been just the half-immortal armaments on the first floor that resonated with Chu Feng."
"The armaments on the second floor would have done the same."
"Oh?" Hearing this, the Immortal Armament Villa Master was visibly stunned. This was something even he hadn't anticipated.
But soon, a smile tugged at the corner of his lips. "In that case, this Chu Feng is far more impressive than I originally thought."