Chapter 5288: Don’t Blame Me

“Master…”

Cheng Tianchan and Zhao Yunmo wanted to speak up for themselves, but Ningyu Shangren eyed them coldly and said, “Scram. Say anything more and I’ll cripple your cultivation.”

The two of them hurriedly fled the palace. They knew that their master wouldn’t hesitate to follow through on her words. 

No one sympathized with Cheng Tianchan and Zhao Yunmo. On the contrary, they thought that it was justice served. 

Long Xiaoxiao grabbed Chu Feng’s arm and pulled him up to Ningyu Shangren to introduce him. “Master, this is the person I have told you about, Chu Feng.”

“Junior Chu Feng pays respect to elder.” Chu Feng bowed respectfully.

“Young friend Chu Feng, you’re indeed an extraordinary individual. To be honest, I doubted Xiaoxiao’s words when she told me about you. I can see now she hasn’t been exaggerating,” Ningyu Shangren said. 

Her words showed just how high of an opinion she had of Chu Feng.

However, the crowd thought that it was perfectly normal. There was no compliment that was excessive for the man who had just won the strongest title. 

“Young friend Chu Feng, I heard from our Yuhan that you have saved her in the Trial of the Strongest?” Mo Chengzhou asked.

“Yes, grandfather. I wouldn’t be here now if not for Chu Feng,” Mo Yuhan said.

She discreetly explained the situation to Mo Chengzhou via voice transmission. It wouldn’t be good to let others know that he had killed a person in the Trial of the Strongest. 

“That really happened?” Mo Chengzhou looked at Chu Feng in amazement. “You’re an outstanding youth indeed.”

“Elder, I’m no longer a youth,” Chu Feng replied. 

“You wouldn’t even count as a youth going by our lifespan! You, Yuhan, and Xiaoxiao are no different from children to us,” Mo Chengzhou said with a smile.

Chu Feng also smiled as well. They were indeed extremely young going by the average lifespan of cultivators. 

“Young friend Chu Feng, do you have a master?” Mo Chengzhou asked.

“I do,” Chu Feng replied.

“May I know who your master is? I’d like to know the person who has nurtured such an outstanding junior like you,” Mo Chengzhou said. 

“I’m afraid that it is inconvenient for me to reveal the name of my master. I ask for your understanding on this matter,” Chu Feng said.

Knowing himself, he knew that it was only a matter of time before he got into more trouble. He feared that he would bring trouble to Ox-nosed Old Daoist and the others if he revealed their names.

“Young friend Chu Feng, would you mind taking in another master?” Mo Chengzhou asked.

Before Chu Feng could reply, Eggy said, “Chu Feng, that old thing is clearly trying to take advantage of you. Based on what they have said, he was here during your first gathering, but he didn’t stand up for you. It was only after you won the strongest title that he finally made a move. How shameless! Tell him to get lost.”

Eggy disliked hypocritical people who changed their attitude according to the situation.

Chu Feng wasn’t averse to the notion of acknowledging others as his master, but the bottom line was that he had to at least feel goodwill toward them. However, he didn’t feel any goodwill toward Mo Chengzhou. 

Thus, he replied, “I’m flattered by your high opinion of me, but I have no intention of acknowledging another person as my master.”

“I understand. I shall back down here then,” Mo Chengzhou said with a smile.

Ningyu Shangren was surprised by how easily Mo Chengzhou was giving up here, but she decided not to think too much about it. She turned to the crowd and said, “Young friends, there are things I would like to talk to Xiaoxiao about. Let’s conclude the gathering here for today.”

None of the juniors present dared to say otherwise to Ningyu Shangren. 

Ningyu Shangren pulled Long Xiaoxiao away and asked her about the happenings in the Trial of the Strongest. She knew how strong Long Xiaoxiao was, and it shouldn’t have been possible for her to win the strongest title. 

Long Xiaoxiao didn’t reveal the full truth, only saying that she had received a surge of energy that brought about a swift growth in her cultivation. She claimed to not know where the energy was from. 

“Our Xiaoxiao sure is blessed with great luck. You’re able to stumble upon a fortuitous encounter even in the Trial of the Strongest. However, I don’t think that the fortuitous encounter has come out of nowhere. The Totem Dragon Clan definitely has its own reason for preparing for this tournament. It might even be possible that you have obtained a fortuitous encounter that the Totem Dragon Clan is after. It’ll be best for you to keep this matter to yourself, alright?” Ningyu Shangren instructed. 

“I understand, master,” Long Xiaoxiao replied.

“Xiaoxiao, I have prepared cultivation resources for you, but I left them somewhere else. Wait here for me. I’ll be right back,” Ningyu Shangren said. 

She quickly flitted across the sky until two figures appeared in her line of sight—Cheng Tianchan and Zhao Yunmo. She rushed forward and blocked their paths.

The two of them were still despairing from having been abandoned, but their faces quickly lit up with delight when they saw their master standing before them. 

“Master, I knew that you wouldn’t leave us be!” the two of them kneeled down and cried. 

“Do you really think that I’m oblivious to what you have done?” Ningyu Shangren asked.

“Master, we were wrong! Please give us a chance to make amends!” The two of them sobbed. They didn’t want to lose their strong backing.

“You can do that in your next life.” 

