Chapter 2661: Zhu Yin

This was pure survival instinct. Unsure of what mishap had befallen him, he naturally clung tightly to this unknown Phoenix clan member.

Then he grasped a small, soft, boneless hand.

To his surprise, the other person made the same motion!

An endless fall.

Yet, throughout this process, his body was uncontrollably tossed, spun, and overturned by the violent force.

Their two bodies collided repeatedly, several times on the verge of separating.

Lu Ye frowned slightly, then, hardening his resolve, pulled the other person forcefully into his embrace.

The small figure struggled briefly, but ultimately ceased resisting.

Then, at a certain moment, all the surrounding chaos suddenly vanished, like the profound calm after a violent storm. Lu Ye looked around and found he was no longer in the original void, but had arrived in an unknown place.

Before he could observe his surroundings carefully, a pain shot through his abdomen. Lu Ye grunted, hunching slightly, and then felt the person in his arms slip away like a fish.

This Phoenix clan member... possessed immense strength!

The other party had clearly only struck casually, yet the brutal force startled him inwardly.

The other party then stirred their vital energy, enveloping themselves in a crimson glow, from which a rustling sound emanated.

Lu Ye also hastily retrieved a set of clothes from his storage ring and quickly put them on.

A moment later, their respective vital energies dissipated, and they exchanged glances.

The woman opposite averted her gaze slightly, a flush of shyness on her face. Though it had been a matter of necessity, it was an embarrassing experience nonetheless.

Lu Ye rubbed his nose, thinking that in this situation, he might need to rely on her. He spoke first, cupping his hands in greeting: "Lu Ye of the Human Race, it's a pleasure to meet you, fellow Daoist!"

He wasn't sure how to address her; since she was a Phoenix clan member, calling her 'fellow Daoist' was certainly appropriate.

The woman pursed her lips and returned the greeting, saying, "Zhu Yin."

Lu Ye blinked. "Zhu" as a surname?

Do the Phoenix clan members have the surname 'Zhu'?

He had previously heard that among the Phoenix clan, males took 'Feng' (Phoenix) as their surname, and females took 'Huang' (Empress Phoenix), and some also had the surname 'Su,' like Su Yan and Su Yun. But he truly didn't know if any had the surname 'Zhu'.

Ultimately, his knowledge of the Phoenix clan was not extensive.

However, the ability to communicate was good. Judging by her demeanor, she clearly held no resentment for what had just happened; she was reasonable.

"Fellow Daoist, do you know where this place is?" Lu Ye inquired. In his spiritual perception, the area was utterly chaotic.

Zhu Yin looked around. A suspicion had formed in her mind, and her expression grew solemn.

Meanwhile.

Before the tree hollow, many Phoenix clan elders were waiting.

The Primordial Parasol Tree had overcome its nightmare, and the power of its supreme treasure had calmed. However, it remained in a deep slumber and had not awakened, so the Phoenix clan could not communicate with it.

The Phoenix Lord could only personally enter the tree hollow to investigate.

A figure flashed, and the Phoenix Lord emerged.

"Clan Leader..." Su Yan looked at the Phoenix Lord nervously.

"What's the situation inside?" an elder asked.

The Phoenix Lord glanced at Su Yan before speaking: "All the spaces within this cultivation ground have shattered. I followed their traces and believe they have fallen into the Spatial Corridor."

All the spatial power within this cultivation ground was originally condensed by the Primordial Parasol Tree from the Spatial Corridor. Therefore, in principle, the two are connected. It's just that when the Primordial Parasol Tree is normal, it can provide an excellent cultivation environment.

Now that an anomaly had occurred, Lu Ye and Zhu Yin, who were inside, were swept into the Spatial Corridor.

Upon hearing this, Su Yan's face instantly paled.

She had long heard of the dangers within the Spatial Corridor. Even she, having just achieved the Integration stage, was not qualified to cultivate there. Only Phoenix clan members who had reached the Integration stage many years ago dared to venture into it.

Lu Ye, at the Dao Fusion stage, had entered. How could he possibly be safe?

"We must find them quickly!" Feng Qiwu said with a heavy voice. Losing an outsider was one thing, but the key was that young dragon clan member—he was a candidate for the next Dragon Lord. If anything happened to him on the Phoenix clan's territory, it would be impossible to explain to Dragon City.

"Why at this exact moment?" an elder said with a worried expression.

The Primordial Parasol Tree's nightmares were actually very brief and occurred at long intervals; the last one was eight hundred years ago. Who would have thought it would happen so coincidentally this time?

"Enough idle chatter," the Phoenix Lord interjected. "It's urgent that we go in and find them."

"I'll go too!" Su Yan volunteered.

The Phoenix Lord looked at her and shook her head: "Yan'er, you stay outside. The Spatial Corridor is intricate and fraught with danger. You've only recently advanced, so you might not be able to cope. Stay outside to provide support." She paused, then added: "The Spatial Corridor is a place of luck. If his luck is good, your outsider might escape quickly, and you'll be the first to know his condition if you stay outside."

Su Yan knew this was no time for recklessness. After serious consideration, she pursed her lips and nodded.

"Spatial Corridor?" Lu Ye raised an eyebrow.

