"Senior Brother, why are you in Xianmo City?"
Chu Lingwei touched her nose, her question was somewhat rhetorical.
Leng Xingzhi's eyes held a smile as he returned a gentle gaze. Did she truly not know why he would appear here?
"Senior Brother, I didn't want to be here either. It's all thanks to Meng Qinghe. She imprisoned me in the underwater city for so long. I couldn't wait for Senior Brother, so I escaped. I never expected that after escaping to the surface, I'd end up here."
Chu Lingwei sighed, adopting a pitiable demeanor as she recounted the events, subtly complaining about him. While in the underwater city, Chu Lingwei had truly believed her Senior Brother would come to rescue her. To her surprise, he hadn't shown up at all.
"Is Weiwei blaming her Senior Brother for not saving you in time?" Leng Xingzhi heard the unspoken meaning in Chu Lingwei's words.
"Not at all," Chu Lingwei shook her head and sat directly opposite Leng Xingzhi. "Even without Senior Brother's help, I still found a way to escape that underwater prison. Senior Brother, am I formidable?"
"Underwater prison?"
"That's a rather fitting description."
That underwater city was indeed a prison beneath the water.
"Yes, if I had stayed there any longer, I think I would have suffocated to death," Chu Lingwei nodded emphatically. She detested the underwater environment the most, and being confined there for so long, it was a miracle she wasn't utterly depressed.
"I apologize, Junior Sister. Next time something like this happens, your Senior Brother will definitely be there to save you immediately," Leng Xingzhi reached out and gently cupped her cheek. "We haven't seen each other for so long, have you been well?"
"I've been alright."
Chu Lingwei's face flushed slightly, and she straightened her posture, moving away from her Senior Brother's playful hand.
"Senior Brother, you appearing in Xianmo City this time, you're not here to find me, are you?" Chu Lingwei asked uncertainly.
"If I didn't come, when would you have planned to return?" Leng Xingzhi knew his Junior Sister too well. Once she left the Xiuling Academy, she'd always want to explore the outside world, her return uncertain.
"I intended to return as quickly as possible; I still need to find my father." Chu Lingwei pouted. She wasn't as unreliable as he made her out to be. Mentioning her father, Chu Lingwei's expression stiffened.
Chu Lingwei stared at her Senior Brother. "Senior Brother, when did my father ever meet you?"
"Junior Sister, why would you suddenly ask this?" Leng Xingzhi picked up his teacup, his gaze drifting elsewhere.
"Senior Brother, do you recognize this?"
Chu Lingwei knew that if her Senior Brother didn't answer directly, it meant he didn't want to. She took out the branch of plum blossoms given to her by Meng Qinghe from her storage pouch and placed it before Leng Xingzhi. She knew Meng Qinghe hadn't lied to her about this matter.
Leng Xingzhi looked at the plum branch before him and nodded. "This is a branch from the sacred tree of the Phoenix Clan."
"Senior Brother, you knew about the existence of the Phoenix Clan all along, but you didn't want to tell me, did you?" Chu Lingwei sighed softly. She could disregard Leng Xingzhi knowing about her origins, about everything concerning the Phoenix Clan. She could understand these things, thinking she hadn't yet reached a stage where she could know all secrets. However, in the Spiritual Realm, for him to act as if nothing had happened and directly destroy the soul of that Phoenix person, it made her heart ache slightly.
"Weiwei, knowing everything about the Phoenix Clan now will do you no good," Leng Xingzhi reached out and held Chu Lingwei's hand. "Only with absolute strength can you go further."
Chu Lingwei looked into Leng Xingzhi's eyes. His gaze was so pure, untainted by any impurities, which gradually eased Chu Lingwei's heart. Ever since she entered the Xiuling Academy, her Senior Brother had been the one who helped her the most. No matter what she encountered, he was by her side. How could she possibly doubt him?
"Weiwei, as long as you reach the Huatian Realm, I will tell you everything about the Phoenix Clan. However..." Leng Xingzhi changed the subject. "Before that, if you want to know about the Phoenix Clan, you must investigate it yourself. I will not tell you anything about them."
Chu Lingwei's heart trembled fiercely, and she nodded. "Okay." She, Chu Lingwei, would uncover what she wanted to know with her own abilities.
"Bang bang bang"
Just then, several bright red fireworks suddenly erupted in the sky above Xianmo City.
"What's happening?" There were no fireworks in the Profound Sky Continent. This must be some kind of warning.
"The City Lord of Xianmo City is dead."
Leng Xingzhi's brow furrowed slightly. He had just left the Xianmo City Lord's manor. Even without the Myriad Year Immortal Flower, Zhuang Kang's unconscious state could have been maintained for a year.
"He's dead."
Chu Lingwei was surprised. She had controlled her strength at the time; at most, she had only destroyed his spiritual meridians. He shouldn't have died. How could he have suddenly passed away?
"Died from severe injuries."
Leng Xingzhi looked outside and sighed, shaking his head. "It seems Xianmo City is about to be in turmoil."
"Senior Brother, do you know that the City Lord of Xianmo City, for his own selfish desires, caused the deaths of many cultivators?" He had captured a young King of the Fierce Dog to change his son's fate and increase his son's luck. To prevent this from being exposed, he had continuously tricked cultivators into the mining caves to help them slaughter the Fierce Dogs. The innocent female cultivators were the most pitiful. To appease the frenzy of the Fierce Dogs, they had brought a fake young king and fed the female cultivators to them. It was truly detestable.
"Therefore, his current demise is his retribution."
Leng Xingzhi turned his head, about to say something, when his expression suddenly turned grim.
"What's wrong? Has something else happened?" Chu Lingwei rarely saw her Senior Brother's expression change like this.
"Let's go, let's go out and see." Leng Xingzhi led Chu Lingwei out of the inn. A profound killing intent immediately enveloped the Xianmo City Lord's manor.
"There's a powerful being in Xianmo City."
This killing intent made Chu Lingwei shiver involuntarily. If she wasn't mistaken, this was the aura of a great cultivator.
"Indeed, it seems Xianmo City is about to have a change of leadership."
Leng Xingzhi looked up and saw several Supreme Realm cultivators appearing above Xianmo City, surrounding Zhuang Feng.
"They've done so many wicked things, they deserve it."
Chu Lingwei said sincerely. So many cultivators had died because of them; it was only right that the Xianmo City Lord's manor be destroyed.
Leng Xingzhi chuckled softly. His Junior Sister truly hadn't changed at all.
When great cultivators acted, there was no hesitation. Before Chu Lingwei and the others could get closer, the entire Xianmo City Lord's manor had become a river of blood, with no survivors.
"Senior Brother, perhaps we should leave here quickly." Chu Lingwei frowned slightly. The dense smell of blood was very unpleasant.