Chu Feng was about to speak when a force erupted from within his body, binding him in place.
It was Egg!!!
"Egg, you..."
Chu Feng was stunned. He hadn't expected Egg to be able to restrain him directly without his consent.
"Chu Feng, you're no match for him right now. Even if you want revenge, now is not the time. Staying alive is what matters. Don't provoke him any further," Egg said to Chu Feng.
Under Egg's binding force, not only was Chu Feng unable to move, he couldn't even speak — not even through secret voice transmission.
And in the eyes of that golden-haired young man, Chu Feng's silence at this moment was nothing but cowardice.
The young man burst into hearty laughter, then tossed out a single remark.
"Coward."
"Scram."
With that, the golden-haired youth and all of his companions vanished completely, leaving behind not even a trace of their aura.
Seeing this, Long Moxiao and Long Mochuan hurriedly took Chu Feng and Long Mucheng and left the area.
Fearing that something unexpected might happen, even after flying out of the underground world, they didn't dare linger.
At that point, Egg also released the binding on Chu Feng.
Egg's voice, tinged with apology, echoed in Chu Feng's ears at the same time: "Chu Feng, I'm sorry. I restrained you without your permission."
"Silly, what are you saying? I know you did it for my own good." Egg smiled — of course he wouldn't blame Egg.
Since everyone had been far too tense, no one had noticed anything off about Chu Feng moments earlier.
Chu Feng, for his part, offered some reassurance.
"It's fine now. We're safe."
"What if he was only toying with us? What if he never really intended to let us go?"
She looked at Chu Feng, genuinely terrified.
But her worry wasn't unfounded.
After all, beings of that caliber — if they changed their minds, as long as everyone was still in the Golden River Upper Realm, they could be dragged back at any moment.
That was exactly why Long Mochuan was pushing himself to travel at full speed, with only Long Moxiao tending to Long Mucheng's injuries.
They had to leave this world as quickly as possible.
Fortunately, everything went smoothly. Chu Feng and the others successfully entered the teleportation formation and soon departed the Golden River Upper Realm.
Moreover, though Long Mucheng's injuries were serious, they hadn't damaged her foundations. With Chu Feng and Long Moxiao working together, Long Mucheng soon regained consciousness.
"The Lord's powers of observation truly are extraordinary. He was right — the changes in the Golden River Upper Realm really are dangerous."
"Sigh, with a monster like that lurking there, how could it possibly be safe?"
Long Mucheng laughed as she spoke, her spirits remarkably good. Though she had only just woken and didn't even have the strength to stand, learning that they had escaped unharmed and that her cultivation had been preserved filled her with relief.
"Elder, was the Lord who first told you about this place an elder of the Dragon Breath Clan?" Chu Feng asked curiously.
When the Lord Long Mucheng spoke of had discovered this place, the ancient mine had yet to appear — in other words, that powerful clan hadn't yet set up the refining formation.
Before that powerful clan wanted to expose itself, discovering the underground world within the Golden River Upper Realm would have been extraordinarily difficult.
"Well now, that's a secret."
"All I can say is that the Lord was someone truly remarkable," Long Mucheng said with a smile. But soon she was wincing as she looked at Long Moxiao. "No, no, no — it hurts too much. Give me some pain-relief pills."
"Mucheng, this is a formation provided by young friend Chu Feng. He says that if you avoid pain-relief pills and formations, your recovery will actually be faster," Long Moxiao said.
"Really?" Long Mucheng looked at Chu Feng.
"That's right, Elder. Although your injuries aren't life-threatening, they are quite severe, and normal recovery would be slow."
"My formation is rather special — it can help you recover more quickly. Just bear with it," Chu Feng said.
"Sigh... fine then." Long Mucheng closed her eyes and chose to endure the pain.
Seeing Long Mucheng like this brought a great deal of relief to the heavy atmosphere that had been weighing on everyone.