Chapter 5246: Working In Secret

“We can’t disturb our clan chief from his closed-door training. That bastard Chu Feng has massacred all of our junior prodigies. Our clan chief is our only hope if we wish to make a comeback,” Situ Tingye said.

“Lord Tingye, our clansmen are on the verge of despair. Chu Feng has been massacring our clansmen all over True Dragon Starfield, and there hasn’t been a single survivor in the bases he has raided. Should we abandon our branches and summon our people back so as to minimize the casualties?” Situ Hongbo asked. 

“That’d be admitting defeating! Besides, it’s too reckless to do that without fully understanding the situation. Are you sure that Chu Feng is attacking our branches because he doesn’t have the strength to deal with our main force?

“It’d be good news if he’s afraid of our main force, but if this is a ploy to bait us into gathering our forces together, we’d be giving him the chance to destroy our Situ World Spiritist Clan in a single swoop!” Situ Tingye said.  

Situ Hongbo frowned. That was also what he was worried about.

Just the Tao Wu they had met the other day was already a force to be reckoned with, and there was no saying that Chu Feng might have even stronger helpers with him. If Chu Feng truly had an expert backing him up, gathering all of their clansmen together would spell their end. 

“What should we do, Lord Tingye?” Situ Hongbo asked.

“Sacrifices are inevitable in war, but their deaths will pave the way for our clan’s survival,” Situ Tingye said.

“I understand,” Situ Hongbo replied.

Chu Feng’s plan was to hunt down the Situ World Spiritist Clansmen and slowly mentally corner them, pulling their reputation through the gutter. They would let him have his way, in hopes that stalling him with the death of their clansmen would buy time for a sliver of hope. 

“Has the Situ World Spiritist Clan fallen so far as to be frightened by a mere junior?” a voice suddenly echoed.

Alarmed, Situ Tingye and Situ Hongbo hurriedly raised their heads. The doors were still closed, but there were already over a hundred people in the room. Every single one of them was emanating the aura of either a Half-God level cultivator or a God-cloak World Spiritist.

The strongest of them was emanating the aura of a rank five Half-God level cultivator, but he was dressed in a world spiritist cloak. The powerful spirit power flowing through it indicated that he was a Royal Dragon God-cloak World Spiritist. 

That meant that his spirit power was comparable to a rank six Half-God level cultivator, making his spirit power even stronger than his cultivation. 

He was Yue Ling’s father, Yue Lian.

Situ Tingye and Situ Hongbo felt nervous in Yue Lian’s presence. How could they not be when an expert who had the strength to destroy their Situ World Spiritist Clan suddenly appeared before their eyes? 

Yue Lian took out a token and introduced himself.

“I am Yue Lian, an honorary elder of the Pill Dao Immortal Sect.”

The Situ World Spiritist Clan had dealings with the Pill Dao Immortal Sect, so Situ Tingye and Situ Hongbo could immediately tell that the token was authentic. 

“Paying respects to Lord Yue Lian!”

The two grand elders hurriedly bowed to him.

“I am here to aid you in getting rid of Chu Feng,” Yue Lian said.

The two grand elders were startled to hear those words. They couldn’t believe that someone would conveniently save them from their predicament. 

“Chu Feng killed my son,” Yue Lian explained.

“Then Chu Feng really deserves death,” Situ Tingye spat.

“We share the same enemy, so you can trust me on this. I’ll assure you that Chu Feng isn’t as powerful as he seems. He’s just putting on a brave front. As long as you cooperate with me, he’ll be a goner,” Yue Lian said.

“Milord, how can you be so sure of that?” Situ Tingye asked.

He didn’t think that Chu Feng was just putting on a brave front.

“The Golden Dragon Flame Sect has an irreconcilable grudge with your Situ World Spiritist Clan. Supposing that you’re in the same position as him, would you give your enemy the chance to escape or eliminate all of them in a single swoop?” Yue Lian asked.

“It goes without saying that I’d eliminate all of them in a single swoop,” Situ Tingye replied.

Yue Lian narrowed his eyes, indicating that he had already made his point.

“Milord, are you saying that Chu Feng doesn’t have the ability to threaten our Situ World Spiritist Clan at all?” Situ Tingye asked.

“Why else do you think you’re still alive?” Yue Lian asked.

“But the old man who backed Chu Feng up the other day in the Demoncoffin Ordinary Realm possesses extraordinary strength!” Situ Hongbo interjected.

