I've waited for you for a thousand years, and I've lived this life just to meet you

After the old man collected his emotions, he stood up. Now that the chains had fallen off, he felt much more comfortable.

He stretched his arms and legs gently, then threw two punches with ease. The feeling was exhilarating. "Freedom feels so good! That bastard has me tied up like a dog for hundreds of years."

Xiao Mohan raised the corners of his mouth, revealing a warm smile. He looked at the old man gently and said softly, "Then you should take a good bath and enjoy a sumptuous meal to celebrate your new life!"

The old man couldn't help but laugh bitterly, then slowly shook his head and sighed, "Yes! I've been trapped here for hundreds of years and haven't even smelled the aroma of food!"

Su Yu'er covered her mouth with her hands and chuckled softly, saying in a delicate voice, "How about this! First, tell us about what happened in Despair City. When you're done, I'll treat you to a big meal!"

"Haha, that's great! I'd like to thank you in advance!" The old man smiled heartily and without further hesitation, he strode to the table and sat down.

Su Yuer's mind moved, and in an instant, the table was filled with bottles of purified water.

He then took out a set of exquisite tea sets and instructed, "Ruyi, boil this pure water and make a pot of leaf tea!"

"As you command! Madam!"

Ruyi responded upon hearing the voice, and then started to get busy with Ruxin and Rubing.

For a moment, people were moving around, and it was very lively.

Not long after, a rich tea aroma filled the air. Ruxin picked up the teapot, filled it with tea for everyone present, and placed cups of spiritual tea in front of each person.

At this moment, the old man couldn't wait to pick up the teacup, put it close to his nose and sniffed it gently. His eyes suddenly lit up and he praised loudly: "This spiritual tea is really extraordinary!"

After saying that, he took a small sip and felt a stream of air flowing down his throat into his stomach. In an instant, it spread to every part of his body like a torrent.

"What a great tea!" As soon as he finished speaking, the old man put the teacup in his hand aside.

He raised his head slightly, his eyes deep and solemn, as if he was lost in distant memories.

After a moment, the old man began to speak: "I say that I am a sinner, and I really deserve it!

Many people, once entering this city of despair, can never leave, and the root cause of all this is precisely because of me!"

Hearing this, Xiao Moxuan couldn't help but widen his eyes, his face full of astonishment, and asked in disbelief: "Because of you? How is this possible?"

The old man shook his head helplessly, a look of pain and regret on his face. He murmured weakly, "Thousands of years ago, the City of Despair was not what it is today! Back then, it was a prosperous place."

After a brief pause, the old man continued, "Hundreds of years ago, when I was full of vigor and vitality, I was an equipment refiner.

Moreover, with my own talent and unremitting efforts, I can be regarded as one of the best weapon refining masters in my sect.

However, as the saying goes, a tall tree attracts the wind, and because my skills are so outstanding, I am often envied and excluded by my fellow disciples."

At this point, a hint of anger flashed in the old man's eyes, but was quickly replaced by deep sadness.

He sighed deeply and continued, "Finally, after I could no longer tolerate it, I left the sect in anger and came to this city of despair alone.

Here, I met Wu Haotian.

As for me, my name is You Xin, and everyone I have known likes to address me as "Master Qi".

To be honest, my acquaintance with Wu Haotian was purely accidental, but later we developed a deep friendship by chance.

You know, he was a puppeteer at that time!

Who could have imagined that he would so despicably take advantage of my sincerity towards him and make me foolishly refine a large number of soul-catching bells for him.

This soul-catching chime is one of the many wind chimes hanging from the top of the ancient pagoda. Thinking of how he had been deceived and used, Qi Ye couldn't help but feel a mixture of anger and regret.

Hearing this, Xiao Moxuan frowned, his face gloomy, and he said slowly: "I didn't expect that those seemingly ordinary wind chimes were actually the dreaded soul-stealing chimes."

Ye Bing's expression also turned serious, and he explained solemnly, "The power of these soul-catching bells is extremely terrifying.

In particular, the music they produce is designed to absorb the power of other people's souls.

Ordinary people have no power to resist such things."

"That's true. Ordinary people are as fragile as ants in front of the Soul-Catching Bell. They will become its victims if they are not careful." An Yi agreed.

The silent Master Qi started to talk again: "Actually, this tower is just an ordinary ancient tower.

Ever since Wu Haotian plotted and obtained these Soul-Catching Bells, he took the ancient tower for himself without any hesitation and designated it as his private territory.

In order to strengthen himself, he also refined a large number of puppets to serve as his trusted subordinates.

