Chu Feng flew toward the golden pillar of light, and before he even got close, he could see towering ripples raging through the air.
They were fighting!!!
Drawing closer, he could see that the woman had already arrived, but she was unable to get near the golden pillar of light.
Eight crimson beasts were launching coordinated attacks against her.
Those eight crimson beasts, as well as the woman, were all at the first level of Heaven Martial — the same realm as Chu Feng.
And because of the formation's restraint, their combat power was currently identical.
The eight crimson beasts attacked the woman together, and naturally she was no match for them. She was now at an absolute disadvantage.
"Looks like she's going to lose even without me lifting a finger."
"But if she doesn't lose to me personally… could that mean I'll fail too?"
Chu Feng recalled the rules from before — that he was meant to fight the woman — and felt that he had to defeat her with his own hands.
"My apologies, senior. The rules leave me no choice, so please don't hold it against me."
With that thought, he extended his arm, and a martial power bow materialized in his hand. It was a martial skill he had obtained here.
It was only a low-tier martial skill, but it surpassed the Hundred Transformations Bow he already knew. Its power was quite formidable.
Right now, the woman was struggling to deal with the eight crimson beasts and hadn't noticed Chu Feng's presence at all.
One arrow from Chu Feng would surely be enough to defeat her.
But Chu Feng held back, his gaze sweeping back and forth across the eight crimson beasts.
"Chu Feng, why aren't you attacking?" the Queen asked when she saw him hesitating.
"Eggy, something feels off," Chu Feng said.
"Off how?" the Queen asked.
"Look closely — the aura flowing around those eight crimson beasts, doesn't it resemble talisman patterns?" Chu Feng asked the Queen.
"Not really?" the Queen replied.
It was true that the eight crimson beasts had aura flowing around them, and special patterns would emerge as it circulated. But in her experience, those patterns didn't look like talisman markings.
"Let me take a closer look."
Although Chu Feng's barrier cultivation had been restricted and he couldn't use his Heavenly Eyes or other techniques, he was still a Spirit World Master at his core. Years of observational experience were still intact.
On the surface, those aura patterns indeed didn't look like talisman markings, and they were constantly shifting — never staying fixed.
But Chu Feng's instincts and experience kept telling him that they were talisman markings.
The harder something was to identify, the more likely it concealed a true secret.
So Chu Feng observed carefully, and soon he found the pattern.
It turned out that most of the time, the aura patterns were not talisman markings — they were constantly changing, after all. But among the many transformations, certain changes were indeed talisman markings.
Using his memory, Chu Feng recorded every single one of those talisman markings. Then, based on his own expertise, he pieced them together — and quickly discovered the complete talisman pattern. Naturally, he also uncovered the hidden secret.
"It really is a talisman pattern. I knew something felt off — so that's what it was." Chu Feng was overjoyed.
"It's really a talisman pattern? Then did you figure out what secret it holds?" the Queen asked.
"Eggy, I already know what to do. This place can be broken."
The moment those words left his mouth, the bowstring snapped taut and an arrow shot forth.
But this arrow wasn't aimed at the woman — it flew straight toward the most powerful of the eight crimson beasts.
That beast was locked in fierce combat and hadn't noticed Chu Feng's presence at all. The arrow struck its vital point dead on.
With a miserable wail, it toppled to the ground and dissolved into crimson aura that scattered in all directions.
This sudden turn of events left the woman bewildered.
She had been fully engaged in battle and had no idea why that beast had suddenly died, so it struck her as rather inexplicable.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—
Right then, three more golden arrows flew through the air in rapid succession.
Though all three arrows hit their targets, the remaining beasts were now on guard and none of them was struck in a vital spot.
"Was that the formation?"