Immortal Paladin

I had learned a lot over the past week. The more time I spent inside the Tower, the more convinced I became that it operated on game principles. It wasn’t merely inspired by games either. Every mechanic, restriction, and reward reminded me of LitRPGs and the countless worlds built around system interfaces and numerical progression. Unlike ordinary cultivation realms, the Tower actively governed every aspect of life within it, distributing power according to rules that felt painstakingly designed. Even so, one question continued to linger in the back of my mind. Who or what was actually running this place?

I still couldn’t decide what the system interface truly was. It might have been something similar to the Warden, a sophisticated mechanism that faithfully carried out its directives without possessing genuine consciousness. If that were the case, then everything happening inside the Tower was simply the execution of predetermined rules. The alternative was considerably more unsettling. Perhaps it resembled LLO, where the system possessed enough awareness to adapt, manipulate, and subtly influence events according to a hidden objective.

I tilted my head toward the cloudless sky and sighed.

”For fuck’s sake, Heart, could you at least come up with something original for once? You already fucked me over with that curse and continued to be a pest on my life. Why the hell did you have to make a giant game world based on a fucking tower? What was the point this time? Were you bored? Did you spin a wheel labeled ’Ways to Ruin Da Wei’s Peace’ and decide this was the winner?”

Naturally, there was no answer.

I clicked my tongue. That bastard had always enjoyed making puzzles while conveniently omitting the instructions. If this Tower truly was another one of his creations, then every floor probably concealed layers upon layers of purpose beneath the obvious mechanics. Knowing him, the real objective was never what it appeared to be.

Eventually, I reached the crown of an enormous tree that towered above the surrounding forest. The trunk was so thick that it could have housed an entire village, while its branches stretched across the sky like roads woven from living wood. I stood near the edge and surveyed the distant horizon, comparing the landscape against the route I had memorized.

According to everything Lin Yong had told me, this was the fifteenth floor. The bizarre Snake and Ladders trial existed on the fourteenth. Through my First Mystery, I silently searched for two familiar existences. Invisible threads spread outward, brushing against countless lives before eventually finding what I sought, Yu Han and Li He.

Both of them were somewhere on this floor.

A faint smile crept across my lips. At least I knew they were alive. That alone removed one concern from my mind.

Losing the Six Paths had stripped away a tremendous amount of my versatility. The Human Path’s transformation abilities were gone, as were the countless adaptive techniques provided by the Animal Path. I couldn’t simply recreate them either. Those powers belonged to a completely different foundation.

Fortunately, I no longer relied on the Six Paths.

I had my First Mystery.

Who.

Unlike the Six Paths, it wasn’t born from cultivation techniques or divine authority. It had awakened naturally when I reached the realm of Ruler of Laws, almost as though reality itself had handed me a clue toward the path beyond. Looking back, it almost felt deliberate. Every Supreme Being I’d encountered had stood at the summit of existence, yet none of them had convinced me that their realm was truly unattainable.

The greatest revelation wasn’t that Supreme Beings existed.

It was that they weren’t unique.

For the longest time, I had assumed becoming a Supreme Being required being born directly from the Source like I had been. It seemed like an impossible privilege that no amount of cultivation could bridge. Yet reality had disproven that assumption. Somewhere along the way, cultivators had discovered methods to ascend beyond Ruler of Laws through entirely different means. Maybe the method wasn’t known in the current age, but surely, there should be clues somwhere.

That realization changed everything.

Perhaps the Tower contained another piece of that puzzle.

If I could uncover the path that ordinary cultivators walked toward Supremacy, then my disciples might someday reach that realm as well. If they stood among the strongest beings in existence, perhaps the countless tragedies orchestrated by the Six Supremes would never repeat themselves. They wouldn’t need to watch helplessly while monsters beyond comprehension decided the fate of entire universes.

Then again...

I exhaled quietly.

That might have been nothing more than wishful thinking.

Power had a nasty habit of corrupting people.

I certainly wasn’t immune to it.

The only reason I hadn’t abused my own strength was because life had never given me the opportunity. Every time I reached a new height, another catastrophe immediately demanded my attention. One crisis bled into the next until survival itself became a full-time occupation. Had fate been kinder or crueler, I might have eventually indulged every selfish desire buried inside me. Maybe I would’ve built my own perfect little world where everything revolved around my whims.

I didn’t trust myself enough to dismiss that possibility.

Hell, Dark David had already demonstrated exactly how badly things could spiral if someone with overwhelming power abandoned restraint. Watching that nightmare unfold had been more than enough motivation to constantly question my own judgment.

