Chương 409: Xie Duan's worry

After their initial shock, the two old men approached Long Feng with curious yet cautious expressions.

"When did he wake up?" Old Du asked Xie Ling.

"A while ago." Xie Ling replied and hesitated before deciding not to mention the strange eyes. Xie Duan stared at Long Feng who was staring back calmly and asked,"What's your name kid?"

"Long Feng."

"Mm. Long Feng, where do you come from?" Long Feng thought for a brief moment before replying, "A clan in the Eastern region. I can't remember exactly what happened and how I ended up here." Xie Duan nodded and glanced at old Du.

"What do we do with him now?" He asked via voice transmission. In all honesty, they never expected that he would awaken, so the thought hadn't crossed their minds until now. Old Du stroke his beard while staring at Long Feng with a pondering expression.

"His cultivation...?"

"Crippled. I don't know what level he was exactly, but he shouldn't have been beyond the Imperial realm since there was no signs of true essence in his body. He is of no threat whatsoever with his ruined cultivation." Xie Duan instantly replied.

"What a shame. If he was a bit strong, then we could accept him as a guard. Even an additional spirit realm warrior would increase our overall strength by a tiny bit." Old Du shook his head with a sigh.

"What do you propose?" Long Feng watched them calmly, not interrupting. With his experience, he could deduce that they were discussing through voice transmission, and it was likely concerning him, so he waited.

"Do you know your way back home?" Old Du suddenly asked loudly. Long Feng calmly shook his head.

"I remember very little." He really didn't know the way back to the sect, and even if he did, he wouldn't return yet. The head warden had tried to kill him, and he was probably assured that Long Feng was dead. If he returned now without getting stronger, then the head warden would definitely try again, and the next time, Long Feng would not be so lucky.

"How unfortunate. We are currently in a bad situation ourselves, so we can't be of much help to you just yet." Old Du sighed and continued.

"If you can wait for a while, we will resolve the issue, then it won't be impossible to send you off with someone to find your home. I doubt you can get anywhere alive in your current state." Long Feng didn't refute his words. Any random spirit realm warrior could kill him with ease right now.

"Alright then. It's decided." Xie Duan nodded in agreement. A crippled youth was of no use to them, so there was no use in keeping him. Later on, they would find a random spirit realm warrior to escort him. As for whether he would get far or not, they could care less.

"Thank you for saving my life. I'll find a way to repay this favor when I can." Long Feng muttered. Old Du waved his hand.

"There's no need. You can contribute a bit to the clan before you leave. There are things you should still be able to do, like picking herbs and helping in the farms." What favor could he possibly repay as a cripple?

"Can you move?" Xie Duan asked. Long Feng tried to move his arm and nodded. While the pain was still there, it was within his limits to endure. There was no reason to make himself look entirely vulnerable in this situation. Even though they saved his life, he didn't know who they were nor did he know what motives they had. He couldn't trust any of them. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

"Father, he can join my guards! We'll be going to pick more herbs soon, and he can come along!" Xie Ling exclaimed excitedly, temporarily forgetting about her fear. Old Du laughed.

"Silly girl, guards are meant to be stronger than you. He'll be a burden if he goes with us. He will be more suitable to help in the farms or as a servant for a while." Xie Duan nodded as well, supporting his words. But Xie Ling wasn't hearing it. She shook her head in determination.

"I don't care!" She pouted.

"With Uncle Du around, a strong or weak guard makes no difference. Let him join us, please!" She grabbed Xie Duan's sleeves and stared up at his face pitifully. Xie Duan sighed and ruffled her hair.

"You're extremely stubborn. It's alright, he can join you all. Picking herbs isn't very hard anyways." Xie Ling's face exploded with a smile as she leapt over to Long Feng's side. Of course, staring at his eyes caused the memory of the gray pupils to resurface in her mind, causing her to freeze halfway. Old Du didn't notice anything strange as he turned around.

"I'll call Xie Qin over. He will lead you the place you'll stay for a while. Xie Qin came a few minutes later and clasped his fists by the door, lowering his head in respect to the two old men.

"Xie Qin pays respect to Senior Du and the Clan Chief."

"Mm." They both nodded.

"Xie Qin, lead Long Feng here to one of the guard rooms. He will be joining us next time we leave to pick herbs." Xie Qin's brows furrowed as he turned to see who this Long Feng was, and his shock was clear when he glanced at the youth they were referring to.

"You?" His mouth hung open as he stared at the pale faced Long Feng blankly.

"But how?..." He had long ago dismissed that body they picked up in the river as a corpse, but now, that same corpse was staring right at him! He quickly suppressed his shock and nodded.

"Yes, seniors." He turned to Long Feng, barely concealing the twitch of his lips as he spoke, "Come with me. I'll lead you to your room." Long Feng silently moved, clenching his fists tightly as his veins popped out clearly on his pale skin. Merely rising to his feet consumed the little energy he had recovered, and he wobbled a bit, nearly falling to the ground. Xie Ling's eyes widened as she leaned in and held him with some effort.

