However, that figure vanished in the blink of an eye, and even Wang Yuxian couldn't be certain whether she had been seeing things.
But her heart had already begun to race with unease.
She knew just how loyal Chu Feng was. And precisely because of that, the thing they feared most was Chu Feng coming back to rescue them.
If he could bring reinforcements, that would be one thing. But if not, Chu Feng returning alone would be no different from throwing his life away.
"Sima Xiangtu, I'm sure you never imagined you'd die at my hands, did you?" Zhuge Yuankong hung suspended below Sima Xiangtu, and the old Daoist's face was twisted in a mocking smirk, his eyes brimming with smug satisfaction.
"Sima Xiangtu, as a villain, I suppose you're passable enough."
"But villains always meet their retribution. You may kill me today, but don't forget — I still have a disciple."
"Go ahead and gloat now. It won't be long before my disciple, Chu Feng, comes knocking and takes your wretched life."
The old Daoist spoke calmly.
"Oh, Chu Feng, was it?"
"You've made me forget — your precious disciple Chu Feng is already dead."
Sima Xiangtu replied.
"You're lying! Chu Feng is not dead!" Wang Yuxian shouted in rebuttal.
And the first reaction of everyone else present was likewise disbelief.
Yet faced with their doubts, Sima Xiangtu's smile only deepened.
"Come to think of it, that Chu Feng really is quite the sentimental fool. To save you lot, he actually went to the Asura Burial Ground to beg those Asura evil spirits for help."
"And I'll give him this — Chu Feng does have some tricks up his sleeve. The little child he brought along, called Yaoyao — turns out she's the princess of the Asura Burial Ground, and she apparently has the power to lead the Asura evil spirits out of the burial ground."
"And they very nearly succeeded."
"But what he didn't know was that among the Asura evil spirits in the burial ground, my people had long since been planted."
"Just as that little child Yaoyao was about to succeed, she was pushed into the Prison Fire of the Asura Burial Ground."
"And Chu Feng, to save the child, jumped in right after her."
"But how could he have known that the Prison Fire of the Asura Burial Ground burns all things to ash? Even a half-god who falls into it is reduced to nothing in the blink of an eye."
"That Chu Feng fell in, and in less than a heartbeat, he was burned until not a single hair remained."
"His death was truly a miserable one."
Sima Xiangtu spoke with undisguised pleasure.
Upon hearing these words, Wang Yuxian, along with Grandmother Yuan Shen and Immortal Maiden Dao Hai, were all stunned.
What Sima Xiangtu described didn't sound like a lie.
Wang Yuxian burst into tears, crying so hard she could barely breathe.
How desperately she wished that what she had glimpsed moments ago wasn't an illusion — that it really had been Chu Feng.
That would have meant, at the very least, that Chu Feng was still alive. That he hadn't died.
"Lele, why are you crying? Do you actually believe the lies that old fool is spinning?"
But just then, a voice suddenly exploded through the void not far away.
Hearing that voice, every person present felt their hearts jolt, for it was achingly familiar.
And when they looked toward its source, their faces drained of color. Not just the old Daoist and Wang Yuxian — even Sima Xiangtu was struck with utter shock. As for his disciple, Prince Mingri, who had been hiding in his own palace, his face was filled with sheer disbelief.
Because the figure standing in the distant sky was none other than Chu Feng.
"Impossible. I watched with my own eyes as he fell into the Prison Fire. How can he still be alive?"
Prince Mingri murmured to himself, his voice trembling with incredulity.
After all, it wasn't something he had heard through the grapevine — he had personally witnessed Chu Feng plunge into the Prison Fire. In his mind, there was no way Chu Feng could have survived.
"Chu Feng, you actually dare to come back?"
At the same time, another voice rang out, dripping with hostility.
It was Jiang Yuantai, Jiang Kongping, Jiang Taibai, and the rest of the Dao Alchemy Immortal Sect.
They had all been staying within their own palace and hadn't made an appearance — until now.