Shen Yuan nodded his head as he now had a rough idea about their history, “So, why are there five of them? Did they make multiple of them? Or did they make one pagoda per level?”
Wan Ling nodded with approval, “You are half correct, the elders could only replicate the first four levels of the Trial Pagoda, and another pagoda for ranking battles of the outer sect.”
“Oh? They couldn’t replicate that shitty beast wave level?” Shen Yuan asked curiously.
“The fifth level is a beast wave trial?” Wan Ling asked back curiously.
“Huh? Shouldn’t you know this as a disciple of this sect?” Shen Yuan raised his eyebrow and asked.
“The trials of the higher levels are known only by the inner sect disciples or elders. I know of the first four trials due to their pagoda being erected here.” She replied to his question.
“Hmm… make sense. And yes, the fifth level is a beast wave level. There is nearly an infinite amount of beasts on that level.” He shook his head remembering his time on that level. “I nearly died from exhaustion on that level.”
Wan Ling’s eyes shined with admiration, “But you still completed the trial. It’s honestly unbelievable that I’m talking with someone who has cleared that Impossible trial.”
Shen Yuan smiled lightly and changed the subject as he gazed at the pagodas, “Why are 4 of the pagodas only 4 floors high? And the center one is 7 floors high?”
Wan Ling answered him, “The four floors of those four smaller pagodas are respectively for Body Forging Realm, Qi Gathering Realm, Foundation Establishment Realm, and Inner Sea Realm. After that, the disciples can take the test to enter the Inner Sect. As for the central pagoda which is 7 floors tall, it’s the battle pagoda where disciples are ranked based on their strength.”
She paused to remember something and continued, “The floors are divided by the ranking of disciples:
1- 1000-700
2- 700-500
3- 500-300
4- 300-200
5- 200-100
6- 100-50
7- 50-1
Shen Yuan listened to her carefully and remembered all the details. “I see, thanks for the info, Wan Ling.” He said with a gentle smile.
Wan Ling’s cheeks flushed with a shade of crimson as she lowered her head. “What are you going to do now?” She asked in a voice as low as a mosquito.
“Well, now that I’m here, might as well try one of those pagodas. Let’s see how they compare against the real thing.” Shen Yuan said while stretching his arms.
Wan Ling’s eyes lit up in excitement as she raised her head and spoke enthusiastically, “Yay! I would love to see you in action. I can’t wait to see how those disciples who doubted your strength will react.”
Shen Yuan chuckled softly looking at her reaction, “Alright, let’s go. I will go the the pagoda of the first floor.”
Wan Ling nodded her head and led the way forward excitedly, “Here, it’s that one.” She pointed in the distance at the first pagoda.
Soon they reached it as Shen Yuan read its name, “Pagoda of Crushing Steps.” The surrounding disciples who were already gathered there looked in his direction curiously.
“The ancestor who created this pagoda gave it this name, how is it?” Wan Ling asked him curiously as he was one of the few who underwent the trial and successfully passed it.
“It’s truly a fitting name, the trial is explained clearly with the name alone.” Shen Yuan praised the naming sense of the pagoda creator.
The disciples there smiled and agreed with him as they had already undergone the trial. Shen Yuan looked to the side as there was a ranking board placed there, with disciple’s names on it.
Shen Yuan’s eyes scanned the ranking board with interest, his gaze stopped on the names at the top. The list displayed the names of the top-ranking disciples who had completed the “Pagoda of Crushing Steps” trial, along with the time it took for them to pass each level.
The top three names stood out to him:
1- Jin Ling – Completed in 1 hour 44 minutes
2- Feng Yu – Completed in 1 hour 51 minutes
3- Mei Xin – Completed in 1 hour 53 minutes
Shen Yuan raised an eyebrow at the time. ‘Huh, they did pretty well considering the difficulty of the trials.’
Wan Ling noticed him looking at the ranking board as she chimed in, “Those three at the top are the strongest disciples in the outer sect currently. Jin Ling is said to be on the verge of breaking into the Inner Sea Realm, while Feng Yu and Mei Xin are already halfway through. They’re considered the cream of the crop among the outer sect disciples. Some Elders even said they might become Core Disciples in the future.”
Shen Yuan nodded thoughtfully, “It’s indeed impressive how far they have reached with only Foundation Establishment Realm cultivation. Whoever can have such a high record with this level of cultivation base can only be described as a prodigy.” He spoke and the surrounding disciples and Wan Ling couldn’t help but agree with him.
“They must be one in a million genius to have such good results at their age.” He continued praising them and the disciples nodded excitedly, not expecting this new male disciple to know the reality.
“I don’t think there are even such prodigies in other Divine Rank sects…” He praised them for a bit more as if he was showing his admiration towards them.
“Yes, he is right.”
“Only our sect has such prodigies.”
“Kyaa! Senior Sister Jin Ling is invincible!”
…
Meanwhile, Wan Ling looked at him in confusion, she didn’t get the impression that he was such an admirer of top disciples.
“Alright, I should also try out the trial.” He said as he stepped toward the pagoda.
The crowd got silent all of a sudden as if wondering something.
“Is that the male disciple who completed the real pagoda trial?”
“Do you think he’ll try to break the record?”
“No way, even Jin Ling struggled with the Crushing Steps Pagoda.”
“Hey, how high do you think his score will be?” One beautiful disciple asked another as the discussions broke loose.
Seeing the rowdy crowd, Wan Ling also gathered her courage as she took a deep breath and encouraged Shen Yuan, “Good Luck, Senior Brother Shen Yuan! You can do it.”
The other disciples looked over to see who encouraged Shen Yuan at this point, but they didn’t recognize her as her presence was next to zero.
Wan Ling also shrank her neck when she felt the gazes of everyone gathered on her. Shen Yuan smiled when he heard her encouraging words, he waved his hand toward her without turning and soon entered the first floor of the pagoda.
…
Inside the Pagoda, as the familiar pressure surrounded him, Shen Yuan barely noticed it. ‘Is this all it is?’ he thought, a wry smile forming on his lips. Compared to the real trial, this felt like child’s play to him.
He soon shook his head as he looked around at the vast flatlands “Hmm, the design is pretty much the same,” the flatlands seemingly stretched for a seemingly endless distance as he started walking, “But much smaller with weaker pressure as well.”
