One Year

As Yaan expected, Zue Yin had developed a thorough understanding of the 4th Trial Realm and its inhabitants. Over the years, she had risen to the upper 6th level, but that wasn't all- she also made it a habit to frequently investigate the strength, histories, and so on, of the various challengers around her. This included those with similar strength to her, those who were slightly weaker, as well as everyone stronger than her.

The leaderboard was public knowledge, to an extent. The overall leaderboard had the names of the top 1,000 competitors in the trial realm, whilst it was also possible to obtain the leaderboard of anyone on your current level from the Battle Temple. That said, from the leaderboard alone, only someone's name could be found. Of course, everyone on the upper levels had risen through countless battles, creating a name for themselves and leaving behind a significant amount of information which was passed from person to person.

Finally, Yaan developed a solid understand of the range of strength that he could expect to find on each level.

Previously, the highest he had climbed to was the 4th level. On this level, nobody was Yaan's match, even the strongest challengers still possessed Rank 3 battle strength. Even the current champion of the 4th level was a Peak 3-Star Realm demon with additional Astral Power cultivation. Yaan was unfazed by this.

On the 5th level, there was a divide. There were many with Rank 3 battle strength, but those at the upper end of the level had Rank 4 strength and cultivations, meaning Vital Core, Spirit Core and Demon Core Realm opponents. Those with 4-Star Astral Tattoos and those with multiple Rank 3 cultivations, giving them Rank 4 strength, could also be found here.

On the 6th floor, the limit was still Rank 4, with the exception of the strongest few. The strongest on the 6th floor were said to possesses quasi Rank 5 strength, they were individuals with powerful cultivation methods which allowed them to briefly hold their own against Rank 5 individuals, despite not possessing this level of cultivation themselves.

As for the 7th through 9th floors, all of these individuals had Rank 5 cultivation. In fact, Zue Yin enlightened Yaan into why this was; there was a restriction, only those with Rank 5 cultivation were allowed to ascend to the 7th floor!

In fact, the usual battle system did not apply for the ascension to the 7th, 8th and 9th levels, there were other criteria involved.

To reach the 7th level, it was necessary to attain any form of Rank 5 cultivation. So long as you met this requirement, you would automatically be granted a residence on this level!

Origin Soul Realm Qi refining cultivation, 5-Star Realm body cultivation, or even a 5-Star Astral Power cultivation, were all acceptable.

As for reaching the 8th and 9th levels, this seemed to involve the 7th and 8th level pagodas. Zue Yin wasn't certain on the details, but Yaan agreed with her guess that these pagodas were likely trials in and of themselves, just like the 9th level pagoda.

"So, I've told you the most important details of everything I've learned over the last nine years. Now, what can you tell me?" Zue Yin asked, raising an eyebrow and folding her arms.

"Hmm…" Yaan pondered for a moment, wondering what he should reveal.

If he refused to help her at all, their cooperation would end here. Whilst he had already achieved his objective in obtaining information and resources from Zue Yin, he also saw no reason to not return her assistance, since she had been so helpful. Besides, he might need her again in the future, there was no reason to cut off their relationship pointlessly, especially since he didn't really know anybody else all that well in the 4th Trial Realm.

"There are three halls in the 9th level pagoda. In the 1st hall, there are four formations, they should each be trials for progressing into the 2nd hall. Also, out of the six residents on the 9th level, two of them are 'elders' of the 4th Trial Realm, they no longer participate in the fight for the inheritance."

"Huh?" Zue Yin's eyes widened in surprise. "What, how do you know all that?"

"I was training in the 9th level pagoda."

"How?!"

"Anyway, I plan to cultivate for some time now. Hopefully I can train peacefully for a while…"

Yaan trailed off towards the end, staring at Zue Yin until she got the hint. She clicked her tongue and stood up, then silently walked towards the door. Before leaving, she briefly glanced back at him and sighed.

"I'm glad that you're still alive, Yaan."

Yaan remained silent until Zue Yin had left. After a while, he let out a sigh and shook his head lightly.

"Glad? Earlier, you were clearly feeling fear towards me…"

Well, he understood why she felt this way. Even Yaan himself was slightly stunned by his ruthlessness, almost immediately after leaving the illusion world. Ever since leaving Heavenly Path Mountain, he had always been resolute in his actions, and he had long since overcome his aversion to killing, but even so…

He killed 25 people in rapid succession, as if it was only natural. He killed those people mercilessly, even though there was no enmity between them, even though almost all of them fully intended to surrender.

