"Fellow Daoist Bai," Shen Luo said, stepping toward the figure approaching him.
"Fellow Daoist Shen, you're here too." Bai Linglong nodded, her tone composed.
"Where is the Northern Abyss Kun?" Shen Luo asked with a frown.
"We parted ways along the way. I haven't seen him arrive yet." Bai Linglong shook her head.
When Sun Wukong saw Shen Luo, he too had intended to approach, but Manjushri shook his head at him, signaling him not to have too much contact. After a brief hesitation, he merely greeted Shen Luo from a distance.
Shen Luo returned the greeting, then turned his gaze back to Bai Linglong and asked, "Are you waiting here for me and the Northern Abyss Kun?"
At his question, she shook her head and led him more than ten zhang away. Pointing to a black stone tablet embedded in the ground, she said, "Take a look and you'll understand."
Filled with surprise, Shen Luo lowered his head to examine the black stone tablet. Dim light shimmered over it, and a line of small golden characters actually floated above its surface:
"The second-floor trial begins in three days. Those who fail to reach this place will be imprisoned forever in the first-floor space. Those who leave this place without permission will be transported out of the tower."
That simple statement made it clear: only those who passed the first-floor trial and were transported to the second floor could take the second-floor trial, and the trial grounds were the black plaza beneath their feet.
Having learned this, Shen Luo no longer felt any urgency and sat down cross-legged as well.
"Did that stone tablet specify what the second-floor trial entails?" Shen Luo asked.
"I haven't seen anything. I arrived two days ago, and the only change in the words displayed