Chapter 309: Li Yuan Challenges the Tower

"You?"

He cast a glance at Li Yuan, and Douyue's brow furrowed slightly. The reason he had wanted to let Li Yuan try earlier was because his junior brother was such a homebody that he had almost never sparred or competed with anyone.

But now, seeing Pei Jiu charge to the fifth floor and the surrounding buzz of voices, he no longer wanted to let him go.

Although Li Yuan was only an inner disciple, whether inside or outside the temple, his fame was so great that he had already become a true-succession-level disciple in all but name.

With Pei Jiu's brilliant example ahead, he had no desire to lose face this badly.

Besides, he also worried this would bruise his little junior brother's confidence—watching Pei Jiu storm to the fifth floor while he couldn't even get past the first…

"Mm, I'd like to give it a try."

Li Yuan studied the great stele before the tower.

The Dragon Tiger Tower had eighteen floors in all. Of those, the majority were below the seventh floor; above the seventh floor there were only six people, and at the very top was Sect Master Long Long Yingchan, who had reached the sixteenth floor.

Pei Jiu charging to the fifth floor was in fact an extremely high ranking. Among the nine hall masters of Dragon Tiger Temple, Senior Brother Long had only reached the sixth floor himself.

"You…"

Seeing Li Yuan give him a nod and head straight for the Dragon Tiger Tower, Douyue's eye twitched. He hurriedly sent disciples to either side to summon Xin Xin Wenhua and the others. "Junior Brother Li, wait for me."

Shi Shi Yu Shu didn't think that much. Seeing Pei Jiu storm to the fifth floor, his blood boiled, and he could hardly wait as he hurried after him.

"Li Yuan? Is that the Dragon Tiger newcomer who once drew forth the manifestation of the Azure Dragon? He's going to challenge the tower too?"

"The one behind him seems to be Shi Shi Yu Shu from Yellow Dragon Mountain Manor? Is he going after Pei Jiu?"

"Hiss, now this is going to be fun to watch!"

At Shi Shi Yu Shu's shout, the area beneath the tower instantly livened up. Quite a few of those present also knew about the entanglement between Dragon Tiger Temple and the Long Rainbow Sword Sect.

The clamor and discussion made Monk Douyue's brow furrow deeply, and he inwardly cried that things had taken a bad turn.

Grinding his teeth and stamping his foot on the spot, he took up his own token and stepped forward as well.

"Li Yuan?"

On the mountain path not far away, hearing the clamor beneath the tower, Shan Hong frowned slightly. By the time he walked over, he had just caught sight of Li Yuan's back as he entered the tower.

Surrounded by a hubbub of discussion, quite a few inner disciples recognized Shan Hong and hastened to pay their respects.

"Senior Brother Shan, that Li Yuan…"

"I saw. Let him go."

Shan Hong withdrew his gaze, his expression turning slightly odd.

He had more or less pieced together the cause and effect—it was nothing more than Li Yuan seeing Pei Jiu climb the tower and thinking he could do the same. What a pity.

"Wanting to climb the Dragon Tiger Tower takes more than just talent."

Shan Hong shook his head inwardly. As for Li Yuan's talent, not only he, but the other true-succession disciples as well felt no small amount of pressure.

But that was absolutely not the case right now.

"Letting him try isn't a bad idea either. It'll save the disciples inside the sect from constantly comparing him to Senior Brother."

Shan Hong's heart stirred. He caught sight of Lin Lin Fangzhui hurrying over, and the two exchanged a glance. Both came to a halt before the tower, silently preparing to enter.

Picking up the face that had been thrown away ought to be worth at least a few spirit pills.

Hum~

The instant he passed through the tower gate, Li Yuan felt a slight coolness around him, as though he had crossed an invisible barrier.

He raised his eyes to look around. At this moment he stood on a flat expanse of yellow-earth ground several li across, with hazy mist on all sides.

Before him stood a weapon rack laden with all manner of blades and arms, and at the very center of the field stood a figure holding a long blade, his features unseen.

Do all Daoist Tianyun Daoist Tianyun Xuanbing choose their masters in such similar ways?

Li Yuan surveyed his surroundings with keen interest. From his experience, the spirit of the Dragon Tiger Nurturing Furnace must be watching him from somewhere at this very moment.

Hum~

A faint light flickered. Before the weapon rack, there was also a stone stele, which now glowed with a soft light:

"Dragon Tiger inner disciple Li Yuan, first tower entry, cultivation: Meridian Opening Great Completion. Tower guardian: Lin Lin Fangzhui (Meridian Opening Great Completion)."

"Lin Lin Fangzhui guarding the entry-level trial?"

Li Yuan's brow rose slightly.

Lin Lin Fangzhui was ranked fourth on the Dragon Ranking, with a cultivation of Viscera Refining Great Completion. Though a notch below Xin Xin Wenhua and Shan Hong, surely he hadn't fallen so far as to be reduced to guarding the entry-level trial?

"Or is it that the furnace added some extra seasoning?"

A sweep of his peripheral vision, and Li Yuan guessed inwardly. He drew from the weapon rack a heavy hammer two meters and two chi long, weighed it casually in his hand, and pointed it at the blade-wielder in the field.

He had long wanted to test the mettle of those experts at the top of the Dragon Ranking.

