“Liu Lie, just follow me to cultivate.”
Tantai Lingzi instructed Liu Lie beside her, then stepped into the dark underground fortress.
Time was pressing.
As time passed, the danger would only grow, so she had to hurry!
Tantai Lingzi’s luck was good. After entering the third stage, it took her less than a quarter of an hour to find the cultivation site she had been dreaming of.
But some people weren’t as fortunate as she was.
Dai Yuling, Leng Hao, and Shangguan Lei aside, they had Ling Xiao’s help, so their luck was naturally the best.
Even Tantai Lingzi couldn’t compare to them.
The unluckiest were Wu Yang and Qin Wu. After parting ways with Tantai Lingzi, they encountered a seventh-level ferocious beast.
Though the two eventually teamed up to kill the beast, they were utterly exhausted.
When they were completely drained, they suddenly saw a small boat drifting slowly towards them in the air.
The boat seemed slow, yet it reached them in an instant.
On the boat stood a figure entirely wrapped in black clothing.
When he lifted the black cloth from his face, Wu Yang and Qin Wu’s expressions turned to sheer horror.
…
On another side, Bai Feifei and the puppet clone of Demon Flame Heavenly Lord, Wang Nan, had unexpectedly parted ways.
She stood at a crossroads, looking around in confusion, somewhat at a loss.
Meanwhile, Ling Xiao had already sorted out matters for Dai Yuling, Shangguan Lei, and Leng Hao, and was now wholeheartedly searching for something.
He wasn’t in a rush to cultivate.
Having broken through to the early seventh stage of the Mortal Realm, he still needed to stabilise his cultivation, so he could temporarily set aside finding a cultivation site.
What intrigued him more was that this third stage was called a forbidden zone of life, and he wondered what places were worth visiting.
Since he had the map from the Mountain and River Diagram, it would be a pity not to explore.
He had always suspected that the Moonlight Pagoda was formed from the martial soul of the Moonlight Heavenly Lady.
And the Moonlight Heavenly Lady, once second only to the twelve human immortals of the Holy Dynasty, was undoubtedly immensely powerful!
Her martial soul was extraordinary!
Upon entering the Moonlight Pagoda this time, he discovered that its internal transformations were endless, capable of creating such places out of thin air. This didn’t seem like an illusion but was highly likely brought in directly from the outside world.
Unfortunately, investigating this thoroughly was impossible with Ling Xiao’s current cultivation level.
Even the Moon Lady couldn’t do it!
Unless the Moon Lady could recover her peak cultivation from the past.
After all, in the ancient prehistoric era, the Yin-Yang Realm was merely insignificant, not worth mentioning, let alone the Cave Heaven Realm, Celestial Realm, or Mortal Realm.
In that era, a martial artist of Ling Xiao’s level wouldn’t even qualify as cannon fodder on the battlefield.
Abandoning the unrealistic idea of investigating the Moonlight Pagoda, Ling Xiao began to focus on observing all the locations in the third stage.
The cultivation sites where Dai Yuling, Leng Hao, and Shangguan Lei were located offered great opportunities, but they weren’t suitable for him, so he wouldn’t return.
Another place was where Tantai Lingzi was, the underground fortress of the Spider Queen.
Ling Xiao didn’t know Tantai Lingzi was there, but the fortress was visible on the map.
This wasn’t suitable for him either.
Temporarily set aside.
The next location was a massive steel warship stranded on the ground, emanating an extremely powerful aura, but it wasn’t from a trial disciple.
This place might also hold great opportunities, but it was too dangerous, so he set it aside for now.
Ling Xiao wasn’t in a hurry. He had only been in the third stage for less than a quarter of an hour and had only seen less than a tenth of the map. He could decide after reviewing the entire map.
…
Some time earlier.
Outside the Moonlight Pagoda, another day had passed.
The tower-climbing ceremony had been ongoing for two days, and by now, the second stage should have ended.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, another figure was thrown out from the Moonlight Pagoda.
The sect leaders sighed in relief when they saw it was Situ Jun.
Though Situ Jun was on the list of fifty, honestly, no one had high hopes for him.
As long as it wasn’t Bai Feifei, Tantai Lingzi, Wu Yang, Qin Wu, Leng Hao, or Shangguan Lei, it was fine.
“Situ Jun, what’s the situation inside?”
Sect Leader Chang Yueying asked eagerly.
She hoped the remaining ten could all pass the second stage, as that would mark a better performance than the sect had seen in nearly a thousand years.
“Reporting to the Sect Leader, when I was eliminated, we had already passed the second stage and were waiting for the third stage to begin,” Situ Jun replied honestly, not daring to conceal anything.
“Wonderful! Absolutely wonderful!”
Chang Yueying was overjoyed.
The other sect leaders also showed expressions of delight.
They had been worried that all eleven disciples might have died inside.
After all, the second stage of the tower-climbing ceremony was more difficult than the first, yet after the first stage eliminated so many, the second stage had passed without eliminating anyone.
How could they not be worried?
However, Situ Jun’s expression wasn’t great.
“Sect Leader, I have something to report,” he said.
“Speak! Did Ling Xiao kill you again?” Elder Jin asked before Chang Yueying could respond.
Situ Jun was stunned but shook his head. “No!”
Though he wanted to frame Ling Xiao, the matter was too serious, and he couldn’t bear the responsibility, so he told the truth.
“Not him? Then what is it?” Elder Jin asked, puzzled.
The other sect leaders were equally confused.
“The one who killed me was Wang Nan!” Situ Jun explained.
“That Wang Nan is only at the third stage of the Mortal Realm and is cowardly. How could he be your opponent or even attack you? You weren’t deceived by Ling Xiao, were you?” Elder Jin questioned.
“I dare not deceive the Sect Leader or the elders. There’s something strange about Wang Nan. His strength seems close to that of a Half-Step Heavenly Lord!” Situ Jun’s words caused a stir.
The sect leaders’ expressions changed drastically.
“Could there be an anomaly inside the Moonlight Pagoda? What do we do? Your Highness Moon Lady, can the trial be stopped?” Chang Yueying stood and asked.
“As I’ve said, once the tower-climbing ceremony begins, even I cannot interfere. Their fate is up to destiny,” the Moon Lady replied, also worried about Ling Xiao but with an inexplicable trust in him.
The sect leaders, who had just begun to relax, grew anxious again.
If the disciples didn’t come out, there were two possibilities—
The first was that they had passed and were continuing to progress, which would be great news and a guarantee of the Moonlight Sect’s rise.
But the second possibility was that, except for Situ Jun, everyone was trapped inside, like the disciple who never came out years ago. This was the most troubling scenario
