Chapter 2050: Sword Emperor Qualifications' Final Trial
Upon stepping through the final door, Yuan found himself standing just a few meters away from a towering pagoda, its vast structure rising endlessly into the heavens, disappearing beyond the clouds as if it pierced the very fabric of the sky.
However, Yuan wasn't alone. Standing beside him was Tian Yuexing, who had entered just moments earlier.
Tian Yuexing cast a brief glance in Yuan's direction, then turned away without a word and began making his way toward the pagoda.
Yuan also made his way toward the pagoda shortly after.
Moments later, the two came to a halt before the entrance of the pagoda, where a sign stood prominently beside the doorway.
The sign read:
Welcome to the Endless Pagoda—the final trial of the Sword Emperor Qualifications.
Content presented by MV|LEMP|YR.
The rules are simple. Reach the 40th floor to pass the trial. The difficulty will increase with each floor. You will earn two points for every floor successfully cleared. Once you start the trial, you will not be able to rest.
After reading the sign, Tian Yuexing silently entered the pagoda, disappearing inside.
"Two points per floor, huh?" Yuan muttered as he also entered the pagoda.
Once inside, Yuan found himself standing on a vast, flat surface that stretched endlessly toward the horizon, reminiscent of the training ground at Kelan's sect.
Shortly after, a black circle manifested on the ground a few dozen meters away from Yuan. From its swirling depths emerged a shadowy figure wielding a sword, its cultivation at the peak of the Immortal Ascension Realm.
Yuan remained motionless, his gaze fixed on the shadowy figure. He chose not to attack, opting instead to let his opponent make the first move to gauge its combat capabilities before taking action.
At the same time, Tian Yuexing immediately began his fight with the shadowy figure that mirrored his cultivation at the 3rd level of God Ascension.
A few exchanges later, Tian Yuexing defeated his opponent and was teleported to the next floor.
Meanwhile, Yuan spent a few minutes playing with his opponent.
Once he was satisfied and understood the opponent's combat prowess, which was no different from someone without any talents, Yuan defeated the shadowy figure in one strike and teleported to the next floor.
"How far do you think Yuan will be able to climb?" Wang Bingbing questioned out loud, and the others began pondering.
"We'll have to see how much difficulty each floor adds before we can make any educated guess," said Kelan.
"That makes sense…"
Thus, they continued watching.
Yuan, who wanted to know the same thing, began testing the second floor's opponent. Very quickly, he realized that his opponent on the second floor wasn't much stronger than the first.
And for the next several floors, there was little change in his opponents' strength. However, upon reaching the 10th floor, everything changed. His opponent's power surged dramatically, leaping into the Bronze Immortal Realm.
Moreover, his opponent started using Enhanced Sword Aura when they'd only been using ordinary Sword Aura before.
Of course, despite the spike in difficulty, Yuan dispatched his opponent with ease, barely breaking a sweat.
Both he and Tian Yuexing continued ascending the Endless Pagoda at a similar pace, though Tian Yuexing maintained a slight lead. Unlike Yuan, he didn't waste time gauging his opponents and simply overwhelmed them the moment they showed up.
"At this pace, he should be able to clear 40 floors without any issues," Kelan commented after seeing the change in difficulty on the 10th floor.
"If his opponent on the 20th floor is a Silver Immortal, then on the 40th floor, he should be fighting True Immortals, which shouldn't be any issue for him," said Wang Ming.
"But he can defeat even Kelan, who is a God Ascension cultivator. Surely, he'll be able to climb much higher," said Hong Xiuquan.
"Hah!" Kelan sneered and said, "Do you really think I went all out on him? God Ascension cultivators have their powers restricted within the Nine Heavens. I also didn't use my Celestial Qi during our spar. As talented as he may be, he won't be able to defeat a God Ascension cultivator at their full strength."
Meanwhile, on the tenth floor, Tian Yuexing's opponent remained at the third level of the God Ascension Realm. However, despite the identical cultivation, the opponent's strength had grown exponentially. This was due to the immense power gap between levels within the God Ascension Realm.
By the end of the next day, Yuan had already ascended to the 30th floor. At this stage, all of his opponents were Silver Immortals. Meanwhile, Tian Yuexing had only reached the 20th floor, his pace beginning to fall behind as the gap between them gradually widened.
"Doesn't Yuan have an immense advantage because of his lower cultivation?" someone in the crowd suddenly remarked, drawing curious looks from those around them.
"While their cultivations may differ, that doesn't mean the one with the lower cultivation has it easier," another spectator replied, shaking their head. "Tell me—how many Immortal Ascension cultivators do you know who can defeat a Bronze Immortal, much less a Silver Immortal?"
"Then why does it seem like Yuan is progressing with much more ease?"
"Isn't that simple? He's more talented than Tian Yuexing, hence why he's able to advance quicker and with less effort."
While there had been uncertainty before the final trial about whether Yuan was truly more talented than Tian Yuexing, that doubt had now vanished.
It was clear as day—Yuan's potential far surpassed that of Tian Yuexing.
By the time Tian Yuexing reached the 30th floor, Yuan had already soared to the 50th.
Tian Yuexing's pace had noticeably slowed compared to when he first began, each battle demanding more from him.
Yuan, on the other hand, was still cutting through his opponents with the same effortless ease he'd displayed on the very first floor.
"Heavens… he's defeating Golden Immortals like nothing—treating them as if they're Bronze Immortals…"
The spectators were left utterly dumbfounded by Yuan's heaven-defying prowess, and they all wondered how far he'd be able to climb.