Raising the Fifth Floor

Under the Nether Pool, the Watery Grotto-Heaven remained as it always was, with ten-colored clouds glowing brilliantly.

To reward the giant tortoise for helping him show off earlier, Xu Xian specifically let it out.

After a wave of suffocating pain, the giant tortoise endured its dissatisfaction and said ingratiatingly, "Brother Bai, what are your orders for calling me out?"

"You performed well yesterday. As a reward, I am giving you a few days of freedom. Go and play."

The giant tortoise looked at the scenery above its head that it could never escape.

It felt numb.

Freedom?

If moving from cell A to cell B counted as freedom, then sure.

But how did the two bouts of excruciating pain from entering and leaving count?

It cursed inwardly, thinking the boy was just messing around for no reason.

However, on second thought, the boy's intentions were good, so it reluctantly accepted.

At the very least, their relationship had progressed a step further.

After tossing the giant tortoise into the Watery Grotto-Heaven, Xu Xian set up a Heaven-Burning Trapping Formation.

He then began the preliminary preparations for constructing the Sword Tower.

He first counted the spirit stones, confirming he had a surplus before proceeding to the next step.

He picked out the special materials.

Next came the most tedious task: selecting the immortal plants and immortal gold.

There were one thousand types for each of the five-element attributes, and they could not be repeated. Sorting through them inevitably took some time. During this period, the boy could not help but sneeze repeatedly, and his ears felt warm.

He complained to the book spirit, "Which son of a bitch is cursing me?"

The little Shuer replied as if it were common sense, "That is nothing new. There are oceans of people cursing you."

Xu Xian frowned. Thinking about it, that was true, but he still argued stubbornly, "The things Bai Mang did have nothing to do with me, Xu Xian. How could they curse me for it?"

Shuer pursed its little lips. "There are plenty of people cursing Xu Xian too."

"I really do not like chatting with you," Xu Xian expressed his dissatisfaction, then changed the subject. "Tell me, was my act seen through?"

"I do not know about others, but your senior brothers and sisters definitely know. Otherwise, how could they have protected you like that?"

Xu Xian did not deny it. He said it was all Lu Yuan's fault for having poor acting skills, so it was normal to be found out.

He pondered for a moment.

Perhaps others had seen through it as well.

But it did not matter. What he was worried about was whether those demon gods in the Demon Abyss would be suspicious.

Shuer said confidently, "Jin Yu definitely could not tell. As for the others, that is hard to say. Why, Master, are you afraid?"

Xu Xian shrugged indifferently. "What do I have to be afraid of? Once my fourth floor of the Sword Tower is raised, who in the entire Demon Abyss would I fear? I just feel... a bit embarrassed, that is all."

"True... if they really knew the truth, their world would probably collapse."

Xu Xian was too lazy to think more about it. "Forget it, we will deal with that later. Let us build the Sword Tower first."

The boy entered a state of meditation and began the construction. It was the same process and the same control, with only the time cost slightly increased.

One day.

Two days.

Three days.

Four days.

It took a full four days just to build the main structure, consuming over eighty million spirit stones.

Just as Xu Xian had estimated before, the consumption was doubling.

He figured that the next time he raised the fifth floor, he would need to prepare over a hundred million spirit stones.

Fortunately, after this operation, he had plenty of stock.

He had no worries about spirit stones.

He just prayed the special materials would not be too ridiculous.

Once the main structure was complete, he withdrew his divine sense and glanced at the giant tortoise. Seeing no unusual movement, Xu Xian began the refining process.

...

As the days passed, everything in the world outside remained the same.

The matter of the Emperor's Tomb had come to an end. Except for the Demon Abyss, the various sects of the world were more or less immersed in sadness and disappointment because their trip to the Emperor's Tomb had yielded nothing.

Some sects were hurting because of the massive resources they had spent.

Others were mourning the disciples who had met with misfortune.

The Wendao Sword Sect was no exception.

It was bad enough that the bodies of over five hundred disciples had not been recovered, but from the opening of the Emperor's Tomb until now, not a single spirit sword had flown back.

The disciples of the Wendao Sword Sect did not find this strange.

In a special small world with special laws, it was only natural that the spirit swords could not return. They were simply feeling a bit down.

The bodies had not been brought back, and neither had the swords.

They feared that the souls of the departed would not be able to find their way home in the future and would become lonely ghosts.

