Primordial World Beast Bone · Prophecy of the Nine-Layer Tower

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The entrance to Poison Mist Valley closed behind Nan Feng, and the poisonous miasma once again formed a barrier.

Nan Feng stood at the edge of the forest and took a breath of the damp air.

The nine Soul-Suppressing Azure Lotus Green Lotus pulsated in the Tower Spirit Space, synchronized with the Primordial World Imprint.

He took his third step, and a voice came from within the poisonous fog.

"Kid."

The Nan Feng paused.

Dugu Bo's voice emanated from the poisonous miasma, even lower than before, suppressing thirty years of stagnation.

What's your name?

Nan Feng turned around. Dugu Bo's figure was just an outline in the miasma, like an old tree rooted in poisonous soil.

"Nan Feng."

There was a brief silence within the poisonous fog.

"Nan Feng..." Dugu Bo chewed on those two words, "An unfamiliar name. No family, no master, no background. The Spirit Hall has investigated for so long, but they still can't find out where you came from."

Nan Feng did not respond.

Dugu Bo took two steps forward. His face emerged from the edge of the miasma, his wrinkles like deep, etched lines.

His gaze fell on Nan Feng's left wrist.

"That red hairband on your left wrist," Dugu Bo said, "Is roughly braided, but it was made with care. The person who gave you that hairband has a special relationship with you."

Nan Feng glanced down at her left wrist; her red hair ribbon was fluttering.

He offered no explanation.

Dugu Bo didn't press the matter. He put his hands behind his back and looked up at the empty space above the Poison Mist Valley. Sunlight fell on his face, cutting out the line between light and shadow.

"Thirty years," he said, his voice lowering. "I've guarded this valley for thirty years. Yan'er has grown from a six-year-old to a young woman, and when I saw her off, she didn't even turn her head back."

He paused for a moment.

"She hates me, hates that I locked her in a cage. She doesn't know that I'm here not just to hide from the Spirit Hall."

Nan Feng's eyebrows twitched slightly.

Dugu Bo took something out of his pocket.

It was a piece of bone about the size of a palm, the bone was yellowish-black, and the edges were worn and pitted.

The bone fragments are engraved with patterns, somewhat similar to the dark gold patterns on the tower, but rougher, as if they were scratched on with fingernails.

"I found it in a crevice in the rock next to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well." Dugu Bo turned the bone fragment over and pointed to a mark on it.

"Thirty years ago, when I first entered the valley, this bone fragment was embedded in the base of the central rock of the Yin Yang Well. It took me five years to retrieve it."

Nan Feng took two steps closer. Treasure-Appraising Spirit Light.

The patterns on the bone fragments emitted a dim golden light, their texture remarkably similar to the Primordial World Power, yet thinner and more ancient, like an echo transmitted across countless eras.

Old Huai's voice rang out, suppressing his shock.

"Fragments of beast bones from the Primordial World era. The patterns are Primordial World Beast Script, even older than the script of Soul Beast. It's engraved with a seal."

Dugu Bo flipped the bone fragment back to the front and pointed to the mark in the middle.

"I've seen this pattern in ancient books. For the past thirty years, I've searched through every surviving fragment of ancient books that could be brought into the valley, and finally found a record of it in a book made of animal hide. I salvaged that book from a pile of old books in Gengxin City; only three pages remain."

He tapped his finger on the mark.

"The animal hide book says that this pattern represents the Shattered Origin. After the collapse of the ancient Primordial World, the largest fragment shattered into a core that scattered across all realms, each piece carrying the power of the Primordial Origin."

"People of that era used this pattern to mark relics related to the Primordial Origin."

Nan Feng's pupils contracted slightly.

"The animal hide book also mentions a legend. After the Primordial World shattered, a group of Realm Guardians emerged, whose duty was to collect the scattered fragments and rebuild the Primordial Origin. The Realm Guardians all disappeared in ancient times; some say they were destroyed by the Divine Realm, while others say they were absorbed into the fragments."

He raised his eyes, his gray-green pupils fixed on Nan Feng.

There's also a prophecy in the legend.

"When the Nine-Layered Tower reappears in the mortal realm, when the Primordial World Power awakens once more, the shattered origin will be reassembled. And the Divine Realm will no longer be the end of all worlds."

Nan Feng's heart skipped a beat.

The Primordial World Imprint trembled, and the vibration traveled to the Tower Spirit Space, causing the nine lotus seeds to pulsate simultaneously.

Dugu Bo nodded.

"I sensed that power within your soul the first time I saw you. Outside Poison Mist Valley, when you used the Tower Realm to isolate me from the poisonous mist, a little of it seeped out from the depths of your soul."

He paused.

"I knew then that you were no ordinary Soul Master. You don't cultivate the Soul Power system. Your path is more ancient than Soul Power."

He put the bone fragment back into his pocket.

"Qian Daoliu of the Spirit Hall has been searching for relics related to the Primordial World. In the Worship Hall, there is an ancestral Primordial World Sensing Stone that can sense Primordial World Fragment."

