Returning to the 9th Pagoda

The 9th pagoda.

This was actually Yaan's first time seeing the outside of this pagoda, despite having spent nine years within. He looked around, raising an eyebrow at the unexpected nature of the 9th level.

Like the 8th level, the 9th level pagoda sat in the centre of the surrounding 'homes'. Unlike the 8th level where there were a couple of hundred of these homes, on the 9th level, there were merely nine. All nine closer resembled entire manor estates than mere houses, and they seemed to have been heavily personalised by whomever lived within each.

Yaan slowly looked down. Beneath his feet, there was actually no visible ground. The ground beneath his feet was transparent, it was possible to look past the ground and into the levels below. The layout of the 4th trial realm made it such that each level could be seen in its entirety from here, despite those below not being able to see anything of the 9th level, or any level above them for that matter.

The nine manors were secluded aside from the front appearances, but Yaan had no clue what lay within. He knew that powerful elixirs only grew and thrived under extreme gravity and spiritual pressure, which was present here without a doubt.

Even just standing on the 9th level put some strain on Yaan's body, he was certain that any Qi master below the Origin Soul realm would struggle to even move here. As for body temperers, even 5-Star demons might struggle slightly, but Yaan's various cultivation methods provided enough support that he wasn't in too much discomfort under this pressure.

Ahead of him lay the pagoda, a central palace to the 9th level. The palace was entirely black and shrouded in a dark ancient aura. With the two trial spirits trailing a few feet behind him, Yaan silently walked past the entrance and into the palace.

A flash of white light blinded him for a moment, then he found himself back within a familiar hall. In this hall, the two elders he met before, Elder Shia and Elder Gustav, were awaiting his arrival respectfully. Yaan didn't know what they had been told, but he didn't much care. He gave them a slight nod, then continued walking towards the centre of the hall.

However, just as he was about to sit down, Old 4th coughed lightly and said:

"Actually, since you achieved Apex Grade in one of the four trials in the 1st hall, you are permitted to enter the 2nd hall immediately."

"Permitted?" Yaan laughed grimly.

"Do I really have a choice to remain here? Aren't you just changing the rules to suit your own needs at this point? Oh, and on that note, what about my reward for completing the true-false illusion trial, hmm?" Yaan stopped laughing and asked sharply with a glance.

"Ahem…lord inheritor candidate, please enter the next hall."

Yaan didn't even reply, he just turned around and continued walking. Whilst he had somewhat expected this to happen, he was still disappointed. The true-false illusion formation had been so beneficial for him, he really wanted to try out the other formations, not to mention his still withheld reward…

Regardless, he no longer seemed to have much choice in his actions. Between going forwards or being sent back to the 1st level with no way to ascend back up, Yaan would of course choose to go on.

Yaan prepared himself for what lay within the 2nd hall. There were three halls in the 9th pagoda, none of which he understood all that well. He only knew that within the 1st hall, there were four trials. He suspected that the number of trials that a challenger was required to pass in order to progress to the 2nd hall, depended upon the grading achieved.

The entrance to the 2nd hall was black. Not black as in painted black, but a hollow entrance, with only darkness seen beyond. When Yaan saw this, his expression darkened slightly. This was quite similar to what he saw when he initially opened the door into the 8th pagoda…

He exhaled slightly, then no longer hesitated and stepped forwards with a determined expression.

Whoosh!

Yaan tried to remain calm and fierce, but his expression changed drastically and became extremely gloomy in an instant. It seemed that his luck was really quite bad today…

Once again, Yaan found himself facing that red-haired entity. Once again, the pressure released by this giant was so terrifying that it made everything in his body, mind and soul, scream out that he needed to lower his head.

However, as the feeling of hatred rose up within him yet again, Yaan clenched his teeth and forced himself to stand tall.

In the next moment, after the figure spoke a single word, the pressure that landed upon him became ten fold worse.

"Submit."

An abundance of killing intent assaulted Yaan from all directions. This killing intent seemed to not only crash into him from outside, but also rose up from within him, as if it already existed as a seed within his heart. This feeling of being overwhelmed so thoroughly was absolutely terrifying, it was as if the red-haired man had already taken over his heart!

When this thought emerged in Yaan's mind, that feeling he experienced from before returned, and it returned with such ferocity that Yaan's emotions seemed to converge into a single emotion…

Unwillingness!

As the doubt, confusion and fear encompassed his heart, a sense of unwillingness to submit to these feelings, to back down to this being, shot outwards and fought back, just a little.

