Chapter 5024: The Imprisoned

The Netherworld Envoy left by himself right after informing Chu Feng of the verdict. He didn’t take Chu Feng with him, so the latter had to leave on his own.

Before he left the Ordinary Realm, he tried leaping into the lake to see if he could find the person whom the Netherworld Envoy spoke about. He could tell that the Netherworld Envoy was intending to help him, and the reason why he changed his mind afterward was likely because he had received an order not to intervene. 

So, Chu Feng wanted to see if he could change the mind of the person residing inside this black lake. 

It was just that he couldn’t find anything at all after leaping into the lake, so he had no choice but to give up on the attempt. In the end, he could only look for an ancient teleportation formation and leave this place by himself. 

To be honest, he felt incredibly helpless at the moment. The situation had turned for the worse, after all.

He was only planning to save Xian Miaomiao at the start, but he discovered that Master Yin Ren was actually Sima Xiangtu, and the latter had captured his master, the Ox-nosed Old Daoist. Even Shengguang Baimei, the Lady of Dao Sea, and the Godwish Grandmother had been taken away by him. 

Shengguang Baimei and the others didn’t have any grudges with Sima Xiangtu, and they had only gotten involved in order to help Chu Feng. In a sense, Chu Feng was partially responsible for why they ended up getting captured by Sima Xiangtu. 

This made him feel extremely conscience-stricken.

The problem was that he didn’t even have the strength to go against Sima Xiangtu yet, let alone the one from the Pill Dao Immortal Sect who was backing him. 

He had encountered many powerful enemies and dangerous situations in his long journey as a cultivator, but he had always been able to find ways to overcome them. However, the current situation left him feeling powerless. 

He was still thinking that he could fall back on the Holy Monarch of the Holy Valley in the worst-case scenario, but it didn’t seem like the Holy Monarch would be a match for the Pill Dao Immortal Sect. 

As for the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect’s sectmaster, she had already made her stance clear from the very start that she wouldn’t intervene in this matter. 

Chu Feng only had himself to count on right now, but the problem was that he didn’t have the strength to oppose those people. 

“Elder, please help me. I’m willing to do anything for you as long as you help me save them.”

Left with no choice, Chu Feng could only plead with the Divine Deer inside his body. He knew that it was unlikely that the Divine Deer would help, but there was nothing else he could do. 

Lives were at stake here. Even if there was just a slim possibility, he had to give it a try.

“Brat, you should cut it with the nonsense. Even if I’m willing to help you, do you know where they are now?”

The Divine Deer actually answered to Chu Feng’s relentless pleas, just that her impatient answer revealed a practical problem. 

Even if Chu Feng had the means to save his master and the others, he had no idea where Sima Xiangtu was at. Sima Xiangtu clearly was up to something, so there was no way he would obediently return to the Nine Souls Sacred Clan. 

Before Chu Feng could answer, the Divine Deer quickly added, “Even if you know where they are, I won’t help you either. 

“I’ll also offer you some words of advice. It’s never too late for a gentleman to exact his vengeance. You don’t have the means to deal with them right now. You might want to consider not rushing to your death like a buffoon. 

“Your friends might die if you don’t head over to save them, but you’ll at least have an opportunity to avenge them as long as you’re around. The best thing you can do for them is to stay alive. If you leap to your death too, your friends will probably die with grudges.

“I’ve already made my words clear, so make your own choice. I don’t want you to disturb my rest anymore.”

The Divine Deer trailed off after saying those words. No matter what Chu Feng said afterward, the Divine Deer no longer gave an answer. 

Chu Feng fully understood the logic behind what the Divine Deer had said, but he wouldn’t be him if he really did that. Thus, he gave no thought to the Divine Deer’s advice at all. 

Even if it spelled death, he was determined to save his master and the others. In the end, he decided to make his way to the Nine Souls Sacred Clan. 

Even though it was unlikely that Sima Xiangtu would return to the Nine Souls Sacred Clan, it was the one possible place where he could find clues regarding the other party. 

