On the first day, Xu Xian consumed three hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones to lay the foundation.
On the second day, Xu Xian consumed two hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones to complete the main structure of the first floor of the Sword Tower.
On the third day, Xu Xian consumed two hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones to finish the roof of the first floor.
On the fourth day, Xu Xian completely fused the essences of the Ten-Thousand-Year Heaven-Connecting Wood, the Innate Bitter Bamboo, and the Blazing Red Jade into the structure...
Buzz! Buzz!
A wave of energy rippled out from within the Sword Tower, causing the surrounding sea of clouds to churn for a thousand miles.
In a certain book, ink gathered on the upper half of a page. On the diagram of the twelve-story Sword Tower, the first floor turned solid white, wreathed in radiance.
On the lower half, the progress bar finished loading.
[100%]
Small characters were written beneath it.
[Completed]
Xu Xian slowly looked away from the book and lifted his gaze. There, amidst the immortal realm of the cloud sea and beneath the clear sky and bright sun, a tower stood silently.
The tower had only one floor.
Its entire body was like white jade.
It stood over ten zhang tall.
It was magnificent and overbearing.
It was adorned with sword carvings, their edges well-defined and lifelike. Facing Xu Xian’s position was a white jade door, and above the eaves, two words were inscribed.
[First Floor]
As Xu Xian looked at it, he seemed to form a connection with the first floor of the Sword Tower. The white jade door slowly swung open to both sides, revealing the interior.
Xu Xian gazed at the tower and murmured, "It’s done!"
The little book spirit cheered and leaped for joy, clearly ecstatic. "Congratulations, Master! Felicitations, Master! After enduring such hardships, you have finally seen the first floor of the Sword Tower completed!"
The corners of Xu Xian’s lips curled up unnaturally, forming a rather meaningful smile.
Enduring hardships?
Not really.
Nearly kicking the bucket?
That was more like it.
Setting aside the materials obtained from the Merchant Hall and those gifted by Ruan Hao, the first floor of the Sword Tower had cost a total of seven hundred thousand top-grade spirit stones.
Note that these were top-grade spirit stones.
If converted into the low-grade spirit stones widely circulated on the market, it would be at least five million.
And that was a conservative estimate.
Furthermore, building it would certainly not have been this easy under normal circumstances.
If not for the battle at Yecheng, where he had escaped death and luckily obtained spirit stones and immortal plants, he probably would have only reached the threshold of the core formation stage at most during these short six months.
As for building this first floor of the Sword Tower?
God knows how long he would have had to wait.
It truly proved the old saying: 'No man grows rich without a windfall, and no horse grows fat without night grass.'
While the little book spirit was still immersed in joy, Xu Xian had already begun to worry about the future.
He had put in so much effort just for the first floor.
What was he supposed to do next?
For now, his spirit stones could arguably build another floor, and he only needed to fret over the special materials. But what about when he reached the third floor?
By then, the required spirit stones would increase proportionally. Just raising enough spirit stones would probably cost him half his life.
Admittedly, 'pay-to-win' was satisfying, but the bitter part was having no money.
Before, it was just a concept he hadn't paid much attention to. Only now, having reached this step, did he realize the difficulty.
Seeing the worry in Xu Xian’s eyes, the little book spirit spoke up to remind him, "Master, what are you thinking about? Don’t just stand there, go in! Through that door, you can go directly to the Divine Sword Pool. Once you pull out the divine sword belonging to the first floor, you can step directly into the nascent soul stage. In the future, when the divine sword leaves the tower, you can trade one-for-one with those above the seventh stage and mow them down with ease below the seventh stage..."
Xu Xian pulled his wandering thoughts back and looked at the little book spirit, saying warmly, "Alright!"
He walked forward slowly, approaching the Sword Tower.
That door was like a portal through time and space; one didn't know where it connected or what the scenery behind it was.
But as he drew closer, he could clearly sense a voice calling to him from behind the door.
It made him unable to resist approaching, making him impatient to step inside.
It was like a soldier returning from the battlefield to his homeland, seeing from afar a girl waiting for him at the village entrance.
Waiting for his return!
Xu Xian stopped before the door, took a deep breath, and then took a step forward, crossing the threshold.
