Translator: Jon Editor : Dhael Ligerkeys As the brick sank into the wall, the view around Lu Ye changed drastically. He felt as though he had travelled across many spaces and arrived at a different place in the blink of an eye. There was nothing else in sight around him apart from a light screen that covered him like a dome. The coverage was pretty wide as the light screen was several kilometres long. [Am I supposed to break the ward?] Lu Ye realised what he was required to do. Usually, if a fully formed ward appeared in the tower, the cultivator would have to break it. Lu Ye remembered that when he was in Hundred Wards Tower in the Heavenly Derivative Sect, the last test was also about breaking a ward. What was more, it was a Grand Defensive Ward. It was thanks to his experience in the tower that he was able to easily break through the Grand Defensive Wards of the Thousand Demon Ridge’s outposts on Spirit Creek Battlefield. He did not expect that the first test in the tower on the Cloud River Battlefield would be about breaking a similar ward. Although the scale of the ward was smaller than what he had experienced back then, he knew the test was difficult just by looking at how thick the light screen was. If his speculation was right, the ward before his eyes was more rigid than the previous Grand Defensive Ward. Fortunately, his mastery of the Way of Wards had improved tremendously since then. After such a long time, he fully comprehended the benefits he had acquired from the tower in the Heavenly Derivative Sect. Now, his mastery was significantly better than in the past. It was not hard for him to break a ward like this, but he needed some time. He activated Insight to enhance his eyesight and looked around for the ward’s nodes and weak points. Soon, he realised something was off, for the ward he was supposed to break was not a Grand Defensive Ward but a Trap Ward. These two wards looked similar at first sight. Both of them were engulfed in light screens. However, they were completely different. A Grand Defensive Ward was meant to fend off enemies from outside while a Trap Ward was supposed to confine the people within. If one tried to break the ward without trying to figure out what it was, he would waste a lot of time. As Lu Ye looked around, he realised it was not merely a Trap Ward. Several Killing Wards within the Trap Ward had been intricately set up as well. He had to disassemble these Killing Wards before he could break the Trap Ward. If he acted carelessly, he might trigger the Killing Wards first. It was a compound ward. The challenges in the tower on the Cloud River Battlefield were indeed more difficult. Even the first test was extremely hard for the average Ward Cultivator. However, with the help of Insight, Lu Ye was able to see through the nodes and weak points of these wards. Upon making sure he did not miss anything, he started taking action. To achieve great results in the tower, one had to pass the tests in the shortest time possible. No one knew what the standards were because the person inside the tower couldn’t communicate with the outside world, and he wouldn’t know if his actions had evoked any resonance. Therefore, even though Hundred Wards Tower had been around on the Cloud River Battlefield for a long time, no one could come up with a summary of any sort. Lu Ye knew nothing about it either. However, after his previous experience, he knew that his performance on a particular floor would become the standard of the next floor. In other words, his mastery of the Way of Wards he showed on the current floor would determine the difficulty of the test on the next floor. If he wanted to get excellent results, he would have to keep performing better. Under normal circumstances, such a feat could not be pulled off. It was not easy to improve one’s mastery of the Way of Wards, and it was impossible to repeatedly break through one’s limit in a short time. However, it was Hundred Wards Tower, after all. If one performed well, the tower would give him some rewards that would help him improve. That was how the impossible was made possible. The difficulty of the tests within the tower would increase as one moved up the floors. If he could obtain a corresponding reward on every floor, his mastery would improve steadily. The rewards from the tower would eventually form a snowball effect, which was a virtuous cycle. As time passed, Lu Ye slowly disassembled the hidden Killing Wards. Now, he only had to deal with the Trap Ward. At this point, the test was no longer difficult. The hidden Killing Wards were the most difficult parts of the test. Once they were activated, regardless of whether one would be injured or killed, his results would be affected. It was not hard to break the ward, but it was troublesome because the ward was rigid. It would take Lu Ye quite some time and effort to do that. Outside the tower, the cultivators were speculating who evoked the resonance earlier. Many people would enter the tower every day and go on to stay inside for days, so this kind of discussion was pointless. That was because the people inside the tower had no idea if they had evoked any resonance. They were still looking forward to the next round of resonance, though it would usually only take place once every three to five months. While they were conversing, some mysterious fluctuations, with the tower as the centre, spread across the place again. All of