Reunion

The next day.

The night, as though it had sealed away every source of light in the lower realm, seemed to be slowly drawn back from the sky.

Seeing that nothing unusual had happened to the White Tower and that Pang Jian had not come out, Su Yuntian and He Rong immediately set their two families in motion.

Without informing Luo Hongyan, He Rong ordered his subordinates, who were loyal to him, to pick the spirit herbs he had identified.

Su Yuntian felt too embarrassed to explain things himself, so he sent Su Meng over to speak for him.

"Sister Ning..."

Su Meng circled around the White Tower and came to where Luo Hongyan was. Apology filled her little face. "My father and Uncle Rong have decided to leave the island. They plan to pick some herbs they recognize, then leave in a little while."

Luo Hongyan waved her away, too lazy to entertain her.

The "Spirit Sha" under her control had already searched the island thoroughly. She knew its layout, as well as the types and quantities of spirit herbs growing there.

She had seen herbs of a much higher grade, and none of the herbs she had seen through the "Spirit Sha" could help her forge a flesh-and-blood body.

So she was in a poor mood.

Killing intent stirred in her heart. She had originally planned to have the two families fight the person "in the well" and test his strength, but now she had changed her mind.

She had the "Spirit Sha" watch the two families' movements, planning to wipe them out before they left the island and claim the spirit plants they had harvested for herself.

Yet as she watched Su Meng's retreating figure, a trace of hesitation appeared in her eyes.

Just before Su Meng disappeared, she turned back and waved at her with a sweet smile. Only then did Luo Hongyan secretly snort, "You little brat. I'll spare your life."

Having made up her mind, she turned her gaze back to the White Tower and murmured, "It's only been one night. No matter how miraculous the spirit formation laid out with Spirit Jade beneath the tower may be, it would be hard for Pang Jian to fill his Spirit Sea in a single night."

She knew there was no rushing it. Pang Jian couldn't possibly enter the Pulse-Opening Realm overnight, so she had the "Spirit Sha" keep a careful watch on the Pit Well.

Su and He families worked through the morning, nervously harvesting quite a few spirit plants they recognized. Satisfied, they prepared to take their leave.

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

They arranged for their clansmen to carry the herbs they had picked to the place where their bamboo rafts were moored. This time, Su Meng did not make a point of coming over to say goodbye.

Luo Hongyan said nothing, but in secret she was already setting the "Spirit Sha" in motion, preparing to carefully wipe out the two families.

To avoid alarming Pang Jian and the person in the well beside Shangguan Qin, she planned to wait until Su Yuntian, He Rong, and the others had boarded the bamboo rafts, then strike while they were on the water.

By then.

The moment those people came under attack, they would have no cover. Their only way out would be to jump into the water, where the "Spirit Sha" had the advantage.

Luo Hongyan had planned everything out. She was just waiting for the two families to load the spirit herbs onto the rafts, then she would strike as soon as the rafts moved away from Lake Heart Island.

A moment later.

A "Spirit Sha" slowly floated up from the forest. Just as it was about to strike, surprise suddenly appeared in Luo Hongyan's eyes, hidden in the shadows.

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

Zhou Qingchen and Han Duping!

The two men, having escaped from Dark Ghost's hands, seemed to have endured a long journey. They pushed aside the tall weeds and suddenly spotted the pale-blue Wulan Lake and an island in its waters. Their eyes lit up.

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

Han Duping waved excitedly and shouted.

"Zhou Qingchen!"

"Han Duping!"

Su Yuntian and He Rong were delighted as well. They hadn't expected to run into the two men while on their way out.

So one of the bamboo rafts drifted over and picked up Zhou Qingchen and Han Duping.

After a round of greetings, Zhou Qingchen learned what had happened. Astonished and delighted, he said, "Pang Jian is actually still alive!"

Learning that Pang Jian was still alive, he felt genuine joy.

"Let's go to the island!"

Zhou Qingchen was full of confidence, his earlier dejection swept away. He said to Su Yuntian and He Rong, "To be honest, after escaping from Dark Ghost Hong Tai, I went through a period of arduous cultivation. I've officially entered the Xisui Realm!"

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

Han Duping sighed. "You rushed into it a little too soon. You should have slowed down and waited until this trip to the Cenji Mountains was over. Then you could have notified the people of Red Mountain to come to the lower realm and guide you, so you could enter the Xisui Realm in a better way. Sigh, since you entered the Xisui Realm so early, you'll still need further refinement when you reach Red Mountain."

"Old Han, the situation forced my hand. I couldn't afford to take it slow!" Zhou Qingchen said with a bitter smile.

Hearing that Zhou Qingchen had advanced to the Xisui Realm and become one of the strongest in the Fourth Realm, Su Yuntian and He Rong immediately felt more confident.

They had been planning to leave, but Zhou Qingchen's breakthrough gave them an ally, so they chose to turn back.

The group soon returned to the White Tower.

"Miss Ning!"

Frowning, Zhou Qingchen glared at the five-story White Tower and, suppressing his anger, snapped, "Pang Jian is only in the Qi Refining Realm. Even if there's something unusual about him, you shouldn't have ordered him to break that Soul Array!"

Luo Hongyan was somewhat surprised. She hadn't expected Zhou Qingchen to genuinely care about Pang Jian.

Han Duping rubbed his hands together, his face full of curiosity. "Little Ning, how did you two make it out of Blackwater Pool alive?"

At the time, Hong Tai and several Dark Ghost cultivators in the Pulse-Opening Realm had been at Blackwater Pool. He and Zhou Qingchen had only managed to escape in the chaos. Given Pang Jian and her cultivation, it was inconceivable that they had survived until now.

