"Stop immediately."
The female cultivator’s expression turned grave. She hadn’t expected Chu Lingwei to act so swiftly, giving her no chance to react.
The divine power of the ancient bronze sword struck the barrier atop the mountain, and the barrier instantly collapsed.
"Father, Mother."
As expected, Chu Lingwei felt two familiar presences.
"How dare you destroy my barrier."
The female cultivator was enraged. She wanted to fly up and confront Chu Lingwei, but a flicker of apprehension crossed her eyes as she saw the divine artifact in Chu Lingwei’s hand.
"Speak, what exactly is this place?"
Long Ziqian, wielding his Spirit Gathering Spear, stood in front of the female cultivator. After the barrier shattered, he noticed her spiritual power seemed to be slowly dissipating, very much like Song Qianshan’s.
If he wasn't mistaken, this female cultivator's cultivation level was likely not as she appeared.
"Today, I will kill all of you, leaving none alive."
One by one, they dared to challenge her. The female cultivator summoned her magical artifact and began to fight Long Ziqian.
Chu Lingwei instructed Feng Ming to assist Long Ziqian, while she herself directly broke through the barrier and flew into a cave within the mountain. Here, she sensed the presence of a large number of cultivators.
"Weiwei."
Chu Ze was trying to break through the barrier from the inside when it suddenly opened. A familiar aura was detected by him.
"How could this be?" Lan Yuexi spat out a mouthful of blood. Weiwei was at the Spiritual Cultivation Academy, how could she be here?
"The barrier has opened."
The cultivators trapped inside, sensing the barrier being broken, showed joy and began to fly out of the cave.
"Xifei, let’s go."
Her beloved was severely injured, and they had to leave immediately.
Chu Lingwei encountered the first cultivator flying out of the cave, and they faced each other.
"You broke this barrier?" The cultivator stopped upon seeing Chu Lingwei.
"Yes. Are there other cultivators inside?" Chu Lingwei used her divine sense and found the auras of Chu Ze and Lan Yuexi. She passed the cultivator and quickly reached Chu Ze and his wife, "Father, Mother."
"Weiwei, it really is you."
Lan Yuexi was overjoyed to see Chu Lingwei.
"Mother, you're injured." Chu Lingwei took out a pill and fed it to Lan Yuexi. "Let’s get out of here quickly."
Chu Lingwei, along with Chu Ze, helped Lan Yuexi leave the cave. The female cultivator fighting with Long Ziqian was already lying on the ground, devoid of life.
"Great Aunt."
Long Ziqian, seeing Lan Yuexi, flew towards her.
Chu Lingwei raised an eyebrow. He indeed knew her identity.
"You are... Ziqian?"
Lan Yuexi recognized Long Ziqian. He was her elder brother's grandson and the most outstanding junior of the Phoenix Clan.
"Yes."
Long Ziqian cautiously glanced at Chu Lingwei. Seeing no unusual expression on her face, he secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
"Mother, you are injured. Let's find a safe place first."
In a blink of an eye, all the cultivators who had emerged from the cave had departed.
"Alright."
Chu Lingwei led them to a safe place, set up a barrier, and allowed Lan Yuexi and Chu Ze to recover.
"Cough... Fellow Daoist Chu..." Long Ziqian coughed unnaturally under Chu Lingwei's scrutinizing gaze. In truth, he had known Chu Lingwei's identity since their first meeting; she was the Holy Maiden of their Phoenix Clan.
"Do you really intend to address me that way?"
Chu Lingwei crossed her arms. This little nephew was indeed a master of disguise.
"You should be calling me Aunt Weiwei," Feng Ming interjected. If he wasn't Weiwei's nephew, they wouldn't have brought him to the South Sea Reef.
"Auntie."
Long Ziqian stood up and bowed respectfully to Chu Lingwei, "Auntie, please forgive me for not acknowledging you before."
"You've known my identity all along?"
"Yes. As a descendant of the Phoenix Clan, I know everything about our clan." A hint of difficulty flashed in Long Ziqian's eyes. Some things were told by elders, while others he had discovered himself.
Chu Lingwei nodded and gestured for Long Ziqian to sit down. "Since you know, you should also know the mission you bear."
Descendants of the Phoenix Clan had to work harder than others from birth.
"I know."
It was precisely because of this that Long Ziqian followed Chu Lingwei to the South Sea Reef, willing to face any danger.
"This is for you."
Chu Lingwei patted Long Ziqian's shoulder and took out the Nine Phoenix Cry Fan from her storage bag.
"Auntie, this..."
The Nine Phoenix Cry Fan was a divine artifact. Before Chu Lingwei began using the ancient bronze sword, it was her favorite divine artifact.
"Take it. I hope it can serve its purpose in your hands."
She had many divine artifacts in her spatial dimension, but most had little practical use. Chu Lingwei hoped this Nine Phoenix Cry Fan could protect the Phoenix Clan with Long Ziqian.
"Thank you, Auntie. Ziqian will not disappoint your expectations."
Long Ziqian solemnly accepted the Nine Phoenix Cry Fan. The spiritual energy within the fan let out a hissing sound in his palm. Long Ziqian gripped it tightly; it would be his magical artifact from now on.
"I will help you."
She was also a descendant of the Phoenix Clan, and rebuilding the clan was her responsibility as well.
"Weiwei."
Chu Ze opened his eyes and smiled at his daughter. After ten years apart, she had become even more composed.
"Father."
"Father, why were you trapped by that female cultivator?"
That female cultivator’s cultivation was at the Supreme Realm. Her father’s cultivation had reached the Heavenly Passage Realm, giving him a fighting chance against her. Moreover, with the trapped cultivators inside the cave, a combined effort would have prevented them from being captured.
"We fell into her trap."
Lan Yuexi opened her eyes and sighed lightly, guilt in her eyes. "It's all my fault. I fell for an illusion. When we encountered our clansmen, your father was trying to save me..."
"Yuexi, don't say that. We are husband and wife; we should be as one." Chu Ze held his wife's hand. He also bore responsibility for not discerning the danger immediately.
Chu Lingwei: "..." She felt like she had just been force-fed a mouthful of dog food.
"Father, Mother, what's different about this secret realm?"
Chu Lingwei looked up. Dawn was approaching.
"This place is very strange. Our spiritual power can only be utilized by half," Chu Ze said, his expression turning serious as he spoke of the secret realm. "Moreover, we can't find any exit."
"Great Aunt means that no one who entered this secret realm has left?" Long Ziqian recalled Song Qianshan's words. He hadn't encountered a single cultivator for a long time.
But if all the cultivators who entered here never left, where were they now?
"Yes, no one should have left." Lan Yuexi nodded. They had made markings when entering the secret realm, but it was useless.
"Besides this, what else is different?"
Chu Lingwei looked up at the starry sky above. The myriad stars, when gazed upon for too long, could induce dizziness.