Once Su Ping and Bai Yushi entered the door, they appeared amidst a vast plain. A few meters in front of them, stood an extremely tall tower.
Nearby both of them, there are Ren Qingchen, Third Princess, Young Master Gu, Yin Lan, Gong Jiayi, and the unknown woman who always stood next to Gong Jiayi.
All of them currently stood at a plaza in front of the tower. On the left most side is Ren Qingchen and Third Princess, while on the opposite end is Young Master Gu who stood with his arm crossed and focused his eyes on everyone there.
While everyone was looking at each other in curiosity, a cluster of light gathered nearby them. The light soon took the form of a woman and talked with everyone there using a robotic voice.
"All of the candidates who joined at a similar time have arrived, congratulating me for passing the first test. By completing it, that shows all of you have some fate with Endless Infatuation Immortal's inheritance. The next test will be held on the tower in front of you."
Is that... an AI? or just some kind of programmed illusion? No matter which one it is, this thing is still a black technology nevertheless. How is it even possible to create this thing?
Since the time that light woman appeared, I've used the [Scan] attached to everyone there to search every nook and cranny on their surroundings and found no trace of formation, magical weapon, or anything similar.
As for the light woman's body, it is entirely made out of spirit qi, which means it is not a soul but merely an energy construct. So, how is this light woman created? I am incredibly curious about it.
After the light woman gave her congratulations, she looked at everyone present. "The tower will test every couple's compatibility in terms of combat. The higher the amount of floor you can climb, the better the reward you will achieve once you complete the test."
"Within two hours, all of you can challenge the tower as much as you want. So, good luck!" Once the light woman finished saying her part, she disappeared from everyone's sight and turned into four lights of different colors.
Each light separated itself into two parts and then shot toward the eight people. Once it arrives at their target, those lights turn into a floating '0' on top of their head. It seems the number shows how high the amount of floor they've climbed is.
Right now, Ren Qingchen and Third Princess have a red light above them, Young Master Gu and Yin Lan have a blue light, Su Ping and Bai Yushi have a yellow light, and lastly the loud Gong Jiayi and that unknown woman who always stuck to him got a purple light.
Once the light shone, Gong Jiayi's complain can be heard as he pointed at Young Master Gu and Yin Lan. "Why is Yin Lan connected with that douchebag!"
Yin Lan, who heard Gong Jiayi shout at Young Master Gu, looked at him with an angry face.
Beside Gong Jiayi, the woman who's always stood silently next to him also poked him while speaking in an angry tone. "Oh.. so you don't like to team up with me, eh?"
Gong Jiayi's face turned awkward when he heard the woman's question.
On the side, Young Master Gu just stared at the three with a poker face. It is unknown what kind of thing he is thinking.
While Gong Jiayi is busy flirting everywhere and having a melodramatic conversation. Ren Qingchen, Third Princess, Bai Yushi, and Su Ping entered the tower.
Once they enter, I can only see Bai Yushi from Su Ping's [Scan]. As for Ren Qingchen's [Scan], I can only see himself and Third Princess.
When I saw those who entered the towers together and got separated based on their assigned colors, I felt like a bumpkin who saw a modern city for the first time.
This spatial ability used here is far beyond my understanding! I wish I could create something as cool as this.
***
Ren Qingchen entered the tower and saw Third Princess walking next to him.
In front of them, there is a wide circular room with a vague white humanoid shape made out of light standing in the middle. In terms of shape, it is similar to a mannequin usually found in a shopping mall. The kind without any face.
Once both of them arrived a few meters in front of it, I saw the light mannequin dashed toward them at high speed while moving its body in preparation for an attack.
From Ren Qingchen's [Scan], I found it actually contains energy equal to Ren Qing Chen. Approximately at the peak of Qi Refining stage.
What a pity, that mannequin-like puppet is made out of spirit qi. If only it is made out of souls, I'll be able to absorb it without repercussions.
Or at least, if Ren Qingquan is there. I can [Anchor] some stones with [Devour] and swallow those mannequin like puppets without much repercussions. At most, it will only summon a space crack that will swallow a stone.
When Ren Qingchen saw the puppet running toward him, he clenched his fist and circulated his spirit qi. The spirit qi passes through his arms and faintly coats it in spirit qi.
With a simple punch into the puppet's stomach, Ren Qingchen easily destroyed it into several pieces. In the back, Third Princess doesn't even have time to do anything before the puppet's fragmented pieces turn into particles of light and disappear.
Once the last particle of light disappeared, the room trembled and a stair appeared from the ceiling opposite of their entrance.
At the same time, a familiar robotic female voice sounded."You have 5 minutes to rest. Please enter the next floor before the time is up."
Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.
The sound is similar to the one coming from the woman made of light who appeared when Ren Qingchen and the others stood in front of the tower's plaza.
Ren Qingchen immediately walked towards the stair once he saw it appear.
Behind him, Third Princess questioned. "Don't you need to rest and regain your Spirit Qi first?"
"There is no need to waste time."Ren Qingchen shook his head and walked up the stairs.
When both of them appear on the second floor, they find themselves looking at the exact same floor as the one before. The main difference being the amount of mannequin like puppets. In the middle of the room stood two puppets at the peak of the Qi Refining Stage.
Although the amount has doubled, due to the puppet's inability to use any magical technique, Ren Qingchen alone easily curb stomped it.
They once again easily passed the floor and advanced to the next level.
On the third floor, the amount of puppet doubled yet again and there are four of them standing in the middle of the room.
Just like before, Ren Qingchen alone curb stomped all four of them.
Through [Scan], I can faintly hear Third Princess mutter. "Am I even needed here?"
