Chapter 5251: An Impending Crisis

“Elder, I’ll get complacent if you compliment me like that,” Chu Feng said with a smile.

“You better not. You might be talented, but your bloodline isn’t fully awakened yet. The worst thing a fledgling like you can do is to slack off,” the woman said. 

“I’ll definitely work hard and bring glory to you. Elder, you mentioned that three of the successors are juniors. Do you mean that they are juniors of the current generation or that they were juniors when they received the legacy?” Chu Feng asked.

“Of course they are juniors of the current generation! Are my words that ambiguous?” the woman asked.

“Not anymore, elder. I’m surprised by how knowledgeable you are when you have been stuck here for so long,” Chu Feng remarked.

“The nine of us are natural oddities nurtured from the same place. You can think of us as siblings who possess a unique connection that allows us to communicate with each other no matter how far away we are. Of course, our messages require time to reach one another, but it can bypass any barrier and obstacle,” the woman said. 

“That’s amazing, elder,” Chu Feng said.

“Cut the compliments and ask whatever you want,” the woman said.

“Elder, may I know how many of the legacies are in the Immemorial Domain of Gods?”

Chu Feng wanted to confirm how many people in the eight galaxies had obtained the legacy. 

“You’re trying to sound me out again. I can’t tell you that. All right, it’s about time. I’ll have to leave now,” the woman said.

“Elder Violet, I still have a question!” Chu Feng exclaimed.

“Shoot off.”

“Is Lord Qin Jiu in the Immemorial Domain of Gods?” 

The woman suddenly revealed a sorrowful look, which told him that something was amiss.

“Elder, could it be that Lord Qin Jiu has passed away?” Chu Feng asked.

The woman maintained her silence. Her sorrow deepened, and a tinge of killing intent flared from her. Even though those emotions weren’t directed toward him, Chu Feng tactfully chose not to dig any deeper.

Fortunately, the killing intent swiftly dissipated, and the woman recovered from her sorrow. 

“Chu Feng, is there someone whom you wish to protect?” the woman grimly asked.

“Yes, there is,” Chu Feng solemnly replied.

“Then you should cultivate hard,” the woman said.

“Elder, what in the world happened in the later years of the Ancient Era?”

Chu Feng had been curious about this for a long time now, but he wasn’t able to find an answer to it.

“I don’t remember it anymore,” the woman said.

“You don’t remember it?”

Chu Feng remembered hearing this answer from other people who had survived the Ancient Era too. 

“Frightening things did happen. Those who managed to survive the ordeal have their memory affected, so we aren’t able to properly recall what happened back then,” the woman explained. 

“Frightening things?”

Chu Feng couldn’t imagine what frightening things could have happened that resulted in a sudden gap in heritage. 

“Chu Feng, have you seen a starry night sky before?” the woman asked.

“I have,” Chu Feng replied with a nod.

The woman looked at him with a sorrowful smile.

“No, you have never seen the real starry night sky before. There’ll never be an opportunity for you to see it. The starry night sky in my era was one that was truly filled with stars. What you see right now is not even a tenth of the splendor I have witnessed,” the woman said as she turned her sights toward the sky.

She seemed to have recalled some memories, but it only placed her in a melancholic mood.

“Not even a tenth of the splendor back then?”

Chu Feng’s heart jolted.

He knew that the starry night sky was the world of cultivation itself, and every star in the sky represented a realm. If the stars in the sky weren’t even a tenth of what it was in the Ancient Era, it would mean that ninety percent of the realms in the world of cultivation had disappeared for some reason. 

A disaster or a war must have happened, resulting in cataclysmic destruction. It must have been a shocking sight to witness. It was frightening just thinking about what had happened.

“Elder, will such a thing happen again?” Chu Feng asked. 

“I don’t remember the reason behind the destruction, but I have a feeling that it’ll happen again… and the day is looming close,” the woman said.

“How close?” Chu Feng asked.

“That’s hard to say. It could be ten thousand years, but it could also be a century… or even shorter,” the woman said.

Kacha!

Chu Feng clenched his fists tightly out of unease.

A hundred years? That wasn’t even enough time for him to cultivate.

“That is also why I told you that you can’t slack off. You’d be putting your talent to waste. Who knows? You might just be the one to protect the world when disaster strikes… When the time comes, I might require your protection too,” the woman said. 

“I’ll definitely protect you, elder,” Chu Feng said.

“I trust you,” the woman said with a smile.

She had said these words to encourage Chu Feng to work harder, but she didn’t truly believe in them. After all, there was such a huge disparity in their strength. No matter how talented Chu Feng was, there was no way he could grow by so much within a short period of time.