His voice trailed off.

"The Spirit Hall is hunting me down, ostensibly because of their old grudge against the Dugu Family. What they really want to know is what I've been guarding in Poison Mist Valley for thirty years."

The Nan Feng is blowing.

Did you tell them?

Dugu Bo snorted.

"If I told them, would I still be standing here talking to you? If Qian Daoliu knew there was the aura of Primordial World Fragment in this valley, he would have come himself. Level 99 Peak Douluo coming in person, I can't withstand that."

"But you can withstand it. Your Primordial World Power can completely block the sensing stones. When you took the Soul-Suppressing Azure Lotus, the tower absorbed all of the lotus's aura, without leaking out at all. Even if the people from the Spirit Hall stand at the valley entrance, the sensing stones won't light up."

The Nan Feng fell silent.

Dugu Bo asked him to take the Soul-Suppressing Azure Lotus not just to repay a favor. If the Green Lotus remained in the valley, it would be discovered by the Spirit Hall sooner or later.

Dugu Bo held out for thirty years, but he couldn't hold out any longer.

"You already knew that the Soul-Suppressing Azure Lotus was a relic from the Primordial World," Nan Feng said.

"I guessed it," Dugu Bo admitted. "I don't know exactly what it is. Its aura resonates with the patterns on the bone fragments. I can't remove it, nor can I take it with me."

He looked at the Nan Feng.

"But you've come. Your tower shares the same origin as it, and your Primordial World Power can awaken it. It's better for you to take it than to stay here and wait for the Spirit Hall to seize it."

He turned his back to the Nan Feng and walked into the depths of the poisonous fog.

The figure grew increasingly blurry in the miasma. A voice then reached them.

"Go now, before I regret it."

Nan Feng watched as the figure was about to be swallowed by the poisonous fog.

"Senior."

Dugu Bo stopped, without turning around.

"The Spirit Hall 'Worship Hall," Nan Feng said, "I will return once I have completed the Primordial World Great Dao. At that time, I will help you resolve matters concerning Qian Daoliu and the Worship Hall."

Dugu Bo stood with his back to him for a long time.

The poisonous mist Entanglement him, gradually swallowing up his silhouette inch by inch.

Just before he was about to leave, Dugu Bo's voice came from within the poisonous fog, hoarse and low, with a hint of laughter.

"This kid... is even more ruthless than I was back then. The path he's walking is higher than becoming a god."

The poisonous fog closed in, and the figure vanished.

Nan Feng stood at the edge of the forest. The autumn wind blew the debris off his outer robe.

He looked down at his palm. The illusory image of the Nine Heart Begonia petals flashed at his fingertips and then disappeared.

The Soul-Suppressing Azure Lotus rotated within the Tower Spirit Space.

"Old Huai," Nan Feng asked in his mind, "Is the prophecy Dugu Bo spoke of— the Realm Guardians, the Shattered Origin, the Nine-Layered Tower, the Awakening of the Primordial World—all true?"

Old Huai remained silent for a long time, his voice losing its usual roughness.

"I'm not sure if the prophecy is true or not. But one thing is true: your ancestor, the Pagoda God, did indeed come to the Douluo Plane after leaving his Primordial World homeland."

"He found the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well and planted Soul-Suppressing Azure Lotus next to the spring. He said something to me that I didn't understand at the time."

What did you say?

"The day the Nine-Layer Tower opens is the day I return home."

Nan Feng's heart sank.

"Returning home... back to the Primordial World?"

"I don't know," Old Huai's voice returned to its rough tone, "Don't think about that now. You're level 37, stuck at levels other than ten, so you can't absorb Soul Ring and your Soul Power won't increase."

"Find a safe place to refine all the Immortal Herb first. Only after the Soul-Suppressing Azure Lotus stabilizes can your Tower Soul and Primordial World Power truly fuse."

"Once the refining is complete, your Soul Power will experience a qualitative leap. Your level 37 then will be completely different from what it is now."

The Nan Feng nodded.

He left Sunset Forest and headed northeast. There was an abandoned Soul Hunting Hunter camp there, which he had noticed on the way there; it was in a remote location.

After walking a dozen steps, he looked back.

The Poison Mist Valley is hidden deep in the forest, with no entrance to be found. Dugu Bo guards it, protecting the roots of the Immortal Herb beside the Yin Yang Well.

Nan Feng withdrew his gaze and quickened his pace.

The Soul-Suppressing Azure Lotus rotated within the Tower Spirit Space, its nine seeds synchronized with the Primordial World Imprint.

Deep within his soul, in the Bronze Tower bought for eight hundred dollars, on the immortal tree transformed from the remnant soul of the Old Huai locust tree, a new leaf unfolds.

That was the first new leaf to sprout from the immortal tree after Dugu Bo's words.

The Old Huai tree looked down at the leaf and muttered something.

Nan Feng didn't hear clearly. He had already walked quite a distance, heading towards the direction of his Fourth Soul Ring.