Shadow Pursuit, Gengxin's Secrets, and a Tool Soul Master's Choice

Summer nights in Heaven Dou City always carried a trace of stifling heat, but the atmosphere in the alliance council hall was as cold and heavy as ice.

Tang San enlarged the map projected by the Ice Plains Ancient Dragon's scale and pointed at Gengxin City. "According to the scale's readings, the dark energy is most stable here. That means the Shadow Pavilion's stronghold in Gengxin City has existed the longest, and its defenses are the most likely to have grown lax. We'll start here."

Gengxin City was renowned for its abundant ores and Tool Soul Masters. During the Spirit Hall's time, it had been a major center where they forged weapons for Soul Masters. Thousands of smithies, large and small, filled the city, and all sorts of people mingled there, making it the perfect place to hide a secret stronghold.

"I've been to Gengxin City." Oscar pulled out a yellowing map marked with the locations of the city's smithies. "The Spirit Hall's shadow has always lingered behind the largest one, the 'Mysterious Iron Workshop.' The Shadow Pavilion is very likely holed up there."

The Lotus Flame flickered gently at Lin Ye's fingertip. "The Mysterious Iron Workshop's forges burn day and night. The heat can mask fluctuations in Soul Power, so it really is an excellent place to hide a stronghold. And Golden Crow Fire has a special sensitivity to metal. It might help us find the entrance to their secret chamber."

"I'm going too." Xiao Wu raised her hand and shook the ribbon around her wrist. "My Teleportation is more flexible in tight spaces. If we run into a trap, I can come to your aid in time."

Dai Mubai and Tai Long exchanged a glance and said in unison, "We'll guard the perimeter and keep the Shadow Pavilion's people from escaping."

With the plan settled, everyone set out that very night. Tang San made sure to bring the Ice Plains Ancient Dragon's scale. The faint blue light it emitted could not only conceal their Soul Power fluctuations but also point them toward the Shadow Pavilion like a compass.

Three days later, just as Gengxin City's smithies opened their doors, the party of five blended in with the passing craftsmen and entered the bustling city district. Unlike the grandeur of Heaven Dou City, Gengxin City's streets were covered in iron filings, and the air was thick with the smell of sulfur and coke. The sounds of hammering and shouted calls rose and fell, filling the city with rugged vitality.

"The Mysterious Iron Workshop is on Old Blacksmith Street in the city center." Oscar pointed ahead. "The smiths there are all Tool Soul Masters of the third rank or higher, and they have fiery tempers. We need to pose as wealthy merchants buying weapons, so we don't arouse suspicion."

Tang San changed into a long brocade robe, Lin Ye and Xiao Wu posed as attendants, and Dai Mubai and Tai Long pretended to be guards. The group headed toward Old Blacksmith Street. The closer they got to the Mysterious Iron Workshop, the brighter the Ice Plains Ancient Dragon's scale glowed. Tang San could clearly sense a familiar dark energy seeping from the workshop. It came from the same source as that of the black-robed man in the Forgotten Ice Cave, but it was even more concentrated.

The Mysterious Iron Workshop's entrance consisted of two heavy iron doors, with two fierce tiger heads for door knockers. Two bare-chested burly men stood outside, their muscles knotted. Their Martial Souls were the rare "Mysterious Iron Arm," and both had Soul Power above level forty.

"Stop! What are you here for?" The burly man on the left blocked their path, casting a wary glance over Dai Mubai and Tai Long. Their Soul Power fluctuations were far too obvious; they didn't seem like ordinary guards.

Oscar hurried forward and offered him a bag of Gold Soul Coins, a broad smile on his face. "Thank you for your hard work, brothers. We're merchants from Heaven Dou City, and we'd like to order a batch of Mysterious Iron daggers from your workshop. We hear your craftsmanship is the best in Gengxin City?"

The burly man weighed the bag in his hand, and his expression softened a little, but he still refused to let them through. "The boss isn't here. Come back tomorrow if you want to order weapons."

