All who come here carry different purposes.
Artifacts of the same origin as the Heavenly Crown are but one reason.
The ability to summon spirit beings, naturally, too...
Perhaps there are other reasons, unknown to others.
...
At this moment, Chen Fan is naturally unaware of these things.
As he walked into the passage, he sensed an overwhelming tide of death qi.
Surging like great waves, one after another.
The death qi was all-pervasive.
It drilled into the flesh along the pores, madly eroding the vitality within.
"So strong?"
Chen Fan's brow furrowed.
He vibrated his spiritual energy, expelling the death qi that had invaded his body.
It was simple enough.
Yet, this was only at the entrance of the passage.
The death qi, which had already made him frown before even entering the Death Tower.
If he were to enter the tower, the situation inside would likely be grim.
Danger was anticipated.
Regardless, Chen Fan, having stepped inside, would not retreat.
"Dada-da."
His footsteps were crisp.
Chen Fan walked step by step into the passage.
The death qi grew heavier, as if he had arrived at a netherworld residence.
Ahead, there was a door.
The Death Tower was embedded in the subterranean earth walls, with only a single door blocking the way.
A bronze door, with a taotie ring handle.
"Knock, knock, knock."
Chen Fan, with politeness, rapped on the door.
Silence.
The deathly quietness brought an ineffable sense of suffocation.
"If no one answers, I'm coming in," Chen Fan spoke again.
Creak.
The bronze door slowly parted.
The two doors swung open to the sides, and as they opened, death qi surged forth.
"Boom."
It exploded like a cannonball.
The death qi was too dense.
The ten-meter passage did not even hold a tenth of the concentration behind the door.
"Holy shit."
Caught completely off guard, Chen Fan was blasted back by the death qi.
The surging death qi sensed the vitality and dense spiritual energy within him.
It pounced like a hungry tiger.
Chen Fan was enveloped by the boundless death qi, which began to erode his body.
"Get lost."
His spiritual energy erupted.
With a 'boom', the surrounding death qi was purified.
Simultaneously, Chen Fan stepped forward, entering the Death Tower.
Creak.
The bronze door closed automatically.
...
The moment Chen Fan stepped through the bronze door.
Behind the tavern, in a certain residence.
The white-haired elder on the recliner opened his eyes. His pupils had already been eroded by death qi, turning a withered gray.
"Someone has finally arrived." A smile appeared on the elder's face.
He was the hidden owner of this tavern.
He had been pursued years ago and fled to the City of Freedom.
The person he had offended was too powerful, both in his own strength and in his backing, making him despair; even hiding in the City of Freedom offered no escape from death.
Forced to do so, the elder could only choose to become a resident of the City of Freedom, receiving the protection of the Undying.
Once the contract was signed, he could never leave the tavern again.
Fortunately, with the Undying's protection, his enemies dared not act within the city.
In return, he received eternal imprisonment.
He was confined to this ancient city.
He did not regret it.
If he had not signed the contract that day, he would have died long ago; to live for several decades more was worth it.
However, under the constant erosion of death qi, he had reached his limit.
"I'm dying."
On this point, he knew better than anyone.
All residents of the City of Freedom faced this situation when they reached their limits.
He was fortunate...
That before his death, someone was willing to enter the Death Tower.
Each time, he could exchange it for at least a year of life.
The death qi was infinite, but its erosion had a limit.
Now, the death qi within the Death Tower had reached its limit; if it were not refined, it would explode, and he would be the first to bear the impact, dying from the explosive death qi.
"I hope you can hold on a little longer," the elder prayed inwardly.
The more death qi he refined, the longer he could live.
"Buzz."
Suddenly, the elder's mind trembled.
He had merged with the Death Tower; the death qi within it was no different from that within his own body.
And in that very instant, he sensed something that brought him ecstatic joy.
A significant portion of the death qi had been annihilated.
This portion alone was enough to grant him another year of life.
There was still considerable time before the burning of an incense stick.
The elder's eyes lit up, and the death qi began to dissipate: "Who is it? To possess such power, could it be one of the Emperors?"
Thinking of this, the elder could no longer hold back.
He rose directly, walked out of his residence, and appeared at the passage.
"Who are you?"
Tian Zai and Pang Tong looked at the elder who had suddenly appeared.
"Who went in?" the elder asked.
"It was..."
Pang Tong was about to speak.
Suddenly, he saw Tian Zai signal with his eyes and quickly shut his mouth.
The elder: "..."
So.
These two were suspicious of him.
After thinking for a moment, the elder said nothing more, quietly waiting by the passage.
He wanted to see who it was.
In that brief moment, the amount of death qi annihilated had reached a level that made him ecstatic.
Three years.
His lifespan had increased by three years.
...
At this moment.
Inside the Death Tower.
Chen Fan had already sat cross-legged, and above his head was the River of Rules.
"Splash, splash."
The sound of flowing water continued to ring out.
At this moment, Chen Fan reappeared within the River of Rules.
Yin Yang.
He was actually sorting out the River of Rules.
Following the Five Elements, Chen Fan began to sort out the Great Dao of Yin and Yang.
One black, one white.
"Splash, splash."
The River of Rules churned up torrential waves.
Darkness, Yin... The attributes of rules rapidly converged, gathering from droplets of water, eventually forming an immense tributary, nestled beside the Five Elements tributary.
Not only that.
After the Yin attribute came the Yang attribute.
The two rivers were quickly sorted out, slowly converging, and then... fusing.
One Yin and one Yang.
The two rules were naturally compatible, and like the Five Elements, they perfectly fused together.
"Boom."
The moment the Dao of Yin and Yang completely fused.
Chen Fan, within the Death Tower, suddenly opened his eyes.
Seven Dragon Riders swirled around his body.
Like seven true dragons, their movements carried an immeasurable power that inspired dread.
Emperor Qi, two more.
"Haha."
Chen Fan stood up and laughed heartily: "Not bad, very good, Hahahaha..."
If not for this death qi, he would likely not have been able to condense seven strands of Emperor Qi.
Rumble.
The Death Tower experienced immense upheaval.
The death qi was continuously eroded and annihilated by the seven strands of Emperor Qi.
Seven Emperors, terrifying as they were.
Chen Fan began to relentlessly grind away the death qi.
Soon, under the rampage of the seven Imperial Dragons, the death qi in the room was completely eliminated.
"That's it?"
Chen Fan was stunned for a long time.
He had expected it to be difficult, but now it seemed rather simple.
However...
Just as he relaxed his mind.
"Boom."
Suddenly, a furious roar seemed to echo.
That roar carried boundless rage.
Chen Fan's mind felt as if it had exploded at that moment.
A black hole suddenly appeared on the floor of the Death Tower.
"Boom."
The death qi was boundless.
From that black hole, even more immense and boundless death qi surged forth.
There was so much that Chen Fan's scalp tingled.
This death qi was purer than the previous death qi.
Almost in an instant, the seven strands of Emperor Qi were dissolved.
Yes, dissolved.
Silently, the seven strands of Emperor Qi simply melted away.
All power was completely eroded by the death qi.