Most people were entering the tower for the first time, like Li Hongjiu, who was glancing around curious yet cautious.

The interior of the tower was pitch black; not even a glimmer of light, let alone the shadow of any Divine Fire, could be seen.

The flickering glow of Sandal Gold Flame Energy in their hands reflected off the metallic walls, casting patterns that appeared as if a demon's desires were flowing, evoking a sinister sensation that they'd been swallowed into the throat of a monstrous creature, which could devour them at any moment.

Shi Chun attempted to activate his superpower in his right eye once again, hoping to discern something different. However, the result was the same—a glaring burst of light nearly blinding him, swirling with brilliant, multi-colored radiance, while the ominous power of the Divine Fire surged strangely all around.

The intense brilliance of the surroundings interfered with his ability to utilize the superpower in his right eye, even disrupting the normal vision in his left eye.

Fortunately, the superpower, nourished and activated by his own blood energy, could be restrained by that same blood energy. With a simple blink of his eyelid, he blocked the vision of his right eye.

He proceeded forward like a one-eyed dragon, navigating effortlessly downwards, and the group followed him, unwilling to stray off alone to explore other directions.

Descending floor by floor, they still did not encounter any trace of light or shadows. When they reached the lowest level, it was completely empty.

Zhener darted out through the large gate at the bottom floor in a swift movement. She barely disturbed the water membrane, causing only slight ripples before vanishing. However, when Shi Chun and the others followed her out, they left behind waves instead.

Those who entered the icy waters began swimming rapidly around the colossal tower submerged beneath layers of dust and filth, inspecting it as they spiraled upward.

The familiar interplay of light and shadows on the windows of the tower was gone, leaving behind a sense of eerie silence and darkness that even Zhener was stunned by. It was her first time seeing the Earth Heart Tower in such a fully-devoured state of blackness.

Shi Chun opened his right eye and scanned all around the dark lake waters...

Boom! On the ice above, Wu Jinliang and Tong Mingshan turned their heads when they heard the sound and saw the ice surface violently explode. Shi Chun and the others, holding Sandal Gold Flame Energy for illumination, landed on floating ice, casting glances all around. Under Shi Chun's command, some dived back into the water to search in multiple directions.

Shi Chun himself took a few others and flew onto the island, heading again toward the entrance to a cave.

Before they entered, Wu Jinliang asked, "What's the situation?"

Shi Chun replied simply, "It's indeed gone."

Li Hongjiu followed Shi Chun closely as if glued to him, running wherever Shi Chun did, looking like someone who had never seen the world. It was unclear what kind of obsession he had. However, his heavily injured body struggled to keep up. Upon entering the cave again, he propped himself up against the wall with one hand, holding an Ice Sheep to his mouth and nose with the other to catch his breath, before continuing to follow along.

Wu Jinliang also wanted to go in and see for himself what on earth was happening, but he knew he had to resist his curiosity. With the situation so uncertain, someone had to stay outside to provide support. If the seemingly normal tower suddenly sealed itself shut, transforming into a trap, that would spell disaster.

Having someone outside would at least provide another possible rescue option, a basic contingency plan honed through years of practice.

Both the people inside and outside the tower searched thoroughly but found nothing. They eventually converged back on the bottom floor, their gaze falling on the door outline behind the stone pedestal where the old master sat meditating, suspecting something might be hidden behind the door.

Li Hongjiu's curiosity seemed far from ordinary. He was already poking at the door cracks—sniffing, feeling, and even pressing his eye against them—only short of licking them.

Noticing his dog-like behavior as he fidgeted with the cracks, Shi Chun assumed he might have found something and hurried over from the group, asking, "What did you discover?"

Li Hongjiu moved away from the door and replied, "This door seems fake. The cracks behind it feel solid. You can't push it open or pull it apart, and the entire tower contains immense power that prevents even techniques from probing what's behind the door."

Shi Chun had come specifically for what was behind the door. Thinking it over, he turned and asked Zhener, "Did the elder ever mention how to open this door?"

This was just how he phrased his question. He couldn't directly ask Zhener in front of everyone if she knew how to open it; otherwise, others might wonder how Zhener came to such knowledge.

Zhener seemed a bit nervous and excited, wringing her fingers as she approached. Pointing at the door, she said, "The door is fake. You can't push it open. The cylindrical wall on the outside is a large, rotating mechanism. The door is not opened; it's turned."

Immediately, everyone directed their gaze toward the door outline, crowding around the frame for a closer look. Indeed, her revelation made sense. Without the hint, they wouldn't have thought of this possibility. Without understanding its mechanism, with the materials composing the tower, they could have struggled in vain eternity without opening it.

Shi Chun gestured subtly toward Chu Jingtang and the Mingshan Sect group. Chu Jingtang promptly gathered a team, pressed their hands against the wall, counted to three, and prepared to exert collective force on the large rotating structure to test it, considering its massive size.

Zhener added, "Without finding the right mechanism, this rotating wall cannot be forcibly moved..."

