The deeper they went, the colder it became.
Su Hansheng wrapped his cloak around himself, following Chongjue step by step, vaguely feeling as if something in the tower was calling to him.
The Phoenix Bone seemed different from the other three sacred objects. Besides constantly wanting to undergo nirvana, the strange world he’d entered after death in his previous life also seemed unique to the Phoenix Bone.
Su Hansheng suddenly froze.
What about the Phoenix Bone from two thousand years ago?
Chongjue said she had perished. Did she have a chance to come back like he did?
Was this world already the Phoenix Bone’s second chance?
Su Hansheng couldn’t help shivering.
Chongjue, wearing only a thin robe, seemed unaffected by the cold. Seeing Su Hansheng shivering, he gently touched his face. “Do you really not want to go wait outside?”
Su Hansheng shook his head. “Are we almost there?”
At that moment, Ying Jianhua, who was leading the way, called out, “World-Honored One, we’ve reached the tower’s interior.”
Chongjue took Su Hansheng’s hand and hurried over.
Inside the Heaven-Reaching Tower was a vast space, seemingly endless. Above, a phantom sun hung, illuminating the surroundings as if it were daytime. If not for the dark sky outside, Su Hansheng would have thought they hadn’t entered the tower at all.
Bathed in the “sunlight,” Su Hansheng felt no discomfort as he removed his floating cloud veil.
Looking closely, he realized the light wasn’t from the sun, but from a long-life lamp.
The Heaven-Reaching Tower truly lived up to its name. Standing inside, the overwhelming pressure made one feel like a tiny insect trying to shake a tree.
Su Hansheng nervously clutched Chongjue’s arm, whispering, “What do you plan to do once you’re inside the tower?”
“The four sacred objects will guard the four corners of the formation inside the tower, stabilizing the Heaven-Reaching Tower,” Chongjue said. “But…”
Su Hansheng looked at him, confused.
Chongjue closed his eyes slightly. “Two thousand years ago, the four sacred objects used this method to stabilize the Heaven-Reaching Tower. According to the Qiankun Records, this method only requires the spiritual energy of the four sacred objects to stabilize the immortal mountain.”
Three sacred objects died in the Heaven-Reaching Tower, and the only survivor, the Lanke Record, was hunted by Heaven’s Will. His entire clan was cursed and became the despised “Fuli Clan.”
He had been puzzled before, but had simply been too lazy to think about it.
If Qifu Yin was truly the one who slaughtered the three sacred objects two thousand years ago, why did the Fallen Abyss Dragon, Zou Chi, treat him normally? Even Chongjue rarely used lethal force against him.
Qifu Yin was bound by the Nine-Nine Bone Chain in the fifteenth layer of the Wendao Festival’s Lanke Secret Realm. Now, it was no longer imprisonment, but rather an indirect protection from Heaven’s Will.
The conclusion was intriguing.
The four sacred objects had no reason to kill each other. The only one capable of doing so…
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Su Hansheng was startled. “Chongjue!”
He had fully entered the tower, but before he could look around, he instinctively reached out to find someone.
Fortunately, after running a few steps, he saw Chongjue in green robes.
The World-Honored One’s long hair hung loose, a string of glass Buddhist beads on his wrist, gently moving with a crisp sound.
Su Hansheng relaxed completely. Not noticing anything wrong, he opened his arms and rushed forward. “Chongjue…”
Just as he was about to touch Chongjue, it felt like he was touching a mirage. Chongjue’s figure rippled, Su Hansheng’s pupils trembled, and he fell forward, missing completely.
He landed hard on the ground, his cloak flipping over and covering his head.
Su Hansheng was dazed, lifting his cloak and looking back.
Chongjue seemed not to see him, still moving the beads and muttering something.
Su Hansheng stared blankly, finally noticing something was wrong.
The Chongjue who had been with him wore a snow-white kasaya, his long hair tied with a green ribbon embroidered with phoenix patterns, like a celestial being fallen into dust.
Wore green robes, had the glass beads on his wrist that had long been destroyed, and his eyes were filled with unmelting coldness.
Or rather, not the Chongjue Su Hansheng knew.
As Su Hansheng stood there, stunned, Chongjue suddenly opened his cold, dark blue eyes and said coldly, “…Su Xuanlin, now that it’s come to this, what are you waiting for?”
Su Hansheng had never seen Chongjue so angry and cold. He followed his gaze.
A man in blue robes stood in the center of the formation. Two of the formation’s positions had quietly activated, and the other two were occupied by puppets, replacing the sacred objects to activate the formation.
Su Xuanlin, who resembled Su Hansheng, lazily stroked the companion spirit black magpie on his shoulder, smiling faintly. “Those who destroy the Heaven-Reaching Tower are all Fuli rebels. Under Heaven’s Will, all may be killed.”
Qifu Yin’s face turned pale. “Jingyu, he…”
He was no longer Su Xuanlin.
The black magpie’s pupils were like glass, emotionless, staring straight at Qifu Yin.
Black, root-like veins slowly spread across Su Xuanlin’s face. His pupils were cold, but his voice was calm. “Two thousand years ago, the one who escaped by luck, why have you come to die?”
As soon as he finished speaking, Qifu Yin’s golden eyes turned into blood-red. Somehow, he broke free from the formation and flew into the air, clearly prepared.
Su Hansheng had no idea what was happening, only seeing the three immediately start fighting.
