Inside the third level of the Sky-reaching Tower.
Xu Nian suddenly opened his eyes, gasping for breath.
"Thank goodness, I finally woke up. I was tortured for three days straight, and it was really unpleasant," Xu Nian muttered to himself with a bitter smile.
Although he realized that he was in an Illusion Realm, escaping from it was not an easy feat.
It took Xu Nian a full three days to break free from that Illusion Realm.
"Hmph, useless trash. If I hadn't reminded you, you would have already died within this Illusion Realm," the voice of Emperor Ye Tian rang out in Xu Nian's mind.
"Thank you, Your Imperial Majesty, for saving my life," Xu Nian said with a bitter smile, yet his heart was truly grateful.
Emperor Ye Tian was right; if it hadn't been for her cold snort,
he really might have gotten lost in the Illusion Realm, and once lost, the only outcome would have been a dead end.
"Boy, the matter of the Qin Family has always been your inner demon. I hope you can resolve it soon, or else your path of cultivation will soon come to an end," Emperor Ye Tian's voice echoed in Xu Nian's head.
Xu Nian nodded in agreement.
Emperor Ye Tian was right.
The Qin Family was indeed his inner demon, and the origin of all this was his mother.
It wasn't a matter of just killing the Qin Family or eradicating them entirely to resolve this inner demon.
He could let go of his own hatred, but not the part that belonged to his mother.
The debt the Qin Family owed him, he could choose not to pursue.
But the debt owed to his mother had to be repaid.
Long ago, he had sworn
to have the Qin Family, especially Qin Yuanshan, kneel before his mother and confess their sins.
That was precisely why he had not taken action against the Qin Family in the first place.
"It's time to go to the fourth level."
Xu Nian exhaled a murky breath and took steps toward the fourth level.
The outside world had already been thrown into an uproar.
The moment the formation of the fourth level lit up, everyone gasped in astonishment.
It had been five hundred years since anyone had ascended to the fourth level.
Xu Nian had actually passed through the third level and reached the fourth level—this was a rare sight in centuries!
And how old was this Xu Nian? Seventeen, much younger than any tower challenger in the history of the Artifact Refining Sect.
"Did he make it through?" Bai Feng's expression was poignant, his eyes complex.
Watching the formation of the fourth level light up, his lips trembled slightly.
After what seemed like a long time, Bai Feng's eyes suddenly sharpened.
"Ha ha, I understand now. I finally get it. All these three years, I've been drawing lines for myself like I'm in a cage, ha ha!" Bai Feng suddenly burst into loud laughter.
All those around him were drawn to Bai Feng's laughter, wearing puzzled faces.
However, Bai Feng's aura suddenly surged, climbing rapidly, as a powerful spiritual energy sprang forth from beneath his feet.
Then Bai Feng rose into the air, standing suspended.
"Marq... Marquis Realm, has Brother Bai Feng broken through?" The crowd's eyes widened in extreme shock.
They all looked at Bai Feng, who was floating in the air, their eyes filled with awe and astonishment.
Bai Feng stood with his hands behind his back, his hair flying wildly, exuding the surging, powerful presence of a Marquis.
After three years of silence, he had finally achieved a breakthrough.
And all this was thanks to Xu Nian.
"Xu Nian, thank you. If it weren't for you passing the third level, I, Bai Feng, may never have been able to break through to the Marquis Realm. As long as you can come out of the Sky-reaching Tower, I, Bai Feng, am willing to serve you as my master," declared Bai Feng, his voice resounding throughout the venue.
Everyone was stupefied.
Bai Feng was willing to serve Xu Nian as his master?
That was the person once praised as the most talented individual of the Artifact Refining Sect in a thousand years!
Such a favored son of heaven was willing to follow Xu Nian; just how heaven-defying was Xu Nian?
The tower guardian and the Artifact Refining Sect Master exchanged a smile, Bai Feng had made a breakthrough.
This was good news, it meant the knot in his heart had been untied, and the Artifact Refining Sect had gained another genius.
Nangong Qing stood among the crowd, his lips turning white.
At this moment, he was beyond words to describe his feelings.
Despair, nothing but despair.
There was no longer the slightest thought of seeking revenge.
The fourth level of the Sky-reaching Tower.
Xu Nian looked around the empty fourth level with a puzzled expression on his face.
"Eh, why is there nothing on this level?" Xu Nian said in surprise.
He had thought that there might be some hidden dangers.
But after walking around, he found nothing at all.
"Kid, it's not that there's nothing, it's just that the little thing saw you and got scared, hiding itself," the voice of Emperor Ye Tian laughed in Xu Nian's mind.
"Scared and hiding? Little thing?" Xu Nian's confusion deepened; he had scanned the area with his Spiritual Sense, but there was nothing around!
"Use the Gray Dragon Eye to take a look," Emperor Ye Tian said with a hint of impatience.
Hearing this, Xu Nian then activated the Elderly Eye.
The sight startled Xu Nian.
Holy shit, this is a little thing?
He saw a huge dragon lying prostrate at his feet, quivering.
This dragon was a hundred meters long; it was far from the little thing Emperor Ye Tian had mentioned.
"Is this a dragon? Why is its body ethereal? And why is it afraid of me?" Xu Nian asked, puzzled.
"Ignorant, it is indeed a dragon, but it's just a Residual Soul of a dragon. It naturally has the ability to hide itself and launch Soul Attacks, so your Divine Sense can't detect it. As for why it's afraid of you, that's because you are the Nine Dragons Supreme Body, the leader of the Nine Great Divine Dragons. Who else would it fear if not you?" Emperor Ye Tian said scornfully.
Xu Nian suddenly understood and turned his gaze to the ethereal soul before him.
This was a Residual Soul of a True Dragon, Xu Nian's first encounter with a True Dragon.
"Little guy, oh sorry, big guy, what's your name?" Xu Nian communicated with it using his Spiritual Sense.
The Residual Soul of the dragon said pitifully, "I am called Wo Shui, great lord. Please don't kill me; I had no intention of harming you."
"Alright, alright, I won't kill you. Do you want to leave this place?" Xu Nian said, looking like someone who trafficked souls.
"Yes, of course, I do. I've been here for thousands of years, and it's been so long since I've seen another person," the dragon's Residual Soul said, eyes filled with hope.
"Well then, come into this, and I'll take you out," Xu Nian said, taking out the Netherworld King Bow.
The Residual Soul of the dragon glanced at the Netherworld King Bow, smiled, and immediately turned into a beam of light, entering the bow.
Seeing this, a brilliant smile appeared on Xu Nian's face as well.
With this, his Netherworld King Bow would be augmented with the power of Spiritual Sense Attacks, making it much more powerful than before.
Inside the Black Jade Pendant, Emperor Ye Tian was speechless.
This guy really had the potential to traffic in souls.
However, Xu Nian was all smiles as he stored the Netherworld King Bow back in his Dantian, whistling as he walked towards the last level.
The fourth level, easily passed.
However, the outside world was once again in a frenzy.
"Holy shit, the fifth level already? How can he be so fast? He's actually going to reach the top!" Everyone was exclaiming in shock.
Even the tower guardian and the Artifact Refining Sect Master showed surprised expressions.
Although they had never gone up, they knew that the fourth level was home to a powerful dragon soul.
Facing that Residual Soul of the dragon, they would have only met death.
How did Xu Nian manage to get through so quickly?