Reunion

The next day.

The night, which had seemed to seal off all light from the lower world, was slowly pulled away from the firmament.

Seeing that the White Tower remained undisturbed and Pang Jian had not stepped out, Su Yuntian and He Rong immediately set their respective families into motion.

Without bothering to inform Luo Hongyan, He Rong arranged for his loyal subordinates to harvest the spirit herbs he had identified.

Su Yuntian, feeling too embarrassed to explain himself, sent Su Meng over to do the talking.

"Sister Ning..."

Su Meng skirted around the White Tower and approached where Luo Hongyan was standing, her small face filled with apology. "My father and Uncle Rong have decided to leave the island. They plan to gather some herbs they recognize and then head out shortly."

Luo Hongyan waved her hand, too lazy to pay them any mind.

The "Spirit Sha" under her control had already mapped out the island; she knew the layout, as well as the types and quantities of spirit herbs available.

She had seen higher-grade herbs before, and none of the ones she saw through the eyes of the Spirit Sha could help her forge a physical body.

Thus, she was in a foul mood.

A murderous intent stirred within her. She had originally intended to force the two families to clash with the entity in the "Pit Well" to test its strength, but she had changed her mind.

She ordered the Spirit Sha to keep a close watch on the two families, intending to wipe them out before they left the island and claim the harvested spirit plants for herself.

However, as she watched Su Meng's retreating back, a flicker of hesitation appeared in her eyes.

When Su Meng was about to disappear from sight, she turned back to wave at her with a sweet smile, prompting Luo Hongyan to mutter to herself, "Stupid girl, I'll spare your life just this once."

Having made her decision, she turned her gaze back to the White Tower and whispered, "It's only been one night. No matter how miraculous the spirit array laid out with Spirit Jade at the base of the tower might be, it's impossible for Pang Jian to fill his Spirit Sea in a single night."

She knew she couldn't rush it; there was no way Pang Jian could step into the Pulse-Opening Realm overnight, so she ordered the Spirit Sha to keep a careful watch on the Pit Well.

The Su and He families, busy until the morning, harvested a fair amount of spirit plants they recognized with nervous excitement, then prepared to take their leave, feeling quite satisfied.

As for what dangers might lurk beside Shangguan Qin, neither He Rong nor Su Yuntian intended to ask.

They directed their clansmen to carry the harvested herbs toward the bamboo rafts, and this time, Su Meng did not come over to say goodbye.

Luo Hongyan said nothing, but privately, she was already mobilizing the Spirit Sha, intent on wiping out both families.

To avoid alerting Pang Jian or the entity in the well beside Shangguan Qin, she planned to let Su Yuntian, He Rong, and the others board the rafts first, intending to strike once they were out on the water.

At that point.

With no cover to hide behind, those people would have no choice but to jump into the water, where the Spirit Sha held the advantage.

Luo Hongyan had calculated everything; she was just waiting for the two families to load the herbs onto the rafts and for the rafts to drift away from Lake Heart Island before she made her move.

A moment later.

A Spirit Sha slowly floated up from the jungle. Just as it prepared to strike, Luo Hongyan, hidden in the shadows, suddenly revealed a look of shock in her eyes.

Through the vision of the Spirit Sha, she saw two familiar figures emerging from the other side of Lake Heart Island.

Zhou Qingchen and Han Duping!

Having escaped from the Dark Ghost, the two men looked as if they had endured a long and arduous journey. When they pushed aside the towering weeds and suddenly caught sight of the pale blue Wulan Lake and the island within it, their eyes lit up.

Then, Zhou Qingchen and Han Duping spotted the Su and He families on the bamboo rafts.

Han Duping waved his arms excitedly and shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Zhou Qingchen!"

"Han Duping!"

Su Yuntian and He Rong were also filled with pleasant surprise; they had never expected to run into these two on their way out.

A bamboo raft drifted over, and they brought Zhou Qingchen and Han Duping aboard.

After some brief pleasantries, Zhou Qingchen learned what had happened and exclaimed in surprise and joy, "Pang Jian is actually still alive!"

