When Luo Feng first arrived in You Mountain City, his strongest Blade Technique had only just surpassed the eighth order of Eternal True God. If he had challenged the Dragon Tower back then, he might not have made it past the Ninth Layer.
But his insights from the Primal Chaos Stele had allowed him to fully merge the four basic Laws of Metal, Wood, Water, and Earth, along with a trace of the Law of Fire. After another hundred thousand epochs of cultivation in the Inheritance Space, he had begun merging Wind, Thunder and Lightning, Light, Space, and Time with those four Laws. This raised Path of Nine Heavens, Gate of Life, and Radiant Guardian to the Eternal True God Level.
Path of Nine Heavens—Exploration.
Gate of Life—Song of Life.
Radiant Guardian—Light of Blossoming.
Combined with the mysteries of the Time Origin and Destruction Origin, Exploration reached the peak of the eighth order of Eternal True God, Song of Life reached the ninth order, and Light of Blossoming reached the middle of the ninth order. At the ninth order, one already had a foot in the Saint Realm. The middle of the ninth order was on par with the weakest in the Saint Realm.
Luo Feng's Water and Fire Scorch Heaven had previously been at the eighth order. Progressing from there to the peak of the eighth order, then to the ninth, was hardly surprising.
Luo Feng had never delved deeply into merging Laws; his attention had been on the mysteries of the Destruction Origin. Now that his progress in merging Laws had accelerated, those insights into the Origin Mystery were enough to bring on a surge in strength.
The Ninth Layer was still a lone island surrounded by dark blue and black seawater.
A minotaur and an enchanting zither player stood on the island, watching Luo Feng emerge from the passage.
"Chimei, someone's here. Someone's here," the minotaur Li Man said lazily.
"Let's hope he isn't too weak." Chimei glanced at Luo Feng in his silver armor and paid him little mind.
Luo Feng landed on the island. The two guardians, Li Man and Chimei, finally rose from their seats.
"Challenger—" Li Man began, then stared. The silver-armored man had attacked without a word.
"Chimei, stand back and watch. I'll teach this human brat a lesson." Li Man was annoyed.
His Miniature Universe descended to suppress Luo Feng, and he charged forward.
Each of his six hands held a sharp steel blade.
"Come on, then," Luo Feng finally said.
"You're asking for it!" Li Man roared.
They clashed in an instant.
Both were blade fighters who prized speed and unpredictable moves.
Li Man relied solely on his Law Comprehension. He had merged the Ten Basic Laws to near perfection and was only one step from the Chaos Law. His Blade Technique looked nearly flawless. Every strike carried power at the peak of the eighth order of Eternal True God, sometimes even the ninth—and he achieved it through his command of Laws alone.
Luo Feng lagged well behind Li Man in merging Laws, but he had grasped the mysteries of two Origins. His understanding of the Destruction Origin had even reached an initial level of mastery. Combined with the Laws he knew, that made him formidable. Even wielding only a "scrap iron" blade, he could strike with power at the peak of the eighth order. Song of Life and Light of Blossoming reached the ninth.
Yet the moment they clashed, Luo Feng felt how terrifying Li Man was.
Each blade could at most unleash ninth-order power, but six blades together made his attacks frighteningly strong. Their combined force seemed to exceed the ninth order.
His defense is even stronger than his offense. With six blades guarding him, he leaves no opening at all. Luo Feng was stunned. He could not find a single flaw or chance to strike.
Six arms guided by one mind gave Li Man an obvious advantage in both attack and defense over Luo Feng's single blade.
Even with Song of Life, Luo Feng's greater speed and more unpredictable Blade Technique could not keep him from being pushed back.
Only Light of Blossoming gave him a slight edge!
"The Ninth Layer really is much harder than the Eighth Layer," Luo Feng muttered with a frown. The Eighth Layer had only demanded middle eighth-order strength. The Ninth Layer was entirely at the Eternal True God Pinnacle.
Luo Feng found that even Light of Blossoming won him only a small advantage. Li Man's six arms worked together perfectly, and Luo Feng had not found a single opening since the fight began.
An opponent this strong in close combat, and immune to Soul Attacks, was a true test of Law Comprehension.
If Luo Feng could use the Blood Shadow Blade, the Chaos Golden Wings, the Blood God Armor, or Divine Power Burning, he could win easily. But using any of them would mean failure.
My Law Comprehension still falls a little short, Luo Feng thought.
If his command of Laws or his understanding of the Origin Mystery were just a little stronger, he was confident he could pass. As things stood, he lacked that final bit.
Still, he was not without a chance.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
They traded swift blows again and again, neither giving ground.
Luo Feng could hold his own, but he could not defeat Li Man, whose Law Comprehension was nearly perfect.
What's going on? I can't beat this human? Li Man grew angrier as they fought. He, too, had realized he could not defeat the silver-armored man.
"Barbarian, need a hand?" Chimei had been watching from the sidelines. She could see the stalemate: Li Man alone could not defeat the challenger.
"Attack together!" As guardians, their duty was to stop challengers by any means. Sentiment had no place in it.
"Die, human!" Chimei's entry gave Li Man a surge of confidence. Under the influence of Soul Illusion, the human's strength was bound to fall.
A moment later, he realized just how wrong he was.
Chimei sat cross-legged in the air and began plucking her zither, casting Soul Illusion. Yet the human was not affected in the slightest.
"Damn it. Soul Illusion doesn't work on him," Chimei said helplessly through voice transmission.
"Then we'll kill him with physical attacks," Li Man barked. All six of his arms extended as he used a grappling move to trap Luo Feng.
Chimei nodded. The zither in her hands transformed into blade-like bamboo slivers that circled her—more than a hundred thousand of them.
"Go!"
At her command, every blade hurtled toward Luo Feng at hundreds of thousands of times the speed of light. Each carried power comparable to the peak of the eighth order of Eternal True God.
This was a Controller's method.
So fast! Luo Feng was shocked. This was the Origin Continent, yet an Eternal True God could unleash such an attack. Without his insight into the Time Origin, he would not have been sure he could block it.
Luo Feng switched to the defensive form of Radiant Guardian. He swept his blade around him several times, each arc of light intertwining with the others to form overlapping blade-shields. Layer upon layer, they stopped Chimei's attack.
But Li Man seized the opening, his long blades slashing toward Luo Feng like phantoms.
Luo Feng calmly changed moves, but attacks coming from both near and far left him entirely on the defensive!
"Good!"
Luo Feng grinned. Far from feeling overwhelmed, he welcomed the pressure. He could have killed Chimei with the Divine Eye Secret Technique, but this was exactly the pressure he needed to refine his Blade Technique.
Being suppressed meant he still had room to improve.
Luo Feng was forced almost entirely onto the defensive, though he still counterattacked now and then. As the exchanges continued, he stopped looking for flaws in his enemies and began searching for flaws in his own Blade Technique.
I can change this move like that...
As Luo Feng adapted his moves to defend himself, he began to spot their weaknesses...
The three-way battle sent towering waves crashing around the Ninth Layer's island.
After a long fight, the island had broken apart and vanished beneath the sea. The three figures in the air still showed no sign of tiring or stopping.
By Earth's reckoning, they had fought day and night for nearly two months.
"He's getting stronger. It seems we can't do anything to him," Chimei's voice sounded in Li Man's mind.
"But he can't do anything to us either. He won't pass this layer," Li Man replied.
The Nine Dragons Tower's rules required a challenger to kill the guardians to pass.
As a guardian of the Ninth Layer, Li Man defended with six blades so flawlessly that, without overwhelming strength, breaking through was all but impossible.
With Chimei fighting beside him, no one without Saint Realm strength could get past them.
"I've never fought a battle like this. What a thrill!" Luo Feng felt no fatigue. Under the relentless pressure, his Blade Technique had kept improving. He had gone from being completely outmatched to only slightly disadvantaged, and now to fighting them evenly. His progress over those thirty days had been immense.
In First Arrival, Water and Fire Scorch Heaven, Exploration, and Light of Blossoming, Luo Feng had gradually discovered weaknesses in the techniques themselves. This battle had made them more refined and complete.
But once the fight became even, the pressure disappeared. His progress slowed, then nearly stopped.
Luo Feng noticed it too.
"Without pressure, there's nothing left to temper me." He frowned, then looked at Chimei. "In that case, it's time to end this!"
A Divine Eye suddenly appeared before Chimei. A formless yet piercing Will Impact shot from it straight at her. Before she could fully react, her body dissolved in the Ninth Layer's space.
"Chimei's dead?" Li Man froze. Only now did he realize that the silver-armored human's greatest strength was not close combat, but Soul Illusion.
"You're next." Luo Feng looked at the minotaur and grinned.
When he had first arrived, his Radiant Guardian had given him only a slight edge over Li Man. Now it was somewhat stronger. He should be able to wear the minotaur down.
"Hmph. You killed Chimei, but you can't kill me!" Li Man showed no fear.
"Is that so?" Luo Feng smiled.
Boom!
They clashed again. This time, Luo Feng completely suppressed Li Man. The minotaur still had six blades and a formidable defense, but their long battle had taught Luo Feng how to create openings. Each exchange left Li Man with another small wound... and those wounds added up.
They fought on...
At last, on the fifth day, the grievously wounded Li Man took one final strike from Luo Feng's blade. His body vanished from the Ninth Layer.
"Beep. All nine layers cleared. You will now proceed to the next Dragon Tower." The familiar announcement sounded again, and the dazzling passage reappeared.
I passed. Luo Feng was quietly exhilarated.