Chapter 201

Is it human or cat?

Hearing this exchange, Zhao Yi was certain: she was a cat!

It was impossible to evaluate her acting, because if she had even a shred of talent, she wouldn't have performed like this. Her self-righteous mind and over-the-top habits were almost identical to Yu Miaomiao's in the past.

Previously, the methods "Teacher" used, combined with his questions to the woman in the black dress, led Zhao Yi to boldly speculate that "Teacher" must have a very close relationship with the Yu family, and was likely even a member of the Yu family. Zhao Yi didn't believe "Teacher" couldn't see it. He must have seen through it, but chose not to expose it, instead defaulting to self-deception. This was a compromise. And that "compromise" had to involve a commonality. A commonality between a person and a cat... both being members of the Yu family? Zhao Yi thought this must be the answer.

"Teacher" had been hidden here for a very long time using special methods, paying the price of his life and freedom for it. Such a great sacrifice must have been for a purpose. And that purpose, requiring a beneficiary, should be the Yu family.

Tsk. No wonder "Teacher" deliberately didn't open this layer of the wall to bring out Mr. Li. This was clearly an attempt to keep Mr. Li confined there, rendering him unable to do anything, and thus preventing him from participating in the profit sharing. This was clearly a struggle for family interests between Dragon King families.

At this thought, a gloating smile appeared on Zhao Yi's face. He was always getting the short end of the stick with that young man, always being taken advantage of. Now, finally, someone could rein him in, hehe.

However, the schadenfreude was short-lived. Zhao Yi's gaze quickly darkened again. While he couldn't stand Mr. Li always having the upper hand, he also didn't want to see Mr. Li suffer a loss. All things considered, it would still be his—Zhao Yi's—reputation that suffered.

However, the situation was still unclear. To contend for those interests, they would have to wait until the interests truly materialized, as he didn't even know what exactly they were fighting for yet. No need to rush; they could wait. After all, he now had ample personnel and the leverage to participate.

Zhao Yi's attention began to return, focusing on the four people beside him. He had spent this period living day and night with Li Zhuiyuan's group, and in this mode, some secrets simply couldn't be kept. Even without intentionally prying, he could roughly gauge their team's strength and capabilities. Of course, Li Zhuiyuan didn't care about that.

Run Sheng, standing in front with the Yellow River Shovel, was normally not much different from Xu Ming, one of his own subordinates. Under abnormal circumstances, Run Sheng could instantly kill Xu Ming. Furthermore, Run Sheng's sustained combat ability was far superior to Xu Ming's. There was no helping it; he practiced the orthodox Qin family body refining technique and had opened his physical qi-gates, making him the ideal template for integrating a unique physique with body refining cultivation methods. Having such a person at the forefront, capable of tanking, fighting, and enduring, was a blessing for any team commander.

Tan Wenbin practiced Ghost Manipulation, a forbidden art that consumed life force. However, practitioners of such arts least worried about the depletion of life force; it was a fundamental, accepted cost. Especially for a "Jiang-walker," as long as they could pass each wave, they could replenish their consumption with merit. In this context, life force became a quantifiable and replenishable consumable. Those who practiced this method most feared demonic backlash, so whenever they controlled spirits, more than half of their attention had to be focused on suppressing and guarding against them. But Tan Wenbin didn't care about this at all, trusting completely and letting them act freely. This meant that while others could only unleash 50% of the forbidden art's power, Tan Wenbin could achieve 150%; he could even use the ghost infant's mind to think about such things!

Zhao Yi had personally witnessed Yin Meng's poison; even the one in the coffin couldn't replicate it. In combat, it could be used as a surprise attack or to divide and compress the battlefield. The method of administering the poison was a bit too primitive. Zhao Yi thought it could be combined with Tan Wenbin's Ghost Manipulation to have ghosts or spirits enhance its application. Hmm, the Mountain Girl was dead, but he still had some Gu spell books left by her, plus some Gu altars buried in the medicinal field managed by Old Tian. He could send Yin Meng to study them, as Gu spells are inherently more compatible with poison.

