At this moment, above the Crouching Dragon Martial Sect, the void was blanketed by blood-red qi. At first glance, the qi resembled layers of clouds, churning and rolling across the sky.
But the aura emanating from that blood-red qi was extraordinarily powerful, intimidating all directions.
Normally, seeing such a scene would make Chu Feng's heart tighten with worry, but right now, he felt none of that.
Chu Feng first sensed that while this aura was powerful, it posed no threat. This was a phenomenon.
But most importantly, within this sky-obscuring red qi, he detected a trace of Zi Ling's aura. Though it wasn't particularly strong, Chu Feng still picked up on it.
Presumably, this phenomenon must have been caused by the blood-red ancient tower within Zi Ling's body.
So Chu Feng felt happy. After all, the appearance of such phenomena usually signified a gain.
Judging from the phenomenon before him, Zi Ling must have obtained a considerable reward from within that blood-red ancient tower.
"Chu Feng, you're back."
Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out.
Looking toward the voice, he saw a beautiful figure flying through the air. In the blink of an eye, she had arrived before Chu Feng amid a fragrant breeze.
This person was one of Chu Feng's friends at the Crouching Dragon Martial Sect — Xia Yan.
"Chu Feng, when did you get back?"
Upon seeing Chu Feng, Xia Yan couldn't hide the smile on her face.
But soon, she sensed the aura emanating from Chu Feng, and her expression froze.
"Is this... is this your formation power?" Xia Yan asked in a grave tone.
It turned out that in order to reach this place quickly, Chu Feng had used his formation arts to power a boat that could accelerate within ancient teleportation arrays.
This caused the power of his formation arts to linger around his body. Even though he had stopped using them, a trace of formation power still clung to him.
And Chu Feng's formation arts had now reached the ninth level of Dragon Transformation — just one step away from the legendary Divine Robe.
But even the ninth level of Dragon Transformation was remarkable, especially to Xia Yan, who was also skilled in formation arts. It was simply unimaginable.
"It's not just my formation arts. Take another look."
As Chu Feng spoke, another aura surged from within him — the aura of an eighth-rank Martial Immortal.
"E-Eighth-rank Martial Immortal?"
"Ninth level of Dragon Transformation?"
"You— you— you— what happened to you?"
"How long have you even been gone from the Crouching Dragon Martial Sect? How did you improve to this level by the time we meet again?"
Xia Yan covered her mouth with both hands in shock, knowing that her expression must have been quite unsightly from the sheer surprise.
"I got lucky. I stumbled upon some opportunities."
Chu Feng said with a grin. He had long anticipated that Xia Yan would react this way, and understandably so — the leap in his cultivation was truly enormous.
And it was precisely because of his close relationship with Xia Yan that he showed her this. It wasn't bragging — it was sharing.
"That's absolutely heaven-defying! Where did you find these opportunities? I'm going there too."
Just as expected, after a brief moment of shock, Xia Yan was overcome with elation. She was genuinely happy for Chu Feng.
"As it happens, it was the very place where we first met," Chu Feng said.
"Where we first met? Could it be the Asura Burial Ground?" Xia Yan asked.
"That's right." Chu Feng didn't hide anything, and went on to tell Xia Yan exactly what had happened, sparing no detail.
"Oh my god, are you telling the truth?"
"That Asura army is inside your body?" Upon learning what had happened, Xia Yan's normally composed face once again fell wide open in shock.
"Would I lie to you? Anyway, I've told you about my situation."
"Now tell me — what's going on with the sky? Zi Ling caused this, didn't she?" Chu Feng asked.
"Yes, Zi Ling did cause it."
"However, Zi Ling has been in secluded cultivation this whole time. This phenomenon has already persisted for quite a while, and from the looks of it, it won't be disappearing anytime soon," Xia Yan said.
"Did the Sect Master say anything about it?" Chu Feng asked.
"The Sect Master simply said there was nothing to worry about, and then left," Xia Yan said.
"Left?"
"Where did the Sect Master go?"
Chu Feng asked.
"Do you remember that disciple the Sect Master brought back? The one called the Head of the Crouching Dragon? The Sect Master named her Wen Xue."
Xia Yan said.
"Wen Xue, I know her. What about her?" Chu Feng asked.
"The Sect Master found an ancient talent-testing platform from somewhere and had all of us disciples and elders undergo testing."
"And Wen Xue's test results were absolutely terrifying."
"After seeing the results, the Sect Master was very satisfied and took her away for cultivation," Xia Yan said.
"Is that so?"
Learning that the Crouching Dragon Martial Sect's Sect Master was away, Chu Feng actually felt relieved. After all, he had secretly taken Yao Yao away, and if the Sect Master had been around, he would surely have been punished.
Since the Sect Master was absent, Chu Feng figured he had dodged a bullet.
"Oh right, Chu Feng — now that you're back, you should go test yourself too."