Chapter 120: Fifth Floor
He walked towards the stairs, he felt as if a light weight had been lifted from his body when he passed through the barrier of the floor.
…
Upon entering the fifth floor, the atmosphere shifted once again as Shen Yuan felt a feral vibe around him.
Shen Yuan looked up at the sign to see what this floor was about,
'Trial of Beast Waves: Eliminate All'
Shen Yuan narrowed his eyes as he read the sign. He didn't think for a second that the test would be easy even if the only thing he had to do in it was fighting.
[Looks like you will finally be able to test your strength against a worthy foe, Shen Yuan.]
Yue Lan's voice echoed as she was also curious to what level Shen Yuan would reach.
He smiled and shook his head, "You just want to see me suffer a defeat."
Yue Lan's laughter echoed in his mind but she didn't reply to him.
Shen Yuan's eyes also focused as he brought out his sword from his storage ring. He looked straight ahead and walked towards the grassy plane.
The floor this time was a vast expanse of green plains as Shen Yuan knew he wouldn't have a place to hide even if he wanted it.
He stood still for a moment after entering the barrier, looking around to see how the beast would spawn.
And he didn't have to wait for long as a large gate emerged in front of him. As it opened, the first beast rushed out–three horned wolf, at the 7th level of the Foundation Establishment realm, the same as Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan wasted no time as he knew this would be a long battle. He swiftly unsheathed his sword and darted towards the wolf.
His sword flashed as he cleanly sliced the wolf in half with one clean slash.
He didn't even have time to take a breath as 3 more wolves rushed out of the gate. But the relieving thing about them was that their strength hadn't increased.
Shen Yuan swiftly moved towards them and decapitated all three of them at once.
"Looks like I won't be getting much rest," he muttered to himself as his gaze landed on the multiple doors forming all over the plain.
"Will all these gates release beasts at once?" He tensed as he didn't know the level of the beast which would be released from the gates.
Before he finished saying his sentence, the ground rumbled again. All five doors opened as four wolves and one panther came out of it, all at the 8th level of the Foundation Establishment realm.
Shen Yuan readied himself, "So, each level will increase the difficulty by one minor realm. "He muttered to himself softly.
The panther pounced first, slicing through the air with its claws. Shen Yuan raised his sword and slashed towards the oncoming panther, cleanly slicing it in half.
The wolves didn't seem to see anything happen beside them as they also lunged towards Shen Yuan.
Shen Yuan didn't waste time and infused his sword with his Sword Intent and swung his sword in an arc to finish all of the wolves at once.
"This floor will waste too much time at this rate…" he sighed as he knew he would be stuck here for a long time.
…
Back at the base of the tower, Huo Rong, Xun Shuren, and Han Qingyu looked at the Pagoda.
Shen Yuan had just ascended to the third floor when Huo Rong smiled playfully, "Shuren, what do you think? How long would Shen Yuan take to defeat his clone?"
Xun Shuren thought about it carefully, "He should take at the very least half an hour. Even the fastest cultivator in the history of our sect took 40 minutes. I'm already overestimating him with this number."
Huo Rong's eyes flashed with surprise as she took a closer look at Xun Shuren, "I will tell you in advance but Shen Yuan is off-limits. You better keep your hands to yourself." She said seriously as if Xun Shuren would take a bite out of Shen Yuan as soon as he exited the tower.
Xun Shuren felt her hand twitch as she resisted an urge to unsheathe her sword. "You know that's not what I meant. I'm serious here."
Huo Rong giggled lightly, "Hehe~ I know wha-"
Before she even finished her sentence, the fourth floor lit up, signaling Shen Yuan's successful climb to it.
Huo Rong and Xun Shuren's eyes widened in surprise.
"No way!" Huo Rong even shouted out loud as she couldn't believe Shen Yuan took not even a few minutes to complete it.
Xun Shuren's eyes also trembled visibly as this event truly shook her. "How did he even do it?" She muttered to herself in shock.
Han Qingyu, who didn't know the significance behind Shen Yuan's achievement also realized that it was truly something big looking at the reaction of Huo Rong and Xun Shuren.
"He completed the whole floor in under two minutes, and that's even with the time it took to choose a weapon, so that means he defeated his clone in under a minute." Huo Rong couldn't believe what she was saying herself.
Xun Shuren also nodded heavily, "Where did you even find this monster?" She couldn't help herself as this was truly something unprecedented that happened here.
They continued chatting for some time until Xun Shuren mentioned, "It's been quite some time on this floor for Shen Yuan, don't tell me his Sea of Consciousness couldn't withstand the pressure of the fourth floor?"
Huo Rong quickly interjected, "Don't spout nonsense, how can this floor stop Shen Yuan when he cleared the previous one in merely two minutes.
Xun Shuren also felt what Huo Rong said had some truth in it, so she also stopped talking and focused on the floor.
…
Some time passed again as Xun Shuren's eyes filled with doubts, "Are you sure he is alright? It shouldn't have taken him this long."
Huo Rong's faith in Shen Yuan didn't waver a bit as she replied with full confidence, "Just wait a bit more, why are you so impatient? People before Shen Yuan took way longer to cross this floor."
Xun Shuren still had some doubts but decided to wait a bit more.
…
"Huo Rong, are you sure he is alright?" Xun Shuren's voice was now full of doubts as Shen Yuan had already been inside the Pagoda for as long as others took time.
Huo Rong's confidence also wavered a bit, but she still insisted, "No, he is absolutely fine inside. Maybe he is busy tempering himself inside in the sea of spiritual energy. Yes, that must be it."
Her eyes lit up as if she had finally found a straw to catch on after suffering all day.
Xun Shuren was dumbfounded hearing this absurd explanation. Average cultivators would find it hard to even breathe in that pressure. Even geniuses would run to cross the hurdle faster.
But she didn't say anything else and continued waiting.
…
"Do you think he is alright even now?" Xun Shuren just asked with a questioning tone when the time exceeded even the slowest to cross the 4th-floor trial of the Pagoda.