Chapter Sixty-Nine: Stirring the Wrath of the Masses

Outside the tower, excitement was at its peak. No one had expected that a young man, upon arrival, would ascend from the first floor to the fourth in merely a quarter of an hour. When had the Ice Spirit Tower become so easy to conquer?

At this moment, everyone realized that, regardless of the privileges the youth possessed, it was not so simple to reach the fourth floor. This was all his true strength.

As for Chen Xiang, the protagonist, he nearly stumbled as he stepped onto the fourth floor. The overwhelming pressure hit him like a tidal wave, pinning him in place, rendering him utterly immobile.

“Damn! Why is the pressure so fierce on this floor?” Chen Xiang gritted his teeth. He quickly focused his mind, gathering his energy, and fought to withstand the force.

Here, he felt for the first time what it truly meant to be unable to move even an inch.

There were four others on the fourth floor: two men and two women. Three were at about the fourth or fifth stage of the Nascent Soul realm, and one woman was at the seventh stage of the Core Formation realm. She must be the genius discussed by those outside.

Noticing someone had entered, the four glanced back out of curiosity, but only for a moment—there was no time to care about others.

Chen Xiang had now tested the limits of his spiritual sense. The pressure on the fourth floor was equivalent to the spiritual sense of a cultivator at the tenth stage of the Nascent Soul realm. The highest cultivation among those attempting the trial was the sixth stage of Nascent Soul, so only those with exceptional talent could reach the fourth floor.

The Core Formation stage woman was an exception. With just seventh-stage Core Formation, she could persist here for so long, showing the strength of her spiritual sense. If her skills included alchemy or formations, she would be unrivaled.

Suddenly, one of the men among the four could no longer bear the pressure and the biting cold. His spiritual sense collapsed, and a white light enveloped him, teleporting him out.

For Nascent Soul cultivators, lasting ten breaths on the fourth floor counted as passing the trial. So this man had succeeded.

Outside, the teleportation array glowed, and the Nascent Soul man appeared, his blue identity token from the fourth floor falling beside him.

The remaining three inside steadied themselves, not daring to make any sudden moves, fearful that a misstep would result in their ejection.

Yet, they slowly edged towards the staircase leading to the fifth floor. Especially the Core Formation woman, who gritted her teeth, her face pale, advancing in peculiar steps—moving only a few centimeters at a time.

Chen Xiang observed coolly. He realized she had chosen a spot where the pressure was slightly less, and her gait was a method to resist it.

“What’s this? She’s only at seventh-stage Core Formation and wants to enter the fifth floor? I’m at Core Formation perfection—how could I lose?” Chen Xiang thought, astonished.

Seeing her persistence, a desire to win rose within him. He remembered the pill given to him by a Snowveil Sect male disciple when he entered the tower.

Now that he knew his limits, it was time to push them further.

He took out the pill, but didn’t immediately consume it. Instead, he used his system to examine it first; after all, caution was necessary. What if the disciple had poisoned it?

“System, check this pill for me,” Chen Xiang thought.

“Ding, beginning scan... Scan complete.”

“Minor Spirit Nourishing Pill: A simplified Spirit Nourishing Pill. Slightly boosts spiritual sense upon consumption, but repeated use causes side effects—future cultivation of spiritual sense will be slower. Boost: 0.3 points.”

The system identified it in a second, revealing its information.

“Damn! What trash is this?” Chen Xiang cursed aloud. He couldn’t stand it—how could the Snowveil Sect give such a lousy pill, and with side effects besides?

His outburst disturbed two of the remaining three, breaking their concentration at a critical moment. Unsteady, they spat blood and were teleported out.

“You brat, damn you!” they shouted angrily as they vanished.

Outside, everyone watched the identity tokens on the fourth floor, eager to see if Chen Xiang could persist ten breaths. Then the teleportation array flashed, ejecting two more. Their blue tokens dropped as well.

“Hey, someone just came out from the fourth floor—why are two more out so quickly?”

“That youth had just gone up! This is the record for most on the fourth floor—three out so fast.”

“Now only two remain: the youth and the seventh-stage Core Formation woman. Both are at Core Formation, yet made it to the fourth floor—truly prodigious!”

“You’re mistaken. The youth is at Core Formation perfection, the woman at seventh stage—there’s a difference. Clearly, the woman has greater talent!”

“Not so! Didn’t you see? The youth went straight to the fourth floor without pause, while the woman lingered on each floor after the first. Clearly, the youth is more gifted!”

The crowd’s debate shifted to comparing Chen Xiang and the Core Formation woman’s talents.

The two Nascent Soul cultivators who emerged were furious. They strode to the Snowveil Sect disciples and complained, “Senior brothers and sisters, I must protest. The youth wrapped in a blanket was shouting inside, seriously disrupting my concentration. Please, do something!”

“Exactly! His shouting shook my spiritual sense, causing injury. Please, take action!” the Nascent Soul woman echoed.

“Yes, him—the youth wrapped in a blanket. On the third floor, he boasted that it was too weak and claimed he overestimated the tower. This is grave disrespect toward the Snowveil Sect’s founder!” another third-floor cultivator chimed in.

“That’s right, I heard it too. When he entered the fourth floor, he told us he’d wait at the tower’s summit!” said a cultivator who had exited after Chen Xiang.

“What arrogance! Did he really say he’d reach the summit?”

“Alas, legend has it the founder himself never reached the summit—he stopped at the ninth floor. This youth is far too bold!”

“How reckless. I thought him a prodigy, but he’s so brash.”

The Snowveil Sect disciples exchanged glances, bewildered. They’d expected a refined youth, but inside the tower he was wild and unruly.

They were annoyed, but it wasn’t their place to judge. Chen Xiang held the highest-level identity token; any punishment would be decided by the elders. Their role was merely to guide.

The disciples looked at each other. One stepped forward and said, “Please, calm yourselves. The youth is still in the tower. We can’t act now. When he comes out, we’ll report to the elders and let them decide.”

The crowd nodded in agreement. After all, they were here for the examination; it wasn’t for them to decide.

Meanwhile, behind the Ice Spirit Tower, in a hidden spot, a pointed head peeked out.

“Heh, this kid is a troublemaker—already stirring up resentment.” The Rainbow Skinned Eel looked up at the tower with disdain. “It’s just a tower. I could reach the top without effort! The fifth floor seems empty. I’ll head there and wait for the kid.”

With that, it leaped and shot straight into the second floor...

“To be continued...”