Spirit Control Tower

Shen Long activated the soundproofing formation and took out the foot-long miniature tower.

The small tower felt heavy in his hand, and its surface was engraved with mysterious patterns.

He injected his mana into the tower, causing it to emit a dazzling blue light as it began to grow in size.

When the tower reached the height of a man, Shen Long stopped injecting mana, and the blue tower ceased its expansion.

Above the tower gate was a plaque with three mysterious characters that Shen Long could not decipher.

"Barbarian script?"

Shen Long wondered aloud.

The Barbarian Race was a powerful faction in the East Hua Cultivation World and a mortal enemy of the human race; they possessed their own civilization, language, and cultivation system.

If it were a magical tool, he could use it once he refined it.

Shen Long sat cross-legged and began to refine the small tower.

After the refinement was complete, he pinched a spell seal, but the tower showed no reaction at all.

Shen Long frowned and wondered, "Could it be a magical treasure?"

Magical treasures were of a higher grade than magical tools and could only be wielded by cultivators at the Golden Core stage or above.

At the thought of this, Shen Long's breathing became heavy; if it truly were a magical treasure, he had struck it rich.

He calmed himself down and carefully recalled how he had obtained the tower. Magical treasures were weapons used by high-level cultivators, so how could one be inside the body of a first-stage mid-level Spirit-Devouring Rat?

He could not figure it out, so he stopped thinking about it; perhaps magical treasures required a specific method of manipulation, unlike ordinary magical tools.

Shen Long was only a Qi Refining cultivator; Foundation Establishment cultivators were already experts to him, and Golden Core cultivators were the stuff of legends.

With his current cultivation level, he had no way to access the techniques for wielding a magical treasure, so he had to give up for now.

"The shopkeeper once said that magical treasures require a blood sacrifice to recognize their master."

Shen Long's expression turned nostalgic as he muttered to himself.

Sun Huowang had connections to Foundation Establishment cultivators and was quite knowledgeable; he had once mentioned that magical treasures required a drop of blood to bind them to a master before they could be used.

Shen Long bit his right index finger and dripped three drops of essence blood onto the small tower, which quickly absorbed them.

He attempted to inject mana into the tower again, and it immediately flared with blue light. A powerful suction force emerged from thin air, and Shen Long's body was pulled uncontrollably toward the tower gate.

His vision blurred, and he found himself in a spacious, bright hall. In the center of the hall was a pool over a hundred feet wide, and the stone walls were carved with patterns of various demonic beasts.

"Dragon, phoenix, qilin, black tortoise, vermilion bird..."

Shen Long recognized the origins of some of the demonic beasts, though he had only seen written descriptions in ancient texts and had never seen the living creatures themselves.

These patterns closely resembled the powerful beasts recorded in the texts, but while he recognized some, there were many others he did not know.

"Could this be a treasure of the Spirit Control Sect?"

A bold conjecture surfaced in Shen Long's mind.

The Spirit Control Sect was one of the five major powers in the Qin Kingdom, boasting a long heritage and a Nascent Soul Cultivator at its helm; they were experts in controlling insects and beasts.

He walked to the side of the pool, but it was completely empty.

He circled the hall, but found nothing else.

"Wait, the area of this space is too large! A spatial treasure?"

Shen Long was slightly stunned. The stone house he lived in was not large, but the hall before him was far more expansive than the house.

Whether it was the beast patterns on the walls or the sheer size of the hall, everything exceeded Shen Long's understanding; this tower was definitely no ordinary treasure.

He walked toward the tower gate, placed his hands on it, and pushed hard. A powerful suction force appeared out of nowhere and pushed him out.

Shen Long reappeared in his stone house, and the small tower returned to its original size.

Shen Long experimented a few more times, mastering the techniques to use the tower. As long as he injected mana, a powerful suction would draw him into the tower, and pushing the gate from the inside would allow him to leave.

"I'll call it the Spirit Control Tower!"

