Chapter 113: Chapter 48: Senior Sister Leads the Team, Experienced Tour Guide
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Passing through the narrow corridor, everyone entered the secret realm of the Demon Locking Tower.
The first scene they came upon in the secret realm was a spacious hall.
Real Person Jinghua had everyone rest here for a while to adjust their condition, so people either sat or stood, chatting with sectmates or cautiously observing their surroundings.
Due to Qiu Changtian’s reminder, Ling Yunpo was particularly vigilant of his surroundings.
He noticed that the hall was an octagonal structure, composed of eight walls, with an octagonal pyramid as the dome.
All the walls, the floor, and the dome were engraved with a strange yet somehow familiar script.
Immortal Seal Script.
This Immortal Seal Script, also known as tadpole writing, was made up of various curved strokes that resembled tadpoles.
It was said that each character had no meaning, or rather, it had infinite meanings.
It was only when a large number of Immortal Seal Scripts formed a sentence, a paragraph, or even an article that they had a readable and understandable meaning.
According to the Kunlun Mirror, anything with this Immortal Seal Script could be considered an artifact from ancient times—ancient here even predates the era of Clarify Cult and Cult Intercept from Ancient Times.
This also proved that the Demon Locking Tower was not built by the Clarify Cult of ancient times but was an even older structure.
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“Ah Jing,” Ling Yunpo asked again, “can you understand the meaning of these Immortal Seal Scripts?”
“Different paths for humans and demons,” the Kunlun Mirror replied.
“What does that mean?”
“Just the literal meaning,” the Kunlun Mirror said. “Humans and demons are ultimately not the same kind, so do not let your guard down.”
“So the predecessors who built the Demon Locking Tower were racists, huh,” Ling Yunpo said nonchalantly and suddenly noticed that Qiu Changtian had disappeared.
“Eh, where’d he go?”
“He left a while ago and told you not to worry about him,” the Kunlun Mirror said.
Ling Yunpo’s brow furrowed as he heard Senior Sister An Zhisu ask with concern:
“Junior Brother, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Ling Yunpo replied with a quick smile.
“There’s no need to be too tense,” An Zhisu comforted him. “Although there are many demonic creatures in the Demon Locking Tower, the formidable ones are all on the lower levels.”
“Besides, we have a Golden Core True Person leading the team, so we don’t have to worry too much.”
Ling Yunpo verbally agreed, but inwardly he gave a wry smile of helplessness.
Senior Sister An’s reasoning was sound, but he was unable to explain to her that he knew about the dangers ahead because he had cheated and foreseen them.
Thus, he could only hide the worry from his face and expertly display a reassuring smile.
After a brief rest, Real Person Jinghua gathered the Shushan disciples once again and announced it was time for free activity.
Beneath each of the eight walls, there was an archway leading to eight different passages, in perfect accordance with the meaning of the eight gates of Qimen Dunjia.
Among them, excluding the Life Gate leading out of the tower, there were seven passages: Opening, Rest, Blocking, View, Shock, Harm, and Death.
The Opening Gate led to the next level, and the Rest Gate led to a safe area with no danger.
The Blocking and View Gates led to low-risk areas where the demons were less aggressive and mostly would not attack humans proactively.
The Shock and Harm Gates led to mid-risk areas where demons would actively attack, requiring extra caution and care.
The Death Gate led to a high-risk area; behind it, the demonic creatures were often powerful or possessed strange abilities, making them incredibly difficult to deal with.
Real Person Jinghua’s suggestion was for the disciples of Marrow Cleansing Rank to enter the Blocking and View Gates, and the other disciples to enter the Shock and Harm Gates for their respective trials.
Furthermore, those in the top five of the Immortal Sword Ranking could enter the Death Gate.
Speaking of this, Real Person Jinghua let out a cold laugh, saying:
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“Of course, if you have confidence in your own strength, you’re certainly not obliged to follow my suggestions. After all, each selection process sees disciples attempting to challenge greater difficulties—few of them are modest about their hidden depths, but the majority are merely courting death. Either way, it’s none of my concern.”
“I’m giving you only an hour. Once the time is up, I will lead the team to the next level, and we shall wait for no one.”
