After parting ways with Wang Yuxian and the others, Chu Feng hadn't actually gone very far before he came to a stop.
He stopped because his compass for tracking the Heaven and Earth Strange Object had encountered a problem.
Ever since he'd taken the compass out again earlier, it had been wobbling erratically, unable to pin down the direction of the Heaven and Earth Strange Object.
But at the very least, it had still been giving some kind of response.
Now, however, the compass had gone completely dead — and that was enough to put Chu Feng in a mild panic.
If the tracking formation inside the compass had truly lost its function, he would have no way to locate the Heaven and Earth Strange Object.
Without hesitation, Chu Feng opened the compass to check whether something had gone wrong with the tracking formation inside.
The formation was perfectly intact — not the slightest anomaly.
"Could it be that the Heaven and Earth Strange Object is simply too far away for the compass to detect?"
Chu Feng's brow furrowed deeply, a wave of unease settling over him.
This compass was currently his only shot at finding the Heaven and Earth Strange Object. If he truly lost all trace of it now, he had no idea what he would do.
Hummm—
But just then, the compass suddenly came back to life. It didn't lock onto a precise direction, but it did provide a general bearing — several times stronger than what it had been offering moments ago.
"Strange."
Even so, Chu Feng found this sudden change peculiar.
It defied logic. It defied the principles of formation arts.
How could the tracking compass's readings fluctuate so wildly when his distance from the target hadn't shifted significantly?
Could it be that the compass had been under some kind of interference just now? But who would be interfering with it?
Was there something within the Flying Flower Residence capable of disrupting the compass?
"No point dwelling on it."
Chu Feng didn't waste time thinking. He set off immediately, tracking the signal. To him, everything else was secondary — capturing the Heaven and Earth Strange Object was the only thing that mattered.
Chu Feng tracked relentlessly. Night gave way to day, and the blanket of stars dissolved into a sky of blue and white clouds.
Yet the compass still hadn't locked onto a precise direction — it only offered a general area. Still, Chu Feng pressed on without the slightest trace of letting up. After all, having a general direction was better than nothing. At the very least, it meant the Heaven and Earth Strange Object hadn't left him in the dust.
"This aura!!!"
Suddenly, Chu Feng's pupils contracted, and a look of surprise flashed across his eyes.
He had sensed someone's aura — and it was this unexpected presence that had caught him so off guard.
To understand why, one had to go back to what had happened at the Red-Clothed Sacred Land.
On that day, a group of people wreathed in misty clouds had arrived at the Red-Clothed Sacred Land.
Their identities were shrouded in mystery, yet their strength was terrifyingly formidable. They had used coercion to forcibly take Yin Zhuanghong away.
Because the gap in their cultivation was far too great, Chu Feng, Zhao Hong, and the others had been powerless to intervene — but Chu Feng had refused to accept that.
In order to rescue Yin Zhuanghong, Chu Feng had deliberately provoked one of them, a man named Lian Xi.
The others couldn't understand Chu Feng's behavior, but in truth, he had made contact with Lian Xi on purpose — and in that brief moment, he had secretly placed a mark on the man's body.
The idea was to covertly track Lian Xi afterward, which would give him a chance to rescue Yin Zhuanghong.
But in the end, the distance had grown too great, and Chu Feng's tracking had failed. After that, he lost all news of Yin Zhuanghong.
Through further investigation, Chu Feng had pieced together that the group most likely hailed from a faction called the Cloud Sky Immortal Sect.
The Cloud Sky Immortal Sect was a power that had recently risen within the Sacred Light Star River — one brimming with ambition and terrifying strength.
And now, the aura Chu Feng sensed was unmistakably that of the mark he had left behind that day.
"Could it really be such a coincidence? He came here — and he's right near me?"
Chu Feng glanced at the compass, which still hadn't changed its reading in any meaningful way.
Then he made his decision.
The compass's readings hadn't shifted, so even if he delayed a bit, there probably wouldn't be much change.
He should still be able to continue tracking the Heaven and Earth Strange Object afterward.
So Chu Feng resolved to investigate.
Following his instinct, he closed in on the marked target, growing ever closer.