Chapter 413: Tower Forest

Within the Changliu Mountain Range.

In the midst of the Endless Great Mountains, there is a mountain peak named Tie Feng Mountain.

On Tie Feng Mountain, there is a Tower Forest.

It is already evening; in the dim twilight, one can see tower structures built of blue bricks, scattered throughout the forest of withered branches and fallen leaves, resembling small, strange bunkers.

These blue-brick towers are all of the same design, about two meters high and as thick as one can embrace. The gaps between the bricks are filled with dried moss, telling the tale of the passage of time.

Duan Rong and his companions, having entered Changliu Mountain, went to report to the Inner History Department.

The Attendants of the Inner History Department, after inspecting their Sect Cloud Tokens and advancement letters, led them directly into this Tower Forest and assigned each of them a tower.

When they entered the towers, those Attendants of the Inner History Department had already warned them.

Once one steps into this tower, one must not go out unless one hears the drumbeat for assembly or is summoned by a designated person; otherwise, one will face severe punishment.

"Must not go out?"

At that time, upon hearing this, Duan Rong stood at the entrance of the tower and hesitated slightly. To be forbidden from leaving once inside such a cramped tower—is this not the same as being placed in solitary confinement?

But when he looked back, the Attendant had already left with the documents.

Duan Rong saw that several of his fellow disciples nearby had already crawled into their towers, so he had no choice but to step inside.

It was already evening, and the interior of the tower was even darker and dimmer than the forest outside. Duan Rong let his eyes adjust to the light inside before he focused his gaze to look around.

The space inside the tower was just enough to stand up in, but one had to be careful not to bump into the walls if one wanted to turn around.

Duan Rong suddenly discovered that the tower walls were lined with circles of various Porcelain Bottles.

His eyes flickered, and he took a Porcelain Bottle down from the wall, opened the stopper, and sniffed at the opening.

"It's a Pill!"

Duan Rong poured one out from the Porcelain Bottle and studied it carefully, discovering that the quality of this Pill was actually quite good.

He looked at the inner walls, filled with circles of Porcelain Bottles, and his heart skipped a beat.

"Could it be?"

"This Tower Forest must be a place for bitter cultivation!"

One is not allowed to leave the tower without a summons, and inside the tower, there is an ample supply of high-quality Pills.

"It seems this Tower Forest is not solitary confinement; this should be called closed-door training," Duan Rong thought, his eyes flickering.

"As expected of Inner Sect Disciples, the treatment is truly different."

To have Pills of this quality piled up inside the tower—it is truly extravagant.

The group had been separated as soon as they arrived at the Inner History Department; just now, when entering the Tower Forest, Duan Rong had also seen Xiao Yu and Ximen Kankan from a distance.

At this moment, Duan Rong actually still wanted to go over and chat with them, but the Attendant had already said that once one steps into the tower, one must not go out at will, or one would face severe punishment.

Although Duan Rong was not sure what this severe punishment was, he did not want to provoke it.

However, for a guy like Ximen Kankan, a place like this must be like purgatory.

But for a true bitter cultivator, this Tower Forest is the most ideal cultivation environment.

Since he could not leave the tower at will, Duan Rong had no choice but to accept his situation; he sat down cross-legged inside the tower.

The space inside the tower was quite spacious for sitting cross-legged, but it was absolutely impossible to lie down and sleep. Duan Rong could not help but smile bitterly; this really forces one to cultivate bitterly!

The person who designed this Tower Forest can be considered to have put in a lot of thought.

Just then, Duan Rong suddenly heard several howls from near and far outside. His eyes flashed, and he guessed that someone had refused to believe the warning and had walked out of their tower.

Duan Rong actually wanted to see the situation outside, but he suppressed his curiosity.

Probing with Divine Sense is not much of a problem in the secular world, but within the Sect, it is better to be careful, especially since just after entering the Tower Forest, he had sensed three or four powerful Divine Senses sweeping across their vicinity.

This was one of the reasons why he stayed honestly in the tower and did not step out at will. There were clearly more than one expert sitting in charge near this Tower Forest; he dared not be arrogant enough to think he could sneak out silently. Just like those few people howling outside, they probably all thought their Lightness Skill was not weak.

Although this bitter cultivation environment suited Duan Rong's temperament, it was a pity that these Pills were for the True Qi Realm and were useless to him. After all, he was already at the True Qi Realm Great Perfection.

Duan Rong sat cross-legged there, his hands forming seals rapidly, his mind sinking into the rhythm of his breathing. He skillfully hit the turning point of his breathing, his vision blurred for a moment, and the next instant he entered his Spirit Sea.

As soon as Duan Rong entered his Spirit Sea, he looked up at the phantom sitting cross-legged in the Cangqiong.

That phantom was connected to his mind; he saw that in its abdomen, the source blood light of the Filthy Blood Divine Art he had swallowed had been mostly refined, with only a few faint blood threads still struggling and swimming within the abdomen, but they were already barely alive.