I leaped from the towering tree.

The wind rushed past my ears as the forest canopy rapidly approached. Before gravity could finish its work, Divine Step carried me forward in a blur, transforming the fall into effortless momentum. My current physical attributes were embarrassingly weak, forcing me to rely on movement techniques far more often than I liked. Until I recovered my strength, efficiency mattered more than pride.

A clear lake eventually came into view.

I knelt beside the water’s edge and studied my reflection. The face staring back belonged to Da Wei, a visage that was becoming increasingly inconvenient the stronger I became. There was no telling who might recognize me inside the Tower.

I invoked my First Mystery, Who.

The transformation occurred without resistance, as though reality accepted my decision without question. My black hair gradually lightened into a modest shade of brown. My eyes darkened into an ordinary color devoid of anything remarkable. A scattering of freckles appeared across my cheeks, accompanied by subtle adjustments to my jawline and nose. Within moments, the reflection belonged to an entirely different man.

It was exactly what I wanted, unremarkable and forgettable.

Compared to the Human Path’s shapeshifting, this was leagues ahead. The Human Path had always felt like forcing flesh into another form through supernatural manipulation. My First Mystery rewrote identity itself. Every minute detail aligned perfectly, leaving no inconsistencies for perception or detection techniques to exploit.

I rose to my feet and resumed my journey toward the nearest civilization.

The following days settled into an unexpectedly peaceful routine. Since I couldn’t rely on my old energy system, I devoted every spare moment to refining my understanding of Laws and experimenting with my First Mystery. The restriction proved strangely beneficial. Without overwhelming power to solve every problem, I found myself approaching situations from entirely different angles, discovering applications that would’ve never crossed my mind before.

If this body improved, perhaps my main body would benefit from those insights as well.

Ironically, the greatest limitation of the First Mystery wasn’t a lack of capability.

It was the exact opposite.

’Who’ was so absurdly powerful that it almost stifled creativity. It could accomplish nearly anything related to identity, existence, and perception, leaving me with too many possibilities and too little direction. Instead of struggling to overcome limitations, I found myself struggling to decide which of a thousand solutions was actually worth pursuing.

That was a surprisingly luxurious problem to have.

The Laws, however, showed far greater promise than I initially expected.

The Tower prevented me from accessing my usual energy systems, yet it imposed no restrictions whatsoever on my cultivation as a Ruler of Laws. That alone became my greatest advantage. Every day I experimented with my understanding of the six Laws I’d manifested, searching for methods that had never occurred to me back in my original universe.

The realm of Ruler of Laws revolved around manifesting one Law for every section of the soul.

According to the most widespread theory, the soul consisted of six separate portions distributed throughout the body. One resided in the head, another in the heart, while the remaining four occupied each of the limbs. Some ancient theological traditions claimed those six portions represented the six paths every living being had to overcome before attaining true sagehood. Buddhist scholars possessed their own interpretations, many of which differed significantly depending on the sect.

Daweism, on the other hand...?

I couldn’t help coughing awkwardly.

The religion I accidentally founded had a much simpler interpretation.

Rather than separating the soul into distinct fragments, Daweism viewed it as one complete existence. The soul wasn’t something divided among different aspects of oneself. It was singular, precious, and irreplaceable. A cultivator’s responsibility wasn’t to conquer six paths but to preserve that single soul while confronting the countless temptations, tragedies, and triumphs life threw at them.

Granted, the religion was still embarrassingly young.

There were enough missing doctrines and philosophical gaps to make any serious theologian cry. I’d spent more time surviving apocalypses than organizing scripture, so most of its teachings were still being developed by people who somehow thought I possessed all the answers.

Poor bastards.

As for my own Laws, they reflected the path I’d unconsciously walked throughout my life.

Creation.

Destruction.

Transformation.

Regression.

Isolation.

Perdition.

Each Law represented a complete concept woven directly into reality. Whenever I used an ability related to one of them, I instinctively tugged upon that corresponding Law, allowing reality itself to reinforce my technique.

When I employed my First Mystery to alter my appearance, the Law of Transformation naturally resonated with it.

Whenever I manipulated quintessence to create objects from nothing, the Law of Creation reduced the effort considerably, almost as though the universe wanted to assist me. Healing worked under the same principle. Restoring damaged flesh wasn’t merely a matter of supplying energy. It was an act of creation, rebuilding what had been lost according to reality’s own blueprint.

Naturally, I tried using the Laws by themselves.

The results... were disappointing.

I could invoke Creation directly.

