After standing up, Li Yun left the Enlightenment Dragon Hall and headed directly toward the Heaven-Ascending Pagoda.

The Heaven-Ascending Pagoda was an extremely important building in the Outer Sect of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

The pagoda had thirteen floors in total, and every floor had a guardian. From the lowest floor to the highest, the strength of these guardians increased step by step.

The first to third floors corresponded to the first three levels of the Mortal Core Realm. The fourth to sixth floors corresponded to the middle three levels. The seventh to ninth floors corresponded to the final three levels. As for the tenth to twelfth floors, they naturally corresponded to the strength of the Half-Step Earthly Core Realm.

The highest thirteenth floor corresponded to the Earthly Core Realm.

If someone could reach the thirteenth floor of the Heaven-Ascending Pagoda, they could be directly promoted to an Inner Sect Disciple and receive additional rewards from the sect.

During this period, because the Chaos Heaven Secret Realm was about to open, the area around the Heaven-Ascending Pagoda, which served as the sect’s main testing ground, was crowded with Outer Sect Disciples.

When Li Yun arrived, the sixth floor of the Heaven-Ascending Pagoda was flickering with a faint glow. Clearly, someone was currently challenging the tower.

The Heaven-Ascending Pagoda was similar to the Sword Mist Pagoda of Sword Mist Mountain. Whichever floor the challenger reached would light up, allowing the surrounding disciples to understand the challenger’s progress.

Buzz!

Suddenly, the seventh floor of the Heaven-Ascending Pagoda lit up and burst with a golden luster, immediately drawing a wave of exclamations from the crowd.

"It is the seventh floor. Whether he can pass the test and obtain the qualification to enter the Chaos Heaven Secret Realm will depend on this battle."

"It will not be easy. Luo Fengxiao has only just broken through to the 7th level of the Mortal Core Realm. Clearing the seventh floor will be extremely difficult for him."

"Indeed. Although the seventh floor is the lowest of the three floors corresponding to the 7th level of the Mortal Core Realm, it is still not something an ordinary 7th level Mortal Core Realm cultivator can clear. Whether he can make it is truly hard to say."

Amid the discussions of the crowd, the seventh floor remained lit for a full fifteen minutes before suddenly going dark.

A moment later, a young man around thirty years old was teleported out.

"No!"

The young man clenched his fists tightly, his face filled with unwillingness.

Seeing this, the surrounding crowd could not help sighing with sympathy and pity.

He had only been one step away, but that seemingly simple step was actually like a natural chasm. Unless Luo Fengxiao obtained some astonishing opportunity and made a great leap in strength within the final five days, it would be impossible for him to clear the seventh floor. In other words, he was destined to miss the upcoming Chaos Heaven Secret Realm.

"Are you Li Yun?"

At that moment, a voice suddenly reached Li Yun’s ears.

A young man wearing luxurious purple-gold robes stood nearby. His chin was slightly raised, and his face was filled with extreme arrogance. He fixed his gaze on Li Yun, narrowed his eyes, and said flatly, "Are you the Li Yun who reportedly shone brightly at the Moon Orchid Tea Gathering but ultimately refused to join the Moon Orchid Society?"

"Hm?"

The words of the noble purple-robed young man immediately drew everyone’s attention toward Li Yun.

"He shone brilliantly at the Moon Orchid Tea Gathering, yet refused to join the Moon Orchid Society? To think there is such a person in the Outer Sect."

"Li Yun? I have never heard this name before. What background does he have?"

"I have heard a little about him. This Li Yun seems to be the number one disciple among this year’s newly recruited Outer Sect Disciples. It is said that even Crown Prince Xing Tian and Princess Yuehan suffered some losses at his hands. However, for a new disciple to dare refuse Senior Sister Lan Yue’s invitation, he certainly has some nerve."

The Moon Orchid Tea Gathering had only been a small gathering, and with the recent events involving the Starveil Maiden and the Chaos Heaven Secret Realm, only a small number of Outer Sect Disciples knew about Li Yun.

After learning a few details, the way everyone looked at Li Yun became somewhat strange.

"Who are you?"

Li Yun ignored the unusual gazes around him and calmly looked at the noble purple-robed young man.

"I am Xing Chenfeng."

The purple-robed young man raised his chin proudly and said, "Crown Prince Xing Tian is my cousin. Hmph, that useless cousin of mine actually suffered at the hands of an Essence Qi Realm cultivator like you. He truly seems to be regressing."

"You are from the Starheaven royal family?"

Li Yun’s expression darkened slightly, and a cold light flashed in his eyes.

Crown Prince Xing Tian was indeed the crown prince of the Starheaven Ancient Kingdom. Since Xing Chenfeng claimed to be his cousin, he clearly came from the royal family of the Starheaven Ancient Kingdom.

"That is right."

Xing Chenfeng spoke arrogantly. "Li Yun, since you came here, you must be planning to challenge the Heaven-Ascending Pagoda. In that case, do you have the courage to compete with me?"

"How do you want to compete?"

Li Yun said indifferently.

"It is simple."

Xing Chenfeng extended one finger and waved it in front of Li Yun before saying, "We will see who can reach a higher floor. The loser must give the winner one thousand high-grade spirit stones and shout ’I am trash’ three times in front of everyone. Well, Li Yun, do you dare to compete with me?"

When Xing Chenfeng said this, the surrounding crowd fell silent for a moment.

"Xing Chenfeng, you are at the 8th level of the Mortal Core Realm. Is there any meaning in bullying a newly joined Essence Qi Realm disciple like this? Even if you win, it would not be an honorable victory."

"Exactly. This kind of bet is clearly one-sided bullying. Unless the other person is a fool, there is no way he would agree."

The crowd shook their heads one after another.

Anyone could see that Li Yun had no reason to accept such a bet. After all, who would willingly agree to a challenge they were almost certain to lose?

"Fine. I accept this bet."

At that moment, Li Yun’s calm voice suddenly rang out.

Everyone’s expressions froze, and many of them could hardly believe what they had just heard.

"He accepted?"

"This Li Yun actually agreed?"

"Good. Very good."

Xing Chenfeng could not help laughing loudly. "Li Yun, I did not expect you to actually have the courage to accept this bet. Very well, next, I will make sure you lose miserably."

After saying this, Xing Chenfeng strode directly toward the Heaven-Ascending Pagoda.

Li Yun’s expression remained unchanged as he followed closely behind and entered the pagoda as well.

According to the usual rules, only one person could challenge the Heaven-Ascending Pagoda at a time. However, if two or more cultivators reached an agreement beforehand, they could challenge it simultaneously.

In that way, the difference between the challengers’ strength would become clear for everyone to see.