As Li Yun followed the disciples through the forest, he felt curious about what had attracted the attention of so many disciples.
'It better be worth my time,' he thought.
After about half an hour, he finally came to a stop.
A six-story pagoda stood before them, surrounded by disciples on all sides.
"What is this tower?" Li Yun murmured in confusion.
"This is not a tower but a pagoda—a Combat Pagoda, to be specific," a disciple standing beside him corrected. The disciple appeared quite handsome and composed, with a graceful demeanor.
"What does it do, and why are so many disciples gathered here?" Li Yun asked, noting how the disciple was a little too handsome for his liking.
The handsome disciple looked at Li Yun with a strange expression. The Combat Pagoda was a major focus of the combat assessment, alongside hunting beasts and collecting their cores. Moreover, the combat assessment remained the same every year, yet here was a disciple asking about the Combat Pagoda.
In the end, he sighed and explained, "The Combat Pagoda is one of the main focuses of the Disciples Selection Assessment. There are six floors, each awarding disciples with various points and treasures."
Li Yun nodded in understanding and stroked his chin as he looked at the pagoda. "I take it, it's not easy to go from the first floor to the sixth?"
The handsome disciple nodded with a solemn expression. "It's very difficult. With each floor, the difficulty of entering the next increases tremendously. And do you know what the crazy thing is? Only three disciples have successfully entered the sixth floor since the Combat Pagoda was introduced."
"Only three?" Li Yun sucked in a breath of cold air. He had expected some difficulty, but this was on another level. Thousands of disciples participated in these assessments every year, yet only three had reached the sixth floor so far. This really highlighted the difficulty of the Combat Pagoda.
"There are various peaks in our sect, and the elders of those peaks choose disciples from the ones who perform well in the Combat Pagoda. So, while overall ranking matters in the Disciples Selection Assessment, many disciples focus on the Combat Pagoda for a chance to enter the peak of their choice."
The handsome disciple then explained the importance of the Combat Pagoda.
Li Yun nodded and looked forward to seeing how far he could go.
He focused his attention once again on the Combat Pagoda and noticed that each floor would glow with a green light from time to time.
"The floors shine with a green glow whenever a disciple enters the respective floors," the handsome disciple explained when he saw Li Yun frown at the pagoda.
"Thanks for explaining these things to me," Li Yun said, cupping his fists and bowing slightly. He appreciated the disciple's efforts to clear his doubts.
"No problem," the handsome-faced disciple replied with a smile, shuffling his hair. "By the way, I'm Hua Fu."
"I'm Li Yun," Li Yun introduced himself, thinking this guy was too proud of his handsome face.
"Hehe, I know about you," Hua Fu said, still smiling.
Li Yun nodded with a wry smile, knowing that his little stunt during the comprehension assessment had made him famous among the disciples.
He sighed and looked at Hua Fu curiously. "You don't seem to be a nominal disciple."
Hua Fu nodded with a proud expression. "I'm a prince of a kingdom, here for experience," he said, shuffling his hair once again.
"And I'm the reincarnation of an ancient god," Li Yun laughed, taking Hua Fu's words as a joke.
But Hua Fu's expression didn't change, and he still looked at Li Yun with the same proud expression.
"Commoners like you are why I haven't joined a sect until now," Hua Fu said disdainfully, looking at Li Yun with disgust.
Li Yun eyed him strangely and gave him a thumbs up. "Your acting skills are good, but you'll need to work hard to reach my level," he said, shaking his head in disappointment.
"I'm not acting, you know," Hua Fu retorted lightly.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go see the Combat Pagoda from the front," Li Yun said, immediately heading into the crowd of disciples surrounding the pagoda for a better view.
"Hey, wait for me!" Hua Fu quickly followed behind.
After struggling to pass through the narrow gaps between the crowd of disciples, Li Yun and Hua Fu finally reached the front and could clearly see the Combat Pagoda.
"It's magnificent!" Li Yun praised the architecture before him.
"It is indeed magnificent," Hua Fu agreed.
"Look who decided to show up!"
A sarcastic voice suddenly rang out.
Li Yun turned toward the source and saw Xia Guo, Gao Zhu, and others. He also noticed Mu Tai among them, who lowered his head when Li Yun looked at him. Lie Hua stood a little distance away from them.
Looking at them, Li Yun's eyes lit up with greed. He saw them as nothing but point-carrying vessels waiting to be eliminated. But he also knew he couldn't fight them all at once, and even if he could, he would end up becoming a treasure trove for them instead.
'I shouldn't be greedy here,' Li Yun told himself and waved his hands at them.
"Yo, did you guys miss me?" he asked with an excited expression, as if he were some celebrity and the disciples surrounding him were his fans.
Hua Fu cringed hard at the sight and immediately tiptoed, trying to distance himself from Li Yun. He didn't want anyone to associate him with Li Yun.
On the other hand, Xia Guo almost fell backward. He had intended to mock Li Yun, but this guy chose this moment to show off.
The disciples around them started murmuring and laughing among themselves when they heard Li Yun.
Li Yun smiled at them and turned his attention to Xia Guo.
"What was your name again? Xu Gu? Xi Gi? Gu Gu?" Li Yun rattled off a few names, unsure which one was correct.
"It's Xia Guo, you idiot!" Xia Guo yelled in frustration, his face turning red.