"Thank you." Long Feng muttered while restoring his balance, not noticing the deep flush on her cheeks as she pulled away. Xie Duan frowned slightly while Xie Qin's eyes nearly spat flames.

"Try not to fall." He uttered coldly before strolling out of the room while Long Feng followed behind him. Each step was taken with his full effort and focus, as he feared that the slightest mistake would cause him to tumble to the ground. Such a level of frailness was something he had never experienced before, and it left a bitter taste in his mouth. From being strong enough to kill normal deities to barely being able to walk and not even having the strength to kill a chicken... the change would break many.

After they left, Xie Ling also hopped out of the room after bidding the two old men farewell before returning to her own residence. Xie Duan and Old Du exchanged glances, their expressions turning extremely severe after everyone had left.

"What do we do about the Tie clan?" Old Du asked worriedly.

"I don't know, but it's impossible for us to accept their demands. The ancestral tower contains our only hope to ever rise again, and there is no way we'll give it up." Xie Duan replied sullenly.

"But... they have more deities than we do. It's only you, and their clan chief is at the late stage. We can't resist at all if they really go through with their threat." Xie Duan's eyes fell as he sat down exhaustedly while rubbing his forehead.

"We'll think of something. The tower is out of the discussion."

"Should we perhaps... prepare to begin the inheritance?" Old Du suggested hesitantly. Xie Duan instantly shook his head.

"Absolutely not! Ling'er isn't ready yet."

"But old Xie, we are out of time! If you wait till she's ready, then she will never be. One can never be truly prepared. Besides, that kid Xie Qin will be going in with her. He should be able to keep her safe!"

"I assure you, Xie Qin will be useless in there. Back then, at least a deity would be needed to raise the chances of success by a little bit. His peak spirit realm cultivation is nothing." Xie Duan sighed.

"If so, why don't you take her in yourself? Once she inherits the powers, the Tie clan won't be a threat any longer." Old Du proposed.

"Unfortunately, it can't be possible. The tower has an age limit, and I am way beyond that limit."

"Look, old Xie, I understand that you're worried about Ling'er. I am as well, but the hopes of the entire village rests on you and her. Would you rather watch everyone die before you realize that we have no more time?" Old Du's words caused a struggled look to surface on Xie Duan's face. After a few minutes of silence, he let out a heavy sigh and closed his eyes.

"I understand. Use the clan's resources to help Xie Qin reach the Imperial realm in a week. He will take Ling'er into the tower and help her attain the inheritance." He nodded weakly. Old Du walked over and patted him on the back.

"Don't worry, old friend. She will be fine. I have a feeling things will get better soon."

Xie Qin led Long Feng out of the large manor, heading towards a couple of stone rooms arranged in strategic points around the manor. Long Feng took the chance to look around and properly assess his surroundings. This place appeared to be a small village, and mortals weren't lacking at all. He glanced behind at the manor and his eyes were drawn to a tall tower behind the manor. The tower appeared to be made with some strange wood, and it looked ordinary at first glance.

But Long Feng could instantly tell that it was an extraordinary treasure. It gave him the same feeling as the Central Hall of the supreme heaven sect's inner peak itself, which meant it was at least a top earth grade treasure. This fact left in in doubt. This was an extremely ordinary village, and the strongest person he sensed was none other than Xie Ling's father, who was an ordinary early stage deity. How could they possibly possess such a treasure that could be the cornerstone of a three star force?

He didn't stare at it for too long and followed behind Xie Qin. They arrived before one of the stone rooms and Xie Qin paused.

"You'll live here from now on. I hope you're more useful than just being a flower boy, otherwise you will die in the wild within hours." He uttered coldly before turning around and rushing away. Long Feng stared at him with a raised brow before shrugging and walking into the room. Everything was made of hard stone, including the bed. And the room was barely several feet long, so he scanned through everything with a single sweep of his gaze, before he walked over and sat down on the rock hard bed.

A soft groan escaped his lips as his entire body ached. After waiting for a few minutes for the pain to decrease, he began to check the current state of his body. To his surprise, his injuries were better than he expected.

"I don't know how long I was unconscious for, but it shouldn't be a short time. Even then… this recovery is a bit too fast even for me." The head warden was a mid stage Dao master. A punch of his could kill a complete triple refined peak deity. A glint flashed through his eyes as he recalled something.

"Just before I fell unconscious, I sensed all of the force rushing into my Dantian. That must have contributed to ninety percent of why I'm still alive while by tough body saved me from exploding as the force rushed in." He deduced uncertainly. If truly the full force of the head warden's punch had remained in Long Feng's body for a full second, then he would have died. Even half of it would still kill him. The power was simply far beyond what he could ever hope to withstand.

But due to some unknown reason, Bai Xingsheng's true essence was completely drawn into Long Feng's Dantian before it could do more damage to him.

"But…" Long Feng clenched his fists nervously as he prepared to send his consciousness into his Dantian. Since he woke up, he had tried to avoid thinking about it, but he had to do so now, even if he already knew the result.