“Damn it.”
Finally, Chu Feng opened his eyes. He looked at the giant hand slowly descending from the void above. Two emotions flickered in his gaze: unwillingness, a refusal to let everything end like this, and despair.
Watching the colossal hand fall from the sky, Chu Feng knew it was a power he couldn’t possibly overcome, not at his current strength.
“It seems this is as far as I go.” Despite his reluctance, Chu Feng didn’t hesitate much. He took out a talisman paper, one previously given to him by Yuan Shu.
Activating the talisman, it transformed into a surge of energy that enveloped him. The energy quickly shrank, and soon both it and Chu Feng vanished.
At the same time, outside the formation, a surge of energy appeared beside Yuan Shu. Unlike within the barrier, where the energy had gone from large to small, here it started tiny and rapidly expanded. When it reached a certain size, it burst like a bubble, and Chu Feng’s figure emerged.
Notably, as Chu Feng appeared, the barrier gate returned to normal. It no longer reflected the inner world of the formation, reverting to its original state, as if deliberately hiding something from him.
“Brother Chu Feng, are you alright?” Yuan Shu hurried forward, concern in his voice. Though Chu Feng seemed fine outwardly, Yuan Shu wasn’t sure if his soul had been harmed.
“Brother Yuan, I’m fine,” Chu Feng said with a bitter smile. “It’s just that Master Tang Chen’s formation is too formidable. I couldn’t break it.”
“That formation is indeed too difficult. It’s tough on you,” Yuan Shu replied, a hint of guilt in his eyes. He knew it wasn’t Chu Feng’s incompetence but that the formation was designed to be unbreakable, a puzzle with no solution. Unless someone’s strength surpassed Master Tang Chen’s, cracking it was impossible. Chu Feng had been set up, and Yuan Shu felt deeply ashamed, yet he couldn’t betray his master, intensifying his guilt.
“I’ve lost this time, but I won’t give up easily. I’ll definitely break this formation,” Chu Feng said, his gaze resolute, showing his determination to conquer it.
“Brother Chu Feng, this formation can only be challenged once. If you fail, that’s it—no second chances,” Yuan Shu said.
“Brother Yuan, I know the rules. This time, I challenged it on behalf of Senior Ox-Nose. Next time, it’ll be for myself,” Chu Feng replied.
Yuan Shu sighed, unsure how to respond. Even if Chu Feng tried ten thousand times, he couldn’t break it.
They chatted a bit longer, and then Chu Feng decided to take his leave. Yuan Shu personally escorted him out of the Seven Suns Mountain Range. Before departing, Chu Feng seemed to remember something and turned back.
“By the way, Brother Yuan Shu, when Master Tang Chen returns, please thank him for me.”
But then his expression shifted, and he smiled. “Never mind. I’ll thank him myself when I get the chance. Brother Yuan Shu, farewell.”
With a clasped-fist salute, Chu Feng left the Seven Suns Mountain Range.
“What did Brother Chu Feng mean by that? Did he realise the formation was unbreakable?” Yuan Shu mused, watching Chu Feng’s departing figure. He didn’t linger, returning to the forbidden area and the entrance of the undefeatable formation.
“Master, Brother Chu Feng has left. Aren’t you going to show yourself?” Yuan Shu called out, his tone tinged with displeasure. He wanted to seek justice for Chu Feng. His intuition told him his master was still there, which is why he returned.
As expected, after his words, the nearby space trembled, and Master Tang Chen’s figure appeared. But contrary to Yuan Shu’s expectations, his master wasn’t triumphant. He looked dejected, as if he had suffered a setback. Approaching Yuan Shu, he collapsed to the ground with a thud, pulled out a pipe from his waist, lit it, and began puffing away.
Seeing this, Yuan Shu, who had intended to reproach his master, felt a pang of unease. He knew his master well—Tang Chen never smoked unless he was frustrated. Each time he did, it meant a significant setback.
“Master, what’s wrong? Did something happen?” Yuan Shu asked, stepping forward.
Tang Chen didn’t answer, continuing to puff on his pipe, which made Yuan Shu even more anxious. He had never seen his master like this.
Finally, Tang Chen set down the pipe. “I lost,” he said, his voice weak and lifeless.
“You lost?” Yuan Shu was confused.
“The seven world spirits were the formation’s ultimate secret. They devour the bloodline of the challenger, disrupting their mind and tormenting their soul. If they persist, their spirit collapses, they faint, and the challenge fails. But Chu Feng’s bloodline was too strong. It overwhelmed the seven spirits, shattering the formation’s ultimate secret,” Tang Chen explained.
“But didn’t that later phantom scare Brother Chu Feng into retreating?” Yuan Shu asked.
“No. When the seven spirits broke, he had already succeeded. Couldn’t you see? At that moment, he had taken control, becoming the master of the formation’s world,” Tang Chen said.
“Then what was that powerful phantom?” Yuan Shu pressed.
“I wasn’t willing to admit defeat, so I entered the formation’s core and infused my own power to force Chu Feng to concede,” Tang Chen admitted, then began puffing on his pipe again.
“So that was you, Master,” Yuan Shu said, understanding dawning.
Chu Feng had succeeded, but Tang Chen, unwilling to let him win, had used his own power to drive him out, making Chu Feng think he had failed. In truth, Chu Feng had triumphed.
No wonder his master was so defeated. He had boasted confidently that the formation was undefeatable, yet Chu Feng had broken it with relative ease, without great sacrifice. It was a formation Tang Chen had poured his heart into, his pride, yet Chu Feng had dismantled it so effortlessly.
Yuan Shu understood why his master was in such a state. If it were him, he’d feel just as bad.
