Sovereign of the Three Realms

Since breaking through to the sage realm, Jiang Chen had entered new heights, whether in terms of martial cultivation, battle capability, or his arts and techniques. Even facing three golden-armored warriors who boasted of strength equivalent to the earth sage realm wasn’t enough to faze him. He simultaneously circulated his golden body to its limit and called upon the Lotus. Hundreds of vines writhed around him, setting up an impenetrable barricade.

The three earth sage realm warriors far exceeded the five warriors at the human sage realm. Although Jiang Chen had the Lotus restraining them, the three warriors that charged at him had enough momentum behind them to launch their attacks from beyond the Lotus’ barricade. However, it came at a price. The strength behind their attacks had greatly diminished.

Yet when they crashed into the golden aura, that one hundred and twenty meter tall aura around Jiang Chen exploded outward like an enormous, golden bubble!

Although the aura had been destroyed, Jiang Chen’s physical body’s defensive capability wasn’t inferior to the golden aura. With the aura ablating part of the three attacks, his body alone withstood the remainder of the attacks without trouble.

Jiang Chen didn’t remain passive either, punching out in quick succession. As each punch landed on the three warriors, they were blown away. Each one transformed into clouds of golden light and returned to their bead forms. There were only three warriors left to face now, and they had already surrounded Jiang Chen in a triangle formation. These three were even stronger than the last, reaching sky sage realm strength!

“Come on then!” Jiang Chen was fully confident in his skills, and boldly challenged them. He didn’t panic when facing the three sky sage realm warriors. If he’d met them in real life, he would’ve retreated without another word. He wouldn’t have fought them head on. At his current level, he was fairly confident in facing a sky sage realm cultivator. But to battle three at the same time was courting death! Jiang Chen wasn’t the foolhardy sort. But this challenge had a set of unique circumstances. The warriors were puppets, and they only had the strength to launch a single blow. All he had to do was last through a single strike.

Even so, Jiang Chen didn’t dare treat that blow lightly. The only thing he could rely on was pure ability. There were no tricks to be played here; this was the tower of inheritance, and the rules were made by that existence. Even if Jiang Chen wanted to escape, there was no place to escape to. The only thing he could do was to face the challenge head on.

He activated the Golden Body again and summoned the magnetic golden mountain. The Lotus roared fiercely to life, erecting an even stronger defense around him. Jiang Chen was using almost all of his trump cards at the moment. The only one he was holding back was Long Xiaoxuan. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to summon the dragon, but that he was worried that the rules within the tower would reject all living beings apart from the inheritor. Therefore, he’d rather go at it alone than summon Long Xiaoxuan. If the rules rejected any other living beings and activated, they might kill him along with Long Xiaoxuan.

Although Long Xiaoxuan was a true dragon, he had yet to grow into his full strength. He would be the same as Jiang Chen in front of the overpowering formations of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect, just a piece of meat for others to carve up as they would.

“The tests of the second level need to be conquered through force alright. It looks like the warnings of the residence’s owner were right. Attempting the tower requires a minimum cultivation level of the sage realm. Even with all my trump cards, I likely would’ve stopped at this level had I rashly barged into the tower of inheritance.” Jiang Chen locked gazes with the final three golden-armored warriors. All of a sudden, they all blurred into motion at the same time!

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!

“Well met!” Jiang Chen wasn’t afraid at all as he gestured, sending three magnetic storms to meet them head-on. The magnetic golden mountain expanded explosively under his control, emitting a powerful magnetic power and protecting the air over Jiang Chen’s head.

Bam bam bam!

The three streaks of golden light tore through the Lotus’ restraints with an unbridled, tyrannical momentum. However, even having broken through the Lotus’ siege, the Lotus wasn’t so passive as to just let them pass without challenge. It chased after the attackers and sought to restrain them again.

However, the warriors were all puppet warriors of the metal attribute. Their weapons and affinities were a natural counter to the vines of the Bewitching Lotus of Fire and Ice. Whoosh whoosh whoosh! Countless vines were continuously hacked into pieces, decorating the air with wriggling severed vines. Although the warriors were fierce, their speed was still affected by the Lotus’ actions.

By the time they’d made their way to the second round of defenses, Jiang Chen’s magnetic storms were waiting for them. As wild as the warriors’ attacks were, their momentum decreased another degree as they strove to break through the magnetic storms. When they’d finally broken through and was about to attack Jiang Chen’s Golden Body, that was when the magnetic golden mountain crushed them mercilessly!