“I’m aware that your Situ World Spiritist Clan has crossed hands with Chu Feng, but think about it, Elder Hongbo, don’t you think that it’s weird that you survived that encounter with him? Would the remnant of the Golden Dragon Flame Sect would miss out on a chance to end your life?” Yue Lian asked.

“Are you saying that the person I met the other day has ties with Chu Feng but isn’t from the Golden Dragon Flame Sect? In other words, that old man was only standing up for Chu Feng?”

Situ Hongbo finally thought things through.

“What else do you think?” 

Yue Lian burst into laughter, almost as if mocking Situ Hongbo’s foolishness. 

The latter revealed an awkward smile. He had been so intimidated by Chu Feng that he had failed to think straight. However, Yue Lian’s words had cleared things up for him.

“So, it’s likely that Chu Feng has Half-God level cultivators backing him up, but they are unlikely to be very strong? He’s hunting down our branches not to taunt us but because he has no other choice but to do so?” Situ Tingye asked. 

“I believe that to be the case, but even if my guess is off the mark, there’s still nothing to be worried about.” Yue Lian gestured to the crowd behind him. “The people you see here are my aides. They have served me for many years now, and I have gathered all of them here for the first time in order to help you deal with Chu Feng.”

Situ Tingye and Situ Hongbo had already assessed the people in the room, and they could tell that they were either Half-God level cultivators or God-cloak World Spiritists. Without a doubt, this was not an army to be made light of.

“From today onward, I’ll personally guard your headquarters. If Chu Feng dares to barge in here, I’ll kill him with my own hands. Other than that, I want a list containing your most important bases in the True Dragon Starfield. I’ll have my men guard them,” Yue Lian said. 

Situ Tingye did as he was told and quickly wrote down a list. Yue Lian took the list and began dispatching his aides to different places.

“Remember, I want to capture Chu Feng alive. You may request help if you find yourself in danger, but you have to make sure that the person you met is Chu Feng,” Yue Lian instructed. 

“Understood!!!”

With a resounding answer, the aides bowed deeply before leaving the room. Then, Yue Lian’s eyes turned incredibly cold.

“Chu Feng, do you think that I, Yue Lian, am a pushover? You’ll soon regret having ever messed with me!”

… 

The alliance between Yue Lian and the Situ World Spiritist Clan was completely kept under wraps, so there was no way Chu Feng could have learned about it. 

Time continued ticking by.

Over the past few days, Chu Feng had successfully raided a few more branches of the Situ World Spiritist Clan. He was currently in the depths of an old mountain forest, and there was a strong blood stench cloaking his body. He had just massacred yet another branch.

He had come here only after confirming that the Situ World Spiritist Clan didn’t have any Half-God level cultivator stationed in this realm, which allowed him to act as he pleased since he was unrivaled under Half-God level. 

Even after completing the job, he continued to stay in this realm because he realized that he was on the verge of a breakthrough for his spirit power. This was thanks to the secret formations he had acquired in the Spirit Beast Mountain Range.

He had been looking through the secret formations and had grasped a portion of them. He hadn’t been slacking off just because he was in the midst of vengeance. In fact, he had just tried making a breakthrough, but he was still a step away from becoming a God-cloak World Spiritist.

“There’s still a bit more to go,” Chu Feng murmured as he rose to his feet. 

It was a failed attempt, but he didn’t rush things through. He knew that he just needed a little more time. 

Thus, he took out a map that had the Situ World Spiritist Clan’s branches in the True Dragon Starfield marked out and drew a cross on one of them. There were many crosses on the map, which indicated that those branches had already been destroyed by him.

“Milady Queen, where should I go next? Any suggestions?” Chu Feng asked.

“This Queen will have a good look. The ones marked in green don’t have Half-God level cultivators, right?” Milady Queen asked. 

“Yes. The strongest cultivators in those branches are only at peak Martial Exalted level, but even so, there was only a small handful of them,” Chu Feng replied.

The Situ World Spiritist Clan had many branches, but their strength was only so-so. Chu Feng did notice signs of their past prosperity, but it looked like they had fallen into decline since then. 

However, he had no pity for them.

After all, the Situ World Spiritist Clan had only grown weak because they had made a move on the Golden Dragon Flame Sect, which cost them their strongest experts. Ironically, that was also the only reason Chu Feng could afford to make a move on them. 

In a way, this was their retribution. 

“Let’s go with this Purpleflame Upper Realm,” Eggy said.

Chu Feng confirmed the location of their destination before making his way over.