Chapter 591: Stone Tower Demon, Crisis of Possession

After thinking it through, Wei Tu stepped forward and walked into the main hall with the plaque reading “Locking Demon Hall.”

Unlike the elegance and luxury of the outer palace rooms, this main chamber felt rough and primitive. It was built from massive stone blocks, exuding an ancient style.

The place where he stood was like a passage connecting to a hall. On the left were three “concave”-shaped rooms. At the far end to the right stood a pitch-black stone tower, nearly one hundred zhang tall.

Outside the corridor stretched an endless barren land, faint wisps of demonic energy drifting across it.

The choice wasn’t difficult. Wei Tu turned and headed first toward the three side rooms on the left, planning to explore them before anything else.

But soon, disappointment showed on his face.

The rooms were full of “objects,” but unlike the spiritual treasures in the outer palace, these were all mundane items. Not a trace of spiritual energy clung to them, and with a slight pulse of his mana, they shattered completely.

“There must be treasures hidden inside the Locking Demon Hall. I’m probably searching the wrong way.”

Wei Tu frowned, deep in thought.

Though the black stone tower had not yet been explored, he didn’t believe the three rooms here were entirely without value.

“Fellow Daoist Wei, this place likely contains a reversed Spirit-Gathering Array.”

A soft reminder came from Bai Zhi, who was hidden in his sleeve.

In cultivation she was far weaker than him now, but as a third-rank formation master, she was much sharper than Wei Tu—who was only a half-trained amateur. With a glance, she saw through the clue.

“A reversed Spirit-Gathering Array?”

Wei Tu raised his brow. At the same time, golden light flashed through his Sun-Gazing Golden Eyes, and his left arm bulged with muscle as he pried up a slab of flooring with brute force.

As the stone lifted, a shocking surge of spiritual power flickered beneath the ground, only to vanish in an instant.

“There’s something down there?”

Wei Tu’s heart leapt, but when he tried to look closer, he could no longer sense it. The ground below looked just like normal earth, without formations or spirit veins.

“Fellow Daoist Wei, lend me the formation flags.”

“I have a method.”

Bai Zhi floated out from his sleeve with a smile, bowing gracefully before speaking.

Wei Tu trusted her formation skill. Though only a third-rank formation master, the limit was due to her cultivation, not her comprehension. She could rival even fourth-rank masters.

After receiving over ten sets of flags, Bai Zhi didn’t rush to place them. She paced around the rooms and corridor more than ten times. After half a day, she finally acted, waving her sleeve and sending nearly a hundred flags flying from her hand. They stabbed into the ground in seemingly chaotic positions.

Not long after, hazy lights flashed, and movement stirred beneath the floor.

Wei Tu’s golden eyes lit up. Once again he sensed the same shocking energy as before.

Beneath the flags lay a faint-blue formation shaped like a pentagram. At its center rested a crystal-bright bracelet, strung with five gemstones.

Each stone had a different color, one for each of the Five Elements. At this moment, only the water-blue gem shone brilliantly.

“A Divine Transformation treasure? This bracelet is at least fifth-grade or higher!” Wei Tu’s eyes burned with desire.

But he didn’t dare recklessly break the formation to seize it. He knew a little about the origins of the Locking Demon Hall.

It had been forged by the master of Zunwang Palace as a prison for ancient demon lords.

To disturb such an array and snatch its treasure might trigger something unpredictable, leading to endless regret.

Wei Tu, having only just purged Bai Zhi’s demonic soul, was particularly cautious toward such risks.

“There’s no rush. I’m the only one in the Locking Demon Hall right now.” He shook his head, signaling Bai Zhi to withdraw the flags. Together, they would first investigate the black stone tower.

He suspected that the tower was precisely where the master of Zunwang Palace had confined ancient demon lords.

With that thought, Wei Tu considered for a moment, then slapped his storage pouch. From it, he released a Nascent Soul puppet to lead the way.

This puppet was the corpse of the “Huangtian Sword Master” from Jing Kingdom’s Sky Dome City, which he had acquired in a trade with Gong Shulan at Yuanzhe Immortal City.

In combat, it wasn’t as effective as his Yin-Yang Demon Corpse. But for exploring secret realms, it was far more flexible.

Under Wei Tu’s control, with several clicks and creaks, the corpse moved like a living man, gliding low through the air as it advanced toward the dark tower.

The moment it entered, Wei Tu’s divine sense inside the puppet was pressed down by the thick demonic energy within.

