Chương 94: 1.93 Anyway everyone started blasting~

[UNLEASH YOUR TECHNIQUES.] [YOU WILL BE JUDGED BASED ON THE NUMBER OF TECHNIQUES, THEIR MASTERY, AND THE LEVEL OF THE TECHNIQUES IN RELATION TO YOUR CULTIVATION LEVEL AND AGE.] [SHOW WHAT YOU HAVE LEARNED.] [SHOW WHAT HAS BECOME YOUR OWN.] The moment those words faded, the polished white floor split apart. A deep rumble echoed through the hall as lines of golden light spread across the marble, weaving into an enormous circle. Above it, the same pattern slowly manifested in the air.

For a single breath, there was an array below and an array above as they converged. Then, from the very center, a jade stele rose from the floor. Spiritual energy gathered around it, dividing the great circle into dozens of smaller platforms, each one surrounded by a faint transparent barrier. Though separated from one another, every platform remained clearly visible through the shimmering walls. The jade stele at the center glowed. Rows of golden characters appeared across its surface.

[TECHNIQUE TRIAL RANKING] Beneath the title, the names of every disciple slowly materialized. [EACH DISCIPLE SHALL ENTER A TECHNIQUE PLATFORM.] [THE TOWER SHALL JUDGE QUANTITY.] [THE TOWER SHALL JUDGE MASTERY.] [THE TOWER SHALL JUDGE CONTROL.] As the announcement faded, a smaller stone pillar rose beside every platform. Three empty inscriptions appeared upon each.

[Quantity] [Mastery] [Control]"Wow, this is quite straightforward, I dig it," Zhang Feng blurted out, turning to Ning with a bright, enthusiastic thumbs-up.

"Right, Brother Ning?" For a second, Ning could only admire the sheer, unadulterated optimism radiating from the man. If there was one thing this damn tower had taught him so far, it was that there were always layers to this shit.

"Yes, it seems we only need to unleash our techniques to their maximum capacity," Ning replied, keeping his voice carefully neutral. He chose not to voice his suspicions. Rule number one of survival: never voice your doubts aloud, unless you want Murphy's Law to personally come down and kick you in the teeth.

"But after all those massive floor shifts and terrifying changes, this feels almost... lackluster," Wei Zhusang remarked. He had no such filters, directly airing his doubts.

"Perhaps we should wait a moment and let someone else take the lead. Observing first would be wise."

"Hng. It makes sense," Lang Rulang agreed with a sharp nod. Despite her usual coldness, she wasn't someone to take things at face value.

"The founding ancestor, Li Changshou, was known as the Heavenly Craftsman. I highly doubt any trial he designed would be this simple." The title Heavenly Craftsman was a Daoist name bestowed upon the founding ancestor due to his absolute, monstrous proficiency in the Four Great Professions: Alchemy, Formations, Talismans, and Weapon Refining. While ordinary cultivators spent lifetimes barely scratching the surface of one, he had mastered them all.

In fact, sect lore claimed he had single-handedly amassed the staggering wealth required to establish and run the entire sect purely through these professions.

"Patriarch Li Changshou was indeed a once-in-a-millennium genius," Zhang Feng conceded, nodding respectfully. None could deny the glorious legacy of the founder. Then, he grinned.

"... But I still think you guys are just being paranoid." Ning patted Zhang Feng on the shoulder.

"Never change, Zhang Feng. Never change. There are far too many cynical people in this world already." Zhang Feng squinted at him, poking a finger at his chest.

"I have a distinct feeling you're secretly one of them, Brother Ning."

"Am not! That is blatant slander!" Ning refuted vehemently. Before their banter could derail further, the crowd shifted. Their little group was currently the largest gathering of disciples in the hall, and because Wei Zhusang had urged caution, they hadn't moved. Surprisingly, the first person to break the standoff was Lei Dong. Ever since the third trial, where Ning had "unintentionally" muttered aloud about Lei Dong using his own lackeys as point-fodder, most disciples had steered clear of the man.

