Strange Gu Yue

Ming Capital Spirit Pagoda.

As the Spirit Pagoda branch in the continent's foremost city, it was not as magnificent as the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters in Shrek City, but it was still imposing in scale.

Its silver-white tower soared skyward, its octagonal base firmly embedded in Ming Capital's skyline. The Soul Guidance Array patterns flowing across its surface were even more intricate than those on the tower in North Sea City, glowing with a silvery-blue radiance.

As the Spirit Pagoda branch in the continent's foremost city, it handled more Soul Spirits each day, and of higher quality, than anywhere but the headquarters. Soul Masters from all across the Federation streamed in and out without end.

Shen Nanxun stopped in the plaza before the tower and looked up at the silver-white giant. Gu Yue was already waiting at the entrance. When she saw him, she merely gave a slight nod.

Gu Yue led him straight through the lobby and swiped a dark red high-ranking Spirit Pagoda administrator's card. The elevator rose silently, the numbers ticking up one by one until it finally came to a gradual stop on the seventeenth floor.

The silver-white metal doors at the end of the corridor slid apart without a sound. A cool fragrance, rich with the mellow aroma of red wine, washed over them.

The room's main lights were off. Only a few wall lamps gave off a soft amber glow. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling windows stretched Ming Capital's urban skyline, reaching to the horizon beneath the afternoon sky.

A wineglass and a bottle of red wine, already more than half empty, sat on the low table before the windows. Beside them lay a half-read volume on Soul Guidance theory, with a silver bookmark resting casually on its cover.

Leng Yaozhu was reclining on the sofa beside the table. She wasn't wearing a formal gown today, just an oversized white T-shirt, its loose neckline slipping off one shoulder to reveal a delicate collarbone.

The shirt's hem barely covered the tops of her thighs. Her long, straight legs were casually crossed and propped on the armrest, her feet bare. Her fiery red hair hung loose over her shoulders and back, a few strands draped along the edge of the sofa, stirring gently with each even breath.

Her cheeks were faintly flushed with drink. Her eyes were half open, less sharp than usual and more languid, touched by tipsy warmth. She hadn't used Soul Power to suppress the alcohol.

A Titled Douluo could drink a thousand cups without getting drunk if she didn't want to. But she clearly hadn't done so, allowing that drowsy, tipsy haze to soften even her habitual edges.

"You're here." Her voice was hoarse, still carrying the lingering taste of red wine. She raised a hand and pointed to the opposite sofa. "Sit."

Shen Nanxun sat down by himself, while Gu Yue stood beside Leng Yaozhu.

She spoke languidly. "I summoned you today not only for your regular medicinal bath, but also to have you and Gu Yue make a run at the tower. You're nearly at the fourth ring. It's time you got your second Soul Spirit."

Shen Nanxun nodded. The Soul Spirit Tower was a Spirit Pagoda-exclusive training facility, similar to the Spirit Ascension Platform but not quite the same. The Spirit Ascension Platform focused on combat training and improving Soul Ring quality, while the Soul Spirit Tower was designed specifically to help Soul Masters obtain Soul Spirits.

The Soul Spirit Tower was virtual, with Soul Spirits of all kinds of Soul Beasts sealed inside. Soul Masters had to challenge each floor in turn; after defeating the Soul Beast, they could absorb its Soul Spirit. The higher the floor, the greater the Soul Beasts' cultivation and rarity. He was already a Soul Elder in the thirties, just one step away from becoming a Soul Ancestor at level forty. It really was time to prepare for his second Soul Spirit.

Even if it wasn't much use, being Qian Renxue's little servant was still pretty nice.

"Go on. Gu Yue, show him the way." Leng Yaozhu waved them off, then raised her wineglass to her lips and took another sip.

The Soul Spirit Tower stood behind the Spirit Pagoda's main tower, a separate structure in dark silver, its surface covered in densely packed sealing-array patterns.

Gu Yue led Shen Nanxun across the covered bridge connecting the two towers, briefly explaining the rules along the way.

The Soul Spirit Tower increased in difficulty every nine floors. Each run began on the first floor, with challengers proceeding one floor at a time. They could only advance after defeating every Soul Beast on their current floor.

The two arrived at a circular area resembling an altar. At the staff's direction, the array activated and transported them inside.

On the first floor, as soon as the two appeared, the nearby metal gate swung wide open. A horde of monkeys burst out and charged at them.

"Centennial Wood Spirit Monkeys. They're a pack Soul Beast, probably more than a hundred. They lean toward the wood element, move extremely fast, and are good at using forest cover to ambush and surround their prey. They'll use the trees as cover to harass you until your Soul Power is depleted, then swarm you all at once. The usual approach is to take them out one by one and advance gradually," Gu Yue analyzed briefly.

