Passing Down Through Hands

The moment they stepped through the tower doors, Xiao Ruobai and Fang Hanyu were separated by two streaks of golden light, each plunging into an independent space.

Xiao Ruobai landed in a desolate ancient battlefield. Before him appeared a mid-stage Cave Heaven Realm puppet cultivator, wielding a long blade and slashing directly at him.

Fang Hanyu, on the other hand, found himself in a forest of swords. A mid-stage Cave Heaven Realm puppet attacked him with a sword, the sword wind carrying a fierce killing intent.

Neither of them hesitated for a split second. Xiao Ruobai swept his long halberd horizontally, the tip carrying the weight of a thunderbolt, directly snapping the puppet's blade and piercing through its chest in one fluid motion.

Fang Hanyu drew his Flowing Frost Sword. A pale cyan sword light flashed like lightning. Before the puppet could even see the shadow of the sword, blood sprayed from its neck and it collapsed. The first level, instantly cleared.

The space of the second level changed abruptly. Facing the encirclement of three puppets of the same realm, Xiao Ruobai danced his halberd so tightly that not even wind could leak through. Every strike accurately hit the puppets' vital points. In less than three breaths, the three puppets crashed to the ground.

Fang Hanyu used the terrain of the sword forest. As he moved, his sword techniques were as fast as afterimages. The puppets' attacks could not even touch the corner of his clothes before they were all killed.

The second level, instantly cleared again.

The opponents in the third level were upgraded to the late stage of the Cave Heaven Realm, but both of them still passed instantly.

The fourth level had an early-stage Heaven and Human Realm puppet, the fifth level had three early-stage Heaven and Human Realm puppets, the sixth level had a mid-stage, the seventh had three mid-stages, and the eighth level had a late-stage Heaven and Human Realm puppet...

No matter how the opponents' realms increased or their numbers multiplied, Xiao Ruobai's halberd always drew blood with every move, and Fang Hanyu's sword was always too fast for anyone to react.

From the desolate battlefield to the frozen snowy domain, from the sword forest to the demon domain, the spatial scenes of each level constantly changed. Yet, their killing speed never slowed down. The puppets couldn't even withstand half a move against them.

When Xiao Ruobai's halberd shattered the head of the peak Heaven and Human Realm puppet on the ninth level, the space suddenly twisted. He was guided by a gentle force and landed on the top of the tower, which was paved with jade bricks.

Almost at the same time, Fang Hanyu also beheaded a peak Heaven and Human Realm puppet, and his figure appeared on the other side of the tower's top.

The two stood side by side, looking at the cloud-shrouded tower levels below their feet. Their breathing was so steady that it seemed as if they had only just completed an ordinary warm-up exercise.

At this moment, in the lower levels of the Heaven Reaching Tower, most of the cultivators were still trapped in the second or third levels.

Just as Xiao Ruobai and Fang Hanyu were observing the scene at the top of the tower, the jade platform in the center suddenly lit up with a blinding golden light. Golden runes surged like the tide, gradually condensing into a translucent, elderly figure.

It was the remnant soul of Ling Qiong. His messy hair clung to his cheeks, and the spiritual power around him was so weak that it seemed it would dissipate at any moment. Only his eyes still revealed an unextinguished light.

As soon as the remnant soul stabilized his figure, he began to cough violently. Every gasp caused tiny ripples to appear on his spirit body. His voice was as hoarse as if it had been rubbed by sandpaper.

"Cough... Finally... I've waited for someone who could clear the nine levels."

But when his gaze swept past Xiao Ruobai and landed on Fang Hanyu, his spirit body suddenly trembled. The coughing stopped abruptly, and his eyes were filled with unbelievable astonishment.

"Eh? Why are there two people?"

He blinked his eyes, thinking he was hallucinating.

It seemed he hadn't expected that after endless years of waiting, he would be greeted by two successful challengers.

A moment later, he recovered his senses. The astonishment in his eyes was gradually replaced by a deep, undeniable sense of gratification.

"My name is Ling Qiong. I was once just a rogue cultivator struggling at the bottleneck of the Quasi-Saint Realm. I stumbled into this secret realm by chance and found this Heaven Reaching Tower."

"At that time, I thought... this was my opportunity to break through to the Saint Realm."

Ling Qiong raised his hand and pointed vaguely at the tower. The remnant soul's fingertips passed through the golden runes, carrying a hint of powerless melancholy.

"But this tower is too ruthless. The ninth level was a whole major realm higher than me, which was the late-stage Saint Realm.

I exhausted three hundred years of time, suffering from black hair to white. I even burned half a lifetime of cultivation to trigger the 'Blood Sacrifice Dao Foundation,' fighting until my spirit meridians shattered and my lifespan sharply decreased, yet I only barely managed to scratch the puppet."