The fact that those same lackeys hadn't been seen since only fueled the dark rumors. Well, at least it prevented Lei Dong from gathering advantage if the next stage required teamwork. It was a lucky accident, of course. Anyone claiming Ning did it on purpose was a liar. Ning watched closely as Lei Dong stepped firmly onto one of the isolated platforms. Instantly, the stone pillar beside him roared to life.

[LEI DONG] [CULTIVATION: SEVENTH STAGE QI CONDENSATION] [AGE: 25] On the stage, Lei Dong's face was completely expressionless. He took a slow, deep breath. Suddenly, a violent, golden spiritual light erupted from his body, cloaking him in a dense, metallic glow. The spiritual energy around him condensed so rapidly that his hair began to float, whipped about by the rising golden aura. Step. Punch. Though the barrier isolated the physical impact, the sheer pressure of the strike rippled through the translucent walls.

The air in front of Lei Dong snapped back with a sharp, explosive crack as the stone target before him trembled violently. The jade stele on his platform flashed. [LEI DONG] [QUANTITY: 1 - EARTH-GRADE MARTIAL ART] [MASTERY: GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT] [CONTROL: HIGH] Simultaneously, on the central ranking stele, Lei Dong's name shot straight to the top, taking the lead.

Under normal circumstances, Ning would have cracked a joke about Lei Dong going Super Saiyan with the glowing hair and all, but right now, his mind was racing. Ning's eyes narrowed to slits. A detection array for age? That... could be a massive problem. He had no idea whether the tower measured biological age or soul age. This cultivation world was full of freaky, esoteric nonsense like soul-searching and body-snatching, so it wouldn't be surprising if the tower had a foolproof method to read the age of a soul.

If he were outside the tower, he wouldn't sweat it. Most sect assessments only checked the physical root and bone age of the body. But this was the Heavenly Origin Tower, the nascent soul artifact with functions that impressed Ning deeply. If it measured the soul and it showed something wrong, then that would be a red flag. He forced his expression to remain completely placid. At this point, backing out wasn't an option.

"See? I told you so! It's that simple," Zhang Feng's smug voice broke Ning out of his dark reverie.

"Even a broken clock is right twice a day," Lang Rulang interjected smoothly. Her tone was icy, but the burn was lethal.

"You're just salty because I was right," Zhang Feng huffed, entirely ignoring her negativity.

"So, everyone can see each other's real-time rankings," Wei Zhusang observed, rubbing his chin.

"That can prove to be a motivator." OF course, Ning saw this for what it was. This was the stage where protagonists and arrogant young masters showed off their massive muscles. To put it more accurately, this was an aura-farming session. Zhang Feng leaned closer, whispering eagerly, "Brother Ning, let's go quickly."

"Wait," Wei Zhusang said, raising a hand to halt them.

"I want to confirm something first." The small group paused, waiting for the man to speak. Wei Zhusang stared at the active platforms, his expression deeply analytical.

"There is likely a spiritual energy recovery array built into each stage. It would be logical, considering the sheer number of techniques disciples are expected to display. But we must be certain. If there is no recovery mechanism, anyone who exhausts their Qi early will be completely screwed in the later stages." Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings. Several nearby disciples nodded in agreement. Ning glanced at them, amused.

It seemed Wei Zhusang's brilliant performance in the previous trials had earned him quite a bit of respect. It made sense. In a chaotic, lethal environment, raw strength was great, but a guy who actually used his brain was damn useful, too.

"Fair point," Ning agreed aloud.

"But we can't hide down here forever. Besides..." He gestured toward the active stages.

"... looking at how Lei Dong is still continuously unleashing his techniques without slowing down, there definitely is a Qi-recovery array inside."

"Yup. With that clear, we should get going." Zhang Feng didn't like waiting, and it showed. Wei Zhusang sighed, "Fine." The crowd finally began to move. Ning expertly blended into the mass of disciples, activating his Turtle Breathing Technique to minimize his presence. He swiftly navigated the floor, deliberately picking a platform located away from Xiao Fan. The protagonist was a walking magnet for unwanted attention. Therefore, the safest place in the room was logically nowhere near him.

