"An Tao, did your Master mention any rituals before the Centennial Grand Competition?" Chu Lingwei walked up to An Tao and asked.
An Tao looked puzzled. After thinking for a long time, she couldn't recall anything about a ritual for the Centennial Grand Competition. "No, Master never told me."
"Tomorrow is the Centennial Grand Competition, and I haven't heard of any rituals?" An Tao was very sure that her Master had not told her about any rituals for the Centennial Grand Competition.
"Have you heard of blood sacrifice?"
Chu Lingwei had heard her Master mention that the Spiritual Domain needed a blood sacrifice to open. Perhaps the Buddha's Light Pagoda of the Myriad Buddhas Sect held an unknown secret.
"What is blood sacrifice?" An Tao shivered at the word. It didn't sound like a good thing.
Chu Lingwei shook her head. It seemed that not many people knew about blood sacrifice.
"Wei Wei, what exactly is blood sacrifice?" An Tao was very intelligent. Chu Lingwei's behavior today was very unusual, especially the things she mentioned. They must be related to her bringing her back.
"An Tao, forget this word. Don't mention it to anyone, including your Master," Chu Lingwei said, looking into An Tao's eyes. She didn't know if her Master had asked her to return for her own good or for other reasons; it was impossible to verify.
An Tao's body trembled violently. A terrible thought suddenly struck her, causing her to panic completely.
"Okay, I remember," An Tao suddenly recalled her ancestor's words: calamities of life and death were all great tribulations.
Chu Lingwei glanced again at the increasingly bright light from the Buddha's Light Pagoda, which made her feel very uncomfortable. She said to An Tao, "An Tao, your room is on the left. I'm going back to rest."
An Tao nodded blankly. After Chu Lingwei left, she felt a chill all over her body. Looking at the light from the Buddha's Light Pagoda, she felt a palpitation.
She quickly returned to her room, closed the door tightly, and summoned her spirit beast to accompany her.
This small courtyard had already been placed under a barrier by Second Senior Brother, so Chu Lingwei wasn't worried about An Tao's safety at all. Even if she were the chosen one for the blood sacrifice, she believed those people wouldn't come here to capture her.
She picked up the communication talisman and called out to First Senior Brother, then sent the message.
"Wei Wei, do you suspect that the Buddha's Light Pagoda is actually a place for blood sacrifice?" Feng Ming and Chu Lingwei were connected by heart. Feng Ming could feel Chu Lingwei's emotional fluctuations.
"It must be," Illusion Cat walked in from outside, squatting on the bed with a serious expression. "If it were in the past, Second Senior Brother would definitely be reluctant to use such a powerful array disk."
Second Senior Brother using such a powerful array disk was precisely to prevent them from going out at this time.
Chu Lingwei fell silent. Ever since she decided to participate in the Centennial Grand Competition, her Master and First Senior Brother had not mentioned the blood sacrifice again, almost making her forget about it.
"Blood sacrifice. If a secret realm needs to be opened with the blood of cultivators, how can there be anything righteous inside?"
"Exactly. In my memory, there has never been a secret realm that needed to be opened with blood. This must be some kind of evil art," Illusion Cat nodded vigorously. He had inherited memories, and only evil arts required the sacrifice of life to open.
"Wei Wei, I also have a bad feeling. Why don't we tell First Senior Brother that we won't participate in the competition?" Feng Ming jumped into Chu Lingwei's arms and nuzzled her head. If the Spiritual Domain was a bad place, they wouldn't be able to get out, and there would be no one to turn to for help.
"Yes." At this moment, Leng Xingzhi's voice appeared in the room. "Junior Sister, we will return to the academy tomorrow."
Leng Xingzhi walked closer to Chu Lingwei. If she didn't want to go, he would take Junior Sister back to the academy tomorrow.
"First Senior Brother." Chu Lingwei smiled when she saw her First Senior Brother. She had only said 'First Senior Brother' in the communication talisman without explaining the reason.
"Junior Sister, the Spiritual Domain is very bizarre. It's fine not to go." Leng Xingzhi stepped forward and rubbed Junior Sister's head. She now knew how to make him appear.
"I want to go."
Chu Lingwei shook her head. She remembered that her Master had told her to definitely enter the top one hundred and enter the Spiritual Domain. Although they regretted it later, Chu Lingwei believed that they must have had their reasons for letting her enter the Spiritual Domain.
Leng Xingzhi sighed softly, somewhat helplessly. "Why are you so stubborn?"
"First Senior Brother, I want to go in and see what's different inside." Chu Lingwei smiled. The Spiritual Domain, a place that all cultivators on the Xuan Tian Continent loved and hated, made her feel that she would regret not going.
"You..." A smile flashed in Leng Xingzhi's eyes. If one looked closely, there was no trace of worry.
"That is a very dangerous place."
"I know. The path of spiritual cultivation is inherently dangerous. Only by constantly enduring hardships can one go further, right?" Isn't the path of spiritual cultivation about forging oneself repeatedly, reaching heights unattainable by others, and thus becoming a god?
Leng Xingzhi looked at Junior Sister's determined gaze, which reminded him of the faint starlight that occasionally appeared overhead in the darkness.
"I believe Junior Sister can return safely."
"Yes, I will definitely return safely." With her spatial ability as a trump card, Chu Lingwei believed she could return safely.
Thinking of Second Senior Brother who accompanied her out today, Chu Lingwei's expression became serious. "First Senior Brother, where is Second Senior Brother now?"
"Naturally, he is where he wants to be."
"Today..."
"It's fine," Leng Xingzhi interrupted Chu Lingwei. "He's just a cultivator at the Spiritual Wheel Realm, it's not a problem."
Chu Lingwei's heart skipped a beat upon hearing First Senior Brother's words. It seemed her guess was correct; An Tao was very likely one of the participants in the blood sacrifice.
"Buddha's Light Pagoda?"
Leng Xingzhi turned around and looked in the direction of the Buddha's Light Pagoda, letting out a sarcastic smile. Bathed in Buddha's light, how laughable.
"When you come out of the Spiritual Domain, you will find that many things are not as they seem."
Chu Lingwei remained silent. She had already seen some things she didn't want to see.
The night passed without incident.
The Centennial Grand Competition officially began.
As the first ray of dawn appeared in the sky above the Myriad Buddhas Sect, a bell sound swept into the ears of the assembled cultivators.
Chu Lingwei picked up her competition token. Number eighty-eight, a very auspicious number.
"Wei Wei, are you going to compete today?" An Tao had not rested all night and couldn't focus on cultivation. Hearing the bell, she jumped up in fright and ran out of her room.
"Yes, today is the first day of the competition."
Chu Lingwei nodded and patted An Tao's shoulder. "It's over now. You'll be fine."
"Really?" An Tao was filled with panic and unease. Today, she didn't know where to turn.
"If you're worried, you can stay here. Second Senior Brother has placed a high-level array disk here, and no one can enter," Chu Lingwei said, seeing that An Tao was not in the right emotional state.