Chapter 281: Familiar Scent

"The Endless Tower... Do you mean to say that there, we can find the answers to the questions in our hearts?"

The Sword Spirit nodded solemnly. "I only heard the previous Sword Master mention it once," he said. "It seems to possess a divine-level human soul. The one who controls the Endless Tower is someone who once broke through the limits of humanity and successfully ascended. As for why he created the Endless Tower here, and everything about him, no one knows."

Everyone shivered simultaneously.

"Oh my heavens," someone exclaimed, "surely that enormous sound from earlier, and these reanimated souls, weren't all sent by him?"

Ling Yao pondered for a moment before decisively shaking her head. "That's impossible," she said. "If it truly were the power of a divine being, those restless spirits wouldn't have been so easily eradicated by us. If the Endless Tower truly exists, it would likely wait for us to seek it out ourselves, rather than intervene in our conflicts."

"Indeed."

The Sword Spirit fully agreed with Ling Yao's assessment, but that place was too elusive, with no clues whatsoever on how to find it.

"All this talk, and aren't we still trapped here? We truly have no idea what to do now! Boss, do you think the Empress and Bai Lianxue might have..."

Before Long Kun could finish speaking, Xiao Tuantuan pinched his waist hard, silencing him.

Just then, Xu Yang suddenly recalled what the mysterious old man at the entrance had told him before they entered.

"When lost, the myriad laws of heaven and earth might guide us to the answer. Of course!" he exclaimed.

Xu Yang was overjoyed, and disregarding the reactions of those around him, he actively sat cross-legged in the void. Above his head, the light of the Yin-Yang Dao diagram reappeared.

"Don't disturb him, he is seeking answers through his heart!"

The Dao Heart whisk reappeared, and the Skyfall Sword transformed into its Sword Spirit form, standing among the group. It calmly observed its master's every move.

Gradually, the golden Dao light became denser. At this moment, Xu Yang appeared incredibly sacred, as if a deity from the Nine Heavens had descended upon the mortal realm.

More and more traces of Dao laws began to manifest in various forms.

Thunder and lightning, gale-force winds and torrential rain, and even the mystical radiance contained within sword aura artifacts.

At this moment, Xu Yang seemed to have connected his soul with the entire world. Everything around him became his hands and eyes.

Reading the entire space with the heart of the Dao, everything within this realm was now within his grasp.

"Found it! So that's it," Xu Yang's voice echoed. "This area we entered is actually just a sub-domain of the Tomb of Buried Cultivators. There are thousands of such parallel domains, and within our domain, a rift has been torn open, and those restless spirits are pouring in through this rift."

Xu Yang's soul voice descended, quickly transmitting into the minds of everyone in the team below.

"If that's the case, then our questions naturally make sense," someone from the team responded. "Boss, can you find the source of these energy movements? If you can find it, we'll be able to travel to other parallel domains!"

"I'm trying."

In a trance, a wisp of Xu Yang's soul power moved like a roaming dragon, swiftly following the laws of heaven and earth, searching for other hidden traces within the surrounding space.

This dragon soul traveled further and further, until it reached the end of that spatial rift within his consciousness.

Suddenly, at that very moment, the soul resonance between himself and the Empress produced a strong feedback.

"Found her! It's the Empress's aura! Quick, follow!"

As Xu Yang spoke, he darted forward first. He then used his mental connection with the Sword Spirit to have the Sword Spirit guide the others to follow.

Countless streaks of light shot through the domain, and soon, led by Xu Yang, they reached a critical point, which was precisely near the rift in that domain.

"How are you? Can you hear my voice?"

"Don't worry, I'm not in immediate danger," the Empress's voice replied, "but I don't know where I've been taken. I can certainly protect myself with illusions for now, but I'm certain that once I leave this illusion, I'll be besieged and even torn apart by powerful forces."

Xu Yang chuckled, "Don't worry, I'll find you."

Immediately after, Xu Yang, using the most concise language, described the troubles he and his team had encountered with the restless spirits. The Empress immediately provided feedback.

"Yes, it's this feeling of being surrounded by endless souls!" the Empress confirmed. "However, from what you've described, the soul power surrounding me seems much stronger than what others have encountered!"

"It's alright," Xu Yang replied. "Try releasing your Dragon Soul power. Once you and I re-establish a soul resonance state within the True Dragon Domain, I'll be able to enter your illusion immediately."

The search for Dragon Soul power continued, and Xu Yang had already unleashed his mental power to its limits.

He also discovered that the closer he got to the rift in that domain, the greater the consumption of his mental power. This was because parallel domains were isolated by extremely powerful laws. Breaking through the isolation between these larger domains was far more difficult than entering his teammates' illusions before.

"Found it! Now!"

The Empress's Ancestral Dragon Soul let out a heaven-shaking roar, and Xu Yang let out a furious roar on his end. The Sword Spirit instantly blazed with a brilliant red light, enveloping everyone, and converging before the void rift that Xu Yang had forcibly torn open.

Everyone, under the mental protection established by Xu Yang and the Empress's soul resonance, successfully entered the Empress's illusion.

"Are you alright?"

As soon as Xu Yang saw the Empress, he immediately rushed to her side. Their display of affection left their teammates speechless.

"I'm fine," she replied. "But you've felt the atmosphere here, haven't you? Even within my illusion, this oppressive atmosphere is very noticeable, indicating that the soul pressure gathered outside is far stronger than my mental power. If you hadn't arrived in time, I'm afraid I wouldn't have lasted much longer."

"Uh, what do we do now?" Long Kun asked, looking at Xu Yang, the undisputed core of their team, for a decision. "Do we hold out until the illusion collapses and then fight our way out?"

"No rush, let's wait a bit," Xu Yang said. "If those restless spirits' power acts up again, I'm confident I can pinpoint the exact location of their parallel domain. Then we'll be able to uncover the true source of this power."

Just then, the voice of Taotie suddenly echoed within Xu Yang. Immediately after, with Xu Yang's permission, Taotie's soul form appeared before everyone.

"Lad, I sense a familiar aura—it's Tuoba Hong's aura!"

"What did you say??"

Everyone was completely stunned, and Xu Yang's brows furrowed even tighter.

"That's impossible," Xu Yang stated. "I personally suppressed and killed Tuoba Hong's true body. Even the Dragon-Slaying Battlefield beneath the East Sea completely crumbled. Tuoba Hong's physical body could never have left alive, let alone been brought here."

Taotie sighed helplessly. "But my stomach wouldn't lie to me," he said. "You know, that kid injured me and left me with one eye. Although I've mostly recovered with the help of your bloodline, I couldn't possibly mistake the aura that pierced my body. You need to be prepared!"

Doubt arose in Xu Yang's mind: "Could it be that this restless spirit power truly originates from Tuoba Hong's Asura Path?"