Ningyu Shangren took out a jar and uncorked it, revealing a pair of crimson eyes inside. Both Cheng Tianchan and Zhao Yunmo were horrified to see those eyes. 

Before they could flee, an aura gushed out from the jar and shrouded the two of them.

Gah!

Pitiful cries echoed. Their bloodline powers began seeping out from their bodies despite their best attempts to struggle. The aura was simply too powerful for them to resist. Eventually, the two of them were dragged into the jar. 

Ningyu Shangren quickly sealed off the jar with a talisman. Holding the jar with her right hand, she formed a series of hand seals with her left. A pained expression appeared on her face, showing that she was under great strain. 

Soon, the talisman turned blood-red. 

She retrieved the talisman before sealing off the jar with a different talisman. Then, she corked the jar and returned to Long Xiaoxiao’s lodging. 

“Use the method I have taught you to assimilate the talisman and infuse its energy into your bloodline. It’ll strengthen your bloodline,” Ningyu Shangren said as she passed the blood-red talisman to Long Xiaoxiao.

Long Xiaoxiao took the talisman, but she was more concerned about her master’s condition. “Master, why does your complexion look so awful?” 

“Don’t worry about it. I spent a lot of effort acquiring this talisman, so you have to make full use of it,” Ningyu Shangren said.

“Master, I’ll not let you down,” Long XIaoxiao replied.

“Good. Hurry up and assimilate it,” Ningyu Shangren said with a smile before leaving the lodging.

Shortly after she left, a person appeared beside her. It was Mo Chengzhou.

Before Mo Chengzhou could say a word, Ningyu Shangren said, “Do you finally understand why I kept those two by my side?”

She knew that Mo Chengzhou had been following her, so he was bound to have witnessed the earlier sight. In fact, she didn’t bother attempting to hide the truth from him.

Mo Chengzhou chuckled under his breath before replying, “I didn’t know that they had such unique bloodlines. You must have sealed them through some special means. Those two poor things. They would have never known that their master was the one limiting their cultivation. But if I’m not mistaken, you were going to use them to strengthen your own bloodline, right? I’m surprised that you gave them to Xiaoxiao instead. You must have a high opinion of her.”

“Xiaoxiao won the strongest title, which goes to show that she harnesses much greater potential than me. There’s a good chance that she’ll shine in God’s Era. On the other hand, I doubt that I’d be able to make much advancement even after taking in their bloodlines, so I might as well use them to nurture my successor instead,” Ningyu Shangren said. 

“I told you time and time again that you should have found a good man to marry, but you wouldn’t listen to me. Haa… What’s done is done. Since you don’t have any offspring, it’s not a bad idea to nurture Xiaoxiao too. She does have potential. You probably suffered a backlash using the Blood-devouring Demon Jar to refine those two brats, right? Here, take this.”

Mo Chengzhou offered a jade bottle to Ningyu Shangren.

Ningyu Shangren examined the bottle before exclaiming in surprise, “What’s with you today? This is good stuff. You’re actually willing to give it to me?” 

She uncorked the bottle and gulped down its content.

“As expected of our sect’s sacred medicine. I should go and claim some after I’m done dealing with the matters here,” Ningyu Shangren said with a relieved sigh. She turned to Mo Chengzhou and asked, “Speaking of which, that matter is about to begin, right?”

“Yes, it should be soon,” Mo Chengzhou replied.

“We should start making preparations then,” Ningyu Shangren replied.

Wu!

Ningyu Shangren’s face suddenly warped. She turned to look at Mo Chengzhou in disbelief. 

“You… poisoned me?” 

She would have never thought that Mo Chengzhou would actually poison her. She only noticed it because her power was quickly receding from her body. Needless to say, it had something to do with the sacred medicine she had just consumed. 

“What are you saying? I’d never harm you. I only temporarily restrained your cultivation,” Mo Chengzhou said.

“You… Could it be…” Ningyu Shangren quickly figured out Mo Chengzhou’s intention, and her eyebrows furrowed in worry. “You can’t. Definitely not! I’m begging you, please!”

“Ahhhh… It’s the first time you’re begging me in so many years, and you’re doing it for your disciple’s friend. It looks like you really bear high expectations of Long Xiaoxiao. I wasn’t lying when I said that I have high hopes for Chu Feng too. To tell you the truth, I intended to make him my successor. 

“It’s just that… you also know the condition my son is in. Only a junior with a strong world spiritist bloodline can save him. The prodigies of the Seven Realms Sacred Mansion are all protected by powerful experts, so I am unable to lay my hands on them. It’s fate that the world brought Chu Feng before me at a time like this. I can’t miss this opportunity. Otherwise, my son will pay the price,” Mo Chengzhou said.

“There must be other solutions! How can you ruin the future of someone as talented as Chu Feng?” Ningyu Shangren exclaimed.

“Chu Feng is highly talented as a cultivator too. Even without his world spiritist bloodline, he’ll be able to find a place for himself in the world of cultivation. Don’t worry, for you, Xiaoxiao, and Yuhan, I won’t take his life even if this means incurring his hatred. I promise you that I’ll only take his world spiritist bloodline and not endanger his life. Please don’t harbor a grudge against me for this.”

Mo Chengzhou took out a talisman and pasted it on Ningyu Shangren’s forehead, which immobilized and concealed her.