Chapter 1270: The Star Team

Everyone was stunned. Was Cao De truly related to Li?

My goodness!

They thought Cao De was completely out of his mind. He had such strong connections, yet he didn't say so earlier. Was he trying to scare people to death on purpose?

It felt like they had accidentally stepped in something truly awful. This luck... it couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?

Cao and Li, both of the same generation?!

For a moment, people's minds raced.

"Everyone, don't scare yourselves," a middle-aged Divine King spoke, standing beside the misty Celestial Venerable. "Cao De did go in, but whether he can come out is another matter. I believe he has some fortuitous opportunity, but to say he's from Li's lineage, that's impossible!"

This time, besides Qi Rong, Yu Shang, the old Six-Eared Macaque, and Hao Yuan, a mysterious Celestial Venerable had also arrived, never revealing his true form and always shrouded in mist.

It was one of the Divine Kings accompanying him who spoke, seemingly at his behest.

"There's some unconfirmed news," he continued, "The inheritor left behind by Li is now suspected to be very close to the Martial Lunatic's lineage, perhaps even unified with them!"

If Chu Feng had been there, he would have learned something significant, as during the competition for the bloodline fruit on that terrifying island overseas, he and Old Gu had encountered not only a peak Divine King from the Martial Lunatic's lineage who practiced the Seven Death Body but also another terrifying expert, no weaker than that practitioner.

At that time, Old Gu had been distraught and somewhat suspicious, thinking it might be an inheritor from a lineage left by his elder brother.

"Therefore," the Divine King continued, "even if Cao De can enter here, it's likely for other reasons and by other means. It's impossible for him to have any relation to Li. The true inheritor of their lineage is overseas and has nothing to do with this First Mountain!"

The Divine King spoke again, and after finishing, he stood by the Celestial Venerable and remained silent.

The mysterious Celestial Venerable, shrouded in mist, nodded slightly but remained silent.

At once, both the Dragon race and the Nine-Headed Bird race breathed a sigh of relief, completely relieved. They had genuinely feared that Cao De might become a true 'Cao' and be related to the prehistoric black hand.

"Everyone, we've probably been fooled," Chi Feng said, grinding his teeth.

He deduced that Chu Feng might have obtained some great fortuitous opportunity and possessed a special item that allowed him to enter and exit the First Mountain safely.

"Right now, Cao De has likely hidden inside rather than going to invite his so-called sect elders," Divine King Chi Feng surmised. "He's probably not coming out anytime soon!"

Everyone was stunned upon hearing this. "This... considering Cao De's character, it's truly possible," they thought.

Recently, they had come to understand Cao De better and felt that this Great Saint Cao was no honest man; he was definitely a ruthless individual.

"That damned Cao De, he escaped right under our noses?!" a Divine King from the Dragon race fumed.

"Block off the eighteen mountains to prevent him from escaping from any other direction of the First Mountain Under Heaven!" Chi Feng suggested.

"How despicable!" someone exclaimed.

Chu Feng winced. The armor he wore was certainly no ordinary item; it had been refined by combining dragon scales collected from the Borderlands Dragon Nest with his own Reincarnation Soil.

At the time, he and Old Gu had even shown off, acting as if they didn't care about the materials when refining treasures.

However, ever since he had been to the Great Dream Pure Land and learned how extraordinary the so-called soul meat was, Chu Feng was filled with extreme regret; he truly wanted to slap himself.

To actually refine armor with soul meat was ridiculously extravagant. Back then, Li couldn't even find a clue to a piece of Reincarnation Soil.

Yet Chu Feng had wasted it like this. Afterwards, Old Gu had also wanted to lambast him, feeling heartbroken and his heart bleeding.

However, there was also an advantage: Chu Feng already had experience entering the First Mountain Under Heaven, and the stone jar was foolproof.

In addition, smearing Reincarnation Soil on his body also worked; he had tested it before.

Currently, he couldn't use the stone jar nor could he smear Reincarnation Soil on himself, so wearing this armor was just right.

Even so, Chu Feng began to suffocate after going a few zhang deep; his body felt like it was about to explode, extremely hard to bear. He decisively brought out the stone jar and hid inside.

