Chapter 872: Difficulty Dramatically Increases

Rumor had it that the 36th floor contained a heaven-reaching spiritual treasure. It would be a great pity for him to leave after clearing only the 35th floor, especially since he possessed a Tier 4 spiritual talisman and a set of Tier 4 formation flags. Patriarch Myriad Beasts, an ancestor of Myriad Beasts Island, had successfully cleared the 36th floor, though he never revealed what he obtained.

Shortly after clearing the 36th floor, Patriarch Myriad Beasts advanced to the Nascent Soul stage. In less than a hundred years, he gained immense renown in the South Sea and led Myriad Beasts Island to prosperity.

As a prime talent cultivated by Myriad Beasts Island, he naturally wished to surpass his ancestor.

Gongsun Yang took a deep breath and declared, "I will continue."

The scene before him blurred, and he suddenly appeared on a vast plain. A deafening roar erupted as a fifty-foot-long azure flood dragon, covered in dense scales, descended from the sky and lunged at Gongsun Yang.

"A Nascent Soul stage spiritual beast!"

Terrified, Gongsun Yang quickly summoned his vital spiritual bird, the Five-Colored Fire Sparrow. Fusing with it, the sparrow's aura reached Tier 4, though its actual abilities still lagged behind a true Tier 4 Fire Sparrow.

The azure flood dragon and the Five-Colored Fire Sparrow clashed fiercely, their azure and crimson lights battling intensely, unleashing powerful waves of energy.

On the 30th floor, Fairy Ziyue controlled three Tier 3 puppet beasts, launching a furious assault on two young women with identical features.

The manifestations on each floor were not fixed. One person might encounter puppet beasts, while another might not. If too many cultivators had already cleared a particular challenge, the guardian puppets would increase the difficulty.

While directing five Tier 3 puppet beasts to engage the enemies, she simultaneously unleashed her Violet Moon Profound Light to ambush the two women.

The two women were rare sound cultivators; one wielded a green jade flute, and the other a blue pipa.

"Explode!"

As Fairy Ziyue’s command echoed, a Tier 3 puppet beast suddenly exploded, its powerful shockwave engulfing the two women. Seizing this opportunity, countless violet lights emerged above her head, forming a purple mirror that immobilized one of the young women. Three puppet beasts then swarmed her.

With a scream, the woman collapsed into a pool of blood.

With her companion dead, the other woman could not hold on much longer and was slain by Fairy Ziyue.

A golden light flashed nearby, revealing over a dozen golden jade tables, each bearing a treasure.

Fairy Ziyue breathed a long sigh of relief. She already possessed two Nascent Soul formation spiritual items, and her goal in challenging the Immortal Suppressing Pagoda this time was merely to obtain an item that could resist the Nascent Soul lightning tribulation. She had reached the 30th floor, but three of her Tier 3 puppet beasts were destroyed. Continuing would be too dangerous and unnecessary.

She looked at the golden jade tables nearby, her brows furrowed slightly. There were no Tier 2 defensive artifacts.

Her personal strength was not exceptional; her advantage lay in having many puppet beasts. If she continued, she might well die here.

"Never mind," she muttered. "If there are no Tier 2 defensive artifacts, I'll just refine a few high-grade Tier 1 artifacts."

Fairy Ziyue carried a deep-seated vendetta; she was the last remaining member of her lineage. She absolutely could not die here; she still had to avenge her parents.

She selected three Tier 4 artifact refining materials and was then teleported out of the Immortal Suppressing Pagoda.

No sooner had she left than Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan appeared in the same location.

Their auras were somewhat weak, and their faces slightly pale. They quickly consumed a drop of thousand-year spiritual milk, and their complexions rapidly regained their color.

As the void rippled, twelve Tier 3 puppet beasts of various shapes suddenly appeared. The difficulty was three times that faced by Fairy Ziyue.

Upon appearing, the Tier 3 puppet beasts immediately cast spells, attacking Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan.

Wang Changsheng did not dare to be careless. He quickly unleashed three Mountain-Sea Orbs, projecting layers of water screens to shield them.

