The Origins of the Tian Yuan Alliance

"Mi, Milord?"

As the eldest of the four, Wang Wei was the most steady and mature. He was the first to react, looking at Lu Feng with eager anticipation.

Lu Feng slowly removed his mask, revealing that familiar face.

Wang Wei hurriedly bowed and cupped his fists in delighted surprise. "This subordinate greets Milord!"

Seeing this, Dan Wu and the other two also cupped their fists in greeting, unable to suppress the smiles on their faces.

Only Gongliang Yuxiao and the rest remained rooted where they stood, utterly dumbfounded.

Just moments ago, things had been life-and-death tense, swords drawn and bows bent. How had the situation changed so completely in the blink of an eye?

They truly could not understand it.

Looking at the four gathered around him, Lu Feng smiled kindly. "We are no longer in Tian Yuan City, and we have all left Spirit Prison behind. There is no need to address me as 'Milord' anymore."

Zheng Ba scratched his head awkwardly. That did seem to be the case; it was simply a habit, and he had spoken without thinking.

Wang Wei paused, then said earnestly, "Milord's kindness toward us is as heavy as mountains. Once our Milord, always our Milord."

Dan Wu nodded in agreement. "It has nothing to do with status or place."

The awkwardness vanished from Zheng Ba's face. As if he had suddenly realized something, he nodded solemnly. "Big Brother is right. Once our Milord, always our Milord."

Xing Qi said anxiously, "We should let Milord tend to his wounds first."

Seeing the savage gash across Lu Feng's chest, Wang Wei said with a pained heart, "Milord, I'll go fetch an alchemist from the alliance at once."

"It's nothing," Lu Feng called out to stop Wang Wei as he turned to leave, reassuring him, "This injury is no concern. A bit of meditation for an hour or two will be enough for me to recover."

Perhaps it was the effect of the Creation Jade Condensation Paste, but Lu Feng felt that with his current physique and strength, his recovery ability seemed far stronger than before. Such injuries would once have taken most of a day merely to stabilize, yet now he was confident he could recover completely within one or two hours.

Even in this brief span of time, his wound was already beginning to scab over. In the past, that would have required the aid of wound medicine.

Dan Wu could not bear it. "At least let us bandage it?"

Lu Feng shook his head. "Don't forget, I barged in here in full view of everyone just now. If people see that my wound has already been bandaged when I go back out, what are those outside supposed to think?"

Zheng Ba jolted. "Right, I forgot Milord was posing as a Heretical Cultivator."

Watching from the side, Gongliang Yuxiao finally seemed to understand. He stepped forward and gave an awkward, somewhat stiff smile. "Brother Wang, could he be the one you mentioned before...?"

Zheng Ba grinned foolishly and nodded. "That's right. There can be no one else we would call Milord."

With all four confirming it, a trace of shame crossed Gongliang Yuxiao's astonished face. He understood that he had not misunderstood earlier. Lu Feng's strange actions had indeed been meant to protect his daughter, and it was precisely because of that protection that he had suffered those subsequent injuries.

He immediately felt too ashamed to show his face. Hastily cupping his fists toward Lu Feng, he offered a gesture of thanks. "My daughter was saved thanks to you, Esteemed Guest."

"You overpraise me," Lu Feng returned the salute. "To be able to do what little I can for a renowned wandering hero is an honor for cultivators like us."

"I dare not accept such praise." Hearing Lu Feng's flattering words, the guilt on Gongliang Yuxiao's face eased somewhat. When he saw a flash of pain involuntarily appear on Lu Feng's face as he cupped his fists, he understood that the motion had pulled at his injury. He promptly took out a Pill Bottle and handed it over. "Inside are Violet Firmament Pills, personally refined by a friend from Medicine Valley. They are remarkably effective for recovering from external injuries."

Lu Feng was startled. Naturally, he had heard of the Violet Firmament Pill. It was a Heaven-grade pill even more potent in recovery than the Heavenly Spirit Pills Ye Fan had given him, and it was the sort that could be taken repeatedly within a short period without developing much resistance.

Lu Feng did not refuse. After taking it, he swallowed one pill.

The instant the pill entered his stomach, it transformed into rich medicinal power and dispersed.

Lu Feng could clearly feel a strange warm current brushing over the flesh beneath his wound, continuously generating spiritual energy to heal the gash. It felt slightly numb and itchy.

In terms of recovery alone, it was roughly equivalent to thirty or forty percent of his current recovery ability. Yet it did not require much spiritual energy, making it more suitable for use while severely injured and weakened.

