[ SECOND LAYER: CHALLENGE STAGE END. ]
[ This cycle, 94,000 beasts have been killed, generating 162,000 Inner World Energy. ]
The effect of my improvements to the Martial Hall became obvious immediately. This cycle saw an improvement of nearly 50% compared to the cycle when Lan Xiaohui last challenged the Pagoda of Infinite Slaughter. Although there have been quite a few cycles in between, the results have consistently gotten better and better since I upgraded the Martial Hall.
Lan Xiaohui appears in the courtyard before the Pagoda of Infinite Slaughter and catches the final glimmers of its radiance, as the light fades and the formation within loses power.
Wu Yulan, standing next to Lan Xiaohui, smiles. She wears a proud smile on her face, clearly satisfied with her result.
My owner returns the smile, but is all too hasty to stare at my vessel — complete once more — with a look of deep appreciation and gratitude. Her heart beats so wildly, my words to her still lingering in her mind. She even looks slightly embarrassed.
Does it really please her this much to be praised? What a strange sword cultivator.
When the ranking board shimmers into existence in the air above them, both Wu Yulan and Lan Xiaohui turn to regard the rankings. Their eyes drift toward the top of the chart.
Lan Xiaohui’s eyes widen in shock.
First place: Sun Zhen - Floor 60.
Second place: Zhu Xuelian - Floor 55.
This is not unexpected, but what comes next makes Lan Xiaohui look at Wu Yulan with a new light of appreciation in her eyes.
Second place: Wu Yulan - Floor 55.
Wu Yulan chuckles. “It must be our destiny, sister,” she says, her hand reaching out to firmly grasp my owner’s. “We tied for second place. The Heavens are not blind.”
“You are so incredible,” Lan Xiaohui says, the words completely circumventing her inhibitions and reason. She just blurts the words out that come to her mind.
Wu Yulan covers her lips with her hand as she giggles happily. “I think you are far more amazing,” she says.
“How so?” Lan Xiaohui says, surprised by Wu Yulan’s reply. Even if she is being considerate, such praise is far too much.
By now, many of the cultivators are staring at the two that tied for second place. This has happened before, because the distance between first place and second place, until this cycle, had been an unapproachable chasm. Yet, these two, who appeared out of nowhere from their point of view, have reduced that wide chasm to almost nothing — just five floors of difference and tied for second place.
Naturally, these cultivators could not even imagine how difficult those five floors of difference are.
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Sun Zhen truly is a monster. To reach floor sixty, he must’ve killed at least four Nascent Soul realm demonic beasts — it is an unfathomable achievement.
Even Sun Zhen stares at the two, but his expression remains neutral and unreadable.
Wu Yulan’s lips curve even more, as she fully turns towards Lan Xiaohui. “It’s because you make me want to give it my all — to go beyond even the limits of my body,” she says and then laughs. “But who would’ve thought that you’d match my result? This time, I really thought I’d be able to surprise you, but I am the one who is surprised instead.”
I’ve known for a long time now that Wu Yulan’s brush with death has changed her personality — or, to put it in a better way, awakened something within her. The excitement she feels at the prospect of walking on a thin string of battle, between life and death, is something unnatural and deviant. When she says that she had to exceed the limits of her own body, I understand that she also, just like Lan Xiaohui, self-destructed herself in those final moments to achieve this result.
Perhaps, she even managed to comprehend another layer of [Eternal Moment Swordsmanship], just like Lan Xiaohui.
These two are genuine monsters. Even calling them geniuses is not the right description. Sun Zhen is a genius. Yu Shun is a genius. And while Wu Yulan possesses talent that is the envy of all under Heaven, Lan Xiaohui is also talented, but not to this degree.
Their strength lies in their ability to break and exceed their limits and cultivate through battle with an unshakable Dao Heart. They are fearless and brutal in their violence, and yet, their hearts are tempered and focused.
[Finality Moon, Liminality Flower] and [Eternal Moment Swordsmanship] are both Supreme grade methods. The difference between Heaven grade and Supreme grade is a whole large realm of difference — like Nascent Soul Ascension and Nihility.
How many months or years does it take to master the first layer, and comprehend the second one? And yet, one of them did it to impress me, and the other one broke through that limit for Lan Xiaohui.
Wu Yulan did not do this out of competition; her heart is bare and open to me, so I can easily tell. In Wu Yulan’s heart, her only desire is to lighten Lan Xiaohui’s burdens, because she knows how difficult it has been for Lan Xiaohui lately, with Yun Fei’s condition.
Simply for that reason — for such a small matter — Wu Yulan had likely gone through incredible suffering and agony to grasp the elusive next step of her abilities.
Even I find it impressive. Even I find it enviable.
“Thank you, Yulan,” Lan Xiaohui says and presses her forehead to Wu Yulan’s. She also understands why her companion did this, and her response is genuine and appropriate.
“Mm,” Wu Yulan hums, closing her eyes. “You can rely on me a bit more.”
“I will,” Lan Xiaohui says and then, to both my and Wu Yulan’s surprise, kisses the other girl on the cheek.
“Come,” she says with a trilling laugh. “Let’s go get our reward.”
After saying these words, Lan Xiaohui tugs on Wu Yulan’s hand and begins walking towards the Martial Hall.
Wu Yulan laughs, her cheeks slightly reddening, and follows behind my owner.
The cultivators still gazing at the two, and seeing their deep friendship and adoration for each other, look even more deflated than before. At first, they were surprised, then impressed by their achievement, but now, they can only sigh and admire the two from a distance. If they had any thoughts toward befriending them or becoming their acquaintance, the show of affection between the two reminds them, at once, that it is something they can not have. In their eyes, Wu Yulan and Lan Xiaohui exist in a completely different world, separate from theirs, and unapproachable from their side.
When the two enter the Martial Hall and enter the Formation Wing, they find that there are quite a few more doors present now.
Obtaining access to the second floor of the Martial Pavilion not only grants access to higher grades of manuals — in other words, purer forms of theoretical models — but also higher grades of Secret Realms where they can improve their abilities.
But one door, in particular, stands out: in the middle of the room, there is a black, glassy door — as if made of obsidian — with gold words emblazoned on the surface in a sharp and bold style.
Secret Sword Realm Nexus.
The two of them approach the door, which doesn’t have a handle or any way to access its mechanism to open it, and then confidently press their hands on its surface.
The gold words flash several times and a pure light emerges from within.
In the span of a few moments, the light envelops them and transports them into the Secret Sword Realm Nexus.