Chapter 97

(Listen, listen, listen (shouting so loudly, don't you all support more, it's too disappointing))

In the midst of the cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of the promise written there.

Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

Chen Chuyun, Li Zhen Shi, and Chen Kaiyue stood outside the black room, all looking very anxious. A disciple of the Xingyao Hall stood in front of the black room, waiting for the time to arrive.

Li Zhen Shi's face was still somewhat pale, clearly indicating that his injuries had just healed, but his condition had not fully recovered.

"Chen Zong should be fine," Chen Kaiyue said. He had heard about the horrors of being confined in the black room; eight days was enough to destroy a person, and he was very worried.

"Trust Brother Chen," Li Zhen Shi forced a smile, but his concern was inevitable.

Chen Chuyun's face was cold, and he remained silent, but a chill emanated from his body.

Bai Yushan, Bai Yulou, and others stood in another place. Bai Yushan's face was expressionless, while Bai Yulou wore a cold smile.

"Eight days of confinement, I wonder if he's still alive?"

"I doubt it. Five days of confinement is already unbearable, and each additional day is a great torment."

"His body is probably already cold."

Various comments were made, and most of the people here had no connection to Chen Zong, but they had come out of curiosity. Eight days of confinement was unprecedented.

"The time has come," the disciple of the Xingyao Hall said, and everyone's hearts were stirred, their eyes fixed on the steel door of the black room, holding their breath unconsciously.

The disciple of the Xingyao Hall slowly opened the steel door, and the darkness inside seemed to swallow the light, emitting a bone-chilling cold.

"Chen Zong, come out," the disciple of the Xingyao Hall called into the black room.

"Is it time?" A hoarse, harsh voice, like metal scraping, came from inside the black room, cutting into everyone's eardrums like a rusty saw, strange and uncomfortable.

"He's still alive!" Everyone shuddered involuntarily, amazed.

Chen Chuyun and the others wore expressions of joy, while Bai Yushan and Bai Yulou looked grim, and the others were shocked.

Standing at the door of the black room, Chen Zong felt the light in front of him was extremely intense, so intense that it seemed to shatter his eyes, so intense that it seemed to melt him.

Chen Zong squinted his eyes, gradually adapting to the sudden light. This light, which seemed to shatter the darkness, brought an indescribable feeling.

After a while, Chen Zong finally adapted to the light and stepped out, basking in the sunlight, warmth spreading throughout his body, and his blood and qi seemed to revive.

Under their watchful eyes, a figure gradually appeared, walking out of the darkness, carrying a sense of loneliness and desolation, as if emerging from the depths or hanging like a solitary star in the sky.

It was hard to describe the feeling, which strongly impacted everyone's eyes and hearts, as if there was a gap between two worlds.

"He looks fine," someone said in a low voice.

To everyone, Chen Zong, apart from his pale face and somewhat weak breathing, had very clear and bright eyes, like the gleam of a sword.

"Brother, how do you feel?" Chen Chuyun asked with concern, and Li Zhen Shi and the others looked tense.

"I'm fine," Chen Zong forced a smile, which was a bit stiff, as he hadn't smiled in days and was a bit unaccustomed.

"Good, go back and rest."

Bai Yushan and Bai Yulou's faces were extremely grim, and they almost looked like they could drip water as they watched Chen Zong leave.

"Damn, eight days of confinement, and he's still alive and well," Bai Yulou clenched his fists, filled with resentment.

Compared to Bai Yulou, Bai Yushan thought more. Eight days of confinement had not broken Chen Zong, which was terrifying. Given the current situation, they needed to find an opportunity to eliminate him, or he might become a major threat in the future.

Chen Zong left, but surviving eight days of confinement and seemingly unaffected made him a legend.

After confirming multiple times, Chen Chuyun and the others finally felt relieved. Chen Zong was indeed fine, but being in that environment for a long time had some impact, which could be adjusted with rest.

As long as his body was unharmed and his spirit and will were not eroded, other minor issues were not a big problem.

"Brother Chen, what was the experience of being confined in the black room?" Li Zhen Shi asked with a smile, seeing that Chen Zong was in good condition and not greatly affected, and Chen Kaiyue and the others looked curious.

"Can't see, can't hear, senses are blurred, very boring, very lonely, very isolated, inconvenient to practice, easy for杂念 to grow and amplify, becoming restless and agitated, no response to heaven or earth..." Chen Zong described the feeling as concisely as possible, and his tone brought Li Zhen Shi and the others into that feeling, their faces changing with shock.

"Brother, rest well. Tomorrow, we will challenge the Mechanism Tower," Chen Chuyun said.

"The Mechanism Tower is opening?" Chen Zong was surprised. The Mechanism Tower was a feature of the Seven Radiant Martial Academy, but it usually did not open, seemingly only once a year.

"Yes," Li Zhen Shi nodded. "Unfortunately, my injuries have just healed, and I'm not suitable for combat yet."

"Challenging the Mechanism Tower is not only a test but also a chance to get rewards, a win-win situation," Chen Chuyun said.

"What kind of rewards?" Chen Zong's heart stirred.

