Martial Cultivator

A faint curve tugged at the corner of Autumn’s lips.

Chen Chao, on the other hand, felt a ripple of shock in his heart. The white tower before them was not a creation of the current era.

In fact, it was easy to distinguish. Though the cultivation sects of this age differed in many ways, whether in daoist techniques or written language, they still shared common forms.

But the three characters before his eyes were not words from the present age at all; just like the three characters he had seen at Rongshan Sect. The difference was, back at Rongshan Sect, he had still been able to barely make out the characters, including the page of text he possessed. Though the writing on it also did not belong to this era, it was still able to convey meaning. But now, these characters before him carried no fluctuations of aura whatsoever, and Chen Chao could not decipher them at all.

Still, at least one thing was now certain: this white tower was a product of the previous era.

In other words, this entire place had been constructed by cultivators of the previous era. As for exactly how long ago that was, there was no way to say.

After all, the history of the human race that could be traced through written records spanned little more than a thousand years.

Autumn glanced at the snowy white doors but made no move.

Chen Chao hesitated, then said straightforwardly, “I don’t recognize the writing. It must be something from the previous era of cultivators.”

Then Chen Chao asked, “How long is your demon race’s history? A thousand years? Ten thousand?”

The recorded history of the human race was not long. Perhaps the demon race’s history went back further.

Autumn gave him a look and replied indifferently, “Only about a thousand years or so.”

She had considered this question before as well. Although the demon race was not fond of writing histories, major events still left traces. But the oldest stories barely stretched beyond a thousand years, no further.

Chen Chao murmured, “It’s as if someone deliberately erased that segment of history.”

There was no way the human race had only existed for a thousand or so years. After all, the Great Liang Dynasty alone had already lasted over two hundred years. The daoist cultivation methods in circulation also had at most a history of a thousand years. But those ancient sect ruins they had discovered had no place in any known record.

Logically speaking, those sects could not all have perished entirely.

More crucially, in the course of his understanding of martial artists, Chen Chao had confirmed several times that in the era before this one, martial artists could cultivate daoist methods.

All of this pointed to one thing, this era was a fragmented era.

“There is still a road beyond Nepenthe. A higher realm beyond that too, it’s not the end.”

Chen Chao spoke with some emotion, vaguely sensing the scent of a grand conspiracy.

Autumn looked at him and said coolly, “You can keep thinking about all that after you make it out alive. For now, we focus on getting out.”

Chen Chao nodded and did not say much else.

What Autumn said made perfect sense.

What they needed to consider now was how to open the door and what dangers might be waiting inside. No matter how one looked at it, this white tower beneath the lake was anything but ordinary.

”Maybe once we push the door open, a thousand arrows will shoot out and kill us on the spot, unable to dodge at all.”

Chen Chao lamented, trying to dispel the oppressive atmosphere.

Autumn made a rare joke for once, “In that case, I’ll hold you in front of me as a shield.”

The corners of Chen Chao’s mouth twitched.

The joke was a little cold.

After saying that, Autumn took a step back, signaling for Chen Chao to do something.

Chen Chao was taken aback, frowning. “Why me?”

Autumn ignored him. That butterfly earlier had looked effortless, but in reality, she had paid a considerable price.

Her current condition was not any better than Chen Chao’s.

Chen Chao looked at Autumn, but did not argue further. He stepped forward to the door, gently released his divine sense, and only after confirming there was nothing unusual did he place his hand on the door. After a moment of silence, Chen Chao slowly pushed.

The door... opened just like that.

Chen Chao froze for a second, then quickly dodged to the side. The door had opened too easily, he could not help but worry that something was wrong.

But as the door opened, nothing strange happened. He only saw a faint ripple right past the threshold.

Autumn glanced at Chen Chao, seemingly a little displeased with his caution. After a brief pause, she stepped directly through the door.

Chen Chao opened his mouth, lamenting inwardly again.

This tigress.

Then, he followed her in.

......

......

Passing through the rippling veil and entering the building, Chen Chao immediately felt his breathing become much smoother. While cultivators could remain underwater for extended periods, it was never exactly comfortable nor sustainable.

Air was ultimately something everyone needed.

Now that he had entered this place, that sense of pressure was gone. It felt like he was back on dry land. Though he did not know why, it was far preferable to staying submerged.

With one hand on the hilt of his saber, Chen Chao surveyed his surroundings.

So far, the scene before him still appeared normal. The construction of this white tower did not differ much from the pavilions and buildings of the present age. The ground floor could be taken in at a glance. There was not much here: aside from a dozen or so arranged meditation cushions, there was only a jade table at the front, atop which sat a small incense burner with several broken incense sticks inside. Judging by their appearance, the incense seemed to have only recently gone out. On the wall behind the jade table hung a damaged painting.

