Chapter 293 - The Gap Was Just Too Big!
“20 years old.” The great elder of the Jiang family said, clearly remember the incident.
When he said that, everyone’s hearts trembled.
When Gu Xiqiao had entered the Trial Tower, the crowd had their doubts and guesses. Gu Xiqiao had placed first in the selections after all, they knew that she wouldn’t be too low level, but they didn’t expect her to reach the 71st floor!
More importantly, it was obvious that 71st floor wasn’t her limit!
Gu Xiqiao, 72nd floor!
Gu Xiqiao, 73rd floor!
Gu Xiqiao, 76th floor!
It seems that nothing could stop her on any of those levels!
“This... oh my word!”
“No way!”
“Where did this beast come from?”
“It’s terrifying!”
“It’s too terrifying!”
The Jiang family’s elders were completely stunned, they were shocked at the speed that Gu Xiqiao had reached where she had. The great elder was swaying in the spot, unstable on his legs. He wanted to be like the guards at this time, falling backside first to the ground.
When he had first met her, she was obviously strong. But she still had some difficulty against those thugs, and she was probably only about Fleet Foot level at that time.
The next time he saw her was the day she fought Jiang Tong, and advanced into Xiantian directly.
Today was the third time he was seeing her, and she had broken through all the way straight to the 76th floor!
This speed of advancing levels was unprecedented! Even Jiang Shuxuan, the top in the ancient martial arts world, had advanced at a more uniform speed. Although he didn’t know the full extent of Jiang Shuxuan’s strength, the speed of his advancement was definitely not as horrifying as hers!
Seeing the great elder clutching his chest tightly, Yin Shaoyuan, who had came to watch the show, smiled brightly. “Great Elder, don’t be in such a rush to sit down. She hasn’t come out yet after all.”
Once those words were spoken, everyone grew silent. That’s right, she hadn’t come out yet.
She had already reached the 76th floor, and yet, she was still in there!
The youngsters in the crowd looked at the name at the top of the ranking list, and they couldn’t help but smile bitterly. The gap was great, just too great a distance!
Someone swallowed heavily. “Say, how far do you think she can go?”
No one dared to answer this question.
When Gu Xiqiao had first started, a few elders had guessed that maybe the 60th or 70th floor would be her limit. But now, she’s already reached the 76th floor. At this rate, no one dared to guess how many more floors she could go.
“It can’t be the 80th floor, right?” The fourth elder stroked his beard, smiling dryly.
It’s a big deal to reach the 80th floor after all.
Everyone nodded in agreement to that, when the ancient martial arts world was in its peak, only a handful of younger generations would be able to reach the mentioned level.
Being able to reach the 70th floor before the age of 25 would already be enough to enter the legacy base. If someone could reach the 80th floor, they really would be monsters!
However, the subsequent changes in the ranking list made them more shocked, and everyone held their breath as they watched the name at the top of the list.
***
It wasn’t like Gu Xiqiao was having an easy time in the Trial Tower either, the speed at which she cleared the floors in the beginning was fast and easy, but it started to slow down gradually.
When she reached the 77th floor, she started to have a feeling that she wasn’t as strong as she wanted to be.
The black shadow opposite her was huge, and the key point to note was that after the 70th floor, all of them had the ability to control space.
When they used this power, all the surrounding space was controlled by the shadow, and even Gu Xiqiao had a difficult time facing such ability.
The black shadow watched Gu Xiqiao with a cold face, slowly raising his arms. A large spatial energy blasting outwards. As the space around them distorted slowly, Gu Xiqiao felt it getting more difficult to breathe as time passed, and her movements got sluggish.
Controlling space was a domineering and powerful skill. When facing a weaker opponent, the person who wielded this power could decide their life or death.
But Gu Xiqiao’s mental power was too strong, so it was difficult for someone wielding this power to have complete control over Gu Xiqiao. Therefore, although Gu Xiqiao struggled, she still managed to break through the 71st to the 76th floor.
Only, at the 77th floor, her opponent’s mental power was obviously on a whole new level compared to the previous floor. He looked at Gu Xiqiao, and he seemed like someone who could get out of this fight with just a single thought.
