"Senior, do you know Lord Qin Jiu?"
Chu Feng asked.
"Answer me first. Whatever questions you have, ask them after I'm done questioning you," the woman said.
"Understood. I'll follow your lead, Senior."
"I don't know whether my inheritance came from Lord Qin Jiu. I obtained it at an ancestral ground. I suspect that the creator of that ancestral ground received Lord Qin Jiu's inheritance but didn't comprehend much of it, which is why it wasn't very pure."
"Building on the foundation of that ancestral ground's inheritance, I comprehended a new method of breaking formations. What I just used was the formation-breaking method I developed."
"As for the Royal Bloodline, I can't be certain either. However, a senior once told me that mine closely resembles the Royal Bloodline."
Chu Feng explained.
"Whether it is or isn't — one test will tell."
"Follow me."
As the woman spoke, she headed deeper into the cave. Chu Feng quickly followed.
They could test for the Royal Bloodline?
But Chu Feng had heard that testing for the Royal Bloodline required a special procedure, and it seemed only the Seven Realms Sacred Manor could perform such a test.
So was this woman from the Seven Realms Sacred Manor?
But Chu Feng asked nothing further and simply followed the woman.
They passed through the cave and took to the air, arriving at a floating palace.
The palace was enormous, and its interior space was even larger. How large? One could say it was roughly comparable to the golden lake they had just been at.
Inside were multiple elevated platforms and peculiar formation gates. Everything in here appeared to be designed for testing purposes.
Moreover, most of them emanated a rich ancient aura — they were almost certainly products of a bygone era.
But among them, one item caught Chu Feng's eye above all else.
It was a tower shaped like a sword, standing a full ten thousand meters tall. Its entire structure appeared to be made of white stone, with no light shimmering around it.
Compared to the other platforms, it looked quite plain.
However, it did not emit an ancient aura. The aura it released was far older than ancient — it was the weight of countless ages settled into its very being.
On the front of the tower, four grand characters were carved in magnificent, dominating script: Talent Test.
If it were just those four characters and an aura deeper than ancient, that alone wouldn't have captivated Chu Feng so.
What truly caught his attention were four smaller characters in the lower right of the inscription, almost like a signature.
Those four small characters read: Celestial Palace.
"That palace — go inside."
The woman spoke and pointed at a platform.
That platform radiated dazzling light, making it the most brilliant one in the entire area.
It stood thirty thousand meters tall, crowned with a uniquely shaped palace. A stone statue lay sprawled outside the palace — it resembled a toad, but not quite a toad. Something strange about it.
Chu Feng took to the air and landed directly before the palace atop the tower.
"Senior, I can't get in."
Chu Feng found that the palace doors remained sealed, and he couldn't find any way to open them.
"Seems like it requires something to open. Wait here a moment."
With that, the woman left the area, but she returned almost instantly — as though she had never left at all.
Her speed was terrifying. Once again, Chu Feng confirmed that this woman's strength was truly fearsome.
Swoosh—
Upon returning, the woman tossed an object directly toward the palace.
The moment Chu Feng saw it, his eyes lit up. It was a stone, palm-sized, yet brimming with extraordinarily dense formation treasures. If he could use this treasure, he might have a chance to advance even further.
Chu Feng was already at the ninth level of Dragon Transformation. One more step, and he would reach the Divine Robe stage — possessing formation power comparable to a half-god.
*Slurp!*
As the stone approached the palace, the statue before it actually came alive.
Its massive mouth opened wide, and a long tongue shot out, snatching the very treasure that had made Chu Feng's eyes glow and swallowing it whole.
Seeing this, Chu Feng couldn't help but feel a pang of envy.
A treasure like that, fed to a stone statue?
*Booom—*
Immediately after, the palace doors swung open.
When the gates parted, the scene that greeted Chu Feng sent tremors through his heart.
Inside seemed to exist an entire world, and that world was filled entirely with formation power.
That formation power — pure, overwhelming, as if it could split heaven and earth apart.
"Hurry inside. Don't waste time," the woman urged.
Chu Feng didn't dare delay and quickly stepped through.
The moment he entered, the palace doors slammed shut behind him.
*Hummm—*
The palace and the statue both began to radiate an even more brilliant light, the glow surging until it filled every corner of the structure.
The brilliance was so intense that not only ordinary people but even martial cultivators of modest strength would have been unable to open their eyes.
"Formation Bloodline grade: Royal."
The statue actually spoke, but after uttering those words, it fell silent once more, and the testing platform returned to its original state.
The palace doors did not reopen, but a stream of formation power appeared and teleported Chu Feng straight out.
"Senior, is the test over?"
Chu Feng was quite uncertain, because he had barely entered and felt nothing at all before being sent back out.
But while inside, he had been completely cut off from anything happening outside.
"It is indeed the Royal Bloodline."
"I never expected your talent to be this remarkable."
"Your name is Chu Feng, correct? Where are you from?"
The woman grew increasingly curious about him.
Chu Feng hesitated for a moment, but the woman didn't seem like a bad person. Besides, his closest companions had already been captured by mysterious enemies — what else did he have to fear?
So he replied: "This junior is Chu Feng, from the Radiance Heavenly River, of the Chu Heavenly Clan."
"The Radiance Heavenly River?"
"You mean the Ancestral Martial Heavenly River," the woman corrected.
"Ah, yes. It used to be called the Ancestral Martial Heavenly River."
Chu Feng said.
"No wonder the Era of Gods has dawned — it's not without reason. Not only are the younger generations of the current powers extraordinary, but even the long-declined Ancestral Martial Heavenly River has produced a junior of such exceptional talent."
The woman sighed, then looked at Chu Feng and noticed him staring at the sword-shaped testing platform.
"You seem quite interested in that. Ever since you came in, you've been staring at it. Why don't you go try it?" the woman asked.
"I can?" Chu Feng perked up immediately.
"Just stand on it."
"Thank you, Senior." As he spoke, Chu Feng rose into the air once more and positioned himself atop the testing platform.
After he stood upon it, the tower merely trembled slightly — then there was no further reaction.
"Senior, what's the result?"
Chu Feng descended and asked with curiosity.