Chapter 596: Chapter 378: Sixth Level

"It’s still not dead!"

Xu Yang clenched his fist and punched out. The strike blasted straight through the gatekeeper’s body, leaving it riddled with cracks.

The gatekeeper stiffened. A moment later, it shattered with a BANG, turning into a torrent that converged toward the center and reformed into its original state.

At the same time, the passage leading to the second floor appeared beside Xu Yang.

He muttered to himself, "I have to hold back my strength. I can’t clear the floors too fast."

He had already formulated a plan: he would clear the Seventh Layer, enter the eighth, and then immediately concede. This would ensure he made it onto the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List, placing just a bit behind Sun Tao. His rank couldn’t be too low, though. Positions like ninety-eighth or ninety-ninth could easily be overtaken by others.

Huo Xiaochen and the faction behind him hadn’t touched him yet because Huo Xiaochen was confident he could crush Xu Yang whenever he pleased, so there was no rush to kill him. But the moment Xu Yang displayed potential surpassing Huo Xiaochen, even if Huo Xiaochen wasn’t in a hurry, the Xiao Family definitely would be.

The Xiao Family had spent a fortune to buy Dragon Blood for Huo Xiaochen; they absolutely wouldn’t allow anyone to threaten him.

"He’s taking this long just on the first floor. Brother Jiang, you still dare to say Xu Yang can make it to the Seventh Layer?"

Lu Ren looked back at Jiang Fan. Qiu He and Wan He were both on the verge of reaching the third floor, yet Xu Yang was indeed still stuck on the first.

"Don’t be so quick to jump to conclusions about whether he can reach the Seventh Layer," Jiang Fan replied, shaking his head. "It’s his first time entering the Battle Tower, so it’s inevitable he’d waste some time testing the waters out of curiosity. Besides, different strategies result in different speeds for clearing the tower."

"He’s on the second floor!" Du Ziming suddenly spoke up.

Lu Ren turned his head and saw the text behind Xu Yang’s name distort for a moment, changing from the first floor to the second.

The environment on the second floor was no different from the first. The only change was that the number of gatekeepers had increased from one to two. The two gatekeepers glowed brightly, their coordination virtually flawless. Their auras and strength were identical to the gatekeeper on the first floor, but by joining forces, the Combat Power they displayed was vastly different.

The moment Xu Yang stepped out of the passage, the two gatekeepers lunged at him. Attacking from the left and right, their offense was airtight.

He suppressed his strength to match theirs and engaged them in a fierce battle. Even so, after a dozen moves, he killed the first gatekeeper, easily breaking their combined assault. It took him only five more moves to finish off the remaining gatekeeper and successfully step onto the third floor.

The three gatekeepers on the third floor didn’t just casually team up; they formed a battle formation, making their attacks even fiercer and faster. Xu Yang wasn’t in a hurry to clear the floor. He continued to suppress his strength as he fought, treating the encounter as a tempering exercise.

After a dozen exchanges, he took a few punches. Fortunately, his Physique was astounding, so he remained uninjured.

He entangled them using the Wandering Dragon Void Step. Over twenty moves later, he found an opening and punched straight through the throat of one of the gatekeepers, breaking their three-man formation. With the formation broken, there was no suspense left in the battle. After another dozen moves, he stepped onto the Fourth Layer.

The four gatekeepers on this floor also formed a battle formation. Unlike the third floor, however, this formation possessed the profound ability to borrow and share strength. With his power suppressed, Xu Yang was actually beaten back step by step.

"The Seventh Layer? As I see it, it’s still unknown if he can even reach the Sixth Layer."

Outside, seeing that Qiu He and Wan He had already reached the Sixth Layer while Xu Yang was still on the Fourth Layer, Lu Ren couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

"He’s just been resting on his laurels. In the past two months, everyone else has improved, but he’s been treading water," Du Ziming said with a sigh of relief.

Since Xu Yang had no faction funding him, his Cultivation naturally couldn’t keep pace with those who had powerful backing.

