"My spiritual sword."
Chu Lingwei tried to recall her spiritual sword. She could feel its struggle, and after much hesitation, it decisively left.
"What's going on?" Nangong Luo wanted to stand up and help his junior sister retrieve her spiritual sword. The moment he rose, he was knocked down again by a surge of spiritual energy.
Chu Lingwei could sense the subtle emotions of her spiritual sword. It was anxious, as if something extremely important had happened.
This sword was a gift from their senior brother.
Chu Lingwei knew that her senior brother possessed a sword identical to hers; the two swords were a pair.
Since her spiritual sword had been summoned, the reason for the spiritual energy gathering in the Cangshan Secret Realm must be their senior brother.
Chu Lingwei gasped. She wanted to help but was completely helpless.
A quarter of an hour later, the restraints on them disappeared.
Chu Lingwei immediately stood up, summoned her divine-grade flying artifact, and flew towards where the spiritual sword had gone.
"Junior sister, where are you going?"
Nangong Luo and Su Yan were both injured and hadn't reacted yet when their junior sister had already vanished.
They exchanged a look and quickly followed.
Chu Lingwei urged her flying artifact to its fastest speed, arriving above a deep abyss.
Could senior brother be here?
Chu Lingwei summoned her Ice Jade Frost Sword. She felt a connection from her soul; it was likely beneath the abyss.
She rode her flying artifact, descending into the abyss.
"Senior brother."
A quarter of an hour later, Chu Lingwei's first sight was Leng Xingzhi lying on the ground, his white robes stained crimson with blood.
Senior brother's spiritual sword and her own lay beside him. Chu Lingwei tried to recall her spiritual sword, but it showed no reaction. She could only sense its urgency conveyed to her.
Chu Lingwei helped Leng Xingzhi up, fed him a Spirit Condensation Bead, and then gave him a ten-thousand-year-old Blood Ginseng. She brought him onto her divine-grade flying artifact, collected both spiritual swords, and left the abyss with him.
"Senior brother, can you hear me?" Senior brother was severely injured. Chu Lingwei continuously used Spirit Condensation Beads to nourish his body and treat his external wounds.
"Senior brother?"
Sitting in front of Leng Xingzhi, no matter how she called out to him, she received no response.
Helpless, Chu Lingwei took Leng Xingzhi back to the place where she had rested with their second senior brother. However, upon their return, they were nowhere to be found.
They must have gone looking for her.
Chu Lingwei looked at her senior brother, confident that their second and third senior brothers would be safe together.
She found a safe cave, set up a barrier, and began tending to senior brother's injuries.
Three full days passed before Leng Xingzhi slowly opened his eyes.
Sensing senior brother was about to wake, Chu Lingwei was overjoyed and hurried to his side.
The instant Leng Xingzhi opened his eyes, two beams of golden light shot out, nearly injuring her.
"Senior brother?"
These were clearly not the eyes of a cultivator.
"Weiwei?" Leng Xingzhi heard Chu Lingwei's voice and immediately became alert. Seeing her looking at him with a complex gaze, he slowly sat up, a bitter smile in his eyes. "Weiwei, did you bring me here?"
"Yes, you were severely injured." Chu Lingwei stepped forward, supported his body, and took out elixirs for him to consume.
"Thank you, Weiwei." Leng Xingzhi's gaze was gentle. He reached out and pulled Chu Lingwei into his embrace. "I knew you would find me, Weiwei."
Leng Xingzhi let out a soft laugh, so quiet it made Chu Lingwei reluctant to pull away.
"Senior brother, have you broken through?" After a long while, Chu Lingwei released Leng Xingzhi. He was still at the Huatian Realm.
"Yes, I have broken through a seal."
Leng Xingzhi extended his hand. His right palm began to glow with a golden light. Within this light, there were golden runes, runes Chu Lingwei had never seen before.
"Seal?" Chu Lingwei murmured to herself.
"My parents, in order to survive, placed eighty seals upon me. Only by unlocking all these seals can I recover my true strength."
Leng Xingzhi used his rune-covered hand to hold Chu Lingwei's.
The golden runes seemed to have a life of their own. They flowed along Chu Lingwei's hand, entered her body, then flowed out of her body and into her sea of consciousness, where they merged with her soul.
These runes could actually repair her soul.
"Senior brother, stop quickly." Realizing Leng Xingzhi was mending her soul, Chu Lingwei immediately let go.
"It's fine. They won't repair my body." Leng Xingzhi shook his head and once again held Chu Lingwei's hand, continuing to mend her soul.
He only let go after Chu Lingwei's soul was fully repaired.
"Cough, cough, cough."
"Senior brother." Hearing senior brother's cough, Chu Lingwei's heart tightened. She reached for elixirs, but Leng Xingzhi stopped her. "Weiwei, these elixirs are useless to me now."
Chu Lingwei was stunned. So, these elixirs had no effect on him. No wonder feeding him so many Spirit Condensation Beads hadn't woken him up.
"My body can self-repair; I'll be well soon." Leng Xingzhi reached out and ruffled Chu Lingwei's hair. Seeing the worry in her eyes pained his heart.
"Senior brother, how many seals have you unlocked now?" Chu Lingwei put away the elixirs and looked into his eyes.
"Fifty-six."
Chu Lingwei gasped. Eighty seals in total, and only fifty-six were unlocked, with many yet to be opened.
"Will unlocking each seal from now on require the same amount of spiritual energy as that day?" The spiritual energy in the Cangshan Secret Realm converging in one place must be related to senior brother.
"It will only increase."
Leng Xingzhi sighed softly. His father and mother hadn't considered how much spiritual energy would be required to unlock these seals.
"So much." The spiritual energy in the Cangshan Secret Realm was already more potent than that on the Xuantian Continent. After unlocking just one seal, it had consumed more than half of the entire realm's spiritual energy.
One could imagine that to unlock the remaining seals, the spiritual energy required would only grow.
The spiritual energy of the entire Xuantian Continent might not be enough.
"What will happen to you if these seals cannot be unlocked?" Chu Lingwei asked cautiously.
"I will die."
If he could not unlock all the seals within a thousand years, he would die. No matter how much cultivation he had, his fate would be the same.
Hearing this, Chu Lingwei's heart ached. How could this be?
"Then what should we do now?" Chu Lingwei's voice trembled slightly. How could this happen?
"Don't worry, Weiwei. I don't want to die, and this won't happen." Leng Xingzhi smiled. He still had a thousand years, and he would not let such a thing occur.