Just then, the Ice Plains Ancient Dragon's scale suddenly grew hot. Through the soles of Tang San's shoes, his Blue Silver Grass sensed three Soul Power-triggered devices hidden on the inner side of the iron doors. Forcing their way in would set them off. It seemed the Shadow Pavilion was far more vigilant than expected.

"Since the boss isn't here, we'll wait outside the workshop." Tang San spoke up at just the right moment, his tone carrying a merchant's characteristic smoothness. "We could have a look at your samples while we wait, so we can put our minds at ease, couldn't we?" He gave Lin Ye a meaningful look.

Lin Ye understood at once and quietly released a wisp of Lotus Flame. The golden-red flame slipped through the gap in the doors. A moment later, he said in a low voice, "There's an underground chamber inside. At least ten black-robed people are forging something there. That's where the dark energy is coming from."

"Forging?" Tang San frowned. "What is the Shadow Pavilion forging?"

"I can't tell, but I can sense dark crystal powder mixed into the metal." Lin Ye's Golden Crow Perception could penetrate flames and metal. "They're using an evil art to power the furnace. Whatever they're forging... is highly corrosive."

Dai Mubai quietly took half a step back and gestured to Tai Long: seal off the back door as planned.

Tang San, meanwhile, stepped forward and smiled at the burly guard. "Since we can't go in, could you let us see your workshop's prized treasure? Just one look, and this bag of money is yours too." He pulled out another bag of Gold Soul Coins, deliberately letting the bags clink together to draw the man's attention.

The burly man's eyes lit up. Just as he was hesitating, a rapid peal of bells suddenly rang out from inside the workshop-an alarm!

"Oh no! They've discovered us!" Xiao Wu cried softly.

The two burly men instantly activated Martial Soul Possession. Their Mysterious Iron Arms glimmered with a gloomy light as they reached for Tang San. "Spies!"

"Attack!"

Tang San's Blue Silver Grass erupted in an instant, binding the men's legs, while Lin Ye's Lotus Flame became chains that locked down their Mysterious Iron Arms. Dai Mubai and Tai Long slammed into the iron doors together, their level-forty Soul Power erupting. The heavy doors crashed down, and the Blue Silver Grass severed the triggering devices' leads just in time.

The craftsmen inside the workshop jumped in fright and seized their hammers to defend themselves, only to be stopped by Dai Mubai's furious shout. "Alliance business! Anyone not involved, get down!"

The Mysterious Iron Workshop's front courtyard was a vast forging yard. Black smoke rose from more than a dozen smithing furnaces, and several apprentices in work clothes trembled with fright. Tang San's Blue Silver Grass slipped underground like a spirit snake and soon found the hidden door to the secret chamber-right beneath the largest furnace.

"Lin Ye, break the furnace!"

Lin Ye's Lotus Flame condensed into a drill and smashed into the bottom of the furnace. The Mysterious Iron base melted like butter, revealing a pitch-black opening. The panicked cries of black-robed people came from within.

"Down!" Tang San leaped into the opening first, his Blue Silver Grass forming handholds along both sides. Xiao Wu and Lin Ye followed close behind.

The secret chamber was larger than they had imagined. More than a dozen black-robed people stood around an enormous anvil, on which lay a half-finished longsword. Its blade was pitch-black, covered in twisted runes, and gave off a pungent, corrosive smell. When they saw Tang San and the others burst in, the black-robed people immediately put down the sword and raised their bone staves and sickles.

"You again!" The leader's voice was hoarse. He was the black-robed man who had narrowly escaped the Forgotten Ice Cave. "Heir of the Chaos Azure Lotus, do you think you can stop the Shadow Pavilion's plan?"

"What are you forging?" Tang San sealed the chamber entrance with Blue Silver Grass to keep them from escaping.

The black-robed man sneered and pointed his bone staff at the longsword on the anvil. "This is the 'God-Eroding Blade,' forged from dark crystal mixed with the Angel God's bone fragments. It was made specifically to counter light Soul Power. Once we gather all the materials, it will be able to corrode even the Chaos Azure Lotus!"

