Back in reality, Ye Xuan opened his eyes.
He stood up from the ground, patted the dust off his body, and then looked at the statue of the Unrivaled Sword Saint in front of him, giving it a bow.
"It’s time to head to the second level."
Ye Xuan didn’t rush to cultivate the Heavenly Injury Sword. This sword, forged over a lifetime by the Unrivaled Sword Saint, was not something that could be mastered quickly.
Without hesitation, Ye Xuan continued forward.
Ten minutes later, Ye Xuan finally found the entrance to the second level and dived in without a second thought.
This was a fiery landscape of molten lava. Red flames erupted everywhere, the sky a dark red, with purple-red lightning dancing across the heavens occasionally, like the apocalypse.
"This is the second level of the Martial God Tower."
Floating in the sky, Ye Xuan scanned the area, looking for an opponent.
This layer was completely different from the first, with a searing air pervading every corner. Below seemed to be a sea of magma, with astonishing waves of fire rolling continuously.
The ground below Ye Xuan cracked open, a massive crimson hand as large as a mountain snatched at him, accompanied by towering waves of flame.
A massive fiery silhouette also instantly appeared before Ye Xuan.
Ye Xuan immediately recognized his opponent.
The Molten Fire Giant, an ancient creature formed entirely from Fire Spirit Power, possessed immense strength capable of moving mountains. If caught by it, even Ye Xuan would spit blood. However, its only weakness was its lava heart inside its chest, a relatively fragile Molten Fire Crystal Stone. By destroying the crystal, one could kill the Molten Fire Giant. Although enormous and highly defended, where typical Saints could only break its outer layer of molten shell, killing it was challenging.
Molten Fire Giants, ancient creatures extinct from the Spirit Martial Continent, appeared only within the Martial God Tower.
Unfortunately, its opponent was Ye Xuan.
Facing this fiery molten hand, Ye Xuan drew the Rain Saint Sword and slashed down. The sword light blurred, vibrating countless times in an instant.
In utter silence, the molten hand along with the molten arm was split in two, and the fiery land also parted, revealing the corpse of the Molten Fire Giant below whose lava heart had been extinguished by Ye Xuan’s Sword Qi.
The Molten Fire Giant was killed in a single move.
"Second level cleared, reward: a Molten Fire Crystal Stone."
From above, a voice descended.
From the high edges of the tower layer, a stone radiating firelight fell—it was the Molten Fire Crystal Stone.
"Shouldn’t it be the Holy Soul Stone? How did it turn into a Molten Fire Crystal Stone?"
Ye Xuan was slightly stunned as he caught the Molten Fire Crystal Stone, but he didn’t dwell on the issue, presuming that obtaining the Holy Soul Stone wasn’t as simple as he imagined. This was only the second level, and though challenging, it wasn’t too difficult for the top ten geniuses on the Holy List, who could easily pass through.
Little by little, one accumulates; with small grains, a tower can be built. Receiving a Molten Fire Crystal Stone wasn’t unacceptable.
The third level still featured Molten Fire Giants as the challenge, but this time the number increased to ten. The quantity surged suddenly, and the difficulty also exponentially increased.
Ye Xuan broke through the sea of flames, sword light in his hand weaving like a shuttle. In the blink of an eye, he had already swung his sword hundreds of times, and under the slashing of the sword light, the sea of fire split into pieces, with the Molten Fire Giant within also being chopped into pieces by Ye Xuan’s relentless attacks, utterly annihilated.
However, this action had severely drained Ye Xuan, his clothes now slightly charred and blackened.
"It seems the Martial God Tower really cannot be taken lightly."
Ye Xuan glanced at his injuries, his expression slightly more somber. If he were to be careless, he probably wouldn’t be able to make it through many levels, let alone reach the top.
After passing the third level, Ye Xuan received ten Molten Fire Crystal Stones.
The guardian monster of this level turned out to be an ancient Saint of the Demon Clan.
Of course, this was not a real Saint of the Demon Clan, but rather a power entity simulated by the strength of the Martial God Tower. However, its cultivation and combat power were hardly any less than those of a real Demon Clan Saint.
It was merely the fourth level, yet the difficulty was already so astonishing; Ye Xuan found it hard to imagine what the challenge of the higher levels would be like.
Ye Xuan couldn’t help but be speechless. Who exactly built this Martial God Tower, using even a Saint of the Demon Clan as a guardian? The tower’s master’s strength must have reached a terrifyingly formidable level.
A terrifying Demonic Qi rampaged within the tower, and Ye Xuan saw a huge creature emerging beneath this overwhelming Demonic Qi.
It was a Hell Demon Dog, also an ancient creature that had long become extinct.
However, Ye Xuan showed no fear in his eyes. He maximized his soul power and then charged forward with his sword raised high.
Below in that level, the Demonic Qi swirled furiously, the demon and the dog stirring up tremendous disturbances, sweeping towards him.
Ye Xuan’s figure was quickly engulfed by the tide-like demonic Qi.
At that moment, outside the Martial God Tower, numerous figures had already been teleported out.
This group consisted of individuals from the Holy List and other unlisted experts, including Yin Meng, Lin Surou, and Baili Ruofei among them.
"Alas, the defense of the Molten Fire Giant is too high, we just couldn’t reach its molten heart," said Yin Meng, shaking her head and sighing.
"One is manageable, but the third level had a total of ten Molten Fire Giants; it’s so tough I thought I could at least make it to the fourth level."
Baili Ruofei felt somewhat defeated.
"The Martial God Tower is a trial ground after all; we can’t blame anyone else for our lack of strength." Not just Yin Meng and Baili Ruofei felt discouraged, everyone here considered themselves a genius, but reality was so cruel it was hard for them to accept.
"Let’s keep pushing ourselves; who knows how far they can get."
Lin Surou was quite calm. She looked softly at the grand gate of the Martial God Tower; she had been so close to passing the third level.
Suddenly, the grand gate of the Martial God Tower flashed, and several figures were teleported out, led by Du Linxiao, with Nan Huairen and other top-ranked experts from the Holy List also emerging.
These people had likely failed at the fourth level.
"Damn, just a bit more."
Du Linxiao, upon being teleported out, also punched the ground hard, extremely unwilling. Passing the fourth level would have earned a Holy Soul Stone, and the rewards before the fourth level were only Molten Fire Crystal Stones, which were far inferior compared to a Holy Soul Stone.