“I can’t guarantee I’ll succeed, but I’ll do my best.”
Chu Feng got to work.
He had already examined the lock beforehand.
This lock wasn’t to be broken with barrier formations, nor did it depend on the strength of one’s barrier techniques.
To unlock it required the bloodline power of barrier techniques, the most fundamental aspect.
For others, this lock might remain unopened for a lifetime.
No matter how advanced their barrier techniques or how strong they became, if their barrier talent didn’t meet the requirement, they could never crack it.
So Chu Feng wasn’t certain he could open it.
He didn’t know if his talent or bloodline power met the standard.
He could only try.
Click.
Yet, the moment Chu Feng acted, the lock sprang open.
It was far simpler than he had expected.
“This…”
Even Elder Ruyi was stunned, his eyes wide.
“It really opened.”
After repeatedly checking and confirming the lock was indeed undone, Elder Ruyi’s astonishment grew.
Then, looking at Chu Feng, his face bore a complex smile.
“I’ve tried countless methods and spent years of effort to open this lock, all to no avail.”
“Yet in your hands, it was undone so effortlessly.”
“Young friend Chu Feng, your talent is beyond imagination.”
“No wonder you could so easily climb to the third level of Ruyi Castle’s talent stairs.”
“I’m fortunate. If you had come to Ruyi Castle before me, its inheritance would surely have gone to you, not me.”
Elder Ruyi showered Chu Feng with heartfelt praise, mixed with admiration and envy.
As a realm spiritist, how could he not envy someone with such extraordinary talent?
While effort was essential in cultivation, sometimes the gap in talent couldn’t be bridged by hard work alone.
Ugh.
Suddenly, Chu Feng’s face contorted in pain.
“Young friend Chu Feng, are you… poisoned?”
Seeing Chu Feng’s state, Elder Ruyi panicked and hurried to check on him.
He quickly determined that Chu Feng was indeed poisoned.
It was true. This poison had been planted in Chu Feng’s body by a mysterious entity in the Nine Dragons Upper Realm, at the Nine Dragons Anomaly Ridge.
When this poison flared, Chu Feng couldn’t stop it, and each outbreak was more intense than the last.
This time, it was even more dangerous than before.
As the poison erupted, Chu Feng knew a more unbearable torment had arrived.
But suddenly, a cool sensation flowed through his nose.
This refreshing energy not only cleared his mind but also slightly calmed the raging poison within him.
Chu Feng opened his eyes and saw Elder Ruyi.
In Elder Ruyi’s hand was an unremarkable bottle, yet it emitted a faint blue gas that was remarkably potent.
That cool sensation came from this blue gas.
“Young friend Chu Feng, inhale this gas.”
Elder Ruyi handed the bottle to Chu Feng.
Without hesitation, Chu Feng breathed deeply, drawing all the blue gas into his body in one breath.
To his astonishment, the poison within him was completely subdued.
This poison, previously impossible to counter, wasn’t eradicated but was genuinely suppressed.
And this was the most severe outbreak yet.
“Senior, what is this?”
Chu Feng asked.
“Just a simple antidote.”
Elder Ruyi replied.
“A simple antidote?”
Chu Feng’s eyes widened as he looked at Elder Ruyi, suddenly realising he was far more remarkable than rumoured.
A medicine capable of suppressing the poison in his body could be called a sacred remedy.
Yet Elder Ruyi called it a simple antidote?!
It was clear that, to Elder Ruyi, this medicine’s value wasn’t particularly high.
“I can only suppress the poison in your body. Fully detoxifying it carries risks.”
“Young friend Chu Feng, tell me, where did this poison come from?”
“So I can help you remove it.”
Elder Ruyi asked.
Chu Feng didn’t hide anything and recounted how the poison was planted in him.
For most, such a tale would inspire some fear, as the idea of such an entity lurking deep underground would chill anyone.
Yet Elder Ruyi showed no fear, not even a hint of surprise in his eyes.
He remained utterly calm, as if hearing something entirely ordinary.
“The Nine Dragons Upper Realm in the Ancestral Martial Star Region, a place called Nine Dragons Anomaly Ridge, correct?”
Elder Ruyi asked.
“Yes, senior.”
Chu Feng confirmed.
“Good.”
Elder Ruyi nodded, then took out a scroll.
Swoosh.
As he unfurled it, the scroll revealed countless stars.
The stars within were so vivid, it was as if the scroll contained an actual boundless starry sky.
After studying it, Elder Ruyi traced a finger over a section of the starfield.
Buzz.
The stars in that circled area glowed brightly, and names appeared on them.
Nine Dragons Upper Realm, Great Thousand Upper Realm, and other familiar names emerged, each etched on different stars.
Chu Feng realised that the section Elder Ruyi had circled was the Ancestral Martial Star Region.
Elder Ruyi then pointed at the Nine Dragons Upper Realm.
Buzz.
The entire scroll changed. The starry sky vanished, replaced by a vast world map.
It was a map of the Nine Dragons Upper Realm.
Soon, Elder Ruyi located the Nine Dragons Anomaly Ridge.
He took a black bead from his cosmos sack, holding it between two fingers of his right hand.
His left hand formed intricate seals, and he began chanting.
Then, his right hand pointed sharply at the Nine Dragons Anomaly Ridge on the map. The black bead turned into a black flame and entered the map’s location.
Rumble.
A deafening roar echoed from outside.
The sound was so loud, as if mountains and rivers were collapsing, making Chu Feng uneasy.
He quickly looked outside.
“What’s that?”
Normally, Chu Feng couldn’t see outside from within Ruyi Castle.
But now, Elder Ruyi seemed to have lifted some restrictions, allowing Chu Feng to use his Heaven’s Eye to clearly observe the changes outside.
Everyone outside looked shocked, their eyes fixed ahead of Ruyi Castle.
A massive black vortex had appeared there.
The vortex, pitch-black and enormous, pierced through heaven and earth.
So vast was it that even the colossal Ruyi Castle seemed small before it.
To martial cultivators, it rendered their forms as insignificant as dust.
As the vortex appeared, it stirred the heavens, its rotation whipping up fierce winds that swept in all directions.
Outside, sand and stones flew, gales roared, and the world descended into chaos, as if doomsday had arrived.
Most strikingly, the vortex’s darkness seemed like a gate to hell.
Its mere sight instilled fear.
“What is that?”
Even figures like Master Tang Chen and Fairy Mu Zhi showed fear on their faces.
“It seems to be a barrier gate.”
The old Taoist said.
Compared to Master Tang Chen and Fairy Mu Zhi, he was relatively calm.
“A barrier gate? How can there be such a massive one?”
Fairy Mu Zhi and Master Tang Chen spoke in astonishment.
Even they had never seen such a thing.
If anything, it resembled a barrier gate, but one of this scale was unprecedented.
“Senior, did you… do that?”
Chu Feng turned to Elder Ruyi.
Unlike the others, Elder Ruyi remained perfectly calm.
Recalling his earlier actions, Chu Feng suspected this colossal vortex piercing the heavens was his doing.
“The one who tied the bell must untie it. The poison in your body should be resolved by that entity.”
“Young friend Chu Feng, you’ve helped me greatly. Consider this my repayment.”
As Elder Ruyi spoke, Ruyi Castle began moving toward the massive black vortex.
In that moment, Chu Feng was certain: this terrifying vortex was indeed Elder Ruyi’s creation.
