"Where did they all go then?" The spirit beasts that could live here must be very powerful. Why were there none now?
"Dead."
Ru Feng's voice was very faint, as if he had returned to how he first spoke to her.
Chu Lingwei's heart sank. Something must have happened here, leading to the extinction of all the spirit beasts.
"Ru Feng, where are we going now?" Chu Lingwei followed Ru Feng, her feet treading on the thick ice layer. The cold from within the ice seeped into her body. If this continued, she would get hurt. Kai Shu Ge
"Aren't you going to catch the Nine-tailed Ice Fish?" Ru Feng turned around, his eyes filled with surprise. She had only caught a little, and now she was giving up?
"That's enough." Chu Lingwei shook her head. She couldn't catch all the Nine-tailed Ice Fish here, nor could she let them become extinct. That would be terrible.
Ru Feng stopped and looked back at Chu Lingwei. "Nine-tailed Ice Fish can help you improve your cultivation. Catch more, and your cultivation can increase rapidly."
For some reason, Chu Lingwei felt a little uneasy hearing Ru Feng's words.
"Ru Feng, how did your cultivation improve?" Chu Lingwei still hadn't figured out if Ru Feng was human or ghost, a spirit beast or a remnant soul, or how he used spiritual energy.
"Born with it." Ru Feng no longer wanted to deal with Chu Lingwei. He turned and flew into the air, like a startled bird spreading its wings to soar.
"Ru Feng."
Chu Lingwei called out, but received no response. Ru Feng's figure had long since disappeared from her sight.
He had actually left.
Chu Lingwei summoned her flying artifact and quickly rode it in the direction she came from. She had to find a way to leave this place.
She arrived at the spot where she had fallen. This area was already covered by a thick glacier, and the hole she had broken was still there.
Chu Lingwei quickly retraced her steps and soon arrived at the place where she had emerged from her spatial artifact.
She channeled spiritual energy upwards again. Ru Feng had said there was a barrier here, but she hadn't sensed it. Perhaps this barrier was only meant to trap Ru Feng.
Chu Lingwei dared not delay and quickly ascended.
When she felt she was halfway up, she was blocked by a soft, yielding membrane.
Chu Lingwei reached out to poke the membrane. It was very soft. When a stream of spiritual energy hit it, it dissipated like water meeting fire, instantly turning into mist and vanishing.
Uh...
What was going on? She hadn't encountered this barrier when she came down.
Chu Lingwei refused to believe it. She took out her Nine Phoenix Cry Fan, infused it with spiritual energy, and swung it forcefully at the barrier.
The glaciers surrounding them were stirred by this immense spiritual energy, and they fell towards the barrier.
Chu Lingwei watched as the glaciers passed through the barrier and flew into the sky.
The spiritual energy from the Nine Phoenix Cry Fan, in contact with the barrier, just like her own spiritual energy hitting the barrier, slowly disappeared.
Chu Lingwei's eyes widened. She could hardly believe that her Nine Phoenix Cry Fan, a divine artifact, could not break this barrier.
And the glaciers that had been struck and sent upwards were rapidly falling back towards her.
Not good.
Chu Lingwei turned and quickly retreated. Where Ru Feng was, she dared not use her spatial artifact carelessly. She could only rely on her speed to escape.
At this moment, Chu Lingwei felt her waist being embraced, and her vision brightened. She was already a hundred meters away from the glaciers.
"I told you, there's a barrier here, and you can't get out." Ru Feng looked at Chu Lingwei. If he hadn't appeared in time, she might have been crushed by the glaciers.
"But I didn't see any barrier when I came in." Chu Lingwei racked her brain, but couldn't figure out how she had entered this place.
Ru Feng was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "Perhaps it's because you were always meant to be here."
"What did you say?" Chu Lingwei hadn't heard Ru Feng clearly.
"Perhaps you are the destined one of this place." Ru Feng said this time, word by word, so that she wouldn't miss a single one.
"What does this mean?" Chu Lingwei murmured. She understood the meaning of "destined one," but she didn't understand her connection to this place.
Ru Feng said no more. He turned and walked to the riverbank, gazing at the clear water, silent.
"Ru Feng, what do you mean by that? Can you explain it to me?" Chu Lingwei walked to Ru Feng's side. To leave this place, she had to figure out how to get out.
"You will understand in the future."
Chu Lingwei took a deep breath. This meant he wasn't going to tell her for now.
"Is there really no way to open this barrier?" Chu Lingwei sat down on the ground and looked up. She saw a white barrier above their heads, flickering.
"I don't know." If she knew, she believed she wouldn't still be here.
"Do you want to get out?" A person who had been here for a thousand years must really want to leave, right?
Ru Feng tilted his head and looked at Chu Lingwei's unparalleled beauty. He didn't understand beauty or ugliness, only that the current Chu Lingwei made it impossible for him to look away.
"Do you want to get out?"
For some reason, Ru Feng asked this question.
"Of course I do." Chu Lingwei said without hesitation. She absolutely had to get out.
"Unfortunately, there is simply no way to leave here." Ru Feng's voice was like a gust of wind, slowly penetrating the barrier and reaching the outside.
"I don't believe it. As long as we find a way to open that barrier, we can definitely get out."
No matter how powerful the barrier was, it was set by a cultivator, so there must be a way to break it.
Chu Lingwei stood up and rode her flying artifact to the barrier, beginning to study the runes on it.
For three consecutive days, Chu Lingwei finally found some clues.
"Ru Feng, I've discovered a serious problem." Chu Lingwei came before Ru Feng and, before he could speak, said directly, "I've discovered that this barrier seems to be constantly changing."
It seemed that the runes on it changed every so often, forming a new barrier. Those who wanted to break this barrier had to break it anew.
If that were the case, how powerful would a formation master have to be?
"Yes, the barrier here changes with the changes in the Spiritual Dragon Gorge. It changes even with a gust of wind," Ru Feng opened his eyes. "Even if you cultivated for a thousand years, you wouldn't be able to open this barrier."
"A thousand years? I wouldn't be able to live that long." Chu Lingwei shook her head. With her current cultivation, she couldn't possibly cultivate for a thousand years.
Chu Lingwei now harbored doubts about the Life-Giving Water and dared not use it carelessly.
"If you stay here, you can definitely live for a thousand years," Ru Feng said seriously.