CHAPTER 75 THE FIRST FLOOR OF THE STARRY TOWER

Darren was struck dumb with astonishment. He followed the powerful voice and looked up.

He was greeted with a pair of formidable eyes full of power. In one of the two eyes, there was a black

sword, and in another, there was a white sword. They sparkled with a fearsome and cold aura. Darren

gazed in awe at the giant human-shaped shadow.

"I... I'm afraid I'm not qualified, sir," Darren stammered. NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.

The sword intent shooting from the pair of eyes was strong enough to tear Darren apart into pieces.

Darren knew the moment he accepted the challenge, it could kill him.

"Fight with me! Now!"

the shadow, however, ignored Darren's answer and merely repeated his request. In a flash, another

shadow appeared. It was like a copy of the giant one. Then the two increased to four, and then to

eight... In a matter of minutes, Darren found himself in a sea of a thousand shadows.

"What? He also has that skill of making clones of himself?"

Darren said in shock. He had been learning such a skill but it was not yet something he was able to

master.

On the other hand, Darren noticed something very important. The giant shadow's vital energy seemed

weakened after he exerted the skill. Suddenly, the giant one did not seem so powerful anymore.

'The skill he masters is different from the one I haven't succeeded in learning from the dragon race. His

vital energy decreases as his clones increase, ' Darren concluded.

At that very moment, the giant shadow's clones faded and disappeared one by one until only one was

left.

Darren knew what this meant. The cultivation base of the giant shadow was impossible to be

surpassed by anyone in the world. Even his clones were a million times stronger than Darren. That was

why the giant shadow did it. He created a clone whose cultivation base was more comparable to

Darren's. The one in front of him was what fulfilled the requirement.

Darren activated his vital energy, ready to fight against it. When he was about to launch his attack, an

unexpected change happened to him.

The clone attacked first. Before Darren could even react, a fierce force from the clone's blade intent

flew into Darren's head.

When it reached his meridians, the blade intent started to merge with his sword intent with the aid of

some unknown power. It was like magic. When that ended, a dark golden aura of internal force

appeared.

'How, how did that happen?' Darren thought, surprised to feel the aura in his body. He could tell that the

power of the aura was extremely aggressive. "Is that the fusion of my sword intent and the clone's

blade intent? Unbelievable!"

The strength of the internal force, however, began to surge in Darren's body.

At the same time, the clone took action. Two rays of his sword intent, a black one and a white one,

projected from his eyes and started gathering in the air. The two rays formed a colossal sword and

targeted Darren.

Darren looked up and drowned in the mass of desperation as he watched the approaching weapon.

Even though his cultivation base was as strong as the clone's, Darren froze with fear when he saw the

sword attack. The pressure also made it hard to breathe.

Despite his fear, Darren's instinct made him raise his sword to defend himself against the approaching

sword. If he did not move, he surely would have died.

Unexpectedly, the dark golden aura of internal force broke out. It was as powerful as the approaching

sword.

The impact of the two aggressive forces put the world in absolute silence.

In what felt like an eternity, the two forces exploded and turned to dust, fading into the wind. Suddenly,

the earth began to crack from the power of the forces. The cracks extended to ten miles in several

directions.

The ground on which Darren stood parted and sent him falling until he landed.

In the new place he found himself in, he saw that the ground was also cracked.

Darren vomited cups of blood.

"That was so powerful! It's too much for me to take," Darren said weakly.

The giant shadow followed as he gracefully fell from the air. He stared at Darren with intense eyes.

"The power of the clone was beyond your abilities but you were able to handle it well. Congratulations!

You have succeeded," he declared.

"If you still manage to live after eight thousand years, you may have the honor of joining my army to

fight against fiends and fight for our race!" he continued. Then, he faded.

The shadow disappeared as soon as he finished speaking. Darren, on the other hand, was left puzzled

and bewildered.

The ground started shaking again. Then, a dazzling white light appeared. It was so bright that Darren

had to shield his eyes with his arm.

...

When everything stopped shaking, Darren slowly put down his arm and opened his eyes. He was back

at the scenic place. The fragrance of the flowers around him filled his nostrils. It was refreshing. The

great lake was as peaceful as it was when he left it.

