Chapter 119
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Chapter 119: The Light Tower
At the entrance of the fifth layer stood Ouyang Wentian and his group. Their faces were tense, and some disciples behind them bore bloodstains on their torn robes.
“This is the fifth layer. The first four had little aside from scraps in the first. The rest were empty,” Elder Yin rasped, leaning on her cane, wrinkles deepening.
“Did someone get here before us?” Sun Yidao eyed the white mist shrouding the layer.
“Decades of cultivation, yet you’re still a fool?” Du Jianming sneered. “See any damage? If others had come, Hualun Hall would show signs. Use your eyes!”
Sun Yidao’s face flushed, but he bit back his retort.
“Enough,” Ouyang Wentian’s calm voice cut through. “This mist is White Sha. Rare, but not unknown. It fears the clash of Ice and Fire. Du Jianming, you wield fire element. Elder Yin, your ice element. Clear this mist.”
His insight was sharp—had Ye Yun been present, he’d have cursed himself for wasting effort fighting exotic spiritual energy instead of exploiting this weakness.
Elder Yin stepped forward without protest. Du Jianming snorted but complied.
Twin streams of spiritual energy—one fiery, one icy—erupted from their palms, twisting like dragons. The White Sha dissolved instantly, unveiling a flawless white jade pillar.
Ouyang Wentian approached, a faint smile playing on his lips. “A mere spatial concealment.” His fingers danced, light and shadow striking the pillar.
Two glows emerged: one a flickering flame, the other a shard of crystalline ice.
“The Illusory Fire is mine,” Du Jianming declared, greed flashing.
“Peak Master Ouyang,” Elder Yin interjected, “grant me the spirit of ice. Decades of ice cultivation—I know its worth.”
Ouyang Wentian’s gaze turned icy. “Take these treasures, and Elder Yin forfeits future claims. Du Jianming loses two picks.”
Elder Yin hesitated, then nodded.
“Bullshit!” Du Jianming spat. “You don’t even use fire element! The Illusory Fire is rightfully mine!”
“So you refuse it?” Ouyang Wentian’s voice dropped.
“You can’t claim it!” Du Jianming jeered. “Fire element’s the only way!”
“Your family’s ignorance shows.” Ouyang Wentian smirked, producing a jade bottle. A stream of Luhe Water shot out, dousing the flames. The fire shrank, trapped in a watery sphere.
“Luhe Water seals the Illusory Fire. Your pitiful clan wouldn’t know.” He pocketed the sphere. “Since you declined, it’s mine.”
“Thief!” Du Jianming lunged.
A sword arc blazed, freezing him mid-air. Ouyang Wentian’s murderous intent hung heavy. “Strike, and die.”
Du Jianming landed, trembling with rage but silent.
Elder Yin clapped, summoning the spirit of ice into her palm—a glittering crystal. Her wrinkles creased with delight.
Ouyang Wentian smiled. The first four layers yielded nothing, but the Illusory Fire and spirit of ice alone made the climb worthwhile.
The Illusory Fire was the finest flame for weapon forging and pill crafting. Alchemists who possessed it earned respect from major sects, as pills forged with this fire doubled the success rate and improved quality by over ten percent compared to ordinary methods.
As for the spirit of ice, it served as a supreme treasure for ice element cultivators. This artifact could purify impurities within ice element spiritual energy, refining it to greater potency. Elder Yin’s fingernail-sized fragment alone could double her cultivation level. That’s why she’d only hesitated briefly when Ouyang Wentian demanded her sole treasure-picking right in exchange.
The moment the two spiritual energies were gathered, a void gate materialized before the group.
Ouyang Wentian and his companions stepped through with eager faces, while Du Jianming’s eyes burned with venomous hatred, his mind picturing Ouyang being flayed and dismembered.
Ye Yun trudged through the formless void for what felt like eternity. Time became meaningless here – an hour? Ten days? Half a month? The emptiness distorted his perception until moments stretched into ages and ages collapsed into instants.
When light finally pierced the darkness, Ye Yun’s pent-up frustration neared its breaking point. Another moment in this void might have shattered his sanity, with unknowable consequences.
The flash of light and shadow spat him out. He gulped fresh air, spiritual energy coursing through his limbs as he steadied himself.
"Is this the seventh level?" Ye Yun exhaled his irritation while scanning the surroundings.
No spatial array greeted him. Instead, a cramped stone chamber barely two zhang across replaced the fifth layer’s grandeur. At its center flickered a light tower’s silhouette.
"Brother Hua, what’s this tower?" Ye Yun called out.
Silence answered.
Whirling around, Ye Yun froze. Hua Yicheng hadn’t emerged from the void with him.
Doubt surfaced. Had Hua tricked him? Was this truly the seventh level, or some trap while the real chamber lay plundered? Only the enigmatic tower occupied the barren room.
Ye Yun circled the half-zhang tall structure without touching it. If this were truly the treasure vault’s pinnacle, why such emptiness? More likely, Hua had diverted him to Hualun Hall’s danger zone.
After half an hour’s meticulous search revealed no threats, Ye Yun focused on the tower. Lacking condensed true qi for remote probing, he stood a foot away and flicked a middle-grade spirit stone at it.
*Ding!*
The stone rebounded as if striking metal. Yet the tower’s shimmering form appeared intangible. Drawing his damaged Obsidian Sword, Ye Yun tapped the structure. The blade met cold resistance without incident.
Satisfied after testing every inch, Ye Yun finally approached. Within the glow stood a jade-white pagoda carved with lifelike human figures in dynamic poses.
"Could this light tower be Hualun Secret Vault’s greatest treasure?"
His smile hadn’t fully formed when fingertips brushed the surface – and froze mid-reach.
