Evan Chu’s words made the old man’s eyes widen slightly. This young man had appeared out of nowhere, was frighteningly strong, and even knew the secrets of the Death‑Tower Grounds—truly astonishing. Maybe he really could enter the fourth floor. If he obtained what was inside, perhaps he could finally leave.
"Is that true? You really think you can break open the entrance to the fourth floor? You should know, there are plenty of experts inside the tower—almost every day someone tries to break through, but not a single person has succeeded. And everyone who attempts it ends up seriously injured." The old man looked at Evan Chu and said.
"Of course it’s true. Do I look like someone who jokes around? Tell me the details about the inside of the tower—I need to prepare. Also, why are you out here when everyone else is cultivating inside?" Evan Chu smiled.
"I’m outside because I got tired of life inside. Anyone would get bored staying in one place for hundreds or even thousands of years. At first, I was just as confident as anyone, determined to break open that entrance. But after failing again and again, I lost faith. Each failure left me more seriously injured than the last—even a fool would know to stop eventually.
So I stayed outside the tower to cultivate instead. First, I try to stop others from going in—once you enter, it’s very hard to get out. I only got out by accident myself. I don’t even know how it happened; I was recovering from my injuries, and when I opened my eyes, I found myself outside the tower." the old man said.
"Looks like you were teleported out. There are three towers here—the last one can’t be entered. Are the other two the same? Don’t you think someone might be controlling all this?" Evan Chu asked. He knew Lillian Zhang had once escaped from here; her strength wasn’t as great as this old man’s, but that was only because she was so young and hadn’t cultivated long enough.
"The situation inside the tower isn’t the same as outside. Power is suppressed inside too, but only by half. The space inside is huge and filled with fog—you can’t see far at all. Based on how many people I’ve run into over the years, there must be at least several hundred inside. But if you meet even one person a day, you’re lucky.
You’ll only know the specifics once you go inside. The first two towers are basically the same—whether it’s martial arts or treasures, it’s all similar. If you can break open the entrance to the first tower, you can do the same for the second.
Only the third tower is different—you can’t get close at all. The stronger your attack, the worse the backlash. So nobody goes near the third tower; most people stick to the first, since more people means a better chance of breaking through.
The strangest thing is, inside the tower, golden characters appear from time to time. These are profound martial arts techniques—each time they show up, they last for about half a stick of incense, which is long enough for most people to memorize them. There are many types of techniques, but every single one comes with a line: to break into a higher floor, you must master this technique first.
So everyone stays inside to cultivate. Some people have refined martial arts to perfection and still can’t break through, but their strength improves a lot—that’s one reason they’re unwilling to leave.
Some people get teleported out and then go back in again, repeating the process many times. That’s basically all I know—do you really think you can break through?" The old man finished and looked at Evan Chu.
"It is pretty mysterious, but don’t worry—I’m sure I can break through. Since there are fewer people in the second tower, let’s go there so we won’t be disturbed." Evan Chu said.
"I’m not ready to go in yet. Once you break open the fourth floor, I’ll go in myself. Whenever a floor is breached, the whole tower flashes with golden light—so I’ll know when it happens." the old man said.
Evan Chu knew this old guy was just using him, but he didn’t care. He’d come here to try his luck anyway—if he could get some heaven-defying treasure, that’d be great. If not, he wouldn’t regret it, since he’d already gotten a Glassfire Crystal, which was a pretty good haul.
Without further hesitation, Evan Chu headed straight for the second tower. Little did he know, the old man was secretly laughing to himself: "There really are few people in the second tower, because even the strongest can only stay on the second floor, and the environment inside is like hell—terrifying beyond belief. Let’s see how you die this time!"
If Evan Chu knew this old guy was trying to trick him, he’d definitely kill him. He was willing to let the man go, but the old fool just didn’t know when to quit.
Soon Evan Chu arrived at the entrance to the second tower. On the tower’s gate were characters that didn’t look like Netherkin script, but resembled ancient seal script from the Azure Tide Ruins—except he couldn’t read them.
"Lin Feng, I figured it out! I can’t believe your luck is this good—I’m honestly thrilled!" Luna, the Sword Spirit, suddenly blurted out, leaving Evan Chu completely confused.
