"There's no other way. Here, I only trust you."
Wuming said this without politeness, as if it were natural.
"Do you know me from before?" Chu Lingwei's confusion grew. This man must be strange. He must know her, or know her very well.
"I've been following you since you entered the Spirit Realm. I like your abilities very much."
Chu Lingwei, "..." To stalk someone and say it so directly. Such people are rare in this world.
"Fellow Daoist Wuming, has anyone ever told you that you're generally unlikeable?"
Wuming's body stiffened, and his expression instantly turned dark. The temperature around him dropped several degrees.
Chu Lingwei sensed Wuming's oddity and a smile touched her lips. As long as he was unhappy, she would be happy.
An hour later, Chu Lingwei felt her spiritual energy return. She immediately summoned her flying artifact and brought Wuming with her.
"We must be extremely careful here. The spirit beasts here are very powerful."
Wuming spoke, staring in the direction ahead. He had already sensed an aura charging towards them.
"It's here."
Chu Lingwei summoned her Ice Jade Frost Sword, preparing for battle.
The approaching aura grew stronger. Chu Lingwei's entire focus was on the impending spirit beast, and she didn't notice that after she drew her Ice Jade Frost Sword, the curved blade beside Wuming moved slightly.
Wuming held the blade in his hand gently, as if nothing had happened.
A rabbit.
Chu Lingwei looked at the spirit beast that could block their entire passage. To prevent this rabbit from crushing Wuming, she charged forward.
"Fellow Daoist Chu, be careful. You are no match for it."
Wuming's voice came from behind. Chu Lingwei's expression froze. She really wanted to shut this man up; he was too unlikeable.
Chu Lingwei unleashed her Profound Sky Blazing Fire, her ever-increasing spiritual energy striking directly at the spirit rabbit's forehead.
The spirit rabbit was sent flying with one blow, and the entire cave immediately brightened.
"Fellow Daoist Wuming, are you satisfied?" Chu Lingwei turned her head, looking at Wuming, who was calmly watching her fight.
"I certainly didn't choose the wrong person. Fellow Daoist Chu is indeed the most powerful cultivator among all those who entered the Spirit Realm."
"Let's go."
Chu Lingwei snorted inwardly. Was this truly the reason he brought her here?
Thinking of the spiritual energy within his curved blade, she knew that even without her, he could have left here with ease.
Two hours later, the two appeared at the exit of a cave.
"This shouldn't be an illusion anymore, right?"
Chu Lingwei looked at the familiar scene outside and her heart tightened. This was the cave entrance where she had entered the center of the Spirit Realm.
The trampled cultivator corpses outside were still there, looking utterly tragic.
"No, this is the Spirit Realm."
Wuming stepped out of the cave and cupped his fists towards Chu Lingwei. "Fellow Daoist Chu, thank you for your assistance today. I will repay you in the future."
After saying this, Wuming instantly vanished before Chu Lingwei.
"Wuming."
Chu Lingwei watched him disappear with her own eyes, feeling annoyed. Had she been used and then discarded?
"Weiwei, what happened to you just now? Why were we suddenly unable to contact you?"
Feng Ming emerged from the spatial dimension and immediately asked Chu Lingwei. It was Chu Lingwei who had blocked their connection to her. But in the end, the space seemed to be sealed by something.
"No spiritual energy."
Chu Lingwei brought Feng Ming and Huan Mao onto her flying artifact. She didn't know if the spirit beasts were still nearby. Leaving here was the safest option.
"Weiwei, what happened just now? Were you in danger?" Huan Mao looked at Chu Lingwei with concern. Her spiritual energy had been depleted by more than half.
"It's nothing, I just met a strange person."
Chu Lingwei shook her head. Wuming's identity made her too suspicious.
"What person? Why didn't we sense anyone around you?" Feng Ming jumped up. She hadn't sensed anyone near Weiwei.
"It was that cultivator who told me to go west."
Chu Lingwei thought of Wuming and urged her artifact, heading west again, towards the barrier.
"That's strange. This barrier seems to have been opened by someone." Huan Mao looked at the barrier, which appeared unchanged, and said uncertainly.
Chu Lingwei's expression changed drastically.
She had personally seen Wuming open this barrier in the center of the Spirit Realm and enter. However, that was in the deepest part of the Spirit Realm, not this place.
"I can be sure that this barrier was opened by someone." Huan Mao cast a spell towards the barrier and said with utmost seriousness, "Although I can't open this barrier, I remember what it looks like clearly."
"Could it be that the center of the Spirit Realm is connected to this place?" To be able to set up such a vast barrier, the power must be terrifying.
"Weiwei, what are you talking about?" Feng Ming tilted her head, looking at Chu Lingwei in confusion.
"It's nothing. We can't open this barrier, so let's try to continue west from somewhere else."
Chu Lingwei shook her head, got onto her flying artifact, and continued westward.
"Senior Sister."
Ye Xuan was fighting a fifth-tier Mountain-Piercing Mastiff when he saw Chu Lingwei flying overhead and couldn't help but call out loudly.
It was this slight distraction that caused the Mountain-Piercing Mastiff to heavily stomp on his chest.
Chu Lingwei had sensed Ye Xuan's aura long before she came this way. When she heard him cry out, she thrust her Ice Jade Frost Sword towards the Mountain-Piercing Mastiff.
A fifth-tier spirit beast posed no difficulty for Chu Lingwei. With just this one strike, the Mountain-Piercing Mastiff fell to the ground.
"Senior Sister, you're so amazing."
Ye Xuan's eyes were filled with admiration. When could he have Chu Lingwei's strength? That would be wonderful.
"This is a fifth-tier spirit beast?" Chu Lingwei jumped off her flying artifact and looked at the Mountain-Piercing Mastiff on the ground, which had lost all its aura. Since she had arrived in the Spirit Realm, she hadn't seen a spirit beast below seventh-tier here.
"Yes."
Ye Xuan nodded vigorously. "Senior Sister, although it's only a fifth-tier spirit beast, many parts of it are very useful. I'll help Senior Sister take them now."
This spirit beast was killed by Chu Lingwei, so its belongings rightfully belonged to her.
"How many fifth-tier spirit beasts have you seen here?" Chu Lingwei watched Ye Xuan nimbly begin to skin and dismember the spirit beast.
"I've seen two. This is the second one." Ye Xuan lowered his head, having already cut off the Mountain-Piercing Mastiff's four limbs. Its hooves were very hard and could be made into weapons.
A flicker of surprise crossed Chu Lingwei's eyes. "When did you see it?"
"Yesterday. I encountered a fifth-tier Spirit Eagle yesterday." Ye Xuan's eyes lit up as he spoke. That fifth-tier Spirit Eagle was now lying in his storage bag.