Although they were cultivators, they did not truly believe in such superstitions.

Yet, as humans, it was hard not to think that way.

Even though the Emperor's Tomb had closed, the eight tomb gates remained. However, at some point, the azure light curtains on them had silently turned into cold, hard stone.

There were still some cultivators gathered in front of the tomb gates, trying to find a way to enter the Emperor's Tomb.

Some even had the idea of hauling the tomb gates back to their own sects.

In a world this big, there were bound to be all kinds of people.

After that day, Jiang Wanyin and Lei Yunche brought Yao Xiaoxiao back to the sect, arriving after Ye Xianyu and the others.

Ye Xianyu asked, "Where are our eighth and ninth senior brothers? Where did they go?"

"Eighth Senior Brother returned to the Sword Qi Great Wall, and your Ninth Senior Brother is waiting for someone outside the Black Sand Sea," Jiang Wanyin said.

"What about him?"

"He went back to the Demon Abyss."

Ye Xianyu murmured thoughtfully to herself, "In that case, he must have enough materials. It won't be long before Junior Brother reaches the eighth stage."

Jiang Wanyin looked back toward the Sword Mound on Zhujian Peak and smiled slightly. "Who knows? Let's just wait and see."

Having experienced so much and gathered so much intelligence, they had guessed some of the connections between their junior brother and the Sword Mound.

One sword for each stage was likely the case.

And for the sword to emerge, it required certain things as support.

Over ten years ago, he ran to the Demon Suppression Abyss to collect withered bones.

Three years ago, he went to the Demon Abyss to collect Shadow Soul Stones.

Now, with the trip to the Emperor's Tomb, he had essentially kidnapped the younger generation of the entire world and pocketed the wealth of more than half the world.

It must be for the swords in the Sword Mound and that Sword Tower.

They often remembered their junior brother joking about earning money to build a tower.

It turned out that when he said he was building a tower, he was literally building a tower.

Their junior brother was not greedy for wealth; it was just that his cultivation required resources far beyond those of ordinary people.

Lei Yunche said, "The world misunderstands the Wendao Sword Sect, and we misunderstood our junior brother. We and the rest of the world are actually no different."

Jiang Wanyin sighed softly and remarked with emotion, "Yes, he should have told us sooner. We could have helped him to some extent, and he wouldn't have had to work so hard or carry the infamy of the whole world... That child might look like he lacks propriety, but he is actually quite stubborn at heart."

From the beginning until now, from the hundred thousand withered bones to the million Shadow Soul Stones, and now to the rare items from more than half the world, the boy had never once taken the initiative to speak to the sect about it.

Instead, he chose to fight for them silently in his own way.

He had succeeded.

He had even invisibly solved many troubles for the sect.

Four years in the Demon Suppression Abyss, the Merchant Hall earned a lot of money, and he even captured an auspicious beast.

During the trip to the Demon Abyss, he became the demon son and inadvertently settled the threat from the west for the Wendao Sword Sect.

Whether he did it intentionally or unintentionally, they were not sure.

But it was hard not to admire him.

Even though their own experiences were equally colorful, they did not amount to a tenth of his.

Lei Yunche rubbed the bridge of his nose and said for no apparent reason, "Could it be because the rules of the Wendao Sword Sect are too rigid?"

The two remained silent.

Lei Yunche added, "Or perhaps it is because Little Ten was too harsh on him because she'd had it rough herself?"

Jiang Wanyin looked thoughtful.

Ye Xianyu was not happy about that. She had gone through the same thing, so how was she in the wrong when it came to Xu Xian?

She cried out resentfully, "Senior Brother!"

Lei Yunche threw up his hands. "I am just saying."

Jiang Wanyin said softly, "Perhaps Little Eleven just wanted to rely on himself. Doing your own things yourself is a lesson even children know."

Lei Yunche nodded in agreement.

Ye Xianyu said meaningfully, "But there are always some people who feel that because they have high talent and good aptitude, they should receive special treatment, otherwise something is wrong. In fact, the whole world is like that. Only our Wendao Sword Sect is different. Sometimes, even I feel that this is wrong..."

Lei Yunche knit his brows. "Little Eleven wouldn't think that way too, would he?"

Ye Xianyu scrunched up her nose and smiled mischievously. "It is hard to say. Don't forget, he was kidnapped back by that little bastard Li Qingshan..."