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**
Hearing this, Lin Feng's face immediately showed a flicker of curiosity.
By all logic, with Tian Huo Zun Zhe's low-level Dou Zun cultivation back then, he shouldn't have been able to gauge the true strength of a Five-Change Dou Zun like Lue Feng Zun Zhe.
As if reading Lin Feng's thoughts, Tian Huo Zun Zhe continued his explanation.
"The only reason I even knew his actual strength," he said, "Was pure coincidence."
"Decades after I advanced to Dou Zun, there was a high-end auction held that only Dou Zun and above could attend. The organizers sent me a personal invitation."
"At the time, I happened to be looking for a Heavenly Flame to further empower the Five Ring Flame Expelling Technique, and I had never been invited to such a prestigious auction before. So I decided to go — hoping to find a lead on a Heavenly Flame."
"As fate would have it, Lue Feng Zun Zhe also showed up at that auction. And during the event, he got into a serious dispute with a young scion of a major power… all over a scroll of wind-element Heaven Class cultivation technique."
Lin Feng's expression instantly changed — eyes sharp and full of interest.
Tian Huo Zun Zhe continued, his tone tinged with heat and nostalgia.
"In the end, the young master from that major faction won the bidding and got the scroll."
"But Lue Feng Zun Zhe wasn't willing to let it go. After the auction, he joined forces with two others — a Seven-Change Dou Zun and a Five-Change Dou Zun — and together, the three ambushed and killed the young master."
"That scroll… most likely ended up in Lue Feng Zun Zhe's hands."
Lin Feng's pitch-black eyes instantly lit up with burning desire.
A Heaven Class cultivation technique! The real deal!
On the vast Dou Qi Continent, aside from a handful of elites, who wouldn't get excited hearing those words?
He already possessed two high-class Dou Techniques that could rival Heaven Class Dou Techniques, but due to their restrictions and costs, they weren't truly as impactful as a pure Heaven Class technique.
His eyes quickly locked onto the floating black ring hovering above the center of the Black Stone Plaza.
"If Lue Feng Zun Zhe really did get his hands on that Heaven Class technique…" Lin Feng thought, eyes narrowing. "Then most likely — it's in that ring!"
Meanwhile, Tian Huo Zun Zhe's expression remained calm as he carried on.
"But their crime didn't go unnoticed. Somehow, word of their ambush got back to the young scion's clan. Not long after, they sent experts to hunt them down. The other two Dou Zun were killed."
"As for Lue Feng Zun Zhe, he ended up being cornered and attacked by a Nine-Change Dou Zun. His physical body was completely destroyed — only his soul escaped."
Tian Huo Zun Zhe sighed deeply.
"Who would've thought he was hiding here all this time? I suppose after taking such heavy damage, he fled to this spatial ruin and never dared to show his face again."
Lin Feng grimaced in his heart, muttering through his soul channel: "Judging from what you said, this guy had a terrible temperament. If that's the case… there's no way Lue Feng Zun Zhe is going to leave us an exit."
Tian Huo Zun Zhe fell silent, troubled by the same realization.
They were inside someone else's territory — completely on the passive end.
And worse yet… they couldn't even escape if they wanted to.
The only option left was to face this mastermind head-on.
If they won — they'd claim the full inheritance of a once-dominant five-turn Dou Zun. Instant riches beyond imagination.
If they lost — well… then they'd all be ascending together. With nothing left. Not even their lives.
Just then, Lin Feng remembered something and asked mentally: "Elder Yao, you were once a Dou Zun yourself. Do you have any confidence in breaking through Lue Feng Zun Zhe's spatial barrier?"
"What if we retreat first? You could devour more souls to strengthen yourself, while Xiao Yixian and I use pills and poisons to quickly boost our power, then, once we're stronger, we come back and sweep through this entire ruin!"
Lin Feng mulled over it for a bit before voicing the idea to Tian Huo Zun Zhe.
But the old man inside the ring only waved his hand with a helpless sigh.
"If I could refine that Old Chan Chu's soul, maybe I'd have a shot at breaking the spatial barrier. But under these conditions? Forget it."
Hearing that even Tian Huo Zun Zhe couldn't crack the outermost layer of the spatial seal and that there was no way to escape this ancient ruin, Lin Feng's heart started to clench with anxiety.
Being trapped in a sealed space like this… if they ran into anything truly dangerous, they wouldn't even have the option to flee.
As for the idea of refining Old Chan Chu's soul — that path was out of the question for now too.
It would take at least four or five days just to fully break the soul down to its origin and then absorb it.
Time they didn't have.
Which meant… weren't they basically screwed?
"Wait—no. I still have that spatial jade slip Hei Qing gave me!"
Suddenly, Lin Feng remembered something important.
Before Zi Yan returned to her clan, she had managed to obtain a spatial jade slip from a peak Eight-Change Dou Zun — a precious, one-use artifact that could send a distress signal across realms.
If worst came to worst… he could use that slip to summon Hei Qing.
With the jade slip crafted by such a powerful Dou Zun, there was no way Lue Feng Zun Zhe's spatial lock could block the message.
"Still… that's a one-time thing."
Lin Feng's brows furrowed tightly as he thought.
Once he used it, that was it. No second chance.
The Ancient Void Dragon Clan wasn't likely to hand him another one.
Unless it was truly a life-or-death crisis… he wouldn't risk wasting it.
After all, once he reached the Central Plains — where powers far beyond the Western Region gathered — who knew what kind of real dangers he'd have to face?
Just then, a gentle voice softly rose beside him.
"By the way, Lin Feng… out of everyone here, there are two people you should keep an eye on."
It was Xiao Yixian, leaning quietly against him as she spoke.
Lin Feng raised an eyebrow in curiosity.
"Who?"
Xiao Yixian nestled closer, then raised a slender jade finger, pointing toward the group gathered outside the spatial barrier.
In the outermost open area, a number of cultivators were seated cross-legged.
She pointed toward one man in particular — a middle-aged man dressed in pure white robes, with a pale, almost eerie face.
"That man… they say he's the sect master of the Bone Transforming Gate. He's extremely powerful — somewhere around the peak of Dou Zong."
"Bone Transforming Gate's sect master, huh…" Lin Feng murmured.
"Judging by how calm he looks, I'm guessing he hasn't realized his son already died inside this ruin."
His gaze settled on the man.
He wore bone-white robes, and the air around him carried a faint chill.
Perhaps due to cultivating water-element Dou Qi, the man's face looked unnaturally youthful and feminine — like someone in his early fifties.
But Lin Feng knew better.
The man was over two hundred years old.
The space around him shimmered slightly from the pressure of his cultivation — evidence of the immense power he held.
Even though Lin Feng had killed the sect master's son, he didn't feel particularly panicked.
After all, back when he'd done it, he made sure there were no witnesses.
Even if the man eventually realized his son had perished, he'd have no way of tracing it back to him.
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