"I can't sense the aura of those cultivators ahead anymore," Chu Lingwei stopped, their auras had been faintly discernible moments ago, but now they seemed to have vanished.
"There are spirit beasts ahead. They must have encountered an attack," the male cultivator replied unhurriedly.
Chu Lingwei, "..."
"Can we handle them?" Those cultivators were all very powerful. Chu Lingwei hadn't been able to defeat any of them.
"You can't," the male cultivator chuckled softly. "Sorry, I forgot your cultivation is not high enough."
Chu Lingwei's expression darkened. She suddenly had a feeling that this male cultivator was doing this on purpose.
"What do we do now?" Chu Lingwei threw the question to the male cultivator. She realized she still didn't know his name. "May I ask your esteemed name, fellow Daoist?"
The male cultivator remained silent for a long time. Seemingly unwilling to be impolite by not answering, he casually gave a name, "Wuming."
Wuming.
Chu Lingwei chuckled. It seemed he wasn't even willing to make up a name.
"Fellow Daoist Wuming, do you have a way to deal with the spirit beasts ahead? You know my cultivation is not high enough. Do you have the ability?" Chu Lingwei said coldly, her hand already gripping her sword. A powerful aura surged towards them.
"Please, Fellow Daoist Chu, step back."
Wuming quickly moved forward, blocking the spirit beast charging towards them. It was a bat about the size of an adult's palm.
"Is this actually a bat's nest?"
Chu Lingwei hadn't forgotten that she had been attacked by a swarm of bats when she first arrived here.
"No." Wuming's body moved like a swift swallow, intertwining with the bat.
This was a seventh-tier bat, moving with incredible speed, like streaks of lightning, darting back and forth.
Chu Lingwei retreated a few steps, casting a barrier around herself. This bat was too fast; she was definitely no match for it.
Wuming had not been wrong.
"Fellow Daoist Wuming, we need to hurry." The interrupted cultivators' auras reappeared. Chu Lingwei wanted to pursue them and see what they had encountered. She urged him on.
Wuming's expression darkened. He also wanted to finish off this little creature quickly.
"Swish."
With a light wave of his right hand, Wuming cut the bat in half and turned around. "Let's go."
Chu Lingwei gasped at the sight. This male cultivator's strength was simply too formidable. A seventh-tier spirit beast had been cleaved in two by his single strike.
"Didn't you tell me to hurry? Why are you standing here?" Wuming saw Chu Lingwei staring at the bat on the ground with a complex expression. "You can't take anything out of here."
"What do you mean?"
Chu Lingwei followed Wuming's steps. The path here only allowed two people to walk side by side; flying artifacts could not be used.
"You don't understand such a simple matter?" Wuming chuckled softly, his expression teasing. "Fellow Daoist Chu, feel free to ask whatever you want to know. There's no need to beat around the bush."
"Fellow Daoist Wuming, if we don't hurry, the people ahead will disappear." Chu Lingwei glared at him irritably. They weren't familiar at all, so why did she feel a sense of déjà vu?
This feeling was too strange, so Chu Lingwei suppressed it.
"Thank you for the reminder." Wuming sped up, then slowed down, his expression solemn. "Fellow Daoist Chu, there are two paths now. One is, you can follow them and leave here with them."
Chu Lingwei looked at the male cultivator in surprise. "The other is to go somewhere else with you?"
"Yes, I am seriously injured now and need someone to help me." Wuming said it as if it were the most natural thing. "However, I won't force you, Fellow Daoist Chu. If you don't want to, you can catch up to the cultivators ahead, and they will take you out of here."
"Alright, I'll leave with them."
Chu Lingwei thought for a moment and nodded.
Wuming's eyes flickered. He had thought Chu Lingwei would choose to accompany him.
"Fellow Daoist Wuming, I'll go ahead." Chu Lingwei was inwardly amused. This Wuming must have made up his mind to have her travel with him, but why should she fulfill his wish?
He had saved her life once, and she had just saved his life. They were even.
"Fellow Daoist Chu, have you really thought it through?" Wuming smiled silently, his gaze towards Chu Lingwei devoid of anger, only endless amusement.
He was very satisfied with Chu Lingwei's decision.
"Yes, I've thought it through. I still have many things to do, so I can't accompany you on this journey." Chu Lingwei nodded with certainty. This male cultivator gave her a sense of dissonance. It wasn't that she felt he was dangerous, but rather a feeling that he could see through everything.
She disliked this feeling intensely, so she decided not to travel together.
"Unfortunately, they have already gone far. You can't catch up to them," Wuming smiled, his voice tinged with a hint of regret.
"You..." Chu Lingwei glared at the male cultivator before her. She suddenly found him utterly exasperating.
"They might not let you follow them, either. Perhaps if you catch up, they'll vent their anger on you," Wuming explained, his gaze softening.
"But you just told me to go with them."
Chu Lingwei chuckled. "So, you never intended for me to go with them. That choice just now was to test me."
Wuming coughed lightly. Test? He had never thought of testing anyone.
"Let's go. There are unknown secrets here, and I believe Fellow Daoist Chu will be very interested," Wuming ignored Chu Lingwei's words and strode forward.
"Who am I?" Chu Lingwei's demeanor turned cold as she stared at the person before her. It seemed every move she made was known to this person. "You've been following me all along."
"Since you cultivators entered here, everything is under the eyes of this place." Wuming did not deny it. "However, I can assure you that no one here will be aware of your whereabouts."
"What exactly is this place?" Chu Lingwei furrowed her brows, making her trust him even less. "What is your purpose?"
Chu Lingwei never believed in unsolicited kindness. All kindness had a purpose.
This person before her, ever since he saved her, must have had some kind of motive.
"I need to obtain something from inside." Wuming looked directly into Chu Lingwei's eyes. "You help me, and I'll help you find the secrets of the Spirit Domain."
"What thing?"
He had been here for five hundred years. The thing he wanted must not be simple.
"You'll know when you see it." Wuming grabbed Chu Lingwei's hand and jumped into a cave. Their bodies began to fall rapidly.