Chapter 129

The Tower of Origin's interior is maintained by extraordinary array patterns set up by the Twin Gods.

In layman's terms, these array patterns are like "elevators" in a building, only more convenient and faster!

Only those who have been certified or approved by an authority figure can enter the tower.

And for those entering the tower other than the owner of the Fire Seed, the areas they can access vary depending on their level of authorization...

Gu Xiaoman originally wanted to return directly to her "residence."

But upon stepping into the tower, she was enveloped by array patterns. With the changing of light, she was already transported to the public area in the middle of the Tower of Origin.

"Xiaoman, you're back?"

The person speaking was Yun Hu. He sat on the high seat at the end of the hall, a gentle smile on his face.

In front of him, in the spacious hall, stood several young figures, scattered about.

As the array patterns took shape and the sound of wind dissipated, these people were attracted by the commotion and turned to look at Gu Xiaoman in unison.

As one of the Four Divine Envoys, and the highest-ranking authority figure in the Tower of Origin besides the God Seats and Apostles, Yun Hu could access almost any part of this towering pagoda.

However, his "privilege" was about to come to an end.

Now was the time for him to choose his successor.

"Lord Yun Hu, I just finished my training and I'm very tired," Gu Xiaoman said expressionlessly. "If you don't have anything else, I'll go back first."

"No rush."

Yun Hu smiled. "Everyone, please allow me to introduce the young lady before you… You must not underestimate her. She is known as the most outstanding genius of the Tower of Origin in the past decade, and also the owner of the quasi-S-rank ability [Annihilating Dreams]."

Several young figures' gazes fell on Gu Xiaoman.

They carefully scrutinized this unremarkable little girl, their eyes flickering.

Gu Xiaoman knew.

Those standing here were most likely Yun Hu's candidates.

She sensed them slightly. The strongest among them was a silver-haired man nearly two meters tall, probably at the eighth or ninth level of the Deep Water Zone… Was this Hiddal from Rein City?

Their eyes met for a moment.

Hiddal was expressionless, one hand on the hilt of his sword. Although he didn't say anything, his sharpness was already evident.

"These people are hostile towards me…"

Gu Xiaoman's expression didn't change, but she had a rough idea of what was going on.

The Red Dragon hadn't announced the candidates yet.

Most likely… he wanted to push her out.

As the Four Divine Envoys were replaced, the position of the head Envoy would naturally change as well. This was why she was being targeted by these candidates.

Yun Hu looked at the young people under his command and said slowly, "You have come from the four regions, through wind and rain, which is not easy. If you can exchange blows with the owner of the [Annihilating Dreams] ability, win or lose, it will be worth the trip."

The hidden dagger was revealed.

He didn't bother to beat around the bush. Summoning Gu Xiaoman made his intentions clear.

"Lord Yun Hu, Hong Lin has a presumptuous request… I wonder, if I am fortunate enough to meet you today, can Hong Lin spar with a quasi-S-rank genius like Miss Xiaoman?"

Immediately, a young woman in a red robe stood out.

This young woman, named Hong Lin, was about eighteen or nineteen years old, with a pretty face. She had just been promoted to the third level, and four silver flying knives hovered around her, clearly a mental-type esper.

Although her realm wasn't particularly high among her peers, Hong Lin had passed the eighth level of the Twin Gods' Dreamscape.

Looking only at the results of the Dreamscape trial, Hong Lin could already compete with some "genius trans-realm cultivators"!

However, she was cunning and deliberately emphasized the words "quasi-S-rank."

The meaning of quasi-S-rank was that she was not S-rank!

"Don't be rude."

Yun Hu frowned and reprimanded, "Xiaoman is the Red Dragon Divine Envoy's 'appointed successor'. How can you challenge her at will?"

Gu Xiaoman watched this scene in silence, watching these people act.

"Please forgive me, my lord… Hong Lin comes from a remote border area and does not understand the rules of the upper city."

Hong Lin quickly apologized, but she soon pretended to be puzzled and asked, "However, before I came, I heard that the position of Divine Envoy has always been held by the capable. If challenges are not allowed, then the position of Divine Envoy…"

She didn't finish her words.

A calm voice, still mixed with a bit of childishness, rang out in the hall.

"So, you want the Red Dragon's position as Divine Envoy?"

"I wouldn't dare…"

Hong Lin was slightly taken aback. She knew this was too big of a responsibility for her to bear, and quickly denied, "I'm just curious about the Tower of Origin's selection system."

When entering the hall, Gu Xiaoman had been waiting, but there had been no movement.

