"Senior, could you reveal yourself?" Chu Feng asked.
But there was no response.
"Chu Feng, what did you hear?" the Queen asked curiously.
"I heard someone tell me that my friends are in mortal danger," Chu Feng answered honestly.
"You mean Long Chengyu and Long Muxi?" the Queen asked.
"Being here, I think it's very likely they're the ones he's referring to," Chu Feng said.
"But what's the point of him telling you that? You can't get in there," the Queen said, puzzled.
"Let me take another look. There should be another way to get in," Chu Feng said, stepping back to carefully examine the barrier blocking him once more.
But he still couldn't see anything.
This was starting to make Chu Feng anxious. Before, he hadn't been this worried, but after the voice's warning, he was genuinely concerned.
"Are you truly willing to save them?"
And just when Chu Feng was at his wit's end, that voice spoke again.
"Yes, Senior, of course I am," Chu Feng replied hastily.
Hum—
At that moment, the space beside Chu Feng rippled, and a gate of light materialized out of thin air.
"If you are truly willing, then step inside and accept the tempering," the voice spoke once more.
"Chu Feng, a door just appeared. What kind of door is it? Did that person tell you anything?" the Queen asked.
Even though she couldn't hear the voice, she could see the gate. She was certain that this suddenly appearing door had something to do with whoever was speaking to Chu Feng.
"He said I should step inside and accept the tempering," Chu Feng said.
"Who exactly is that person?" the Queen asked.
"Senior, could you reveal yourself so we may speak?" Chu Feng asked.
But this time, the voice did not respond.
Chu Feng knew there was no other option — he stepped directly through the gate of light before him.
The moment he passed through, Chu Feng found himself in a vast wasteland.
This was vastly different from the tempering grounds he had entered before.
This place was like a true wasteland. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but desolation — he couldn't sense any tempering power whatsoever.
Instinctively, Chu Feng figured that perhaps the tempering ground was something he had to find on his own.
But before he could even take a step, the earth beneath his feet began to tremble.
Rumble, rumble, rumble—
The trembling grew more and more intense. As far as the eye could see, the ground was shaking violently. At the same time, Chu Feng caught a pungent, metallic scent of blood.
Before long, a colossal tidal wave rose in the distance, hurtling toward him at terrifying speed.
It was a crimson tide — not just the color of blood, but a tide formed from actual, genuine blood.
The wave towered at least a thousand meters high, and as it surged and roiled forward, it exuded an overwhelming sense of pressure.
The crimson tide was blindingly fast, and in the blink of an eye, it had swallowed Chu Feng whole.
When he looked around, everything had been engulfed by the tide of blood. It was as though he were at the bottom of a vast, crimson ocean.
"Chu Feng, are you alright?"
"How does it feel?" the Queen asked worriedly. The crimson tide had looked far too terrifying — she was genuinely concerned.
"Dan Dan, I'm fine. I don't feel anything at all," Chu Feng said.
"You don't feel anything?" the Queen exclaimed in surprise. The crimson tide had looked so horrifying that she had assumed the tempering must be equally brutal.
"Indeed, I don't really feel much of anything," Chu Feng said.
"Then is this really tempering?" the Queen asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. Let's wait and see," Chu Feng said. He truly wasn't sure. All he could feel was the blood soaking into him, seeping into his skin.