Supreme of the Heavenly Realm
Chapter 371 - 368 Xuanzun Tower

Chapter 371: Chapter 368 Xuanzun Tower

After a dizzying teleportation, what appeared before Ye Xuan was an ancient bluestone tower that seemed to reach into the sky, a staggering twenty stories high.

Ye Xuan and his four companions stepped out from the location of the transmission array. They couldn’t help but be amazed at the sight of the tower before them, their gazes drawn upward toward the spire.

Xuanzun Tower, these three characters were strikingly engraved above the grand entrance to the tower.

"This ancient cave mansion is immeasurable, with each layer connected to the next, even utilizing a transmission array for connection. It seems its owner must have been a person of substantial background, no ordinary Demon Venerable."

His gaze fixed on the characters "Xuanzun Tower," Zi Yuqing’s pretty face revealed a trace of astonishment, and she said,

"It appears that the grand hall we went through earlier must have been just the outermost part of this cave mansion. The real treasures may actually be within this tower."

A Black Market elder also brightened, rubbing his hands together as he spoke.

"The aura emitting from this tall tower is somewhat ominous. There might be sizable risks hidden inside. We should tread cautiously once we enter."

Ye Xuan slightly frowned. Before even entering the bluestone tower, he had sensed an extremely ominous breath—chilling, dull, and quite sticky.

However, being just outside the tower, Ye Xuan could only feel traces of it, thanks to his acute soul power.

"Alright, everyone stay alert and be careful."

Knowing that Ye Xuan didn’t make groundless claims and acknowledging his proven strength, his conjectures could not be baseless. Zi Yuqing too could faintly perceive a hint of danger from the tower, subtle and hard to detect, but palpable nonetheless.

With that, she took the lead in stepping in, followed closely by Ye Xuan, while the other three nodded and followed suit.

As for Ao Wuchang, having been defeated by Ye Xuan, he had quieted down a lot, leaving others unaware of his current thoughts.

The grand entrance of Xuanzun Tower was open. As the group entered, the first ten levels were completely empty, but starting from the eleventh level, activity became noticeable.

"The evil energy here is strong. Slow down."

Leading the way, Zi Yuqing sensed the presence lurking in the shadows, an undulation that occasionally sent shivers down one’s spine.

Swoosh, swoosh...

Right as her voice fell, a sudden commotion erupted from the dark regions, and in the next moment, a dense black storm swept over, filling everyone’s field of vision.

Within that oppressive dark storm were countless black bats, their fur thick, fangs sharp, and eyes blood-red, furiously swarming toward the group of five.

"These are blood-sucking bats!"

A Black Market elder exclaimed, his face paling as he immediately activated his demonic power to form a protective barrier around his body.

*Splat, splat, splat!*

The swarm of blood-sucking bats collided with the protective shields of the five, bouncing off one after another. However, their numbers were vast, and the continuous assaults put considerable strain on maintaining the demonic power barriers, causing significant energy drain.

Although the blood-sucking bats were troublesome, none amongst the five were ordinary. As long as the barriers held, there would be no threat. Regarding energy depletion, they had brought plenty of pills when entering the Ancient Cave Mansion, so there was no need for worry.

Crack!

Suddenly, Ye Xuan drew his Spiritual Edge Sword and swung out a curved sword qi, which blazed with intense flames. Wherever the sword qi passed, the blood-sucking bats were sliced in two and burned up, quickly reducing to ashes.

The group safely passed through the eleventh to the fifteenth levels, which were infested with blood-sucking bats, effectively becoming a nest for them.

"Damn it, there’s nothing here, and we needlessly climbed so many layers!"

A Black Market elder cursed out loud. The first ten levels were tolerable, but from the eleventh upward, everywhere was filled with blood-sucking bats, a constant annoyance. Although not fatal, the drain on their resources was substantial, and after all their efforts, they hadn’t found anything, not even something worthless.

If they hadn’t already climbed to the fifteenth level, they might have considered leaving. It was likely that someone had already come through Xuanzun Tower, sweeping the earlier floors clean, not even leaving a trace.

"Don’t lose heart, everyone. The best treasures are often at the end. The higher tower levels will definitely become more perilous, unreachable by common folks. Perhaps, there might be treasures above that could captivate us."

Zi Yuqing saw the demoralization of the three Black Market members and spoke encouragingly, though even she was unsure if there were still treasures to be found in Xuanzun Tower.

Her words somewhat calmed the restless group. Zi Yuqing’s point made sense, and since they had come this far, they wouldn’t be content without reaching the topmost level.

