Inside the Heavenly Origin Tower.
Yang Cheng stood on the eighth floor.
Here, he could already feel storm-like pressure pressing down on him.
But that pressure was still far from his limit.
"Maybe... I really can challenge the ninth floor."
Behind him, a vague image of a nine-clawed golden dragon slowly appeared.
It was the Ancestral Dragon Sword Body being activated.
If he only had the Divine Dragon Sword Body, even with his grasp of Sword Intent, he probably would've been stuck on the eighth floor.
But what he had was the Ancestral Dragon Sword Body.
Compared to the Divine Dragon Sword Body, it was countless times stronger.
Yang Cheng walked forward with steady steps, heading toward the ninth floor of the Heavenly Origin Tower.
The pressure on the ninth floor was a hundred times greater than the eighth.
No wonder Yang Xiu in his past life, as powerful as he was, had never gotten past the eighth floor.
Maybe after the age of twelve, Yang Xiu could've withstood this pressure.
But after turning twelve, he couldn't enter the Heavenly Origin Tower anymore.
Finally, Yang Cheng stepped into the ninth floor.
The moment he entered, a storm of destruction-like pressure slammed into him.
Even with the Ancestral Dragon Sword Body, he could barely handle it.
Anyone else would've collapsed in an instant.
But Yang Cheng's expression didn't change.
This destructive pressure was exactly at the limit of what the Ancestral Dragon Sword Body could take.
But he still had the Primordial Devouring Sword Body.
With the way things looked, he wouldn't even need to activate it.
This ninth floor of the Heavenly Origin Tower—what was unreachable for others—didn't seem that overwhelming to him.
Then, Yang Cheng looked around.
His pupils suddenly shrank.
The ninth floor wasn't a regular chamber at all. It was a separate dimensional space.
And within this strange space, a massive black dragon was coiled.
The aura of the Ancestral Dragon Sword Body inside him was sacred, but this black dragon's aura was pure darkness.
The black dragon's eyes suddenly opened and locked onto Yang Cheng, filled with cold hostility and wild arrogance.
"Human brat, even if I'm sealed by the Heavenly Origin Tower and you can barely withstand my pressure, don't think you can suppress me. Don't even dream of making me submit."
The black dragon spoke slowly. Its voice shook the void around them, humming and trembling.
"Is that so?"
Yang Cheng replied calmly.
Only now did he realize how deadly the system's so-called mission really was for his past self, five hundred years in the future.
This black dragon was probably the "hidden fortune" the system mentioned.
But back then, the seal on the Heavenly Origin Tower was already loosened.
That meant this black dragon had already broken free from most of its restraints.
It clearly carried the pressure of a True God.
There was no way the Martial Saint version of him back then could've handled this thing.
Thankfully, in this life, the black dragon was still sealed.
Its power couldn't be fully released. All it could unleash was its innate dragon pressure.
And Yang Cheng wasn't afraid of that at all.
If the Ancestral Dragon Sword Body couldn't suppress true dragon pressure—what about the Primordial Devouring Sword Body?
Buzz!
His blood and qi surged.
In an instant, beside the golden dragon shadow behind him, a black vortex appeared.
The terrifying dragon pressure slamming into him was instantly sucked into the vortex.
From the vortex came a horrifying pull, wildly tugging at the black dragon's soul.
Even though the vortex's power wasn't yet strong enough to rip the black dragon's soul apart, it still caused unbearable pain.
What was worse, that pain multiplied the torment already caused by the Heavenly Origin Tower's suppression.
The dragon felt like it was being tortured alive.
Very soon, the black dragon couldn't take it anymore. "Stop! Stop it! I surrender! I surrender, alright?!"
"I actually liked you better when you were arrogant."
Yang Cheng said casually.
"I was wrong. I underestimated you."
As the black dragon spoke, it roared angrily toward the sky. "Heavenly Origin Tower, stop pressing me! I already submitted, isn't that enough?"
