Age of Evolution#

Chapter 773: Chapter 776: What is so heavy?

Zhang Lang’s bet was not easy to achieve: reaching the third level of the Thirty-Three Heavens Tower within a year. Those who could accomplish such a feat would generally be qualified to erect a monument in the Late Stage.

If Lin Zhen were a Three Flowers Warrior or even a Longevity Warrior, Zhang Lang would not have made this request.

He wasn’t just shooting in the dark; he had watched Lin Zhen’s battle videos.

In his opinion, Lin Zhen was able to enter the Holy Land thanks to three ultimate moves.

One was the Destructive God Thunder used to defeat Heigu. However, Zhang Lang had a sharp eye and noticed that the Destructive God Thunder needed a long time to incubate. Since Lin Zhen had just used it, it would be impossible for him to cultivate it again within a year.

The second was the Divine Power Pills, which were applicable in real battles. However, the Thirty-Three Heavens Tower’s guardians were created in a virtual environment where one had to rely on their own strength. Consuming pills was forbidden inside the tower, so this move could not be used either.

The last one was the transformation of the Black Hole Beast. Although this move was extremely powerful, the guardians within the Thirty-Three Heavens Tower would not allow Lin Zhen the opportunity to use it. In other words, he couldn’t use his ultimate moves, they might as well not exist.

Without these three ultimate moves, Lin Zhen was just a slightly stronger World King, at most equal to a Longevity Warrior. How could he possibly clear the third level of the Thirty-Three Heavens Tower?

So, in his opinion, he was bound to win this bet.

After hearing Zhang Lang’s words, Jin Nuo pondered for a moment: “How exactly would Lin Zhen gain insight into the monument stones in Freedom City?”

“It’s simple. I can place several monument stones together without revealing their names, and let him choose one on his own. The quality of his choice is not my concern. If he chooses a poor one, it’s because he has poor vision. If he chooses a good one, it means he’s lucky.”

“This is too vague. How long will it take for him to gain insight?”

“Heh heh, you’re really careful. Let’s be more specific. Everyone knows that the Holy Lands don’t share martial arts techniques with one another. If one can learn martial arts from other Holy Lands, their strength will greatly increase. If Lin Zhen clears the third level, I will give him five monument stones to study, with four being Xuan Class and one being Earth Class. The time allowed for insight… let’s say ten days.”

Jin Nuo asked: “What if Lin Zhen clears the fourth level?”

“Ha ha, you really dare to think big. If he can clear the fourth level, there will still be five monument stones, four Earth Class and one Heaven Class, and the insight time will be twenty days.”

“What about the fifth level?”

“Then all of them will be Heaven Class, including one Heaven Class Special Grade. How about that? But Jin Nuo, let’s be clear, if Lin Zhen fails, you must at least let me have one Earth Class monument.”

Jin Nuo nodded slightly, thinking that the bet was worth trying.

No matter what Zhang Lang thought, in Jin Nuo’s opinion, Lin Zhen had potential since he had been entrusted with special care by their master. If he couldn’t even pass the third level of the Thirty-Three Heavens Tower, there was no way their master would have given such instructions.

“I think it’s feasible. Let’s settle on this.” Jin Nuo agreed instantly.

“Ha ha ha! Good! Fang Fei and Feng Dao, you two bear witness, and let’s have a gentleman’s agreement!”

And so, the bet between the two was settled.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

They then engaged in some casual chatting. For example, Feng Dao mentioned that Heigu from the Locking God Platform had been killed by Lin Zhen. However, Heigu had already left the Sacred Place of the God-locking Platform and wanted to sneak into Falling Star Lake to steal martial arts techniques, so his death was his own fault.

For instance, Fang Fei mentioned that a very talented newcomer had come to the Twin Trees Garden this year. She was a girl from the Star River Giant Beast Alliance with an exceptionally high Talent, whom Fang Fei decided to focus on cultivating.

What Jin Nuo had in mind was when Lin Zhen would attempt the Thirty-Three Heavens Tower. If he failed the first time, how should he encourage him?

Perhaps he should give Lin Zhen some special treatment.

*********

“Senior Brother Huang, come, sit! This is Rosy Clouds Tea I brought from the New World. At the time, on our planet, only a couple of ounces were produced every decade. When I left, I took all the remaining that were produced.”

The tea leaves brewed in the teacup, with layers of red clouds covering the rim of the cup, emitting an intoxicating and miraculous aroma.

Huang Zun took a sip and nodded with satisfaction.

“There are indeed no lack of wonders in the vast realms. It’s not easy for a place like the New World to produce such a treasure.”

“I’m glad Senior Brother Huang likes it. I have two more pounds here, and I will give them all to you later.” Huang showed his stock and gave it to Huang Zun.

“There’s no need for that. In fact, since you entered the Holy Land earlier than I did, I should be the one calling you ‘Senior Brother’.” Although Huang Zun said this, he didn’t hesitate to accept the tea leaves.

Huang laughed drily, his throat producing a metallic clanking sound: “That’s not how it works here. In the Holy Land, those with higher ranks are considered seniors, and Senior Brother Huang is an Earth Class student, whereas I’m only Xuan Class. It’s only right for me to call you ‘Senior Brother’.”

“Well, then I shall accept it.”

After Huang Zun had accepted the tea leaves, Huang whispered: “I have a favor to ask, I hope Senior Brother Huang can help.”

“What is it?”

“I had some conflicts with Lin Zhen in the Earth Class when we were in the New World. But now he is in the Earth Class, and I have no way to deal with him. If Senior Brother Huang can help me demote him, I will be eternally grateful.”

