The Divine Nine-Dragon Cauldron

Bi Lingtian pondered Su Yu’s request for a moment. “Mo Jidao’s Book of Yin is expansive and profound. If Brother Su wishes to comprehend it alongside me, I’m more than willing to let you. I can give you a copy of the content.”

“However, Brother Su, your second condition is a rather unreasonable and imposing one! Tianyu belongs to our Heavenly Knife Region. Handing her over to you would ruin our reputation. I’m in no position to make decisions on that.”

Su Yu laughed coldly. “Why would I want her? She’s a piece of trash that has been defeated by the swords, and the Red Blood Palace doesn’t do recycling. We’re glad to see you treating her as a treasure.”

Tianyu was ashamed and vexed. She shot a violent look at Su Yu!

“Oh? Then why did you point her out?” Bi Lingtian asked.

Su Yu stared at Tianyu and slowly said, “I just want to ask her question. I hope she answers it honestly.”

A question? Bi Lingtian considered for a moment and nodded lightly. “Tianyu, answer it to the best of your ability.”

Tianyu was extremely displeased. “Ask!”

“My question is, how has Tian Renyao been doing?” A tinge of grief flashed through Su Yu’s eyes. Tian Renyao was the only one of the five great demons of the Demon Mountain whose whereabouts were unidentified, and he could possibly have been killed.

Tianyu was stunned for a second. After a bit of hesitation, she replied, “We’re not acquaintances.”

Su Yu nodded. “Alright, that’s all I wanted to ask.”

Bi Lingtian cast a look at Tianyu in bafflement, and said in turn, “Now we can rest and wait till the martial tower is opened.”

He raised a hand and tossed a jade pendant inscribed with the Book of Yin towards Su Yu.

“I want to proofread it with the original copy.” Su Yu blocked the jade pendant with his sleeve.

Bi Lingtian grasped the jade pendant and smiled. He squeezed it into pieces and inscribe another copy.

Apparently, the previous copy wasn’t a complete one.

Only after proofreading it with the original book and having ensured that the new jade pendant was totally identical was Su Yu satisfied. He leaned against the bottom of the tower with the people of the Red Blood Palace.

“Hey, why did you ask Tianyu about the Tian Renyao?” Bing Wuxin queried curiously.

Su Yu leaned against the wall of the martial tower. “It was just a theory but now, I am sure.”

“What was it?” Bing Wuxin gazed at Su Yu with her bright eyes, unwaveringly.

Su Yu replied very solemnly, “I’m not telling you.”

“Go to Hell!” She punched Su Yu’s arm with a pink fist.

Creak!

“Godda*n woman, aren’t you too violent? You’ve shattered my bones!”

“Get lost, it’s the martial tower being opened!”

Attracted by the unusual sound, the challengers from all across the place surged out from their respective camps on the mountain tops.

At a rough count, there were around 10,000 people.

The challengers that had congregated at this place accounted for more than half of the total sum of people. In other words, there were altogether more than 20,000 challengers.

“The geniuses are as numerous as dogs!” Su Yu remarked plaintively.

“Who are you calling a dog?” Bing Wuxin glared at him in displeasure.

“Hoof!” A dog’s bark happened to be heard at the moment.

Upon turning back to look, they saw a black dog sitting on the doorstep of the martial tower.

“Whose dog leash has gone loose?” Su Yu glanced around his vicinity.

“Hehe, who dares to put a leash on your dog grandfather?” Out of the blue, a sarcastic remark sprung from the dog’s mouth.

“Tsk, speaking human language? This isn’t really a novel thing! What’s novel is that a dog that has lost its owner wasn’t brought home by any kind, loving people at its most helpless of times. I am not clever, but I make it a point to fulfill an act of kindness a day and bring a little warmth to the world,” Su Yu said.

He extended his hands to capture the black dog as he spoke. But what popped up in his mind was actually a delicious dish. Even the Gods would be mesmerized by boiled dog meat.

The black dog bared its fangs. “Da*n your warmth! You’re thinking of dog meat, aren’t you? Aren’t you?”

Su Yu had a somber look on his face. “You’ve misunderstood. This good-looking young man before you practices veganism.”

