"Bang!"
An attack came from behind, but Cheng Sangji raised his hand and summoned a magic shield to block it.
Lu Zhaozhao looked closely and saw that the seemingly fierce attack coming towards them was actually just a few thin green leaves, which fluttered down after being blocked by Cheng Sangji.
She moved closer, picked up a fallen leaf, and Cheng Sangji stood beside her, in a defensive posture, glancing at her sideways.
"Can you tell anything?"
Lu Zhaozhao flipped the leaf over, examined its internal structure, shook her head, and said, "It's just an ordinary leaf, even small and soft compared to the other leaves here. It's man-made, and the person's cultivation level is not low, but they don't seem hostile; they just want to warn us."
She straightened up, dusted herself off, and looked in the direction from which the leaves had flown.
Ahead lay only lush greenery and endless trees, their towering canopies blocking out the sun. As far as the eye could see, there was only darkness, yet it inexplicably stirred a desire for exploration within one's heart.
"Second Brother? Second Brother!"
Seeing the two people standing upright not far away, Nan Rongrui called out a few times out of curiosity, but received no response. He couldn't help but run over and tug at Cheng Sangji's sleeve, shouting loudly in his ear.
Cheng Sangji's ears trembled from her shock, and he frowned as he looked over.
"Second brother, what are you doing?" Nan Rongrui asked in a low voice, shrinking back as he noticed his pale face.
After she finished speaking, she followed his gaze and looked at the scenery, which seemed similar to the surrounding landscape. However, for some reason, she felt an urge to go closer and take a look.
She had only taken two steps when Cheng Sangji grabbed her arm.
"Where are you going?" Cheng Sangji shouted.
"I... I just wanted to go and take a look." Nan Rongrui looked innocent. She couldn't explain why she was walking forward, but her body seemed to move on its own.
After hearing her words, Lu Zhaozhao looked thoughtfully at the darkness in the distance. When she turned around, she met Cheng Sangji's equally dark eyes.
"It seems that person wasn't just issuing a warning." He smiled faintly, a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes.
"In that case, why not go and take a look?" Lu Zhaozhao smiled, but the smile didn't reach her eyes.
After saying that, the two of them walked forward together.
Nan Rongrui looked between the two of them with a puzzled expression the whole time. After listening to them say a few things she couldn't understand, she left on her own, leaving her and Tu Danxi standing there staring at each other.
"Who is he? Who warned us?" Nan Rongrui asked Tudan Xixiang, only to be met with a shake of his head. Tudan Xixiang had just been with Nan Rongrui and was therefore unaware of the current situation.
In fact, he was like this most of the time. Only after his second brother carefully analyzed things with him step by step could he understand. The people around him thought he was just a brute with no strength. Even his own clansmen criticized him in private, saying that he was just lucky to be born as the clan leader's son and to have an older brother who was almost superhumanly intelligent. But for him, his brother's words were golden rules, and he always obeyed them unconditionally.
But Nan Rongrui's state of mind was not the same as his.
She was born a favored daughter of heaven, with exceptional intelligence and noble blood. Her younger brother is the future successor of the Di people, and her older brother is the current patriarch of the Gu Diao people. Therefore, she can act with impunity among the eight clans. Unlike Tu Danxi, who unconditionally obeys, she must have absolute control over the overall situation when she acts. Fortunately, others are willing to go along with her, which has shaped her current personality.
But everything changed after Guan Nan appeared.
Her brother, who had always spoiled her, had someone else in his eyes and was even having a secret with her. For the first time, Nan Rongrui had encountered such a situation among her peers. Guan Nan's cultivation was higher than hers, and he was also from the Nüba clan. For the first time, she was at a disadvantage in both cultivation and status. It was also the first time that her brother did not side with her when facing outsiders.
All of this stemmed from the woman in the blue dress in front of us.
"Guan Nan." Nan Rongrui uttered the name softly, a hint of apprehension flashing in his eyes.
Lu Zhaozhao, who was in front of her, was unaware of the emotions behind her; she was completely focused on the road in front of her.
