Chapter 303: Merit Power Drained

Wei Zhenjie felt a bit disgusted watching Yuan Qi put on an air of profundity, so he didn't bother asking any more questions.

Because asking wouldn't get him anywhere.

Yuan Qi's lips were always tightly sealed; if any information ever came out of his mouth, it would certainly be something he wanted the world to know.

Wei Zhenjie fell silent, but Yuan Qi spoke up instead.

"Brother Wei, could you do me a favor? I'd like to take a look at the Ascending Heaven Tower."

Behind the administrative building of the Heavenly Department stood an ancient nine-story stone tower called the Ascending Heaven Tower.

Along with the Star Observing Tower and the Time Tower, the Ascending Heaven Tower was one of the three ancient towers on Central Street, its history stretching back to ancient times.

Wei Zhenjie stared at Yuan Qi for a moment, then said with a smile, "The moonlight is quite nice tonight. Come on, I'll go with you to the top to enjoy the night view." With that, he stood up and walked out.

Yuan Qi smiled and quickly followed.

With Wei Zhenjie leading the way, they soon reached the ninth floor of the Ascending Heaven Tower.

The ninth floor of the Ascending Heaven Tower was nothing but a smooth, mirror-like circular platform, with nothing to obstruct the view in any direction.

Standing on the ninth floor of the Ascending Heaven Tower, one could clearly see everything on the ninth floor of the Star Observing Tower.

On the ninth floor of the Star Observing Tower, aside from a white jade stone table, there was also half of a serpent's body.

The brilliant radiance illuminating the center came from the white jade stone table.

As time passed, the light was weakening.

Wei Zhenjie's eyes grew deep. "That serpent demon actually managed to make the Zhou Tian Star Disk manifest an anomaly—the demon race certainly has plenty of tricks."

Yuan Qi said, "The Bai Ze lineage among the demon race practices divination and stargazing arts that are no weaker than those of the human race."

Wei Zhenjie looked at Yuan Qi. "That serpent demon, just before dying, rushed into the Star Observing Tower and triggered the Zhou Tian Star Disk to erupt in an anomaly, obviously to lure Hua Changxi into the tower. So you, by opening the door wide, are also after Hua Changxi?"

Yuan Qi smiled. "Anyone with a connection can enter the Star Observing Tower."

Seeing Yuan Qi start speaking in vague terms again, Wei Zhenjie shot him a look that said, "You're really annoying."

"Brother Wei, Brother Yuan, you could have at least notified me when there was some excitement."

A voice tinged with both teasing and dissatisfaction exploded in their ears. Wei Zhenjie and Yuan Qi followed the sound and saw Shi Yishi, panting heavily as he climbed to the ninth floor of the Time Tower.

Seeing Shi Yishi, Wei Zhenjie raised an eyebrow. "Brother Shi usually keeps to himself. What brings you out tonight to admire the moonlight?"

Shi Yishi laughed heartily. "Who needs a reason to enjoy the moonlight? I came because I felt like it."

The ninth floor of the Time Tower was a bit more luxurious than the Ascending Heaven Tower and the Star Observing Tower—it at least had a stone table and stone chairs.

Watching Shi Yishi cheerfully sit down on a stone chair, Yuan Qi said nothing, simply sitting cross-legged on the floor facing the Star Observing Tower.

Seeing this, Wei Zhenjie's eyes flickered. Yuan Qi and Shi Yishi appearing at the same time—something big must be going down tonight!

Wei Zhenjie's gaze also turned toward the Star Observing Tower, his expression wavering.

Meanwhile, inside the Star Observing Tower, Hua Changxi held the Fire Spirit Sword, carefully approaching the light at the top while scanning her surroundings.

The serpent demon shouldn't have much offensive power left, but she was worried there might be other dangers in the Qin Tian Tower.

Fortunately, she encountered nothing on the way up.

Hua Changxi reached the eighth floor unhindered, and in the stairwell leading from the eighth to the ninth floor, she saw the lower half of the serpent demon's massive body.

The serpent demon's upper body had clearly already climbed to the ninth floor.

"Still alive?"

Seeing the serpent's body still faintly heaving, Hua Changxi was stunned.

Just as Hua Changxi condensed a Fire Spirit Divine Needle to finish off the serpent demon, the serpent's body suddenly blazed with blood light, and several golden threads flew out from within the blood light.

The instant the golden threads flew out, the serpent's enormous body visibly shriveled up.

Watching this, Hua Changxi's expression shifted dramatically as she swiftly retreated. Just as she thought this was the serpent demon's desperate last stand, the golden threads shot straight toward the white jade stone table on the ninth floor.

The moment the golden threads sank into the white jade stone table, the pitch-black night sky, which had been devoid of stars, began to light up bit by bit, followed by the emergence of countless stars.

On the Ascending Heaven Tower, Yuan Qi had at some point produced a pure black tortoise shell. As the stars appeared, he started observing them from afar while forming hand seals and muttering incantations.

