Immediate challenge.

As the sun rose over the tower, Liang Chen and Yan Ling arrived in front of the building that would send them up to the fifth floor. This one was clearly more luxurious than the similar buildings they had seen on the lower floors, it was made from wooden logs covered in white runes that formed a defensive array. There were crystal or marble statues surrounding the entire building, each of them depicting someone from the three races that ruled over this planet. Yan Ling pointed at the statue standing right next to the door into the house, speaking up in a somewhat hushed voice.

"Little Freak, that should be the Tripartite Slayer, no? You think the rest of the statues here show the people who have reached the top of any of the three towers?"

Liang Chen's gaze landed on the statue she had pointed at, a marble one featuring a mature woman with three golden eyes and short black hair that hung down to her ears. They hadn't met Sun Cailin before, but they had heard plenty about her, including a description of her appearance. She was so famous that you could even buy drawings of her in some of the markets here in the towers. Liang Chen gave a slight nod of his head, his gaze sweeping over the other statues.

"That should be her, yeah. As for these other ones, I have no idea who they are, but looking at some of these statues, they should be even older than Sun Cailin's. They might very well be the people who reached the top of one of the towers before her."

According to what they had heard, Sun Cailin was the only person to ever reach the top of all three towers, acquiring the full technique that was hidden away within them. But that didn't mean that there hadn't been others that had reached the top rank in any of the towers, on the contrary, quite a few people had managed to reach the top rank in any one of the towers. But for some reason, it seemed like only she had ever been able to reach the top rank in all three towers.

The two entered the house and saw that even the inside, despite only being a single room, was a bit more luxurious than the other buildings. There was a crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling, casting a soft and slightly warm light over the entire room. The left side of the room contained a few small round tables surrounded by either chairs or couches covered in silken cloth, while the right side of the room contained a long counter that had a shelf of drinks standing behind it. Standing behind the counter was a somewhat short but beautiful brown-haired woman from the White Orchid race, smiling sweetly at them.

"Greetings, Scourge King, Wolf Queen. Would you like to head to the fifth floor or are you just here to relax a little?"

The woman reached behind her and grabbed a green bottle filled with a light red liquid, presenting it to the two as she spoke. Yan Ling looked at the bottle, as well as the other bottles on the shelf, with a curious look, tilting her head slightly.

"We can relax here if we want to?"

So far, these towers had been all about the fighting and the killing in the arenas, only the markets had been places where you could relax a little. From the fourth floor and up, the houses had also become protected areas where you were forbidden from fighting, so one could also relax there. But none of the floors had a place like that resembled the bar in front of them, specially designed for relaxation. The woman nodded her head, still wearing her almost overly sweet smile.

"Yes, it is something that the Tripartite Slayer has set in place for the weary fighters. From the fourth floor and up, anyone who has earned the right to ascend to the next floor may choose to spend as much time as they wish on the floor, no need to partake in any battles. In those cases, they may come here and get some drinks and relax, you may consider this place a bar where you can unwind."

Both Liang Chen and Yan Ling raised an eyebrow in surprise when they heard about this arrangement, somewhat curious why Sun Cailin had set up something like this if the purpose of the towers was to serve as a merciless training ground that weeded out the weak. The two shared a quick glance, making sure that they were on the same page before Yan Ling pointed at the center of the room.

"Huh, didn't expect something like that from a place like this. We'll be heading directly up to the fifth floor."

Both of them had plenty of alcohol on them, they also didn't see a need to relax here when they could just relax in one of the houses on the fifth floor, where it would be just them. The woman nodded her head and put the bottle back on the shelf before stepping away from the counter and walking over to the center of the room to activate the array. With the two of them standing at the center, the array quickly activated and sent them up to the fifth floor.

