Chapter 1538: Danger Approaches
Lin Feng returned to Mu Yun and the others. Golden Dust Lord remained hovering above Lin Feng, his eyes fixed on him without leaving for even a moment. Caution was his guiding principle; he would not let Lin Feng out of his sight.
When Mu Yun saw Lin Feng and Golden Dust Lord appear together, she immediately understood what had happened. A trace of guilt flickered in her beautiful eyes. "Lin Feng, I'm sorry. This is all my fault!"
Mu Yun thought that if she had insisted a little more and not brought Rong Qing along, Lin Feng would have already been far away, and none of this would have happened.
"Yun'er, don't say that. I'm the one who dragged you into this," Lin Feng said with a gentle smile. Mu Yun was a kind-hearted female priest who had already helped him a great deal. His capture this time had nothing to do with her; it was entirely because of Rong Qing. Not long ago, Lin Feng had even saved Rong Qing's life to prevent him from being killed.
Qi Yuchen stared coldly at the two. He looked up and nodded slightly to the figure in the void. "Golden Dust Lord, I trouble you."
"It is my duty." Golden Dust Lord responded with a smile. "This female priest shielded him. Yuchen, what do you plan to do?"
"I don't intend to let her return to the tribe. We'll bring her back to Qi Tian Fortress together!" Qi Yuchen replied. Then his gaze fell on Lin Feng. By now, Lin Feng had shed his disguise and revealed his true face. Qi Yuchen naturally recognized him. He had a very deep impression of Lin Feng.
"Golden Dust Lord, this man is named Lin Feng. He is extremely formidable. He once trampled Zhou Tianruo and defeated Qiao Chifeng. He has many tricks up his sleeve. You should personally escort him back to Qi Tian Fortress," Qi Yuchen said to Golden Dust Lord. This made Golden Dust Lord's eyes light up. Zhou Tianruo was from the Great Zhou Immortal Palace and cultivated the Golden Sacred Qi, while Qiao Chifeng was from the Ten Thousand Transformations Immortal Palace and cultivated the Ten Thousand Transformations Fist Scripture. Both were outstanding figures among the younger generation of the Nine Great Immortal Palaces and Heavenly Fortresses. Lin Feng had actually defeated them.
"That is exactly what I intend to do!" Golden Dust Lord nodded.
Meanwhile, Lin Feng walked toward Rong Qing. A murderous intent flickered in his cold eyes. Lin Feng had never been a good person. He repaid grudges and had trampled countless people to reach where he was today. He was by no means a kind-hearted soul. Therefore, for someone who had repaid his life-saving kindness with betrayal, causing him to be captured, Lin Feng was not benevolent enough to forgive him.
"Your stupidity will not only harm others but also yourself!" Lin Feng said coldly. He and Mu Yun were the victims of Rong Qing's foolishness.
Rong Qing dared not meet Lin Feng's sharp eyes. His mind was in turmoil. He hadn't expected things to turn out this way. But no matter what he thought, it no longer mattered. The breath of death had already descended upon him, slowly gnawing away and stripping him of his life, enveloping him entirely in death.
Feeling this suffocating death, Rong Qing finally fully believed that Mu Yun hadn't lied to him. Lin Feng had indeed saved his life. But while he had saved him earlier, now he was about to kill him.
"No, don't kill me! I didn't know it was you!" Rong Qing shook his head. He was unwilling to die like this. He was still young. Suddenly, Rong Qing's body jerked backward. He tried to flee. Lin Feng's death power was too strong; he had to get away from Lin Feng.
"Die!" Lin Feng spat out a single word. Rong Qing's life force was instantly and completely stripped away. His footsteps froze, and then his body slowly collapsed to the ground. Dead.
"This is the Death Essence fused into a curse, stripping away life. He has actually cultivated such a domineering divine ability!" Golden Dust Lord watched Lin Feng kill Rong Qing, a slight ripple passing through his golden eyes. He didn't know that Lin Feng hadn't cultivated any divine ability at all. Everything was a death curse technique he had comprehended on his own.
"Let's go!" Lin Feng said calmly to Golden Dust Lord. He wondered how Qi Tian Fortress would deal with someone like him, who had come from a small world.
"Please!" Golden Dust Lord said politely, treating Lin Feng not as Lin Feng had imagined. Lin Feng and Mu Yun exchanged a nod, then stepped into the air, heading toward the fortress that pierced the sky in the distance. Although this was a buffer zone, they could still clearly see Qi Tian Fortress towering in the heavens, because it was so high that it seemed to truly sit in the sky.
It wasn't just Qi Tian Fortress. The other eight Immortal Palaces and Heavenly Fortresses were an unknown distance away, but their blurry silhouettes could still be seen. The Nine Great Immortal Palaces and Heavenly Fortresses were the symbolic landmarks of these nine main cities.
