Another Tower Rises in the Cloud-Marsh

Xu Xian returned to the pavilion and shut the door, showing no intention of opening it again.

The Small Priest also left, saying she had things to attend to, leaving Chi Ji and Huang Xiao alone on the terrace.

They stared at each other in silence.

"What do we do?"

"I don't know."

"Should we go for a walk?"

"I don't want to!"

"Oh."

After a while, Xu Xian pushed the door open and rushed out. The two hurried to their feet and looked at him simultaneously.

"Young Lord?"

Xu Xian paused and glanced at them. He had been so excited that he had forgotten they were there.

He said, "Right, I'm going out to take care of some business. Don't mind me. Treat this place like your own home. Eat and sleep whenever you want."

Chi Ji summoned her courage and asked, "Where are you going?"

Xu Xian's gaze turned serious as he said, "Don't ask what you shouldn't. Knowing too much won't do you any good."

Chi Ji let out a soft "Ugh" and clamped her mouth shut.

As for Huang Xiao, he very sensibly moved out of the way.

Xu Xian gave them one last look and strode away, heading out of the sea of clouds toward the Nether Capital.

The golden giant dragon glanced at him, but it was only a brief look.

Xu Xian had confirmed it.

He had over seventy million Shadow Soul Stones, not a single one missing. Adding what he had earned before and the million tons he had pilfered from the Demon God Palace, his goal was reached.

Before leaving for the Demon Abyss, while he was in the mountains refining the body and the yin qi for Yao Xiaoxiao, he had commissioned the Merchant Hall to sell a portion of the demon beast corpses he had collected.

Combined with what he had earned previously and what he had found along the way, he had over forty million low-grade spirit stones. According to his past experience and Little Book's predictions, this was more than enough to build the third floor of the Sword Tower.

Now that everything was ready, he could start the construction.

He didn't want to wait another moment.

One way or another, his journey to the Demon Abyss had already lasted half a year.

While he wouldn't say he had barely escaped death, it had certainly been thrilling.

Now that he was at the final step, he didn't want any unexpected trouble to occur.

Therefore, he planned to build this floor within the Cloud-Marsh World beneath the nether water.

No one but himself could descend there, so its safety was guaranteed.

He wouldn't have to worry about being disturbed, and as a bonus, once the third sword was drawn, he could use that old tortoise to test its blade.

It was killing multiple birds with one stone!

Just as Xu Xian left the Nether Hall, the Small Priest secretly slipped out and followed him from a distance. Her sister had instructed her to keep a close eye on Bai Mang to prevent the boy from absconding with the funds.

Though she didn't understand why someone with Bai Mang's current status in the Demon Abyss would run away, she couldn't be sure.

After all, he was Bai Mang.

Who could say for certain that he wouldn't do such a thing?

...

Within the Cloud-Marsh World beneath the Nether Pool, after days of diligent and unceasing effort, the Nether Tortoise had actually managed to gnaw a hole through the cauldron Xu Xian had left behind.

It successfully crawled out.

Lying on the ground, it spat repeatedly, trying to clear the lingering taste of filth from its mouth.

It crawled and writhed with all its might just to get away from that cauldron, further and further.

Finally, it sat huddled against the stone stele wrapped in black chains, looking up at the ten-colored sky with tears of emotion.

"Finally... I finally got out."

A whole month. For an entire month, it had been constantly soaked in that substance. The taste was indescribable.

Its mind and body had suffered unprecedented ravage and humiliation since the day it was born.

It hated him!

After the youth left, the tortoise had used its own cold intent to freeze that entire pot of "filth" together.

Then, taking a mouthful of filth for every bite of iron, it had gnawed through the cauldron bit by bit.

Only then did it manage to escape its prison.

It wasn't just bitter! It was incredibly stinky!

Fortunately, there was always a way out.

Its eyes grew dark as it barked out fiercely, "You didn't expect this, did you? Your grandpa tortoise's teeth are harder than this scrap metal."

"Brat of the Li family, you just wait. I will make the Li clan pay back this debt a hundredfold..."

Suddenly, it sensed a strange yet familiar aura entering the Cloud-Marsh World.

Its boasting came to an abrupt halt. Its entire body trembled, and its expression became more miserable than when it was eating filth.

This time, it truly cried.

"He's coming again?"

Helplessness and exhaustion surged through its body. It slumped weakly against the stone stele, looking at the sky with tearful eyes.

Sometimes, a tortoise really just wanted to die.

On the other side, just as Xu Xian jumped out of the Shadow Soul Stone Mecha, Little Book stared in the direction of the old tortoise and said, "Hey, that old tortoise crawled out."

While putting away the mecha, Xu Xian asked nonchalantly, "Oh? How did it get out?"

"There's a hole in the cauldron. It probably gnawed its way out."

"A tortoise gnawing a cauldron? That's quite a novelty," Xu Xian chuckled.

Little Book said mischievously, "It looks like it just got out and is still catching its breath. If you go over now and throw it back in, its mind will definitely collapse."

Xu Xian waved a hand in refusal. "Forget it."

Little Book was confused. Had he found his conscience? That shouldn't be possible!

"Master doesn't plan to mess with it anymore?"

Xu Xian glanced at it and said, "Once the Sword Tower is built, I'll still have to interrogate it. You have to let it air out first, or else it'll be too stinky."

Little Book suddenly understood. It knew its master couldn't have had a change of heart. However, it had to admit that its master was truly far-sighted.

It praised, "It really has to be you, Master. Your ability to plan ahead is impeccable."

Xu Xian laughed. "Alright, stop the flattery. It's time to get to work."

"Okay!"

Xu Xian began the preparations. Based on his previous two experiences, building the Sword Tower took a long time, ranging from two days to a week. During this period, the most important thing was to avoid interruptions. Any interruption would mean all previous efforts were wasted.

The first two times, he was either at the sect or had Wen Qingxue and Yao Zhijian guarding him. He didn't have to worry about safety. This time, he was in a foreign land. That was why he had chosen this Cloud-Marsh World.

Just to be safe, in case the old tortoise tried anything, he went the extra mile to set up a formation. A guardian formation, with a Heaven-Sealing Trapping Formation added inside. A formation within a formation.

Only then did he settle into a meditative state. Little Book awakened the book and flipped to a new page, leading Xu Xian's divine sense into the world of the sword embryo.

A two-story tower stood before his eyes.

Xu Xian stretched his limbs, eager to begin. "Let's do this!"

Little Book was full of energy. "Building the tower! Building the tower!"

He took millions upon millions of spirit stones to use as a foundation, with a million tons of Shadow Soul Stones assisting from the side. A book hovered before him. A spirit flew back and forth. A tower, three stories high, began to rise...

In the Cloud-Marsh World, the old tortoise, who had already resigned itself to returning to the pit of filth, was completely bewildered.

Watching Xu Xian set up the formations and then vanish into thin air, it didn't feel the joy of a narrow escape. Instead, its heart began to pound. It felt an inexplicable sense of dread.

It didn't believe for a second that the youth hadn't noticed it had escaped. Nor did it believe the youth would be kind enough to let it go.

Being left alone like this certainly meant something bad was coming. It was likely that he was preparing some ultimate move to deal with it. Yet, it couldn't see through his intentions at all.

It muttered to itself, whispering, "Why do I feel a sudden chill down my spine?"