Chapter 5196: Brothers on the Same Boat

Chu Feng could hardly calm his tumultuous emotions as he returned to his feet. 

It was true that he didn’t use his full strength against Xue Ji right from the start, but that didn’t mean that he had gotten careless. He had long inculcated a habit to maintain his wariness no matter the opponent he was faced with, and he did take Xue Ji seriously earlier.

He had to admit that Xue Ji was indeed extremely powerful. Even if he had gone all out right from the start, there was no guarantee that he was a match for her.

Boom!

The rumbling sound grew even more pronounced. Cracks could be seen all around the cavern, and rock pieces had started falling from the ceiling. 

The cavern was already on the verge of collapse, and Chu Feng could end up buried here if he didn’t leave this place right away. Thus, he quickly searched for an exit and left through it.  

Upon returning to the surface, Chu Feng realized that the rumbling sound was coming only from the juniors’ entrances. There was no such noise from the entrances accessible to all cultivators. 

This further verified Chu Feng’s deduction that the cause of the collapse was him forming the blue rock key. 

Typically speaking, Chu Feng would have tried entering the entrances accessible to all cultivators to see what was inside, but he chose to refrain from it. After all, there were powerhouses like the Demon Spirit King inside. It would be hard for him to get anything good under their watch. 

Thus, he obediently headed over to the meeting spot he had previously agreed with Tao Wu.

He concealed himself so as to prevent anyone from noticing him, but the meeting spot being located at a negligible corner also helped him. Hardly anyone would approach where he was. 

Just like that, Chu Feng waited for two hours. 

By then, the rumbling had already died down and the juniors’ entrances had all closed up. 

“Hm?”

Sensing a presence heading in his direction, Chu Feng turned his sight toward the southeast to take a look. It was a cultivator from the Situ World Spiritist Clan.

Flying at a moderate speed, the cultivator from the Situ World Spiritist Clan scattered a huge number of posters all around as he shouted to those below, “This man is a criminal wanted by our Situ World Spiritist Clan! Report any news on that man and you’ll be rewarded. Capture that man alive and you’ll be handsomely rewarded!” 

Chu Feng casually grabbed one of the posters and found his portrait on it. 

“They’re more efficient than I thought,” Chu Feng murmured with a chuckle. 

He wasn’t surprised in the least. 

The juniors from the Situ World Spiritist Clan whom he had crippled were bound to have already left the cavern and found their elders to stand up for them. The Situ World Spiritist Clan was bound to be angered when they learned that someone dared to challenge their authority. 

It was within expectations that they would put Chu Feng on their wanted list.

Admittedly, the Situ World Spiritist Clan was nothing compared to all of the powerhouses that had gathered here, but they had been arrogant for far too long that they wouldn’t tolerate anyone slighting them. 

Most likely, they had checked Chu Feng’s appearance and found that it didn’t match with any of the disciples of renowned powerhouses, which led them to think that he was small fry. Thus, their instinctive reaction was to capture him and teach him a lesson.

Chu Feng wasn’t worried about that in the least. He had nothing to be afraid of even if all of the Situ World Spiritist Clansmen on the flying warship came after him at once.

The strongest one in their group was only at rank three Half-God level, making him weaker than Old Cat and Tao Wu. With just powerful allies on his side, what did he have to fear?

That being said, he wasn’t intending to borrow Tao Wu or Old Cat’s strength to deal with the Situ World Spiritist Clansmen. He wanted to kill them using his own strength. That was the only way he could vent his anger. 

Boom!

Another series of loud rumbling sounds echoed in the air. 

Chu Feng quickly rose into the air and saw a huge cloud of dust rising from the pits that were accessible to all cultivators.

“It looks like someone has managed to clear the trial there too.”

The juniors’ cavern had closed because Chu Feng gathered a thousand blue rocks together. That was likely to be the case for the cavern that was accessible to everyone too. 

“Young brother Chu Feng, you returned faster than I thought. How is it? Did you manage to get anything good?”

A familiar voice suddenly echoed. Tao Wu and Old Cat flitted their way in his direction. 

Once again, Chu Feng affirmed that there was something unusual about Tao Wu. The latter was able to find him right away despite him concealing his presence. 

