Of course, Ding Hao did not know that he had been tagged a “good man”.
At this moment, he was only shocked.
In front of him was a huge scarlet tower.
Like a mountain soaring into the clouds, the tower was firmly rooted in the earth. Gazing up, one could not see its top. Like a pillar supporting the sky and filled with a mysterious aura, it connected the heaven and earth.
The gigantic tower scintillated with a strange red mist, which resembled a divine flame from a distance. There was a story every 10 meters. The octagonal tower had eight regular sides and corners. Its diameter was the same from the top to the bottom.
Ding Hao looked up. He could see at least many hundred stories.
Ding Hao had never seen such a high tower, even in his previous life on Earth, which was full of skyscrapers.
Seeing this gigantic, seemingly flaming tower before him, he felt an indescribable shock.
Only in this martial arts world, where the capable could create a new world, the strong could carry mountains and form a new continent, and the divine would dominate everything, could such an incredible structure that almost defied the laws of physics exist.
“Is this the Towering Buddha Pagoda?”
Was it really like what the legend said? It would lead to the celestial palaces where deities lived?
Ding Hao was a little flabbergasted.
He could only describe this tower as a miracle.
He did not know how the members of Sacred Hall built this celestial tower. Could it be an illusory formation set up by some deity-like presence? A celestial building constructed by the power of the rules?
“Alright, lad, don’t get too emotional here. Push the door open and climb the tower immediately. The treasures and the three Divine Weapons of Sacred Hall are all in this pagoda. Don’t let anyone pre-empt you!”
Uncle Tianshu was thinking about the divine treasures all the time.
Although the Towering Buddha Pagoda seemed right in front of them, it was in reality quite far away. It took Ding Hao and his companions half a day to reach the foot of this gigantic flaming tower.
It had been roughly two days since they entered the Sea of Opulent Buildings.
They had traveled more than 150 kilometers from the periphery of the Sea of Opulent Buildings to this tower. It must have taken many years to construct such a lofty and magnificent complex of ancient buildings. Yet there was no one here now. It felt like a ghost city, the realm of the dead.
Standing under the Towering Buddha Pagoda, Ding Hao felt as small and insignificant as a grain of sand at the foot of a high mountain.
Looking from a distance, this tower must be at least 1,000 meters in diameter.
The Towering Buddha Pagoda was constructed out of some rare red rocks. The pagoda surface was extremely smooth, like a mirror, swirling with red mists and looking as primitive as the Untainted Land. It seemed to have undergone countless vicissitudes for tens of thousands of years, standing loftily under the heavens, almost like it was waiting for someone.
“The tower is so tall. Why hadn’t anyone noticed it before?”
A question flashed across Ding Hao’s mind.
Logically speaking, this soaring tower ought to be extremely conspicuous, and visible even hundreds of kilometers away. But why had no one noticed its existence before?
The masters from the Divine Central Continent and the Southern Wilderness only discovered this building after news about the Sacred Hall ruins spread. It was as if it had never existed before.
There were eight sides to this celestial tower.
There was a square mahogany door on each side.
Above each door, there were round shiny nails arranged neatly, gleaming with a golden glint. There were nine nails in a row, and nine rows above a leaf of the door. There was a total of 162 gold nails above the two leaves of one door. He did not know if there was any special significance to this number.
Other than these gold nails, there was nothing special about the doors.
“Which door should we enter through? There are eight sides to this tower. Does it work like the Eight Trigrams and the Five Elements? Would it be safer to enter this tower through the ‘Life’ door?”
Standing in front of the tower, Ding Hao hesitated for a moment.
The closer he approached the Towering Buddha Pagoda, the more uneasy he felt.
It was as if a bloodthirsty and extremely dangerous beast was hidden in this gigantic tower.
At this moment…
“Woof, woof…” The black puppy wriggled out of Evil Moon’s grasp, and jumped off the back of the white tigress. Sniffing some odor along the ground, it went instinctively to the red pagoda door in front, and entered through a gap.
“Meow, don’t run around. Come back here, puppy.” Evil Moon turned into a white beam of light and dashed over, trying to grab the black puppy.
However, as soon as its body entered the red door, it also disappeared.
Ding Hao wanted to stop them, but it was too late.
“It’s better to try our luck than to choose so prudently. Is this the will of Heaven? Forget it, I’ll take this door…” Ding Hao gritted his teeth, pushed the door open, and dashed after them.
“Huh? Why are you in such a hurry? You’re reckless, aren’t you? Entering through the ‘Death’ door? Are you guys looking for death? Hey, hey, hey, wait for me!”
