Chu Feng and Zi Ling's conversation was conducted through secret voice transmission, so Tan Yu couldn't hear any of it.
Meanwhile, the person from the Dragon Breath Clan had yet to return.
Chu Feng began carefully examining the barrier.
He discovered that this barrier not only allowed objects to pass through — with the right approach, he could enter it himself.
Moreover, Chu Feng had a faint sense of familiarity emanating from the barrier.
"Young Friend Chu Feng, sorry to keep you waiting!"
"Kid, you sure move fast — restoring Tan Yu's cultivation in no time at all."
"Oh, have that Tan Yu step away again." At last, the voice from the Dragon Breath Clan sounded once more.
"Senior, are you ready to tell me now?" Chu Feng asked.
But instead of answering directly, the other party asked, "Chu Feng, you should be able to get in, right?"
"I've taken a look — I should… be able to," Chu Feng said.
"Then come on in. Bring your little girlfriend with you. This is a long story that needs to be explained properly," the person from the Dragon Breath Clan said.
"Alright, please wait a moment, Senior." Chu Feng first set up a formation to confirm he could enter. Then he told Tan Yu that he might need to wait for a considerable time, and if he didn't want to wait, he could return to the forest first.
But Tan Yu decided to wait there for Chu Feng.
And so, Chu Feng and Zi Ling passed through the barrier together.
Beyond the barrier lay a barrier space under intense pressure.
At the entrance stood a powerful formation — it was this formation that had completely pierced through the barrier.
Without this formation, even with the existing cracks, Chu Feng would never have been able to enter.
Upon seeing the formation, Chu Feng grew even more certain that the other party's barrier mastery was extraordinarily strong.
At the same time, Chu Feng noticed that this was no ordinary barrier space. It was most likely inside a defensive barrier.
The fact that the space within a defensive barrier had formed its own barrier space spoke volumes about how formidable a Spirit World Master the true owner of this place was.
"Young Friend Chu Feng, we finally meet properly. You really are a talented young man."
As the voice rang out, Chu Feng spotted a small old man at a great distance.
But the old man stood so far away that even Zi Ling's eyesight couldn't detect him.
It was only after Chu Feng moved with Zi Ling toward the old man's location that she finally caught sight of him.
"Why is this senior greeting us from so far away?" Zi Ling asked, puzzled.
"There's a formation binding him. That should be the closest he can get to the exit," Chu Feng explained.
"So that's how it is. This senior is already so powerful, yet he's so restricted here."
"Just how powerful must the owner of this place be?" Zi Ling exclaimed.
"Extremely powerful — beyond imagination," Chu Feng agreed.
As the two talked, Chu Feng had already brought Zi Ling to a position near the old man.
"Ahaha, Young Friend Chu Feng! And what is this young lady's name?" the old man asked with a beaming smile, brimming with warmth.
"Zi Ling." As she spoke, Zi Ling's appearance shifted, reverting to her true form.
In her view, since Chu Feng had already shown his real face, she too would stand beside him openly.
Not just out of respect for the old man.
But so that if danger arose, they would face it together.
Chu Feng understood Zi Ling's thoughts and didn't stop her, respecting her wishes.
"My, my! Zi Ling, you are absolutely stunning in your true form!"
"Young Friend Chu Feng, you're truly blessed. I've lived for tens of thousands of years, and I've never seen such a beautiful young woman!" The old man's expression was utterly exaggerated.
But Chu Feng knew this wasn't an act — Zi Ling's beauty was genuinely rare in all the world.
"Senior, I don't yet know how I should address you," Chu Feng said.