As the meeting was the next morning, I still had quite a few hours with nothing to do, so I decided to head to the frontlines. Okay, that technically wasn"t correct. I could spend the next few hours working on my Terminator Profound Bomb…I mean Sunburst, or train, or any number of other things that would contribute to the war effort, but I decided to join my comrades in the Blood Blades.

I hadn"t gotten very far when I heard someone call out to me.

"Fei Wu!"

Turning around, I caught sight of Tong Xue waving at me from down the corridor. I paused to wait for him to catch up, not at all surprised that I ran into him. After all, both of us being from Blood Blades, we lived in the same apartment. Actually, Tong Xue was my neighbor. He must have knocked on my door and found that I wasn"t in, and was heading down to look for me when he spotted me emerging into the corridor.

If he noticed me exiting Pang Feng"s apartment, he didn"t say anything about it. Instead, he focused on more pertinent matters.

"Shouldn"t you be resting? You"ve a meeting with Sect Leader tomorrow."

"Nah. I slept the whole day, I can"t sleep now." I shook my head and waved his statement away. "I thought I should go check on the others."

"You don"t have to worry about that." Tong Xue chuckled as he patted my shoulder. "We"ll a.s.sign you a shift soon enough."

"I"m sure," I replied dryly. "But for now I want to see the scene with my own eyes and learn how to fight them off. I wasn"t involved in the first defense, and I want to see how the Blood Blades deployed and how they used their battle-automata."

"Good idea." Tong Xue nodded thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, I wasn"t involved either. I should go find out too!"

That led to him accompanying me out of the dormitory building and toward the outer sect, just behind the walls that demarcated our main sect grounds. I could still see the ten sects milling about in the distance, wary of being gunned down by suddenly appearing giant robots.

However, on our way to the frontlines, we pa.s.sed by the plaza. The nine Spirit Engraved Pillars were shrouded in darkness, illuminated faintly only by streetlamps and public lightning, but otherwise their towering forms seemed to meld with the night sky, almost as if their top halves were rising into the heavens above.

The moment I pa.s.sed by them, I suddenly felt an ominous feeling creep over me. A sensation that I was very familiar with by now, but one that I could never get used to.

"You again," I muttered under my breath as I sensed my invisible spiritual barrier ripple as an unseen shadowy tendril struck against it. "What do you want?"

"Hmm?" Tong Xue glanced at me. "Did you say something?"

"Nothing important," I a.s.sured him. Pushing my gla.s.ses up, I turned to study the nine Spirit Engraved Pillars. A tinge of sadness touched me when I considered that if the ten sects succeeded in destroying Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, they would either destroy the nine Spirit Engraved Pillars or divide them among themselves.

The greedy b.a.s.t.a.r.ds…

I vowed not to let that happen. Just as I made that promise to myself, I could sense the intense killing intent emanating from the shadowy existence sealed beneath the nine Spirit Engraved Pillars. I couldn"t help but shudder from the psychic shock, despite the protection that the spiritual barrier of my Snow Aegis afforded me.

"?"

That was when I realized that the killing intent was not directed at me. The shadowy tendrils withdrew and seemed to probe elsewhere. They seemed to be scouting the ten sects who had gathered outside Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.

Perhaps the shadowy existence was hoping to find a new host among them, someone else he could possess and then make use of the body for himself. After all, all his attempts to possess me had failed so far, and he must be getting frustrated and impatient.

I didn"t blame him. Actually, I was pretty happy about that. If the monster shifted his murderous attention away from me and toward my enemies, wouldn"t that be to my benefit? h.e.l.l, I could even set him on the ten sects and wait for him to wipe them out. I almost smiled at the idea.

Until I realized the implications and consequences of such an action.

Unleashing such a monster on the enemy lines would wipe them out, yeah, and judging from the enormous, boundless power I sensed from him with my Heavenly Flow and Earthly Steps, I was pretty sure that he could do just that. The problem was his intention after he wiped the ten sects out – he would undoubtedly turn his attention on Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. I would have just released an uncontrollable monster that would wipe out not just our enemies but us, a far worse enemy than the Martial Arts Alliance a.s.sailing us at the moment.

As they said, I would be causing Nine-Tailed Fox Sect to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire. At least with the ten sects, I knew we would be able to hold them off for a good while, until the Imperial Guard arrived. But this monster was far too dangerous to gamble on. If he turned out to be G.o.dlike and powerful enough to destroy ten sects on his own, there was no telling what he would do to us. I hardly doubted our chances against him would be higher than that of the ten invading sects.