The rules of the Heavenly Origin Tower were clear—whoever reached the ninth floor became the black dragon's master.
Obviously, it was the black dragon who had refused to obey.
If it had been anyone else, they might really have had no way to deal with it.
But the black dragon ran into Yang Cheng.
Buzz!
The black dragon's massive body was instantly suppressed by an invisible force and shrank at an incredible speed.
Then it flew toward Yang Cheng and wrapped itself around the middle finger of his right hand, turning into a black dragon-patterned ring.
"Black Dragon Ring… Interesting."
Yang Cheng smiled slightly.
The Black Dragon Ring was like a miniature Heavenly Origin Tower. It would constantly temper his spirit and bloodline power.
His cultivation speed would likely increase by more than three times.
This thing was basically a cultivation cheat device.
At the same time, the black dragon could also serve as his helper.
But to keep it under control, its cultivation was suppressed by the Heavenly Origin Contract.
Right now, the black dragon's strength was at the Martial Master level.
Only as Yang Cheng's own realm advanced would the seal on the black dragon gradually loosen, and its cultivation would rise accordingly.
Ding!
[Host has successfully broken into the ninth floor of the Heavenly Origin Tower and obtained the Black Dragon Ring from the hands of the Myriad Worlds' Heaven's Chosen.]
[From now on, the host's name will shine among the Myriad Worlds' prodigies. The path of reversal will be dazzling and unstoppable.]
[Reward: Inner Armor of Ten-Thousand-Year Goldsilk. Claim now?]
"Claim it."
A thin, cicada-wing-like golden inner armor appeared.
Yang Cheng put it on.
At that exact moment—
The Heavenly Origin Tower had already erupted into chaos.
"The ninth floor! His Highness the Crown Prince actually reached the ninth floor of the Heavenly Origin Tower!"
"He broke all previous records. Since the Heavenly Origin Tower was established, he's the only one to ever step into the ninth floor!"
"We're witnessing history…"
The students of the Meng Academy were overwhelmed with excitement.
Whoosh!
A figure appeared in the air—it was Emperor Qian Yuan.
The moment Yang Xiu reached the seventh floor, someone informed him, and he rushed to the Great Zhou Dao Academy.
But before he could fully react to Yang Xiu's news, Yang Cheng hit him with an even bigger surprise.
As soon as Yang Cheng stepped out of the Heavenly Origin Tower, Emperor Qian Yuan couldn't hold back any longer and revealed himself. "Hahaha! My son truly is a heaven-blessed prodigy!"
Everyone below was shocked and quickly bowed. "Greetings, Your Majesty!"
The next moment, the upper ranks of the Great Zhou Dao Academy could no longer keep hiding. One after another, they appeared.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty!"
"Having such a prodigy as crown prince is a great blessing for Great Zhou!"
The academy elders all spoke with admiration.
Yang Xiu stood off to the side, his entire body feeling cold.
In his imagination, today was supposed to be his moment of glory in the imperial capital, the day everyone's eyes were on him.
But now, all of that light had been stolen by the crown prince.
At just a year and a half old, he had reached the seventh floor of the Heavenly Origin Tower—an incredible feat, shining like the bright moon.
But Yang Cheng… was the blazing sun.
In front of the sun, the moon was forgotten.
Perhaps noticing that Yang Xiu was being left out, Emperor Qian Yuan added a few words of comfort. "My son Yang Xiu also has extraordinary talent. He is a source of pride for his father."
"Thank you, Father."
Yang Xiu forced a bitter smile.
But clearly, Emperor Qian Yuan didn't have much interest in dwelling on him.
Soon, he was surrounded by the Dao Academy's top leaders as they discussed how to train Yang Cheng.
To them, a prodigy like Yang Cheng didn't need to wait until age three to enter the Dao Academy. He could start now.
More importantly, every one of the Dao Academy's top instructors had already begun eyeing the role of the Crown Prince's mentor.
If they could become the teacher of such a peerless prodigy, their names would go down in history alongside the crown prince.