Nalan Shan came to discover that Wu Jiu's disciples were mysteriously disappearing and one of the first few who disappeared was Wu Jiu's first disciple that he favoured the most. That person possessed great gift and the speed of his progress in cultivation had already surpassed Nalan Shan. But it was not known when it was that that disciple had suddenly disappeared without a reason.
There had been no signs before that person disappeared. Nalan Shan had not noticed that the person had disappeared in the beginning. But as the days passed one by one, the number of human spirits that disappeared increased in succession, and that was when Nalan Shan came to notice that something was wrong.
Nalan Shan went to find Wu Jiu, but this time, he was not even willing to meet with him at all.
Since then, Nalan Shan then fearfully felt the danger in the Serene Spirit Tower and he no longer wanted to take a step inside.
"Human spirits who cultivate in the Serene Spirit Tower will disappear? !" Qiao Chu stared with his eyes wide in disbelief. The stakes for the game those people played were just too high!
Nalan Shan then said: "I had initially not been certain whether they really had disappeared. After I left the Serene Spirit Tower, I went to investigate the homes of those human spirits who had disappeared. For just about more than an entire year's time, they had not appeared. I think, that they must have really gone missing."
Spirit Fire that constantly grew, human spirits that disappeared mysteriously. All of the many signs undoubtedly gave Nalan Shan a signal of of extreme danger.
"Spirit Fire that promoted the growth of human spirits was just like making fruits grow. When fruits ripen, they are swallowed….. Are you saying that those people who disappeared were absorbed by the ball of Spirit Fire?" Rong Ruo was shocked by her own guess. Spirit Fire in the Spirit World was absorbed passively. If the day came that it became the side to take the initiative to become spontaneous, then the consequences would be unthinkable.
Nalan Shan shook his head. "I cannot be certain what the situation inside the Serene Spirit Tower is like exactly, but based on what I know, there is a high possibility that it could be as what you've said.
"Heavens be damned! And that's not bad enough?" Qiao Chu was shocked.
Nalan Shan then replied: "That situation is only present within the Serene Spirit Towers. The Spirit Fires in the Tranquil Dream Forest and other places have not shown any signs of growing, nor have they caused any human spirits to disappear. Hence, I think that the problem is only with the Serene Spirit Towers." As he spoke, Nalan Shan stood up, and picked up a pile of hand written notes from the study table and the shelves. He then unfurled the notes one by one, and laid them spread out upon the table before Jun Wu Xie and the others.
"This is from when I first discovered that human spirits had gone missing, and this is the size of the Spirit Fire at that time." Nalan Shan pointed out on the piece of parchment, that recorded in detail the time and identity of the first human spirit he discovered had gone missing, and placed beside it for comparison, was a description of the Spirit Fire's size at that time.
"This is the second….."
"This here is after I left the Serene Spirit Tower, where I observed the Spirit Fires in various places. I observed them for five years, and never found a single Spirit Fire showing any signs of growing in size."
"And here are the records of the sizes of the Spirit Fire in the Serene Spirit Tower received from people who went into the Serene Spirit Tower."
"I also have these for the second and third Serene Spirit Towers."
Data stacked up in a mountainous pile was placed down with a crash before Jun Wu Xie and the others. Nalan Shan was acting as if he was possessed by lunacy, revealing the hundred years' worth of detailed data before Jun Wu Xie, the complicated script seemingly weaving up into a humongous spider's web in Jun Wu Xie's heart.
"I took several decades' time to verify what I was guessing. Every one of those Serene Spirit Towers had human spirits unknowingly disappearing from them. Besides the Spirit Fire in the twelfth level of the Serene Spirit Tower, no other Spirit Fire throughout the Spirit World was able to grow in size!" Nalan Shan said sternly with both his palms pressed down upon the table.