novelraw Chapter 733: Tower of Heaven, Golden Dao Fruit!
Chapter 733: Tower of Heaven, Golden Dao Fruit!
A month later, the second round of the grand competition began.
This month, Ning Fan had a relatively peaceful time, without Yao Qingyun’s trouble and Fei He’s schemes.
The other 999 qualifiers had already been selected by lottery and were busy healing their injuries.
When the Slaughter Hall announced that the qualifiers would be selected by lottery, countless old monsters voiced their opposition.
Unfortunately, a cold glance from the Minghai Celestial King silenced all dissenters.
Ning Fan did not care whether there were other qualifiers.
After the first round of the grand competition, he had swept through his peers; these people could not be a stumbling block for his entry to the Slaughter Hall.
The only somewhat tricky Bei Qinghan had already left.
If nothing unexpected happened, he would join the Slaughter Hall as he wished.
Of course, until he truly joined the Slaughter Hall, everything must be handled cautiously to avoid any pitfalls.
Holding the latest intelligence, Ning Fan frowned slightly.
The content of the second round of the grand competition turned out to be the challenge of the Tower of Heaven.
The Tower of Heaven is the trial ground for the disciples of the Slaughter Hall. Normally, a disciple must spend a large amount of Slaughter Value to get the chance to challenge the Tower of Heaven.
After all, it costs a huge sum of Dao Crystals to open each level of the Tower of Heaven.
The higher the level of challenge, the more Slaughter Value it costs, and the greater the benefits one gets.
This is a treasure land for improving cultivation levels! It’s greatly beneficial for Void Fragmentation, Fate Immortal, and even True Immortal!
The rules for the second round of the grand competition are very simple. Everyone starts from the first level, and the top hundred scores advance to the third round.
It is said that initially, the second round was not a challenge to the Tower of Heaven, but the Minghai Celestial King changed the content on a whim.
Letting a thousand participants challenge the Tower of Heaven costs at least trillions of Dao Crystals.
One must say, the Minghai Celestial King has a grand gesture.
Some say the Minghai Celestial King changed the content because he had his eyes on a participant, offering an opportunity in disguise.
Others say the Minghai Celestial King’s move is meant to pacify the other old monsters because too many participants were injured in the first round of the grand competition, causing complaints from many of their elders.
The reason why the Minghai Celestial King suddenly changed the content is unknown.
The Tower of Heaven is located in the Slaughter Blood Palace and is so high it can’t be seen from the top, with a total of 210 levels.
The body of the tower is blood-colored, covered in ancient formation patterns, and Ning Fan’s Dao of formations skills couldn’t penetrate the mystery of those patterns.
Under the foundation of the tower are buried billions of Dao Crystals, and each time someone enters the Tower of Heaven, Dao Crystals are consumed.
The higher the level the entrant reaches, the more Dao Crystals are consumed.
By the time Ning Fan arrived, the two platforms and the sky were already full of old monsters, all gazing at the Tower of Heaven with fiery envy.
For even Shedding Void Stage and Shattered Thought Realm True Immortals to gaze with burning eyes, one can imagine how tempting the opportunities in the Tower of Heaven are.
The Inner City was already rebuilt, and behind Ning Fan stood the other 999 participants, all keeping a considerable distance from Ning Fan, looking at him with awe and fear.
Among the second round participants, there were many cultivators with Shattered Seven or Fracture Eighth cultivation.
They weren’t the best in strength but had good fortune to have made it, advancing to the second round.
Yu Kun and Chi Zhen also entered the second round. These two remaining Fate Immortal participants looked at Ning Fan with the same sense of awe.
Yu Kun knew he was no match for Ning Fan, and Chi Zhen could only smile bitterly at the sight of Ning Fan’s back, losing all desire to challenge.
Ning Fan remained silent, waiting for the competition to begin.
Not long after, Qiantuzi and a group of Ghost-faced Assassins led Ning Fan and the other thousand participants into the Blood Palace, heading to the base of the Tower of Heaven.
The location of the Tower of Heaven is unveiled, allowing external old monsters to explore with their spirit sense.
The Minghai Celestial King sat on the jade platform, sipping Spiritual Wine, smiling slightly as he gazed at Ning Fan in the distance.
"I wonder how many levels this child can climb..." the Minghai Celestial King murmured to himself.
Yao Qingyun’s gaze was cold, sometimes looking at Ning Fan’s back with a faint enmity but more so with puzzlement.
