139: Echoes of Time and the Young City Lord's Inner Demons

Reverse Star Pagoda, Second Floor.

There was no Killing Intent here, only an eerie tranquility.

Zhou Wannian walked in the middle, his left hand tightly gripping Li Feiyu, while his right hand held Ling Yunxiao's pulse point. The three of them moved like a string of conjoined infants along the winding white jade corridor.

The surrounding scenery was so beautiful it seemed surreal.

In the garden to the left, two youths dressed in ancient Daoist robes were pointing at a Spirit Medicine called the 'Seven-Cloud Lotus,' their lips moving as if in argument.

In the water pavilion to the right, a stunning female cultivator was playing a zither. Although the music couldn't be heard, ripples of spiritual runes could be seen shimmering in the air.

"Don't look into their eyes."

Zhou Wannian warned in a low voice, his words exploding directly in their minds via Divine Sense. "Those are 'Soul-Snatching Eyes.' Once you make eye contact, your Divine Soul will be pulled into that dead point in time, and you'll become one of them."

Li Feiyu's palm, which was gripping his blade, was drenched in cold sweat. He was a rough man who didn't fear decapitation or bloodshed, but he dreaded this kind of mystical, eerie stuff.

"Old Man Han, are these really dead people? They look just like they're alive."

"They died at a certain moment tens of thousands of years ago."

Zhou Wannian looked straight ahead, staring at the path beneath his feet. "It was likely the moment the Immortal Palace's grand array was activated; it instantly drained the life force and Divine Soul of every living being on this floor, solidifying them as nourishment for this pagoda."

"For them, time has stopped forever at that moment."

"But for us, this place is a swamp filled with 'Karmic landmines'."

Just as he spoke.

A sudden flurry of hurried footsteps came from ahead.

The girl in palace attire who had appeared before ran out from the corner of the corridor again. She held a stick of candied haws, her face beaming with an innocent smile as she ran straight toward the three of them.

"Get out of the way!"

Zhou Wannian's pupils constricted, and he abruptly pulled the two of them to the side, pressing against the wall.

The girl didn't actually collide with them. Her body was like a phantom, passing directly through Li Feiyu's shoulder.

"Hiss—!!!"

Li Feiyu gasped, his face instantly turning deathly pale.

On the shoulder that had been passed through, his clothes instantly weathered into ash, and his skin became as dry as old tree bark, as if he had experienced a thousand years in that single moment.

"Don't move!"

Zhou Wannian acted quickly, slapping a 'Rejuvenation Talisman' onto Li Feiyu's shoulder while simultaneously flicking out a drop of Ten-Thousand-Year Spirit Milk.

"This is 'Time's Ebb and Flow Poison.' Fortunately, it only grazed you. If you'd taken a direct hit, you'd be a pile of bone fragments by now."

Li Feiyu looked at his rapidly recovering but still somewhat wrinkled skin, so terrified he didn't even dare to breathe loudly.

This place was far too sinister.

Just then.

Ling Yunxiao, who had been silent all along, suddenly stopped.

His eyes were glazed over as he stared fixedly at a side hall on the left.

The doors of that side hall were half-open, and a majestic aura vaguely emanated from within. The back of a middle-aged man dressed in the attire of the Star Palace City Lord sat upright in the center of the hall, seemingly reviewing official documents.

"Father..."

Ling Yunxiao murmured to himself, his previously tense body relaxing as a dazed expression appeared on his face.

"Father, you're not dead? You're here?"

He began to struggle, wanting to shake off Zhou Wannian's hand and walk toward that side hall.

"Damn it, a Heart Demon Lure."

Zhou Wannian cursed under his breath.

The most terrifying thing about this floor wasn't the shadows running around, but that it would automatically generate illusions based on an intruder's deepest obsessions.

Ling Yunxiao's obsession was the restoration of the Ling Family and his guilt toward his father.

"Let go of me... I want to see my father... He's calling me..."

Ling Yunxiao's strength was surprisingly great, and he was on the verge of breaking free from the control.

"Old Man Han! The Young Lord is possessed!" Li Feiyu said anxiously. "Should I knock him out?"

"It's useless. This is a pull at the Divine Soul level. Even if you knock out his Physical Body, his soul will still drift over there."