them stopped whispering and looked instinctively in the tower’s direction with gazes filled with disbelief. That was because the tower resonated again! “W-What’s going on?” Some people appeared puzzled while some exclaimed in shock. Usually, the resonance would only happen every three to five months, but it took place twice in a short time on this day. They wondered who caused the resonance. However, they soon realised that the two rounds of resonance were not evoked by the same person because the interval between the two incidents was too short. After a cultivator passed a test in the tower, he would be given some time to rest. The break was not long, but it was not short either. The cultivator could restore his Spiritual Power and relieve the pressure on his soul. He could also comprehend the reward from the tower to get prepared for the next floor. Every Ward Cultivator would treasure the break. Before the time was up, they would not take part in the next challenge. There was only an interval of one hour between the two rounds of resonance, and it was apparent that they were not caused by the same person. In other words, two cultivators had performed so well that they triggered two rounds of resonance on the same day. Every cultivator who could evoke the tower’s resonance would have a bright future. These cultivators quickly suppressed their emotions such as shock, lament, and puzzlement. Regardless of who caused the resonance, it was good news to them. Many people had hoped for the previous round of resonance to last longer, and the next round came sooner than they had expected. Perhaps they could comprehend the secrets they did not manage to grasp earlier. The area outside the tower fell silent in an instant. All the cultivators closed their eyes and felt the inspiration coming from the invisible fluctuations. Inside the space the size of a room in the tower, Lu Ye sported an impassive expression while looking at a fluorescent light that descended from above. Although he had not seen it for a long time, the corners of his eyes still instinctively twitched at this moment. That was because the experience of receiving a reward from the tower would not be a pleasant one, especially when he had only spent an hour trying to pass the test. As such, the benefits he would get would be massive. In other words, it would have a huge impact on his soul. Nevertheless, it was an inevitable process, and it was a blessing instead of a disaster. Therefore, he gritted his teeth and grabbed the light. As soon as his hand came into contact with the light, it broke apart and turned into dots of light. As though they were pulled by an invisible force, they fluttered and gushed towards his head. Lu Ye felt as though the dots of light were descending on him like a galaxy. Faced with immense pressure, he found it hard to breathe. Then, he grunted in a muffled voice. As if struck by lightning, his entire figure started convulsing, and his face turned pale almost instantly. His soul seemed to have been torn apart by an invisible force. A lot of information about the Way of Wards gushed into his mind and became twisted. During the process, his soul continued to be split apart. His Soul Power far exceeded the cultivators in the same Realm. It had reached the Real Lake Realm. Since his soul was powerful, he could bear immense pressure. Usually, he could ignore any impact on his soul. For example, when he took a look at the information on the Tree of Glyphs or when he passed away in the Rift of Illusions, he wouldn’t go through as much pain as in the past. That was the benefit that came with a stronger Soul Power. Nevertheless, the torment he was going through was still unbearable for him. The main reason was that the benefits he had obtained were massive, and he got them in the form of Enlightenment, which could be overwhelming. If any other Cloud River Realm Master had to experience it, he would have lost his mind even if his soul was not destroyed. However, it was all worth it, for the benefits were stupendous. As the information rushed into Lu Ye’s mind uncontrollably, he had a better understanding of the Way of Wards, and his mastery had improved correspondingly, which would help him gain some advantages for his next challenge in the tower. As he gritted his teeth and endured the excruciating pain, he felt a metallic tang in his mouth. While trembling, he extended his hands into the Spirit Beast Bag and released Amber. When Amber appeared and saw how terrible Lu Ye looked, it growled in shock and looked around vigilantly, thinking that Lu Ye had been attacked. Yi Yi quickly left Amber’s body and revealed herself as well. “Pass me the Soul Cleansing Water!” Lu Ye said through clenched teeth. Yi Yi instantly realised that Lu Ye’s soul had been impacted. She fished out the jade bottle with Soul Cleansing Water and stuck a finger into it before letting Lu Ye have a taste of it. The unique taste of Soul Cleansing Water spread in Lu Ye’s mouth and diffused across his body. The excruciating pain was soon suppressed, and the feeling of his soul getting torn apart was gradually relieved. In just a short moment, his face regained its healthy glow. The value of Soul Cleansing Water was unrivalled when it came to dealing with a situation where one’s soul was severely impacted. Lu Ye let out a breath and decided that he would release Amber and Yi Yi before receiving any reward from the tower.