“Looks like I have to use it.” Gu Xiqiao glanced at the man in black, protecting the virtual arena out into reality. She raised her palm slightly. “You’re not the only one who can control space.”
As soon as the virtual space appeared, the man in black’s space shattered instantly.
Purple lightning crackled in Gu Xiqiao’s palm, and she flung it towards the man in black, mixed with some spatial power in it.
The man in black, who had lost his ability to distort space, couldn’t keep up with Gu Xiqiao with his own strength!
Boom!
The black shadow burst into green smoke when he was struck, and his face, which had been indifferent all this while, was full of horror and disbelief when he looked at Gu Xiqiao again.
77th floor, success!
78th floor, success!
79th floor, success!
***
Outside the Trial Tower, the great elder was still rooted to the spot, still flabbergasted. The youngsters weren’t doing any better. “79th floor, she’s passed the 79th floor!”
They were all in a daze, blinking their eyes, and blinking again to see if the number would change, or maybe they were in a dream. “Can you pinch me?”
“Ouch! It hurts, it hurts! Oh sh*t, this is real, this is real!”
“How is that possible?!”
This one sentence describes what everyone was feeling inside. That’s right, how was that possible?! However, it was really happening in front of their eyes. For nearly a thousand years, it wasn’t like there hadn’t been anyone who broke through the 79th floor, but they were all older and powerful people. For someone as young as Gu Xiqiao to reach the 79th floor, there wasn’t anyone else in the world that could do it!
The great elder looked at Gu Xiqiao’s name on the list, and his eyes widened, muttering to himself, “She... she can’t be thinking of going to the 80th floor, right?”
Breaking through the 80th floor was basically to be in the realm of Enlightenment, the top in terms of strength in the ancient martial arts world. Even those ancient powers with great abilities have rarely reached this level!
A master of not even twenty years old, just thinking about it made people almost wet their pants!
It was incredible!
However, nobody dared to voice their thoughts.
But in their hearts, the 80th floor was a legend, a myth. No one had been able to break through so far after all!
***
In the Trial Tower, Gu Xiqiao had begun moving faster after making use of projectng her virtual arena.
The more she progressed, she found that the man in black got smarter and smarter.
Finally, she reached the 80th floor.
Gu Xiqiao raised her head to look at the opponent in front of her. She found that this opponent was obviously different than any of the previous ones that she had faced. There was curiosity and questions in the eyes of the one in front of her.
“It has been nearly a thousand years since anyone from the ancient martial arts world has been able to pass the 80th floor. To be able to break through the 79th floor, it proves that you have very strong mental power.” The black shadow’s eyes were bleak as he spoke. “I can feel another person who has the strength, but he never advanced beyond the 70th floor.”
Gu Xiqiao had already been surprised when the black shadow started speaking.
But then he had spoken those words, not passing the 70th floor, wasn’t that Brother Jiang?
“Are you a remnant soul or just a mass of energy?” Gu Xiqiao asked, studying the black shadow in front of her.
There was some confusion in its eyes as it said, “I’ve been stuck here for so long, I don’t remember anymore.”
A few pieces of ancient jade appeared in Gu Xiqiao’s palm.
Seeing her movements, the shadow was slightly stunned. A gun appeared in his hand the next moment, a strange smile on his face as he looked at Gu Xiqiao. “It seems that you’ve recently reached the level of Houtian. To be able to advance to this level at this age, you really have good talent. However, the realm of Enlightenment isn’t as simple as you think. You may have a chance to defeat me in ten years.”
The next moment after he said that, the gun in his hand vanished.
It reappeared in front of Gu Xiqiao’s eyes, aimed at the center of her forehead, shooting straight without any obstacle!
“Huh?” The shadow let out a surprise gasp.
Gu Xiqiao’s figure shattered, reconstructing in the area to the left where she had been standing.
The black figure was bewildered. “The Five Elements Phantom Array?! That’s impossible, it can’t be! It’s obviously been destroyed...”
The black figure’s speed sped up considerably after that, a spear appearing and shooting outwards with the speed of light and mixed with all the mental power that he had, piercing into Gu Xiqiao!
