The white-haired woman hadn't said a word. She merely stood before Chu Feng, yet Jia Chengying had already taken notice of her.
"What does Miss Bai mean by this? Are you looking to fight?"
"Even if you could barely manage to defeat me, you may not be able to beat the two of them," Jia Chengying said.
"Barely?" The white-haired woman regarded Jia Chengying with cold indifference, as though looking at a fool.
But at that moment, Chu Feng spoke up.
"Everyone, the leader divided us into two groups for a reason."
"And the fact that this trial brought us together must also have its purpose."
"I believe this formation needs to be broken through our combined efforts. So there's no need to start fighting and scrambling over it right now," Chu Feng said.
"Chu Feng, are you scared?" Jia Chengying said with a grin.
Boom—
But before Chu Feng could respond, the white-haired woman unleashed her aura directly—Fourth level Half-God.
She was issuing a warning: they were not afraid.
Sensing the white-haired woman's aura, Chu Feng took it in stride, but Bai Yunqing was utterly shocked.
This level of cultivation far exceeded his expectations.
After all, Long Chengyu, the most talented genius of the Totem Galaxy, had only been at the Third level Half-God before entering seclusion.
If comparing only to the pre-seclusion Long Chengyu, this white-haired woman actually surpassed him.
In truth, even Zhou Dong of the Green Moon Divine Hall and Qin Shu of the Firmament Immortal Sect were impressed by the white-haired woman.
"I never expected a young lady of such cultivation. May I ask which sect you hail from?" Qin Shu asked.
The white-haired woman did not answer, but Qin Shu didn't mind. Instead, he smiled and said, "Young lady, why not abandon the dark and join the light? Come with us."
He was poaching right in front of Chu Feng.
Yet to Qin Shu's invitation, the white-haired woman coldly uttered three words: "You're not worthy."
"You—!" Qin Shu's expression immediately shifted upon hearing this.
"You think you're the only Fourth level Half-God?"
"You're not the only genius here."
With that, Qin Shu released his own aura—also Fourth level Half-God.
But upon seeing this, the white-haired woman still said nothing. A crimson aura flared around her body, and her cultivation instantly rose from Fourth level Half-God to Fifth level Half-God.
Then a second layer of purple aura surfaced.
The red and purple auras intertwined, giving off an eerie energy as her cultivation climbed all the way to the Sixth level Half-God.
"So she can also raise her cultivation by two levels within the Half-God realm?"
Jia Chengying grew awkward. He had fought the white-haired woman before, and he had lost. At the time, she had only raised her cultivation by one level, which had left him burning with frustration.
But only now did he realize that she could actually raise it by two levels.
This made him understand that even though he too could raise his cultivation by two levels within the Half-God realm, being only at the Third level Half-God meant there was no way he could ever defeat the white-haired woman.
"Miss Little White, your abilities are truly impressive. It was my presumption," Qin Shu said.
Sensing the white-haired woman's current power, Qin Shu—despite initially wanting to test her—retracted his aura.
However, his behavior made Chu Feng furrow his brows.
He noticed that Qin Shu didn't appear afraid. If he wasn't afraid yet still backed down, there was likely something fishy going on.
"Chu Feng, something's off about Miss Little White," the Queen said.
"What's off?" Chu Feng asked.
"The aura she uses to raise her cultivation seems to be a forbidden Mystic Art."
"But a genius of her caliber shouldn't have weak bloodline power. Why wouldn't she develop her own bloodline instead of cultivating a forbidden Mystic Art?" the Queen asked.
Chu Feng felt the Queen had a point, but he didn't want to speculate too much about the white-haired woman's affairs. So he said, "She must have her reasons."
Then Chu Feng turned to Zhou Dong, Qin Shu, and Jia Chengying.
"So, are we joining forces or not? If not, we each break through on our own," Chu Feng addressed them again, his tone turning cold.
He had proposed working together because he believed they should. But if they refused to give him that respect, Chu Feng wouldn't be polite about it.
"What you said earlier isn't entirely correct. We do need to combine our efforts to break the formation—doing so would speed things up. However, hidden within this formation are certain clues that will prove helpful in the trials that follow."
"How many clues you obtain depends on individual ability. So we are still in competition," Zhou Dong—the quiet one among them—finally spoke.
"Then what are you suggesting?"
"We start fighting right now?" Chu Feng asked.
"There's no need for that. I agree that since the Ancient World divided us into two groups, there must be a reason. We truly don't need to start clashing here."
"If we eliminate some of our own at this stage, it may work against us in the upcoming trials."
"There are four formation eyes in this array. So each side sends two Spirit World Masters to break through. As for how many clues you can obtain, that depends on your own abilities," Zhou Dong said.