Golden Pearl Tower

Chapter 45: Golden Pearl Tower

Golden Pearl Tower stood just north of Jiangting, not far from the city gates and very close to the largest dock north of the city.

Merchant ships coming down the canal from the Capital City in the northwest, and trade caravans arriving from the north, would all see this magnificent seven-story flower pavilion when they entered the city.

Especially at night, when all seven floors lit up at once, revealing the extravagance and splendor within. Like a gigantic flower lantern, it lured passing travelers to throw down fortunes for no more than a glimpse inside.

But several mornings ago, the people of Jiangting who often passed this place discovered that the seven-story flower pavilion had suddenly grown shorter.

Upon closer count, the seven-story flower pavilion had become six stories. The top floor had vanished without a trace.

Everyone in Golden Pearl Tower had disappeared as well. The pleasure house renowned throughout Jiangting had vanished overnight without a trace.

Great Immortal Kongchen made his way through the streets and stopped before its entrance, then pushed open the door and walked inside.

Once inside, he found the place utterly empty, abandoned by all. Only a man in fitted martial attire knelt on one knee, facing him.

Feng Yusheng had been waiting here all along. The moment the door opened, he cupped his hands and said, "Feng Yusheng pays respects to Great Immortal Kongchen."

"Speak!"

Kongchenzi surveyed Golden Pearl Tower, known as Jiangting's foremost establishment. General Donkey looked around to the left, then rubbed against things to the right, looking as if he liked the place beyond measure.

This sort of money-burning den of luxury and extravagance was very much to his taste.

Though he was only a donkey, he harbored dreams of the most lavish indulgence.

Feng Yusheng rose. "Yusheng has already investigated the other suspicious locations. They were either hidden arrangements left behind by the various altars, or strongholds of other forces."

"Only this place was exceedingly suspicious."

General Donkey agreed wholeheartedly. Turning back to Feng Yusheng, he stretched out his donkey face and nodded repeatedly. "Suspicious! Extremely suspicious."

As he spoke, he rubbed against the jade panels set into the walls, kicked at the gilt pillars carved with beast patterns, then clung to the staircase and sniffed it.

Afterward, he put on the expression of a connoisseur and said, "These decorations, this craftsmanship, these painted screens... this place must have been full of treasures before!"

"Why are they all gone?" That one sentence immediately exposed the donkey's true intentions.

General Donkey could not resist running upstairs, as though hoping to find even greater splendor above.

Kongchenzi headed upstairs, with Feng Yusheng following close behind.

"Several days ago, on the night you eliminated the Five Gods Cult's Poison God, Mountain God, and Gu God, everyone in Golden Pearl Tower suddenly disappeared without a trace. And though Golden Pearl Tower originally had seven floors, one floor abruptly vanished. The common people here all thought it was haunted."

"But I believe that, barring surprises, this was previously the Five Gods Cult's main altar."

Feng Yusheng spoke with great certainty. It seemed he had indeed uncovered something.

"What was this place like before?" Gao Xian was not familiar with Jiangting, and he had never visited Golden Pearl Tower.

But Feng Yusheng was a local snake. Not only Golden Pearl Tower—he knew every street large and small throughout Jiangting, as well as the terrain of every ward and market, like the back of his hand.

"Golden Pearl Tower was seven stories tall. The most obvious feature of its top floor was a huge Golden Spider sculpture sprawled across it, covering the entire roof."

"It symbolized a flood of wealth, and that was how Golden Pearl Tower got its name."

"Such decorations are not uncommon throughout Jiangting Commandery, and they are even more common in River Prefecture. The locals believe Golden Spiders are deities, and that worshiping them will bring promotions and riches. Many households have such idols and carvings, especially shops, pawnshops, and taverns."

Kongchenzi recalled that since entering Jiangting Commandery, he had indeed seen quite a few shops decorated with Golden Spiders.

