"I cannot guarantee that I will be able to open it, but I will do my best."
Chu Feng said and did.
Before he even began, he had already observed the lock.
This lock was not something that could be broken with barrier formations. It had nothing to do with the strength of one's barrier arts.
What was needed to break this lock was actually the bloodline power of barrier arts — the most fundamental thing of all.
For others, this lock might remain unbreakable for a lifetime.
No matter how powerful their barrier arts became or what progress they made, as long as their innate talent in barriers did not meet the requirement, they could never crack it.
So Chu Feng was not certain whether he could break this lock either.
He did not know whether his talent, whether his bloodline power, had reached the required level.
All he could do was try.
Click—
However, the moment Chu Feng made his move, the lock actually shattered open.
It was far simpler than he had expected.
"This…"
Even Ruyi Elder was struck dumb upon seeing this.
"It really opened."
Ruyi Elder examined it over and over, and after confirming that the lock had indeed been undone, the look of astonishment on his face only deepened.
Then he looked back at Chu Feng, a complicated smile spreading across his face.
"This old man tried countless methods to break this lock, expended years of effort, yet none of it worked."
"Who would have thought that before you, it would be undone so effortlessly?"
"Young friend Chu Feng, your talent has truly reached an unimaginable level."
"No wonder you were able to ascend so easily to the third level of the Ruyi Ancient Castle's talent staircase."
"If it weren't for my good fortune, then had you encountered this Ruyi Ancient Castle, the one who could have inherited it would definitely have been you — it would never have been my turn."
Ruyi Elder lavished Chu Feng with praise, and every word of it came straight from the heart.
It was not merely praise and emotion — there was envy mixed in as well.
As a Spirit World Master, how could he not envy someone with such overwhelming talent?
While effort was indispensable on the path of cultivation, sometimes the gap in talent was simply not something that effort alone could bridge.
But suddenly, Chu Feng's expression changed drastically.
Agony was written all over his face.
"Young friend Chu Feng, are you… poisoned?"
Upon seeing Chu Feng like this, Ruyi Elder panicked and rushed over to examine him.
He was able to determine almost immediately that there was poison inside Chu Feng's body.
It was indeed poison — the very same one that the mysterious entity had planted inside Chu Feng's body within the Nine Dragons Upper Realm, at the Nine Dragons Phenomenon Ridge.
When this poison flared up, Chu Feng could not stop it, and each eruption struck with even greater force than the last.
This time, it was even more dangerous than before.
The instant the poison erupted, Chu Feng realized that an even more unbearable bout of suffering had arrived.
But suddenly, a cool, refreshing current of energy entered through his nose.
When that cool energy entered his body, Chu Feng not only felt his mind clear, but even the poison that was erupting inside him began to subside somewhat.
Chu Feng opened his eyes and saw that it was Ruyi Elder.
At that moment, Ruyi Elder held a small bottle in his hand. The bottle itself was unremarkable, but the faintly blue gas emanating from within it was truly extraordinary.
That cool, refreshing energy was none other than this pale blue gas.
"Young friend Chu Feng, inhale this gas into your body."
Ruyi Elder held the bottle out in front of Chu Feng.
Chu Feng did not hesitate. He began to breathe deeply, drawing every last wisp of the pale blue gas from the bottle into his body in a single breath.
What shocked Chu Feng the most was that after taking that breath, the poison inside him was completely pacified.
The poison that had been impossible to dispel had not been removed, yet it had genuinely been suppressed.
And this had been the most severe eruption since the poison first manifested.
"Senior, what is this?" Chu Feng asked.
"Just a simple antidote," Ruyi Elder replied.
"A simple antidote?"
Chu Feng's eyes went wide. Looking at Ruyi Elder again, he suddenly realized that the old man was far more extraordinary than he had heard.
A medicine that could suppress the poison inside him would be no exaggeration to call a divine medicine.
Yet Ruyi Elder claimed it was merely a simple antidote?!
It was clear that, in Ruyi Elder's eyes, the value of this medicine was apparently not that significant at all.
"I can only suppress the poison inside you. To completely neutralize it would still carry risks."
"Young friend Chu Feng, tell me — where did this poison come from?"