"Cold Blade Ice Heart!"
Zhang Hao unleashed this strike, the strongest sword technique he had mastered to date. Everything in the surroundings lost their color.
"Pfft!"
"Pfft!"
This strike directly tore through the defenses of the two Half-Step Martial Kings, heavily slamming into their bodies.
The two Half-Step Martial Kings instantly vanished before him.
Of course, Zhang Hao knew that these two Half-Step Martial Kings were similar to the Battle Souls in the Qianlong Pagoda. The two Half-Step Martial Kings were not truly killed by him.
"Whew!"
Finally, he had passed the Ninth Layer. He would rest for half an hour first! Zhang Hao felt a deep sense of exhaustion at this moment. He knew that this last layer must be extremely dangerous.
"Damn it, how does this Genius assessment feel even more difficult than when I passed the Qianlong Pagoda? Didn't that Old man Lan Haiping tell me that this was just a formality for me?" Zhang Hao muttered, his tone filled with frustration.
Of course, Zhang Hao didn't know that he had been set up.
Below the Martial God Tower
Lan Haiping's eyes were fixed on the pagoda's Ninth Layer at this moment. Although he felt that the possibility of Zhang Hao passing the assessment was really not very high, he still hoped for a miracle in his heart.
"Strange, it's been so long since he went in, how come there's still no movement? Did he pass, or was he eliminated?" Lan Haiping muttered, his expression puzzled.
Logically speaking, even if Zhang Hao was eliminated, he should have come out by now. But Zhang Hao didn't pass, nor did he come out. Could he still be continuing?
Lan Haiping was slightly disappointed. The longer this Ninth Layer went on, the less likely it was that Zhang Hao could pass the assessment. After all, to a large extent, the danger of the Tenth Layer far exceeded the Ninth Layer.
Of course, Lan Haiping didn't know that Zhang Hao was resting at this moment.
Half an hour later, Zhang Hao felt his fatigue completely vanish. He finally got up and stepped into the Tenth Layer of the Martial God Tower.
Originally, Zhang Hao thought that the Tenth Layer might have six Half-Step Martial Kings, or a true Martial King. But to his surprise, the Tenth Layer of the Martial God Tower contained an Old man with white hair and beard.
This Old man was about sixty years old, wearing a gray robe, with thin features and deep, mysterious eyes, as if he could see through Zhang Hao.
Zhang Hao was secretly vigilant in his heart. This Old man, I can't sense any aura of a Martial Warrior on him. Is this Old man not a Martial Warrior, or is the gap between me and this Old man too large?
Zhang Hao felt that the latter possibility was greater.
"Old man, are you the guardian of this Tenth Layer?" Zhang Hao looked at the Old man and asked with a smile.
"Old man?" The Old man's expression showed a slight surprise.
"That's right, I am indeed the guardian of this layer."
The Old man smiled slightly, then nodded and said, "Heh heh, the title of Old man is quite fresh. In all these years, you are the first young fellow to call me that. Hahaha..."
Zhang Hao gave a dry laugh but didn't take it seriously. He muttered, "You are an Old man, is it strange to call you that?"
However, from the conversation with this Old man, Zhang Hao also felt that this Old man was very formidable. He immediately used the System to probe the Old man's cultivation.
This was just probing the opponent's cultivation, not their full attributes, so it could be done without favorability.
But then Zhang Hao was also dumbfounded.
Character: ??? Guardian of the Martial God Tower's Tenth Layer
Cultivation: ???
All question marks?
The only thing visible was the HP. Such a long HP bar! It was actually eight digits.
Damn, eight-digit HP. This is the rhythm of a major BOSS!
However, Zhang Hao didn't see a golden light on this Old man, so he was clearly not his enemy.
Even so, this eight-digit HP showed how powerful this Old man was. None of the opponents he had encountered so far had such strong HP. The only one who could compare to this Old man was the beautiful woman who took his little sister.
Damn, could it be a Martial Grandmaster? Zhang Hao was greatly startled.
If it really was a Martial Grandmaster, then there was no other way except to summon a high-level expert to fight for him.
However, unless absolutely necessary, Zhang Hao didn't want to do this. Because if he summoned a powerful person to pass the layer for him, what if the Martial God Tower didn't recognize it? This possibility was also quite high.
"Young man, you've reached the Tenth Layer and you've been looking at this Old man. Are you planning to pass the layer like this?" The Old man looked at Zhang Hao and smiled slightly.
"Cough cough..."
"Old man, this Young Master admits he can't defeat you?" Zhang Hao shook his head, quickly denying it.
"Heh heh, you admit you can't defeat this Old man. Are you planning to give up?" The Old man looked at Zhang Hao with a half-smile.
"Of course, this Young Master won't give up. I just want to know, for this Tenth Layer, do I need to defeat you, Old man, to pass?" Zhang Hao asked, his gaze fixed on the Old man.
Zhang Hao also wanted to probe the Old man's intentions. He had already determined that the Old man's cultivation definitely surpassed Half-Step Martial King. At least, it had reached the level of Martial King (high stage). And there was a high possibility that this Old man was the legendary Wu Zong Realm. From the nine-digit HP, he could tell how strong this Old man's cultivation was. HP was, to some extent, linked to cultivation.
The Old man glanced at Zhang Hao and said, "That's right, just like the other layers, if you want to pass this Old man's layer, you must fight with this Old man, but the rules are slightly different."
"Damn it!"
Zhang Hao was frustrated in his heart. Even if he was confident in his combat power, he knew that defeating a Half-Step Martial King was already his limit with his current cultivation. At most, he could contend with a Martial King First Heaven for a while. But the chance of defeating a Martial King First Heaven was no more than 10%. And this Old man's cultivation far exceeded Martial King First Heaven. This was clearly not the rhythm of letting him pass! It also made Zhang Hao extremely angry.
It seems I'm forced to use a game character summon card!
Zhang Hao said resentfully.
"Of course, this Old man will not bully the weak. I will suppress my cultivation to be equal to yours. At the same time, you don't need to defeat this Old man, you just need to hold on against this Old man for half an incense stick's time without losing!" The Old man looked at Zhang Hao with a smile.
Suppressing his cultivation to be equal to this Young Master's, and only needing to hold on against him for half an incense stick's time. Zhang Hao was surprised. He thought to himself: There's such a good thing.
However, instead of feeling lucky, Zhang Hao's expression became even more serious. The confidence in the Old man's tone made him realize that the Old man's cultivation was probably beyond his imagination. Moreover, this Old man didn't look like a Battle Soul of the Martial God Tower, but rather like a real person.
If his estimation was correct and this Old man was truly in the Wu Zong Realm, even if he suppressed his cultivation to the same level as his, he would still have an absolute advantage. With the same power, the combat power the other party could display would definitely far exceed his.