Chapter 1002 - Black Stone Tablet

When Mu Chen passed through the light halo towards the fourth level of the Body Refining Pagoda, the light before him suddenly turned dark. However, the darkness had receded before long. When the darkness receded, the scene before him changed once again.

But what exceeded Mu Chen’s expectation was that the scene before him wasn’t any terrible environment, but an ancient old plaza that was roughly a thousand feet in size. At this moment, he had landed on a corner of the plaza with the other four not far away from him.

“This is the fourth level of the Body Refining Pagoda?”

Mu Chen was somewhat startled as he looked at the environment. The plaza was extremely old, filled with marks left behind by the mottled time and a desolate sensation spread out in this space.

It was different to the terrible environments of the previous three levels. This ancient plaza was quiet and peaceful, and didn’t seem to be anything special at first glance. Therefore, the scenery before him had roused doubt in his heart.

“This is, indeed, the fourth level of the Body Refining Pagoda.” A voice resounded by Mu Chen’s side and he saw Mo Feng walking over with an indifferent expression.

Mu Chen was stunned as he knitted his brows. “What’s special about this place?”

Since this was the fourth level of the Body Refining Pagoda, then it wouldn’t look as simple as it was on the surface.

Mo Feng nodded his head, then he pointed towards the centre of the ancient plaza. “Look there.”

Mu Chen directed his gaze over and his eyes contracted, before noticing a black stone tablet at the centre of the ancient plaza.

The black stone tablet wasn’t huge, it could even be neglected in the massive plaza. Therefore, Mu Chen did not notice it before.

But... could the test of the Body Refining Pagoda’s fourth level be this black stone tablet?

Mu Chen was confused.

“This is a Strength Tablet.” Mo Feng Explained.

“Strength Tablet?” Mu Chen felt his head aching, since he had too little understanding of the Divine Beast Origin.

“The test in the fourth level is very simple, punching the Strength Tablet with your physical body.”

Mo Feng continued, “See the bronze lamps before the Strength Tablet?”

Mu Chen nodded his head. Earlier when he noticed the black stone tablet, he had already noticed the nine bronze lamps before the stone tablet. Except they were pitch-black without any flames.

“This is to test the strength of the physique with nine lamps lighting up as the limit. However, that’s basically impossible as it’s something that not even a Ninth Grade Sovereign could achieve.”

A smear of shock flashed in Mu Chen’s eyes. Even the full strength of a Ninth Grade Sovereign couldn’t light up all nine lamps? This ordinary-looking Strength Tablet could actually withstand such terrifying strength?

“According to the rules, as long as one is able to light up six lamps, they will be able to pass through the fourth level.”

“Lighting six lamps?” Mu Chen clenched his fist with eagerness blazing in his eyes. If it was purely physical strength, then he wouldn’t be inferior to anyone present. Furthermore, he wished to test how powerful his physical body had gotten from the Dragon-Phoenix Physique.

When Mo Feng saw Mu Chen, he couldn’t help reminding him, “Don’t be careless. According to the news that I have gotten, 80-90% of the geniuses have failed in the past.”

Mu Chen lightly nodded his head. He naturally wouldn’t underestimate it, but Mo Feng’s words had caused him to be somewhat startled. It looked like the difficulty of lighting up six lamps was not small.

“What’s the benefit of getting through the fourth level?” Mu Chen suddenly thought of the most important question. The first three levels all had brutal environments to refine the physical body. So what about the fourth level? What could he obtain if he could light up six bronze lamps? According to the rules of the Body Refining Pagoda, they shouldn’t let the challenger return empty-handed, right?

“The benefit is naturally from the stone tablet.” Mo Feng smiled as he stared at the black stone tablet. Mu Chen didn’t know if he had sensed wrongly, but he could see a smear of a blaze in Mo Feng’s eyes.

“Do you know what this stone tablet is made of?” asked Mo Feng.

Mu Chen shook his head, since he was naturally unfamiliar with everything here.

“It is made from the physical body of the Sky-Devouring Divine Beast.”

“Sky-Devouring Divine Beast?” Mu Chen was stunned and his expression became a little shaken. Legend had it that the Sky-Devouring Divine Beast was a Super Divine Beast born from the heavens and earth. It wasn’t born from any bloodline, thus their rarity surpassed any Super Divine Beasts. Furthermore, they had only appeared in ancient times, and no one has heard of their appearance nowadays.

The Sky-Devouring Divine Beast, in the midst of a rage, it could devour the sky, which even the Heavenly Sovereigns were fearful of.

