Immortal of the Ages

In a place like the Primordial Academy where the ranks of disciples were as clear as day, being a Level 7 Ding disciple meant you were sitting pretty near the top of the heap, only three places away from the very top.

Lian Xi was in a league of her own, the sole Level 10 Jia disciple!

Even Huyan Pin, a descendent of the Three True Immortals, was only a Level 7 Ding disciple.

"Alright," Lian Xi said, her heart in a twist over it but betting it all on this one play.

Five more days on the clock!

"Just chuck me in there," Yun Xiao told her, dead serious.

The rules inside the Primordial Pagoda were strict; no brawling, which meant once Yun Xiao was in, all the members of the Pathseeker Society had to cool their heels outside.

"Brace yourself!" Lian Xi might've looked like a breeze could knock her over, but she had the strength of a beast. Grabbing Yun Xiao's hand, she swung him around and launched him like a human cannonball!

"Damn, that's fast!" Yun Xiao was practically flying, hair swept back by the wind, moving faster than if he'd taken his own Sovereign Sword for a spin.

In a flash, he was inside the Primordial Pagoda, facing the first of his challenges.

This whole scene had the crowd of disciples watching gobsmacked.

WHOOSH! The group of Pathseeker Society members up ahead spun around, staring down Lian Xi with serious faces.

"What's this? Trying to dodge your dues only makes things worse," Huyan Pin said with a chill in her voice.

"He's not running. He's just taking a scenic route through the Primordial Pagoda," Lian Xi shot back.

One of the onlookers, a thinker among them, mused for a moment before saying, "He's aiming for Level 7 Ding to grant himself bail."

"Level 7 Ding? Someone in the Genesis Spirit Realm thinking he can break through to the fifth floor of the Primordial Pagoda?" Huyan Pin fixed her gaze on the pagoda, where Yun Xiao had already made his entrance.

"Let's wait and see. He's just a cornered dog, won't make it far," a young man in black commented.

"An hour, tops," added a beautiful young woman.

"Indeed," Huyan Pin slowly lifted her gaze to the fifth floor of the Primordial Pagoda, her voice cold as ice, "But I'm not about to give this dog a chance to leap over the wall."

"So, what's the big plan?" Tian Zhixiu asked, his eyes fixed on her.

"The fifth floor of the Primordial Pagoda is where the real test happens, guarded by an examiner decked out in Primordial Armor to block any hopeful challengers," Huyan Pin explained with a hint of a smirk.

"You're planning to play gatekeeper, huh? Even if he makes it to the fifth floor, you're gonna chop him down?" Tian Zhixiu prodded further.

"A piece of cake," Huyan Pin replied with a cold laugh.

"But you're not exactly qualified to be an examiner, are you?" another girl piped up.

Huyan Pin shot her a glare that could freeze the soul. "My sword's all the qualification I need."

With that, she marched into the Primordial Pagoda, heading straight for the fifth floor.

"Yun Xiao's aiming for the fifth floor of the Primordial Pagoda, and Huyan Pin's out for blood!"

The news spread like wildfire.

Groups of academy disciples, faces grim, gathered to watch the showdown unfold. They didn't speak, jeer, or take sides. They just watched with bated breath, eyes wide open.

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Inside the Primordial Pagoda's first floor, Yun Xiao wandered into one of the thousand challenge rooms at random, finding himself in a sealed chamber. The walls were stark white, but on the wall right in front of him hung a painting.

In that painting, a white tiger with piercing eyes sat enthroned like an emperor, looking down on Yun Xiao with a gaze that could send shivers down anyone's spine.

BOOM! As soon as Yun Xiao stepped in, the Primordial Pagoda started to shake, and the sound of tiger roars filled the air around him.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The shaking grew more intense by the second.

"What's with all the racket?" Yun Xiao wondered, feeling something was off. "This is bound to attract a lot of attention outside."

But what he didn't realize was that from the outside, the Primordial Pagoda stood silent and still.

"Yun Xiao!" Just then, a roaring voice came from within.

Yun Xiao paused for a moment before pulling out a tiny object. It was a diminutive white bell, adorned with the patterns of a white tiger.

