161: Chapter 158 The Legend of the Tenth Floor

"That is Williams, the number one person of this year's High School Tournament. It is said that his skills have already reached the Unity of Heaven and Man."

"Unity of Heaven and Man? Is he that strong?"

"I know him too. When I participated in the High School Tournament as a fifth-year student last year, Williams had already broken into the top ten."

Most people in the grand hall recognized Williams.

Speaking of fame, he was definitely the greatest among the four.

"Aren't new students officially enrolled on February 1st?"

"That's right!"

"Normally speaking, even if they were selected as core members, it should be after formal enrollment."

Hundreds of people in the Secret Realm Space were whispering to each other, full of doubts.

"What do you guys know?"

"Fang Yu and Zhuang Yiliu are only in their fourth year. By normal channels, it is impossible for them to reach the Secret Realm Base. Even if they skipped grades to enter graduate school early, they shouldn't be here."

"Then what is going on?"

"The four of them must have been taken as Disciples by a Starry Sky Martial Artist."

"Right, it is said that being taken as a Disciple by a Starry Sky Martial Artist qualifies one to directly enter the Secret Realm Base and unconditionally become a core member."

Finally, someone guessed the reason.

Those who could be taken as Disciples by a Starry Sky Martial Artist were a minority even within the Secret Realm Base, but they did exist after all.

Although this system was not made public, Secret Realm members basically all took Sky-Patrol Martial Artists as their masters, and most of their backgrounds were quite significant... Naturally, some people knew about it.

For a moment,

many Secret Realm members looked at Fang Yu, Williams, and the others with rather complicated gazes; some were envious, and some were jealous.

After a moment,

by a white jade table closest to Yuanyi Tower, Fang Yu, Williams, and the other four were invited to sit down.

"Hello everyone."

"My name is Felix, and I am also a Secret Realm core member."

The brown-skinned youth smiled and said, "I didn't expect that when I casually strolled into the Secret Realm Space today, I would actually run into four newcomers."

"Senior, you don't have to be so formal."

Williams smiled and said.

"Haha, aren't there still three younger schoolmates here?"

Felix smiled. Apparently, he and Williams knew each other.

Immediately after, Felix introduced a yellow-skinned youth sitting beside him. The youth had short hair and looked very energetic: "This is Wu Lang, and he is from the Xia Country. Are you all from the Xia Country?"

"Right."

"We all are."

Fang Yu, Zhuang Yiliu, and the others all nodded.

"Senior Wu Lang."

Mo Yuan said earnestly, "I have read your profile."

"Oh?"

The short-haired youth Wu Lang showed surprise on his face: "I graduated from Xinyue Martial Arts University several years ago. When I was in school, you guys were at most in your second year."

"Senior, you forgot. In last year's Alliance Martial Arts Tournament, you were one of the top thirty-two."

Mo Yuan smiled and said.

Wu Lang couldn't help but laugh.

Being in the top thirty-two of the Alliance Martial Arts Tournament was already a very astonishing achievement... It was just that the vast majority of the audience's attention was focused on the top eight or even the top four.

Therefore, unless it was a specific group of people or there was a very special story, normally the popularity wasn't that high.

Soon,

Fang Yu and the others all introduced themselves to one another.

"So they really are in their fourth year."

Felix looked at Fang Yu and Zhuang Yiliu with a hint of surprise and couldn't help saying, "It seems that the potential of both younger schoolmates is very astonishing, being selected and taken as Disciples by a Starry Sky Martial Artist at such a young age."

Fang Yu and Zhuang Yiliu both smiled and didn't explain much.

Felix and Wu Lang didn't pursue the specific reasons either. A Starry Sky Martial Artist taking Disciples was not a secret. Although it wasn't made public, it would gradually spread as time passed. However, why a Starry Sky Martial Artist took Disciples involved Martial Artists' secrets.

"Senior Felix."

Zhuang Yiliu asked curiously, "How come there's no one sitting at the surrounding tables?"

The entire grand hall

had more than two hundred white jade round tables, but only their area was empty. Apart from their table, there was no one else.

"These ten tables are the exclusive seats of us core members. Although no one explicitly stipulated it, after so many years, it can be considered an unwritten rule of the Secret Realm Base."

Felix smiled and said.

"It's just that there are only fifty-some core members in total, and most of them have already become Sky-Patrol Martial Artists. Currently, those who remain at the Earth Martial Artist level, if we don't count you guys, are only sixteen... The strength of Sky-Patrol Martial Artists is already at a higher level, and coupled with the fact that they can directly charge into Yuanyi Tower, they rarely come to the Secret Realm Space."

"Moreover, the further up Yuanyi Tower goes, the higher the difficulty."

"Therefore, every time Yuanyi Tower opens, very few Earth Martial Artists among the Secret Realm core members come."

Felix shrugged: "Most ordinary members just treat it as a place to chat twice a month on a regular basis."

Fang Yu, Zhuang Yiliu, and the others suddenly understood.

So that was how it was.

"Senior, what about the names on Yuanyi Tower?"

Fang Yu suddenly asked.

"Yuanyi Tower is divided into ten floors in total."

Felix said softly: "The first floor has the lowest difficulty, and the tenth floor has the highest. Whichever floor one breaks into, the corresponding name will be left behind."

"The chronological order of names on each floor is the order of the time they passed through."

"Generally speaking, if one can break past the sixth floor or above, one can achieve the status of a Sky-Patrol Martial Artist."

"Therefore, you can see that the number of people above the sixth floor is very small."

Wu Lang said.

Fang Yu, Zhuang Yiliu, and the others all couldn't help nodding.

