Demon Slaying, Gaining 60 Years of Cultivation From the Start

After Gu Chen came into contact with the deep and dark vortex at the entrance of the Tower of Heavenly Reach, his vision went black in an instant. Following a dizzying whirl, when his sight returned, he found himself in a quiet chamber.

At this moment, he was sitting cross-legged on a cushion with a small table not far away. On the table was an incense burner, from which thin wisps of smoke curled and drifted.

"Spatial teleportation?"

Before entering, Wang Jiuzhi had already given Gu Chen a brief overview of what to expect at the first challenge of the trial tower from the Pure Yang Martial Sect, so Gu Chen remained relatively calm.

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He had only heard of such marvelous formations. If spatial teleportation was possible, then the existence of storage rings seemed likely to be real as well.

Of course, Gu Chen knew that even in the ancient times, spatial rings, or space artifacts, were extremely rare. In more recent times, space artifacts had completely disappeared; not to mention seeing one, Gu Chen hadn't even heard of them.

Items like the Tower of Heavenly Reach, were undoubtedly extremely important even to the Pure Yang Martial Sect, and very likely transcended the category of divine weapons.

"What exactly is the ultimate realm of martial arts, the Heaven-Man Stage, like?" Gu Chen looked around the quiet chamber, pondering to himself.

Even more so, he wondered whether martial arts truly reached an end after the Heaven-Man Stage, with no more paths to follow?

Why did the ancient era disappear? What caused the end of an era with such a flourishing and glorious martial arts tradition?

Not to mention other sects or forces, why did a top power like the Pure Yang Martial Sect, from the ancient era, vanish without a trace?

A series of questions suddenly emerged in the depths of Gu Chen's heart.

This extraordinary means of folding space was no longer describable by martial arts alone. It was completely a method of immortals, beyond the capabilities of martial artists.

Otherwise, Jiuzhou would not have gone so many years without the reappearance of spatial artifacts.

Be it divine weapons, formations, or the Tower of Heavenly Reach before him, all these were not achievable purely through martial arts, filling Gu Chen with questions.

The ancient era's martial arts had peaked with prosperity; no one had actually seen it first-hand, but stories had been passed down from mouth to mouth. At this moment, even Gu Chen became deeply interested in the martial arts of the ancient era.

Hum!

Suddenly, a beam of light appeared from the very top of the quiet chamber, shining down on Gu Chen.

Bathed in this light, Gu Chen felt as if he became translucent, without a single secret to hide.

"Male, bone age twenty-one, at the full culmination of the Gang Qi Stage, profound cultivation, solid foundation, vigorous vitality like the ocean, strong bones and tendons, indestructible body, innate talent—A higher!"

The grand voice echoed throughout the quiet chamber, as though coming from beyond the heavens. Gu Chen raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this. When he had come here, Wang Jiuzhi had told him that by consulting ancient texts, he had gained some understanding of the Pure Yang Martial Sect's trial tower.

Contrary to what many martial artists believed, the first challenge of the Pure Yang Martial Sect's trial was actually a test of a warrior's talent.

Of course, only young prodigies like Gu Chen would trigger such a test. For those with weaker talents and older age, the trial tower wouldn't conduct such a detailed examination.

The internal trial rankings of the Pure Yang Martial Sect were divided into three levels: A, B, and C, each level further divided into upper, middle, and lower grades.

Among them, talents of A higher grade, even back in the heydays of the Pure Yang Martial Sect, emerged only once every several decades. Such individuals were outstanding prodigies even in the era when ancient martial arts were at their zenith.

In other words, if Gu Chen were set in the ancient era, his talent would definitely rank among the most exceptional.

At that moment, the grand voice rang out again: "Talent evaluation complete, first challenge, Heart Refinement, begins."

Gu Chen looked up, wanting to know the source of the voice, but other than himself, there was no other living creature in the quiet chamber.

"An artifact spirit?" A thought suddenly emerged in Gu Chen's mind.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

But in the next instant, before he could ponder any further, an invisible force appeared in the quiet chamber, drifting by like a gentle breeze, brushing past Gu Chen.

"Hiss!"

Suddenly, Gu Chen felt a surge of intense pain, and his complexion turned deathly white.

This pain did not originate from his physical body, but from his spirit, or perhaps his soul.

The invisible force surging within the quiet chamber seemed to slice through Gu Chen's soul, tearing it into countless pieces. This indescribable pain was more terrifying than dismemberment; even with Gu Chen's will, he sat there drenched in sweat, his expression fierce, grinding his teeth in agony.

No wonder so many warriors couldn't withstand even the first round. Only those with extremely tenacious minds endured.

The warriors who participated in the Pure Yang Martial Sect's trial this time would surely see many eliminated in just this first challenge.

Even in the ancient times, the Pure Yang Martial Sect was among the top-notch forces, and its disciples were all martial prodigies with extraordinary talent, outstanding figures of the ancient era. However, the Pure Yang Martial Sect believed that talent alone was not enough.

Martial artists must seek within themselves; to achieve something in the martial way, they needed unwavering determination, ready to face any difficulty.

Without such tenacity, even the highest of talents would have limited future achievements.

Particularly at the Grandmaster realm of the Innate Stage, after breaking through the profound gates of heaven and earth, one must resonate with the will of heaven and earth. Martial artists with a weak will would be instantly overwhelmed by the surging might of the world in a moment's time—light cases resulted in idiocy, severe cases in immediate death.