(Begging for all kinds of support! Somehow, everything's in short supply! Nothing I can do...)
The girl stood there for more than two hours. Only when the sun set and the Bamboo Forest Sea became a wondrous expanse of golden bamboo did she sigh softly and murmur, "It's been four years, and you still haven't come back! I'm about to leave the mountain to gain experience. You said you'd help me!" With that, she lightly bit her red lip, then clenched her teeth as though making up her mind. Blue light flashed around her, and her gaze regained its cool detachment. She patted her Storage Pouch and released a blue flying sword, then flew away in a streak of blue light without looking back.
Inside the Demon-Sealing Grand Array, an enormous tower rose from the ground like a pillar holding up the heavens. It stood hundreds of zhang tall, built entirely from enormous stone steles laid crosswise in staggered layers. Its huge square base stretched hundreds of zhang across, and the structure tapered upward like a pyramid.
Anyone looking closely would notice that the stone steles at the bottom were considerably smaller than those at the top.
Li Xiaoya's muscles bulged all over, veins standing out across them. He resembled a giant, his body several times bulkier than usual, with several streaks of black light circling him. Both hands supported an enormous stone stele weighing tens of thousands of jin on his back as he climbed the steps slanting up the great tower, one foot after another.
After climbing for more than two hours, he finally reached the summit. Li Xiaoya released his hands, dropping the stele onto the surface with a tremendous boom. Without stopping to rest, he shoved it several times, fitting it into place in a staggered