Looking from their line of sight,

there were only three people who could leave their names on the eighth floor, and more than a dozen on each of the sixth and seventh floors... The further down, the greater the number of people, among which the first and second floors had the most, with two to three hundred people on each.

"Can no one break into the ninth floor?"

Williams suddenly said.

Felix and Wu Lang were stunned for a moment.

Immediately after, Wu Lang smiled and said: "Junior has great ambition, wanting to break through the ninth floor before leaving the Secret Realm Base. The difficulty is extremely high. There have been quite a few historically, but at least there are none right now."

"What about the tenth floor? Has anyone broken through it historically?"

Zhuang Yiliu asked curiously.

"Yes."

"Historically, there are only two people who could break through all ten floors of Yuanyi Tower before leaving the Secret Realm Base."

Felix said solemnly: "One is named Cisse, and the other is named Li Jue."

"Anyone who can break through the tenth floor is sufficient to leave their name in the history of the Secret Realm Base and be sung of by countless junior members."

Fang Yu and Zhuang Yiliu looked at each other, their eyes filled with shock.

They had both heard of these two people.

Cisse was known as the "Hercules".

And Li Jue was praised by countless people as the "Sword Immortal", considered to have the number one swordsmanship skill in the Blue Moon Alliance, with a resounding reputation.

Both of them were Starry Sky Martial Artists.

"Are there no others?"

Fang Yu felt slightly curious: "What about other Starry Sky Martial Artists?"

"Junior Fang Yu, the Secret Realm Base has only been established for 35 years in total."

Felix smiled and said: "The powerhouses leaving their names now are basically geniuses who have risen in the past thirty years."

Fang Yu understood.

Put this way, the Secret Realm Base was established around the 25th year of the New Calendar? It already had a history of several decades from the present day.

During their exchange, Secret Realm members continuously entered Yuanyi Tower and came out from it after a while, but the names on the tower body changed very little. Even if there were occasional changes, they were mostly from the first floor to the second floor, or the second floor to the third floor.

Obviously, wanting to break through even one more floor upwards in Yuanyi Tower was extremely difficult.

Time passed.

Fewer and fewer Secret Realm members entered Yuanyi Tower.

"Several younger schoolmates, it's about time, go give it a try."

Felix smiled and said: "You guys caught a good time this year. As long as you try it, you will have a baseline ranking, and corresponding rewards will be issued."

"Challenging Yuanyi Tower is divided into two types of rewards."

Wu Lang said softly: "One is the floor reward. Passing a certain floor for the first time will yield a reward."

"The other is the annual reward. Based on the floor you reach the last time you challenge Yuanyi Tower each year, baseline rewards are issued at the end of each year."

Fang Yu, Williams, and the others all understood.

"Seniors, aren't you going to challenge it?"

Zhuang Yiliu smiled and asked.

"No need."

Wu Lang shook his head and said: "We are both on the fifth floor and have stayed there for a long time. If we could break through the sixth floor, we would have done so long ago; why wait until now?"

"Yeah."

Felix smiled and said: "Go on, let us take a look at this year's newcomers."

Seeing this,

Williams took the initiative to stand up and said: "Alright, then I'll go give it a try."

He was very calm.

He walked straight toward Yuanyi Tower.

This scene was also immediately seen by hundreds of Secret Realm members in the distance.

"They're going to challenge it. Those few new core members are going to challenge it. Let's watch."

"I've been waiting here just to take a look."

"What right do they have to become core members? Hmph!"

"This guy named Williams is said to be extremely strong, surpassing everyone in this cohort. He should be able to reach at least the fifth floor, right?"

"I don't believe he's really that strong."

Many Secret Realm members whispered among themselves, many of their words revealing a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Senior, is the conflict between ordinary students of the graduate school and Secret Realm core members very big?"

Fang Yu asked with a hint of doubt.

"It doesn't count as a conflict."

Wu Lang hesitated for a moment and said: "Rather... many graduate students of Xinyue Martial Arts University subconsciously think the selection is unfair."

Seeing that Fang Yu and Zhuang Yiliu were somewhat puzzled,

Wu Lang continued: "Entering the graduate school of Xinyue Martial Arts University basically depends on the strength of one's ability... But selecting Secret Realm core members mainly depends on potential. There is no clear standard; people are directly chosen by the Starry Sky Martial Artists."

"Potential does not equal strength."

"Just like the two of you, speaking solely of strength, are you the top two among this year's fourth-year students?"

Wu Lang asked rhetorically.

Fang Yu and Zhuang Yiliu both shook their heads.

"Over the years, successive Secret Realm core members have basically all become Sky-Patrol Martial Artists, and quite a few have become Starry Sky Martial Artists."

Wu Lang said: "This proves that the vision of the Starry Sky Martial Artists was not wrong."

"However!"

"Many ordinary Secret Realm members are also extremely strong. At least during their two years of cultivation in the Secret Realm Base, their performance is no less than that of the core members of the same period. Even if they fall behind in the later stages, they only think that the resources they obtained were not enough... In their hearts, they are somewhat unconvinced."

"Furthermore, there are also Xinyue Martial Arts University graduate students who were not selected as Secret Realm core members but eventually became Starry Sky Martial Artists."

Wu Lang said: "Therefore, this system has always been controversial."

Fang Yu and Zhuang Yiliu both couldn't help nodding.

When all was said and done,

it was a matter of resource allocation... The top cultivation resources of the Blue Moon Alliance were only so much, and could only supply a small portion of peerless geniuses.

How should resources be divided?

It was mainly up to the Starry Sky Martial Artists to decide.

After all, these precious resources were all fought for by the Starry Sky Martial Artists.

At this moment,

Williams's name had already appeared on Yuanyi Tower, and it kept rising at an astonishing speed: the first floor, the second floor, the third floor, the fourth floor...