Having said that, he leaned against the wall near the Rest Gate, crossed his arms, and closed his eyes for a quiet moment of rest.
After a brief contemplation, everyone started to form groups of two or three and dispersed through the various gates around them.
Ling Yunpo watched from behind, noticing that fewer people chose the Du and Jing gates, while the Surprise and Injury gates saw the most traffic. Strangely enough, a good number of disciples chose the Rest Gate, reasoning that this was only the first level and they did not intend to partake in the trial.
Duan Fenhai was also among them, seemingly unwilling to expend too much effort on the first level.
Guan Shanyue stood up and headed straight for the Surprise Gate; Lin Duanshan chose the Death Gate. Thus from the top five of the Immortal Sword Ranking, only Ling Yunpo and An Zhisu had yet to choose.
“Junior Brother, which one would you like to choose?” An Zhisu asked with a smiling gaze.
“I’ll leave it completely in the hands of Senior Sister,” Ling Yunpo immediately replied.
“The Blood Pool is within the Death Gate on the twenty-eighth level of the Demon Locking Tower, not to be missed,” An Zhisu said with a smile. “As for the trials on the other levels, they’re optional.”
“If Junior Brother would like to get accustomed beforehand, Senior Sister can take you for a stroll through the Death Gate.”
Ling Yunpo was deeply touched. Listen to this—other disciples advised against it, but to my Senior Sister, the ‘Death Gate’ was merely a ‘stroll’.
He fell silent for a moment and, finding no objection from the Kunlun Mirror, nodded and said:
“Then let’s go for that stroll.”
“Mhm, let’s go, Junior Brother,” An Zhisu said as she gracefully rose to her feet.
The two of them headed toward the Death Gate, immediately attracting the gazes of numerous Shushan disciples.
Upon reaching the archway, An Zhisu took Ling Yunpo’s hand and stepped through.
This gesture held no romantic implications, but rather, since the Demon Locking Tower was filled with formation mechanisms, even if they entered one after the other, it was easy to end up in different rooms—so holding hands was a precaution.
Ling Yunpo, his hand held by Senior Sister, felt its soft and silky warmth, with fingers long and delicate; he couldn’t help but interlace his fingers with hers and hold tightly.
An Zhisu’s cheeks turned slightly red, but feeling shy to show her awkwardness to her Junior Brother, she quickly turned her head away and hastened her steps.
Ling Yunpo followed closely behind her, only able to see the fair and slender curve of her neck, which also seemed to be blushing slightly.
As they stepped into the Death Gate, they were surrounded by pitch-black darkness, as if all light were excluded from beyond its threshold.
Ling Yunpo swept his divine sense around, this time encountering no barriers, only aware that he and his Senior Sister were in a narrow passage.
After walking dozens of steps, the space suddenly opened up—a typical effect of spatial formations.
The two of them were now in a valley.
The valley was devoid of trees but had large, lush grasslands and a river running through it.
This was typical of the Longyou region’s climate, something Qiu Changtian had become quite accustomed to during his time away from the sect for training.
Suddenly, An Zhisu’s voice rang out in warning:
“Be cautious, Junior Brother! It’s a Yato!”
Before her words fully faded, several creatures burst forth from the earth.
These creatures resembled the Komodo dragon, covered in ochre-yellow scales, armed with sharp claws, pointed teeth, and saw-toothed tails, their vertical pupils cold, their appearance ferocious, and their bloodthirsty eyes fixed on the two of them.
Ling Yunpo immediately ascended on his sword with An Zhisu, only to see one of the demonic beasts, named “Yato,” suddenly constrict its pupils dramatically.
It opened its mouth wide and let out a frantic roar. Although Ling Yunpo could not understand demonic speech, he could sense the terror within it, as if it were saying:
“Beware! It’s the Weed-Cutting Sword Immortal!”
The other two Yatos, upon hearing this, froze for an instant, and then scurried to roll back into the same hole they had emerged from, desperately trying to burrow back underground.
The next second, the Daoist magic on the Frostfall Sword was activated, and endless snowflakes shot down as An Zhisu shouted angrily:
“Where do you think you’re going, demons!”