He asked for the fifth floor right from the start. Never mind Yang Yu; even Steward Huang was stunned.

"The fifth floor?" Steward Huang paused, then chuckled. "Your ambition certainly isn’t small. You haven’t even experienced the other floors, yet you dare to challenge the fifth floor directly? Right now, only the top thirty disciples can make it to the fifth floor and last. Are you sure you want to do this? If you’re forced to come down early, the days will still be deducted. Not only will you lose face, but you’ll also waste your time."

"Thank you for the advice, Steward Huang, but I’m going straight to the fifth floor. I’ll be staying for ten days," Yi Tianyun said with a faint smile.

"What? Ten days?" Steward Huang’s eyes widened. He stared at Yi Tianyun as if he were looking at a fool. "Are you sure? Only the top fifteen disciples can last a full ten days on the fifth floor."

He knew Yi Tianyun had a talent for Spiritual Power, but choosing the highest difficulty right after arriving was clearly irrational. ’If he’d chosen just one day, fine. But he’s betting all his days at once. If he can’t endure it, they’ll all be wasted.’

"I’m sure," Yi Tianyun said, his gaze firm. Steward Huang shook his head and sighed. He was only a guard and wouldn’t interfere with a disciple’s choice. ’After all, sometimes making the wrong choice is a form of progress.’

’He hoped Yi Tianyun would learn his lesson the hard way.’

"Very well. I’ve recorded it. All of your allotted days have been used up. You can head straight to the fifth floor. If you can’t take it, just come back down. You won’t be able to enter any other floors," Steward Huang reminded him.

Once you chose a floor in the Celestial Soul Tower, you could only stay on that floor. It wasn’t a very flexible system, but those were the rules. The reason for this was actually quite simple: the Protective Talismans.

If you fainted during cultivation, the talisman on your body would shatter, activating a protective measure that would teleport you back down. Each floor required a different type of Protective Talisman; they weren’t interchangeable, as the intensity varied from floor to floor.

In addition, the Protective Talisman also served to attract Spiritual Power. To put it bluntly, once you were inside a floor and took out the talisman, you would become a target, drawing a continuous barrage of Spiritual Power attacks toward you.

Without it, there was no point in even entering the fifth floor.

As for swapping talismans, that wasn’t allowed either. You had to take responsibility for your choices, especially when you bet so many days at once.

"Oh my god, Boss, you’ve got some serious nerve! The fifth floor is a privilege reserved for the top twenty-five! You’ll get knocked unconscious almost immediately. Are you really sure you want to go?" Yang Yu quickly snapped out of his daze and tried to talk him out of it.

"Of course. Did you think I came here to play around?" Yi Tianyun shook his head.

"Well... why not try the third floor first? I think that’d be a good fit for you. Or maybe the fourth... Hey, hey, don’t go! Even if you insist on the fifth floor, just try it for a day! Why commit so many days at once? This is a disaster waiting to happen!" Yang Yu pleaded, convinced Yi Tianyun couldn’t last long. If he fainted, it would be a complete waste.

"Is that so? If I faint, then it just means I overestimated myself." Yi Tianyun appreciated the concern, but he knew his own capabilities far better.

’Faint? With my Spirit Pill Stage strength? What a joke!’

Taking the Protective Talisman, Yi Tianyun headed straight for the fifth floor. He ascended a winding staircase and quickly arrived. The higher he went, the greater the pressure became. Even with a grand array sealing the entrance, he could still feel fluctuations radiating from within.

When he reached the fifth floor, he stood at the entrance and saw a few people scattered about, meditating and cultivating in various spots.

Yi Tianyun didn’t hesitate and strode inside, leaving Yang Yu to watch from the entrance. The moment he stepped in, he felt an immense pressure bearing down on him from all directions. After choosing a spot, he took out the Protective Talisman and infused it with Spiritual Power. A terrifying wave of Spiritual Power immediately surged toward him—though, of course, to him, it was completely meaningless.

He felt a slight buzzing in his head as the impact of the Spiritual Power washed over him. The effect was rather weak, however. It didn’t improve his own Spiritual Power in the slightest and felt more like a tickle. But one thing did increase noticeably: his experience points!

Riding the wave of the Spiritual Power impact was a stream of pure Spiritual Power that continuously seeped into his body. It was as if the impact itself was driving this energy into him, helping it circulate and be absorbed.

"300 experience points, 350 experience points, 340 experience points..."

This training ground was designed for cultivators at the Spirit Refining Stage, so it was never going to provide an explosive amount of experience. He didn’t even consider activating Madness Mode.

’This is a pretty good training ground,’ Yi Tianyun thought. ’If I could replicate the Divine Runes from this Celestial Soul Tower in the Celestial Sinking Ruins, I could create a special training area. It would be perfect for disciples who are cultivating Divine Runes...’ He was quite pleased with the place—not with its effects on him, but with its fundamental design. He could learn from it and carve a similar one back in the Celestial Sinking Ruins.

Although he possessed the memories of the Spirit Race, some of their Divine Runes were unsuitable to be reproduced. The Spirit Race’s Divine Runes were simply too powerful; even the weakest among them required a cultivator to be at the Core Formation Stage or higher to endure. A weakened version like this, designed for training new disciples, was something he didn’t have in his memories.

This made it an incredibly valuable reference. If he could learn it and then inscribe it in the Celestial Sinking Ruins, he would have a brand-new training ground.

At the same time, he scanned his surroundings, looking to see if there were any exceptional disciples present. He glanced over and immediately spotted an acquaintance meditating there: Yang Xixue. ’It seems this is where she was headed when she left earlier, to cultivate in the Celestial Soul Tower.’

’He... He’s on the fifth floor already?’ Yang Xixue was stunned. Yi Tianyun had only been here for a few days; there was no way he could have acclimated to the other floors before choosing to come to the fifth!

As soon as Yi Tianyun had entered, many people had noticed him, including Yang Xixue.

’A junior brother who just arrived is already on the fifth floor? Isn’t he afraid of dying?’

The moment he entered, the crowd erupted. Many shot him strange looks, while others were merely disdainful, certain that Yi Tianyun was overestimating his own abilities.

"Is that the new guy who’s been making a name for himself? He’s got guts, coming straight to the fifth floor. I bet he won’t last a day before he’s thrown out."

"A day? I’d say half a day, at most!"

"I wonder how many days he signed up for. If it’s too many, the guy’s a complete idiot."

...

The ones discussing were all experts from the top thirty rankings. They shook their heads, not thinking much of Yi Tianyun. ’Just because he beat Feng Yulong, he acts this arrogant? How can someone like that ever become a true expert?’

Little did they know, Yi Tianyun had originally come in just to see what geniuses were present. Now, however, his focus had shifted to studying the Divine Runes of the tower, figuring out how he could replicate them.