"Fei Wu?"

I realized that I had been zoning out the entire time. Tong Xue was staring at me worriedly. I scratched my head sheepishly.

"Sorry. I was just thinking about something."

I turned my attention back to the Spirit Engraved Pillars. The shadowy presence was staining all nine pillars right now. I hardly doubted that the seal had weakened, but this was the first time he had crept so far out. Perhaps the shadowy exisence was doing so because he detected the horde of fresh meat just beyond the main sect grounds, and was straining himself as best as he could.

I shuddered for a moment, and then frowned when I noticed something that astonished me to my core.

"This…"

The qi that the shadowy presence was exuding. While I initially thought it was familiar because I had several close brushes with him in the past, now I inexplicably felt a strong sense of nostalgia. I didn"t know why, but I felt as if I should recognize the shadowy presence, as if he was someone I had met a very long time ago, but I couldn"t place my finger on his precise ident.i.ty, or where I had encountered him before.

For some reason, he reminded me of Master…

"Impossible!"

"What is?" Tong Xue was staring at me, incredibly concerned. I shook my head, though this time it was more to clear my mind than to a.s.sure him.

"He can"t be Master," I murmured to myself. Taking a step forward, the feeling of familiarity grew stronger, but I refused to believe it. "This can"t be right."

There was no way this person was Master. Master died a few years ago, at the hands of the accursed Martial Arts Alliance – the very Martial Arts Alliance that was attacking the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect right now.

Yet this person was emanating qi that was very similar to my late master. No, now that I calmed down and thought about it, his qi was very similar to mine.

Then everything clicked. Why else would this shadowy presence choose me alone out of so many candidates, such as Liang Shao Yang? It certainly wasn"t because of some stupid reason like me being the protagonist. Most likely he thought of me as being the only compatible host for his disembodied spirit.

And why would he find me compatible? Because we had very similar qi. It all clicked now. But why was our qi so similar?

No, the real question was, why was his qi so similar to both mine and Master"s? The only explanation was that he practiced the same martial arts as us.

This shadowy being…how is he related to the Heaven and Earth Sect?

I swallowed as a few of the pieces fell into place, only to lead to a much larger mystery. I wasn"t ashamed to admit that it disturbed me tremendously. The shadowy existence felt ancient, even though he was nowhere as old as the Spirit Engraved Pillars themselves or Nine-Tailed Fox Sect itself. There was no way he could be related to the Heaven and Earth Sect, or at least not for several centuries. Not unless Heaven and Earth Sect was that old…

A precursor to Heaven and Earth Sect, maybe?

Suddenly, I remembered what Lei Yong Chun told me so long ago. That if I wanted to advance my Heaven and Earth Formula, I would do well to investigate the Spirit Engraved Pillars.

That guy…did he know about this? If what he said was true, then it might explain everything. But how did Lei Yong Chun find out? What else did he know? Were there any other secrets regarding the Spirit Engraved Pillar or Heaven and Earth Sect that he didn"t tell me (not that he was obligated to)?

"Hey, Fei Wu! What"s going on? Talk to me, man! You"re scaring me!"

Tong Xue shook my arm, bringing me back to reality. I tore my gaze away from the Spirit Engraved Pillars and shook my head.

"Sorry." I took a deep breath and composed myself. "Tong Xue, please head to the frontlines without me. I"m going to check the Spirit Engraved Pillars for a bit. I shouldn"t take too long. I"ll catch up once I"m done."

Tong Xue was astounded. "Are you seriously trying to comprehend a fourth Spirit Engraved Pillar right now? I mean, that"s cool and all, but in case you haven"t noticed, we"ve more important things to worry about at this juncture."

"No, I"m not trying to gain enlightenment." I gulped, my face pale. "If I"m not mistaken, there"s an even larger threat dwelling beneath the Spirit Engraved Pillars, and I intend to find out what it is. I want to ensure it doesn"t pose a threat."

"Huh?" Tong Xue"s jaw dropped in disbelief. I didn"t blame him. I could hardly believe it myself, though admittedly I was just fancifully making an excuse to justify my approach to the Spirit Engraved Pillars. There was some truth, though. I had to stop the shadowy being from forcibly possessing one of the martial artists from the other sects, or we would unleash an unprecendented monster on the Great Zhou Empire. "A threat? Under the Spirit Engraved Pillars? Really?"

