Nine Tribulations Immortal Inquiry Tower

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Nine Tribulations Immortal Inquiry Tower (九刧问仙塔)
Alias(es)	Heaven-Piercing Tower; Nine Tribulations Immortal-Seeking Tower; Ninth-Tier Immortality Inquiry Tower 351 381 851
Type	Colossal supreme treasure and law-comprehension trial ground, inhabited by a newly conscious artifact spirit; rumored to be an Innate Spirit Treasure 922 927 1040
Affiliation	Neutral; formerly the core of the Nine Tribulations Path to Immortality, now situated at the center of the Violet Thorn Continent 388 401
Occupation/Role	Tests cultivators, grants access to law worlds, ranks entrants, evolves through collected insights, and selects a future master 851 922 926
Status	Active; has no acknowledged master, has recognized Qin Huaian and Ye Hao, and is gathering candidates for master selection 922 923 1043 1047
First Appearance	Chapter 351 — “Heaven-Piercing Tower”

History

Earlier history

An old account states that the tower once descended upon the Violet Thorn Great World long after its inhabitants had been able to reach Daluo Golden Immortal. Within ten thousand years of its arrival, cultivators discovered that the world's laws had become incomplete, preventing anyone from comprehending complete laws or surviving the Daluo Golden Immortal lightning tribulation. 851

The same account says the tower vanished roughly five thousand epochs later. Its disappearance did not restore the world's laws; instead, spiritual-energy density across the great domains gradually declined. 852

The current artifact spirit does not believe the tower alone caused the Violet Thorn Great World's incomplete laws, noting that it had not yet awakened during the earlier period. 921

Nine Tribulations Path to Immortality

The tower was placed within the Nine Tribulations Path to Immortality, a secret realm apparently formed by sealing part of the Violet Thorn Continent together with the tower. According to the artifact spirit, this arrangement was likely intended to repair the tower by using the world's origin power. 922

When the secret realm opened in Qin Huaian's era, the tower manifested at its center as a heaven-piercing structure visible to every cultivator within the realm. Its appearance signaled that the secret realm entrance had closed. 351 352

After the secret realm fused with the Violet Thorn Domain, the tower appeared in the central region of the Violet Thorn Continent and remained accessible to eligible cultivators. 388 389

Public pursuit of the inheritance

After news spread that the tower might be an Innate Spirit Treasure and that recognized entrants could become its heirs, cultivators traveled to the Violet Thorn Domain from across its 360 great domains. Some sects sent disciples into the tower earlier than planned, while the Heavenly Treasure Sacred Land recruited talented cultivators who might qualify for its inheritance. Qin Huaian suspected that the new artifact spirit had spread the news to accelerate the search for candidates, but this was his inference. 1040 1042 1046

Ye Hao subsequently became the second known cultivator to have his name engraved at the tower's summit. Qin Huaian later returned and publicly demonstrated a candidate's ability to enter its second floor. 1043 1047

Power Progression

Stage	Development
Earlier descent	According to an old account, the tower descended upon the Violet Thorn Great World; the world's laws were found to be incomplete within ten thousand years, though the tower's responsibility remains uncertain. 851 921
Disappearance	The tower vanished roughly five thousand epochs after its descent. The world's laws did not recover, and spiritual-energy density began to decline. 852
Secret-realm core	The tower was enclosed with part of the Violet Thorn Continent in the Nine Tribulations Path to Immortality, apparently so the world's origin power could repair it. 922
Return to the continent	Following the secret realm's fusion with the Violet Thorn Domain, the tower stood at the continent's center and continued admitting eligible first-time entrants. 388 389
Awakened remnant spirit	A lingering phantom of the former artifact spirit gained consciousness. It can communicate, administer limited functions, and mobilize the tower's power, but cannot fully replace the original spirit. 922 928
Recognized candidates	Qin Huaian's name was engraved at the summit; Ye Hao's name later appeared beside it, bringing the number of known recognized cultivators to two. 922 1043 1047
Second-floor access demonstrated	Qin Huaian opened one of the second floor's eighty-one sealed doorways and entered a candidate cultivation space; another cultivator was repelled when he tried to follow. 1047