He did this because he felt pressure, not only from this inheritance, but from his life in general.

Honestly, ever since he spoke to Rui and the Spirit Plane Lord in the illusion world, Yaan's heart felt heavy.

The illusion, this world, what was the difference, really? What was illusion, and what was real, was there even any difference?

Why did he possess no memories from before that day? Why was it that even after returning from the illusion, he still couldn't recall anything prior to those last two days which he spent together with his family?

What was his relation to Rui and the Spirit Plane Lord, and perhaps even to the founder of this ridiculous inheritance? Why were they linked together by karma, by fate itself?

What was it that he had forgotten…?

Yaan felt a deep sense of unease and uncertainty, and to mask this uncomfortable feeling, he could only move forwards.

It was all he knew how to do.

So, Yaan secluded himself within his temple on the 3rd level. Even though there were other temples in this region, spaced out across the meadow that surrounded the pristine lakeside view, nobody dared to even approach this place.

Because they all knew, that the person within was a crazed demon, permitted to challenge and kill them at a moment's notice!

Of course nobody dared to get close to that dreaded temple, not even after a full year passed by! If they accidentally annoyed that demon, they might end up paying for it with their life!

News spread of Yaan's rapid return to the 3rd level extremely quickly. After all, the top challengers on the leaderboards for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd levels were all massacred in rapid succession…

The moment the inheritor candidate made a move, it was actually something so shocking!

Not even those with 'immunity' were safe. Inheritor candidates could no longer be granted immunity from battles, but likewise, others could not use their immunity to avoid battling an inheritor candidate.

One week after Yaan settled into his 3rd level temple, he suddenly appeared on the battle stage once again. The audience was much larger than previously. Clearly, many people had been waiting for him to make another move.

This time, however, Yaan did not act personally, rather, it was he whom was challenged.

His opponent was a woman dressed in a full grey robe, disguising her appearance, but not hiding her delicately curved body. She drew two daggers and charged at him the moment the match started, thrilled that Yaan continued to sit down without showing any signs of moving. From the looks of it, he was training, oblivious to the danger before him.

Towards this challenger, this person who lost a match on the 6th level, was demoted to the 1st, then rapidly rose back up before challenging him…

Yaan expected her.

Well, he expected someone to try something like this. Whether they were sent by those fellows on the 9th level, or they came to him of their own accord, did not matter in the least.

He pretended to be unaware of her presence, then struck at the last possible moment. Yaan did not open his eyes until his blade had already pierced directly through her heart.

There was no build up, the battle ended in an instant.

With this battle, his name spread out throughout the entire 4th Trial Realm once again.

He was challenged by a previous resident of the 6th layer…and won! Not only that, but he defeated her in a single, shocking strike!

Before being sent back, Yaan swiftly tore the Demon Core from her bloodied body, it was a precious cultivation resource and ingredient.

It seemed absurd, for Yaan, with his cultivation at the 3-Star Realm, to achieve such a feat as killing this person. After all, she was a Demon Core Realm powerhouse! Even though she was only amongst the weakest on the 6th floor, she still possessed an Early Demon Core Realm cultivation base!

Even Yaan felt a bit dazed when he realised what he had achieved. Though, he knew that repeating this in the future would not be possible. He only managed to kill her so easily because he caught the woman off guard by first pretending to be unaware of her presence, and then by displaying his Agile Illusion Art to a much greater degree than he had shown previously. Even so, the fact remained that he felled a Rank 4 powerhouse in a single strike!

Unknowingly, he had become somewhat strong…

It was to be expected. Be it his personally created sword art which incorporated his unusually proficient dao comprehension, or his multiple cultivation styles which stacked upon one another to create a much greater effect than any one power alone, Yaan had clearly developed a battle power that was equivalent to Rank 4.

As for where exactly he fell within this Rank 4 range was unknown, and honestly, he was still rapidly improving.

After this event, Yaan estimated that he would not be bothered for some time by probes such as this, and he was correct. Over the following year, he was challenged only four more times; three by individuals who simply overestimated themselves, and the fourth by another demoted person from the 6th level.

That battle was no less shocking than the previous.

