Volume One: Longshui County Menial Labor Chapter One Hundred and Four: Trials in the Ancient Tower

As they approached the ancient tower, the group finally felt its towering, majestic presence. Neither Changshui County, Anxi Prefecture, nor even the Northern Foothills Commandery had ever seen such a structure. Even for Lu Jiuzhang, a transmigrator, the world he came from had never seen a skyscraper of this magnitude—over a thousand zhang tall, reaching heights of three to four thousand meters.

Lu Jiuzhang exclaimed in awe, "A tower so high it reaches a thousand zhang; one could pluck the stars with a hand!"

"Brother Lu, that’s a fine line of poetry, full of profound meaning. If this were in the outside world, such a high tower truly would seem as if it could reach the stars," Zhong Zhengming remarked, gazing at the tower and praising Lu Jiuzhang's verse. "Brother Lu, you have great talent."

"You flatter me, Brother Zhong." Lu Jiuzhang felt slightly embarrassed. This poem was not his own composition. Li Taibai was a brilliant gem in the thousands of years of history from another world; his works could stir hearts in any realm.

"Master Lu is too modest. Such poetry is indeed rare in this world." Feng Wanqing’s gaze toward Lu Jiuzhang grew even more adoring. Most of the people from the Liujian Villa were martial brutes; forget about writing poetry, many of them couldn't even recognize all the characters. By comparison, Lu Jiuzhang was the ideal of humanity. "The flavor contained within such poetry is infinitely lingering," she added, her face flushing red. "I haven't read many books, so perhaps my words are out of place."

"It’s fine, say whatever you wish," Lu Jiuzhang replied with indifference.

"Stop, stop, stop... that’s enough. Why are you two wasting time chatting about such trivial things? Let’s get to the real business," the big black dog interrupted, unable to watch any longer. "Sister Feng, if you are interested in Master Nine, you might as well just say so. Master Nine is unmarried, though he does have a childhood sweetheart back home. But this divine beast thinks that’s not an issue. If it really comes down to it, you can just share the bridal chamber; you can be the primary wife, and the childhood sweetheart can be the secondary one."

"Ahem... you’re talking too much," Lu Jiuzhang glared at the big black dog.

"Alright, Master Nine, I’ll shut up," the big black dog retreated, not daring to say more. It had been genuinely terrified by that punch Lu Jiuzhang landed on it earlier. It had thought that after increasing its cultivation so much, it would be strong enough, but it turned out it was still no match for Lu Jiuzhang. Where is the justice in heaven? It was a divine beast, after all, with a cultivation speed far beyond these humans. Yet, who would have thought Lu Jiuzhang was even more monstrous?

"Let’s talk about this ancient tower," Lu Jiuzhang said, looking at Feng Wanqing. "You must have been inside, right?"

"Yes!" Feng Wanqing nodded. "Whether it’s the people from Liujian Villa or the Blazing Gate, every time a disciple comes of age, they come here to test themselves. But everyone only has three chances! This ancient tower is rather strange; it manifests enemies based on one's own cultivation level. At first, those enemies are equal in strength to the challenger, but as you progress, the number of enemies increases, and eventually, their individual cultivation levels grow even stronger. I only managed to pass the third level before I failed!"

So that was it!

Lu Jiuzhang finally understood. This ancient tower was likely where the ancient sect selected its elite disciples. If one could clear the levels, they would undoubtedly become core or true-disciples of the sect. Such disciples held immense status and might even possess the key to leaving the ruins. For the sect of that era, they needed one-in-a-million top-tier geniuses. Despite the many people who had entered, becoming that kind of genius was an incredibly difficult task.

"Does the tower require us to enter in batches?" Lu Jiuzhang asked.

"No, the tower can function regardless of how many people enter," Feng Wanqing said. "At most, we had over ten people enter together, but we were dispersed to different areas, where we challenged the trials independently without interacting with one another."

"Good!" Lu Jiuzhang nodded. Having learned enough about the tower, he turned to Zhong Zhengming. "Director Zhong, when shall we enter?"

"Let’s resupply and recover our stamina first," Zhong Zhengming suggested. "We’ve made it this far; there’s no need to rush."

...

About an hour later, once everyone had rested, they pushed open the primitive, heavy doors of the ancient tower. Contrary to its exterior, the interior was remarkably well-preserved. The moment Lu Jiuzhang stepped inside, Director Xue, Zhong Zhengming, and the big black dog—who had entered with him—all vanished. He found himself standing in the center of a space that resembled a gladiatorial arena. A sign hung outside, inscribed with the character "One."

This must be the first level! Lu Jiuzhang didn't know how many levels there were in total, so he would just have to clear them one by one.

*Zzzzt...*

A flash of white light appeared, and a masked figure materialized before him. The figure was clearly not a real person, but a puppet. Its strength was roughly at the Ninth Grade of Martial Arts. The moment it saw Lu Jiuzhang, the masked puppet charged. Its movements were extremely agile, but before Lu Jiuzhang, it was still not enough. With a single punch, Lu Jiuzhang sent the puppet flying.

Testing its force, Lu Jiuzhang gained a clearer understanding of the puppet's strength—it was at the level of an early-stage Ninth Grade martial artist, or perhaps an average Ninth Grade. Since the tower scaled based on cultivation, and Zhong Zhengming was a Seventh Grade practitioner, he would likely face Seventh Grade puppets. The master of Liujian Villa had once reached the ninth level, meaning that beyond that point, he could no longer overcome the puppets. It was clear that the later levels were significantly harder and not easily conquered.

...

The space shifted, and Lu Jiuzhang arrived at the second level. This level featured two Ninth Grade puppets, which Lu Jiuzhang handled with ease. Then came the third, the fourth, the fifth...

By the time he reached the ninth level, Lu Jiuzhang encountered nine Ninth Grade puppets. He had been fighting unarmed until now, but he finally decided to draw his blade! As he pulled his weapon, white light flashed again, and the puppets before him were also equipped with weapons. That was a bit of a trap! *Damn it,* it seemed one couldn't rely on weapons to gain an easy advantage. Fortunately, Lu Jiuzhang's true combat power exceeded the Ninth Grade; with his blade, although it was difficult to take on nine Ninth Grade puppets, he still had a chance of victory.

It took him half an hour to slay all nine masked puppets. Upon entering the tenth level, he faced ten masked puppets. At this point, each additional opponent nearly doubled the pressure on him. Facing a siege of ten Ninth Grade puppets, even Lu Jiuzhang struggled to win, suffering significant injuries. The deepest wound was three inches long; had it been any deeper, he might have seen his own white bone.

After the tenth level was cleared, the ancient tower did not immediately usher him to the next level.

*Ding...*

A sudden sound resonated through the deathly silent tower. "Congratulations on breaking through the tenth level. You are now an outer disciple. Reward: one vial of Dao Liquid. Additional challenge attempt granted!"

The mechanical voice echoed inside the tower. A small white bottle appeared on the ground before Lu Jiuzhang.

Dao Liquid? What was that? Lu Jiuzhang was puzzled as he picked up the bottle. The craftsmanship was exquisite, covered in intricate patterns. Just the empty bottle alone would probably sell for dozens of taels of silver in the outside world. As expected of a top-tier sect from thirty thousand years ago—truly extravagant!