Chapter 97: Already Seen Through
Translator: Translation Nation Editor: Translation Nation
Xu Que swallowed the ten pills and realized that they tasted bland as if he was swallowing air.
"Boom!" In the next moment, he felt like as though his brain just exploded and he received clarity of thought instantaneously.
He could feel a certain sensitivity in his mind as if he knew and understood every single corner and space of the first level in this Tower of Souls!
"Ding! Congratulations to host ‘Xu Que’ for successfully assimilating the Empty Skill Pill. Your soul strength and mental resistance has increased by 10%!"
Soon after the system rang out, Xu Que looked like he just awoke from a long and deep slumber. He felt as if there was an immense amount of energy in his body and the speed at which his thoughts were being processed was much faster.
"So these are the advantages of having increased mental fortitude and soul strength. It’s simply amazing. If I had known about this earlier, I would have tried some pills sooner." Xu Que’s lips curled into a smile as he took large strides and walked towards the second level confidently.
"Eh? Look! That black robed kid has finally moved!"
"That’s strange. It was obvious that he was stuck after two steps. How did he manage to resolve that problem?"
"Could it be… After his soul got used to the pressure, he could break out of it?"
"How could it be? Although the powers of the mind and the soul are extremely profound and mysterious, how could he have acclimatized so quickly?"
When the group of cultivators outside realized that Xu Que had moved, they were all roused and broke out in frantic chatter.
The group of cultivators who had came from the second stage all gave out smiles that implied "we told you so".
"Haha! Indeed, he finally moved."
"Thankfully, we’re not trapped inside with him. I’m sure he was just pretending to be trapped."
"That’s right. He wanted more people to enter the tower. Thankfully we managed to stay out."
"That Hua Wu Que is really scary. Heheh... the people inside the tower with him are in for a treat."
At the same time, on the second level of the Tower of Souls...
Several cultivators were stuck at this stage. Each of them had pained and severe expressions written across their faces. They were in deep concentration as they gathered their strengths and repelled the crushing pressure to the best of their abilities.
In actual fact, this crushing pressure upon their souls would help them to become stronger. The longer they remained under such pressure, the better they can get acclimatized to it and move on. So, the better they can adapt, the higher their chances of making it through to the third level.
That was how it normally was. However, now that Xu Que was around, the situation is different.
"Hahaha! It's so hilarious that it's killing me. Why are you all standing still and not moving?" Xu Que came up to the second level and burst out into laughter. He glared at those cultivators who had mocked and taunted him earlier.
The few of them finally managed to concentrate their thoughts after a long time. At this point, they were shocked and distracted by the sound of Xu Que’s laughter. They were clearly incensed and threw him angry looks.
Soon after, whatever they saw astounded them.
Xu Que, who was the butt of their taunts was walking over towards them effortlessly. He had a grin on his face and walked confidently, swinging his hands like a big time mafia in his own turf.
The way he was acting clearly showed how at ease and comfortable he was with the increased soul restriction on that level.
"How could this be?"
"Weren't you the person stuck on the first level?!" Several cultivators were astonished and shouted out. Their bodies were rooted to the ground, unable to move.
Xu Que then burst out in laughter, "You must be kidding. With my cultivation level, how could I have been hindered by the first level? It was that I was extremely hungry just now. Hence I stopped to think about what I should eat after I'm done with the test. However, I never expected…"
Xu Que’s expression fell dramatically. His face was full of sadness and sorrow as if he had been offended. He then spoke out, "I never expected to be made fun of and to take such personal attacks. You guys clearly hurt my very small self-esteem and confidence. Hence, you have to pay the price for it."
The cultivators paused and half laughed. Their faces were contorted into a smile but they were clearly afraid. "Haha! What do you think you can do to us in such a place?"
"There are rules here. If you dare to use any spells to strike us, the Tower of Souls will expel all of us instantly."
"That’s right. Seeing as to how easy this is for you, it must mean that your mental strength is extremely high and you have a good chance of reaching the fourth level. If you wish to get expelled here along with the rest of us, you're the one on the losing end."
"You can try if you want!"
When Xu Que heard this, he paused. Damn it. This dog shit Tower of Souls have such a dumb rule? I cannot use spells here? And I cannot hurt anyone? Fuck me. Why didn't the Sky Incense Valley disciples mention this?
He started to get suspicious. However, these few people didn't look like they were lying.
"What? Do you not have the guts to attack?"
"Haha! Anyway, the chances of us reaching the third level are slim. If you wish to get expelled from the tower along with us, we won't mind." The few of them started laughing out again.
