The Tower of Babel, Fifteenth Floor. Lu Yuan stepped onto the fifteenth floor. It was quite late now, and he immediately noticed the significant difficulty spike. This level boasted a staggering seven hundred and fifty demonic beasts, a veritable deluge of foes whose quality was exceptionally high. Already, beasts at the fifth level of the Great Dao Realm were appearing. One such entity, a Fire Qilin, blazed with ambient flame, fixing him with a cold stare. A fifth-level Great Dao Realm beast, especially an exotic species like the Fire Qilin—that chiming, four-part monstrosity wreathed in flames that seemed poised to devour everything—was a serious threat.
A single fifth-level Great Dao Realm beast posed no real challenge to Lu Yuan given his current strength; after all, he wasn't back at the Soul River where even dealing with the Qilin’s variant, the Demonic Fire Qilin, had left him ragged. His power was vastly different now. But what about sheer numbers? That made things incredibly difficult to manage. This fifteenth floor might be manageable for someone at the peak of the sixth level of the Great Dao Realm, but pushing several floors beyond this, even a sixth-level master would struggle. The limit for most sixth-level Great Dao experts would cap out around the twenty-fifth floor, certainly no further if they wanted to last.
Putting aside such musings, this very stage was enough to eliminate a great many aspirants.
The difficulty, as always, was relentlessly climbing.
Lu Yuan stretched his tendons, not rushing to draw his sword. This trial still called for swordsmanship, but today he employed the art of shaping qi into a blade, transforming his fingers into points of cutting edge—Sword Finger Command. His fingers danced, releasing wave after wave of sword energy. Simultaneously, the Power of Reincarnation manifested at his fingertips, ceaselessly yanking the swarming beasts together to crash into one another.
The Tenth Iron Rule, Reincarnation, was growing more familiar with every use; it proved remarkably effective.
Murong Huangfu’s Star Transposition technique, in truth, also utilized some form of strange force projection, but that peculiar method only mimicked the Power of Reincarnation. It was likely that the Murong family ancestor had only glimpsed it and attempted a replication, rather than grasping the true Power of Reincarnation. If this mimicry were pitted against the genuine article—his own—it would likely be shattered beyond repair.
Of course, given the three-realm difference in cultivation base, he was currently no match for Murong Huangfu.
Lu Yuan charged through one stage after another.
With each passing level, he noted that several hundred people were eliminated before the next stage began, clearly the casualties of that floor.
Outside, those observing through the Water Mirror technique also noted a sharp decline in the number of active contestants.
The Lord of the Great Yong Kingdom, Zhou Zhongyong, stood with his hands clasped behind his back, counting the remaining aspirants.
The initial count of those still challenging the Tower stood at one thousand two hundred and thirty.
But moments later, that number plummeted to nine hundred and ninety-one.
Time crawled onward as the active count dropped precipitously.
Seven hundred and sixty-five!
Six hundred and eleven!
Four hundred and thirty-two!
Two hundred and sixteen!
One hundred and five!
Seventy-three!
Fifty-one!
Thirty-nine!
At this instant, only eleven challengers remained.
Zhou Zhongyong couldn't help but scan the reflections. Unsurprisingly, the leader was still Xiao Fengxiong of the Hundred Poverty Kingdom. That man was truly magnificent and heroic; his Twenty-Eight Subduing Dragon Palms turned the demonic beasts to ash upon impact. Trailing by a considerable distance were Yin Wuji, Guo Kan, Liu Guo, Xukongzi, Murong Huangfu, and the Great Yong Kingdom’s Zhe Zichong, Fu Chong, Shen Yu, and Song Beifeng.
Of these ten, only Xiao Fengxiong possessed the eighth level of the Great Dao Realm; the other nine were all at the seventh level.
Eh, wasn't there one more? Where is the eleventh person?
Zhou Zhongyong scanned again, sweeping the Water Mirror technique across every floor, yet he could not locate the eleventh challenger. Was the count erroneous? No, the Tower of Babel was an ancient relic, and the tally was managed by the Central Celestial Court. The Central Celestial Court's figures could not be wrong.
Zhou Zhongyong meticulously checked each profile one by one, finally spotting a young man clad in simple garb on the fifteenth floor.
On the fifteenth floor?
This young man was making progress agonizingly slowly. Since he was only on the fifteenth floor, it seemed he simply hadn't encountered any seriously strong opposition yet, or he would surely have been eliminated long ago. No need to pay much attention to him, Zhou Zhongyong mused internally, shifting his focus back to Xiao Fengxiong's battle.
Meanwhile, in the Water Mirror projections over the Jin Kingdom, laments erupted. So far, thirteen of Jin’s fourteen participants had seen their efforts terminated. Considering their performance in the previous cultivation base assessment combined with these results, it seemed utterly impossible for them to break into the top two hundred and forty-nine slots. A complete rout?
Currently, only Master Lu remained challenging the Tower, but his ranking stood at a dismal sixth thousand three hundredth place—a staggeringly low position. Did Master Lu truly have a chance?
“Master, fight on!”
