The Unstable White Tower

Pang Jian had come specifically for the fourth Phoenix Bone.

Since there was a Phoenix Bone in the Blackwater Pool and another in the Insect Valley, it stood to reason that the Lake Heart Island, also a forbidden zone, should harbor one as well.

Having personally experienced the miraculous nature of Phoenix Marrow, he naturally wanted to try his luck, knowing that the Lake Heart Island might still contain some.

"Who is controlling the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda?"

Su Yuntian looked around, but seeing no one, he grew hesitant.

He and He Rong were not entirely clear on the secrets hidden within the Phoenix Bones, and they feared that whoever was operating the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda might strike ruthlessly the moment they stepped onto the island.

"This place is very close to the Boundary Wall at the extreme north of the Cenji Mountains."

Pang Jian gazed past Wulan Lake toward the towering, continuous mountain peaks, his eyes attempting to pierce through them to reach the strange world on the other side.

That was the northernmost point of this land known as the North Qi Fragmented Land.

The Extreme North, bordering the Boundary Wall of the northern Fourth Realm, was also the source of the pervasive Ghost Mist.

Under the firmament.

Wulan Lake remained a pale blue, the scenery appearing breathtakingly beautiful against the backdrop of the rugged mountains behind it.

Yet, looking at the white pagoda that hovered incessantly above the flower-filled Lake Heart Island, everyone's expression turned grave.

Legend had it that every Heavenly Spirit Pagoda from the Yin Spirit Temple was constructed from piles of bleached bones.

In the Third Realm above, the Yin Spirit Temple rarely interacted with other sects, nor did they select talent from the Seven Great Families to join their ranks, always maintaining an air of mystery.

Su Yuntian, He Rong, and the others knew little about this sect, which only deepened their sense of awe and dread.

Staring at the white pagoda on the island for a long while, the two men began to waver, wondering if they should land.

Seeing their hesitation, Luo Hongyan felt it best to make use of their resources and took the initiative to ask, "The two of you, please arrange for your subordinates to weave a bamboo raft for us."

Thinking of how she had taken nothing from all the loot they had scavenged along the way, Su Yuntian felt a pang of guilt and replied, "Very well."

He then ordered the subordinates loyal to the Su Family to go nearby, cut down bamboo, and weave a raft on the spot.

"We should leave."

He Rong suddenly said.

Watching the white pagoda drifting in the air, he couldn't shake the feeling that the flower-covered Lake Heart Island held an indescribable sense of malice.

Even standing by the shore, the water of Wulan Lake felt bone-chillingly cold, making him deeply uncomfortable.

"The fourth Phoenix Bone is on that island. Aren't you curious about what's inside?"

Luo Hongyan glanced at them, a thought striking her, and she said softly, "If you don't want to go, you can send two subordinates to investigate."

He Rong's eyes brightened slightly.

He immediately gave the order for his He Family servants to also cut bamboo and weave a few more rafts.

"The Heavenly Spirit Pagoda is drifting around; what is it doing?"

Su Meng asked curiously.

Su Yuntian and He Rong shook their heads; they knew the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda symbolized the Yin Spirit Temple, but they had no idea of its specific function.

"It is searching for souls."

Luo Hongyan provided the answer in a low voice. She stared at the drifting white pagoda and said, "Within a certain range, any living being with a soul will be sensed by it. Spirit Sha, ghosts, wandering spirits—anything that possesses only a spirit body and no flesh and blood will be absorbed and imprisoned by it."

As she spoke, Luo Hongyan's tone was icy.

Pang Jian felt a secret sense of unease; ever since they arrived at Wulan Lake, he felt that Luo Hongyan had changed.

The look in the young woman's eyes as she watched the floating white pagoda was filled with hidden hatred and a deep, profound wariness.

It was as if she had suffered greatly at the hands of that pagoda before.

Could it be because of the Yin Spirit Temple cultivators' corpses in the stone pile that caused such heavy casualties for the Ning Family?

Pang Jian couldn't help but recall the pile of rubble they had encountered upon entering the Cenji Mountains.

Many of the corpses there had been wearing Blood Moon attire, which had led Han Duping to a misjudgment, resulting in the Zhou Family and Ning Family being attacked by "Spirit Sha."

However, the more he thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.

This Heavenly Spirit Pagoda of the Yin Spirit Temple was now floating over Wulan Lake in the north of the Cenji Mountains, yet the Yin Spirit Temple cultivators who had arrived on it had died in the southernmost canyon wearing Blood Moon robes.

The two locations were hundreds of miles apart.

Filled with doubt, Pang Jian watched the drifting white pagoda and secretly braced himself.

Before long, the servants of the Su and He families had woven several bamboo rafts. Under the orders of Su Yuntian and He Rong, four men boarded two rafts in pairs and headed toward the island in the center of the lake.

He Rong shouted, "Report back to us the moment you find anything!"

Filled with unease, the four men nodded on the icy lake surface. They looked at the Lake Heart Island with terror, feeling that the flower-covered island was filled with horrors.

The bamboo rafts moved slowly across the lake.

Pang Jian narrowed his eyes slightly, pulling his gaze away from the island to examine the water before him.

The pale blue water was crystal clear, yet there were no fish or shrimp moving within it, and there was not a sound of mosquitoes or flies along the shore.

In the past, every time he came to Wulan Lake, it was never like this.

