The morning sun had barely begun to climb over the horizon when the silhouette of the Spirit Tempering Pagoda began to swarm with activity. It was a massive, imposing structure of dark, weathered stone that seemed to pulse with a faint, rhythmic heartbeat of its own.
It was a symbol of the power and prestige of the Ling family. Naturally, such a reputation acted as a magnet for the ambitious, the desperate, and the curious, all of whom clutched their tokens as if they were keys to godhood.
Mu Chen, Shen Xi, and Xiao Li arrived amidst the bustling crowd.
Xiao Li stopped just short of the main gates. Her brow furrowed as she looked up at the towering spire.
"Something is strange," she murmured to herself, her voice barely audibles over the chatter of the crowd.
In her arms, a small, elegant bird with feathers like frost shifted restlessly. This was Little Han, a creature possessing the Ice Phoenix lineage. Though its bloodline was not as pure as the four great beast overlords of the Thousand Beast Continent, its instincts were sharp enough to cut through most illusions.
Through their telepathic bond, the bird sent a wave of chilling unease into Xiao Li's mind. To Little Han, the tower didn't smell like a holy site of cultivation; it smelled like a predator's den.
Mu Chen, however, seemed entirely unbothered. He idly stroked the golden fur of Nibi, who was draped across his arms like a heavy, living scarf.
"We'll know once we go in," Mu Chen said flatly.
Shen Xi offered a small, knowing nod. She stood beside him, her calm was of a different sort—rooted in a deep, internal certainty.
"Yeah," she added softly, her eyes scanning the dark stone. "What's there to fear?"
When the heavy iron doors of the Spirit Tempering Pagoda finally groaned open, a surge of cultivators rushed forward. Mu Chen and the others remained at the back of the pack, moving with a leisurely pace that contrasted sharply with the madness around them.
Upon entering, they were greeted by a dim, cavernous space where a faint, black mist permeated the air. It wasn't the radiant, golden energy most expected from a "holy" site.
Instead, the mist was oily and dark, swirling like ink in water. Those who had entered before them were already seated on the floor in meditative postures, their faces flushed with a manic intensity as they greedily inhaled the black vapor.
Xiao Li looked at the swirling shadows in surprise.
"Is this the Spirit Tempering Mist?" she asked, her voice laced with skepticism.
As a princess, she had been granted access to high-grade cultivation resources before, and this looked similar in texture.
She knew that Spirit Tempering Mist was an incredibly expensive resource. Was the Ling family truly wealthy and benevolent enough to provide such a treasure for free to every passerby with a token bought by small amount of spiritual stones?
Shen Xi watched the mist with a cold, analytical gaze.
"Indeed, it is Soul Tempered Mist," she observed, her voice echoing calmly through the chamber. "But it has been altered. To be precise, it should be called a Soul-Devouring Pagoda. The Ling family... they must have cultivated their own souls by relying on this tower to harvest from others."
She spoke the words without a trace of fear or anger. The mist was devouring the soul power instead of strengthening.
Xiao Li's body jolted at the revelation, her eyes darting toward the unconscious, dreaming cultivators on the floor.
"This method is quite insidious," she whispered, a chill running down her spine.
She realized then that everyone in this room was being treated like livestock, their very spirits being milked for the benefit of the Ling family.
Mu Chen looked around the room, exhaling a long, slow breath.
As he exhaled, the black mist, which had been clinging to the walls and the lungs of the cultivators like a thick veil, suddenly vanished. It didn't dissipate or drift away; it simply ceased to exist, erased as if it had never been there in the first place.
The air in the tower became instantly crisp and clear, revealing the cold, bare stone of the interior.
The sudden change left Xiao Li stunned. She looked around in total puzzlement, her mouth hanging slightly open.
"What happened? Where did all the mist disappear to?"
"It doesn't matter," She Xi replied calmly, as she adjusted her sleeves, her expression unmoved.
