Chapter 593: Chapter 375: Battle Tower

The market at the Wu Family Castle was still too low-end. After spending half an hour browsing, Xu Yang couldn’t find any more of the Spirit Medicines he needed. He had spent less than a hundred Spirit Coins, mostly on low-grade Spirit Medicines that cost two or three coins each.

"I’ll just have to go to the city and pay a premium," he thought.

Stowing the Spirit Medicines away, Xu Yang turned and left the Wu Family Castle. He had expected someone to target him after buying so many Spirit Medicines, but surprisingly, no one followed him this time.

Heading straight into the city, he quickly found the Spirit Treasure Workshop.

"Welcome to the Spirit Treasure Workshop!"

As he stepped inside, the ten female attendants greeted him in crisp, clear voices. Shopkeeper Yan Bing also came over to welcome him.

"Welcome to the Spirit Treasure Workshop, sir. May I ask what you are looking for?"

Yan Bing’s voice carried its usual bewitching charm, but with Xu Yang’s cultivation having advanced a step further, he was no longer affected by it.

"Do you have the Tiger Essence Blood Marrow Pill?" Xu Yang asked.

Yan Bing nodded. "Tiger Essence Blood Marrow Pills are three Spirit Coins each. How many would you like?"

Xu Yang did some quick mental math. He still had nearly five hundred Spirit Coins. Aside from keeping some as a reserve, he could exchange the rest for resources. Of course, he couldn’t just buy Tiger Essence Blood Marrow Pills. He couldn’t solely train the Azure Dragon Dominating Body; he also needed to practice the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture.

"What about the Spiritual Essence Pill? How many Spirit Coins for one?" he asked.

Yan Bing smiled. "Spiritual Essence Pills are eight Spirit Coins each."

"I’d like to buy a large amount. Can you offer a discount?"

The price of the Tiger Essence Blood Marrow Pill was relatively normal, but the Spiritual Essence Pill was a bit expensive. He had asked around and knew that its market price usually fluctuated between six and seven Spirit Coins.

"How many do you want, sir?" Bargaining was completely normal. Yan Bing didn’t show any disdain, keeping a steady smile on her face.

Xu Yang replied, "I want forty Tiger Essence Blood Marrow Pills and forty Spiritual Essence Pills."

Yan Bing’s eyes lit up. "If you need that many, I can offer you a discount of twenty Spirit Coins."

Knowing this discount was about as good as it would get, Xu Yang readily paid the Spirit Coins and soon received his elixirs. This batch of elixirs would be enough to last him for over two months.

Returning to his courtyard, Xu Yang consumed an elixir and threw himself back into cultivation, living a secluded life.

More than ten days flew by in the blink of an eye.

[Formless Thousand Illusions Skill·Minor Achievement (9987/10000)]

Under his all-out cultivation efforts, his Formless Thousand Illusions Skill had reached the final few steps before breaking through to the Great Success Realm. However, while it looked like he was only a hair’s breadth away, this last bit was always the most difficult. He might not be able to cross this hurdle even if he spent another ten days to half a month on it.

Fortunately, he had his interface and didn’t need to slowly grind through this final bottleneck on his own.

"Add points to the Formless Thousand Illusions Skill," he commanded inwardly.

With a shift in Xu Yang’s thoughts, over a dozen points instantly vanished. Immediately after, a massive influx of comprehension regarding the Formless Thousand Illusions Skill surfaced in his mind.

"So this is the profound secret to altering the aura of a cultivation technique..." he mused.

He released his suppression of the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture, allowing its power to surge freely through his body. In an instant, the unique aura of the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture enveloped the entire secluded room. But as he circulated the Formless Thousand Illusions Skill at the Great Success Realm, the aura of the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture abruptly transformed into the aura of the Li Fire Technique he had previously cultivated.

The next moment, his aura shifted again, turning into that of the Purple Extreme Heaven-Burning Technique.

"It’s a pity it’s only at the Great Success Realm," he thought. "The Formless Thousand Illusions Skill can only mimic the Qi-Blood of the Purple Extreme Heaven-Burning Technique right now. If it reached the Perfection Realm, it could even mimic the color of Gang Yuan. That would be true Thousand Transformations."

