Though the Crimson Mirror presented grave dangers, each tribulation fiercer than the last, the rewards reaped upon overcoming them were substantial. The greatest of these rewards consistently related to one’s divine soul.

This was a treasure coveted even by Hai Zongming, a Elder of the Tide Listening Pavilion. Although it was unknown how Hu Shaomeng had acquired it, its potential was undoubtedly far from being fully tapped.

What could a powerhouse at the peak of the Outer Building Realm obtain from the Crimson Mirror?

What tribulation awaited after the Tide-Turning Calamity?

Jiang Wang pondered, ultimately refraining from further trials.

He was now brimming with curiosity towards the Crimson Mirror, but the difficulty of the two recent calamities within it had increased drastically. The growth he had achieved recently was barely sufficient for a single attempt.

He felt a certain itch to explore, but only the living had the privilege of such urges.

Within the Towering Palace, the Star River Dao vortex revolved serenely, the Constricting Serpent of Stars slithering slowly. In the corner, the Nether Candle remained utterly still, without the slightest reaction.

Jiang Yan was behaving with utmost “docility.”

Could his current divine soul power suppress Jiang Yan?

Such a thought flickered through his mind, only to be quickly dismissed.

Not yet. His grasp was not firm enough. The Towering Palace was too dangerous a battlefield, easily affecting one’s lifelong path. Jiang Yan was mysterious enough, with broader knowledge and more exquisite control over the divine soul. Jiang Wang couldn’t afford to be careless. To thoroughly eliminate this hidden danger, he would have to wait until his soul techniques were more refined.

Jiang Wang stowed away the Crimson Mirror, soared into the air, and landed beside Xiang Qian, who was “sleeping.” Without a word, he simply stared at him.

After a while, Xiang Qian opened his eyes. “Could you not look at me like that?”

“It’s nothing. You go back to sleep. A minor nuisance. I can handle it myself,” Jiang Wang answered evasively.

Xiang Qian: …

Did I even ask if there was anything wrong?

“You looking at me like that is creepy!” Xiang Qian said, his voice somewhat aggrieved.

“It won’t be creepy if you’re asleep,” Jiang Wang replied flatly.

If he could still fall asleep under such scrutiny, it would be a miracle.

“Alright, alright,” Xiang Qian said, sitting up. “What is it that you want?”

“Someone is hunting me.”

Without a word, Xiang Qian flopped back down. “Let me sleep a little longer before I die.”

Jiang Wang’s forehead throbbed. “If we join forces, we have a chance.”

“Don’t joke around,” Xiang Qian said weakly, waving his hand. “If that person dares to hunt you, they’re definitely stronger than you. That’s unquestionable, right? If even you, the renowned Divine Power cultivator of Qi, are being hunted, it means the person’s faction is also extremely powerful, with deep roots… What can I, a nobody in the Soaring Dragon Realm, do in such a confrontation?”

Jiang Wang encouraged him, “Even a stone can hurt if it hits someone.”

Xiang Qian stubbornly wallowed in self-pity. “I’m not even a stone. I’m a lump of mud.”

Jiang Wang insisted, “Then at least you can dirty someone’s clothes.”

“Forget it,” Xiang Qian sighed. “Life is already terrible enough. Don’t make things worse for others.”

Jiang Wang was too lazy to listen to his pessimistic ramblings and got straight to the point. “If they’ve already set out, they’ll likely catch up to us in the next few days.”

Xiang Qian didn’t even ask who it was. He simply scratched his messy hair and said listlessly, “That’s troublesome. Can’t we run?”

“I don’t want to run,” Jiang Wang replied.

Xiang Qian became slightly more serious, thinking for a moment. “That powerful figure in Green Goat Town, the one who hid their tracks, can’t you ask for their help?”

“Hiring them costs money,” Jiang Wang said. “A lot of money.”

Xiang Qian: …

He wanted to say nothing.

“Don’t worry. I’m still waiting for intelligence,” Jiang Wang reassured him. “If the opponent is manageable, we’ll fight. If not, I definitely won’t throw my life away.”

Xiang Qian resigned himself, but still struggled, “When you’re considering the strength of the opponent, remember that I’m just a mere Soaring Dragon Realm cultivator…”

“Deal!” Jiang Wang clapped him on the shoulder, saying meaningfully, “I’ll remember very clearly!”

He would not only remember that he was a Soaring Dragon Realm cultivator, but also that he cultivated the Self-Existent Sword Dao, one of the three ultimate sword arts of the Flying Sword Era. That was a sword art that had overshadowed an entire era. How could it be limited to what Xiang Qian had shown?

Of course, he wouldn’t rely on Xiang Qian’s potential strength as a final trump card. His earnest invitation to Xiang Qian was for other reasons.

Having “persuaded” Xiang Qian, Jiang Wang turned to securing his own escape route.

“Jiang Yan, Jiang Yan, Jiang Yan!”

The Nether Candle flickered impatiently, and Jiang Yan’s voice finally emerged slowly.

“What is it? Be quick.”

His tone was helpless, even more so than Xiang Qian’s.

Jiang Wang guarded against him as if he were a raging flood, yet he always “used” him without any ceremony.

Unfortunately, he was living under someone else’s roof, unable to refuse.

