"Mn—"
But just as Her Majesty was still puzzled, Chu Feng began letting out soft grunts again.
She knew that he was enduring some kind of pain, and since he couldn't shout about it, he was clenching his teeth and forcing himself to bear it.
But because the pain was simply too much to endure, these faint grunts escaped despite his best efforts.
"This guy — even if he's lying to me, he's putting on one hell of a performance," Her Majesty muttered inwardly.
Though she still suspected Chu Feng was deceiving her, she chose not to disturb him. After all, what if he was telling the truth?
After a while longer, Chu Feng's eyes finally opened.
"Egg, I really did it. My cultivation is now at the fourth rank of True Immortal. I withstood the baptism of the Divine Thunder and successfully broke through to the fourth rank of True Immortal," Chu Feng said.
"Huh? For real? But I didn't see the slightest flash of lightning, or even hear the faintest rumble of thunder," Her Majesty exclaimed in shock.
"That's true — there wasn't any sound, not even a shadow. But I could feel it. The Divine Thunder descended and did indeed temper me."
"However, the force of the Divine Thunder this time was significantly weaker, so the breakthrough came pretty easily."
"All in all, this was truly bizarre. Could it be… related to this Burial Spirit Pool? Did the Burial Spirit Pool conceal my Divine Thunder and diminish its power?" Chu Feng reasoned.
"That's not impossible. This Grand Chiliocosm Upper Realm really is something else. Last time, during the hunt at the competition grounds, the Divine Thunder vanished halfway through."
"And this time it went even further — even you yourself couldn't see or hear the Divine Thunder. You could only sense its descent through feeling."
"If this really is the influence of the Burial Spirit Pool, then this place is truly remarkable," Her Majesty said.
"My cultivation has risen, which means my barrier power should have improved as well. Let me use my Heavenly Eyes to get a good look at this Burial Spirit Pool and see just how extraordinary it really is."
As he spoke, Chu Feng activated his Heavenly Eyes and began peering downward.
With the Heavenly Eyes active, his field of vision extended a little further, but he still couldn't see the bottom of the Burial Spirit Pool.
However, Chu Feng spotted something.
"What is that?"
Her Majesty had seen it too — something stuck against the rocky wall, floating in place.
But because it was so far away, even Chu Feng and Her Majesty couldn't make out what exactly it was.
"I'll get a closer look." Chu Feng continued descending, and as he drew nearer, he finally made out the object clearly.
It was three talisman papers. They appeared to be wedged into scratches or grooves in the wall, and with the undercurrents swirling through the pool, they drifted and swayed back and forth.
"That looks like a treasure," Her Majesty said.
"I think so too. It might be a treasure left behind by that expert, washed up by the spurting pool water," Chu Feng said.
They had reason to say this, because the three talisman papers were white and covered, edge to edge, with densely packed barrier inscriptions.
And those barrier inscriptions were of an extremely high level — definitely not something an ordinary Spirit World Master could have carved.
"Hurry, grab them and let's take a look," Her Majesty said.
"Alright." Chu Feng opened his palm, and a vast gravitational force instantly enveloped the area below.
*Whoosh—*
The water surged toward him in pillars, but those three talisman papers, despite being tossed about even more violently by the current, showed no sign of falling.
"I don't believe it." Chu Feng refused to accept this. He twisted his wrist and opened his palm once more.
This time, brilliant golden light erupted as a torrent of martial power extended from Chu Feng's palm, coalescing into the shape of a hand that shot toward the three talisman papers.
In moments, the martial power hand reached the three talisman papers and closed tightly around them.
But when Chu Feng tried to retract the martial power hand, his brow immediately furrowed. He had discovered, to his astonishment, that he couldn't pull it back.
To be precise, even though the martial power hand had clearly seized hold of the three talisman papers, he still couldn't budge them in the slightest.
"This is too strange. It doesn't seem like they're simply wedged into the wall," Chu Feng murmured to himself.