He had been pondering the question the whole way, trying to work out how the two of them had lived, but the more he thought about it, the less he understood.

"A mad Ouyang Duanhai caused a commotion, and the Black-White King Python Hong Tai kept suddenly turned on him. That's how we managed to escape by sheer luck."

After answering Han Duping, Luo Hongyan turned a cold eye on Zhou Qingchen and snorted. "Apart from Pang Jian, not even you, Zhou Qingchen, have the ability to enter the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda."

"So what if you've reached the Xisui Realm? You'd still die if you went in!"

"And if the Soul Array in the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda isn't broken, then once the person beneath the Pit Well comes out, as long as he can take control of the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda again, do you really think you'll survive?"

Luo Hongyan showed not the slightest courtesy. She didn't take Zhou Qingchen, even after his breakthrough, seriously, and her words were harsh.

Zhou Qingchen was about to retort.

But Han Duping quickly stopped him and said sharply, "The Heavenly Spirit Pagoda is indeed extraordinary! If someone truly controlled this tower and sent it roaring through the air, even you, after advancing to the Xisui Realm, would struggle just to withstand it. Besides, there's someone of unknown strength and unknown origin in the Pit Well!"

Zhou Qingchen knew nothing about the dangers of the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda, but he trusted Han Duping. He exclaimed, "Is the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda really that powerful?"

"Terrifyingly so!"

Han Duping's face was grave. He patted Zhou Qingchen on the shoulder to keep him calm and said, "She's right. If we want to deal with the other person on the island who may have obtained the Phoenix Marrow, our best option is to destroy the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda first!"

Even Han Duping said so, and Zhou Qingchen immediately fell silent, no longer arguing.

After that.

The newcomers and Zhou Qingchen's group kept their distance as they surrounded the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda. They waited for news from Pang Jian while discussing with Han Duping how to deal with the tower.

Han Duping spread his hands, looking utterly helpless, and smiled bitterly. "Don't look at me. I don't have a good solution either. Unless I can ignore the way the Soul Array on the highest floor tugs at and poisons my soul. I'll only know whether I can break it once I reach the Soul Array."

"However, based on what I know about this thing, with my Pulse-Opening Realm cultivation, it would draw out my soul within ten steps."

If even Han Duping was stumped, the others had even less idea what to do.

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

He didn't like Luo Hongyan at all, but he seemed quite friendly toward Zhou Qingchen, who came from the Zhou Family, so he asked, "Qingchen, we haven't had much contact with him. What's his background?"

"If Pang Jian went in and then came back out unharmed, and truly saw that Soul Array..."

Zhou Qingchen didn't answer He Rong's question. Instead, he suddenly recalled the Eye of Imprint's favor toward Pang Jian, as well as the scene of Pang Jian hunting down He Ziren while Demonic Sound ravaged him inside the stone pile. He said, "He might really succeed!"

On his way here, he had already learned from Su Yuntian and He Rong that He Ziren had also been killed by Dark Ghost.

Knowing the truth, he didn't tell He Rong what had really happened. Instead, he pretended he knew nothing.

Seeing that even Zhou Qingchen, the Zhou Family's peerless prodigy, had some faith in Pang Jian, He Rong found the situation all the more strange. He truly couldn't understand what kind of power that kid held.

With no solution in sight, everyone could only keep waiting.

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

During that time, Zhou Qingchen and Han Duping each went to the mountaintop where Shangguan Qin could be seen. She treated them the same way.

—She gestured for them to leave at once.

After seeing the Pit Well formed by the Phoenix Bone and Shangguan Qin's behavior, they finally believed Luo Hongyan's assessment and understood that something terrifying was lurking there.

From the big-mouthed Su Meng, Zhou Qingchen also learned that Luo Hongyan now favored Pang Jian and looked after his feelings in every way. She said the two of them might be a couple.

Zhou Qingchen was dumbfounded. "Old Han, what happened at Blackwater Pool? When did Miss Ning fall for Pang Jian?"

Han Duping was just as baffled. "I have no idea."

The night was deep.

Pang Jian, sitting cross-legged at the base of the White Tower, slowly awoke. The Spirit Jade blocks beneath him had all lost their luster and power; no spiritual energy flowed through them like water anymore.

His limbs felt stiff, and he realized he had been sitting for a long time, so he rose and stretched them out.

He silently sensed the Spirit Sea beneath his dantian and found that after this bout of arduous cultivation, it was filled with an ocean of spiritual energy. He could no longer absorb even a trace of power through the "Pot-Heaven Qi Cultivation Art."

He immediately understood that he had reached the bottleneck of the Qi Refining Realm and was qualified to break through to the Pulse-Opening Realm.

After thinking it over, he didn't hurry straight to the Heavenly Spirit Pagoda's fifth floor. Instead, he left the White Tower first, intending to let everyone know.

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

"Pang Jian!"

Zhou Qingchen waved at him in delight.

Joy appeared in Pang Jian's eyes. He hadn't expected Zhou Qingchen, whom he had long believed to have fallen to Dark Ghost's poison, to still be alive.

Not one for words, he simply nodded and waved back. "I'll first try to go to the fifth floor and destroy that Soul Array. Once it's broken, I'll catch up with Young Master Zhou."

Zhou Qingchen cautioned him, "I couldn't get through. Be sure to take care of yourself!"

Pang Jian replied, "Mm," then said earnestly, "Young Master Zhou, aside from Hong Tai, I killed every one of the Dark Ghost assailants at Blackwater Pool for you."

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

Zhou Qingchen's raised hand suddenly froze, and he stared in bewilderment.