Divine light filled the surroundings. It was so blinding that even cultivators of their caliber dared not to open their eyes. It was only fortunate that the light didnât linger for long before fading.
They realized that even though their relative positions to one another were still the same, their surroundings had begun changing. They were no longer in the Vicious Beast Hellworld anymore, and the terrifying black tornado was nowhere to be seen.
Instead, they were in a very clean place devoid of grass and wood. It was a white world of emptiness, but it felt oddly peaceful, as if it was a sanctuary of some sort.
The Hellking was still present at the same spot, just that it had morphed into a white sculpture. Its appearance still looked rather ferocious, but for some reason, the feeling it induced in others was no longer one of fear but divinity.
Most importantly of all, its opened mouth was actually a spirit gate formation. On the spirit gate formation were four huge wordsâHidden Dragon Illusory Palace!
Despite only being a spirit formation gate, the aura it gave off was divine too. The crowd couldnât help but feel excited as they knew the land beyond the spirit formation gate was bound to contain a great fortuitous encounter for them.
Meanwhile, Chu Feng was still standing on the head of the Hellking. Despite his small body, he stood tall and lofty, as if he was the ruler of this space. In comparison to Zuoqiu Yanliang, who was still weeping pitifully, having not yet recovered from his mental breakdown, it was made apparent to everyone just who the coward here was.
âJunior Chu Feng, where is this place? Didnât you say that weâll be cultivating separately?â someone amidst the crowd asked curiously.
Chu Feng pointed to the spirit formation gate in the mouth of the Hellking and said with a smile, âThis is the fortuitous encounter Iâm talking about. Once you enter the spirit formation gate, youâll walk right into the illusion. There, youâll be able to obtain some benefits that are bound to be greater than whatever you can earn from hunting in the Vicious Beast Hellworld.
âAt the same time, youâll be put through a trial too. If you can clear the trial, youâll be able to obtain greater benefits and leave this place in advance. If you fail to clear the trial, thereâs nothing to worry about either since thereâs no punishment here. However, youâll be trapped in the illusion until it finally dissipates. There wonât be anything bad to it, just that youâll be staying here for a little longer.â
âSo, we can just walk into the spirit formation gate now and challenge the trial in the illusion? Junior Chu Feng, since you have such a deep understanding of the place, can you tell us whatâs in the trial and what do we have to do in order to clear it?â a personal disciple asked.
âIndeed, Junior Chu Feng. Give us a bit of pointer. If we can clear the trial and obtain greater benefits, we definitely wonât forget your grace.â
The other personal disciples chirped in as well.
âTo be frank with you, while I am able to govern everything here through the powers of the Hellking, Iâd turn into no more than an ordinary mortal like you inside the Hidden Dragon Illusory Palace. So, itâs not that I donât want to help you but that Iâm not sure what kind of trial awaits us there.
âHowever, I can confirm that this is something left behind by the sect founder. Regardless of whether we succeed or not, itâs an honor for all of us to be here. Weâll be the first ones since the founding of the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect to cultivate inside the Hidden Dragon Illusory Palace,â Chu Feng said.
âThe first ones? Indeed, I donât think that Iâve heard of the Hidden Dragon Illusory Palace before... Doesnât that mean that weâre actually quite formidable?â
âJunior Chu Feng, this is all thanks to you!â
While Chu Feng didnât really offer them much help here, they were still excited to know that they were the first batch of disciples in the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect to enter this place, and it filled their hearts with gratitude.
This was indeed a huge honor, something that they could most definitely boast about in the future.
âThereâs no need to thank me. Weâre fellow disciples from the same sect after all. Itâs just that thereâs something I do need your help on,â Chu Feng said.
âJunior Chu Feng, feel free to speak.â
Chu Feng waved his sleeves grandly.
Shoosh!
The Hellkingâs sculpture glowed brightly, producing balls of light that darted out from the sculpture and into the disciplesâ bodies. Before anyone could make sense of what the balls of light were, they had already dived right into their hearts, fusing as one with them.
However, what was worth mentioning was that Li Muzhi, Ma Yueyue, Zhao Shi, and the others who were on closer terms with Chu Feng werenât âattackedâ by the balls of light.
âJunior Chu Feng, whatâs this?â Song Qian asked with a deep frown.
Even though she saw the ball of light darting into her body, she couldnât feel its existence anywhere in her. However, her intuition told her that the ball of light meant nothing good at all.
âSenior Song, youâre all witnesses of the events that transpired today. I was the one who cleared the Cleansing and opened the Hidden Dragon Illusory Palace. I donât demand anything from the rest of you, and I donât expect you to pay me back either. I just hope that you can spread the word about everything that has happened here honestly lest I get slandered.
âI donât really care much about the accomplishment and everything else, but I just donât want to be cursed by others despite having done a good deed here.â
Chu Feng specially shot a glance at Zuoqiu Yanliang after saying those words.
Everyone immediately understood what Chu Fengâs words meant. Chu Feng was simply afraid that Zuoqiu Yanliang would distort the truth and attempt to frame Chu Feng so as to get back at him.
However, as long as the crowd reported the matter honestly, it would become apparent who was at the right and who was at the wrong here. Given so, Zuoqiu Yanliang would be at a loss as to how he should deal with Chu Feng.
In other words, Chu Feng was just leaving an additional layer of insurance here so as to ensure that no one would backstab him after the matter was over.
âJunior Chu Feng, we arenât despicable individuals who would betray our benefactor. Weâll reveal what we witnessed today truthfully without any falsehoods. However, I would just like to know what the balls of light that just entered our bodies are,â Song Qian asked once more.
âSenior Song, know a personâs face but not his heart. Itâs not that I donât trust you, but I prefer to always have an additional layer of guarantee, especially when it comes to something as important as this,â Chu Feng replied.
âWhat do you mean by that? Just get straight to the point!â Song Qianâs tone was getting more and more hostile.
âItâs very simple. Iâve planted a seed of power from the Hellking into your bodies. Even after I lose control of the Hellkingâs power after leaving this place, Iâd still be able to trigger the seed of power to take your lives. As long as you reveal everything truthfully, nothing will happen. However, if someone gets blinded by whatever and tries to distort the truth to pin false accusations on me, Iâll make sure that he dies a horrible death!â Chu Feng said.
âYou bastard! Chu Feng, how dare you use such means to threaten me?!â Song Qian flew into a state of rage.
While the other disciples didnât say anything at all, their complexions still turned incredibly awful. Chu Feng did have his own reasons for doing this, but the feeling of having their hands grasped in the hands of another was simply awful.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
âSenior Song, why are you getting so agitated? Like Iâve said, as long you reveal whatever you have witnessed today truthfully, I wonât make things hard for you. It canât be that...â
Chu Fengâs eyes suddenly narrowed as a biting coldness suddenly glazed over his eyes.
â... Senior Song, are you intending to do me harm?â