As for his best friend Lin Shuyou, who was currently here... Lin Shuyou's physical condition hadn't fully recovered from that training session, but his relationship with the official generals' chief yin spirits was excellent. During the session, he had repeatedly seen the White Crane Boy using his precious divine power to restore and protect A-You's body. Ordinary yin spirits disdained interacting with weak-bodied spirit mediums, not even bothering to descend. But Lin Shuyou was an exception; Zhao Yi even suspected that if Lin Shuyou had a persistent high fever someday, he could perform a ritual to summon the White Crane Boy to treat him.

All in all, Zhao Yi was very satisfied with this team composition. Before, he had only observed from the outside. Now that he was "piloting" himself, he realized just how well Mr. Li's team was managed. Everyone had their role and arrangement, and what was even rarer was a clear development plan. That Mr. Li truly poured his heart into his subordinates. This was a true Dragon King River-walking team. Built brick by brick, by hand, with a solid foundation.

In comparison, his own team was severely handicapped after Old Man Tian returned home for logistics and the Mountain Girl died. This wasn't merely about adding personnel; first, crucial elements like tacit understanding and trust couldn't be built overnight. Secondly, regarding ready-made high-quality individuals, couldn't he himself light a lamp and walk the river to earn merit? Why should he bow to others, letting them take the lion's share while he took the smaller portion? Only one person could become the Dragon King in each generation. Who knew if you would succeed? It was better to focus on your immediate needs, get your fill, and then light a lamp a second time to concede. Therefore, many martial artists from humble backgrounds or ordinary families often lost too many people in one wave and had to choose to light a lamp and concede, because they simply couldn't rebuild and replenish their teams or cope with the more difficult next wave. And apart from those rare individuals with explosive personal charisma, only those from higher family backgrounds could have more powerful and higher-potential subordinates. It wasn't that they sought advantage from your family background, but rather they believed your chances of becoming the Dragon King were higher than others, and they were willing to take a gamble with you for that position.

"Hoo... hoo... hoo..."

Zhao Yi began to take deep breaths, repeatedly warning himself to stay true to his original intentions. He started to worry that after enjoying himself this time, he would become apathetic towards his own team upon returning.

Li Zhuiyuan on the floor below couldn't hear the conversation. He couldn't even read Yu Zang Sheng's lips, as they weren't moving; only his fingers trembled. But from the changes in the woman in the black dress, Li Zhuiyuan could guess what was happening. Yu Miaomiao wasn't dead; she had possessed another body, and it was certainly the cat that remained. There was no need to even ask or flip a coin. The cat had always been the dominant entity in that body; it was the real Yu Miaomiao. When one's luck and fate were being absorbed, the dominant cat would certainly offer the original Yu Miaomiao within the body as a sacrifice first. Moreover, according to the rules, what the woman in the black dress absorbed was also a member of the Yu family. After all, he had seen all ten human floors of the tower; they were all human, with no demons or other species mixed in.

Li Zhuiyuan believed Yu Zang Sheng must know this, yet he reached out and patted the head of the woman in the black dress, who in turn feigned filial devotion, leaning against his side. Yu Zang Sheng, weren't you the most repulsed by your family's subversion of natural order? You repeatedly called it a beast, yet what are you doing now? Li Zhuiyuan couldn't help but wonder how great the vested interest must be to make him compromise his principles and reluctantly accept this.

One wrong answer could be ruled out immediately: Yu Zang Sheng was definitely not seeking immortality. If he wanted to pursue that dream, he wouldn't have remained there as a teacher. With his strength during his lifetime, he could have reached this point and gained entry to the tower. In fact, this tower was not simply about plunder; it had its own competitive ecosystem. If Yu Miaomiao hadn't chosen one of the three strongest, by picking a weaker one and killing them, she could have gained their accumulated power and entered the tower to take their place. The tower's bell could control the smaller bells, meaning their ringing was influenced by the tower's internal rules. So, from the very beginning, this was not a game of gaining recognition or finding companions. Instead, under the tower's rules, it was about which floor and which person's ecological niche you could occupy. The tower deemed you worthy to replace them, to make this place stronger, and to welcome ascension in a more perfect state. Yu Miaomiao's act of sacrifice and self-identification wasn't actually to impress the woman in the black dress; it was to impress the tower, which then granted her this opportunity. And the tower's judgment of Zhao Yi was that he could replace two people on the tenth floor. Of course, if you lost and were killed, you would also be absorbed, integrating into the tower in another way. The tower, in any case, didn't lose.

