Chapter 606 – Pagoda Race (1)

While everybody proceeded to the first entrance, Miaomiao cackled like a madman and rushed to the second one.

“RUSH B, CYKA BLYAT!!”

Undaunted, Miaomiao took the first step into the pagoda’s first floor.

The interior of the pagoda was mysterious. From the outside, it looked like the pagoda was just a 100 square meters temple. But inside, the interior was larger than the Tokyo Dome.

The ceiling was 100 meters high, and the stairs were about five kilometers away from the entrance doors.

Miaomiao didn’t think anything. He dashed toward the stairs, planning to save time.

But as soon as he stepped over the boundary, which was a red line that separated between the entrance hallway and the first floor’s grand hall, Miaomiao felt as if his overall weight had increased by 10 folds.

He was surprised by the sudden spike in gravity here. Still, this basic suppression force was nothing to him.

War God Dao and Saint Dao granted passive buff to Miaomiao’s fleshy body. They increased his vitality, strength, and overall physical abilities. Thus, Miaomiao hardly felt anything.

However, the pagoda did something to him.

His dantian was temporarily sealed. He could not circulate his Qi or use active skills while he was inside the building.

‘I should expect this much. If everyone can use Qi, this assessment test will be pointless.’

RUMBLE

Miaomiao sensed something on top of his head. It pressed on his hair, annoying him.

Over his head, a red number was shown.

[3]

Miaomiao looked up to see the number.

“Hmm?”

Tugu and other initiates that had entered the hall through the first entrance rushed to Miaomiao. All of them seemed to struggle to walk, but a hovering number over their heads was different.

[1]

Tugu sighed, “Boss, you were not supposed to enter through the second entrance. It’s a rookie trap.”

“What trap?”

“As I said before, anyone that enters through the second entrance will get a random suppression force level on every floor. In my case, I entered through the first door, so the pagoda only uses level 1 suppression force on me. But for you, boss, the power level is random.”

Miaomiao glanced at the floating number over his head again.

“So, on the first floor, I have to go through level 3 suppression force instead of 1?”

“Not really. Every hour, the number over your head will change. The randomized number can be anything between 1 and 100, and it will never be the same! If you’re unlucky, you might get 100, and that will probably end your assessment test.”

Anybody that knelt or fell on the ground because of the suppression force would be automatically ejected from the pagoda. In short, any part other than their feet must not touch the ground to keep on going.

“Ah, simple.”

Miaomiao let out a sigh and proceeded to sprint toward the stairs.

“Ah, crap! Wait up, boss!”

Tugu ran after his employer while the other initiates tried to keep up with the unruly representative. While they were following Miaomiao, they stared at the number over his head in astonishment.

“Three? That’s the suppression forces of a 3-star stellar constellation immortal! That power is equal to the third floor’s force!”

“Yeah, that’s Lord Mao for you! How did he kill a deity if he couldn’t do this much?”

“You’re right. As expected of Lord Mao.”

The initiates of the 12th peak admired Miaomiao’s raw strength. They kept smiling as they took heavy steps toward the stairs to the second floor.

…

While Miaomiao and his admirers rushed to the second floor, the other peak’s initiates and candidates also proceeded to the first entrance and orderly entered the pagoda.

The initiates got to enter first as they were stronger than most candidates. All of them barred every candidate from entering the pagoda as they might cause a traffic jam by clocking the entrance passage or the first-floor hallway. After all, they might not be able to walk a step after they entered the interior area.

The elite initiates didn’t waste their time. They sprinted toward the stairs, hoping to save time for the upper floors. This action also opened some rooms for the others to get into the pagoda.

Among the crowd, Horus and Pan Mei took their time. They leisurely followed the leading group toward the stairs.

Also, the numbers over their heads were out of place.

Pan Mei got [2] while Horus got [5]. Both men went through stronger suppression forces than the others as they entered through the second entrance.

As for Jiang Yi, she staggered along with the weak initiates in the middle of the pack. It might take an hour before she could reach the stairs as she got [4] instead of [1]. Now, she regretted taking the second entrance.

Everybody slowly entered the testing ground in an orderly fashion. Everything looked peaceful and uneventful.