“I cannot help with this matter. Promotion and demotion depend on individual strength. How can I decide that?”

“Senior Brother Huang, it’s not that difficult. Lin Zhen is currently learning from the monument stones and he hasn’t even passed the first level of the heaven tower, as such, he should be ranked last in the Earth Class. You just need to find a few people to interrupt him once in a while during his learning process to push him further back. This way, he won’t have any breakthroughs and will remain stagnant. After a year, if he is still ranked last in the Earth Class, he will be demoted to the Xuan Class, and then I can deal with him personally.”

Huang Zun had originally found Lin Zhen displeasing to the eye, but since Lin Zhen had been low-key, he hadn’t deliberately made things difficult for him. Now that Huang had offered him a gift, Huang Zun was more than willing to trouble Lin Zhen a bit.

Mechanically, Huang Zun was sent away, his eyes full of hatred for Lin Zhen.

Now Lin Zhen has become his heart demon, the enemy who killed his son is close at hand, and he has no intention of cultivating anymore. No matter what price he has to pay, he wants to kill Lin Zhen!

**********

“Whew! The third diagram is really a bit difficult – the footprints have increased from three to ten, and the changes in the Shadowless Step have increased by at least a million times. Each step requires millions of calculations for the grasp of timing, momentum, and power.”

“There’s also the sequence; each step can move forward or backward, with countless variations. But it’s precisely because of this that the Shadowless Step is so elusive.”

Half a month had passed, and Lin Zhen couldn’t care less about the Tower Challenge in the outside world. His goal was to comprehend the third stage of the Shadowless Step and then go to the 33 Heavens Tower.

However, the third stage had too many variations, and Lin Zhen had only grasped a third of it in half a month.

“In another month, I might have a chance to comprehend the third diagram.”

“And by that time, when I go to the 33 Heavens Tower, relying on my steps and my divine pearl, I will definitely be able to make a difference.”

Lin Zhen secretly cheered himself up and was about to start a new round of comprehension when a figure appeared.

“I want to comprehend the stele of the Shadowless Step, you go to the back.”

Lin Zhen looked up and saw that the man was called Li Kai, who had a very close relationship with Huang Zun.

Lin Zhen frowned slightly. There had been no one else for the Shadowless Step, and he had been practicing smoothly here. If he moved back a spot, it would definitely have a significant impact on his comprehension.

Although he didn’t want to move, he had to follow the rules of the Holy Land; since his rank was lower, he had to give way to others.

“Fine, you go ahead with your comprehension. I’ll take a break.”

Lin Zhen got up, intending to move around a bit.

Just as he stood up and walked a few steps, Li Kai also got up and turned to leave.

Lin Zhen was stunned for a moment as he watched Li Kai walk away, before returning here to practice.

But after only about ten minutes of practice and just as he started to get a feel for it, Li Kai came back and said to Lin Zhen, “Move, I want to comprehend.”

Lin Zhen helplessly got up again, but Li Kai was just humming a tune idly in a carefree manner.

Lin Zhen didn’t say anything, turned around and walked away, then returned after a while to see Li Kai had left.

Back in front of the Shadowless Step stele, Lin Zhen sat down again.

About ten minutes later, Li Kai came back and said to Lin Zhen, “Go to the back, I’m going to comprehend here. Don’t you know how to respect the strong ones with your lower ranking?”

He sneered at Lin Zhen, “What, you don’t agree? You have to bear with it even if you don’t agree. My ranking is higher than yours, and you have no room to resist!”

Lin Zhen smiled, “Fine, if you want to sit here, then sit.”

With that, Lin Zhen sat in the position behind Li Kai and, with a thought, a crystal-clear and brilliant bead appeared in his palm.

His spiritual power fluctuated, and the bead shimmered with rings of light, looking incredibly beautiful.

Li Kai sat in front of Lin Zhen, and his purpose here was to annoy Lin Zhen. As for the Shadowless Step, he couldn’t comprehend it at all. He couldn’t even fully comprehend the Gale Step, let alone the Shadowless Step.

If Lin Zhen cared, his actions would have meaning. But now that Lin Zhen didn’t seem to care, he felt uncomfortable sitting here.

According to the plan with Huang Zun, they wanted to provoke Lin Zhen to take action; attacking classmates in the Holy Land would result in imprisonment, and the Fifth Young Master would definitely not tolerate Lin Zhen.

He would be imprisoned for ten or eight years, and his rankings would probably drop straight down to the Huang Class. When that time came, it would be hard for him to rise again from the Huang Class and his journey through the Holy Land would be wasted.

But Lin Zhen just didn’t care and continued playing with the bead. This change was beyond Li Kai and the others’ plans.

“Hey, what’s that thing you’re holding? Let me see!” Li Kai straightforwardly asked Lin Zhen, determined to not let him have an easy time.

“This thing is very valuable, you can’t see it.”

“Do you know what respecting rank order is? My ranking is ahead of yours, so if you want to have a good time in the Earth Class, be sensible.”

Lin Zhen seemed helpless: “Alright, well, if you insist, I’ll let you look for a while.”

With that, Lin Zhen wrapped the bead in his spiritual power and brought it to Li Kai.

Li Kai reached out to receive it, and Lin Zhen withdrew his spiritual power.

As soon as the bead reached Li Kai’s hand, an unimaginable weight pressed down!

“Ah! What is so heavy?”

Li Kai, a Three Flowers Warrior, couldn’t bear the weight of the bead at all. The entire person, holding the bead, was directly pressed down into the ground!

Boom~!

A human-shaped pit appeared on the ground, and Li Kai disappeared!