This is a joined mountain, known as the Seven-Earth Peaks. These six people all accidentally entered here, but their goal is the same: the tower atop the Seven-Earth Peaks.
Each of the six has a different name. For example, the one who just congratulated Evan Yang on joining is Gavin Jia, the earliest to arrive here, so they call him 'boss.' He’s an earth-attribute expert.
Not only that, all six of them have reached the ninth tier of the Emperor Realm.
Evan Yang asked Gavin Jia, "What’s inside the tower? What were you all arguing about just now?"
Gavin Jia laughed, "Since you’re one of us now, we might as well tell you. This is called the Sevenfold Tower. The so-called Sevenfold Tower is a tower condensed by the combined power of the seven surrounding mountains. It’s extremely sturdy—even Immortal Sovereigns outside can’t open it. The only way in is through that door, but behind it are multiple trials. We’ve never gone inside, but it’s said that those who do rarely come out, since most die within."
"I see." Evan Yang looked at the tower, still puzzled—were these people really planning to enter it?
Sure enough, Gavin Jia continued, "The reason we were here just now is because we want to enter the tower. After being trapped here so long, none of us want to keep waiting, so the six of us decided to draw lots—whoever’s luck was worst would go in first. Unfortunately, it happened to be Miles Lee who drew the short straw."
This Miles Lee is also an earth-attribute cultivator; his name is Miles Lee.
Evan Yang asked curiously, "What’s inside the tower? Why is it so dangerous, and why do you still want to go in?"
"Didn’t I just say you’re the eighth person here? There was another who entered long ago—he came after me, and I didn’t know his name at first. But according to what the others said, that man carried an important cultivation art from the Earth Temple." Gavin Jia explained.
Evan Yang’s expression changed in surprise, "Earth-Rock Aegis?"
"You know it too?" Gavin Jia was surprised, and the other five also looked at Evan with curiosity.
Evan Yang smiled, "Yeah, I’ve heard of it."
"Even better! Now that we have seven people, we can redraw lots. Whoever’s luck is worst goes in first." Miles Lee said happily.
The other five exchanged glances—wasn’t this bullying the newcomer? The six of them had been here for years and knew each other well, every trick in the book, and Miles Lee happened to be the weakest, which is why he was picked. Now that Evan Yang had arrived, wouldn’t it just fall to him?
Miles Lee immediately sent a voice transmission to the other five, promising benefits if they let Evan Yang go in first. Hearing this, Gavin Jia thought for a moment and said, "Evan Yang, as you can see, now we have seven people. If we want to find out what’s inside, someone has to go first. Are you willing to join us?"
Evan Yang had come here precisely for Earth-Rock Aegis, so he smiled without hesitation, "Sure. How do we draw lots?"
"Nope," Miles Lee and the others shook their heads.
"Strongest?" Evan Yang hadn’t expected their method to be so amusing, but quickly calmed down and asked, "How do we compete?"
Gavin Jia pointed at the stones and said, "Whoever ends up with the smallest stone has the lowest strength."
Evan Yang was puzzled—moving stones? For earth-attribute people, it should be easy. So why did Miles Lee lose?
Evan Yang asked curiously, "How do you move them?"
"Simple—just bare hands, no tools or powers. Whoever loses has to go in first." Gavin Jia said.
Evan Yang knew these six had lived countless years; their bodies were much stronger than ordinary people. But Evan smiled—his own wasn’t bad either. Though he hadn’t lived so long, his body had been tempered several times and was sturdier than most. If it was just raw strength, he might not lose to them.
So Evan Yang smiled, "Let’s start then."
Gavin Jia nodded, and the seven of them entered the water, each picking stones and testing a few times to find the largest one they could manage. Then they all carried their chosen stones to the shore. Evan Yang entered the water, looked around, and spotted a stone bigger than what the others had chosen. He decided to try it, walked over, and picked it up in one swift motion, showing impressive speed and strength.
The moment he lifted it, everyone stared in surprise, unable to believe Evan Yang’s strength. But then the stone suddenly dropped back into the water with a splash. Evan shrugged, "Still not quite enough."
The others relaxed—so he wasn’t that amazing after all. But they had no idea Evan Yang did it on purpose. He wanted to be the first to enter; if he got Earth-Rock Aegis, he’d be the first to see it. If someone else got it, they might not let him have a look.
