Immortal and Martial Dual Cultivation

Xiao Chen muttered to himself for a while before saying, “I want to know how you managed to merge the changes of the four seasons into your Saber Technique.”

When Bai Shuihe heard this, he laughed, “You are extraordinarily greedy. This is the inherited Martial Technique of the Bai Clan. However, you are the only person who has managed to push me to such a level after thousands of years. I will accommodate your wish, but remember, do not leak these secrets to anyone.”

Bai Shuihe flicked his finger, and light flashed on its tip. The light quickly entered Xiao Chen’s forehead.

Suddenly, Xiao Chen’s mind felt as if it were filled with an enormous amount of knowledge.

Before Xiao Chen could consider it, the space shattered. Xiao Chen opened his eyes once again and found that he had returned to the second floor of the Ancient Desolate Tower.

Xiao Chen’s finger currently pressed against Bai Shuihe’s forehead. Suddenly, Bai Shuihe’s statue shattered and exploded.

A formless power of will spread out from the second floor of the Ancient Desolate Tower. It quickly pierced through the walls and filled the surroundings of the Ancient Desolate Tower.

Bai Shuihe’s remaining will exploded, and all of the cultivator within a thousand meters felt as if something had hit them in the chest heavily.

They had no way to resist. They vomited a large mouthful of blood and grew very pale.

A dull thud also came from Shi Hailong and the others. They did their best to suppress their surging blood for a long moment before they could calm it down.

The few people wore graves expressions. After a long expanse of silence, someone asked in a quivering voice, “Someone…managed to defeat the will of a Martial Sage!”

Although the wills had suppressed their cultivation to the challenger’s equivalent, they were not at a disadvantage due to their experience and Martial Techniques.

The only weakness they suffered was that they could not exist for a long time. However, they would have no problems executing a few hundred moves. Thus, it would be almost impossible to defeat one of them.

For someone to withstand ten moves, they would be a rare and precious outstanding talent. In the future, that person would, at the very least, reach the Martial Monarch realm.

In the several thousand years of the Trial of the Ancient Desolate Tower’s existence, aside from the Thunder Emperor, no one had heard of a challenger defeating their wills before.

However, this very thing had just happened before their eyes. How could they not be astonished?

Shi Hailong had a grave expression as he stared at a spot of light that flew to the third floor. He muttered, “I can’t be wrong, I’m definitely right. There is no way I am wrong about this. It must be him, the first person who to arrive at the second floor!”

The instant the sculpture shattered, Xiao Chen’s body automatically rose and swiftly headed for the light barrier above.

This time, Xiao Chen paid attention when he passed through the barrier. He carefully monitored the Qi whirlpool in his body for any changes.

As Xiao Chen had expected, drops of pure purple Essence liquid dripped from his Qi whirlpool as his body passed through the light barrier.

“Di da! Di da!”

This time, Xiao Chen took ten seconds to pass through the light barrier, twice as long as when he passed to the previous level.

Xiao Chen was pleased to discover that he had approached the bottleneck of Inferior Grade Martial King. His Essence surged, showing signs of breaking through to Medial Grade Martial King at any time.

It was no wonder everyone said that the Ancient Desolate Tower was a miraculous place. Everyone fought hard for a spot to enter it.

The rate of Xiao Chen’s Essence increase alone was the equivalent of one year of cultivation.

To the peak geniuses, one year was more than sufficient to cast the others far behind their shadows.

“Xiu!”

Xiao Chen landed firmly on the third floor and swept his gaze through the entire place. Compared to the second floor, the third floor was smaller.

Like before, drawings of many seniors decorated the walls, but no external force acted on them at all.

There was no pressure from above or suction force from below. A light barrier still loomed above, but no one flew up to attempt passing through it.

Zuo Mo and the others who had arrived earlier wore unsightly expressions as they examined a group of gravestones in the center of the room.

“Look; another gravestone has appeared!”

It was unknown who made the announcement, but everyone immediately looked over. They clearly saw the words ‘Here lays the White Robed Bladesman, Xiao Chen, of the Great Qin Nation in eternal slumber’ carved on the gravestone.

A few people quickly looked back, and after they discovered Xiao Chen, they revealed the same expression.

Xiao Chen walked over, feeling suspicious. He discovered that the various gravestones had the names of the outstanding talents on the third floor carved on it; it seemed extremely odd.

There were even some ancient coffins laying quietly behind the gravestones. A dark atmosphere radiated from the gravestones, expanded throughout the entire space.

Even Xiao Chen’s name graced a gravestone. However, he was clearly alive. He felt strange, looking at his own gravestone.

Xiao Chen asked Xia Xiyan, who stood to the side, “What’s going on?”

A grave expression shadowed Xia Xiyan’s face as she replied, “I’m not sure. The moment anyone arrives, another gravestone and coffin appear. Someone already tried flying up to the light barrier above, but he could not pass through it. This is different from the earlier floors.”

Xiao Chen nodded and focused his gaze on his own gravestone. He said, “In that case, the test of this floor must have something to do with these gravestones.”