However, picking the absolute furthest corner might also look suspicious. Somewhere right in the sweet spot, dead in the middle of the crowd, would suffice. Ning stepped onto his chosen platform. The transparent barrier shot up around him, sealing him in, as the stone pillar beside him flashed to life. Ning held his breath, his heart hammering against his ribs. Now for the moment of truth. The golden characters flickered, then solidified.

[JI NING] [CULTIVATION: SIXTH STAGE QI CONDENSATION] [AGE: 20] Ning let out a long, slow breath, his shoulders dropping.

"Okay. Thank god." This prevented the worst-case scenario from happening.

"At least I don't have to resort to any of those excuses I drafted in my head," he muttered in immense relief. Of course, this also begged a fascinating question: was the tower measuring his physical body, or was it measuring his soul age at exactly twenty? If it was the soul, then the mechanics of his transmigration were far deeper than he initially thought. I should definitely find a way to test my soul age later. It might prove to be quite enlightening, Ning thought.

Calming his mind, he slowly began to draw upon the surrounding spiritual Qi. This tower really had a knack for keeping him on his toes. Ning sighed, and then raised his hands, as clouds began to form overhead. Anyway, time to start blasting.... Xiao Fan understood his situation better than most. His talent was mediocre. Despite achieving things that no other low-grade spiritual root cultivator could ever dream of doing, he harbored no illusions about himself.

When it came to pure cultivation talent and abstract comprehension, he was as average as they came. He was just a guy who was too stubborn to lie down and stop moving. Case in point, his current ranking in this trial was abysmal. [Xiao Fan] [Cultivation: Sixth Stage of Qi Condensation] [Age: 21] [Rank: 9th] With a low roar, Xiao Fan unleashed the Heavenly Lotus Body Training Technique.

Spiritual energy surged through his meridians, his muscles tightening as a faint, green light erupted across his skin, taking the vague shape of protective lotus petals swirling around his frame. Beside his stage, the smaller stone pillar vibrated. Golden light bled into the hollow grooves. [QUANTITY: 6 → 7] Still 9th rank, huh? Xiao Fan took a deep breath. For his current ranking, his Earth-grade techniques were doing some incredibly heavy lifting.

His primary offensive martial art, the Heaven Shattering Fist, was evaluated as an Earth-grade technique. That much he expected. But right below it, Pure Eyes was surprisingly evaluated at the exact same Earth-grade tier. It made sense when he actually thought about it. The technique was a rare ocular art, and even though he had only scratched the surface of its first level, its inherent quality was undeniable. The other impressive art was the Heavenly Lotus form he had just activated.

Beyond those, the remaining four techniques in his arsenal were standard fare, a Spirit-grade movement art and a few common Mortal-grade techniques.

"Not so different from my expectation," Xiao Fan muttered, crossing his arms. His raw comprehension was thoroughly average. Aside from the Heaven Shattering Fist, which he had mastered due to a sudden, miraculous epiphany, he had pushed both Pure Eyes and the Heavenly Lotus method forward purely through staggering resource consumption.

"Moreover, this stage heavily favors the older crowd." Even though the tower aggressively penalized scores based on biological age, the older bastards simply had the advantage of time. They had spent decades practicing different techniques. Sheer volume was keeping them afloat. Then his eyes drifted to the second-place spot. [RANK 2: Lei Dong — Quantity: 12]"Tsk." Xiao Fan clicked his tongue in annoyance.

From what he could see, the sole reason Lei Dong was ranked so high was that he possessed five separate Earth-grade techniques. Even though he was only at the minor accomplishment or entry level for most of them, the raw grade of the techniques was inflating his score tremendously. Yet, it wasn't Lei Dong that made Xiao Fan's jaw drop. It was the name sitting comfortably at the absolute peak. [RANK 1: Ning — Quantity: 20] Twenty?! Xiao Fan's eyes nearly popped out of his head.