Despite this, Xu Yang felt rather delighted. With the Formless Thousand Illusions Skill at Great Success, he could now use the Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture in front of others without ordinary people seeing through his true foundation. Only an old monster like the one in the Hidden Skills Hall would be able to see through him at a glance.

[Formless Thousand Illusions Skill·Great Success (2/15000)]

Waving a hand to close the interface, Xu Yang began to comprehend the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength. His Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength was also on the verge of Great Success. Once it reached that level, its combat power boost would be multiplied twofold.

"I’ll exchange for the subsequent parts of the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength in a while," he planned inwardly.

The academic credits he currently possessed were enough to trade for the next sections of the Eight Ferocious Hidden Dragon Strength. As a Secret Technique that amplified combat power, it was far more important than any standard Martial Technique. Of course, once the six-month period was up, he would be able to take on missions from the Celestial Strategy Academy to earn academic credits himself.

The next day arrived in a flash. Opening his eyes, Xu Yang looked at his interface with deep anticipation.

[Formless Thousand Illusions Skill Great Success, Points +100]

[Martial Arts Longevity Points: 3896]

"One hundred points. That’s enough," he thought.

He couldn’t help but reveal a hint of a smile. Having saved up until now, his points totaled nearly four thousand. He was finally confident he could upgrade his Spirit Bone in a single go.

"I shouldn’t rush it for now. The six-month period will end soon; I’ll wait until after I challenge the Battle Tower," he concluded.

Xu Yang suppressed the urge to immediately upgrade his Spirit Bone. He couldn’t afford to be impatient over just a day or two. The rankings on the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List were entirely based on one’s performance in the Battle Tower. Since this would be the first time for them new students to challenge the Battle Tower, there would inevitably be a lot of eyes on them. Old monsters like the one in the Hidden Skills Hall might even be watching.

In front of such experts, even using a Secret Technique to hide his Spirit Bone would be useless due to the massive gap in their realms. It was safer to wait until the rankings of the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List were released before upgrading his Spirit Bone.

After washing up, Xu Yang changed into a set of martial attire, shifted his aura to match the Li Fire Technique, and hurried to the classroom.

After a month of cultivation, it wasn’t just his cultivation that had improved. Everyone else’s cultivation had undergone significant changes as well. The entire classroom was permeated with a palpitating aura. Lu Ren, who had not yet broken through to the Celestial Essence Second Layer, sat with a flushed red face, feeling as though a massive boulder was pressing down on his chest.

"Brother Jiang, Senior Brother Sun."

Xu Yang greeted Sun Tao and Jiang Fan with a smile before taking his seat. As for Lu Ren sitting nearby, he had long since grown distant from Xu Yang and Sun Tao, so Xu Yang naturally didn’t bother speaking to him.

As the rest of the students gradually arrived, Jin Yu soon made his appearance.

"There will be no class today. Your task is to challenge the Battle Tower and fight for a ranking on the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List," Jin Yu said, his voice carrying a trace of a smile. With that, he directly turned and left the classroom.

Everyone stood up from their meditation cushions, surging with battle intent. They could finally go and challenge the Battle Tower! As the three great cores of the Celestial Strategy Academy, they had already experienced the Spirit Tower and the Martial Tower, leaving only the Battle Tower. However, since their new student period hadn’t ended, they previously didn’t have the qualifications to challenge it.

Following Jin Yu out of the classroom, the group discovered that it wasn’t just Basic Class A—all the basic-level students were filing out of their respective classrooms and heading toward the location of the Battle Tower.

Excitement was plastered across everyone’s faces. The Battle Tower not only determined the rankings on the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List, but it was also a place to hone their combat skills. Every student in the Celestial Strategy Academy had the opportunity to enter the Battle Tower twice a month for combat training. The end of the six-month new student period meant they could finally begin enjoying this benefit. Furthermore, if they felt that two attempts weren’t enough, they could use academic credits to exchange for more opportunities to enter the tower.

