Braving the Tower Again

Deep in the mountains lay a secluded valley. Qin Sang stared blankly, wondering if he had come to the wrong place. The Tyrant Blood Fruit had grown within the crevices of a sheer cliff, where a flock of red-tailed cranes had also made their nests. Yet the scene before him bore little resemblance to his memory. A waterfall now cascaded down the middle of the cliff face, and the rock walls flanking it were battered and fractured, riddled with cracks. They did not appear naturally formed, looking instead like the claw marks of several kinds of demon beasts, or the aftermath of titanic collisions. *Did a fierce battle break out here after I left?* Qin Sang could vaguely guess what had happened. The Hall of Seven Kills was never peaceful to begin with, and the Tyrant Blood Fruit held immense allure for ferocious beasts. The flock of red-tailed cranes lacked the strength to monopolize it indefinitely; once discovered by other beasts, a clash was inevitable. *Judging by the destruction, that battle must have been brutal. The red-tailed cranes were probably driven off, and who knows if the spiritual plant bearing the Tyrant Blood Fruit survived?* Qin Sang thought to himself, though he held out little hope. Concealing himself in person-tall weeds, he awakened the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to inspect the waterfall. Sure enough, he spotted something unusual: hidden behind the curtain of water were several dozen openings of varying sizes, densely clustered together. They did not look like the nests of red-tailed cranes. Qin Sang summoned a baleful corpse and pointed toward the pool beneath the waterfall. The baleful corpse parted the tall grass. Just as it drew near the water, hostile screeches suddenly erupted from above. *Crash!* Water sprayed in all directions as a flock of snow-white, eagle-sized fierce birds burst through the waterfall. Moving with astonishing speed, they blurred through the air, leaving trails of afterimages as they dove straight toward the baleful corpse. These adult white birds possessed strength on par with Core Formation cultivators. The baleful corpse was utterly powerless to resist; it had barely turned to flee before the birds overtook it and tore it to pieces in an instant. Had its scent not been so repulsive, it would have wound up entirely inside their bellies. Meanwhile, Qin Sang seized the opportunity to draw closer to the waterfall and examine the nests. At last, in one of them, he spotted what appeared to be the remnant root of the spiritual plant. The ancient Tyrant Blood Fruit vine had once been lush and vibrant, laden with clusters of green fruit and brimming with vitality, but now only a desiccated stump remained. A tender sprout had emerged from the remnant root, bearing two pale green leaves. It was still alive, but waiting for it to bear fruit again would likely take an eternity. Qin Sang felt a pang of regret. Tyrant Blood Fruits were exceedingly rare. A single vine had grown in the Hall of Seven Kills, only to be ruined in a clash of beasts. Sensing an intruder's presence, the fierce birds flew into a frenzy and charged toward him with piercing shrieks. Qin Sang's escape light flared, unleashing a speed far beyond what the birds could ever match, and within a few flickers, he vanished into the depths of the mountain range. Qin Sang made almost no stops along the way, heading straight for the Heaven Tower. The Heaven Tower pierced into the sea of clouds, standing out prominently against the horizon. Standing on a distant ridge, Qin Sang surveyed the surroundings of the tower. Unlike his previous visit, the area outside was remarkably quiet, without a single figure in sight. No Nascent Soul patriarchs were guarding the entrance; it seemed anyone could enter and exit at will. Even so, Qin Sang did not rush forward. This time, the witch clan had not only sent the Grand Shaman, but the notorious Old Devil Fang had arrived as well. If chaos erupted, the fallout would be immense, and he had no wish to be swept into it. The memory of being caught in the aftershocks of the clash between the Grand Shaman and the Demon Lord was still vivid in his mind. Bai emerged from the corpse puppet bag, standing beside Qin Sang and looking up at the Heaven Tower. "Does it look familiar to you, Daoist Bai?" Qin Sang asked. Bai furrowed his brow, remaining silent for a long moment before answering, "I don't remember. Perhaps that part of my memory was lost, for nothing comes to mind. On the other hand, the contents of the jade slips you gave me were of some use." Qin Sang felt a touch of disappointment. "Those jade slips only record