Accompanied by waves of piercing pain, the cloud-like mist churned and surged, pouring into Chu Feng's body like rolling tides. Massive amounts of information flooded into his mind, and through them, Chu Feng came to understand the true power of the Xuanwu Shield Armor Technique.
If the White Tiger's Assault Technique was the ultimate offensive method, then the Xuanwu Shield Armor Technique was the ultimate defensive one. Its methods of protection went far beyond merely forming an impenetrable shield.
If Chu Feng could master it completely, he could even conjure a disorienting fog that would confuse his opponent's mind and drive them to their death. Even if it couldn't kill outright, it could disrupt an enemy in battle and drastically reduce their combat effectiveness. That was what made the Xuanwu Shield Armor Technique so extraordinary.
At the same time, the deep and ancient voice of the Xuanwu Shield Armor Technique continued to echo in Chu Feng's ears: "Chu Feng, listen well. The treasure here is something ordinary people could never obtain, so there is no need to fear its secrets spreading—very few will ever be able to reach it. The guardians and the barriers here will keep most people far from that treasure."
"So do not be hasty or greedy. Without sufficient strength, do not rashly set foot in this place. If you wish to know why White Tiger and I chose you, then go and convince our other two old friends to willingly submit to you as well. When that time comes, the secret behind our choice will naturally be revealed… I hope we have not chosen the wrong person…"
The voice of the Xuanwu Shield Armor Technique grew fainter and fainter, until it faded away entirely. With its disappearance, the swirling mist before Chu Feng also vanished—and in its place, it left behind a riddle for him to solve on his own.
"So both the White Tiger's Assault Technique and the Xuanwu Shield Armor Technique chose me for some reason? Their other two old friends—that must be two more secret techniques. Sure enough, there's a secret technique hidden at every entrance?" Chu Feng stood in place, lost in thought.
"What other reason could there be? They clearly saw your potential. Otherwise, the White Tiger's Assault Technique and the secret technique hidden in the Azure Dragon Mountain Range wouldn't have chosen other masters before you came along."
"If you want to call it a secret, then maybe something incredible will happen when all four of them come together?" Eggy's sweet voice suddenly chimed in.
"Eggy, you're alright? That's wonderful." Chu Feng was overjoyed. The contract between them—which had been severed—had already been restored, and he could feel Eggy's presence once more.
"What could possibly be wrong with this queen? I was just temporarily cut off from the contract by that evil spirit from the Ghost Spirit World. But I'll say this—that evil spirit had some skill. Even an ordinary Heaven Martial realm cultivator probably wouldn't have been its match," Eggy said with a pout.
"So that evil spirit was from the Ghost Spirit World? No wonder it looked like a ghost—terrifying." Chu Feng looked as though a light had just gone on in his head.
"Stop spacing out and leave. This isn't a place you can explore. At least reach the Heaven Martial realm before you come back here," Eggy reminded him.
"Mm."
Chu Feng nodded. Behind that evil spirit lay something that even the Xuanwu Shield Armor Technique couldn't handle. Just thinking about it sent chills down his spine.
In any case, he now understood just how unfathomable the Emperor's Tomb truly was. It was far beyond anything he could explore at his current level—and not just him, but likely even the Jiang Dynasty lacked the qualifications.
*Hummm.* But after Chu Feng had walked only a short distance, he was startled to discover a city rising behind him. He looked more carefully—and it was none other than the Illusion Formation that he and the others had entered before.
"This Illusion Formation is still here? Could it be that it wasn't set up by the Xuanwu Shield Armor Technique?"
Chu Feng was somewhat shocked. Even though he had already passed the Illusion Formation's trial, seeing it again made his spine go cold. The formation was simply too terrifying.
"The Illusion Formation is formless by nature. Let's go. With it standing here, most people won't be able to get through—and even if they did, they'd never pass the trials beyond. I doubt anyone on this entire continent could ever get close to that treasure," Eggy said dismissively.
Chu Feng agreed with her reasoning. If just the outermost Illusion Formation and the evil spirit—which the Xuanwu Shield Armor Technique had described as a mere foot soldier—were already this powerful, he couldn't even imagine what the guardians deeper inside might be. Perhaps monsters capable of destroying everything on the Nine Provinces Continent?
But the very thought of a creature that could destroy the Nine Provinces Continent reminded Chu Feng that within his own spiritual world, there seemed to be a sealed monster. And according to Eggy, that monster was something capable of annihilating the entire continent.
Moreover, Eggy had once said that the sealed monster was nothing in her eyes. Chu Feng could tell from her tone that she wasn't boasting—she had once truly possessed power that put everything else to shame.
Yet even someone as formidable as Eggy, and a monster capable of destroying the Nine Provinces Continent, were both sealed within his spiritual world. That forced Chu Feng to wonder—just how powerful was the person who had done all of this? Was it his parents? A relative? Or someone else entirely?
"Father, Mother… are you still alive?" The question echoed in Chu Feng's heart. He wished nothing more than for his birth parents to still be alive. That was the truth he most wanted to learn.
Since he had already explored the area, Chu Feng could travel back without hesitation, and his speed increased dramatically. In just a few days, he reached the entrance.
On the way back, however, he came across numerous corpses of people from the Qilin Prince's Manor—all killed by the mechanisms within the cave world.
It was clear that after he had successfully opened the entrance, the Qilin Prince's Manor had sent a number of experts to explore the place. But unfortunately, lacking any knowledge of the World Spirit arts, no matter how high their cultivation, they couldn't even evade the simplest of mechanisms.
What puzzled Chu Feng most, though, was that when the news had spread, the master of the Qilin Prince's Manor—the Manor Lord himself—had not appeared. Ordinarily, once an entrance that could potentially hold limitless treasures was opened, even that Manor Lord would have been deeply tempted and would have arrived immediately to handle things personally. His absence seemed out of the ordinary.
But Chu Feng couldn't be bothered to dwell on it. Taking advantage of the guards' unpreparedness, he slipped away quietly. He was planning to leave Qingzhou, so before his departure, there were a few people he wanted to say goodbye to—and the first on his list were his family.
After traveling for some time, Chu Feng finally arrived at the city where Chu Guyu and the others were living in seclusion. As he entered the city, he couldn't help thinking about the six-segment martial arts technique that Li Changqing had given him. He wondered how happy Chu Guyu and the others would be when they saw it—perhaps they wouldn't be able to sleep for nights on end.
"Brother Chu Feng, you've finally shown up! We've been worried sick about you—"
But the moment Chu Feng stepped into the courtyard, Chu Yue came running toward him in a panic, her face filled with alarm. She threw her arms around him, and Chu Feng could feel her entire body trembling. She was already on the verge of tears.
Behind her, every member of the Chu Family wore a mixture of joy and worry, their faces still pale with lingering fear, as though Chu Feng had just returned from the gates of death.
"Sister Chu Yue, what's going on? I'm perfectly fine—nothing happened!" Chu Feng was bewildered by their reaction, and an inexplicable sense of unease began to settle in his heart.