Chu Feng walked up to the mangled corpse of Tuoba Cheng’an, collecting his Qiankun bag and all the treasures on his body.
Even Tuoba Cheng’an’s origin essence wasn’t spared by Chu Feng.
Chu Feng collected the origin essence, intending to save it for Queen-sama to use in her cultivation once she awakened.
During the time Queen-sama was in seclusion, Chu Feng had maintained this habit.
For those with weaker cultivation, he would simply kill them.
But for those with strong cultivation, Chu Feng would seize their origin essence before killing them, preserving it for Queen-sama.
“Everyone, until we meet again.”
After collecting Tuoba Cheng’an’s origin essence, Chu Feng prepared to leave.
After all, saving this group of clansmen was merely a side act. He had no real connection with them, so he wasn’t concerned about their future plans.
“Sir, please wait.”
Just as Chu Feng was about to depart, an elderly voice suddenly called out from among the Underground Iron Beast Clan.
Chu Feng turned back to see that all the clansmen were still kneeling on the ground.
“Everyone, I’ve said before, I had a personal grudge with Tuoba Cheng’an. Even without you, I wouldn’t have let him go.”
“You don’t need to do this. Please stand up.” As Chu Feng spoke, he raised his arm.
With that gesture, the Underground Iron Beast Clan members rose to their feet, lifted by Chu Feng’s power.
However, after they stood, the elderly figure who had spoken earlier made a shocking move.
He raised one arm, then swiftly brought it down. With a squelch, he stabbed his own claw into his body.
Immediately after, an even more astonishing scene unfolded. All the Underground Iron Beast Clan members mimicked the elder, plunging their claws into their own bodies.
“What are you doing?”
Even Chu Feng was stunned by this sight.
Even if they were grateful to him, was self-harm necessary?
Could this be a unique ritual of the Underground Iron Beast Clan?
A way to express gratitude to someone who had done them a great favor by harming themselves?
Or perhaps, because Chu Feng wouldn’t let them kneel, they were upset?
And so, they resorted to this extreme act?
But no matter how he thought about it, it didn’t seem reasonable.
“Benefactor, today you saved our clan, preventing us from being wiped out.”
“For such a great kindness, our clan has nothing to repay you with.”
“We can only do our utmost to express our gratitude. Please, Benefactor, accept this.”
Squelch—
After the elder spoke, he pulled the claw from his body.
Squelch, squelch, squelch—
Immediately after, all the Underground Iron Beast Clan members pulled their claws out as well.
What Chu Feng saw next stunned him again.
He was shocked to find blood flowing from the wounds of the Underground Iron Beast Clan, but it wasn’t ordinary blood. The blood glowed with green light and carried a unique aura.
Chu Feng could tell at a glance that it contained the power of their bloodline.
Rather than blood, it was more accurate to call it their unique bloodline essence.
As the blood flowed out, all the Underground Iron Beast Clan members seemed to suffer severe injuries, becoming extremely weak.
Many even collapsed to the ground, lacking the strength to sit up.
This was understandable, as the bloodline was the foundation of a martial cultivator.
For ordinary people, bloodline power was uncontrollable.
The fact that they could control their bloodline power was already remarkable.
To extract it from their bodies was even more extraordinary.
Of course, forcibly releasing their bloodline power naturally caused great harm to their bodies.
Yet, despite this, the elder persisted.
Standing in place, he formed a peculiar hand seal, manipulating the blood released from his clansmen to float toward the formation used to refine the stone.
Buzz—
When the blood of the clansmen entered the formation, it immediately transformed, turning into a surging flame that shot skyward, striking the massive rock.
Under the impact of the flame, the rock not only shattered but turned directly into a gaseous flame.
Seeing the rock’s transformation, Chu Feng understood.
The Underground Iron Beast Clan’s actions had significantly enhanced the formation’s power.
At this moment, the formation’s power was strong enough to refine the entire massive rock.
And the refining process was incredibly fast.
However, at the same time, the formation’s power was gradually dissipating.
Fortunately, before the formation’s power completely faded, the massive rock was fully refined.
The power transformed from the rock was carefully collected by the elder into a special container, which he then presented to Chu Feng.
Seeing the container, Chu Feng understood what the elder meant by repayment.
Their repayment to Chu Feng was the power refined from that special rock.
“Benefactor, please accept it.”
The elder knelt before Chu Feng again.
And the clansmen, despite their extreme weakness, struggled to their feet and knelt before Chu Feng once more.
At this moment, they weren’t just thanking Chu Feng—they were pleading, begging him to accept their gift.
“It seems I have no choice but to accept.”
Chu Feng took the surging power and quickly said: “I’ve accepted it, so please stop kneeling.”
Even after Chu Feng spoke, the clansmen didn’t react.
It was only when the elder waved his hand that they stopped kneeling before Chu Feng.
It was clear that this elder held significant authority within the clan.
Chu Feng hadn’t guessed wrong—this elder likely held a position akin to the clan leader.
“Since you can directly refine that gemstone, why didn’t you do so? Why risk being beaten and sacrifice your clansmen by entering the formation to mine and refine it bit by bit?”
Chu Feng voiced the question that puzzled him.
“That Tuoba Cheng’an was ruthless and cruel.”
“He trapped us here precisely because he wanted the power within that stone.”
“As long as the bloodline stone remained, we still had value. But if it was gone, sigh…”
The elder didn’t finish, ending with a sigh filled with too much helplessness.
Hearing this, Chu Feng understood.
Tuoba Cheng’an was too ruthless. If the Underground Iron Beast Clan lost their value, their fate would surely be annihilation.
Tuoba Cheng’an would never release them to spread word of his atrocities.
No wonder the Underground Iron Beast Clan preferred to endure daily beatings and sacrifice their own rather than use their bloodline power to refine the giant stone directly.
After all, even such a wretched existence gave them a sliver of hope—at least their clan still survived.
