"Heh..."
Bai Zihe snorted coldly, clearly not taking these shadowy figures seriously.
"Buzz—"
The next moment, Bai Zihe raised his hand to the sky, and a brilliant light instantly illuminated the heavens. It turned out that Bai Zihe had released a light screen to envelop himself.
"Bang!"
"Crack!"
"Splash!"
Just as the light screen formed, four shadowy figures arrived fiercely and struck it.
However...
These shadowy figures, despite their aggressive approach, were immediately sent flying back upon impact.
They convulsed in mid-air.
They fell to the ground, lifeless.
They were already dead, utterly dead.
"Mid-stage Yuan Dan realm!"
Bai Zihe looked at the four shadowy figures slowly dissipating and spoke indifferently.
"Swish..."
At this moment, another change occurred.
Sixteen shadowy figures suddenly appeared.
Each of them possessed the strength of the mid-stage Yuan Dan realm.
Sixteen into one...
Bai Zihe watched the shadowy figures, which fluttered like butterflies, bringing with them chilling killing intent, and narrowed his eyes slightly.
For the first two layers, they posed no significant threat to him.
These shadowy figures...
Let alone sixteen, even sixty-four or two hundred and fifty-six of them would not be able to inflict any damage on him.
What Bai Zihe cared about was:
The pattern of how the opponents changed within the tower.
And another point:
Why were the opponents of the same realm inside the Tongtian Tower stronger than those outside.
"Swish!"
While Bai Zihe was contemplating.
The sixteen shadowy figures attacked again, as if fighting for their lives.
"Splash..."
However, when they collided with Bai Zihe's light screen, the screen merely vibrated slightly before shattering them all into dust and smoke.
Correspondingly.
After the shadowy figures dispersed, a wisp of smoke appeared.
"Swish..."
The next moment, the smoke merged into Bai Zihe's body.
This time, it was more refined and potent than in the first layer, and the increase to Bai Zihe's True Essence was significantly greater.
"If this continues..."
Bai Zihe estimated that perhaps he wouldn't need to reach the fiftieth floor; around the thirtieth floor, he might break through to the late stage of the Hua Shen realm.
Following that.
Came the same familiar sensation.
However, this feeling was fleeting.
Before Bai Zihe could carefully ponder it, it had already vanished.
The entrance to the third layer then appeared.
Bai Zihe stepped into it.
"Rumble—"
"Screech..."
"Rumble!"
This time, Bai Zihe found himself in a thunderstorm.
Lightning flashed, deafening.
Heavy rain poured down incessantly.
"Buzz..."
"Splash..."
"Swish swish swish..."
As soon as Bai Zihe entered, he felt cold, yin energy coming from all directions.
This energy...
Should be from the late stage of the Yuan Dan realm.
Of course, it still couldn't pose a significant threat to Bai Zihe.
"Swish..."
While Bai Zihe was sensing his surroundings.
He didn't notice that a stream of water had already reached his feet.
The next moment.
The stream of water suddenly condensed into a large hand, tightly gripping Bai Zihe's ankle.
Simultaneously.
The water droplets and elements from all directions transformed into shadowy figures, attacking Bai Zihe.
"Splash..."
"Swish..."
The sudden surge of momentum caused Bai Zihe to be secretly astonished.
These opponents, despite only being in the late stage of the Yuan Dan realm, gave him a feeling of being overwhelmingly powerful!
Of course, not in terms of sheer strength.
But rather, in their coordination and their ability to conceal themselves within the water.
Giving him no time to react.
Several water columns shot towards him, appearing no different from ordinary water columns, but in reality, each one hid a deadly intent.
One wrong move...
Could result in immediate death, a severed head and body.
"Rumble rumble!"
The next moment, the water columns struck Bai Zihe.
However.
Bai Zihe simply condensed a True Essence shield around his body, easily shattering these water columns.
But the impact transmitted from them made Bai Zihe's expression change slightly.
If he were also a cultivator of the Yuan Dan realm.
Facing these attacks...
He would likely be heavily wounded on the spot, perhaps even on the verge of death!
This greatly surprised Bai Zihe.
Clearly.
The attack methods of these shadowy figures had reached a level of skill that was awe-inspiring, making them invincible within their own realm!
Yes, invincible!
A bright light flashed in Bai Zihe's eyes.
He also understood some of the purposes behind the Tongtian Tower's existence!
It was to teach those who challenged it how to perfectly utilize their strength within the same realm.
The first stage was too simple, just basic exertion.
The second stage involved combined attacks and control.
The third stage already contained some essence of the Dao.
These shadowy figures, hidden within the heavy rain, perfectly blended in, masking their presence, becoming one with the storm.
Even Bai Zihe, at first, had not noticed anything unusual.
This wasn't mere camouflage.
It was a manifestation of the Dao!
The highest state of the Dao was the unity of heaven and man.
Although these opponents only managed to blend into a specific weather condition, it still explained something.
"Splash..."
As the attacks continued to fall, each easily fended off by Bai Zihe.
The shadowy figures surprisingly dispersed back into the rainwater, not vanishing easily as before, but returning to the fray.
Bai Zihe had initially intended to quickly reach the fiftieth level and then begin his cultivation.
But now, discovering the profound insights within, he was no longer in a hurry to clear the stages.
He wanted to learn from these opponents.
"Splash..."
"Swish swish..."
As attacks were launched repeatedly, only to be deflected by Bai Zihe each time.
Bai Zihe could sense that the intensity of the opponents' attacks was weakening, clearly having consumed a significant amount of True Essence in their repeated defeats.
Until.
On what Bai Zihe could not recall was the how manyeth time he had resolved all opponents, the familiar smoke slowly began to rise.
These opponents also completely dissipated.
"This is..."
Bai Zihe sensed that wisp of energy again, and his expression drastically changed.
This time, he remembered.
This energy...
Was the same kind of energy that overflowed when the Dragon Emperor punished the fake Emperor, broke through space, and threw him out!
It was...
Demonic energy!
However, Bai Zihe did not know its specific use.
He could only guess that.
Demonic energy should have the effect of increasing strength, similar to Hell Blood, but its side effects were unknown for now.
Following this, Bai Zihe cleared the stages one by one.
He quickly passed through to the ninth level with ease.
The strength displayed in this level had reached the level of the mid-stage Nascent Soul realm, and the understanding of the Dao shown within made Bai Zihe secretly astonished.
"It seems..."
"After I leave, I must spend more time to make up for it."
The myriad laws of heaven and earth, this was his weakness. To avoid suffering losses in combat, he could only reach the standard of the mid-stage Hua Shen realm as quickly as possible.
With this thought, Bai Zihe stepped into the light gate of the tenth level.
However...
Before he could enter, he felt an intense dizziness.
Immediately after, he lost consciousness.