He squinted across the hall toward Ning's platform, then looked back at the sub-text scrolling beneath Ning's name on the monument. The tower was rapidly cataloging a massive, scrolling wall of text: [Mortal Grade Martial Art: Mastery] [Mortal Grade Martial Art: Mastery] [Mortal Grade Spell: Mastery] [Mortal Grade Spell: Mastery]... Ning didn't have a high-tier arsenal. Only his own version of Pure Eyes was registered as an Earth-grade art.

What he had in spades was a ridiculous number of basic Mortal-grade techniques mastered to absolute perfection, ranging from the five elemental farming spells to minor lightning tricks and obscure stealth arts. Not to mention, his Control rating was consistently high across every single one of them. A true genius... Xiao Fan had always known Ning was a freak of nature; he had experienced it firsthand when Ning broke down the complex Pure Qi Sutra into basic, incredibly simple concepts for him.

But he had never understood the staggering gravity of that genius until now. Speaking of geniuses, further down, Xiao Fan spotted another familiar name ranking exceptionally high. [RANK 6: Qiu Han — Quantity: 11] Xiao Fan knew exactly how Qiu Han did it. Qiu Han's innate supernatural power, Quick, allowed him to drastically multiply his training efficiency. While an ordinary cultivator could only practice a single spell in a given timeframe, Qiu Han could execute the same routine two or three times over.

They were the geniuses. But Xiao Fan wasn't about to give up. To beat a genius, he just had to play smarter and ruthlessly exploit his own advantages. A sudden spark ignited in his mind. He looked back at his own pillar, analyzing the hidden rules. What actually counts as a technique in this place? From what he had seen, the tower didn't care about the origin or type; martial arts, body tempering techniques, and magical spells were all accepted equally. So... what about bloodline abilities?

A slow, wild, predatory grin spread across Xiao Fan's face. Of course, humans didn't possess bloodline abilities, but he was not without options. The Demon Subduing Sutra began to violently hum. Over the course of his brutal life-and-death battles against various beasts, Xiao Fan had not merely defeated beasts; he had conquered them, assimilating their unique talents as his own. He focused his mind, unleashing the first Bloodline Ability: Battlebody.

Derived from the White-Haired War Ape, this bloodline ability allowed him to fight harder, faster, and more seriously the more damage he sustained. It was this exact trait, synergized with his Heavenly Lotus Body, that had allowed him to completely overpower Qiu Han during the outer sect competition. As a feral, oppressive aura rolled off his body, the stone pillar flashed. [QUANTITY: 8 — EARTH-GRADE INNATE ART] [MASTERY: GREAT ACCOMPLISHMENT] [CONTROL: HIGH]"YES! It worked."

Xiao Fan knew he had made the correct bet. Moreover, because the bloodline abilities he got were almost akin to an instinct, his control over it was naturally flawless, and his mastery high. In a single, sweeping motion, Xiao Fan's name surged on the leaderboard, jumping from 9th to 7th place.

"Now I just need to absolutely abuse this loophole." Xiao Fan mumbled. Through the Demon Subduing Sutra, Xiao Fan possessed five distinct bloodline abilities. However, he couldn't use them all. The spatial storage ability he took from the rabbit would raise a lot of questions simply because it was not a conventional ability. Similarly, his very first bloodline ability was his ultimate absolute fallback for desperate, life-or-death situations; it had to remain hidden. But the other two were fair game.

First, he activated Spirit Devouring, a bloodline trait inherited from the Earth-Swallowing Snake. It violently drew in the ambient spiritual energy from the room, drastically increasing his qi recovery speed, deepening his meditative state, and slightly elevating his natural talent. Next, he unleashed Rendering Force.

Ripped from a heavy-armored beast, it ensured that every strike carried a devastating, high-frequency shockwave, ignoring a significant portion of an opponent's physical defenses while excelling at shattering defensive qi and body-tempering techniques. The monument flickered violently as the tower re-evaluated his platform. [QUANTITY: 10] [RANK: 2] Three additional Earth-grade techniques at high mastery and great control.

In a spectacular surge, Xiao Fan completely bypassed the middle ranks, claiming the second-place spot on the leaderboard.

