Unbeknownst to Chu Feng, moments after his departure, a figure appeared in the space he had just left.
It was an old man dressed in a black robe, with long black hair. Despite his aged face, he exuded remarkable vitality.
Most striking was his demeanor, a rare aura of true immortal grace.
This was Master Tang Chen, the mentor of Master Yuan Shu and a close friend of Old Ox-Nose.
“Master, why didn’t you intervene directly to help him?”
“Brother Chu Feng is, after all, the disciple of Senior Ox-Nose. If something happened to him on your turf, Senior Ox-Nose might not be pleased, right?” Yuan Shu stepped forward and asked.
“Hmph, what does his disciple’s misfortune have to do with me?”
“Besides, I already saved him once before,” Master Tang Chen replied.
His voice was identical to that of the mysterious old man Chu Feng had encountered in the Tomb of the Demon-Slaying Emperor.
Indeed, it was Master Tang Chen who had single-handedly rescued Chu Feng from the Storm Hunters Clan and repelled their experts with ease.
“That doesn’t seem right. Should I go check on him?” Yuan Shu suggested.
“No, you’re not allowed to go.”
Yuan Shu’s words were met with a stern rebuke from Master Tang Chen.
“Are we really going to ignore him completely?” Yuan Shu asked.
“Yuan Shu, how have I taught you? Do you think you’re a savior, destined to save everyone?” Master Tang Chen questioned.
“Of course not. If I thought that way, I wouldn’t have stood by while those black-robed men massacred innocents or ignored the Red Robe Holy Land.”
“But Brother Chu Feng is different. He’s Senior Ox-Nose’s disciple, and I genuinely like the kid,” Yuan Shu said.
“No, absolutely not. If you intervene, I’ll sever all ties with you,” Master Tang Chen declared.
“Alright, alright, I won’t intervene. Master, please calm down. Don’t cut ties with me—I still need your protection!” Yuan Shu said, though his tone was playful, his face grinning.
While he carried himself with authority in front of others as Master Yuan Shu, before his master, he was like a child.
This showed the deep bond between the two.
“This is also a test for him.”
“The treasures in the Ancient Blood Refining Pool were taken by me long ago.”
“Now, that pool is just an empty secret realm, with no benefits left.”
“Because of this, the protective forces guarding the Ancient Blood Refining Pool are far weaker than before.”
“If that kid named Chu Feng can’t even handle this weakened Ancient Blood Refining Pool, how can he hope to break that formation?”
“If he can’t manage this, he’s not worth saving. Let Old Ox-Nose find a new disciple,” Master Tang Chen said.
“Master, the Ancient Blood Refining Pool may be easy for you, but for Brother Chu Feng, it’s no simple task. Even I might not handle it,” Yuan Shu replied.
“What did you say? You can’t even deal with the Ancient Blood Refining Pool?”
“After all my years of training you, this is your level of skill?”
“If you can’t handle it, then get lost. Don’t bother trying to break Old Ox-Nose’s formation and embarrass me,” Master Tang Chen said, now visibly angry.
“Master, I was wrong, I was wrong!”
Seeing this, Yuan Shu dropped his playful demeanor and hurriedly tried to placate his master.
…
Meanwhile, Chu Feng and Yin Zhuanghong were already on their way to the Ancient Blood Refining Pool.
“Chu Feng, did you really meet Master Yuan Shu? Did he actually tell you there’s another entrance to the Ancient Blood Refining Pool?” Yin Zhuanghong asked along the way.
She was shocked, as the Ancient Blood Refining Pool had always been under the control of her Red Robe Holy Land.
No one should know more about it than her sect.
Yet Chu Feng was now telling her there was another entrance, something she’d never heard of before, which naturally left her stunned.
“Master Yuan Shu wouldn’t lie to me,” Chu Feng said, far more certain than the skeptical Yin Zhuanghong that there was indeed another entrance.
Soon, they arrived at a jungle filled with numerous natural springs, one of which was the entrance Yuan Shu had described.
Following the map’s guidance, Chu Feng located the exact spring.
“This is it,” Ye Xuan said, pointing at the spring.
“Are you sure you haven’t get tricked? My eyes see nothing special,” he remarked.
“Whether I was tricked or not, we’ll know once we go in.”
With that, Chu Feng leapt into the spring. Seeing no other option, he followed closely behind.
At first, the spring seemed ordinary, but as they descended, they encountered a divergence.
Deep within, a small cave appeared, filled with water—not ordinary water, but water that was red.
As Chu Feng entered, a pungent smell of blood wafted from the red water.
Most strikingly, Chu Feng could confirm it was indeed water, not blood.
Though it wasn’t blood, its appearance and smell were indistinguishable from it.
