The Author's Draft-Chapter 57: Challenging the bell II
Long Chen looked at the bell, then at Demon Dweller in his hand.
He sheathed the sword.
The crowd’s murmuring grew louder.
"He put his sword away?"
"What’s he doing?"
"Is he giving up already?"
Long Chen stepped closer to the bell and raised his right hand. He extended his index and middle fingers together in the classic Sword Finger position—a basic technique taught to all sword cultivators.
Then he channeled his Sword Aura into his fingertips.
The energy gathered instantly, invisible to normal sight but tangible to anyone with spiritual sense. It compressed into a single point at the tip of his fingers, sharp enough to pierce steel, concentrated enough to cut through qi barriers.
Long Chen flicked the bell.
His fingers barely touched the bronze surface—just a light tap, almost casual.
The crowd erupted in jeers.
"That’s it!?"
"He just flicked it!"
"What a joke!"
"Did he think that would—"
DONG!
The bell rang.
Not a soft chime. A deep, resonant sound that rolled across the courtyard like thunder, vibrating through the ground beneath their feet.
The jeers cut off immediately.
Every disciple within earshot stopped talking and turned toward the bell.
DONG!
Second ring.
The formation runes on the bell’s surface flared bright, glowing with golden spiritual light that pulsed outward in waves.
DONG!
Third ring.
Messy Hair’s mouth fell open. "No way..."
DONG! DONG! DONG!
Fourth, fifth, sixth rings in rapid succession, each one louder than the last.
The disciples who’d been mocking Long Chen stood frozen, staring.
Stocky Guy’s face had gone pale. "That’s... that’s impossible. He just flicked it."
DONG! DONG! DONG! DONG!
Seventh, eighth, ninth, tenth.
Ten rings, the required amount.
The elder managing the Tower entrance, who’d been sitting in his chair looking half-asleep, suddenly sat up straight. His eyes snapped to the bell, then to Long Chen, his expression sharpening with interest.
Long Chen started to lower his hand—
DONG!
Eleventh ring.
Long Chen froze. ’What—’
DONG!
Twelfth ring.
*Oh shit,* Azazel muttered. *It’s still going.*
DONG!
Thirteenth ring.
The entire courtyard had gone completely silent. Every single disciple—those in line, those exiting the Tower, those just passing by—had stopped to stare at the bell.
The golden light from the formation runes was so bright now it hurt to look at directly.
The bell finally stopped ringing, the sound fading slowly into silence like the last echo of distant thunder.
Thirteen rings total.
For several long seconds, no one spoke or moved.
Then the whispers started—quiet at first, then growing louder.
"Thirteen rings..."
"Did I count that right? Thirteen?"
"How is that possible?"
"He just flicked it. He didn’t even use his full strength."
"Who is that guy?"
Messy Hair turned to Stocky Guy, his voice barely above a whisper. "Have you ever seen someone make it ring thirteen times?"
"Yeah, but such were feats of the top ten inner disciples."
"But the legends say..." another disciple nearby started, then hesitated.
"Say what?" someone else demanded.
"The legends say the number of rings indicates how many floors you can clear. If the bell rings thirteen times..."
"Then he can clear thirteen floors!?"
"That’s just a rumor though, right? There’s no way to know—"
"It’s not a rumor," an older disciple interrupted. She was standing near the front of the line, and she looked like she’d been coming to the Tower for years. "The bell was created by the Tower itself. It measures potential, not just current strength. The number of rings corresponds directly to floor clearance capability."
"But thirteen floors..." Messy Hair looked like someone had punched him in the stomach.
"And this guy is what, peak Qi Acquisition?" Stocky Guy stared at Long Chen like he was seeing a ghost. "How does that make any sense?"
The elder at the Tower entrance stood up from his chair. He was older, maybe sixty, with gray hair tied back and sharp eyes that missed nothing. His cultivation radiated outward, it was late stage king realm.
He walked toward Long Chen with measured steps, his gaze assessing.
The crowd parted automatically, creating a clear path.
The elder stopped a few meters away from Long Chen and studied him in silence for a long moment. His eyes swept from Long Chen’s face to his hands to the sword at his waist, taking in every detail.
"Name," the elder said. His voice was calm but carried authority.
"Long Chen."
"Cultivation level?"
"Peak Qi Acquisition Realm."
The elder’s eyebrows rose slightly. "Peak Qi Acquisition, and you made the bell ring thirteen times."