Until Miaomiao and others reached the second floor…

…

Miaomiao reached the second floor without trouble. The other elites of the 12th peak also caught up with him.

As soon as Miaomiao crossed the line between the first floor’s staircase and the second floor’s tiles, he heard a strange system voice, which didn’t belong to Dion’s voice.

<Mao Miaomiao is the first to enter the second floor. He gets two extra points for being first.>

<Mao Miaomiao has taken first place. He currently has 5 Points.>

“Hmm?”

Miaomiao frowned as he found the voice annoying. He couldn’t get used to someone else’s voices other than Dion’s monotonous voice.

Before he could utter a word of complaint, the number over his head changed.

This time, it showed as [6].

BOOM

The suppression forces got stronger than the last time. Miaomiao’s knees slightly shook as he didn’t expect a sudden surge in gravity.

“Yikes! Six already?! But I’m only on the second floor?!”

Tugu dryly laughed and corrected his prior mistake, “The random number range is plus-minus ten of the actual floor, but it will never go lower than one. So boss, you might get something between one and 13 on the next floor. But if you stay on this floor for an hour, the number will change. You might roll a [1], [12], or any number between them depending on your luck.”

“Yeah, I get it,” Miaomiao snorted and continued dashing toward the staircase on the opposite side of the floor, aiming to get an extra reward for being the first person.

Tugu and others didn’t compete with Miaomiao. They followed him at their pace, conserving their strength for the higher floors.

…

A minute later, Horus reached the second floor after he leaped over several elites of the other peaks.

As soon as he reached the second floor, he heard the mysterious voice of the pagoda.

<Horus is the 31st person to reach the second floor.>

<Horus has taken first place on the leaderboard. His current point is 5.>

Horus sneered as he enjoyed this treatment. He wanted to take first place in the leaderboard and conquer the pagoda to get the special rewards from Grand Elders.

He didn’t care about speed and extra points for reaching the next floor first. After all, he knew what kind of nightmare the leaders would get when they got too far ahead.

Horus looked at the number over his head. It had changed from five to eleven.

The suppression force got a lot heavier than before, but Horus didn’t flinch. As a 35-star stellar constellation immortal, this power was nothing!

Anything that was lower than 35 was the same as a baby punch!

‘Hehe, free points!’

Horus smirked and danced toward the third floor. Within seconds, he overtook Tugu and the elites from the 12th peak, who had slowed down to conserve their power.

It took Horus less than 10 minutes to reach the staircase, which led to the third floor. However, as Horus was about to climb the stairs, he heard the pagoda’s voice in his mind.

<Mao Miaomiao is the first to reach the third floor. He gets three extra points as a bonus.>

<Mao Miaomiao has taken first place. He currently has 14 points.>

‘What?’

Horus narrowed his eyes. As he couldn’t see the leaderboard on the outside, he didn’t know about the rankings of the other initiates. Only when Miaomiao surpassed Horus in points, did the pagoda update their standings.

Also, at first, Horus thought that everybody had picked the first entrance. But now, the total accumulating points of Miaomiao confirmed that the latter had taken the risk as he did.

‘Interesting.’

The competitive spirit of Horus was ignited. He charged toward the third floor, trying to catch up with Miaomiao right away.

Three minutes later, Horus got to the third floor, and the rankings changed again.

<Horus is the second person to reach the third floor. He gets two extra points for being second.>

<Horus has taken first place on the leaderboard. His current point is 18.>

Horus grinned. He glanced at the number over his head.

[5]

Tough luck. Horus cursed his bad luck that he didn’t get a high number this time.

Still, Horus managed to catch a glimpse of Miaomiao. He saw a strange angel, dashing toward the staircase of the next level.

The number over his head was five as well.

‘Heh. It’s on!’

Horus laughed and sprinted toward the next staircase. Now, he tried to overtake the lead for real.

But as Horus was about to kick the floor and sprint, someone managed to catch up to him.

Horus also heard the pagoda’s announcement.

<Pan Mei is the third person to reach the third floor. He gets one extra point for being third.>

<Pan Mei has taken first place on the leaderboard. His current point is 21.>

“What?!”

