World Selection!

The fifth day.

Wang Xuan sat on his bed as the sky outside the window gradually darkened.

The Longevity Families' experts he had imagined descending upon him never appeared, nor did the Royal Clan's sudden persecution he had expected.

Ever since he had teleported back using Authority yesterday, it had been eerily quiet outside. Not even a passerby had gone by.

"Thinking too much is useless."

Wang Xuan glanced at the faintly glowing Heavens Tower Mark on the back of his hand, then at the Teleportation Card emitting a blue glow on his System Panel.

[Heavens Tower Plot World Teleportation Card x10]

This thing could teleport him directly. He did not need to squeeze through the Tower Gate again.

He waited until midnight.

As time ticked away and the clock struck twelve, Wang Xuan directly selected the Teleportation Card on his System Panel with his mind.

"Use."

The moment he spoke, an irresistible force instantly enveloped him, and his vision blurred.

When he opened his eyes again, Wang Xuan was no longer in that shabby little room.

He stood in an endless expanse of pure white. The ground beneath his feet was smooth and white, the space above him was white as well, and he could not distinguish up from down or left from right.

"This floor is different from the first."

Wang Xuan swept his gaze across his surroundings.

When he had entered the first floor, he had appeared directly at the world selection screen, with no one else around.

But now, figures began appearing one after another in this pure white space.

"They're all Players entering the second floor."

Wang Xuan understood.

It seemed the rules of the second floor differed from the first. It was not solo matchmaking, but batch entry.

As more and more people appeared, a buzzing murmur of conversation rose around him.

"Damn, there are so many people?"

"The second floor really is different. I heard we can choose our own worlds!"

"Choose my ass. Do you know which world is good? Just close your eyes and pick one."

"Of course you can choose. Sign a contract, and the Royal Clan's lords can provide hidden information about every world!"

"Damn Royal Clan lapdog, get lost!"

"You've got some nerve, insulting the Royal Clan..."

"So what if I insulted them? Do you know what I look like?"

Wang Xuan froze. He sharply caught the crucial detail and looked at the Players around him. The memories that had originally been somewhat clear suddenly became blurry. His powerful Xiantian Divine Sense allowed him to instinctively understand something: those vivid faces had all been false faces generated by his memories.

Now that he had realized it, when he looked again, none of the surrounding Players had distinct features. Their faces were completely blurred.

"Looks like this is some kind of protection mechanism of the Heavens Tower!"

Wang Xuan understood, but did not dwell on it. With his teleportation to a Plot World imminent, other trivial matters could only be put aside for now.

"Ding!"

The Heavens Tower's cold, mechanical voice rang out, and a pale blue System Panel automatically appeared before him.

[Player Wang Xuan detected. You have entered the second floor of the Heavens Tower.]

[Second Floor Martial Arts World (Mid-Level Martial Arts) activated.]

[Power limit of worlds on this floor: Grandmaster Realm.]

[Please note: the world selection mechanism of the second floor has changed from random assignment to independent selection.]

[Please select the Plot World you wish to enter from the following world list.]

A long string of world names appeared on the panel.

Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber

Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils

Legend of the Condor Heroes

World's Number One

Peerless Prodigy

Joy of Life

Return of the Condor Heroes

Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword

Legend of Lu Xiaofeng

Heroic Legend of the Great Banner

There were many more after that. Wang Xuan glanced through them and found that he had never even heard of many of them, so he only focused on the familiar ones.

The other Players around him received the same System Panel. They stared ahead with all kinds of expressions.

"Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils and Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber are Plot Worlds connected to dragons. Their lower limits definitely won't be low, so progression should be fast!"

"I think Joy of Life looks good. It should be some kind of cozy, everyday martial arts world. No need for all that fighting and killing. Perfect for peaceful development!"

Quite a few people shouted their choices aloud, then vanished from the pure white space with a flash.

They had clearly made their selections and been directly teleported into their worlds.

Wang Xuan's expression became somewhat strange. Thoughts turned over in his mind, but he quickly let them go. After all, this was the Heavens Tower. Compatibility was not something he needed to think about.

On the second floor, choosing a suitable Plot World was extremely important to him. If he obtained an Ultimate Art, he might be able to end the competition outright. He needed to choose a world that suited his growth as much as possible.

He looked through the worlds on the panel one by one.

Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber needed no explanation. The Nine Yang Manual, Great Shift of Heaven and Earth, Nine Yin Manual, Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms... there were countless Divine Arts and Ultimate Arts to obtain. This world was even connected to the Plot Worlds of Legend of the Condor Heroes and Return of the Condor Heroes.

Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils had the Xiaoyao Sect's entire series of Ultimate Arts: Northern Dark Divine Art, Small Formless Art, Tianshan Six-Yang Palm, as well as the Seventy-Two Shaolin Arts, Yijin Jing, Star Shift, Six Meridian Divine Sword...

Wang Xuan's gaze moved lower and stopped on World's Number One.

The martial arts of this world had left a deep impression on him.

Energy Absorption Technique.

This technique was even more overpowered than the Northern Dark Divine Art.

The Northern Dark Divine Art required him to first abolish his original martial arts before he could cultivate it, and he had to make physical contact to absorb energy. The internal energy absorbed had not been cultivated by himself; while abundant, it was not pure enough and was difficult to use smoothly.

The Energy Absorption Technique was different.

He would not need to abolish his cultivation. He could learn it directly, and it could even absorb energy from a distance!

And that was not all. The Energy Absorption Technique did not merely absorb internal energy. It could absorb an opponent's martial arts moves and the principles behind their cultivation techniques as well, turning them into his own.

That was simply absurd.

For someone like Wang Xuan, who possessed the One-Click Max talent, this was practically a shortcut for acquiring unlimited martial arts.

Absorb one, max out one. It could not get any better.

Besides the Energy Absorption Technique, World's Number One also had the Indestructible Diamond Divine Skill.

That special "transformation" effect pushed the very concept of "Indestructible Diamond" to its extreme.

Tyrant Blade and Three Blades of the Avici Path were also top-tier blade techniques.

Wang Xuan touched the Blood Blade tucked against his chest.

"I already have Divine Blade Slash for blade techniques, but the Energy Absorption Technique and the Indestructible Diamond Divine Skill..."

His heart stirred.

He looked at the other worlds again.

The Bright Jade Art, Grafting Flowers onto Trees, Wedding Dress Divine Art, and Yan Nantian's Divine Sword Art from Handsome Siblings were all first-rate Ultimate Arts as well.

As for Joy of Life...

Wang Xuan skipped over it immediately.

The only reason that world had been included was because it had been popular in his previous life. He had watched the television drama.

But its True Qi system was completely different from what he cultivated now.

He still had some doubts. If he rashly entered it, would he end up absorbing a bellyful of "radiation qi"?

After all, that stuff was called "nuclear radiation True Qi." It did not sound right.

Wang Xuan was not particularly interested in the remaining three worlds: Sentimental Swordsman, Ruthless Sword, Legend of Lu Xiaofeng, and Heroic Legend of the Great Banner.

It was not that these worlds lacked good things.

On the contrary, some of their Divine Arts and Ultimate Arts were quite eye-catching.

The problem was that the tone of those worlds was off.

Not to mention all the schemes and conspiracies—an inn waiter could drug and knock out a martial arts expert famous for decades at any moment.

Who could put up with that?

Although Wang Xuan was strong enough now, he did not want to spend every day guarding against poison, drugs, and traps.

"The main choices are Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, and World's Number One."

Wang Xuan stared at the System Panel as he rapidly went over them in his mind.

The advantages of Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber and Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils were their numerous Divine Arts and clear paths of progression.

The advantage of World's Number One was that the Energy Absorption Technique suited his talent far too well, while the Indestructible Diamond Divine Skill was also a top-tier defensive cultivation technique.

"If I choose World's Number One, the first thing I'll do after entering is find Gu Santong and obtain the Indestructible Diamond Divine Skill and the Energy Absorption Technique."

"After maxing them out with One-Click Max, I'll soar straight to the top."

"Then I can go absorb everyone else's martial arts..."

The more Wang Xuan thought about it, the wilder this route seemed.

The imperial forces in the world of World's Number One were very strong. Dragon Protection Villa, the East Depot, West Depot, Brocade Guard—there were countless factions involved. But there were truly very few real experts.

That old schemer, Iron Gall Divine Marquis Zhu Wushi, had slaughtered indiscriminately across the martial world in order to cultivate the Energy Absorption Technique, nearly wiping out an entire generation of martial artists.

"As long as Zhu Wushi doesn't target me immediately, development in this world should be fast."

Wang Xuan was simply too interested in the Energy Absorption Technique. Seeing that fewer and fewer people remained in the pure white space,

and that most Players had chosen their worlds and teleported away, he no longer hesitated and selected with his mind:

"World's Number One."

