William looked at the man standing before him. While their names were the same and he looked very similar to the Sect Master William knew, this person seemed a lot younger and much less mature. He must have been here a very long time ago, maybe even a thousand years.
Is that why the Sect Master sent me here? Because he knows the truth about this trial? It would explain why Gu Dianlong gave such specific instructions to William before he left. It also made him wonder why he wanted the Ice Immortals Sect members dead so badly. Did they also have knowledge of the Gravitas Ruins?
It didn't matter much anymore, since William was much further than any of the others could even hope to reach. Clearly the quality of Cultivators had fallen since the trial creator closed off the Gravitas Ruins to outsiders. Orıginal content can be found at novel✦fire.net
He refocused on Gu Dianlong, who hadn't moved since he spoke. It was clear that he was waiting for William to make the first move.
He has both the Space and the Time Elements, and who knows how many more. What to do...
William took a step forward to rush towards Gu Dianlong, but the moment he moved, the young Sect Master teleported behind him and slashed with a sword that wasn't in his hands before.
The move was incredibly swift, taking William completely off guard as it shattered his Forcefield in a single move.
William didn't even reinforce his skin with the Earth Element in time, the sword's edge slicing his Hard Skin and drawing a long and thin line of blood on his back. His face turned pale with fright as the attack had nearly killed him, but before William could even turn around, he was teleported out of the room.
"My name is Brackley. I will be your next opponent." a burly man appeared in the center of the new room William was in.
Wait, did I win? William was utterly confused, until he remembered that he had an S-Rank Attack Reflection Talent. Did the Sect Master kill himself with his own attack?
It actually made perfect sense now that William thought about it. After all, someone with the Space and Time Affinities that were only at the Core Formation Realm at the most would probably not have defense as strong as William's.
It was the best counter to a glass cannon-type of Cultivator, as long as they used physical attacks.
William smiled as he realized that these next fifty floors might actually be the easiest of them all. The only problem was that William's Forcefield was broken and would need some time to recover. He couldn't risk his life tanking attacks so often, so he would have to be careful.
For the time being, William decided it would be best to reinforce himself with the Earth Element at all times, even if it would cost quite a bit of Mana. He used the Earth Element to cover only the most vital spots, opting to at least save some Mana.
His next opponent moved the moment William used Mana, rushing forward with a giant battleaxe that was covered in specialized runes. His body was incredibly strong, and he used the Wind Element to give him a burst of speed as he ran at William.
Hmm, he's quite fast, but not fast enough. William smirked.
He spread Ice across the room, forcing the man to slow down his rush lest he slip and fall. William took advantage of this to relentlessly pelt the man with both Ice Spikes from the floor and Earth Spikes from straight ahead, cutting the man's powerful body to pieces after just a few exchanges.
The man clearly relied on his weapon to get where he was, since the axe could cut apart multiple Ice Spikes with a single strike. The man could only face a single direction, though, so the moment he turned around, he would be struck in the back by a different Elemental Spike.
William teleported to floor after floor, killing each enemy in only a few minutes, sometimes even a few seconds. His S-Rank Mind Talent enabled him to instantly evaluate the skills of every opponent he fought, and unless they were as fast as the Sect Master, he wouldn't be caught off guard again.
A Challenger has entered the 155th floor...
A Challenger has entered the 160th floor...
A Challenger has entered the 165th floor...
A Challenger has entered the 170th floor...
With the Earth Element reinforcing his vitals, he was able to defend against these sneaky attacks time after time, and by the time he reached the 170th floor, his Forcefield had fully recovered.
Over three thousand Cultivators were outside the trial tower, having arrived after hearing from others that someone was about to clear the trial tower. They currently had incredulous looks on their faces as the voice of the trial creator entered their ears multiple times in less than an hour.
"How insane is this person? Is he going to clear the rest of the trial in only a few hours?" someone asked in awe.
"I don't know, but I'm beginning to have second thoughts about trying to steal this person's treasures. Won't he kill us all?" a girl with long blue hair spoke nervously.
"He might kill a few people, but who at the Core Formation Realm can possibly resist the lineup of tricks and traps we have set? We've even taken the corrosive fluid from the early floors of the tower, who can deal with that?"
"I suppose you're right, but I can't help but be nervous."
This conversation happened all around the courtyard, some Cultivators even adopting a bystander position and separating themselves from the rest.
A small battle even broke out at some point when over a hundred Cultivators decided to side with William, but they were all slaughtered after intervention from a mysterious group of four Cultivators that no one had ever heard of before. They claimed to be professional players, but no one present knew what that meant.
Fria had come at some point as well. She would be lying if she said she didn't want to rob William for his loot as well, but he had saved her life once before, even if he was only returning the favor. There was much to gain from recruiting an S-Rank NPC, and maybe this was her chance!
She stayed on the outskirts of the courtyard, inspecting the functions of the various traps the Cultivators had set, while also listening in on their battle plans.
A Challenger has entered the 175th floor...
The 175th floor turned out to be the most difficult so far, an hour and a half passing before William defeated his opponent, who had control over nine Elements, including an S-Rank Ice Affinity. If William didn't also have both the Fire and Ice Affinities at the S-Rank, there was no way he would be able to compete with someone three Cultivation Realms above him.
Thankfully, there was no need for him to actually use a domain, the Elemental resistances being more than enough for him to withstand the Ice Domain. He couldn't crack the Domain without releasing one of his own, so William endured until the enemy Cultivator ran out of Mana.