I could invoke Destruction, Transformation, and Regression.

Every one of them produced tangible effects, yet none felt particularly impressive. They were certainly powerful compared to ordinary cultivators, but nowhere near the overwhelming authority I expected from something called the Laws of reality.

That was when my thoughts drifted back to my battle against War.

That lunatic hadn’t woven complicated techniques and formed elaborate manifestations.

Instead, he simply raised his weapon and shouted.

”Law of Power.”

The moment those words left his mouth, reality obeyed.

The Law itself descended upon me with terrifying force, transforming an ordinary attack into something capable of threatening even a Supreme Being as immature as I was. Compared to that display, my own understanding felt laughably shallow.

I still didn’t know the proper way to wield the power of a Ruler of Laws.

Maybe there wasn’t a universal method.

The longer I cultivated, the more convinced I became that every cultivator possessed a path unique to themselves. Techniques could be shared. Knowledge could be inherited. Experience could be taught. Yet the final step toward true mastery always seemed intensely personal. No matter how many predecessors left behind manuals, everyone eventually had to discover their own answer.

Perhaps that was the real meaning behind cultivation.

Several more days passed before civilization finally appeared on the horizon.

Massive wooden walls rose from the forest like a mountain carved from living timber. Countless watchtowers overlooked the surrounding wilderness, while thick roots intertwined beneath the fortifications as though the entire settlement had grown naturally from an ancient tree.

Woodland Fortress.

That was the name Lin Yong had given me.

Seeing it with my own eyes made me considerably more nervous than I expected.

I instinctively opened my status window.

Level: 6

Name: Da Wei

Race: Divine Shit

Class: Sexy Boner

HP: 1/1

...

I stared at the floating window for several long seconds, my hopes of this being an illusion earlier was completely dashed.

”...Ah, this sucks.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. The status window remained completely unapologetic. Jokes aside, my anxiety wasn’t caused by the ridiculous names.

It was my disguise.

The First Mystery perfectly altered my appearance, but it couldn’t erase information displayed through the Tower’s own system. If someone possessed an appraisal ability capable of inspecting another person’s status, then my cover would collapse instantly.

Hopefully, appraisal skills weren’t common.

Better yet, maybe they didn’t exist at all.

That hope felt painfully optimistic.

After all, my Ophanim already allowed me to perceive information hovering above other people such as levels, names, and basic identities. As I approached the entrance, countless values appeared throughout my vision.

Level 55.

Level 67.

Level 40.

Level 52.

The average hovered somewhere in the fifties. That realization was quietly terrifying. This was only the fifteenth floor. If ordinary climbers already possessed levels this high, I could only imagine what monsters waited near the Tower’s summit.

Lin Yong’s abilities had already reminded me of LLO, but seeing the overall progression confirmed my suspicions. The similarities weren’t superficial. The Tower’s leveling curve, growth speed, and combat scaling all followed patterns eerily close to the old game.

I joined the enormous line leading toward Woodland Fortress and silently observed the people surrounding me.

Climbers.

That seemed like the most appropriate name for everyone trapped inside this colossal death game.

The diversity among them was astonishing.

Humans naturally formed the largest group, but they were far from the only race present. I spotted muscular asuras, beastfolk sporting every imaginable combination of animal traits, and even several demonic humans who had disguised themselves well enough to fool ordinary senses.

Not mine.

One particularly polite-looking man reeked of blood. The scent wasn’t physical. Instead, it clung to his soul disgustingly. The sheer amount of accumulated slaughter made my fingers instinctively twitch toward my bone spear. Every instinct screamed that removing him from existence would make the world a better place.

I restrained myself.

Starting a massacre at the city gates would probably ruin my attempt at remaining inconspicuous.

As my gaze continued wandering, another detail caught my attention.

The racial archetypes and classes extended far beyond the standard fantasy selections. Some possessed surprisingly elaborate names made of two or even three words, as though they were evolved forms of familiar races rather than entirely separate species.

Meanwhile...

I glanced back at my own status.

Divine Shit.

”...What did I do to deserve this?”

Adding insult to injury, everyone else’s Classes sounded infinitely cooler.

Yin-Yang Swordsman.

Aqua Tamer.

Punitive Blade.

Flame Alchemist.

Demon Slayer.

Fire Shadow.

Hollow Reaper.

...

”Bullshit,” I muttered under my breath. ”What kind of scam is this?”

They got legendary titles capable of striking fear into the hearts of enemies.

I got Sexy Boner and Divine Shit.

I refused to believe the Tower wasn’t laughing at me.