Afterward, Chu Feng casually asked Zhao Gongyi and the others a few questions.
Once the questioning was done, Chu Feng waved his sleeve and collected all of the younger generation into the formation world he carried with him.
He couldn't kill them just yet — they might still prove useful.
With that, Chu Feng also flew into the eye of the formation.
At that moment, inside the formation's eye, Zi Ling and the others were pouring their full effort into driving the formation through the eye.
Though Chu Feng's return had put them at ease, the task at hand still demanded nothing less than their complete dedication. After all, this concerned the survival of every living being in the Ancestral Martial Star River.
Even Zi Ling, who was injured, had disregarded everyone's objections and was straining herself to drive the formation.
Suddenly, a figure appeared silently beside Zi Ling.
A pill was placed in her hand.
"Take it. Rest on the side for a bit," the newcomer said.
Seeing who it was, a gentle smile spread across Zi Ling's stunning face. "Finished handling things?"
It was Chu Feng.
The truth was, Zi Ling had insisted on continuing to drive the formation despite her injuries for one reason — on the way here, Chu Feng had already given her a pill.
While that pill wouldn't heal her injuries, it would keep them from worsening.
That was what gave her the ability to keep powering the formation.
"I'm finished," Chu Feng said with a nod. But then he reached out, and while Zi Ling was caught off guard, he used one hand to gently pry open her mouth. The other hand placed the pill he was holding onto her tongue.
Only after the pill was in her mouth did he say, "Go rest."
"I'm really fine, and didn't I just take a pill?" Zi Ling protested.
"Be good. I'm here now."
Chu Feng said with a smile.
That smile was brimming with confidence.
Seeing that smile of his, Zi Ling's expression shifted.
Though meeting Chu Feng had eased her worry considerably, the tension within her hadn't fully unwound. After all, the force bearing down on them was a terrifyingly powerful existence. That fear of letting her guard down was precisely what had driven her to be so stubborn.
But Chu Feng's words — "I'm here" — made it click.
With this man present, her contribution was no longer essential.
"Alright." Zi Ling stepped aside, formed a chair with a wave of her hand, and sat down.
She didn't begin healing right away, though. Instead, she watched Chu Feng, her beautiful eyes filled with anticipation.
She wasn't the only one. The surrounding young cultivators were equally eager as they looked at Chu Feng.
They weren't sure whether his joining would make a difference to the formation's eye. After all, so many of them working together could barely manage to drive the formation at all — they hadn't even reached the required output.
But because the person in question was Chu Feng, they couldn't help but hold onto that hope.
And then, Chu Feng formed hand seals. His power surged into the eye of the formation.
In that instant, the entire eye of the formation shuddered violently.
In the next moment, every young cultivator who could witness what was happening had their eyes go wide. And even those who couldn't see it felt their excitement surge.
Inside the formation's eye itself, even a blind person would have sensed it — the power of the formation had changed.
It was several times stronger than before!!!
"How did the formation's eye suddenly become so powerful?" those who didn't understand cried out in confusion.
Before long, word came streaming in from the distance.
"It's Chu Feng. Chu Feng has entered the formation's eye!"
That news spread like a surging tide, passed from person to person. In the blink of an eye, it had swept across the vast expanse of the formation's eye.
Everyone now knew that the formation's eye's surge in power was Chu Feng's doing.
And strangely, no one was particularly shocked by it.
After all, those ancient geniuses who had seemed so impossibly fearsome in their eyes had all been defeated by Chu Feng with ease.
Chu Feng was likely no longer just the strongest young cultivator in the Ancestral Martial Star River.
He was the strongest person in the Ancestral Martial Star River.
For a Chu Feng like that, there was seemingly nothing he could do that would be too surprising.
But compared to the others, Chu Feng himself found something unexpected.
The power of the formation's eye was formidable — even more so than he had anticipated.
He had already noticed that the defensive formation protecting the eye was no ordinary barrier. Even without his intervention, those attackers likely couldn't have broken through.
But the formidable power of the formation's eye was what told Chu Feng why.
As the formation's eye's power surged, the defensive formation's power was steadily climbing as well.
Yet what Chu Feng was doing went beyond simply that — he was engaging in comprehension, using the formation's eye's power to understand the entirety of the great formation.
At that moment, the Ancient Clans had also taken notice of the changes in the defensive formation.
"Puppet Master, what is going on? Why hasn't that defensive formation weakened — why has it grown stronger?"
A furious roar pierced the air, sharper than a peal of thunder.