Tribulation of Myriad Races

Su Yu spent some time studying the list of names.

After a while, he asked, “Can I enter with my tamed beast?”

“Yes. But you need to keep it in your beast space. Only then would be beast be considered your tamed beast.”

Su Yu nodded at Zhu Hongliang’s reply. Good. That was reasonable. Otherwise, beast tamers would not be able to properly test themselves. That would not fit the Hundred Dao Pagoda’s purpose of testing everyone depending on their specialties.

He had a beast character he could use as a beast space. But it was still a first-tier character. He still couldn’t store Skysoar beasts in it. He was only asking out of curiosity. He could take the little furball with him even without the beast space. After all, he could keep the furball in his sea of willpower. In fact, the little furball could be treated as a character instead of a beast.

Su Yu wasn’t even worried about having the little fellow enter his head. If the furball tried anything, the book would kick him out.

After inhaling lightly, Su Yu stepped toward the entrance.

Zhu Hongliang hurriedly stepped forth and asked, “Just how many levels can you climb? Remember, if you can’t climb too high, your speed will determine whether your name is listed in the top 100. Your name won’t appear if you’re too slow even after clearing the level.”

Su Yu smiled indifferently. He was way beyond the point of proving himself with something like this. Behind him, Wu Lan looked eager as well. She wanted to challenge the pagoda and see how high she could climb. As a cultural researcher, how could she not be interested in the Hundred Dao Pagoda now that she was in Great Ming?

Before the entrance.

An incredibly old man was keeping watch in front of the entrance. When he saw Su Yu and Wu Lan, he yawned and said, “You can enter yourself. Leave a name before entering so that the pagoda can remember your aura. The pagoda will record your results automatically.”

He glanced at Su Yu and added, “Don’t clear the levels for the sake of clearing them. That’s pointless. Remember the true purpose of the pagoda. It is not something set only to test the challengers. You can experience for yourself what you can gain in there.”

“Thank you, Teacher.”

The old man glanced at Wu Lan before returning his gaze on Su Yu. He said, “After entering, the pagoda will split the two of you into different test areas depending on its judgment. Anything you do will change the nature of your test. For example, if the pagoda judges that you’re a character master, you will be tested for your characters. If you’re a beast tamer, you will also be tested accordingly. The subsequent tests will be constantly adjusted to create the most suitable environment for you.”

Su Yu was surprised to hear that. That was incredible. So this was a heaven-grade cultural weapon? He even felt like the pagoda already possessed its own intelligence.

“Do we need to pay?” Wu Lan asked.

The old man curled his lips and said, “We don’t charge our students. But visiting students will be charged. Our students are allowed to challenge three times per month for free. You will only be charged if you exceed that. After all, this pagoda isn’t cheap to maintain.”

That was actually very generous. Three free entries per month was more than enough as some people might not even visit that many times per month.

Great Ming was truly rich.

After muttering in astonishment, Su Yu took out his identity card and stepped forth without saying anything else. The old man had no reaction. He knew who Su Yu was. But so what if this was Su Yu? After keeping watch over the Hundred Dao Pagoda for so many years, he had witnessed too many miracles.

The fifth principal had been here. Zhou Polong had been here. Those from the Knowledge Seeking Realm had been here. Even Lan Tian had been here.

Some of those legends were still alive, and some were dead. But he remained the keeper of the pagoda.

He had been here generation after generation. Thus, he didn’t care even if Su Yu was a super freak. It wouldn’t be too late for him to be impressed after the kid ascended the 100th level.

After Su Yu entered, Wu Lan hurriedly entered as well. At this time, Zhu Hongliang walked up to the old man and said, “Elder Yun, how many levels do you think Su Yu can climb?”

“Around 40, I guess.”

The old man yawned and said, “This place mainly tests one’s characters. Of course, having a strong body will help somewhat. But he can’t use ability blood essence in there. Without ability blood essence, he is still a top genius. Thus, he stands a chance to reach the 40th level.”

“40th level…isn’t that a level that requires one to be a freak Skysoar capable of defeating Cloudbreaches?”

“Yeah.” The old man replied indifferently, “Why are you asking? Are you interested in challenging the 20th level again?”