A dazzling blue light emanated from Wang Ruyan's and Wang Changsheng's bodies. Wang Ruyan's aura surged dramatically, while Wang Changsheng's rapidly weakened.

A low zither melody resonated, and a vast wave of invisible sound swept forth.

The sound wave passed directly through three puppet beasts, leaving them outwardly unharmed. However, their central spirit stones, which powered them, shattered, rendering the three Tier 3 puppet beasts motionless.

Seven Tier 3 puppet beasts swiftly dived down from above, while two serpent-shaped puppet beasts lunged from the ground.

Countless blue lights suddenly flared in the void, forming a turbulent river. Numerous thick blue tentacles shot out from it, lashing towards the nine Tier 3 puppet beasts.

Wang Changsheng released the Sea Suppressing Ape and the Gold-Devouring Ant Queen. The Sea Suppressing Ape unleashed thick blue lightning bolts at the nine Tier 3 puppet beasts, while the Gold-Devouring Ant Queen led thousands of gold-devouring ants in a charge against them.

Wang Ruyan released her Green-Eyed Frost Silkworm and Lion-Scaled Beast; one exhaled white cold air, and the other spewed crimson flames.

The difficulty for the two of them was three times that for a single person, so they had to go all out.

Boom!

A deafening roar echoed.

A thick blue water screen enveloped Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan, which the nine puppet beasts were unable to breach.

With four Tier 3 spiritual beasts, plus Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan, the nine unpiloted Tier 3 puppet beasts were no match for them. One by one, the Tier 3 puppet beasts plummeted from the sky, crashing to the ground.

Half an hour later, the three massive Mountain-Sea Orbs smashed two more puppet beasts into pieces.

A golden light flashed nearby, revealing over a dozen golden jade tables, each bearing a treasure.

Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan exchanged glances and nodded to each other.

"We will continue," they agreed.

On the 31st floor, their opponents were a golden-robed young man with a golden horn on his head, a white-robed young woman with a pair of white feathered wings on her back, and four high-grade Tier 3 demonic beasts.

The golden-robed youth and the white-robed woman were both at the seventh level of Core Formation. Coupled with the four high-grade Tier 3 demonic beasts, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan immediately felt immense pressure.

Wang Changsheng conjured three Mountain-Sea Orbs, and countless blue lights emerged, forming a turbulent river that protected them.

The river swirled rapidly around Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan, its powerful currents sweeping away large amounts of dust.

On the 34th floor, they faced three red-robed men with identical features, each wearing a crimson crow emblem on their clothes.

These were the "Shen Clan's Three Heroes" from Fire Crow Island Shen family, one of the ten great immortal cultivation families in the South Sea, each at the seventh level of Core Formation.

Their opponents were six cultivators at or above the seventh level of Core Formation, including Saber Sovereign Seven-Absolutes and Sea Suppressing Venerable. When two people challenged a floor together, the difficulty was three times that of a single challenger; for three people, it was six times.

Saber Sovereign Seven-Absolutes continuously unleashed golden saber qi, while Sea Suppressing Venerable slapped his palm towards the void, sending out a colossal blue palm several feet in size. The other cultivators also employed their various techniques.

Boom!

A series of deafening roars echoed, and waves of energy surged.

Leaving aside the others, Saber Sovereign Seven-Absolutes alone would have been enough to overwhelm them. What’s more, the six illusory figures, including five other Core Formation cultivators, had all cleared the 34th floor, their strength far surpassing that of ordinary individuals.

In less than five breaths, accompanied by three miserable screams, the Shen Clan's Three Heroes were engulfed by a deluge of multicolored spell light and perished.

A golden light flashed, revealing the figure of a young girl in a golden dress.

"Hmph, you fools," she sneered. "You dare to challenge the tower together with such crude joint attack techniques? Do you really think items from the Immortal Suppressing Pagoda are so easily obtained? The more people challenge a floor, the higher the difficulty, though the treasures are more valuable if you succeed. But you clearly lack the strength. People truly fear those who lack self-awareness."

The golden-robed girl confiscated the wealth from the three men's bodies and then vanished in a scattering of golden light.