In the Pioneer's small group chat.
The Body-Refining Brother with the Aura of an Emperor - Wang Teng: "Brothers, haven't you heard of the [Ascension Tower]? I'm going to climb the tower!"
No one spoke in the group.
The Body-Refining Brother with the Aura of an Emperor - Wang Teng: "??? Where is everyone? No way, during this short holiday, you're all going into seclusion?"
The Ice Phoenix Who Desires to Grow Taller - Qin Xiaoxiao: "Big Teng Brother, is there a possibility that, besides you, we've all already gathered in the plaza? Li Qingyun has already gone in."
As a thoughtful little angel, she also sent Wang Teng a photo of the scene.
Just kidding, with something as fun and useful as the [Ascension Tower], who would miss it?
Everyone is competing, no one would be as naive as Big Teng Brother, reporting to the group before climbing the tower, right?
Wang Teng was also dumbfounded at this moment. He shouted "Holy crap!" and then got up and rushed out the door.
When he came out of the [Demon Spirit Realm], Big Teng Brother was also full of pride, and his cultivation once approached Li Qingyun.
However, after entering the Li Huo Palace, his advantage was completely gone.
Up until now, his cultivation was still stuck at the peak of the Yi Jin realm, just one step away from breaking through.
Originally, Meng Zibin was his best sparring partner, with strength that was evenly matched with him, but this guy saw through his little schemes later and stopped playing with him.
As for Li Qingyun... the gap in cultivation between Qingyun younger brother and him was too large, and it didn't create a balanced effect.
Daoist Bai, who plays with formations, made fighting him too torturous.
Intense combat helped him digest the Blood Jade Ganoderma within his body.
...
The Immortal Cultivation Era Plaza today was very lively, or rather, it was lively every day, but today it was even more so.
Where there's competition, they are present.
"The odds are up, the odds are up! I bet Li Qingyun will pass the first floor in one go!"
"What? You're that confident about him? I'll take this bet!"
"That person is a true Immortal Emperor from the cultivation world. I think Li Qingyun, though awesome, is still a bit behind compared to them."
"......"
Everyone gathered here naturally because the geniuses who came out of the secret realm were about to climb the tower.
In the past few days, the Immortal Emperors inside had tormented everyone quite a bit. Now, everyone urgently wanted to see the gap between themselves and Li Qingyun.
Qin Xiaoxiao waited for Li Qingyun's results while petting her little phoenix.
As the most representative figure among them, although they all had ambitions to pull Li Qingyun off his pedestal, they still recognized Li Qingyun's strength.
After entering the first floor of the Ascension Tower, like everyone else, he saw the growth path of an Immortal Emperor.
This was a green lotus born on the Immortal-Demon Battlefield.
When Immortals and Demons perished here, their battle intent formed a dojo, which was also a forbidden zone of life.
Nurtured by the Immortal-Demon power, the green lotus gradually grew, experiencing tens of thousands of years, becoming a sacred medicine, then an immortal medicine, and it developed spiritual intelligence.
It transformed into human form and started as a Mahayana realm expert.
Then it began to sweep through all enemies, finally achieving enlightenment as an Emperor, with the posthumous title of Azure Emperor!
Li Qingyun was stunned. How could he fight someone who started as a Mahayana stage expert?
Did he have to fight a flower?
But the [Ascension Tower] always had its way. It directly suppressed the Mahayana stage Azure Emperor to the late Qi Refining stage.
What did this mean? It meant an epic difficulty!
Most people fought children no older than fifteen, but when it came to Li Qingyun's turn, he was directly up against an ancient monster that had transformed after tens of thousands of years.
The Azure Emperor, dressed in a green robe, looked refined and approachable, standing with his hands behind his back.
"Dao Enlightenment Tree... Chaos Divine Lotus... What an interesting child."
Li Qingyun was startled: "Holy crap! You can talk?"
"A certain existence approached me before, wanting to record my Dao and bestow a fortuitous encounter upon destined individuals of the Great Thousand World. I left a contingency; each level's me possesses an independent consciousness."
Li Qingyun gasped. Others were creating AI, but he was dealing with a true Immortal Emperor?
Was there any way to play this game?
"Senior, could you possibly reveal what level I need to reach to defeat you?"
The Azure Emperor smiled, extended his right hand to Li Qingyun, and said, "Who do you think created the 'Myriad Green Lotus Art'?"
Li Qingyun's pupils contracted. This... this, then wasn't he embarrassing himself in front of his ancestor?
"Senior... Junior is truly ashamed."
"No, you are excellent, more excellent than many junior humans I have seen. Come, defeat me, and I will erase my consciousness and transform into your essence soul, just like the Dao Enlightenment Tree. Defeating my subsequent selves will grant you even greater fortune."
Hearing this, Li Qingyun's eyes became sharp.
Having cultivated the 'Myriad Green Lotus Art', he knew that although the green lotus was beautiful, it was actually a plant that thrived on killing.
If he could have a wisp of the Azure Emperor's essence soul become a part of his body, it would undoubtedly be a tremendous improvement for him.
"Senior, junior has reasons for needing to increase strength, so please forgive me!"
"It's alright, just offend away!"
Instantly, the entire space was filled with green light.
Lotuses exploded continuously, and Dao rhymes erupted.
Not long after, the Azure Emperor lifted the bruised and battered Li Qingyun with one hand and smiled, saying, "See, you're actually quite excellent. You could fight me for dozens of rounds. However, don't always try to blow me up all at once; after you do, you'll have no combat power. We're playing with the wood element, so this should be a war of attrition..."
...
Li Qingyun was teleported out of the [Ascension Tower] after nearly ten minutes.
Seeing his pale appearance and the unchanged [Tower Climbing Heroes Ranking], everyone's eyes widened.
"Holy cow! Li Qingyun didn't even win?"
"He didn't even meet the standards of an Immortal Emperor in his youth?"
"It's over, it's over! Hurry up and ask Immortal Brother to nerf it! Without a nerf, there's no way to play!"
"......"
Luo Xiaowei and the others were also shocked. They thought that even if those Immortal Emperors were powerful, they wouldn't be this difficult.
After inquiring, everyone finally learned that Li Qingyun had run into terrible luck!
The Azure Emperor he encountered was different from ordinary Immortal Emperors; he was a green lotus that had become a spirit, and also the founder of the technique he cultivated.
Even more outrageous was that he wasn't an AI but truly had self-awareness.
Bai Nianchen also scratched his head and said, "Do you think the Immortal Emperors we encounter might all be beings as powerful as the Azure Emperor? Little friend Qingyun cultivates the technique created by the Azure Emperor, so he encountered the Azure Emperor who attained enlightenment through the green lotus. Will Qin little sister encounter a real Ice Phoenix? Will Meng little friend encounter a real Nine-Headed Bird? Wang Teng will... encounter a true dragon?"
Everyone was suddenly startled. Their expressions of schadenfreude vanished, replaced by extreme solemnity.