“Forget it. I still can’t deal with that raging beast yet.”

Zhu Hongliang shook his head. He looked at the entrance again before smiling, “I’ll get someone to open a bet about how many levels Su Yu can climb. The loser will need to run naked in the academy. Elder Yun, do you think I can win?”

Elder Yun helplessly said, “Don’t waste your time bickering with Bai Junsheng and the other kids all the time. As a member of the Zhu Family, set your sights higher.”

Zhu Hongliang laughed heartily and said, “My sights are set very high. But I’m not going to be the prefect. My elder brother is here for that. I don’t need to worry too much.”

Elder Yun decided to ignore Zhu Hongliang. He picked up his book and started reading.

***

Inside the Hundred Dao Pagoda.

Su Yu’s vision blurred before he found himself in a dark space. Then, a space ahead of him distorted before turning into a wall.

Wall of Names.

Su Yu smiled and left his name on it with his finger. He didn’t intend to use a fake name. After all, even the likes of the fifth principal had used his real name here. Next, the wall and the darkness faded away.

Su Yu was brought to a small room. When he looked around, he noted that it looked like a study. There were a lot of books in the room.

“Find a willpower text.”

A row of words appeared in front of him before vanishing.

This was a trial room.

Su Yu’s eyes flickered as he reached out and grabbed a book that was hidden behind a layer of illusion. This was too easy.

The 1st level was a trial aimed at brand new Mental Tempering Stage students. It wouldn’t be too difficult. Su Yu could see through something like this with a glance.

With the book in hand, Su Yu had a surprised look. Was this a real willpower text or was this an illusion? He flipped the book open and was surprised once again.

It felt like the real thing. Was this real?

In that case, the academy was truly generous. This basically meant that each student would be gifted a willpower text as long as they could clear this level. This was only a Great Strength willpower text, but it was still worth dozens of merit points.

After taking a quick look at the book, Su Yu shook his head. This was a pretty useless willpower text. It was the Great Strength Art. Of course, this would still be a pleasant surprise for a regular student.

After going through the book, Su Yu was certain that this was a regular willpower text. Right after he finished, his surroundings blurred, bringing him to the 2nd level.

“Reality? Illusion? Find the entrance to the next level.”

Su Yu’s eyes flickered. Illusion? Was the pagoda testing him with illusions again because he had cleared the previous level too fast? Or was this how things had always been? Numerous new things appeared before him. He was standing at the entrance to a small hamlet. The entrance to the next level?

Su Yu muttered that this illusion was quite weak. It wasn’t even as strong as his illusion. With a smile, his blood character erupted and created the illusion of another hamlet. The space around them warped as both hamlets vanished, revealing a flight of steps.

With a casual wave of his hand, the stairs broke apart. His eyes blurred as he was brought to yet another level. What a weak illusion. That flight of stairs was fake as well. If he stepped on it, he would probably find himself trapped.

Su Yu continued facing illusions for a few levels in a row. He felt quite helpless. He was not an illusion master. Why was the pagoda testing him with so many illusions?

At the 9th level, he decided to stop using his characters. The moment the illusion appeared, he released a burst of willpower and blasted through the illusion with brute force. Then, he arrived at the 10th level. This time, he was no longer facing illusions.

“Defeat a beast.”

Right after he demonstrated his combat prowess, the pagoda had changed the nature of his trial. Sure enough, this pagoda would constantly adjust the trials depending on what he displayed. How incredible.

A fire hog appeared before him and charged at him. This was a peak Great Strength fire hog. The 10th level was the middle point of Mental Tempering Stage students. For such students, a test involving a peak Great Strength beast was quite difficult.

Su Yu activated his lightning character and blasted the fire hog apart with one attack. Pieces of flesh flew everywhere. Right after the fire hog was defeated, the air in the room warped. Then, a strand of pure willpower appeared.

Su Yu’s eyes flickered. Was this the reward for clearing the 10th level? Where did it come from? The Hundred Dao Pagoda? He stopped wondering. This was good for him. He hurriedly absorbed the strand of willpower. In the blink of an eye, the strand was gone. The rewards would be richer during one’s first challenge.

