Staring at the colossal black tower in front of him that had more than a hundred cultivators queued up in front of its entrance, Shun Long walked towards it as well after a few moments of deliberation.
He still had 3 days until his first mission begun so he wasn't in a hurry in the first place.
Waiting in the queue along with the rest of the 100 cultivators, Shun Long looked around him while he stared at the expressions of the people who were also waiting to enter the tower as well.
He saw looks of hope and longing in their eyes as well as gazes that were filled with fighting intent, making Shun Long even more curious about the tower in front of him.
The reason why this tower had attracted Shun Long's attention aside from its colossal size, was the words 'Dao Tower' that Shun Long had never heard of before, as well as the fact that it didn't matter whether one was a Heaven grade cultivator or a Dao King, as they were all queued up and waited for their turn. For a building to have both Heaven grade cultivators and Dao Kings enter inside it, as long as it wasn't a shop, then there must definitely be something extraordinary about it.
Turning his attention towards the young man who was standing right in front of him while waiting in line as well, Shun Long looked at him and cupped his hands before asking in a voice that didn't conceal his curiosity
''Friend, I just arrived in the Holy city and I am still new here. Can you tell me what the purpose of this 'Dao Tower' is?''
The young man in front of Shun Long had a disdainful look on his face the moment that he heard his ignorant question, but as soon as he turned around and saw the yellow robes with the insignia of the Holy sect on them, his expression quickly changed as he stared at Shun Long's face with some doubt in his eyes.
''A disciple of the Holy sect?''
The young man asked Shun Long with suspicion evident in his voice, unable to understand how it was possible for a disciple of the Holy sect to not know about the Dao Tower.
Even those disciples who didn't belong to any powerful forces in the Holy sect's territory still knew about the Dao Tower in the Holy city.
Did the guy in front of him just come out from a cave?
Regardless, after a moment of deliberation, the young man nodded his head and decided to answer seriously. After all, Shun Long still seemed to be an outer disciple of the Holy sect, and the young man knew that he wouldn't lose anything by answering his question.
Pointing at the enormous black tower in front of them, the young man looked at Shun Long and said seriously
''The Dao Tower is one of the most important buildings in the entire Holy city. It is a mystical place that every cultivator can enter to test their Dao, and all you have to do to enter is pay some middle-grade spirit stones!
It doesn't matter if one is a Heaven grade newbie or a Dao King realm expert, the 2 of them can fight and the person who utilizes their Dao better will win. Cultivation ranks don't matter at all when 2 people fight inside the Dao Tower, and it is not too uncommon for the person with the lowest cultivation to actually win a fight. Of course, it's not possible for a Heaven grade rookie to compete against a Dao King expert in the first place, I am simply using it as an example!''
The young man in front of Shun Long whose cultivation was at the peak of rank 1 in the Nascent Soul had a look of fervor in his eyes as he looked at the tower in front of him, and after taking a deep breath a moment later he actually continued with an even more excited look than before
''However, the most exciting thing about the Dao Tower isn't just that you can fight experts above your level using the Dao that you have comprehended, but that the Dao Tower in the Holy city is actually connected with the rest of the Dao Towers in every major city in the rest of our central region!''
Shun Long's eyes widened when he heard this as he stared at the colossal black tower in front of him with a look of disbelief.
He didn't need the young man in front of him to explain the last sentence as he immediately understood what that meant.
The Dao Tower could allow you to fight other people all around the central region as well!
A tower where cultivation didn't matter while only the Dao did?
Shun Long had never heard of something like this in his life!
Of course, his knowledge and memories of his previous life were still sealed for the most part, but the Dao Tower still made his eyes burn with fighting intent.
Almost as if he had guessed what Shun Long was thinking, the young man in front of him smiled and said
''Hehe, even though you are an outer disciple of the Holy sect, don't think that you will be able to fight against the best geniuses around the central region only because you managed to pass the sect's tests! Practically every single disciple of the Holy sect come and train themselves in the Dao Tower when they want to train, and I have heard that even inner disciples and... even the legendary core disciples do so as well, but I don't think that any of them have ever reached the top rankings of the Dao Tower.
Of course, if any of the core disciples have reached the top rankings is not something that anyone would know, but if someone can do it it's only them! It's impossible for you or me to do so, so I suggest you stop dreaming!''
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The young man stared at Shun Long's yellow robes with hints of envy in his eyes, but his words still hammered down mercilessly, uncaring if they were going to ruin his hopes of ever glancing at the people in the top ranks of the Dao Tower.
And yet, Shun Long merely smiled at the young man's attempt to lower his confidence while a powerful fighting intent appeared inside his eyes as he stared at the enormous tower in front of him, while watching the line moving forward slowly.