A flash of ruthlessness crossed Zhou Wannian's eyes.

"Since we can't wake him up, we'll make the pain wake him."

Zhou Wannian let go of his hand.

Before Ling Yunxiao could even take a step, Zhou Wannian swung his hand and delivered a fierce slap to his face.

Slap!

This slap used hidden force and even contained a trace of Evil-Warding Lightning.

Ling Yunxiao was sent spinning in place. Half of his face instantly swelled up, and blood leaked from the corner of his mouth.

But his eyes remained glazed, and he continued to shuffle toward the hall: "Father... why did you hit me..."

"Not painful enough?"

Zhou Wannian sneered.

He pulled a 'Spirit-Devouring Rat Incisor' he had plucked from the pipes earlier from his Storage Pouch and, without any hesitation, stabbed it directly into Ling Yunxiao's thigh.

Puchi.

"Ah—!!!"

A shrill scream echoed through the corridor.

The teeth of a Spirit-Devouring Rat came with innate poison and armor-piercing properties. That piercing pain instantly shot to his head, more effective than any Heart-Cleansing Incantation.

Ling Yunxiao's whole body trembled violently, and the dazed look in his eyes receded like a tide, replaced by extreme pain and horror.

"Old... Old Man Han? Why did you stab me?!"

He clutched his thigh, cold sweat pouring down from the pain.

"Saving your life."

Zhou Wannian pulled out the tooth and casually stopped the bleeding for him.

"Look over there again."

Ling Yunxiao turned to look.

There was no side hall, and there was no father.

It was a collapsed ruin, and in the center of the ruin was a massive pit filled with black fangs. If he had taken a few more steps, he would have fallen directly into that pit and been chewed until nothing remained.

"This..." Ling Yunxiao's back was instantly drenched.

"In this pagoda, besides the three of us, anyone you see and any voice you hear is a ghost that wants to eat you."

Zhou Wannian's voice was cold.

"Remember this pain. If you get confused again, I'll stab your manhood."

Ling Yunxiao squeezed his legs together and nodded frantically.

"Keep moving."

After this interlude, the three became even more cautious. Zhou Wannian even brought out the Heavenly Secret Dao Disk, using its needle to distinguish the truth of their orientation.

Finally.

After passing through a sinister plum blossom forest, they arrived before a massive star-gazing platform.

This was the end of the second floor and the entrance to the third.

The star-gazing platform was empty, except for a large Armillary Sphere floating in the center. The Armillary Sphere rotated slowly, emitting faint starlight.

"We're here."

Zhou Wannian breathed a sigh of relief.

"As long as we activate this Armillary Sphere, we can open the Starlight Staircase to the third floor."

He walked quickly onto the star-gazing platform.

However.

Just as he was about to approach the Armillary Sphere.

Buzz—

The Armillary Sphere suddenly stopped rotating.

A semi-transparent figure slowly emerged from above the Armillary Sphere.

It wasn't like those unconscious shadows from before.

This was an old man dressed in a black-and-white Daoist robe, holding a horsetail whisk. His eyes were no longer hollow but flickered with an eerie blue light, carrying a look of scrutiny as he stared fixedly at the three intruders.

"Those who trespass upon the star-gazing platform... shall die."

The old man spoke.

His voice was hoarse, sounding like two rusted pieces of iron rubbing together.

Boom!

A terrifying Divine Sense pressure, comparable to the Golden Core Late Stage, instantly descended.

"It's the Tower-Guarding Spirit Phantom of the second floor!"

Zhou Wannian's expression changed.

This was an Elder of the Reverse Star Alliance who had been responsible for guarding this floor back then. Although his Physical Body was destroyed, this spirit phantom formed from his obsession still faithfully fulfilled its duty.

"Tie Zhu!"

Zhou Wannian shouted.

Tie Zhu, who had been in a stealth state, suddenly lunged, turning into a black shadow as he rushed toward the old man.

However.

The old man merely flicked his whisk lightly.

"Freeze."

Space seemed to solidify.

Tie Zhu's massive body actually ground to a halt in mid-air. The astral runes on his body flickered violently, yet he couldn't advance an inch.

"Physical attacks are ineffective... This is a pure spiritual body!"

Zhou Wannian's heart sank.

