The door was open, but looking inside, nothing could be seen.
An Chen speculated that the door was probably also some kind of teleportation array, and Cultivators would be transported to a certain part of the Pagoda after walking in.
This was indeed the case; as An Chen walked through the door, he could clearly feel that its surface was like water ripples, and he disappeared into them after stepping through.
An Chen plunged in, and his vision blurred. He found himself in a rectangular secret chamber.
Unlike the grand and spacious bottom of the Pagoda he had just been in, this secret chamber was relatively small, only about the size of a basketball court.
The walls were all pitch black, with grooves carved into them to hold light sources.
Apart from these light sources, this secret chamber was no different from a large coffin, with no doors, windows, or ventilation equipment.
An Chen looked up, found nothing, and then looked down at his feet, where he saw a large number "one", likely corresponding to the floor number.
However, An Chen could vaguely sense that the air inside the chamber was flowing, meaning that although the secret chamber appeared sealed, there was actually some mechanism for ventilation.
But what puzzled An Chen was that there wasn't a single crack in the entire secret chamber. He walked to the wall and knocked on it, finding it solid.
An Chen suddenly discovered something else: a pendant had appeared on his waist at some point. The pendant was shaped like a small pagoda, shining with golden light, illuminated from top to bottom as if it had LED strips.
But An Chen didn't know how it had appeared on him.
He had merely Transmigrated through a door and hadn't felt anything attach to him.
"Strange."
There were too many strange things inside this Pagoda of Spiritual Connection.
Perhaps it was because he was more meticulous, but he always dwelled on these small details, whereas his Senior Brothers had never mentioned them.
Before he could think further, several figures suddenly appeared before An Chen. These figures had no faces, similar to the Nameless Ones he had seen when Cultivating his blade techniques in the jade talisman.
These individuals did not emit any spiritual energy fluctuations; they appeared to be completely Mortal.
These Nameless Ones, holding steel blades, swung them twice, then charged menacingly towards An Chen.
An Chen didn't hesitate, drawing his own blade, stepping forward, and horizontally slashing, cutting the leading figure in half. Then he spun around and parried another's steel blade, before kicking that person in the chest, causing their chest cavity to immediately collapse, with most of their sternum and ribs broken.
The two fatally wounded Nameless Ones immediately turned into flying ash and dissipated.
An Chen quickly dealt with the remaining Nameless Ones.
He could fight as many of these ordinary Mortals as there were.
This first level was truly not difficult; even an ordinary Mortal with higher combat prowess could easily handle it.
A few seconds after all enemies had turned into flying ash and dissipated, a wisp-like stream of light emerged from the floor. This wisp was thin and long, slowly flying towards him.
An Chen knew that this was likely the "reward" the Pagoda of Spiritual Connection was giving him, so he did not resist, merely standing still.
The stream of light slowly entered his body, and An Chen immediately felt it improving his physique. His entire body began to heat up, just like after intense exercise.
Dozens of seconds later, the stream of light was completely absorbed within him.
An Chen carefully sensed it; this physical improvement was probably equivalent to the effect of consuming several Qi and Blood Pills.
Not bad.
But soon, An Chen's vision blurred again, and the surrounding scenery subtly shifted. He reappeared in a new secret chamber.
An Chen looked down and saw that the number on the floor had indeed changed to two.
An Chen's lips curved into a smile.
Coming to this Pagoda of Spiritual Connection was the right choice!
The challenges of the first nine levels were not difficult. Even on the ninth level, which involved a Qi Refinement Stage level three Nameless One fighting An Chen, An Chen resolved him with little effort, taking only two or three slashes.
In actual combat, An Chen gradually became more proficient with his learned blade techniques. Sometimes, he could even complete movements and slay enemies instinctively, without needing his brain to issue commands.
Although he had previously known how to use them, it was merely theoretical; without actual combat experience, something was always missing.
Of the rewards from the first nine levels, six were energy that could temper the physique, while the remaining three were also a similar type of flowing light energy. However, these energies, after entering his body, slowly increased his Cultivation.
After receiving only three infusions of this energy, An Chen felt that he was more than just a little closer to Refining Qi Sixth Level, approximately one-fifth of the way.
If he received twelve more such energy infusions, he could directly Breakthrough!
This efficiency was much higher than Cultivating on his own.
An Chen entered the tenth level with a beaming smile.
He had heard his two Senior Brothers say that the rewards for integer levels would be particularly good, but correspondingly, the opponents on these levels would also be more troublesome.
An Chen noticed that the secret chamber on this level was much larger, several times larger than any previous secret chamber.
And the slowly appearing phantom was no longer humanoid; instead, it was a massive Yao Beast.
This was a tiger Yao Beast. Among Yao Beasts, tiger Yao Beasts were a common type, but because it was in a phantom state, An Chen couldn't distinguish which species of tiger Yao Beast it was.
Judging by its Aura, this was a first-grade Yao Beast, on the same level as the Scarlet-Eyed Snake he had encountered before. At that time, An Chen was only at Cultivation level four and could easily deal with the Scarlet-Eyed Snake, so An Chen felt that this tiger Yao Beast in front of him should also not be a problem.
An Chen held his blade horizontally in front of him, adopting a defensive stance. He originally thought this tiger Yao Beast would actively attack like previous enemies, but to his surprise, it began to move horizontally, slowly walking along the edge of the secret chamber.
Excellent hunters do not rashly initiate an attack; they first seek out the enemy's weaknesses, carefully probe the enemy's depth, and only then launch their offensive.
"Interesting."
An Chen watched this scene with interest.
An Chen had originally thought that these enemies were insentient objects materialized by the Pagoda of Spiritual Connection, but now, upon seeing this, it seemed not to be the case.
The tiger Yao Beast before him was just like a real Yao Beast; it was not at all the insentient, mechanically attacking dead object he had imagined.
An Chen then had another thought.
Since this tiger Yao Beast had sentience, did that mean that this Pagoda of Spiritual Connection also had sentience?
After all, this tiger Yao Beast was merely a phantom materialized by the Pagoda of Spiritual Connection. The "sentience" displayed by this tiger Yao Beast was, in fact, just the sentience of the Pagoda of Spiritual Connection itself.