"Well, I could be mistaken," I admitted. Best not to sound too confident and raise any suspicions. "But I want to check, just in case. It would be disastrous if another enemy appear behind our lines while we"re trying to repel the Martial Arts Alliance."

"Good point," Tong Xue conceded with a nod. He glanced at the Spirit Engraved Pillars and frowned, no doubt not sensing anything dangerous from it. "I"ll let the others know. Do you need any help?"

"No. and, uh, best not to inform the others. I don"t want to create unnecessary panic and lower morale." Last thing I knew was for rumors to spread.

Tong Xue seemed to accept my remark at face value, for he nodded and headed off without any arguments. Heaving a sigh of relief, I then turned back toward the Spirit Engraved Pillars and approached it with not a small amount of trepidation.

Am I really doing the right thing? I wondered to myself. Well, too late now. I was committed. There was no turning back.

Taking another deep breath, I sat down in front of one of the Spirit Engraved Pillars. Ironically, it was the one with demon motifs, the one that Liang Shao Yang gained enlightenment from. Obviously I wasn"t going to gain any enlightenment from it, and I had no intention of doing so. I was more focused on communicating with all of the Spirit Engraved Pillars at the moment.

And with the shadowy existence. From experience, I was confident that the talkative geezer wouldn"t hesitate to rant and converse with me.

Closing my eyes and sitting cross-legged, I meditated and allowed a wisp of my spiritual consciousness to drift out of my mind and into the pillar. I traced the Spirit Engravings with my spiritual sense, and they suddenly came to life.

Not just the pillar with demonic motifs. All nine Spirit Engraved Pillars came to life, shining extremely brightly and lighting up the night sky.

Oh, c.r.a.p. So much for keeping this from the others and not causing any panic. Well, they probably wouldn"t panic unless Tong Xue told them about my suspicions, but they must be wondering why the h.e.l.l I decided to go meditate under the Spirit Engraved Pillars during a crisis like this. To them, I must appear as if I didn"t know my priorities.

Too late, in any case. I had delved into the Spirit Engraved Pillars too deeply to stop now, and I couldn"t help but plummet into yet another Spirit World.

This time, I was vaguely aware that this wasn"t a Spirit World created by any of the Spirit Engraved Pillars. It was an abyss, a literal abyss that extended endlessly toward the bottom, a depthless black hole that spread out infinitely below and ensnared everything in darkness.

In contrast to the darkness was a bright sky, radiant and almost blinding. Clouds filled the clear, blue heavens, and the stark horizon where the two met gave off a surreal sensation, like two separate realms haphazardly sewn and st.i.tched together.

Surprisingly enough, there were also the nine Spirit Engraved Pillars, either their spiritual essences manifested within this Spirit World or perfect replicas of the originals that existed outside. I couldn"t tell which one. Yet the Spirit Engravings inscribed into their surfaces were most definitely identical to the ones on the plaza.

To confirm, I brought up a recorded image from my gla.s.ses and compared. Yup, they were exactly the same. Except that the Spirit Engravings were all moving, endowed with life of their own. Well, the physical ones in the material world did too, when I triggered a response from them, but I had a feeling that the spiritual ones here didn"t need any catalyst to be so lively.

"…"

Gulping, I glanced at the pillar with demon and monster motifs. They were all howling and bellowing ferociously, squirming violently as if trying to escape their invisible chains and restraints from the pillar. They snarled as they glared at me, their slavering jaws yawning to swallow me whole, only to snap a huge distance away from me. As long as I wisely didn"t get within range, they wouldn"t be able to bite me.

The divine rivers from the Heavenly Nine Winding River Diagram were flowing seamlessly to the sky, clear blue melding with azure blue. Unlike the monsters and demons in the other pillar, the waters were unbound, freely flowing upward to supply the heavens with water, though I doubted that deities and G.o.ds actualy needed to drink to live.

The snow from the pillar with snow motifs drifted slowly upward, much milder than the blizzard it trapped me in when I was accessing Heavenly Snow terminus Body.

And then the stargazing one was filling the dark abyss below with countless stars, turning it into a celestial plane that mirrored the daytime sky opposite it. It was as if day and night were staring at each other in the face, separated by a single plane of reflection.

