Chapter 448: 423 Legend of the Shadow

Lamps lit up one by one; in the deep, dark night, only Moyun Tower shone with brilliant light!

It was as if someone who had fallen into a deep slumber was slowly waking up, opening a pair of bright, clear eyes.

Although this bit of light was so meager it didn't even count as the tip of the iceberg in the Shadow Kingdom, the shadow shrouded by Wangliang had truly been torn open.

Dawn has come!

If the lamp light Tang Zhao cast out was like a torch, then the lit-up Moyun Tower itself had transformed into a giant torch; not only were the edges and corners of its own architecture visible in fine detail, but it also drove away a vast expanse of darkness, with even a portion of the surrounding region turning into daytime.

Relying on that light, Tang Zhao saw the exquisite jade railings beneath Moyun Tower, saw the magnificent reliefs carved on the railings, saw the fresh flowers, grasses, and trees outside the railings, and saw the carp pond with its rippling green waves beneath the trees...

He truly and genuinely saw a corner of the Xiancheng; these scenes, liberated from a century of black shadows, still maintained their original appearance—the jade was warm and moist, the plants and trees were vibrant, as if they had never been tainted.

Shadows could take away a colorful cloud warrior dozens of feet tall, but they could not take away a tiny immortal herb beneath Moyun Tower. The fundamental reason was that this Xiancheng was not a Xiancheng, but the Sword Intent of a Ruyi Sword—the Sword Intent of a Sword Immortal.

As long as the Sword Immortal is still here, Baiyujing will never sink.

So, that Sword Immortal Highness must still be alive, right? Just like that Sword Saint of the Kun Sword in Jianzhou; even though no one has seen him for many years, he is still perfectly fine.

He was here feeling sentimental about his flash of inspiration, while the others were all scared silly.

Because of the white fox's concealment, no one above the clouds saw what Tang Zhao had done; they only saw a Xian Tower light up out of thin air, revealing a magnificent immortal atmosphere. Especially amidst the rolling black shadows, it happened to break through the gloom and shine brilliantly on its own, adding an even more breathtaking and stunning quality.

However, this was also incomprehensible; the fact that the Xian Tower suddenly lit up at this very moment was more of a shock than a stunning sight.

Especially since they had just gone through that intense surprise attack by the shadows, leaving everyone's nerves taut; seeing the sudden change in Moyun Tower, their first reaction was that the monsters in the black shadows had some new conspiracy.

But immediately after, they felt it wasn't the case, because the Xian Tower was truly too "immortal"—its whole body was filled with subtle essence, its atmosphere elegant, without a single crooked or evil quality. And the sunlight Tang Zhao used to light the lamps was even more upright and bright, shining brilliantly on the tower terrace, making people feel warm, and it could no longer be associated with the shadows.

Thus, the few of them had new guesses, staring together at the gate of the Xian Tower, wondering if there were still living people inside, and if lighting the lamps just now was a gesture of greeting, and they were about to come out to meet them.

However, after waiting and waiting, the gate remained tightly shut, and there was no sound or movement inside the Xian Tower, not appearing to have any trace of anyone, as if the light was just light, and it had opened for them automatically.

After waiting for a long time, Black Widow was the most romantic, saying to herself: "Is this the Xiancheng sensing our arrival, and exerting itself to light the lamps to welcome us? It seems we are the people chosen by destiny, and we will surely be able to awaken the Xiancheng from the darkness."

Yue Lai was not interested in this kind of self-aggrandizing rhetoric; he only looked at the sky to see if Meng Huazhou had any movement, analyzing whether all of this was a conspiracy orchestrated by Meng Huazhou.

Meng Huazhou had no movement, but the Sword Guest Shangguan, who had been silently conserving his energy, suddenly said: "You all look, what tower is that?"

Black Widow glanced at it, thinking: Can't you see for yourself? But she was also wary of the other party's currently irritable mood, fearing that if he got excited, he might chop off a finger to chop her, so she read the plaque of the Xian Tower and said: "Moyun Tower..."

Hearing these three words, the Sword Guest Shangguan sighed and stopped speaking.

Black Widow secretly guessed: Could it be that this isn't the place he was looking for? Does he know the specific location in the Xiancheng and already have a clear target? How did he know the details?

But this person clearly disdained telling them, and she wouldn't ask and ask for trouble. If the entire Xiancheng weren't wrapped in darkness and filled with danger everywhere, with only this bright isolated island able to protect them, they should have parted ways as soon as they entered the Xiancheng area; that would have been better for everyone. Now, being tied together, everyone felt awkward.

The Sword Guest Shangguan was not interested in Moyun Tower, but Black Widow was very interested in the first Xian Tower she had seen and wanted to go in and investigate, but unfortunately, the cloud beneath their feet was drifting further and further away, seemingly not stopping because Moyun Tower had been lit, and continued to sink into the darkness in the distance.

"You're back?!"

Seeing the cloud about to drift out of the light range of Moyun Tower, a white shadow emerged from a window and jumped onto the cloud; it was the white fox returning.

Seeing the white fox safe and sound and returning on its own, Tang Zhao was still quite happy and said: "It's good that you're back safely. Are you alright?"

The white fox's cheeks were bulging; it suddenly opened its mouth and spat out a large bundle of silk thread.

That ball of silk thread landed on the ground, coiled to the size of a cartwheel like a ball of hemp rope; one could see the threads were distinct, each as thick as a strand of hair.