If Yu Zang Sheng had come here aiming for ascension to an immortal, he would undoubtedly have chosen to enter the tower, secure a position, and quietly await the opportunity for ascension. He didn't do so, which meant he was aiming for something greater. Or rather, he saw a deeper aspect, and what he wanted to gain was also more deeply hidden. Pondering this, Li Zhuiyuan's gaze once again fell upon the tower. Deeper interests?

Basement 2.

Yu Zang Sheng, suppressing the intense disgust and revulsion in his heart, gently pushed the woman in the black dress away, telling her to show some self-respect. "Even if you want to pretend to be human, you should know that your actual human age is similar to that young man downstairs. Only a cat would reach estrus at such a young age."

If he had a choice, if he could truly leave here and return home, he would undoubtedly do whatever it took, even die, to forcibly rectify the family's practices. But he had no choice; he couldn't leave. He was already dead, long bound and integrated with this place. The family's situation had drastically changed, and he was powerless. The only thing he could do now was to bring this immense merit back to the family, in her name as a member of the Yu family. With this, he sought for the Way of Heaven to grant an opportunity and a turning point, allowing the Yu family to gain protection and restoration, at least preventing their lineage from being completely corrupted, even if a collateral branch had to be split off.

Yu Miaomiao was pushed away. She could feel the consciousness within A-Yuan's body distancing itself from her... no, it was disgust. Although she had switched bodies, the thing in her original body that always held her back and made her hesitate when acting was completely gone. She had become purer, and her self-identity was clearer. "This truly is the arrogance of the Yu family 'humans'."

Yu Miaomiao recalled one night, sitting by the pond with her grandmother, holding hands and chatting. The moonlight was hazy, and her grandmother's round eyes glowed brighter than the moon, her long whiskers vivid and lively. Grandma said, "In the past, the Yu family 'humans' were the most aloof. Even though the Yu family was founded by relying on spirit beasts, the Yu family 'humans' looked down on us the most." Grandma also said that the Yu family didn't just belong to the Yu family "humans." "They, too, are named Yu; this Yu family has a share for them too." Grandma also said, "It's good now, everything has been corrected." Grandma finally smiled and said, "That girl staying inside you is quite good. These 'humans' can help us become smarter. When it comes to brains, we really can't compare to them."

Yu Zang Sheng said, "From now on, you will follow my instructions. I can enable you to bring a great merit back to the Yu family."

Yu Miaomiao softly replied, "Understood. I will obey all your commands. Whatever you ask me to do, I will do, because I feel a familial closeness with you."

Zhao Yi's mouth twitched. He now somewhat envied Mr. Li downstairs who couldn't hear. Otherwise, he would have heard the person who usually let out barbell-like laughs imitating Lin Daiyu.

Yu Zang Sheng suppressed his discomfort and nodded. He spoke again, less to Yu Miaomiao than to reassure himself: "I am doing all of this for the Yu family."

"Of course. I can see your efforts, and your love and consideration for the family are a model for me."

Yu Zang Sheng clenched his fist. He restrained himself, not striking Yu Miaomiao. He took a few steps forward, raised his head, and looked at the bell on the top floor of the tower. Yu Miaomiao intentionally moved closer again. She felt that the more the other person detested her, the more enthusiastic and obedient she should be. Deep down, she actually detested him as well. She resented him for occupying A-Yuan's body. She resented that despite being surnamed Yu, he had deliberately tormented and harassed her and A-Yuan for so long in the testing grounds behind the stone gate. "And you still have the nerve to say it's for the Yu family? Grandma's assessment of you Yu family 'humans' was indeed correct."

