"Scared? How could I be!"
Chen Qingyu pursed his lips.
"Dad, if you could do it back then, there's no reason I can't, right?"
"I'm just worried I'm cultivating too fast and won't have enough time."
Chen Zhengxing laughed heartily and patted his shoulder.
"Then you'd better hurry."
Chen Qingyu nodded, then seemed to think of something and asked quietly:
"Dad, can you tell me what special reward you got after clearing the ninth floor?"
"A special reward?"
Chen Zhengxing froze, then fell silent for a moment, a trace of reminiscence appearing in his eyes.
"Yes, there was indeed a special reward. An astonishing reward-beyond imagination, something that overturned everything I knew."
He came back to himself and smiled at Chen Qingyu.
"But let me keep the specifics a secret for now, so I don't spoil your excitement."
"Once you clear the ninth floor and head to [Golden Bridge Heaven], you'll find out."
"Tch!"
Chen Qingyu pursed his lips.
"Zhou Chenlong was absolutely right. You really do all give the same answer."
As he spoke, he patted his stomach.
"Forget it, then. Let's eat already. After dinner, I still have martial techniques to practice."
"With ten days left, I have to fight for every second."
Hearing this, Chen Zhengxing smiled.
"All right, all right. I'll tell the cook to prepare dinner."
After defeating Zhou Chenlong:
Chen Qingyu's life returned to peace.
Every morning, he went to [Floating Heavenly Palace] at a set time to check in. During the morning and midday, he entered the [Martial Practice Hall] to train diligently in martial techniques. In the afternoon and evening, he honed himself in the real world, digesting what he had gained that day.
The days passed like this, one after another.
Outside, however, discussion of Chen Shaojun remained as heated as ever, and a frenzied search for him even swept through Divine Capital Changluo.
It was different from before:
Before reaching the top, Chen Shaojun had been famous, but he had merely been one of many supreme heavenly prodigies.
Only a handful of people with ulterior motives, such as Chen Qingju, had been willing to search the entire clan, painstakingly seeking his true identity.
But now...
His defeat of Zhou Chenlong and rise to number one under heaven in the Blood Sea Realm had sparked fanatical admiration and curiosity throughout the younger generation of the Chen Clan of Changluo.
Who exactly was Chen Shaojun?
Driven by intense curiosity, almost all the Blood Sea Realm martial artists sprang into action, launching a massive search.
Yet:
The search continued for several days without uncovering the slightest thread of a clue.
It was as though this person did not exist in the Divine Capital at all. They could not find anyone whose age, cultivation, and strength all matched.
The search produced plenty of farces. There were even people who could not resist the temptation and tried to impersonate Chen Shaojun, only to become Changluo's laughingstocks after being exposed in public.
Only after seven or eight days:
Did this massive search gradually die down.
Chen Shaojun's name, together with his true identity, thus became an unsolved mystery in Divine Capital Changluo, giving rise to countless guesses.
Some said he was like a dragon hidden in the depths: only his name was heard, while his shadow remained unseen.
As soon as this description appeared, it swiftly became the consensus throughout Divine Capital Changluo, lending Chen Shaojun's name an air of mystery.
What no one knew was:
Every morning, the mysterious Chen Shaojun rode his signature auspicious cloud right over their heads in plain sight.
In the blink of an eye, ten days had passed.
That morning, as usual, Chen Qingyu rode a white auspicious cloud through nine layers of astral winds and landed at the Floating Heavenly Palace.
"Whew!"
Chen Qingyu drew a deep breath, gazing at the magnificent, solemn Floating Heavenly Palace before him.
The last day.
His cultivation had reached the perfected state of the Ninth Heaven of the Blood Sea Realm the day before.
His vast, surging Blood Sea had already covered all his martial meridians and acupoints, and it was still expanding and strengthening, gradually approaching its limit.
This would be his final check-in before advancing to the Golden Bridge Realm.
System!
His expression calm, he silently called out in his mind:
I want to check in.
Ding!
A crisp, pleasant notification rang out in his mind:
Host's twenty-first check-in at [Floating Heavenly Palace]! The [Floating Heavenly Palace] reward pool has been exhausted. This check-in will strengthen a previously obtained reward. Drawing... draw complete! Congratulations, host! Your control, comprehension, and methods of application of the [Flying Sand and Moving Stones] divine ability have been greatly enhanced!
As the notification faded:
From the unseen, a vast, mighty power washed down, making Chen Qingyu shudder.
Just a few breaths later:
Long since familiar with this process, Chen Qingyu swiftly came back to himself and drew a deep breath, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.
I finally drew [Flying Sand and Moving Stones].
Heaven does not fail those who strive.
It seems Heaven has decreed that I'll clear the ninth floor of the [War God Tower].
Over these ten days:
Through diligent training, his three supreme martial techniques had all approached major accomplishment, at least doubling their combat power.
His many divine abilities had also been strengthened one after another, raising his strength again and again at a rapid pace.
Compared with ten days ago:
His current strength had long since reached an entirely different level. If he fought Zhou Chenlong again, he would certainly win within ten exchanges!
Of all my divine abilities and martial techniques, the greatest improvement has actually been in my bodily strength.
The Great Radiance Body Refining Method, combined with [Subduing Dragons and Taming Tigers], lets my physique grow stronger almost without limit. The higher my realm, the greater the advantage.
Chen Qingyu's face brimmed with smiles.
If, ten days ago, his body had been three times as strong as those of top heavenly prodigies at the same cultivation level...
Then now, after reaching the Ninth Heaven of the Blood Sea Realm, that ratio had risen to at least ten times!
What did that terrifying tenfold strength mean?
It meant that, apart from martial artists at the same cultivation level who had attained supreme foundations, everyone else's all-out attacks would fail even to injure or hinder him.
This was a truly supreme, invincible body!
Dad must have had some other fortuitous encounter back then. His bodily strength probably wasn't much worse than mine, allowing him to kill over ten thousand opponents head-on, one punch apiece, and fight his way through the ninth floor.
But that way of fighting is too exhausting and dangerous. There's still a chance of capsizing.
Chen Qingyu's gaze flickered as thoughts churned through his mind.
The higher the floor of the War God Tower, the more terrifying the increase in difficulty.
With over ten thousand supreme heavenly prodigies joining forces, their martial techniques and arts would emerge in endless succession. Among them, there would certainly be all sorts of methods to counter flight and concealment, restrict movement, weaken offensive power, diminish bodily strength, and so on.
The approach used on the eighth floor would no longer work on the ninth. He would only be beaten to death.
Only by reaching the true limit of the Blood Sea Realm in some aspect-the strongest level throughout all history-could one hope to clear the ninth floor.
And now:
Chen Qingyu could be certain that he had nearly reached the limits of the Blood Sea Realm in every aspect.
None in all the ages had come before him, and none would come after.
It's time to clear the ninth floor.
He turned his head and gazed toward the distant firmament, his eyes deep.
Only after crossing this mountain will I dare call myself supreme.
Once I fight through the ninth floor, it'll be time to break through to the Golden Bridge Realm and enter [Golden Bridge Heaven].
I've been looking forward to the Great Void Primal Spirit's special reward for a long time.