Her voice caught in her throat as the words hung unfinished. The wall was already shifting, emitting a low, rumbling hum. It seemed her claim of "impossible to move" had been disproved as Chu Jingtang and his team easily pushed the massive circle-wall.

Everyone disregarded her comment and followed the moving door frame, adjusting their steps as they advanced. The light from Sandal Gold Flame Energy shone on the metal wall patterns, which now appeared even more vivid and sinister.

After advancing about ten zhang, a pitch-black opening gradually appeared, growing larger as the frame shifted, until a colossal entryway matching the size of the door frame emerged.

They thought it to be an entrance, but under closer inspection with their lights, they found it was a dead end. Instead of an entryway, it was an empty small room—entirely clean and eerily bizarre under the light's touch.

Shi Chun intended to inspect further but paused when Zhener said, "There are eight doors, but only one can be entered. The positioning isn't fixed and changes every half two-hour cycle. You'll need to keep pushing."

With her clarification, Shi Chun deemed further inspection unnecessary and motioned, "Keep pushing."

The group again worked together, advancing another ten zhang. Sure enough, another pitch-black opening emerged.

As the light illuminated the interior, it appeared to be another dead end.

Just as the group assumed this was another empty space like the last one, someone suddenly darted out of the opening from behind the rotating wall as it fully emerged, startling everyone.

It was an elderly man with horns atop his head, his hair and beard streaked with yellow and white, dressed in a moon-colored robe.

The group flinched, hurriedly assuming a defensive posture. None recognized him except Shi Chun and Zhener, who instantly realized it could only be one person—none other than the elder himself!

Though shaken, Shi Chun and Zhener noticed something unusual. The elder no longer carried an aura of calm majesty; instead, he looked visibly panicked and flustered.

Shi Chun's right-eye superpower picked up additional anomalies. The elder's physical aura had faded significantly, becoming faint and less substantial compared to its previous intensity.

Worse, the elder suddenly transformed into a burst of Green Flame Divine Fire that shot upward without warning.

Shi Chun's eyes flashed as he shouted, "Stop him!"

An Wuzhi and Zhu Xiangxin—the two who had cultivated Fire Attribute Skills—hesitated out of fear, while Shi Chun leapt into the air, launching Bath Demon Skill and pushing forward with Green Wave Energy to block the elder's escape.

Seeing Shi Chun easily intercept the elder, Zhu Xiangxin and An Wuzhi felt reassured and joined in. With their cultivation having reached Great Success, a few combined strikes shattered the Divine Fire's ominous power, successfully apprehending the burst of Green Flame.

Zhener looked on in shock, unable to believe how easily the elder had been subdued.

"Elder, where are the other Divine Fires?" Shi Chun began interrogating the Green Flame.

The interrogation revealed nothing, leaving them exasperated. Finally, prompted by Li Hongjiu, they realized the Green Flame had grown so weak it could no longer take human form or speak, rendering any questioning pointless.

What now?

What could be done?

Shi Chun waved to signal the group to continue pushing the massive rotating mechanism.

Soon, another pitch-black opening emerged behind the door frame, putting the team back on high alert.

This time, it didn't hide anyone. It was empty—a dead end.

They progressed through two more similar openings until, suddenly, a bright light shot through the door frame's gap, causing everyone to halt in surprise.

Zhener exclaimed excitedly, "It's the entrance! It's the entrance!"

Upon hearing this, Li Hongjiu turned to look at her with an expression of suspicion, clearly wondering how she could be so certain they had found the entrance.

Since Zhener had spoken with such confidence, Shi Chun naturally signaled the group, "Push it open."

The rotating wall hummed forward once more, intensifying the light's brilliance. When the opening aligned completely with the gap, the team found themselves standing before the luminous entrance.

In a flash, Zhener was the first to dart inside.

Shi Chun was just about to follow, only to find Li Hongjiu hurrying ahead of him.

Shi Chun wondered if this man was insane—venturing forward recklessly despite the unknown risks.

The others who entered afterward were far more cautious, probing carefully a path along the several zhang-long passage before eventually stepping into a grand space of extraordinary splendor.

The room felt vast yet simple, empty yet brimming with radiance as the walls shimmered perpetually with colorful treasure-like glows, immersing them in an environment akin to vibrant clouds.

At the center of the hall stood a three-tiered altar. Zhener had ascended to the second tier, staring fixedly at the third tier, seemingly lost in thought. Meanwhile, Li Hongjiu had already climbed to the top, circling its perimeter as he examined some unknown object.

Seeing this, Shi Chun leaped forward to join Zhener at her side. Only then did he see what rested atop the altar—a shriveled corpse sitting cross-legged, covered in red blotches, its face and body shrunken into skeletal outlines, devoid of any flesh.

Unlike an ordinary human body, the corpse had horns growing from its head.

"This dried-up corpse bears some resemblance to the form he took earlier," Zhu Xiangxin remarked, gesturing at the trapped Green Flame he held in his grasp.

Shi Chun understood the similarity. Zhener had told him that the nine elders' forms had been modeled after reference bodies—the remnants of which all remained within the tower. Zhener herself had referenced a woman named 'Su' for her transformation.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.