Chapter 394: The Well of Heaven Opens
There used to be only the dragon and the tiger on the Golden Core.
Now, right next to the Golden Dragon, there was a wild boar laughing its guts out.
That wild boar was clearly Dang Kang.
Compared to the Blood Amber Mountain Lord, it didnât look solemn or respectful at all.
Chen Huaian gazed inwardly at his Golden Core, vaguely seeing a scene from ancient timesâten thousand demons paying homage. Perhaps Dang Kang really had been standing beside the Ancestral Dragon, laughing heartily while pointing at some funny-looking demon among the crowd.
Unfortunately, that kind of scene might have completely disappeared ever since those mysterious beings descended.
Chen Huaian exited the Blood Amber space. Li Qingran had been waiting outside for quite a while. The moment she saw her Master come out, she hurriedly approached.
âMaster, how did the conversation go?â
Li Qingran looked behind Chen Huaian, but saw no trace of the demon. âWhereâs Dang Kang?â
âDang Kang?â Chen Huaian instinctively glanced inward at his dantian, then replied casually, âItâs the owner of this Demon-Sealing Tower. After we discussed the property handover, it went back.â
Ever since he learned of his mission, Chen Huaian knew what lay ahead was nothing but hardship and danger.
Time was running out. The Ascenders would keep attacking the Demon-Sealing Tower, trying to open the Well of Heaven.
And he had to enter the remaining eight towers and meet with the auspicious beasts inside.
Throughout this process, he had to tread carefullyâespecially avoiding the use of the sectâs summoning token to prevent suspicion from the Ascendersâ faction.
Unless absolutely necessary, he couldnât summon Su Qinian and the others again.
Overly powerful forces, like someone at Void Fusion level such as Zhang Mengchu, would be too risky.
If those mysterious beings behind the Ascenders noticed such power and traced it back to him, the Ancestral Dragonâs entire plan would collapse before it even started.
He kept these dangers from Li Qingran as a form of protection.
If the Gray Qi got to her too, wouldnât that mean he had harmed her?
âOh! I see!â Li Qingran didnât doubt him at all. She simply stared at her Master, eyes unblinking, full of curiosity.
âWhy are you looking at me like that?â Chen Huaian asked.
âMaster, youâve changed,â Li Qingran rubbed her chin thoughtfully. âNow you feel like a sword to me.â
âWhen we were in the Cangyun Realm, even your avatar gave me this feeling. But your true body nowâitâs so much stronger⊠no wonder youâre the real deal!â Her eyes lit up as she hugged Chen Huaianâs arm and said with admiration,
âEven with your cultivation suppressed by this worldâs Heavenly Dao, even if youâre only at the Golden Core level, you still show such profound understanding of swordsmanship! Amazing!â
âUhâŠâ Chen Huaian paused for a second.
He was about to tell her heâd had a sudden insight into the sword path, but now he didnât even need to explain.
Having a disciple with a wild imagination was greatâhe didnât need to work hard at all to bluff.
At the same time, he felt even more confident about handling this worldâs reincarnation matters without alerting her.
If one day he could no longer descend into the Cangyun Realm, Li Qingran might come up with a reasonable explanation on her own.
Once Dang Kang completely disappeared into the ninth floor of the Demon-Sealing Tower,
a new door appeared in front of Chen Huaian and Li Qingran.
This door stood right at the mountainâs peak, where the sun rose. Chen Huaian led Li Qingran through it, only to find that it didnât lead outside the tower. Instead, it felt like they had entered the true Demon-Sealing Towerâ
The air was thick with the smell of burnt feathers, and all around them were dense clusters of demons of varying strength.
At the same time, Chen Huaian saw the true Well of Heaven, as well as the Ascenders being attacked by demons all around it.
It was a massive well blasting Spiritual Energy straight into the sky, at least a hundred feet wide.
The spiritual energy it emitted was so concentrated it could rival the blessed lands within sects in the Cangyun Realm.
Floating above the mouth of the well was a massive white jade stele, carved with a white-haired, tiger-striped giant ape. It was thanks to this stele that the spiritual energy was kept within the Demon-Sealing Tower.
Every time the spiritual energy hit the stele, it would liquefy into Spiritual Liquid and flow back into the well.
âThis must be the lower nine floors Dang Kang mentioned. So it wasnât Dang Kang suppressing the well, but the vicious beast Zhuyan from the lower levelsâŠâ Chen Huaian pursed his lips as he stared at the white jade stele.
Before entering the tower, heâd assumed the Demon-Sealing Tower had clear level divisions.
Like passing through checkpointsâeach floor guarded by a leader-level demon, with each higher level being stronger and more populated. But now he realized that the tower, under Dang Kangâs control, had merged into one chaotic spatial mess.
That also explained why Wang Shouyiâs two waves of twenty Ascenders had such drastically different outcomes.
Whether someone ended up in a safe zone or a danger zone was purely randomâunless Dang Kang intervened directly.
Maybe the first group didnât land in danger right away.
The second group wasnât so luckyâprobably dropped straight into a demon nest and got torn to shreds.
âMaster, Zhao Ying and the others are in danger. We have to go!â
Li Qingran spotted Zhao Ying and Xiang Xiaoyuan among the surrounded Ascenders. She hurriedly dragged Chen Huaian toward the Well of Heaven.
Wherever they passed, demons dodged out of the way. Those that didnât move fast enough were cut down by Li Qingranâs sword.
The Ascenders were the enemy, the demons half-allies. Chen Huaian originally had no intention of helping the Ascendersâ
But he couldnât just abandon his own people.
Yet the moment he and Li Qingran arrived and stood before the demonsâ
All the demons stopped attacking.
Silence fell over the entire area surrounding the Well of Heaven.
The demons retreated like a tide to the outer perimeter, finally stopping dozens of meters away.
They stared over with complex expressions that stirred mixed feelings in Chen Huaianâs heart.
âThe demons⊠stopped? Whatâs going on?â
âWho cares! This is our chance!â
Gasping for breath under heavy pressure, the Ascenders launched a counterattack.
But no matter what spells or weapons they used, the demons didnât move. They just stood there, taking the hits.
Their eyes held hope, resolve, and a faint numbness.
When Dang Kang sacrificed its soul essence, the demons already knew who the Dragon Soulâs chosen one was.
How could they possibly hurt the Dragon Soulâs chosen one?
But if they didnât attack him and only fought the Ascenders, that would expose his identity.
And at this moment, Chen Huaian himself couldnât make a move to protect them.
If they stood still, they would only be slaughtered by the Ascenders.
By people like Zhao Ying and even his own disciple, Li Qingran.
The Dragon Soulâs chosen one must remain hidden.
Chen Huaian and the demons all understood that.
So even if every last demon died here, they had to guard this secret to the end.
Li Qingran had originally planned to work with the Ascenders to wear down the demonsâ strength. But seeing her Master unmoved, she also put away her sword, standing by his side and holding his handâ
Going with the vibe: Master doesnât move, I donât moveâunless he tells her to.
Fortunately, this agonizing moment didnât last long.
Boomâ!
A thunderous roar exploded from the Well of Heaven.
The sound startled the demons and forced the Ascenders to halt.
Everyone turned to look at the well.
They saw the stele suppressing the wellâZhuyanâs steleâshatter into pieces and crash into the well.
The spiritual energy that had long been suppressed surged skyward for the first time, piercing the top of the Demon-Sealing Tower and shooting a beam of light straight into the sky.
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