Not long after Aotian cleared the first floor, another figure was about to do the same.
Amid a dense forest, Lei Yun was searching for the floor guardian, having already unlocked the 'Extreme' level.
It wasn't that he hadn't tried to unlock the Saint level, but after defeating over a hundred beasts, he had only managed to immobilize the last one without injuring it.
It was simply too difficult, as the sect's beasts were extremely powerful. And since he was restricted to fighting at the same level, the advantage was entirely theirs.
To immobilize even one after facing a hundred was already clear proof of his terrifying strength.
'I should have studied more of the sect's Refiner-Tier spells.' He sighed thoughtfully.
Because of the level restriction, he couldn't use spells above the Refiner-Tier. And since he hadn't dedicated much effort to mastering them, that reduced his strength more than he cared to admit.
A serious and heavy expression crossed his face.
'When I get out, I need to focus on better mastering the techniques of the lower realms, at least enough not to be so powerless if I ever fall into a suppression array like this again. I should also learn some of the sect's binding spells to immobilize beasts more easily,' he reflected with determination.
Setting that aside, he continued walking.
Whenever he encountered a beast, he tried to subdue it without injuring it — but without much success. The one he had managed before involved a bit of luck.
Even the formations he created were restricted to the Refiner-Tier inside the tower — otherwise, they wouldn't work — which made them not very useful against the sect's beasts.
'I should try to learn the sect's array inheritance. From what I saw during the event, they're much stronger than others at the same level.'
He occasionally discovered issues he needed to fix as he explored.
After some time, he arrived at a clearing, and his eyes sharpened when he saw his target standing in its center.
A puppet dressed in black robes stood silently, waiting.
Although that entire forest was considered part of the first floor — just like the desert where Aotian had been earlier — in truth, they were separate layers of the tower.
Aotian didn't have strong ambient spiritual energy or enough materials to expand the tower's inner space, so he was limited by its physical constraints. And while it was large, it wasn't vast enough to let disciples wander for hours without meeting anyone.
To achieve such a result, it was all thanks to Aotian's clever use of space.
In reality, the tower was much larger than the nine visible floors above ground — it extended for another ninety underground levels, each far bigger than those on the surface.
When a new batch of disciples entered, the tower would calculate how many floors should be allocated for each Tier based on their entry records, then distribute them accordingly, reserving a set number for each level.
For example, if among a thousand entrants, 900 had only reached the first floor in previous attempts and 100 had reached the second, the tower would allocate 80 floors for first-level challenges, 15 for second-level ones, and 5 reserved in case someone advanced to the 3rd floor.
Although the calculation was more complex than that, this system made the tower much more practical to fit within the sect without becoming cramped for challenges. The tower also made subtle manipulations, making it extremely difficult for participants to encounter each other within a floor.
Thus, disciples were scattered across different layers without realizing it, and the tower teleported enemies to challenge them randomly according to their threat level.
Lei Yun was unaware of these details — and even if he knew, he wouldn't have cared. His focus now was on the light screen that appeared before him.
[Congratulations on finding the floor guardian!]
[Do you wish to challenge it?]
"Hmm…" He nodded, not thinking too much about it.
[Set the difficulty.]
[Unlocked difficulties: Easy, Medium, Hard, Extreme.]
[Details of the 1st Floor Difficulties.]
[Difficulty: Easy
Requirements: Survive for 10 minutes in combat
Reward: 1 Achievement Point, 10,000 Contribution Points]
[Difficulty: Medium
Requirements: Survive for 5 minutes in combat
Reward: 2 Achievement Points, 20,000 Contribution Points]
[Difficulty: Hard
Requirements: Survive for 1 minute in combat
Reward: 3 Achievement Points, 30,000 Contribution Points]
[Difficulty: Extreme
Requirements: Land 10 hits
Reward: 4 Achievement Points, 50,000 Contribution Points]
Analyzing the panel, Lei Yun's brows slowly furrowed.
'Why does the difficulty decrease instead of increase?'
He found it strange, and a trace of suspicion flickered in his eyes.
