Chapter 532 - 251: The True Inheritor Candidate Competition Begins! The Battle of the Demon Suppression Tower! Breakthrough to the Sixth Layer Peak of True Master Realm

At the mention of the word "generous," a hint of envy couldn’t help but surface in Song Yuan’s eyes:

"Right now, there are over one hundred and fifty True Inheritor Candidates in the Sect."

"The ranking rewards are distributed based on the top one hundred positions."

"Those ranked fifty-first to one hundred get an extra three hundred points per month."

"Those ranked twenty-first to fiftieth get a reward of eight hundred points per month."

"Those ranked eleventh to twentieth get two thousand points per month!"

"As for the top ten..."

"Tenth place gets three thousand points, and it increases by a thousand for every rank you go up!"

"First place gets a whopping twelve thousand points!"

"Twelve thousand?!"

When Jiang Che heard this, his eyes lit up.

’An extra twelve thousand every month! That’s a fortune!’

’If I could secure a spot in the top ten, wouldn’t I be able to buy all the Elixir Pills and True Skills I want?’

"So how are these rankings determined?" Jiang Che immediately pressed.

"It’s simple, and very straightforward."

Song Yuan raised his hand, pointing to a distant, ancient black tower that pierced the clouds, its form partially obscured by black mist.

"It’s based on who can climb to the highest layer in that Demon Suppression Tower!"

"The Demon Suppression Tower?"

Jiang Che focused his gaze. The tower was pitch-black from top to bottom, one hundred layers in total. Each layer emanated an eerie, unsettling glow.

"That’s right."

Song Yuan explained,

"The Demon Suppression Tower is a Supreme Treasure Artifact, personally refined by the founding patriarch of our Myriad Phenomena Dao Sect."

"The tower doesn’t contain living creatures. Instead, it seals countless powerful Exotic Beast Remnant Souls."

"The patriarch created this tower to provide the sect’s disciples with the perfect place for real combat training."

"The tower has a hundred layers, each guarded by an Exotic Beast Remnant Soul. If you defeat a layer’s guardian, you can ascend to the next."

"The higher the layer, the more terrifyingly powerful the Remnant Souls become!"

At this, Song Yuan’s tone filled with a hint of awe:

"The most incredible part is that these Remnant Souls are sustained by the tower’s grand array. Even if you defeat and disperse them, they will fully reform after a single day. This means you can challenge them an infinite number of times!"

"Of course, for that very reason, the Demon Suppression Tower only permits one person to challenge it per day. Anyone who wishes to try must apply to the Steward Hall in advance and wait their turn."

"Furthermore, you don’t have to worry about any danger to your life inside the tower."

"While minor injuries are unavoidable, the moment a challenger faces a fatal threat, the Tower Spirit will instantly intervene, suppress the Remnant Soul, and teleport the disciple out."

"Of course, that also means your challenge has failed, and your record will be set at the previous layer."

Jiang Che nodded, marveling to himself.

’This is basically a solo dungeon with a 24-hour cooldown!’

"And that’s not all."

Song Yuan continued, "Besides the point rewards, challenging the tower is itself a huge opportunity."

"Every time you clear a layer and defeat a Beast Soul imbued with the patriarch’s Dao-essence, you will immediately be gifted a sliver of insight into the Martial Arts Realm!"

"The higher the layer, the more profound the gift. Many senior brothers in the Sect who were stuck at a bottleneck for years managed to break through their shackles thanks to a flash of insight gained while challenging the tower!"

"I see..." Jiang Che nodded.

’Still,’ he thought, ’for me, bottlenecks don’t exist thanks to the Skill Proficiency Panel, so my need for it isn’t as great as others’.’

’Of course, raising my rank and getting more resources is always a good thing.’

"Senior Brother," Jiang Che asked suddenly, his curiosity piqued, "who is the strongest person in our Sect, and how many layers have they cleared?"

Hearing this question, Song Yuan paused mid-stride, a look of awe and nostalgia on his face.

"Well, legend has it that a supreme treasure left by the founding patriarch is hidden at the very top of the Demon Suppression Tower’s one hundred layers. Whoever reaches the summit can inherit the patriarch’s mantle!"

"But in the several thousand years since the Sect’s founding... not a single person has ever reached the top!"

"Not even our current Sect Leader, Gu Canghai!"

’Gu Canghai...’

It was the first time Jiang Che had heard the Sect Leader’s name, and his curiosity was instantly piqued.

At the mention of the name, Song Yuan’s tone became filled with profound reverence.

"His Excellency, the Sect Leader, is the most powerful Sect Leader in a thousand years. His cultivation has reached Grandmaster Realm Perfection. He is known as the number one expert in Great Chu, his might overwhelming the Four Seas!"

"Yet even someone as powerful as the Sect Leader only managed to reach the eighty-ninth layer back in his day!"

"What?!"

Jiang Che was deeply shaken. ’Even a figure like the Sect Leader only made it to the eighty-ninth layer? Then the last eleven layers...’

"That is the domain of the gods."

Song Yuan shook his head and sighed. "Above the Grandmaster Realm, there is theoretically another realm, called the Great Grandmaster."

"Our founding patriarch most likely reached the Great Grandmaster Realm back then. How else could he have refined such a Divine Tower that defies the very laws of Creation?"

"However, as far as I know, no one has broken through to the Great Grandmaster Realm in the last thousand years. Some say the world’s Spiritual Qi is no longer dense enough to support the emergence of a Great Grandmaster."

Jiang Che fell silent at his words.

’It seems,’ he thought, ’that Grandmaster Realm Perfection is the absolute ceiling on the path of the Martial Dao in this world.’

"So... what about us True Inheritor Candidates and the True Disciples?" Jiang Che brought the conversation back to the present.

Song Yuan’s expression grew serious, and he lowered his voice.

"This brings us to the rules for challenging for a True Inheritance Seat."

"The current Ninth True Inheritor, Cao Ge, has a record of... the thirty-ninth layer!"

"In other words, if any of you Candidate Disciples can clear the thirty-ninth layer, you will earn the right to challenge him!"

"Win, and you take his place—a meteoric rise to the top!"

’The thirty-ninth layer...’ Jiang Che mentally committed the number to memory.

"However..." Song Yuan glanced at Jiang Che, his expression becoming extremely grave as he warned: