Immortality Cultivation

Stepping into the seven-colored light gate, Fang Hao felt like he had been thrown into a high-speed rotating washing machine, and a fucking one with blades at that!

Dizziness was an understatement; from all directions came waves of tearing, crushing, and twisting immense force, as if trying to mash him up and knead him into a new shape!

His protective spiritual light creaked, on the verge of shattering!

"Damn! So intense?!"

Fang Hao cursed inwardly and hurriedly used every ounce of his strength!

The Chaos Derivation Art circulated wildly, and pure Chaos Spiritual Power spread throughout his body; his cultivation, which had just reached the Middle Golden Core Stage, erupted without reservation; the first level of the Hundred Refinements Golden Body Art was pushed to the limit, a bronze luster appeared under his skin, and he forcefully resisted this spatial turbulence!

He felt like a ball dropped into a torrential current, knocked about and completely unable to control his direction.

Before his eyes were nothing but twisted, rotating bands of colorful light; he couldn’t see anything clearly.

His bones creaked under the pressure, and his internal organs felt like they were shifting out of place!

"Damn it, is even the entrance to this tenth floor so hard to get through?!"

Fang Hao gritted his teeth, cursing the white-bearded old man a hundred times in his heart.

Is this a trial? This is lethal!

He didn’t know how long he had been tumbled about, but just as he felt like he was about to fall apart, the pressure around him suddenly lightened!

With a "thud," he was flung out like a torn sack, slamming heavily onto the hard ground, causing him to see stars and nearly lose his breath.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Fang Hao lay on the ground, coughing for a long time before he caught his breath.

He struggled to sit up and hurriedly checked himself.

Good heavens, his bones ached as if they were falling apart, his spiritual power was mostly depleted, and his clothes were tattered, making him look worse than a beggar.

Fortunately, he hadn’t suffered any fatal injuries, just some exhaustion.

As he swallowed a Medicinal Pill to recover his Qi, he looked up to survey his surroundings.

At this sight, he was stunned.

Before him was not some perilous land, nor some grand palace illusion, but a... ruin.

A vast, boundless ruin of an ancient city.

Broken walls and ruins, collapsed palaces, shattered stone statues, dried-up riverbeds... everything was shrouded in a dead, desolate, gray tone.

The sky was leaden gray, with no sun and no clouds, the light dim and so oppressive that it made it hard to breathe.

The air was permeated with an impenetrable, thick Death Qi and a... indescribable, sorrowful Concept.

"What kind of place is this? Is this the tenth floor?"

Fang Hao was a bit dazed.

He had thought the tenth floor would be a mountain of blades and a sea of fire, or a dance of demons, but instead, he was given a tour of a doomsday ruin?

He didn’t dare to be careless, activating his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes to scan carefully.

The ruins were lifeless; he felt no Aura of living things, nor did he detect any fluctuations of Formations or Restrictions.

It seemed... just an ordinary, dilapidated city?

"When things are abnormal, there must be demons!"

Fang Hao muttered to himself, gripping his yitian sword tightly, and carefully made his way through the ruins.

Beneath his feet was thick dust and gravel, making a "rustling" sound with every step, which was exceptionally jarring in this dead-silent environment.

He walked very slowly, his Divine Sense fully extended, vigilant against any movement.

But after walking for a long time, apart from the sound of his own footsteps and breathing, there wasn’t a damn sound.

This damn place was quiet enough to make one’s skin crawl.

"Where’s the trial? What about the ’ten deaths, no life’ promise? Are you messing with me?"

The further Fang Hao walked, the more he felt something was wrong.

This was more uncomfortable than having a Demon Beast jump out for a fight!

This kind of unknown waiting was the most torturous!

He continued forward for a while, and a relatively intact square appeared ahead.

In the center of the square stood a huge humanoid stone statue, but it was dilapidated, with only half a body and one arm remaining, its face blurred and covered in cracks.

Fang Hao walked to the front of the statue, looking up at the broken giant, and could feel an Aura of vicissitudes and tragedy.

He reached out to touch the cold base of the statue; it felt ice-cold to the touch.

Just then, a sudden change occurred!

The only intact arm of the broken stone statue suddenly moved!

Stone dust fell rustling down!

Immediately after, two balls of ghostly blue flames suddenly lit up in the statue’s hollow eye sockets!

"It’s alive?!"

Fang Hao was terrified, his Soul Flying Away and Spirit Scattering, and he instantly erupted with the Divine Spirit Steps, retreating dozens of zhang in a flash!

He held the yitian sword across his chest, summoning all his spiritual power!

Rumble—!

The broken stone statue vibrated violently and actually stood up slowly from its base!

It was too tall; standing up, it was comparable to a small mountain!

Although incomplete, that terrifying Aura swept out like a tidal wave, pressing down on Fang Hao until he couldn’t breathe!

This Aura... far exceeded the Golden Core! It was at least the Nascent Soul Level! Or even stronger!

"Intruder... die..."

The stone statue emitted a low, hoarse voice like grinding boulders, carrying endless deathly silence and killing intent!

It raised its only remaining stone arm, clenched it into a fist, and with an Aura that could crush everything, smashed it down directly at Fang Hao’s head!

Before the fist arrived, the terrifying wind from the punch had already cracked the ground!

"Fuck!"

Fang Hao’s scalp tingled; without thinking, he desperately activated Shrinking the Ground to an Inch, dodging wildly to the side!

This was simply not something he could resist head-on!

Boom—!!!

The stone fist smashed down, shaking the earth!