"The Mechanism Tower has three levels: the Wooden Man Tower, the Iron Man Tower, and the Bronze Man Tower. The Wooden Man Tower is the easiest, and the Bronze Man Tower is the hardest," Chen Chuyun said.

"This time, the top ten who complete the Wooden Man Tower first will receive rewards."

"The tenth to fourth place will each receive a Da Chixue Pill and the right to choose a middle-grade human-level cultivation technique or martial art, as well as corresponding jade coins. The tenth place will receive 10,000 white jade coins, the ninth place 20,000, and so on, with the fourth place receiving 70,000 white jade coins."

"What about the top three?" Chen Zong's eyes lit up.

If the fourth to tenth places were like this, the top three should have even more rewards.

"The third place will receive 100,000 white jade coins, two Da Chixue Pills, and the right to choose a high-grade human-level cultivation technique or martial art."

Hearing this, Chen Zong's eyes lit up even more.

What he needed most now was white jade coins. With enough white jade coins, he wouldn't have to sell the Blood Jade Essence, which would be more beneficial the longer he wore it.

"The second place will receive 200,000 white jade coins, three Da Chixue Pills, and the right to choose a high-grade human-level cultivation technique or martial art."

"The first place will receive the highest reward: 300,000 white jade coins, a precious iron-level weapon, five Da Chixue Pills, and the right to choose a high-grade human-level cultivation technique or martial art."

"300,000 white jade coins!"

"A precious iron-level weapon!"

Chen Zong's heart raced with excitement.

Currently, he had a little over 130,000 white jade coins. If he could get first place, he would gain another 300,000, totaling 1.6 million, getting closer to 1.8 million. The remaining 200,000 white jade coins could be obtained through other means.

Additionally, a precious iron-level weapon, a precious iron sword, would undoubtedly be stronger than a treasure iron sword. If the jade coins were insufficient, he could sell the precious iron sword to make up the 1.8 million white jade coins, which would not be a problem.

"Completing the Iron Man Tower will have even higher rewards. The tenth to fourth place will each receive a Jingxue Pill and the right to choose a high-grade human-level cultivation technique or martial art, as well as 30,000, 60,000, 90,000, 120,000, 150,000, 180,000, and 210,000 white jade coins, respectively."

"The third place will receive two Jingxue Pills, the right to choose a high-grade human-level cultivation technique or martial art, a precious iron-level weapon, and 300,000 white jade coins."

"The second place will receive three Jingxue Pills, the right to choose a high-grade human-level cultivation technique or martial art, a precious iron-level weapon, and 400,000 white jade coins."

"The first place will receive five Jingxue Pills, the right to choose a high-grade human-level cultivation technique or martial art, a precious iron-level weapon, a golden silk inner armor, and 500,000 white jade coins."

The golden silk inner armor, which sounded like an enhanced version of the silver silk inner armor, but the difference was significant.

The silver silk inner armor could weaken a thousand pounds of force and resist the sharpness of ordinary iron weapons, while the golden silk inner armor could weaken three thousand pounds of force and completely resist the sharpness of precious iron weapons, significantly enhancing a martial artist's survival ability.

The value of the golden silk inner armor was very high, comparable to a precious iron-level weapon, and not easily obtainable.

"If you complete the Bronze Man Tower, you can directly become a disciple of the Heavenly Radiance Hall, with even more rewards."

"The Wooden Man Tower will open first, followed by the Iron Man Tower, and finally the Bronze Man Tower, with rewards stacking."

"Willn't the rewards be monopolized by those with high cultivation and strength?" Chen Zong, excited, calmed down and thought about this. He had some strength, but in the entire Seven Radiant Martial Academy, he was nothing compared to many others.

"Any disciple at the Blood Qi Realm can challenge, but those who have already completed the Wooden Man Tower in previous years and those at the ninth layer of the Blood Qi Realm are not included in the rankings."

"Disciples of the Heavenly Radiance Hall are not included in the rankings regardless of which tower they challenge."

Chen Zong nodded, understanding that this would prevent those at the ninth layer of the Blood Qi Realm from monopolizing the top ten.

"The difficulty of the Mechanism Tower is very high. Most disciples at the seventh layer of the Blood Qi Realm cannot complete the Wooden Man Tower, most at the eighth layer cannot complete the Iron Man Tower, and most at the ninth layer cannot complete the Bronze Man Tower," Chen Chuyun concluded.

"When does it start tomorrow?" Chen Zong asked.

"At nine in the morning."

After a brief conversation, to let Chen Zong rest better, Chen Chuyun and the others left one by one.

"Challenging the Mechanism Tower, with my strength, I should be able to complete the Wooden Man Tower and strive for a top ten position, and even competing for the top three is not a fantasy," Chen Zong thought. Although his cultivation was at the seventh layer of the Blood Qi Realm and not yet in the late stage, his strength surpassed many at the eighth layer.

As for the Iron Man Tower, he was unsure of the difficulty and had no confidence in completing it, even if he could, he was not sure if he could secure a top ten position.

But, he would do his best to strive.

(End of AD)

(End of AD)