“Get lost!” The black dog growled and ran off in a puff of smoke. It disappeared without a trace.

“Su Yuxian, who were you talking to?” Bing Wuxin shoved her way to him through the thronging crowds.

Su Yu shrugged. “A lost puppy. I was guiding it to search for the road of glory.”

“A black dog?” Bing Wuxin’s was perplexed. Shaking her head, she said, “The martial tower is about to be opened. Don’t get distracted. We’ll take advantage of the crowds and try our best to climb upwards.”

Su Yu wasn’t quite familiar with the martial tower.

“How does it work?”

Helpless, Bing Wuxin sighed. “I forgot that you’ve just arrived and that you’re still unfamiliar with the environment in the martial tower.”

Everyone else had arrived before Su Yu, and they were informed about some details of the martial tower by other challengers.

“The martial tower has three incredible aspects. First of all, it consists of a hundred stories, and each story has a story master with great power!”

“You can collect the corresponding points by defeating the story master, and the points gathered can be used to obtain rewards from the crystals left behind after the story master’s death!”

“Secondly, we’ll be in individual mode once we enter the tower! Thirdly, the time inside the tower is slower than normal. For the first 30 stories, the time is 30 percent slower than the outside world; for the next 30 stories, it’ll be slower by 60 percent. The time in the following 30 stories will be 100 percent slower.”

“For the final 30 stories, the time in one story will be one time slower than the previous! Hence, our body techniques will be severely restricted, and will experience a steep decline inside the tower.”

Su Yu marveled as he listened. The first two aspects sounded rather new and unique to him. But the last one came as a shock. The Power of Time actually existed inside the martial tower. This was the first time he came across treasures possessing the Power of Time, aside from himself.

“Alright, tell me in detail.”

Bing Wuxin gave a sigh. Despite her usual impatience, she explained things patiently. “After a story master is defeated, crystals will fall from them. The crystals are treasures designed in the past by the Mortal Fairy. They are similar to space rings and are capable of storing many treasures.”

“The worth of the treasures contained in the crystal in each story is equivalent to the corresponding number of stories. The higher you go, the more valuable the treasures in the crystal are! And for every story master you defeat, you can collect a certain amount of points, and the points collected can be used to activate the corresponding crystals,” Bing Wuxin explained.

“In that case, we should collect points in order to activate the crystal at the hundredth story?” Su Yu enquired.

Bing Wuxin rolled her eyes at him. “Carry on with your daydream! From the past till the present, the number of challengers who managed to negotiate all 100 stories can be counted on one hand! All of them became powerful beings like the Nine Prefecture’s Kings in the end!”

“Even starry sky elites like Han Fei will be lucky if they manage to negotiate 90 stories. That’s the uppermost limit!”

It seemed like obtaining the crystal at the hundredth level was a conceited fantasy.

“However, you were right about one thing. We have to collect points! The crystals of the lower stories won’t bring us great benefits, so there’s no need to waste your points!”

“We have to collect all the points, and eventually when the martial tower is about to close, we have to gather again. Everyone will display the higher-story crystals they obtain, and activate them at once, thus making the most out of the collected points.”

For example, if someone only managed to make their way to the tenth story, and had collected 55 points in total, then based on the sum of the collected points they had a chance to activate a 55th-story crystal.

But this person was unable to ascend to the 55th story, it didn’t necessarily matter. At this juncture, if a strong individual from the same faction had made their way to the 70th story, then they would have an excess of the crystals from the first 55 stories. The crystals could be gifted to the other person, and it would be a win-win situation!

“So that is it. How long will the martial tower remain open?” Su Yu asked.

Bing Wuxin said, “Based on past records, it’ll only be open for ten days each time.”

“If one manages to clear all levels within ten days, can they take up the challenge for the second time?” The thought suddenly occurred to Su Yu.

Bing Wuxin was taken aback. “You really are imaginative! Theoretically, it should be feasible, but considering the time constraint, the burnout experienced by the challengers and other aspects, then it’s extremely unlikely. Not even the past Prefecture’s Kings have accomplished it before.”

Su Yu’s eyes flickered. Was it definite that he could never succeed in the things which the Prefecture’s Kings had failed?