Demonic energy was a power completely different from spiritual energy. Very few cultivators, whether in Great Cang or the Guixu Sea Immortal Realm, could truly absorb and cultivate with it.

Those so-called demonic cultivators who couldn’t master demonic energy were, strictly speaking, only practicing sinister, shortcut techniques. They weren’t genuine demon cultivators.

Compared to spiritual energy, demonic energy was wilder and more violent. Mana condensed from it was several times more powerful than that condensed from spiritual energy.

That was one reason why, in the records, cultivators who underwent “demonization” often saw their strength soar.

Recalling what he knew about demonic energy, Wei Tu continued guiding the puppet of the Huangtian Sword Master deeper, carefully observing the details inside the tower.

Like the side rooms, the inner chambers of the tower held few objects. Those that remained were mostly mundane tools. Only a handful had been corrupted by the demonic energy, turning into rare “demonic artifacts.”

But Wei Tu’s reason for sending the puppet of the Huangtian Sword Master wasn’t only to search for high-grade treasures. More importantly, he wanted to see if any ancient demon lords still lived inside this pitch-black stone tower.

First floor, second floor…

Wei Tu carefully controlled the puppet, inspecting every corner without missing a single spot.

In no time, it reached the highest level—the fourth floor.

Unlike the three levels below, the fourth floor wasn’t divided into rooms. It was completely open.

As soon as the puppet stepped inside, Wei Tu saw a massive beast shaped like a flood dragon. Huge chains bound it tightly at the center of the floor. Beside it were seven silver lamps.

But the long passage of time had burned their oil away. Every one of them was extinguished.

“Dead?” Wei Tu arched a brow and commanded the puppet to release a slash of sword qi, aiming straight at the beast’s head.

With a loud clang, the dragon head was severed, falling heavily to the ground.

As it hit the floor, a surge of deathly aura burst from the beast’s body, spreading across the entire fourth floor.

“Too much time has passed. The spirit in its demonic body must have faded away, making it this weak?” Wei Tu frowned.

But he didn’t lower his guard. With a thought, he had the puppet discreetly draw out the Ghost-Eyed Demon Spider and let its eyes sweep across the space again.

Through the spider’s strange vision, he suddenly saw a human-faced dragon head’s remnant soul in the corner, coldly watching the puppet.

Wei Tu’s heart jumped. But since he was operating a puppet, he had no fear that the remnant soul would notice anything unusual about him.

‘Its realm is around Divine Transformation. Is it waiting for me to approach, planning to seize my body or attach itself to me?’ Wei Tu thought, sensing a similar aura to the demonic soul that once possessed Bai Zhi.

It wasn’t hard to guess its intention.

‘But if it tries to seize me…’

Wei Tu’s mind sank into his sea of consciousness, where the golden-purple destiny floated quietly.

Centuries ago, when Venerable Master Shentu tried to seize him, the golden-purple destiny had flared once, releasing a single ray of golden light that instantly destroyed Shentu’s ghost infant.

Now, with the proof of the violet-green tree branch, Wei Tu was certain this destiny’s grade was above the Void Refinement Realm.

So, if this golden-purple destiny stood above Void Refinement, could it kill a Divine Transformation-level remnant soul? Wei Tu felt a surge of anticipation.

If so, it would prove his constitution was nearly immune to possession by stronger cultivators.

Most of the time such a trait might be useless. But in times of danger, it could mean survival.

Still, possession was a matter of life and death. He wouldn’t recklessly start a direct contest with the human-faced dragon’s remnant soul.

‘First I must capture it, then experiment.’ Wei Tu’s eyes turned cold.

He recalled the puppet and prepared again.

When the Huangtian Sword Master puppet returned, Wei Tu pulled out the Soul-Refining Banner and placed it in its hand, sending it back into the black tower.

The Soul-Refining Banner didn’t only restrain cultivators. It also had immense power over souls themselves.

Though the remnant soul’s level was around Divine Transformation, it was still just a fragment. Wei Tu didn’t believe the banner couldn’t suppress it.

‘He noticed me?’

The remnant soul’s expression darkened. It hadn’t expected this intruder to be so cautious—neither breaking the Locking Demon Hall’s Demon-Refining Array, nor entering personally, but instead probing with a puppet.

Worse, the intruder had even discovered its presence.

Before it could curse Wei Tu, the puppet reentered the fourth floor and instantly raised the Soul-Refining Banner, pouring mana into it.

In that moment, the two main souls of the banner—the Five-Element Infant and the Two-Forms Infant—burst forth, charging straight at the remnant soul of the human-faced dragon.