That voice came from a dark-skinned man not far behind Chu Feng.
He was one of those who had entered this place alongside Chen Hui.
Chu Feng ignored him.
"I'm talking to you — did you hear me? Playing deaf, are you?"
"I'm warning you."
"If you steal the spotlight from Young Master Chen Hui, I'll cripple you myself."
The man continued to threaten him in secret.
After all this, it turned out he was afraid Chu Feng would steal Chen Hui's thunder.
"What a foul mouth this trash has. If it weren't for that old man being here, I, the Queen, would tear his mouth apart."
Egg clenched her small fists in fury. She couldn't tolerate anyone speaking to Chu Feng like that.
"Don't bother. This kind of scum will only dirty my Egg's hands."
"Don't lower yourself to his level."
As Chu Feng spoke, he continued merging with the local formations.
Chu Feng's speed didn't slow, but Chen Hui's pace began to lag.
"The New School — could they really have someone like this?"
Originally, Chen Hui hadn't bothered to examine Chu Feng closely. Even when Cang Li publicly praised him, Chen Hui had only glanced at him casually.
But now, he had no choice but to study this genius from the New School carefully.
Because once he merged with the fifteenth formation, he felt the difficulty skyrocket.
At this rate, forget about twenty — eighteen would likely be his limit.
Things went exactly as he predicted. After the eighteenth, he could merge no further.
By now, Chu Feng had merged with eighteen formations, the same as him.
"Chu Feng, why merge so many? If you truly surpass Chen Hui, you'll become the center of attention."
Egg warned him.
And her concern was far from unfounded.
When Chen Hui had reached his limit, practically every genius in the arena had reached theirs as well.
They had long since stopped merging formations.
Chu Feng had become the only person still merging formations in the entire venue.
The sole focus of everyone's attention.
"Egg, I'd like to keep a low profile too, but the more formations I merge, the more something feels off."
"It's not that they've hit their limit — it's that these Seven Realms Sacred Palace formations have a built-in restriction."
"The Seven Realms Sacred Palace must be hiding something."
"Only by breaking through the restriction can I grasp their true intentions."
With this thought, Chu Feng stopped hesitating. He reached out and grabbed — the nineteenth formation fell into his grasp.
"You damn bastard!!!"
"You just have to show off, don't you?"
"Young Master Chen Hui came here personally, and you dare steal his spotlight? Who do you think you are?"
"You dare continue merging? I'll chop off your hand."
The dark-skinned man's secret voice transmission struck again.
But Chu Feng paid him no mind and merged directly.
Then he reached out again — the twentieth formation was also absorbed into his body.
"As I thought. The Seven Realms Sacred Palace is up to no good." Chu Feng said to Egg.
"What are they hiding?" Chu Feng asked.
"A controlling force."
"A very hidden controlling force."
"Only by merging a certain number of formations and possessing extremely keen perception can one detect this controlling force."
"Sure, they set up these formations to control the power of the sacred artifact."
"But this method is far more than simply helping the Prison Sect."
Chu Feng said.
"That scoundrel grandfather of yours was always scheming — there's no way he'd just help the Prison Sect out of the goodness of his heart."
"It makes far more sense that he'd want to exploit the Prison Sect."
"Because that... is exactly his style."
Egg wasn't the least bit surprised.
"Come to think of it, there's a faint trace of Jie Tianran's aura here." Chu Feng said.
"So it really is your scoundrel grandfather's handiwork?"
Egg asked.
"Mm."
If before it was merely a guess — if he couldn't be certain whether Jie Tianran had come — then now, Chu Feng was certain.
Jie Tianran had come.
"Your grandfather may be a scoundrel, but there's something truly sinister about him."
"Chu Feng, how confident are you?"
"Is Li Wu's formation actually reliable?"
Egg began to grow somewhat worried.
Back in the Ancestral Martial Realm Sect's main city, if Chu Feng hadn't gained the recognition of the Ancestral Martial Realm Sect, then the one who would have suffered would have been Chu Feng himself.