Translator: Noodletown Translations Editor: Noodletown Translations
“I’m going!” Hao Ren responded with no hesitation.
He was a bit slow to react because he was shocked by how Su Han had suddenly recovered her strength and even broke through to peak Qian-level from top-tier Qian-level; he wasn’t hesitating.
When Hao Ren saw how little effort it took Su Han to jump up five meters, Hao Ren jumped up to follow her.
Su Han suddenly grabbed Hao Ren’s collar like how a hawk would snatch a duckling. Then, she lightly jumped a few steps, easily reaching the outer wall of the Origin Dragon Grand Palace.
Hao Ren thought Su Han would open the stone gates of the Origin Dragon Grand Palace. However, she moved along the outer wall.
Hao Ren stepped onto the stone stones that made this palace so that he could catch up to Su Han’s speed.
The two were like squirrels that were great at climbing, and they climbed up this great and awe-inspiring outer wall of the Origin Dragon Grand Palace quickly.
Su Han’s speed was especially fast. Her long white boots were moving quickly while her white windbreaker fluttered in the wind. Her white outfit created a sharp contrast with the black wall of the Origin Dragon Grand Palace and made her look even livelier.
Hao Ren tried his best to absorb nature essence to catch up with Su Han.
However, he didn’t understand how Su Han was able to recover her nature essence overnight. More confusing, how was she able to reach peak Qian-level from top-tier Qian-level.
Unless… Hao Ren looked at Su Han’s snow-white face as he thought about how he increased his own realm.
Su Han closed her lips tight. Every time she moved her legs, she would jump up at least six meters. She knew that Hao Ren was guessing how she increased her realm, but she didn’t want to explain to him.
If Hao Ren had thought that of her, then she wouldn’t need to explain much of herself either.
She didn’t expect that Hao Ren’s Vital Yang Physique would help her achieve a breakthrough. Suddenly, she realized that Hao Ren’s physique wasn’t as weak as she had expected.
However, Hao Ren was still looking at her, and it made Su Han unhappy.
It should be a cultivator’s happiest moment when reaching peak Qian-level, but Su Han didn’t seem happy at all.
The material that made the Origin Dragon Grand Palace was obsidian, which was a special material. It was a material that could block all nature essence from the outside, but it was the best nature essence transmitter from the inside.
That was why this type of material was often used for elixir chambers and isolated array formations.
Because of this special material, the hundun energy that filled the Nine Dragon Palace was blocked hundreds of meters away from the Origin Dragon Grand Palace. This made Su Han capable of using her nature essence, but it was still impossible to fly using her sword around the Origin Dragon Grand Palace.
In other words, she could use the nature essence within her body, but the obsidian would quickly absorb it if she were to use it externally.
Hao Ren was chasing Su Han. It took him a lot of energy, and he was breathing hard. He was only at mid-tier Xun-level, so his volume of nature essence was no match for Su Han’s. Therefore, it was tough for him to catch up to Su Han’s speed.
Also, Su Han seemed unhappy, so she ran quicker and quicker.
After chasing her like this for two hours, Hao Ren was still only able to see her figure from afar.
Currently, Hao Ren only had two thoughts in mind. One, chasing this girl sure was tiring! Two, this Origin Dragon Grand Palace sure was tall!
Even though his running speed was about 60 kilometers per hour, he was still far from reaching the top.
He looked up and saw that Su Han was already in the white mist; he almost couldn’t see her anymore.
Hao Ren clenched his teeth and used his nature essence desperately so that he could run faster.
“She didn’t get mad when she should! What is she mad about now?” Hao Ren was confused.
His legs were almost broken from running. Although he had cultivated all five elemental nature essence together, and he had more nature essence compared to other cultivators of the same realm, he was still no match for Su Han who was at peak Qian-level.
Su Han had run for quite a while. She saw how Hao Ren was trying so hard to catch up, so she finally slowed down to wait for Hao Ren.
“How much further?” Hao Ren asked.
White mist covered the area; it was wet and cold. If one stopped for only a little while, he or she would be wet.
“The Origin Dragon Grand Palace also has another name, and that is the Heaven-Reaching Tower,” Su Han responded.
“Heaven-reaching… How far does it take to reach the sky?” Hao Ren thought to himself.
This section of the Origin Dragon Grand Palace did not look like the square building that they saw from the ground. Instead, it was now a long, tall, never-ending pillar.
Regardless of whether they looked up or down, they could only see the white mist.
They could no longer estimate the height. What they knew was that they were high up in the air.
“If you can’t take it, it still isn’t too late to go back,” Su Han said to Hao Ren while looking at him.
Hao Ren glared at her. Then, he put all his energy into his feet to surpass Su Han before going upward continuously.
Su Han saw how Hao Ren was slightly frustrated but still progressed forward steady. She suddenly smiled and jumped a bit higher.
According to the records in the Dragon God Shrine, there was a godly item at the top of the Origin Dragon Grand Palace. However, there was no mention of how tall the Origin Dragon Grand Palace was.
