Outside the Trial Tower, Domain Lord Lin Tian was also watching Lu Qingshan's performance inside.
When he saw Lu Qingshan easily clear the sixth floor, a trace of satisfaction appeared on Lin Tian's face. "As expected, any genius who has entered the Domain Realm can clear the Trial Tower's first six floors fairly easily!"
"But clearing the seventh floor with a first-layer domain alone is rather difficult. They must not have any major shortcomings in other areas either!"
"This little fellow came from a native planet, so his foundations probably aren't very solid. He should still find it rather difficult to clear this floor!"
Over the long years, Domain Lord Lin Tian had long since lost count of how many geniuses he had seen.
Even so-called special grade elites were people he could see five or six of every ten thousand years.
Thus, he knew very well that these so-called elites could not reach the summit merely by possessing a domain at the Star Level.
Meanwhile, inside the Trial Tower.
The opponents on the seventh floor won't be a thousand Planetary Level Nine Azure Sky Demon Apes, will they?
After killing all the Sky Wolves on the sixth floor, Lu Qingshan could not help thinking to himself.
As the saying went, enough ants could bite an elephant to death. Although he was very strong, facing a thousand Azure Sky Demon Apes of the same level at once would inevitably leave him injured during battle because there were too many enemies.
Once he was injured, his ability to bring his strength to bear would suffer, naturally leading to a vicious cycle.
But Lu Qingshan had no time to think further. As space shifted, he soon arrived on the seventh floor of the Trial Tower.
The scenery on this floor was completely different from the previous six. The boundless grassland had become a sprawling city filled with countless towering buildings.
And just then...
"Lu Qingshan!"
That gentle voice rang out in his mind again. "Please kill ten Stellar Level One demonic beasts, Azure Sky Demon Apes, within twenty minutes. If you fail to finish within the allotted time or die along the way, your Trial Tower challenge will be declared a failure!"
Stellar Level One Azure Sky Demon Apes?
Upon hearing the prompt, Lu Qingshan actually felt a little relieved.
In his eyes, although ten Stellar Level One Azure Sky Demon Apes were somewhat stronger, they were less troublesome than a thousand Planetary Level Nine Azure Sky Demon Apes. With his strength, dealing with them certainly would not be too difficult.
Unfortunately, things were not as simple as he imagined.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh...
The moment the system prompt ended, ten Stellar Level One Azure Sky Demon Apes appeared all around Lu Qingshan, then charged rapidly toward him.
"Die!"
His figure shifting, Lu Qingshan quickly gripped Mountain Suppression and smashed it viciously into an Azure Sky Demon Ape.
By his estimate, even if this attack could not kill the Azure Sky Demon Ape, it would at least severely wound it and leave it completely unable to move.
Unfortunately, despite taking Lu Qingshan's full-power blow, the Stellar Level One Azure Sky Demon Ape suffered only minor injuries.
"This..."
At this sight, surprise quickly appeared on Lu Qingshan's face. This Azure Sky Demon Ape was considerably stronger than he had imagined!
He had originally thought that this Stellar Level One Azure Sky Demon Ape would only be about ten times stronger than the Planetary Level Nine Azure Sky Demon Apes on the fourth floor. Yet unexpectedly, both its physical power exertion and its combat techniques were far superior to those of the earlier Planetary Level Nine Azure Sky Demon Apes.
Taken together, this Stellar Level One Azure Sky Demon Ape was more than thirty times stronger than those earlier Planetary Level Nine Azure Sky Demon Apes.
Because he had underestimated their strength, Lu Qingshan failed to swiftly kill an Azure Sky Demon Ape to open a gap and was soon surrounded by all ten.
"Roar!"
The Azure Sky Demon Apes all roared furiously, then launched enraged attacks at Lu Qingshan.
I can only give it everything I've got!
Holding Mountain Suppression, Lu Qingshan stood calmly in place.
Having slaughtered countless demonic beasts on Xuanhuang Star, he knew very well that when facing a pack that vastly outnumbered him, with every beast posing a threat, the most important thing was to remain calm.
Boom!
