Chapter 999: The Dark Monument
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
As Mu Chen was passing through the aperture towards the fourth level of the Body-refining Tower, the light suddenly dimmed. Then, the surroundings became totally dark.
However, this did not last long. As the darkness faded away, he saw that the space in front of him had completely changed.
The scenery that reappeared was beyond his expectation. It was not any cruel environment, but an ancient square. He was standing at one of the corners of the ancient square, and he could see Mo Feng and the rest in the distance.
“So, this is the fourth level of the Body-refining Tower?”
Mu Chen was terrified, as he looked around the environment. This place was extremely old. Its ground, which was paved by ancient rocks, was full of traces left as time had passed by.
What made this place different from the previous three levels was that the ancient square was peaceful. There seemed to be nothing strange in this place, which was what made Mu Chen feel puzzled.
“This is indeed the fourth level of the Body-refining Tower,” a voice said from behind him. It was Mo Feng, who was slowly walking towards him with a calm expression.
Mu Chen frowned, then asked, “Is there any mystery here?”
Since this was the fourth level of the tower, it would definitely not be as simple as it seemed to be. Mo Feng nodded and pointed towards the center of the ancient square.
“Look there…” he instructed.
Mu Chen projected his vision towards the direction where Mo Feng was pointing. As he was focusing on the direction, he noticed that there was a black stone located at the center of the square. The black stone was not huge, therefore it was easily overlooked in this big ancient square.
So, this black stone is the challenge in the fourth level of the Body-refining Tower?
Mu Chen was confused.
“It is a monument,” said Mo Feng.
“A monument?” Mu Chen was still confused, as he did not know much about the Land of the Divine Beasts.
“The rules in this fourth level are simple. We only have to place a punch on that monument, using the power from our mortal bodies,” Mo Feng said plainly. “Did you see the bronze lamps on top of the monument?”
Mu Chen nodded. The lamps were already there, even before he saw this black monument. At the very front of the monument, nine bronze lamps were mounted, but they were all dark, without flames.
“That is the sign that measures the strength of our mortal bodies. The ultimate goal is to light up all nine of them, but that is impossible. Even a Grade Nine Sovereign would fail to do that.”
Mu Chen was shocked, because even a Grade Nine Sovereign could not get all nine of the lamps to light up with full power.
How could this normal-looking monument withstand such tremendous power?
“According to the rules, we would have to light up six of the bronze lights to move on the next level.”
“We only need to light up six of them?” Mu Chen held his fist, showing his eagerness to give it a try. If the challenge was to test the pure strength within his mortal body, Mu Chen would be at the same level with the rest. He was excited to see what his Dragon-Phoenix body could do with pure strength from his mortal body!
Mo Feng quickly placed a reminder to him, as he saw his excitement growing. “Do not be careless. According to the information that I received, over the past few years, there were more than ten extraordinary warriors who entered this round, but all of them eventually failed.”
Mu Chen nodded. He would not be careless, but the advice given by Mo Feng surprised to him. It seemed like the difficulty to light up six bronze lamps was on an entirely other level!
“What do we get after conquering the fourth level?” Mu Chen suddenly asked the most critical question. The cruel environment at the previous three levels had tempered their mortal bodies.
So, at the fourth level, I surely won’t be leaving without getting anything, according to the rules in the Body-refinding Tower, right?
“The benefit is on top of the monument.” Mo Feng smiled, looking towards the monument. Not sure whether it was an illusion or not, but Mu Chen thought he saw great excitement in Mo Feng’s eyes as well.
This monument was not as simple as it looked…
“Do you know how this monument was built?” Mo Feng asked.
Mu Chen shook his head, as everything here was unfamiliar to him.
“It was made from the Heaven-Devouring Divine Beast’s flesh and blood.”
“Heaven-Devouring Divine Beast?” Mu Chen repeated the words Mo Feng has just said, shocked. He then became greatly interested in the beast.
The Heaven-Devouring Divine Beast was born from the heavens and sent down to the down to the earth, so it was not from any bloodline. Its rarity was even greater than any Divine Beast of any other level. Moreover, it had only appeared once during the ancient times, and now, its appearance was never even heard of.
This Heaven-Devouring Divine Beast could swallow the entire sky, once it gone mad. Even the Heavenly Sovereigns were afraid to encounter it!
