Chapter 1607
Opened Again
Tears welled up in Wen Tao’s eyes gradually, but he soon held them back after taking a deep breath.
His hair started to turn gray, then white. At the same time, his skin became dry, wrinkly, and pigmented.
The end of his life was near.
On his face was a tranquil expression, devoid of grief, joy, and anger. He seemed a lot different than before, as though his mind had aged with his appearance.
No longer able to support himself, he tilted his body to the side and sat on the ground, panting. No words fell from his lips, as if he was waiting for his final moment to come.
Perceiving his silence, Yang Chen quietly took out a half pack of cigarettes.
It was a low-cost brand, only worth two renminbi(currency of China). He had been carrying the smokes with him, but he was no longer a smoker. In truth, he didn’t have the mental or physical capacity to take a puff.
“Would you like to have one? I’m sure you haven’t smoked a cigarette since you gained consciousness.” Yang Chen pulled out one cigarette and handed it to Wen Tao.
The latter hesitated for a moment but eventually reached out to grab it confusedly.
Yang Chen turned it on for him while ignoring one for himself. Squatting in front of Wen Tao, he took two long drags.
Wen Tao was not used to the cigarette that he coughed as soon as he took a puff of it. Throwing the cigarette away, he asked, “Are… Are you doing this on purpose? How can this be smoked!?”
When he lifted his head and saw Yang Chen smiling at him oddly, he frowned and asked, “Are you mocking me? I only accepted the cigarette because I thought it would be a pity not to experience it once… Don’t think you’re a magnanimous or sophisticated person.”
Yang Chen exhaled the smoke again and again. He grinned as he noticed Wen Tao’s antimatter energy decreasing and his body progressively weakening. “If I were a charitable person, I would have offered you a sip of a great wine worth hundreds of millions of pounds instead of a cigarette for a few pennies.”
Wen Tao snorted and closed his eyes, planning to await his death in peace.
At that moment, Yu Xuening had arrived a distance away from them but did not approach. Instead, she watched Yang Chen intriguingly.
To her surprise, he did not do much, merely lighting one cigarette after another while squatting beside Wen Tao. He barely paid any attention to the latter as if he was deep in thought.
Wen Tao’s consciousness was slipping away. The antimatter energy in his body had disappeared, and all that was left of him was an old, frail, and wrinkly body.
Yang Chen could sense that he was dying, so he stood up and walked to Yu Xuening.
Mustering the last ounce of his strength, Wen Tao raised his head and looked at the Sky Tower, which stood tall as usual. A faint smile appeared on his lips.
Boom!
He was struck by the Ziqing Heavenly Lightning.
His body perished in an instant.
It was as though he never existed in the world.
“It seems like he’s been liberated,” Yu Xuening said to Yang Chen.
The man chuckled. “Probably. Ending him is like bidding farewell to a period of my life. Who knows what’s awaiting me next.”
“It looks like you’re in big trouble,” she said teasingly.
Yang Chen regarded her with an odd gaze and only spoke after a long time. “No matter how big the trouble, it’ll probably be nothing to an over 50,000-year-old fox like you. Honestly, I’m surprised that you lasted more than a year fighting Wen Tao and weren’t killed by him.”
Yu Xuening had changed into a clean white dress. Twirling a part of her hair, she revealed a cheeky expression and harrumphed. “If us demon beasts weren’t subdued by the realm, he couldn’t have lasted more than ten blows from me. You’ve belittled me. When I was at my peak, my opponents were far stronger than this puny man.”
“I believe that. Your descendants of the Qingqiu clan hail you as the legendary elite and even built a statue of you to wors.h.i.+p. If I hadn’t seen it myself, I wouldn’t dare to believe it.” Yang Chen was amused when he recalled the looks of admiration on the foxes’ faces whenever Yu Xuening was mentioned. They’re like fangirls.
However, the smile on Yu Xuening’s face vanished, and she seemed rather solemn.
“You… you’ve met my clan members?”
