Chapter 624 - 624: You Use a Sword?

All Chu Qingyun wanted was the pure Primordial Power within the Martial King Essence Pill.

So, there was no need to be gentle with it.

With a thought, a massive amount of Devouring Power surged from Chu Qingyun's palm, instantly enveloping the Martial King Essence Pill in layer after layer.

The Devouring Power slowly pulsed, then began to erupt with its full might to devour the Primordial Power from the Martial King Essence Pill.

Although the Martial King Essence Pill was just an inanimate object, its resistance to the Devouring Power was more than ten times stronger than that of a ninth-level Martial Spirit!

Chu Qingyun devoured for a long while before he managed to pull a single sliver of Primordial Power from the Primordial Pill and send it into his Devouring Martial Soul.

But after being refined by his Devouring Martial Soul, even this single sliver of Primordial Power transformed into a surprisingly large amount of Primordial Liquid, startling Chu Qingyun.

'As expected of the Primordial Power of a Martial King Realm expert...'

Chu Qingyun praised it silently, then closed his eyes and focused on controlling the Devouring Power, beginning to devour the Martial King Essence Pill with all his might.

Aided by the seventh floor of the Saint Extreme Tower, Chu Qingyun used his Devouring Power for the better part of a day to draw enough Primordial Power from the Martial King Essence Pill. After being refined by his Devouring Martial Soul, it finally filled his Qi Sea to capacity at the eighth-level Martial Spirit Realm.

Once the Primordial Liquid in his Qi Sea was full, Chu Qingyun withdrew his Devouring Power.

By now, the originally egg-sized Martial King Essence Pill had shrunk noticeably.

After placing the Martial King Essence Pill back into his Storage Ring, Chu Qingyun began to focus on condensing and compressing the Primordial Liquid in his Qi Sea to break through to the ninth-level Martial Spirit Realm.

About ten minutes later, a deep rumble seemed to sound from within Chu Qingyun's body.

The volume of the Primordial Liquid in his Qi Sea instantly shrank.

And after several cycles of condensation and compression, the Primordial Liquid in his Qi Sea had become extremely viscous. It coated the bottom of his Qi Sea, no longer even having the feel of a flowing liquid like before.

'The Primordial Liquid has been condensed and compressed to its absolute limit in the Martial Spirit Realm. To advance any further in terms of Primordial Power, I'll have to form a Primordial Pill and break through to the Martial King Realm...'

After breaking through to the ninth-level Martial Spirit Realm, Chu Qingyun stood up.

He practiced his Sword Technique in the cultivation room for a while to familiarize himself with his new strength, then took out his sect Token and ascended to the eighth floor of the Saint Extreme Tower once more.

As he walked up the stairs to the eighth floor, Chu Qingyun closed his eyes slightly, concentrating and trying to feel for something.

He wanted to use that faint, beckoning sensation to find the "path upward" that Elder Zhu had mentioned.

The moment he stepped off the stairs and truly stood on the eighth floor, Chu Qingyun's eyes snapped open.

He felt that beckoning sensation again, and this time, it was right in front of him!

'This... but this is clearly a wall...'

Chu Qingyun was bewildered.

The stairs ended here. There were walls in front of him and to his right. To his left was the main space of the Saint Extreme Tower's eighth floor.

'Did I sense it wrong?'

Filled with doubt, Chu Qingyun focused his senses again and walked a lap around the eighth floor. He did perceive a weak beckoning sensation in a few other places.

But the feeling was still strongest right where he had stepped off the stairs.

'Could it really be here?'

At the top of the stairs, Chu Qingyun took a few more steps forward until he stood before the wall.

After a moment of hesitation, he slowly reached out his hand, wanting to feel it.

Unexpectedly, his hand passed right through "the wall," disappearing from his sight.

'This... this wall is fake!'

'An Illusion Skill!? Or an Illusion Array!?'

Chu Qingyun's eyes widened. He jerked his hand back, but the wall before him showed no change whatsoever. No matter how he looked at it, it was just a wall—a dead end.

'So that's how it is.'

Chu Qingyun tested it twice more with his hand and was now almost certain that this was the upward path Elder Zhu had mentioned.

'To think it was disguised as a wall...'

Chu Qingyun couldn't help but shake his head, feeling a bit exasperated.

This time, if not for Elder Zhu's deliberate hint and the faint sensation he himself felt from above, he would have never discovered the secret of "this wall".

Both conditions were indispensable.

Otherwise, who would have nothing better to do than to go around running into walls for fun?

Chu Qingyun took a deep breath and suddenly stepped forward.

He felt no resistance at all. He passed straight through the wall and arrived on the other side.

Behind the wall was another staircase, identical to all the previous ones, leading upward.

Since he had already come this far, Chu Qingyun certainly wasn't going to back down.

He followed the stairs, climbing step by step.

The higher he climbed, the stronger the beckoning sensation became. By the time he was halfway up, he could feel it even without concentrating.

The staircase wasn't long, only about the height of one floor of the Saint Extreme Tower.

After reaching the top, Chu Qingyun looked up.

The ninth floor of the Saint Extreme Tower was vast and empty, completely open, with no cultivation rooms in sight.

The first thing Chu Qingyun noticed was an enormous object floating in mid-air. It looked like a hole had been torn in space, constantly emitting a multicolored light.

The very first instant he saw it, Chu Qingyun was certain: this was the source of the faint beckoning sensation!

In front of that void was a ten-meter-tall stone monument. The monument was crisscrossed with countless Sword Marks, from which streams of multicolored light would occasionally flow.

A person sat cross-legged before the stone monument.

The person had their back to Chu Qingyun, so he couldn't see their face, only their silhouette.

"Leave. This is not a place you should be. You are forbidden from speaking of anything related to the ninth floor of the Saint Extreme Tower."

A voice came from the figure.

The voice was flat and placid. Although not stern, it was filled with a pressure that allowed no rebuttal, no refusal.

Chu Qingyun hesitated for a moment, then cupped his hands in a salute. "This disciple obeys."

After speaking, he turned to leave.

Chu Qingyun couldn't sense a single trace of Qi from this person, making it completely impossible to judge their strength.

However, whether it was the multicolored void or the stone monument crisscrossed with Sword Marks, it was clear at a glance that none of it was ordinary.

Moreover, to be able to stay on this hidden ninth floor of the Saint Extreme Tower, this person had to be an extraordinary figure within the Saint Extreme Sect—perhaps even more powerful than an Inner Sect Elder.

Therefore, Chu Qingyun had no intention of defying him.

He didn't know this person's temperament yet. If he truly angered them, not only would he be squandering Elder Zhu's goodwill, but he would also likely bring trouble upon both himself and Elder Zhu.

However, just as Chu Qingyun turned, the person spoke again. "Wait. You use a sword?"