Golden Dust Lord and Qi Yuchen followed not far behind Lin Feng and Mu Yun. Golden Dust Lord always maintained a distance of within a hundred meters from Lin Feng, so he could control him at any time without any accidents.
After some time, Lin Feng and Mu Yun finally arrived at this towering fortress that reached into the heavens. The steps stretched for ten thousand zhang, as if vying with the sky in height.
"Qi Tian Fortress!" Lin Feng looked up at this ancient fortress that reached into the heavens, but his eyes held only coldness. As long as he didn't die, one day he would make this fortress collapse and trample it under his feet.
"Go up!" Golden Dust Lord said. Lin Feng and Mu Yun ascended along the steps. The Qi Kingdom had a heavenly ladder leading to the Qi Kingdom in the void, which was modeled after Qi Tian Fortress. However, it was far less majestic and imposing than Qi Tian Fortress. Lin Feng finally arrived at the platform of Qi Tian Fortress. Standing here, his eyes could see an unknown distance. As long as one's vision was strong enough, the entire main city could be taken in at a glance, involuntarily arousing a strong desire for control, to hold the entire main city in one's grasp.
"Golden Dust Lord, take him to the great hall for now. I'll go inform Enchantment Lord!" Qi Yuchen said to Golden Dust Lord. Golden Dust Lord nodded slightly. Qi Yuchen left first, while Golden Dust Lord guided Lin Feng and Mu Yun toward the ancient fortresses ahead.
"Yun'er, how will they deal with you?" Lin Feng transmitted his voice to Mu Yun.
"I don't know. As a female priest, I have no freedom to begin with. Qi Yuchen used to take care of me quite a bit, but now that I've angered him, he probably won't let me off easy." Mu Yun's voice carried a hint of bitterness. Her fate was never in her own hands; it was completely controlled by Qi Yuchen.
"Lin Feng, don't worry too much about me. It's yourself you should be concerned about. I've heard of Enchantment Lord. He is a very powerful Martial Emperor who cultivates a peculiar soul technique. He can imprint a brand on a person's soul, making them obey Qi Tian Fortress from then on. Just now, Qi Yuchen said he was going to inform Enchantment Lord. He might be planning to use this method on you."
As Lin Feng and Mu Yun walked, they kept communicating through voice transmission. Hearing Mu Yun's words, Lin Feng frowned. He should have guessed it. Qi Tian Fortress captured them but didn't kill them, aiming to strengthen their own power. But to make those from the small worlds willingly serve them, they had to use special control methods, such as casting curses or having a strong expert imprint a soul brand.
"Someone with such a peculiar technique could easily harm others, not just people from small worlds," Lin Feng asked Mu Yun.
"Lin Feng, you underestimate the people who come out of those small worlds. Although I don't know the specifics, those who come out and are worth their trouble must be exceptionally talented, far beyond ordinary people. If such people were born in the great world, they might have been nurtured by large families. If not, once they realize their own powerful talent, they would choose to join certain major forces or become cultivators of special organizations. They can't be easily touched. That's a major taboo. It's only people like you that they dare to firmly control."
Mu Yun analyzed for Lin Feng. Lin Feng immediately understood. If he were the leader of one of those major forces and saw someone using this method on their trained disciples, he would definitely annihilate that force. This was an absolute taboo, even more offensive than killing someone outright.
"Cultivators of the great world, as they grow, usually join some force, just like the cultivators of Qing Di Mountain. As long as their talent is strong enough, they can become cultivators of Qing Di Mountain without paying any price. They cultivate on Qing Di Mountain and are respected by outsiders. If they are valued by some important figure, that is great fortune. Moreover, Qing Di Mountain does not restrict your future. When your strength reaches a certain level, you can choose to stay or leave, or join an even stronger force. Using such methods to control people, like Qi Tian Fortress, is just an evil path. Truly powerful forces, like Qing Di Mountain, are inclusive and magnanimous."
"Even those strong individuals who choose to leave Qing Di Mountain, having once been cultivators there, if Qing Di Mountain truly faces trouble one day, they would surely be willing to help," Lin Feng continued Mu Yun's thought. This was a very good cycle. Because of this cycle, Qing Di Mountain had stood in this region for countless years, still towering.
"Yes. But people like you who are controlled, they won't let you come into contact with Qing Di Mountain. Because if you were truly valued by some important figure from Qing Di Mountain, who could remove the techniques Qi Tian Fortress used on you, then once you grew strong, you would turn against Qi Tian Fortress." Mu Yun's beautiful brows were furrowed. She wasn't thinking about her own safety; instead, she was worried for Lin Feng.
Being controlled would be worse than death. But now that they had set foot on Qi Tian Fortress, escape was utterly impossible.
"That great hall!" Golden Dust Lord pointed to a certain ancient fortress hall ahead, speaking to Lin Feng and Mu Yun.
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