The next morning, Tuoba Kuang arrived at Qin Shi's guest room early in the morning as promised.
At the banquet last night, Tuoba Li had volunteered to take Qin Shi to familiarize himself with the Tuoba Palace for a week. Naturally, Qin Shi would not reject this offer. Tuoba Kuang was also very fond of Qin Shi. Originally, he had wanted to make Qin Shi an official elder of the Tuoba Palace, but he was hindered by two reasons. First, Qin Shi had just entered the Tuoba Palace and lacked experience. If he were to directly make Qin Shi an official elder, he would inevitably incur the jealousy of the elders. Second, it was because of Qin Shi himself. He could be considered to be quite sincere. He told Tuoba Kuang that he was injured, and in the next few months, he would be in seclusion to heal his injuries. He did not want to take up any position.
In the end, Tuoba Kuang agreed to Qin Shi's request, but still made Qin Shi a guest elder of the Tuoba Palace. First, it was to give Qin Shi a proper status, and second, it was to rope in Qin Shi. Tuoba Kuang was originally a commoner who had relied on his outstanding talent to become the princess of the Fairy Girls Palace, and had risen to power in one fell swoop. A commoner like him had naturally experienced far more than an ordinary sea palace master, and could naturally tell that Qin Shi was no ordinary person. How could someone who could casually take out a Domain Immortal Flower and ignore the opportunity to cultivate in the Deep Sea Genesis reservoir be an ordinary person?
Qin Shi had naturally seen through this, and thus gladly accepted it. He had a very good impression of Tuoba Kuang.
Of course, being a guest elder had brought many inconveniences to Qin Shi, and had incurred the dissatisfaction of several Tuoba Palace elders.
"Big Brother, you don't have to worry about it. These old guys aren't good people. If it weren't for our relationship and their contributions to the Tuoba Palace, my father would have crippled them long ago. Don't worry, as long as you are in the Tuoba Palace, with me around, no one can touch you." Tuoba Li patted his chest and said boldly.
Hearing this, Qin Shi smiled faintly and did not take it to heart. Obviously, Tuoba Kuang only saw the surface. Was it really because of their friendship that Tuoba Kuang did not touch these old fellows?
This was definitely impossible. A Palace King would naturally be able to sever the seven emotions and six desires. Qin Shi knew that the reason why Tuoba Kuang didn't cripple these elders, there must be some unknown secrets.
None of these elders were easy to deal with. They definitely had some sort of power backing them. Otherwise, they wouldn't have dared to swagger around the Tuoba Palace like this.
When Qin Shi sensed the strange light around him, he shook his head and said, "It's best if these fellows know what's good for them. Otherwise, I don't mind helping the Tuoba Palace clean up the trash."
"A cultivator at the Initial Domain Realm?
He's not even as good as me, but the Palace Master actually conferred him as a guest elder, on an equal footing with you, Father?
Father, I say, has Palace Master gone senile? "
After Qin Shi left, a shifty-eyed young man on a three-story building snorted.
Beside the young man was an old man in his seventies. If the young man did not speak, others would have thought that he was the young man's grandfather. This old man's name was Xia Qi, the Great Elder of Taba Palace. His status could be said to be second only to Taba Kuang and below only one person.
Xia Qi had a son at an old age, and he doted on his son a lot. It had to be said that his son, Xia Yang, was not a good-for-nothing disciple who only knew how to bully others. Of course, he was also a bully. In the Tuoba Palace, all the pretty girls were unable to escape his clutches and were all played by him. However, he was extremely talented and worked very hard on his cultivation. Although he was the same age as Tuoba Li, he had already achieved the Greater Domain Realm and was only half a step away from the Perfected Domain Realm. He was the strongest among the younger generation in the Tuoba Palace. Even some elders had to bow to him when they saw him.
"Xia Yang, don't be anxious. I'm afraid this kid was purposely made up by Tuoba Kuang to make us unhappy. The more he acts like this, the more we have to stay calm. Don't be anxious. It won't be long before the relationship between the higher-ups is smoothed out. Then, the Tuoba Palace will be renamed to Xia Palace.
As long as you cultivate diligently, the position of Palace Master will be yours sooner or later. "
"Father, that Tuoba Li …"
"Haha, how can an abandoned child who only knows how to eat, drink, and have fun compete with you?
Don't worry, I will naturally help you settle this. However … I heard that this kid has a ticket to enter the Deep Sea Source Pool. That's a rare treasure. I will think of a way to get it for you. As long as you can enter the Deep Sea Source Pool and gain the support of the Three Thousand Inner Realms, even if it's Tuoba Kuang, what can he do to us? "
"Thank you, Father!" Xia Yang was ecstatic.
At this time, Qin Shi, who was following Tuoba Li around the Tuoba Palace, did not know what was going on. However, even if he knew, he could not be bothered. To him, Xia Yang was just a clown, and he was anxious to control the demon blood.
In the blink of an eye, seven days passed. Tuoba Li used seven days to bring Qin Shi around the entire Tuoba Palace.
During this time, Qin Shi was not interested in the marketplace where the common people lived. Most of his time was spent on the cultivation grounds that the cultivators needed.
