Under the explanation of the surrounding crowd, he soon understood what happened.
As it turned out, a poisonous creature had suddenly appeared in the midst of the jungle. It spanned a hundred meters in length, and it had an ugly appearance. It dispersed its poison over the entire area, poisoning everyone living in the region.
Aside from the poisonous creature, there was also a stone tablet too. The stone tablet said that the poisonous creature was the retribution toward the people living in the area, but a savior would descend to save them too.
âMilord, please save us!â
After recounting the story to Chu Feng, the crowd began pleading desperately once more. All of them harbored no doubt that Chu Feng was the prophesied savior who would save their lives.
âWhereâs the poisonous creature?â Chu Feng asked.
âItâs located in the depths of the forest. We donât know the exact location.â
âYou should calm down for the time being. To tide through this crisis, we need to tackle the problem by its root. Iâll look for the poisonous creature, find the remedy from it, and save all of you,â Chu Feng said.
âHold it right there!â
Unexpectedly, a man suddenly stepped forward to halt Chu Fengâs path.
âYour flesh and blood is the cure to our poison. If you arenât willing to help us, just say so. Why do you have to make up such excuses to fool us?â
The man pointed his finger at Chu Feng as he bellowed angrily.
His words stoked the feelings of quite a few people present, who quickly stepped forward to surround him.
âMy flesh and blood can cure the poison, but thereâs clearly not enough to go around to everyone. If I die while trying to cure all of you, what are you going to do if the poisonous creature poisons you once more?â Chu Feng replied.
âI donât care. Heaven sent you down here to save us, so you have to do it even if you die.â
Those people blocking Chu Fengâs path were unyielding. Their attitude was so overbearing that it was likely that they would slice off Chu Fengâs flesh for themselves if the latter were to turn them down.
âThese bastards are really courting death. Let me out! Iâll show them what true despair looks like!â Eggy spat through gritted teeth.
âMilady Queen, this is a trial to assess Chu Fengâs kindness. Chu Feng, you should just bear with them,â Yu Sha tried to counsel Chu Feng.
But instead of letting Eggy out or heeding Yu Shaâs advice, Chu Feng sneered coldly and said, âDo all of you share the same thoughts as them? Do you think that Iâm obliged to sacrifice myself for all of you? I donât know any of you, so why should I give up my life for you?â
âI think Milord is right. If we wish to purge the poison, we have to find the root of the problem first. Otherwise... even if Milord saves all of us today, we might still be inflicted with the poison and die from it in the future.
âBesides, Milord doesnât owe us anything. Thereâs no reason why he should sacrifice himself for us. We shouldnât be asking him to do such a thing for us. So, please calm down and listen to his orders.â
Unexpectedly, someone actually agreed to Chu Fengâs words. It was a young man with a righteous look on his face. His words won the support of quite a few people around.
But similarly, there were also many of them who were afraid that Chu Feng would run away and leave them to the lurch. They adamantly demanded Chu Feng to sever his flesh on the spot to save them.
This divergence in opinion gave rise to an intense argument, and both sides began to curse and even attack one another.
But in the end, the ones who wanted Chu Feng to cure their poison still had the majority. The ones who still retained their minority before the threat of death numbered in the minority.
Chu Feng turned to the young man who first voiced his support for him and asked, âAre all of your people here?â
âMilord, except for those who have already died, all of our people are here,â the young man replied.
âVery well.â
Chu Feng nodded in response before turning to face the ones who refused to allow him to leave.
âYou are determined to keep me here, right?â Chu Feng asked.
âYou can leave, but you have to save us first.â
âIndeed! Heaven sent you here to help us. Itâs not that weâre unreasonable, but itâs your responsibility and mission to save us from the poison. If you leave us to the lurch, heaven will surely punish you with divine retribution!â
Those people declared vehemently.
âVery well, I understand your view now. Since you have made your decision, I hope that you wonât regret it.â
With a cold sneer, Chu Feng began forcing his way out from the crowd.
âHold it right there! You canât leave until you save us!â
A person amidst the crowd lunged forward with a knife in his hand, intending to sever a slice of Chu Fengâs meat to treat himself.
Pah!
However, with a wave of Chu Fengâs sleeves, that person was sent flying. He crashed heavily onto the ground, causing his ribcage to fracture and blood to spurt from his mouth. The sheer impact caused him to faint on the spot.
âThis...â
This scene intimidated all of those who were intending to block Chu Fengâs way.
âChu Feng, you...â
Even Yu Sha was shocked by Chu Fengâs action too.
âIf anyone else hopes to die, you can try to stop me. Thereâs no need to wait for the poison to kill you; I can relieve you from your pain right now!â
Powerful oppressive might burst forth from Chu Feng, shaking the earth and the sky. Sensing the immense pressure weighing down on them, the crowd hurriedly backed off in fear.
It was only now that the crowd realized that their so-called savior was actually incredibly powerful, and they couldnât hope to stand in his way at all.
âChu Feng, you should bear with them. Itâs just a trial!â
Seeing that Chu Feng had lost her anger, Yu Sha hurriedly advised Chu Feng.
âYeah, you shouldnât make a move on them. If you really canât hold in your anger anymore, you can let me out, and Iâll teach them a lesson on your behalf,â Eggy also spoke up too, though her focus was very different from that of Yu Sha.