Yaan gritted his teeth so hard that he drew blood, he clenched his hands with so much force that his fingers cracked and red cuts appeared on his palms. It was taking every ounce of willpower in his body to resist, but even calling this 'willpower' did not quite do it justice.

It was like a battle between wills, but even deeper than this, it was a battle between dao hearts!

For Yaan's dao heart to resist this giant for even an instant was an incomprehensible matter. He felt like an eternity passed by, during which time, his will, his consciousness, everything that he held within him, was depleted so throughly that the pain of resistance became unbearable.

It felt like an eternity to Yaan, but in truth, it was merely an instant.

Suddenly, the pressure retracted. The giant still stared down at Yaan with indifference and pride, as if the outcome of this exchange did not matter.

Yaan did not defeat the red-haired man, but the entity stepped back after Yaan resisted for that one instant.

"Good. Continue on, and soon, you will discover the truth."

Filled with exhaustion brought on by his sudden resistance, Yaan passed out as these words echoed through his mind and he was kicked out from this space. He heard the giant's words before he lost consciousness, but he didn't have the energy to think too much about what he said.

Yaan woke up in the 3rd hall. He was now surrounded by nine familiar faces, including the three trial spirits, the two elders, and the four actual residents of the 9th level. As he stood up, everyone remained silent.

Yaan didn't bother looking at them much, though he was slightly startled to see that the malicious intent had vanished from their eyes. He was also confused as to why they were all permitted to enter the 3rd hall, but he didn't say anything.

Because the giant crimson vortex swirling ominously within the ceiling of this hall was far more eye-catching and important than anything else. Perhaps this vortex was also the reason for everyone's silence, it was as if the majestic and bloody aura released by this vortex stifled the atmosphere, making it such that nobody could speak.

Even though nobody had explained the trial to Yaan, he immediately understood. The scale was incomparable to that time, but this vortex strongly resembled the one that appeared during the 3rd trial, taking those who dared to enter into the 4th trial realm.

This vortex, however, was dozens of times larger, spanning hundreds of feet across, covering the entire ceiling of this grand hall. It exuded a pressure that made it difficult for people to look into it, yet drew their gaze in at the same time. Just standing beneath this vortex made Yaan feel heavy, like his body was about to fall apart under its own weight.

Slowly, he walked towards the centre of the hall.

His footsteps were slow. He took his time, adjusting to the ever-increasing pressure that continued to rise without end as he drew in closer towards the centre of the hall, and below the centre of the vortex.

At first, the pressure was heavy, but bearable. By the time he reached the centre of the hall a few minutes later, Yaan was breathing heavily and struggling to stand up straight. He was already circulating his vital energy just to resist the extreme bloody pressure, whilst the heavy killing intent that centred in on his position, was rapidly wearing down his mind. Yaan knew that he couldn't remain here for long, he would exhaust himself thoroughly before even getting to attempt the trial.

The onlookers all had different thoughts. Some were shocked that he had improved so much in the short span of time since they last saw him. Others didn't believed that he had any chance of success in even reaching the vortex, whilst some still thought that he might be able to enter the vortex, but would certainly be crushed to death within.

To be honest, only the devil spirit and Old 4th had any hope in Yaan's chances of success. If the devil spirit was not aware of Yaan's comprehension of the previous bloody vortex, then he would not feel this way, but since it was like this…

He believed that even with Yaan's cultivation, he would be able to persevere. In fact, for certain reasons, he believed that it would be for the best if Yaan did not continue cultivating before reaching the 5th trial realm.

Yaan neither knew nor cared about the thoughts of those around him, his full focus was now on the centre of the bloody vortex, directly above his head. Even though entering the vortex at this section would be many times more difficult compared to piercing through the edge, he felt that there was a chance that entering here could make things easier once he entered. Or perhaps not…maybe his journey within would be difficult regardless.

'They keep saying that my cultivation being higher won't help me in the trials, but looking at this vortex, I seriously doubt that's true…'

With a slightly dark and helpless sigh, Yaan leapt upwards.

The moment his feet left the ground, his vital energy and astral power surged like never before. His expression became ferocious as he realised that drawing closer to the vortex increased the pressure he experienced exponentially, to the extent that he struggle to rise up more than a dozen feet!

There was nothing else for it, Yaan had hoped to save this for within the vortex, but he was forced to urge his psyche power. As a wave of grey power flowed through his sea of consciousness, directed by the psyche power avatar that Yaan now kept constantly active within the sea, it allowed him to double, then triple the flow rate of his astral power and vital energy!

With this surge of power, Yaan was able to cross the distance, entering the giant bloody vortex, the trial which doubled up as the pathway into the 5th trial realm.