The entrance to the Misty Forest.
Chu Lingwei dismounted her flying artifact, adjusting the small cage in her hand. Fengming within seemed to have regained some strength, opening its eyes and looking back at Chu Lingwei.
"They're catching up." The voice was still soft and weak.
"Mm, you should go into the spirit beast pouch first." Chu Lingwei took a small spirit beast pouch from her waist, preparing to put Fengming inside.
"Stop right there."
Just then, Cheng Shan's sharp voice echoed from behind, imbued with spiritual energy, directly reaching Chu Lingwei's ears.
Were they no longer going to conceal their intentions?
Chu Lingwei quickly put Fengming into the spirit beast pouch and hung it from her waist. In that brief moment, Cheng Shan and Chu Xiyin landed before her, riding a flying artifact shaped like a jade lotus leaf.
"Are you here to find me?" Chu Lingwei stood facing them, her sword already drawn from its sheath, spiritual energy faintly flickering around it.
Upon seeing the wooden sword, Chu Xiyin became even more certain that the person before her was from the Renyan Sect. They were known for their tendency to imbue all their magical artifacts with spiritual energy.
The Renyan Sect's puppet art was formidable. If they had a puppet by their side, everyone would regard them with great apprehension.
However, this person before her carried no artifact for storing puppets, suggesting she was merely a junior disciple of the Renyan Sect.
"Are you a disciple of the Renyan Sect?" Chu Xiyin asked, her voice full of certainty, without answering Chu Lingwei's question.
Chu Lingwei was puzzled as to what aspect of her made Chu Xiyin believe she was from the Renyan Sect.
Nonetheless, she had been given an identity, and she wasn't foolish enough to refute it.
"Why are you following me?" Chu Lingwei chuckled lightly, glancing at Cheng Shan, who was sizing her up with predatory eyes. Her sarcastic laughter echoed, "You're here to kill me, aren't you?"
Chu Lingwei casually swayed her wooden sword, the fire spirit energy upon it shimmering like the last rays of the setting sun.
"You've insulted me so grievously today, and you will surely halt on the path of cultivation today," Cheng Shan said coldly, her gaze fixed on Chu Lingwei. A golden light shot out from her waist, and a giant flying eagle appeared in the air.
This eagle was a fourth-level Blazing Fire Eagle, Cheng Shan's contracted spirit beast. It was now in sync with its master, its fire-burning eyes fixated on Chu Lingwei.
Chu Lingwei sensed a faint, unfamiliar aura around them. There were others here.
This is not the place.
A hint of fear flickered across Chu Lingwei's face, and she slowly began to retreat, her brow furrowed. "You're actually going to kill me?"
"What, scared now?" Seeing the fear in Chu Lingwei's eyes, Cheng Shan finally broke into a triumphant smile. Wasn't she quite arrogant moments ago? Now she was just a coward afraid of death.
When Chu Xiyin observed Chu Lingwei's reaction, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed her judgment was correct; the young girl before her had no hidden cultivation.
She was merely in the mid-Spiritual Movement realm.
With her own cultivation on the verge of breaking through to the Spiritual Wheel realm, dealing with someone in the mid-Spiritual Movement realm would be effortless.
"Do you know who I am?" The spiritual energy in Chu Lingwei's wooden sword intensified. To Chu Xiyin and Cheng Shan, this was a clear sign of her fear.
"This is the territory of the Xuanxin Sect. No matter who you are, offending us Xuanxin Sect has only one outcome," Cheng Shan said, a cruel smile on her face. Today, the person before her was destined to die, and no outsider would ever know what transpired, no matter what she said.
Hearing Cheng Shan's words, Chu Xiyin felt a slight displeasure. Such words would only bring disrepute to their Xuanxin Sect.
"Then let's see if you have the ability to catch up to me." Chu Lingwei felt the unfamiliar aura drawing nearer. With a swift movement, she stepped onto her flying artifact and plunged directly into the Misty Forest.
This was not a good place to kill someone.
She fled!
Chu Xiyin and Cheng Shan were taken aback as Chu Lingwei disappeared. They exchanged glances and immediately stepped onto their jade lotus leaf, pursuing her.
Neither of them wanted Chu Lingwei to escape today.
Chu Lingwei's flying artifact was a divine artifact produced by the Space sector, and its grade was already at the level of a divine artifact. She adjusted her speed to ensure the two behind her could keep up. Simultaneously, she subtly set up a barrier to block their traces, preventing the approaching pursuers from detecting their whereabouts.
Two quarters of an hour later, Chu Lingwei stopped in a dense patch of forest. A chilling aura emanated from her, and the trees around her instantly froze over.
Chu Xiyin, back then, how you tormented me. Today is the day for you to repay.
"Shan'er, something is wrong." Chu Xiyin sensed an unusual aura ahead and her expression grew solemn. This was by no means something a cultivator in the Spiritual Movement realm could achieve.
"Xiyin, don't forget, she's a disciple of the Renyan Sect. They often use these petty tricks," Cheng Shan said dismissively. Both of them were elite disciples of the Xuanxin Sect and possessed numerous artifacts. Dealing with the artifacts of the Renyan Sect was not difficult.
Cheng Shan was confident she could kill Chu Lingwei. "Xiyin, we are about to enter the depths of the Misty Forest. She probably doesn't dare to go any further and is just trying to scare us away."
The Misty Forest was a training ground for Xuanxin Sect disciples. The outer areas were not particularly dangerous, but the deeper one went, the exponentially the danger increased.
Disciples in the Spiritual Movement realm like them never dared to approach the depths of the Misty Forest.
Chu Xiyin considered it. She had been worried about Chu Lingwei luring them into the depths of the Misty Forest just moments ago. Now that she had stopped, it corroborated Cheng Shan's explanation.
As the senior disciple of the Xuanxin Sect, with her father as the Sect Master and her mother as the Peak Master of Qingxin Peak, and possessing several high-grade artifacts, she could even retreat safely from a cultivator in the Heaven Merging realm.
As this thought crossed her mind, the two of them had already reached Chu Lingwei.
They saw Chu Lingwei's wooden sword dancing in front of her, enveloping her within a protective aura. The bell on her wrist was now in her hand, emitting a "ding-ding-ding" sound.
"You want to kill me over such a trivial matter?"
At this moment, Chu Xiyin's usual gentle senior disciple facade was gone, her face contorted with murderous intent and malice.
"Scared? You can kneel down and beg me, and perhaps I'll spare your life," Cheng Shan said with a wild laugh. She craved to see this woman weep and beg her.
"Then we'll see if you have the capability." Chu Lingwei's eyes instantly sharpened, and the wooden sword flying before her plunged directly towards Cheng Shan's spirit beast.
Before the fourth-level Blazing Fire Eagle could unleash its fire, its body was pierced by the wooden sword. Its spiritual energy vanished, and it fell heavily to the ground, emitting a pained screech.
"Little Fire!"
Cheng Shan and the others were caught completely off guard by Chu Lingwei's sudden action. Cheng Shan suddenly felt an intense pain in her chest, spewed out a large mouthful of blood, and collapsed to the ground.
"You... actually..." Chu Xiyin exclaimed in shock, disbelief evident on her face.