Chapter 123: Soul Tempering Tower

"You see?" Li Qiang stared at him as if seeing a idiot. "I’ve been looking for you everywhere!"

He pointed toward Long Feng’s residence.

"Elder Dong had already sent to invite you many times, but you weren’t here."

"I had something to do." Long Feng scratched his cheek with a sheepish grin, murmuring a soft apology.

"Something to do? If you don’t go now and the Elder Dong might think you are deliberately making him wait, what if he cancel your reward?"

Before Long Feng could say anything else, Li Qiang grabbed his shoulder and began to pulling him forward.

"Would he really cancel our rewards over that?"

"I don’t know about cancel but he might decide to reduce them." Li Qiang immediately shook his head.

Long Feng allowed himself to be dragged along, shaking his head helplessly.

The two quickly moved deeper into the sect. The area where Long Feng’s residence was located was already considered part of the Inner Sect.

The two quickly moved deeper into the sect.

The area where Long Feng’s residence was located was already considered part of the Inner Sect. However, the deeper they went, the more obvious the difference became.

Long Feng followed him without saying much. After walking for some time, they finally arrived at a large courtyard surrounded by several ancient buildings.

Li Qiang didn’t stop and led him straight toward one of the larger halls.

"Elder Dong’s office is inside."

Long Feng nodded and followed him in.

The moment they entered, Long Feng immediately noticed that several people were already waiting inside. There were around a dozen disciples.

He recognized several of them from the tournament. These were the disciples who had managed to secure places near the top of the ranking.

Their cultivation was not ordinary, some had even reached the limits of the Peak Golden Core Realm and were only one step away from breaking through to the Nascent Soul Realm.

Their gazes naturally turned toward the entrance when they walked in.

For a brief moment, the room became slightly quieter. A few disciples looked at Long Feng with curiosity.

After all, his sudden rise during the tournament had attracted considerable attention.

But Long Feng paid little attention to their gazes. He simply followed Li Qiang toward an empty place and waited.

Not long afterward, footsteps came from the inner room. The disciples immediately straightened.

As Elder Dong walked out. His gaze swept across the room before finally landing on Long Feng. Instead of showing anger at his late arrival, a faint smile appeared on his face.

"Long Feng, you’re finally here."

Long Feng immediately cupped his fists.

"This disciple apologizes for being late, Elder."

Elder Dong waved his hand. "There is no need to apologize. The rewards aren’t going anywhere."

His eyes briefly lingered on Long Feng before he nodded with satisfaction.

"The performance you displayed during the tournament was beyond what I expected. The sect naturally has to reward such talent."

"Thank you, Elder." Long Feng nodded respectfully.

Elder Dong did not say much more. He turned his attention toward the other disciples.

"Since everyone is here, follow me."

This time, Elder Dong personally led them. They left the courtyard and continued deeper into the Inner Sect.

The surroundings gradually became quieter. The buildings they passed became fewer, but each one was clearly more important than those in the outer portions of the Inner Sect.

Long Feng silently observed everything. Azura Heaven Sect was one of the greatest sects in the Central Region. Only after reaching this depth did he truly begin to understand why.

Soon, something even more noticeable appeared in the distance.

An enormous ancient tower stood in the center of the Core Disciple area. It was several dozen meters tall, its dark stone walls covered in countless marks left behind by the passage of time.

The tower didn’t look luxurious. In fact, compared with many of the magnificent buildings in the sect, it appeared rather old.

Yet the moment Long Feng saw it, he instinctively became serious.

There was something strange about it.

An invisible pressure was spreading from the tower. It wasn’t ordinary spiritual pressure, but directly touch the soul.

The closer they came, the clearer the sensation became.

Long Feng could feel a faint pressure pressing against his spiritual sea. His eyes narrowed slightly.

’This tower...’

Around the tower, numerous disciples were constantly entering and leaving, but without exception, all of them were Core Disciples.

From time to time, a powerful aura would emerge from within. Some disciples would immediately turn their heads toward the entrance, their expressions becoming solemn.

Long Feng silently observed the scene. Even among the Core Disciples, the difference in strength was obvious.

And among those people, there were occasionally figures whose aura was clearly beyond the ordinary Core Disciple level.

True Disciples.

