"Ah, I really can't bear to part with you," An Tao said to Chu Lingwei with a pitiful expression. Thinking that Chu Lingwei would definitely enter the top hundred and reach the Spiritual Domain, she felt even more dejected. "Just thinking that in a year's time, your cultivation will be so much higher than mine makes me incredibly sad."
"Who says? Perhaps I won't be able to come out," Chu Lingwei chuckled, not taking it so dramatically.
Hearing this, An Tao immediately sat up straight. "Weiwei, what are you saying? Don't talk nonsense."
"I'm just making a joke, don't take it seriously." Chu Lingwei patted An Tao's arm and comforted her, "Everyone's destiny is different, there's no need to force it. Not entering the Spiritual Domain isn't necessarily a bad thing."
An Tao nodded. Perhaps that was how it was.
"I understand. It's a pity we can't fight together." An Tao stepped forward and hugged Chu Lingwei. "You must make it to the top, enter the Spiritual Domain, and then come back to tell me what's inside."
"Okay, when I come out of the Spiritual Domain, I'll find you first." Chu Lingwei smiled.
That day, the two sat on a flying artifact, admiring the Buddha's Light Pagoda of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect. The area of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect was enveloped by the pagoda's radiance.
"The Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect truly lives up to its reputation. Just being here calms my heart uncontrollably," An Tao stared at the distant Buddha's Light Pagoda. It was said that the pagoda could purify one's soul.
"Really?"
Chu Lingwei looked at the distant Buddha's Light Pagoda. Why did she feel nothing? It just looked prettier than other pagodas.
An Tao nodded vigorously and sighed, "Seeing this Buddha's Light Pagoda, my heart feels much calmer."
"You've come to understand it yourself." Chu Lingwei was amused by An Tao's words. That reason of hers was truly…
"Perhaps the Buddha's light from this pagoda has had an effect." An Tao was certain. If it were in the past, she would have argued with her master and run away from home.
But now, she actually felt that her master meant well for her and wouldn't harm her.
"Alright, if you want to think that way, then so be it." As long as she could figure things out, she could say whatever she pleased.
Outside the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect.
Chu Lingwei and An Tao stood facing each other.
"Weiwei, I should be leaving early tomorrow morning. Wait for me to come out of the Spiritual Domain to find me," An Tao said, looking at Chu Lingwei with a hint of reluctance.
"Cultivate well. I hope when we meet again, your cultivation will have improved further." Chu Lingwei nodded. An Tao was one of her few friends in this world. They were comfortable together, and she had long considered her a friend.
"Don't worry, I'll cultivate diligently and won't let you surpass me too much."
An Tao smiled. She believed that even if she didn't enter the Spiritual Domain, she could still reach the Three-Day Realm.
"Goodbye."
An Tao stepped onto her flying sword and waved at Chu Lingwei in the wind, disappearing quickly as a streak of rainbow light.
Watching An Tao leave, Chu Lingwei's heart fluttered slightly, causing her brows to furrow.
"Weiwei, what's wrong?" Feng Ming, who was in the spatial dimension, sensed Chu Lingwei's abnormality and quickly sent a telepathic message.
"I don't know. I just felt a momentary panic, but it's gone now." Chu Lingwei got onto her artifact and returned to her residence, where her senior brothers were nowhere to be seen.
"Weiwei, what was that just now?"
Entering her courtyard, Feng Ming eagerly jumped out and hopped around Chu Lingwei.
"Nothing's wrong." Chu Lingwei found it amusing. It was just a fleeting moment of panic that vanished as quickly as it came, leaving no lasting effect.
Feng Ming tilted his head, thought for a long moment, and then slowly said, "Weiwei, we cultivators sometimes have a subtle premonition about certain things."
Chu Lingwei's heart skipped a beat. She dreaded this very possibility. She clearly knew that she had felt that way while watching An Tao.
Could something happen to An Tao?
Chu Lingwei quickly took out her communication artifact and sent a message to An Tao, asking when she was leaving, as she wanted to see her off.
Within two breaths, An Tao replied, telling her she would be using a teleportation array to return at noon tomorrow.
Every city had teleportation arrays, greatly facilitating long journeys and avoiding danger.
After agreeing on the time, Chu Lingwei returned to her room to cultivate.
When the agreed-upon time arrived, Chu Lingwei left her room.
"Junior sister, where are you going?" Nangong Luo blocked Chu Lingwei's path. "Tomorrow is the first day of the grand competition. Shouldn't junior sister be in her room cultivating diligently?"
"Second senior brother, An Tao is leaving today, and I want to see her off. I'll be back soon." Nangong Luo knew the An Tao Chu Lingwei was referring to; they had been together for the past few days.
"She's leaving now?" Nangong Luo raised an eyebrow, a fleeting glint in his eyes that Chu Lingwei didn't even sense. "Wasn't she here for the Hundred Year Grand Competition?"
Chu Lingwei sighed. "Yesterday, she received a message from her master asking her to return to the sect immediately, so she had to give up the competition."
Nangong Luo looked at the sky. The sun had reached its zenith. "Junior sister, must you go?"
Chu Lingwei was surprised. She was only seeing someone off, why did she see a hint of seriousness on her second senior brother's face? A bad premonition struck her.
"Second senior brother, An Tao is my friend, and I want to see her off."
"Alright, second senior brother will accompany you." Nangong Luo pondered. Unable to stop junior sister from going out, he could only go with her.
"Okay." Chu Lingwei became even more bewildered. Perhaps An Tao was really going to encounter danger.
The two stood on their artifact, quickly heading towards the direction of the Ten Thousand Buddhas Sect's teleportation array.
Chu Lingwei watched the rapidly passing cultivators, her unease growing. She looked up at the sun directly overhead, her eyes seeming to be momentarily blinded. "Second senior brother, why does the sun feel so hot today?"
It was hot, a scorching heat that felt like a spark burning the skin.
Even the air felt scorching.
"Oh, let me see." Nangong Luo raised his hand, gently drawing a gesture in the air, and then said thoughtfully, "It does seem so."
"Why is that?" There had to be a reason for everything. Today's abnormality must have a cause.
"Perhaps it has something to do with the Spiritual Domain. There are always anomalies when the Spiritual Domain opens." Nangong Luo stared into the distance, a faint hint of worry in his eyes.
Chu Lingwei stood behind Nangong Luo and did not see the worry in his eyes, murmuring to herself, "Is it really like that?"