Chapter 63: Echoes of the Battle

"Puppet Wang..."

He attempted to issue an order through the Soul Domination Seal, but there was no response from another side.

Long Feng’s expression changed again. He tried once more, but still nothing.

’What is happening?’

He could clearly sense Puppet Wang’s existence. Yet his connection with it had become extremely unstable.

It was as though that ancient pressure had entered his soul and was interfering with the control seal.

Even worse, the pressure on his soul was actually more painful than the pressure on his body.

Long Feng gritted his teeth.

’Don’t tell me I’m actually going to die here.’

He couldn’t even lift his head properly. The pressure continued for several moments, before weakened. The terrifying aura that had filled the forest began fading away.

Long Feng remained kneeling for several breaths, unwilling to move. Only after the pressure had completely disappeared did he slowly raise his head.

His eyes swept across the forest. Ye Wuxie was gone.

"He ran?" His first reaction was surprise, then he slowly understood.

If Ye Wuxie had still possessed enough strength to fight, there was no reason for him to escape. He would have attacked while Long Feng was suppressed.

The fact that he had chosen to flee meant that his condition was probably even worse than Long Feng’s.

Long Feng slowly exhaled. A trace of relief appeared in his eyes.

"That was close..."

He then tried contacting Puppet Wang again. And this time, the Soul Domination Seal responded. He could once again clearly sense Puppet Wang’s consciousness.

"Good."

Long Feng finally relaxed. He slowly stood up. His body was still somewhat weak, and his soul felt like it had been heavily battered.

He glanced toward Ye Wuxie’s direction.

"What the hell was that?"

He had absolutely no answer. Long Feng had heard about many strange techniques and treasures.

But that pressure, it felt completely different. It was almost as if some powerful existence had temporarily descended from Ye Wuxie’s body.

Long Feng’s gaze became serious.

Ye Wuxie really does have some terrifying secret.

Nearby, the injured Golden Core Realm disciple was still lying on the ground. He had witnessed everything. His expression was pale.

"That... what was that?"

Long Feng looked at him. A faint smile suddenly appeared.

"Ye Wuxie was right about one thing."

"Huh?" The man looked at him in confusion. But before he could understand his meaning.

Bang!

Puppet Wang’s enormous fist landed directly on his head. His body collapsed onto the ground.

Dead!

The forest became silent again. Long Feng looked at the corpse. There was a coldness in his eyes.

The man had seen everything. He couldn’t be allowed to leave alive.

Suddenly, a familiar mechanical voice suddenly appeared in his mind.

[Ding! Congratulations, Host.]

[You have successfully defeated a protagonist’s trump card. You have severely damaged a protagonist. Protagonist suppression reward has been triggered.]

"Shut up." Long Feng didn’t even bother listening to the rest. His face was dark.

"All of this is because of you."

He had originally intended to peacefully cultivate.

Yet because the system kept dragging him into strange tasks, he had somehow ended up fighting a protagonist with an unknown trump card.

He was exhausted. He didn’t want to think about anything else.

Fortunately, the Inner Disciple Ranking Tournament had already ended. Otherwise, in his current condition, he probably wouldn’t even be able to walk properly.

Long Feng recalled Puppet Wang back to his beast storage pouch and turned around.

"Let’s go back to the place."

He didn’t notice the strange changes taking place behind him. Because neither he nor Ye Wuxie knew, they had just created a much bigger problem.

Several minutes after they left, the surrounding space suddenly distorted and two figures quietly appeared in midair, standing there as though they were ghosts.

Neither emitted the slightest aura, as if they were not even exited there.

One wore a crimson-red robe, while the other wore a simple gray robe. The red-robed old man looked around the devastated forest.

Trees had been destroyed, the earth was covered with deep craters, residual spiritual energy still lingered in the air.

Suddenly, he frowned.

"There should have been three people here."

His gaze swept across the ground, carefully sensed the remnants.

"One of them died and the other two probably already left. They should be inner disciples. But... who was that person whose presence we felt?"