Yu Zang Sheng had no desire to ponder Yu Miaomiao's inner thoughts, as the mere thought of her made him uncomfortable and distressed. And now, it was time to focus on serious matters.

On the top floor of the tower, the Faceless Man appeared again. Their gazes met.

Yu Zang Sheng: "Will you come down, or shall I go up?"

The Faceless Man made no move.

Yu Zang Sheng: "Then I will go up."

He had originally prepared for this day for a long time and devised other methods. But he hadn't expected the Yu family to become what it was now. Although this wasn't what he wanted to see, it amounted to a new and better method being offered to him, significantly increasing his chances of success.

Yu Zang Sheng pointed to the tower door ahead and said, "Miaomiao, go and push open that door."

Yu Miaomiao froze for a moment. Earlier, inside the tower, she had developed a profound psychological trauma from the restrictions and oppressive force within. Now, he was actually telling her to push the tower door?

Yu Zang Sheng: "Go quickly, push it open."

"Yes."

Yu Miaomiao took a deep breath, then felt a churning discomfort inside. She had forgotten that her current body was dead, somewhat like a zombie or a reanimated corpse. In short, it was a bizarre deceased entity formed in this unique environment, and it didn't need to breathe. Her eyes slightly lifted, looking at the floor above, where her dismembered body parts were still scattered. She also saw her own head. She had loved her round, plump face; Grandma said it represented good fortune.

"Even if I could leave here alive, would I be condemned to live perpetually in this dead body? What meaning would there be in living like that? All those sensory pleasures of food and drink would be denied to me. What's more, after leaving here, my dead body would still decay, and even if my family used various methods to try to maintain its current state, it would be difficult. What awaited her was endless torment for the rest of her life."

Yu Miaomiao looked at the openings on the two floors above. "Since you were already in A-Yuan's body, and you clearly had the ability to open the wall and come down, why did you deliberately wait until I was killed before descending? If you had come down earlier, I wouldn't have had to die. Now you're here pretending to be a good person—hypocrite!" Malice flashed in Yu Miaomiao's eyes. She recalled the scene of her previous death, the pain and despair that, even after "resurrection," still sent shivers down her spine. "I shouldn't have suffered the initial pain, nor the pain to come. All of this is your fault!"

Yu Zang Sheng's voice came again: "Hurry up, don't dally." As he spoke, Yu Zang Sheng looked down. The young man was standing right below his feet. He was certain the young man was from the Dragon King family. Because when the young man spoke to him, he used the term "Jiang-walking." Secondly, the young man's evaluation of Zhao Wuyang showed a breadth of perspective; only a direct descendant of a Dragon King family could have such profound understanding and experience. Of course, the martial world produced many heroes, and true heroes could emerge from humble origins, but seeing how submissive the Zhao family boy from Jiujiang was to the young man, this young man definitely wasn't from humble stock. Zhao Wuyang could once mingle with common folk, but his descendants, after he became the Dragon King, would not possess his state of mind. Yu Zang Sheng was very angry. He could access A-Yuan's memories, but A-Yuan's memories contained no knowledge of the young man being from the Dragon King family. He had to figure this out himself.

On top of the tower, the Faceless Man stood, continuing to watch below. Yu Miaomiao placed her hands on the tower door. The moment she made contact, a terrifying pressure descended upon her, and she immediately let out a wail.

"Ah!!!"

She released her hands, retreated two steps, but the tower door remained unmoving. "I, I, I can't push it open, it hurts so much, it's so painful." This was practically torture!

Yu Zang Sheng: "Push with all your might. You can move it!" Yu Zang Sheng's words carried a stern warning. Yu Miaomiao's body trembled, and she could only reach out her hands again, pressing against the tower door. Intense pain surged again, and she wailed once more. This time, she held on a little longer, and the gap in the door was pushed open slightly further.

"Ah!!!"

Yu Miaomiao let go again, retreated, and fell onto the ground. Yu Zang Sheng's mouth twitched. A curse of "worthless" almost escaped his lips. "She couldn't even endure this much pain. Was this beast also raised in pampered luxury? One must know, he had been lurking here for countless years for this purpose. Compared to physical pain, the spiritual solitude was far more despair-inducing."