Regardless of the motifs, the Spirit Diagrams of all nine Spirit Engraved Pillars were emanating a tremendous amount of qi that saturated the entire Spirit World that had somehow manifested itself around me.

Then I noticed the shadowy existence at the foot of all nine Spirit Engraved Pillars. Evidently, I was correct. The nine Spirited Engraved Pillars had been sealing the shadowy existence in an abyss Spirit World below them.

To my surprise, however, the shadowy existence wasn"t some behemoth monster or a terrifying demon. Rather, his appearance was underwhelming, especially when I had been feeling the astronomical amount of qi and strength overflowing from him all this time.

An emaciated old man was chained at the bottom of the nine Spirit Engraved Pillars, the cold, black, heavy iron chains wrapped around his limbs and body before criss-crossing each other in a complicated network that originated from the Spirit Engraved Pillars towering over him. He didn"t even look like a robust martial artist, just a skeletal old man who looked as if he was on the verge of starving to death.

If it wasn"t for the enormous amount of qi that dreadfully emanated from him, I would have thought he was no more than a half-dead geezer who would topple over from the lightest of breezes. Indeed, he looked so frail and weak, his head lowered as he stared at the dark, starry abyss that served as the ground.

Studying the thick, heavy chains, I suddenly understood that the Spirit Diagrams on the Spirit Engraved Pillars weren"t just there to reveal ancient technology or martial artists. They were formations, spells cast and inscribed to seal this shackled old man in a deep abyss for almost eternity.

"Oh, boy."

The old man raised his head, his white beard dangling from his chin in strands. He was completely bald, but his eyes were crimson, a pair of demonic orbs that seemed to sear straight into my soul.

"You"ve actually come to me yourself." The old man chuckled. "Have you finally thought of giving yourself over to me?"

I could see an array of shadow tendrils extending from behind him. Even though he was chained and shackled to the nine Spirit Engraved Pillars, he was still able to wield those shadows and attempt to a.s.sault me.

A testament to just how terrifyingly powerful he was.

"Nope," I replied. Snow Aegis had materialized before me, and the shadowy tendrils were deflected by the shimmering barrier that my Spirit Shield had generated. "I"m just here to check on you. Besides, you don"t need me." I jerked my head in a vague direction, mostly because we couldn"t see the outside world from here. "You"ve plenty of other hosts to choose from."

"Ah…so you realize what I"m doing."

The old man smiled bitterly and then hung his head somberly.

"As much as you are correct…it is unfortunate, but I have yet to find a suitable host." He then looked up again to grin at me. "Unless you"re kind enough to volunteer."

"Sorry, but I"m not that generous. I would rather keep control over my own body." I continued to hold Snow Aegis out in front of me.

"Then why are you here?" the old man narrowed his eyes. "As young as you are, even you shouldn"t be foolish to think you can stop me from taking over the body of one of those people gathered outside?"

"No. I"m not here to stop you or anything." I raised both my hands up and truthfully admitted. Even if I wanted to, I had no way of stopping him. He was that powerful. "I"m just here to ask you a question."

"Oh?" the old man looked intrigued. He was probably bored out of his mind, having been imprisoned in this place for centuries, so he didn"t seem to mind entertaining me. "What is it?"

"Do you know who You Hong Zhi is?" I asked. The old man blanched.

"Who…?"

"Never mind." I shook my head. "How about Tian Mo?"

The old man regarded me for a second, frowning in irritation. "Never heard of him."

That figured. I sighed in disappointment, wondering why I bothered. I had antic.i.p.ated that this old man woudn"t have heard of Master. They were several generations apart at least. Of course they would never have met.

However, there was still one last question in my mind, and I decided to give it a shot.

"What about the Heaven and Earth Sect?"

The old man"s expression suddenly changed, and I felt a tidal wave of rage wash over me violently, almost disintegrating my spiritual consciousness inside the Spirit World. I staggered, hiding behind Snow Aegis to keep my shreds of consciousness intact.

"Who the h.e.l.l are you?!" he demanded furiously. "And where did you hear that name from?!"

Despite being battered by his killing intent, I pushed my gla.s.ses up my nose and beamed at him.

"What do you mean where did I hear that name from?" My smile widened in an almost mocking manner. "I am a member of Heaven and Earth Sect."