Continuing to wander through the sect as she found herself lost in her own thoughts unaware of where she was going and with no clear idea of where she was going outside of it being somewhere she hadn’t been to before, Lu Dongli found herself arriving in front of the tallest building within the sect, a seemingly infinitely tall tower stretching so far up into the sky that it disappeared amidst the sea of clouds above.

Although she had long since seen this tower from afar, this was the first time she had stepped anywhere near it... And compared to looking at it from afar, it was far more impressive up close, as it was only when she stood at the base of this tower that she realized just how massive it truly was, with a seemingly endless stream of elders and disciples moving in and out of the massive structure without pause.

Originally, she didn’t want to visit this place before her strength increased, as she had already learnt from other disciples how everyone got one chance to enter the tower, known as the ascension realm tower, for free and didn’t want to waste her one free chance to enter the tower while her strength was so low that even clearing the first floor was an impossible task.

But... Now that she found herself looking towards the entrance of this imposing tower from afar, she found herself drawn towards it unknowingly-

"Hello, young one, do you wish to enter? Do remember that you only get one chance to enter the tower for free. After that, it will cost you contribution points every time you enter. At the same time, be reminded that the overall price will change depending on your cultivation realm."

And before she realized what she was doing, she found herself face to face with one of the elders in charge of guarding the entrance to the ascension realm tower who kindly reminded her before she entered the tower.

After all, though this senior was guarding the entrance, the formations in place generally took care of everything on their own and even directly deducted contribution points from those entering the tower while also allowing new disciples or elders who hadn’t entered the tower yet to pass through freely the first time their presence was registered within the formation.

The job of the few people along with the elder standing outside the tower to guard it wasn’t so much to guard the tower as it was to remind the newer disciples drawn to the tower out of curiosity about the situation, so they didn’t end up wasting their one free chance to enter the tower.

As for how to stop these new disciples who had yet to enter the tower? That was rather simple, as most of them, like Lu Dongli, were unknowingly drawn to the tower unable to hide their curiosity.

"I..." As for Lu Dongli who found herself called out by one of the elders around the tower... She found herself unaware of how to answer for a short time as she looked towards the entrance of the tower not knowing what to say.

Originally, she wanted to thank the elder for his reminder and take her leave, but after remembering that her master had a rather high status and also seemed to be the one who had created or at least placed this tower inside the sect in the past, she realized that she might have a far easier time entering the tower in the future than other disciples. Not to mention, though it might still cost her a few contribution points in the future to enter the tower, it wouldn’t be too many considering how popular the tower was with a constant stream of both elders and disciples alike.

If anything, she felt it might be a good motivator for her to take on sect missions in the future and help contribute to the sect...

"Thank you for the reminder senior, I plan to enter the tower!"

At least, that was how she convinced herself as she gently bowed her head in respect towards the elder who had reminded her about the situation before stepping forward to enter the tower without any of her prior hesitation.

"Fine, go on then young one..."

Of course, with her already having made up her mind, there was nothing the elder could say as he gently stepped aside and allowed her to pass him. Knowing that even if it might be something she ended up regretting in the future upon realizing just how many contribution points were required to enter the ascension realm tower, it would serve as a good lesson for her to take the advice of her seniors more seriously and not recklessly waste a good opportunity out of curiosity.

At the very least, before reaching the Core Formation Realm, the price for entering the ascension realm tower wasn’t that bad and could be earnt through a few months of hard work.

Only after reaching the Core Formation Realm when earning contribution points meant one had to either leave the sect to take on missions or for elders, had to take on long term missions guarding a branch sect, did entering the ascension realm tower become something difficult.

In fact, the elder himself was one such person, who had ended up wasting his one chance to enter the ascension realm tower for free by clearing only the first floor of the tower and looking around the ground floor before leaving, something that he regrated to this day.

The only positive turn of events following that disastrous waste of a perfectly good opportunity being him successfully securing a role as a guarding elder for the ascension realm tower. A job that required him to guard the tower for two years.

Although the job itself didn’t reward that many contribution points compared to other similar long term guarding duties, it came with the special reward of being granted one free chance to enter the ascension realm tower upon completion, something far more valuable than the contribution point reward for the job in his eyes.

Unaware of how the elder was thinking to himself how she was wasting her opportunity to enter the ascension realm tower, Lu Dongli happily passed through the invisible barrier at the entrance of the tower and seamlessly entered without encountering any issues along the way. Seeing the splendor of the ground floor for the fist time, as her curiosity got the better of her and soon enough ended up drawing her towards the shop area of the ground floor where most of the people inside the tower were concentrated. Spending the next few hours wandering around the place looking at the countless unique treasures that could be bought with the ascension realm towers unique currency known as ascension coins.

Only after she had finished looking around the place and even set aside some time to explore the achievement hall located at the other side of the main hall of the ground floor of the tower where the rankings for both disciples and elders and their clearing speed of different floors could be found, did she turn her attention towards the spiral staircase at the very center of the main hall on the ground floor of the tower.

Knowing from conversations between other disciples that ascending this staircase would lead her up to the first floor of the tower or the previous highest floor she had reached.

Of course, there were also several smaller teleportation formations throughout the main hall that could also take on to the previous highest floor and even move one between previous cleared floors, but for someone who had yet to even clear to the first floor of the tower, she could only ascend through the spiral staircase at the center of the ground floor.

Even knowing that she didn’t stand much of a chance in the face of the demon beast on the first floor of the tower, as they had already been recorded as having strength somewhere between the Fourth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm and the Seventh Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm. Far above her own cultivation realm. She still decided to try visiting the first floor of the tower. Planning to use the opportunity to test her own strength for the first time since she had gone back in time. Feeling a certain degree of confidence in her own strength knowing that she had once been someone close to the Domain Lord Realm in the past before she had died and gone back in time.

Of course, confident as she felt in herself, she wasn’t confident in winning against the boss of the first floor, who was said to be at the Ninth Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm with the strength to win against some weaker Foundation Establishment Realm disciples.

Bridging the gap between the Third Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm and the Seventh Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm might be possible relying on past experience, but a demon beast capable of contending with someone at the First Stage of the Foundation Establishment Realm was impossible for her to take down with her measly strength at the Third Stage of the Qi Condensation Realm...