“Young master Feng, if you’re curious about Chu Feng, I can secretly investigate him on your behalf,” the middle-aged man said.

  “There’s no need for that. His affairs are none of our business. I was just curious. With the talent he has displayed thus far, he might possibly reach our ranks if he’s given sufficient time and space to grow,” young master Feng said.

  “Hm?”


  All of a sudden, young master Feng and Elder Xuan’s eyes narrowed in nervousness. They quickly whipped out three life talismans from their robes. All of them had turned dark, indicating that their owners had already lost their lives.

  Upon noticing the state of the life talismans, all of the red-cloaked men, including the middle-aged man, began to panic.

  “Elder Xuan, young master Feng… Those are the life talismans of the three elders, right?” the middle-aged man asked.

  “That’s right,” young master Feng replied with a nod.

  “The three elders failed? How can that be possible? Could it be that the rumors about the Peach Garden Mystic Realm being in the Nine Dragons Upper Realm is real? Is the Peach Garden Immortal really hiding there?”


  All of the red-cloaked men were flustered. While it was impossible to see their expressions, their voices and movements were more than enough to betray their horror. They knew how powerful the three elders were, and they were well aware of what their mission was.

  It was one thing for the three elders to fail their mission, but they actually lost their lives too. One had to know that those three elders were far stronger than Elder Xuan!

  “It really is the Peach Garden Immortal…” young master Feng murmured in unease.

  All of a sudden, a voice echoed from behind the red-cloaked men.

  “Rather than worrying about others, why don’t you worry about yourselves instead?”


  Who is it?”


  Young master Feng, Elder Xuan, and the red-cloaked men immediately turned around and released their oppressive might to suppress the person who had just spoken. Yet, to their astonishment, they were unable to find anyone at all.

  Instead, another oppressive might suddenly emerged from the direction of the voice, sealing off their movements. Even Elder Xuan, the middle-aged man, and young master Feng were unable to move too.

  “Hand over the Night Monarch’s carcass and treasures!” the voice said.

  “Who are you?” young master Feng asked.

  Pu!

  Fresh blood spurted out of his mouth. The oppressive might had dealt internal injuries to young master Feng.

  “Please stop it! Don’t hurt him! I’ll give you everything you want!”


  Elder Xuan quickly handed over the gourd where he had stored the Night Monarch’s carcass and the formation its life was linked to. Then, he turned to young master Feng and called out, “Young master.”


  Elder Xuan was telling young master Feng that his safety took precedence.

  Young master Feng was reluctant, but he still handed over the box filled with treasures he had received from the Night Monarch earlier on.

  Both the gourd and the box floated in the direction of the voice before abruptly vanishing into thin air.

  “You have to be punished for ruining my plan. Prove yourself worthy if you wish to walk out of here alive.”


  From the direction of the voice shone was a burst of blinding golden light, which quickly diffused and covered the entire realm. The surroundings quickly changed, and before young master Feng could react, Elder Xuan and the other red-cloaked men had already vanished without a trace.

  Even Chu Feng and the others were nowhere in sight.

  Young master Feng quickly scanned his surroundings and found himself standing in the midst of a brilliant golden formation. The formation was so huge that it was practically a world of its own, but this world was filled with killing intent.

  Young master Feng cast his gaze toward the center of the formation, where the killing intent was coming from. There, he saw a massive eight trigrams painting that spanned over a million meters in length.

  The painting was in a tattered state, but it was automatically regenerating on its own. Along with its recovery, the killing intent grew correspondingly stronger.

  Young master Feng could tell that the others who were in the vicinity were trapped in the same formation too even though they weren’t able to see each other. He figured that the painting was likely to be a countdown to their deaths. If none of them successfully deciphered the formation within the allotted time, they would all be killed once the painting was completed.

  “It’s the Eight Trigrams Demon Subduing Formation! Could the person who attacked us be the Eight Trigrams Dao Immortal? I thought that he was dead!” young master Feng said with a frown.