common knowledge of the present world, along with descriptions of spiritual herbs and materials. Could they really be of much help to you?" Bai said gravely, "There are also those corpse-refining arts... I have forgotten even my past cultivation techniques. After taking over this body, I could only grope my way forward, and I've run into a bottleneck. Combined with the unresolved trouble of the Heavenly Corpse Talisman, I felt at a loss. Those corpse-refining arts gave me inspiration; perhaps with outside aid, I can force a breakthrough." "You intend to break through further and advance to a Corpse King?" Qin Sang's expression grew solemn. "How certain are you? After advancing to a Corpse King, what if you lose control and your innate vitality is scattered by the dense corpse qi?" A Corpse King was a supreme refined corpse whose power rivaled a Nascent Soul cultivator. Naturally birthed Corpse Kings were bloodthirsty, cruel, and cloaked in monstrous ferocity; their bodies were harder than iron, making them difficult even for Nascent Soul cultivators to contend with, and every emergence brought calamity in its wake. In both the Xiaohan Realm and the Canglang Ocean, records of Corpse Kings appearing were exceedingly scarce. Even for sects with ancient heritages of corpse refinement, creating a Corpse King was by no means an easy feat. Bai had spent decades refining the body of a Flying Yaksha and had reached the verge of a breakthrough, only to hit a wall. Qin Sang naturally welcomed Bai's breakthrough, as it would mean having a Nascent Soul-level assistant at his side. Yet if advancing extinguished Bai's remaining vitality, he would have no choice but to resign himself to becoming a ghost cultivator. In that case, there would be no reason to seek out the Heavenly Corpse Sect, and their prior agreement would be rendered null and void. Bai pondered for a while. "That is why I must tread carefully. Since I want to return to being a normal human, I cannot afford to destroy my remaining innate vitality. I need to study various spiritual herbs thoroughly and conduct many trials before I can perhaps find a way. Having spent so many years as a wandering ghost, I have gained considerable insight into the ghost dao. After advancing to a Corpse King, I have a twenty percent chance of suppressing the corpse qi and protecting my vitality. But if I take another step forward and become a Yin-Yang Celestial Mandrill, it will truly be beyond all hope of reversal." "A Yin-Yang Celestial Mandrill? In the present world, those exist only in legends. Still, if you weren't set on regaining a human body, you really might have had a chance to reach that stage..." Qin Sang murmured wistfully. A Yin-Yang Celestial Mandrill was a Deity Transformation-level refined corpse, said to possess supernatural mastery over yin-yang escape techniques, moving with ghostly unpredictability. Bai cast another glance at the Heaven Tower, showing little interest. "I had better return to the corpse puppet bag, lest someone with sharp eyes spots me and stirs up trouble. When you have the time, Daoist friend, please write down all the spiritual herbs and materials that can be found in the present world..." Qin Sang waited a while longer. Seeing no unusual movement around the Heaven Tower, he crept closer, lingered in the vicinity for a moment, and then darted inside with a swift flash. A familiar sight greeted his eyes; everything within the Heaven Tower was normal. Qin Sang let out a quiet sigh of relief and unfurled his wings without hesitation, though he did not rush to release the two-headed hou or his external incarnation. The puppets on each floor posed little threat to him now; he could handle them easily on his own. What he had to remain vigilant against were any Nascent Soul cultivators who might appear at any moment, and neither his incarnation nor the two-headed hou could match his speed. Returning to the Heaven Tower was familiar territory. Qin Sang quickly located the ancient hall housing the teleportation array for the first floor. With his swordsmanship further honed, his perception had grown sharper. The sword intent permeating the ancient hall seemed very likely to share an origin with the Origin Soul Sword Nurturing Chapter. *This time, I will conquer the Sword Path and see what secrets are hidden inside this tower!* Qin Sang took a silent look around the ancient hall, unleashed his sword wheel to cut down every puppet in his path, and stepped into the teleportation array. Before long, Qin Sang ascended floor after floor, arriving at the fifth level of the Heaven Tower. The entire journey was smooth and completely unimpeded.