"Did you hear anything?" Cheng Sangji suddenly asked from beside him.
"What?" Lu Zhaozhao didn't react for a moment, and turned her head too quickly, bumping into him.
Cheng Sangji paused for a moment, then stepped back slightly and said, "It's nothing, I was just overthinking it."
Cheng Sangjie adjusted his breathing and continued walking forward. Just now, he heard Guan Nan's voice, light and cheerful, as if calling to him, which made him flustered for a moment. When he came to his senses, he realized that he had just lost his composure, but fortunately, the people around him did not notice.
Lu Zhaozhao felt increasingly uneasy as she walked. Logically, they were not walking slowly, but after walking for a while, the shadows of the surrounding trees remained unchanged, as if they were going around in circles.
Her pace slowed down until she finally stopped.
Cheng Sangji thought Guan Nan was tired from walking and was about to ask if she wanted to rest, but he fell silent after seeing the expression on her face.
Lu Zhaozhao looked around, stroking the broken Yuanxu Mirror in her hand, lost in thought.
Nan Rongrui wanted to speak, but Cheng Sangji stopped her.
Only their breathing could be heard in the world.
"Whoosh—"
The longsword pierced through the air, hurtling rapidly towards the top.
Lu Zhaozhao made a sword incantation with her hands, controlling the direction in which the bamboo sword flew.
The sword weaves through the forest, slicing down fallen leaves, and roams freely across the vast expanse of land.
But it suddenly stopped just a few feet off the ground.
Lu Zhaozhao, who was wielding the bamboo sword, clearly sensed that something was blocking her way.
Cheng Sangji understood at this moment. With a glance, Nan Rongrui immediately understood, transformed into her original form, spread her wings, and shot several dark blue feathered arrows in all directions.
"Thump, thump..."
They all let out a muffled thud at almost the same moment and quickly fell backward.
It was a huge, transparent dome that trapped them all inside. The air inside was stagnant, and time stood still, so no matter where they moved, they remained in the same place in space and time.
She figured it out, and Cheng Sangji was naturally no less impressive.
He whispered something to Tudan Xixiang. Suddenly, Tudan Xixiang's muscles began to swell, making his already broad body appear even larger. He assumed a half-horse stance, holding his breath, his form beginning to blur.
A fish tail that blots out the sky rose from the ground, and with a slight movement, the surrounding tree trunks snapped neatly in half.
"Fish tail, human body, this is... the Di people?" Lu Zhaozhao thought to herself.
Meanwhile, the other side's Tu Danxi had already finished transforming and raised its fish tail to ram into the barrier.
The ground shook violently, and Lu Zhaozhao, with her sharp eyes, noticed tiny cracks appearing in the sky high above.
Tu Danxi was somewhat surprised that his attack had failed; nothing had ever escaped damage from his strike. His interest was piqued, and he swung his tail again, crashing into the barrier.
Whether it was due to the barrier being attacked causing spatial instability, Lu Zhaozhao barely managed to hold onto the tree trunk beside her, swaying from side to side for support. She looked at Tu Danxi, who seemed to be going berserk, his attacks becoming more and more violent and faster with each strike.
The tree trunk next to Lu Zhaozhao suddenly broke, and without any support, she was thrown forward by inertia.
Just as she was about to cry out in surprise, her arm was gently supported. Lu Zhaozhao looked up and saw Cheng Sangji looking down at her with an indescribable emotion in his eyes.
He gave Lu Zhaozhao a deep look and said in a low voice, "Excuse me." But he only looked away, his hands still clasped.
Lu Zhaozhao felt a little uncomfortable, and when she tried to pull her hand away but couldn't, she gave up.
Why not have a human-shaped pillar? she thought.
The cracks in the air were as dense and deep as a spider web, and the entire barrier was on the verge of collapse, shattering completely when the breath of the Buddha arrived.
The air began to circulate, time began to flow, and they returned to the real world.
Beneath my feet, the ground was still covered with fallen leaves. Behind me lay the boundary of the third layer I had just crossed.
Only now have they truly entered the third layer of this restriction.
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