The group arrived at the sixteenth level, which was extremely spacious and devoid of blood-sucking bats, eerily silent to an unsettling degree.

The situation persisted until the group reached the end of the tower floor.

At the end of the floor, the view was filled with walls. The walls featured murals depicting fierce and evil figures, including humans and Demon Beasts. Although the designs varied, the aura they emitted was nearly the same—each subtly imbued with a sinister energy.

"Why is there no exit on the sixteenth floor?"

Ye Xuan searched the surroundings in surprise. What surprised him even more was that there was no exit leading to the next level; everything was sealed off tightly. He clearly hadn’t seen it wrong—the Xuanzun Tower had a total of twenty floors, so how could they have reached the end at just the sixteenth?

Boom!

While Ye Xuan was bewildered, a nearby stone wall suddenly trembled. The murals carved on the wall abruptly split open, cracks appearing, and chunks of debris fell sprinkling down.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

From those murals, the figures of fierce and evil beings seemed to come to life, stepping on the ground and charging towards them.

"It’s Mechanical Puppet Skill!"

Zi Yuqing exclaimed shockingly, her beautiful eyes filled with intense astonishment. The so-called Mechanical Puppet Skill was a type of puppetry technique, capable of creating various mechanical puppets. These puppets, possessing considerable combat power, did not actually have spiritual wisdom but contained an internal array that functions according to the creator’s strategic plans and the martial arts sealed within the array.

Of course, these were just basic puppetry techniques. The most sophisticated puppet Ye Xuan had seen had its own intelligence, and one even developed such high Spiritual Wisdom that it killed its creator, dominated the Heavenly Realm, and became a hegemonic ruler, receiving a highly prestigious title—an event inconceivable to mortals.

Thirteen mechanical puppets emerged from the stone wall, completely surrounding the five people and ferociously attacked.

Ye Xuan frowned and dodged before slashing out with his sword, sending the attacking puppet flying.

However, in the moment his sword light sent the puppet flying, a circular hole suddenly appeared on the puppet’s body. From that hole, a beam of green light shot out swiftly, barely missing Ye Xuan’s face and hitting the ground behind him, leaving a deep small hole.

"That was close."

A bead of cold sweat appeared on Ye Xuan’s forehead. He had been slightly careless; if his reaction hadn’t been quick, that green light would have penetrated his head, enough to kill him.

This kind of beam was capable of instantly killing a Seventh Grade Demon King, and without any guard up, Ye Xuan was not much different from a Seventh Grade Demon King—a direct hit to the head would undoubtedly be fatal unless he returned to the realm of Martial Emperor, re-cultivated his Martial Arts Primordial Spirit, and made the Primordial Spirit indestructible, allowing the Martial Emperor to potentially survive.

Back in the Heavenly Realm, Ye Xuan, who was only left with a remnant Martial Arts Primordial Spirit, managed to avoid falling by crossing two realm barriers due to a fortunate coincidence.

However, while Ye Xuan reacted quickly to avoid the lethal green light, others were not so lucky. An Elder from the Black Market was a split second too slow in reacting and was struck by the green light, piercing his head. His body immediately fell to the ground, lifeless.

"Damn it!"

Seeing another Elder dead, Zi Yuqing clenched her teeth. These Elders were important figures in the Black Market, and losing any of them was a loss. Up to now, two had died, the first during a confrontation with the Evil Moon Cave, and this time, a mechanical puppet had killed another.

"Where is the exit? Let’s concentrate our attacks and break through!"

Ye Xuan’s gaze grew more solemn, his eyes suddenly focusing on a spot to the northeast where an exit had just appeared.

"Charge!"

Zi Yuqing clenched her teeth, grasped her precious sword, and rushed out. Her sword thrust forward like a swift blue serpent, cunningly making its way through.

However, under the threat of the green light, they all became much more cautious this time, only attacking from a distance and not daring to get too close to the mechanical puppets.

Whizz!

Clang!

A green beam of light shot towards Ye Xuan but was blocked by his Spiritual Edge Sword, sparking upon impact.

Hiss!

Zi Yuqing was also grazed by the green light, leaving a blood mark on her body.

Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!

The frequency of the green beam attacks increased, forcing Ye Xuan to whirl his Spiritual Edge Sword into a flurry of sword flowers. He rapidly surged forward, clearing a path for himself and blocking all the green light along his trajectory.

Eventually, after suffering two injuries and one fatality, the group finally reached the exit and without hesitation, burst through it.