"Yes, Elder."
"Interesting." The elder glanced at the bell, then back at Long Chen. "The Talent Assessment Bell was created by one of the sect’s previous leaders. It doesn’t measure just raw power—it measures potential, comprehension, and spiritual compatibility with the Tower’s trials. Making it ring thirteen times means the Tower itself has acknowledged you as capable of clearing at least thirteen floors."
He paused.
"Possibly more."
More whispers erupted from the crowd, but the elder raised his hand and silence fell immediately.
The elder studied him for another moment, then nodded slowly.
"Very well. As per sect rules, any disciple who makes the Talent Assessment Bell ring ten or more times is granted immediate entry to the Tower, bypassing the queue. You’re cleared to enter."
He gestured toward the massive double doors. "The Tower will open for you now. Once you enter, you cannot leave until you either complete your objective, surrender, or are defeated. There are no breaks between floors, no rest periods. Each trial must be completed in sequence."
"Understood," Long Chen said.
"Then go. And Long Chen—" the elder’s voice dropped slightly, "everyone is watching you. Don’t disappoint."
Long Chen nodded and walked toward the entrance.
Behind him, the whispers continued, louder now.
"He’s really going in."
"Thirteen floors... Do you think he can actually do it?"
"Peak Qi Acquisition attempting thirteen floors is insane."
"If he succeeds, he’ll break every record in the sect’s history."
"And if he fails, we’ll probably have to carry his corpse out."
Long Chen ignored them all.
The massive double doors began to open, grinding against stone as ancient mechanisms activated. The formation arrays across the doorway shifted and reconfigured, glowing brighter. Golden light spilled out from inside, warm and inviting.
Long Chen stepped through the threshold.
The doors slammed shut behind him with a sound like a tomb sealing.
The noise from outside cut off completely. No more whispers, no more crowd sounds. Just silence.
Long Chen stood in the entrance chamber and looked around.
The inside of the Tower was exactly like the one in the Dugu Clan.
The first floor was a large circular chamber with smooth stone walls and a ceiling that stretched upward into darkness. Spiritual formations glowed along the floor in intricate geometric patterns, pulsing with soft light. The air was thick with qi—denser than anywhere else in the sect.
In the center of the room stood a raised stone platform, and floating above it was a translucent interface—similar to the system notifications Long Chen was used to seeing, but larger and more elaborate. The interface shimmered with golden light.
Long Chen approached the platform.
The interface flickered to life, responding to his presence. Words appeared, written in elegant glowing script that hung in the air: 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖
[Welcome back, Challenger.]
[Previous progress detected: Floor 13 cleared at Tower X126.]
[Current location: Tower X24.]
[Would you like to continue from Floor 14, or restart from Floor 1?]
Two options appeared below the text:
[Continue from Floor 14] [Yes] [No]
[Restart from Floor 1] [Yes] [No]
Long Chen stared at the interface, his breath catching.
The Tower recognized him.
It knew he’d already cleared thirteen floors back in the Dugu Clan. It knew his exact progress, tracked across different locations, different towers separated by hundreds of kilometers.
That confirmed what he’d suspected—the towers were connected somehow. Not just similar, they were actually connected. Same entity, same system, existing in multiple places simultaneously especially the numbering.
*Interesting,* Azazel murmured. *Very interesting.*
Long Chen reached toward the interface, about to select the option to continue from Floor 14—
*WAIT!* Azazel’s voice cut through his thoughts like a blade, sharp and urgent.
Long Chen’s hand froze mid-air. "What?"
*Don’t continue. Start from the beginning.*
"Why?" Long Chen frowned. "I’ve already cleared up to 13th floor. The fifteenth is not far away, why waste time doing them again?"
*Because I have a suspicion I need to confirm,* Azazel said, his tone completely serious now. *And if I’m right, this is important.*
"What suspicion?"
*The Tower recognized you. It tracked your progress across completely different locations—the Dugu Clan Tower and this sect’s Tower. That shouldn’t be possible, not unless the towers aren’t just connected randomly but are an inheritance site.*
Long Chen processed that. "And if they are?"
*That means this tower is definitely not from here and I just find it’s concept fascinating.*
Long Chen rolled his eyes as he knew Azazel was probably playing around but since there was an opportunity he could re-run the tower see if he had improved a little, he clicked to restart from Floor 1.