“Yeah, they entered the Honghuang realm 50,000 years ago, so it’s after you entered the Ten Thousand Demon Realm.”
“How are they doing? Were they bullied by those righteous cultivators?” Although she tried to sound calm, the slight quiver in her voice betrayed her feelings.
He nodded. “Not bad. They’re quite powerful, and the leader of the demon sect is the Qingqiu clan. Their clan leader, Yu Lanting, is a seven-tailed divine fox who has lived for over 2,000 years. Although she can’t compare to your ability at that time, she’s strong enough.”
Yu Xuening let out a sigh of relief before smiling woefully. “I’m too ashamed to meet my clan members. I’ve let them down…”
“No, that’s not what they believe. You are their forefather and hero. They even sought to ingratiate themselves with me in order for me to bring you out of the tower.”
The woman shook her head. “By right, they should hate me. If I didn’t abandon them and run into the Ten Thousand Demon Realm by myself, the situation 50,000 years ago would’ve been different.”
Before Yang Chen could say anything, she asked, “By the way, you haven’t told me why you came to the Sky Tower again.”
He then recounted the whole story, from the Meng clan’s ancestor’s treasure to the Eye of the Sky Demon. At the same time, he also explained how he obtained the Pangu Axe, and the other artifacts, such as the Kunlun Mirror.
As Yu Xuening listened, she found the whole story unbelievable, so she voiced skeptically, “You’re not fooling me, are you? Even though you’ve pa.s.sed the Shang Qing Heavenly Lightning Tribulation, I can still take you down.”
Yang Chen was nonplussed. “I’ve shown you the things, so why would I lie to you? I find it hard to believe too. Besides, aren’t those lords from your era? Haven’t you heard of them 50,000 years ago?”
Yu Xuening pondered over it and replied, “If you’re speaking the truth, I might’ve heard of their names before they died. But you have to know that plenty of elites had arisen thousands of years before I was born. The battle between human, demon, and devil cultivators lasted for tens of thousands of years. That’s the era with the most talents since the Great Ancient immortals. It wouldn’t be surprising for the elites to get the divine artifacts, such as Pangu Axe and Kunlun Mirror. Under normal circ.u.mstances, even those of the Yu Qing Heavenly Lightning stage might not be able to unleash their full potential, just like you now. Even though you have three divine-ranked artifacts—the Chaos Cauldron, Pangu Axe, and Kunlun Mirror—you can feel that you’ve only used part of their full power. In truth, you’re completely oblivious of the Kunlun Mirror’s secrets. As a result, the owners of these holy items would not live long since they would be a.s.sa.s.sinated by others. Naturally, their names would be obscure.”
“The one I’m curious about the most is the ancestor of the Meng clan. I can’t fathom how he managed to get the key that links the Eye of the Sky Demon to the Sky Tower of the Ten Thousand Demon Realm. Unless he had been to the Sky Tower and left,” Yang Chen said.
Yu Xuening appeared to be pensive. Occasionally, her eyes would gleam, but those emotions disappeared quickly.
“Did you think of something?” He felt that she was hiding something from him.
Lifting her head, she beamed at him and said, “So what if I did? Are you going to pry it out of me?”
Yang Chen was rendered speechless by the fact that she was still being so mischievous at that juncture. Is she bored out of her mind from living for over 50,000 years?
All of a sudden, a deafening sound came from the ground floor of the Sky Tower, shocking the duo.
They looked in the direction and found that the sound came from the entrance to the Sky Tower.
“How is that possible?! Why did the entrance open?” Yu Xuening frowned. “It has only been a year. Doesn’t it open every 60 years?”
Yang Chen was stunned. “Are you sure this has never happened before?
“Duh! I’ve lived here for 50,000 years, and it has always opened once every 60 years since then.”
Many thoughts flashed across his mind. Finally, he raised his chin and said, “I suppose it has something to do with us breaching into here and opening the door. The problem must be at the top of the tower. Well, Ms. Luo is waiting for us, so let’s go to the top first.”