Chapter 475: The Second Floor
Xiao Chen gradually moved faster. He passed the cultivators that were there before him and arrived at the front.
“Is this fellow not feeling any pressure at all?” Ding Fengchou said with a somewhat unsightly expression when he saw Xiao Chen overtaking him.
Zuo Mo revealed an astonished expression as well. The pressure here made the circulation of Essence very slow. He did not understand how Xiao Chen managed to do this.
When the rest of them saw that Xiao Chen was about to touch the light barrier above them, they were all astonished. However, they were unable to speed up.
After thinking for a while, he realized why. The pressure in the tower acted upon the body first, before seeping inside and pressuring the Essence directly.
At this moment, the physical body was like the first line of defense. With a strong physical body, the amount of pressure seeping into the body would naturally be less.
If the physical body were weak, the amount of pressure it could hold back would be less. This resulted in most of the pressure seeping into the body.
Xiao Chen’s physical body was much stronger than most cultivators. Being able to reach the front, despite being the last to leave, was natural for him.
When Xiao Chen’s hand touched the strange light barrier, energy ripples immediately appeared on it.
In an instant, all the pressure vanished. Xiao Chen felt very relaxed as he slowly went through the barrier.
“Xiu!”
After five minutes, Xiao Chen stopped. Then, he landed firmly on the ground. When his eyes opened, he felt that his Essence had become more vast and pure than before.
Xiao Chen closed his eyes again and sank his consciousness to the purple Qi whirlpool. He discovered that drops of purple Essence Qi were quickly dripping down from the Qi whirlpool.
This speed was much faster than his usual cultivation. This shocked Xiao Chen greatly. He even showed signs of breaking through.
Odd, I did not cultivate at all and did not absorb any Spiritual Energy. How did the purple Essence liquid appear?
Could it be because of the light barrier? Xiao Chen guessed. Xiao Chen could not think of any other explanation, aside from this reason.
“Xiu!”
The Essence Liquid stopped dripping down after five seconds. Xiao Chen opened his eyes and stopped thinking about it.
After all, this was a good thing and did not have any side effects. Xiao Chen intended to see what was going on with this floor.
---
Outside the tower, Shi Hailong and the other upper echelons of the Heavenly Extermination Union waited at the floor of the Tianwu Emperor statue. They looked at the Ancient Desolate Tower nervously.
Within the Ancient Desolate Tower, the jade pendant on everyone’s chest was like a spot of light that could be seen through the walls, allowing the people outside to see everything clearly.
Suddenly, an old man said, “Elder Shi, there seems to be someone entering the second floor!”
Shi Hailong focused his gaze. Indeed, a spot of light appeared in the space of the second floor. “Unexpectedly, someone has already cleared the first floor. The pressure of the first floor is about fifty thousand kilograms of force.”
“I wonder who it is? In the past, the Thunder Emperor did not even manage to move this fast. Is this person insinuating that he will go further than the Thunder Emperor?”
“It is hard to say; this is just the first floor. The challenges of each floor are different…. Maybe he was just lucky. We cannot come to a conclusion so early.”
---
Naturally, Xiao Chen could not hear the discussion outside. He was currently feeling somewhat conflicted.
In the second floor, there was also a faint light barrier above. The pressure that pushed them down before was no longer there.
However, when Xiao Chen tried to fly, he discovered that there was a horrific suction force coming from the ground. No matter how hard he tried, he could not make both his feet leave the ground at the same time.
After trying for a while, Xiao Chen could not succeed. So, he gave up and focused on the twenty-odd sculptures in the middle of the floor.
Between the first and second floor, aside from the change in pressure, the biggest difference was that there were many more sculptures here.
The sculptures were the same size as humans. There were males and females, fist masters, bladesmen, swordsmen, and spearmen.
Xiao Chen walked over and looked through all the sculptures. Eventually, his gaze stopped at a bladesman.
This bladesman was wearing light blue Battle Armor. A saber with a serrated edge hung on his back. He had a rather genial expression but had an oddly unswerving and determined look in his eyes, making one not dare to meet them.
Xiao Chen stood before the bladesman and looked at its face. The expression carved on it looked very realistic, it was like he was facing a real and living bladesman.
The Ancient Desolate Tower would not have a floor that was unsolvable. There was definitely a method to enter the third floor. The answer might be on these sculptures.
Let’s give it a try for the time being. Xiao Chen stretched out a finger and touched the sculpture’s forehead.
“Ha ha! Not bad, you are very wise in choosing me. Let’s see your strength then!”
A carefree laugh suddenly rang out beside Xiao Chen’s ear. He was astonished as the sculpture’s eyes lit up.
The bladesman moved his left hand and swept Xiao Chen’s hand to the side. His right hand moved quickly and pressed towards Xiao Chen’s forehead.
Xiao Chen felt startled and quickly retreated. His figure flashed in the air, leaving behind afterimages.
By the time Xiao Chen landed, he had discovered that he was in a chaotic space. The bladesman in light blue Battle Armor was smiling at Xiao Chen.
The bladesman’s sculpture, which Xiao Chen was looking at earlier, now appeared alive in this space.
Winds blew, clouds churned, thunder roared, and lightning flashed in this chaotic space, but the surroundings looked empty.
Xiao Chen placed his right hand on his saber hilt, stared at this person, and said, “How did you come to life? What is this place?”
