Chapter Nineteen: Thundercloud and Departing Flame

All the way down, Shen Wan was panting and gasping for breath.

Combined with the sparks flying behind him, those scattered disciples still struggling within the tower could only stare in shock. It was as if a goddess were descending from the heavens.

After alternating between walking and resting, he finally made it back to the first floor.

To think that his entry into this wretched tower had been an accident; in just one day, everything felt like a dream. If he had to do it again, he’d rather die than come back.

The grand doors were just a few steps away. Dawn was right before his eyes, and it seemed as if boundless energy welled up within him once more.

Striding forward, drawing near, stepping out—all in one smooth motion.

Blinding sunlight spilled across his face… and damn, it was scorching.

Shen Wan was speechless—was daytime in this world always this long? He’d thought it would already be dark outside, which would have made his stealthy escape easier. Now, with the sun high overhead, there was nowhere to hide.

Glancing around, he saw that at least there was no one nearby. He hunched over, planning to slip away along the tower’s base.

Suddenly, a chill brushed his neck.

A glinting blade was pressed against his throat.

Yun Shu’s eyes were devoid of emotion. She stared into Shen Wan’s eyes, her voice low and cold.

“One week from now, on the dueling platform—a battle to the death.”

With that, she sheathed her sword, turned, and leapt into the air.

She soared over the gathered crowd and vanished into the sky.

Swift and clean.

Shen Wan blinked, momentarily stunned. The blade at his throat had certainly startled him, but her movements were so fast, he hadn’t even had time to tremble.

Even so, he couldn’t help but feel aggrieved.

“That girl got out so quickly? Even faster than me?”

True, the Spiritless Realm was extraordinary, at least compared to this plane. But to watch someone teleport and fly away at will, while he had to climb and crawl, left him more than a little frustrated.

What man didn’t dream of leaping across rooftops and roaming the world with a sword?

Thinking this, he looked again in the direction where that figure had disappeared. Shen Wan truly wished he could have a word with the figure from his dreams—maybe play this game in a different realm.

Such thoughts left him somewhat melancholy.

Suddenly, his heart skipped a beat. Lifting his eyes, he realized more than ten thousand gazes were fixed on him.

“What the hell is going on?”

Instinctively, he took three steps back. Before the Tenfold Hell Tower, a dense throng was gathered.

The Grand Elder, Wei Zhen, frowned deeply.

He saw a stranger standing before him, wearing the robes of a personal disciple from the Art Pavilion.

He didn’t know what connection Yun Shu had with this person, but the attire alone was enough to throw the old man’s thoughts into confusion.

How had he inexplicably acquired another disciple? The old man struggled to make sense of it.

“When did I take in someone like this?”

Elder Yu Yan stepped forward and whispered quietly beside Wei Zhen, “This youth is not a disciple of Owe Profound Sect—his origins are suspicious.”

Wei Zhen snapped out of his confusion, nearly fooled by the robes alone.

Regaining his composure, he extended his spirit sense to scrutinize Shen Wan, but found nothing—his divine sense returned empty.

“Perhaps he’s using a treasure to conceal his cultivation, but the Tenfold Hell Tower restricts cultivation. Since he emerged from the tower, his cultivation can only be at the Spirit Condensation level,” Wei Zhen said with certainty.

The other elders nodded.

But how had a mere Spirit Condensation cultivator infiltrated the sect? The sect’s barriers required even Soul Pill cultivators a great deal of effort to breach—could this youth be a master of wards?

Just as the thought surfaced, everyone dismissed it immediately.

A Spirit Condensation ward master? That was a joke. Ward masters needed a solid cultivation foundation—without at least a Golden Core, who could claim such a title?

At that moment, Wei Zhen snorted coldly.

“Whoever he is, he dies!”

Murderous intent flickered in his eyes. Taking a step, he traversed more than ten meters, placing himself at the very front of the crowd.

The other elders, as if suddenly enlightened, steadied themselves and cast resentful glares at Shen Wan.

Of course, Shen Wan was entirely innocent—he hadn’t done anything at all...

Wei Zhen gathered his breath at his dantian, and a surge of spiritual power burst forth.

One hand clasped behind his back, the other twisted at his side, conjuring a ball of flame in his palm.

“No matter who you are, if you dare trespass in Owe Profound Sect, you die!”

His voice rang out, shaking heaven and earth.

Seeing that the old man was addressing him, Shen Wan dared not be negligent. This old fellow was clearly a heavyweight—if he gave the order, it wouldn’t be a beating, it would be a massacre.

“My name is Shen Wan, I… I am…”

In his panic, he actually forgot the name of his so-called teacher.

Just then, he caught sight of a towering white jade statue to the right of the tower.

It was none other than a statue of Tianxuanzi.

Shen Wan hurriedly pointed at the statue and shouted, “I am his disciple! I’m one of you!”

“Insolence!”

