Outside Chronospace Island, higher cultivation naturally meant greater strength. Inside the Everlasting Pagoda, things were more complicated, because the higher a person’s realm was, the harder the matching trial became.
For Dao Resonance Realm cultivators, passing the first floor was extraordinarily difficult, while those in the Spirit Manifestation Realm had comparatively better chances.
Of the thirty-six people who had cleared the first floor, twenty-six had done so while still in the Spirit Manifestation Realm.
The other ten were Dao Resonance Realm cultivators, but eight of those ten had originally cleared the first floor in the Spirit Manifestation Realm and had only advanced later, once they decided they had no hope of clearing the second.
Only two had entered the pagoda after already reaching the Dao Resonance Realm and still managed to clear the first floor, and both had relied heavily on powerful middle-level secret techniques. That alone showed how sharply the difficulty rose. Someone with Li Yun’s cultivation therefore had a peculiar advantage.
Feng Xuan greeted a few acquaintances and then turned to Li Yun.
“From here on, you go in alone. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself. If you die instantly on the first floor, that would actually be completely normal.”
Li Yun looked at him, and Feng Xuan laughed.
“More than ninety-five percent of newcomers are killed instantly on their first attempt. The point of going in now is mostly to understand how wide the gap is. Get a feel for the opponent, learn what you can, and then prepare for the future.”
Li Yun nodded. “Thank you for the warning.”
Rather than discouraging him, however, Feng Xuan’s words only made him more curious. Everyone described the Everlasting Pagoda as terrifying, and he wanted to see exactly how terrifying it really was. Battle intent flashed in his eyes as he walked toward the entrance.
Feng Xuan watched him go and shook his head.
“A newborn calf really isn’t afraid of tigers.”
He remembered his own first attempt. He had walked in full of confidence, and the first-floor opponent had killed him in a single move.
...
The moment Li Yun stepped into the Everlasting Pagoda, his surroundings vanished. His vision blurred for an instant, and then he found himself floating above an endless ocean. The sea was perfectly calm, without a single ripple on its mirror-like surface.
A figure stood across from him. It was a warrior covered from head to toe in golden armor. Li Yun sensed the man’s cultivation, and his eyes narrowed.
The warrior was at the 1st level of Spirit Manifestation Realm, which was the baseline level for the pagoda’s lower trial. Li Yun did not grow nervous. A faint smile appeared on his face instead.
The golden-armored warrior looked at him.
“Challenger,” he said in a cold, emotionless voice. “I can tell this is your first attempt. Chronospace Island has special restrictions, and death inside the Everlasting Pagoda is not permanent. Anyone killed here will be reconstructed, so this battle will be fought without restraint. If I kill you, your attempt ends, and you must wait half a month before you can challenge again. If you kill me, you pass the first floor. Do you understand?”
Li Yun nodded. “I understand.”
The rules were simple. It was a real life-and-death battle without permanent death, so neither side had any reason to hold back.
“Then we begin.”
The golden-armored warrior moved without any dramatic preparation. A massive saber simply appeared in his hand, and he raised it and slashed.
The calm ocean changed instantly. A gigantic arc of saber light came down at Li Yun with a boom, and the pressure alone pushed the sea beneath them down by several feet.
Li Yun raised an eyebrow. His opponent really was only at the 1st level of Spirit Manifestation Realm, yet the power in that casual slash was completely out of proportion to the realm.
‘That’s more than a thirtyfold amplification.’
He understood at once that the golden-armored warrior had an extraordinary foundation. Against most cultivators of the same realm, amplification of that kind would be overwhelming.
Li Yun did not retreat. The Profound Origin Sword appeared in his hand, and he watched the saber light descend before he made his move.
“Fast Sword.”
A thin streak of Sword Qi shot upward. It caused no grand display and released no overwhelming aura. It had nothing but pure speed, and it crossed the distance almost the instant it appeared.
The massive saber light shuddered with a bang, and a thin line ran through its center. Then the whole attack split apart. The two halves of saber light exploded on either side of Li Yun, and the ocean erupted.
Two enormous walls of seawater rose hundreds of feet into the air while Li Yun stood between them with his robes fluttering. Not a single drop touched him.
The golden-armored warrior’s expression shifted slightly.
“Interesting.”
He stepped forward, and the seawater beneath him exploded. He appeared above Li Yun almost instantly, and this time the saber came down with greater force. The air around it screamed, and the sea beneath Li Yun began to churn violently before the blade had even finished its descent.
“Second saber.”
A saber light several times stronger than the first came crashing down with a boom.
Li Yun looked up, and five faint colors appeared around his sword. Gold stood for Metal, emerald for Wood, blue for Water, crimson for Fire, and yellow for Earth. It was Five Element Intent, although Li Yun released only a fraction of its true power.
The five forces revolved around the Profound Origin Sword. Metal increased its sharpness, Wood kept it continuous, Water made it fluid, Fire added explosive force, and Earth gave the sword stability and weight.
Li Yun slowly raised his weapon.
“Slow Sword.”
His movement looked almost absurdly slow. Compared with the enormous saber falling at terrifying speed, his sword seemed as if it would never arrive in time.
Yet the golden-armored warrior’s expression suddenly changed. His attack was still coming down, but its rhythm had shifted. The closer it got to Li Yun’s blade, the more its momentum seemed to lose its coherence.
Slow Sword was not trying to overpower the attack. It slipped into the rhythm of the saber strike and then disturbed that rhythm from the inside, and Five Element Intent strengthened the process.
Water redirected the flowing momentum, Earth applied suppression, Metal cut into the structure, and Fire destabilized the gathered power. Wood connected every change so that none of them stood alone.
Li Yun’s sword touched the saber light with a clang that was strangely soft, and the enormous attack simply changed direction.
The golden-armored warrior’s eyes widened.
“What?”
His saber light passed beside Li Yun and struck the ocean hundreds of feet away with a boom. An enormous trench opened across the sea before the surrounding water came crashing back into it.
Li Yun had not moved. He had not retreated even half a step, and he had simply redirected the attack.
The golden-armored warrior stared at him with a serious expression.
“You didn’t block my saber head-on.”
Li Yun smiled. “Why should I?”
Power meant nothing if it failed to reach its target properly.
The warrior tightened his grip.
“You are stronger than I expected, but this battle is not over.”
Golden light burst from his armor, and his aura grew much heavier. He raised the saber with both hands, and the ocean around them sank. A terrifying saber momentum spread outward, and even the clouds overhead seemed to part before its sharpness.
Then he slashed. An enormous golden saber light came down with a boom, and its power far surpassed that of his earlier attacks. The ocean beneath Li Yun caved into a hollow hundreds of feet across.
Li Yun stayed calm, because he had already seen enough. The golden-armored warrior’s foundation was remarkable and his amplification method was extraordinary, but his understanding of battle itself was not enough to force Li Yun to reveal anything serious.

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