Seeing Shi Ji's pale little face, as well as the undisguised fear and vulnerability in her phoenix eyes, Qin Feng's heart softened for no reason.
This female immortal had struggled to survive in the prehistoric world. She appeared strong, but her heart had long been riddled with scars. In the end, she had revealed her deepest fears before him.
Qin Feng did not waste words.
He merely stretched out his arm and drew her slightly trembling body into his embrace.
Shi Ji's body suddenly stiffened.
A warm, powerful aura instantly enveloped her. Those strong arms seemed like the sturdiest barrier in the world, shutting out all the killing intent and coldness beyond them.
A crisp, pleasant scent lingered at the tip of her nose, while the sound of a steady, powerful heartbeat filled her ears.
Thump, thump, thump.
Each beat was like a hammer that steadied the soul, striking precisely against her terrified and unsettled Primordial Spirit.
The fear she had accumulated over countless years, her panic over the unknown Investiture of the Gods Calamity, and the inferiority and unease born from her humble origins were miraculously soothed by more than half in that instant.
Her stiff body gradually relaxed without her realizing it.
Almost instinctively, Shi Ji buried her face deep in that broad, solid chest. Like a small boat that had found harbor, she greedily absorbed the sense of security that was enough to make her lose herself in it.
Qin Feng lowered his head and looked at the stunning female immortal in his arms, who had cast aside all her defenses and revealed her truest self. A gentle curve rose at the corner of his lips.
He softly patted her back, resting his chin atop her hair as he slowly spoke into her ear in an overbearing tone that allowed no doubt.
"Investiture of the Gods? That is the destination of the weak." "Remember this. With me here, let alone a mere Investiture of the Gods."
"Even if the Heavenly Dao wants you dead, it will have to ask whether I agree."
Boom!
Shi Ji's mind went completely blank.
Even if the Heavenly Dao wants you dead, it will have to ask whether I agree!
What an arrogant declaration!
What lawless dominance!
Who in the prehistoric world dared say such words? Even Saints only dared claim that they followed the will of Heaven and carried out Heaven's punishment.
Yet this Dao brother had actually said that the Heavenly Dao had to seek his opinion!
This was no longer provocation. He was treating the laws of the Heavenly Dao as toys he could manipulate at will!
Shi Ji stared blankly at Qin Feng's handsome face so close to hers, at those deep eyes like a starry sky.
There was not the slightest hint of madness or empty bravado within them, only absolute calm and confidence.
It was as though he had not uttered an earth-shattering boast, but simply stated a perfectly natural and self-evident fact.
At that moment, the last trace of unease and fear in Shi Ji's heart was utterly shattered.
What Investiture of the Gods, what killing calamity, what shallow roots and foundation.
Before this promise from her Dao brother, all of it seemed so pale and laughable.
That was right.
With her Dao brother as the strongest support in the prehistoric world, what did she still have to fear?
An indescribable warmth and sense of security instantly filled every part of her body, making her feel as though she would melt into that warm embrace.
Qin Feng released Shi Ji and let her calm her turbulent emotions on her own.
But his gaze had already pierced through the halls of Azure Stone Palace, looking beyond the Thirty-three Heavens toward Purple Cloud Palace deep within the chaos.
His eyes were sharp as swords.
Those words had not merely been meant to comfort Shi Ji. They were also his true thoughts.
A mere Investiture of the Gods dared lay a hand on someone under his protection?
What a joke.
"Not only will I keep you safe and sound," Qin Feng said again, this time with a trace of cold amusement in his voice, "I will turn this so-called Investiture of the Gods Calamity into a joke!"
His objective was already clear.
It was not merely to protect Shi Ji alone.
He would overturn the entire calamity and shelter every goddess who should have fallen during it, been reduced to ashes, or been enslaved by the Investiture of the Gods.
The Three Sisters, Long Ji, Jin Ling...
One name after another flashed through his mind.
Since he had become a shelter for goddesses, he had to do something worthy of that title.
Turning this so-called immortal killing calamity into a recruitment fair for expanding his immortal alliance seemed like a fine choice as well.
Just as Qin Feng set the tone for the entire Investiture of the Gods Calamity.
In the distant East Sea, on Three Immortals Island.
The atmosphere inside the main hall had become oppressive to the extreme.
The anger on Bi Xiao and Qiong Xiao's faces had long vanished, replaced by complex expressions mixed with confusion, shock, and deep incomprehension.