"Darren! You're back!" Elsa exclaimed excitedly when she found him. She rushed forth and hugged him

tightly. "Thank god! Thank god! I thought I'd never see you again! I thought..."

"I'm alright, Elsa! Don't cry! I'm back now!" Darren said, surprised by her unexpected embrace.

"Congratulations, Darren! For millenniums, no one has passed all the tests and come back alive. You're

the first in a long time who succeeded in both! To be honest, even I doubted your success.

Congratulations!" Mathew said. He was happy for Darren as well.

Darren got out of Elsa's hug and turned to Mathew. "I guess I'm just really lucky today. Also, thank you

for your advice, sir. It was crucial information. Without it, I wouldn't have made it," he coughed and

answered reverently.

"Haha, you are too modest, kid!" Mathew replied with a smile. He then turned serious again. "Darren,

although you have passed all the tests, you are still only allowed to enter the first and second floors of

the Starry Tower. This is an order from my master. As for master's inheritance, you are not yet allowed

to acquire it for now.

According to him, that inheritance will not yet be beneficial to you at present. You will only be qualified

to possess it when your cultivation base reaches at least the Wonder Realm."

Darren accepted the news calmly and quietly. Elsa, however, felt curious and confused.

She wanted to ask why, but before she could even open her mouth, Matthew cut her off. "No more

questions, little girl! I do not know why as well."

Elsa laughed. "Haha! Come on, sir! Sometimes, you can be such a killjoy," she said casually. They

spoke like old friends.

The two got to talk a lot while Darren was out for the tests. Else found Matthew to be a very kind man

who was very easy to talk to. She felt as if she were talking to her own grandpa.

"It's okay, Elsa. I understand the arrangement. I will come back here when my cultivation base is at

least at the Wonder Realm," Darren replied calmly.

Darren could figure out part of the reason why Mathew's master would make such an arrangement.

Only after he merged his blade and sword intents could he become qualified to acquire the inheritance.

He could make it after he entered the Wonder Realm. If he went to get the inheritance now, he might

fail --or worse, die.

'The fusion of the blade and sword intents turns out to be very crucial. Mathew's master seems to

attach a lot of importance to it, ' Darren concluded.

"Alright, now! I will send you to the Starry Tower. You can visit the first and second floors. Explore it as

much as you like! And you as well, little girl. I will send you into there as well. I think my master should

have no problem with that."

Mathew then activated his vital energy. In a split second, everything around them started to whirl and

fade away.

With a blink of an eye, Darren and Elsa found themselves in front of a tower seven stories high.

Walking into the first floor, both Elsa and Darren were filled with awe. Instead of a regular room, inside

was a vast expanse of land.

Darren could not help but marvel in it, 'Mr. Xiao's master is so powerful!'

"Oh my goodness. No wonder it is called the Starry Tower! Look up, Darren! All the stars are twinkling

in the sky! What a beautiful view! It's so amazing!" Elsa exclaimed. Under the starry sky, she opened

her arms and danced freely.

"Wow! These flowers smell so great!" Elsa wandered about like a little child.

"Flowers?" Darren picked one up and felt it in his hand. "It's a superior spiritual herb!"

"What?" Elsa's jaw dropped when she heard him. She picked a flower up and felt it as well. She froze

when she realized that he was right.

"Oh my god! You are right! It's a superior spiritual herb! There are so many superior spiritual herbs

here! What do we do now?" The boundless land of spiritual herbs filled her with awe and disbelief.

Suddenly, they became more absorbed in picking up superior spiritual herbs than in appreciating the

landscape.

"We are going to make a fortune!" Elsa cried out with excitement.

Since Elsa's talent recovered to her former level, her cultivation base had been improved and her poker

face had been removed. She was a cheerful and active girl now, just as good as new.

Elsa was overwhelmed with joy now. With a bunch of spiritual herbs in her arms, she began dancing

again under the starry sky.

Looking at her made Darren smile as well. Watching her was like watching a beautiful dream unfold. It

seemed too good to be true. A part of him feared that the vision in front of him would disappear any

second. So, he put all his attention on Elsa. He was determined to enjoy what was in front of him for as

long as it would last.