After making his preparations, Wu Yuan landed on a light screen, which showed the various records of the one-star tower:
Silvermist Immortal Nation’s highest record: Level 81
Immortal Continent’s past 100-million-year record: Level 68
Immortal Continent’s past million-year record: Level 67
Immortal Continent’s past 10,000-year record: Level 61
Dragon Star Immortal Sect’s highest record: Level 71
Dragon Star Immortal Sect’s current record: Level 58
I may have set the sect’s current record, but it is nothing much now. Fighting spirit burned in Wu Yuan’s eyes. It’s been many years since I last challenged the tower.
With the Bloodforge Battle approaching, let’s see how far I can go this time.
“Tower spirit. Begin!” Wu Yuan’s voice echoed across this expanse of outer space.
Rumble~ The colors of the world shifted, and countless points of light converged in the distance, swiftly forming a figure in black robes.
The one-star tower challenge officially began!
…
The moment Wu Yuan officially started challenging the tower, many Earth Immortals and even High Immortals of the Dragon Star Immortal Sect were immediately notified. These included Earth Immortal Xiang Sheng, Earth Immortal Xu You, High Immortal Hei Yuan, and Abbot Wu. These individuals either had a stake in Wu Yuan’s progress, or were keenly interested in this junior disciple.
It’s been years since he last challenged the tower. He’s finally back? In the sect’s grand hall, Abbot Wu’s lips curled up. I wonder if Li Xia will give us a surprise this time.
He deliberated briefly before sending a message to Sword Immortal Dong Yang. Unfortunately, there was no response.
Senior Brother Dong Yang. Abbot Wu shook his head. With a mental command, he sent a thread of consciousness into a special observation space within the Dragon Star Immortal Sect.
Upon his arrival, Abbot Wu was surprised to find that the place was already packed with four High Immortals and over twenty Earth Immortals, all waiting to watch Wu Yuan challenge the one-star tower.
Such a crowd of spectators was quite rare! It was clear that Wu Yuan was regarded highly within the Dragon Star Immortal Sect.
“Abbot.” Numerous High Immortals and Earth Immortals greeted him, swiftly offering the best seat to Abbot Wu, who naturally took it without hesitation.
Many Earth Immortals conversed amongst themselves in hushed whispers.
“It’s quite a turnout.” Abbot Wu chuckled.
“Just two months ago, that little girl from the Zhuo Family burst onto the scene, shocking the immortal continent,” High Immortal Hei Yuan stated with a smile. “Li Xia, who was recognized by many in the sect as the number one peerless genius of the immortal continent in his generation, was instantly overshadowed.”
“Now that he’s finally challenging the one-star tower, it’s naturally receiving quite a bit of attention. Though he’s been taken in as a disciple by the immortal ancestor, we still care deeply about him,” High Immortal Hei Yuan added.
“Exactly!”
“It’s not easy for the sect to produce a peerless genius.” The other High Immortals chuckled.
Abbot Wu’s gaze swept over these High Immortals and Earth Immortals.
He was well aware of their thoughts, especially the Earth Immortals: Li Xia, the Archimmortal’s disciple, was likely to be the future leader of the sect. Naturally, they wished to foster good relations with him.
“It’s starting.”
“Level fifty-nine won’t stop Li Xia. With his talent and years of secluded cultivation, he’s bound to have made significant strides.” Many immortals from the Dragon Star Immortal Sect watched keenly.
The battle began swiftly and concluded just as quickly. Wu Yuan merely deployed a Thousand Swords Array, which assembled into a terrifying divine sword, sweeping away three opponents in one fell swoop.
“What a formidable divine sword.”
“His strength has increased substantially.”
“He’s progressing much faster than Chen Jing and the others.”
“Extraordinary. Li Xia seems to have advanced further in the Celestial Body Dao since the Dragon Star Tournament,” many Earth Immortals exclaimed in admiration, discussing among themselves.
In their view, Wu Yuan’s progress was astonishingly swift.
“Abbot, do you think he can clear level sixty?” High Immortal Hei Yuan frowned slightly. “I have a feeling that tackling level sixty could prove difficult for him.”
“He won’t make it!” Another white-robed elderly High Immortal shook his head and sighed, “Perhaps our expectations were too high. Compared to Zhuo Haiyue, Li Xia’s innate potential does indeed fall short.”
“Li Xia possesses immense talent, yet, he’s still a long way from being the top genius of the immortal nation,” another High Immortal added.
As High Immortals, their perceptions were exceptionally sharp. At a glance, they could tell that given his current strength, Wu Yuan’s chances of clearing level sixty of the one-star tower were extremely slim—in fact, nearly impossible!
“Quiet down,” Abbot Wu frowned slightly. “The guardian of level sixty of the one-star tower is at the eighth-level True Intent stage, akin to a Void Refiner or an Elysian Field Eminence in Dao comprehension.”
