Lingxu Secret Realm, Glazed Long Bridge

Gu Youwei turned around blankly, only to find Gu Chen clutching her still-beating heart in his hand!

"No!"

Gu Youwei cried out in terror, waking up from her dream.

She was gasping for air, her thin clothes soaked through with cold sweat.

She quickly scanned her surroundings and suddenly realized she was still in He Changsong's room.

Everything that had just happened was merely a dream.

"Gu Chen, you despicable wretch!"

"To try and kill me even in a dream!"

"Heh, but dreams are the opposite of reality."

"One day, I will personally crush your heart and make you kneel before me in repentance!"

After venting her anger, Gu Youwei was surprised to find that she had regained the ability to move.

Soon, she recalled what had happened before she lost consciousness.

Gu Youwei, frightened, quickly felt her body. It seemed as if nothing had happened.

It was then that Gu Youwei remembered He Changsong had left, apparently for some urgent matter.

This was a golden opportunity to escape!

With this thought, Gu Youwei hurried to the room's door.

She peeked through the crack in the door to see if there were any guards outside.

After observing for a long time, Gu Youwei couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"It looks like something has happened at the Cangshan Sword Sect, otherwise this old man wouldn't have left so hastily."

Gu Youwei thought to herself and cautiously opened the door.

After confirming there were truly no guards around, Gu Youwei quickly ran out.

However, after only a couple of steps, Gu Youwei seemed to bump into something and fell to the ground.

"Damn it, it's a barrier!"

Gu Youwei should have expected this.

He Changsong hadn't stationed guards here out of carelessness.

Instead, he had already set up a barrier, making guards unnecessary!

Gazing at the invisible yet very real barrier before her, Gu Youwei's eyes sharpened.

She had originally thought that by joining the Cangshan Sword Sect, she could smoothly advance her cultivation.

Then she could get revenge and return home to live a peaceful life with her parents.

But she never could have imagined.

That He Changsong, the sect leader of Cangshan Sword Sect, would be such a lecherous, disgusting, and despicable scoundrel!

Gu Youwei felt that her father must not have known what kind of person He Changsong was.

Otherwise, he would never have sent her here!

"Old man, do you think a mere barrier can trap the great Empress?"

Gu Youwei extended her hands, tentatively feeling the energy of the barrier before her, and channeled her internal energy, attempting to dismantle it from within.

However, after several attempts, Gu Youwei couldn't break the barrier.

The sturdiness of this barrier exceeded Gu Youwei's imagination.

Based on her experience from her previous life, Gu Youwei could tell.

The person who cast this barrier had a cultivation level of at least the Foundation Establishment Realm!

It was important to note that Body Tempering, Innate Realm, Profound Gang Realm, and Foundation Establishment Realm were the first four stages of cultivation.

Even a powerful figure like Gu Zhengchun, the head of the Gu family, was only at the Innate Realm.

And the master who cast this barrier had already reached the Foundation Establishment Realm.

This was enough to illustrate how terrifying He Changsong's strength was!

"No, there must be a way."

"Gu Youwei, you were the Empress in your past life, and you are destined to be the Empress again in this life."

"A barrier cast by someone in the mere Foundation Establishment Realm cannot possibly trap you!"

Gu Youwei muttered to herself, her mind racing with ways to break free.

After all, she didn't know how long He Changsong would be gone.

If she hadn't escaped before He Changsong returned...

If that were the case, she might really be in trouble!

Suddenly, Gu Youwei remembered what Gu Chen had taught her in her previous life.

"Any barrier, any formation, is not formed out of thin air; there must be a core."

"It's just that the higher the realm, the more cleverly the formation core is hidden."

"But it all comes down to the same thing, all barriers and formations are just different packaging for the same essence."

In her previous life, Gu Youwei had thought Gu Chen was just trying to show off by saying such profound things.

But thinking about it carefully now, Gu Youwei felt that Gu Chen's words actually held some truth.

"So where would the core of this barrier be?"

Gu Youwei's mind was still replaying Gu Chen's words.

She suddenly remembered that Gu Chen had said barriers and formations were usually circular.

Therefore, to maintain the energy stability of the barrier and formation, the core was generally located at the center of the circle.

With a hopeful thought, Gu Youwei quickly sensed the entire extent of the barrier.

Finally, she discovered that the barrier only enclosed this room.

And the center of the circle was actually the wooden tub where she had just bathed!

East Desolation Commandery, Lingxu Secret Realm.

Gu Chen passed through the first divine hall, traversed a long corridor of stone walls, and finally stood on a bridge made of glazed material.

Certain memories from his previous life suddenly appeared in Gu Chen's mind.

He remembered that in his past life, neither he nor Gu Youwei knew about the mechanisms of the Lingxu Secret Realm.

At that time, as soon as they saw such a beautiful Glazed Long Bridge, they walked straight onto it.

Who would have thought that halfway across, the bridge would suddenly break at both ends?

Gu Chen and Gu Youwei fell directly into the second divine hall.

The damage from the high-altitude fall caused Gu Chen and Gu Youwei's strength to be greatly diminished.

This was why Gu Chen had been so powerless when facing the guardian beast of the second divine hall.

"I didn't get enough of a fight with you in my past life."

"In this life, let me have a good go at you again!"

With those words, Gu Chen leaped forward, jumping directly into the ten-thousand-foot abyss below the long bridge.

While falling, Gu Chen continuously used the protruding stones on the rock face to help slow his descent.

As a result, when he landed at the bottom of the valley, his body suffered no negative effects whatsoever.

However, if one fell from the middle of the corridor bridge.

It was likely that only after reaching the Profound Gang Realm and acquiring some ability to tread on air could one avoid injury.

Standing at the bottom of the abyss, darkness surrounded him.

Gu Chen couldn't help but hold his breath, vigilantly sensing the surrounding energy fluctuations.

He moved away from the rock face and slowly walked towards the center of the darkness.

Although Gu Chen couldn't see anything now.

He knew very clearly in his heart that the other party was waiting for him not far away.

Instantly!

Gu Chen suddenly felt an extremely hot and scorching aura sweep towards him.

This aura was like the surge of steam when hot oil meets water, carrying an intense burning sensation.

Immediately after, the torches around Gu Chen lit up.

The entire scene of the second divine hall was revealed before Gu Chen's eyes!

It was less like a divine hall and more like a gorgeously decorated pit.

Above the pit was an endless darkness that even the torches could not dispel.