Duan Rong estimated that in at most half a month, the source blood light of the Filthy Blood Divine Art would be completely refined, and at that time, this hidden danger would be completely eliminated.

Even now, Duan Rong felt that those few faint blood threads swimming within the phantom would be difficult to identify as originating from the Filthy Blood Divine Art, even if someone in the Sect had the means to detect them.

After a moment of thought, Duan Rong withdrew from his Spirit Sea.

In the dark tower, he exhaled a long breath of turbid air, his eyes narrowing. The moment he withdrew from his Spirit Sea, he began to attempt to circulate the breathing technique of the First Layer of the Six Harmonies Saber Art.

This Six Harmonies Saber Art was a Qi Refining Realm martial art he had devoured during the great battle with the Total Altar Dharma Envoy in Xiangu County.

During his three years as an Outer Sect Disciple, he had been outside Changliu Mountain. Although he had long since digested and absorbed the martial arts realm of the Qi Refining Realm, he had never been able to advance to the Qi Refining Realm because the concentration of Qi in the secular world was too thin.

Now that he was within Changliu Mountain, he wanted to break through in one go!

After the Qi Refining Realm technique began to circulate, Duan Rong immediately sensed the dense Heaven and Earth Qi.

The Heaven and Earth Qi, invisible to the naked eye, flowed like water, swirling and converging around his body...

Duan Rong was slightly shocked; he had not expected the Heaven and Earth Qi within Changliu Mountain to be this dense!

He then discovered that not all places had such astonishing concentrations of Heaven and Earth Qi. It must be because he was circulating his technique that his body was actually attracting the surrounding Heaven and Earth Qi to gather.

This caused the concentration of Heaven and Earth Qi around his body to be far higher than in other spaces.

"As expected of a Sect technique obtained as an Inner Sect Disciple! This Six Harmonies Saber technique is quite miraculous!"

Just as Duan Rong was immersed in the breakthrough cultivation of the Qi Refining Realm, the sound of drums suddenly rang out in the Tower Forest.

The Attendant of the Inner History Department had said that the drumbeat was the signal to assemble.

Duan Rong exhaled and stopped his cultivation, opening his eyes to see the faint light of dawn filtering through the gaps in the tower door.

It was already morning!

He had been so immersed in his cultivation that he had not felt the night pass at all.

However, after a night of cultivation, he had not yet broken through to the Qi Refining Realm.

Because, for him, the Qi Refining Realm was, after all, a brand-new realm. Even the heaven and earth Qi was very unfamiliar to him.

Throughout this night, Duan Rong had been studying how to safely and effectively guide heaven and earth Qi into his body. He had made many attempts.

Although he had devoured the First Layer technique of the Six-Harmony Saber and already had an idea of the refining steps, this was his first time cultivating, so he had to truly understand the delicate relationship between heaven and earth Qi and his body.

This was a profound realization he had learned in his previous life: no matter the subject, the foundation is the most important thing, and cultivation is the same.

If he hadn't even truly perceived what heaven and earth Qi actually was, and yet rashly tried to break through, if he encountered any problems during the cultivation process, he would have absolutely no idea how to respond.

After Duan Rong dispersed his cultivation, he stood up and walked out of the tower.

At this time, in the Tower Forest, many figures were walking out of the towers.

Duan Rong raised his eyes to look, seeing that sparse numbers of people were already standing in an open space in front of the Tower Forest. He immediately walked over slowly.

Duan Rong stood at the edge of the crowd, his gaze sweeping over them, and he soon discovered Xiao Yu. Xiao Yu was standing in the crowd, looking around, clearly also searching for him.

The two suddenly met eyes, a flash of joy shot from Xiao Yu's eyes, and Duan Rong had already strode toward her.

At this time, the sound of a drum was still ringing, and figures were continuously walking out from the depths of the Tower Forest.

Duan Rong stood beside Xiao Yu and followed the sound of the drum to look, seeing a large drum standing beside the dense forest not far from the crowd.

There was a figure, one hand holding onto a tree trunk, while the other hand held a drumstick, beating the drum with a "thump, thump, thump."

That figure was actually a baboon.

As soon as Duan Rong saw that baboon, he couldn't help but be amused. So this guy was kept on this Tiefeng Mountain!

Although he only saw a side profile, Duan Rong still recognized at a glance that the baboon beating the drum was the same baboon that had snatched Xiao Yu's bundle back when they first entered the mountain and were in the Lower Courtyard.

Duan Rong had just chatted with Xiao Yu for a couple of sentences when Ximen Kankan suddenly drilled over from Duan Rong's side.

Duan Rong turned his head to look and nearly laughed out loud; he saw that a huge bump had swollen on Ximen Kankan's forehead. Recalling the screams he heard from the outer sect inside the tower last night, Duan Rong guessed that one of them must have been Ximen Kankan, so he teased, "Did you sneak out of the tower last night?"

Ximen Kankan said, "That tower is so small, is that a place for a person to stay? Are they keeping rats?!"