Su Yu could choose to start from the bottom level during his future visits, but the rewards would be reduced. But he could also choose to simply continue where he left. He remained still after absorbing the strand of willpower. A short while later, another strand appeared.

Since this was a reward for Mental Tempering Stage students, a single strand would generally be enough since most Mental Tempering Stage students couldn’t actively absorb willpower.

But clearly, it wasn’t enough for Su Yu. Before long, the third strand appeared as well. A strand would appear after every five minutes. And he would only be allowed to stay here for an hour. He was in no rush. He waited patiently as he worked on his apertures.

The willpower was pure, but it lacked in quantity. After absorbing the 10th strand, Su Yu’s 116th aperture finally showed signs of opening up. After the 12th strand, his sea of willpower trembled as the aperture opened completely.

Nice!

He had opened an aperture after only clearing 10 levels. The Hundred Dao Pagoda was indeed a good place. While Su Yu was thinking about that, his surroundings blurred again as he was brought to the next level.

Outside, in front of the crystal stele.

Level 10: Su Yu

Su Yu’s name had appeared on the 10th level. His ranking was quite low, proving that he hadn’t been too fast. The time one stayed in the level after clearing it would not be counted.

Slowly, some of the passersby noticed that name. One of them said, “Su Yu is challenging the Hundred Dao Pagoda. He’s finally here!”

“He can probably climb quite high, right?”

“Who knows?”

“…”

Once again, the curious attribute of these Great Ming students was triggered. A large number of them started gathering in front of the pagoda, trying to figure out how high Su Yu could climb.

In no time, his name appeared on the 11th level. The same happened for the 12th level. After demonstrating his combat prowess, he was faced with a series of combat trials. For him, he could easily kill these beasts that weren’t even in the Skysoar Realm.

13th level, 14th level…

Slowly, his name started rising.

By the time he reached the 18th level, his name was ranked first.

“He’s so fast!”

“Is this like a stroll for him?”

“He’s a character master. Character masters will mostly encounter eighth or ninth-stage Infinite Strength beasts on the 18th level. How did he clear the level so fast?”

Everyone was astonished. They knew he was impressive, but those were ninth-stage Infinite Strength beasts. Could he not take it a little bit easier? His speed was making all the other students look bad.

“He will encounter a Skysoar beast at the 20th level. He won’t be so fast anymore, right?”

“He can’t use his ability blood essence here. He will probably need some time to kill a Skysoar, right?”

The students kept discussing among themselves. Eventually, some of them started setting up some chairs and tables outside the pagoda.

The students with unique characters even started shouting at the crowd, “Su Yu is challenging the pagoda. This will likely go on for quite some time. Everyone, come take a look at my products. These are chairs and tables produced by characters. Look at the beautiful natural green color on them. You only need to pay one merit point per set.”

“Students, are you buying liquors?”

“Selling tea here!”

“Fruits! Fresh fruits! I can plant and harvest these fruits immediately! Guaranteed fresh!”

One of the students started planting some fruit trees on the speed. The trees grew and started bearing fruits in the blink of an eye.

Elder Yun put down his book and sighed. Not this again! Each time someone famous challenged the pagoda, these bastards would do this. He was just about to berate the students when a platter of fresh fruits was served to him.

“Elder Yun, they’re fresh! Enjoy yourself!”

After rolling his eyes, Elder Yun grabbed a peach and tossed it into his mouth. Mhmm, it was quite nice.

But how dare they bribe him? Was he that kind of person? That thought had barely crossed his mind when a bottle of fine liquor and a pot of excellent tea were served on his table.

Feasting on the delicacies, Elder Yun decided to let them be. Whatever. None of the students seemed surprised. This was a usual sight. Before long, the area in front of the pagoda entrance was filled with tables and chairs.

The newly arrived students weren’t surprised to see this sight either. One of them laughed heartily and asked, “Who’s challenging the pagoda?”

They were used to this.

They would do this each time someone famous challenged the pagoda. Back when the fifth principal challenged the pagoda, everyone in the academy was there. It got to the point where when the fifth principal exited the pagoda, he thought that he had arrived at an entirely different place.