Structure and Access

Physical form

• The tower's base was reported to have a diameter of hundreds of thousands of li during its manifestation within the secret realm; its full height has never been determined. 382
• It possesses 9,999 entrances around its exterior. 382 389
• Its material resembles neither ordinary stone nor wood, and cultivators have failed to identify it. 382
• Its scale changed after the secret realm fusion, but it remained so vast that its summit and lateral extent could not be seen from nearby. 396
• Names carved at its highest point are displayed through a Spatial Law projection visible to cultivators above the Nascent Soul Realm, regardless of distance. Qin Huaian's and Ye Hao's names have both appeared there. 917 920 1047
• Above the ordinary first-floor entrances, the second floor has eighty-one doorways. They remained sealed to the public until Qin Huaian opened one using incantations. 1047

Entry rules

• During the original secret-realm opening, cultivators needed Immortal Inquiry Tokens to enter the Nine Tribulations Path to Immortality. 338
• After the fusion, the tower allows entry to cultivators below the Tribulation Transcendence Realm who have not entered before; prior entry or reaching the Tribulation Transcendence Realm causes the entrance's white light to reject them. 389
• Ordinary cultivators receive only one lifetime entry opportunity. 419 918
• Entering a gateway transports a cultivator directly into one of the tower's internal worlds. 382
• Entrants cannot leave freely at will. Each world has an exit, but reaching it or fulfilling its conditions is necessary to proceed or teleport out. 382
• Remaining trapped in a dangerous world for too long can result in death. 382
• A candidate can open a second-floor doorway to enter for cultivation. The doorway admits only the person who opened it; an Immortal Venerable who tried to follow Qin Huaian was repelled and injured. 1047

Abilities & Functions

Law-world trials

The tower contains numerous independent worlds, each functioning like a complete separate realm with its own environment, challenges, and laws. 382

• Entrants first encounter worlds associated with the five elemental attributes; later law worlds differ between individuals. 419
• Worlds may sharpen combat ability, deepen core cultivation arts, or develop alchemy, formations, artifact refinement, talismans, divine abilities, and comprehension of laws. 382
• A world’s passage to the next stage opens only after its required conditions are met. 382
• Cultivators may experience no more than nine law worlds, matching the highest recorded number of laws successfully used in an initial Dao Integration. 926
• If a cultivator fails to comprehend the relevant law after nine years in a trial world, they must either advance or be teleported out. 419
• The trials are lethal as well as beneficial; many entrants have never emerged. 381 382

Law comprehension

The tower substantially improves a cultivator's ability to perceive the laws of heaven and earth.

• Its law worlds enabled Qin Huaian to sense earth-element law threads after defeating an earth-armored beast. 385
• Cultivators can potentially comprehend up to nine laws within decades, an opportunity considered extraordinary compared with normal cultivation outside the tower. 851
• The tower can simulate the cultivation environment of the main world, potentially allowing exceptional candidates to glimpse the path toward the Saint Realm. 923
• The tower's benefits are not guaranteed; one cultivator spent nine years in a single world and gained little due to insufficient comprehension. 391
• Its candidate Law Space has dense law rhythms that adapt to a cultivator's level. Qin Huaian found it helpful while studying the Yin-Yang Laws, although he judged his Seed Space more effective for laws he could also test through practical experimentation there. 1046 1050

Immortal Inquiry Stele and rankings

The Immortal Inquiry Stele records and ranks cultivators undergoing trials within the tower. Its rankings are understood to reflect talent, comprehension, and gains made during the trials. 389

• Names may include an entrant's sect or origin if the entrant chooses to record it. 389 398
• Reaching the top thousand prompts an entrant to leave behind a name. 396
• High rankings identify cultivators sought after by major sects and factions. 851 918
• Qin Huaian completed all nine trial worlds and comprehended nine laws, eventually placing first on the stele. 391 396
• Qin Huaian's name was the first known to be carved directly onto the tower's summit rather than merely appearing on the stele; Ye Hao's was later carved beside it. 851 1043 1047
• Passing all nine Law Spaces and gaining insight into nine laws does not, by itself, guarantee a summit inscription. 1048

Defensive barrier

The artifact spirit can mobilize the tower's power to create an invisible defensive barrier.

