"What artifact?"
The cultivator was slammed into the earth, and as he climbed out, his eyes gleamed, fixed on the purple bell. His gaze was filled with desire.
"Want it?" Chu Lingwei smiled as she saw the greed in his eyes, looking at the barrier around him. "Too bad you don't have the ability."
As Chu Lingwei finished speaking, a surge of spiritual energy struck his body again. Simultaneously, the formation around the cultivator was completed.
"How is this possible?"
The cultivator tried to counter Chu Lingwei's attack, but the spiritual energy he unleashed instantly vanished upon hitting the formation's barrier. His eyes widened in disbelief. How could a mere cultivator of the Rong Tian Realm be capable of setting up a formation that could trap him? It was simply impossible.
"Impossible?" Chu Lingwei chuckled. Suddenly, her eyes narrowed, and she turned her head to signal the phantom cat, "Catty."
"Ah!"
The cultivator felt the pressure within the formation steadily increasing, and panic began to set in. He finally looked at Chu Lingwei seriously. He had been careless. A Rong Tian Realm cultivator appearing here should have made him realize she was not simple.
"Well, do you believe it now?" Chu Lingwei walked up to the formation, watching him struggle within its confines.
"Quick, let me out of the formation!" the cultivator roared, fear beginning to dawn in his heart. He couldn't break this formation, and if Chu Lingwei didn't release him, he might be trapped here forever.
"You were going to kill me, and you think I would let you out?" Chu Lingwei found his words amusing. He was incredibly naive.
"You..." The cultivator was choked with anger, regretting not giving Chu Lingwei time to form the seals. But it was too late now.
"However, if you want me to let you out, it's not impossible," Chu Lingwei's tone shifted, and she smiled gently at the cultivator.
"What do you want me to do?"
The cultivator was intelligent. He knew what Chu Lingwei sought from him. His life was in her hands, and he would agree to anything she said.
"When were you thrown into this Dark Night Forest?" Chu Lingwei asked.
"Thirty years ago." The cultivator's heart darkened as he recalled his suffering in the Dark Night Forest. "A full thirty years, not a single day away."
"You never thought of leaving?" Chu Lingwei was surprised. With his cultivation, leaving the Dark Night Forest shouldn't be difficult.
"I tried. As soon as I approached the outer edges of the Dark Night Forest, an unknown force would send me to the most dangerous area." The cultivator gave a bitter laugh. He had almost lost his life trying, and after several experiments, he dared not try again.
If the cultivator wasn't lying, it meant there was a barrier at the edge of the Dark Night Forest. Other cultivators could enter and leave freely, but not those who were thrown in by that bird.
"In these past thirty years, has a female cultivator with the cultivation of Hua Tian Realm appeared here?" Chu Lingwei inquired about her mother's whereabouts.
"Female cultivators appear here frequently. In the past thirty years, I've seen no less than a hundred." The cultivator realized that Chu Lingwei had trapped him to search for someone.
"Have any female cultivators, like yourself, been thrown in here?"
There was no sign of his mother in Dark Night City. Now, only Dark Night Forest and Xiu Shui remained.
"No," the cultivator stated confidently. "Even if there were, they would have perished. No one can survive here indefinitely."
"Let's go."
Upon hearing this answer, Chu Lingwei summoned her flying artifact, leaped onto it with the phantom cat, and flew towards Xiu Shui. If she wasn't here, her mother must be in Xiu Shui.
"Hey, hurry up and let me out!" Seeing Chu Lingwei leave, the cultivator shouted at her. This female cultivator was truly detestable, daring to deceive him.
Chu Lingwei ignored him. Her formation would automatically disappear in an hour. Let him worry for now.
"Weiwei, do you believe him?"
"Our destination is Xiu Shui. Half of what he said is credible." Chu Lingwei didn't fully believe the cultivator's words, discerning truth from falsehood.
Ten days later.
Chu Lingwei appeared by the banks of the Xiu Shui River.
"This place looks like the Xiu Shui Shore we haven't entered," the phantom cat observed, its eyes filled with vigilance as it quickly searched for the formation's core. The two places were identical; one of them had to be an illusion.
Chu Lingwei and the phantom cat searched the surroundings, finding no immediate danger. Finally, her gaze settled on the surface of the Xiu Shui River. She sent a surge of spiritual energy towards the water. This time, unlike before, upon hitting the water, Chu Lingwei heard a faint cry of pain. The sound was extremely faint, weaker than a breeze, and if not for her superior divine sense, she might not have heard it.
"Someone is down there."
Chu Lingwei's expression tensed, and she hurried to the riverbank, determined to find a way down.
"Weiwei, this Xiu Shui can corrode your body," the phantom cat warned immediately as Chu Lingwei seemed inclined to jump into the river.
"Mm." Chu Lingwei nodded. She wasn't foolish enough to sacrifice herself to save someone. She summoned her ancient bronze sword, infused it with spiritual energy, and struck the river surface. The immense spiritual power split the water, creating a passage that one person could traverse. Chu Lingwei rejoiced. If she was fast enough, she could reach the riverbed.
"Weiwei, I can go in." The phantom cat leaped onto the lake's surface. "I'll help you get in."
"No need." Chu Lingwei waved her hand, directly collecting the phantom cat into her ring space. She then urged the ancient bronze sword forward, striking the riverbank again, and quickly leaped in herself.
The moment Chu Lingwei jumped into the river, a gigantic avian shadow flashed across the surface. Chu Lingwei plunged into the riverbed, her body continuously falling. At this point, the Xiu Shui was gone, and she felt as if she were in an abyss.
"Weiwei, I can protect you." The phantom cat's anxious voice came from the ring space. Weiwei would surely encounter danger alone.
Chu Lingwei landed safely and released the phantom cat.
"Weiwei, you can't send me into the space every time you encounter danger," the phantom cat's voice held a hint of displeasure. It could have fought alongside Chu Lingwei just now.
"The situation was urgent; I had no choice." Chu Lingwei looked around. "See if there's any formation or barrier here?"
Hearing Weiwei assign her a task, the phantom cat instantly forgot its minor dissatisfaction and began to examine the surrounding scenery.
A drop of Xiu Shui fell onto Chu Lingwei's body, landing on the back of her hand. It caused an intensely burning pain.
"Hiss." Chu Lingwei gasped, the Xiu Shui's potency evident.
"Weiwei, how are you?" The phantom cat, sensing Chu Lingwei's pain, immediately returned to her side.
Xiu Ling Academy.
"Ah!" Feng Ming, who was cultivating, suddenly opened his eyes, worry evident in his gaze. "Senior Brother, Weiwei is injured."