"Qing Xuantian — could it really be that Qing Xuantian from the Nine Provinces Continent?"
Her Majesty couldn't be sure. After all, the world was vast and full of oddities. Places with the same name were countless, to say nothing of people who shared a name.
"The scenery in this painting is from a mountain range in the Nine Provinces Continent. I'm fairly certain." Compared to Her Majesty, Chu Feng was quite confident.
"How is the quality of this painting?" Her Majesty's implication was clear — she wanted to judge the painter's strength through the quality of the work.
"The painting is quite good, and I can tell it's the handiwork of a True Dragon Spirit World Master," Chu Feng said.
"A True Dragon Spirit World Master? So Qing Xuantian not only became a Spirit World Master, but a True Dragon Spirit World Master?"
"He actually grew that strong? I thought… he'd long been left in your dust." Her Majesty was somewhat surprised.
Though Qing Xuantian was a legend in the Nine Provinces Continent and even in the Ancestral Martial Lower Realm…
The Ancestral Martial Lower Realm was, after all, a truly godforsaken backwater.
Becoming famous there didn't mean one could become famous in the mortal realm, let alone in the Upper Realm — to say nothing of the Star Field, or the vast Martial Cultivation World as a whole.
Besides, apart from the Ancestral Martial Lower Realm, Qing Xuantian had shown no signs of activity whatsoever. That alone suggested he probably hadn't made any waves.
So Her Majesty had always believed that Chu Feng probably wouldn't run into Qing Xuantian again, and that Chu Feng had long since surpassed him — leaving him far, far behind.
But today's revelation seemed to suggest otherwise.
"Chu Feng, are you certain? He's really a True Dragon Spirit World Master?" Her Majesty asked again.
"I'm certain. He's definitely a True Dragon Spirit World Master," Chu Feng said.
"What rank among True Dragon Spirit World Masters?" Her Majesty pressed.
"I can't determine that precisely, but I'd guess it's the early stage," Chu Feng said.
"Could it be that someone painted on his behalf, and this isn't actually his own work?" Her Majesty asked once more.
"No. The reason I'm so certain isn't just because the scenery is from the Nine Provinces Continent — the brushwork is Qing Xuantian's brushwork too."
"It's definitely him," Chu Feng said.
"If his formation arts have reached the True Dragon Spirit World Master level, then his cultivation certainly can't be any weaker. He was always a martial cultivator first and foremost — how did he get this strong?" Her Majesty was very curious.
"Actually, it's not entirely unpredictable."
"Back then, he gave up the Four Symbols Divine Body. But my father said the Four Symbols Divine Body ranked third among the Heaven-Granted Divine Bodies."
"Even if Qing Xuantian didn't know the ranking back then, it was his own divine body — he should have been able to feel how powerful it was."
"The fact that he gave up a Heaven-Granted Divine Body means he found a better option. At least, it was better for him at the time," Chu Feng said.
"Since this painting is kept here, the Formation Painting Master has very likely met Qing Xuantian. Why don't you ask him about it when the time comes?" Her Majesty said.
"That's exactly what I was thinking."
Though Chu Feng was curious about Qing Xuantian, he continued examining the other paintings, because he noticed that some of them were incredibly ancient — works from the primordial era.
And although those paintings depicted different scenery, they all shared one thing in common: their formations were very likely identical.
The more he observed, the more such paintings he found — not only from the same era, but from the same person.
Most importantly, after careful observation, Chu Feng discovered that those paintings all carried the same faint aura. It was subtle, but he still detected it.
It was the same aura as the Hall of Equality.
Thus, Chu Feng surmised that the paintings containing the identical formations were likely the work of the true master of this Hall of Equality.
He was very curious — what exactly had this person been trying to accomplish by creating so many identical formations?
Meanwhile, in the valley outside the great hall, the woman Chu Feng had first encountered arrived before the hall's entrance.
She tried pushing the doors open several times, only to find them utterly immovable.
But she didn't leave. Instead, she began running her hand along the surface — but in a deliberate, rhythmic manner, as if tracing something on the door.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
"Stop right there! Is this a place where you can just do whatever you want?"
Her actions immediately drew reproach from numerous people, but she ignored them all and continued what she was doing.
Finally, a man could hold back no longer. He strode forward and snarled, "Are you courting death? I said stop!"