In the majestic palace of the South Vermilion Hall, Xia Ran was still unconscious at the moment, but his condition had mostly stabilized. His broken limb had recovered, and his breathing gradually calmed down.

  Nevertheless, the elders in the palace couldn’t help but feel uneasy and nervous. They were worried not about Xia Ran but Tuoba Jianshu, who had headed off to assassinate Chu Feng.

  Of course, with Tuoba Jianshu’s strength, he should have been able to kill Chu Feng with ease. However, the act of an elder murdering a disciple was a major crime in the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect, enough for one to be sentenced to death. Given the implications involved here, it was inevitable that they would worry about it.

  “Pour me a cup of tea.”


  A voice suddenly sounded in the palace.

  The uneasy elders jolted in fright from the voice coming out of nowhere. However, when they took another look, they saw space warping as a figure appeared on the main seat in the palace.

  It was Tuoba Jianshu.

  Granted that he had consumed the Soulelusive Pearl, it wasn’t surprising for him to be able to return without catching anyone’s attention. However, they couldn’t help noticing that Tuoba Jianshu had his forehead furrowed in anxiety, seemingly having suffered a fright, and this unnerved them.

  One of the elders passed a cup of tea over to Tuoba Jianshu, and astonishingly, the latter couldn’t even hold onto the teacup stably. His body was trembling nonstop.

  However, none of the elders dared not to ask about it. They stood neatly by the side as they waited nervously for Tuoba Jianshu to finish the cup of tea.

  Tuoba Jianshu took his time to sip on the tea and calm himself before finally saying, “Listen well. From today onward, none of you are to make things difficult for Chu Feng anymore.”


  “Lord Tuoba, what happened?” the other elders asked anxiously.

  They knew that something must have happened for Tuoba Jianshu to be shaken to this extent.

  “Someone noticed me. The Soulelusive Pearl didn’t work on that person,” Tuoba Jianshu replied.

  “This…… Who is that person? Is it Zhao Yushu?” the other elders asked with their faces paled in fright.

  This was definitely no joking matter. If they were really caught in the act, they could very well be killed over this! Tuoba Jianshu would be one, but the rest of them could be implicated in it as well.

  “It doesn’t seem to be Zhao Yushu. It doesn’t sound like him. I don’t know who that person is, but the fact that he was able to notice me even after I’ve consumed the Soulelusive Pearl shows that his strength is at least on par with Zhao Yushu,” Tuoba Jianshu said.

  “What do we do then?”


  The elders were panicked.

  Zhao Yushu was a figure on par with the Hidden Dragon Elders, which meant that someone who was on the same level as him was very likely to be a Hidden Dragon Elder himself.

  Hidden Dragon Elders had the power to determine a person’s life and death inside the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect.

  “You need not worry about that. If he really intends to make things difficult for me, I wouldn’t have been able to return in the first place,” Tuoba Jianshu said.

  “In other words, he just intends to protect Chu Feng? Lord Tuoba, what did that man told you?” the other elders asked.

  “He said that he would let us off this time, but if we dare to make a move on Chu Feng once more……”


  Tuoba Jianshu didn’t finish his sentence, but everyone still caught his drift.

  “Lord Tuoba, is it possible for him to renege on his word and pursue the matter afterward?” the elders asked.

  “I was the one who tried to assassinate Chu Feng. Even if he pursues the matter, the one who will take the fall is me. What are the rest of you so afraid of? Just remember this—you mustn’t try to make a move on Chu Feng in the future.

  “Also, once Xia Ran is awake, tell him not to touch Chu Feng anymore too. Find a time and get him to apologize to Chu Feng. Alright, I’m going to rest now, so you all should leave too.”


  Since Tuoba Jianshu was chasing them off, the elders couldn’t possibly stay in the palace either. They quickly left the area.

  “Just who could it be……”


  Even after chasing the elders away, Tuoba Jianshu still couldn’t help but brood over this matter. He wondered who the person who stopped him could be.

  After all, Tuoba Jianshu was someone of considerable standing in the sect. He had met the sectmaster, vice sectmaster, Hidden Dragon Elders, and even the many protectors in the sect, but none of them overlapped with the voice he had heard earlier.

  In the end, he could only conclude that the other party had intentionally changed his voice in order to conceal his identity……

  Meanwhile, Chu Feng was still oblivious to the fact that someone had tried to assassinate him. He was too engrossed in trying to unlock the Hidden Dragon Soul Armor that he hadn’t been able to rest at all.

  The following morning, an elder from the North Tortoise Hall knocked on his door. The chief elder of the North Tortoise Hall wanted to meet him.

  The chief elder was the strongest person in the North Tortoise Hall, and he possessed the greatest influence and power here too. Since such a person wanted to meet Chu Feng, there was no way Chu Feng would put on airs.

  So, he quickly headed over to the main hall of the North Tortoise Hall.

  The chief elder of the North Tortoise Hall was an amicable old man. He was a courteous person, not putting on a high and mighty attitude that powerful cultivators tended to have.

  In truth, he didn’t have any special business for Chu Feng either. He just wanted to meet the latter after hearing that he had broken Dugu Lingtian’s record at the Snowy Heavenly Peak. In their conversation, he expressed that the North Tortoise Hall would do everything they could to support Chu Feng’s growth. He said that Chu Feng could seek him if he faced any problem, and he would surely do everything he could to protect and back Chu Feng up.

  Chu Feng also posed some questions of his own too.

  “Chief elder, I’d like to enquire about a disciple’s circumstances. Do you know a disciple named Yu Ting?” Chu Feng asked.

  Actually, he had been looking into Yu Ting’s affairs the last few days. He knew that she was a disciple from the East Dragon Hall, so that was a lead for him to work on. However, while there were some people who knew about her, they were unclear about her whereabouts and plight because she had disappeared for too long.

  For that reason, he wanted to ask the chief elder about this. After all, the chief elder was of considerable standing in the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect, so he might know a thing or two about it.

  “Yu Ting? Is it the disciple who’s close with Zi Ling?” the chief elder asked.

  “Yes, that’s her,” Chu Feng replied in agitation.

  The others he had talked to were unaware of Yu Ting and Zi Ling’s close relationship, so the fact that the chief elder knew about this gave him some hope that the other party might know how Yu Ting was currently faring.

  “Yu Ting escaped from the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect wilfully. This is a severe crime that warrants harsh punishment once caught by the law enforcement elders. However, I heard that she was caught by Lord Li Fengxian and is currently under his custody.

  Ah, Lord Li Fengxian is one of the Ten Hidden Dragon Elders of our sect,” the chief elder explained.

  “Chu Feng, why are you looking into Yu Ting’s affairs. Are you…… acquainted with her?” the chief elder quickly added.