Shen Long gave the tower a name. He could not read the characters on the plaque, but considering the beast patterns inside and his association with the Spirit Control Sect, he named it the Spirit Control Tower.

He put away the Spirit Control Tower, ate a bowl of Golden Pearl Spirit Rice, and began to practice his cultivation.

Ten hours later, Shen Long walked out of the stone house and headed toward the Martial Practice Garden on the mountain to practice his spells.

Two days later, Shen Long was in a secret chamber in the Martial Practice Garden, standing in front of a sand pit to practice his techniques.

His right hand glowed with green light, and he pointed at the sand pit, sending a beam of green light shooting into it.

Half a quarter of an hour later, Shen Long walked out of the stone chamber, leaving a dozen white ice cones embedded in the sand pit.

He walked down the mountain and ran into Qin Qing on the way.

"Fellow Daoist Shen, I knew you would be here. Fellow Daoist Xu has something to discuss with us."

Qin Qing said, his expression grave.

Shen Long nodded and followed Qin Qing to the Green Bamboo Courtyard.

Xu Lei, Sun Yang, and Liu Xin were sitting in a stone pavilion, and Liu Xin looked haggard.

Seeing that Shen Long was safe and sound, they nodded.

"What happened, Fellow Daoist Xu?"

Shen Long asked.

"Fellow Daoist Chen has fallen. We don't have enough manpower and need to find new teammates before we can head into the mountains to hunt demonic beasts."

Xu Lei said.

They had run quite fast, but Chen Qiang and Liu Xin were attacked by dozens of Fire Crows. Chen Qiang stayed behind to cover their retreat, only to be killed by the Fire Crows.

As a result, only five of them remained, and they needed to recruit more people.

"I have no objections, but the newcomers must be reliable, and their strength cannot be too weak."

Shen Long said.

"That's right, this old man agrees with Fellow Daoist Shen's opinion."

Qin Qing expressed his full agreement.

Sun Yang and Liu Xin had no objections either. Xu Lei nodded and said, "Madam Liu, the dead cannot return to life. Rest well; we will find new teammates as soon as possible, and then we will head into the mountains to hunt demonic beasts."

After chatting for a few moments, the four of them left one after another.

Exiting Green Bamboo Courtyard, Shen Long walked toward the foot of the mountain.

Arriving at Bluestone Square, where rogue cultivators set up their stalls, Shen Long walked around to take a look.

"An exotic insect from the Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect Ranking? Is that for real?"

"True gold fears no fire; how could it be fake? If you don't believe me, find someone who knows their stuff to take a look."

"The vitality of these insect eggs is weak; whether they can even hatch is another matter."

"Spirit Control Sect! Heaven and Earth Exotic Insect Ranking!"

Shen Long became interested and walked quickly toward the front.

Before long, he arrived at a small stall. The stall owner was an old man in a green robe over sixty years old. There were many items on the stall, including ores, spiritual herbs, spiritual wood, and demonic beast materials, but a cyan jade box caught Shen Long's attention.

Inside the cyan jade box were dozens of white insect eggs, which emitted faint fluctuations of vitality.

Huang Xiuyun stood in front of the stall, looking at the eggs in the jade box with a curious expression.

"Just looking at the exterior, who knows what kind of insect eggs these are? If you make them cheaper, I'll buy them."

Huang Xiuyun bargained.

"These are eggs of the Snow Crystal Spider. Fifty spirit stones per egg, no haggling."

The green-robed old man did not budge at all.

"Fifty spirit stones for one egg? That's way too expensive."

Huang Xiuyun said with a frown.

"These aren't just ordinary spiritual insect eggs. If you don't know their value, then forget it; if you want to take advantage of someone, go somewhere else."

The green-robed old man said irritably.

"If these really are Snow Crystal Spider eggs, fifty spirit stones per egg isn't expensive at all."

A loud male voice rang out.

As soon as the words fell, a plump young man in a golden shirt walked over. The young man had a fair complexion and a cyan spirit beast bag tied around his waist.