Perhaps the world was moved by Chu Feng’s determination, but he received a piece of news before he reached the Nine Souls Sacred Clan. 

The Nine Souls Sacred Clan had suddenly announced that Master Yin Ren had forged an incredible pill that would be helpful to all cultivators. As the overseers of the Nine Souls Galaxy, the Nine Souls Sacred Clan was obliged to help all cultivators of the Nine Souls Galaxy advance their cultivation.

Thus, all Exalted level cultivators and above of the Nine Souls Galaxy were entitled to a pill personally forged by Master Yin Ren, and the location was none other than the Nine Souls Sacred Clan. 

This news caused an uproar throughout the Nine Souls Galaxy because the Nine Souls Sacred Clan had never done anything like this before. 

Chu Feng had a feeling that Sima Xiangtu was behind this, and the pill likely spelled nothing good. However, regardless of what Sima Xiangtu was up to, the news itself strongly suggested that he had returned to the Nine Souls Sacred Clan. 

It was good news to Chu Feng, who was desperate to save his master and the others. 

Due to the news, a huge number of cultivators made their way over to the Nine Souls Sacred Clan, and the latter welcomed them warmly. 

Chu Feng noticed the reluctance on the faces of the Nine Souls Sacred Clan, suggesting that their cordial attitude was feigned. After all, this was the lofty Nine Souls Sacred Clan they were talking about. How could they be happy about having to entertain Utmost Exalted level and Exalted level cultivators, whom they deem to be no different from ants?

This hinted that the current Nine Souls Sacred Clan was under Sima Xiangtu’s control, or else there was no way they would do something like this.

In view of the peculiar situation, Chu Feng had no choice but to do something highly risky—disguising his appearance. 

Back then, Zhao Hong was kidnapped by a mysterious individual, who left behind a piece of news threatening him to never disguise himself anymore. Otherwise, the mysterious individual would kill Zhao Hong and the members of the Chu Heavenly Clan. 

While Chu Feng had no idea who the mysterious individual was, he did as he was told and journeyed the world with his true appearance. He had faced a lot of trouble due to that, but he had no other choice since the safety of his friend and family was at stake. 

However, exceptional situations called for exceptional measures. 

If he wanted to save his master and the others, he had no choice but to disguise himself. Otherwise, he would be captured before he could even get to them. After all, he was faced with extremely powerful enemies. 

Even Sima Xiangtu was beyond Chu Feng’s current means to deal with, let alone the man from the Pill Dao Immortal Sect. 

It was fortunate that there was a large number of people surging into the Nine Souls Sacred Clan. Even though the Nine Souls Sacred Clan had made preparations beforehand, they still struggled to deal with so many cultivators at once. This left plenty of room for Chu Feng to maneuver around. 

He was able to gather quite a few clues easily. 

He quickly found out that there was a discreet prison in the Nine Souls Sacred Clan that had recently upped its security. Energy traces of a formation had been leaking out from it over the last few days. 

Deducing that it was the most likely location where Shengguang Baimei and the others were imprisoned, he decided to sneak into there to take a look.

There were a lot of guards stationed outside, making infiltrating the prison a highly difficult task. However, when he finally got in after quite a bit of effort, he realized that there were hardly any guards on the inside. 

The prison was massive, but the cells were all empty except for one. The formation energy was coming from that single cell. 

The formation energy had blocked off sight into the cell, such that Chu Feng couldn’t see what was happening inside. All he could hear were screams of agony.

Judging from the other party’s voice, he was certain that it was someone he was unacquainted with.

“I got the wrong place… but who is the one imprisoned here?” 

Chu Feng was perplexed but he didn’t want to get into unnecessary trouble at this juncture, so he decided to leave the area. However, just as he was about to do so, the formation energy started dissipating, and the screams of pain halted. 

“Sima Xiangtu, how dare you usurp my position? You better kill me, or else I’ll rip off your skin, tear out your tendons, and torture you for an eternity to come!!!”

The furious cry made Chu Feng’s footsteps stall to a halt. He had a good idea who was the one being locked inside the cell.