Outside the Ancient Desolation Tower.
Thousands of people stood frozen in shock.
No one had expected the Crown Prince of Great Zhou to be so blunt with his words.
"He… did he actually say Nangong Yi looks like a dog, and even sounds like one?"
Even Leng Qianyu of the Ice Palace was stunned.
She was the only one bold enough to repeat those words. No one else dared.
"Benefactor Yang is quite amusing," said Kongxing from the Great Buddha Temple in Kunlun, chuckling softly.
The elder monk next to him gave him a glare.
Kongxing quickly straightened up, returning to his solemn and dignified expression.
"I think the Divine Son of Great Zhao looks fine. Why did His Highness say he looks like a dog?" Shen Muxue asked, puzzled.
"There's a kind of person in this world called a 'bootlicker'," Lin Shu said casually.
"Pfft."
Shen Muxue, usually cold and reserved, couldn't hold back a laugh.
Not just her—many around them began to chuckle quietly too.
Now they all understood Yang Cheng's meaning.
He was clearly calling Nangong Yi a bootlicker for Lu Jingshu.
"He's not like a dog," Tang Xingyu protested. "Dogs are cute. He's just mean and scary. He's more like a mastiff."
"Crown Prince of Great Zhou, are you trying to provoke this Divine Son?" Nangong Yi roared.
Yang Cheng didn't respond. Instead, he turned to look at the Ancient Desolation Tower.
"You…"
Nangong Yi wanted to say more.
Just then—
Boom!
The tower rumbled violently.
The ancient stone door, sealed for a hundred years, slowly creaked open once more.
Without hesitation, nearly every genius rushed forward at lightning speed, charging into the tower.
Sometimes, being one step slower meant falling behind at every turn.
No one wanted to lose this head start.
Yang Cheng was no exception.
He and the Great Zhou group dashed in as well.
Inside the Ancient Desolation Tower was an entirely different world.
The space inside was vastly larger than the outside structure.
Looking around, it stretched endlessly.
"The rumors were right. The inside of the Ancient Desolation Tower is an ancient secret realm," Yang Ye marveled.
Yang Cheng's eyes were also lit with excitement.
In his past life, his talent had been so poor, he hadn't even qualified to enter the Ancient Desolation Tower.
So this was his first time witnessing this wonder.
The door between the outside and inside was like the boundary between two worlds.
[Host has entered the ruins of the Ancient Desolation Tower? Though a ruin, this place holds terrifying danger.]
[The Ancient Desolation Tower was built by an ancient mighty being to suppress the Blood Sea Sword Talisman. The five innate sword talismans are its energy core.]
[Five hundred years ago, the top geniuses of the Eastern Wastes took away the five innate sword talismans, causing the tower to collapse and releasing the Blood Sea Sword Talisman.]
[Fortunately, a hidden backup mechanism left by that ancient being prevented the Blood Sea Sword Talisman from escaping completely, but it also turned the ruins into a deadly forbidden zone.]
[The host has mistakenly entered the ruins of the Ancient Desolation Tower, which is essentially a death trap. The host must find a way to fight the Blood Sea Sword Talisman and escape.]
[This is an achievement mission. The better the host performs against the Blood Sea Sword Talisman, the more achievement points will be earned.]
[Mission reward: Soul Refining Ancient Method (Stage 1 to 9).]
A string of system text appeared in the air before Yang Cheng, without any warning.
After a year and a half of silence, the system had issued a new mission.
That meant it had judged that he was now in a life-threatening situation.
But Yang Cheng looked calmly around him.
In his past life, the tower had indeed collapsed, turning into a deadly ruin.
But now, the five innate sword talismans hadn't been taken, and the tower hadn't yet fallen.
What surprised him most was discovering that the Blood Sea Sword Talisman had been hidden inside the tower all along.
In his past life, not even the major powers knew about that—not until five hundred years later.
By then, everyone who had entered the ruin had died without exception. No one ever made it out.
So the information inside had never reached the outside world.
