Wei Tu didn't waste much time examining the two jade slips. He took out the Rainbow Cloud Thorn left behind by Bao Siyan and began refining it while heading toward the Stone Demon Tower.
According to Bai Zhi, the Stone Demon Tower was the true core of the Great Void Realm. Back when the Stone Demon Sect was one of the Five Great Demonic Sects, treasures like their sect's magic tools, pills, and cultivation methods were stored inside that tower.
Compared to the tower, the rest of the Great Void Realm was hardly worth mentioning—assuming there was no spirit creature like the Purple Iris Flower involved.
"Spirit creatures are treasures that help Golden Core cultivators break through to the Nascent Soul Realm. But for someone already at the Nascent Soul level, they're not that useful..."
Wei Tu and Bai Zhi had discussed trying to figure out Gui Luo, the Demon Lord's real goal.
The other cultivators—whether it was Bai Zhi, Old Ancestor Ningyan, True Lord Wanhai before, or now Hu Shan and Qi Chengchu—all had clear motives. They came for the spirit creature.
But only Gui Luo's intentions remained unclear to Wei Tu, even now.
"When it comes to rare treasures, the Stone Demon Sect might not have anything that Old Demon Jiuchuan would care about. But their legacy is definitely worth the trouble," Bai Zhi said calmly. "The Stone Demon Sect used to produce Nascent Soul cultivators."
With that, Wei Tu more or less understood what she meant.
Gui Luo, or rather Old Demon Jiuchuan, was the strongest among the current group, but the Heavenly Extinction Demon Palace he belonged to was only a first-rate force in the demonic domain—not one of the top five.
In other words, since the Heavenly Extinction Demon Palace's founding, it had never produced a Nascent Soul cultivator.
Its inheritance stopped at the Nascent Soul Realm. It couldn't cultivate anyone to the higher levels beyond that.
If Old Demon Jiuchuan wanted to break through to the Nascent Soul Realm, he had to find another sect's legacy to patch up the flaws in his technique.
The Stone Demon Sect, once among the Five Great Demonic Sects, had now become his best opportunity.
That explanation seemed reasonable to Wei Tu. After all, the other demonic sects weren't stupid. If there really was some treasure in the Great Void Realm tempting enough for a Nascent Soul cultivator, there was no way they would let Old Demon Jiuchuan take it all for himself.
Only the inheritance of a sect that was already defeated or ignored, like the Stone Demon Sect, would be something he had the strength and interest to seize.
"Also, isn't that Ghost Puppet Sect cultivator Gong Shulan after the corpses of the Stone Demon Sect's past Nascent Soul cultivators?" Bai Zhi reminded him.
For demonic cultivators, the corpses of high-level cultivators were worth just as much as top-tier spirit materials.
…
A quarter of an hour later.
Wei Tu followed the path recorded in the crimson mirror and arrived near the Stone Demon Tower.
What had looked small from the outer region now appeared massive. The five-story black tower loomed high into the sky, awe-inspiring and oppressive.
The aura it gave off made Wei Tu, even as a Golden Core True Lord, feel a heavy pressure. He had to adjust his breathing just to keep steady.
"They're all here?" Wei Tu swept his eyes over the group sitting cross-legged in front of the tower. His expression tensed slightly.
Among them were Gui Luo, Old Ancestor Ningyan, Hu Shan, and Qi Chengchu—the four strongest cultivators in this expedition.
Gong Shulan, Madam Lan, Che Gongwei, Su Bing'er, and the old corpse cultivator were seated beside Qi Chengchu and Hu Shan.
On paper, Gui Luo and Old Ancestor Ningyan's side was at a clear disadvantage without Bao Siyan. And their group only had four Golden Core cultivators from Hehuan Sect and the Heavenly Extinction Demon Palace, half the number of the other side.
Still, numbers didn't mean everything.
After their fight with Gong Shulan, both Qi Chengchu and Hu Shan were injured. The rest—Che Gongwei and the others—were far weaker in terms of cultivation.
And since this alliance was temporary, everyone had their own plans and schemes. There was no way they could coordinate enough to take out Gui Luo's group.
"Thousand Leaf Dew?"
Thinking of the tracking drug, Wei Tu immediately realized why Che Gongwei and the others hadn't escaped as planned and ended up stuck here instead.
Even he, with his skill in concealing his aura, had been found by Bao Siyan and nearly assassinated.
Che Gongwei and the others wouldn't have had a chance against Gui Luo's people. They had no choice but to retreat toward the Stone Demon Tower.
"Fellow Daoist Wei, there's no need to hide anymore."
Just as Wei Tu was thinking through his next move, Gui Luo suddenly turned his head toward him, eyes cold.
Wei Tu wasn't surprised.
Back when he was cultivating the Demon Ghost Poison Summoning Technique in the outer region, Bai Zhi had already warned him that Gui Luo had left a hidden trap in the technique.
If Gui Luo could use the demon ghosts in the technique to sense his location, it made perfect sense.
Wei Tu had left that flaw there on purpose. It was part of his plan to keep Gui Luo off guard. So he didn't mind being discovered now.
He stepped forward and stood near Che Gongwei.
"Sorry, Wei Tu. We couldn't escape this time..." Che Gongwei looked apologetic as he explained why their escape had failed.
Just as Wei Tu guessed, Gui Luo's side had pinpointed their location and forced them to gather here near the Stone Demon Tower.