Their appearances were rare, but every time one appeared, the surrounding disciples would instinctively become cautious.

A few younger disciples couldn’t hide the awe in their eyes. It was the first time some of them had seen a True Disciple so closely.

Their reactions were understandable.

True Disciples stood at the very top of Azura Heaven Sect’s younger generation. Even among the numerous Core Disciples, only a tiny number could obtain that status.

The young man’s aura was restrained, but the pressure naturally emanating from him was still extraordinary.

It was like the difference between a wolf and a flock of sheep.

The surrounding disciples instinctively felt that difference.

Unlike others, Long Feng merely glanced at him. His expression remained calm.

He had already faced the pressure of powerful elders. Compared with those existences, these disciples were still lagging far behind.

Elder Dong didn’t stop in front of the tower and continue to walk inside, also explaining them together.

"The tower is one of the important cultivation grounds of the sect. The reward you are about to receive is related to this place."

The disciples’ expressions immediately became more serious, even Long Feng’s eyes showed a hint of interest.

The moment they stepped inside, the invisible pressure surrounding the tower became several times stronger.

Their spiritual sea trembled faintly.

It wasn’t enough to injure them, but it was strong enough to make them uncomfortable.

Long Feng silently circulated his soul power. The pressure immediately became much easier to endure. Then he finally glanced around.

The interior of the tower was surprisingly spacious. Ancient stone walls surrounded the passageways, while mysterious formations were carved throughout the floor and ceiling.

The formations were so old that some of the patterns had already become difficult to recognize, yet they were still functioning.

However, Elder Dong showed no sign of stopping until they finally reached a particular floor. He walked toward a secluded corridor and stopped before a large stone door.

Elder Dong took out a special token and put in a section of door. A low hum immediately sounded, followed by the stone door slowly opened.

"Come in."

The disciples exchanged glances before stepping inside.

The moment Long Feng crossed the stone doorway, the strange pressure that had been pressing against his spiritual sea suddenly disappeared.

The difference was obvious.

Instead, the atmosphere was unusually calm.

The room was spacious enough to accommodate more than a dozen people. Around the center were several circular stone platforms, each one surrounded by faintly glowing formation lines.

A faint and extremely pure energy permeated the entire room.

It was difficult to notice with the physical senses, but the moment Long Feng focused his soul power, he could clearly feel it.

Elder Dong walked farther inside and turned toward the disciples.

"Let me tell you some of them you didn’t know about this place. This is called the Soul Tempering Tower."

The disciples immediately became attentive. Although most of them had heard the name before, very few had ever entered this place.

Elder Dong continued. "The Soul Tempering Tower is one of the most important places in the sect for cultivating the soul. The entire tower was constructed around a powerful ancient formation."

He pointed toward the surrounding walls.

"The formations throughout the tower continuously gather and refine the surrounding soul energy. That energy is then released into the tower in a controlled manner."

"The pressure you felt outside was only the most basic function of the tower."

Elder Dong’s expression became slightly serious.

"The real purpose is to use that pressure together with the gathered soul energy to continuously temper a cultivator’s soul."

Several disciples exchanged surprised looks.

One of them couldn’t help asking, "But Elder, that was only possessed by Nascent Soul experts. We still had spiritual sea, not soul."

Elder Dong nodded in response and looked at the disciples one by one.

"As we know that after a cultivator reaches the Nascent Soul Realm, the spiritual sea undergoes a fundamental transformation. The spiritual sea is no longer merely a vast reservoir of soul power. It begins condensing into a true soul."

The room immediately became quiet.

Long Feng’s expression became slightly more serious.

He had already understood some of this from his previous cultivation knowledge, but hearing Elder Dong explain it personally made the process much clearer.

Elder Dong continued to explain them.

"Once the Nascent Soul is formed, the soul becomes one of the most important foundations supporting a cultivator’s future cultivation."

The disciples listened carefully. For many of them, this was the first time they had received such a detailed explanation.

Although they were already Peak Golden Core cultivators, the Nascent Soul Realm still remained one step beyond them.

They knew that they had to condense a Nascent Soul to break through, but understanding the actual process was an entirely different matter.

Elder Dong looked toward the formation beneath their feet.

"The Soul Tempering Tower is normally only useful to cultivators who have already reached the Nascent Soul Realm."