"A grapefruit?" Yun Xiao mumbled to himself, staring at it.

The white tiger glared back, roaring, "You took down Chen Xi with your own hands, you're not getting off easy!"

As it bellowed, the Heavenly Realm Primordial Bell trembled, and so did the Primordial Pagoda, as if they were kin.

"I..." Taking a deep breath, Yun Xiao stashed the Heavenly Realm Primordial Bell in his Bag of Holding.

Suddenly, a fierce white tiger appeared before him, growling and baring its teeth before lunging at him! This was no illusion, nor a demon tiger, but a celestial puppet. It was the first test of the Primordial Pagoda.

KLANG! As the white tiger pounced, Yun Xiao executed a slick slide, his Heaven Burial Sword Soul piercing its heart with deadly precision.

"Ugh..." The scene eerily reminded him of the moment he pierced Chen Xi's heart, causing his own to skip a beat.

"It's just an incarnation of transcending calamity from the Primordial Immortal Ancestor, why fret?" Blue Star remarked.

"Got it." Yun Xiao took another deep breath.

"You've passed the first level; proceed to the second," a voice announced.

Yun Xiao approached the staircase and ascended. On the second floor of the Primordial Pagoda, there were ten celestial puppet tigers. No sweat. The third floor featured a hundred of them. Still a walk in the park! On the fourth floor, he faced a thousand celestial puppet tigers. Now that was a steep climb in difficulty!

He plunged into the fray, his sword rising and falling in deadly arcs, laying waste to the tigers around him. Watching each tiger fall, then looking back at him with those peculiar eyes, Yun Xiao couldn't help but feel a bit somber.

He knew these puppets had no life in their eyes. The gaze he saw was Chen Xi's, haunting him with the memory of his sword piercing her heart.

"After the fourth floor, it's not tigers anymore, right?" Yun Xiao inquired, having conquered the fourth floor.

A young man in blue replied, "The fifth floor pits you against an examiner clad in Primordial Armor."

"Thanks!" Yun Xiao nodded.

"Good luck, Yun Xiao."

"Hanging onto Lian Xi's coattails, shouldn't I be universally scorned by now?" Yun Xiao cracked a joke.

"In the real world, there are no set patterns. Everyone sees with their own eyes," the young man in blue said with a smile, pointing to his eyes.

"Fair point." Yun Xiao bowed slightly and continued upwards.

"Just in from outside. Rumor has it Huyan Pin shooed away the actual examiner and donned her own set of Primordial Armor," the young man in blue called after him.

"Oh?" Yun Xiao paused. He stood still, pondering his next move.

"Getting cold feet?" the young man in blue prodded.

"Not at all." Yun Xiao took a deep breath, absorbing the Immortal energy around him, and smiled, "My opponent's a bit tricky. Might as well break through another level before I face her."

The young man in blue was left speechless.

Ten breaths later, Yun Xiao completed his breakthrough to the Mid Genesis Spirit Realm and turned to ascend further.

Watching his retreating figure, the young man in blue lapsed into deep thought, finally chuckling, "The fifth level's already being broadcasted. Put on a good show, brother."

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Down at the base of the pagoda, there was a sea of people. Though the crowd was thick, no one dared approach the central spot where the members of the Pathseeker Society and Lian Xi stood.

The events of the fifth level of the Primordial Pagoda were unfolding right before their eyes.

Then, two figures descended among them.

To the left stood a man in a black and gold robe, his presence formidable, his gaze piercing and mysterious.

To the right was a woman in a silver robe, appearing slightly younger than the man despite being of a similar age. Her beauty was stark, her demeanor cold as ice, warding off strangers.

Tian Zhixiu hurriedly led the young ones to pay their respects, "Greetings to the Mysterious Sword Manor Master and Dharma Crown Qin."

The Manor Master, Huyan Pin's father, stood imposingly.

Dharma Crown Qin, in her silver robe with a circle adorned on the back, represented the Mystic Zenith Temple.

"Did my daughter go up?" the Manor Master asked.

Tian Zhixiu pointed upwards. "The two have already encountered each other."

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l