Chapter Ninety-Eight: Zhu Feng’s Fury, Repaid a Hundredfold

A voice carried down from the sky, steeped in boundless resentment, regret, and a trace of blame.

At the sound, Zhenyuanzi, who had been in secluded cultivation, was struck dumb. He could not help wondering: Had this fellow not gone into chaos to seek a breakthrough? Why had he returned at such a time?

The speaker was none other than Zhu Feng, who had already reached the peak of the quasi-sage realm and, a thousand years earlier, had gone into chaos in search of transcendence.

Zhenyuanzi had originally thought that, for Zhu Feng to break through this time, it would take at least tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of years before he could enter the realm of primordial unity.

He had never expected him to return so quickly. Could it be that he had already broken through to the Great Luo Golden Immortal of Boundless Primordial Unity? Zhenyuanzi shook his head. Impossible.

What puzzled him even more was why Zhu Feng harbored such deep hatred toward the demon race. Could it be because of humanity? But at this moment, humanity was merely undergoing its tribulation of Heaven’s Dao. If they wished to become the protagonists of heaven and earth, how could they succeed without passing through a death ordeal?

Now that Zhenyuanzi had become a Heavenly Dao Sage, how could he know that, in the original course of events, he himself, still only a quasi-sage, had stood up to protect humanity and had not hesitated to make an enemy of the demon race, thereby becoming the revered ancestor of earthly immortals worshiped by humankind?

What a pity. The present Zhenyuanzi had attained primordial unity far too early, and naturally he could infer that humanity was destined to suffer this calamity. That was why he had not intervened to stop it, unknowingly leaving behind a hidden disaster for the future.

Hearing Zhu Feng’s furious roar, the three ancestral leaders of humanity and the many human experts all stopped in their tracks. Dropping to their knees, they wept aloud. “Holy Master, show mercy! Our human race ought not suffer such a fate of annihilation! The demon race is savage and bloodthirsty. Please, Holy Master, stand up for us.”

In an instant, their cries shook heaven and earth.

Zhu Feng’s plump figure appeared before the people of the human race, his face burning with endless rage. He bellowed, “What are you crying for! I’m not dead yet! The demon race has slain my people, and I will make them pay back a hundredfold.”

Having said that, he ignored the kneeling crowd and raised his head to roar in fury, “Chen Xing! Nuwa! Zhenyuanzi! The Three Pure Ones! Get out here!”

With a soft sigh, two figures appeared beside the fat man. They were none other than Chen Xing and Nuwa.

Seeing them, the humans hurriedly bowed and wept, but none of them spoke a word. Nuwa’s eyes reddened slightly at the sight, yet she merely looked at Chen Xing and said nothing.

Looking at the fat man’s bloodshot eyes, Chen Xing let out a sigh and said, “You failed to break through this time. It’ll be even harder if you try again. Was it worth it to do this?”

“Hahahaha!” Zhu Feng threw his head back and laughed wildly, then fixed Chen Xing with a gaze as if he were looking at a stranger. His voice, somewhat hoarse, said, “Are you still Chen Xing? Are you still the Chen Xing from Earth who would have wanted to slaughter those foreign devils on the spot for bullying Chinese people? Are you still the Chen Xing I grew up with, the brother who was like family to me?”

Seeing Chen Xing look back at him with a faintly perplexed expression, the fat man roared, “Cultivation? To hell with cultivation! You really are my brother! To spare me from the human race’s great calamity, you sent me into chaos to break through.

“If I can’t protect the human race, what use are these cultivation levels to me? Tell me, what use are they?” By the end, his voice had become utterly hoarse.

Chen Xing fell silent at the惨然 look on the fat man’s face. He knew Zhu Feng had always possessed a deep sense of national identity. Back on Earth, in truth, no one hated seeing Chinese people bullied more than he did.

Chen Xing knew that if the human race was ever to stand truly proud in this treacherous world of the Primordial Wilderness, this catastrophe was unavoidable. Only a people who had survived calamity could become the true protagonists of heaven and earth.

He also knew that these words would be useless if spoken to Zhu Feng. Though this fellow usually acted carefree and unreliable, he had his own convictions deep in his heart.

Ever since his parents had passed away without seeking immortality, he had poured all his thoughts into the newly born human race. He had always wanted humanity to escape this great disaster, but in the end his wish had not come to pass. The fury in his heart now was something Chen Xing could understand.

Seeing Chen Xing bow his head in silence, Zhu Feng gave a tragic smile and murmured, “I know your origins are unimaginably terrifying, but I never asked you about them, because you are my brother. I knew you would never harm me. But you know what? The you I see now makes me feel strange. Do you understand?”