As his hands continuously formed hand seals and changed gestures, strands of spiritual light slowly emerged on the tortoise shell, twisting and deforming as they began to outline a pattern.

"Who has stirred the All-Encompassing Stars?"

The appearance of the All-Encompassing Stars alarmed countless people, waking several old monsters who had been in seclusion for hundreds or even thousands of years.

On the Heaven Ascending Tower, Yuan Qi's hands forming seals had become a blur, yet only a faint outline of the pattern had appeared on the tortoise shell.

Just as he gritted his teeth and pushed harder, the spiritual light on the tortoise shell suddenly scattered. At the same time, the stars that had abruptly filled the night sky vanished once more.

Staring at the tortoise shell, now pitch black again, Yuan Qi was so frustrated he wanted to smash it: "So close."

Wei Zhenjie, standing nearby, also felt regret. Yuan Qi was clearly using the All-Encompassing Stars to deduce something, but unfortunately, the stars had appeared for too short a time.

On the Time Tower, Shi Yishi frowned as well. The Four Spirits Chronicle had not appeared!

Meanwhile, in the Star Observation Tower, Hua Changxi, after seeing the golden threads rush to the ninth floor and confirming that the snake demon was thoroughly dead, hesitated for a moment, then stepped up to the ninth floor. There she witnessed the sudden appearance and disappearance of the myriad stars.

"So this is the All-Encompassing Stars?"

She had thought the appearance of the All-Encompassing Stars would be far more spectacular. The sky just now only had a few more stars than usual.

Somewhat disappointed, Hua Changxi then turned her gaze to the only white jade stone table on the ninth floor.

What were those golden threads?

And why had the snake demon created such a scene before dying?

Unable to figure it out, Hua Changxi walked over to the white jade stone table.

The surface of the white jade stone table was flawlessly white and smooth as a mirror. In the center of the top was engraved five characters: 'All-Encompassing Star Disc'.

"So this white jade stone table is called the All-Encompassing Star Disc."

"Those few golden threads that flew out of the snake demon must have been the medium to activate the All-Encompassing Star Disc."

Hua Changxi carefully circled the All-Encompassing Star Disc several times. To test whether it was dangerous, she directly tossed the snake demon's shriveled body onto it.

Seeing that the snake body suffered no attack, she pulled it back down. Then she reached out her hand, intending to see if the All-Encompassing Star Disc had any other mechanisms.

The moment her hand touched the All-Encompassing Star Disc, a change occurred.

The myriad stars that had just vanished reappeared, and this time the light radiating from the All-Encompassing Stars was even more dazzling.

The night sky above suddenly blazed with brilliance, startling Hua Changxi. She instinctively tried to pull back her hand, but then she was horrified to find that her hand seemed stuck to the white jade stone table. No matter how hard she pulled, she could not free it.

Not only Hua Changxi was startled, but also Yuan Qi on the Heaven Ascending Tower and Shi Yishi on the Time Tower.

Fortunately, both snapped back to their senses in an instant. One took out his tortoise shell to deduce again, while the other stared excitedly at the emergence of the Four Spirits Chronicle.

In the vast and deep night sky, the stars shone brightly, their light converging.

Starlight continuously streamed down, pooling together and cascading like a waterfall toward the location of the Star Observation Tower.

In an instant, the Star Observation Tower was submerged in starlight.

This scene was undoubtedly magnificent and spectacular, but Hua Changxi had no mind to watch. She struggled desperately to withdraw her hand, to the point that she did not notice the Star Observation Tower rising and undergoing a transformation.

"Bang!"

Suddenly, Hua Changxi yanked her hand back with great force, lost her balance, and fell to the floor. Only then did she realize that the stars overhead seemed almost within reach.

On the Time Tower, Shi Yishi’s hands trembling, he wrote in the Four Spirits Chronicle: "Year 4991, Month 10, Day 28 of Qiling, the Star Observation Tower appeared in the world."

On the Heaven Ascending Tower, Yuan Qi had already forgotten about the pattern emerging on his tortoise shell. His mouth gaped wide as he stared in astonishment at the completely transformed Star Observation Tower, now soaring into the sky.

At this moment, the Star Observation Tower was adorned with starlight, shrouded in nebulae—both dazzling and dreamlike.

Yuan Qi had always thought that the change in the Star Observation Tower he had divined some time ago might help him deduce the direction of the situation in the Four Spirits Realm. Who would have thought...

What exactly had that Hua Changxi done to accumulate so much merit power that she directly activated the Star Observation Tower and brought the true Star Observation Tower back to the mortal world?

This karmic debt was enormous!

While Yuan Qi was both elated and burdened, Hua Changxi was only filled with trepidation. Staring at her hand, she muttered, "What did it absorb from me?"

Though she had not yet detected any abnormality in her body, she had clearly felt the All-Encompassing Star Disc drain something from within her.

"Was it the golden threads?"