Volume 1, Chapter 96 – The Disciples’ Progress

The first floor of the Myriad-Phenomena Tower was an endless wasteland beneath an eternal dusk.

Time flowed silently here at ten times the normal speed.

One month in the outside world amounted to more than three hundred days inside the tower.

Once their initial shock and sense of novelty faded, the disciples quickly adapted to the strange rhythm of this independent space.

Every one of them was racing against time.

Sword qi crisscrossed the area occupied by Li Zhiwei and Murong Xue.

The two stood facing each other with their blades pressed together, their bodies wreathed in chilling sword intent visible to the naked eye.

“Senior Sister, your sword intent is becoming more refined. You should be close to reaching Foundation Establishment, right?”

Li Zhiwei spoke softly. The sword in her hand trembled slightly, releasing a clear hum.

After more than three hundred days of arduous cultivation, she was no longer the frail, timid little girl who had undergone the spiritual aptitude test.

With Master Li Hanyi’s meticulous guidance, an enormous supply of resources, and the accelerated flow of time within the Myriad-Phenomena Tower, her cultivation had already reached the seventh layer of Qi Refinement.

And she had only just turned seven years old.

A gentle smile appeared on Murong Xue’s cool face as she rubbed the little girl’s head.

“You have progressed very quickly as well. When I was your age, I had only just stepped into Qi Refinement.”

“Senior Sister… not really… I…”

Li Zhiwei’s little face reddened at her senior sister’s praise, and she stammered, unsure of what to say.

Not far from them, Zhao Ling’er was concentrating intently on controlling a bronze alchemy furnace half as tall as a person.

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Under her precise control of spiritual power, the flames beneath the furnace rose and fell while the medicinal fragrance within grew steadily richer.

“Condense!”

She gave a soft shout and rapidly changed the seals formed by her hands. The furnace lid burst open with a roar.

Three smooth, jade-like pills shot out and were accurately collected in a jade bottle.

“A first-grade Qi-Replenishing Pill. Success!”

Zhao Ling’er wiped the fine sweat from her forehead, her eyes brimming with joy.

In three hundred days, she had grown from a novice capable of refining only the lowest-grade Fasting Pills into an alchemist who could refine first-grade Qi-Replenishing Pills.

Such a rate of progress would have put many veteran alchemists in the outside world to shame.

“Senior Sister Zhao is amazing!”

“Of course! Senior Sister Zhao is the eldest senior sister of our Danxia Peak. Naturally, she’s amazing!”

Several junior brothers and sisters from Danxia Peak gathered around her, their faces full of admiration.

Nearby, Wang Zhaojun sat quietly in a small medicinal field that Yun Miaoyi had specially prepared for her.

Before her, several second-grade spiritual plants described in the Hundred Herbs Compendium as having “extremely demanding growing conditions” were flourishing, lush and vibrant with life.

She gently brushed her fingers over their leaves and closed her eyes, sensing the faint rhythms of life within them.

“Temperature… moonlight…”

She murmured to herself as she recorded her observations.

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To her, communicating with plants and sensing changes in their medicinal properties were more important than directly refining pills.

This was the path Yun Miaoyi had specifically pointed out for her.

First, she would become a medicinal herb appraiser and cultivator. Once she had done so, learning alchemy would follow naturally.

Xiao Ya’s area was the most “lively” of all.

The Myriad-Phenomena Heavenly Craft Compendium and dozens of jade slips she had recorded herself lay open before her, while objects of all manner of strange shapes were scattered around her.

“The energy-circuit node should be shifted another three units… No, that would destabilize the resonance…”

Her brows knitted tightly as spiritual power flowed around her fingertips, sketching out an intricate three-dimensional formation diagram composed of runes.

Suddenly, there was a soft bang, and a wisp of green smoke rose from the palm-sized formation disk before her.

“Another failure… the sixtieth one…”

Xiao Ya sighed, but she was not discouraged in the slightest. She immediately picked up a jade slip and recorded the data from the failure.

Elder Die Wu occasionally appeared beside her to offer a few pointers, her eyes filled with approval.

