They didn't wait. They raced towards him, attacking as a pack.
Long Chen didn't have time to think. Phantom Step carried him between them, his body flickering like a candle in the wind. The first beast lunged and he sidestepped. The second tried to flank him. He spun, blade cutting across its neck.
One down.
Two more charged from opposite sides. Long Chen jumped, using one beast's head as a springboard, and came down on the other with his blade leading. Sword Aura flared and the strike split the creature's skull.
Two down.
The remaining four regrouped. They were smarter now. Cautious.
Long Chen closed the distance, Phantom Step blurring his form. His blade moved in arcs, each strike precise, brutal, and efficient.
Three down. Four. Five.
The last beast tried to run. Long Chen's blade caught it mid-stride. It collapsed ten meters from the exit.
[Floor 9 Complete.]
[Proceed to Floor 10.]
[Finally you're no longer useless.]
Long Chen stood in the center of the arena, chest heaving, blood dripping from shallow cuts across his arms and shoulders. His robes were torn. His hands shook. And he had no energy to reply to the system's last statement.
But his eyes were clear.
He walked through the doorway, all the way towards the next floor.
The tenth was different.
The arena expanded. The runes glowed brighter, almost blinding. And standing in the center wasn't a beast.
It was a man.
Or something that looked like one.
He wore simple robes. His hair was tied back and a straight sword rested in his hand, held with the kind of ease that came from years of use.
His eyes tracked Long Chen the moment he entered.
A notification appeared.
[Tower of Trials: Floor 10]
[Objective: Defeat the warrior]
[Cultivation: Qi Gathering Stage 2]
Long Chen's breath steadied, his grip on his blade tightening.
A human opponent.
The warrior moved first.
There was no charge, no wasted energy. Just a single, clean step forward and a thrust aimed directly at Long Chen's throat.
He was fast.
Long Chen's body reacted before his mind caught up. Phantom Step. He blurred to the side, the blade missing by inches.
He countered immediately, sending a horizontal slash aimed at the warrior's ribs.
The warrior blocked. Their swords met with a sharp ring that echoed through the arena.
They separated. Circled.
Long Chen's heart pounded. This wasn't like fighting beasts. The warrior didn't charge mindlessly. He moved with purpose. Precision, with every step calculated.
The warrior attacked again. He feinted left, then struck right. Long Chen barely caught it in time. The force of the block sent vibrations up his arm.
'He's skilled.'
But Long Chen was stronger with two full stages higher. His cultivation gave him the edge.
He pressed forward, using raw power to overwhelm the warrior's defense. Each strike came harder. Faster. The warrior blocked the first three, deflected the fourth, but the fifth broke through.
Sword Aura flared bright and the blade cut across the warrior's chest.
The warrior staggered, faded, and dissolved into mist.
[Floor 10 Complete]
[Proceed to Floor 11]
Long Chen stood there, breathing hard.
'That was harder than the beasts.'
But he'd won.
He walked through the door.
The eleventh floor brought another warrior. Qi Gathering Stage 3 this time.
He was stronger, faster and with better techniques.
The fight lasted longer. The warrior used a spinning slash that forced Long Chen back three steps. A thrust that nearly punched through his guard, and a footwork pattern that made him look like he was in two places at once.
But Long Chen's cultivation still gave him the advantage. He weathered the attacks, found an opening, and drove his blade through the warrior's guard with sheer force.
[Floor 11 Complete]
-----
Floor 12 brought a warrior at stage 4.
This one lasted even longer. The warrior's techniques were sharper, more refined. He forced Long Chen to use Phantom Step twice just to avoid being skewered.
But the result didn't change. Long Chen was able to overwhelm him despite being in the same realm. His strikes came faster. Hits harder. Eventually, the warrior's defense crumbled.
[Floor 12 Complete]
By the time Long Chen stepped onto Floor 13, his entire body ached. Sweat poured down his face. Blood seeped from a dozen shallow cuts and his breathing came in ragged gasps.
But he wasn't done.
The thirteenth floor opened into an arena larger than all the others combined. The runes didn't just glow—they pulsed with life, casting shifting shadows across the walls. The spiritual energy here was so dense it pressed against Long Chen's skin like a physical weight.
And standing in the center was another warrior.
This one was different.
His stance was perfect. Not a single wasted motion. His sword rested in his hand like it belonged there, an extension of his body. And his eyes were calm, cold, and utterly focused.
The notification confirmed what Long Chen already suspected.
[Tower of Trials: Floor 13]
[Objective: Defeat the warrior]
[Cultivation: Qi Gathering Stage 5]
This one surpassed him by one stage.
Long Chen's jaw tightened.
'This is going to hurt.'
Then, the warrior moved.
One moment he was standing ten meters away. The next, he was right in front of Long Chen, blade already cutting upward towards his ribs.
Long Chen barely blocked in time, the impact sent shockwaves up his arm. He tried to counter, but the warrior was already gone, circling to his left.
Another strike. This time, it came from behind. Long Chen twisted, Phantom Step carrying him out of range. His blade swept across where the warrior had been.
And met nothing. The space was empty.
