Outside the Tower. The Iron Blood Sect Encampment.
The air above the forest grew heavy, as if gravity had doubled.
A beam of blood-red light shot from the peak of the Iron Blood Sect, landing directly in front of the Tower's entrance.
The dust settled to reveal a middle-aged man in crimson armor. His eyes were like deep pools of blood, and the air around him twisted with heat.
"Sect Leader!"
The remaining Elders and disciples bowed low, their foreheads touching the dirt.
This was Ren Tianxing, the Sect Leader of the Iron Blood Sect. A powerhouse at the Late Stage of the Golden Core Realm.
"The heavens have descended upon our doorstep," Ren Tianxing rumbled, his voice suppressing the noise of the thousands gathered. "This Tower is our chance to rise to a Tier 3 Sect. Or... our grave."
Beside him stood an old man with a hunchback and a snake-headed cane—Grand Elder Gu, the hidden patron of the Tiger Faction (and the backer of the now-deceased Liu Ming and Deacon Zhao).
"Sect Leader," Elder Gu rasped, his eyes narrowing. "My soul jade indicates that my grand-nephew Liu Ming is dead. Killed instantly inside. There is a devil among our disciples."
"Death in the pursuit of opportunity is natural," Ren Tianxing dismissed him cold-heartedly. "Focus on the bigger picture."
Schwing!
Before Elder Gu could retort, a piercing sound tore the sky.
A massive blue sword, thirty meters long, descended from the clouds. Standing upon it were fifty cultivators dressed in azure robes, radiating sharpness.
"Hahaha! Old Ghost Ren! You didn't think you could hoard this treasure for yourself, did you?"
A man with a long white beard and a sword strapped to his back leaped off the giant flying blade. This was Jian Chen, Sect Leader of the Azure Sword Sect, their sworn rivals.
Ren Tianxing's expression darkened. "Jian Chen. You sniff out profit like a wild dog."
"The Tower belongs to the world," Jian Chen sneered. "My disciples are entering."
Within minutes, the news spread. It wasn't just the Azure Sword Sect. The Mystic Pill Valley, the Beast Taming Mountain, and even rogue cultivators from the capital were en route. The Tower had become the center of a storm.
Inside the Tower. The Threshold of Floor 2.
The surviving disciples of the First Floor—about three hundred of them—stood before a massive stone gate. The cheerful grass of the Verdant Plains ended here, replaced by cold grey stone.
On the gate, glowing golden words appeared:
[Floor 1 Cleared.]
[Survivors: 312.]
[Condition for Floor 2 Entry: None.]
[Condition for Floor 3 Advancement: "Ascension Jade."]
A projection appeared, showing a small, glowing green token.
[Rule of the Tower: Only 50 Ascension Jades exist on Floor 2. Only those holding a Jade may open the gate to Floor 3. The rest remain... forever.]
A chill ran through the crowd.
312 people. 50 tickets out.
This wasn't a trial. It was a culling.
"Only fifty?" A disciple trembled. "That means... we have to fight each other?"
Lin Fan stood at the front, reloading the magazine of his Desert Eagle. He had figured out that he could refill the 'bullets' by channeling his Qi into the magazine, though it drained him significantly.
"Simple," Lin Fan sneered, checking the weight of the gun. "I just need to kill enough people to ensure I get one."
He stepped through the gate.
Floor 2: The Caverns of Echoing Silence.
Lin Fan stepped through the portal and was immediately swallowed by absolute nothingness.
It was dark. Not the darkness of a night without a moon, but a supernatural, magical darkness that devoured light. Even with his cultivation eyes, Lin Fan could barely see his own nose.
"Damn," Lin Fan cursed. "I can't see."
He raised his hand. "Heaven-Devouring Flame!"
A small ball of black fire appeared in his palm (a trick of his technique). It cast a weak, flickering light, illuminating maybe three feet in front of him.
Click. Click. Click.
A sound echoed from the darkness. It sounded like dry teeth snapping together.
"Who's there?" Lin Fan pointed his Desert Eagle into the void.
SCREEECH!
Something fast lunged from the shadows.
Lin Fan reacted on instinct. He saw a blur of grey skin and fired.
BANG!
The gunshot was deafening in the enclosed cave. The echo bounced off the walls—BANG-bang-bang-bang—ringing like a church bell in hell.
The bullet hit something. A creature fell to the ground, thrashing.
Lin Fan lowered his black fire to look.
It was a humanoid creature, but its head had split open like a blooming flower of fungus. It had no eyes, only jagged teeth and sensitive fungal plates.