When Gongliang Yuxiao saw Lu Feng unceremoniously place them all into his Kirin Ring, a faint trace of displeasure flickered in his eyes. He felt somewhat pained at having given away so many pills just like that. Most people would have exchanged a few polite words and been satisfied with taking one or two. Who would take them all like Lu Feng?

Wang Wei and the others exchanged looks, but they did not share Gongliang Yuxiao's thoughts. They merely felt an inexplicable unease.

They knew Lu Feng's nature well enough to know he was not someone greedy for resources. If he had done this, then he likely truly had a need for such healing medicine—a need far more serious than his surface injuries suggested.

Lu Feng naturally understood that Violet Firmament Pills were exceedingly valuable. Thus, as he accepted them, he took out that large barrel of Source Stones from earlier and returned it intact to Gongliang Yuxiao.

"Everything I did earlier was mainly for the Defend the Dao Alliance to see. I hope Old Brother Gongliang will not take offense."

Lu Feng apologized sincerely and returned the Rage of Returning Ruins scroll as well.

Gongliang Yuxiao stared at the scene, stunned once more.

Violet Firmament Pills were indeed expensive, but no matter what, they could not compare to the value of over a hundred High-Grade Source Stones before him.

Had I misunderstood him again?

Gongliang Yuxiao muttered to himself inwardly. Like Wang Wei and the others, he came to understand that Lu Feng might truly have some other urgent use for the Violet Firmament Pills.

Thinking of injuries, Gongliang Yuxiao instinctively glanced again at the Rage of Returning Ruins scroll in his hand.

After a moment of silence, he said, "This batch of Source Stones belongs to the Tian Yuan Alliance. Old Brother will not stand on ceremony and will take it back. But this Rage of Returning Ruins belongs to me personally. What I said before was not false either, so you should accept it. Consider it Old Brother's thanks for saving my daughter. If not for you, I truly do not know what fate would have befallen her today."

Gongliang Mengmeng lay peacefully in the arms of a middle-aged woman not far behind them. Exhausted in spirit, she had already fallen deeply asleep. At that moment, she let out a soft murmur in her sleep, as if echoing her father's gratitude. She was indescribably adorable.

Looking at this warm scene, Gongliang Yuxiao smiled tenderly and once again placed the Rage of Returning Ruins scroll in Lu Feng's hands. He added, "Earlier, Old Brother did not understand you well enough and did not trust you, so I did not tell you everything."

Gongliang Yuxiao apologized before continuing solemnly, "Rage of Returning Ruins is not merely a powerful Soul Attack technique. More accurately, it is a method of sacrificing eight hundred to wound a thousand—more inclined toward a desperate final gamble, perishing together with one's enemy."

"Once this method is used, all Soul Power will be exhausted. Even if one does not die, one will certainly lose control of the body for a time. With the spiritual energy within running wild in chaos, death will likely not be far away. Thus, ordinary people basically only have one chance to use it in their lifetime."

Lu Feng was startled.

Dan Wu said urgently, "If it is such a life-ending technique, then you should not pass it on to our Milord."

Gongliang Yuxiao smiled bitterly. "Naturally, I do not wish for your Milord to ever have need of such a secret art."

Wang Wei cut in. "Given all the dangers Milord has encountered along the way, he will likely face no shortage of life-and-death situations. If that day truly comes, I would still hope Milord has this secret art at his side. At the very least, those who harm him must not have it too easy."

After a brief daze, Lu Feng chose to accept it. From Gongliang Yuxiao's description, the value of Rage of Returning Ruins to him might be even greater than he had initially imagined.

A retaliatory strike gathering all of one's Soul Power, capable of killing enemies across realms and unleashing an attack far beyond one's limits—this was precisely the trump card he needed most urgently.

He could not guarantee just how terrifying Jun Zi Shuo's strength might become in his madness.

With this method, he could at least ensure that even if something went wrong, he would have a chance to drag him down to the Yellow Springs together.

And with his powerful, domineering recovery ability, if he could retain even the slightest wisp of Soul Power, perhaps his life soul would not dissipate completely. Perhaps he could preserve that final thread of life.

Gongliang Yuxiao gave one final warning. "The effects of Rage of Returning Ruins were recorded on a wall in a secret realm of the Nether Gate back then. That Quenched Gold Tiger Head Staff knows the details. If you encounter him, little friend, try not to use this secret art. Beware of him preparing in advance to counter it."

It was not that he feared the likes of Wang Chonghu. It was simply that now that he had his daughter as a bond, he truly did not wish to indirectly provoke such a figure through Lu Feng and wear himself to exhaustion.

Lu Feng silently remembered Gongliang Yuxiao's words and, under Wang Wei and the others' guidance, arrived at an inner hall.