Although this disciple’s cultivation was not improving the fastest, her dedication to studying formations and her imaginative ideas often surprised even Die Wu, a Mahayana cultivator who specialized in illusion formations.

In another area, Wang Teng, Li Haoran, and the other disciples under Elder Jin Feng were practicing a sword formation.

Sword qi whistled as metal clashed against metal.

Wang Teng had cast aside his former impatience. His sword techniques were now steady and ruthless, and every strike sought to unleash the full extent of his strength.

“Senior Brother Wang, you have achieved initial mastery of the third sword form, but the circulation of your spiritual power remains somewhat sluggish when you withdraw the strike.”

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Li Haoran lowered his sword and offered his assessment. Calm by nature and exceptionally observant, he could often identify subtle flaws in his fellow disciples’ techniques.

“Thank you for the guidance, Junior Brother Li!”

Wang Teng cupped his fists without the slightest resentment.

After the period of “tempering” he had undergone under Elder Fushan, he had long since understood the importance of sparring with fellow disciples and correcting one another’s shortcomings.

Under Elder Qingluo’s guidance, disciples with wood spiritual roots such as Liu Qingqing and Bai Zhi comprehended the vitality of plants while practicing healing and support techniques.

Su Yurou and Jiang Che followed Elder Canghai, controlling water and condensing ice as they developed versatile and fluid techniques.

Under Elder Hongying’s supervision, Liu Lie and Zhu Xiaoxiao sparred with one another and with a young fire-attribute demon named Crimson Feather, tempering their fire-based divine abilities.

Shi Lei and Yue Shan followed Elder Xuanya in cultivating earth-attribute techniques, developing a steady and weighty style.

Even the more than thirty disciples who had not yet formally joined any peak progressed at astonishing speed under the alternating guidance of Liu Ruyan and Gu Luoli.

There was no cycle of day and night inside the tower, only eternal dusk.

The disciples therefore divided their time into a repeating cycle of cultivation, sparring, rest, and contemplation.

Every hundred days according to the tower’s time, the elders of each peak organized a small-scale exchange and sparring session.

Sword cultivators exchanged insights with spell cultivators, formation cultivators sparred with body cultivators, and water techniques collided with fire techniques.

Through repeated practical battles and exchanges, the disciples not only advanced their cultivation, but also rapidly accumulated combat experience and broadened their horizons.

The bonds between fellow disciples grew deeper as they worked toward the same goal.

Ye Ling’er progressed especially quickly.

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The Lunar Canon was perfectly suited to her constitution. Combined with the temporal advantage of the Myriad-Phenomena Tower and the Immortal Palace’s enormous supply of resources, her progress was extraordinary.

In a little over three hundred days, her cultivation had steadily advanced from the peak of the ninth layer of Qi Refinement to the early stage of Foundation Establishment.

Furthermore, when she established her foundation, her spiritual power completed nine revolutions and her Dao foundation emerged without the slightest flaw. It was the highest-quality Flawless Dao Foundation.

The lunar-wheel mark between her brows had grown increasingly distinct, and faint moonlight seemed to circulate around it of its own accord.

She primarily cultivated the Lunar Dao, with swordsmanship as her secondary path.

After Li Hanyi noticed her exceptional talent and offered her guidance several times during her free time, Ye Ling’er had chosen this path for herself.

Ye Ling’er’s sword intent was cool and ethereal, seamlessly combining offense and defense. It complemented her temperament perfectly.

This day marked the three hundred and tenth day inside the tower.

Gu Luoli sat cross-legged in a specially cleared space at the center of the wasteland.

She had already been sitting there in meditation for seven days.

Her aura was deep and still as an abyss, while spiritual power surged and roared through her body.

Deep within her double pupils, golden light revolved faster and faster, growing brighter with every passing moment.

Liu Ruyan and Ye Ling’er stood guard in the distance, their expressions tense.

“Third Junior Sister is about to break through,” Liu Ruyan said softly.

Ye Ling’er nodded. She could sense the spiritual energy of heaven and earth converging upon Gu Luoli at an astonishing rate.

It was even stirring up a tide of spiritual energy throughout this independent space!