If a person were to observe carefully, he would realize that although these people were speaking and laughing, their souls were still under tremendous pressures. And they clearly were extremely tense and rigid.
Xu Que seemed to have thought of something as his eyes lit up and his lips curled into a faint smile.
Without speaking another word, he turned around and searched for an unoccupied corner and walked over.
Several cultivators paused and crinkled their brows suspiciously but heaved a sigh of relief nonetheless.
Although they were all itching to taunt Xu Que further, they themselves didn't want to get expelled from the tower prematurely.
"That's good. At least it seems like he doesn't dare to enter a lose-lose situation.
"Let's concentrate again. There's a chance that we might break through to the third level if we concentrate hard enough."
The few them looked at each other and started concentrating their thoughts and training their mental fortitudes once more.
Xu Que then walked over to the corner slowly as he called out for his system. He then took out an item from his system inventory.
"Ba-dang!" An iron pot fell onto the ground, as the sound of it rang out and echoed across the entire second level.
The few cultivators who were trying to concentrate were startled awake again. Breaking their concentration this way severely disrupted their meditation and could cause damage to their souls. Some of them were nearly expelled from the tower, since their souls were on the edge of their threshold.
They glared angrily at Xu Que as they spoke out, "My friend, if you did that on the third level, we might benefit from it. But if you do it right here, our souls might get damaged and our test will end at this point."
Xu Que didn't even look at them and continued taking things out of his system inventory.
"Ba-dang!" A pile of dry firewood and twigs spilled out of his inventory.
"..."
"What's this kid trying to do?" Several cultivators opened their eyes wide in curiosity.
Soon after, they saw Xu Que pick up a thin piece of wood as he sat down upon the floor. He then placed the piece of wood upon the firewood and started twisting the wood with both hands, causing sparks to fly.
"Pu!" one of the cultivators couldn't take the distraction any longer. His concentration broke, causing his soul to scatter. In that instant, the tower detected that he was at his maximum threshold and expelled him from the tower.
Outside the tower, several people were still animatedly discussing how Xu Que could've broken out of the first stage and moved all of a sudden. Then, a popping sound could be heard as the shadow of a Daoist being expelled could be seen.
"Ai, you've only been there for such a short while. Why did you get expelled so quickly?"
"This is the record for the shortest time spent inside the Tower of Souls."
"Looks like that person doesn't have a chance of joining Sky Incense Valley after this."
People started to get suspicious and broke out in discussion.
Indeed, when the person was expelled from the tower and landed on the ground outside, his expression was one of anger. He glanced at the Sky Incense Valley disciples and was full of dissatisfaction. "My fellow brothers and sisters, I wish to lodge a complaint. That black robed kid is inside the Tower of Souls is being a nuisance. Just now, he was trying to start a fire using two pieces of wood! It severely affected my ability to concentrate. I demand for a retest!"
Trying to start a fire with wood?
Everyone in the crowd were stumped.
"Pu!"
Soon after, several cultivators from the group who had followed Xu Que earlier burst out in laughter.
"Haha! Trying to start a fire with wood? Damn me. Master Hua is extremely amazing. I wonder how he thinks of such things."
"That goes without saying. What a good method. But he has to be able to completely overcome the pressure on the second floor before he could come up with such antics."
"But come to think of it. What was he trying to do with fire?"
"He was probably trying to use smoke to distract the cultivators right? Afterall, nobody was allowed to use any spells to harm anyone within the Tower of Souls."
The Sky Incense Valley disciples were extremely perplexed as well. They had never seen such a situation unfold ever. How could someone ever think of starting a fire with mere pieces of wood in the tower?
After glancing at each other, one of the disciples walked over and shook his head, "He’s only starting fires with wood. It's not a violation of any rules. Besides, there are still many people remaining within the second level of the tower and you're the first to be expelled. This still proves that you're the weakest among them!"
"Dang!" a wooden tile which hovered over the second level banged against the wall of the tower, causing a dull thud to ring out.
Soon after, another cultivator was being expelled from the tower as well.
The group of people paused in shock once more.
The newly expelled cultivator had a look of anger on his face as well. He dashed towards the Sky Incense Valley disciples and shouted out, "My fellow brothers and sisters. A black robed youth is affecting our concentration inside. I demand a retest!"
The Sky Incense Valley disciples frowned as they replied, "Starting a fire with wood isn't considered an interference or distraction."
"Starting a fire using wood?" That cultivator shouted out, "It’s fine that he wanted to start a fire for that wouldn't bother me. But he's grilling chicken wings over the fire within the tower now!"