Previously, the teleportation formation meant to steal the Dragon Bead had yet to be activated — it still resided within Chu Feng's body.
Chu Feng first arrived at a place he deemed safe to serve as his teleportation point.
At the same time, he left behind a powerful teleportation talisman there, enabling a chain of successive teleports.
Only after completing all of this did Chu Feng make his way back toward the Ancestral Martial Realm's Sect City.
And as Chu Feng drew near once more, Jie Tianran had already grown impatient.
"Chu Feng, still refusing to show yourself? Do you really not care whether your friends live or die?"
As Jie Tianran's voice echoed through the air, the binding chains of the barrier surrounding everyone surged with tremendous force, and every single face contorted in pain.
"Jie Tianran!!!"
Chu Feng's voice thundered across the void as his hidden figure emerged from the starry sky.
In truth, Chu Feng was very far from Jie Tianran and the others.
Even his voice had to be amplified through the power of a talisman to reach them.
Otherwise, given his level of cultivation, his voice would never have carried all the way to where Jie Tianran and the rest were standing.
Upon hearing Chu Feng's voice, the Seven Worlds Sacred Palace's observation grand formation immediately locked onto his position.
Chu Feng's image was then fully projected before the crowd through the observation formation.
When they saw that Chu Feng had truly appeared, worry swept across the faces of Long Chengyu, Long Muxi, Xia Xingchen, and the others.
Chu Feng had shown kindness to every one of them, and each believed they owed him their lives. Even if they perished because of Chu Feng, they would not have feared it.
But if they were the ones to bring harm upon Chu Feng, that was something none of them were willing to accept.
Yet, under the control of the barrier chains, they could not so much as speak, nor could they transmit their voices in secret.
In fact, even if covert voice transmission had been possible, the great distance meant only those at the God King realm and the Heavenly Dragon realm could have pulled it off.
By contrast, the forces of the Seven Worlds Sacred Palace reacted in an entirely different manner.
They moved immediately to capture Chu Feng.
But Jie Tianran suddenly raised his hand, signaling them to stay put.
At this distance, even if he acted personally, he had no certainty of seizing Chu Feng.
Still, he was not panicked. On the contrary, the sight of Chu Feng's expression brought a hint of smug satisfaction to his face.
"Chu Feng, you've come." Jie Tianran said.
"Jie Tianran — the grudge between us has nothing to do with them, does it?" Chu Feng asked.
"They are your friends. It would only be natural for you to use them against me and against my Seven Worlds Sacred Palace. How could it have nothing to do with them?"
"Even if I were to kill them all today, I would be eliminating future threats for my Seven Worlds Sacred Palace."
At this point, Jie Tianran's tone shifted. "However, rest assured — I'm in a fine mood today and have no intention of starting a massacre."
"Even you, I can choose not to kill."
"Because I believe you're right. When it comes to planting versus stealing — planting is truly the more important matter."
As he spoke, Jie Tianran lightly hooked a finger.
Two chains dragged Jie Shanshan and Daoist Zhaixing to his sides, forcing them to kneel beside him.
These two, though they had already regained consciousness, were in wretched condition.
Under Jie Tianran's control, they had no power to resist whatsoever. Kneeling at his sides like dogs, they cut a pitiful figure.
But Jie Tianran showed not a shred of mercy. After sweeping his gaze over the two of them, the smirk on his face only deepened.
"If I hadn't tested my location-tracking talisman on them before, I would never have been able to round up all your allies in one fell swoop."
As Jie Tianran spoke, the corners of his lips curled upward, and the smugness on his face grew even more pronounced.
This made Chu Feng realize that he had, once again, underestimated Jie Tianran's methods.
According to Jie Tianran, planting the location-tracking Gu inside Daoist Zhaixing and Jie Shanshan had been nothing more than coincidence.
But he had indeed planted it in them.
And when they had been healing Daoist Zhaixing and the others, Long Zhuoyan had been present as well.
Though Long Zhuoyan's cultivation had severely regressed due to matters from the ancient era — far from her peak — she was still a top-tier Spirit World Master from that ancient time. Her experience and expertise went without saying.
Yet even she had failed to detect the location-tracking Gu that Jie Tianran had planted inside Daoist Zhaixing and Jie Shanshan.
That alone spoke volumes about how formidable Jie Tianran's methods truly were.