Rumble
After Chu Feng entered the Dark Gate, he was swept into a massive black vortex.
The vortex was colossal, spanning heaven and earth. Chu Feng, caught within it, was like an ant tossed into the vast ocean—no matter how great his abilities, he could only drift with the current.
Within the vortex, not only did fierce gales roar, but thunderclaps resounded.
The lightning bolts, thick as a thousand metres and stretching tens of thousands of metres long, roared like dragons, as if they could cleave the heavens and split the earth.
And such lightning bolts numbered in the thousands, surging and bellowing as they charged.
In this place, even Chu Feng felt a twinge of fear and unease.
But since Chu Feng had dared to enter, he had already prepared himself mentally—not only for danger but also for the possibility of death.
However, in truth, Chu Feng did not believe he was doomed to die. Had he thought death was certain, he might not have come.
The reason Chu Feng had chosen to enter this place without hesitation was not solely because he wanted to save the Chu Heavenly Clan and his friends.
When standing before the Dark Gate, Chu Feng had felt something—a summoning, as if some force was calling to him.
Chu Feng couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but he sensed no malice from it.
At that moment, Chu Feng had suspected that the choice—where only he or the others could survive—might itself be a test. And so, he chose to enter.
Now, though danger surrounded him, Chu Feng was still alive.
The terrifying gales before him, though fearsome, seemed like a passage leading somewhere, further validating his suspicions.
Thus, Chu Feng’s initially panicked heart gradually steadied.
*Crack—*
*Boom—*
But suddenly, a searing white light approached—it was a bolt of lightning.
The lightning struck Chu Feng directly.
It all happened so fast that Chu Feng had no time to feel the pain before he lost consciousness.
…
When Chu Feng awoke, he thought that opening his eyes would reveal the underworld.
He couldn’t be blamed for thinking so, as the lightning had been overwhelmingly powerful. In the moment it struck, Chu Feng genuinely believed he was dead.
But when he came to, he realised he was likely not dead.
The scene before him didn’t resemble the underworld at all. If anything, it was closer to a paradise.
Chu Feng lay on a lush green meadow, surrounded by floating mountains and cascading waterfalls.
Even the sky here was an exceptionally vivid blue.
“You’re awake?”
Suddenly, a finger poked Chu Feng’s face.
Startled, Chu Feng, who had been lying on the ground, abruptly sat up.
Upon closer inspection, he saw that the one who had poked his face was a little girl.
The girl looked about six years old.
Her chubby little face wasn’t particularly beautiful, but she was undeniably adorable.
Her large eyes, in particular, seemed to hold twin starry skies, pure and enchanting.
But Chu Feng didn’t let his guard down. He could sense the presence of all living creatures around him—celestial cranes soaring in the sky, wild deer galloping across the land, ferocious beasts lurking in the shadows, and even demonic beasts in secluded cultivation.
Yet this little girl, standing right before him, gave off no detectable aura.
It was as if she didn’t exist at all.
And the mark on her forehead made Chu Feng feel she was anything but ordinary.
The mark was of a tree, simple in design.
Yet Chu Feng felt it bore a striking resemblance to the Void Sacred Tree.
“Little sister, what’s your name?” Chu Feng asked.
“Little sister?” The girl rolled her eyes at Chu Feng and said in her childish voice, “I’ve lived for over a million years, and you, what, a few decades old, call me *sister*?”
The girl not only looked young but sounded young too. When she said such things, most people would assume she was boasting.
But Chu Feng didn’t think so.
Still, she was a child. Despite knowing she was extraordinary, Chu Feng couldn’t resist teasing her a little.
“Impressive! A million years? That means you existed in ancient times, doesn’t it?” Chu Feng asked.
“Isn’t that obvious?” the girl replied.
“Then tell me about the ancient times.”
“Why do ancient ferocious beasts and demonic creatures still exist, but martial cultivators have vanished?”
“Logically, even if their lifespans ended, their descendants should have survived. So why… did they all disappear?”
“What happened in between?” Chu Feng was genuinely curious about ancient matters.
“This is a heavenly secret, not to be revealed,” the girl said with a serious expression, her tiny face looking as though she were a wise, calculating immortal.
But she was clearly a child. Her attempt to act mature, like a little adult, was utterly adorable.
“What kind of heavenly secret? Come on, spill a little,” Chu Feng pressed.
“Let me tell you, you’re not even fully alive right now. You’re in a half-dead state.”
“You only have one year here. If you can’t leave within that time, you’ll die completely.”
“So, instead of wasting time on these pointless questions, you’d better ask me what you need to do to leave this place as soon as possible,” the girl said.
