“Really?” The corners of her little mouth dipped a little further. However, she quickly recovered from her dejection and looked towards Yaoyao with a grin, “Although I’ve failed, I still have to thank big sis. Ordinary people will not dare to give me a chance so easily.”
She then turned her head and shot a look at the two bronze tokens in Zhou Yaun’s hands. “Are you going to the Gu clan’s Spirit Refining Tower?”
Zhou Yuan nodded. “We plan to have a look.”
The green haired girl said, “I’ll also be going tomorrow. In fact, I spent fifty thousand Genesis crystals to buy a spot!”
Zhou Yuan grinned. What a wealthy little lady.
“Heehee, our encounter is part of fate, and I’d be happy to befriend the two of you. I am called Luluo.” Said the green haired girl. However, her large eyes were still mostly focused on Tuntun.
Although she had failed earlier, the girl was clearly still extremely fond of Tuntun.
Zhou Yuan looked at Yaoyao and received a light nod from the latter. She could sense that the girl before them was pretty innocent and did not harbor any ill intentions.
Zhou Yuan said with a smile, “Zhou Yuan. This is my senior sister disciple, Yaoyao.”
“Little bro Zhou Yuan, big sis Yaoyao, we should go to the Spirit Refining Tower together tomorrow. It would be good to watch each other’s backs.” Said Luluo with a lovely smile.
“Watch each other’s backs?” Zhou Yuan’s eyes flashed. “Isn’t the Spirit Refining Tower a place to temper the Spirit? Do you feel that there is some danger?”
Luluo’s large eyes blinked, a trace of craftiness flashing within them as she answered, “Who knows. But one should be careful of any kind of ‘free lunch’, right?”
Zhou Yuan was taken aback. Although there were limited spots, the Gu clan’s Spirit Refining Tower was indeed akin to a free lunch for many people. After all, raising the power of one’s Spirit would undoubtedly be a huge help to anyone.
High tier Spirit tempering methods were not available to just anyone. Hence, a treasure that could temper the Spirit was naturally very precious.
“Agreed.”
Zhou Yuan chuckled. Although the girl before them seemed innocent, she hid a sharp wit. Whoever believed that she was an easy target would likely be in for a surprise.
...
Nighttime.
Inside a certain large manor at the center of Gu City.
Dull yellow lamp light lit up a secret room where the atmosphere was rather secretive.
“Has everything been prepared?” A raspy voice rang out in the secret room. One would see a figure under the lamp light. His appearance was that of a middle-aged man, but his face was shrunken with age. Light flickered between his brows, emitting powerful Spirit undulations.
“Yes, father.”
A young man in white respectfully nodded. It was Gu Lang.
The old-looking middle-aged man nodded, a dark and stern look in his eyes as he said, “Choose some suitable ones amongst them to have their Spirits extracted. With the nourishment they provide, my Spirit should be able to reach the advance Corporeal stage. When that happens, our Gu clan’s power will rise once again.”
“The two elders and I will oversee things tomorrow.”
Gu Lang nodded and retrieved a string of bronze tokens from his sleeve. Lifelike portraits could be seen on the tokens. “I’ve already done the selecting. They will become food once they enter the Spirit Refining Tower.”
He gently tapped a bronze token, his gaze tinged with playfulness and mockery as he stared at two particular ones amongst them. The portraits on these two tokens belonged to Zhou Yuan and Yaoyao.
He tenderly touched Yaoyao’s portrait, desire gushing in his eyes.
“I’ve said this before, you won’t be able to escape the palm of my hand.”
Chapter 122 Spirit Refining Tower?
The next day.
The entire Gu City had become abuzz with excitement and activity as countless people flooded towards the center of the city. Today was the day the Gu clan opened its Spirit Refining Tower.
There was no one in the area who did not know of the wonders of the Gu clan’s Spirit Refining Tower. It was due to the existence of this tower that the Gu clan was able to specialize in Genesis Runes and have each member achieve high attainments in Spirit cultivation.
This was why numerous people would flock when the Gu clan opened the Spirit Refining Tower to the outside every year, evidently hoping to borrow the wonders of the tower to strengthen their Spirit to the next level.
