After about three days, Wu Yu came to his senses.
He knew that he had been unconscious for three days thanks to the Heaven Devouring Avatar.
His two bodies were like his left and right hands. While one was unconscious, the other was alert. This was a strange feeling for Wu Yu.
But he had no time to ponder this curiosity.
"Where am I?"
After coming to, he opened his eyes, and everything became clear.
He was surprised by what he saw.
The eighth level of the Ancient Soul Tower had been an ordinary tower, while the previous seven levels had been special worlds.
He did not know if this was the ninth level of the Ancient Soul Tower. From the outside, the ninth level did not seem that big.
And the s.p.a.ce that he was in was much smaller than the estimated size of the ninth level. It was at most two or three zhang per side[1]. Wu Yu could not even use the Lawful Embodiment of Heaven and Earth in this s.p.a.ce.
The walls and floor looked to be made of ordinary stone. He seemed to be in an ordinary room of stone.
Given his strength, a slight flex from him might even be able to crumble the whole thing to pieces.
But he had no such inclination, because not three chi[2] away from him, there was a hovering object. It was the Yan Huang Golden Bead, quietly floating.
But there was something different about it. It was a golden stone before, but now it was blazing with golden flames. The flames were starting to turn dark red, a clear sign that it was angered.
He recalled that when he had caught it, it seemed to want to escape. Afterward, it had brought him here, and he had been rendered unconscious along the way. After he woke up, the Yan Huang Golden Bead was still here, and had not escaped. Perhaps it had changed after Wu Yu had touched it.
"Quickly now. You were suddenly knocked out for three days, and I couldn"t see anything either. Now you"re in the same place. I think you just need to take control of the Yan Huang Golden Bead and then the battle at the Ancient Soul Tower should be over. I don"t know what medicine the Ancient Emperor is selling in his gourd, but in any case, I"m afraid you"re about to succeed," Ming Long urged.
Wu Yu checked himself over. It seemed like from start to finish, he had not been through any changes, and his entire body was within his control.
"If only the Floating Dreams PaG.o.da was not with the Heaven Devouring Avatar."
Without the Floating Dreams PaG.o.da, Wu Yu could only try restraining it himself. He guessed that the Yan Huang Golden Bead might be like a dao treasure, which had to be forced to submit.
All of this had been for the Yan Huang Golden Bead. With it before him, Wu Yu did not hesitate. Therefore, although the Yan Huang Golden Bead had been altered, his resolve was not blunted.
But he was a little confused. So many people had fought like mad over the Yan Huang Golden Bead. Was it about to land in his possession so easily?
It was just a niggling doubt, but he decisively reached forth to touch the Yan Huang Golden Bead. He was still fairly confident about his Invincible Vajra Body and the Vairocana Vajra Buddha Body.
He grasped it again!
Wu Yu grabbed it tightly, completely locking the Yan Huang Golden Bead in place. It blazed again, but the flames were not strong enough to harm Wu Yu at this point. Three breaths after Wu Yu grabbed the Yan Huang Golden Bead, it went still, as though willing to be controlled by Wu Yu.
Wu Yu breathed out in relief. He thought that he might really have succeeded. After all, there were many treasures that came with it, and he was fairly happy. It was the treasure trove of the 10,000 Kingdoms Pilgrimage.
The possessor would have the wealth of nations.
But! On the fourth breath, the Yan Huang Golden Bead resisted. Drawing on some unknown energy, Wu Yu suddenly shot forth like a human holding a fireball. Or, more accurately, a flaming creature possessing tremendous heat and energy, straining against Wu Yu"s hand!
Looking down, he saw that his hands had been charred black. Here in the Jambu Realm, there were not many things capable of that.
The Yan Huang Golden Bead seemed to be consumed by the crimson flames. It turned violent, wildly bas.h.i.+ng about the entire stone chamber. It seemed incensed. Each time, it was like a huge hammer slamming into the ground, which boomed loudly. The room quaked, and after dozens of repeated slams, Wu Yu saw cracks appear in the ground!
The berserk Yan Huang Golden Bead gave another ferocious crash and busted a hole in the floor. It charged through it.
"d.a.m.n it. This is such a good opportunity, you can"t let it go! Chase it, quick!" Ming Long was watching the treasure of a lifetime fly away from before her eyes. It was unbearable.
