Chapter 5: The Tower of Heaven

The cave that Xia Chenyu had visited earlier had been searched several times, but no clues were found. The headquarters was unable to provide any useful information, and An Ran felt somewhat disheartened.

As Xia Chenyu was about to enter the Tower of Heaven, An Ran thought of a plan. He sent a Spirit Gathering Talisman to his disciple, calling it a protective talisman. In truth, the talisman had a shielding field encoded with the Heavenly Eye technique, capable of blocking other high-dimensional lifeforms from approaching Xia Chenyu.

Seeing the talisman float in the palms of Xia Chenyu’s hands, the young man expressed his deep gratitude for his master, causing An Ran’s scalp to tingle. It was clear the talisman was meant to harm him, but the recipient kept treating him like a savior. The feeling felt wrong in every way.

Three days later, the group arrived at the Tower of Heaven.

The tower stood atop a mountain between two sects, with nine floors and a cliff of sheer abyss behind it. No one knew the origins of the tower, but it had been there since ancient times and was said to be a relic of the divine race.

Inside the tower were hidden supreme scriptures and techniques, all protected by array formations. Historically, the Lingxiao Palace and Xuan Yue Sect had stationed people to guard it.

An old man stood guard outside the tower. His age was unclear, but even when the three main deities first visited the tower in their youth, the man had already had a full head of white hair.

“The tower forbids fighting. Anyone who breaks this rule will lose their qualification. The scriptures are divided into four levels: Heaven, Earth, Mystery, and Yellow. Each level is divided into two grades, and they are distributed from the first to the eighth floor, all protected by array formations. Each person can only take one book. Once the array is broken, the book cannot be changed,” the old man declared the rules before they entered.

“This tower has nine floors. The ninth floor is off-limits. Each floor has a spiritual pressure that increases with each level. If you cannot handle it, you may leave the tower at any time. After one hour, the gate will close, and no one can leave until the next day.”

The old man glanced at the four disciples and spoke again, “Did everyone understand?”

The young men nodded.

Xia Chenyu glanced back at An Ran, receiving a confirming glance from his master. He then entered the tower with renewed confidence.

Of course, An Ran wouldn’t allow the boy to enter alone. He had already infused a trace of his soul consciousness into the talisman. The shielding field would prevent any interference from the hidden forces, and now, he could proceed with the plan without worry.

The four young disciples entered the first floor. The spiritual pressure here was not strong and could be easily handled by foundation-building cultivators.

Xiu Wenyang rushed up to the second floor.

The other two disciples, from the Qingyun and Ziyun Peaks, exchanged glances and followed suit.

Xia Chenyu casually looked around. The eight walls were lined with towering cabinets, each containing scrolls or magical treasures.

He casually walked to one cabinet. The moment his hand touched the scroll, he felt an electric shock. Pain shot through his fingertips, and he quickly withdrew his hand.

It seemed to be caused by an array. He looked closely at the scroll, which was titled “Flying Rainbow Sword Art,” with a yellow seal beneath it.

Yellow-tier was the lowest tier of techniques. He quickly glanced at the other cabinets and saw that they also contained yellow-tier scrolls. He then slowly walked up to the stairs leading to the second floor.

What he didn’t know was that, the moment he touched the scroll, a spiritual light quietly flashed into it.

By the time he reached the second floor, the other three were nowhere to be seen. The spiritual pressure here had increased significantly, but it was still manageable. Xia Chenyu quickly glanced around the cabinets, all of which contained high-grade yellow-tier techniques.

The spiritual pressure on the third floor was even greater. Xia Chenyu now had to channel his energy to resist it. He looked around, but still, no one was visible, and the techniques here were at the Mystery-tier.

It wasn’t until the fourth floor that he saw a figure, Yang Hanrong from Ziyun Peak. Xia Chenyu called out, “Senior Brother Yang!”

Yang Hanrong, who had been browsing the techniques on the cabinets, turned around and smiled. “You’re not in a hurry.”

