If something were to happen to Feng Zaiyu's group, the Feng family's ancestor would surely suspect Fang Guangjun first. He certainly couldn't take that risk. But this Zhang Ming had somehow managed to leave Tang Tian's group and go off on his own.
'Why did it have to be Tian Denghu who died? If it had been this kid, the outcome would have been so much better...' Zhu Luomu scoffed inwardly. Tian Denghu was his own martial nephew; the difference in affection was self-evident.
Immediately, after sending a voice transmission to Feng Tao, Zhu Luomu's thoughts returned to Fang Guangjun. He untied a storage pouch from his waist—the very one Fang Guangjun had carried—and began to inspect its contents one by one, hoping to discover any details he might have previously overlooked.
Ever since Feng Tao learned that "Martial Uncle Fang" was behind everything, she had been utterly terrified. Every time she thought about it in detail, a bone-deep chill would rise from the depths of her heart. This man's cultivation was too high, and he had been by their side the whole time. If he had wanted to kill them back then, it would have been as easy as lifting a finger. In an instant, he could have turned them into confused ghosts who still didn't know what had happened.
Fortunately, the other party wanted to continue hiding in the Falling Star Valley. Otherwise, the most likely outcome for her and Zhang Ming would have been the same as Tian Denghu's. After all, the other party had a limited number of Soul-Containing Bottles, and she and Zhang Ming were not as valuable as her Senior Brother and the others.
At this thought, Feng Tao's scalp tingled again.
However, after learning that although her Senior Brother and Second Senior Sister were heavily injured, they had at least managed to keep their lives and would be able to recover in the future, Feng Tao felt much better than she had last night. When she thought of Tian Denghu, she could only sigh in her heart. Although she had no romantic feelings for him, he had, in the end, died for her sake.
Finally, her gaze fell on the silent Zhang Ming. Zhang Ming had not been in the Feng family's great hall before and was unaware of everything that had happened. Moreover, everyone was forbidden from telling him. So, Zhang Ming still thought the others had died at the hands of ghostly creatures.
Just now, when they were leaving, Zhang Ming had clearly been taken aback when he didn't see Fang Guangjun. Her master had only said faintly, "Your Martial Uncle Fang had another mission from the sect and has left ahead of time. I will take you back."
Since Zhang Ming couldn't know about this matter, and Zhu Luomu was in a foul mood and had no interest in giving lengthy instructions, he sent a voice transmission asking Feng Tao to admonish this disciple.
Feng Tao calmed the fear in her heart. "Senior Brother Zhang, after we return to the sect, please do not speak of what happened at the Feng family. The sect is currently under attack by external enemies. Master does not wish for the events at the Feng family to affect the morale of the disciples in the valley. I ask that Senior Brother Zhang be aware of this."
Hearing this, Zhang Ming lifted his head. After a moment of shock, he nodded under Feng Tao's gaze.
"Senior Brother Zhang, what I've said is actually for your own good. As for the matter of Senior Brother... Tian and the others, if the enemies of the Falling Star Valley were to find out and make a big deal out of it, it could truly lead to a major incident. When the sect investigates, it won't be something that small cultivators like you and I can bear."
This time, Zhang Ming thought for a moment before nodding again.
Seeing that she had said what needed to be said, Feng Tao didn't want to say any more. Her relationship with Zhang Ming was merely a transaction. Now that she had relayed her master's warning and given her own reminder, she had done all she could.
"By the way, Junior Sister Feng, there is something I would like to ask. If you can speak of it, please just give me a simple explanation. Before entering the Falling Star Valley, I did some research on the surrounding environment and sects. There should be a very large lake nearby, and it is said to have quite a few demonic beasts. Do you know what level those demonic beasts are?"
Feng Tao was stunned by his words. She hadn't expected Zhang Ming to suddenly ask something completely unrelated to the previous topic. But immediately, she gave him a deep look, and a flash of understanding crossed her eyes.
"Senior Brother Zhang is talking about the 'Thousand Mountain Expanse,' right? It is indeed not far from here. It was once an ancient battlefield, and for some unknown reason, a lake several hundred li in size later formed there. Senior Brother, could it be that you want to go to the bottom of the lake to search for some broken spirit artifacts and magical artifacts?"
As she said this, a look of understanding was already on Feng Tao's face. Seeing Zhang Ming's face first stiffen and then show a trace of embarrassment, Feng Tao was certain of it.
"Hehehe, I had just heard people talk about it before. Now that I see the surrounding environment, I suddenly remembered. Does Junior Sister know the origin of that ancient battlefield?" Zhang Ming rubbed his nose, a little embarrassed.
'Just as I thought. He's even trying to cover it up by asking about the origin of the ancient battlefield. As long as you've paid any attention to the 'Thousand Mountain Expanse,' you wouldn't be unaware of all this. You just want to get the details from me!' Feng Tao thought to herself, but she continued to speak.
"Senior Brother Zhang, no one knows the origin of that ancient battlefield. I estimate that if you ask around a few times, you will find that everyone gives the same answer. You've probably heard most about the broken spirit artifacts at the bottom of the lake in the 'Thousand Mountain Expanse.' They are mostly fragments of magical artifacts and treasures. If they had been discovered by cultivators much earlier, they would have been of great value. But by the time they were found, after the long passage of time, those fragments had already lost most of their spiritual energy, their grade had dropped, and they had lost their proper value. But even so, many people, upon hearing for the first time that a place has piles of spirit artifacts and magical artifacts, even if they are broken, even if others say those treasures are unusable and would just be a pile of scrap if taken out, how many can believe it without seeing it with their own eyes?"
As Feng Tao said this, her tone was already tinged with a faint mockery.