"The Angel God's bone fragments?" Tang San's heart jolted. "How did you get those?"

"Heh. After the Spirit Hall fell, the angel relics they had hidden away were left without owners." A flash of greed passed through the black-robed man's eyes. "Once we use the God-Eroding Blade to sever the connection between you and the Chaos Azure Lotus, all the power of light on the continent will be under our control!"

"Wishful thinking!" Lin Ye's Lotus Flame became a spear and stabbed straight at the black-robed man. "Today you'll pay for desecrating a god!"

Battle erupted in the chamber. The black-robed people's evil arts were even more uncanny than they had been on the ice plains. They could infuse iron objects with dark energy, turning anvils and hammers into weapons that came crashing down on Tang San and the others. Xiao Wu used her Teleportation to its fullest in the cramped space, always interrupting their evil arts at critical moments; Lin Ye's Lotus Flame focused on burning the tainted iron objects and purifying the dark energy.

Tang San's goal was clear: destroy the God-Eroding Blade. His Blue Silver Grass bound several black-robed people while he charged toward the anvil, the light of the Chaos Azure Lotus gathering in his palm.

"Stop him!" the leader roared. With a wave of his bone staff, the God-Eroding Blade suddenly rose from the anvil and stabbed of its own accord at the center of Tang San's back!

The half-finished sword actually had intelligence of its own!

"Look out!" Xiao Wu teleported behind Tang San and wrapped her ribbon around the hilt, only to snatch her hand back when the blade's corrosive power burned her. Black smoke rose from her fingertips in an instant.

"Xiao Wu!" Tang San roared, spinning around and striking the God-Eroding Blade with his palm. The light of the Chaos Azure Lotus collided with the dark runes on the blade, producing a piercing shriek.

The God-Eroding Blade shuddered violently but did not break. Instead, it unleashed even stronger corrosive power. Black vapor instantly enveloped Tang San's palm, and pain pierced him to the heart.

"The sword has absorbed too much dark energy. Ordinary attacks won't work!" Seeing this, Lin Ye poured all his Lotus Flame into Tang San. "Use Golden Crow Fire together with the Azure Lotus's power to burn away its core!"

Golden-red flames surged down Tang San's arm and into the God-Eroding Blade, attacking it from both sides together with the light of the Chaos Azure Lotus. The black runes on the blade began to shatter inch by inch, emitting a shrill scream. When the black-robed people saw this, they went so far as to burn their Soul Power, trying to reclaim the sword.

"Dai Mubai, Tai Long!" Tang San shouted.

The Blue Silver Grass at the chamber entrance suddenly parted, and Dai Mubai and Tai Long charged in together. The Clear Sky Hammer and a giant fist struck at once, sending the black-robed people who were burning their Soul Power flying.

"Now!" Tang San poured all his strength into his palm. The Chaos Azure Lotus and Golden Crow Fire fused perfectly, forming a line of seven-colored fire that spread along the God-Eroding Blade's patterns.

"No-!"

The God-Eroding Blade twisted and melted in the line of fire, finally becoming a puddle of molten black iron that gave off a pungent smell. With the sword destroyed, the black-robed people's evil arts instantly failed. They collapsed to the ground, their eyes full of despair.

When the battle ended, Tang San looked at the corroded wound on his palm. The light of the Chaos Azure Lotus flowed slowly over it, and the wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. He walked up to the collapsed black-robed man and pressed the Ice Plains Ancient Dragon's scale against his forehead. "Speak. Where is the Shadow Pavilion's headquarters? Who is your leader?"

The black-robed man's body shook violently, as if he were suffering immense pain, but he clenched his teeth and said nothing.

Just then, a cough came from a corner of the chamber. An elderly man wearing the clothes of the Mysterious Iron Workshop's proprietor emerged, leaning on a cane. His leg was twisted unnaturally, and he had evidently only recently been imprisoned.