But a sculpture large enough to cover the entire roof of Golden Pearl Tower, which occupied a considerable area, was rare. And a sculpture of such size was surely too heavy for Golden Pearl Tower to bear easily.

Kongchenzi narrowed his eyes. "True Lord Xuanzhu Huode?"

The people of all Jiangting Commandery likely never imagined that this True Lord enfeoffed by the imperial court, the deity they had worshiped for generations, was also Jiangting's most powerful monster.

It had actually been hiding right beneath their noses.

They passed before it every day without noticing in the slightest that this thing was alive.

They reached the top floor of Golden Pearl Tower. From here, the view of the river was completely unobstructed.

And this man had watched the Five Gods and the Five Gods Cult he had created perish before his very eyes, remaining as unmoved as a towering mountain, as if merely sitting back to watch the clouds drift and the breeze blow.

"Interesting!"

"Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell?"

Standing before the window, Kongchenzi looked down at the river's mirror-still surface. "Did any ships leave Jiangting Commandery that night?"

Feng Yusheng had come prepared. "A ship did indeed leave Jiangting. We do not know where it went, but from here, it either headed north or traveled through the canal to the Capital City."

"Then perhaps we'll meet again someday."

Kongchenzi vaguely felt that his story with the Five Gods Cult would not end so easily.

And the Five Gods Cult Leader was somewhat more formidable than he had expected before entering Jiangting Commandery—not someone the other small fry of the Five Gods Cult could compare to.

Though they had not found the Five Gods Cult's main altar, and that mysterious Five Gods Cult Leader had long since vanished to parts unknown, Feng Yusheng had still handled this matter very well. He could be said to have satisfactorily completed the task entrusted to him.

At that moment, Feng Yusheng knelt again and took out a box containing carvings of gold, bronze, jade, and other materials.

"These are the altar master tokens from the other altars. Engraved upon them are the unusual arts used by each altar to worship demons and evil spirits. When the Five Gods Cult collapsed, Yusheng obtained these amid the chaos."

"But Feng Yusheng has never opened them, nor would he ever dare to look upon them. After much thought, these demonic arts that bring ruin upon living beings should be sealed by an immortal."

Great Immortal Kongchenzi was immensely satisfied as he accepted the box.

"Excellent! This poor Daoist shall accept it. In the future, I will take it back to Cloud Heaven Temple and seal it within the mountain, so that such evil arts will no longer spread among mankind."

Kongchenzi had recently been studying the Spirit Sacrifice Technique of the River God Altar as well. He discovered that its essence was to transform the source of a person's vital blood and energy into spirituality, then feed that person to demonic creatures as though they were medicinal pills.

This thing was of little use to ordinary people. After all, it only offered a means to sacrifice to demonic creatures, without the Five Gods Cult Master's authority and methods to keep those creatures under control. In the end, it would be nothing but drawing water with a bamboo basket—an empty effort.

As for using it on oneself, although it could increase one's spiritual resonance, one likely would not gain more than a fraction even after draining oneself into a withered corpse. It was a path to death.

Yet he had suddenly realized that this method worked remarkably well when paired with alchemy. Swallowing a Spirit Pill and then refining it with this method was extremely effective at increasing the spiritual resonance of one's soul.

Kongchenzi withdrew the Azure Dragon Sword Array embedded in Feng Yusheng's arm and sealed it onto a jade plaque.

"The Heavenly Punishment Seal has now been removed. Should anything happen in the future, bring this jade plaque to find me."

Naturally, if Kongchenzi needed anything, he could also easily find Feng Yusheng through this jade plaque and a Flying Sword Message.

"Many thanks, Immortal."

Feng Yusheng was overjoyed. At first, he had thought catastrophe was about to descend upon him, yet in the end, disaster had turned into a blessing.

The strange twists of life truly could not be put into words.

By the time Kongchenzi emerged from the Golden Pearl Tower, the streets were already packed inside and out, with layer upon layer of people surrounding the splendid Flower Pavilion and the avenue so tightly that not even water could pass through.