"What are you so happy about? Did you pick up a treasure or something? Just say it all at once, will you—dragging it out is so annoying, like some author updating too slowly. It’s beyond frustrating! At least she’s stockpiling chapters for a big release, so the wait will end soon!" (Haha!)
"The characters on this tower are Immortal Seal Script, unique to the Immortal Realm. This is actually a pretty remarkable artifact—who would’ve thought it would show up in the Netherworld? The owner of this tower was once my close friend, Serena Frost, the Ice and Snow Immortal. She was a Ninth‑Heaven Arch‑Immortal back in the day.
She’s stunningly beautiful, but after cultivating the Ice‑Snow Codex, she developed an icy, cold aura—hence her title, Ice and Snow Immortal. This tower is called the Tri‑Mystic Tower, and it’s famous even in the Immortal Realm. It can split into three, which is pretty miraculous. I’m sure the master Lillian Zhang mentioned is actually her!" Luna said.
Evan Chu frowned slightly, then asked, "So does that mean I can claim the Tri‑Mystic Tower? And everything inside it?"
"Pretty much, but you’ll need time to break through the entrance barriers. Serena Frost is cold and doesn’t interact with people easily—she’s probably in soul‑form now, using the towers to restore her soul power. If you can help her, I believe you’ll get what you want." Luna said.
"That’s reassuring. Looks like coming to the Death‑Tower Grounds was the right call. Now I just wonder—who’s prettier, Serena Frost or you?" Evan Chu joked.
"You never give up, do you? Serena Frost is famous for being cold and ruthless—if you try anything with her, you’ll be dead before you know it. Seriously, what kind of person sees a beautiful woman and immediately wants to win her over?" Luna complained.
Evan Chu said nothing—he’d only been joking anyway. He had no interest in soul‑form women; Luna had already been giving him headaches for ages. Only he knew what it was like to look but not touch.
With that, Evan Chu stepped through the tower gate. From outside, everything inside was visible, but once he entered, it felt like a whole new world—fog everywhere, no end in sight.
Sure enough, it was just like the old man said—everything here was strange. Evan Chu reminded himself to stay alert.
Evan Chu slowly expanded his spiritual sense and found the space inside was enormous—he couldn’t even see the edges with his current power. So he immediately released Jade Chu and Tom Chu from his storage ring.
When the two appeared and saw the surroundings, Tom Chu immediately said, "What a brilliant illusion—way more advanced than anything I can create. Big Brother, where are we? How could such an illusion exist?"
"We’re inside a tower, and I know nothing about illusions. Tom, see if you can find the exit so we can get to the second floor. All I see is fog—nothing else," Evan Chu said.
"This illusion may be advanced, but it’s useless against me—I’m the Illusion Sprite. I can find the exit in any illusion, and even Jade isn’t as good as I am at this," Tom Chu laughed.
"Tom, are you asking for a beating? How dare you brag about being better than Jade? Well, in this area, you really are the best. Hurry up and find the entrance to the second floor so Big Brother can go in!" Jade Chu said.
Tom Chu nodded, then instantly transformed into his Mirage Pearl form, flew a lap in the air, and disappeared. After a while, he returned, changed back to human shape, and said to Evan Chu, "Big Brother, follow me—the entrance to the second floor is five meters ahead. But I noticed there are dozens of powerful people cultivating on the first floor, which is odd."
"Yeah, I know. They’re all trying to reach the second floor but can’t find the entrance, so they’re cultivating martial arts to get stronger and break through. Let’s ignore them and head up as quickly as possible," Evan Chu said.
With Tom Chu leading the way, Evan Chu and Jade Chu quickly reached the second floor. It was just as foggy as the first, so Evan Chu had Tom Chu guide them straight to the third floor. But the third floor was completely different—it looked exactly like the real world, or maybe like the Azure Tide Ruins.
There were mountains, rivers, trees, and flowers everywhere, plus birds and beasts—truly magical. The strangest part was that all the plants were vividly green. But Evan Chu wasn’t interested in any of that; he needed to get to the fourth floor as soon as possible. No one had ever opened the entrance to the fourth floor yet.
Actually, Evan Chu didn’t know that the first and second floors had originally looked like this too. Whenever someone broke open an entrance, the floor would turn foggy to block casual entry. If Evan Chu opened the third floor, it would also become fog-filled.