Previously, Chu Feng had been puzzled. The two corridors behind had no murals and no clues whatsoever — so what was the point of their existence?
Now he finally understood. These corridors were special locations.
If one activated the power of barrier formations within the corridor, one would receive a boost from the initiative force — and that boost was extraordinarily powerful.
It was so powerful that the barrier key, which even the Nine Dragon Divine Robe could not conceal, could be hidden by a simple concealment formation Chu Feng set up inside the corridor.
In other words, normal methods couldn't hide the key, but with the initiative boost, hiding it became possible.
The strength of one's barrier power didn't seem to matter all that much — the initiative boost was what truly counted.
If that was really the case, then Chu Feng was about to get a massive advantage.
After all, he had claimed the most initiative force earlier.
Which meant his formation-setting power inside the corridor was the strongest of all.
"Lord True Dragon, why did you set things up this way?"
Chu Feng pondered for a moment, but then his eyes lit up.
"I understand now. The Lord True Dragon's earlier formation only stated that fighting was forbidden in the trial grounds and that mutual attacks inside the great hall would result in punishment."
"But this corridor is clearly not part of the trial grounds, nor is it the great hall."
"So fighting inside this corridor is perfectly allowed."
Chu Feng's comprehension dawned, and he finally grasped the true intent behind the Lord True Dragon's design.
On the surface, the Lord True Dragon appeared to protect the trial-takers — but in reality, it hadn't truly protected them at all.
It had deliberately left these corridors behind. These corridors were exactly where duels could take place.
And moreover, it wasn't a fair dueling ground at all.
After all, the initiative force the Lord True Dragon had left behind provided a boost — and under normal circumstances, the more initiative force one had seized, the stronger the boost one received.
This place was naturally far from being fair.
Of course, precisely because the earlier formation masquerading as the Lord True Dragon had declared that fighting was forbidden, it had put people on their guard.
So in all likelihood, very few people would ever discover the true purpose of these corridors.
It was an extremely easy thing to overlook.
In truth, if not for that person with the surname Hu refusing to enter for so long, Chu Feng might never have figured out the corridor's real purpose either.
"It seems the person with the surname Hu has already discovered the corridor's true purpose ahead of time, as well as the initiative force boost."
"Which means the formation he's setting up right now is definitely meant to deal with me and Bai Yunqing."
"This person with the surname Hu — he's no simple character."
Having inadvertently seen through the Lord True Dragon's true design for the corridor, Chu Feng actually grew excited.
Never mind the fact that he had the Spirit Army at his disposal — with the initiative force boost alone, Chu Feng now possessed power that surpassed even the Purple Dragon Divine Robe.
He wouldn't dare make claims about other places, but within this corridor, he was most likely the strongest of the three.
"Since you've made your preparations, then naturally I can't just sit here and wait."
After that, Chu Feng remained inside the corridor and began setting up his own formations.
And while doing so, he employed the power of the Celestial Master's Horsetail Whisk.
He already had the initiative force boost, and on top of that, the boost from the Celestial Master's Horsetail Whisk granted Chu Feng unimaginable power within the corridor.
The formation Chu Feng created was an exceptionally powerful ambush formation, designed specifically to deal with the person surnamed Hu and Bai Yunqing in what was to come.
To avoid alerting them, Chu Feng deliberately disguised the ambush formation to look exactly like the barrier key.
In a moment, he would simply carry this ambush formation into the great hall and let it take his place.
That way, Bai Yunqing and the person surnamed Hu would mistake the ambush formation for Chu Feng himself.
If, once they entered the new corridor, the person surnamed Hu or Bai Yunqing tried to attack him, they would inevitably strike the ambush formation instead.
In that case, not only would Chu Feng be unharmed — it would be they who suffered the consequences.
Just to be safe, Chu Feng had put considerable effort into constructing this formation.
So when it was finally complete, it had taken quite some time.
"Done at last."
Chu Feng looked at the ambush formation shaped like a key, and a satisfied — even somewhat sinister — smile spread across his face.
Chu Feng figured that Bai Yunqing probably hadn't discovered the corridor's true purpose yet. So when they entered the next corridor, if anyone launched an attack, it would almost certainly be the person surnamed Hu.
And that person had been acting awfully sneaky — somewhat despicable, really.
To deal with such a despicable individual, Chu Feng had added a touch of his own mischievous twist when setting up the ambush formation.
It was precisely this little twist that gave Chu Feng his rather malicious grin.
"Hmm? His barrier power has disappeared — looks like he's finished setting up too."
Chu Feng had been far too focused on his own formation to keep watching the person surnamed Hu.
Now that his formation was complete, he realized that the Hu person's barrier power had vanished long ago, meaning he had finished his setup and may have even entered the great hall already.
"Good. Let's see what tricks you've got up your sleeve."
With that, Chu Feng passed through the barrier gate and returned to the great hall.
At the same time, following him into the great hall was the ambush formation he had created.