"No need to go to all that trouble." Shen Nanxun raised a hand, golden light gathering in his palm as the Angel Holy Sword appeared. His wings spread behind him, and brilliant golden sacred flames blazed along the blade.

He swung the Angel Holy Sword, burning with Sun True Fire, down toward the very center of the densely packed horde.

Sun True Fire erupted from the point of impact, spreading frantically outward in a ring. The Wood Spirit Monkeys were swallowed by the golden sacred flames before they could even scream. All hundred-odd Soul Beasts were incinerated on the spot.

One sword. One floor cleared.

Gu Yue raised an eyebrow but said nothing. On the second floor, the forest gave way to a cavern.

The ores embedded in the cavern walls glimmered dark red, bathing the entire space in the glow of an underground furnace. Four enormous century-old Lava Lizards crouched in the cavern's corners, each the size of a calf. Dark red scales covered their bodies, a row of spikes lined their backs, and low, rumbling sounds issued from their throats. The instant Shen Nanxun and Gu Yue stepped into the cavern's center, all four lizards' dark red eyes lit up at once.

Gu Yue straightened from where she'd been leaning against a tree trunk and gestured for Shen Nanxun to step back.

"I'll handle this floor." She walked into the center of the cavern.

All four Lava Lizards sprang at her at once. She raised her right hand, spreading her fingers slightly. Ice element gathered in her palm, forming four slender, exceptionally long icicles. Then she flicked her fingertips, sending them soundlessly through the air to pierce the lizards between the eyes with deadly precision.

Four icicles. One strike, four kills. The efficiency was almost frightening. The massive Lava Lizards froze midair, then crashed to the ground.

Shen Nanxun glanced at Gu Yue. She was lowering her hand, the ice element dissolving from her fingertips, her expression as indifferent as ever.

"What are you looking at? Fight for yourself on the third floor."

From the third floor onward, Shen Nanxun truly didn't let her lift a hand again.

Floors four, five, and six.

The Sun True Fire of the Angel Holy Sword blazed again and again inside the Soul Spirit Tower. Every floor was cleared with a single sword. Now and then, a few Soul Beasts slipped through and tried to attack from the flanks, but before they could get within three feet of him, golden sacred flames spat from his blade, skewering them and dissolving them into white light.

Gu Yue stayed behind him the whole time, arms crossed. She only raised a hand to land a follow-up blow when a Soul Beast happened to have an element she could counter.

For instance, the Frost Wing Bats on the seventh floor were ice-attribute Soul Beasts. She casually tossed a fireball, and the whole flock, along with the entire sheet of ice wall, evaporated into white mist.

On the eighth floor, the environment shifted again, becoming a swamp. Thick moss floated on the muddy water, and the air reeked of rotting vegetation. Three enormous thousand-year Swamp Poison Lizards slowly surfaced from the muck, each as large as an adult crocodile. Their dark green scales were coated in sticky poison, which hissed whenever a drop fell into the water.

Shen Nanxun was about to swing his sword when Gu Yue suddenly raised a hand to stop him.

"Don't use Sun True Fire. The lizards' venom will vaporize into poisonous mist when heated, enough to cover the entire swamp. It won't kill you, but it'll be a real nuisance."

As she spoke, she spread her fingers slightly, earth and ice elements gathering in her palms at once. The ground around the swamp abruptly rose into a ring of stone walls, trapping the three lizards inside.

Then ice element poured down, freezing the swamp within the stone ring—and the lizards along with it—into a solid sheet of ice. The three lizards were trapped in the ice, unable to move, their dark green scales covered in frost.

"You can go ahead now."

She withdrew her hand and stepped back.

Shen Nanxun brought his sword down. The ice shattered, and the three lizards dissolved into points of light.

There was only one Soul Beast on the ninth floor: an enormous thousand-year Iron-Armored Rhino. Dark silver metallic scales covered its body, its four legs thick as stone pillars, and its hooves left deep impressions wherever they struck the ground. Its defense was extremely strong. Shen Nanxun slashed it several times, but could only leave a few shallow white marks on its scales. The Angel Holy Sword, meanwhile, rang from the force of the recoil.

Gu Yue watched for a moment. "Its scales have a metal attribute, so physical attacks won't do much. I'll restrain it. You attack."

This time, she made the first move. Fire and wind elements burst forth at once. The wind fed the fire, and flames whirled around the Iron-Armored Rhino, forming a rapidly spinning tornado of fire that trapped it inside.

The Iron-Armored Rhino let out a deafening roar within the flames, its metallic scales beginning to glow faintly red from the heat.

Shen Nanxun seized the moment when it opened its mouth to bellow. He condensed Sun True Fire into an extremely fine, razor-sharp golden beam and drove it precisely into its mouth, piercing through its skull. The Iron-Armored Rhino's massive body staggered twice, then crashed to the ground.

The tenth floor.

A sudden leap in difficulty.