'No… there must be something else. Maybe the puppet's strength increases? Or perhaps it's a benefit for unlocking higher difficulties after defeating spiritual beasts?'
Though confused, he didn't hesitate for long.
"Extreme," he answered simply.
What he didn't know was the true meaning of that level: Extreme – Land 10 hits against 10% of Aotian's combat ability.
[Good luck, challenger.]
When the blue screen disappeared, Lei Yun kept his eyes fixed on the puppet, which remained motionless at the center of the clearing.
Thoughtfully, he took a step forward and noticed that the yellow barrier, which had formed whenever he approached before, now allowed him to pass freely.
Without averting his gaze, he walked with steady steps toward his opponent, crossing the shield.
As a former Mahayana cultivator, he wasn't easily intimidated.
When he was less than twenty steps away, the puppet finally moved.
Turning its expressionless wooden face mechanically toward him, it didn't hesitate. Bending its knees, it sprang forward like a spring toward Lei Yun.
Lightning flashed around the former Mahayana's legs, and he clenched his fist as a deep-blue spear appeared from his storage ring directly into his grasp.
Yes, he had been a spear user in his previous life — something that contributed greatly to Aotian's Spear Pavilion inheritance.
Lightning enveloped the young man's weapon, and then he turned into a blue streak, shooting toward the puppet.
The puppet was not to be outdone — it too drew a spear from its storage ring, wielded it, and attacked without hesitation.
Just as they were about to clash, a sharp, blazing intent suddenly flared around the puppet's weapon, making Lei Yun's eyes widen in shock.
'Spear Inten—'
He didn't have time to finish the thought before the spears collided violently.
BOOOMMM!
A loud explosion echoed, raising a cloud of dust and debris.
Even restricted to the Qi Refining level, the power unleashed wasn't far behind that of a late Foundation Establishment cultivator — perhaps even greater.
Lei Yun was thrown far away, rolling several times across the ground, his body covered in wounds and burns, his face filled with disbelief.
Moments later, he stabbed his spear into the ground and forced his body to stop, panting.
Still, his shocked gaze remained fixed on the puppet.
In all his years of experience, he had never seen a puppet wield intent. Normally, they weren't that strong within the same realm and could be easily destroyed.
That's why, when he attacked earlier, he hadn't taken it too seriously — especially since he wasn't on the highest difficulty of the challenge.
In his mind, the reason he hadn't unlocked the hardest difficulty was simply that he lacked certain means to subdue beasts without harming them — not because of a lack of strength — and that was true.
So, when he saw that the missions to defeat the guardian and advance to the next floor were purely combat-based, without further complications, he didn't take them seriously. He didn't even use his spear intent when attacking, which ended up resulting in his current injury.
'Ugh… how could I forget where I am?' he thought bitterly, remembering that the Infinite Dao Sect was a place where common sense had to be discarded.
Recovering, he turned his gaze toward the puppet, which stood imposingly amid the slowly dissipating dust cloud, calmly observing him — as if waiting for him to resume the fight.
"How polite of you to wait for me. I thought you wouldn't stop attacking until one of us fell," he joked lightly, steadying himself on his spear still embedded in the ground.
Then, he pulled it free and swung it with skill, finishing the motion with the tip pointed toward the ground.
Without further delay, lightning crackled again around his legs, and he charged forward like thunder.
The puppet also raised its spear and lunged, thrusting a simple stab in his direction.
'Huh?! Why isn't it using that spear intent prototype again? Could it be that it can only use it once before needing to recharge or something?' Confusion flashed through Lei Yun's mind, but his attack didn't falter.
The two spears collided, and Lei Yun's thunderous spear, meeting no resistance, tore through the weapon and pierced the puppet's body as if it were made of clay.
'No! Something's wrong!'
There was no joy on his face at having struck the target — only alarm.
"OH!"
A breathless gasp escaped his mouth as his silver eyes widened and his pupils dilated.
Lowering his gaze, he saw the tip of a black spear protruding from his chest.
He recognized it… it was the same spear the puppet had been wielding earlier.
