Liang Chen and Yan Ling spent an entire day just resting and relaxing before they actually left the house and made their way to the building which would send them up to the fourth floor. Quite a few gazes landed on them the moment they left the house, some filled with curiosity and some with fear.
Those who had been here the day the two of them engaged in their massacre could only look at them with fear, seeing them as monsters rather than humans. As for those that had arrived on this floor after the massacre took place, they looked at them with curiosity, wondering if these two humans were truly able to do what the rumors said they had done.
The two of them simply ignored these various gazes, there was no point in acting against any of these people as long as they were left alone. They quickly reached the center of the floor and entered the building that housed the teleportation array, a man from the Fiendgod race greeting them and showing them to the array.
The array was activated and the two of them were sent up to the fourth floor, allowing the denizens of the third to breathe a slight sigh of relief. The two had already engaged in one massacre, but there was no way of knowing whether or not they would choose to start another one. At that point, the only thing these people could do was to hide in the fenced-off areas and hope that their patience would run out and that they would leave them alone.
The two arrived in a building that was a nearly exact copy of the previous one, a surprisingly slender woman from the Fiendgod race welcoming them to the fourth floor. The fourth floor was a bit special, it was what many considered to be not only the true start to the towers but also the line that separated the rabble from the elite.
Battles in the streets were far less common here, everyone was wary of each other and would do their best to avoid needless battles. The battles in the arena also became more organized and advertised, mainly because you from this point on had to send out challenges and wait for them to be accepted before you could enter the arena. No longer were you allowed to just jump onto the stage and take part in a battle, from this point on, you knew exactly who you would fight the moment you entered the stage.
The standard of strength for this floor was the early stage and the middle stage of the Soaring Immortal realm, one had to be strong if they wanted to live here comfortably. Because of the fact that the average strength on these floors was so great compared to the others, there were a few special people who lived on each floor, scouts for the various clans.
They had entered the towers just like everyone else, but they stopped climbing after reaching their desired floor, observing as many battles as possible to learn of up and coming cultivators they might be able to recruit. Of course, as the two of them were humans, it was highly unlikely that Liang Chen and Yan Ling would ever receive such offers.
The two gave the Fiendgod woman a quick greeting before walking past her and stepping out of the building, sweeping their surroundings to inspect the fourth floor. The two had no intentions to waste too much time on this floor, they were confident that they would be able to stay on the fifth floor after increasing their strength after the massacre.
The first thing they noticed about the fourth floor was how open it was, there was quite a bit more space between each house and the various markets. Yet despite this, the houses, which were all made from solid stone, were larger and felt a bit more luxurious than the houses on the lower floors. Each house here was also surrounded by a fence, signifying that you were forbidden from attacking anyone in the houses, another factor that made these higher floors a bit more peaceful than the lower ones.
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The second thing the two of them noticed was the sheer amount of people currently standing outside the fence that surrounded this building, looking at the two of them with various gazes. Some people on the third floor must have sent up a message that the two of them were leaving, allowing these people to arrive here ahead of time.
Yan Ling clicked her tongue when she saw the number of people surrounding the building. No one liked being stared at by such a large group of people, especially right now when the two of them just wanted to rush through this floor and reach the next one. She placed her hands on her hips, clicking her tongue once again while sweeping the surrounding group of people with her eyes.
"Tch, well, who among you has come here for a battle? We aren't willing to stay here for long, so I would prefer if you would just reveal yourself right away so that we can finish this as fast as possible."
Her words could be considered very arrogant, but none of the people on this floor knew how much stronger the two had gotten after the massacre five months ago. Her own increase in strength wasn't terribly great, but she knew just how strong Liang Chen had gotten in that time, he had spent twice as long as her after all.
Some of the onlookers simply chuckled in response to her words, clearly not taking them to heart. But a few people locked gazes for a short moment, hesitating slightly as they were deciding on what to do. A middle-aged man from the White Orchid race hardened his gaze, pushing aside the two people in front of him and taking a step forward, his eyes blazing with desire as he looked at Liang Chen and Yan Ling.
"I wi...!"
Before the man could finish his sentence, a thunderous boom echoed across the area, Liang Chen appearing in front of the man. Neither the man or the people closest to him had a chance to react in time before Liang Chen grabbed a hold of the man's throat, lifting him up with one arm. Liang Chen tilted his head slightly at the man, as if he was questioning his sanity.
Liang Chen had reached the early stage of the Soaring Immortal realm in Qi cultivation and the very peak of the Heaven's Gate realm in body and soul cultivation. All his bones had become crystallized storm, his speed and physical strength greatly increasing as a result. As for his poison, it had become so tightly intertwined with his Anima Essence that the poison was becoming less and less corporeal, growing increasingly hard to detect or defend against.
But the greatest benefit of his increased cultivation was increase and strengthening his energy reserves had gone through. Now he had enough energy to use his law of time more freely, allowing him to utilize it in combat without having it rapidly drain most of his energy.
Poison flooded into the man's head through Liang Chen's hand, his brain quickly melting and leaking out of his orifices. Liang Chen stored the corpse into his interspatial ring, an arc of emerald lightning sizzling over his hand and evaporating the brain matter that had landed on his hand. He then swept the surrounding people with narrowed eyes, the emerald lightning on his hand slowly growing larger as it snaked around his arm.
"Anyone else feel like stepping forward?"
They would have to stay on this floor for at least a few days, it would be incredibly bothersome if they were to be attacked every single time they left their house. It was better to quickly assert their dominance and make sure that these people knew what would happen if they should try to show any killing intent towards the two of them.
The ones who had chuckled at Yan Ling's earlier words didn't have much of a reaction, they hadn't come here to fight from the start, only to scope out their future competition. Those who had hesitated earlier, however, took a few steps away from the fence, showing that they understood. There was no point in engaging in a battle right here, especially on that they might very well lose.
Liang Chen swept the surrounding people once more, making sure that no one was going to attack them now. After making sure that none of the surrounding people were going to attack them, only observe them, the two walked side by side and headed for a house that had a sign out front marking it as empty. No matter how long they would spend here, they would first have to pick out a house so that they could send out the challenges.
While they were walking away from the crowd of people, a few of them took out jade, stone, or wooden talismans of various shapes and sizes, sending out the news to those interested in it, the storm had started moving again.