[Mob: Echo Ghoul (Clicker)]
[Level: 5]
[Trait: Blind. Hunts by Sound. Swarm Behavior.]
"Hunts by sound?" Lin Fan froze.
The echo of his gunshot was still fading.
Click... Click click... Click click click click.
The sound multiplied. First one. Then ten. Then a hundred.
From every direction in the darkness, the clicking sound erupted. The gunshot hadn't just killed one enemy; it had rung the dinner bell for the entire floor.
"Shit!"
Lin Fan aimed his gun, but he had no targets. He was blind. He spun around, sweat pouring down his face.
Whoosh.
A claw raked across his back.
"Argh!" Lin Fan spun and fired blindly. BANG!
He hit nothing but rock. The noise only drew them closer.
He was the Apex Predator on Floor 1. But here, he was a loud, blind idiot.
Two Hundred Meters Away.
Zhang Wei walked silently. He wore soft cloth shoes that made no sound.
In his hand, he held the Sun Scepter (Flashlight).
He kept the beam pointed at the floor, creating a circle of bright, clean white light.
The light revealed the horrifying Echo Ghouls crawling on the walls and ceiling. But here was the miracle: They didn't attack.
These creatures lived in total darkness. The pure, concentrated beam of the Sun Scepter caused them pain. When the light swept over them, they hissed and scurried away, retreating into the shadows.
"The light repels them," Zhang Wei noted, clutching the box with his sister inside closer to his chest. "As long as I keep the path lit, I am safe."
He saw other disciples screaming, lighting torches that were quickly snuffed out by the wind or swarmed by ghouls. He saw chaos.
Then, he saw the flashes of gunpowder.
BANG! BANG!
"That sound..." Zhang Wei frowned. "That is the Senior Brother with the Thunder-Wand."
He looked in that direction. He saw Lin Fan's muzzle flashes illuminating a desperate scene. Lin Fan was surrounded. He was firing wildly, wasting Qi, bleeding from multiple scratches.
"He will die," Zhang Wei thought. "His weapon is powerful, but it is too loud. It is a curse in this place."
Zhang Wei hesitated. Lin Fan had shoved him. Lin Fan had left a fellow disciple to die.
But Zhang Wei remembered his father's words: When you walk through hell, do not become a demon yourself.
Zhang Wei sighed. He aimed the Sun Scepter toward the gunfire.
CLICK.
A massive beam of light cut through the darkness, illuminating the swarm of Ghouls surrounding Lin Fan.
"SCREEEE!"
The Ghouls shrieked, blinded by the sudden radiance, and scattered into the rocks.
Lin Fan stood there, chest heaving, gun smoking. He blinked, his eyes adjusting to the sudden brightness.
He looked up the beam of light.
He saw Zhang Wei, standing calmly with the metal tube.
"Senior Brother," Zhang Wei called out softly. "Turn off your weapon. The noise brings death. Come to the light."
Lin Fan stared at him.
Relief washed over him, followed instantly by a darker, colder emotion.
He looked at his useless, loud gun. Then he looked at the Sun Scepter in Zhang Wei's hand.
That tube controlled the monsters. That tube was the key to this floor.
And Zhang Wei... was just a Stage 1 trash.
"The light..." Lin Fan whispered. The crazed look in his eyes returned.
He didn't holster his gun. He began to walk toward Zhang Wei.
"You're right, Junior Brother," Lin Fan said, his voice dripping with false gratitude. "The light is very useful. Why don't you... hand it to me for safekeeping?"
The Sovereign's Palace.
"And there it is," the Sovereign sighed, shaking his head.
"The divergence of the Dao," Unit Alpha observed. "The Woodcutter saves the Wolf. The Wolf sees the Lantern, not the Savior."
"This is the problem with 'System' users," the Sovereign muttered, popping another kernel of Spirit Corn. "They optimize the fun out of everything. He sees the flashlight as a 'Required Quest Item' and Zhang Wei as a 'Loot Box'."
"Shall I intervene?" Alpha asked. "The disparity in combat power is high. The Woodcutter will be slaughtered."
"No," the Sovereign leaned back. "Look closely at the Woodcutter's grip."
The screen zoomed in. Zhang Wei wasn't holding the flashlight loosely. His knuckles were white. His other hand was resting on the hilt of his rusty iron sword.
"The boy is kind," the Sovereign said, a dangerous smile forming. "But he is a woodcutter. He spends his life chopping down things that are taller and harder than him. If the Wolf tries to bite... he might find that the wood is harder than his teeth."