Tan Wenbin looked at Zhao Yi with some confusion: "Can this door really be pushed open like that?" Binbin's mastery of formations wasn't high, but he knew the tower's formations were extremely advanced. Otherwise, Brother Xiao Yuan would have surely broken it, instead of always operating according to its rules.

Zhao Yi replied, "Because the door should have been opened earlier to allow the people on this third basement floor to return. The door only opening a crack and then closing was already a violation of the rules. That woman in the black dress is now the true eldest daughter of the Yu family. She originally belonged in the tower, so returning to it is only natural. Therefore, having her personally push the door can prompt the rules to function. Theoretically, she should be able to push the door open. Unfortunately, she's too delicate; ultimately, she's a pampered individual."

Zhao Yi knew that A-Yuan's hearing was excellent. So, he deliberately emphasized "eldest daughter of the Yu family" and words like "delicate" and "pampered." He was essentially poisoning Yu Zang Sheng's perception. Both were clever, but their points of cleverness differed from the young man's. Li Zhuiyuan excelled at deduction, integrating all factors and conditions to choose an optimal solution. Zhao Yi, having hovered between life and death daily, was adept at discerning hearts, or rather, manipulating them. His ability to survive multiple times in front of Li Zhuiyuan was the best proof.

Yu Zang Sheng: "Get up, keep pushing. No matter how much you suffer now, it's worth it compared to the opportunity I'm giving you and the family!"

Yu Miaomiao had no choice but to stand up again. "An opportunity for me? Easy for you to say. Why don't you push it yourself!" Despite Yu Miaomiao's dissatisfaction, she was actually somewhat intimidated by Yu Zang Sheng. Grandma had said that the current Yu family "humans" were nothing special, but the Yu family members of the past were truly fearsome.

Yu Miaomiao again pressed her hands against the tower door, exerting force. What followed were pain and wails. Her original body was not that of a normal human; it was like a half-human, half-demon. And some uncomfortable sensations could be transferred to the other entity within her, such as the pain of injuries in battle, which she would hand over to the real "little girl" inside her to endure. Anyway, the girl wasn't useful inside her, so why not let her share the burden? Over time, after switching bodies and with the Yu family girl gone, Yu Miaomiao found it very difficult to adapt to the pain directly accumulated on herself. Her pain threshold was actually very low.

"Ah!!!"

This time, she held on a little longer, and the door crack was pushed open to the size of a baby's fist. Then, she stumbled backward repeatedly and fell to the ground. In a fit of rage, she almost went mad, drawing the precious sword from her waist and brandishing it. Yu Zang Sheng, seeing this, was immediately startled. Her pushing the door was in line with the rules, but daring to attack the tower, especially its door, would instantly provoke a counterattack from the tower! "Idiot!"

Yu Zang Sheng appeared in front of Yu Miaomiao and slapped her.

"Slap!"

Yu Miaomiao was stunned by the blow. A-Yuan's slap was terrifyingly powerful. Yu Miaomiao's left cheek was split open, and pus began to drip down. But Yu Miaomiao herself wasn't knocked flying; she remained standing in place. Because this body was strong. But now, it was only physically strong. Yu Miaomiao wanted to mimic the move the woman in the black dress had repeatedly used when killing her earlier, but she only brandished the sword, failing to unleash that terrifying strike. She exploited a loophole in the rules, and with Yu Zang Sheng's intervention, gained control of the body, yet couldn't utilize its original owner's combat abilities. It was fortunate she didn't manage to use it; if she had, the situation would have completely collapsed.

Behind them, Zhao Yi placed his hand on Lin Shuyou's shoulder, buried his face in Lin Shuyou's chest, and convulsed with laughter. Lin Shuyou was somewhat confused, only knowing that this annoying guy was inexplicably laughing very happily.

"Hehehehe... hehehe!"

Zhao Yi was almost convulsing with laughter, his heart aching from it, yet he still couldn't stop. "This big dummy, after taking over someone's body, couldn't even access its muscle memory! What was this, fools' luck? Even repeatedly lowering his standards for Yu Miaomiao, he was still amazed by her again and again."

