Chapter 5310: Old Man's Expectations

Chu Feng knew that the old man was telling him to consume the poison pill or die. As dangerous as it was to consume the poison pill, he didn’t have any other option. Thus, he took the poison pill and swallowed it. 

“Decisive, I see. You understand your situation well.” 

Chu Feng’s decisiveness made the old man see him in a different light.

“I just want to prove that I won’t betray you. I don’t think that you’re an unreasonable person either,” Chu Feng replied.

“You’re a smart man,” the old man said.

“Elder, are you able to show me the way now?” Chu Feng asked.

“Why aren’t you asking about me? Aren’t you curious?” the old man asked.

“My guess is that you must have had some clashes with the other tribes of the Ancient Realm, and you’re currently hiding from them. I don’t intend to get involved in the internal affairs of the Ancient Realm. I am here only for the Sacred Temple Beads. I vow on my life that I won’t tell anyone anything about you, be it inside the Ancient Realm or outside,” Chu Feng said. 

“What an interesting little brat you are. How did you get in here?” the old man asked.

“I cleared a test and was transported here,” Chu Feng said.

“You were transported here?”

“That’s right.”

The old man revealed a deep smile upon hearing those words.

“I believe you.”

The old man tossed a pill toward Chu Feng with a wave of his sleeves. It was the antidote to the poison.

“Elder, you’re giving me the antidote right away?” 

Chu Feng was surprised, but he swallowed the antidote right away. The poison began to dissipate as soon as the antidote went into his stomach. 

“You look like a trustworthy person,” the old man said. He raised his finger and pointed out a direction. “Head in that direction, and you’ll eventually reach the main city of the Ancient Realm. The subsequent tests are usually held there. You’ll likely meet a few tribesmen along the way who offer to bind with you, but I hope that you can remain bound to our Yuan Lineage Tribe.”

“Are you saying that I have the freedom to choose which tribe I wish to bind with?” Chu Feng asked.

“That’s right,” the old man replied.

“The Yuan Lineage Tribe is also one of the options?”

“Our Yuan Lineage Tribe might have already fallen into decline, but according to the rules, as long as we have a single tribesman standing, we’re still an eligible tribe to bind to.”

“Very well, I’ll bind with the Yuan Lineage Tribe right away.”

“You don’t need to do it right away. Bring Little Crescent there and bind with her before everyone else,” the old man said.

“I’ll do as you have instructed,” Chu Feng replied.

“Little Crescent, go and clean up. It won’t do for you to look so dirty.” The old man took out a fresh set of clothes and passed them to the little girl.

“Waaa, uncle has prepared new clothes for me. Thank you, uncle. Hehehe!”

Little Crescent was delighted to receive new clothes. She happily hopped deeper into the cavern with her new clothes in hand. When she finally reappeared once more, she had already transformed from a dirty little beggar to an adorable little girl. Her curled eyes particularly stood out, looking almost like little crescent moons.

“Are you ready, Little Crescent?” Chu Feng offered his hand to the little girl.

“Let’s go, big brother.” Little Crescent ran up to Chu Feng and grabbed his hand.

“Speaking of which, elder, you mentioned Chu Xuanyan earlier. Who is he?” Chu Feng figured that Chu Xuanyan must be an important person to the Ancient Realm for the elder to mention him earlier. 

“You’ll know once you arrive at the main city. You should hurry up and get going. You don’t have much time left. You’ll be eliminated if you arrive late for the subsequent tests,” the old man said.

“I’ll be taking my leave then.” Chu Feng bowed to the elder before leaving the cavern. 

Shortly after the departure of Chu Feng and Little Crescent, the old man walked out of the cavern and gazed in the direction of the Ancient Realm’s main city. 

“I have kept all of you waiting. Soon, I shall remind you of Yuan Jiang’s prowess. The Ancient Realm shall belong to our Yuan Lineage Tribe!” The old man’s lips curled into a smile as his body quivered in excitement. Anticipation could be seen reflected in his eyes.

He had waited far too long for this day to come.

… 

As Chu Feng headed to the main city together with Little Crescent, he couldn’t help but notice how huge the Ancient Realm was. He had to make haste as he was quite some distance away from the Ancient City, and he had been delayed from having to look around for directions. 

