"Oh no, that person's light is going out!" the old man suddenly exclaimed.

At the same time, the burly man who was being affectionate with the woman suddenly stabbed her in the back, hitting her right in the heart.

"Why—you—!!" The woman collapsed softly, her face filled with disbelief.

The burly man wiped the blood off his knife and said hatefully, "I've had enough of you! You damned woman! I only got in by using your heart's blood, and now you're useless."

At the same time, an unremarkable-looking woman stepped out from the crowd and affectionately took his arm.

Just as the show was getting exciting, a voice suddenly rang out, "You adulterous couple!"

Yue Qi had a headache. Couldn't this woman just shut up for a bit?

Wen Jiajia glared at him. "What are you looking at? These bastards can't see us anyway, so why don't we just give them a quick death?"

She pointed to the barrier at the entrance to the second floor, where it seemed to have become slightly dimmer.

Yue Qi looked at the corpse on the ground. Could it be that this barrier could only be broken by bloodshed?

"Tsk tsk tsk, so that's how it is!" The old man suddenly burst into laughter. He quickly called the others over, "Quick, I've found a way to break the barrier!"

When lives are at stake, everyone's ability to act is truly astonishing.

The old man pointed and said, "Don't worry, they can't see or hear us. All we need to do is kill them, and we'll probably be able to get to the second floor."

Murder seems to be the simplest and most efficient method.

As the crowd began to stir, Yue Qi suddenly spoke up, "There's no need to dirty your hands. These people will die on their own soon—the woman who lit the lamp with her heart's blood has already been killed by her accomplices."

Sure enough, not long after he finished speaking, the group of people opposite him began to unconsciously clutch their necks, as if they couldn't breathe. Before long, one by one, they collapsed to the ground, unable to get up.

When the last person fell, the barrier at the entrance to the second-floor passage vanished instantly.

Wen Jiajia, with her sharp eyes, exclaimed, "Quick, let's get to the second floor!"

A group of people ran towards the entrance of the passage.

Unbeknownst to them, the moment they left the first floor, the barrier that had disappeared instantly returned to normal.

Meanwhile, on the first floor of the Seven Star Tower, two more groups of people appeared simultaneously. A new round of fighting was about to begin.

Outside the Seven Star Tower, the bronze lamps on the second-floor eaves lit up. The adventurers who hadn't yet entered the Seven Star Tower all heard a familiar phrase simultaneously.

"Congratulations everyone, the second floor of the Seven Star Tower is now open. From now on, the number of people allowed to enter can be increased to one hundred and twenty."

The sound was simply heavenly. Everyone then realized that one hundred people was just a basic threshold. The higher the level was lit up, the more people could naturally enter.

"What a kind person!" This is the common sentiment of all adventurers outside the tower.

At this moment, Yue Qi and his group encountered the greatest crisis of their lives.

Upon entering the second-floor passage, the old man immediately exclaimed in surprise, "The speed at which my heart's blood is burning has doubled!"

That wasn't the worst of it. At the end of the passage not far ahead of them, there was a densely packed row of motionless humanoid creatures.

Their faces were pale and their bodies were stiff, but their eyes were surprisingly lively; without a doubt, their intelligence was not low.

"Advanced zombie!!"

Someone immediately recognized them. In the world of supernatural tales, zombies were extremely rare. But each one was incredibly powerful. And among them, high-level zombies, those who possessed supernatural abilities, were even rarer.

But right now, there are already twenty or thirty that they can see. And this is just one entrance; they don't even dare to imagine how many are inside.

Everyone's expression turned serious. Yue Qi drew his longsword and said in a deep voice,

"In that case, if we want to survive, we have no choice but to fight our way out ourselves!"

——————————

While Yue Qi and his group were fighting tooth and nail against the high-level zombies, Yan Qing and Chu Jiang were leisurely drinking tea.

Opposite her, a kind-looking old monk was earnestly brewing tea, his expression one of utmost piety.

"Benefactor Yan, how is this tea of ​​mine?"

Yan Qing looked at the tea in the cup, which was glowing red and had a faint, exotic fragrance.

She took a deep breath and exclaimed in admiration, "I never imagined that the monk's tea-brewing skills were so superb. I'm truly impressed. But I've never tasted this tea before. I wonder what kind of rare and precious variety it is?"

The old monk smiled slightly and said, "The Buddha said, it cannot be spoken of. I am glad that you like it. It was never a good thing to begin with."

"Not at all—" Chu Jiang seemed quite used to the old monk's self-deprecation, so he bluntly exposed him.

“Old monk, you are too modest. This tea is produced from the only thousand-year-old tea tree in Famen Temple, and it is processed using a unique method. Only one or two ounces of the finished product are produced each year. It is not something that ordinary people can drink.”

"Oh, so precious?!" Isn't this much more expensive than gold-infused water?

“Not only that—” Chu Jiang smiled slightly, “the preparation of this tea requires the blood of a human heart, and preferably the blood of a person with supernatural abilities. Only in this way can the tea leaves achieve a rich red color and an irresistible aroma—”

Chu Jiang continued talking incessantly, but Yan Qing couldn't listen anymore. The tea she had just drunk began to surge back up her throat.

"vomit----"

In the end, I couldn't hold it in and gagged a few times, but I still couldn't come up.

The old monk smiled and glanced at Chu Jiang, then turned to comfort Yan Qing.

“Benefactor Yan, don’t listen to this person’s nonsense. Benefactor Chu Jiang is used to joking, you should know that well.”

Yan Qing looked up again and saw that Chu Jiang had indeed shut up obediently. In her heart, however, her wariness of the old monk had deepened.

In fact, the two of them had been sitting there for almost half an hour without saying a single meaningful word.

Half an hour earlier, when they stepped into the main hall, the old monk was already there to greet them with a smile. They were then brought here, and apart from drinking tea and chatting, it seemed no different from a meeting between ordinary friends.

However, Yan Qing was sensitive enough to sense the undercurrents beneath their calm surface, which was not at all as gentle and peaceful as it appeared on the surface.

"Old monk—" Chu Jiang began, and Yan Qing secretly sighed, "The main event is about to begin."

"I'm planning to go to the Seven Star Tower. Will you let me in?"