Dongbo Xueying looked up at the ten-story tower standing at the center of the plaza, his turbulent emotions gradually calming.
He had exhausted every means to secure an opportunity to enter the ‘Heart of the Boundary Palace’ and even obtained two additional rare materials for cultivating the ‘Southern Cloud Sacred Body.’ Why? Wasn’t it all to strengthen himself, to endure longer within the Heart of the Boundary Palace, and to seize a great opportunity? Though he could gradually improve through solitary cultivation, time was not on his side.
No one knew when the Source World of his homeland would face its great destruction.
Guidance from the successful paths of predecessors or the assistance of higher-world experts who had transcended this cage would vastly accelerate his cultivation!
“I’ve struggled and sacrificed so much—all for this opportunity. And now, it stands right before me,” Dongbo Xueying murmured to himself. “Even ‘Meta’ said that such an opportunity comes only once in a lifetime. If I miss it, it’s gone forever.”
“I must seize this great opportunity. Otherwise, I will regret it for the rest of my life!”
Dongbo Xueying refused to imagine a future where his homeland’s Source World was destroyed, leaving him alone in the Heart Realm Continent, drowning in sorrow.
That was not the fate he desired.
Walking across the desolate plaza, he arrived before the towering pagoda, its ten stories piercing the clouds. He lowered his gaze and stepped through the entrance.
The interior of the pagoda was vast, with a central pillar surrounded by wooden stairs spiraling upward to higher floors.
*Tap.*
The moment Dongbo Xueying set foot on the wooden stairs, an immense force repelled him, sending him staggering back two steps.
“So, I must first carve the first floor’s walls before ascending to the second,” he mused with a faint smile, turning his attention to the central pillar.
The cylindrical pillar bore ten intricate diagrams—all related to the Dao of Void.
“Carving all ten diagrams onto the inner walls will grant me passage to the next floor?” His gaze swept across the first floor, where ten blank walls encircled the space.
Earlier, the voice that had spoken to him—likely ‘Meta’—had also transmitted information about the ‘Hunyuan Tower.’
The Hunyuan Tower had ten floors.
On each floor, he was to carve ten diagrams from the central pillar onto the inner walls. He had to comprehend and replicate them successfully.
Of course, time was not unlimited.
He had a maximum of one million years to carve a single diagram. Failure to do so within that timeframe would mean defeat.
Based on his final achievements, he would receive rewards of varying degrees.
Completing the carvings on four floors and reaching the fifth would earn him a peak-tier treasure suited to him, even if he failed afterward.
Five floors… six… seven… eight… nine… and even all ten.
The more he completed, the more extravagant the rewards.
“Truly remarkable,” Dongbo Xueying murmured as he studied the ten diagrams. “All are insights into the Dao of Void, specifically the fusion of ‘Heavenly and Earthly Phases.’ Could it be that the Hunyuan Tower adjusts its trials based on the challenger’s level?”
Having met Lord Luo before, Dongbo Xueying was no longer surprised that a ‘Hunyuan-level’ existence could effortlessly discern his cultivation realm.
What astonished him was the tower’s ability to instantly tailor its trials to each challenger.
“One million years per diagram,” he mused. “And one floor can take no longer than ten million years.”
Ten million years might seem long, but for a Cosmic God, it was merely a brief period of cultivation.
“I must spend the full ten million years on each floor,” Dongbo Xueying decided swiftly. “And during this time, I will devote myself entirely to comprehending the Dao of Void. The ‘World Flowers’ Lord Luo gifted me—nine in total—even if I expend seven or eight here, it will be worth it!”
Still, he resolved to keep at least one in reserve—for when he attempted the final breakthrough to the ‘Cosmic God Ultimate Realm.’
The miraculous effects of the World Flowers were already evident. His avatar back in his homeland’s Chaos Void was currently immersed in cultivation, his understanding of the Dao of Void deepening at an unprecedented rate.
Though Dongbo Xueying had only recently reached the second level of Cosmic God and was far from any bottleneck, his progress was naturally steady. The World Flowers merely accelerated it exponentially.
“Ten floors of the Hunyuan Tower?” He could guess the pattern.
The higher he ascended, the greater the difficulty—and the stricter the time constraints. Clearly, ‘Meta’ was testing how far the reincarnated geniuses who obtained the ‘Heart Realm Tokens’ could progress within a limited timeframe (tens of millions of years).
Only the most dazzling, most monstrous among them would be worthy of ‘Meta’s’ full investment.
From Lord Luo’s words—”For your era, this is all I can do”—Dongbo Xueying understood that even for a Hunyuan-level existence, truly transcendent treasures were rare and precious.
The Hunyuan Tower was a trial. Only the most exceptional would earn Meta’s favor.
“Whether it’s Meta, Lord Luo, or even the one who nurtured ‘Emperor Jun,’ it seems these higher-world beings wish for us to reach their level,” Dongbo Xueying suddenly thought.
Some supreme experts, upon encountering geniuses, sought to destroy or hinder them, unwilling to let them rise to their own heights.
But Meta, Lord Luo, and Emperor Jun’s patron—the three Hunyuan-level beings he knew of—none sought to obstruct. Instead, they nurtured and aided.
“Why dwell on this? To them, only a Cosmic God at the Ultimate Realm barely qualifies as having the potential to strive for higher realms,” Dongbo Xueying shook his head inwardly.
He knew the final step would be incredibly difficult. None of the Ultimate Realm Cosmic Gods he knew—not even the likes of Xia Emperor, Sacred Master, or Old Man Stone—had ever succeeded in taking that step.
“I’ll delve deeper into these mysteries once I reach the Ultimate Realm myself.”
For now, he focused on the pillar before him, scrutinizing the ten diagrams.
“Let’s begin.”
—
The first floor’s ten diagrams were based on the fusion of the ‘Heavenly and Earthly Phases’ of the Dao of Void—merely different applications of this foundation.
Dongbo Xueying’s foundation was already profound. Having mastered all nine branches to the Cosmic God Ultimate Realm and currently immersed in the World Flower’s enlightenment back home, he grasped all ten diagrams within moments.
If he wished, he could swiftly carve them onto the walls.
But he was in no hurry.
He would take the full ten million years. The longer he spent, the greater his progress.
Having only recently reached the second level of Cosmic God and just obtained the World Flowers, what he needed most was time to grow.
—
Time flowed.
On the final day of each million-year interval, Dongbo Xueying carved one diagram, completing each effortlessly in a single stroke.
A World Flower, from bloom to withering, lasted only a hundred thousand years.
All his avatars—whether in his homeland’s Chaos Void or elsewhere—dedicated themselves to comprehension. The hundred thousand years of a World Flower’s bloom were the most rapid period of advancement. After its withering, reflection and consolidation continued to yield swift progress for another three million years before gradually slowing.
Despite the rapid growth, each of the nine branches of the Dao of Void was vast, and their fusion held endless mysteries.
“Ten million years—complete.”
On the final day, as Dongbo Xueying carved the tenth diagram, the wooden stairs of the tower glowed. Above, a rumbling sound echoed as the invisible barrier to the next floor vanished, revealing the path upward.
Without hesitation, he ascended the stairs, this time unimpeded, and soon arrived at the second floor of the Hunyuan Tower.
His gaze swept across the space.
Like the first floor, the second held a central pillar with ten deeper, more profound diagrams. The surrounding walls were blank, awaiting his carvings.
Wasting no time, Dongbo Xueying calmly began studying the new diagrams, immersing himself in their mysteries.
—
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