Mu Chen had seen some information about them from an ancient text. But he never expected that the unremarkable-looking stone tablet would be made from the flesh of the Sky-Devouring Divine Beast.

“Truly unimaginable.” Mu Chen sighed. The Sky-Devouring Divine Beast was an existence that even the True Dragon and Phoenix would be fearful of.

“Once a force strikes the Strength Tablet, a trace of blood essence from the Sky-Devouring Divine Beast will seep out. The essence would be based on how strong the attack was... Simply speaking, the more bronze lamps you can light up, the stronger the blood essence would be, and this is the benefit of the fourth level. Understand now?” Mo Feng’s gaze grew more heated as he slowly said.

Mu Chen’s heart trembled and he solemnly nodded his head. The essence of the Sky-Devouring Divine Beast... If he could absorb it, he was evident about how shocking it would be for his own physical refinement.

It was something that was even more powerful than the Lightning Essences. It was no wonder why even Mo Feng would be so tempted.

This Body Refining Pagoda level was truly a great treasure...

While Mo Feng spoke with Mu Chen, Han Shan, Zong Teng and Xu Kun all had greed and solemness on their faces as they looked at the black stone tablet, before the five of them gradually moved closer.

As they moved closer, Mu Chen realised that the black stone tablet was covered in densely packed palm marks, which were clearly left by those that had visited here.

The stone tablet was extremely sturdy to the point that not a single part of it looked to have been made of flesh. However, the black colour vaguely emitted a fearful pressure, which would make the blood of others tremble.

Mu Chen knew that it should be the aura left behind by the Sky-Devouring Divine Beast. It was just this small bit and it had already made it suffocating for them.

Furthermore, what made Mu Chen even more startled was the fact that when he moved closer to the stone tablet, he realised that the Spiritual Energy in his body had gradually froze to the point that it was practically tough for him to circulate it. It’s as if it was suppressed by a powerful force field to the point that it couldn’t move.

“Spiritual Energy being completely suppressed... Indeed, only pure physical strength can be used in this place.” Mu Chen clenched his body and it was extremely hard for him to circulate the Spiritual Energy in his body, making it practically useless.

Looking at Mo Feng and the rest, he realised that the Spiritual Energy that surged around them had completely disappeared. However, they remained calm without any surprises on their faces.

But although they were before the black stone tablet, none of them made a move. Instead, all of them sat down to adjust their own states.

According to the rules, everyone only had a single chance. The moment they were unqualified, they would be immediately eliminated and sent out of the Body Refining Pagoda.

Therefore, that punch must be the pinnacle of what their physical bodies would exert.

Thus, everyone here was surprisingly harmonious without revealing any enmity towards the others. All of them sat down and swiftly adjusted their states to the pinnacle.

Hence, the ancient plaza had become abnormally quiet at this moment, only the breathing from the five of them gently resounded...

...

When the five of them sat down to adjust their states, the area outside of the Body Refining Pagoda was extremely bustling and many gazes were staring at the screen of the fourth level with curiosity. It was a screen that showed the figures, so everyone outside could see the five of them harmoniously readjusting their states.

“That is the legendary Strength Tablet, right?”

“It’s said that only those that can light up six lamps can be qualified to pass through the fourth level...”

“In the past, the majority of the geniuses were stopped by this step. The six lamps aren’t easy to light and there is a high chance that even a Seventh Grade Sovereign would fail here.”

“Yeah, I wonder how many of the five can make it through this stage?”

“There’s a high chance for Han Shan, but the rest should depend on their own means. Although it’s purely using their own physical strength, there’s a flaw as well. After all, it’s only a single punch. There are some secret arts that could instantly increase one’s physical strength, so I believe they’re all prepared.”

“......”

Whispers resounded outside the pagoda. After all, some of them had some keen sight, so their words made sense as well.

Nine Nether and Mo Ling exchanged a glance, then they looked at the two silhouettes in the fourth level. This level was competing of the strength of the physical body. Perhaps looking from the surface, Mu Chen might be at a disadvantageous position due to him being a human. But after the series of events that occurred, probably no one would think that his physique as a human would be any weaker than a Divine Beast.

Therefore, no one could predict the outcome of this test.

𝕗𝐫𝚎𝗲𝘄𝐞𝕓𝐧𝕠𝘃𝕖𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝚖

While everyone outside were making wild guesses, the five silhouettes in the fourth level all opened their eyes at the same time.