Chapter 58: The Ancient Tower (Fifth Update)

The Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation, as the supreme national treasure of the Holy Nation of Spring and Autumn, unleashed both rampant sword intent and formidable restraining power. Everyone could do nothing but stand there, dazed, waiting for slaughter to descend upon them.

The scene before their eyes was the epitome of carnage; the very air was thick with swirling mists of blood. The pungent, metallic scent spread quietly, pervading all.

Above Bing Muer’s head, the remnant shadow of the demonic dragon was, in the end, but a mere wisp of a soul. It stood no chance against the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation. In no time, the raging sword intent drove the dragon’s remnant shadow back into Bing Muer’s body, inflicting severe damage upon it.

“Damn it!”

Seizing the opportunity, Bing Muer’s soul quickly suppressed the dragon’s remnant. With a furious cry, she forced the Glacial Ice Technique to its absolute limits.

The temperature around them plummeted. In an instant, a white, icy layer froze her and the five figures beside her—Elder Hua, Bing Muer, and the others—solid in place. In that same moment, the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation’s rampant sword intent and restraining force vanished, blocked outside by the ice.

At that instant, Bing Muer swiftly produced the painting Chen Changsheng had given her and gave it a sudden shake.

A vast divine radiance erupted forth, shooting straight into the nine heavens.

“So, this is the painting by Young Master Chen?” Bing Changtian’s expression instantly grew feverish. “A divine treasure, it truly is! It must be mine!”

The divine brilliance of Chen’s painting was so dazzling that Bing Changtian had to shut his eyes. Immediately after, a terrifying suction emanated from the painting, pulling Bing Muer and the other five, still frozen, into its depths.

With a crack, the ice was shattered to powder by the terrifying sword intent that swept down from the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation.

The scroll rapidly shrank, transforming into a speck of dust and vanishing.

“Young Master Chen’s painting…” Bing Changtian snapped his eyes open, his heart pounding wildly. “No! No!”

The painting was gone. It had vanished without a trace.

“Was it… destroyed by the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation…?” His heart ached unbearably; lost and distraught, he murmured in disbelief before suddenly roaring, “Damn it! Damn it all!”

The painting created by Young Master Chen was undoubtedly a supreme divine artifact, and now it was destroyed by the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation. If only he could have obtained that painting—what a prize that would have been. His heart bled at the thought.

…

“Huh? Where… are we?” Bing Muer returned to herself. The demonic dragon’s remnant within her had been gravely wounded by the sword formation and was now so weak it could no longer stir, easily suppressed.

At this moment, all six of them found themselves in a space of ancient simplicity.

“I remember Young Master Chen’s painting depicted an ocean, but why are we not upon the sea now?” Elder Hua’s face was clouded with confusion.

“I understand!” Mu Wanqing, after a brief daze, suddenly brightened. “Didn’t Young Master Chen later add an ancient tower to the painting? This place is so old and austere—surely we’re inside that very tower.”

“Yes, we are within that ancient tower!” The group was stunned.

The painting gifted by Young Master Chen had drawn them directly into the ancient pagoda within its scene.

“This entire celebration was, in truth, within Young Master Chen’s grasp,” Bai Song sighed. “See, with the help of his painting, we’ve even escaped the lethal might of the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation.”

“Hmph. Young Master Chen is a sage, a man of transcendent means. He wouldn’t even spare a glance for the deadly trap Bing Changtian devised, let alone show up in person,” Bing Muer snorted coldly.

“Indeed, from the disdain in Young Master Chen’s eyes back then, I knew that whatever trick Bing Changtian might use, we would survive,” Huangfu Meng said with pride, her chest lifted high. “We are pieces on Young Master Chen’s chessboard—how could he allow us to die?”

At that, the faces of all present shone with pride.

To be pieces in Young Master Chen’s hands was a source of unparalleled honor.

“Come, let’s go outside and see what lies beyond the tower,” Bing Muer beckoned.

They stepped out beyond the pagoda.

Before them stretched a boundless sea, and a rising sun was climbing steadily into the sky, casting ten thousand rays of divine light. The surging essence of the Great Dao of Nature swept over them, almost more than they could bear.

That rising sun was the Demon Emperor!

“In this painting, such vast natural law exists—this must surely be a land of immortal fortune!” Elder Hua grew feverish with excitement. “To cultivate within this realm, our progress would be ten, a hundred times faster than in the outside world.”

“Heavens, Young Master Chen had already bestowed upon us a land of immortal fortune, yet we never realized it. How foolish we were!” Mu Wanqing exclaimed.

They all became wildly excited, their very blood boiling like water.

“Come to think of it, we really owe it to that scoundrel Bing Changtian for setting such a murderous trap. Otherwise, we might never have discovered that this painting holds a land of immortal fate!” Nangong Ba sighed. “Young Master Chen truly possesses means beyond imagining. He must have seen that we failed to discover the secret of the painting, yet as he regards himself a mere mortal, he could not reveal it outright. Instead, he used this deadly trap to force us into the painting, so we would uncover its mysteries ourselves.”

A stroke of divine ingenuity!

“Brilliant, simply brilliant!” Elder Hua also sighed in admiration.

After lingering outside for a while, they found the immense power of the Great Dao almost overwhelming and hurried back into the ancient pagoda.

Carefully sensing the atmosphere within, they discovered that natural law existed here as well, though its nature differed from the outside; it was ancient, majestic, and gentle—something they could withstand.

This ancient tower, too, was a perfect place for cultivation.

“We’ll stay in the tower for now,” Elder Hua said to Bing Muer. “Your Highness, use your divine sense to probe the outside world and see what’s happening.”

The Glacial Ice Technique relied on divine sense, and now that Bing Muer had broken through to the ninth level, her divine sense was formidable indeed.

“Very well,” Bing Muer nodded, sending her divine sense outside the scroll.

Immediately, all that lay beyond the painting entered her perception…

“Damn it, damn it, damn it!” Bing Changtian, believing the scroll to be destroyed, was in utter agony. “It’s all your fault, you worthless scum! You forced me to unleash the Heaven-Slaying Sword Formation and destroy Young Master Chen’s painting. All of you combined aren’t worth a ten-thousandth of that painting!”

He had lost all reason, his words incoherent, his face twisted in rage.

“Die! You all must die!” he suddenly roared, soaring into the sky and landing upon the massive, ancient stone sword.

Thunder rumbled as the ancient sword descended in judgment.

“Die! You worthless scum, die for me!” Bing Changtian snarled like a wild beast. “It’s your fault Young Master Chen’s painting was destroyed! You are all to blame!”

The sword intent grew ever more violent, doubling in intensity in the blink of an eye.

Below, the mighty figures from the great powers exploded one after another, reduced to nothing but mist and blood.