[World selection confirmed: World's Number One]

[Generating identity...]

[Identity generated: Wandering martial artist.]

[Teleportation commencing.]

Pure white light surged up from beneath his feet and enveloped Wang Xuan completely.

A sensation of weightlessness struck him, and he vanished from where he stood.

Half an hour later, a large number of Player figures appeared once more in the pure white space. Clearly, another batch of Players had entered the Plot Worlds.

However, after this batch entered the pure white space, they did not immediately inspect their System Panels or select Plot Worlds. Instead, they all waited silently. For a time, the space that should have been noisy became strangely eerie.

"Damn it, another one of these dirty, exhausting jobs. Honestly, I'm sick of it. After this mission, I'm definitely applying to move up. They can't keep us stuck on the second floor forever, can they?" A flicker of light passed through the space as a tall man appeared. Along with him came dozens of others.

"07686, cut the nonsense. Remember why we became the Trash Disposal Squad in the first place." A luxuriously dressed man with a platinum badge hanging from his chest stepped forward and rebuked him.

"Everyone, the target has already entered a Plot World. This operation includes 3,000 servant Grandmaster expendables. Forty Royal Clan members have each collected servants to form squads. I will now reiterate the specific details."

"First, I will use a Plot Retrospection Card to turn the timeline back to one year before the previous batch entered the Plot World!"

"Second, the target possesses a powerful talent of at least SS-Rank, something akin to rapid improvement or unlimited enlightenment. After entering the Plot World, he will prioritize acquiring Divine Arts and Ultimate Arts!"

"Third, after entering, you will most likely trigger the Main Quest. You are to delay the Main Quest until the target has been killed!"

"Fourth, begin checking the [God-Splitting Spikes] now. This batch of [God-Splitting Spikes] was specially crafted by the higher-ups and is single-use. I do not want anyone using the excuse of forgetting to bring one to secretly pocket a [God-Splitting Spike]. Furthermore, after the mission, all unused [God-Splitting Spikes] must be handed in!"

After the man with the platinum badge finished speaking, the Trash Disposal Squad members lined up and stepped forward. Each held a dull black short spike, displaying them one by one.

"Very good!" The man with the platinum badge checked them one by one, then nodded in satisfaction. His tone was no longer as stern as before and softened somewhat. "After this mission, all of your previous offenses will be wiped clean. You will return to your respective families and begin the next Plot World."

"Great!"

"We can finally leave the Trash Disposal Station! When I get back this time, I'm going to enjoy myself for ten years first and make up for all the suffering I endured!"

Cheers erupted through the crowd. Some were already imagining whether they would remain on Origin Earth Star or travel to other inhabited planets, though most planned to enjoy themselves for a few years first.

After all, as its name implied, the Trash Disposal Station was a place for cleaning up trash. All forms of indulgence were expressly forbidden there. They could only complete trash disposal missions again and again, until they met their required number of missions and could return to their respective families.

Once the crowd had calmed down, the man with the platinum badge did not waste any time and directly opened his System Panel.

Besides displaying basic information, the System Panel unexpectedly had a small page-turning icon. The moment he selected it with his mind, a new set of information appeared on the panel.

[Guild Name: Trash Disposal Guild]

[Guild Members: 19352630]

[Guild Badge: Platinum Badge Supervisor]

[Guild Position: Senior Waste Disposal Bureau Director]

[Member Name: Ye Xianxian]

[Guild Mission: Target Wang Xuan, 18 years old, Heavens Tower second floor, Xiantian Third Layer. Martial arts: Divine Illumination Scripture, Divine Blade Slash, Iron Cloth Shirt, unknown low-level movement technique.

Disposal objective: split the divine soul, extinguish the true spirit, reclaim the talent. Mission requirements: kill the target with a [God-Splitting Spike], then restart the Plot World. Authorized personnel will independently search the Plot World and recover the remnant soul.]

[Mission Tracking: World's Number One Plot World]

"Now, follow the mission instructions and enter the Plot World."

Following Ye Xianxian's words, the waste disposal agents selected their Plot Worlds one after another, turning into light and vanishing from the pure white space. At the same time, the Player servants, who had remained silent from start to finish like clay puppets, also disappeared together.

"Another ant relying on his talent to try to jump off the chessboard..." Ye Xianxian's disdainful voice echoed through the pure white space.