You, a living person, are telling me I've served in the underworld for ten years?

In the center of a relatively flat depression on the back mountain, a solitary, pitch-black seven-story stone pagoda stands out abruptly, out of place with its surroundings, exuding a deep, mysterious, and even ominous aura.

"Brother Chen, look at that tower!"

Liu Piaopiao pointed at the black tower, her eyes showing a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

"It feels... so strange."

Unlike the previous halls, this tower seems to be too well preserved, and the colors..."

Chen Yang also stared at the black tower. The tower was constructed of some unknown type of stone, jet black, with a smooth surface and no decorations except for rusted bronze bells hanging from the eaves of each level. The tower doors were tightly closed, obscuring the interior.

It stood there quietly, yet it seemed like a silent giant, radiating an invisible pressure.

"I don't know what's inside."

However, since we're here, we should at least go and take a look.

As Chen Yang spoke, he strode toward the Black Tower.

Liu Piaopiao quickly followed.

As the two approached the black tower, the sense of its profound mystery intensified. The tower's entrance consisted of two heavy, equally black stone doors, seamlessly integrated without any handles or keyholes.

Chen Yang tried to push the stone door, but it didn't budge.

As he concentrated his magic power in his palm, preparing to increase the force, the instant his palm touched the surface of the stone gate, a faint, almost transparent ripple spread out from the point of contact, gently "bounced" his palm away.

"There are restrictions."

Chen Yang withdrew his hand, not surprised.

"Master, this restriction... is quite interesting."

Li Rou's voice rang out at the right moment, carrying a hint of inquiry.

"Unlike the ordinary protective formations left behind in the previous halls."

This restriction is older and more sophisticated, with its energy flow forming a self-contained system, seemingly integrated with the tower itself.

However... it's not entirely unbreakable.

Let me try.

Li Rou's illusory figure quietly appeared beside Chen Yang. She reached out her hand and gently pressed it on the stone door.

An extremely pure soul fluctuation, carrying the aura of ancient stars, slowly seeped into the stone gate from her fingertips.

Liu Piaopiao watched in amazement, finding Chen Yang's abilities increasingly mysterious and unpredictable.

Li Rou closed her eyes and concentrated, as if deciphering the complex runes and energy circuits contained within the stone gate's restrictions. After a moment, she opened her eyes and said to Chen Yang.

"I've found a relatively weak 'breathing point.' Master, cooperate with me. Concentrate your magic power in the 'vibration' technique at your index finger and point it three inches below the spot I just touched. Apply one-third of the force and be quick!"

Without hesitation, Chen Yang pointed his fingers like a sword, gathering clear light at his fingertips, and precisely pressed them on the location indicated by Li Rou, carrying out the action according to the law.

"Om..."

Ripples spread across the surface of the stone gate once again, but this time they were no longer ripples of resistance. Instead, they were like water waves being thrown into a stone, beginning to ripple violently and irregularly!
At the center of the stone gate, a rapidly spinning vortex composed of countless tiny light symbols faintly appeared!
"Now! Push hard!"

Li Rou whispered.

Chen Yang and Liu Piaopiao stepped forward at the same time, placed their hands on the stone door, and pushed forward with all their might!
"Crench--!"

A heavy, grating scraping sound rang out, and in the instant the restrictions were disrupted, the two heavy black stone doors were slowly pushed open by the combined efforts of the two people, creating a gap large enough for one person to pass through!
An even more aged air, carrying dust and a hint of strange sandalwood scent, wafted out from inside the tower.

"Go inside quickly!"

Chen Yang whispered, and took the lead in squeezing into the gap.

Liu Piaopiao followed closely behind.

However, just as the two stepped into the darkness of the tower—

"boom!"

The two stone doors behind them, which had been pushed open, suddenly and automatically closed shut as if they had a life of their own! They fit perfectly! At the same time, the chaotic light of the restriction on the surface of the tower gate quickly calmed down and stabilized, returning to its original state, and even... seemed to be a few steps more solid than before!
"not good!
The door is closed! The restriction has been restored!

Liu Piaopiao exclaimed in surprise, turned around and pushed the stone door hard, but the stone door did not budge.

Li Rou's illusory figure also floated in, her expression even more solemn than before, carefully sensing the surrounding energy field.

Master, be careful!