The Battle Tower was located in a corner of the Celestial Strategy Academy. It was a giant, over two-hundred-foot-tall tower that gleamed with radiant light, completely engraved with mysterious runes. It stood tall in the center of a wide-open plaza, endlessly absorbing the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth.

Xu Yang looked up. The Battle Tower had eighteen layers in total, and the higher it went, the denser the runes became. Next to the Battle Tower stood a ten-foot-tall ancient stone stele densely packed with names. This was exactly the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List. After challenging the tower, if a student’s score ranked in the top one hundred, their name would appear on this ancient stele.

"The new students are starting to challenge the tower."

"Some people are going to get squeezed off the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List."

"It’s about time we stop letting those mediocre placeholders enjoy the resources of the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List. Their free half-year ride is over."

Seeing Xu Yang and the flock of basic-level students, the senior students nearby began to discuss animatedly. The Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List only held one hundred names. If someone new made the list, someone else would naturally fall off it.

"Keep your Waist Tokens on you!" Jin Yu waved his hand, signaling the crowd to stop. "The Battle Tower can accommodate three people training at the same time. Who wants to go first?"

As soon as he spoke, everyone tacitly turned their gazes toward Qi Ning, Li Xun, and the other Spirit Bone Celestial Prides. With such geniuses present, very few dared to make a fool of themselves by stepping up first.

"I’ll go first!"

The number one genius on the Lingyun List, Qi Ning, took large strides toward the Battle Tower’s entrance. He wore a blue robe adorned with cloud patterns and crying cranes. The Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth ceaselessly swarmed into his body, creating an astonishing spectacle.

"That must be why he’s ranked number one," Xu Yang thought.

Xu Yang noticed that the Spirit Bone Celestial Prides, like Leng Qiuyue and Li Xun, absorbed Spiritual Qi from heaven and earth at varying levels of density during their normal states, corresponding to their respective rankings on the Lingyun List. As the first place holder, Qi Ning had the thickest Spiritual Qi coiling around him, followed by Leng Qiuyue and then Li Xun.

"Spirit Bones also vary in strength. The talents of these Spirit Bone Celestial Prides aren’t all exactly the same," Xu Yang reflected.

A book he had read introducing Spirit Bones mentioned that they were actually divided into four tiers: Low Grade, Middle Grade, High Grade, and Top Grade. Of course, he only knew that this classification existed. He didn’t know the exact grade of the Spirit Bones possessed by people like Qi Ning and Leng Qiuyue. However, judging by the gap between them, the difference in their Spirit Bones didn’t seem to be very large.

Not far away, with a faint flash of light, Qi Ning vanished into the Battle Tower’s entrance.

"That’s the number one of this year’s Lingyun List, the Spirit Bone Celestial Pride, Qi Ning. I wonder which layer he’ll reach."

"For a Spirit Bone Celestial Pride like him, he’ll clear at least ten layers on his first attempt. He’ll definitely make it onto the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List."

The surrounding senior students gossiped. From their chatter, Xu Yang heard that the Battle Tower had a total of eighteen layers, and under normal circumstances, merely reaching the Seventh Layer would be enough to squeeze onto the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List.

"Reaching the Seventh Layer is enough to get on the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List. I wonder how difficult that actually is," Xu Yang pondered, deciding to observe for a while longer.

At the same time, as Qi Ning’s figure disappeared into the Battle Tower’s entrance, a burst of light rippled at the base of the ancient stele. Immediately after, Qi Ning’s name appeared on it.

[Qi Ning, First Layer]

Almost the instant those words appeared, the ancient stele warped again, and the text shifted from the First Layer to the Second Layer.

BOOM!

Seeing this, the senior students erupted in an uproar.

"As expected of the number one Spirit Bone Celestial Pride! He actually reached the Second Layer in a matter of breaths."

"That’s too fierce. It usually takes me half a quarter of an hour to pass the First Layer."

"Looking at this trend, I’m afraid Qi Ning might blow past the tenth layer."

"He’s ranked first on the Lingyun List. He’s practically guaranteed to step onto the Final Dragon Platform. Did you think that was a joke?"

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