Nine Heavens Profound Maiden

After gaining tens of thousands of Lord Experience, Xiao Yun's Lord Level rose directly to level 20, greatly increasing his strength. At the same time, he received Youyou's prompt once more:

"Your Lord Level has risen to level 20. More buildings in White Jade Capital have been unlocked: Myriad Treasures Pavilion, Trial Temple, Arena Temple, Quest Temple, and Sect Temple."

"Congratulations on successfully reclaiming Divine Wood Forest. Daily rewards: Experience, Spiritual Power, Gold Coins, 200 Breakthrough Stones, 2,000 Bounty Points, and 10 sets of Bright Moon Equipment."

Among all those messages, Xiao Yu immediately focused on the fifty Innate Legendary War Spirit fragments of the Nine Heavens Profound Maiden. He took them from his spatial pack and directly used the synthesis function. In an instant, the War Spirit Fragments floated into the air and formed an incomplete star map.

When the final fragment fell into place, the space-time throughout Divine Wood Forest suddenly froze!

An orange pillar of light appeared before Xiao Yun and the others. Then, with a clear clang of a sword, a ringing cry echoed through the heavens. All the fragments suddenly burst into golden flames. Within the fire, a pair of long legs clad in Dark Gold battle boots appeared inside the pillar of light, sending ripples of Dao markings outward.

When the flames dispersed—

A valiant female war goddess appeared within the pillar of light. She wore gleaming silver armor inlaid with gold, held a three-foot golden sword, and wore a jeweled golden crown. Her long golden hair fluttered in the wind, while countless fiery rays of light swirled around her.

As her phoenix eyes opened, an overwhelming aura instantly spread outward.

She stepped out of the pillar of light, reached Xiao Yun in two steps, and knelt on one knee. "Nine Heavens Profound Maiden Xuan Huaying pays respects to the Lord."

Xiao Yun hurriedly helped Xuan Huaying up. "General Xuan Maiden, no need for such formalities. Please rise."

Xuan Huaying rose with Xiao Yun's assistance and took up a perfectly disciplined stance at his side, guarding him.

Xiao Yun instructed Xuan Huaying, "Don't be nervous. The Abyss Monsters here have already been defeated. Go speak with Siming Divine Monarch and the others first to understand the current situation." Then he opened her panel:

[Mythic War Spirit: Undefeated War GodNine Heavens GoddessXuan Huaying]

[Attribute: Fire]

[Class: Warrior]

[Level: 1 (Maximum 380)]

[Traits: Fire Control, Xuan Gan Battle Body, Xuan Pin Spirit Body, Sword Array Mastery]

[Skills: Xuan Yang Sword Control Art, Xuan Tian Sword Array, Xuan Pin Spirit Physique, Fire Spirit Root]

Xuan Huaying was clearly willing to listen. She immediately began talking with Chu Yinge and the others nearby.

Xiao Yun walked over to the Sky-Reaching Divine Wood and placed his hand on one of its thick roots. His Spiritual Sense extended outward, and after communicating with the Sovereign of Divine Wood Forest, he learned that the next region they needed to reclaim was the Heavenly Desolation Plateau on the other side of Clear Wind Valley. Deep within the Heavenly Desolation Plateau was another World-Crossing Gate, one of the main routes through which the armies of the Abyssal Demon Realm had once invaded the Vast Wilderness World.

After learning this, Xiao Yun did not dare delay. He immediately led the team back to White Jade Capital. Along the way, he used the Spiritual Power and Gold Coins they had obtained to raise the Sword Immortal Spirit Body to level 40. He had originally intended to raise the Nine Heavens Profound Maiden's level as well.

However, she opposed it herself. Out of a warrior's pride, she wanted to raise her level through her own ability.

After returning to White Jade Capital, the group immediately headed for the newly unlocked Trial Temple.

The Trial Temple was built entirely from white jade. Ten enormous pillars supported its dome, each carved with different Runes. The moment Xiao Yun stepped inside, he received the building's information:

[Trial Temple]

[Unlocked Areas: Daily Dungeon Module, Tower of Fate]

[Currently Enterable Dungeons: Spiritual Power Dungeon (Easy), Gold Coin Dungeon (Easy), War Spirit Dungeon (Easy), Magic Treasure Dungeon (Easy)]

I'll try the Spiritual Power Dungeon first. With a thought, Xiao Yun appeared in a strange space. Countless motes of light floated around him, each containing pure Spiritual Power.

The dungeon rules were simple—absorb as many Spiritual Power motes as possible within the allotted time. For Xiao Yun, who possessed the Sword Immortal Template, this was a piece of cake. He sat cross-legged and circulated the Azure Lotus Sword Song. The Azure Sword Lotus in his Dantian spun madly, drawing the Spiritual Power motes into his body like a whale swallowing water.

[Spiritual Power Dungeon Cleared]

[Spiritual Power Obtained: 132,000]

[Rating: 3 Stars]

[Next Difficulty Unlocked]

The following Gold Coin Dungeon and War Spirit Dungeon were just as easy. The Gold Coin Dungeon required him to collect scattered Money Pouches in a maze, while the War Spirit Dungeon required defeating specific monsters to obtain fragments. The Magic Treasure Dungeon involved defeating Magic Treasures that had been corrupted by demonic energy to obtain Magic Treasure Spiritual Power exclusively used to upgrade Magic Treasures. With the strength of a level 40 Sword Immortal, Xiao Yun cleared them all with the highest rating, gaining 220,000 Gold Coins, six attribute-free Epic War Spirit Fragments, and 140 strands of Magic Treasure Spiritual Power.

Next, Xiao Yun and the others arrived at the Tower of Fate. According to its rules, it could be challenged freely. Only one team could fight through the first 800 floors, while two teams were required above the 800th floor. The Tower of Fate also had six subsidiary towers—Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, and Light-Dark Attribute. These subsidiary towers would only open after the Lord's team cleared the 500th floor of the main tower.

The first time they cleared each floor of the Tower of Fate, they could receive corresponding rewards, mainly Breakthrough Stones, Gold Coins, and Spiritual Power. Every ten floors also granted a special reward.

After reading the rules, Xiao Yun immediately led Xuan Huaying, Chu Yinge, She Ruyan, and Hua Wushuang to begin climbing the tower.

The battles went extremely smoothly. They won every floor with ease and reached the fifteenth floor directly. However, they were then notified that they could not continue and had to reclaim three regions before they could challenge higher floors.

Still, the first fifteen floors had already earned Xiao Yun 160 Breakthrough Stones, around 180,000 Gold Coins, and around 120,000 Spiritual Power. Since there was no point in saving them, Xiao Yun raised the Sword Saint Template to level 60 and obtained the passive skill Sword Qi. Whenever he swung his sword, there was a 50% chance of unleashing Sword Qi, and this Sword Qi did not consume Xiao Yun's Spiritual Power.

Xiao Yun then came to the Arena Temple. It was a building resembling a Roman colosseum, but after entering, he discovered that it was far more complex than it appeared from the outside.

According to the arena's rules, the competition types were Solo Arena, Team Arena, Six Paths Contest, Otherworld Arena, Group Arena, Sword Trial Under Heaven, Supreme Peak Tournament, and more. At present, only Solo Arena was open.

Each entry into Solo Arena required one Arena Voucher. The main sources of Arena Vouchers were daily missions, the daily store, Bounty Missions, the Treasure Hunt Temple, and so on.

According to the rules, as long as one reached a certain number of challenges each week, one could receive Bounty Orders, Arena Coins, and even the precious Wish Cube. In particular, the Key of Destiny awarded after 120 challenges was an extraordinarily rare treasure.