'Still couldn't overpower pure quantity with quality, huh?' Xiao Fan thought, looking up at Ning's untouchable first-place score. Well, at least Lei Dong is sitting in third now. Small victories. Xiao Fan's personal philosophy was remarkably simple: repay any kindness tenfold, and return any grievance a hundredfold. Knocking the arrogant young master down a peg was a beautiful bonus.

'It's just a pity I couldn't perform the ritual on that Slippery Ferret, ' Xiao Fan thought wistfully, glancing out into the hall.

'If I had caught it, that slipping ability would probably be evaluated as a Heavenly-grade art. What a waste.'

"Anyway, this round seems over."...

"I almost pity the kids," He Shou sighed, crossing his massive arms as he leaned against the chair.

"Look at them down there, smiling and showing off their flashy maneuvers."

"Well, they have earned the right to be a little proud," Lou Ren countered smoothly, stroking his beard as he analyzed the water-mirror.

"Particularly Ning and Xiao Fan. They have been the true anomalies of this entire trial. Setting aside Ning, whose genius we already knew of through Ling Xin, Xiao Fan truly came out of nowhere."

"I am quite curious as to where a boy with his background managed to acquire so many high-tier Earth-grade arts." It was Elder Mo, whose calculating gaze had been pinned to Xiao Fan's every movement.

"Earth-grade martial arts are exceptionally rare. What is more concerning is his mastery over them; his execution is far too impressive for his age and talent." Hearing that, for a second, every elder's thoughts ran.

"Bah! Who cares where the brat dug them up?" He Shou scoffed, waving a hand to dismiss the tension.

"For all we know, they could be lost family techniques. His father was no weakling back in the day. Besides, our sect isn't so pathetic that we need to go prying into the secrets of our own young disciples, is it?" He Shou's booming voice carried a subtle warning. He had taken a liking to Xiao Fan's grit, and he knew that the abilities the boy was displaying were dangerously eye-catching.

"That would be unbecoming of our position." Lou Ren backed up He Shou, instantly catching his drift. While veteran elders like them had absolutely no need to rob a junior, some of the younger, greedier elders in the sect might not possess the same restraint.

"Elder He is correct," Hong Zeiling spoke up, his authoritative voice instantly silencing the room. His cold gaze swept across the assembled masters.

"I expect that what has been witnessed in this hall today remains within this hall. If anyone feels a sudden urge to gossip or investigate a disciple's private fortunes, I will personally ensure your next destination is the Disciplinary Committee." A heavy silence fell over the room. The warning was absolute. Trying to break the sudden tension, Lang Feilang turned to her friend, nudging her shoulder.

"Speaking of monsters, Ling Xin, your disciple is a total freak of nature. How does one person even find the time to practice that many completely different types of techniques? Are you entirely certain he doesn't possess some special physique?"

"I am positive," Ling Xin replied, her lips curling into a proud smile as she crossed her arms.

"My disciple is just built different."

"He is. But as his master, it is your duty to ensure he does not bite off more than he can chew," Hong Zeiling advised, his tone softening slightly but remaining firm.

"Your disciple's comprehension is staggering, given that he has pushed dozens of basic spells to such heights. However, he risks scattering his focus. He should consolidate his foundation before expanding his repertoire further. Teach him to focus on a singular, higher path."

"Ning already knows that," Ling Xin defended her disciple, huffing slightly.

"He simply hasn't had the luxury of time. The boy has only been in our sect for six years, and he had to learn everything he could to survive and thrive."

"If you say so. It is our duty as masters to bring out the full potential for our disciples." Hong Zeiling reminded.

"I know that, alright! Why do you think I would lead my disciple astray?" Ling Xin snapped, puffing her cheeks out in mock offense.

"I am an excellent master, thank you very much!"

"But seriously... I truly do pity them," He Shou muttered, his eyes narrowing as he stared at the glowing platforms below.

"For most of these kids, the fifth stage is going to be absolutely brutal." Because as the old monsters knew all too well, the Origin Tower Trial was never that simple.... Thanks for reading~