As Chu Feng gazed at Yan Ruyu, she was also looking at him.
“Chu Feng, save me.”
Yan Ruyu’s expression was pained, her voice brimming with grievance.
“Yan Ruyu, what’s going on? Why are you here?”
Chu Feng hurried forward, eager to speak with her in detail.
But before he could get close, Yan Ruyu turned into a wisp of smoke and dissipated.
Before vanishing, she reached out, as if wanting Chu Feng to grab her.
This left Chu Feng’s heart heavy; he could feel she genuinely needed his help.
“How could this be?”
“Why is she here?”
“And why is she asking me to save her?”
Amidst his oppression, Chu Feng’s mind swirled with questions.
But he was certain that the Yan Ruyu he saw wasn’t her true body.
A mortal body couldn’t vanish like smoke.
“Wait, I’m not in my true body either; I’m moving with my spiritual power.”
This thought deepened his confusion.
Since he was using spiritual power, others shouldn’t easily detect him. How did Yan Ruyu see him?
How did she know he was here?
Moreover, this was an isolated space meant to test him.
No one else should be able to enter.
Boom—
As Chu Feng pondered, his surroundings shook, and his consciousness began to retreat uncontrollably.
His spiritual power was being forcibly pulled back into his body.
When he opened his eyes, he was back in the grand hall.
He could see the eerie hands binding him retreating.
Even the deathly aura threatening his life was weakening, no longer a danger.
“Did I succeed?”
“But what was that just now?”
“Was it a dream?”
“No, that wasn’t a dream. That space wasn’t my dreamscape.”
“Could it be an illusion from unstable spiritual power?”
Chu Feng kept pondering, feeling the matter wasn’t simple.
He recalled entering a cave with the Secret Cave Saints, where ancient creatures lived, and seeing a mural.
The figure in the mural resembled an old friend of his.
And that friend was Yan Ruyu.
If it was just a resemblance in the mural, it could be dismissed, but her sudden appearance now was hard to explain…
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh—
At that moment, several figures appeared in the hall.
They emerged from the barrier gate on the left—the Secret Cave Saints.
They had changed since entering that gate.
A faint glow emanated from them, formed of sacred talismans, swirling around them like protective halos.
“It seems they succeeded.”
Seeing all eleven Secret Cave Saints reappear, a smile curved Chu Feng’s lips.
Though he was happy for their success, the Secret Cave Saints were in poor spirits.
Despite not seeing their faces, Chu Feng could tell they were upset.
He knew because, after emerging from the left gate, they began wailing like pigs.
Though their cries were harsh, Chu Feng sensed their genuine sorrow.
“Brother Xiuluo, why didn’t you listen to us?”
“Dying like this is such a waste.”
“Sigh, you could’ve lived, but you chose death. How could you be so foolish?”
They sobbed and approached the gate Chu Feng had entered, blaming him.
Of course, they didn’t know Chu Feng was standing before them.
He was in another space, unable to communicate. He could hear them, but they couldn’t hear or see him.
Though they blamed him, suspecting his death, Chu Feng felt warmed.
At least they were genuinely heartbroken over his supposed death.
Then, they did something even more touching.
At their leader’s suggestion, they used special powers to try forcing open the gate to save Chu Feng.
From their unleashed power, Chu Feng confirmed they had earned the Demon-Slaying Emperor’s approval in the life gate, gaining special abilities they now used to attempt his rescue.
But they failed.
Despite their approval, they couldn’t open the gate.
This convinced them further that Chu Feng was dead.
Their grief intensified.
Seeing them so heartbroken, Chu Feng felt uneasy.
He tried everything to communicate, to tell them he was alive.
Buzz—
As he struggled, his surroundings changed.
In the sealed hall space, a gate appeared.
Not a barrier gate, but a grand door.
It stood before Chu Feng, majestic as a mountain.
On its left, right, and top were three plaques, forming a couplet.
Upper line: Enter, gain inheritance, but life and death are uncertain.
Lower line: Stay, barriers vanish, return to the hall.
Horizontal line: Choices shape destiny.
Reading the plaques, Chu Feng understood.
If he stayed, the eerie space trapping him would dissolve.
He could return to the normal hall and reunite with the Secret Cave Saints.
They had earned the Demon-Slaying Emperor’s approval and likely could claim the tomb’s treasures.
Though they valued wealth, Chu Feng believed they had principles and would share with him as agreed.
But even if they had the right to claim treasures, whether they’d truly gain the inheritance was uncertain.
Why else would this door, the so-called inheritance gate, appear?
The door’s warning was clear.
Entering meant facing trials.
The Demon-Slaying Emperor’s inheritance wasn’t easily obtained, hence the phrase “life and death uncertain.”
But would Chu Feng fear danger?
If he did, he wouldn’t have chosen the death gate.
“Brothers, see you later.”
Chu Feng said this to the weeping Secret Cave Saints, then pushed open the door and stepped inside.
As he entered, the door vanished, and the eerie space he’d been in disappeared.
The Secret Cave Saints couldn’t hear him.
They didn’t know he was challenging the so-called inheritance.
But the grieving group suddenly froze, as if sensing something extraordinary.
“Brothers, did you feel that?”
The leader asked in a grave tone.
