Having over a dozen spirit beasts of the sixth rank or higher in a frenzy indicated that it was not a place her Spirit Wheel realm could venture.
To investigate, she had to rely on spatial power.
Within the spatial domain, Chu Lingwei found a flying divine artifact and quickly flew towards the direction of the spiritual energy surge.
In less than two quarters of an hour, Chu Lingwei could go no further. A hundred miles away, a spirit mountain had already risen high, from which the spiritual energy was emanating.
Her flying artifact seemed to encounter an obstruction, being blocked directly outside.
There was a barrier here, sealing the spirit mountain within.
Unable to enter with the flying artifact, Chu Lingwei flew around the barrier, her spatial power enveloping her, ensuring no one would discover her.
"Roar!"
Here, besides the surge of spiritual energy, there were no other spirit beasts or human cultivators. Just as Chu Lingwei was about to return, a furious roar echoed from afar.
Chu Lingwei startled and quickly sped towards the direction of the sound.
Not far away, a man in black, wearing a silver mask and holding nothing in his hands, was fighting an eighth-rank Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin, half the size of a mountain.
"Human, leave quickly." The Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin's deep voice, as it looked at the tiny human cultivator before it, like an ant, almost made Chu Lingwei spit out a mouthful of blood.
Speaking human language, transformation was only a matter of time.
The Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin was an ancient spirit beast, long extinct on the Xuan Tian Continent.
She never expected to find an ancient spirit beast on the verge of transformation here. It seemed the spirit mountain was its doing.
"Heh." The man in black calmly stared at the Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin, "I'll give you a chance. Be my mount."
Chu Lingwei's eyes widened, her gaze fixed on the man in black. This person was too...
To actually ask an eighth-rank Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin on the verge of transformation to be his mount, this man was either insane or incredibly powerful.
A spirit beast on the verge of transformation was equivalent to a human cultivator at the Sovereign realm.
As far as Chu Lingwei knew, there was not a single human cultivator on the entire Xuan Tian Continent who had reached the Sovereign realm.
She truly couldn't imagine what courage this man had to utter such words.
Clearly, the man in black's words provoked the Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin, which snorted in displeasure, "Insolent human, spewing such arrogant words."
"Since you don't know how to cherish this opportunity, then don't blame me."
The man in black's voice remained calm, flowing like spring water as he spoke slowly.
As he finished speaking, the man in black flew into the air, spiritual energy slowly overflowing from his body.
"Seeking death."
The Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin also had its pride. Seeing this human cultivator dare to provoke it so openly and now intending to attack, it felt it would be letting itself down if it didn't teach him a lesson.
The Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin swung its massive paw, intending to crush the man.
Chu Lingwei's eyes widened. She was somewhat curious about the fate of someone who dared to ask an eighth-rank spirit beast to be his mount.
The Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin's paw struck towards the man, but stopped an inch away.
The thin lips hidden beneath the silver mask revealed a subtle smile. Chu Lingwei didn't see what the man did, but saw the Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin fly into the air.
Before it could land, the man in black soared upwards and struck at the Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin's eyes with his spiritual energy.
"Wait!"
The Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin was greatly alarmed. Why did this human cultivator's spiritual energy possess something that made it fearful, striking directly into its soul and making it want to prostrate itself?
"Too late!" The man in black's voice carried a cold sneer as his spiritual energy heavily struck the Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin, a large amount of blood flying everywhere like raindrops.
"What a pity."
Chu Lingwei couldn't help but exclaim. This was a spirit beast on the verge of transformation, dying just like that. It made her sigh.
For a spirit beast to cultivate to the point of transformation was even more difficult than for a human cultivator.
At Chu Lingwei's soft sigh, the man in black paused slightly, changing his move and landing in the open space. "From now on, you shall be my mount."
"Yes." The Crimson-Eyed Sky Qilin replied respectfully.
The battle concluded. Chu Lingwei immediately urged her flying artifact to leave. She never expected that the Heng Tian Secret Realm would have such powerful individuals and spirit beasts. It was best for her to leave sooner rather than later.
Once outside the range of the spirit mountain, Chu Lingwei breathed a sigh of relief, secretly feeling fortunate. Fortunately, her spatial power was effective, otherwise, she would have been discovered by those two terrifying beings.
Sitting on her flying artifact, Chu Lingwei examined the storage bags she had received from the Xuan Xin Sect disciples. Their spoils were more than she had imagined: spirit herbs, magical artifacts, and elixirs, all accounted for.
"It seems it's time to find Chu Xiyin." Chu Lingwei put away the storage bag. She had another purpose for coming to the Heng Tian Secret Realm, which was to seek revenge on Chu Xiyin.
"Wait." Just then, Chu Lingwei heard a faint voice reach her ears.
Chu Lingwei stopped and looked towards the source of the sound. She saw a severely injured man half-lying on the ground. Upon sensing Chu Lingwei's gaze, the man turned his head and looked at her. "Fellow cultivator, could you spare some elixirs?"
There was no humility in his plea for help, nor despair in his injury.
Chu Lingwei approached the man. He also wore no sect uniform, and his cultivation was at the mid-Spirit Wheel stage, consistent with the spiritual energy of the disciples who entered the secret realm.
However, his exceptionally cold and ethereal face caused Chu Lingwei to frown slightly. His appearance could rival that of the senior disciple. She didn't recall seeing this face among the disciples of the various sects.
His identity made her somewhat suspicious.
"Fellow cultivator, I was being chased by spirit beasts, and during the fight, my storage bag was lost. I wish to exchange this hairpin for some elixirs." Seeing that Chu Lingwei did not reply, the man took off a jade hairpin from his head and offered it to her. "This is a precious artifact, capable of transforming into any shape and withstanding three attacks from a cultivator of the Heaven Transformation realm."
Chu Lingwei examined the man's injuries. He was gravely wounded. If not treated promptly, he could lose his life.
Taking the jade hairpin, she retrieved some healing elixirs from her storage bag and handed them to him. "These elixirs will allow your injuries to heal quickly."
The man had offered her a precious artifact, so Chu Lingwei was not stingy. After giving him sufficient elixirs, she found some ordinary magical artifacts from He Zhengxuan's storage bag. "These two magical artifacts can protect you."
With that said, Chu Lingwei turned to leave.
Such a handsome man; if she had met him before, she would definitely remember.
"Fellow cultivator." The man quickly consumed a healing elixir, watching his wounds gradually mend. He called out to Chu Lingwei, "Are you also here to seek treasures?"
"What do you mean?"
Chu Lingwei stopped in surprise. Entering a secret realm, weren't they all seeking treasures?
"When the Heng Tian Secret Realm opened this time, it was rumored that a great treasure would appear." The man ate the elixir, regaining some strength, and sat up. "However, it is very dangerous. Fellow cultivator, please be careful."