Before the entrance to the Trial Pagoda.
Quite a few of Heavenly Pillar Mountain's First Grade Elites had already gathered here. Clearly, they were all waiting quietly because the overall rankings for First Grade Elites were about to be updated after a year.
Suddenly, a streak of earthen-yellow light approached from afar and soon landed before the Trial Pagoda, revealing a figure in an earthen-yellow battle suit. It was Lu Qingshan, who had hurried over from Heavy Mountain Peak.
Upon seeing Lu Qingshan, a genius of the Werewolf Race in a cyan battle suit quickly approached him and took the initiative to greet him. "Brother Qingshan, it's rare to see you come here early to check the rankings!"
"Big Brother Beavis!" Lu Qingshan promptly gave the Werewolf Race genius a slight nod.
Beavis was also a First Grade Elite of Heavenly Pillar Mountain. Since his ranking was quite close to Lu Qingshan's and he was also rather friendly, the two had become somewhat acquainted.
"See that newcomer?"
After walking up beside Lu Qingshan, Beavis gestured toward another figure clad in purple-gold battle armor, then said in a low voice, "I heard that guy accepted eleven cultivation missions over the past year, averaging almost one a month. Looks like he wants to make a push in the overall rankings this time!"
"If you ask me, he might just break into the top 110 overall this time!"
"You, on the other hand, became a First Grade Elite even earlier than that guy, Brother Qingshan, yet you've never made a push in our overall rankings!"
Hearing Beavis's words, Lu Qingshan also looked toward the figure in purple-gold battle armor. That was Kedun, who had become a First Grade Elite of Heavenly Pillar Mountain five years ago.
Thirty years was not particularly long for someone at Star Level, with a lifespan of ten thousand years, but it was not particularly short either.
Over those thirty years, these First Grade Elites of Heavenly Pillar Mountain had naturally undergone some changes as well.
Aside from the constant shifts in the overall rankings, the most important change was that one ninth-stage Star-level First Grade Elite had broken through to Universe Level. In addition, another First Grade Elite had fallen during an adventure mission.
With Kedun's addition, Heavenly Pillar Mountain now had a total of 137 First Grade Elites.
While Lu Qingshan and Beavis were talking, another streak of light flew over from afar, then turned into a figure with long, flowing blue hair.
The appearance of this blue-haired figure caused a much greater stir than Lu Qingshan's arrival had. The moment he appeared, the other First Grade Elites around them began discussing him.
"It's Terrance!"
"To think he's here so soon!"
"He's almost broken into the top fifty overall, hasn't he?"
"Spirit readers really have such a huge advantage. We're clearly all at domain first layer, yet our rankings are so far apart!"
"Tell me about it!"
Amid the discussions around him, Terrance soon landed in a quiet area.
After arriving, Terrance naturally noticed Lu Qingshan, who had become a First Grade Elite of Heavenly Pillar Mountain at the same time as him.
When he had first joined Heavenly Pillar Mountain, he had still been thinking about getting the upper hand over Lu Qingshan.
But Lu Qingshan's performance over the past several decades had been unremarkable, so he naturally no longer considered Lu Qingshan his rival.
To Terrance, his current rivals were those super geniuses in the top fifty overall!
If his Wind Domain could break through to the second layer, then with a spirit reader's tremendous advantage against warriors of the same level, he would even have a chance to break into the top ten in the overall rankings for First Grade Elites.
Meanwhile, after seeing Terrance appear, Beavis soon turned toward Lu Qingshan beside him. "Brother Qingshan, that Terrance should have joined our Heavenly Pillar Mountain as a First Grade Elite at the same time as you, right?"
"Yes!" Lu Qingshan replied with a slight nod.
"When you're still relatively weak, spirit readers really do have an enormous advantage!"
Seeing Lu Qingshan nod slightly, Beavis continued, "I don't think that Terrance's realm is much higher than ours, but spirit readers have a huge advantage, whether they're challenging the Trial Tower or completing cultivation missions. If only we were spirit readers too!"
"Spirit readers only have an advantage at lower realms!"
Lu Qingshan promptly said, "For the truly strong, there's actually no difference between warriors and spirit readers!"
"Big Brother Beavis, I'll chat with you later. I'm going to challenge the Trial Tower first!"
With that, Lu Qingshan immediately walked toward the Trial Tower ahead.
"Challenging the Trial Tower again?"
Seeing Lu Qingshan leave, Beavis did not pay much attention. After all, each floor of the Trial Tower was harder to clear than the last.
Almost all of Heavenly Pillar Mountain's hundred-plus elites had cleared the seventh floor of the Trial Tower, but only sixty-odd had cleared the eighth.
Meanwhile, after parting with Beavis, Lu Qingshan soon reached the central area of the trial hall.
I wonder which floor I can reach this time?
Lu Qingshan picked up the dark blue helmet set out before him, then thought to himself, But judging by what I learned before, any First Grade Elite who has reached the second layer of the Domain can at least make it to the Trial Tower's tenth layer!
With that thought, Lu Qingshan soon put on the bright silver consciousness-sensing helmet.
After his consciousness blurred for a moment, Lu Qingshan soon appeared on a boundless expanse of silver land.
Before Lu Qingshan stood that enormous tower, soaring into the clouds.
Once Lu Qingshan approached the white tower, his information soon appeared on the black stone pillar before him:
Name: Lu Qingshan Identity: First Grade Elite Trial Tower level: 8.3
At the same time, a gentle notification voice soon sounded in his mind.
"Lu Qingshan, please select suitable weapons and combat clothing. Your Trial Tower challenge will begin in one minute!"
Before the voice had finished, numerous weapons and pieces of combat clothing appeared before him.
After selecting the second-order Origin Force weapon "Mountain Suppression," which suited him, along with a First-Order Force Battle Suit, Lu Qingshan soon stepped into the Trial Tower ahead.
With a shift in space, Lu Qingshan soon arrived in a vast city filled with countless high-rise buildings.
At the same time...
"Lu Qingshan!"
The gentle notification voice sounded in his mind again. "Please kill ten Stellar Level One demonic beasts, 'Ziqian Myriad Snakes,' within twenty minutes. If you fail to finish within the allotted time or die during the challenge, your Trial Tower challenge will be declared a failure!"
"Hiss, hiss..."
As a series of hissing roars rang out, ten ferocious Ziqian Myriad Snakes immediately appeared around Lu Qingshan.
Over the past thirty-odd years, Lu Qingshan had long since lost count of how many times these ten Ziqian Myriad Snakes had killed him.
And his best previous result had been killing just three Ziqian Myriad Snakes.
But things were different now!