'Just how terrifying is this Blood Sea Sword Talisman?' Yang Cheng felt a chill in his heart.
He had never seen it himself but had seen the five innate sword talismans.
In his past life, those who got hold of them all ended up becoming major forces in the Eastern Wastes.
And now it turned out those five were only meant to suppress one Blood Sea Sword Talisman.
Did that mean the Blood Sea Sword Talisman's power surpassed the combined strength of the five innate sword talismans?
"Your Highness, from here on, everyone is on their own. We'll go our separate ways," Yang Ye said.
"Suit yourself, Third Brother," Yang Cheng replied with a smile.
They were rivals after all. It wasn't realistic for them to stick together in here.
Once Yang Ye and his group left, only Shen Muxue, Tang Xingyu, and Lin Shu remained at Yang Cheng's side.
"Where should we go, Your Highness?" Shen Muxue asked.
"Follow me," Yang Cheng said confidently.
Even though he hadn't been here before, plenty of Great Zhou people had entered this tower in the past.
As the Crown Prince, he had access to all the relevant intelligence.
So while he wouldn't claim to know the place like the back of his hand, he was definitely among the most familiar with it.
The tower wasn't just about the sword talismans—there were other opportunities too.
Like the Wangshu Moon Stele in the Ancient Moon Cave.
In his past life, that chance had been seized by the Ice Palace's second-ranked genius.
This time, Yang Cheng planned to get it for Shen Muxue.
As for the five innate sword talismans, he wasn't in a hurry.
They were protected by a sword aura barrier that would take time to break.
Half an hour later—
Yang Cheng arrived at the entrance to the Moon Cave.
"Hmm? The Crown Prince of Great Zhou!"
Several people were already there.
Yang Cheng glanced over and recognized them as martial artists from the Great Zhao Empire.
Just then, an eleven-year-old girl in blue said, "Crown Prince of Great Zhou, this place is already occupied by the Great Zhao Empire. Please go around."
"Heavenly treasures belong to those with virtue. Just because you got here first doesn't mean the things inside are yours," Yang Cheng replied.
"'Belong to those with virtue'?" The girl sneered. "Crown Prince of Great Zhou, only bookworms believe in that nonsense—"
Before she could finish, Yang Cheng had already thrown a punch at her.
Amid the surging flames, a crimson flood dragon suddenly tore through the heavens and earth, radiating overwhelming might.
The girl in blue turned pale with shock. She hadn't expected Yang Cheng to actually strike her.
She wasn't weak by any means.
At just eleven years old, she had already reached the peak of the Xiantian realm. But against Yang Cheng, she didn't stand a chance.
"Stop!"
Several Great Zhao geniuses shouted, enraged.
Boom!
In the blink of an eye, the blue-robed girl was blasted away by Yang Cheng's punch.
Blood spilled all over her as she stared at Yang Cheng with wide eyes.
"Fists are virtue. Virtue is fists," Yang Cheng said coldly. "My fist is bigger than yours, so I'm the one with virtue. If anyone doubts that, feel free to test whether you can take a punch from me."
The other Great Zhao geniuses fell silent, not daring to say another word.
The noise drew the attention of nearby cultivators.
"Yang Cheng, Crown Prince of Great Zhou, just killed Nangong Yu, a county princess of Great Zhao?"
"Man, he really doesn't know how to show pity to a pretty girl. Nangong Yu might not be a peerless beauty, but she's definitely above average."
"Hah, you don't get it. Sure, the Crown Prince is talented, but he's still only three years old. What would he know about appreciating women?"
The crowd whispered, exchanging amused and wary glances.
"Let's go, Muxue," Yang Cheng said, ignoring them all as he led the way into the Moon Cave.
The three girls quickly followed.
Sure enough, not long after they entered, they came upon a black, wordless stone stele.
Shen Muxue was instantly drawn to it.
"This stele holds a peerless inheritance. Focus your senses, Muxue," Yang Cheng said.
Shen Muxue nodded.
With her Sacred Spirit Dao Body, her senses were incredibly sharp.