"In the third round of the grand competition, I have also changed the content to open the Ancient Altar, do you understand?" the Minghai Celestial King’s voice, with a hint of reproach, suddenly transmitted to Yao Qingyun’s ear.
Yao Qingyun was suddenly stunned, finally closing her eyes with a sense of desolation, expressing bitterly.
"Thank you, Great Elder."
The Minghai Celestial King nodded with satisfaction; those on the Path of Killing must be clear about their benevolence and grudges.
Grace is grace, enmity is enmity.
The Yao Family had no grace towards Yao Qingyun but rather had enmity.
Ning Fan’s slaughter of the Yao Family had no enmity but held grace for Yao Qingyun.
All along, it was Yao Qingyun who was stubborn about the enmity.
Logic can be made clear, emotions are hard to define right or wrong, difficult to distinguish truth from falsehood.
In the Minghai Celestial King’s view, there is nothing wrong with Yao Qingyun being emotional, but she shouldn’t spend these emotions on a former enemy.
She shouldn’t forget the humiliation of that day.
If one can’t even sort out past grace and enmity, they are unqualified to become an elder of the Slaughter Hall.
As time passed, when noon came, Qiantuzi began to announce the rules of the second round of the grand competition.
"For the second round of the grand competition, all of you young friends will have the honor of entering the Tower of Heaven. One person can enter at a time, and the order of entry is based on the lottery numbers drawn earlier. Once one person’s challenge is complete, the next person may enter. For the first ten levels of the Tower of Heaven, each level cleared increases the score by 10,000 points. From the eleventh to the twentieth level, each level cleared increases the score by 20,000 points. From the twenty-first to the thirtieth level, each level cleared increases by 40,000 points. The point increase doubles for every ten levels higher."
"You may stay on each level for a maximum of one day. If you do not clear a level within a day, the challenge ends. If defeated by the Golden Men inside, the challenge ends. If you forfeit, the challenge ends."
"Any opportunity obtained inside the tower may be kept. The second round of the grand competition does not restrict any Divine Skills."
"Now, the second round of the grand competition begins! Number 1, start the challenge, Number 2 prepare!"
As Qiantuzi finished speaking, a participant holding the number 1 jade slip stepped excitedly from the crowd.
He was a cultivator of the Crumbled Void Seventh Layer!
Ning Fan watched this person enter the tower, frowning deeply.
The reason for the frown was because he did not have a jade slip and was not selected by the lottery.
This means he must wait for the 999 lottery participants to finish their challenges before he can begin his.
As far as Ning Fan knew, each level of the Tower of Heaven was guarded by Golden Men, though their specific cultivation was unknown.
In his view, a participant should at least clear several levels.
With a maximum stay of one day per level, a single person could take several days to complete their challenge, possibly lasting over ten days for some more powerful ones.
By this logic, wouldn’t the second round of the grand competition last several years or even decades?
Nuan’er’s body couldn’t withstand such a lengthy delay...
"Ah!"
A scream shattered all of Ning Fan’s worries.
It showed that the first entrant of the Shattered Seven prodigies was sent out of the Tower of Heaven, covered in blood, by a golden light, coughing blood all the way.
He held a jade slip with the Life Immortal Realm’s power but had no chance to use it...
Hiss!
Countless gasps sounded among the crowd.
Ning Fan’s eyes also narrowed slightly.
In the second round of the grand competition, Yao Qingyun seemed to have turned over a new leaf, not causing trouble and not adding any rules to make things difficult for Ning Fan.
This round of the grand competition did not restrict Divine Skills; participants could use jade slips gifted by elders.
Even so, that Shattered Seven prodigy only stayed on the first level of the Tower of Heaven for a brief moment before being blasted out by the first level’s Golden Man...
Was it the high level of cultivation or the mysterious Divine Skills of that Golden Man, that left no time for the Shattered Seven cultivator to use his Life Immortal Realm jade slip, directly blasting him into serious injury?
"It seems this Tower of Heaven is far more difficult than I imagined; it probably won’t take much time for a thousand people to finish the challenge."
Indeed, as Ning Fan predicted, the number 2, 3, and 4 lottery participants each only stayed in the tower for a brief moment before being blasted out by the Golden Men.
The number 5 participant was a Loose Immortal cultivator holding a Life Immortal Realm jade slip, seeming to know some secrets of the Tower of Heaven’s challenge, entering the Tower of Heaven with an extremely cautious expression.
Upon entering the tower, he unhesitatingly summoned a Fate Immortal jade scroll and successfully reached the second level, but was immediately blasted out by the gold elemental spiritual power on the second level.
