408: Chapter 408 Chu Lan and Tian Xin's Cooperation

After the tower doors closed, the external clamor was completely cut off.

The space on the second floor was more spacious than the first, with the dome reaching a height of thirty feet. The four walls were covered in emerald-green vines, and a massive circular formation lay on the ground, with thick wood-attribute Origin Qi surging through the formation lines.

The Puppet in the center of the formation was starkly different from the metal Puppet on the first floor—its body was woven from vines and ancient wood, with slender limbs and a trunk covered in a thick layer of bark. Several branches grew from its head, hung with tender green leaves. Its movements were more agile than the metal Puppet, and with every move, it would absorb wood-attribute Origin Qi from the ground to repair minor damage to itself.

The moment the Puppet activated, Chu Lan threw several "spirit-devouring vine" seeds toward its feet. The characteristic of the spirit-devouring vine was to absorb all surrounding spiritual power, especially wood-attribute Origin Qi of the same attribute as itself.

The seeds took root and sprouted at the edge of the formation. Silver-gray vines coiled around the Puppet's feet like living things, their fine roots piercing into the Puppet's body to begin frantically absorbing the wood-attribute Origin Qi within. The Puppet's movements slowed significantly; not only did its movement speed drop, but the rhythm of its internal regeneration was also disrupted—the amount of Origin Qi being sucked away by the spirit-devouring vines exceeded what it could obtain from the formation.

Chu Lan squatted in a corner near the tower door, pressing both hands against the ground, fully focused on maintaining the growth of the spirit-devouring vines. However, her spiritual power was being consumed too quickly. The spirit-devouring vines required a continuous input of wood-attribute spiritual power to remain active, and her cultivation was only at Foundation Establishment, meaning her spiritual power reserves were limited.

Although the Puppet was weakened, it had not lost its ability to act. It dragged its vine-entangled legs, walking step by step toward Chu Lan. Every step was slow, but it did not stop.

Tianxin stood at the tower entrance, observing the Puppet's movement patterns. After confirming the effectiveness of the spirit-devouring vines, he tore open several fire-attribute Talismans and threw them out. The Talismans burned in mid-air, turning into several clusters of blazing flames that landed precisely on the Puppet, igniting the withered vines.

The spirit-devouring vines only absorbed wood-attribute Origin Qi and did not repel fire. The flames from the fire-attribute Talismans and the spirit-devouring vines did not interfere with each other, and the Puppet's body quickly carbonized in the fire. It tried to absorb Origin Qi from the formation to repair itself, but the root system of the spirit-devouring vines was firmly embedded in its body, sucking away most of the wood-attribute Origin Qi.

The repair speed could not keep up with the destruction speed, and the Puppet finally could not hold on, collapsing with a crash. The flames on its body were still burning, but there was no longer anything left to burn. The emerald-green light of the second floor dimmed, and the formation lines on the tower door flickered slightly, confirming the clearance.

Chu Lan leaned against the wall and slowly stood up, her legs shaking. Tianxin put away the remaining Talismans, walked to her side, and silently handed over a rejuvenation pill. It was one Yaoguang had stuffed into Tianxin's hand the night before; Tianxin hadn't been willing to use it himself and gave it to Chu Lan. Chu Lan took it and popped it into her mouth, saying indistinctly, "We coordinated well. You burn, I suck, none of them can escape."

The water-attribute Puppet on the third floor was more troublesome than the previous two.

Its form was not fixed; every time it was hit by an attack, it would turn into a stream of water and disperse, then re-condense elsewhere. Situ Lan's Sword Intent slashed through the water, splitting it in two. Those two halves of the water stream flowed separately and merged back into a complete Puppet. Lin Jingyu tried his fast sword as well, his sword light slicing the Puppet into over a dozen pieces, each turning into a small stream of water that flowed everywhere before gathering together.

Su Ning couldn't watch any longer and said at the tower entrance, "Let me in."

When she walked into the third floor, the Puppet happened to be re-condensing into shape. Its body was translucent, shimmering with an icy blue luster, with no fixed features, only two hollow eye sockets glowing with two eerie blue lights. Su Ning gave it no chance to attack, forming hand seals and making a grasping motion in the air.

Space Cutting divided the Puppet's body into hundreds of tiny water droplets, each isolated by an independent Spatial Barrier. Those water droplets scurried and collided within their own tiny spaces but were unable to fuse, losing their ability to reassemble.

Su Ning maintained the form of the Space Cutting, not to shatter the water droplets, but to prevent them from reassembling. She turned her head toward the tower entrance and asked calmly, "Does this count as passing?"

Elder Xuanqing sensed the changes in spiritual power within the third floor from outside the tower. After a moment of silence, he wrote a line on a Jade Slip. Master Lieyang's expression was not very good, but according to the tower rules, if the Puppet lost its ability to act, it was a pass—the water flowing as fragments could not attack, nor could it reassemble into a complete form, so it had indeed lost its ability to act.

Only after Elder Xuanqing announced the passage of the third floor did Su Ning withdraw the Space Cutting. Hundreds of water droplets fell to the ground simultaneously, dispersing along the gaps in the stone slabs.

The fourth floor was fire-attribute, and the entire space was shrouded in high temperatures.

As soon as the tower door opened a crack, a heatwave rushed out, and the air was warping. Chu Lan took two steps back, and Lin Yue also frowned. Yaoguang instinctively touched the cooling pill in her sleeve but let go—Medicinal Pills were limited, and they should save them if possible.