“Big brother, I know who Chu Xuanyan is,” Little Crescent suddenly said.

“You know?” Chu Feng was surprised.

“I do. Uncle told me about him.”

“Why don’t you tell me who Chu Xuanyan is then?”

Following that, Little Crescent earnestly shared the story of Chu Xuanyan with Chu Feng.

Eight hundred years ago, the Ancestral Rocks that served as mediums for the Ancestral Ritual suddenly shattered, much to the shock of the people of the Ancient Realm. Moments later, however, eleven Ancestral Divine Monuments rose in their place. 

There was a limit to how much energy normal Ancestral Rocks could absorb. In fact, the people of the Ancient Realm carefully control how much energy the Ancestral Rocks took in, or else the Ancestral Rocks could shatter if they absorbed too much. Such situations had happened before. 

In contrast, the Ancestral Divine Monuments had almost no limit to their capacity. There was no need for the people of the Ancient Realm to control their energy intake. Most cultivators would fail to satisfy them and eventually faint from energy depletion.

But someone became an exception to the rule eight hundred years ago. He endured the energy devouring from the Ancestral Divine Monuments and filled them to the brim. He single-handedly left his name on all eleven Ancestral Divine Monuments.

Most important of all, that person was only a junior. 

And that person was none other than Chu Xuanyan. 

“Chu Feng, I have something to say. I hope you won’t get angry over it,” Eggy suddenly said.

“Go ahead and say whatever you want. There’s no way I would get angry with you,” Chu Feng said.

“I have a feeling that Chu Xuanyan is your father,” Eggy said.

“My father?” Chu Feng was perplexed.

“Think about it. Chu Xuanyan. Chu Xuanyuan. Aren’t the two names too similar? Besides, wasn't your father a junior eight hundred years ago? If your father was able to put such a powerful protection formation inside you, he must be an incredible expert. 

“Someone with your father’s strength should have become renowned in the world of cultivation by now. It doesn’t make sense for there to be no records on him. Even if he was far weaker as a junior, with your father’s talents, he should have achieved quite a few amazing feats back then. 

“I suspect that the reason why you haven’t been able to gather any information about your father thus far is that your father has been using a pseudonym. It might be possible that Chu Xuanyan is one of the pseudonyms he has used,” Eggy said.

Chu Feng fell into deep thoughts upon hearing those words.

There were plenty of people with similar names out there in the vast world of cultivation, which was why Chu Feng consciously avoided linking anyone who had a similar name as his father to his father. That would have been disrespectful to his father.  

However, he thought that Eggy’s words made sense, especially considering the context. 

It just so happened that his father, Chu Xuanyuan, was still a junior when he left the Ancestral Martial Galaxy eight hundred years ago. Chu Xuanyan’s profile did fit his father’s timeline. 

Thus, he turned to the little girl and asked, “Little Crescent, how powerful was Chu Xuanyan back then?”

“My uncle told me that Chu Xuanyan was extremely weak back then. I think he was only an Exalted level cultivator. Big brother, you’re much more incredible than him…” Little Crescent chuckled.

“He was only at Exalted level? Do you know what he looked like then?” Chu Feng asked.

“I do, I do!” Little Crescent reached into her Cosmos Sack, took out a painting, and unrolled it. It depicted the portrait of a man.

Chu Feng could tell right away that the man in the portrait was his father, Chu Xuanyuan. Some of the facial features looked different due to the age difference, but there was no doubt about it. 

“You’re right, Eggy! Chu Xuanyan is indeed my father!” Chu Feng excitedly exclaimed. 

“What a coincidence! I actually got it right!” Eggy was surprised too. After all, she was only making a guess earlier on.

Chu Feng was excited to explore a place where his father had been. To him, this was even more meaningful than obtaining the Half-God level Sacred Temple Beads. 

“Little Crescent, what did Chu Xuanyan do afterward?” Chu Feng asked.

Considering that the old man had asked him about Chu Xuanyan, it was likely that the latter had done something significant in the Ancient Realm. Otherwise, the old man wouldn’t have remembered Chu Xuanyan even after eight hundred years. 

“Chu Xuanyan backed out afterward,” Little Crescent said.