"You know me?" Chu Feng asked.
But when those words left Chu Feng's mouth, the others seemed somewhat flustered: "My lord, what do you mean?"
Chu Feng sensed something was off from their reactions and asked, "This is the first time we've met, isn't it?"
"Yes." The others nodded.
"Then why do you address me as 'my lord'?" Chu Feng continued.
"My lord's status is above ours, so of course we must address you as 'my lord'?" they replied.
"Status?"
"How is status determined — is it based on the strength of this barrier's power?" Chu Feng speculated.
"Er… roughly speaking, yes." They nodded again.
"Everyone, then why do we each have this layer of barrier power over us — could it be a requirement of the trial here?" Chu Feng asked further.
"Trial?" Upon hearing that word, the others looked even more puzzled. They exchanged glances, seemingly communicating something through secret transmission.
"My lord, how did you come to be here?"
Soon enough, one of them posed the question to Chu Feng.
And Chu Feng felt increasingly that something was wrong.
That question was meant to confirm certain things from Chu Feng's answer, in order to make some judgment.
So he didn't answer directly, instead asking them, "Why are you all here?"
"We came here to send our damaged kin to rebirth," one of them said.
"Damaged kin?"
"Rebirth?"
Hearing those words, Chu Feng's thoughts grew even more tangled.
"My lord, this subordinate has a question to ask — no ill intent, I simply wish to understand," that person said.
"Ask," Chu Feng said.
"May I ask your name?" the person inquired.
"My name?" Chu Feng didn't answer, because he felt like that question was a trap.
"It's this number right here." The person pointed to the digit on his own robe.
"A number? I don't have one yet," Chu Feng said.
"No number?" Upon hearing this, the others seemed to have confirmed something.
They ceased their secret transmissions and spoke openly: "It appears this lord has malfunctioned."
"That's what it looks like to me."
"What do we do then — send him off directly for rebirth, or bring him back and have the elders try to repair him?"
"What nonsense are you spouting? This lord may have malfunctioned, but his cultivation is above ours. If he doesn't comply, we'll be the ones in trouble."
"Better to bring him back and let the elders handle it."
These people spoke without any attempt to hide their words from Chu Feng, and once they were done, they turned to look at him.
"My lord, it seems you've malfunctioned, but there's no need to worry. Just come back with us and let the elders repair you," one of them said to Chu Feng.
"Alright," Chu Feng agreed obediently.
"Then please wait for us a moment, my lord."
With that, they resumed their flight, and Chu Feng followed behind.
They arrived at the very spot Chu Feng had been in earlier, and their leader produced a command token.
When the token appeared, the formation that Chu Feng had been unable to see through before opened up.
It was a Melting Refinement Formation!!!
And then, every single one of them produced a Universe Bag, tossing it above the formation…
The Universe Bags opened, and countless figures flew out from within, plummeting into that Melting Refinement Formation.
Most among them were elderly.
And most of them looked exactly alike.
Only a small portion had unique appearances.
But without exception, they had no life in them.
Yet the numbers were staggering — each Universe Bag held over ten thousand such bodies.
And they had thrown out several hundred Universe Bags.