"Everyone, I've only heard rumors about this matter. You don't need to think too deeply about it."
"Perhaps that treasure is still intact and sitting right there in our Seven Realms Sacred Palace. After all, that kind of treasure isn't something I would have access to," Ling Xiao added with a smile.
"Don't worry, Brother Ling Xiao. We'll keep this matter confidential," Long Chengyu said with a grin.
"Rest assured, it'll be kept secret," Qin Xuan echoed.
Everyone understood that Ling Xiao's claim of having merely "heard rumors" was simply to avoid being blamed for spreading the palace's secrets if word got out.
So what he had said was essentially the truth — that bronze gate was most likely truly gone.
However, Xianhai Shaoyu did not seem content to leave the topic there, so he spoke up once more: "Have you all forgotten about our brother Chu Feng's mother — Senior Jie Ranqing?"
"It's true that many powerful figures emerged in the early era."
"But as far as I know, the early era did not produce a King's Bloodline."
"When Senior Jie Ranqing appeared, she was one of a kind in the entire world." At these words, Xianhai Shaoyu turned his gaze toward Ling Xiao.
"Ling Xiao, you yourself said that Chu Feng has a chance of opening that bronze gate."
"Do you really think Senior Jie Ranqing didn't have a chance?"
At this, the expressions of everyone around shifted.
"That's right. Logically speaking, Lord Jie Ranqing should have had a very good chance of opening that bronze gate."
"Could it be that Lord Jie Ranqing was the one who opened it?"
"Now that you mention it, there really is a possibility."
When the topic of the bronze gate's disappearance came up, Xianhai Shaoyu had connected it to the possibility that someone had opened it.
Their first instinct had been that the bronze gate couldn't have been opened — because no one was capable of doing so.
But once they thought of Jie Ranqing, they all felt that if anyone could have accomplished it, she certainly could have.
Jie Ranqing was simply too extraordinary in the vast world of martial cultivation.
Especially for their generation.
Even though none of them had ever witnessed Jie Ranqing's spl firsthand, they were all intimately familiar with her legendary exploits.
That was why, regarding the strength of Chu Feng's mother Jie Ranqing, even these top-tier geniuses harbored not the slightest doubt.
Some among them had even taken Jie Ranqing as their goal when they were young, and still regarded her as their idol today.
But once the topic landed on Jie Ranqing, Ling Xiao let out a somewhat wistful sigh.
"I've heard a certain theory within the palace."
"Lord Jie Ranqing once challenged the bronze gate, but she failed," Ling Xiao said.
"She failed?"
Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions changed.
None of them had ever heard this piece of news before.
If even Jie Ranqing had failed, that undoubtedly made the bronze gate's difficulty all the more daunting.
At this moment, Jie Baobao also spoke: "I've heard that when Lord Jie Ranqing attempted to open it, she actually triggered a phenomenon."
"She was only a hair's breadth away. If she had been just a little more prepared, she might have succeeded."
"Unfortunately, the bronze gate only allowed a single attempt."
"So that's how it was." Xianhai Shaoyu also felt a twinge of regret — he genuinely admired Jie Ranqing.
He had truly believed before that Jie Ranqing might have already entered the Primordial Creation Ground.
But soon, his eyes lit up again, and he turned toward Chu Feng: "If it wasn't Senior Jie Ranqing, then could it be possible that it was brother Chu Feng's father?"