Chapter 24: A Layer of the Black Tower

Although the monster was utterly clueless, Su Che still believed it must serve some purpose—only it itself wasn’t aware of it yet.
“It doesn’t matter that it doesn’t know. We can find a way to guide it gradually.”
So, Su Che said to it, “Do you see the two large doors behind you? I want to go inside. What do you think we should do?”
The monster scratched its forehead and replied foolishly, “Isn’t that simple? Just push the doors open and go in!”
Nonsense—need you to say it? Su Che had already tried using his consciousness to touch those doors, but they remained completely immobile as before.
“Go and push them!” Su Che gave his first order.
“Oh!”
The monster obediently nodded, walked over to the doors, raised its two huge claws, and pressed them down without hesitation.
Could it push them open? At that moment, Su Che felt a mix of three parts tension and seven parts anticipation…
With a gentle push, the monster seemed to have no difficulty at all—the two doors swung open silently.
The doors were open!
Before Su Che could react, his consciousness was drawn into the open doorway. In other words, whether he wanted to or not, his consciousness had entered.
The monster that had pushed the doors seemed to sense Su Che’s every move. Realizing its master had entered, it stepped forward with its furry legs and followed inside.
Once inside, Su Che was surprised to find a whole world within the tower!
He had thought the tower would contain a circular room, but upon entering, he saw that it was actually an independent world in itself—with mountains, rivers, flowers, and grass. It was bright, spacious, and the soil beneath his feet was no different from that in the outside world…
“It’s actually a small world spanning hundreds of miles, capable of supporting many creatures to live here.”
For some reason, once he entered this place, Su Che clearly felt as though he had suddenly become the master of this world. He could see everything clearly—its size, its landscapes, even every flower and plant. It seemed as though he was the supreme ruler here, with everything under his control. Any other creatures that entered would have to accept his control unconditionally—live if he allowed it, die if he decided so…
This feeling was incredibly vivid. Su Che couldn’t explain exactly why.
“This place belongs to me, entirely to me, right?” Su Che murmured in a dazed state.

“Yes, master. This place entirely belongs to you.” The monster approached, able to precisely sense where its master’s consciousness was located.
“Be careful where you step—you’ve already crushed many plants and flowers!” Su Che quickly adapted to the role of ‘master’ and began scolding it.
“Oh, oh.”
The monster nodded repeatedly, then suddenly slapped its own forehead and exclaimed, “Right! Here, I should be able to fly!”
Before his words faded, it soared into the air, flying around a few times swiftly, as if a fish returning to the sea, instantly adapting to the feeling of flying.
“As expected, its creation is most directly related to this black tower,” Su Che thought to himself.
“Master, master!”
The monster suddenly shouted again from mid-air, “I know, I know…”
“Speak slowly. Don’t be so startled,” Su Che scolded it once more. This guy had an extremely loud voice, and moreover, a strangely unpleasant tone!
“Okay, okay.” The monster lowered its voice and reported, “Master, I understand. Actually, this place is a prison that can be used to lock up prisoners you capture—whether humans, demons, or any other creature. Once captured, they must stay here obediently, living or dying as you decide. Everything is at your will.”
“A prison?” Su Che wondered, “Is the entire black tower just a prison-like magic artifact?”
“No, I don’t think so…” The monster was confused again, scratching its head as it replied, “I just suddenly realized that this floor is a prison. I haven’t been to the floor above yet, so I don’t know for now.”
“The floor above?” Reminded by it, Su Che realized, “Right! Why can’t I see the entrance to the second floor?”
In this space, Su Che already possessed a sense of dominion over heaven and earth; not even a single grain of sand hidden underground could escape his mental exploration. Yet still, he couldn’t find any entrance or passage to the second floor.
“How do I get to the second floor?” Su Che had no choice but to ask his monster servant.
“It seems… it seems like…” The monster scratched its forehead again, unafraid of its sharp claws hurting itself, “Master, once your cultivation reaches a certain level, the method to open the second floor will naturally appear. For now, you can only use this floor… Hmm, yes, that’s probably it!”

Receiving such an answer, Su Che remained silent, but he was now certain that this monster must be a completely new spirit creature created by the Black Tower, tasked with assisting him. There surely existed a very subtle connection between it and the Black Tower. Perhaps, as his own strength grew, this connection would become increasingly tight and clearer… At this stage, it was still just a newly born “infant,” though its appearance was rather poor.

Thinking of this, Su Che’s mind expanded suddenly, and he realized, “Right! From now on, I can capture my enemies alive and lock them in this prison space, forcing them to refine pills, craft weapons, and make talismans. That way, I’ll have a large group of free laborers, allowing me to save more time and spirit stones to devote to cultivation… The benefits are countless and impossible to fully describe in just a few words.”

It was difficult to figure out how to make the most of this prison space right away, so he put that aside for now. Then he said to the monster, “Your birth is inseparably linked to this Black Tower. From now on, you must assist me in managing this prison space. What do you think?”

“Yes, master,” the monster assured, slapping its chest. “I can definitely handle this trivial task. After all, I am a being that combines the strengths of humans, demons, and fiends.”

“Oh? What strengths do humans, demons, and fiends have? Tell me,” Su Che became interested.

The monster stared with its blood-red, fierce eyes and said with a grotesque expression, “The cunning and flexibility of humans; the ever-changing nature, as well as telepathy and manipulation skills of the extraterrestrial demons; and the brutality, cruelty, and heartlessness of the beast tribes!”

Su Che was slightly stunned. “Are these all considered strengths…?”

“Of course. In front of the master, I won’t show these strengths,” the monster chuckled. “I’ll only use my abilities against your enemies and the prisoners locked here.”

Its answer was quite absurd. Su Che remained silent for a while before saying, “Since you’ve just been born, shouldn’t you have a name?”

“Please grant me a name, master.”

The monster knelt down immediately, its grotesque face showing an extremely devout expression.

“What name should I give it?” Su Che pondered silently.

Looking at its grayish-black fur all over its body, he thought of calling it “Black Fur,” but found that name too childish. So he chose a character with a similar pronunciation…

“I’ll name you ‘Hei Mo.’ Usually, I’ll just call you Old Black.”

“Thank you, master, for giving me a name!”
Lao He kowtowed three times with a thud, appearing to be extremely loyal to his master, Su Che.
As for whether it was truly loyal, Su Che’s understanding was this: the mysterious Black Tower resided in his mind, which meant it had, in effect, recognized him as its master. This ‘Hei Mo’ was a low-level spirit tool created by him and the Black Tower together, and its fate was completely tied to that of the Black Tower. As long as the mysterious Black Tower stayed with him, Hei Mo, as a spirit tool, would unlikely have any ulterior motives.
Of course, this was just his guess; whether it was correct would have to be proven by future events.