I fabricated myths to guide the revival of spiritual energy.

Li Guozhong left with a heart full of worries and that name that could shake the world.

The roar of the helicopter gradually faded into the horizon at the edge of the sea of ​​clouds, and the Kunlun Mountains returned to their seemingly timeless silence.

Gu Qing stood alone on the edge of the terrace of the Daoist Pavilion. The morning breeze blew, making his white Daoist robe flutter, but there was not much relaxed smile in his eyes.

"Too impetuous."

He withdrew his gaze and looked down at the plaza. Although the students had dispersed to continue their cultivation, in his view, the battle against the mercenaries had exposed far more problems than it had been a so-called "victory."

The students' contempt wasn't just because their opponents were weak, but also because they were used to a different, more extreme form of fighting.

"System, retrieve the casualty reports for the [Trial Tower] over the past month," Gu Qing coldly ordered in his mind.

[Ding! Data retrieval in progress...]

[Trial Tower opening count this month: 4200 times.]

Number of seriously injured: 128.

Death toll: 3.

[Cause of death: Ambushed by a "Voidwalker," resulting in mental collapse and brain death.]

Gu Qing stared blankly at the bright red "3".

This is the cruel side of Kunlun University. Outsiders think it's a sacred place for cultivating immortality, a cradle of eternal life, but only those who are there know that it's a tightrope walk on the edge of a cliff.

The enemies in the Trial Tower are "void creature projections" simulated by the system. Although they are projections, their destructive power is real.

What are the characteristics of void creatures?

It's eerie.

Some of them have no physical form, moving like shadows. Their attacks often involve mental screams, spatial teleportation, or striking like assassins from blind spots. Their numbers are vast, surging in like a tidal wave, suffocating all who behold them.

In order to survive in the Trial Tower, the students were forced to evolve extremely high agility, incredibly fast reflexes, and a morbid intuition for danger.

Therefore, when they faced those mercenaries, the enemy's drawn-out gun movements and heavy footsteps, full of "foreshadowing," seemed as ridiculous as a slow-motion replay to them.

"but……"

Gu Qing tapped his fingers lightly on the railing. "They've been training with 'assassins' for so long that it's made them severely unbalanced in their specialties."

"What if we encounter a 'tank-type' enemy with thick skin and tough flesh, capable of withstanding flying swords and shattering rocks with a single slap? What if we encounter a behemoth that can be crushed by brute force without needing a sneak attack?"

"When the Void Creature Projection dies, it turns into nothingness, leaving no spoils. As a result, most of the students don't even have a decent protective magic item, and the alchemy room is full of spiritual herbs, lacking any essence of flesh and blood."

"Cultivating immortality requires methods, resources, companions, and a suitable environment. What's the use of just practicing Qi without resources?"

Gu Qing turned around, his gaze piercing through layers of clouds and mist, locking onto a sheer cliff on the shady side of Kunlun's main peak.

There stands a tall black tower that has existed since the beginning of Kunlun's manifestation.

It stood silently in the shadows, like a forgotten tombstone.

[Building Name: Demon-Sealing Tower (Under Sealing)]

[Description: A cage constructed from ancient formations, containing its own internal space that can continuously generate physical demonic beasts through the nourishment of spiritual energy.]

[Function: Refines the physical body, producing demon cores, beast materials, and essence blood.]

"It's time to find some real 'punching bags' for these students."

Gu Qing lowered his eyes slightly and communicated with the system through his mind.

"Activate the Demon-Sealing Tower."

"Floors available: First to third floors"

"Deploy biological template: high defense, high strength, physical flesh and blood monster."

Difficulty setting: Realistic.

The sealing formation of the Demon-Sealing Tower is being deconstructed...

[A monster ecosystem is forming... Ironbacked Grey Wolf, Lava Giant Lizard, and Vajra Demon Ape are being released...]

[WARNING: The monsters inside the tower are physical beings with a predatory instinct. If a student dies inside the tower, they will be devoured by the monsters, and the body cannot be recovered. Confirm?]

"confirm."

Gu Qing's voice remained completely calm.

