Upon hearing those words, Little Fishy's mother changed her hand seals, and the space that had been trapping the red-robed figure immediately dissipated. The red-robed figure appeared before everyone.
The red-robed figure swept his gaze across the crowd but said nothing, his posture neither servile nor arrogant.
"Senior, I'd like to speak with him privately."
The moment Chu Feng spoke those words, everyone understood his meaning and began stepping back. Chu Feng waved his sleeve, and an isolation formation enveloped him and the red-robed figure within.
Immediately after, Chu Feng unleashed the power of his barrier, condensing two phantom figures—one tall and one short.
They wore the same red robes as the figure before him, with red conical hats covering their faces.
Then Chu Feng formed hand seals, and the two phantoms actually began to speak.
The voices they produced were identical to the two red-robed figures Chu Feng had encountered before.
Of course, Chu Feng was deliberately mimicking them.
He had a feeling that the person before him might know those two red-robed figures.
"Do you recognize these two?" Chu Feng asked.
The red-robed figure remained silent.
"They saved me once," Chu Feng said.
The red-robed figure still said nothing.
"I have no ill intentions. I know you all belong to the same power. I saved you to repay the debt I owe those two."
After saying this, Chu Feng waved his sleeve and first dismissed the two phantoms conjured by his formation, then the isolation formation itself dissipated as well.
Re-entering everyone's line of sight, Chu Feng looked toward the Xianhai Fish Clan patriarch and Little Fishy's mother. "Senior, may I have the authority to release him?"
"Of course," Little Fishy's parents said in unison.
"You may go," Chu Feng said to the red-robed figure.
But the red-robed figure did not leave immediately. Instead, he looked at Chu Feng.
Suddenly, a voice transmitted through the air reached Chu Feng's ears.
"They have all entered the Ninth Heavenly River."
"The current martial cultivation world—aside from the Ninth Heavenly River—the other heavenly rivers you see, though they still bear many ancient remnants, are in truth completely different from what they were in the ancient era."
"For example, the Ancestral Martial Lower World of the Ancestral Martial Heavenly River."
"In the ancient era, it did not bear that name, because it was not a lower world at all."
"But that is not the point. The point is that in the ancient era, it was one of the largest worlds in the entire martial cultivation world. Its territory was even greater than the present-day Ancestral Martial Heavenly River."
"It was the most radiant star in the vast expanse of the starry sky."
It was the red-robed figure's voice.
He had finally spoken.
"Then why has the Ancestral Martial Lower World become so small now?"
"What exactly happened in the ancient era?" Chu Feng asked in rapid succession.
But the red-robed figure did not answer. Instead, he said: "If you wish to break through more quickly, then enter the Ninth Heavenly River as well."
"But the Ninth Heavenly River currently permits entry but not exit. Before you enter, finish what you need to do. Leave no regrets."
With those words, the red-robed figure produced a red conical hat, placed it atop his head, and departed.
These words had been heard by Chu Feng alone.
But Chu Feng did not tell anyone else present.
The red-robed figure had chosen to transmit his voice in secret because he wished to speak only to Chu Feng, and Chu Feng respected that decision.
Eggy, however, could also hear what others transmitted to Chu Feng.
She then asked, "Could it be that the Ancestral Martial Lower World shrank for some reason?"
"Or perhaps these eight heavenly rivers all shrank due to some cause?"
"Otherwise, why would the ancient remnants still be there?"
"Those remnants and legacies can't all be false, can they?"