“I agree!” Xia Xiyan responded uncertainly. Suddenly, she saw what Xiao Chen was doing and exclaimed in shock, “What are you doing!”

Xia Xiyan saw that Xiao Chen had walked to the coffin behind his gravestone. He placed his right hand on the coffin lid and tried to open it.

Xiao Chen’s actions startled everyone there. They quickly retreated to the back of the room. There were too many strange things in his Ancient Desolate Tower.

There was an unknown risk with suddenly opening the stone coffin like this. The results could be problematic.

Zuo Mo advised, “Brother Xiao Chen, how about investigating this first before deciding that? It is quite risky to open the coffin.”

Jiang Zimo was of the same opinion as well. He also felt that it was unwise, “Brother Xiao, let’s wait for a while more. We might discover something else.”

Xiao Chen shook his head in rejection, “The answer is clear. It is in this stone coffin. You guys can back off first!”

Seeing that Xiao Chen had already made up his mind, the others said nothing more. Actually, they were also curious about what was inside the stone coffin. However, they were not as decisive as Xiao Chen.

“Bang!”

Xiao Chen sent out a palm strike and quickly retreated. Then, his right hand quickly grasped the hilt of his saber.

The stone coffin lid immediately lifted, flying. Xiao Chen looked down and saw the contents of the stone coffin. His expression slowly grew doubtful, and he released his saber from his right hand.

When the others saw the situation, they moved closer. They discovered that the stone coffin was empty; there was nothing inside.

“Odd; why is there nothing?!”

“How is that so? It would be unusual if the coffin really contained something.” The moment someone spoke, another person rebutted him.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The other stone coffins were all knocked open as well, but there was nothing in any of them. Everyone felt a sense of false alarm and relaxed.

However, they soon remembered that this was the Ancient Desolate Tower. They had to figure out a way to clear this floor and rise to a higher floor before they could obtain more benefits.

Those who successfully passed the test from the wills would receive a reward. There were Secret Treasures, Battle Armor, Spirit Weapons, and even Cultivation Techniques.

These were valuable items that were normally difficult to obtain. Even if they found nothing, the cultivation they obtained by passing through the light barrier was also very attractive.

The crux of the problem now was not that there was nothing in the stone coffins but how to break through his floor to a higher level.

Xiao Chen shifted his gaze between the stone coffin and the gravestone.

Suddenly, Xiao Chen thought of an idea. He fell deep in thought, and his expression turned serious.

“Xiao Chen, how should we clear this floor? What do you think?” Zuo Mo, Jiang Zimo, and the others asked as they stepped closer to him.

After thinking for a long time, they could not manage to solve this riddle. So, they asked for Xiao Chen’s opinion.

Xiao Chen was very calm as he said softly, “It is obvious that this is a grave. There are a gravestone and a coffin. What do you think is missing? The answer is very clear.”

The crowd muttered to themselves. After a while, their expression changed greatly.

These were graves. There were gravestones and coffins; what was left? Naturally, only corpses remained!

Without a corpse to bury, how could the grave be complete?

“Damn it! Could it be that we have to kill ourselves and slumber in these stone coffins before we can pass this floor’s test?” A cultivator cursed softly, feeling frustrated.

Naturally, the benefits of the fourth floor motivated everyone. However, if one died in the process, that all would be for naught.

Chu Chaoyun smiled and said, “Maybe…but it might not necessarily need to be our own body.”

When the others heard this, they were startled. A swordsman from the Great Chu Nation demanded angrily, “Chu Chaoyun, what do you mean?”

Chu Chaoyun’s expression remained unchanged as he looked at that person, “Whether is it true or not, all we have to do is test my theory on someone. For example, you!”

“Bastard!”

That person cursed angrily and wanted to attack. However, when he recalled Chu Chaoyun’s strength, he felt fear in his heart. He quickly controlled his emotions and took a few steps back.

Chu Chaoyun smiled faintly and said, “Is that all the courage you have?”

Chu Chaoyun’s words may have been hard on the ears. However, when everyone thought about it, they felt that it made sense.

There was nothing wrong with Chu Chaoyun’s declaration. Whether it was true or not, all they had to do was to find someone to test it on. If that person died, passed through the light barrier of the third floor, and successfully revived, it meant that this string of thought was viable and everyone could imitate it.

If that person died and did not come back to life, that meant that this idea was wrong, and they had to think of other methods.

However, regardless of the situation, there was one very important thing—the person testing it could not be themselves.

“Xiu!”

The atmosphere immediately became strained and quiet. The silence was so deafening that one could hear a pin drop. When accompanied by the graves, the room felt gloomy and horrific.

Some of the person who thought they were stronger than the others started to sweep their gaze through the crowd. It was as though they searched for an appropriate target.

The atmosphere was initially odd already. Now, everyone’s nerves were strained, and their hands rested on their weapons.

Only the sounds of heavy breathing echoed through the dismal room. Everyone guarded themselves against each other.

There was no way to judge who was your friend and who was your enemy.

Someone who had once been an ally could launch a sneak-attack, turning you into the first experiment.

A previous enemy was worse. He might attack for no reason and sabotage you, turning you into the common target of everyone.