After saying that, Xue Ranran quickly lit a fire and let Tu Jiuyuan rest for a while. She also heated some sugarcane juice crushed with stones for her to drink.
Tu Jiuyuan glanced at Xue Ranran but didn't thank her. She had grown up in a rather indifferent environment. If she accepted the kindness of others, she wouldn't express gratitude, but she would remember it in her heart and would want to repay it as soon as possible, so as not to owe anyone.
Wei Jiu, on the other hand, watched on coldly, clearly neglecting Tu Jiuyuan who had just survived a disaster.
Actually, he knew in his heart that apart from himself, Tu Jiuyuan had no other man, and judging by the months, it couldn't be the child of that fake. But she dared to secretly carry his child, which was already an unforgivable offense.
The Dragon youth beside the Dragon goddess, observing the situation with dissatisfaction, grunted. Xue Ranran couldn't understand, so the Dragon goddess translated for him, "He said there are too many damned men here, he really wants to eat one up…"
Hearing this, Wei Jiu and the Medicine Immortal both glared at the boy, unsure of whom he was cursing.
The dragon youth silently tucked his head into the Dragon goddess's arms, habitually arching for her to touch his little dragon horns.
This affectionate act made the Medicine Master Immortal feel rather sour.
But the situation was critical, and they didn't have much time to dwell on the love and hatred between men and women.
Perhaps due to the excessive force used in resisting the Heavenly calamity earlier, the protective shield, creating a gap.
As they entered, they encountered no resistance from the followers of the Fantian Sect. The mountain path was empty, with birds and beasts fleeing through the gap in the shield. The entire mountain seemed as deserted as its name suggested.
In this way, they arrived smoothly near the Spirit Tower.
Upon reaching the tower, they realized why they had encountered no obstacles along the way. It seemed that the tower had been almost completed, and the followers of the Fantian Sect couldn't control themselves, committing suicide one after another, their blood splashing into the ditch at their feet and forming a small river absorbed by the Spirit Tower.
Mu Ranwu was among them, uncontrollably drawing out her sword as well.
Her spiritual power far exceeded that of the other followers. Combined with witnessing the fate of those followers, her face was now ashen with fear, as she struggled to control her power and tried to release the sword in her hand.
But that power was too strong. She couldn't control her hand at all. Just then, she saw Xue Ranran and the others rushing over and immediately screamed in panic, "Elder sister, hurry! Save me!"
Xue Ranran was truly disgusted by that "elder sister" term. But she also knew that she must not let the Spirit Tower complete its blood sacrifice, so she controlled her short sword and aimed for Mu Ranwu's wrist, trying to knock the sword out of her hand.
Mu Ranwu was exhausted at this point and couldn't control her wrist anymore. Her sword, after deflecting the short blade, stabbed straight towards her own throat.
At this critical moment, Ranran's other four short swords swiftly attacked.
Her skill in controlling the swords had become even more proficient, allowing her to simultaneously control five short blades at will. As the five blades swiftly attacked, they barely managed to block the sword aimed at Mu Ranwu's throat.
In the gap where the sword was blocked, Su Yi Shui swung his hand and deflected the sword.
Mu Ranwu, still unable to control herself, picked up another sword discarded by another follower and continued to try to cut her throat. By now, tears were streaming down her face. "Sister, please save me! I don't want to die yet!"
Xue Ranran rushed up and used her mechanism staff to once again knock the sword out of Mu Ranwu's hand.
As the sky grew darker, the Medicine Immortal raised true fire into the sky, illuminating the surroundings of the dark tower.
When the fire flickered, Xue Ranran noticed that Mu Ranwu's eyes, which were close to her, had a moment where their pupils turned into thin lines like snake eyes, giving off an indescribable eerie feeling.
Although her pupils quickly returned to normal after being illuminated by the fire, this momentary change was enough to alert Xue Ranran.
Sure enough, just as Ranran leaned closer, Mu Ranwu's sword suddenly reversed and stabbed directly at her.
Although Xue Ranran was wary now, it was still too late to dodge. She thought of the soft silver armor made for her by Zeng Yi and could only mobilize her true vitality to resist this sword.
But the sword in Mu Ranwu's hand seemed to be very unusual. When it stabbed straight at her, it carried a sharp evil energy that could split mountains and stones, pierced through her protective true vitality, and stabbed straight at Xue Ranran's chest.
Just as she thought she couldn't dodge this sword, a hand suddenly extended from a diagonal direction, with two fingers holding the sword body, and true qi flowed along the fingers, making the sword emit a clang sound.
Mu Ranwu looked up and saw that Su Yi Shui had arrived in time and caught the sword for Xue Ranran.
However, Mu Ranwu was not alarmed. She smirked maliciously and gently flipped her wrist holding the sword. Suddenly, more than a dozen long needles shot out from the handle of the sword, once again aiming at Xue Ranran.