Luckily, Gui Luo and Old Ancestor Ningyan didn't chase them personally. Instead, they sent some Golden Core demonic cultivators.
Otherwise, maybe only Che Gongwei could've barely gotten away. The rest of them would have surely died.
As soon as Wei Tu took his place, Gui Luo spoke in a cold, gloomy tone. "To open the Stone Demon Tower, besides the Stone Demon Sect's Xumi Tablet, the only other method is blood sacrifice."
"This Demon Lord has spent over fifty years researching and finally figured out the secret behind the tower's formation and restrictions."
"Sacrifice six Golden Core cultivators, and we can force it open."
He swept his eyes across Wei Tu and the others. The meaning was clear without needing to say it out loud.
The moment he finished, Che Gongwei and the rest looked alarmed and uneasy.
Now they finally understood why Gui Luo had only surrounded them earlier instead of killing them outright. He wanted to keep them alive—for this. He intended to sacrifice them to force open the formation and restrictions on the Stone Demon Tower.
"This Demon Lord has three Golden Core ghost puppets that can be used for the blood sacrifice. I wonder how many you and your group can provide?" Gui Luo looked pointedly at Su Bing'er and the old corpse cultivator behind Wei Tu.
At that, the faces of Hu Shan, Qi Chengchu, Gong Shulan, and also Wei Tu, Che Gongwei, and Su Bing'er all darkened.
It was a classic setup to provoke internal strife. Whoever they chose to sacrifice would trigger conflict within their group. Fighting Gui Luo and Ningyan directly wasn't a real option.
First, they probably couldn't win.
Second, even if they did manage to kill Gui Luo and Ningyan, without Gui Luo's method for the blood ritual—or his three ghost puppets—the entire trip into the Great Void Realm would be a bust.
Their only choice now was to make a hard decision—either sacrifice the weaker cultivators or find the Xumi Tablet.
Everyone turned to look at Wei Tu.
Among them, he was the only one who might be carrying the Xumi Tablet.
"I don't have it," Wei Tu said calmly, shaking his head.
He already had the spirit creature in hand. If necessary, he could abandon the tablet. But right now, there was no way he'd admit to having it.
If he handed it over, not only would he become the center of attention, but Gui Luo definitely wouldn't let Che Gongwei and the others go. More likely, he'd kill them or use them as pawns to push into the tower.
If the Stone Demon Tower was opened, Hu Shan and Qi Chengchu would race in without hesitation. The alliance would collapse.
But if he didn't hand it over, he and Qi Chengchu's group would still stand on the same side.
"Didn't Madam Lan enter the Great Void Realm last time too?"
"Maybe she already had the Xumi Tablet and was just waiting here for a chance."
Wei Tu turned things around and accused her instead.
As soon as he spoke, everyone looked over at Madam Lan, their gazes full of suspicion.
If you ignored the earlier claim that she was a traitor, her sudden appearance here really was too convenient.
And she was alone.
"You—"
Madam Lan looked furious, but she couldn't explain why she'd suddenly appeared here in the Great Void Realm.
'If I expose myself now, the balance between both sides will collapse. It'll turn into an all-out fight, which isn't good for me,' she thought.
Her cultivation was high—Golden Core peak—and her Dao companion had given her some powerful treasures. Among the people here, her strength was in the top three.
But unless she had no other option, she didn't want to fight so many peers all at once.
After all, no one could guarantee coming out of such a fight unscathed, or even alive.
Just as Madam Lan was hesitating, Che Gongwei spoke up.
He said, "Alliance Leader Qi is a third-rank high-grade formation master. Before deciding on the blood sacrifice, maybe he should examine the tower first."
That one sentence gave both Wei Tu and Madam Lan a temporary way out.
Gui Luo's eyes showed a flicker of surprise. He hadn't expected this junior Qi Chengchu to have real talent in formation techniques.
"By all means, take a look," Gui Luo said with a casual gesture.
He didn't believe a mere Golden Core junior could break the formation on the tower.
The formation was a fourth-rank high-grade array. If he hadn't been a Nascent Soul avatar, he wouldn't have figured out the blood ritual solution either.
"I'll give it a try," Qi Chengchu replied. He stood, gave Gui Luo a respectful nod, and pulled a bronze compass and over a dozen formation flags from his storage bag.
"Go!" Qi Chengchu formed a hand seal, and the flags shot out from his hand, circling the tower and lighting up.
At the same time, the compass in his hand lit up faintly, outlining the tower's structure and the formation surrounding it.
"This array is called the Nine-Curve Demon Formation. It's a fairly rare fourth-rank formation," Qi Chengchu said after studying it for half an hour.
"Nine-Curve Demon Formation!" Gui Luo's expression shifted the moment he heard the name.
He'd seen that exact name in his years of research. There was no doubt now—Qi Chengchu, the Alliance Leader of the Loose Immortal Alliance, really did know his stuff.
He wasn't some random cultivator.
"To break this formation, there's no need to sacrifice six Golden Core cultivators. The three ghost puppets in your possession will be enough," Qi Chengchu added.
That statement made everyone react differently.
After all, Gui Luo's original plan wasn't just about opening the tower. Sacrificing six Golden Core cultivators would've also weakened Hu Shan, Qi Chengchu, and Wei Tu's group at the same time.