76: Chapter 76 Ascending the Eighth Floor

Two hours passed, and the competition at the Zhai Tian Terrace officially began.

Counting Yan Chenyao, there were a total of twenty-one Disciples participating in today's experiential competition.

In fact, they were all Disciples from the Grade A and yi-rank lists of the Meifengshan Martial Arts Academy.

The primary reason the Zhai Tian Terrace had not been open for so many years was that it offered little help to one's cultivation.

In the past, the academy frequently arranged for its Disciples to undergo experiential training at the Zhai Tian Terrace.

However, after participating in this training, the Disciples generally reported gaining nothing from it.

Quite a few Disciples even sustained injuries during the training.

For various reasons, the Zhai Tian Terrace was no longer used as a place for the academy's Disciples to cultivate and train.

When necessary, the Zhai Tian Terrace would be used as a prime location for testing a Disciple's talent and potential.

The twenty-story tower was extremely difficult to ascend, with each floor presenting a new challenge.

Furthermore, ascending the Zhai Tian Terrace was not based on a Martial Artist's current strength.

The Zhai Tian Terrace featured dynamic difficulty adjustments.

The lower one's current Martial Dao Realm, the lower the difficulty of the Zhai Tian Terrace.

The higher one's Martial Dao Realm, the higher the difficulty of the ascent would become.

The competition was arranged here because Yan Chenyao wanted to give it a try.

Had she not suggested it herself, the Meifengshan Martial Arts Academy would not have scheduled it here.

Everyone participating in the competition had already arrived at the first floor of the Zhai Tian Terrace.

There were stairs leading upward all around the Zhai Tian Terrace, with over thirty staircases available.

Each of the twenty-one participants simply had to choose a passage to begin their ascent.

Once they stepped into the passages, they could no longer see the performance of others.

Although there was no reference point, it also meant less pressure.

Li Yuan did not hesitate either; after seeing others enter the Zhai Tian Terrace, he followed suit.

He randomly chose a staircase and began to climb.

"That child Li Yuan really has a big heart.

It seems we are more worried about the troubles he faces than he is."

Several Instructors chatted and laughed, their faces tinged with a hint of helplessness.

Judging by Li Yuan's performance at the academy, he should achieve great things in the future.

But can he truly overcome this current difficulty..."

Entering the Zhai Tian Terrace, Li Yuan glanced around at his surroundings and began to ascend.

The moment he stepped onto the stairs, a wave of pressure bore down on his shoulders.

The difficulty of reaching the second floor was likely this pressure.

For him, this level of difficulty was practically non-existent.

He quickly ascended to the second floor, where he could choose to rest in the central area.

Not wanting to waste time, he remained in the staircase passage, striving to climb further.

Outside the Zhai Tian Terrace, as the participating Disciples reached the second floor...

...a candlestick at the corresponding position of the tower would light up.

The onlookers outside could see a participant's current progress simply by remembering which passage they had taken.

"It hasn't even been fifteen minutes, and Yan Chenyao is already about to reach the fourth floor..."

In the crowd, several Instructors couldn't help but shake their heads as they observed the current situation.

This gap was even larger than expected.

"She is a direct descendant of a Ninth-Grade Supreme; those who guide her daily are all Eighth-Grade Experts.

How can the academy's Disciples compare?"

"It looks like Yan Chenyao should be able to reach the eighth floor."

"I wonder if that child Li Yuan can reach the sixth floor. How can he possibly compete with Yan Chenyao..."

Inside the Zhai Tian Terrace, Yan Chenyao focused on ascending.

From the beginning, her goal was to test herself and her talent at the Zhai Tian Terrace.

As for beating Li Yuan, it was just a secondary matter.

After the time it takes for half an incense stick to burn, Yan Chenyao had already reached the sixth floor.

Among the other academy Disciples, the best one had only just reached the fifth floor.

These were, after all, the outstanding Disciples from both the Grade A and yi-rank lists.

Compared to Yan Chenyao, the gap was quite apparent.

Meanwhile, outside the passage Li Yuan had taken, the candlestick for the fourth floor finally lit up.

Compared to the other academy Disciples, Li Yuan was clearly lagging behind.