“A peak Outer Building Realm cultivator is hunting me. I might have to fight them to the death. I’m not confident of victory and need your help. Help me attack their divine soul. We’ll strike from both sides. Otherwise… we’ll have to die together.”

“Why are you fighting a peak Outer Building Realm cultivator? That’s reckless!” Jiang Yan rebuked.

Jiang Wang didn’t bother to reason with him or analyze the reasons. He simply said, “I’ve already decided.”

As the “landlord,” he had the right to be willful.

Jiang Yan was silent for a moment. “I will only act when you are on the verge of death. As for when that moment is, I will make my own judgment. I may well misjudge the situation, but I will stick to my own assessment. So you’d better not rely on me as some important hope.”

He knew that after the recent exploration, Jiang Wang’s divine soul had become stronger. He just didn’t know exactly how much stronger yet and needed time to analyze it.

But in any case, he was certainly not willing to let Jiang Wang decide when he should act. Otherwise, there was a good chance that as soon as he left with the Nether Candle, Jiang Wang would close the Towering Palace, refusing to accommodate him any longer.

Jiang Wang’s scheme was a conspiracy laid bare. He was counting on the fact that Jiang Yan would die if he died, forcing Jiang Yan to act in the face of danger.

And Jiang Yan couldn’t refuse, but immediately reacted precisely, turning the choice back to Jiang Wang. He certainly didn’t want to perish, but neither did Jiang Wang want to die.

In fact, both sides held the same handle.

Jiang Wang didn’t expect to be able to crush Jiang Yan in terms of intelligence. He was just trying his luck, like Jiang Yan’s habit of jumping out to offer help, whether needed or not.

Jiang Yan was not his only backup. After dawn, he would go to the nearest large city, find the outer organization of the Gate to Hell, and try to contact Yin Guan.

If Hai Zongming had advanced to the Outer Building Realm with the Divine Power, he was prepared to spend everything he had, without any arrogance.

In response to this sudden danger, Jiang Wang had basically made all the preparations he could. Next, it was just waiting for Chong Xuan Sheng’s intelligence.

Do everything possible and leave the rest to fate.

Leaving the Towering Palace, he looked up at the starry sky. Tonight was long.

What made it feel particularly long was not just the passage of time.

“Who sent you?”

The voice was calm and clear, but for some reason, it carried a dark, haunting sense of dread, as if from hell, chilling the hearts of those who heard it.

The cultivator, bound by his limbs to a wooden stake, remained silent.

The cultivation technique he practiced was unremarkable. His face had no distinguishing features. His clothes, everything about him, was ordinary. Likewise, he would say nothing.

No one could glean any clues from him.

But the man standing before him, whose face was only of average appearance, but possessed a unique charm due to some divine quality, clearly did not accept this.

“Then I’ll ask again,” the man said. “Who sent you to find Zhang Linchuan?”

It was rare for Zhang Linchuan to repeat his questions.

As his control over the White Bone Saint Body deepened, his aura became increasingly mysterious, and increasingly aloof.

The ordinary-looking cultivator still did not speak. He didn’t even offer a mocking look.

He would not allow himself to reveal any clues in any way.

He had undergone extremely rigorous training and should never have been captured alive. But the man before him was simply too strong. So strong that he didn’t have the slightest chance to resist. He didn’t even have the opportunity to commit suicide before being subdued. He didn’t even know how he had been subdued.

But stubborn silence itself was a clue.

“Well-trained, from a prominent family,” Zhang Linchuan nodded, offering his judgment, then turned to the old man behind him, who had his eyes tightly closed. “Elder Lu, can we interrogate his divine soul?”

Lu Yan, with his Heavenly Nether Eyes, shook his head. “His divine soul has an inherent defect, which is likely not natural, but a subtle technique. Once an outsider attempts to probe it, it will immediately collapse.”

“It seems like a formidable force indeed,” Zhang Linchuan frowned, lost in thought. “I’ve dealt with the people of Zhuang, both openly and secretly. This person is not one of them. And now that the White Bone Dao is gone, who else besides Zhuang would be so interested in me?”

Lu Yan remained silent.

“Wang Changji?”

Zhang Linchuan asked himself and answered, “Such subordinates cannot be trained in such a short period of time.”

“Miao Yu?”

He shook his head again. “She’s avoiding me as much as possible. How could she dare to provoke me?”

“This is truly strange. Who else could it be?” Zhang Linchuan turned back, staring at the ordinary-looking cultivator. “You’ve really piqued my curiosity. That’s not a good thing for you, you understand?”

It didn’t sound like a threat, because his tone was calm.

The ordinary-looking cultivator still did not speak. If he had the chance to kill himself, he would have done so long ago.

And Zhang Linchuan indeed had no intention of threatening him. He simply reached out and pressed the cultivator’s entire head into his body. The scene was tragic, and he was dead beyond any doubt.

Was he free?

That was the dying thought of this dead man.

Then, in the endless darkness, he soon saw light.

At first, he thought it was the family’s Yin God coming to receive him. But on second thought, the family’s Yin God would not receive dead men, because the appearance of the family’s Yin God was itself a form of exposure.

And that light was a pale, white light…

He heard a voice say,

“Welcome to the World of Unbirth.”