Chapter 10

An Wuxue stood silently in place for a long while. He held the bag of spirit stones without moving. Snowflakes from the Frost Sea drifted softly down, piling little by little in his hands, almost burying the spirit pouch containing the stones.

In recent days, during his spare time, he had been draining the spiritual energy within his body to reconstruct the foundational bones of Su Xue’s body. His spiritual power was now weaker than before, and even the slightest cold was felt keenly.

In the end, he put the spirit stones away.

The disciple had followed Shangguan Liao and left; at this moment, no one was around.

An Wuxue walked over to the tall pine tree from which the soul bell hung.

Since Xie Zhefeng had attained the Dao, he had stayed in the Frost Sea. This place was unsuitable for An Wuxue’s cultivation; the cave dwelling assigned to him by Nan He was far away at the edge of the horizon. He had once asked Xie Zhefeng for a pass talisman that would allow him to enter freely and wait inside.

But Xie Zhefeng had not responded and only hung this soul bell in front of the cave.

So for decades afterward, he was no different from any other visitor to the Frost Sea, only able to knock on the soul bell at the entrance and wait for the host to come out and receive guests.

Fortunately, because of this, he remembered every detail of this soul bell very clearly.

An Wuxue took out a prepared soul bell from his spirit pouch.

He compared it carefully with the one hanging on the pine, letting spiritual energy flow through his palm as he rubbed the imitation soul bell, adding identical wear marks.

He reached forward, then scanned the surroundings with his divine sense again.

No one was there.

The soul bell would not ring unless touched by divine sense.

Since Xie Zhefeng was still in Luoyue, if the bell sounded, all would be lost.

He carefully wrapped the genuine soul bell in spiritual energy to prevent accidentally striking it, then quickly swapped the real one for the fake.

Silence prevailed.

Nothing happened.

With the soul bell, he could borrow Xie Zhefeng’s aura to temporarily alter the mountain-sealing array and quietly leave Luoyue Peak.

But the disciple had just said the Frost Sea had also issued a ban...

He concealed the replaced soul bell back in his spirit pouch and continued walking outward.

Near the edge, a disciple suddenly appeared before him, blocking his path and saying, “Young Master Su, entry requires the Immortal Lord’s decree.”

As expected, someone was guarding.

He responded calmly, “I was just taking a stroll, didn’t expect to come this far. Thank you for the reminder.”

Would the guard be more relaxed after nightfall?

He pondered and started walking back, but not long after, a familiar figure approached quickly.

Yun Zhou saw him and hurried over. “Why did you wander so far on your stroll?”

An Wuxue replied unhurriedly, “Unfamiliar with the terrain, I just walked randomly and somehow ended up here. Luckily, I ran into you, or I wouldn’t have found my way back. Why are you out as well?”

Yun Zhou raised an eyebrow. “I came looking for you since you’ve been out so long. You really are someone from the mortal world—ignorant and fearless. This is the heartland of Luoyue, the Immortal Lord’s cave dwelling. If you misstep, aren’t you afraid of offending some taboo and ending up with no burial place?”

Once Yun Zhou started talking, he couldn’t stop. “Besides, if you really did something wrong, it’s one thing to be punished outright. But what if it’s a living sentence? Have you heard of the Canggu Tower on Luoyue Peak?”

An Wuxue’s eyes shifted.

He softly said, “...I’ve heard of it.”

Yun Zhou seemed oblivious to his subtle change in expression and continued, “It’s a place used to punish the most vicious demonic cultivators and disciples who violate the thirteen anti-demon rules. It’s said to be modeled after the ancient trees of the extreme north. Once inside, it’s like falling into an ice cave. The Frost Sea’s flying snow can’t compare even to the first level of the tower, and the top is like an ice spike piercing to the bone.

“If a demonic cultivator enters, the foul energy is completely sealed inside, unable to die or live, suffering and wailing until their soul is worn away. If it’s a disciple who broke the rules...”

He scratched his head. “I don’t know about that; I’ve never heard.”

An Wuxue patiently explained, “Disciples who break the rules have their spiritual power sealed before entering. They swallow protective elixirs to preserve their lives. Inside the tower, they freeze but do not die, are cold but not extinguished, until the punishment period ends.”

“Isn’t that as painful as for the demonic cultivators?”

An Wuxue shook his head.

He wanted to say more but swallowed the words.

After a moment, he said, “It’s not comparable. Demonic cultivators never come out once inside, but the punished disciples do,” his voice lowering, “They only stay from a quarter of an hour to an hour as punishment, without life-threatening harm. Except for one exception.”

“Hmm?”

“You just mentioned it—the disciples who violate the thirteen anti-demon rules. The last ten are still debatable, but only those who break the first three—corrupting themselves with demons, aiding demons, or harming fellow cultivators—are sent to the perilous top level of the Canggu Tower for sentencing.”

Yun Zhou shuddered. “How do you know all this so well? Sounds like you’ve been inside. My goodness, it’s terrifying enough to utterly exterminate demonic cultivators, but to be this harsh on normal cultivators too?”

The two of them were walking quickly back to their residence.

With Yun Zhou’s aid in boosting their spiritual energy, they moved swiftly and soon arrived.

From afar, An Wuxue saw under the tall pine in front of the courtyard Yun Yao seemingly standing still, sword in hand, appearing lost in thought.

He didn’t answer Yun Zhou but said, “If you find it scary, don’t wander around carelessly. If you accidentally break a rule, the Canggu Tower’s punishment is truly unbearable. Your senior brother is waiting for you.”