''Hmph.''
The young man harrumphed when he saw Shun Long's smile, making him feel like he was being mocked while inwardly he thought to himself
''Just wait until you enter the Dao Tower. Outer disciple of the Holy sect or not, no one will give a damn about your identity in there!''
Without another word, the young man angrily turned around and stared at the Dao Tower as he eagerly waited for his turn to come.
2 hours later, after the young man in front of him entered inside, it was Shun Long's turn to enter the Dao Tower.
As he stepped forward, Shun Long saw that the huge gates of the tower were wide-open, allowing him to enter without any obstruction.
A luxurious hall appeared in Shun Long's eyes the moment that he stepped foot inside the Dao Tower, as well as 2 beautiful receptionists standing who were behind a large counter.
Seeing the handsome yellow-robed young man who was approaching them caused the eyes of the 2 receptionists to light up at the same time, as both of them flashed the sweetest smiles they could muster and greeted him gently
''Hello young master!''
''Welcome to the Dao Tower! How may I assist you?''
The receptionist on the right looked at the woman next to her and pouted when she realized that she had taken the initiative to offer her assistance first.
Shun Long simply smiled at the 2 receptionists, before walking towards the one on the left a moment later and asked her
''It's my first time visiting the Dao Tower. Can you explain the rules for me or tell me anything else that I need to take note of?''
''With pleasure young master!''
The young woman's gaze heated up even further when she noticed the yellow robes that Shun Long was wearing that indicated that he was actually an outer disciple of the Holy sect.
Pointing at the huge staircase in the distance she then started to explain
''The Dao Tower has more than 9000 rooms split into different floors, and you can use any room that you want without any restrictions. Every room is the same so it doesn't matter which one you choose.
Additionally, you can stay inside a room for as long as you want, but to use a room you are required to pay 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones. Young master should be careful and shouldn't leave the room unless you are certain that you are going to leave the Dao Tower as well, otherwise you will have to pay 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones again to enter inside.
Since it is your first time coming to the Dao Tower, we will give young master your personal tower token.
Of course, since young master hasn't participated in any battles just yet, your tower token will be the lowest white rank token. However, as you fight and win more of your fights, your rank will rise as well.
The first and also the lowest rank is the white rank, followed by the yellow rank and then the orange rank. After the orange is the red rank, followed by the purple rank and the silver rank, and then finally the legendary gold rank.
Since young master is an outer disciple of the Holy sect, I am sure that you will be able to reach the orange rank in no time so I wouldn't worry about it.
Now to the rules.
When you enter inside the room, it will only take a few moments for the Dao Tower to connect young master with someone else.
During the fights there are actually no rules. You can do whatever you want.
Of course, you cannot use your qi and will only be allowed to use your Dao, but you are free to torture or kill your opponent without any restraints.
Naturally, there is nothing to be afraid about even if the fights look real, since it will only be your mind and your opponent's mind that will be connected. So, even if you die during a fight, your consciousness will return to normal soon... but you will feel an intense pain every time you die.''
As she said the last part, the receptionist's voice was lowered significantly, almost as if she remembered the intense pain every time she died inside the tower's fights as well.
This was why most people couldn't handle dying more than 3 times before they left the Dao Tower.
After all, the tower wouldn't wait for you to rest every time you finished a fight, regardless of whether you won or lost, and would at most give you 15 minutes to rest before the next fight began.
After taking a deep breath and expelled the bad memories of death inside the tower, the receptionist looked at Shun Long and handed him a small, white-colored token before she continued
''As long as young master lets a drop of blood fall onto the token, the token will connect with your consciousness every time that you enter a room. As long as you want to stop the challenges or give up a fight, all you have to do is cut off the connection with the token and you can leave the room. Your face will also not be shown to your opponent during the fights so there is nothing to worry about. I wish you good luck young master~''
There was a flirtatious tone in the young receptionist's words as she said the last sentence, but despite her pretty appearance, Shun Long simply nodded his head as thanks before he walked towards the huge staircase in the distance that led him to the next floor.
The receptionist pouted that she couldn't get more of a reaction from him, while the other receptionist next to her simply laughed in response.
At the same time, arriving on the first floor, Shun Long saw nearly 100 doors, all of which were closed, while their entrances were filled with 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones.
Seeing that there was no room available on this floor he continued to walk upwards towards the second floor.
Noticing that there were a handful of rooms 'available', Shun Long picked one at random and stood in front of its entrance. Waving his hand, 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones appeared in front of him, before Shun Long sent them towards the small holes on the door.
