"Why would my mother come here?"
Chu Lingwei looked at the barrier before her, recalling the scenes that flashed through Fang Jingyi's mind. Her heart gradually settled.
"She is the saintess of the Phoenix clan and had no choice but to come here," Lan Xingyi said. He didn't want Chu Lingwei to know the plight of the Phoenix clan, as it would only add to her burden.
"Do they only have a month left to live?"
The patriarch of the Phoenix clan must have brought her here because there was no other way.
Lan Xingyi trembled heavily, despair flashing in his eyes. He nodded forcefully, "If this barrier cannot be opened within this month, those inside will transform into ethereal spirits and exist here forever."
As expected.
Chu Lingwei murmured to herself. If they didn't find a way to rescue those trapped inside, they might very well die.
"Weiwei, you don't have to worry. Even if... even if they perish here, as long as the Sacred Tree revives one day, you will still have a chance to see the people of the Phoenix clan."
Lan Xingyi didn't believe that a cultivator of the Rongtian Realm could break the barrier before them.
The most crucial point was that this barrier couldn't be forcibly broken; its core must be found to open it, otherwise, those inside would also perish.
"You are our Phoenix clan's saintess, and you will surely see them again in the future."
Chu Lingwei glanced at her uncle and remained silent. She reached out again, touching the barrier.
"Weiwei, hurry and leave."
At that moment, a sorrowful female voice echoed in Chu Lingwei's mind. The voice was filled with pain, despair, helplessness, and deep affection.
Chu Lingwei quickly withdrew her hand. She knew the owner of the voice was her birth mother.
She wanted her to leave.
"Weiwei, I will find a way to send you away." There was already one saintess inside. If Weiwei made a sound, the Phoenix clan would truly be ruined.
Therefore, nothing must happen to Chu Lingwei.
"There is still a month left, let's think of a way," Chu Lingwei shook her head, suppressing the tremor in her heart. Now was not the time for sadness; she had to find a way to break this barrier and rescue those inside.
"Weiwei..." Lan Xingyi sighed. He had been here for fifty years and hadn't found a way to save them. What way could Weiwei possibly have?
"Weiwei, let me try."
The illusory cat's eyes were already red. It hadn't expected Weiwei's relatives to suffer so much. It stepped forward, closed its eyes, and recited incantations, searching for a method to unravel this barrier.
"Why were they imprisoned here?" Chu Lingwei was utterly perplexed. Lan Xingyi had said that the Phoenix clan's patriarch had desperately sent them out of the Phoenix clan, so why were these people imprisoned here?
"Because of a curse," Lan Xingyi's eyes flashed with helplessness. "Our people are destined to never leave the Sacred Tree for generations. After being sent out by the patriarch, we were cursed by our ancestors, and eventually, we would die a painful death."
Chu Lingwei didn't understand this concept.
Ru Feng in the Spiritual Dragon Gorge had also said that they were cursed by the gods, which was why they stayed in the Spiritual Dragon Gorge every day.
Chu Lingwei left the Spiritual Dragon Gorge because Leng Xingzhi had taken her away. This further suggested that curses were merely a means. As long as one's strength was sufficient, they would not be trapped by any curse.
The Spiritual Dragon Gorge was like this, and Chu Lingwei believed the curse of the Phoenix clan was also the same.
"Let's first try to find a way to rescue them," Chu Lingwei watched the illusory cat continuously strike talismans into the barrier, but the barrier remained completely intact.
She clutched the bronze ancient sword in her hand. It could indeed break this barrier, but it would harm those inside.
This was truly a troublesome matter.
Suddenly, Chu Lingwei thought of a critical issue.
Lan Xingyi had been here for fifty years, which meant the people of the Phoenix clan had been here for a very long time. Her mother, Chu Yuexi, had only entered this barrier twenty-odd years ago.
"How did my mother enter the barrier?"
If it couldn't be broken from the outside, then a solution had to be found from the inside.
Lan Xingyi's face stiffened, and he instinctively objected, "Weiwei, you can't go in there! Once someone enters, there's no way to leave."
Seeing Lan Xingyi's reaction, it meant there was indeed a way to enter.
This made things easier.
Chu Lingwei wasn't in a hurry. They would first search for a solution from the outside. If all else failed, she would have to enter the barrier.
Chu Lingwei utilized her knowledge of formations, along with all her artifacts and talismans for breaking formations, but none of them could cause even the slightest change to the barrier.
If this continued, before the barrier was broken, those inside would die from the backlash.
Chu Lingwei and the others had to stop all their attempts.
"Uncle, I need to go in," Chu Lingwei turned around, expressing her resolve. She could sense that those inside could no longer wait.
"Weiwei, what did you call me?"
Lan Xingyi's eyes welled up upon hearing the term "Uncle." Chu Lingwei's refusal to change her address indicated that she didn't truly acknowledge his identity.
Now, by calling him this, it meant she had acknowledged his identity and accepted him.
"Uncle," Chu Lingwei called out again. Only people of the Phoenix clan could enter this barrier. If she could enter, then Lan Xingyi and the others hadn't lied to her.
"Yes."
Lan Xingyi nodded excitedly. His niece had finally acknowledged him.
"Uncle, I want to enter the barrier." They couldn't delay any longer. Every moment they wasted now could put those inside in danger.
"Weiwei, it's impossible."
Lan Xingyi immediately objected. He couldn't bear to watch his niece walk to her death.
"Uncle, can you just stand by and watch those inside perish?" Chu Lingwei retorted.
Lan Xingyi's expression faltered. He had been here for fifty years and knew the suffering those inside endured daily. Living like this was worse than dying.
They couldn't save them for the moment, and he didn't want Weiwei to sacrifice herself in vain.
"Uncle, tell me the method to enter. Perhaps the way to break the barrier is from within," Chu Lingwei's voice was stern. She had to enter the barrier now.
"Weiwei..." Lan Xingyi was unwilling.
Just then, the barrier's spiritual light flared, with spiritual energies of the five elements flickering incessantly.
"Weiwei, even your mother doesn't want you to go in." Lan Xingyi felt even more helpless. This was his sister refusing Chu Lingwei's entry.
"Uncle!"
Chu Lingwei's voice rose slightly. "Uncle, I have a way to protect myself. I can enter here; a barrier cannot trap me."
Chu Lingwei raised the bronze ancient sword in her hand. "This is a divine artifact that can break all barriers."
Lan Xingyi had seen this divine artifact when Chu Lingwei battled those spiritual beasts. If he hadn't stopped her, Weiwei might have already broken this barrier.
"If... if this barrier truly cannot be resolved and those inside cannot be saved, then I will use this to break it," Chu Lingwei's eyes were filled with coldness. She could do it if the goal was to remove the barrier and not save the people.