Before long, Wei Qing returned with a young man in tow.
The young man cut a decent enough figure, though his hooked nose and the unmistakable dark circles under his eyes ruined the overall impression. His aura was unsteady and shallow—the look of a man who had indulged in wine and women until all his strength was nothing but a facade.
When he arrived, the young man was trembling from head to toe, his face deathly pale, swallowing nervously over and over again. His eyes, fixed on Chi Huo, overflowed with terror and dread.
Although he had already reached the Return to Void Stage, he cowered behind Wei Qing like an ordinary man without the strength to truss a chicken, seeking shelter and daring not face Chi Huo's majesty head-on.
Chi Huo glanced at him and let out a cold snort. The contempt and disdain on his face were unmistakable.
"Grand Elder, I've brought Feng'er here," Wei Qing said, his voice hoarse.
"Very well. You may withdraw," Chi Huo waved him off.
Wei Qing opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end the words never came. He simply sighed, glanced back at his son, shook his head slowly, and departed at a swift pace.
Wei Feng panicked immediately. He stared desperately at his father's retreating back and called out in a tearful voice, "Father…"
"Silence!" Chi Huo barked.
Wei Feng flinched so hard he nearly collapsed to the ground in a heap. He twisted around to look at Chi Huo in terror, his face going even paler than before.
He had absolutely no idea why the Grand Elder had summoned him. Within the Flame Radiance Sect, his status was anything but ordinary—he had always been able to do whatever he pleased by riding on his father's authority and power. But here, in front of the Grand Elder, he was nothing. Less than nothing.
If the Grand Elder wanted to kill him, not even his father could stop it.
"G-Grand Elder… Elder… this disciple has been… has been secluded in cultivation inside the sect these past days and hasn't committed… committed any offence! Please see clearly, Grand Elder, and don't kill… kill me!" Wei Feng suddenly broke into wailing sobs, dropped to his knees with a thud, and blurted out the words in a stammer. Between each plea he kowtowed so hard that his skull cracked against the stone floor with loud, dull bangs.
The contempt and revulsion in Chi Huo's eyes deepened.
Beside them, Luo Hai shook his head slowly and frowned. "Wei Qing is hardly a wasted talent—he could be a pillar of the Flame Radiance Sect in the future. But how did his son turn out like this?"
"Spoiled mothers breed worthless sons!" Chi Huo snorted coldly. He glared at Wei Feng and shouted, "Stand up, you useless thing!"
Wei Feng yelped and scrambled to his feet in a hurry, but he still hunched his shoulders. He could not stop the tears from streaming down his face even as he forced out a fawning smile, gazing at Chi Huo with desperate, pathetic eyes. The result was uglier than crying.
"Straighten your spine, you worthless waste!" Chi Huo's patience was long gone. He strode forward and slapped Wei Feng across both cheeks.
Two crisp cracks rang out. Wei Feng felt as though his entire face had been obliterated, going completely numb.
Chi Huo was a Void King Realm powerhouse. Even without channeling any real force, a pair of casual slaps from him could have shattered Wei Feng's body into pieces. Fortunately, Wei Feng still had some use to Chi Huo, so there was no way he would be killed here.
Gripping Wei Feng by the neck like a chick, Chi Hoist him into the air and said in a cold voice, "Boy, you're in luck. Didn't you take a fancy to some Ice Heart Valley girl? I'm taking you to Ice Abyss Island right now to claim her!"
"What?" Wei Feng blinked, staring at Chi Huo in blank confusion. He clearly hadn't expected the Grand Elder to summon him over something like this.
After a moment of stunned silence, Wei Feng was overcome with joy. "Is the Grand Elder serious?"
Su Yan's exquisite face—delicate as if carved from ice and jade—flashed through his mind. A flush of heat rushed through his body.
"When has the Grand Elder ever joked with you?" Chi Huo let out a sinister laugh.
"But… but what if Ice Heart Valley refuses?" Wei Feng asked.
"Refuse? They won't dare. You are, after all, the son of my Flame Radiance Sect Master—a position of extraordinary standing. Taking a fancy to one of their female disciples is their good fortune. Give it whether they want to or not!"
"Yes, yes, of course…" The excitement and elation in Wei Feng's heart completely swallowed his fear of Chi Huo. He nodded eagerly, already fantasizing about the blissful scenes that would follow once he had Su Yan in his grasp. His face went slack with a dopey, lovestruck grin.
Luo Hai watched from the side with a faint, detached expression, shaking his head slowly.
He knew perfectly well why Chi Huo was doing this. It was nothing more than a pretext to pressure Ice Heart Valley into submission.
Chi Huo also intended to borrow his strength, which was why he had earlier spoken of borrowing the tiger's威势. But Luo Hai didn't care. The power struggles on Red Lan Star were none of his concern. He had come here solely for Yang Kai. If Chi Huo wanted to use his reputation as a banner, let him. Luo Hai would feast on the meat—he could hardly begrudge Chi Huo a sip of the soup, so long as Chi Huo didn't pry into the real reason he was searching for Yang Kai.
"Brother Luo Hai, let's go!" Chi Huo called, holding Wei Feng up by the neck with one hand.
Luo Hai nodded. The two of them transformed into streaks of light and vanished on the spot, hurtling toward Ice Abyss Island, ten million miles away.
Ice Abyss Island. The outer island.
Yang Kai sat in meditation inside a pavilion, racking his brains over how he could manage to meet Su Yan.
There was no way he could set foot on the inner island. If he wanted to see the beauty, Su Yan would have to come to the outer island herself.
But he soon realized Su Yan showed no intention of coming to see him. Her aura remained fixed at a single point somewhere deep within the inner island.
Was she at a critical juncture in her cultivation, unable to move freely? Yang Kai puzzled over it endlessly. If she weren't at such a critical stage, Su Yan would surely come to see him no matter what.
What Yang Kai couldn't have guessed was that Su Yan wasn't at any critical juncture at all. She had been placed under house arrest by Ran Yunting.
But since he had already arrived at Ice Abyss Island and knew that Su Yan was only a few hundred miles away, Yang Kai was no longer in a hurry.