The moment those words were spoken, the entire room fell silent; even the sound of the wind could be clearly heard.
Shen Jing snapped his folding fan shut, his face instantly darkening to a grim expression, his eyes filled with undisguised jealousy.
He had previously sent thousand-year-old spiritual plants and ancient weapon-refining diagrams to Luo Yun Chu more than ten times.
Lin Zhou hadn't even seen her face, yet he had merely shown off his skills and managed to get Luo Yun Chu to take the initiative to speak to him.
The heat radiating from Huo Zheng's body seemed to freeze for a moment as he stared at Luo Yun Chu's retreating figure, his eyes filled with surprise. He then looked at Lin Zhou with a hint of hostility.
In his view, only a young master like himself, the Blazing Flame Clan, was worthy of a woman like Luo Yun Chu.
Lin Zhou was just a cultivator of unknown origin and was not worthy of Luo Yun Chu's attention.
The other cultivators erupted in chatter, their whispers barely audible yet still reaching Lin Zhou's ears:
"My God! Saintess Luo actually spoke to someone on her own initiative? And it was a strange cultivator at that!"
"Who is this cultivator? He's incredibly lucky!"
"Good luck? Didn't you see what he did just now? He could make runes appear on the stone tablet. He's even more powerful than Lu Zhizhou!"
Lin Zhou listened to the commotion around him and looked into Luo Yun Chu's clear eyes, but his heart remained unmoved; instead, he became secretly wary.
Having lived this long, he knows all too well how much trouble this kind of "special attention" can cause.
In other realms, countless battles were started because of the favor of some "heavenly princess," which ultimately led to trouble and prevented them from having a peaceful life.
He came to Falling Star Village this time for the innate energy, not to get involved in romantic entanglements, and he certainly didn't want to get into trouble he couldn't shake off.
Thinking of this, Lin Zhou deliberately took half a step back, creating a distance of about half a zhang between himself and Luo Yun Chu, and didn't even linger his gaze on her face.
He simply gave a curt "hmm," without even introducing himself, his attitude so cold it was almost perfunctory.
Luo Yun Chu was stunned for a moment, clearly not expecting such a response.
She took the initiative to strike up a conversation, and even the most outstanding talents from the three major powers would be flattered and respond accordingly. However, Lin Zhou was unwilling to even say his name and deliberately kept his distance.
A hint of surprise flashed in her eyes, but she wasn't angry; she simply nodded slightly.
Taking a step back, she resumed her previous aloofness: "It was Yun Chu who was being presumptuous. If you do not wish to reveal your name, I will not disturb you any longer."
After speaking, she turned and retreated back to the Ice and Snow Sect's ranks, but in that instant, a hint of scrutiny flashed in her eyes.
This cultivator is not only unfathomably powerful, but also possesses a temperament far beyond that of ordinary people; he is quite an interesting individual.
Lin Zhou breathed a sigh of relief, turned to look at Shen Jinhao, and found Shen Jinhao staring at him in shock. He couldn't help but raise an eyebrow: "What's wrong?"
"N-nothing!"
Shen Jinhao quickly came to his senses and lowered his voice, "I just didn't expect Saintess Luo to take the initiative to talk to you, and I didn't expect you to be so... indifferent."
He knew Luo Yun Chu's reputation; anyone else would probably have been so excited they'd be incoherent.
Lin Zhou said calmly, "Avoid unnecessary trouble."
Just then, the old man in gray spoke again, interrupting the discussion: "Those of you who have passed the test, follow me. The entrance to the Celestial Realm is behind the village."
After speaking, he turned and walked deeper into the village. Lin Zhou and Shen Jinhao followed, and the other cultivators who had passed the test also composed themselves and followed behind.
Compared to Luo Yun Chu's attention, they were more concerned about the primordial spiritual liquid and innate energy in the celestial cave.
However, among the crowd, Huo Zheng's gaze towards Lin Zhou held a hint of hostility.
Lu Zhizhou would occasionally glance at Lin Zhou out of the corner of his eye, while Luo Yun Chu would sometimes turn her head to look at Lin Zhou's back, a hint of barely perceptible curiosity hidden in her eyes.
Lin Zhou paid no attention to this. His gaze remained fixed on the back of the village, where the fluctuations of innate energy were becoming increasingly clear. He knew that he was getting closer and closer to his goal.
The old man in gray led the group through several village paths and stopped in front of a mountain wall.
A narrow passage was cleaved through the mountainside; the passage was no more than two zhang wide and about fifty meters long.
It can be seen to the end at a glance, and looks ordinary, as if it were just an ordinary mountain stone path.
But everyone's gaze fell on the bottom of the passage, where there was no soil.
Instead, it was a river shimmering with a faint starlight, its waters like shattered starlight, sparkling with tiny specks of light as it flowed.
Countless dark shadows could be vaguely seen moving rapidly at the bottom of the river, but their exact appearance was unclear, only a sense of inexplicable danger emanating from them.
"This is the second level?"
Huo Zheng frowned, his tone tinged with disdain. "It's just a fifty-meter passage. Can't we just fly over it?"
These words resonated with many, as everyone present was at least at the Beginningless Realm, let alone fifty meters.
Even if it's 500 meters or 5,000 meters, I can fly over it easily. This level looks even simpler than the first one.
"It's probably not that easy."
Luo Yun Chu said softly, her eyes fixed on the dark shadow at the bottom of the river, "The river water is strange, and the space in the passage seems abnormal."
As soon as she finished speaking, a figure stepped out from the crowd—a young man dressed in a blue cloth robe, named Zhao Lei.
A small force from the Lingxiao Starfield barely managed to pass the first level by just managing to activate the faint light of the stone tablet.
He didn't have any particularly outstanding performance throughout, but he dared to be the first to step forward, which caught the attention of many people.
"Fellow Daoists, let me try first."
Zhao Lei cupped his hands in greeting, his tone tinged with nervousness, but even more so with resentment.
He came from a small, insignificant background, and his purpose in coming to Falling Star Village was to try his luck. If he didn't even dare to try, wouldn't his trip have been in vain?
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