Sensing the changes in his dantian world, Chu Feng quickly projected his consciousness in, only to see that the lightning prison had become extremely small, with a radius of no more than ten meters.
At the center of the lightning prison was a frail bundle of flame that looked like it would be snuffed out at any moment.
The nine lightning beasts continued to roam the dantian world as if nothing had happened at all.
âThank you, elders.â Chu Feng respectfully bowed to the nine lightning beasts, knowing that they had saved him. The lightning beasts paid him no heed, but he was accustomed to their nonchalant attitude. He turned to the red lightning beast and asked, âElder, whatâs the situation? Do you know the background of that red-haired woman?â
Chu Feng knew that the red-haired lightning beast was the only one who was willing to communicate with him, but to his disappointment, the latter didnât answer his question. Seeing that, he decided not to probe any further.
He knew that the nine lightning beasts possessed sentience. It was not that they couldnât hear him but that they couldnât be bothered to waste their breath on him, so it was pointless to probe any further when they were unwilling to speak.
However, Chu Feng still wanted to know what was going on. At the very least, he hoped to gather some information about the palace. So, he turned to the dying speck of flame inside the lightning prison and asked, âAre you still alive? Speak if you arenât dead yet.â
However, the speck of flame didnât answer.
Chu Feng took a closer look at the speck of flameâhe couldnât sense the red-haired womanâs aura. In the end, he could only give up and project his consciousness back to his main body, where he immediately saw Little Fishy standing before him with a worried expression.
âDonât worry, Iâm fine,â Chu Feng said with a smile.
âAre you certain? That red-haired woman felt dangerous.â Little Fishy thought that Chu Feng was trying to console her.
âShe was planning to steal my body. That earlier test was nothing more than a ploy for her to find out which of our bodies is more suitable for her. There was no fortuitous encounter at all,â Chu Feng said those words via voice transmission because he didnât want Jie Tian to know the truth. âHowever, Iâm fine. My bloodline has suppressed her. She canât hurt me anymore.â
Little Fishyâs worry finally dissipated into a sweet smile.
âBig brother, youâre formidable. Then, do you know what she is? I donât think she belongs here, right?â Little Fishy asked.
It was only a brief encounter, but she had already come up with her deductions.
âI donât think that red-haired woman belongs here either, but Iâm unable to communicate with her because sheâs already on the verge of death. However, I did see a humongous monster sealed in the far distance. It shares the same aura as the red-haired woman; I suspect that itâs her main body, just that it has been sealed away.
âIf I have to fathom a guess, that red-haired woman likely came here for this placeâs treasure, only to end up getting sealed away. What we encountered earlier might be a sliver of her soul, which escaped using some kind of special means. It probably wasnât easy for her to do so, so she wanted to steal my body,â Chu Feng said.
âIn other words, that womanâs appearance is an accident, and we havenât really cleared this placeâs trial yet?â Little Fishy asked.
âI think so,â Chu Feng replied.
Weng!
A massive starlight spirit formation gate suddenly appeared in the sky, and a powerful suction force dragged Chu Feng and the others in. They began to swiftly plummet downward, eventually landing in the Star Memorial Domain.
Chaotic Era Scholar and the black aura monster were standing not too far away. The palace they had previously entered was also right in front of them.
âWhy did we return here? Is the trial finished?â Little Fishy asked.
There was another gigantic starlight spirit formation gate reminiscent of the one they had just passed through above their heads right now. This energy had come from the Star Sea Realm, suggesting that the Star Sea Realm was the culprit that had ejected them from the trial.
Why would this happen? Could it be that the trial had ended? Considering how they hadnât failed any of the tests yet, there was no reason for them to be expelled from the trial.
The starlight spirit formation gate dissipated. It looked like everything had ended just like that.
âIt looks like you have failed,â Chaotic Era Scholar said.
âElder Chaotic Era Scholar, we didnât fail! That fellow obtained the palaceâs treasure!â Jie Tian pointed his finger at Chu Feng as he spoke.
âOh?â Chaotic Era Scholar looked at Chu Feng.