The huge manor at the center of the city had opened its doors to welcome the guests that had come from all over.
Zhou Yuan, Yaoyao and the green haired girl called Luluo also arrived together as a group.
The trio followed the crowd, and eventually ended up at the center of the manor where an enormous black stone tower stood on an empty spacious land. Countless ancient patterns had been carved into the body of the tower, pulsing brightly like a beating heart.
“Is this the Spirit Refining Tower?” Luluo was brimming with curiosity.
Zhou Yuan frowned slightly as he stared at the black stone tower. He did not know why, but he could faintly feel that something was off.
While Zhou Yuan mulled over this feeling in his heart, a figure dressed in white arrived in front of the tower. It was Gu Lang whom they had met yesterday.
Gu Lang also caught sight of the Zhou Yuan duo, or to be more precise, Yaoyao. As for Zhou Yuan, the former’s gaze merely skimmed over him, evidently completely unconcerned about the latter.
Gu Lang smiled warmly at Yaoyao, before his gaze turned towards the crowd as a loud and clear voice rang out, “Everyone here should know that today is the day my Gu clan opens the doors of the Spirit Refining Tower to outsiders. The tower has the effect of tempering one’s Spirit, a point that I believe everyone here is already familiar with.”
The crowd fervently gazed at the Spirit Refining Tower.
Gu Lang smiled again when he saw this as he continued, “However, there is something I have to mention beforehand. There are certain risks in the tower, so I hope that everyone will be a little careful.”
However, the only thing everyone could see at this moment was the tower. Who could have possibly heard Gu Lang’s warning?
A faint smile was plastered on Gu Lang’s face, while a strange look flitted across his eyes.
“Open the tower doors!” Gu Lang loudly shouted, and the doors of the Spirit Refining Tower slowly rumbled open.
As the tower doors opened, a humming sound seemed to emerge from within the tower, a sound that made one’s hair stand on end.
Swish!
However, there was not the slightest bit of hesitation in those that were grasping the bronze tokens in their hands, their figures rapidly shooting forward the moment the tower doors opened.
Zhou Yuan did not move for the time being. Instead, his gaze look towards Yaoyao as he asked in a low voice, “How is it?”
Yaoyao’s gaze had been glued to the ancient patterns on the tower ever since they had arrived here. Upon hearing Zhou Yuan’s voice, her pupils seem to swivel for a moment as she replied, “I have a rough idea…” Her tone contained some interest as she continued, “Let’s go in first and have a look. I hope that my guess is not wrong.”
Zhou Yuan naturally had no objections. He smiled at Luluo and said, “We’ll be going in, you’re free to make your own decision.”
After finishing, he and Yaoyao moved forward together, dashing into the Spirit Refining Tower.
Luluo pouted as she watched their figures. “As if I’m afraid!”
Thus, she too followed without any hesitation.
...
After entering the tower, a vast inner space greeted them.
As the trio walked within the tower, it felt as if they were on a desert. From time to time. they would catch sight of some of the other figures that had entered.
Luluo’s large ey
es continuously scanned their surroundings as she remarked, “I don’t see anything that can temper the Spirit.”
Yaoyao gently stroked Tuntun as she replied, “Wait a little.”
Not long after Yaoyao’s words faded, a faint mist suddenly began to fill the tower. A weak black hue emerged from within the mist as a faint humming sound spread.
Zhou Yuan suddenly frowned while observing the faint black mist. He could feel his Spirit shaking violently as if strongly drawn in by something.
The feeling was akin to a thirsty traveller seeing a stream and could not wait to throw himself in.
“It's the Spirit Refining Mist. Absorbing it will temper the Spirit!” Several ecstatic voices rang out in the distance. These individuals sat down straight away, and began urging their Spirit to absorb the faint black mist.
“Spirit Refining Mist?” Zhou Yuan was slightly stunned. He had heard of this mist before. It was extremely difficult to create and was considerably pricey. It was hard to believe that the Gu clan was willing to allow outsiders to take advantage of it.
Luluo also spoke out in amazement, “This is the good stuff.”
