Outside the [Combat Victory Platform].
Chen Qingyu's figure suddenly appeared. Sweeping his gaze around, he spotted a familiar figure:
It was Zhou Chenlong, standing with his hands behind his back and a faint smile on his face, seemingly waiting there for him to appear.
Chen Qingyu's expression shifted, and he asked curiously:
"Zhou Chenlong, you haven't left yet?"
He had thought Zhou Chenlong was the aloof, proud sort who would leave after the fight. He hadn't expected him to wait here specifically for him.
Zhou Chenlong turned toward him and smiled slightly:
"Have a drink together?"
"Sounds great."
Chen Qingyu chuckled, then added:
"You're paying."
Zhou Chenlong raised an eyebrow:
"This is [Divine Capital Changluo]. You're the host, and you won, yet you want me to pay?"
Hearing this, Chen Qingyu immediately sighed:
"Ah, I only entered the Supreme Void Dao Realm less than seven days ago. I'm poor, so I have to count every penny. I can't compare with people like you who stay here for years at a time..."
The corner of Zhou Chenlong's mouth twitched slightly:
"Why do I feel like you're mocking me for still not reaching the Golden Bridge Realm?"
Chen Qingyu blinked:
"Am I? You must have misunderstood me."
Zhou Chenlong swept his sleeve and shook his head:
"Fine, I'll pay. Lead the way."
As he spoke, he suddenly rose into the air, avoiding the crowds being teleported out and flying up into the sky.
Chen Qingyu likewise rode the fierce winds, soaring straight up to stand beside Zhou Chenlong.
By then, large crowds had already been teleported outside the entrance to the [Combat Victory Platform]. The sight of the two immediately caused an uproar.
"Look! It's Chen Shaojun and Zhou Chenlong!"
"Did they become friends through a fight? This is just like last time..."
"Our Shaojun really is lovable, hehe."
"What do you mean, yours? Have you no shame?! He's clearly mine!"
"Shaojun, don't go! I'm your long-lost little sister..."
Looking down at the wild dance of demons below, Chen Qingyu shrank his neck. With a thought, he immediately activated [Standing Upright Without a Shadow].
Then he turned to look beside him, only to discover that Zhou Chenlong had already concealed himself.
Good grief, he's already well versed in this?
Zhou Chenlong turned toward him and quietly transmitted his voice with True Qi:
"What are you standing there for?"
"Lead the way."
"Oh, right."
Chen Qingyu answered, called to him through a voice transmission, and quietly slipped away with Zhou Chenlong.
A short while later:
On the top floor of the Moon-Gaining Tower, the two sat by a window, their table laden with dishes and fine wine.
"Come on, cheers."
Chen Qingyu raised his cup, clinked it against Zhou Chenlong's, and drained it.
He picked up the wine pot, poured Zhou Chenlong a cup, and chuckled:
"How does it feel to fall from your pedestal?"
Zhou Chenlong glanced at him and fell silent for a moment before slowly speaking:
"To be honest... before I came, I was already prepared to lose to you."
"I thought I would feel disappointed, frustrated, unwilling to accept it... but I actually felt none of that."
"The instant you defeated me, I instead felt the ease of a great burden lifting from my shoulders."
He raised his cup, drained it, and exhaled a stale breath:
"Over these two years since becoming number one under heaven, I've increasingly felt that it wasn't an honor, but a shackle."
"Looking across the world, I couldn't find a single opponent, so I could only make myself my opponent and try to clear the ninth floor of the [War God Tower]."
"But over the past two years, my strength improved more and more slowly, gradually stagnating..."
As he spoke, he gave a self-mocking smile:
"I should have recognized all this long ago, cleanly abandoned that fantasy, and ascended to [Golden Bridge Heaven]."
"But the honor of being number one under heaven made me unwilling to accept my fate. I was the strongest of this generation, number one under heaven in the Blood Sea Realm. I considered myself no worse than anyone in history, so why couldn't I clear the ninth floor?"
"Looking back now, I had already become obsessed."
"Beyond one mountain lies another. Cultivation has no end. If you only pit yourself against yourself, you'll squander your entire life."
At this point, he set down his cup and looked at Chen Qingyu:
"I have to thank you for defeating me, and for beating me awake."
"Once I return, I'll immediately enter seclusion, break through to the Golden Bridge Realm, and head to the next heaven."
"You're already number one under heaven in the Blood Sea Realm. From now on, that honor and those shackles fall upon you."
Hearing this, Chen Qingyu raised his cup and said unconcernedly:
"Shackles? Life is full of them. Just smash them. Why get hung up on them?"
Zhou Chenlong chuckled and poured himself another cup:
"I hope you can still say that two years from now."
Chen Qingyu laughed:
"Two years? Brother Zhou, you underestimate me far too much."
Zhou Chenlong's expression shifted at his words. Just as he was about to speak, loud laughter suddenly came from nearby:
"Hahaha... I knew you two would be hiding here."
