âChu Feng, you still canât shake off your excessive kindness. You knew that old man was just a formation entity, but you still risked your life to help him. You do know that youâd be sentenced to death if you were caught snooping in this area, right?â Eggy grumbled.
She was not complaining about Chu Fengâs kind act. Even though she would never step in to save a stranger, she wouldnât stop Chu Feng from doing so. She knew that they had different values, and she was willing to respect that.
What irked her was how Chu Feng put himself at risk to save that old man.
âTo be frank, I did hesitate for a moment there, but I couldnât bring myself to turn a blind eye to that old man, even if he was just a formation entity,â Chu Feng replied with a sigh.
He also knew that it wasnât the wisest decision to help the old man, especially since he wasnât just putting himself at risk but Eggy too. Yet, he was unable to bring himself to turn a blind eye to someone in need.
He knew that there were countless people dying with each passing second, and there was no way he could save everyone. Thus, his goal of becoming stronger had never been to save the world but just to protect those whom he cared about.
Even so, he couldnât control himself whenever he encountered a person in need.
Of course, he would still weigh the pros and cons, but more often than not, he would step in and help the person even if it posed a danger to him.
âIâm sorry, Eggy. I keep risking our lives to save strangers,â Chu Feng replied apologetically.
This wasnât the first time something like this had happened, but he knew deep down that it wasnât going to be the last either. He simply couldnât change himself.
âWhat are you saying? Thatâs not what Iâm getting at. You should know it too. Iâm just⦠just⦠Iâm just worried about you! Iâm not blaming you. You should follow your heart. If you force yourself to go against your will, it might end up becoming an impediment to your cultivation in the future,â Eggy consoled him.
Warmed by her words, Chu Fengâs lips curled up. He knew better than anyone else how much Eggy cared for him.
â¦
As soon as Chu Feng returned to his residence, 399 rushed out to serve him tea.
Chu Feng immediately noticed that something was amiss and asked, âYouâre injured?â
âI-Iâm not.â 399 vehemently shook his head.
âI can see it. Your concealment canât fool me,â Chu Feng replied.
âMilord, I donât mean to hide it from you.â
399 hurriedly kneeled on the floor to apologize for his deception, but Chu Feng stretched his hand forth to support him up.
âIâm not blaming you, but you have to tell me whoâs the culprit.â
Chu Feng could tell that someone had beaten 399 up, but the latter didnât answer his question as if he was afraid of something.
âIâll take your refusal to answer as a lack of trust in me,â Chu Feng said.
âMilord, I have no such intention! We have only known each other for a short period of time, but milord has treated me extremely well. This is the first time in my life anyone has treated me so well!â 399 exclaimed.
Chu Feng could tell that 399âs hesitation stemmed from his worry for Chu Feng. He was afraid that he would bring trouble to Chu Feng, which was why he tried to conceal his injuries in the first place.
âTell me who wounded you,â Chu Feng said.
âItâs 788!â 399 said.
Chu Feng had an impression of 788âhe was the man with white browsâ lackey.
âThey have made up their mind to make a move on me?â
Hostility flashed across Chu Fengâs eyes. He knew that this was no coincidenceâit must have been the man with white browsâ orders. Bullying his follower was just the appetizer; soon, they would go after him too.
Chu Feng patted 399âs shoulder and said, âYou have suffered, but bear with it a little longer.â
He would exact vengeance on the man with white brows for 399âs sake even if the latter didnât go after him, but he didnât think it was time yet. Both he and 399 had to swallow this grievance for the time being.
âRest assured, milord. I wonât hold it against them,â 399 heaved a sigh of relief as he said.
He was relieved to hear that Chu Feng wasnât going to make a move since he didnât want to cause trouble for the latter. In the first place, he had never thought about exacting vengeance.
However, 399âs response only affirmed Chu Fengâs determination to exact vengeance for him.
The following day, Chu Feng made his way to the Formation Master Hall, but he removed 399âs concealment formation, leaving the latterâs injuries in plain view.
No one from the Formation Master Hall was surprised to see 399âs injuries. Some even sneered in disdain. Not a single person showed concern for 399 or Chu Feng. All of them knew what had happened.
Chu Feng headed to the pill forging formation and tried to further decipher the sea of energy, but it was to no avail.
âIt looks like itâll be difficult for me to overcome this bottleneck.â
To be exact, it was not that he couldnât overcome this bottleneck but that it would take him a long time to do so. The problem was that he didnât think that he had the time for that, so he decided to find other ways to raise his spirit power.
In truth, there were plenty of opportunities to raise oneâs spirit power in the city, just that such opportunities werenât easy to obtain. That being said, he figured that he could try siphoning energy from the formations that granted spirit power instead.
As long as he could reach Grey Dragon God-cloak, he would be able to breach the barrier to find Little Fishy. With Little Fishy vouching for his identity, he would be able to solve many of his existing problems.
âDang, dang, dangâ¦â a bell suddenly chimed.
The chiming piqued the excitement of all of the formation masters, as they put down their work and rushed out of the Formation Master Hall. Not a person tried to stop them even though they were ditching work.
From the conversations around him, Chu Feng quickly figured out what had happened.
It turned out that the chimes were from the townâs assembly bell, which was only sounded when something huge was going to happen. It was usually a special mission that had no requirements on oneâs standing, meaning that everyone could participate in it.
Anyone who cleared the mission would be granted the opportunity to raise their spirit power.
âI didnât think that an opportunity would come by that quickly.â
Chu Feng also left his workstation to head in the direction of the assembly bell.
A huge plaque placed in front of the assembly bell revealed the purpose behind this gathering. Upon reading the plaqueâs content, the already excited Chu Feng grew even more excited.