Chapter 113: Feigning Greatness to Frighten Yuan Tian to Death

Chu Tianfeng drove his Mercedes G-Class and quickly caught up with Zhuo Weiqin. This fellow was driving a white Toyota Prado, moving at a slow pace and stopping on the side of the road several times to make phone calls. Chu Tianfeng followed him at a leisurely distance of several hundred meters, and Zhuo Weiqin remained entirely unaware of his presence.

Half an hour later, the two cars drove onto the highway, heading toward Li City. When the lead car passed through Li City, it did not stop but pressed on, passing through Nanli and the provincial capital of Yunnan, Daming City, before turning southeast. By midnight, they entered the Wushan Miao Autonomous Prefecture. Chu Tianfeng checked his odometer; since departing from Ruimei, they had traveled nearly a thousand kilometers. For over ten hours, they had spent almost the entire time driving, with only brief stops for food, fuel, and restrooms. Considering that Zhuo Weiqin was severely injured, his persistence was a testament to the depth of his hatred for Chu Tianfeng.

Another half hour later, the lead car exited the highway and entered the territory of Jiuga Township. The road became rugged and treacherous, alternating between steep, winding ascents and long, sharp descents. With few vehicles on the road, Chu Tianfeng maintained a distance of five to six hundred meters, following Zhuo Weiqin as he wound through the mountains, with Xiyazi acting as his guide.

After another half hour of driving, Zhuo Weiqin stopped at a small farmhouse, shouldered a pack, and continued on foot. Chu Tianfeng stored his car in his ring and followed closely, keeping a distance of about eighty meters. Zhuo Weiqin, completely oblivious, hurried along while shining a flashlight to lead the way. The terrain grew higher and more remote. Before long, Zhuo Weiqin arrived in front of a large village.

"Who dares to intrude upon our village in the dead of night?" Before Chu Tianfeng could even survey the settlement, a thunderous roar echoed through his consciousness.

*Oh no! Discovered!* Chu Tianfeng felt a jolt of alarm. It was clear there was a master of the Yuantian Stage in the village—at the very least, a late-stage master; otherwise, their spiritual sense could not have surpassed his own.

"Hmph! Liu Feng of the Tianshi Sect has come to pay a visit." It was Xiyazi. Seeing that Chu Tianfeng was slow to respond, she quickly answered in a hoarse voice. Her spiritual sense was even stronger, and she promptly locked onto the location of the speaker.

Zhuo Weiqin remained unaware, entering the village and disappearing among the thatched huts.

"The Tianshi Sect? We are strangers with no grievances. Why did you cripple my clansman's cultivation and then come knocking at my village in the middle of the night?" The man sensed Xiyazi’s spiritual presence but mistook it for Chu Tianfeng’s. Feeling the strength of that presence, he could not help but feel a secret tremor of unease, and his tone softened significantly.

"Strangers with no grievances? Your clansman was running wild in Ruimei and was subdued by me. Out of respect for our shared roots in the martial arts world, I merely crippled his cultivation. When I asked him for his whereabouts, he refused to speak, leaving me no choice but to follow him here." Xiyazi’s tone was haughty, projecting the air of someone who held all the cards. Chu Tianfeng played along, assuming an arrogant posture with a sneer of disdain curling his lip.

"Oh?" The man pondered for a moment before transmitting via spiritual sense again, "Allow me to investigate this matter thoroughly. If the situation is as you say, I shall certainly punish him accordingly. What is your opinion on this, Excellency?"

"Hmph! See that you do. Farewell!" No sooner had Xiyazi finished speaking than Chu Tianfeng turned away. Utilizing the Five Elements Wind Escape Technique, his form moved like a flash of lightning, vanishing into the jungle in an instant.

Seeing this, the man in the village broke into a cold sweat, secretly rejoicing that he hadn't attacked rashly; against such a master, he would have suffered a crushing defeat. Little did he know, while the man was relieved, Chu Tianfeng was even more so. He was sweating far more profusely than the man in the village. He knew this bluff had been a dangerous gamble; had he been exposed, his survival would have been far from certain.

The opponent was a genuine late-stage Yuantian master. He could have crushed Chu Tianfeng as easily as Chu Tianfeng could crush Zhuo Weiqin. Furthermore, because that master's spiritual sense was so vast, Chu Tianfeng’s stealth technique had not actually succeeded; he had been fully exposed to the master's scrutiny. Thus, when he left, he had deliberately used the Five Elements Wind Escape Technique—partly to maintain the facade, and partly to escape.

Escape! He had to get as far away as possible before the man realized the truth. Unfortunately, the Five Elements Wind Escape Technique consumed a massive amount of true essence, and since the spiritual energy of Earth was relatively scarce, it could not sustain such a powerful technique for long. Less than twenty minutes later, Chu Tianfeng was forced to stop and rest, his true essence exhausted. He hid near a cliff, not even hesitating to use a Peiyuan Pill to aid his recovery. Fortunately, the man in the village had also been intimidated by him and Xiyazi, and had not pursued.

After more than half an hour, he regained enough of his true essence and switched to the Wind Riding Technique to continue his flight. Ten minutes later, he finally spotted the farmhouse he had passed earlier. Retrieving his SUV, he floored the accelerator, and the vehicle roared back onto the road. At the first service station on the highway, he impatiently called Xiao Xinghua, telling them to avoid Yunnan from then on. Xiao Xinghua was puzzled and wanted to ask what had happened, but Chu Tianfeng hung up without another word.