âElder, what I encountered is not a treasure but a threat!â Chu Feng quickly informed Chaotic Era Scholar about everything that had happened, including the powerful sealing formation he had seen and the red-haired womanâs association with the humongous sealed monster.
He knew that the red-haired woman was a formidable individual, and it was likely that she could bring him significant benefits in the future even though she was in a terribly weakened state. Under normal circumstances, he would have withheld this information from Chaotic Era Scholar.
However, Chaotic Era Scholarâs capabilities were at a whole new level; Chu Feng didnât think that he would be able to deceive him. Thus, he honestly confessed to everything. After all, his greatest priority right now was self-preservation.
âLet me take a look.â
Chaotic Era Scholar placed his palm on Chu Fengâs head, and the latter felt as if someone was looking right inside of him as if he was lying bare. Even his dantian was fully exposed as well.
Chu Feng was taken aback. He had known that Chaotic Era Scholar was a formidable expert, but he didnât think that the latter would be this powerful. He couldnât help but think that the latter was more like a god rather than a mortal.
He was relieved that he didnât try to deceive Chaotic Era Scholar, or else the consequences would have been dire.
Moments later, Chaotic Era Scholar retracted his palm and fell into deep thought. He pondered for a moment before eventually making up his mind. He first clenched his right fist tightly before slowly opening them up.
Boom!
A bundle of spirit power appeared in his palm. It was small, but the world shook in its presence. Even cultivators of Chu Feng and Little Fishyâs caliber struggled to keep their balance. It felt like the bundle of spirit power harnessed sufficient power to destroy worlds.
âWhat are you planning to do?â Little Fishy anxiously asked.
She wanted to charge to Chu Fengâs side, but she found that she couldnât move at all.
Chaotic Era Scholar continued staring at Chu Feng before suddenly bursting into laughter. Then, he thrust his palm toward the palace.
Boom!
Countless chains flew forth from his palm to surround the gigantic palace. Tremendous starlight energy gushed out from the palace in retaliation, but Chaotic Era Scholarâs chains were far too powerful for the starlight energy to oppose.
Eventually, the starlight energy succumbed, and the palace was completely shackled by the chains.
The world shook even more intensely.
Chu Feng and Little Fishy lost their balance and fell onto their bums, but their eyes remained fixated on the chain formation and the palace. The palace was on its last leg after having lost the protection of the starlight energy, and it quickly contracted till it was barely the size of a pea.
Chaotic Era Scholar waved his arm, and the pea-sized palace flew into his hand.
Cracks began appearing all over the Star Memorial Domain, including its sky. It looked like the world was going to be destroyed now that it had lost its core.
However, Chaotic Era Scholar paid no heed to the changes. He hurled his fist forth and shattered the space in front of him, but this was no simple punchâhe had created a spirit formation passageway.
Shoosh!
With a wave of his arm, Chaotic Era Scholar removed the restriction formations he had placed on Chu Feng and the others before sweeping Chu Feng and Little Fishy into the spirit formation passageway.
âTwo young friends, you have accomplished your mission. May we meet again,â Chaotic Era Scholar said with a smile as he gently pushed Chu Feng and Little Fishy into the spirit formation passageway.
By the time the two of them came out of the spirit formation passageway, they had returned to the real world. The spirit formation passageway that had transported them out of the Star Sea Realm closed and vanished without a trace.
âDid he spare us?â Little Fishy asked.
âThat seems to be the case,â Chu Feng replied with a nod.
âBig brother, what did he do to you earlier?â
âHe inspected my body to verify the authenticity of my words.â
âDid he discover the red-haired woman?â
âHe did.â
âDid he take the red-haired woman away with him?â
âHe didnât.â
âThatâs weird. He didnât even take the red-haired woman with him, but he sent us out without asking any further questions. Furthermore, what does he mean when he says that we have accomplished our mission?â Little Fishy was curious about the truth.
âI donât know.â Chu Feng shook his head. Moments later, he suddenly widened his eyes. âNo, Chaotic Era Scholar did something to me.â
Chu Feng noticed that Chaotic Era Scholar had left a message in his mind.