“It’s nothing. I think I fell into a trance earlier.”


  Chu Feng chose not to reveal the truth.

  Chu Feng’s father had warned Zi Ling to keep the blood-red ancient tower a secret, and Zi Ling had chosen to only tell Chu Feng about it. Not even the sectmaster was aware of what was going on, and she couldn’t sense the existence of the blood-red ancient tower either.

  She simply thought that Zi Ling had been afflicted with some sort of weird illness.

  “Zi Ling, a mysterious existence in your body just spoke to me. I think that she might be from the blood-red ancient tower.”


  While Chu Feng didn’t reveal the truth publicly, he still informed Zi Ling about it through voice transmission.

  “There’s a mysterious existence in the blood-red ancient tower?”


  Zi Ling tried to remain composed upon hearing those words, but she was still unable to fully conceal her anxiety. It seemed like she had never noticed it before.

  Chu Feng felt that this matter might be more troublesome than he had expected.

  It meant that Zi Ling didn’t receive the recognition of the blood-red ancient tower, or else the mysterious existence wouldn’t have gone to the extent of even refusing to communicate with her. This could be a good thing and a bad thing.

  The good thing was that it could be possible to negotiate with the mysterious existence as long as they offered it things that were beneficial to it. It would appear that what the blood-red ancient tower wanted was soul energy.

  But the problematic thing was that they had no idea what the nature of the mysterious existence was. If the mysterious existence was malevolent, it would mean that Zi Ling was in grave danger.

  Putting aside that Zi Ling didn’t have its recognition, even if she did, there was a chance that she might become its puppet.

  At least from the current situation, it didn’t seem like things were looking good for Zi Ling.

  Chu Feng continued hugging Zi Ling for the rest of the journey. No one thought anything about it since it was only normal for him to want to accompany Zi Ling given the severity of her illness, but in truth, he was trying to communicate with the mysterious existence in the blood-red ancient tower.

  It was just a pity that he wasn’t getting a response at all.

  It was ironic how he had left the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect with a heart filled with anticipation, only to return with such a heavy mood.

  Zi Ling was a woman Chu Feng loved and swore to protect. She was one of his motivations for growing stronger.

  Yet, he was powerless when she was facing such grave danger. His helplessness left him feeling greatly distressed.

  The heavy mood seemed to be infectious as both Duan Liufeng and the sectmaster had solemn looks on their faces too. Even the chatty Hidden Dragon Chief Disciple had chosen to keep his silence.

  In this heavy atmosphere, the group finally returned to the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect.

  The moment they stepped out of the teleportation formation, a hint of stress appeared on the sectmaster’s face.

  Boom boom boom!

  Violet lightning crackled all over the sky.

  The lightning had fallen even closer to the surface, and its sheer quantity had increased severalfold. It looked like it would really destroy everything beneath it.

  It had indeed turned far more frightening than before.

  There were uneasy mutters all around, and some disciples had even started sobbing out of fear. It was pandemonium in the sect.

  “Big brother Chu Feng, your body!” Zi Ling exclaimed.

  It was only then that Chu Feng and the others realized that a violet aura was rising from Chu Feng’s body. The violet aura was clearly resonating with the violet lightning bolts in the sky.

  Chu Feng finally understood why the mysterious existence he met at the Hidden Dragon Selection Formation would say that all he needed to do to save Zi Ling was to unseal the Hidden Dragon Soul Armor.

  It turned out that his connection with the calamity would show itself once he unsealed the Hidden Dragon Soul Armor, making it clear to everyone that he had joined the sect through the Hidden Dragon Selection Formation.

  If he could break the calamity, he would naturally gain the approval of the sectmaster too.

  It was just a pity that things didn’t seem to be as simple as that.

  Chu Feng looked at the terrifying calamity above him with a heavy heart. He never thought that things would come to this point when he first entered the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect.

  In any case, this was something that he had to deal with.

  “Chu Feng, you were the one who caused this calamity. While you didn’t do it intentionally, I’d still be held accountable to the ancestors of the Hidden Dragon Martial Sect if you fail to break this calamity,” the sectmaster said as she looked at Chu Feng with sharp eyes.

  Her words were clear. Chu Feng would be severely punished if he failed to break the calamity.

  “I’ll accept any punishment from the sectmaster if I fail to break the calamity,” Chu Feng replied.

  “Words are useless. I only look at the outcome.”


  The sectmaster’s attitude was still as cold as ever. She took out a golden box and handed it over to Duan Liufeng.

  “Elder Duan, assist him in the tempering of his body. Bring him to the Hidden Dragon Square tomorrow morning.”


  With those words, the sectmaster left the area with the Hidden Dragon Chief Disciple.

  On the other hand, Zi Ling, Chu Feng, and Duan Liufeng headed toward Chu Feng’s residence. Duan Liufeng took out a bathtub made out of the ice and poured a bottle of frosty fluid into it.

  After that, he opened the golden box, which contained a golden fluid.

  Whoosh!

  There wasn’t much of the golden fluid, but as soon as it was poured into the icy bathtub, the frosty fluid immediately turned violently effervescent.

  Duan Liufeng quickly placed his hand over the icy bathtub to reinforce it with his martial power, or else it might just blow into bits.

  “Elder Duan, what’s that? Is Chu Feng…… going to temper his body inside there?” Zi Ling asked worriedly.

  She could tell just how terrifying the golden fluid was.

  “Tomorrow, we’ll be activating the Hidden Dragon Heavenly God Formation which gathers the full prowess of our entire sect. Even I might be unable to withstand the prowess of the Hidden Dragon Heavenly God Formation if it’s channeled through me, let alone Chu Feng.

  “So, we need to use this to temper his body. Otherwise, even before the calamity descends, the Hidden Dragon Heavenly God Formation would already be more than enough to take his life,” Duan Liufeng replied.

  Grah!

  A dragon’s roar suddenly echoed through the sect.

  The Dragon Bell had been chimed, and the one who did it was the sectmaster herself.

  She required the power of everyone in the sect in order to activate the Hidden Dragon Heavenly God Formation, so she had to inform everyone about their intention to break the formation tomorrow morning.

  “Brother Duan, is there anything I need to take note of?” Chu Feng asked.

  Duan Liufeng sighed in response to Chu Feng’s question.

  “We have never needed to activate the Hidden Dragon Heavenly God Formation, so no one has ever gone through such a tempering before. I don’t know what you need to take note of, but just try to take it slowly. Absorb the fluid bit by bit,” Duan Liufeng said.

  “I understand.”


  Chu Feng took a deep breath before slowly placing a leg into the icy bathtub.

  “Ssss!”


  He was mentally prepared for it, but his face still turned ghastly pale the moment he came into contact with the fluid. He gritted his teeth and stopped himself from letting out a sound, but his body simply wouldn’t stop shuddering.

  “Big brother Chu Feng!”


  Zi Ling’s eyes reddened. She couldn’t bear to see the pain Chu Feng was in, and tears started streaming down her eyes.

  It was just a brief instant, but Chu Feng’s legs had already corroded down to just bare bones.