The two turned to look and saw Chen Qinggu climbing the stairs to the top floor.
"Oh, it's Cousin Qinggu."
Chen Qingyu hurriedly greeted him:
"Come sit down."
"Then I won't stand on ceremony."
Chen Qinggu smiled, took a seat, and greeted Zhou Chenlong:
"Brother Zhou."
"Brother Chen."
Zhou Chenlong nodded slightly and raised his cup in greeting.
"Waiter, another set of tableware."
Chen Qingyu called out, then turned back to Chen Qinggu:
"Cousin, you're just in time."
"Brother Zhou just said he's ready to break through to the Golden Bridge Realm."
"Really?"
Hearing this, Chen Qinggu turned to Zhou Chenlong and sighed:
"It's been two years. You're finally willing to break through this level."
"If you stayed any longer, I would have gone to [Golden Bridge Heaven] ahead of you."
Zhou Chenlong smiled wryly:
"If not for Brother Shaojun, I'm afraid I'd still be trapped here. Who knows how many more years I would have wasted before finally coming to my senses?"
Chen Qingyu rubbed his chin and casually asked:
"Speaking of which, why were you so determined to pit yourself against the ninth floor of the [War God Tower]?"
"After clearing the ninth floor, there's still the tenth, the eleventh, the twelfth... it would never end."
"But the growth of a person's strength is limited by all sorts of things, including talent and comprehension, cultivation-method bottlenecks, and the shackles of the human body."
Zhou Chenlong shook his head and said gravely:
"No!"
"There won't be a tenth floor."
"The ninth floor is the end of the [War God Tower] in Blood Sea Heaven."
"Cross that mountain, and you truly reach the highest peak. Whether in the past or the future, across endless ages, no one can surpass you. At most, they can only stand as your equal."
Chen Qingyu's expression immediately shifted, and he pressed:
"The ninth floor is the highest?"
"That's right."
Zhou Chenlong nodded:
"You should both know that, given differences in cultivation methods, the higher your realm, the greater the advantage a powerful foundation brings. The difficulty of the [War God Tower] actually decreases gradually."
"So in [Blood Sea Heaven], the War God Tower only has nine floors."
"Mm."
Chen Qingyu nodded slightly.
Cultivation was like multiplication. The initial difference between the base numbers would not be too outrageous.
But as realms rose and the base numbers multiplied repeatedly, the gap would rapidly widen until it reached an unimaginable extent.
The same cultivation methods and martial techniques might only allow someone to fight a hundred opponents in Blood Sea Heaven, yet in Golden Bridge Heaven or Spirit Origin Heaven, they might allow someone to fight a thousand.
"Now I understand why you were so determined to challenge the ninth floor of the [War God Tower]."
Chen Qingyu sighed:
"The eighth floor of the [War God Tower] is only one step away from the ninth."
"But the eighth floor only makes you invincible in your generation, supreme for a time; the ninth makes you truly invincible throughout the past, present, and future."
Zhou Chenlong said solemnly:
"There's more to it than that."
"A legend has always circulated in the Supreme Void Dao Realm: anyone who clears the ninth floor in [Blood Sea Heaven] will receive a special reward from the Great Void Primal Spirit."
"A special reward?"
Chen Qingyu's eyes immediately lit up, and he pressed:
"What reward?"
The Great Void Primal Spirit controlled the entire Supreme Void Dao Realm and treated all prodigy martial artists equally, granting no one special privileges.
This was the first time he had heard of anyone receiving special treatment and an individual reward from the Great Void Primal Spirit.
"I don't know exactly what the reward is."
Zhou Chenlong shook his head and continued:
"I asked the elders in my clan. They said it involved a tremendous secret and refused to tell me. They told me to try it myself and see whether I had the fortune."
"Tch..."
Chen Qingyu curled his lips:
"Your clan's elders say exactly the same things as my clan's elders and ancestor."
"Truly, the same sky, the same batch of ancestors."
He actually still had quite a few questions about the Supreme Void Dao Realm.
But whenever he asked his father, Chen Zhengxing, his father fell silent. When he asked the Ninth Ancestor, he would only smile without answering and tell him to explore more. In the end, he simply couldn't be bothered to ask anymore.
"Brother Zhou."
Chen Qinggu, sitting beside them, suddenly spoke:
"Your goal probably wasn't just that legendary special reward, was it?"
"Was it related to the [Immortal Altar] in [Golden Bridge Heaven]?"
Hearing this, Zhou Chenlong openly admitted:
"Yes."
"It's universally acknowledged in the cultivation world that anyone who hasn't cleared the ninth floor of the [War God Tower] while in the Blood Sea Realm isn't qualified to challenge the [Immortal Altar], even after reaching the Golden Bridge Realm."
"Ascending the [Immortal Altar] is the highest honor of all. Naturally, I yearn for it."