“Have they gone up?” Xia Chenyu asked, pointing to the ceiling.

Yang Hanrong nodded. “The spiritual pressure here has clearly increased. I need a moment to adapt.”

Indeed, the fourth floor exerted immense pressure. Since entering this floor, Xia Chenyu had been using all his spiritual energy to resist.

The two sat down to meditate. After about the length of an incense stick, Yang Hanrong stood up and asked, “How are you doing?”

Xia Chenyu opened his eyes slightly. “I’m fine.”

“You’re really impressive, entering this floor with your meridian damage,” Yang Hanrong commented.

Xia Chenyu smiled faintly. “Thanks to my master’s foresight, my meridian damage isn’t severe, so I can still hold on.”

An Ran, listening outside the tower, furrowed his brow. How had the boy’s image of him not plummeted over these two years? In fact, it had only grown more majestic! This couldn’t go on. He needed to establish the image of a harsh and ungrateful master to push the boy toward a darker, more twisted path—otherwise, how could he fall to demonic cultivation in the future?

The two young men proceeded to the fifth floor.

The moment they stepped onto the stairs, both clearly felt the immense pressure pressing down on them. Xia Chenyu quickly broke into a cold sweat. After standing for a moment, he stepped back down the stairs. The pressure was twice as strong, even with just one step.

Yang Hanrong, also struggling, saw Xia Chenyu retreat and gently said, “No need to push yourself.”

Xia Chenyu shook his head. “I’m fine. Senior Brother, you go ahead.”

Yang Hanrong nodded, gritted his teeth, and stepped forward again.

When Xia Chenyu stepped onto the fifth floor once more, he saw Yang Hanrong meditating, while another figure was searching for techniques. He trudged over to sit and rest.

Here, all the techniques were at the Earth-tier level, rare in the world.

“Where’s Xiu Wenyang?” Xia Chenyu asked, but as soon as he spoke, there was a loud thud, and a figure tumbled down the stairs.

The person groaned and, after some struggling, got up. Rubbing his aching backside, he scoffed.

Yang Hanrong laughed softly. “It looks like even a Golden Core cultivator can’t handle the spiritual pressure on the sixth floor.”

Xiu Wenyang snorted, ignoring him and heading straight to the cabinets to search for books.

“Senior Brother Shen, aren’t you going to try the sixth floor?” Yang Hanrong asked curiously when he saw Shen Yongning not even attempting it.

“No need,” Shen Yongning replied without turning back. “Master warned us not to try the sixth floor before reaching the Golden Core stage to avoid damaging our meridians.”

Yang Hanrong sneered. “There’s a Golden Core right here, yet he hasn’t gone up either.”

“Are you asking for a fight?” Xiu Wenyang growled, already approaching Yang Hanrong and raising his hand to strike.

“Hold on!” Xia Chenyu hurriedly shouted. Despite the overwhelming pressure, his voice sounded faint and weak.

The palm stopped mid-air, and he continued, “No fighting in the tower. Senior Brother, you wouldn’t want to lose your qualification, would you?”

Xiu Wenyang reluctantly retracted his attack, sneering, “Lingxiao Palace’s petty tricks.”

“Say that again?!” Yang Hanrong immediately stood up, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword, ready to draw.

Seeing that the two were about to fight again, Xia Chenyu weakly said, “Stop arguing, save your energy for breaking the array.”

His meridians were damaged, and the pressure was particularly intense for him. It was hard to even raise his voice, let alone engage in a physical fight.

“If it weren’t for the trickery of your Lingyun Immortal Venerable, the three of us here today would have been disciples of the Xuan Yue Sect.”

“Shameless.”

Before they could argue further, a loud crash rang out, and all three turned to look. Shen Yongning was enveloped in a mist.

Coughing, he waved his hand to disperse the mist, revealing a scroll in his hand.