This time, it was too fast. Although Su Yi Shui used true energy to send out a shockwave in time, one of the long needles still pierced through the true qi and stabbed directly at Xue Ranran's chest.
Although she had the soft silver armor protecting her, the needle tip still pierced through Ranran's skin.
In that instant, Ranran felt a fiery pain and immediately realized – this needle was contaminated, it seemed to have some kind of poison!
At this moment, Su Yi Shui had already reversed his sword and pierced through Mu Ranwu's heart.
Only to see Mu Ranwu's body quickly turning into green smoke, leaving behind only a grinning skull…
This "Mu Ranwu" was obviously fake, a creation of the nine-headed snake, which is why her eyes had a momentary snake-like change when facing the light.
Although the fake immediately perished, a green smoke started to rise from Xue Ranran's head.
Wei Jiu and Tu Jiuyuan have experienced this. Seeing this situation, their faces changed, and they shouted together, "Not good! She's been poisoned by the nine-headed python venom!"
Before they finished speaking, the green smoke condensed and indeed transformed into another Xue Ranran, identical in appearance and clothing, without any difference.
As soon as the fake formed, she suddenly turned and leaped towards the nearby bushes, disappearing without a trace.
Xue Ranran was fed a poison-clearing pill by Su Yi Shui, finally easing the pain from the snake venom.
At this moment, the ditch surrounding the Spirit Tower was flowing with thick black blood. After absorbing this blood, the Spirit Tower seemed to start breathing, as if it were a human body, undulating and wriggling.
However, these blood sacrifices were obviously just appetizers, not enough to activate the Spirit Tower.
Now Xue Ranran was more worried about why the Fantian Sect had gone to such lengths to create a shadow of herself?
Just then, the Medicine Immortal looked towards the top of the tower, his face suddenly changing, and he whispered, "The Demon King…"
Everyone looked up and saw a shiny golden skull at the top of the tower.
Xue Ranran and Su Yi Shui immediately recognized it as the skull of the Demon King that had been stolen from the secret cave in the Red Flame Mountain.
This skull had not been refined all this time, gathering the resentment of the Demon King. Now it was placed high on the tower, its purpose unknown.
Xue Ranran shouted, "Elder Duntian, please come out and talk!"
But her voice echoed in the empty mountains, with no response.
The bone tower was steeped with the blood of the Green dragon, a blatant provocation to the guardian god of the dragons. Therefore, the goddess couldn't hold back anymore and transformed into a golden dragon again, accumulating true energy and fiercely attacking the tower.
Ranran immediately shouted, "Stop!"
The golden dragon charged too fast and didn't listen to her. Just as its tail was about to sweep the tower, the black bone tower actually emitted a roar similar to a wild beast. Many sharp bone spurs suddenly appeared on its sticky and wriggling surface. These spurs could penetrate even the tough dragon scales, piercing through the golden dragon's tail.
These bone spurs acted like mosquito proboscises, greedily sucking the dragon's blood once they pierced through.
Dragon blood was the source of a dragon's spiritual power. Once drained, their strength would greatly diminish. So the guardian goddess immediately let out a painful groan and quickly retreated, trying to shake off the bone tower.
However, the adhesive force of these bone spurs was extremely strong, firmly hooking onto the golden dragon.
At this moment, the Medicine Immortal and the Dragon youth were both alarmed and rushed over together.
The Dragon youth flipped his body, transforming into a dragon shimmering with flowing light, and used his dragon claws to pull the golden dragon, while the Medicine Immortal drew out a sharp blade and hacked at the adhered bone spurs.
With their combined effort, they finally rescued the guardian goddess.
When the golden dragon transformed back into human form and fell down exhausted, Ranran noticed that the bone spurs were embedded with barbs and were stuck in her flesh.
"No, this tower is alive, frantically absorbing the flesh and blood of nearby spirits. We have no way to overturn it!"
The goddess endured the severe pain and said in a low voice. No wonder the immortals of the heavenly realm made such a ruthless decision. Only by overturning the tower by leveling the lands and burying it deep in the abyss could they deal with it. They should have long anticipated that this tower would be difficult to approach, and both humans and gods were powerless against it!
Wei Jiu gritted his teeth, "What should we do? Will my years of foundation have to be buried along with Dun Tian's Spirit Tower?"
All his foundation was in the Red Flame Mountain. If they couldn't overturn the Spirit Tower, it meant that his many years of effort would be ruined. Moreover, the Spirit Towers chose locations with concentrated spiritual energy.
After the earth-leveling catastrophe, it would be difficult to find a suitable place for cultivation. When his spiritual energy is finally depleted, perhaps he would gradually age, fall ill and die like an ordinary mortal, achieving nothing but turning into dust.