Previously, he only had to stare at Wulan Lake for a moment to see fish darting about, to see wild beasts wandering nearby, and occasionally, he would even run into hunters from Linshan Town.

At this moment, all things in and around the lake seemed to have vanished; the entire world was silent and still.

Pang Jian stopped speaking, Su and He remained silent, and Luo Hongyan followed suit.

After a brief, deathly stillness.

Two bamboo rafts reached Lake Heart Island, and four Qi Refining Realm cultivators jumped off, moving into the woods on the island.

The Heavenly Spirit Pagoda on the island continued to whistle, seemingly passing right over their heads without the slightest pause.

Afterward, the group waited, but no response came.

Time slipped away quietly; half an hour passed, then an hour, and the bamboo rafts remained where they were.

The four who had gone onto the island seemed to have vanished into thin air.

They did not reveal their figures, nor did a single shout come forth, as if no one had ever set foot on the island at all.

"Young Brother Pang Jian, please, point me toward the best path to leave the Cenji Mountains." Su Yuntian took a deep breath, his eyes showing a look of resolve as he shouted, "I have decided to leave!"

"Father, I want to go to the island and see!"

Su Meng pleaded in a low voice.

"Shut up!"

Su Yuntian's face was cold. This time he did not indulge her, saying with an unquestionable attitude, "The Heavenly Spirit Pagoda is active, and there are unknown beings on the island manipulating it from the shadows. The people of the Yin Spirit Temple are outcasts who never associate with the other major sects; let us not provoke them!"

He assumed it was a high-level cultivator from the Yin Spirit Temple who was secretly controlling the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda and had killed the subordinates he and He Rong had sent to the island.

"We are pulling out as well!"

Seeing that his subordinates were not returning, He Rong made the same decision. Both men looked at Pang Jian, hoping he could point out the fastest way to leave.

Pang Jian looked at Luo Hongyan.

Luo Hongyan stretched, pulled the nearest bamboo raft over, and said, "Whatever they want."

Pang Jian pondered for a moment, then pointed to a location and said, "Follow that mountain and keep walking; do not attempt to climb over it. At your speed, if you don't encounter any accidents, you should be able to leave the Cenji Mountains in seven or eight days."

"Many thanks!"

Su Yuntian cupped his hands in a salute. Then, ignoring Su Meng's pleading face, he pointed to the empty bamboo rafts and said to Luo Hongyan, "It is clear that you two intend to go to the island. I can only wish you both the best of luck."

Luo Hongyan turned a deaf ear.

"Farewell!"

Su Yuntian and He Rong then led the dozen or so subordinates loyal to them and headed toward the location Pang Jian had indicated.

"The direction you pointed out—it won't get them killed, will it?"

After they had been gone for a while, Luo Hongyan's expression softened slightly, and her tone relaxed quite a bit.

"The direction is certainly fine, but you also know that the Cenji Mountains are filled with crises everywhere right now. I used to walk that path often and never had any accidents, but as for now, I cannot say."

Pang Jian looked calm and frank.

After speaking, he saw that Luo Hongyan had no intention of setting off immediately and asked curiously, "Still not going to the island?"

Luo Hongyan was using a bamboo pole to stir the lake water, and without looking up, she said, "Let's observe a bit longer. Perhaps those four who went onto the island will suddenly pop up in a moment and tell us some important news."

Pang Jian, having obtained quite a few spirit stones along the way, said no more. Letting her watch by the lake, he found a quiet spot for himself and began the cultivation of the Pot-Heaven Qi Cultivation Art.

Like the cultivators of the Blood Moon, the spirit stones he had obtained from beside the corpses of the Galaxy Alliance were also pure and flawless.

The spiritual energy within such spirit stones required no cleansing or purification, nor did it need to be condensed again. Once it fell into the vortex of his dantian, it flowed smoothly into his spirit sea.

His spirit sea, the size of which he did not know, had been constantly gathering spiritual energy, feeling as if it were becoming wider and wider.

Because he possessed a large number of spirit stones and his body had been tempered twice by the Phoenix Marrow, his progress in the Qi Refining Realm was actually very fast.

He had already felt the sensation of spiritual energy filling his entire dantian space seven or eight times.

According to Luo Hongyan's theory, if one filling of spiritual energy represented one layer of the Qi Refining Realm, then he might have already reached a very high level in his early accumulation.

He did not know how long he had been in deep cultivation when Pang Jian suddenly heard messy footsteps coming from the direction he had pointed out.

His eyes showed astonishment.

After a long while, he saw Su Yuntian and He Rong returning along the same path, with every one of their subordinates still in tow.

"What did you encounter? The direction I gave you absolutely should not have any problems. If there were accidents... that has nothing to do with me!" Pang Jian was the first to clear his name.

"Spirit Sha, and Spirit Sha of a high grade at that! We were attacked by them. There are many Spirit Sha there, and they are not easy to deal with, so we had no choice but to retreat," Su Yuntian said awkwardly.

Pang Jian was stunned. He immediately thought of the "Spirit Sha" controlled by the Demoness in the stone pile, and thought to himself, Is the Demoness ahead?

"Since there are unknown dangers in every direction, we might as well go to the island with you!" He Rong gritted his teeth.

"Welcome back to the fold."

Luo Hongyan gave a soft laugh and was the first to step onto a bamboo raft. She then extended her white, lotus-root-like hand toward Pang Jian, inviting him with graceful ease: "Come over. Let the two of us go first and clear the path through the lake for them."