âEggy and Yu Sha, rest assured. I know what Iâm doing.â
As Chu Feng said those words, he rose to the air and began flying into the depths of the forest.
His appearance might have changed, but he hadnât lost his cultivation and his means. It didnât take long before he found the poisonous creature and slew it. Soon, he found the antidote that could save the crowd too.
The antidote was actually the poisonous creatureâs own flesh and blood. Its body had developed antibodies toward its own poison, so consuming its flesh could eliminate the poison.
After dealing with the poisonous creature, he dragged it back to the place where the crowd was still gathered around.
When Chu Feng finally returned, he found that the crowd wasnât just arguing verbally anymore; they had come to blows with one another. There were even some casualties amongst them.
Naturally, it was the minority who ended up suffering the most in the fight, and in this case, it was the ones who had chosen to support Chu Feng.
âAll of you, stop what youâre doing!â
Chu Feng bellowed furiously as he released his powerful oppressive might once more to curb all of them. Under his intimidation, the crowd quickly stopped what they were doing.
When they saw how Chu Fengâs small body was actually dragging a poisonous creature that spanned over a hundred meters long, the fear in their eyes deepened.
âCatch it!â
Chu Feng severed a slice of meat from the poisonous creature and tossed it over to the young man who first voiced his support for him.
âMilord, this is?â
The young man was perplexed as to what Chu Feng meant by this gesture.
âItâs the antidote to the poison,â Chu Feng said.
Without any hesitation, the young man swallowed the meat of the poisonous creature right away. In a few secondsâ time, the poison in his body dissipated, and his complexion began to recover at a visible pace. In fact, he seemed even healthier than before.
âThank you, Milord. Thank you for saving our lives!â
The remaining people quickly kneeled onto the floor as well.
Since the flesh and blood of the poisonous creature could treat their poison, all of them could be saved. After all, the poisonous creature spanned a size of over a hundred meters long, far bigger than than the small Chu Feng. It was enough to feed all of them.
Shoosh shoosh shoosh!
With a wave of his sleeves, Chu Feng swiftly sliced through the flesh of the poisonous creature before distributing them all around.
Unexpectedly, only the minority of the poisoned people received the meat. The majority didnât receive anything at all.
It didnât take them long to realize that the ones who werenât distributed with the meat were the ones who attempted to attack Chu Feng earlier on.
âMilord, we know our mistakes now. Weâve done wrong!â
âMilord, please be magnanimous and forgive us!â
âMilord, Iâm begging you. The poisonous creature still has so much meat left, and you have no use for it anyway. Please be so magnanimous as to save us!â
They immediately knew that Chu Feng was holding a grudge against them for what they did earlier, so they quickly kowtowed and admitted their mistakes.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âItâs too late to be admitting your fault now. I wonât save those who have tried to take my life,â Chu Feng replied.
âChu Feng, you shouldnât let your emotions get ahead of yourself. You have to remember that this is a trial. Everything is fake!â Yu Sha exclaimed.
âChu Feng, why donât you just let them off? Clearing the trial is more important.â
Even Eggy agreed with Yu Sha this time around.
However, Chu Feng shook his head coldly before exerting his might on the poisonous creature. The next moment, the poisonous creature was reduced to dust.
He had destroyed the antidote that could save the crowd.
âChu Feng, must you go this far? Itâs just a trial. You should have reined in your emotions!â Yu Sha couldnât help but berate Chu Feng.
On the other hand, Eggy didnât say a word at all. She wouldnât blame Chu Feng even if she thought that he had done wrong. As long as Chu Feng had decided on something, she would support him without hesitation.
Meanwhile, Chu Feng remained completely calm all this while. There was no anger to be seen on his face.
âI, Chu Feng, can be compassionate to kin, friends, acquaintances, and even strangers. However, I donât believe in being kind to those who seek to do evil. Compassion to evildoers isnât compassion at all; itâs just condoning evil. Allowing evildoers to walk away unpunished is an injustice to all of the kind people in the world.
âThis is my own understanding of what compassion means!â
Chu Feng looked at the people before him as he declared loudly.
Weng!
Right after those words were spoken, the surrounding space began to distort. It took a while before the distortions finally alleviated, and by then, Chu Feng had already returned back to the cavern.
âCompassion toward evildoers is condoning evil... Well said! Your idea of compassion differs from how people typically view it, but I like it! Iâll consider you have to have cleared the first trial then!â
The mysterious voice sounded once more.
âYou managed to clear the trial! Chu Feng, looks like everything was in your control all along. As expected of someone this Queen fancies!â Eggy complimented Chu Feng delightedly.
âIâm sorry, Chu Feng.â
Following that, Yu Shaâs apologetic voice sounded too.
âSilly lass, you need not say those words to me. I know that youâre just concerned for me,â Chu Feng replied with a smile.
But even though Chu Feng wasnât blaming her, she still felt deeply ashamed. She had indeed advised Chu Feng out of goodwill, but she realized that she was viewing everything far too simplistically.
Her notion of compassion was so shallow that it couldnât even be called compassion. It was only to clear the trial that she humbly tried to help everyone there.
However, now that she thought about it, the test was not as simple as to just help everyone. Had Chu Feng really did as she advised, he would have never cleared the trial.
Only someone who had a clear moral compass like Chu Feng could clear this trial.
It was fortunate that Chu Feng didnât listen to her, or else she might have just brought about Chu Fengâs death.