Right now, her intuition screamed that this stele was vitally important to her.
She activated her spiritual power fully, reaching out to the stele.
Buzz!
In the next moment, her consciousness trembled. It felt like her soul had been pulled into a vast void.
High above the void, a bright moon hung suspended.
'The power of Chang Xi…' Shen Muxue murmured inwardly.
What followed went smoothly.
With Yang Cheng guarding the cave, no one dared to disturb them.
Besides, the few top-tier geniuses who might not fear Yang Cheng had already gone to compete for the innate sword talismans.
Half a quarter-hour later, a ten-year-old girl appeared outside the Moon Cave.
She was the second-ranked genius of the Ice Palace.
As she gazed at the cave in the distance, she frowned slightly.
She felt a sudden surge in her heart, as if something within that cave was calling out to her.
But with the Crown Prince of Great Zhou standing guard, she had no choice but to give up.
After she left, she grew even more restless, as if something that belonged to her had just been taken away.
Inside the cave, an hour passed in the blink of an eye.
Crack!
The wordless stele suddenly shattered into countless motes of light, which surged into Shen Muxue's body.
Her aura fluctuated wildly, then exploded upward.
After a year and a half of cultivation, she had already reached the peak of the Xiantian realm.
Under normal circumstances, breaking through would've taken her several more years.
But now, she directly broke through the Xiantian bottleneck and advanced to the Martial Master realm—specifically, the third level.
Her entire demeanor changed, becoming even more ethereal and otherworldly, like a moon goddess descending to earth.
The power of the wordless stele was clear for all to see.
"Thank you, Your Highness," Shen Muxue said gratefully.
Only she knew how great the opportunity he'd just given her was.
Yang Cheng smiled lightly. "You're my maid. This is what you deserve."
A smile bloomed on Shen Muxue's face too.
Now more than ever, she felt she'd made the wisest decision of her life by becoming the Crown Prince's maid.
"Chengcheng, Tangtang wants a lucky chance too!" Tang Xingyu said, eyes gleaming with envy.
Without hesitation, Yang Cheng said, "Come on, I'll take you to grab one."
"Yay!" Tang Xingyu beamed with joy.
A hundred miles away—
A fearsome abyss, ten thousand feet deep, had drawn the top geniuses together.
They had spent over two hours breaking the barrier above the abyss and finally descended to its bottom.
All around them were five pitch-black stone caves.
A horrifying aura surged from within each of them.
Nangong Yi's face was grim.
Even though they had worked together to break the barrier, he couldn't feel happy.
If the other geniuses hadn't been here, he could've broken it himself—though it would've taken longer—and then he'd have no competition.
The only reason he even knew about the innate sword talismans was because Lu Jingshu had told him.
But how did the others find out?
Did every other faction have better intel than the Great Zhao Empire?
"This information probably came from Great Zhou," Lu Jingshu said. "Didn't you notice, Divine Son? The Crown Prince of Great Zhou hasn't shown up yet?
I bet he leaked the info on purpose to draw everyone here, hoping we'd all fight to the death, and he'd sit back and reap the benefits."
In truth, she was the one who'd secretly spread the information.
Her goal was to stir the pot and create an opportunity for Yang Xiu.
And if she could pin the blame on Yang Cheng in the process, all the better.
Whether it was for her own sake or to clear the path for Yang Xiu, eliminating Yang Cheng was absolutely necessary.
Nangong Yi's eyes turned even colder. That explanation made far too much sense.
Among all the top-tier geniuses here, the Crown Prince of Great Zhou was the only one still missing.
"Everyone, we need to be careful," he said, sweeping his gaze around. "The Crown Prince of Great Zhou isn't someone to underestimate. If he's still nowhere to be seen, maybe he's watching from the shadows, waiting for us to tear each other apart."
The other geniuses all frowned, clearly concerned.
They might not have taken Yang Cheng seriously before.
But after he defeated Baili Guan, they had started treating him as a real threat.
"I finally understand what it means to judge a gentleman with a petty man's heart."
A calm voice rang out.