"Senior Hong Qiang, this pair of blades is quite nice. It suits you — please accept it." Chu Feng handed over the half-emperor weapon that a second-grade Martial Emperor had previously wielded.
After all, this was a weapon used by a second-grade Martial Emperor, so in terms of quality, it was among the better pieces of the seven half-emperor weapons Chu Feng had obtained. It was far from comparable to his Heavenly Immortal Sword, but it was on the same level as his Purple Rainbow Sword and Azure Rainbow Sword.
"This…" Hong Qiang was about to decline.
"Don't refuse. I have so many half-emperor weapons — if you don't want one, I'll just sell it anyway," Chu Feng said.
"In that case, I'll humbly accept your generous offer." Hong Qiang took the half-emperor weapon.
Although he was already a Martial Emperor, he didn't actually own a half-emperor weapon — after all, such weapons were extraordinarily rare. Only the Four Great Imperial Clans could possess so many of them. To his knowledge, even among the Nine Powers, the Sword Forging Manor, which held the largest collection of half-emperor weapons, only had three. As for the other forces among the Nine Powers, having two half-emperor weapons was already considered good, and some only had a single one, which was guarded by their sect master as a treasured relic passed down through generations.
And now, he himself had claimed an exclusive half-emperor weapon — and of such fine quality at that. How could he not be delighted?
Moreover, since the previous owner was dead, Hong Qiang could easily subdue the weapon and make it his own. Today, he had truly struck it rich.
"Despicable — using our clan's half-emperor weapons as personal gifts, and claiming he'll sell them?"
Watching Chu Feng take so many treasures into his possession and then casually hand them out right before their eyes, the members of the Four Great Clans gritted their teeth in envy, their eyes red with jealousy.
Those half-emperor weapons were the accumulated treasures of the Four Great Imperial Clans — gathered over countless ages, obtained through countless expeditions into ancient ruins, and paid for with the lives of innumerable experts.
Yet today, Chu Feng had swept them all away. They were unwilling to accept it.
In truth, the vast armies of the Four Great Imperial Clans had already surrounded Chu Feng and Hong Qiang from a distance.
But they only dared to encircle them from afar — no one dared to actually attack. At this moment, nearly all of the Four Great Clans' Martial Emperor-level fighters were being held in check elsewhere. Those below the second-grade Martial Emperor level were either dead or wounded, and even those still alive dared not approach Chu Feng. After all, Chu Feng was capable of killing even second-grade Martial Emperors — what first-grade Martial Emperor would dare fight him? That would be walking straight into death.
"If only I had ventured deeper into that grand hall that day — perhaps I could have obtained something capable of slaying a third-grade Martial Emperor. Then I could have freed the Old Ancestor."
After putting away his treasures, Chu Feng did not leave. Instead, he looked toward Baili Xuankong, who was fighting desperately in the distance.
He was filled with regret — regret that he hadn't pushed deeper into the hall opened by the dragon scales back in the ancient ruins. Though continuing onward would have been dangerous, and he might have been killed by that Qilin — it was only a possibility. There would still have been a slim chance of subduing it, since inside that hall, what mattered was one's talent.
That was surely better than standing here helplessly, watching the Snow-Haired Immortal, the Compass Fairy, and Baili Xuankong fighting tooth and nail to help him escape, while he himself could do nothing.
"Hong Qiang, what are you still standing there for? Get Chu Feng out of here!" Baili Xuankong saw that Chu Feng and Hong Qiang still hadn't fled and roared in fury.
"Chu Feng, let's go. Their battle — we can't interfere. Besides, they're all fighting for you. If you leave now, they may all manage to extricate themselves. But if you stay, you'll only drain their strength — you might even get them killed." With those words, Hong Qiang grabbed Chu Feng and moved to flee.
Hummm— However, the moment the two of them turned around, a golden barrier sprang into existence from every direction, sealing them both inside.