"What's wrong with these guys?" Xian Miaomiao asked in shock.
Meanwhile, Chu Feng wore a grave expression. As a Spirit World Master, he naturally understood what was happening.
The members of the Dark Hall all carried a self-destructive force within their bodies. If anyone tried to forcibly remove their masks, or if they themselves attempted to speak words they shouldn't, that force would be triggered, causing their bodies to explode and killing them instantly.
More importantly, even though Chu Feng had already deployed barrier formations and his own martial pressure — combining both forces to suppress that destructive energy — he still felt powerless against it.
This meant... that within the Dark Hall, there existed a Spirit World Master even stronger than Chu Feng. And not just by a small margin, either.
"Chu Feng, what are they doing here?" At that moment, Xian Miaomiao approached with Little Red in tow.
Chu Feng began carefully examining their surroundings. He wanted to know what exactly these people were trying to unseal with their unsealing formation — going so far as to sacrifice the entire population of Royal-grade Spirit Insects to power it.
However, even as he observed, Chu Feng didn't dare use his full power. After all, he knew that the Blood Devouring Formation sealed ancient Fierce Beasts beneath it, and he feared that what lay below might be one of those ancient Fierce Beasts.
From the very first moment he laid eyes on the unsealing formation, his initial thought had been that the other party intended to release the ancient Fierce Beasts.
"This is bad." After a closer look, the frown already etched on Chu Feng's brow deepened further. He turned to Xian Miaomiao and asked, "Miaomiao, do you know exactly where the ancient Fierce Beasts are sealed?"
"No." Xian Miaomiao shook her head, then asked, "Chu Feng, what's wrong?"
"There's a formation core beneath this formation. If I'm not mistaken, that core is connected to the sealing formation that holds the ancient Fierce Beasts — because I've already confirmed that it's the core of a sealing array."
"So what you said before is most likely true. There really is something terrifying sealed here — most likely the ancient Fierce Beasts."
"However, the formation core is too deep. I can't determine the exact location where the ancient Fierce Beasts are sealed."
"But what I can confirm is that the Dark Hall set up this formation precisely to release whatever is sealed here," Chu Feng said.
"Then it must be the ancient Fierce Beasts. There are definitely ancient Fierce Beasts sealed here. What do we do? How could they do something so despicable?"
"I need to notify my people — the Ancient Elves — immediately," Xian Miaomiao said.
"Is there still time to notify them? Didn't you say the Ancient Elves have been guarding this place all along?" Chu Feng asked.
"That's true, but recently, my father has redeployed quite a few of our forces. The guards stationed here are far fewer than before. If the ancient Fierce Beasts were released right now, our current forces might not be enough to hold them back," Xian Miaomiao said.
"Your father redeployed forces — was it to search for the Dark Hall's location?" Chu Feng asked.
"Yes." Xian Miaomiao nodded.
"This is bad. We've been played," Chu Feng exclaimed in sudden realization. The Ancient Elves knew certain secrets, and the Dark Hall knew them too. Everything that had happened — all of it — had been deliberately orchestrated by the Dark Hall.
"No, I have to go notify them right now." Xian Miaomiao turned to leave.
"I'm afraid it's too late," Chu Feng said, catching hold of her.
"Then... then what do we do?" Xian Miaomiao's eyes went wide as the truth sank in. If the Dark Hall had truly come prepared, rushing back to send word and then mobilizing troops would indeed be far too slow.
"Since we can't make it in time, all we can do is seize the moment and do what needs to be done," Chu Feng said.
"You mean... keep searching for the Ancient Immortal Flower?" Xian Miaomiao asked.
"That's right. Otherwise, wouldn't we have come here for nothing?" Chu Feng said.
"But the Ancient Immortal Flower is incredibly hard to find, and with the Dark Hall operating here, this place is dangerous too, isn't it?" Xian Miaomiao said.
And what Xian Miaomiao had voiced was precisely what Chu Feng was worried about. Setting everything else aside, this formation alone had been laid by a Dragon Mark Spirit World Master.
That meant the Dark Hall had sent numerous experts. The ten fourth grade Martial Emperors that Chu Feng had killed earlier were already considered terrifyingly powerful existences on the Martial Sacred Continent — after all, a fourth grade Martial Emperor was on par with the Supreme Elders of the Four Great Emperor Clans.