The array and restrictions within this tower... are far from simple!
It actually possesses a certain degree of 'self-repair' and 'environmental adaptation' capabilities! What I just cracked only temporarily opened the passage; once we entered, it immediately reset! The person who set up this formation must be a grandmaster of formations!

Moreover... the aura within this tower is very strange.

Chen Yang sensed it too. The tower was pitch black, with only a very faint light filtering in through the cracks in the doorway.

The air was chilly, and the strange sandalwood scent became even more pronounced, but it also seemed to be mixed with an extremely faint yet slightly oppressive strange fluctuation.

His consciousness was significantly suppressed here, and he could only extend a few feet outside his body.

"Li Rou, what can you discover now? What exactly is going on inside this tower?"

Chen Yang remained alert and vigilant in the darkness, while simultaneously asking urgently in his mind.

Li Rou's voice echoed in Chen Yang's mind, carrying a hint of solemnity and uncertainty.

"We can't perceive any specific details at the moment."

The darkness and array here have a strong shielding effect, and my spiritual perception is also severely suppressed.

I could only vaguely sense that the space inside the tower was larger than it appeared from the outside, and that the structure seemed somewhat distorted.

Moreover… that peculiar sandalwood scent and the oppressive feeling in my soul seem to originate further up. Master, let's go further in and see, but caution is advised.”

Chen Yang responded and whispered to Liu Piaopiao, who was standing nervously beside him.

"Come on, let's go inside and take a look. Stay close to me."

After getting used to the near-total darkness inside the tower, the two began to grope their way forward.

The first floor of the tower is quite spacious, with a thick layer of dust on the ground that makes no sound when you step on it.

In the dim light from the doorway, they could barely make out some empty wooden shelves and stone platforms against the walls, covered in dust and devoid of any items.

Liu Piaopiao groped around and inspected several wooden frames, then muttered in disappointment.

“Brother Chen, this place… seems to have been emptied out long ago. There’s nothing on the shelves.”

Chen Yang also examined it and nodded.

"Hmm, it seems this black tower wasn't undiscovered. At least the valuable items on this floor were taken away by those who came before. Let's go upstairs and take a look."

The two found the spiral stone steps leading to the second floor and carefully walked up them.

The stone steps were also covered in dust, but there seemed to be no barriers to block them. On the second floor, the light was slightly better than on the first floor, because there were narrow, arrow-shaped windows that let in a little dim light.

The scene on this floor is even more chaotic than on the first floor.

Scattered on the ground were some decaying prayer mats, broken pottery shards, rusted metal parts, and fragments of broken flying swords or magical artifacts that had long lost their luster and turned into ordinary iron. Clearly, this place had been searched before, leaving only these worthless "trash".

Reluctantly, Liu Piaopiao squatted down and carefully examined the fragments, hoping to find any that had escaped. But she quickly stood up in disappointment and dusted off her hands.

"They are all completely abandoned and useless things, without even a trace of spiritual energy left."

It seems this place has been thoroughly looted.

Chen Yang looked around, his gaze sweeping over the walls and the stone pillars supporting the tower.

"Since we're here, let's search carefully. Perhaps there are hidden mechanisms or secret passages that previous generations may have overlooked."

"Alright."

Liu Piaopiao rallied her spirits, and the two began to search the second floor separately.

They knocked on every inch of the wall, examined the patterns on every stone pillar, and even tried to move those seemingly fixed stone platforms and broken wooden frames.

However, after more than half an hour, all they had gained was a handful of dust.

The entire second floor seemed like an abandoned, ordinary floor with no secrets.

"Never mind, Brother Chen, it seems there really is nothing left here."

Liu Piaopiao sighed somewhat discouragedly.

"Let's go somewhere else and not waste our time here."

Just then, Li Rou's voice rang in Chen Yang's mind again, carrying a faint yet clear sense of guidance.

“Master, don’t rush to leave. My senses… seem to detect a more subtle energy fluctuation upstairs. Although it’s heavily concealed by the array, it definitely exists.”

The bottom two floors might just be a smokescreen. Let's go up and take a look; maybe there'll be a solution.

Chen Yang's heart stirred, and he said to Liu Piaopiao.

Don't rush to conclusions.

This black tower is so mysterious, and its protective barriers are so strong; it wouldn't make sense if it only contained these ruins. Let's go up and take a look; perhaps we'll find something on the upper levels.”

Seeing Chen Yang's insistence and recalling his extraordinary achievements, Liu Piaopiao nodded in agreement.