For him, these puppets without thoughts or emotions are much easier to control and manipulate than living people.

Every level of the ancient pagoda, from top to bottom, is managed and guarded by these puppets."

After hearing what Master Qi said, Su Yuer and the others all took a deep breath.

An Yi couldn't help but exclaimed in shock, "I never thought this puppet could be used as a servant! It's terrifying!"

"Of course you can. Not only that, you can also form a powerful puppet army!" Ye Bing explained to everyone with a smile.

Master Qi continued, "You should know that this ancient tower has been in his hands for nearly a thousand years. After such a long period of sedimentation and accumulation, the tower has long since gathered the spiritual power of all the residents of Despair City.

The reason is that whenever the Soul-Catching Bell absorbs a person's soul power, it will continuously transmit it into the ancient tower.

The original residents of Despair City had long since become prey to the Soul-Snatching Bell, their souls mercilessly sucked away, and they vanished from the land of Despair City."

Rubing's eyes widened in shock, and she cried out, "Wha...what? Did all the people in Despair City die like this?"

Her words were like a huge rock thrown into a calm lake, instantly causing a thousand waves.

After hearing this, everyone gasped and their breathing suddenly became extremely heavy, as if a heavy burden of a thousand pounds was pressing on their chest, making it difficult to breathe.

Everyone's heart was hit hard, causing a huge wave.

"That's right! That's exactly it! In order to attract more uninformed outsiders, Wu Haotian deliberately spread false information, claiming that there is a mysterious secret realm hidden in this city of despair.

As a result, this false news spread quickly and soon spread throughout the entire cultivation world.

The people living in the City of Despair today are actually poor people who heard that there were treasures here and came here to look for them and were forced to stay.

Even more terrifying was that from the moment they entered the City of Despair, they could no longer find a way out. Master Qi couldn't help but feel a surge of remorse, for he had been complicit in the evil!

Master Qi calmed down and continued, "Wu Haotian has meticulously arranged an extremely powerful formation. Whether entering or leaving, you must rely on this formation.

The formation for entering is relatively simple. It is a passage left by Wu Hao deliberately, allowing people to easily step into this city of despair.

However, it is extremely difficult to get out of this formation, like an insurmountable chasm.

Not only that, he also openly declared that the only way to leave this place is to fight in a ring.

In fact, the reason he did this was for the blood pool.

The blood of all those who died in the City of Despair will gather in that blood pool.

Ru Bing couldn't help but exclaim in astonishment, "He's willing to sacrifice the lives of everyone in the world just to revive his wife! Has he gone mad?"

Qi Ye slowly raised his head, and his originally cloudy eyes now revealed endless pain and sorrow.

His lips trembled as he replied heavily, "There's nothing wrong with love, but distorted love becomes evil."

Su Yu'er then pressed on, "So, you were imprisoned here because you refused his request?"

Qiye nodded, his eyes reddened, his voice choked slightly: "I have always regarded him as my most trusted friend. I never thought that he was the one who hurt me the most..."

An Si suddenly raised a question in his mind: "From what I know, with the puppetry secrets he possesses, he is fully capable of directly transferring the soul into the woman's body and achieving the purpose of resurrection. Why did he mobilize such a large force?"

"In fact, the power of the soul is already sufficient.

But the most important thing, blood, is far from enough.

You know, the blood bead is the key to resurrection. Wu Haotian is determined to save the life of his beloved woman and save her from the misfortune of dying young.

So he took a gamble and injected the essence of the blood bead into the woman's body, hoping to use the power of the blood bead to enable the woman to embark on the path of cultivation.

However, things went against her wishes. The woman's body could not withstand the horrifying aura emitted by the blood beads. Eventually, her body could not bear it and exploded, and she died tragically on the spot!

"Blood beads?" Su Yu'er murmured.

She took out a box from the space and opened it.

"Look, is this the blood bead?" Su Yu'er said as she handed the box in her hand to Qi Ye.

Qi Ye's eyes widened, his face filled with astonishment: "How...how did this blood bead end up in your hands?"

Su Yu'er shrugged and replied nonchalantly, "I found it on the couch on the ninth floor during the competition, so I just put it away!"

"Yes, it is this blood bead. If the woman still cannot fuse the blood bead this time, her body will turn into a shriveled corpse." Qi Ye said helplessly.

"Just now, she has turned into a mummy!" Ye Bing exclaimed.

“All this may be related to Wu Haotian’s death.

"Their fates were inextricably linked, life and death intertwined. Now that Wu Haotian has perished, it's natural that the woman will not be spared," explained Master Qi with a sigh.