Central Demon Suppression Tower
Within the Central Demon Suppression Tower, there are ten teleportation portals, only one of which is genuine; the other nine are fake. Each fake portal leads in two different directions, and the vast majority of these portals terminate at levels above the eleventh floor of the Central Demon Suppression Tower.
In other words, the probability of finding the true door on each floor is only one in ten, and the probability of finding the true door twice in a row is only one in hundred. Extrapolating from this, reaching the tenth floor requires passing through nine true doors, a probability of only one in one hundred million. Therefore, in the Central Demon Suppression Tower, the probability of entering a false door is terrifyingly high, and entering a false door usually means death.
Those who enter the Central Demon Suppression Tower generally possess immense confidence in themselves; they are absolutely unwilling to remain on the First Level while the ruins close. Within the Demon Suppression Tower, each person's detection radius is only one kilometer, far less than the detection radius of the demonic beasts within. Being teleported through a false portal to the eleventh floor or higher essentially means death.
This is why no one has ever left the Central Demon Suppression Tower alive.
Inside the Central Demon Suppression Tower, the number of beasts is no less than, and perhaps even greater than, the total number in the other five Demon Suppression Tower. However, each level is also much larger, about twice the size of the other Demon Suppression Tower. Therefore, the density of the beasts is also much higher than in the other five Demon Suppression Tower.
During his journey to the Second Level entrance, Gu Ding encountered a total of six beast hordes, even with the route deliberately calculated by the Sea Emperor. Within this Demon Suppression Tower, each beast horde occupies a territory with a diameter of hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. To detour would require traveling at least thousands or even tens of thousands of kilometers more, so some beast hordes were unavoidable. It was more efficient to simply slaughter them all and travel in a straight line, saving time.
Of course, Gu Ding, the beast corpse, didn't spare the slain beasts, as his Myriad Manifestations Emperor Body required a large amount of blood and qi energy. Although these one-star demon beasts didn't have high blood and qi content, every little bit helps, and there were quite a few of them.
Under the Sea Emperor's instructions, Gu Ding fought his way to the fifth floor of the Central Demon Suppression Tower, collecting more than ten million beast corpses.
"Don't rush to find the exit on this floor. There's something good here!" the Sea Emperor whispered in Gu Ding's ear.
"What is it?" Gu Ding asked with a hint of anticipation.
"A Dragon Transformation Grass that is 100,000 years old."
Gu Ding had heard of the Dragon Transformation Grass. It was a special plant originating from Ancient Era, bearing fruit only once every thousand years, with only nine fruits produced each time. These fruits could enhance the ancestral effects in bloodline factors. It was effective not only against various demonic beasts but also against humans. The older the plant, the stronger the enhancement. A 100,000-year-old Dragon Transformation Grass was comparable to a five-star divine artifact; even a single fruit, if auctioned, would be worth at least Four-Star Divine Object, or even more.
Upon hearing that the treasure this time was the Dragon Transformation Grass, Gu Ding's eyes lit up.
"This Dragon Transformation Grass is guarded by a Purple Scale Red Stripe Python, which is the undisputed overlord of the fifth level. Its cultivation as Five-Star Low-rank God is comparable to the Combat Strength of One-Star Mid-rank God. It is likely that after consuming the fruit of the Dragon Transformation Grass this time, it will advance to become Flood Dragon and its cultivation will rise to the level of Mid-rank God."
"I must have this Dragon Transformation Grass!" At this moment, Gu Ding had no intention of being modest.
Guided by the Sea Emperor, Gu Ding quickly found the territory of the Purple Scale Red Stripe Python. It was a giant python, entirely purple with strange red stripes. Gu Ding estimated its length to be over two hundred meters, truly a colossal beast. However, Combat Strength is never determined by size. Before Gu Ding, this behemoth was utterly insignificant.
What surprised Gu Ding was not its size, but the number of demonic beasts under its command, which numbered more than three million.
"The fruits of this Dragon Transformation Grass should ripen in the next couple of days. Judging from the current situation, they are very likely to ripen by noon tomorrow," the Sea Emperor continued. "Before harvesting the Dragon Transformation Grass, remember to remove the fruits first. If the Dragon Transformation Grass is removed from the soil, the fruits will wither."
"Got it," Gu Ding grinned. "Before that, I have one more thing to do—harvest the herds!"
As Gu Ding spoke, he charged towards the horde of beasts...
Before long, Gu Ding had put all three million monster corpses into his Storage Space, including the Purple Scale Red Stripe Python.
Gu Ding waited in the same spot for a whole day, and the nine fruits finally ripened. He reached out and picked all nine fruits, putting them into his Storage Space. Then he carefully dug out the roots of the Dragon Transformation Grass that were buried in the ground, put them in a jade box, afraid of damaging anything, and then carefully put the jade box back into his Storage Space.
Having done all this, he then followed the Sea Emperor's instructions and sprinted toward the entrance leading to the Sixth Layer.
"From the Sixth Layer upwards, each floor has quite a few valuable items." After Gu Ding stepped into the Sixth Layer, the Sea Emperor reminded him, "I guess it was deliberately set up by that Military Department Marshal, after all, the highest cultivation level of those who can enter the ruins is only a mid-level Five-Star Mid-rank God."