The moment Xiao Chen spoke, he felt that something was wrong. The other party was originally a sculpture; it had no concept of life and death.
The blue-robed bladesman smiled and muttered, “I’m just a strand of will. I am neither alive nor dead. What you are seeing is just my will. My name is Bai Shuihe. I am a Saber Sage of the Great Jin Nation’s Bai Clan. Seven thousand years ago, the Alliance Chief invited me to leave a strand of will behind on the second floor.”
Xiao Chen now understood what had happened. Rumor said that once one reached Martial Sage, and their Mental Energy reached a certain level, a strand of will could last for hundreds of years.
As for the will of a Martial Emperor, it would last for even longer. For his Saber Sage’s will to last for thousands of years, it must be because of the Ancient Desolate Tower.
“My Cultivation Realm is suppressed to the same level as yours. You just have to last ten moves from me, and you will pass the test of the second floor. If you fail, this will be as far as you can go!”
The blue-robed bladesman slowly took out the serrated saber on his back. Then, he pointed the tip of the saber at Xiao Chen.
When Xiao Chen heard what the bladesman said, his expression became serious. Although the opponent said that he had suppressed his cultivation to be the same, he was, after all, still a Martial Sage. He still had his Martial Techniques and experience. It would be difficult to last for ten moves.
Bai Shuihe looked at Xiao Chen and smiled faintly, “Fight with all your might. Don’t overthink this. Just make sure you don’t leave any regrets behind. Here is my first move!”
“Xiu!”
Saber intent came out from the serrated saber. Bai Shuihe took six steps forward in the air. The tip of his saber kept moving towards Xiao Chen’s left hand, which was holding the scabbard.
This seemingly ordinary move became very sharp under the operation of Bai Shuihe and the support of his saber intent.
These are all feints. His true aim should be to flick his saber up when I draw my saber, causing me to drop it.
Xiao Chen’s insight was very sharp. By the time his opponent was about to make his true move, his heart was already as calm as still water. It was like his opponent was not a Saber Sage but an ordinary opponent.
The ten moves did not matter. All Xiao Chen had to do was to defeat this opponent that had the same level of cultivation as him.
Xiao Chen already guessed his opponent’s aim. Although he was not completely certain, he was seventy percent confident of it; he was willing to gamble on his guess.
Xiao Chen’s right hand let go of the saber and made a very dangerous move. He did not draw his saber to counter his opponent’s attack.
Instead, Xiao Chen quickly swung his left hand to the back. The saber hilt appeared at his right shoulder, and the opponent’s saber tip had already arrived at Xiao Chen’s waist.
Xiao Chen did not dodge. All his opponent had to do was to move his saber to the right, and he would be able to cause a heavy injury to Xiao Chen’s waist. The situation was very dire.
However, Xiao Chen had an extremely calm expression. In the time for a spark to fly, he grasped the saber hilt at his right shoulder.
Xiao Chen drew the Lunar Shadow Saber with lightning speed. He executed Drawing the Saber and moved his saber from top to bottom. The saber turned into a ferocious electric flood dragon, hacking towards Bai Shuihe’s face.
If the other party wanted to injure Xiao Chen severely, he would be hacked in half by this strike. Exchanging a heavy injury for his death would not make sense.
Retreat!
Bai Shuihe was very decisive. The moment he thought of retreating, his body had already moved back by ten meters.
This resulted in Xiao Chen’s ferocious attack striking nothing but air. The electricity dispersed and turned into an electric light that lit the place up.
What a quick reaction. Xiao Chen felt startled. According to his expectations, even if the opponent retreated he would not be able to get out of the range of this attack. After that, he would take the initiative to attack, raining down a torrent of attacks.
However, it felt like Bai Shuihe did not even have to think about retreating. His body simply made the appropriate reaction in an instant.
This was a kind of muscle memory. Only after experiencing this thousands of times, living through tens of thousands of battles, could one accomplish this.
Bai Shuihe looked at Xiao Chen, his lips curling up in appreciation. He said, “Not bad. Your insights are excellent. You are courageous and ambitious. You can determine my objective and courageously gamble on it. You even have thoughts of wanting to defeat me.”
“Given your age, it is hard for you to have become this accomplished already. However, it will not be so easy for your Saber Techniques to reach me. Focus on how to block ten moves from me first.”
“Long Lasting Spring Water, Growing Warm Then Cold!”
Bai Shuihe stopped speaking, slowly beginning to move his serrated saber in a wavy fashion as screens of water appeared around him.
A warm intent spread out in the air. Bai Shuihe, who was within the water screens, quickly headed for Xiao Chen.
The ice of winter already melted to form the water of spring; it was so clear that the bottom was visible. However, even though the water looked warm, it was still cold. It was the uncomfortable situation of becoming warm while remaining cold.
Bai Shuihe’s Saber Technique exhibited such states to their extremes. It quickly changed between two different kinds of saber moves.
Both warm and cold had different ways of dealing with them. It was something like Xiao Chen’s Dragon Claw Fist. It was both a fist and a claw, both requiring a different countermeasure.
However, Bai Shuihe’s technique was on a higher level. Xiao Chen’s technique focused on form, but Bai Shuihe’s focused on the state. It was even harder to deal with.
If Xiao Chen made an error in judgment and moved blindly, he would get hit and be defeated immediately.