A flash of realization crossed his face as his silver hair swayed chaotically in the wind.
Looking ahead, he saw the puppet he had pierced crumble into clay, collapsing to the ground. In truth, his opponent's real body had emerged from the earth behind him and struck through his back.
'It wasn't waiting for me to attack when the dust cloud rose — it was setting up an ambush… haah, I underestimated the sect's puppet again. I shouldn't treat it as some dumb brute of a construct, but as a powerful, intelligent, and capable cultivator,' he thought seriously, with not a trace of fear in his eyes after the initial shock.
Though a spear pierced through his chest, he could feel the tower's formations protecting his vital points, so he knew he wasn't in any real danger.
Still, he was somewhat shaken at having lost so easily.
Everything happened so fast, and as soon as the spear went through him, a screen appeared before his eyes.
[It has been detected that you suffered a mortal wound and were protected by the tower's life-sustaining formations.]
[Your challenge has failed. You will be teleported back.]
As soon as he finished reading, the world spun, and he found himself back at the tower's entrance.
The people waiting outside saw him appear at the doorway, wearing the robes of a core disciple with a spear symbol on his shoulder — marking him as a member of the Spear Pavilion — and began murmuring among themselves, though not too loudly.
Although he had been a core disciple for almost a month, Lei Yun had never sought attention nor interacted much with others, so his reputation wasn't very high. Thus, no one made much fuss upon seeing him exit the tower injured.
At most, they whispered a bit more because he was the first core disciple to come out.
Still, everyone's admiration for the tower's difficulty rose greatly, as they knew that no core disciple was ordinary — and yet one had been expelled before even reaching the second floor.
Admiration for Aotian also grew, since the inner disciples who had exited earlier had revealed that the "Immortal" difficulty was the highest level of the first floor.
Lei Yun, who had just left the tower, didn't notice the board behind him that already had a name written upon it: Long Aotian.
Shrugging off the crowd's chatter, he followed a disciple who came to help him toward a small building nearby.
As he walked, his thoughts returned to the puppet that had defeated him.
'You, little puppet, should be proud to have defeated me, a Mahayana. But next time, I won't underestimate you — and then it'll be you who loses,' he thought determinedly.
And he was right. Had he fought with all his strength from the start, it wouldn't have been impossible for him to land ten hits on that puppet, which only possessed 10% of Aotian's combat power — though even then, it wasn't guaranteed he could win.
Upon reaching the small building where the elder in charge of treating tower injuries resided, he entered and saw Elder Yang Shi — an old acquaintance from the days at Shadowfallen Burial Mountain — sitting calmly, sipping tea.
The disciple accompanying him, seeing that Lei Yun could walk normally, left him there and went back to assist the next ones coming out of the tower. By the end of the day, he would surely earn a good amount of contribution points for his hard work.
Walking up to the elder, the former Mahayana greeted him respectfully.
"Elder Yang, it's been a long time." He clasped his fists, smiling slightly and bowing a bit.
Yang Shi looked up from his teacup and smiled, nodding lightly.
"Ah, so it's young Lei. Have a seat," he teased gently, motioning for him to sit across from him.
Without any formality, Lei Yun sat cross-legged before him.
Yang Shi's gaze fell upon the wound on the young man's chest.
"Seems like you had a rough time inside the tower." He smiled, turning his palm upward. A pill appeared in his hand, and he tossed it toward Lei Yun.
Lei Yun caught it and, after a brief look, swallowed it without hesitation.
In an instant, his wounds began to close, and the hole in his chest — kept stable by spiritual energy — healed rapidly, leaving him completely recovered.
Feeling relaxed and his body restored, Lei Yun's mood brightened a little.
Unfortunately, someone seemed unwilling to let him enjoy it for long.
His mouth twitched as he felt his token vibrate — right as the elder's next "kind" words reached his ears.
"This pill cost two thousand contribution points, already deducted from your disciple token. Quite cheap and convenient, wasn't it? Please, make sure to get injured more seriously next time — Elder Bao Hui begged me to make more money."