Against the Mid Demon Core Realm man who wielded exquisite spear arts, Yaan emerged victorious, decapitating his enemy and tearing out yet another Demon Core.

In this battle, his opponent was exceedingly cautious. Unlike most of the stronger body temperers whom Yaan had met in the 4th Trial Realm, this person was a demonic race Qi refiner, so his stature was not as enormous compared to some others. He was still towering for a human at seven feet tall, but that could only be considered ordinary in this place.

The battle was intense, with both sides exchanging tens of moves before a conclusion to the battle was reached. Yaan's various illusory sword arts created images of flowing water and slicing winds, whilst his opponent attacked using a spear, stabbing with proficiency that was very impressive, not at all losing out to Yaan with his sword.

Yaan did not finish this battle with his Agile Illusion Art, but by continually making use of his original Agile Sword Arts and combining in the Cutting Typhoon Art to finish him off.

After tens of rapid exchanges between them, the man's head was liberated from his body following the explosive wave created by Yaan's blade.

Surprisingly, Yaan managed to obtain his first vital treasure in this battle. Even though his opponent was a demonic Qi refiner, he kept this ring on his person for an unknown reason. It was a spatial ring with an ordinary capacity, but vital treasures with effects similar to spiritual treasures were rare in the first place.

Unfortunately, Yaan couldn't yet make use of this spatial ring using his Vital Energy, since only 4-Star Realm body temperers with a Vital Core and a surplus of Vital Energy could do this. However, Yaan realised something else…he could use his Astral Power to open vital treasures, as well as ordinary spatial rings!

He almost felt stupid in this moment. After all, there were so many body temperers on the 3rd level, but none of them were at the 4-Star Realm. So, how did those individuals open their spoils of battle?

Of course, it was by developing a minor amount of Astral Power.

Yaan missed this convenience prior to entering the True-False Illusion World, since he had been so focussed on battle and cultivation at that time. After returning, he only spoke to Zue Yin about some matters, then secluded himself away. Only after experimenting with the vital treasure ring did he discover this ability, which was also effective for spiritual treasures.

Astral Power was quite inefficient for using vital treasures however, and even worse for spiritual treasures. Trying to use his Astral Power to control weapons was not plausible, but it was extremely useful for simply opening rings.

On the point of spatial rings, Yaan never forgot that someone had stolen his universe treasure spatial bag! Actually, it was a trio of individuals that took almost all of his belongings. Yaan did not know who was currently in possession of his bag, but he knew that of those three, two were currently residents of the 5th level, whilst the third died in battle four years ago.

Yaan made a mental note of the names of the two people whom he was previously meant to fight, and also of the person who defeated the third member of the trio.

He wanted his resources back, after all, he earned so much in the 2nd and 3rd trials! The universe treasure was the most useful of those items, and it was also likely to be the most valuable. Its capacity was huge, whilst it required no energy or concentration to operate.

For one year, Yaan remained on the 3rd level. Whilst he could easily reach the 4th level and use the Temporal Acceleration Pagoda, he remained on the 3rd level for two reasons.

Firstly, he was able to intimidate others by showcasing an absurd display of power, by killing the highest ranked individuals on this level in a short period of time. This was a massive deterrent to those on this level, but also to any people on higher levels who might be thinking of getting themselves demoted to attack him.

He showed a powerful strength, yet left the majority of his abilities unknown. Whilst Yaan could achieve the same result on the 4th floor also, he wouldn't be able to kill those people so quickly, meaning that it would give away more details regarding his actual strength. Also, the residents on the 4th floor were a greater threat to him, he might struggle to battle those people if he was caught mid-training.

The second reason that he remained on the 3rd level, was because Yaan had never dropped his caution towards the 9th level residents. Those people likely sent that grey robed woman from the 6th level; this was to probe his strength. Since then, they had seemingly left him alone…

But if Yaan entered the Temporal Acceleration Pagoda, the would feel a much greater level of pressure, and they would likely try to eliminate him as quickly as possible. He would have more time to train in the pagoda, but his opponents would also act with haste.

Of course, he intended to enter the 4th level and the temporal pagoda eventually, this was essential if he wanted to progress. It was simply a matter of timing.

After spending one year on the 3rd level, Yaan determined that he had improved his strength by enough. Now that everyones' guard towards him had dropped due to his inaction, it was finally time to make his move.