Chapter 17: Climbing the Combat Tower (1)

"Combat Tower Test Start – Round 120 – First Floor – Clay Dolls."

In the midst of a golden-orange hall, Feng Yan opened her eyes. Within those eyes was a deep sea of darkness, capable of swallowing the soul of anyone who looked into them. The aura around Feng Yan was so suffocating that any ordinary insect approaching within three steps would die. The aura was so thick that an ordinary person could see black strands wafting from Feng Yan's body.

Feng Yan looked around and contemplated the hall for a few seconds. Then she smiled playfully and spoke in a low voice:

"First Claw, time flies so fast. Without realizing it, I've reached round 120, leaving only ten rounds before the deadline I agreed upon with Yu Yue!"

"So, are you going to try to push a few more steps in these ten rounds?" (First Claw)

"And what's the point? I've nearly reached my limit. Even if I persist, I might break through one or two more steps at best, and that won't make much of a difference!" (Feng Yan)

"Then you're going to fight Yu Yue?" (First Claw)

"That's right, there's no point in delaying any further."

Feng Yan replied with a face full of excitement. At that moment, First Claw sighed and reminded Feng Yan to be cautious. After that, Feng Yan asked him to start the round.

In a completely white world, First Claw floated in front of many three-dimensional screens. The screens were divided into two sections: one showing videos and the other containing buttons and various control tools. Without delay, First Claw began pressing buttons rapidly to start the first round while watching Feng Yan on the main display screen.

The round began, and ten golden doors opened, releasing clay dolls. As usual, the dolls advanced and attacked with full force, without coordination or planning, aiming to crush Feng Yan. First Claw observed this and saw that Feng Yan remained motionless, her breathing and heartbeat unchanged. He wasn't worried either. When the dolls were two steps away, surrounding Feng Yan from all directions, they simultaneously launched their punches to smash her face.

At that moment, Feng Yan's body became misty for a fraction of a second before she vanished, causing the dolls to collide with each other and shatter. As all the clay dolls were destroyed, Feng Yan descended slowly to the ground like a falling leaf. First Claw was very pleased with this result. After more than ninety rounds in the combat tower and training Feng Yan with all the available methods and resources the combat tower allowed him as the test supervisor, Feng Yan, in three months, had reached a strength comparable to the third and fourth Clow. Although First Claw wanted her to benefit from the remaining ten rounds, he knew it was pointless since the resources of the first ten floors of the combat tower could no longer support Feng Yan's level.

In a happy mood, he decided to transfer Feng Yan to the second floor without delay. Thus began the process of ascending to the next floor.

...

"Combat Tower Test Start – Round 120 – First Floor – Wooden Dolls."

"Wooden dolls, I have many memories with these lovely dolls. Unfortunately, every meeting has an end, and this will be the last time we meet, oh wooden dolls!"

Feng Yan whispered to herself. While she was immersed in her memories, the wooden dolls emerging from the gates surrounded Feng Yan from all directions. Although the wooden dolls were unaware, they could sense the aura of death emanating from Feng Yan. Therefore, the wooden dolls decided to attack simultaneously. When the dolls noticed Feng Yan's hazy and inattentive eyes, they planned to attack together, using the same strategy as the clay dolls but with more coordination and planning.

Feng Yan, still distracted, looked at the ceiling or at her fingers as if measuring a few things. When the wooden dolls got as close as the clay dolls, the haze in Feng Yan's eyes disappeared, and the dolls' movements became incredibly slow in Feng Yan's eyes. At that moment, Feng Yan smiled confidently and whispered softly:

"Bull Snake Art > Bull Snake Strike!"

Feng Yan's hands moved, forming snake-like fangs with her fingers, and she began to strike the dolls' vital joints with speed and precision. Feng Yan delivered fifty strikes in total, ten to each doll, targeting different points of weakness in each one. She easily identified the weak points of each doll and struck them with minimal effort and time.

When Feng Yan finished her strikes and retracted her hands, the dolls returned to their normal speed. However, at that moment, a series of explosions occurred, destroying all the dolls and scattering their parts everywhere, creating a wave of wind that made Feng Yan's hair flutter, producing a magnificent scene.

"First Claw, transfer me to the next floor."

"Alright."

Without delay, the ascent to the third floor began. Feng Yan had many genuine memories of that floor, where she first encountered real people – the Ten Claws siblings. Although she tasted death for the first time at their hands, she would never forget that they fought for her against the will of the Eternal Tower. Even though they weren't the sole reason for their actions, she wouldn't forget that they gave her a chance to change her fate from a mere meaningless victim of Yu Yue's schemes to someone who could potentially gain full control of the Eternal Tower and dream of reaching beyond being a great noble. This kindness, she could never forget for the rest of her life, no matter what.

Feng Yan reached the third floor, and the evil dolls appeared. But there was no spirit in their eyes. Feng Yan was not surprised; she knew that since the moment the soul contract was made, the Ten Claws siblings had been removed from the combat tower test. So, the evil dolls returned to being lifeless dolls like the others.

The evil dolls attacked Feng Yan swiftly and lightly, with evil smiles on their faces. Although Feng Yan didn't consider the evil dolls a threat, she didn't let her guard down either. Just as with the clay and wooden dolls, she remained cautious because the evil dolls were deceitful and cunning in setting traps, which is why they were called evil dolls in the first place.

One of the evil dolls attacked from the right. Feng Yan knew this attack was just a diversion because behind it, two more dolls had combined their attacks: one aimed at her stomach level, and the other used the first doll's claws to launch itself into the air. If Feng Yan focused only on the doll attacking from the right without realizing the trap, she would be caught off guard by the doll coming from above and be defeated instantly. However, Feng Yan didn't fall for this simple trap. With a confident smile, she whispered quietly:

"Bull Snake Art > Bull Snake death Dance."

Without warning, Feng Yan turned into mist and vanished from the sight of both the doll attacking from the right and the one descending from above. To their shock, she reappeared behind the first doll and swiftly decapitated it. Then she vanished again and appeared in front of the airborne doll, which was unprepared for an attack. The result was that Feng Yan made it meet the same fate as its companion.

The remaining dolls saw this and realized that attacking in small numbers was a suicide mission against a monster like Feng Yan. So, they decided to attack with all their might, hoping their numbers would change the outcome and overpower the monster before them.

Unfortunately, they didn't know the extent of Feng Yan's strength, which was unbeatable at their level. Thus, Feng Yan slowly and methodically destroyed them one by one, making them taste despair in front of an overwhelmingly powerful foe with no chance of escape. Some dolls tried to flee, but the hall was sealed, completely shattering their hopes. In just two minutes, all the evil dolls were destroyed, their parts scattered across the third floor.

Feng Yan stood amidst the remnants, her face expressionless. She yawned out of boredom, feeling tired of fighting such weak dolls, and thought to herself:

"At my current level, I'm invincible in the first five floors. If I want a real challenge, I need to face the puppet kings on the higher floors."

Feng Yan smiled excitedly as she recalled the puppet kings in her mind and quickly said to Mokhleb Awli:

"First Claw, transfer me to the next floor."

"Aren't you going to collect the floor prize? You used a fair amount of your spirit energy."

"I'm at the ninety-fourth step, or in other words, I'm at the fourth step of the second stage of the fourth level! Do you think such a small amount of movements will deplete much of my spirit energy? Also, the prize quantity is too small to waste time on."

"As you wish."

...