His expression became tensed slightly. The gray-robed old man remained silent. He calmly looked across the battlefield.

His eyes lingered on the faint remnants of soul pressure left behind in the air. After a long silence, he finally spoke.

"That aura was faint, but it was there."

Then he quietly muttered, "It feels somewhat similar to that kid."

The red-robed old man turned his head.

"That kid?"

The gray-robed elder didn’t answer immediately. His eyes remained fixed on the battlefield.

"What was he doing here?"

If Long Feng had still been present, he would have been shocked.

This gray-robed old man was none other than the mysterious old man he had met inside the Treasure Tower.

The same elder who had effortlessly identified the thousand-year-old Stantite without breaking the seal.

The red-robed elder’s expression became solemn.

"How could someone possessing such terrifying power enter the sect’s territory without anyone noticing?"

The gray-robed elder shook his head.

"Perhaps he didn’t enter."

"You mean..." The red-robed elder froze. "Could that expert have come from the Crimson Sun Mountain Range?"

The gray-robed elder nodded faintly. His gaze moved toward the distant mountains.

The back mountains of the Azura Heaven Sect were connected to the Crimson Sun Mountain Range.

Most disciples didn’t know how deep that connection truly went, but they knew.

The Crimson Sun Mountain Range wasn’t simply a place inhabited by some beasts. There were many hidden existences within it.

"There are traces of beast aura nearby," the red-robed elder said.

"It is possible that something came from there. But why would such an existence come into our sect’s territory?"

The gray-robed elder remained silent for a moment, then he turned around.

"You can investigate it, I have some other matters."

"Yes." The red-robed elder nodded immediately.

The gray-robed old man didn’t seem particularly concerned. He simply took another glance at the destroyed forest before turning away.

"This is your responsibility."

After saying that, his figure slowly faded into the void.

The red-robed elder watched him disappear. Even after so many years, that calm attitude hadn’t changed. He sighed softly.

"Still the same as ever."

Then he looked back toward the battlefield. His expression became serious.

And somewhere far away, Long Feng was completely unaware that the battle he thought had ended cleanly had already attracted the attention of two of the sect’s highest-level experts.

Long Feng returned to his room. As soon as he entered, he closed the door and carefully checked his surroundings.

Only after confirming that nobody was nearby did he finally relax. He walked to the bed and sat down.

His expression became slightly bitter as he examined his injuries.

The battle with Ye Wuxie had left him in a much worse condition than he had expected.

Long Feng reached into his storage ring and took out a jade bottle. Inside were several pills glowing with a faint violet light.

Violet Vitality Pill.

Fortunately, he had refined more than one of these pills previously. Otherwise, recovering from his current injuries would have been troublesome.

He poured one pill into his palm and swallowed it without hesitation.

The moment the pill entered his stomach, a warm medicinal energy spread through his body.

Long Feng immediately closed his eyes and circulated his cultivation technique. The medicinal energy slowly flowed through his meridians, repairing his damaged body.

His cracked bones began to heal. The injured internal organs gradually recovered. Even the hidden injuries within his body were slowly being suppressed.

Time passed quietly as two hours later, Long Feng suddenly opened his eyes.

His gaze flashed sharply. He could clearly feel that his condition had improved considerably. However, his expression soon became solemn.

There were still many injuries hidden deep within his body.

Several bones had suffered cracks, some of his internal organs were still damaged, and there were even injuries to his meridians.

As for the mental damage caused by that strange mental pressure, that was even more troublesome.

The Violet Vitality Pill could help recover his physical injuries, but mental damage wasn’t something that could be healed so easily.

This made Long Feng frowned.

"Damn Ye Wuxie..."

He couldn’t help cursing. "If I had known he was this troublesome, I should have killed him in that cave."

His expression became increasingly annoyed.

"If word gets out that I was beaten this badly by someone a whole major realm below me, where would I put my face?"

"Yes. That would indeed be quite insulting."

"What’s more, it’s a grave insult to b..."

Suddenly, Long Feng froze. His expression instantly changed. His body became completely tense.

’That voice, someone else was here too.’