"Little Fish, Brother Shaoyu, how much does your clan know about the Ancient Battle Clan?" Chu Feng asked.
After Little Fish and Xianhai Shaoyu relayed what they knew, Chu Feng gained a better understanding of the situation.
In the early era, when heroes vied for supremacy, records concerning the Ancient Battle Clan were exceedingly sparse.
The Ancient Battle Clan had always been a rather enigmatic force.
Later, an elder of the Immortal Sea Fish Clan happened to make the acquaintance of an elder from the Ancient Battle Clan through a chance encounter. That elder's name was Zhan Lianyue.
He knew of a ruin, and that ruin lay within the Immortal Sea Heavenly River, so he wished to cooperate with the Immortal Sea Fish Clan.
The Immortal Sea Fish Clan had never been an unreasonable faction. Though the Immortal Sea Heavenly River was their territory, they truly had no knowledge of that particular ruin.
So they agreed to the partnership and ventured forth together to unlock the ruin.
The ruin was opened without incident, and afterward the Ancient Battle Clan used Zhan Lianyue as a bridge, collaborating with the Immortal Sea Fish Clan on multiple occasions.
The cooperation between the two clans had been quite pleasant.
However, the Immortal Sea Fish Clan did not actually know the Ancient Battle Clan all that well. They only knew of several of the Ancient Battle Clan's outposts, not the location of the clan's main settlement.
They had, from beginning to end, never even met the patriarch of the Ancient Battle Clan.
"So do you know how strong the Ancient Battle Clan truly is?" Chu Feng asked again.
"The strongest member of the Ancient Battle Clan our clan has ever encountered was Elder Zhan Lianyue. His cultivation was at the Seventh-rank True God level," Xianhai Shaoyu said.
"Seventh-rank True God?"
"That doesn't seem all that impressive," Eggy remarked.
Chu Feng, meanwhile, gazed outward, surveying the array world in which they currently found themselves: "Based on what I can see right now, the Ancient Battle Clan's strength is absolutely far beyond the Seventh-rank True God level."
Just by observing this array world alone, Chu Feng could tell that the Ancient Battle Clan's foundation was extraordinarily deep.
"Big brother, what do you make of our current situation?" Little Fish asked Chu Feng telepathically.
She was, in truth, a bit anxious.
Although the Ancient Battle Clan and the Immortal Sea Fish Clan had maintained a decent relationship previously, it had ultimately been nothing more than a cooperative arrangement—in essence, a partnership built on mutual benefit.
And now they had very likely stumbled upon a secret that the Ancient Battle Clan wished to keep hidden from the outside world.
No one could be certain what the Ancient Battle Clan's true attitude toward them would be.
In fact, Xianhai Shaoyu had revealed their identities at the very first opportunity precisely so the Ancient Battle Clan would understand the powerful backing they had behind them.
Yet even so, Little Fish could not help but worry.
"Just watch and wait for now. There's no need to panic too much," Chu Feng said.
"This elder has a First-rank Heavenly Dragon cultivation, and he seems like a decent person. If the Ancient Battle Clan truly harbors any ill intentions toward us, I trust that elder won't stand by and watch us perish."
Chu Feng communicated this to Little Fish and Xianhai Shaoyu telepathically.
"A First-rank Heavenly Dragon? That's weaker than I expected," Xianhai Shaoyu whispered privately.
"This elder's cultivation has been damaged. He should have been much stronger before," Chu Feng explained.
"Oh, so that's how it is. I see."
"Still, a First-rank Heavenly Dragon is quite formidable in its own right. According to our clan's earlier assessments, although the Ancient Battle Clan is not weak, they have not reached the level of a dominant power within the Heavenly River."
"Although it was a cooperative relationship, the attitude the Ancient Battle Clan showed toward our clan was always one of great respect."
"So I suspect it's impossible for them to have anyone at the Heavenly God Realm," Xianhai Shaoyu said.
"Let's hope so."
The reason Chu Feng said this was that this powerful array world, combined with the treasure they had yet to lay eyes on, made him feel that things were not nearly so simple.
After all, even the weak offshoot of the Hundred Chain Mortal Realm had produced someone like Zhan Haichuan.
If this truly was the heartland of the Ancient Battle Clan, heaven only knew what manner of extraordinary prodigies might exist here.
Afterward, Chu Feng also asked Jie Shanxian for her thoughts on the situation, but Jie Shanxian had suddenly become tight-lipped and told Chu Feng nothing at all.
Before long, a vast cluster of figures appeared on the distant horizon, approaching with the speed of silver clouds.
Upon closer inspection, it was an army of ten thousand clad in silver armor, led by a young woman in a red dress with a stunning figure.
Though the red-dressed woman's voluptuous curves were quite eye-catching, her face was livid with fury.
Once she drew near, the silver-armored army surrounded the palace atop the mountain peak in a tight encirclement.
The red-dressed woman descended onto the peak, two elders following behind her, and strode toward the palace with an aggressive air.
"Miss Mudan."
The guards stationed there initially attempted to block her path.
But the red-dressed woman's eyes widened, and she spat out a single word: "Scram." The guards immediately stepped aside.
The next instant, with a resounding crash, the palace doors were kicked open. The red-dressed woman and the two elders burst inside.
None of them had concealed their cultivation. The red-dressed woman was a Fourth-rank Half God.
As for the two elders, they were Fifth-rank True Gods.
"Which two are from the Immortal Sea Fish Clan?" the red-dressed woman asked, scrutinizing Chu Feng and the others with the gaze one might use to examine prisoners.
Xianhai Shaoyu did not answer directly. Instead, his voice grew cold as he retorted: "And who might you be?"
The courtesy and politeness he had shown the elder moments before had completely vanished in that instant.
In this moment, Xianhai Shaoyu's entire demeanor had transformed—it was the bearing of the young master of the Immortal Sea Fish Clan.
This shift caused the two elders' expressions to change. Experience had taught them that this kind of presence could not be faked.
Their visitor was clearly someone of extraordinary origin.