Shen Yuan stopped and looked at her for a second before replying, “My name is Shen Yuan. I am here to participate in the entrance trials for the Radiant Lotus Sacred Sect.”
The female cultivator’s eye widened slightly in surprise as she hadn’t heard of anyone taking the test for hundreds of years.
She took another closer look at Shen Yuan and shook her head, “Sorry, but we don’t let just anyone participate in the trials. You need a recommendation letter from someone inside the Radiant Lotus Sacred Sect to participate in it.”
Shen Yuan nodded his head and took out the letter given by Huo Rong, he waved his hand and asked, “Is this the letter you were talking about?”
The female guard’s eyes narrowed slightly as she couldn’t verify if it was real or not from afar, but no sane man would dare to impersonate an Elder of the sect just to try the trail.
But she still proceeded with caution as she asked, “May I have a look at that letter? I need to verify its authenticity.”
Shen Yuan nodded with a smile and threw the letter at the guard, who hurriedly caught it, afraid of damaging it.
She released a sigh of relief seeing that it wasn’t damaged, making Shen Yuan chuckle a little when he remembered her stoic look.
She glared at him for a second before opening the letter. She read it for a few seconds, and her expression shifted between shock, amazement, and curiosity before she handed back the letter to Shen Yuan.
“I didn’t know Peak Master also found someone so promising such as you.” The female guard praised Shen Yuan sincerely, “May you pass the exam. You can walk on this road directly and then take a right turn to reach the Trial Pagoda.”
Shen Yuan nodded his head and received back the letter with a smile before heading straight for the Pagoda.
As soon as he entered the Sect grounds, the air around him changed, becoming much heavier with qi filling the atmosphere. He could feel his cultivation base becoming stronger just by standing on the ground.
And only at this time did he realize that his cultivation base was at the 7th level of the Foundation Establishment realm, his eyes widened in surprise as he hadn’t realized it before.
‘Yue Lan, what is happening with my cultivation base? How did it increase when I haven’t even cultivated it before?’
Yue Lan’s voice echoed inside his mind,
[That’s because your body has been adapting ever since your dual cultivation session. The enchantment just hasn’t ended yet as your cultivation will improve till the peak of the Foundation Establishment realm until it is fully stabilized.]
Realization dawned on Shen Yuan as he nodded his head and stopped thinking about it. For now, he had to focus on the trial at hand.
After a short walk and a turn, he saw the Trail Pagoda from afar. Its structure was ancient and mysterious, with intricate lotus carved into each surface.
It had a total of seven floors, each representing a different trial that a disciple needed to pass before reaching the top.
And since no one has reached the top till now, no one knew what would be on top as well.
The Pagoda was left by the founding ancestor of the Radiant Lotus Sacred Sect, Radiant Ancestor.
And she also left the rule that only male disciples can try to clear the trial tower.
For this reason, the later generation had to make a compromise to allow all outside disciples to try entering the tower, but only those who made it to the top could join the Radiant Lotus Sacred Sect.
Shen Yuan soon came below the Pagoda as there was an elder sitting beneath it. Looking as if she was meditating.
But she soon opened her eyes as she felt a presence nearby.
She was an inner elder of the Burning Lotus Peak, Xun Shuren, who came to preside over a disciple who came to take the trial of the Ancestral Pagoda.
Shen Yuan recognized her from the various illustrations Huo Rong showed her while they were drinking tea.
Elder Xun stepped forward, coming right in front of Shen Yuan. Her sharp eyes looked at him from head to toe, as though she were admiring a work of art
“Your cultivation base is really something else, it’s much more solid than anything I have seen in my life. So, you are the one who wanted to take the Ancestral Pagoda Trial?” She asked in a serious tone, as if taking the trial was no laughing matter.
Shen Yuan bowed slightly in respect, “Yes, that would indeed be me. I would like to take the Pagoda Trial to join the sect.”
Elder Xun nodded and stepped to the side, “Go ahead then, you can take the trial right now.”
Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow as he looked at her, “Are you not going to check if my letter is genuine or fake?”
Elder Xun shook her head, “It doesn’t matter if it’s forged or not, after going inside the chances of coming out alive are quite low. Most people choose to complete one Pagoda level before giving up.”
She paused slightly and continued, “Otherwise the death toll would be a lot higher as well.”
Shen Yuan also thought that what she did made sense so he didn’t continue asking useless questions.
He walked towards the Pagoda while looking at its magnificent appearance. As soon as he entered the Pagoda, it was as if everything in his surroundings had vanished.
He couldn’t feel anything for a while, but soon his senses returned.
The first thing that came into his sight was the limitless expanse. He couldn’t even see the end of it. He looked up and saw that there was a sign.
‘Walk to the other end of the plane to go up.’
Shen Yuan looked around a bit to see if he was missing anything. After having a good look and making sure he didn’t miss anything, he started walking.
He could feel the pressure increasing by a little each time he took a step forward.
“This is surprisingly easy,” he said while he continued walking forward. After moving tens of km, the pressure increased quite a bit but it didn’t affect Shen Yuan’s movement speed.
Shen Yuan didn’t stop even after traveling for hundreds of km, he could now feel the pressure more clearly but it was still relatively easy for him to move forward.
Shen Yuan didn’t mind and continued walking through the desert. Soon, the biome changed as he now had to walk through a forest. The roots and tree were in his way, which he tried to remove with a Qi attack only for it to not have any effect.
He frowned slightly, “Looks like I can’t destroy any of the stuff on this floor. I need to go through them without stopping.”
With that figured out, he continued walking through the forest, increasing his speed since it would take too much time to cross the forest while avoiding all kinds of things inside.
…
He traversed through several distinct biomes before finally reaching a staircase leading to the upper levels.
