“If I plant this inside Pentacarna Tower, the tower should generate celestial energy without end, right?” mused.
Acting on the thought, Jared carried the Chaos Spirit Root-Chaos Stone and all, into Pentacarna Tower.
Almost Immediately, the Chaos Spirit Root began to grow before his eyes, its expansion visible to the naked gaze.
Time flowed a hundred times faster inside the tower than outside, so its growth rate skyrocketed along with it.
Chuckling, Jared stored several celestial gems inside the tower, from now on, every session of cultivation would take place there, giving exponentially faster progress.
Of course, as Jared’s cultivation level rose, so did his appetite for resources.
If only I had several more plants like the Chaos Spirit Root constantly producing celestial energy, everything would be perfect.
Leaving the treasure vault, Jared found Flaxseed and the others converging on him.
Each was laden with spoils, Everett laid out every item had gathered, not daring to keep a single one for himself.
“I’m exhausted! You can slaughter people all day without breaking a sweat, but the few of us are going to drop dead from hauling the loot!” Flaxseed complained, wiping sweat from his brow.
Jared glanced at Jemima and Jhaelyn, both young women were lightly flushed, Barbarian City was massive, and scouring it with so few hands truly was draining.
“Everett, send the signal and summon every disciple of Azurecloud Sect. There will be plenty more scavenging ahead, the handful of you alone will never keep up.”
With that, Jared tossed out more than a thousand item pouches.
“These resources are yours. Do as you’re told and Azurecloud Sect will secure itself a seat In Third Heaven.”
“Thank you, Mr. Chance! I’m willing to be your dog if you need one!” Everett blurted, trembling with excitement. He hurried off to send the signal, ordering his disciples to rush over at once.
“Let’s get moving…” Jared said. It was time for their next destination.
Yet just as the group prepared to leave, the heavens quaked, the blood-red setting sun was swallowed by rolling clouds, and gray-black mist billowed among the crumbled walls of Barbarian King Hall.
An icy, bone-piercing chill pierced the clouds. The aura lacked the Barbarian Clan’s raw savagery, instead, it was machine-precise, murderous, as though countless wailing souls drifted inside the fog.
“Watch out!” Flaxseed yanked Jhaelyn and Jemima behind him.
The pointer of the compass at his waist spun madly. “This isn’t a spiritual energy fluctuation, it’s soul fiend energy!”
Three shadows coalesced from the fog-ink-black humanoid figures wrapped in fine white light-chains, each chain ending in a dim soul fire.
Ignoring Jared’s party entirely, they strode toward the piles of Barbarian cultivator corpses. Withered hands clawed at empty air.
Lingering spirits that had not yet scattered were yanked by invisible threads, turning into dots of cyan light that streamed into pitch-dark gourds hanging from the strangers’ sleeves.
Everett‘s pupils shrank. Tugging Jared’s sleeve, whispered, “M-Mr. Chance, these three are surely from the mysterious organization I told you about…”
The black-clad men moved with terrifying speed; in a blink, they had harvested every soul among the hundreds of corpses.
One suddenly halted, withered finger pointing toward the depths of Barbarian King Hall’s treasure vault. “Soul remnant aura detected there…”
The trio slipped into the vault like shadows, Ignoring the celestial gems and herbs scattered across the floor, and stopped before the stone stele carved full of totems.
The leader produced a battered bronze bell mottled with rust. He gave it a gentle shake, the soft “clink-ling” wasn’t loud, yet inside Jared’s consciousness field, Vermilion Demon Lord exploded, “Damn it! That’s the Soul-Locking Bell! An evil tool made specifically to bind divine souls!”
Golden runes on the stele flared violently. The Barbarian Ancestor’s soul was ripped from the crevices by an unseen force, becoming a sphere of light that writhed at the bell’s mouth.
