Qu Fanghua felt utterly stifled and aggrieved, yet dared say nothing more. She silently withdrew into the distance, sat cross-legged, and closed her eyes to regulate her breathing. Every so often, however, she opened her eyes to glance at Chen Cheng, her gaze brimming with venom.
After exchanging a few casual words with the others, Chen Cheng withdrew to an open space and sat cross-legged to cultivate. He circulated the Black Law Punitive Thunder Scripture, using only Thunder-Punishment True Fire to refine the shackles on his ninth divine aperture.
Time ticked by.
Those who had finished recovering entered the passage leading to the sealed abyss one after another, hoping to investigate.
Even Qiu Tongtian went in personally to take a look.
Unfortunately, none of them could read the writing on the Iron Stele. Naturally, they dared not act rashly and soon returned to the Grotto-Heaven.
Qu Fanghua went too, of course, but found nothing unusual.
Although she harbored deep suspicions about Chen Cheng, she had no evidence and thus nothing to say.
Peace settled over the group once more, with Lu Zhenting the sole exception.
He paced back and forth by the Grotto-Heaven's exit, his brows tightly knitted, the worry in his eyes almost palpable.
He was clearly worried about Lu Mingyang.
Ji Jingyou and Gu Fei went over to offer quiet reassurances, but nothing could calm his heart.
A while later, Chen Cheng finally approached.
"Rest assured, Junior Brother Lu. Peak Master Lu and the others have already broken out of the encirclement."
Chen Cheng said calmly,
"We need to leave immediately too."
"Nonsense!"
Before Lu Zhenting could respond, Qu Fanghua spoke first.
"How could you possibly know what's happening outside? As I see it, the enemy is probably still searching nearby. Going out now would be walking straight