Crack crack crack!

The three streaks of golden light were mercilessly extinguished. Like a candle flame blown out by a fierce wind.

Wham wham wham!

The three lights returned to their bead forms and rolled off into the distance. The warriors possessed the metal attribute, and the magnetic golden mountain was a metal treasure. Its power was far in excess of the three beads. Thus it was natural that it would firmly suppress the warriors.

“Hoo!” Jiang Chen breathed out lightly. He hadn’t thought things would be so easy after the magnetic golden mountain made an appearance. He hadn’t needed to attack at all before beating the golden-armored warriors back to their original form.

“For everything that exists, there exists its counter. This saying is true alright!” If Jiang Chen had been forced to rely on his own strength to fend off the three sky sage puppets, he would’ve been hard-pressed even if he had gone all out. But the magnetic golden mountain had neatly countered the warriors, crushing them with ease. This had been out of Jiang Chen’s expectations.

The twelve beads suddenly rolled towards each other, as if alive, forming a circle of rosary beads again. The seas of blood around him vanished in the next instant, revealing the original appearance of the tower. So the seas of blood were an illusion as well!

The ancestor statue glared ferociously at Jiang Chen, the rosary hanging in midair.

“Congratulations inheritor, you have passed the level of slaughter. This ring of Soldier Rosary Beads is the reward for your success. Go to the third level! The third level is where the true legacy of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect awaits.”

A blinding light appeared in the second level as the voice faded, enclosing Jiang Chen within. Jiang Chen’s figure disappeared into the void as he was brought to the third level. He took a cautious look around and noticed that its design wasn’t much different from the first level. There was only a few additional hints of desolation on this level.

There was an ancestor statue standing in the middle of the level. Weighty and dignified, it imparted a boundless feeling of awe. If the statue on the first level could be described as benevolent and amiable, and the statue on the second level brimmed with killing intent, then this one on the third level was the personification of unparalleled magnificence. Jiang Chen knew that this was the end of the tower, and that the majority of the sect’s inheritance would be found on this level. He couldn’t stop his emotions from fluctuating.

He’d spent two years here waiting for this day!

“Calm yourself. This is the last trial and I can’t have all my efforts go to waste at the last second.” Jiang Chen warned himself silently. But what was the trial of this level? He looked around curiously but didn’t see anything. He’d triggered the trials very quickly in the first two levels, but where was the test on this level?

He focused his attentions and looked around, but still didn’t run into any hints. “There were tests everywhere in the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect, I can’t become numb and overconfident. If I’d been greedy and touched the ancestor statues, I would’ve been sent to a formation of sure death. If I hadn’t perused the books and journals in the library, I would’ve failed the first level of wisdom. If I hadn’t listened to the warning and come in before I had reached the sage realm, I would’ve failed the test on the second level of slaughter…”

Jiang Chen traced through all that had happened since he’d entered the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect. He discovered that it was quite apparent what the sect looked for with regard to the qualities of its inheritor—honest and sincere, conscientious yet bold, and one with unperturbed composure.

Thus, when Jiang Chen’s thoughts traveled here, he remained where he was without moving. He didn’t take a step in any direction. Rather, he studied the ground at his feet and stood in the same place.

It was at this moment that the statue suddenly shot out beams of splendor from its finger. The radiance sank into the ground as the layers of the earth began to peel back like it was a newly sprouting bamboo shoot. Jiang Chen suddenly recognized the pattern. The vast floor had turned into an enormous checkerboard!

This composition!

He was taken aback as he gazed at the checkerboard. Many pieces had been placed on both sides, but what was most exceedingly rare was that Jiang Chen had actually seen such a composition problem before. Not in this life, but on a divine level in his past life! As opposed to saying this was a composition for checkers, one might as well call it a battle simulation. He’d seen this before, and its name came easily to him— the Slaughter of Immortals.

It had been named such because even immortals and gods would be hard-pressed to even salvage this particular composition. More importantly, it’d been derived from an actual battle. Once someone managed to recreate this situation on the battlefield, even gods and immortals would fall. Whether in terms of checkers or actual battle, this composition was exceedingly difficult to solve.

Jiang Chen lost his train of thought as he stared at the composition before him. The inheritance of the Ancient Crimson Heavens Sect was the Slaughter of Immortals?

What does this mean? Jiang Chen sank deep into thought. “Do they mean for me to solve this?” Countless thoughts flashed through his mind as he stared absentmindedly at it. The various memories from his past life about various compositions continued to awaken and pass through his mind.