The youth's vision went dark, and all sounds died away.
Then, the youth's vision turned white, greeted by a bright and beautiful day.
Opening his eyes, he had once again stepped into the Divine Sword Pool.
——————
Four days had also passed in the Wendao Sword Sect. During these four days, Xu Xian’s name remained the focus of the sect.
There was no other reason than the rumor that Xu Xian had become the disciple of the Wendao Sword Sect's number one master forger, Ruan Hao. Furthermore, Master Ruan himself had personally clarified the matter.
It was indeed true.
For a time, a massive uproar was sparked within the Wendao Sword Sect.
Ruan Hao had taken a disciple?
And he took an outsider?
Ridiculous!
The Little Grand-Uncle had taken another master?
Even more ridiculous!
However, as the person involved, Xu Xian had not shown his face from beginning to end.
Cultivation was a very tedious matter.
For the disciples of the Wendao Sword Sect, it was not only tedious but also oppressive.
The disciples in the mountains mostly traveled between the Western Borders and the Eastern Borders.
Two completely different directions.
On one side were demons; on the other were beasts.
With all the killing and fighting, they lived with their heads tucked into their belts year-round. For them, matters of anger were common, but interesting things were rare.
Whenever one occurred, they would talk it to death.
It was no surprise that Xu Xian’s situation was being discussed with great relish.
On this day, the weather at the Wendao Sword Sect was as pleasant as usual, with the crisp air of autumn.
On the peak directly opposite where the Heaven Beyond the Sword was located, the old man responsible for guarding the area was practicing his boxing at the mountain summit as he did every day.
Though he was an old man with white hair, his steps were as swift as the wind, and his punches whistled through the air.
After finishing a set, he finished with a breath and gazed at the distant mountains. With a flick of his sleeve, he said heartily, "Since ancient times, autumn has been seen as lonely and bleak, but I say autumn days surpass the brightness of spring!"
After reciting the poem, he prepared to return to the pavilion, but he accidentally glimpsed the five-colored aurora overflowing above the Sky Gate.
"Hmm?"
At first, the old man thought his eyes were playing tricks on him and instinctively rubbed them.
After confirming several times, it was indeed a five-colored aurora.
He was instantly startled.
"Holy crap, again?"
A five-colored aurora.
In his entire life, the last time he had seen one was five years ago.
Today, it had reappeared.
Beyond his surprise, the old man was completely bewildered.
If he remembered correctly, no disciple had entered the Sword Mound to claim a sword in the past two months. Those who had gone in before had already come out, and no one else had entered.
The white, green, blue, and gold lights had not lit up.
What the hell was this five-colored aurora?
He remembered the last time it shone was when the Little Grand-Uncle pulled out an immortal sword. For it to shine again this time...
"I’ve seen a ghost!"
He looked back at the ancient bell behind him and felt conflicted.
He had guarded this Sky Gate for well over several hundred years, but in this situation, he truly didn't know whether he should strike the bell or not.
He was genuinely at a loss!
And just as he was hesitating, several streaks of light landed outside the Sky Gate in an instant, coming from the distant mountains.
Five came from the Ancestral Peak.
One came from the Main Peak.
One also came from the Zhujian Peak. Though it was the closest, it arrived the latest, and the person had actually run up.
Although the five-colored aurora was fleeting and quickly vanished back into the vast mountains, it had still been captured by the experts of the tribulation transcendence stage.
The five ancestors and Ye Xianyu were once again alarmed.
Besides these six, the two Guest Elders had also seen it, though they simply didn't care.
As for the seventh person, it was the Peak Master of Zhujian Peak.
He had come purely because he sensed the ancestors arriving at Zhujian Peak.
At this moment, beneath the Sky Gate.
The six people stood in a line, looking up at the Sky Gate which had already returned to normal, remaining silent.
The Peak Master of Zhujian Peak hurried over and quickly paid his respects, saying in one breath, "Han Yi, Peak Master of Zhujian Peak, greets the Fifth Martial Uncle, Master, Seventh Martial Uncle, Eighth Martial Uncle, Ninth Martial Uncle, and the Sect Master..."
Among the six, the only woman—aside from Ye Xianyu—asked softly, "Han'er, who is inside the mound?"
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