The place where Fang Hao had just been standing was smashed into a bottomless pit!

The shockwave sent Fang Hao flying, slamming him heavily against a broken wall, and with a sweet taste in his throat, he spat out a mouthful of blood!

"Damn! A stone man at the Nascent Soul Stage! How do I fight this?!"

Fang Hao’s heart went cold.

This trial was too perverted! Sending out a Nascent Soul combat power directly?

Isn’t this clearly asking him to go to his death?

The stone statue’s punch missed, and it seemed enraged; the ghostly blue flames in its eye sockets flickered, and it took huge strides, chasing after Fang Hao again!

Every step shook the earth!

Run! Must run!

Fang Hao couldn’t even muster a thought of resistance; the gap was too big!

He used Divine Spirit Steps and Shrinking the Ground to an Inch, sprinting for his life through the ruins, using the broken walls and ruins to dodge the stone statue’s attacks!

Although the stone statue had terrifying strength, its movements were relatively slow.

Relying on his agile movement technique, Fang Hao narrowly avoided the smashing stone fists and stomping feet time and time again.

But the stone statue’s attack range was too large; even a graze from the wind of its fists or feet made his blood churn and his injuries constantly worsen!

This couldn’t go on! He would be exhausted to death sooner or later!

As he ran, Fang Hao frantically thought of countermeasures.

Fighting head-on was suicide, and he couldn’t run out of the ruins (he had tried; there was an invisible barrier at the edge of the ruins). What to do?

"Weakness! There must be a weakness!"

Fang Hao’s Clear Spring Spirit Eyes were locked tightly onto the stone statue.

This thing was an inanimate object, driven by energy!

Those two balls of ghostly blue flames must be the core!

But how to get close? The stone statue’s defense was too strong; the yitian sword would probably only leave a white mark if he slashed it!

He tried using the empty clarity mirror to shine on it, but the mirror light hitting the stone statue only made it pause slightly; it was useless!

He threw an explosive flame talisman, but it was like setting off fireworks!

The stone statue smashed another punch, and Fang Hao dodged it in a sorry state, his body covered in blood from the flying gravel.

He hid behind a half-collapsed palace, panting heavily.

"Calm down! Calm down!"

Fang Hao forced himself to calm down.

This trial couldn’t be unsolvable!

The white-bearded old man had said that from the tenth floor onwards, it was the "Path of the Non-Human," so the trial definitely wasn’t about brute force!

He carefully observed the stone statue’s movement pattern and found that although its strength was invincible, its attack method was very monotonous—just smashing and stomping—and it was very slow at turning and changing direction.

More importantly, it seemed... to lack intelligence? Just attacking intruders by instinct?

"No intelligence... relying on instinct..."

Fang Hao’s eyes lit up! He had a way!

He rushed out of his hiding place again; this time, he didn’t just run away blindly but started circling the stone statue, specifically diving into those narrow alleys of the ruins!

The stone statue was huge; it had a clear advantage in spacious areas, but in narrow alleys, it couldn’t maneuver!

Sure enough, as the stone statue chased into the alleys, its movements became even clumsier; its huge body was often stuck by broken walls, and it let out angry roars.

Fang Hao seized the opportunity, condensing his Sword Intent on the yitian sword, and specifically attacked the stone statue’s ankles, knees, and other support points!

Although he still couldn’t break its defense, attacking one point continuously could leave shallow marks, making its movements even more inconvenient!

"Wear it down! I’m going to wear you down!"

Fang Hao became ruthless, pushing his movement technique to the limit, jumping around the stone statue like a flea, constantly harassing and attacking it.

He didn’t dare to clash head-on, relying entirely on guerrilla tactics.

The stone statue was thoroughly enraged, its attacks becoming more violent, but it couldn’t hit Fang Hao and instead got itself stuck even more firmly.

The battle turned into a long war of attrition.

Fang Hao’s spiritual power consumption was huge, and his injuries were not light, but he gritted his teeth and held on, constantly swallowing Medicinal Pills.

The stone statue’s energy seemed endless, but its movements were becoming slower and slower.

He didn’t know how long it had been, but the ghostly blue flames in the stone statue’s eye sockets seemed to dim a little!

"It’s working!"

Fang Hao’s spirits were greatly lifted!

This stone man wasn’t a perpetual motion machine! Driving such a huge body must also consume a lot of energy!

He harassed and attacked even more vigorously, specifically targeting the nodes where the stone statue’s energy circulated (his Clear Spring Spirit Eyes could vaguely see the energy flow).

Finally, when Fang Hao was about to run out of steam, the stone statue’s movements were as slow as a snail, and the flames in its eye sockets were so weak they were about to extinguish.

It raised its stone arm, wanting to make one final attack, but it stiffened in mid-air, unable to move.

Rumble!

The huge stone body fell to the ground like a collapsing mountain of gold and jade, shattering into countless pieces.

The flames in its eye sockets were completely extinguished.

A streak of extremely pure gray energy, containing a strange vitality, drifted out from the shattered stone statue and merged into Fang Hao’s body.

Fang Hao slumped on the ground, not even wanting to move a finger.

This energy quickly repaired his injuries, replenished his spiritual power, and even... gave him a faint realization of the Concept of life, death, and annihilation.

"Passed..."

He lay on the ground, looking at the leaden gray sky, and grinned, although the smile was uglier than crying.

This tenth floor didn’t test strength; it tested intelligence, resilience, and the ability to find a glimmer of life in a desperate situation.