Anyway, he had already entered the light barrier, and even a Celestial Venerable had no way to search for him there. This place concealed all heavenly secrets, so there was no need to worry about his secrets being revealed.

The stone jar floated and sank, carrying Chu Feng across. It was as if he was crossing the Sea of Reincarnation or traversing a silent, dead universe. After an unknown period of time, he finally passed through the light barrier area.

In an instant, Chu Feng found himself on a patch of land!

This place was still barren, with not a single blade of grass, but the essence of heaven and earth was so thick it was almost palpable.

For example, purple qi rising from the east, which was a high-level energy. Ordinarily, cultivators welcoming the vibrant morning glow could only collect the first wisp of this purple qi.

One could imagine how precious it was.

But here, purple mist swirled densely, truly in abundance.

Furthermore, there were surging red mists and swirling blue fogs, all high-level energies of the same caliber, making one's pores open up and feel as if they were about to ascend to immortality instantly.

Moreover, this area even contained Dao Ancestor matter and similar substances!

These were all special material factors required by Celestial Venerables and mighty beings; ordinary people couldn't absorb them, or even perceive them.

"Finally, I'm back!" Chu Feng muttered. "Damn it, I'm not leaving after entering; you all can just wait around!"

Chu Feng relaxed his entire body, slouching lazily. He was almost ready to lie down on a large bluestone, not wanting to move.

He had finally escaped to this place and truly didn't want to be monitored by Celestial Venerables anymore; he was exhausted. Moreover, the Martial Lunatic's lineage would definitely come looking for him.

"What can you do to me?" he thought. "I'll just hide here. Does the Martial Lunatic really dare to force his way in?!"

After Chu Feng entered, his body was no longer tense. He felt that instead of asking Number Nine to go out, it was better to stay here himself.

Because he knew that a being like Number Nine was too principled; if he said he wouldn't go out, it would be useless to beg and plead.

Back then, he and Old Gu had both urged Number Nine to accompany them on the lands of the Yang Realm, thinking, "Who would dare to provoke us then?"

Unfortunately, Number Nine ignored them.

At this stage, Chu Feng didn't want to endure that frustration. Why should he humble himself to invite someone? He might as well just cultivate here in seclusion and let those outside wait in vain!

"For now, I won't bother with you all!" he chuckled, deciding that he would only try to take Number Nine hunting when he felt like it.

However, while the wish was pleasant, the path was winding, and the outcome seemed impossible.

In that instant, Chu Feng's hair stood on end. He felt like an infant being targeted by a large beast, chills running down his spine, and goosebumps rising on his skin.

Next, he felt like he was about to explode, his body on the verge of disintegrating. Even a Great Saint's body could barely withstand it.

In the distance, a figure appeared silently. He was very thin, standing there quietly, with little flesh on his face and a withered body.

His hair was like withered yellow wild grass, and his green eyes emitted a light like a beast staring at its prey.

In his hand, he held a large leg, gnawing on it with a bloody mouth.

"Crack!"

The sound of bone shattering echoed as he stared at Chu Feng, still holding the bloody leg.

Number Nine!

His demeanor was still the same, still eating legs. This seemed to be his special habit, his favorite!

In the deeper parts of this mysterious ancient land, there was a plateau with a blood pool containing many corpses. Old Gu had once glanced at it and gasped, realizing that all those corpses had been terrifying experts in life.

But now, they all seemed to have become Number Nine's exclusive food, and his favorite was eating legs.

"Senior!" Chu Feng quickly paid his respects.

But after a long time apart, Number Nine seemed to have forgotten him. He tilted his head, holding the leg and gnawing on it as he walked closer. As a result, the void itself was collapsing, black fissures spread, Dao symbols flashed, imprinted between heaven and earth, constantly roaring, threatening to make this place explode.

"Senior, it's me!" Chu Feng called out. "Please withdraw the overflowing energy, or we'll be separated by life and death!"

Chu Feng shouted, as he noticed that the black fissures were spreading towards him, and if this continued, he would certainly be torn apart by the spatial cracks.