“Master, fight on!” The members of the Huashan Immortal Sect roared. Even though they knew Lu Yuan couldn't hear their encouragement, they felt compelled to shout. They firmly believed Lu Yuan could create another miracle. Lu Yuan was someone who constantly defied expectations, having authored countless miracles within Huashan, single-handedly driving the Heaven Aiding Alliance to its weakened state. Now, in the Hundred Kingdoms Assessment, they prayed he would conjure yet another wonder.
“The Master will certainly succeed.” Their voices were unwavering, their words decisive, brimming with absolute confidence.
Yes, they believed in their Master.
Because their Master deserved their faith.
The Tower of Babel, Twenty-Second Stage.
The expected number of demonic beasts on this floor should have been around nine hundred. However, Lu Yuan distinctly noticed the most conspicuous figure standing among them: an Ice Flood Dragon. This massive serpentine creature spanned dozens of zhang, its tail moving gently to conjure gales and storms.
At this level, they were no longer called mere demonic beasts; they were designated Divine Beasts.
Beyond a certain threshold, they could not simply be called ‘demonic’; they should be addressed as Divine, imbued with true spirit.
How much power could a Flood Dragon possess? In the cultivation world of the Jin Kingdom, merely possessing the power of one dragon was enough to grant an influential figure control over a segment of the realm. Yet here, amidst the nine hundred beasts assailing Lu Yuan, sat such a Divine Beast. Indeed, the Tower of Babel was growing exponentially harder; even Flood Dragons were now appearing.
Lu Yuan felt no tension. Dealing with a Divine Beast Dragon was something he hadn't experienced, but his current strength was more than capable of handling one. He maintained his finger-as-sword technique, pointing and slashing across the field, using the Tenth Iron Rule—Reincarnation—to exert control over the Divine Beast. He specifically wished to test whether his Power of Reincarnation could truly dominate a creature of this caliber.
The Divine Beast Ice Flood Dragon struggled, attempting to fight the binding, but the Power of Reincarnation was overwhelmingly vast. Traversing generations, life followed by death in endless cycles, through the boundless void and the infinite Five Elements—all were contained within this cycle. Even a Divine Beast could not escape being drawn into its grasp.
As expected, his Power of Reincarnation could subdue a Divine Beast. This level, then, posed no actual difficulty. Lu Yuan drove his Reincarnation Power, and all nine hundred beasts, centered on him, began to collide and strike one another. They strained to regain control of their own bodies, but they were utterly helpless.
Twenty-Second Stage! Passed!
Exiting the twenty-second stage, he reached the central staircase landing. He noticed that many aspirants had been eliminated here as well, but none of the faces he recognized remained. Those he knew, mostly at the fifth level of the Great Dao Realm, had been eliminated much earlier, having no chance of reaching this altitude. The twenty-second stage was exceptionally arduous; only a tiny fraction managed to endure this far.
Lu Yuan felt no need to rush. He produced roasted chicken and wine and settled down for a meal first. The others gathered on the landing stared, slack-jawed. These aspirants who had come to the Central Celestial Court had prepared exhaustively—spirit swords, spirit stones, soul stones, everything imaginable was stocked, yet few, like Lu Yuan, carried roasted chicken and wine. A true gourmand was a gourmand, still prioritizing fine food during such a critical assessment.
Lu Yuan ignored the surprised glances and began to eat.
Checking the rankings—his position had climbed to four thousand three hundredth, an improvement of over three thousand spots from his lowest point of over seven thousand. His climb was remarkably swift.
“Yin Wuji, failed at the thirty-third stage.”
“Guo Kan, failed at the thirty-third stage.”
“Liu Guo, failed at the thirty-second stage.”
“Xukongzi, failed at the thirty-second stage.”
“Murong Huangfu, failed at the thirty-second stage.”
“Zhe Zichong, failed at the thirty-first stage.”
“Fu Chong, failed at the thirty-first stage.”
“Shen Yu, failed at the thirty-first stage.”
“Song Beifeng, failed at the thirty-first stage.”
A succession of nine failures reached the ears of Zhou Zhongyong, Lord of the Great Yong Kingdom. He stood with his hands behind his back. Now, only two challengers remained: Xiao Fengxiong, who was currently pushing toward the thirty-eighth stage, and that young man who must still be struggling somewhere near the back.
“Right, what was that young man’s name again?” Zhou Zhongyong asked casually.
Too many geniuses were participating this time—ten thousand in total. While Zhou Zhongyong possessed a prodigious memory, he couldn't recall every single one. He wasn't asking because Lu Yuan had impressed him yet, merely asking out of idle curiosity.
“This person,” his deputy quickly checked the files before replying, “He is from the Jin Kingdom, a Jin genius, remarkably young. And during the Jin Kingdom qualification assessment, his score was… six perfect marks!”
“What!” Zhou Zhongyong was genuinely startled. “Six perfect marks!” He knew exactly what six perfect marks implied.
“Yes, six perfect marks,” the deputy confirmed.
“If he scored six perfect marks, he should be performing far better than this, not displaying this level of capability,” Zhou Zhongyong frowned, puzzled.
“His age is thirty-two,” the deputy explained.
Thirty-two years old!
The hand stroking Zhou Zhongyong’s beard paused, then froze stiff.