  The Eight Trigrams Dao Immortal was a renowned figure in the Ancient Era, but rumors had it that he was already dead. However, it looked like those rumors couldn’t be trusted at all. Not only was the Eight Trigrams Dao Immortal alive, but he had also been hiding in the Night Monarch’s domain all this while.

  It was just that young master Feng didn’t have time to ponder about that at the moment. He quickly scanned his surroundings, desperate to find the opening in the formation. He knew just how powerful the Eight Trigrams Demon Subduing Formation was.

  What was terrifying about the Eight Trigrams Demon Subduing Formation was that it had nothing to do with one’s cultivation at all. Without sufficient intelligence, even the strongest cultivator wouldn’t be able to escape from it.

  From such a perspective, he had to shoulder the responsibility for deciphering this formation, for none of his other companions was able to compete with him on that aspect.

  It was just that things were not going as he had planned. He did notice quite a few openings, but the painting was regenerating simply too quickly. He immediately dove into deciphering the formation, but he soon realized that it wouldn’t work out.

  “Damn it. Am I going to die here today?”


  Young master Feng’s eyes reddened in indignation as he watched the eight trigrams painting come to completion. He felt utterly helpless at his plight.

  Weng!

  His surroundings suddenly shattered, and the golden light began to recede.

  When everything finally reverted to normal, he was shocked to realize that he had already left the Night Monarch’s realm to return to the real world. The others had also been evicted from the Darknight Sacred River too, including the ones who were in the midst of traveling in the spirit formation passageway such as Shengguang Baimei and the others.

  Everyone was safe and sound.

  However, those who had been trapped in the Night Monarch’s realm had ghastly pale faces, and all of them were gasping for air. Horror could be seen reflected in their eyes. Clearly, they were trapped in the Eight Trigrams Demon Subduing Formation earlier.

  The formation was not just targeted at the red-cloaked men but everyone in the Darknight Sacred River.

  “Young master Feng, it’s all thanks to you that we managed to make it out alive.”


  Elder Xuan and the red-cloaked men looked at young master Feng with pride in their eyes. They were certain that the one who had deciphered the formation was young master Feng.

  How could they not be proud when the person whom they were serving had deciphered such a terrifying formation? This was definitely not something any ordinary cultivator could have deciphered.

  “It wasn’t me,” young master Feng shook his head and replied.

  “It wasn’t you?”


  Elder Xuan and the red-cloaked men widened their eyes in astonishment.

  The same thought struck their minds, and all of them turned their sights toward the crowd standing not too far away from them. More specifically, their eyes were locked on Chu Feng.

  They realized that even though Chu Feng’s face was covered in sweat, there was a faint smile on his lips. It contrasted against the looks of sheer terror around him.

  “It really was him.”


  Young master Feng, Elder Xuan, and the red-cloaked men found the answer to their question. They could already tell who was the one who deciphered the Eight Trigrams Demon Subduing Formation.

  “Young hero Chu Feng, how did we get here? We encountered an incredibly terrifying formation earlier. Was it the same for the rest of you too? Also, who are these people?”


  Shengguang Baimei and the others rushed to Chu Feng’s side and asked.

  While they never got to enter the realm inside the Darknight Sacred River, they did encounter the terrifying golden formation. They thought that they would die, but the formation suddenly dissipated at the very last moment, and they were all transported back to the real world.

  Understandably, they were surprised by all of the foreign faces around Chu Feng. They had no idea where these people came from.

  “It looks like we have all encountered the same formation. And since the formation was linked; as long as one person clears it, the rest of us will be saved,” Chu Feng said.

  “Were you the one who deciphered the formation? As expected of young hero Chu Feng! You saved our lives again!”


  Upon confirming that Chu Feng was the one who deciphered the formation, Shengguang Baimei and the others exclaimed aloud.

  Meanwhile, Chu Feng began scanning the crowd around him. He was more concerned as to whether everyone was safe.

  “This is weird.”


  Chu Feng’s heart skipped a beat. Everyone who had entered the Darknight Sacred River with him or was previously trapped in the Darknight Sacred River had safely returned to the real world, but there was one person who was conspicuously absent.

  This person was Lord Bai.