"Forget it, stop overthinking it. As they say, you live and you learn — just treat this as a lesson. Right now, it's not safe here, so we should head back to the Misty Immortal Peak as soon as possible."
Qiu Shui Fu Yan urged him, but then muttered to herself, "What are two people from the Sacred Land of Martial doing here all of a sudden? I get the feeling they have some kind of agenda. I just hope they don't drag us into their mess."
Hearing her words, Chu Feng couldn't help but think of that woman called Dantai Xue. He suddenly realized that someone so powerful yet so obscure was probably not from the Eastern Sea Region either — most likely she too had come from the Sacred Land of Martial.
However, Chu Feng wasn't too worried. If anything, a faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Sure, the arrival of people from the Sacred Land of Martial was likely to cause a massive upheaval in the Eastern Sea Region. But if the Sacred Land of Martial could reach the Eastern Sea Region, then that also meant the Eastern Sea Region could reach the Sacred Land of Martial.
Whether this was a blessing or a curse remained to be seen.
With that, Chu Feng returned to the Misty Immortal Peak with Qiu Shui Fu Yan. To be on the safe side, they took a longer route to avoid running into anyone from the Immortal Execution Archipelago again.
Fortunately, nothing else went wrong, and Chu Feng and Qiu Shui Fu Yan arrived safely at the Misty Immortal Peak.
When they returned, the Misty Fairy was still in seclusion refining medicine. As for Qiu Shui Fu Yan, this battle had given her new insights, and she planned to go into seclusion at the Misty Immortal Peak to attempt a breakthrough to the second-grade Martial King realm.
This wasn't Qiu Shui Fu Yan's first attempt at breaking through to this realm. She had already tried a full sixteen times before, all without success. But this time, she said she had gained a great deal of understanding and would most likely succeed.
As for Chu Feng, he had no intention of leaving the Misty Immortal Peak either. Things were far too chaotic outside — people from the Sacred Land of Martial had actually appeared, and they seemed to be aligned with the Immortal Execution Archipelago. Right now, only the Misty Immortal Peak could guarantee their safety.
At the same time, Chu Feng had been mulling over a certain problem. The Netherworld Lamp had already issued orders for the Dark Night Demon Sect to sever all ties with him. So how was he supposed to find Fu Liansheng? That was a major dilemma.
Moreover, having witnessed so much treachery and deceit by now, Chu Feng no longer dared to be certain whether Fu Liansheng was truly trustworthy. At this rate, the hope of rescuing Qiu Canfeng was becoming ever more remote — not only would he be putting himself in ever greater danger, but his loved ones could very well be dragged into it as well.
"Chu Feng-gege!" That day, as Chu Feng was still pondering this very issue, Zi Ling's sweet, gentle voice suddenly rang out from beyond the door.
"Well, well, you're all here." He opened the door and broke into a broad smile, because it wasn't just Zi Ling standing there — Su Rou, Su Mei, Zhang Tianyi, and Jiang Wu Shang had all come as well.
These were the people closest to Chu Feng's heart, the ones he cared about most in this world.
After entering Chu Feng's quarters, the group didn't rush to sit down. Instead, they exchanged glances with one another, and from the way they were nudging each other with their eyes and expressions, Chu Feng could tell that they were each trying to push someone else into doing something.
Seeing this, Chu Feng smiled faintly and said, "You have something you want to tell me, don't you?"
"That's right, Brother Chu Feng! Zi Ling has something she wants to say to you." Jiang Wu Shang was quick to chime in with a cheerful grin.
"Exactly, exactly! Sister Zi Ling has something to discuss with you." Zhang Tianyi chimed in as well, beaming.
"You two…"
At their shameless behavior, Zi Ling pouted in annoyance and turned her gaze toward Su Rou and Su Mei.
But to her surprise, Su Rou and Su Mei just stood there giggling and said nothing on her behalf — clearly, these two also wanted Zi Ling to be the one to speak up first.
"Zi Ling, whatever you have to say, just say it straight out. What's there to hold back between us?" Chu Feng was sharp enough to see at a glance that it was the group who had something to discuss with him — and something that wasn't easy to bring up, at that.
"Chu Feng-gege, did you know that the Heavenly Path leading to the Sacred Land of Martial will be opening in a few months?" Since Chu Feng had said as much, Zi Ling stopped hesitating and spoke directly.
"Oh? The Heavenly Path is opening? I actually didn't know that." This took Chu Feng by surprise. Ever since arriving in the Eastern Sea Region, he had focused almost entirely on rescuing Zi Ling and Qiu Canfeng, and hadn't paid much attention to the Heavenly Path at all.
"The Heavenly Path opens every year, but now that we're in the Eastern Sea Region, there's no real reason for us to stay any longer. Actually, the reason we came to see you today is because we want you to go through the Heavenly Path with us," Zi Ling continued.
"Go through the Heavenly Path? You're planning to head to the Sacred Land of Martial this year?" Chu Feng was taken aback. He did have the Sacred Land of Martial as his goal, and the Heavenly Path was something he considered a necessary route — he believed it very likely held the key to the mystery of his origins.
But Chu Feng had never expected to enter the Heavenly Path so soon, because there was still one matter he hadn't resolved: he hadn't yet rescued Qiu Canfeng.
"Brother Chu Feng, didn't we all agree before that we'd go to the Sacred Land of Martial together? Now is the time." Seeing Chu Feng's hesitation, Jiang Wu Shang spoke up.
"Junior Brother Chu Feng, staying in the Eastern Sea Region benefits us in no way. Rather than living on edge in this dangerous place, we'd be better off going to the Sacred Land of Martial to broaden our horizons," Zhang Tianyi added.
"Yeah, Brother Chu Feng, didn't you and Senior Qiu Shui say you'd already seen those people from the Sacred Land of Martial? We weren't able to see them for ourselves, but from the way you described them, it's clear that the people of the Sacred Land of Martial are truly no match for anyone from the Eastern Sea Region."
"We're all from the same generation, yet while we're still stuck at the Heaven Martial stage, they're already Martial Kings. You can well imagine — the Sacred Land of Martial is the real breeding ground for geniuses. We shouldn't keep sitting at the bottom of a well staring at the sky. It's time we went out there and made our mark." Jiang Wu Shang's face was filled with longing.
"You all know why I came back to the Eastern Sea Region." Chu Feng looked troubled.
"Of course we do. But Brother Chu Feng, the Dark Night Demon Sect has treated you with neither loyalty nor righteousness. There's really no need for you to keep working for them. Whatever happens to them — whether they live or die — just let it be," Zhang Tianyi urged.
"I know that Chu Feng-gege is a very reasonable person. After how the Dark Night Demon Sect treated him, he must be furious deep down. But the fact that he won't leave means there must be something he can't let go of. Chu Feng-gege, am I right?" At that moment, Zi Ling spoke up once more.
Chu Feng nodded with gratitude at her words. "The way the Dark Night Demon Sect treated me, I certainly have no reason to concern myself with them anymore. But I swore an oath to Qiu Canfeng — one of the four great protectors of the Dark Night Demon Sect and my master — that I would rescue him. I can sever my ties with the Dark Night Demon Sect completely, but I cannot abandon my own master, Qiu Canfeng."
"So if we rescue Qiu Canfeng, you'll be able to cut ties with the Dark Night Demon Sect for good?" As soon as Chu Feng finished speaking, a faint voice suddenly sounded from beyond the door, laced with a smile.
Chu Feng looked outside and was immediately stunned.