"Cat-cat, you stay here. I need to go out for a bit."
Chu Lingwei summoned her phantom cat and instructed it to remain in her cave dwelling, pretending to be her if anyone came looking.
"Weiwei, where are you going?" The phantom cat was startled, sensing a subtle difference in Chu Lingwei's gaze.
"I'm going to the Flower Sea. I'll be back soon." Chu Lingwei then set up several formations around their cave dwelling. "Don't worry, if you stay here, no one should find you."
Having bid farewell to everyone today, Chu Lingwei believed no one would seek her out.
"Alright, Weiwei, you must come back early." The phantom cat thought of their senior brother Leng Xingzhi's face and swallowed. If he found out Weiwei had gone to the Flower Sea, he would be furious.
Chu Lingwei nodded, utilizing spatial energy to conceal her presence and left Mount Wuhui.
On the peak of Mount Wuhui, Leng Xingzhi stood beneath the moonlight, watching Chu Lingwei's departing figure with unwavering eyes. His white robes fluttered freely in the wind.
The Flower Sea.
Qing Yue smiled as Chu Lingwei appeared before her. "I've been waiting for you for a long time. I thought you wouldn't come."
"Senior Qing Yue, since you guessed I would come, you must know why I'm here, right?" Chu Lingwei hesitated. In the end, she had appeared here, her heart already holding the answer.
"Tell me, if your master knew you secretly came to find me, would he punish you?" Qing Yue countered with a question, chuckling at the thought of Bei Chenfeng's angry expression. "It seems he's taken on a very opinionated little disciple."
Chu Lingwei's heart stirred. As expected, her master and Qing Yue were not just old acquaintances, but they also shared a secret.
"Please, Senior Qing Yue, enlighten me."
Qing Yue had given her this token, hoping she would appear here. She would certainly not disappoint.
"Do you truly wish to know?" Qing Yue stared at Chu Lingwei, who was much smarter than she had imagined and had her own thoughts. Kuai Shuge
"Yes, I want to know."
Chu Lingwei nodded forcefully. She wanted to know why her senior brother and master had made her participate in the Hundred Year Grand Competition, only to suddenly change their minds. The problem must lie in the Spirit Domain after the competition.
"Alas."
Qing Yue sighed and turned, "On the Xuan Tian Continent, no one has been able to break through the final barrier of spiritual cultivation for tens of thousands of years."
"Can the Spirit Domain help great powers at the Dominator realm break through the final barrier?"
Chu Lingwei felt this was rather unreliable.
"You don't believe it?" Chu Lingwei's voice carried doubt.
"I don't think anything can allow a Dominator realm great power to break through the final shackles. Isn't spiritual cultivation, in essence, cultivating one's own heart?"
Chu Lingwei was merely speaking at random, hoping to prompt Qing Yue to reveal more.
Qing Yue smiled. "Perhaps."
"Senior Qing Yue, disciple wishes to know, what exactly is in the Spirit Domain?" Chu Lingwei stepped forward and bowed. She couldn't stay outside for too long; her master would surely discover she had left Mount Wuhui.
"There is something that can change your destiny." Qing Yue's gaze became wistful, a sarcastic smile playing on her lips. "There is something that can drive everyone mad and fill them with fear."
Chu Lingwei's heart leaped. What could it be?
"Chu Lingwei, if I were you, I wouldn't participate in the Hundred Year Grand Competition. Perhaps, you won't be able to enter the Spirit Domain." Just as Chu Lingwei was puzzled, Qing Yue suddenly turned, her eyes locking onto Chu Lingwei's, as if a voice pierced her heart, forcing her to repeat this phrase incessantly.
"Weiwei, be careful! She's casting a curse on you."
Feng Ming, sensing Qing Yue's ill intentions, quickly warned her.
Chu Lingwei snapped back to awareness, took a step back, and looked at Qing Yue warily. "If Senior doesn't want this disciple to participate, you could have simply said so. There's no need for this."
Qing Yue felt her curse being broken and looked at Chu Lingwei in surprise. "You can sense my curse?"
"Senior, disciple has other matters. Farewell."
Chu Lingwei regretted coming. She bowed to Qing Yue and turned to leave.
Qing Yue did not stop her. Watching Chu Lingwei depart, she sighed softly. Some things were not meant to be prevented by them.
Upon returning to her cave dwelling, no one had come looking.
"Weiwei, did you find anything?"
The phantom cat hurried forward as soon as he saw Chu Lingwei return.
"No discoveries. We were almost fooled by her." Feng Ming leaped out of the spatial realm, seething with anger. "I didn't expect that Qing Yue wasn't a good person either."
"What do you mean?" The phantom cat was confused. Qing Yue had no ill will towards his mistress.
"She doesn't want me to participate in the Hundred Year Grand Competition. More precisely, she doesn't want me to enter the Spirit Domain." Chu Lingwei looked at the token in her hand, which emanated a faint floral scent that was refreshing.
"Why?"
Chu Lingwei shook her head. Her divine consciousness entered the spatial realm, where Yu Qinghong was sitting by a waterfall, fishing.
"Weiwei, you're back?" Yu Qinghong saw Chu Lingwei enter but did not put down his fishing rod, his eyes fixed on the water.
"Grandpa Yu, do you know about the Spirit Domain?"
Upon hearing Chu Lingwei's question, Yu Qinghong's gaze darkened, and he sighed. "Weiwei, you don't actually have to go."
"So, it's not a good place after all?"
Everyone told her not to go, implying it wouldn't bring her any benefits. Yet, it seemed she had no choice but to go.
"All I know is that those who have entered the Spirit Domain die from various causes within fifty years." Yu Qinghong had lived in the Thin Sea Forest for a long time, and being long-lived, he often heard about matters on the Xuan Tian Continent.
"Why did they die?" Chu Lingwei was full of questions. It seemed her senior brother had once told her he would protect her. "Were they all killed?"
Yu Qinghong nodded. "That's right, they were all killed by others."
"Therefore, no one knows if those who enter the Spirit Domain can truly achieve the Great Dao." Yu Qinghong let out a sarcastic laugh. Everyone on the Xuan Tian Continent knew that the Spirit Domain could rapidly enhance one's cultivation. If one could enter, their cultivation might advance by three levels.
Who wouldn't want their cultivation to advance rapidly? Thus, everyone yearned to enter the Spirit Domain and would fight for it with all their might.
"Grandpa Yu, you mean, some people desire the things within the Spirit Domain, but they cannot enter, so they can only target those who do?"
Chu Lingwei's thoughts stirred. Those people might not truly desire the Spirit Domain itself, but rather the cultivation of the cultivators who entered it, or the spiritual energy they obtained within.
"Yes, that should be the case." Yu Qinghong nodded. "During every Hundred Year Grand Competition, the old monsters who haven't left their seclusion emerge. What do you think they are after?"