Yun Zhou followed his gaze and immediately walked toward Yun Yao.

But just as Yun Zhou reached Yun Yao, he suddenly stopped moving.

An Wuxue felt it too—the man was not concealing his aura at all.

Yun Zhou called out in panic, “Immortal Lord!”

Before the courtyard, a man in white robes and jade crown stood at the gate. Kun Kun sat at his feet, blinking at An Wuxue.

Xie Zhefeng’s expression was calm, his dark eyes profound, showing no trace of the earlier abnormality.

Another person stood beside him—the one who had received Xie Zhefeng’s orders that night to investigate the talisman papers at Yun Sword Sect!

What was happening?

The talisman paper story had been a casual fabrication. The more offhand the lie, the harder to verify since nothing could be found.

He’d thought it would take the disciple at least a month to return empty-handed, but it had only been a few days...

Having just quietly taken the soul bell and now somewhat worried the disciple had uncovered his lie, he nervously stepped forward and whispered, “Immortal Lord, why—why have you come today?”

Xie Zhefeng looked at him.

What was he looking at?

An Wuxue lowered his eyes and fell silent.

Xie Zhefeng then said, “I came a quarter of an hour ago. Seeing you absent, I did not reveal myself.”

“There are few people in the Frost Sea. I was bored, so I wandered, wasting time.”

To An Wuxue’s surprise, Xie Zhefeng’s rare displeasure showed on his face. “The path of cultivation is long. There is no such thing as wasting time. If you wish to ascend the Immortal path, how can you be so negligent?”

An Wuxue was utterly confused.

This man came to play chess with a worthless slacker like him fine, but why did he say he wanted to walk the Immortal path?

When had he ever said that?

In his previous life, he had indeed cultivated diligently and told Xie Zhefeng, “I am destined by Heaven, born with jade bones and a golden body. I must cultivate seriously, uphold the Immortal order, and walk an Immortal path without shame.”

But back then, he had not yet possessed Chunhua and did not know Xie Zhefeng would be the karmic obstacle he could never overcome in his Immortal ascent.

He said bluntly, “Immortal Lord, you misunderstand. I have no grand ambitions and no desire for the Immortal path.”

Since the chess match incident, he had roughly understood Xie Zhefeng’s inexplicably extra patience toward Su Xue.

This made him less cautious. As long as he did not reveal his identity, Xie Zhefeng would likely not harm him.

Xie Zhefeng was brushing the frost from the pine and cypress before him. Hearing the rebuttal, he did not get angry but seemed momentarily stunned, even stopping his gesture.

“Yes,” the man nodded, as if disappointed, “you never said it. It was an old acquaintance of mine who did.”

An Wuxue replied politely, “Since it is an old friend whom the Immortal Lord cherishes, he must be a favored son of Heaven and a model of both realms. Surely he has already prospered on the Immortal path, ascended to its summit, and gained great renown.”

Kun Kun at the man’s feet let out a low whimper.

Xie Zhefeng repeated his words slowly and clearly: “Prospered on the Immortal path, ascended to its summit, gained great renown...”

Snap—

The man forcefully crushed a branch of the pine and cypress nearby, shattering it to dust that drifted down.

The other three present seemed to hold their breath, not daring to make a sound.

An Wuxue sighed inwardly.

He couldn’t even wish the man’s old friend well.

He never truly understood Xie Zhefeng from beginning to end.

He said no more.

Xie Zhefeng watched the pine and cypress dust merge with the snow on the ground, then shifted tone: “Just now, I heard you mention... the Canggu Tower?”

Yun Zhou’s face turned pale.

An Wuxue felt nothing unusual.

He said simply, “Yes.”

“The top level of the Canggu Tower is rarely opened. You seem well-informed.”

“Perhaps because I have been there,” An Wuxue said casually. “Having seen it with my own eyes and experienced it personally, I naturally know.”

At these words, the disciple beside Xie Zhefeng bowed his head like a quail.

Yun Zhou widened his eyes and began frantically gesturing at him.

—Only those sentenced to the Canggu Tower are either corrupted demonic cultivators or disciples who broke the thirteen anti-demon rules. Saying “have been there” so casually is dangerous.

But An Wuxue didn’t care.

When the false is taken as true, truth becomes false.

Sometimes, when the truth is spoken, no one wants to believe it.

Xie Zhefeng indeed did not take his words seriously, dismissing them as nonsense: “With your cultivation level, if you went to the top of the Canggu Tower, you would never come out.”

He glanced toward the direction of the Canggu Tower, as if recalling something, his face paled somewhat.

“Immortal Lord has never been there. How can you be so certain?”

Yun Zhou looked as if he was about to die, nearly rushing to cover An Wuxue’s mouth.

But Xie Zhefeng seemed interested in the topic of the Canggu Tower and said softly, “I once wanted to understand its suffering, but in the thousand years since the Immortal Calamity ended, I have never seen a living person emerge from the top level, whether demonic or Immortal cultivator.”

An Wuxue fell silent for a moment.

He understood better than anyone that Xie Zhefeng spoke truthfully.

The reason Xie Zhefeng said “in the thousand years since the Immortal Calamity ended,” rather than “ever,” was because a thousand years ago, someone had indeed come out alive.

But why did Xie Zhefeng want to know this?

It was inexplicable.

He said, “The Canggu Tower stands there, and the Immortal Lord governs Luoyue. If you want to know, why not just enter freely?”