The man and woman from the Linghu Heavenly Clan were presumably stationed here specifically to guard this location. Their presence was meant to prevent anyone from the four regions — east, west, south, and north — from trespassing into the main domain.
Although they had concealed their auras, Chu Feng sensed that the two of them were stronger than everyone else present, including the strongest fighter of the Dongguo Heavenly Clan — Dongguo Bingyu.
The pair carried themselves with an air of lofty superiority. Even though a fair number of people had already gathered here, they kept their eyes closed, seemingly unwilling to so much as exchange greetings with anyone.
"Since when did the Chu Heavenly Clan show up?"
The moment Chu Feng and the others arrived, someone immediately took notice.
"Given their strength, they shouldn't qualify for the Rising Star Assembly, right?"
"What right do they have to take Purple Flame Peak's spot?"
Numerous whispered discussions broke out at once.
"Watch your mouths. That young man — he's Chu Xuanyuan's son, Chu Feng."
However, there were those who recognized Chu Feng, and they hurriedly warned the others.
"What? Chu Xuanyuan's son?"
After being alerted, everyone who hadn't previously known Chu Feng looked at him with surprise, their gazes involuntarily drifting toward him as they reassessed him anew.
Even the two Linghu Heavenly Clan members — the ones who had kept their eyes firmly shut — opened their eyes and turned to look at Chu Feng.
That was only natural. The title of "Chu Xuanyuan's son" was something virtually no one in the entire Ancestral Martial Star Domain could have been unaware of.
"I was the one who recommended the Chu Heavenly Clan for this Rising Star Assembly. Do any of you have objections?" At that moment, Dongguo Bingyu spoke up.
"Miss Bingyu, Purple Flame Peak has always been a vassal force of your Dongguo Heavenly Clan. You persuaded them to forfeit their spot in the Rising Star Assembly so that the Chu Heavenly Clan could take their place — we naturally have nothing to say about that."
"More than that, what I'd really like to know is this: the Rising Star Assembly is about to begin, so why hasn't the Qingyu Monster Clan shown up yet?" Suddenly, a man in a black robe spoke.
He was from the Soul Chase Cult, and his strength was formidable. Chu Feng estimated that he was on par with Dongguo Bingyu — a second-grade Martial Immortal.
This had to be the Soul Chase Cult's strongest representative. It was also precisely the Soul Chase Cult, the Dongguo Heavenly Clan, and the Qingyu Monster Clan that together held equal renown in the eastern region.
"Exactly — why hasn't the Qingyu Monster Clan arrived?"
After the Soul Chase Cult member spoke, many others echoed the question.
Even the people from the Dongguo Heavenly Clan, as well as Chu Qing and Chu Shuangshuang, wore looks of puzzlement.
None of them could understand why the Qingyu Monster Clan had failed to appear. Only Chu Feng knew the reason — the Qingyu Monster Clan would never be coming. That day… Qingyu Ruize had led a massive force to deal with Bai Liluo.
Even if he hadn't taken every last member of the clan who was present in the Ancestral Martial Cultivation Realm, he had come close.
And all of those people were already dead — not driven mad, but thoroughly, completely dead, utterly erased from the Ancestral Martial Cultivation Realm.
How could the dead possibly appear here?
"Hmph. They don't even bother showing up for the Rising Star Assembly — has the Qingyu Monster Clan's arrogance truly inflated to that degree?" Just then, a cold snort rang out. It was the woman of the Linghu Heavenly Clan.
She didn't care in the slightest why the Qingyu Monster Clan hadn't come. In her eyes, their absence alone was an insult to the Rising Star Assembly, and she made her displeasure abundantly clear.
Then she turned her gaze toward Chu Feng. Her eyes held a hint of hostility, though she said nothing to him directly. Instead, she finally looked at Dongguo Bingyu and said: "Dongguo Bingyu, you should know that the strength of those who participate in the Rising Star Assembly determines whether the Formation of Light can be successfully activated."
"Purple Flame Peak may have been weak, but at least they guaranteed that the Formation of Light opened smoothly every year. If something goes wrong with the Formation this year — can you shoulder that responsibility?"
The woman spoke to Dongguo Bingyu with an incredibly haughty attitude, as though she were a celestial being looking down upon mortals — lofty, cold, and utterly aloof.
However, Chu Feng estimated that even if her strength surpassed Dongguo Bingyu's, it couldn't have been by much. Her air of absolute superiority stemmed entirely from the fact that she was a member of the Linghu Heavenly Clan.