However, Yaoyao suddenly said, “Don’t breathe it in.”
Zhou Yuan’s heart shivered at her words, no hesitation whatsoever as he brought out his Genesis Qi to cover his body, completely isolating himself from the black mist.
The little ice-blue bird on Luluo’s shoulder also spit out a cloud of cold Qi that quickly wrapped around her.
Yaoyao waved her hand, summoning a ball of the black mist, and began observing with rapt attention. A short while later, she slowly said, “What a devious trick.”
Zhou Yuan hastily asked, “What’s going on?”
Yaoyao flicked her finger, dispersing the black mist as she explained, “This mist can indeed be considered a type of Spirit Refining Mist. However, a few extra ingredients have been added…”
“Once ingested, one’s Spirit will gradually become intoxicated, eventually making it impossible to free oneself.”
“Come, let’s continue walking.”
Yaoyao’s long leg took a stride forward, passing by figure after figure. Each and every one had their eyes tightly shut with a look of intoxication on their face, while a faint black mist lingered between their brows.
Zhou Yuan’s footsteps suddenly paused, his eyes filled with confusion as he looked towards a figure to their front. The figure’s face was expressionless, and there was a bloody hole between his brows.
Zhou Yuan said in a low voice, “His Spirit is gone.”
“What a bizarre Spirit Refining Tower.” Luluo’s face changed slightly. Something was very wrong about this place.
Yaoyao’s pretty face remained unchanged as she gazed at the black mists and said, “Looks like my guess is not wrong.”
“What do you mean?” Zhou Yuan and Luluo looked towards her.
Yaoyao smiled faintly. “There was definitely something wrong with the patterns on the tower from earlier. Now that we’ve entered, I’m even more certain…”
“I’m afraid that this tower is not a Spirit Refining Tower.”
“But.. a Spirit Devouring Tower.”
“No wonder the Gu clan members have strong Spirits that seem rather hollow and unconcentrated… it turns out that they have been relying on this Spirit Devouring Tower to cultivate.”
...
In the depths of the black tower.
Gu Lang stood in front of a mirror, watching the various happenings inside the tower that floated within.
There was also a black crystal ball in front of the mirror. The crystal ball was connected to the ground, black Qi churning inside it as Spirit energy continuously poured into it from all directions.
Behind Gu Lang were three stone platforms where three figures were seated, powerful Spirit ripples pulsing from between their brows.
Gu Lang grinned as he watched the scenes inside the mirror, when he suddenly recalled a certain beauty. He immediately tapped the mirror, causing it to glow as a certain image began to surface.
When the image appeared, however, the smile on Gu Lang’s face suddenly turned rigid.
He had just seen the Zhou Yuan trio slowly walking inside the mirror, not absorbing any of the ‘Spirit Refining Mist’!
At this moment, Yaoyao seemed to sense that they were being observed and suddenly lifted her head. The Spirit between her brows vibrated, dispersing the picture on the mirror.
Behind Gu Lang, the Gu clan leader and two elders also felt this disturbance and immediately rose to their feet, faces frosty as they demanded, “What’s going on?!”
One of the elders said in a grave voice, “That girl’s Spirit cultivation is not weaker than our own, why is she inside the tower?!”
Gu Lang’s expression had become pretty ugly. How could he have expected this? Why had the seemingly frail little beauty he invited suddenly turn into a ferocious wolf?
The other elder spoke up at this moment, “What do we do? They have discovered the secret of the Spirit Devouring Tower!”
There was a grim expression in the Gu clan leader’s eyes. Killing intent flashed within them as he regained his cool and said, “Since it’s already come to this… we’ll just have to make sure they die here.”
Chapter 123 Small Fry
Inside the Spirit Devouring Tower, the trio of Zhou Yuan, Yaoyao and Luluo walked within the black mist.
Yaoyao’s footsteps suddenly paused, her red lips parting slightly as she said, “They’ve discovered us and are likely going to deal with us soon.”
Zhou Yuan’s eyes narrowed as the Genesis Qi around him began to churn.
On the other hand, Luluo’s large eyes brightened slightly, unmistakably eager to do battle.