The Tuoba Palace was divided into five parts. Two of them were civilian areas, one was the palace, and the other two were cultivation areas. One of them had a Spirit Gathering Formation that was 30 times stronger than the others, and it was a place where a large number of cultivators gathered. As for the other place, it was a little strange. It was a barren mountain range that stretched endlessly. When the two of them walked to the front of the countless barren mountains, Tuoba Li felt slightly guilty.
"Big Brother, let me think about this place. Why don't you not go there?"
"Oh?
What's wrong with that? "
"Wrong … I don't know, but this place is not a good place. Let me tell you, this place is often haunted, and there is no Spirit Gathering Formation. It's not suitable for you."
Qin Shi definitely did not believe that it was haunted. This place must have some secret. Seeing that Tuoba Li was in a difficult position, he did not force it and nodded. "Alright, then help me arrange it. I need to go into seclusion for ten days in that Spirit Gathering Formation that is 30 times stronger than before."
"That's not a problem. I'll bring Big Brother there now." Tuoba Li heaved a sigh of relief and entered the Spirit Gathering Formation with Qin Shi with a smile.
Inside this Spirit Gathering Formation were well-built immortal cave mansions. There were a total of nine floors.
Tuoba Li and Qin Shi arrived at the first floor. He said, "Big Brother, this is all I can help you with. This nine-story Cultivation Pagoda is a rule passed down from our ancestors. If you want to enter the next floor, you can only rely on yourself to challenge it. I think with Big Brother's strength, it should not be a problem for you to reach the seventh or eighth floor. But Big Brother, remember not to challenge that madman on the ninth floor … Otherwise, you will regret it."
Qin Shi was stunned for a moment. Shortly after, he raised his head and saw that every level of the Cultivation Tower had a different number of cultivation caves. Among them, there were nearly a thousand caves on the ninth level, and the number would decrease with each level. As for the ninth level, there was only a single cave.
"Who is on the ninth floor?"
"I don't know. I haven't seen him before, but it is said that he has been in seclusion at the top ever since I took action. It has been 99 years since then. In the beginning, many people thought that he had died there. Who knew that when Xia Yang was arrogant and challenged the ninth floor, he was seriously injured in one move and was bedridden for three months. At that time, Xia Yang was already at the Greater Domain Realm. Even a perfected Domain Realm cultivator would find it difficult to seriously injure him in one move."
"Oh?
That's interesting. "
Qin Shi was slightly surprised. Ninety-nine years in seclusion?
This was not something an ordinary person could do. Although there was no such thing as sixty years on the path of cultivation, ninety-nine years … was a bit too long. Not to mention being untainted by the mundane world, one must at least be at the perfected Domain Realm in order to endure such loneliness.
Qin Shi did not say much and just nodded. Since Tuoba Li had said so, there was no need for him to cause trouble for himself.
However, the lowest floor … was indeed not suitable for him. After Tuoba Li left, he took a deep breath and looked at the eighth floor.
With a leap, he directly jumped over the first seven floors. When he reached the eighth floor, the surrounding spiritual energy was already very dense. Qin Shi was surprised to find that in this Cultivation Pagoda, each floor had its own Spirit Gathering Array. For example, on the eighth floor, just the periphery alone was already 50 times denser. If it was inside the cave mansions, it should be nearly 100 times denser, right?
He nodded with satisfaction.
There were a total of three cave mansions on the eighth floor.
He did not think much and walked to the one in the middle. In front of every cave mansion, there was a vestibule, which was specially used for people to challenge. Otherwise, if the disciples inside were in seclusion and suddenly barged in, it would be very easy to cause Qi Deviation. Qin Shi gently pressed on the vestibule. After about 15 minutes, a young man walked out. Qin Shi was slightly stunned when he saw this young man.
In his imagination, the eighth floor should be filled with elders. How could such a young disciple occupy the eighth floor?
"Are you the one who wants to challenge me?" The young man glanced at Qin Shi arrogantly. "Initial Domain Realm?"
Immediately after, the young man shook his head coldly and was about to close the stone door before Qin Shi. "Continue to cultivate down there for a few more years. Don't bother me until you reach the perfected Domain Realm."
"If I remember correctly, there should be a rule in the Cultivation Tower that all challengers must accept the challenge, right?" Qin Shi said with a smile.
The young man frowned and slowly stopped closing the stone door. He said coldly, "Brat, I'm doing this for your own good. You should also know that every challenge is equivalent to signing a life and death contract. Given your strength, I can kill you with one blow."
"Then go ahead and kill me."
"You have a death wish!"
The young man's expression turned cold. Immediately after, he exerted force with his feet and fiercely shot towards Qin Shi. A palm wind that was more than 10 meters long exploded towards Qin Shi's chest.
The passageway was narrow to begin with, and coupled with the young man's powerful move, Qin Shi immediately lost his range of movement. The only thing he could do now was to block this palm strike. Otherwise, he could only wait to be sent flying out of the tower.
Due to the strangeness of the ninth level, the eighth level had long since become the highest level in everyone's eyes. The sudden fluctuation that came from the eighth level caused countless disciples to become alert. Some of the people that were in seclusion also popped their heads out and looked up curiously.
"Someone actually challenged the eighth floor?
Who is it? "
"Damn … Does this brat want to die?
He actually challenged Lu Peng? "