"Don't bother asking. They've been planted with the 'Heart-Eroding Curse' and can't reveal anything about their leader." The old man sighed. "I'm the Mysterious Iron Workshop's old proprietor. They took control of me half a month ago and forced me to use angel bone fragments to forge weapons... These people aren't Tool Soul Masters at all, just a pack of lunatics who desecrate metal with evil arts!"

Tang San looked at the old man and discovered that his Martial Soul was the rare "Hundred-Refined Fine Gold." His Soul Power was above level seventy; he was evidently an experienced Tool Soul Master.

"Where did the angel bone fragments come from?"

"A secret warehouse of the Spirit Hall, right beneath Gengxin City." The old man pointed to another hidden door in the chamber. "They said something even more important was hidden there-the key to opening the 'Shadow Gate.'"

The Shadow Gate?

Tang San and Lin Ye exchanged a glance, each seeing the gravity in the other's eyes. They opened the hidden door and found that it did indeed lead to a passage to an underground warehouse. The walls on both sides were covered in Angel Clan symbols, in the same style as those in the Spirit Hall's sacred land.

The warehouse was piled high with rusty weapons and armor. A black box sat on a stone platform in the center, its patterns identical to those on the God-Eroding Blade. Tang San opened it to find a palm-sized black crystal inside. A faint wisp of golden light was sealed within the crystal-it was a wisp of the Angel God's divine consciousness!

"Is this the key they were looking for?" Xiao Wu stared at the crystal in surprise.

"More than that." Tang San picked up the crystal, and the Chaos Azure Lotus suddenly trembled. "The Shadow Pavilion's secret is hidden in this divine consciousness... They want to use the Angel God's power to open a gate connected to the Dark Plane and unleash an even more terrifying evil!"

Just then, the Ice Plains Ancient Dragon's scale suddenly burst into a blinding light. Tang San's Blue Silver Grass sensed a large number of black-robed people converging on the Mysterious Iron Workshop, and their leader's Soul Power fluctuations had actually reached the Titled Douluo level!

"Hurry! Their reinforcements are here!" Dai Mubai shouted.

Tang San put the black crystal into his storage bag and said to the old proprietor, "Would you be willing to come with us? The Shadow Pavilion won't spare anyone who knows about this."

The old proprietor looked at the black-robed corpses covering the floor, then at the angel relics in the warehouse. A flash of resolve passed through his eyes. "I'm a Tool Soul Master. My hammer should be used to protect the dignity of metal, not be defiled by evil arts. I'll go with you. The Tool Soul Masters of Gengxin City won't let them succeed!"

The group took the old proprietor and escaped through the passage's other exit. An earth-shaking explosion sounded behind them; the Shadow Pavilion's reinforcements had evidently arrived.

Standing on Gengxin City's walls, Tang San looked at Old Blacksmith Street, where flames rose into the distant sky, and tightened his grip on the black crystal. The Shadow Pavilion's plot was more terrifying than he had imagined. A gate connected to the Dark Plane... This was no longer a simple conflict on the continent, but a matter of survival for the entire plane.

"Where to next?" Lin Ye asked.

Tang San looked at the Ice Plains Ancient Dragon's scale. It pointed toward Sunset Forest, its light brighter than it had been in Gengxin City.

"Sunset Forest." His voice was unusually firm. "The Shadow Pavilion's next target must be hidden there. We have to stop them before they open the Shadow Gate!"

The night wind swept over the city walls, carrying the distant smell of gunpowder and smoke. Tang San knew that the battle with the Shadow Pavilion had only just begun, and this time, they might be facing an enemy more terrifying than the Nine-Headed Ice Serpent or the Spirit Hall. But as long as the Chaos Azure Lotus in his hand still shone, and as long as his companions were still at his side, he would never retreat.

In the shadows of Sunset Forest, a figure in a black cloak watched the firelight in Gengxin City and gave a low chuckle. "It's finally begun... Tang San, I hope you won't disappoint me." Beneath the cloak, a trace of anticipation flashed through a pair of golden eyes, only to be swiftly swallowed by darkness.