Tianshu shouted.
He was still carefully studying the map in his hand, which was as black as decomposed leather. When he saw this, he gritted his teeth furiously. In the end, he had no choice but to steer the white tigress he was riding through the giant red door.
Ding Hao originally thought that it would be a small-world space inside this gigantic tower.
However, it turned out that he had worried excessively.
The internal space on the first story of this pagoda was no different from the outside.
Under the reflections of the swirling red mists around the walls, everything could be seen clearly. There was nothing on the first floor—it was completely empty. At the center, there was a narrow spiral staircase wide enough for only one person to climb, leading to the tower’s second story.
It was like an empty warehouse.
The temporary nanny, Evil Moon, had already caught the black puppy. It was lecturing the puppy, reprimanding it with a dark face, insisting that it should not run about.
The black puppy lowered its head and squatted, listening to the lecture humbly.
As if it could really understand Evil Moon’s words.
Ding Hao was relieved to see this.
“Come on, let’s go to the second floor…” After sweeping a glance around this story, Uncle Tianshu completely lost interest in this empty first story since there was no treasure here. He could not wait to climb the narrow spiral staircase.
Ding Hao and Evil Moon followed closely behind him.
With a shake of its body, the giant white tigress shrank quite a lot, also following behind Tianshu.
This Surviving Species of the Untainted Land was quite intelligent. At first, she was forced to be the black puppy’s wet nurse. She often lamented its fate along the way, but was now wagging her tail happily, like an obedient big cat.
Her intelligence was no less than an adult human’s. She knew very well that were it not for Ding Hao and Tianshu, she would never have a chance to enter the Towering Buddha Pagoda.
It was rumored among the Surviving Species that the Towering Buddha Pagoda actually contained the innate force of nature and fate. If she was destined to enter it, she might be able to purify her bloodline, inherit her ancestor’s untainted lineage, and obtain the magic powers of her divine ancestor, the White Tiger.
In this cold and cruel world, increasing one’s strength would be an extremely attractive proposition for any creature.
The second floor was also empty, without the trace of any treasure.
Other than the red wall, there was only a narrow wooden spiral staircase, almost identical to the one on the first floor, leading to the third.
“F*ck, nothing? Where are the treasures? What miserliness! I bet even mice will sob when they see such a scene!” Uncle Tianshu was most disappointed.
Since there were no outsiders present, he did not care about his image as a transcendental Taoist. He started to curse aloud.
He could not wait to climb to the third floor.
“We have to hurry, or we won’t even get pittance…” Uncle Tianshu sprinted to the staircase.
Although they did not see anyone along the way, Tianshu and Ding Hao knew that someone must be ahead of them.
There were tens of thousands of experts gathered outside the transparent formation that day. Those who could enter this building were all heroes of their land, with skills many times more powerful than theirs. The two of them certainly could not lead this company of warriors.
They climbed to the third story, and found everything exactly the same as the previous two.
With only four empty walls and another narrow red spiral staircase, it was almost exactly the same as the first two.
“Let’s move on!” Uncle Tianshu gnashed his teeth.
They climbed more than 20 stories. It was empty on each story—there was not even a broken bowl, let alone a hidden treasure. Uncle Tianshu was so enraged that he almost chiseled through the walls to see if there was any hidden compartment or secret chamber.
“I’m sure those who entered this tower first must have seized all the treasures!” Uncle Tianshu rubbed his hands and said angrily. “Let’s catch up with them right away! I want to rob them; I want all their treasures…”
This Taoist master, who looked like an otherworldly immortal on the outside, seemed on the verge of mental collapse.
At this moment…
“There’s nothing left? Eh? There’s someone just ahead us. They must have seized all the treasures. Come, hand me all the treasures you’re hiding…”
An equally flustered and exasperated voice rang out from below.
More than a dozen figures quickly climbed up the spiral staircase and glanced around. There was nothing on the 22nd story. These men could not hide their disappointment. But when they saw Ding Hao and his companions, their eyes lit up. They seemed to have thought of something and surrounded them with hostile malice.
These men were obviously from the same sect, of extraordinary background and clad in identical shining armors. Their armors were extremely rare Precious Weapons. They emitted a faint halo which could counter this tower’s innate pressure and reduce its stress.
“What? You want to rob us?” Uncle Tianshu jumped up.
He was already in a foul mood. When he heard this, he was so furious that his eyes spat fire, his ears smoking as he gnashed his teeth. “You guys don’t know what’s good for you. How dare you rob us! Don’t you know who we are?”
