The Underground Palace's Lower Level · Arrival in Heaven Dou

Suotuo City, second floor of an inn.

When Nan Feng brought Huo Wu into the room, Zhu Zhuqing's door was shut, and a fluctuation of Soul Power lingered behind it for a breath.

"Teacher Qin Ming received word this afternoon," Huo Wu said. "Spirit Hall sent a man named Pei Yuan. He's a Soul Emperor with the Shadow Leopard Martial Soul. He's fast, has sharp perception, and specializes in investigating lost Soul Tools and ancient relics."

"He'll reach Suotuo City tomorrow morning." She set down her cup. "His first stop will be underneath the Great Soul Arena."

"Do they know I have the jade talisman?"

"We don't know. You searched the stone chamber, and when they went in, the stone platform was open and the box was empty. Pei Yuan will check for traces of Soul Power. Your Tower Suppression left a trace, so he'll probably be able to track you down."

"Teacher Qin Ming said that if you want to run, leave tonight. If you're staying, clean up the traces before he tracks you to the inn."

Nan Feng fell silent for a few breaths. There was still something beneath the stone chamber.

The last time he went down, his Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light had caught a line of Spiritual Power on the wall, running underground from the base of the stone platform. Its Spiritual Power had the same quality as the spatial presence on the jade talisman.

"There's another level beneath the stone chamber," Nan Feng said.

"What?"

"That stone chamber is the upper level. There's another one below it. Spirit Hall's people don't have Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light, so they stopped after finding the stone chamber."

"You're going down again tonight?"

"Pei Yuan arrives tomorrow morning. Tonight is our last chance."

"I'm coming with you."

"You've only just recovered from your injuries-"

"I know whether I've recovered or not," Huo Wu interrupted. "If you go down alone and Pei Yuan blocks the entrance, you won't even have a way out. I'll keep watch and set a fire if anything happens."

Nan Feng nodded, secured his short staff and iron hammer, then took the spatial jade talisman from his bundle and tucked it into his inner pocket.

"Let's go."

The two slipped away over the inn's roof and followed the shadows east through the city. An incense stick's time later, they reached the foot of the Great Soul Arena's northern outer wall.

Nan Feng pried apart the iron bars, and the two of them slipped through one after the other.

Nan Feng looked around, confirmed that nothing remained, and pushed the door open.

Nan Feng crouched and directed his Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light at the base. The line of Spiritual Power was still there at the seam, a faint golden glow seeping through the crack.

He took out the jade talisman and held it near the base. The same faint golden light emerged from the talisman, and the two lights merged.

A mechanism clicked beneath the base. The stone platform slid half a foot to one side, revealing stone steps leading down.

"There really is another level?" Huo Wu leaned over to look.

Nan Feng put the jade talisman away and stepped onto the stairs first. The steps were narrower and steeper, and the stone walls on either side were bare.

They reached the bottom after thirty steps. Below was a larger stone chamber. Nan Feng blew his firestarter to life.

The chamber was two zhang square, its floor and walls made of solid granite slabs. A circular formation was carved in the very center, its lines filled with a faint golden light.

A vertical crack stood at the center of the formation. The light within it was brighter than the formation, and its gold was the same color as the Primordial World Imprint.

A faint golden humanoid figure of light floated above the crack. It had no facial features, its outline was blurry, and its arms hung at its sides as it faced the crack.

Nan Feng entered the chamber, and the figure trembled, turning its head toward him. It had no eyes, yet he could feel it looking at him.

Its gaze rested on him for a breath. A ball of light flared in the figure's chest, the same color as the Primordial World Imprint.

Huo Wu stood at the entrance to the stairs, her hand on her dagger. "Nan Feng, that thing is looking at you."

"I know."

Nan Feng took two steps forward. The figure neither attacked nor retreated. The light in its chest pulsed brighter and dimmer.

Nan Feng felt the Primordial World Imprint heat up in time with the pulses, their frequencies drawing closer and closer.

"That is the lock on a spatial seal." Old Huai's voice drifted out of the crack at the bottom of the tower. "Something is sealed beneath the crack. That humanoid figure is the lock given form, waiting for the possessor of Primordial World Power to unlock it."

"You have the Primordial World Imprint, so it bears you no hostility. But you aren't strong enough to open this seal yet. If you forcefully touch it, you'll suffer a backlash."

Nan Feng stopped three steps away and sent his Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light probing toward the crack. The spirit light bounced back when it struck the crack's surface.

The instant it bounced back, he sensed a presence deep within the crack, immensely heavy and dense, like spatial origin compressed for countless years.

The coordinates on the jade talisman might be a route map leading into this sealed space.

Huo Wu urged him on from behind. "We're running out of time. We have to get out before dawn."

Nan Feng committed the humanoid figure, the formation's lines, and the crack's position to memory, then turned toward the stairs.

"Let's go."

The two returned to the upper stone chamber. Nan Feng pushed the stone platform back into place, pulled some rubble over the line of Spiritual Power at the seam, and retraced their route out.