So Evan Yang made up his mind to be the first. He kept picking from the largest stones, then finally chose one about the same size as the others, and ‘struggled’ to carry it to shore.
Once on shore, Gavin Jia laughed, "Evan Yang, looks like you lost."
"Oh? I lost?" Evan Yang glanced around, saw his stone was indeed the smallest, and realized, "So that’s how it is. Looks like I’m up first."
"That’s right," Gavin Jia said.
Evan Yang sighed, "You seniors are impressive. I’ll go first, then."
"Alright, let’s go," Gavin Jia said. The group gathered and headed to the tower. As Evan Yang pushed open the door, something pulled him inside, and the door slammed shut.
Inside was pitch black, so when the door opened, all they saw was darkness—nothing at all.
"Did you see anything?" Gavin Jia asked curiously.
"Nope," Miles Lee and the others shook their heads.
"Wonder if that guy will make it out safely," Gavin Jia said doubtfully.
"If he really gets whatever’s in there, do you think he’ll tell us? Or just try to sneak out on his own?" Miles Lee asked, sounding worried.
"Come on, he’s just one guy, and we’re all earth cultivators. Whenever he comes out, we can grab him, no matter what. If he gets whatever’s inside, all the better—it saves us the trouble," Gavin Jia chuckled.
The others nodded—yeah, that made sense. So they just sat by the entrance, waiting for Evan Yang to come back out.
But they knew Evan Yang might not make it, so they set a deadline: if he didn’t return in a year, the next person would have to go in.
So Evan Yang became the first to go inside. The others were spooked by the darkness, but Evan wasn’t worried—he activated Night-Eye and could see everything clearly.
"Stairs going up? Maybe whatever’s up there?" Evan Yang muttered, heading for the staircase.
He’d only climbed a few steps when his legs suddenly went weak, and soon his whole body felt limp.
"What the heck?" Evan Yang cried out, quickly retreating to the ground floor, where he felt normal again.
"What’s up with these stairs?" Evan Yang stared at them, suspicious.
He realized he couldn’t use his immortal essence—except for earth-attribute powers. So Evan Yang coated himself in condensed earth and cautiously climbed again. When he got to the spot where his legs had weakened, he saw the earth around him being slowly eaten away.
"What’s going on?" Evan Yang wondered, watching the earth dissolve. For now, his body was fine, but once the earth was gone, who knew what would happen.
So Evan Yang rushed upward, adding more earth around himself. The higher he climbed, the faster the earth dissolved. He didn’t dare stop—if he couldn’t condense earth anymore, he’d be stuck, unable to go up or down, and who knew what might happen.
He kept climbing, cursing the endless stairs. Finally, he spotted a corridor and hurried into it, relieved.
Once he entered the corridor, the weird feeling vanished. Evan Yang dispelled the earth and muttered, "What a bizarre place."
He checked out the corridor—it was a square loop, with an open center you could look down through.
Looking down, he didn’t see where he’d come from—just a mirror. The mirror replayed his whole climb, making Evan Yang uneasy. "What’s going on?"
He took a breath and started checking the corridor for anything weird. After walking a while, he found nothing unusual—except another staircase going up.
"What’s with this staircase?" Evan Yang muttered, and tried sending a clone up. The clone’s body started corroding bit by bit.
"Corrosion?" Evan Yang said, startled.
Faced with this, Evan Yang decided to let his body fully recover first. Once he felt strong again, he’d try rushing up—otherwise, he might not have enough strength to keep using earth-attribute powers.
Half a month passed. When Evan Yang was back to peak form, he built a wall of earth around himself and charged up. The climb was even tougher than before—the earth dissolved faster.
Evan Yang didn’t dare rest, speeding up his steps. Several times, his legs nearly gave out, but he pushed through.
He finally reached the second corridor and just collapsed, panting. "What a nightmare—can’t use immortal essence, damn it."
For the first time, Evan Yang was facing something so miserable—he had power but couldn’t use it. He almost gave up a few times, but for the sake of Earth-Rock Aegis, he kept going.
"This is only the second floor. How many floors does this tower have? Each level’s worse than the last. Why did that guy even come here?" Evan Yang muttered.