Su Han had to go through a lot to reach the Nine Dragon Palace. She went through all that because she wanted to get that godly item on the top, but she might trigger Qiu Niu, who was inside the Nine Dragon Palace. She only hoped that Qiu Niu was in a critical moment in his cultivation so that he wouldn’t bother with the two trespassers.
Hao Ren and Su Han climbed up together at the same pace now. The taller the tower, the thinner and smoother it got.
They had climbed for a few hours, and the Heaven-Reaching Tower was now only as thin as an arm. The mist still surrounded them, and this made the smooth black stone even slippery than it was.
They were not able to fly on swords now. If they were to fall, they would die.
This not only tested their strength but also their courage. There might be tens of thousands of steps to climb. If they messed up one move and were not able to grab hold of the stone pillar, they would die.
The sky slowly brightened.
Hao Ren and Su Han had run up the stone pillar for the whole night!
However, they still couldn’t see the tip of the Heaven-Reaching Tower!
Su Han stopped for a bit and got out two elixir pills from her storage ring. She kept one for herself and threw the other over to Hao Ren.
Her hair and cheeks were wettened by the mist, making her look very charming.
“We might need to climb for a few days. You better get prepared for this,” Su Han said.
“Another few days…” Hao Ren shivered a bit.
Su Han did not wait for a response from Hao Ren and continued to climb further up.
Hao Ren swallowed the elixir pill and rushed over. There was no going back now! Even if Su Han tricked him again, there was no turning back for him!
The sky was turning from white to black and then from black to white… a never-ending cycle.
Hao Ren thought that he was going to go nuts and was in a never-ending dream loop; one they may never be able to see the end due to array formations.
The friction against the pillar already moved a layer of soles from Su Han’s long boots. Water droplets from the mist just continually lingered on her windbreaker.
If there were still another ten days, it wouldn’t be easy to go back either!
Such a thought appeared in Hao Ren’s mind, but he could only clench his teeth and continue to climb up when he looked at Su Han’s determined look
It was another full day of climbing, and Hao Ren started to doubt whether the Nine Dragon Palace was really this tall.
Suddenly, the black tower turned white, and the white mist suddenly turned back!
Su Han was about half a body length ahead of Hao Ren. Suddenly, she felt that her nature essence wasn’t running smoothly, and her arm couldn’t grab hold of the thin pillar. Then, she fell on her side.
While Hao Ren felt like something was wrong, he saw Su Han suddenly falling, and he was scared to his nerves.
“Su Han!”
Hao Ren reached out with his right hand and grabbed her by her white windbreaker.
Su Han was so terrified that her face turned pale, and she immediately grabbed Hao Ren wrist.
“Come up!” Hao Ren used all his power to throw Su Han up half a meter and into his arms.
Su Han was spared from death. When she saw how scared Hao Ren was, she suddenly felt touched.
In the ancient scrolls from the Dragon God Shrine, they did not mention that the obsidian which was used at the bottom of the Origin Dragon Grand Palace would be switched to another material.
Without the repulsive power of the obsidian, the hundun energy was able to gather, locking Su Han’s nature essence. That was why she almost fell.
Not only was Su Han’s nature essence locked, but Hao Ren’s nature essence was also restricted.
He tried to adjust the hundun energy within him, but he discovered that within this heavy mist, the hundun energy had very little effect!
Su Han clenched her teeth as she looked up. She did not like the taste of failure.
The designer of the Heaven-Reaching Tower had put in such a great amount of effort to prevent others from reaching the top!
Hao Ren also looked up to see the top of the white tower that was hidden amongst the black mist. Then, he suddenly slightly adjusted Su Han’s body which was still in his arms.
Su Han felt that she was being moved, so she quickly grabbed hold of Hao Ren but discovered that she was thrown onto his back.
Hao Ren did not say anything. He simply used all his strength to climb the white tower like a monkey!
Su Han was on Hao Ren’s back with her hands wrapped around his neck. She looked down at the mysterious white mist and felt scared!
If Hao Ren took a wrong step, she would die with him! She didn’t expect her attitude to change from being extremely tough to have to rely completely on Hao Ren again!
She could feel Hao Ren’s muscles tighten up as he climbed up the white tower bit by bit.
Su Han hugged onto Hao Ren and was completely moved by his actions.
Sometimes silence said more than words. They trusted each other so much that they didn’t need to communicate with words!
Hao Ren was able to save the energy on talking and use it on climbing.
Right now, he had to climb this never-ending tower with pure physical strength and no nature essence at all!
Pa, pa, pa, pa… Hao Ren left clear hand prints on the wet white tower with each step he took.
He didn’t stop and just kept going for over two hours! His arms and legs felt like they were going to break!
To save him some energy, Su Han had thrown away her windbreaker and long boots. She was only wearing a sweater and clinging to his back while her smooth legs were wrapped around his thighs.
If Hao Ren used up all his energy in the middle of the climb, their ending would be very predictable!
“I had dragged Hao Ren all the way here, and I’m the one to blame…” Su Han was regretting her decisions. However, a platform that had the size of a small city suddenly could be seen on top of the white tower!