Chapter 21: Beautiful and Kind-Hearted?
"Brat, hand over the Demon Spirit Fruit right now, or I'll kill you!" Grandma Li's face was twisted with ferocity, not a shred of it concealed!
"I told you, I don't have it anymore!" Chu Feng said calmly.
"Brat, I suggest you wise up. If you don't hand over the Demon Spirit Fruit, I won't just kill you — I'll slaughter every last one of your family and friends!" Grandma Li threatened viciously.
"Do whatever you want," Chu Feng replied coolly.
By now, most of the Chu Clan members had surely gone into hiding, so Chu Feng wasn't afraid of Grandma Li wiping out the Chu Clan.
Besides, Grandma Li wouldn't truly annihilate the Chu Clan. If word of something like that got out, the Yaochi Holy Land would become a target of universal condemnation.
"Brat, looks like you won't cry until you see the coffin. I'll start by breaking your five limbs and see if you'll talk then!" Grandma Li snarled.
"Ha! Truly worthy of a righteous cultivator — your methods are even more brutal than those of the demonic path!"
"I hope you don't die too quickly. Next time we meet, it'll be my turn to break your five limbs!"
"Oh wait — I forgot you don't have five limbs. Four limbs it is, then!" Chu Feng said lightly.
"Ha! Brat, you're still running your mouth and threatening me on the verge of death?" Grandma Li laughed out of sheer fury.
"Death? I have a spatial teleportation talisman. You can't kill me!"
With that, Chu Feng vanished in an instant!
"Damn it! When I catch you, I'll flay you alive!"
Watching Chu Feng disappear, Grandma Li erupted in furious curses.
She shot up into the sky and searched in every direction for any trace of him.
But after a long search, she found no sign of Chu Feng whatsoever, and could only leave in a rage.
* * *
A short while later, Chu Feng was comfortably taking a bath inside the star world, washing away the sweat from the battle.
"Ling'er, it's only been a few days and you've gotten even more beautiful!" Chu Feng said with a teasing grin.
Today, Ling'er had changed into a flowing wide-sleeved immortal dress that made her look breathtakingly gorgeous, and Chu Feng couldn't help but feel his heart stir.
"Really?" Hearing Chu Feng's words, Ling'er happily spun in a circle, showing herself off perfectly.
"Of course! I never tell lies," Chu Feng said with a light laugh.
"I'll give you credit for knowing what to say!" Ling'er smiled brightly.
"Ling'er, what exactly was that garment you gave me last time?"
Thinking back to how the clothing had blocked most of the damage he'd taken, Chu Feng asked about it.
"I don't remember. If it's a good piece of clothing, just keep wearing it!" Ling'er said with a vague wave of her hand.
"You really are a little scatterbrain!" Chu Feng said helplessly.
"Has that old woman outside left yet?"
Chu Feng was eager to get back out and absorb the demonic energy outside for cultivation — it would dissipate quickly.
"She's gone!" Ling'er sensed the situation outside and reported back to Chu Feng.
"Good! Then I'm heading out. I'll come visit you again next time!"
With that, Chu Feng left the Chaos Star Pearl and returned to the outside world.
Outside, all was silent, and the demonic energy was slowly dissipating.
Seeing this, Chu Feng immediately sat cross-legged on the ground and activated the Chaos Art to absorb the surrounding demonic energy for cultivation!
Two hours later, Chu Feng had finally absorbed all the demonic energy at the bottom of the cliff.
However, his cultivation level had not broken through this time — he was just a little short of a Breakthrough!
"What a pity!"
With no more demonic energy left to absorb, Chu Feng let out a sigh.
He slowly rose to his feet and made his way back to the base of the cliff, grabbing onto the rocky face and climbing swiftly upward.
The Dusk Forest above might still have remnants of demonic energy, and Chu Feng wanted to go up and absorb whatever remained.
However, when Chu Feng climbed up into the Dusk Forest, he found that many cultivators had gathered there, and the demonic energy in the forest had already grown very thin.