The first Azure Sky Demon Ape finally charged up to Lu Qingshan, but he merely shifted his body slightly sideways, deftly avoiding its killing blow. Then his twenty-eightfold physical power erupted instantly as he swung the Mountain Suppression staff and slammed it viciously into the back of the ape's head.
Bang!
With a dull thud, the Azure Sky Demon Ape's head burst apart.
But at the very moment he killed this first Azure Sky Demon Ape, two others had already charged up to him.
Boom! Boom!
The two Azure Sky Demon Apes punched almost simultaneously, striking at Lu Qingshan's head from the left and right.
Faced with such peril, Lu Qingshan had no time to dodge. In the end, he could only swing the Mountain Suppression staff with his right hand to block the attack from the right, while clenching his left hand into a fist to block the attack from the left.
Bang! Bang!
The Mountain Suppression staff drove back the first Azure Sky Demon Ape, but the second ape's fist slammed viciously into Lu Qingshan's left fist.
In that instant, the tremendous impact left Lu Qingshan's entire left arm numb. Had he not been protected by first-tier Origin Force battle armor, that blow would have broken his arm outright.
"Damn it!"
After escaping that perilous attack, Lu Qingshan finally leaped out of the Azure Sky Demon Apes' encirclement. I absolutely can't clash head-on with them again. I'd be better off using the surroundings to defeat them one by one!
With that thought, Lu Qingshan immediately used his movement technique to duck into a nearby high-rise building.
Seeing this, the remaining nine Azure Sky Demon Apes quickly charged in after him.
Fortunately, these Azure Sky Demon Apes were much larger than Lu Qingshan, and their movement techniques were somewhat lacking. Thus, although their base strength was greater, they could not catch him at all.
After putting some distance between himself and the Azure Sky Demon Apes, Lu Qingshan finally had an opportunity to use the surroundings to defeat them one by one.
Then, one Azure Sky Demon Ape after another fell at Lu Qingshan's hands.
By the time Lu Qingshan killed the last Azure Sky Demon Ape, eighteen minutes had passed.
Clearly, killing these ten Stellar Level One Azure Sky Demon Apes was far, far harder than killing a hundred Planetary Level Nine Sky Wolves on the sixth floor.
Outside, when Domain Lord Lin Tian saw Lu Qingshan clear the seventh floor of the Trial Tower, a faint smile soon appeared on his face.
"It seems this little fellow has been through quite a few battles!"
Domain Lord Lin Tian thought to himself, Otherwise, with the means at his disposal, he would have found it very difficult to clear the seventh floor on his first attempt!
By the looks of it, our Heavenly Pillar Mountain is about to gain another first grade elite!
After all, even for a major power like Heavenly Pillar Mountain, special grade elites could only be encountered by chance, not sought out;
thus, first grade elites already ranked among the very finest geniuses under Heavenly Pillar Mountain.
After undergoing many trials in the future, most of them, apart from those who perished during those trials, would break through to the Universe Level and become the foundation stones of Heavenly Pillar Mountain;
an extremely small number of those elites could even break through to the Domain Lord Level and become pillars of Heavenly Pillar Mountain!
Meanwhile, inside the Trial Tower, Lu Qingshan was soon transported to the eighth floor after killing the final Azure Sky Demon Ape.
The opponents on this floor were ten Stellar Level One Ziqian Myriad Snakes, each as strong as Demon God Meng Qi, whom Lu Qingshan had killed on Xuanhuang Star.
Back then, Lu Qingshan had only succeeded in killing Demon God Meng Qi by burning his soul;
although his strength had now increased considerably, dealing with even one Stellar Level One Ziqian Myriad Snake without burning his soul was no easy task, let alone ten.
Thus, after killing only one Ziqian Myriad Snake, Lu Qingshan was killed by the remaining nine.
After dying, Lu Qingshan was soon ejected from the Trial Tower.
"Congratulations, little fellow!"
Upon seeing Lu Qingshan, Domain Lord Lin Tian quickly smiled and said, "From today onward, you are a first grade elite of our Heavenly Pillar Mountain. You can enjoy the many privileges and resources reserved for first grade elites!"
"Thank you, Elder!" Lu Qingshan hurriedly bowed respectfully.