Chapter 43 – Ascending the Tower

  The fourth floor of the Tower of Tempered Will was meant to be unbearable.

  It consisted of a narrow path that stretched out in front of the entrance, lined with symbols that were etched into the stones. There was nothing between the participant and the exit except a short walk of a hundred steps.

  There were no beasts or threats, no illusions and no traps.

  The trial was unbearable because of the pain it inflicted. The Trial itself was simple; with each step forward, the amount of pain coursing through the cultivator’s body would double, sent through the soul and made real by the body.

  It was a test that bypassed the physical and struck at a person’s essence. No shield could protect them; no technique could redirect the pain. There was no clever trick to block the sensation. Only a person’s willpower and endurance could carry them through.

  At least, that was how it was supposed to work.

  For Jun De, who had arrived on this floor after having his memories returned, nothing happened when he stepped foot onto the path. He took his first step, then another, then a couple more.

  He frowned and looked down at the path and then at his surroundings in confusion.

  “Huh, am I missing something?” Jun De wondered.

  The Artifact Spirit of the Tower faltered as it observed him. It had carefully calibrated the pain to increase exponentially with each step, threading it through the participant's soul in order to bypass their defences before flooding their nerve endings with agony.

  But it found that Jun De’s soul was tethered to his body in a slightly odd manner. There was some form of disconnect between his soul and his body that prevented the pain signals from interacting with each other, resulting in a complete failure to inflict the required agony.

  It was as if Jun De’s soul was protected in a way that the Artifact Spirit had never seen before.

  Jun De didn’t feel anything.

  There was a slight sense of spiritual pressure that increased as he walked, and maybe a headache that could have come from his memories returning, but nothing close to the agony the Tower intended.

  Where other Disciples had collapsed after only a few steps, and the most resilient could make it halfway through the path, Jun De was mostly just confused and slightly bored.

  “Is this thing broken?” Jun De wondered. Unlike many of the other Disciples, Jun De didn’t know what was expected of him in the Trials. He had been forced to enter before anyone could explain what he was supposed to do.

  To Jun De, this pathway could have been just an intersection between the floors.

  At the end of the path, where the final few steps should have been enough to send him into violent convulsions with pain worse than being burned alive, Jun De instead stepped through an archway and waited as the familiar white light returned to bring him to the next floor.

  “Well, that was underwhelming.”

  The Tower’s Artifact Spirit didn’t know what to do with that statement. It had seen geniuses cry, monstrous talents scream for relief, and proud prodigies crawl forward in agony.

  But Jun De walked through like he was on an afternoon stroll.

  When Jun De stepped onto the Fifth Floor, the atmosphere changed immediately.

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  The chamber in front of him was a grand, circular hall that was bathed in deep crimson light. There were shelves made of jade and gold lined the walls. Tables were stacked with tomes and books, each one pulsing faintly with dark Qi.

  The air was thick with menacing spiritual energy that still held a certain allure to any cultivator who felt it.

  In the center of the room, there was a pedestal with a delicate pill that glowed with crimson light and an eerie brilliance. Even Jun De, who didn’t know much about pills or alchemy, could recognize that it promised advancement in his cultivation.

  The Tower Artifact Spirit, feeling stymied by Jun De’s performance in the Pain Floor, tried to highlight several of the items in this chamber.

  This was a test of greed and whether the Disciple possessed the willpower to resist the temptation for quick advancement or forbidden powers.

  The spiritual energy in the room lowered inhibitions, making the participant not consider the consequences of their actions. Instead, they would think that the items here were real and that the Sect would allow them to possess them.

  There was a manual containing a Demonic Body Refinement technique that was bound in human skin that would ensure that anyone who practiced it could reach the Core Formation Stage. The only requirement was to use the blood of other cultivators to increase your own cultivation.

  There was a black sword resting on a table that whispered of violence. Its power was sealed, but it was clear that it was likely a weapon far beyond the Qi Condensation Stage.

  Then, there were pills refined from the lives and souls of mortals that could propel a cultivator’s power to new heights.

  The Tower Artifact Spirit subtly directed Jun De’s attention to these items and waited for him to succumb to temptation. It had seen strong Disciples falter here, the temptation for power too much for them to overcome.

  It knew that someone as talented and driven as Jun De, who spent so much time cultivating, would find it difficult to pass up this opportunity.

  This is where his heart would waver.

  Jun De took a single look around the room, then sighed loudly. He walked past the shelves with the forbidden technique without pausing, gave the pill a wide berth and didn’t even glance at the sword.

  ‘I’m not interested in dark, forbidden knowledge. That’s just asking for trouble. You get stronger, but then someone stronger comes along and then, before you know it, your Sect’s on fire, and you're running for your life as the Orthodox Sects chase after you.’ Jun De thought.

  He had read stories like that when he was on Earth. Power came with a cost, and he had no interest in paying that price.

  ‘I just want to stay in my courtyard, relax with some tea and spend time with ten, maybe twenty beautiful women.’

  Jun De was then transported to the Sixth Floor, and the world changed around him once again.

  He found himself back on Earth, standing beside his old desk while a young man studied a textbook. The only sound was of his pencil writing math problems in his notebook while it was sunny outside.

  Jun De could see young people walking in groups, laughing and chatting while his old self kept reading.

  He could feel a sense of regret swell up inside of him, along with the familiar loneliness that he had lived with for years in his old life.

  The world shifted again, and scene after scene unfolded in front of him. Images of his past self eating lunch in the university cafeteria, cancelling plans or turning down invitations in order to study.

  “I always told myself that I would have time for friends later. That I would live my life once I graduated.” Jun De said sadly.

  But later had never come for his past life, and the feeling of regret pressed down on him as heavy as iron.

  The illusions paused briefly as if the Tower were waiting for him to break down. But Jun De didn’t cry or panic; he simply nodded and acknowledged the pain without letting it break him.

  “I was so focused on the future that I forgot to live in the present. I get it, but I’m not that person anymore. This time, I’m going to enjoy my life. I’m going to make friends, be part of the world and squeeze every drop of joy out of this life for as long as I can.” Jun De stated.

  “I don’t need you to show me my regrets; I’m well aware of them.”

  Jun De said, and the white light blinded him once again.

  Outside the Tower, many days passed. Then weeks, and finally months.

  Disciples came and went in steady streams, and a handful managed to finally pass the first floor, only to fail on the second.

  During that time, Jun De’s name had remained on the board, climbing higher and higher as he passed each floor. At first, many people believed that he would be kicked out of the Tower like all the others had been.

  But, as the days passed, the Outer Sect began to accept that Jun De was different from everyone else. Anyone who had doubts regarding his talent just needed to find his name at the top of the board outside the Tower and see the proof for themselves.

  While people came and went, Elder Mu continued to watch the Tower intently, her expression unreadable. Jun De’s success was proof of her instincts, a confirmation of what she thought when she saw him for the first time.

  This was someone whose talent could match, or even surpass, her own.

  “Hurry and come to the Inner Sect, Jun De.” Elder Mu whispered, and her lips curved into a small smile.