In Mu Chen's arms, Nibi let out a soft, knowing meow. Xiao Li looked at the three of them suspiciously. She was almost certain they had something to do with it, but she couldn't understand how.
...
"How is that possible?"
Deep within a hidden observation chamber, Ling Ming stared at a spiritual mirror with an expression of pure, unadulterated shock. Beside him, several Ling family elders rose from their seats, their faces pale.
The mirror showed the interior of the pagoda, now completely devoid of the Soul-Devouring Mist. The "harvest" they had been preparing had been ruined in a heartbeat.
"Someone didn't fall into the trap," Ling Ming hissed, his refined mask crumbling to reveal a venomous fury. "Not only that, but they've also cleared the entire floor. The mist we used to harvest soul power is gone!"
Stunned and enraged, Ling Ming didn't hesitate. He gestured to the elders, and they immediately moved toward the central chambers of the pagoda to confront the intruders.
Back on the main floor, Xiao Li looked at the cultivators who were still lying unconscious.
"Shall we leave now?" she asked, her voice tinged with urgency. Although she still didn't know exactly how the mist had been cleared, she knew that they had just spat in the face of the kingdom's rulers.
"I don't think the Ling family will sit idly," Shen Xi offered a thin, dangerous smile as she said. "They must be coming here anytime now."
"Then what should we do?" Xiao Li asked, her heart hammering.
In her mind, three people—even gifted ones—fighting against a family that ruled an entire kingdom was a suicidal prospect.
Mu Chen, however, was already looking toward the darkness of the inner corridors. "The mist was being released from further ahead," he said. "I am going to take a look."
Nibi didn't wait for him. She hopped from his arms, her golden paws hitting the stone without a sound as she trotted ahead with the confidence of a hunter. Mu Chen followed her, his steps rhythmic and calm.
"Wait! I think we should just leave!" Xiao Li called out, her voice echoing.
"Don't worry, he will be fine." Shen Xi replied as she glanced back at her and smiled.
Xiao Li let out a frustrated huff as she decided to go with flow. Though she wanted to leave but not by abandoning her comrades.
...
Mu Chen followed Nibi through a series of winding, rune-etched hallways. As they drew closer to the heart of the tower, the ground began to vibrate with a low-frequency hum.
From the distance behind them, the sounds of crashing stone and explosive spiritual energy echoed—a clear sign that a battle had already erupted where Shen Xi and Xiao Li are. The Ling family elders had arrived even faster than expected.
Nibi hopped back into Mu Chen's arms and pointed a paw toward a heavy stone table at the end of the hall.
Resting upon it was a large, pulsating black crystal ball. It radiated an immense, nauseating amount of soul power—the collective essence harvested from thousands of victims over the years.
"The core of the Spirit Tempering Pagoda," Mu Chen said, his eyes scanning the artifact.
Nibi meowed proudly, her chest puffed out as if to say, I found it.
Mu Chen stroked her fur, a hint of genuine praise in his tone. "Good job, Nibi."
Just as Mu Chen reached out and held the black crystal in his hand, a furious shout erupted from the entrance of the chamber.
"So it is you! Bastard, let it go!"
Ling Ming burst into the central area, his face twisted in a mask of desperation and hate.
When he saw Mu Chen holding the Soul Refining Crystal, his expression changed drastically. He knew that without this treasure, the entire Soul-Devouring Tower would become nothing more than a pile of useless rocks. It was the foundation of his family's future.
Mu Chen didn't bother to reply. He didn't even look at Ling Ming. He simply picked up the crystal and handed it to Nibi.
"Don't eat it," he warned her.
Nibi flicked a single tail, a gesture that clearly stated she understood the instructions, though she looked a little disappointed.
Ling Ming watched as the youth treated his family's greatest treasure like a common toy for a cat. The insult was too much to bear. His expression turned ice-cold, and the air in the central chamber grew heavy, the very space seemingly forgetting how to breathe as he channelled his rage.
"Since you are courting death, I will grant it to you, you little beast!" Ling Ming roared.