“Advancing from the sixth-level True Intent to the seventh is a huge leap. How old is Li Xia? It’s not surprising if he can’t make it through,” Abbot Wu stated calmly.
“Falling short of Zhuo Haiyue’s performance isn’t unexpected either, but that doesn’t mean Li Xia is weak. It’s just that Zhuo Haiyue is too dazzling.”
“Let’s just watch,” Abbot Wu said in a low voice.
The few High Immortals nodded. As keenly perceptive as they were, they could sense that even though Abbot Wu seemed to be making excuses for Li Xia, there was a hint of regret in his tone.
Given Li Xia’s talents, if he had been born in almost any other era of the Immortal Continent, he could have been the best of his generation once he matured!
Alas, he was born in the same era as Zhuo Haiyue.
At this moment, Wu Yuan was already clashing with the guardian of level sixty inside the one-star tower.
…
Level sixty of the one-star tower marked the benchmark for peerless geniuses. Only by surpassing it could one be termed a peerless genius according to definition.
In the last ten thousand years of the Redmoon Immortal Continent’s history, the highest anyone had ever reached in the one-star tower was level sixty-one. One could only imagine the difficulty of completing level sixty.
In the current era, not one prodigy under a hundred years from any faction on the Redmoon Immortal Continent had managed to surpass level sixty of the one-star tower.
Among the various factions, it was widely believed that Wu Yuan had a great chance of surpassing level sixty, but definitely not at his current age!
However, once Wu Yuan defeated the guardian of level fifty-nine, he was destined to face a fierce battle against the guardian of level sixty.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! The black-robed guardian instantly sprang into action, his surroundings swirling with hundreds of fourth-grade flying swords. Each flying sword carried the profundities of the Celestial Body Dao.
The swords spread far apart yet remained intricately connected. Cryptic patterns emerged, instantly forming a vast expanse of sword qi that stretched across thousands of li, enveloping Wu Yuan entirely.
It was like a kingdom of swords!
The terrifying sword intent made Wu Yuan’s eyes sharpen with realization as he slowly uttered four words: “Dark Earth Sword Domain.”
The sixth step of the Dark Earth Sword Array—Dark Earth Sword Domain!
Wu Yuan finally understood why level sixty was a near insurmountable barrier for the top-tier geniuses of the immortal continent. Clearing it was indeed extremely difficult.
At the Domain stage, cultivators could harness the power of heaven and earth to form their Domain. Advancing to the True Intent stage indicated a profound understanding of a Dao.
Beyond True Intent, as comprehension of the Dao deepened and insights were accumulated, cultivators could eventually form their own field of the Dao—the Dao Field stage!
Unlike forming a Domain, there was no need to harness the power of heaven and earth when creating a Dao Field. Everything within the range of an immortal cultivator’s Dao Field fell under their control. They possessed the ability to strip weaker cultivators of their perception of heaven and earth’s power.
Why was it impossible to harness heaven and earth’s power in the Fourth Eldritch Realm? Because at the heart of the Fourth Eldritch Realm, a Dao Field Array was engraved, forming a miniature Dao Field.
The level sixty-one guardian naturally wasn’t at the Dao Field stage. In fact, more than ninety percent of Void Refiner and Elysian Field cultivators failed to grasp a Dao Field.
However, the Dark Earth Sword Domain was a nascent Dao Field formed by the combination of Dao comprehension with flight.
“Challenger. Throughout the immortal continent of today, few are able to stand before me. And you are the youngest among them. Though you will be defeated at my hands, you should take pride in yourself,” the black-robed guardian said with an indifferent voice.
“Defeat?” Wu Yuan sneered, “Do you think you can defeat me just by suppressing me with a sword domain? Go on, show me whatever tricks you have.”
Boom~ Flying swords filled the sky. 729 flying swords instantly merged with the vast earthy-yellow qi streams.
In the blink of an eye, a miniature celestial body with a diameter of about ten li completely enveloped Wu Yuan—the Star Ruins Sword Array!
Under the oppression of the Dark Earth Sword Domain, this miniature celestial body was already the largest Wu Yuan could maintain.
“Very good.” The black-robed guardian was not annoyed in the slightest. He said lightly, “Today, I will teach you that there will always be someone out there stronger than you.”
Rustle~ Out of the hundreds of flying swords originally spread over a thousand li to form the sword domain, nine of them suddenly merged together. Countless cryptic patterns of the Dao manifested as mana surged, forming a nearly real divine sword about ten zhangs long.
Whoosh! The divine sword whistled. Within the sword domain, it moved with an eerie speed, darting through hundreds li and appearing in front of Wu Yuan’s miniature celestial body in an instant.
Terrifying speed! Heart-stopping sharpness!
Even from a hundred li away, the terrifying sharpness of this divine sword still made Wu Yuan’s hair stand on end!