As soon as the middle-grade spirit stones embedded themselves on the door, a deep rumbling could be heard as the door slowly opened.
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The room behind the door was filled with nothing but darkness, without a piece of furniture or anything else in sight.
After a moment of deliberation, Shun Long took a step forward and entered inside a moment later.
However, the moment that he stepped foot inside the room, Shun Long heard another loud rumbling sound coming from behind him, as the heavy door of the room automatically closed by itself, blocking off what little light tried to enter the room from the outside.
Inside the darkness that had now almost completely filled the room, Shun Long wasn't even able to see his own fingers.
There was only a very dim light coming from the door itself, which Shun Long assumed was thanks to his 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones.
Of course, even if he couldn't see anything using his eyes, he knew that he could still use his soul sense to sense his surroundings.
As expected, after scanning the room with his soul sense, he noticed that it was indeed empty.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground and closing his eyes, Shun Long then fell into deep thought a moment later
''I wonder how the Dao Tower can force 2 people to fight using only their Dao without utilizing their cultivation. Regardless, if this Dao Tower can really allow one to do so, then this will truly be the perfect place for me to advance my comprehension of my Dao of Space.''
Shun Long knew that he was just a step away from advancing to the early fifth stage of his 'Monarch's Eternal body' and that the only thing he required was to breakthrough in his comprehension of the Dao of Space.
However, unlike his Dao of Time, even with the increased affinity that he had for the Dao of Space thanks to his 'Monarch's Eternal body', Shun Long was still unable to breakthrough in the past 2 years that he had spent in the 'Ten thousand beasts' mountain range' and step into the early fifth stage.
Holding the white-colored token that he had received from the receptionist in his left hand, he no longer hesitated as he bit his own finger, causing a bright red droplet of blood to appear and fall on the white token.
Shun Long could instantly feel the token in his hands trying to establish a connection with his own consciousness the moment that it absorbed his drop of blood, but sensing that it was a connection which he could cut off at any moment, Shun Long gritted his teeth before deciding to allow it a moment later.
The moment that the connection was established, he could sense that his pitch-black surroundings had started to change, while a feeling as if he had started to lose control of his own body had also sprouted in his heart.
No, it wasn't that he had lost control of his body. Instead, it was his consciousness that had established the connection with the white token that was making him unable to control his body at this moment.
However, Shun Long quickly calmed down a moment later, as he could still feel that he could simply cut off the connection between himself and his white token any moment that he wished to do so, and everything would instantly go back to normal.
A few moments later, as he opened his eyes, he noticed that his surroundings had completely changed as he found himself standing in the center of a large palace hall.
Looking at his own hands as well as the rest of his body, Shun Long understood that this wasn't his real body but a body made by motes of light instead.
In front of him, he also saw the silhouette of a young man that had started to materialize at the same time.
And yet, Shun Long didn't pay too much attention to the man who had started to appear in front of him, as he stared at his own hands with a look filled with disbelief.
His cultivation seemed to have returned to the early rank 1 of the Heaven grade, but this wasn't the biggest change that he sensed.
Instead, it was the qi inside him that felt completely different from the qi in his body back in the real world.
Shun Long sensed that the qi inside this body that was made by motes of light, was much weaker and circulated much slower compared to his real qi.
When you and your opponent both have your cultivation base restricted at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, while having the same amount of qi inside your bodies as well as the same qi purity, the only difference between the 2 of you would be the martial skills that you know and the Dao that you have comprehended.
However, due to how slowly the qi inside his body was now circulating, Shun Long instantly realized that it was impossible for him to use even Yellow-grade martial skills, let alone Mystic-grade and Saint-grade ones.
It was only at this moment that Shun Long truly realized why the Dao Tower was rumored to test nothing but the Dao that a cultivator has comprehended, while a complicated feeling started to rise in his heart at the same time.
After all, fighting like this was indeed no different than fighting with shackles around your entire body.
And yet, a moment later, Shun Long quickly shook his head, as a look filled with fighting intent appeared inside his eyes before he mumbled to himself
''This is good as well. This place is truly perfect for me to advance my Dao of Space!''
As he came to this conclusion, Shun Long stared at the figure of the young man in front of him that had fully materialized itself as well.
It was a young man dressed in brown robes, with short black hair and a solidly built body. However, Shun Long was unable to discern any details from his face.
Indeed, this was the protection that the Dao Tower offered to its participants.
As long as one wanted to keep their identity hidden, no one could force that person to reveal it.
At that moment, Shun Long saw the young man in front of him take a look at the hall around them before he turned his attention towards him.
Taking a step forward, the young man's foot suddenly stomped on the ground, actually creating a small fissure on the floor of the palace hall.