He didn't want to use the stone jar unless it was absolutely necessary, nor was he willing to use Reincarnation Soil and the small wooden spear against Number Nine, estimating they couldn't harm such an existence.

However, shouting was useless. Number Nine seemed to recognize no one as fierce light flared in his eyes. He directly threw away the leg in his hand and strode rapidly towards Chu Feng.

In an instant, heaven and earth collapsed; it was truly terrifying. The sky was tearing apart, and the roaring of the Grand Dao was deafening, as if a hundred thousand wild dragons were being chased and expelled by Number Nine. Wherever he passed, the void tore apart, and various strange phenomena emerged.

Chu Feng turned and ran; this was too terrifying. Number Nine actually ignored their past acquaintance, seeing him as if he were a rare delicacy.

Without a word, Chu Feng directly moved out more than a dozen cartloads of flesh and blood ingredients and threw them onto the barren ground.

In an instant, the roaring of the Grand Dao disappeared, all the great spatial fissures froze, and then slowly healed, and heaven and earth instantly became quiet.

At this moment, everything was silent, as if one could hear the breathing of various celestial bodies in the starry sky.

Because Number Nine was afraid of destroying the food, he retracted all his aura, and not a trace of energy overflowed from him.

At this moment, Chu Feng was almost in tears. What about their past acquaintance? After all, he had lived here for a while; although they didn't communicate much, they had seen each other frequently.

But in the end, nothing he said mattered; it was better to simply present more than a dozen cartloads of flesh and blood food.

"Given... to me?"

Number Nine spoke, his voice hoarse. In fact, this was a language much older than the prehistoric era; theoretically, Chu Feng shouldn't have understood it.

However, Number Nine was releasing special spiritual waves that allowed him to understand these words.

"Yes, they're for Master Nine!" Chu Feng said loudly, patting his chest.

"Oh, Little Ji, it's you," Number Nine said. "I remember now; you're really good."

The usually taciturn Number Nine actually uttered so many words at this moment, which was rare.

Chu Feng was instantly speechless, almost bursting into tears again. Why couldn't he remember earlier? He was just chasing after a living person to eat!

Besides, the address "Little Ji" was too unpleasant to hear; it really made him unhappy.

At this moment, Number Nine could not be called amiable, but he was much calmer. At least he wasn't overflowing with fierce aura, nor did he look like a starving ghost.

He pulled a large leg from the pile of blood-meat food and immediately started gnawing on it. The sound and the way blood was dripping made one's hair stand on end.

"Senior, how does it taste?"

"Very fresh," Number Nine replied, a rare response from him.

"This is just an appetizer," Chu Feng chattered. "I have prepared a much bigger gift for Master Nine, hundreds, even thousands of times better than these appetizers. If you like these, then the main course will probably make Senior even happier."

Chu Feng babbled on, as he was determined to trick Number Nine into going outside; he absolutely couldn't stay here relying on luck.

He had realized that without blood-meat food, Number Nine might even eat him.

And the more than a dozen cartloads of ingredients probably wouldn't last Number Nine more than a few days!

"Senior, look," Chu Feng said, "this is a Nine-Headed Bird, and this is a Twelve-Winged Silver Dragon. Try them first; how do they taste? Aren't they exceptionally delicious?"

Chu Feng personally selected and carried out half a Nine-Headed Bird and a complete Twelve-Winged Silver Dragon carcass.

"Mm, not bad!" Number Nine replied, still following his old habit. He tore off a dragon leg, then a bird leg, chewing them with a crunch, blood flowing freely.

"Master Nine, the big gift package I've prepared for you is the — Heavenly Group. They're all outside."

"Heavenly Group?" Number Nine asked, puzzled.

Chu Feng explained, "It's like Meituan, which delivers beautiful women. The Heavenly Group delivers Celestial Venerables! Outside, there's a group of heaven-tier food, all alive, with overwhelming vitality. Their legs taste absolutely incredible, extremely delicious. Weren't the Nine-Headed Bird and Twelve-Winged Silver Dragon just now considered delicacies? The Heavenly Group has such beings!"