She knew that things had reached this point, and the Red Dragon hadn't come forward, meaning that she had to "bear it alone"... It seemed that this guy really wanted to push her out as his successor.

"If you want it, you can go to the Red Dragon." Gu Xiaoman turned around. "I'm not interested in the position of Divine Envoy, and as for candidates, that's not important either."

She had just taken a few steps forward.

Hong Lin received a majestic look from Yun Hu on the high seat and hurriedly spoke again, "Is this the legendary genius who appears once every ten years? With just a few words, she's already afraid of fighting?"

As soon as these words came out.

The hall was silent for a few seconds.

"So you just want to fight me, right?"

Gu Xiaoman stopped and slowly turned her head, looking at Hong Lin.

She had actually seen through these people's intentions a long time ago, but she was too lazy to cause any more trouble.

"If, in your understanding, the meaning of the word 'challenge' is fighting…"

Hong Lin didn't back down. She looked at the petite girl who was a head shorter than her with a playful smile in her eyes.

"Then perhaps it is."

The next moment.

A gust of wind suddenly swept through the hall. The skinny figure in the black cloak almost teleported in front of Hong Lin. She pressed a palm on the latter's abdomen, and without wearing any sealing objects, her fingers and palms suddenly exerted force!

Boom!

An explosive sound erupted in the hall.

Hong Lin's face turned pale instantly, and she flew backward. She never expected Gu Xiaoman to choose to attack without saying a word, and her speed was so fast!

Wasn't this a mental-type esper?

Why would she choose close combat!

"Swish swish swish swish!"

As Hong Lin flew out, she launched a counterattack. She used her mental power to control the flying knives, using telekinesis to kill. The four flying knives that surrounded her turned into four silver streaks and shot out!

Gu Xiaoman looked calm and continued forward after delivering the palm. She stomped heavily on the ground twice in a row, using herself as a cannonball to launch out. On the way, she encountered the four flying knives. She casually waved her sleeves, and like swatting mosquitoes, she scattered the four narrow silver streaks.

The next moment, she caught up with Hong Lin, who was still in the air, and punched her heavily.

The entire hall instantly fell silent.

"Chichi…"

Smoke billowed, and a red-clothed figure sitting slumped against the wall, her face as pale as paper, couldn't say another word.

Hong Lin slowly moved her head and looked at the deep pit punched next to her head, and swallowed hard.

The last punch.

Gu Xiaoman didn't aim at Hong Lin's head… but shifted it slightly by twenty centimeters.

Otherwise, what would be floating in the air at this moment wouldn't be smoke and debris, but red and white brain matter.

Gu Xiaoman stood with her fist retracted. She looked at the group of young geniuses under Yun Hu's command with an expressionless face.

"Anyone else?"

These candidates fell silent. Most of them couldn't see Gu Xiaoman's punching speed clearly. Being in the same third level, they couldn't even see the latter's moves… It was hard to believe that this was an eleven- or twelve-year-old girl.

Transcendent!

This was likely a third-level cultivator with the strength of a Transcendent. Her true strength couldn't be measured by her current realm!

Only one person in the crowd was an exception.

It was the nearly two-meter-tall, silver-haired, thin swordsman, Hiddal from Rein City. He saw Gu Xiaoman's attack style clearly, so his originally cold eyes instantly ignited with light. He was an extremely warlike madman, and was about to step out of the crowd, but a powerful force descended from somewhere, suppressing him and preventing him from fulfilling his wish.

Hiddal looked confused and looked towards the highest point of the hall.

Yun Hu's eyes were obscure, and he shook his head at this candidate whom he favored the most.

So the light in Hiddal's eyes gradually went out. He slowly loosened his fingers that were tightly gripping the hilt of his sword and chose to remain silent.

"Hong Lin, you are too rude."

Yun Hu finally spoke. His tone was leisurely and calm, as if he was questioning, but in reality, he was raising her up high and gently putting her down. "This injury can be regarded as the punishment you deserve… Go back to your residence and rest well. If you can't recover from your injuries in the next few days, then don't participate in the 'Ice Sea Mission'."

"...Yes, my lord."

Hong Lin looked haggard. She coughed and coughed up a lot of blood.

Although the last punch didn't land on her.

But the first palm, with its burst of hidden force and surging killing intent, was too much for her to bear… The physique of mental-type espers was inherently as weak as paper.

Looking at the five continents, it was hard to find any mental-types as capable of fighting as Gu Xiaoman.

Hong Lin struggled to stand up, was enveloped by array patterns, and when she left, she didn't forget to look at Gu Xiaoman with resentment.

What a freak.

The scene fell silent again. Gu Xiaoman pondered Yun Hu's words. She had just heard about the "Ice Sea Mission"... Was the Tower of Origin's emergency call this time for this matter?