The fissure rapidly expanded as it moved towards Shun Long, and from the palace's depths, tree branches of various sizes some of them as thin as a person's finger while some of them as thick as a human's thigh emerged from the fissure, as they moved to surround Shun Long, blocking all paths of retreat
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Staring at the tree branches that were moving towards him Shun Long wasn't flustered in the slightest, as he stretched out his right hand before an illusionary purple-colored blade appeared on it.
Although martial skills couldn't be used inside the Dao Tower, anything related to his own comprehension of their Dao could be utilized as long as Shun Long was willing to spend some of his qi.
This meant that although he couldn't use martial skills like the Gale steps, or his Thunderbolt finger, or the only Saint low-grade martial skill that he knew, the Thundergod's slash, things that Shun Long had comprehended through his own Dao, like the spatial blade in his hand, his blink or opening a space tear with his own hands, everything that was related to his own Dao, regardless of whether they originally required Shun Long to use his qi or his body refinement energy to be activated, could now be used inside the Dao Tower.
Of course, Shun Long wasn't planning to use any of his moves that required him to use his Dao of Time, and was planning to completely rely on his Dao of Space instead.
Staring at the tree branches that were about to completely submerge him in their attacks, Shun Long didn't hesitate as the spatial blade in his right hand started to cut through them like a scorching blade cutting through snow.
The tree branches couldn't provide the slightest resistance in front of the purple spatial blade, and regardless of whether it was the thicker tree branches or the small and thin ones, they were all cut down all the same as Shun Long advanced towards the young man in brown robes.
The young man's body trembled when he felt his strongest attack being destroyed from the inside without him being able to do anything.
Although he tried to summon more tree branches, it was obvious that his attempt was futile as Shun Long simply cleared them faster than they emerged from the ground while he moved towards him.
And yet the only thing that he could do was stick to this same plan.
As he kept attacking Shun Long, the young man had started to step backwards at the same time, opening up the distance between them as he wasn't willing to allow Shun Long to get too close to him, but in just a few moments, he realized that he had ended up reaching the end of the hall with his back against the wall.
At the same time, Shun Long finally cut through the last of the tree branches that was blocking his way a few moments later, before he stared at the young man in front of him who was clearly trembling in fright.
Shun Long wasn't certain if this was the young man's first fight in the Dao Tower as well or his first time coming so close to death which made him so afraid, but it was obvious that his comprehension of his Dao was more than lackluster, to say the least.
Although the attribute of his Dao of Space was really terrifying being able to cut through practically anything at will, Shun Long knew that as long as he met someone whose comprehension of their Dao was higher than his comprehension of his Dao of Space, he wouldn't be able to win effortlessly like this.
As for the young man in front of him, Shun Long guessed that his comprehension of his Dao was at the level of someone who had just broken through to the Heaven grade.
Slashing the air in front of him with his right hand, Shun Long then opened a space tear and stepped inside it, closing the distance between them and appearing in front of the brown-robed young man in practically an instant before he swept his right hand horizontally before the young man could even open his mouth to say anything.
A small wound appeared on the place where the brown-robed young man's heart was supposed to be, and a few moments later, his body started to break down into motes of light as he began to disappear in front of Shun Long.
The young man didn't know why he had been so unlucky to face a monster like Shun Long so early in the Dao Tower.
He had won his previous fight almost effortlessly, but just in his second fight, he had to fight against this monster who had destroyed him in less than a minute.
He was still in the white rank!
What the hell was this guy doing in the white rank as well?
Shun Long had also guessed that the young man would probably feel aggrieved about his loss, since this previous fight was no different than bullying, he didn't really care about it since there was nothing he could do about it either.
As he was still in the white rank, Shun Long had guessed that he would probably have to fight against the weaker cultivators before rising in the ranks, causing most of his opponents in the beginning to only have a comprehension at the Heaven-grade level, but as he rose to the yellow-grade, Shun Long guessed that he would start fighting against peak Heaven-grade opponents or even Spirit realm cultivators, making the battles tougher as he rose through the ranks.
The moment that the brown-robed young man disappeared, Shun Long noticed that some of the motes of light around his body didn't disperse in the surroundings, but instead, they were being absorbed by his white rank token.
His token that had a pure white color didn't change externally, but Shun Long could sense that there was a small difference as he held it.
After looking at it seriously for a few more moments, a smile broke out on his face before he sat cross-legged on the ground on the now dead-silent palace hall and closed his eyes.
The cracks on the ground created by the fissure of the young man's attack were quickly repaired in less than a minute, restoring the palace's appearance to its original state before Shun Long's first fight.
