"Senior, if you keep praising me like this, I'm going to get cocky," Chu Feng said with a grin.
"Don't get cocky."
"Your talent is exceptional, but your bloodline has yet to fully awaken. You're still green — you must continue to cultivate diligently and never grow lax," the purple-dressed woman said.
"Junior will certainly work hard and bring honor to Senior."
"Senior, those three juniors you mentioned — are they juniors of the current era, or were they simply juniors when they received their inheritances?" Chu Feng asked.
"Of course they're juniors of the current era. Was what I said earlier not clear enough?" the purple-dressed woman asked.
"It's clear now."
"But Senior, you've been stationed here the entire time. How have you come to know so much?" Chu Feng asked.
"The nine of us are all extraordinary beings born of heaven and earth. We were nurtured in the same place, like siblings, and naturally share a special bloodline connection."
"No matter how great the distance between us, we have a special means of communication. It isn't instantaneous, of course — it takes time for the message to travel."
"But it can penetrate any barrier. That is one of our abilities," the purple-dressed woman said.
"That's incredible, Senior," Chu Feng said.
"Stop flattering me. If you have questions, just ask them directly," the woman said.
"Then Senior — of the nine inheritance sites, how many are within the Ancient God Domain, and how many are outside of it?"
Chu Feng wanted to confirm how many people besides himself had received inheritances outside the Ancient God Domain in the present era.
"Trying to wheedle information out of me again. I can't tell you any more."
"It's almost time. I need to go." As she spoke, the purple-dressed woman prepared to leave.
"Senior Purple, I have one more question," Chu Feng hurriedly said.
"Go ahead," the purple-dressed woman said.
"Is Lord Qin Jiu also in the Primordial God Domain?" Chu Feng asked.
Upon hearing this, the woman's expression suddenly turned sorrowful.
Chu Feng immediately sensed that something was wrong.
"Senior... could it be that Lord Qin Jiu has passed away?" Chu Feng asked.
The woman said nothing. Her grief grew heavier and heavier, and Chu Feng could even faintly sense killing intent. Though it wasn't directed at him, he could tell that the purple-dressed woman's emotions were unstable, so he chose not to press further.
Soon, the killing intent dissipated, and the sorrow gradually faded from the woman's face. Not because she had stopped grieving — but because she was remarkably skilled at regulating her own emotions.
"Chu Feng, are there people you want to protect?" the purple-dressed woman asked. Her gaze had grown solemn.
"There are," Chu Feng answered with equal gravity.
"Then cultivate diligently," the purple-dressed woman said.
"Senior, what exactly happened in the late Ancient era?" This was something Chu Feng had always been curious about, yet he had never found an answer.
"I can't remember," the purple-dressed woman said.
"Can't remember?" Chu Feng had heard this same response from other beings who had survived from ancient times.
"Something truly terrible did happen. Though we survived, our memories were affected. They haven't fully recovered yet, so for now, we simply cannot recall the specifics," the purple-dressed woman said.
"Something terrible?"
Chu Feng's brow furrowed slightly. What manner of terrible event had caused the severance between the ancient era and the present — cutting off all proper inheritance?
"Chu Feng, have you ever looked up at a night sky ablaze with stars?" the woman asked.
"I have," Chu Feng nodded.
The woman smiled — a bitter smile, one steeped in sorrow.
"You've never seen a truly brilliant starry sky. And you never will again."
"The brilliant starry sky I once saw was the real thing — a sky filled with countless stars."
"The starry sky of today doesn't even amount to a tenth of what it once was."
As the purple-dressed woman spoke, she gazed up at the heavens. Her lashes trembled, as if stirred by memories — but those memories left her expression desolate.
"Not even a tenth of what it once was?"
Chu Feng's heart shook.
He knew that every star in the sky was an entire world. A sky full of stars meant a vast cultivation world.
If the number of stars today didn't even reach a tenth of what it had been, then at least ninety percent of those worlds had been destroyed — or had vanished for some other reason.
Back then, there must have been a great catastrophe. Or perhaps a great war.
But whether it was catastrophe or war, it had been true annihilation — not merely the destruction of heaven and earth, but the obliteration of the stars themselves.
What... could that spectacle have possibly looked like?
It was truly terrifying!!!
"Senior, will something like that happen again?" Chu Feng asked.
"Though I can't recall the exact cause, I have a premonition that it will happen again. And it will come soon," the purple-dressed woman said.
"How soon?" Chu Feng asked.
"Hard to say. At most, ten thousand years. At least, a hundred years. Perhaps... even shorter," the purple-dressed woman said.
Crack—
Hearing this, Chu Feng's fists suddenly clenched tight. Not from anger — but from unease.
A hundred years at the shortest?
That was nowhere near enough time for him to cultivate.
"That's why I said you must not be lax. Your talent must not be squandered."
"When that catastrophe arrives, perhaps all the living beings under heaven will need you to protect them. Even I... may need to rely on you for protection," the purple-dressed woman said.
"Junior will certainly protect Senior," Chu Feng said.
"I believe you," the purple-dressed woman said with a smile. But even as she said it, she didn't truly believe it herself.
She was simply encouraging Chu Feng to cultivate harder. As for him protecting her?