Horus was surprised. He turned around to see his competitor.

Pan Mei swiped the sweat on his face with a towel. He glanced at the number on top of his head.

[13]

“Ah, shit. Tough luck.”

Pan Mei bitterly smiled, but he didn’t seem to be affected by the overwhelming suppression force of a 13-star stellar constellation immortal. He simply gazed at the runners in front of him.

Then, Pan Mei’s eyes met with Horus’. Then, Pan Mei looked at his tattooed nipples.

“Nice taste for an NPC. What a weirdo.”

Horus rebuked, “I’m no weirdo. It’s called superior aesthetic sense.”

“An Egyptian Eye for a nipple. Yes, superior aesthetic sense indeed. Well, it’s nice talking to you. I have to go.”

Pan Mei ignored Horus and tried to catch up with Miaomiao, who had already started climbing the stairs to the fourth floor.

“You’re not going anywhere!”

Being frustrated, Horus ran with all his might, trying to be the second person to reach the fourth floor.

…

While running up the staircase, Miaomiao heard loud footsteps of two heavy cultivators from behind. He furrowed his brows, being annoyed.

“Can’t they just run quietly? You guys are disturbing my mental music.”

Miaomiao complained without looking at his pursuers. Then, he crossed the marked line, which separated the third and the fourth floor.

<Mao Miaomiao is the third person to reach the fourth floor. He gets four extra points for being first.>

<Mao Miaomiao has taken first place on the leaderboard. His current point is 23.>

RUMBLE

The number over Miaomiao’s head changed once more. Now, it became 14.

Miaomiao wryly smiled as his entire body became stiff. His knees were trembling, and his muscle started to cry from the pain.

“Ah, shit. Tough luck.”

Even though he complained, the muscle and joint pain were gone instantly as everything in his body was healed by Saint Dao and War God Dao. He kept on going without looking behind him or decreasing his speed.

…

A large screen floated over the ceiling of Sun Bin’s grand hall, displaying the leaderboard of the first part of the assessment test.

1st Place, Mao Miaomiao (23)

2nd Place, Pan Mei (21)

3rd Place, Horus (18)

Aside from these men, the other rankers seemed pale in comparison as these three ranks had been changing during the first hour of the trial.

Many spectators were surprised by the points of these people. They knew about the rules in there, and they were shocked that someone actually took the [High-Risk, High Reward] entrance instead of progressing steadily.

Moreover, the numbers were exaggerated. They implied that the three men could easily withstand the power of a 10-star stellar constellation immortal with ease!

Sun Bin also gazed at the board. He snickered, “What a bunch of monsters. Two of them aren’t even immortal while the other one is a younger brother of a deity…”

Sun Bin sighed and turned toward the crowd. He noticed that someone had already set up a betting booth.

Curious, Sun Bin visited the booth to inspect the odds.

Mao Miaomiao, 12.6

Pan Mei, 725.5

Horus, 2.1

“Hahahaha!” Sun Bin couldn’t help but laugh at the pay rate. Everyone believed that Horus was the favorite here due to his status as the younger brother of Grand Elder Rah.

However, Sun Bin knew Miaomiao, who was the second favorite. This little mortal was stronger than regular immortals, and he could compete against deities. Therefore, his pay was underrated.

Since the equity was on his side, Sun Bin betted everything on Miaomiao. He put a spatial ring, which contained 10,000 sixth-grade soul stones in there.

The booker stared at the spatial ring in shock, “E-Elder? Are you sure?”

“Book it, junior. I’m betting everything on Mao Miaomiao.”

“Err… since you bet this much, the rate will decrease by a lot. Is that alright?”

“I don’t give a fuck. Just book it!”

“Sure, sure.”

The booking agent kept the ring and gave Sun Bin a ticket. However, the pay rate in the ticket was now 7.5 instead of 12.6.

That was the impact of Sun Bin’s investment.

Sun Bin glanced at the ticket and sneered. He secretly marked the booking agent’s aura, preventing him from running away with his money.

He turned toward the broadcasting screen, cheering for his favorite horse.

‘Make me rich, brat! I know you can do it!’