Above a certain lake in the Nine Dragons Upper Realm, a golden light suddenly descended from the sky, plummeting toward the water’s surface.
In an instant, the heavens and earth were enveloped in dazzling brilliance.
This light wasn’t just radiant—it exuded a sacred aura, as if a divine being had descended.
But just as quickly as it appeared, the light rapidly faded, and soon… the surroundings returned to their usual state.
Yet now, atop the lake’s surface, a figure stood.
That figure was Chu Feng.
He had been brought here by the Nine Dragons Saint Robe.
But at this moment, the Nine Dragons Saint Robe had vanished from his body.
And Chu Feng had finally regained his freedom.
“This is bad—I’ve just offended two seniors outright.”
“Tell me, Nine Dragons Saint Robe, what’s your deal? Are you deliberately screwing me over?”
Chu Feng felt utterly helpless, he understood that publicly rejecting Master Liangqiu and Master Longxuan was a serious blow to their pride.
Those two seniors cared deeply about their reputations.
Otherwise, they wouldn’t have repeatedly used secret transmissions, cautiously testing the waters.
Unfortunately, Chu Feng couldn’t even speak, let alone reject them directly.
In the end, under the Nine Dragons Saint Robe’s control, he’d pushed both of them into an incredibly awkward situation.
“Forget it, what’s done is done, I’ll explain to the two seniors later.”
Chu Feng shook his head helplessly, then shifted his gaze to his palm.
“Where’s the mark?”
But upon looking, Chu Feng’s expression changed dramatically.
He clearly remembered that in the dream, the Boundary Spirit Immortal King had left an ancient mark on his palm.
The Boundary Spirit Immortal King had said that with this mark, Chu Feng could enter the Seven Realms Saint Mansion, and no one would dare stop him.
Chu Feng had even thought that once he grew stronger, he could use this mark to enter the Seven Realms Saint Mansion and rescue his mother.
But now, why was the mark gone?
Afterward, Chu Feng tried various methods to examine his palm, even using his Heaven’s Eyes, yet he couldn’t find any trace of the mark.
It was as if it had completely vanished.
“What’s going on?”
“Was that just a dream?”
Chu Feng frowned, sinking into deep thought.
“Ugh—”
But suddenly, his face twisted in pain, the agony growing more intense by the second.
Clutching his chest tightly, he half-crouched on the ground.
“Damn it, this feeling—could it be backlash?”
“As expected, the power of that black flame isn’t so easy to claim.”
Chu Feng quickly realized that the pain surging from his chest and spreading through his body was likely the backlash from the black flame.
Sensing the danger, he hurriedly took out three pills, popped them into his mouth, and released his boundary power to envelop his body.
He was trying to mitigate the backlash.
But this backlash was far more terrifying than he’d imagined.
Chu Feng soon discovered that his boundary power was dissipating, his spiritual energy felt sealed, he couldn’t even sustain his boundary power anymore.
“This backlash is sealing my boundary power?”
“Ugh—”
The backlash grew stronger, and Chu Feng could no longer hold on, soon… he slipped into unconsciousness.
Having been floating above the lake, he fell into the water with a splash.
Though unconscious, the pain of the backlash continued to torment him.
It was as if Chu Feng were trapped in a nightmare, plagued by the suffering of the backlash.
In this state, he lost track of time, of everything, aware only of the relentless waves of pain.
He felt as though he were in hell, unable to break free.
It wasn’t until an unknown amount of time had passed that the backlash began to subside, and as it weakened, Chu Feng’s consciousness started to return.
Finally, he opened his eyes.
“Who are you?”
But upon opening his eyes, he found himself lying on the ground.
More startlingly, a woman stood before him, staring at him face-to-face, and she was incredibly close.
Having just endured the torment of the backlash, Chu Feng was jolted awake to see a huge face right in front of him, startling him.
Instinctively, he leapt to his feet, eyeing the woman warily.
“What are you shouting for all of a sudden? You scared me to death!”
His exclamation seemed to startle the woman too, she shot into the air, hovering in the void before turning back to glare at Chu Feng with an irritated expression.
“Hey, I saw you floating in the lake with no signs of life, so I fished you out, don’t you dare think I’m the one who hurt you.”
“If you don’t believe me, check for yourself—none of your stuff has been touched,” the woman said to Chu Feng.
At that moment, Chu Feng began to survey his surroundings, realizing he was standing by the edge of the lake he’d fallen into.
The woman’s words seemed genuine, she wasn’t lying.
So, Chu Feng started to carefully assess the girl.
Though she certainly wasn’t the one who’d saved his life, she had pulled him from the lake and hadn’t taken his Cosmos Sack.
That proved she’d genuinely intended to help him—she wasn’t a bad person.
“This girl?”
But as he studied her closely, Chu Feng’s expression grew complicated.