This kind of spiritual body was the most troublesome. Ordinary Spells and physical attacks couldn't harm it at all unless one had a Magic Treasure specifically targeting the Divine Soul.

"Li Feiyu! Use your Killing Intent!"

Zhou Wannian commanded sharply.

Although Li Feiyu was only at the Foundation Establishment Stage, he Cultivated the 'Seven-Kill Overlord Body Technique.' That pure Killing Intent forged in a sea of blood and mountains of corpses was the perfect bane for this kind of obsessive spirit phantom.

"Kill!"

Li Feiyu roared, his eyes blood-red. A tragic, blood-colored aura erupted from his body like a sharp sword, piercing fiercely toward the frozen space.

Crack.

A crack appeared in the spatial confinement.

"Somewhat interesting... but not enough."

The old man's spirit phantom looked at Li Feiyu coldly and flicked his whisk again.

Countless silver threads shot out like venomous snakes, about to pierce through Li Feiyu.

At this critical moment.

Zhou Wannian suddenly took a step forward.

He didn't use a sword, nor did he use a talisman.

Instead, he abruptly circulated the 'Cloud Seal Heavenly Scripture' within his body, and his hands formed an extremely strange and complex hand seal.

"Reverse Star Strategy, Third Form: Return to Source!"

Buzz!

A massive golden rune flew out from Zhou Wannian's palm.

As soon as this rune appeared, a trace of confusion and... awe suddenly appeared in the old man's previously cold eyes.

"This is... the alliance leader token's decree?"

The old man's movements froze.

Before the golden rune, the sky full of silver threads melted instantly, like snow meeting a scorching sun.

"Disciple... greets the Alliance Leader..."

The old man's spirit phantom trembled as he slowly knelt before the golden rune.

Then.

With a bang.

He dissipated on his own.

Turning into dots of starlight, he merged into the Armillary Sphere behind him.

"Phew..."

Zhou Wannian retracted his hand seal. His body swayed, and his face was somewhat pale.

This move of "borrowing authority" had drained more than half of the spiritual power in his body.

The Cloud Seal Heavenly Scripture was indeed the pass for this place. Even a tower-guarding Elder who had been dead for ten thousand years would instinctively choose to submit upon seeing the core Cultivation Technique.

"Quick! While we have the chance!"

"Open the passage!"

Zhou Wannian rushed toward the Armillary Sphere.

Just then.

The ground beneath their feet began to shake violently.

"Roar—!!!"

From the floor below came a sorrowful cry from the Red Hou before its death, followed by an earth-shattering explosion.

"Those three old monsters have finished off the Red Hou!"

Ling Yunxiao's face changed drastically. "They're coming up!"

"No more time!"

Zhou Wannian slapped the Armillary Sphere hard.

Rumble.

A brilliant staircase of starlight descended from above the Armillary Sphere, leading straight to the invisible Void Realm of the third floor.

"Go!"

The three people and one Puppet scrambled up the staircase.

Just as they disappeared at the end of the staircase.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Three battered, blood-stained figures rushed onto the star-gazing platform.

"They escaped?!"

The Grand Elder looked at the slowly dissipating Starlight Staircase and was so enraged he shattered the nearby railing with a palm strike.

"Chase them! Keep chasing!"

"I want to see just how long you can flee through these pagoda floors!"

"The next floor will be your dead end!"

...Reverse Star Pagoda, Third Floor.

There were no ghostly shadows here, nor were there any monsters.

There were only... mirrors.

Countless massive mirrors floating in the Void Realm formed an endless labyrinth.

Every mirror reflected a 'Zhou Wannian'.

Some were laughing, some were crying, some were covered in blood, and some had already achieved Soul Transformation and Ascension.

"This is..."

Zhou Wannian, having just landed, looked around, and a chill like never before rose in his heart.

"The third floor—【Mirror Flower, Water Moon】."

"Here, one doesn't use a blade to kill."

"Here... what is killed is the 'self'."

He looked back at Ling Yunxiao and Li Feiyu.

He saw that their eyes had already begun to glaze over, and in the mirrors before them, scenes of their deepest desires and greatest fears were playing out.

"We're in big trouble."

Zhou Wannian gripped the Heavenly Secret Dao Disk in his hand.

In this labyrinth, even the heavenly secrets were refracted into countless fragments.

The true test was only just beginning.