"What's up with the bump on your head?"

Ximen Kankan sniffed, feeling quite aggrieved. "I didn't even see clearly; I just felt a black shadow flash, and it knocked me to the ground. Then I was thrown back into the tower."

Duan Rong's gaze shifted, thinking of the several powerful Divine Senses that had swept over when they first entered the Tower Forest yesterday evening. If those people had made a move, Ximen Kankan naturally wouldn't have been able to see the figure clearly.

Not far behind Duan Rong and Xiao Yu, Shen Mizhi was also standing in the crowd.

As soon as Shen Mizhi stood there, Liu Shushan also stood by her side.

When Liu Shushan first learned that Shen Mizhi had also advanced to become an Inner Sect Disciple, he was very happy for her in his heart.

Liu Shushan smiled and said, "Mizhi, our towers aren't far apart..."

Liu Shushan said it halfway, but the words choked in his throat because he saw Shen Mizhi's eyes fixed on Duan Rong, who was a row away. And over there, Duan Rong was laughing and talking with Ximen Kankan.

Shen Mizhi seemed to notice that Liu Shushan's words had suddenly stopped halfway, so she turned her head to look at him, and Liu Shushan could only smile awkwardly.

Just at this moment, the "thump, thump, thump" drum sound suddenly stopped.

Following that, a figure walked out from the dense forest behind where the large drum stood.

As that person walked along, the previously whispering crowd gradually became completely silent.

One could see that their figure was straight, thin as a javelin; they walked slowly like that from the edge of the dense forest to the front of the crowd, the dead branches and fallen leaves on the ground crunching as they stepped on them.

Duan Rong very much wanted to use his Divine Sense to penetrate that person's dantian to see their realm, but he still suppressed this impulse.

"My name is Yao Che. I am your Instructor!"

As soon as that person stood still, they spoke immediately, their voice like an old, rusted bell, deep and resonant.

"The Tower Forest is a place for bitter cultivation! Of course, I am not the only Instructor here; later, you will slowly get to know them!"

"Only those called Inner Sect Disciples can truly be called practitioners!"

"But, you are not yet; you only have the status of an Inner Sect Disciple, but that does not mean you are a true Inner Sect Disciple!"

"Only when you walk out of this Tower Forest will you be a true Inner Sect Disciple, and a true practitioner!"

While Yao Che was speaking, Ximen Kankan suddenly said something to Duan Rong, and Duan Rong couldn't hold it in and chuckled.

Yao Che stood there, and suddenly their gaze shot toward the two of them like an Arrow.

The smiles on Ximen Kankan and Duan Rong's faces immediately froze.

Yao Che pointed them out directly and said coldly, "You two, step out!"

The two of them stood there without moving.

"What?! Do you need me to come over and drag you?"

Duan Rong sighed and walked slowly out of the crowd, and Ximen Kankan immediately followed behind with his head drooping.

Xiao Yu glared at Ximen Kankan with some annoyance.

Seeing the two step out of the ranks, Yao Che continued, "And to walk out of this Tower Forest is very simple: just defeat this family."

A wave of confusion immediately rippled through the crowd.

"Defeat which family?"

Yao Che suddenly tilted their head back, their Qi surging, and let out a long howl toward the sky. The howl echoed through the forest, and suddenly there was a chaotic sound in the woods, as if responding to them.

Next, they saw two huge black shadows, one after the other, jump down to the edge of the dense forest like falling meteorites. The movement shook the ground.

Everyone looked closely and saw that they were two fierce-looking large baboons.

One of them had a figure as straight as a small mountain, its eyes like copper bells, naturally showing a look of rage. The other baboon beside it had a slightly smaller figure, reaching only about to its shoulder.

These were clearly a male and female pair of baboons!

As soon as these two baboons jumped out, the baboon that had been beating the drum earlier immediately scurried over, climbed onto the shoulder of the slightly shorter baboon, and while jumping, let out loud cries.

Duan Rong looked at the terrifying figures of that pair of male and female baboons and clicked his tongue slightly. That little baboon actually had backup; it was fortunate he hadn't done anything to it back then, otherwise if it had called its mom and dad over, it would have been enough for him to handle!

Yao Che said, "If you can defeat this baboon family, you can walk out of the Tower Forest and become true Inner Sect Disciples!"

Looking at the astonishing figures of those two large baboons and the momentum they had just shown when jumping out of the dense forest, many people in the crowd gasped.

"Originally, I was prepared to trade a few blows with this family, to let you all have a baseline in your hearts! However..." As Yao Che spoke, he suddenly turned his head to look at Duan Rong and Ximen Kankan, who had stepped out of the ranks over there.

The instant Yao Che's gaze swept over, Duan Rong's heart cried out that things were bad.

"It seems two of your fellow sect members are a bit impatient. Since that is the case, let them trade hands with this family. The opportunity is rare; you all should observe carefully!"

Within the crowd, a ripple of subtle snickering immediately arose.

(End of this chapter)