Chapter 170 Confirmation
The entrance closed behind Su Ping as soon as he entered the first level of the dragon tower.
He checked the dark and empty space which looked very familiar.
“So this is the same place…”
Following his previous experience, he moved to the center of the area and sensed something creepy edging closer. The presence did not try to hide. Instead, it made sure he could detect it, albeit barely.
And this comforted Su Ping greatly.
“Come out already.”
A shining dot appeared in the dark distance, which grew bigger until Su Ping could see it as the ferocious head of a dragon. It hovered at a distance that made anyone who saw it believe that the dragon’s giant body was nicely concealed in the darkness, waiting to close in.
Of course, the dragon didn’t show any particular reaction against Su Ping’s words. It simply displayed its intrusive power to Su Ping, as if it would devour him in any second. Su Ping used the Astral Telekinesis skill and a small strand of his astral power to reach out to the dragon head. Just as he expected, the power didn’t hit anything.
“Huh. An illusion.” Su Ping sighed in relief. Most people who went there would probably get scared away by this illusion at first sight.
He kept moving forward, provoking the dragon head into lunging at him all of sudden. The image passed through his body without producing any effect.
He found the “ceiling entrance” and directly jumped to level 2. As he remembered, this level had been intended to test his endurance by sending an intense dragon will against his mind. The mental pressure would get a hundred times worse compared to what could be felt at the entrance. Cowards would have no hope of passing.
As soon as he showed up, he heard a deafening dragon roar which sent a crushing burden upon him.
He was then sure that this dragon tower was the same as the one inside the system menu. The elements, the setups… not a thing was different.
The onlookers outside the tower had all learned that the particular young man was currently inside the tower, thanks to several passionate gossipers. They watched as the first level stopped glowing, which was followed by the second level that had suddenly been lit up.
“He’s on the next floor. That was fast!”
“Did he walk straight across the first floor without stopping at all?”
“Big deal. It’s just an illusion. You ignore it and everything’s done.”
“You make it sound so simple. But that thing’s scary as fu*k. What will you do if you don’t know it’s fake beforehand?”
“That’s why you were so slow back there, idiot.”
The second level of the tower also stopped shining
“But how?? The second floor is a real test of spirit. You can’t just walk past it!”.
People slowly looked higher, but the third floor didn’t brighten up as they expected.
They looked down again and saw the young man appear at the entrance.
“Ah, so he lost?”
“He can only beat the first floor. Well, even a kid with enough guts can do it. I’m not surprised.”
“He scared me. I thought he was another big genius or something. Turns out he’s a bummer.”
People mumbled in disappointment and looked away.
Tang Ruyan somewhat showed a calm look as she realized that the young man she was worried about was only a nobody, which meant she had no reason to mind him.
Her old servant, too, lost interest. He had made some dirty plans against Su Ping just then, but he found them to be unnecessary after realizing what a “loser” Su Ping was Stepping on an ant was not fun at all.
.
Similarly, Situ Feng also looked elsewhere in discontent.
Su Ping found where Nie Chengkong was waiting and headed there. Checking out the second floor of the tower was enough for him to determine that he was dealing with none other than the “dragon king’s heritage ground.” For the moment, going treasure-hunting sooner was more important. The tower could wait.
Venerable the Blade frowned upon seeing Su Ping coming out that soon. He could tell that the “needle attack” was only possible for a titled warrior, which meant this young man was likely to perform better than Tang Ruyan and reach the sixth or even the seventh level.
But the result showed him otherwise.
“Was I wrong about him? Strange…” “You’re done already??” The team was also surprised by Su Ping’s return, especially Luo Guxue, who clearly knew Su Ping was much better than this. She was expecting Su Ping to surprise the living spirits out of everyone by going to the higher floors.
The other two assistants gave Su Ping a disdainful look as they thought Su Ping’s fame was unfounded; common battle pet warriors should be enough to make it past the second floor.
Nie Chengkong checked the strange looks of his members and realized the matter was not so simple.
“Sorry for the wait, captain,” said Su Ping, “I’m good to go.”
“You… did not pass the second floor?”
“We need to get on with the mission as soon as possible, right? So I stopped sooner.”
“Huh? Then why did you come here in the first place?”
“Just checking things out.”
Of course Su Ping couldn’t reveal his true purpose. For the moment, he would use his young man’s curiosity as an excuse.
“Let’s go then.” Nie Chengkong decided not to question Su Ping’s intention. Meanwhile, Luo Guxue and Ye Chenshan would not ask what had happened either. They all trusted that Su Ping chose to quit for some reason.
However, the extra helpers who knew nothing about Su Ping couldn’t say the same. In their view, Su Ping had wasted everyone’s time and offended two influential groups in this country. This was downright laughable.
Following Nie Chengkong’s lead, the team arrived at a magic circle designed to teleport people to different sectors. For a fee.
“Ten people at a time. A million per use!” the handler claimed and asked everyone to wait in line.
Their turn came soon; Nie Chengkong paid the money without asking questions. A million might be a big expense for common families, but it was an acceptable cost for a veteran settler team like them.
The magic circle lit up as it was recharged with energy, until it was covered by a bright barrier that prevented people from seeing across.
As planned, Nie Chengkong selected “Sector 92.”
Su Ping felt the air around him change, before he opened his eyes and saw the burning ground and registered the smell of sulfur. These elements were enough to tell him which “dragon scale land” he was in.