That evening, as night fell, the disciples of the Divine Emperor held a grand feast in the Yin Stone Courtyard to welcome Dongbo Xueying.
“Junior Brother, when we first entered our master’s tutelage, most of us were only granted a single token for the Lockworld Tower. Yet you received two—truly enviable!”
“Envious? Didn’t you hear Senior Sister Gongfeng mention? He gets a Nine Fruits reward every year for a thousand years!”
“What’s the use of envy? Junior Brother Dongbo will likely grasp a first-grade divine heart within a few millennia. His cultivation speed is nearly on par with a first-grade True Intent Transcendent. Reaching the Fourth Heaven Realm God won’t be difficult for him.” The disciples of the Divine Emperor chatted and laughed, their words laced with flattery as they centered their attention on Dongbo Xueying.
Dongbo Xueying responded politely to each of them.
Including himself, there were currently nineteen inner disciples and twenty-five nominal disciples residing in the Yin Stone Courtyard. Most of them had reached bottlenecks in their cultivation, unable to progress further. The inner disciples were mostly Second and Third Heaven Realm Gods, while the nominal disciples were almost all First Heaven Realm Gods, with only a rare few at the Second Heaven.
Despite their stagnation, they remained in the Yin Stone Courtyard for one reason—the supreme technique *Mountain World* hidden within the Library Pavilion.
*Mountain World* was renowned because Lord Qingjun had once used it to severely wound Pang Yi, one of the Three Ancestors, with a single punch! This feat elevated Lord Qingjun’s status above even the Three Ancestors and the North Profound Palace Master, placing him among the closest to the Bloodblade Divine Emperor, the Spacetime Island Lord, and the Myriad God Palace Master in the Divine Realm.
Knowing that such a supreme technique lay within the Library Pavilion, who wouldn’t come? Even if they couldn’t master it completely, grasping even a fragment would be enough to dominate among Realm Gods.
“Junior Brother Dongbo, did you know that all disciples residing in the Yin Stone Courtyard must perform labor duties?” a disheveled elder remarked.
“Labor duties?” Gongfeng, the gray-robed woman, interjected. “Junior Brother Dongbo is exempt. I’ve waived his obligations.”
“Why not exempt us as well?”
“Every time we come, we still have to perform labor!”
The inner disciples chimed in, while the nominal disciples remained more subdued, addressing Dongbo Xueying respectfully as “Senior Brother Dongbo.”
The Divine Emperor’s disciples adhered to strict hierarchies.
Nominal disciples addressed inner disciples as “Senior Brother” or “Senior Sister,” while inner disciples did the same for personal disciples.
“Labor duties?” Dongbo Xueying was puzzled.
“Junior Brother Dongbo, every disciple is generally required to perform labor. Senior Sister Gongfeng oversees this matter,” the disheveled elder explained with a grin.
Dongbo Xueying observed quietly.
He noticed that Gongfeng treated most junior disciples with indifference, showing courtesy only to him and two particularly young Third Heaven Realm Gods.
…
Through the feast, Dongbo Xueying became acquainted with his fellow disciples. Though he was the center of attention, he was also the weakest among them—the only one still at the Deity level.
The next morning!
A faint mist lingered as Dongbo Xueying made his way alone to a towering pagoda at the edge of the Yin Stone Courtyard. The structure loomed imposingly, exuding an overwhelming pressure that reminded him of gazing upon the vast material world from within the Xia Clan World. The Lockworld Tower seemed like countless layered realms, and just from this first glance, Dongbo Xueying knew it was incomparably more valuable than his Red Rock Mountain.
“As expected of the mightiest in the Divine Realm. The Bloodblade Divine Emperor is truly unfathomable—even a casually placed Lockworld Tower is an extraordinary treasure,” Dongbo Xueying marveled silently before stepping through the tower’s entrance.
As an inner disciple, he had unrestricted access to Realm God-level secret arts.
The Emperor had left a total of 328 such arts in the courtyard—far surpassing the number in Red Rock Mountain. However, neither Dongbo Xueying nor the other inner disciples cared much for them. What they truly coveted were supreme techniques. Even fragments of such techniques were generally more formidable than complete Realm God-level secret arts.
“The Lockworld Tower contains a secret art on each floor. Some of these arts, when combined, form complete supreme techniques,” Dongbo Xueying mused as he entered and found himself facing numerous chambers.
He chose one at random, pushing open the stone door.
The chamber was empty.
*Hum!*
The door closed behind him. Dongbo Xueying sat cross-legged and retrieved a token—Number 351.
“Let’s begin.” He activated the token.
Light flared from it.
*Whoosh!*
An invisible force enveloped his consciousness, transporting it to the 351st floor of the tower.
…
Dongbo Xueying’s vision brightened, revealing a vast world. In the distance, countless statues stood sparsely scattered, numbering at least in the millions.
“The master said that holding two tokens allows me to cultivate on the 95th and 351st floors. So it’s a consciousness projection, just like in the Divine Court Battle,” Dongbo Xueying realized. Since this was merely a mental journey, there was no danger. He glanced around as the statues began to stir, their earthen shells crumbling away.
Dongbo Xueying reached out, and a spear flew from the ground into his grasp.
“Hmm? What’s that?”
His sharp eyes caught sight of intricate patterns carved into a distant boulder, their designs profound and enigmatic.
“A secret art?” he guessed immediately. He knew that each floor of the Lockworld Tower contained a fragment of a supreme technique.
“Kill!”
“Kill!”
The statues awakened fully, clad in heavy armor and wielding varied weapons. They surged forward in unison, surrounding him.
Dongbo Xueying had already memorized the patterns on the boulder, feeling a spark of insight. But for now, he focused on battling the statue warriors. Inside the Lockworld Tower, he dared not hold back—manifesting three Void World clones and unleashing the Great Chaotic True Force. His power surged as he met the onslaught head-on.
*Swish!*
The first warrior, wielding a staff, swung with deceptive restraint.
*Boom!*
A Void World clone’s spear clashed with the staff—only to be sent flying. Before it could recover, other warriors struck with axes and hammers, shattering it completely.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
The warriors attacked from all sides. In the blink of an eye, the Void World clones were obliterated. Dongbo Xueying’s true body flickered through the Void World, switching places with his remaining clones in a desperate evasion.
Yet he lasted only three breaths.
*Thud!*
A blade pierced the Void World, striking him.
The seemingly ordinary slash concentrated its force inward. Even his Ten Thousand Tribulations Indestructible Body—Third Layer—couldn’t withstand it. His body exploded instantly.
…
Dongbo Xueying’s consciousness returned.
*Huff.*
Seated in the chamber, the blue-robed youth opened his eyes, stunned. “That was too fast. Those statue warriors were far stronger than me. My defensive abilities are excellent, but I couldn’t endure a single strike from their weapons.”
“Wait!”
He froze, recalling the patterns on the boulder and the warriors’ combat techniques. “No matter what weapon they used, their attacks seemed to embody that secret art!”
The battle had been too intense to notice earlier, but now it was clear.
“Again.” Excitement surged within him.
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