Luo Li did not hesitate, walking in while holding the flowing sound zither. The Puppet on the fourth floor had no fixed form, condensed purely of flames and crimson all over. Every time it moved, lava-like flames would drip, scorching burn marks onto the stone floor.

Luo Li found a relatively cool spot near the tower door and sat cross-legged, the flowing sound zither across her knees. What she played was not an offensive piece, but a slow, low melody. Those notes carried an icy rhythm, attempting to lower the temperature of the fire Puppet through the melody.

But the cooling speed caused by the melody alone was too slow. The Puppet lunged at her, the flames around it rising several inches higher. Luo Li's fingers quickened on the strings, and the Armor-Breaking Melody erupted in another form—not to weaken defense, but to create low-frequency vibrations.

The fire Puppet's body fluctuated violently in the low-frequency vibrations, like a water surface ruffled by the wind. Its flames were disrupted by the vibration waves, temporarily unable to maintain a stable humanoid form, collapsing into a puddle of lava with no offensive power.

Tianxin saw from outside that Luo Li was struggling a bit and walked into the fourth floor, throwing out several Ice Seal Talismans. The Talismans exploded above the Puppet, and an extremely cold ice mist shrouded the Puppet along with the surrounding space. The Puppet's flames dimmed rapidly in the ice mist, and the temperature plummeted.

Gao Feng was the last to enter the fourth floor. He activated his Star Battle Body, and purple starlight formed a thin layer of armor on his body's surface, as he walked into the core of the fire Puppet while enduring the high temperature.

The vajra sword slashed out, not with a sword technique, but by using pure Physical Body strength and Origin Qi resonance to shatter the Puppet's flame structure. The scattered sparks of the Puppet fell all over the ground like extinguished charcoal.

The fire-red light of the fourth floor finally dimmed.

The fifth floor, earth-attribute.

Heavy earth-attribute Origin Qi pressed down on the entire space. The Puppet on this floor was larger than the previous four floors combined, reaching a height of twenty feet and a width of ten feet. Its entire body was composed of dark yellow rock, with earthy yellow light peeking through the cracks in the stone. Its movements were not fast, but with every step, the ground would tremble, and earth-attribute Origin Qi would surge from the formation to reinforce its body. Lin Yue smiled instead: "Finally, I'm home."

He walked into the fifth floor and opened the Rock Demon Prison-Suppressing Array to its maximum. Earthy yellow light surged from within him, forming a confrontation with the earth-attribute Origin Qi in the formation. The Puppet's gravity field was partially offset by Lin Yue, and its speed became even slower, like a slowly moving hill.

Chu Lan grew several Iron Vines at the tower entrance, but she did not let the vines coil around it—the roots of the Iron Vines drilled into the Puppet's internal structure from the stone cracks beneath its feet. The Puppet's outer shell was solid, but its internal structure was relatively fragile. The roots of the Iron Vines grew, spread, and pushed outward frantically inside, causing countless fine cracks to appear on the Puppet's shell.

Lin Jingyu's flowing cloud sword struck repeatedly at the same node on the Puppet's shell, every strike landing precisely where the previous one had. The first strike left a shallow sword mark, the second deepened it, and the third pierced through. The moment the shell shattered, Situ Lan's azure phoenix sword stabbed into the Puppet's core through the crack, her Sword Intent shredding the internal structure.

The Puppet collapsed with a crash.

Five floors cleared. The Wanfa Sect Disciples in the plaza had turned from spectators into silent observers. Some of them couldn't even clear the first three floors, yet this group of outsiders had cleared the levels using all sorts of unheard-of methods.

Master Lieyang stood on the high platform, his expression no longer just gloomy. Several Elders behind him were also whispering, and one white-haired old man slowly nodded.

Master Lieyang remained silent for a long time before descending from the platform and walking in front of the nine people. His gaze swept from Gao Feng to Lin Yue, from Lin Yue to Chu Lan, and from Chu Lan to Tianxin, finally landing on Situ Lan's left arm before withdrawing his gaze. His lips moved a few times, and his voice squeezed out with difficulty from deep in his throat: "You indeed have the qualifications."

He turned his head, not looking at anyone's face, and said coldly: "But the sixth floor tests Spell combinations; the difficulty is the sum of the first five floors. Those opportunistic methods of yours will absolutely not work there." He turned and strode away, his back disappearing at the end of the corridor.

Chu Lan waited until he was far away before whispering, "So did he acknowledge us or not?"

Elder Xuanqing answered for him, his voice not loud and his tone calm: "With Vice Sect Master Lieyang's personality, being able to say 'You indeed have the qualifications' is already an acknowledgment." He paused, "The Spell combinations on the sixth floor are different from the previous five. Multi-attribute Puppets will appear simultaneously in the tower, and you will need to decide for yourselves how to coordinate."

Gao Feng looked up toward the sixth floor of the Wanfa Tower, where the purple-black light was even heavier than the first five floors. He lowered his head and glanced at his vajra sword. The sword marks on the blade were quiet as usual in the twilight. He said, "We have coordinated many times; once more won't hurt."

The purple-black light of the sixth floor appeared exceptionally heavy in the night.

After the first five floors were cleared, there were actually fewer people in the Wanfa Sect plaza—not because they didn't care, but because those Disciples who were just watching the show no longer dared to laugh. Master Lieyang had let them see the strength of these outer sect Disciples; it wasn't based on luck or tricks, but on solid coordination.

Gao Feng stood before the tower door, not in a hurry to lead the team in, but waiting for Tianxin to finish analyzing the spiritual power fluctuations of the sixth floor.