Nangong Beidou wanted to kill the fake Chu Feng, but he made no move to do so—it was all an act.
"An ancestor is an ancestor after all. It seems the ancestor won't be showing himself. Four Great Imperial Clans, you can keep playing your little game."
Chu Feng smiled faintly. If Baili Xuankong had taken the bait, he would have acted immediately. But since Baili Xuankong still hadn't shown himself, he knew the old man wasn't coming.
If Baili Xuankong wasn't going to fall for it, then all the painstaking effort the Four Great Imperial Clans had put into this little play had been for nothing. Not only had it been for nothing, but they had also wasted considerable manpower and given Chu Feng an opportunity to escape.
So Chu Feng planned to seize this chance and use the talisman Zhang Ming had given him to slip away quickly.
Once he got out of here and evaded the various formations the Four Great Imperial Clans had set up, Chu Feng had plenty of ways to let Baili Xuankong know he had withdrawn safely. And at that point, with Baili Xuankong's abilities, the old man could withdraw just as safely.
"Nangong Beidou, if you dare lay a single finger on Chu Feng, I won't let it go!"
But just then, a furious shout rang out. Along with it, an imperial might erupted, condensing into a golden sword that hurtled straight toward Nangong Beidou.
"What?" At that shout, Chu Feng was startled. He turned toward the sound, and a figure entered his line of sight.
"Senior Hong Qiang?" Seeing this person, Chu Feng trembled even more. The one who had attacked was Hong Qiang.
And not the fake—this was the real Hong Qiang. The current Hong Qiang was no longer at the peak of Half-Emperor; he had reached first-grade Martial Emperor. It seemed he had successfully broken through his bottleneck and finally stepped into the Martial Emperor realm.
But with that level of cultivation, he was no match for Nangong Beidou whatsoever. Nangong Beidou flicked his sleeve, and all the martial power in the surroundings bent to his will, transforming into streaks of golden cyclones.
The cyclones swept outward, and the golden sword that Hong Qiang had become was tossed about like a maple leaf caught in the wind, spinning before shattering to pieces.
Then Nangong Beidou reached out and grabbed, snatching Hong Qiang into his hand.
By the time Hong Qiang fell into Nangong Beidou's grasp, he had already lost nearly all combat capability. It wasn't that he was weak—Nangong Beidou was simply too powerful.
"Damn it, truly a step short of victory." Chu Feng slapped his own thigh hard, furious at his own uselessness.
Baili Xuankong hadn't fallen for the trap, but he never expected that Hong Qiang would. And Chu Feng hadn't anticipated that Hong Qiang would come either.
This was his oversight. With Hong Qiang's temperament, the moment he learned Chu Feng was in danger, he would definitely come. How could he not have thought of that?
But dwelling on it now was pointless. Hong Qiang had been captured, and Chu Feng absolutely could not stand by and do nothing—otherwise Hong Qiang would surely be subjected to untold torment.
"Hahaha, Chu Feng, are you still not going to show yourself? Would you really watch as your senior here suffers a fate worse than death?" Sure enough, the moment Hong Qiang was captured, Nangong Beidou began calling out at the top of his lungs.
"What is Clan Head Nangong talking about? Isn't right there in his hand?" the crowd murmured in confusion.
It wasn't until Nangong Beidou released the fake Chu Feng in his grip that the impostor's body swayed, his features dissolving completely to reveal a figure shrouded in black.
The sight was repulsive. Though humanoid in shape, the figure looked as though it had been sculpted from mud—no nose could be seen, no mouth, only a pair of pupilless eyes. It was deeply unsettling.
"So it was a fake—it was transformed by a Hundred-Change Mud Puppet!"
"It was a stratagem after all—a scheme the Four Great Imperial Clans devised to capture Chu Feng!"
"I can't believe they even brought in a Hundred-Change Mud Puppet. The Four Great Imperial Clans really went all out to catch Chu Feng." The crowd came to a sudden realization.
And from their murmuring, Chu Feng also learned the origins of the so-called Hundred-Change Mud Puppet.
The Hundred-Change Mud Puppet was not actually a person. It was a rare natural treasure that had cultivated itself to perfection. Its strength was roughly on par with Yao'er's—both were first-grade Martial Emperors.