Wei Zhen saw him pointing at the ancestor’s statue and was instantly enraged, ignoring whatever Shen Wan had said. The flame in his palm doubled in size.

With a flick of his wrist, a massive fireball hurtled toward Shen Wan.

A formidable pressure exploded from Wei Zhen’s body.

The disciples standing closest felt a tremendous force crash over them—had the other elders not waved their sleeves to disperse the pressure, they would have been sent flying.

Even so, their internal spiritual seas were roiling. Hastily forming seals, they pressed their hands to their chests to steady their minds.

“This one must die!”

All who felt the Grand Elder’s wrath could sense the murderous intent.

Wei Zhen, a mid-stage Golden Core master—while his opponent was only at Spirit Condensation. If that attack landed, Shen Wan would be reduced to dust, with nothing left behind.

The fireball engulfed Shen Wan completely.

Among the crowd, Lin Bufan and Zhu Qianqing both tensed.

The Grand Elder’s attack had been so swift, they hadn’t even had time to warn him. One clenched his fists, the other shut his eyes, unable to bear watching.

The fireball struck home. Wei Zhen snapped his sleeve behind him, not bothering to look again.

He was about to order someone to handle the aftermath when he realized the flame had not exploded as expected, but instead had been snuffed out as if doused with a bucket of water—pitifully, it fizzled away.

“Hm?”

He frowned and glanced over.

Only a few tiny flames writhed on the ground, then vanished with the wind.

Shen Wan stood there, staring at him blankly.

No, he was looking at him as though he were an idiot...

“So the old man wasn’t ordering others to beat me up? Nearly scared me to death.”

He had thought the gesture was a command to the crowd behind. Apparently, he was mistaken.

He patted his chest in relief, then suddenly recalled something, lifting his robe to dig for his jade token in the pocket of his jeans.

After all, that was proof he was a registered disciple of Tianxuanzi—surely the old man would recognize it at a glance.

Unfortunately, the pocket was far too tight.

Just as he managed to pinch the token between two fingers, he saw the old man lift into the air.

Wei Zhen’s face burned with embarrassment.

He, a Golden Core powerhouse, had failed to kill a mere youth—perhaps not even at Spirit Condensation—in one strike. What a disgrace!

The other elders frowned as well, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Wei Zhen now hovered in the air, his robes billowing without wind, long white hair whipping wildly.

He was clearly furious.

“Thundercloud Hellfire!”

His hands danced before his chest, moving so quickly they blurred into countless afterimages, weaving together into a single motion until a black orb of light materialized above his right palm.

The energy contained was terrifying, crackling with black lightning.

“This… this is…”

The crowd below gasped in shock.

The elders immediately cast protective spells, encircling the disciples behind them, fearful that even the aftermath of Wei Zhen’s spell might injure them.

“Has the Grand Elder gone mad? That’s a Heaven-rank spell!”

“There are only three people in the sect, including the Sect Master, who can cast Heaven-rank spells. I never thought I’d witness one today.”

“Why would the Grand Elder need such a spell just to kill that guy? The pressure alone would turn him to ash.”

“The Grand Elder’s really lost it. Look, his face is red and black with rage.”

“Shh, do you want to die?”

The tens of thousands of disciples whispered back and forth, their voices rising and falling.

Fifth Elder Ye Ping’s eyes were icy. He lifted his hand and pressed down forcefully, sending a wave of oppressive energy that silenced the crowd in an instant—no one dared make a sound.

All eyes returned to Wei Zhen, whose mustache bristled in anger and whose face was indeed flushed red and black.

Having gathered his strength, the black sphere in his palm now seemed ready to explode.

With a furious roar, he hurled the orb straight at Shen Wan.

Lightning crackled and snapped around the sphere.

As it flew, even the air seemed to ignite, leaving trails of black mist in its wake.

In a blink, there was a deafening boom.

The sphere exploded precisely where Shen Wan stood.

Within a hundred-meter radius, a visible shockwave radiated outward, rippling like water and pulverizing stones into dust in an instant.

Fortunately, the elders had been prepared, and no disciples were harmed.

As for Elder Yun Yan, steward of the Hidden Immortal Hall, he could only sigh in dismay—the paving stones were all made of Celestial Cloudstone, and this blast had probably destroyed a tenth of them. It was enough to make his heart ache.

Of course, such matters were beneath Wei Zhen’s concern. He cared for nothing now but the fate of the man below.

At last, after the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, the shockwaves began to dissipate.

As the dust settled, the devastation at the center of the blast became clear.

A massive crater now yawned where the explosion had struck, its depths still shrouded in lingering smoke.

Everyone held their breath, eyes fixed on the scene.

And in the crater’s very center, there was inexplicably a small patch, about one meter across, left completely intact—rising like a pillar from the depths.

Atop that pillar, Shen Wan at last managed to pull out the jade token.