“But, Sister, is that beast really so hard to refine?” Chu Feng soon asked, a hint of worry in his eyes.
The fact that the shadow had previously suppressed Bai Liluo’s consciousness, taken control, poisoned the Clan Chief, and framed Chu Feng showed just how formidable it was.
“Don’t worry. I was careless before, letting it slip through the cracks.”
“This time, I’ve completely subdued it. Refining it is just a matter of time—it has no chance of turning the tables,” Bai Liluo reassured him.
“Speaking of which, I should thank you,” she added.
“Thank me?” Chu Feng looked puzzled.
“If I hadn’t wanted to clear your name, I wouldn’t have unleashed such power to suppress that beast. So, of course, I owe you my thanks,” Bai Liluo explained.
Hearing this, Chu Feng’s heart warmed.
Her words revealed how much she valued him.
Given Bai Liluo’s personality, treating him this way showed she truly saw him as family.
With their decision made, Chu Feng and Bai Liluo immediately set off for the Wuma Heavenly Clan. Chu Feng didn’t inform Chu Xuanzhengfa—if he had, Chu Xuanzhengfa would surely have stopped him. Instead, he left a letter.
The letter simply stated he had business to attend to, without specifying what.
Though no one in the Chu Heavenly Clan noticed Chu Feng and Bai Liluo’s departure, not everyone was oblivious.
At that moment, beyond the Chu Heavenly Clan’s borders, several figures hid in the void.
They were from the Starfield Main Realm. Wuming Gangxiong was among them, as was Wuming Fenghuo.
Watching the direction in which Chu Feng and Bai Liluo vanished, a ruthless glint flashed in Wuming Gangxiong’s eyes. “Lord Fenghuo, like father, like son—Chu Feng is no pushover. Why not kill him now, nip it in the bud, and eliminate future trouble?”
“Nip it in the bud? Are you out of your mind?” Wuming Fenghuo’s eyes flared with displeasure. He shot Wuming Gangxiong a sharp glare before waving a hand, signaling the other Starfield Main Realm members to withdraw.
Once they were gone, only Wuming Gangxiong and Wuming Fenghuo remained.
“My Lord, did I say something wrong?” Wuming Gangxiong, though older than Wuming Fenghuo, trembled in his presence, fearful of having offended him.
“If we kill Chu Feng, do you think Chu Xuanyuan will just sit back?” Wuming Fenghuo asked.
“My Lord, Chu Xuanyuan was no match for our clan back then. After years imprisoned in that Chu Heavenly Clan forbidden land, his cultivation must have regressed—he’s a broken man now. Why fear him?” Wuming Gangxiong countered.
“A starved camel is still bigger than a horse, let alone the fact that Chu Xuanyuan isn’t even dead.”
“There’s something you don’t know yet, but it’s time you did,” Wuming Fenghuo said.
“For years, our clan has secretly monitored the Chu Heavenly Clan’s forbidden land where Chu Xuanyuan is held. We’d occasionally check on him.”
“In the early years, on the surface, his cultivation did seem to be declining.”
“But now, that forbidden land is sealed off. The barrier is so strong that even six of our Lords together couldn’t break it. Imagine the kind of power that implies,” Wuming Fenghuo revealed.
“My Lord, does that mean Chu Xuanyuan’s cultivation hasn’t regressed at all—it’s actually advanced?”
Wuming Gangxiong’s face paled with panic.
Those six Lords were all Supreme Realm experts. A barrier that even their combined strength couldn’t breach hinted at an unimaginable force.
“We were likely deceived by Chu Xuanyuan. That forbidden land didn’t weaken him at all. The six Lords suspect he may have already left it.”
“That man has returned alongside his son,” Wuming Fenghuo said.
“Returned?”
At those words, Wuming Gangxiong’s body trembled uncontrollably, his hair standing on end in an instant.
“Do you think I came to the Chu Heavenly Clan for no reason? I heard Chu Feng was back, so I wanted to see what kind of person Chu Xuanyuan’s heir is—to gauge whether Chu Xuanyuan himself has returned,” Wuming Fenghuo explained.
“My Lord, so we were truly duped by the Chu Heavenly Clan back then? Chu Xuanyuan wasn’t punished—he was cultivating in seclusion?” Wuming Gangxiong’s eyes widened in terror.
He wasn’t a coward, but he knew exactly what the name Chu Xuanyuan meant.
That was a terrifying man.
Perhaps others in the Ancestral Martial Starfield only knew of Chu Xuanyuan’s fearsome reputation secondhand, without truly understanding it.
But Wuming Gangxiong understood it all too well.
It was precisely because of Chu Xuanyuan’s terror that the Starfield Main Realm saw him as a thorn in their side.
“It’s almost certain we were deceived,” Wuming Fenghuo confirmed.
“Despicable bastard! If we’d known, we shouldn’t have given him a chance back then—we should’ve wiped him out completely,” Wuming Gangxiong growled.
“Do you think the Domain Lord didn’t want to eliminate Chu Xuanyuan back then?”
“In that battle, though the Domain Lord won, it was a narrow victory. He sensed Chu Xuanyuan still had an unused trump card—a power unknown but enough to make even the Domain Lord wary,” Wuming Fenghuo said.
“So, it wasn’t that the Domain Lord spared Chu Xuanyuan—it’s that he couldn’t eliminate him?” Wuming Gangxiong asked, stunned.
“Exactly,” Wuming Fenghuo nodded.
“My Lord, if the Domain Lord couldn’t kill Chu Xuanyuan back then, what about now? Doesn’t that mean…?” Wuming Gangxiong grew increasingly fearful.
“Back then, though we monitored the Chu Heavenly Clan and saw Chu Xuanyuan as a threat, we never fully broke ties. The Domain Lord left room for reconciliation.”
“If we’d gone all out, given Chu Xuanyuan’s nature, he’d have struck back long ago.”
“Since he hasn’t acted against us, it suggests he didn’t truly take that past incident to heart,” Wuming Fenghuo reasoned.
“Didn’t take it to heart?” Wuming Gangxiong didn’t buy it. He distinctly remembered Chu Xuanyuan as a man who always settled scores.
“My Lord, could we be overthinking this? What if that barrier is just a self-preservation tactic—maybe he used some supreme treasure to create it?”
“Perhaps he’s making us think he’s grown stronger, to deter us from targeting his son?” Wuming Gangxiong offered his theory.
“That’s possible, but I think it’s unlikely,” Wuming Fenghuo replied.
“It seems we never truly eliminated the threat of Chu Xuanyuan,” Wuming Gangxiong sighed.
“Chu Xuanyuan is a threat—no doubt about that. Whether then or now, he’s a force we can’t ignore.”
“But right now, the Starfield Main Realm’s real threat isn’t Chu Xuanyuan—it’s the Linghu Heavenly Clan,” Wuming Fenghuo said.
At the mention of the Linghu Heavenly Clan, Wuming Gangxiong’s brows furrowed, his worry deepening.
As a member of the Starfield Main Realm, how could he not know of the Linghu Heavenly Clan’s growing ambitions?
What worried him most was that the Linghu Heavenly Clan had already gained momentum. Even if the Starfield Main Realm realized the danger, it might be too late.
A clash between the Starfield Main Realm and the Linghu Heavenly Clan was inevitable.
Wuming Fenghuo was right—if there was still a sliver of room to mend things with Chu Xuanyuan, there was none left with the Linghu Heavenly Clan.
This battle couldn’t be avoided.
Even if the Starfield Main Realm wanted to, the Linghu Heavenly Clan wouldn’t allow it.
