“Reach the Rebirth Realm,” Crimson Rift answered bluntly. “Every certain number of years, experts from the Chronospace Lineage come here, and anyone who has reached the Rebirth Realm may leave with them.”
Li Yun’s expression did not improve. His current cultivation was a long way from that realm. Even if he did reach it eventually, there was no telling how long it would take.
“What about the third way?”
Crimson Rift’s expression stayed indifferent.
“The third can be considered easier than the second, and it can also be considered much harder. You must clear the Everlasting Pagoda. Anyone who clears all three of its floors earns the right to leave Chronospace Island.”
“Three floors?” Li Yun raised an eyebrow.
Compared with the Supreme Path Pagoda and the Infinite Battle Pagoda that he had been through before, three floors sounded surprisingly few.
Crimson Rift sneered at once.
“Only three? Ask anyone who lives here how many people have passed even the second floor.”
Feng Xuan gave a bitter laugh.
“Don’t underestimate it, Brother Li. There are more than three thousand cultivators living on Chronospace Island right now, and only thirty-six of them have ever cleared the first floor.”
Li Yun’s eyes narrowed as Feng Xuan went on.
“Of those thirty-six, only one has cleared the second floor. As for the third floor, nobody living here now has ever passed it. The last person known to have cleared all three floors did it about sixty thousand years ago, and before that you would have to go back roughly three hundred thousand years to find another.”
Li Yun finally understood the scale of the challenge. Everyone who entered Chronospace Island had unusual talent. Yet out of more than three thousand such people, only thirty-six had cleared the first floor, only one had passed the second, and none had cleared the third. The difficulty was obviously monstrous.
Feng Xuan, Elder Han, and Elder Gu had all reached the Dao Resonance Realm. Even if it had taken them an enormous amount of time to get there, their talent could hardly be called ordinary.
A person’s aptitude had limits, and once those limits were used up, cultivation would stall. Anyone who could eventually enter the Dao Resonance Realm clearly had tremendous potential.
People like Huang Tianlin and Drunken Monk might reach that realm one day if they lived long enough and met with no major setbacks. Those slightly below them, such as Man Cang, Xie Wushang, and Luo Zhenting, might barely reach the Dao Resonance Realm at the very limit of their potential. Someone around Monk Yiming’s level, on the other hand, might stop at the perfection stage of the 9th level of Spirit Manifestation Realm and never cross over.
Li Yun looked at Feng Xuan.
“Brother Feng, have you cleared the first floor?”
“No,” Feng Xuan said with a smile, showing no embarrassment. “That’s actually why I eventually chose to enter the Dao Resonance Realm.”
Li Yun looked confused, so Feng Xuan explained.
“The Everlasting Pagoda adjusts its trials to the challenger’s cultivation. The challenge faced by someone in the Spirit Manifestation Realm is easier than the one faced by someone in the Dao Resonance Realm. Because of that, many people deliberately hold their cultivation at the perfection stage of the 9th level of Spirit Manifestation Realm, hoping to clear the first floor before they advance. Most of them still fail.”
He sighed.
“In the end, I accepted that I had almost no hope as long as I stayed in the Spirit Manifestation Realm, so I broke through. I pinned what hope I had left on the secret techniques that become available after reaching the Dao Resonance Realm.”
“Secret techniques?” Li Yun asked, his interest growing.
Feng Xuan nodded.
“Without the techniques available on Chronospace Island, most of us would have almost no chance of clearing even the first floor. There are one hundred and eight secret techniques here. Nine of them are high-level secret techniques, which can only be earned through accomplishments inside the Everlasting Pagoda. Thirty-six are middle-level secret techniques, which you can acquire by passing certain floors of the pagoda or by reaching specific cultivation milestones such as the Dao Resonance Realm or the Rebirth Realm. There are also sixty low-level secret techniques. Those are recorded on the Chronospace Jade Wall, and anyone living here may study them.”
Li Yun noticed something right away.
“Nine plus thirty-six plus sixty is one hundred and five, but you said there are one hundred and eight. What are the other three?”
It was Crimson Rift who answered.
“The three Supreme Secret Arts.” His tone grew colder. “You are not yet qualified to ask how they are obtained. If you clear the Everlasting Pagoda or reach the Rebirth Realm, then you may ask.”
He looked away.
“I have explained enough. For anything else, ask the people who live here. From this point on, your progress depends on you.”
Crimson Rift stepped forward, turned into a streak of crimson light, and disappeared.
Feng Xuan let out a long breath, and the tension visibly left his shoulders. Crimson Rift clearly put a great deal of pressure even on him.
“Come on,” he said with a smile. “I’ll take you to the Everlasting Pagoda.”
His expression became a little complicated.
“You’re in a strange position. In general, the lower your cultivation is, the easier the adjusted challenge becomes. Most people believe that those in the Spirit Manifestation Realm have the best chance of clearing the pagoda. For those of us in the Dao Resonance Realm, the difficulty is almost unreasonable. Yet your cultivation is even below the Spirit Manifestation Realm. I really don’t know whether that makes you lucky or unlucky.”
Feng Xuan flew ahead, and Li Yun followed. The Dao Resonance Realm expert deliberately slowed down so that Li Yun could keep up, and before long they arrived.
Li Yun raised his head. The Everlasting Pagoda had only three floors, yet it towered tens of thousands of feet into the sky. Mysterious light flowed across its surface, and an ancient pressure surrounded it. Even Li Yun’s soul reacted instinctively, and for a moment he felt the urge to bow before the structure.
The pagoda seemed to have existed since the beginning of time, yet nothing about it looked worn. It gave the impression that it would remain unchanged even if mountains crumbled and civilizations vanished.
Hundreds of cultivators were sitting cross-legged at its base. The moment Feng Xuan and Li Yun appeared, many of them opened their eyes.
“A newcomer?”
“Another unlucky fellow has arrived.”
Their eyes settled on Li Yun at once, and then looks of surprise appeared on their faces.
“He’s only at the 6th level of Heavenly Core Realm?”
“If his talent is decent, he might have a chance of passing the first floor after a few hundred years.”
Some of them looked sympathetic, others seemed amused, and several gloated openly. Yet once they sensed how low Li Yun’s cultivation was, jealousy showed in many eyes.

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