Chapter 339: Quiet Departure

The Cultivation Squad stayed in Rainlan City for two days and also discussed the Dao together with Luo Feng and Hall Master Yuan Xiang. At their level, even a slight improvement was extremely difficult. Thus, they often exchanged insights with others of the same level, which also helped deepen their friendship.

Outside the city.

Luo Feng and Hall Master Yuan Xiang came to see this Cultivation Squad off.

“These two days of gathering have already been most enjoyable for us,” the Winged Woman, God Emperor Bai Yin, said with a smile. Having grown familiar, she had become much more talkative. “We will return to the Dark Sacred Realm first. Brother Luo Feng, we look forward to meeting you again there.”

“Once I arrive at Chengfeng City, I will definitely contact all of you,” Luo Feng replied with a smile.

Within the Dark Sacred Realm, there were only five cities in total, and God Emperor Bai Yin’s cultivation team resided long-term in one of them—“Chengfeng City.”

“We’re leaving.”

The old man and the red-robed youth also slightly nodded to Luo Feng and Hall Master Yuan Xiang.

The three of them flew into their vessel, and under the watch of Luo Feng and Hall Master Yuan Xiang, the ancient ship quickly disappeared into the horizon.

“They’ve left,” Hall Master Yuan Xiang said with a faint smile as he watched from afar. “Luo Feng, I should also be going.”

Luo Feng was momentarily stunned.

“We had agreed long ago that I would leave after the Battle of Rainlan City ended. I only stayed two extra days to accompany my three old friends,” Hall Master Yuan Xiang said while looking at Luo Feng. “With Rainlan City in your hands, I am very reassured.”

“As for me, I will disperse all my clones outside and return to my homeland to devote myself fully to resisting the contamination. Either I suppress it… or I fall completely,” Hall Master Yuan Xiang said.

At this moment, Luo Feng’s emotions were extremely complicated.

Hall Master Yuan Xiang had reached this stage—he was already in great danger. Once he fell, it would mean the annihilation of his soul.

The countless worlds were created by existences such as Senior Yuan. The powerhouses nurtured within those worlds, although they did not possess clone techniques, could still hope for resurrection if they could request help from the world creators.

This information had long spread among cultivators of the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm.

Countless cultivators across innumerable worlds carried regrets. They all wished to resurrect their closest loved ones. Senior Yuan, Senior Jin, and others had once promised that those who Escape the Prison Cage would be granted opportunities for resurrection.

But the Source World was different!

The Source World was protected by the Supreme Laws and allowed the use of clones. However, those same Supreme Laws also blocked external forces. Once a powerhouse from the Source World died, even Senior Yuan and the others could not resurrect them.

Hall Master Yuan Xiang was precisely a powerhouse who had emerged from the Source World. If he died, then he would truly be dead—beyond any recovery.

“Even if I die, there is no need to feel sorrow,” Hall Master Yuan Xiang laughed. “The path of cultivation is filled with countless hardships and dangers. To have reached this step—standing at the peak level within the Dark Sacred Realm—I have no regrets even in death.”

“Brother Yuan Xiang,” Luo Feng said solemnly, “you have defeated countless great enemies along your cultivation path. You will surely defeat this great enemy—High-Rank Primordial contamination—as well.”

Hall Master Yuan Xiang nodded. “I will defeat it. Alright, let us part here.”

As he spoke, his figure dissipated.

Luo Feng silently watched this scene.

He knew…

Unless Hall Master Yuan Xiang completely suppressed the contamination, it would be difficult for them to meet again.

As time passed, the Elders who had died in the Battle of Rainlan City gradually returned one after another through their clones.

Elders’ Hall.

Seven Elders were summoned to meet Luo Feng.

“City Lord.” The seven Elders were all very respectful, though they were also somewhat nervous and expectant. Among so many Elders in the city, only the seven of them had been summoned—they naturally guessed the reason.

“In the Battle of Rainlan City, the seven of you were attacked by a Transcendent Limit Bewitching Heart Worm,” Luo Feng said with a smile, waving his hand. Seven secret treasures appeared in midair. “These seven treasures are yours, correct? Take them back.”