"Cultivating immortality is defying the heavens. If they die in the tower, it's because they didn't master the skills. They have no one to blame but themselves."

……

Location: Kunlun University, Department of Weapon Forging

During a break, a group of students sat around the stove, and the conversation naturally turned to the incident that happened that morning.

"To be honest, it's pretty boring."

The speaker was Wang Tiechui, the top student in the weapon crafting department. He was shirtless, his muscles clearly defined, and he was holding a piece of black iron ore in his hand, twirling it like a walnut.

"Those mercenaries have a murderous aura, but their movements are too stiff. If I had made a move, I could have killed three of them with those fire tongs."

A thin boy next to him chimed in with lingering fear, "The Trial Tower is still the scariest. Yesterday, my squad leader, because of his greed for merit and recklessness, chased after a Void Lava, and ended up having his throat slit by the 'Shadow Hunter' hiding in the shadows..."

The atmosphere instantly turned cold.

The feeling of relaxation I had just experienced vanished completely.

"Senior Brother Zhou... couldn't be saved?"

"No." The thin boy's face was pale, and his voice trembled. "The injuries in the Trial Tower were real. A broken neck is a broken neck. By the time we dragged you out, your body was already cold. The school may have elixirs, but that kind of instantaneous killing... no one can save you."

This is the current situation in Kunlun.

Every student who can stand here chatting and laughing has survived by stepping over the corpses of their peers or by walking through the gates of hell several times.

They are not afraid of death, but they fear the kind of silent death.

"The monsters in the Trial Tower are too cunning," Wang Tiechui spat angrily. "They're all invisible and intangible things, either using mental attacks or spatial jumps. All my strength feels like hitting cotton; it's so frustrating!"

"If only there were a place where I could have a good, head-on confrontation, even if it meant getting beaten to death, it would be better than being tricked and killed!"

He had barely finished speaking.

Rumble—!!!

A deep, muffled roar, as if the earth's heartbeat had skipped a beat, was followed by a violent tremor on the floating island beneath their feet.

The fire in the furnace went out of control instantly, and flames shot up three meters high.

"The oven exploded?!"

"No! The epicenter was in the mountains behind us!"

All the students in the weapon-refining department dropped their hammers, rushed out of the workshop, and looked up at the shady side of the main peak.

On that cliff where the sun never shines, a strange change suddenly occurs.

The gray mist that had been swirling there now seemed to be boiling, churning and quickly turning a scarlet red.

An octagonal black tower, exuding a suffocating sense of oppression, slowly emerged from the shadows.

Everyone has seen that tower.

In the past, when people passed by, they only felt that the place was gloomy and that they would be blocked by invisible walls when they got close, thinking that it was a sticker background that the school had not yet opened.

But at this moment, it has come to life.

"roar--!!!"

"Awooo—!!!"

It wasn't the kind of chilling, piercing screech you hear in the Trial Tower, but a real, wild roar filled with savage fury and bloodlust!

The sound waves spread like a tangible force, causing the surrounding snow to fall in a soft rustling sound.

A strong, primal, pungent smell of blood instantly enveloped the entire Kunlun campus.

This aura was extremely violent and aggressive, like a group of ferocious beasts imprisoned in the tower that had been starving for thousands of years, frantically pounding against their cages, craving fresh flesh and blood.

"What...what was that sound?" the skinny boy asked, his teeth chattering. "It sounded really big..."

"Snap! Snap!"

A loud cracking sound of metal breaking rang out.

Nine bronze chains wrapped around the surface of the black tower broke, and the bottom three of them snapped in front of everyone's eyes!

Countless dark red runes lit up on the tower, resembling gaping, blood-red maws.

[School-wide announcement: The "Demon-Sealing Tower" is officially open.]

Gu Qing's voice pierced through the roars of the beasts, echoing clearly in every inch of space.

"Did you see that?"

Gu Qing's figure did not appear; only a vast voice echoed between heaven and earth.

"You complain that the void creatures in the Trial Tower are too treacherous, that you have nowhere to use your strength, and that you have no materials to forge weapons."

"Now, the opportunity has come."

"The Trial Tower trains your divine sense, your reflexes, and your ability to confront the fear of the unknown. Inside, you are fighting against shadows."

