Dugu Xiangyu explained over and over that it was a misunderstanding—that the one he'd slept with wasn't Lin Yueyue but his junior sister. But the more he said it, the angrier Lin Xu became. He had Dugu Xiangyu detained on the spot and beaten to a pulp.
In the end, the Lingyun Sect was drawn into the matter. Dugu Aoyun led a contingent of Lingyun Sect disciples to the scene, but even he didn't dare forcibly take his brother away from the people of the Qilin Prince's Manor. After all, his brother Dugu Xiangyu was clearly in the wrong this time.
"What a mess," Dugu Xiangyu muttered, squatting in a corner with his face covered in bruises, watching his elder brother negotiate with Lin Xu and the others. His heart was full of grievance. The moment he thought of Lin Yueyue's face, he wanted to throw up.
The thought that he had actually slept with such an ugly woman—and that he'd been so into it at the time—made him slap himself across the face twice. Even that wasn't enough to vent his frustration.
"What's done is done. What's the use of regretting it now?" Dugu Aoyun walked over, his expression perfectly calm.
"Big brother, how are they going to settle this?" Dugu Xiangyu scrambled to his feet, pressing urgently.
"Marry her," Dugu Aoyun said flatly.
"What?! Marry her? You mean Lin Yueyue? You want me to marry Lin Yueyue?!" Hearing this, Dugu Xiangyu nearly lost his mind. His face turned greener than a cucumber, and his jaw dropped so wide it nearly hit the ground.
"Who else would marry her? Do you expect me to?" At this, even Dugu Aoyun's composure cracked. He jabbed a finger at his brother's nose and berated him: "Do you have any idea who you slept with? She's the third young miss of the Qilin Prince's Manor. Her father is the patriarch of the Lin clan within the Qilin Prince's Manor."
"You slept with the daughter of the Qilin Prince's Manor's Lin clan patriarch, and you think you can just walk away? Marrying her is them showing you the utmost mercy!"
"Big brother, isn't there really any other way? I really don't want to marry that ugly woman…" Dugu Xiangyu collapsed to his knees before Dugu Aoyun, begging desperately.
Glancing down at his brother, Dugu Aoyun felt a pang of sympathy. He couldn't help but close his eyes. "If you want to live, you'll marry her. Otherwise, even if the Sect Master himself intervened, he couldn't save you."
"Damn it! Who set me up like this?!" Dugu Xiangyu knew the decision was final, and he let out a furious roar.
"Senior Brother Dugu! Senior Sister Liu has returned!" Just then, a Lingyun Sect disciple came running up, and behind him followed a woman—the very junior sister who had switched places with Dugu Xiangyu the previous night.
"You damn woman, where the hell did you run off to?!" The sight of the junior sister sent Dugu Xiangyu into a fresh rage, and he lunged toward her.
"Stop!" But before he could get close, Dugu Aoyun held him back. Then Dugu Aoyun turned to the panicked, bewildered junior sister and asked: "Junior Sister Liu, where did you go last night?"
"I… I… I don't know what happened. I suddenly lost consciousness last night, and when I woke up, I was in the forest."
"Oh, right—when I woke up, there was a letter beside me. It said to deliver it to Senior Brother Aoyun." The junior sister, trembling, produced a letter. On the envelope it read: Please deliver to Dugu Aoyun.
Frowning deeply, Dugu Aoyun took the letter. But the moment he opened it, his expression changed dramatically. A powerful killing intent surged from within him, because what was written inside read…
"Gifting your brother a beauty. May they enjoy a hundred years of harmony, singing through every night.—Asura."
"Damn you, Asura! One day I'll tear you to pieces!" Dugu Aoyun crushed the letter to dust in his fist. His fury was incandescent, bordering on madness.
Knowing that his brother had indeed been framed—and that the one responsible was the same person who had already crossed them the day before—Dugu Aoyun simply could not swallow this humiliation. He swore a silent oath: he would kill the man who called himself Asura.
From that day on, Dugu Aoyun searched through the Hundred Curve Valley like a madman, trying to track down Asura's whereabouts. But the valley was simply too vast. Finding one person was truly like searching for a needle in the ocean.
So by the time the hunt was nearing its end, he still had nothing to show for it. In the end, he could only leave the Hundred Curve Valley burning with rage.
However, just as everyone else departed, Chu Feng chose to stay behind. He had discovered that the Hundred Curve Valley was truly a treasure trove—a place like an enormous vault, filled with endless Mystic Medicine waiting for him to claim.
If he could remain here for an extended period, then by the time the day of their one-year duel arrived, Chu Feng might be able to break through several more realms. With that level of cultivation, he could surpass Gong Luyun.
But once the hunt officially ended, Chu Feng finally understood why everyone knew this place was a treasure trove yet still had to leave within the allotted time. Because at that very moment, an invisible, terrifying pressure had descended upon the entire Hundred Curve Valley.
The pressure was uncanny—it made it hard to breathe, and it affected only humans. Chu Feng noticed that aside from himself, the plants, the animals, and even the demon beasts were all perfectly fine, completely unaffected. He alone was being suppressed.
"Damn it! Don't tell me the people from the Lingyun Sect and the Qilin Prince's Manor are actually powerful enough to seal off the entire Hundred Curve Valley like this?"
Chu Feng had already taken to the sky, but even rising above the clouds only brought slight relief. He still couldn't shake off that bizarre pressure. Under these circumstances, forget about harvesting more Mystic Medicine—simply surviving was becoming nearly impossible.
"No—this definitely isn't the work of the Qilin Prince's Manor and the Lingyun Sect's powerhouses. They couldn't possibly have means like this," Egg explained.
"Then what in the world is going on?" Chu Feng pressed.
"If I'm not mistaken, it isn't the various forces of Qingzhou that control the Hundred Curve Valley—it's the valley itself that determines how long it opens each year. Because the Hundred Curve Valley is, in truth, a massive formation. A formation that neither the Lingyun Sect nor the Qilin Prince's Manor can control," Egg explained.
"What?! This vast Hundred Curve Valley is a formation? What kind of power would it take to lay down such a formidable array?" Chu Feng was stunned. He then asked: "So what do we do now?"
"This formation has just begun activating, so the pressure isn't too severe yet. But it will grow more terrifying with time. Once it's fully activated, your current cultivation won't be able to withstand it at all."
"So you need to get out of here immediately. Otherwise, even in the sky, the pressure will suffocate you to death," Egg warned urgently.
Chu Feng didn't dare dally and immediately flew toward the exit of the Hundred Curve Valley. But sure enough, just as Egg had said, the pressure was growing stronger by the moment—so strong that he couldn't breathe. At this rate, there was no way he'd make it out alive.
"That's…" But just when Chu Feng thought his chances were slim, a mountain peak appeared in his field of vision. It was the same peak he had spotted before—the one with the mysterious palace built upon it.
And at the summit of that peak, thin wisps of smoke were rising from within the palace. That meant Chu Feng wasn't the only one who had stayed behind in the Hundred Curve Valley.