"It hurts, it really hurts!" Yu Miaomiao whined, feeling very wronged.

Yu Zang Sheng's gaze, however, turned cold. "Alright, I don't need you anymore."

"Really? Thank you, thank you." Yu Miaomiao breathed a sigh of relief, finally free from the previous torment.

Yu Zang Sheng's hands made a gesture, and the grey and white colors in his eyes swirled again. Yu Miaomiao was initially confused, not knowing what he was doing, but soon, she understood.

"No! Don't!"

A mark, from Yu Zang Sheng's hand, entered Yu Miaomiao's body. The Yu Family Beast Taming Art. Controlling demonic beasts was fundamental, and it was also remarkably effective on the spirits of demonic beasts. More importantly, when different people used it, the effects were entirely different. Just as Sun Yan's animals under Zhao Yi and the Wooden King at the entrance were directly controlled by Yu Miaomiao and A-Yuan without any resistance, Yu Miaomiao also couldn't resist Yu Zang Sheng's control. Her thoughts were solidified within a narrow range, her consciousness began to be guided, and then her body involuntarily transformed into a marionette.

Yu Zang Sheng: "Even if it's not for the family, even if it's just for you, you must endure this hardship!"

Yu Miaomiao pressed her hands heavily against the door. Although her body was no longer under her control, a terrible sense of pain still descended upon her. Furthermore, because her body was controlled, she couldn't retreat and didn't even know when it would end. She could only desperately exert force, force, and more force, without cessation. In the depths of Yu Miaomiao's eyes, deep malice had already surfaced! Her hatred had reached its peak. "Opportunity? For the family? For my good? It was all a lie. How could you have hidden here for so many years just to help the family? And how could you possibly give this opportunity to an irrelevant outsider like me? The family is just your excuse; I'm merely a tool you've chosen to satisfy your personal desires!"

The tower door on Basement Level 2 was slowly and continuously being pushed open. Simultaneously, Basement Level 3 and Basement Level 1 were also opening. Li Zhuiyuan initially thought this was just normal synchronization. However, the Faceless Man, who had been on top of the tower, was gone; he had reappeared at the entrance to Basement Level 3.

Yu Zang Sheng noticed this scene and squinted his eyes. "Which Dragon King family did this young man come from, to receive such special attention?!" When Yu Zang Sheng arrived here, the one on top of the tower was already there. He didn't know who that person was, only that although they arrived earlier than him, it wasn't by a significant amount of time. Furthermore, the top of this tower originally didn't require a bell ringer. Because the formation was already mature, the rules already perfected, everything could operate naturally, and the bell would ring by itself when the time came. That person had not been here since the creation of this place. But if that person could reach the top floor and forcibly assume the identity of a bell ringer, it indicated that their ancestor must have had a close relationship with this place, perhaps even being the one who built and designed it.

After seeing this, Zhao Yi, who had just been laughing, now felt a renewed bitterness in his heart, even a touch of exasperation. "Oh, I knew it! Relatives are relatives. Counting the dead, who has more kin and old acquaintances than your family!"

Li Zhuiyuan couldn't explain this, nor would he try to. Extracting his own "waves" from A-Li's dream was his secret; he wouldn't tell outsiders, only those in his team. But the young man was genuinely curious why this individual chose to appear here and meet him at this moment.

Yu Miaomiao was in great pain. The tower door was continuously being pushed open, but it would still take a considerable amount of time to open it wide enough for an adult to pass through. Because... A-Yuan's physique was quite tall. As for Yu Miaomiao's malicious gaze and inner curses, Yu Zang Sheng neither cared nor bothered to pay attention.