"You should've seen it — a few celestial beauties really did come to the Dusk Forest just now!"
"I saw them too. Those women were breathtakingly beautiful!"
"The demonic energy in the Dusk Forest has started to dissipate. It looks like those celestial beauties just now eliminated the source of the demonic energy!"
"Indeed! Those women were truly beautiful and kind-hearted. What a shame I didn't get to see them up close!"
…
The cultivators all around were buzzing with excitement, chattering among themselves.
"Beautiful and kind-hearted?"
Chu Feng let out a faint, scornful chuckle upon hearing this.
Beautiful they certainly were — but calling them kind-hearted was a bit of a joke.
In the world of cultivators, how many people could truly be called kind-hearted?
For the sake of cultivation resources, many would stop at nothing — even turning on their own family and friends.
Seeing so many cultivators around and the demonic energy already thinned out, Chu Feng abandoned any thought of absorbing more demonic energy and slowly made his way out of the Dusk Forest.
After leaving the Dusk Forest, Chu Feng did not head straight back to Qingfeng Town. Instead, he walked toward Shangyang City, not far away.
Shangyang City was the largest city in the surrounding region, home to over a hundred thousand people, with many major merchant guilds operating within its walls.
To refine the Divine Origin Pill, Chu Feng needed to purchase a high-grade alchemy furnace, as well as the other materials required for the pill.
One hour later, Chu Feng arrived at Shangyang City.
The city gates were tall and imposing, with a constant flow of people and all manner of mounts and carriages streaming in and out.
Chu Feng strolled into Shangyang City.
The moment he entered, he was greeted by an extraordinarily wide main street.
On both sides of the street, shops stood in rows, bustling with people coming and going — a lively scene!
The shops sold all manner of goods: weapons, defensive equipment, pills, and more — everything one could want.
Chu Feng walked and browsed, searching for what he needed.
A short while later, Chu Feng had purchased several of the materials for the Divine Origin Pill.
The primary ingredient for the Divine Origin Pill was the Demon Spirit Fruit; the other materials were fairly common and easy to obtain.
After browsing for about fifteen minutes, Chu Feng had acquired all the remaining materials for the Divine Origin Pill.
All he needed now was an alchemy furnace capable of refining a fifth-grade pill, and he would be able to craft the Divine Origin Pill.
After searching and asking around, Chu Feng discovered that none of the shops in the city carried an alchemy furnace of the fifth grade or above.
In a low-tier continental nation like the Cangfeng Empire, most alchemists were only of the first or second grade.
A third-grade Alchemist was already considered top-tier!
As a result, the alchemy furnaces available on the market were all low-grade, and it was very difficult to find one capable of refining a fifth-grade pill.
Without a fifth-grade alchemy furnace, there was no way to refine the Divine Origin Pill.
Unwilling to give up, Chu Feng continued asking around, and eventually learned that Shangyang City had a branch of the Wanbao Merchant Guild.
The Wanbao Merchant Guild was the largest merchant guild in the Cangfeng Empire, and ranked among the top five merchant guilds across the entire Eastern Desolate Continent.
After getting directions to the Wanbao Merchant Guild, Chu Feng set off immediately.
As he walked, he arrived at the bustling market district of the city.
"Out of the way, everyone!"
Suddenly, a sharp voice rang out!
Chu Feng looked over and saw a white horse carrying a purple-robed woman charging forward like a gale.
Pedestrians on the road scrambled out of the way in fright!
Those who couldn't dodge in time were lashed by the whip in the purple-robed woman's hand!
"Mother! Where are you?"
In the middle of the road, directly in the path of the charging white horse, a little girl of five or six sat on the ground crying — she had apparently been separated from her mother.
"Ah! Little girl, get out of the way!"
Passersby who saw the little girl about to be trampled by the horse cried out urgently for her to move.
But the little girl looked utterly lost, completely unaware of the danger bearing down on her.
And the purple-robed woman, as if she hadn't even noticed the little girl in the middle of the road, charged straight ahead on her white horse without the slightest regard for the child's life or death!