Hengsheng observed the Merit Qi above his palm for quite a while, wanting to comprehend its mysteries. Of course, his cultivation realm wasn't high enough to understand such heavenly secrets, so he gained nothing from doing that.
He flicked his hand, and the Merit Qi returned into his body, directly flowing toward his lower dantian and lingering there, waiting to be called.
After that, he closed his eyes, and then he entered the System World. The moment later, he was already inside the System World, hovering in the middle of space, before his eyes stood the massive white star, the Origin Source.
On the star's surface, there was solid ground, unlike a usual star that had a gaseous surface. What made it a star was a white aura rising from it like a flame, but it wasn't a flame; it was the Origin Energy.
Hengsheng wasn't here to admire his own creation or anything like that, since he was used to seeing it. He came because of the plan he had with the Merit Qi.
He checked the current location of the system races with his power, and he found that they were now inside the Primordial Tower. Without wasting time, he disappeared and reappeared again inside the tower world.
"MASTER! You came!" Prim was the first to notice him. Her small body flew toward him immediately and hugged him. Hengsheng happily accepted her hug.
"Take it easy, I'm not going anywhere," Hengsheng said.
"Liar! You didn't show up inside the System World for quite a while now!" Prim replied with a giggle.
"It couldn't be helped! There are a lot of things outside that I need to deal with! But don't worry, most things are already taken care of. From now on, I'll come into this world more often," Hengsheng said, explaining to her.
"Really?" Prim tilted her head, not sure if her master was telling the truth or not. She gazed intently into her master's eyes as she tried to use her sharp senses to uncover the truth.
"Yes," Hengsheng confirmed. He gazed back into her eyes. The two stared at each other, and they started to laugh.
"Gigigi. Where’s Lady Yunsu? Isn’t she coming with you?" She asked.
"No, she’s busy right now. She’ll be coming soon. Now, bring me to the others," Hengsheng said.
"OK!" Prim replied cheerfully and snapped her fingers. The next moment, the two appeared again in the secret location inside the Tower World.
It was a large white chamber that resembled a scientific lab in a sci-fi movie—the experimental chamber. Hengsheng gazed forward. He saw the two other system races, Blue and Hunter.
They stood in front of a large, round table that displayed a holographic image of the tower, which looked like the Primordial Tower in the System World.
They were working diligently, staring at the holographic display before them intently, unaware of their master’s entrance. Prim had to make a noise to get their attention.
The moment the two became aware of Hengsheng's existence, they immediately left the table and came forward to greet him.
"Master, welcome!" Hunter said.
"Greetings, Master," Blue said.
Hengsheng nodded and gave them a friendly greeting in return.
"Good to see you both. How’s everything going with the project?" Hengsheng wasn’t wasting time and immediately asked them about the work he had assigned to them.
The two smiled in unison as they looked at each other. From their reaction, Hengsheng guessed that they had made good progress, and then Blue replied.
"The project is now 99% complete. All parameters and settings are in place; only testing remains," Blue said.
"Excellent. I was right to trust you guys on this," Hengsheng said.
"Thanks for the compliment," Blue replied in a composed manner. The energy path that ran across her body lit up brightly, showing she was in a good mood.
Hengsheng smiled and continued,
"Let’s see how it performs in testing. I’ll do it myself."
"Let me handle it," Hunter replied and quickly returned to the round table, preparing the test for his master.
"Master, let me test it with you!" Prim said.
"Are you sure?" Hengsheng replied. He wasn’t sure he should let her do that, since the content of the test wasn’t meant for children—it contained a lot of violent material.
"Hm! Even if I look small, I’m not a kid! Besides, I’m sure even you might not witness the violent parts more than me!" Prim said. She answered directly to his concern, as if she knew what Hengsheng was thinking.
"Alright…" Hengsheng accepted her request. Prim was right—as the Primordial Tower spirit, she could sense everything that happened in the past, present, and even the future of the Tower World, the place where countless beings fight and strive for supreme power. She was surely a witness to more kinds of situations than he was.
