Chapter 1762 Five Breakthrough Towers Sometime after explaining the situation to Tan Songyun, Yuan made his way to the Stairway to Heaven. However, upon arriving at the Stairway to Heaven, Yuan noticed that there were only a few individuals present, and most of them weren't participants, but spectators gathered to see the participants off. Since Yuan had entered the Fifth Heaven alone, the rest of the player base was still stuck in the Fourth Heaven. As a result, it was essentially impossible for him to carry nine individuals through the Stairway to Heaven by himself. Of course, Yuan could attempt to fill the required number with people from the Fifth Heaven, but he would need to find individuals willing to ascend to the Sixth Heaven. Unlike players, who could traverse between realms with ease, ascending was a significant and life-altering decision for residents of the Nine Heavens, not something they could decide on a whim. 'Do I even need to carry people with me? I can just alter the difficulty accordingly!' Yuan just realized this, but he wasn't sure it'd work. "I'll see you on the other side," Xi Meili said to Yuan. "Lady Tan, do you want to come with me? Although you have already passed all trials and reached the Ninth Heaven, you can still spectate me. I'm sure you'll learn a thing or two about Tian Kai if you do." Tan Songyun nodded, "That's only natural. I was going to follow you even if you didn't ask." Lan Yingying emerged shortly after to follow Xi Meili, as she also wanted to challenge the Stairway to Heaven. "Who is this?" Tan Songyun asked with raised eyebrows. "And where did she come from?" "My name is Lan Yingying, and I am a divine beast currently following Yuan." "Another divine beast?" Tan Songyun muttered with a surprised look on her face. Having one divine beast as a follower was already rare enough, much less two. "Why are they following you, anyways?" she then asked out of curiosity. "They have their own reasons," Yuan shrugged. Yuan climbed the staircase and entered the Stairway to Heaven shortly after, followed by Tan Songyun. "Welcome back, Master." "I don't have nine people with me this time, but is it possible for me to increase the difficulty to the max?" Yuan asked her. "If that is what you wish, Master." "Great. Let's do that, then. I would also like to challenge the Stairway to Heaven now." Tian'er nodded and disappeared shortly later. Meanwhile, Tan Songyun was examining the spectator's room with great interest. "I didn't know there was a place like this inside the Stairway to Heaven…" Since she did everything solo, there was simply no way for her to have known about it. In the center of the room was a small well filled with water, and reflected on that water was Yuan, who had just begun his first trial.

As Yuan stood in the middle of the bustling street, his eyes widened in surprise as he read the details of the trial's challenge. 'I have a whole year to complete this challenge?' he wondered inwardly. This officially made it his longest trial yet. Moreover, it appeared more complicated than the previous trials. However, he wasn't familiar with the Five Breakthrough Towers. After standing around for a bit, Yuan decided to gather information first. He approached someone working behind a food stall and asked, "Excuse me, can you tell me a little about the Five Breakthrough Towers?" The middle-aged woman looked at him with raised eyebrows and spoke, "You don't know about the Five Breakthrough Towers? You're the first person I've met in the Seventh Heaven who doesn't know them." "Well, I'm not from around here. I just ascended to this realm." "I see. I don't mind telling you, but…" The woman extended her hand and gestured for something. Seeing this, Yuan retrieved some money and handed it to her. "Thank you, Young Master." Satisfied by the amount of money, the woman began explaining, "The Five Breakthrough Towers are the most important organizations in the Seventh Heaven." "Organizations?" Yuan inquired about the specific word. She nodded. "Yes, they are neither a family, sect, nor faction. They are an organization supported by these groups, each contributing its own unique specialty and purpose." "The first of the Five Breakthrough Towers is called the Alchemy Tower. They specialize in the study of alchemy and hold the vital role of developing new recipes and refining alchemy techniques," she continued. "The second tower is called the Array Tower. They specialize in developing new formations and enhancing existing ones." "The third tower is the Martial Tower. Their primary focus is on creating new martial techniques and refining older ones." "The fourth tower is the Cultivation Tower. They're similar to the Martial Tower, but they only deal with cultivation techniques." "The final tower is called the Metal Tower. They not only create treasures, but they study smithing techniques and whatnot." "If you haven't noticed yet, each of these towers was established with the purpose of advancing a specific path. However, they are entirely separate organizations with no direct association with one another. And because they are all striving for progress in their respective fields, there's a great deal of competition among them." Yuan was quite amazed by this concept, and he asked, "What are their reputations like?" "As far as I am aware, they are all very respectable and trustworthy. I don't think I have ever heard anything bad about them," she said. 𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖 "Not even rumors? There are always rumors." The woman pondered for a moment and spoke in a genuine tone, "They say the workers are overly passionate about their job, no matter which tower they belong to, but I wouldn't consider that a bad thing."