68: A helping hand plants a seed of compassion.

The entire battlefield seemed to have been hit by a pause button.

A hundred-zhang radius around that blue-robed figure formed an absolute vacuum zone.

The endless army of Demonic Creatures, as if encountering their natural nemesis, retreated screaming one after another, forming a bizarre encirclement, yet not a single one dared to cross the line.

Feng Ziyan and her companions stared blankly at that back, their minds completely blank.

They recognized that figure.

It was the mysterious powerhouse who had killed the Late Nascent Soul Stage expert Blazing Sun Elder with a single punch outside two days ago!

He... why would he be here?

And, did he just... save us?

Uncle Fu was the first to react. He took a deep breath, suppressed the shock in his heart, and respectfully cupped his hands toward the back, saying, "Thank you, Senior, for your rescue! The Feng Family will never forget this great kindness!"

The three Golden Core Cultivators also woke up as if from a dream and hurriedly followed suit, their eyes filled with the relief of surviving a disaster and awe for the powerhouse.

Only Feng Ziyan remained stunned on the spot.

She had a proud personality; as the possessor of the Archaic Phoenix Bloodline, she had her own pride and never easily asked others for help.

But the scene just now had too great an impact on her.

That kind of effortless dominance, where enemies were pulverized with a mere gesture, was deeply imprinted in her mind.

She looked at that back, which wasn't particularly tall but seemed capable of propping up the heavens, and for the first time, an emotion called 'curiosity' arose in her heart.

Just as she was hesitating whether to also speak up and give thanks...

That blue-robed figure finally slowly turned around.

It was indeed Chu He.

He had actually arrived long ago and had been watching the show from the sidelines.

It wasn't until Feng Ziyan and the others were about to break that he made his move at the 'perfect moment'.

The trope of a hero saving a beauty, though clichéd, is eternally effective.

Especially for a woman like Feng Ziyan, who was cold on the outside but warm on the inside and extremely proud to her core; if you rushed to help her, she would instead feel you were looking down on her.

Only when she was truly in a desperate situation, and you appeared in a 'just passing by' manner, could you leave the deepest impression in her heart.

Chu He's gaze swept indifferently over Uncle Fu and the others, and finally, it landed on Feng Ziyan's face.

Their eyes met.

Feng Ziyan's heart skipped a beat for no reason.

What kind of eyes were those?

Deep and calm, as if they contained the sea of stars, yet also as if they contained nothing at all.

In front of him, she felt that all her pride and all her secrets had nowhere to hide.

"Senior..." Feng Ziyan's lips moved slightly, and she finally lowered her proud head, whispering, "Thank you."

Chu He, however, seemed not to have heard her.

His gaze only lingered on Feng Ziyan's exquisite face for a moment before moving away.

He turned around and continued walking toward the depths of the battlefield.

As he walked, he spoke in an extremely flat tone, as if talking to himself:

"Just a bunch of trash blocking the way, I'm simply clearing them out."

The voice wasn't loud, but it clearly reached the ears of Feng Ziyan and the other four.

Boom!

Feng Ziyan's head buzzed.

Trash?

He called those Demonic Creatures that nearly wiped them out 'trash'?

He said he only made a move because they were blocking his path?

This... what an understatement! How... arrogant!

Uncle Fu and the three Golden Core Cultivators also looked at each other, their faces full of bitter smiles.

The enemies they had fought desperately against but couldn't defeat were, in his eyes, merely trash blocking the way.

The gap between people was simply too large.

They watched Chu He's back as he forcibly carved out a 'clean' thoroughfare through the endless army of Demonic Creatures.

All the Demonic Creatures were making way for him.

That scene was full of absurdity and shock.

"Young Miss..." Uncle Fu spoke with difficulty, "Just who is this Senior?"

Feng Ziyan did not answer.

Her gaze never left that retreating blue-robed back.

Her heart, which had become as calm as a still well due to cultivating the Phoenix Bloodline, beat violently for a man for the first time.

Pride? Coldness?

In the face of absolute power and an even superior 'aura', all of these seemed so laughable.

Chu He knew that a seed of curiosity and the desire to conquer had already been quietly planted in the heart of this Phoenix Goddess.

Next, he only needed to water and fertilize it occasionally, waiting for it to take root, sprout, bloom, and bear fruit.

He didn't look back again, and his figure soon disappeared at the end of the battlefield, leaving behind only a mystery that would haunt Feng Ziyan's dreams.

"We... should also follow and take a look!"

Feng Ziyan suddenly spoke, her tone carrying a hint of urgency that even she hadn't noticed.

She wanted to know where this man was going.

She wanted to know where this man's limit was.

Uncle Fu was stunned for a moment, then nodded with a bitter smile, "Yes, Young Miss."

He also understood that following this unfathomable Senior was perhaps the safest way to pass this first level of the trial.

Thus, the five-person team quickly followed the 'safe passage' opened by Chu He, chasing toward the depths of the battlefield.

What they didn't know was that their every move was under the monitoring of Chu He's Divine Sense.

"Hooked."

The corner of Chu He's mouth curled into an imperceptible arc.

His Divine Sense had already found the entrance to the second level in the center of this battlefield.

It was a Spatial Vortex suspended in mid-air.

He was in no hurry to enter but stopped in front of the vortex, turned around, and waited leisurely.

He was waiting for his 'prey' to deliver themselves to his door.