Ren Qingchen continued thrashing those puppets with his hand alone until they reached the fifth floor.
At the fifth floor, the number of puppets has increased to sixteen. Furthermore, each of them wore armor and a sword made out of condensed Spirit Qi.
When he saw those puppets, Ren Qingchen frowned and pulled the sword on his waist.
"Do you need any help?" Next to him, Third Princess asked in concern.
Ren Qingchen nodded. "Yeah, this time it is starting to get a bit troublesome."
Then, I sensed him circulating his Spirit Qi in his body
Once those puppets dashed to his location and prepared to attack him, Ren Qingchen slashed his sword and created a wide crescent moon shaped spirit qi attack. That attack successfully hit six puppets and separated four of them right in their torso. As for the remaining two, one lost its arms while the other one lost one of its legs and turned immobile.
Next to him, Third Princess also pulled her sword and channeled her spirit into it. Next, a frost appeared on her sword and she stabbed several puppets' limbs consecutively.
At the location Third Princess attacked, a thin layer of ice appeared. Once the puppet is infected by that ice layer, their movement turns slower and makes it easier for Third Princess to destroy them.
Now I think about it, fighting against this light puppet made out of spirit qi has seriously nerfed Ren Qingchen. After all Ren Qingchen has extremely amazing poisons concocting ability. Meanwhile, those light puppets aren't living creatures, and should be impervious to poisons.
By the time I finished thinking, Ren Qingchen and Third Princess had already finished the fight. As it is quite intense, both of them swallowed a pill and spent the five minutes break to recover their spirit.
Once they arrived at the sixth floor, I saw Ren Qingchen sighed when he saw the thirty two puppets standing in the middle of the room. Just like on the floor before, each of them wore armor and wielded a sword.
Upon sending both of them, those puppets quickly pounced toward Ren Qingchen and Third Princess. Thanks to the battle at the fifth floor, both of them already gained some tacit understanding and stopped fighting alone.
Third Princess used her freezing sword to slow down those puppets or defend against their attacks. This makes it so Ren Qingchen can easily focus himself on destroying the puppet and decrease the need to evade the attacks coming from those puppets.
With their teamwork, both of them barely pass through the sixth floor.
Before Third Princess hit the last puppet with the intent to destroy it, Ren Qingchen shouted. "Stop! Just freeze it and let's regain our strength first."
Third Princess nodded and just froze the limbs of the last puppet so it was unable to move.
When I saw that, I felt a bit speechless. Whoever made this tower is quite stupid to leave such a glaring loophole.
Wait a minute! I changed my mind. I just remembered the woman made out of light said the limit for their challenge is two hours. So, if the challenger feels smart and always abuses this loophole to rest when it's not needed, they will instead achieve lower results than if they just bulldozed their way up.
The one who created this tower is quite sly!
After Ren Qingchen and Third Princess rested for fifteen minutes, both of them continued to the next floor.
The enemy on the seventh floor is still puppets at the peak of the qi refining stage with armor and weapons. But different from the one before, the weapons they used are more varied instead of just a sword. There are some using whips, some using shields, some with bow and arrows, there are also some using giant hammers.
Furthermore their number reached a staggering sixty four!
When Ren Qingchen saw those puppets run toward him and Third Princess, he immediately pulled a flute from his robe. From [Scan], I found the energy contained inside that flute to be quite huge.
He channeled most of his spirit into the flute and blew it.
The flute released a melodious sound and immediately a small tornado appeared in the circular room.
With a change of melody from Ren Qingchen's flute, the tornado changed direction and swiped every puppet on its path.
Yet, in less than a minute of using that flute, I saw Ren Qingchen's face pale and his Spirit Qi storage hit rock bottom. But by the time Ren Qingchen is out of spirit qi, the amount of puppet left is only less than twenty.
The flute is the one Ren Qingchen showed previously, when in the Martial Art world's teleportation formation. During that time, I've scanned the flute once. But when I saw the power of the flute just now, I quickly scanned it thoroughly once more.
Based on the knowledge I gained from the books I scanned, the flute is most likely a low level Spirit Weapon. A weapon one stage higher than a Magical Weapon like the sword Ren Qingquan created before.
Magical Weapons are something usually used by Qi Refining stage cultivators up to early Nascent Soul stage cultivators. Spirit Weapons are usually used by cultivators at Nascent Soul stage and above.
As for how Ren Qingchen gained that flute in the Martial Arts world, that's not my problem. Even if he stole it, I can just change the shape and colors when creating a similar flute. With my extensive knowledge, changing the exterior of a weapon without affecting its function is a breeze. Perhaps.
***
Ren Qingchen, who is out of spirit after using the flute, asked Third Princess. "Hold those puppets for me. I need to recover my spirit."
She nodded and used the sword in her hand to slash at every puppet that arrived nearby them. Meanwhile, Ren Qingchen meditated on the floor after he ate some medicinal pills.
After ten minutes, Ren Qingchen's energy has mostly returned. He once again blew the flute on his hand and summoned a small tornado. That tornado sucked the puppets fighting against Third Princess and immediately shattered them into particles of lights.
Soon, the stairs descended once again. Then a familiar female voice sounded, telling them they have five minutes of preparation.
Third Princess and Ren Qingchen immediately sat in meditation to recover their spirit. Once the five minutes was almost up, Third Princess tried to enter the stairs and teach a higher floor when Ren Qingchen shook his head. "Let's leave, this floor is already our limit."
"Alright." Third Princess easily agreed with Ren Qingchen's suggestion and left the tower.
Once the five minute timer was up, both of them disappeared from the tower's interior.