The trio stopped walking. After some silence, they saw the black mist to their front heave as three figures slowly descended, landing some distance away.
The leader of the group had a shrunken aged face. It was the Gu clan leader, Gu Qiu.
Gu Qiu’s deep-set eyes were akin to a malicious spirit as he stared at Yaoyao and slowly remarked, “I did not expect that someone would actually be capable of discovering the secret of my Gu clan’s Spirit Devouring Tower.”
Yaoyao nonchalantly asked, “Aren’t you afraid that news of you using such a method to strengthen the Spirit will spread?”
Gu Qiu’s eyelids raised as his raspy voice sounded, “My Gu clan has already warned everyone that there will be risks before entering. Who else is there to blame but yourselves for choosing to enter? Moreover, my Gu clan is not unreasonable. We only take the Spirits of a few individuals each year while the majority are even allowed to benefit from the Spirit Refining Mist.”
Luluo made a funny face at him as she interjected, “How shameless!”
Yaoyao said, “The benefit you speak of is only temporary. Your Spirit Refining Mist secretly contains an insidious poison that damages the Spirits of those who absorb, making it difficult for any further progress.”
Gu Qiu chuckled. “Any mishap that happens in the future is already out of our hands.”
Zhou Yuan looked at the trio and slowly said, “It seems that you plan on making sure we never leave this place.”
If not, the other party would not have said so much.
Gu Qiu smiled and nodded. “It is far too normal for a few individuals to die in here.”
He sighed before he continued, “If you must blame someone, blame yourselves for being too smart.”
Luluo snorted. “Big words. I’m afraid that a lousy place like this will not be able to contain anyone.”
Beside Gu Qiu, one of the elders laughed sinisterly. “Our Gu clan has set up a Genesis Rune boundary in this Spirit Devouring Tower long ago, allowing us to endlessly replenish our energy. You on the other hand are merely prey that have already been caught in the net!”
The other elder said in a low voice, “No need to waste any more words on them. Let’s kill them and get this over with!”
&nbs
p; Gu Qiu nodded as vigorous Genesis Qi exploded from his body, while his Spirit flickered brightly between his brows. He was evidently strong in both Genesis Qi and Spirit cultivation.
The other two elders also brought out their Genesis Qi as three astonishing auras immediately swept across the place.
As Yaoyao watched this scene, she suddenly turned towards Zhou Yuan and said, “We will stay here to deal with them. You go deeper into the tower and find its core, which should also be the center of the Genesis Rune boundary. Destroy the core and the Spirit Devouring Tower will lose its power.”
“These are three are the Gu clan’s only Alpha-Origin experts, so it is likely that such an important location will be personally guarded by Gu Lang. That guy has the strength of the mid Heaven Gate stage…” Luluo suddenly interjected from the side, her large clear eyes sweeping towards Zhou Yuan. Although she had not completed her sentence, the implied meaning was very clear. The advance Qi Nourishing stage Zhou Yuan did not seem to be his opponent’s match.
However, Zhou Yuan did not mind her gaze. He merely smiled at Yaoyao and said, “You guys be careful.”
Without any hesitation, his body dashed towards the depths of the tower.
The Gu Qiu trio were originally about to stop him, but stopped themselves when they realised his cultivation level. A mere Qi Nourishing stage small fry was not worth their attention.
Yaoyao gently threw out Tuntun as the latter’s tiny body began to grow. With a final surge of scarlet light, it transformed into a giant ferocious beast.
Scarlet light orbited around it, its four legs seemingly doused in flames, while black light hovered inside its huge mouth.
Mysterious and powerful.
An astonishing and intimidating pressure slowly spread from Tuntun.
The Gu Qiu trio’s expression involuntarily changed when they felt the beast’s aura, obviously surprised that seemingly pet like little creature from before possessed such power.
“Big sis Yaoyao, Tuntun is truly amazing!” By the side, Luluo’s large eyes were practically glowing as she stared at Tuntun. Her drooling with desire appearance caused even the battle mode Tuntun to shiver slightly.
Dragon Prince Yuan c1-1251 Page 73