Immortal Lord Su Xuanlin’s cultivation was indeed extraordinary. Combined with whatever possessed him, Qifu Yin used countless formations from the Lanke Record, but still couldn’t trap him.
This was a memory from sixteen years ago.
Su Hansheng knew the outcome of this battle, but still couldn’t help worrying for Chongjue. Qifu Yin was defeated, lying on the ground, vomiting blood and quickly drawing a strange formation with his heart’s blood.
Chongjue’s wrist beads suddenly scattered, clattering as they flew toward Su Xuanlin. His face was cold, the demon-subduing staff charged with killing intent, thrusting forward.
The large tower shook, stone fragments and dust filling the air from the collision of their spiritual energy.
After a long time, the dust settled. Su Hansheng struggled to look, seeing Su Xuanlin’s pupils were eerie, blood flowing endlessly from his heart, half his body covered in crimson.
Chongjue, showing no mercy, had a bone chain piercing through his inner organs. He seemed not to feel pain, his eyes coldly watching Su Xuanlin, saying indifferently, “Kill me…”
Chongjue, blood at the corner of his mouth, actually smiled. “…How will you use the sacred objects to shape your body?”
Su Xuanlin’s expression changed.
The next moment, a huge stone crashed down from above.
Su Hansheng hadn’t reacted, but quickly saw the following scenes, finally understanding how Chongjue had been split in two sixteen years ago, and how his evil half was cast into Infinite Hell by Su Xuanlin.
Who wanted to use the sacred objects to shape a body?
Dragon body, phoenix bone, lamp soul…
The Lanke Record and Kunlun Jade, were they consciousness?
Two thousand years ago, the three sacred objects didn’t die at Qifu Yin’s hands, but someone wanted to take their sacred objects as shells. Qifu Yin somehow escaped, and the body shaping was never completed.
Why would sacred objects bestowed by Heaven’s Will be forcibly shaped by someone?
As Su Hansheng was dazed, he vaguely noticed someone standing there after the dust settled, quietly watching him.
This should be a memory illusion—how could someone from the past see him?
Su Hansheng stared in shock.
After the smoke cleared, the solitary figure in the illusion slowly merged with reality. The man in blue robes descended on the wind, landing gracefully before Su Hansheng.
Su Hansheng instinctively stepped back half a step.
His childhood memories were hazy. This was the first time Su Hansheng truly faced his blood-related father.
Su Xuanlin’s gaze was unfamiliar. He lazily waved his hand, and Su Hansheng’s body floated to him, his feet desperately trying to touch the ground but finding nothing solid.
Su Xuanlin smiled. “A phoenix bone that has undergone nirvana is indeed extraordinary.”
Su Hansheng was startled.
Did “nirvana” mean he had died in his previous life?
By now, all traces of the three men’s battle had vanished. The long-life lamp high above illuminated the tower, and the central formation glowed faintly.
This was no longer an illusion.
The moment Su Hansheng followed Chongjue into the formation, he was transported to Su Xuanlin’s location.
Having “nirvana” once, Su Hansheng wasn’t afraid of death. He didn’t want to have a father-son reunion with this father possessed by something. He boldly looked straight at Su Xuanlin and asked directly, “Is the phoenix bone’s ability to undergo nirvana?”
Su Xuanlin was taken aback, not expecting the child to be so bold. After a while, he laughed.
“Shouldn’t you ask yourself that?”
Su Hansheng “oh”ed, looking at the black veins on his face, which were extremely similar to the black aura spreading from Infinite Hell onto the Heaven-Reaching Tower, and fell silent.
This child seemed different from what he expected. Seeing him so obedient, Su Xuanlin casually let him down.
Su Hansheng was waiting for this moment, ready to run, but as soon as he moved, Su Xuanlin sensed his intention and lightly moved his fingers.
Su Hansheng was instantly lifted like a cat by the scruff of his neck, helplessly dangling before him.
Su Xuanlin sensed Chongjue approaching, slightly raised his eyes, a strange smile on his face. He held Su Hansheng’s cold hand, stopping him from escaping, and said casually, “Be good, don’t fool around.”
Long-buried memories seemed to resurface with these familiar words.
Years ago, whenever Su Xuanlin and Chongjue played chess, little Su Xiaoxiao would skillfully crawl into Chongjue’s robes to sleep.
At first, Su Xuanlin seemed worried the child would disturb the World-Honored One, lifting the child’s braid and scolding him, “Don’t offend the World-Honored One.”
“Who is the World-Honored One?” Su Xiaoxiao asked, flailing his limbs.
Su Xuanlin gestured toward the man he was using as a blanket.
Su Xiaoxiao earnestly corrected his father, “He’s not called World-Honored One, he’s called Chongjue.”
Chongjue placed a chess piece, hearing the child’s innocent words, and couldn’t help but chuckle.
He reached out and touched Su Xiaoxiao’s fluffy head, saying calmly, “It’s alright, let him play.”
Su Xuanlin glanced at the broken Buddhist beads on Chongjue’s wrist, helplessly warning Su Xiaoxiao, “Be good, don’t fool around.”
Su Hansheng snapped back to reality, looking at Su Xuanlin with a blank expression.
The Su Xuanlin who saved him in Infinite Hell wasn’t possessed by anything strange, but after returning to the Three Realms, he was possessed again by Heaven’s Will, as it had sixteen years ago.
Was it just using Su Xuanlin because he was convenient, picking on the same person over and over?