"This is a cultivation and training ground for Phoenix clan members at the Integration stage. Its internal environment is extremely complex, and some Phoenix clan members have gotten lost there, never to be heard from again," Zhu Yin said, glancing at Lu Ye. "You'd best not separate from me."

Although she hadn't probed Lu Ye for much information, Zhu Yin realized when he announced his Human Race origin that he wasn't a Phoenix clan member, but an outsider.

She just didn't know which Phoenix clan member he was an outsider to.

However, generally speaking, even if outsiders cultivated in the path of space, their mastery wouldn't be very high. Since they were now in trouble together, Zhu Yin naturally intended to get him out safely, hence her warning.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Lu Ye mused, realizing this Phoenix clan member was indeed very considerate. As he spoke, he walked towards her.

However, after only two steps, he frowned and stopped in place.

Because after taking those two steps, Zhu Yin had inexplicably ended up above his head.

He had clearly been walking *towards* Zhu Yin just a moment ago!

Yet now, their heads were facing each other, both standing still, as if Zhu Yin were hanging upside down from a ceiling. From Zhu Yin's perspective, he was probably in the same state.

Lu Ye looked up at Zhu Yin. "What's happening?"

Zhu Yin sighed, "In the Spatial Corridor, spatial forces are chaotic, and all vision and perception are heavily distorted. Only one's own spatial power can resist this interference. Stay still, I'm coming over!"

Lu Ye quietly stood his ground and slightly activated the power of his Dao Seed. He found that, just as Zhu Yin had said, the surrounding interference immediately weakened significantly upon activation.

Then he watched Zhu Yin's figure, as she took steps, seemingly moving closer and further away from him. Though they were clearly close, it still took Zhu Yin over ten breaths of time to reach his side.

"It seems we can't be too far apart," Lu Ye said, looking at her.

Zhu Yin thought for a moment. "Put your hand on my shoulder." This was the only way to keep them from separating. As she spoke, she couldn't help but recall their earlier encounter, and a slight awkwardness flickered across her face.

Lu Ye raised his hand and rested it on her shoulder, feeling the delicate shoulder blade. He marveled inwardly: How could such a small woman possess such immense strength?

"Don't think nonsense!" Zhu Yin softly chastised.

"I wasn't..." Lu Ye sniffed.

The two figures, one in front and one behind, slowly moved forward.

With someone leading the way, Lu Ye had no need to worry. He was certain that following Zhu Yin would lead them out, so he calmly settled his mind to sort out what he had gained from his previous cultivation.

In that void, his Dao Seed had refined a vast amount of spatial power, leading to immense growth of the Dao Seed itself. This resulted in frequent insights into the path of space, with many ideas colliding in his mind.

He hadn't had time to sort them out before, but now was the perfect opportunity to comprehend them.

Suddenly, various flashes of inspiration appeared, causing him to become utterly engrossed, unable to pull himself away.

When Xue Jiu's clone had taken control of his body, it had also used the path of space. At the time, he had felt that Xue Jiu's mastery of the spatial path was incredibly high, far beyond his own limited understanding.

But looking back now, Xue Jiu's application of spatial power seemed incredibly crude.

This undoubtedly meant that his current mastery of the spatial path had surpassed Xue Jiu's.

Xue Jiu's spatial path, after all, was obtained by seizing the Phoenix clan's bloodline and could not be considered orthodox. Although Lu Ye's own method wasn't strictly orthodox either, his Dao Seed condensation was a legitimate cultivation technique, validated by countless generations of Phoenix clan outsiders. The Phoenix clan itself had also contributed to it, so it could be considered a legitimate branch. Xue Jiu's method simply couldn't compare.

Furthermore, the refinement of Xue Jiu's clone's soul crystal had also added to Lu Ye's foundation in the path of space.

Ultimately, however, it was the formidable power of his talent tree.

Without the talent tree, Lu Ye would have had to cultivate step by step, gradually, like all previous outsiders. But the talent tree's ability to devour and refine had greatly shortened this process, and his Dao Seed's growth rate was terrifyingly fast.

Therefore, he had to quickly sort out his gains, otherwise, just like in the chess game, he would possess immense power but be unable to utilize it. Only by truly comprehending it could he unleash the full strength of his Dao Seed.

"Watch out!" Lu Ye, who was deeply engrossed, suddenly heard a soft cry. When he looked up, he saw a mass of blackness rushing towards them.

The black mass twisted and wriggled, shapeless, and as it moved, features resembling faces would occasionally appear, only to quickly vanish.

Lu Ye watched in astonishment, utterly clueless as to what this thing was.

Moreover, his perception revealed a strange vitality within it, yet it was different from any life force he knew.

This Spatial Corridor... actually had living creatures?

It was clearly coming for him and Zhu Yin, moving with a ghostly, fleeting presence, and swiftly closed in.

Zhu Yin and Lu Ye attacked simultaneously!

Zhu Yin's small fist slammed out, and Lu Ye's Mountain-Shattering Blade followed with a downward cut.

Then Lu Ye's expression turned to shock, because his blade seemed to cut through empty space, passing through the black shadow without any resistance.

It was Zhu Yin's punch, however, that sent the black shadow stumbling.

Lu Ye's eye twitched. This woman's strength was indeed terrifying. It was pure physical power. Honestly, Lu Ye had never encountered anyone who could rival Zhu Yin in physical strength.