The warrior appeared on his right. Long Chen blocked. Steel rang against steel. Sword Aura flared on both sides, white light against white light.
They separated.
Long Chen's chest heaved. His arms burned.
'He has sword aura too'
The warrior attacked again. A flurry of strikes, each one flowing seamlessly into the next. Long Chen blocked the first two. The third forced him back a step. The fourth slipped through his guard and cut across his shoulder.
Pain flared. Blood soaked into his robes.
Long Chen gritted his teeth and pushed forward. Phantom Step. He blurred to the warrior's blind spot and thrust his blade toward the exposed back.
The warrior turned with him. As if he'd expected it. His sword swept across, forcing Long Chen to block instead of attack.
They clashed again. And again. Each exchange faster than the last.
Long Chen decided to stop holding back and tried Void-Splitting Strike. A precise, deadly thrust aimed at the warrior's throat.
The warrior sidestepped and countered with a technique of his own—a slash that left a trail of silver light in the air. Long Chen barely avoided it. The edge grazed his cheek, drawing blood.
This wasn't just about cultivation anymore. This was skill against skill. Experience against instinct.
And Long Chen was losing.
The warrior pressed forward relentlessly. Every attack forced Long Chen to react, to adjust, to scramble for footing. He wasn't just fighting—he was being dissected. Every mistake he made, the warrior exploited. And every opening, he took advantage of.
Long Chen's blade came up too slow. The warrior's sword cut across his ribs. Shallow, but painful.
He overextended on a counter. The warrior's pommel slammed into his chest, knocking the wind out of him.
He mistimed Phantom Step. The warrior predicted it and was already waiting where Long Chen reappeared. A boot caught him in the stomach and he doubled over, gasping.
'I can't keep up.'
But even as the thought formed, something shifted.
Long Chen's eyes suddenly turned gold as they tracked the warrior's movements. Everything suddenly slowed and clear, the way the warrior's weight shifted before a strike. The angle of his blade during a feint. The rhythm of his footwork. He could see everything
The patterns.
The warrior feinted left but Long Chen already saw it. He didn't fall for it. He shifted right, anticipated the real strike, and blocked it cleanly.
For the first time, the warrior's expression changed. Just a flicker. Approval, maybe. Or surprise.
They clashed again.
This time, Long Chen's movements were sharper. His counters, more precise. He stopped trying to overpower and started flowing with the fight.
The warrior launched another combination. Three strikes in rapid succession. Long Chen blocked the first, deflected the second, and dodged the third by a hair's breadth.
His counter came faster than before. The warrior blocked, but not as easily.
Minutes passed. Or hours. Long Chen lost track.
His body moved on instinct now. Every exchange taught him something. Every mistake corrected itself in real-time.
The warrior's techniques weren't mysterious anymore. They were patterns. Predictable. Exploitable.
The warrior launched his strongest technique yet—a spinning slash with three overlapping arcs, each one faster than the last.
Long Chen saw it coming.
Phantom Step carried him through the first arc. He ducked under the second, blocked the third.
And countered.
His blade shot forward, Sword Aura blazing. The strike caught the warrior's wrist. His sword flew from his hand, clattering across the stone floor.
Long Chen closed in. His blade pressed against the warrior's throat.
The warrior didn't move. Didn't resist.
He just smiled faintly.
Then dissolved into mist.
[Floor 13 Complete]
[Combat experience significantly improved]
[Your understanding of the sword has improved. You're probably not far from the second stage of sword aura. ]
[Proceed to Floor 14]
Long Chen dropped to one knee, gasping for air. His entire body screamed at him. Blood dripped from a dozen cuts onto the stone and his vision swam.
But he'd won.
Without Heavenrend. Without his strongest techniques. He'd won with just skill. Just adaptation, and he had defeated someone one stage ahead of him.
He looked at the doorway leading to Floor 14 and shook his head slowly.
Not today.
He'd learned what he came for.
Long Chen forced himself to stand, legs shaking, and turned toward the exit.
Just as he decided to quit, a bright light shined on him and his injuries were healed. Long Chen stared at his hands for the cuts which marred his skin, but there was nothing there. And suddenly three items appeared before him.
[Congratulations you've completed up to the thirteenth floor, your reward: a marrow washing pill, a token to enter the second floor of the martial arts pavilion, a token to enter the spirit sword pavilion.]
Taking his reward, he walked towards the tower doors.
When the tower doors opened and Long Chen stumbled out, the crowd went silent.
While his wounds may have been healed, blood still soaked his robes. His hair was matted with sweat and grime. He looked like he'd been through a war.
But he was standing.
Elder Gan stared at the jade token in his hand, at Long Chen, then back at the token.
The crowd erupted.
"Thirteen?!"
"That's impossible!"
"He's Stage 4! He shouldn't be able to—"
"Thirteen floors on his first attempt?!"
Zhang Wei stood frozen, his face pale, his earlier smugness completely gone.
Long Chen didn't look at any of them. He just walked past the crowd, ignoring the stares, the whispers, the shock.
He had two days to recover.
Then the clan gathering would begin.
And he intended to win.