Wu Yu was stunned. He had not thought that the Yan Huang Golden Bead would be this insane. It was like a young girl who had been molested.... But he reacted swiftly. Changing to his smallest size, he was hot on the heels of the Yan Huang Golden Bead out the hole. The floor was very thick. Wu Yu pa.s.sed through quite a few zhang of metal-like walls before he saw light again. It was the eighth level of the Ancient Soul Tower!
This meant that he had indeed been at the ninth level of the Ancient Soul Tower!
Perhaps those outside had seen him in the ninth level"s mirror, unconscious for three days?
The eighth tier Dao Querying cultivators were all here at the eighth level. Wu Yu closely followed the Yan Huang Golden Bead out almost in the same instant it came out, but they must have felt the ceiling shake before this.
Wu Yu emerged to sharp cries. "The Yan Huang Golden Bead!"
His eyes brushed past them. Prince Yu, Prince Xiao, Lan Qi Liu Meng, Prince Diablo, Xuan Jinzi, Huang Guzi, and the others were all there. Everyone was staring at the Yan Huang Golden Bead not far from Wu Yu.
Although the Yan Huang Golden Bead was slightly different, they could still see it clearly. They were surprised but also delighted. Wu Yu could guess that they had already given up when they saw him vanish with the Yan Huang Golden Bead. But now that he had failed, they saw a ray of hope.
It devolved into a free-for-all again. Everyone moved at virtually the same time, and Wu Yu was completely ignored.
They were grabbing at the Yan Huang Golden Bead. At the same time, they were trying to obstruct the others from getting there before them.
Perhaps they did not understand how violent the Yan Huang Golden Bead was at this time!
The Yan Huang Golden Bead, accosted by so many enemies, was like a furious, teenage girl. Giving a sharp shriek, the sound tore into them with the force of a great typhoon, blowing the eighth tier Dao Querying cultivators" moves away. Everyone, Wu Yu included, was forced back.
While they were all blown back, it put on a burst of speed and vanished into the black vortex to the seventh level, vanis.h.i.+ng from the eighth level.
"Gone?"
"After it!"
Almost at the same time, everyone responded. They pushed and shoved to get ahead. Some attacked each other and bound each other. After all, the vortex was not large, and there were too many people trying to get through at the same time.
Wu Yu moved even quicker, his agility compounded with the lack of attention on him. He managed to make it down smoothly, and was one of the first.
He had finally reached the ninth level, but he was now chasing the bead back to the seventh. At the same time, the Black Phoenix and the Heaven Devouring Avatar at the seventh level also leaped into action. It would be great if they could stop the Yan Huang Golden Bead.
After all, the seventh level was too large, and no one knew where it was.
But Wu Yu had guessed wrong. When he came to the seventh level, enduring the light thorns on his way down, he saw an even more blinding thing. It was a blinding beam of golden light, as overwhelmingly large as a meteor. It was streaking towards the ground.
Without a doubt, it was the Yan Huang Golden Bead. But it had clearly grown larger.
"Why did it change like this? Is it only obtainable after the change? Does that mean that it can only be obtained starting from now?" he guessed.
From the way the Yan Huang Golden Bead was descending, it seemed to be headed for the sixth level, or lower.
From behind, the eighth tier Dao Querying cultivators were hot in pursuit. And the seventh tier Dao Querying cultivators at the seventh level were also shocked.
Although they had no idea what it was, they started chasing too.
Wu Yu"s real body did not meet up with the Heaven Devouring Avatar. He directly used the second tier of Somersault Cloud. The Yan Huang Golden Bead was moving too quickly, and in order to keep up with it, he had to flip.
However, he did not jump too accurately. Finally, Wu Yu appeared beside the Yan Huang Golden Bead on one of his jumps. He noticed that it had turned into a golden sphere of close to three chi in diameter. It was much larger than before, and covered in terrifying, golden flames that could even burn the white light to ashes.
Before he could think about how to suppress it, the Yan Huang Golden Bead had rushed past him, continuing to descend. It was clearly still growing larger.
"Forget it, down to the sixth level first!"
It seemed like the Yan Huang Golden Bead was headed that way, and he immediately followed. The Heaven Devouring Avatar brought the others down to the sixth level as well.
1. 1 zhang=3.333 meters or 3.645 yard
2. 1 chi=33.333cm or 13.1 inches