She wasn’t counting on Chu Feng to protect her. 

The woman suddenly thought of something and said, “Oh right, Chu Feng.” 

“What is it, elder?” 

“…No, it’s nothing,” the woman replied with a smile.

She had a question to ask, but she decided against it.

“Elder, please feel free to speak your mind,” Chu Feng said.

“It’s nothing. Take care of yourself. I’ll be leaving now. May fate brings us together in the future,” the woman said.

“Elder, I have one last question I’d like to ask,” Chu Feng suddenly said.

“You still have a question?” The woman was starting to lose her patience, but she still gestured for him to go on with a wave of her hand, “Go ahead.”

“Elder, you mentioned that there was an outsider here earlier. Does it mean that there’s someone else other than us?” Chu Feng asked.

“Indeed. She followed you here,” the woman said.

“She followed me here?” Chu Feng frowned.

“You don’t know her?” the woman asked.

“I’m not too sure.” Chu Feng quickly drew the portrait of the mysterious woman he had met in the mountain valley. “Elder, is it her?”

He reckoned that the mysterious woman was the likeliest culprit if someone was tailing him without attempting to harm him. 

Instead of answering the question, the woman asked, “Shall I get rid of her?”

That indirectly affirmed Chu Feng’s guess.

“She’s a friend of mine. Please treat it as if you didn’t notice her,” Chu Feng said.

“I was just saying it in passing. You should know that I’m under no obligation to protect you. I wouldn’t have helped you even if you begged me to get rid of her,” the woman replied. 

“Ah…” Chu Feng was rendered speechless.

“I’ll be leaving now, Chu Feng. You should quickly leave this place too. Remember, you shouldn’t tell anyone that you have obtained Lord Qin Jiu’s legacy… At the very least, you shouldn’t tell people whom you can’t trust,” the woman instructed. 

“I understand, elder,” Chu Feng replied.

Weng!

The purple smoke began swirling around Chu Feng, swiftly forming a furious tornado. By the time the tornado dissipated, both the palace and the woman had already disappeared without a trace. 

“May we meet again, elder,” Chu Feng said with a bow. 

The formation that sealed off the area began to dissipate, and the Purpleflame Flowers withered along with it. 

“It looks like the thriving of the Purpleflame Flowers here is related to that elder,” Eggy remarked.

“Eggy, do you think that Lord Qin Jiu is still alive?” Chu Feng asked.

“Didn’t you see how upset she was? He’s most definitely dead.”

“Do you reckon it’s related to that calamity?” 

“It’s hard to say, but that’s probably the case.”

“Forget it. Let’s put aside past affairs now and focus on the present.”

“Indeed. You’re already struggling with the present. You don’t have the luxury to be thinking about the past now. You don’t have to be afraid even if the calamity is real. This Queen will protect you,” Eggy said.

“That won’t do. I’ll be the one to protect you instead,” Chu Feng replied.

“That works for me too,” Eggy replied with a sweet smile.

Chu Feng smiled as well. 

He used the main token that was used to control the mountain range’s formation to steal all of the treasures in the mountain range, including the collected fragrance of the Purpleflame Flowers. He even made sure to position the corpses well to put on a show for those who were on their way here. 

When he finally left the realm, the mysterious woman followed him… though there was now an additional gaze on him too—the woman in a purple dress. 

It turned out that she didn’t actually leave the area. 

“I wonder if they are related… No, I’m probably overthinking it. How could such a coincidence exist in the world?” the woman murmured under her breath.

She was planning to ask Chu Feng if he knew a person, but she eventually decided against it out of fear that they would actually be acquainted. She knew that Chu Feng would surely ask more questions if he was acquainted with that man, but she didn’t want to reveal too much here. 

After all, she had already gone against Lord Qin Jiu’s wishes.

However, it was hard for her to curb her curiosity when she knew about the recent happenings in the Immemorial Domain of Gods. 

A man had recently appeared in the Immemorial Domain of Gods. What was frightening about him was his growth, to the point where the top powers were wary of him. They were afraid that he would eventually pose a threat to them.

Those who had been relaying news from the Immemorial Domain of Gods to her had similar evaluations of the man. 

They said that the man was extremely meticulous and vicious. He had already awoken his bloodline and was in a phase of swift growth. It wouldn’t be long before his name was known throughout the entire Immemorial Domain of Gods. 

That man would be an indispensable ally should disaster befall the world of cultivation once more. 

That man possessed the Heavenly Bloodline and had an old ape with him. Coincidentally, his family name was also Chu.

His name? Chu Xuanyuan!