The power that had just surged into their bodies not only bound their combat strength to the White Dragon Divine Robe—it fixed it at an equal level.
At this moment, Chu Feng's combat strength was identical to his mother's.
Under these circumstances, what they could compete in was the power of their barrier formations and their mastery of barrier techniques.
The earlier attacks, though formidable, had merely been his mother's probing strikes.
Soon, Chu Feng's mother struck again. Countless lotus blossoms materialized in the air, dazzlingly beautiful, condensing into shape.
Yet behind that beauty lurked limitless killing intent.
This was an extraordinarily powerful offensive formation—far beyond anything she had used before.
Chu Feng hurriedly set up a defensive formation to counter it.
Sure enough, the moment the lotuses fully condensed, they shattered apart and came hurtling toward him from every direction.
Each petal carried devastating destructive power.
But they did not charge head-on—they swept in from all sides, forming an encirclement.
The lotus formation was not only immensely powerful but also incredibly fluid and versatile.
This was an exceptional formation. Even with barrier combat strength being equal, the formation itself far surpassed anything in Chu Feng's arsenal.
After all, Chu Feng's mother had been a genius of the Seven Realms Sacred Residence. The formations she commanded were genuinely beyond what Chu Feng could match at his current stage.
Yet while Chu Feng's formations were weaker than his mother's, his technique and finesse in constructing them were the true legacy passed down by Lord Qin Jiu.
With that expertise, even a weaker formation could unleash astonishing power.
Even so, if Chu Feng simply clashed formations head-on, he would struggle to hold back his mother's assault.
So Chu Feng altered the shape of his defensive formation—no longer a spherical barrier encasing him on all sides, but a compact, shield-shaped formation.
A spherical formation could not effectively block attacks coming from every direction at once.
But by condensing the shield formation down to a smaller size, he concentrated his defensive power and could actually hold the line.
The trade-off was that the shield formation covered a far smaller area. Chu Feng had to constantly reposition it as he moved, and do so rapidly, compensating for the不足 in defensive coverage.
This demanded extraordinary control over barrier power.
For Chu Feng, though, it was manageable.
His mastery of formations might fall short of his mother's, but his control over barrier power exceeded hers.
Overall, Chu Feng still held a slight edge in this confrontation—but only a slight one.
"Chu Feng, how are you holding up?" the Queen asked with concern.
She could see that while his combat techniques might be inferior, his mother's raw talent was simply too overwhelming. She could deploy powerful formations with effortless ease.
She was a genius among geniuses.
One thing was nearly certain.
Chu Feng's mother was far more formidable than any prodigy he had ever encountered.
Even for Chu Feng, defeating her would not be easy.
"She is my mother, after all. Her strength is only to be expected."
"But this ancient hall must hold extraordinary opportunities. Today I must win—it looks like I'll have to pull out some tricks…"
Having made his decision, Chu Feng soon slipped into a clear disadvantage, nearly losing all capacity to fight back. He was reduced to constant dodging, or barely managing to block.
On the surface, he had fallen into a crushing deficit and should have collapsed quickly—yet somehow, he kept evading every single attack.
Time and again, her most powerful formations were unleashed, yet none could defeat Chu Feng. None could even wound him. His mother was growing anxious.
Instinctively, she felt that the safe distance she had been maintaining from Chu Feng was too great, giving him too much room to react.
So she abandoned her stationary position and closed the distance.
But the moment she drew near, Chu Feng's dodging trajectory began shifting toward her as well.
Though his mother was manifested by a formation, she was modeled on his mother's power from her prime—complete with her combat instincts.
Soon, she detected Chu Feng's intention and realized he was deliberately luring her closer.
She prepared to retreat and re-establish a safe distance.
But just as she moved to do so, Chu Feng released a surge of barrier power that enveloped his entire body.
It was a movement formation—an extraordinarily powerful movement formation.
Not only was his body cloaked in the formation, but a barrier sword materialized in his hand.
An offensive formation. An devastatingly powerful offensive formation.
The reason Chu Feng had been putting on an act of disadvantage was precisely because he had been secretly constructing these two formations inside his body the entire time.
One cannot attend to two tasks simultaneously. Even for Chu Feng, setting up two powerful formations at once while simultaneously fending off his mother's attacks was bound to leave him struggling.
But now his plan was complete, and it was time for the counterattack.
At this range, the movement formation could perform perfectly.
Chu Feng transformed into a streak of light and closed the gap in an instant. His mother had no time to erect a defensive formation.
She could only watch helplessly as Chu Feng arrived before her and placed the barrier sword against her shoulder.
In that moment, his mother seemed to realize she had lost. She made no further attempt to counter—she simply stood still.
"I'm sorry, Mother."
"I must pass this trial, which means I must defeat you."
Though Chu Feng knew this was a formation's construct, in his heart, had there been any other way, he would have preferred not to do this.
What surprised him, however, was that after he spoke, his mother suddenly turned her head to look at him—and narrowed her eyes.
Chu Feng's heart skipped a beat. Could it be… that this formation-embodied mother could actually understand him?
But just as this thought crossed his mind, his mother spoke.
"If you can defeat me, then your future achievements will surely be extraordinary. I wonder whether we have already met."
"If we have, come find me quickly to claim your reward. If we have not, I look forward to meeting you soon."
Hearing these words, Chu Feng realized he had been overthinking. These were words his mother had left behind years ago—clearly addressed to members of the Seven Realms Sacred Residence.
His mother could never have imagined that one day, someone from outside the Seven Realms Sacred Residence would come to this place.