"Father, Master, esteemed elders, my brothers and sisters — it has been a long time. I trust everyone has been well?"
Suddenly, Chu Feng's voice rang out, piercing as a peal of thunder several times over, spreading in every direction.
Not only were those who had not been cultivating startled — even those above the volcano, fully immersed in their cultivation, were jolted awake by Chu Feng's voice.
The abrupt sound made many tense up.
After all, there were strict rules here. Loud outbursts that disturbed others' cultivation were forbidden, and anyone who dared defy the rule would be permanently expelled from this place.
Now someone had bellowed like that, waking everyone present. Instinctively, people thought the person was finished.
For a moment, gloating gazes all turned toward Chu Feng.
People wanted to see which death-seeking fool was about to be driven out of this cultivation sanctuary.
"That's...?"
However, the moment their eyes fell on Chu Feng, many gazes immediately blazed with fervor.
Then, in the very next instant, figures shot toward Chu Chu Feng from every direction — from the sky and from the ground, all at once.
Familiar faces appeared one after another, surrounding Chu Feng on every side.
Chu Feng's adoptive father Chu Yuan. His cousin Chu Yue. His sworn brother Chu Guyu.
The Azure Dragon Sect's ancestral founder, the Dragon Daoist. The previous sect master, Li Changqing. Chu Feng's own master, Zhuge Liuyun. And his sworn elder brother, the Demon Monkey King.
There was also Qiu Canfeng, Huangfu Haoyue, Dugu Xingfeng, Bai Ruochen, Chantai Xue, and many, many more — people Chu Feng knew as well as his own hand. They all appeared around him, so excited they could barely contain themselves, packing in so tightly that not a drop of water could pass through as they encircled him.
"Feng'er, is it really you? Has your father's eyes not deceived me? You've come back?"
"It's him — no mistake. That kid is Chu Feng, ha ha! Chu Feng, you rascal actually came back!"
"My little brother, you went beyond the heavens and still found it in your heart to come back and see your monkey brother! Is the world out there any good?"
"Chu Feng, how did you return?"
All at once, voices rang out one after another — concern, questions, and above all, astonishment.
Chu Feng's return this time had truly given them all a surprise.
And at the same time, every person heard the name Chu Feng. Those who had been cultivating stopped cultivating. Those who had been resting stopped resting.
Massive crowds, packed dense as locusts, a vast dark tide sweeping across the land, surged toward Chu Feng from every direction.
Their excitement was as though every single one of them knew Chu Feng.
Of course they knew him. Chu Feng was the man who had once saved the entire Martial Sacred Land.
And only a mere handful of years had passed since Chu Feng had saved the Martial Sacred Land — how could anyone not recognize him?
He was the great hero who had saved the Martial Sacred Land.
If anything, it was no exaggeration to say that Chu Feng was the benefactor of every person present.
He had, in the most literal sense, saved their lives.
That was precisely why everyone was so excited.
The crowd unanimously decided to pause all cultivation and hold a grand banquet to celebrate Chu Feng's return.
The banquet was arranged on the spot, and it was a super feast attended by hundreds of millions.
Beside the volcano, beneath the open sky, across the vast earth, firelight blazed everywhere, feasts stretched in every direction, and human figures filled the landscape.