Chapter 452: Chapter 202: Demon Tower
"Brother Qi, back to conquer the Demon Tower again!" The young shop owner saw Chu Qi and immediately stood up with a smile.
"Yes." Chu Qi responded with a nod.
"There aren’t many people as persistent as Brother Qi nowadays; those coming to challenge the Demon Tower are getting fewer. I saw videos online; many places outside are hosting Demon Spirit competitions. I heard many who used to come here have gone to the Southern Cross Federation, and my business is getting worse." The young shop owner sighed.
"Why go so far when the Trial Gate is free here?" Li Xiu asked.
The young shop owner shook his head and said, "They have Demon Spirits over there. There’s no such thing here; who would stick around here endlessly?"
"Why aren’t there Demon Spirits?" Li Xiu asked, puzzled.
"Only those who reach the top of the Demon Tower can enter the area that Trial Takers talk about. But the tower is too high; no one can reach the top. Without entering the Land of Trial, where can you get Demon Spirits? Not to mention the Demon Spirits, you can’t even earn rewards like Skill Talents. Who would stick around here?" The young shop owner pointed to the gemstones on the table and said, "Brother, you’re from out of town, right? Pick whatever you like, I’ll give you a 10% discount for Brother Qi’s sake. The prices have dropped today; the small ones are forty-five per carat, pick and choose as you like. These blue ones are one hundred sixty per carat, big ones aren’t expensive either..."
The price really was cheap, though the quality was quite ordinary. Li Xiu looked at Chu Qi and asked, "How many gemstones are needed to open the gate?"
"Just ten carats or more of Black Sapphire will do," Chu Qi replied.
Li Xiu glanced at the gemstones on the table, split them with his hand, pointed at half of them, and said, "I’ll take all of these. Calculate how much."
The young man had never seen such a lavish buyer; his eyes immediately lit up, his face beaming with smiles, "Today, I met a big boss; no wonder you’re Brother Qi’s friend. Let me calculate for you."
The young shop owner took out a precise electronic scale and weighed and packed the gemstones into small plastic bags, ten per pack.
"The small ones are one hundred and six carats, the bigger ones are one hundred thirty-seven carats, the blue ones are fifty-four carats, the larger ones are pricier..." The young shop owner was weighing and rapidly pressing the buttons on a calculator.
"The total is seventy-eight thousand and sixty-six, but I’ll round off and give you an additional discount for being such a large customer; let’s make it seventy thousand." The young shop owner said generously.
Li Xiu took out his phone and directly scanned to pay seventy thousand White Night currency without bargaining.
Having gotten a few million from Xiao Er, Li Xiu didn’t lack money as he did before, and these gemstones were indeed very cheap.
Seventy thousand White Night currency would buy only two or three carats of premium Blue Sapphires from Red Sand City, but with these gemstones, he got several hundred carats.
Luckily, Li Xiu exchanged quite a lot of White Night currency before deciding to come to White Night City, so he wasn’t worried about running out of money.
"Why did you buy so many?" Chu Qi asked Li Xiu after he packed away the gemstones.
"Just to save from buying again if I come back later," Li Xiu replied casually.
This was just one of the reasons; in fact, Li Xiu was interested in a particular Black Sapphire among them.
That single Demon Spirit Gemstone was worth much more than seventy thousand.
Chu Qi said nothing more, and the two of them arrived at the gray-blue Trial Gate. Li Xiu took out ten Black Sapphires and embedded them.
The Trial Gate opened with a roar, and they walked in together.
"Welcome to the Demon Tower Trial Ground, B-level trial initiated; trial rules are as follows..." A windowless octagonal room with only a staircase to the second floor showed trial rules on the light screen.
The rules were simple: climb to the second floor before the sixty-second countdown ends to pass.
Li Xiu glanced at Chu Qi beside him, somewhat doubting if he really was an S-level Trial Taker, as he wore only a white tight suit without any sign of a contract.
"You go first; with me here, don’t be afraid. If you can’t climb up, I’ll push you up," Chu Qi said.
Li Xiu nodded and walked up the stairs.
As soon as Li Xiu stepped onto the stairs, he felt his body sink, as if bearing a weight.
Thankfully, this level of weight wasn’t much for Li Xiu; he easily climbed to the second floor, followed by Chu Qi, whose relaxed appearance confirmed to Li Xiu that Chu Qi had a stronger physique.
The second floor was another octagonal room. The light screen indicated they had completed the first round of testing, granting reinforcement rewards, and offering the choice to exit or continue to the second round.
Li Xiu and Chu Qi both chose to continue, and after the countdown ended, Li Xiu ascended the stairs to the third floor.
The weight felt on his body intensified this time, but Li Xiu could still easily complete it.
Passing over ten levels, the weight increased on each floor, and by the eighteenth floor, Li Xiu felt it was very difficult to walk.
"How many floors does this Demon Tower have?" Li Xiu asked, looking at the stairs leading to the nineteenth floor with a frown.
This Demon Tower Trial Ground was indeed different from other trial grounds he had been to; although he could exit anytime, it seemed to complete the ultimate test, reaching the top might be necessary.