He paused, his voice so low it could hardly be heard, full of unwillingness and self-deprecation.

At this moment, Xiao Ruobai suddenly spoke, his tone carrying a bit of genuine confusion.

"Is this tower really that difficult? I don't think it even took me the time of an incense stick to get up here."

Fang Hanyu nodded faintly on the side and added, "Me too. It felt like it was over before I even warmed up."

Ling Qiong's remnant soul suddenly stiffened. The ripples on his spirit body instantly turned into a chaotic mess, as if he had been struck by invisible lightning.

He opened his mouth but couldn't make a sound for a long time. Finally, he tremblingly pointed at the two of them. "You, you guys... an incense stick? Haven't warmed up?!"

His originally melancholy mood was instantly shattered to pieces. The color of his spirit body dimmed a few shades as he muttered to himself, "I fought desperately for three hundred years... and you took an incense stick..."

"I guarded an opportunity like the Heaven Reaching Tower in vain, yet I couldn't even figure out the entrance..."

At this point, the remnant soul's spirit body violently shook, as if stung by past regrets. But this time, it was more stimulated by their understated words. It took him quite a while to stabilize.

"Later, I knew I couldn't hold on, so I used my last bit of strength to set up a cultivation restriction based on this tower. If I couldn't do it, I had to choose a junior with formidable combat power to see the scenery at the top of the tower for me, and refine this Heaven Reaching Tower for me."

When his gaze seriously swept over Xiao Ruobai and Fang Hanyu again, a bright light suddenly ignited in Ling Qiong's eyes, and his spirit body rarely solidified a bit.

This time it wasn't gratification; it was purely the shock of their talent causing a terminal lucidity.

"You... actually managed to clear all nine levels together? And so easily?"

He took two steps forward, his voice carrying uncontrollable excitement and a trace of breakdown. "Good! Excellent! You are much stronger than I was back then! So strong that it's a bit excessive!"

Before his voice faded, Ling Qiong waved his hand. A pale golden cluster of light rose from the jade platform. The Dao rhythm within the inheritance core became increasingly vivid due to the remnant soul's emotional fluctuations.

"This Heaven Reaching Tower, and the treasures of the secret realm, are now entrusted to you."

He paused and muttered quietly.

"I'm not worthy anyway..."

As his words fell, the golden runes above the jade platform suddenly surged, condensing into a fist-sized tower-shaped spirit core. Faint Dao rhythm flowed on the surface of the spirit core; it was the core refinement mark of the Heaven Reaching Tower.

"Who will refine it?"

Fang Hanyu looked at Xiao Ruobai, his tone carrying a bit of consideration.

"I major in the Sword Dao. Refining the tower core won't benefit me as much as it will you."

Xiao Ruobai didn't decline. It was just a small secret realm; it wasn't even as precious as the treasures his master usually gave him.

He took a deep breath, reached out to grasp the tower-shaped spirit core, and slowly injected spiritual power from his fingertips.

As soon as the spirit core touched his palm, it turned into a streak of golden light and surged into his dantian through his meridians.

Xiao Ruobai only felt the spiritual power in his dantian suddenly boil. Countless ancient runes unfolded in his sea of consciousness. The control methods of the Heaven Reaching Tower and the distribution map of the secret realm's spirit veins flooded into his mind like a tide.

In just a moment, a faint golden halo appeared around his body, resonating with the body of the Heaven Reaching Tower in the distance. The runes on the tower also lit up, as if successfully acknowledging its master.

"It's done."

Xiao Ruobai opened his eyes, a flash of enlightenment passing through them, and nodded to Fang Hanyu beside him.

As soon as the words were spoken, the Heaven Reaching Tower suddenly trembled violently. The runes on the tower flowed wildly like living creatures, and a golden light shot straight into the clouds from the spire.

The next second, a gentle yet irresistible force spread from the tower. The cultivators who were still challenging the trials inside were enveloped by this force, instantly ejected from the tower, and landed securely on the open ground in front of it.

Xiao Ruobai and Fang Hanyu were also swept out of the tower along with the others, arriving outside.

Before the crowd could react, the runes surrounding the Heaven Reaching Tower rippled outward layer by layer, spreading across the entire secret realm like ripples on water.

The invisible restriction that had been firmly suppressing the cultivators' cultivation bases rapidly disintegrated under the shroud of the runic light, melting away like ice and snow.

"This is bad. I was so focused on refining earlier that I didn't expect refining the tower core would simultaneously lift the restrictions on the entire secret realm."

Xiao Ruobai's gaze swept over the Demonic Heaven Sect's group not far away. He saw Mo Luo looking down to examine himself. A ruthless expression gradually surfaced on his pale face, and the demonic qi surrounding his body was no longer deliberately restrained. It was clear that he had recovered his peak strength.