Learning that Pang Jian was still among the living, he felt a genuine sense of happiness.

"We're going to the island!"

Zhou Qingchen was in high spirits, having shaken off his previous dejection. He said to Su Yuntian and He Rong, "To be honest, after escaping from the Dark Ghost Hong Tai, I underwent a period of bitter cultivation and have officially stepped into the Xisui Realm!"

"You've advanced to the Xisui Realm?" Su Yuntian was stunned.

Han Duping sighed and said, "It was a bit rushed. You should have slowed down and waited until this exploration of the Cenji Mountains ended to notify the people from Red Mountain to come and guide you to the lower world, so you could enter the Xisui Realm in a better way. Sigh, if you enter the Xisui Realm this early, you'll still need to be polished again once you reach Red Mountain."

"Old Han, the situation forced my hand. I had no choice but to be quick!" Zhou Qingchen said with a wry smile.

Hearing that Zhou Qingchen had advanced to the Xisui Realm and had become a powerhouse at the pinnacle of the Fourth Realm, Su Yuntian and He Rong immediately felt a surge of confidence.

Having originally intended to retreat, they now had a backer thanks to Zhou Qingchen's breakthrough, so they chose to turn back.

The group soon returned to the White Tower.

"Miss Ning!"

Zhou Qingchen frowned, looking at the five-story White Tower with an unfriendly expression. He suppressed his anger and barked, "Pang Jian is only in the Qi Refining Realm. Even if he has some peculiarities, you shouldn't have ordered him to break that Soul Array!"

Luo Hongyan was somewhat surprised; she hadn't expected this Zhou Qingchen to actually care about Pang Jian.

Han Duping rubbed his hands together, his face full of curiosity as he asked, "Girl Ning, you two... how did you survive coming out of the Blackwater Pool?"

At the Blackwater Pool back then, with Hong Tai and several Pulse-Opening Realm Dark Ghost cultivators present, both he and Zhou Qingchen had only been able to escape in the chaos. Given the cultivation levels of Pang Jian and his companion, it was truly inconceivable that they had survived until now.

He had been pondering this question the entire way, wondering how the two of them had managed to survive, yet the more he thought, the less of an answer he found.

"With a crazed Ouyang Duanhai stirring up trouble, and the Black-White King Python that Hong Tai had kept as a pet suddenly turning traitor and biting back, we were only able to escape by sheer luck."

After answering Han Duping's question, Luo Hongyan faced Zhou Qingchen with cold eyes and scoffed, "Aside from Pang Jian, even you, Zhou Qingchen, do not have the ability to enter the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda."

"What does it matter if you are in the Xisui Realm? You would still die if you went in!"

"Furthermore, if the Soul Array of the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda is not broken, once that person emerges from beneath the Pit Well, do you think you can survive if he regains control of the pagoda?"

Luo Hongyan was not being polite in the slightest; she held the newly advanced Zhou Qingchen in no regard, and her phrasing was extremely harsh.

Zhou Qingchen was just about to retort.

Han Duping quickly stopped him, saying in a low voice, "The Heavenly Spirit Pagoda is indeed no small matter! If this tower were truly being controlled and whistling through the void, even you, having advanced to the Xisui Realm, would find it difficult to merely withstand the tower itself. Not to mention, there is someone of unknown depth and origin inside the Pit Well."

Zhou Qingchen did not know the dangers of the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda, but he trusted Han Duping. He asked in shock, "Is the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda truly that formidable?"

"Terrifyingly so!"

Han Duping's expression was grave. He patted Zhou Qingchen on the shoulder to keep him from losing his composure and said, "She is right. If we want to deal with the other fellow on the island who might obtain the Phoenix Marrow, the best course of action is to destroy the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda first!"

Since even he had said as much, Zhou Qingchen immediately lowered his head and ceased his arguing.

Following that.

The returnees and the duo of Zhou Qingchen and Han Duping gathered together, keeping a distance as they surrounded the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda. While waiting for the outcome on Pang Jian's end, they discussed with Han Duping how to resolve the issue of the tower.

