Chapter 58: The Two Oddities of the Profound Tower

Ye Jiuyao glanced at the unreliable Sun Qigang and, with a single thought, reached the place where Xuan Niang had previously resided within the Canglang Diagram. As long as there were no restrictions from the Canglang Diagram and he employed the methods Xuan Niang had taught him, he could arrive there at will. After all, he was the master of this place.

“I remember now,” Sun Qigang said with his fragmented memory, “they were talking about something called ‘World Discourse’ and said they needed to prepare for some return of the ‘Sealed One’ in the future…”

Ye Jiuyao was speechless at this and simply ignored him, yet he still took in Sun Qigang’s words before withdrawing from the Canglang Diagram.

“What world? What sealing? Who are they waiting to return?”

Ye Jiuyao realized that throughout this day, he seemed to be in a constant state of confusion—not just about the affairs of the Tongxuan Sect, but now also about the mysteries of the Canglang Diagram. It was as if all these matters had agreed to converge upon him at once, overwhelming him.

Turning over, Ye Jiuyao sprang up from the bed in one fluid motion and sat in the chair, his face lost in perplexity. Yet before long, he drifted off to sleep again.

When he awoke, it was already the next day, the sun high in the sky.

“After waking, I should look for something to eat—no, I should go cultivate…” Ye Jiuyao muttered softly, then left the hall.

The Tongxuan Sect had many places without signs, directions, or even plaques on some pavilions, which was quite odd. The places with names were extremely few, barely countable on one hand. Bored, Ye Jiuyao made his way to the most prominent tower in the sect.

“The Tongxuan Tower.”

He looked up at the ancient, timeworn tower and softly read aloud the inscription on the plaque hanging above the entrance.

The tower soared skyward, its summit lost to sight, no matter how hard one strained their eyes. Yet it exuded an oppressive aura, a sense of ancient grandeur, as though one stood in the midst of a vast, boundless sea.

At this moment, the doors of the Tongxuan Tower stood wide open—clearly, someone was inside. Ye Jiuyao stepped in.

On the first floor, he saw no one. He continued straight to the second—still no one. So, he ascended floor after floor without pause until, at the thirty-sixth level, he finally encountered someone.

“At last, a person. Is he a disciple of the Tongxuan Sect?”

That person shot Ye Jiuyao a glare, as if to say he was an idiot.

Realizing his blunder, Ye Jiuyao took a closer look at the young cultivator before him. The young man had features as fine as carved jade, jet-black hair tied up with a crown, and sword-like brows that gave him a sharp, intimidating presence.

“What’s your name? Eighth level of the Awakening Realm? Not bad…”

Ye Jiuyao chattered by the youth’s ear for quite a while before the young man finally lost his patience, anger flashing across his face.

“Get lost!”

“You’re telling me to get lost?!”

“Useless newbie, if you don’t scram, I’ll beat you until you can’t take care of yourself!”

The young man could hold back no longer and exploded, leaping to his feet and glaring fiercely at Ye Jiuyao in fury.

“Young man, don’t be so reckless. I’m afraid you’ll soon be kneeling and singing for mercy, calling me Grandpa. Although I don’t particularly enjoy being addressed that way, it’s still rather pleasing to the ear…”

“Begging for a beating!”

With a roar, the youth’s fist came crashing down, the air trembling with the force, a sonic boom resounding as he aimed a punch straight at Ye Jiuyao’s face.

“Kneel and call me Grandpa!”

Ye Jiuyao’s aura erupted in an instant, like a primordial beast waking from the abyss. At the moment his presence swept forth, the young man dropped to his knees.

“Hmph… See how formidable I am? Still want to beat me until I can’t take care of myself? Go on, keep showing off, I’m waiting.”

Ye Jiuyao looked down at the youth with practiced calm, as if this were a matter of no consequence at all.

“Grandpa, I was wrong. I’ll keep a low profile from now on, truly, I’ve learned the value of humility from you…” At this moment, the youth was close to cursing his fate. The man before him looked young, showed no fluctuations of cultivation, and appeared utterly ordinary—yet he had been hiding his true power all along.

He, a top figure in the Tongxuan Sect, had been forced to kneel with just a shout, left utterly powerless to resist.

“What’s your name?”

“Me? I’m Forty-Five.”

“Forty-Five? Out of the forty-five members of the Tongxuan Sect, you’re called Forty-Five? The weakest of them all?”

“Yes…”

Forty-Five looked utterly dejected; his disgrace was now known, and by a youth he’d never even met before, who was far stronger than him.

In that instant, Forty-Five felt the weight of life’s hardships.

Suddenly, he realized there was no one like Ye Jiuyao in the sect and quickly asked, “Are you new? How many of you came?”

“Not many. Counting me, six.”

Ye Jiuyao decided to answer. After all, these would be his fellow ‘useless’ disciples in the sect, and it was best to maintain good relations to avoid awkwardness in the future.

“Six, six…” Suddenly Forty-Five seemed to go mad. Watching him, Ye Jiuyao felt a chill and hurriedly ran up the tower, afraid Forty-Five might pass on some sort of contagion.

Ye Jiuyao could not have known the excitement burning within Forty-Five. Ever since he’d entered the sect with his senior brothers three years before, he’d always ranked last—three whole years as the youngest junior disciple. Now, he finally had the chance to be a senior. He knew Ye Jiuyao was out of his reach, but there were still five others, and the thought made Forty-Five nearly delirious with joy.

Ascending another nine floors, Ye Jiuyao encountered another person. This man was plump and round-faced, radiating prosperity, and was currently refining artifacts.

Intrigued, Ye Jiuyao approached to watch. When the fat man made a misstep, Ye Jiuyao couldn’t help but interject, “Hey, are you trying to get yourself killed? How can you mix Iron Rooster, Silver Gallwater, and Golden Abacus together?”

Iron Rooster was a metal that became incredibly hard upon contact with water, while Golden Abacus did the opposite. The two together spelled trouble. The two might not react on the surface, but when the fat man added Silver Gallwater, everything exploded.

The Iron Rooster and Golden Abacus fused together like yin and yang—half soft, half hard. The elemental energies inside surged violently, flames roaring upward.

Seeing this, Ye Jiuyao quickly fled, and in the next instant, a deafening blast erupted. The fat man stumbled out, covered in soot.

“Cough, cough…”

Thick smoke filled the tower. Ye Jiuyao burst out laughing, while the fat man walked over, face dark.

“Why didn’t you warn me earlier? You only spoke up after I’d already mixed them!”

“I wanted to give you some experience. Besides, it wasn’t going to blow up on me, was it?”

“…”

The fat man had to admit there was some logic in that. No one was obliged to warn him, and though the reminder had come late, it had still given him enough time to brace himself and avoid serious injury.

“New disciple? You know artifact refining? Stick with me in the future, I’ll look after you. If anyone bullies you, just give them my name—I’m Forty-Four!”

Ye Jiuyao had thought he’d met someone formidable, but upon hearing the name, he tasted the bitterness of life.

“Why don’t you look impressed?”

“Go ask around. Among the forty-five of us in the Tongxuan Sect, who doesn’t admire Forty-Four? Even the leader gives me three parts respect…”

Ye Jiuyao could see this fat man’s boasting far outstripped his artifact crafting skills, so he turned and walked upstairs without a backward glance.

After encountering two such eccentrics, Ye Jiuyao silently prayed that the next one wouldn’t be the same.