After that, out of courtesy to Chu Feng's earnest invitation, Chunwu had no choice but to continue sharing martial marks with him.
With time growing ever more pressing, they forwent food and sleep, searching for martial marks without rest.
Under these circumstances, by the evening of the eighth day, Chu Feng and Chunwu had each obtained ninety martial marks. At this rate, collecting a hundred before leaving this place would be almost no problem at all.
But even so, Chu Feng simply couldn't bring himself to feel happy. For him, the thing he cared about most right now was not martial marks, but another item of vital importance — the very reason he had entered this Martial Mark Fairyland in the first place: the Martial Mark Fairy Lotus.
Yet it had already been eight days since he entered this fairyland. Chu Feng had traversed both sky and earth but still hadn't found the Martial Mark Fairy Lotus. This left him deeply frustrated, and his worry and melancholy were clearly visible on his face.
It wasn't that Chu Feng was being too obvious with his emotions. If he truly couldn't find the Martial Mark Fairy Lotus, he would have no way to save Yan Ruyu's life.
"Don't worry, Junior Brother Wuqing," Chunwu said with a smile, having seen through his troubled state. "If the Martial Mark Fairy Lotus isn't at the heart of the fairyland, then I'm certain it must be in the borderlands."
"The fairyland has borders?" Chu Feng was somewhat surprised. He had wandered through this Martial Mark Fairyland for so many days and had always felt it was boundless — how could it have an edge?
"Junior Brother Wuqing, don't forget that the entire Misty Immortal Peak is a single formation. The Martial Mark Fairyland is clearly the same. Since it was created by a formation, no matter how vast it may be, how could it truly be infinite?"
"In truth, everyone's sense that this fairyland is vast and endless is nothing more than an illusion. Otherwise, in such an enormous expanse of land, we wouldn't keep running into others who also entered the fairyland."
"All along, we've been wandering back and forth within a fixed area. The reason we never see anything familiar and feel as though we're visiting each place for the first time is that everything in the fairyland is constantly changing in ways imperceptible to the senses. That's why we don't realize we're simply going in circles," Chunwu explained.
"So that's how it is." Hearing this, Chu Feng suddenly understood.
In fact, every time he sensed someone flying overhead, he had suspected that the hundred of them who entered this place were actually trapped within a confined area. Otherwise, in such a vast Martial Mark Fairyland with only a hundred people, how could the probability of encountering one another be so high?
But because he never found any repeating landmarks — only new, unfamiliar surroundings — he had told himself he might be overthinking it.
Now it seemed his suspicions had been right all along. They had been going in circles. It was just that the Martial Mark Fairyland was far too profound, so profound that even Chu Feng couldn't spot the flaw.
"Sister Chunwu, within this Martial Mark Fairyland, Mental Power is essentially useless — you can't sense any changes at all. Do you know how to reach the borderlands?" Chu Feng asked.
"Well... Master only told me that the fairyland has borderlands, where rare treasures and opportunities can be found, but also mortal dangers. As for how to get there, she really didn't say."
"Sigh, Master is always like this. Just like with that Unpredictable Map — she could have directly granted us the benefit of enhanced Mental Power, but she refused, insisting we figure it out ourselves despite the risk."
Chunwu was somewhat vexed. She truly wanted to help Chu Feng, but she genuinely couldn't think of a way. After all, Mental Power was useless for discerning anything in this fairyland.
"I've got it! Since our senses are being deceived and we can't tell direction, surely the Spirit Realm Compass can't be fooled too?" Suddenly, Chu Feng's eyes lit up, and he produced a Spirit Realm Compass.
"A Spirit Realm Compass? Junior Brother Wuqing, even Mental Power doesn't work here — how could this thing be any use?" Chunwu looked at the compass in Chu Feng's hand, visibly surprised.
"There's only one way to find out." Chu Feng smiled faintly, then channeled his Mental Power into the device.
The Spirit Realm Compass could detect even hidden dangers, let alone directions. So once Chu Feng fed his Mental Power into it, indicators for the four cardinal directions quickly appeared.
"Is... is this really going to work?" Although the compass had given clear directions, Chunwu still had her doubts. After all, this fairyland was an ancient and powerful formation. Thinking such a simple tool could crack it seemed far too naive.
"Hey, same answer as before — there's only one way to find out." Chu Feng didn't bother explaining. He chuckled and then followed the compass's indicator, heading in a particular direction.
"Ah —" Seeing this, Chunwu felt it was unwise but couldn't think of a better method, so she had no choice but to fly along with him.
Under their swift flight, in just a single hour, the endless mountain ranges before them gave way to a bank of fog.
The fog was golden, vast and all-encompassing, shrouding everything ahead. But viewed from afar, it looked more like some kind of peculiar barrier sealing off this stretch of sky and earth.
"Oh my, it actually worked! Junior Brother Wuqing, you're so clever — who would have thought of using the Spirit Realm Compass for this?"
Arriving here, Chunwu was incredibly excited. She had considered countless methods, all of which she'd ultimately dismissed as futile. She never expected that such a basic technique — one any Spirit World Master would know — would actually succeed.
"Hey, sometimes the simplest methods are the most effective. Come on, Sister Chunwu — let's see what treasures lie in the borderlands of this Martial Mark Fairyland."
As he spoke, Chu Feng shot into the golden mist. In truth, he had no interest in any random treasures. The only thing he wanted to find right now was the Martial Mark Fairy Lotus.
Once inside the mist, Chu Feng and Chunwu quickly felt a strange, oppressive pressure — the unmistakable aura of danger. The deeper they ventured, the more intense it became.
After walking through the mist for half an hour, they gradually began to hear eerie sounds, growing clearer and clearer, until eventually a cascade of various noises resounded from up ahead.
With his keen hearing, Chu Feng could distinguish women's wails, miserable shrieks, and even the roars of some unknown creatures.
"Junior Brother Wuqing, this place is too creepy. Let's not go any deeper." At this moment, Chunwu clutched tightly onto Chu Feng's arm. This woman, who had never feared anything, was visibly frightened.
Looking at Chunwu's pale face, her flickering gaze, and her trembling body, Chu Feng hesitated. But the thought that he still hadn't found the Martial Mark Fairy Lotus made him unwilling to turn back.
So with a thought, he activated his Heaven's Eye, peering deep into the mist with its unique vision.
"Oh my — what is that?!" But the moment he looked, Chu Feng's pupils contracted sharply. His expression changed dramatically, every hair on his body standing on end as cold sweat poured from his forehead.