Within the city, not many Elders carried powerful secret treasures. Among those who had lost treasures in this war, there were exactly these seven.

“Thank you, City Lord.” The seven Elders were overjoyed and deeply grateful. They had guessed the possibility—but they had not expected the City Lord to return them without asking for any conditions.

After all…

According to the common rules among cultivators, spoils obtained through battle usually belonged to the one who acquired them.

“You were also fighting for Rainlan City,” Luo Feng said with a faint smile. These seven Elders, who carried important secret treasures, had all been managing their forces within Rainlan City and intended to establish themselves here.

The seven Elders increasingly felt that with such a City Lord, life in the future would be much easier.

Back when Hall Master Wei Yang’s influence covered the entire city, he would seize a large share of many benefits. If such precious treasures had fallen into his hands, he would never have returned them.

“City Lord, recently Hall Master Wei Yang has been secretly transferring some of the city’s resources away.”

“He does not dare come personally, so he has asked other Elders to help carry the resources out,” several Elders reported one after another.

“I know,” Luo Feng said.

With his level of control over Rainlan City, how could Hall Master Wei Yang’s small movements escape his notice?

“He is transferring resources, likely because he is preparing to leave voluntarily,” Luo Feng said. “There is no need to pay too much attention.”

“Yes,” the seven Elders responded respectfully.

……

Only five days later,

Hall Master Wei Yang’s clone actually arrived at Rainlan City and personally came to visit Luo Feng.

“Hall Master Wei Yang, the City Lord has agreed to meet you. This way, please.” In front of the Elders’ Hall, a guard led the way.

Hall Master Wei Yang could only follow.

As he walked through the familiar Elders’ Hall, he once believed he would completely take control of it and become the true ruler of Rainlan City. Yet who could have expected Luo Feng’s rise to be so rapid—and his strength so terrifying?

With his own power, he suppressed four Transcendent Limit existences.

Relying on formations, he reduced the massive Low-Rank Primordial Lifeform Legion that entered the city to only a tenth escaping by chance.

“Even if I carried secret treasures, I probably wouldn’t be able to withstand a single move from him,” Hall Master Wei Yang sighed inwardly. “The strength he has displayed is even more terrifying than Hall Master Yuan Xiang at his peak.”

Soon, under guidance, Hall Master Wei Yang saw Luo Feng seated in a garden in the distance.

“Wei Yang greets the City Lord.” Hall Master Wei Yang slightly bowed.

Luo Feng looked at him with interest.

“You actually still dare to come see me?” Luo Feng said. “Are you planning to remain in Rainlan City?”

“With the City Lord here, Rainlan City is extremely stable. Naturally, there is no need for me,” Hall Master Wei Yang said respectfully. “I have already decided to withdraw completely from Rainlan City. This visit is to request one matter.”

“Oh? What matter?” Luo Feng asked.

“When I was guarding Rainlan City, my clone died at the hands of that Transcendent Limit Bewitching Heart Worm, and I lost two important secret treasures,” Hall Master Wei Yang pleaded. “I ask the City Lord to return them. Whatever price is required, I am willing to pay.”

Luo Feng looked at him—and couldn’t help but laugh.

“You actually have the face to ask me for secret treasures?” Luo Feng shook his head.

Back then, Hall Master Wei Yang had forced him to resign from the position of Commander of the Sky Patrol Palace. When Luo Feng refused, Hall Master Wei Yang had even attacked him.

With such conflict between them, the fact that Hall Master Wei Yang still dared to appear—and even make such a request—surprised Luo Feng.

“I know I have offended the City Lord,” Hall Master Wei Yang said. “But suitable powerful secret treasures are extremely important. Whatever price is needed, please name it.”

Luo Feng looked at him and said, “I’ll give you two choices.”

Hall Master Wei Yang felt a surge of joy. Luo Feng’s temperament really seemed this good. Hearing that the seven Elders had all recovered their lost treasures had given him hope.

“What two choices?” he quickly asked. As long as he could recover the two treasures, he was willing to pay a heavy price.

“First, you annihilate your own clone. Second, I will destroy this clone myself,” Luo Feng said coldly. “Choose.”

Hall Master Wei Yang’s expression changed.

