“Elder, what do you mean by that?”


  Chu Feng had no idea what the old man was getting at.

  “I’m asking if you know who Chu Xuanyuan is!” the old man hollered.

  “Chu Xuanyuan is my father.”


  “What’s your real name?”


  “My real name is Chu Feng.”


  “I get it now. You and your father are hiding your identities. Your real name is Chu Feng and your father is Chu Xuanyuan, but you have been living here using a pseudonym. Tell me the pseudonym you have been using here,” the old man said.

  “Elder, do you still think that I’m a local here? I’ve already told you that I’m not from here. I have just entered this place through the Darknight Sacred River just a moment ago,” Chu Feng explained.

  “Still lying through your teeth? Very well, you’ll be following me back to the city. I’ll make sure to uncover your background. Just see how I’ll deal with you later!” the old man scoffed.

  His face then lit up in glee as he murmured under his breath, “Looks like I’ve finally found that Chu Xuanyuan. I’ll peel off your disguise and find out who you are!”


  Jip jip jip!

  The old man’s sack suddenly started shaking vigorously while producing weird sounds.

  “Damn! I was too busy talking to you that I nearly lost track of time. Quick, get out of here!”


  The old man quickly dragged Chu Feng over to the door and pushed him out. Following that, he took out a talisman and placed it on the sack’s opening. Then, with a wave of his sleeves, he tossed the sack into the ancient hall before closing the door behind him.

  Meanwhile, Chu Feng scanned his surroundings and saw that he was in a dim corridor. He could still see the door leading into the ancient hall, leaving him even more baffled as to how he wasn’t able to see the door from inside.

  This meant that as long as the door remained closed, anyone inside the ancient hall would be unable to escape from it.

  Chu Feng tried peeking inside the ancient hall with his Heaven’s Eyes, but he was unable to see anything at all.

  It was disappointing since he was curious as to what was inside the sack. He had also noticed the presence of another aura emerging from the ancient hall the moment he was pushed out, but he wasn’t sure if it was just his imagination, for it wasn’t something that came from his senses but his intuition.

  “Elder, what’s inside the bag?” Chu Feng asked.

  “You’re asking me that? Needless to say, it’s the Demonsoul Grass,” the old man replied impatiently.

  “What’s the Demonsoul Grass?” Chu Feng asked.

  “Still continuing with that act, huh? You’re even pretending that you don’t know the Demonsoul Grass. Very well! Let’s see how long you’ll last. Follow me!”


  The old man grabbed Chu Feng’s wrist and dragged him along.

  They soon walked out of the building. Chu Feng turned around to look at the place he had just stepped out of—it was a terrifying gray palace that had an odd design. It was densely shrouded in the aura of the Ancient Era.

  There were several hundred people guarding the entrance of the palace, and their cultivation was much higher than the old man. Most of them were at Utmost Exalted level, but there were two at Martial Exalted level.

  They bowed deeply upon seeing the old man, but their faces warped in astonishment when they saw Chu Feng.

  “Lord Bai, who is this? When did he follow you in?”


  The person in charge of guarding the palace immediately surrounded the two of them.

  “What nonsense are you spouting? What do you mean by following me in? I captured him inside! You rascals, I haven’t even said anything yet, but you’re already trying to push the blame onto me?” the old man lashed out.

  “We dare not to, Lord Bai. That’s not what we meant!”


  The guards appeared to be afraid of the old man despite being stronger than him.

  “You don’t recognize him?” the old man asked while pointing at Chu Feng.

  “We don’t,” the guards replied.

  “Oh?”


  The old man frowned upon hearing those words. He looked at Chu Feng with a doubtful glint in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything about it. Instead, he dragged Chu Feng into the sky with him and began flying into the distance.

  Chu Feng didn’t say or ask anything, choosing to quietly follow the old man. However, there were many doubts floating in his mind.

  He was surprised to see that the Darknight Sacred River had Martial Exalted level cultivators. One had to know that Exalted level cultivators were already the peak of the Great Chiliocosm Upper Realm. Even when looking at the entire Ancestral Martial Starfield, Utmost Exalted level cultivators were already the strongest fighting prowess.

  Yet, there were actually Martial Exalted level cultivators here, and they were serving as mere guards. This hinted at the existence of even stronger cultivators here.

  The first thought that came to Chu Feng’s mind upon seeing the old man was that he was from the Great Chiliocosm Upper Realm, just that he was trapped in the Darknight Sacred River. However, he wasn’t that sure about it now. He knew that those from the Great Chiliocosm Upper Realm didn’t have the talent to reach that level.

  He was also intrigued about the Demonsoul Grass, which they were using as a tribute. Just who in the world were they giving the tribute to?

  It made Chu Feng realize that there was more to the Darknight Sacred River than he knew of. Even so, he thought that he would receive an answer soon enough.

  With the old man leading the way, he soon arrived at a city. The city looked much more normal compared to the earlier palace; there was nothing discomforting about it.

  However, this city was clearly built after the palace, evident from the absence of the aura of the Ancient Era.

  There were hundreds of millions of cultivators residing in the city, and they ranged from humans to monstrous beasts.

  Their cultivation wasn’t as strong as Chu Feng imagined it to be. There were Exalted level and Utmost Exalted level cultivators amongst them, but they numbered in the minority.

  Most of them were at True Immortal level, Heavenly Immortal level, and Martial Immortal level.

  There were Martial Exalted level cultivators too, but there were very few of them. Most of them were located in the depths of the city.

  What Chu Feng was more interested in, however, was the river flowing just outside the city. It was emanating a golden gleam, just like the Darknight Sacred River. Even the length of the river was the same.

  As Chu Feng came a bit closer, the old man pointed to the river and said, “Brat, do you see that? This is the real exit of the Darknight Sacred River! Those who come in through the Darknight Sacred River have to come out through here!

  “Besides, the Darknight Sacred River has only just opened. It’ll take a minimum of 162 hours to get here. There’s no way you could have arrived here that quickly. At least spin a better lie if you wish to deceive me. Do you really take me for a fool?”


  The old man looked at Chu Feng in disdain. He was certain that Chu Feng was a local and not someone who had just entered through the Darknight Sacred River.

  On the other hand, Chu Feng was alarmed to hear those words.

  “162 hours?” Chu Feng asked with a frown.

  When he entered the Darknight Sacred River earlier, he found that the river would only remain open for around sixteen hours. Once the river closed up, it would be extremely difficult for them to leave this place anymore. Thus, it was imperative that they left this place within this timeframe.

  But it turned out that he had made a fatal miscalculation—he hadn’t thought that it would take this long for them to enter the Darknight Sacred River. In other words, if he hadn’t comprehended the hidden spirit formation gate and slipped right into the tribute palace, he would have still been traveling in the passageway right now.

  “It takes 162 hours to get in here? How do we get out then?” Chu Feng asked.

  “Get out? We wouldn’t have been trapped here for all these years if it’s possible to get out! Brat, it looks like you’re determined to continue with your act. If not for the years I have spent here, I would have thought that you’re a fool who stumbled your way in here!” the old man sneered.

  The old man had an expression that was practically saying ‘I’ve already seen through you’.

  Chu Feng felt a clench in his heart. The situation was worse than he thought.