Her nerves tensed at the moment she heard the words Ice Sea.

Sangzhou Grotto had already sunk... What kind of mission could there be in the Ice Sea?

"Alright, you all go and rest."

Yun Hu waved his hand, and beams of light from the array patterns descended one after another, enveloping these candidates and teleporting them away. Only he and Gu Xiaoman were left in the hall.

"Lord Yun Hu, I will truthfully inform the Red Dragon of what happened today."

Gu Xiaoman dusted off her body and spoke earnestly.

Yun Hu, sitting on the high seat, couldn't help but laugh. He looked at this little girl who still had the smell of milk on her, and felt that every word that came out of Gu Xiaoman's mouth was ridiculous.

"Please do."

Yun Hu just lazily spat out these words.

Watching Gu Xiaoman leave on the array patterns, his eyes became deep.

The purpose of this meeting was to see the results of Gu Xiaoman's training... and to figure out exactly how far this little guy, whose cultivation speed was so fast, had grown.

So he casually sent a candidate to come forward. Victory or defeat didn't matter.

In fact, he didn't want to see the candidates defeat Gu Xiaoman.

This little girl was regarded as a treasure by the Red Dragon—

In the past few years, the Tower of Origin had poured countless resources into her to help her grow!

The Sky God Seat had also repeatedly expressed his love for Gu Xiaoman... This level of divine favor was almost unheard of in Yun Hu's memory.

If she was injured in the Tower of Origin, he would be the one to be questioned next!

……

……

The first thing Gu Xiaoman saw when she returned to her residence was the man in the red cloak standing by the window with his back to her.

In the Tower of Origin, the only people who could freely enter and leave her room, besides the Sky God Seat and Teacher Tianshui, were the Red Dragon. Gu Xiaoman was used to this phenomenon. She didn't even have the interest to take another look. She asked directly when she saw the Red Dragon:

"What is the Ice Sea Mission?"

The Red Dragon stood by the window and smiled back. "The first thing you ask me is this, instead of asking me why I didn't come forward just now?"

"The matter just now is over. What's the point of asking."

Gu Xiaoman said calmly, "It's not like Yun Hu wants to cause me trouble for the first time."

She wondered if it was just her imagination.

She always felt that the Red Dragon's back looked a little travel-worn, as if he had just rushed back from somewhere. And because of the excellent intuition of a mental-type esper, she also felt a faint familiar aura on the Red Dragon...

Gu Xiaoman frowned and asked strangely, "You just came back from outside. Where did you go?"

"That's not important..."

The Red Dragon looked calm and quickly changed the subject. He took out a thin, misty mirror from his sleeve and said, "What's important is the 'Ice Sea Mission' you just mentioned."

Compared to the Ice Sea matter, it didn't really matter where the Red Dragon came back from.

Gu Xiaoman immediately focused her attention.

The mist in the cloud mirror dispersed, and she saw a wide sea with a mighty statue draped in a half-body robe standing on it. For someone born in Sangzhou Grotto, this statue was very familiar.

The statue of the Storm God Seat.

Dark clouds were dense, and a fleet was traveling against the tide.

"Is this the area around Yuanding Island?"

Gu Xiaoman raised her eyebrows. She was very familiar with the map of the Ice Sea.

"That's right."

"Someone is traveling... then what?"

"Look more closely."

Gu Xiaoman narrowed her eyes. She saw the blue light gathering above the Storm God's shoulder. "The Storm God Seat? He's back?"

The Red Dragon looked serious and nodded slowly.

"The [Cloud Mirror]'s authority can view all the scenes under the firmament, but it can't capture the concrete image of Fire Seed power of the same level... Although that light spot's face can't be seen clearly, its identity can only be the Storm God Seat."

"After more than six years, the Storm God Seat has finally returned from the Ice Sea. We don't know what he experienced in the Ice Sea yet."

The Red Dragon said calmly, "But the focus is not on the return of the Storm God Seat, but on the fleet he dispatched. Mr. Yan paid a great price a long time ago to make a divination... There is an immeasurable fortune in the depths of the Ice Sea. With the Storm God Seat's personality, sending someone so urgently must mean that he has discovered something in the Ice Sea."

"[Ice Sea Ruins]... perhaps they really exist!"

"That's why you were urgently recalled to the Tower of Origin."

The Red Dragon said word by word, "Since the Storm Church has set off first, the Tower of Origin can't lag behind. Gather the elites and go south to sea... This is the 'Ice Sea Mission'!"

……

……

(Fourth update! Asking for monthly tickets!)