CHAPTER 532 RULES

Darren shook himself, struggling to endure new scars and bruises that now covered all over his body.

More painful, however, was the despair that welled up in his heart.

But even that wasn't going to stop him yet, and he prepared to throw another punch.

Yet the blow hit nothing but air, and before he could blink, his opponent retaliated with a hit that sent

him flying.

He landed, grunted, then got right back up and charged, only to be slapped aside again. And again.

Over and over he repeated his fruitless assault, until at last he was knocked down and could not get

back onto his feet. But through it all, his murderous gaze stayed on Mathew, and he even started to

crawl back toward his foe.

Only slightly winded, Mathew stood tall and looked back down at him disapprovingly.

Letting out a soft breath, he wiped sweat from his brow and spoke.

"Enough, Darren. This method doesn't suit you. I don't want to push you any further." He gave a little

shake of his head before continuing.

"This is all because my master made this fake Elsa perfect, as vivid as the real one. No wonder you're

fighting so furiously."

As Mathew said this, he produced a transparent pill, crushed it, and spread it over his exhausted Belongs © to .

opponent.

Darren was so bloody and wounded that he looked like a dead man, but this pill was designed for

someone in exactly such a state. Thanks to the magic herb, he was healed and his strength restored in

short order.

When he realized he was healthy again, Darren slammed a fist against the ground. "What the hell is

going on?!" he demanded, his eyes shining red with anger and disbelief.

"Let me explain," said Mathew. "My master wanted you to try the tests of the Starry Tower and made

me out to be a villain. He thought that stirring up your hatred would make you stronger and more

motivated.

But from the beginning, I knew this was a mistake. I don't want to see you like this. If I sent you into the

Starry Tower the way he wants, it could very well make things much worse. Therefore, I'm disobeying

him now. I will deceive you no longer."

"So this Elsa is fake?"

"Of course. Why would I kill the real Elsa? But it seems my performance was good enough to fool you."

Saying this, Mathew reached out, took Darren's hand, and pulled him onto his feet.

Seconds passed, and in the silence Darren felt himself flooded with an indescribable emotion.

When he could no longer contain it, he drew his sword with a howl, spun, and swung at Mathew's

head.

Astoundingly, the man did not move, and the sword didn't so much as pierce his skin. The impact

caused a terrific clanging sound, as though it had struck metal.

"Ha-ha," said Mathew with a gentle, almost mischievous smile. "Take another shot or two, if it will help

you cool down."

Shrugging, Darren hit him two or three more times until he had finally let out his emotions. Returning

the sword to its sheath, he offered an apology. "Sorry about all that. I lost my mind back there... I

couldn't control myself."

"That was the idea," Mathew pointed out. "That girl has an important place in your heart. I knew that it

would be easy to provoke you with an illusion of her. But we should move on from that. You'll need to

save all of your strength for when you finally challenge the tests of the Starry Tower. Otherwise... my

master will not go easy on me."

Darren did not reply at first. He was lost in thought, thinking with puzzlement about the illusions.

"Are you still mad?" Mathew's true appearance looked younger. But he remained as gentle and kind as

the older man Darren first met.

"No," Darren answered softly as he came out of his thoughts. "I'm not mad anymore. But I still don't

understand why he pushes me like this."

"All my master wants is that you become strong," the other man mused. "As for why he does it this way,

I don't understand it either.

You are a very emotional person. You can't help but love your friends and family completely. I don't

want you to have to suffer a lot." After a solemn pause, he added, "I should thank you for bringing my

body back. Now I'll be able to return to the world."

"You don't need to thank me," Darren answered, calm but serious. "What I want now is the truth.

There's nothing I hate more than being cheated, used, or kept in the dark. So can you kindly explain

the whole story to me now? The body I brought back is full of the aura of the blade and sword intent.

How could that be your body?"

"I know I shouldn't have lied to you before," Mathew admitted. "But I won't be using you anymore, so

you have no need to worry. The body you brought back is indeed mine. And I will tell you the full truth

when you reach the seventh floor of the Starry Tower. So if you want your answers, then you'd better

get ready for some hard work." As he said this, his gentle smile returned.

He intended to make sure Darren entered the Starry Tower at full strength.

"Fine, I understand," Darren said with a sigh. "I will try my best to make it through the Starry Tower."

Mathew nodded. "Well, in that case, I will tell you the rules and some essential points of the Starry

Tower.

The purpose of the Starry Tower is to help the master choose worthy apprentices. From the third floor,

there will be one defender at each floor. You must defeat each one before ascending to the next floor.