Li Zhuiyuan walked towards the tower door on his floor. The wall beneath Yu Zang Sheng's feet began to tremble slightly. He now felt some regret. He should have just brought the young man up earlier; he hadn't expected "changes" to occur with him staying alone downstairs. Now, going to retrieve him seemed pointless. Most importantly, doing so would be too obvious. It wasn't that he feared the forces behind the young man. Being from a legitimate Dragon King family, he respected other Dragon King families but held no fear of them. He was simply embarrassed to engage in overly obvious suppression. Normal familial disputes over interests were one thing, but to stoop to bullying a junior would truly be beneath his dignity. He considered himself an elder in front of Li Zhuiyuan, especially after discovering that Li Zhuiyuan possessed Zhao Wuyang's coin sword, which further led him to give Zhao Wuyang an extremely high appraisal. He and Zhao Wuyang were competitors from the same era, and rivals who held mutual respect. Zhao Wuyang's steady, understated rise in their time, ultimately becoming the Dragon King, earned his conviction. One must know that in that generation, not only did multiple flood dragons appear among the common folk, but also extremely talented successors emerged from various Dragon King families. In other eras, these would all have been contenders for the Dragon King position, yet ultimately, Zhao Wuyang was the victor. "This was a good child, a promising good child. He liked him."

The Faceless Man: "Is the book good?"

Li Zhuiyuan replied, "I haven't understood it yet, but it's nice to touch."

The Faceless Man: "Good, you've understood something so quickly."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Do you need something?"

The Faceless Man: "Nothing in particular, just wanted to chat with you."

Li Zhuiyuan: "Oh."

The Faceless Man: "I originally wanted to ascend right in front of you, but I'm still a bit short. When changes were due to happen, they indeed did."

Li Zhuiyuan: "That's normal."

The Faceless Man: "Good things come to those who wait?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "Things that are fundamentally impossible to achieve will naturally encounter various impossible obstacles. A dream, after all, will eventually wake."

The Faceless Man: "Just like what he said back then."

"You lost."

"Of course. The fact that he could be placed on the altar in that girl's dream clearly shows he won. But I told him then that the true decider of victory isn't in the moment; I would prove it to him later."

"What I just said was actually meant for this moment."

"You will see it, child. I promise to let you witness true ascension with your own eyes, and then, at the moment I become an immortal, I will kill you. I will go to the true Heavenly Palace and become a high and mighty immortal. And you, you will go to hell for reincarnation, go down there, and tell him of my success."

"He has no spirit left."

The Faceless Man fell silent.

Li Zhuiyuan smiled. You tirelessly pursued the dream of immortality, yet he, for the sake of this world, even relinquished his only trace. How ironic was that? Because you haven't succeeded yet, but he has already fulfilled his promise and mission, succeeding.

The Faceless Man seemed unable to leave the tower's confines, so he remained standing inside the tower door. Upstairs, Yu Miaomiao was enduring immense pain to push the door open, which caused the Faceless Man's face to grow larger where Li Zhuiyuan was. Although growing larger, it held no particular significance.

The Faceless Man spoke again: "He was just a little early; I was just a little late. I will use your eyes, your life, to commemorate my vow from back then."

Li Zhuiyuan: "It seems you don't fully believe in this, either."

The Faceless Man: "If I didn't believe in this, why would I be here? Do you know how long I've been confined within this tower, unable to leave even half a step?"

Li Zhuiyuan: "You just can't stand to lose."

"Hehehe... hehehehe..."

The Faceless Man laughed for a long time. "Actually, you could try begging for mercy. If you did, I'd genuinely find it hard to kill you."

"If I begged for mercy, you'd only want to kill me more, because I would have defiled his name."

"Then do you want to live?"

"Yes, but whether I live or die is none of your concern."

"You shouldn't have started your Jiang-walking so early. The blessings of those two families certainly wouldn't have allowed you to be swept into the river so soon. Why?"

Li Zhuiyuan lowered his head and casually flipped through the blank book in his hand. It was all because of his love for reading, all because of books.

"I also love reading. My family has always had a legend passed down through generations, and a book buried beneath the ancestral grave that descendants are forbidden to look at."

"Such rules shouldn't be made. Rules like that only make future generations do the opposite."

"Yes, there's a terrifying restriction under my family's ancestral grave. When I went in, I saw many ancestors' bodies inside; they clearly hadn't listened. Everyone who entered died. That ancestor didn't lie; he must have done it on purpose, because that legend isn't just in my family, it's rumored in the martial world too. So, I suspect he deliberately set this rule to trick ambitious descendants into coming in and killing them."