Ling Ming's eyes burned with a venomous fury as his spiritual qi erupted. He was at the peak of his power, and he held nothing back. The floor beneath his feet surrendered instantly, deep fissures spiderwebbing outward through the stone as a dense, dark yellow life energy coalesced around him.
It formed into a jagged spear of annihilating intent, the pressure so great that the stone table nearby shattered into toothpicks before the attack was even launched.
Mu Chen turned his back on Ling Ming.
One hand remained tucked in his pocket, casual as a stroll through spring gardens. The other cradled Nibi, who let out a long yawn, showing her pink tongue and tiny, sharp fangs.
Mu Chen did not look at the spear. He did not acknowledge Ling Ming's existence with so much as a blink.
From behind him, the strike reached its target.
The dark yellow energy—furious, certain, and launched with the intent to unmake the enemy—shot toward Mu Chen's spine. It was a blow designed to leave nothing behind but ash.
Then, it folded.
It wasn't deflected. It wasn't blocked. It simply... folded. The trajectory of the spear reversed, the arrow of time itself bending like a drawn bow. The attack travelled backward through its own source. Ling Ming had barely completed his triumphant snarl when his own life energy—now compressed, accelerated, and utterly betrayed—arrived back at him.
He had no time to scream. He had no time to understand that his righteous fury and his very molecular structure had been outvoted by something he did not understand.
BOOM.
The resulting blood mist hung in the air for a brief moment, almost decorative in the dim light of the chamber, before remembering it no longer had a reason to be sentient and dispersed into the shadows.
"Was someone talking?" Mu Chen asked the empty space.
The pagoda did not answer. It felt as if the very stones had learned to be silent in his presence. Nibi settled more comfortably against his chest and let out a soft meow.
"Oh?" Mu Chen looked down at her. "A bug was buzzing?'
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the pagoda, a fierce battle was raging in the main hall. The high elders of the Ling family, themselves pushed to the limit. They could barely hold their ground against Shen Xi, and it was only because she was going too easy on them.
"Old man, let's see how much longer you can last!" Xiao Li laughed, her voice ringing out with a newfound confidence.
As she watched Shen Xi move with the grace of a dancing goddess, Xiao Li realized she had drastically underestimated her companion. Shen Xi moved through the attacks of the elders as if she were walking through a gentle rain.
Suddenly, one of the elders let out a strangled roar of agony, coughing up a mouthful of dark blood.
"The Soul Refining Crystal has been stolen! Damn it, who did it?!"
His aura plummeted instantly. The connection between his soul and the pagoda's spiritual treasure had been severed, and the backlash was like a physical hammer to his soul.
Mu Chen hadn't even had to break the crystal; the moment he picked it up, it remained nothing more than a simple black stone.
The elder, dazed and weakened by the sudden loss of his treasure, forgot for a split second that he was in the middle of a life-and-death struggle.
Before he could recover his guard, he was struck squarely by a palm from Shen Xi. His ribs cracked with the sound of breaking dry wood, and he was thrown back through the air, trailing a spray of crimson.
"Little Han, freeze him!" Xiao Li ordered, pointing her finger.
The ice bird in her arms opened its beak, letting out a piercing cry. A blast of absolute, icy cold shot forth, catching the other elder mid-air. Before he could even touch the ground, he was encased in a block of jagged blue ice.
When the frozen body finally hit the floor, it didn't bounce; it shattered into a thousand glittering ice crystals. Only a flickering, translucent soul remained, hovering in the air for a moment before trying to flee toward the exit.
But before the soul could escape, a deathly whisper reached it.
"Too late," Shen Xi said.
She gracefully waved her hand, and one of her jade-green lotus petals flew toward the spirit. It drifted slowly, looking as light as a feather, yet it tore through the space it traversed like a whetted blade. The petal was delicate, beautiful, and absolutely lethal.
"Aaah—no! Don't kil—"
The elder's plea was cut short as the petal pierced the center of his soul. In an instant, the translucent figure dissipated into nothingness, erased from the world.