The Gravity Training Tower

The second morning session hadn't ended yet.

The students in Regular Class 9

watched in surprise as Ye Xiao stopped attending class and left.

Before he went,

Ye Xiao spoke to Fatty Wang in private.

His voice wasn't loud, but many people heard him.

"Fatty Wang, I'm going to the Gravity Training Tower. Wait for me, and we'll have lunch together."

It sounded like a simple sentence.

But in truth,

the fact that Ye Xiao had spoken to Fatty Wang alone

was enough for the other students to notice.

They had already been keeping their distance from Fatty Wang because he was close to Ye Xiao.

When they isolated Ye Xiao,

they had isolated Fatty Wang too.

But Ye Xiao had made a small show of strength in his first practical combat class, revealing his edge.

It had effectively intimidated the students.

At the same time, his actions made it clear to everyone else

that he and Fatty Wang were close.

They shouldn't think that just because he had left,

they could bully Fatty Wang.

Sure enough,

after Ye Xiao left,

the students quickly crowded around Fatty Wang.

They all peppered him with questions.

"Fatty Wang, are you close with Ye Xiao?"

"Did you go to school together before?"

"Why is Ye Xiao's profession so poor and his cultivation so low, yet his actual combat strength is so high?"

"Was he always good at fighting?"

"..."

For a while, Fatty Wang became the most popular person in class.

Many students crowded around him, asking all sorts of questions.

They seemed eager to curry favor with him.

Fatty Wang couldn't stop grinning.

The truth was, how well did he even know Ye Xiao?

They had only met for the first time yesterday.

He had simply not treated Ye Xiao the way everyone else had.

And because of that,

Fatty Wang had gained Ye Xiao's steadfast friendship.

Many years later,

when Fatty Wang looked back on the past,

he would still marvel at how, on the day he first met Ye Xiao,

he had made the best choice of his life.

Jiang City Martial Arts University.

The Gravity Training Tower.

It stood in the university's North District, built entirely from an unknown black alloy. It had nine floors in all.

That was why it was also known as the "Nine-Story Black Tower."

There were no decorations on its surface, only white numbers carved beside each floor's entrance.

1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50, 80, 100, Limit.

These numbers were not meaningless.

They represented different levels of gravity.

The tower was octagonal, with each floor narrowing as it rose, like a black sword plunged upside down into the ground.

Clouds and mist swirled around its summit all year long, a strange weather phenomenon formed when its gravity field distorted the air.

On sunny days, sunlight glinted off the tower, revealing a dim metallic sheen.

On cloudy days, the entire tower resembled a black spike driven between heaven and earth.

What made the deepest impression were the "scars" on its surface.

They had been left over the years by powerful cultivators training inside—the impacts of their punches and the aftershocks of their spells against the tower walls.

There were deep fist marks, scorched lightning patterns, sword slashes, and claw marks.

No one repaired them, because they were the tower's medals of honor.

A massive archway stood on the tower's lowest floor. It was three zhang high and two zhang wide, with a line of text carved into its lintel:

"Beneath gravity, all beings are equal."

For spellcasters, gravity was a burden.

The flow of spiritual energy slowed here, so casting spells required more mental energy.

But it also pushed their mental strength to its limits.

That made it an excellent place to train.

For martialists, gravity was the best whetstone.

Every punch meant fighting against extra gravity; every breath used up more oxygen; every drop of blood had to withstand greater pressure.

A punch thrown in this environment was equivalent to ten punches outside.

Gravity also stimulated the body's instinct to strengthen itself—the bones grew denser, muscle fibers thicker, and blood flow faster.

By the time Ye Xiao reached the entrance of the Gravity Training Tower,

many students were already lined up there.

But they were all third- and fourth-year students.

They had special Gravity Training Cards.

The appearance of someone unfamiliar like Ye Xiao

caught their attention.

"Is that a new face?"

"Looks like a first-year."

"Unsteady aura, weak strength, low cultivation... How have the new students at our university gotten so bad?"

"When I enrolled, I was countless times stronger than him."

"I heard there's a specially admitted student among this year's freshmen."

"Specially admitted? He's just someone who got in through connections."

"Could this guy be that so-called legacy admission?"

"..."

Just then,

a series of knocks came from the entrance to the Gravity Training Tower.

A hoarse voice called from up ahead.

"Hey! Students at the back, are you going in to train or not?"

"If you aren't, move aside and let the students behind you in!"

The speaker was an old man wearing dusty gray work clothes. He held a cane and leaned against a pillar beside the tower entrance.

His face was deeply wrinkled, his eyes narrowed to slits. He looked like an ordinary old gatekeeper at the university.

"Old Man Black! We're going in now."

The students who had just been discussing Ye Xiao seemed to fear the old man in charge of the Gravity Training Tower.

They hurriedly took out their Gravity Training Cards.

Swipe the cards, enter the tower—it all happened in one smooth motion.

Soon,

Ye Xiao reached the old man at the front of the line.

"Student, you're a new face. First time here?"

A hoarse voice came from in front of him.

Ye Xiao nodded. "Yeah."

The old man looked him up and down, his gaze lingering for a moment on his faded T-shirt.

"What class are you in?"

"First-year, Regular Class 9."

The old man said, "Oh," then asked:

"What's your profession?"

"Martialist."

The students behind Ye Xiao heard his profession

and immediately grew excited.

"So he really is that legacy admission?"

"The only E-Grade talent failure in this year's freshman class!"

"What's he doing here?"

"Hey, legacy admission! This place is for third-years. You're a first-year—leave, and don't cause trouble!"

"..."

The old man's narrowed eyes opened a little. He looked at Ye Xiao for two seconds, then smiled.

"A martialist... That's a rare profession."

"But if you want to enter the Gravity Training Tower, you'll need a Gravity Training Card. Do you have one?"

Ye Xiao took out the card his homeroom teacher had lent him and handed it over.

The old man glanced at it.

"Oh, it's Xiao Zhou's teacher card."

"Looks like he thinks highly of you."

"All right, you can go in."

As he spoke, the old man inserted the card into a special slot.

"When you come out, remember to take the card with you."

Obviously,

this was to keep people from slacking off and wasting time inside the Gravity Training Tower.

Ye Xiao was about to enter the Gravity Training Tower.

Suddenly, the old man seemed to remember something.

"By the way, let me give you a warning."

"Don't go to the fifth floor or above."

Ye Xiao asked curiously, "Why?"

The old man smiled. "Because people have died there."