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"Where did the senior go?"

To the outside world, Ao Zhen seemed to vanish into thin air. At the time, not to mention the Buddhist mother, even the Joyful Buddha, who had been watching in secret, was shocked.

In the Buddhist mother’s eyes, Chen Qing had seemingly disappeared into thin air.

Moreover, Ao Zhen, who appeared almost unscathed within the Thousand Eyes Technique, had also vanished inexplicably.

This bizarre divine skill sent shivers down her spine.

That man clearly had no spiritual power left; using the Thousand Eyes Technique could still be explained, as this technique, though miraculous, consumed relatively little.

But this sudden disappearance must be related to Spatial Magic, right?

Anyone with the slightest understanding of techniques knows that Spatial Magic consumes vast amounts of energy. Even those inheriting techniques cannot cast it multiple times.

"I had some matters to attend to." Chen Qing paid her no attention and instead focused on the image within the Thousand Eyes Technique.

The Buddhist mother followed his gaze and was stunned. The Ao Zhen, who had just disappeared... had suddenly reappeared! As expected... her earlier vanishing act was caused by Chen Qing!

How did he do this?

Ao Zhen should have been within the Dream Space.

In that place, no external force, regardless of the greatness of their divine skills, could enter.

Even figures like the Taoist Elder Dragon could not breach the Buddhist Kingdom’s dream-based divine skills.

If such a breach were possible, the Buddhist Kingdom would have been annihilated long ago.

After all, when spiritual energy declines, the Buddhas remaining in the Buddhist Kingdom are essentially asleep within the Dream Space.

Numerous forces have tried to study the Buddhist Kingdom’s dreams because this domain represents the sole faction capable of shielding their top-tier personnel from interference by the Otherworldly Demon Statues.

But no one has succeeded. The Buddhist Kingdom’s Dream Space is like a flawless protective shield. Regardless of the methods employed, entry is categorically forbidden!

This essentially provides the faction with a retreat path that is almost unbreakable, and this overpowered ability is one of the reasons behind the Buddhist Kingdom’s rise to prominence.

Yet today, she had witnessed an exception. Chen Qing, this man, had managed to use spatial techniques externally to make someone in the Dream Space vanish...

What method did he use?

The same scene startled the Joyful Buddha within the Dream Space to the extent that he nearly turned and fled.

What kind of formidable figure possessed such power, able to make someone vanish from within his Dream Space entirely?

Earlier, he had clearly probed and found no trace of the Dragon Maiden. Not a single hint. She hadn’t simply hidden somewhere within the Dream Space but had been completely erased, severed entirely from its confines. That level of capability...

Could it be that someone had gained mastery over the Spatial Dao Fruit?

The thought alone was enough to unsettle him. Were it not for the fact that all his accumulated treasures were within the Dream Space, he might have already fled.

But no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t understand why an expert who wielded the Spatial Dao Fruit would target someone as insignificant as him—merely a Joyful Buddha. Could someone have uncovered the origins of that Sword Spirit?

The Joyful Buddha’s mood sank into profound gloom.

The Spatial Dao Fruit was a supreme treasure unattainable for multiple eras, and across three eras, only a handful of individuals had ever unearthed Dao Fruits to ascend to the rank of Venerable One.

That Sword Spirit, which he had stumbled upon by chance, had only manifested for an exceedingly brief time.

Beyond his report to Old Liu, it was unlikely anyone else knew about it.

Why, just as he was ready to reap his reward, would such a towering figure make an appearance?

He didn’t have long to obsess over conjecture before, without warning or spatial ripples, the long-vanished Ao Zhen suddenly reappeared.

In that instant, he froze.

What... just happened?

This abrupt and unheralded emergence—could it truly be the work of someone mastering the Spatial Dao Fruit?

And what was their intent?

Yet compared to the Joyful Buddha’s shock and anxiety, Li Feng, seated on the ground, remained extraordinarily calm.

"You don’t seem surprised at all?" Ao Zhen looked at him. Her tone was now utterly different from before—it was tranquil, like an undisturbed lake, calm yet unfathomable.

Li Feng opened his eyes and gazed at her. He hadn’t been surprised when Ao Zhen disappeared, nor had her sudden reappearance shocked him. But her changed tone now did, and the surprise quickly gave way to a surge of excitement building within him.

Because he could sense it—the unyielding wildness emanating from the woman standing before him, who, though her sword skills seemed inferior to the many Sword Masters he had previously slain, carried with her an undeniable aura of victory.

She was a sword yet to be refined, but every Sword Master who laid eyes upon her could immediately recognize her as an extraordinary blade!

"There’s no need to be surprised..." Li Feng rose slowly, his gaze serious as he stared at her. "If you’ve returned, then you are the Ao Zhen I recognize. The person you were, whether you lost or won, you would always come back, because that’s who you are. You are the most dazzling sword."

"And if I hadn’t returned?" Ao Zhen asked with a smile.

"If you hadn’t returned, then you wouldn’t be the Ao Zhen I know, and how you disappeared wouldn’t matter to me at all..."

"I see..." Ao Zhen nodded. "When I first saw you, I knew you were the most formidable opponent I’d ever encountered.

Though your power was still immature at the time—far inferior to my father and those elders—I just knew you were the strongest. And I might never meet anyone greater than you in my lifetime. "

"Is that so?" Li Feng smiled in response.

Across countless reincarnations, he’d hardly smiled before. Anyone who knew him might be stunned to witness such brilliance in his expression.

For a man who seemed like a wooden figure to be capable of such radiance in his laughter—it was truly rare.

Li Feng himself was uncertain about his feelings at the moment, but hearing such a statement from someone he’d once bested filled him with an uncontrollable joy.

Ao Zhen also laughed, her long-standing gloom finally dissipating.

She couldn’t even recall when her melancholy began.

In her younger days, despite knowing her father’s ill intentions toward her and being secretly sent away by her mother, nearly starving in the mortal world, she never felt sorrow.

Each day was brimming with hope, for she could feel herself growing stronger with every passing moment.

But at some point, that feeling had vanished.

Turns out, her father stopped being wary of her because she... was no longer herself.

"Thank you sincerely..." Ao Zhen bowed deeply. "You let me see the purity of swordsmanship. I should have been bold and advancing, but I almost disgracefully fell into decline. That I required you to awaken me a second time... I’m truly sorry to have disappointed you."

"There’s no need to apologize..." Li Feng pointed his sword, his face still lit with an exhilarated smile. The rising Sword Qi pulsed with excitement, as though itching for a fight.

"Because right now, you are also strong!"

"Is that so?" Ao Zhen smiled and drew her sword. An explosion of soaring Sword Qi surged upwards, her Sword Intent clashing against his, and surprisingly, they were evenly matched.

This sight... left the Joyful Buddha outside flabbergasted, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets.

Li Feng’s origins were far from simple. He was the embodiment of the world’s will, the purest Sword Dao Fruit.

Born from the obsession of humanity during the era when swordsmanship was at its peak, he represented the will inherited from those whose bloodlines hindered their continued pursuit of power—an innate Dao Fruit rivaling the greatest!

A mere Dragon Maiden could now stand on equal footing in terms of Sword Intent with such an existence?

How was this possible?

At the same time, the Buddhist mother was equally stunned, staring at the smiling Chen Qing in shock. "Senior... what did you do?"

"I didn’t do much..." Chen Qing chuckled. "I simply didn’t anticipate my good fortune. Good job, Ao Zhen. This time... I’ve truly struck gold!"