"So which way should we go now?" Gu Ding knew that if it weren't for the Sea Emperor guiding him, he wouldn't have been able to accurately find the location of the True Gate five times in a row. In addition, the Sea Emperor's unlimited detection range allowed him to thrive in the Central Demon Suppression Tower, which deterred countless people. If it were someone else, they would probably be walking on thin ice with every step.
"At two o'clock, about 800 kilometers away, there is a flower field with about twenty Juyuan Energy Gathering Flower, all over 100,000 years old." The Sea Emperor immediately gave instructions. "You will encounter two groups of monsters along the way, and there is also a group of monsters guarding the Energy Gathering Flower. You can kill them all while you're at it."
The Energy Gathering Flower is a plant with a white flower head that always faces the direction of sunlight to absorb its energy. A 100,000-year-old Energy Gathering Flower has a large amount of energy gathered within the flower head of each plant, which can be used to help one advance in cultivation levels.
Following the Sea Emperor's instructions, Gu Ding quickly slaughtered all three groups of beasts, storing over a million beast corpses in his Storage Space, and then also collected the Energy Gathering Flower.
"At nine o'clock, about 600 kilometers away, there is Falling Star Fruit. You'll encounter a group of demonic beasts along the way, and there are also demonic beasts guarding the Falling Star Fruit..."
"At 11 o'clock, 1600 kilometers away. There's Moonlight Tree there, and you'll encounter five groups of monsters along the way..."
With the Sea Emperor's help, Gu Ding harvested seven kinds of precious spiritual herbs on the Sixth Layer alone. He also collected tens of millions of beast corpses.
They then climbed all the way to the tenth floor. The rewards on each floor were increasingly abundant, making Gu Ding grin from ear to ear.
After entering the tenth level, Gu Ding couldn't help but ask, "Sea Emperor, are we staying on the tenth level until the ruins close, or what?"
"Do you want to stay here, or do you want to continue upwards?" the Sea Emperor asked instead.
"Of course I want to continue upwards. But with my current strength, even if I activate my domain, I can only fight against ordinary One-Star High-rank God. The three-star demonic beasts above the eleventh level are all gathered in groups, and I can't even get close to the teleportation portal." Although Gu Ding still wanted to continue upwards, he knew his own strength well. After activating his domain, he could handle a few three-star demonic beasts, but he couldn't handle more than that.
"In this tenth level, there's a fake door that leads to the sixteenth and twenty-first levels. If you'd like, we can try our luck; the odds are fifty-fifty. If you're teleported to the sixteenth level, just find a safe place to hide and wait until the ruins close. The twenty-first level has no monsters. If you're teleported there, you can obtain Helen's complete inheritance. Want to take a gamble?"
"Of course we have to fight!" Gu Ding nodded vigorously. "Let's loot the tenth floor first."
"Ten o'clock position, three hundred kilometers..."
"Two o'clock position, 500 kilometers..."
Inside the sixteenth level of the Demon Suppression Tower, where the dense forest was located, Liliath and her companions hid in a cave. This location was found for them by the Sea Emperor and was actually a safe spot within the Demon Suppression Tower. Safe spots like this existed on each of the eleventh and higher levels of the Demon Suppression Tower, specifically for those who lacked sufficient strength to hide. No demonic beasts roamed near these safe spots, ensuring Liliath and her group's safety.
"It's been two or three days, Aurora hasn't caught up. She's probably been killed by the monsters on the sixteenth floor. I just wonder how Gu Ding doing." Liliath suddenly said. In the past few days, the Sea Emperor had only said that Gu Ding was not dead, but he hadn't revealed any specific details to them, which made them quite anxious.
"Don't worry, Sister Lily. He'll definitely stay on the Sixth Layer without someone to guide him, and he won't go any higher," Lolo Li comforted him, thinking that guiding people through the tower was Liliath's specialty.
"We'll know the outcome once the ruins close. This is the sixteenth level; we can't move an inch. We can only wait." Clark chimed in, still thinking about the terrifying aura that suddenly appeared on the Sixth Layer a few days ago.
Gu Ding spent three whole days on the tenth floor, but he only spent a little over a day looting the treasures. The rest of the time, he was busy slaughtering the large herds of beasts.
Over the course of three days, Gu Ding had collected over a hundred million beast corpses into his Storage Space. The demonic beasts on this level were all top-tier two-star demonic beasts, with some even approaching three-star level. Before Gu Ding's cultivation advanced to demigod status, it would have been utterly impossible to accomplish this so easily.
"You've slaughtered a million beasts; it's about time we left. The ruins open in less than ten days," the Sea Emperor suggested.
"Hmm," Gu Ding. He knew that even if he was really teleported to the twenty-first floor, Helen's inheritance would probably not be easy to obtain. He had to set aside some time to prepare for some unknown situations.
Under the Sea Emperor's instructions, Gu Ding quickly arrived at the false door, slaughtered all the beasts guarding it, and stepped inside...
~~~
I'm so sorry everyone yesterday. I got home at 8:30 last night, after walking and driving for twelve hours straight, barely touching the ground. I also had some drinks with friends for dinner, so I was exhausted and sleepy when I got home. I only managed to write a little over 1000 words by 11 pm, and I fell asleep four times while sitting in my chair. I would close my eyes and fall asleep instantly, only to wake up and find twenty or thirty minutes had passed before I couldn't stay awake any longer and went back to sleep. I woke up at 8:30 this morning... I still have two more updates to come today.