"First, I must tell you, Senior Brother Zhang, that there are indeed many broken spirit artifacts, and even magical artifacts, at the bottom of the 'Thousand Mountain Expanse' lake. It's just that they are indeed basically all decayed, with almost all of their spiritual energy lost. If we were to hold them in our hands and inject even a little Spirit Power, they would collapse in a few breaths from being unable to withstand the impact. Of course, it's not impossible that there are some better-preserved fragments, but after such a long time, who knows how many cultivators have gone searching. Under such circumstances, do you still think you'll be lucky enough to find something good?"
"Secondly, the reason why many spirit artifact-level treasures are still there is because the 'Thousand Mountain Expanse' lake not only has tens of millions of aquatic demonic beasts, but also a Foundation Establishment demonic beast. Otherwise, the things there would have long been plundered by rogue cultivators and small sects. The large sects look down on them, and if a small sect's cultivators go down and encounter a swarming, ferocious creature like the 'Blood Infant Fish,' a whole sect wouldn't be enough to fill their bellies."
"Finally, it's because that place is an ancient battlefield. Although time has passed, the killing intent within is still rampant and chaotic. If a cultivator with insufficient cultivation enters, their mind might be possessed in an instant, and they would become a walking corpse."
Feng Tao spoke in a low voice, afraid of disturbing her master's thoughts up ahead.
"So, Senior Brother Zhang, it's best you don't think about going. With your current strength, going down there means certain death. By the time your strength is sufficient, you will no longer have any interest in those broken things. In fact, the whole matter is of marginal value; it's like chicken ribs."
"Junior Sister Feng is so familiar with the 'Thousand Mountain Expanse.' Have you been there personally?" Zhang Ming nodded and, after a moment's thought, asked further.
"I have never been. I have only heard my father and ancestor talk about this matter. Speaking of which, the Foundation Establishment demonic beast in the 'Thousand Mountain Expanse' lake has some friendship with my ancestor. After all, the 'Thousand Mountain Expanse' is very close to the Feng family, and my ancestor's cultivation is similar to that of the aquatic demonic beast. Hmm, my father and mother once went with my ancestor to visit the 'Thousand Mountain Expanse.' My father said that at the time, he was also tempted by the large number of spirit artifacts at the bottom of the lake. While my ancestor was discussing the Dao with that Foundation Establishment demonic beast, my father and mother quietly approached that ancient battlefield. It's just that the situation afterward was not as they had wished. On the contrary, because my mother was already pregnant at the time, after searching the ancient battlefield for a while, she had yet to find anything good, but the killing intent inside was too strong, and it actually disturbed the fetus, nearly causing a loss that would have outweighed the gain. My mother already had a cultivation of the eighth level of Qi Condensation at that time, yet she was still affected. So, Senior Brother Zhang, even if you could get to the bottom of the lake, you might not be able to withstand the overwhelming killing intent."
Having said this much, Feng Tao didn't want to say any more. After a glance at Zhang Ming, she fell silent.
According to her original plan, given Zhang Ming's initial performance, she had wanted to find an opportunity to talk about their previous agreement to use the "Shattered Star Chamber." But now that such a thing had happened, Feng Tao felt there was no need to bring it up again. She had accompanied Zhang Ming on a dangerous journey, and he had also risked his life. To bring it up now was extremely inappropriate. So the matter was left at that. She could only ask her master for it later.
And Zhang Ming, after hearing Feng Tao's words, also fell into deep thought. The green light sped onward.
After a good while, a strange look flashed across Zhang Ming's face. Then, without Zhu Luomu noticing at all, a stream of Divine Sense quietly entered Feng Tao's body...
Back in the Falling Star Valley, in Li Yan's courtyard, he sat quietly on a stone bench. He rubbed his nose, his expression neither happy nor sad, but his heart was filled with astonishment.
'To think that this Feng Tao actually has a connection to the Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant. This world is truly full of wonders.'
Previously, when Li Yan had asked about the lake, he had just wanted to know how much Feng Tao knew about that ancient battlefield. Li Yan had been puzzled by the appearance of a Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant skull there and naturally wanted to know the origin of that battlefield and which races had fought in the war.
However, Feng Tao had clearly misunderstood his intentions, thinking he was coveting those broken treasures, and had said what she did. What Li Yan hadn't expected was that Feng Tao's parents had also been to that ancient battlefield. And this matter immediately made Li Yan recall something Feng Tao had said when she had come to ask for his help.
She had mentioned that her Heaven Spirit Root had overjoyed the Feng family's ancestor, but for some unknown reason, something had gone wrong with her body. Due to the family's legacy of cultivating their particular technique for generations, nourished by Yin Qi, over eighty percent of their bloodline was of the wood, earth, and water attributes. This was almost a certainty. But in the end, Feng Tao, a prodigy with a two-lineage Heaven Spirit Root of fire and earth, had appeared with a probability of less than ten percent. This had led to her being unable to cultivate the family's technique, and they could only watch helplessly as their own prodigy joined the Falling Star Valley.
Feng Tao had said that after her mother entered the ancient battlefield, she was disturbed by the killing intent, which had affected the fetus. Li Yan immediately wondered if she had also been near that Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant skull. The Purple Divine Dragon-Elephant was a creature of extreme yang. The yang qi in its aura was extremely pure. It was very possible that this yang qi had invaded Feng Tao's mother's body, especially since she was pregnant at the time.
Although Li Yan didn't know if Feng Tao had any siblings, and Feng Tao hadn't said when her mother had gone to the ancient battlefield, he was basically certain that she had been pregnant with Feng Tao at the time. During his time at the Feng family, Li Yan had not seen anyone closer to Feng Tao than Feng Zaiyu, apart from her mother, who had not appeared. From this, it could be basically determined that Feng Zaiyu had only this one daughter.