He sensed the coldness in Luo Feng’s eyes.

“I choose to annihilate it myself,” Hall Master Wei Yang said respectfully. Then, without a sound, his clone dissipated and vanished.

Luo Feng watched this scene indifferently.

His mercy was not given to everyone. Clearly, Hall Master Wei Yang did not deserve it.

Hall Master Wei Yang and Hall Master Gai Tao had already had their formations within the Core Formation Layer of Rainlan City erased by Luo Feng, stripping them of their Hall Master positions.

……

Time passed.

The Elders of Rainlan City gradually became familiar with Luo Feng’s temperament. Aside from the portion that naturally belonged to the City Lord, he had no interest in competing for other resources within the city. This led more and more powerhouses to settle in Rainlan City.

Elder-level and Hall Master–level existences continued to move in.

Even ordinary cultivators arrived in large numbers.

It could not be helped—this was practically an “absolutely safe” city. The City Lord did not compete for resources and protected the weak and mid-level cultivators. Among the Thirty-Five Cities of the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm, such a city naturally held immense appeal.

“The number of cultivators in Rainlan City is increasing more and more,” Emperor Qing, Emperor Ming, and Emperor Fu stood high within the Elders’ Hall, overlooking the entire city. As Luo Feng’s trusted aides, they handled many of the City Lord’s administrative matters.

“To encounter a City Lord as benevolent as this is a blessing for many cultivators,” Emperor Ming said. “In this cultivation world, most still follow the law of the strong devouring the weak.”

Emperor Fu nodded. “That is the norm. The City Lord has changed the order of Rainlan City purely through his own power.”

Even without the Insect Nest, Trick Workshop, and Ten Thousand Shadows Loft, other forces would have emerged to steal and raid.

But Luo Feng was too powerful. With formations, he could cover the entire city with a single thought and annihilate any force.

Thus, when he declared that no theft or raiding factions were allowed, none existed.

“The City Lord is appearing less and less,” Emperor Qing said, turning to look at the Cave Dwelling beside the Elders’ Hall—Luo Feng’s current residence.

“Just like the Ancestors of the Two Kingdoms rarely appear on the Origin Continent,” Emperor Fu said thoughtfully. “The City Lord rarely appears in Rainlan City as well. Perhaps… his main focus is already in another world.”

Emperor Qing and Emperor Ming were startled.

Luo Feng had indeed likely already gone to the Dark Sacred Realm.

……

In truth, Luo Feng had secluded himself in cultivation for more than half an era, only emerging once the effects of the Hundred Tribulations Heart Marrow had completely dissipated. Cultivating under its effects for that long had provided him with tremendous benefits.

After emerging, Luo Feng first erased the original formation within the Core Formation Layer of Rainlan City and engraved a new, more powerful formation after careful consideration. Then, leaving behind an ordinary clone in Rainlan City, he quietly departed.

That ordinary clone, controlling an even more terrifying formation within the city, possessed deterrent power even greater than during the Battle of Rainlan City.

Luo Feng walked alone across the lands of the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm.

He even followed the course of the “Nine Rivers,” traveling along them and observing everything carefully. Along the way, some foolish Low-Rank Primordial Lifeforms attempted assassination attacks—only to become corpses stored within Luo Feng’s treasure reserves.

After traversing all nine rivers, Luo Feng arrived at the center of the Nine Rivers Sacred Realm—the Sacred Mountain.

“It’s time to go to the Dark Sacred Realm.”

This time, Luo Feng did not go to the transmission deep pool at the mountain’s base. Instead, he followed the mountain path, walking toward the summit.

The invisible pressure along the path grew increasingly terrifying, but for Luo Feng—whose Immortal Blood Sea Body had been completely perfected—it felt like a gentle breeze. He walked all the way to the summit.

At the summit, there was also a dark deep pool.

A thread of Luo Feng’s consciousness penetrated the pool, and he immediately sensed that it led to another distant world.

“Let’s take a look.”

Luo Feng stepped into the dark deep pool and vanished. Light flowed around him as he was instantly transmitted away.

(End of Volume Eight)

Tomato will rest tomorrow. Updates for the next arc will begin the day after tomorrow.