The swamp gave way to dry, rocky ground. The surface was cracked into hexagonal stone slabs, and now and then a thin wisp of steam hissed from the fissures.

At the center of the rocky ground crouched a creature far larger than any Soul Beast they had faced before. Dark green scales covered its body, a row of spikes ran down its back, and its dark golden, vertical pupils fixed coldly on the two at the entrance. It was a full size larger than the Iron-Armored Rhino, with thick limbs, long, razor-sharp claws, a flattened snout, and a mouthful of backward-curving fangs.

Four thousand years of cultivation, with both poison and earth attributes.

"A Venomous Rock Dragon Lizard, four thousand years old. Its poisonous mist is vicious too; even a tiny amount can paralyze your entire body." Gu Yue's expression turned slightly grave. This was clearly a troublesome Soul Beast.

The Venomous Rock Dragon Lizard threw back its head and let out a low growl. Dark green poisonous mist poured from the gaps between its scales, rapidly spreading outward from its body. At the same time, under its control of the earth element, the stone slabs lifted from the ground one after another, forming irregular low walls that steadily squeezed the space in which the two could move.

Poisonous mist and stone walls—environmental suppression and elemental attacks launched simultaneously. A four-thousand-year Soul Beast already possessed a considerable degree of instinctive combat intelligence.

Wind element exploded beneath Gu Yue's feet, and she darted through a gap in the mist before it could close, her body a streak of pale blue light.

She didn't attack the Rock Dragon Lizard directly. Instead, she precisely cut the key support points of the stone walls with wind blades. The walls that had just risen collapsed behind her, reopening the space that had been closing in around them.

Shen Nanxun didn't let the opportunity slip by. His radiant wings spread behind him, and he shot upward before diving down from above the poisonous mist. Sun True Fire blazed along the Angel Holy Sword as he brought it down on the base of the spikes along the Rock Dragon Lizard's back.

Sun True Fire couldn't burn away the poisonous mist directly, but it could dry it out from within. When the flames touched the gaps between the scales at the base of the spikes, the poisonous mist pouring from them was instantly vaporized by the heat, leaving white grains of salt to patter down.

The Venomous Rock Dragon Lizard roared in pain and swept its long tail at him. Shen Nanxun turned his sword to block, but the blow sent him flying sideways. He smashed through a stone wall before managing to steady himself.

At the same time as the tail struck, Gu Yue condensed fire element into a slender, blazing spear and shot it at the joint connecting the lizard's tail to its hind leg, locking down most of its movement.

Shen Nanxun rose from the rubble and used the opening Gu Yue had created to dart in again, beating his wings. Sun True Fire gathered at the tip of his sword, which stabbed into the weakest gap between the scales on the Rock Dragon Lizard's nape. Golden sacred flames burst inside its scales. The Venomous Rock Dragon Lizard let out a final cry, its massive body crashing to the ground as it dissolved into a cloud of dark green light that drifted toward Shen Nanxun.

They had advanced step by step, their teamwork seamless.

On the eleventh floor, the environment changed once more. Inside a shadowy stalactite cave, a python-dragon covered in dark golden scales coiled atop a boulder, its vertical pupils gleaming coldly in the darkness. A four-thousand-year-old subspecies: the Dark-Armored Dragon Python.

Shen Nanxun returned the Angel Holy Sword to his Sea of Consciousness and clenched his right hand. The Golden Dragon Spear appeared in his palm.

The Dragon Prince's power was formidable, but it also consumed much more Soul Power. A run at the tower would inevitably use up a great deal of it. That was why he'd waited until now to use the Dragon Prince's power.

Gu Yue stood to the side, staring at the Golden Dragon Spear with a thoughtful expression. She lowered her head, apparently lost in thought.

He gripped the spear and took a step forward, releasing the aura of his bloodline without restraint. Nine-colored patterns shimmered faintly where his hand held the shaft.

It was something etched into the deepest part of every dragon's bloodline: the absolute authority of the Dragon God's lineage over all dragons.

The Dark-Armored Dragon Python's vertical pupils abruptly contracted, its raised head frozen in midair. It had felt the instinctive shudder rising from the depths of its bloodline.

Without hesitation, Shen Nanxun thrust the Golden Dragon Spear. The tip pierced the python-dragon's open mouth and passed through its skull. Under the suppression of the Dragon God Bloodline, its dark golden scales were pierced as easily as paper. Its massive body crashed to the ground and dissolved into a cloud of dark golden light.

He was about to absorb the Soul Spirit when the corner of his eye suddenly caught Gu Yue beside him. She was leaning against the stone wall, breathing rapidly, her chest rising and falling sharply.

Her usually indifferent dark eyes now gleamed with a faint violet light, and her pupils seemed to flicker into slits.

An unnatural flush spread across her cheeks, all the way from her neck to the roots of her ears. Even her clenched fingers trembled slightly.