"Team up? Of course."
Chu Feng answered without a moment's hesitation.
"You're not even going to think about it?"
Seeing how readily Chu Feng agreed, Xia Yan's eyes widened in surprise.
"I'm only at the second level of Dragon Transformation, but you're at the fourth level. When there's a strong back to lean on, you'd better hold on tight."
Chu Feng said with a bright smile — not just an innocent-looking one, but one brimming with sincerity.
"Brother, you're straightforward as they come."
"In that case, we've got ourselves an alliance. Remember — it's the three of us working together."
As Xia Yan spoke, he glanced at Xiao Yu beside him.
Xiao Yu, in turn, cast a brief look at Chu Feng.
It was clear that Xiao Yu had already agreed to the alliance.
But Chu Feng could read it in Xiao Yu's eyes — the person he truly wanted to ally with was only Xia Yan. As for Chu Feng, Xiao Yu harbored no expectations whatsoever; if anything, there was a hint of disdain.
But Chu Feng couldn't care less about Xiao Yu's opinion of him.
Chu Feng had already sensed the hostility from the younger generation of the Gongsun family.
To be precise, the Gongsun descendants were hostile toward Chu Feng, Xia Yan, and Xiao Yu — all three of them.
Under these circumstances, joining forces only made sense.
Otherwise, once the trial officially began and the Gongsun family's juniors targeted them, they would be utterly powerless to fight back.
Even with an alliance, they would still struggle to stand against the Gongsun family's younger generation — after all, the Gongsun family had a terrifying figure like Gongsun Yuntian.
The fifth level of Dragon Transformation, power comparable to a first-grade Martial Venerable — among all the juniors present, who could possibly match that?
But at least with an alliance, there was a sliver of hope.
As long as they didn't run into Gongsun Yuntian, they could not only hold their own against the other Gongsun prodigies but might even have the advantage.
After Chu Feng agreed to the alliance, Xia Yan proved true to his word and began telling Chu Feng about the origins of the Thousand Transformation Palace.
The Thousand Transformation Palace was a secret treasure. Where it came from, no one knew.
What was certain, however, was that this treasure concealed many benefits within.
Inside it lay numerous treasures and opportunities related to Spirit World Masters.
So if this trial ground was indeed the Thousand Transformation Palace, then for Spirit World Masters like themselves, it could be considered a rare opportunity.
If their luck was good enough and they found something truly valuable inside, then even if they lost the suitor selection tournament, the trip would not have been in vain.
Upon learning that the Thousand Transformation Palace was such a place, Chu Feng couldn't help but feel a small thrill. Wherever opportunities awaited, Chu Feng almost never left empty-handed.
Of course, all of Chu Feng's conversations with Xia Yan were conducted through secret voice transmission, so the people from the Gongsun family had no idea that the three of them had already decided to join forces.
Meanwhile, as they talked, the Black Fiend Old Demon was forming hand seals with one hand while the other was pointed at the Thousand Transformation Palace.
A powerful and vast stream of formation energy was pouring ceaselessly into the Thousand Transformation Palace, which trembled ever so slightly under the influx.
Under his efforts, the gates of the Thousand Transformation Palace slowly began to open.
And Chu Feng noticed that beads of sweat had appeared on the Black Fiend Old Demon's face — though his expression showed no sign of struggle, those beads of sweat spoke to the effort it cost him.
Though Chu Feng couldn't determine the Black Fiend Old Demon's exact level of strength, he could sense his power through the formation energy he released.
At the very least, his strength was unmatched in the current Holy Light Galaxy.
Yet even such a powerful existence found it this taxing just to open the gate.
That gave Chu Feng a whole new perspective on the Thousand Transformation Palace.
"Hey, Brother Xia Yan."
"The Thousand Transformation Palace — isn't it the Black Fiend Old Demon's treasure? So why does it look like even he's struggling to open it?"
Chu Feng voiced the question in his mind.
"How could it possibly be easy?"
"The Thousand Transformation Palace may belong to the Black Fiend Old Demon, but this treasure possesses a will of its own — the Black Fiend Old Demon doesn't have much control over it."
"Their relationship is more like one between equals."
"It's said that the Black Fiend Old Demon has to channel massive amounts of formation energy into the Thousand Transformation Palace every single day, doing so for thirty continuous years, before the palace can be opened even once."
Xia Yan explained.
"Thirty years? It's that much trouble?"
Chu Feng was genuinely astonished.
"Then why would the Black Fiend Old Demon give this opportunity to us instead of using it himself?"
Something about this didn't sit right with Chu Feng.
The Black Fiend Old Demon had been all smiles the entire time, seemingly easygoing — but he was certainly not a genuinely agreeable person, otherwise he wouldn't have earned the fearsome title of Black Fiend Old Demon.
Why would someone like that hand such benefits to outsiders like Chu Feng for no reason?