"Okay, whatever you say."

The two left the second floor and continued up the stone steps. The path to the third floor was smooth, without any obstacles.

The environment on the third floor was much better than on the second floor; at least there was less dust, and it seemed that there was often airflow through those denser, narrower window openings.

The layout here is more like a pill-making room or a library. In the central area, there are several stone pill furnaces of different sizes, but all covered with dust and cracks, with some stone mortars and jade pestles scattered around them.

Against the wall were rows of equally ancient wooden bookshelves, most of the books on them had rotted away, turning into scraps of paper and dust. Only a few ancient books made of special leather or jade slips had barely retained their shape, but their spiritual light had also dimmed.

"There are ancient books here!"

Liu Piaopiao's eyes lit up. She quickly walked to the bookshelf, carefully took down the few ancient books that were still tangible, and together with Chen Yang, they flipped through them in the light coming through the window.

However, after looking through it, the two were disappointed again.

These ancient books mostly record the history of this immortal sect, its rules and regulations, the list of disciples, and some basic knowledge of breathing techniques, weapon crafting, and medicine identification. They have no practical value to them, let alone any lost secret techniques or profound inheritances.

"They're all just sect-specific notes and basic common sense; they're useless to us."

Liu Piaopiao closed the last jade slip and shook her head.

"Hmm, it seems that anything of value has either been destroyed or taken away long ago."

Chen Yang put the ancient book back in its place.

"Let's go to the fourth floor."

Composing themselves, the two climbed the stone steps once more.

However, as soon as they stepped onto the fourth floor and saw the scene before them, they couldn't help but gasp in shock!
The fourth floor is similar to the lower floors, but this place... is practically a mass grave!

The ground was littered with corpses! No, to be precise, it was a mass of dried-out remains, some of which had even turned into bones!

There were no fewer than twenty or thirty!

Most of these remains were in the postures they were in before they died. Some were wrestling with each other, some were leaning against the wall with their hands still tightly gripping their rusted weapons, and some were lying on their backs with obvious fatal wounds on their chests or heads.

Judging from the similarly styled tattered clothing left on them, as well as the uniform flying swords and magic knives, they should have belonged to the same sect in life, and were very likely disciples of the "Luoxia Immortal Sect"!

"This...this is...they killing each other?"

Looking at the horrific scene before her, Liu Piaopiao's voice trembled slightly.

Chen Yang squatted down and carefully examined several relatively intact corpses and the traces around them, then said in a deep voice.

"Judging from the wounds and posture, it seems to be a sudden internal conflict. The weapons are all standard issue from the same sect, and most of the wounds were caused by these weapons."

They...it seems, on the fourth floor, for some reason, suddenly attacked each other until they were all dead.

Liu Piaopiao, suppressing her discomfort, analyzed the situation.

"For fellow disciples to fight each other to this extent within this sealed tower... it must be for some extremely precious treasure, enough to drive people mad! Could it be... that some great treasure was originally hidden on the fourth floor?"

This deduction gave the two a jolt of confidence! If it really was about fighting for a treasure, then the treasure was likely still nearby! Or at least, it might have left some clues!
"Let's look for it!"

Chen Yang immediately replied.

"Examine each corpse carefully, as well as the surrounding corners and walls, for hidden compartments, traps, or anything they were fighting over!"

Without further hesitation, the two began to carefully search the fourth floor, which was filled with corpses.

They carefully moved aside the piles of bones, examining the bosoms, sleeves, and even mouths of each corpse.

They tapped on every inch of the walls and floor, looking for any hollow sounds.

They even searched under the collapsed bookshelves and fragments of alchemy furnaces.

Time passed slowly. Sweat soaked their clothes, and the smell of dust and decay made it hard for them to breathe.

However, after a thorough search, which was almost like digging three feet into the ground, the results were a huge disappointment – ​​apart from the broken magical artifacts that had long lost their spiritual energy and could be shattered at the slightest touch, and a few equally empty, ordinary-made storage bags, they found nothing! There were no hidden compartments, no mechanisms, no jade slips, and certainly no "treasures" as they had imagined!
"how so……"

Exhausted, Liu Piaopiao leaned against the wall, her face full of frustration and resentment.

"Could it be that the treasure has already been taken? Or... what they're fighting over isn't even a physical object?"

Chen Yang frowned as well. (End of Chapter)