Xu Zimo clenched his right hand, and endless demonic energy gathered in his palm.
The other version of himself did the same.
But in the next moment, Xu Zimo’s figure vanished from where he stood.
A loud boom echoed, and the phantom opposite him was pierced straight through the chest.
The duplicate looked surprised at Xu Zimo.
Then, it slowly faded and disappeared into the air.
Xu Zimo clapped his hands. The duplicate was well-crafted.
But any replication has its limits. If one’s strength is too far beyond, it becomes impossible to replicate.
Just like if an Emperor were placed here, let alone copying their techniques, even a phantom couldn't be created.
Once the phantom vanished, the space around Xu Zimo dissolved, revealing a bright path of clouds.
Xu Zimo walked directly down the path.
At the portal leading to the fifth level, he saw that someone had already arrived ahead of him.
It was the gray-robed youth from before.
Both were slightly surprised to see each other.
“How should I address you, brother?” the gray-robed youth asked.
After Xu Zimo introduced himself, he smiled and asked, “And you?”
“I’m Mo Tianming,” the gray-robed youth replied.
“Among the hundred who entered the Heavenly Dao Tower, you’re the only one I find worthy, Brother Xu.”
Xu Zimo chuckled but didn’t respond.
By now, only two others had made it through the fourth level, aside from Xu Zimo and Mo Tianming.
One of them was Monk Great Wisdom.
When he exited, he coughed blood, barely hanging onto life, with his soul heavily damaged.
But he had passed.
The other was the young man named Zhang Chou.
The four stood before the portal of the fourth level.
Xu Zimo looked at Monk Great Wisdom and asked, “What happened to you?”
“I had a fortune-telling duel with my other self,” Monk Great Wisdom said with blood at his lips, smiling. “In the end, I used a forbidden technique and saw his true nature, that’s how I won.”
“You suffered backlash from the forbidden technique,” Xu Zimo said.
“It doesn’t matter,” Monk Great Wisdom shook his head. “I passed the test, that’s all that counts.”
When the group passed through the portal to the fifth level, they found total darkness.
In front of them were four meditation cushions.
A hunched elder in green robes, leaning on a cane, slowly emerged from the darkness.
He looked at the four of them and said, “This fifth test is different from the others. You only need to sit on the cushions and stay there for a thousand years. If you don’t leave, you pass.”
Monk Great Wisdom frowned slightly.
“This is a test?”
“The peak of the martial path is loneliness,” Zhang Chou smiled. “It’s solitude and endless pursuit. It’s cold at the top.”
“This test examines whether you can endure solitude. A thousand years on that cushion, how many could truly last?”
“Of course,” the green-robed elder added, “you can choose to give up now. You’ll still pass the Heavenly Dao Tower test. But the higher you go, the more points you earn.”
“I give up,” Zhang Chou said without hesitation.
He knew his limits and didn’t plan to waste time.
“I’ll give it a shot,” Monk Great Wisdom said, a bit reluctantly.
“Don’t worry,” the elder said. “Time flows differently here. Time is frozen, no matter how long you stay, the outside world won’t be affected.”
The three nodded and sat down on the cushions.
Loneliness is one of the most terrifying things in this world.
Place someone in a small, closed space for a while, and most will go insane.
Time passed slowly.
Xu Zimo was unaffected. Not only could his soul enter the God World at any time, but his mental state was exceptionally stable. Even tens of thousands of years wouldn’t shake him.
He took the opportunity to refine himself.
Previously, his body’s Power Vortexes had reached their limit. But now that the God World had entered the Grand Cultivation Era, his body transformed again, allowing for more Power Vortexes to form.
His Strange Meridians Sutra had also reached ten meridians, almost complete.
He cultivated while tempering his heart.
The darkness surrounding them was like a giant beast, roaring silently around them.
One year, two years...
As time dragged on, Monk Great Wisdom was the first to give in.
He stood up from the darkness, breathing heavily, unable to bear it anymore.
He exited the thousand-year meditation.
Only those who’ve truly experienced it can understand the horror.
…
One hundred years, two hundred years...
Eventually, time no longer mattered.
The only way to survive loneliness was to embrace it.
Xu Zimo could feel his strength had leveled up significantly through the long tempering.
This was accumulation leading to explosive growth. All this effort would pay off when he sought to become an Emperor.
Eventually, everything came together.
Suddenly, a series of bell tolls echoed from the darkness.
It shattered the thousand-year silence.
“A thousand years have passed,” the green-robed elder’s voice rang out.
Xu Zimo slowly opened his eyes.
A flash of black mist crossed his pupils.
He stood up. Alongside him, Mo Tianming also stood.
The two glanced at each other.
“Shall we go to the sixth level?” Mo Tianming asked with a smile.
“Yes,” Xu Zimo nodded calmly.
The green-robed elder smiled and said, “Let me warn you both. From the sixth level onward, these are no longer just tests. The first five were about your mental strength, soul, and will. Starting from the sixth, you’ll need raw power, there are no shortcuts.”
…
Outside the Heavenly Dao Tower, among the examiners, a white-robed elder smiled.
“Looks like we’ve got some real talent this year.”
“We’re not just looking for talent,” another elder said. “We’re looking for those who can truly carry Heaven's Will.”
“I wonder if anyone will make it to the tenth level.”
“It’s nearly impossible,” the white-robed elder shook his head.
“Since the Heavenly Dao Tower was built in the Desolate Era until now, the number of people who’ve passed the tenth floor can be counted on two hands.”
“Did you hear the Holy Son of Immortal Extinction is coming to our academy?” the white-robed elder asked again.
“Old Qingwei told me himself,” another elder nodded.
“They’ve got both a Holy Son and Saintess in this generation. They plan to train the son at the Heavenly Dao Academy and the daughter themselves. Their goal is to have them both carry Heaven's Will together.”