The Trial Tower?!
The Sky Sword Sect had one too, but it was nowhere near as imposing as the black tower before them.
It could well be called a tower reaching the heavens, soaring into the clouds as though it had no end.
"In our Sky Sword Sect, the Trial Tower only has fifty floors. This one must have at least five hundred, right?" Ye Qingcheng said uncertainly.
"It does have five hundred floors. The Spirit of Wisdom inside learns and imitates challengers' attack styles, growing stronger and stronger."
"Clearing each floor earns you a large amount of cultivation resources as a reward. It's one of the main ways disciples of the Tianyuan Holy Land improve their strength."
"Those who make the rankings can earn extra rewards and be promoted to Inner Court disciples," Chen Mu said, explaining what he knew of the Trial Tower's rules.
After all the years the Tianyuan Holy Land had spent developing, the Spirit of Wisdom inside the Trial Tower had long since become incredibly powerful.
He had never gone inside, afraid he would get utterly thrashed.
Clearing the Trial Tower required more than cultivation. It also tested mental strength, mastery of techniques, and the ability to adapt on the fly.
The upside, however, was that the difficulty of clearing it came with lavish rewards.
Every floor cleared brought a qualitative leap in strength.
Chen Mu himself had no interest in challenging the Trial Tower.
Rewards? With a system constantly handing me things for free, I don't need them at all.
Pushing my limits? With that time, I might as well run a couple of laps around the Tianyuan Holy Land, breathe faster, and get more cultivation returned to me.
Raising his realm was more useful than anything else.
Once his realm was high enough, his floor would be everyone else's ceiling!
Though Chen Mu had no interest, Ye Qingcheng's expression was clearly full of longing.
"What? Interested in challenging the tower?" Chen Mu asked, seeing right through her.
"I want to try!" Ye Qingcheng wanted to seize this chance to grow stronger.
She knew better than anyone that if she wanted to remain by Chen Mu's side, she needed strength.
Was the title of Saintess really so impressive?
Ye Qingcheng felt that, if Chen Mu wished it, even an empress would have to serve him as a slave or maid!
"Since you've joined my Qingyun Prefecture, you're a member of the Tianyuan Holy Land. If you want to go, just go. No one would dare stop you." Chen Mu encouraged Ye Qingcheng to go without worry.
"Thank you, Young Master! I'll go now!" Without wasting another moment, Ye Qingcheng vanished in a single step and entered the Trial Tower.
She was assigned to a small space.
Directly opposite her stood a blurry blue human figure. She could barely make out its facial features and the outline of its clothes.
Looking up, she saw lines of text floating in midair.
They displayed the identity of the person the Spirit of Wisdom had studied and imitated.
Name: Zhang Zhifan. Identity: Inner Court disciple of the Tianyuan Holy Land.
"This must count as an honor too, right?" With those words, Ye Qingcheng drew her sword...
An unknown amount of time passed.
Chen Mu lay on the thick branch of a ten-thousand-year-old tree, resting against its trunk.
"That girl's pretty strong. She's already reached the ninth floor in such a short time."
Images of challengers inside the Trial Tower could be viewed through recording stones.
The scene playing in the air at that moment showed Ye Qingcheng battling the phantom of the disciple guarding the ninth floor.
Chen Mu could easily tell that Ye Qingcheng was still handling the Trial Tower's ninth floor with ease.
She had not used the Heavenly Abyss Sword he had bestowed upon her earlier.
Instead, she wielded a sword she already owned: the upper Earth Rank Purple Tenuity Sword.
Paired with her nimble footwork and the purple sword qi she released, it had quite an artistic quality.
It was a dazzling spectacle, drawing plenty of people to stop and watch.
"What beautiful footwork!"
"If I remember correctly, the disciple guarding the ninth floor is Senior Sister Yang's phantom, right?"
"Yes! Her swordplay is not only swift and fierce, but endlessly varied. It's hard to fend off."
"Yet this Saintess of the Sky Sword Sect has managed to keep a clear upper hand!"
"It's only a phantom, after all. Besides, how many years has it been since Senior Sister Yang challenged the tower? She's a Grandmaster now!"
"Saintess Ye has youth on her side. Her future is boundless."
Everyone present generally held Ye Qingcheng in high regard.
Then Chen Mu heard someone shift the conversation to him.
"What a pity. The Young Master doesn't seem interested in challenging the tower. I'd really like to see just how terrifying top-tier dual cultivation in thunder and fire can be!"
"Idiot! The Young Master must be thinking of us. If he took action, are you sure the Trial Tower's difficulty wouldn't increase severalfold?"
"Severalfold! Just thinking about it makes my hair stand on end."
Thinking of you?
All Chen Mu wanted to say was, Don't overthink it. I'm simply not interested, and I can't be bothered to fight.
As he completed a full breath while pondering this, an immensely comfortable sensation swept through his entire body.
Boom!
Spiritual energy mixed with tiny arcs of lightning and sparks of fire burst outward.
The ancient tree shook, shedding a shower of green leaves.
He had successfully broken through to the Martial Master Realm, stepping into the fourth major realm.
It immediately drew plenty of attention.
"Heavens! The Young Master has already broken through to the Martial Master Realm?"
"I remember he was only at the sixth level of Martial Student before—or was it the seventh? In just a few short days, he's broken through three major realms in succession!"
"As expected of a peerless prodigy with two top-tier talents!"
"At this rate, it looks like I'll definitely live to see the Young Master become a Great Emperor!"
"Do you think the Young Master could reach the Great Emperor Realm before the Holy Lord?"
Reach the Great Emperor Realm before Chen Tianlin?
If he really managed it, Chen Tianlin would probably wake up laughing from his dreams.
He would set up long tables for ten thousand guests and invite people from all corners of the world, afraid anyone might fail to hear that the Tianyuan Holy Land had produced another Great Emperor!
Just then, a portal opened.
A young man in white stepped out.
He immediately sparked a fresh wave of discussion.
"Look! It's Chen Yu! He's cleared the three hundred and fiftieth floor!"
"In just half a week! He truly deserves to be called one of the foremost sword geniuses among the Tianyuan Holy Land's younger generation!"
"The three hundred and fiftieth floor... I wonder if I'll ever get to see the scenery up there in my lifetime."
Chen Yu.
Hearing that name, Chen Mu immediately recalled his younger cousin, who had already become a Grandmaster at such a young age and was exceptionally skilled with a sword.
He liked dressing entirely in white, his face expressionless. One man, one sword, invincible wherever he went!
He was utterly obsessed with cultivating the sword.
His mastery of the sword was so great that even the Sky Sword Sect, which specialized in sword cultivation, had invited him to become an honorary elder and guide its disciples through their confusion.
In exchange, the Sky Sword Sect had to share all its insights and techniques concerning the sword with him to aid his cultivation.
"Chen Yu greets you, Cousin."
Hearing Chen Yu's voice, Chen Mu looked down and discovered that he had already come over.
Chen Mu flipped off the branch and landed lightly on the ground.
"Since you call me Cousin, there's no need to be so formal."
"All right," Chen Yu said, as though every word were worth its weight in gold.
In truth, he had always been rather reserved, a man of few words.
He was a little better with Chen Mu. With others, he mostly responded with a nod or a shake of his head.
Then he took the spatial pouch from his waist and pulled out a roll of bamboo slips.
He handed it to Chen Mu. "Cousin, I heard you awakened a thunder attribute talent. I happen to have a superior thunder-based sword cultivation technique here. I hope it can help you."
Before you continue