Zhao Gongming, meanwhile, could neither sit nor stand still. Fine beads of sweat covered his forehead, and even the hand holding his teacup trembled slightly, as though he had just heard some heaven-shaking secret.
At the center of the hall, only Yun Xiao still maintained an upright seated posture.
Yet the hand gripping her teacup had turned pale at the knuckles, while the divine light of deduction flickered endlessly in her eyes, exposing the turmoil in her heart.
They had remained in that posture, silent, for an entire hour.
Ever since the messenger had left with that outrageously arrogant reply, Three Immortals Island had fallen into this strange silence.
"Big Sister, I... I still cannot understand."
In the end, Bi Xiao, the most straightforward of them all, could not help breaking the silence.
Her little face was filled with conflict.
"Even if he really is some reclusive expert, we are still disciples of a Saint and core members of the Interception Sect. What he did was far too disrespectful! How is that any different from slapping us in the face in public?"
Qiong Xiao nodded repeatedly and echoed, "Exactly. He told us to visit him personally. He is putting on far too many airs. If word gets out, where will the Three Sisters' dignity go? Where will the Interception Sect's dignity go?"
They could not understand it.
Although Yun Xiao had just analyzed that an expert's actions naturally carried deeper meaning, the feeling of being ordered around still left them deeply frustrated.
"Dignity?"
Yun Xiao, who had remained silent all this time, finally spoke slowly.
Her voice carried an unprecedented hoarseness and self-mockery.
"In the eyes of a true powerhouse, so-called dignity is the most worthless thing."
She loosened her grip on the teacup, lifted her eyes, and swept her gaze across her siblings. Her expression was incomparably complicated.
"We were all wrong."
"We had been wrong from the very beginning."
Yun Xiao took a deep breath, as though she wanted to exhale every bit of shock within her.
"He refused our invitation and instead told us to visit him. That was not arrogance, nor was it humiliation."
"He was... drawing a line."
"Drawing a line?" Zhao Gongming froze and asked instinctively.
"That's right!" Yun Xiao's tone became resolute. "He used this method to make it clear to us, and to the entire prehistoric world—he, Qin Feng, belongs to no faction! He is a faction unto himself!"
"He confronted the Chan Sect head-on not to stand up for the Interception Sect. He protected Shi Ji not because she was a disciple of the Interception Sect."
"Everything he has done follows only his own will!"
"We approached him in the name of the Interception Sect to win him over and show goodwill. In his eyes, perhaps from the very beginning, that was a... provocation."
Those words struck Bi Xiao, Qiong Xiao, and Zhao Gongming like a heavy hammer.
They suddenly recalled Qin Feng's past achievements.
That was right.
From beginning to end, that man had never once mentioned the Interception Sect.
What he relied on was only himself.
"But... but what does that have to do with him telling us to visit him?" Bi Xiao still could not let it go.
An exceedingly bitter smile appeared on Yun Xiao's lips.
"It has everything to do with it."
"Think about it. Since he belongs to no faction, why should he come to our Three Immortals Island? Why should he give us face?"
"On the other hand, if we wish to see him and discuss the Dao with or befriend such an existence, should we not... be the ones to visit him?"
"This is not him putting on airs. This is the rule. It is the rule... of his level!"
"In his world, if you want to see him, you must go to his territory. That is the most basic respect you can show him!"
Rumble!
It was as though hundreds of millions of bolts of lightning exploded in the minds of the three.
Their minds completely crashed.
So... that was how it was?
So he had not been humiliating them at all. He had been teaching them... the rules?
An unparalleled sense of absurdity and shock surged into their hearts at once.
They were dignified disciples of a Saint and core members of the Interception Sect, yet one day, someone had actually taught them "the rules"?
"I understand..." Zhao Gongming slumped back into his chair in a daze, muttering to himself, "I finally understand... We are simply not on the same level as him..."
Bi Xiao and Qiong Xiao exchanged a glance, each seeing endless horror in the other's eyes.
At that moment, the last traces of resentment and indignation in their hearts also vanished like smoke.
In their place was... reverence that rose from the depths of their souls.
"Big Sister," Bi Xiao's voice trembled, "then... then are we... still going?"
Yun Xiao closed her eyes and fell into silence once more.
Go?
With their status, did they truly have to cast aside all their pride and take the initiative to visit an enigmatic stranger of unknown origin like juniors?
But if they did not go...
If they missed such a terrifying existence, one who might have already touched another realm and could even influence the course of the future calamity...
Could they bear that price?
For a time, the entire hall fell into deathly silence once again.
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