When he passed the first level, a magnificent golden light emerged from the tower.
"Still... not bad..." The Loose Immortal prodigy who was expelled from the Tower of Heaven by the golden light fell to the ground covered in blood, looking at the shimmering first level of the tower with a satisfied smile.
He knew how difficult it was to challenge the Tower of Heaven, and just passing the first level meant he had a good chance to enter the top hundred and advance to the third round.
And having passed the first round, he had already received plenty of opportunities and was content!
At this location, there were over 400 Loose Immortal prodigies, with the remainder being Shattered Seven and Fracture Eighth cultivators.
The prodigies below the Loose Immortal level rarely broke through the first level of the Tower of Heaven, even with stored attacks of the jade slip given by their elders.
Even among the Loose Immortal prodigies, not everyone could break through the first level.
Only two hours had passed, and 800 people had completed their challenges.
Among these 800 people, only 47 had passed the first level, 12 had passed the second level, and only three had passed the third level.
"Um... for these participants, isn’t the Tower of Heaven’s difficulty way too high? In my humble opinion, less than a hundred will pass the first level," an elder of the Slaughter Palace sighed.
"Passing the first level counts as qualified to advance to the third round. If there aren’t enough qualifiers, they’ll draw lots to fill the hundred spots," the Minghai Celestial King smiled.
"Drawing lots again..." The elder was speechless but dared not contradict the Minghai Celestial King’s orders.
Number 845 was Ning Fan!
Ning Fan’s life-bound magical treasure, the Smoke Moon Blade, was destroyed by Ning Fan, impairing his strength significantly. But being a Fate Immortal at the early Human Profound stage, a starved camel is still bigger than a horse, and he would not stop like other Loose Immortals at the first three levels!
He entered the Tower of Heaven with utmost confidence. Soon, the first level’s golden light shone brightly, followed by the second and third levels lighting up completely.
Almost without any pause, Ning Fan burst through to the tenth level, all of the first ten levels of the tower radiating golden light!
At the eleventh level, Ning Fan seemed to linger for quite some time but eventually overcame the gold elemental spiritual power of the eleventh level.
At the eleventh level, the tower’s golden light shone once more.
After a while, the twelfth level finally bathed in golden light.
Then, two hours passed before Ning Fan, blood-soaked and heavily injured, was expelled by the golden light from the Tower of Heaven, yet with a joyful expression on his face.
It seemed he had gained considerable fortune from the Tower of Heaven, his aura having strengthened notably.
"This one is a Loose Cultivator and doesn’t have any trump divine skills granted by elders, yet can pass the twelfth level. It’s quite impressive. If it were in previous years, this one would have had enough qualification to join the Slaughter Hall, but unfortunately, there are stronger individuals this time."
The Minghai Celestial King looked at Ning Fan with a smile yet not a smile.
From beginning to end, the only one who piqued his interest was Ning Fan.
After Ning Fan, over a hundred more participants entered the Tower of Heaven.
When it was number 977’s turn, Chi Zhen stepped out from the crowd and entered the Tower of Heaven.
Like Ning Fan, Chi Zhen swiftly passed through the first ten levels without almost any delay.
At the eleventh level, Chi Zhen took about twenty breaths to overcome.
At the twelfth level, Chi Zhen took about a hundred breaths to pass.
At the thirteenth level, Chi Zhen spent the time of one incense stick to pass.
At the fourteenth level, Chi Zhen took two hours to overcome.
At the fifteenth level, Chi Zhen seemed to have fallen into a bitter struggle and had to use trump divine skills.
Thus, Chi Zhen swiftly cleared fifteen levels and proceeded upward, reaching the eighteenth level.
In the eighteenth level, Chi Zhen fell into another fierce battle, taking two hours to finally pass and ascend to the nineteenth level.
Ultimately, he regrettably lost at the nineteenth level.
When Chi Zhen was expelled, soaked in blood, from the Tower of Heaven by the golden light, many old monsters were moved.
Behind Chi Zhen followed three life-bound demon pets, all being True Spirit Vermilion Birds!
"This one cultivates the Siyao Sect’s ’Demon Mastery Scripture’. The more life-bound demon pets one has, the more powerful their divine abilities. In the Siyao Sect’s history, there have only been a few who could tame a third life-bound demon pet. This child is a rare talent. The Siyao Sect likely sent him here hoping he could join the Slaughter Hall to erase the previous offense against us. If in previous years, this one undoubtedly had the strength to claim first place, but unfortunately, Ning Fan is here this year."