"With this clearing speed, let alone the Sixth Layer, he’ll be hard-pressed to even clear the Fifth Layer," Huo Xiaochen said, shaking his head. Having already challenged the Battle Tower himself, he knew full well that with Xu Yang’s current pace, there was a high probability he would be stopped at the Fifth Layer.

"It looks like Xu Yang doesn’t have what it takes."

"His rank on the Lingyun List seems a bit inflated."

"His rank wasn’t that high to begin with. The only reason he’s ranked nineteenth is because he has good Body Refining Talent and managed to defeat Wan He. As time passes, his disadvantages will gradually become obvious."

The crowd then remembered that Xu Yang’s original rank on the Lingyun List had been twenty-sixth. He had only climbed to nineteenth by relying on his formidable physical body to defeat Wan He. His overall talent still lagged behind people like Wan He and Qiu He. Coupled with his lack of resources, it was completely normal for his reputation to exceed his actual abilities.

"To think you would fail before we even had the chance to cross blows again." A flash of disappointment crossed Li Chuyang’s eyes.

Inside the Battle Tower.

He thought, "If I fight with the exact same strength and speed, it’s virtually impossible to win without a grueling battle of several hundred moves."

Xu Yang came to this conclusion after dozens of exchanges. The battle formation formed by these four gatekeepers was incredibly profound. If he continued fighting them with identical speed and power, it would take him at least a few hundred moves to even stand a chance of winning.

Naturally, he couldn’t afford to spend that much time clearing the Fourth Layer. If he dragged it out, his eventual push to the eighth floor would easily arouse suspicion, because under normal circumstances, no one would have that much stamina to spare.

"Then let’s try a Saber Technique!" he decided.

CLANG!

A crisp ringing echoed as Fenli sprang from its scabbard like a silver dragon, landing securely in Xu Yang’s one-handed grip. With the blade in hand, his entire demeanor shifted drastically, radiating a razor-sharp edge.

The four gatekeepers charged at him in formation. With a backhand swing, he unleashed a Sword Aura. One of the four gatekeepers leapt forward, its aura surging as it shattered the Sword Aura with a single punch.

Having fought them for so long, Xu Yang had already figured out a few characteristics of their battle formation; it had just been difficult to break using his Fist Technique.

The moment the Sword Aura exploded, his second strike slashed out like a bolt of lightning.

Extreme Prison Heaven-Slaying Technique! frⅇe

Having reached the Fifth Realm, his Extreme Prison Heaven-Slaying Technique was incredibly fast. Before one of the gatekeepers could even react, its head was sent flying.

With one of them dead, the formation was instantly broken.

Xu Yang executed the Wandering Dragon Void Step and rushed forward. The Sword Aura flashed, and as the fierce blade light swept out, another head was lopped off. A few breaths later, even while still suppressing his strength and speed, he made quick work of the remaining two gatekeepers.

On the Fifth Layer, the five gatekeepers were no longer unarmed. Each of them wielded a long saber. The moment Xu Yang stepped onto the floor, the five gatekeepers formed a saber formation and charged, a chilling, murderous intent blanketing the area.

"Sword Intent?" Xu Yang murmured.

This wasn’t an ordinary Saber Technique; it was a Saber Technique that had reached the Sword Intent Realm—fierce and swift. The Fifth Layer was likely another watershed moment. The Martial Technique Realm of the gatekeepers here was clearly higher than on the previous floors; their techniques had all reached the "Intent" Realm.

SWISH SWISH SWISH.

He slashed five times in rapid succession to deflect the five incoming streaks of blade light. But before he could even catch his breath, another storm of blade light rained down on him.

"I won’t be able to get past this floor without showing my true skills," he muttered.

The five gatekeepers, forming a saber formation with their martial techniques at the Sword Intent Realm, put a noticeable amount of pressure on him.

BOOM!

He stopped suppressing his strength and speed, allowing his Dragon Symbols Heart Scripture to circulate fully. A massive Sword Aura swept out, violent and domineering, blasting back the barrage of blade lights that had been aimed straight at him.

Within Xu Yang’s Heart Spirit, the Blood Saber cultivated through the Blood Prison Heart Blade Scripture buzzed and trembled.

At this moment, he moved!