Just then, the voice of Dun Tian echoed in the vast darkness, "If I don't let you try, how would you know your own capabilities? This bone tower not only has the flesh and blood of the Green dragon but also boosted by the spiritual essence of the Demon King. It has become a tower with both form and spirit. You are no match for it, so don't dream of ants shaking the tree…"
Su Yi Shui looked around and loudly said, "The Heavenly realm will not allow you to go against the heavens. Instead of involving countless innocent lives, why not stop now!"
In the dark night, there came a melancholic laughter, "I just want to retrieve my most precious thing, but there are so many people trying to stop me. To become an immortal, one must undergo countless trials, sacrifice their most precious things. But what about after becoming an immortal? The Heavenly realm decides to overturn the world to destroy the spirit towers, and kill so many lives just by using a light phrase like 'it's the will of Heaven'?"
Su Yi Shui said coldly, "When you decided to sacrifice your wife and child, it was your own choice! Since you made the decision, why regret it now?"
Duntian stopped laughing, his voice filled with an intense coldness. "And you? When you watched Mu Qingge's soul scatter, powerless to do anything, didn't you regret it? Didn't you want to kill everyone on the righteous path present there for her sake? Didn't you want to break through heaven and earth, pulling her back from the underworld?"
Su Yi Shui remained silent, but what Duntian said was indeed his state of mind twenty years ago when he witnessed that tragic scene.
Although he had never met Duntian, this powerful being who fell into darkness could accurately express his thoughts from back then. Was it pure coincidence, or…
At this moment, however, Ranran spoke with unwavering conviction, "He won't!"
"Oh? Why are you so sure? Do you really understand this man? He's like that Demon King, both chosen demonic sons of destiny, destined to plunge the world into chaos and suffering!"
Facing Duntian's questioning, Ranran spoke earnestly, "He won't, because he knows that if he did those things, I wouldn't live happily, and I wouldn't want to continue living this way. Isn't the reality proof enough? He didn't do anything as insane as you did because of my death."
Seemingly persuaded by her words, Duntian fell silent for a long while before saying, "Go now. This tower is about to activate, and everything in the world will be reset. I hope you don't make choices you'll regret…"
After saying this, a strong gust of wind swept through, lifting several people up and blowing them straight down the mountain.
In this sudden gust of wind, they were scattered.
When they have stabilized, they found themselves at the foot of the mountain.
Tu Jiuyuan's body had been weak for a while, compounded by severe morning sickness recently, causing her footing to be unsteady, almost crashing into a tree just now.
Fortunately, Wei Jiu grabbed her arm, and steadied her.
"Be careful…" Wei Jiu said.
Upon hearing this, Tu Jiuyuan couldn't help but look at him, her eyes seemingly trembling with something. But Wei Jiu's next words shattered her heart: "When this matter is settled, find a reliable clinic and abort the child… Once you give birth to a mortal, you'll have no chance of ascending to heaven!"
Tu Jiuyuan took a sharp breath, silently withdrew her arm, and lowered her eyes. "The child in my belly… has nothing to do with Your Excellency. I will take good care of it. Please don't worry Excellency…"
Wei Jiu was accustomed to Tu Jiuyuan's absolute obedience. Now, hearing her veiled words, he was immediately enraged. However, before he could glare, Tu Jiuyuan clutched her stomach and collapsed weakly, appearing exhausted.
With Wei Jiu's temperament, facing insubordination from subordinates, there was never much talk, only decisive action. But now, looking at Tu Jiuyuan's pale face, he recalled the strange sensation when he thought Tu Jiuyuan had died in the inn…
And so he stilled his whip that was about to strike out. He thought: once this matter is settled, he could settle the score with her slowly.
At this moment, other people blown down from the mountain also steadied themselves.
The Dragon goddess's injury from the bone tower's barbs continued to bleed, which would incur the loss of divine power. It needed to be stopped immediately.
The Medicine Immortal was anxious and tried to remove the bone spines for her healing. However, the goddess evaded, coldly saying, "No need, Ranran will help to treat me."
Su Yi Shui from Xishan had excellent medical skills, and Xue Ranran, as his beloved disciple, naturally learned a bit. She even carried medicinal ointments for stopping bleeding.
So Ranran immediately took out the medicine bag from her bosom and used the tweezers inside to remove the bone spines for the Guardian.
The Medicine Immortal felt a chill after hitting this cold wall. At this moment, he somewhat understood Duntian's feelings. The desire to turn back time, to correct mistakes, was indeed agonizing.
But now, Fengmou refused to forgive him, so he could only stand silently aside, watching Ranran skillfully remove the bone spines and apply the ointment to stop the bleeding for Fengmou…
The night grew darker, approaching midnight, with only the True Fire from the Medicine Immortal illuminating them. The oppressive force from above grew stronger, making it hard to breathe.