The lower half of the painting had been torn off, leaving only the upper portion - a partial face. The figure in the portrait wore a ceremonial headdress that somewhat resembled the daoist coronets of the present age, but was clearly not quite the same.

Not much could be discerned from the half a face that remained, only that the figure’s eyes were striking, exuding a gentle, breeze-like warmth.

That person was likely some ancestral founder, though for some reason, half the portrait had been torn away.

Autumn swept her gaze around the room before fixing her eyes on the staircase nearby.

The staircase appeared to be crafted from some kind of white jade, giving it an air of extraordinary refinement.

Chen Chao took a few steps forward, bypassing the cushions to reach the painting. He glanced at the incense burner, then reached out to pick it up.

After carefully inspecting it, he shook his head at Autumn.

Still unwilling to give up, Chen Chao then went to flip the cushions one by one. He had found good things beneath meditation cushions more than once in the past, he thought this time would be no different. But in the end, it proved a fruitless effort.

“Upstairs.”

Autumn tossed out the words and began walking upstairs.

Chen Chao followed helplessly. He still felt this woman was far too casual in situations like this.

Perhaps demons rarely placed traps or mechanisms in such places, but this was clearly a human cultivator’s domain; hardly one to treat lightly.

The two soon arrived at the second floor. The scene here was slightly different from the first level, though not drastically so. The jade table and portrait were gone, replaced by a slightly elevated platform.

In front of the platform were more meditation cushions, and atop the platform was a single cushion as well.

“This was probably a place for preaching the Dao. Maybe this used to be a sect, and this was where the sect elders transmitted the Dao to their juniors.”

Though it was not from this era, many such things were not so different after all.

Autumn remained expressionless.

She had little interest in these matters. She only wanted to find a way out. By now, she could clearly feel her qi circulating more and more slowly.

It would not be long before she completely became an ordinary person.

Of course, Chen Chao would be no exception either.

Chen Chao said, “Let’s check the third floor.”

As before, he flipped over all the cushions again, finding nothing.

Autumn gave a slight nod and began ascending to the third floor.

The two of them quickly arrived. The arrangement here was different again: numerous talismans hung all around, though all of them had clearly lost their spiritual energy and now resembled nothing more than scraps of paper.

Autumn walked among them, unconcerned about brushing against any of them. She passed through them and finished inspecting this place quickly.

Still, nothing out of the ordinary.

By this point, Autumn was beginning to feel rather frustrated. If there were something here, anything at all, that would be fine. But the most disturbing thing was the absence of all irregularities. Everything appeared normal.

Chen Chao said, “This place must be related to the daoist sects. Talismans are their specialty. But then again, it might be something else entirely...”

”No shit.”

Autumn spat out two words.

Chen Chao rubbed his face, inwardly admitting it had been a pointless comment.

The two then looked toward the staircase, preparing to ascend again.

Suddenly, Chen Chao asked, “If we just keep going like this, how many floors are there going to be?”

When they had fallen down earlier, Chen Chao had already sensed that this white tower was far from short. Though it was not as tall as the Three Thousand Storeys, it likely still had at least several hundred floors.

Autumn said, “We’ll only know once we climb. Besides, don’t you humans like to put the best things right at the very top?”

Chen Chao nodded. What she said was true, just like the Three Thousand Storeys, the best things were always at the top.

Autumn said no more and continued heading upstairs.

Before long, they reached the fourth floor, and the two finally stopped, because here there were rows of bookshelves. Though the shelves were not packed, there were still several scattered books placed on them.

Chen Chao stepped up to one shelf, gently reached out to take a book, and opened it. After flipping it open, his expression instantly turned sour.

Goddamn it, it was this language again!

Autumn leaned over to take a look, then let out a cold laugh.

Chen Chao sighed. “I never thought there’d come a day I’d become someone who can’t even read.”

Autumn thought for a moment and said, “Try using divine sense.”

Chen Chao nodded. He had considered that too, if he used his divine sense to read, he might be able to connect with the lingering aura of the book’s author and perhaps glean the book’s contents that way.

He released his divine sense, letting it spread into the book. Before long, Chen Chao’s brows lifted slightly.

It worked!

Autumn waited silently for Chen Chao to respond.

But soon, Chen Chao shook his head in disappointment. “It’s a useless book. It’s just about the qualities and types of various plants and herbs.”

He sighed. “Maybe all the useful things were already taken long ago, and what’s left are just scraps.”

Autumn said calmly, “Look through all of them before you decide.”

If they wanted to leave this place, not a single clue could be overlooked.

Chen Chao nodded without argument. At this point, it was their only option.

He quickly put down the book in his hand and reached for another one.

Then a third...

Until he reached the seventh.

Suddenly, a light flickered in Chen Chao’s eyes. “This book is useful.”