Heaven-Reaching Tower Assessment

His Force Amplitude was around 70 times. After ten years of tempering, Yin Congyang's Force Amplitude had indeed surpassed 70 times.

He had never stopped practicing the Heaven-Opening Axe Technique. The more he practiced, the more profound and mysterious it became. Each stage brought new discoveries. It was practically a treasure trove of an axe technique.

Thanks to his powerful soul, he had mastered the second stage of both the offensive and defensive techniques of Shake God. It was said that only those whose souls had reached Star Level could practice the second stage, but Yin Congyang's soul was so powerful that he broke through the bottleneck with ease.

Unfortunately, his points had only been enough to exchange for the first two stages of the technique. Even now, he still hadn't saved enough points for the third stage. Otherwise, he would have liked to see if he could practice it.

Time passed, and soon it was time for the assessment.

The students were all very familiar with the matches and the Virtual Universe theory assessment. The whole process only took a few days.

"Tomorrow morning, you'll take the Heaven-Reaching Tower assessment. Log into the Virtual Universe from your residences on time," Purple-Robed Dragon Lady announced in her cool voice. "You may all go back now. Remember, once the tower assessment is over, everyone will take part in the Life-and-Death Trial held once every ten years. I hope you all make it back alive!"

Some of the students looked worried, some seemed unconcerned, and others were lost in thought as they headed back to their residences.

"Hey, Old Yin, do you know where the Life-and-Death Trial will take place?" asked a student numbered A8, named Obledy, as he walked beside Yin Congyang and turned to him.

"How many times have I told you not to call me Old Yin?" Yin Congyang replied with exasperation. "How would I know? I looked it up before. It seems to be different every time. Sometimes it's a secret realm, sometimes a hunt. Sometimes it's about survival, and sometimes it's a treasure hunt. Who knows what they'll make us do this time? What, do you know?"

Obledy shook his head. "I don't, but you seem to get along pretty well with Instructor Iceberg. I thought you might have some inside information..."

The students had privately nicknamed Purple-Robed Dragon Lady "Instructor Iceberg." The name had two meanings. One was her distant, unapproachable personality. The other was her strength. On the surface, she seemed to be only at Universe Level Nine, but supposedly the other three instructors were somewhat afraid of her. The students guessed that the three of them had once suffered at the hands of this Iceberg Beauty, which was why she led the other three and presided over the entire Training Camp.

Yin Congyang looked at him seriously. "Old Ob, I really don't have any inside information. But I think that no matter what form the trial takes, strength always comes first. As long as you're strong enough, you can breeze through any trial. Right?"

Obledy nodded thoughtfully, then suddenly caught on. "Damn, you won't let me call you Old Yin, but you call me Old Ob! And you even said my A8 number was named after some car brand from your hometown called Audi. My name is Obledy Bocklifford Maigaris, not Audi!"

"Who can blame you for having such a long name?" Yin Congyang rolled his eyes. "So, would you rather I call you Old Ob or Audi?"

"...Just call me Old Ob. Being called Audi feels weird," Old Ob muttered in frustration. "It's not like I chose my own name. What could I do about it? Anyway, how many layers of the Heaven-Reaching Tower do you think you can clear?"

Yin Congyang shook his head. "None of us in this batch has tried the tower before. We don't know how far we'll get. At least it's in the Virtual Universe, so we can't die. We'll just do our best. Still, this Training Camp is pretty stingy, giving us a chance to climb the tower only once every ten years... I think a few years ago, during the Genius Tournament, the Virtual Universe Company set aside an entire plane with a trial tower where more than a million people could fight at the same time..."

"Then you don't know the whole story," Old Ob said in a mysterious whisper. "Setting up this kind of trial in the Virtual Universe takes energy, too. The Virtual Universe Company may be loaded, but it holds the Genius Tournament only once every ten thousand years. This Training Camp runs the tower every ten years. Sure, it has fewer people than the tournament, but the camp's budget is limited. Why do you think we have to spend points to train in the Virtual Universe during our regular sessions? Besides, there aren't many Planetary Level students at the camp, but there are plenty at Star Level. Planetary Level is just about building a foundation; Star Level is when your talent really begins to show. It makes sense that the higher-ups care more about Star Level..."

"So that's how it is? I guess I was ignorant," Yin Congyang said, stopping. "This is my place. Get ready, and see if you can clear a few more layers tomorrow!"

He waved to Old Ob and flew into his villa. Obledy was one of the few friends Yin Congyang had made over the past ten years—someone he could talk to. His strength was decent, and he had consistently stayed in Class A.

Everyone else was just an acquaintance. They were all busy training and studying, and no one had time to make connections. After all, Planetary Level students faced a Life-and-Death Trial every ten years for a century. Who knew if you'd still be around a decade later? If you were going to build relationships, you did it in the later stages of Star Level, when graduation was approaching and you knew where you were headed.

Early the next morning, in the Virtual Universe Training Camp.

The four instructors took all the students to a special plane in the Virtual Universe. There stood an octagonal tower that soared into the sky. Each floor was immensely tall, and the top of the hundred-story tower couldn't be seen from the ground.