The night wind struck their faces. The streets in the east of the city were deserted.

"What are you going to do about that thing down there?"

"I'll come back when my Soul Power is strong enough." Nan Feng put the jade talisman away. "Pei Yuan will find the stone chamber, but he won't see the level below. I covered the lines on the base with rubble. He won't find them unless he moves the stone platform."

Huo Wu nodded. "I'll keep an eye on things with Teacher Qin Ming. Once Pei Yuan arrives, I'll let you know what he does."

Nan Feng watched Huo Wu disappear at the end of the alley.

A pale gray line emerged on the eastern horizon. Dawn was near.

Four days later.

In the afternoon, Nan Feng entered Heaven Dou City through its southern gate.

Heaven Dou City was much larger than Suotuo City. Its streets were broad, and there were twice as many pedestrians wearing Soul Master uniforms.

He crossed the main street and turned onto a tree-lined road leading to Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Nan Feng reached the southern gate and saw a figure in plain white in the distance.

Ye Lingling was leaning against a gatepost, leafing through a book. She looked up, and her light amber eyes brightened.

"You're here." She closed the book and tucked it into her sleeve.

"How long have you been waiting?"

"Not long."

The two walked deeper into the academy along the pathway.

"How did you know I'd arrive today?"

Ye Lingling tilted her head and glanced at him.

"I can sense your Soul Power fluctuations. You were in Suotuo City three days ago, and you left two days ago. Judging by your pace, you'd reach Heaven Dou City this afternoon."

Nan Feng fell silent for a beat. Nine Heart Begonia's perception could pick up his Soul Power fluctuations from half a city away.

"How long have you been here?"

"Three months. I came here after leaving Gengxin City." Ye Lingling led him onto a branching path. "I'm registered in the intermediate division and help the infirmary handle medicinal herbs. Teacher Qin Ming is here too. He teaches practical combat."

Nan Feng nodded. Qin Ming was a senior teacher at Heaven Dou Royal Academy, a level sixty-eight Soul Emperor.

Ye Lingling stopped in front of a single-story building and pushed open the door. A row of wooden shelves against the wall held medicinal herbs and an assortment of bottles and jars.

She handed him a small porcelain bottle. "A mind-calming medicine I recently made."

Nan Feng pulled out the stopper and took a sip. The Soul Power circulating in his dantian flowed a little more smoothly.

Ye Lingling sat on the edge of the bed opposite him. Her gaze swept over his whole body and settled on the dark purple markings on the back of his right hand.

"Your Soul Power fluctuations have changed again," she said, her tone even. "They're nearly forty percent denser than they were in Gengxin City. Your Third Soul Ring is a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring, pure black. The doors to the tower's third floor have already opened a crack."

"The third ring came from a twelve-thousand-year-old Fierce Bear King. My Soul Power is at level thirty-four now."

Ye Lingling was silent for a few breaths, her gaze moving from the back of his hand to his face.

"Your meridians held up under the impact of the Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring. But there are still hidden injuries in their walls that haven't healed, left over from absorbing the Soul Ring," she said. "You should rest and recuperate now. Suppress your Soul Power until level thirty-six before considering the next step."

Nan Feng nodded. Several of his meridians had split under the strain of absorbing the Fierce Bear King's Soul Ring, and the hidden injuries would take time to heal.

"Where are you staying?"

"I haven't decided yet."

Ye Lingling took a key from a drawer. "There are a few empty rooms on the east side of the academy. They used to be for guest elders. I'll speak to the dean of studies, and you can stay there for now. The training grounds and library are open to guest elders."

Nan Feng took the key. "Have you gotten used to being here?"

Ye Lingling's lips curved slightly. "I have. There's a greater variety of medicinal herbs here than in either Nuoding or Gengxin City, and the teachers in the infirmary are willing to teach me."

"Thank you."

Ye Lingling tilted her head, then went to the medicine shelves and began arranging the bottles and jars.

"Rest tonight. I'll take you to the library tomorrow." Her voice drifted out from behind the shelves.

"There are quite a few notes there on Soul Beast distribution and Soul Bone fusion. They're much more detailed than the books in Nuoding Academy's collection."

Nan Feng put the key in his pocket and went out the door.

He walked to the single-story building on the east side, pushed open the door to his room, and set his bundle on the table. Then he sat on the edge of the bed and sank into the space inside the tower.

"You've reached Heaven Dou City?" Old Huai poked his head out of the crack.

"I have."

"That Nine Heart Begonia girl arranged a place for you to stay?"

"Mm."

Old Huai snorted and withdrew into the crack. The space inside the tower fell quiet.

Nan Feng closed his eyes and circulated the Primordial World Qi Refining Art. Soul Power flowed through his meridians in circuit after circuit, warm and steady.

The lights came on at the distant training grounds. Light slipped through a gap in the window, drawing a thin golden line at his feet.