Following this, Chu Tianfeng traveled through the night. By the next afternoon, he had left Yunnan and entered Liupan City in Guizhou, where he finally exited the highway and plunged into the nearby deep mountains. He slept soundly for a full day and night. It was not until the dawn of the third day that he reluctantly crawled out of his tent and entered a meditative state. This time, he focused his training on the Five Elements Wind Escape Technique.

The technique consumed a great deal of energy, and Chu Tianfeng suspected it might be related to his current level of cultivation. If he could bring the technique closer to minor or major completion, he refused to believe the consumption would remain so terrifying. He stayed in the mountains for over ten days, tirelessly studying the technique.

One day, Chu Tianfeng descended the mountain and went to Liupan City to purchase supplies, then returned to the highway and headed straight for An City. Liupan City was quite far from An City, roughly eleven hundred kilometers. Chu Tianfeng drove for over ten hours, from ten in the morning until past ten at night.

An City, also known as Chang'an, was an ancient city where remnants of city gates and towers could be seen almost everywhere. The Donghua Gate was the pinnacle of these structures, with a history dating back to the Han Dynasty. The entire gate complex covered dozens of acres, stood six or seven zhang tall, and featured three barbicans and four arched gates. The Da'an Hotel, where Chu Tianfeng had agreed to meet Du Jingjing, was located within a hundred meters of the gate.

Just as he reached the hotel entrance, he saw an inflatable rainbow archway with the words, "Warmly Welcome the Film Crew to Our Hotel." Surprised to run into peers, Chu Tianfeng took a second look.

"Why are you only just now arriving?" A familiar voice drifted from inside the lobby. A beautiful face appeared before him—it was Du Jingjing. She was dressed casually in a white down jacket and blue jeans, looking fresh and spirited.

"An City is just too beautiful; I took my time enjoying the scenery and drove slowly," Chu Tianfeng said with a faint smile. It was true; An City was indeed beautiful, and the ancient architecture gave him a feeling of having traveled through time.

"Hurry up, my father is here, and he wants to see you." Du Jingjing naturally took Chu Tianfeng’s arm.

"What?" Chu Tianfeng was startled. "Why does your father want to see me? I didn't bring any alchemy recipes." In truth, he was not keen on meeting the Du family. He held no positive impression of such families—whether it was the Du family or the Liu family, he wanted to avoid deep entanglements.

"I told you, he just wants to meet you, not take your recipes." Du Jingjing, unaware of his thoughts, assumed he was worried about his formulas.

"Be careful, there is an early-stage Yuantian master in the hotel." Just then, Xiyazi’s gentle voice echoed in his consciousness.

"Oh?" Chu Tianfeng frowned. Having been nearly terrified to death by a Yuantian master recently, he couldn't help but feel nervous upon hearing that another one was nearby.

"It's interesting; he sensed my spiritual presence and is searching for me everywhere," Xiyazi giggled.

Chu Tianfeng was not worried about that. To protect Xiyazi and prevent Yuantian masters from scanning her, he had long ago bound a jade slip capable of masking spiritual sense to the Soul-Nourishing Wood. Not to mention a mere Yuantian master, even a true Golden Core cultivator would be unable to probe him if they didn't understand formation arrays.

"Let's leave it for now. I've been driving for over ten hours and I'm exhausted," Chu Tianfeng said, gently pulling his arm from Du Jingjing’s. "Let's talk about it tomorrow."

"Oh." Du Jingjing pouted, took out a key card, and handed it to him. "This is for room 520. Get some rest."

"Thank you!" Chu Tianfeng took the card and saw the number 520 printed on it. He didn't think much of it and slipped the card into his pocket.

The two walked through the lobby toward the elevator. *Ding-dong.* The elevator doors slowly parted.

"Jingjing?" Two delicate voices spoke the same name. Standing in the elevator were two beautiful figures, like twin lotus flowers in bloom. It was Xu Yan and Jiang Ziyue!

Meeting old acquaintances in a foreign land, especially two great beauties, made Chu Tianfeng feel quite pleased.

"Xu Yan! Ziyue!" Du Jingjing opened her arms and hugged the two women as they stepped out. The three began chatting excitedly, leaving no room for Chu Tianfeng to interject.

"And this is..." Xu Yan, ever observant, finally noticed the almost invisible Chu Tianfeng standing nearby.

"Oh, a friend of mine, Liu Feng." Du Jingjing didn't look back. "What brings you to An City?"

Xu Yan offered a polite, apologetic smile to Chu Tianfeng.

"Our crew is holding a kick-off ceremony at Donghua Gate tomorrow," Jiang Ziyue said, jumping in. "It's for the movie; Xu Yan is playing the lead."

"Is that so?" Du Jingjing beamed. "Congratulations, Xu Yan. You've finally made it, unlike that senior of yours who played bit parts for years and is still just a background character."

Chu Tianfeng crossed his arms and looked up at the ceiling. The hotel ceiling was truly different—luxurious and grand. The design and the lighting swept away his frustration in an instant.

"Jingjing, is... is he doing well?" Xu Yan asked, her eyes fixed on Du Jingjing. She knew exactly who Du Jingjing was talking about, and her own heart had been tethered to that same person all along.

"Don't worry, he's doing just fine," Du Jingjing said, casting a sideways glance at Chu Tianfeng.