So, Chu Feng came out of his concealment to meet them.

Tao Wu looked excited to see Chu Feng whereas Old Cat had a complicated look on his face.

“Elder, I’m sorry to have let you down.” 

Chu Feng revealed the events that had transpired in the cavern. 

“Brother Chu Feng, being defeated by Xue Ji is nothing to be embarrassed about. Despite her lacking cultivation, she possesses incredible means. I have suffered in her hands too.”

Old Cat wasn’t surprised to learn that Chu Feng had lost to Xue Ji. On the contrary, he started consoling Chu Feng.

“You have suffered in her hands too?”

It was hard to believe that someone of Old Cat’s strength would actually be done in by Xue Ji.

“Don’t look at me that way. That lass is a cunning one, and her poison is one to be feared. All it takes is a lapse of attention to fall for her trap,” Old Cat said. 

It would appear that Old Cat had been poisoned by Xue Ji at one point in time.

That would explain why Old Cat wasn’t surprised to hear that Chu Feng had lost to Xue Ji. He had suffered a defeat to the same poison too, so he knew just how formidable it was.

“I didn’t acquire the key, but I was able to memorize the formation deciphering formation on it. I’m just not sure if it’ll be of use,” Chu Feng said.

“It’ll definitely be of use,” Tao Wu replied.

“Elder, did you manage to obtain anything from the trial?” Chu Feng asked.

“Haa, we fared even worse than you,” Tao Wu replied.

Old Cat’s expression turned even weirder.

“It’s my fault,” Old Cat said.

“Ah?”

Chu Feng was perplexed as to what had happened between the two of them. Old Cat began sharing the chain of events with him.  

It turned out that Old Cat and Tao Wu had decided to move separately, but the two of them coincidentally encountered each other in the cavern. Tao Wu had already completed the trial and obtained its reward by that point, but Old Cat happened to be in danger. 

In the end, Tao Wu gave up on the reward in order to save Old Cat’s life.

“It’s my fault. I got careless and implicated Brother Tao,” Old Cat said.

Chu Feng finally understood why Old Cat was acting out of it. It turned out that it owed a debt to Tao Wu for saving its life. 

“Eyy, there’s no point talking about that now. We’re on the same boat now. To me, there’s nothing more important than loyalty. What’s that you’re holding in your hand?”

Tao Wu glanced at the wanted poster in Chu Feng’s hand and grabbed it. 

“What in the world! Young brother, you’re wanted by that dogshit Situ World Spiritist Clan?” Tao Wu asked.

“It’s nothing. We just had a scuffle in the cavern,” Chu Feng replied.

He chose not to tell them about his grudge with the Situ World Spiritist Clan. After all, he planned to personally deal with them.

“How is this nothing? They’re practically crapping on your head right now! Those wusses must be sick of living to dare mess with you. Let’s go, Brother Chu Feng. I’ll redress your grievances!”

Tao Wu rose into the air as he spoke.

Chu Feng and Old Cat also found themselves floating into the air despite not moving in the least. Tao Wu was forcefully dragging them with him.

“Elder, there’s really no need for this. I can settle my own problems by myself,” Chu Feng replied.

“What nonsense are you spouting? Your problem is my problem!” Tao Wu exclaimed.

“Ahahaha… It’ll suffice for the two of you to teach the Situ World Spiritist Clan a lesson. I shan’t join in,” Old Cat said.

Tao Wu immediately stopped, turned around, and glared at Old Cat with severe eyes.

“Old Kitty, what do you mean by that? Are you saying that Brother Chu Feng’s matters have nothing to do with you? Are you reluctant to help Brother Chu Feng? Goddamnit, I must have been blind to actually save your life! Fine, leave right now! We’ll treat it as if we have never met before!” Tao Wu bellowed.

Old Cat’s cheeks twitched. A few moments later, it gritted its teeth and shouted, “Damn it! The Situ World Spiritist Clan must be tired of living! Let’s go… I shall have them know that Brother Chu Feng isn’t someone they can trifle with!”

Tao Wu gave a satisfied nod.

“That’s more like it.”

Completely ignoring Chu Feng’s protests, Tao Wu dragged the two of them toward the Situ World Spiritist Clan’s flying warship.