Don't look at a strand of hair as already being very thin, but this was more than a hundred times thicker than the Cloud Silk that made up the Xiancheng.

Tang Zhao analyzed: "This is thread woven from Cloud Silk?"

So that's how Cloud Silk is stored, thin threads woven into thick threads and then coiled up?

It was reasonable; that kind of Cloud Silk was too thin, so thin it couldn't even be twisted, and it was too easy to get tangled into a ball when piled together. Just like cotton or linen fibers, they also have to be spun into thread first before they can be woven into cloth.

The white fox caught its breath, looked back at the light of Moyun Tower, the beautiful outline of the Xian Tower reflected in its eyes, as clear as a reflection in a lake, and said: "You did very well. Lighting the lamps... when the lights came on, I was dazed, and tears almost fell—it's a pity that the current me cannot shed tears. Upstairs and downstairs, it was just like it was in the beginning. It was as if they were still here."

"It's a pity that they are indeed no longer here."

While the white fox was melancholy, it said: "Just now when I went in, I only carried one lamp; the light was limited, and there were monsters in the shadows stirring restlessly. But later, when you lit the lamps, they were gone. Especially later when the whole tower was brilliant with light, there wasn't a shred of room for shadows. It truly repelled all evil; how could they have any room to harm people? It's just like the sun rising, the Earth Warming..."

Speaking of this, it sneered: "I think Dongjun in the legends should have such ability, right? When Dongjun appears, the sunlight shines everywhere, and the Yin Calamity disperses on its own; that is what you call Dongjun. What kind of thing is it that not only fails to quell the disaster but also brings the disaster running around everywhere..."

Tang Zhao coughed lightly to stop it from continuing to slander; he actually didn't worship Dongjun either, but he had some strange thoughts in his heart that made him feel it was better not to slander Dongjun casually.

The white fox was just saying that, and it casually changed the subject, saying somewhat heavily: "Just now I seemed to see the colorful cloud warrior again; such a big thing hiding in the tower, it probably wanted to attack me, but it dissipated as soon as the light came on."

Tang Zhao comforted it: "After all, it is a disaster; no one can be spared..."

The white fox shook its head and said: "No—I don't know how to say it, but I feel like it seems to be the same warrior as before, A Zhen."

Tang Zhao pondered slightly and said: "You mean, the one hiding in the tower and the one that attacked the Sword Guest Shangguan are the same colorful cloud warrior?"

The white fox said: "It should be, if I didn't recognize it wrong. Wasn't his shadow burned away by the sunlight before? Why is he hiding in Moyun Tower again? Did he escape back when the light shone just now? Then he ran too fast. I feel like he has been in Moyun Tower for a long time; I almost thought he originally lived in the tower."

Tang Zhao pondered: "Perhaps he really has been living in the tower all along?"

The white fox was startled, and Tang Zhao continued: "Actually, I also discovered the situation you found earlier. Before, there was a shadow among those besieging Manor Master Yin, a wolf with a missing ear. After it was dispersed by the light, it appeared again during the next attack. Perhaps wolves have similarities, but they can't always happen to be missing the same ear, right? So it is a fact that the same shadow individual will appear again."

He stated his own thinking: "A person may only have one physical body, but not necessarily only one shadow. I see that when literature mentions Wangliang, it always mentions the land of shadows it controls, as if everything tainted by Wangliang is dragged into its Shadow Kingdom. Perhaps there really exists a place like the Shadow Kingdom, where everyone is imprisoned. And the black shadows outside are just their reflections in the present world? So it's not strange to have one, two, or countless shadows. As long as the original body exists, the shadow can be regenerated at any time when broken; there are as many as you want."

The white fox was invigorated and said: "You mean, those who were swallowed might still be alive, just imprisoned, and we can still save them?"

Tang Zhao hesitated for a moment and said: "If we look at it in a good light..."

The white fox said: "Then let's look at it in a good light. They must all be alive! I want to rush into that so-called Shadow Kingdom and save them."

Realistically speaking, Tang Zhao was not very optimistic. The original body of Wangliang should be at Wangliang Mountain, so the Shadow Kingdom probably isn't here. This place might just be a large expanse of dark phantoms surrounding Baiyujing. It is already very rare to be able to rescue Baiyujing from this Wangliang, let alone go to the legendary Shadow Kingdom to save people.

He is a Sword Guest, and the white fox is a Sword Hero whose original body is unknown; how could they have such ability?

To call for friends and companions, or even to borrow the power of the Yunzhou government, that would take an unknown amount of time.

But at this moment, he had no need to extinguish the white fox's hope, so he said: "It's just that this also has a bad side. Before reaching the Shadow Kingdom, the enemies are endless and cannot be wiped out. One colorful cloud warrior might have a hundred shadows, and there are countless other monsters. Although my sunlight can drive away shadows, my power also has its limits; relying on my few lamps and one sword to drive away the Wangliang here is very difficult. It requires strategy..."

The white fox nodded and said: "I know, relying on us to defeat an enemy that even the Highness couldn't defeat is just my dream. I originally just wanted to return to my hometown regardless of life or death, and now I have actually arrived. Although I am a Sword Hero, my Sword Intent is at too much of a disadvantage fighting against Wangliang. Instead, I have relied on you all the way. I thank you—this is for you."

As it said this, it pushed the thread it had brought out from Moyun Tower earlier with its mouth.