Stranger Danger

The Arts Tower of Gold Island claimed to have thousands and thousands of secret books, countless Magia, and innumerable secret arts. It wasn’t a lie.

The Arts Tower was a one hundred meter tall octagonal pagoda with nine floors. The first to eighth floor contained martial arts manuals, secret arts and Magia that corresponded to each cultivation level: Body Tempering, Qi Invocation, Vessel Augmentation, Astral Refinement, Spirit Purification, Spirit Master, Trueman and Sage. The ninth floor was where incomplete scriptures with mysterious origins or extraordinary content, secret art or Magias whose power level was difficult to discern were stored.

Each floor was also split into a corresponding Martial Arts Section, Magia Section, Secret Art Section and so on. Generally speaking, they did a pretty good job at categorizing the items and enabling anyone to find, read, and cultivate.

There were no particular rules and regulations one needed to follow on the first six floors. Anyone belonging to Gold Island could enter the floors, pick up a scripture, and start practicing immediately. Even outsiders were allowed to enter the first six floors and practice the martial arts they contained so long as they paid a corresponding fee.

The seventh floor was where things started to get strict. Each floor after that only had stricter regulations.

Those who wished to enter the seventh floor and study its Trueman-stage scriptures must first obtain the island lord’s permission. They must also submit a Trueman-stage scripture that did not already exist in the Arts Tower in exchange for the martial art of their desires.

Those who wished to enter the eighth floor and study the Sage-stage scriptures must be a Trueman or a Grandmaster at least. They must also join Gold Island afterward.

Finally, those who wished to enter the ninth floor and study those mysterious and incomplete scriptures weren’t mandated to join Gold Island. Instead, they owed Gold Island a favor. If Gold Island ever ran into some sort of trouble or danger, they must lend their aid to the best of their abilities.

At first glance, it looked like the condition to enter the ninth floor was less stringent than the eighth floor. In reality, it was the opposite. Anyone who might need the incomplete manuals, secret arts and Magia kept in the ninth floor were at least Half-Sages or Sages. In other words, there was an unwritten rule where those who wished to enter the ninth floor must be a Half-Sage at the minimum.

Obviously, Half-Sages or Sages had tremendous backgrounds. They must be the guests of honor of various sects, some of them huge. It was impossible for Gold Island to recruit such people, and forcing them to accept an unacceptable condition would only piss them off. That was why Gold Island changed it to a favor instead.