“Projection of virtual arena!” Gu Xiqiao also sped up, the lightning in her hand condensing into a long sword.
Formations and arrays, forces of nature, virtual arena, mental power, all four burst out at the same moment!
The shadow was shattered instantly by the onslaught.
When the black shadow looked at Gu Xiqiao in his final moments, there was only shock in his eyes. He seemed to want to say something, but he disappeared before he could.
Gu Xiqiao, 80th floor!
Bang!
The great elder couldn’t hold back his shock anymore, falling to the ground on his butt.
No one laughed at the ridiculous image he made.
Everyone was in the same stunned state.
She actually passed the 80th floor!
“She... how old is she again?”
Shu Chen replied with a blank face. “Nineteen.”
“Nineteen years old, and a master who has reached the 80th floor. This is a massive feat,” The second elder said, wiping his face with one hand.
“8-80th floor...” The third elder stuttered out with difficulty.
From the 20th floor to the 80th floor in one fell swoop!
She had surpassed Jiang Tong, and even Jiang Shuxuan! The fourth elder took a deep breath, thinking about what he had just said. Didn’t he say it wasn’t possible that Gu Xiqiao would clear the 80th floor?
But, the impossible has happened, she had passed the 80th floor!
Fortunately, she finally lost at the 81st floor.
All eyes were on her as Gu Xiqiao walked out of the Trial Tower. They almost forgot to breath as they watched the thin and slender figure walk.
The 80th floor!
Even those with stronger powers had problems reaching this level.
Especially in the ancient martial arts world, where the requirements for advancing in the Trial Tower were more strict.
To have reached the 80th level, a person would be at the level of Enlightenment, if you followed their level categories of the Trial Tower.
They all felt like they couldn’t use a logical mindset to consider Gu Xiqiao, what kind of normal person could have such terrifying strength?
The 80th floor, this level was enough to shock the people from all the power worlds across the globe!
Murong Miaoxue stared at Gu Xiqiao, taking a deep breath to steady herself. “The 80th floor. She actually broke through the 80th floor.”
The girl beside her was also in a state of shock. “I had thought that Miss Jiang Tong was already great that she was able to break through two floors in a short time, but I didn’t expect to see this girl breaking through the 80th floor.”
Murong Miaoxue didn’t respond to that. She was only at the 49th floor herself at this moment.
Compared to Gu Xiqiao, the gap between them was just too great.
***
Gu Xiqiao walked out slowly, replaying the battle in her mind over and over. The black shadow man on the 81st floor had really high mental power, and his strength was also weird. Given time, she should be able to break through, but Gu Xiqiao didn’t have any intentions to continue on in the Trial Tower.
Hearing her thoughts, Jiji couldn’t help but ask, “Why don’t you want to break through it?”
“I’m hungry,” Gu Xiqiao said, looking at the robot.
Jiji: “...” Very good. Here’s an applause for you and a thousand points for this reasoning!
***
At the same time, news that Gu Xiqiao had cleared the Trial Tower all the way to the 80th floor swept across the power worlds like wildfire.
In Japan, a handsome man was making tea.
“Young Master Nozawa, there’s news about the one who went into the Trial Tower today,” A middle-aged man in training clothes said as he approached, his voice trembling a little.
Nozawa continued to pour the tea slowly into the white porcelain cup, his voice light as he asked, “How many floors?”
The middle-aged man took a deep breath, bracing himself. “The 80th floor.”
Clang!
Nozawa faltered, the teacup falling to the ground from his shaking hands. The green liquid splashed onto the table and carpet.
He raised his head slowly, looking at the middle-aged man. “How many floors?”
“80 floors.” The middle-aged man repeated. “The news has spread to all the power worlds already.”
The other countries weren’t the only ones in shock, even the ancient martial arts world themselves were in the same state.
***
When Yi Tong received the news, he pinched himself hard a few times, just to make sure he wasn’t been hallucinating. Then he knocked on Jiang Shuxuan’s door with a dazed expression on his face. “Big Boss, Miss Gu has broken through to the 80th floor of the Trial Tower.”