Minghai Celestial King chuckled, his gaze seemed able to see through everything.
His gaze gradually turned serious; he only wanted to see Ning Fan alone challenge the tower, and it was almost Ning Fan’s turn!
After Chi Zhen finished his challenge, 22 remaining lot-drawers quickly completed their challenges.
Among the 999 lot-drawers, only 75 people had at least passed one level of the tower, gaining eligibility for the third round.
Ning Fan looked up at the towering blood-red tower, his heart remained calm and undisturbed, as he stepped into the blood-colored light gate of the Tower of Heaven amidst the gaze of countless people.
The world knew Ning Fan’s strength was unparalleled among his generation, and his tower-challenge result would naturally be the best among thousands.
However, no one knew what kind of achievement Ning Fan would accomplish, how many levels he could break through.
Upon entering the light gate, he found himself in a golden palace. The interior of the tower had its own space, and this golden palace had an expanse of a million zhang, equally reaching a height of a million zhang.
The moment Ning Fan stepped into the gold palace, a chilling murderous intent locked onto him!
A flash of golden light, a golden-armored gigantic body with cultivations comparable to that of Loose Immortals, executed spirit sense movements with terrifying speed, instantly casting incredibly complicated and profound finger shadows.
In a moment, seven layers of golden palm prints stacked into the palm, merging as one.
The golden-armored gigantic body struck down with a Hand Seal, its palm print imbued with daunting celestial power, as if it wanted to pierce through heaven and earth!
The golden-armored gigantic body’s strike was too fast! Non-Fate Immortal cultivators simply couldn’t defend against this kind of divine skill palm print!
Ning Fan’s gaze flickered slightly. No wonder so many prodigies couldn’t even summon their jade slip before being blown out of the Tower of Heaven.
This golden-armored gigantic body truly is formidable; even for an ordinary early Human Profound Fate Immortal, dealing with its palm print wouldn’t be easy!
"Burn!"
With a step, the golden floor suddenly shattered in pieces, and eighteen black fire dragons shot out from beneath the ground, incinerating the golden palm print completely before torching the golden-armored gigantic body instantaneously!
Following the incineration of the golden-armored gigantic body, a golden fruit slowly appeared where it perished.
Ning Fan’s gaze changed slightly as he reached out to seize the golden fruit.
This was a Void Fragmentation Realm Dao Fruit, yet it was different from the ordinary ones.
This was of extremely pure mana, which could be directly consumed without spending time to refine!
Furthermore...
Ning Fan fell into silence for a moment, then suddenly swallowed the golden fruit.
In a split second, although his mana had already reached the utmost of the first step, it unexpectedly increased a little!
For the current Ning Fan, the mana increase from a Void Fragmentation Realm Dao Fruit was too insignificant.
However, the mystery of this golden dao fruit was that it could allow Ning Fan to push past the limits of his mana!
At this moment, Ning Fan seemed to comprehend something.
The gold fruits chopped from within the Tower of Heaven could not only enhance mana but also elevate a cultivator’s mana limit!
Those who attained immortality without relying on an Immortal Seed were formidable because their mana limit surpassed Immortal Seed cultivators by thirty percent!
Among the same rank, non-Immortal Seed cultivators always had thirty percent more mana than Immortal Seed cultivators, naturally making them considerably stronger!
The ability of this golden dao fruit to raise the mana limit meant its value and significance far exceeded ordinary dao fruits.
Now, what Ning Fan was quite concerned about was whether this golden dao fruit appeared with every slain golden-armored gigantic body or was like regular dao fruits that appeared only by chance?
With curiosity in his heart, Ning Fan blurred into motion, flying into the Teleportation Formation to the second level.
In the second level, there were two Loose Immortal Golden Men!
The moment Ning Fan emerged, both Golden Men frantically executed spirit sense, merging seven handprints into one and striking towards Ning Fan with Sky Covering Golden Palm.
What strength was Ning Fan? Naturally, he feared no mere duo of Loose Immortal Golden Men.
With a flick of his finger, black flames consumed the heavens, rendering both handprints and Golden Men to ash.
After the Golden Men were incinerated, two golden dao fruits slowly manifested.
Ning Fan beckoned with a bent palm, calling the two dao fruits into his hand and swallowing them in a single gulp.
His eyes flashed with determination!
All the Golden Men within the Tower of Heaven could yield golden dao fruits!
It was no wonder countless old monsters craved the Slaughter Hall’s Tower of Heaven so much—this was the reason! (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to vote for recommendations and monthly tickets on qidian.com, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)