They knew that if they didn't figure out a way to topple the Heaven-Defying Tower, they would have to retreat.
The Divine Punishment would arrive as scheduled at midnight tomorrow, and within the Four Peaks, there wouldn't be a single piece of intact land. Whether mortal or divine, if they stayed here, they would be dragged into the abyss below, with no chance of escape.
At this moment, Gao Cang, Bai Baishan, as well as Wang Suizhi and Qiu Xier who had stayed at the inn, also rushed back to join them in the darkness.
According to Bai Baishan, they went to nearby government offices and villages to deliver letters, but the officials and villagers looked at them as if they were crazy.
Even if they spoke the truth earnestly, no one believed them. There was even a villager who was particularly aggressive, using farming tools to drive them out of the village.
"Now, we can only hope your letter to the Emperor arrives in time. But the Emperor is far away. Even if Su Yu believed this, he probably wouldn't have time to evacuate so many people…" Bai Baishan's shoes were worn with holes, he relayed these words with frustration as he took them off.
When Qiu Xier saw Tu Jiuyuan, she couldn't help but cried out in fright.
It couldn't be helped, when she was back at the inn, she had been frightened by the fake Tu Jiuyuan. Now, seeing her again, she couldn't help but doubt her authenticity.
At this moment, faint sounds of drums came from a distance, marking midnight.
So Gao Cang said, "Junior sister, don't be afraid. I'll verify the truth for you!"
Saying that, he lifted the torch brought along to illuminate and came to Tu Jiuyuan.
Although this Elder from the Crimson Gate was weak physically, her aura remained undiminished. She glared coldly at Gao Cang.
Her expression resembled a dead demonic snake, but her shadow was glaringly visible, very real.
Obviously, this Tu Jiuyuan who had escaped from death was genuine.
Gao Cang looked and said to Qiu Xier, "Junior Sister, don't be afraid. This Tu Jiuyuan has a shadow!"
Since it was midnight, Gao Cang enthusiastically lifted the torch again to shine it on the others.
Originally it was just out of boredom, trying to find amusement in hardship, but his smile froze suddenly when he shone the light on one of them.
That person… had no shadow beneath their feet!
Gao Cang stiffened his neck, slowly raised his head, and holding the torch, he stared at this person's face, cold sweat beading on his forehead…
The person's smile was as sweet as ever, "Senior brother, what's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost?"
Xue Ranran was staring innocently with her big eyes, speaking cheerfully to Gao Cang.
Gao Cang's chin dripped with cold sweat, and his gaze moved back to Xue Ranran's feet—indeed, there was nothing, no shadow!
"Ah… she… she's not Ranran!" Accompanied by Gao Cang's cry of horror, everyone's gaze also focused on Xue Ranran.
Xue Ranran herself also looked down, then lifted her head in confusion, "Strange… where did my shadow go?"
Just then, a clear voice came from the nearby bushes, "Shifu! Be careful, there's a snake demon impersonating me!"
With those words, another Xue Ranran gasping for breath emerged from the bushes.
Gao Cang shouted, "Stay back!" Then, he raised the torch and shone it at the feet of the newcomer —a clear shadow appeared.
It seemed that this newcomer was the real one. They had just been blown down the mountain by Duntian's evil wind, and everything had been chaotic.
Perhaps this imposter took advantage of the chaos to slip into their midst.
Fortunately, Gao Cang used the torch to check everyone on a whim, otherwise, who knew what this imposter might have got up to!
Just then, the imposter seemed unwilling to give up, urgently saying, "What's going on? I am the real Xue Ranran! My… where did my shadow go? Shifu! You have to believe that I'm the real one!"
Saying that, she rushed towards Su Yi Shui urgently.
But Su Yi Shui drew his sword, pressing it against her throat in time, "Don't move!"
The real Xue Ranran looked at the imposter with disgust, shouting loudly, "Shifu, this must be the imposter that appeared after I was poisoned earlier. Quick! Cut off her head to prevent her from causing more trouble!"
The imposter seemed furious, her face turning red, "You shut up! You're the fake one!"
Su Yi Shui seemed too lazy to continue this farce, and with a twist of his wrist, he aimed his sword straight at the imposter's neck.
However, the imposter seemed to perfectly mimic Xue Ranran's skills, bouncing and evading fluidly, not falling behind at all. It seemed that killing her wouldn't be easy.
Seeing this, Xue Ranran immediately drew her own mechanical staff, joining Su Yi Shui in battling the imposter.
Once she joined the fray, the imposter's disadvantage became evident. In just a few rounds, her mechanical staff was knocked out of her hand. Xue Ranran swiftly shook her staff, knocking the imposter onto Su Yi Shui's sword.
In the flickering torchlight, the sword pierced through the imposter's chest, crimson blood immediately dripping down the tip of the sword, staining her pristine white clothes.