âElder Duan, youâre willing to become my master?â
Chu Feng was taken aback by Elder Duanâs sudden change of mind.
âIf youâre only acknowledging me as your master in order to thank me, thereâs no way I would agree to it. I wouldnât want to hinder you over my own interests. However, if youâre a troublemaker and need someone to clean up your mess... Well, from this day onward, you can tell them that your master is I, Duan Liufeng! If you got into any trouble, tell them to settle the scores with me instead!â Duan Liufeng declared proudly with a thump of his chest.
He looked like he was determined to back Chu Feng up here even though he didnât have the strength to do so. However, it was this exactly that made Chu Feng even more moved by his remarks.
Initially, Chu Feng had only wanted to become Duan Liufengâs disciple in order to repay him so that he could join the North Tortoise Hall. But now, he was filled with awe toward Duan Liufeng.
âDisciple Chu Feng pays respects to master.â Chu Feng bowed down to perform the acknowledgment ceremony.
âChu Feng, if anyone else wants to take you in as their disciple but you donât want to accept it, you can tell them that I, Duan Liufeng, am already your master. If you meet someone whom your respect and wish to learn from him, go ahead and do so. You need not worry about my views.
âHowever, you mustnât acknowledge me as your master. Instead of becoming your master, I would very much prefer to be your brother instead,â Duan Liufeng said.
âElder Duan, you...â
Chu Feng looked at Duan Liufeng with a complicated look in his eyes.
âIf youâre going to get into trouble, go ahead to do so. Iâm not worried about being implicated by your deeds,â Duan Liufeng said with a smile.
âIn the end, you still donât wish to take me in as your disciple,â Chu Feng said.
âI donât think that I have the ability to become another personâs master. Chu Feng, I admire you a lot, but I donât think Iâm worthy of becoming your master. To outsiders, you are more than welcome to address me as your master, but in private, I hope that we can remain as brothers. What do you think about it?â Duan Liufeng asked.
Chu Feng had already figured out Duan Liufengâs intention by now.
Duan Liufeng had agreed to become his master, but he intended for it to be just for show. He just wanted to become a shield to stop the other elders from pestering him.
However, Chu Feng didnât need Duan Liufeng to become a shield for him. That was not his style of handling things.
Chu Feng wanted to take Duan Liufeng as his master so as to help him enter the North Tortoise Hall and compensate him. However, since Duan Liufeng wasnât interested in such stuff, there was no point forcing it on him.
âSince thatâs the case, it looks like we are more fated to be brothers then,â Chu Feng said.
âIt looks like you donât need my help at all. But again... I doubt that Iâll be of any help to you in my current state either. Very well, letâs be brothers then. From now on, should I call you Brother Chu?â
Duan Liufeng was quite a candid person, following through with what he said right away.
âThat means I should be calling you Brother Duan too, right?â Chu Feng replied with a smile.
âYes, of course! Hahaha, I canât be one-sidedly calling you Brother Chu, right?â Duan Liufeng chuckled.
âBrother Duan, since weâre brothers now, Iâll be frank with you. Iâve heard from Duan Qinian that your cultivation regressed due to your injuries. I happen to be skilled in world spiritist techniques, so can you allow me to diagnose your condition?â Chu Feng asked.
He knew that Duan Liufengâs condition was likely to be far more severe than he imagined, but he still wanted to give it a try anyway. Even if it was unlikely to work out, he still wanted to give it a try.
âI didnât expect Brother Chu to be proficient in world spiritist techniques too. Since you wish to give it a try, feel free to do what you need to then. Come, letâs enter the residence first.â
Duan Liufeng gestured Chu Feng into the residence before the latter began diagnosing his condition.
âBrother Chu, youâre actually a Dragon Mark Saint-cloak world spiritist?â
When Chu Feng showcased his world spiritist technique, Duan Liufengâseyes widened in astonishment. Chu Fengâs cultivation was already at Utmost Exalted level, and the fact that his world spiritist techniques had reached the level of Dragon Mark Saint-cloak meant that he was an all-rounded prodigy.
Duan Liufeng already had very high expectations for Chu Feng, but the latter still continued to exceed them. Naturally, he was delighted to see that.
On the other hand, Chu Feng simply smiled quietly before channeling his spirit power into Duan Liufengâs body. He carefully examined every nook and cranny, and everything was in order except for the latterâs dantian.
So, he began to inspect the dantian more closely. To his astonishment, there was actually a malevolent presence in there.
It was a dense congregation of purple aura that emanated a terrifying aura. Even at a single glance, Chu Feng could tell that it was something extremely dangerous.
It was this purple aura that had conquered Duan Liufengâs dantian and sealed off his cultivation, resulting in the regression of his strength. If they could exterminate this purple aura, there was a good chance that Duan Liufeng would be able to cultivate normally like anyone else.
The only problem was that the purple aura was simply too powerful. Chu Fengâs current level of world spiritist technique was far from sufficient to drive it away, He couldnât even tell how powerful a world spiritist had to be in order to curb the purple aura.
âBrother Duan, what trial did you go through back then? Why is there such a powerful malevolent presence in your dantian?â Chu Feng asked.
âBrother Chu, I chose to become your brother because of your upright character. It has only been a day since we met one another, but I have great trust in you. However, I think itâs better for you not to know of this matter,â Duan Liufeng said.
âI understand. Brother Duan, your condition is treatable, but Iâm afraid that Iâm lacking in strength to do so at the moment. If I ever develop my spirit power to a level where I can treat you, Iâll definitely drive off the malevolent presence in your dantian so that you can become a proper cultivator once more!â Chu Feng promised.
âGood, as expected of my brother! Iâll be waiting for that day to come then. For now, letâs head to the North Tortoise Hall.â
As Duan Liufeng said those words, he began packing up his stuff.
âBrother Duan, if weâre going to be brothers instead, I donât wish to lie about this matter and claim that youâre my master,â Chu Feng said awkwardly.
âHahaha, Brother Chu. Elder Qi has already told me that even if I donât accept you as my disciple, Iâd still be able to enter the North Tortoise Hall. Right now, Iâm already an elder of the North Tortoise Hall,â Duan Liufeng explained.
âReally?â Chu Feng was taken aback.
He was busy familiarizing himself with the North Tortoise Hall earlier, so he wasnât present during the distribution of bestowments earlier. As such, he wasnât aware that Duan Liufeng had already officially become an elder of the North Tortoise Hall.
âItâs true. An elder of the North Tortoise Hall told me about it when I was collecting my bestowment.â
Duan Liufeng took out a token and showed it to Chu Feng. It was the elder token of the North Tortoise Hall.
âThatâs great!â
Chu Feng was delighted to hear this, and his impression of Dao Qinian improved as well.
Once Duan Liufeng was done packing up, the two of them quickly made their way toward the North Tortoise Hall. The elders and disciples had separate quarters, so after helping Duan Liufeng to settle down, Chu Feng made his way back to his residence.
To his astonishment, he found himself faced with a massive crowd that jammed up the way to his residence.