All eight tower gates stood open.

Purple-Robed Dragon Lady's icy voice rang across the area. "There are eight gates, and each one can admit thirty people. Go by your numbers: A1 through A30 enter Gate One, A31 through A60 enter Gate Two, and so on. Go in one at a time. Once inside, choose your weapons, then begin the climb... You, go in first!"

Purple-Robed Dragon Lady pointed at Yin Congyang with her slender hand.

After ranking first in the first assessment, Yin Congyang's number had been changed to A1. Now, he was the first to walk toward Gate One. He stepped inside.

Space shifted, and he appeared on an arena twenty kilometers long and twenty kilometers wide.

"Choose your battle suit and weapons."

Yin Congyang quickly chose a battle suit, the Heaven-Opening Axe, the Xinling Disk, and his other weapons.

"Whoosh!"

A person in full-body armor began to appear across the arena. He, too, wielded an axe and carried a Xinling Disk on his back.

Once his body had fully formed, his opponent said nothing. More than ten flying knives shot from the Xinling Disk on his back toward Yin Congyang, while he charged forward at lightning speed with a giant axe in hand.

Yin Congyang tested the physical abilities of a Planetary Level Nine fighter in the Virtual Universe, pursed his lips, and muttered, "So weak." Nine flying knives shot from his Xinling Disk. Eight deflected the incoming knives with a series of clangs, while the last traced a graceful S-shaped arc and pierced his opponent's forehead before he could dodge. He had cleared the first layer.

The opponent on the first layer didn't even have a Domain. His Force Amplitude was probably only around 10 times. Even the Yin Congyang of ten years ago could have easily split him in two with one swing.

The second layer had the same kind of opponent, but this time he had a Domain at the first layer. Yin Congyang cleared it just as easily.

On the third layer, his opponent had a Domain at the second layer and a Force Amplitude of 5 times. Yin Congyang cleared it.

On the fourth layer, his opponent had a Domain at the second layer and a Force Amplitude of 8 times. Yin Congyang cleared it.

On the twentieth layer, his opponent had a Domain at the seventh layer and a Force Amplitude of 30 times. Yin Congyang cleared it.

On the thirtieth layer, his opponent had a Domain at the ninth layer and a Force Amplitude of 40 times. Yin Congyang cleared it.

The thirty-first layer.

As soon as the opponent appeared, he unleashed a Ninefold Domain. Countless flying knives poured from the Xinling Disk, forming nine formations that swept toward Yin Congyang all at once.

The opponent himself charged with a giant axe. He moved far faster than the opponent on the thirtieth layer, and once he was close, his axe technique carried a trace of the Law of Gold and tremendous power.

Yin Congyang unleashed his Domain. His Eightfold Five Elements Domain crushed the opponent's Domain, shattering it. The Domain's suppression brought the speed and power of the flying knife formations almost to a standstill and greatly hindered his opponent's movement as well.

"Impossible! How can your Domain be so powerful?" the opponent on the thirty-first layer cried out in shock.

The first thirty opponents had said nothing, so Yin Congyang had assumed they couldn't speak. The thirty-first layer opponent's words surprised him. "So you can talk? I thought you were all mute. I've been curious—what kind of beings are you, anyway?"

After shouting angrily, the opponent ignored Yin Congyang. Seeing that his telekinetic weapons were ineffective, he focused on his axe technique. His movements were bold and sweeping, and his exquisite technique was profound and unfathomable.

When the opponent stopped talking, Yin Congyang felt a little disappointed. After studying his axe technique for a moment, he sent him packing with one swing.

From the thirty-first layer onward, each opponent was much stronger than the last. But Yin Congyang's Eightfold Five Elements Domain was simply too powerful, and his Force Amplitude was no slouch either. Without even using his comprehension of the laws, he fought his way to the thirty-eighth layer.

The opponent on the thirty-ninth layer had already matched Yin Congyang's current level of law comprehension. Even so, Yin Congyang relied on the might of his Domain and his law comprehension to kill him and clear the layer.

The opponent on the fortieth layer had surpassed Yin Congyang in law comprehension. His Force Amplitude had also reached 60 times, and his axe technique was so exquisite that it matched Yin Congyang's current comprehension of the Heaven-Opening Axe Technique.

Yin Congyang brought out both his Eightfold Domain and his law comprehension. Without using the Soul Attack of Shake God, he won with great difficulty.

After facing the earlier opponents, Yin Congyang concluded that the difficulty of the Heaven-Reaching Tower would surge every ten layers. With his current Domain and law comprehension, he could barely clear the fortieth layer without his soul attack technique.

Sure enough, when he reached the forty-first layer, his opponent's Domain and law comprehension surged. Yin Congyang could no longer completely suppress the other's Domain, and his law comprehension was no match at all. The opponent's axe technique was even more refined than the one on the fortieth layer. After Yin Congyang fought him fiercely for over a hundred exchanges, he finally killed him with the Shake God secret technique.

On the forty-second layer, Yin Congyang was completely outmatched in close combat and could only defend desperately. After weathering the opponent's attacks, he used Shake God to disrupt his opponent's mind, then closed in and killed him with his axe technique.