Mu Chen had only obtained a little bit of information about the beast from some ancient books, but surprisingly, this inconspicuous black monument was made from the flesh and blood of the great Heaven-Devouring Divine Beast!
“Unbelievable.” Mu Chen gave a sigh. The Heaven-Devouring Divine Beast was too overpowering, even the Dragon and Phoenix should be wary of it.
“And once this monument was bombarded by a powerful force, it would release the essence of the Heaven-Devouring Divine Beast. The nature of the essence released was always dependent on the power of the force. In other words, the more lamps were lit up, the stronger the released essence. So, this would be the trophy for conquering the fourth level. Are you clear on all of that?” Mo Feng said slowly, his eyes full of excitement.
Mu Chen was a little shocked, as he nodded slowly. If he could absorb the essence of the Heaven-Devouring Divine Beast, the cultivation that his body would go through was going to be so incredible!
This was something even more powerful than the lightning marrows! No wonder Mo Feng was so excited. Every level in this Body-refining Tower really offered a good reward!
During the conversation between Mo Feng and Mu Chen, three others, namely Han Shan, Zong Teng, and Xu Kun, were greedily staring at the black monument. The group then slowly walked closer towards it.
As they got closer to the monument, Mu Chen noticed that there numerous dense fists and palm prints on the it. These were obviously left by those previous competitors, who were trying to get through the test.
The monument was extremely hard, making it difficult to believe that it was made of flesh and blood. However, the color of darkness on it contained an aura, which would give one heart palpitations!
Mu Chen knew that it must be the leftover breath of the Heaven-Devouring Divine Beast. Although there was just a little amount of it, it could still cause them to have difficulty breathing.
The most surprising thing was that, as he was getting closer to the monument, the spiritual power inside his body went stagnant, making him it hard for him to utilize his power. It felt as if he was being suppressed by a horrible force field.
“My spiritual power was suppressed. As expected, we could only possess the power of our mortal bodies.” Mu Chen held his fist, trying to release his spiritual power, but it was tough work and nearly ineffective.
Looking at Mo Feng and the rest, the spiritual aura surrounding them was obviously gone. However, they were calm, as they had already expected that this would happen.
Although the black monument was right in front of them, they did not attack it carelessly. Instead, they sat down cross-legged on the ground to regulate their body conditions.
This was because, according to the rules, each of them was only allowed one opportunity to make an attempt. If they failed, they would be eliminated directly, then sent out of the Body-refining Tower. Therefore, that one shot would surely be given their maximum strengths from their pure mortal bodies!
Before that happened, however, they had to gather their power. As such, everyone knew that it would be unwise to take any action towards any of them now.
Therefore, the atmosphere was surprisingly peaceful. None of them showed any hostility towards each other, but instead, they were meditating together to speed up the process of their body regulation.
At the moment, this ancient square became a silent hill. Only the subtle breathing of the five people present could be heard.
…
When they were meditating, the environment outside of the Body-refining Tower was bustling with noise and excitement. A lot of curious pairs of eyes were staring at the screen of the fourth level, as it was projecting everything that was happening in the tower. Therefore, the people outside of the tower could witness the five of them meditating peacefully.
“That must be the monument that we heard of from the rumors.”
“Rumors also said that, only those who manage to light up six of the bronze lamps will be allowed to pass through to the next stage.”
“The majority of the supreme talents in the past were eliminated here. It was definitely not easy for them to light up the six bronze lamps, even with the pure strength of a Grade Seven Sovereign.”
“Yes! I wonder how many of them will make it to the next level?”
“Han Shan should make it through. As for the rest of them, it will depend on their techniques. Although they can only use the strength from their mortal bodies, there are ways to bypass this, like some secret techniques that instantly boost the power of a mortal body. I believe they must all have this in mind…”
The people started whispering. They were indeed visionary, so what they said was actually pretty reasonable.
Nine Nether and Mo Ling glanced at each other, then looked at the two shadows of human figures in the screen of the fourth level. This level would test the strength of the mortal body, but according to what they had observed, Mu Chen’s body was at a disadvantage. However, after experiencing the changes in the previous levels, none of the people on the scene would ever doubt his body’s strength, at least when comparing it to a Divine Beast’s body.
Therefore, the outcome of this test was utterly unpredictable. As the people were trying to predict what was going to happen, they suddenly noticed that the five of them, who were meditating in level four earlier, had just opened their eyes at the same time.