“Senior Brother Shen, you succeeded?” Yang Hanrong exclaimed with joy.

Shen Yongning nodded, sitting down in place and calmly said, “Master said that cultivating in the spiritual pressure of the tower for a day can improve one’s cultivation as much as months of training outside. If you have time to argue, you should focus on practicing.”

The group fell silent. Xiu Wenyang, still disdainful, found a book and began attempting to break the array.

Xia Chenyu, having still not adapted to the spiritual pressure, found the fifth floor particularly challenging.

After about another incense stick of time, a thunderous crash sounded. Xia Chenyu looked over and saw several lightning bolts strike. Xiu Wenyang was knocked back several feet, but when he landed, he was still holding a scroll.

“It looks like this technique is quite rare,” Yang Hanrong whispered to Xia Chenyu.

The rarer the technique, the stronger its protective array.

As the day wore on, Xia Chenyu was the only one among the four who had found nothing.

His energy had been completely drained from resisting the spiritual pressure, and breaking the array seemed nearly impossible.

Just as his mind began to waver, he felt a pair of hands on his back. Before he could ask, a warm current enveloped his body, nourishing his meridians and easing his fatigue.

Shen Yongning’s voice came from behind: “The technique I just learned is perfect for practicing on you.”

Though it was meant to help, Xia Chenyu couldn’t help but smile. “Thank you, Senior Brother Shen.”

At that moment, Yang Hanrong patted Xia Chenyu’s shoulder and pointed to the southwestern cabinet. “There’s a book, ‘Dan Yang Treasure Scroll,’ that’s suitable for your Heavenly Spirit Root. You should try it.”

With their help, Xia Chenyu finally had enough energy to focus on breaking the array.

Seeing this, An Ran couldn’t help but sigh. His change in spiritual roots had completely altered Xia Chenyu’s fate. Now, at just fourteen, he had entered the Tower of Heaven and received help from his senior brothers.

It was a stark contrast to the original timeline. An Ran couldn’t help but wonder how Xia Chenyu’s spiritual roots had been altered—truly a divine twist of fate.

Xia Chenyu tried to inject a flow of spiritual energy, but was blocked by an invisible barrier around the scroll. Suddenly, a burst of flames shot out. He quickly dodged, barely avoiding a direct hit.

“That’s quite fierce,” Yang Hanrong commented, watching the scene.

The flames dissipated. Xia Chenyu tried again, but the same thing happened—there was no way around it.

After a moment of thought, he formed an ice shield with his spiritual power and approached the flames again. The ice quickly melted, but Xia Chenyu was determined not to give up without the scroll.

The ice shield couldn’t keep up with the melting speed. Soon, the flames burned his skin. Gritting his teeth, Xia Chenyu gathered his strength and launched a powerful surge of spiritual energy at the barrier.

With a loud crash, it felt as though something shattered, and Xia Chenyu was knocked back several feet, crashing to the ground.

The flames surrounded him. He closed his eyes, expecting to be burned, but didn’t feel the heat.

Opening his eyes in confusion, he saw a translucent blue shield surrounding him. Floating above him was the Spirit Gathering Talisman, glowing brightly.

Moments later, the flames disappeared, and the talisman’s light faded as it returned to Xia Chenyu’s hand.

He smiled in delight and softly said, “Thank you, Master!”

Outside the tower, An Ran sighed in exasperation. He had meant to use the talisman as a shield under the guise of protection, adding his soul consciousness to the mix for convenience. But unexpectedly, the talisman had truly helped the boy.

As the barrier on the scroll disappeared, Xia Chenyu joyfully took the scroll, eager to see what powerful technique it contained. Just then, a voice called from outside: “Time’s up. Quickly exit the tower.”

The four returned the way they came. Upon reaching the first floor, the others had already left. Only Xiu Wenyang was still absorbed in a scroll on the ground.

He walked over and picked it up, eyeing it thoughtfully, before a smile slowly spread across his face.