Hengsheng chatted with Prim about their roles in the test for a little while before he let Blue take her away, as he preferred to be alone for a moment. He gazed at the holographic image of the tower that Hunter was working on, lost in thought.
It was a Trial Tower—a tower he had long been developing, intended to become a cultivator training facility for the Heavenly Dao. Success would grant him an infinite amount of System Points.
Yet after developing it for many years, the first tower didn’t work—Heavenly Dao didn’t accept his effort. The second, third, fourth, and fifth towers faced the same rejection; his Trial Tower wasn’t good enough in the eyes of Heavenly Dao.
Heaven didn’t respond to his requests at all after the third one. Multiple rejections almost made Hengsheng lose hope in this project, but when he received the Merit Qi, he saw an opportunity. If everything went right, the Trial Tower project might have a chance to be launched worldwide on the Heavenly Dao World this time.
"It’s complete, Master. Now, only your power is required." Hunter said.
Hengsheng nodded and appeared next to the round table.
"Thank you," Hengsheng said.
"It is my honor!" Hunter replied.
"Master, don’t go without me!" Prim was flying and shouted as she noticed her master was at the table. She quickly grabbed Hengsheng's robe. Hengsheng looked at the little girl clinging to his leg and gently petted Prim's small head.
'This system race was so clingy,' He thought.
He returned his gaze to the holographic image of the Trial Tower. He stretched his hand forward and spread his palm, using his power as the System Maker to turn all the information about the Trial Tower on the table into the System Framework.
The transparent holographic image began to shift. The blue holo light shone with white radiance and reshaped into a glowing orb.
Hengsheng grabbed it with his hand and showed it to Prim.
"What do you think?" he asked for her opinion. Prim tapped her chin while observing it intently before replying.
"It’s better than all the previous Trial Towers combined! I think this should give us a chance!" she said.
"If you say so, let’s start by activating its system panel," Hengsheng said, and he immediately activated the light orb. It shone brightly as it powered up, and a moment later…
—[The Trial Tower System: Activated]—
[Current Location: The experimental chamber]
[Power System Setting]
[Tower Deploy] *Unable to activate. Connection to the Primordial Tower required.
"The System panel checked," Hengsheng murmured.
Before Hengsheng, a system display appeared, lined with countless setting options already configured by Blue and Hunter.
This system was designed as an extension of the Primordial Tower; If it were in the cultivation world, it wouldn’t have enough energy or stability without being connected to Prim. However, since this was only a test, there was no problem.
"Would you like to connect with it first?" Hengsheng asked Prim.
She quickly shook her head.
"No, that would ruin the surprise," she replied with a bright smile.
"Then let's start the running test," Hengsheng said, tapping the [Test] option.
Then, Origin Energy surged from the light orb, enveloping both Hengsheng and Prim. Their consciousnesses were pulled into the simulated world, a perfect replica of the Trial Tower in its fully activated state.
Hengsheng regained consciousness and found himself in a white chamber, similar to the experimental chamber.
Prim wasn't on his side.
His body wouldn’t move.
Infront of him stood a solitary mirror, its surface unnaturally still.
The moment his eyes met the reflection, a system display appeared.
With a mental command, he selected the option. Instantly, the system display dissolved into a new interface filled with sliders, buttons, and dials—each allowing him to customize his appearance, from height to every fine detail of his face.
He glanced at the options and began making adjustments—taller, broader shoulders, a more imposing frame. The mirror reflected each change in real time, shifting with every tweak of the controls.
For a moment, he studied the enhanced figure, then pressed [Reset].
In an instant, everything returned to default.
He chose not to adjust his appearance because he was already perfect; there was no need for adjustment in the first place.
Satisfied, he selected [Start].
The moment he did, the white chamber warped and twisted, its walls folding inward before unraveling into a dark, damp underground dungeon.
And then another system display appeared.