After choosing the scroll, I wasn't transported to a higher level this time. When I reappeared, I was already in the area of the Cloud-Ascending Pavilion. I couldn't help wondering if I'd triggered some mechanism and been directly disqualified or something.
Instead, Ji Dongkui's voice transmission came through very quickly.
"Congratulations, Little Friend, on completing the Cloud-Ascending Sword Pagoda's challenge. The reward for coming in last is in this old woman's hands. Hurry to the Cloud-Ascending Pavilion to collect your treasure. There is also something I still don't understand, and I would like to ask you about it." Ji Dongkui's tone was calm, and I had no idea what she wanted to ask.
Could my situation inside have already aroused her suspicions?
I soon returned to the Cloud-Ascending Pavilion. The auras of Lan Ran and Qingyang Qili were also inside the pavilion hall. After all, I'd been inside for too long; the two of them couldn't possibly have waited for me in front of the pagoda the entire time.
Inside the hall, the two young women stood on either side of Ji Dongkui. Seeing something unusual in their gazes, I couldn't help feeling a little suspicious.
"Greetings, Senior Ji Dong. Sorry for the wait." I cupped my hands as I spoke. By the time I finished the thirty levels, seven or eight days had already passed. After all, I'd been refining ore and plundering immortal herbs and such. Time had slipped away without me noticing. Although these things weren't of the highest grade, they were precisely what Sky City lacked most. Since some ores and immortal herbs weren't available in Sky City, it had been impossible to forge the highest-grade divine weapons or refine the finest spirit pills. But once I returned this time, none of those problems would remain