• The barrier encircled the tower at roughly one hundred thousand li above the ground while the artifact spirit communicated with Qin Huaian. 928 929
• Multiple Immortal Venerable Great Perfection cultivators failed to breach or even noticeably affect it. 920 936
• The artifact spirit stated that it formed the barrier to prevent outside interference with its transmission. 928
• The tower does not otherwise promise protection to candidates; the artifact spirit considers survival and sufficient fortune necessary to become master. 928

Insight assimilation and evolution

The tower silently senses the insights and flashes of inspiration produced by cultivators training in its law worlds. 926

• It selectively absorbs ingenious ideas and unusual law comprehensions from cultivators below the Golden Immortal Realm. 927
• These absorbed insights are used to complete or expand the tower's own worlds of laws. 927
• Ordinary insights are considered of little use and are effectively ignored. 927
• The process does not affect the cultivators whose insights are observed. 926
• Despite this self-improving function, the artifact spirit states that the tower is not a living being capable of truly cultivating on its own. 927

Artifact Spirit and Master Selection

New artifact spirit

The tower's current speaker is a lingering phantom of its original artifact spirit that only recently gained consciousness. It cannot fully replace the former artifact spirit, and much of its inherited information remains sealed until the tower gains a new master. 922 924

The spirit knows the tower has no current owner, but does not know who originally placed it in the Nine Tribulations Path to Immortality or why. 922

Qin Huaian suspects the spirit publicized the inheritance opportunity to attract more entrants and hasten candidate selection. The source of the news has not been confirmed. 1042

Candidate requirements

• A cultivator whose name is carved atop the tower has met its preliminary requirements for candidacy. Qin Huaian and Ye Hao are the two known cultivators to have achieved this. 922 1043 1047
• The artifact spirit initially told Qin Huaian that nine such candidates must be gathered before the tower chooses the best among them as its new master. Later accounts refer instead to gathering ten candidates; the reason for the differing numbers has not been explained. 922 1042 1046
• A candidate can become the master ahead of the final selection by reaching the Saint Realm within one yuanhui. 923
• To become an official candidate, a qualified cultivator must pass the Great Immortal Ascension Lightning Tribulation and swear a binding Great Dao oath. 924
• The oath requires the candidate, if they become master, to kill a member of the Moonbillow Star Court imperial family and never cooperate with the Moonbillow Star Court. 924
• The artifact spirit cannot explain the full origin of this requirement, though it implies a grudge connected to the tower’s former master. 924

Candidate privileges

Formal candidates may cultivate inside the tower under rules unavailable to ordinary entrants. Qin Huaian demonstrated this privilege by opening a second-floor doorway and entering through it. 925 1047

• They may enter once every thousand years and remain for up to one hundred years per entry. 925 928
• They may select any law world they have previously experienced and continue cultivating its corresponding laws. 925
• Cultivation efficiency within the tower is five times greater than outside. 925
• Candidates may leave before their hundred-year limit, but cannot freely enter and exit repeatedly during a single thousand-year interval. 928
• A candidate's opened second-floor doorway cannot be used by someone else. 1047

Relationships

• Qin Huaian — The first known cultivator whose name was carved at the tower's summit. His comprehension of Spatial Law before reaching the Tribulation Transcendence Realm satisfied the tower's preliminary requirements for candidacy. He later returned to cultivate through a second-floor entrance. 913 922 1047
• Ye Hao — The second known cultivator whose name appeared at the tower's summit, beside Qin Huaian's. His inscription marks him as another prospective inheritor. 1043 1047 1048
• New Artifact Spirit — The tower's recently awakened, incomplete artifact spirit; it manages limited tower functions, explains candidate rules, and can mobilize the tower's defensive power. 922 928
• Former Artifact Spirit — The original spirit that established the master-selection conditions and left much of its inheritance sealed. 922 923
• Moonbillow Star Court — A distant imperial power opposed by the tower’s former master; formal candidates must vow never to cooperate with it. 924
• Major sects of the Violet Thorn Great World — Maintain nearby strongholds and send promising disciples to the tower, treating it as a crucial training ground for law comprehension. News of its possible inheritance led some to accelerate those plans. 472 913 1040

Trivia

• Countless cultivators have unsuccessfully attempted to claim the tower by dripping blood on its exterior. 383 419 472
• Several cultivation cities formed around the tower, with Immortal Inquiry City becoming the most prominent because of the Immortal Inquiry Stele. 398 472
• The tower has become the principal proving ground for young geniuses across the 360 great domains. 851 917
• Its rumored status as an Innate Spirit Treasure and the prospect of inheritance drew a new influx of entrants, though the reported treasure grade remains unconfirmed. 1040