Chu Lingwei walked into the pagoda. The space inside was not large, and she found nothing unusual.
"Who are you?"
Just as she was about to enter the second floor, a voice suddenly came from behind her. Chu Lingwei quickly turned around and was stunned when she saw the person behind her.
"Senior?"
This was not the person who had just let her into the pagoda.
No, the man outside could not possibly enter here, so the two of them were not the same person at all.
"No one will live to walk out of here," the man stared at Chu Lingwei, a faint smile appearing on his lips. "Given that, do you still want to go further up?"
"Since I cannot get out, whether I go or not, the end is the same. I might as well try, perhaps there is a sliver of hope." Chu Lingwei sized up the remnant soul before her. It was exactly the same as the man outside.
The man let out a burst of laughter upon hearing Chu Lingwei's words. He laughed for a long time.
Chu Lingwei waited until he finished laughing. If the remnant soul outside was a cultivator, then the person before her should be it.
"I said the same thing back then," the man finally stopped. His face became a little clearer, but even so, Chu Lingwei still could not see his face clearly.
He was intentionally preventing her from seeing his face, from remembering him.
"Senior, may I ask which floor you reached?" The man before her had no intention of letting her leave. Chu Lingwei did not dare to act rashly, so she started a conversation with him, perhaps she could obtain something useful from him.
Upon hearing Chu Lingwei's words, the surrounding area immediately turned cold. "To go to the second floor, you must defeat me."
So he was the guardian of the first floor.
"Senior, I am offending you."
Chu Lingwei's expression darkened. A mere remnant soul, no matter how powerful he was, had things he feared.
The Ice Jade Cold Frost Sword in her hand flew out, and she channeled spiritual energy, surrounding the man.
"Is this all the skill you have?" The man's voice, filled with disappointment, revealed his reaction to Chu Lingwei's actions. A cultivator who could enter here should not be lacking in skill.
"Senior, don't be so hasty."
Chu Lingwei smiled slightly. Suddenly, dark light flared around the man, trapping him and rendering him immobile.
"Senior, I am offending you."
Xuantian Burning Fire.
Chu Lingwei's eyes were filled with killing intent. She sent spiritual energy infused with spatial power towards the man.
Spiritual energy erupted in waves, illuminating the pagoda brightly. Watching the man before her slowly disappear, Chu Lingwei withdrew her spiritual sword.
"This floor was not as difficult to traverse as I imagined."
A mere remnant soul, Chu Lingwei had no fear of him. It was a pity she hadn't asked about his relationship with the man outside.
A staircase appeared before Chu Lingwei. She knew she had passed the first trial.
As she stepped onto the wooden stairs, each step produced a creaking sound.
In the vast pagoda, these creaking sounds seemed to pierce the soul, tightening her heart bit by bit.
It took Chu Lingwei a full quarter of an hour to reach the top of the stairs.
The second floor had nothing special either. It was almost identical to the first floor, with no foreign objects.
"Senior?"
Chu Lingwei called out tentatively. Suddenly, an unfamiliar aura materialized out of thin air before her.
As expected, it was the same person again.
Chu Lingwei was starting to suspect that this man was the artifact spirit of the pagoda, transforming into different forms to test her.
"Senior, I didn't expect to meet you again."
"You recognize me?" The man's voice was clearly filled with confusion upon hearing Chu Lingwei's words.
"Yes, weren't you just on the first floor?" Chu Lingwei became wary. The man before her would surely be no easier to deal with than the one on the first floor.
The man stared at Chu Lingwei for a long while before slowly speaking, "If I was on the first floor just now, you must have killed me to reach the second floor, right?"
Chu Lingwei: "..." She shouldn't have spoken that unnecessary sentence.
"Senior, why are you on both the first and second floors?"
"To go up, you must kill me." The man did not hide anything. He looked up towards the floors above, a fleeting emotion that Chu Lingwei could not decipher crossing his eyes.
"Senior, before you make a move, may I ask you one question?" Chu Lingwei had already prepared for a fight, but she desperately wanted to know what this man before her truly was.
"Ask away." The man was very generous, waiting for Chu Lingwei to question him.
"Senior, I want to ask, were you the last cultivator to enter here?"
Chu Lingwei's eyes did not leave the man before her. Although she could not see his face, she could sense the changes in his gaze towards her.
The man was stunned upon hearing Chu Lingwei's words.
"Who am I?" the man muttered to himself. He did not know who he was, nor why he was guarding here.
"Senior, you must have been the last one to enter here. What did they do to you?" The talismans in Chu Lingwei's hand flew out, trapping the man. This way, she would have a way to cope no matter when he attacked.
The man paid no attention to Chu Lingwei's small movements. His entire face began to contort, and he repeatedly uttered, "Who am I, who am I?"
"Senior, can you remember how you entered here?" Chu Lingwei was very sure that the cultivator before her was the last one to enter.
Why had he become a remnant soul guarding this place? It must be for some reason.
"I am not a cultivator, do not spout nonsense here." Just then, the cultivator seemed to receive some kind of command and swiftly attacked Chu Lingwei.
Chu Lingwei was prepared. She retreated two steps and engaged him.
"Senior, you must be the cultivator who entered here. Do not be deceived by them." Spatial power, unstoppable, struck directly at the man's brow. "I'm sorry, you must die."
"Ah!"
As spiritual energy struck the man's brow, he let out a pained groan and fell heavily to the ground.
He was actually corporeal.
However, at this moment, Chu Lingwei could not stop. If she gave him an opportunity, she would not be able to defeat him.
Strike while the iron is hot.
Waves of spiritual energy turned into sharp swords and struck at the man's body.
With a "bang," the man's body dissolved into wisps of black energy, scattering like fireworks.
Chu Lingwei recalled the black energy she had seen in the secret chamber and quickly retreated, setting up a formation to trap the black energy within. Watching them writhe within the barrier, she realized her guess was correct.
"Die."
A detonation talisman was thrown into the barrier. Bright red blood gushed out like a thick liquid.
Chu Lingwei looked up again. It was still the first floor. She should not have entered the second floor; she had been on the first floor all along.
At this moment, a sweet laugh rang out. "Welcome to the Soul Devouring Pagoda."
"Who is it?"
Chu Lingwei was vigilant and responded loudly.