But Shen Yuan didn’t choose any of them and walked straight towards the wall in the middle.
Anyone watching would have expected him to smash into the wall, but something unexpected happened.
He went straight into the wall and vanished. After walking through the maze for some time, Shen Yuan opened his eyes at the end of the maze.
He smiled lightly and looked back, “So easy yet so tough.” He shook his head and ascended the staircase to the higher floor.
…
He reached the third floor, it was a vast expense with shelves of weapons on one side and an arena in the middle.
Shen Yuan looked at the arena for a bit before moving his gaze to look at the trial of this floor.
‘Beat oneself to prove your worthiness.’
Shen Yuan read the trial and glanced at the weapons at the side.
He realized the trial required him to use the weapons from this floor. He went there and checked out a few weapons like spears, mace, hammers, staff, etc before heading towards the area with swords.
He picked up a short sword before placing it back, then he tried a great sword, etc.
He finally decided on a long sword for the battle. He went ahead and brought the sword with him towards the arena.
[Are you ready to fight yourself, Shen Yuan?]
Yue Lan’s voice echoed playfully in his mind. Shen Yuan replied in a serious tone, “Yes, I also want to see how I would fare against myself.”
[This will be the hardest challenge of your life, or it should be. Don’t be too disappointed, Shen Yuan.]
Her playful voice echoed inside his mind, he could already imagine her laughing at him.
He raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean by disappointment?”
He asked but Yue Lan remained silent, he just shook his head as he would find out about it in due time.
He went forward and entered the arena, he got teleported to the center of it. He raised his eyebrow in surprise, “Space Laws, I didn’t know there would be space laws used here.”
Just as he turned his head to look around, a clone of himself materialized in front of him.
It was the exact copy of himself that, if anyone else was standing here they won’t even be able to tell them apart.
But Shen Yuan noticed that there was something amiss with the clone. His eyes narrowed as he got in position to clash with the clone.
The clone mirrored his stance, taking a step forward before sprinting toward him.
Shen Yuan also moved forward to clash his sword with the clone’s.
BOOM!
An explosion happened as the clone was obliterated on the spot.
The steps for the higher floor appeared at the corner of the arena but Shen Yuan stood there looking at the place where the clone was.
His eyes remained wide open in shock as he couldn’t believe how easy it was. Just then Yue Lan’s playful voice came into his mind again,
[Surprised? Hehe~ I knew this would happen.]
Shen Yuan soon calmed down as this wasn’t something that could shake him, “What happened to the clone? Why was it so weak?”
Yue Lan’s playful laughter also ceased as she replied in a serious tone,
[That’s because the Pagoda couldn’t copy your abilities.]
Shen Yuan raised his eyebrow and asked, “Is it because of your interference or the sheer level of my abilities?”
[The Pagoda couldn’t copy your Bloodline, Physiques, or Cultivation Technique, that’s why the clone was so weak and it also didn’t copy your sword intent as no one had achieved it at your level in this mortal world, though I’m not sure, there might be some exceptions.]
Yue Lan answered him patiently as Shen Yuan understood that his physiques were really something beyond this world.
He shook his head in disappointment as he couldn’t get a good fight and continued moving towards the higher floor.
…
He soon arrived on the fourth floor. Looking ahead, there was a quiet atmosphere with nothing all around, but a faint pressure lingered in the air.
Shen Yuan felt that there was something amiss but he couldn’t pinpoint the issue. He looked at the above to see the trial.
“Test of Will.”
Shen Yuan muttered under his breath as the name was simple yet confusing.
He couldn’t see anything on the floor which would test his will. Nonetheless, he didn’t hesitate and stepped forward. It was a test he would have to face anyway, so why hesitate?
As soon as his feet stopped on the trial ground, he felt as if a hammer had struck his sea of consciousness. But he withstood the attack without any effort as his eyes became serious.
He looked ahead and saw the pressure becoming stronger, “I see, this floor will affect my Sea of consciousness.” He spoke as the pressure increased little by little.
[This can be a good opportunity to refine your Sea of consciousness. Since you haven’t refined it even a single time, the refinement would help you greatly.]
She paused as if she was observing the floor,
[You should first reach the end and look for the place with the highest pressure and stay there until your Sea of Consciousness becomes strong enough to not have any effect on that pressure.]
Shen Yuan nodded and took a deep breath before starting to walk on it. He didn’t feel anything in the beginning but soon, it began having an effect on him as he slowed down to adapt to the pressure.
The pressure began pressuring his Sea of Consciousness from all sides, leaving it with no choice but to adapt to the pressure.
He stood still on the spot for a while, letting the spiritual pressure of the surroundings wash his Sea of Consciousness.
He took a deep breath and walked again after getting used to the pressure.
Yue Lan stayed silent while observing his Sea of consciousness. It was gradually getting stronger as he continued spending time on this floor.
[His will as well as his soul will get stronger if he can take full use of this opportunity. When he breakthroughs to the Nascent Soul stage then he might even form a special attributed soul.]
Yue Lan muttered to herself.
Meanwhile, Shen Yuan continued walking while stopping every so often. His Sea of Consciousness continued strengthening.
After what felt like an eternity, he reached the end of the trial, he was sweating and huffing at this point from all the exhaustion.
But he refused to cross the final line to ascend to a higher floor. He sat down at the end of the floor, his eyes burning with determination, as he started meditating while the spiritual pressure strengthened his Sea of Consciousness.
…
Time passed as Shen Yuan opened his eyes and exhaled a sigh. He stood up from his meditating stance, brushing off the remaining pressure as if it were nothing more than a summer breeze.
His Sea of Consciousness was more refined and solid now. The pressure which was making him sweat before now felt like a mere summer breeze.
He glanced back one last time behind him and decided to head to the next floor.
