Chapter 2166: Those In The Pagoda Forest

The clone that Shang Xia had just separated from himself was meant to break through the encirclement for him, yet unexpectedly, the clone, influenced by the whispers, seemed to gain a will of its own. It even opened its mouth to join the chant, struggling to free itself from his control and act independently.

Shang Xia’s brow lifted slightly. With a sweep of his sleeve, a mighty divine soul descended, pulling the clone instantly back under his command. The faint sprout of independent thought within it was effortlessly erased.

He decided not to imbue the clone with any trace of his divine soul, using it instead purely as a disposable tool, a battering ram. Without hesitation, he sent it charging straight toward the enemies blocking his path.

A thunderous blast erupted.

The violent clash of power tore through the surrounding void, shattering space and toppling the two nearest stone pagodas, each 2,000 to 3,000 feet tall.

Yet in Shang Xia’s eyes, the destructive force seemed strangely small.

A confrontation between Sages should have been cataclysmic. The aftershock of such a collision should at least have turned the surrounding hundred miles of space into chaos, yet here, only two pagodas had fallen, and the spatial fracture that was created was pitifully small.

Just tearing the void? That was nothing.

𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Even Kou Chongxue at the Martial Dipper Realm back then had been able to tear open the void and transport them across the void into the Barbaric World.

“Is it that the space within this Pagoda Forest is unusually resilient? Or that these towers are incredibly tough? Or perhaps that anyone who enters has their combat power suppressed without realizing it?”

Such thoughts flashed across his mind, but his movements did not falter for an instant.

In the same breath that the clash occurred, he was already on top of his enemy.

His clone had collapsed, and he quickly gathered back a fraction of its dissipating energy.

The opponent, one of the beings lost to the whispers, was in no better shape. Half his body had been blasted apart.

Even for a Sage, such an injury was nearly fatal. Even if sheer vitality kept one alive, it would leave them crippled, their strength reduced to a tenth of what it once was.

Yet to Shang Xia’s surprise, that mutilated body still moved. The half-destroyed cultivator rose unsteadily, balanced himself on one leg, and launched forward, bounding thousands of feet in a single leap, his expressionless face fixed on Shang Xia as he charged again.

“It’s definitely a living person...” Shang Xia murmured, “But his soul has fallen to those whispers.”

The cultivator had pretty much no more blood left, and in his single surviving eye, Shang Xia saw not rage, but a faint yearning for release.

“Huh? So... Their souls still exist... It seems to be completely suppressed and unable to control their bodies.”

The guess flickered through his mind, but he acted without hesitation. He pointed a finger, pressing down through the air. The mutilated cultivators, still hundreds of feet away, vanished in a streak of light.

That body had retained the essence of a newly advanced Sage. Despite half of it gone, its foundation had remained intact. Yet with a single flick of Shang Xia’s finger, his body was annihilated.

Shang Xia pressed onward through the encirclement, but paused briefly beside one of the toppled towers.

To his surprise, despite the clash that had overturned them, the towers bore no cracks or marks at all.

Curiosity stirred in him again, he wanted to touch one, to probe its composition, but he ultimately dismissed the impulse and continued flying away from their encirclement.

Two more cultivators, each possessing the strength of a mid-level Sage, blocked his path from left and right as they appeared suddenly. Their combined strike was formidable, yet Shang Xia easily brushed them aside, sending them hurtling through the void.

His purpose was clear. He was there to absorb origin qi of the foreign Star Field. He had no interest in unnecessary battles. Even against those soulless husks, he merely avoided them, neither killing needlessly nor lingering.

Yet the whispers pursued him relentlessly.

They grew louder, surrounding his consciousness, like countless unseen mouths shouting in his ears, attempting to wrest control away from his body. But though the noise swelled, not a single word could be made out.

His divine soul wavered slightly, enough to hinder his perception of his surroundings, but still not strong enough for him to lose control of his body.

It was then that he noticed something peculiar. Though he had evaded the encirclement, his flight path through the Pagoda Forest had curved subtly without his realizing it, and he was once again heading deeper inside.

“So, this place not only has those whispers, but it’s also a labyrinth...” Shang Xia mumbled, “My divine soul has been influenced without me noticing.”

Raising his head, he saw a massive tower, at least 3,000 feet tall, standing before him.

But he did not retreat. If anything, the foreign origin energy in the surrounding void had become thicker, and the Crimson Soul Tablet was absorbing it faster.

Unfortunately, most of that energy was being drawn into the giant tower before him.

“If I topple it...”Shang Xia spoke out loud, “Will its ability to absorb origin qi weaken, or perhaps cease entirely?”

The idea appeared in his mind earlier when two towers were overturned during battle, but he had been too busy to test it amid the chaos. Now, however, the opportunity was ideal. The tower stood isolated, with no others nearby.

Only one concern lingered. The carvings on the tower were far more intricate, and its internal space seemed much larger. There was a high chance something lurked inside, perhaps entities even stronger than the ones he had encountered before.

Still, he did not hesitate. He made up his mind to topple it.

Gathering his inner qi, he condensed starlight into a massive palm and thrust it toward the peak of the tower.

As expected, something moved within.

A withered figure burst out of the tower, swinging a fist that shattered the starlight palm in one blow. Then he turned and fixed his dry, unblinking gaze on Shang Xia. “This is my tower. Go destroy another.”

The voice was coarse and grating, like sand scraping against stone. It was a voice unused for a long, long time. Yet the man’s eyes were startlingly clear.

“Your soul hasn’t been affected?” Shang Xia asked, testing him.

“Leave!” The shriveled warrior roared again, “This tower is mine!”

He ignored Shang Xia’s question completely, his howl echoing through the empty void.