Second Layer Seal Opens

The Spirit Hall Branch Hall collapsed downward.

The tiles beneath Xu Zhou's feet cracked into several pieces, and he fell along with the rubble.

Yu Xiaogang reached out to grab him, but only caught half a sleeve.

Tang San's Blue Silver Grass also coiled around him.

The two forces pulled Xu Zhou at once, but his clothes tore first with a rip.

The Blue Silver Grass roots by Xu Zhou's feet wrapped around his legs, refusing to let go.

Xu Zhou grabbed the roots and tugged twice with all his strength.

They would not budge.

The Black Ancient Book pressed against the roots, and the blue lines on its pages became clearer.

[The target is making Soul Power contact.]

[The target does not possess complete consciousness.]

[Target's current state: juvenile awakening, unable to control its Soul Power independently.]

He grabbed the Blue Silver Grass with both hands and leaned backward.

"Grandmaster Yu, hold onto Xu Zhou!"

Yu Xiaogang did not answer.

He had already placed Luo Sanpao somewhere safe and firmly gripped Xu Zhou's other arm with both hands.

"Don't worry."

Tang San exerted force.

The strands of Blue Silver Grass tightened one after another.

Xu Zhou's body finally moved upward a little.

But the sounds coming from underground grew louder and louder.

It sounded like countless roots crawling through the stone walls.

Rocks fell from overhead.

One brushed past Xu Zhou's face, leaving a shallow bloody mark.

He looked up.

Xu Yan was still in the first-floor hall.

Yu Xiaogang and Tang San were both here.

If the second-layer seal fully opened, everyone in the entire branch hall would fall down.

Xu Yan would be trapped below as well.

"Stop pulling me."

Xu Zhou suddenly said.

Tang San did not let go.

"What did you say?"

"I'm going down."

"There might be Soul Beasts below."

"It's already awake."

"Can you handle it?"

"No."

Xu Zhou turned to look at Tang San.

"So you have to come with me."

Tang San did not hesitate.

"Fine."

But Yu Xiaogang refused.

"If both of you go down, what am I supposed to do?"

"You stay up here."

"I can't possibly watch you two go down."

"If you stay up here, you'll have a chance to save Xu Yan."

Xu Zhou pointed toward the center of the hall.

"Once the underground seal keeps opening, the people above will be dragged down too. Guard the first floor and don't let the Spirit Hall people continue downward."

Yu Xiaogang glanced at the ground that was about to collapse.

He did not want to admit it, but Xu Zhou was right.

The most important thing now was not pulling the two of them up.

It was keeping everyone from falling together.

"I'll hold the line."

Yu Xiaogang released Xu Zhou's hand.

Tang San also released the Blue Silver Grass.

Once their strength withdrew, Xu Zhou plummeted downward.

The Blue Silver Emperor's roots wrapped around him even tighter.

Tang San jumped down along the roots.

"You actually came with me!" Xu Zhou shouted.

"You told me to come."

"I only said it casually!"

"I took it seriously."

Tang San grabbed a hanging strand of Blue Silver Grass in midair and swung himself beside Xu Zhou.

The two fell into the darkness together.

Boom!

The ground above completely collapsed.

A huge amount of rubble came crashing down.

Tang San controlled the Blue Silver Grass to form a vine net, blocking the falling rocks.

Xu Zhou landed on a slope, and the poison in his arm flared up again.

He braced himself against the ground and sat up.

There was no dust underground as he had imagined.

Blue light seeped from the surrounding stone walls, illuminating the entire space.

This was a natural cave.

A shallow pool lay at the center of the cave.

A massive blue root hung above the pool.

Its tip dangled in the water.

It had no leaves.

No branches.

There was only a section of still-growing Blue Silver Emperor rhizome.

The moment Xu Zhou saw it clearly, the root reached toward him.

Its tip gently touched his forehead.

The Black Ancient Book opened on its own.

[The target has come into contact with the host.]

[The target is attempting to establish a Soul Power Link.]

[Allow?]

Xu Zhou did not choose immediately.

"What does it want?" Tang San asked.

"It's looking for me."

"Who does it think you are?"

"I don't know."

Xu Zhou looked at the blue root.

"Maybe it sees me as food. Maybe it sees me as one of its own."

"And you're still standing there?"

"I'm waiting for it to make the first mistake."

Tang San glanced at him.

"You can wait for that?"

"I can."

The moment Xu Zhou finished speaking, the root suddenly pierced his palm.

Blood flowed out.

Xu Zhou's arm went numb, and he nearly fell into the pool.

Red words immediately appeared in the Black Ancient Book.

[The target is attempting to extract the host's Soul Power.]

[Extraction method is crude.]

[The host's Soul Power is draining.]

Xu Zhou grabbed the root.

"So you really do see me as food?"

The Blue Silver Emperor's root did not respond.

It merely continued extracting Soul Power.

The Soul Power Xu Zhou had painstakingly accumulated began flowing into the root.

Level three.

Level four.

Level five.

Having only just broken through level ten, the Soul Power within Xu Zhou's body had not fully stabilized.