A blood-red blade light flashed. Sword Intent, having reached the Severing Illusion Realm, burst from his body, freezing the gatekeepers in their tracks. Silently, the body of one gatekeeper split open before turning into streaks of light and dissipating into the air.

He thought, "If I use my Sword Intent, I can kill these gatekeepers with a flick of my wrist. Only an enemy at the Celestial Essence Third Layer can force me to use my full strength."

Xu Yang retracted his Sword Intent and relied solely on the techniques of the Extreme Prison Heaven-Slaying Technique to fight the remaining four gatekeepers.

Outside the Battle Tower.

With a flash of light, Qiu He—who had been the first to enter—appeared at the entrance of the Battle Tower. His face was deathly pale, portions of his robes had disintegrated, and blood stained the corners of his mouth.

Just like Wu You, who ranked seventeenth on the Lingyun List, he had been stopped at the Seventh Layer. In fact, he hadn’t even lasted as long as Wu You. He hurriedly looked at the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List, only to find no changes whatsoever. He had not made it onto the list.

An uproar swept through the crowd. If Qiu He, despite his high rank on the Lingyun List, couldn’t make it onto the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List, it meant that anyone ranked below him had absolutely no chance either.

"I really don’t know how those monsters managed to reach the eleventh floor," Qiu He muttered.

Having personally challenged the Battle Tower, Qiu He now understood just how terrifying the difficulty of reaching the eleventh floor truly was. The jump in difficulty between each floor wasn’t simply a matter of adding one more gatekeeper. The Combat Power of the gatekeepers on different floors was fundamentally different, to say nothing of their martial techniques and battle formations.

"Are you alright, Brother Qiu?"

His good friend Fan Yi stepped forward and helped him up. The two had barely taken a few steps when they suddenly sensed something unusual behind them.

Looking back, they saw Wan He, ranked twentieth on the Lingyun List, stumble out of the Battle Tower after suffering a defeat. He hadn’t even managed to enter the Seventh Layer, having been stopped at the Sixth Layer.

"I actually didn’t make it to the Seventh Layer," Wan He said, his face full of disbelief.

Before entering the Battle Tower, he had been confident that he could reach the Seventh Layer and even make a push for the eighth. He never expected that he wouldn’t even make it past the Sixth.

"Brother Qiu, you’re out too?"

Seeing Qiu He in front of him, he let out a sigh of relief. The fact that Qiu He had also been defeated meant the gap between them wasn’t too large.

"I was stopped at the Seventh Layer," Qiu He replied with a smile.

Wan He’s expression shifted slightly, and his gaze swept over the crowd. "Where is Xu Yang?" he asked.

After scanning the area and failing to spot Xu Yang, his heart sank. Could it be that Xu Yang had lasted longer than both him and Qiu He?

"Xu Yang is still on the Fifth Layer," Ge Zhiwen said with a laugh.

Still on the Fifth Layer?

Wan He hurriedly looked toward the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List. Sure enough, the text beside Xu Yang’s name still displayed the Fifth Layer. He had almost thought Xu Yang had surpassed him.

"Still on the Fifth Layer... I can’t believe I actually lost to someone like this last time," Wan He chuckled. He had engaged in a grueling battle on the Sixth Layer for a long time before failing. Given that Xu Yang was still stuck on the Fifth Layer at this point, the chances of him reaching the Sixth Layer were extremely slim.

"Xu Yang’s performance this time is indeed a bit unexpected," Qiu He said, shaking his head. Considering he was still on the Fifth Layer, Qiu He felt it was highly doubtful Xu Yang would even reach the Sixth Layer.

"Xu Yang has entered the Sixth Layer!" Zuo Mu shouted.

Everyone turned to look at the Celestial Strategy Wind and Cloud List. After a moment of distortion, the "Fifth Layer" next to Xu Yang’s name shifted to the "Sixth Layer."

"He actually managed to reach the Sixth Layer?" Lu Ren remarked, his expression betraying a hint of surprise.

"Don’t worry, he won’t last long. He’ll be beaten out very soon," Wan He said with a laugh. He had been eliminated on the Sixth Layer himself, so he knew that its difficulty was far beyond anything the Fifth Layer could compare to.

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