Looking at the words hanging in the hall—"Uphold the righteous path amid crumbling ruin; punish the wicked deeds of treacherous villains!"—Lu Feng could not help asking curiously, "May I ask who the Alliance Leader of the Tian Yuan Alliance is?"

There was a note of respect in his words. Setting everything else aside, the Tian Yuan Alliance's guiding principles alone were enough to earn his admiration for the person behind it.

Upon hearing this, strange smiles appeared on Wang Wei and the others' faces.

Zheng Ba grinned foolishly. "When we founded the Tian Yuan Alliance, our original intention was to find you and have you return as our leader."

Lu Feng froze, his eyes full of astonishment.

What kind of situation was this?

The Alliance Leader was actually himself?

Wang Wei said with an embarrassed smile, "After the Tian Yuan Alliance had begun to take shape, we still tried many times to find you, Milord. But every time, we could not find any trace of you, or we arrived only to find nothing."

Lu Feng smiled helplessly. Since parting ways in Tian Yuan City, he truly had lived without a fixed abode, frequently traveling from place to place.

Dan Wu smiled and cut in. "With each of you saying a little here and there, how could Milord possibly understand? Let me explain."

Wang Wei and the others all laughed.

Dan Wu explained earnestly, "The origins of the Tian Yuan Alliance must begin with our departure from Tian Yuan City. At first, we did not have such great ambitions as to establish an alliance of this scale. The reason it developed to its present size was because we encountered Brother Gongliang at Sky Wolf Stronghold outside Tian Yuan City."

"At the time, we intended to eliminate that Sky Wolf Stronghold that committed all manner of evil, then occupy the mountain and become its king, protecting peace in one region. We wanted to handle matters that Prison Manor was unable to handle."

"Who would have thought that, while eliminating Sky Wolf Stronghold, we would unexpectedly save a little girl..."

Lu Feng said in surprise, "Little Corn?"

Gongliang Yuxiao smiled bitterly. "It was indeed my daughter. That was the first time anything had happened to her. One of the bandits in Sky Wolf Stronghold was a surviving remnant from a stronghold I had once wiped out. That day, I was taking Mengmeng around Lin City when he happened to spot us. The bandit used some tricks and disguised himself as the owner of a street performance stall. I was careless for a moment, and he found the chance to abduct Mengmeng to his new stronghold. Fortunately, Brother Wang and the others acted righteously and spared us a calamity."

Dan Wu continued, "After that battle, Brother Gongliang heard of our ideals and aspirations in establishing the Tian Yuan Alliance. Moved by us, he agreed to stay and help us develop the Tian Yuan Alliance properly, to uphold justice in the world."

"And it was precisely because an expert like Brother Gongliang joined us that our ambitions and vision began to stretch farther. We were no longer limited to a mountain stronghold in one corner of the land, and gradually began expanding outward."

Gongliang Yuxiao smiled modestly. "Brother Dan overpraises me. The truth is, I had completely panicked that day. Though I respected your ideals, my original intention was more for Mengmeng's sake."

"I was simply too worried that something might happen to Mengmeng again. On top of that, I had grown weary of drifting about all this time and wanted to find her a stable place to settle down. With only me by her side all along, I worried that she would become increasingly withdrawn. That was why I agreed."

"Fortunately, it was the right choice. With the lively environment in the alliance now, Mengmeng has clearly become much brighter and more vivacious than before."

Wang Wei said with a smile, "No matter what your original intention was, Gongliang, you are still the good brother-in-arms we acknowledge."

"Exactly," Dan Wu and the others chimed in.

Dan Wu then continued, "With Brother Gongliang holding the fort, we had far greater confidence in our development. After uprooting more than ten bandit strongholds in succession, our reputation gradually spread. Many people of insight in the Soul Master Realm came after hearing Brother Gongliang's name. As one expert after another joined, the Tian Yuan Alliance's strength came to rival that of ordinary sect forces, giving us the true ability to handle matters Spirit Prison could not."

"During our later development, to manage things better, we jointly established many halls with differing duties: the Wind Shadow Guard, responsible for gathering intelligence; the Gale Riders, responsible for delivering messages throughout the lands; the Gale Guard, responsible for purging petty villains and treacherous scoundrels; and the Wind Control Hall, responsible for protecting the alliance's safety."

"Besides these functional halls, we also established forces such as the Long Wind Gang in the secular world, mainly for trade and commerce to provide funds and wealth. In the future, these forces will likely enter the Sect Force Realm as well, earning all sorts of resources."

A gratified smile appeared on Lu Feng's face. Seeing the companions he had once worked alongside develop so well, doing what they loved and had always yearned to do, he felt sincerely happy for them.