Finally, 15 minutes later, after the period for everyone to rest had ended, a new silhouette started to materialize in front of Shun Long, causing him to slowly open his eyes as well.
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This second silhouette that appeared in front of him belonged to a young woman who was dressed in pure white robes, and had long silver hair that reached down to her waist.
Even though her facial features couldn't be discerned, from the way she carried herself and how she wasn't in a rush to make the first move, Shun Long could guess that this woman had a calm and collected look on her face as she looked at him, before her gaze inspected the rest of the palace hall around her.
Of course, just like Shun Long and the brown-robed young man that Shun Long had faced a few minutes ago, this young woman's cultivation was naturally at the early rank 1 of the Heaven grade as well.
After all, the rules of the Dao Tower were the same for everyone.
After inspecting the young man in front of her for a few seconds, the white-robed young woman's body was suddenly surrounded by a gust of wind as she lifted herself in the air, and as she looked at the yellow-robed young man who was still sitting cross-legged on the floor without moving, she said in a calm but frigid tone, her voice resounding throughout the entire palace hall
''Prepare yourself or die!''
Without waiting for a response, the silver-haired young woman pointed her hand towards him before tens of wind blades appeared in the air around her.
After staying still in the air for a few moments, the wind blades all flew towards Shun Long at the same time, barraging him at once.
With a calm smile on his face, Shun Long looked at the young woman in front of him who was hovering in their confidently as she waited for her attack to land, before he calmly raised his right hand and punched the air in front of him once, creating a large space tear the size of a normal person.
The silver-haired young woman took a step back in disbelief as she saw her wind blades all disappear inside the space tear that Shun Long had casually opened with a single punch, but before she could even process what was going on, her wind blades had already appeared from behind her.
Before the silver-haired young woman had enough time to realize what happened and move out of the way, her body was riddled with wounds and holes as her own wind blades ended up tearing her apart.
Falling on the floor of the palace hall with her consciousness on the verge of fading, the young woman raised her head with extreme difficulty to look at the yellow-robed young man who was sitting opposite to her and had yet to move a single step since their fight started. She was simply unwilling to accept that she had really lost just like this, but she only managed to see Shun Long sit casually at the center of the hall for a single moment, before her body finally broke apart into countless motes of light.
Of course, what the silver-haired young woman didn't know, was that the reason why Shun Long didn't move from his seat was in order to place more pressure on himself.
Fighting against the brown-robed young man had made him realize that using his spatial blade wasn't really helping him increase his comprehension in his Dao of Space.
Thus, he decided against using it, or his blink,
As for the space tear that he had created during the fight that sucked in the young woman's wind blades, Shun Long could only use it when he was fighting opponents whose comprehension of their Dao was at the same level as his Dao of Space at most.
Otherwise, if the young woman's comprehension of her Dao of Wind actually exceeded his comprehension of his Dao of Space, Shun Long guessed that his space tear wouldn't be able to absorb every single wind blade, and would most likely end up crumbling halfway after absorbing around 40 percent of the wind blades instead.
After all, the space tears could only absorb an enemy's attacks, depending on Shun Long's strength and his own Dao comprehension.
No Dao was omnipotent.
Everything relied on a cultivator's own strength in the end.
Of course, in situations where his comprehension of his Dao of Space and his opponent's were at the same level, Shun Long was confident that he could win every single fight.
He had yet to meet someone who was strong enough to fight him head-on.
The only exception so far was when Shun Long fought against Jiang Chen, but to match Shun Long's power when he was utilizing his Dao of Space, Jiang Chen needed to use his Demonic Dao, as well as his rank 1 star-rank weapon and a Saint low-grade martial skill.
Of course, Jiang Chen could also fight Shun Long even without his Demonic Wings when Shun Long was only using his Dao of Space, but in that case, he wouldn't be the one who had the advantage during the fight and could only be placed in a passive position instead, where he would only be able to defend himself.
As for the silver-haired young woman whose comprehension of her Dao was still at the Heaven grade, it was impossible for her to last for even a few seconds against Shun Long when he fought seriously.
Nevertheless, if Shun Long had to compare her with the brown-robed young man from before, Shun Long believed that the young woman would most likely emerge as the victor if the 2 of them fought against each other, and she wouldn't need more than 15 minutes to do so.
As the young woman's body turned into motes of light, a portion of that light didn't disperse but instead, it was absorbed in Shun Long's white token instead.
Shun Long continued to sit cross-legged on the ground without moving, as he waited for his next fight to begin.
...
In the blink of an eye, a day soon passed, as Shun Long stared at the body of a robust middle-aged man in front of him, that had started to turn into motes of light before it slowly disappeared from the palace hall.