They arrived in a room very similar to the one they had just left, with the sole exceptions that this room was a little larger and thus contained a few more pieces of furniture. There was no shelf stocked with bottles of alcohol here, so it seemed like that was only reserved for the buildings used to head to the next floor. A blue-eyed woman from the Undead race greeted them, her smile a bit more natural than the smile of the woman who had just sent them on their way.

"Greetings, Wolf Queen, Scourge King, welcome to the fifth floor. I wish you luck in overcoming your future battles."

The two nodded at the woman and then left the building, giving their surroundings a quick examination. This floor was a bit smaller than the fourth floor, yet there were even fewer houses here, with even more open space between each building. The buildings had grown a bit larger once more, causing the two to guess that the inside had likely also gotten more luxurious. This place was just like the rest of the world, the strong would always be treated better, the treatment getting better the stronger one was.

There wasn't a crowd of people observing them as there had been on the fourth floor, it seemed like they had finally shown enough strength to not be looked down on just for being humans. The two took a quick peek at the house behind them, looking at the statues that were placed around the house. Compared to the house on the fourth floor, there were two more statues here, both featuring men from the Fiendgod race.

Now that they took a closer look, they also saw that there was writing carved into the very base of the statue, so small that it was hard to see. They leaned in an read the writing on some of the statues, slightly curious what they might say.

'Kong Tao, killed a Six-Headed Wyrm King that threatened the God Piercing Fang tower.'

'Ziyu Tengyan, defeated Shisen Yongyu and took the top rank of Endless Heart tower.'

'Yao Lingxen, killed a Four-Winged Anteater that invaded Endless Heart tower and wreaked havoc.'

'Qiu Xiao, killed the Heaven Crumbling Shark Emperor that threatened the planet, laying down his life in the process.'

After reading a few of the inscriptions, it became clear that these statues served the same purpose as the statues placed in the Storm Wolf sect's graveyard. They weren't just here to show who had reached the top ranks of the tower but also to memorize those that had performed great deeds and were worth remembering.

After reading over a few more inscriptions, the two decided that it was time to leave and find a house they could use as a home for the foreseeable future. They had quite a few resources on hand after their time on the fourth floor, but not so much that they felt it would be worth cultivating just yet, they needed a bit more if they wished to see a noticeable increase to their strength, meaning that they had to take part in a few battles.

The two quickly found a house that was marked as empty, removing the sign and entering the house, which was a three-story house made from faintly warm wood. The first room they entered was a large living room furnished with a long table surrounded by two couches as well as a large cabinet filled with a few bottles of alcohol that were still full. Since it was hard to know the personality of the person who would live in each house, the actual decorations were kept to a minimum.

Standing in the corner of the room was a watermelon-sized orb of green jade built directly into a round table, a faint light constantly radiating from it. This orb was what one used to send out and receive challenges, it contained a short description of every person currently on the floor. Liang Chen walked over to the jade and placed his hand on it, inserting some Qi and activating it, showing the rest of the people on the floor that someone new had arrived. After activating the jade, he turned to Yan Ling.

"I'm gonna go take a bath, wanna join m..."

Before Liang Chen got to finish his sentence, the orb behind him lit up with a bright light and let out a bell-like sound. Liang Chen frowned slightly and looked at the orb, Yan Ling also walking over with a frown. This light and sound meant that they had just received a challenge. They didn' t frown at receiving a challenge, they frowned at how quickly it had arrived. The orb had only been active for a few short seconds before the challenge had arrived, it was simply too fast. Yan Ling's lips curled up slightly, revealing her sharp canines as she placed her hand on the orb.

"Seems like someone's been eagerly awaiting our arrival, I wonder just who is so eager to seek revenge. Maybe it's the brother of that Shi Longyu, the one who had connections with Qian Liao."

Yan Ling wasn't too worried about the fact that someone had been waiting on them, it would save them the trouble of looking for opponents. And in case the enemy did end up being too strong, they could just admit defeat and flee. The light of the orb grew even brighter, gathering above it and forming the image and information of the person that was challenging them, the one who would be their first opponent on the fifth floor.