Under Chu Feng's formation, Feng Ling's condition grew better and better, while Zhao Feng's aura grew worse and worse.
Once the last of Zhao Feng's bloodline power had been burned away, his life came to an end.
Though he hadn't let out a single wail during the latter half, the way his mouth hung wide open and his eyes had rolled back—his face frozen in an expression of dying with deep regret—made it easy to imagine the kind of agony he had endured during the final stretch of his life.
But no one sympathized.
Even the people of the Prison Sect felt that Zhao Feng deserved to die.
Still, they were worried about their own situation.
Would Chu Feng really let them go?
At the same time, they feared whether the fact that they had helped Chu Feng deal with Zhao Feng could truly be kept secret.
If the Prison Sect or the Seven Realms Sacred Palace found out, how would they be punished?
But just at that moment, a covert voice transmission reached the ears of every Prison Sect member.
"Fellow friends, do not worry."
"We did indeed help Chu Feng activate the formation and kill Zhao Feng."
"But Zhao Feng was the root cause of this disaster—that is an indisputable fact."
"He deserved his death."
"Besides, Chu Feng also participated in the Prison Soldier Grand Formation."
"But he probably doesn't know how terrifying the backlash of the Prison Soldier Grand Formation truly is."
"Though I don't know what method Chu Feng used to manifest the Prison Infant into such a powerful existence and even take control of the Prison Soldier Grand Formation, the stronger the power, the more severe the backlash will inevitably be."
"Once the backlash strikes, Chu Feng will have no chance of escape."
The one transmitting the voice was the Ancient School elder who had been trading insults with Zhao Feng earlier.
The moment he spoke, the dejected Prison Sect members immediately perked up.
Though they had agreed to do Chu Feng's bidding without much thought—driven purely by the fear of death—if Chu Feng truly became trapped by the backlash, capturing him would count as earning merit to offset their crimes.
And that merit would be no small thing.
Whoosh— However, at that very moment, the blood-red aura that had blotted out the sky began to dissipate.
The Prison Soldiers they had unleashed transformed back into streams of blood-red energy and returned to their bodies.
Every single member of the Prison Sect collapsed to the ground as though they had lost all their strength.
They didn't let out wails or screams—they presumably weren't in pain—but they were as weak as people on the verge of death, and their bodies had visibly aged.
Backlash.
It had to be the backlash from activating the Prison Soldier Grand Formation.
But they weren't surprised. They had known this would be the consequence all along.
This was precisely why they had hesitated over whether to activate the Prison Soldier Grand Formation in the first place.
"Chu Feng, are you alright?"
Eggy's voice was filled with worry as it reached Chu Feng's ears.
Seeing the Prison Sect members in such a state, she was deeply concerned about Chu Feng's condition.
"I… I'm fine."
Chu Feng's Prison Infant had returned to his body, but he truly hadn't felt anything out of the ordinary.
"Oho, that's good then."
Upon hearing this, Eggy was initially surprised but quickly relaxed.
After all, Chu Feng was always able to achieve things that ordinary people couldn't, and Eggy had long grown used to it.
"Why… why are you fine?"
Just then, the elder from the Prison Sect stared wide-eyed at Chu Feng with extreme confusion.
Not just him—every member of the Prison Sect was staring at Chu Feng, their expressions just as colorful as the elder's.
After all, they had been hoping that Chu Feng would be incapacitated by the backlash, giving them the chance to capture him and earn merit to offset their crimes.
But with things as they were now, how could they earn any merit?
"Oh, I know what you're saying."
"You're wondering why I'm fine after activating that Prison Sect formation just now, aren't you?" Chu Feng asked.
"What else could I be asking?"
The elder was weak, but his voice was filled with agitation.
Seeing this, Chu Feng smiled and then said: "Normally, activating that grand formation is indeed not easy—but as long as you succeed, there shouldn't be any backlash to suffer."
"The reason you experienced backlash is that the Prison Infants within your bodies don't have a sufficient level of recognition toward you."
"Since the recognition is insufficient, you naturally cannot borrow their power as you please."
"You resorted to forceful means to activate the Prison Soldier Grand Formation and forcibly siphoned power from them."