"And the Demon-Sealing Tower..."

At this moment, the incredibly heavy bronze gate at the bottom of the Demon-Sealing Tower slowly opened a crack amidst a teeth-grinding scraping sound.

boom!

A visible heat wave, mixed with a fishy smell, gushed out from the crack in the door.

"Those imprisoned here are demonic beasts with physical bodies."

"They are not as strange as the void creatures; they can't turn invisible or pass through walls."

"They only do one thing—rush over, tear you apart, and eat you."

Gu Qing's voice turned icy cold:

"This is a battlefield prepared for reckless men."

"The monsters inside have thick hides; ordinary sword energy can't even cut through their skin. They are strong enough to shatter boulders with a single blow. In the Trial Tower, you can use your movement skills to dodge; but in the narrow space of the Demon Locking Tower, you can only tough it out."

"Want beast bones to forge flying swords? Demon cores to enhance your cultivation? Animal hides to make armor?"

"They're all inside."

"But whether you can produce it or not depends on your abilities."

Finally, Gu Qing paused, his tone chilling:

"Special reminder: There is still no resurrection mechanism inside the Demon Locking Tower."

"If you unfortunately die in battle, your bodies will become food for the monsters, turning into piles of foul-smelling excrement."

"They didn't even have the chance to erect a monument."

"Right now, there are those in the weapon crafting department, those in the body cultivation department, and those who think their swords are sharp enough."

The door opened.

"Who dares to be the first?"

……

The weapon crafting plaza was deathly silent.

Wang Tiechui, who had just been clamoring for a "head-on confrontation," now felt his throat go dry as he looked at the black tower that exuded overwhelming ferocity.

That sense of oppression felt so real.

The fear in the Trial Tower is chilling, like being doused with ice water; while the oppressive feeling in the Demon Locking Tower is scorching, like being thrown into a furnace full of meat grinders.

Even from this distance, he could feel the overwhelming savagery, the gaze of a predator at the top of the food chain upon its prey.

"Gulp."

Someone swallowed hard.

"What's there to be afraid of!"

Wang Tiechui suddenly slapped his thigh, his fear replaced by a frenzied greed.

He stared intently at the tower, as if he could see through its walls and into the hard bones and rough, thick hides of the monsters inside.

"My 'Mountain-Shaking Hammer' is only missing a piece of high-density bone for the handle! They're too expensive in the sect's exchange shop; I can't afford them!"

"Since some of these are free, and even physical items..."

He grabbed a red-hot iron hammer from the side, his muscles bulging, and roared at his fellow disciples behind him:

"For those in the weapon forging department! If you don't want to spend your whole life forging ordinary iron, come with me!"

"Let's see if their bones are harder, or if my hammer is harder!"

With a leader in charge, the students, who had been initially intimidated, had their fighting spirit reignited.

Cultivating immortality is essentially about defying fate.

Having chosen this path, and having survived so many deaths in the Trial Tower without backing down, are you really going to be intimidated by a bunch of beasts?

"Sword cultivators, form the array!"

From afar, Chu Tian's voice rang out, tinged with a hint of excited tremor, "This kind of behemoth is perfect for testing my 'Armor-Piercing' technique!"

"Talisman users, bring all the explosive talismans! These bulky targets will be awesome to blow up!"

Streaks of light flew up from various departments and converged on the black tower on the back mountain.

Although everyone's face was solemn, and some even had trembling hands, no one backed down.

Gu Qing stood on the Asking Pavilion, looking down at the students rushing towards the Demon Locking Tower like moths to a flame, and nodded slightly.

"very good."

"Train your skills in the Trial Tower, and hone your strength in the Demon-Sealing Tower."

"Only those who have crawled out of these two hells are qualified to face the real catastrophe of the future."

He glanced at the surveillance footage inside the tower.

On the first floor, a three-meter-tall iron-backed wolf, covered in black scales and with eyes like lanterns, was drooling and staring intently at the direction of the gate.

Its claws dug deep furrows into the hard ground.

"Let's teach these arrogant brats a lesson."

Gu Qing muttered to himself...