"You didn't die?"

"I died. To win, I burned everything and was on the verge of death, yet I still lost to him. When I entered the ancestral grave, I was already dead, and precisely because of that, I was able to walk out alive, with that book."

Li Zhuiyuan opened the blank book in his hand and showed it to the Faceless Man. Meaning: I've shown you my book, now tell me about yours.

"The ancestor's restriction has a time limit; it will eventually lift, and this book will appear in the world. I merely obtained it early. The book truly contains little information. It only records this location, plus a note: 'On the day the restriction breaks, the entire clan shall come here to welcome the great opportunity for our clan.'"

"The date?"

"It's today."

"So you arrived this early?"

"Yes, not only did I arrive early myself, but I also brought my entire family here in advance. Unfortunately, they weren't qualified to enter the tower, so they had to be temporarily placed in those two kneeling corpse pits. Inside are all nobles and powerful figures, so it wasn't exactly a humiliation for them, right?"

Li Zhuiyuan knew that when the Faceless Man said "already dead," he meant he had transformed himself into a state that was neither human nor ghost. As for bringing his entire family... he meant he had killed his whole family and brought their corpses here.

"My mistake was entering the restriction early and obtaining that book. I was already dead at that time, with little time left in the world, so I could only rush here. But I was also afraid that because of me, the entire clan would lose this great opportunity, so I had no choice but to bring them along. This was also for their own good; after all, they are family. Do you think I did the right thing?"

"I don't care about that."

"Oh?"

"You can't control the formations here, can you?" Compared to human tragedies, Li Zhuiyuan was more concerned with technical issues.

The Faceless Man: "No, but because I possess ancestral bloodline, the rules here grant me some leniency, out of respect for my ancestor."

"Oh." Li Zhuiyuan nodded and commented, "That's a flaw, imperfect. Your ancestor should have changed it. How can a formation show favoritism?"

"After you die, go down there and have a good chat with him."

"Huh, didn't your ancestor ascend?"

"The restriction in the ancestral grave uses his corpse as the formation's core. I couldn't take it. The day the restriction lifts is the day his corpse will dissipate. And because of that, he lost his chance to ascend. Probably for the reason you just mentioned: if even I, a descendant with a thin bloodline, can receive preferential treatment from these rules, if he were here, the rules would likely collapse upon seeing his complete face."

Li Zhuiyuan pointed upstairs: "The door is open wide enough now. Aren't you going to do something?"

"Yes, I just came to tell you that you'll have to wait a little longer. Once I've handled things, we'll start immediately."

"Okay, I understand."

The Faceless Man disappeared. But his figure didn't reappear on the top floor; instead, he appeared on the eleventh floor. On the eleventh floor, there were originally three beds and three people; now, only two remained. In fact, there were also distinctions among these three. The woman in the black dress was the sharpest, the scholar the most mysterious... and the old Taoist priest, the most powerful. That is, the twelfth floor housed the large bell, so he could only reside on the eleventh floor. By rights, he should have occupied a floor alone.

The Faceless Man now stood before the old Taoist priest. Indeed, as he had told the young man earlier, the rules' favoritism towards him was limited. But one person was an exception. He reached out, slowly tearing off his own face, from bottom to top. The tower began to tremble. The black shadows within the jade began to move agitatedly, and the teachers and students in the academy began to prostrate themselves in worship. After the faceless skin was torn off, a new face with features was revealed underneath. It only peeled halfway down, stopping just below the nose, because the tower's shaking was becoming increasingly uncontrollable; he couldn't tear any further. But this was enough. He had no face because he had torn off his ancestor's face and put it on his own. When he said his preferential treatment was because the formations here honored his ancestor's "face," it was truly no exaggeration.

The Half-faced Man spoke to the Taoist priest in front of him:"The path to immortality is fraught with hardship; today, destiny nears completion. The great ascension lies ahead, requiring one last trial to overcome.Therefore,I invite you, Taoist priest, to descend from the mountain!"