Each time you defeat a defender, you will receive rewards. Like everything else, this has been carefully

set up by the master. For example, the rewards of the first and second floors are the ones you received

from your previous primary tests back then. Naturally, the higher the floor, the greater the rewards.

For instance, on the third floor, you could attain a certain amount of spiritual crystals if you overcome its

defender. After that, if you succeed on the fourth floor, you could acquire the Primitive Stone. And the

number of the stones depends on what score is merited by your combat effectiveness.

Beyond that, there's nothing I can tell you.

But all the rewards will be what you need."

Still confused, Darren shook his head and said, "I don't think so. First of all, am I the only one to

attempt the Starry Tower after all this time? Second, how do you know those rewards are the ones I'm

really going to need?"

"Of course you're not the first," Mathew answered with a chuckle. "Eighteen people have tried before

you. The best of them reached the seventh floor, but he couldn't get past it. The other seventeen were

all killed by defenders on the lower floors.

I remember one of them fondly. He was already a seven-star grand warrior when he entered the tower.

But his luck didn't hold out, and the defender on the sixth floor killed him by a fluke. It was a real

shame. He was only thirty-nine years old, which is a very young age to die in battle.

As for the rewards, I suppose there is more I can tell you. Every reward on each floor is based on the

needs of each participant, which means that everyone receives something different on the same floor.

However, the one on the seventh floor never changes."

"Are you kidding?" Darren exclaimed. He was hardly interested in the rewards, compared to the rest of

what Mathew had said.

The fact that even a seven-star grand warrior could not pass the seventh floor was astonishing. Darren

himself was only at the four-star level in terms of combat power. How could he possibly get through?

And furthermore, no one had ever passed the seventh floor, and the losers would die. There was no

way of knowing what perils were waiting in the rest of the Starry Tower.

It was cruel indeed of Mathew's master to choose an apprentice this way.

Mathew watched Darren intently as he considered this. "I know what you're thinking, and I agree," he

said. "This is a brutal way to try and find an apprentice. But nobody has ever been forced to go through

the Starry Tower. Everyone who tried did so freely, and I made sure that they knew the consequences

of failure.

They chose to risk their lives anyway, because they wanted the rewards or the power. They knew what

they were doing. My master's method may be cruel, but it is entirely fair.

Of course, no one is forcing you to go into the tower either," Mathew explained.

Darren didn't answer him immediately. He was lost in his thoughts even deeper than before.

Perhaps trying to be helpful, Mathew added, "Still, you shouldn't focus only on the risks. If you succeed

in passing all the floors of the Starry Tower, your strength will increase tremendously. By my most

conservative estimate, you would at least reach the level of one seven-star grand warrior."

Despite his misgivings, Darren figured there was no point in taking too long to make up his mind. "Then

that settles it," he declared. "I will challenge the tests of the tower."

The thought of his strength equaling a seven-star grand warrior was too tempting to resist. That kind of

power was exactly what he needed.

Suddenly Mathew laughed again. "Well, actually, I was exaggerating a little," he said. "I wanted to see

what kind of guts you have. The power of the defenders in the Starry Tower is adjusted according to the

strength of every participant, which means that you may not actually have to fight against a seven-star

defender on the sixth floor.

Now I'm going to tell you the most important bit of information. Every time you defeat a defender,

there's one thing you need to pay attention to in addition to getting your rewards. You will need to try

your best to find the time turbulent flows, and then use them to cultivate your skills as much as

possible. Improve your level of cultivation base first before you go to the next floor. That is the best way

to get through the tower."

"Time turbulent flows?" Darren repeated. He remembered hearing Scott talk about such things not long

ago, but wasn't sure exactly what they were.

"Yeah," Mathew said, as if what he was saying should have been obvious. "Time passes much slower

inside some of the time turbulent flows. So if you cultivate your skills inside it, you can make far more

progress there than you would outside. You could feel a hundred years go by in one of the time flows,

while in fact it was only a single year in the outside world."

Darren understood at once. The time turbulent flows were just like the Ancient Void Battlefield. There,

too, time traveled at different speeds, depending on where you happened to be. There was a critical

difference between the two, however. Any strength you gained while inside the Ancient Void Battlefield

would be wiped away as soon as you left the area, whereas with the time turbulent flows, this was not

the case.

"I understand now," he said. "I will enter the Starry Tower at once. Time waits for no one." And without

hesitation, he set out. He didn't want to lose a second.