Lifting his once round but now deathly pale face, Zhu Feng forced out an ugly smile. “The present you gives me the feeling that you’re looking down from on high, like a mountain I can never climb over.”

When Chen Xing opened his mouth as if to explain, Zhu Feng raised a hand to stop him. “I know you’ve never looked down on me. I never thought I’d surpass you either. But do you know what I see in your eyes? Indifference. Indifference toward this world. It’s as if you’re just playing a game, and you’ve never treated these NPCs as living, breathing beings. But today I’m telling you, you’re wrong. This is a real world.”

As he spoke, Zhu Feng pointed at the kneeling crowd and shouted, “To me, they are my ancestors of Huaxia! The true ancestors of Huaxia! How can you stand by and watch them be slaughtered without the slightest reaction?”

By the end, Zhu Feng was practically screaming, and tears finally began to fall.

Listening to the fat man’s roar, a flash of confusion crossed Chen Xing’s eyes. He turned to Nuwa, wanting to confirm from her whether he really was, as Zhu Feng said, completely incapable of identifying with this world.

Nuwa merely looked at him gently and said nothing, yet from her tender eyes Chen Xing still saw an affirmation of Zhu Feng’s words.

“Xing’er, are you feeling lost?” A familiar voice sounded from beside him.

Chen Xing looked over blankly and saw his mother standing there with Xiaoyao, both of them gazing at him with warmth.

Chen Xing gave a strained smile. “Mom, Xiaoyao, why are you here?”

Mother Chen shook her head and stepped forward to smooth out Chen Xing’s clothes, saying softly, “Xiao Feng’s voice was so loud. Your mother is, after all, a Great Luo Golden Immortal. Is it not only natural to come over when I hear shouting?”

Chen Xing forced another smile and said nothing.

Mother Chen slowly walked to the side and came before the Three Pure Ones and Zhenyuanzi, who had just appeared. In a gentle voice she said, “My apologies to you all. My godson is in a bad mood today, and I’ve troubled all of you to come here. Let me apologize on his behalf first.” With that, she curtsied.

The saints truly did not dare to act presumptuously before her. They hurriedly returned the salute and said, “You are too courteous, Madam. We are old friends with Daoist Zhu Feng as well. It is nothing, nothing.”

“All right, then. Our family has some private matters to discuss next. I hope you can kindly excuse us,” Mother Chen said with a nod.

How could the saints not understand that this was a request to leave? They exchanged wry smiles and took their leave.

After the others were gone, Mother Chen returned to Chen Xing’s side and gave Nuwa a meaningful look. Nuwa understood at once; with a lift of her jade hand, she disrupted the heavenly secrets of this place so thoroughly that even Hongjun could no longer know what had happened here. At the same time, she drew the kneeling humans into the Chaotic Pearl.

“Do you feel that what Xiao Feng said is somewhat incomprehensible, and that you cannot accept it?” With no outsiders present, Mother Chen resumed her usual capable demeanor and asked bluntly.

Chen Xing was silent for a moment, then nodded. He did indeed not understand some things. The people before him were all the ones he trusted most, and he very much hoped to find an answer from them.

“I heard from Nuwa that you’ve been trying to temper your Dao heart, is that right?” Mother Chen asked directly.

Chen Xing glanced at Nuwa and saw a trace of apology flash in her eyes. He did not mind that Nuwa had told his mother about it, and so he nodded.

“In other words, you’ve always been confused by certain things that have happened?” Mother Chen continued. Chen Xing nodded again.

After a brief pause, Mother Chen finally asked the crucial question with a resolute expression: “Is your cultivation and realm far above the saints of this Primordial Wilderness, even above Heaven’s Dao itself?” At those words, even Nuwa, Xiaoyao, and the fat man fixed their eyes tightly on Chen Xing’s face, as if waiting for something.

Chen Xing was stunned. Then he let out a bitter smile, nodded, and shook his head. He understood that before the people closest to him, any concealment could hardly be maintained for long.

Mother Chen reached out and smacked him on the head with a crisp thwack, chiding him, “If it is, then it is. If it isn’t, then it isn’t. Why nod and shake your head at the same time?”

After receiving a flick on the forehead from his mother, Chen Xing rolled his eyes and said irritably, “I’m much stronger than them, but I’ve sealed myself up for now. That answer should be clear enough for you, right?”

The others rolled their eyes back. Zhu Feng gave a contemptuous snort and said, “Who couldn’t guess that? Godmother wants to know what your identity is! Stop putting on airs.”

Chen Xing was left speechless.