Clang!

The ring of a blade broke the stillness.

The blade-wielder turned his wrist, and man and blade moved as one. In an instant he had swept across a hundred meters, the blade-light swelling and parting the air like a silver waterfall as it came cleaving straight down.

"Silver Moon Blade Art, Perfection tier."

Li Yuan recognized the blade art. In his eyes, Lin Lin Fangzhui at Meridian Opening Great Completion was indeed no small matter—this single slash alone revealed a mastery far above what Su Su Wanxiong had possessed back then.

"The blade art is truly not bad, but—"

Watching the long blade sweep toward him, Li Yuan could not help but think of the blade-wielder in the Bronze Tower divine realm. Though both were at Meridian Opening, the gap between them was as vast as heaven and earth.

Clang~

The instant the blade-light reached him, Li Yuan only then raised his long hammer across, letting that sword-light stab into the hammer's body. His figure stood as steady as a mountain, unmoving.

"The gap is far too great."

Li Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly. If it were the blade-wielder from the Bronze Tower divine realm in his place, even if he threw everything into his defense, he would surely have been sent flying.

Clang!

His slash blocked, the blade-wielder's form spun, and the long blade whirled with him. Its speed was extreme, like a blade-dragon opening its maw to devour Li Yuan whole.

"Tsk."

Li Yuan casually raised his hammer and struck once, shattering the Blade Dragon; at the same time, he took a single step forward, and in that instant, the blade light and the wielder were both crushed to dust.

……

Hum~

Almost the instant Li Yuan shattered the Blade Dragon, his name on the giant stele outside the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda glowed with Jin Guang and climbed to the first level.

"Already level one this fast?"

Shan Hong raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.

Climbing the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda has little to do with innate talent or bone structure; it primarily tests combat ability at the same cultivation level. According to the information he'd gathered, Li Yuan had spent these years either holed up training or forging iron, rarely sparring with others.

"Is his Wu Gong really that solid?"

Shan Hong looked at Lin Lin Fangzhui, who remained unconcerned:

"Why are you surprised, Senior Brother Shan? The tower guardians vary in strength—perhaps Li Yuan got lucky and randomly faced an extremely weak opponent who barely passed."

"But he can't keep getting lucky forever."

Lin Lin Fangzhui glanced around and noticed more and more people gathering to watch; even elders and sect lords had appeared in the distance. He immediately had an idea, bowed, and said:

"Senior Brother Shan, I'll go try first."

Shan Hong nodded.

Climbing the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda is tedious—even a Dao Master who had already reached level sixteen must start from zero again if he reattempts, and it takes considerable time.

"Hah!"

Lin Lin Fangzhui took a deep breath, swallowed a Qi-Boosting Spirit Pill; every attempt at the tower was a prolonged battle.

Under normal circumstances, he would never waste a Qi-Boosting Pill—but now…

A dominant, violent dragon's roar echoed through the air. Lin Lin Fangzhui snapped his head up and saw a tide of hammer light—a ferocious, jet-black thunder dragon, terrifyingly fierce, charging straight at him.

"??!"

……

"Where is he?"

Outside the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda, Xin Xin Wenhua hurried over, looked around, and couldn't find Li Yuan—or even Dou Yue.

"Master followed Senior Brother Li to attempt the pagoda…"

The disciple waiting there gave a strange look and pointed to the giant stele. Xin Xin Wenhua followed his gaze and first saw Pei Jiu at level five,

then:

"Li Junior Brother has reached level two?"

Xin Xin Wenhua was moved. Outside the first level of the Dragon-Tiger Pagoda, where only one opponent must be challenged, each level from the first onward adds opponents: level one has three, level two has six.

To surge straight to level two means fighting at least four battles against peers of the same level—and still having energy left.

This was far beyond his expectations.

In fact, many spectators were also astonished, because even Dou Yue the Monk hadn't reached level two yet.

"Someone lost!"

Suddenly, a cry rang out from the crowd. Xin Xin Wenhua turned to look—it wasn't Li Yuan, and he exhaled in relief, but then his face changed instantly:

"Lin Lin Fangzhui?!"

"Junior Brother Lin?"

Shan Hong, waiting outside the pagoda, was jolted—he nearly thought he'd seen wrong. He quickly scanned the stele and saw Lin Lin Fangzhui's name had vanished from it.

This…

"Lin Lin Fangzhui? It was him?"

"He… didn't even make it past level one?"

"This…"

A clamor erupted outside the pagoda. Outsiders from the outer sect were baffled; Dragon-Tiger Temple disciples found it utterly incomprehensible. Many rushed over.

Lin Lin Fangzhui staggered out of the pagoda's gate, as if his soul had been drained—his face pale white, like he'd seen a ghost.

"Who… who did you face? The sect lord? The gate master? Or Senior Brother?"

Shan Hong frowned tightly.

Lin Lin Fangzhui was naturally inferior to him, but as a true disciple, he was still exceptionally gifted—how could he have lost so quickly?

"Him."

Lin Lin Fangzhui's voice was hoarse. He panted for a long while before looking toward the stone stele beside him—Li Yuan's name shone brilliantly.

"You didn't…"

Shan Hong's heart thudded. Seeing Lin Lin Fangzhui shut his eyes in pain, his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.

"How is this possible?!"