Let alone comparing him to Yan Chenyao.

Two hours passed.

In the passage Yan Chenyao had taken, the seventh-floor candlestick lit up.

Not only was she at the highest level, but she had also reached it extremely quickly.

Meanwhile, some of the academy Disciples were already stuck at the fifth floor.

They hadn't been able to move up for nearly an hour.

The onlookers outside the Zhai Tian Terrace had already lost faith in Li Yuan.

However, they discovered that Li Yuan was catching up, steadily ascending until he reached the fifth floor.

Yet, this achievement of the fifth floor was still a full two floors behind Yan Chenyao.

In the Zhai Tian Terrace, the higher one ascended, the greater the difficulty.

Going from the sixth floor to the seventh was harder than going from the first to the fifth.

The attention of the onlookers outside had shifted entirely away from Li Yuan.

Everyone knew it was impossible for Li Yuan to surpass Yan Chenyao.

What everyone wanted to see now was whether any Disciple from the Meifengshan Martial Arts Academy could catch up to Yan Chenyao.

It didn't have to be Li Yuan; anyone would do.

Most of those watching were from the academy.

The Zhai Tian Terrace opened only once in many years, and if all twenty academy Disciples were outshone by Yan Chenyao...

...it would be quite embarrassing to talk about.

Never mind surpassing Yan Chenyao; matching her score would be enough.

At the back of the crowd, Yin He seemed to lose some interest upon seeing Li Yuan's score.

He found a spot to lean against and waited for the competition to end.

Inside the Zhai Tian Terrace, Li Yuan had almost completely figured it out.

While others were thinking about how to reach higher floors, Li Yuan had spent over two hours focused on research.

The various oddities of the Zhai Tian Terrace were actually the result of countless Formations that had been set up.

This was why even he, a Ninth-Grade, would still experience the pressure.

The Formations acted like a cage; no matter your strength, they would take effect.

Once he understood this, Li Yuan began attempting to break through the Formations as he ascended.

Various types of martial experience in his mind also continuously came into play.

He felt a slight regret that the martial experience he had gained provided only a shallow understanding of Formations.

But it didn't matter; reaching the seventh floor and securing the chance to loot a corpse should be no problem at all.

Composing himself, the speed of Li Yuan's ascent began to increase steadily.

Another two hours passed.

Yan Chenyao had actually stepped onto the eighth floor.

Seeing the eighth-floor candlestick light up outside, the Instructors of the Meifengshan Martial Arts Academy instinctively shook their heads repeatedly.

Having reached the eighth floor, it was highly unlikely that the academy Disciples could catch up.

In today's Zhai Tian Terrace competition, Yan Chenyao stole the entire spotlight.

Amidst everyone's exclamations, the ninth-floor candlestick outside the tower also lit up.

"The... the ninth floor?

Yan Chenyao reached the ninth floor??"

The Instructors of the Meifengshan Martial Arts Academy stared with wide eyes at the lit candlestick.

The Yan Family has produced another Ninth-Grade Talent!

Not long after the ninth-floor candlestick lit up, Yan Chenyao emerged from the tower.

It was clear that she was satisfied with her current result.

Walking to the perimeter, her gaze swept across the lit candlesticks on the high tower.

Hearing that Li Yuan had also reached the seventh floor, Yan Chenyao was slightly surprised, but her face remained confident.

There is a massive gap between the seventh and ninth floors.

She stood at the perimeter, watching to see if Li Yuan could take another step upward.

Two hours passed, then four hours passed.

Most of the academy Disciples had already given up and come out of the tower.

The most outstanding Disciple had reached the eighth floor—very impressive, but still inferior to Yan Chenyao.

Meanwhile, Li Yuan remained on the seventh floor with no further progress.

"Forget it, I'll go back to the inn to rest first.

I'm not in the mood to waste time here with him."

Yan Chenyao still had a smile on her face, appearing polite and courteous.

But her words were always tinged with a sense of superiority.

In her view, today's competition was already a foregone conclusion; she might as well go back and rest.

As Yan Chenyao rose to leave and before she had gone far, she heard someone shout, "It's lit! It's lit! The eighth-floor candlestick is lit!"