Now that this juvenile was draining it, his Soul Power Level began to drop.

[Soul Power Level: Level Ten.]

[Soul Power Level: Level Nine.]

The words in the Black Ancient Book turned bright red.

"Xu Zhou!"

Tang San grabbed the root, trying to rip it off Xu Zhou's arm.

But the root split off a thin vine and wrapped around Tang San's wrist.

Tang San's Soul Power also began to be drained.

His Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul gave a faint rustle.

"Let go!" Xu Zhou shouted.

"I can't let go!"

"If you don't, we'll both turn into dried grass!"

Tang San still did not release it.

Xu Zhou could only raise his other hand and press it against the back of Tang San's hand.

The Black Ancient Book floated between them.

A prompt appeared on its pages.

[A dual-target Soul Power Link has been detected.]

[Soul Power cognition can be converted into a False Script.]

[Current target assessment: the host and Tang San possess Soul Power of the same origin.]

[Establish a false link?]

Xu Zhou looked at the Blue Silver Emperor's root.

This was the first time he had seen the Script of All Beings affect a Soul Beast.

Soul Beasts could make judgments too.

They could make mistakes too.

If he could make this juvenile believe that his and Tang San's Soul Power came from the same source, it would no longer drain Xu Zhou alone.

Xu Zhou confirmed the choice.

The pages of the Black Ancient Book turned.

An invisible Soul Power Link extended from him and Tang San, winding around the Blue Silver Emperor's root.

The root's movements stopped.

The next moment, Tang San's Soul Power began flowing into it as well.

Xu Zhou's Soul Power drained much more slowly.

But Tang San's face turned pale.

His Innate Full Soul Power had never been suppressed by a Soul Ring, and his Soul Power circulation was extremely smooth.

Now that it had been forcibly drained, the Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul was withering bit by bit.

"Xu Zhou, disconnect the link!"

"Not yet."

"If you don't, my Martial Soul will be damaged."

"Then endure it for now."

"I can't endure it!"

Tang San raised his hand, about to sever the roots.

Xu Zhou grabbed his wrist.

"If you cut it now, the juvenile will immediately backlash against you."

"Then let it backlash against me!"

"Do you want to die?"

"Better than watching you get drained dry!"

After saying that, Tang San directly took out a Sleeve Arrow with his other hand.

Its sharp arrowhead was aimed at his own wrist.

When Xu Zhou saw this, his mind suddenly went blank.

This Tang San really was as cautious as he had been in the original story.

And just as protective of those close to him.

It was just that in the original story, he had protected Xiao Wu.

Now, he was protecting Xu Zhou.

"Don't move."

Xu Zhou pressed down the Sleeve Arrow.

"I have a way."

Tang San stared at him.

"What other way is there?"

"Let it eat its fill."

Xu Zhou looked toward the pool.

"The Blue Silver Emperor Juvenile lacks Soul Power, which is why it is absorbing us. As long as we give it something with enough energy, it will stop."

"There are no Soul Beast corpses here."

"There are."

Xu Zhou looked up at the top of the cavern.

A black iron chain hung there.

At the end of the chain was a slowly beating Soul Beast heart.

Blue Silver Grass roots covered the area around the heart.

After watching for a while, Xu Zhou finally understood what was truly sealed here.

Spirit Hall was not cultivating the Blue Silver Emperor Juvenile.

They were using a Soul Beast's life to nourish the Blue Silver Emperor Juvenile.

"What is that?"

Tang San asked.

"Food prepared for it."

Xu Zhou looked at the black iron chain.

"Or perhaps explosives prepared for the whole of Notting City."

The Black Ancient Book turned its pages on its own.

[Detected: Soul Beast Life Core.]

[Age: Unknown.]

[Status: Continuous nourishment.]

[If the iron chain breaks, the Life Core will merge with the Blue Silver Emperor Juvenile.]

[Consequence: The Underground Soul Power Network will lose control.]

Xu Zhou looked upward.

From the first-floor hall, Yu Xiaogang's voice faintly carried down.

"Everyone, move back!"

This was followed by the sound of Soul Power colliding.

Spirit Hall's people had already begun attacking Yu Xiaogang.

Xu Yan was trapped upstairs as well.

Meanwhile, the underground Blue Silver Emperor Juvenile was still absorbing Xu Zhou and Tang San's Soul Power.

Xu Zhou looked at the beating heart and slowly raised his hand.

"Tang San."

"I'm here."

"In a moment, I'll cut the iron chain."

"What will happen?"

"It will eat its fill."

"And then?"

"Then the entire Spirit Hall Branch Hall might be lifted up by Blue Silver Grass."

Tang San tightened his grip on the Sleeve Arrow.

"Then cut it."

The Black Ancient Book in Xu Zhou's hand lit up with a black glow.

The roots, iron chain, and Life Core began trembling at the same time.

Xu Yan suddenly shouted from above.

"Xu Zhou, don't cut that iron chain!"

Xu Zhou's hand stopped in midair.

Xu Yan's voice carried down again.

"That isn't a Soul Beast's heart."

"It's Ah Yin's second Soul Core."