Han Duping spread his hands with a look of helplessness and a bitter smile. "Don't look at me; I have no good solution either. Unless I can ignore the highest level and the way that Soul Array pulls at and poisons my soul, I won't know if I can break it until I am standing right in front of it."

"However, based on my understanding of this object, with my Pulse-Opening Realm cultivation, my soul would be ripped away within ten paces."

With Han Duping at a loss, the others were even more helpless.

He Rong asked skeptically, "Can that kid Pang Jian really do it?"

He did not have a high opinion of Luo Hongyan, but he felt quite cordial toward Zhou Qingchen, who hailed from the Zhou Family, so he asked, "Qingchen, we haven't had much contact with him. What exactly is his background?"

"Since Pang Jian was able to go in and come out unscathed, and actually saw that Soul Array..."

Zhou Qingchen did not answer He Rong's question. He suddenly recalled the favor the "Eye of Imprint" had shown Pang Jian, as well as the scene of Pang Jian hunting down He Ziren under the ravages of the Demonic Sound within the stone pile. He said, "He might actually succeed!"

When he arrived, he had learned from Su Yuntian and He Rong that He Ziren had also been killed by the Dark Ghosts.

Knowing the truth, he did not clarify this to He Rong, but instead pretended to know nothing at all.

Seeing that the heaven-sent genius of the Zhou Family actually had some confidence in Pang Jian, He Rong found it increasingly suspicious; he truly could not fathom what kind of magic that kid possessed.

With no other options, the group had no choice but to continue waiting.

In the blink of an eye, another day and night passed.

During this time, Zhou Qingchen and Han Duping had successively gone to the mountain peak where Shangguan Qin could be seen, and they were treated by her in the same manner.

—She gestured for them to leave immediately.

Upon seeing the Pit Well created by the Phoenix Bone and witnessing Shangguan Qin's behavior, they finally believed Luo Hongyan's assessment and realized that something terrifying was hidden over there.

Zhou Qingchen also learned from the loose-lipped Su Meng that Luo Hongyan currently favored Pang Jian, taking care of his feelings at every turn, and that the two might be a couple.

Zhou Qingchen was stunned and said, "Old Han, what happened at the Blackwater Pool? Since when did Miss Luo take a fancy to Pang Jian?"

Han Duping was bewildered. "I have no idea."

The night was deep.

Pang Jian, who had been sitting silently at the base of the White Tower, awoke faintly. The Spirit Jade pieces beneath him had all lost their luster and power, no longer having spiritual energy flowing through them like water.

Feeling his limbs stiff, he realized he had been sitting in meditation for a long time, so he stood up to stretch his body.

He secretly sensed the Spirit Sea beneath his Dantian and discovered that after this arduous cultivation, his Spirit Sea was brimming with an ocean of spiritual energy, unable to absorb even a shred more power through the "Pot-Heaven Qi Cultivation Art."

He immediately knew that he had reached the bottleneck of the Qi Refining Realm and was qualified to attempt the breakthrough to the Pulse-Opening Realm.

After some thought, he did not rush to head straight to the fifth floor of the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda, but instead walked out of the White Tower, intending to inform the others.

As soon as he emerged, he saw Zhou Qingchen and Han Duping.

"Pang Jian!"

Zhou Qingchen waved in pleasant surprise.

Pang Jian's eyes lit up with joy; he had not expected that Zhou Qingchen, whom he had assumed had long since fallen victim to the Dark Ghosts, was actually still alive.

Not one for many words, he nodded slightly and waved back, saying, "I will first attempt to go to the fifth floor to destroy that Soul Array. Once the array is shattered, I will catch up with Young Master Zhou."

Zhou Qingchen urged, "I cannot get through, so you must be careful!"

Pang Jian gave an "mm" and suddenly said earnestly, "Young Master Zhou, I helped you kill all the Dark Ghost attackers at the Blackwater Pool, except for Hong Tai."

After dropping these words, he stepped back into the White Tower.

Zhou Qingchen, who had been waving his arm, suddenly froze, his face filled with bewilderment.